A/N: Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 18

Volpina walked over, somehow making her hips move in a flirtatious fashion that wasn't ridiculously obvious. Marinette found herself wishing she could walk like that at any given moment.

The vixen criminal arrived, and stared at Chat Noir with predatory, half-lidded eyes.

"So you're the famous Chat Noir, hm?" The words seemed to roll off her tongue, like honey. "Cool outfit."

Chat Noir rose an unimpressed eyebrow. "Thanks."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Chat eyed her with suspicion swimming in his green orbs. "Likewise."

Marinette's eyes narrowed at the exchange. She honestly wanted to stick out her tongue in disgust and let out a 'bleh!' but she was too civilized for that. So she just tightened her grip on her fork instead.

"I'm surprised you're here, I'd expect you to be busy at this time of night. And on a Saturday," Volpina continued in that same fliratious tone that made Marinette's teeth grind.

"Even the best of us need a break," Chat answered, giving her a smug half-grin.

It didn't hit Marinette until then, on what a catch Chat Noir really was. Tall, young, handsome, and devilish, not to mention he's the best at what he does. It was no wonder why Volpina was flirting with him.

It still didn't make Marinette any less angry about it, though.

The bitch could've at least acknowledged her existence, could've asked for an introduction from Chat. But she acted as if she and Chat were completely alone.

"How does the number one criminal not have a single scratch on him?" Volpina brought her finger to his chin and tilted his head up, inspecting his handsome features. "This is dangerous business, you know."

"You just have to be careful," he replied with a grin, although he angled his head just right to get out of her finger's hold.

Marinette's patience was wearing thin.

"I hope Paris proves to be better than Rome," Volpina pouted. "Rome grew boring after awhile, I hope Paris has some more excitement." Her eyes seemed to glitter when she said 'excitement'.

Chat shrugged. "It's exciting, I guess," he answered, indifferent.

"Would you like to show me around the city? I'm afraid it's a rather big place, a girl could easily get lost."

Marinette gripped the edges of the table, seething. If looks could kill, Volpina would be burned to a crisp.

"It seems you already know your way around," Chat replied easily. "You already performed a crime and you made it here. I think you're not in any danger of getting lost."

The blackette smirked. Hah! Take that, Volpiss!

But the vixen didn't seem deterred in the least. "Then how about we hit a bank sometime? I think we'd make a good team."

"I work alone," he told her, not missing a beat.

"A lone cat, huh?" She licked her lips. Did this girl not know how to take a hint?! "That's an attractive quality."

Marinette couldn't take it anymore. She stood up furiously and stomped over to Chat, startling the two criminals. The polka-dotted girl sat herself in Chat's lap, and ignoring his surprised and confused gaze, grabbed his face and slammed her mouth on his.

He let out a small squeak, but eventually moved his lips with Marinette's harsh coaxing. She placed her palms on his stomach and moved them upwards painfully slow, fingers going over every muscle covered by the leather suit.

He wrapped his clawed hands around her waist, she began nibbling at his bottom lip, earning a groan from the back of his throat.

Marinette pulled away with a smirk. Her eyed danced with delight at how his lips were slightly swollen, he panted like he just got done running a mile.

"Jesus, Princess," he whispered in awe.

Marinette grinned wider. Her eyes glanced to where Volpina was standing but the fox was gone.

Good.

Marinette rose out of his lap and walked back to her own chair. She resumed with eating her dinner, acting like nothing had just transpired between them.

She could feel his eyes searing through her, she chose to ignore his gaze and continued to casually eat.

A man's throat cleared.

The girl's eyes went up to see the bouncer from the entrance, standing next to Chat Noir.

"Hawk Moth wishes to speak to you," he said lowly.

Chat's eyes flickered to Marinette's. In that second, she saw something in them she'd never think she'd ever see: fear.

Marinette's stomach twisted in anxiety. Chat Noir was never scared, well, except for when he watched that horror movie with her, but this was different. This was real life, and if this 'Hawk Moth' could gain such a reaction from him, she knew he was bad news.

Chat Noir nodded and stood from his seat. He wore a calm mask and even tried to grin at her, although she could definitely tell it was forced.

"I'll be back soon, My Lady," he promised, kissing her hand in parting before leaving with the bouncer.

