La Gymnaste bounced anxiously on the balls of her feet, craning her neck and straining her eyes, peering up toward the roof of the apartment building in front of the group. The two owls, barely visible against the dark sky, circled once, twice, around the building, as Sk8r Girl hooted up at them again before folding her arms with a huff and tapping her foot impatiently. To one side of la Gymnaste, Multiplice shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her eyes drifting up and down the street before reflexively returning to the rooftop. Standing closest to the building, the Lancer's armor creaked as she adjusted her stance, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. The lance itself she held loosely in one hand, resting the butt against the sidewalk and holding onto it close to the tip.

"Come on…" grumbled Sk8r Girl. "How much of the roof could they really need to search to figure out if either there is or isn't someone up there?"

"Do you think we might have just been… hearing things?" asked la Gymnaste hopefully. A shiver ran down her spine; automatically, she glanced back behind her, feeling eyes on her from somewhere. Multiplice shouldn't be out here if someone could try to hurt her! But as the thought crossed her mind, she steeled her nerves, clenched her jaw. Her hand drifted to the collapsed staff at her hip. That was why Mylène had asked her to come.

She only hoped Mylène's trust wasn't misplaced…

"All of us heard the same thing at the same time?" pointed out Sk8r Girl.

"I wonder if this is actually what we're looking for," murmured Multiplice, one hand resting on the handle of the jump rope looped around her waist. Her legs tensed, her eyes narrowing intently.

"I mean, I suppose it could be nothing," the Lancer responded, though without any force behind her words. "The wind could have moved a TV aerial and it creaked. Although there really isn't enough wind to cause that kind of thing tonight…"

Sk8r Girl let out a breath and shook her head as an answering hoot finally sounded from somewhere above them. "No; it's definitely something," she insisted. "The owls heard it, too. Though the stupid birds couldn't possibly remember three seconds ago, if someone had been on that particular roof to make the noise."

"Were they not paying attention?" asked la Gymnaste, her eyes widening.

Sk8r Girl snorted. "Not exactly. They say owls are among the smartest birds in the world, but in my experience, that's complete crap. Sure, they know everything there possibly is to know about rodents – mice and rats and moles. But if you're larger than that – too large for them to eat – they don't care. Now cats, on the other hand…" she mused. "They might pretend they're completely bored by whatever's happening, but they know everything there is to know about their surroundings." She hummed. "Pity there wasn't a cat up there."

"Well, as long as the owls can find whoever – or whatever – made that noise, they can have all the mice and rates they want," the Lancer replied, before glancing over at Multiplice. "Uh… no offense."

La Gymnaste nodded slowly in understanding, not quite able to hide the growing anticipation. How different this was from the times when she had gone out on "patrol" with Lila. Then, it had been all about business, all about… whatever it was that Lila had wanted to do. She could still remember the nights they had spent searching the city for that poor runaway girl – they'd never actually found her. But then, a couple weeks later, Lila had just stopped talking about her entirely. Why had Lila been so invested in that girl? Why had she forgotten about her so suddenly? She'd wanted to ask Lila about it, but things had just gotten so busy. And now that she knew what Lila had really been doing all those times they were being "heroes," the questions just kept coming back. Part of her still wanted to know why Lila had been so interested in that girl… but another part was afraid of what that answer would be. That Lila had something even worse in mind for her. La Gymnaste frowned. There was still so much she didn't understand about what Lila had been doing, working for the Lynchpin.

Staring up at the apartment building roof, she could remember another time when she had been on "patrol" with Lila. That night, Lila had led her straight to an apartment building on the north side of the city and told her that she had heard… something from the top floor of the building. La Gymnaste hadn't heard anything, but Lila had a miraculous, so of course her hearing would be better, right? So, Lila had pulled out her top and looped it around an extension from the roof before telling la Gymnaste, "Let me know if anyone comes." Five minutes later, Lila had dropped back down next to her, a backpack slung over one shoulder, and immediately started powerwalking away from the building. When la Gymnaste had asked about it, she'd simply explained that there's been a burglar, and she'd Venomed him and left him on the roof for the police to pick him up. But he'd been using some new tech, and Ladybug needed to see it right away. Not that Ladybug would want to see la Gymnaste at the same time – that had been the lure that Lila dangled in front of la Gymnaste, every time she asked. La Gymnaste had done anything and everything Lila asked, just for the chance that Lila would finally introduce her to Ladybug.

Of course, that night Lila must have just robbed the apartment – knowing what she knew now, what else could it have been? La Gymnaste's stomach clenched, and she looked down at the ground.

