In which Marinette and Alya have breakfast and Alya has some fun teasing.
CeceTheFandomQue... Plagg can precieve the world in energy fields when Adrien is transformed as Chat. Also like normal animals Plagg can see Auras which are the energy field that surrounds all humans. Every time Marinette and Adrien are near each other he can see/feel that their energy fields balance each other. Also Magic.
wolfrunnerable12... Yes Plagg was once human and we will get more info on that in the future. Once I fully figure it out myself!
Guest... I usually update right near the end of the month sometime in the late 20s. Ive been busy with life lately and been slowly eating into my buffer but hopefully by the end of April I will have more free time which might include more chapters of this story. Its progressing a little slow for my taste but since its complex and I have to keep track of several things at once its necessary.
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.
Intrigue
To her lack of surprise Alya was leaning against the kitchen door jamb munching on a cookie. "Girl you have still got it so bad for him."
Marinette frowned at her friend "I like him as a person and I will admit he is still very handsome."
"You mean hot, and did I spy abs on him when his shirt was unbuttoned or was I dreaming?" Alya asked taking another bite of the cookie in her hand.
"Oh they are definitely abs." Marinette breathed a blush heating her cheeks as she remembered just how toned those abs were when she had tried to push him back.
Alya snickered drawing Marinette's attention, her blush worsening as she realized what she had practically admitted to.
"Alya!" Marinette whined, her small foot stomp making Alya break into a full throated laugh.
"I'm sorry girl but you are so sunk. It's cool though because I'm pretty sure he is too."
"I think he just want to be partners Alya." Marinette answered moving towards her.
Alya rolled her eyes. "Yeah in the field and probably in the bed too, but who am I to judge?"
With a growl Marinette snatched the remaining cookie from Alyas hand. "Get your head out of the gutter and lets go eat before you fill up on sweets. You know your stomach gets upset if you only put sugar in it."
Chuckling since Alya knew she struck a nerve she simply shut up and waited for Marinette to grab her purse before following her out the door to breakfast.
They went to a small café that they often frequented and snagged a corner booth so they could people watch as they wished. The corner booth also prevented a person from sneaking up or eavesdropping on them which was just how Marinette liked it.
"So continuing our conversation from earlier… I can't believe how fast you made your move on Adrien! I thought I was going to have to force you two together since I hadn't really heard anything from you after the other night." Alya muttered snagging a menu and glancing over the items.
Marinette rolled her eyes not bothering with the menu since she knew what she already wanted. "I didn't make any moves on him Alya. If anything he's the one following me around and since he seems so determined about trying to be my partner, I figured I should take him running and see what he was made of."
Alya raised an eyebrow at her friend, the conversation pausing between them as a waiter came to take their order. The moment their waiter was moving away Alya pounced back on the conversation determined to make Marinette talk. "Ok so clearly you liked what Adrien was made of since you let him stay at your house, and you obviously trust him far more than any other partner you've had because girl, he was all up in your business this morning and he didn't have a bruise to show for it."
Feeling her cheeks heat up Marinette picked at the silverware bundle on the table noting the server heading their way again with drinks. "Ok fine I do really like him and the way he ran last night Alya? He could keep up with me and we worked really well as a team. He followed in my footsteps and trusted that I would lead him to victory. It was amazingly awesome, the best time I've had in a really long while, and I really think that he would make a really good partner. He's also surprisingly protective although I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that."
The server laid their drinks down and both girls nodded their thanks. Marinette stirred at her tea while Alya added more sugar to her coffee as they waited till the server was out of earshot again.
Slowly Alya looked up at her friend and sighed lifting her spoon from her cup to take a sip. "What do your Whispers say? I know you made a run around them the other night which is why I didn't call."
"Um… They seem to approve of him…" Marinette murmured eliciting a choke out of Alya as she practically slammed her cup back to the table.
"Seriously?!" Alya demanded "Did they even meet him or do they just trust your judgement? I mean don't get me wrong cuz even I like Adrien so far but that's a little fast for the Whispers. I mean they took forever to warm up to me and I'm your best friend! I can hardly find any info about him after he left for the states so there is no telling what he got into!"
