Marinette's speed got them to the doors of the Dupain-Cheng bakery in no time at all and the minute they walked inside, Adrien was assaulted by an array of delicious warm smells that he almost gulped down in his haste to taste them all. On the outside, the tall elegant white building that perched on the corner of the street looked more like an ordinary Parisian house, only hinting of the magic that went on inside that was displayed in the glass windows and cases all around him. As his eyes travelled across the seas of golden pastries, coloured creams and glazed fruits, he wasn't sure what he wanted to try first. It all looked so good, he wondered how Marinette had stayed so slim; he was certain if he lived in a place like this, he would never have been able to model anything. He heard a giggle from beside him and he turned to see Marinette had her fingers knotted over mouth to try and stifle the sounds bubbling from it.

"Sorry!" She spluttered out when she saw him looking at her with a small frown. "You just looked so awed… you know these are just pastries, not gold right?"

"This is way better than gold." He snorted in response, causing her to giggle harder until her eyes spotted movement in the back of the shop and she ran to the counter.

"Mama! Papa!"

"Marinette!" Two overjoyed voices joined her chorus as a man and a woman stepped out from the back and engulfed her in a giant bear hug that she returned happily, not caring that her organs were being squashed. Adrien stared at the joyful reunion, watching as the woman pecked softly at Marinette's face and the man started asking her questions about what she had been doing, and he felt a twinge of sadness in his chest. So these are her parents, he thought, they look so happy to see her even though it can't have been that long since they last spoke if they are that close. He sighed; he doubted his father would gave him a welcome like that even if they hadn't spoken for years.

"It's so good to see you sweetheart!" The woman proudly exclaimed as she examined her daughter closely. She had a close resemblance to Marinette, sharing her black hair and creamy skin, though her hair was cut short in a bob and there were streaks of white flour on her cheeks making her look like she had whiskers. Her delicate features looked more Oriental and she was shorter than either of her family members but she had a no-nonsense air about her that made even Adrien think twice about trying anything. "I swear you've gotten skinner since the last time I saw you…" She drew her eyes away from Marinette as she squirmed away giggling and saw Adrien standing there awkwardly, her face instantly lighting up. "You didn't tell us you were bringing a friend!"

"Oh yeah," Marinette turned around and yanked Adrien closer, ignoring the look of sheer panic on his face. "This is Adrien, we're working on a case together. He's one of the best in the business, I've never known anyone so dedicated to their work plus he's a good friend of mine." Adrien looked at her, surprised by the compliments but she stared back steadily like she was just stating facts.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Adrien. I'm Tom, Marinette's father and this is my wife Sabine." Tom Dupain-Cheng smiled at him as he stretched out a flour-coated hand for him to shake. He was a tall, powerful looking man with arm muscles that were probably bigger than all of his put together and Adrien could help but gulp a little when he offered his own hand up to potentially be crushed. Thankfully, he found that he was a lot gentler than he seemed and when he looked up into his round face that sat on the top of his huge shoulders, he saw there was a smile underneath his moustache. "It's nice to see Marinette bring a friend here for once. I was beginning to think you didn't like anybody at the station Mari."

"Papa…" Marinette whined, her cheeks red as her father winked at her but Adrien didn't notice as suddenly his arm was grabbed again and he was yanked closer to the counter. Why does everybody in this family want to cut off circulation in my arm? He thought before he was confronted with Sabine's razor-sharp eyes that stared deeply into his before the rest of him was then subjected to close inspection. He stood there motionless, unsure of what to do as they all went silent, and he stared directly at Marinette, pleading her with his eyes to intervene but she was too busy holding back her laughter at his panicked expression.

Eventually, once Adrien felt like he had been put through a whole CAT scan, Sabine looked back up and glanced over at her husband and daughter. "Marinette," She insisted firmly. "This boy is even skinnier than you! I'm beginning to think you police officers don't eat at all! He needs to be fed up!"

