A/N: The idea for this was born when I came across a certain comment in TvTropes' page about ML. It went downhill from there. It was kind of fun to investigate French security agencies. This should be canon-compliant as far as S1 is concerned although I sneaked in a headcanon or three. Also, it's a reveal fic. Enjoy. Can be also found on AO3 and Tumblr.

84 Rue de Villiers looked rather intimidating. Marinette was used to the older architecture and the modern design of the administrative building didn't help her nerves. She understood why she was called in - the letter she had received had been very clear on that - but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling a certain apprehension.

As Ladybug, she interacted with the police force regularly. But DGSI was not an ordinary police force. Being directly under the control of the Minister for Interior, the agency had more pull and weight, its jurisdiction not restricted to Paris only. And now they had gotten interested in the Akuma attacks due to the international repercussions of the recent possessions. With so many of those incidents centering around the people in their class, many had been called for interviews over the past week.

Alya had gone the day before and according to her, the interviewer had just wanted to confirm some things about the recent events. Then again, Alya had had nothing to hide, unlike Marinette herself.

Well, dithering would get her nowhere. Adjusting the strap of her purse and drawing comfort from the knowledge of Tikki's presence, Marinette walked into the building, looked around and nearly walked out again.

Adrien was standing in the waiting area, talking to a woman who seemed to be in her early thirties. She was holding a stack of folders and seemed to be checking something in one of them. Neither of them spotted Marinette yet but it was only a matter of time.

Adrien's presence would have made Marinette nervous even under the normal circumstances. The problem was that she had yet to approach him about the old book she had taken to Master Fu and the more she was putting it off, the more nervous she got. Technically, she had stolen it and being labeled a thief wasn't an impression she wanted him to have. Besides, there was always the danger of something about her other life coming to light and she wasn't sure she was ready for that.

Contemplating how much trouble she would get into if she turned tail and ran away delayed her enough for Adrien to look up and see her. He brightened up and waved at her and it would be really rude to leave now so Marinette fervently hoped she wouldn't do anything to embarrass herself and walked towards him.

The woman looked up from her paperwork and her smile was almost blinding.

"You must be Marinette Dupain-Cheng, it's so great to meet you. I'm Eveline Laurent, I'm overseeing your case, if you need anything, just let me know."

"Nice to meet you, too," Marinette said after a noticeable pause, not prepared for such an enthusiastic greeting. Eveline nodded and then gestured for the two teens to follow her.

"We're going to talk in my office in case I need to double-check some details," she said, leading them towards an elevator and burying her nose in her files again.

"Hey," Adrien spoke quietly and Marinette was very proud of her quiet "Hey" she managed in return. "She's very excitable, she gave me the same speech when I arrived."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, she's nothing like Nino said she would be."

"Maybe he was interviewed by someone else?" she suggested and Adrien nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe, he didn't remember the name."

They fell quiet after that, getting on the elevator and going up three floors before being led down a long corridor into a rather spacious office. There were pictures all over the walls, portraits of Akuma victims and various shots of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Eveline dumped her load of files on the already overflowing table and gestured towards two chairs in front of it.

"Take a seat. Can I get you anything to drink or eat? We'll probably be here for a while."

"No, thank you," Adrien declined and Marinette agreed.

"What about your kwami?" Eveline asked absent-mindedly as she rooted around in one of the drawers of the table and thus missed the absolute terror dawning on Marinette's face. She must have misheard, right? Right? There was no way the woman knew about that. "I'm not sure how often they need to eat, if it's similar to humans or if there are different rules for them."

Marinette was resolutely not looking at Adrien. She could still pretend she had no idea what the woman was talking about. Yes, she would just deny having any knowledge of anything like a kwami, ha-ha, what is a kwami, never heard of it in my life.

Eveline looked at her and Marinette froze even more. The woman appeared confused for a moment before she laughed out loud.

"Oh my, I'm such an idiot, it's okay, I know that you two are Ladybug and Chat Noir and I won't tell anyone who doesn't already know. Not only are there some four NDAs I have signed but I happen to be a big fan, too."

And there was that blinding smile again but Marinette could only focus on "you two are Ladybug and Chat Noir". It was like the words were playing on a loop in her mind. The only other person who was present was Adrien. And she was Ladybug which meant that Adrien was Chat. Except it didn't really make sense. It shouldn't make sense because that would mean that Adrien... and that she... and and and...

Marinette slowly turned her head towards her classmate. He smiled a bit sheepishly but he didn't look very discouraged by the reveal. Quite the opposite, really and Marinette looked down, hoping that her face wasn't as red as it felt.

"I take it you were unaware of each other's identities?"

Marinette shook her head.

"No, we didn't know," Adrien confirmed and Eveline slumped in her chair, looking dejected.

"I'm so, so, sorry. I was sure you knew. You're classmates and the few times you interacted with one of you in the mask and the other without, it looked like planning sessions."

Marinette would have loved to just stay quiet and uninvolved but she needed to know what mistakes they had made when it came to hiding their identities.

"How did you find out?" she asked and Eveline pulled out a stack of photos that she pushed across the table towards them.

"There are more than 9500 security cameras in the Parisian Metro. Just because no one's around doesn't mean no one's watching."

"Oh."

Eveline stood up.

"I'm going to get some refreshments for all of us anyway. It should take me about half an hour and this office is very secure so if you need to discuss anything, feel free."

With a last reassuring smile at the two, she walked out. Marinette kept looking at the photo from the camera that captured her mid-transformation but she could feel the weight of Adrien's stare on her. So she gathered every scrap of courage she could and looked at her classmate, crush and partner and smiled a little.

"Hey, I guess we need to talk."

