Ok, just in case people were confused... Chat/Adrien is not dead. The Miraculous stone brought him back to life so he is Alive... just changed.
oreganochica... I like the idea of equivalent exchange kinda like FMA. Plus when it comes to humans usually things of great power are built upon the deaths of others. If my story was real back in the past people would have considered it an honor to become part of a miraculous stone.
sweetXDmelody... Reveals are always messy especially mine lol. You can go read some of Cats Closet which is my other collection of Fanfics for the MLB fandom if you want some more to read.
(Slow Burn Detective AU!) Marinette is used to working alone on the streets of Paris as she strives to take down the Hawkmoth gang. When the thief Chat Noir comes crashing into her life things are bound to get magical, especially when co-detective Adrien returns to Paris and seems to want to be her new partner. Will their fated partnership end in a capture or a kiss?
Not-Kitty
The next day was uneventful as Adrien went through the motions of learning the ins and outs of his job. He practiced in the gym with Marinette before work even started after receiving a text at a rather ungodly hour that told him of her plans. Marinette was happy to see him, although she looked as tired as he felt. They had both been up rather late talking while he had been in her apartment as Chat and it was only after he left that he remembered the tracking button he had forgotten to give her. When he met her down in the gym Adrien wondered if he should just slip it into her stuff but he quickly decided it wasn't worth the trouble. Marinette would not take kindly to being tracked without her consent and she might even toss it before he ever got a chance to explain what it was. He could write a note to go along with it but he was reluctant to give her anything that could be used to identify himself to others. Marinette might not try anything with it but all it would take would be one Whisperer snatching it for it to fall into unscrupulous hands. In the end, he decided to give it to her soon since as he had told her the Akumas were out and one of them at least had a grudge against her. No matter how he felt about Marinette fighting Akumas, Adrien found her to be an excellent sparring partner. From her smile and repeat invitation, Marinette felt the same way about him. Later that afternoon Adrien invited Marinette out to go hunting for furniture since his new apartment had none and she was happy to tag along. The two of them wandered through one of the major shopping districts and Marinette helped him choose pieces of furniture that were not only multifunctional but also matched a cohesive style.
The furniture was supposed to be delivered the next day and Marinette promised to help him move the rest of his stuff in since she was taking the day off. Alya and Nino also jumped on the bandwagon since the two of them had wanted to take them out the next evening to simply hang out. All in all, it was a decent afternoon and they were returning to Marinette's apartment when a slightly panicked looking person slid from one of the alleyways.
"Nadja?" Marinette queried taking the woman's hands in hers as they stopped near the wall.
"Please tell me Manon is with you..." Nadja begged looking around Marinette as if the little imp was simply hiding behind her legs.
Marinette shook her head, "I haven't seen her since the other evening at the garden. Have you checked my apartment? When did she go missing?"
Nadja slumped, pressing one hand to her head, "The school isn't sure. You know how she is… there one second and gone the next. At least she didn't skip out on classes and only wandered off once classes were out for the day."
"So, no one has seen her for the past three or four hours give or take?" Adrien asked glancing at his watch.
Nadja glanced at him a bit nervously before an almost imperceptible nod from Marinette made her speak again, "Yes, she likes to disappear sometimes and she doesn't understand that she is too young to do things like this. Usually I don't have this much trouble with the little ones but Manon is…"
"A little angel?" Adrien supplied, knowing it wasn't what was going through the two women's heads at that moment.
"A devious, mischievous, curious, havoc-wreaking angel," Marinette muttered making Nadja chuckle tensely. "Don't worry, Nadja, we'll find her. I'm sure she's wandering towards the garden area or something."
"She has been obsessing about seeing Chat again. I think she went to go look for him," Nadja whispered into Marinette's ear although Adrien could hear it thanks to his heightened senses.
Marinette let loose a growl, "Of course she is. She loves black cats. Alright, this is what we'll do. Adrien, if you don't mind, will you stay on the main streets and ask around to see if anyone has seen her? Also, check the apartments. I'll keep in contact with you via cell. Nadja, you and I will check her normal hiding spots and I can run past the zone to see if anyone has spotted her. Hopefully she's already back at the house worn out right now and no one noticed her come in. Have you sent an alert out yet?"
Nadja nodded, "Yes but you know Manon. She won't go to just anyone, so someone could have easily passed her in hiding and never known."
