Soooo I got my puppy the other day (he is a wire fox terrier) and have been promptly awoken at 4 am every day since... This is why I don't have kids... But the little demon boy is adorable and super well behaved other than the early mornings so can't complain too much!

sweetXDmelody... Gabriel is Marinettes boss... its like being suspicious of your father... I actually thought about revealing Chat in the raid but it just didn't have as much oomph as it will where I have it placed right now. I am glad you are loving the story! Here's to another 50 chapters!

(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?


Agendas

For the first time in several very early mornings no alarms woke Marinette up, instead it was the unfortunate sensation of needing to pee. Grumbling to herself she slipped out of Adrien's arms and went to the bathroom while checking the time. It was almost 9am and she realized that she needed to get into work before she missed her meeting with Roger and Gabriel. Thankfully Roger hated early mornings too and he had made the meeting for 10:30am. Coming out of the bathroom she found Adrien sitting on the side of the bed yawning.

"My turn." He mumbled as he stumbled past her into the bathroom.

It made her heart twist in a good way to see him sleep tousled climbing out of her bed. Other than kissing nothing had happened between them yet but there was potential and Marinette could feel her cheeks heating up just thinking about it. Shaking her head to get her mind out of the gutter Marinette moved into her living room just as the sound of keys in her doorknob jingled through her apartment. Jolting to attention Marinette was halfway around her couch as the door was flung open.

"Marinette!" Alya yelled slamming the door shut behind her even though she had several bags in her other hand.

"Uh… yes Alya?" Marinette replied eyeing her friend warily.

Alya jerked not having expected Marinette to be up and in her living room this early. Shaking her head Alya held up a takeout container with a logo Marinette recognized as her family's bakery. "You haven't seen your folks in a while and they sent you a large care package. Also your mom wants to have dinner soon and everyone is invited. I spilled the beans on Adrien so prepare for the call."

"Alya…" Marinette complained not needing anything else to stress her life at the moment.

"You have been working too much even before the Chloe case. It's time to have a little fun and-" Suddenly Alya gasped and Marinette glanced over her shoulder to see Adrien standing in her doorway. He blinked at Alya then saw the container she held.

"Is that food?" Adrien asked deciding to ignore the confused yet enthusiastic look on Alyas face.

She nodded mutely and he moved into the living room claiming the bags in her hands on the way to take them into the kitchen.

"Still not sharing?" Alya squealed as soon as Adrien was out of sight.

Suddenly Marinette was tired. Tired of not knowing where she stood, tired of Alya always needing to know, and tired of every other stupid stressor in her life. On impulse she strode into the kitchen with Alya following out of concern since Marinette had a look on her face.

Adrien saw her coming and had a half a mind to run but he hadn't heard anything concerning so he didn't understand why Marinette would be coming at him with such a look about her. Before he could think of how to diffuse such a situation Marinette hauled him down by his collar, her lips pressing to his and suddenly Adrien didn't give a dam what so ever. Several bliss filled seconds passed and Marinette pulled back to glare at an awestruck Alya.

"Does that answer your questions?" Marinette snapped

Alyas joyous squeal of "I'm so happy for you!" was all the answer they needed and Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to get dressed you two know where everything is."

That said Marinette stalked back to her room leaving a sappily grinning Adrien and a still squealing Alya in her wake.

"So are you two officially dating?!" Alya demanded practically pouncing on Adrien as he turned to get plates down.

"We can't." Adrien answered easily even as he wondered where Plagg had gotten off to. Then his mind wandered back to playing the kiss over and over causing him to grin again. He didn't mind being pounced upon by Marinette Adrien decided and he even wondered how he could make it happen again.

"What do you mean you can't?!" Alya snapped knocking Adrien from his daydreaming, "Marinette is not some side dish pretty boy."

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Marinette is not food either but I can't claim her publicly because then I can't be her work partner."

Alya's irritation instantly died "Oh… that sucks…"

"However my personal life has little to do with my work life so there isn't an issue as long as no one says anything." Adrien continued pinning Alya with a knowing glare.

Alya just grinned looking up at the ceiling "I didn't see a thing. You just came over for breakfast right?"

"Correct." Adrien intoned and the two of them finished getting the tableware out so they could start eating when Marinette returned.

Marinette came back out a few minutes later and the three of them had a quiet breakfast even though it was filled with plans being made for later that evening if things went as expected at work. Once everyone had their fill Adrien returned to his apartment to change wondering if maybe he should leave some clothes at Marinette's. He was going to have to do laundry soon and he didn't have a washer or dryer. Marinette had already offered him her washer and dryer as long as he bought detergent sometimes and doing laundry would give him a good excuse to leave some clothes over there. At least he hoped it would be a good excuse as he changed into one of his last clean suits.

