A/N: This story is highly inspired by Lily Hanson and JustJustine014. I feel there aren't enough Emma-centric stories, so I wanted to try my hand. It's my first piece, so reviews would be appreciated :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or any of the characters used in this story.

Trigger Warning: Abuse. This deals with Emma's experience with abuse, so the trigger warning should be heeded for the entirety of the story. Please do not read if it will hurt or trigger you.

Emma pedaled as fast as her legs would allow. Her right leg was throbbing, but she had to push through the pain. She found herself riding towards Gia's house on autopilot, but upon realizing the implications, she swerved and headed straight for the forest. Her backpack felt extra heavy with the knowledge that she would never be returning home again. Emma had grabbed some school supplies, canned food, and all the clothes she could carry before she grabbed her bike and escaped.

All of the emotions bubbling inside her caused her to pedal harder.

She couldn't think of anyone who could help her. Emma didn't want to burden her team with everything going on at home, and certainly did not want that taking priority over their jobs of saving the world. She especially couldn't tell Gia. They were sisters and shared everything with each other.

Everything but this.

Emma had deeply considered telling her best friend a couple times when things got bad, but couldn't bring herself to involve Gia or even potentially hurt her. Emma's mom hadn't been in the country for nine years and she was left with no support system.

She pedaled out to the woods and stopped once she reached an empty field. Usually, singing to the flowers brought her comfort, but today, even that couldn't console her. Emma had been trying to stay strong throughout the whole ordeal, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. She set down her camping gear and bag, and tucked her head into her knees.

And she cried.

Hours later, Emma woke to the feeling of the bitter cold on her skin. She had fallen asleep after all the exhaustion of the day's events and hadn't realized how cold it would get. She quickly retrieved her denim jacket from her bag and threw it on, checking the time. Upon seeing it was 9 at night, she decided to pitch her tent. Emma knew she wouldn't be able to live in the forest forever, but it was her last semester of high school. The rangers would all be graduating in June and it was January. She felt confident she could make it for five months on her own.

No landlord in their right mind would ever let a 17 year-old girl get an apartment in their building unsupervised, so that was out of the question. She had to wait until she turned 18, which also happened to be in June. All Emma had to do was make it 5 months. She had packed enough money from home to provide food for the time being, especially since the lunches at the cafeteria only cost $3. Even if she did end up in a pinch for money, Emma was confident Ernie would give her a job.

The Pink Ranger knew she could do it. She had been thinking about running away for a while, and subconsciously brewed up a plan on how she would survive if she did. Now that Emma had actually left, she found herself better prepared than she thought she would be. Ideally, she would report her father to Child Protective Services, but since she was still a minor, that means there was a high likelihood she'd be taken away and moved into a foster home. She simply couldn't afford to leave her friends behind, and most certainly could not relocate in the middle of being a power ranger.

Needless to say, Emma had been dealt an extremely bad hand in this circumstance.

She knew she needed to keep up appearances at school, and especially to her friends and teammates. If they caught wind something was going on at home, Emma's father would surely be reported and everything would spiral. Emma couldn't let anything interfere with her top priority, which was saving the planet. Because of her need to avert suspicion, she decided she needed to go to school and thus got ready to do so. She knew if she was going to function normally after the ordeal of this day, she would need to sleep. And real sleep. Not the I'm Exhausted From Crying kind of sleep. There was a pond in a nearby clearing which she could use to brush her teeth and wash her face, after purifying the water by boiling it. Then in the mornings, she would head to school a half hour early so no one would see her, and take care of her hygiene using the school bathrooms.

Emma also had a gym membership, and could use their showers whenever she needed.

She would be fine.

The following morning, Emma woke up to a beautiful sunrise, and groaned as she checked her watch. She still had two hours before school started, so decided to do some reading. All she wanted to do was break down, but she knew it wouldn't help anyone in the long run. If she was going to keep up the ruse for the next five months, she needed to keep up her grades. Most importantly, if she ever hoped to graduate, she needed to get her marks up. Between her situation at home and being a power ranger, Emma's grades had taken a serious hit.

Once she got caught up on her book, she knew it was time to leave her makeshift home. She packed everything together into her tent, cleaned herself up, and headed off. Three times on the bike ride over, she became nervous that she wouldn't hold up to her peers' scrutiny. She felt overwhelmed and anxious, knowing she was going to have to put on one hell of a show in order to stay in the clear.

She chained her bike and headed straight for the school's locker room to brush her teeth and wash her face. By the time she got herself to look presentable, most of the students had begun to filter in. Emma saw Gia down the hall and quickly plastered a smile onto her face.

"Hey, Emma! We missed you at the Brainfreeze yesterday. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I was just catching up on some work. The mutant battle took up way too much of my time and I was already falling behind."

Gia frowned. "You can always ask me for help. You know that."

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Seriously, it's no problem. I woke up early and got more of the reading done, so I'm on track now. I'll figure it out, it's fine."

Her best friend stared at her, but eventually relented. She gave Emma a hug before they departed to Mr. Burley's class together. On the way, someone skateboarding down the hall accidentally tripped and fell straight into Emma. They both took a hard fall to the floor, and he immediately checked to see if Emma was okay. Gia helped her up as she stared daggers into the kid, who upon seeing Gia's expression, apologized profusely.

Before she decided on whether or not to kill him, he darted away down the hall. Gia looked her best friend up and down.

"Are you okay? That was a really hard fall."

Emma winced as her previously injured leg had been hurt in the crash. "My leg is a little hurt, but it's nothing I can't handle. Let's just go to class."

So, Emma continued for the rest of the day without arousing anymore suspicion. She had a slight limp from the previous day's events, but was able to explain it away conveniently with the skateboard collision from earlier. No one seemed to suspect anything from her, and her plan seemed to be working. If Gia and the rangers couldn't pick up that anything was wrong, Emma was sure she was convincing her teachers and other peers. As soon as she sat down for lunch, they all heard their morphers beep.

Jake groaned, still sore from the previous day's battle. "Does Vrak ever take vacations?"

Noah smacked him on the side of the head, and the five ran out of the cafeteria, much to the stares of their fellow classmates.

Upon arriving to the scene, Troy immediately knew something was off. Vrak was by himself, standing with no insect monster to back him up. Not even so much as a single Loogie was waiting for them. They all hesitated upon seeing Vrak alone, because it's not something he generally made a habit of doing, and he pressed the advantage by firing on them. The rangers all morphed as they dove out of the way.

The boys summoned their weapons and chased after Vrak, while the girls tried to get the screaming civilians to safety. In his attempts to cause as much havoc as he could, Vrak began firing on the retreating civilians. Gia and Emma did a good job getting them to safety though, and no one was hit. Once everyone was clear, Vrak surveyed the scene and turned his sights to see one lone boy hiding behind a trash can in the otherwise empty battlefield.

Emma saw Vrak switch focus and immediately followed his gaze. Gia was on the complete opposite side of the plaza, so Emma started running for the boy. Jake and Noah had already been incapacitated from trying to fight Vrak, but Troy chased after him. The boy was too shocked and fearful to move, so he watched with wide eyes as two power rangers and a monster converged on him.

In a last ditch attempt to reach the kid before Vrak, Troy dove from behind and tackled him to the floor. Having been bought only seconds of time, Emma ran straight for the boy. As soon as she got close enough, she froze.

Everything in the world stopped in that moment.

She knew the boy. Before sending him away for good, Emma had taken great care to memorize every last detail of his face. Because she had once loved the 15 year-old boy staring at her with wide eyes.

There before her, stood her little brother.