"Yeah, I know. Don't worry too much though, we will find her. Adrien, you don't mind helping, right?" Marinette called seeing how Adrien looked slightly put out.
Adrien jumped a slightly, guilty look crossing his face, "No, I just wish I could help more. I'll head to the apartments, you guys be careful out there."
They split up with Nadja following Marinette and Adrien headed for the apartments asking people as he passed if they had seen a little girl. No one had and Adrien checked Marinette's apartment, texting her that Manon wasn't present once he was sure she wasn't hiding out anywhere. Her return text simply asked him to keep looking around the main streets but he slipped into his apartment with a different idea in mind.
"Hey, Plagg. We can find the kid, can't we?" Adrien asked.
Plagg huffed, floating out of his pocket to hover in the air before Adrien, "Kit, we're not a bloodhound. Yeah, we can probably track her but it's not going to be easy and we need to figure out where the kid started. Right now it's still bright out, too. It'll make it hard to stick to the shadows."
Adrien nodded, then watched bemused as Plagg made an odd 'yip' sound then shivered, "You ok?"
"I think Stormy just activated the tracking button," Plagg sniffed, then shivered again. "That felt really weird."
"Well, at least we know that it alerts even when we're not in the suit. I'll deal with the consequences if someone gets a photo of us. Plagg, Claws Out!" Adrien cried and with a flash of green light he was encased in leather. Without much thought, Chat pulled his baton out and slid the screen application open. Sure enough, there was a blinking paw pad on his screen marking the position of the activated tracker.
"It should only take us a few minutes to get there. Hopefully this is about their missing kid and they're not fighting an Akuma," Plagg grumbled.
"Hopefully…" Chat echoed, leaping to his loft area before slipping out the window. He felt a little bad since he was abandoning the post Marinette had given him as Adrien, but he knew he could do far more good as Chat. Hopefully he would find the kid and be able to give Marinette the tracker so he wouldn't have to worry about her not having a way to contact him if something happened. A slight grin crossed his lips as he flew across the rooftops, happy to have a plan set out for him.
Marinette panted as she jogged down the street, a growl in her throat. Manon had not been at the Zone. She had called Alex to check and she had been able to clear the area without making Marinette run all the way out there. So far, no one had seen a little girl coming or going towards the Zone area, either.
"Where in the hell is she?!" Marinette hissed to herself, praying that someone with ill intentions hadn't picked her up.
Nadja had checked in with little good news. Manon wasn't at the garden area or the playgrounds and she hadn't shown back up at school, either. More people were being called in to help search since it was starting to get dark and no one wanted to face the worst-case scenario. Adrien hadn't checked in with anything more than a text, but Marinette hadn't expected anything more. Pausing in the alley, Marinette took a deep breath and forced herself to think. No one had seen Manon yet, and Nadja had said she thought she might be looking for Chat. People were searching everywhere for her, both public and the backstreets, so Manon had to be hiding or purposefully avoiding being seen. Marinette knew it was possible, no matter how many people told her otherwise. She did it all the time to both test her skills in evasion and because it was actually really fun. If this was a game to Manon and she wanted to meet Chat again, where would she go? A long moment passed in silence while Marinette put herself in Manon's shoes and then she looked up towards the rooftops. It was a slightly crazy idea but it was all she had so Marinette scrambled up a fire escape until she could get onto the rooftop. From there, she headed towards the spot where Chat had first met Manon and the Whisperers.
It took Marinette almost 15 minutes to arrive, and that was after using every shortcut she knew. Back on street-level again, Marinette slipped into the empty courtyard-like area. There was no one around and, other than the ambient noise and cars in the distance, there was nothing. No insects, no birds, and suddenly Marinette felt nervous, and not just for Manon. It was almost sundown and in about 20 minutes it would be dark. Manon hated the dark and being alone, so they had to find her. Or in about 20 minutes, she would probably try to find the nearest adult she could since she would be scared.
"Manon?" Marinette called softly. "Manon, the sun is going down. It's going to be dark very soon and you'll be scared and all alone out here."
Holding her breath, Marinette listened her eyes peeled for any sort of movement. Nothing twitched in the shadows but the stone in her waistband suddenly gave a sharp double buzz, making her jump with a squeak. Hand on her waistband, Marinette swallowed. She had felt that warning from the stone before and it meant there was an Akuma nearby.
"Of course there's an Akuma… The question now is street or rooftop as a better choice for avoiding it?" Marinette muttered to herself, doing another sweep and checking the edges of the roof as she did.