"What?!" Adrien stared at her in shock whilst Marinette burst out laughing, tears leaking from her eyes as she clung to the counter for support. "No please Mrs Dupain-Cheng, I wouldn't want to bother you and we only came to get coffees…"

"It will be no bother at all!" Sabine did not hesitate to reply as she forcibly led him to a table and got him to sit down, still spluttering protests as Marinette followed. "I really do insist, I couldn't forgive myself if I let you out of here to go your job with nothing on your bones. Please call me Sabine dear." She smiled a quiet warning at him not to move and he quickly complied before she asked him "Have you had breakfast this morning?"

"I had a coffee…" Adrien mumbled guiltily; it was the only thing he had managed to grab on his way out and now he was sorely regretting it. Sabine gave a prim nod like all her worst suspicions had been confirmed before she smiled again and sat Marinette down opposite him.

"There. Now neither of you move until I get back, OK? And don't worry about the coffees for your friends," She grinned, the victory in her face an exact replica of Marinette's, as she swiped the list of orders and glanced over it. "I'll take care of these." Before Adrien could even respond, she was already halfway across the bakery, leaving him stunned and Marinette still laughing.

"You should see the look on your face right now!" She smirked as he turned back to face her. "She's quite a force to be reckoned with, isn't she? Some of our customers call her Hurricane Sabine."

"Yeah, I can see why." Adrien said, still sounding almost dazed as he glanced over at the counter where the fiercely organised woman was putting their orders in the till. "Does she always demand people eat like this?"

"If she thinks you're malnourished, yes." Marinette answered. "I think she just wants to feed the world, it's why she and my dad love this job so much. And I must say," She went as she peeked under the table at his figure. "You do look pretty skinny for such a fit guy. Do you actually eat much?"

"I do, believe me, if Nino was here he would attest to that." Adrien quickly replied. "He's always complaining I make our office reek of food and then eat his food. I eat a lot, it's just this job, what with all the running around and stress, it burns off a lot of calories. Plus, when I was a teenager when I was modelling for my father I was put on a very strictly controlled diet."

"Really?" Marinette's face creased up in concern. "Forgive me for sounding like my mama but that doesn't sound healthy at all. We really do need to feed you up."

"Oh don't you start." He groaned as he smacked his head into his hands and she gave a giggle. At that moment, a large plate was suddenly thrust onto the table in front of them, making them both jump in surprise. A loud chuckle came from above them and they looked up to see Tom was standing over them, his huge hands on the back of their chairs as he enjoyed the looks on their faces.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," He explained with a grin as Adrien sighed in relief. "These are some samples of new pastries we were thinking of bringing out-we want you two to be the first to try them. And they are on the house so don't even try." He eyed Adrien as he reached into his pocket and Adrien slowly backed his hand away. "Don't leave without giving us a verdict!"

"Of course Papa!" Marinette replied sunnily as she waved him off and he went to tend to some other customers. Adrien stared down at the plate in front of him and he couldn't believe his eyes. There were so many different cakes and pastries stuffed on there that he couldn't see the white of the plate underneath and each one looked so tempting and perfect he wasn't sure where to begin or even if he should. Marinette saw him staring and gently pushed the plate towards him.

"You take first pick." She told him. "Go on, it won't bite."

"I know that." He huffed at her good-naturedly before he finally selected the pastry closest to him, a cherry-studded cake filled with pink cream and sprinkled with shavings of chocolate. Holding it up to his lips, he realised how hungry he was and he took down half the delicate cake in one bite, sending cream oozing from the corners of his lips. He almost moaned as he chewed and it wasn't until he had finished the cake and was reaching for another did he notice Marinette laughing at him again.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," She gasped out as she tried to speak. "But you do have cream all over your face… you look like a five-year-old."

"I do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Now who's being a child?"

"Still you!"

Adrien groaned and shook his head as she continued to giggle at him. "Hold on, I'll get it." She said, just before she leaned over the table and licked her thumb. She then dragged it across his lips, moving swiftly to get every last morsel of cream, before she drew back and licked it off, humming lightly as she tasted the cherry in the cream. Adrien looked away and down at the pastries, not wanting it to look like he was staring at her. A gesture like that seemed bizarrely intimate and the last thing he wanted to do was make everything weird, not when they had gotten so comfortable with each other. He took another pastry, a flaky choux bun covered in almonds, and the next few minutes were spent with the pair of them happily tucking into the stash of food. It wasn't until the plate was half-empty did he speak again.

