Leïla raced down the street, sprinting as fast as she possibly could run, a stitch forming in her side. Passing an alleyway on her right, she started as a flash of orange appeared from the next street over. The sound of raucous laughter echoed down to her, only to be cut off almost immediately. The bakery was just ahead of her, across the street; glancing in either direction, she hurried across and threw herself at the front door, bending over almost double as she gasped for breath. Halfheartedly, she rapped on the bakery door, looking up and down the street nervously. She hadn't seen anyone on her way here… but she wasn't going to count on that to hold up – or at least not forever. Spots of light and flickering flames danced around along the cityscape, just barely visible above the tops of the buildings. Chaos in all directions. A couple of energy pulses shot across the sky from opposite directions. A jetpack rocketed overhead. Leïla stared upward in shock. Behind her, the door creaked open, and she fell backward into the dimly-lit café, moments before the door slammed shut behind her. She blinked, looking around in confusion. "M–Marinette?" she gasped. "Wh–what's going on?"

"I'm afraid the city has gone crazy," a low, rumbling voice responded. "I suspect no one truly knows what's going on!"

Leïla's breathing hitched. "I'm–I'm sorry, M. Tom," she apologized quickly, scrambling to her feet and looking up at the imposing frame of M. Dupain. "I–"

"I know," he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Him mouth pulled up in a small smile, though it did not quite reach his eyes. "The others are all upstairs. Gorilla and I are keeping an eye on the ground floor. Although last I checked, Adrien was out making a quick round of the neighborhood."

"A–Adrien, sir?" She gulped nervously, glancing behind him toward where the Gorilla stood, wearing a flour-spattered apron over his three-piece suit. "I have no idea what you could mean."

Tom raised an eyebrow at her in amusement. "You and I both know that Marinette wouldn't have called you here in the middle of the night, in the middle of all… this… if you didn't know what I meant!" he told her wryly. "But it's okay. Sabine and I know – we've known about Marinette and Adrien since they stopped Hawk Moth, actually." He smiled wistfully, reaching past his large bread peel and grabbing a heavily-loaded tray off the counter, pressing it into Leïla's hands. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies wafted over her, and her stomach rumbled. In her purse, Kheaa quivered with anticipation. "But you'd better get upstairs. Marinette has been on the warpath since she got here."

Leïla straightened her back and nodded, thinking back on the tension and righteous fury she had heard in Marinette's voice on the phone – the reason she hadn't hesitated to run across town to the Dupain-Cheng bakery in the middle of the night. Her friends needed her. "Yes, sir."

The sound of voices echoed through the closed door to the family apartment, too muffled for Leïla to make out what they were saying as she climbed the stairs. She paused on the other side of the door, trying to calm her racing heart. She was where she was supposed to be. Everything would turn out okay… right? Slowly, she pushed the door open and looked around to find Emilie and Sabine sitting at the table, Duusu and Tikki perched on a carafe between them, while Marinette paced agitatedly in the living room, pausing every few seconds to study a holographic projection above the drone hovering in front of her. Marinette paused, cocking her head, and turned to look at Leïla, who held up the platter of cookies. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," she apologized, grimacing.

"You're right on time," Emilie assured her, giving her a calming smile and rising from the table to approach her. Taking the tray from Leïla's hands, Emilie placed it on the counter before giving Leïla a warm hug. "It is wonderful to see you as always, dear." She sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, the situation has changed a little since Marinette called you."

"If by 'changed a little' you mean that the bitch from collège essentially decided to declare war on Paris for fun, then yes, it has 'changed a little'," Marinette growled, her eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

Leïla's eyes widened, and she took a hesitant step backward. Looking away from Marinette, she glanced out the window over Marinette's shoulder, just as a jetpack rushed past, chased by a shadowy figure wielding a staff. Leïla swallowed anxiously. "What–what can I do?"

"That is a good question," Sabine mused, raising an eyebrow at Marinette. "What can Leïla do here to help us?"

Marinette pursed her lips.

Emilie sighed. "At the moment, there isn't much you can do," she told Leïla, smiling sympathetically. "The Heroes are out trying to stop all the people running around and causing problems around the city. So until we know any better, perhaps you can just have a seat with us and eat a few cookies!"

Leïla shrugged. "I won't ever say 'no' to cookies from Tom and Sabine's!" she replied, picking out a treat.

"You're always welcome to come over any time you want," Sabine assured her. "We're always happy for the company. Even under these circumstances," she added, raising an eyebrow at Marinette.

Leïla cocked her head to one side.

Marinette groaned. "I'm sorry for dragging you over here in the middle of the night," she apologized, giving her mother a pointed look.

"I'm… happy to help however I can," Leïla assured her, furrowing her brows and looking back and forth between Marinette and Sabine. "Even when I have no idea what I'm here for."

