Whew... Birthday, Thanksgiving, ridiculous work hijinks... I'm worn out. Thankfully we are still well within my buffer chapters. Enjoy!
animefan29... Who said he wasn't once upon a time? :)
sjsreader... Thank you! Hopefully I will continue to surprise and intrigue you.
Marinette is a detective who can't keep a partner while hunting down the notorious Hawkmoth gang. Chat is the new cat burglar on the streets who never gets caught. After Marinette gets handed his case it's it won't be long before their fates collide especially when monsters start roaming the streets
(Crime Scene)
Adrien could tell Marinette was upset as they walked in silence and he knew it was his fault. A prickle of claws made him glance down to meet Plaggs eyes. Sensing Adrien's discomfort he raised a small eyebrow at Adrien who in turn tried to ignore him. A second harsher prickle made Adrien growl deep in his chest at a volume only Plagg could hear. It was a warning for Plagg to knock it off and Adrien heard the kwami scoff in the same undertone. Knowing that Plagg was going to take action if he didn't Adrien snuck a glance at Marinette. She was fretting worrying her lip as she did and since he was starting to feel antsy himself Adrien decided to break the silence.
"So how did all the rock climbing stuff get down there?" Adrien asked as they walked, deciding a simple out of the blue question was the best way to go about breaking the tense silence between them.
Marinette jumped slightly making Adrien swallow back a laugh. Apparently she hadn't expected him to speak. Either that or she had forgotten that he was there. It was sort of hard to tell with her.
"Uh… W-well when I first got to the precinct Tiki had already started the building, or conversion I suppose. The space down there wasn't being used for anything else and since Tiki was a big traveler she had been to these gym things in America where they have fake rock climbing walls. Tiki loved the idea and when she came back she wanted a place to climb, so she got permission and started building. Once I became her partner I helped her build a lot of it and fell in love with climbing as well. We actually made all the rocks ourselves and it took a ton of work but it has been so worth it. In the past few years we added new things as we went but to be honest these days I'm pretty much the only person who uses the space. Regardless of the fact that all detectives and police are supposed to be in good physical condition, most are very lazy or just fat."
"Well now that I know it's there I can guarantee I'll be down there with you. I enjoy climbing especially since it's a good workout." Adrien said with a snicker at her lazy and fat comment.
It was obvious that Marinette was a person who told you exactly what was on her mind when she wasn't tripping up verbally or physically. Plus it pleased him to see the happy smile light up her face when she realized he was thinking of joining her in the gym. With the ice officially broken they talked about other random things such as nice places to eat and a few fun things around Paris to do. Finally they arrived at the building and found the police tape as well as Ayla on the stairs. Marinettes nervousness instantly came back as Alya came into view and Adrien wondered briefly why. With a sigh Marinette seemed accept whatever was bothering her and she waved Adrien forward catching Alyas attention.
"So she invited you to the party huh?" Alya asked as they came in close, climbing the stairs so they were standing at the glass doors.
"I kinda invited myself." Adrien replied having the sense to look sheepish as he surreptitiously looked around. He had just been here last night and to his eyes nothing had changed outside the doors. He had used a window to gain entry but other than an odd smell he half recognized permeating the grounds there didn't seem to be anything wrong.
Marinette rolled her eyes at his comment noticing his wandering gaze although Ayla seemed absorbed in her phone. "What's the news?" she asked as Alya walked them into the building knowing that if she didn't ask, Ayla might not give her any info on accident.
"Well apparently Chat Noir broke in here last night although they don't even know what he stole. He killed the one guard on his way out probably because he alerted the authorities." Alya said as they moved into the entrance hall.
Both Marinette and Adrien froze "Are you sure he killed the guard?" they both demanded at the same time and then looked at each other confused.
Alya snorted waving a hand at the interior. "Well there wasn't anyone else here, there are claw marks all over the place, and the only thing they found was a large puddle of blood on the floor which apparently belongs to the guard. The strange thing is they can't find his body and this Chat Noir didn't have enough time to hide it before escaping. Also he didn't use a door to get in or out. I'm pretty sure he used a window but no one can figure out which one."
Marinette frowned at that information. "If he used a window why would he come down here to the lobby?"
Ayla glanced up from her phone. "Exactly."
They both missed Adrien's wince. In truth he had come down because the silent alarms had been going off and the sound had messed with his ears. It had disoriented him a little bit and in his desire to get away from the shrieking he had ended up in the lobby. The chubby guard had of course confronted him and he, as Chat had trapped him in a closet before stuffing his fingers in his ears to make his getaway. Not that he could tell the girls that of course. Considering all that had happened just last night though the sight of the lobby in the daylight left him startled. The place was trashed and it wasn't by his doing.
