"ALICE?!?!" The designer gasped.
He almost dropped the phone if Nathalie wouldn't have already been right next to him, softly placing a hand on the man's shoulder and like that calming him.
"What happened Alice?" He was able to ask again without trembling like before. "What's wrong?"

"T-the k-kids-" she sobbed.

"What?! The twins? Your boys?"

"Mhm..." her voice faded out and a hollow noise filled the line as she'd dropped the phone.

Now Gabriel panicked.
"ALICE?!?! HELLO?! ARE YOU HURT?!"

The silence still continued for a few more seconds which seemed like eternity to the designer who's anxiety worsened with every passing moment.
The loss of answer or any sound at all from the other line of the phone worried him like nothing before, even his fiancé could sense the man's increasing stress.

"Gabriel it will be-" Nathalie tried to mumble, but she had no chance. Her boss instantly snapped.

"WHAT IF IT WONT BE FINE?!?!" He yelled "WHAT IF I LOSE HER?!?! WHAT IF-"

"Gabriel everything is fine!" Breaking the silence a voice echoed through the phone, except it wasn't Alice's. It was a familiar male voice. Someone the grey haired man didn't have the best relationship with.
Nevertheless they'd manage to get along.
Occasionally that was.

"MARTIN?!? WHAT HAPPENED?!?" The designer immediately hurried to ask.
His breaths were now uneven, his body shaking alongside his voice.
Gabriel's heart sinking lower and lower with every second gone by.

"Well right now nothing. Alice just can't say what she wants to. She's crying beside me."

"YEAH ALRIGHT BUT WHAT IS SHE CRYING ABOUT?!?!"

"Calm down!" Martin raised his voice.
It was unusual of him to do so, everyone knew that he was a peacefully tempered man and hearing him like this, in a state of frustration was slightly intimidating.
"It's already bad enough!" He argued "We don't need your anger issues to break her down even more! Gabriel at least give some support instead of trying to add stress."

However the designer himself wasn't quite the one to keep his collected behavior at such times.
Conflictingly he tensed the situation further.

"Martin I swear to god if you don't tell me what-"

"Martin!" The assistant snatched away the phone from her superior's hand and took over.
Just at the right time.

"Nathalie?"

She smiled. He realized it was her voice.
"Yes, hello!" Unexpectedly that made the dark haired woman happy.
It was the unsure yet sure voice of Martin which asked. Or potentially the shocked expression which the assistant knew his face had.
Regardless of all this, that tiny question had Nathalie smiling in a situation where everyone was overwhelmed with anxiety.

So it wasn't a surprise when her fiancée nudged the woman with a frown.

"ASK!" Gabriel hissed to which his assistant sighed.

"Please just say it." Nathalie calmly spoke into the phone "Mr Agreste is very frustrated, and you know it won't get better unless-"

"Right." Martin's voice shook a little.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, whisper something over to the woman beside him, and after a bit of hesitation he began.

"Well the kids are-...gone."

Utter terror struck upon both Nathalie and Gabriel who both immediately screamed:
"GONE?!?!"

"Yes." The reassurance followed which no one needed. "They are gone and Alice believes Tom took them, but isn't he supposed to be dead?"

That question froze the assistant.
A sickening feeling rushed along her whole body causing the woman to feel nauseous just by the simple thought of him, and what he did.
Nathalie shivered with unease thinking back to those haunting times, she couldn't let the past ever repeat itself. It would be the end.

Coming back to reality the assistant felt her fiancé's warm, conforming touch lay upon her shoulder.

"It's alright love." He whispered soothingly "Take your time."

The woman showed a faint smile while she tilted her head against Gabriel.
Still uncomfortable though.
She was only trying to hide the fear which had her frozen in one place, unable to speak for a while.

Now again the terrifying thoughts hit her, making the assistant think of the worst possible scenarios.
Her fingers becoming cold and her breaths cut short. A striking pain in Nathalie's heart which made her put a bit of distance between herself and her fiancé.
He didn't seem safe anymore.
Not through the blurry lenses of her eye.
The grey haired man appeared scary, too powerful to be exact.

Yet Gabriel did nothing wrong. He simply stood there. An understanding smile painted over his worried face, saying it'll all be fine.
Except to the dark haired woman they all sounded like lies.

She couldn't trust him.

Clearing her throat the assistant shook her head and tried to utter something.

"I-I don't know." Nathalie stuttered once she managed to formulate a couple of words into an understandable sentence "m-maybe he survived by some unfortunate miracle, but why would she think he did it?"

"Because who else is psycho enough to take my kids!?!?!" Alice screamed into the phone "WHO ELSE?!?!"

"I-I'm not sure-"

"It can only be him! P-plus he had always wanted to meet the kids but I kept refusing to allow him since I was scared of what he'd do!"

"So you think he took this as an opportunity?"

"Yes! Yes because when Martin and I returned home the front door was opened and the kids were gone, but nothing was broken or damaged. I locked the door from the outside so whoever broke in had to have a key identical to mine which can only be Tom since he is a psychopath willing to go to such length just so he can get what he wants." She finally took a breath and calmed down a bit "In this case our boys!"

"Wow." Gabriel and Nathalie both shared a terrified look.

This wasn't good.
In fact, quite the contrary.
If Tom was indeed alive then that also wouldn't be good for Nathalie.

Just as the woman pondered upon that her name was spoken.

"Nath." Said Alice's sobbing voice over the line "Please be careful. He must be planning something with this all and I'm afraid you'll get involved too."

