Rescued a baby squirrel... Have no intentions of raising the little guy and found him a rehabilitatior to take care of it. I have waaay too many scars on my hands from baby squirrels when I worked as a wildlife rehabilitatior... It was so freaken cute though.
frustration...Nino is not related to Fu. Fu did have a brother once upon a time in my story universe. I have no plans of adding Luka or Kagami to the story. In the show they are being used as foils for Marinette and Adrien but in my story they wouldn't really have a purpose. I would love to post more! Buuuuttt the quality of my work and the length of my chapters would definitely decrease so twice a month is about all I can manage... Thanks for the reviews!
Guest... English is a pain in the butt language and I've spoken it all my life. No worries. As for your questions... There are different ways for people to become a miraculous user. second generation users will usually just get compatible stone and off they go. As for the death bit... No spoilers! Ladybugs power will echo the shows abilities but I may tweak or add things as I see fit.
SagaDuWyrm... Listened to the song! It was good! Coming after you by Owl City fits this story in parts too. Balance is hard to write with these characters at times because Chat is technically overpowered compared to everyone else and I'm trying to make sure Marinette catches up with him slowly. Right now with the miraculous still affecting her natural abilities so they are bouncing and she is trying to cope. Like one minute she can lift three men and the next her strength is normal. Strength and speed vary from person to person but she was already strong and fast to start with. When compared to the average criminal Marinette is already overpowered but she hits her limits as a human between Chat and the Akuma. I post twice a month. Usually the second and last Saturday of each month.
(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?
Discussions and Irritations
Knowing that Marinette was crawling into her soft, comfortable bed as he was walking back into the precinct did all sorts of twisty things to Adrien's heart and he moped as he arrived outside. The building was ugly in his mind, the city too loud around him, and for the first time all Adrien wanted to do was throw back his head and roar in frustration.
"Kid, quit acting like a love sick idiot and focus." Plagg hissed
Knowing Plagg was right, Adrien shoved his frustration into the furthest corner of his mind before carefully schooling his features into a blank slate. The process took only a minute, he'd been doing it since he was a teenager after all. Resigned to the fact that he couldn't continue to stand around outside, Adrien took one final deep breath and made his way to Marinette's office. Just the sight of her door had him thinking of her. He really, really, wished he was with her, all snuggled down in pillows and blankets…
"Adrien."
Adrien jerked back to reality, having been lost that fast in his daydream. Plagg growled subvocally from Adriens pocket, a rebuke since he wouldn't speak with Natalie so close. Instead of unlocking the office door Adrien turned, instantly professional and found Natalie approaching him. "Yes Natalie?"
For a long moment Natalie scrutinised him after coming to a stop, and Adrien wondered what exactly she was looking for. "Your father wishes to see you. Did you have a nice lunch with Marinette?"
Adrien blinked but that was the only hint of surprise he showed at the sudden out of character question. "I suppose, Marinette asked me to keep her up-to-date on the Hawkmoth case while she was on vacation. With the attack last night I wanted to see if there had been any patterns she noted since Hawkmoth were the aggressors. Our meeting did take a bit longer than expected. There was a line."
It was a lie of course, but Natalie didn't need to know what they had been actually speaking about. Plus, the way she had asked the question insinuated that their lunch had been for more than simple business. Adrien wanted to crush that idea right away before Natalie could even think of mentioning it to his father.
"I see…" Natalie finally claimed, sounding curious when Adrien added nothing more.
"How long has my father been waiting?" Adrien asked, after another beat of silence passed and Natalie still hadn't moved.
"He just sent me to collect you. I have another stop to make but please go see him now." Natalie responded, all business once more.
Adrien nodded, then headed towards the stairs across the floor. Curiosity pricked at his mind as he wondered why his father wanted to talk with him. Marinette had admitted over lunch that she'd confronted Gabriel about forcing Adrien to have Roger as a partner amongst other things, and that she may have pissed Gabriel off a tad over it. So far, Adrien hadn't complained too much about Roger being his partner; although he had made it very clear in the paperwork where his work ended and Roger's began. Hopefully this meeting with his father wasn't about demanding that he pick up the rest of Roger's slack. Adrien was already busy enough untangling the messes Roger made on an hourly basis. If Gabriel was calling Adrien in to demand more effort from him, then Adrien might just throw Roger under the bus. It wouldn't be professional so Marinette might be disappointed in him, but Adrien had only been paired with the man for a few short weeks and he was already done. Adrien had no idea how Marinette had lasted as long as she had.
Arriving at the office Adrien knocked once and walked in when he heard his father call "Enter."
Closing the door behind him Adrien walked up to the desk, forgoing the seat that Gabriel had deliberately glanced at. "Sir?"
