Urg I've had to demolish an entire bathroom and rebuild it from the struts up due to a water leak... Plumbing and Air conditioning has made my anti-bucket list. By the time I get finished with this project I will be able to build a house unaided.

oreganochica... I'm ready for the reveal too! this story wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this long topping out at 270 pages so far in my word document... unfortunately we still have a bit to go before the reveal actually happens so don't hold your breath otherwise you might pass out!

LilactheDryad... Animals haven't yet been akumatized in the show but considering they akumatized a robot it might happen one day! The Akuma that I'm creating in the story are created by different rules right now. I will explain it further in future chapters.

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.


Interlude

It wasn't the first time Chat had woken to the sound of purring, but it wasn't often he woke to the sound of his own. The sound cut out as he became more aware and about two seconds after managing to open his eyes, the pain kicked in fully.

"Oh good, you are awake. I was going to wake you soon since we need to leave if you want to go before sunrise," Plagg called, Chat could hear the weariness in his voice.

"Uh yeah, thank you, Plagg. I'll get you a whole tin of camembert, or even better two, when we get home," Chat managed, feeling a bit guilty as he slowly tried to move.

A hiss slipped from his lips as he pushed himself up in the bed making the stitches in his back pull awkwardly. Somehow he made it upright without causing himself enormous amounts of pain and Chat groaned as he looked around himself blearily.

"Marinette left pastries for you to eat after you had already passed out, so make sure you take them with you. You used a ton of energy up last night and you need the fuel. Also, don't forget you have to come back and explain the miraculous to her later," Plagg said, finally kicking Chat's mind back into gear.

"Plaaaagg, she is going to be the death of me..." Chat whined wanting to do nothing more than flop back and wiggle under the sheets. If he did, he could just steal some of his clothes and spend the day with Marinette, although she would probably grill him and Chat wasn't quite ready for that yet.

"Kid, I'm rolling my eyes and I'm worn out. If you want to be a drama-queen, do it later when I can sleep through it," Plagg grumbled, although his tone was more teasing than harsh.

Chat ducked his head, embarrassment tinging his tone as he muttered "Yeah ok, sorry Plagg."

Pushing himself to his feet, Chat withheld a groan as sore, stiff muscles were forced to work. Not wanting to hurt anything worse, Chat paused for a minute stretching out the worst of his kinks before he grabbed a pastry off the plate by the bed. Within a matter of seconds he had scarfed it down and Chat grabbed a second one as he stuffed the third in his mouth.

"And you say I eat like a pig," Plagg chuckled, causing Chat to release a low grumble that was muted by the pastry stuck in his face.

Chat knew Plagg was just razzing him so he ignored his partner as he slipped from the room, the now-empty plate in his hand. The living room was dim, strewn with fabric, and Chat paused swallowing the rest of his breakfast before placing the plate with the last pastry down on a side table. A dress sat on a mannequin in the middle of the strewn fabric and he could see that it was practically done. It was a deep red near the top before it faded to black near the floor. Sheer fabric wrapped the bust area in a pattern he couldn't identify in the dark and lace trailed down the whole piece, following the same lines as the pattern. Before she had fallen asleep, Marinette had been working on some beading in the sheer areas and Chat wondered when she had fallen asleep. The goof wasn't even on the couch! Instead she was curled up on the floor clutching what looked like a pincushion and was wrapped in scraps of fabric.

"I think she fell asleep listening for us," Plagg chuckled, able to sense his kit's confusion.

"Think I ought to put her to bed?" Chat wondered moving closer, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"You can try. She might give you a bloody nose if she wakes up and you're too close though," Plagg answered. Chat could practically taste his eagerness since he found Marinette beating him up incredibly funny.

Chat pursed his lips, tapping her phone which was discarded on the low coffee table in the room. It was barely five in the morning and he knew that Marinette would wake up very sore if he left her on the floor.

With a bit of a grumble, Chat moved forward and used his staff to prod Marinette in case she started swinging. "Marinette… Marinette, you really shouldn't sleep on the floor…"

Marinette's body didn't even twitch, although her nose scrunched slightly like she smelled something bad. Feeling slightly braver, Chat moved closer, shaking her by the shoulder and when that didn't phase her he decided to hell with it. Gently, he scooped Marinette up off the floor, cuddling her to his body and he couldn't help the soft purr that vibrated in his chest. She was so small and warm like this, that for a moment he really couldn't imagine her being the fierce terrifying woman she really was. Having her in his arms, her scent filling his lungs... it was totally worth the pain in his muscles and back. Somehow, Chat managed to make it to her bed without tripping over anything and after one last, deep breath he gently settled her into the bed. Marinette grumbled a little as he covered her up, but other than that, she didn't move even when her phone chirped as he plugged it in.