Marinette took a sip of her own drink letting the warm liquid settle her before she spoke. "I know that, I was as surprised as you but for some reason the Whispers seems to trust him. I mean Stormy met him last night and she decided to play her zap trick on him. He took it really well and I think she was impressed by his willingness to run with me."
"Believe me girl I'm just as impressed. The dudes gotta have some supernatural skills if he did Dangers Run with you and you two still won after being sabotaged." Alya commented resting her chin on her hand.
"Alex told you didn't she?" Marinette asked realizing that Alya's showing up at her apartment probably wasn't an accident.
Alya grinned "Oh yeah she did and I'm most disappointed that you didn't call and give me the deets immediately! I mean I had to hear all this second hand and then had to go track you down only to find you in an incredibly compromising position with a guy you used to not be able to even speak properly around! I just don't know what has happened to you in the past few days."
The server arrived with their food as Alya took a breath to begin a new tirade and it gave Marinette a chance to try and organize the thoughts in her mind since they really didn't want to speak in front of the server. Both of them smiled and denied any further need for assistance and once more they were left on their own, with Alya glaring a hole into Marinette's head.
Marinette heaved a sigh cutting into her quiche. "A lot of stuff has happened in the past few days Alya. Between Adrien and Chat and the Hawkmoth gang stirring things up I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Then Gabriel is being harsher than usual, I'm stuck on desk duty and…."
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Alya broke in cutting off the rest of Marinette was about to say. "What about Chat? Have you run into him again? Did you catch him?"
Marinette froze realizing her slip but before she could try and bluster her way out of Alyas question she chucked a blueberry at Marinettes head making Marinette jump and yelp. "What was that for?!"
"You are going to try and lie to me and I hate it when you do that. You know I'm good for secrets so what in the hell is going on?!" Alya hissed her voice dropping since the server was sweeping back past them again.
Grumbling Marinette wiped her forehead and took several annoyed bites of her food. Alya waited inhaling her own meal since she knew Marinette was simply putting her thoughts in order. Several quiet minutes passed and just as Alya thought she might have to throw another blueberry, Marinette took a last swig of tea, her fork falling beside her plate for the moment.
"This can't be a story and right now I have no idea if what I am even doing is a good idea." Marinette murmured looking into Alya's eyes to see if she understood.
Alya paused mid-bite, the serious look on Marinette's face giving her a cold chill. The last time she had seen that look was when Tiki died and Marinette had refused to give her the real story of what went down that night. Feeling a touch unsure Alya swiftly reviewed what she had asked, wondering what was setting Marinette on edge so suddenly. Clearly it was something Marinette needed to talk about otherwise she would have just clammed up and said it was Whisper business or some crappy cover like that.
Dropping her fork to her plate Alya took a deep breath. "I'm here for you girl, no matter how crazy it gets. My job is totally not on the table right now. Off the books, going into the secret friendship vault, you know… the works."
Marinette huffed a small smile twitching her lips then she folded her hand under her chin making it look as if she were resting on her elbow in boredom. Really the position distorted the cheek and lips making it almost impossible to lip read. Another chill passed down her back and Alya wondered just how much trouble her friend was willing to put herself into and how much info she was actually willing to part with.
"That Hawkmoth gang has started to stir again." Marinette murmured and Alya decided to stuff a forkful of food in her mouth so she wouldn't interrupt. "They were already starting to stir a little before now but what has got them really slinking from the shadows is Chat Noir."
"The cat burglar?!" Alya grunted in surprise managing to keep her voice down. "I thought he was just a thief!"
"Yeah he is far more than that." Marinette breathed. "I've fought him Alya, talked to him too and now the whispers are trying to bring him into their fold. He… he isn't quite human."
"What the hell does that mean?" Alya demanded jabbing her fork at Marinette as she took a bite of her rapidly cooling food. "You know I was called out to the crime scene of that poor guard he kidnapped and killed. The dude was a mess, although I bet you already know all about that."
