Ladybug, or rather Marinette, tries to take slow, steady, deep breaths, but it feels like she can't get enough air into her body. Everywhere aches, she can't continue fighting like this, the villain was strong. On top of that, she didn't know what the lucky charm meant when it gave her a ladybug patterned version of the peacock miraculous.
Marinette, who had been lying on the ground, worried if she stood up she would collapse again, manages to glance her eyes across the pavement, there is Adrien. That was impossible though, that would mean Adrien was Chat Noir, and... well, maybe Adrien being Chat made more sense than Marinette originally thought.
"We need someone stronger than us," Marinette manages to say, her voice just loud enough for Ch- Adrien to hear, "we need a pair that know how to work together well already and can help us now."
"You don't mean we are giving up our miraculous, do you?" Adrien's voice is broken between needing a breath after every second word.
"We aren't strong enough," Marinette gasps, "not this time."
"I think I know who could help us," Adrien tells her.
"Do you think you could get the miraculous to them?" Marinette asks, not knowing if she could get up even if she needed to.
Adrien leans against the wall and with the support from it, makes his way to his feet. He clutches his side, at least one rib is definitely broken. Marinette removes her earrings and gives them to Adrien.
"I trust you, give the miraculous to whomever you have in mind, have them save Paris," Marinette says.
"I will, I promise," Adrien would run off if not every part of him was telling him to fall back to the ground. He limps away, he can make it.
"Adrien!" Nathalie gasps at the boy's condition as he makes his way through the mansion.
"Where is father? I need to talk to the both of you, now," Adrien says, his voice is frantic but he is clearly exhausted.
"What happened to you?" Nathalie asks, looking at the several injuries the boy had sustained.
"Nathalie, please," Adrien begs.
She nods and presses the familiar contact of Gabriel Agreste.
"I don't know what it is about, sir. It sounds urgent, Adrien insisted it's vital for the both of us to be there... No, I don't think he can make it up the stairs... It would be better to see this for yourself, please, sir."
The call is ended and Nathalie hopes that her boss comes.
Gabriel does come, he doesn't know how to express the worry for his son. Adrien's eye is bruised, his bottom lip busted near the right side, his jeans are torn, and the boy can't stand very well on his own.
"What happened to you?" Gabriel asks, taking the last steps quicker than those previous.
"There's no time," Adrien coughs now, "don't ask how I got these but Ladybug and Chat Noir need your help."
Adrien puts his hand out, in his right hand, closer to Nathalie, the earrings, Ladybug's miraculous, in his left hand, closer to his father, his ring, the cat miraculous.
Nathalie and Gabriel both look at each other. The jewels they had been fighting for this whole time, just handed to them now by the younger Agreste.
Nathalie is the first to reach out. She takes the earrings from Adrien. The pattern changes to one that matches Nathalie's style. The dots change to a navy background with a single red stripe through them. Gabriel takes the ring from his son, the hidden mode doesn't change, the silver color has more of a gray tone in his hand but it's hardly noticeable.
"Save Paris," Adrien manages to smile.
Nathalie feels awful. The boy's trust in them would mean a victory for them. It sounds great in some other life, but not in the life where she had wished Gabriel's affections would have shifted to her.
"Would you like to make the wish now?" Nathalie asks once they are out of earshot.
"No, now is not the right time," Gabriel shakes his head.
"With all due respect sir," Nathalie tries, "the miraculous were literally just handed to us. I don't think there could be a better time."
"I said not now, Nathalie," Gabriel snaps.
Nathalie lowers her head slightly, it isn't worth the fight.
"What would you like to do, sir? The akumatized victim is still out there trying to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. If you recall the akuma Adrien will likely want the miraculous back to give back to the heroes, but if we don't go out there we are causing suspicion."
"So let's go out there," Gabriel suggests.
"You can't be serious," Nathalie says.
Gabriel slides the ring on, "Plagg, claws out!"
His gray blonde is slicked back with the cat ears now on his head. The black suit clings tightly to his body and green accents detail the outfit as well.
"You look better in purple," Nathalie tells him.
Gabriel rolls his now green eyes, "your turn."
Nathalie takes a deep breath and puts the earrings in, "Tikki, spots on!"
Her glasses are replaced with a red and black mask. The dress is similar to Mayura's except with a ladybug pattern. The sleeves of the dress are black with red spots though. She also gets a ladybug clip in her hair.
"I hate it," Nathalie complains.
"You look great," Gabriel insists.
"I prefer the blue."
"Come on, Paris is waiting for us," the hand gestures to her to follow him out the window.
"You can't be serious!" Nathalie says as she chases him.
Looking around she already sees him heading towards downtown Paris where the villain is clearly destroying.
