To armadas: Good guess, but no! The Crocodile is actually an American Miraculous. As far as why there are so many miraculous in Paris, I haven't given it much thought as far as in-universe reasons. Andretti's miraculous (and why he has it) does get explained in the next chapter. As of now, the reason for all the miraculous in Paris is largely chance (primarily the chance that both survivors of the Tibet temple's collapse would eventually find themselves in Paris). This particular miraculous wasn't found in Paris but was brought there.

To Butterfly: What can I say? I love writing action! Dolphin also is a good (albeit incorrect) guess. I actually don't have that one down anywhere yet since it's a little too close to a Narwhal – the same reason I don't have an alligator. Of course, there are Amazon River dolphins…

To atchleykera031: I don't think you're alone in disliking Lila!

To yellow 14: Unfortunately, this one is a definite win for Lila so far.

To PG.182227: Lila going evil wasn't exactly unexpected. Glad you enjoyed "RooT"! I have plans for a one-shot series set in the "'RooT'-verse" or "Ladybug-2039-verse," but I haven't written it yet. But I do want to write it sooner than later. And cross them over with the main universe.

Sent-Bee bit back a curse as Killer Bee fled, carrying both her partner and Andretti over her shoulders as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. "Come on! We can still catch them!" she shouted, watching Killer Bee stumble, lose her footing, and nearly fall to the sidewalk below while above a wider street along a telephone wire.

"I'm right behind you," Duchesse Bleue called. Something in her voice sounded off. Sent-Bee turned to look, and her eyes went wide.

Duchesse Bleue was wobbling unsteadily on her feet, the adrenaline of the fight having started to fade away. A small trickle of blood from a cut on her forehead dripped blood into her eye. Blood ran from her nose. Duchesse Bleue wiped her mouth and winced against her split lip. Sent-Bee rushed over and caught her before she could fall, easing her down to sit on the curb. Bee-atrice hopped up on the curb next to them and nuzzled up against Duchesse Bleue's side, licking her gloved hand. Duchesse Bleue stroked the top of the puppy's head, letting out a quiet breath, her head dropping to rest on Sent-Bee's shoulder. With her other hand she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Dammit, girl, when were you planning on saying something?" Sent-Bee demanded, pulling a gauze pad out of the first aid kit on her belt and dabbing at the cut over Duchesse Bleue's eye. "She got you right above where your mask would have protected you."

Duchesse Bleue waved her hand dismissively, shoving Sent-Bee away. "I'm fine, Chlo," she insisted, trying to push herself up.

"Do I need to give Pegasus a call and get him to make you sit still for a minute?" Sent-Bee put a hand on her shoulder and pressed her back down. When Duchesse Bleue didn't struggle, she sat back and gave her a deadpan look. "You're ridiculous," she retorted.

Duchesse Bleue hung her head and sighed. "I'm sorry they got away."

"It's not your fault," Sent-Bee told her, putting a bandage over her forehead cut to pull it closed. "I'm sorry I dragged you out here and got you hurt."

"I'm the one who wanted to come with you," Duchesse Bleue pointed out, wincing as Sent-Bee handed her another couple gauze pads, one of which she pressed against her split lip, running her tongue across the cut and wincing, and the other of which she wadded up and pushed into her nose. "You didn't force me to do anything."

Sent-Bee examined her more closely and frowned. "This is your first time going on patrol, isn't it? Hell, this is your first time getting into a fight!" She smacked her forehead and groaned, shaking her head in annoyance. "Ugh, forget about you; I'm the ridiculous one!"

"What about that time we stopped the fashion show robbery?" asked Duchesse Bleue, raising an eyebrow. She winced as the movement pulled at the edge of the bandage on her forehead.

Sent-Bee scoffed. "You mean that time Jagged Stone nearly flattened a family?" she replied incredulously. "Guitar Hero and I did all the work; you and the Owl just hung back and did crowd control! Utterly ridiculous," she muttered under her breath.

Duchesse Bleue shrugged. "Hawk Moth was wrong about a lot of things, but one thing he got right was that the Butterfly Miraculous – and the Peacock, too, for that matter – is at its best when it can operate from the shadows with a team in front of it," she explained. "There's only so much I can do by myself as Impératrice Pourpre to stop a robbery or prevent a train derailment; I can do so much more by giving someone else exactly the abilities they need to save the day."

Sent-Bee groaned. "In other words, this is your first time really fighting, and I let you get your ass handed to you by Killer Goddamn Bee." Duchesse Bleue's silence was all the answer she needed. "That's it: we really need to spar sometime to make sure you're ready if this ever happens again."

Duchesse Bleue nodded and leaned back, resting her hands on the sidewalk behind her. Bee-atrice nuzzled up against her hand, whining, and Duchesse Bleue began absently petting her. "I think I'd like that."

Sent-Bee smirked. "See if you still think that when I'm done with you!" She laughed. "But don't worry: I promise I'll go easier on you than Anansi has ever gone on me!" She fell silent, watching as Duchesse Bleue poked at her lip and worried it with her teeth, wincing when it stung. Slowly her nosebleed slowed and stopped. Finally Duchesse Bleue looked up at her.

"That's not really what's bothering you," she observed calmly. "There's something else that's on your mind."

Sent-Bee stared and her in annoyance. "There are times when I really wish I hadn't recommended giving you a miraculous that lets you sense emotions."