Gabriel steepled his fingers, eyes narrowing slightly at his son's silent but effective dig. Instead of commenting on his actions Gabriel simply began, "You have been here for several weeks now and things have been… eventful. Consider this a touching bases of sorts."
Adrien nodded but remained mute, waiting to see where his father would take this conversation. They remained in silence for a long minute before Gabriel finally broke it. "How has your partnership with Roger been working?"
Adrien stared at his father, unsure of what to say. On the one hand he could complain and tell him just how useless Roger was, but Gabriel had to suspect that the man wasn't up to snuff. Then again some people had a gift for staying under the radar with the smallest amount of effort, and Roger seemed especially gifted at it. Having been around Roger consistently the past two weeks Adrien reasoned that Roger simply knew how to use his charm to get his way most of the time. If charm didn't work Roger resorted to being a bully or using others around him to guilt his partner into doing what he wanted. Those tactics had probably worked on everyone except Marinette and Adrien. When Roger started working with Marinette she'd forced him into the spotlight and made him actually take credit for his mistakes. All his charm fell flat and since she had no tolerance for people like him, Marinette was probably the first person who actually made him do his own work. It really was no wonder that Roger disliked Marinette, especially since she'd constantly shut down any romantic advances he'd made on her. In the end, her punching Roger in the face was probably the nicest route their dissolving partnership could have taken.
Roger had been on his own in between Marinette and Adrien so it was clear he had fallen right back into his bad habits, thinking his next partner would be easier to handle. Unfortunately for Roger, Adrien had grown up with Chloe, and she was far better at manipulating people that he could ever dream of being. Charm had no meaning for Adrien either since he could see Roger for the nasty-little-sneak-thief he was. Until Roger had been partnered with Marinette he'd probably been coasting along on other people's coattails while taking credit for their work. All his faulty work had probably just slid through the cracks or been heaped upon others.
"Well…" Adrien finally began, "I am learning how to fix all kinds of mistakes. Just last night for instance, I was on the phone with Roger for about three hours after I left here because he misplaced some files and then mixed them up. Thankfully Marinette keeps diligent copies and I was able to help him straighten them out and fix a few other things he erred on."
"I see…" Gabriel murmured, "Did you have something else planned for the evening?"
Adrien rolled his eyes, a purposeful action he knew Gabriel would catalog, "No, but it would be nice if my supposed partner was competent enough to look through a file without screwing things up and making more work for me. I would like to think that he is simply testing my skills, but when I asked him it was clear he believed the file was supposed to look that way."
"I see. His quality of work has been rather lackluster as of late. If you were to pick your own partner who would you choose?"
Adrien raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting that question to pop up so fast and he was grateful for Marinette's suggestion. Even still, Adrien knew what his father expected him to say and he didn't want Gabriel to think he'd rehearsed his answer or something. "You already know the answer to that question Sir."
Gabriel waved the comment away, "Besides the obvious. Humor me Adrien."
Adrien blinked, a bit surprised at his Father's apparent patience and took a deep breath as he pretended to think about the different people he knew in the precinct. "I don't know if that is a fair question since I haven't had a chance to shadow everyone and find someone who I would be able to work with long term. That being said, many people are already partnered, but out of the ones I know… I suppose I would choose Damocles. He knows the lay of the land and his way, properly, around paperwork. I could be his legs for checking things out in cases and working with him when it came to putting clues together. He has already offered to take me under his 'wing'. His words, not mine."
Gabriel nodded thoughtfully, "A wise suggestion."
Silence stretched out again and just as Adrien was wondering if he should ask to be allowed to leave Gabriel stood. "You want to make a difference. I understand that drive. I can see that your skills are on par with Marinette's and that Roger will hold you back. Even if I don't agree with your life's decisions I will uphold my duty as your boss. For now continue as you have. If your workmanship continues to remain the same I will... review certain partnerships. That being said… I see and hear just about everything that goes on in this precinct. Do not disappoint me."
"I will do my best sir." Adrien replied "Is there something else?"
Gabriel nodded thoughtfully, "The Hawkmoth gang, they attacked the… Zone last night."
"Yes, Marinette told me she had to fight to protect some runners last night. Thankfully no one was critically injured. At least no runners that I have heard of yet." Adrien responded, keeping his tone even.
"Have you seen Marinette fight before?" Gabriel asked, and to his surprise Adrien actually chuckled.
"I have been sparring with her in the mornings several days a week before work… Or I was before she was put on leave. Marinette packs one hell of a punch for someone so small."
