So we finally learned what happened to Tiki... Now our heroes get a much needed break to catch up on life stuff. If anyone has questions feel free to ask!

SunshineMLB... I aim to please... No cliffhangers this time either. ;)

Bluebell7420... Sin scene? (Evil laugh) Oh I have plenty of sin scenes I can do but here is the thing... I am trying to keep this story as PG-13 as I can since I know younger kids somewhere are probably reading this. I'd hate to be the one to corrupt them so any sin scenes will be restricted.

Guest... In order... Yes, but there will be drama because why not... I don't have the entire story written out yet so I don't know how many more chapters. Probably at least 20-50 depending on how my brain continues to carry on. She will show up near the end of this story in dramatic fashion. This story is really a Marichat / Adrinette story. Fanart? I LOVE FANART! If you do some be sure to tag me and point me in the direction of your amazing creations! If I could draw people more than once in a blue moon I would have so many scenes from this story sketched out. Unfortunately my forte is drawing monsters and not much else. Works great for Akuma though!

Bloomrose74... It does say slow burn right in the description... Lol not to worry. I know this story is long and I never meant for it to be anywhere near this big when I first planned it but here we are... Glad you are enjoying it regardless. Here is some fluff though!

(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?


Dinner and Reconciliation

It was a pleasant surprise for things to go exactly the way Marinette had hoped they would over the next two days. Other than arguing with Alya for three hours over a scathing review on Gabriel Alya wanted to publish, nothing truly bad had come about from rescuing Chloe. Alyas article about the rescue had made the front page, the mayor had done a press release encouraging the further dismantling of gangs in the city while praising the police force, and Marinette had been able to relax for the first time in a very long time. Alya had even teased her about not being injured for once so she could actually enjoy her forced time off. Realizing that she didn't usually stop unless she was injured Marinette took those words to heart. As she had threatened Adrien she had spent the past two days or so baking, sewing, and catching up on all the backlogged stuff she hadn't had time for lately. Adrien had promised to help her fix the spare shower tonight and then dinner with her parents was tomorrow. Poor Adrien was becoming increasingly nervous about the whole idea and Marinette briefly wondered if it would have been better to simply spring it on him the night of. Marinette knew her parents were going to love Adrien and she had already told them he was coming while begging her father not to embarrass her over swooning college stories. The second she had told them Adrien's name they had asked if it was the same boy she had crushed so hard on in college. Their secretive grins at her affirmation made Marinette nervous but at this point, it was totally out of her hands.

With a bit of a sigh Marinette finished cleaning up her kitchen and moved to sit since she was waiting for her quiche to cool the rest of the way down. Technically it was ready to eat but something at the back of her mind insisted she wait that extra moment. She was getting more of those feelings lately, like her senses were expanding beyond just sight, smell, and hearing. So far she'd had two more flare ups with her senses after the one in the basement. Once with sight and once with her sense of smell while in her parents bakery talking with them about the upcoming dinner. While Marinette was eternally grateful the flare up hadn't happened while she was next to a pile of garbage or something, Marinette was fairly certain she would be able to tell the difference in types of sugar by smell for the rest of her life. It was something she really needed to ask Chat about but even he had been surprisingly silent since their last phone call. It had worried her slightly and she had asked Stormy she had seen him or if he had been injured when they had brought in Poppy. For some odd reason Stormy had laughed at her question but assured Marinette that everything had been fine with Chat. He was just laying low and not stirring up any further trouble.

With her stomach grumbling Marinette decided to hell with her sixth sense and reached for the quiche when the doorbell suddenly rang out. That ringing doorbell was Marinette's first clue that there was someone who didn't visit often at her door. Most people just walked in or texted that they had arrived. The rare few who didn't usually knocked in a pattern and only Manon liked ringing the doorbell. However it was unmistakable when she did it since she rang it incessantly until Marinette answered. These days she was more used to visitors dropping by via rooftop then the actual door since Adrien no longer counted as a visitor. Whoever this was they rang the doorbell once and were now waiting, somewhat impatiently too, if the grumbling was any clue. With a bit of a growl Marinette left her lunch to open the door and felt her jaw drop in shock.

