Gabriel spent most of his time over the next several days thinking either about the Miraculouses or about Madeline. He still couldn't believe she gave him her number. Why would someone as beautiful as her give her number to a guy like him? He was as geeky as could be. Plus, he stuttered and wore glasses.

He frowned as a thought crossed his mind. It was entirely possible that she was after the money behind the Agreste name. After all, she wouldn't be the first.

But then he thought about her smile and her emerald eyes and her adorable freckles and he melted into a puddle all over again. Somehow, he didn't care what she was after. If she wanted his money, she could have it. Just as long as he could spend some more time with her.

After having taken dozens of pictures of the artifacts and tapestries in the Egyptian exhibit at the Louvre, Gabriel knew he'd found something important. He had studied enough Egyptian to make sense of what was written on the tapestries, but even on the tablet at the Louvre, much of it was missing. Fortunately, it all landed him in one place—Egypt. Or more specifically, Giza. If he traveled to Giza, he just might be able to find out more about this ancient power. Either that, or track down Night Wing and ask her. However, he didn't even know how to start tracking her down.

So he planned on taking the private jet to Giza and he planned to leave in just a few days. He didn't know how long he'd be gone…

Gabriel frowned at the thought. If he didn't call Madeline soon, he might never get the chance again. Who knew? The expedition through Giza could take weeks or even months! She'd forget about him by then, wouldn't she?

Nervousness crept into his heart as he stared at his phone. Somehow, he couldn't see himself getting through even a sentence without turning into a stuttering mess.

"Screw it," he muttered to himself as he picked up the phone and began to dial the number he knew by heart by now, seeing that he had contemplated calling her a thousand times already. But as soon as the phone began ringing, he froze. It suddenly felt as if he got dumped into the Atlantic Ocean and he couldn't move because his body became paralyzed with the icy chill. He couldn't talk to her! He'd big time bomb it.

"Hello?" Madeline asked on the other end, and suddenly that icy chill turned into a blazing inferno just from hearing her voice.

"M-Madeline?" he asked, but then he took a deep breath and forced the calm to enter him. It was just a date. Nothing more. "Hi, this is Gabriel. From the museum."

"Hi, Gabe! How are you?"

Gabriel's tongue tied in a knot at her nickname for him, and he hadn't realized he became quiet until Madeline asked if he was still there.

"Um, yes! I'm still here. Um, I was wondering if you, er, wanted to go to dinner with me tonight. At, um, Le Cinq."

Even through the phone, Gabriel could hear Madeline suck in a breath. Did he say the wrong thing?

"Le Cinq?" she asked incredulously. "Isn't that a five-star restaurant?"

He immediately grimaced at her tone. If it had been Samantha, she would have accepted nothing less than a five-star restaurant. "Sorry, um… We can go somewhere different."

"La Coïncidence maybe? Pick me up at six. I'll text you my address. Don't be late!"

She hung up the phone, leaving him completely speechless as he stared at the wall. He felt like he just got hit by a hurricane and he didn't even know how to recover. Not only did she not take advantage of his money, but she completely took the reins away from him. Was this still his date or was this her date now?

Gabriel almost cursed under his breath as he glanced down at his watch. He had to be at her place in a half an hour to pick her up, and not only was he not ready to go, but he also had to pick up flowers for her. What kind of guy would he be if he didn't bring her flowers on the first date?

In a hurry, he dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt, and he almost decided against the tie, but tradition won over and he put one on anyway.

Unfortunately, his jaw practically dropped as he raced down the staircase and ran into a room full of people, namely his parents, Samantha, and Samantha's parents. Oh great. What was going on this time?

"Good, you're here!" Samantha cried, throwing her arms around Gabriel's neck. He couldn't stop the scowl from forming on his face. "So we're going ahead and planning a few things for the wedding. The first and most important on the list is how and when you're going to propose. I want it to be perfect—tabloid-ready. I was thinking about having it be somewhere public, probably during sunset to capture the best lighting. Oh, we could even do it at the beach! How romantic would that be?"

Gabriel's scowl deepened. "You're kidding me, right? You're planning out a proposal? Isn't that supposed to be the guy's job?"

Samantha laughed, shaking her head so her hair fell perfectly over her shoulders. "Oh, you know very little about weddings, don't you? That's why I'm here, pumpkin." She patted his face, and somehow, that only made him scowl even more.

It was time to say the thing again that he's been saying for years.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not ever going to propose to you. I'm sure there are a lot of other men out there who would love to go along with your shenanigans, but not me."

Bridget gasped. "Gabriel! We talked about this."

"Yes, we did. And you obviously didn't listen. André Dubois would love to marry you, Samantha. He has plenty of money too. And he's actually in love with you. Why don't you give that a try?"

He surprised himself by not stuttering once, but he didn't usually when he felt either frustrated or annoyed. Thankfully, no one said a word as he left the room and climbed into a car, this time driving himself. Somehow, he had a feeling that it wouldn't impress Madeline if he brought a chauffeur. She just didn't seem like the type.