She bit her lip when she couldn't see his form anymore. She was alone, alone in a room filled with dozens of criminals. Well, at least none of them seemed like they wanted to harm her.

Her head turned to see Volpina storming back to her table.

None of them except her, anyway.

"What the hell was that?" Volpina seethed.

Marinette stared at her with fake innocence. "What was what?"

"We were flirting," she growled. "We would've went out if you hadn't put your hands and lips all over him."

Marinette's mouth curled into a wicked smirk. This was going to be fun. "Trust me, he wasn't flirting. Take it from the girl who he flirts with every day."

"And who are you?" She barked.

"Ladybug, it's not nice to meet you."

"The feeling's mutual," she spat. "Listen, Chat Noir needs to be with the best."

Marinette rose an eyebrow. "You mean you want him to date himself? Is that possible?"

"I meant, you idiot, that he needs to be with the best girl criminal, and that's obviously me. He doesn't need an amateur."

Marinette shrugged with cool indifference. "Well, he brought me here tonight, so obviously he wants me around."

Volpina scoffed. "That's because he didn't meet me until now. Face it, Ladybug, your days with him are over."

Marinette grinned smugly. "Given to how he responded to my kiss earlier, I think he's going to be coming back for more."

Volpina exhaled a furious breath through her nose, reminding Marinette of a dog.

"Just stay away from him, he's mine."

"On the contrary," Marinette started, making a show of inspecting her gloved nails. "He said he's all mine, when he gave me his ring." For proof she took the ring hanging around her neck and held it up.

Volpina scoffed. "And how do I know that's not just any ring? You could've bought that anywhere."

"Not one with his symbol on it." The blackette flashed the front of the ring in her direction, letting the gem paw print catch in the candlelight.

Volpina's teeth clenched in fury.

"Listen, little fox." Marinette scowled, she was done with this conversation. "As of now Chat Noir likes me, not you. I'll admit, that can change one day. But until that day may hypothetically come, I want you to leave him alone."

"That day will be soon," Volpina hissed. She took whatever shred of dignity she had left and walked away from Marinette. The designer exhaled a tired sigh and brought a hand to her forehead.

She just basically told a girl to stay the hell away from Chat Noir, that he's hers. They weren't dating, she still wasn't even over Adrien. But she couldn't ignore the anger that travelled through her veins at the thought of Volpina's hands running over Chat's back and sifting through his hair, her lips moving against his in a passionate lock.

She and Chat really needed to talk.

As if right on cue, Chat Noir speed-walked to their table, his mouth pressed into a line but his eyes betraying his nervous state.

Marinette's eyebrows lowered in puzzlement. "Chat? What's wro-"

"Time to go," he barked, grabbing her hand and hauling her out of her chair. He unzipped his front pocket, ripped out his wallet and slapped a roll of money on the table. He replaced the wallet and began tugging her away.

"Chat? What is it?" Her voice rose in volume. "What's wrong?"

He whipped his head back to her so fast she was surprised he didn't get whip lash. "You said no questions asked if there was danger. Now let's go."

He didn't say anything more. Marinette clamped her mouth shut as he continued pulling her towards the entrance/exit.

The door was clear, Chat didn't release his firm grip on her hand when leaving Akuma. But they only got to the second step when she was suddenly ripped away from him.

Marinette was roughly pinned to the wall by the bouncer. "Let me go!" She cried, trying to wriggle out of his hold. "What do you want?"

"You're not going anywhere, Ladybug," he sneered.

Marinette dropped to the ground when Chat Noir kicked the bouncer in the side, sending him back about a foot away. His eyes blazed with fury, his claws were out and ready.

"Stop this, Chat Noir!" He snapped, temper rising. "You don't know what you're doing."

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing," he hissed. He tried to swipe at him but the bouncer dodged. He may have been big, but he moved with the agility of a dancer. He was able to grab Chat's arm and hold him against the wall.

Chat struggled furiously in his hold, prompting the bouncer to press his hand to his throat. He started pushing forward, and Marinette gasped at his intentions.

If she didn't do something, Chat would either pass out from lack of oxygen, or die if the man so chose.

