Born to a well off couple in England on June 10th, 1950, Gavin was given a good upbringing and a good education which is what brought him to America at the age of eighteen. He attended college in New York State and after wards moved to Seattle, Washington. He fell in love with the states and to his parent's disappointment, never returned to England. Instead, he spent the 1970s and 80s trying to find his place in an upscale social circle of artists. It did not work. He found, despite his wealthy upbringing, that he just did not fit in. At that point he decided being who he was and being true to his art was more important than good reviews so he blew off the social aspect of the art world and took a job at a museum to pay the bills while he worked on his paintings. His work never received bad reviews, but it did not receive much in the way of good reviews either. He did not care, however, as long as he had money enough to survive and continue to do what he loved.
During the 1990s, he began mentoring for younger artists which was something he enjoyed immensely. He found his years of work had actually given him some wisdom he did not mind passing on. One of his pupils, the most promising of any he had ever mentored for, was diagnosed with leukemia. The young man, Scott, dealt with his situation as if it was meant to be and accepted death when it came. True to the nature of the art world, Scott's work sold like mad after his death. Gavin saw to it the money was given to Scott's family and to the Museum as he was asked to do by the young artist before his death. Yet, after losing his student, Gavin never mentored again.
Working day in and day out proved fruitful, but unfulfilling. Gavin lived with a few women off and on over the years, but, being too married to his work, he never really had a long term relationship worth writing home about. His latest girlfriend followed suit and when he moved out of her place, he found the top floor of an apartment building to serve as his new home. The flat was roomy enough to create art and yet, comfortable enough to provide a home. The landlady, Gloria, was a lonely woman in her late 80s. One day, Gavin invited her up for tea and Gloria enjoyed the discussion so much, she made it a point to come back every day around 3 PM. Gavin never minded her company. She was quiet and often would just sit, sipping her tea while he worked. When they did talk, she would ask Gavin about art and England and he would ask her about her youth. She loved to talk about how her mother and she went to work during W.W.I as iron workers. They became fast friends and for the next ten years, everything remained the same.
In early June of 2002, however, things changed. A flu started to spread and people started to die. The government claimed nothing was going on, but things got iffy and Seattle turned into a war zone. It was like the LA Riots all over again and walking down the street proved dangerous. Too dangerous. On June 24th, Gavin was sick to death of staying indoor. Gloria was ill, like the rest of the world, and needed medication. However, his trip to the store proved fatal. Caught in the crossfire of two rival looters, Gavin died almost instantly.
Or so he thought. He dreamt that night of an old black woman telling him to come see her.
Waking up in a strange bed, Gavin realized his wounds had been cleaned, dressed and were now healed. Becoming more aware he realized there was an odd old man in the room. This man, in his late 90s, coughed, sniffed and his neck was slightly swollen, but yet he sat down and explained a curious story....
The man said he had once loved a woman who never aged and could never die by any means other than losing her head. The man thought his love would out live him, but she met with a horrible end when another 'immortal' came for her. Gavin, dismissing the story as the ranting of an old sick man, realized he had to get back to get Gloria medication and asked what this story had to do with him. The old man explained that Gloria had died when Gavin was out and then produced a sword. He explained that it had belonged to his love and now was to be Gavin's. He held out the blade and as Gavin reached out to take it, the old man grabbed his wrist and swiftly ran the blade across Gavin's palm. Falling to the floor in an attempt to break free, before Gavin could bolt, he realized his hand was healing before his eyes. The old man was telling the truth.
A week passed before the old man died and with in that week he explained everything he knew about immortality which proved to be very little. The old man had heard his love speak of the game, but knew little of it - just that it was important that Gavin stay armed with the blade and learn how to use it. It seemed, from what the man knew, immortals had a habit, for reasons unknown, of attacking one another and the only way one could die was to have his or her head cut off. He also explained how he knew Gavin was what he called a 'preimmortal.' He claimed to have witnessed the shooting and noticed 'electric blue' lightning dancing on Gavin's wounds. He knew what he saw and saw it as a chance to do something great before he died. He had chanced getting shot himself in order to retrieve Gavin's body and spent the next day trying to heal the man's wounds. That was when, the old man said, Gavin awoke. With his dying breath, the old man told him to take the blade that had belonged to his lover and go.
Gavin buried him on July 2nd next to Gloria and that night, the dreams continued. He felt a need to head southeast to Nebraska. However, he did not leave. He returned to his flat after making a quick trip to the library where he found both videos and books on sword fighting. The videos helped until the power went out and then it was just the books. By the 20th of July, Gavin realized the old woman in his dreams was moving onward to Colorado. She insisted he get moving and come meet them. She told him to forget the books and that he would have friends there who would explain things and help him survive. On the honor of her word, he set out for Boulder.
On the road, he met up with several people including Kurt, Olivia and Victor. Kurt offered to teach him to fight and Gavin agreed. Once in Boulder, he and Olivia found a place of their own. Everything seemed to be going well... until the explosions revealed Kurt had been plotting all along to kill as many people as possible and that he was in an alliance Flagg. In the process, Kurt had killed John who had been taking care of three kids. Gavin and Olivia stepped up and became surrogate parents to Mattie, Rabbit and Erin. Kurt's betrayal ran deep but Gavin had a family to focus on now.
