To yellow 14: Don't you just want to punch the manipulative little bitch in the teeth?

To Butterfly: Thanks! Writing Lila is a… fun challenge, shall we say?

To StarDaPanda225: I didn't see your review of chapter 7 until after I published 8. Sabrina's miraculous is much better from the background, but she can fight. It's same with Max, so it made sense after Max went out in the field in "It Came from Outer Space" for Sabrina to do the same! I've gotten at least a few positive responses as far as the "Superhero Liaison Department" is concerned, so I am starting to work on it. I have a "Life and Times" one-shot already written, and I'm not sure if I want to start this one-shot series before or after publishing that.

Two days later, Chloe jogged down the lycée's front steps into the bright sunlight as her lunch break began. It was the first day of the new school year, with all the emotions that brought: the sadness of summer's end, the excitement of a new year and new classes (though Chloe would never admit to that), the bittersweet realization that this was her last year in school with her friends. Sabrina was already waiting for her on the sidewalk, tapping her foot impatiently, standing just off to the side from a group of other students who were also leaving campus for lunch.

"Max isn't joining us today?" Chloe asked, glancing back at the school expectantly.

Sabrina held up her phone and shook her head. "He said he was going to eat here and visit the library."

Chloe arched an eyebrow. "Not that I'm complaining about being spared turning into a third wheel, but what kind of homework could he need to study for already?"

"You realize he's said the same thing about you, right?" Sabrina giggled. "Considering our 'extracurricular activities,' getting a jump on homework as early as possible is probably a good idea," she pointed out. "Plus, the classes are all harder this year. The reading list almost makes me wish I hadn't taken M. Pecquet's Psychology elective."

"Serves you right for taking challenging classes!" Chloe chuckled.

"Emilie thinks Psychology could be helpful for me, another way to work through and analyze the emotions I sense," explained Sabrina. "She also suggested that I should look into auditing a couple Counseling classes at Descartes this year."

Chloe gave her a look. "That sounds like a lot of extra work. Is that what you want?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Sabrina. Her hand drifted to the brooch pinned to her shirt. "I can help so many people with this – and not just the normal way. If I go into counseling or psychology, I can help people as myself – more than I already do, I mean."

"Just don't take on too much," Chloe warned, frowning. "Looking at the rest of our friends, we don't need you working yourself into a nervous breakdown, too!"

"I'll be careful," Sabrina assured her. "I'm not building a space fleet or anything; I'm taking night classes!"

"Okay…" Chloe shrugged. "Can you believe how much work Mme Cartan expects from us in Calculus this year?" She shook her head in disgust. "It's ridiculous!"

Sabrina giggled. "I suppose you want a few more study sessions with Max and me this year, then?"

"Yeah…" Chloe smirked. "Maybe that way the two of you will actually get some studying done!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "We study plenty," she argued. "You're the one who's always scrolling Instagram!"

"Uh huh." Chloe arched an eyebrow. "And that time I went to get a snack and came back three minutes later to find you 'studying' Max's eyes, you were working on Biology homework."

Sabrina blushed. "That happened once!"

"That I was there for." Chloe's grin faltered on seeing the look in Sabrina's eyes. "No, I'm glad," she assured her. "I'm glad you've got someone who cares about you this much. I'm glad he makes you happy."

Sabrina elbowed her in the ribs playfully. "You're still my best friend, even if I do spend a lot more time with Max. Nothing's going to change that," she promised.

"Oh, I know. I'm just–"

"You don't have to say it," Sabrina interrupted, her lips pulling up into a smirk. She winced as the movement pulled at her still-healing lower lip.

"How does it feel?" asked Chloe, pursing her lips. For as much as she understood Marinette's reluctance to use Miraculous Ladybug on everything, she sometimes wished their Ladybug would just fix everything.

Sabrina sighed. "It's fine as long as I don't smile too much."

"Oooh, you hurt your lip?" Chloe turned to find Lila, Nadine, and Mireille all standing there, walking in the opposite direction. Chloe fought the urge to roll her eyes on hearing the false sympathy in Lila's voice – so obvious when she knew to listen for it. "I'm so sorry to hear that! You know, there's this amazing lip balm that can sort that right out! I can ask the inventor to send you a sample."

Chloe pursed her lips to avoid a reaction. Right; Lila would definitely do that, right after finding a buyer for the Arc de Triomphe!

"So… what happened to your lip?" Nadine asked, a worried look in her eyes.

"I guess Max got a little carried away the other night," Sabrina replied, her cheeks turning a little pink.

Lila eyed her suspiciously. "Max did that," she deadpanned.

Sabrina shrugged. "What can I say? Some guys really know how to kiss!" Her eyes crinkled in amusement. "Too bad you don't know anything about that!"

