To Lyger 0: They do have a bunch of superhero-related tech lying around, don't they?

"Hello, Fraulein Bourgeois. Welcome to Berlin!"

Chloe nodded back to the Knight and shook his hand briskly before leaning forward and giving Valkyrie a quick hug, both of them wearing street clothes, rather than transformed. Behind Chloe, Zoe stopped just on this side of the portal and looked around curiously at the well-appointed sitting room in which they found themselves – an antique desk pushed against one wall; two bookcases along the other wall, one lined with books and the other filled with a wide variety of antiques. Looking over the study, Chloe's first thought was of an old professor, sitting in the high-backed armchair in the corner and reading a book while smoking a pipe – even if no pipe was visible. Letting out a breath, Chloe forced herself to relax. She didn't have to think about the election today – she didn't want to think about it ever again! The election would be in another couple weeks, and then it would all be over – one way or the other. She would attend another couple rallies before then, and her father would expect her at the election party on election night. But that was it. It was all almost over – and after this election, she would never have to be involved in another of her father's grueling election campaigns again.

And for today, she had something else to think about: Berlin. She needed to keep her focus; it wouldn't do much good if she visited their allies only to focus the whole time on herself instead of them. The Knight and Valkyrie deserved her attention. She had met the Knight and Valkyrie before - they had all worked together in Angola to stop the Dark Acolytes and rescue Caravela and Dhuan. And yet, this was her first ever visit to Berlin – and a perfect opportunity to get to know their German allies better.

"Thank you for taking the time to visit with us," Chloe answered, giving the Knight a small smile. "It has been far too long–" She paused, eyeing him more carefully before turning her focus on Valkyrie. "Hang on. I saw you at Adrien and Marinette's wedding, didn't I?"

The Knight grimaced, giving Valkyrie a look. "Er… yes, we were. Um, Marinette invited us."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Of course, she did. The girl can make friends with a pincushion if you give her half a chance!"

"A 'pincushion'?" repeated the Knight, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Long story."

Valkyrie shrugged. "We were in Paris… last month, was it?" she asked the Knight, pressing forward before he could answer. "We were in Paris for a meeting – or rather, Dietrich was – and Marinette invited me to go shopping with her. We went to a bunch of shops, got some food… It was fun! I had no idea just how… 'down to earth' she is!"

Chloe laughed. "That's pretty much Marinette," she agreed.

"My name's Greta, by the way," Valkyrie added.

Chloe glanced behind her. "This is my sister, Zoe," she replied, as Zoe stepped hesitantly forward and looked around.

"Nice to meet you, Zoe,' Greta told her with a smile. "I love the pink highlight – it's so fun!"

Zoe grinned. "Thanks! My mom did it the first time, so it feels like… it's a way to keep a piece of her with me."

Dietrich cleared his throat. "What can we do for you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting the call, though we're always happy to host our French friends!"

"More like, what can we do for you?" Chloe replied. "I've been trying to check in on all of our allies over the last couple weeks, and it seemed like long past time to stop in and visit with the two of you. After all your help in Paris, and Angola, and Tarascon, and even more in Pamplona, to say nothing of you handling things with el Caballero and the Falcon, we are very much in your debt. Of course, our goal is not for this partnership to be a one-way street; if there is anything you need, anything we can do to assist you here…"

"That's quite the offer," Dietrich told her, his eyes wide in surprise. "But we didn't come into this partnership looking for what we could get out of it; my hope was to be able to contribute. Considering that I have been able to help people in Germany and France, I call that a good tradeoff."

Greta put her hand on his arm. "We haven't really found anything that we especially need here."

Dietrich nodded. "Believe me, we have simply been grateful for the opportunity to help you, especially with the other Crusader weapons that have been showing up." He paused. "Although, since you ask…" Chloe hummed expectantly. Dietrich leaned forward, a hesitant look on his face. "I understand that one of the criminals you arrested recently was using runic magic?"

"You mean Milk Maidge?" asked Chloe, furrowing her brows. "That is correct… or at least, as far as I know – Geber recognized the rune from when he was in Berlin."

Greta's eyes widened in realization, and she shared a look with Dietrich. "Are you thinking of that bucket that disappeared after our trip to the museum?" she asked him curiously.

He nodded. "On the trip when I first met Geber and the others, Killer Bee was there – she fought me, along with another criminal, who had been using that belt." He gestured toward a thin leather belt sitting on one of the top shelves of the bookcase full of antiques. "He was trying to steal something; after the fight, an old bucket was the only missing artifact. And from the pictures, it looked like the bucket had a runic symbol on it. If this bucket is the same one, then I do think it would be appropriate for it to be returned."

