A/N: I wanted to keep the story focused on Emma and her relationship primarily with Gia and with Gavin. However, I am open to giving her a love interest. Would you guys want Emma to have a love interest or is it too much too fast? And if so, who would it be? Please PM me or review with suggestions if you would like :)
Anyways, on to the story.
It was the following day, and Emma's first on the job. Gavin had elected to stay home to catch up on his studies. Between the move and his constant treatments, he was far behind everyone else in his grade. While he stayed home, the rest of the rangers met up at the Brainfreeze to keep Emma some company.
As she walked over with all their shakes, they all tipped her a healthy amount. Emma glared at them and told them not to do that, but they insisted anyways. She was aware that it was their disguised attempt at helping her financially, and she hated that they felt obligated. But she was grateful for everything they were doing to help her out.
The pink ranger hadn't slept the previous night. Too many things were racing through her mind for her to be able to sleep peacefully. Chief among them was Gavin's condition worsening. She hoped and prayed that he would get better and that eventually he could live a normal and healthy life, but it didn't seem the fates were in agreement with her. Emma wanted nothing more than for her brother to be happy and safe, and she felt powerless knowing there was nothing she could do to help.
She was also plagued by the fact that they were barely scraping by on funds. Gavin called home every couple of days and had recently updated their mother, who also hadn't taken the news too well. Both Emma and Olivia were worried about Gavin's health, and neither were making enough to cover the extra costs.
Emma sat down with her friends to chat for a bit, then went in the back to talk with Ernie.
He looked at the teenager and didn't see the Emma he had always known. Now, it was like she was a shell of her former self. She never seemed to smile anymore, and her entire body would sag as she walked. He could tell she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in a while, and wanted to send her home to rest.
He thought that was what she had come to ask, but instead, she asked for another shift.
"Emma, you look exhausted. You should rest. Maybe after a full night's sleep, you can pick up another shift tomorrow." Emma looked at him with pleading eyes, even though she knew he was right. But Troy had scheduled mandatory team training, and that meant she couldn't work extra. The siblings needed the extra money.
Ernie took one look at the desperation in her eyes, and reluctantly nodded. "I'll give you one extra shift. But you should go home a little bit before the shift ends. I'll still pay you for the time."
Emma smiled gratefully at him. Throughout the entire ordeal, he had been nothing but helpful to her and Gavin. She couldn't express in words how much it meant to her that Ernie was doing all he could to help out.
Just then, Emma's morpher went off. She played it off, saying it was a special ringtone to signal a call from Gavin, so she would be alerted immediately if he needed her.
"Gavin needs me right now, but I'll be back as soon as I can to finish that extra shift." With that, she ran off and left in a hurry with the rest of her friends.
Ernie shook his head as the exhausted teenager ran out yet again, to something he was sure would just stress her out more.
The rangers arrived on the scene to find Vrak and an army of Loogies. He momentarily started in surprise to see the pink ranger was there.
"I thought I had shot you with my new weapon... You should be dead."
Gia trembled with fury, remembering how much pain her friend had been in, and what trouble Vrak's attack had caused. "She's not dead. But you're about to be." Vrak watched as the yellow ranger charged at him with reckless abandon, and brought out the blaster. Even if it couldn't kill the rangers, it clearly had done serious damage and could at least put them out of commission. The rest of the rangers were kept busy with the Loogies, so he aimed at Gia and fired.
She saw it coming and rolled out of the way of the blast, watching as it hit some Loogies behind her. Their suits were not as strong or protective as the ranger suits, so they vaporized into thin air. Gia's heart raced a bit faster as she saw them completely disappear. She knew if she got hit with one blast, it would be game over. She took out her Megaforce Blaster, and aimed for Vrak's weapon, knocking it out of his hand.
Troy broke free of the Loogies and joined her, kicking the weapon far away from Vrak's reach. When he noticed the tide of the battle start to shift, Vrak fled and sent down an insect monster in his stead.
By this time, the Loogies had been incapacitated and the rangers were able to quickly finish off the new monster.
Gavin was at home, watching the attack on the news. Watching Emma run towards trouble and put her life in jeopardy on a regular basis always made him nervous, so Noah had dug up an old TV from his basement and hooked it up to the news for him. It didn't do anything to settle Gavin's nerves, but at least he knew that his sister was alive.
He watched as the monster grew several sizes too big, and released a large sigh of relief when he saw the rangers defeated him with no issues.
Back on the battlefield, the rangers celebrated their victory. As Troy, Gia, Jake, and Noah all hugged and gave each other high fives, Emma started walking back to the Brainfreeze.
She couldn't miss her extra shift.