"Uh… Chloe?" Marinette managed feeling rather stunned.

Adrien had mentioned in passing that she had been released from the hospital with no long term issues from her kidnapping. The Mayor had insisted on bringing his baby girl home as soon as possible so the last place Marinette expected to see her was on her doorstep. If anything Chloe should be in some spa or in a jet heading overseas for a relaxing vacation. Chloe spun around her back having been to the door and for several seconds she looked like a child who had been caught doing something naughty. Then seeing that it was only Marinette, Chloe forced a slightly haughty look back onto her face.

"Hello Marinette, I was told that you were given some time off?" Chloe said her voice oddly formal.

Marinette blinked feeling like she had just taken a step into the twilight zone. Chloe was on her doorstep with no bodyguards, or attitude, and Marinette had to wonder if anyone actually knew she was here. "Uh… something like that."

They stared at each other both wary and uncomfortable for several seconds before Marinette realized that whatever Chloe wanted she wasn't going to ask for it standing on her door step. Mentally sighing since she really didn't want Chloe in her house she asked, "Would you like to come in?"

"I suppose I might as well." Chloe sniffed sweeping past Marinette into her living room.

With a confused shake of her head Marinette closed the door following Chloe into the open space. She was eyeing everything critically and Marinette noted that Chloes hands shook slightly as she ran her fingertips over the couch fabric.

"So are you hungry or something? I have some fresh made quiche." Marinette called as she moved past Chloe into the kitchen.

"Quiche is fattening." Chloe scoffed even though she followed Marinette peering around the flat the entire time.

"It's vegetable quiche and you could do with gaining a few pounds. You're too skinny." Marinette retorted and at Chloes raised eyebrow she continued while cutting two slices of the quiche. Chloe hadn't said no and years of feeding her friends made a habit Marinette couldn't break, even if it was for an obnoxious spoiled brat. "I carried you out of the building easily and you are taller than me. As strong as I am it should have been at least a little more difficult. Plus you are very bony which means you need to eat more and put on proper weight. You do know that if you do need help with something I will do my best to help you."

"You don't even like me." Chloe snapped but there was little heat behind her words, as if she were just reacting out of habit.

Realizing she probably was simply reacting out of habit Marinette slipped the quiche onto plates and moved to where Chloe stood. "Everyone needs help sometimes Chloe and even if I don't like the way you act doesn't mean I won't at least try and help you if you really needed it. Besides you are one of Adrien's oldest friends, we could at least pretend to get along. Maybe one day the act will cement into something a little more cordial. Why else would you come here to my home if you didn't trust me to help you in some way?"

At her words Chloes sniffed but didn't have any biting comments which surprised Marinette. She even took the quiche Marinette offered, taking a small bite before her eyes widened slightly.

"This is actually really good." Chloe murmured before taking several more bird like bites.

"It's my dad's recipe. They make it at their bakery and they have other foods that are healthy although, their cookies are the best." Marinette said taking a large bite of her own food.

They didn't speak again as they both ate and it was a fairly surreal moment for Marinette who had never expected to have Chloe in her home like this. Even odder was the way she was dressed. From what Marinette could tell she was in a long loose golden shirt and a black pair of leggings enclosed her legs. Never in all her years of knowing Chloe had she ever seen her in such relaxed clothing. Sure the clothing probably cost more than most people's rent but she was fully covered with no skin showing which was odd to see.

"I-I broke up with Roger you know." Chloe finally voiced her fork resting on her now empty plate. "He… he wasn't happy."

Marinette eyed her again noting how Chloe curled her arms around herself and suddenly Marinette wondered if she should take Adrien up on the offer of ending Rogers miserable existence. "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Chloe flinched at the sheer venom in Marinette's voice even if it wasn't directed at her. "N-no… He, I mean he wasn't happy and he did grab me but he didn't hurt me, he just..." A tear leaked down Chloes cheek. "He called me worthless and a whore and some other stuff but..."

