Slowly Chloe walked down the main avenue through the camp from her empty tent to the food tent, hardly paying attention to where she was going. "Hero Town" was bustling with activity around her, with more and more of the heroes starting to leave their tents and move around. King Monkey passed her in the opposite, hand in hand with Ondine, who gave Chloe a small wave. Further down, Multiplice, Ayilon, and Prism were speaking quietly with Ngarayap. On and on it went, more and more of the superheroes, all wandering around directionless. At Chloe's side, Bee-atrice trotted along, yipping happily at everyone they passed. Perhaps the only positive to come out of their flight from Paris was that Jean had managed to bring Bee with him to City Hall; after the last week, Chloe wasn't sure if she would ever have been able to sleep comfortably without the puppy at the foot of her cot. She frowned and glanced down at the puppy. Sabrina hadn't returned the night before, after the Akuma attack. Chloe's stomach clenched uncomfortably. Her best friend was somewhere out there, alone, grieving, and either she had sent an Akuma to attack their camp and steal the miraculous, or she had lost her miraculous to someone else who had used it for that same purpose. And not only that, but on top of everything, the Akuma victim had been Sabrina's own mother! Whether it was Sabrina or someone else, the result was the same.

Someone had attacked them and their people with a butterfly.

According to the prisoners they had taken the day before, someone from their own camp – Sabrina – had defected and joined them. When Mihaela had told them that piece of news, Marinette had been ready to go on the warpath, even without knowing exactly where their camp was. And on a certain level, Chloe could agree with her. These militiamen and Dark Acolytes and… all of them – they were putting people in danger. They were trying to hurt people, people that Chloe cared about. The Heroes of Paris, New Atlantis, Americans… they had lost so many. They had been defeated. They had run away from Paris in disgrace. The refugees that those gunmen had been shooting toward, they had fled from their homes, leaving everything behind. And here these criminals were, trying to take the miraculous for who knows what reason, endangering innocent people. If she could, Chloe would kick their asses, every last one of them.

But if Sabrina was with them…

Chloe glanced down at Bee-atrice. "Life was so much simpler a year ago, before – Lynchpin," she mused, suppressing a shudder at the memory. Bee-atrice barked, rubbing up against Chloe's leg. Slowing down, Chloe swept the puppy up into her arms and nuzzled her. "No more Hawk Moth, no Night Bat, no Lynchpin-ions – no Lynchpin, for that matter, either." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I had Pollen, and Sabrina and I were better." Bee-atrice licked her nose, and she chuckled humorlessly. "But if that were the case, I never would have gotten you, would I?" Bee-atrice barked, and Chloe set her back on the ground, smoothing out her ruffled fur as she did so. "I suppose it's not all bad."

Chloe sighed heavily, as her stomach growled. She had hardly eaten anything the night before – the kitchen had run out of rice; between that and her anxiety over Sabrina, Chloe just hadn't felt hungry. "What do you think?" she asked Bee-atrice. "Will they have bacon this morning?"

Bee-atrice yipped eagerly.

Chloe was just about to resume her walk toward the food tent when three people jogged up to her.

"I'm telling you, we would have heard by now… right?"

"And how would we have heard?"

"Someone would have–"

"–called? Someone would have called? Because that's the problem, isn't it?"

Chloe stared at the Knight, Koldunya, and O Patriota, nonplussed. "Mind letting me in on this conversation?"

The Knight folded his arms, turning from the other two to face Chloe. "Sent-Bee: exactly who we were looking for. Maybe you can tell us what's happening," he cut in. "No one else actually seems to know."

Chloe arched an eyebrow in challenge. "And what makes you think I have any better of an idea?" she demanded. "Last I checked, we're as in the dark as everyone else is – and I still have no idea what the hell you're talking about." Next to Chloe, Bee-atrice let out a low growl. Chloe bent down and picked her up, and she instantly stopped, though she continued to stare at the Knight, as Chloe turned to do the same.

The Knight put up a hand in a sign of peace, hesitantly stepping backward. "Um… no offense, ma'am…"

"'Ma'am'?" Chloe scoffed derisively.

"You just seem to know everyone," O Patriota explained. "We were hoping you would know what's going on in Europe now."

She stared at them blankly. "What's going on in Europe?"

Koldunya shrugged. "We don't know. Nochnoy Storozh and I tried to call home, but we couldn't get through."

Chloe cocked her head in surprise. "Nothing?"

The Knight shook his head. "It's not just Russia, either. My cell phone refuses to connect whenever I try Germany."

"Lisbon is the same," added O Patriota. "I'm getting nothing."

Chloe furrowed her brows in thought. "Provider problem?"

"No: I can call in the camp," he responded. "I didn't have any issues with calling Caravela."

"I tried calling my sister in America, and it went through," supplied Koldunya. "But Europe isn't answering. It's like, as far as the cell phone company is concerned, the continent doesn't exist anymore."

"And it's not just one provider," added O Patriota. "We've asked everyone we could, and all of them had the same problem."

"So…" began the Knight, facing her fully, "what does that mean?"

Chloe's eyes widened. "I… don't know," she admitted, shrugging. "We haven't heard anything about what's going on in Paris, or the rest of Europe. But Europe has to still be there – we would have heard if it wasn't, right? But–" She shrugged helplessly again, shaking her head. "I just – I don't know." Her jaw clenched in frustration. The number of questions she could actually answer kept getting shorter and shorter. And by contrast, the number of questions she had kept getting longer and longer. "I wish I could help, but…"

O Patriota opened his mouth to answer, but Koldunya gave him a sharp look. "I understand," she told Chloe. "You've had a lot on your minds lately; this is just one more thing."