"I hope you have an alarm set, Marinette," Chat whispered, then slipped out of her room.

Moments later, after writing a quick note, Chat was darting over the rooftops and watching as Paris slowly started coming awake. Feeling nothing but relief Chat sighed when he slipped in through his window. It hadn't taken too long for him to finally make it back to his apartment since he took a fairly direct route and now he could feel the tension slowly leaking out of him.

"Claws in, Plagg," Chat called, with a flash of green light Plagg was hovering before him.

"You alright, kid?" Plagg asked.

Adrien scooped him from the air since he knew that the kwami had to be exhausted. "I think I need more sleep. I'll get you your camembert then I'm going back to bed," Adrien yawned sleepily.

"Excellent choice. You gonna turn off your phone?" Plagg asked, flying up to Adrien's shoulder so his kit could use his hands

"Yeah, no one should miss me too much and if they do need me that bad, they can call twice which will alert me then," Adrien answered then froze, a tin of Plaggs precious camembert in hand. "Oh man, I forgot that last pastry!"

Plagg laughed at his kitten's dismay and accepted the wheel of cheese once Adrien got the lid off. Adrien didn't seem to find any amusement in the situation, but he only grumbled something about going to sleep before wandering off to his room. Plagg watched him go, allowing the concern he felt for his kit to finally show on his face. Adrien was limping slightly, the gash in his leg obviously bothering him. The gashes across his back were going to be another problem but Plagg couldn't speed-heal him any further for now. His powers were based in destruction and bad luck, although he could simply focus the energy into boosting his kit's natural healing abilities. That's what he had been doing all night but it left him feeling weak and wrung out for about a day afterward. The effect his powers had on his kit were lasting, however, and Plagg knew that Adrien would continue healing at a far faster rate than the average person, even without being in the suit. Tossing the last of his cheese down his gullet, Plagg floated off to the bedroom, happy that Adrien at least had the rest of the day off to sleep.

Hours passed before Adrien finally awoke, feeling like a semi had only side swiped him instead of running him into the ground, before backing over him for good measure. This time, Plagg was purring, curled up on his back where the gashes were and Adrien sighed letting the tension he had felt upon awakening flow back out of him.

"What they say about a cat's purr healing things better must be true," Adrien mumbled around the pillow his face was planted in.

"Of course it is, you dolt. Why else would you wake up purring?" Plagg snarked, Adrien could practically hear his eyes roll.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because I was comfy and warm…" Adrien returned, shifting so Plagg would get up and let him move.

After a moment, Plagg relented and Adrien got up for the second time that day. Slowly he stretched and found that his muscles and back were already feeling far better than when he had run home this morning. He still felt like sideswiped-semi-crap, but it wasn't anything some more food and a good cup of coffee couldn't fix.

The first thing Adrien did was take a shower and eyeball the stitches Marinette had put in his back. They were neat, small stitches in two parallel lines just to either side of his spine. There was an already healed cut up higher on his shoulder, Adrien shuddered a bit as he gently dried his back off.

"You're lucky that thing's claws weren't like a cat's," Plagg commented from his position on top of the mirror. "Otherwise, it would have gotten your spine."

That made Adrien shiver again, but he stuffed the fear back away in his mind. He was fine, mostly, and those Akuma he had faced had simply been flukes. At least, he hoped they had been flukes.

"Plagg, what was up with those Akuma? Why were there so many of them?" Adrien asked, slipping on a ratty t-shirt before drying his hair.

Plagg flew off the mirror top, his mission of checking the stitches in Adrien's back a success. "The miraculous that they have must be getting stronger. I was hoping that the stone we stole, the one that Marinette now has in her possession, was the one creating the Akuma. I should have known better since it didn't feel tainted but I'm as surprised as you that there were so many last night. You may want to go check the bodies if they haven't already been moved and see what the original animals were before becoming an Akuma. It may give us some insight as to why they moved so well as a group. Just be cautious since we both know the purple-striped one is still out there and we don't know if it's capable of creating more minions like it had last night. Plus, the quilled one is still running around somewhere. Since the Alpha and the quilled Akuma are different types, maybe we'll get lucky and they'll take each other out."