Gritting her teeth together, she brought up a hand and punched him in the arm. She was too short to reach his face. The guard slowly turned to her and growled, not relinquishing his hold on Chat. Meanwhile Chat's movements were slowing, choking noises escaped his throat.

"Leave him alone!" She ordered. The bouncer turned to her and rose his arm for an attack, finally letting go of the feline thief. He dropped to the ground in a heap, coughing and gasping for air.

In a quick flash her mind brought her back to the night when she and Chat Noir first met, to when the mugger was going to try to hurt Chat.

She bit her lip. Hopefully she'd be able to perform the move right.

When he got close enough she pulled down his arm, the same as Chat had done, and delivering a hard kick to his stomach, harder than she had kicked any soccer ball in gym class.

He took a few steps back and groaned, clutching his stomach. Marinette brought back her leg and let her foot fly upwards to his chin, making his head propel backwards. She didn't think she could kick him and make him go back several feet like Chat had, so she settled on connecting a punch to his temple.

The man was out cold before he hit the ground.

Chat Noir got up then, looking back between her and the knocked out bouncer. His green eyes were practically bulging out of his head.

"Huh," he mused, softly smiling. "Good job."

"Thanks," she mumbled, blushing due to the praise.

"We can't stick around, we have to leave." Chat took her hand again and the pair sped up the steps. Soon enough they were out of the warehouse and were flying across the buildings of their city, with the moon and Eiffel Tower at their backs.

When they were safely back at her balcony, they both dropped into the warm bedroom. Marinette turned on her bedside lamp to provide light to the pitch black room, and that's when they could finally relax.

Chat Noir leaned against the wall and exhaled.

"Chat?" Marinette asked. "What was that all about?"

He moaned and didn't look at her.

When he didn't say anything, she repeated her question.

"Hawk Moth wanted to know about you," he finally spoke. He opened his eyes to gaze into hers with a strange mix of anxiety and relief.

Marinette tilted her head. "Why? Who is Hawk Moth, anyway?"

"He's basically my boss. He wanted to see if you were worth employing, as well."

Her blue eyes narrowed, still confused. "What do you mean?"

"I don't keep any of the stuff I steal," he explained. "I give it all to him."

"What? Why?"

"Because I don't need it. I'm," he paused, taking the moment to look away from her curious stare. "Well off. I don't need the money."

"But why do you give it to him?"

"He's the one who supplied me with the suit and baton, he made me Chat Noir. I wanted freedom, and of course it came with a price."

"So you resorted to crime?" She inquired, curiosity rising, along with annoyance.

He sighed, gaze turning to her ceiling, a wistful look on his face. "All my life I followed the rules. I couldn't deny the rush I got when I was finally able to break some."

Marinette's face softened. It was kind of hard to remember that behind the criminal persona, he was still just a boy, a regular Parisian who walked the streets by day and robbed those streets at night.

He was wealthy, and lived a suffocated life. "Chat?" She whispered. "...Who are you?"

He shook his head. "That's not a conversation for now."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Because it's not the right time yet," he answered. "I'll tell you eventually."

"But-"

"Marinette, please," he stressed, squeezing his eyes shut. "You almost met the crime king of the city and I barely got you out of there. I betrayed him, there's no doubt he's sending all his men after me for my head. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are out looking for me right now. I'd like to relax for a bit."

Seeing his features wrought with worry, she backed down. She wondered what this meant for Chat. Would he still commit crimes?

Wait a minute...if he was enemies with all the criminals in Paris now, then this was the perfect opportunity for him to become a hero!

Her eyes wandered to his broken expression again.

She'd save that little suggestion for later.

"I should've never brought you there," he growled to himself. "It was so obvious!"

"What was obvious?" The blackette inquired.

"I always go there alone, figures when I bring somebody, and in a costume no less, he'd want to know about them. God, I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid," she retorted. "It's my fault, I kept bothering you to take me."

"I should've kept saying no."

A slow grin stretched across her lips. She shuffled closer to him, the noise causing him to open his eyes and look down at her in wonder.

"It's not your fault you can't resist me," she purred in a tone that was so overly flirtatious it was comical.

Chat Noir chuckled in amusement and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing a warm, loving kiss to her hair.

"You're right," he murmured. "You're impossible to resist."