"It's just – I'm trying to let my parents know what's happening," the Knight explained. "My girlfriend and I were supposed to have a date a couple days ago, and I haven't talked to her since before reporting to Paris. I don't want her to worry – or think I'm blowing her off."

Chloe let out a breath as she spotted Ladybug walking in her direction. "Let me talk to Rugindo Leoa – there might be something we can do for you. But for now–"

Koldunya shrugged. "We will keep trying," she promised. "I'm sorry for putting so much more on your shoulders." She gave Chloe a curious look. "But what is going on? Do you have any news for us to pass on?"

Chloe scoffed. "I wish I did. But aside from the Akuma attack yesterday, everything is exactly the same as it was last week." Nodding toward Ladybug, she added, "Hopefully something will change, though."

"We will wait for instructions," the Knight assured her, inclining his head.

As the three of them left her, Chloe turned toward the approaching Ladybug, setting Bee-atrice back down as she did so. "Sleep well?"

"Did you see her at all since yesterday?" Ladybug asked without preamble, a serious look in her eyes.

"Sabrina?" Chloe responded. Ladybug nodded, frowning, a look of discomfort on her face. Chloe shook her head. "No – she didn't come back at all." She let out a heavy breath. "I'm… worried."

Ladybug hummed, pursing her lips. "Me, too. After yesterday… What if she sends out another Akuma? We barely managed to stop the Akuma and fend off those militants the first time; what could happen if they try it again? And if they bring everything they have down on us… it could cause a mass panic!"

"Hang on; you don't think it was actually Sabrina, do you?" Chloe demanded, putting one hand on her hip. A low growl came from Bee-atrice's throat.

Ladybug glanced down at the puppy and arched an eyebrow at her. Bee-atrice cocked her head and started panting. Ladybug giggled softly, only to turn back to Chloe, all the humor absent from her face. "Don't you think it was her?" She raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "You heard what Mihaela said: all the prisoners – the ones who talked, at least – said the same thing."

"Because criminals always tell the truth."

"What cause would they have to lie about this?" Ladybug retorted. "To turn us against each other? To send us down a rabbit hole?" She groaned. "Believe me, I wish there was another option, but none of them are even close to believable. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them."

"I… don't have one," Chloe admitted, sighing heavily. "But I do know that she's our friend. And she's sad and in pain after losing both Max and her father almost at the same time."

"That's the most damning evidence of all! Considering that she stormed off talking about using the Wish, and then Solo Act appeared demanding the miraculous to use the Wish…" Ladybug shook her head bitterly. "It's too much of a coincidence. If it's not Sabrina, then I take back everything. But all I can go by is what I know, and everything I know points in one direction. And if it is…" She let out a breath. "We have to stop her."

"After everything she lost–"

Ladybug put her hands on her hips and raised one finger, cutting Chloe off. "Look at everything the rest of us lost in Paris: my parents, Emilie, Pablo, Max, our city, our people…" Her voice grew in volume. "Do you think I don't miss them? That I'm not worried about them? That I haven't questioned our decision not to try the Wish every minute we've been here? But I'm not hurting people over it!"

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "But there's one thing you didn't lose but Sabrina did," she retorted, stepping forward until they were only a couple centimeters apart, glaring into Ladybug's eyes. She poked Ladybug in the chest. "Do you honestly think you would be in any better a frame of mind if it were Adrien who had been stomped, rather than Max?"

Ladybug's eyes flashed. She clenched her fist and aimed a punch straight at Chloe's face. Chloe easily leaned to the side to avoid the punch, not taking her eyes off of Ladybug's face. Ladybug growled. "I would never–"

Chloe's mouth set in a thin line. "But you can understand what she's feeling."

Ladybug groaned, scoffed, and stalked away.

Chloe let out a shuddering breath and reached down to run her hands through Bee-atrice's fur, trying to still her racing heart. She shouldn't have provoked Marinette that way – and especially not on that subject. If it were Adrien who had been killed, she honestly didn't know if she would be in any better frame of mind than Marinette. Chloe liked Max well enough – she had liked him, she amended. He had been good for Sabrina; clearly he had really cared about her. But Adrien was like a brother to her.

But Sabrina was like a sister to her.

Chloe's stomach clenched, and she stifled a sniffle. She almost missed the sound of footsteps behind her.

"Chloe! Chloe!" Aisha ran up to her, breathless and panting. "What–what's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Akuma attack yesterday – Rugindo Leoa seems to think it was Sabrina! But it can't be her, right?" She looked around anxiously. "Where is she?"

Chloe sighed heavily. "I don't know. Everyone seems pretty worried about her – I haven't seen her since yesterday. Why?"

"I was just talking to Rugindo Leoa," Aisha began. "She's pretty much on the warpath over yesterday's attack." She fixed Chloe with a worried look. "She's not too interested in helping Sabrina if we find her."

Chloe leaned her head back and groaned. "Yeah… Ladybug is in about the same camp," she admitted. "If they find her…"

Aisha folded her arms. "After everything Sabrina did to help me last year–" She choked up, swallowing hard. "There has to be something we can do for her."

Chloe frowned. "Not just the two of us, though. But who would help us?"