"Are we going out as Chat today?" Plagg asked breaking into his thoughts. He had been spying upon the love struck fools and their firecracker of a friend and he was starting to wonder if his boy had a brain or not when it came to girls.

"Yes, I want to check out the building again especially since we know Hawkmoth is setting up the warehouse to be a raid trap." Adrien replied slicking his hair back with water instead of gel since changing into Chat Noir tended to negate the gel somehow.

"That's probably a good idea since I find it odd that Hawkmoth moved Chloe in the middle of the day yesterday. It's almost like they found out their position had been compromised and moved her because of it." Plagg said

Adrien froze in the middle of what he was doing "You don't think Roger or one of the Whisperers let it slip do you?"

Plagg shrugged "I don't know kit, I just find it weird is all. If we had more time I would advise you to tell Marinette to let it slip to Roger that we know where Chloe is still and see what happens since the Whisperers already know Chloes location. If it were any other gang holding Chloe the Whisperers would probably be thrilled to help pull Chloe out or use the information they have to root out a spy. At this point though I don't think that is wise. Are you going to go into this raid as Chat?"

Adrien shook his head. "I never got the chance to tell Marinette and I would rather not spring it on her right as we go in. If push comes to shove and we get into trouble I will tell her but for right now I don't have any plans to reveal myself. It will have to wait for a better time."

"Your call kit." Plagg shrugged and dove into Adrien's front pocket.

Adrien patted the pocket gently and after one last glance in the mirror to make sure he was appeared professional he returned to Marinettes apartment.

They walked to work with Alya accompanying them and Alya promised to be on standby once it hit 9pm. Marinette wouldn't make a move till it was dark anyhow so the time didn't matter as much. Nino had the day off so he was getting prepared for the evening, making sure all the electronics they would need were charged and so on. Marinette had given Alya their route for approaching the building and the mapped out escape routes to be hand delivered to Nino. The only thing Marinette hadn't given him was the way they had decided to enter the building since she didn't want to leave anything to chance. That was between the two of them and Adrien understood why she didn't want the information to be on any sort of device in case they were being watched or hacked. The chance was extremely low but Marinette had decided that a chance was the reason why Chloe had been moved at such an odd time yesterday. Her mind seemed to be following along the same line Plagg's had and it made Adrien wonder if she was even going to try and convince his father not to move on the warehouse. If it were his choice he probably wouldn't bother trying but Adrien didn't know if that decision was one made out of spite or something else entirely. At the doors they separated with Marinette heading towards his father's office while Adrien headed for Damocles and Alya headed to her own job.

Marinette arrived ten minutes early and once Natalie had given a curt 'good morning' she simply asked Marinette to sit before typing something on her computer. Forcing herself to relax Marinette went over all the little things she wanted to say to try and convince Gabriel not to do the warehouse raid. This was going to be a delicate conversation, one that could end up being a lost cause entirely. If she tried being blunt and argue her way through it would make her look as if she were trying to undermine Roger, especially since she had already undermined him twice. It wouldn't matter that she was right and he was wrong, this case was his and she had been slipping behind the scenes far too much with this case. In Marinette's eyes it was revealing to them just how much time Marinette spent within the heart of this cities people and for some reason she knew they would view that as a threat.

Then there was the problem of the unsanctioned raid that she was planning. Doing the raid on top of all this without even attempting to warn Gabriel might actually cause her to lose her job. The thought made her stomach bottom out and want to say never mind on the whole raid. She didn't like Chloe and if she was being totally honest she hated Roger. They were not the kind of people she wanted to risk her job or life over and yet… here she was. The warehouse raid was a blatant trap with her name written in big bold letters. If she wanted Marinette could walk into Gabriels office and say she was backing out as the spearhead for the raid and refuse to take part in the unsanctioned raid she was setting up. It would be easy to convince them that it was the company rather than the job that made her back off and while it wouldn't earn her any brownie points it would certainly allow Marinette to keep her life as well as her sanity. Unfortunately, there were numerous problems with doing that and refusing to do the unsanctioned raid as well. First and foremost was Adrien. Marinette knew him, understood him on a deeper level than she wished to acknowledge at the moment and she knew for a fact that if she backed out Adrien would go in alone to rescue Chloe. If he got hurt and she wasn't there Marinette would never forgive herself and Gabriel wouldn't forgive her either since it would totally be her fault. Another issue was the Hawkmoth gang themselves since allowing them to keep Chloe, kill multiple people at a trap, and do nothing about it would allow them to gain a kind of power Paris couldn't afford to let them have. It would be like stepping aside and simply letting evil have its way. Tiki would never allow that to happen and Marinette knew deep down she could never let that happen either. Even still Marinette wished the decision was a little easier to make and didn't hold so many lives in the balance.

