Ready for an action packed chapter filled with banter and flying bullets? Enjoy the chaos!
sweetXDmelody... You would not believe how many times I have to go back and rewrite some scenes once I start adding dialog. I have the action and the ideas in my head of what I want to happen but voices are always something that comes last. Sometimes its easy and everything just flows together. Other times the characters hijack my scenes and run amok causing havoc.
(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?
Raid On
There was nothing on his mind except protect as Adrien slammed into Marinette taking her to the floor. A millisecond later the boxes they had been behind exploded in a shower of bullets and splinters. Marinette froze against the floor while Adrien braced his body above her and she felt her heart pound in worry as the spat of gunfire dissipated into silence. He was not as heavy as she'd expected and she could feel him take a deep breath since their vests were pressed tightly together.
"A-Adrien are you?" Marinette managed reaching up to pat his face and shoulder since that's all she could reach pinned beneath him like she was.
Adrien chuckled softly the vibrations making something wound tight in Marinette's chest loosen a bit. Not many people could laugh while shot and Adrien's chuckle was definitely of the carefree not in pain variety. "Well, well princess, looks like you are under Agreste."
Marinette's mouth fell into a comically hilarious O shape for about two seconds before her brain rebooted. "You idiot this is not the time!" she squawked slapping at Adrien's chest awkwardly.
Adrien couldn't help the sniggers that slipped out of him even as he rolled off her staying low as he did. "I'm going to rush them while they think we are down. Cover me ok?"
"Have you lost you mind?!" Marinette demanded not liking this suicidal plan one bit although she knew they would have to move fast soon or be pinned again by gunfire.
"Not quite yet Princess… It keeps finding me…" Adrien answered
She wanted to slap him Marinette decided, but in lieu of their situation she held off and pulled out a smoke bomb. "ARRRGGG go down their center and if you get shot I'll kill you myself."
Adrien nodded once, his half crooked grin doing wicked things to her heart. Then he tucked into a ball, doing a controlled tumble into the center of the floor. Marinette tossed the smoke bomb over the boxes rolling to the other side and before the idiots open fired on her previous position, she saw Adrien bolt off the ground. Smoke spewed thickly from the smoke bomb and she heard more than one alarmed shout as smoke started to clog the air. Adrien was gone from view in a blink of an eye and the bullets stopped as they either reloaded or tried to get a fix on their new positions. She didn't have long before Adrien hit them so Marinette leaped for the stack of boxes and bins that would give her a better vantage point. Scrambling to the top she was prepared to dodge another influx of bullets but instead she witnessed Adrien leaping through the center of the smoke like a wraith. Two blackjack like batons were in his hands as he swiftly dealt out heavy damage with the two weapons. His moves were sinuous with no energy wasted as he ducked to doge one strike only to kick out and send another attacker flying. Two men were already on the ground and a third was hauling up a gun that Adrien calmly knocked to the side before slamming his other baton down square into the mans forehead. A fourth man just outside the smoke was raising his weapon, ready to shoot willy nilly into the smoke screen and Marinette let her manriki fly catching his gun. The man hollered in surprise as Marinette yanked it to the side. The gun went off sending a bullet ricocheting while giving Adrien the heads up on the guys position. Spinning around Adrien bolted forwards cracking his baton into the man's arm before twisting the other up so it cracked sharply into the dudes chin. The guy dropped like a sack of potatoes allowing Adrien to pull Marinette's chain free. Recalling her chain Marinette gave the area one last look over and seeing no one else through the drifting smoke she leaped lightly down the boxes to return to Adrien's side. It took several moments and Adrien remained where he was to act as an anchor in the smog filled room. The canister was still going off and it was starting to get hard to breathe.
"See that wasn't so bad." Adrien murmured covering his mouth as they moved towards the stairwell door.
"Yeah not bad at all except our stealth mission is trashed and there is a very good chance that the Hawkmoth gang will call every one down on this position just to kill us." Marinette hissed back taking point as they moved up the stairs. "They were extra vigilant. Like they knew or expected we were coming. We need to get to Chloe in the next ten minutes or the chances of us all getting out alive start to drastically decrease."
