"Emma, wait!" Jordan went after his girlfriend and the rest of the boys were on his heels. They didn't know what had lit a fire under her ass, but they weren't going to let her go tackle the problem alone. They were all still getting to know each other, but even a blind man would have seen the look of rage and hurt on Emma's face once Cliff was named.

Jake had a little bit of an idea, but he hated to assume the worst. Gia had spoken of another guy, before Mick and Alex, who had hurt her badly. She hadn't named him, or said anything about what he had done but Jake had seen he had left some scars.

Jordan caught up to Emma and grabbed her arm. She had fled the school quickly, but as she reached the street she slowed down. Harwood County was a big place. Emma had no idea where to start looking for Cliff or for Gia. All she needed to do was find one of them, but searching for two needles in a haystack was really no easier than just one.

"Cliff is the last guy Gia dated," it was a huge violation of trust. Emma had been sworn to secrecy and breathing a word about what had happened to anyone put her friendship with Gia on the line. Once a secret was out, there was no way to take it back. But Emma valued Gia's safety over her friendship. She would rather have Gia hating her for the rest of their lives than see Cliff hurt her once more. "He's the reason Gia has a hard time trusting guys."

"He hurt her?" Troy asked.

Emma nodded and looked down at her hands. She played with her fingers nervously and tried to hold back her tears, "Imagine… imagine Mick and Alex… but longer, more often, and just… worse. Way, way worse. We were freshmen. He was a senior. He asked her out in October. At first everything was fine. For a while, everything looked fine. But then I started to notice bruises, and Gia started acting differently. I tried to call her out on it, but it pushed her away… it pushed her into Cliff's arms. We fell out until the summer. Cliff had one more night with her and then in the morning, when she woke up, he was gone. He left for college and was never heard from again. Gia came to my place. She was too scared to tell her parents, and mine were out of town, so they wouldn't find out. I cleaned her up and she told me everything. She made me promise not to tell."

"First thing's first, I guess," Troy placed a gentle hand on Emma's shoulder and looked to the boys, "We find Gia or Cliff and make sure we keep them apart."

"Then we'll make sure Gia knows you had no choice," Jordan assured Emma as he wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Even she needs to know that sometimes trust needs to be broken. She'll understand."

"I can go after Gia," Emma nodded her head and looked to Jordan to see if he would follow. He gave her a little smile. She turned to Noah, "Can you, Troy, and Jake try to find Cliff? You remember what he looks like?"

"Not going to forget any time soon," Noah said as he pointed to his bruises. Jake put his arm around his best friend.

"Noah's great with faces. He'll know Cliff as soon as he sees him."

"Thanks guys. And if you do run into Gia… don't let her know I told you guys this," Emma looked up at all the boys pleadingly, "I'll tell her myself once everything's calmed down."

"Promise," the boys assured her and Jake gave Troy and Noah a tap on the back. He pointed down the street and they were off. Emma looked up at Jordan.

"We need to find her first. Before anyone else."

"Where would she go?"

Emma shrugged her shoulders. She started to walk down the path in the opposite direction of the boys. She had no idea where to start looking, but she wouldn't find Gia by standing around.

-Megaforce-

Serena followed Gia to the outskirts of town and into a forest. She kept the younger girl in her sights but didn't dare approach her yet. Gia looked like she knew where she wanted to be and Serena would let her get there. By now, it was obvious to Serena that there was something deeply upsetting Gia. She knew from her many years of dealing with an upset Emily that Gia needed to find somewhere safe before she would open up. It was bad enough a complete stranger was trying to pry into her deepest, darkest secrets, Gia didn't need to feel forced to open up somewhere she didn't feel safe.

The walk through the forest was a long one. Serena stumbled over roots, logs, and even rocks, but she never let Gia out of her sights and eventually found the girl sitting beside what looked to be a very tall weed. She came out of the bushes and sat down beside Gia.

"Is it boy troubles?"

Gia let out a sigh, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm good with secrets. I won't tell Ms. Chesterfield anything if you don't want me to. This can stay between us."

