AN: This "Patrol Log" follows up on a storyline that has spread across "Life and Times," "SLD Case Reports," and a previous "Patrol Log."

To Butterfly: That's a good question… However, that unsolved subplot will have to wait, because this "Patrol Log" is going to answer the other long-running unresolved subplot!

To yellow 14: They definitely needed to chill!

Anansi motored down the street in front of her parents' apartment building, just a couple minutes before she was supposed to meet up with Rena Rouge for their patrol. She shivered in the cool air – snow was in the forecast. Anansi frowned, listening to the purr of her motorcycle's engine. Mechanical stuff wasn't exactly her specialty, but something definitely sounded different about it. Maybe it was time to bring it in and let Pegasus take a look–

"Mom was asking about you tonight."

Startled, Anansi squeezed the brakes to avoid slamming into the back of the car parked in front of the apartment building. Glancing up she found Rena Rouge looking down at her from the awning sheltering the building's entrance. "Damn, girl, were you trying to make me crash?" she demanded, glaring at her.

Rena Rouge shrugged languidly. "I can't help it if a superhero isn't actually paying attention to her surroundings!" she bantered back, arching an eyebrow as she dropped catlike from her perch and fell into step, racing alongside Anansi as she accelerated down the street. "So… where were you?"

Anansi sighed. "Was this the night when Shellhead came over with his mom and brother?" Rena Rouge nodded. "Sorry I missed it. I figured that if we're going to go on patrol, we might as well know what's going on in the world of crime, so…"

Rena Rouge nodded knowingly. "SLD?"

"I bumped into Sgt. Girardot at that cop bar downtown," Anansi confirmed.

"Anything new?"

"Not really." She pursed her lips. "Still investigating those missing girls, still no progress on the drugs… the only really 'new' thing is this rash of burglaries south of the river."

Rena Rouge hummed contemplatively. "Think we should head down that way, then?"

"Couldn't hurt." Anansi turned to the south, throttling it down the street, pulling her front tire off the ground into a wheelie as she went. She hadn't been much of a biker before joining the Heroes of Paris; she had always preferred walking whenever possible. But now? While Nora might not go for a bike as a civilian, Anansi could get used to having wheels while out on patrol. Especially when trying to keep up with the miraculous heroes.

"Hey, hold up," called Rena Rouge, holding her hand out and pulling up short at the end of the block, looking down the cross street in confusion.

Anansi screeched to a stop and dropped a foot to the pavement next to her. "What's up?"

"What's up with her?" Rena Rouge asked by way of reply, pointing down the street at a figure walking stiffly along the sidewalk. Her long hair blew around her face in the wind, and she wasn't wearing a coat. The girl didn't turn her head in either direction, nor did she make any move to indicate that she had noticed the two heroes, despite the noise of Anansi's bike no more than a block away. "Didn't Hato Gozen describe a girl acting exactly like this?"

Anansi cocked her head suspiciously. "Was that the kidnapping they stopped?" Rena Rouge nodded. Anansi turned onto the street and revved her engine. "Should we stop her?"

"Ye–no!" Rena Rouge shook her head, her eyes widening in realization. "No, we shouldn't; this actually gives us an opportunity… Turing? Are you there?"

"Always, Rena," the robot chirped over the communicator. "What do you need from me?"

"Tell the SLD that we have a possible lead on the kidnappings and give them our location," she instructed him. "But have them stay back until we contact them to move in. And if you lose contact with us, that qualifies as an SOS."

"Already done!"

"Okay… what about us?" Anansi asked, raising an eyebrow dubiously under her helmet.

Rena Rouge's miraculous ears twitched and she cocked her head in concentration. "Okay…" she murmured, raising her finger and pointing to a spot just beyond the girl. "Fire a tracker right there. Right…" Anansi heard the sound of screeching tires as a van barreled past them and pulled to a stop right beside the girl. The side door opened and a hand reached out. Rena Rouge adjusted her aim. "… now!"

Anansi thumbed the button on her handlebar, and a small device shot out of a barrel concealed in the headlight.

Rena Rouge watched it intently and nodded in satisfaction. "Is it active?"

A green dot appeared on the screen that extended between her handlebars. "Yeah…"

"Send the Spi-Drone." Rena Rouge crouched and sprang into the air, arcing around to land on the roof of the apartment building behind them, taking off at a dead sprint the moment she landed.

Anansi hit another button, and the small quad drone mounted on the top of her steering column lifted into the air and rose to hover above the buildings. The display on her view screen shifted to show the drone footage, green-tinged in the darkness, with the tracker dot superimposed. At a command, the drone automatically gained altitude and dropped back to follow the van from a safe distance. "What should I do now?"

"Back me up," Rena Rouge answered, a streak of orange in the distance as she raced across the rooftops after the van.

"When did I start taking orders from my baby sis?" Anansi grumbled to herself under her breath.

"When 'baby sis' and her boyfriend saved your ass last year."

