The time has come... Ready for drama, action, and a smidge of romance?

kazza2182... I think being able to smell with your elbows might be just a bit too far fetched for human senses... however being able to smell emotions off people or seeing in different spectrum's might be on the list...

KiddyCartoonFangirl... Congratulations on reading 306,156 words in three days! That's impressive! Your answer will come next chapter. Sooo close...

AP13... They might have a faulty search engine since I can almost never find what I want even when I look things up by title... Although I have the worst luck when it comes to junk like that too so I really don't know...

missspots... Near the end of the story... How far off that is is anyone's guess 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?


Revelations

By the time they arrived at the Zone Marinette had already told Adrien about her dual mission to collect information for the evening. Since Adrien was new, there probably wouldn't be as many people willing to talk to him as there would be for Marinette but she was more than willing to let him try anyways. Adrien was fairly confident in his ability to get people to talk so they decided to split up and run different tracks for an hour to see what they could find. Once the time was up they met back in the main hub do discuss what they found in one of the private rooms that Adrien hadn't even known existed. Really the private room was a storage room with a small table a chair and a map of the zone plastered to one wall. Like Marinette's other maps this one was laminated and drawn over the top were all the courses people could run. A cork board next to the map had requests, notes, repair logs, and all matter of things related to the different obstacles located in different areas. After letting Adrien study map for a few minutes Marinette laughingly pulled his attention back to the reason why they had come that night. The two of them laid out all the info they had been able to glean from the other runners and about twenty minutes later the two of them sighed not liking the looks of how things were going.

"Alright, we have the Dragons stirring up trouble on the east and the Hawkmoth Gang encroaching into normal businesses even outside their territory. They are starting to become bold again and have attacked even in the daylight hours. Also we have three sightings of something going on in the southern portion of the Zone. Three separate issues although their might be some connection between Hawkmoth and the sightings if it's an Akuma." Marinette sighed slumping down into the one chair as Adrien leaned against the wall.

"That's about the gist of it." Adrien muttered wondering if he should excuse himself and go check out the sightings as Chat. The south side was the area Marinette was guarding last night so the Akuma could be hiding out there. It was concerning especially since he knew Marinette would want to check it out on her own and-

"-Rien? Adrien? You ok?" Marinette asked patting his face and Adrien jerked realizing that she had been taking to him while he was lost in thought.

"Yeah sorry Marinette… Should I file a report of the gangs stirring up trouble or are you going to go investigate it on your own?" Adrien asked trying to corral his thoughts.

Marinette frowned at him. "Mime should be up and moving about by now so I will ask him if he has any insights as to why the Hawkmoth Gang is reaching out so suddenly."

"Mime will tell you why? He's part of the Hawkmoth gang though!" Adrien said surprised.

Marinette grinned "Oh he won't tell me anything important about the gang unless it's his life or his daughters life in danger but he will be more than happy to tattle on the Dragons and such. Also the things he refuses to talk about are important in the sense that we can build a picture by filling in the space around the holes. Although from the way the Hawkmoth gang is shifting Mime might just tell me what I want to know. A storm is coming and everyone here can feel it."

Adrien raised an eyebrow then dipped his head to press a gentle kiss to Marinette's forehead to try and erase the worry lines etching themselves there. It startled Marinette into laughing before going up on her tip toes to get a proper kiss from him. Their lips had just met when the door snapped open.

"Oh my god, I never thought I'd see the day I would catch you kissing in a closet!" Alex cried snapping a picture on her phone before they could pull apart.

"Alex! Don't you dare send that to anyone but me!" Marinette snarled lunging for the other woman.

Alex just barely danced out of her reach with a laugh, especially since Adrien caught Marinette around the waist. "I want a copy of that too please."

"Keep her from killing me and we have a deal!" Alex crowed even as Marinette pouted in Adrien's arms.

"I'm serious Alex you can't be flashing pictures like that of us. We can't date and work together." Marinette grumbled as she wiggled free of Adrien's arms. People were starting to stare and more than one was heading in their direction.

Alex huffed sending them both the photo before deleting it off her screen. "Fine, fine, but next time you two go kissing in a closet, make sure the door locks first. Did you guys find whatever you were looking for in between kisses?"

"Not really, who's watching the south tonight?"

Alex shrugged "Kim is for a while longer then he's switching out to come run with me. Something we should watch for out there? Is the Akuma back or something?"

Marinette shook her head. "We don't know. Adrien and I are going to go wandering that way and check it out since a few other sightings have happened. We will probably head out from there if we don't find anything so don't wait up ok?"

Alex pulled Marinette into a hug, "If something does happen or the Akuma does attack call for us Marinette. You know we will come and help."

