Chapter Text
The camera slowly panned over dimly-lit walls covered in grime and graffiti, the only sound the faint crunch of shoes on gravel. Then a rumbling filled the air, faint at first, but growing louder by the second. When the noise was nearly deafening, the camera jerked upward, revealing a railing high above, hinting that something must lay beyond. Moments later, a subway train came into view, rushing along behind the railing, a blur of silver metal and white lights.
As the train sped by, a somber voice said, “Every day, hundreds of trains run along those tracks, carrying thousands of passengers through this station. And yet, none of those passengers have the slightest clue that it's here, hidden just below their view. An abandoned memorial to a forgotten era.”
“We are sure that the trains only run up there, right? Because that train flew by and we’re currently standing on tracks,” a new voice interrupted, earning a sigh from the narrator. A second later, the camera looked away from the distant railing, panning across full expanse of the abandoned subway tunnel before coming to rest on a young woman with golden-brown skin. Her amber eyes and bright flashlight were both pointed straight at the ground where silver train tracks gleamed amidst dull, grey gravel.
“You don’t have to stand right beside me!” the narrator pointed out. “You can move to the side and hold the light from there instead. It shouldn't affect that shot and it'll help calm your nerves.”
“That would be why I’m standing over here,” a third voice called, making the camera pan again to reveal a short, smiling Eurasian woman. “Come on, Als, if Nino wants to get himself killed, then that’s his choice! You don’t have to join him.”
“No, that is not his choice! He doesn’t get to be an idiot until after the wedding!” Alya shot back, making Nino lower his camera so that he could give his fiancée his full attention.
“You’re really freaking out about this, aren’t you?”
“A little, yeah,” Alya admitted.
Nino sighed and jerked his head to the side. “Come on then, that was good enough for an opening shot. I can be more responsible for the rest.”
Relief spread across Alya’s face as she took Nino’s hand and pulled him to safer ground, whispering a soft, “Thank you.”
“No thanks necessary. I’m just sorry that I didn’t notice how freaked out you were. This was supposed to be a break for us, not another stressor,” he replied, squeezing her hand.
“It’s okay. Other than the whole 'risking our lives' thing, this has been pretty fun, right M?” Alya asked, turning to look at her best friend, only to find that she was facing the other way, staring down the tunnel, her body tense. “Is everything okay Marinette?”
“Did you hear something?” Marinette asked, still staring off into the distance.
Alya and Nino exchanged confused looks, then Alya said, “No? I don’t think so?”
“Then be quiet and listen!” Marinette ordered.
Her friends did as they’d been told. A second later, they both heard a soft mewling echoing through the abandoned subway station.
“That kinda sounds like a baby!” Nino gasped.
Alya frowned and tilted her head to the side, listening intently as the faint noise came again. “I guess, but I doubt that's what it actually is. Why would someone hide a baby down here? I'm betting that it’s some sort of animal. This seems like a good, dry place for a stray to make its home. Though, now that I say that, I suppose that the same thing would be true for humans, too, so it might really be a baby. But if it is, then I doubt that it's alone.”
“Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than my theory,” Nino agreed. “Come on, let's head back and get some footage of the main terminal. I doubt that who- or whatever that is wants to be disturbed.”
Alya nodded and the couple turned around, beginning to make their way back down the tunnel.
After a few steps, Alya realized that they weren’t being followed. She stopped and turned back around to find Marinette still standing frozen, facing away from them, her flashlight pointing off into the distance. “M, you coming?”
“In a minute. Let me check out that noise first,” Marinette replied. Then she was off, walking along the tunnel, searching the alcoves for the source of the soft, pleading cries.
Alya let out a low curse as Nino said, “Come on, we’d better follow her. I don't want her going alone and you know that we’re not changing her mind.”
“Yeah, I know,” Alya sighed. Then she gestured towards Marinette's distant form and said, “Alright, lead the way and let's try to avoid getting bitten by something. I don’t wanna spend my wedding suffering through a rabies shot!”
Alya and Nino followed Marinette at a distance, giving themselves room to react in case she got into trouble. It wasn’t long before she stopped in front of a seemingly random alcove, her flashlight focused inside. A second later, she let out a cry of alarm and rushed into the alcove, hiding herself from their field of view.