A small growl surged from Adrien as he vigorously dried his hair, ignoring the twinges in his back from the stitches pulling. "Maybe… that did happen when that freaky lizard-like one and the corrupted junkie ran into each other. I'll add it to the list of things we have to do."

Plagg flew down to the bed shaking his head at his kit's foolishness. About to remind Adrien that he was no longer alone, Plagg paused when the bed started vibrating. "Your phone is ringing, Adrien!"

Dropping the towel around his shoulders, hair sticking up every which way, Adrien padded over to the bed and snatched the phone from the sheets before Plagg could mess with it. "Hello?"

Nodding his head to the invisible speaker, Adrien walked out of the room leaving Plagg to curl up amongst the sheets. Several minutes passed before Adrien came running in, phone in one hand as he pulled his ratty shirt back over his head.

"That was Marinette's landlord! They want to talk with us! Well, me…" Adrien hummed while practically vibrating in excitement. "Marinette must have given them a good review of me or something because they said I can start renting at the end of the week with an option to buy later!"

"Oh good, now you can be closer to your girlfriend!" Plagg teased as Adrien pulled on a nicer black shirt and jeans.

"Marinette is not my girlfriend… yet. Besides, weren't you just warning me not to flirt with her so much last night?"

Plagg rolled his eyes and waited until Adrien pulled on a favorite white overshirt that had a hidden pocket just for him. "I said don't flirt with her so much as Chat Noir. I said nothing about you flirting. Besides its more fun to watch you be awkward with her as you attempt to act smooth."

Adrien pouted at Plagg who cackled gleefully as he settled into his pocket. With a roll of his eyes, Adrien decided to ignore him and moved towards the door keys in hand.

In the end, the landlord was a very kind, fair older woman. It helped that Adrien had charmed her completely, and even though his technical move in date wasn't until the end of the week, the landlady had given him his key as well as permission to start moving in his things. Excitement thrummed through his veins as Adrien opened the door to his new flat. The setup was similar to Marinette's and he even had a skylight of his own. The skylight was the first thing he checked out and he was happy to find that he had a decent patio area with high walls to hide him from view when he took off as Chat Noir.

"This is perfect," Adrien sighed in happiness as he scrambled down the ladder.

His feet hit the ground as a knock sounded at the door so Adrien tossed himself over the rail. Landing as light as a cat, Adrien surged towards the door sensing that it was Marinette on the other side. She looked a touch surprised at his swiftness in answering the door but Adrien beamed at her even as he invited her in.

"So you decided to rent it out, huh?" Marinette asked, looking around the empty space curiously.

"It's a lot closer to everything than where I am now and the Landlady was very fair. She's even allowing me to start moving my stuff in even though I don't start paying until the end of the week," Adrien answered, leaving the door open as he followed Marinette in.

It was a bit warm in the flat since there was no air on and seeing Marinette moving around the empty space was distracting him from picturing where he was going to put his things. He didn't mind of course since he didn't really have any furniture to begin with. There had been no point to having furniture or other things to lug around when he was constantly on the move so he wouldn't hardly fill the space at all but that really wasn't the point anyways. In reality, Adrien just wanted to be closer to Marinette and work really was the perfect excuse.

Marinette nodded thoughtfully, "If you need any help moving stuff, just let me know. I know some people that have a truck and they won't mind helping out."

Adrien grinned, "Is it some of the people from the running zone? Sorry I couldn't make it out last night, by the way. Dinner took far longer than it should have."

Marinette winced at the mention of the running zone. "Ah, it's probably better that you didn't. We had some trouble in the zone last night and Mime got injured. He's doing fine now of course, but it was a mess last night. How was your dinner?"

Adrien wanted to ask for more information both about Mime and the zone since he had to go take on the rest of the Akuma. Instinct told him it wouldn't be good idea, however, especially since he could practically feel Marinette tensing up as if she was getting ready for a fight.

"Dinner was boring. My father gave me all sorts of things to memorize and other files to work through."

Silence followed Adrien's words and the two of them stood there awkwardly, neither of them able to ask what they truly wanted to know. Thankfully, the awkwardness was broken when Alya appeared in Adrien's front doorway.

"Welp, at least you guys aren't in a compromising position this time!" Alya called cheerfully making both of them jump in surprise.

