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Name/Nickname: Chance Devetko (AKA Dev, Detective Bitchface, Detective Stick-Up-His-Ass)
Gender: Male
Birthdate/"Permanent" Story Age/Astrological Sign: NA; thirties; Virgo
Birthplace/Current Location: Mandan, North Dakota; Minot, North Dakota
Height: 5'10"
Weight/Body Type: Average; slender/fit
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark blond; short
Race/Ethnic Background: Caucasian; European-American, Polish ancestry
Relationship Status: Married (Stan Brooks, husband); formerly romantically involved with Russell Whittaker
Orientation: Homoromantic homosexual
Siblings: None
Profession: Police detective (Missing Persons), Minot (ND) Police Department
Distinguishing Characteristics: Serious/reserved demeanor often unfairly gives others the impression that he's cold and snobbish (thus his nicknames); displays some OCD traits, such as handwashing when stressed; neat and orderly; keeps most of his opinions to himself but his demeanor can make him come across as judgemental; by the book, though his partnership with Max Kristeva has loosened him up a little
General Appearance: Always dresses formally on the job; quiet, courteous but emotionally reserved and serious; "resting bitchface"; looks deceptively delicate but is more than capable of taking care of himself (has a black belt in judo)
First Appeared In: Blood Secrets
Character Summary: Chance Devetko's parents had been informed that they couldn't have children, which made his birth an unexpected surprise--and earned him the name "Chance." His childhood in a relatively well-off and quiet neighborhood was mostly happy and uneventful, although nearly getting hit by a car--and witnessing the resulting crash, which sent the driver to the hospital--made a lasting impact on him. He was silent and stunned for a few days, washing his hands repeatedly as if he couldn't get the blood off. Things seemed to return to normal after a short while, so his parents' worries eased.
In college, Devetko roomed and studied with Page Novak, who one night, to Devetko's surprise, kissed him. Devetko rebuffed his advances and left to be by himself for a while; he felt uneasy to realize that his roommate's attention hadn't been entirely unwanted. The two started a tentative relationship. Devetko was nervous about telling his somewhat conservative, Catholic parents, but they were supportive; Page, however, initially refused to tell his own family, a decision which wore on Devetko. The relationship wasn't entirely egalitarian, and Page wasn't above occasionally utilizing mild psychological manipulation to get his way; Devetko put up with this, but at last insisted that, if they were to continue seeing each other, Page had to tell his family about him. Page promised to do so, and drove to visit them while Devetko was in class. Some time later, police visited Devetko, telling him that Page had him listed as his emergency contact, and had been involved in a car crash; the other driver had survived and fled the scene; Page had not. Numb at first, Devetko went to visit his own parents, where he broke down, believing himself responsible for Page's death, since Page had only been traveling to his family at his own insistence. At the funeral, he approached Page's mother and introduced himself; she recognized him as Page's "roommate" and thanked him for visiting. Devetko returned to his car and broke down again, realizing that Page had never even gotten to tell his family about the two of them. A young woman knocked on his window and signaled to be let in; she introduced herself as Page's younger sister, and said that while Page had never told their mother about being gay, she'd known about it for some time, and knew that he and Devetko had been more than just roommates. She explained that Page had always had difficulty discussing such things with anyone, and that if he'd been on his way to tell them, that meant he'd decided on his own to do so, and his death wasn't Devetko's fault. Devetko thanked her for her support.
After graduating, Devetko entered the police academy; he didn't date, and didn't openly discuss his preferences, but wasn't in the closet, either, and wasn't particularly intimidating in appearance or behavior, and so was ridiculed more than once by his fellow cadets. He ignored this until he was physically challenged, at which he promptly and effortlessly hurled his bigger opponent to the floor; he'd learned how to defend himself when younger, specifically because of his nonthreatening looks and his parents' concern that others might try to take advantage of him. He still occasionally dealt with jokes, but no one dared threaten him after that, and upon completion of training he joined the Mandan Police Department. While still a patrolman, he was visited by detectives from a neighboring city, who told him that a woman had arrived at the station with information about Page Novak's death. Again, Devetko had been tracked down as Page's emergency contact. Devetko asked to meet with the woman; when she asked if he'd known the deceased, he replied that he had been Page's boyfriend. She broke down crying, admitting that she was the drunk driver responsible for the accident, and that she'd come to make amends as part of her twelve steps. Devetko sat with her and held her hand for a while, and after she'd calmed down and the detectives returned to take her official statement, murmured that he forgave her. The detectives privately expressed their own sympathy on his way out, as they'd had no idea that he and the victim had been in a relationship.