"You're just a little lost is all." Marinette soothed as she placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "You are not worthless Chloe."

Chloe snorted dashing the tear from her cheek. "You're right I can always serve as a bad example."

Marinette sighed "You said it, not me, but the real question is what are you going to do about it?"

"I could destroy him. Make sure he regrets ever saying those things to me." Chloe offered her fingernails digging into her palms, "I know you don't like him at all, so I doubt you would get in my way."

"I wouldn't, but is Roger worth it?" Marinette asked.

Crossing her arms Chloe blew out a breath, "No, he really isn't worth my time anymore, I was just using him to try and make Adrien jealous. Obviously it's just pushed you two closer together so clearly my plan didn't work."

Marinette didn't deny the statement, "Adrien is easy to work with and I enjoy having him at my side. He gets grumpy and uses puns at the most inappropriate times, but in a fight or a raid I wouldn't want anyone else at my back."

"So, you really were the one who rescued me. My daddy said you guys carried me into the hospital yourselves." Chloe said her lips pursed slightly.

"Adrien and I found you and got you out. You should remember us showing up since you were conscious when we first arrived." Marinette answered wondering where exactly this conversation was going.

"I do, although it is sort of hazy. The doctors said I had some sedation drugs in my system plus some other issues." Chloe murmured rubbing at her temple with one hand. "I remember briefly walking up before I woke up fully in the hospital. There was an old guy there, you were there, and you needed to get me help but couldn't take the streets or something. Why did you want to help me in the first place? I asked my daddy and he said you refused the reward. So did Adrien although he is less of a surprise."

"Adrien has been worried sick about you the moment we all realized you had vanished. It was my job to find you and taking a reward for simply doing what was right felt wrong. Besides I have no use for the money unless you want to donate it to the Silent Voices Foundation. They help street kids so I'm all for that." Marinette said keeping her voice soft since she wasn't sure how Chloe would take her next words. "It… was my fault you weren't conscious for the whole rescue. We needed to be as fast and as silent as possible, and no offence, but you are neither. Plus with you barefoot I knew we would have to carry you anyways so I put you out."

Chloe huffed uncrossing her arms as she pushed slightly away from Marinette and her plate, "I see. Well next time just ask. I'm going to need a full body massage just to get the kinks out and did you know they found glass shards on my clothes? What on earth did you do jump out a window?!"

Not bothering to answer Marinette stood her ground even as Chloe seemed to waiver, her body leaning back towards Marinette. Chloe was trembling slightly her features torn in an unusual expression and Marinette worried that Chloe might pass out on her kitchen floor. She hadn't been out of the hospital for very long and she had been in serious danger, as well as stressed for several days before they had rescued her. Chloe claimed no one really hurt her but Marinette wasn't sure she was telling the complete truth, besides sometimes people could go into a kind of shock days after the danger had past.

"Chlo-" Marinette started but was interrupted as Chloe held up a hand.

Before she could talk herself out of it Chloe moved, wrapping her arms around Marinette in a hug so fast Marinette nearly responded to it like she would an attack. Surprise hit her as fast as Chloe let go and within a moment Chloe was upright again looking everywhere but Marinette.

"I'll tell daddy to donate the reward in full to your foundations thingy and even though it was your job, I suppose some thanks are in order since you did rescue me and all." Chloe sniffed and moved stiffly towards the door.

Marinette followed behind her sensing that something was going unsaid and as Chloe reached for the handle she turned back towards her, "Marinette… you… you didn't lose your job because of me did you?"

Marinette blinked taken aback and wondered why in the hell Chloe would even care. Then she remembered the vulnerability in Chloe's voice as she spoke of Roger and knew that Adrien was actually correct about Chloe being more complex. "I-I haven't been fired, just put on leave. It's complicated, ok? I knew we needed to get you out of there but the way Adrien and I did things wasn't the right way to go about it. I also lost my temper when Gabriel confronted me so it no one's fault but my own."