Marinette moved ahead of him as he froze examining the crime scene before her. Blood stains still covered parts of the floor and as she glanced around she noticed some cracked tiles, then saw the scratches on the front desk. Following random bits of damage she reconstructed what had happened in her mind. Either the guard or Chat had been thrown into the desk although it was probably the guard since Chat had been uninjured when she ran into him. The tiles were blunt force damage which was impressive and impossible for a human to do although Chat probably could considering his strength. Suddenly she remembered what Chat had told her the night before and frowned. He had smugly said he simply gagged the guard and threw him in a closet. Looking around the area her eyes fell on an open closet. The door was a shattered mess with claw marks running across it.
Observing what caught her interest Alya pointed saying "See claws." and her phone rang causing her to walk a few feet away to answer it.
With a frown Marinette moved towards the closet forgetting that Adrien was right on her heels. After checking the door her frown deepened.
"So do you believe he killed that man?" Adrien asked making Marinette jump.
Swiftly she turned towards him a lie on her lips but then she paused. His eyes were bright, serious, and for some reason it seemed suddenly important that she not lie to him.
"Let me see your hands for a second." She answered instead and grabbed his hand ignoring the fluttery feeling she got in her gut as she did. Swiftly before Ayla could check up on them Marinette pulled him forward to the door. She placed his hand near the top of the scratches and when they didn't come anywhere close to matching his fingers she sighed in relief. Glancing around to make sure Alya wouldn't accidently overhear her she answered his question.
"Chat didn't do this, although something like him did." Marinette answered dropping his hand as she realized she was still holding on to him
"And why did you need my hand?" Adrien asked a knot uncurling in his gut at her blush.
She had scared him for a second when she had gone to measure his hand against the scratches. He was already walking a fairly fine line between his two identities but he couldn't help how he acted around her. Marinette just seemed to pull the Chat out of him, no matter if he were in the mask or not. It was a problem but Plaggs magic seemed to be doing its job, so unless he did something really stupid like transform right in front of her she shouldn't be able to think of him as Chat. Although by the end of all this she was probably going to think he was an incorrigible flirt. Plus her hand had been warm and it had fit so perfectly in his. Distracted by the lingering warmth of her hand he almost didn't hear her answer.
"Chat has larger hands than mine and he told me he didn't kill him. Since your hands are decent sized I figured that if the scratch marks didn't match there was…" she broke off as she slapped a hand over her mouth mentally berating herself as she did so. Marinette had answered without thinking still eyeing the scratches as she wondered what in the world had done this damage.
Adrien wanted to laugh as she turned towards him a look between horror and annoyance on her face. Then he realized why. Marinette had practically admitted to meeting Chat however, she was on desk duty so there was no reason for her to be out running around much less running into criminals. Swiftly he held up his hands. "Your secrets are safe with me princess. Besides I think it's nice that you believe them even if they are a criminal." He added quickly
"You're too dam easy to talk to." Marinette muttered realizing that she would have to take him at his word. As she moved to go into the closet a splash of color that didn't belong caught her eye and she bent down to shift a piece of door to the side. An orange oblong shape sat there with a tiny dab of blood on the one side. Lifting the quill like item from the floor Marinette eyed it curiously while Adrien had to force himself not to rip it from her hands. There was a scent coming from it, one that he recognized as an akuma. There was another one on the streets which could mean nothing good.
"Hey Marinette are you two done looking around?" Alya asked
Marinette pocketed the quill like object before Alya could see and shot Adrien a 'dare you to say something' glare. Adrien rolled his eyes pursing his lips in a soundless whistle as he took a step back allowing Marinette room to move out of the closet. Realizing he wouldn't say a thing she poked him in the gut for his irritating manner before facing Alya "Yeah thanks for getting us in here before they started cleaning it all up."
Alya grinned and immediately went into reporter mode as they came to her side although she noticed the interaction between the two of them. Feeling amused Alya filed their interaction together in the back of her mind before pouncing on the story at hand. "So do you have any scoops for me then?"
"I don't think Chat Noir did this. From the damages and stuff there is no way a human being did all this. Plus if it was a single pudgy guard there would have been no need for all this carnage. However looking at the damage and the blood there was obviously some kind of fight done here. That being said, I don't know what happened here though." Marinette answered as they started walking towards the exit and Alya frowned.
"Well it could be that monster I keep getting whispers of around town but I thought they were kidding." Alya muttered
"Monster?" Adrien and Marinette asked as one pausing at the doorway.
