2004: Like the other Lavery boys, Jonathan Lavery lived in fear of his father, the abusive Patrick Curry. Ryan had protected him the best he could. But, when Ryan finally had enough of Patrick, he left his siblings to fend for themselves. Jonathan wanted be as strong as Ryan so as to be able to leave, but he also harbored strong feelings of resentment for his abandonment.
Jonathan tracked Ryan down to Pine Valley twenty years later. Their reunion was not as he planned as Kendall Hart arranged for Ryan to walk in on them together in bed. Kendall was Ryan’s resentful former fiancé. Surprisingly, Ryan opened his home to his little brother, “Hockit.” Jonathan claimed to have an MBA from Princeton, so Ryan gave him a job as a Financial Officer at FUSION.
Ryan’s wife, Greenlee Lavery, was weary of Jonathan. She noticed his lack of practical business skills. She found out Jonathan had lied about his degree. She agreed to keep the secret from Ryan. At that time, Greenlee began to act erratically.
Jonathan began dating Maggie Stone. Jonathan was very protective of Ryan. When Ethan Ramsey came to Pine Valley claiming to be the true Cambias heir, Jonathan was worried Ryan would loose his fortune. Jonathan knew the only DNA evidence available to prove Ethan’s claim was on the shirt worn by Bianca Montgomery on the night she gave birth to the other Cambias heir, Miranda Montgomery. Maggie witnessed Jonathan destroy the shirt. Maggie promised not to tell Bianca what had happened, even though she was her best friend.

2005: Maggie confronted Jonathan after learning that he knew Bianca was in a coma and he did not call her. Jonathan was already enraged after learning Ryan had signed over the Cambias Estate to Miranda. Jonathan slapped Maggie.
Jonathan’s inner rage on increased with time. Maggie finally summed up the courage to leave him. Jonathan blamed Bianca. He was going to attack her. Luckily, Ryan intervened. Ryan implored Jonathan to seek treatment.
Jonathan was implicated in a string of crimes in Pine Valley including Greenlee’s poisoning and Edmund Grey’s murder. Jonathan told Ryan that Braden Lavery, their older brother, was back in town and that he was responsible for the strange going –on’s. In reality, Jonathan had killed Braden. Jonathan had become mental unstable. He began to fight with himself, thinking Braden was still alive.
Jonathan kidnapped Greenlee and Lily Montgomery, the sole witness of Edmund’s murder, and took them to an abandoned cave. He was going to kill them both if Ryan and Kendall did not arrive. Ryan distracted Jonathan as the girls escaped. In the cave, Jonathan revealed Braden’s dead body. Ryan needed to stop Jonathan. He shot him. At the same time, Jonathan had set the cave to explode with both of them inside.
Somehow, Jonathan made his way out of the cave. He made his way to Nova Scotia to be with his sister, Erin Lavery. Erin kept him hidden in her cabin. Ryan found Erin, who would eventually reveal Jonathan’s true fate. Only, something was wrong with Jonathan. He began to have extreme seizures.
Jonathan was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor was responsible for his erratic behavior. After a successful surgery to remove the growth, Jonathan regressed to the mental age of a child, unable to hurt anyone.
Ryan brought his siblings back to Pine Valley. Jonathan was found not guilty of his crimes as a result of his mental condition. At the same time, strange crimes began happening in Pine Valley again. Everyone turned to Jonathan as the main suspect. He found an unlikely ally in Lily. Lily recognized Jonathan and had changed.

2006: Jonathan found himself falling in love with Lily. They began a secret romance. When Jackson Montgomery, Lily’s father, found out, he sent Lly back to Boarding School. She ran away to New York City. Jonathan found Lily and rescued her from a pedophile named Terry McDermott. Jonathan and Lily eloped so no one could tear them apart. Only, Jonathan was no longer the same person Lily had loved. The after effects of his surgery had subsided.
Jack arranged for a competency hearing so as to force Lily to annul the marriage. Jonathan recognized the strain the proceedings were having on his young wife. Jonathan turned to Jack with a proposition. If he drop the suit, he would tell Lily that he had recovered from his brain injury. When Lily found out, she left him.
Jonathan began a “friends with benefits” arrangement with Amanda Dillon. They had both been accused of various crimes in Pine Valley stemming from their family histories of mental instability.
Jonathan was devastated when Erin was found dead at the FUSION offices. She was the second victim of the Satin Slayer.

2007: Amanda cared for Jonathan as he recovered from Erin’s murder. He could tell Amanda was falling in love with him, but Jonathan was not ready for another relationship. He decided to breaks things off with Amanda so as to not to hurt her.
Jonathan was suspicious of Lily’s look-alike sister, Ava Benton. Ava was using Lily’s good position in town to better her own. The more Jonathan tried to uncover Ava’s bad actions, the more he found himself attracted to her. The Montgomerys threw Ava out after she overdosed on drugs. Jonathan offered her a place to stay in Wildwind. Their close proximity lead to romance, and the couple eventually became engaged.
Jonathan could not get the image of Lily out of his mind when he made love to Ava. Ava recognized this and turned to JR Chandler.

2008: Jonathan left Pine Valley to consult at Cambias Industries in Europe. After some time, he decided to make the visit a permanent arrangement.