1978-1991

The rising AIDS crisis of the seventies skyrocketed the previously unknown Reverend Abraham into the public eye, and he hasn't left the spotlight for a little more than twenty years. There were only two lapses in his telepreaching: in 1978, when his son was born on the day of Saint George, but that little life of a hunter's and housewife's family didn't last long; and in 1991, when their constant moving, tent healing, and doomsday prophesizing across Northern states unexpectedly ended on a very private compound in Utah, with the Reverend slowly fading out of the public eye and his mind, falling instead into a circle of his closest, strongest supporters and enablers. There was enough rumors about what went on behind closed doors, and the last few interviews with the man seeming almost completely disconnected from reality didn't help the case.

1994

The next time the name Rev. Abraham Chorny occurred on national news was beneath the September of 1994 headline, FAMOUS PASTOR TURNED CULT LEADER SHOT DEAD BY SON. The court proceedings lumbered into the next summer, when the case was finally ruled a hunting accident: when Grin shot at a rattlesnake that bit his father, the bullet ricochet off the rocky ground straight into the man's calf, and the poor kid wasn't able to get help in time no matter how fast he ran. That's what the judge said. Peregrine is willing to believe it.

1995

Now turned eighteen, Peregrine moved as far as he could, and ended up applying for an associate's degree in psych in the university of Maine. After life threw him for a loop, settling down in college felt weird. He was the worst mix of things: weird and stubborn to change, defensive at the question, taking it as an another attack or interrogation. It took a minute to find good company and ease up, and so he ended up with Cathy from Horticulture. He tried adapting by engaging in what she found interesting: her love for X-Files, online forums, and morning walks. It helped.

2002

The happy year. Cathy and him got married. They had a kid, a wonderful girl named Camarine, but her premature birth left her with asthma, very little hearing, and Cathy's weak heart. They elected to learn sign instead of going for a hearing aid, did their best, did their most. Cathy kept working landscaping, and Grin did his social work. Cammy was an active child, but they never got around to getting her a puppy like she always wanted. Grin kept the photo in his wallet, one Cathy and Cammy from a trip they took around Lake Superior. Life slowed down. All went well.

2008

Then, on July 18th of 2008, fate took a turn. Not a crime, not a plot. Just a cruel accident, a twist of fate. Grin was doing extra work on a foster case for a few weeks and never got to fixing whatever was wrong with the freezer. In the middle of another night of overtime, the wiring went on the fritz. The fire crawled up the wallpaper and jumped onto a curtain. He saw it driving home: the column of smoke, black and tall, sky-high, stark against the clear night, blocking out the stars as they cowered close in evil signs. He did the obvious thing, the thing anyone would do: running in. The firefighters dragged him out, dragged all of them out, but Cammy—only six years old—had already succumbed to the smoke. There was so much of it, so little air, and she didn't even wake up. That happens pretty often in house fires, or so the coroner said. At this point, Peregrine is ready to believe it.

2010

Life went on. Him and Cathy stuck it out as well as they could. He worked. Worked more than he drank, and sometimes, drank more than he worked. They talked less. Cathy moved in back with her parents. He kept working. He got a Master's in Divinity. Started going to Church, if only to support others—take up space because his was empty. Cathrine got herself a place of her own, or so he heard, and he was happy for her for as much as he could be. He kept working. Then, Cathy walked out of her little flat at 2AM and never came back. He couldn't get her back, and he tried, he did everything he could, or so he wants to believe. 2011 ended in a dark, boring winter full of booze and lost money, lost opportunities, lost nights. A few new friends.

2014

Foster care work and overloading himself with education was enough—then, as if a clock ticked, it wasn't. He joined the Academy in the summer, his goal of joining CACU vague and unsteady, but achieved in the end. He would settle for whatever would be thrown his way. Just something to do without stopping to think about the big picture. Anything to do. And keep an eye searching the shadows for any hint of Cathy. He is a hunter's child, after all.

2019

His first BAU assignment was under SSA Alex Blake, his invitation more of a mutual test: of him, to see how well he will do, and of the team, to see if they fit together. Of the Unit, too, to see, if they're still worth keeping around. Their group was small to begin with, and in the end, only him, Blake, and Seavers remained, plus their tech, Greyson. It was good work, but, in hindsight—was the Unit's inevitable demise fate their fault, if only in part?

2024

They've been hobbled together now, all those willing to remain. With Rossi, one of the founding fathers of Behavioral Unit, consulting from a step away, Peregrine tries not to think too often of what a shameful, pathetic sight it is they've been boiled down into. The idea of meeting the new Section Chief soon, with what he and others have heard or personally seen of her, leaves him (and not him alone) in a state of anxious anticipation.

