So I might have built a chicken coop... a large, can fit 9 or so chickens comfortably chicken coop. And I can walk in the darn thing. It wont keep a bear out or a cougar but it will keep out those pesky possums and raccoons who just want a drumstick for dinner. Also my sweet chicken Peaches laid her first egg! It was delicious. Hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying this crazy story of mine.

Guest... Answers here in order: Unfortunately no... This story is more of an interaction between Chat and Marinette. I wanted to do a story where Marinette held her own against all odds without 'Ladybug' to fall back on. We will see Tiki! This chapter actually... just probably not in the way you want to see her... Not sure what you mean by same transformation... but her eventual costume will probably be similar to the show with some upgrades. As for organizing myself... Uh... I didn't... at least initially I didn't. This story was supposed to be only 30 pages tops with some very basic backgrounds. Then it kept growing and I had this kick ass dream that tied perfectly into this story and it sorta exploded every which way... I actually had to write out a timeline for this story because my brain wasn't keeping up with all the stupid details. Now I am cruising along and filling in my plot holes as I discover them. Its definitely been an interesting ride. My continued inspiration comes from dreams, shows I watch, and of course day to day dramas as they unfold. I can turn just about anything into a story it comes from having a very vivid imagination.

kazza2182... Well things have certainly gone quiet... Had to wait in line to get into the grocery store the other day... It was weird and this one lady threw a hissy fit because all they needed was a bit of milk and all I could think was 'Someone didn't go to kindergarten and learn to stand in line...quietly...' Thankfully I had a book to read.

Guest... Marinette did "Hear" Mime and it worries the hell out of her for... reasons... It will be discussed later though.

Scrumblenut... I know right? Poor Mime just got healed up and now look at him again...

(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?


A New Day

It was a memory turned into a dream, Marinette thought to herself as she limped down a hall towards a body in a spreading puddle of blood. She recognized this hall, recognized this phantom pain, and as she dropped to her knees she recognized the person before her. In her nightmares she often visited this place, but usually she had some control over herself by now. Most of the time by this point she was getting attacked by something, whether it was an Akuma or some other nightmarish creature. For once it seemed like this nightmare was going to play out exactly as it had in real life. Not that the truth of this memory was much better than a nightmare anyways.

"Tiki…" The name hissed out of Marinette as she took in her crumpled partner.

Tiki's eyes fluttered as Marinette pulled her flat to look at her wounds. "Did you… see that monster? Never saw that plot twist coming…"

Marinette gulped as she saw the extent of Tiki's wounds and knew there was nothing she could do here to help. "I… I killed him… The monster Tiki… i-it was Theo." Her voice broke and Tiki's head lolled to the side as she peered up at Marinette.

"Oh… oh no… it's happened." Tiki murmured even as Marinette gripped at her shoulders trying to haul Tiki upright.

Tiki's body wasn't responding well even if her mind remained as sharp as ever. It didn't matter to Marinette though she just had to get Tiki to the hospital. Hell she needed the hospital too but Tiki was rapidly bleeding out even if the shock was masking her pain.

"We need to get to the hospital." Marinette managed, voicing her thoughts and wincing from her own injuries as she dragged Tiki up.

"We were set up Marinette. You're injured, I can feel it. They need us out of the picture and I wasn't strong enough to save us both. Maybe, maybe I can save you though." Tiki murmured holding up a bloody key even as Marinette stumbled under their combined weight. At Marinette's whimper Tiki continued knowing that her wounds were fatal, "It's ok Marinette. Unfortunately this just means you will have to carry on in my place. I have complete faith in you. I won't leave your side."

"Later Tiki, when we get help, tell me all about your plans then." Marinette gasped shuffling to get a better grip, her hands now slippery with Tiki's blood. Panic was filling her along with a stabbing sense of loss. It couldn't end this way. Not like this.

"No Marinette." Tiki sighed as they struggled forwards and used the last of her energy to slip the key into Marinette's pocket. "You need to destroy all the documents that key leads to. Information's… too dangerous for anyone else to have. You… you need to… understand… when I go… miraculous… take it…"

Her voice trailed off as Marinette struggled forwards another step and suddenly she was just watching the memory play out before her rather than being a part of it. Tiki's dying words had slapped her back into the realization that this was just a memory, an awful memory, but one that had been in tatters when Marinette had awakened in the hospital. Now though the memory had resurfaced and Marinette realized that Tiki really had a Miraculous stone once upon a time, one that had probably been activating when she had gotten killed. Plagg had been right all along and that meant that Tiki should have been standing where Marinette was now.

