Hope everyone is having a stellar week! Feel free to Pm me if you have a burning question you want answered now rather than waiting till the next chapter comes out.

AmourVixen23... The Mayor in the show doesn't strike me as particularly bright... then again I've seen many politicians that make me wonder if they can count higher than ten... Maybe its a prerequisite to hold a position in office? One thing the Mayor and Roger have in common is they are both easily manipulated.

sweetXDmelody... Yup we did that... I do a lot of the things that I have put in my story like parkour, tag in the dark, and some of the dumber ones like run from cops (Don't recommend that one though)... If you have a theory and want to test it out PM me. I don't mind!

(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?


Paging Chat

It was the Whisperers paging him and Adrien had a sneaking suspicion it was probably about searching for Chloe. Changing into Chat Noir, he took off across the rooftops hoping that no one was in actual danger since, other than a location, he couldn't tell what might be wrong. It led him to a rooftop where Stormy sat idly tossing the button-like tracker into the air. There were two others in the shadows watching for trouble, or maybe just him. Since everyone was relaxed and no dangers were present, Chat decided to have a bit of fun at their expense. Silently, Chat came at Stormy from the back and halted close to six feet away, staying close to the ground and letting his shadowed suit hide him. Plagg sighed in his mind but he didn't bother reprimanding him. Matter of fact, he understood his kit's eagerness to test his stealth skills, and since he really was doing a good job Plagg didn't interrupt his fun. Besides, one day he would need to do this in a real situation where being found would mean his death so anytime he could test himself was a good thing. Even still, it would have been easier to just take the two watchers out then confront Stormy. The Whisperers might not appreciate it but it would be faster than what Chat was doing now, and it would be a warning for them to watch their backs a little better. Not wanting to get any closer in case she attacked, Chat slowly rose to his feet leaning against the pipe Stormy was perched on.

"You rang?" Chat called.

Stormy gasped, falling off her perch and spun around as two voices simultaneously yelped, "Where did he come from?!"

Chat glanced in both directions realizing that two guns were now pointed at him and sighed, "You all are quite jumpy tonight. Any Akuma sightings?"

"Yes, and you are an ASS!" Stormy hissed. "Why in the hell did you sneak up on us?"

Chat grinned at her, his tail gleefully tracing patterns in the air, "Because no one was in danger, you were quite relaxed looking, and it was fun. Although, I would appreciate it if the two watchers would put down their weapons, if I was here to harm anyone they would already be unconscious."

"Only unconscious?" Stormy asked raising a hand and signaling for them to lower their weapons.

Chat rolled his eyes, "I don't kill the help unless it's completely unavoidable or I know they don't deserve to stay breathing."

Stormy's eyes narrowed and Chat shrugged, "You asked. And besides, I could have knocked them out just to prove a point, but I didn't."

Rubbing at her temples, Stormy muttered to herself softly then looked back up at Chat, "Do not knock out our people. If you want to scare them and get shot at, fine, but do not knock them out. How good are you at tracking people?"

Chat blinked, a little surprised at the sudden switch in conversation, "If by 'track' you mean 'follow from the shadows,' I'm quite good as this little demonstration proves. If you mean 'hunt a person down by smell' it depends on the situation, but I'm not a bloodhound."

Stormy bit the inside of her cheek, clearly unsure as to whether or not she should be talking to him about this, "It's going to be hitting the news soon anyways but Chloe, the mayor's daughter, is missing. Marinette is trying to find her."

"And you're trying to find her first?" Chat asked wondering if the Whisperers were about to try and pull a fast one on Marinette.

"We want to help Marinette find her. There's a reward, which is excellent incentive, but Chloe's safety apparently comes first. The only problem is that if it's a gang that took Chloe, we as the Whisperers can't move as a group without declaring a kind of war with said gang. Believe me when I say you don't want the streets to become a war-zone. You, however, don't have a true affiliation with us, or even Marinette. You're a free agent and Fu vouched for you, which is downright weird. So… will you help Marinette find Chloe?"

"I can try," Chat answered, happy that he now had an excuse to be out trying to find Chloe. He could even visit some of the areas with crushed-shell roads to see if he could pick up anything, "But I need leads unless you want me following Marinette everywhere, which I guarantee she won't appreciate."

"Oh, I dare you to try following her around constantly," Stormy laughed. "I can meet up with you tomorrow evening and we can go over some places." She looked a little relieved but still hesitant, "Look, Chat… I don't know who you are or anything, but if you do find Chloe and something goes wrong… I don't care what Marinette says, save Marinette first."

Her words caught Chat off guard. He really didn't want to think too far into a terrible scenario like that, "If I'm there, it won't come to that."