After becoming a detective himself, Devetko was offered the opportunity to transfer to the larger Minot Police Department, which was starting a new Missing Persons Unit; although this entailed moving about two hours away, Devetko accepted the transfer. In the MPU he was partnered with its only other detective, Max Kristeva, whose unusual investigative techniques and erratic, flippant behavior convinced him to ask Chief Don Bowen for a transfer to a different unit or partner; none were currently available, though Bowen promised to let Devetko know if any other positions opened up. Although Kristeva seemed willing to cooperate with him, Devetko resented their partnership at first, until he began to realize that, despite Kristeva's strange techniques, the other detective was genuinely dedicated to his work, often staying late after hours to browse cold cases. Devetko didn't entirely agree with Kristeva's occasional indifference toward orders, though he found the secrecy surrounding a cold case involving the disappearance of an undercover detective even more disagreeable, and even though they'd been warned against doing so, the two started looking into the case again. When Bowen let Devetko know of an opportunity to transfer, Devetko declined.
Through Kristeva, Devetko was introduced to Russell Whittaker; the two were briefly involved, though Devetko broke it off, feeling uncomfortable with the difference in their ages as well as Russell's submissive behavior. Witnessing Russell in the middle of a personality switch helped him recognize the same signs of DID in his partner, however, and for a time he was the only one aware of Kristeva's situation. Kristeva then set him up on a blind date with his acquaintance, Stan Brooks; this had been done at Brooks's prompting but without Devetko's knowledge, so Devetko, annoyed, went through with the date purely out of obligation. It didn't go very promisingly, though Devetko agreed to a followup date, and gradually warmed to the other man so they began a relationship. When Brooks's ex-boyfriend, Will Travers, threatened and then raped him, Brooks refused to report the crime or tell Devetko at first, afraid he would want to break up; instead, Devetko, furious to learn about this and Will's past abusive treatment, convinced Brooks to file a report, and after Will attempted contacting Brooks from prison, went to see him personally, vowing to make every moment of Will's life as unpleasant as possible if he ever tried contacting Brooks again. ("That's the first time I've ever seen Will scared before," Brooks told him afterward.) Brooks presented Devetko with a ring, asking him to move in; when it became legal, the two were married.
Devetko was the first police officer on the scene following colleague Det. Justin Reichert's stabbing, and as such accompanied him to the hospital, getting his blood on his clothes; when Kristeva pointed this out, he retreated to the restroom and scrubbed at his hands in a panic until Brooks showed up with a change of clothing and had to coax him to stop washing. He was also the one to take Reichert's statement, which had to be cut short on the first attempt when Reichert's blood pressure plummeted and he started hemorrhaging internally. Devetko had previously been silently (but obviously) critical of Reichert's promiscuous lifestyle; after this incident, and witnessing Reichert's struggle to improve his habits (as well as a jury finding Reichert's attacker not guilty after Reichert's personal history was laid bare in court), his critical attitude eased, and the rather chilly relationship between the two improved.
Devetko volunteers to help build houses and work in soup kitchens in his spare time, and although he doesn't regularly attend church for personal reasons, he still believes in and follows certain Christian principles, two details that Kristeva found surprising. ("What's with the genuflecting?" he once asked when they entered a Catholic church.) The two detectives use their differences in temperament and technique to their advantage when investigating and interrogating suspects, with Kristeva being the empathic, intuitive one, and Devetko the levelheaded, rational one, though each has rubbed off on the other as well. Devetko even eased up enough to participate in Kristeva's frequent games of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" and endless odd variations of "Good Cop, Bad Cop," and occasionally covers for his memory lapses or reaches out to his other alters when they're needed.
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