"Yes… It is difficult to catch her off guard." Gabriel murmured, and at Adrien's questioning glance he elaborated, "All active detectives have to pass regulation fitness tests. The upper echelon of the fastest, smartest detectives host duals between precincts around the same time. I have had the pleasure of watching her participate in said duals, both with weapons and without. Three years in a row, Tiki and Marinette swept the competition away. The other precincts were considering creating new rules to try and hamper them just to give another precinct a chance to win. Then Tiki was killed. Marinette didn't participate last year."
"Oh." Adrien said in understanding. "I'm sure I could talk her into participating this year."
"See if you can. It might burn off her restless energy, although I doubt it. At best it will give her something more to look forward to." Gabriel stated, then nodded towards the door in dismissal.
"Sir." Adrien responded out of habit, deciding to walk away before his father thought of something more to ask.
It hadn't been the worst conversation ever, nor had it been the oddest, but it left Adrien feeling as if he had missed something along the way. Shrugging the sensation off, Adrien left the office and decided to wander down to the Archives. There were a few more files he wanted to look over that Marinette had recommended; since she would be back tomorrow Adrien figured he should probably start on them. Feeling far more cheerful at the prospect of having an intelligent conversation with another person, Adrien went about the rest of the afternoon in a better mood than he'd had in days. Roger had been wonderfully absent for the rest of the afternoon, so other than some mild annoyances with some more mixed up files Adrien had finished the day on a good note. It also helped that Adrien knew what was waiting for him the moment he got out of work.
Walking out of the precinct, it took all of Adrien's willpower not to sprint home, and it had taken even more not to bolt into Marinette's apartment the second he arrived at their building. Since it was the end of the work day there were all sorts of people hanging about outside, and Adrien hated the idea of someone starting a rumor because they saw Adrien go into Marinette's apartment. Besides, he needed to drop Plagg off and feed the cranky creature before he devised a plot to get into Marinette's bed. Waving at the few people who welcomed him back, Adrien walked into his flat with a grumble.
"Just take the roof access you stupid kit." Plagg finally griped, knowing exactly what had his kitten's fur so ruffled, "There isn't a sane person who will be up there right now and your princess leaves the trap door unlocked. Even if it's not just tell me and I can pop it open for you."
"You're a genius Plagg!" Adrien exclaimed, pulling out some of Plagg's favorite cheese for him.
With Plagg filling up on the stinkiest cheese imaginable, Adrien went and changed into comfortable clothes to sleep in. As he did, Adrien toyed with the idea of getting Marinette to agree to just building a door between their suites. Then again, he'd have no idea how to explain something like that to a visiting guest, and Adrien knew Alya would have a field day over it. Dropping the idea Adrien checked Plagg one last time.
"Go to your sleeping beauty kit. Leave me alone." Plagg hissed in good humor.
It made Adrien smile as he climbed out onto his rooftop, and after making sure there were no people within sight on the rooftops, Adrien jumped the short wall between his and Marinette's patios then moved to her trapdoor. As Plagg had said the trapdoor was unlocked, and he slipped inside with hardly a sound. At some point he must have made some noise though because Marinette appeared in her doorway, sleep-tousled and bleary-eyed before he'd made it to ground level. As her eyes focused on him, she glanced up at the trap door he'd entered through, then back at her front door.
"I guess I need to put an outside lock on that entrance. Probably not very wise to leave it unlocked all the time just so you can pop in when you don't feel like walking in the front door." Marinette yawned, waving at him in a clear invitation.
"I don't think anyone but us will ever use that entrance, but then again you never know. Do you want me to lock your front door?" Adrien replied, moving to lock it regardless of how Marinette answered.
A sleepy affirmation came from Marinette's room followed by the sound of covers shifting. Locking the door Adrien moved to Marinette's bedroom. She was already back under the covers, yawning as Adrien moved to his side of the bed. He chuckled as he had to shove pillows out of his way to climb in, and he was a little startled to find that the bed on his side was already warm.
"Did you actually sleep on my side of the bed?" Adrien snickered, sliding under the covers before reaching for Marinette.
She shivered a little at his touch and gladly wormed her way over into his arms. "I promised I would."
Smoothing the hair off Marinette's face Adrien cuddled her close to him. "Thank you Marinette, let's get a few more hours of sleep, then we should eat dinner."
Marinette made a grumpy sound, "Fine." she grouched making Adrien smile and kiss her forehead.
Tomorrow was probably going to be an eventful day, but for now Adrien was happy to have Marinette in his arms; curled up right next to his heart.
They woke up in the morning still tangled in each other's arms and Marinette snuggled closer as their alarms blared.
"Do we have to?" She grumbled, having gotten used to sleeping in.
Adrien chuckled running a hand through her hair. "You have gotten to take all this time off. Time to get back to work Marinette."