Marinette returned the hug but promised nothing since she knew that if she and Chat needed help to take out an Akuma it would be because they had gotten grievously hurt or worse. At that point Marinette knew help wouldn't arrive in time and anyone who did show would probably end up getting killed too.

Leaving the main hub the two of them made good time to the edge of the Zone and briefly checked in with Kim to let him know they were searching the outskirts. Kim was thrilled to see them and hung them up for several minutes as he tried to set up a race between him and Adrien for later. Marinette was all for it since she had to meet up with Chat in an hour or so at the Dojo and she wasn't sure how she was going to politely ditch Adrien yet. Adrien however begged off for a later date and they continued on their way as they meandered through the streets. They passed a few unsavory people slinking through the shadows and once or twice Marinette thought the stone at her waist vibrated but they didn't run into the Akuma nor could they find a trace of it. When their search time was just about up Adrien suddenly spoke.

"Hey Marinette? I uh… I need to tell you something."

Noting the oddly serious tone Marinette paused and took a good look at the buildings around them. "I'm guessing you wouldn't want anyone to overhear us either?"

"Definitely not." Adrien agreed eyeing their surroundings with distrust. Visually there didn't seem to be anyone hanging about but Adrien could hear at least one person moving through the shadows nearby and his instincts told him they were far from alone.

Burning with curiosity Marinette led him into one of the buildings climbing up to one of the higher levels before turning into a smaller room that was at the back near another set of stairs. They had to use a plank of wood to jump over a hole in the floor and just after it bolted to the wall was a ladder leading up to the roof via a second hole in the ceiling. Water damage was weakening the edges further, already widening the hole further and Adrien wondered how much longer the roof or floor could hold out.

"That looks unsafe." Adrien commented nodding his head at the mess once they had gotten past it.

"It is but the stairwell doors to the roof are jammed and someone decided that since the hole was already there it should be utilized." Marinette murmured back listening out for any other voices or movements.

As she had feared the spike in her hearing had been permanent which had led to her wearing earplugs to sleep the night before. Already the super hearing had come in handy but it was also annoying at times because she could once again hear frequencies she hadn't heard since she was a child. Thankfully other than the sounds of rats skittering she heard nothing that would lead her to believe that there were any people on the floor with them. Whatever Adrien had to tell her it was probably important and she had a feeling that they shouldn't be overheard. It's why she had brought him into a corner room that had no adjoining rooms and had a fairly quick exit to either ground level or the roof.

Stepping in Marinette found that the room was bare and waved Adrien inside. "Alright Adrien, this is about as safe as I can make it unless you would rather tell me this secret when I get back to my house later tonight. I kind of have something to do in just a bit so we will have to part ways once we get back to a main street."

Adrien grimaced his one hand pressing to his chest since Plagg was digging his claws in, probably wanting him to hurry this conversation along. "Well that's kind of what I want to talk to you about. I know where you are going this evening because I'm meeting you there. I mean I don't want you to be mad but I've wanted to tell you for a bit since I'm falling in love with you and relationships don't do well with these kind of secrets-"

Excitement, admiration, and a searing joy surged through Marinette and not really caring about a secret in light of Adrien's confession she cut off the rest of his sentence by pressing her lips to his. It was a spur of the moment thing but Adrien responded enthusiastically and when they came up for air Marinette asked shyly, "You really love me? Because I think I've been in love with you since we were classmates."

"I love you more every day Marinette." Adrien sighed into another kiss wondering why in the hell he had been so dense for so long, even as he wrapped his arms around her. Returning the gesture Marinette ran her hands down his back only to jerk back slightly when her hands felt the lump sticking out of the back of his waistband.

"You have a gun on you?" Marinette probed wondering for a minute if she was wrong. It could be an extra blackjack or something although she doubted it.

Adrien shrugged "You told me to carry something other than my black jacks and guns are a long range weapon. Don't worry I'm certified and have all my papers to carry even as a civilian."

"Still…" Marinette grouched but she did feel a little better knowing that Adrien had a weapon besides his black jacks at his disposal. "So what were we discussing? I think we got a little off topic."

Adrien blinked having been about to kiss her again then sighed. "Right… well please don't get too mad, you can kick my ass later after all but I'm Cha-"

A harsh vibration coming from Marinette's waist band followed by a loud ripping sound cut Adrien off a second time and their eyes locked in trepidation for the briefest of moments before the two of them bolted for the door to get back into the hall.