"I-..." she couldn't respond. The fear of it all completely shocked the woman to the point where she couldn't even move. Again.

Thankfully her fiancé immediately spotted his assistant tensing up while tears formed in her eyes. So without hesitation he pulled her close before placing the phone back down and ending the call.

"It's alright" Gabriel spoke quietly "he won't-"

"How would you know?!" Nathalie unexpectedly cried with a shrieking voice.
Her expression drastically shifted from anxious to furious.
Now the dark haired woman was shouting at her husband who only meant good, but that didn't matter.
"He could-" she sobbed, trying hard to collect her words "...he could do anything he wanted! You remember how crazy he is. Don't deny that!"

"I am not denying anything!" The designer became defensive "Yes he is a psychopath and much worse, but I'll be here to-"

"Gabriel not once have I been saved from him! NOT ONCE!" She screamed "EVERY SINGLE TIME I WAS LEFT BY MYSELF TO ESCAPE!"

"I-"

"YOU CAN'T DO SHIT! So at least let's help your daughter."

Nathalie broke away from the close embrace of her boss.
It felt disgusting anyway.

So now she distanced herself painfully from him. Stepping further and further away with every word that got spoken.

"Nathalie that's insane-" he tried to hold her back, reach to grab the woman's hand.
Except it was clearly out of his reach.

"How would you feel if an absolute maniac kidnapped Adrien?!?!" She screamed, backing out more, towards the office. "Not so happy I imagine! And you'd want help too."

"Yes I know, I would want help, b-but us traveling to London in this situation and getting involved would make everything more dangerous, potentially even less affective."

"Gabriel I-..." the assistant sighed with frustration.
She fully turned away and with a decided mind pushed open the office doors.
"Fuck it I'm leaving without you then!"

"What?! NO!" The designer ran after her, trying to block Nathalie's way by rushing in front and stopping right before her.
"Nath! Don't go! P-please! How do you even plan to-"

"As Mayura I will get there easily. The rest, I'll fix like I always do. Now move!"

"My love please don't-" Gabriel swiftly took her hands into his without Nathalie being able to run away. So in that shocked state where she was desperate for an escape, the man pulled on her hand hard which made the woman lose her balance and fall right into his arms.

Disgusting, that's how it felt to her.

"Please don't leave right away." The designer mumbled to his fiancée who was all compressed against his chest, attempting to break free with every one of her tries.
"Please let me help you."

"Gabriel it's best if-"

"-if we stick together and make sure that no one gets hurt! Because I am not willing to lose you once again in London and have you held captive by some mentally ill man who also abused my daughter! I won't let it happen again!"

"Okay alright." Nathalie sighed feeling defeated.
She didn't have her way. She couldn't escape.
She was powerless.

However as horrible as that sounds maybe that was for everyone's benefit. After all that plan wasn't exactly the most developed, in fact, it was something which got created by her rage and it's common sense that whenever one isn't themselves they shouldn't allow the emotions to take over.
Yet the assistant, also the holder of the peacock miraculous which's purpose is to manipulate feelings, didn't quite want to follow those rules.
She knew just how powerful Mayura could be if she's enraged. This would give her a chance at taking out the issue.
Tom.

Though for now Nathalie managed to contain her anger, and instead of arguing further she agreed with her fiancé.

"Alright I won't run away, just let go of me!"

"You promise? He asked.

"I promise!"

"You won't do anything out of pure rage?"

"I can't promise that."

"Nath." He frowned "I only want good for you."
That was true.
She knew it too.
Nathalie simply couldn't except the fact that her wasn't 'strong' enough on her own.
She loathed feeling vulnerable, not in control of everything, letting the issues slip out of her hands and consume her entire mind.

Terrible that was, but she couldn't help it.

"Fine!" The assistant accepted her luckless fate
"But please we must help them! You know too that Hawk Moth and Mayura would deal with anyone and anything in no time! We could solve-"

"And how would it look?" Gabriel's expression became stern "Suddenly the two bad guys of Paris who have disappeared come back to save this random woman in a whole other country? A bit suspicious if you ask me, and I am not willing to risk getting our identities found out. Understand?"

"Y-y-yes sir-" another depressed sigh.

The designer saw it too.
Her face tilted to the ground.
The tears which were about to escape.

He felt hurt too, but he couldn't let her go.
Gabriel couldn't allow to lose her.
It would be his end. The end.

"Nath" the man gently lifted up her face "don't look so sad." He tried to sound enthusiastic, but it was impossible "We'll find a way, trust me, just not now. Right this second we should be with Adrien, you know, spending quality time with family."

"Oh but how can I when I know Alice, my future stepdaughter is suffering!?!

"Nathalie please." Once again the designer's voice got louder, his tone rougher "Only for tonight's dinner ease your mind. I'm also in a quite tense situation myself. She is my daughter who I lost for over 22 years. Don't you think I'm a bit stressed? Of course I am! It is our grandchildren which are currently missing, but as much as that makes me want to do vile things, I contain my anger."

To be continued-

My god this chapter-
Idk why but this was very difficult to write and I don't feel like it's the best.
The reason for Nathalie's feeling being so "weird" and unusual is because I tried to incorporate the actual state of mind which a person has in this situation, but it did turn out quite chaotic.
Although that is accurate for how one would feel, I think it made her a bit strange.
Not sure, maybe that's just me.
Anyways hope you still liked it.
❤️❤️