Been on the road for two days with no real ability to internet... I debated waiting till next month and posting two chapters buuuut Im starting my teaching job and its going to be absolute CHAOS... Anyways... I have found the app procreate and yeah I LOVE it! Ive drawn a couple of things into the app and colored them and eventually when we get there in the story I might post the art over on AO3 since you cant add pictures to the chapters here. Just a little something to look forward too. :)
(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?
Out of the Bag
The door closed softly on Alya's heels and Chat blew out a breath of air, "That... could have gone better. Sorry Marinette." He moved over to her bedside again, wanting to touch her, but he was nervous that Alya was going to burst back in again. "I shouldn't have come in."
Marinette slumped, her calm, collected demeanor dissolving all at once. "No Chat, it's ok. Better now than later. This is a good thing, it has to be. We can cover our bases now and I won't have to lie about you helping me. This way if I ever need 'Chat's' help out in the field and god forbid Alya is with me, your presence won't be such a surprise. We will be able to plan your presence and use it to our advantage. Plus the Whisperers know about you and many of them have realized that you tend to hang around me. While Alya might not be as entrenched with the Whisperers as I am, she still interacts with them, especially Stormy. All it would have taken was an off comment about me having a cat and she would have been on the hunt anyways."
Chat nodded, but he still looked hesitant. "So do you want me to answer her questions or do you want to take over?"
"You will have to field her questions, it will look weird to her if I go trying to answer everything for you. That will make her even more suspicious, although I will back you up if you don't want to answer something. You know how curious Alya is and let's face it, you are a front page news article waiting to be interviewed." Marinette snickered, bringing a weak grin out of Chat.
"I suppose so… Oh I guess that means you won't have to hide this either then." Reaching into his pocket, Chat brought out a small odd looking flash drive and handed it to Marinette. "It's from Fu. It has Roger's phone messages and all that stuff on it. I have one for myself as well but I haven't yet had a chance to go through it. It even has all the files that Mime stole off a computer in the Paper Raid, plus some paper files that he scanned in since he found out you got hurt. The man has been busy."
Marinette smiled, accepting the device, and realised the reason it looked so weird was because the one side allowed for it to be plugged into her phone. "Didn't you say I wasn't allowed to work?"
"Please don't make me regret my decision, buuut reading isn't too strenuous." Chat assured. "You do need more rest so don't try and read it all in one sitting or Fu will get on your case. I'll even tattle if you don't get enough rest."
Marinette rolled her eyes but she was smiling as she asked. "Did you visit Fu? You felt smug earlier before you came this way."
"I did. The people you healed are all doing really well and the one girl has woken up. Fu wants to talk to the both of us about the miraculous once you get out of here, and he might have looked into pulling a string or two so you could go home tomorrow."
"Really?!" Marinette demanded, her excitement making a grin flit across Chat's face.
"Really, really. That's also why I brought the drive so you have something to do when you wake up in the morning while we wait for the doctors to get all the paperwork together. I know you want to go home as fast as possible so-"
The door creaked slightly and Chat dropped to the floor in case it wasn't Alya walking in. Thankfully it was, and Chat popped up before she could ask where he went. She jumped slightly when he bounced to his feet, and glowered at him when he shot her a two fingered salute.
"That was fast." Marinette commented, carefully keeping her tone neutral.
"I ran." Alya huffed, sucking a deep breath in. "I'm actually a little surprised that he stayed."
"Rude." Chat hissed, sticking his tongue out at Alya.
Alya blinked, the seemingly sudden change in demeanor from him startling. Warily she glanced at Marinette who just shook her head. Shrugging off her confusion Alya moved to Marinette's table and unloaded the small bag. Chat seemed to watch with interest as she handed Marinette her food and she took hers, carefully sitting on the opposite edge of the bed to eat. There was a recliner, a hard backed chair, and the couch where all her sleeping stuff was, but none of those spots gave Alya the best sight lines. While she trusted Marinette implicitly, she did not want to have her back to Chat when he seemed to speak with his whole body rather than just his voice. Besides, the only way he could have gotten into the room was via the window. That window was his escape route and she didn't want to be in his way if he decided to utilize it. His presence, as much as she hated to admit it, made her nervous. Having the bed between him and her made her feel a little better, though she felt guilty since it also put Marinette in between them. The edge of Marinette's bed was comfortable enough so she ate her dinner and watched Chat Noir, since he was opting to remain silent. It shouldn't have been surprising that Chat watched her back, remaining utterly still and unblinking which creeped her out after just a few short minutes. The air seemed to get heavier the longer she chewed her food until a napkin suddenly smacked into his forehead.