Adrien's face fell into a serious look. "How many people do you think are here?"
"Enough to give us plenty of trouble." Marinette admitted as they hit the second floor. "The guys down below didn't have enough time to get to their raidios before we nailed them but I guarantee that everyone probably heard the gun shots."
They both went silent as they kept going up but they could both hear footsteps echoing down the stairs at a rapid pace making them both freeze on the next landing up. The steps were getting closer with voices accompanying them so Adrien knew they couldn't climb any higher without running into resistance. There was an entrance onto the floor next to them however and the door was already cracked open giving them an option. Holding up her hand Marinette used a mirror on a stick to peer around the door jam and grinned as she pulled the mirror back.
"One guy. Follow my footsteps. Either we nail this or we might have to go out the window and reconvene another time." Marinette breathed knowing that every second counted now.
"I've got your back." Adrien replied and Marinette moved.
She was a whisper of wind that hardly shook the ajar door and Adrien was her wake. Practically in a crouch as she sprinted down the hall, Marinette scooped something off the floor as she bolted for the man standing guard almost at the window. The poor guard at the end didn't seem to understand what he was looking at because he reacted far too late, nothing more than a gasp of surprise escaping him before Marinette was too close for him to do much of anything. The manriki seemed to come alive as the man tried to reach for something and Marinette had his hands trapped as her feet slammed into his chest knocking him to the ground. They were in the deep shadows as they slid to a stop and the man seemed to be in a state of shock as Marinette pinned him twisting to look over her shoulder at Adrien who was holding back a little in case someone else popped out of the shadows.
"Take his position!" Marinette hissed as she shoved the end of a pipe she had scooped up running under the man's chin to keep him from calling out. She didn't have a gun and if the man under her decided to be a hero she wouldn't be able to silence him before he gave their position away. If that happened Marinette had no doubt that their escape would be messy and she hated it when things got messy on ventures like this. "Keep quiet or I pull the trigger." She bluffed as someone stuck their head around the doorway at the end of the hall a moment later.
"Adam you good?!" what sounded like a woman called out.
"Still clear!" Adrien answered pretending to sneeze in the middle so any voice discrepancies could be hopefully excused.
"Ugh I told you to take that allergy medicine! Whatever, there were shots below so keep an eye out!" the woman chided her head jerking back into the stairwell.
Adrien's shoulders sagged in relief and Marinette kept the pipe piece pressured against the man's chin.
"Thank you." Marinette hummed pleased the man hadn't tried to give them away.
"I have a son. Please…" Adam begged his jaw barely moving the pipe.
"I won't kill you. Just tell me the best way to get to Chloe and I will knock you out to make it look like you never saw us coming." Marinette answered her voice terrifyingly lethal.
Adrien shivered, suddenly realizing why Marinette had the reputation she did in the criminal underworld. She might be cute and small but the second you got in her way she turned into a deadly silent force that wasn't to be trifled with. Suddenly Adrien was grateful he hadn't pissed her off too bad while he was running around as Chat Noir. If she had used that voice on him he probably would have given up right off the bat. Keeping an eye on their surroundings Adrien only half paid attention as the man told them everything he knew. When he had exhausted all his knowledge Marinette knocked him out then zip-tied his hands and feet before propping him up in such a way that it looked as if he were still standing guard. Adrien was impressed with the illusion and he said as much as they moved to the very end of the hall.
"Yes well hopefully he wasn't lying about Chloe." Marinette muttered as they scooted out the window and onto a small hidden fire escape. According the guy there was no surveillance on the escape since the bottom half was impassable and no one thought someone could sneak past to get on the escape from his floor up. Chloe was two floors up and luck seemed to be on their side because the window was supposed to be busted out on her floor. It would make their entrance onto the floor easier since they wouldn't have to worry about the window being locked or having to smash through glass.
"I think he was too scared to lie. Do you run into a lot of people like that?" Adrien asked as they climbed up the fire escape.
