To Lyger 0: I was rather confused when I first read that. At first I thought you were referring to Turing being a "misshapen amalgamation of parts"!

To armadas: Chrysaor is the brother of Pegasus. But it would be pretty rough on Sabrina if she did all of that to bring back Max only to find out it was for naught.

To Anon: I'm not sure the theories to which you refer. I do enjoy taking the characters from the show and giving them more of a chance to shine!

To Anon2018: Hope is a precious thing. Although Sabrina was right there when the Tarasque's paw came down as the portal was collapsing...

Ramus walked into City Hall the next morning to find a small group of officers already standing in a semicircle around Prefect Raincomprix. Ramus furrowed his brows, examining the group with some surprise. Sarsavat, their alien "recruit," rested a little off to the side, the lower half of his torso coiled into a tight spring, placing his head on the same level as the officers. Sarsavat turned his head this way and that to look back and forth around the room, scanning the faces of the officers, his mouth turned down in an expression that indicated discontent. Ramus couldn't blame him; over the last two weeks, the SLD's officers had spent more time on duty than off, and still they had yet to fully, properly memorialize their fallen. Sarsavat locked his eyes on Ramus as he entered, his eyes widening in recognition, his gaze seeming to penetrate Ramus' soul. Ramus swallowed heavily but joined the group around Roger. Finally, he could see that Roger stood next to a crate marked with the seal of the Prefect of the Paris Police, and the SLD logo beneath it. Ramus met Gouger's eye across the room, and she shrugged.

"Turing's report from last night is extremely troubling," Roger declared, his mouth set in a thin line. "While Stéphane Sauvage was recaptured right away, the other escapees remain at large. We don't yet know the full extent of the threat, but I expect to learn more by lunchtime at the latest."

"Agreste?" asked Wilson, his brows furrowed.

Roger shook his head. "The warden is still working through the headcount and checking to make sure none of the escapees remained behind. But he assures me that Agreste is safely locked up in his cell."

Mansart scoffed darkly. "Not like there's all that much he can do without his miraculous," he pointed out.

Roger hummed. "Perhaps not," he allowed. "But he is still a dangerous symbol – one that we do not need running loose under these circumstances. As it is, the prisoners that are confirmed to have escaped are bad enough."

"Do we have any idea where they went, sir?" asked Gouger, her lips pursed in a look of distaste.

Roger shook his head. "Not yet. Turing's drones are scanning for them, but still no new information. For now, all we can do is prevention." Looking around at the assembled officers, he let out a breath. "I know we've been hit hard – I feel it, too. We've suffered losses – a lot of them. But our city is depending on us. We can't let it down. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Ramus called, along with the rest of the group.

"Right. Now, Wilson, you and Roux will take these and distribute them," Roger told Wilson, nudging the crate resting on the floor in front of him. "But only to those we can trust. Start with anyone you know and trust from your military days."

Wilson nodded and unlatched the crate, pushing it open. He looked up at Roger in surprise. "Wait… we're arming people now?"

Roger's mouth set in a thin line. "Yes. Until we know the full extent of the danger, our best counter to these escaped prisoners is for people to be able to defend themselves."

"Sir?" Ramus spoke up, his brows furrowed.

Roger sighed heavily. "If you have a better idea, Lieutenant, I'm open to suggestions."

Ramus cleared his throat awkwardly as every eye in the atrium turned to face him. He focused his eyes on Roger, trying to avoid the stares, especially the alien's unblinking gaze. "Unfortunately I do not," he admitted, letting out a breath. "It's just… couldn't this cause more problems, instead of less?"

Roger raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if there even is a way for us to have more problems after last night. We don't exactly have the manpower to patrol the entire city on a consistent basis, especially with a known, super-powered threat on the loose. This is what we need the Heroes of Paris for, but they're not here. And even with a handful of these new vigilantes – heroes – running around still, there are too many bad guys for us to handle. Some of these criminals gave the Heroes of Paris a run for their money. So a civilian with a pistol won't stand much of a chance against, say, Dynamus, but it's better than nothing. Doing this at least means the looters will have to think twice about what they are doing – they might accidentally prey on someone who can fight back. And that means we can focus more of our effort on the dangerous criminals." He frowned. "I don't like it any more than you do, but we have to work with what we've got." He looked around at the other officers, a look on his face that brooked no argument. "Are we understood?"