"I do and he didn't kidnap the guy from what I understand. I don't understand how but that man got turned into a monster that he calls Akuma and when it died it reverted back to what it looked like as a human, as crazy as that sounds." Marinette answered around another bite of food. "Also like I said before Chat Noir isn't all human either. The cat ears and the tail are real girl, not props or costume additions. He's also crazy strong, like able to lift a car kind of strong and now I can't even arrest the stupid cat because apparently he is the only thing that can stop these monster attacks that have been popping up."
Alya sat back staring at her friend wondering what in the hell she had gotten herself into this time. What she was saying was impossible since human-animal hybrids did not exist and yet, this was Marinette she was talking to. If anyone was part of the impossible or improbable Marinette would definitely be it. "If it were any other person I think I'd call them crazy. Heck I called one guy crazy the other day because he said there had been a monster attack out near some docks the other night. So what, Chat is some cat human hybrid and he is in Paris hunting down monsters?"
"He is after the Hawkmoth gang for some reason. I think the monsters are kind of like a side job, especially since he made it sound like he's been attacked before. I don't know where they are coming from yet, but for now stay out of any dark alleys and back ways in town." Marinette murmured. "And if you run into him don't do anything stupid."
Alya rolled her eyes "You mean like you attacking him, doing that run to try to arrest him, and now what? Befriending him?"
"More like taming." Marinette grumbled then blushed as Alya hooted with laughter.
"So you at least know he's on your side right? Like he isn't going to suddenly turn on you and try to hurt you right?" Alya asked once her laughter had died off.
Marinette nodded "If he was really going to hurt me he would have done so already. The few times I've fought him he's held back even when I pissed him off. Pretty sure he even protected me from an akuma the other night. He's trustworthy, at least as far as I can throw him kind of trustworthy."
Alya sighed honestly worried for her friend but at this point she didn't know what to say to even attempt to help her. "Well if you ever need me just call ok? I don't care if Chat is freaken superman I'll totally help you take him down."
Marinette smiled at Alya knowing that she wouldn't stand a chance of going up against Chat. "Thanks Alya but I really hope that won't be necessary."
The waiter returned with their check and both girls stood squabbling for a moment when Alya decided to pay for both of their breakfast. Finally though Marinette allowed for Alya to pay and they walked out heading to Marinette's work since she had to go in the earliest. For most of the walk their conversation was innocuous simply passing the time chatting about new clothing styles, the dress Marinette was making for the police ball, and what shows they had managed to catch in their spare time. Their previous breakfast conversation loomed in Alyas mind though and as they neared the door to her building she pulled Marinette off to the side.
"Listen Marinette I know I have no right tell in you to be safe or anything since I'm always running into danger myself, but promise me you won't go looking for these monsters and that you won't go trying to help Chat if he doesn't want it." Alya pleaded
Marinette frowned at her friend surprised by her demand. "You know I can't promise either of those. If one of these akuma show up attacking someone you know I'm going to step in. Also I'm in charge of the Chat Noir case, its now officially my job to keep him out of trouble, both at work and with the Whispers. I really don't know when my life became so complicated."
"Then tell Chat to behave himself or I can tell Mr Noir myself." Alya snapped then froze seeing Adrien coming towards them from across the street.
"You are never meeting Chat…" Marinette began only to break off as Alya shook her head. Turning Marinette caught sight of Adrien who was far too close for this conversation to continue and managed to smile as he came over to them an overnight bag in hand again.
"Did you two have a nice breakfast?" Adrien asked pretending he hadn't heard the last of their conversation. He didn't have to try very hard since a normal person wouldn't have caught it at all but the wind had been blowing just right and Adrien was attuned to Marinette's voice. He was a bit surprised he was talking to Alya about Chat Noir but then again Alya was her best friend. They probably shared all kinds of secrets from their jobs with each other.
"Yes we did and we were able to catch up on our favorite shows and fashions we like." Alya bluffed nudging Marinette since she was still standing stiffly, a tight grin on her face. "In any case I've got to get to work myself so you two behave, and Marinette think about what I said ok girl?"
