Fifteen: Pay No Attention to the Chat Behind the Curtain

Author's Note: My apologies for missing a week! I had an unfortunate dental emergency that wrought havoc to my writing schedule. So a bonus-sized chapter for you today to help make up for it.

Still churning over the possibility that Marinette has somehow divined his true identity, Chat decides he might have to resort to some black cat tricks to throw her off his scent. Not that he wouldn't mind having her discover who he is…

I had the shirt and workout pants laid out on my bed, but I wasn't really looking at them. My masked feline eyes were staring through them, trying to decide if I accidentally revealed myself to my girlfriend. The work Marinette had put into my Chat Birthday gifts had been phenomenal, but I was hung up on the joke she had made when I'd been dashing to my room to try them on.

It's just a figure of speech… not that you couldn't be a model.

Had I detected an undercurrent in what she had said? Or was I seeing something that wasn't there?

The bigger question I was finding myself wrestling with was: did I care if she found out?

My masked eyes flicked back to my laptop on the small desk in the corner. It was still up on the Ladyblog, and in an effort to remind myself of the continuing danger my relationship with her placed Marinette in, had located the latest batch of photos Alya had managed to snag of the two of us as we'd returned from Nice a few weeks earlier. Not having wanted to broadcast that I'd been out of town, I'd been a little annoyed with the post; Marinette had promised to talk with her best friend about it, but in the interim, we'd pretty much kept to the apartment and managed to keep off the blog.

I hopped onto the bed and folded myself into a cat stance, still staring at the shirt and pants. For the first time since moving in with the girl of my dreams, I found myself seriously questioning the arrangement I had imposed on us – on me. It had come out of respect for my partner and her desire that we protect those we loved, though I knew at the end of the day Ladybug would respect my wishes if I told her I was going to reveal everything to Marinette. And yet, I intrinsically knew it wasn't time for me to do so; I still felt like I had to prove I was capable of being both a superhero and a loving soulmate – able to balance both sides of the ledger without harming Marinette in any way.

Sighing, I decided I needed to come up with some way to either divine how much Marinette knew, or an impressive sleight of hand that would appear to make it impossible for Adrien to be Chat Noir. The last time I'd done the latter, though, I'd thrown myself off a rooftop as Adrien. Being a little older and (somewhat) wiser, such an amazingly cavalier act didn't appeal to me any longer. But pressing Marinette, no matter how subtle, might raise her suspicions – and, possibly, make it look like I was as green as my logo with jealousy. Which would be ironic.

I sighed again. This was going to be tricky.

I de-transformed, still deep in thought, and idly watched Plagg head for his stash of cheese as I changed for bed. After turning out the lights, I spent the night staring at the ceiling of my bedroom while my kwami slept on the pillow beside me. He still had his own mini-bed on the far side of the room, but since our trip to Nice, Plagg had returned to his original pattern, and it was strangely comforting having him softly snore by my ear just as he always had.

The early rays of sunshine combined with the gentle chirping of my phone alarm rousted me the next morning, having dropped off somewhere along the line while trying to come up with a plan. Stretching, I slid out from between the sheets and went through my morning ablutions. My alter-ego had a long morning of meetings at House of Gabriel, and a photoshoot over lunch and into the afternoon. It was too bad I couldn't use any of that in my plot-

My hands froze as they gelled my hair. Meetings… I have that meeting with Marinette today! As Adrien!

Standing there seeing my shocked expression in the mirror, the first threads of a plan started to form. I'd completely forgotten she was coming back to discuss the designs her firm had planned for next season; this time around, it was just going to be the two of us as her boss had delegated the task. I knew Father was still a bit annoyed at the partial coup I'd instigated and had similarly assigned the oversight of Chateau Le Blanc to me personally. I wasn't entirely sure I remembered my schedule for the morning, but if I timed it right…

I saw the Chat smile break out in the mirror. "Maybe…" I purred to my image. "Just maybe…"

Plagg appeared at my shoulder. "Oh no," he said, seeing the look on my eyes. "I only see that face when you're coming up with a cockamamy plan that's gonna get us into trouble."

Looking at him in the mirror as I finished up my hair, I smiled wider. "I'm trying to get us out of trouble," I laughed. "Or find out how much trouble we're in already."

My kwami frowned. "Right," he said. "I'm going to need a lot of cheese to get through today."

