To Geft: Those are definitely the Heroes' goals…


Tanja folded her arms, glaring at Lila across the kitchen table through narrowed eyes. "So…" she began icily, clenching her fists into tight balls. "Have you figured out a plan yet?"

Lila arched an eyebrow at her and took a sip of her tea. "I have no idea what you could possibly mean."

"Don't give me that," Tanja retorted, jumping to her feet and slamming her hands down on the table so hard it shook, banging against the hardwood floors of Lila's new apartment.

The teapot rattled, and the plate of éclairs tipped up, spilling its contents across the table. Sitting to Tanja's left around the square table, Nadine yelped, almost falling backward out of her seat, catching herself on the table with one hand and nearly pulling the table over on top of her. The table slid a couple centimeters in Nadine's direction, and Lila's tea sloshed slightly in her cup, spilling a few drops on her hand. Lila's nostrils flared, and she glared viciously at Nadine, who flinched, fumbling to collect the pastries. Her lips pursed in distaste, Lila replaced her cup on the table, slid the table back in place, and wiped off her hand.

Not taking her eyes off of Lila, Tanja growled, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Marta, my friend – our friend – got captured by the Heroes of Paris. Because your stupid plan blew up in your face." Lila's eyes flashed with rage at that, but Tanja was past caring. She leaned forward, her face less than a meter from Lila's. "We got away, but only because she got arrested. And now she's rotting in a prison cell. Thanks to you."

Nadine let out a quiet gasp, her eyes widening, looking back and forth between Lila and Tanja.

Tanja swallowed, steeling herself, fueling her anger. Before Night Bat had found her, she had been alone, without anyone in the world apart from Hernn, sitting by a saucer on the table while shoveling dried berries in his mouth. Night Bat had offered to train her to use the miraculous, in exchange for her promise to help him accomplish his goals in Paris. Then, a stranger in a foreign country, she had felt even more alone than she ever had back in Oslo – there, at least, people spoke her language. And then, on one of her first missions for Night Bat, she had actually gotten to meet Marta. Both foreigners, both orphans, both outsiders, they had almost immediately become fast friends – Marta was the first friend she had made since her parents' deaths. Taking in the sour expression on Lila's face, Tanja's stomach clenched. Marta was her only real friend. But now she was in trouble.

Lila's mouth set in a thin line. "You don't need to remind me of that shit storm over the weekend," she seethed, shooting a dirty look in the direction of the two Kwamis sitting on their saucer on the counter when Pollen started to open her mouth. Lila gritted her teeth. "I know exactly what happened. And I know exactly where Marta is right now. And trust me, if she's going to talk, then there's no way she's staying in that prison."

Tanja furrowed her brows, eyeing Lila suspiciously. The flare in Lila's nostrils, the downward curve of her mouth… Tanja's eyes narrowed. "She won't speak if that's what you're worried about," Tanja told her curtly. "Your stupid secret identity is safe on that front. But that shouldn't matter, because she's our friend."

"Sure."

"So what are you going to do about it?" demanded Tanja, dropping into her chair opposite Lila. "Because I've been patient for four days, sitting around at headquarters and waiting for you to come up with a plan… but my patience is starting to run out."

Lila hummed, giving her a calculating look. Tanja stared back at her without blinking, willing Lila to cave first. Between them, Nadine looked back and forth, nervousness in her mien. "Nadine, I need a refill of tea," Lila finally announced, still holding Tanja's gaze. She waved her mug toward Nadine. "And since you spilled the pot…"

"Oh. O–of course, Lila," stammered Nadine. Her hands shook as she picked up the teapot and fled toward the kitchenette. "I'm–I'm sorry. I–I'll get some more tea r–right a–aw–way."

Tanja's eyes narrowed dangerously. Her nostrils flared. She could feel her eyes getting dry and scratchy from refusing to blink, but she would not give in. She would not give Lila the satisfaction.

Finally, Lila sighed, shrugging her shoulders, blinking a couple times. "There's no way we can actually break her out of prison," she informed Tanja. "I haven't heard much about the security there, but even just based off of the little bit they've revealed about it, this Nouvelle Bastille super-prison is no joke. It's far too well defended for us to get in and get out with a prisoner – supposedly the Heretic and his crew put chi-putty launchers around the perimeter just in case you or I would try to get in, and that's just step one of their security plan. Not only is the prison staffed by more guards than normal, but there's even a rumor that a couple of the Heroes of Paris actually work there, just to be on the safe side in case there's an escape attempt. There is no way for us to get her out on our own. So she's going to have to stay where she is – I like my freedom a little too much to get myself captured on a suicide mission."

"Fine," Tanja shot back irritably. "If you're too much of a coward to do it, then tell me how to get in. I'll get in, get Marta, and get out."

"You'll get caught, lose your miraculous, and blow everything."

"Watch me."