At the end of the hall part of the wall that connected to the outside bulged inwards then seemed to explode into fragments of dust and woodchips allowing an Akuma to fall through the newly made hole. The beast was huge, at least the size of a bear with a large shovel shaped head, matted looking hair that Marinette realized were armored quills down its back, and long wicked looking claws that curved like a sloths. Its front was muscular like a gorilla and its back sloped down to shorter back legs tipped with shorter claws. As the Akuma pulled itself fully into the hall Marinette saw the spiked up tail resembling a porcupines and her heart dropped. In the weak light she couldn't make out proper colors but she had a feeling that the Akuma was a mottled orange-ish color. Teddy bear like ears paired with large, far too human looking eyes made it look almost cute till it opened its mouth to taste the air and revealed long serrated teeth filling its maw. The air in the hall froze as the two parties took the other in and in that frozen silence Marinette whispered "Adrien, I need you to get to street level and get the hell out of here."

Her voice was calm, collected, but something in her tone sent a shiver down Adrien's spine. "No way Marinette, I can help just let me…"

The clink of a safety being released made Adrien look down only to realize that Marinette had somehow lifted his gun from him. He hadn't even felt her take the weapon off him but Adrien didn't need to ask if she was competent with it. The ease she had with handling the gun coupled with the fact that she didn't even need to look at it to get the safety off was answer enough.

"You have two choices Adrien." Marinette said calmly her gaze never leaving the Akuma, "I will incapacitate you here and lead the Akuma off, or you can run and get help." The gun swung up leveling off at the Akumas head. "Your choice of course."

Adrien gulped knowing he could catch up a lot faster if Marinette didn't knock him out first. "I, uh, I'll take the stairs."

Marinette nodded her gaze flicking to his, "Run Adrien." then pulled the trigger as the Akuma made the first move.

Bolting for the stairs since Adrien knew Marinette would never let him stay, he winced as the Akuma let loose a howl since Marinette's aim proved true. She'd hit it square between the eyes but the curvature of the things skull allowed the bullet to bounce off leaving behind a bloody track that healed before Marinette's eyes. Not wanting to give it a chance to recover too much, Marinette sprinted forwards firing off two more shots to keep it busy while she made for the ladder on the wall. One of the shots missed while the other slammed into its shoulder making it squeal and snap at the injured limb momentarily. It was all the time Marinette needed to leap for the ladder, bounce off, and land on the roof. She was already running when the Akuma snarled, leaping after her to claw its way through the hole and onto the roof making the hole several times larger than before. Sprinting down the roof Marinette leaped the gap then juked to the right as the stone in her waistband gave off a sharp vibration. Diving for cover Marinette hit the ground and rolled as the Akuma lunged for her back. Fortunately the Akuma soared overhead as Marinette shot two more bullets into the things underside causing it to scream and miss its footing as it came down. Not bothering to see if it could get up Marinette rolled to her feet, sprinting for the edge of the building and leaped for the next rooftop over. Fear fueled her jump sending her far further than she had expected and she nearly rammed herself into a wall as she landed. Spinning around the wall Marinette kept moving knowing the Akuma was a breath behind her from the crash that ensued when the beast couldn't turn as fast as Marinette. Pebbles and bits of wall pelted her back then the roof around her making Marinette curse breathlessly but the curses were lost in the Akuma's snarls while claws slashing through roofing material echoed out seemingly right behind her. Gasping in a deep breath and shoving the gun into her waistband she ran down the edge of one rooftop leaping a full street and bolting back towards where the zone was. They were trailing too far into a populated area and Marinette wouldn't risk a civilian getting involved. She needed to draw the Akuma back towards the abandoned sector so no one else got dragged into this, especially other cops. Pushing herself to move faster since she could hear the Akuma gaining on her, Marinette soared through the air in a jump she could have never made before but even she had her limits and was starting to flag. Just as she was about to turn and try the gun one last time she heard a voice snarl, "Jump Marinette!"

Without even contemplating the order Marinette leaped sideways off the edge and a swish of air past her head revealed just how close the Akuma had come to ensnaring her. Arms wrapped her securely to a muscular chest before they slammed to a skidding stop on the street below. Keeping her in a bridal style position Chat was off and running the opposite way in a heartbeat while Marinette gasped out "Quill, Quilled Akuma. I think… I pissed it off."

"Ya think?!" Chat snarled but he was marveling at Marinette's speed, intelligence, and dexterity. Even though he had been literally seconds behind, it had taken him minutes to catch up. Marinette had been moving at an incredible pace and while her erratic movements had kept the Akuma from catching her, it had also made it hard to get ahead of her to help.

"I had to lead it off, Adrien was there and I don't know if he could fight one of these things. I didn't want to find out the hard way." Marinette continued as claws skittered just behind them.