"Unfortunately yes, some people have been blackmailed into doing things for the Hawkmoth gang and even some of the regular members have families. As you know Mime has a daughter and so do a few others. Some people need the money that the Hawkmoth gang provides them although some people are just forced into it." Marinette answered softly pausing for a moment as they slipped past the next floors window. There was someone posted in the hall but it was obvious that they were not paying attention since their phone was out and their eyes were glued to the screen. Marinette rolled her eyes at the sight. "Makes me wish we had popped out on that floor just so we could give him a proper scare."
"Nah let him have his free moments, makes him easier to get past." Adrien huffed skipping over a missing step in the escape. "This thing should be condemned."
Marinette hummed in agreement and they both went silent as they came up even with the floor that Chloe was supposedly on. The window here really was busted out and someone had sloppily taped black trash bags across the broken area. Thankfully there were no jagged edges left in the frame and both of them could easily climb through if it weren't for the bags. Whoever had done the taping job had been in a hurry since most of the bottom wasn't even connected and it flapped slightly in the light wind outside.
In time with the wind Marinette nudged the plastic a little to the side so she could see what lay beyond. Two men stood outside a door halfway down and here at least some lights were on. A single bulb flickered sullenly above the men and Marinette didn't see anyone else in the hall. It looked like both men had guns on them although Marinette wasn't sure since they were not holding anything in their hands. Unlike other people they had encountered these two looked almost professional in their stances.
Letting the plastic fall back Marinette whispered, "Looks like two guys only about halfway down the hall and they are on high alert. They might be professional and I can't see what weapons they might have."
Adrien shifted up right next to her and took a look for himself then settled back. "Too bad we don't have a dart gun. Chloe has to be behind that door. Do you think they have her tied up?"
"They might have her gagged." Marinette answered mildly "Otherwise we would probably hear her yelling right about now."
Adrien went silent his body going stiff and Marinette realized that she shouldn't have said what she did. Chloe was Adrien's friend and he really did care about her. Unfortunately people who cared about others as deeply as Adrien did were often prone to doing stupid things when someone hurt those they cared about.
"My turn." Adrien hissed through suddenly gritted teeth and Marinette felt her heart stutter at the sheer menace those two words held.
"A-Adrien wait!" she tried as she moved to grab his shirt.
Adrien was already moving though, his sinuous body slipping through her fingertips like fog on a damp night. The plastic bags hardly made a whisper as Adrien glided through and then he was sprinting down the hall right at the two men. Cursing at her own callous stupidity Marinette hauled herself through the window as one of the men yelped "What the-"
Adrien tackled the closest guy slamming him to the ground as the other guard jumped back drawing his weapon. Marinette slung out her Manriki the weight slamming into the guys hand and knocking the gun askew as it fired. The bullet lodged into the ground further down the hall as Adrien swung his legs around taking out the guards, causing his head to crack into the wall. To Marinette's relief the guy didn't rise and Adrien popped up to his feet going for the door the two had been guarding.
"Idiot…" Marinette growled under her breath as she ran to his side already able to hear the walkie-talkies on the guards going nuts.
"Its locked!" Adrien snarled jerking the handle around in frustration. He took a step back one leg rising to kick the door in and Marinette shoved him hard making him lose his balance. "What the hell Marinette?!" Adrien demanded his face like a block of ice.
"Lose the face and do not break down that door!" Marinette snapped jabbing a finger at his chest before turning to the door. "One of these men will have a key and I can pick the lock while you check. We are going to have company here in a few moments and this door is going to be our only protection. Stop acting like a Neanderthal and use that brain of yours!"
Adrien wanted to snarl back at her but what she had said was reasonable. Plus if the door was intact and locked when people came through they might not think they had gotten in.
"Kid your bloods up. Take a breath." Plagg hissed from his collar and Adrien grimaced turning to the first man he had tackled.
This guy didn't have a real gun instead he had what looked like a tranquilizer gun like device of some sort. It was small and medical looking and Adrien noticed that it didn't have any kind of firing mechanism like a dart gun would. It would have to be pressed to the skin like an epi-pen to be used. Putting it to the side Adrien riffled through the guys pockets turning up a couple of bucks a crushed cigarette and a lighter. With an annoyed sniff Adrien turned to the other man half listening to the chatter on the Walkie-talkies. Someone had heard the shot and since the guards hadn't responded they were coming to check on their position.