"These are all so delicious." He said in wonder as he finished off another cake with green tea flavouring and piped swirls of vivid green icing. "I don't know how your parents do it, everything is so good!"

"They are the best in the business," Marinette smiled proudly, looking over to where Tom and Sabine were setting out more baked goods to replace the ones bought in the morning rush. "I can't remember a time when they didn't bake. Some of my earliest memories are of being in the kitchen and watching them make bread and all that… it was really great."

"It sure sounds it." Adrien replied, feeling a tiny bit of jealousy for how great a childhood it sounded. He would have done anything for a childhood like that, surrounded by warmth and care. "So how did that lead to you being a cop? You were going to tell me and then we kinda got side-tracked…"

"Oh yeah! We did." She gave a laugh but it sounded forced and she stared down at the plate suddenly like it was a TV screen showing something interesting. He could see her eyes kept flicking over to where her parents stood and he looked over at where they were starting up the coffee machine.

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah I'm fine." She told him, finally looking up. "It's just… I don't want them to hear us talking about this stuff. It brings up a lot of bad memories and I don't want to put them through that, not when they are still just getting over it."

Bad memories? Adrien saw the way Marinette was biting her lip and felt concerned. Maybe her upbringing hadn't been as idyllic as he had imagined. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No it's OK," She said with a hint of her regular smile back. "I was kinda interrogating you earlier about your past and I don't know why but I do want to tell you. Maybe it will help somehow if I do talk about it, I've never actually told anyone the full story."

"Really?" Adrien said surprised. "I'm honoured."

Marinette gave a small smile at that before she took one of the last few pastries, a white chocolate and raspberry cookie, and started to talk. "OK well, I told you my earliest memories were of being in the kitchen with my family baking, right?" She looked over at him for confirmation and he gave a nod. "Well that was when my parents first opened up the bakery. I must have been around five or six when it did properly open and though it was a little rocky at the start, what with there being so many bakeries in Paris, but after a while things were going really well. We were all overjoyed; it had been their joint dream to open a bakery here for so long and I was just happy to see them happy. I loved it all, the baking, working on the counter, I used to help out whenever I could but my dream was to be a fashion designer at that point. I remember I used to sew outfits for all my stuffed toys, they must have had more clothes than me…" She gave a giggle but it quickly disappeared as she continued with her story.

"Then, one night when I was about twelve, we were just closing up when there was a loud knocking at the door. It was so loud, I thought they would break the door down and Papa practically ran to open it before they did. Mama tried to get me upstairs to bed but I hid at the top of the stairs and I saw everything. There were two men standing in the doorway, both in long coats with their faces hidden. They came in and they kept their hands in their pockets; I couldn't see exactly what was there but it was making a really big bulge. They started talking to my parents in really low voices so I couldn't hear what they said but I could see what their reactions were. They both looked horrified and Papa started yelling at them to get out of his bakery and that they would never agree to this kind of thing. He said it was criminal and that seemed to get them angry.

One of them suddenly shot his hand out and struck Mama, he hit her so hard she was sent sprawling to the ground. He then put his foot on her head so she couldn't get back up; I remember nearly screaming when I heard her cry out but I felt frozen to the spot, powerless to do anything but watch. Papa ran at him, trying to save her but he was stopped by the other man. He was skinny but somehow he was stronger and he pushed him back. He then yelled at him that if he didn't agree to their terms when they visited the following night, worse things would happen to Mama and to me. I can still remember him looking up at the stairs and staring into my eyes, looking at me like he was about to snap me in half. I'd never been more terrified and I just ran and hid in my bed. Mama came up a little while later and tried to calm me down but there wasn't much they could say; they were both just as powerless as me.

