i'm a giver, or am i a fool?

i'm back party ppl

Gabriel swore his heart must have stopped when he saw a call from Nathalie. He quickly ran from his spot in front of Emilie's portrait and composed himself before answering.

He opened his mouth to greet her but she spoke first, "Sir, I have all of the documents you requested in my room. You can come up to get them anytime."

Gabriel tried to not smile. He was allowed in her room again. Maybe this was a good sign? Gabriel nodded calmly. "I'll be there shortly. Thank you, Nathalie."

His assistant hung up and he rushed to her bedroom door. When he got there, suddenly all of his confidence and wishes to see her plateaued. She was most certainly still angry with him. But, the hope in his head that was telling him she wanted to see him remained and overpowered his doubts as he knocked on her door.

"Come in," She called, and so Gabriel did.

Gabriel walks over to Nathalie's desk in the corner of her room where she was seated. When he arrived at her side she paused what she was doing to look up at him.

They locked eyes for a moment before Nathalie turned away to grab the small stack of paper she had printed out for him. She held them up to him and began to explain what he was to do with them. "I have most of it signed for you, but there were some things I wasn't certain about, so you'll just need to read over it and sign them yourself, sir."

"Thank you, Natha-"

"Yes," She interrupts. When Gabriel just stands in front of her, papers in his hands, she raises her eyebrow. "Well?"

He tilts his head. "Why won't you forgive me, Nathalie? I've apologized multiple times."

Her eyes narrow. "Have you given up on being Monarch?"

"I- well, no, but-" The man stutters.

"You have your answer," Unless you're too dull to understand what I'm saying, she mutters under her breath.

"Nathalie, we're both dying. Do you really want to die in a fight?" Gabriel tries to reason. Nathalie's frown deepens. "Please, I need you, Nathalie. I'm sorry."

She pushes herself up with her desk to better look at him. "Because if I die first, you'll have to live knowing that I never forgave you for treating me like sh_t." Nathalie shoves her finger into his chest, "You'll have to live out the rest of your pathetic life knowing the only person who knew, really knew you, spent their last moments hating you."

"Nathalie..."

The woman turns her head away from him, closing her eyes, "Don't- don't do that. Stop acting like you care about me when we both know you don't."

"My Nathalie, of course I care about you," Gabriel says, his voice barely a whisper.

She looks back up at him. "I'd like to believe you did. At least when we were kids. I hope you cared about me then; before all of this."

Gabriel feels just as tired as she looks. "Please, Nathalie..."

"You don't care about me anymore, if you ever have."

"I do, I promise."

Tears threaten to spill from her eyes, all the strength and anger had effectively been sapped out of her, "You promised you'd save me."

Gabriel reaches out to her but she steps back, "And I will, I just need a little more time, please, I know the end of this is close. I know we're going to win soon and then you'll be healthy again," He exclaims softly.

"No, Gabriel. You can't keep saying that. You can't keep letting me get my hopes up only for you to fail again," She takes his arm gently and lifts up his sleeve. She closes her eyes and swallows, seeing the cataclysm he'd taken had gotten worse. "I didn't throw my life away for you to do the same. You're not the same."

"Nathalie, I'm trying my best-"

"Well your best isn't good enough, Gabriel!" Nathalie gestures to the machine wrapping around her legs to keep her standing, "I've been slowly and painfully dying for months waiting for your 'best' to save Emilie, only to be swapped out for her in the end of it all!"

He decides to match her tone and volume, "I never asked you to do any of that! I would never you trade your life for my wife's!"

"You didn't have to! You and Adrien needed someone to make you happy and I can't do that, Gabriel! You both want Emilie back and the least I could do was help you do that!" Nathalie coughs lightly.

Gabriel steps closer to her. "You do make us happy, Nathalie! I don't know why you can't get it through your head that you're enough! I don't know why you think we wouldn't miss you if you were gone."

"Because I'm not Emilie, no matter what I try, the two of you are always fighting, or Adrien is begging for you to just sit down and eat with him! He needs you and Emilie, and for him to have those things he needs Emilie because you need Emilie! I have tried so hard to manage your company so you have time to spend with Adrien but you always spend it as Hawkmoth," Her voice slowly lowers and Gabirle knows it's because her throat hurts. He'd really messed up, hadn't he?

"I'm sorry that I haven't been...that I haven't- that I haven't helped you. I haven't been easy for you since Emilie left, and I'm sure well before then," Gabriel wipes his eye before a tear can fall, "But I need you, Nathalie. I don't need Mayura, or Catalyst, or Safari–I need you. I promise I'll be better. Give me three more chances as Monarch, and if I fail, I'll give her up."

"Three?" Nathalie asks, her voice trembling.

Gabriel nods, "Three. Just help me with three more plans and if they fail, we'll go to Ladybug and figure something out. I promise." Gabriel pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, running his hand through her hair, slightly messing up her bun. Nathalie stood still in his arms.

"And if you succeed?" She asks.

"Then we'll both be healed and Emilie will be back. We'll work around the wish," He confirms, "Just three more tries."

Nathalie finally reciprocates the hug. "If we don't win?"

Gabriel thinks for a long while about that. "Then you, me, and Adrien will live out the rest of our lives together, as a family."

Tears fill Nathalie's eyes but she refuses to let them fall onto his chest as she whispers so quietly she can hardly hear herself, "I love you."

Then Emilie was back after two more tries, and Nathalie took her final breath.