Disclaimer: I do not own anything

This wasn't where she wanted to be. Everything felt so strange to her. She could barely find her way around the house; she had no idea whose stuff was on the floor, on the shelves and on the walls. She could hardly recognise the faces staring back at her. Emily wanted to be home.

Her friends were trying to help bring home back to the Shiba House. They were all sitting around the common room table discussing the pros and cons to giving Jayden their trust after what he had done. They were trying very hard to look at things from the red Ranger's perspective to see if maybe there was a good reason behind his actions. It wasn't easy, but they were slowly beginning to realise that maybe it was best to give him a second chance.

"This won't be forgotten, though," Kevin stated and Antonio, Mike, and Mia nodded their heads.

"It shouldn't be," Mia said. "No matter how you look at it, it's always going to be bad. But it's his first offense. He's always tried to look out for us before, and he really seems to be hurting."

"As much as I hate it, the Black Box is important," Antonio added. "The Nighlok are getting stronger. We are going to need it. Jayden's plan, while stupid, did have merit. He didn't want to hurt you guys like he did. He tried to be as honest as he could… though he did beat around the bush."

"That doesn't mean he had to hurt us to program it, though," Mike said. "He should have waited to figure it out, or he should have been honest with us right from the start. It's the lying that bothers me. Why did he think he could get away with it?"

"I wasn't trying to get away with it," Jayden stepped into the room cautiously. He could hear the Rangers chatting about his from his bedroom and wanted to join the conversation. If they were going to give him a chance to speak, he needed to be there to speak. "I hate lying to you, I really do."

"You should have just told us the truth," Mike looked to his leader. "We had a right to know we would get hurt."

"I told you, Emily, didn't I?" Jayden turned to Emily. "Before we programmed your Stone, I…"

"Don't talk to her," Mike snapped. He was willing to give Jayden a second chance, but he didn't want to stick Emily in the middle of the arguments. He didn't want anyone forcing her to choose sides. Her silence up until now spoke volumes on how she was feeling. "We get it. You took her out into the middle of nowhere and came clean. You programmed her Stone and something went wrong. If you hadn't of lied and that happened, we could have all been there to help."

"I'm really sorry," Jayden said to Mike and then looked at Emily. "It was stupid and wrong of me to lie. Watching you all suffer was hard for me, but it must have hurt you all a lot more."

"Well, it's an apology," Mia sighed. She offered Jayden a small smile, but her expression was still dead serious, "This is hard for all of us, Jayden. As red Ranger, you have a huge responsibility. Our lives are in your hands. Every day we have to trust that you're going to pull us out of crazy and dangerous situations. You can't drag us into them."

"I know…"

"This won't ever be forgotten, Jayden," Mia said. "We can't ever forget how you hurt us. Our lives are in so much danger already and this just adds to it. If we can't trust our leader, who can we trust?"

"Only each other," Jayden breathed. He looked to each of his teammates, "I know it's going to take a long time for you to believe in me again. I know things might not go back to the way they were before. I'm ready to accept that. I hurt you all, and it was wrong. You aren't mindless followers ready to be sacrificed, you're my friends. You've done so much for me and in returned I lied to you. I'm really sorry."

Kevin sighed loudly and rolled his eyes, "I want to believe you, Jayden, but…"

"But?"

"How do we know you aren't sweet talking us right now?" Kevin asked. He looked to Mia, Mike, and Antonio for support. At different degrees, they all nodded their heads. They knew where Kevin was coming from with his reservations. Once trust was broken it was hard to earn back. "You're saying everything right… it's like you rehearsed this. Like you want to say all the right things perfectly."

"I do," Jayden answered. "You're my friends; my family! I hate that you're mad at me. I screwed up, I know I did and I'm trying to make things right."

Kevin looked unconvinced. Jayden turned to Antonio, hoping his best friend would be able to help him out. He had been completely honest with the gold Ranger from the start. Antonio knew every detail of what had happened. If he wanted a chance at earning his friends' love back, he needed Antonio's support.

"Please, Antonio. Tell them what I told you."

"You planned on deceiving them right from the start…"

"I did what I needed to do for a reason."

"You didn't have to lie to them."

"Antonio…"

"It's hard, Jayden…"

"But, please…"

"Shut up!" Emily screamed as she jumped up from her chair. "I don't like all the fighting! This isn't fun anymore. It never was and it wasn't supposed to be. You're all being big babies!"

"Emily…"

"You're all so used to fighting you forgot how to forgive!"

"Emily, where are you going?" Mia asked as the yellow Ranger started making her way to the door. Emily slipped her shoes on and glared at her friends as they all gathered in the hallway.

"It's not safe in here anymore. I'm not coming back until I can come back home," Emily yanked the door opened and stormed out of the house. Mike tried to go after her but Jayden caught his arm.

"She has her Samuraizer with her. She'll be fine."

"Are you nuts?"

"Emily's got a point," Mia whispered softly. She looked at the boys. "This place does kind of feel weird. I haven't been comfortable in this house for a long time."

"It's because of Jayden," Mike growled as he eyed his leader. "If you hadn't of…"

"I've apologized, Mike. There's nothing more I can do. You have to be willing to meet with me half way," Jayden begged. "I can't show you I'm trustworthy if you won't give me a little trust. I'll do anything for it! I'll clean up after the dog every time he goes outside! I'll make every meal for a month! I'll wash your uniforms. Give me something to show you I'm being honest."

Kevin placed his hand on Mike's shoulder and looked Jayden in the eye. He knew his leader was being sincere, and though it was hard to put give his trust to someone who had caused him and his family so much pain, Jayden needed to be tested.

"Why should you continue to lead the team?" Kevin asked Jayden. "If we don't trust you, it would be stupid to keep you as leader. Defend yourself and convince us."

Jayden looked stunned for a moment but if this was his chance he was going to take it.

"I screwed up. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last. But I can guarantee the team's safety is my number on priority. There's nothing more important to me than you guys. I knew that before all this happened, and I really know that now."

Kevin took a deep breath, "Okay. That's a start."

"What?" Mike frowned and looked up at his best friend. Kevin squeezed his shoulder.

"We'll all be civil. We could fight for years without ever accomplishing anything. If we forgive Jayden, we run the risk of getting hurt again, but there's also a chance this won't ever happen again."

"I won't ever put you guys in any danger ever again," Jayden nodded his head and then looked his team in the eyes, "I'm so, so sorry."

Mia offered Jayden a smile before she pulled him into a one armed hug. Antonio's expression softened and he joined the pair. Mike looked up at Kevin hesitantly before the blue Ranger smiled.

"It's fine, Mike."

The green Ranger sighed before he too smiled. Mia and Antonio let go of Jayden and the red Ranger looked to Mike. They bumped fists.

"We're just missing one person," Mia pointed out. She gestured to the door, "We better go find her before she hurts herself."

"Says the Ranger in a cast," Antonio chuckled.

"You know what's good about this cast," Mia raised her arm, "It's now below my elbow which means I am fully capable of smacking you over the head with it."

"Shutting up," Antonio pressed his lips together and stepped away from Mia.

"Let's start looking before the whole team ends up in a cast," Kevin suggested while wrapping an arm around Mia to calm her down. The rest of the team agreed with him and they set out to find Emily.