a/n: Just a quick note that the Outtakes are not necessarily in chronological order- this (probably obviously) spans from after PatBC through a couple of the outtakes) and is entirely Gabriel Agreste being an utter piece of trash.

During his first few weeks in jail, Gabriel's mood fluctuated wildly.

He was crushed that he had been caught, angry that the superheroes had somehow outmaneuvered him. He was regretful, knowing now that he could have gotten Emilie back without all the trouble and fuss and stress of being a supervillain. He was worried about Adrien's response to the whole arrest, but irritated that Adrien hadn't come in to visit despite Gabriel's calls home, insisting that he come in and listen to his side of the story, darn it.

For a time he wallowed in despair, wishing that he had chosen a different path. If he had come forward, maybe there would have been a way for him to keep the Miraculous afterwards.

Not that he would have been able to use it for any sort of personal gain that way, but he could have figured something out, surely.

He settled on pushing his emotions away and focusing on what he could control now. It wasn't much, truth be told. Gabriel had been removed from the company- his company, the one that he had built from the ground up- and was not privy to any of the information about how it was going anymore. He didn't have Nooroo to order around, and the prison guards didn't take well to being given orders by prisoners. And on top of it all, Gabriel couldn't even contact Adrien- as soon as Gabriel had been arrested, he had lost parental rights and guardianship had been turned over to Nathalie, damn her- she had apparently tricked Gabriel into signing some forms that would make her Adrien's guardian if anything happened to Gabriel. He had protested and argued that as soon as he found out, trying to get his lawyer to fight it in court. But since he had signed the paper (abet unknowingly) and Adrien was apparently happy with the arrangement, it got thrown out right away.

But what Gabriel could control was the information that he knew. And with the right touch, he could wield that information like a weapon, giving up a little to put up an illusion of cooperation, of defeat and remorse.

He had always been good at playing to investors when needed. Even though he was a little out of practice with that now- he hadn't had to pander to people for years, not since his company gained traction and became a huge fashion house- Gabriel remembered how to go through the motions well enough.

(After all, he had had to put on a facade when he was with Emilie, enough to keep her with him but not enough to make her think that he was giving up control. Even though he loved her- obviously, since he was willing to go to such lengths to get her back- Gabriel was not going to change who he was for anyone.)

So Gabriel made sure to tell the superheroes about the journals that would lead them to the temple, but didn't mention the other journal, the one he kept secret in a lockbox under a false bottom of his closet in his bedroom, which had all of the coordinates that he and Emilie had taken on the way out, or the helicopter company that they had hired to fly them out and back every time. He told them where they could find the Peacock and all of the scrolls that he had gathered from the temple and smuggled out of Tibet, but never mentioned the translations that he had done and that were surely still backed up somewhere, on a flash drive that had simply been misplaced at some point.

They would have everything they needed to find the temple and free Emilie, but it wouldn't be fast and it wouldn't be easy. On top of that, it would require camping and detransformation on the heroes' part- including during the time when they would be in Emilie's company. Hopefully they would spend enough time together that Emilie would be able to pick the superheroes out on the street, or at the very least be able to track them down. Because if she did, it should be easy enough to pay off a robber to go steal the Miraculous- he knew a few who could be bought, particularly if they could be rewarded with one of the lesser Miraculous in return- and then they could use the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous to change the past so that Gabriel wouldn't get arrested.

After all, what was the point of Emilie coming back if Gabriel could only see her on occasion, a short visit once a week instead of all day, every day? He would get out of jail eventually, surely- he had the best lawyer money could buy, a man who lived far enough outside of Paris that he had never been affected by the akuma attacks- but Gabriel was sure that Emilie would be more than willing to simply erase the evidence that he had been arrested. Reputation was important, after all, and it wasn't as though doing so would actually hurt anybody.

The trial itself took over a month to start. Gabriel met with his lawyer practically every day, working together to figure out their angle. There was no way for him to be declared innocent, they knew that- having Ladybug and Chat Noir testify would ensure that- but if they played up the tragic husband angle, a frantic husband and father desperate to get his wife back and willing to go to extreme lengths to do so, then he might get a reduced sentence.

Somewhat unnecessary, once his plan to get the Miraculous worked. But it was a goal nonetheless, a backup plan in case the retrieval of the Miraculous didn't go as planned. Besides, it was a matter of pride, a goal to work for from inside the jail.

The trial was a test of both his patience and his acting skills. Both Adrien and Nathalie testified against him, which was utterly infuriating (and Gabriel only saw Adrien when he was testifying, as he seemed to be largely avoiding the trial, and he never got to speak to his son). All sorts of people testified about the effects of the attacks- which was dumb, because Ladybug had cleaned everything up, there were no lasting effects- and then Ladybug and Chat Noir testified as well. Gabriel tried arguing that the superheroes had broken and entered- after all, Gabriel had been attacked from behind- but all it took to dismiss that argument was pointing out that the superheroes had had prior knowledge of who he was and so didn't need a warrant. Gabriel had played up his belief that he hadn't had any other choices and claimed that he had felt guilty that Emilie was the one trapped instead of him.