"Tiki…" Marinette whispered as she watched herself struggle to half carry, half drag Tiki out of the building in an attempt to get her to the hospital in time.

Marinette had never claimed the miraculous stone from her partner's body, had never known it existed. Marinette had only learned what a miraculous stone was weeks later, when she had gotten out of the hospital and had used the key Tiki had given her to look over all the documents she had left behind. By then it had been far too late to claim the stone from Tiki's body even if Marinette had been aware of its existence. Instead the stone had been lost or stolen, yet somehow that same stone had found its way back into her hands a year later. The idea was stunning and the fact that Adrien had somehow matched up to be her other half, or that she had matched up to be his was more than a little daunting. It was like she'd actually had no choice in the matter; that it had all been an act of fate.

"And so the wheel of fate turns." Marinette whispered, echoing words she remembered hearing somewhere. They were important words, and saying them now gave her the same chill she had felt once before. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite place where she had heard them the first time.

"Yes it has." A light lilting voice sighed from beside her and Marinette froze, her heart starting to race.

"I'm sorry I died on you Marinette. I'm sorry I never told you anything. It really was to protect you. At least, I thought I was protecting you. I thought I could handle this part on my own… thought that keeping you out of the loop would be better since you would have probably thought I was crazy. I should have known better though… especially after Plagg died."

Slowly Marinette turned to see Tiki standing beside her, looking different than she had the last time Marinette saw her alive. When she was alive her hair had been a golden red that was usually stuffed into a messy bun that Tiki always swore she was going to get cut off. Now her hair color was closer to that of a ruby and was in a stylized pixie cut that framed her soft features. The difference was startling, yet the change suited Tiki far more than her original color and hairdo. Fewer freckles than before dotted her barely tanned skin and they seemed darker than they had been in life. Blue eyes, about the same shade as Marinette's looked back at her, and even they seemed to be bluer than normal; almost glowing in their intensity. Tiki's smile was the same though and it spread even as the silence between them continued.

"Hello again, Marinette." Tiki laughed, the sound exactly like Marinette remembered.

Adrenaline speared through Marinette, jolting her upright and into consciousness with a gasp.

"Tiki?!" Marinette cried her gaze flicking about the room.

Her room was empty, cool, and she was most definitely alone. Gritting her teeth Marinette flipped the covers off of herself realizing that Chat or rather Adrien, had put her to bed fully clothed.

"Chicken…" Marinette chuckled her hand falling to the waistband of her pants where she could feel the heat of the Miraculous stone seeping through the fabric.

Gingerly she pulled the stone out, a little surprised when it wasn't glowing or doing anything outwardly magical. The only thing that seemed remotely off about it was that it looked a bit rounder than before. She could swear that the stone had been a flattish dish before; now the center of the stone seemed more domed as it tapered off to the edges. Clenching her hand around the stone Marinette pressed the fist to her forehead, eyes closed as she attempted to get her racing heart under control.

"Was that really you Tiki or am I just going insane?" Marinette griped, her energy levels feeling oddly restored even though she had been dead on her feet last night.

No voice answered, but the stone pulsed lightly under her fingertips making Marinette sigh and open her hand up to look down at the colorful surface.

"Great… I'm talking to a magical rock that may or may not have my old partner's soul trapped within it. That about sum it up?"

The stone flashed a light pink color and Marinette closed her hand back around it. "Oh god… I wish I was drunk. This would make so much more sense if I were drunk."

The stone did nothing else and before she could think about continuing to try to talk to it her phone began to ring. Nearly dropping the stone in surprise Marinette jolted to the side and yanked her phone off her side table.

"This is Marinette!" Marinette called into the receiver not checking the number first.

"Hello Marinette, Gabriel would like to see you in his office in an hour. Can you make it?" Natalie asked her tone utterly professional.

"Uhhh… do I have a choice?" Marinette asked jokingly glancing at her phone screen to see that it was 11am give or take.

"No you do not." Natalie intoned "I will tell Gabriel you will be here."

