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Hawkmoth had made a colossal mistake and he knew it. The boy he had akumatized had just gone through a breakup and had wanted everyone around him to experience that same pain he was feeling. The only problem was that it had affected people in different ways. For most of his victims it was physical, but for some it was mental. The akuma itself was a rather powerful one and difficult to control.
He had only meant to let the boy run rampant while he planned ahead for bigger things. He just wanted his enemies to be mildly inconvenienced. Too bad he underestimated the power of a broken heart. His transformation had just faded away when a stray beam of the akuma's bright blue magic shot through the window and got him in the back. It was a one in a million shot, but it hit him anyway and now he was forced to suffer like the rest of Paris.
Of course it was just his luck to get hit with a mental form of Heartbreaker's powers. When he opened his eyes, he was Hawkmoth again, but this time he was on top of a random building. Below him another nameless akuma was fighting with Ladybug. Behind him Chat Noir was fighting with Mayura. He turned when he heard someone cry out in pain.
The cat had his beautiful peahen on her back and was standing over her, his claws out and glimmering in the sunlight while the scratches on her arm started to bleed. A fury like he'd never felt before seemed to overtake him, but when he rushed forward he felt that he couldn't move. He looked down to see his feet melting into the roof below him. Try as he might, he pulled and pulled but he was stuck there.
He screamed too. Oh how he screamed. Anything to turn the attention to him. Still, nothing worked. The only acknowledgment he got, came from Mayura herself. As she lay there, she turned her head and smiled at him.
"Hawkmoth it’s ok. It's all going to be ok. You know I'd do anything for you," she said.
"Not this! Anything but this!"
Suddenly the cat had shot forward and plunged his claws into her chest. He pulled them out slowly, savoring how they looked when drenched in blood. He then turned to Hawkmoth and smirked before jumping off the roof.
The concrete vanished and his feet were free once more. He ran to her and fell on his knees before her, dropping his transformation in the process and not giving a damn if anyone saw. It was as if his heart had been ripped in two. The pool of blood forming beneath her was already huge. He was sure to be gentle as he pulled her into his arms. She was still breathing, but it was dreadfully shallow.
Her own transformation fell and he was forced to look upon Nathalie as she bled to death in his arms. Never in a million years did he ever dream of seeing her hurt. He never wanted this. She was the last person that deserved something so cruel.
"Nat…I'm so sorry."
"It's ok. He was g-going to kill you if not for me. I couldn't let…you get hurt," she choked out.
"There has to be another way! You can't die. I don't want you hurt. I can't lose you."
"You'll have her back soon. Don't worry."
"I don't want her if it means losing you. Nat please. Please don't leave me."
She reached up with a shaking hand and cupped his cheek. He leaned into it, savoring the feeling but wishing it was under different circumstances. He locked eyes with her. They were filled with love and adoration, but behind that he could see fear. Was she scared of death or something more?
"Gabriel please don't be upset. You can hire another assistant."
"No I can't! No one is you. Don't you understand that?"
She let her hand fall and chuckled weakly to herself.
"I'm nothing," it was barely a whisper.
"You aren't! You're my world. My rock! I'm nothing without you…"
In that moment he knew they were saying goodbye. Her beautiful blue eyes never left his face as he cradled her, each of them bathed in her blood. He felt empty inside, as if he had reached the lowest point in his life, that point of no return, when love is torn apart. Her hair had tumbled over her face so he swept it back, feeling the coldness of her skin.
"I love you," he poured his very soul into those three words.
"I love you too...more than you could ever know," it was the last thing she said to him.
She smiled briefly and with one final breath...she was gone.
"Nat..." he touched her cheek. It was so frightfully cold.
"No. No…no. You can't be gone...Nathalie..."
He could feel himself falling apart. To see her dead was to die himself. There was no him without her, no life after her love. She had been his all, his reason for living, and existing when she no longer did wounded him in a way that would never heal.
These feelings for her were bubbling to the surface and suffocating him. How had he been so blind to it all? Why had he let her go so far to bring back Emilie, when she was the one he needed after all? If he could go back, he'd realize his feelings so much earlier. He'd tell her how he felt. He'd move on, make a fresh start, be with the one who had offered him a second chance at happiness.
