Zane Avery (Dragon of Grace)

In Dragon of Grace, Zane was a man living in the small, average town of Sueño, Massachusetts. He worked in town as an electrician, coming into contact with Maria during the mid-'90s when computing technology was experiencing its greatest boom, putting her in touch with his friend Eric in New York. The trio grew close over the following two years, with Maria becoming aware of the Josephs in 1996. Zane's father passed away that year due to natural causes, his mother dying from a stroke during the summer of '97. As the sole survivor, Zane coped with his grief by focusing on work, spending the next several months in a depressive stupor. He began considering suicide by the time autumn rolled around, but Maria convinced him to stick it out. By that point, a serial killer named Russell Crowder had been terrorizing Sueño for years, and Zane decided enough was enough. He made plans with Eric to haul him in to the cops, which they technically did in October, though things played out a lot differently than they expected. The discovery of their powers led them to finally meet Maria in person, and in true idealistic fashion, they decided to use them for good. Two days before Emily's birthday, Zane and Eric laid eyes on her for the first time, and after she joined them in December with Maria's brother Brandon, the front line party was officially complete. By September 26th, 2001, they're an experienced defense force capable of fighting off the insidious with ease. Zane's development continues with the others as the story progresses, leaving him to fall for one of the group's shopkeepers, Jessica. By the end, he'll have to make a choice - either stay with her and care for their unborn child or continue aiding his comrades in their struggle against evil. I don't know yet what direction I'll have him go, but either way it'll be interesting. With how much stronger they'll be by then, they probably won't need him, but letting go of such an integral member would be hard. On the flip side though, they might be safer overall staying with the others, so anything is possible. Now that the door's opened up for a potential sequel, we'll only know what happens then. First we have to get through the original.