"Yes!" Marinette hummed as Adrien finished with the second guy pulling some keys out of his back pocket.
"I think I found the keys." Adrien said holding them up as Marinette picked the odd looking gun up off the floor
"Good let's get inside before the others get here." Marinette muttered as she stuck the gun looking device in her back pocket and snagged the keys from his outstretched hand.
Yanking the door open Marinette used the key to lock the door and shoved Adrien through before he could do much more than grunt in surprise. Closing the door behind them she slid a safety bolt on the door home for extra protection then turned and saw they were in a small apartment space. The kitchen was a bare half rotted nook off to the one side and Marinette could see an open door that led to the one bedroom the place had to the left.
"Get Chloe. We need to get out of here now." Marinette hissed under her breath looking around the tiny room for any other means of escape.
Adrien nodded and moved to the bedroom as Marinette walked around the kitchen nook to find the only window the apartment had. The glass had long been broken out but someone had taped some cardboard across the frame allowing a little light from the weak street lamps to filter through.
"Adrienki-" Chloe squealed from the other room only to be cut off by what Marinette assumed was his hand.
Outside the apartment Marinette heard the first shouts of alarm as well as the handle jiggling on the door. Going perfectly still Marinette readied herself in case someone else had another set of keys but a muffled "Its locked still." Filtered through the thin door.
The voices seemed to move off as Adrien appeared in the doorway with Chloe on his heels and he glanced at the door, able to hear the people as well as her. Nerves tightened in his gut and he shot Marinette a grin since she seemed determined to chew through her lip at the moment. Unfortunately she didn't seem to notice and moving to her side Adrien slipped a finger under her chin causing Marinette to jerk and look up at him.
"Want me to kick the door down? That will probably take out at least one of them and while you take Chloe to the window I can charge whoever is left."
"That is the stupidest idea ever. We don't separate in times like this, that's how you get killed." Marinette whispered heatedly glancing around the room as she tried to formulate a plan with the stuff they had.
Adrien's face fell and he could feel his stone face snapping into place. Marinette seemed to realize her mistake too since she winced but Adrien was already snapping "Well then how pray tell are we getting out of here?!"
"I am working on it! But your stupid recklessness, terrible puns, and wanna be stone face are really not helping!" Marinette grumbled.
If anyone else had said that to him Adrien knew he would have either become truly angry or he would have completely shut down. From Marinette however it was like getting an affirmation that someone actually saw who he truly was under the polished mask and accepted him. It also helped that he knew for a fact that she liked him as much as he liked her. Well maybe… Adrien was fairly certain he was head over heels in love while Marinette seemed to be just starting to slip down that slippery slope. Adrien couldn't help it, he grinned the nervousness and anger draining away at her complaints. "Are we talking about your faults or my virtues here?"
Marinette wanted to punch him in his smug face at that comment but she didn't because she knew she had hurt his feelings calling his idea stupid. For some reason her tart reply had awakened his flirty side instead of his anger and as she stepped forward to hiss out a snarky reply but Chloe broke in between them.
"Oh my god are you two flirting?!" She practically shrieked.
"NO!" Adrien and Marinette yelled in answer as Chloe wiggled between them none of them noticing the sudden rise of voices outside the room.
"Adrikins I'm happy you came to rescue me and all but did you have to bring her?! Also I hope you brought me shoes or a car because I am not walking out of this… OW!" Chloe yelped jerking back as she spun to face Marinette. "Did you just pinch me?!"
Marinette cocked her head, hands jerking to hide something behind her back "Me pinch you? Nope."
Chloe blinked a few times then wobbled "Wha… di…"
She didn't manage to complete her sentence slumping forward right into Marinette's arms.
Adrien gaped at Marinette clearly shocked. "Did you just drug her?"
