This was what rock bottom felt like.

"Master," Nooroo had said. "If she keeps using the miraculous, it will kill her too."

"I know that," he had spat back. "Which is why it is imperative to get Chat Noir's and Ladybug's Miraculous fast."

"Master," Nooroo said again. "What if you don't get them in time?"

"I will!"

Nooroo had been silent for the longest time before whispering, "Even at the cost of her?"

"It's not a cost if I don't lose her in the first place."

That had been the end of the conversation.

That had been before Nathalie had passed out.

That had been before the ambulance had taken her away.

"Master," Nooroo said. "If she continues using the miraculous, she won't have much time. And if you gain both miraculous, the ultimate power can only bring one back. Are you willing to bring back one at the cost of the other?"

Gabriel was silent.

"And if you do, will you regret it?"

That was truly the question, wasn't it?

The soft beeping was irritating. Exhaustion was begging her to come back under, but she fought it. Her chest was tight, like something heavy was crushing her, making it hard to draw a breath. She almost felt like she was choking, but she was too tired to cough.

She tried to force her eyes open, barely cracking them before the exertion turned her headache into a stabbing pain. She groaned.

"Nathalie?"

The voice sounded so familiar. But she couldn't place it.

"Nathalie!"

And that was the last thing she heard before she went under.

Gabriel stared at the peacock miraculous. The one that had taken the love of his life from him and was going to take his one steady rock, as well.

"Master."

"Yes, Nooroo."

"I think you know what the right choice is."

"I don't want to give her up."

"You're not," the little kwami assured. "Every human comes and goes. And most will leave someone behind. It hurts. But magic or no, you can't stop it. Not without consequences."

Gabriel continued staring at the peacock miraculous.

Silence filled the room for a long moment.

"Master."

"Yes, Nooroo."

"Are you going to make the same mistake twice?"

Gabriel blinked at him.

The kwami fluttered down to the desk to touch the peacock miraculous. "Are you going to let broken magic take someone twice?"

Gabriel stared at the miraculous a long moment, warring with what he had to do. It took so much energy to place it in a box and place a lid over top of it.

Nooroo smiled. "I'm proud of you, Master."

Adrien was worried. So worried. Nathalie had been in the hospital for two weeks now, fading in and out of consciousness. And Father…

Father was hiding in his office. Again. Just like when they lost Mom.

At least Hawkmoth hadn't sent out an akuma once in that time—which caused him and his lady to wonder just what was going on—but Adrien couldn't stand what was going on in his own home. So, after a pep-talk from Ladybug and a talking at by Plagg, Adrien knocked on the door to his father's office.

"Come in."

He opened the door. "Father," he greeted, shutting the door behind him. "I just wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine, Adrien," he dismissed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Adrien shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure," he said.

A short silence lapsed between them.

"Any news on Nathalie?"

At this, his father became still as a statue. "No," he answered.

Adrien sighed heavily.

"Is that all?"

With a nod, Adrien headed out the door again. "Well," he mumbled, as he shut the door behind him, "so much for that."

"Master."

"What is it, Nooroo?"

"Adrien's just as worried as you are."

Gabriel paused. "And?"

"You don't have to go through suffering alone."

"Who said I was suffering?"

Nooroo was silent, knowing better than to push his master.

Gabriel went back to his design pad.

"Are you going to make your son suffer alone?"

That got Gabriel to pause.

"Because he's hurting," Nooroo continued. "And he knows less than you. He doesn't know about a broken miraculous. All he knows is Nathalie passed out and hasn't woken up."

Gabriel stared at the door his son had disappeared out of. He was loathe to admit that Nooroo was right. Again. For the umpteenth time in two weeks.

But Gabriel didn't need Nooroo's prompting to know he needed to remedy it.

It almost hurt just how shocked his son was to see him in the car.

"Father," Adrien said, slowly climbing in the car. "What… what brings you?"

"I'm worried for Nathalie, too."

The shocking silence was tremendously uncomfortable.

"We're going to check up on her."

Adrien blinked. "What?"

Gabriel nodded. "I've been checking up on her condition daily. You can come with me today."

There was a silence that stretched on for a moment before Adrien's smile grew. "Thank you, Father."

Gabriel simply nodded.

Seeing Nathalie unconscious in the hospital bed was going to be his undoing. And his son's reaction was going to be the striking match to his gasoline. Gabriel watched from the doorway as Adrien stepped forward to Nathalie's bedside. He tentatively reached for her hand before sitting down in the chair Gabriel had taken up partial residence in over the last few weeks.

It broke Gabriel's heart once again that Nathalie hadn't moved. Not since that one time he thought she'd flinched and the doctors had to forcibly remove him from the room.

Not his finest moment.

Adrien turned back to his father, worry clear in his eyes.

Gabriel sighed, then shrugged before pulling over another chair to sit at Nathalie's other side.

And they stayed there for a good while.

"Nooroo," Gabriel said in the middle of the night after being woken from the countless nightmare in the longest sixteen days of his life. "Is there anything I can do?"

The kwami was silent. Hesitant silent. "One," he admitted.

"And that is?"

Nooroo was quiet once again. "Will you let me go for a moment?" he tentatively asked.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the kwami.

"I'll be right back," Nooroo assured. "I promise."

Gabriel let his eyes close. He was reluctant, but at his wit's end and desperate to make it stop, he didn't have a choice. "Go."

"I heard you were looking for me."

Gabriel looked up to see a short Asian man standing in his office. His brow furrowed. "How did you get in here?"

"Nooroo let me in," the man said with a smile.