"Knock it off." Marinette hissed at him and Chat pouted at her, collapsing into the seat next to the bed.
"What the hell…" Alya breathed, putting her sandwich down.
Marinette and Chat glanced at her then glanced at each other. "What?"
Opening her mouth Alya paused, closed her mouth, and really took a moment to think about what she wanted to say. "OK… What's going on? I mean for real. There's no way Chat is just a run-of-the-mill thief. I mean he has friggin cat ears and a tail. Who is he? Why is he here? I feel more lost now than when you were last here Marinette!"
Marinette flinched hearing the concern, worry, and down right curiosity that filled Alya's tone. "That's… kind of a big story Alya. I can't tell you all of it either. For your own safety not just because some of it isn't my secret to tell."
"So just tell me what you can girl. You know I don't snap under pressure. Anything you tell me is totally confidential."
Marinette glanced at Chat and he rubbed at his face while deciding that he needed to kick this story off. "It's all her fault." Chat muttered, pointing an accusing finger at Marinette. "If she hadn't been a super star ninja with a knack for tying people up in chains none of this would have happened."
"Yeah, instead we would both be dead. Great talk Chat." Marinette snarked, making Chat pout again.
Alya couldn't help it, she snickered, making both of them glare at her. "Sorry, continue."
It took over an hour for the two of them to go through the story of how they met, and how things had ended up with Marinette here in the hospital. Listening to the entire thing gave Alya far more insight on what her friend had really been up to and why she had seemed so stressed lately. Marinette had put the world on her shoulders yet again, and without Tiki there to knock some sense into her, she had been well on her way to slowly being crushed by its weight. It made her feel like a bad friend since she hadn't noticed as much as she probably should have. Things had been busy in both of their lives though and they just hadn't had much girl time lately. There was also the little problem that Marinette's job at its heart was a dangerous one and Marinette would never intentionally bring her into danger. It made Alya wish that Marinette didn't have such strict scruples and would just rely on her sometimes. Now though it seemed like Marinette had found a kind of kindred spirit in Chat and it made her smile. With how their banter was going, Marinette seemed to be just as comfortable with Chat as she was with Adrien and Alya was overjoyed that she finally had someone to watch her back out on the streets. Especially since it was someone that Gabriel couldn't control or move to a different precinct on a whim.
It was both a curse and a blessing that Marinette was so good at her job, and ever since Tiki, Alya had feared that Marinette would either self-destruct or run headlong into some danger that she wouldn't come back from. Since Adrien had come back into her life, Marinette seemed to be more active than ever, and hearing this tale made Alya wonder if Marinette's line in the sand had shifted through all this turmoil. At one point Alya could comfortably tell a person the exact lengths that Marinette was capable of going to in order to get the results she desired in a case. Now, Alya didn't know how far was too far anymore outside of killing innocents. This past year had changed Marinette right underneath Alya's nose and it made her wonder how much else she had missed. While Alya had cared for Marinette both in the literal and figurative sense this past year, it seemed like the last few months had sparked some huge change within her friend. Now, that change seemed to be the preview to a huge headliner brewing, one that her best friend was neck deep in the middle of. While Alya would admit that she was greedy enough that she would want such a headliner, the truth was that she would do anything to keep Marinette safe, even if it meant cutting some juicy details out. It's why she had warned Marinette of the reward on Chloe before it had hit the news, and it was why their friendship thrived even if they were in very different fields Even though it might never see the light of day, Alya was already writing the article in her mind. She just hoped that Marinette would give her the ok to publish before a story this big broke on its own.
Their whole story had been utterly fascinating and Alya knew that they had left plenty out of this tale, but she understood discretion. It wasn't like she could report on any of this yet no matter how fascinating. She did not want to be written off as a tabloid writer when she had fought so hard to be where she was. Besides, her mind had latched onto one thing in particular.
"Magic is real?" Alya whispered, and Chat could practically see the stars in her eyes.
"Not like you think." Chat warned
Alya frowned at him, "What the hell does that mean? Magic either exists or it doesn't, we are not dealing with Schroder here."
Chat pinched at the bridge of his nose, clearly stuck on how to explain until suddenly he shouted "Fairies!" making both girls jump. Before Alya could demand what in the world he was talking about Chat plowed on, "So fairies these days are thought to be these small cutesie creatures that grant boons and are considered benevolent because of Disney right?"
