A/N: This is a first fic, based on seeing around 2.5 episodes of Megaforce. There is not much to go on so far, but I hope that you enjoy it.

Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, events etc. Anything else should be considered purely the author's creation.

Rating: T-there may be some adult themes.

"This...this is really the place?" Emma asked as they arrived. Gia looked to her and just nodded.

"Gia...I've known you since we were in kindergarten. I've been round your place a few times." Emma stated. "When did you...?"

"Things change alright?" Gia snapped angrily. When she saw the hurt look in Emma's face, she instantly regretted it. They had indeed been friends since kindergarten. Emma just toddled over to where Gia was playing alone with her blocks and asked to join her. None of the other kids ever did, but this new kid just wouldn't leave her alone.

In time, things started to change. The things that made Gia unpopular and strange to the other kids started to become advantages. It turned out she had a higher than average IQ, somewhere in the 140+ region depending on which test she took. It meant that as she grew up, a lot of things started to come to her more easily than others. By the time she was doing well in her classes, she was starting to grow in other ways too. By the time Grade School was over, she regularly ended up with more offers of dates than any other girl.

That was just as lonely. She was smart, beautiful, athletic...and as a result by the time High School started, and the testosterone kicked in, guys were pretty much falling over themselves drooling after her. It was something she liked for her ego, since they found her attractive, but also found extremely wearing. They just didn't get the hint, no matter how many times she told them no. Even the guy she had kicked squarely where it hurt the most, earning her a week's suspension, didn't get that she just wasn't ready.

"Emma, I'm sorry." Gia told her as they went into the apartment block, beginning to climb the staircase. "Like I said, things haven't been good lately. About four months ago, the plant started cutting some of the workforce. Dad's been made redundant."

"Gia, I'm so sorry." Emma stated, putting a hand on her arm sympathetically.

"Why? I thought you believed they were polluters." Gia said with a little smirk. Emma just sighed.

"Look, I'm all for environmentalism, but that doesn't mean I want people to lose their jobs." Emma told her. "I never knew..."

"We're fine for now." Gia assured her. "We just downgraded a little. Renting this place freed up the collateral from the old house."

"Well, I'm still sorry." Emma answered as Gia unlocked the door, letting them in. "I mean, it doesn't look like what you're used to."

"It happened months ago Emma." Gia assured her. "It's amazing what people can get used to. Even 'Ms Perfect', the girl that every other girl would love to see fall on her ass."

"Not every girl." Emma told her. "Alright, now where's your room?"

"This way." Gia told her, showing her in. Emma followed her, finding it a lot more modest than the last place Gia had lived. Her old room was massive, with room to spare, and pretty much everything anyone could ever imagine wanting. Gia was her parents' only kid and they were also both only children, so Gia had been kind of spoiled for a long time.

"Well, it's..."

"It sucks!" Gia muttered, pulling off her leather jacket and tossing it aside, before doing the same with her t-shirt. "You can say it Emma, it sucks!"

"Well, your room's still bigger than mine, even when your dad is unemployed." Emma said in return, still looking around. She found her eyes fixed on Gia and she hissed through her teeth. "Wow, you weren't kidding, that last shot really messed you up."

"My mom and dad aren't exactly observant, but I think that they'll notice that half my body is black and blue, don't you?"

"I think I see what you mean." Emma replied, taking off her jacket and tossing it onto the bed. "Take a seat; I'll see what I can do."

Gia did as she was told, waiting for Emma. Emma had always been a complete wizard with make-up, something of a side-effect from her environmentalism. When she and Gia fell out for about a fortnight when they were 8, and Emma told her how so many cosmetics were tested on animals, she spent most of that time learning how to apply make-up that was not so harmful to the environment. By the time they made up, Emma was a master at applying easily the world's most environmentally-sound makeover.

Gia let out a little hiss as Emma touched her shoulder, beginning to rub something into it. She instantly recoiled.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Gia said guiltily as she grabbed Emma's hand. "It's my fault. I was too slow, that's why that guy hit me."

"This brings back some memories." Emma stated as Gia allowed her to resume her work, closing her eyes and focussing on something else. "You remember all those sleepovers in your old place?"

"Of course I do." Gia whispered as she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth a little to stop herself from calling out. One of the main reasons Emma was such an environmentalist was because she hated suffering, any form of suffering. One time when they were kids, a cat had been knocked down just outside their kindergarten. Emma had cried for hours afterwards. Gia could still remember holding her, comforting her, trying to assure her that the cat was in a better place.

"So...you never did give me an answer." Emma stated. Gia just shifted a little.

"An answer?" Gia asked, becoming a little confused.

"You know...to what we were talking about before?" Emma whispered in her ear, trying to remind her. Gia was still drawing a blank. "What are you going to do about Jake?"