Stormy waved a hand trying to look more relaxed than what she was feeling, "Things happen on the streets that we have no control over, Chat Noir. Just remember, if Marinette gets hurt or things go south, get her out as fast as you can. Knock her out if you have to."

"Wait, so I can't knock out your watchers but I can knock out Marinette? You know she would kill me if I did that, right?" Chat grouched.

That made Stormy laugh and she reached out to pat him on the shoulder, "You know, I was nervous when Gram sorta just accepted you and Marinette didn't capture you right off the bat. I thought maybe they had gone crazy or something all at the same time, but now I think you're just good at being charming."

"You're not the first to tell me that," Chat muttered darkly. "Anyways, is there something we can do tonight for this 'Chloe', or was this a 'here is your assignment' kind of thing?"

Glancing at her watch, Stormy sighed, "The streets are about to go bonkers, so tonight's probably not wise unless you want to be seen by people and wish to scare the crud out of them. However, Marinette is going to be out and about tomorrow and will probably be running till late. She does have a partner that's been joining her lately so she might not want you to show yourself."

Chat's ears perked, "Oh? What kind of partner?"

"A work partner, and she likes him, too, so don't get jealous unless you want to be dumped on your ass," Stormy replied.

"Stormy, I'm territorial. I don't do jealous. Buuuut since we're on the topic… name please?" Chat asked wondering just how much information he could wheedle out of her. It felt odd asking about himself, but he was curious as to how much Stormy knew about his civilian self.

"Jealous, territorial, call it what you wish. Just don't do it in front of Marinette, and don't randomly drop in front of Adrien either. Remember, Marinette is supposed to be arresting you, not working with you," Stormy bossed, propping her hands on her hips.

Chat nodded, settling himself against the pipe and yawned, "Alright, alright, I'll keep it in mind. So, missing persons aside, do we have anything new on the Akuma?"

Stormy shrugged, "We have a piece of a body, a half-decayed dead dog, and lots of funky, dark blood if that counts. A Whisperer came across a nasty scene yesterday and I went out to confirm it today. It's on the outskirts of Paris in an old shopping district that's been shut down for years."

Chat's eyes narrowed, "Did you find any quills?"

"A few," Stormy acknowledged. "Fu gave the order to destroy them at the scene, so that's what I did. You didn't need them, did you?"

To her surprise, Chat slumped in what looked like relief, "No, I don't. But I think those quills are capable of changing an animal or human into a semi-copy of that Akuma. I don't know how it would work, and I don't want to find out if I'm right. I think at some point, the two Akuma must have run into each other and had a fight. If I'm right, it would explain why we haven't seen the Quilled Akuma yet. Technically, it should still be out hunting unless it was killed by Akumatized Spike. If you don't mind taking me to the site, I should be able to figure it out pretty quickly."

"Alright, I can take you now. But just be warned, the back streets are going to get rough due to Chloe's bounty," Stormy sighed, looking as if she would rather do anything but this.

"I really do appreciate it. I'd rather know if the Akuma is alive or dead now rather than getting randomly ambushed one night," Chat said with feeling as Stormy waved him after her.

Stormy had a car ready. Even though Chat balked initially at riding, he knew that it would take too long on foot. Not wanting his ears to give him away, Stormy even had a hoodie in the back of the trunk that was large enough to fit him, although Chat grumbled at the sensation of having his ears flattened by the fabric. They drove to an older, far poorer section that was right on the outskirts of Paris before Stormy parked. Following Stormy through a web of alleys, they came upon a hole in the wall of one of the buildings and the smell hit Chat before anything else did. With a disgusted grunt, Chat covered his nose making Stormy glance at him in worry. Waving her off, Chat entered into the darkness of the hole, his catlike eyes making the space before him noon-bright. The damage from the battle was evident, as were the blood splatters scattered across the area.

"Damn, there's not enough blood," Chat hissed to himself.

"Nope, there isn't which means the Quilled one was injured enough to keep it down for a while but I don't think it's dead," Plagg hummed in his mind. "Looks like most of this blood is from Spike's dog minion. The Quilled one either attacked it trying for a larger meal or the minion attacked the Quilled one in an attempt to steal the Quilled one's meal."

Both ideas made Chat's stomach roll but he turned to Stormy who was hanging out in the alley still, peering nervously into the darkness, "Hey Stormy… was the dog or body-part uh… chewed on?"

A disgusted look grew on Stormy's face confirming his idea, "The body-part was but the dog wasn't. Is that important?"

"Maybe…" Chat muttered walking back towards where Stormy stood, only to freeze when he saw what looked like a drag mark headed towards what he assumed was the front of this building. "Did you check the front of this building?"

"Yes, there were some light drag marks, blood, and signs of a second fight but they stopped before they hit the shutter doors."