"To the museum?" asked Chloe dubiously.

He frowned. "I would be hesitant to put a magical artifact on display like that…" he admitted.

"I would agree," Chloe told him wryly. "It's already gotten into the wrong hands once…"

"Still," Dietrich pointed out, "We can keep it safe here – we have a few other historically significant pieces. Place a replica in the museum, and no one will ever know the difference."

Chloe shrugged. "That can be arranged," she agreed, nodding. "Unfortunately, Killer Bee broke the bucket itself apart and only kept the piece with the rune itself, so it's not in the same condition as when she stole it."

"I understand," he assured her.

Chloe nodded. "Then we will send it over."

"I, um, I love your suit," Zoe told Greta, gesturing to a picture of Valkyrie and the Knight sitting on the desk. "It's very, um, fitting."

Greta grinned, looking down at the picture fondly. "Thanks! That's the second version of it. I designed the first version myself, but it was really rough; Ladybug designed this version for me last month. Although how she manages to get all these designs done so quickly is beyond me!"

Chloe hummed, stifling a laugh. "I'm pretty sure Ladybug doesn't sleep most nights – that's the only explanation I can come up with for how she keeps up with it all."

"I actually asked her if she would design my wedding dress for me," Greta told her. "Considering how amazing hers turned out to be…"

"Wait, you're getting married?" Zoe gasped, her eyes widening. "Congratulations! That's so amazing!" She cocked her head. "Who to?"

Greta raised an eyebrow and jerked her head at Dietrich, leaning into his side and smiling up at him fondly.

"Marrying your superhero partner?" Zoe hummed, raising an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

Chloe stifled a laugh. "You'd be surprised how many heroes end up dating or marrying other heroes…" she told Zoe

Zoe furrowed her brows, pondering Chloe's words.

"So," Chloe continued, turning to Dietrich. "How are things in Berlin?"

He shrugged. "As good as can be expected. Nothing major to report on our end. Things have been pretty quiet – which is a good thing, considering that we've been swamped with wedding planning the last month!"

"What about that attack on the north side of the city?" asked Greta, raising an eyebrow at him. "If they're looking to help out…"

"I mean, it was probably nothing…" he began. Chloe cocked her head, her brows furrowed in a question. He sighed. "A woman was out jogging when she was probably attacked by a dog or a wolf or something. No one saw it, and the woman hasn't woken up to explain what happened. It's not something that never happens, but it's also not exactly normal for Berlin. Although it wouldn't be so noteworthy if not for the disappearances around that same area. Nothing major: a few pets vanished without a trace over the weeks before the attack. But nothing was ever found of the animals; since the attack, everyone assumes that it was the same wild animal."

"Huh." Chloe pursed her lips in thought and glanced over at Zoe. "If you're up for it, we could go and check it out with you if you want. Another pair of eyes never hurt anyone."

The Knight nodded. "Perhaps that would be helpful."

Chloe chuckled. "Besides, I haven't actually gotten to see Berlin before!"

Thirty minutes later, Chloe, Zoe, Dietrich, and Greta stood on a gravel path in the middle of the woods, in a forest about a ten-minute drive north of Berlin. The sound of vehicle traffic could only barely be heard in the distance, filtering through the trees from the direction of the highway that ran past the nature preserve. Dietrich gave the path a calculating scan in both directions as they walked, finally kneeling near a curve to inspect the pressed-down grass along the edge of the path. "This is where she was found," he explained.

Chloe furrowed her brows in thought, studying the path and then turning her gaze on the trees on either side, reducing visibility to no more than a dozen meters away from the path. Bushes grew on the edge of the woods, close to the path, cutting off the underbrush from view. She frowned, cocking her head and searching what she could of the forest. "Whatever animal it was, it could have gotten pretty close without being seen," she mused.

"They suspect that the animal was lurking in the undergrowth right next to the path," explained Greta, gesturing toward a large bush with red berries growing on it. "There were pawprints under there."

"How awful!" Zoe's eyes widened, and the looked in either direction nervously.

Chloe hummed. "Is there any reason to suspect foul play?"

Dietrich shrugged. "According to the papers, none of her friends or acquaintances stood out to the police as having a motive to hurt her."

Chloe folded her arms. "So, what do you think happened?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, quirking an eyebrow. "She was definitely attacked by something large. My biggest question is, if it's an animal, why would it go after a human, instead of something smaller and less dangerous? There's wildlife all over these woods; it wouldn't have to attack a human unless it wanted to."

Chloe nodded slowly. "Which way was the woman going when she was attacked? Could she have left some clue?"

"Maybe…"

"I'll go down this way," Chloe decided, nodding toward the north.