"Uh… thanks Natalie. See you soon."

The phone clicked off without even a goodbye from Natalie and Marinette pulled the phone away from her ear to glare down at the device.

"Great another thing to add to my list." Marinette muttered, rising to her feet and moving to the bathroom, leaving the stone on her bed.

Later in the afternoon when she went in to see Fu she would have to tell him about her suspicions and ask further questions about the stone itself. The papers she had inherited from Tiki hadn't said anything about the stuff she was experiencing so it seemed like she was in completely new territory. Either that or like other secrets, Tiki never wrote the information down. Unfortunately that seemed a little more likely considering the sensitivity of the subject. Idely Marinette wondered if Tiki had ever planned to tell her about the Miraculous or if it had been a secret she never would have shared. If Tiki were alive now with all the Akuma running about Tiki might have had to spill the beans so to speak since Marinette would have never let her go in alone against these monsters. Getting in the shower Marinette tried to relax since she had a feeling it was going to be a long afternoon. Showered, changed, and feeling more human than she had when she had first awakened, Marinette left her apartment and headed into the office to meet with Gabriel.

Being called into Gabriel's office was something that wasn't supposed to happen often. When you were called in it was rarely for pleasant business, so getting a call always sent trepidation worming through her gut. Lately she seemed to be getting called in every few days, and it was starting to annoy Marinette more than just a little. Annoyance was better than fear she supposed but Marinette couldn't figure out why in the world Gabriel had called her in this time. The last few times there had been plenty of reasons: from punching her partner, to running unsanctioned raids, to complaints of her stepping on people's toes when it came to cases or just work in general. This time however there wasn't any one thing Marinette could really put her finger on that would cause him to call her in. Adrien wasn't hanging around her since she had asked for her space, and she hadn't confronted anyone nor had she done anything to garner any special sort of attention. Technically she still had one more day of forced vacation, and by the time Marinette had arrived she'd already invented 30 different scenarios in her head as to why she was about to be fired. Hopefully she wasn't being called in to get fired, although at this point Marinette wasn't sure if she would be surprised by such an action. Banishing the thought immediately, Marinette tried to think of another reason to be called here as she approached the door to Gabriel's office. Natalie was at her desk, and her eyes flicked up to Marinette's nervous form as she tried to gather the nerve to knock on the door.

"Gabriel is waiting for you." Natalie stated as if the fact wasn't obvious.

Marinette grimaced, "Thanks Natalie."

Knowing that Natalie would probably tell Gabriel about her loitering if she stood there any longer; Marinette slowly took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Gabriel called tonelessly at the first light tap and Marinette pushed the door open.

Stepping in, Marinette instinctively searched the office for new trinket additions while noting a lack of light since the curtains were drawn across the window. "You called sir?"

Glancing up as if to confirm who she was Gabriel simply nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. "Please sit Marinette." he stated, throwing Marinette for a loop.

Usually he only called her by her last name, or her full name when calm like this. The only time he called her Marinette was in situations where someone had been hurt, killed, or if she was in trouble. Suddenly really worried, Marinette mentally ran through a list of people that she knew, wondering if something more had happened while she had slept. Since no Whisperers or Fu had made contact she knew that no one had died... probably… hopefully. If someone were in trouble she might not be contacted, but then Gabriel wouldn't call her in for something minor. Adrien was another possibility for worry, but she had seen him last night and knew for a fact that he was healthy. Although, he might be a little tired from the battle since Marinette had a feeling he hadn't slept much last night after she'd passed out in his arms. Unable to think of anyone else except her parents, Marinette closed the door since she couldn't leave and call to check up on them. Realizing she was loitering Marinette forced herself to move and took a seat before the massive desk.

Gabriel watched her like a hawk as she moved across the floor to take a seat before him. Every twitch of nerves was noted although that was normal since she was usually uncomfortable in his presence. It had always been that way even when she worked with Tiki. Since Tikis death her nerves had undoubtedly doubled in his presence but again for her it wasn't unusual. No, Gabriel was watching for something else. Minus the nerves Marinette moved smoothly to her assigned chair. He was interested to see that she didn't favor either side as she moved nor did she move stiffly. It told him that Marinette was uninjured even though he knew that she had to have fought hard only hours before.