"Yeah there have been two pretty brutal attacks on people in the downtown district but the one person that witnessed it simply said it was a monster. No one wants to hear about the boogie man these days." Alya answered and looking up at Marinette she groaned. "Nuh uh girl, don't even think about it."
"But…" Marinette tried as Adrien looked on confused
"No, you have plans tonight remember? You are coming out to the party scene." Alya answered her hands shooing them out the door and down the steps before going to her hips. "Paris can take care of itself and you have been hiding for too long. Oh yeah Adrien you are coming to right? I don't remember if Nino invited you yet."
"Uh sure?" Adrien replied as they began their walk down the street. He had no idea what he had just agreed to and from the look on Marinettes face he wasn't sure he wanted to.
"Great! We are meeting up at a place called the Cobbles around 9:30 but you can meet us at our place first if you would like." Alya said and realizing he had just agreed to go essentially bar hopping, Adrien nearly let out a groan as well. He had managed to avoid getting asked out by Nino for several days and now Alya had beaten him to the punch.
"I'll meet you guys there." Adrien said instead and Marinette patted him on the shoulder giving him a sympathetic look when Alya looked to check something on her phone.
"Marinette we will be picking you up at 7:30 so don't even try anything." Alya said glancing up at Marinette who sighed shoulders slumping.
"I'll be ready." Marinette answered with a grumble telling Adrien that she really didn't want to attend.
Alya left them moments later and the two of them walked in companionable silence for a few moments before Adrien broke it. "Does she do that often?"
"Manipulating me into going partying with her? Yeah sometimes, she is just trying to keep me from becoming an antisocial hermit." Marinette sighed purposefully misinterpreting the question.
Adrien laughed "No I mean the crime scene but don't worry about the party thing I'll be there this time so we can be antisocial together."
Marinette nearly tripped over her own feet and Adrien grabbed her arm to prevent her from face planting into the concrete. "R-right you are going… uh… right I'm fine now." She managed her face turning red.
Somehow he had flustered her again and if he was being honest he thought it was cute. Then he realized she didn't answer his question.
"The crime scene?" he prompted again and Marinette flinched hoping he had forgotten.
"Uh she helps out sometimes and if I find anything I tell her first. She knows how to write, what to write and most importantly when to write." She answered finally wondering what in the heck was wrong with her. She was never this free with information usually. In fact one of her previous partners had jokeingly threatened to use a crowbar on her since he could never seem to pry anything useful from her lips.
"Well that's good to know at least." Adrien said careful to keep his voice neutral.
Marinette glanced at him sidelong "You don't approve."
"I don't know her. Considering your track record though, you seem to know how to maintain that reporter information balance." Adrien replied "In fact you seem to have a lot of connections."
Marinette shrugged as they arrived back at the precincts front doors vowing to keep her mouth shut on this front at least. Entering through the front doors any question Adrien might have for that lack of comment was broken by the single high pitched shriek of "Adrikins!"
"Really?" Adrien moaned under his breath as Marinette took a step away from him snickering. A second later Chloe slammed into him today wearing a bright yellow skin-tight top and a tiny white skirt that showed off almost her entire leg.
"Oh my dear Adrikins! I am sooo very happy to see you! I was just hoping we could get some breakfast and your father said yes so we are home free!" She said, fluttering her eyes becomingly at him while practically man handling him back out the door.
Adrien looked like a man being led to the gas chamber and Marinette just barely managed to withhold her laughter while bidding a polite "Morning" to Chloe's assistant Sabrina, who was huffing as she scrambled after her mistress bags in tow.
At her voice Chloe's eyes snapped to hers and she gave Marinette a swift once over "Same ugly jacket? I think I threw one like that out the other day. You don't go dumpster diving do you?" she asked
Marinette gave her a razor sharp smile "No but I think that's where you found your personality."
Chloe blinked confused as Adrien coughed in an attempt to hide the fact he was laughing.
"Are you alright Adrikins?" Chloe asked fawning again and seeing her attention was diverted Marinette made her escape to her office.
Marinette plowed her way through her assigned paperwork for the day, got lunch, and much later went down to the gym again to practice her weapon skills. She practiced with them constantly throwing from different positions from laying down to sitting so she never lost her edge. When she was almost finished she noticed the silhouette hanging out by the door and flicking the weight up into her hand she sent it flying to smash into the floor less than a foot from the silhouette. They yelped startled and tripping over their own feet landed on their butt.
It was then that she realized who it was and cursing her reaction time she recalled the chain and weight as she jogged over.