Before she could stop herself, Chloe let out a snort, almost doubling over in laughter. She caught a brief glimpse of the outrage on Lila's face before Sabrina dragged her further along, away from Lila and her friends. Chloe hurried to keep up with her, took one look at Sabrina's face, and let out another chuckle. "So, does Max know how good of a kisser he apparently is?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at Sabrina. "Also do I want to know how he's supposed to have given you a split lip by kissing? It's a good thing the cut on your forehead healed so fast; I'd hate to know how you would have explained that away with 'Max is a good kisser'!"

Sabrina snorted. "I had to tell her something… and yes," she added, flushing. "He does know he's the best boy I've ever kissed."

Chloe scoffed. "Not much of a competition. Does he know he's also the only boy you've ever kissed?" Sabrina jabbed her in the side playfully. Chloe sighed wistfully, staring off into the distance and grinning. "I wish I'd taken a picture of Lila's face when you said that." She cocked her head in confusion and took a closer look at Sabrina. It wasn't much, but the way her eyebrows knitted together… "What's wrong?"

"I… don't know," Sabrina admitted, frowning. "But I've been thinking about the other night."

"What about it?"

"La Gymnaste," Sabrina explained. "I thought something about her emotions felt wrong, and I think I might have an idea what it was. I felt it again today with Lila and her friends."

Chloe raised an eyebrow in invitation. "How did they feel wrong?"

"That's the thing: they didn't. Her emotions didn't feel like those of a villain." Sabrina frowned, studying the sidewalk as they walked. "It's a weird disconnect. Just now, with Lila and Nadine and Mireille, Lila felt her usual blend of arrogance, jealousy, and malicious pleasure – plus a spike of rage while we were walking away. But Nadine and Mireille didn't feel anything like that. Instead, they felt concern, sympathy – the kinds of emotions I expect in that situation from someone who just noticed that someone was hurt, or at least from someone capable of empathy.

"It was the same the other night. Killer Bee… her emotions were clear: she was excited, she took pleasure in what she was doing, reveled in the thrill of fighting me, and really wanted to hurt you when she fought you – no surprise there! She enjoyed abducting Andretti. Exactly the emotions you would expect from a Lynchpin-ion. But La Gymnaste didn't feel any of that. It was a little thing – the kind of nuance that I don't normally pick up with Nooroo – no offense," she muttered to her purse. "But with Duusu I did pick it up. She felt excited, also, but the kind of excitement was different. It was the same excitement I sense from you or Rose or Kagami when you are out on patrol. The excitement of doing something worthwhile to help people. She felt concern for Killer Bee, even though Killer Bee felt little for her. Her emotions were far more altruistic than any of the other Lynchpin-ions we've encountered. If anything, her emotions were more in line with what I expect from a hero than what I've felt from a villain."

"Huh." Chloe furrowed her eyebrows in contemplation. "So you're saying that she thought she was being a hero? But if that's the case, why team up with Killer Bee and fight against us?"

Sabrina shrugged. "No idea. But from what my dad said, last night was the first time in weeks that there wasn't any violence in the 17th Arrondissement between Andretti and Lynchpin. So I suppose in that sense what Killer Bee did two nights ago did help protect people."

Chloe scoffed. "I'll try to contain my excitement."

"I'm just saying–"

"I know," Chloe interrupted irritably. "But I would be a little happier if this didn't mean Lynchpin and that bitch who's using my miraculous had won."

"But she didn't – not really."

Chloe stared at Sabrina in surprise. "But she got Andretti. Lynchpin has his drugs back. Everything we did over the summer… undone in a single night."

"Not quite." Sabrina pushed the café door open and led the way to a table near the back of the room. She lowered her voice below the volume of the conversations around them. Chloe leaned forward to hear. "Max and Alya spent most of yesterday combing the data on Andretti's operation – we had a ton on them already but hadn't done anything with it."

"So we had the information and didn't do anything with it?" Chloe scoffed. "This just keeps getting better and better."

"Not much to do with it at the time," Sabrina replied. "We're not exactly in the 'anti-drug business' here; we're in the 'anti-Lynchpin business.' But it turns out that two of Andretti's lieutenants were killed last week in a drive-by, and another was one of the men we arrested two nights ago. That's on top of the people he lost in the turf war."

"So he's hurting." Chloe fell silent as the server brought their food.

Sabrina nodded. "And that means that although Andretti is home already – King Monkey and Sk8r Girl saw him putting his kids to bed last night – he'll need to rebuild a lot before he can start selling again. And while they haven't figured out how he moves his drugs, Max estimates that he's only ever been able to match maybe a tenth of Lynchpin's volume."

Chloe sighed. "It still feels like we lost." She eyed Sabrina's lip. "That's a pretty good reminder."

Sabrina nodded regretfully, fingering her still-puffy lip. "But whatever happens now, we'll face it as a team."