Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous or any of its characters. So… Luka was the star of "Desperada," and I loved him and his powers. After watching the episode, this idea popped into my head, and I couldn't help but act on it. Cause y'all know the Snake Miraculous is gunna spark a flood of angst fics and I am here for that!

One Last Time

The green flash of light still flooded his vision as his legs took the route he knew by heart.

The doors to his study flung open, his legs already racing him towards the room she stood in.

Up the layer of stairs.

Past the several guest rooms.

Just to the left of the fifth door in the middle of the west wing.

Thirty seconds. He had spent so much time trying to whittle the travel time down as much as he could, but even at full sprint, thirty seconds was the shortest amount of time he needed to get from his study to her room. Out of the four and a half minutes he had left, it was too much to spare, but it was needed.

He threw open the double doors of their room, heaving as he snapped his head in the direction he knew the love of his life would be in. Green-gloved fingers gripped the door in a death grip, and his heart froze as he stared at his wife.

She turned, the details already burned into his mind. Wide green eyes, blonde hair swinging from her left shoulder to her right in perfect motion, mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of him…

Peacock Miraculous clipped firmly to her jacket.

It was too familiar in all the ways it shouldn't have been.

"Gabriel?" She eyed him, taking in his uniform and raising a scared arm as she connected the dots like she did every time. "Why are you transformed? What's going on?!"

He had four minutes left. The nineteen seconds he allowed himself to gaze at her in the late afternoon sunlight was a sacrifice he deemed worthy enough to take.

After all, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop what was going to happen.

He breathed, shaking as he ran to her. Arms, scale-like designs running up the limbs, wrapped tight around her middle as he hugged her. Her fingers spread across his abdomen, his muscles already weakening to her touch. It was automatic, the weight of her hands touching the muscles in the exact same place every time.

The scent of her hair, the lavender-and-honey scent that had brought him to tears far too many times in the past attempts, filled his nose and overpowered his senses. Warmth from her body drifted through his suit, and as her usual surprised gasp filled his left ear, he shook as he lowered them both to their knees.

"Gabriel, please, honey, what's wrong? What's going on?"

There had been times when he had withheld the future from her. Something to give her hope that he would find the answer before the horrible future after his pre-set five minutes fully came.

Then he realized it wouldn't matter.

"Sickness. In your Miraculous." He shouldn't have been hugging her as tightly as he did, but he only had three and a half minutes left. "You're going to…"

Emilíe pushed back from him, her eyes wide with shock. "My-"

"Uncurable." Words spilled out of his mouth as he took in every shade of green in her eyes. "I've already tried."

She opened her mouth, but he already knew the question.

"30,389 times."

A glassy film stretched over her eyes, and Emilíe reached up to run a hand along the side of his face. Her lips moved, searching for words she couldn't find at the moment. "Gabriel…" she whispered, her head shaking as her mind did the math. "How long have you been doing this? How long have you been going back?"

The exact same notes of her voice, the dips and pitches as she stared at him, terrified, were sounds that were ingrained in his brain.

He didn't have the heart to cut off her sweet voice every time.

Two and a half minutes left.

"It doesn't matter, Emilíe." His hand engulfed hers, bringing her fingers to his lips. He rained kisses over her knuckles, the smooth skin of her hand soft against his lips. "The only thing that matters is that you're here and okay." A squeeze from his hand prompted her to stretch out her fingers, cupping his cheek in a way he never wanted to end.

"This isn't healthy, sweetheart." The breathless way she said the pet name wrapped tight ties around his heart, digging deep into his chest and leaving him craving more. "Gabriel, you can't do this to yourself-"

Two minutes left.

And that's when it began again.

Emilíe curled over as a sudden harsh cough echoed out of her mouth. Her hand fell limp in his, and her eyes widened as she shivered from a chill inside of her. The quick pants she heaved in sounded shredded, far too hurt for a normal illness.

"What's happening?" she whispered, her body leaning hard against her husband's.

"I don't know," he said, his voice breaking as he stared down at the wife he couldn't save. He wrapped his arms around her weakening form, and as he squeezed her close, he pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I don't know what's happening; I don't know why this is happening; I don't know how to stop it… all I know is that you're here for now, and that when my time ends, you'll be gone."

