To Butterfly: Happy to be of service!

To StarDaPanda225: Chloe definitely makes sense as the Heroes of Paris' "ambassador."

To yellow 14: Chloe does excel at that!

It wasn't until after dinner on Tuesday that Bri could finally bring herself to trace the well worn path back to her workshop – and even then it was only because the flat was far too quiet. She had been scheduled to work at the auto shop twice already, but she hadn't been able to motivate herself to go – she had skipped that day's classes, also. But this evening Anne was at work, Bri wasn't all that close to any of the other girls on their floor, and while she would also be alone at the workshop, at least she would have her suit for company. And since the Ripper had struck just last night, she could be reasonably certain that he would not be on the prowl tonight – assuming that the Hound was correct about his pattern. Her stomach clenched unpleasantly. Another woman was dead – the second one since she was attacked – she could imagine what the scene must have been. Another woman was dead, but Bri had somehow survived.

With a resigned sigh, Bri set an alarm on her undamaged bracelet to go off before sundown and trekked the few blocks down the Strand to the alleyway, carefully ignoring the streetlight on the corner as she turned past it. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she stopped in front of the patch of gravel which marked the spot where she had been attacked, mere metres from the street. Had things turned out differently less than a week ago, she would have died there. She would have been the one cut open and raped. She could feel the steel against her skin – unconsciously her hand drifted up to rub the spot below her collarbone where the scab began.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Steeling her nerves, Bri forced herself to skirt past the gravel, hustling down the alleyway to put as much distance between her and that spot as she possibly could. She only slowed her pace when she was inside of the lab and the door had shut behind her. Inside, everything was exactly where she had left it: each tool was in its place, her grease rag hung on a nail, even her suit appeared undisturbed, despite the Hound clearly having come and gone several times since she had last been here. Her damaged bracelet still sat on the workbench, the shattered screen clearly visible, two wires protruding from it. The bracelet had somehow saved her life... but it still reminded her of what had happened. She had been weak and helpless. She could still feel the Ripper's hands holding her wrists fast, pinning her to the ground. She could still feel the cold steel slicing through her skin, cleanly bisecting her torso, carving outlines around her chest. She could still feel him against her thigh. With a scream of frustration, she clenched her eyes shut and swept everything off the workbench, sending her bracelet tumbling to the ground. She collapsed onto the stool in front of the bench, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed.

"I sure hope that wasn't expensive," a feminine voice observed behind her. Bri tensed. "Of course, considering how well your Beam of Life has been selling lately, you can probably afford to replace a few tools!"

Bri spun around to find a girl who looked vaguely familiar leaning against the wall next to the portal ring. The stranger ran a hand through her high blonde ponytail and swept it over to fall in front of her shoulder, combing it with her fingers and staring at Bri, a calculating look in her eyes. Bri narrowed her eyes own suspiciously, her free hand finding a wrench, the control for her one working bracelet already in the other hand. "Who the hell are you?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I realize you claim London now, but you are still from Paris, so I know you recognize me."

Bri looked closer. Something about the girl resonated in her mind on some level. She carried herself tall and proud, almost like a princess–"Chloe Bourgeois."

"In the flesh," Chloe acknowledged, examining her fingernails, not moving from her place by the wall.

"How did you find me?"

Chloe arched her eyebrows in disbelief. "I'll pretend you didn't ask that," she told her. "I've been waiting with Amelie for hours for you to show up here." Bri furrowed her brows. "I suppose I should actually be thanking you for that," Chloe mused. "I can't remember the last time I had tea with Amelie…"

"I'm happy to oblige." Bri raised an eyebrow in challenge. "So better question: what the hell are you doing here?"

Chloe scoffed. "Is that any way to talk to a hero?"

Bri sighed in annoyance. "So what do you want?"

Chloe shrugged. "A little birdy told me that you had some 'fun' over the weekend, and Ladybug thought I might be the one to talk some sense into you two."

Bri stared at the blonde, who arrogantly flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. "Who do you think you are to come in here like you know me?" she demanded.

"I don't know you," Chloe agreed, her mouth turning down into a frown. "But Ladybug likes to think I'm her 'ambassador' or something to keep our international allies happy. French you may be, but Londoner you are now. That makes you one of those 'international allies.' And as far as I can tell, you and Felikins don't seem overly happy at the moment. Hence, me."

"'Felikins'," Bri deadpanned. "That's what you call him?"

Chloe smirked. "You should hear some of the things he's called me!"

Bri averted her eyes to the floor. "So you're here because Ladybug thinks I'm broken."

"I'm here because Ladybug's real superpower is compassion and she can't stand to see anyone even a little bit sad," Chloe corrected. "But because she's such a softy, she relies on me to be the one to talk some sense into the people who need it."

