Chapter 13: Convincing Gabriel

Nathalie had to talk to Gabriel. What she had told Gerald was of utmost importance. When Emilie died, she genuinely thought that Gabriel would listen to the advice she gave him before she left them.

Nathalie went to look for Gabriel. He was free at this time of the morning, so she would have to take the opportunity.

"Gabriel, there is something very important that you should know."

"And what is so important, Nathalie?" Gabriel put on his tie while he listened to Nathalie's request. It was very important for Gabriel to listen to her.

"Gabriel, I need you to go to therapy." Nathalie stood in his way as he was about to leave for the kitchen.

Gabriel didn't expect that.

"No Nathalie, I don't need it. Adrien does, but not me." Gabriel was trying to avoid the topic. He was afraid that the therapist would bring all his secrets to light. It was enough that four people already knew his biggest secret.

"You need it." Nathalie insisted. "The other day Gerald asked me to take you there and that's what I'm going to do."

"No, Nathalie." Gabriel said. "It's my final decision. I do not wish to go and I will not go."

That made Nathalie's blood boil.

"You're no use , Gabriel! You are very stubborn!" Nathalie yelled at him frustrated.

They heard a squeaking noise from the door which made them stop instantly. Both adults turned to look at the source of the sound, to see Adrien.

Adrien looked at them scared from the door.

"Nathalie is something wrong?"

Adrien had seen them.

Nathalie walked towards him and crouched down to his level.

"I'm sorry if you saw us like that, Adrien." Nathalie looked furious at Gabriel "Your father refuses to go to therapy."

"Oh." Adrien already understood the reason for the fight.

Gabriel's gaze softened as he saw Adrien's reaction to the whole situation.

"But we'll deal with the situation later." Nathalie looked back at Gabriel. She would continue to insist, even if it was something Gabriel didn't like at all.

"Nathalie…" Gabriel tried to stop her, but she completely ignored him as they left.

"I'm going to take Adrien to his appointment. We will return later. Let's go Adrien."

Adrien left after Nathalie. Gabriel decided not to stop her.

Adrien looked askance at Nathalie in the car. He had only heard the last part of the conversation between his father and her, so he wasn't 100% sure what happened between the two of them.

"Nathalie, are you and my father fighting?"

"Oh well sometimes we argue, but don't worry about us Adrien, focus on yourself first and on improving. Leave the adult problems to us. Your father must be able to make his own decisions."

Nathalie was very upset. No matter what she did with Gabriel, he simply refused to listen to her.

A black butterfly with purple lines was flying near the car in which Nathalie and Adrien were.

The butterfly went through the car. The Akuma introduced itself into Nathalie's tablet.

"Good morning, Safari."

Nathalie heard the voice of a rather young woman in her head.

That is similar to…

That was similar to when Gabriel akumatized her.

She was the person who stole the butterfly Miraculous.

"From what I see, you have trouble."

"I don't need anything from you." Nathalie was trying to break the connection that was created with the butterfly. If she managed to break the tablet or break the connection with the wearer of the butterfly Miraculous they would be saved.

"I just came to tell you that you are right, Miss Sancoeur." It seemed that the person behind her voice seemed to know her "Don't you want people to listen to you and follow her advice? Let me help you."

Nathalie knew this form of manipulation very well. But her anger at Gabriel was making it difficult for him to resist her offer.

NO.

Nathalie reached behind Adrien and as best she could, she unlocked the car and opened the door.

"Adrien, go get help." Nathalie grabbed her head while she resisted the akumatization.

"I'm not leaving you here." Adrien said.

Nathalie grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I'm sorry Adrien."

Adrien was pushed by Nathalie out of the car. He rolled for a few seconds until he stopped. He suffered some scrapes, but they were minor. He didn't stop to think, transforming immediately when he found an alley to hide in. Adrien went straight to seek help, because he knew that he wouldn't be able to face Nathalie alone.

Nathalie was still fighting to get out of the Akuma's control.

"Safari. If you let me help you, I can fix everything and you won't have any worries anymore." said her voice in her head.

"No!" Nathalie was still trying to resist. If she lost control, they were lost. Safari was one of the strongest akumatizations that Gabriel created at the time, it gave Ladybug and Chat Noir enough trouble to the point of having to exchange Miraculous.

But Nathalie felt how she lost control of her body and her mind and a black cloud surrounded her.