Marinette blew a raspberry, but she rolled upright even as Adrien laughed.
Returning to work, Marinette picked up practically right where she left off. The biggest difference was knowing about the little black cat in Adrien's pocket. Now that she knew he was there, Marinette felt a little shocked that she hadn't suspected his existence at all because he really sucked at staying hidden. Adrien growled more than once at him under his breath, and she caught glimpses of Plagg twice in her peripheral vision before they had even started their day at work.
"Ok… How in the world do more people not know about you?" Marinette finally asked as she and Adrien stretched out in the basement gym before starting their sparring session.
Plagg rolled about the air in lazy swoops before settling in Adrien's hair. "Simple answer is magic. There is a veil of sorts around me that helps hide my presence from those who do not know about me. It affects everyone a little differently; so with some people I could sit right in front of them and they would never see me, while others might catch a glimpse. Few people would be able to see me clearly even if I flew right past their nose; but there are those rare few whose eyes have been opened, so I still have to be careful. You almost spotted me a few times, although the magic made you disregard what you thought you saw."
Marinette paused, suddenly remembering how she thought she had spotted a rat once or twice and realized she had seen Plagg. Deciding not to mention the rat bit she simply said. "I suppose it also helps that you are so small. Do you stay in Adrien's jacket all day?"
"He's supposed to although it's hard for him to stay there all the time. You might have a small addition in your office now, but it will only stay if he doesn't cause trouble in the precinct." Adrien growled, "Plagg tends to be a mischievous little troublemaker when left to his own devices."
Plagg cackled evilly, "Oh come on Kit, my little jokes are hilarious and you know it."
Adrien shook his head, roughly dislodging Plagg who hissed at him. "Anyways, Plagg is supposed to stay close. He doesn't always, but cats are prone to wander. He is bound to the miraculous though, so somewhere between 70-80 miles is as far as he can go away from me, or rather the ring."
Marinette blinked, surprised at this bit of information. "I...I thought he just wanted to stay with you... He is bound to a ring? Like… like a genie?"
"Minus the wishes and the 'How may I serve you Master?' attitude. Plus he's a glutton for the stinkiest cheese on the planet." Adrien responded before Plagg could. Then Adrien held up his hand and Marinette noticed the plain, unremarkable, ring on his finger. "This ring is the medium between Plagg and I. It's what allows us to become one and without it I can't transform."
Remembering how Chat had a black ring with a pawprint in the same place she asked, "What if someone else were to take it? Could they use it?"
Plagg hissed at the question, "They would have to know what they were stealing to know it's there, and Adrien would have to be dead for the ring to be stolen. Like me the ring is protected and overlooked by the majority of people. IF something happened to Adrien and I deemed it necessary, someone else could use the ring, but only if they were compatible. The miraculous stones are basically concentrated power sources - kind of like a supercharged battery. If you are not compatible with the battery it will make you sick, if it doesn't outright kill you the moment you try to use it. In the olden days there were times when someone used a stone out of desperation, only to be killed by the power they wielded. So yes, someone could use MY ring and power but they might not survive wielding it. It also depends on me. If I didn't want that person to use my power, god forbid someone nasty got a hold of my ring and could actually handle the initial power surge, I could also use my power to corrupt them and they would die… slowly… painfully too." A thoughtful look came over Plaggs features as he gazed at her, "You are compatible though… Your stone has made that abundantly clear."
Marinette flinched back at the oddly hungry look in Plaggs eyes, "What about my stone? Did it tell you we were compatible or something?"
Plagg shrugged, flipping in the air. "When it absorbed the tracking button my magic created I knew for a fact that you were compatible. Part of my power now resides in your stone; tying the two together far more intimately than most pairs. If you ever lost the stone I could probably track it down, and even Adrien has an inborn sense of where you are practically all the time these days."
Marinette gaped at that news and glanced over at him, "You do?"
Adrien blushed, "It's not like I do it on purpose. I just can tell where you are at times. I can't really control it though."
"Well that won't be very fair if we play hide and seek…" Marinette muttered making Adrien laugh, and Plagg floated down to peer into Marinette's eyes.
"Your body has become accustomed to the stone's power so easily and quickly. Far easier than mine did. I wonder… you might be able to wear my ring and survive… How lucky do you feel, little bug?"
"NO!" Adrien snapped so forcefully that Marinette jumped.
Plagg however just rolled in the air to look back at him. "Oh don't be so freaked out. I wouldn't offer the choice if I thought it might kill her. In fact it might help her adjust easier."
Adrien shook his head again. "Not happening, sorry Marinette, it's not that I don't trust you… I don't trust him."