Alex Blake, Dr.

Peregrine first met her at Quantico, but it wasn't work related. They met at a coffee machine. One of them said something, the other signed for them to wait, in ASL just due to force of habit because they were chewing, which the first recognized. They started talking. Neither can tell who it was that signed first. Most of their in-person conversations happen in sign, unless someone else is present. Their shared linguistic expertise, even if vastly different, is their favorite topic.

David Rossi

The old hound. No words are enough to describe the professional and personal respect Peregrine holds for the man. Yet he still can't quite understand why he's remarried so many times. Despite knocking on 46, Grin's never quite found another person who would understand him quite like his Cathrine did. Their friendship started with professional interest: Rossi was the founding father of profiling, and Grin… well, already had his ThD, to put it simply. It presents as this typically masculine coworker brotherliness (or rather, fatherliness): a guy whom you respect deeply, who knows your struggles, and whom you can share a drink with; that first image breaks on their religious discussions, mostly based on their personal crises of faith and Christian imagery in crime, or on their shared grief.

Emily Prentiss

The dual nature, to quote a man. Despite their mutual respect for each other as professionals, agents, polyglots, and persons, their started off extremely rocky, for obvious reasons: the holy white collar, even if Grin doesn't hold it anymore and couldn't truly believe in it since he turned fourteen. For awhile, just about the only thing they could calmly discuss were, ironically, Islam and linguistics, and only in a work-related capacity.

Aaron Hotchner

Good leader, good man, good hunter. Their work acquintanceship was a short one; most of what Grin knows about the man comes from what others have told him, and from befriending him after he's left the FBI. Peregrine tries not to think about how Hotch might just be the father he never got to become. He's not particularly successful. At least he can pride himself in being one of Jack's favorite babysitters.

Spencer Reid, Dr.

Such a bright kid, he reminds Peregrine of his little crow and his foster kids. Neat, amazingly smart, a little weird, with something that disconnects them from the whole wide world yet could never be wrong. Not mixing up words when he speaks so fast only because he trained himself not to. Despite Grin only being four years older, Reid being the more experienced agent and already an unshaven adult upon their meeting, Chorny can't help but think of him as a kid. They're not close, and Grin can't quite tell why, but he will always be willing to extend a helping hand to the man.

Penelope Garcia

One surprise after another, none of them bad—especially since they first talked on the phone, Peregrine calling in since their tech was AWOL. Her computer skills are magic to him despite him being a forum enthusiast in the past. That last fact was a surprise to *Garcia*, and the genuine love Grin still holds for the show and its fans. He owes her a favor for compiling his and Cathy's (or, to be more precise, TalithaCathi's and ICEMN's) every little conversation on the X-Files boards.

Cathrine Hase

The only way for Grin to describe her is kind, loving, loved, and a little bit of very stubborn. Her and Grin met at university in Orono. She's from Ellsworth Falls, where her parents still live, where she finally got Grin to attend church every Sunday (simply because it was Anglican, so much more relaxed than what he was used to), and where they got married.

Camarine Hase

Who else but Cathy could name their little girl after crowberry? Admittedly, her husband. It's his grandmother's name, according to what little he remembers of his own mom—Voronica, and after some debate, they settled on the French variant, Camarine, even if Grin still called her Voronica. Little Cammy, a premature baby, so small and light in their arms. Her sign name became ‘little bird’.

Abraham “Reverend Abraham” Chorny (Abramo Todaro)

Peregrine's father, nation-wide famous televangelist, small-time failed cult leader. Son of Italian immigrants with a hatred for his origin and love to pretend he's American by the virtue of passing as white.

Kamila Chorny

There's little memory of her, or who she was, or where she went. Peregrine remembers her speaking little bits of polish to him, or trying to put him to bed; more clearly, once in a blue moon, his father mentioning how Grin looks just like her.

Kailaker “Kai” Saeltiehl (Merielle)

34, he/they.

A long-time friend, a musician, a folklorist, a political activist. They met in 2011. Kai taught Grin to sign better, to play the guitar better, to fence, to enjoy renfaires. Not to mention some… other things. Grin is still not sure what Kai got from him, apart from good cognac and exercise (and ‘exercise’). Then the guy got very happily married to the person who introduced them to each other, Gerfried. Him and Grin keep a good friendship.

Gerfried “Gerah/Freddie” Saeltiehl

40, he/him. FC: Jake Gyllenhaal.