Marinette was frustrated.

In all the time they had been investigating they had only been able to make a little progress in their investigation.

Marinette stood up frustrated that she hadn't found anything useful all day.

"What's going on?" Tikki watched as Marinette placed her face against the table.

"I haven't been able to find anything useful, Tikki." Marinette pulled her pigtails. "I don't know if she can help Gabriel and Nathalie at the pace we're going."

"Maybe you should get some fresh air, Marinette." Tikki floated towards the exasperated wearer of her.

"But we don't have time, Tikki. At this rate we won't be able to save either of them." Marinette didn't want to think about that possibility.

"But Ladybug also needs a break from time-to-time Marinette. You can go for a breather for a moment and come back later to continue the investigation."

At Tikki's words, she then decided to listen to him. Marinette went out to get some fresh air after hours of reading texts that she didn't fully understand. She finished drinking the juice that her mother brought her previously.

Finding a solution was proving more difficult than she thought. And they still didn't know where the butterfly Miraculous was.

"It can't get worse, right, Tikki?"

Someone landed next to her. Marinette looked up, meeting Chat Noir.

"Marinette, I need your help!" Chat Noir was standing on the railing of his balcony.

"What's wrong, A… Chat Noir?" Marinette was about to say his real name.

"Nathalie just got akumatized!" Chat Noir exclaimed worriedly.

"What!?" Marinette exclaimed in surprise. Her heart raced when she knew that there was a new threat in Paris. The glass of juice that was in her hand fell to her feet and shattered. "When?"

Me and my big mouth.

"A few minutes ago." Chat Noir came down from the pole "I know she was angry today about my father, and when we were going to my appointment with the therapist a butterfly got into her tablet."

"Then let's go look for her. Tikki spots on!" Ladybug was now in Marinette's place

"Please take me with her, Chat Noir." Ladybug was ready to follow Chat Noir wherever he went.

"Follow me." he used his staff to go in the direction of the mansion. Ladybug followed him.

Gabriel stayed at his house again, wondering if what he did was the right thing. He feared that his secrets would be revealed to more people and that was what he wanted to avoid.

Although, he couldn't help but feel that what he did wasn't the right thing.

Gabriel felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard someone was behind him.

"Gabriel."

The person behind him pointed a gun at him.

Gabriel raised his hands. He turned around finding an akumatized person that he knew very well.

"Nathalie... Don't do this."

"I'm not Nathalie." Safari said in a threatening tone.

Gabriel backed away a little which made Safari change her aiming position.

"If this is the way I'll attract Ladybug and Chat Noir, then I'll do it. But before that…"

"Nathalie please, don't do this."

Safari reloaded the gun with one of her bullets.

"If you don't want to go to therapy the easy way, then we'll do it the hard way."

Before she could do anything, Safari's gun flew out of her hands. Chat Noir's staff caused Safari's gun to fall far and drag on the ground. The shot went to the ceiling, and Gabriel crouched on the floor.

"Cataclysm!" Gabriel listened next to him. The power of the cataclysm opened a crack to the ceiling that caused a pile of rubble to fall on Safari, covering her in the process. Chat Noir jumped where the gun was, applying another Cataclysm to destroy it.

"Run Mr. Agreste!" Ladybug was preparing her yo-yo to hold Safari once she freed herself from the debris that had fallen on her.

Gabriel ran straight to the first place he could think. He went to the first floor towards the kitchen to hide.

"If he thinks I'm not going to find him, he's very wrong."

Safari with brute force broke the string of Ladybug's yoyo with her bare hands and ran in the direction where Gabriel went. Gabriel hid in the kitchen, looking for something he could use to defend himself with.

Chat Noir ran towards the kitchen, to entertain Safari as much as he could. Before Safari could even touch the door, Chat Noir used his staff to block her path, breaking a part of the wall next to the door.

"Does the kitten want to play?" Safari smiled, malicious "Then let's play."

Safari quickly unsheathed her whip to catch Chat Noir and obtain the Miraculous from him.

Chat Noir jumped every time Safari tried to hit him with her whip.

Ladybug came down at those moments to intervene. In a carelessness, Safari caused Ladybug to fall.

Safari approached her. She was about to take her Miraculous from her when Chat Noir's staff pulled her away from her.

I'm sorry, Nathalie.

Safari stood up and stared at him for a moment until she went to attack him.