She was slinking backwards into one of the thinner alleys when a very young, furious voice shattered all thoughts of escape, "NOOO! Bad not-kitty! Put me down!"
Heart in her throat, Marinette raced for the wall, tossing her manriki over what looked like a pipe. Yanking hard knocked a coiled ladder down the wall noisily but she didn't care. Time was of the essence and she already had her feet hooked in the ladder before it even finished swinging. Within seconds, Marinette's feet hit the rooftop and she froze as she beheld the sight before her. Manon was being held up by her backpack which was in the mouth of an Akuma easily double the size of the minions she had fought the other night. It wasn't hurting her or shaking her and it seemed almost bored by her furious cries. Racing towards the beast, Marinette only had eyes on Manon as she cleared a jump she would never have tried a week ago. The stone in her band hummed, and if she'd had taken it out it would have been glowing but Marinette ignored it, her attention fully on the problem before her. The Alpha Akuma turned towards her, Manon's legs swinging as it jerked to face her.
"Marinette!" Manon cried holding her arms out towards her. "Not-Kitty made me drop Noir! And he won't put me down! I wanna get down!"
The Akuma snarled around Manon's bag as Marinette's fists clenched around the weights in her hands. Forcing herself to smile, Marinette nodded as if this wasn't the worst possible situation she had ever found herself in. An Akuma had Manon tight in its jaws, and Marinette knew she wasn't faster or stronger than this beast. All she had that might be an advantage was her intelligence except Chat had warned her that these things were getting smarter. With a gulp Marinette cast a look around trying to formulate a plan. She was on a typical rooftop with a small amount of obstacles that included bits of pipes and air-conditioning units. The building next to her was an old one, for the most part abandoned, and it was taller by a full storey. A metal barrier edged part of the roof and she was relieved to see that at least one of the windows to the storey below was knocked out. It was possible to escape, but Marinette wasn't sure how to get Manon back. An idea hit her as the Akuma took a menacing step forwards.
"Manon, I want you to listen to me very carefully, ok?" Marinette called, her voice utterly calm.
The Akuma froze leaving Manon swinging slightly, although Marinette could tell she had her full attention.
"Manon, I want you to drop out of your backpack and walk towards the roof's edge to your left, ok?"
"Ok, Marinette, will not-kitty drop my bag?" Manon chirped, not seeming to realize the danger she was in.
Lifting her arms up, Manon slipped out of the backpack's restraints and dropped to the ground. She landed easily and started moving to the edge but froze when the Akuma let out a horrifying snarl. The Akuma's eyes had her pinned until Marinette slammed the end of her weight into the rooftop near the Akuma, jerking its attention back up to her.
"Spike, you know the rules. No kids. Ever," Marinette called, her voice still in that deadly-calm tone.
The Alpha Akuma gave a soft snarl, but there was something in its gaze, something almost human that made Marinette feel the need to reach out, "Spike, your dogs were turned with you. Someone did this to you. Do you know who?"
The Akuma snarled, but its head rose an inch then fell in a distinct nod. Marinette felt her heart leap, "Ok, listen to me, Spike. I want to help you. I don't know how I can yet but you need to stand down. Right now, you're attacking people and you're going to get hurt if you don't stop."
Manon had made it to the edge of the building and she waved drawing the Akuma's attention back to her for a brief second. It dropped her backpack, which now had several serrated holes through the colorful fabric. Marinette stepped forward, forcing the Akuma to return its gaze to her.
"Seeeellll rillll," the Akuma rumbled, its jaws and misshapen tongue not allowing it to form the words it wanted.
Marinette's jaw dropped, even as her brain worked overtime trying to decode what it had just said. "Smell...? Kill...?" she asked, and once again she got a nod the, intelligence in the Akuma's eyes seeming to fade a little.
"You're trying to sniff someone out to kill them? Who?" Marinette demanded even though she had a feeling she knew the answer would be Chat.
"Rrrraaatt," the Akuma confirmed as the wind blew at Marinette's back, tossing her scent at the beast.
Instantly the Akuma went rigid as it caught her scent and Marinette realized that Chat had handled her jacket before and had been around her just last night. In other words, Marinette probably smelled like him.
"Crap," Marinette hissed as the Alpha akuma reared, all intelligence gone from its eyes as it let out a roar and charged for her.