All he could do was hold her limp body close to him as he cried uncontrollably. His body shook with sobs, enough tears falling from his eyes to create an ocean. Oh how he would love to be in an ocean right now. To drown himself so that he might hear her voice one more time.
He blinked.
He was back in the lair on his knees. His arms were still stretched out before him, but there was no longer a body in them. His clothing was immaculate again, not a drop of blood in sight. The nightmare was over, he surmised. Ladybug had defeated the akuma. Ignoring the fact that he was actually glad his enemies had won, he quickly dusted himself off and left the lair.
It was dark outside, meaning it had taken the heroes the better half of the evening to beat his akuma this time. Maybe the cracks were starting to show. When he was back in his office, his eyes zeroed in on her immediately. It was so late, but here she was, at his computer and most likely organizing his schedule for the week by hand. He remembered how thorough she liked to be.
The miraculous under his scarf pulsed with a calming feeling. This was why he always loved to be around her, even if he never said it out loud. Though she was emotionless on the outside, inside she was often radiating pure joy. He had no idea why her job made her so happy, but her feelings were rather intoxicating. She could always calm him down even when she didn't know she was doing it.
He said nothing as he walked right up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Her breath hitched and fear shot through her before she realized it was him and relaxed. She fell back into his chest and allowed him to rest his chin on her shoulder, his face pressed against hers.
Nathalie could've asked him what he was doing or made some other comment, but she stayed silent. She was perfectly happy to let him hug her as he processed his emotions. She truly knew him better than he knew himself sometimes. When he finally felt like he had gotten the last image of her dying out of his head, he tightened his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. She sighed softly and smiled before she spoke.
"Are you ok?" her voice, void of pain, was like music to him.
"Yes. Today was just stressful."
"Ladybug won again?"
He knew he wasn't going to tell her about his earlier experience.
"Yes."
"She should savor it. This victory will be short lived. I know it."
"Do you?"
"Yes. You will win in the end, Gabriel."
"Can you be so sure?"
"Of course. Aren't you?"
"I…I…"
When the words caught in his throat, she turned around to face him. Her face instantly filled with worry for him when she saw him tear up. She didn't understand why he was upset, but he didn't fault her for that.
"Sir, are you-"
"Nat, do you know how much you mean to me?"
"I uh, I guess?"
"No. Do you truly know?"
"No I do not."
"You are the sun that shines above me and the moon that lights up the night. You're the only one who understands me. You're the only one I can truly be myself around. I trust you with my life, Nat. I really do."
"Gabriel-"
He pressed a finger to her lips, willing her to listen. His other hand remained firmly secured around her waist as he spoke.
"You do so much for me, yet I hardly thank you. You've been there for me as well as Adrien and you never ask for anything in return. I feel as though this family would've fallen apart long ago if you were not a part of it.
"Sometimes I can't even believe how lucky I am to have met you, to know you now. Even being able to hold you near me is a privilege that I do not take lightly. You're everything to me…"
"W-wow...Gabriel that was so sweet and so...unexpected. I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. You know how I truly feel now and I want you to never forget it. Don't ever think you're worthless or below me. You're not, ok?"
Fear pulsed through her once more, but this time is was lighter. It was nothing more than a small blip on his radar.
"How did you know I felt that way?" she whispered.
"Shhhh. It doesn't matter."
He pulled her back into his chest in a very long hug. There were those feelings of contentment coming from her again. They filled him with a joy like no other, especially when he knew that he was the cause for them.
When he pulled away, he bent down and lightly kissed her forehead. He was well aware that he wanted to kiss every inch of her, but he refrained. She smiled up at him, raising a hand to his cheek to wipe away a tear.
"You need to get some rest, it's late" he said.
"You do too, sir."
"Come on then. You can fix my schedule tomorrow."
She smiled and went to save her work before shutting off the computer. He kept his arm looped with hers all the way to her own bedroom. There he bid her goodnight with yet another forehead kiss. He didn't miss the way she beamed afterwards.
He couldn't work up the courage to tell her how he felt then, but he knew he would eventually. He loved her so much. He loved her more than he ever thought he could love someone. She was the one he wanted a future with and he cursed himself for being so blind for so long. How had he missed what was right in front of him?