"Alya! What are you doing here?" Marinette asked

Wandering in, Alya glanced around before her gaze landed on Adrien. "Mmm, I need to talk to you about that cat and pest problem we seem to be having. I was going to take you out for dinner, unless he beat me to it."

Adrien felt himself choke a bit and Marinette spluttered, "Not yet… I mean no he hasn't! He wouldn't! I mean…"

Adrien couldn't help but laugh at Marinette's panic and Alya covered her mouth to stifle her own giggles. "I would love to take you out to dinner, Marinette, although I don't know many good places to eat yet. Alya, do you have any suggestions? We could go as a group even.

Alya nodded, her face creasing with amusement. "Nino's busy tonight but if you want to go out another night as a group, we totally can. I'll let you take Marinette out for dinner tonight but I do need to chat with her for a bit before you go, ok?"

"Sounds good. I need some measurements of some of the rooms anyway," Adrien lied. "Marinette, are you ok?"

Marinette had progressively turned redder the longer his banter with Alya had gone on. Adrien wasn't sure if it was due to embarrassment or fury, and he wondered if he had maybe crossed a line somewhere.

A meep-like sound issued from Marinette's lips at his question as Alya shot forward clamping a hand over her mouth. "She'll be fine. Like I said, just give us a few minutes and she'll be all yours!"

With that said, Alya dragged Marinette back making Adrien almost reach out, if only to stabilize Marinette while she was being hauled away. The resigned look in Marinette's eyes made him pause and the moment they were out of the apartment, he moved towards the master bedroom which shared a wall with Marinette's apartment.

"Plagg? We need to hear what they're saying," Adrien murmured closing the door behind him.

Plagg sighed but then he flew out of the pocket, "You mean you want me to spy since you can't hear them without my powers."

Adrien rolled his eyes, "I don't want to transform. I know you're still worn out. I was just wondering if you could slip in and make sure they don't discuss something important."

Plagg rolled his little eyes, but truthfully he was curious as well. The 'cat problem' was a definite jab at them and the 'pest problem' had to be the Akuma. "Use the ring to listen, then."

Adrien grinned and folded himself into a sitting position, pressing the flat face of the ring on his finger to his forehead. The ring was the physical manifestation of their bond and miraculous stone, therefore it was the main focus. It was through the metal that Adrien could hear what Plagg was hearing; although if someone were standing next to him, they wouldn't be able to hear a thing. A shiver threaded through Plagg, a sense that there was something extra surrounding him and he knew that Adrien had already connected with him.

"You're getting faster, kid," Plagg said, impressed despite himself.

They had discovered this neat little trick soon after the first time they had transformed. The two of them had a tight bond long before the miraculous came around and wreaked havoc. That bond hadn't changed between them, and since Plagg could feel when Adrien was really upset, even untransformed, they figured there had to be something more there. Since Adrien could hear Plagg speak in his mind when he was Chat Noir, the two of them figured the opposite should be true... in theory at least. It had taken quite a bit of effort, and the speaking part didn't pan out, but eventually they figured out that Adrien could piggyback on Plagg's hearing to a certain extent. As long Plagg didn't go far, Adrien could hear conversations that were happening rooms away if Plagg was present and he was concentrating. It actually took quite a bit of concentration to manage but it was worth the effort in situations like this. The more they practiced it, the more Adrien swore he could almost see what Plagg was seeing. So far though, hearing was the only thing that came through clearly. Seeing Adrien's eyes remain closed, Plagg phased through the wall low to the floor and slipped into Marinette's flat. A mumble of voices filtered into the room and Plagg flitted through the air, soaring through another wall before coming to a halt in the small hallway.

"...can't believe you did that!" Marinette yelped as Plagg slid around the edge of the wall near the ceiling to see where the two girls had gone.

Marinette had thrown herself onto the couch. Plagg noted her living room had been cleaned up since earlier that morning. The dress was still there on the mannequin, Plagg wondered if she had been working on it again.

"You should be thanking me," Alya retorted, with an eye roll thrown in for good measure. "I just got you a date with your wannabe future-hubby!"

Marinette actually launched herself from the couch, her hand slapping over Alyas mouth before she could continue. In the back of Plagg's mind, he could feel his kit reeling in shock.

"Don't say things like that, he might hear you!" Marinette squawked, Plagg noticed she hadn't refuted Alya's comment.

Again, Alya rolled her eyes and peeled Marinette's hand off her face. "Girl, he's a full three rooms away. The only way he can hear us is if he bugged your apartment... which I doubt. But love interest aside, we need to talk."

