Born and raised in New York City (Queens, to be exact), Gillian Childs (born Gwen Winters) and her brother Brian were shifted into the foster system when she was just 6 months old when their parents were arrested on drug trafficking charges and no family members came forward to care for them. She and her brother were separated within the foster system and when "Gwen" was adopted by the Childs' family, they opted to name her Gillian after George Childs' late sister. Gillian was raised without the knowledge that she was adopted. When George and Peggy were able to successfully conceive their second child Jennifer, they chose not to tell either of their children about Gillian's adopted status, and the same was true when their youngest Victor was born in 89.
Gillian's Mother worked in a community center while her father had a manager position at a big box retail store. Her life was a relatively ordinary one, public school and hobbies that mostly involved books and reading. From a young age Gillian had a passion for helping people and a childhood dream was to become a police officer. Much of her future pursuits as she grew followed those lines. As a teenager, Gillian was rebellious and strong-willed, though her parents tried to quell that nature they were never quite able to. In her late teens she worked odd, menial jobs until eventually graduating and seeking higher education, which ultimately boiled down to what her family could afford. Existing within a wealth bracket that was too high for most grants and too low to afford prestigious university tuition meant Gillian attended Community College where her major fluctuated. History to begin with, which changed to Anthropology, then Computers, and finally back to her childhood passion of Criminal Justice.
Ultimately, Gillian was able to get an associates degree in Criminal Justice but had fallen out of love with the idea of becoming a police officer. When she reconsidered going back to school for a degree in library sciences, she saw an opening with Brooklyn's 88th precinct for a records clerk, and found the combination of her childhood passion with her near miss at library sciences to be a perfect match.
In 2006 Gillian began her career as a records clerk and found the job both professionally and personally rewarding. She was a natural fit around the precinct and very quickly made friends with not only the other officers, but the precinct captain Marcus Donovan. It was also in 2006 that Gillian met the man who would have become her husband: Peter Petrelli. The two met at a policeman's ball in February of 2006, just one month after she started her new job. Peter was young, charming, and affable. A wealthy son of New York socialites and he also hated going to a gala. Peter was there to support his older brother Nathan, and he hit it off immediately with Gillian. It was here she learned of his work as a hospice nurse, caring for the elderly socialite Charles Deveaux.
Over the next few months, Peter and Gillian fell hopelessly in love, though it was clear at times that something was troubling Peter that he was keeping from Gillian and he was struggling, and though this caused friction in their relationship they continued to make it work. Gillian was the first to be called in October 2006, shortly after Charles Deveaux's death, when Peter was arrested for assault on his brother in the middle of an engagement dinner. Nathan refused to press charges and Peter was eventually released. Peter and Gillian had a heated argument and he refused to explain to her the nature of his fight with Nathan, excusing his actions as "sticking up for himself" when his brother became violent.
Things calmed down for a time, through Nathan's wedding in the spring of 2007. Gillian and Peter both attended, and it was one of the happiest times in her life. It was here when Gillian was first introduced to Kaylee Petrelli, and while the two came from vastly different worlds there was a kinship and camaraderie that felt natural between them. They saw little of each other in the intervening year as Peter and Gillian worked on improving their relationship.
By mid 2007 Peter's mental health was in a tailspin. After an argument with his brother on the phone over money, Peter had a breakdown and at Gillian's insistence as well as that of Kaylee and Nathan, checked himself in to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. While Peter was admitted, Gillian discovered that she was pregnant with his son. The two had weekend meetings while he was recovering, and Peter seemed to be getting better during his stay. All of that changed five months later.
Gillian woke on the morning of November 8th, 2007 to find out that Peter and his brother had both died in what police were calling a murder-suicide. The initial shock and horror around this revelation while Gillian was five months pregnant crushed her. Gillian's colleagues on the force were there for her, supporting her in every way possible. Captain Donovan regularly came to Gillian's home to check in on her and did everything he could to make sure she was taken care of.
In March of 2008, Nate Petrelli was born. What should have been one of the happiest moments in Gillian's life was clouded by the death of Nate's father and her lingering questions surrounding that night.
It took 2 years for Gillian to return to work, but the 88th opened their arms to her in 2010 when she returned to her job. In the two years that passed, Gillian began to research the circumstances surrounding Peter's death while raising his son. Gillian became convinced that there was more to Peter and Nathan's death that was being made public but she found herself stonewalled at any attempt to dig up information from the 18th precinct that investigated the death. Taking some time off from digging into Peter's death, Gillian used her connections in law enforcement to research her adoption and her parents, reconnecting with Jeffrey and Alison Winters who had served 7 and 5 years respectively for what amounted to an ounce of pot carried over state and a cop with a grudge using the war on drugs as a cudgel.
Jeffrey and Alison were thrilled to reconnect with Gillian, to meet their grandson, and to learn about her life. Gillian in turn learned that she had a brother who was also given up for adoption, and she is still looking for him. Through the Winters' she also learned that her birth name was Gwendolyn, which she has taken as a middle name.
Just when Gillian was putting Peter's death behind her, in June of 2020 just after Nate's birthday, she found herself the recipient of an unusual package. A letter in a manila envelope was slipped under the door of her Brooklyn apartment containing telescopic lens photographs of Nathan and Peter arguing on the rooftop of the Deveaux Building on the night of their deaths. The presence of a third, shadowy figure in the photographs sparked Gillian's suspicions that there may be foul play involved. The photographs had a warning written on the back: keep your eyes open
And a name:
Violette