Miracle Queen

Chapter 2

Mayura falls to her knees in a bout of coughing that feels as if sparks were being shoved down her throat, but she feels a hand on her wrist and shock covers her features.  At first she thinks it's Ladybug or Chat Noir—maybe both.  But the hand is too big, and it's touch is gentle as it pulls her off her knees.

"I wish I didn't have to involve you with this..."

Mayura looked up at him with a fatigued smile, coughed lightly, and she felt Hawkmoths gloved hand on her again, but the coughs quickly die down and she looks back up at him,

"I want to be here, I want to help you."  She rasps, trying to ignore the burning in her throat.

~~~~

He knows this was a great idea, but he wishes that Nathalie would have taken her health into more consideration.  That's how it led to now, with him carrying her up to the roof while she coughs in his arms.

Hawkmoth had already forced the guardian up to the roof, but Mayura couldn't manage, so he scooped her up in his arms after she refused to go home and rest; to give up this plan for another day, one where she felt better.  But she wouldn't let him.

"Can you stand now, Mayura?"  Hawkmoth asked, looking into her bright pink irises.

Mayura offers him a sweet smile, "Yes," she says, extending the simple short word.

Hawkmoth sets her down, but his hand trails down her arm to her hand.

"Hawkmoth?  Is something wrong?"  She asks when his gaze doesn't leave her hand.

He looks back up at her worried face, "I'll be back, my dear...and we'll leave after and let you rest..."

Mayura frowns and pulls his face down to hers, "Gabriel."  She whispers, successfully getting his attention, "Please, don't worry about me.  I'll be fine.  I promise."

Hawkmoth sighs and lightly kisses the tip of her nose, "I know, Nathalie..."

Despite not wanting to, he slowly pulls away and goes back to Chloè.

~~~~

He knows he shouldn't, but he takes great comfort in the feeling of Mayuras hand against his cheek, especially considering the circumstances.

Mayura steps back and opens her fan in front of her face with one quick flick of her wrist, taking one of the feathers out and turning it into an amok.  Hawkmoth doesn't even listen to the words he knows she's saying.  This wasn't a good idea.  Mayura's pushing herself too far and they both know it.  Hawkmoth dreads thinking about how this transformation will harm her state when she changes back into Nathalie.  Hawkmoth's forced out of his thoughts when the sentimonster forms in front of him.  He has to put his doubts aside, so he makes the sentimonster hit the guardians shelter.

~~~~

With every hit of the sentimonsters stinger on the guardians shield, Mayuras hearing becomes more muffled.  Her head is pounding and her gaze is blurry.  She tries to focus on Hawkmoth.  The stuff she does for this man.  Little Nathalie in her small home with her half sister and fighting parents would have never imagined for any of this to happen.  Little Nathalie never planned to make it this far.  Now, she was on gossip blogs left and right.  Well it wasn't good things spread around about her, but the person who always defused the situations every time she brought it up to him, she would do anything to make sure he was happy again.

Nathalie thinks about all the times he'd carried her around the mansion late at night when he saw her stumbling around and unable to sleep.  She thinks about all the times she'd felt upset about her family or Adrien or anything.  They'd grown close over the years, she will admit that.  Nathalie knew for a few years when she needed to she could call her boss a friend.  Nathalie never though that she'd have any other feelings than that about him.  She hadn't purposely fallen in love with Gabriel.

She's not even sure she could pinpoint exactly when she started having the feelings she did.  Nathalie wondered often if she had already begun falling for Gabriel when Emilie was still there.

Emilie.

That was a thought that kept her up at night.  Emilie and her were close friends.  Nathalie still kept a professional boundary set, but Emilie often ignored that line she had set.  The two of them would got out when Emilie dragged Nathalie with her.  Near the time when Emilie had first went away, Nathalie wondered how Emilie had gotten her husband to do what he should.  Nathalie tried, and still does try, to get Gabriel to do that and this.

Nathalie often stayed up late, thinking about Emilie and the rest of the Agrestes.  She would wonder if it was worth it.  Nathalie was reminded it was worth everything she had given up when on nights where the miraculous had taken its toll on her worse than normal and Gabriel would stay with her all night.

~~~~

Hawkmoth couldn't believe it!  The stupid guardian had given up the miraculous!  Now he'd have to go back to square one!  Hawkmoth was furious and so was Mayura.  They'd been trying to find the guardian for almost a year and now that they did they have to start all over again.

"It's my miracle box!  Mine!"  Chloè, well, currently Queen Bee shouts.  Hawkmoth was paying attention to her until he feels Mayuras hand on his forearm.

Her eyes are scared as she looks up at him.  "I'm sorry bu-"

"No, it's ok."  Hawkmoth whispers back.

"Hawkmoth!  Tell them to give me my box back!"  Queen Bee demands.

He bends over slightly to pick Mayura up, "How disappointing."  Hawkmoth says as he jumps down onto their purple sentimonster.  Mayura holds on tightly to him, shaking.  Hawkmoth makes sure the sentimonster goes as fast and safely as possible to a place where they can detransform and he sees a dark alleyway near their car.  The moth creature flies down near it and Hawkmoth forces it away, landing on a balcony and hopping down to the ground.

"Nooroo, dark wings fall."  Hawkmoth, now Gabriel, mutters.  "Nathalie, you have to turn back, dear."

Gabriels eyes widen in fear when a line of red begins to drip out of her mouth, looking extremely bright against her light blue skin.

"Nathalie..."

She opens her eyes to look at him, just barely.  "C..."  She takes a deep, quick, shaky breath, almost like a gasp, "Ca...n't..."

That's all it takes for Gabriel to tear her miraculous off.  He can't lose her.  Not yet, not like this.

He almost wishes he hadn't taken it off when he sees how pale she is.  Gabriel hurries out of the alley and to the car.  He sees Chat Noir up on a roof, looking down at them with large eyes and Gabriel's at first worried he had figured that the two of them were Hawkmoth and Mayura, but Chat Noir turns around and jumps back to his lady.

Gabriel wipes the blood dripping from her mouth as he walks.  They reach the car and he quickly opens the door, setting Nathalie down.

"Oh, my Nathalie."

Nathalie had slightly regained a bit more of her consciousness and the most she could do to react was raise her eyebrows a bit.  She was tired.  So, so tired.

"I've failed yet again, and you've used up every last bit of strength.  For nothing..."  Gabriel mutters.

She forces herself to look up at him and she's glad his hand helps her, "No..not for nothing."  Nathalie breathlessly reassures him.  She pats the tablet next to her, "There's a deciphered version of the grimoire, stored on the guardians tablet.  Now, we can fix the peacock miraculous."

Gabriel smiles, and for that Nathalie's glad.  Gabriel kisses her forehead, but pulls back instantly when she coughs lightly.

"Let's get you home, ok?"  Gabriel tries to lighten the mood with the 'ok' he put at the end but it does nothing.

"Mhm," Is all she can manage with a throat that feels like fire, an extremely stuffy head, and with how exhausted she is.  Gabriel sees this very clearly, and for once, so would anyone else who saw her.