A/N: Don't own. Don't sue. Flames will be used to heat my house.

When Sky woke up, his initial thought was something along the lines of, 'Why am I waking so early on my day off?' His second thought was something along the lines of, 'Today's my birthday,' and the third thought was 'Fuck.' Unlike most people who enjoy their birthday, who make up a little booklet of presents they want and distribute it to all their family and friends – and maybe that one time you accidently gave one to a stranger, but you thought he looked like someone you knew – Sky did not care for his birthday. In fact, he was pretty sure he was the only one who knew what today actually was. And he only had one birthday present he wanted, which he was adamant that he would NOT get. Sighing heavily, Sky turned onto his side facing the wall. Pulling up his covers he decided that the best way to start this birthday would be by going back to sleep.

Bridge eyed the blue ranger worriedly from his position. Normally, even on days off, as soon as Sky was awake he was up and heading for the workout room. The fact that he had gone back to sleep – mixed with the depression that Bridge could feel radiating off the older man immediately set the green ranger to solving this conundrum. But to do that he needed to know what was causing the depression. Was Sky ill? No, his actions belied any illness. He had just been talking last night of the training course he had wanted to try today – he'd even turned in a little earlier to be at his best. So it had to be something to do with the day itself. Resolving to find out what was wrong with his friend he got dressed before going to track down the rest of B-squad.

Entering the common room, Bridge found Jack and Z arguing over what to watch and Syd was paging through the latest style magazine. "Hey, Bridgey," she greeted. "Sky still working out?" Bridge shook his head, a frown marring his face.

"No, actually. That's what I wanted to talk to you guys about. He woke up like he usually does, but then he just rolled over and went back to sleep. Something about today has him seriously depressed. I don't think it's the day his dad died, but I don't know what else could be causing it."

"Maybe Dr. Manx knows. There might be something in his file that could give us a hint as to what's going on." Z offered. Bridge nodded his agreement, leading the way to her lab. After explaining the situation, she grabbed Sky's folder and began flipping through it.

"Let me see what I've got here," she stated. "No, it's not the date his dad died. Hmm, it is his birthday though." Looking up from the file, she found four chagrined faces looking at her. "He never told you his birthdate, did he?"

"But why would he never mention it?" Jack asked, clearly confused. Dr. Manx was just beginning to respond when an explosion at the back of the lab caught her attention. Boom had blown himself up again.

Pushed out of the lab, the four rangers began walking towards the blue ranger's room, trying to figure out why Sky would hide something from them. "It seems silly to hide something as mundane as your birthday," Syd stated. "I mean, we would have thrown him a party and gotten him presents, of course, but of all the secrets to keep, why your birthday?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to celebrate?" Jack asked. "I mean, he couldn't have had very many happy birthdays after his dad died…"

"Maybe we should just ask him?" Z asked. "Trying to hypothesize without any information to go on is not going to solve this." Bridge nodded his agreement and slid open the bedroom door. But Sky wasn't inside. "He's not going to make this simple, is he?"

"Z," Jack stated, "when has Sky ever made anything simple?"

Sky stared out at the vast expanse of the lake. A soft breeze was rustling the leaves of the trees, but it barely made any noise. Little ripples dotted the lake as fish came to the surface searching for food. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly. It was a positively beautiful scene. One which Sky was ignoring. Sitting on a park bench at the edge of NewTech, Sky was left alone with his thoughts. As the families had moved from the area, the lack of maintenance had overgrown the path leading to this area, and Sky was left with the comfort of knowing that he was the only one who even knew about this place anymore.

"So this is how you spend your birthdays now?" Apparently NOT the only one who knew about this place. "I mean, it's a lovely scene, lots of fresh air, but man, quite a drive."

"Hey, Romy. I didn't know you were still in the area." His friend sprawled gracelessly on the other side of the park bench.

"I'm not. Just in the area for the next couple of days," he stated, pushing unruly black locks away from his eyes. "Got to take care of some business." Sky nodded, turning his gaze from his friend, back to the water. "So what's their name?" Sky blinked at Romy's straightforwardness.

"Excuse me?" Romy just stared at him. Sky sighed; honesty was probably the best policy here. "His name is Bridge."

"So?"

"So it's not going to happen. Cruger might run a 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' institution, but he's my teammate and my roommate, not to mention the best friend I've got there." Romy rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like you don't really have much of a choice there, Sky." Sky gave him a quizzical look. "You're already in love with him, whether you want to be or not." Sky sighed, knowing that his younger friend was right. He usually was. Sky resented him just the tiniest bit for it.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Bridge asked, looking around at all the dilapidated and abandoned buildings. Jack nodded, checking his GPS one more time.

"Yeah, we're in the right neighborhood. I think that's the house we want," he stated, pointing at a house situated on the corner of two streets. It was in less disrepair than its brethren, but it still needed a good amount of fixing up and some tender, loving care. Bridge hung back as Jack walked up and knocked on the door. Syd and Z circled the house, looking around to see if anything would give them a trace as to where this missing blue ranger was. "I don't think he's here, guys! No one's answering the door!"

"Hey, check this out!" Z called. Meeting her in the backyard, she pointed to where a path used to be – though it was overgrown, it had clearly been disturbed by usage. "Should we check it out?" Jack peered into the darkness, but couldn't clearly see a thing.

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't suppose anyone has a flashlight or anything?" Blank stares were all that greeted him. "Didn't think so. Okay," he sighed. "Let's go."