Her piece said Alya darted across the street and headed away from them tossing up a hand in acknowledgement when Marinette shouted a hasty goodbye after her. Seeing her friend go Marinette sighed knowing that Alya would probably set right back into her about the akuma and Chat Noir the moment she had her alone again.
"Everything ok?" Adrien asked making Marinette flinch
"Mostly." Marinette answered "Alya just likes to worry about me which is silly since she runs into danger more than me with her reporting job."
Adrien frowned "I don't think you have done anything too dangerous lately have you? I mean parkour doesn't count right?"
For some reason Adrien question struck Marinette funny and she couldn't help the giggles that slipped from her as he continued to frown at her. "No I haven't done anything more dangerous than normal, and don't you start worrying either! I can handle myself perfectly well."
Not wanting him to start asking too many questions Marinette turned towards the doors of the precinct waving him after her. "So is that bag stuff for your drawer or just stuff for your dinner?" Marinette asked as they went inside noticing how he had slicked back his hair again and his posture was once more stiffer than a board.
"I have my suit's jacket in the bag for dinner with my father since I'm sure it will be required but the rest of the clothes are for the drawer. Since you offered I figured I could leave a bit more of my casual wear at your house especially since suits are not the most comfortable thing to wear everywhere. I already inquired about a flat in your building. Turns out the one next to you is open." Adrien answered his posture remaining stiff but his tone was gentle, even if his features never wavered from his already infamous stony look.
"Well you can leave your bag in my office and I can bring it to my place for you later." Marinette hummed secretly delighted at the thought of her and Adrien being neighbors. Mind already wandering as she thought about walking to work with him everyday, cooking for him, and working cases with him she missed the warning signs as she approached her door. Her key was already in the knob and she was just about to open the door when Chloe appeared like magic.
"Adrikins! What are you doing with her again?" Chloe squawked moving towards them with a haughty look pinned on her face. Today she was in a tight striped yellow top and a pair of equally tight black pants that were probably better off used as leggings. Rhinestone covered high top sandals shod her dainty feet and Marinette was a touch surprised she wasn't showing off more skin. The outfit left nothing to the imagination of course but it was sort of rare to see Chloe so covered.
Marinette rolled her eyes declining to answer especially since she heard Adrien mutter "Is she stalking you or me?" under his breath.
Knowing that if she said a word it would probably turn into a fight Marinette pushed the door open before nudging Adrien's hand. Glancing down he handed her his bag neither of them needing to say a word. Chloe took in this interaction with pinched features and all at once demanded "Are you two dating?!"
Marinette tripped over her own feet nearly hitting the ground but somehow Adrien managed to catch her. One hand had grabbed the back of her jacket while the other had slipped under her arm stabilizing her.
"You ok?" Adrien murmured barely containing the amusement surging through him.
"No I'm at the end of my patience and I haven't even clocked in." Marinette returned turning to face Chloe. "No Chloe we are not dating and even if we were why in the hell is it any of your business."
Chloes face soured but surprisingly she didn't have a cutting answer and Marinette wondered if it was because Adrien was there and she didn't want him to see how nasty she could really be. When she made no snide comment back Marinette moved into her office putting Adrien's bag just under the desk. If she left her office today for any length of time she would have to remember to lock her door. Adrien hadn't followed her and was instead leaning against the door jamb with Chloe only a few short feet away, looking as if she were seething.
"If you're not dating what's with the bag? I really don't understand your fascination with her anyways Adrikins." Chloe sniped drawing the attention of every available pair of eyes on the floor.
"Marinette has been kind enough to drop some of Ninos stuff off for me since I now have dinner plans with my father tonight. As for my fascination I suppose it will have to remain a mystery to you. I am curious as to why you are here though, did you have a question for Marinette?" Adrien asked truly curious as to why she had shown up here since he had pointedly asked her not to bother him at the precinct.
Chloe crossed her arms looking indignant as she stuck her nose in the air. "As if I would willingly hang out with her, if you must know I was passing through on my way to see my boyfriend."
Those words claimed everyone's attention and Marinette stepped back even with Adrien as she studied Chloes satisfied expression. Just as she was about to ask who the mystery man was an all too familiar voice called "There you are babe."
