Chapter 1

Months prior…

The Agreste mansion provided that feeling of uneasiness and loneliness. A woman dressed on an elegant black suit with a sweater as red as her hair streak walked through the entrance of the frontal garden of the mansion. She opened the door for her boss, Mr. Agreste, so he could enter the mansion, followed by his son, model Adrien Agreste. After the busy day they had, they returned to the mansion for a well-deserved rest.

She saw from the corner of her eye the two men she cared for every day. Both had a tired glance, specially Adrien, who had been in photoshoot sessions almost all day and all because Gabriel needed a new advertising campaign for one of the most important events for the company: A fashion show that would take place in Vienna, approximately in September for the Spring collection.

She felt compassion for the boy. She gave a supplicant glance to Gabriel after giving a fast look to Adrien. Gabriel signed, defeated.

"Adrien, you can go and rest. I will work a while."

The boy gaze lit up. He embraced his father by his back.

"Thank you, father."

With that he headed towards his room. Both adults observed him until he disappeared out of their sight. The gorilla situated himself at the door to keep an eye on Adrien.

"Nathalie, it's time to work, I need you…"

She knew what it meant. They entered the office and Gabriel the peacock miraculous to give it to Nathalie. Both entered the lair using the lift activated using Emilie's portrait in the office.

"Are you ready, Nathalie?"

"Always, sir." she got close, stepping by his side.

"Nooroo, dark wings rise!"

"Duusu, spread my feathers!"

Mayura got outside, to search for the hero's duo. The battle was intense, but as always Ladybug and Chat Noir took the advantage on the fight. The miraculous were gone, once more.

They failed, again. Upon her returning, Mayura noticed that the anger of Hawkmoth was evident in the environment, but she as always, tried to calm him. She took his hands between hers and drew circles in palm of his hands. This seemed to calm the frustration he was feeling. But she had to stop, as a strong headache made Mayura shrink in the place she was standing. She grabbed her head with both hands and almost feel to the floor, if Hawkmoth hadn't grabbed her by the waist.

"Nathalie! Don't worry I got you."

Nathalie's throat burned. A strong cough fit interrupted her.

"Than..." She couldn't continue, as a new coughing fit invaded her lungs.

She felt how Gabriel picked her up from the ground and headed towards the exit of the lair. They went out of his atelier and he left her on one of the armchairs. He arranged some pillows on her back, so she was comfortable. Nathalie already lost her conscience. Gabriel took his phone and dialed the family doctor.

Nathalie woke up later, when she heard voices close to her.

"Mr. Agreste, Miss Sancoeur needs a lot of rest. Make sure she takes the medicine I prescribed"

"Of course, thank you doctor"

The door of the room closed. There was a sepulchral silence before Gabriel got close to her and kneel by her side.

"You're awake"

She saw him with a tired glance.

"I don't know what to think, I don't like the fact of using the peacock Miraculous" Gabriel saw her with worry "It's very dangerous"

"It doesn't matter to me" Nathalie coughed a little, "We will bring back your wife, sir, I assure you"

She felt how he grabbed her hand.

"Thank you for being there for me, Nathalie"

Gabriel left the room and looked for a blanket to cover his assistant. She gave him a tired look, closing and opening her eyes slowly. He left her alone, so she could regain her strength in peace. He closed the door and leaned against it.

It was strange. When he was with Nathalie, he felt a feeling of affection coming from her through his Miraculous. But the particular thing was that, it was a sensation that he felt when he visited Emilie in the Sanctuary. A feeling of ... Love.

He shook his head, pushing those thoughts out of his mind. It was ridiculous that she had feelings for him. God, he was a married man! They couldn't be more than friends. It was the right thing to do. He went to his office to think, besides that he needed to finish with the designs for the gala.

Even so, that matter did not leave him alone all afternoon. When Nathalie felt much better to be able to get up, she headed for the office, looking for Gabriel. He saw her when he walked in and put everything aside.

"Nathalie, you should be resting"

"I know sir," she said, coughing a little. "But I think it would be more convenient if I could rest in my apartment, there I won't have any distractions"

There was also another particular interest because she wanted to go home. She didn't want Adrien to see her like this. He cared a lot for her.

"Very well. You will leave, but on the condition that I will take you home myself. No exceptions"

A slight, imperceptible blush crossed Nathalie's cheeks. It wasn't normal that your boss to take you to your apartment. They went out to the entrance of the mansion and Gabriel indicated the Gorilla to take them to their destination. The trip was quiet, but nothing out of the ordinary. Gabriel helped her out and they both went up to the apartment that his assistant had owned for many years. She opened the door.

"I think it's time to say goodbye" Gabriel approached and put a hand on her shoulder "If you need something you can call me, okay?"

"Yes sir, I will bear that in mind. I'll be back at work first hour in the morning." Nathalie finished with a dry cough. Gabriel saw her a little concerned. But he knew he should trust her to ask him for help if she needed it.

