file ; harlan west -
name / harlan raleigh west age / twenty six birthdate / october 2nd, 1996 occupation / fbi agent / criminal, cyber, response and services branch ♱ vice / wrath virtue / fortitude
a b o u t -
the first thirteen years of harlan’s life would have been pulled straight from the brushstrokes of a norman rockwell painting. with a set of loving parents, mathias and kendra west, and a happy middle class home harlan was raised in the suburbs of buffalo, new york. harlan was free to be a curious and adventurous child as he spent equal amounts of time diving into stacks of books at the local library and playing various sports. however that idyllic suburban life came to a screeching halt the winter kendra west went missing. harlan was fourteen and it was unlike his mother not to make it to one of his wrestling matches. as he returned home to an empty house he pushed away his feelings of fear and convinced himself she was just in rochester visiting his aunt and uncle like she did every other week. it wasn’t until his father returned home and he seemed just as confused that panic started to set in.
the next few years of harlan’s life was a whirlwind of local media prying into his family’s life and painted his father as a main suspect even well after the authorities cleared his name. it came as no surprise when mathias decided to move his son to the opposite coast putting some distance between him and all the trauma that tormented them both. on the outside harlan tried to appear as a typical teenager, he didn’t want to give anybody the opportunity to use his past to hurt him. he made good grades and continued playing sports but every ounce of his free time was poured into following every minuscule lead in his mother’s case. harlan even went as far as staying with his family in new york over his summer vacations. however all those leads drove him to nothing but dead ends, except all his effort hadn’t been for naught.
turns out harlan’s intuition and persistence lead him down a completely different rabbit hole and on his quest to find answers about his mother he helped unravel an unrelated series of disappearances in the buffalo area. in the subsequent books and media created about the solving of the case his identity was always kept under wraps, but he always kept in touch with the detectives he worked most closely with. one even became a mentor of sorts when harlan showed interest in joining the bureau.
in the coming years harlan earned dual degrees in criminal justice and computer science before working for two years as a crime analyst gaining his necessary work experience to apply to bureau. when his time at the academy came to an end he stayed in virginia working in the criminal, cyber, response, and services branch. while he was initially unhappy with remaining in virginia he was ultimately happy that he did because the life of the young agent would soon change forever but this time for the better.
he met merrick wood in a dimly lit bar when they were the only two people paying any attention to the court proceeding of a murder trial instead of the variety of sports games playing on the other TVs. a night of talking turned into a first date and within a year the pair were married. initially they were going to hold off on starting a family but life had other plans and before long their son theo entered the world. when merrick suggested the move to massachusetts to be closer to her sister he knew there was no other choice. he knew how important it was to keep family close. harlan was able to transfer to the worcester office and occasionally making the trip into boston when necessary.
↳ harlan west ( dylan arnold )
