Though no one knew it, Gabriel wandered about the Wildwind property for days and days, slipping in and out of the main house and turret. On one romp around the main house, he stole a photo of Alex -- and later crumpled it in anger.

On April 20th, Gabriel's face was seen for the first time. Prior to this date, he was merely a set of legs sporting muddy boots. Ryan spotted Gabriel lifting $5.50 in tip money from a table at BJ's. Rather than turn the boy in, Ryan replaced the money with some of his own. He explained to Gillian that he recognized his "look" as that of someone who had no money and was struggling to get by. Gabriel later tried to swipe money Martin had left to pay for his food. Ryan confronted him and Gabriel scampered off.

Gabriel continued to lurk about for weeks and weeks after his initial encounter with Ryan. He destroyed a photo of Alex, set fire to the stables at Wildwind and stole Gillian's heirloom cameo. Strangely, with each of his appear bad deeds, he also turned in some good deeds -- returning the cameo he'd stolen and fixing a broke lock aboard The Fidelity.

Gabriel was caught and tired up by Edmund and Dimitri during one of his adventures on the yacht, but managed to free himself. He escaped when Anna tried to talk to him. Later, Anna realized that she knew the unnamed (and unusually quiet) young man from somewhere.

Gabriel returned to the yacht near the end of May 2001. This time, Ryan sat down with him and tried to get him to speak, to explain why he kept returning to the yacht. Earlier, though, Ryan had asked Gillian to call the police when she feared that someone had gotten onto the yacht without permission. Just as Gillian and Ryan were making progress with Gabriel, Derek and a police officer showed up and placed Gabriel under arrest. Despite Ryan's protest that the young man not be detained, Derek hauled him off to jail.

As Alex tried to reach out to him, Gabriel came to the realization that he and Alex and Anna were related. Thomas Devane, Alex and Anna's father, had had an affair with the family's nanny -- and Gabriel was created. The revelation brought about more questions about Gabriel's past. Most of his childhood remained a blur.

A trip to England to see Charlotte Devane helped Edmund and Anna learn a bit more about Gabriel's past. Gabriel's parents were killed in a car accident arranged for by Charlotte. Charlotte then held the young Gabriel captive in a cage at Bryn Wydd. Though unclear about exactly how poorly Gabriel had been treated, his wild behavior and burn marks on the backs of his hands, gave a good indication that he had been abused.

Gabriel became fixated on Rosa and befriended Bianca. Bianca and Gabriel bonded over the fact that both were viewed as "outcasts." Marcus and Sweeney, however, continued their attempts to make Gabriel look bad. The convinced Mateo that Gabriel was no good -- and Gabriel's silent treatment didn't help his case. Mateo, like many others in town, viewed Gabriel as bad news. That all changed when Gabriel helped Mateo find and extinguish a fire that erupted at SOS. Mateo realized that Gabriel wasn't the bad guy he'd been made out to be and Alex and Edmund clued him into how Gabriel had been abused by Charlotte. Mateo warmed to Gabriel and offered him a job at the club he saved from burning down.

Gabriel was not exactly accepted into Pine Valley society. His upbringing caused him social awkwardness and he was taunted repeatedly by his peers. Gabriel developed a crush on Rosa Santos, but their relationship never flourished beyond a simple kiss. Gabriel eventually opted to leave town and join Alex and Dimitri Marick in Europe.