"See you tomorrow Nathalie." Gabriel said, heading down the hall. Nathalie closed the door and went to the window facing the street, where she saw her boss get in the car and drive away, back to the Agreste mansion.

The next day Nathalie had recovered enough to go to work as she did every day. Mr. Agreste had brought her home himself, although she had insisted it wasn't necessary. As always, the day started out quite busy. Being so close to the fashion event in Vienna, they had to prepare everything they needed for the event. His boss had just come into the office.

"Nathalie I urgently need you to pass me the information of the models that we will have available for the event, I need to make sure that we have enough people for all the designs that we will present from the new collection."

"Yes sir, immediately."

Although she knew that would take a long time, it didn't bother her at all. Nathalie Sancoeur knew what she was doing when she agreed to work for the fashion industry, especially someone like Gabriel Agreste. Much was the strength necessary to meet the demands of someone like his boss. A large group of people were in their place before they resigned, or Mr. Agreste fired them. His temperament was to keep an eye on, especially when it was about his company or his family life.

When she accepted the job, didn't expected that she would interact so much with the Agreste family. Gabriel's wife, Emilie, treated her very well from day one. Mrs. Agreste let her stay at the mansion for the first few days while she found an apartment nearby to stay in. She talked to her every day and as time passed, they became friends and confidants. Nathalie also spent a lot of time with Adrien, the son of her bosses, whom she practically saw growing up in front of her eyes.

But the current situation of the Agrestes was gnawing at her inside. Gabriel had fallen into a deep sadness when his wife went into a coma, which led to madness when he decided to start using the Miraculous alongside the book he had found on his trip to Tibet, because he knew the power that those magical jewels possessed to be able to fulfill any wish for whoever possessed them.

With Mrs. Agreste absence, things had changed for Adrien as well. His father stopped spending time with him, and Adrien needed him more than ever. He was beginning a new stage in his life entering his teen years. His sad facade didn't make things any better, and it had been almost two years since Adrien's mother had slipped into a coma and he missed her so much.

After making the calls she was supposed to make at the request of his boss, Nathalie returned to his desk. He turned on the computer and went to his mail. She found a new message in her inbox, just the one they had been waiting for a few weeks: The information for the fashion week. Then she took her tablet from the desk and addressed Gabriel.

"Sir, I just received the details for the event in Vienna. I forwarded it to your personal email."

"Thank you very much, Nathalie. I'll review it when I'm done with some clients who need to talk to me about some of the designs in the new collection."

Nathalie nodded and returned to her desk. She listened to the notifications from her phone. She saw that she received a message from Adrien asking how she was doing. She smiled slightly. She responded by saying that she was fine and that she would go to pick him up in the afternoon with the bodyguard. Adrien had been worrying a lot about her health lately. She knew how traumatic it had been for him to see his mother in the same state.

Nathalie noticed the time on her phone. It was almost time to go and pick-up Adrien from the photo shoot for his lessons for the day. She hadn't been able to join him, so she texted Gerald, the bodyguard, to get ready. She would wait for Adrien at the entrance of the mansion. As soon as they got there and Adrien got out of the car, she greeted her.

"Good afternoon Adrien."

"Good afternoon, Nathalie." he said, waving at her.

"You arrived on time. You have some time for lunch and then you will have your classes as usual." She opened the door and began to enter the mansion.

"Thanks Nathalie, I'll be ready for my class time."

"I hope so."

She walked in with Adrien behind her. They both entered the dining room and she brought him his plate. I wait until he finished consuming his plate to remove it from the table. Adrien left to his room to wait for the teacher who was his turn that day.

Nathalie returned to the Atelier to continue with her tasks and inform him that she had already taken care of Adrien and the message she just received from Vienna.

"Adrien is in his classes for the day. I also received an email in which the organizers of Vienna told me to tell them their preferences regarding the day of the presentation. What shift would you like to attend?"

He was silent for a few seconds, thoughtful.

"Tell them that I want to be first on the list. Nothing like having the advantage over everyone else."

"Sure, sir, I'll let them know." She was about to go back the way she came, when Gabriel's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Before you go there is something, I want to talk to you about."

She turned her head to look at him.

"We will use Lila Rossi again for our plans."

She looked at him seriously. Although at first, she thought it was a good idea to use that mythomaniac girl, sometimes she thought that she was up to something.

"Okay, I'll contact her tomorrow."

Gabriel nodded. Nathalie went back to her computer so she could check the calendar. She realized that school holidays would soon be over, and Adrien would have to go back to his classes at the François Dupont. Nathalie thought for a moment before deleting some of Adrien's activities. I wanted him to have a little more freedom during these days. Hard days were coming for everyone at the mansion and she wanted to ensure that the boy was well rested for everything.

Finally a new chapter after a long time.