They came the next night like they promised and my parents had to agree to those terms. I was hiding upstairs at that point so I never saw them but I now know what they agreed. My parents were essentially being forced to take part in a protection racket; they paid these people a certain amount of money each month and in return, they were left alone and unharmed. They were threatened with horrible things if they ever tried to leave, most of them involving me." She sounded sick at the thought, her fingers crushing the cake she held into a crumbly sticky mess. "I never saw them come to collect the money, I was always ushered upstairs but I never wanted to. All I knew was that these people were blackmailing my parents and it made me feel awful. I've already told you I hate feeling powerless and I was determined to do something about it so I gave up being a fashion designer and I dreamed of being a cop instead."

"Wow." That was all Adrien could say for a moment as he let the story sink in. "You gave up that to try and stop that from happening? That's such a noble thing to do."

"You really think so?" Marinette blushed a little as she wiped away the crushed remains of her cake.

"Yeah, it really is. You and your parents have my respect for dealing with all that." He looked over at where the two of them were casually making the coffees before he asked "Wait, is this still going on? What happened to those people?"

"No they've left my parents alone now," Marinette told her, her face now with looking grim. "That happened a few years back. I had just started my last year of studying and was on the way to joining the force. My parents were out one night and I stayed at home to watch the bakery. I didn't plan on doing much, just ordering a pizza and watching some old movies, just relaxing after a long week of school. Then at around midnight, there was a knock on the door. I was halfway through some movie and I remember pausing it, thinking it was just my parents who had forgotten their key and needed to be let in. I ran down the stairs to get to the door and I pulled it open ready to tease them for forgetting, only to see those two men standing there."

Her eyes went dark as she went through the memory, her fingers tensed around nothing and her lips falling under attack again. "I remember just standing there feeling like the world was going to cave in as I saw them, it was like my worst nightmare had come true. They just stood there smiling at me, seemingly enjoying the fear they had installed in me and one of them even laughed. They said they had come early for their money; their boss wanted us to up our payment and he wanted the first new instalment now. I was floored by how callous they were and it made me so angry. How dare they come here and demand our hard-earned money? My parents had worked so hard to be respected in the city and this is what they get for it? That was all I could think of and I just got so furious that all my fear just left me. They both started demanding I go and get the money for them and though I didn't know where my parents kept it, I told them I'd be right back with it. I can still remember the sick grins they gave at that-they really thought they had me running scared. What I actually did was run to my room, grab the nearest thing and bring it back down behind my back. When they started to get angry at me and yelled for their money, I just brought it out and socked them with it."

"No way!" Adrien felt his jaw drop as a twisted smile appeared on her face. "You really did that?"

"You bet I did." She grinned. "I hit those fuckers harder than I'd ever hit anything and they both went out like a light. I dragged their bodies into the nearest alleyway I could find and I pinned a note onto one of their coats, telling them that if they didn't want to be humiliated by a girl again, they should leave the bakery alone. And after that, they didn't seem to want to bother us."

"I'm not surprised." Adrien couldn't help grinning along with her. He knew she was a badass but he had never realised she was by that much. "So you really never saw them again?"

"Nope. But they never got caught either." She said and at that her face fell. "That really became my motivation. I didn't want anyone to go through what we all did for so long. Seeing people hurt and then making it right… that's what makes this job worth it all." She sighed quietly as she stared back down at the plate. "I hope it makes us worth it too."

The last sentence was spoken so softly, at first Adrien wasn't sure he had even heard it properly. He looked over at her confused. What had she meant by that? Did she really think she wasn't worth anything? He went to ask her but at that moment two things sent the strange words shooting clean from his mind; one was Sabine returning to the table and happily dumping the largest tray of coffees he had ever seen on the surface in front of him and the other was his phone urgently ringing in his pocket, the sound buzzing loudly against his thigh. Both surprises combined nearly sent him tumbling to the floor and this snapped Marinette out of her melancholy as she burst out laughing again, her hand hammering the table as she bent over howling.

"Oh god Adrien, how are you not a comedian or something? Your facial expressions are priceless!"