Marinette actually growled, releasing her friend to drop back onto the couch. "I already told you this morning what happened at the zone, Alya. There isn't—"

Alya folded her arms her face twisted into a scowl, "Don't even say there isn't anything else. I got two reports in this morning from separate sources that added up to two unrecognizable half-ashed corpses, and some dogs covered in black goo on rooftops! Then, when I went out to investigate, I run into your Whisperer friends pretending to be the CDC! They had fake paperwork and everything!"

Marinette actually pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly remembering that unfortunate call she had received earlier that day. "And like I explained on the phone when you demanded to speak to me, these things are not something the police are equipped to handle!"

"Oh, but your Whisperers are?!" Alya cut in, hands moving to her hips in a showcase of aggression.

"Dammit Alya, I doubt Gabriel would even believe me about any of this, even if I did go to him! Hell, I hardly believe it myself and I've fought one of those things, now," Marinette snapped back. Seeing Alya's face contort, she held up a hand stopping Alya's tirade before it began. "I didn't have a choice. It attacked one of the Watchers of the zone last night, and luckily I was close enough that I was able to help. It would have killed Mime if I hadn't been there. Chat helped me take the one out and then he took off after the others. I didn't even get hurt. And besides, even if I wanted to go to the higher ups, I need more proof of these things. A dead dog covered in goo, and a dead night guard are so not going to cut it. Most people would just blame Chat Noir for the whole thing and call it quits!"

"Then let me get your proof," Alya pleaded even as Marinette rolled her eyes choosing to stay silent as Alya continued. "Girl, you are on desk duty. Let me do the running around for once. You can come up with your preliminary report, get some facts and some cases, and I will go to my boss—who loves me by the way—and snag a spot in the paper for it. Your higher-ups can't ignore it if it's in the paper."

"Yeah they can, Alya, but that's not the point anyway. I already have the Hawkmoth case and I can guarantee they won't give me another major case like that even if I am the one that uncovered it. It's bad enough I have Chat out there making a mess of these things, now I have the Whisperers getting in the middle of it. I can't imagine the actual police force going out and trying to engage these things. At best they will get injured, at worst we will have new bodies cropping up, only in uniform this time. After all, I still don't know how these Akuma are created. For all I know, they could be like zombies and get turned by being bit or something just as absurd!" Marinette stood avoiding Alya's hands and moved toward the dress on the mannequin. "Right now the city is holding its breath and these Akuma are shaking up things on the streets. The Hawkmoth gang is starting to be on the move again, and I'm not talking about the civilized members like Mime. I'm going to have to talk to Gabriel about letting me off this damn chain he's got me on, and hopefully I'll be able to figure out what's going on."

"Badge or no badge, you're going to go out there anyways aren't you?" Alya asked, putting a hand on Marinette's shoulder.

Marinette turned into the touch, placing her hand over Alya's, "Someone has to, Alya. Someone has to venture into the dark to help those who don't have any way of finding light. Before it was Tiki and I together, but now it's just me."

"What about Adrien?" Alya asked, feeling as if she were grasping at straws. "You said yourself that he could keep up with you, and you've known him since college so he should be trustworthy."

"He is a good match but I don't think Gabriel will ever let him work with me, Alya. I'm willing to give him a shot, and so are the Whisperers. So we'll have to see how he does," Marinette answered, patting her friend's hand. "You know, if you want information so badly, you should just work with the Whisperers yourself. I hear they offered you a pretty decent deal since you're such a good info-sleuth."

Alya snorted, "I'll join them they day you join them, Marinette. But, since I know you're going out on the streets alone again soon, just promise me you'll stay safe and share any good gossip that's floating around."

"I'll do my best, Alya," Marinette promised. "Now, are you done reaming me or do you have more pointed questions to throw my way?"

"Chat Noir?" Alya queried.

Marinette's eyes narrowed, "He's not a problem, and he is definitely not your problem."

Alya's one eyebrow rose, "Girl, he is stalking you."

Marinette's eyes rolled, "That's kinda what cats do, Alya. And fair is fair, I tracked him down the first two times we interacted. Besides, he isn't a threat to me. If anything, he has been a blessing in disguise so far."

"You know what they say about blessings in disguise, Marinette."

"Yeah, it may be the thing causing the problem. Don't think I haven't gone down that road, already. He may be a piece of this Akuma problem, but only in the sense that they're hunting to kill him. Chat is drawing these Akuma out into the open. Now, are you done interrogating me or do you have any info for me?" Marinette sighed.