"What is he doing?" Nathalie asks herself but goes after him.
It's not much before the new black cat is thrown to the ground by the stronger villain. Luckily, Nathalie is there and helps him back to his feet.
A swipe of the villain's staff separates the pair before Nathalie can demand any sort of explanation from Gabriel.
"Lucky charm," Nathalie tries, throwing the yo-yo she had gotten in the air.
A tiara falls into her hand and Nathalie groans, what is she supposed to do with this?
Looking around, she spots the villain, that's when Nathalie remembers, the villain was pageant princess. A spoiled brat who had lost a beauty pageant. The girl had grown a few feet in her akumatized form, probably closer to nine feet tall now. Her scepter could change any billboard to an advertisement for herself. On top of going after the ladybug and cat miraculous, she was after anything shiny.
"Like the tiara!" Nathalie realizes.
Nathalie grabs Gabriel and pulls him into an alley. Someplace that was so dirty the princess wouldn't dare to go.
"Do you trust me?" Nathalie asks Gabriel.
"Of course, I do."
"Cataclysm her scepter while I distract her with the tiara," Nathalie tells him.
"You really think this will work?" Gabriel asks.
"If you want to defeat her the way Ladybug and Chat Noir would, then yes, this is how I think we should do it."
"Anything for you, m'lady," Gabriel smirks.
"Don't try and sound like him," Nathalie rolls her eyes but decides to now put her plan into action.
Nathalie jumps onto the roof and waves the tiara in the air which catches the akumatized girl's attention.
"You want it?" Nathalie taunts, "come and get it!"
The girl stomps her way through the city. Her heels crack the pavement of the roads and sidewalks. She holds the scepter high in the air where she knows Gabriel won't be able to easily cataclysm it.
"Catch!" Nathalie finally says and throws the tiara in her direction.
The girl lets her staff fall to the ground in order to catch the tiara that Nathalie throws.
"Cataclysm!" Gabriel shouts and with a touch of his finger, the staff disappears and the girl is no longer akumatized.
"Would you like me to de-evilize the akuma?" Nathalie asks.
Gabriel nods, and so Nathalie captures the akuma with her yo-yo and releases the purified butterfly.
The previously akumatized girl hands the lucky charm back to the new ladybug.
She looks at Gabriel once more who nods again. Nathalie supposes if she captured the akuma there wouldn't be any reason why she wouldn't undo the damage caused by it.
"Miraculous ladybug!" she shouts, throwing the tiara into the air and watching as all the damage is undone.
"Pound it?" Gabriel tries.
Nathalie rolls her eyes, "pound it."
"Gabriel, do you want to make the wish now?" Nathalie asks as they return to the mansion.
"If you so desperately want the wish to be made, why don't you go and do it yourself?" Gabriel snaps at her and throws the ring at her.
"No," Nathalie says, "what is up with you today? You get the opportunity of a lifetime. The miraculous are handed to you and you don't want to make this wish! What have we been fighting for if you won't make the wish now?"
"Don't be difficult, Nathalie," he warns.
"Tell me why you don't want to make the wish then and I'll drop it. I want to know why I risked my health and my life if you can't even make the wish now."
"Because I love somebody else, okay?" Gabriel shouts at her, "because as much as I loved Emilie, she doesn't even compare to you, and-" Gabriel stops, he admitted it.
Nathalie stops too. She had wanted Gabriel to move but that always felt like a distant fantasy, even with the opportunity ready and present in front of him, he wasn't doing it, because of her. It doesn't feel real, as much as she loved him, she hadn't expected Gabriel to love her.
"You love me?" Nathalie clarifies.
"I do," Gabriel says.
Nathalie steps forward, the space between narrows and narrows until the gap between their lips closes.
"I love you too," Nathalie tells him.
His hands cup hers, both the miraculous in them.
"We should return these to Adrien," Gabriel finally says.
Nathalie nods and goes to exit the room.
"Wait," Gabriel says and removes the butterfly brooch, "we should return this one too."
"How do we explain these?" Nathalie asks, adding the peacock brooch to the growing collection of miraculous in her hands.
"We ran into Hawkmoth and Mayura on our way back," Gabriel tells Adrien as Nathalie hands the four miraculous to him, "we figured we could take care of that for Ladybug and Chat Noir too."
"Wow! You guys are the best!" Adrien exclaims.
Nathalie and Gabriel both feel a little guilty lying to Adrien. They both make a promise to tell him one day.
Gabriel grabs Nathalie's hand and interlaces their fingers. She squeezes gently, a small thank you. It is a gesture that makes her worries seem less, comforting her by calming the voices in the back of her mind. It is a promise for a new life beyond the miraculous. This was their greatest victory.