"Yep that was a tranquilizer shot. Medics use them sometime to knock out unruly patients and stuff. I've used them once or twice in cases too. It's probably the thing Poppy gave them when you saw her drop Chloe off. Now let's get out of here before we get drugged or shot next." Marinette answered starting to haul Chloe up onto her shoulder.
Unfortunately at that moment all hell broke loose as the people outside decided it was no longer necessary to keep Chloe alive. Bullets sprayed through the wall creating pinpoints of light and Marinette lunged at Adrien taking him to the ground with Chloe sandwiched between them. The two of them curled their bodies inwards, covering Chloe since she was the only one amongst them without any sort of protection.
"You hit?" Marinette gasped as the spatter of gunfire died, feeling the burning pain of a bullet graze near her hip. It didn't feel deep or horribly painful but she knew from experience that it was going to bleed.
"Once in the side. Vest caught it. You?" Adrien grunted rolling Chloe between them and they both did a once over to make sure she hadn't been hit. Forcing herself upright and turning so he couldn't see the blood that was starting to soak her pants Marinette held out her arms.
"We go out the window." Marinette mumbled, carefully sidestepping his question as she lifted Chloe into her arms and darted for the window knowing another wave was coming. Adrien followed as another round of bullets slashed through the apartment hitting the spot they had been lying a moment before. Thankfully the people firing were not very creative and they didn't sweep their guns very far to the right or left leaving Marinette and Adrien untouched by the window in the far corner. Handing Chloe to Adrien Marinette ripped the cardboard off the window revealing an open hole that even Adrien could easily slip through.
"You're going to have to hand her out to me and I'll use my manriki to get us to ground. You have the ascender I gave you?" she hurriedly whispered pulling hers out to flash at him.
Adrien nodded nervously as he heard someone outside snap "They should be dead or injured take out that dam door!"
Marinette didn't appear to hear as she slid most of her body out the window until only her one good leg remained inside acting as an anchor. Her other foot rested on the thin ledge just outside the window while she scanned for a good place to throw her manriki. They were lucky since the building across from them ended and a half rotted balcony that jutted out over an alley directly in front of them. The fence that surrounded their building wouldn't be a problem although she would have to use her own ascender otherwise the manriki line would shred her hands to the bone. At one time the g-force of the swing might have been a problem but with her increased strength from the miraculous, Marinette didn't think it would remotely be an issue. Taking a quick breath Marinette held steady with her one leg as she let fly with her whole upper body and arm to give her more power. It was a super long throw and Marinette knew that she would need all the extra force she could manage. The manriki soared across the gap invisible to everyone's eyes but her own, and to her immense relief it caught and held fast. Immediately Marinette snapped her ascender into place getting a good grip on it so Adrien could fasten his above hers. Turning with a grin to Adrien she was nearly knocked from her perch as he shoved Chloe out the window to her.
"Take her!" he hissed as the sound of shattering wood echoed out behind him. Unfortunately the extra bolt on the door had only helped keep the top part of the door on and Marinette was fairly certain she could see part of the bottom lying in the room.
Marinette didn't have a choice but to take Chloe and she nearly went off the ledge as she took Chloe's weight with her one free arm, which admittedly wasn't much. Somehow she managed to get Chloe over her shoulder and thankfully her leg inside kept her anchored as well as somewhat balanced. This meant she was able to witness Adrien sliding across the open floor, the gun he had picked up downstairs in his hand as he fired at whatever poor idiots had decided to try and enter the room. Several screams echoed out as he scored hits and someone returned fire as he slid into the shadows on the other side of the room. The other shooters shots were wild since they hadn't seen Adrien sliding and the few people outside the room scrambled for cover since the thin walls did nothing to stop bullets.
"They're alive light em up!" A man yelled from somewhere and Adrien bolted back across the floor staying low to the ground as bullets flooded the room again.
"Adrien!" Marinette squeaked her hand on her ascender as he rushed to her.
Adrien didn't give her a chance to say anything as he dove out the window tackling her right off the ledge. They fell swiftly Adrien's hand rising to wrap around Marinette's to help take some of the weight strain off her arm. They were just over the fence and halfway into their swing when a loud creaking sound echoed from above them. Marinette was trying to twist her body around so she could land in a run but they both knew what that sound meant.
