It started on a typical day.

Which meant Plagg was forced awake by the horrid blaring sound of Adrien's alarm clock and pushed out of his warm, cosy, bed as Adrien staggered into the bathroom. As usual Plagg revived himself with a good piece of creamy, heavenly, cheese that was his camembert as he watched Adrien brush his teeth sleepily. Plagg then got to stretch out and relax as Adrien dressed to his usual boring perfection.

Adrien flumped back into the bed and was just about to put on his shoes when -

Squelch!

"WHAT THE HELL, PLAGG?!" Adrien exploded as he yanked his shoe off. Plagg felt like the little brat had wrenched his heart out as he witnessed his delicious gooey cheese not only get squashed and trod on by Adrien's smelly foot but was now pulled apart as it was simultaneously stuck on Adrien's sock and dribbling out of Adrien's sneaker. "Why the hell is your cheese in my shoes….AGAIN?!"

"I was letting it breathe! It makes it taste better!" Plagg exclaimed indignantly. "And you destroyed it! You ruined my breakfast!"

"Never mind your bloody breakfast!" Adrien snarled. "What about my socks and my shoes?! You ruined them! How am I going to explain this to Nathalie and the maid in charge of laundry?"

"Who cares about your stupid clothes?!" Plagg snapped back. "You have hundreds of the damn things in your closet. My cheese however was a one of the kind beauty and you murdered it! I will never get to taste its creamy deliciousness!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Adrien said irritably. "It's just cheese and not very nice cheese at that!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Plagg gasped out melodramatically as the most offended look flickered across his face. "You take that back, blasphemer!"

"No way," Adrien crossed his arms defiantly, "I've had months of this and enough is enough! Camembert is nothing but the most disgusting and stinkiest of cheese!"

"How dare you defile the heaven that is my precious camembert with your dirty words?!" Plagg hissed furiously. His fur stood on end at such offence and his eyes flashed dangerously. "It's like insulting someone's mother! In fact it's worse than that! Camembert is superior to any mother. It would never nag you!"

Adrien's eyes flashed at that one as an ugly scowl crossed his face. "Are you insulting my mother?!" he yelled.

"Don't be stupid," Plagg snorted, "I just said that insulting camembert is worse than insulting your mother."

"IT'S JUST CHEESE!"

"Heretic!" Plagg gasped. "I can't live with a person who will never appreciate the creamy miracle that is camembert!"

"Yeah?!" Adrien retorted. "Well I can't live with an inconsiderate brat that leaves his stupid cheese in people's shoes!"

"Well then!" Plagg huffed haughtily. "Maybe I should just leave!"

"Maybe you should!"

Plagg was all prepared to say something supremely nasty when there was a tap on the door. "Adrien?" Nathalie called out from the other side. "Are you in there? I hear voices."

"Y-y-y-yeah!" Adrien stammered. "I was, erm, just watching some TV!"

Plagg snorted at the pathetic-ness of Adrien's excuse.

"Well don't!" Nathalie said disapprovingly. "You have school shortly and I still need to brief you on your schedule for the day."

"Just a minute!" Adrien squeaked and Plagg snickered as he watched his charge stumble across his bedroom (tripping over his school bag) and into his closet as he hurriedly changed his socks and shoes. Adrien shot him a particularly malevolent glare (which from him was a look that suggested he was just severely constipated) before he pointed held the flap on his bag open. "You coming?" he said shortly.

"I don't think so," Plagg said snottily, "do you?"

"Fine!" Adrien huffed. "I could do with a day's peace without your snoring or complaining or waxing ridiculous poetry about cheese."

"And I," Plagg sneered back, "could do with an eternity of peace without having to hear another word of your so called love for Ladybug."

The snarky comment hit its mark with the desired effect as the most indignant offended expression appeared on Adrien's face before he sulkily stormed out of his bedroom and slammed the door shut leaving Plagg well and truly behind.

Plagg was horribly offended that Adrien hadn't begged and pleaded him to come to school with him like he was supposed to!

"The little brat!" he growled. "Does he really think he can last a day without me holding his hand? Ha! As soon as an Akuma attacks the Kid is screwed!"

