It was a two hour flight from Metropolis to Palmera City, though it felt much longer to Gemma considering that she wasn't entirely comfortable with heights or flying.

But the moment she stepped out of the airport she felt like she was home again. The airport was close to the beach and Gemma could almost smell the fresh ocean air. It was a scent that she missed and a small pet of her regretted ever moving to Metropolis.

Over the last four years she had been so occupied with school and starting out at Ivo Tech that she hadn't thought much about the city she grew up in. Not because she didn't have fond memories of it, but because it also reminded Gemma of her aunt, Julia, who had died from a stoke her senior year of high school.

Thinking about her aunt and everything her father had done made Gemma angry. Anthony Ivo had started his company to make technological advancements in the medical field. To prevent loved ones from dying, and although he had done it at first he had become obsessed with the idea of immortality.

He had grown to fear death, and had forgotten why he had started Ivo Technologies in the first place. His obsession with death is what turned her father into a monster.

What they called The Hub of Palmera City had expanded so much in the last couple of years. Surprisingly even more in the last four years that she was gone.

As they drove through the city Gemma couldn't help but notice how Palmera City was starting to resemble Metropolis more as the center of the city consisted mostly of skyscrapers.

Each major company seemed to have a location here now. From Queen Consolidated, LexCorp, Wayne Enterprises and Ace Chemicals. But the tallest of all the buildings continued to be Kord Industries, they practically owned Palmera City and were the reason why the gentrification of the city was getting worse.

They had just opened a new Ivo Technologies location less than a year ago in Palmera City. It was much smaller than the one in Metropolis, but it gave her the perfect excuse for her suddenly leaving after having just started as the head of the research department.

The car came to a stop right in front of Ivo Tech, and before Gemma could reach for the door Javier was already opening it waiting for her.

"Señorita Gemma would it be okay with if I went to go visit my brother?" Javier questioned as he handed Gemma her bag.

"Of course." She replied knowing that she was probably going to spend hours in the lab, Javier knew this two or else who wouldn't have asked. She it had been a couple of months since he had seen his brother, and she wasn't about to be the reason why he would have to wait any longer.

"Just tell me when you need me back and I will be here." He assured her and Gemma smiled in response always grateful for everything that he did for her.

"I might be a couple of hours. Take your time Javier."

Javier had moved to Metropolis for her, and she knew that his brother was all that he had left. If he wanted to spend the entire weekend with his brother it was fine with her.

The Ivo Tech location in Palmera City was almost identical to the original location in Metropolis. Gemma knew that it was because her father always wanted consistency but the similarities were outstanding.

"Dr. Ivo!" Someone called out in a very enthusiastic tone, there was a moment where Gemma froze not realizing that they were calling out to her. Everyone called her father Dr. Ivo and hearing them call her by the same name almost made her sick. "Hey, my name is Brenda Del Vecchio. I'm just an intern but I was assigned to show you around."

Gemma couldn't help but feel shocked to see her. It had been four years since their high school graduation. She had always had the assumption that she would never see the people she went to high school with ever again. Gemma hadn't even kept contact with the people she had once considered friends.

"Hello Brenda." She said slowly realizing that maybe she didn't remember her. Or even worse she probably never even knew that she existed, which was what Gemma always believed in high school. Though she shouldn't have been surprised they never spoke in high school. "And you can just call me Gemma."

"Are you sure? I mean you have four Ph. Ds, you've totally earned the doctor title."

Gemma couldn't help but smile. Everyone always associated her with her father, never really as her own person. "You're absolutely right, but it's too formal for my liking."

"Okay Gemma let me show you around." Brenda said as she motioned for Gemma to follow. The tour was quick and not because the building was small but because Brenda spoke so quickly.

Which was something that Gemma appreciated as she wanted to get to her office as quickly as possibly even if her feet were killing her from the quick pace. Gemma had just started wearing heels as she felt that maybe they would make her look more professional and that maybe they would help people not see her as kid playing grownup.

Brenda also spoke a lot about herself as the tour went on. Saying how she had been part of the opening team of the new Ivo Tech location. She also occasionally spoke of how frustrating it was that she was still just an intern after seven months.

By the time Brenda finally showed Gemma to her office it seemed that she was completely out of breath from speaking so much.

It was a plain office with a large desk and chair in front of a big open window. Although she didn't plan on using the office much she did plan on decorating a bit if she every flew here from Metropolis.

"I don't know if you remember me. We went to high school together." Brenda said after a very long moment of silence, she almost sounded nervous. Though really she had been nervous this entire time.

"I remember." Gemma said feeling a little bit relieved that she did know. "You were friends with Jaime and Paco right?"

Gemma didn't know why she phrased it like a question when she knew it like a fact. She knew very well that Brenda Del Vecchio and Paco Testas were best friends with Jaime Reyes. But that was something that was too embarrassing to ever admit openly.

"Yes." Brenda exclaimed not bothering to hide the excitement in her voice. "I have to say I'm surprised you even knew that we existed."

Gemma couldn't help but feel shocked by her words. She had always assumed that it was Jaime and his friends that didn't know that she existed.

"We had AP English together sophomore year. I had Jaime in six classes." Gemma said stopping herself from naming every single one of those six classes like a fool. "I knew that you existed."

"That's awesome." Brenda said with a laugh before she seemed to remember that she was working. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I'm alright thank you Brenda." She assured her, also trying to get the girl to leave. Gemma didn't want anyone to know the real reason she was here, there was too much at stake.

Brenda seemed to have understood as she waved a quick goodbye before stepping out.

Gemma spent at least four hours learning everything that she could about Kord Industries and all of their recent projects. She researched everything that she could about Victoria Kord and came to the conclusion that maybe her father had been right. That maybe Victoria Kord wasn't a very good person.

She was the one responsible for Kord Industries shifting their focus on the mass production of weapons. It all happened after Ted Kord went missing and she was the one to take over the company.

Gemma quickly came to the conclusion then that contacting Victoria Kord would have been a mistake.

Who she needed to talk to was Jenny Kord.

A/N: This was definitely more of a filler chapter, and was a little short but I still felt it necessary in building up Gemma's character. I know it's been a while since I updated but I was just focusing on finishing another story. My focus will return on this one soon I'm just waiting for the movie to come out on digital. I already ordered it, so once I'm able to watch it on repeat you'll get more updates. I also did add a couple new characters if you wanted to check those out in the first part of the story.