Its Parkour time! I used to go running in high school and college and even got chased by the cops a few times due to it. (mostly because we were running across the rooftops) Never got caught or hurt other than a few bumps or bruises although my friend nearly broke their leg trying to catch me when we played tag once. Honestly I have no idea how we managed to not kill ourselves doing some of the stuff we did. It was so much fun though slightly dangerous so don't get any crazy ideas people!
Skaty07... Uh Thanks I'm glad you are enjoying reading this. Grammar is far from my strong suit so expect lots of mistakes, a ton of misplaced commas (if I even use the pesky things), run on sentences, and so on. As for the story summery, There is a word count restriction on it so basically I shoved my idea as best as I could into it and truthfully I need to figure out a better summary anyhow. I'll do that when I think of a succinct way of describing this story.
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
(Adventures in Parkour)
Adrien was amused and a touch nervous as he followed Marinette to her self-proclaimed parkour paradise. She had grabbed her jacket on the way out which made him feel slightly better about having his extendable nightsticks hidden away in the small pack he carried on his back. He never liked to be completely weaponless and without Plagg in his pocket he didn't have any claws although he retained a higher level of stamina, strength, and agility than a normal person even untransformed. Still though, the streets they were wandering through were decidedly sketchy and he sensed more than saw the eyes watching them from the shadows. Realizing she knew these streets far better than him Adrien took his ques from Marinette. So far she was relaxed, chattering about all the different people he was about to meet as they ambled along so Adrien tried to at least appear relaxed. Coming to the back of a dim alley that dead ended into a high chain link fence, Adrien's ears picked up music faintly playing from somewhere close. Moving to the fence Marinette unclipped a tie, simply shifting the entire panel to the right so a human could easily slip through. Sitting before them, half hidden in the darkness was a human sized hole in the side of a building and Adrien moved past her to the entrance, waiting as she shifted the fence back into place. Marinette joined him at the entrance but didn't move forwards and Adrien glanced at her wondering what was up. She had a frown on her face, a look that said she had something to share but wasn't sure how much of it she wanted to.
"Is there something I should know?" Adrien asked keeping his voice soft and tone gentle. He hadn't seen any followers around them tonight, but as Chat he had learned last night that just because he couldn't see someone, didn't mean they weren't there. If there was someone around he didn't want them overhearing.
Marinette frown deepened for a second before she gave a bit of a shrug her shoulders slumping. "I probably should have told you before but honestly I didn't think about it. I don't think you will have any problems since you don't know anyone but um… you didn't bring your badge did you?"
Adrien blinked a bit surprised she had known he now had a badge since he hadn't shown her yet. In hindsight Adrien supposed he shouldn't be surprised though. Usually once you were assigned in a precinct they presented you with your badge. Then realizing Marinette was still awaiting an answer he shook his head. "No I didn't. Should I have?"
Marinette shook her head immediately looking a touch relieved. "No definitely not. See once we pass that fence we are just runners. No badges, no gangs, no records. You will meet all kinds of people out here tonight and let's just say some of them are not on the right side of the law. Matter of fact if the cops ever show up while you are out here, run like hell. Also try and help anyone who needs it no matter their affiliation outside the fence. It how this place remains free from gang influence, we all work together to keep each other safe. Not that any cops should ever show up but just in case I'll show you some of the bolt holes and escape routes sometime tonight. They know we just run out here and the only place they can enter it the front. It's a little risky for them to come in here to try and arrest anyone. They don't know the area like we do and they are more likely to injure themselves than catch a person."
Adrien was shocked but in more ways than one he understood. It was the only way to prevent any innocent people from getting hurt and to prevent violence from breaking out when rivals accidentally met. Adrien knew of a few other places like that in the city and he wondered who had set it up here. There was also the question of how they made everyone follow that rule. "Are there any other rules?"
"Just the basics, no fighting, no weapons unless they are meant for the courses, and have fun. Can you do that?" Marinette asked
Adrien smiled "I think so princess! Shall we get started?"
Marinette scowled at the nickname but then grinned, waving him forward into the darkened building. Immediately passing into the space Adrien could hear the sound of running feet and could hear voices as well as the music getting louder. Within a few moments they emerged into an open courtyard area and Adrien looked around him a bit disappointed. It was a true dead end although he could see a single open window less than ten feet off the ground. Seeing his gaze Marinette laughed then jogged to the wall before them.
"Come on we have to climb." Marinette explained as she gripped the box she carried in her teeth and hooked her hands into the brick.
