unexpected feelings | marichat

chapter forty-nine

gabriel agreste seethed quietly on the desk next to nathalie's bed as he scrolled through the pictures from adrien and marinette's photoshoot the day before. he couldn't believe it. how could the plan fail? it was supposed to be foolproof.
it had been one of his most complex- and expensive- plans thus far. he'd gone all out with the shoot, claiming it was to look for new talent for the agreste fashion brand. it was to debut in 93 STYLE magazine next month, and he'd spared no expense on the wardrobe. it had to be completely believable.
getting her earrings off was slightly trickier, since she seemed to never take the things off. but it was obvious she drooled over adrien's every move, and gabriel knew all it would take were a few words from him to get the earrings off her. so he convinced his son that there was no possible way to do the shoot without a change of jewelry, despite adrien's protests about them being important to marinette because of her uncle.
did he really buy into her trickery? what a clueless, clueless boy.
as suspected, she did just as adrien suggested her to do. so now all he had to do was send someone into her trailer to get them. that was where the peacock miraculous came in.
nathalie was much too weak to use it. she'd been getting worse lately. her internal clock was slowly ticking towards its end, and gabriel knew this. he bitterly took it in stride, deciding to fix the miraculous and use it himself instead of even bothering nathalie with it.
he created an intricate creation, one that looked so human that it was impossible to believe it was anything but. emilie would be proud if she were still around. and she will be, soon.
the senti-crewmember had gone in and taken the earrings all under shadowmoth's control, and it was going perfectly. soon the ladybug miraculous would be his, and all he would need would be chat noir's. a piece of cake.
   but then marinette showed back up and ruined everything. had the photographer not kept her and adrien in front of the camera for as long as gabriel asked? someone needed to fire him.
   it was infuriating. everything could have worked out perfectly, but of course ladybug outsmarted him. as always.
   "sir? are you okay?" a weak voice asked from beside gabriel. he turned to see nathalie staring worriedly at him from her bed.
   "yes, nathalie, i'm fine, thank you. please, get some rest. you need it," gabriel replied, coming to her bedside. 
   "i'm fine," she assured him, though the cough she gave afterwards suggested she was anything but. "how did the plan go?"
gabriel scowled upon the reminder, but he wasn't sure how much he should tell her. not only was it a burden, but the amount of failures was becoming embarrassing. a few seconds passed, though, and his anger beat what little common courtesy he had left in him.
   "she ruined it. again! the earrings were right there, the sentimonster had them! but that stupid girl caught them before anything could happen," he ranted, balling his hands into tight fists and nearly shaking with rage.
   nathalie reached out to him and put her hands on one of his, massaging it until he finally took a deep breath and unclenched his fists. "i'm sure there'll be plenty of other chances, mr. agreste. she's bound to mess up eventually."
   "she's impossible to get! there is no way to capture her out there."
   "then lead her here. it's risky, but she'll be so off guard, it'll be child's play to capture her and chat noir's miraculous," nathalie suggested, and gabriel smiled madly.
   "speaking of chat noir... i know the perfect way to catch her off guard."
   nathalie smirked, ready to ask him to further delve into this new plan of his, when a terrible dizzy spell hit her. she struggled to keep consciousness as her vision went blurry and she gripped onto gabriel's hand tightly to keep her bearings. he looked at her worriedly as she slumped back down, her dizziness getting the best of her.
   "i'm so sorry you were dragged into all of this, nathalie. i should have fixed the peacock miraculous before allowing you to use it," gabriel lamented, brushing hair out of nathalie's closed eyes. she smiled.
   "i would use the broken miraculous ten times over if it meant giving you happiness."
————
marinette's pov
alya lay on my chaise with the kwamis, scrolling through the pictures of adrien and i's photoshoot that i'd just received. i sat on the ground next to her, biting my nails worriedly.
"girl, what's wrong? the pictures are perfect! there's nothing for you to be worried about," she assured me, ruffling my hair. i groaned.
"there's everything to worry about! if they turn out nicely and lila sees them, she could get mad, which would then make her want to hurt me, which would then probably make her reveal my secret identity because she already knows it!"
alya slid off the lounge and joined me on the ground. i lay my head on her shoulder and pouted, and i felt her chuckle a little before she patted my head. "you're worrying too much, girl. if she even thinks of revealing your identity, she'll be dead meat," alya declared casually, and i smiled slightly.
   "i think she'll die happy as long as hawkmoth has a way to get chat noir and my miraculous," i replied drearily, and alya sighed defeatedly.
   a few seconds passed, and the sound of my phone dinging startled us enough to sit up straight again.
  "it's adrien!!" xuppu announced, dragging the phone to me excitedly. it kept dinging, making poor xuppu shake while bringing it.
   "he must have seen the photos," alya said, her excitement magically reappearing. i took a deep breath before opening the message, considering asking him to tell his father not to use the photos in anything ever. but adrien wasn't worried about the photos.