"Oh… well I still think you are an idiot who has no fashion sense but Adrien seems to like you so I suppose I shall tolerate your presence." Chloe spluttered unable to think of anything else to say and rushed out the door, slamming it behind her before Marinette could say another word.

Blinking several times, the sound of the slamming door still echoing in her head Marinette reached forwards, opening the door a hair to make sure Chloe was actually gone. There was no one outside her door so Marinette shut it shaking her head as she moved back towards the kitchen.

"How very weird…" Marinette muttered to herself even as she glanced at the two plates on her table to reassure herself that her interaction with Chloe had actually taken place, and had not been a figment of her imagination. Honestly Marinette wasn't sure what to make of it and decided to ask Adrien when he came over that evening.

Adrien of course burst out laughing when Marinette told him about her encounter with Chloe and as they fixed the shower he told her a little secret. "Chloe was practically raised to look down on people and to believe she is always right no matter what truths lay before her. The older Chloe has gotten the more she has been forced to realize she isn't always right, and that her father really isn't that smart. Chloe actually likes you Marinette, she's just never had a friend other than me that had a brain and everyone else she just bossed around. She is learning."

Marinette rolled her eyes but Adrien's words made her reevaluate Chloe's social age in her mind. "So you are telling me Chloe is like a jealous six year old who wants to play with others but doesn't know how to share?"

Adrien paused his face twisting into a slight grimace as he tried manhandling the pipe he had just cleaned back into position. "Uh, well… that's actually a pretty apt description of her… yeah. Just keep doing what you are doing and don't let her rile you up. She does try to be a good person she was just never taught is all, so now she is fumbling her way through as an adult."

Marinette wasn't sure what to say to that but thankfully she didn't have to since the shower suddenly spluttered to life soaking them both. The evening ended on that sopping note and after cleaning up the two of them called it a night overall.

The next day passed quickly with Marinette spending most of it hanging out with Alya since she and Nino had to cancel going with Marinette to dinner at her parents' house. Marinette suspected that Alya and her parents were setting Adrien up in some way but she knew that none of them would do anything malicious. If anything Alya was giving Adrien and her parents time to talk without any extra distractions. It was starting to transition to evening when Marinette arrived at her flat and Adrien had to have been waiting for her to arrive because he grabbed her as she passed his door.

"I need help! Please? What do I wear?!" Adrien whined his hair a mess and holding up some tacky sweater vest in one hand while the other held his fancy suit jacket. Currently he was still in his work slacks although he had changed into a tee shirt that had some anime character on it.

Marinette couldn't help but laugh at his utterly distraught look, "You were Mr. Coolsville meeting the Whisperers who could have killed you, but meeting my parents freaks you out?!"

"They are your parents! Of course I'm nervous! Please Marinette!" Adrien pleaded.

Marinette laughed again and ruffled his hair sending a soothing sensation flooding through him. "Alright, alright, I'll help you real quick. Don't worry about anything fancy, it's just a family thing. We will probably end up playing video games and eating in the living room so comfort is a must."

After digging through his clothes for several minutes, Marinette pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a black shirt with colored lines across it. A loose white jacket completed the look and Marinette smiled at the relief in his eye.

"I'm just going to switch my jacket and I'll meet you outside ok?" Marinette asked and Adrien nodded. Five minutes later they were off to her parent's house and while Adrien was still nervous, if anything he was more ready to just get the whole thing over with.

They arrived at the bakery as Marinette's father was shutting down for the evening and Adrien froze in the door when he realized just how massive the man was.

"Marinette! Hello sweetheart!" her father cried wrapping her in an enormous bear hug as Adrien let the door close silently behind him.

Even though the door closed with an almost imperceptible click Marinette's father, Tom was his name Adrien remembered now, looked up his eyes narrowing.

