To Lyger 0: You're assuming that the shopkeeper is behind it…

To Geft: Good question. Although the heroes don't have to go out with their partners.


"Let's see… it says here that the Bearator is – oh, hell, supposedly, he's only a couple years older than we are!"

Leïla frowned, shivering in the chill of the Heroes of Paris' underground headquarters. After lunch, the three of them had come down here to check through the Heroes of Paris' records, though they hadn't found much yet. The computer screen showed a picture of a boy a little older than she was, his hair close-cropped, a perpetual scowl on his face. "Yeah…" Leïla mused, nodding slowly, studying the computer screen over Ruth's shoulder, leaning in closer to read the text underneath the image. "According to this, the picture's a little older – no one has actually seen him since Lila Rossi's arrest."

Ruth let out a low growl. "In other words, we were the last ones to see him," she grumbled, glaring at Barry. "And you said we shouldn't go after him…"

"I did," he agreed, his jaw clenched. "I'm not happy about passing up on the opportunity, either, but I still think it was the right decision. We didn't know enough about him. We were just the two of us, no superpowers, trying to go up against a miraculous user. He could have killed us."

"Or we would have gotten my miraculous back from him and this would be over," Ruth retorted heatedly, folding her arms.

"'Over'?" he repeated, frowning though Leïla could see a hint of hurt in his expression. "Would you really just get your miraculous back and leave?"

"Well…" Ruth let out a heavy breath. "No," she admitted. "Or at least, not by choice. But you have to remember," she insisted, speaking quickly. "I'm part of a team, and once I get my miraculous back, they might want me to return to America as soon as I can. I don't exactly want to leave my team shorthanded any longer than I have to."

"And you don't think I have that same pressure?" Barry demanded. "While I'm here, the Philly United Heroez are down to just two: Bell and Swarm. Snowflake supposedly came out of retirement to pick up the slack… but how long will she really want to be away from St. Louis?" His mouth twisted around in distaste. "But I don't want to leave the job unfinished – and that includes getting both our miraculous away from the assholes who are misusing them."

"Believe me," Ruth told him curtly. "I absolutely agree there. And if it's up to me, I will stay until every miraculous is back in the right hands." She paused. "But it might not be up to me."

Leïla sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Even if one or the other of you has to leave, that doesn't mean the fight is over – not by a long shot. I live here. I'm not going anywhere. I'll help you get the miraculous back, no matter what."

Barry chuckled, though without much humor. "You know, the Owl and Impact both said something similar, last time I trained with them."

"See?" Leïla told them, quirking an eyebrow. "Nothing to worry about! But now, can we get back on topic. We were talking about the Bearator – Eric Bouhier."

Ruth let out a breath, turning back to the computer. "Fine. For all the good that will do… It says here his father was Albert Bouhier, French Army, killed in action. Attended Lycée Alexandre Millerand last year, though his attendance record was… spotty. Good student before last year, though." She frowned. "I guess we know when he started in with the bad guys…"

Leïla hummed, furrowing her brows. "I wonder how he came to be working for Andretti."

Barry scoffed. "What does it matter?" he asked rhetorically. "He's a criminal. He's using a miraculous to hurt people. Didn't he murder one of the Russian heroes?"

Ruth's mouth set in a thin line. "Yes. He did."

Leïla looked down at the computer, skimming the text below the Bearator's picture again. "It sounds right, but I don't remember exactly…" Reaching past Ruth, she ran a quick search. Her eyes widened on spotting the first image. "Oh. Yes – it's right here. See? In Moscow, back in the spring. The Bearator and one of the Dark Acolytes – the 'Deacon'; he was captured right afterward – the two of them killed a hero named Svyatogor. When the Geroi Moskvy tried to help Guardian Claire."

"Damn." Barry shook his head. "Why would they want to hurt her?"

"Because they're evil assholes," Ruth retorted curtly.

Leïla's eyes widened, looking a little lower on the computer screen. "I – wow. He also tried to kill XY last year."