She threw both weights, one aiming for its eyes as the other tripped up its legs and she danced to the side as its claws flashed down into the space she had occupied a millisecond before. Manon screamed as the Akuma roared and Marinette bolted, the roar vibrating in her bones because she was so close. Pure adrenaline had her shooting across the roof at impossible speeds and she snatched up Manon as she threw her manriki out. It seemed to move in slow motion as she threw them both over the edge of the building, Manon screaming in her ear. A hot breath caressed her neck even in freefall a moment before the weight caught and held, swinging them forwards out of the Akuma's range. Twisting midair, Marinette curled herself around Manon, her back slamming into some old boards and a sheet of plastic that had been put up in place of glass. The impact jarred Marinette, a stray splinter slicing at her cheek, and then she was on the ground with her one arm still firmly wrapped around Manon.
"You ok, Manon? Marinette demanded as a second roar seemed to shake the building
"NO! Not-Kitty, bad!" the four year old cried, her face one of fury.
Marinette couldn't help but chuckle, flicking her wrist and recalling her manriki, "Yes, it is bad isn't it? Now, I've got to-"
She was cut off as a large shape slammed into the window's edge, wicked claws gleaming in the light as they ripped at the building's exterior. With a squeak Marinette scrambled back, claws missing her by inches as the Akuma tore its way inside. Marinette was up and running before Manon could ask what was wrong.
"Manon, you have got to hold on to me as tight as you can," Marinette snapped swinging them around a wall and ducking through a hole into the next room over. "Don't let go and keep your eyes closed. This will be scary."
Manon whimpered but tightened her grip around Marinette's waist and neck. Marinette felt guilty but it wasn't like she could hide the little girl and continue on her merry way. There was a good chance that the Akuma would go for Manon, especially since she too probably smelled at least a little like Chat and now her since she was clutching the kid closely. An impact shuddered through the wall sending drywall flying, Marinette sprinted for the stairwell she could see just ahead. They needed to get out of here or find a place where the Akuma wouldn't fit to be able to chase them. A sharp splintering echoed out behind her, causing Marinette to glance back as she swung into the stairwell. The whole wall caved out into the hallway the Alpha Akuma's claws cut into the material like butter as it tried to right itself in the smaller area. They needed to get out of this building, Marinette decided. She didn't know the layout of this place and she knew that if the Akuma managed to trap them, it would be game over. First, they needed a distraction which could be provided by some cherry smoke bombs in her pocket that Alex had given her as a joke. Thankfully, Marinette hadn't cleaned out all of her pockets so they were still there, but Manon was also clinging to her which made her waste precious seconds trying to get around the child to get to the smoke bombs. Manon was still clinging as Marinette snapped the quick-light fuses to life, tossing one down to lower levels and the other onto the landing she quickly vacated. One of them started popping, creating a cover of noise as Marinette darted up the stairs as quietly as possible. The Akuma smashed its way into the stairwell as Marinette made it around the turn hiding the two of them from sight. The smell of the smoke was already overpowering to Marinette's nose, so she hoped that the Akuma would have double the difficulty. With a loud hissing snarl the Akuma threw itself down the stairwell bending the metal banisters as it moved it the tight space. It was chasing after the slight popping sounds from the cherry bombs and happy the ruse worked Marinette flew up the last flight coming even with an old door. With a grimace and a prayer Marinette tried the doorknob as the Akuma shrieked in what Marinette could only imagine as fury since she had tricked it. The knob turned, but unfortunately the door was old and the frame had swelled locking it into place. Deciding their stealthy slip away had already been uncovered, Marinette decided 'to hell with it' and slammed her foot into the frame, snapping the door open about a foot before catching on the roof.
"Go through. I'm right behind you," Marinette hissed, prying Manon off of her and practically tossed the girl out the door since they both wouldn't fit at the same time.
She could hear the Akuma thundering up the stairs to come after them, and even though Marinette knew it wouldn't do much she kicked the door shut before scooping Manon up and sprinting for the other side of the roof. She knew these roofs like she knew the surrounding streets, and if she had been by herself Marinette wouldn't have been worried in the slightest. The problem was Manon. The child wasn't really heavy but trying to run with the girl was slowing her down and throwing off her balance tremendously. They had been lucky so far but Marinette knew even as she threw out her Manriki that her luck was going to come to a close, and probably soon. Swinging to the next roof down, Marinette grimaced as her feet hit a little too hard and she stumbled forwards since she couldn't bleed off her speed by tumbling with Manon wrapped around her. She needed somewhere safe to hide Manon and suddenly Marinette thought of the perfect place. The sounds of a splintering door being turned to pulp sounded out from behind them, Marinette hissed dropping over the edge of the second building and out of sight. Her feet hit the cobbles, miraculously not turning her ankle and she was off like a shot even managing to answer a call that was coming through her earpiece.