Adrien followed noticing that the handholds she was using were actually cut into the wall. Marinette made it to the window and as she pushed forward light poured out from the gap making Adrien realize that a blackout curtain covered the window making it seem dark. A short climb later and Adrien pushed through the curtain finding an open warehouse sized building stretching out before him. Lights were on flooding the space revealing odd looking equipment and climbing apparatuses.
"Whoa…" Adrien gasped
Marinette laughed. "I know right? The coolest thing is that the runners have built most of this themselves. We had this one guy who knew how to weld and he borrowed the equipment from the college for a few days to help build a lot of the frames. The obstacle course in the center is open for everyone to try and we change it up once a month. Other props are there for training and you can work on your moves depending on what you want to try. Some things you do need a spotter for so don't do anything stupid on your own. If you get hurt its your own fault."
Adrien's gaze flicked around the room engrossed by what he saw, people of all shapes and sizes moved about helping each other as they did. "So where do we start?" He asked eager to try everything.
Marinette beamed at him then pointed to a set of lockers next to a crazy collection of chairs, beanbags, and other miscellaneous sitting or lounging items. "We can put our stuff over there and then we warm up."
Adrien nodded eagerly ready to move. He wanted to try the obstacle course at some point and after watching one poor fellow tangle himself in what appeared to be a rope web, Adrien knew he should stretch well or risk some sort of injury. Dropping their items in one of the lockers Marinette slipped out of her jacket and produced a lock to secure their stuff. After saying hello to several of the resting spectators and introducing Adrien to them Marinette moved to the side where she and Adrien stretched. As they did they were treated to the sight of many people attempting the obstacle course. Most people failed at some point and one or two falls were quite spectacular. One woman managed to twist her foot in a rope and ended up hanging from the rope web much to her friends amusement and she ended up needing a few peoples help to get out. Feeling pleasantly warm from a quick lap around the inside of the building Adrien turned to Marinette his eager bouncing making her giggle.
"Alright Adrien we can go do the obstacle course now." Marinette snickered her tone reminiscent of a motherly indulgent one.
Adrien didn't care since he knew she was teasing him "Have you done this course yet?" Adrien asked as she headed over to the obstacle course.
Marinette shook her head "No I haven't. I haven't been out here for a while so I wonder if they have changed the outside obstacle course too."
Adrien gaped at her. "There's more?!"
"Of course there is more!" Marinette laughed "This running ground stretches almost a block and we are in the very center. This spot is simply for training, stretching, and resting. Outside of here it gets a bit more dangerous since you are expected to know your strengths and weaknesses by the time you hit the real running paths. Some of the areas are falling apart since the city abandoned this area years back so watch out for the danger signs. They are fairly obvious so if you see one don't go too much further in."
"Has anyone ever been hurt?" Adrien asked and Marinette nodded
"Yeah and two people have died. One tried to make a jump they knew they shouldn't attempt and it didn't end well. The other went into one of those danger areas I just mentioned. We didn't find their body for two days and it was a real mess to clean up."
Adrien grimaced not wanting any more information and was happy to see that they were next up on the course. "Well on a happier note do you want to race on this thing?"
It hadn't been obvious at first but Adrien had noticed you could run the course alone or in pairs. There were two starting points for the course at the very beginning although all of the obstacles after were shared between the two. To race on an obstacle course, the idea intrigued Adrien and he was happy when Marinette moved to the starting points with him.
Marinette grinned as they stepped up to the starting points. "Sure, but if you fall off you're out got it?"
Adrien nodded joy pulsing through his veins and turned his attention to the course, watching as the man in front of them made it to some rolling pin type objects. The man wasn't positioned correctly for his jump and Adrien was unsurprised when his feet went out from under him. Hitting the mats below the man let out an audible groan to a few spectators laughter. Sitting up the dude rubbed his head as one of his friends moved to help the guy back up. They were clear of the course in a few seconds and Marinette looked over at Adrien an eager smile on her face. Someone with a flag and timer at the very end of the course waved, clearing the course for its next contestants. Adrien returned Marinette's smile and they both moved at the same time racing down the short ramp before leaping into the first obstacle. It was something that represented twisted monkey-bars, so instead of just using your hands you had to use your whole body to make your way across. Pushing off with his foot to get to the next rung Adrien caught sight of Marinette and nearly missed his hold. She was already in front of him hooking her legs around one pole and simply letting herself fall into the next position. Her movements were practically boneless and Adrien wished for a good long moment that he had waited to watch her go through the course the first time.