I finished up in the bathroom and transformed so I could get my first of many cups of coffee for the day and catch Marinette before she left for her office. I was just pulling the mug out of the Keurig when she came barreling out of her suite, hands furiously trying to put her hair into a ponytail.

"Morning," she said warmly as I leaned down to kiss her.

"Busy day?" I asked as I pressed her croissant into her hand, knowing some of the answer.

"Partially," she answered between mouthfuls as she dashed to her design desk to stuff some printouts into her briefcase. As Chat, I'd actually already seen what she was planning to show Adrien later. I suspected the meeting was going to go well for her. "I've got to go to House of Gabriel this morning, but I have some free design time this afternoon."

"Do you?" I asked innocently. Her firm allowed her wide swaths of time every few weeks to find her muse, and she often alternated between her spots at the Trocadero and the park close to her family's Bakery. I didn't count the roof only I could get her to. "Which of your favorite spots, then?"

That made her pause. "Why? Want to join me?"

"Absolutely," I said, my tail twisting in anticipation. "But I can't get free until lunch."

"That'll work," she smiled. "Maybe I'll sketch my favorite kitty. I'll be at the park, I think. Then I can pick up something from the Bakery for dinner."

"Purrfect," I smiled my wide Chat smile and kissed her as she headed out the door. I finished my coffee and then bolted for my bedroom, vaulting out the open slider so I could get to work on time myself.

As Adrien, I managed to get through the initial set of meetings and was behind my desk trying to look like I was absorbed in whatever was on my flat screen monitor when in fact I was anything but. Mentally I was counting down the minutes before Marinette arrived for her meeting with me, and was silently pleased that she had been scheduled in the last slot I had before lunch and the photoshoot. Had I been trying to do that, I never would have been able to pull it off.

Twenty minutes after she was due, my assistant knocked at the door. "Adrien?" he said, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng is here."

"Send her in," I smiled as I stood.

He nodded and bowed out; a moment later, my Princess appeared.

"Adrien, a thousand apologies," Marinette said as she stepped in and dropped her briefcase into one of the four chairs around my mini-conference table. "I got hung up in a discussion at our office and lost track of time."

"Not a problem," I said, having actually counted on this happening. "As long as you don't mind meeting on the run."

"What?" she asked, nonplussed.

"I have a photoshoot at the top of the hour," I shrugged as I came around from my desk and picked up the bag she'd just placed at the table. "I'll toss in lunch if you'll join me."

"Of course," she said, taking her bag from me. "You're the last thing on my calendar for today. Where's the shoot?"

"The park next to your family's Bakery, actually," I laughed as I dialed my assistant. "Tomas, can you get the car for Marinette? She'll be joining me at the photo shoot."

"On it," he replied.

I smiled again as I looked up at Marinette. "I have one more thing to do here and then I'll join you in my trailer?" I paused for effect. "You'll get a front row look at what it means to be a model, I'm afraid, but we'll have time to discuss your designs."

"Cool, I think," she said, eyes wide. "See you there."

I waited for Tomas to retrieve her before I quickly exited my office and made a brisk walk to the emergency stairwell outside of our suite; as I dashed up the steps, I transformed on the run, bursting onto the roof as Chat Noir. Leaping to the edge of the roofline, I perched on the decorative concrete and popped open my baton; I'd placed a cat tracker in Marinette's bag just to make sure I could keep tabs of her progress, and noted that she was just exiting the garage.

Smiling, I extended the baton and helicoptered to the next roof, then quickly ran along the spine, keeping ahead of the sedan. I managed to make it to the park well in advance of Marinette, landing on a slanted tile roof that gave a wide view of the park. Crouched and slightly hidden by a chimney, I popped open the baton and dialed my assistant.

"Adrien Agreste's Office," I heard.

"Tomas, it's Adrien," I said, belatedly realizing I sounded anything but. "Look, I decided to take the Metro to the park, but I forgot the wardrobe patterns I was supposed to go over with Marinette. Can you have the intern run the swatches over for me?"

"Absolutely," Tomas said. "They'll be there shortly."

"Thanks – have him give it to Marinette when he arrives. Oh, it'll be faster if you send him in a car."

There was a pause. "If you think that best," Tomas said quizzically as I hung up.

