Javin Pierce is an agent with the Canadian Intelligence Service (CIS).
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, 31 years before we first meet him, he was, according to the dossier provided the reader at the end of his first recorded adventure, "recruited shortly after completing his studies at the Sapienze Univerisyt of Rome". At the CIA training facility of The Plant he was in the top 10% of his class and excelled in "surveillance, intelligence gathering, and asset recruitment".
He worked for a few years in Canada and the U.K. before being transferred to the Middle East where he continued for a time "establishing a network of contacts, assets, and resources" all over the region. It was at this point that he was moved up to being a "Covert Operative", after more intensive training at The Plant. His job then became more offense than defense - he was no longer learning about the actions of terrorist cells around the world but was dispatched to hunting them down and eliminating them.
Pierce is widowed, having lost his wife, Steffi, of only a couple years to a car accident. He has had no significant attachments since her loss. He now seems to live for his work and devotes his energies to it, resulting in being an exceptional operative determined to get the job done. His only flaws, it seems, are his quickness to anger (his temper is well known) and his impatience with stupid leadership (and his tendency to point it out).
While he would probably say he prefers to work along, Pierce has as a partner in Claudia Aquarone. When we meet them they are both coming off of serious events; his with the death of his wife and her with a mission that had done pear-shaped through no fault of her own. He was certain he was more than ready to get back into the action but was less than sure of her. It is likely she reciprocated. Whatever doubts they had, though, get tossed away when the trouble starts and both see how well they work together as a team.