"XY?" Ruth made a face.

Barry raised an eyebrow. "Not a fan?"

She shook her head. "Not especially. I've heard some of his music while living in Paris, and it's… fine, I guess? Definitely not my favorite. I kind of prefer Kitty Section, to be honest. Jagged Stone's okay, but my absolute favorite band is Dead Men Walking."

Barry cocked his head in surprise. "Wait, seriously? That's one of my favorite bands! I love 'Lucille.' I actually got to see them in person when they performed in Philly."

"You're so lucky!" Ruth frowned. "I wanted to go when they were in Rio, but Julia said it was too much of a risk."

"Julia?"

"Lupa Gris. She's the leader of our team. Generally, she's a fair leader, almost like the team mom. But I suppose that's appropriate. She has two little ones – the baby was born in Angola, in face. And baby Vida is so adorable–"

Leïla blinked. "Um, guys? Weren't we…"

Ruth flushed. "Yeah… I guess there's a lot to cover here with the Bearator."

"And we haven't even touched on Castutrice," Barry grumbled. "And she's been just as active as the Bearator."

Leïla let out a breath. Ruth glanced up at her and slid out of the chair so Leïla could sit down. Typing a quick search, she frowned. "Unfortunately, we have a little less on Castutrice than we do on the Bearator," she pointed out. "Cerise Magnier. Not much of a social media presence – or the Lynchpin erased it after recruiting her. According to la Gymnaste, she lived alone. Quiet, kept to herself…" She glanced up. "Killer Bee threatened her into working for her, but that's all we really have on her."

Ruth leaned over Leïla's shoulder. "Ladybug says that Castutrice was actually helpful to them in fighting against the Tarasque," she noted.

Barry folded his arms. "So she did one good thing with my miraculous. That doesn't exactly make her a hero, does it?"

"No; of course not," Leïla agreed. "But that does paint a picture of someone who's a little less violent and… rage-filled… than the Bearator." Barry scoffed. Leïla raised an eyebrow at him. "Maybe she'll listen to reason. If we can find her, maybe we convince her to return the miraculous without a fight."

"I won't exactly hold my breath for that," Barry muttered. "Either possibility."

"We need to find them first," Ruth agreed. "But we have addresses for both of them. That should have been enough to take down both of them right away!"

"Yeah. Too bad we didn't get the information in time to actually use it," retorted Barry. "We could have ended this weeks ago, but we just… dicked around while our best possible leads expired. Now they're in the wind, and we have no way of finding them."

"Pegasus has had his drones watching their former addresses, just in case they return," Leïla reminded him. "And they're watching the Bearator's family. Eventually, someone's going to slip up."

"And if they don't?" Ruth raised an eyebrow at Leïla dubiously. "What happens then?"

She shrugged. "We… find another way to track them down. I don't know how, but we'll find a way."

"You know we wouldn't have to 'find a way' if la Gymnaste had just told us what she knew, the moment we got her," Barry told her, scowling.

"You haven't met la Gymnaste," Leïla responded, her mouth twisting around. "I checked her over, after they rescued her from Killer Bee. I can't tell you exactly what happened… but Killer Bee had really hurt her badly. They physical injuries were bad enough, but they were nothing compared to the emotional and psychological damage. She had been with Killer Bee for so long, she didn't know who to trust or even how to trust. She was absolutely terrified, completely out of it. That night, it was the best we could do to get the information of Killer Bee's identity. If Ladybug had tried pushing for any more information from her right away, she might have completely shut down, and then we might never have gotten the information we needed. Maybe it wasn't in time to act on it and capture Milk Maidge and Cerna and Castutrice and the Bearator that night, but at least we got the information eventually. And having the information is better than not having it, even if it's nothing we can really use."

Ruth hummed humorlessly. "That's something, at least," she agreed sourly. "Still, it would be nice if we had more to go on with the Bearator than just his mother's name."