It then occurred to Plagg that Adrien was trying to taunt him and he decided to wait the brat out as he made himself comfortable on Adrien's pillow. A minute ticked by excruciatingly, and then another, and then another, and then another five, and then suddenly Plagg heard the engine of the Agreste limo roar to life.

"HE'S LEFT ME BEHIND!" Plagg bellowed indignantly. "That little shit! Well fine!" Plagg huffed sulkily as he zoomed to the desk drawer where most of his camembert collection lived. "If the Kid thinks he can live without me then I'll give him just that. A life without me! I'll go somewhere where I'm better appreciated and cheese is feasted upon every day!"

Plagg stole one of Adrien's socks and stuffed it full with his camembert. He hauled the bulging sock over his shoulder as if he was Father Christmas and then zipped over to the window before he phased right through it.

Freedom at last!

No more moping from sulky teenagers, no more restricted free time and stupid diets, no more boring classes, no more lovesick wittering's about Tiki's chosen one. Plagg was finally free at last from it all! He was going to savour every second of it.

Plagg enjoyed his liberation for the total of three seconds before his day suddenly plummeted downhill fast.

It was that evil bird's fault!

Plagg called him the Flying Rat. The damn evil overstuffed pigeon likes to sit in the tree opposite Adrien's bedroom. It cooed loudly at the crack of dawn every single morning and it always gazed at Plagg through the bedroom window with his beady little eyes.

Gazed at Plagg hungrily.

Adrien always said that Plagg was imagining it and then he would laugh and tease Plagg about him, a cat, being scared of a bird. But the Flying Rat wasn't just a bird. He was a massive evil bastard and Plagg was a tiny cat who was at his strongest when he was merged with Adrien.

Goddamnit!

"Coo!" the Flying Rat cooed maliciously to the point it sounded like a clichéd villain's evil laugh. "Coo!"

And then the monster flapped his wings and lunged for Plagg. "Crap!" Plagg cursed as he swiftly dodged the Flying Rat's attack.

He dived down and hastily swerved to the right barely missing the Flying Rat's sharp beak at his ankle. Plagg shot back up when he suddenly felt lighter. He whirled round in time to see that the Flying Rat had cut through Adrien's sock with his damn beak and now all of Plagg's precious camembert was scattered across the neat lawn of the Agreste Estate.

"MY BABIES!" Plagg screamed, horrified. "You nasty evil little – ARGH!" Plagg's rant was abruptly cut off as the Flying Rat went for him again.

Plagg zoomed towards the tree and swiftly zipped through all the branches and the Flying Rat chased after him. This, however, was where Plagg had the advantage with his size. He was able to duck and weave and bob around even the tiniest branches dancing just mere centimetres out of reach of the Flying Rat.

"Ha, ha!" Plagg cried out triumphantly, "Can't get me no-"

BAM!

Plagg groaned painfully against the bark of the tree as he slowly slid against it. "Bugger!" Plagg muttered as he flopped down onto the cold, grimy, grey paved street of Paris.

He moaned against the pavement as he tried to sit up but he was suddenly surrounded by people and promptly stiffened into a typical toy pose before someone noticed him.

He couldn't have his cover blown within five minutes of escape not only would he be lectured to a death of boredom by Adrien but Tiki, Wayzz, and Master Fu would ensure his afterlife would consist of nothing but lectures.

Boring old farts!

Plagg laid there (im) patiently for enough people to vanish so he could fly back up to safety….well okay, safety wasn't the correct term with the Flying Rat hovering nearby like a pigeon version of Hawk Moth, but at least he could actually move and not lay here on the cold floor like an idiot.

"Mummy, Mummy!" a little whiney voice called out. "Look a kitty cat! A kitty cat!"

Plagg inwardly groaned when a child no older than four suddenly lifted him off the ground with their filthy, grubby, hands.

His beautiful soft silky fur, ruined! By sticky, jammy, fingers of a little kid.

The child beamed a big smile down at him. It was, Plagg thinks, a little girl with great big front teeth that made her look like a rabbit, and messy hair pulled back by a hideous pink fluffy scrunchie. "He's so cute!" the little girl cooed annoyingly as she suddenly smothered Plagg against her chest. "He's my new best friend! We're going to play games and eat cookies and draw pictures and cuddle forever and forever!"