(a/n: when i do not know how to write emotional texts at all)
i frowned, feeling my heart crack once again. i remembered adrien talking about this, though very rarely and to very few people. if he was saying anything about it, he must have been worried sick. which in turn was beginning to worry ME sick, since i didn't want to know how he'd react if anything happened to nathalie.
   "marinette? did something happen?" alya asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. i nodded.
"natha- mr. agreste's assistant... she's really sick, and adrien's super worried. he says she's got the same mysterious disease his mother had, and he's terrified that nathalie's gonna suffer the same fate. i feel so awful for them," i frowned, leaning against alya again. she began to pat my head lightly.
   "look, i know that must be awful for him, but think about how lucky he is to have a friend like you! someone who's always-"
   "um, marinette? you might want to take a look at this," tikki interrupted nervously, and alya sent her a dirty look. i walked towards the computer and nearly fainted at the newscast that was playing.
   "it's devastation for the citizens of paris as beloved hero chat noir seems to be akumatized! reports from the scene state he's the most volatile victim they've ever seen. now to our on scene reporter, clara contard," nadja chamack said, sounding much too excited for the topic she was reporting on.
   as clara contard gave a live commentary on the situation, i watched behind her, where chat blanc could easily be seen. he looked as terrifying as ever, menacingly walking around the eiffel tower like a lion about to pounce on its prey. parts of the tower looked broken from this angle, though there was probably much more damage than just that. clara stood way too close for comfort, and i briefly wondered how many reporters were risking their lives at this very moment just to get a shot of chat noir at his worst. they're sick.
   i hadn't even noticed the tears streaming down my face until now, and i stumbled back at how quickly they blurred my vision. alya caught me before i could land on the ground, though i selfishly wished she'd just let me fall. maybe i'd have passed out. at least then, i wouldn't have to face chat like this.
   what could have caused it? was it... could it be my fault? the thought made me dizzy, and alya held me until i was able to stand on my own again.
   "i have... i need to save him. he's all alone, he needs my help. tikki, spots on," i said, hardly making sense with my stupid gasps for air and hiccups but somehow managing to transform. alya's arms stopped me before i could even take a step towards my balcony.
   "woah, marinette. i love you, and that's why i'm telling you this: you're in no state to fight your partner! you're a few words away from breaking, and i don't think fighting the boy you love will help that. let me go as rena rouge. maybe i can make an illusion to distract him, and it'll give you time to breathe," she suggested, sitting me on the lounge. i shook my head and stood back up.
   "no, alya, i'm fine! i can do this. besides, i need you to stay here and guard the miracle box. if chat is akumatized, that's one less barrier preventing hawkmoth from getting the box. i can't risk anything happening to it."
alya refused to let go of my arms, looking me in the eyes carefully. i tried to calm my breathing, since it wasn't at all helping my case. it began to steady, and alya sighed, loosening her grip on my arms.
"be careful, girl. i'll be here in your bedroom if you need anything at all during the battle. don't do anything stupid," she added, probably meaning to sound playful but sounding more concerned than anything. i smiled.
"i can't. i'm leaving all the stupid here with you," i replied, hugging her before heading out. something about the whole thing felt different, though. not just because i was about to fight chat, but also... conclusive. like this might just be the end of something. i shuddered.
whatever it was, it didn't at all feel good combined with the dread quickly pooling in me.

(a/n: ur girl is trying her hardest to balance school and writing sorry for the later updates <\3)