"Shut up, it's not that funny?" Adrien grumbled at her as he dug in his pocket for his phone. "It's probably Nino demanding to know where his coffee is. You pay for them and I'll meet you outside."

"No problem." She managed to splutter out between breaths and he quickly ran outside to take the call, giving a wave to Marinette's parents as he dashed through the door. Marinette handed the money to her mother who was giving her a look she knew all too well and was trying desperately to ignore.

"He seems nice." Sabine said sweetly, giving the appearance that she wasn't implying anything else that didn't fool her daughter for a minute.

"Yes he is nice, a very nice friend Mama." She told her firmly as she picked up the heavy tray with ease and dipped down to peck her on the cheek. "Thanks for the coffees, I'll drop by properly as soon as I can."

"That would be lovely dear. Make sure to bring that lovely boy with you," Sabine replied with a wink. "He does need feeding up and he has such good manners…"

"Mama!" Marinette protested with exasperation in her voice. If she hadn't been carrying the coffees for almost half the force, she would have slapped it to her forehead at her antics. "I'm going now, see you soon!"

"See you sweetheart!" Sabine and Tom called out with a wave as Marinette gently prised the door open with her knee, careful not to spill any of the hot brown liquid that was threatening to slosh over the sides of multiple cups. As she walked back onto the bustling street and wove her way towards Adrien, she saw him finish up his phone call before spotting her and running to help her with the tray.

"Are you seriously carrying all that by yourself? I didn't realise there would be this much!"

"I can handle it!" She told him, stubbornly holding the tray away from him as she determinedly strolled off in the direction of their crime scene, leaving him to catch up with her. "So what was the call about?"

"Well as I guessed, it was from Nino," Adrien answered her as they fell back into stride with each other. "He started off about the coffees, claiming they are all dying of thirst back there…" He shook his head as Marinette laughed, imagining all their comrades bothering Nino about the whereabouts of their drinks. "So I told him we were on our way back and we'd be there in five minutes. The next thing was a little more serious though." He frowned. "Turns out the chief is getting a little frustrated at how our investigation has come to a bit of a stop- he wants to put us two on another stake out in the hopes of catching another akuma and getting more information out of them. He wants Nino on it but he's got plans for tonight that he really doesn't want to cancel. He didn't tell me what they were but they sounded pretty important." He gave a long sigh. "He asked me to help him out but the only way I can see him getting out of this is if somebody else volunteers in his place and I don't think that's likely to happen."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'll do it!" Marinette said cheerily as Adrien turned to her in shock. "I'm not doing anything later and I'm always up for catching akumas, plus I'm not going to turn away two friends in need."

"Alright." Adrien smiled at her as he went to get his phone back out. "I'll tell him now, he'll be so grateful… hey wait, what do you mean two friends?"

"Oh didn't you know?" Marinette gave him a teasing smile before she quickened her pace and steamed ahead. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you later. Just don't tell Nino I mentioned it. I prefer to keep my life intact thank very much."

OOO

"He and Alya are on a what?!" Adrien yelped, his surprise thankfully contained by the metal body of their unmarked police car as the two of them sat in the gloom. It was now late at night and both he and Marinette had been stationed at the opening of the deserted street for more than three hours without even a hint of akuma activity appearing on their radar. Adrien had taken no time picking this spot; he knew both from his homework on the case and from his experiences as Chat Noir that the gang often passed through here to get to their meeting spot and the tall houses either side of the thin road would make the perfect cover for their car. The akumas would never even see them coming but so far there hadn't been a trace of them and Adrien was beginning to doubt they were ever going to show up. The only upside to being stuck in this tight space watching the blackness for a trace of movement that probably wasn't going to appear was Marinette being in the driver's seat as she was doing an excellent job of keeping him entertained with gossip about their friends.

"A date." She told him smugly, her tongue tangling around the straw of the smoothie she had stopped to buy just before they got there. "No word of a lie, Alya told me. They've been chatting since that day we all met at the café and he asked her a little while ago. I think it's sweet."