Pressing myself to the chimney, I peeked around as I heard the sedan approaching the entrance to the park. Moving quickly, I vaulted off the roof and re-vaulted from the top of the fence, helicoptering until I landed on top of the makeup trailer, then flipped off to land beside the steps. By the time Marinette came wandering toward me, a slight smile on her face, she found me leaning against the edge of the trailer, twirling my tail in one paw and smiling slyly.

"I had no idea your muse would be at the park today," I said, narrowing my masked eyes at her.

"And so he is," Marinette said as she ran a hand along my costumed shoulder.

I inclined my head toward the trailer meaningfully.

"Not him, you jealous tom cat," Marinette teased as she stepped in and hugged me. "Technically, I am having my meeting with him."

I narrowed my masked eyes more. "In his trailer?"

Marinette blushed slightly; it was an endearing thing to see, and something that had not graced her face in a bit. "Ah…" she said, looking between me and the door. "I can see how you'd come to that conclusion… but Adrien is not that kind of guy."

"Uh huh," I said, arching a masked eyebrow and trying hard not to smile. Keeping up the jealous act when the person in question was me was pretty tough.

"Hey, green-eyed monster," Marinette said good naturedly, "knock it off before I bop that fur brain of yours."

I smiled warmly, for that was partly what I was hoping I'd hear. "No promises," I laughed as I kissed her hair. "Are you still sketching?"

"Once I'm done," she said. "Wait for me in my usual spot?"

"Absolutely," I said. "I'll stay close so I can keep an eye on you," I added as I leaned down to kiss her again.

"I had no idea you could be so protective," Marinette laughed.

I smiled, again having hoped she'd say that. "Here," I said, popping a small round device off of my baton into her hand. "You can use this to keep track of me, too."

"What's this?" she asked, quizzically, turning it around in her hand to see a small circular screen. My green cat paw logo glowed dead center.

"Chat Tracker," I said. "It's similar to what LB and I use to track each other; for a civilian such as yourself, I've turned this on—" I slid one of my small tracking devices from a costume pocket "—for the next several hours."

"So I can keep an eye on you, too," she said, smiling. "All right."

"Exactly. Fair is fair, after all." My feline ears picked up the approach of the second Gabriel sedan. Time to go, I thought.

"Now off with you," she said, giving me one final kiss.

"Yes, ma'am," I said, mock saluting while also seeing the intern come up toward the trailer.

Using the baton, I rose up and away, and then vaulted off toward the end of the park housing the carousel the kids in the area generally flocked to. Fortunately, the set for the photo shoot blocked the view of the magnificent historical structure… and the particular bench Marinette favored. I hit the ground on the run, pausing only long enough to attach the cat tracker to the underside of the bench before leaping back up and over the fence. I vaulted across the street and scampered into an alleyway that would allow me to baton myself up into the sky. Surreptitiously, I used the darkened areas of the buildings ringing the park to return to the rooftop I'd started on. Sliding back around the chimney, I saw my intern approach Marinette; through my feline hearing, I was able to hear her shocked joy of recognition.

"Nathaniel?" Marinette asked.

"Mari?" The young illustrator paused just in front of my girlfriend. "When Tomas told me to give these to Marinette, I didn't realize it would be you! How are you?"

"Great!" I heard Marinette say as she drew him into a big hug. "It's been too long! I had no idea you were working for Adrien."

"Yeah, I took some gap years in school, but I started with him this spring. I'm his personal gofer and in-house sketch artist. It's been something."

"Wow! Tell me all about it…"

Smiling, I quickly worked my way to the far side of the park with the Metro stop and did the tried and true superhero-transform-on-the-fly maneuver in the darkness of the station. I came up the steps on the opposite side of the platform, crossed the street, and then entered the park through the entrance that led directly to the set and my trailer beyond, phone in hand. I looked up when I heard their voices.

"Thanks, Nathanial," I said, smiling warmly at both of them as I approached. "I completely forgot to grab those when I left."

Something crossed Nathanial's face. "Tomas said—"

"Metro was slower than usual," I laughed. "Not to mention full of autograph seekers. Serves me right trying to save Father money."

He nodded. "Do you need anything else?" he asked.

"Actually," I said, looking to Mari. "I promised Mari lunch. Can you run to the Bakery and grab something for the three of us?"

