After she had calmed down, the exhaustion of the day took its toll on her. She and Gavin decided skipping school would be the best option. Remembering how everyone reacted once the news of Vrak's hospital attack got out, both of the siblings knew it would be impossible to go to school after everyone found out about the Brainfreeze. They both decided they would try to lay low for a week or so, just until the news wasn't so fresh and shocking, and re-evaluate the situation later.

With that decision out of the way, the siblings fell asleep in Gavin's room. For the first time in what felt like forever, Gavin watched his sister fall right to sleep and with not having to go to school, she would finally be getting a full night of rest. With that comfort, he fell asleep, knowing he'd need it for the coming weeks. With Olivia in town and here to stay, and everything with the attack, it didn't seem like things around the Goodall house would be calming down anytime soon.

The following morning around ten, Emma was woken up by an incessant knocking on the door. She didn't think it was any of her friends since school was in session, but if the knocking was persistent enough to wake her, she knew she should go check.

Gavin was still sleeping and her mother's door was closed, so she opened the front door as quietly as she could manage. She was surprised to see Gia on the other side. She was about to ask her best friend why Gia wasn't in school, but found that her best friend was already entering the house and closing the door behind her. When her eyes landed on Emma's neck, tears filled her eyes and she pulled her best friend in for a hug.

"Emma, I'm so sorry. I tried to stop myself... I just couldn't break the control. I never wanted to hurt you. I know you can't forgive or trust me, and I don't expect you to, but I'll never hurt you again."

Emma returned the hug and tried to soothe her hysterical friend. "Gia, I understand. Like I said to you in the warehouse, it's not your fault. You were being controlled and no one blames you but yourself. You probably don't believe me, but you're forgiven. Don't beat yourself up over this."

Her reaction only made Gia more upset. Emma sighed and walked Gia to her room upstairs so they could talk in a more private area. Gia sat down on the bed, but kept her head down to avoid eye contact.

"Emma, you're allowed to be upset with me. I hurt you, and probably scared you. You should be mad at me. I know you didn't want to see me yesterday and-"

"Who said I didn't want to see you? All I wanted to do was talk to you and make sure you didn't blame yourself. Yeah, I tried to avoid you but that was because I didn't want you to see my neck and feel guilty. It wasn't because I was angry or didn't want to talk."

Gia looked up, a bit more hopeful. "It was Gavin. Jake and I were on our way over so I could talk to you, and we ran into him. He must have been on a walk. He kind of blew up at us and after he said you didn't want to see me, we left. If you needed space, I was going to respect that. But I couldn't keep holding it in and I couldn't sleep thinking about it, so I came over."

"Well, I'm glad you did. Seriously, I'm not upset with you and whatever Gavin said, I'm sure he didn't mean. He was only outside because he was trying to cool off. We had a fight and things got out of hand, so emotions were high. He probably didn't mean to say anything hurtful."

Gia just nodded and wrung her fingers nervously. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?" Gia finally looked into her friend's face and studied it thoroughly for the first time that day, and was taken aback by the swelling in her friend's cheek. It was from when the man punched her in the Brainfreeze.

"Oh god, did I do that?"

Emma gave her a funny look. "Gia... Have you seen the news from last night? Wait, how did you know to come here and not the school?"

"I assumed you wouldn't be at school after the attack from yesterday. I can't imagine you'd want to go and answer questions all day about why you look like someone tried to choke you to death. And no, I didn't see the news. Why? What's going on?"

The pink ranger reached out and grabbed her friend's hand. She gave it a squeeze and told her about what had went down at the Brainfreeze, only leaving out the details of her mother. She didn't want anyone to know until things settled down a little bit.

Gia, of course, went white with panic. She re-checked her friend again, this time looking hard for any other signs of injuries. "What the hell, Emma? You should have called for help. If there's a situation like that, you run away from the gun. Not towards it!"

"My morpher was too far to reach without drawing attention, so I couldn't call you guys. And the silent alarm already went off and the cops were on their way. I would have appreciated it if they had gotten there one minute faster, or the gunman had decided not to try and shoot the little kid, but I knew it would be okay. I took a calculated risk and it paid off. I'm okay Gia, I promise."

The yellow ranger was placated slightly, and instead of continuing to interrogate her, she settled for a hug. "When are you going to stop worrying me? A heart attack related to you is going to kill me long before anything Vrak does."

Emma let out a little laugh. "I'll try to stop." At that moment, Gavin burst into the room in a panic.

He breathed in relief when he saw his sister was fine and just in her room. After what had happened the previous night, he was extra worried about her. When he woke up to an empty bed, he immediately fell into a panic and sprang up to look for her. Once he assured himself Emma was okay, he registered another presence in the room.

"Oh, hey Gia."

Upon seeing Gavin, she remembered his blow-up and lowered her head again. Some of the initial guilt washed back over her. "Hey Gavin. I just came to apologize and make sure Emma was okay, but I can leave if you want."

The boy shook his head. "Don't go. Look... I'm sorry I said what I said yesterday. I didn't mean it and I don't blame you. I was just emotional and scared after what happened and I was wrong to point the finger at you. It wasn't your fault you were being controlled and you couldn't do anything to stop it."

Gia stood up and in a move that surprised everyone, she pulled in the younger boy for a hug. "You were totally justified to blow up at me. I know I have to work to earn your trust back, but I really am sorry. And I promised myself I would never do anything to put Emma in harm's way again, but if some otherworldly demon influence comes over me, I'll be more upset if you don't hurt me and she ends up dying as a result."

Gavin hugged her back with a little smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

The three got five minutes of peace to themselves, talking about the attack the previous night when they heard a soft knock on Emma's door.

It opened slowly and Olivia's voice drifted through. "Gavin, Emma, I'm making breakfast. What do you guys wan-"

When she saw Gia was sitting there, she abruptly stopped. "Oh- I... Hello."

Gia looked in between the stranger and the two siblings and the resemblance was all too apparent. She knew who this woman was. Emma sighed.

"Mom, this is Gia. She's my best friend. Gia, this is my mom."