Sabine shook her head in amusement. "I told her she didn't need to call in the cavalry for this," she told Leïla. "But she insisted."

"And I told you that I wasn't about to take any risks with my family's safety when Lila has lost her goddamn mind," Marinette retorted heatedly. "Everyone knows that Lila straight-up despises me. I wouldn't put it past her to try to hurt me by hurting my family, even if she doesn't know I'm Ladybug. And after this afternoon, there was no way I would leave you unprotected."

Sabine sighed, raising an eyebrow at Emilie. "'After this afternoon'…" she repeated. "What happened this afternoon?"

Marinette gritted her teeth. "Lila sent a madman to try to murder Sabrina at one of our rehab centers." Leïla's breathing hitched. Emilie's eyes bugged out wide. Sabine sat back in her chair. Marinette let out a breath. "That's why I have to be here."

"And Sabrina?" Emilie finally managed to ask.

"She's… shaken up but okay," Marinette answered. "We got to her in time, so everyone is safe. But that's why I couldn't leave the bakery defenseless."

Sabine placed a hand on Marinette's. "I appreciate what you're trying to do here. And I love you so much for it. But really, it's not necessary. With your father and a couple of drones, we'd hardly be defenseless," Sabine pointed out, raising an eyebrow. "Add in Emilie, and this bakery is close to the second most protected location in the city, after your Mansion. You and Adrien and Gorilla and Leïla being here too… that almost feels like overkill."

"Under the circumstances, there's no such thing," Marinette told her curtly. "There is no level of security that's too much when it comes to my family."

"Maybe not," Emilie allowed, sharing a look with Sabine. "But you have to understand that under the circumstances, you can hardly afford to have four heroes devoted to just protecting your family, when you don't have any reason to suspect that they are a target."

"This is Lila we're talking about," Marinette shot back, clenching her fists. "Trust me: they're a target." She sighed heavily. "I don't know… maybe you and Papa should move to the Mansion for a couple of days?" Marinette suggested, giving Sabine a pleading look.

Leïla cocked her head to one side, looking back and forth between Sabine, Emilie, and Marinette. "What's… going on?" she wondered.

Sabine shook her head ruefully. "Oh, my oldest has just decided to become an overprotective big sister… about six months early."

Leïla gasped, her eyes shooting wide open in shock. She glanced down at Sabine's stomach automatically before rushing over to the table. "Wait, y–you mean–?"

"Almost four months along," Sabine confirmed, nodding, her mouth cracking open into a wide smile. She placed a hand on her stomach. "We're having another baby!"

Leïla grinned ecstatically, hopping up and down. "Oh my gosh, that's so amazing! How are you feeling? How is the baby doing? Is there anything you need? Have you seen a doctor yet?"

"He's healthy," Emilie interjected, giving Sabine a small smile. "I can feel his – or her – emotions."

"I'm doing quite well at the moment. Your father actually came by a couple weeks ago to check on us," Sabine told Leïla. "He gave us a clean bill of health, and he even gave me the name of an ob/gyn to contact. Although she couldn't get me in until the middle of next month, after the wedding…"

"Wait… my father was here?" Leïla cocked her head in surprise, her brows furrowed. "But he didn't say anything to me…"

"I'm sure you were busy," Emilie told her, patting her shoulder.

"Yeah…" Leïla nodded slowly, rummaging around in her purse. "But still… may I?" she asked, pulling out a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff.

"You just… carry those?" asked Marinette dubiously.

"Says the girl who never leaves home without knitting needles and a design pad," Emilie pointed out, amusement in her voice. Marinette folded her arms in a pout, and Emilie gave her an impish grin.

Sabine nodded and leaned back in the chair, and Leïla quickly checked both her heartrate and the baby's, along with Sabine's blood pressure, making notes of each number in her pad for later. She hummed. "Your BP is a little high tonight," Leïla warned her, "but everything else reads normal." She frowned. "It's probably nothing to be too concerned about; most likely just the stress of all… this."

Sabine hummed.

Marinette's eyes widened, and she looked down at Sabine, worry in her eyes. "Are–are you okay? Will the baby be okay?"

"I'm fine," Sabine insisted.

Leïla nodded. "Absolutely you're fine," she assured Sabine before glancing up at Marinette. "If your mom's blood pressure stays high, we'll need to monitor it, but high blood pressure isn't unusual during pregnancy."

"But a calm environment would be a good thing," Emilie added, giving Marinette a meaningful look.

"Oh, fine," Marinette grumbled, backing away from the table and nodding for the drone to follow her. "I'll be in the guest room if you need anything."

"Should I come, too?" asked Leïla, shoving her stethoscope, cuff, and notepad into her purse and starting to rise to her feet.

"No," Emilie answered immediately, shaking her head. "Why don't you stay out here and keep us company? There isn't much I miss about the Chaos, but our visits are one of the few things to make the cut."