"Man you better move or she's gonna kick your butt!" a male voice hollered form the sidelines and Adrien shook himself out of his stunned surprise.
With a thankful wave in the direction of the shouting spectator Adrien launched himself forward once more as Marinette exited the first obstacle. Different sized platforms hovered before her on springs and she was hesitating as she measured out her route. Somehow Adrien managed to exit the bars as Marinette made her first jump the platform bending with her weight in such a way that it forced her to jump off almost immediately. Knowing he didn't have the time to map out a path he simply jumped hoping for the best. Landing on all fours he wished for his claws because the stupid platform instantly tilted. Sliding a little Adrien leaped to a larger platform unsure as to how the smaller one held up against his weight. This platform wobbled wildly trying to tilt his body off too and Adrien jumped again before it tossed him to the mats below. He had the feel of it by that second platform though, and he was able to pull up even with her by the time they exited to the third obstacle. It was a wall, a decently high one, with side walls built around it and smaller rock like projections going up the surface. A rope hung in the center and Adrien sprinted forward realizing whoever got the rope would pull ahead. Putting on some extra speed that came from being a miraculous user he managed to gain some distance on Marinette. With a wild grin on his face Adrien didn't bother slowing down or stopping as he sprinted at the obstacle full force. Instead he jumped the last few feet, hands grabbing at the rope so he didn't fall back to the mats below. A cheer sounded out from the sidelines at the incredible acrobatics the two of them were flaunting and Adrien turned to look down half expecting to see Marinette pouting below him. Adrien almost fell off the wall instead as she leaped past him, kicking off the side wall and using the odd ledges to kick higher.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Adrien cried scrambling up the rope after her as Marinette lost too much momentum and snagged the rope less than a foot from the top of the wall. Between the shock of seeing her fly up the wall past him on jumping power alone and the recoil from her grabbing the rope Adrien nearly lost his grip. Thankfully his feet were set firmly on a ledge and after a quick pinwheel of his one arm Adrien was once again balanced. Her laugher taunted him as she swung over the top and Adrien lunged after her making it to the top mere seconds after she vanished.
"No way she is human" He grumbled as she landed, doing a somersault to bleed off the impact without losing a ton of speed. He followed swiftly, darting off his hands and feet in a way that for the first step or two he was in a crouch. The rolling pins were next and Marinette barely paused as she started the obstacle knowing that Adrien was right behind her. The sound of a body hitting foam concurred with her thoughts and she leaped to the next roller running down its length as it tried to twist out from beneath her. She jumped again for the middle platform landing unsteadily on her feet, and a moment later another impact made her lose her balance completely as the platform jolted underneath her in the wrong direction. Adrien's hand flashed out grabbing her flailing one and jerked her hard enough forward that she fell to her knees on the platform rather than off it to the floor below.
"My bad…" Adrien said grinning sheepishly as the platform swayed under them making it impossible to leap off just yet.
Marinette shook her head feeling a bit surprised by his actions. He was as competitive as her, if not more so with his male pride and desire to prove himself. "Thanks but you could have just won had you let me fall."
Adrien shook his head his eyes gaining a note of seriousness that had her immediate attention. "I'll always catch you Marinette."
Not waiting for a reply and feeling his cheeks turn pink Adrien leaped to the next roller set, staying low in an attempt to not get flung off while Marinette gaped after him. Tiki used to say that to her and Marinette doubted Adrien knew that, or else he probably wouldn't have said it. The fact that he had said it, had caught her even when falling wouldn't have hurt anything but her pride, it touched something deep within her. For a brief instant Marinette could see a future with him at her side, the perfect match up, and the perfect team. It was a good future and a fierce determination burned in her heart to make it a reality. First she had to prove herself to be a good partner as well and that meant keeping up with him. Those thoughts had gone through her faster than a lightning strike, her mind made up. Launching herself from her kneeling position Marinette used her lighter form to her advantage, swiftly running down the harder but shorter rolling pin. Leaping the last few feet as her balance finally failed her, Marinette twisted midair coming down on her knees and sliding forwards as Adrien managed to jump off his own rolling pin to the safety of the platform. Her eyes met his and suddenly it was no longer a race against the other but a race simply together. Adrien's hand shot out as he passed her, Marinette's hand fitting perfectly within his grasp. In a single sinuous move Marinette was pulled her to her feet and into a sprint without Adrien having to bleed off his speed at all.
"Stay off the disks in the net and watch out for the bungie ropes. They have blue lines in them." Marinette panted feeling exhilarated at the fact that Adrien was running with her, matching her step for step.
