Marinette's head was spinning.

A mixture of happiness, uncertainty, and grief hit her all at once.

Luka had asked her— a mere assistant whose current skills included brewing coffee and acting a fool— to work on the case with him. She was finally getting the chance to bring the Detective Kim's killer to justice.

Luka tapped on one of the papers that cascaded out of the folder he was holding. Marinette looked closer, squinting her blue eyes to the best of her ability in order to read the print. But she was standing and the words were so small.

The blue-haired detective noticed she was attempting to decipher the text on the page, and started explaining. "A small business across from us has security camera footage facing the back of the building. It's not the greatest quality, and doesn't capture the entire building, but it's something."

Marinette's heartbeat quickened. If she remembered correctly, the mysterious killer had entered through a hole in the back of the building that conveniently happened to be in Detective Kim's office. How did they know where to go?

Her thoughtful eyes followed Luka as he scooted over to the left of his desk and pulled up a file on his computer. A thumbnail of a video popped up showing the back corner of the police station.

Marinette hurriedly joined Luka behind his desk, bending over and peeking at the video over his right shoulder.

Luka pressed play and everything seemed normal. It was a sunny, beautiful day. Birds landed on the sidewalk, basking in the warm sun.

"Let's fast forward a bit to the action," Luka mumbled, taking his cursor and sliding it to roughly the halfway point of the video.

The scene completely changed, the sun had gone away, and it appeared as if the front end of the black car was on the right hand of the screen. A license plate couldn't be deciphered, and it was such a small portion of the front hood that the car make couldn't be made out. But it was definitely a car, given the sliver of headlights visible.

A few more seconds passed, and the video suddenly jump and shook violently. Smoke billowed and filled the view of the camera; no doubt when the explosion had occurred.

Marinette shifted uncomfortably, anxious as view was still rendered useless by the smoke and debris. She just wanted to see.

"Basically unseeable at this point," Luka mumbled, reaching for his mouse.

"So that's it?" Marinette huffed in disappointment.

"Not at all," Luka chirped back in amusement, moving the cursor of the video ahead a few minutes. The video buffered and loaded, and a bit of the smoke had cleared up. Still nothing of interest, until-

Some long object appeared through the smoke in the right-hand corner of the screen, near the front of the car. It was— a leg! Marinette smiled in excitement. That was definitely a leg.

The figure started moving around the front of the car, now visibly clad in high-heeled black boots. They had a feline-like walk. Moved with such pomp and confidence. Marinette's eyes were glued to the screen as she followed this figure; who undoubtedly had long hair of an unknown color, as they walked around the front of the car and then disappeared off screen again.

"That's a woman!" Marinette exclaimed, pointing to the screen.

"Yes," Luka grinned. "Our first real piece of something. This person is no doubt the mastermind or an accomplice of this mess."

"I wish I could see her face," Marinette seethed. She, now reached for the mouse and scrolled further into the video.

"There's nothing else unfortunately," Luka sighed.

"Damn," Marinette cursed.

"But now we know," Luka nodded. "This woman may be the killer we're searching for."

Marinette searched her memories, remembering the figure she saw the day her boss was murdered. She does not remember the figure being a female. If anything they had to have been a man. But again, things were so unclear...

"Either that or a nasty accomplice," Marinette responded. "To help the real killer get away."

"If that's the case we have a hell of a lot more shit to unpack," Luka groaned.

"And we will unpack it," Marinette nodded confidently, placing her hand on her hip. For the first time since starting this internship, she felt useful. Like she can contribute in some way.

"That's the spirit, Marinette," Luka smiled. He raised from his chair, reminding Marinette of the height difference between them. He looked down upon her, though his eyes sparked in a way where she was anything but below him. He admired her drive.

"We'll make a great team."

*

A black SUV was conveniently parked outside of the police department, where he knew his prey was waiting. He'd been studying Marinette over the past few days, ever since their first meeting.

He picked up on her schedule, her favorite places to eat, and even a possible hobby as he noticed her carrying a sketchpad out of work one day. All of this was to make as seamless of an introduction into her life before he discreetly sealed her fate.

Adrien's feet were kicked up on the dashboard as he enjoyed a cup of frozen yogurt. "Time?" he asked, scraping his spoon around the edge of the container, picking up the last remnants of the dessert.

Lila snarled and her green eyes darted to the digital clock. "5:57." She was less than thrilled about this laid back approach. She huffed, using the steering wheel to shift herself so she was facing Adrien. "Why don't we just kill her when she's going back to her car?"

"No," Adrien replied uninterestingly.

"Why?!" Lila yelled. "I can't take this. I'm gonna lose it if I don't kill someone."

"This isn't your mission," Adrien shot back, his emerald eyes narrowing. "This is my fault so I have to fix it."

"So FIX IT," Lila shrugged. "We're waiting here with our thumbs up our asses for what?!"

"Because I can't make the same mistake I made last time!"

"She saw you buddy," Lila retorted. "She knows. End this and let's get on with our lives."

"She saw me but she didn't see me," Adrien raised his eyebrow, focusing his gaze back out the window and towards the police station. "If she knew who I was we'd be seeing a wanted poster with an awful drawing of my face on it right about now."

Lila rolled her eyes. "Okayyy, and I care why?"

"Because we're doing this the stealthiest way I can," Adrien nodded.