"I guess it is." Adrien grumbled as he took a sip of his hot chocolate that had gone cold long ago. Marinette had insisted on buying it for him when she got her smoothie and, though he had at first been reluctant to accept it, he was now thankful for the hit of sugar that came with it. "But so much for not hiding things from each other. He gets so pissy at me when I do that."

"Oh c'mon, you know it's not like that," Marinette told him, sounding almost like she was lightly scolding him. "It's their first date, he probably didn't want to mention it in case he screwed it up. It's a man thing."

"A man thing?" Adrien questioned with a sideways look. "Then what's a woman thing in this situation?"

"Calling your best friend seconds after you said yes to a date and spilling out all your anxieties about it over the phone in an hour-long conversation that covers every aspect of the date from what you're going to wear to what happens if you accidentally injure them." Marinette laughed when she caught sight of Adrien's expression as she shrugged her shoulders. "Don't ask me how but she Alya somehow convinced herself that was going to happen. She was so nervous, poor thing, I could practically hear her phone rattling in its case, she was shaking so much. She just really wants this to go well."

"Well from what I remember of Nino's behaviour, he seems to really like her as well," Adrien said, chortling at the memory of a drunk Nino close to crying over not getting her number. "Those two will be fine."

"Yeah, I know they will," Marinette smiled. "They are pretty sweet together."

"Yeah." Adrien agreed, not knowing what else to add as the car filled with silence. He softly drummed his fingers on the dashboard as she took a long slurp of her smoothie and a question suddenly popped into his head.

"Hey Marinette… have you ever done the woman thing?"

"Hmm? Err…" Marinette paused with a finger on her chin, thinking hard. "I must have done at some point… I can really become a nervous wreck at times so it wouldn't surprise me. But it would have been a long time ago-I haven't been on a date for ages." She looked over at him curiously before smirking. "Why, is this your way of asking me out?"

"What? No!" Adrien panicked as his instant kneejerk reaction was to spring back and throw his arms up in the air in denial, which nearly resulted in him throwing cold hot chocolate over both of them. "I wasn't asking you out, that's crazy! I mean, not that you aren't attractive or anything but you're my friend and that would be weird! Wait, that didn't come out right…" His cheeks burned red in embarrassment as Marinette failed to suppress her laughter at his panicking speech, ending up with her face pressed to the dashboard to try and keep quiet.

"I'm just messing with you, no need to look so scared!" She giggled as both their breathing rates went back to normal. "Why'd you ask though?"

"I don't really know much about dating and stuff like that," Adrien said, his face still tinged pink as he went to put his cup down to spare them further disaster. "When I was a teenager, I didn't go to school so I didn't know many people my own age-the only ones I ever met were other models and they were clearly off limits. Then when I left all that, I spent all my time working to get this job and it just sorta took over everything I guess…"

"Hold up." Marinette stopped him, her own hand aloft like she was ready to catch any words that might escape his mouth without her permission, "Are you saying you've never been on a proper date before?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that, Nino's tried to set me up with a few people once or twice…" Adrien's voice trailed off at the look she was giving him and when he opened his mouth to speak again, he was cut off by a loud gasp of outrage.

"Are you kidding me?!" She almost shouted, looking shocked as Adrien hastily attempted to shush her with no success. "How could you have never been on a date before, especially when you look like that?!" She waved her hands over his blushing form to make her point, looking like a frantic magician about to make him disappear, before she gave a deep sigh and flopped back in her seat with her hand rubbing at her eyes. "Man, Nino told me your ass was stupidly single but I never expected it was this bad…"

"Wait, Nino said what?" Adrien asked, his eyes narrowed at the name of his friend. "What else did he say?"

"He just said-ssssh!"

"What? That can't be it, oh I am so killing him…"

"SSSHH! There's something moving over there!"

