Hey everybody! We are so very sorry that we took this long to update this fic! We’ve both been very busy with school, work and other projects. Thanks to everyone that sent us countless of emails and messages asking about updates and whatnot. As a goal for the New Year, we will try our hardest to update this story more often! Thanks for all your patience! - BV

Disclaimer: We don’t own Power Rangers, no matter how much we want too!

-x-x-x-

“Good morning all!” Jack greeted, entering the Command Center. He noticed that Bridge and Z were sitting together like normal; Bridge was between Z and Syd while Sky sat on the other side of Z at the end near the empty chair left for him. “The Commander gave me specific orders for today.”

“What now?” Sky asked, rubbing his still bandaged head. It had only been a few days since he and Syd had been trapped in the cave, and the Blue Ranger was still on the mend.

“We’ve got a new simulator training program Kat’s created for us, in the wake of learning that Headquarters has officially labeled A Squad missing in action,” Jack started. “Let’s get going, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get our prize.”

Z and Bridge shared a look. “What prize?” the two asked in unison.

“The afternoon off.”

The group of five moved quickly to head to the simulator room.

-x-x-x-

“Everybody ready?” Jack asked loudly, noting that each of the others nodded. Bridge and Syd were off to one side of the room while Z and Sky were on the other. “GO!”

A slew of laser fire rained down on the five as they rolled, ducked and dodged the Krybots and fired at whatever was shooting at them. Suddenly, the Krybots backed off and they heard a chittering and chattering noise.

“What the heck is that?” Z ground out as she and Sky helped each other to their feet. Bridge and Jack were on the other side of the room, helping Syd up.

The strange noise got louder and louder, as if it were approaching them. Jack rolled his eyes and peeked around the corner of the wall that he, Bridge and Syd were hiding behind. “Oh man, that’s ugly!” Jack grimaced, hiding behind the wall as a shot rang out and connected with the wall near Jack’s head.

“Split up?” Sky called out.

“YES!” Jack ordered. The team split up, Syd sneaking around one way while Bridge went with Jack to give the Red Ranger cover fire. Sky and Z also split up, Sky heading to the left and Z moving to the right to help Bridge cover Jack.

“NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!” Syd suddenly screamed. The others were momentarily stunned by her outburst and the fact that she was still screaming in horror.

Sky swore under his breath when he got a good look at the monster they were fighting; it was a mutant spider. “COVER ME!” Sky hollered to the others, who did as asked while he skidded across the floor toward where Sydney lay curled in a ball, alternating between screaming and sobbing.

The others continued to fire while Sky hunched over Syd’s prone form. “Sydney?”

“NO! NO! NOT THAT! MAKE IT GO AWAY!”

Sky felt like the breath had been knocked right out of him when he saw her tear stained face; it was like being back in the cave all over again, only this time worse. “Sydney, listen to me!” Sky roared, his hands reaching down and lifting her up to face him. “Syd.”

“Sky! Please! Make it stop! Make it go away!” she cried, trembling uncontrollably.

“Sydney, listen to me,” Sky forced his voice to remain level. His heart was beating fast, not only because of the situation but because of the look on her face. “Together, Syd; we have to do this together. In order for you to overcome your fear of Spiders, you’re gonna have to face this!”

“NO!”

Sky slid his arms around her and pulled her close to him. “Yes, Sydney. Look at me!”

The harshness of his voice was just what was needed to snap her out of her daze. “Sky?”

“Together,” he told her, their eyes locking. He picked up his blaster and motioned toward hers. “Ready?”

Sydney nodded and turned with him, her body shaking as she looked upon their rival. “On three.”

“One…two…three!”

The pair started firing on the monster, their blasters ripping into it. Before long, it seemed to explode and then the simulation ended.

“Syd!” Bridge and Z cried out together, rushing toward where they knew the Pink Ranger was, Jack right behind them. What they found was Sydney in Sky’s embrace, her face buried against his chest, her sobs muted. The trio was surprised to see Sky’s head bent close to hers while he whispered something they couldn’t make out in her ear.

“I’m going to take her to her room, I think she’s had enough for today.” Sky’s voice brooked no argument from the others, who watched in shock as he led Syd out of the simulator.

“What was that all about?” Jack asked no one in particular, both Z and Bridge shrugging in response.

-x-x-x-

Halfway to Sydney and Z’s room, Sky had to pick the Pink Ranger up and carry her as her legs had simply given out on her. Sky was surprised to find that she barely weighed anything as he carried her down a (thankfully) empty hallway.

The door to the girls’ room slid open easily enough and Sky made a beeline for Syd’s bed, where he laid her nearly sleeping form down. Shaking his head, Sky moved to leave when a hand gripped his tightly. Looking down, he noticed Sydney looking up at him, tears still pooling in her eyes. “Get some sleep, one of us will come check on you in a bit, ok?”

Sky pried her hand off his and moved toward the door.

“Please don’t go. I don’t want to be alone right now.”