"Now that's just mean Kit. I wouldn't do anything to harm your girlfriend." Plagg snarked, flying back over him.
While the two of them sniped at each other, Marinette digested this new information and briefly wondered what it would be like to wear Adrien, or rather Chat's, Miraculous. It was probably dangerous to try it since she didn't know if she could actually handle Chat's power, but she was curious. Not that Adrien would allow it, but still. Plagg's threat of killing someone slowly hung in her mind as well, making her wonder if that really was something that he could do. Since she already had a stone (even if it wasn't fully activated) Marinette couldn't help but think the two energies might interfere with each other. Could one person even handle more than one miraculous at the same time? It was a question she really wanted to voice, but Marinette didn't think Plagg would be the best being to ask. Filing those questions into the back of her mind, Marinette decided to ask Fu some of them the next time she saw him.
After a few more stretches and an unsettling hissing match between the two boys, they decided to get started. Now that Marinette knew Adrien was also Chat, she had no qualms about using her full speed and power against him. Before she had been holding back, worried that she might hurt Adrien. Now, she was no longer worried, and as she slowly sped up she was overjoyed when Adrien continued to match every move she made. Plagg commentated the match with glee, acting as a distraction and a sort of watchdog in case someone came down to the gym. Neither of them wanted someone to see their true speeds; to the average person their bodies would probably look like blurs as they fought - a dead giveaway of something unusual was going on. They called the match at a tie even though Adrien swore up and down Marinette cheated to get her last point. After a quick shower the two of them grabbed their morning drinks before retiring to Marinette's office, each warmed up and ready for the day.
Of course, Marinette quickly changed her tune when she saw the stack of paperwork sitting in her box. Since she hadn't been there in two weeks Marinette had a backlog of paperwork that she begged Plagg to cataclysm for her. Plagg of course refused, cackling like a mad man as he flew up to a small box on top of the high bookshelf he'd claimed as his spot. Adrien had made the box up for him earlier that week and now that Marinette knew about Plagg she wouldn't question the new addition of the box. Before his unpleasant reveal, Adrien had been a touch worried about how he was going to explain the box. Now that everything had settled Adrien was relieved that he wouldn't have to think up a random lame lie to cover his butt.
Noticing the addition immediately, Marinette had smiled before suggesting that they put a piece of foam in the bottom of the box so that it would be more comfortable. Plagg had loved the suggestion even asking for a pillow and a small blanket to go with it. Then she'd made the mistake of suggesting that he also needed two dishes up behind the box for food and water. That suggestion had made Plagg hiss that he was not a pet and wouldn't eat or drink like one until Adrien demanded if he'd rather swim in a glass instead. That had shut Plagg right up since he had accidently done that once or twice, and half the time when he knocked a glass over it was because he was actually trying to get something to drink. Adrien had thankfully chalked it up to his cat-like tendencies and Plagg had figured out how to turn the sink handle so he could drink at will. After listening to the snarky back and forth comments Marinette figured out a solution. She suggested using doll furnishings since Plagg couldn't use a human sized glass and both boys had stared at her in shock for several moments before Plagg declared that Adrien should marry her. The two of them had flushed and spluttered while Plagg demanded that they all go shopping that afternoon since he was in love with the idea of having his own cup and furniture again. Adrien had the feeling he would be buying a doll house or something just as crazy any day now.
Up until this point having miniature furniture wasn't something Adrien had to think about. Usually Plagg remained in his pocket all day and up until he got Roger as a partner having Plagg in his pocket wasn't a problem. More often than not Plagg was a comfort and an excellent distraction for when Adrien was getting frustrated with work or just people in general. The issue lately was that Plagg hated Roger. Adrien hated him too, but he wasn't threatening to bite Roger, or use his magical abilities to make Roger's life an utter living hell. Plagg had terrorized people he didn't like before when Adrien had worked at odd jobs while traveling. The end result of Plaggs tricks had never been pretty, and since Adrien had no plans to move again he didn't want Plagg causing a ruckus. Although, Adrien suspected Pagg had already given Roger a decent dose of very bad luck in the way of breaking objects, and he suspected Plagg had done it more than once.
Giving Plagg a space all his own allowed Plagg somewhere to relax away from Roger at the office, although Adrien warned Plagg that if he started causing trouble he would figure out a way to confine him. The threat of not getting his stinky cheese usually kept Plagg on his best behavior but Adrien was still wary. One good thing was that Roger rarely stepped into Marinette's office, so if Plagg remained where he was supposed to, they wouldn't cross paths. He didn't feel quite comfortable leaving Plagg at home and surprisingly Plagg didn't like to be left behind either. Ever since becoming Chat Noir they had rarely been apart for longer than a few hours and even when Plagg had been human the two of them had spent most of the day in each other's company. Now Adrien supposed they were just used to being in each other's company all the time.