Emilíe's eyes dropped shut, another cough rattling her throat. His arms scooped her up, holding her in a fetal position close to him, protecting her from the world beyond them.

Blonde hair pressed against his suit as hazy green eyes lifted open again. "Gabriel… please just tell me… how long?"

A minute and a half.

…It didn't matter anyway.

He leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers. Five seconds was a lot for a kiss, but he couldn't take the weight of her not being there.

As he pulled back, tears dripped from her eyes. She stared at him, waiting for his answer.

"Happy one year, my love."

One minute and fifteen seconds.

Emilíe gasped as her eyes widened. "Honey…"

He felt her fade in his arms, her muscles relaxing against his. Her hands dropped, one of them hitting the floor by his knees and the other falling across her stomach. The same look she gave him, one full of love and fear, painted her face as she cried against his chest.

"It's okay, Emilíe." Two of his fingers lifted up to smooth the hair by her forehead. The deep green of his scales contrasted against the soft blonde, and his voice cracked as he held her as close as he could. "It's okay…"

"No, it isn't…" The soft voice began to fade, and her eyelids drooped as she began to lose consciousness. "Sweetheart, you can't do this to yourself. Let me go, please."

"I will." He inhaled, shaky and quick. "I will. I will. I'll let you go."

Forty-five seconds.

He pressed another kiss to her lips as he held onto her presence, taking in everything as if it were his last time before she was gone forever. The disappearing warmth of her skin, the scent of her hair, the love his heart felt when his lips were with hers.

The first three months or so had been for research. Once he had realized that using the Miraculous in the way she did would destroy her, he had transformed to buy himself time. Those three months were spent using every second he could spare to study the grimoire, tearing through the pages to try and find an answer.

The next three months had been getting the last few minutes he could with his family. He'd call Adrien in the nick of time just to have them spend a few seconds with each other before Emilíe began to fade. They spent so much time together, and he treasured the precious last seconds Adrien had with his mother before she collapsed to the floor.

Another three months had been spent with just him and Emilíe. He would burst into the room, tears of rage and pain running down his cheeks as he looped himself for the last few minutes with the woman he loved. There was nothing he could do, nothing he could make that would stop the corruption from taking her away from him, nothing that could buy him more time to go back through the past and save her before it ever happened.

And the last three months were spent because he didn't know what else to do.

Thirty seconds.

Emilíe's eyes fully closed, and he barely picked up the fragile whisper her voice became. "I love you so much, Gabriel… please take care of Adrien for me…"

His heart broke. Again and again, it shattered in his chest.

Twenty seconds.

He shook as he gripped her tightly to him, his fanged teeth cutting into his bottom lip as he tried to force out the detransformation phrase. It locked in his throat, held back as his heart urged him for one last time.

One last time to hold her. One last time to kiss her and tell her that he loved her with all of his being. One last time to be with her.

One last time before the future after the five minutes took her away from him forever.

Ten seconds.

A choked sob came from him as he kissed her wet cheeks.

Just one more time. One more time, and then he'd stop. One more time, and he'd detransform and let the future play out the way it was supposed to. One more time to say goodbye and tell his wife how much he loved her.

Five seconds…

Four…

Three…

As Gabriel Agreste, otherwise known as Basilisk, flicked the snake head back along the bracelet, he promised himself just one more time.

"Second Chance…"

Song Inspos: "One Last Time" by Ariana Grande and "Nightmare" by NateWantsToBattle.

Sooo… Adrien was pretty selfish when using the Snake Miraculous, and I couldn't help but think of how Gabe would react if he had it (same bloodline of course). So then came this, a story about a man who locked himself in a time loop because he just couldn't let go. Then again, watching your wife fall into a coma every five minutes is pretty hard to handle… Man, the Snake Miraculous gives so many excuses for angsty time loop fics oof.

Hope you peeps enjoyed! I had fun writing this, and I wouldn't mind writing more angsty stories with other characters using the Snek…

Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you guys in another story! :D

XD