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The connection was severed as the akuma was released from the now broken necklace. The glowing butterfly mask that hovered in front of his face disappeared and Hawk Moth let out a loud yell of defeat.
"No! Not again! Curse you Ladybug, I will have your miraculous if it's the last thing I do!" He yelled into the silence of his empty lair before scowling. Turning away from the large window he stomped his feet as he took a few steps before throwing his cane at the wall as hard as he could. It bounced off the wall and slowly rolled back towards him before it stopped a few feet in front of him, not a scratch on it.
Staring at his feet he could feel the overwhelming anger flowing through him, drowning out all of the emotions running through his miraculous.
2 years! 2 years of fighting and nothing to show for it. It shouldn't be this hard to outsmart 2 kids. He should have been able to defeat them from the start. The hope of getting Emilie back was slowly slipping away with each failed attempt.
He was a failure. A failure as a husband, a father, and now as a super villain.
He reached up and ran his hands over his head, wishing that he could just rip his hair out, but his mask covered most of his head, leaving nothing but smooth spandex beneath his gloved fingers.
With a frustrated sigh he let his arms fall back to his sides and let his body go limp as he collapsed to his knees, his hands resting in his lap. His previously built up anger slowly disappeared as it was replaced with a build up of sadness and self doubt.
He couldn't give up, but he didn't know if he could keep going. Ladybug and Chat Noir were getting harder and harder to outsmart the longer they fought and even with Mayura by his side they were still outnumbered 4 to 2. Ladybug's access to more miraculous jewels was a shock that they hadn't anticipated and it was hard to accept that the odds of them winning were decreasing with each new hero the pair added to their ranks.
He didn't know what to do anymore. He wasn't any closer to reaching his goal than the day he first became Hawk Moth and that was slowly tearing him apart with each failure. How much longer would he have the strength to continue fighting? All he knew was that he was losing confidence in his abilities and the clouds of self doubt that clouded his usually logical way of thinking were coming back a lot more frequently than he liked, pulling him down to a place of darkness that always left him shaking and weak by the time he managed to escape.
*******
Mayura watched the fight take place from just out of sight. Unfortunately Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to get the upper hand and defeated the akuma. With a frustrated huff she turned and quickly made her way back to the manor, being careful not to be seen as she climbed the back of the building to the large window of their lair in the attic. Due to the close proximity of where the fight ended it didn't take Mayura very long to return to the lair.
Peering in the window before she tried to enter, she could see Hawk Moth with his back to the window, his cane laying at his feet which she found odd. His shoulders were slumped and his head was tilted down towards the ground. He was obviously upset and frustrated with their latest failure.
Quietly Mayura managed to climb up into the open window, pausing momentarily as she watched Hawk Moth collapse to his knees. It wasn't often that Gabriel gave into his self doubts, but lately it had been happening more and more often.
No matter what, Nathalie would always be there to help him through it. They were partners. Partners in business and crime.
Jumping down from the window into the lair, her heels clicked softly against the floor, alerting Hawk Moth of her return. He turned his head slightly to the side, not quite enough to see her, but enough to show her that he knew she was there.
She slowly approached him from behind knowing that this was a delicate situation and she needed to tread carefully.
"Hawk Moth?" She spoke softly as she stopped a few steps behind him to give him some space. She needed to judge the situation from afar for a few moments before she could figure out the right way to approach him in this state. He was never violent in this state of mind, but one frightful evening where he had yelled at her when she tried to touch him was burned in her memory.
"My dear Mayura. I- I don't-" The words felt heavy on his tongue as he held up his hands in front of him, clenching them into fists before letting them drop back into his lap with a sigh.
Mayura immediately knew what she was dealing with. He could barely get out what he was thinking or feeling. A sign of giving up. A sign of sorrow in his tone. A sign of defeat as his body slouched in a posture that was very unlike him. She was dealing with a Gabriel Agreste who didn't know what to do. A Gabriel Agreste who was looking for comfort from his thoughts. A calm approach seemed like the best option.
"Shh, my darling butterfly." She spoke softly, letting her words hang in the air for a moment before slowly moving towards his back. A soothing tune came to mind that she'd written for him many weeks ago when he first began this downward spiral of self doubt. It always managed to calm him when nothing else would. She wasn't sure if it was because she wrote it herself or if he just enjoyed listening to her voice, but nonetheless it worked.
"You don't have to speak." She sung softly and her voice amplified off the walls in a beautiful sounding melody that reverberated through the space. Stopping behind him, she knelt down and gently rested her hands on his shoulders. She could feel him intake a sharp breath of air at her touch before he let it out slowly and his body relaxed under her fingers.