The Akuma had followed them into the alleyway clearly intent on making a kill and Chat shifted Marinette in his arms so he could use his staff. Not bothering to look behind them Chat leaped for the rooftops, bounding off a ledge and using his staff to fling them higher as the Akuma roared with frustration since it slammed into the wall below.

"Of course you had to lead off a damned Akuma on your own. Adrien is your damsel in distress, save him at your own peril." Chat snarked sending them flying over the rooftops. "Did you stop and think that maybe he could have helped you or that maybe going into an enclosed space was a better idea than traipsing over wide open rooftops?! This Akuma is massive! There is no way it would have fit down a stairwell!"

"How would you know that?! Marinette demanded then shook her head sharply. "Nope, never mind, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that there were other people in that building just like there were other people on the street! If I brought the Akuma down after us it very well could have attacked people at random for sheer enjoyment! After all it tore through the side of a building to get to Adrien and I in the first place!" Marinette snapped back her stomach dropping as they free fell to a lower rooftop, "Besides I have no idea why this Akuma has tracked me down!"

"Oh I don't know Marinette, you seem to be a trouble magnet, or maybe you have foolish tastes in company." Chat hissed on a breath not liking the idea that the Akuma may have been tracking him only for Marinette to be caught in the middle yet again. If the Akuma had been tracking him it meant that it knew that he was Chat Noir and if that were the case he had a serious problem. Up until now Chat knew his scent changed when he switched back and forth between forms. Plagg had mentioned once upon a time that his scent would start to alter and meld between the two forms the longer he used the stone. Now with the Akuma having tracked him as Adrien he had to wonder if that time had come.

"Don't get hissy at me Chat! I just- left!" Marinette yelped seeing the Akuma lunging at them from a taller wall to cut off the angle of their escape. Somehow the beast had gotten just ahead of them and it forced Chat to make a very fast decision. Putting on a burst of speed Chat lunged left leaving the Akuma to crash into the rooftop instead of them. Leaping the roof gap Chat tossed Marinette forward and spun around snarling "Cataclysm!"

The Akuma was still coming for them and Chat leaped at it over the alleyway, meeting the Akuma midair, his cataclysm aimed for the Akumas chest. Somehow the Akuma realized Chat had something wicked up his sleeve because it managed to twist at the last second, its tail smashing into Chats hand to take the blow before the two of them smashed through the wall below.

"Chat!" Marinette screamed scrambling for the edge of the building to peer down at the hole below.

The sound of bodies smashing through walls as well as snarls echoed up from below and Marinette looked around frantically as she tried to figure out how she was going to get down there to help. No matter what Chat said he was going to need her help with this so grabbing a gutter spout that ran parallel to the hole Marinette swung herself off the rooftop, using the downspout to aid her climb down. Swinging herself through the hole Marinette was just in time to catch sight of Chat pinned under the Akuma, its wickedly curved claws raised up as it prepared to gut him. A jolt of fear flooded Marinette and she threw her manriki, wrapping the beasts arm and jerking it to the side just enough to make it miss Chats body. The Akuma wrenched around with a snarl, teeth fastening into her chain before it whipped its whole head and body around flinging Marinette off her feet and right into a wall.

The impact stunned Marinette as she hit the ground, her vision darkening for a second until she drew in a stunted breath. Air whiffed at her hair as Marinette pushed herself up onto her elbow and fear surged through her as she realized the Akuma was inches away. Chat choked out her name as the Akuma opened its mouth wide clearly ready to go for a killing bite, its fetid breath making her want to gag. Snarling with defiance instead Marinette ripped the gun from her waistband and unloaded the rest of the clip into its gaping mouth. The Akuma screamed, falling back as its flailing claws missed Marinette's body by inches as it tore away from her.

"Cataclysm!" Chat roared lunging for the writhing Akuma and scoring a direct hit on the top of its back. Unfortunately, his power only seemed to ash what appeared to be armored quills and just barely ate its way through the flesh beneath. The attack did hurt the quilled Akuma though, making it squeal as it flailed further back, accidentally slamming its tail into Chat knocking him off his feet and into Marinette's arms. Somehow she caught him, keeping him up right while noting the three quills now lodged into his chest.

"Ge-Get out of here Marinette." Chat growled barely managing to struggle to his feet and out of Marinette's hold. He managed a half a step only to fall to all fours as his balance betrayed him.

"No."

"Marinette!" Chat snarled turning to glare at her, his pupils hardly larger than a slit.

"I'm not leaving you Chat. You need my help, so let me help dammit." Marinette hissed back keeping an eye on the Akuma which seemed to be shaking the cataclysm Chat hit it with off. This was not the time to be arguing, if anything they should be running but Marinette didn't think Chat would ever run from one of these things. Not even if it was about to kill him.