Gabriel got in Safari's way before she could hit Chat Noir.

"Safari No!"

Gabriel received a whiplash directly on his cataclysmed arm. He clutched his arm, hissing at the burning of the wound. He was dragged into Safari's position until he was next to her.

Chat Noir extended her staff once more, launching Safari away from his father.

"Fa... sir," Chat Noir bit his tongue before completing the word. Chat Nori jumped in front of him in order to give him time to run "Can you run away by yourself?"

Gabriel could notice the worried look Chat Noir gave him.

"It's okay, Chat Noir," Gabriel closed his eyes due to the intense pain "You take care of Safari."

Chat Noir kept his defensive position against Safari. He didn't want to hurt her, or at least not right now. Using his staff, he dodged Safari's attacks as much as he could.

Chat Noir was a little tired. Safari seemed to have endless energy. He saw Safari stop for a moment. She was apparently communicating with the new wielder of the Butterfly Miraculous.

"I'll take care of them. Patience."

Safari was about to hit Chat Noir. Ladybug intervened, receiving the blow from Safari.

Ladybug ended up crushed against the wall. Safari was going to hit her again, but Gabriel decided to intervene.

"No!" Gabriel, who was looking through her kitchen door, grabbed her arm to pull her toward him. Reacting quickly, Gabriel pushed Safari directly to the ground to prevent Ladybug from being hit by her.

"Come on!" Ladybug was abruptly picked up by Gabriel to buy time and prevent Safari from taking advantage of any of her moments of weakness.

They both got up and went to find a hiding place in the kitchen while they both thought about what they could do.

"What happened to make Miss Sancoeur get like this?" Ladybug questioned.

Gabriel shrugged.

"It was my fault." Gabriel looked down, embarrassed by his behavior. "She suggested me to go to therapy, but I didn't want to because I was afraid that our secrets would come to light."

Marinette now understood well what happened.

"Mr. Agreste, can you explain to me what your idea was when you created Safari. Maybe with that information we can stop her easier." Ladybug didn't want to risk having to interchange Miraculous again.

"Safari is less powerful than she was before. When I akumatized her I gave her the goat Miraculous so she could generate her own weapon. Although that doesn't make her any less lethal. That's probably why she couldn't use tracking on you with her gun. Without the power of the goat, it is not possible for her to have the same type of weapon that she had back then. You already destroyed it anyway."

Ladybug wasn't sure what to do. She used her yoyo to get the Lucky Charm. An arrow fell to the ground pointing at Gabriel.

Ladybug then thought that he would be of great use.

"I need your help, Mr. Agreste. You are the only one who can make Nathalie reason. You know her better than me. And I wouldn't want to hurt her."

Gabriel didn't want to do that either.

"Then I'll distract her." Gabriel stood up to get in his way.

Ladybug didn't want Gabriel to get involved in this fight. It was a risk that civilians would meddle in the battle. But what other option did they have? He was the cause of this.

"Okay," Ladybug said, "But please, be careful."

Gabriel was going to try to convince Safari to stop. But he knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Safari." Gabriel left the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

The Akuma turned her gaze to where she was called. Gabriel was at her disposal. Gabriel gestured Chat Noir to not intervene.

Safari started walking towards him.

"Safari, please listen. Don't do something you'll regret later. I'm sure there is a solution to all this. Don't let yourself be convinced of the person who akumatized you."

"You don't want to listen to me like Nathalie. You are a stubborn man who only thinks about himself. The only way is to force you."

And with that, Safari took the whip from her and wrapped it around her hand. In one fell swoop, Gabriel was on the ground.

Chat Noir saw his chance. I use his staff again to disarm Safari by hitting him squarely on the wrist. Ladybug used her yoyo to quickly attract Gabriel and make him run in her direction. They ran outside and hid him in the garden.

Gabriel checked where Safari used his whip. She had left a pretty obvious mark on his wrist. It seemed like the words weren't what Safari wanted to hear.

"It seems that she is very angry with you. Maybe we can use that to our advantage."

Chat Noir was in charge of keeping Safari busy while Ladybug and his father thought about what to do. Chat Noir fell to the ground. Safari kicked the staff out of his reach.

Safari stepped on his chest to immobilize him on the ground. Chat Noir wasn't making the usual jokes, due to the situation. Safari was able to notice that.

"What's wrong, kitten? Did the cat bite your tongue?"