How could she have been so stupid?

"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

La Gymnaste glanced up to find Multiplice watching her with a kind and concerned expression on her face. She swallowed, feeling herself starting to hyperventilate under the scrutiny. Quickly, she smiled reassuringly, only for Multiplice's eyes to narrow slightly in suspicion. La Gymnaste grinned. "Oh, it's n–" But the words caught in her throat, and she sighed. Multiplice's eyes widened, worry plain on her face. La Gymnaste gulped. This was Mylène. Not Lila. She didn't just say things to put on a façade of humanity. She actually cared. She wanted to hear the answer. Unlike Lila, Mylène really was her friend. La Gymnaste let out a breath and looked down at the sidewalk. "I was just… thinking about when I would go out with Lila. How many of Lila's crimes I helped her to commit. How I was so stupid and naïve."

Gently, Multiplice placed a hand on la Gymnaste's shoulder. "Hey. It's okay. You're with friends here. Lila had a lot of people fooled – for a long time."

"But I was the one who 'aided and abetted' her, knowing that she had a miraculous." La Gymnaste looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "If I'd just thought about it, maybe I could have – I don't know – maybe I could have stopped it. But I trusted her."

"Innocence is not a character flaw; it's actually a strength – it's what makes you so special to us," Multiplice reminded her. "You just… trusted the wrong person, is all. Something that most of us did with Lila. You trusted her, and she let you down. That's not on you. That's all on her."

La Gymnaste pursed her lips. "You didn't exactly trust her in lycée," she pointed out.

Multiplice shrugged. "Well, I had the benefit of knowing for a fact that Lila was not, and never had been, Ladybug's 'best friend.' But before I knew who Ladybug was, I was just as accepting of her lies as anyone else." She gave la Gymnaste's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I can't tell you how humbling it was when Taureau told me who Ladybug was and I realized that I had known her all along. And just how badly Lila had taken me in. But Ladybug had forgiven me and trusted me with a miraculous. And she forgave you, too. All of us have forgiven you for your part in Lila's crimes. That's why you're here right now."

Breathing in and out slowly, la Gymnaste nodded, trying her best to believe Multiplice's words. It shouldn't be so hard; Ladybug – Marinette – had told her the same thing when they gave her this suit. Sabrina reminded her of that every time she came for counseling. Philippe told her that at least a dozen times a day when her thoughts started spiraling. The Heroes of Paris trusted her – and not just because she had given them everything they needed to stop Lila once and for all. So why wouldn't it sink in?

At that moment, an owl let out a loud hoot from somewhere near the top of the roof above them. Sk8r Girl suddenly sucked in a sharp breath. Beside her, the Lancer tensed. Looking up, la Gymnaste's eyes widened. A small bubble of inky blackness appeared around the top of the building, moments before one of the two owls dove out of the darkness, hooting animatedly as it rocketed toward the group.

"Damn!" growled Sk8r Girl. "There are at least two of them – just came out of the building, on the roof."

"Atavis!" the Lancer called, clutching her lance tightly and launching herself upward, straight toward the pool of darkness. The lance caught in the light from the streetlights around them, the glint vanishing suddenly as the Lancer shot lance-first into the darkness.

Multiplice whipped out her jump rope and swung it around to loop onto a porch halfway up the building. "Let's go!"

"No!" La Gymnaste grabbed Multiplice's hand and tugged her down. "It's too dangerous!"

"I'll be fine," Multiplice assured her, giving a grin as she tested that the jump rope was secure.

Sk8r Girl shook her head and put a hand on Multiplice's shoulder. "No, she's right. You two stay on the ground; I'll help her out." Without waiting for an answer, she jumped as high as she could, grabbed onto the bottom of the lowest balcony, and retracted her skates, extending a pair of spikes from the toes at the same time and driving one into the brickwork. Quickly, she crawled up the wall hand over hand, until she rolled over the railing onto a third-floor balcony, no more than two floors below the edge of the darkness.

Multiplice folded her arms and glared back and forth between Sk8r Girl and la Gymnaste. "I'm not a cripple, you know!" she argued.

"That's not what I'm saying," la Gymnaste began, just as something larger dropped past Sk8r Girl out of the darkness. The man caught onto the balcony above her with one hand to slow his fall and pushed from there over to the balcony next to Sk8r Girl's. Then, faster than Sk8r Girl could react, he released and dropped the last two floors to the ground, tumbling to his feet right in front of la Gymnaste.

His eyes widened. "Shit."