Beekeeper, painter, architect. Homesteader, activist, and most importantly, AG Candidate. Him and Kai met at a renfaire: a Lord found his knight, and a knight found his Lord. If you ask Peregrine to point out to you the happiest couple he's ever met, Saeltiehls will be his instant choice.

Nora Ilomets

28, she/her or they/neos. FC: Alba Flores.

Another reenactment friend of Kai's, she works selling some very pricey reenactment and cosplay machinery, and is a big cat lover. Now that Grin thinks of it, he should totally introduce her to Garcia: those two nerds would totally love each other's company. Nora's favorite party trick is riddling others with where she hails from. Grin's best guess on her accent is Bulgarian, but that only made Nora laugh.

Adrian Redwall

33, they/them or any/fluid.

This fucking fraud. Honestly, Grin should have known it would go the way it went, he was just too drunk to realize it at the time. He has to admit, they put ‘art’ in ‘con artist’: no charge ever stuck to them. Turns out them and Kai are life-long friends, somehow—maybe because of their shared daddy issues. Adrian and Grin met in the winter of 2011, and he is perfectly willing to pretend like nothing's happened back then. Nor is happening now.

Sera “Fox” Foxwell

22, she/it.

One of Peregrine's foster kids. His assignment to her case was confusing at first, but his supervisor believed Chorny the best to deal with a voluntarily mute child. She was a cautious little girl from an abusive home, constantly pretending to be a fox. Grin considers the moment he truly broke through to her being the day he took her to see real, wild foxes with another case worker.

He was the first person she took her little toy fox mask off for and talked to, her voice a small, high-pitched whisper, raspy from lack of use: ‘Foxes don't talk, but I like you, mister.’

His response, of course, was: ‘They don't? That's not true. I'm talking to one right now!’

Percival “Percy” Penderghast

23, he/him.

One of Peregrine's hard-of-hearing foster kids, and undeniably his favorite, though he still can't quite pinpoint why. From a little anxious boy, he grew into a smart, brave youth. Grin denies any bias in connecting him with the Saeltiehls, and blames any progress made on them with a proud secret smile.

Victor “Vic” Hafstein

24, he/him.

A Criminal Law undergrad, a ‘close friend’ of Percy's. Nice, polite young man from a good family who's not beating the 'tism allegations. Owns a vast collection of miniatures for table top games and multiple competitive Magic the Gathering decks.

• Rain. Dark nights full of distant thunder, soaking everything through and through. Some moments just feel like home.
• Kids! Genuinely. There's a reason he became a foster worker and there's a reason he remained one for so long. He's great with kids, and they never stop to amaze, fascinate, or endear him. Not without a sprinkle of sadness, of course.
• 2000s horror videogames, with his favorites being RE:4, SH: The Room, or the original X-Files: Resist or Serve.
• Hunting. Not necessarily with aim to kill: photo-hunting or birdwatching is good, too. But he can't deny feeling at home when skinning a freshly caught hare, or cleaning the bones of some poor roadkill.

• Open fire. For… obvious reasons. It's been more than fifteen years, and he still freezes up when he sees an uncontrolled flame.
• Zealots. He may have believed, he may have been believed to be an omen himself. None of it was rational. The only thing he will never understand is people putting religion above their rationale.
• People below his standards. Those aren't even high, not anymore. The most Peregrine asks for is basic human decency, the grey morality of a hunter or a sportsman. Respect for the game. He respects trying, but hardly tolerates failing.
• Callbacks to his father. He is so, so fucking tired of being called the Reverend Jr. It's such a stupid nickname anyway. Son of God even more so. And yet the name Chorny seems to be forever ingrained in American culture, along with the semblance of his face.

• The Hunt. It seems to be that's all he lives for these days. To catch something, you need to know how it works, how it thinks, how it lives—and same is needed to catch some*one*. He can respect the con, the strategy behind some crime, the slight of hand, but is in no rush to inform others of it. He respects unsubs the way he respects a wild fox he will later shoot for stealing a chicken.
• Kids come first. He cannot and will not stand by as a child is hurting and he is able to help it. This is the one thing he will never allow another to do, no matter what. Who cares if that's just his guilt speaking if it makes him do the good thing in the end?
• No regret for the dead. They're the lucky ones. There's nothing worse that can happen to them now, at least.

• Finding Cathy. Just about the only thing left of real good to do.
• Redemption?. Really, is there one left in stock at all?
• Just keep going. It's for the road to find its end, not you.