"I'm going to look. Stay here, Stormy," Chat called over his shoulder as he moved further into the building.

"Don't have to tell me twice," he heard her mutter and Chat realized that she probably couldn't see anything this far in.

He traced droplets and smears of blood to what would be a large puddle for something human sized, but for something the size of an Akuma wasn't too bad. Smearing at the edges showed how it had gotten up on its legs, leaning against the wall. Chat swallowed as he gazed at the marks on the wall. They were at head-height where the Akuma's shoulders or the top of its back rested against the wall.

"That's going to be a big Akuma," Plagg hissed softly.

"Yeah, and there is no way one of Spike's minions injured it enough to kill it. So where did it go?" Chat asked moving down to the last open room and finding the signs of the second battle. Something about the signs rankled his instincts, so Chat moved in to take a closer look. Claw marks scored the floor and Akuma blood had dripped in abundance, however there was an iron tang in the air that was hidden just under the putrid smell of Akuma blood. A moment later, Chat found the small puddle of human blood and he paused wondering at its placement. "Do you think the Akuma made its kill here? There doesn't seem to be enough blood."

"Whoever made this puddle lived to make it out of here. You know what a kill site looks like. This idiot got thrown here and was either taken away or moved themselves," Plagg answered making Chat frown.

A chemical-like scent caught his attention as he moved around the oddly-shaped puddle. Chat turned to investigate, his foot kicking something as he neared the doors where the chemical scent was strongest. Bending down Chat found a half-smashed dart and felt his blood run cold.

"Someone came to collect the Akuma," Plagg hissed since they both recognized a tranquiliser dart when they saw one.

"It put up a fight," Chat acknowledged, realizing why the battle markings had seemed so odd. The Akuma had been attacking several persons that were shooting at it from the shutter doors. "One person got too close and was injured, but somehow they managed to subdue the Akuma and took it somewhere. Do you think Hawkmoth did this, the government, or some other gang?"

"Hopefully it won't matter. Anytime you managed to subdue one of them, they died. I don't know if a tranquilizer dart would fully put something like an Akuma out, but obviously whoever these people were they managed to corral it," Plagg growled not liking this scenario any more than the idea of having the Akuma loose on the streets. At least out on the streets they could track an Akuma if they knew its scent and what to look for. If some idiotic group of people decided to interfere with the Akuma, it would add a whole lot of complications when none were needed.

Chat searched the room thoroughly, but other than the blood, claw marks, and the tranquilizer dart in his hand, there was nothing else in the room to give him more clues. With a disgusted huff, Chat left the room and moved back to where he had left Stormy. As he neared the entrance he heard a male voice, and then he heard Stormy who sounded exasperated.

"You little boys might want to move on. Adults have business here tonight and I don't have the patience to deal with you nicely."

Chat could see her standing directly in front of the hole, one foot inside the building in case she needed to duck and turn to hide within. Silently, Chat moved through the shadows positioning himself so that he could leap through the gap and attack if he was needed. Two men and a scantily dressed woman were standing several feet away and the one man was looking Stormy up and down with a wandering eye. The woman was clinging to one of the guys looked peeved at Stormy's existence while the man she wasn't clinging to stepped forwards.

"I have lots of patience that I would love to share with you, sweetheart," he slurred, a wide grin on his face as he moved towards her.

Stormy clenched her hands and Chat noted the odd brass knuckles. He was half tempted to let her demolish the idiot moving at her, but an odd looking lump in his waistband made him nervous. Although he could easily leap the gap and take the man down, Chat decided to try a scare tactic before getting physical.

"Cover your ears, Stormy," Chat hissed just loud enough for her to hear.

She jerked in surprise but she did as Chat asked making the man pause in confusion.

"Whater you-"

Chat roared, boosting the strength of his voice by cupping his hands. The suit made everything stronger, including his lungs, and the sheer volume he reached actually made the ground tremble slightly. The approaching man skittered backwards, tripping over his own feet and cracked his head on the pavement as he went down. The other man and woman tripped over themselves as they desperately tried to turn and run. A few seconds later, with the exception of the unconscious man on the ground, the alley was clear and quiet.

"I think they peed themselves," Stormy chuffed, moving over to the man that had fallen and not moved. She checked his pulse, then his pants pulling out a wallet as Chat came out of the building's darkness.

"Are you robbing him?" Chat asked incredulously, coming to look over her shoulder in curiosity.

"He's got 200 on him, no cards or ID. He's drunk and I guarantee that the woman they were with was going to rob him blind anyhow. Besides, he was going to try and push himself on me. So honestly, taking his money is the nicest thing I could do," Stormy answered, dropping the now moneyless wallet to the man's chest.

"Stormy…" Chat admonished crossing his arms as she turned to face him.