Glancing at her watch, Alya grinned, "Nah, but I'll be calling you in the morning if you don't call me after your date with Adrien is over."

"Aaaalllyyyaaa," Marinette complained, shoving her friend lightly as Alya dragged her back toward the door.

"Oh, don't you 'Alya' me. You're both falling for each other and I want the details. Now, let's go see if he's bored out of his mind waiting for your return," Alya snapped with a grin, and pushed Marinette on toward the door.

Plagg decided it was a good moment to return since he had no desire to listen to the two of them do silly girly-speak for the next few minutes as Alya was trying to haul Marinette out the door.

Zipping back through the room and two walls, Plagg came through just as Adrien was lowering the ring from his forehead, a goofy sappy grin on his face. Plagg could literally feel the warmth that was surging through his kitten's core and it was impossible to not let the sly grin cross his face.

"Soooo…" Plagg stated making Adrien jerk, but it didn't wipe out the smile on his features.

"She really likes me," Adrien whispered

Plagg rolled his eyes trying not to snigger since there was a red mark from his ring pressed into Adrien's forehead. "We already established that, kit, and you have an imprint from the ring on your head. What else did you get out of that conversation?"

Rubbing his forehead to try to erase the mark, Adrien's smile faltered a bit. "The multiple Akuma were dogs. Makes me wonder if they were all the same species or different, especially the larger purple-striped Akuma."

"I'm not totally positive, we would have to run into it again, but that one felt a bit different from the smaller ones," Plagg grumbled, his paws crossing.

"Different how?" Adrien asked curiously. He hadn't had the chance to try to analyze the Akuma while fighting. By the time Adrien had realized he'd been led into a trap, he'd had to fight to survive.

"The purple Akuma, or Alpha I suppose, was leading the smaller ones. Directing them, too. It laid a trap for us using the smaller Akuma as bait, and that call the one made as it died was the signal. We've already seen that the Quill-Akuma can make minions of its own, and this new Alpha-Akuma had a small pack… these Akuma are changing, Adrien. I know you want to protect Marinette, but we are going to need her help if these Akuma keep getting smarter. Otherwise, you'll come off far worse than just a few stitches."

As if to remind him, the gashes in his back twinged and Adrien sighed climbing to his feet. "Agreed, but I'm not going to put her in danger willingly. You know the price of activating a Miraculous stone. I don't want to see anything happen to her."

Plagg nodded sagely, flying over to nudge up against Adrien's cheek. "It'll be different for Marinette, Adrien. Besides, she's more than strong enough to make it through her stone activating. We just need to stay alive long enough to help her when it happens. When you go talk to her tomorrow, you need to tell her what you know and see if she wants to continue holding it."

Cupping Plagg against his cheek, Adrien couldn't help the words that slipped from him. "She won't give the stone up, Plagg. She's too stubborn to give it up no matter the danger to herself. She'll be worried about someone else getting the stone and misusing it if she doesn't have it. Hell, she's probably most worried about me getting it and going crazy from the extra power or something."

Plagg chuckled against him. Further off, Adrien heard the front door open. "Date time!" Plagg sniggered, disengaging himself from Adrien's hand.

Adrien half-expected Plagg to hassle him a bit more, but the Kwami zipped into his pocket as he heard his name being called. "Coming!" Adrien called back and swiftly returned to the living room where the girls stood together. Marinette was a bit red with a blush, and Alya had a wicked grin on her face making Adrien wonder what he had missed in the intervening minutes that had just passed.

"So, you guys have fun, and we will definitely have to hang as a group again soon," Alya said, backing up toward the door.

"Agreed, have a good evening, Alya," Adrien replied politely, even as Marinette looked ready to smack her friend.

Alya was out the door seconds later, leaving them practically in the same position she had found them in, awkward silence included.

"So…. um, where would you like to go eat?" Adrien asked curiously after several beats of silence passed.

Marinette shrugged her shoulders, "Um, well, I was thinking of maybe some sandwiches or pasta or something. O-of course, if you want to go someplace nicer…"

"Sandwiches sound awesome," Adrien broke in, not wanting to go anyplace fancy anytime soon.

Marinette nodded ,"Ok then, there's a little bistro that we can go to. It's not too far from here so we can walk."

"Alright, lead the way then, My—uh—Princess," Adrien managed, nearly calling her 'My Lady.'