The couple ran after her, stopping at the entrance to the alcove, pointing their own flashlights inside, searching for their friend. It wasn’t hard to spot her. The alcove was tiny and Marinette was crouching right in the center, making soft cooing noises at something in the far left corner. The couple followed her gaze and let out twin gasps when they spotted a small black kitten curled against the alcove's wall, its back arched, its green eyes wide with terror, its tiny body trembling in fear.
“Be careful, Nettie,” Nino warned. “You don’t know if-”
To Nino’s surprise, Alya whacked his arm, silencing him. He gave her a shocked, searching look, silently demanding an explanation for the unusual behavior.
She simply pointed towards the kitten and quietly hissed, “Its leg! Look at its leg!”
Nino did as he was told, letting out a horrified gasp when he spotted the tiny, grey manacle hidden amidst the kitten's black fur. A matching chain ran from the manacle to the wall where it was fastened to a nasty-looking peg. “Dude, that’s sick! Why the fuck would someone do that?”
“Quiet! You’re scaring it!” Marinette snapped, looking over her shoulder to glare at her friends.
A guilty look spread across Nino's face as Alya sighed, then whispered, “Come on, Babe. M's safe enough and that chain doesn’t look too strong. Let’s see if we can find something to help break it or at least pry it from the wall.”
Nino nodded and the couple walked away, searching the area for sharp rocks or something that could be used as a pry bar.
As soon as they were gone, Marinette turned her attention back to the kitten, holding out her hand as she softly coaxed, “Come on, little one. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise! I just wanna help you.”
For several long moments, the kitten remained pressed against the wall, glancing between her face and her hand, its defensive posture unchanged. Then, to Marinette’s delight, its back slowly began to straighten, its stance turning more relaxed, though its trembling never ceased even as it took a few hesitant steps forward, sniffing the air softly.
“That’s right,” Marinette whispered. “Come on, just a little closer! I just wanna see that nasty manacle of yours.”
The kitten continued its slow approach until it was standing before Marinette, holding out its paw, mewling pitifully. Marinette carefully took the paw in her hand, examining the manacle, looking for a lock. When she found one, she smiled and said, “Oh, good! I can handle this!”
She winked at the kitten and set its paw down before reaching into her purse and pulling out a piece of yarn. A second later, a tiny red creature floated out of the purse and opened its mouth to speak. Before it could say anything, the kitten let out a terrified yowl and bolted back to the wall, curling into a miserable, shaking ball of fur.
For a moment, Marinette just sat there, frozen. Then Alya’s worried voice echoed along the tunnel, breaking Marinette from her stupor. “M, you okay?”
“Y-y-yeah! I’m fine! The kitten just got a little spooked! Have you found anything that might help?” Marinette called back.
“Not yet! We’ll keep looking!”
Once she was certain that her friends weren’t about to return, Marinette turned to the floating creature and said, “You should probably hide, Tikki. I think you’re scaring it.”
“I think you’re right,” Tikki agreed. “Let me know if you need help.”
Then she was gone, hidden away in Marinette’s purse, leaving the young witch alone with the kitten.
Marinette didn’t try to coax the kitten away from the wall again. She didn’t need to. She’d seen the manacle and that was all that mattered.
She took the yarn in her hands, forming it into a loose knot. Then she closed her eyes, focusing her magic on the knot, picturing the manacle’s lock. As she pulled the knot apart, she pictured the lock opening, expecting to hear an accompanying "click" echo through the alcove.
None came.
The alcove remained silent.
Marinette frowned and opened her eyes, looking toward the kitten, who was staring back. It was obviously still terrified, but there was a hint of curiosity in its green eyes. That hint made Marinette smile and hold up her yarn. “I’m trying to open the lock on your manacle, but I don’t know if it worked.”
To her surprise, the kitten stood up and slowly walked back over to her. When it reached her side, it closed its eyes and held out its trembling, manacled paw.
A thousand questions flashed through Marinette’s mind, but she ignored them. They could wait until the kitten was free.
She carefully took the kitten's paw in her hand, inspecting the manacle, frowning when she saw that it was indeed still locked. She let the paw go and tried the spell again, keeping her eyes open and focused on the lock, but nothing happened.
Cold dread welled within her as she tried the spell again. When it failed for a third time, she whispered a soft curse, then said, “That’s magicked, isn’t it?”