"We're too heavy!" Adrien yelped as metal above them twisted dropping them a foot down. Without even asking Adrien released his grip falling more than ten feet to the ground before ducking into a proper tumble as he hit to bleed off momentum. The creak of bending metal stopped the second Adrien let go and Marinette continued swinging forwards a ball of fury rising in her chest as she engaged the ascender to allow her to reach ground level. The swing carried her further than she wished and Marinette landed a bit awkwardly since she still had Chloe draped over her one shoulder plus a winged leg. Seeing her stumble Adrien ran forwards hoping he hadn't injured her when he had tackled her off the ledge.
Marinette heard him coming and turned to him hissing "Do you have a death wish or something?" as she disengaged her Manriki from the now very bent balcony. For a second the line seemed stuck and she had to whip it hard to get it to release.
Adrien eyed Marinette in astonishment even as he carefully avoided Marinette's manriki line popping free. "You just jumped out a window carrying a person larger than you and you are seriously asking me that?"
"I had a plan! More than your reckless charge! And technically you just tackled me out the dam window! Without any kind of safety means in place!" Marinette snapped as they both turned and hightailed it for the shadows.
Her manriki rapidly recoiled even as they ran since Marinette didn't have the time to stand still while it did and she was careful not to trip over the line as it slithered back into place. There was only one way out of that apartment since the shooters had the door covered and it wouldn't be hard for them to shoot out the window at them. Neither of them were dumb enough to remain arguing in the alley in full view of the building they had just escaped from but they were dumb enough to keep arguing as they ran. Thankfully they had the mind to keep their voices low as they sniped at each other. The night had been very tense and both of them had pulled stunts that could have gotten them in trouble or killed. They needed to hash things out even if they should have awaited a better venue to do so.
"Well at least I didn't knock out the person we were rescuing!" Adrien hissed marveling at the fact that Marinette was still carrying Chloe while running and arguing at the same time. He knew that the miraculous stone had activated but the changes it was already causing were remarkably scary. Although he had a feeling that Marinette could have done this even without the miraculous boost.
"That was by design! Could you imagine having to talk her into running in her precious bare feet? Much less jumping out that window?! We would still be in the building with the shrapnel, bullets, and god knows what else flying after us or she would have given our position away with her shrieking!" Marinette growled as she shifted Chloe into a better position across her shoulders. Chloe was shockingly light and too thin. Her bones were jutting into Marinette and she wondered if Chloe needed more help than just a simple rescue from some bad guys.
"Whatever. We need to get somewhere safe before they figure out how to come after us." Adrien huffed deciding to yell at her in a slightly safer environment since he knew she would return the favor.
Marinette nibbled on her lip as she looked around the dank alley they were in. "We do. The streets are going to be in an uproar over this and so will the precinct. We need to get Chloe to the hospital but we should wait till the worst settles and we can't call Alya to pick us up without putting her and us in danger…" She trailed off for a minute looking around them again. "I might have an idea… and remind me to let Nino know we are alive."
Behind them they could hear people yelling, searching for them and Adrien could feel Plagg pressing against his chest over his racing heart. Plagg had placed himself there to block any stay bullets in case the vest wasn't enough. Adrien had found out the hard way that the kwami was technically invincible even if getting hit by a bullet made Plagg sleep for three days straight. Marinette started forwards again and Adrien followed his mind rapidly spinning through multiple scenarios. If he moved off to supposedly cause a diversion he could transform. By transforming he could get both Marinette and Chloe to safety however leaving 'Adrien' to fend for himself was something Marinette would never allow. Adrien was quite ready to blow his secret but in this situation it might cause more havoc especially since Marinette was stressed to a degree that would make many others snap. Their safety was at stake though, if it came down to it…
"Thank goodness it's still here." Marinette muttered stopping so suddenly Adrien almost ran into her.
"What's here?" Adrien asked looking around and seeing for the first time that she had led them to a dead end.