Greta glanced at Dietrich. "We can check the other way."

"Zoe?" Chloe gave her a look, and Zoe nodded in agreement. "We'll meet you back here in a half-hour with whatever we find," Chloe told Dietrich and Greta.

"Right." Dietrich frowned. "Call out if you need anything."

"You do the same."

As the two of them walked down the path, scanning the edge of the path as they went, Zoe hurried to keep up with Chloe. "Is this what being a hero is normally like?" she asked curiously.

"Wandering the woods, searching for some sort of threat with no idea what it is or if it's even there?" Chloe replied, raising an eyebrow. "Patrolling is something like this. Though normally we're in a city."

Zoe hummed. "This might be the furthest from city I've ever been," she admitted.

Chloe chuckled. "Africa – Somalia, especially. Don't get too much more wilderness than where I was in Somalia." She frowned. "Although before then, I'd almost never been outside of a city." Glancing out into the woods, she paused as a shadow shifted; watching it for a moment longer, everything remained still. Finally, she shrugged. "It's fine out here, I guess, but I do prefer the city."

Zoe nodded in agreement. "At least it's nice and quiet out here – no having to listen to… Father talk about the election."

"No listening to Mother argue."

Zoe started to open her mouth to respond, when a branch snapped in the woods to their left. Chloe cocked her head, listening carefully for the sound to be repeated. But there was nothing. She furrowed her brows suspiciously, peering into the woods – but all she could see was more trees and bushes. Sighing, she glanced back at Zoe.

Suddenly, a low growl sounded from somewhere deeper in the woods behind Chloe. She started to turn back around, just as a long, lithe brown form leapt over the bush at her, mouth open in a snarl and claws extended. Chloe's eyes widened in shock. She could barely get her arms up in front of her before the creature landed on top of her, knocking her to the ground. Her purse skidded away from her down the path. Zoe let out a scared yelp from somewhere to Chloe's left. "Pollen, Buzz on!" Chloe managed to gasp out, the magic engulfing her just before the wolf bit down on her arm. She gritted her teeth at the pressure on her forearm, driving her arm into the wolf's mouth to push it away from her, and punched the wolf in the jaw. Its head snapped back, still holding her arm tightly and nearly wrenching her shoulder out of the socket. Queen Bee gasped, trying to keep her cool and push the wolf away from her. Gritting her teeth, she pulled out her top, and the wolf released its grip on her arm, lunging and biting down on the one holding the top. Its eyes narrowed in a snarl.

Queen Bee started at the creature in surprise, her mouth falling open. "Wolf!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, as the wolf twisted her arm, batting at the hand holding her top with its claws.

"H–help!" Zoe yelled, just barely visible in Queen Bee's peripheral vision.

A howl sounded a little further down the path. A blast of wind tore leaves off of the trees, and Queen Bee glanced up into the sky to see Greta hovering just above the treetops. A loud yelping whine came from that direction.

"Chloe!" shouted Zoe from somewhere not far from Queen Bee's head, before disappearing from her view.

"Stay back!" Queen Bee called to her, not taking her eyes off of the wolf, punching it again in the snout. Still, the creature maintained its grip on her wrist, its eyes narrowed. She gritted her teeth, punching the wolf over and over again. It remained unmoved. Finally, Queen Bee tossed her top from one hand to the other.

With a grow, the wolf swatted the top out of midair, away from her, to skitter down the path.

"No!" Zoe suddenly appeared in Queen Bee's peripheral vision, holding Chloe's synth-Venom gun in both hands, her eyes wild. The pistol trembled.

Queen Bee blinked up at her. "W–what are you–?"

"Stay still," Zoe commanded her, before pointing the pistol at the wolf's head. "Leave my sister alone!" she screamed, shooting the wolf in the back of the head with a spray of synth-Venom.

The wolf snarled, releasing its hold on Queen Bee's arm, and bared its teeth. The snarl caught in its throat as it turned to look back at Zoe, its head and neck moving sluggishly. Zoe shot it again. The wolf's eyes widened in fear, and it looked toward the woods along the back. Queen Bee sprang to her feet and dove between the wolf and Zoe. But as suddenly as it had appeared, the wolf turned and jumped away from them, disappearing back into the woods. Finally, Queen Bee slumped in relief.

"Are you okay?" she demanded, turning to Zoe.

Swallowing, Zoe nodded.

Several minutes later, the Knight and Greta dropped from the sky to land next to them. "We were just attacked by two wolves," the Knight informed them, turning in either direction to scan the woods. "We heard you shouting; are you okay?"

Queen Bee nodded, trying to slow her breathing to normal, and gave Zoe a look. "Yeah – we're both okay."