Adrien closed the door to his room and collapsed, leaning all of his weight against it. Sighing, he tipped his head back and closed his eyes, wishing that, just for a moment, everything would be quiet. There was so much noise, all day every day, that he rarely felt as if he himself could be heard over it. The only time anyone listened was when he was Chat. Oh sure, people pretended to listen to Adrien Agreste, model, heir, intellectual, prodigy, but they always wanted something; money, attention, information, everyone who interacts with Adrien Agreste has an act, a motive.

Chat on the other hand…

Chat could be who he wanted to be, and no one had the power to change him.

Terrible puns? Sure, why not.

Endless flirting? Sounds like fun.

Brave heroics? Living the dream.

Chat was free. Adrien was not.

There was a rustling from his bag, which he had tossed carelessly aside, and Plagg came out, flying right over to land on Adrien's shoulder. "You alright, kid?"

Adrien gave a small smile and rubbed the top of the kwami's head. "I think so, buddy."

Plagg gave a contented sigh before flying right in front of Adrien's face. "You know what always makes me feel better? Some camembert!"

Chuckling, Adrien pushed himself to standing and surveyed his room. He really ought to practice his piano… his father wanted that piece done and ready to go within the week. Likely so that he can boast about his perfect son, Adrien thought bitterly. It's not as if piano is an absolutely essential skill.

He gazed longingly out the window, wishing that the sun would set, wishing that he could catch a glimpse of those stars and literally be sent back in time, to a time where heroes were crowned king rather that trapped in their room by an overprotective, distant, cold father. To a time when feats of daring and chivalry set men among the stars. Orion, Perseus, Hercules… what made them so different from Chat Noir? He had surely done more than 12 Herculean tasks, ended plenty of gorgon-like akumas, and his pursuit of Ladybug could surely be considered an endless hunt.

Who are you kidding, Adrien? Behind Chat's mask, you're just you, a lonely kid who gazes at the stars and wishes he were among them.

Shaking his head, Adrien shot a quick text off to Nino, letting him know that he was grounded for the night and wouldn't be able to hang out. Apparently, getting an 87 on a pop quiz in chemistry was utterly unacceptable. (To be honest, Adrien was proud of that score. He and Ladybug had been up nearly till his school alarm the night before with an akumatized sleep-deprived college student called Snooze. Naturally, he made all of Paris fall asleep, except for Chat Noir and Ladybug, of course.)

Ignoring what was sure to be Nino's commiserating reply, Adrien sat down at the piano, desperate to pass the time until it was finally dark and he could meet up with Ladybug for patrol.

After dinner and endless rounds of mind-numbing games on his phone, night finally fell and Adrien could not get out of the house fast enough.

A true smile breaking across his face for the first time that day, it tool all of his self-restraint to keep his voice down. "Plagg, claws out!"

As soon as the transformation was complete, Char soared out the window, anxious for a night of good doings and friendship. He had thought up a new pun that he wanted to try out ('How's this for paw-kour, m'lady?') and Ladybug always managed to bring him up of out his funk.

Quickly, he made his way to their designated rooftop and perched on the ledge, waiting for his partner to show up, amusing himself by pretending that he could make out the stars beyond the wonderful Parisian light pollution.

20 minutes passed, and there was no sign of Ladybug. Frowning, Chat Noir checked his communicator, but there was nothing. He sighed and stood up, stretching his arms up over his head. Sometimes real life gets in the way, he knew that. Heck, he'd even missed a few patrols himself with no notice. He just wished that tonight… well, tonight he really could have used some company.

Even up here on the rooftop, it was still loud. Traffic groaned below, and someone somewhere was blaring some truly terrible music.

Seemed as if even Chat was going unheard today.

Trying to shake himself out of his head, Chat did a quick lap around the city, and he was disappointed even in that. It seemed as if Paris was particularly restful that night, with what few troubles there were managed completely by law enforcement. The few people he did talk to only seemed to focus on Ladybug's absence rather than Chat Noir's presence.

Chat would never begrudge his lady the attention she receives, but still, sometimes it would be nice for Chat to be recognized as a true hero in his own right, not Ladybug's shadow or sidekick.

Chat could feel himself spiraling farther down into the hole that he had dug; he knew it was time to go home before he did something that he would surely regret later. His inhibitions were considerably lower when he was Chat Noir.

He landed in his dark, cool room, his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Plagg, claws in."

A flash of green, and the kwami was before him, his gaze more serious that Adrien had ever seen it before. "Adrien? Are you sure you're alright?"

Adrien didn't answer, instead walking over to his desk and picking up his old star chart. Slipping off his shoes, Adrien crept quietly out of his room, tracing a well-worn path to the attic stairs. Avoiding the third, fifteenth, and twenty-second steps (ones he knew to be creaky), Adrien carefully made his way up to the rarely used space.