With the argument finally pettering out the three of them settled in for the morning, and it wasn't until 11:30 that Roger finally poked his head around the corner of the door. Both Adrien and Marinette glanced up at him, having heard him grumbling under his breath on his approach.
Seeing both of them inside Roger walked in without an invitation, a file in hand, "I figured you would be here."
"Good morning to you too Roger." Marinette said blandly. "Did you just arrive?"
Roger hunched in on himself a little, "I've been here for about an hour. I had to get chewed out by Gabriel first before having to come find Adrien. Maybe now that you are back Gabriel will cut me some slack."
Marinette blinked at Roger's words, surprised he would admit such a thing. Then she realized he was subtly blaming her for not only having to seek out Adrien every day but also getting chewed out by Gabriel. When Roger was her partner she had been left with the lion's share of work but Roger always took his half of the credit. While Marinette had hated it she hadn't said a word about it because she hated turning incorrect or inefficient work in even more. The very first week Marinette had worked with Roger she had realized he couldn't string facts or plan more than one step ahead for anything. In truth she was shocked that he'd managed to get a detective's badge at all.
"Have you gotten a desk or at least a second chair for Adrien in your area?" Marinette asked, refusing to acknowledge the rest of his snarky comment.
"Uh… no." Roger answered, sounding confused.
Marinette sighed wanting to bang her head against the table. "Roger how is Adrien supposed to work with you if he has nowhere to sit in the first place?" Marinette knew why Roger didn't just come in her office and use her spare chair. Roger had a bad habit of goofing off even when he was supposed to be doing work and the few times he'd worked in Marinette's office with her as her partner, she had driven him hard. Marinette had a feeling that Adrien had demanded the same of Roger and the easiest way to avoid it all was to just work at his own desk.
Roger flushed, jabbing a finger in Adrien's direction, "If he stayed in one place it wouldn't be so bad but sometimes he is in here other times he is down in the Archives… it… it's like he is avoiding me!"
"And now I'm feeling attacked…" Adrien drawled, his sarcastic, dry tone at complete odds with the blank unruffled look on his face.
Marinette sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as the snarky irritating comments between them continued. She still had a ton of work to catch up on and plenty of other things she would rather be doing. Unable to concentrate Marinette dropped her pen and glared at the two men. Roger had been creeping closer with every barb traded while Adrien had stood up at his desk. Now they were almost nose to nose and Marinette half expected Adrien to start hissing at any second. "Children…" She finally warned, and it was her tone more than her words that made both men look back at her.
They finched at her flinty glare and Roger shuffled back towards the door, letting Adrien collapse back into his seat.
"Roger… This is my office… SO unless you have something more than trashy comebacks will you please return to your own space. We were working before you interrupted us with... actually I still have no idea why you interrupted us… Care to explain?"
Roger shrugged slightly, "I'm to get your opinion on the attack from last night."
"The Hawkmoth gangs attack on the Zone? That happened the day before yesterday." Marinette clarified, wondering if there had been other attacks last night.
Roger flushed, "W-what ever… Gabriel said you were there and that it needs to go into the file. He said it was a large scare move that made no… uh… straight sense."
Marinette glanced up at him confused at Roger's word choice when Adrien said blandly, "You mean strategic sense? And a large scale move?"
"Yeah… I was close!" Roger snapped back.
"Not close enough Roger… But I was at the Zone when the attack happened. Ask what you need." Marinette stated not bothering to look up this time as she began to write again. Most people didn't realize that Marinette could do two things at once and the paperwork she was currently doing was easy. Matter of fact most of the paperwork she had to do were things she could write up practically in her sleep, so she was more than capable of answering a few questions while actually getting something done.
Either Roger didn't agree or he didn't know what to ask, because other than the scratching sound of her pen on paper silence reigned. Letting the silence go for several long seconds Marinette finally sighed, putting down her pen to look up at Roger who appeared lost. Adrien simply raised an eyebrow when she glanced at him, and Marinette wondered if it was because he didn't want to deal with Roger, or if he was letting her speak for herself. Thinking it over Marinette suspected he just liked watching Roger dig himself into holes he couldn't climb back out of.
Considering Roger needed almost constant coddling and step by step directions to get anything done Marinette wasn't surprised. When she had been his partner that inability to do anything right had driven Marinette crazy. She'd hated being an adult babysitter and had told Gabriel that long before she had punched Roger, ending their partnership. In fact Marinette had been a little more than surprised when Roger had done so many things alone when working on Chloe's case. She'd had high hopes that Chloe's case had matured Roger or made him want to work harder on the case because he cared for Chloe, but clearly it hadn't. Roger had either had a brief burst of intelligence or he'd bullied someone else into doing the work for him. Either one would have explained all the errors and inconsistencies in his work with the case anyways.
