Spades needed to get off the damn rooftops. Her heart was pounding just as hard as her feet were, and with every leap, it became clearer that Chat would soon catch up to her. She was making good on her promise, though. More than half of Paris had seen the pair in their heated pursuit. She held tight to the bag of jewels she'd taken earlier that evening, cursing herself for overloading it. It was becoming more and more of a hindrance, but she couldn't just ditch it; not with him so close behind, anyway. She was beginning to feel herself slow down, too. Why on earth did she ever think that heading to higher ground was a good idea? It was quite literally his home turf!

Chat was nearly close enough to touch the black satchel dangling behind the thief. He ran on all fours, ignoring the sweat matting his hair. He couldn't express just how good this felt. Running on adrenaline, giving chase without any real consequences (well, no life or death ones, anyway), the dull ache building in his muscles... it was everything he loved about being Chat. He reveled in it. His claws nearly grazed cloth, making his heart race all the more. Just a bit further...

Suddenly, the thief dropped out of view, taking Chat by surprise. He leapt over the ledge and rolled to a stop on the next roof. A small curse slipped pass his lips as he scrambled to right himself. The hero dove down after her, landing on his feet with ease. As soon as he straightened, though, Spades' bag connected with his stomach. His breath was knocked out of him, and before he had time to recover, the thief threw him off his feet and ran off once again. Chat gritted his teeth. He chased after her, finally catching up with her at the Pont du Arts. Using his staff, he vaulted over her head and cut her off with a grin. Spades skidded to a halt. She tsked, softly.

"Leaving so soon, Spadesy?" he taunted, tucking his staff under his arm. "I was starting to enjoy myself, too."

"And here I thought I was overstaying my welcome," Spades said with a smirk. "Especially, now that a silly black cat's crossed my path."

Chat's grin widened. "Not afraid of a little bad luck, are you?" The thief only raised her brow. With a shrug, the hero began to close the distance between them. "Hate to say it, but I'm actually pretty disappointed in you, Spadesy. I would've figured petty jewel heists were beneath you."

"They can't all be spectacles, kitten. I wouldn't want you to get bored of the same old thing."

Chat chuckled, finally coming to a stop just a few inches in front of the thief. "Somehow, I doubt you could ever be boring."

"That's quite the compliment," she said as she licked her lips. "You wouldn't happen to be falling for me, now, would you?"

He snorted at the comment. "Hand over the bag, Spades. And, maybe I'll retract the claws."

Spades laughed, reaching a hand up to flick his bell. Her other hand dove behind her back and into a belt pouch. "You should know better than to threaten me with a good time, kitten."

"Suit yourself, then."

Both of them moved with blinding speed. Chat swung his staff wide, aiming for her torso. Spades dropped to the ground, but not before throwing up a smoke bomb. It connected with the staff and exploded on impact, enveloping them in thick white smoke. Chat hissed in irritation before jumping in the air, anticipating the thief's swooping leg. He brought the point of his staff down where he thought Spades would be and hit the empty ground. The smoke began to thin as Spades rolled to safety. She stood to rush the hero, grabbing hold of his staff. Chat raised his forearm to block the kick directed at him. He kicked the end of his staff and spun it out of the thief's grasp before jabbing at her. Spades dodged the blows, but the barrage forced her backwards. She soon found her back against the bridge's railing. Sweat running down her neck, Spades grabbed hold of her bag again, this time spinning it before she swung. The first hit knocked Chat's staff away, though he managed to keep hold of it. She spun and landed a kick on his stomach. Chat stumbled backwards a bit. He looked up in time to see the satchel coming down towards his head. Eyes wide, he raised his staff above him. The bag wrapped around it and snagged. The pair locked eyes, Chat smirking and Spades tsking. The hero spun his staff again, this time, ramming his shoulder into the thief as he did. She slammed back into the railing, the locks on it clattering from the blow. Her grip on the bag strap slipped and before she could recover, Chat spun and landed a kick to her chest. Both their eyes widened as she toppled over the railing and disappeared from view. Chat rushed to look over the edge, hoping she'd been quick enough to grab hold of something, or at least send her grappling hook towards him. No such luck. He looked down in time to see her hit the water with a loud splash.