Emilie wasn't the only actor in the family, after all. Gabriel could play his part well, even if it did require setting his pride aside for a bit.

Deliberations went on, and on, and on. Gabriel waited impatiently for the verdict, fighting to keep a lid on his temper as things got more and more drawn out.

How much could there possibly be to discuss? It was frankly ridiculous. They could do their required slap on the wrist and be done with it.

And then the verdict came. Fifteen to twenty years in jail, depending on his behavior.

Gabriel snarled at the news. Fifteen to twenty years? That was forever! He had hoped for ten at most, and even that was a bit excessive in his opinion, considering that none of the damage caused by akumas had actually lasted. Sure, he had had some illegal weapons, but his lawyer had argued that charge down by pointing out that obviously they were all dummy missiles, just for intimidation and show, because as people could see, they never discharged.

His main plan had to work now, it just had to. There was no way that Gabriel was going to spend the majority of the remainder of his life behind bars.

After everything he had done to try to get Emilie back, being kept away from her would be terrible. Besides, Adrien would be coming of age soon enough. He needed a firm hand to keep him in line and to make sure that he stayed on the path that Gabriel had picked out for him. Gabriel knew that Emilie wouldn't actually enforce anything like that if Adrien pouted a bit- she was too soft, one of her few flaws- and Nathalie- well, Nathalie hadn't been making Adrien come and visit him, so there was no way that she would actually deter Adrien from making decisions on his own.

The weeks crept by. Gabriel's lawyer was the only one who came by and even he only rarely visited now. After most of a year of having a kwami by his side at every moment, it was a jarring change. His calls to the house to try to catch either Nathalie or Adrien were rarely answered. Even when Nathalie did answer (usually when she clearly hadn't paid attention to the number), she rarely stayed on for long and never actually told him anything that he wanted to know.

He still hadn't forgiven her for the guardianship grab. Maybe he would have changed his tune if she ever made Adrien come in and visit, but she was softer than her last name suggested.

Towards Adrien, that was. Not Gabriel. Gabriel hadn't even gotten any updates on what Adrien was up to in weeks. For all he knew, Adrien could be all the way across the world.

And then he got the news. Emilie, found, rescued, and returned to Paris, reunited with Adrien.

Gabriel celebrated (well, internally celebrated. He had to keep his composure, after all). It was only a matter of time before Emilie visited him in jail and after that, only a matter of weeks or months before the timeline could get revised and he could get out, free to run his company and direct his wife and son like he was meant to. He just had to wait until she came.

And wait, and wait. Days crept by, turning into a week, and there was still no sign of Emilie. Gabriel paced in his cell, waiting for his wife to arrive.

Surely she would come. Surely she was curious enough to at least come listen to his side of the story? She would know well enough that the press would try to paint an inaccurate picture of him.

...surely she wouldn't stay away forever? Gabriel knew that he had maybe endangered Adrien a few times with his akumas, but most of those times were accidents and the rest were really unavoidable. She had to realize that. Emilie was smart.

And then she came. Gabriel got the news in the middle of the afternoon and could barely contain his stride as the guards walked him towards the visiting area. Then they rounded a corner and he spotted her sitting there at the counter, gorgeous as ever if perhaps a little thinner than before.

It was probably because of traveling with the superheroes and them having a limited amount of food to go around as they traveled back to Paris. Gabriel felt a little bad about that- he never wanted her to suffer- but it was necessary.

Besides, altering the timeline would erase all of that, just like it would erase Adrien being in danger and Gabriel getting sent to jail.

Saying that their meeting did not go as Gabriel had expected would be an understatement, to say the least. Emilie seemed thoroughly charmed by those annoying superheroes and unwilling to go through with his plan. She had stormed out and he had gotten dragged back to his cell, clearly in far more trouble than before.

Had Emilie really needed to shout his plan to the entire jail before leaving? He knew that she got emotional easily, but now they would have to be much more delicate about things once she came around. The jail would no doubt tip the superheroes off about his plan and they would be on high alert.

…..or perhaps they wouldn't, since Emilie had been very vocal about not being willing to do it. As long as that bit was mentioned, the superheroes would in theory relax a bit more around Emilie, leaving room for them to slip up enough for her to get their Miraculous.

Yes, that could work. Gabriel flopped back on his bed, mind already whirring. He could still twist this in his favor, of that he was sure.

And this time, he wouldn't fail.