Gabriel saw everything from where he was hiding. He couldn't let him get the black cat Miraculous.

"Nathalie I'm so sorry. Please get out of the Akuma's control. You don't want to do this." Gabriel prepared to say what he planned with Ladybug "I... I was thinking of following your advice."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Safari wasn't sure if she believed him.

Gabriel thought carefully about his words to avoid revealing more information to whoever was behind the 'new' Hawkmoth.

"Then I'll do it for Adrien, Nathalie. Specially for him"

Something resonated in Nathalie's mind with his words.

Suddenly Safari sees Chat Noir again. But the Nathalie inside didn't see Chat Noir. She was stepping on Adrien. But the wearer of the butterfly didn't have to know that.

Safari decided to break the connection with the Akuma.

Safari grabbed her head, letting Chat Noir free and backing away.

It seemed like Nathalie was trying to fight the Akuma

"Safari, what are you waiting for?" the girl behind the Akuma was losing control of the situation.

"I'm not going to obey anymore." Safari grabbed her head. She stepped back, leaving Chat Noir free. He watched her get up immediately in case he could attack him again.

She finally felt the connection break, undoing the transformation and returning to normal. Safari was surrounded by a black cloud, leaving Nathalie in her place.

Gabriel ran in her direction to help her up.

Ladybug quickly caught the butterfly on her yo-yo before it left.

"Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug released the purified butterfly into the air. She threw the object into the sky to clean up the mess Safari caused.

And she took the Lucky Charm on her hands, throwing it into the air.

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

All the damage inside the mansion was fixed.

The butterfly wearer felt a shock, similar to electricity in her head that undid the Akuma's connection. She fell to the ground clutching her head. A sharp sting caused her an intense headache.

All those strong emotions… she had never felt them. He used an Akuma she saw on the news as a test to see her ability to create akumas. One she used as the perfect target for the Agreste family to suffer.

"So that's what the Miraculouses can do..." she said out loud in her hiding place.

Nooroo was looking at a distance, behind some books on the desk.

"Miss, are you okay?" Even though Nooroo was stolen a second time, he had some empathy for his new wearer. He was the kwami of transmission after all.

However, what his wearer would say next would change his mind.

"This was just a test Nooroo."

The kwami backed away when he saw her evil smile creping on her face.

"This is bad." Nooroo realized that Lila was much worse than Gabriel when she met him. Most likely, she would have no mercy. He had already seen her in action and the only thing that was expected of that girl was trouble. He hoped Ladybug would save him once and for all, one day or another.

Nathalie coughed as she felt the air in her lungs completely gone, causing her to lose her breath.

She felt someone lift her into her arms.

"Nathalie!" Gabriel placed her in his arms and took her to her room.

He laid Nathalie down carefully.

"Nathalie, are you okay?" Adrien leaned on the bed to look at her more closely, very worried.

Nathalie caressed his cheek to reassure him.

"Yes, I'm fine Adrien. Do not worry about me."

"Nathalie, I'm very sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. I'm afraid that if I go to talk to the therapist, more people will find out who I was and...

"And that nobody is no longer see you in the same way?" Nathalie completed his sentence.

Gabriel nodded.

"Gabriel, I'm sure going to therapy is a good option. I can take care of what you're going to say myself. We'll create a facade to make sure the doctor doesn't find out the whole truth."

That seemed like a good plan.

"Think about it," Nathalie grabbed his hand gently.

"I'll think about it." Gabriel just shook his hand "Just give me a moment. Adrien, stay here with her. Take care of her."

Adrien stayed by Nathalie's side while Gabriel went to reconsider her decision. Nathalie didn't want to think that Gabriel was avoiding the problem again, but there was still that feeling of distrust towards him.

Gabriel went to her room thinking that he could have prevented Nathalie's akumatization if he had said yes to her request.

This was his fault.

"I should have listened to her, I should go to therapy, but would that be enough?"

Gabriel fell into the chair and grabbed the septum of his nose, clearly stressed.

Gabriel wanted to fix things, but he didn't know how. How do you fix a relationship so broken by his own decisions?

He stayed in the same place thoughtfully for a few minutes.

He detected a strange noise that he couldn't identify behind him. A portal opened behind him and a piece of paper floated to the ground.

A letter fell at his feet.

The sound of the object falling alerted him. He looked around trying to discern where that had come from. He didn't have any papers on the nightstand this time, so that was very strange.