Already tired of staring at his ugly mug, Marinette decided to throw Roger a bone, "Ok, so like I said I was there and as Gabriel stated when you saw him, this incident was a useless large scale attack on a neutral territory. Besides questioning me for details on the attack itself you also should get some ideas on why the attack took place overall. You are in charge of the Hawkmoth case now. This is something that needs to be logged."
"Wha… but what kinds of questions?" Roger finally asked.
Marinette took a deep breath, controlling her annoyance, "Well… One major question that needs to be addressed is, what was the purpose of this attack? Considering how the whole mess went down, the attack on the Zone was a grave misjudgment. How could Hawkmoth have made such a mistake when they have been very careful not to overstep their boundaries before? The attack was too large scale for the leader of the Hawkmoth gang to have not been involved, so we can't pass this off as a grudge or oversight in the lower ranks. Something else must be going on."
Adrien and Roger stared at her in silence for a long moment before Roger finally said, "I… I don't know… w-why is it that important? Why can't the attack on the Zone just be an attack? Other gangs have attacked it before right?"
Marinette shrugged, scrawling something down on the form she was filling out. "Only one other gang has attacked the Zone and they at least had a reason. That attack was years ago though and since then the Zone has been declared neutral territory that no one is supposed to attack for any reason. Even if it wasn't a neutral territory, Hawkmoth's attack still makes little to no sense. There wasn't a large gang presence that night, so it wasn't about sending a message to one of their enemies. Hawkmoth's territory isn't anywhere near there, so it wasn't a show of power for the surrounding gang territories. If it was a show of manpower, they didn't send anywhere near enough people to win. They sent maybe 30 people tops and the Zone boasts over 100 people on average. Even without the Watchers, Hawkmoth was badly outnumbered so they got their butts handed to them. The other issue is that the people they sent attacked their own. You just don't do that… the leader of Hawkmoth basically just told everyone in the gang that even their own people aren't safe. That's a horrible message to send if you are going for city wide domination. It didn't help that the idiots who were part of the attack were little more than hired thugs and most of them were dumber than a box of rocks. Plus this attack on a neutral zone will turn the entire underworld against the Hawkmoth gang and they have nothing to show for it. All these things tell me that this was a poorly devised attack that did absolutely nothing for the Hawkmoth gang. If they were a rookie gang I could pass it off as a 'live and learn' sort of thing. Since it was the Hawkmoth gang though, nothing about the attack makes sense."
Marinette paused for a minute checking to make sure that Roger was still with her. He was staring at her blankly and knowing he wasn't going to properly remember any of this conversation in about 15 minutes she offered up a pen. "You might want to write some of this down."
She half expected him to refuse or fume but Roger actually took the pen and flipped one of the sheets in his hand over. Since he didn't ask anything Marinette decided to continue hoping that he was still following along, "So... if the attack on the Zone doesn't have a reasonable purpose as far as feuding with another gang let's assume that the attack was never meant to succeed in the first place. That would mean this attack is actually a giant smokescreen instead. This attack makes far better sense if the whole thing was intended as a distraction. Hawkmoth has a nasty habit of planning multiple attacks at the same time to spread forces… including police forces thin. That way they have greater success in claiming their real prize. You need to look at some other things that went down in the city on the same night. Start with any other attacks claimed by the Hawkmoth gang that night. If there are none, look for robberies or kidnappings… hell the list could go on. Our problem now is finding out what their real target was."
Marinette glanced up to find both men staring at her in what could only be described as surprise. "What? I've had and studied the Hawkmoth gang for years. Pulling attacks like this is one of their big MO's. Just because they have been quiet for a year doesn't mean they won't go back to the same patterns. If they are trying to hide what they did, Hawkmoth won't claim it, but there are ways to link such things to them if it comes down to it."
"B-but what if the attack on the Zone was just to attack a single person?" Roger asked, "What if there aren't any other attacks or stuff to track?"
"If the attack on the Zone was to eliminate one person then they should have converged on a single area or waited to take their target out when they left the Zone. Even the worst planners know they need to scope out an area to find their target. You don't just waltz in making a huge commotion like these idiots did. Besides, once you find your target you want to cut that person off from everyone else so they can't call for help. You don't want to give that individual time to regroup with anyone and you definitely don't want to go after them with witnesses all around."