"No thanks."

"Fine. I'll do it myself," Tanja ground out, clenching and unclenching her fists. Finally, she stood up, turning to stalk back toward the apartment door on the far side of the living room.

"Sit down," Lila instructed her breezily. "Can you calm down for one minute and pay attention? I said we can't get her out. I never said that we couldn't get someone else to let her out for us."

"What, you want to hire someone to break into the prison?" Tanja deadpanned dubiously. "That's your brilliant plan?"

"Of course not!" Lila snorted. "That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Hire a bunch of dumb brutes to break into the super prison? We might as well just hand them over to the Heroes of Paris now and save everyone the trouble! A prison break by a group of incompetent morons would have even less chance of succeeding than if we tried doing it ourselves! No; breaking into the prison will not work, period. If you want to get her out, we need the Heroes of Paris to decide that keeping her isn't worth it."

Tanja eyed Lila suspiciously. "Oh yeah? Just like that? And how do you expect that we'll convince them of that?"

Lila smirked. "It's simple. We abduct one of the heroes, and then they'll have to trade."

Nadine gasped, her eyes bulging out. "You–you wouldn't!" she yelped, her face shifting to white and then almost immediately taking on a greenish tinge. The teapot fell to the floor and shattered, and Nadine jumped, letting out a pained sob as hot tea splashed over her legs and she landed on the ceramic shards, only barely catching herself on the table and hopping up and down on one foot.

"What did you do that for?" Lila demanded, frowning at Nadine. "Can't you do anything right?" She groaned. "Whatever. Just pick it up."

Tanja's eyes widened, her anger temporarily forgotten, and she looked down at Nadine in concern, leaning forward in her chair. "Are you alright?"

Nadine's breathing hitched. She fell backward to land on her butt on the floor, leaning back against the wall behind her and cradling her injured foot with one hand while fumbling to gather together the shattered shards of the teapot with her free hand. Her shins stood out an angry reddish hue from the spilled tea. Nadine sniffled. "Y–yes…" she stuttered, her eyes darting toward Lila. "I'm–I'm sorry I'm such a klutz."

"It will be fine," Lila assured her, waving her hand dismissively. "Just don't let it happen again."

Tanja frowned, torn between Nadine and Lila. Finally, she picked up a couple of the napkins off the table and handed them down to Nadine. "Wipe off," she instructed her. "Otherwise your legs will burn even worse."

Nadine sniffled, staring down at the floor in front of her. "Th–thank you." Gingerly, she pressed the napkin against the sole of her foot, wincing and letting out a pained hiss, gritting her teeth.

Glancing down at Nadine, Lila shook her head, watching for a moment as she sopped up the hot tea. Fixing Tanja with an intense stare, Lila asked, "You want the Deaconess back, right?"

"Yes…"

"And you'll do anything you can to make that happen?"

"Yes." Tanja's mouth set in a thin line. "What are you getting at?"

Lila's nostrils flared. "I'm glad to hear that. So if you do exactly what I say, then we'll get her back. And that starts with capturing one of the heroes for leverage."

Tanja arched an eyebrow at Lila dubiously. "Is that all? You don't want to break into a prison to get Marta back directly, and your alternative is this? There's no way we can do that. We barely know who any of them are."

Lila grinned, her eyes flashing maliciously. "That's not true. I know who a few of them are."

"What, you want to attack Sent-Bee?" Tanja scoffed. "I suppose I wouldn't mind a rematch with her…"

"Tempting," Lila mused, stroking her chin. Pollen's face morphed into an expressionless mask, watching Lila intensely. Finally, Lila shook her head. "No; she's bound to be on her guard. Plus, we already did that once, and she refused to say anything about Ladybug or Cat Noir or the rest. As much as I hate to admit it, that bitch is too stupid to talk to us, even to save her own life."

"Chloe…" whispered Nadine forlornly, pushing herself up onto her knees in the middle of the floor, surrounded by the shattered pieces of the teapot. She stared up at Lila, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. "She was never on the outs with Ladybug, was she?" Her voice trembled.

"Of course she wasn't," Lila retorted, rolling her eyes before turning back to Tanja, ignoring the horrified look on Nadine's face. Lila's eyes flashed dangerously. "No, I have another target in mind. One who will be much easier to break."

Tanja furrowed her brows, eyeing Lila warily. "I'm sure I'll regret this… but who?"

Lila grin, baring her teeth. "I think you need to find the Lancer. She'll talk. And then we might not even have to trade her back to the Heroes of Paris to get Marta out of prison."

"But we don't know who she is," Tanja objected, frowning.

"Don't we?"

"Do we?"

Lila smirked. "Her name is Aurore Beauréal." Nadine gasped, her eyes widening in shock as she stared up at Lila. Lila's eyes didn't leave Tanja's face. "Capture her, and we'll have everything we need."