"You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you something, are you?"

"I just want to help," Serena said. "I took this job for my sister. Well, more because I needed money for my son…"

"So I'm just a paycheck," Gia glared at Serena's stomach. Serena shook her head.

"I was single and pregnant, and too proud to accept my uncle's money as my only source of income, so he found me a job in a school. I help deal with bullies back at Panorama High. I also just go around helping the students there with anything they need. From homework to personal issues they don't want to talk to their parents about. I love my job. I love it, mostly, because I can stop what happened to my sister from happening to anyone else."

"What happened?"

"Kids at school tore her apart. She would come home crying every day because of the things they said. The things they did."

"So she was bullied. Fine, that sucks. Whatever…"

"Gia, I don't doubt you're an amazing girl. Ms. Chesterfield showed me your assignments, your tests, and past report cards. I've never seen anything so flawless before, and believe me, if you met my friend Kevin, you would know that's a big… well, that's a big deal for me."

"I like doing things right," Gia shrugged her shoulders. "What's wrong with that?"

"Absolutely nothing. It shows me you're a very smart girl. Except that last pop quiz I saw. You failed it."

"So?"

"Your teacher's worried. Chesterfield is worried. Your best friend is worried. I'm worried. You're a very smart and very beautiful girl, Gia. Why aren't you enjoying that?"

"I can't."

"Why?"

Leaves rustling caught Gia's attention and she looked up. She was so far out in the woods she was sure no one would find her. The only person who had ever been this far out before was Emma. A little part of hoped her best friends had found her. But her heart sank, her stomach turned, and all the colour drained from her face when she saw Cliff.

"You were the nature lover, right?" Cliff asked her with a smirk. "Get up. We're going for that date."

"Do you mind?" Serena asked him and then looked to Gia, "You know him."

"I'm her boyfriend," Cliff said as he grabbed Gia's arm and roughly pulled her up. Serena got to her feet.

"Gia, you said you didn't have a boyfriend. Is it true?"

"Of course it's true…"

"I want to hear it from Gia," Serena said and looked the younger girl in the eyes. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yes," Gia whispered. Cliff smirked at Serena before turning away. He pulled Gia with him.

"I missed you, babe."

A tight, painful squeeze of her arm told Gia what to say, "I missed you too."

Serena shook her head, "Oh, hell no," she reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone while silently following Cliff and Gia back towards the city. "C'mon, Ji…"

"Hello?"

"It's Serena. You don't have friends in Harwood, do you?"

"How soon do you need them?"

Serena stopped and looked at her phone. She was thankful the answer was yes, but there had to come a time where Ji didn't have any available friends to help. She shook her head before putting the phone to her ear again.

"As soon as they can get here. And once I know exactly where here is, I'll text you."

"What's going on? Is the kid that bad?"

"I don't like her boyfriend."

"Be careful, Serena. I'm in touch with my friends now. They'll be ready for you when you need them."

"Thanks, Ji."

Serena hung up her phone and followed Gia and Cliff to the end of the forest. She watched them get into a car and groaned. There was no way she could keep up with them on foot.

She placed her hand on her stomach, "It's not abuse if it's to help someone else, is it, kiddo?"

She stretched out her hand and discreetly traced a small Symbol. She pushed it towards the car and it attached itself to the trunk. Serena then reached into her pocket and pulled out her Samuraizer.

She was no fool. When she had gotten the call from a school in Harwood County and accepted the temporary position, she knew she would be staying in a city where there were monsters attacking. Fortunately, the city had its own team of Rangers, so the Samurai didn't need to come out of retirement, but they did keep their eye on the news. When Serena knew she would find herself back in a city under attack, she got her Samuraizer from Ji just as extra protection.

She flipped open her Samuraizer and smirked. There was a signal on the screen and it told her exactly where the car was. Not wanting Cliff and Gia to know they were being followed, Serena waited for the car to drive off into the distance before she summoned herself a horse to bring her back to the city.