Emotional Support [Complete]

S2 E35: Tell Me Everything

"Gabriel, stop! Please!" Nathalie entreated. "You were just starting to heal!"

"I can't. I can't do this," Gabriel muttered lowly, accepting the sharp sting of his crescent cuts as punishment for all his wrongs. "I lost them. I can't. I-I can't..."

The Agreste had come to welcome the pain that came with inflicting harm on himself, even if the only thing he could get away with was his palms. He thought if he hurt himself enough, it'd numb the emotional pain. He also knew he deserved it in return for hurting so many people, including his kids, and including Nathalie. She stood by him through everything. She joined the dark side for him, loved him, protected him, even now after he'd betrayed her for someone who barely had breath in her lungs. Yet, she's still here, when she could just go home and forget him, all to prevent him from harming himself.

"O-Okay!" Gabriel released his fists, breathing heavily as the pain caught up with him. "I-I'm sorry..."

Nathalie huffed as she began tending to his hands. "If you're sorry, then don't do this again!"

Gabriel stayed silent despite chocking over his tears. Then, he spoke softly. "Go home, Nathalie."

Nathalie scoffed as she wrapped the man's hands. "Yeah, right. And let you kill yourself? No way," she sighed. "Whether or not they forgive us, Adrien and Marinette would be destroyed to learn you just... gave up. Especially after Marinette tried so hard to mend our family."

"Her intentions were wonderful, but unrealistic," Gabriel told her. "Our family is more torn than before."

"That's not her fault," Nathalie replied curtly. "This was bound to happen one day."

"I suppose so." Gabriel rubbed away his tears. "But what if we never see them again? What if, in the next moment, the mansion is swarmed by the police, ready to take us away?"

Nathalie looked up at him with sincere eyes as if she was about to speak the greatest truth in the world. "Then... we deserve it."

Gabriel hesitated, but nodded in understanding.

Just then, the door bell rang and the couple jumped. Neglecting to even finish applying the bandages, they ran to Nathalie's desk in the next room and turned on the monitor to reveal their kids, transformed into their alter egos. The dark-haired woman gasped and spoke into the microphone.

"Adrien? Marinette?"

Ladybug gripped her partner's hand. "Yes, it's us. Can we come inside?"

"O-Of course!" Nathalie pressed the button to unlock the gate. "Please, come in."

The heroes were met at the door by Gabriel and Nathalie, who've never looked worse. They shared matching dark circles beneath their worn eyes that seem to have lost all sense of mirth or life. They seemed pale, malnourished, and as if they'd been crying non-stop for the past few days.