Jenny didn't hear from Sarah all morning, despite the text messages she had sent asking if Sarah was okay and if she wanted to be picked up. She didn't know where Calvin lived exactly, and so couldn't just stop by to check in for herself. Eventually, she decided just to text Hayley and get an update from the white Ranger.

"How is Sarah doing?"

Her phone buzzed when Hayley replied.

"She's feeling better."

"I wanted to stop by. Can I get the address?"

"I'll ask Sarah."

Jenny found that response weird. Why would Hayley need to ask Sarah the address for Calvin's house? Or was she asking if it was okay with Sarah if Jenny came by? And if she was, why wouldn't it be?

"Maybe give it a little more time," Hayley's message read. "Sarah's not ready to see you."

Jenny put her phone down. Why didn't Sarah want to see her? Why couldn't she stop by?

"Look at this!" Shane said as he placed a magazine down in front of Jenny, showing her a skateboard that to her looked like all the others he had ever owned. "A must have."

"That's great, Shane," she responded absent-mindedly. Shane noticed she had her phone next to her hand on the counter.

"Was that Sarah? Is she doing okay?"

"That was Hayley."

"Is Sarah okay?" Shane felt concern growing in him. His time as a Ranger had taught him to stay calm when his friends, or the people he cared about, were in trouble. Panic wouldn't help them. He had also learned to relax once they were finally out of trouble. The morphing grid, or whatever Cam had called it once, chose its Rangers for a reason. They were strong, they were resilient. Little could keep them down, especially once they had their friends by their side.

Still, he hadn't heard from Sarah all day, so for the first sign of contact to be through Hayley did spark a little worry in him.

"I don't think she wants to talk to me," Jenny said. She looked up at Shane, "I think she's mad."

"At you?"

"I did everything I could," Jenny argued. "I mean, as soon as I heard there was trouble I…"

"Jenny, you can talk yourself crazy trying to figure out how Sarah feels, it's not going to help," Shane said. "You just have to ask her."

"I just tried and she turned me down."

"We don't know what Kathryn told her," Shane told his sister. "And we know it'll be some time, still, before Sarah's back to herself. You can't let this work you up. Maybe it's better to wait until she is feeling better."

"I want to be there for her, Shane," Jenny said. "She needs someone…"

"She's got someone. Five someones," Shane chuckled. He took his sister's hands. "She'll be okay."

"I'm just… I'm worried about her."

"I know," Shane nodded. He took his sister in his arms.

-Ninja-Steel-

As the day went on, Sarah had little time to herself. Her friends were all checking in on her, taking turns or staying with her in groups. She knew they wanted to be sure she was okay and they were worried that something would happen if she was on her own. She did enjoy their company, but she was starting to feel a little suffocated.

They let her have a little time to herself after dinner, sensing her frustration with them was starting to build. Irritability, she had learned, was part of her recovery, and while she did her best to keep it under control, if any of her friends asked her one more time how she was feeling, she wasn't sure she would be able to stop herself from clocking them in the jaw.

She sat on Calvin's bed, her fingers tracing her hoverboard, which she kept by her side. Calvin had shown her a good time in the morning when he let her teach him how to ride, but that wasn't what preoccupied her mind.

Her dad had helped her forget, and it worked in his favour that most of her memories with her mother would have been at an age where she was too young to have them stick. However, there were some things she never truly would have been able to forget.

It had all flooded back to her when her mother had called her by her former name.

Sarah Baker – the daughter of a prostitute. The child used by a pimp to lure other girls into his business.

She had been honest with Mick when she promised that Drex never touched her as a child. It wasn't his thing. He barely paid any attention to her unless he could use her to find new girls or to keep the police from looking at him twice. However, that didn't stop him from leaving his mark on her.

The screams of her mother and the other woman under his care echoed in her head. She remembered being told to ignore what happened as she ate, and was often put in front of the TV as a distraction. When that didn't work and she started to cry, she remembered being locked in her bedroom.

She remembered feeling hungry, or sad, or scared and asking her mother for attention. She remembered not getting it and starting to cry. Drex hated when she cried and would often yell at her to stop. He would grab her roughly by the arm and threaten that if she didn't stop, he'd leave her on the streets to die. She remembered once day, he dumped her in her crib, pretty much dropping her as soon as he knew she would fall inside. She had been old enough then that she managed to climb out. He shut the door to her room when he left so she hit it with her little fists.