"Don't need to talk to me." Bending forward towards him she slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her hands stopping in the middle of his chest as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.
"Baby, I already know." She continued, watching as Hawk Moth slowly reached up and wrapped his hands around her wrists in a tight grip.
He didn't get to hear Nathalie sing very often, but her voice even under the disguise of Mayura was soothing. Feeling Mayura's touch relaxed him. Although he couldn't directly feel her touch, the pressure of the contact was comforting. He held her wrists in a tight grip, not to hurt her by any means, but so that she wouldn't pull away. He needed her touch to ground him at least for a few moments.
Mayura stayed in that position until she felt Hawk Moth's grip on her wrists loosen. Slowly pulling away, Mayura let her touch linger as she stood and moved to his side, turning back to face him. He slowly looked up when she pulled away, worried that she might leave, but she stayed close. It was odd looking up at her as he usually towered over her as Hawk Moth.
"The shadows in your head." Pushing her dress out behind her, Mayura knelt down beside him, the outer part of their right legs pressed together for a bit of extra contact.
"They've got you down again." She reached out and gently cupped his cheek with her right hand. Naturally his eyes closed and he leaned into her touch, feeling his walls breaking down due to her comforting presence.
"Got you feelin' low." Mayura watched as tears began to form in the corners of Hawk Moth's eyes and his shoulders started to tremble slightly. Mayura's touch was soft and gentle, the final straw in breaking down his walls completely.
Hawk Moth couldn't remember the last time he cried. It'd been so long. He was usually able to forget about his troubles by focusing on the emotions of others, but right now all he could feel was his own. He never allowed himself to be vulnerable in front of anyone, but over time Nathalie had become a valuable asset to his company and by extension, himself. Nathalie was the only person he trusted enough to be vulnerable with. She was his rock, his confidant, and without her he'd be completely lost in life.
His eyes stung as the tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. He could feel his shoulders starting to shake as his breaths became shallow. He opened his eyes and found Mayura's face held no judgment, only love. She understood his pain and never piled onto his failure. She was always there to help him through it afterwards. She could always bring him back to reality when it was needed and she always seemed to know when he needed a little time to sit and think.
Nathalie had always been the perfect assistant, but ended up becoming the friend that he didn't know he needed.
"But it's time to rest now." Mayura hated seeing Gabriel cry. She wanted to see him smile more than anything in the world.
"Let it all melt now. Wipe your tears." Reaching out her other hand she gently wiped away his tears with her thumbs.
Blinking a few times, Hawk Moth lifted his head to look at Mayura. Her hands felt warm on his face even through his mask that kept him from feeling her skin against his, a comforting heat as Mayura smiled at him. A small shift at the edges of her lips into an upward curl that was enough to create a small break in the clouds that clouded his mind with his self doubt.
Slowly Mayura removed her hands from Hawk Moth's face and after a moment of thought, took his hands in hers instead of placing them back in her lap. Carefully, she started to get back to her feet, not letting go of his hands. When she was back on her feet Hawk Moth still knelt at her feet, hands now raised above his head. With a gentle tug she was able to convince him to get to his feet. His ascent was slow and shakey as he allowed her to pull him to his feet. Once he was back on his feet she continued singing.
"The sun's already set now." Now standing, the height difference between Hawk Moth and Mayura was now apparent. Hawk Moth towered over Mayura by a foot, but that didn't change the dynamic of the moment. Mayura was still very in control of the situation.
"Won't you go to sleep now." She dropped her right hand and reached up to caress his cheek softly before she let it rest on the side of his face again. She watched as his eyes slid closed at the contact.
"I'll see you in your dreams." Hawk Moth raised his now empty hand and placed it over Mayura's, not wanting to let go. His other hand tightened its grip on her other hand to ensure she didn't let go.
"Cause I'm right here." Mayura paused for a moment before dropping her transformation, feeling the power of the peacock miraculous drain out of her in a flash of soft blue light, returning her to the state she was in before becoming Mayura. She felt weak momentarily, but forced herself to fight through it for Gabriel's sake.
"Darlin, I'm right here." She continued as Hawk Moth opened his eyes again.
A flash of blue light caught his attention, causing him to open his eyes. Instead of Mayura, Nathalie was now standing in front of him. His rock, his confidant, his friend.
As Nathalie continued singing Hawk Moth noticed how Mayura's slight sing-song voice was replaced by Nathalie's soft tone. Mayura's voice was beautiful and serene, but Nathalie's voice was soft and comforting like a warm hug on a cold day. He could listen to it for hours.
