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Early Years

"What would you do if you had been hunted your entire life? Forced to flee from one place of safety to the next, worrying when word would come that you'd been spotted and would have to pick up and start all over. Consumed by paranoia, forever looking over your shoulder and wondering if that friend you made was genuine or planned on sticking a knife between your ribs, balanced precariously, a mere knife's edge from certain death. All it took was a slip of your tongue ... I wonder, would you continue to let fear dictate your life or would you turn the tables on those who sought to persecute you?" - Jen

Jennifer Anne Pangaea was born Jennifer Anne Tapley on the 22nd November, 1981 at Rhode Island, New York. A strong willed, precocious child, Jen quickly proved a handful for a couple seeking shelter from the harsh realities of life on the run and who were determined to keep a low profile. Pursued relentlessly from birth by the twisted, modern day incarnation of an ideological, family split thousands of years before she was born, Jen inherited a lifelong enemy from the moment she first drew breath.

She had no say in any of it.

Her early pre-school life was spent mostly in the company of people she didn't know, as both her parents were doctors and she was left in the care of trusted allies of the family. She shared those early years with an unruly and at times spoiled little sister, Harriet Samantha Tapley. She and her sibling were taught from a young age how to blend in and avoid attention, and it was perhaps this continued insistence on leading such unremarkable lives that led Jen and Harriet to grow up in opposition to their parents. Where their parents shied from attention, fearful of what might follow, the sisters would end up embracing it.

This pleased neither of their parents, but it did ultimately force a rethink in family policy.

At school the sisters drew attention wherever the went, but for the wrong reasons. Jen was a willowy girl, tall for her age but socially awkward and a favourite of the local bullies, while Harriet was the life of the party, but was disruptive, even confrontational and became a nightmare for teaching staff. Growing up, both girls were academically gifted, though Harriet eschewed the life of a student for that of a prima-donna and cheerleader, the embodiment of the prototypical plastic girl, while Jen became increasingly withdrawn and shy, harbouring resentment and hatred towards those who had oppressed her.

That all changed when they hit puberty. Jen, long since the outcast, blossomed into a beautiful young woman. Combined with a keen intellect, this gave her a newfound sense of power. Unable to direct her anger towards her real enemy, Jen began to abuse her power by taking her anger out on fellow students. She found a sense of freedom and personal identity in being as mean-spirited, spiteful and manipulative towards her fellow students as the enemy had been toward her. Were it not for her stellar grades, no doubt she would've been labelled a 'problem child' by the school system.

After high school Jen began to study medicine, not out of a concern for her fellows, but out of a fascination for "how disgusting and yet magnificent" the human body was. Against her parent's advice, she went to the university of Southern California in San Francisco, one of the best medical schools in the country. Here she excelled, both as a student and a prospective doctor. Despite thriving, Jen found herself stifled, unable to exercise her darker impulses for fear of being cast out. Directing her troubles inward, she became a profoundly disturbed, though brilliant young woman.

At twenty two, half way through her degree, Harriet was discovered after attending a political rally, her stunt captured and broadcast on YouTube where it quickly turned viral. Forced to flee after an assassination attempt was foiled at the last moment by her parents, Jen reluctantly took Harriet back to New York and cut all contact with them, going dark per family protocol and following the logic that her enemies wouldn't expect her to return somewhere she'd been. It worked and for the next two years as Jen worked in low key jobs, finding relief from her frustrations in the form of the alternative sexuality (BDSM) scene, she grew increasingly disquiet as for the first time in her life, she was making decisions for herself, not as a response to a nebulous threat hanging over her head. In the alternate scene, Jen found power to coincide with her growing sense of agency. Here she ruled as a tyrant and queen. For once, Jen felt as she imagined other people did, the architect of her own destiny.

An increasingly frustrated and disenfranchised Jen decided to return to her medical studies, but this time in New York. Reasoning that the more people there were, the harder it would be for her enemy to locate her, she finished her medical training at the less prestigious Cornell University. With no incident since San Francisco, Jen had began to put the threat of the enemy behind her and in her eagerness to be tested against the most deplorable conditions in the country, she accepted an intern program with Mercy Hospital in Detroit. Harriet, meanwhile, elected to stay in the big apple to begin her Law degree.

It was in Detroit, shortly to be renamed Millennium City, that a twenty something Jen met another intern who would go on to become her best friend, Connor Jensen.

Internship at Mercy Hospital

Jen and Connor clicked right away. He was sarcastic, wise cracking and had a big heart while Jen was stoic, serious and driven, the straight (wo)man to his comic relief. She found comfort in him, relief from both the intense feelings within her and her circumstances in general. Despite her serious, demanding, type A persona, she showed signs of who she would later become and it was probably these glimpses that caused him to quietly adore her. During these moments, Jen found a calmness. She became profoundly disturbed to realise that, despite her bluster and insistence that she didn't need anyone, she cared what he and others thought about her.

At 31, she was now in her second year of residency, third overall at Mercy. Even as an intern, Jen's remarkable ability to focus under immense pressure was noted and so it wasn't long before she caught the eye of the Chief of Surgery. After a gruelling selection process, during which a mistake in the Operating Room (OR) had threatened the lives of a half dozen transplant patients affected by rabies resulted in Jen's quick thinking resolving the situation, the answer was pushed beyond doubt. Jen was unanimously selected as the next Chief of Surgery, despite criticisms of her ability to talk with patients and a storied complaint history from staff and patients. Jen wasn't perhaps the surgeon the hospital wanted, but it was the one it needed.