Chat let out a snarl that sent the hair standing upright on Marinettes neck but she didn't budge even as the Akuma gave an answering snarl. A shudder ran through Chats body as Marinette helped haul him upright again and he shook his head irritably while yanking the quills from his chest. "We don't… have time for this. The damn thing is armored all down its back and its sides. I hit its tail with my power but it didn't seem to do much other than piss it off. Considering you shot the damn thing point blank in the mouth and it still didn't drop I'm probably going to have to score a direct hit on its neck or chest to kill it."

The quilled Akuma scratched at its face then jerked violently, a wad of metal falling from its mouth as it hacked suddenly. "Alright, guns out of bullets anyways, not that they did much if it just spit out what it think it did. If you can harry it I'll try to wrap it in my chains and you can cataclysm its chest." Marinette snapped preparing for the attack she knew was coming.

"I'm not good at teamwork…" Chat growled going down on all fours as the Akuma seemed to realize they were still there.

"Too damn bad, it's time to learn." Marinette sniped palming her weights as the Akuma raised its tail in a threatening fashion.

The quills rattled loudly, sounding oddly similar to a snakes rattle as it took a menacingly step forwards. Chat answered the threat with laid back ears and a snarling hiss that had the Akuma snapping its jaws nervously. Then its eyes locked onto Marinette and she could tell that it thought her the weaker of the two. Technically, she was the weaker of the two but she wasn't about to let this Akuma send her into a panic over something as trivial as that. Instead Marinette slammed her twin weights into the ground snapping the chain like whips into making a round of wicked cracks ring through the air. The Akuma and Chat flinched at that with Chat turning to stare at her while just Marinette grinned.

"See boys I can make scary noises just like you."

Shaking his head with a wry grin Chat snorted, "Let's do this My Lady." then bolted forwards so fast he was practically a black blur.

Catching her weights Marinette darted sideways, noting with worry the dollops of blood on the floor where Chat had been crouched. She didn't know how much damage his body could take but two cataclysms, quills shoved through his chest not to mention being smashed through a wall had to take it out of a person.

One wouldn't think so watching how Chat fought the Akuma though. They were a blur of movement that had Marinette frightened to throw her manriki in case she hit Chat. Trailing closer rather than further from their position Marinette shifted with them trying to figure out the best way to assist. They were starting to slow, injuries on both sides plus a high speed fight had obviously taken it out of both of them. Knowing her opening was coming Marinette watched as Chat whipped his baton out catching the Akumas downward strike as it reared on its hind legs. Chats claws flashed in the dim light tearing into the Akumas unguarded chin before he disengaged to avoid the things other clawed paw. Whacking the Akuma in the ribs didn't seem to do much except make it fling some quills at Chat which he dodged with the grace of a dancer. Then the Akuma was finally still for a second, its jaw hanging open as it panted.

"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Chat taunted but Marinette could hear the weariness in his voice, could already see the trembling in his limbs.

They needed to end this fast and as the Akuma twisted to toss more quills at Chat, Marinette let her manriki fly. It double wrapped around the things tail crushing down the quills and preventing it from launching more. Feeling the chain tighten the Akuma whipped around with a surprised squall nearly jerking Marinette off her feet. Going with the jerk Marinette ran right at the Akuma startling it into a rear its claws slashing at her in warning even as she ducked into a roll to avoid them. The Akuma followed her and it never saw Chat leaping from the shadows with a snarl on his lips. His clawed hands pulsed with darkness as he slammed home into the Akuma and it screamed as the darkness ate into it. This time Marinette was yanked off her feet as the two of them tumbled, the Akuma slamming Chat through a pillar that crumbled upon impact. The Akuma rolled a few paces further dragging Marinette behind it, tangling its back legs with her chain all the while. Even though the Akuma was panting with the effort it struggled upright, blood pouring from its wounds even as a dark slime seemed to be trying to seal up the hole Chat had made. This was proving difficult since the last bit of Chats Cataclysm was fighting the things healing factor but the attack was swiftly wearing off and the blow had been just shy of a killing one. Somehow the damn thing was still alive and able to fight even though Marinette could see the gaping hole in its chest. No organs were visible due to the dark slime attempting to seal the hole but it was a macabre sight that had Marinette's stomach turning. Badly injured or not Marinette knew that once the Akuma fully gained its feet it was going to kill Chat who was still lying prone several feet away. In the tumble the Akuma had rolled almost flush against a second pillar, one that Marinette knew had to be a support for the ceiling which meant it should be stronger than the one Chat had been slammed through. With the miraculous stone seeming to pulsing encouragingly at her waist Marinette scrambled up, running at another column that was a few short feet away. Coming round the other side the Akuma had just managed to rise on its front legs giving her the target she needed. Its back legs were still locked in her chain as was its tail and an idea of how to pin it came to mind. Throwing out her other chain it caught around both front legs and Marinette hauled back knowing she had mere moments to act before it went after her or Chat. The chain went taut yanking the Akumas legs out from under it and it let out a screech as it slammed back down onto its chest. This was their final chance Marinette knew and if she didn't at least pin it down the Akuma would kill them. The stone at her waist suddenly pulsed almost painfully, heating up to the point that she could feel it against her skin even with the fabric in between. The Akuma let out another shrieking roar and Marinette pulled her chains back hard against the things thrashing even though it made her feel as if she was trying to hold back a bus. If she lived Marinette had a feeling that might not be able to move her arms in the morning due to exhaustion.