Fretting and starting to panic internally Marinette stood with the idea to maybe start pacing but the office doors opened and Gabriel stood in the gap. To Marinettes surprise he looked… tired. There were no telling cues like dark bags, or messy hair but the ways his eyes seemed the slightest bit dulled and the way his shoulders slumped the slightest bit made him appear more human. That scant moment of vulnerability was lost the millisecond he saw Marinette standing there and he became a sharp edged ice sculpture once more.

"You are early." Gabriel intoned opening his door a little wider. It was an invitation to come in and Marinette had to swallow down her doubts to take those steps forwards.

"For once sir." Marinette replied trying for a confident smile, unfortunately it felt brittle and fake so she let it fall as she passed him in the doorway.

The table was still in Gabriels office and Marinette approached the desk looking to see what was laid out on the surface. A map of the warehouse was open with notes, lists, and names scrawled across multiple pieces of paper. Reading the names sent a tremor of terror through her chest. Jackady as well as numerous people from his precinct were on the lists and Marinette spun to see Gabriel watching her with calculating eyes.

"You look as if you have seen a ghost Marinette." Gabriel stated his voice surprisingly bland.

"J-just surprised sir. We will be doing this raid with Jackady?" Marinette managed stumbling only the one time.

"I appraised him of the situation yesterday and he has offered to assist since his people have turned over nothing." Gabriel said slowly moving around the table even though his eyes never left hers. It was like being circled by a predator who hadn't yet decided if you were worth eating and it made the hair go up on the back of her neck, "I find it amazing that two people from my precinct have thrice found Chloe's whereabouts or clues to such and yet no one in any other precinct has managed to find the first whiff of a lead. Could you explain such a thing to me?"

Marinette swallowed hard. Was he accusing her of something? As far as Gabriel knew she had only found clues to Chloes location twice. Once with the limo and the second time with the location that she was moved from, or maybe he was counting the transfer too? Did he suspect her to have been at the fire, or was this some other ploy? Unsure yet not wanting to let her fears out lest she stick her foot in her mouth, Marinette let only her confusion color her tone and features.

"I'm not sure I understand sir. I mean I did find the limo and I did find her once but both times were really only due to quite a bit of luck. There hasn't been a third incident of me finding Chloe and to be totally honest-"

The door burst open cutting off Marinette's words and Roger strode in some papers held in his upraised fist like some kind of trophy. "They moved her! They moved her and she is right where I said she would be!" Roger gloated slapping the papers down onto the table.

The papers were blown up photographs and they were a series of action shots that had Marinette peering closely at them. They were pictures of a distressed Chloe in her ball gown being dragged by two people into a warehouse entrance and Marinette frowned. Poppy had said that anytime Chloe was transported she was knocked out so she couldn't make a fuss which was exactly what she seemed to be doing in these photos. The photos also had no timestamp which was a sort of relief if Marinette were being honest. These photos were real so at some point someone had witnessed and taken photos of this happening. It couldn't have happened yesterday afternoon nor that morning since these photos had the grainy look of being taken in the late evening or night. It also didn't help that Stormy had given her a confirmation less than an hour ago that Chloe was still in the building that she and Adrien planned to raid that night. Pigeon man even had a visual confirmation, so either these photos had been taken days ago or someone had incredible makeup skills. The most damning piece of evidence was the fact that Chloe was in her dress and Marinette had watched that along with a whole warehouse go up in flames. Not that she could use that little tidbit in an argument against these photos, but it made Marinette sure that all Roger had once again was a fist of lies and empty promises. He was just too dumb to realize it.

"Who took these?" Marinette asked her voice far quieter than Rogers loud bray.

"Pff why does it matter? You wanted proof I got you proof!" Roger snorted as Marinette steadily arranged the photos in an order that allowed them to see the struggle in full.

"There's no time stamps, nor date stamps, have they kept Chloe in her dress this whole time?" Marinette insisted. There was something more than just the dress bothering Marinette in those photos and she switched some frames around as she tried to find out what it was.

Roger blinked and peered at the photos an odd look flashing across his face. "Maybe?"

"Also from the grainy look these photos were taken at night or in the late evening. How was someone randomly at the right place and time to get these photos? Any normal person would have called the police." Marinette continued before Roger could say anything more.