Her words echoed the way Mime had been attacked and Marinette suppressed a shudder, realizing that the attack on the Zone may have been some sort of extermination plan as well. Mime had mentioned once before that Hawkmoth had called for a cleansing in the past. With everything changing around now, Marinette would not be surprised if Hawkmoth was secretly killing off people who had resisted him one too many times within the gang's ranks. If that were the case any Hawkmoth member that had been at the Zone and had not attacked runners was now a target. Making a mental note to tell Alex to get in contact with those people, if only to check on their safety, Marinette continued with her explanation.
"This attack on the Zone was more of a scatter shot effect. They spread their manpower over too large of an area and proceeded to try and beat up anyone they caught. I mean they did send the largest of their group to the Hub to try and do maximum damage, but the Watchers -the protectors of the Zone- rebuffed them. That's why I doubt they meant to hurt just one individual. Besides, the Zone is the worst possible place to try and ambush a single person. It's too hard to isolate someone out there, and most of the runners know the Zone well enough that they can out maneuver any attack thrown at them. As far as I know there were no critical injuries reported for the runners who were out at the Zone. The few minor injuries I've heard of so far have been a broken bone and one person who got a concussion from being slammed into the ground. I know for a fact that the Hawkmoth members got the raw end of the deal when it came to injuries so even if it was an attack for a single person I doubt it succeeded."
Roger gaped at her, reminding Marinette strongly of a beached fish. "O-oh" he managed after a moment and Marinette swore she could see steam rising from his ears.
"Look… Roger… I still have to write up a report since I was there at the scene of the attack. When I am done I will send you a copy and if you have further questions you can ask me then. Is that easier?" Marinette tried not to sound like she was patronizing him and she must have succeeded because Roger gave a mild agreement before wandering back out of her office. He also took her pen with him.
"I think you blew his brain." Adrien snickered.
"And he probably grasped less than a quarter of what I explained. He didn't even write anything down and he stole my pen!" Marinette griped, dropping her head into her arms, "You and I need to look into any other attacks that took place in the city that night. I have a feeling that we are missing something."
With a thoughtful nod Adrien stood. "I'll start on that once I go grab some more coffee. You want me to drop anything off while I am up?"
Marinette handed him some of the finished papers and told him where they needed to go. Adrien left, closing the door behind him and Marinette leaned way back in her seat as she stretched, popping her back as she did.
"He smelled nervous, far more than his usual scent."
With a gasp Marinette jerked, almost falling out of her chair as she came upright. Grabbing the edge of the desk to steady herself she looked up at Plagg who had come down out of his box. Deciding against yelling at him for nearly giving her a heart attack she asked, "No fear?"
"There was a slight trace in the air but I would have to get a lot closer to be sure." Plagg grinned suddenly showing off far too many pointy teeth. "I could follow him… satisfy your… curiosity."
"And torment Roger while you are at it…" Marinette huffed, then a sneaky suspicion crossed her mind, "You're not the reason so many of his files have been jumbled are you?"
Plagg cackled, "You will never know."
Rolling her eyes Marinette shooed Plagg back up to his box and continued with the work she needed to get done. Eventually Adrien returned and instead of leaving the office Marinette ran out to grab some lunch for the two of them to eat. Roger never did come back and the only other exciting thing to happen was the brief visit Marinette's parents paid as they were cleaning up for the day. They dropped off some dinner for the two of them and let Marinette know that they were heading out for a baking convention. They were going to be gone for a few days so Marinette promised to check on the house and make sure that the help they had in the bakery was surviving the lunch rushes. Adrien was sad that he couldn't pun with Tom because he had to remain professional, but the big man pulled him aside just before they left and invited Adrien to come over for dinner again after they got back. Adrien had solemnly accepted the invitation and Tom had grinned, promising to use whatever skills they learned in the next few days on whatever dessert they decided to make. They walked out with her parents and after one more round of hugs they got in their car to leave.
"Well at least now I don't have to make dinner." Marinette sighed, hefting the large bag her parents had given her.
"I smell cheese bread…" Plagg moaned from Adrien's pocket, making Marinette laugh.
Adrien just sighed at his lost chance to pun, only to get an elbow in the ribs. Wincing and glaring at Marinette only made her grin. "Since I don't have to make dinner that means we can play some video games."
That caught Adrien's attention and feeling far better he snagged the bag out of Marinette's hands. "Then I suppose we should hurry home. Didn't Max email you about a game night coming up soon?"
Marinette nodded her eyes glinting with mischief, "We should totally partner up and destroy them in a clean sweep."
Adrien loved the idea, "I can pretend to be completely inept at first too… unless you just want to crush them right from the start?"
Marinette shrugged, "Let's see how good we pair up first. We will have to practice."
"Then we better get started." Adrien declared
The night decided, they trooped to Marinette's house for some food, games, and relaxation.
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