And that's when Gabriel's eyes widened. The guardian.

"It is a pleasure to meet you civilly, Hawkmoth."

Gabriel was silent, mostly because he was so stunned.

"You have faced more magic than you can take, I'm certain."

He grunted. "The side-effects, more like."

The man smiled. "May I see the peacock miraculous, please."

Gabriel's eyes widened. The audacity of this man!

"Master," Nooroo said. "He can save Nathalie."

"What?" And in an instant, his anger melted away.

"The magic is not broken," the man spoke, strong and steady. "It is simply overwhelmed."

"What do you mean?" Gabriel challenged.

"When a miraculous holder is injured," the man explained. "The miraculous must take energy from somewhere to restore their holder. If someone steals the miraculous of an injured person, then the thief will suffer while the true wielder of the miraculous heals with energy stolen from the thief. I am not calling your wife a thief, but she was on the wrong side of the miraculous connection."

Gabriel's brow furrowed.

"And when Nathalie chose to pick up the miraculous," the man continued. "She was not supporting one, but two bodies that had passed on."

The words were like a hit to his chest, crushing his ribs and forcing all air from his lungs until his stood there lightheaded and numb. Everything around him faded away to the point he barely noticed the man give him a single nod. "No," Gabriel said, shaking his head.

"Denial is a powerful and terrifying thing," the man said.

And that's when Gabriel collapsed into a chair behind him, weak and powerless and empty.

"Gabriel Agreste," the man said, walking forward to stand in front of him. "I need to take back the peacock miraculous. No one deserves to suffer the fate of fading away simply because their energy is being stolen."

But Gabriel was numb. Empty. He could barely register the man's words.

"Master," Nooroo said, floating in front of Gabriel's face. "Master, it's time."

The world was gray and hazy but somehow, Gabriel ended up handing over the peacock miraculous to the man, feeling numb all the while.

"You are not all evil, Hawkmoth," the man said, taking the gem. "Let this be the first of many steps that proves it."

The pain wasn't as strong as before, and her exhaustion not as overwhelming. For the first time, she could clearly feel the mask on her face and the IV in her arm. She could hear the beep of what she assumed was a heart monitor. And she could recall that the last thing she fully remembered was Gabriel shouting her name while removing her miraculous.

That hurt her heart.

Slowly, her eyes drifted open, but the light was so bright, she shut them with a groan.

"Nathalie?"

It was a male's voice. One that was familiar but couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Nathalie?"

A hand came to rest on her arm, and then another set of hands on her other.

She opened her eyes again, only to see Adrien and Gabriel both looking down at her. She was able to keep her eyes open long enough to see Adrien grin widely and Gabriel sigh in relief.

"Tired," she mumbled, her eyes closing again.

"Then rest, Nathalie," Gabriel said, his hand squeezing hers tightly. "We're just glad to see you wake for a moment."

It wasn't long before she took his advice and slipped back to sleep.

Ten days later, Nathalie was able to go back home. Well, the Agreste's home. Gabriel had insisted that she stay with them to recover a little more, and Adrien had readily agreed.

"I'm fine," she had insisted.

But that had garnered a "don't argue with me" look from both Agreste men.

So, she didn't.

She sat in the back with Gabriel at her side while Adrien prattled on about school from the passenger's seat. When they arrived at the house, Adrien practically leapt out of the car, rushing around to her side to assist her out.

She almost argued that she wasn't helpless, but the realization that these two men were actually bonding over caring for her kept her mouth shut. With Gabriel at her right side, his arm looped through hers, and Adrien on her left, watching her like a hawk, they guided her up to her room for the next… undetermined amount of time.

Nathalie would cross that bridge whenever she got to it.

However, there was one issue.

"I can go get your things from your apartment, Nathalie," Adrien quickly volunteered.

She pursed her lips. "I'd rather you not go dig through my things."

"Oh," he said, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

But since it was clear he wanted to help, Nathalie didn't want to tell him no. It wasn't as though she didn't trust Adrien, she just didn't want a male digging through her private things. "If Miss Dupain-Cheng would help you to gather my clothes, I'll allow it."

Adrien lit up. "I'm sure she would."

"Go call her then," Gabriel said.

With a nod, Adrien headed out the door. Leaving Gabriel and Nathalie truly alone for the first time in a while.

"You had me so worried," Gabriel admitted, holding her hand in both of his.

"I knew the risks, and I took them," she simply answered.

"Never again," he said. "Never again will I come so close to losing you."

Her eyes widened as she turned to face him.

Before she could say another word, Adrien came back in. "She said she could come help now."

"Fair enough," Nathalie relented.

"Then your bodyguard can escort you," Gabriel granted.

A few minutes later, with Nathalie's apartment keys in hand, Adrien was off to collect Marinette before bringing back Nathalie's things.

Leaving Nathalie to lounge in her new room with Gabriel by her side.

"I gave up the peacock miraculous."

If Nathalie didn't know better, she thought she would have received an electric shock. And a large one, at that. "What?"

He nodded. "Back to the guardian."

Speechless was the best word for it. She wasn't sure how to react to such information. "So what now?" Nathalie asked after a long minute of silence.

"I'm not going to lose you again," he said, squeezing her hand tightly. "That's what's going to happen."

Nathalie felt her cheeks warm and her heart flutter even though her mind was screaming at her to stop. Gabriel had given his miraculous up before, but that didn't stop him from going back. Furthermore, it wasn't his that he gave up. He still held onto it. Onto that temptation.

Don't be a foolish woman a second time. She warned herself. Don't let yourself get hurt again.