He stopped just in front of the door, his head bowing as he heard her fragile voice call out. Sighing, he turned around and moved back over to sit with her on her bed. Watching her lay there, Sky realized just how tiny she really was, even though most of the time she seemed larger than life and not always in a good way. He flinched slightly when she stroked her fingers across the top of his hand, but he didn’t pull away. The Blue Ranger suddenly felt himself mesmerized by the feel of Sydney’s silky finger tips dancing across his wrist and hand. In fact, he was so lost in the feeling that he never noticed that her fingers had fallen off his hand and were caressing the top of his right thigh until certain parts of his anatomy started becoming effected.

“Sydney?”

“Hmm?”

“Please, don’t do that,” he gasped softly, closing his eyes as he tried to get his body under control.

“Why?”

“Because it makes me want what I can’t have.”

Syd looked startled, though Sky never saw the look on her face because his eyes were closed and quickly sat up. She wasn’t sure what Sky meant by that comment and wasn’t entirely positive she wanted to know. However, the pained look on his face made her soften. He looked so uncomfortable. Grinning, Syd acted on impulse and did the first thing that came to mind. She kissed him.

Sky’s breath caught in his throat when he felt her petal soft lips crash into his. He had no time to think of the consequences of their actions, as his body was already betraying his mind. He was kissing her back like she was the very air he needed to survive.

Neither one of them realized it, but Sky had somehow moved them so that they were laying flat on her bed, his body covering hers. Both of them were so lost in each other that they had no concept of time.

Sydney unconsciously worked to push Sky past his limits, past reason. She moaned and whimpered and cried softly under him, her body arching toward his as his hands roamed her sides, coming dangerously close to her chest. She felt certain parts of his body respond to her vocalizations and her arching, and would have patted herself on the back had she been able to. It took her a moment to realize it, but Sky was painfully hard and throbbing against her as she worked around on the bed so that her legs were on either side of his hips, her body cradling his. She also allowed her mouth to open under his, in silent invitation. He didn’t refuse.

Their tongues began a fiery duel, each trying to out do the other by forcing their tiny muscular appendage into the other’s mouth. Sky groaned loudly when Syd’s lower half thrust up against his own, and in that instant, reality seemed to snap back into place.

Tearing his lips from Syd’s, Sky pushed up onto his hands and looked down at his teammate and arch enemy in shock and bewilderment. “What the hell are we doing?”

Sydney, too dazed to say anything merely looked up at him and felt her heart break as the iron curtain came crashing down around him, metaphorically speaking. She watched Sky’s shocked eyes grow cold seconds before he scrambled off her bed, allowing her to sit up.

“Sky?” she whimpered softly, watching him shake his head.

“We can’t do this! It’s a mistake! We don’t even like each other!” Sky yelled before he turned and rushed out the door, leaving Sydney to curl her legs up to her chest and bury her face in her knees to hide her sobs.

-x-x-x-

The day proved to be rainy as Sydney drove along the highway that would lead her to the children’s home. The clouds above were grey – it was such an ugly color, but for once Sydney didn’t mind it. The weather matched her mood exactly.

As she drove alone, the pink ranger silently cursed herself for being so stupid. What the heck had she been thinking when she kissed Sky like that? And what was worse – she had wanted it! Was there something wrong with her?

Sydney slowed down the vehicle as the stoplight ahead of her turned red. She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes, remembering the way she felt being in Sky’s arms. She had been so aroused last night… and she knew Sky had been as well. She opened her eyes… just what exactly was Sky Tate to her? They had known each other for most of their lives… spent most of the years fighting…

What happened? How did things get so screwed up like this?

She remembered being frightened beyond belief with the simulator incident yesterday… and how comforted she felt when Sky was next to her, fighting against the spider… and then afterwards in her bedroom…

She had never felt so safe.

The stoplight turned green and she continued driving.

“It makes me want what I can’t have.”

Sky’s words from last night echoed in her mind. What exactly had he meant by that? Did he have conflicting emotions like she did? And his words just before he had fled from her room – why did his words cut her so deeply?

Hate.

She didn’t understand what that word meant anymore. Whenever she had thought of that word, Sky’s name immediately came to her mind. But now… she knew she was supposed to hate him – it had been her resolve ever since she had been a little girl – but now… she couldn’t hate him anymore… and she couldn’t understand why.

Things had been so much easier when they had hated each other and argued nonstop.

The school came into view and Sydney quickly parked her vehicle before gathering her things and heading inside. She walked along the hallway, waving to the various children that were milling about and her mood brightened. Children were the absolute best.

“Sydney!”

Up ahead, she spotted Caitlynn talking with a man she didn’t recognize, Caitlynn was grinning and waving at her to come over to where she stood. Her pace became a little quicker and a few moments later, she was standing in front of them.

“Sydney,” Caitlynn smiled, gesturing to the man standing next to her. The pink ranger shifted her attention to him. “This is Bob Conrad from the Habitat for Humanity; he’s been a friend of mine for years. Bob, this is my favorite volunteer in the entire world, Sydney Drew.”

The pink ranger held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Conrad!”

Bob Conrad chuckled as he shook hands with Syd. “So you’re the little lady that’s going to be making lunches for my workers, eh?”