After buying a bouquet of assorted flowers, Gabriel took a deep breath as he pulled up to the address that Madeline had given him. Sure, he may have been on plenty of dates, but somehow this felt different. Just the thought of her made his heart do things he didn't know it could.

Oh man, he was totally going to bomb tonight.

Gabriel knocked nervously on the door, but his nervousness only seemed to skyrocket when Madeline answered. She wore her hair to the side and she looked extremely pretty, but that wasn't what got his attention the most, surprisingly. She wore an elegant, blue lace dress with hints of silver that dripped off her shoulders, the lace hitting her knees in a very ladylike fashion. From Madeline's makeup all the way down to her shoes, she matched perfectly. Her sense of fashion was incredible.

"Natasha Benazzoli," Gabriel grinned.

"I beg your pardon?"

He chuckled and gestured to her dress. "I don't see many people wearing Natasha Benazzoli these days. She's a very under appreciated designer, but I think her designs are masterpieces." His shyness got the better of him as he looked up to meet her eye. "It—it looks good on you."

To his surprise, Madeline laughed and threaded her arm through his. "I didn't peg you as a fashion geek. Science, maybe. But not fashion."

Heat crept up his neck. If only she knew the truth.

"I hope you're hungry," Madeline said without missing a beat. "Because I'm starving."

Gabriel nodded as he opened the door for her and when he closed it behind him, he took another deep breath to steady himself. He really didn't need to overthink this. They'd both have fun and he didn't need to fall to pieces.

"What's one of your life goals?" Madeline asked as they drove to the restaurant, taking him completely by surprise.

"M-my life goals?" he asked, scratching the side of his head. "I suppose making a difference would be one of them. I think it might be a little easier without my parents breathing down my neck." He laughed at his own joke.

"You don't get along with your parents?"

He shrugged. "More like we have nothing in common. They expect me to live a certain way and I have to obey."

Madeline shifted in her seat to get a better view of him. "And what would you do if you had the freedom you want?"

That was a very good question, and almost immediately, his thoughts turned to his sketchbooks. But he couldn't let Madeline in on that little secret of his. After all, he wasn't sure he could trust her yet.

"I just want to leave a dent in this world, instead of just being another person who existed."

She nodded thoughtfully, and it wasn't until when they arrived at the restaurant and ordered did he get the chance to speak to her again. "What about you?" he asked. "What are your goals?"

"If I had the money?" she laughed while rolling her eyes. "I'd travel the world. I'd finish school. I'd get a job that I would be good at and love."

Gabriel bit his lip sheepishly, now realizing just how different they were in that moment. He had all the money in the world to do whatever he wanted, and then here was Madeline trying to make a life and perhaps even a name for herself. Coming from money always made him feel a little bit guilty.

Even so, the two of them were able to talk and Gabriel felt his guard lowering ever so slightly around her. At least until the table next to them spoke a little bit too loudly.

"I think La Panthère is a hero," the man said, his words slurred slightly from drinking too much wine. "The justice system nowadays is so corrupt that we need more people like him to take matters into their own hands."

Madeline's chair scraped loudly on the floor as she stood up, anger filling every inch of her face as she stared back at the man who had spoken out. "What did you just say?"

The man also stood and towered over Madeline, glowering down at her menacingly. "I said that La Panthère is a hero."

"Whoa there," Gabriel said as he cautiously got to his feet, holding out a steady hand in case he had to jump in between the man and Madeline. "We're not looking for any trouble."

Madeline looked as if she were about to sit back down, but then the man spoke once again. "That's right. Run home to your boyfriend just like a good little girl. Leave the big boy talk to the big boys—"

Madeline knitted her eyebrows together and scowled, and Gabriel could hardly even believe it as she spun around as fast as lightning and threw a punch right at the man's face. The man fell backward and knocked a table down, the plates and silverware clattering to the floor in a giant heap. All Gabriel could do was stare with wide eyes at Madeline's flexed fist and the man she had just single-handedly knocked out with an expert punch. His mouth fell open in disbelief.

The owner of the establishment shuffled out to the front and his eyes widened as he stared back at Gabriel. For a moment, Gabriel thought he was about to get in big trouble, but then it was as if the owner flopped over on his back in submission.

"I'm so sorry if this man was bothering you and your date, Mr. Agreste," the owner said, apologizing as he dabbed a napkin to Gabriel's shirt as if to try and take the food stain out. "My sincerest apologies. I'll give you two a free meal, and free meals every time should you decide to come back. Please forgive me for the disturbance."

At long last, Gabriel's mind finally managed to comprehend what had just happened and before he could stop himself, a full-blown, hearty laugh escaped his mouth. Madeline just knocked a full grown man out with her tiny fist!

Madeline snorted with laughter and joined right in, and Gabriel knew that if they didn't leave soon, theirs would be the unwelcome disturbance.

"Sorry about the trouble," Gabriel laughed as he put down double of what their meals cost. After all, the poor servers had to clean that mess up.

The two of them continued laughing as they left the restaurant and finally had to stop a little ways down the street to catch their breath for laughing so hard.