Despite boasting the worst patient-doctor record in recent history, Jen was given the nod from Chief Medical Director Dr Harry Cox with the proviso that she work hard on improving her patient rapport.

Chief of Surgery

It was during her tenure as Chief of Surgery that Jen began to open up. She first met and then befriended some locals at Club Caprice, Aisling "Ai" Narakyo, Briana and Evelyn. To their credit, they saw through Jen's demanding facade. As the months passed, they showed her more kindness and consideration than she had experienced in her thirty one years, welcoming even her impetuous "queen bee" attitude to them and anyone else in her life. As time passed, she found herself increasingly at odds with her demanding need for attention and the deplorable way she viewed other people. She had at last began to shed the state of arrested development she'd been trapped in since high school. It was only later in life when she realised just what a gift they had been, after most of the group seperated and went their seperate ways. From that day onwards, Jen swore that she'd treat people with the same kindness they had shown her, or at least try. Baby steps.

Professionally, Jen was considered a freak. Able to distance herself from all emotional considerations, she was the surgeon's surgeon. Impeccable and meticulous, despite ongoing complaints about her patient-doctor interaction, her surgical record was flawless. It was during this time that Jen became involved in emergency services. Finding herself naturally adapted for the worst possible situations, Jen quickly climbed the ladder to become the co-ordinator for Millenium City Accident and Disaster Response (ESADR). It was here that she developed the foundation she needed to begin transitioning into an administrative position at Mercy.

While the Chief of Surgery, Jen displayed a natural aptitude for handling both the trappings of power and the bureaucracy that come with it. This caught the eye of Dr Cox, the then Chief Medical Director. He began grooming her, without her knowledge, involving her in classes aimed to improve both her shockingly bad communication skills with patients as well as mundane things like bookkeeping. She grew increasingly discontent, both with his apparent need to force extra duties on her (and only her) and the continued lack of explanation for why. Finally, a frustrated Jen confronted him in his office proceeding to grill him for ten minutes about what he was doing to her, how she didn't like it and how she wouldn't stand for it anymore. Jen's meltdown had worked.

Dr Cox looked at her calmly and said "Jen, I'm stepping down as Chief Medical Director. I want you take my place."

A speechless Jen reeled as he elaborated exactly why he'd put her name forward to the board of directors.

"It wasn't your ability to handle pressure, Jen." he had said, a hint of fondness for her in his voice "Nor was it your surgical record ..."

"It's because you're a winner, Jen. You know how to win and you know how to make everyone else win as well. In a city as bad as this, reeling from catastrophe to catastrophe on a daily basis, the hospital needs someone like that."

She knew that being in control suited her, but even she didn't yet see in herself what Dr Cox had seen ever since a young resident in her late twenties had first stepped into the shoes of the Chief of Surgery.

Chief Medical Director

Jen's tenure as Chief Medical Director, a position that lasted two and half years, was one of the most divisive yet fondly remembered in hospital history. The early months saw Jen revert to type, imposing her will on everyone else and generally stifling individual agency as she tried to micromanage everyone. Comlaints were levelled and a few of the senior doctors even resigned, citing personal and professional conflicts with the Chief. As she settled in though and with the continued support of her friends, Jen learned to take her hands off.

Under her ever watchful and caring eye, Mercy flourished. She revitalised the tired, old hospital which had grown run down under Dr Cox's last years before retirement. She revamped the logistical systems, designed new training packages and masterminded a brilliant scheme to see hospital policy bring alternative healing under the hospital's operational umbrella. With new policy in hand, Jen approached the Superhero community and after a short, pitched battle, managed to sell the Board of Directors on the idea of healers and physicians working side by side. Six months later, Mercy's first healer clinic opened up and began to invite credible healers from all walks of life, including those who harnessed the arcane arts.

Long since understaffed and crippled by frequent budget cuts, Jen's gamble on the Superhero community as a source of alternative healing that could alleviate the city's burden on it's primary health care facilities paid off. With a sudden marked loss in stress reported by many staff, Jen immediately handed out increases in salary, offering the Board publically that she would take a pay cut to fund it. The once hated Dragon of Mercy had become it's darling. Patients and staff alike were stunned at the change. As one doctor put it

"Nobody expected Jen's heel-face turn. She seemed to flip from being the queen bitch of the universe to one of the most caring and benevolent people I have ever known. No one thought it would last, but it did. When she encouraged and supported us without clipping our wings? We noticed. When she brought the supers in and increased our pay? We noticed. And when she declared mandatory breaks and cut work hours while maintaining our overall salary? We -definitely- noticed. How could you not love someone who looked out for you like that? It's as if she had changed from putting herself first, to putting everyone else first." - Dr Maria Hill

Jen's reign as Chief Medical Director was two and a half years of peaceful bliss before she was approached by a representative from the city council with an offer. Not for the first time, Jen would be headhunted by people looking for talented and kind managers.

Political Career

Approached by a member of city council impressed with how she handled Mercy, it was suggested to Jen that she run for local office. On the back of her sterling stewardship of Mercy as well as her career with ESADR, Jen's political campaign was a tight ship.