"Bye bye little butterfly," Ladybug whispered, watching as the purified akuma fluttered into the distance. She picked up her Lucky Charm, a dishrag, and threw it into the air, yelling "Miraculous Ladybug!" Citizens cheered the heroine on, delighted their city was saved once again.

"CURSES!" Gabriel Agreste shouted. Again, his plans were foiled, and the ladybug and cat miraculous were no closer to being in his possession. His wife, his beloved Emilie, was still gone. His family was still not complete.

He dejectedly de-transformed, glaring at his kwami, Nooroo, as he nervously tried to placate him. Gabriel exited his secret lair (necessary for all miraculous-stealing supervillains), and went to his office, where a photo of his wife sat on his desk.

"Oh, Emilie," he said, stroking his finger over the image of her face. "I have tried again and again to get you back. But no matter what I do, no matter what supervillain I create, nothing seems to work." He hesitated, almost waiting to hear a response. "I have not been able to focus on my company, or my son, or anything else since you went missing. None of it matters anymore."

Another pause. He put the picture back down in his frustration. The fashion designer held his miraculous in his hand, feeling the power raging within it. But not enough power for him. Only the ladybug and cat miraculous combined would be enough to save his wife.

"Sir?" It was Nathalie, his assistant. He almost shouted at her to leave his office, but stopped when he saw her walk through the door. "Sir, the news is reporting that Ladybug and Chat Noir have defeated another supervillain."

"Yes, Ms. Sancouer," he said. "I don't need a reminder of my failure."

"Yes, sir." She looked down at her clipboard, then back at him. "Sir, Adrien has been asking me if you are alright. He says that whenever he sees you, you look tired and stressed."

He laughed. "Tell Adrien to respect his father's privacy. I am doing this for him-so he can have his mother back. Yet nothing I do works. I've created akumas that can weather, the power of the gods, even time itself-but Ladybug always finds a way to defeat me!"

"Time," Nathalie said. "Sir, you know you can create akumas that travel through time, right?"

"Of course I know, Nathalie. I already tried that." It had been a girl in Adrien's class, who had been distraught over breaking a family heirloom. Adrien had been nearby, but somehow he'd escaped from the akuma unharmed. He'd been sure it would work-after all, what is more powerful than time itself?

"Sir, why don't you simply create an akuma that controls time, then use it to go back in time and save your wife?"

Gabriel felt as if his brain had short circuited. Use an akuma to save Emilie? He hadn't thought of that. Every scrap of energy he had was focused on stealing Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses. He'd been willing to give up everything to get the earrings and the ring-go to jail, sacrifice his career, even sacrifice Adrien. "What?"

"Sir," Nathalie paused, scanning his face for signs of confusion. "You don't need to continue this crusade against Ladybug and Chat Noir. There has to be someone in Paris who wishes to go back in time and save someone they love; just akumatize them, and use their powers to go back in time. Or you could akumatize yourself and go back that way."

Gabriel Agreste was the CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the fashion industry. He'd heard ideas before-some brilliant, but most terrible. He'd gleaned information from the book of the miraculouses, and used it form his own plans on how to defeat a spotted superhero. But no suggestion in his long life had ever sounded as clever as this one.

"Ms. Sancoeur," he announces, straightening his posture with renewed vigour, "you are a genius."

LATER

Emilie smiled, fixing his tie as he grumbled in protest. "Stop it," she said, lightly smacking him on the arm. "Adrien's presentation is today, and you promised you'd be there." Adrien had to do a project on his family history, and had not stopped pestering Gabriel on his family tree for the whole week. Whenever he looked at Emilie during dinner, begging for help, all she'd do is laugh and ruffle her son's hair. But it was all worth it. Emilie was back, like she'd never even been gone. For her and everyone else, that was the case. For Gabriel, it was a completely different story.

It wasn't that hard to find someone in Paris grieving over another, wishing to do anything to bring them back. He eventually settled on a middle-aged woman wishing to bring her son back after he died in an accident. He'd turned her into an akuma, and the only thing she had to do for him was reverse time and send him back a few weeks before Emilie's disappearance. His conscience was sent back in time, and he managed to save his wife by discovering what caused her to disappear in the first place.

He kept the butterfly miraculous locked away in a safe. Gabriel felt no need to activate the miraculous again, for Nooroo had served his purpose. His family was whole again. He was in such a good mood that he decided to let Adrien go to school, a full year before he did in the original timeline. The boy was still friends with Nino, but Gabriel didn't care after he saw Emilie's approval of their friendship. Emilie had also pushed Adrien toward that Marinette Dupain-Cheng girl, absolute in her belief that they would be perfect together. He remembered Adrien's blush when he realized his mother invited the girl over for dinner.

As Emilie finished adjusting his tie, he thought back of everything he had to do to get to this point. All those akumas sent to fight Ladybug were truly pointless, weren't they? When he went back in time, he didn't even have to give up anything important, unlike what he would have had to do by combining the ladybug and cat miraculouses. He even risked being sent to prison if he were caught, but now, there was no risk of that. He could never be arrested for crimes that never happened. To think he'd been so stupid.

Gabriel Agreste watched as Emilie left their bedroom, gesturing at him and yelling "We're going to be late!" He pictured Adrien's smile when he sees his family there with everyone else's. This was everything he'd been fighting for. His family, together and whole again.

He really should give Nathalie a pay raise.

AN: So I wrote this because I realized there was a much simpler solution to Gabriel's problems than constantly creating akumas that always end up being defeated. I get that it's for the sake of plot but I couldn't ignore this idea while watching the show. In case anyone's confused, Gabriel's mind got sent back in time to his younger body, and he was able to save his wife. The original timeline is gone and has been replaced by this timeline, and Gabriel's the only person who can remember the original. I think that even in this new timeline, where there's no Hawkmoth, Ladybug and Chat Noir will still be needed. So don't worry, Marinette and Adrien will receive miraculouses in the new timeline, it just hasn't happened yet.