Leading the way into the darkness, Jack kept his eyes peeled. The path curved and doubled back on itself so often that it would have been difficult to follow without being overgrown. As it was, they kept pausing to make sure that they hadn't lost the path. They did NOT want to be wandering mindlessly in this forest.

"Are we there yet?" Syd whined. She wanted to help her friend as much as the others, but she was tired and pretty sure they were lost. "Should we go back?"

"Shh," Jack shushed her. "Do you guys hear that?" The four rangers stood as still as stone, straining their ears. Muffled voices floated back to the, but they couldn't make out what was being said. Creeping forward so stealthily that their ninja brethren would be proud of them they finally reached the edge of the forest. "It's Sky! But who's he talking to?"

"I don't know. It looks like he knows him though. He seems to be comfortable with him," Z stated. "Should we go talk to them or stay here?"

"We'll stay here for a little," Jack stated. "Sky might not be happy that we were looking into his file, or snooping around his old place. If anything happens, we'll intervene, but it looks like they're friends." The others agreed, but Bridge kept his eyes trained on the blue ranger.

"So what's this business you've got to take care of?" Romy shrugged.

"We're doing a city clean up. Trying to get all the gangs rounded up." Sky looked at his friend with concern.

"That's pretty dangerous. You're making yourself a lot of enemies."

"I know. Someone's got to do it, though. Besides, who better to help round up gangs than the kid that used to be in yours?" Romy laughed.

"Can you be called a gang, if you were purposely trying to fight them to break them up?" Sky asked, laughing himself. He was glad he had run into Romy today. His friend could always cheer him up, even on his birthday.

"We're on record as a gang," Romy told him somewhat seriously. "But seriously, why don't you want to celebrate your birthday with your friends?" Sky sighed, agitation flitting across his face.

"I don't know. It's not that I don't like them or anything, it's just…I don't feel like there's much to celebrate." Romy opened his mouth to reply, but he saw the concentrated expression on Sky's face and followed his gaze. "Who are they?" Three men stood near the mouth of the second pathway.

"The business I'm supposed to take care of." Sky shot a sideways glance at Romy. "They're not going to be easy."

"Don't suppose we can avoid this fight?"

"No. They don't let anyone by them unless they're paid first. And if they don't pay…"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." The two friends stood as the three gang members approached. Two of the members hung back as the third, obviously the leader, approached Sky and Romy.

"You're on our turf." Sky looked at Romy and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? That's odd, because, I lived here before your gang existed and it belonged to my turf." Uneasiness seemed to spread through the two other members, but the third merely got angry.

"I don't know who it used to belong to, but it belongs to me now." A sly smile slid across Sky's face. A good confrontational fight was just what he wanted today.

"I don't think so. Tell you what? I'll fight you for it." The man glared at Romy as the teen tried to bite back a laugh. Sky barely blocked as the man decided to take him up on his offer. Blocking the right hook, Sky threw an uppercut, knocking the man off guard. He quickly recovered and aimed a kick at the blue ranger's right knee, but Sky twisted out of his way, landing a left punch to the man's kidneys before punching him in his stomach with his right hand. The man fell to his hands and knees, coughing up blood, but he got back up, fully intending on gaining the upper hand. Sky landed his last punch squarely in the middle of the man's nose and he fell crumpled to the ground, accompanied by the sound of broken bones. "How 'bout you two?" he asked, adrenaline pumping. The remaining members looked at each other before taking off running. "Did you need them?"

"Not really," Romy responded. "They're no good without this one," he stated, kicking the bottom of the man's shoe.

"Well, you should probably call so they can help you take him in." He glanced at the darkening clouds. "Might want to do that soon, it looks like rain. I'm going to head back to the academy. It was good to see you again though. Call sometime, we'll get the entire gang back together," he laughed. Romy grinned at him before giving him a quick hug.

"Later, boss man."

"Dude, what just happened?" Syd asked with wide eyes.

"He totally just kicked that guy's ass!" Jack whispered. "Without even breaking a sweat!"

"Who's that guy he was talking with?" Bridge demanded, fighting down the irrational jealousy that sprung up. Obviously he and Sky were close, Sky had even hugged him. Was he…was he dating this guy? Was Sky even into guys? Bridge was not happy. It was bad enough he had to share Sky with the hordes of fan girls. He did NOT want to share Sky with hordes of fan boys as well.

"Sky was in a gang?" Z asked incredulously. "Sky was in a gang?"

"I've got something more pressing," Bridge stated. "He's walking right towards us." Muffled curses came from the different rangers, each trying their best to blend with the scenery. Breaths were held as the blue ranger passed by their location, but either he really hadn't seen them, or he was cutting them a break and they went undiscovered. A collective whoosh escaped from the remaining rangers and nervous chuckles abounded.

"Man, I can't believe we pulled that off."

"You didn't." The four rangers whirled, coming face to face with Romy. "Want to tell me why you're stalking y friend?"

"We…we found out it was his birthday." Syd started tentatively. "We wanted to know why he hadn't told us, why he didn't want to celebrate." Giving the four rangers a calculated look, Romy decided to go all in.

"Alright, the truth? Sky doesn't celebrate unless he feels like there's something to actually celebrate. He's not going to make you a list of everything he wants for his birthday, because Sky's a man of needs. And right now, he doesn't need anything. But…" he continued, talking over the four rangers. "There is something that he wants." He paused as eager eyes watched him intently. "He likes someone. And he's afraid that if he says anything, it'll ruin their friendship." Bridge felt a stab of hurt run through him. Sky liked someone and he hadn't said anything to him? He thought they were closer than that…

"So who is it? Is it someone we know? