"Thank you so much for inviting me over!"

"Any time, my dear! You are always welcome to come over."

Leïla grinned, raising an eyebrow at Zoe as she finished the last of her tamina. "And she means it, too," she told her. "You really can visit any time you want!"

Zoe smiled excitedly. "I may have to take you up on that," she agreed readily. "Your family is so nice – so different from my own…"

Leïla's mother sighed, giving Zoe a sympathetic smile. "I know – I'm sure it's been strange for you, getting pulled into this hectic lifestyle so suddenly. I've… worried sometimes. About you and your sister, I mean." She looked away. "Although, I don't know your family very well…"

Zoe shook her head. "No; I understand. Chloe talks about you fondly."

Leïla's father grinned. "Well, when you see your sister, tell her that she is welcome to come over for dinner anytime, also," he told her. "Both of you."

Zoe nodded. "I will!"

Glancing down at her watch, Leïla cleared her throat. "If we're going to, um, meet up with our friends tonight, we'd better do that," she pointed out to Zoe. "We don't want to be late, do we?"

Zoe shook her head. "Definitely not!"

Leïla's mother cocked her head to one side curiously. "Oh? Where are you girls off to?"

Zoe glanced at Leïla, who turned her grimace into a grin. "We're… just meeting up with a few of the other girls to go down and look at the lights at the Champ de Mars," she explained. "They're putting on a unique lightshow tonight to honor Ladybug and Cat Noir – red and green lights up and down the tower legs, with a yin-yang at the peak!"

Her mother nodded. "Well, then, that sounds like fun! It's too bad it's so late – it would be nice to bring the boys down to see that one of these nights."

Leïla shrugged. "Maybe – though they could get lost really easily."

"Don't we know it," her father grumbled, grimacing.

Zoe coughed, wiped her lips with her napkin, and stood up, grabbing the backpack she had brought with her. "Thank you for dinner," she told Leïla's parents. "It's so nice to meet you, M. Ouazani. Informally, I mean."

"Likewise," he replied, giving her a calming smile. "Do give my regards to your family."

Leïla raised an eyebrow at Zoe as they left the apartment and climbed down the stairs. Outside the apartment building, they ducked into the alleyway next to the building, and Leïla let out a breath. "You should be safe to get ready here," she told Zoe. "It's dark, and not many people come down this way."

Zoe giggled, dropping her bag on the ground and pulling out the old Sent-Bee suit to pull it on. "The next suit is supposed to be a little easier to put on, but this one is…" she grimaced, wriggling it over her head "complicated."

Once she was ready, Leïla muttered her transformation phrase; in a flash of burnt-orange light, she was ready to go. "Ready?" she asked Vesperia, who nodded firmly. Nabatala jogged out of the alleyway on the opposite side, sticking to the shadows as she reached the street. Behind her, Vesperia jogged quickly, keeping up easily as Nabatala maintained the slower pace. Glancing in either direction, Nabatala scanned the streets to either side as they passed, alert for danger. They weren't supposed to get into any real trouble tonight… but that didn't mean it couldn't find them anyways. Chloe had asked Leïla to take her sister out on a "real" patrol tonight – her and Nyagwai'. They were to show Vesperia how patrolling worked, how they interacted with the Paris civilians, how they showed people that the Heroes of Paris still cared about them. All well and good, but. They were supposed to do it without letting Vesperia put herself in any danger. Nabatala frowned. She didn't want to put anyone in danger… but how were they really supposed to patrol without running that risk? The criminals were always going to be around, and they couldn't just ignore them…

About ten minutes of jogging later, Vesperia slowed to a walk, breathing heavily. Nabatala slowed down to match her pace, glancing back at her curiously. "I'm sorry," Vesperia apologized. "I don't want to hold you back… but Chloe hasn't even let me touch the jetpack yet…"

Nabatala waved her hand dismissively. "It's not a problem," she assured her. "Actually, when she gets here, Nyagwai' moves at about the same pace you do, so it will work out just fine." She giggled. "Patrolling with all kinds of heroes, you just have to get used to how fast or slow your partner can move and adjust accordingly. When I'm with Nyagwai' or the Owl or Buck, they can all move slower than me, but they move at slightly different speeds. So, sometimes I go ahead to scout; sometimes we stay together. It all just depends on who is with you."