Alya shot him a perplexed look but nodded along, "Okkkkayyyy… and what does this have to do with you or magic? Unless you are a fairy?"
Chat shook his head looking disgusted by the idea. "No definitely not a fairy but what I am trying to say is that outside of Disney, fairies are not nice critters. They are more likely to kidnap you, enslave you or your children, eat you, switch out your first born with their own kid or worse… Seriously old fairy lore is filled with wicked brutal acts and that's not even touching on real fairy tales. Anyways, most old stories no matter the culture are filled with warnings about the fey and fairy kin, but these days most people only know the Disney version. People don't see fairies as dangerous beings and magic has sort of gone the same way. The magic most people think about, the magic you are so excited for, isn't stage magic or Disney magic. It's the kind of Magic that's paid for in blood and sacrifice."
His words made Alya blanch for a good minute before she suddenly frowned, "So where does that leave you? Who did you sacrifice?"
"Alya!" Marinette snapped sharply, and Alya could hear the condemnation in her tone. It made Alya flinch but she didn't apologise for the question. It was a valid question and she wanted to know the answer.
"I was the sacrifice." Chat answered and Alya paled. "It was only because of my partner that I made it out the other side and was instead transformed into this. They weren't so lucky. Death aside, the abilities I wield are not kind ones. If the government knew I existed and knew some of the things I could do…"
"You would be locked up or experimented on." Alya breathed, understanding the magnitude of what he was telling her.
Chat gave her a crooked grin, "It's already happened. That was not a good week. Anyways, the only reason I am here is to take down the Hawkmoth idiots and to collect something they shouldn't have. Outside of that I don't exist."
The look on Alya's face at that tidbit of news was somewhere between fury and sadness, "Since I know you are not going to tell me what those Hawkmoth idiots have, is there anything else I can do to help? Like an activist thing or… I don't know, do you have somewhere safe to stay? I mean you do exist and you are not a bad person, so unless magic is sustaining you somehow you need food, shelter and all that good stuff right?"
Chat sighed and nodded, not liking where this conversation was heading, but it wasn't like he could just tell her who he really was. While it would be amusing to do so, it would cause more trouble than it was worth. There were already more than enough people who knew who he was under the mask and some instinct rebelled at the idea of telling Alya. It wasn't that he didn't think she was trustworthy, he knew she would rather die than betray his or Marinette's confidence, but something told him that it wasn't safe. Not yet at least. His masked name jerked him out of his musings and Chat realized she hadn't stopped talking.
"Chat Noir isn't the most creative but I know Nino wouldn't mind a cat living with us since I'm sure you are potty trained. Though, Marinette has way more room... I'm sure between Marinette and I we can help you settle somewhere if you don't have a place to stay yet. Plus she's got the Whisperers, they can stash anyone anywhere. Put a hat on your head, hide your tail, and you just might be able to run around in public! Of course you will have to act like a normal person for more than five minutes."
"Hey! I act like a normal person all the time!" Chat countered annoyed, but then the rest of her words caught up to him and his jaw dropped, "Wait… LIVE? You… I could be a killer, I have killed… and you just… You're as bad as Marinette!"
Marinette snickered as Alya's face fell further into sadness, while Chat just looked thunderstruck.
"Unless you are both lying to me, which I doubt, you saved Marinette's life by literally running her to the hospital which put you at great risk. Besides, you already explained the whole reason why you have killed. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the fact that you have taken someone's life, but they either attacked you first or they were trying to kill someone else who didn't deserve to die. Unless you are maliciously hiding something or are secretly murdering for fun I don't see what the problem is."
"I'm not human." Chat snapped, flinching almost imperceptibly as he felt Marinette's anger flare down the bond they shared.
"Neither is a dog. That doesn't mean we don't treat them with dignity." Marinette snarled right back, making Chat look away guiltily.
He didn't know why he was trying so hard to paint himself in a bad light. Especially since at this point it served no purpose. He supposed it was just a habit at this point, since so many people had always assumed he was the bad guy. Marinette had proven time and again she was solidly on his side no matter what he had done before. Alya was showing the same tendencies and in reality he should be overjoyed, not trying to make her hate him worse. If she accepted him as he was now, she would be able to accept him as Adrien too if she ever found out they were one and the same. It almost made him tear up and he couldn't help the wet chuckle that slipped out of him.
"I'm alright. Thank you, I have people to help me and Marinette has assisted me before when I needed a hand."
Alya glanced at Marinette before turning back to Chat. "Yeah, you mentioned that before. What happened there?"