The kitten opened its eyes, glanced at the manacle, and then nodded, which no longer surprised Marinette. She’d heard stories about witches experimenting on animals. Increasing their intelligence to make them into spies or servants. It was forbidden magic, but forbidding something didn’t stop it from happening.
“Don’t worry, kitten, my magic may be a dud, but we’re still getting you out of here,” she vowed. Then she stood up and moved to the wall, inspecting the manacle that was holding the chain to the peg. She had no doubt that it was magicked, too. That meant that her best bet was breaking the chain, which had hopefully been left unmagicked. She knelt down and picked up the chain, searching for a weakness that she could exploit.
Suddenly, something soft brushed against her side, making her start and glance down to find the kitten curled up against her, purring softly. She smiled and scratched its head, which only seemed to increase the purring.
Marinette allowed the kitten a few more moments of clearly-needed affection, then she turned her attention back to the chain. “Sorry, little one, but I need to concentrate. I wanna get you out of here before whoever did this to you gets back."
The kitten immediately backed away, giving Marinette space to work, which broke her heart. The poor thing was clearly desperate to be free.
She reached out and gave the kitten one final scratch behind its ears, promising, " Once you're free, I'll give you all of the pets and cuddles you want, okay?”"
This earned a soft mewl, which made her smile as she returned to inspecting the chain. The more she inspected, the more her smile faded, her confidence draining away. The links weren’t thick. They weren’t even welded shut, but she didn’t have the strength to bend whatever metal this was. She couldn’t break it, either. That would take more than a quick yarn trick. She'd need a real, planned spell. Materials, too. It would probably be quicker for her to run home and grab some nullifying linen, but then she’d be leaving the kitten all alone and she couldn’t do that! It was so scared! And what if the other witch came back while she was gone?
Footsteps echoed in the subway tunnel, closing in on the alcove, making Marinette whirl around to stare at the entrance, bracing herself for a fight. To her relief, it was just Alya and Nino, who were both grinning as Nino held up a rusty metal tool box.
“Look what we found!” Alya cried. “It was probably left here when they closed the place down, which means it's ancient, but the stuff inside looks functional.”
“The box probably protected it,” Nino added, walking over and handing the box to Marinette. She looked inside, quickly spotting a hammer and what appeared to be railroad ties - the long, nail-like metal rods used to hold down train tracks.
“Not as good as a bolt cutter, but it’ll probably work,” she mused as she grabbed the hammer and one of the ties. She placed the point of the tie in the center of one of the chain links, then looked at the kitten and asked, “You ready?”
The kitten seemed to brace itself and Marinette nodded. Then she went to town, slamming the hammer against the tie.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, the tie reshaped the chain link, stretching it to the point where it could be slipped off the adjoining links. Marinette grinned and did just that, leaving the kitten manacled, but no longer chained to the wall. As soon as it realized that it was free, it let out a tiny mewl of joy before scampering into Marinette's lap, nuzzling against her stomach, purring up a storm.
“I’m happy that you’re free, too,” she laughed, giving it an affectionate scratch behind the ears. Then she grew serious. “But we need to get out of here. I have no interest in meeting the monster that did this to you.”
“Oh, I’d love to meet them. Especially if you hand me that hammer!” Alya growled, glaring at the section of chain that was still hanging from the wall.
Nino took his fiancée's hand and shook his head. “I love that righteous anger of yours, Babe, but we don’t know how many people were involved. Do you really wanna risk fight a gang?”
“No,” Alya muttered, her shoulders slumping as Marinette stood up, the still-purring kitten clasped in her arms.
“I’ll take him home and get the manacle off of him. I’m sure that I’ve got something lying around that can do the job. If not, well, I’ve always wanted to learn how to pick a lock!”
“Of course you have,” Alya laughed, smiling in spite of the situation. Then she sighed and looked down at the tool box. “I guess that we’d better put this back where we found it, just in case. I don’t wanna leave this stuff here for the monster to find, if they’re even coming back.”
Nino hummed his agreement and set about gathering the tools. As he worked, Alya turned to Marinette and said, “Why don’t you go ahead and head out? You know the way and that kitten has waited long enough.”
“Thanks Alya. I’ll let you know what happens,” Marinette promised, leaning forward so that Alya could hug her.
When the hug ended, Marinette turned away and took off down the tunnel, doing her best to awkwardly aim her flashlight while carefully holding her tiny, purring passenger. The idea of putting the kitten down and letting it walk never even crossed her mind.