"Jake?" Gia asked, moving her head as Emma's soft touch guided her to do so, allowing her access to some of her other bruising.

"Yeah, you know, the big Jewish guy that's clearly got a five star crush on you?" Emma asked. "Our Black Ranger?"

"Well...um..." Gia started to say, trying to find something to say. She didn't like Jake. Well, that wasn't true, he seemed like a decent enough guy, she had started to say that to him herself, but they'd been interrupted by a Ranger battle before she could explain fully, and apparently he didn't get the fact the words 'I'm sure you're a great guy but...' were generally a prelude to the fact she was about to let him down gently.

Of course, she was more than aware that this was a hard time for people their age. Hormones were a huge problem, making people that would eventually grow out of it and become responsible citizens complete Neanderthals. She had no doubt that Jake's crush was genuine in his mind...or...whatever part of him was driving him right now, but the fact was she didn't have any feelings for him at all. He was...if she was honest, she didn't know if she'd even know who he was if it wasn't for the Ranger thing.

"I think I'm just going to let it fizzle out." Gia stated. "You know how these things go at his age, one day they're hopelessly in love, the next, they want to punch the crap out of everything, the next, they're hopelessly in love with another girl."

"To be fair, his obsession does seem pretty focussed." Emma chuckled as she finished rubbing in make-up. Gia had asked for her help to make sure her parents wouldn't ask too many questions. Although Gia took Karate lessons, and did occasionally come home with some injuries, she worried that her parents would start to become suspicious as to what their kids did when the rest of the city was ducking and covering. She knew that Noah had already lied to his parents about having a sudden obsession with ice-skating.

"By definition an obsession IS focussed." Gia said as Emma continued to work. She hated all this sneaking around, she hated all this secrecy, but that was the world she lived in. Emma suddenly stopped, something that caught her attention.

"OH; MY; GOD!" Emma exclaimed as she reached for something on Gia's dresser. Gia wasn't quick enough to stop her as she snatched it up. "This...this is the butterfly picture I gave you for your tenth birthday!"

It was indeed. It was a charcoal drawing Emma had done while she was on a nature walk with her dad. She'd given it to Gia as a present for her tenth birthday a week later.

"Yeah, I kind of..."

"Wow, and this is that pyrite sample I gave you from my holiday in England!" She shrieked. Gia didn't know how to answer. Again, she was right. When Emma was twelve her parents had taken her to Suffolk, so her dad could take some geology samples. He's given Emma some Iron Pyite, the substance otherwise known as 'fools gold', as a gift. Emma gave it to Gia at school as a gift.

"I can't believe you kept them." Emma stated.

"I guess, they meant something to me." Gia said with a shrug, regretting doing so as soon as she had done it. Tensou had assured her nothing was broken or dislocated, but it still hurt like hell. Emma just sighed.

"Will you stop hurting yourself?" Emma sniggered. "I can't spend all my time patching you up."

"I promise I'll try to be more careful." Gia told her. Emma just sat on the edge of her bed, beginning to chew her lip. "Um...Emma...?"

"Can I talk to you about something?" Emma asked her. Gia just rolled her eyes.

"No, I just keep the fact I'm a fricking superhero secret from my entire family! What do you think?" Gia asked her.

"Well, I think...I think I'm kind of falling for someone." Emma told her. Gia just smiled.

"What, Ms. 'I'm saving the world single-handed' is having a crush?" Gia teased her. "Alright then, spill! Who is it?"

"Well...it's someone I've met recently."

"Oh...it is." Gia answered, a little less than enthusiastically. "By any chance does he have a habit of wearing red and not talking to anyone?"

"He might." Emma stated. "So, what do you think? Do you think I have a shot?"

"Um..." Gia muttered lowly, before looking away. "I don't know, I don't even know it Troy's into girls."

"You really think so?" Emma asked. Gia just nodded. "Well, I guess I just have to find out."

As she was about to leave, she noticed something else. She picked it up.

"Is this...is this that conch shell I gave you when we went to the beach?" Emma asked her. Gia just nodded.

"It turns out I like the sound of the ocean." Gia told her.

"Wow, all the stuff you gave up when you moved and you kept all that junk?" Emma asked her. "It almost makes me wonder about that friendship bracelet I gave you in freshman year."

"Sorry, it's long gone." Gia told her. "Thanks for the help Emma."

"Anytime." Emma replied, leaving the room. Gia lay down on her bed, and reached into her pocket, pulling out the frayed, tattered remains of a friendship bracelet, caressing it between her fingers. There was a reason she didn't like Jake, there was a reason that she never went with any of the parade of guys that constantly drooled over her. She was already in love, but there were some things even she would never say.