Traverse

Alfie Shaw is a former UK Olympic hopeful gymnast and current NYPD beat cop.

Background
Born in London to a British mother and an American father, Alfie grew up developing his skills in the highly manly sport of gymnastics. His smaller-than-average frame made him ideal for the sport. His best was the pommel horse and the balance beam, though he did well at most events. He nearly qualified for the Olympics, but then, as it happens sometimes with professional athletes, a wrist injury put him out of commission and set back his career. By the time it healed, he had lost some of his drive. Parental pressures and family problems prompted him to apply for school in the US. He didn't know what he wanted to study, just that he needed to be away from his family and the pressures he had been under his whole life. He initially went on a gymnastics scholarship, but lost it when his grades weren't good enough in his first year.

Alfie dropped out of his original school, moved to New York and enrolled in a criminal justice program for lack of anything better to do, but lost interest in his serious training. He started to drink and party and get himself in trouble. One night, he was in a car with three of his friends driving back from a party. He didn't know the driver, but she was drunk. There was an accident. Two people in his car were killed, as well as the driver of another vehicle as they hit in a head-on collision. Alfie though, should have been impaled through the shoulder with a piece of steel, but found that he was able to pass right through the twisted wreck of the car. He passed out from shock, but woke without a scratch on him.

It didn't take long for Alfie to realize there was something different about him. He had probably had the ability since puberty, but it had never been triggered before. It was terrifying at first, but it quickly became a thrill. As an athlete, he was used to pushing himself. He started to become quite adept at his phasing. Suddenly, the criminal justice program that felt like an afterthought became something he really applied himself to. Physical training for something other than competition was suddenly a lofty goal. He enrolled in police academy and distinguished himself. Suddenly he had a purpose, even though hiding his ability became very taxing. After spending years studying law and order, keeping the secret just didn't seem right. Still, he keeps his cards close to his chest, though it's likely only a matter of time before someone notices that this beat cop is unique for reasons beyond his gymnastic ability.

Personality
Alfie is an incredibly driven and disciplined person. His career as an amateur gymnast meant the discipline began young and spread through his teenaged years. He has a terrible relationship with his family, in part because of how hard they pushed him. His parents divorced when he was seventeen, which, combined with a wrist injury is what cut his gymnastics career short. He has a brother who is ten years older and a younger sister who he doesn't speak to nearly as much as he'd like. He's a man who likes to see what his limits are and enjoys testing them. It's occasionally driven him to do foolish things, but for the most part it's leaned more towards the heroic. He trusts authority perhaps a little too much and does fall back on the book more than he trusts his gut.

He tends to be defensive and to get up in peoples' faces when he senses a perceived challenge. His short stature and his chosen sport of gynmastics meant he was the subject of a good deal of grief in high school. That combined with the conflict in his family has meant he is very quick to be offended. He's also just as quick to snap off a quick joke to break up a serious moment. He has a wry, dry sense of humour that's tinged at the edges with bitterness. His mutant ability is just one more thing that makes him an outsider, though he's fairly proud at what he has accomplished with it. Hiding his ability grates on him.