"Don't 'Stormy' me, mister. You're a thief, too. If I wanted, I could break something of his while he's out, tie him up and leave him over the edge of a rooftop, or even steal his clothes. Believe me when I say I'm being nice," Stormy snapped, flipping through and offering half the money out to him once she had counted it out.

Chat shook his head stepping back, then cocked an ear to the right where the other two had vanished. Unfortunately, they had run in the direction he and Stormy needed to take to get back to the car but street level wasn't the only way back. "I don't want the money. We should move, though. Are you ok with heights?"

Rolling her eyes Stormy stuffed the cash into a pocket, "Chat, we've run into each other just about every time on rooftops and I run up there just like Marinette does. Heights don't bother me."

"Good. Then don't scream," Chat said, and that was the only warning Stormy had before Chat scooped her over one shoulder and somehow shot them straight up onto the roof. She caught sight of a bar crossing her vision and she bit down hard on her lip to keep from yelling as the rooftop seemed to shoot away from his feet at least twice more. The movement made her feel ill, and Chat's shoulder dug into her ribs. But in a moment of freefall, she managed to get a solid breath of air so that when he came to a halt at last, she hissed, "Jump again and I'll pull your tail!"

"No need, we're at the car," Chat snapped back, letting her slide back down to her feet.

Stormy stumbled back a step and Chat reached for her in concern, but Stormy slapped his outstretched hand away, "I can think of a dozen different ways to carry a person that are more comfortable than what you just did!"

Chat shrugged, "There were people coming and I really am faster than you. Besides, do you think we should hang out around here any longer than we have to?

He was technically right but Stormy still shot him the bird, making his lips wrinkle in a near smile, "Keep talking and I will make you walk back."

Chat mimed a zipper being pulled across his lips, not really worried as he followed her to the car. Thankfully, no one was around and Chat didn't bother complaining about the hoodie that Stormy chucked into his face as he climbed into the vehicle. After all, he still had to work with her and possibly Marinette tomorrow night and he really didn't want to see how creative Stormy could get in torturing a person. It took Adrien till almost 2 a.m. to finally find his way to his bed, and he was so tired that he collapsed in a dead sleep the second he walked in. Unfortunately, Adrien's dreams of sleeping in were shattered bright and early by his phone ringing off the hook. With a snarl, Adrien whipped towards the device, ready to chew whoever's head off that dared call him at 6 a.m. only to have what felt like an ice cold bucket of water dumped in his veins. It was his father calling and he had already missed one call.

"Sorry, Sir. I had stepped away from my phone," Adrien said in lieu of a greeting, knowing Gabriel hadn't called this early for idle chit chat. Actually his father had never called for idle chit chat. If he had Adrien might believe the world was ending.

"What is going on in Paris and why didn't you notify me immediately?" Gabriel demanded, his voice frosty.

"Chloe went missing two nights ago and the Mayor decided, against better judgement, that a reward was needed. I'm sure everyone on the streets has heard by now. Jackady had the situation well in hand until the Mayor went behind his back to the journalists to post the reward," Adrien reported. "I haven't made it to the office quite yet so I'm unsure as to what the situation looks like so far this morning."

"You should be sleeping at the office and staying up to date on everything, Adrien. I am disappointed," Gabriel hissed, his tone vicious.

Adrien felt his spine stiffen at that tone and the words 'I'm sorry' were at the tip of his tongue, but somehow he managed to swallow them. "I am not part of the main team searching for Chloe since I'm technically too close to the situation and untried. I have instead been gathering clues and helping in other ways. I don't think you would have made any different decisions than what Jackady has made so far."

The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening so Adrien pulled back for a brief moment to check and see if the call was still connected.

"I am returning home early. I expect to see you the moment I step foot in Paris. Natalie will give you the time to meet us," Gabriel intoned, his voice totally devoid of emotion. "Your vacation has ended."

The call clicked off and Adrien pulled his phone away from his ear in disbelief.

"Kid?" Plagg quested, his voice gentle.

Adrien dropped his phone to the covers and smeared a hand across his face, "I am really starting to question my sanity in coming back here."

"It's not all bad," Plagg soothed, flying up to land in Adrien's hair

"No, it's not," Adrien agreed. "And by the time father stops spitting and gets to work untangling the paperwork Jackady put through, Marinette and I may be able to prove to him that we're the best as partners. Oh crap… I need to warn Marinette and Jackady I suppose… Do you think I should wake her now?"

"Send her a text and go back to sleep for two hours. You know he's going to be getting in super late tonight and you could use a bit more sleep," Plagg replied with a yawn.

Adrien echoed him and sent a text to Marinette before closing his eyes and returning to sleep for a little while longer.