Roux nodded curtly and grabbed one handle of the crate, as Wilson grabbed the other. Looking into the box, however, he cocked his head in surprise and pulled a pistol out, staring at Roger with his eyes wide. "Wait, you're–you're giving out Danny's gun?"

Roger's shoulders slumped, but he nodded sadly. "It's not doing anyone any good sitting around here…"

On the far side of the atrium, Sarsavat stirred, his mouth turning down into a deeper frown as his gaze focused in on Roux.

Roux hummed, turning the pistol over in his hands several times before looking up at Roger. "Could I take it? Angelique might want to hold onto it."

"Does she know how it works?"

Roux raised an eyebrow. "Dad, and Danny, and I all took her to the range."

Roger shrugged noncommittally. "In that case it's all hers – if she'll take it. Otherwise…" Roux nodded, a troubled look in his eye. Roger cleared his throat. "Make sure anyone who receives one of those knows how to use it – and that they won't misuse it." He hummed slowly. "On second thought…" He glanced across the group to meet the alien's gaze before turning back to Wilson and Roux. "Bring Sarsavat with you – you can vet people for us, right?"

Sarsavat cocked his head to one side. "What doesss thisss mean, 'vet'?"

"Sense their emotions," Roger explained. "Whether they are eager – the wrong kind of eager – to get a pistol. Tell whether they are more likely to help or to hurt."

Sarsavat looked back and forth between Roger and Wilson before dipping his head slowly. "I can try," he agreed. "But the emotionsss in thisss cccity have been ssso sssad and depressssed that I may not be able to tell." He sighed heavily. "I have not felt sssuch profound feelingsss of lossss in a very long time."

"You and me both," Wilson agreed, frowning darkly.

"They confound my sssensssesss."

"Well… just do the best you can," Roger told Sarsavat, who nodded, giving him a crisp salute before slithering after Wilson and Roux toward the front door. Turning to the rest of the group, Roger ordered, "Step up patrols. We will have cards and details on the escapees as soon as the warden has that information. But if you see any indication of the escapees, notify Unit One immediately. Do not – repeat do not – engage alone!"

Ramus saluted with the other officers. As the others dispersed toward the main entrance, Ramus turned to leave as well, only to freeze as Roger called his name. He turned back around to face Roger, while the rest of the atrium cleared out around them. "Yes, sir?"

Roger's mouth set in a thin line, strain evident in the creases at the corners of his eyes. "I understand your feelings, Luc," he told Ramus. "But I need you focused. If we find these escapees, I need you to be ready to respond."

Ramus let out a breath. "Yes, sir – of course."

Roger nodded. "Very well."

Joining Gouger just outside the door for the walk down to their car, Ramus turned to her with a frown. She raised an eyebrow and climbed into the passenger side without saying a word. Ramus clenched his jaw. While he had known going in that the SLD's mission was as the police answer to super-human criminals, they had only ever been intended as a stopgap, as the group which would liaise between Paris' various heroes and the regular police. And while they had fought super-humans in the past, they had only ever had success against the lower-level threats – Fire-Fly, Elemento, and the like. But even then, that success had only come against them individually, and it had come at a heavy cost. And now that they had all escaped together, how was the SLD supposed to stop all of them? If they had been dangerous alone; how much more dangerous would they prove to be together?

And yet, if it weren't them, who would stop the escapees?

Quietly they drove up and down deserted streets, picking their way around mounds of debris still waiting to be moved. Ramus frowned as sunlight streamed through gaping holes in the cityscape where previously buildings had stood. On a couple of the streets, groups of prisoners – looters arrested over the last couple days – were working under the supervision of harried city employees to fill in potholes and shore up damaged buildings still deemed salvageable. Elsewhere, a handful of scavengers picked through the detritus left behind by the many destroyed buildings, only to duck down dark alleys and inside ramshackle buildings as the police cruiser came into sight. Ramus eyed them suspiciously as they passed. Although they weren't causing new damage, they were still taking the possessions of others – even if those others were not around to protest it.