"Running for my life… what's up?" Marinette panted, dodging down another alleyway as she shifted Manon's weight a little higher.
"Where in the hell are you? Please don't tell me you found the Akuma?!" Stormy yelled through the earpiece.
"And… Manon… running… to… meeting point… four… try for Chat…" Marinette gasped, vibrations coursing in a quick staccato across her abdomen. She was starting to get used to these warnings, but even still she cursed as a shadow darkened the space around them.
She threw herself to the side, slamming into old boxes and protecting Manon as the Akuma crashed down into the space she had been in. Manon cried out in fear as Marinette scrambled to her feet darting for one of the old fire escapes they had just passed. The Akuma had overshot them and slid even farther past them with the speed it had been trying to catch them with. Normally the distance wouldn't have mattered since the Akuma was far faster than Marinette, but they were in a narrow area limiting its ability to twist to follow. Its large body and wickedly sharp talons prevented it from turning easily in the narrow space and its limbs seemed to catch or tangle with all the things that littered the alleyway.
"Marinette?! What's happening?!" Stormy yelled.
Keeping Manon tucked close, Marinette swarmed up the escape yelping as the whole thing shuddered when the Akuma leapt for them. Banging into the side railing and staring into the suddenly very close, very large jaws filled with wicked sharp teeth, Marinette snapped, "BUSY!" even as she whipped one of her weights at the beast's snout. Marinette wasn't sure whether the throw was unlucky or not since she technically missed but the weight did slam into one of the Akuma's claws making it roar and jerk back in pain. Unbalanced, the Akuma slipped off the side of the escape falling back to the cobblestone alleyway in a heap since it couldn't twist its feet back under it before it hit the ground.
The fire escape shuddered again as Marinette hit the rooftop and Stormy called out, "He's coming, Marinette. ETA 8 minutes. Can you last out?!"
"No choice. Run fast!" Marinette hissed leaping up a slanted rooftop, managing to put it between her and the Akuma which was almost certainly hell-bent on carving her up. Leaping again, Marinette picked up her pace, hopping obstacles and panting for breath as Stormy shouted something to people on the other side of the line. It was times like these Marinette wished she carried a gun but she had a feeling that the small assigned guns they were allowed to carry wouldn't do the kind of damage that needed to be done to this Akuma before it would stop.
"Not-Kitty!" Manon suddenly shrieked right in Marinette ear and without thinking she threw her manriki wrapping it around a chimney before tossing herself and Manon over the edge of the roof.
The Akuma's claws missed her by centimeters, probably slicing through loose hairs as it passed her by and slammed into the wall of the next building over.
"Good warning…" Marinette hummed at Manon, watching as the akuma slammed to a halt on top of a dumpster making an incredible racket.
Before the Akuma could even start moving Marinette was already hauling the two of them back up onto the roof, forcing Manon to climb up over the edge so she could follow. Her arms were shaking with exertion even as Marinette scooped Manon up to run again. They couldn't stop now. With the Akuma on street level again and them up top, Marinette hoped that the two of them could get a little distance. Sprinting as fast as she could Marinette cleared two rooftops, putting herself near the spot she had told Stormy she was running to. The end of the roof they were on was coming up and Marinette knew she didn't have any more crazy swings left in her. Her arms felt like tired noodles as she lowered the two of them to the ground, she moved down the alley that would connect up to the meeting point.
"Almost there…" Marinette murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of Manon's head.
"Will Kitty be there?" Manon asked curiously, leveling adorable kitten-eyes at Marinette.
"I hope so… I need backup," Marinette chuckled listening to Stormy laugh with her.
She was ten steps from the courtyard when the stone in her waistband vibrated sharply and the first bits of debris hit her back. Bolting forwards, Marinette yanked Manon off her and tossed the child forward in such a way that she was able to land on her feet to continue running. It was the only thing Marinette could think of to do to save her. After all, the Akuma was coming and there was nowhere for Marinette to go.
Bit of a cliff hanger... Drop a review if you like it so far!