All color drained from Chat's face. Panic set in along with a string of ohshitohshitohshit running through his head when she didn't surface immediately. She didn't get knocked out, did she? He was about to jump in after her when the sound of sirens caught his attention. As he looked up, several police cars came to a screeching halt on the bridge. Officer Roger stepped out of the first one, giving the hero a salute.

"Evening, Chat Noir!" he said with enthusiasm. "I see you got the jewels back. Excellent work!"

Chat's ears went back as he glanced at the bag strewn on the ground. The jewels inside had begun to spill out, leaving them in plain view. He looked back to the officer and rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly.

"Uh... Yeah! All in a day's work... Night's work, actually."

Roger looked about with a frown. "I see that Spades character managed to slip away again."

"Y-Yep! Sure is a slip-purry one!" Chat let out a nervous laugh. "I should, uh... go follow her! She couldn't have gotten far."

"Understood!" Roger said, giving him another salute. "The city thanks you for your service!"

Chat gave the man a nod before using his staff to vault into the air. He sent a silent prayer for Luna to hold on until he could get to her.

It took a moment for Luna to get her bearings. Once she did, the girl stayed under the water's surface for as long as her lungs would allow, swimming with the current of the Seine. Finally, she swam up and gasped for air. She had to take off her goggles; they were too fogged up to see through. She let them dangle around her neck and hoped she was out far enough to avoid the police search party. The thief looked about, frantically trying to stay afloat. Her already tired body was getting harder and harder to move as the cold of the water began to set in. She soon came up to the Concorde bridge and took hold of one of the pillars. Luna pressed her body against it and stuck to the shadows, panting for air. She closed her eyes.

Totally not how she imagined her night would end.

The thief laughed a bit. Trust her luck to be thrown in the drink.

Spades took a moment to gather herself. Her belt was soaked through, which meant her grappling gun was useless. Swimming to a riverbank was likely to get her caught, not to mention she'd have to fight the current along the way. She studied the bridge before her, blue eyes taking all they could without the aid of her goggles. Paris' lights couldn't really reach her where she was, which was a blessing and a curse. It meant that she needed to feel for the divets in the stonework, though. She gritted her teeth. This was going to be a painful climb. Her hands fumbled into her belt pouch as she drew two daggers. One went between her teeth. The other she jammed into the pillar, wedging it between the stones about a foot above her head. Hoisting herself up, Luna felt the pillar wall above for her next target. Once she found it, she shoved the second dagger into place. Her arms screamed from the effort. She ignored it. Using those two daggers, Spades managed to climb up passed the smoothed stone and to the arches of the Concorde.

A light shined down from above, sending her into a panic. Luna pressed herself against the wall as firmly as she could manage while she clung to her daggers. She kept her head down, baiting her breath. The light disappeared, and her heart eased a bit; only to skyrocket as a soft splash reached her ears. The thief dared a look at the water below, ready to dive back into it at a moment's notice. But her eyes couldn't make out what had caused the splash.

"Hope mew don't mind me dropping in."

Luna jumped at the voice, almost losing her grip. She turned her head to glare at the green eyes glowing behind her. "Dammit, kitten. Was that necessary?" She hissed.

Chat snickered at her. "Somebody's jumpy." He sat perfectly poised on the tip of his staff, folded in his signature crouch. Luna wanted to question how he could balance like that in moving water, but decided to save herself the headache.

"I think I have every right to be. I'm more than a little bit vulnerable, right now."

The hero adjusted himself, straightening and wrapping himself around his staff. "Well, I'd hate to leave such a lovely maiden hanging," he said, offering his hand. "Want a lift?"

"Ever the charmer," Luna said with a chuckle. "Not sure you should, though, kitten. The press would have a field day if anyone found Chat Noir aiding a known criminal."

"Who says they have to find out?"

"You really want to risk it?"

Chat frowned. It wasn't like she didn't have a point. Hell, he didn't want to even think about Ladybug finding out about his relationship with the thief. But it wasn't like they could change what happened. And he wasn't about to turn his back on one of the few friends he had. Especially when this was pretty much his fault.

"What's life without a bit of risk?" He asked with a smile.