"This thing is boobie trapped?" Adrien gasped his voice filled with laughter.
"Yup so follow close or you will be on the ground." Marinette answered and then there was no more time for talking.
They both leaped into the web of ropes at the same time. The netting bounced oddly but Marinette twisted leaping past an innocent looking circular platform and landed further in the web. Adrien followed overshooting a little and found himself grabbing a not so innocent blue striped rope. It stretched under him, exceeding his height in seconds and nearly dumped him right out of the side of the net. Before he could fall too far though, a hand snagged the back of his shirt and using his momentum he was able to snag a different rope stopping his decent. Marinette pulled back and Adrien followed the pull swinging back into the web. An insightful dually pleased look passed between them and together they finished the obstacle with no further issues. They exited on the final platform to ecstatic cheers and more than one person came up to them to congratulate them on both the incredible run and the newest fastest time.
"Marinette! Hell of a way to come back to the party! Who is your newest toy and does he have a brother?" A girl with pink hair called.
"Alex!" Marinette laughed and the two of them hugged before Marinette pulled back. "This is Adrien, he is not a toy nor is he mine and no to the brother as well."
Alex smiled slyly as she moved around Adrien making him nervous enough to want to keep an eye on her. "Such a pity, though I'll take an attractive cousin if he is as fit as you, if not I'll be more than happy to play with you."
Adrien shook his head deciding to nip that idea in the bud. He didn't think Alex was flirting with him, she seemed to be getting the feel for his personality more than anything, although she was getting a bit too close for comfort not that he allowed his discomfort to show. "Sorry I'm one of a kind and I'd rather stick with Marinette."
"Most guys would rather stick with Marinette not that they can match her for beans. Good job keeping up with her." Alex said softly while shooting Marinette a smile. Alex was on the short side, almost as short as Marinette and she seemed to favor cutoff jeans and bright green snakes on black. Pink hair completed the look along with her blue eyes and Adrien couldn't help but notice they weren't as bright or as vivid as Marinettes.
"You ran pretty good considering I've never seen you on the rooftops or around here before." Alex said louder this time, coming to stand beside Marinette. "The red head you brought here failed epically the one time he tried the other course."
Marinette sighed. "I had to see how well he could move on stuff like this since he was pretty set on following me. Forget about him though, what are you doing running around on the rooftops? You know if I see you up there outside of the fence I'll have to do something about it."
Alex laughed. "Girl all of Paris has heard you are on desk duty. I'm not worried and besides I don't do anything bad up there it's just faster than the underground sometimes."
Marinette rolled her eyes as Adrien listened with some mild confusion and a touch of jealousy. Who had Marinette brought to parkour before? Had it been recent? Unfortunately his questions weren't answered because they had moved on to other subjects.
With a huff Marinette decided to let Alex slide for now and grinned. "So where is Kim? I figured you two would be racing each other already on the outside courses."
Alex let out a grumble crossing her arms as her face fell into a pout. "Kim is staying with Max tonight and Kim promised him that they would do what Max liked this time around."
Marinette chuckled patting Alex on the back. "That's what you do in a relationship Alex. You share your interests and do what the other wants so there is a balance."
"I don't care, I want my running buddy back! Max can claim Kim on the nights we don't run Parkour!" Alex groused making Marinette laugh.
Adrien tapped Marinette on the shoulder feeling left out of the loop. "Kim the bartender?" he asked curious since he had met the man just the other night.
Marinette nodded "He usually buddies up with Alex for paired races and they are forever competing against the other. Since he started dating Max though he has been coming out a bit less since Max is more of an intellectual."
"Jeez it's such a weird match up too. What the heck does Max see in Kim anyways?" Alex huffed then shook her head with a sigh. "In any case I also came over to see if you two wanted to play some midnight tag. We're gonna have a game starting soon and since you are warmed up I figured I'd let you know."
Adrien was instantly intrigued; after his mom had vanished Adrien hadn't had many friends nor play dates. Before all that tag had been one of his favorite games to play. There was something freeing about running as fast as you can while staying one step ahead of your pursuer. Marinette looked over at him and he nodded, eager to just have some fun.
"Can we?" he asked feeling a little silly but Marinette just beamed.
"I guess that answers that question Alex. Are we going to building two?" Marinette asked
"Yeah but roof is off limits since you scared us to death that one time you jumped off." Alex answered. "Matter of fact you aren't allowed to use your jacket at all. We need to make that a rule since you get sneaky with it."