"Are you ok?" Marinette asked flicking the weight into her hand and dropping it into its space in her sleeve.
Adrien eyed her warily then slowly accepted the free hand she held out to help him up off the floor. "You are a terrifying person with those things. Once again remind me not to get on your bad side."
Marinette blushed "Y-you won't. Sorry about throwing it at you I don't like it when people try and sneak up on me and Roger used to try a lot."
"Try?" Adrien asked his voice almost a growl and Marinette smiled at him serenely.
"Yes try. He stopped after I judo flipped him the second time." She turned away from him as he swallowed a laugh and walked back out onto the floor not seeming to care if he watched. Adrien really wanted to watch since he wasn't on the receiving end of those terrifying agile weights for once. She seemed to be able to change their direction on a whim as she moved and as she went through her paces it looked as if she were a dancer with one of those ribbons floating after her. One of the muscles on his back twitched reminding him that those weights were no joke and he glanced down at his watch. It was 6:30 and he wondered if she realized how late it was getting. About to speak he froze as she shrugged a second weight out of her sleeve.
"Uh…" he started stunned that she had two weights and clearly she could use them in tandem. She paused before she could throw an eyebrow raised as she waited for him to continue. "It's 6:30." He managed wishing he had kept his mouth shut.
Frowning she opened her mouth to ask why that was important then suddenly realization struck. "Oh hell." She grumbled and darted back to where he was standing to grab her things the weights vanishing into her sleeves.
"I'm guessing you didn't realize the time?" Adrien asked keeping pace with her as she shut the lights off and exited the gym area.
The sudden darkness surprised him and although it only took about three seconds for him to see almost perfectly fine thanks to Plaggs night vision he was shocked to see her not even miss a beat as she started forward saying "No I didn't, I'll just have to run home and be quick getting ready."
"How can you see anything?" Adrien demanded seriously starting to wonder if she had superpowers of her own as she navigated the hall without needing to use the wall. She jumped surprised by his question then sighed as she turned around.
"Oh crap I'm so sorry. I'm so used to walking this hall I can do it in the dark without a problem. Here hum or something so I can find you." She said as she started back towards him one hand reaching out.
Adrien was tempted, so sorely tempted to let her walk right into his arms but as she reached out to him he allowed his hand to brush hers instead. Feeling the touch she grabbed his hand easily and tugged him forward. Suddenly Adrien was glad for the darkness because she couldn't see him blush at the fact that she was holding his hand for the second time that day. Moments later they made it around the corner and light filtered down enough that even by human standards he would be able to see just fine.
"Thank you for guiding this poor blind fool princess." Adrien said giving her hand a light squeeze before letting go.
"N-no problem." Marinette managed blushing slightly as they began to climb the stairs.
"So do you drive to your home?" Adrien asked curious.
Marinette shook her head "It takes about 15 to walk here and if I run about half that."
"So you live close!" Adrien said surprised.
Marinette chuckled "Yeah, hey you still have to change right? If you want you can wait at my place for Alya and them since they are picking me up soon anyways." She offered without thinking.
Adrien almost choked. If he were being honest he had been trying to figure out a way to follow her home without coming off as a total creeper. Matter of fact he had been planning to follow her scent as Chat one night so he could keep an eye out for the Miraculous stone to steal it back. He had learned his lesson when it came to her and he didn't want any more bruises, or embarrassing kicks to the rear. Inwardly he moaned at that thought. He was a creeper and he couldn't seem to help it when it came to her. She was like catnip to him which was utterly ridiculous considering he had only truly spoken to her for a few short days.
"You got bit by the bug…" Plagg whisper sang exactly loud enough that only he could hear.
Adrien slapped a hand to his shirt pocket causing Plagg to emit a muffled yowl and answered "That sounds lovely. I have my bag anyways so if you don't mind me swinging by to get it…"
She turned at the top of the stairs a grin on her face as she clasped her hands behind her leaning forward slightly as she walked backwards. "I have to grab something from my office anyways so meet you at the front?"
Adrien nodded not trusting himself to speak and another smile bloomed across her face before she ran up the next flight of stairs. The door slammed moments later and Plagg swarmed out of his pocket.
"You are a love struck idiot." Plagg said and Adrien glared at him before snatching him from the air.
"I've only known her for like three days." Adrien snorted and shoved Plagg back into his pocket. "Besides I'm only doing this so we can watch out for her better."
"For your sake or for hers?" Plagg asked his green eyes sparking in mischief.
Adrien growled deeming it unimportant to answer the kwami and opened the door before him, exiting the stairwell to grab his bag from his locker.