"Is everything alright sir?" Marinette asked, breaking the odd silence that had fallen between them. Gabriel's gaze was more unsettling than normal. It was as if he was analyzing her, sizing her up like a predator did its prey.

"I've heard about the Hawkmoth gang's attack on the area you run in. I understand that you were there at the time of the attack and that several people were injured. Were you one of them?"

Marinette's mouth went dry as she wondered how he had gotten such information so fast. The attackers from Hawkmoth had been very close-mouthed the last time she'd had any interactions with them, so unless one of them had randomly cracked or a runner had bragged to the wrong person... This could turn out far worse than she thought. Especially if someone had seen her healing Mime or just hanging out with Chat, any questions could get very messy very fast. Plenty of people had seen Chat helping her to the rooftops last night, and since she had his case file and knew who he was, that should never have happened. Chat had been invaluable in the fight last night, having blocked at least one bullet from hitting someone in the battle, but his presence was a problem especially if Gabriel decided to ask all the wrong questions. Unfortunately Gabriel was rather good at asking those questions.

Swallowing Marinette decided to stick with the facts, "No sir. One of them got in a lucky hit and knocked me back but it left a mild bruise nothing more. Sir, I didn't start the fight and I didn't arrest anyone but I couldn't just sit by and let the attack happen without trying to protect the people there. The attack didn't even make sense! The Zone is off limits to gang attacks, Hawkmoth's territory isn't even near there, and they even attacked some Hawkmoth members when they refused to hurt the innocents!"

"Was my son there?" Gabriel asked, his appearance utterly calm, bored even.

The question made the hair on the back of Marinette's neck stand up. There was something in Gabriel's tone that Marinette didn't like, although she couldn't quite place what it was. To an average person it wouldn't be that odd of a question but it confused the hell out of Marinette since it was a jump in a totally different direction than his first question. Gabriel wasn't the kind of man to jump from topic to topic so unless he knew something already, this new line of questioning was totally out of character.

"No?" Marinette answered after a moment, allowing the confusion she felt to color her tone. Technically she was lying since Chat had been there, but she wasn't about to divulge that little secret, and really she didn't understand why Gabriel would be asking her about his whereabouts rather than Adrien himself.

"Really?" Gabriel stressed.

Marinette bristled at Gabriel's disbelieving tone but instinct told her that he was fishing. What for she had no idea, but she managed to keep her voice level and her body relaxed as she replied, "I didn't see Adrien that night sir. His skills would have been useful and he would have made arresting those idiots easier as well. However if you are that curious about his whereabouts why haven't you asked him? Why call me in? I was at the Zone by total accident last night and since I was out there I have no idea what Adrien was up to."

"You two have been rather… attached lately, so I figured he would be at your side in his off hours. Besides Adrien doesn't take my questioning well, even when I am simply concerned for his wellbeing. He has been rather… irrational as of late." Gabriel claimed.

Marinette blinked, tilting her head as she studied him. She was missing something and the way that Gabriel was speaking was downright odd. He was acting like a concerned parent might, but there was something darker in his tone that made Marinette wonder if he suspected his son was Chat.

"Adrien is an adult and is entitled to do as he wishes in his off hours." Marinette muttered almost mutinously, wondering what Gabriel's next offhand comment or question would be.

"You're defending him." Gabriel stated placidly.

Marinette rolled her eyes, her feelings settling since they were now on familiar ground. "Of course I am defending him. Someone has to around here! Anyway Adrien wasn't with me last night and hasn't been practically since I was put on… vacation. Adrien has been trying to work things out with Roger and I know my presence will only cause more friction between them."

She was lying a smidge on that one, not that Gabriel could tell, especially since she had made her feelings about the man very clear before her 'vacation' had begun. Roger was the perfect alibi since she and Adrien hadn't been hanging out at all this past week and Marinette really didn't feel like making up another excuse as to why. Gabriel was too good at picking up on lies and the last thing Marinette needed was Gabriel becoming too curious as to what they had been up to while not on the clock.

"Your presence seems to cause friction in many places." Gabriel intoned, letting her comment pass by without reproach, "However, causing friction is our job as detectives and police. Do you think Adrien is a good fit for Roger?"