"It's quite a shock, huh?" Adrien snatched another photo, this one of him. "Wow, the transformation looks really cool. I mean, I thought it did but seeing it for myself is-"

"Adrien," she spoke the name in the same tone she used for Chat and the boy hunched a little.

"I'm sorry, I know you didn't want us to know."

"It's not your fault," she said. "We should have been more careful but I never even thought about the cameras."

"At least it seems they're okay with us."

"Mhm."

"Are we okay?" he asked shyly and Marinette suddenly didn't know what to tell him. The biggest reason why she wanted to keep their identities secret was the danger their occupation posed to their families and friends. Based on the photos, several people had known for weeks and there had yet to be a negative impact on their lives. So it came down to the other big reason for her reluctance to share. Her fear of Marinette not living up to Ladybug.

"I don't know," she admitted at last. Adrien nodded and put the photo back into the stack.

"For what it's worth," he said while avoiding her eyes, "I'm glad it's someone I already know."

"Me too," she replied because it was true but then she didn't know how to continue.

"Let's hope that the agent brings back some cheese soon," a voice drawled from inside Adrien's shirt and there was a wriggling movement as a small black kwami popped his head out. "It's embarrassing just listening to you two and it's getting worse by the minute."

"Plagg!" Adrien shouted as he tried to wrestle his kwami back into his pocket but the small cat-like creature evaded him easily and flew across the table to settle himself on the back of the chair there.

"Hi, Ladybug, where's Tikki?"

"I'm here," Tikki said as she popped out of Marinette's purse and flew over to join the other kwami, promptly smacking him on the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"You know what. Can't you see this is not a time for jokes?"

"I wasn't joking," Plagg protested. "It is embarrassing how they make things complicated for themselves. This is why we should just stick with cheese."

"Is cheese your answer to everything?" Adrien asked rather exasperatedly and Marinette almost giggled. From what little she had seen of Plagg, he was quite the handful.

"It stopped things from being awkward, didn't it?" the kwami asked cheekily.

"Thank you, Plagg," Marinette told him and he puffed up at the praise. Tikki shook her head but it was true. The awkwardness was dispelled with the two additions in the conversation and Marinette turned in her chair.

"He's right, though, maybe we're making this too complicated. I trust you with my life every time we fight an akuma so this shouldn't be any different."

"Still partners?" Adrien asked as he offered her a fist and she bumped it with her own.

"Always."

"To think you were the voice of reason this time," Tikki murmured to Plagg. He harrumphed and dived into the stack of files on the table. Tikki sighed, met Marinette's eyes and gestured towards where her fellow kwami disappeared before going after him.

"And now we wait," Adrien stated.

"We need to find out what the directorate want from us. I don't think they would go through all this trouble if they wanted to stop us from doing what we do."

Before Adrien could reply, the door opened and Eveline stuck her head in.

"Everything cleared up?"

"Uhm, sort of?" Marinette replied. It wasn't half an hour at all but before she could voice her question, Eveline awkwardly shuffled in, carrying a small cooler and a plate of assorted pastries.

"I'm sorry, I sort of lied," she admitted as she opened the cooler and handed out bottled water. "We monitor the offices but I redirected the feed from this one to go only to my headset." She tapped a small device on her ear that was hidden by her hair. "Someone said they wanted cheese?"

She held out a foil-wrapped triangle. There was a black blur and the cheese was gone.

"Camembert!" came a delighted cry and Eveline smiled a bit.

"I called up the previous Chat Noir and asked about the kwami's tastes. I've got the cookies for the other one, too."

Tikki was more gracious about her treat as she perched herself on Marinette's chair. It was a protective gesture that Marinette didn't miss.

"Agent Laurent, why are we here?"

The smile faded as Eveline took her place behind the table.

"Long story short, there is a history of cooperation between the predecessors of this directorate and Miraculous holders. We are well aware that some threats of magical nature can only be battled by magic. After some missteps in the first half of the century, a special law was passed that provides protection for the Miraculous holders as long as their actions are in the interest of the French people. They are offered assistance in return for sharing information on the threats they faced. There is a certain adjustment period allowed for new holders before they're approached by us. You were brought in ahead of that time due to the international consequences of the recent Akuma attacks but this meeting would have happened by the fall at the latest."

"So you want to help us?" Marinette asked.

"Yes. I mean, you handle yourselves well enough in actual combat but we could provide medical attention if you needed it. Therapists to help you deal with any psychological needs. We could even handle all those tardy passes you two are racking up," she added teasingly. "Everyone involved with this would sign NDAs - nondisclosure agreements - so your identities would stay safe."

"What's the catch?" Adrien asked.

"We would require cooperation and information. Following the chain of command if a joint operation would happen. Signing a NDA yourselves. We would basically treat you like a free-lance agents of ours."

"And the previous Chat Noir you mentioned?" Marinette ventured the question she knew Adrien wanted to ask but wouldn't.

"One of our best operatives. She's currently out of the country but she's looking forward to meeting you both."

They talked some more, hours slipping by as they were debriefed on their fights from Stoneheart to Volpina until it was time to leave. Eveline walked them out, handing them both her card and promising to let them know when they would meet next.

"Well, that went rather well," Adrien said as they headed towards the metro station.

"Yes, it did," Marinette agreed before she realized something. "Don't you need to let your bodyguard know you're done?"

Adrien rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Erm, I actually texted him that I was going to hang out with a friend. That is, if you want to?"

Marinette nodded without thinking. Having gone through all of their fights again helped her to reconcile Adrien and Chat in her mind and she suspected it was the same for him. And she wanted to hang out with him more, now that her crush-based awkwardness was tempered by their partnership.

"That would be nice."

"Great. Shall we, My Lady?" he asked as he offered her his arm and she looped her arm through it.

"Let's go, Kitty."

After all, what did awkwardness really mean when they were first, foremost and always, partners.