Marinette arched an eyebrow, then chuckled, waving him after her as they left the apartment.

Dinner was entertaining and they chose to sit outside since the night was pleasantly cool. The food was good. They had already paid but instead of walking any further that night, they had unanimously decided to hang out for a while longer. They talked mostly about the running zone, and over the remains of their dessert Marinette revealed the status of the Watchers, the people who guarded the edges of the zone.

"How often are you one of the Watchers?" Adrien asked.

"It depends on work, really, since being out super late and waking up early sucks," Marinette answered. "For the most part, the Watchers aren't necessary for anything but keeping a lookout for cranky police. It's rare for any Watcher to have anything to report on, and even rarer for them to have to fight, but their presence helps keep the peace."

"Are you going to go to the zone tomorrow?" Adrien wondered, even though he was certain the answer would be 'no'.

Marinette paused for a moment, her face falling into a thinking frown. For a moment Adrien wondered if he shouldn't have asked, but then Marinette gave him an analyzing look that had him sitting a little straighter.

"Tomorrow I'm going on one of my checks through the city, meeting some of my Whisperers and that sort of thing. I haven't been out to all my spots in a bit, and there are a few other things I need to check out. If you want, you can tag along. You won't need your badge or anything. No weapons either."

"I would love to come, but you're not taking your jacket with you?" Adrien asked a bit incredulous.

Marinette ducked her head, a wry grin crossing her feature, "Fine, no obvious weapons."

Adrien grinned back at her, "Alright should I bring anything specific along? Snacks, that kind of thing?"

"It'll take a few hours, so yeah, a light snack and bottle of water or something is probably a good idea. We can catch dinner while we're out," Marinette mused, happy to see the grin that lit up Adrien's face.

She could tell he was excited to go with her, so when his face suddenly lost all mirth, his shoulders suddenly going ramrod straight, Marinette knew something was up.

"Adriekins! What are you doing here?" a very familiar and unfortunate voice suddenly rang out, and Marinette just barely curbed the impulse to crack her head against the table.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. My luck is not that bad," Marinette hissed softly, already turning to face the music.

It wasn't soft enough though, because she just barely heard Adrien say, "My luck is," before Chloe, along with Roger, stepped up to their table.

"Hello, you two," Marinette said, her voice painfully cordial.

Chloe was dressed for a night on the town and she eyed Marinette as if she was a bug, clearly unimpressed with her presence. A sparkly sequined half-shirt conformed to her upper body showing more midriff than necessary, while jewelry draped across every available space it could. To Marinette's surprise, she was in a pair of black slinky capris instead of her usual booty shorts, ankle-high sandals shod her likely delicate feet. Roger, by comparison, was downright drab in a slightly stained button-up shirt, and jeans that did nothing for him. Marinette was quite surprised that Chloe was willing to be seen out with him at all.

"Adriekins, what are you doing here?" Chloe demanded her tone sugary sweet.

"We were having dinner," Adrien answered, his tone cold. Marinette caught the slight crinkling of his nose, as if he smelled something bad.

Curious, Marinette took a deep breath, ignoring Chloe's next question and catching the faintest hint of soured alcohol. Now Marinette really wanted to bang her head against the table as Roger moved closer to Adrien, the slightly glazed look in his eyes making it obvious that he was at least tipsy.

"Come on my man, you can tell us!" Roger crowed as he slapped Adrien on the back, not seeing the flash of pain and pure anger that crossed Adrien's face when he declined whatever Chloe had asked.

Marinette did see it, however, and realizing Roger was about to do the same thing again, Marinette broke in. "Roger, we were having a nice, quiet conversation alone, and some people don't like being slapped on the back. You might want to back off and go learn some social cues."

Roger's head whipped towards, her his descending hand arrested mid-movement. Chloe just sort of rolled her eyes looking bored with the whole thing, making Marinette wonder what was going on with her. Usually Chloe would have been all over her for a comment like that, but right now she seemed as if she was lost in thought.

"And what would you know about social status or cues, Marinette?" Roger huffed. "You can't even get a date to the police ball!"

Marinette withheld a groan of irritation as she realized that's what they had been talking about, but before she could give a scathing reply Adrien beat her to it. "Actually, Marinette will have a date, provided she accepts my invitation."

All conversation froze, and Marinette's surprised, "HUH?" was lost under Chloe's shriek of, "Excuse me?!"