"That's nice dear," her mother replied tiredly, "come along now. We don't want to be late for the park."

"Ah!" the little girl gasped excitedly. "The park! Isn't that fun, kitty cat? We can play on the swings and the slide and the roundabout and-!"

Oh dear God, kill me now!

Plagg inwardly screamed as the little girl's hold on him became suffocating. She held on so tight that he was pretty sure she broke a bone before they finally made it to the park. Plagg spent the next excruciatingly long two hours trying to escape the little pink demon as she squeezed him tight in one fist as they flew down the slide, as he almost vomited from the swinging motion of the swings, and when he had to endure freaking cookies being pushed against his mouth.

COOKIES!

The very indignation of having Tiki's favourite food against his lips while his creamy camembert was probably being pecked away by the Flying Rat and his fellow evil minions.

Plagg had to endure all of this and more all while, the very worst of it all, maintaining the biggest, fakest, smile that ached more and more every second he wore it.

He was fairly certain he was in hell now.

Then after all of that the little demon (who kept a tight grip on one of his paws, definitely bruising something) raced across the playground towards the roundabout. Before Plagg knew it he was going round and round and round at ridiculous breakneck speed as he grew dizzier and dizzier. The little demon's face became blurred until all Plagg could see was pink as he flopped uselessly in the air (the little demon was only holding onto his paws as she pinned him to the cold metal railings of the roundabout). Plagg was just about to patience and shout something abusive when suddenly –

Swoosh!

BAM!

Plagg suddenly shot out of the little demon's grip and flew backwards into the air before collided, stomach first, into a nearby tree.

"Urgh!" Plagg groaned pitifully as he slowly slid against the bark. "This," he muttered darkly, "is not my day."

He then, thankfully, blacked out at this point.

When he finally stirred awake it was because a great, big, fat raindrop splattered across his face. He shot up to see the sky had turned a dark, stormy, grey, and the park was thankfully abandoned as all the silly humans sought out shelter in fear of some water.

Though strictly speaking Plagg wasn't a fan of water either and he too would like somewhere nice and warm to hide out the oncoming storm.

The park was not going to provide that.

His stomach growled furiously and Plagg was instantly reminded that it had been hours since had even the tiniest nibble of cheese. He was now exhausted, cold, sore, miserable, and, most importantly, starving!

He was even started to actually miss Adrien a bit.

He might be a whiny lovesick moron but he was Plagg's whiny lovesick moron who provided delicious cheeses and warm, soft, pillows, and gentle, comforting, scratches behind the ear.

Plagg wanted to go home!

Determined to go back (preferably before Adrien did so he could act all nonchalant and cool and like he didn't miss the Kid) Plagg struggled to get up into the air and slowly, stealthily, flew back into the streets of Paris.

Unfortunately this was where he met his next snag.

Plagg hadn't needed to fly through the streets at all since he had been awakened. He had always stuck by Adrien's side and that always meant luxurious limo rides even just to school and back. Plagg has not once seen twenty first century Paris from a bird's eye view and the whole thing was totally disorientating.

He felt like he had been flying for an eternity which did nothing to help with his exhaustion. He felt drained. As in hadn't eaten cheese for days while simultaneously letting Adrien do five cataclysms in a row drained. Which was when he inconveniently remembered there was a reason his essence was tied to a damn silver ring on Adrien's finger.

This coupled with his injuries, his lack of cheese, his general tiredness, and his misery slowed him down incredibly.

Really slowed him down.

As in he was pretty sure a snail could move faster than he was because he was really beginning to feel weak and so tired and, God, he was so hungry!

Black spots appeared across Plagg's view of the world and suddenly he felt limp as the world felt like it was falling beneath him. He was falling, and falling, and falling, and -

Flump!

Plagg stirred as he felt himself being encased by something soft and silky. The scent of cookies was almost overwhelming and made his nose twitch irritably. "Tiki….?" He moaned groggily.

He opened his eyes to meet the familiar big, blue, concerned eyes of Tiki's chosen one….

….without the mask.

(He wasn't as thick as Adrien he would recognise her anywhere.)