Turning A Monster Into A Man

Seven

To his surprise he found Marinette Dupain-Cheng standing before him. She still wore the same things as if she never left. Red skirt, white blouse, nervous smile as if they never said their goodbyes and stayed with him. "Gabriel…" She called softly as if she feared scaring off a feral dog. Her hand hesitantly reached for him only to be drawn away. This had to be a reality's way of dangling a carrot in front of him. Something he wanted, he yearned for but unobtainable.

'Is this some sort of fever dream? Have I finally gone mad?' He preferred this to be some figment of his imagination. To be an illusion of Renga Rouge. He feared that if she did touch him, she would vanish. It had soon occurred to him that she couldn't be a construct of the Fox Miraculous. He had taken away Ladybug's resources. 

"Gabriel, it's okay, I'm here." She repeated the steps she took as Ladybug. Lay her hand on his cheek, standing on her tiptoes, and leaning his head down. She kissed him, hoping that this was the answer. 

The Collector cursed the name, Ladybug as his lips collided with Marinette's. She had been freed, freed from his wretchedness. 'She came back.' Words that were more painful than comforting. He was supposed to be feeling something other than overwhelming guilt. He would take anger, lust, or anything other than this gut retching guilt.

He looked into her eyes that were reminiscent of a happy sky. No clouds, no storms, just the prettiest, softest blue he ever saw. A color no dye, nor fabricator could produce. An original blue; a Marinette blue. A blue that had haunted him for so long.

She held a small smile as he hadn't realized that he wrapped his hand around the side of her waist. 'My plan worked… it worked!' She started to fluster. 'Of course it worked…. He said he WANTED me. Little ole me.'

She took a deep breath trying to regain herself as she was less of a disaster when he was Gabriel Agreste and not some Akumatized monster. Was it her unnatural attraction to villains in fiction that led her down this road? Or was she just caught up with the idea of someone like him going after someone as simple as Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Using such a strong word. He didn't need her, no he WANTED her.

"Need…" She mumbled as in this situation was not a want but a need. She was just rehashing things that should stay in the past as she planned from the beginning.

The Collector grinned at the word. "~If you insist." He kissed her ignoring his primary objective. He hadn't parted from her lips that long ago but how he missed the way they felt on his. The delicate push and pull feeling his obligations melt into oblivion. She was his only focus.

"Gab….riel." She gasped trying to collect her breath as well as her thoughts. "~I want you…" She was willing to lose herself to another bout of passion if it meant he would return to being Gabriel before ChatNoir returned. 

She would not be able to explain this situation if he returned too soon. A civilian embracing an Akumatized villain looked bad. It looked terribly bad. But, it felt oh so terribly good for the two individuals involved. To kiss or to be kissed? It felt like she had breathed life back into it as she found his hands moving up and down her body.

She could do or say anything and he would forget. She could give him every bit of her and only she would have the pleasure of remembering what they did. What they shared. "We… can't… not that I don't…" 

The Collector paused and cocked his head. "You can't or won't?" 

"I won't." She gently moved away. "I won't do this. I don't want to make false promises. Not when I am the one that will be stuck with the memories. You're cured and that's the best I can do. That's all I will do."

"Cured? I think not." 

Marinette looked at him both concerned and confused. 'He's still Akumatized but he's mobile. Maybe that's it?' "This is out of my capabilities but, I'm sure Ladybug will help you out."

"Ladybug?" "LADYBUG?" He spoke her name as if it was blasphemy to his ears.

"This isn't something she can magically heal. This is worse. SO MUCH WORSE." 

Marinette held the book to her chest hoping she could sneak away as he walked in a circle. Possibly in an argument with himself or Monarch. As she didn't think Monarch would be too fond of his soldier losing concentration over the possiblity of gaining back some random romantic escapade. To fight a losing battle as the woman in question could not give him what he wanted.

He stopped in his tracks before she could leave. He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her in. The Collector's voice being both gravelly and disturbingly calm. "~ITS ALL because I loathe what you do to me, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

"Ummm…." Marinette couldn't think of words. He wrapped his large arms around her. She clutched the book tightly as she could not let him get the best of her. To hold her accountable for being a hypocrite.

"~We could rule the world." 

'FOCUS MARINETTE!' She wanted to hang on his every word as he was offering her the world. "Gabriel…"

"~You and me."

"Gabriel this isn't you. This is Monarch's influence." 

"And what if I told you, he had no bearings on my promise?" 

"Lies." Marinette said as it took a very strong willed person to fight Monarch. He was promising her the world that he could only obtain with the powers he was given. Proved he was weak. All this meaning his promise meant nothing. Not while he was under the influence.

The Collector resisted the urge to tell her that he was indeed Monarch. "Lies? Did I not say that If you said my name, there would be no going back. So, my Nette, I hope you can face your consequences."

She felt his hand slide down slowly from her side to her hip. He grabbed her thigh tightly as he argued with himself. 'She's right here. I can feel her, touch her-' He kissed the back of her neck. '-taste her. So why am I in pain? Why does it hurt so?' 

"Break it." He muttered as he wanted this torment to end. Perhaps akumatizing himself was a stupid mistake. 

"Break it? If you… really want too.." Marinette said she wasn't going to interfere with his plans if those plans involved breaking her. She shifted her legs in anticipation. 'Can my body handle him again? This soon? MARINETTE! You're so stupid. He's Akumatized. STOP being a horny idiot and focus on I don't know saving Paris? It's kinda your job!' 

"The book… it holds my akuma."

With a soft exhale she let out a  disappointed "Ohh." "You really want me to break it? Isn't this a job for Ladybug or ChatNoir?"

He took his hands and placed them over hers. She should have felt scared or something other than safe in his arms. "~Together." He whispered as he was willing to sacrifice this opportunity to grow close to her.

He wanted her enough to postpone taking Miraculouses. As he didn't see the point, not when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was the easier route. A route that didn't involve burning Paris to the ground but he knew if she asked he would. He would do anything for her. Maybe he was just obsessing over the impossible? He hoped to catch himself before he fell too far but something in his bones told him that it was already too late.