She nodded. “Yep! Don’t worry, all of you will be well fed!”

Bob let out another chuckle and turned back to Caitlynn. “Your volunteer is one charming lady,” he winked. “Well Caitlynn, I think we have everything under control. Thanks for your time. I’ll be seeing you ladies on Friday!”

-x-x-x-

“That was a flashback to 2003 with LeAnn Rimes and Ronan Keating’s ‘Last Thing On My Mind’ for all you romantics in New Tech City,” the D.J. blared from the radio next to him. Sky shook his head, his eyes on the blue prints on the desk before him. Mr. Conrad loved listening to the soft rock and oldies station, which is where the dial on the radio was set. Sky had to admit, some of the music was cool, but a lot of it was ballads and love songs, and he preferred alternative if given the choice.

“Tate, you finished with those blue prints yet?” Dale Burke called over the phone. Dale was a contractor and architect, the same that Mr. Conrad had used on every job they’d done for Habitat for Humanity.

“Just about! Give me ten minutes!” Sky called back, this time remembering to shut off the phone so no one else could bug him. He was having a difficult time concentrating. Every time he looked down at the blue prints, a song would come on the radio that would remind him of Sydney, and suddenly his thoughts would start wandering back to last night when he and Sydney had practically had sex on her bed.

What the hell were we thinking? Had his brain completely jumped out of his head and gone on sabbatical? He tried to shake his head to dispel the image of his body covering Syd’s, the irritating Pink Ranger moaning and whining softly under him as her body arched toward his. There had been a lot of shock there, especially when he’d felt the heat coming from her lower body. That’s what had snapped him back to reality, the simple fact that once he’d felt the heat of her he wanted nothing more than to bury himself in that heat.

This is Sydney we’re talking about, stop thinking like that! He shook his head once more. They had been enemies for years and only barely tolerated each other for the sake of the team. How the hell could things have changed so quickly? When had they changed?

His words from the night before came back to haunt him almost as much as what had happened between him and Syd. “It makes me want what I can’t have.” Did he want Sydney Drew? That was the million dollar question that he couldn’t answer.

“Sky you’re still here?” Bob asked, walking into his office and seeing the Blue Ranger sitting behind the desk.

Sighing, Sky nodded. “Yeah, still checking over the blue prints; when do we start?”

“Friday. Everyone’s meeting here and driving over together. I met with Caitlynn and her volunteers today, they seem genuinely concerned about the kids and eager to help us out with whatever we need.”

That made Sky smile. There was nothing like the welfare of a child to bring people together. “Sounds awesome. I think I’m gonna give these back to Dale and then head out. I have an early training session in the morning.”

Bob nodded. “Take care and drive safely.”

“I will.”

-x-x-x-

“Let’s face it, we’re getting no where.”

Bridge looked up expectantly from his plate of super buttery toast while Z shut her disc man off and took off her headphones. “What the heck are you talking about Jack?”

The Red Ranger stood near the bank of windows in the common room, his arms folded over his chest, gazing out at the city that was spread out below him. “I meant exactly what I said, we’re getting no where.”

“Jack?” Bridge stated before he was interrupted.

“I mean, we’re no closer to getting a truce between those two then we were when we went to the Collins and Grayson households,” Jack growled, spinning around to face his friends.

“Not entirely true,” Z pointed out, getting looks of confusion in response. “What about yesterday’s simulator incident? Those two worked pretty darn well together when they put everything aside, so much, I don’t think they even realized it.”

“The question is then, what was the key to getting them to work together? To get them to put aside their differences?”

There was a silence as the three rangers were momentarily stumped. Z sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand. “I think the question we should be asking is, what did Sky do to make Syd hate him so much?”

“Oh! Pick me! Pick me! I know! Pick me!” Bridge threw his arm up in the air and practically danced out of his seat. Jack winced when Bridge’s leg bumped the plate of toast and sent it flying, only to have Z catch it last minute and give the Green Ranger a look of mild amusement.

“What Bridge?”

“The Spider. It was the spider.” When Jack and Z looked at Bridge as if he should continue, the Green Ranger stood up and began to pace back and forth while gesturing. “Sydney started crying out in fear when she got a good look at the spider and then Sky saw what it was and took off to help her. Remember what Mrs. Grayson said about Spiders and Syd?”

The only responses that Bridge got were blank looks from the Red and Yellow Rangers. “Don’t tell me you guys forgot already?” There was a silence and Bridge let out a dramatic sigh. “She had nightmares about them when she was little!”

Jack and Z’s eyes widened and their mouths dropped open in remembrance. “You’re right!” Jack gasped. “Dana said Sydney had nightmares about a Spider monster after her first visit to the academy.”

“You don’t think that Syd somehow had to face a mutant spider in the simulator when she was trapped, do you?” Z asked, trembling slightly at the thought of a six year old Syd, like the one they saw in the pictures on the walls of the Grayson home, facing something like they had the day before. Even though it had been fake, that simulation would be enough to scare any innocent child.

Bridge’s face scrunched up while Jack’s face went hard. “Not only do I think that, I think Sky’s the one who locked her in there.”

-x-x-x-