Anansi growled and kicked her bike into gear, pursuing the van at a slower pace. The display on the screen showed the van making several turns before it stopped in a parking lot and three people exited – two men supporting an inert figure between them. Anansi hit a button on the display, and the drone moved in closer

"Dammit," Rena Rouge swore. "They're changing vehicles."

"I've still got them with the drone," Anansi assured her, switching the drone to manual control and following them. The group hustled from their original van into a delivery truck, and Anansi gave the drone a command to shift targets and follow the truck. Moments later the truck pulled out of the parking lot, made several turns, and doubled back.

"I think they might be heading to the river," Rena Rouge announced presently. "Go down that way and wait…"

Anansi shrugged and spun her motorcycle around, accelerating down the street toward the break in the cityscape that indicated where the Seine passed through the city. On her display, the truck continued to wend its way through residential neighborhoods, passing a half-dozen major intersections before finally pulling up to a shipping container next to a quay.

"I think this is our location," Rena Rouge decided. "I'll meet you there."

"Got it."Anansi cranked her speed up, shooting down almost entirely deserted streets, the roar of her engine echoing off the buildings on either side. The yellow dot indicating her location appeared on the edge of the screen, moving toward the truck. The drone feed showed a tall man standing beside the container. Another man undid a padlock on the container door, which opened slowly. At a command, the drone descended, focusing its camera on the door. "Damn…"

"What?"

"There must be a dozen people in there," Anansi breathed. On the map she was less than a block from the scene. One of the men on the drone feed looked up, his head cocking in confusion, turning to face the street. "I think they hear me."

Rena Rouge cursed. "Well, we weren't going to just watch them anyways…"

A metal fence rose up in front of Anansi, and she hit another button on her handlebars and she burst through the gate. Extra spotlights swung away from her headlights and extended to full length above her before activating, bathing the quay with brilliant white light. One of the men raised his hand to shield his eyes, crying out in pain and surprise, fumbling around in a pocket of his coat. Rena Rouge appeared from the far side of the quay, swinging her flute at the closest man's shoulders and bringing him down before sliding in to sweep the next man's feet out from under him. Anansi pressed a button on her wristband and took her hands off the handlebars. The bike shivered once before righting itself, and she climbed up onto the seat, poised to spring. As the bike approached the crowd, she launched herself off, arms outstretched, grabbing the nearest man around the neck in a horseshoe collar and riding him to the ground. Her glove came off as she planted her feet on his chest and sprang at the next closest man, the tall one standing by the container.

The man sidestepped to avoid her bull-rush, putting distance between them. "You're a fierce one, aren't you?" he mused, raising an eyebrow.

"And you're a sicko who preys on helpless girls," she retorted, "so…" She reached out and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. He raised his hands to grab her, scrabbling feebly to pry away her fingers. She glared into his face, and his met her gaze. Anansi's face and arms went slack, and she knew no more.

[break]

"Wha–what happened?" Anansi groaned, shaking her head groggily. She stood facing away from the shipping container, surrounded by unconscious men. She flexed her hand: she no longer held the tall man by the collar.

"No one was home for a minute there," Rena Rouge replied wryly. "Are you really back?"

Anansi cocked her head in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?" Something on the ground in front of her drew her attention. It was the tall man. "What happened to him?"

Rena Rouge snorted. "Um… you happened to him, actually," she replied. Anansi stared at her. "You just went slack for a minute. Then you released him, turned, and attacked me." She held up her flute. "I cast a Mirage of myself for you to fight, took out the rest of the guys, and then moved the Mirage to stand in front of Mind-Wipe here." She nudged him disdainfully with her foot. "You took care of the rest."

"'Mind-Wipe'," Anansi deadpanned. "Are you for real?"

Rena Rouge shrugged. "What would you call what he did to you?"

"Is–is it over?" a hesitant voice called from inside the shipping container.

Anansi and Rena Rouge walked over to it as police sirens sounded in the distance. A half-dozen girls were chained to the walls on either side of the container, dirt and grime covering their faces. Rena Rouge quickly raced up and down the container, breaking their chains. Slowly the girls started limping toward the doorway. Anansi held out her hand to catch the first one as she stumbled out.

"I–it's been so long," she girl whispered, blinking in confusion, shielding her eyes from the brilliant light still streaming from Anansi's motorcycle.

"What's your name?"

"O–Oréane." She swallowed hard. "Oréane Boucharin." Rena Rouge looked up in surprise, examining the girl's face.

"Did they say what they were going to do with you?"

Oréane shook her head. "N–no." She shuddered. "Just that they needed us for something…"

Rena Rouge nodded firmly as the police car pulled to a stop beside them. Flashing blue lights reflected off the buildings around them as other emergency vehicles drew closer. Rena Rouge guided Oréane toward the police care. "Well, these officers are going to take good care of you and take you to the hospital and contact all your parents. You're safe now."

AN: The follow-up to this "Patrol Log" will come in the "SLD Case Report" that begins tomorrow: "The Interviews."