"Here take her." Marinette said in answer as she rolled Chloe off her shoulders and handed her to Adrien.
Adrien hefted Chloe onto his shoulder looking absolutely befuddled until Marinette reached down and lifted a piece of the street up. Choking on what he was about to say Adrien watched her lever open a man hole that hadn't been there two seconds ago.
Seeing the shocked expression she gave a wry grin. "I'll explain inside, but we will be safer underground. They will be expecting us to use the roofs or side streets since we obviously haven't escaped yet by car. Not many people know, much less think about this side of Paris. Plus I doubt anyone in that building will know of this entrance down here. Unfortunately you're going to have to go first with Chloe so I can replace the covers properly."
Shaking himself out of his surprise Adrien went down first as she asked using his impressive balance and strength to get both himself and Chloe to below ground level without injury. After a few seconds of fiddling with the cover piece Marinette sealed up the hole above, throwing them into complete and utter darkness. Knowing Marinette she was probably used to the sudden loss of light since she was used to coming down here but Adrien was stunned by the sudden lack of sensation. Ever since becoming Chat Noir he hadn't once been able to find utter darkness unless his eyes were closed and his head buried under three pillows. In this pitch however Adrien realized that even Chat Noirs eyes would be completely useless. His hearing however was a very different story. In place of his eyes his already sensitive hearing went into max overdrive with every sound and scrape of cloth becoming suddenly far too loud and close.
"Please tell me we are not going to navigate blind down here." Adrien asked his voice tense and seemingly far too loud.
He heard her feet hit the ground, could smell her scent was mixed with sweat and blood. Blood meant an injury and Adrien bristled as he realized she was holding out on him. It was definitely her blood he smelled since he knew Chloe hadn't been injured although he could also smell his own blood too. He sincerely hoped the miraculous hadn't affected her senses yet because if they had he might be in trouble.
Marinette chuckled dryly. "No we aren't. Hang on just one second."
His ears picked up her rustling through her clothes and then a seemingly loud crack echoed. Light bloomed in a green phosphorescent color and it took Adrien less than a second to understand what he was looking at.
"A glow stick?" Adrien asked incredulously
Marinette nodded "It means we are friendly down here. Usually I take patrols when needed in the underground since most of the other police hate it down here. Green means friendly and red means I'm on duty. Most of the cataphiles have rotated for the surface for right now but there are a few that stay underground exploring and living. I don't think we will run into anyone down here at the moment, especially on this side of Paris, but we can get to a Whisperer sanctuary using the underground paths."
Adrien felt his jaw drop and Marinette flicked her phones light on brightening up the tunnel they were in for a few short paces. Taking a few steps Marinette paused when she didn't hear Adrien fall into line behind her.
"Are you ok Adrien?" She asked immediately worried by his silence and his lack of movement.
Claws dug into him knocking Adrien from his stupefied state as Plagg climbed back up towards his collar. "Uh fine just in shock is all. Don't mind me, and by the way are you injured?"
Marinette's face scrunched and Adrien saw the slight movement of her arm pressing further into her side. "Scrapes and bruises nothing major. Why are you shocked though? Are you hurt?"
Adrien wasn't sure he believed her, after all her subtle movement led him to believe she really was hurt but barring putting Chloe down and demanding to check her out there wasn't much he could do but trust her judgement. Adrien knew they were going somewhere safe where Marinette could receive somewhat proper medical attention but still his instincts demanded he check her out now. Stuffing the instinct down Adrien shook his head glad he had to hold onto Chloe. Otherwise he would have gotten himself into trouble already.
"As you said, scrapes and bruises nothing major." Adrien finally answered before Marinette could become more concerned.
Her eyebrows rose in disbelief but she didn't dare call him out since she knew he would return the favor. "No bullet holes or broken bones though right?"
Adrien chuckled thinking of all the bones that could be broken on him and still allow him to function in a fairly normal manor. "No to both princess, shall we finish this run before our status changes?"
The glower she shot him made Adrien's grin worse but deciding not to comment Marinette turned to face the darkened tunnel and started walking.
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