"Chat I've got it pinned, kill it!" Marinette cried glancing over where Chat lay.

Chat had managed to roll onto his front but that was as far as he'd moved. Marinette wasn't even sure if he was breathing since the black suit blended his edges into the shadows.

"Chat!" Marinette tried one last time but didn't Chat didn't respond and Marinette knew she was on her own.

The Akuma thrashed in her chains and the stone seemed to pulse in time to the vibrations. Hers and Chats conversation came to her mind from the night before and as the stone pulsed again Marinette mentally reached for the stone. Chat had Cataclysm as a power and if her stone had activated to a certain point maybe she would gain a power that would enable her to stop this Akuma. It was easier this time to reach for the stone mentally and the same handshake like sensation ran through her mind as power pulsed through her core. On a prayer Marinette shoved the energy down her chains sending pink light arcing into the Akuma. The Akuma went still as Marinettes world went white and then a sheet of darkness pulsed before her, pink chains extending from her hands into the darkness. Instinctively Marinette realized this was in her head since she couldn't move or speak but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do either.

The pink energy chains pulsed where they met the darkness and as a vibration fluttered down the chain back to her Marinette suddenly understood that there was something still on the other end. The first thing Marinette tried to do was pull on the chains but unfortunately she was stuck in place and unable to even twitch. Staring at the wall of darkness before her it took only a second to realize that the darkness was seeping closer to her. Concentrating Marinette focused on banishing the darkness away from her and slowly at first the darkness was eaten away by pink light that arced off the chains. The process sped along as Marinette got the hang of it and within a minute the darkness was completely gone, revealing a human figure. The chains vanished the second the darkness had been completely banished leaving a man in an orange prison uniform standing before her just out of reach. Marinette tried to speak but she was as voiceless as when she saw Spike and the man cocked his head to the side studying her.

"I know you… You're Marinette." The man said and Marinette managed a small nod although it took enormous effort to do so. Even still she was grateful she could at least communicate that much.

"Names Hank, I guess this means you were able to stop me then. I got caught by the police, a final strike against me I suppose. The sucky thing is I was picked up for something I didn't even do, not that anyone believed me. Some supposed members of Hawkmoth I'd never met busted me out of a prison transport but instead of going home or a bolt hole they brought me to this crazy lab. I guess I knew too much about something they wanted to stay hidden cuz the head lab dude told me they needed more lives to feed their stone. I know you don't like the Hawkmoth gang but please, warn Mime and the others that Hawkmoth is sacrificing any member with a brain to some stone in an attempt to gain power. I would say it's a bunch of hogwash like the how those ancient people used to sacrifice to gods but whatever power they got a hold of is the real deal. That's all Hawkmoth wants these days, the power to control others and the choices they make. It's like he views everyone as puppets or chess pieces that only he should get to control or something. Anyway, they had some people before me but they needed more cuz most weren't compatible or some garbage. They need Monsters to rustle up the streets and all the others did was die instead of getting twisted onto a monster. I'm guessing I was compatible cuz they locked me in this fishbowl room, then this goop stuff attached itself to me, and it's been a really weird black fog since then." The man paused in his rambling looking around as the now white surroundings started to fade to grey. "Ah well guess times up. Thanks for freeing me or whatever. Sorry I can't tell you where the lab guy is. I know you will find them though, Tiki trained you. Tell Mime the moth needs to be pinned. He'll know you're telling the truth then."

Marinette tried to speak, tried to tell him she was sorry for him, or at least ask him his real name since she didn't think Hank was it, but the connection snapped and Marinette found herself stumbling back as her chains released a body that had dissolved into nothing. Landing on her butt Marinette gasped like a fish out of water for several moments until a groan snapped her back to her surroundings.

