Gavin decided that a walk outside would be the best option. He needed to cool off after their argument. The younger sibling hadn't meant to yell at Emma or explode like he had, but he had grown so frustrated with her. She had become so conditioned to prioritizing him that she didn't even realize how close she had come to losing her own life. He was just scared that one day, she really was going to die protecting him, and he needed her to understand that she needed to take care of herself.

As he walked around the neighborhood, he saw two figures materialize in front of him. He freaked out and started to run, but stopped when he heard Gia's voice calling out to him.

"Gavin, wait up!" When he turned around, he saw she was with Jake.

"Gia, I really don't want to talk to you right now. Or see your face."

Jake stepped up defensively next to his girlfriend. "Hey, come on. Tensou removed the chip and she's fine now. Metal Alice can't control her anymore."

"Yeah, well that doesn't change the fact that thirty minutes ago, she almost killed my sister. It's going to take me awhile before I start trusting her again."

Gia felt like this was justified, and knew to expect this from him. "Gavin, please. You don't have to forgive me and I know how close I came to..." She couldn't even say the words; they tasted vile in her mouth. "Look, I just want to apologize to her. I don't expect her forgiveness and certainly don't deserve her trust, but I need her to know that I'm sorry."

Gavin turned his back on her. "Whatever, she's not taking any visitors right now. You should just go."

Gia chased after him and grabbed his arm. As soon as he felt the contact, he whirled around and shoved her. "Did you not hear me? She doesn't want to see you. And I know I definitely don't want to see you either. Leave."

The words cut through Gia, and it felt like someone had reached into her chest and pulled her heart straight out. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but hearing the words out loud made the reality crash into her.

Jake caught up and grabbed her before she fell to the floor. "What the hell, Gavin? You are way out of line. None of this was even Gia's fault, and you damn well know it."

Gia tugged on his hand and whispered. "It's fine, Jake. Let's just go."

"No. He doesn't get to-"

Gavin cut him off. "You know what, Jake? Screw off. My sister has done so much for you and Gia, without asking for anything in return. She sacrifices so much for you even in battle, to keep you safe. Your girlfriend here almost ended her life and took her away from me. I had to save Emma from her! And you still just blindly side with her? Screw. You."

Before Jake could say anything back, Gia grabbed him and teleported them both out.

Gavin turned with a huff, and made the slow journey back to the house.

When he finally arrived back and opened the door, he headed up the stairs. The walk had only served to rile him up more, but he still recognized he shouldn't have raised his voice when his sister had only been trying to protect him.

He opened the door to his bedroom, and became mildly panicked seeing his sister was not there. Gavin started running around the house, trying to find her but came up with nothing. Finally, he checked the kitchen and found a note on the table.

With everything that has been going on, I totally forgot I had to work a shift. I don't have anything to pay for your dinner tonight, so I'm going to see if Ernie can pay me today. Please text me to let me know you made it home safe. We'll talk later.

Gavin read the note one more time and dropped into a nearby chair. He was relieved that nothing sinister had happened to her, but still hated that she was working after everything that had happened. It made him feel even worse for blowing up at her.

At the Brainfreeze, Emma breathed a sigh of relief when she received Gavin's text letting her know he had made it home safe. She desperately wanted to talk with him, but acknowledged talking over dinner would be better than talking while starving. Ernie watched as she got a text, and let out a little breath. She had come in wearing a turtleneck, which she never did, and her face looked worse for wear.

He could tell she had made some sloppy attempts to cover some marks on her face with makeup, but it wasn't exactly subtle. If he looked hard enough, he could see cuts on her cheek and even slight bruising. "Emma, is everything okay?"

And just like that, Emma faked a smile and tried to pretend like her face wasn't a total obvious mess. "I'm fine. Sorry I had to check my phone, it was Gavin." With that, she grabbed a tray with a sundae and rushed out to her customer. Ernie shook his head. He knew something must have happened earlier in the day, and with how exhausted she looked, he knew she most definitely shouldn't be at work.

The customer she was serving smiled and thanked her. Emma gathered up all of the empty trays and bowls, but as she turned around, a woman accidentally knocked into her. She tried to stop herself and flinched in surprise, but her arm that came up instinctively accidentally struck Emma right in the neck.

Pain suddenly shot through her and with a cry, Emma dropped everything she had been carrying in her arms. She mumbled an apology to the woman who had hit her, and bent down to start cleaning up the mess, all while trying not to scream from the aggravated injury.

The woman felt horrible for knocking into the young girl, and leaned down to help her pick up the bowls.

But when she got a better look at the teen, she gasped and dropped everything all over again.

Emma looked up to tell her that it was fine and she could pick everything up, but she froze when she saw the woman's face.

"Mom?"