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Marinette hissed, sensing Adrien bristling as Roger swaggered across the floor towards them.
"Rogikins!" Chloe cooed throwing her arms around him as soon as he was in reach.
Marinette and Adrien looked on in faint disgust as the two of them kissed, and when they finally came up for air Roger looked supremely smug while Choles eyes cut to them as if she were looking to see if they were jealous. Apparently Marinette and Adrien didn't have the expression she was looking for though and for a moment her fake hundred watt smile slipped.
"What are you doing here with these losers babe?" Roger asked his eyes flicking up to study Marinette and Adrien while hoping to get a rise from them.
Smile firmly back in place Chloe cooed "I was looking for you Rogikins! I saw Adrien and when I went to say good morning, Maritrash decided she wanted to be part of the conversation."
"Really you guys, what are you two years old?" Marinette asked making Roger and Chloe look up at her.
Adrien was still leaning against the door jamb his expression completely unreadable and Marinette was eyeing them with exasperation. Her body language told them that she wasn't impressed and Roger suddenly felt like a kid being scolded.
"I see what you mean babe." Roger said then looked up at Marinette his smug expression making Marinette want to chuck her manriki at his head. "What's the matter Maritrash are you jealous or something?"
One of Marinette's eyebrows rose and she felt the air around Adrien shift as a sound very similar to a growl seemed to rumble from him. Marinette wasn't offended though and casually she chuckled, more amused if anything. "Careful Roger we are coworkers and I would hate for anyone to get the wrong idea about you with that kind of language. Besides if you two want to make out and talk trash like children can you do it somewhere else? We adults have work to do."
Chuckles echoed from the corners of the room and her words had their desired effect with Roger glancing around to realize they were very much the center of attention. Chloe on the other hand looked as if she was seething just under her plastered on smile. Marinette didn't even bother waiting for a reply, turning and walking back into her office. Adrien eyed them with stony silence for a moment longer before following her in as well leaving the two idiots to buffer on their own.
Marinette was already sitting in her chair when Chloe seemed to come back to life first. "Well now that Maritrash has gone back into hiding shall we go get something to eat Rogikins? I know of this expensively divine place you simply must try…"
Marinette glanced up at Adrien who looked disgruntled and snickered "I give it a week if he has to pay."
Adrien's expression instantly softened as he chuckled "He won't last three days if he has to pay Marinette, I really don't know what Chloe is thinking."
Marinette had an idea but if Adrien didn't realize that Chloe was being jealous because they were hanging out she certainly wasn't going to point it out to him. Instead she asked "Are you in records today?"
Adrien nodded "I am I was hoping to look at some of the bigger cases that the precinct has going right now."
Intuition made Marinette's neck prickle and she scrutinized Adrien suddenly making him freeze.
"What? What did I do?" Adrien asked alarm coloring his features as he saw her expression.
"The Hawkmoth case." Marinette stated
Confusion blended with Adrien's alarm "Yes? You are in charge of that one right? Salis has the arsonist, Jibs has the drug cartel, Heather has those graffiti bombers turned vandals, and who was in charge of the catacombs?"
"No one is in charge of them." Marinette replied her intuition still pricking at her. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of it before but Adrien might only want to be her partner for access to the Hawkmoth case. She really hoped that she was wrong but some intuitive part of her told her that it was a main reason for his interest.
As if he could read her mind or maybe just her expression Adrien sighed "Marinette? You know I have no interest in gaining notoriety through cases right? If I had wanted that I would not have come to work for my father. I will admit I am very interested in the Hawkmoth case but part of that is for personal reasons that I will not allow to cloud my judgment. I want to help. Help Paris, help you if you will let me and maybe we can get this city back to a semi peaceful state." Adrien softly said his expression so plaintive that Marinette felt embarrassed for her suspicion.
"Sorry Adrien… My third partner, the one I arrested was super interested in working the Hawkmoth case because he was a mole. He was also super interested in other large scale cases and was feeding the info directly to Hawkmoth. We lost two witnesses because of him and that was before I caught him in the act. I had my suspicions before and that's why I followed him that night but since then it seems like anyone that get too curious about the Hawkmoth case always has some ulterior motive." Marinette admitted noting the sadness in Adrien eyes.