"Hey it wasn't that bad and I've never used my jacket against anyone here!" Marinette exclaimed as they started walking towards the lockers to allow other people to run the obstacle course.
Adrien laughed "You used your jacket to jump off the building?"
Marinette rolled her eyes but before she could speak Alex steamrolled over her in an avalanche of words.
"Yeah and she took me with her! Tiki was it and she chased us up onto the roof where there was literally no where to go. One of us was gonna get tagged and Marinette just grabs my hand as we hit the edge and goes 'do you trust me?'"
"What did you say?" Someone asked interrupting the story.
Alex pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. "I made the mistake of saying yes since I thought she had a plan to outsmart Tiki. The next thing I knew she had me round the waist and we were swinging over the edge and into the windows on the next floor down!"
"You scream really loud." Marinette mentioned finally getting a word in edgewise and Alex glared at her.
"The worst part was we still didn't get away, because Tiki was crazy enough to follow us over the side using some trick you never have disclosed to me."
Marinette chuckled at the memory as Alex continued to rant and Adrien looked on in wonder. Marinette had to let Tiki follow or risk her falling to a bad injury or death and it really was her fault since Marinette had known Tiki would follow. They had both managed to land on their feet in the room when Marinette had felt Tikis weight hit the line. She had tried to get Alex to run but Alex had been in shock stumbling away from Marinette and back towards the window. Knowing the line would hold at the anchor Marinette had been about to ditch her jacket as Tiki had barreled in through the window after them. Tiki had triumphantly tagged Alex and realizing Alex still wasn't moving, Marinette decided to stay to make sure she really was ok since Tiki had vanished into the darkness. In the end Alex had ended up being tagged only about a minute since Marinette took pity on her and let herself get tagged so Alex could go sit down for a few minutes.
Adrien laughed at the story "So jumping in through windows, and off roofs is not allowed, got it. Hey can we climb out a window to get to the next floor though?"
The conversation froze as Marinette snorted hiding a smile while Alex gaped at him "Dear lord Marinette you found one as crazy as you." Alex moaned then snapped "Jump, crawl, climb, I don't care what you do. If you go outside the building via window or crack you are out of bounds and out of the game."
Marinette laughed openly and Adrien gave Alex a sheepish "Yes mam."
"Fifteen minutes from now is midnight tag if anyone else wants to join." Alex called to the crowd they had attracted "See you there Marinette, Adrien."
That said she left their side, darting off to spread the word further. Marinette opened their locker snagging two water bottles that were in Adrien's bag.
"So you and Tiki used to come here?" Adrien asked softly taking a bottle from her hand. Marinette nodded taking her jacket out as well although she emptied most of its pockets and slid on a pair of fingerless gloves.
"Yeah we came out as often as we could since it was a great place to mingle and train. We would do all kinds of cray stunts without too much fear of injury and when we raced together we almost never lost." Marinette chuckled a bit locking the locker back and draping her jacket over one arm. "People stopped asking us to race in joint runs against them. Matter of fact I haven't participated in a joint run in a while. Nathaniel tried the one time he came out but it didn't work out so well."
"Nathaniel?" Adrien asked pleased to hear that this boy, whoever he was hadn't been good enough to play with Marinette.
Marinette shrugged "He was my second assigned partner after the first one couldn't handle my personality. He is a good guy, a good cop but he couldn't keep up with me on a hunt. I tried bringing him here to help him work on his skills but they transferred him after a few months. Last I heard he was a sketch artist in a different precinct."
"Oh. Have you brought anyone else out?" Adrien asked
Marinette shook her head rapidly making her way towards the stairs. "No way, I didn't trust any of those idiots to be alone in my office much less around here. Alya has been here with me once or twice but I come alone most of the time these days. Now that you have been here and can actually hold your own feel free to come run any time with me."
At her words Adrien felt a pulse of joy seep through him. Originally Adrien had sort of felt like he pushed Marinette into inviting him. Now though Adrien had come to realize that Marinette wasn't one to be pushed into anything. Instead she actually seemed to like being around him and it was clear to him that she was overjoyed to finally have someone able to keep up with her. He got the same feeling around her as Chat although she was far sassier with him when he had cat ears on.
"I will take up your offer on that you know. This is the most fun I've had in ages." Adrien answered feeling satisfied when she smiled in return.
Walking together they were joined by several others, all who wanted to play tag and ask them about their run on the obstacle course. Side by side with Marinette, Adrien could only beam in contentment while being surrounded by friendly faces, he just knew this game of tag was going to be epic.