He knew that hanging out in the attic was not something your typical high schooler would do, and that in fact many high schoolers would find such a thing creepy, but it was Adrien's favorite space in the whole mansion. Cluttered with old furniture, perpetually covered in dust, it was the only space in the whole building that felt lived in, timeless, limitless. Beyond that, however, its dormers were also the best spot for stargazing.

Adrien was vaguely aware of Plagg nestling into a box of forgotten tablecloths, but most of his attention was focused on the night sky ahead of him. What should have been a pitch black sky dotted with beautiful stars was instead a gradient of gray, a horrid color that hid the beauties of the heavens beneath the atrocities of man. Laying his star chart out before him, Adrien fancied that he could just barely make out the constellations.

There's Hercules, and right by him, the Nemean Lion, Leo.

Orion, in the southern sky, endlessly chasing Scorpius in the north.

It was almost as if every single constellation has a partner, a family, a mission, something that would recognize them for who they were.

Poor Andromeda, with her mother Cassiopeia and her father Cepheus, nearly killed by Cetus the sea monster and then rescued by Perseus.

That family… sometimes Adrien felt as if he were chained to a rock, the expectations of his father and society forcing him to slowly lose parts of himself. They didn't listen to his cries and instead continued to take chunks of flesh from his soul.

Pausing, Adrien wondered who was Perseus in this scenario. Plagg? The thought nearly managed to make Adrien smile. Ladybug? Even Nino, for being a good, normal friend?

Or was Chat Noir his Perseus? Shaking the thought from his head, Adrien tried to set his mind straight. He was not a damsel in distress. Sure, he might be in a rough spot right now, but he would make it through, right?

The Pleiades, the Seven Sisters…

Adrien pulled his knees up to his chest. Below him, the house seemed so empty, so devoid of life. What he wouldn't give for a good friend right now…

A poor boy… all alone, even his stars abandoning him. How sad. I think I might spruce up the night life for him.

Wait… Adrien?

Hmm, this could prove rather interesting.

Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize him!

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

That one word kept echoing through Adrien's mind as he sat there, his eyes glazed over and no longer even attempting to dream about the stars.

No Ladybug.

No Nino.

No Alya or Marinette.

No Kim or Mylene or Ivan or Rose or Juleka or Nathaniel or Alix or Max.

No one.

Not even his father.

The star chart crumpled in his hands.

Suddenly, a blissful numbness crept over his thoughts as a voice entered into his mind.

Starcrossed, you've been left alone by your friends one too many times.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a part of Adrien rebelled. Some little piece of him recognized the presence of Hawk Moth, knew that this as something he should be wary of, and yet, the respite offered by the voice, the serenity… Adrien subconsciously grasped onto it, like a toddler with a toy.

The only constant in your life has been Polaris, the North Star. I'm giving you the power to make all of your friends as constant a presence in your life as those mythological heroes you so dearly cling to.

Visions began to fill Adrien's head, visions of laughing friends, of smiling faces, of lived in homes. His heart leapt, and he gasped in the sheer need of such a thing.

In return, you will get me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous.

Again a slight sense of wrongness, as if there was something not quite right with the voice. Something about Chat Noir… the numbness blocked all true thought from Adrien's mind.

A cruel smile leapt to the boy's face, transforming it from a thing of beauty to an object of fright. "Your dutiful Night awaits, Hawk Moth."

A laugh, and then a feeling of power, creeping up from where his hands grasped the star chart. He breathed deeply, feeling the sensation creep through his body, transforming it into something more. Smirking, he rose to his full height and caught a glimpse of himself in the window. His hair and skin was pitch black, the only deviation being bright spots of gold placed on his body in the shape of Orion, three at the belt, one on each shoulder knee, and one at the hollow of his throat. His eyes were blazing pits of yellow light. The star chart in his hand practically trembled with power.

Freed and empowered, Starcrossed blew out the window and flew out into the night, finally getting his time to shine.

Plagg had been startled out of a light nap by a slight gasp. Groggily sitting up, his shook his mind awake and looked over at Adrien, only to be shocked into full consciousness.

An akuma.

No.

Adrien couldn't get akumatized!

But it was already too late.

Hawkmoth was there, and if the villain saw Plagg, then Adrien would be placed in terrible danger. Instead, Plagg was forced to sit there silently as his boy transformed into a thing of nightmares.

As soon as the boy took off, Plagg headed out too, but in the opposite direction.

As he landed on the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, the kwami muttered, "I knew that he wasn't alright. I should've pressed more.

"It's gonna take a whole lot of camembert to make this whole thing feel better."