"You just happened to be at the right place and time to witness Chloe being moved." Gabriel pointed out. "You did not call the police."

"I am part of the police force, that doesn't count and I find it weird that Chloe is awake. They knocked her out to move her before." Marinette replied peering a little closer at the photos, seemingly satisfied with the order at the moment.

"Maybe they drove her around longer to be sure that they weren't followed and Chloe woke up! I mean your body get used to sleeping drugs and junk right?" Roger demanded

"Not that fast." Both Gabriel and Marinette answered at the same time.

At that moment Marinette realized what it was about the pictures that bothered her. If Chloe had been moved to the warehouse Roger so badly wanted to raid then the ground should be fairly smooth dark concrete. The ground in the pictures appeared to be gravel, not to mention a far lighter color than anything in the city, and now that Marinette was taking a closer look at Chloes face it seemed as if her eyes were at best only half way open. The gravel, plus the dress, and the half conscious state made Marinette realize that these pictures had been taken when she was first brought to the island warehouse. They must have shot them when Chloe had first arrived on the island days ago, so whoever took her initially must have dropped her off just before dawn. Unfortunately there was nothing more she could say about the pictures, unless she wanted to be explaining her activities from the past few nights and Marinette knew that the conversation would not end in her favor.

Tapping the pictures Marinette turned to Roger, "Do you know who these two men are and do you know who sent these photos to you?"

Roger looked uncomfortable, "Well no. I assumed they were random guys. I mean I tried looking up their faces but the pictures are too blurry to determine anything. The pictures came to me through a secondary source but I trust them!"

Marinette looked up at Roger and then looked at Gabriel who was also frowning down at the pictures. "Sir… with all due respect, this stinks like a trap."

Gabriel met her gaze and it took everything in her to not look away out of habit. "It does…"

Marinette felt her jaw drop open a little but she snapped it shut as he continued.

"However, even if it is a trap we must do our duty and attempt to rescue Chloe. Unless you have absolute proof that Chloe is elsewhere…" Gabriel trailed off, his gaze seeming to burn a hole through her very conscious.

This was her moment Marinette knew. She could reveal she knew where Chloe actually was and show Gabriel her plans. If she was lucky Jackady would be on standby and they could do a raid on the building as planned tonight with actual backup. Common sense and loyalty told her to spill the beans. Instinct screamed at her to lie. Tiki's instinct had never been wrong and Marinette's so far had a very good track record. Marinette hated liars and she hated to conceal important information but if everything went according to plan this evening there would be no need for a raid at the warehouse. They would have already rescued Chloe and no one would have to walk into that death trap. As her shoulders slumped Marinette somehow knew that she was doing the right thing. She could practically feel Tiki at her back telling her exactly what needed to be said.

"I lost Chloes position yesterday Sir." Marinette sighed her hands balling into fists. "They moved her sometime in the afternoon and I was… here."

Gabriel nodded his face almost pensive. "That is my fault. You gave us her position and I did nothing to keep an eye on it. Had I done so we would certainly have better proof of Chloe's location and… photos."

Roger grimaced at the slight while Marinette clenched her jaw to keep it from dropping open in shock again. Gabriel had admitted to being wrong… that had never happened before.

"Since there is nothing we can change about the past, we must do all we can to secure our future, especially since it appears we will be walking into a trap." Gabriel commanded making them both stand a little straighter.

"Well if we know it's to be a trap, we should create our own ambush." Marinette murmured, bending down to tap at a map that was closest to her. She didn't foresee anything going wrong with their raid tonight but if something did happen she wanted Gabriel and anyone else walking into this raid to have the best possible chances at coming out alive. "We mob them, blind them to confuse them, go in through the back doors since they have wider exits and people don't expect you to come in through the back. I'd go with an extra layer of armor for the front runners and give them masks in case tear gas gets used. Put some kind of snipers on the front exits to pick off anyone able to slip out those doors. Flash bombs would be better if we strike at night."

"No. Better stick to daylight." Gabriel said his tone allowing for little argument.

Those words made relief flood through Marinette although she didn't show it. There was no way they would have the time and notice to get everyone set up and ready to move before nightfall. If Gabriel wanted to do this raid in the daylight he would have to wait till tomorrow which gave her and Adrien all the time they needed to pull off their own rescue.

The rest of the meeting was filled with planning every step the raiders would make and as Marinette feared, Roger was of little use. He had only been on one raid and it was obvious from his suggestions that he had no clue what a raid really entailed. Somehow Roger had it in his head that he was going to rush into the building on a white steed and sweep Chloe up into his arms before riding off into the sunset. At one point Marinette had to actually explain that raids were not the place for over the top theatrics since it was a good way to get your head shot off your shoulders. By the end even Gabriel seemed to be overly frustrated with Roger and he called the meeting an end just before 1pm.