"Well I guess I do have a bit of an ulterior motive. My Father was the first to work on the Hawkmoth case and it was the Hawkmoth gang that took my mother. I... I know that she is dead but I want to know what happened to her and I want to take them all down. Crush the gang and take out whoever is the leader of such a group." Adrien admitted.
He had far more motive to go after Hawkmoth than just his mother of course. After all the Hawkmoth gang that had killed Plagg too, all for the miraculous stone that he had held. Marinette didn't need to know any of that though, especially since it would raise all sorts of questions he didn't want to answer. As it was Marinette was already learning things about him that he rarely shared and Adrien decided that it wasn't a bad thing as long as it didn't lead her finding out he was Chat Noir.
Unsure of what to say and feeling a touch guilty Marinette reached out to squeeze Adrien's hand in hers. Before he could do much more than smile Marinette had already withdrawn, seeming to come to some decision as she pulled out a ladybug printed post it sized note. Scribbling something onto the surface she proceeded to fold the square piece of paper into a ladybug. Adrien watched in fascination and blinked in surprise when she held it out to him. Taking it Adrien eyed the piece of origami grinning like a little kid, his whole face lighting up and making Marinette's stomach do a flip.
"Thank you Marinette! Can you teach me how to make one? Ohhh do you know how to make a cat? Or a crane? Wait aren't you Chinese?" Adrien queried excitedly
His enthusiasm made Marinette laugh and Adrien's smile grew even as she answered his questions. "Yes I am half Chinese but origami is fun to do. I can make all kinds of things like crane, or a cat and I can even fold bills into stuff as well. Tiki taught me how and I'll be more than happy to teach you. However the Ladybug isn't for you. It's for Rose or Jukia depending on who's down there right now."
Marinette wasn't totally positive that she was doing the right thing and once more she wondered how Adrien had managed to gain her trust so easily. It was slightly concerning but deciding she was already sunk Marinette tapped the ladybug in Adrien's hand, her voice dropping "Give it to them and they will let you see the Hawkmoth case and all I've compiled on it so far. I mean all of the case Adrien, including clues and other info that isn't available for even the cops here. There are two case files for the Hawkmoth case. The basic one that everyone can see and read in here and then my master copy which only I and your father has access to. I don't know if he would approve but at this point I really don't care and you need to know the information if you are going to come roaming with me."
Adrien suddenly realized what Marinette was saying and he felt a surge of warmth pulse through him at her show of trust. "I won't let you down Marinette, or at least I'll try my utmost to not let you down. The Hawkmoth case won't scare me off though. I'm committed to the idea of being your partner, just you wait and see."
Marinette believed him and she nodded slowly "Just be sure to put everything back and return the files to where they belong. I'll let you read some of our personal notes to some of the other files I have up here at some point when you have time too."
Adrien nodded slipping the ladybug into an inner pocket, the one that didn't have Plagg in it. "That will have to wait until my father leaves on his trip I think. Honestly I was planning on taking files from the Archives and hiding in your office to read them once he left."
Marinette snorted with laughter and turning to ask a question she paused as a knock on her doorjamb echoed out. Adrien jerked up his face an expressionless mask once more and Marinette leaned in her chair to see Natalie push open her door.
"I thought I would find you here Adrien. Your father wishes to see you and if he asks, you were in the Archives. Marinette your updates on the Chat Noir case are needed, as well as the other files given to you earlier this week." Natalie said primly adjusting her glasses
"Ah yeah, hang on a sec Natalie." Marinette answered scrambling from her chair to search through some papers on her desk. After a moment she pulled out two manila folders and moved around Adrien to hand them to Natalie. "I just need to type up some last minute stuff on the Chat Noir case. He seems to be one of those random heist kind of people who lack planning when it comes to picking targets. I'm surprised he hasn't been taken down yet." Marinette said planting the seeds of discord since she knew Natalie would be reporting back to Gabriel.
Natalie made no comment on Marinettes words but she did nod and walk off the folders in hand.