Bri's eyes flashed with anger. "Oh, so you think I need some sense talked into me!? I was assaulted! I was nearly raped! I was almost murdered! I still can't sleep through the night without nightmares! So don't you pretend to know what I've been through, Miss High-and-Mighty Queen of Paris!" she screamed.

Chloe's mouth set in a firm line. "You're right: I don't know what it's like to be assaulted, almost raped, almost killed, and all of that in less than ten minutes. I wish it had been that short. Do you really want to compare experiences?" She stalked over and slammed her palm on the workbench. The metal surface rang as Bri's ball peen hammer fell off its hook. Chloe's eyes flashed. "I was abducted by the Lynchpin. He stole my miraculous and handed it over to that Killer Bitch who's been using it for evil for the last half a year." Her voice rose in volume with every sentence. "I was held for days – so long I lost track of time. I was sleep deprived and starved for a week. I was pressed for information. When I refused to crack and betray my friends, Lynchpin threatened to let his men rape me until I finally broke, and only to kill me when he had used me up and was ready to spit me out. You've got nightmares? I've got those in spades! So no, I don't know your trauma; I've got more than enough of my own!"

Bri's eyes had widened more and more in shock as Chloe spoke. This had happened to one of the Heroes of Paris? Her own father's employer had done that? And yet… She pursed her lips. "And you think what you went through gives you the right to tell me off for getting pissed off after what happened to me?"

Chloe shook her head, sighing heavily. Her shoulders slumped. "I'm not here for that," she answered, hopping up to sit on the edge of the workbench. "If I was, I'd be a hypocrite, considering how pissed off I was after what happened to me. I kept on walking down dark alleys just hoping that the assholes who'd hurt me would show up so I could kick their asses – to the point that Ladybug actually staged an intervention to stop me before I got myself hurt. So I'm not pretending to be a model of healthy coping mechanisms. But I can tell you that things do get better, even if it looks shitty in the moment."

"Did you ever find them?" Bri asked. "The ones who hurt you?"

"Eventually," Chloe replied, her lips curling maliciously. "Let's just say those particular bastards won't be hurting anyone else for a long time…"

"Did that help with the nightmares?"

Chloe shook her head, letting out a heavy sigh. "The thing that actually helped with those was my puppy."

"Have they gone away?"

"They come less often, but they still come, even with Bee there to keep me company."

"Well… good for you." Bri put her elbows on the bench and cradled her chin. "I suppose you think I'm weak for not wanting to go out and try to stop the Ripper."

Chloe scoffed. "If I were in your metal shoes, I would want to rip the Ripper's head off and shit down his throat, but that might just be me," she told her wryly. "It's up to you how you decide to respond."

"It's just… I thought I was a superhero," Bri began softly. "I thought I could take care of myself. It turns out I was just fooling myself."

"You were alone and scared and you got hurt. That's not on you. There's a reason we work in pairs – and as much as I used to think I didn't need it, there is a definite benefit. Hell, even the best of us don't go out alone when they can absolutely help it." Chloe chuckled and tapped her chin in thought. "You know, a couple weeks ago Multiplice and I were out on patrol when we had to help a family after a car accident. And even the two of us couldn't do it all on our own; we couldn't get the driver out until a fire-fighter showed up with the Beam of Life to cut her out."

Bri raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her invention had actually helped save someone's life in Paris? The City of Paris had bought the first thousand of her device that they had produced, shortly followed by London, Lyons, and Rouen, but she hadn't realized they were even out of the field testing stage yet.

"It's funny," Chloe went on, giving Bri a calculating look. "That wouldn't have been possible if someone hadn't decided to become a hero…"

Bri sighed and stared at Chloe, frowning. "I know what you're trying to do."

Chloe's eyes widened. "I haven't a clue what you mean," she insisted in faux-innocence. She held her poker face for a beat longer before snorting. "Is it working?"

"I'm just… not ready yet," Bri admitted, shrugging noncommittally. "It's still too fresh."

Chloe nodded in acceptance and stood up, activating the portal ring as she did so. "Ultimately it's your call. But if you need to talk to someone, the Heroes of Paris have a couple people who can help you process this." Her smile broke, tears in her eyes. "That's something we didn't really have when I needed it. Tante Emilie is especially good at this sort of thing. So… give it some thought. You can let Amelie know if you want to talk to her." With that, she hopped through the portal ring. Bri caught a glimpse of a head of platinum-blonde hair in the background before the portal closed.

Bri sighed, staring down at the bracelet on the floor surrounded by tools, pencils, notepads, and a container of screws she had knocked over. Her hand drifted to the bracelet's twin on her wrist. She didn't know if she really wanted to use it, but it just didn't sit right in her mind for one of her paired bracelets to remain inoperative. A glance at the time indicated that she still had an hour before sundown. Finally she collected the bracelet off the floor, opened the correct schematic on her tablet, and got to work designing an upgrade.

AN: The incident Chloe mentioned happened in "The Heroes of Paris: Patrol Logs," Chapter 12.