He had been mad. He had been so mad that he pushed the door wide open, smacking her down as he did. She screamed louder, now in pain as well as in need of attention. She cried out for her mother. Drex pulled on her arm.

"Shut up!" he shouted at her and Sarah screamed louder. She was in pain, she needed attention, and now she was scared. In the corner of her eye, she remembered seeing her mother sitting on the couch, paying no mind to her or to the way Drex hurt her.

Sarah's cries didn't stop, so Drex smacked her on the butt. It hurt, so she cried louder, again for her mother to help her. Drex told her to shut up, then smacked her again.

Sarah was screaming so loud now, she hurt her own ears. Drex was fed up and took her under his arm and brought her down to the basement, where her new aunts would stay before she got to meet them. Finally, she heard her mother protest.

"Drex…"

"I'm just shutting her up," he answered as he carried her down the stairs. Sarah couldn't remember if he owned a dog, but knew he must have because there was a dog cage ready for him. He shoved her inside, locked her in and then left. Her screams now muted by distance.

Sarah remembered fighting her cage. She stomped her feet in anger, grabbed the bars and rattled it as much as she could, but she didn't get out. She screamed and screamed until her little body was too tired. She fell asleep on the cold metal floor.

When she woke up, there was a sippy cup with water for her and the dog bowl had been filled with fruit loops.

The fruit loops and her water had both been long gone before Drex finally came down to get her. He pulled her weak, tired body out of the cage and forced her to stand in front of him.

"One more cry out of you, for anything," he had said, "and this is where you're going to live. Understood?"

A hand touched her shoulder. Sarah jumped out of her thoughts. She found Brody looking to her.

"You okay?" he asked. Sarah wiped the tears from her face and nodded.

"Just thinking."

"Anything you want to talk about," he said. "Anything at all?"

"Are you on Sarah duty?"

"I'm your friend," he said. He sat down on the bed. "Hayley heard again from your step-mother."

"Oh."

"She's still asking if she can come."

"Brody…"

"You don't have to say yes, Sarah, but maybe it's a good idea to talk to someone who knows," he suggested.

"She doesn't know."

"Sarah…"

"She doesn't know because I wasn't old enough to tell dad anything," Sarah said. "By the time I was old enough to realize living in a whore house wasn't normal, I had forgotten about it."

Brody nodded his head, "You block out the bad stuff, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I did too," Brody said. "Up on Galvanax' ship, it wasn't always secret chats with Mick and RedBot and pretending like I was doing my job, you know."

Sarah let herself relax a little. Brody had been very forthcoming about his time on Galvanax's ship when she and Preston had first met him. He told them how Galvanax killed his father and took him as a prisoner. On the ship was where he met RedBot and Mick, and ten years later, they helped him to escape.

But that was all Sarah knew. Until now, it never occurred to her that that wasn't the whole story.

"I had free range on that ship because Galvanax drilled it into me that if I even thought about leaving, I'd be in for a world of hurt," Brody said, and then lifted his shirt to show Sarah some scars. They were long since healed, but Brody's message was clear. "You didn't think the monster trying to conquer the whole galaxy would treat his prisoners with compassion, did you?"

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Brody smiled. "I remembered being scared, alone in my cell. I missed my dad, I was worried for Aiden. I'm pretty sure I was crying, too. Mick was in the cell next to me. He talked me down and then got me to talk about what I had been through. Once I shared it, it didn't feel as heavy."

"Do you still think about it?"

"All the time," Brody nodded. "I have nightmares too. I always have. It's part of the deal, I guess. You know, it's never not going to hurt, but it gets easier."

"Drex was abusive," Sarah said. "When I realized I was back with him, it's like… it's like that power he had over me before was back. Even when I tried to fight it, I didn't feel strong enough."

"That's not the case anymore," Brody told her. "You got out of there. You did beat him."

"But Brody, I was scared."

"Galvanax terrifies me," Brody said. "But what lets me face him, face all those monsters that hurt me before is knowing I have my friends with me. You and the others make me feel stronger."

"He's not going to hurt you again," Sarah promised Brody. He nodded and smiled back at her.

"Drex can't hurt you either. Not while you have us," he said. "You're not alone against him anymore."