"Chat Noir?" Adrien asked curious to see her reaction.
Marinette nodded her face unreadable as she returned to her chair. "He's a thief, although not a very good one. Nothing to worry about though since the case isn't all that important, I'm just doing some paper tracking on him for whoever gets permanently assigned the case."
She was lying and Adrien felt a bit flattered that she was doing it for him though she didn't realize it. Part of him wanted to prod her a little to see if she had anything more to say about his alter ego but as he opened his mouth she glanced up at him and asked "Aren't you supposed to go see Gabriel?"
Adrien felt his face fall into a pout but he nodded patting the pocket where her ladybug rested. "Yeah I'll go see what he wishes to lecture me about this time. Thank you for the Ladybug, and I'll see you later I hope!"
Marinette watched him go with a sigh before pushing the door halfway shut with her foot. Slumping across her desk Marinette pulled out the Chat Noir case including the file on the dead guard. Another sigh escaped her lips as she read over the file again, comparing it to the story Chat had told them the other night. This was going to be a pain to mellow out without making it obvious she was doing so. Pulling herself to her computer Marinette started her personal report having to take a step back and imagine reading this stuff without knowing anything about Chat. As she feared it was harder than her usual fare especially since whoever had written the report up on the guard had terrible communication skills. The coroner report was a jumbled mess as well with the coroner initially reporting that the guard had already been dead for a while even before the last impact that had scrambled the mans brains. The final decision on the death was due a fall and Marinette put into her file that nothing Chat seemed to do had any sort of continuity. All the while Marinette typed she wondered though. No one had checked the roofs around there, even though one of the buildings patrons had complained about having no wifi service soon after. Marinette sort of wanted to check it out herself and glancing at the clock she realized she had been at her station for a while. With a yawn and a stretch Marinette decided to get herself some tea when her door hinges squeaked and Chloe peered around the door frame.
"What do you want to complain about now Chloe?" Marinette asked feeling a touch of a headache coming on.
Chloe slid into her office wrinkling her nose as if she smelled something bad. "I'm not here to complain, just to state some facts. Firstly knock off whatever spell you put on my dear Adrikins. There is no way he will ever care about you so don't even get it into your head that you two can be friends. I remember you being obnoxiously infatuated with him while we were in college. You couldn't even speak to him so go back to being like that. Adrien is in love with me, we've just been apart for so long that he needs a little reminder."
"And that's why you're dating Roger? To make Adrien jealous?" Marinette asked ignoring the barbs Chloe had thrown at her.
Chloe snorted. "We met at the bar when I fell into him the other night and he seems like he is a fun guy but my ultimate prize is definitely not Roger."
It was not nice to know that her tripping Chloe into Roger had created this new mess before her and gave Chloe a reason to constantly be in the precinct. Marinette's eyebrow quirked as she held her rising temper in check, but even as a scathing reply came to mind she remembered what Adrien had told her about Chloe. "Chloe if you want Adrien's attention, really want it, stop acting like a spoiled brat all the time. He told me that once upon a time, you actually knew how to act like a human being. Try that for once and ditch Roger. He's too self-absorbed to ever have a chance of making you happy and he's a liar and a cheat."
It was Chloe's turn to raise an eyebrow at her. "Like Adrien would share anything with you and besides how would you know anything about Roger?"
"I had the misfortune of having him as a partner in the field. He couldn't keep up and I punched him in the face when he kept making advances where they weren't welcome in the slightest. Honestly I don't give a crap what you do but I figured I should at least warn you, you know girl code and all." Marinette answered leaning back in her chair. Truthfully she really shouldn't give a crap about Chloe and Roger dating other than the fact that it meant Chloe would be in the precinct more often. Something about it just didn't sit right with her though and she usually tried to follow her instincts even if it meant helping someone that she truly didn't like.
To Marinette's surprise Chloe didn't have a scathing reply instead she pursed her lips for a brief moment before huffing. "You are just jealous you can't get a man. I mean what I said about Adrien though! Back off."
Rolling her eyes Marinette watched Chloe flounce off wondering why the girl was so intent on making her work life a misery.