Luna eyed the hand offered to her, silently weighing her options. Her body was starting to go stiff. Even if she wanted to, she probably wasn't going to make it up much further.

"You'll have to grab my waist, kitten. I'm gonna lose my grip if I let go, now."

Chat reached forward and snaked his arm around her. Luna waited until he was ready to support her before yanking her daggers out of the stone wall. Chat let out a soft grunt as she fell into his grip. She wrapped an arm around his neck and fumbled to put her daggers away.

"Think you can move to my back?" The hero asked.

The thief nodded and did as told, despite her body's protests. Chat kept them steady as she moved. Once she settled in, her legs locked around his waist, the leather-clad boy looked skyward.

"I'll move fast and stay at high level. That should keep people from seeing us."

"Sounds g-good to me, kitten." She pressed as close as she could manage to him, trying to siphon his warmth. Now that she'd stopped moving, the night's chill was finally getting to her.

"We heading to your house?" The masked boy asked. He frowned at her shivering.

She shook her head against his shoulder. "T-too risky... H-head south... there's a s-safe house n-nearb-by."

Chat's grimace deepened. "Alright. Hang on tight."

They vaulted into the sky faster than Luna could draw in a breath. In the blink of an eye, they were weightlessly flying through the air. Luna's eyes grew wide as Paris shifted beneath them. This was nothing like grappling. This was so much better. Gravity caught them again, giving her that rollercoaster feeling in her stomach. Chat arched towards a line of rooftops. As soon as his feet touched down, he was off like a rocket. Luna did her best to direct him despite the wind rushing her eyes. Why she didn't put her damned goggles back on, she'll never know. Still, Chat had little trouble finding the place. The building was more or less rundown, boards covering the windows and shingles broken and askew. Adrien had seen it a few times in his travels but never really paid it much mind. Now, as he landed them on the building's roof, he understood the convenience of it. A place few would enter where you could lay low if need be.

"Here we are, fair maiden," the hero said.

"T-thanks," Luna said as she untangled herself from the catboy. She tried to control her shivering as she opened a skylight hatch. The warm air inside helped immensely with that, making her sigh in relief as she entered. Chat followed her in and was immediately taken aback. The room they fell into was far from rundown. Motion-sensor lights illuminated the space, revealing a barren but functional living quarters. A black leather couch sat against a white-painted wall. In front of that was a dark wood coffee table with a laptop on it. On the other side of the room was a large padlocked chest. The windows were covered with thick, heavy boards, making the skylight the room's sole connection to the outside world. The only door present led to an equally plain bathroom. That was where Luna went, shedding her waterlogged belt and jacket along the way.

"Hey, Luna?"

She stopped at the doorway, glancing over her shoulder at him. "Yeah?"

Chat scratched his head. "You sure you're alright?"

Luna frowned. She beckoned him closer, and with a bit of hesitation, the blond obliged. As soon as he was close enough, she flicked his forehead.

"Ah! Hey!" he said, rubbing the spot.

"Don't you dare apologize, Agreste," she said as she folded her arms.

"Huh? I wasn't... Well, shouldn't I?" He rubbed the back of his neck, looking more than a little guilty.

"Of course not! You won, I lost. That's all there is to it."

"Yeah, but-"

"You're not honestly going to tell me you didn't enjoy that fight."

Chat looked down. "Well, no... I mean, it was fun... More or less, anyway."

"Then, what's the problem? So what if I got a little wet? Just means I'll have to get you back during our next fight." She gave him a smirk. "I happen to like a challenge, kitten. So, don't start going soft on me, now. Otherwise, I'll have to find a more serious playmate."

He blinked, then let out a small chuckle. "Alright, I get it. No going easy on you."

"You'd better not." She shoved him, playfully. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm still very much soaked and freezing my ass off. I'm going to take a shower."

"Guess I should get going, then." He bowed with a flourish. "Until tomorrow, fair maiden. This knight still has a paw-trol to finish."

Luna laughed. "Get lost, kitten."

She shut the bathroom door, leaving Chat alone to grin at himself. He shouldn't have worried so much.

Whew! Another chapter finally done! Once again, it took longer than I would've liked, mostly 'cause action scene. Still, I really enjoyed this chapter a lot. Thank you all for your continued support, and I look forward to your reviews!