"Close your pretty eyes, my butterfly. Baby, have no fear." Closing his eyes to Nathalie's words, he dropped his transformation. Dropping Hawk Moth and returning to Gabriel made him feel vulnerable all over again as he felt the power of his miraculous leave his body in a flash of soft purple light.
He opened his eyes and soaked in the sight of Nathalie standing in front of him. With his gloves and mask gone he was able to feel Nathalie's hand against his cheek, warming him more now that there was no layer between them. He gripped her hand a little bit tighter, comforted by the warmth he could feel now that he wasn't wearing gloves. Her skin was soft and smooth against his slightly calloused hands. He interlocked his fingers with her hand at his side. He would be so lost without her. She was the light in his darkest times keeping him rooted to reality.
"The future's looking bleak." Nathalie always tried to be optimistic, but she understood Gabriel's pessimistic nature in such a situation and sometimes stating the obvious is the best way to work through it.
"Your will to live is weak." Gabriel bowed his head, feeling the tears come much easier this time.
"But honey, hold on for me." Nathalie lowered her voice as she saw the tears beginning to form in his eyes. This was good progress. She knew that crying would make him feel better.
Unexpectedly Gabriel dropped her hands and threw his arms around her waist, pulling her close before hiding his face in the crook of her neck. Taking a minute to let the moment settle she could feel Gabriel's tears on her neck as he started to tremble. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly, his hands moved up her back, clinging onto her like his life depended on it.
"I know that you're an angel." She continued singing as she started to sway as she shifted her weight back and forth slowly. At first Gabriel wasn't sure about the swaying, but after a few moments he realized that he actually liked it.
"But it's not your time to fly now." She could feel Gabriel's shaking slow as she swayed them back and worth and his grip on her clothes loosened
"We need you here on Earth." She finished as she gently reached up and began to run her fingers through his hair which had come loose after transforming back. His hair was soft against her fingers, something that she'd always wondered about given how much gel he uses on a daily basis.
Gabriel only ever let her touch his hair when he was in dire need of being grounded which didn't happen very often. Tears came to his eyes and he tried to blink them away, but they just wouldn't stop. He hated crying so much, but having Nathalie's arms wrapped around him made him feel safe and that made it easier for him to let go.
"Stay right here." Feeling Nathalie's fingers running through his hair was the key. As soon as she started, his body released all its built up tension and he all but moaned at the way her fingers gently scraped against his scalp. His tears had started to dry as he took that time to listen and relax under her touch.
"I'll stay here with you my dear." She finished the song on a soft note, enjoying the feeling of Gabriel holding her so tight. She continued swaying for a minute before slowly coming to a stop, her fingers still brushing through his soft blonde hair.
"Remember my dear. You are strong and you are loved, so loved." She spoke gently, hoping that Gabriel would see the truth and understand that giving up was not the way to go.
Gabriel held her tighter at her words. She was right. He wasn't alone. He had Nathalie and he still had his son who needed him to be strong. He allowed himself to stay in her embrace for a few more moments in silence. The clouds of self doubt slowly drifted away as he thought of Nathalie's voice and her comforting words, focusing on the pressure of her touch as she held him and played with his hair.
Nathalie wasn't sure how long he needed, but she wasn't planning on moving until he was ready to let go. She couldn't share her feelings with him vocally, but in private she could express her love for him in other ways and if she was being honest she knew that he could feel them during these moments of closeness. He never spoke of it out loud, but she could tell by the way his eyes lit up around her, how his touch would always linger, and by the way he always seemed to relax under her touch that he also felt some form of attachment to her. They would never speak of it out loud and would deny it to anyone who may possibly bring it up.
Slowly Gabriel pulled away, his touch lingering as he trailed his hands down her arms before taking her hands in his. He kept his eyes on her hands in his as he took a few deep breaths, finally coming back to reality completely. Gently pulling her hand up to his lips, he kissed it and met her eyes as he lowered her hand.
"Thank you Nathalie." He spoke softly for the first time since transforming back. There was a certain intensity in their connected gaze, the unspoken feelings that didn't need to be said out loud.
I love you
Nathalie simply smiled and Gabriel felt his heart flutter briefly at the sight. Dropping one of Nathalie's hands he interlocked his fingers with the other and with one last deep breath they walked towards the lift together, ready to leave Hawk Moth and Mayura for another day.
As the lift came to a stop back in the atelier, Gabriel dropped Nathalie's hand and composed himself as he moved to his podium to start on a new design while Nathalie moved over to her desk and quickly fell back into her routine of answering emails. Back to their regular lives as a famous fashion designer and their assistant.