Biography ⇢ WHEN GABRIEL AND SAMANTHA FIRST MET, SPARKS FLEW, THE WORLD STOPPED, AND ALL THAT CLICHÉD BULLSHIT PEOPLE WRITE ABOUT IN ROMANCE NOVELS HAPPENED. SHE WAS ONLY SIXTEEN AT THE TIME, AND GABRIEL WAS ONLY 17 - TOO YOUNG TO TRULY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT LOVE, BUT THEY SOMEHOW SEEMED TO 'JUST KNOW'. WHEN SAMANTHA WAS ONLY 18, SHE WELCOMED MICHAEL INTO THE WORLD, AND WHILE IT WAS UNEXPECTED, LIFE WENT ON. GABRIEL ENLISTED IN THE MILITARY, AND SAMANTHA CONTINUED ON WITH HER EDUCATION, HOPING TO ONE DAY ACHIEVE HER DREAMS OF BECOMING A DOCTOR. WITH HIS FATHER OUT ON DEPLOYMENT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, AND HIS MOTHERS BUSY SCHEDULE, MICHAEL SPENT THE FIRST FEW YEARS OF HIS LIFE WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA. THE OLDER COUPLE LOVED HAVING HIM AROUND, AND BECAUSE OF SUCH HE WAS SPOILED ROTTEN - ABSOLUTELY LEFT WANTING FOR NOTHING. IT DIDN'T HELP MATTERS MUCH WHEN THE COUPLE HAD BUILT A VERY SUCCESSFUL REAL ESTATE BUSINESS AND MONEY WAS NO ISSUE.

⇢ IT WASN'T UNTIL 9 YEARS LATER THAT HIS FIRST SIBLING, ELIZABETH "ELLIE" WAS BORN, AND THE ATTENTION WAS QUICKLY TURNED TOWARD HER. EVEN AS A CHILD, MICHAEL WASN'T THE TYPE TO SEEK OUT ATTENTION, AND HE ALMOST WELCOMED THE CHANGE OF PACE. HE LOVED THE 'INDEPENDENCE' AND 'GROWN UP' STATUS HE GAINED FROM HAVING A BABY SISTER. IT WASN'T BEFORE LONG - AT ONLY NINE YEARS OLD- THAT MICHAEL FIRST SHOWED THE SIGNS OF THE PROTECTIVE OLDER BROTHER HE WAS GOING TO BE. HE LOVED TAKING CARE OF HIS LITTLE SISTER, AND JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, HE WOULD GIVE HER WHATEVER SHE WANTED. WHILE IT BECAME EASIER TO SAY NO TO HER THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, THEIR RELATIONSHIP NEVER CHANGED, AND EVEN INTO ADULTHOOD THEY REMAINED CLOSE. MICHAEL WOULD NEVER ADMIT TO PLAYING FAVORITES, AND WHILE HE DOES LOVE BOTH HIS SISTERS THE SAME, HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ALLISON WAS MUCH DIFFERENT THAN THAT WHICH HE HAD WITH ELLIE. SHE WAS THE SURPRISE CHILD, BEING BORN WHEN MICHAEL WAS 15, AND THEY NEVER TRULY HAD THE CHANCE TO BOND AS SIBLINGS WHEN THEY WERE YOUNGER. THE AGE DIFFERENCE WAS TOO GREAT, AND BY THE TIME THAT MICHAEL LEFT HOME SHE WAS ONLY TWO.

⇢ HIGH SCHOOL WAS WHEN MICHAEL GOT A CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT HE WANTED TO DO WITH HIS LIFE. HIS FATHER WAS A MILITARY MAN, AND MICHAEL DECIDED TO GIVE IT A TRY; THE JROTC PROGRAM GAVE HIM A TASTE OF MILITARY DISCIPLINE, AND THERE WAS NO LONGER ANY GOING BACK - HE WAS HOOKED. IT WAS ALSO HIS FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL THAT HE MET HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART - THE GIRL THAT WOULD BECOME LIKE A DRUG TO HIM AND HIS ONLY REAL WEAKNESS. THEY DATED ALL FOUR YEARS, BUT WHEN GRADUATION CAME AROUND THEY BOTH KNEW THEY HAD TO GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS. THEY BOTH HAD DIFFERENT IDEAS OF WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO IN LIFE. HE WAS GOING INTO THE NAVY AND HE KNEW HE'D BE GONE FOR AN INDEFINITE AMOUNT OF TIME, AND EVEN WHEN HE WAS HOME, HE STILL DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THAT HOME WOULD BE. IT WAS YOUNG LOVE, BUT HE WANTED HER TO HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A NORMAL LIFE - SOMETHING HE KNEW SHE'D NEVER HAVE WITH HIM.

⇢ HIS SEAL TRAINING STARTED IN 2001 AND IT WAS THAT YEAR WHEN HE FIRST ME TROY AGUILA, A PERSON WHO WOULD SOON BECOME A BEST FRIEND TO HIM. TRAINING WAS HARD, IT TOOK MOST OF THEIR TIME, AND MOVED THEM AROUND QUITE A BIT. IT WAS SOMETHING THE MEN BONDED OVER AND IN JANUARY OF 2003, YEARS AFTER HIS INITIAL TRAINING, THEY WERE FINALLY GIVEN A PERMANENT HOME IN CORONADO, CALIFORNIA WITH SEAL TEAM 3. THE NEXT FEW YEARS WERE ONE OF THE BUSIEST FOR MICHAEL, AND HIS PERSONAL LIFE WAS PUT ON HIATUS. UNLIKE HIS BEST FRIEND, HE WANTED NOTHING TO DO WITH RELATIONSHIPS, AND QUICKLY FELL INTO THE ROUTINE OF A FLING HERE AND THERE. IN 2004, HE FIRST MET MIRIAM MITCHELL, SOMEONE WHO HE'D HEARD A LOT ABOUT FROM TROY, BUT SOMEONE WHO HE'D NEVER HAD THE CHANCE TO MEET IN PERSON UNTIL he was witness to A QUICK COURTHOUSE WEDDING between her and HIS BEST FRIEND. He quickly found himself becoming quite protective of her, and she SOON BECAME SOMEONE WHOSE FRIENDSHIP WAS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS HER HUSBANDS HAD BEEN FOR YEARS.