Again Gabriel's tone and questioning changed, sending Marinette's mind scrambling to keep up. Gabriel never dropped topics once he got a hold of them and he'd already dropped two in the span of a few minutes. Even still Marinette decided to be honest, although she probably should have lessened the amount of venom in her voice as she snapped, "No."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at her and Marinette took that as an invitation to continue, "Adrien is intelligent, quick on his feet and he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty on a problem if that's what is needed. To be blunt, Roger is lazy and one of these days his loose lips are going to get him into lots of trouble. Sir I know you don't want to assign Adrien as my partner, and I'm not asking for him to be but please, don't force him to remain with Roger."

"One must learn to work with all types of people Marinette." Gabriel stated.

"Yes but you don't have to torture him simply because you are mad at me. Assign him to one of the older detectives like Damocles. Let him learn the rules and lay of the land that way. Don't stick him with mediocre fools because you will never see his full potential that way."

"Do not assume you know my son." Gabriel snapped suddenly, his calm demeanor shattering into one of anger. "He is irresponsible and nowhere near prepared for what he thinks he is capable of. He thinks this is all some sort of game and-"

"With all due respect sir you're wrong." Marinette broke in, making Gabriel's eyes widen in surprise since she'd never interrupted him before. "Adrien can be a bit rash but he has a steady hand and a calm mind. He thinks before he leaps most of the time and I would rather have him covering my back in a fight than anyone else here. I've sparred with him on several occasions and he is on par with me if not better when it comes to fighting skills."

"This is not about fighting." Gabriel hissed.

Marinette nodded, accepting the biting comment. "No, our job is so much more than fighting but Adrien checks out on those other skills too. You wouldn't have hired him if he didn't check out on some at least. Sir, I've looked at his records. I wanted to know who I was working with… He is more than intelligent, more than capable, and unlike some people in this place, he can find his way out of a wet paper bag even without instruction. Besides, whether you like it or not he is already out on the streets doing good, even if it's not under the badge. I don't understand how you can't see that. He's an adult and he's making his own adult decisions. You should be proud of that rather than trying to hamper him. If you continue to try to stifle his abilities Adrien will leave and he will find a way to help in his own manner. He could very easily go private if he wished."

"And you would help him." Gabriel practically fumed, meeting Marinette's calm gaze.

It was like their roles and emotions had switched making Marinette wonder how she could suddenly feel so calm in the face of Gabriel's icy rage. "I would." she agreed and it was like the very air went perfectly still.

"I could have you badge Marinette." Gabriel threatened.

Slowly Marinette stood, her phone buzzing as the alarm she had set earlier came to life, telling her that she had to get moving to make it to Fu's in time to see Mime and have some more tea. The act was one of defyance, Gabriel hadn't dismissed her, but Marinette was feeling more than brave right now, "You already have my badge sir. However, I won't be swayed on this. Adrien is loyal to a fault and I trust him to stand at my side in the darkest parts of this city. There are few that I would claim that for, and considering I've survived this long both with a partner and without, I like to think I know what I am talking about. If you were still out working the streets you know you would be glad to have Adrien's qualities in your partner too."

A silence descended between them and Marinette could swear she could hear the ugly little butterfly clock on the wall ticking. What she had done was incredibly stupid and rash and she wouldn't be a bit surprised if Gabriel fired her on the spot. She wanted to bolt from the room, or babble out some incessant apology but instead she stood firm, remembering what Adrien had once told her about Gabriel. The only way to change his mind on something was to stand strong and pretend that nothing he said, or didn't say, affected you. Finally Gabriel stood as well, his figure towering even behind his desk. Slowly he opened the drawer at his side and lifted something out before coming around the desk to stand before her. Marinette peered up at his face, gritting her teeth to keep herself from saying anything about his standing way too close.

"Very few stand up to me and make me think that perhaps I am wrong. Tiki was one of those few and apparently you are another. I believe this is yours Marinette." Gabriel intoned holding up a wallet sized leather square with a ladybug stitched into the upper right hand corner.

Marinette's eyes lit up as she saw the wallet, and she had to force herself to move slowly to accept the wallet back rather than snatching it out of his hands like she really wished. "Thank you sir."

She slipped the wallet into her pocket as elation filled her and folded her arms behind her back to keep them from shaking, "Do I return today or the day after tomorrow?"