"Three?" he said, smiling slightly.

"Why not," I said. "I could use a third set of eyes on these designs. Think of it as part of your continuing growth as my intern." I looked up to the trailer, for my makeup artist had thrown open the door and was giving me the gimlet eye. "Uh, I'd better go in."

"I'll help Nathanial with lunch," Marinette offered.

"Okay," I said as I went up the steps. "But charge it to House of Gabriel."

"Absolutely," she said, laughing.

We discussed the plans for the next season over amazing onion soup, and made a few critical decisions before I was called to the set. Wanting to keep Marinette close (as Chat would not be where he was supposed to be were she to leave), I asked her to come to the set so we could continue the discussion in between setups. Marinette agreed and wound up spending a few hours with me (as Adrien) as a consequence. It wasn't lost on me that she checked the Chat Tracker I'd given her a few times, smiling slightly when she saw the paw print.

While the set changed for the final shot of the afternoon, Marinette laughed. I turned toward her. "Something I said?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"No," she said. "I just know I have a very hot-under-the-collar boyfriend cooling his paws waiting for me." To her credit, Marinette pulled out the tracker and showed it to me. "He's been waiting patiently for me to finish over by the carousel."

My eyes widened. "Chat… is here?" I asked, trying to look a bit concerned. "Is he… jealous?"

"You have no idea," she laughed louder.

"Well," I said solemnly, "if it protects my skin, I think we've made all the decisions we can make for now. I'm sorry I kept you – I had no idea you had plans."'

"Don't worry about it," she said as she stood and packed up her bag. "This was important, and it was nice to spend some time with an old friend."

"It was," I smiled. "Tell him I'm sorry for keeping you."

"He won't believe me, but I will," she smiled as she gave me a quick hug. "I'll email the details to you when I get back to the office."

"Sounds good."

I watched as she walked away, waiting until she turned the corner at the entrance before popping out of my chair and finding the director. "I've got to get back to the office," I said. "Hopefully you've got enough?"

"I think we do," she said, perplexed. "But we only need—"

"Great! See you next time," I added over my shoulder as I hurried to the far exit from the park. I didn't normally eschew removing the hideous makeup but was aware how little time I had to get into position. Given the later hour, using the Metro again for a transformation wouldn't work, so I picked up the pace and crossed the street to find a quiet alley before calling for Plagg.

Vaulting up and out of the alleyway, I hurled myself over the building and helicoptered around the oddly shaped space, still keeping to the far side of the park. Owing to how the photo set had been constructed, Marinette had needed to exit the park and then walk around the long way to re-enter by the carousel. Though she was walking deliberately toward the carousel and our particular park bench close to it, she was also a bit absorbed in her phone – enough so I was able to drop down inside the park and scamper across the deserted space toward the bench in question.

The brown bench was a favorite of ours, and had the added benefit of being well away from the photo shoot set, not visible from where we had been – but it was in the full late afternoon sunshine. Purrfect for the final step.

I reached under the bench and snapped the tracker off, then slid it back into my costume pocket. Crawling onto the bench, I curled up in a corner, placing my masked face on top of my paws. Closing my eyes, I created the appearance of a typical kitty enjoying a little warmth. As comfortable as I was, it was a good thing that Marinette was approaching for it would have been very easy to have taken a quick catnap.

A moment later, I felt a gentle hand to my costumed shoulder. "Chat?"

I cracked open a masked eye. "Hey, Princess," I said sleepily. "Sorry, the sunshine was too much to withstand."

"No wonder you haven't moved in hours," Marinette laughed as she sat down next to me. "I hadn't intended to be so late, either," she offered. "Thanks for waiting."

"For you, anything," I said, purring slightly as I leaned my head into her side. "So, sketching?"

"It's too late now," she said sadly. "I've lost the light."

"Oh," I said, realizing that in my pursuit of having Adrien and Chat in the same place at the same time, I'd actually ruined Marinette's plans for the afternoon. "Oh," I said with more meaning. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," she said, but I could tell it wasn't.

I knew I needed to fix it. "I have an idea," I said as I unfolded myself and held out a paw. "Come with me?"

"Sure," she said as she took my paw, arching an eyebrow in the process. "Where are we going?"

"Someplace special." I put a paw around her waist and used my baton to push us up and into the darkening late afternoon sky.