Her hand shot out and covered his mouth as they both dipped their heads and stared out into the night. "Do you see it?" Marinette hissed from the corner of her mouth and Adrien was about to retort through her fingers that he couldn't see a thing when a flicker of movement caught his eye and he went stock-still. On the flat roof of one of the distant houses in the long street, he could see a small group of pinprick figures that were weaving in and out of each other as they ran across the rooftops like they were flying. He could see they were gaining speed as they ran and they were getting closer with every second. He could feel his heart thud painfully in his chest as they did so as questions swarmed in his brain. What were they doing out now? He knew they had other business but they looked to be in a hurry. What was this all about? Was this another group maybe?

The questions only increased in number when they got closer and he recognised the distinctive silhouettes of his fellow akumas; Stoneheart, Princess Fragrance, Evillustrator, Lady Wifi… but no Ladybug. His heart almost stopped when he couldn't see her. What had happened? Why wasn't she with them? She was their leader, surely they couldn't do anything without her say-so? He was so busy focusing on these questions that he didn't see Marinette fighting to get her seatbelt off and charging from the car until he heard her car door slam with a jolt that rocked the entire metal frame.

"Wait!" He called after her but she had already sprinted away in hot pursuit, her torch turned on and the beam of white light that lit up the walls around them, making his eyes sting with the abrupt burst of light. Is she crazy? He thought, watching in horror when the akumas, hearing how she loudly slammed the door, stopped and changed direction. He struggling with his own seatbelt, yanking it away from him as he ran after the akumas and Marinette, who had doggedly followed them and was running like there were wings on the heels of her boots.

"Stop in the name of the law!" He heard her yell at their retreating backs and he ran faster to try and catch up to her. Why was she yelling at them and alerting them to us? Still he refused to give up, running with all the power he had in him and she was doing the same as he heard her give a determined grunt as she pushed herself to run faster, to the point where she was gaining ground on the akumas who were running on the edges of the rooftops.

"Hold on, I've got them!" Marinette suddenly shouted over her shoulder at him as she veered off around a sharp corner, taking the edge off her speed and nearly causing Adrien to shoot straight past her. "If I can get up higher I can catch the-AAAARRGHH!"

"Marinette!" Adrien came to a stop and ran after her, her scream still bouncing off the walls as he threw himself into the darkness. He couldn't see her torchlight anywhere so he hurriedly flicked his own on, swearing as his trembling hands fumbled with the switch and the beam instantly lit up the alleyway and exposed what had happened.

Marinette was sprawled out face down on the ground, her limbs frozen at awkward angles on the hard tarmac and light groans were coming from her form as she tried to move. For a moment, Adrien was terrified that the akumas had attacked her until he directed the beam down at her feet and saw they were sticking up over a large dustbin, which was now spilling its contents all over the pavement in a soggy stinking mess and also had a new large dent in the side where it had connected with her foot. There was a part of him that almost wanted to laugh until he heard her voice groaning his name and he ran to her side, carefully putting his arms under her fallen body and lifting her up.

"Are you alright? Talk to me Mari!"

"I'm fine… stupid bin, getting in my way…" She tried to push herself upright but gave a loud wince when she put some weight on her left foot and clung back to him. He saw there was a spot of blood on her trousers and he instantly got to his fee, heaving her up with him so he was cradling her in his arms.

"It looks like you caught something sharp as you went down… hold on, I'm going to drive you to a hospital to get that checked out. The last thing we need is you out of action, especially after that."

"Sure." Marinette knew she was in no position to argue as he gently set her back in the car, this time in the passenger seat, and buckled her in, despite her protests that her arms still worked. "That was weird huh? But Adrien… please don't let this get around the station. I don't want everyone to hear about this," she pointed down at her bleeding leg with a grimace. "They'd all be laughing at me if they found out the great Marinette Dupain-Cheng lost the akumas because of a bloody bin. Who even put that there?"

She looked so cross, Adrien had to chuckle. "Alright, I promise I won't tell anyone." Still, he thought as he turned the key and the car rumbled into life, this whole thing's a little off. Why were there only four akumas? He knew why Chat Noir wasn't there but Ladybug? And why had Marinette bolted so suddenly? All these questions pestered him the whole way to the hospital but he eventually had to push them away-he knew he wouldn't get the answers any time soon.