Vesperia nodded in understanding. "Hopefully, next time I'll actually have my jetpack so we can go at your pace!"

"I hope so!" Nabatala agreed easily, as Nyagwai' appeared out of the next alleyway, spotted them, and fell into line alongside them. "Have trouble finding us?" Nabatala teased her, her eyes lighting up with amusement.

"Not really," Nyagwai' returned, smirking. "Actually, I was expecting to see you sooner. Have trouble picking your outfit?"

Nabatala rolled her eyes. "I'm not the one who takes forever to get ready here…"

"Sorry," Vesperia apologized.

Nyagwai' cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I–"

"Sorry," Nabatala interjected, glancing back and forth between them. "I was talking about Nyagwai'!"

Vesperia laughed. Nyagwai' scoffed indignantly, placing one hand on her hip and glaring at Nabatala.

Nabatala started to respond, but she froze as the sound of an approaching vehicle caught her attention from a block away. The three of them were already walking together on the sidewalk; Nabatala turned to look down the street behind them, in the direction from which the sound seemed to be coming. She held out her hand in a sign for the others to stop and paused, just behind a parked car, not far from a bus stop. Just coming into view, a white van with a large symbol of the Eiffel Tower emblazoned on the front trundled down the street toward them, only to very suddenly turn down the street they had just passed. Nabatala cocked her head in confusion.

"Who was that?" asked Vesperia.

Nyagwai' shrugged dismissively. "Not a clue."

Nabatala shook her head also, but she suddenly stopped. Her eyes narrowed in concentration. "Wait. I recognized that logo," she told them. "Paris First."

"You mean the charity?" Vesperia turned toward Nabatala, cocking her head to one side.

"The one that's been buying up businesses all over my neighborhood?" Nabatala responded, turning back and jogging to the intersection and turning to follow the van. "That one."

"Hold up. What are we doing, following them like this?" demanded Nyagwai', chasing after Nabatala with Vesperia close behind her. "They're a charity."

"Then why are they out so late at night?" Nabatala's jaw set in a thin line. Careful not to make undue noise with her feet, she moved toward the corner, straining her ears to listen for the van's engine as she approached. "I've been wondering what they're up to… we might as well find out, right?"

"I mean, maybe," Vesperia allowed dubiously. "But maybe they're just making a delivery?"

"What kind of delivery would they be making now? Most businesses are closed. Their office must have closed hours ago," Nabatala pointed out. The engine noise was there – faintly – but she could hear something else…

"True…" Nyagwai' allowed. "But that doesn't exactly mean anything."

"I'm just curious…" Nabatala replied, not taking her eyes off the road in front of them as she glanced down the next street and froze, staring in surprise. "What?" The Paris First van had tipped over onto its side, covered in a sticky substance that pinned it to the ground. The wheels still whirred uselessly. A woman stood by the van's back door; grabbing the handle, she pulled it open. The moment it was open, a man jumped out and lunged at the woman, slashing at her with his fingers. Ducking the attack, the woman punched the man once in the stomach and let out a pained howl. The man grabbed onto her and threw her away. Twisting around in midair, the woman pointed her wrist at the man. A sticky white stringy substance shot out of her wrist and struck the man in the chest. He tried to move out of the way, but the substance stuck in place, pushing him back against the van's open door. The woman landed catlike and stalked toward him, like a predator approaching prey. She said something Nabatala was too far away to catch, reached past the man, and snatched a box out of the van. Within moments, she had disappeared into the night.

Nabatala still stood dumbfounded, staring at the sight in front of her, taking in the van pinned to the ground, the man webbed to the back of the van. "What just happened?"