Gabriel-Chapter 3

Muses were strange things. They struck inspiration when one least expected it, even in the midst of a fire. Yes, a fire. A full blown, blazing inferno that threatened to tear down the entire building. How did Gabriel get stuck in a sticky situation such as this? Well…

He covered his hand over his mouth as he let out another cough as the intense heat entered his lungs. From his vantage point on the ground, he glanced up to try and find an exit, but all he saw were yellow and orange flames licking the walls all around him, making escape impossible. Gabriel should have been terrified for his life, but he felt more ticked off than anything. Who would do something like this? It certainly wasn't an accident that the gasline happened to come loose and that a spark happened to set the line on fire. Someone did this on purpose.

Gabriel flinched as part of the upper floor splintered and debris rained down on top of him. Thankfully, he was the only one left in the orphanage. Gabriel and Samantha had gone over to visit, and next thing he knew, the entire building went up in flames. He had managed to help Samantha and the kids escape through the window, but then the floor crumbled beneath his feet, landing him in the basement with a very sprained ankle. There were no windows down here. And just from looking around, he felt convinced that there weren't any stairs either.

"Get up!" he told himself as he somehow managed to get onto his hands and knees. The smoke clouded his eyesight, blinding his path. But if he stayed still, he'd die. Moving was the only way he'd get out of this alive.

He placed his hand on the wall, but instantly retracted it with a hiss as the heat seared his skin. Unfortunately, he had never felt so trapped.

Another cough escaped his lungs as he wildly glanced around for an escape but found nothing. But then a horrible, excruciating thought struck him. His bag! Where was his bag?! All his latest designs were in the sketchbook in his bag. This had to be the worst day in the world.

Gabriel hissed in pain as he forced himself to his feet while burying his face in the crook of his elbow. Forget an escape route! He needed to find that bag!

Before he could even try to take a step forward, something came barrelling through the window upstairs, taking him completely by surprise. However, his eyes widened as he took the beautiful scene in. The woman came bursting through the window with an expertly maneuvered dive, her blonde ponytail following after her like a ray of gold sunshine. It was the woman's outfit that caught his attention, gleaming against the wildness of the fire like cool-toned jewels that were on display, sparkling beneath a glass case. Gabriel had never seen anything so magnificent in his life…

"Hey, are you okay?" the woman called down to him from the floor above, shaking him out of his stupor.

Gabriel glanced behind him, but then nearly smacked himself in the forehead. Of course she was talking to him. Who else would it be?

"F-F-Fine," Gabriel replied, but then attempted to clear his throat. "I'm fine. You haven't happened to have seen a brown messenger bag anywhere, have you? It seems I have misplaced it…"

The woman in the blue mask stared back at him incredulously. "You're stuck in a burning building and that's all you're worried about? Come on, I need to get you out of here."

She lowered a rope down to him and with incredible superhuman strength, she pulled him up. But when he tried to put weight on his right foot, his leg caved out from beneath him and he tumbled into the mysterious woman, latching onto her to keep himself from falling. Despite the blazing heat, his ears turned red with fluster as he gazed back into her green eyes. This woman… She was incredibly beautiful.

"M-M-My bag," he stuttered, grimacing when his tongue suddenly wouldn't work right. He took a step toward where his bag sat by one of the now empty chairs, but his foot just couldn't support his weight.

"You've got to be kidding me," the woman said, righting him once more. "This bag better be worth more than both our lives, sweetcakes."

Before he could stop her, she sprang into action, jumping off one wall, then another, over the gap in the charred floor, and finally landed gracefully on the other side of the room. When she had his bag in tow, she came back to him just as gracefully and shoved the bag forcefully into his arms.

"Hold on tight, because this is going to be a bumpy ride."

Gabriel held on tight to her but wasn't ready for her sudden leap through the air, through the broken window, and suddenly he found himself suspended in mid-air as the woman flew. She was flying! They were flying! How did she do this?

Like she said, it certainly was a bumpy ride, as his weight couldn't be supported for long. They all but crashed into the ground just as another explosion caused a flash fire inside the building. Gabriel glanced back at the building with wide eyes, completely dazed. That could have been him inside that building. This woman saved him. She saved his life…

"Thank you," Gabriel finally choked out.

"I think you should be the one who should be thanked," she laughed, throwing her head back into the sunlight that hit her at such a flattering angle. "You saved all those kids. What's your name, by the way?"

His eyebrows rose in surprise. She wanted to know his name? He suddenly felt like the luckiest man alive…

"G-Gabriel. Gabriel Agreste."

The woman shook his hand and smiled. "I'm Night Wing. It's very nice to meet you, Gabriel."

With one leap, Night Wing bounded into the air and Gabriel couldn't help but gawk after her as she disappeared. What a woman…

"Gabriel!" someone shrieked hysterically, and before he knew it, Samantha flew into his arms and started sobbing. "I was so scared. I thought I was going to die!"

He pressed his lips together in annoyance. She thought she was going to die? He was stuck in the building fifteen minutes longer than her! Samantha was such a baby.

"Maybe you should call your dad," Gabriel urged just to get her away from him.

Samantha started sobbing even harder when the fire trucks came to attempt to douse the fire. "Yeah, I'll call him right now! Stay here. Promise you won't go anywhere? Please promise me. I don't think I can handle going through this myself."

It took every ounce of willpower not to groan and roll his eyes. He would rather die than be roped with this woman for the rest of his life. Why did no one ever believe him when he said he refused to marry her? It wasn't as if a proposal was going to happen ever.

"Yep, I promise."

Gabriel watched as Samantha ran over to the firefighters and started flirting with them by making them feel bad for her situation. She was very good at manipulation, that was for sure.

After checking that all the kids were alright, Gabriel just couldn't help himself as he limped over to the nearest bench and took his sketchbook out, his fingers moving furiously as he tried to catch the design that his latest muse inspired. It was a blue, green, and gold dress, with small accents of black, designed to look similar to a peacock silhouetted in the golden rays of summer. The sketched dress looked absolutely stunning, and he just yearned to get behind the sewing machine and make his latest creation come to life.

A wide grin split across his sooty face as he took in the dress when he finished the sketch. It would certainly be difficult to make, but it would look absolutely stunning when he finished it.

His thoughts turned to Night Wing and how she had so effortlessly jumped through the window and saved his life. If he could, he hoped that someday he might be able to repay her for what she did for him today.

One thing he knew for sure—he certainly would never forget her.