"He fought off an Akuma alone and got badly injured. He couldn't make it back to his hidey hole so he showed up at my flat and practically passed out on my balcony. I had to sew him up, and sewing skin is NOT like sewing clothes." Marinette growled, "He scared the hell out of me."
Alya blinked, "I'm surprised that she didn't arrest you."
"She took pity on me." Chat huffed, not mentioning that by that point he and Marinette had formed more than just tentative trust with each other.
"Yeah, you were pretty pathetic." Marinette mused, although there was laughter in her tone.
Chat shot her a glare but Marinette could feel his amusement through their bond. Alya on the other hand laughed out loud. "Awe poor kitty cat. Did she feed you too?"
"Yes she did." Chat sniffed, unfolding himself from the chair he had been in since they started talking. "And since there is no food here for me and I'm so clearly unloved I guess I'll just leave."
Choking back her laughter Alya held up her hand, stopping Chat from moving to the window. "Wait, wait, wait. I didn't mean to laugh... I just, why did you go to Marinette? I mean she was trying to arrest you right? Why didn't you go to the Whisperers or something? Wouldn't they have been safer?"
Chat shrugged, "I didn't trust them."
Looking between Marinette and Chat, Alya finally shook her head in frustrated acceptance, "Oh, of course. You can't even imagine how many times I have heard that. Everyone trusts Marinette. I'd swear she has some kind of magic all on her own. People gather around her, trust her, and want to talk to her even if they are supposed to be enemies with her. It's… weird sometimes."
Marinette rolled her eyes, "Thanks Alya, but I think it's because I help people indiscriminately and do my job no matter who stands before me. I'd like to think that's why people trust me rather than magic."
"You are an amazing detective Marinette, and I'm constantly telling you that you are too good for this world." Alya said primly, "So what happens now?"
Chat and Marinette glanced at each other then Chat spoke, "We keep going business as usual I suppose. Now that you know of my existence don't be surprised if I pop in and out. I like to watch Marinette's back out on the street which is why I was able to help her when Roger tried to kill her. Currently, I am trying to hunt Roger down but it hasn't been working in my favor."
Alya's eyes lit up, "Can I hunt with you?"
"Nope!" Marinette yelped before Chat could even formulate an answer. They both shot her an injured look but Marinette held up her hands explaining, "If you two get together and actually find Roger there won't be enough left over to ID, period. We need to snag him alive, if possible. To be honest I am surprised we haven't found his corpse yet."
"Broken is still living…" Chat pointed out, giving Marinette an innocent look.
"Don't encourage her!" Marinette snapped back pointing her finger at him.
Alya laughed, "No, no I totally agree with Chat here."
Marinette groaned, slumping against her pillows dramatically. "I'm still injured, neither of you can gang up on me while I am injured. It's a rule…"
Chat smiled, knowing that she was teasing them and stretched. "On that note, may I leave now Alya? Marinette probably needs more rest. I've already stayed far longer than I expected to."
Alya blinked, surprised that he had even bothered to ask. "Uh, yeah, I mean it is late. Do you wander around at night all the time?"
Chat shrugged as he loosened up for his run home across the rooftops, "It depends. It's far easier to blend into the darkness at night rather than the shadows in the daytime. If you need me just ask Marinette to call for me."
"Go get some rest Chat." Marinette advised, knowing that he was almost as worn out as she still was, despite all the sleep. "Thank you for checking on me."
"No problem, I'll even ask my other half if they can help fix you up a bit quicker. I'm sure you want to be on your feet as fast as possible." Chat replied, gave them both a two fingered salute, then was across the room and out the window in the span of a breath.
"Damn he's fast." Alya breathed, making her way over to the window to make sure it was closed all the way.
"He is. Don't try to spar with him." Marinette laughed, then winced as her wound pinched.
Alya saw the flinch and wondered aloud, "What did he mean by 'fix' you up?"
Marinette froze, she had been so impatient to get home and heal herself once and for all, she hadn't put much thought into how her friends might react to her being suddenly healed. With Gabriel she could pretend to be injured still and being on bed rest would keep her out of his sight, but her friends were far more in-tune with her. Nino and Alya had cared for her last year when she had finally been released, and they also knew almost all her tells when it came to feeling good or bad. They would have quickly realized she wasn't injured once she healed herself, and there would have been plenty of inquisitions because of it. Chat though had just given her a very nice out.