But they were not the priority.

"Hold up!" Gouger yelled, leaning forward in her seat and staring down the side street they were just passing, her hand already on the door handle.

Ramus slammed on the brakes, and their car screeched to a stop. Gouger had the door open in seconds, even before the car had fully stopped. By the time Ramus had shifted into park, Gouger had already broken into a headlong sprint toward two people standing just outside a damaged electronics store halfway down the block. Ramus examined the second of the two carefully as he got out and quickly followed Gouger. His eyes widened in recognition. "Mallarmé!" he bellowed, raising his prosthetic and shifting it to the taser setting as he raced toward them. "Don't move!"

The man next to Mind-Wipe dropped his garbage bag full of electronic devices and drew an energy pistol from his belt. "I ain't going back there, copper!" he shouted, firing twice at Ramus in quick succession. Both blasts missed high and wide, though Ramus still ducked on instinct.

Ramus switched the prosthetic's setting back to the energy cannon, dialed back the power, and returned fire. "Not so accurate without the suit, are you, Rigaudeau?" he taunted, narrowly missing his arm with his first shot.

"Only because you people kept me locked up for a year and a half!" Rigaudeau retorted hotly. His next blast took out a chunk of the wall next to Ramus' head.

"Your boss didn't exactly seem to miss you all that much!" Ramus called, sending another blast at Rigaudeau. "Ever wonder why he was so keen on getting Dubois and Lescot and Garnier, but he never bothered to try the same with you?" Rigaudeau let out a furious growl, peppering the wall with a dozen quick shots as Ramus raced to reach him. At a glance, he examined the two criminals, even as Mallarmé paused, turning to look back at them. Ramus' eyes widened. "Don't get too close to him!" he ordered Gouger.

Gouger had already closed the distance to Mind-Wipe, who reached out to grab her wrist, a manic glint in his eye. Gouger ducked below his swipe and swept her legs through his, tripping him up and sending him stumbling to the ground. Mind-Wipe's eyes widened as he slammed into the pavement, his head making a wet sound as it struck. He rolled over to get away from her and pushed himself up against the brick wall behind him, scrambling to regain his feet. "Oh, I can handle him!" Gouger called, not taking her eyes off of Mind-Wipe. She cracked her knuckles. "Are you afraid?" she demanded, her mouth set in a thin line, her eyes flashing with rage, and raised one foot over him. "Is it because I'm a woman not under your control?"

Ramus ducked a wild shot from Rigaudeau and deployed his collapsible shield to block another shot, which reflected into the brick wall beside him. Brick dust streamed down over his head and stuck in his hair. Collapsing his shield, he fired another energy beam at Rigaudeau. His eyes wide, Rigaudeau jumped back behind the open metal security door of the electronics shop. Ramus fired again, and Rigaudeau poked his gun around the door, firing blindly into the sky. Grimacing, Ramus switched his energy beam to the highest and widest setting before firing straight into the door. With a burst of acrid ozone stench, the door melted clean through, and Rigaudeau collapsed backward with a large black circle blown through the center of his chest. Ramus dropped his prosthetic to his side, groaning in relief. "We won't be getting any answers from him, though… what about yours?" he called to Gouger.

"I let him go," she answered woodenly.

Ramus cocked his head in confusion, turning to look at her. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"He's innocent."

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Ramus stared at Gouger, scanning her from top to bottom. One of her pant legs had ridden up just a few centimeters. His eyes widened. "Madeleine…"

Gouger let out an enraged yell and threw her fist at Ramus' head. He ducked in the nick of time, and she instead struck the wall, pulverizing three bricks and turning them to powder. Ramus punched her in the gut, but she barely grunted, drawing back her bloody fist for another punch. Sidestepping the next punch, Ramus drove his prosthetic into her chest, switching it to taser as he did so and pumping the full voltage into her gut. Gouger cried out in surprise and collapsed to the ground, letting out a last twitch as she landed.

Ramus let out a breath and dropped to one knee next to her, pressing two fingers to her neck to check her pulse. It was still there, albeit weak. But Mind-Wipe was in the wind again. "Dammit."