Thrilled to be out of the office and having no desire to talk with Roger any further that day, Marinette decided a half day was in order for herself. Somehow even with Rogers dead weight they had managed to create a raid outline and Marinette felt more than a little guilty that she was about to go behind everyone's back. Grabbing her things as she headed for the door Marinette sent a few texts out to set her plans for the evening in motion. Exiting the building Marinette told her phone to call Adrien. She wanted to talk to him and since she was heading home for the day she wondered if maybe he could join her for the rest of the afternoon or at least lunch. The call went to voicemail and she extended the invitation but didn't say much more since the other things she needed to talk to him about were not meant for phone conversations. Jogging the rest of the way to her home Marinette kicked off her shoes the second she arrived. Pulling out her phone again she scrolled to the newest number saved to her phone under the tag –CN. She had wanted to put Kitty but if Alya kidnapped her phone it would be a super odd tag that would have her asking a million questions. CN on the other hand could be initials or something different since there were several numbers on Marinette's phone that were just labeled under a few letters or even numbers. With a deep breath Marinette hauled herself out onto her balcony not wanting to give Chat any clues as to her location at the moment. She had a raid to prepare for and didn't have time to deal with curious kitties. For a moment she just stared at the line of nonsensical numbers then hit call before she could change her mind. It rang twice and then it picked up.

"Why hello My Lady, calling for an update?" Chat asked his voice smoldering with amusement.

"Yes I am… Are you near the building?" Marinette asked figuring she might as well just jump straight to the point.

Chat hummed "Yes My Lady, I am. I was asked to assist in watching the building since Pigeon man needed a Bird break? Is that like a bathroom break?"

Marinette snorted but she quickly sobered, "Chat are you sure 100% that Chloe is still there?" Marinette asked cautiously, she hated questioning him but it was necessary. She hadn't been out to the new location to see Chloe for herself and she was placing a huge amount of trust in Chat. Stormy had technically seen her too and Poppy had confirmed it had been Chloe but for some reason it was Chats word that she needed. Somehow the stupid cat was making her rely on him and Marinette didn't even want to think of how that made her feel at the moment.

"My Lady I am starting to think you don't trust me." Chat answered comically but Marinette could hear the edge in his voice as it lowered a few notches. "Chloe is still here. I caught a whiff of her scent earlier. There is no real way to replicate something like that."

Marinette blew out a breath, happy that he had managed to get a biological proof that Chloe was still present at the building. "Oh I trust you but unfortunately my boss and coworkers don't. Lives are going to be at stake here when I move on this information Chat." Marinette sighed already choosing in her mind what equipment she thought she would need.

"You're going to do a run aren't you?" Chat asked making Marinette flinch.

She really was going to do this. Go against orders and behind everyone's back into a hot zone to rescue someone she didn't even like. Marinette groaned "I'm not even going to ask how you know about those. Yes I am and I have a few calls to make and preparations to take care of so please don't get in the way alright?"

"I'll only get in the way if you get into trouble." Chat answered and Marinette shook her head in exasperation.

"Fine. I'll talk to you soon." And then she hung up muttering. "Overprotective idiot."

He really wasn't being too bad considering, but she really hoped that Chat didn't come crashing into her run the second gunshots were heard. She still hadn't introduced Adrien to the dam cat and she really wasn't sure if it was a good idea for them to meet in the first place. They would either start cracking puns and roughhousing or they would try and rip each other's throats out the second she turned her back. It was a confusing thought for some reason trying to put them together in the same place. It was like her brain cringed away from the idea of them meeting and with how close she and Adrien were becoming Marinette wasn't sure how she felt about Chat invading her space. Chat seemed to like her too and he was rather handsome but his flirting came across as more fun rather than serious. He hadn't really tried to pursue her yet and with a groan Marinette decided that the last thing she needed was two guys pulling macho BS because they both liked her.

"Alright maybe having them meet is a bad idea, and note to self, remind Chat we are totally professional and flirting shouldn't be a thing." Marinette muttered sliding her phone into her pocket as she took one last look at the city before her.

If Chats flirting was a harmless way to pass the time she would allow it. She had known several people in her time as a detective that flirted for fun. One person she had known only flirted when they got nervous and it had always been a telling thing for them. If Chat was being serious she would have to ask him to stop but for now she really had more important things to worry about rather than boys and whether or not they liked her. Shaking her head sharply Marinette moved back inside getting her mind back on track.


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