.

Shield

"Hey Syd? Want some hot buttery titties?"

"What?"

"Toast…I mean toast."

"Yeah…of course…"

Despite the words, Sydney Drew actually believed Bridge. Believed him because anyone who ate buttered toast while doing a one-handed handstand obviously was a few diamonds short of a ring, and while the brain needed blood to function, having so much dumped on it presumably led it to function in other ways. Believed him because in light of the third member of the trio's silence, any words were to be valued.

"You know…" Bridge continued. "You're welcome to have some."

"I'll pass," Syd said. "Besides…my nails are wet."

"I'll have some."

Syd watched as Sky leaned over from the couch, picking up one of the slices of buttered toast that Bridge had piled up beside him, as if trying to make the bread do its own handstand. Resting his book to one side, he took a bite.

"Nice."

Syd smirked. "Wow Sky, that's four words from you in less than ten seconds."

He didn't answer. He was already back to reading his book in one hand and eating the toast in the other. Kind of like Bridge, only spread out horizontally rather than vertically.

"You know…" the only female cadet of B-squad continued. "You could…you know, act like you're on the same planet as us."

Still B-squad's 'leader' (or at least, according to the 'leader' himself) remained silent. Unless turning the page of his book counted as talking.

"Still looking up regulations?"

"Actually, it's War and Peace."

"Huh?" Bridge asked from his handstand. "Seems like a contradiction."

Sky remained silent.

It was funny, Syd reflected, how the team dynamic, or lack of it, seemed to be taking shape. Maybe it was what SPD wanted them to be, if you used A-squad as a template. Strong, silent, dedicated to duty…Only A-squad actually communicated as far as she was aware. Not that Sky was totally unresponsive, but she'd noticed a pattern forming. Sky either communicated when he wanted something (e.g. bread) or to discuss anything that pertained to cadet/ranger operations…such as specifying that no, he wasn't refreshing himself on regulations, but was reading something else that might qualify as required reading the same way as The Art of War did. Boring, little use to the real world and the type of thing you could bury yourself in to the detriment of outside contact.

So this is my life…the cadet reflected. At this rate I won't even get to wear pink.

"Well…" said Bridge, getting down from his handstand. "I'm famished."

"What? You just ate ten pieces of toast."

"Yeah, but it'll take time to get down to my stomach," the cadet smirked. "Thinking power isn't the only reason I use handstands you know."

And with that he left. Off to get toast, cake and maybe help Boom out in the lab. Poor guy needed it after breaking his leg yesterday.

"You know…" Syd said as the doors of the rec. room closed. "You might want to head out too. Learn the layout of the streets…fight some alien on the holodeck…"

Sky still remained silent. Was the book really that interesting, Syd wondered. Or was he just being more of a jackass than usual.

"Hey," she said, picking up a notepad off the table. "I'm talking to you."

And still the cadet refused to respond. Still he continued to read his bloody book.

Alright, that's it.

Wackiness? Syd could deal with that-Bridge and Boom were examples. Excessive authority? Not nice, but at least Commander Cruger was fair. But if there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being ignored, and if throwing the notebook on the table at the jerk across the room was the only way to get the attention, so be it.

Take that you prig…

Only Sky didn't take it. He reacted to it...but only in as much as forming a shield to his side. The notebook bounced off harmlessly. Still, he at least briefly glanced in her direction.

"You missed."

"Want me to try again?" Syd asked, drawing out the iron nugget she kept on hand at all times. "Could be a bit more…direct."

"Go ahead. Cruger might kick you out, but hey, B-squad needs new cadets regardless."

"Ah, so you can form detailed sentences."

Sky looked…it was hard to tell. Was he making an effort to look impassive, or did it just come naturally even in the midst of threats of being pummelled by a literal iron fist?

"Threaten me all you like," the cadet said. "But you're not going to use your fisticuffs on me."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Your nails."

…shit.

Syd got up, flexing her hands. She needed the varnish to dry, and regardless, she was sick of just sitting around. Talking however…well, as infuriating as Sky "I'm so awesome" Tate was, it was kind of amusing. A chipping away at the boulder scenario, and if she could make him bleed, so much the better. Figuratively speaking of course.

"You know…" Syd said eventually. "I think I've just realized something."

Sky didn't answer. He was back to being his moody self.

"I think our powers are symbolic."

The cadet still remained silent.

"Take Bridge," for example. "Psychometry. The ability to sense essences…kind of like the insights he always gets…or claims to get…"

"And you," Sky answered. "An iron hand…didn't know rocks represented varnish, but-…"

"And, there's you," Syd interrupted. "Shield man. Nothing in, nothing out. Cripes, you don't even need your power to be a blank slate."

Sky turned to face her. And this time, he actually sat forward on the couch instead of just glancing in her direction.

"A blank slate…" he began. "Is what we all are. What we need to be. A slate to be filled in by SPD, to-…"

"Respond to me without quoting the SPD gospel, and I might give you the time of day."

Sky grimaced. Syd grinned. Somewhere down the hallway were exclamations of "Boom, what the hell is going on here?"

"Whatever…" Sky said, getting to his feet and tossing his book to one side. "I'm hitting the gym."

"Sure…" Syd said. "Don't forget to use your shields in case someone wants to talk to you."

Sky grunted. The doors opened and closed. Kind of like the man that walked through them, the cadet reflected. Briefly opening, quickly closing and letting few other people walk through them.

She wondered if someday, a member of B-squad might be one of them.

A/N

The idea for this came from the latest episode of History of Power Rangers, namely focussing on SPD. Amongst the always thoughtful analysis, Linkara raised an interesting point in that the powers of the five main SPD Rangers could reflect aspects of their personality. In the case of Sky, there was that of the shield-not letting anything in, nor letting anything out. A physical barrier to reflect the emotional barriers he had early in the series. Anyway, came up with this as a result.