"Chat!" Marinette yelped retracting her chains and scrambling to her feet. The Akuma was gone leaving a man dressed in a prison suit on the ground with a hole eaten through his back. Trying not to look too hard at the wound Marinette rushed past the corpse and dropped to her knees at Chat side.

"Is it dead?" Chat groaned as Marinette managed to roll him over.

"Yes, it's dead and you need medical attention."

Chat waved a hand weakly at her but Marinette could see the smears of blood on the ground and the blood still seeping from the quill holes. Slash marks from the Akumas claws littered his suit making Marinette bite her lip in worry. There was no way she could treat all his wounds on her own, not to mention Marinette wasn't sure where to even take him or how to get him there. They were too far from her home to walk and there was no way she could bring him to the Zone injured as he was. Chat had enemies and even though the Zone was technically a free violence area, he would be too tempting a target to pass up. Not to mention the chaos seeing him beat up would cause since she didn't really want people knowing that she killed Akuma with Chat or that she helped him in general. After all she was supposed to be capturing Chat not helping him.

"Looks like we won't get to spar after all." Chat murmured his eyes closing as his body went limp.

"Fu…" Marinette breathed yanking her phone out and getting his number off of her contact list. In truth she didn't want to contact anyone but Fu at least was a healer of sorts and he knew of the miraculous. He was going to be her best bet at keeping Chat alive since she couldn't take him to a hospital either.

Pressing the number Marinette held her breath as she put the phone to her ear. Thankfully it connected on the second ring. "Hello Marinette, running late?"

"We… we killed an Akuma and Chats injured… badly. I need help." Marinette blurted and in the dead silence that followed her words Marinette grabbed Chats arms shifting him so she could pull him across her shoulders in a fireman's carry.

Normally she would want to keep him still and wait for someone to arrive and help but her ears were picking up the faintest sounds of sirens which wasn't good. The battle had been quite loud between them and the Akuma so it was perfectly feasible for someone to have called the police. There was no way Marinette could allow Chat to be captured and by associating with him even if it was to kill an Akuma Marinette would almost definitely lose her job. As it was Marinette had too many strikes against her, this really would be the final nail in the coffin.

"Where are you Marinette?" Fu asked and she could hear him rushing somewhere making her wonder idly if he really needed the cane he always carried.

"Edge of the zone, south side, probably going to come out on 66th, the back lot you know? I don't think I will be able to climb with Chat, he's unconscious." Marinette answered "Hurry Fu, and thank you."

"I am on the way." Fu promised and the phone clicked off.

"Not unconscious." Chat grumbled groggily as Marinette took his weight across her shoulders and stood shoving her phone into a pocket. Her muscles protested the movement, Chats weight, and just about everything she was doing but Marinette ignored it all.

"Hush Chat, you should be unconscious with the amount of damage you took. I'm taking you to Fu. He will be able to help." Marinette said determination surging through her, masking her own exhaustion.

"I… I need to… tell you…" Chat hissed darkness clouding his mind.

"Rest Chat, tell me when you wake. I've got you." Marinette soothed rubbing a hand through his hair as she ignored the blood that was soaking through her jacket to her skin.

Chat went limp against her, losing his battle for consciousness making Marinette sigh before moving as fast as she was able to the open wall Chat and the Akuma had made. She had contemplated going down the stairs but she didn't have the tolerance to fight off anyone should they decide she and Chat were soft targets. There were people in this building and now that the sounds of battle had faded they were becoming curious. As it was, it was probably going to take her more than ten minutes to get to where she told Fu to meet them, ten minutes Marinette wasn't sure Chat had. Toes flirting with the open space before her Marinette slung her weight out then stepped off the edge.

It seemed to take forever for Marinette to meet up with Fu and Chats breathing had become labored by the time they made it to the building Fu was taking them to. Slinging Chat back over her shoulders Marinette followed Fu in through a back entrance even as something beeped. She had heard another beep a minute ago or so but hadn't concerned herself with it. This time Fu heard the beep and he picked up the pace through the winding corridors.

"We must hurry." Fu murmured opening a door to reveal a room with two cots, a small table between them, a large floor to ceiling medical cabinet on the one wall, and a soft reclining chair in the corner. "Put him on the bed. I must get some herbs that will help him."

