It was dark.
He became aware of the darkness first.
It was dark, and he was scared.
There was nothing. There was no air, no floor, no time passing. There were no memories and there was no knowledge.
No, there was something. There was a desperate, urgent need to get out.
His lips formed long forgotten words as he soundlessly screamed them into the empty. Someone, anyone had to hear him, had to come for him.
Time did not pass and no one came.
He came to realize he wasn't alone here. He could feel something all around him, something other than the Empty. Maybe it had once been life. Now, though...
They were like extinguished flames.
Was he like them? Just a life that had gone a long time ago?
He couldn't be. He was someone. He had to be someone.
Who had be been?
Who was he?
The whisper inside him grew louder. A light that had been dimmed so much he didn't know it was there, grew into a tiny spark.
Who was he?
The spark flared up. He needed to find it. He needed to remember.
Who was he?
There was a chill in the air. Just a moment ago there was no air.
Just a moment ago, there were no moments passing.
Who am I?
He wasn't going to let himself fade away.
They call me Gabriel.
The spark ignited into a flame.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Gabriel's re-entry into the universe was quiet.
Gabriel woke up. But he woke up in a cell with Enochian warding all around him, an unfathomable pain in his very being, and one of Lucifer's pet princes standing before him with a quirked, mean smirk marring his face.
Gabriel's re-entry into the universe was quiet, but not quiet enough.