The twitch of Adrien's eyebrow was all that broke through his calm facade, even though his tone was completely cold. "I hadn't had the opportunity to ask her before you two rudely interrupted, however, I am hoping you will accept?"

Adrien's eyes found her's and they were the only thing not cold about him at the moment. In fact, there was a hint of fear in his gaze, as if Adrien wasn't sure Marinette would accept. Warmth spread through Marinette's core, and her voice echoed that warmth, as she said, "Of course I accept, Adrien."

Chloe looked a bit gob-smacked at this revelation, and while she was remaining silent, Roger broke in with his own stupid comments. "Adrien, I thought you had better taste than Marinette of all people. I mean talking to her at the office is one thing but…"

Adrien stood abruptly and since Roger was already close to him Adrien was suddenly very much in his space, looming rather dangerously over him. "I dare you to complete that sentence," Adrien snarled, making Roger back off several steps, almost trampling Chloe in the process.

Chloe shoved Roger on past her, allowing him to stumble and fall back onto an empty table before nearly going nose to nose with Adrien.

"Adriekins…. Please tell me you're joking," Chloe demanded, her lips pursed into a faux-pout.

"You know I'm not, Clo. And I would appreciate it if you didn't throw a tantrum about it," Adrien answered, his eyes flicking to Marinette who was currently watching Roger in his struggle to get back to his feet.

"She'll never manage the paparazzi, you need someone like me to help you through that minefield," Chloe snapped, clearly unhappy with Adrien's decision and doing her best to not make a huge scene like she wanted to.

"You are dating Roger. And besides, I'm sure Marinette is highly adept at deflecting the paparazzi," Adrien stated, gently shifting Chloe back so she wasn't quite in his face anymore.

"Well, I could bring my jacket…" Marinette mused, letting one hand rise to cup her chin in a thinking gesture. "Those small cameras make for excellent target practice."

Adrien couldn't help the bark of laughter that rose from his throat, Chloe actually stumbled back in surprise at the sound. Swiftly, her head jerked from Adrien to Marinette, who was grinning up at him, before focusing back on Adrien. Adrien had lost his stone face somewhere in the last few seconds, and Chloe could see the amusement and affection that was focused solely on Marinette. Chloe's face scrunched a bit and Adrien's face immediately fell, concern finally coloring his gaze as he realized that something was off.

"Chloe?" Adrien tried, his voice holding a small amount of concern.

"I can't believe you would want to go with her. I'll bet she can't even dance!" Chloe finally snipped, jerking back out of Adrien's reach and towards Roger, who had finally made it both upright and steady. "I'm going home!"

With those words practically shouted to the street, Chloe fully spun away and swept down the sidewalk leaving Roger to stare after her. It only took a few seconds for Roger to realize Chloe was leaving him in the dust and with a shout of, "Honeybear wait up!" he took off after her, not even bothering to say 'goodbye' to either Marinette or Adrien.

"Now, that was plain weird," Marinette stated, pushing her chair back and rising to her feet. "I don't think I've ever seen her back off like that before."

"Neither have I," Adrien sighed before moving to join Marinette on the sidewalk. "If she tries to bother you about being my date, just let me know and I'll talk to her."

Marinette shook her head, "I can fight my own battles, Adrien. And besides, she's going to have to get used to seeing me around you if you really want to be my partner out on the streets."

"That I do. My father can't keep me in records forever, and he did say he would assign me someone to work with when he got back. I'll find a way to convince him," Adrien replied, adamant in his decision.

Feeling the heat rise in her cheeks, Marinette turned away, "Well then, I guess it's a good thing you're coming with me tomorrow. It'll be a good chance for you to see what I get up to when I'm not stuck on desk duty."

To her surprise, Adrien laughed as they began walking back towards her house. "I fear the day you're let off desk duty. Tell me, will we be chasing criminals across the rooftops or will we be keeping our feet on the ground?"

Blush under control, Marinette grinned at him as she came to the realization that he was teasing her, "Our feet will probably remain mostly on solid ground, although we might end up underground sometimes. It depends on who we're chasing, honestly."

Adrien blinked, unsure whether he had heard her correctly, "Uh… underground?"

It was Marinette's turn to laugh, "Don't worry about it, I'll show you one of these days."

Adrien decided to take her at her word and the two of them returned to Marinette's apartment. Adrien left Marinette at her door, deciding to return to his own place for the moment, even though Marinette had invited him inside. After all, he had boxes to start packing and an adventure to prepare for!