Duchesse Bleue giggled and arched an eyebrow. "We both know you don't really mean that!"

"Maybe not," Sent-Bee conceded, smiling ruefully. "All the same…" She was quiet for a moment before she sighed and explained. "We failed. Lynchpin won tonight."

Duchesse Bleue nodded, a troubled expression on her face. "Yeah…"

"Did you see? Killer Bee got away with Lorenzo Andretti. That means Lynchpin will be able to consolidate Andretti's operation with his own. He'll be back in business selling drugs, and there really isn't anything we can do about it now. Everything we accomplished over the summer will have been for nothing." Sent-Bee groaned and slammed her fist on the sidewalk next to her. "Dammit!"

Duchesse Bleue put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Not for nothing. We cut off the drug trade in Paris almost entirely for a month-plus. And we eliminated a few of the sources for Lynchpin's drugs. And we got rid of his police moles."

"For now," Sent-Bee muttered gloomily.

"Even if this lets him start to rebuild, the summer was still worth it." Duchesse Bleue sighed. "Whatever happens from here, we'll deal with it as a team."

"Yeah…" Sent-Bee pulled out her phone. "I suppose we'd better let the police in on the fun." The new Superhero Liaison Department's night dispatcher answered immediately. "This is Sent-Bee," she reported tersely. "There was an abduction in the 17th Arrondissement less than five minutes ago." She quickly gave the address. "From what we can tell, the victim was Andretti himself. A couple of his guys are unconscious in front of the building."

The dispatcher repeated the information back promptly. "Unfortunately, we are low on units at the moment. This is the fifth incident that has been reported tonight, all in the same Arrondissement, and the local precinct has been overwhelmed by the calls. It may take a couple minutes before we get our own duty officer to you."

Sent-Bee arched an eyebrow at Duchesse Bleue, who shrugged. "Take your time," she replied. "It looks like the excitement's over anyways. So I guess we'll just hang out here until he arrives."

"At least this means the turf war is over?" Duchesse Bleue offered once Sent-Bee had disconnected the call, though without any real enthusiasm.

"The turf war's over, and Lynchpin has his drugs back."

"It will still take him some time to consolidate it, at least," Duchesse Bleue pointed out. She poked at her lip absently. "Anything could happen before all the Andretti people are actually on board with the new management." Sent-Bee hummed in acknowledgment. "So what was the deal with Killer Bee's partner?"

Sent-Bee shrugged. "No idea. Never seen her before in my life. But she called herself La Gymnaste, and she really didn't seem to like me for some reason… What did you get from her?"

"A whole mix of emotions," answered Duchesse Bleue, furrowing her brows in concentration. "I couldn't say for sure, but definitely not like I've felt from any of the other Lynchpin-ions."

"She definitely wasn't a Dark Acolyte," Sent-Bee observed, frowning. "And she wasn't using a miraculous. Non-miraculous villain?"

Duchesse Bleue shrugged. "We have some teammates who don't use miraculous; why shouldn't they have some, too?"

Sent-Bee hummed in acknowledgment as a police car turned down the street, its dome light flashing, and stopped in front of them. A tall, muscular officer stepped out of the driver's side and took one look at the two heroes and puppy sitting on the curb, and the trio of unconscious men on the ground around them. "Do I even need to ask?" he asked rhetorically, nudging one of the criminals with his foot. The man blinked dumbly and started to stir, and the officer knelt next to him, planting his knee on the man's chest. He fumbled one-handed with a pair of handcuffs, and secured his wrists before he had really regained consciousness.

"Probably not, Lieutenant Ramus," Duchesse Bleue agreed, forcing a chuckle. "But we actually didn't fight these three. It was Killer Bee, and she wasn't alone."

"Damn," Lieutenant Ramus observed conversationally, snapping the handcuffs shut and testing that they were secure. He removed two more pairs of handcuffs from his holster, and Sent-Bee held out a hand. Lieutenant Ramus shrugged and tossed one pair to her. She caught them easily and quickly slapped them on the second man while he secured the last one. The silver prosthetic on his left forearm caught the light from the working streetlight down the block as he double-checked that the handcuffs were all fastened properly. Finally he nodded to the heroes. "If the two of you need to leave, I can handle these three from here and wait for the regular unis to come and take statements from Andretti's family."

"Thank you, Officer," Sent-Bee told him. She gave Duchesse Bleue a look and nodded toward the south and home. "Not much left for us to do tonight," she observed glumly, pushing herself up to her feet and securing Bee-atrice in her carrying compartment. She held a hand out to help Duchesse Bleue up.

"Yeah… we may as well head back."

AN: This is the first real appearance of the Superhero Liaison Department that Roger has been forming since the end of "The Battle for the Seine." Lieutenant Ramus actually appeared in that story, though he wasn't named. I already have at least 1 "Life and Times" one-shot with the Liaison Department appearing in it, and they'll probably pop up in some "Patrol Logs" as well. If you are interested in seeing more of their inner workings, let me know. I'm thinking about a "procedural" anthology similar to "Patrol Logs" which follows Roger's team as they deal with super-villains and other unusual phenomena, but I'll only write it if people are interested in reading something like that. Most likely it would only feature occasional appearances by heroes (primarily Pegasus and Rena Rouge).

The "fashion show robbery" is a reference to "Tit for Tat."