Katelyn Raine Pierce

Katie Pierce: 1991 - 2009
Katie was born on a stormy, cold autumn day in Avion, France to parents Stan, an American citizen, and Andrica, a native of South Africa. Living in France, Katie’s family enjoyed a good life, moving to England when Katie was two, so Stan could pursue work in lighting design, and her mother was employed as a nurse. When Katie was four, her younger brother Cole was born.

After beginning school, Katie’s teachers began noticing some odd tendencies in the girl, leading to a diagnosis of high-functioning autism. Katie was essentially normal, but holding eye contact and interacting with her peers was just something she couldn’t do. The older she got, the more isolated Katie became. More social with adults than children her own age, Katie was befriended by a school janitor and several shop-keepers, who saw the girl as ‘funny’ but sweet.

When she didn’t come home from school one day when she was eight, Katie’s mother phoned the police. A massive two-day search finally discovered the broken, defiled, and burned body of Katie in an abandoned building. It took surgeons years to repair the damage to her body. Katie’s mind, seemed to be beyond repair. Devolving to the mental state of a toddler, she would frequently scream at people and bite those around her. Andrica quit work and withdrew Katie from school, taking her from doctor to doctor in an attempt to reach her daughter.

When Katie was ten, the family moved to Gotham, and a new doctor was contacted about Katie and her severe PTSD. It took years of work, but after four-day-a-week sessions of cognitive behavior therapy, Katie slowly rejoined the world. In an intense session that left her violently ill and exhausted, the then twelve-year-old was able to work through the event that left her so damaged. A janitor at her school had kidnapped and assaulted her. Finally processing the trauma, Katie began to heal.

Once able to return to school, Katie flourished. She had a lot to catch up on, and spent every moment of her free time reading. She read everything she could get her hands on, text books, technical manuals, biographies, novels, even the dictionary. By the time she was fourteen, she was back on track and a sophomore in high school. Learning quickly, Katie was able to catch up and then surpass her peers, a feat her parents were extremely proud of.

The day Cole turned eleven, the family celebrated by going to the zoo and then to lunch. Katie went to a library afterwards to study, while her father went home to work, leaving Andrica and Cole to wander the city. Four hours later, when Katie arrived home, the house was surrounded by police cars. Katie’s mother and brother were dead.

The drunk driver had hit the gas instead of the break, plowing through the intersection at full speed and hitting the only pedestrians in his path.

Everything was a blur after that. Katie delved into her studies to try and escape the looming grief, while her father turned to scotch for comfort. A month after Katie graduated high school, Stan took a walk, and ended up beneath an SUV. He’d stepped off the curb at just the ‘right’ moment.

With few friends, and no family left, Katie moved to the Blüdhaven, and started taking classes at Bludhaven Technical College before transferring to Gotham University. She excelled at school, graduating with top honors in just a few years.

She was still ‘odd,’ but she was an excellent nurse. She hid her pain well. Working at Elliot Memorial, Katie had no friends, no one to talk to. She did her work, and went home. Katie never stopped pursuing answers for her patients, whether it was the results of lab tests or the interpretation of that funny ‘spot’ on the x-ray, Katie made sure those under her care had the best treatments, sometimes having to ‘guide’ a doctor to the correct diagnosis. Her only real joy was this advocating for her patients, a skill that caught the attention of Dr. Leslie Thompkins.

Dr. Thompkins asked Katie to take a job at the Park Row Clinic, where the pay would be terrible, the hours long, and the patients occasionally violent. The young nurse said she’d think about it, then went home for the weekend.

Katie Pierce: 2013 - Present
When Katie returned Monday, she was skittish and even more shy than usual, but she explained that she’d been mugged on the way home Friday night and was still shaken. No one questioned her. And no one was shocked when she turned in her two weeks’ notice to go work for Leslie.

If anyone had paid attention, they would have seen that Katie was… different.

Katie would now look people in the eye and hold eye contact. She spoke to people her own age, but was shy around everyone in general. Her skin wasn’t quite the same rich shade of coppery-brown.

In fact, the woman dressed in scrubs and reporting to Dr. Thompkins every morning wasn’t actually Katie Pierce at all. Katie Pierce was dead.

The being known as Panthra had found her lifeless body in the tub at her apartment that Friday night, smuggling the body out and burying it with the young woman’s parents. Panthra then spent the next few months assuming the life of Katie Pierce.

Today, ‘Katie’ spends her days working at Park Row Hospital Clinic, still the reclusive, shy young woman she was when Dr. Thompkins met her. She’s getting better about talking to people, and every now and then, you might even catch her smiling.

Trivia and Notes

 * Katie Pierce is an original character created by Riviellan.

Links and References

 * Character Gallery: Katie Pierce