Gabriel eyed her coolly, settling his stance back a little to put more space between them. Marinette hadn't cringed back even though he had purposefully come too close. Something about Marinette had changed in the past few weeks, in the past few minutes. That something had given her a new confidence that she had been lacking without Tiki at her side. Vaguely Gabriel wondered if it had been his sons doing since having someone to defend and care about usually gave people new confidence in themselves.

"You may return tomorrow." Gabriel answered, deliberately picking the one day Marinette hadn't suggested.

Marinette nodded, "Is there something in particular I will be given to work on or shall I continue working on the cases I already have?"

Again Gabriel's eyebrow rose slightly. Marinette wasn't being confrontational in her question but he was used to her scurrying from his office the second he gave any inclination that she could leave. "I will decide tomorrow. Continue working on what you have for now."

"Yes sir." Marinette agreed mildly even as her phone buzzed again.

"Somewhere to be?" Gabriel asked, a little curious despite himself.

"I'm checking on people that were at the zone last night. As you know a few got injured and I wanted to make sure they were still ok today." Marinette replied, her tone giving nothing away even though she was shocked that Gabriel had even asked.

Nodding in understanding Gabriel moved back around his desk and sat back down. "Very well Marinette. Have Natalie come in on your way out."

"Yes sir." Marinette answered automatically, and before he could change his mind or ask any further questions, she turned and moved to the door.

Making it out of his office unscathed, Marinette passed on the message for Natalie to go in to see Gabriel, then decided to drop by her office and see if Adrien was there. Heading back down the hall she ignored the blatant stares she got from several workers who were too noesy for their own good. Very few people left Gabriel's office in a good mood, and Marinette had been to Gabriel's office so many times in the past few weeks that it was downright weird to see her happy while coming from that direction. Marinette didn't care though, it wasn't like Gabriel would do anything if someone did tell him. Gabriel might be an emotionless person but he didn't fault others for showing emotion. No longer bothering to hide her excitement, Marinette slipped into the closed stairwell happy to note that it was empty. The silence of the stairwell was freeing in a way and Marinette did a brief jig on the landing while letting a happy squeal slip from her lips. Gabriel had returned her badge, she was returning to work a day early, and she hadn't been yelled at or put on further restrictions! Amazingly enough she had even stood up to Gabriel, although now that it was all done she couldn't believe she had been so bold.

Tiki would have been proud.

Jubilation surged through Marinette as she skipped down the stairs two at a time. She was ready to return, ready for anything Gabriel might throw at her, and as she hit the last step her senses decided to throw her a curveball.

It was like walking into a wall of perfume but not in a good way. Marinette gagged as scents swirled around her, magnifying far past anything she had experienced so far. Even her sensory spike in her parents bakery had nothing on this one. Before the air in the stairwell had simply smelled stale, now her brain was cataloging dozens of individual scents ranging from dried paint to a rotting citrus scent coming from a peel someone had dropped on the ground. Closing her eyes and breathing shallowly Marinette clung to the handrail to keep from hitting the ground as her brain filtered through them. Finally, after a few more seconds of torture the spike settled into something more manageable and Marinette opened her eyes. Carefully she took a slightly deeper breath and was silently amazed that there were so many scents in the air that she hadn't previously noticed. Now that the painful part was over it was like walking outside after a rainstorm and suddenly being able to smell the grass and trees when before all you could smell was asphalt. Taking several steading breaths Marinette wondered if she should remain in the stairwell while her senses were spiked when an odd cloying smell invaded the space. She had about three seconds to recognise the scent before the stairwell door opened and Roger stepped inside.

Roger froze as he realized she was there and it took the door snapping shut behind him to make him speak. "Gabriel letting you come back early, or are you just here to see what you have been missing?"

Schooling her features Marinette shrugged as she tried to keep the venom from her voice, "Not that it is really any of your business, but yes, I will return tomorrow. Don't worry, it's only one day early and you still have the Hawkmoth case."

Roger actually flinched, his shoulders slumping a bit, "Yeah I'm sure that won't last forever."

