Jeremy Prince was conceived in the late 1970s when a soldier, returning home from Vietnam, enjoyed himself at a party a little too much with a local girl from New York. While it certainly wasn't rape, no names were exchanged and the soldier was already on a plane heading to his new assignment before his mother even knew she was pregnant. Nine months later, Jeremy was born. His birth mother was nowhere near ready for a child, and he was put up for adoption.
After a comfortable waiting period in the hospital where he was born, Jeremy was sent to live with his new family. They were good people, a couple who ran and operated a local auto repair shop. The adoptive father, Joseph, did most of the actual automotive work while his wife, Marlene, handled the business side of things. Growing up around cars and trucks, Jeremy ended up being quite the grease monkey, familiarizing himself with mechanics.
He did very well in school, usually scoring top or near top marks in his academic courses at the local school. He also made friends easy enough, having a bit of a tougher exterior than most of the higher scoring students due to his love for cars and baseball. So he didn't have to worry about bullying, but he also went out of his way to make sure the other kids weren't being bullied too harshly either.
In high school, he worked as a volunteer at the local YMCA center as a lifeguard. It was the first time in his life he would have the experience of truly saving somebody. He rescued a young kid, about eight or nine, from drowning. Almost on the spot, he knew he was going to become a doctor. He started to focus more on his academics, dropping from the school's baseball team to do so. By the time he graduated, he had worked his GPA up to near perfect.
To get to medical school, however, he'd need a graduate degree. He applied for and was accepted to New York State College, where he selected a major in biology. The next four years of his life were the most hectic so far, filled with college parties, late night study sessions, and plenty of romantic interludes. At the end of it though, he graduated with his degree and with a girlfriend, Jessica, in tow.
While he was able to afford his undergraduate education with scholarships and student loans, he didn't want to accrue more debt from student loans to pay for medical school. He opted to join the US Army Reserve where he received his basic training and then worked through his required active time at an Army base in Texas. Upon finishing his required active service, he was accepted to Albany Medical College. During his time there, a lot would happen.
In his second year he proposed to his girlfriend and would marry her only months later. Shortly after marrying her, his ability started to manifest. He started being able to do things he didn't know how to do, or do things he already did know - just better. Eventually he noticed that he was capable of doing things that people near him could do when he made an incredible tackle in a pick up football game on campus. When he decided to test his theory at his next exam and ended up acing it when he focused on his professor, he was delighted.
With his natural brains and his newfound ability, Jeremy graduated from medical school at the top of his class, and the US Army decided to call him up to active duty. The Iraq War was already in full swing and he was shipped out without so much as a pat on the back. He was assigned to a medical unit operating out of the newly taken city of Baghdad, helping injured civilians and soldiers.
His first tour of duty ended in 2006, and he was excited to return home to his wife and settle down for the time being. Before he got back home to New York, however, he was stop lossed by the Army and ordered back to Iraq. But he never made it. He was waiting at the airport when they snatched him - the Company. His ability was especially curious to them and he was held in observation for two weeks before his mind was wiped and he was released.
He was declared AWOL from the army during this time, and when he finally checked in, was greeted with a court martial and a dishonorable discharge. Confused, he returned home to a very angry wife who only turned angrier when he was unable to secure a job with such a black mark on his record. It wouldn't matter for long. While out on a job interview, Jeremy's apartment building and everyone in it was destroyed in the bomb.
He had nothing. Despite two degrees and military training and experience, despite being gifted with an ability beyond normal men, he had nothing left. Jeremy was utterly shattered by the events of the bomb and its fallout, and simply stuttered around New York homeless, stupified and near cataconic. Eventually, he was tracked down again by the Company and forced to register his nature as an Evolved. But after that, he resumed his new job of laying in filthy alleways.
That is until he was approached with an offer. A way to get off of the path of pity and destruction he was on. A way back in the saddle. Her name was Sarisa Kershner. She worked for a new group called FRONTLINE, and she said he had the right skills for the job. She said he had the skills for any job, but she also needed someone who knew medicine. He always wanted to be a doctor. So after a period of cleaning up, getting a shave and a haircut, new clothes - a new lease on life, Jeremy Prince was ready.