But that wasn't the strangest thing for Gabriel.

He opened the paper and found a handwriting that he knew very well.

It was his own handwriting. He looked around once more. It was not explained where the letter came from, but he felt a certain familiarity with it.

It was then that he proceeded to read the contents of the letter.

Gabriel,

I know this will seem very strange and I know you won't believe it at first, but I assure you that you need to hear these words.

I'm not part of your world, but I still can't help but see that we both have many things in common, even though our lives have been completely different.

I also made a lot of mistakes using Miraculous for my own benefit and ended up hurting the people I loved so much. Despite that, I reflected and the only conclusion I came to was that I myself was the one who had to change.

I don't fully know what happened for you to end up in that situation other than what Ladybug told me, but I know that you are in a difficult situation. I can't do much since I'm still dealing with the problems of my own dimension, but I hope my words help you a little.

I think maybe there's still a chance for you, Gabriel. For us.

I hope you make the most of the new opportunity Ladybug gave you.

Gabriel Agreste.

Gabriel reread the letter a couple of times, unable to ignore his handwriting.

It had to be his other self from the other dimension. The one who came on the night of the day he received the cataclysm in his arm.

And he was right.

If Ladybug had given him a chance, he had to make the most of it to fix what he did wrong.

Gabriel took a deep breath and let it out. He would have to swallow his pride and his fears once and for all. Even if it put his true identity at risk.

He would listen to Nathalie just as she should have done from the beginning.

He went to look for her, finding her at her desk in her atelier doing a file transfer.

"Nathalie, I made an appointment with the therapist." Gabriel asked Nathalie.

Nathalie raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?..."

"Nathalie, I'm serious." Gabriel interrupted her "I decided that I will go talk to Mr. Gerald just as you asked me. Just tell me what I'm going to say."

Nathalie got out of her seat.

"I'll explain it to you."

"Very good, Nathalie." he said, turning his back to her. He didn't dare look at her directly.

"But I'll go with you anyway." Nathalie looked up Gerald's number to let him know that Gabriel would attend the session.

"Nathalie is not necessary." Gabriel did not want Nathalie to waste her energy after her akumatization.

"It's necessary. I'm not going to risk you coming up with a new excuse not to attend. I still don't trust you enough." Nathalie began to review Gabriel's agenda and cancel everything that interfered with the appointment and that he had no excuse not to attend.

The day of the appointment arrived; they left Adrien in charge of the mansion. Since the new butterfly bearer was now active, they couldn't leave the mansion unsupervised.

Adrien left to find Nathalie who was ready to leave.

"Adrien take good care of the house and don't let anyone besides Marinette or Luka enter. The gorilla will accompany you while we return. We're sorry to have to leave you here alone."

"It's okay, Nathalie. I can take care of myself."

Nathalie checked the time.

"Adrien, can you go look for your father? He's getting late."

"There's no need for you to do it." Gabriel was coming down the stairs after adjusting his suit so that the cataclysm was not visible "I'm ready Nathalie, let's go."

Adrien was waiting for them at the entrance.

"Are you going out now?" Adrien asked.

"Yes, Adrien."

Nathalie took a copy of the keys and handed them into Adrien's hands.

"Are you sure Nathalie?" Adrien received the keys in his hands. There was also a button to activate the security system of the mansion.

"We want you to stay here and watch the house while we are not here," Gabriel answered for her. "If you still have a problem, don't hesitate to let us know, Adrien. And if you have to escape, do it immediately."

"I will do."

Adrien stood at the entrance waiting for them to leave.

They said goodbye to Adrien. Gabriel and Nathalie went to the car; and they headed to Gerald's office.

Nathalie was trying to ignore Gabriel as much as possible. She was still angry with him, but that didn't stop her from go with him to his appointment.

When they arrived at their destination, Gabriel stayed at the door.

"What are you waiting for? Gabriel, you have to go in." Nathalie crossed her arms, waiting for Gabriel to stop being so undecided whether he should come in or not.

Nathalie stood in his way so that he wouldn't regret it later.

"Sorry Nathalie." Gabriel then proceeded to open the door to enter.

They both entered the building and headed to the therapist's office to see Gabriel.

Gabriel and Nathalie arrived at the door of the doctor's office. Gabriel took a deep breath before entering.

Gabriel finally goes to therapy like he should have done from the beginning. What will happen now?