"More like stupidest," she slid down in her chair and started chewing on a piece of her hair.

"She won't see it coming."

Suddenly, Adrien saw Marinette exiting the front door. She was happier today than usual; skipping to her car with a pep in her step. She made a beeline for the park, where she walked through occasionally after work.

"There," Adrien mumbled in a low voice.

"Okay, Alex, go sweep her off her feet," Lila said, unlocking the car.

Adrien exhaled. He had his story in order. He was going for a walk and just happened to run into Marinette. Then, he's going to give her his phone number and they start to build a friendship.

He smoothed the back of his hair before jumping out of the car and heading in the opposite direction of Marinette. He'd soon circle around and accidentally bump into her on her way through the park.

A few minutes of walking and Adrien's plan had worked the way he hoped; Marinette was coming right for him. He prepared, lifting his head ever so slightly so she may recognize him.

Marinette stopped, immediately catching sight of the figure standing in front of her. She went rigid. It was that dreamy boy again. Alex!

Her inability to function decided to act up again and she couldn't think properly. She wanted to say "Hi," or "What's up," or "Nice to see you here!"

But no words came out.

Especially not since a reporter shoved his face in between her and the dreamy blonde boy.

"Ms. Dupain Cheng! Any new thoughts on the Detective's murder?!" the eager male reporter screeched, eyes wide with hunger.

"Uh," Marinette blinked, "No?"

The reporter and his camera man pressed in closer. "Are you sure? It's been a few weeks since the accident, are you positive no new information has come to light?!?"

She gulped. Nothing besides what Luka showed her. But she wasn't sure that information was ready to be publicly shared. "Uh, I-"

Adrien moved in front of Marinette, shielding her from the hungry reporter. "Leave her alone, please. She doesn't remember."

"And who are you? Her boyfriend?" The reporter asked curiously.

"No!" Adrien said a little too quickly. He then bit his lip. How could he make this less suspicious... He cleared his throat. "I mean... not yet. I was gonna ask her today."

"Awww," the reporter chuckled. "Young love."

"Yes, very sweet," Adrien said with a fake laugh. "We have to leave now." He grabbed Marinette who went completely still and speechless. He almost had to drag her away before her legs finally started moving.

"B-boyfriend?" she stuttered.

"Sorry," Adrien replied. "I said that so they'd leave you alone."

"Oh, it's okay," Marinette nodded, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "It kinda gets hard to do anything out of the house these days. People always want the scoop or whatever."

Adrien led her over to a park bench sufficiently far enough from that reporter. "That sucks," he sighed. "It's a good thing I happened to run into you!"

"Yes! I'm not complaining," Marinette smiled, her cheeks rose and plump. "Uh, I mean, just- you're very handsome."

Adrien widened his eyes. "Oh, thanks. No ones said that to me before." He must admit, he was impressed with how bold she was.

"Wow, really?" Marinette asked. "That's surprising. You're like the most gorgeous person I've ever seen."

Adrien chuckled. "Guess I got good genes."

Something in Marinette's face changed all of a sudden, and she almost appeared to collapse within herself. She crossed her arms.

"Hey, uh, Alex can I just ask you something?" she spoke softly.

Adrien gulped. "Yes, what's up?"

"Well all of this is just pretty weird with how we've been seeing each other around," Marinette mumbled, picking at her nails.

Oh shit, Adrien thought. Shit. She's onto me.

"Are you-" Marinette breathed out.

This is it. She figured him out. All there was left to do to was kill her so it wouldn't get spread around. Sweat beaded down his temple.

Marinette finished the damning question.

"Are you an undercover reporter?"

Adrien felt his muscles relax. He let out the breath he had been holding.

"No," Adrien replied. "What makes you think that?"

"Oh, just 'cause this is the second time I've bumped into you and I've never been so lucky," Marinette smiled, her bluebell eyes squinting shut.

He let out his held breath. Phew. He thought he was done for. He chuckled, replacing all worry with relief. "No, I guess I'm just super lucky too. And I'm also on my way to get those burritos from that one place you told me about!"

Marinette laughed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Could you give me your number? U-uh, just so I can recommend a burrito to you!"

Adrien widened his eyes. She reached out to him first? She must be crazy or playing him. He noticed she was kind of awkward but... did she actually have a crush on him?

"Oh," he forced out."Uh." His mind raced with thoughts of uncertainty.

You won't get another chance. Give it to her.

Marinette's smile started to fade away. "Never mind, it's fine-"

"Here!" Adrien said loudly, his face turning red at how loud and sudden he was. He pulled out a marker and gestured for Marinette's hand.

She blinked before outstretching her arm over to him. Her soft, tiny hand waited shakily in the air.

He carefully grabbed it with his significantly larger hands and began scribbling his number on the back of it.

"There," Adrien grinned. "My number."

"Awesome," Marinette examined the number on her hand with happiness. "I can't wait to hear what you think of El Burrito!"

"I'll definitely keep you posted," Adrien winked. He was grateful she ended up getting his number. Now it'd be easier to take tabs on her. "Thanks Marinette. See ya later!"

"Bye!" she waved enthusiastically.

Adrien walked away, letting his cool exterior down. He was worried for a moment that she'd caught into him, but luckily she was just worried about the press. Slowly but surely, he was working his way into Marinette's heart.

But what the killer didn't notice, was if Marinette was also working her way into his.