Zane sat alone for some time, surrounded by the shouldering remains of his accident. He had not known the true intentions of The Leader and so was distraught over what he had done. Over time he came to terms with what happened, rationalizing his powers as neither a gift nor a curse. Yes, his unchecked abilities caused him to lose everything he had, but without them he never would have had this life in the first place.

There was nothing to be done besides pick himself up and continue on with his life, but he found the trauma difficult to live with still. He found sole solace in the bottle, and wound up committing various crimes, but eluded authorities as he went along.
After some years passed, on a night out drinking, Zane happened to meet a fellow that asked for a light. Without much thought to it, he decided to play a little prank and used his control of fire to light the cigarette for this man. Thankfully he'd gained quite a bit more control by now.

The man, named Gavin, didn't seem to have much reaction and simply thanked Zane. He found it such an absurd, lackadaisical response that Zane was endeared to Gavin immediately and stuck around so much, they became fast friends.