"Um… remember his partner?" Marinette asked, waiting for Alya to nod, "Well, she can heal, like magic glowy wound seals up in a few minutes kind of heal. She helped heal someone while I was present and yeah… Since Chat clearly enjoys my company he will probably ask her to see if she can heal me. I think he just gets bored of sparring with the same person all the time so he pokes at me."
Alya's jaw dropped, "Seriously girl?! That's amazing! When do you think it may happen? Can I watch? Like this is so cool!"
Marinette flinched, "I doubt she will let you watch. In fact she will probably just heal me when I am asleep once I finally get out of here. Healing wears both the healer and the healed out as far as I can tell, so don't be surprised if I seem to relapse when I get home."
Alya pouted at this news and sighed, moving back to the bed to collect all the trash. "Well that's unfortunate. I would love to thank her for healing my bestie. I'm sorry by the way for yelling earlier when I first walked in. I don't know what came over me."
"You were shocked and you had never met Chat. Plus when you walked in we were in a very close position that was easy to misinterpret. I understand and so does Chat. It's ok Alya." Marinette soothed, feeling more than a little guilty about the misdirection.
Alya nodded, but she still didn't look too pleased with herself. "I know you can't actually tell me everything and all but… Is he the reason you have been distant lately? Why you keep getting hurt, and why you have been acting so weird?"
Marinette froze at her question, "Off the record?"
Alya nodded, "Girl you know me, everything tonight is so far off the record it's nonexistent! Besides, my boss would think I was going insane if I came to them with any of this!"
"It's dangerous just to know though Alya. I don't want you to become a target. They could target you for just being my friend and if anything ever happened to you..." Marinette whined, wringing her hands in her blankets.
Alya moved back to Marinette's side and stopped her from twisting the blankets any further. "If you go by that logic I should have already been a target. No one has attacked me yet and the whole underworld practically knows I am your best friend. Besides, you have the reputation of being the most closed-mouthed detective in this city. No one would believe me even if I said you had told me something. Or they would wonder what you had threatened me with since I am an ace reporter. You don't have to tell me everything I just… I'm here for you. Ya know?"
Ignoring her injuries Marinette threw her arms around Alya hugging her tight, "You really are the best friend a girl could have Alya. I'm sorry I haven't really talked with you lately, it's just been so insane. You were the one who talked to me about Chat first, I wanted to tell you everything once I got his file but then I ran into him… After that first run in I knew he wasn't a normal person, hell the cat ears gave that away, but I knew by then he was a dangerous person and I didn't know where his lines were so I didn't want to involve you. You know how Gabriel feels about having informants and help from the streets. Chat Noir is or was a criminal and I couldn't take the risk of him being a danger to you or me in the long run. Gabriel still doesn't know the whole story of Chat Noir and I. Matter of fact you know more than HE does at this point!"
Alya let out a huff of laughter and wiggled her way out of Marinette's death grip, "Like I said girl I get it. You are trying to do your job without crossing your moral lines and at this point your job could hang in the balance. Forget what I asked, ok girl? I am just glad you have a real, useful person watching your back rather than those garbage partners you had before Adrien. Between him and Adrien you should be somewhat safe now! Have Chat and Adrien met yet? If not, can I be there when they do?"
Marinette groaned and Alya laughed, not realizing that Marinette was groaning because they were the same person.
"Did they get into a fight or something?" Alya chuckled, even as Marinette rubbed at her face.
"No. They were cordial to each other and then they figured out that they both like puns." Marinette lied, not that Alya would ever know... she hoped.
Alya laughed again, pulling the blanket that had pooled at Marinette's waist up higher. "Good to know. At least they aren't fighting over you or anything silly. Look it's been a long day and you have dropped quite a few bombs on me tonight. Let's go to bed and maybe if you are lucky you will go home here in the next day or so."
Marinette nodded, she was tired again and really could use the rest of the night to sleep. If Adrien was right and she managed to get released tomorrow she would need all the strength she could muster. Alya helped her settle the bed flat and got her comfortable before slipping back over into her own nest. The city was starting to get shaken up and Alya had a feeling that pretty soon no one would be able to sit on the sidelines. Unlike many others, Alya knew exactly where she stood and that was at Marinette's side. All at once Alya realized it was probably time to have a nice long conversation with Nino and the Whisperers again. Watching Marinette settle into sleep Alya promised that she would do what she could to help protect her friend. Marinette had helped and protected her many times. Now it was time to return the favor.
Enjoying the story? Review if you have the time! Tell me what you liked/didn't like! It helps me map the story better!
