The Burnt Wings Of A Moth

Let your despair embody you -

AUTHORS NOTES:

1. Future Nathalie's POV

2. Future Gabriel's POV

3. Future Marinette's POV

Gabriel Agreste is a determined man.

Of course, he'd win.

Nathalie watched as Gabriel built his empire with ruthless passion, a nobody who made a name for himself.

Gabriel Agreste is a powerful man.

Ladybug seems to have a good head on her shoulders, she must not be underestimated. The heroes are a sharp thorn in his side, but they don't know Gabriel would go through hell and back for Emilie. Nathalie would do anything to ease his burden. She would bolster Hawkmoth and give him whatever he needed. She would handle Adrien while Gabriel can deal with those annoying children. It was an ingenious plan that faded into entropy.

Gabriel Agreste is a family man.

That's why they were there together then, trying to fix the thing that started this whole mess in the first place.

Her chest burns and she manages to intake a breath of fresh air, even that doesn't offer temporary reprieve. It had been a while since he left to carry out his new task. This was an end she never hoped to look forward to, she thinks as it becomes more of a struggle to breathe and Nathalie lets the familiar cocoon of unconsciousness capture her once again.

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He can picture the numerous news vans, equipment ripe and ready to get a scope of what happened within the great walls of the Agreste mansion, shoving their mics wherever there is a potential story, a plethora of articles to be written. He wouldn't be surprised if they managed to break in. Gabriel disappearing at the time of his son's death will make international headlines. At least the tabloids claiming him responsible for the death of a family member won't be a clickbait lie anymore.

He latched on to a negative emotion, a typical bad day at the office, just a few minutes before the uproar of indignant, sorrowful fans who demanded answers. It was enough to get the attention of that time miraculous holder, he didn't need a rampage.

"Gabriel how could you?!"

He didn't need to be an empath, because the disgust, anger and shock were written clear as day.

Suddenly a flash of white, hot anger passed through him. What did she expect? How dare she look at him like some feral animal!

Did she not think of their son when she pulled disappearing acts and kept secrets?

He poured his love and hatred into every akuma. Where was sleeping beauty when he was squeezing his heart raw?

Nathalie remained loyal when it was painfully obvious what she risked her life for. She didn't even express disdain for him when she struggled to sit up because of his null and void victory.

The heat radiated away and was doused in embarrassment.

He can't stop now.

He had all the power to fix things and he failed. He should be ashamed this was the world he brought her back to.

Gabriel loosened her clothes- anything to stop the wheezing and coughing. Everything just knocked the air out more. He needs to confront the suppressed obvious; no amount of medical knowledge could ever fix this. He looked at his wife below him.

"The cryopreservation chamber will prevent further cardio-pulmonary failure."

He would do anything to honour the promise he made.

Cat Noir knocked him from his despondent haze onto Chloe's balcony.                                                       

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Gabriel looked so sincere when he was asking for her help, then he suddenly snatched the miracle box away from her with a sneer. Marinette had no way of calling for assistance from the other heroes; she was now a sitting duck. Now he is causing destruction in the city, she turned the TV back on just to scale the damage. The akuma was now wreaking havoc at The Place des Vosges. The broadcast switched to Hawkmoth- now dubbed Shadow Moth riding on the sentimonster that aided his escape on Heroes Day. The villain then got whacked by her late partner and then she saw herself a few moments after. That gave her hope that this reality was short-lived.

It was a weekday, so the Boulangerie was still open, although sales had stopped amidst the chaos and confusion. Her parents had more than likely heard the devastating news, so Marinette had been listening out for them, she was ready to cry in her father's and mother's arms about her loss and what she lost, secret identity be damned. But Marinette had been grateful they hadn't yet checked on her, she would not want them in the room with a fully-transformed Gabriel present.

The television suddenly showed no signal. Destroyer must have wrecked the broadcasting towers too. Hearing some ruckus, Marinette decided to see what was going on. She stopped at the stairs and listened. "Oh come on!"

"It's not possible, I don't believe it!"

A bunch of other people started talking all at once and from the cacophony, all she could conclude was that someone spotted Mayura on the Eiffel Tower and ran into the bakery in a panic. Her hope was soon turned to confusion if Gabriel Agreste fused the butterfly and peacock miraculous. What had happened?