Marinette frowned at him, noticing that Roger looked… tired. Usually he was so full of himself that it was impossible to get a word in edgewise when he was talking about what he had for a case. Yet today he seemed worn out, and under the almost overpowering scent of cologne there was an odd smell in the air around him. The pungent scent of stale sweat swirled about him but it was an oddly acrid scent that captured her attention. As Roger shifted nervously, the acrid scent became far more prominent and seemed to smother the other scents she was accustomed to noticing in his proximity. It was then her brain seemed to recognize the scent, instinctively classifying it as fear even though she had no way of identifying it based on prior knowledge. Since Roger had either smelled of sweat or cologne when she had been his partner she supposed that it was just part of his normal makeup. The acrid fear scent was the one that made no sense. Especially if that scent really was fear. What would Roger have to fear at the office?

"Are you… ok Roger?" Marinette forced herself to ask. Something about Roger outside of the odd smell was setting off internal red flags especially since he hadn't said anything further, nor had he tried to move past her. He was just standing there by the door looking slightly hunched and staring off into space.

Roger's eyes looked redder than normal when he finally looked up at her and he seemed to force a sneer onto his face. "I'm in the peak of health and everything is going just the way I want it to. Is that what you want to hear?"

"If you are ill you should take a day off to rest." Marinette sighed, recognizing the snarky attitude even if he still seemed more than a bit off.

Truthfully she wanted to probe, see if the scent she had detected really was fear but even as she tried to think of a way to ask, the scents began fading back into the background. Briefly she tried to hold on to the power and within seconds she was close to giving herself a headache. Annoyed Marinette let the power go, suddenly feeling like she was getting a stuffy nose with how tasteless the air now seemed. Roger, having no idea about her inner turmoil simply shoved past her, not even bothering to say goodbye as he finally went about his way. The door slammed shut above her a moment later and Marinette took a deep breath testing the air one last time. Compared to a few scant minutes ago the air was tasteless and she let the breath go with a bit of a sigh. With the scents undetectable to her nose once more Marinette shook her head before leaving the stairwell. Making a metal note to ask Adrien if he ever smelled something off around Roger, she also made a note to wash her hands. She would hate to get sick as soon as she was allowed to come back to work.

As soon as she saw her door, excitement filled her again, tossing all her little mental notes right out the window. The door was cracked open which meant Adrien was in, and since she had just seen Roger she knew he wouldn't be present. Lifting the door so it wouldn't squeal, Marinette stepped into her office to find Adrien laying on her small cot, one arm draped across his eyes. The other held papers in a loose grip, the edges of them just dragging on the ground.

"Did you make Roger cry or is he just getting sick?" Marinette asked, shifting the door silently shut.

A sound close to a yelp burst out of Adrien as he leaped to his feet, the papers in his hand flying everywhere in his mad scramble. Marinette burst out laughing as Adrien realized it was her and he pouted as he crossed his arms.

"Are you allowed to be here now?" Adrien sniped, his ego twinging from Marinette sneaking up on him.

Swallowing her laughter down Marinette nodded, "I will be tomorrow! Your father returned my badge just a few minutes ago when he called me into a little meeting. Apparently he heard about the Zone last night, and he probably thinks I will get in less trouble if I am working."

Letting his arms fall to his sides Adrien finally allowed a smile to break through his scowl, "I'm glad to have you back then Marinette. Have you had lunch yet? We can talk about the attack and such over food."

Behind her Marinette could hear the murmur of soft voices just outside the office, and she knew that they had snoops slinking around. 'I shouldn't have shut the door.' Marinette mouthed jerking her thumb at the door and Adrien shrugged, still grinning.

"Food sounds good, you can catch me up on what I have missed." Marinette commented out loud for the sake of their audience.

"Excellent." Adrien said crossing the space between them on silent feet and yanking the door open.

Hinges squealed obnoxiously and the two people who were hovering just outside leaped back like startled birds. One of them immediately fled while the other stood there trapped by Adrien's gaze.

"Hello do you need something?" Adrien purred.

The unfortunate individual didn't seem to know what to say or do until Marinette appeared at Adrien's side. Their gaze cut to her and they waved weakly. "Just uh… welcome back!" they blurted and scurried off before Marinette or Adrien could comment.

Marinette sniggered under her breath, "Lets go. We can go get some tea too."

Adrien's eyes flashed as he understood her hidden message. "Tea first, then we can eat."

Since Marinette wanted to check in on Mime she didn't even bother to argue, and after locking up her office the two of them made their way out of the building.


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