⇢ IN 2005 HE FOUND HIMSELF RECONNECTING WITH HIS HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEART AND THERE WAS A BIG CHANGE TO HIS PERSONAL LIFE AND THE WAY HE SAW THINGS. IT WAS EASY TO PICK UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF, AND WHILE IT WAS LONG DISTANCE AT FIRST, FLINGS BECAME A THING OF THE PAST. WHEN SHE FINALLY MADE THE MOVE TO CALIFORNIA AFTER COMPLETING HER MASTERS, THINGS STARTED TO LOOK AS IF THEY WOULD FINALLY HAVE THEIR HAPPY ENDING, AND THEY WERE EVEN ENGAGED - IT WASN'T UNTIL A FEW DEPLOYMENTS LATER THAT MILITARY LIFE STARTED TO TAKE IT'S TOLL ON HER, AND THEY PARTED WAYS ONCE AGAIN. SHE ENDED UP IN NEW YORK, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF GOING OVERSEAS. ONCE AGAIN, HIS PERSONAL LIFE WAS PUT ON HOLD, AND RELATIONSHIPS BECAME THE LAST THING HE WANTED, SOMETHING WHICH HIS BEST FRIEND WAS CONSTANTLY ON HIS CASE ABOUT. HE SHOULD SETTLE DOWN, HAVE A FAMILY - BE HAPPY. WHILE HE CONSIDERED IT, HE NEVER TRIED TOO HARD TO FIND ANYONE, AND THE TIMES HE DID DATE, IT NEVER LED TO ANYTHING SERIOUS.

⇢ IN 2014 MICHAEL'S LIFE TOOK A HUGE TURN FOR THE WORSE AND THINGS WERE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN. HE WAS INJURED IN AN AMBUSH WHERE HE LOST HALF HIS TEAM, INCLUDING TWO OF HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS, AND WHEN HE RETURNED HOME HE WAS DEALING WITH A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF SURVIVORS GUILT AND JUST AS MUCH ANGER. HE BELIEVED HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE TO DIE THAT NIGHT - in his mind, HE WAS THE ONLY WHO DIDN'T HAVE SOMEONE WAITING FOR HIM BACK HOME. THAT GUILT ONLY GREW STRONGER WHEN HE CHECKED HIMSELF OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AND FLEW BACK HOME A FEW DAYS LATER, NEEDING TO SEE MIRIAM, KNOWING SHE'D BE A MESS AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. THE SIGHT OF HER IN A BATHTUB FILLED WITH WATER, A BOTTLE OF JACK AND PILLS NEXT TO HER IS ONE THAT WHILE IT'S GROWN FAINTER, HE'S NEVER BEEN ABLE TO FULLY GET OUT OF HIS MIND.

⇢ IT WAS SOMETHING HE KEPT HIDDEN, AND REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE TO EVEN HIMSELF, BUT THE LOSS OF HIS BEST FRIENDS, AND MIRIAM'S ATTEMPT AT TAKING HER OWN LIFE TO BE WITH HER HUSBAND BROUGHT FORTH A LOT OF CHANGES WITHIN HIM. HE FOUND HIMSELF GROWING ANGRY, AND DISTANT FROM PEOPLE, MIRIAM BEING ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO COULD FIND A WAY TO BRING HIM BACK DOWN, EVEN WHEN SHE DIDN'T REALIZE SHE WAS DOING IT. AFTER HER ATTEMPT AT TAKING HER LIFE, MICHAEL KNEW SHE NEEDED AS MUCH HELP IN GETTING OVER THINGS AS HE DID, BUT HE ALSO KNEW SHE'D ALWAYS FOCUS ON MAKING SURE HE WAS OKAY BEFORE SHE FOCUSED ON HERSELF. THAT WASN'T WHAT HE WANTED FOR HER, KNOWING SHE WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO MOVE PAST THINGS THAT WAY, INSTEAD, HE HELPED HER PACK UP ALL OF TROY'S THINGS AND HER BELONGINGS, AND HELPED HER MOVE BACK IN WITH HER PARENTS WHILE SHE GOT BACK ON HER FEET.

⇢ IT TOOK A YEAR FOR HIM TO GET EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL, AND IN 2015 HE FOUND HIMSELF MOVING BACK HOME TO VIRGINIA, BOTH TO BE CLOSER TO FAMILY, AND TO START A NEW CHAPTER TO HIS LIFE. WHILE IT HAD BEEN HIS CHOICE TO LEAVE THE MILITARY, HE WASN'T SURE HOW TO REALLY BE A CIVILIAN, AND HE FOUND HIMSELF GOING FROM VIRGINIA BEACH TO QUANTICO, ATTENDING THE FBI ACADEMY. IT WAS AS IF HIS LIFE WAS PUT TOGETHER ONCE AGAIN, AND HE COULD FINALLY START OVER.

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