"Where on earth did you learn to throw a punch like that?" Gabriel laughed, doubling over as a stitch entered his side.

She sighed with laughter and thankfully, she never put her beautiful smile away. Gabriel really liked that smile. It looked so adorable on her, especially when the skin on the corners of her eyes crinkled as she laughed.

"What else would you expect from a girl who grew up at an orphanage? I had to defend myself from those mean boys somehow."

Immediately, Gabriel's smile dropped and his eyes widened. "What? You were an orphan?"

Madeline glanced away at that moment as the atmosphere around them steadily grew heavier and heavier until it felt as if Gabriel couldn't support the weight on his shoulders. Never would he have guessed that this beautiful, funny, amazing woman in front of him had grown up all on her own.

"Yeah," Madeline finally said, breaking the silence as she shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "My parents died in a bank robbery when I was nine. I've been all on my own ever since."

Gabriel swallowed hard at the thought. It was no wonder why she got so defensive when La Panthère was mentioned at the restaurant. Bank robberies touched her in a way that it couldn't touch anyone else. Gabriel couldn't even fathom…

"I-I-I'm so sorry," he whispered huskily. "I had no idea…"

Madeline shrugged and gave him a sad smile. "It was a long time ago and although I certainly miss them, you don't need to feel bad for me."

"I don't," Gabriel said with a shake of his head, taking Madeline completely by surprise. "I'm sad for you. No child should have to grow up on their own."

This made Madeline smile and she weaved her arm through his once more. However, he wasn't prepared for the gentle kiss she placed on his cheek, making him freeze right where he stood as if his shoes were nailed to the concrete.

"Are you coming or what?" Madeline laughed knowingly as she walked backward away from him and cast him a coy grin. "I thought we could go on a walk, since our dinner date was cut a little short."

He nodded and adjusted his glasses as heat crept into his ears. "Right. Of course."

Gabriel quickly followed after her and the two of them walked side by side through the park. Honestly, he really couldn't help but feel impressed that she could walk so effortlessly in those heels she wore. Plus, they made her legs look fantastic.

They only stopped walking as they sat beside one another on a bench that overlooked a small, peaceful fountain in the middle of the park. Gabriel had come here countless times, especially when he wanted to get away from the pressure of being Gabriel Agreste once in a while.

"That's a very special bag, isn't it?" Madeline asked, nodding toward the messenger bag that he kept close beside him at all times. "You always seem to have it with you. What's in there?"

"Nothing," he replied cautiously, subconsciously digging his shoe into the dirt.

"Do you keep your drawings in there? Like I said before, I'd really like to see more of them." When he still hesitated, she leaned in just a little closer and smiled. "Come on, Gabey. Pretty please show me your incredible artwork?"

Finally, Gabriel sighed. "You're going to laugh at me."

"No, I won't. I promise."

"Fine," he relented as he took out his sketchbook and handed it over to Madeline. When she opened it, her eyes widened as she took in the dresses and hats and jewelry that he had designed. He watched as she flipped through page after page, studying each design carefully.

Madeline's mouth dropped more and more until she finally glanced up at him. "Either you're Gawain Papillion, or you're a very good copycat."

Heat filled Gabriel's face and he had to look away, instead intently studying the wood of the bench he sat on. "I didn't realize that you'd be able to guess. I'd much rather keep it a secret for now."

She laughed gleefully, her laughter seeming to fill the entire park. "I can't believe that you're the elusive Gawain Papillion! They write about you in magazines, you know. Everyone is gushing over all your designs. No one would ever guess that you're actually Gabriel Agreste! Oh, this is amazing. The media would have a freak out if they found out the truth."

"D-d-don't tell anyone! If people found out, I'd never get to design again."

"Oh, I won't tell anyone. I'm a good secret keeper. But, Mr. Agreste, you keep getting more interesting by the minute."

While Madeline continued to flip through his designs, he still tried to recover from the surprise of her finding out who he was. So easily too. The question was how? Did his sketchbook really give him away?

A sharp intake of breath from Madeline brought him back to the present, but he only bit his lip when he saw her staring at the design that had been inspired by Night Wing herself.

"So this was what was so important…"

"W-what?"

"This design…" she said, holding up the sketchbook for him to see better. "You did this?"

Gabriel nodded his head, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "When inspiration hits, I have to strike while the iron is hot. I know people think she's just a myth, an urban legend. But I saw her with my own eyes. She told me that she calls herself Night Wing and she saved my life." He smiled down at his sketch as he remembered her vividly. "This is her dress—just like a phoenix being reborn from a fire."

Madeline ran her fingers lightly over the sketch, murmuring, "This is beautiful, Gabe."

He chuckled nervously, scratching the side of his head. "Thanks." However, as he gazed back into Madeline's eyes, the craziest idea in the world came to him. After all, Madeline was someone he just barely met.

"C-C-Can I ask you something?" he stuttered, but he didn't care. He was going to take a risk and ask, especially knowing that one of her life goals was to see the world.

"Sure."

Gabriel took a deep breath and plunged in. "D-d-do you want to come with me to Giza?"