"So young man you wish to date my daughter?" Tom asked rising to his full height.

Squaring his shoulders Adrien nodded, "I do."

Walking towards him, Tom set off every alarm bell Adrien had in his brain but he held firm, back to the door. Marinette had already told him that her father was a big marshmallow but he was reserving judgement, especially since Marinette had not told him how large her father really was. For a brief crazy second as Tom stopped before him Adrien was ready to turn into Chat Noir and run like hell. A long tense moment passed and then Tom grinned his demeanor going from terrifying giant to over excited kid in a candy store.

"Welcome to our home son!" Tom boomed scooping Adrien up in a hug that crushed the air right out of him.

"Cant breathe!" Adrien gasped feeling Plagg wiggling uncomfortably against his chest.

Tom dropped him allowing Adrien to catch a single breath before Tom had him spinning around one hand clamped over his shoulder. "Sabine look at this wonderful gentleman Marinette brought home! They are two peas in a pod!"

"Dad!" Marinette groaned standing beside a smaller woman who had the same hair color.

"Well we are having green beans Marinette." Sabine murmured a laugh in her voice.

"And potatoes-" Tom started but Marinette cut him off, "Papa you are not making potato puns all night!"

"Awe come on Marinette Potato puns are so a peeling though!" Adrien sniggered then froze because everyone was staring at him, "What?"

Toms other hand came down on his shoulder turning him to face the big man. "Where have you bean all this time! You're adopted."

Marinette groaned even as Adrien laughed a strange warm feeling settling into his chest as he and Tom started trading off puns. They went back and forth the conversation changing topic but always including a pun or two as everyone made their way upstairs and dinner was put out onto the table. Marinette threatened to throw some of that food at them because they hadn't stopped punning the entire time they made their plates. The puns only really stopped while they ate and Adrien felt stuffed close to popping as he helped Sabine clean up since Marinette had dragged her father out with her to set up the gaming system. Adrien knew Marinette had separated them simply to stop the puns for a few minutes, but he also knew that she didn't mind since she had really wanted him to have fun with her parents. It was such a different dynamic than the way his father interacted with him Adrien was a touch jealous. The jealousy was erased when Sabine invited him to come to their home any time he wished, even if Marinette wasn't with him. After the dishes were done and put away they gamed as promised by Marinette and Adrien swore he hadn't laughed or smiled so much in years as he did in those few hours over at her parent's house. Even though Marinette complained about all the puns Adrien knew she had just a good a time as him and Sabine was sweet enough to hand him a goodie bag as they finally left hours later.

"I think I love your parents." Adrien yawned stuffed to the gills with good food and fuzzy warm feelings. If he had been alone Adrien would be purring with contentment like Plagg had been for the past hour. The cheese bread Adrien had sneaked him had sent Plagg into a blissful food coma.

Marinette smiled, "I'm glad. I knew they would like you."

"Did you?" Adrien asked wondering how she could have known.

"I did, just one pun from you and my dad was head over heels." Marinette laughed. "Besides, you are a really good person Adrien. There was no way they wouldn't like you!"

Adrien felt a blush rise in his cheeks and he kicked at a rock in his path feeling very self-conscious suddenly. "I-I hope I continue to live up to your expectations Marinette."

"You already have Adrien." Marinette murmured going up on tip toe to kiss his cheek. "Now come on. We need to get you home and in bed because you have work in the morning while I can sleep in!"

Adrien groaned deciding to steal a better kiss when they were behind closed doors, "I am starting to think you got the better punishment of the two of us Marinette."

The comment made Marinette laugh, mischief alight in her bright blue eyes. "I guess we will just have to see once another ohhh, ten or so days pass!"

Adrien growled making Marinette laugh again and Adrein pounced at her in an attempt to make her stop. Giggling she ducked his arm while tapping his nose in reproof before skipping away from him again. It was a teasing invite to play and Adrien was more than happy to follow her lead as they took a longer but far more entertaining route to their homes.


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