Doing as Fu asked Marinette lowered Chat to one of the cots as the door clicked shut behind her. Swiftly she unzipped the front of his suit peeling the leather back and freezing as she saw the extent of the damage done by the battle and Akuma quills. Marinette had only seen three or so stuck in Chat but it was obvious that more than that had pierced his skin at one point during the fight. The worst part was it appeared as it the quills had some sort of toxin on them because veins leading away from the punctures were turning a sickly grey purple color. Each of the punctures were also seeping blood in various amounts along with a viscous darkness that had Marinette's instincts shrieking in warning. It looked like the same ooze that sloughed off the Akuma when they died and Marinette feared what the ooze might be doing to Chat internally. Darting over to the cabinet Marinette grabbed some gauze to wipe off the ooze not wanting to think what she would have to do if the ooze was coming from within Chat. For now she needed to clean the wounds and stop the bleeding. Dropping the gauze to the bed Marinette frowned as she picked a point to begin with. Bruises were spreading across his chest making Marinette think he had internal bleeding and then another beep made her glance down. On his finger a black ring sat blending with the leather but the green paw print in the center was no longer complete. Three pads were missing but before Marinette could investigate further Chat gave a wracking cough that had Marinette pressing her hands to his shoulders in an attempt to keep him still. Blood tinged his lips as his skin paled to that of a corpse, sending fear pulsing through her blood. She was terrified that Chat was dying, he had taken far more damage than what she would have ever believed possible and Marinette knew deep within herself that she could not lose him. Chats skin was clammy under her palms and the second their skin had connected the stone in her pocket had flared with heat again giving Marinette a wild idea. The stone had healed her before, in theory it should be able to heal him too. Warmth surged through her on the tail end of her thoughts and on instinct she funneled it down her arms and into Chats chest. Pink light suffused beneath his skin and sweat broke out across Marinette's forehead as she concentrated. Visually all she could see was Chats broken bloody skin but in her mind's eye it was like she could see exactly what had been damaged and how to fix it. Realizing she would have to study up on anatomy a little more if this was to become common place Marinette reached deep first to make sure that any internal damage would be reversed. Two ribs were broken and one had punctured something causing the internal bleeding Marinette had feared. There was some other damage too, a torn muscle and other bruising but that wasn't deadly like the ribs or punctured organs. She sent the energy there first fixing it to a point where it was almost brand new before a sense of growing rot made her turn her attentions the surface wounds. The ooze pulsed in her mind's eye with a malevolent purple light and Marinette could see how it was slowly worming its way deeper into Chats body via the puncture wounds. The ooze felt wrong the same way an Akuma did and Marinette realized that the ooze was trying to take over Chats body like an infection. A green energy laced with pure darkness was fighting it but that energy was tied to Chat and it was slowly giving out. Chat just didn't have the energy to fight off the ooze like infection and if she didn't help it would take him over before killing him. Understanding that once that happened he would probably become an Akuma himself Marinette decided that the ooze needed to be destroyed before she continued healing. Grimacing Marinette sent her pink energy in to bolster the green and the two energies merged seamlessly burning the ooze off before sinking into Chats surface wounds. Grey veins retreated, bruises mottled, faded, then before her very eyes the gashes, and holes left by the Akuma slowly sealed over. Unfortunately it took far more energy to heal him than Marinette could have expected and she fell to her knees, black dots drifting across her vision as the glow faded from their bodies completely.

"Marinette…" Fu gasped behind her and Marinette turned as the door drifted shut. "Wha-what have you done?"

He was holding a box and Marinette could just see herbs peeking out the top. Somehow Marinette managed to get her legs back under her and she stood as a flash of green light half blinded her even as it drew her eyes back to Chat. Light sizzled inwards from Chats extremities destroying leather and leaving behind pale skin, clothes she recognized and a face Marinette knew like the back of her hand. Blinking unsteadily Marinette shook her head then looked down again to see Chat Noir was no longer lying before her unconscious. Instead Adrien Agreste laid there his clothing whole and unblemished even in the places where the suit had been torn. Blood also no longer seeped out to cover the fabric but the shock of seeing the man she loved suddenly laying before her made Marinette recoil. Even as the shock cascaded through her she spun around blocking Fu's view.

"Y-you need to leave." Marinette gasped out taking a jolting step forward. She would protect him, protect his identity, even if it meant going against Fu now.

The box dropped from Fu's hands and something within shattered as he stumbled closer. "I already know Adrien is Chat Noir Marinette. I knew the moment Chat Noir returned to Paris. You however were glowing and now you are shaky, pale, while Adrien breathes easy now. What did you do?!"

Marinette growled in exasperation even as darkness clouded the edges of her vision. "I think he was dying… internal bleeding, he coughed up blood… I-I healed him…"

"Marinette!" Fu cried rushing forwards as Marinette's legs collapsed.

Fu caught her before she hit the ground, turning her over in his arms and Marinette blinked slowly her eyes growing too heavy to keep open, "I'm going… to kill him."

That said Marinette lost her battle with consciousness and the darkness took her under.


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