citrus ~ Mark Grayson

Gwen Gem hasn't always been so amazing.

Actually any time before she was 14 she was relatively.. normal? She had school, her family and shes quite pretty too.

But all of that is beside the point.

On the 10th of April 1986 a beautiful baby girl was born with a beautiful head of blonde hair that would explains the heart burn her mother received.

But my oh my where her parents in love with their little girl.

Her big bug eyes, small cute nose and how whenever doing something even slightly tedious her tongue stuck out and her big eyes narrowed.

And as the years went by they realised that their daughter is smart and certainly very friendly.

Enrolling her in preschool was an easy choice and their little girl quickly befriended a little boy called Mark and many of the other kids but Mark was her best friend.

Play dates, going to the park, sleepovers, they spent everyday with one another. Practically inseparable.

That was until little Gwen was a little over a month away from turning the young age of four years old.

On the 12th of March 1990, Zane and Anastasia Gem died on a plane crash. A horrific accident that was broadcasted all over the news.

You see, Zane and Anastasia were world renowned scientists known for studying the components and manipulation of DNA as we know it.

They focused on developing DNA that was lets say cancer free. They believed that with the right tools and people that anyone and everyone's genetic coding could be essentially.. changed.

All their research died on the plane crash with them.

Gwen was immediately taken in by her aunt Mary Jane (or auntie MJ as Gwen says) and her uncle Peter.

Having to explain to a four year old why she wont see her parents ever again and when she wants to talk to them they go visit large stones in the floor... it was hard but they did it well enough to the point where Gwen sort of forgot about them.

It sounds cruel but she was only four, the only memories she had of her parents were mundane ones, it was just the emotional connection with them that.. made her miss them.

Yes, Gwen lost her parents but Peter lost his brother so he was grieving heavily. It didnt help that Gwen looked exactly like his brother but that made him cherish Gwen even more.

They became a family. As MJ and Peter got older Gwen followed suit.

They also realised that Gwen was a genius in a teenage girls body and they got her in a small volunteering job at Horizon Labs working with a man named Max who used to be good friends with her parents.

Max and Gwen bonded to a degree. Max allowed Gwen to linger around the labs, looking at whatever she pleased.

Her work was minimal but she learnt a lot whilst being there, whilst physics and chemistry are cool and all she finds biology the most intriguing. Ironically genetic DNA was her main interest.

However on the 3rd of June 2000 Gwen was a victim of a villain attack.

Everything had been fine that day.

She woke up, went to school and straight after school she walked to the labs, she ate her lunch in Maxs' office but thats when...

A powerful villain named electrode attacked horizon labs. People were injured and the building only lost its power, no physical damages or anything- other than the lab that Gwen was in.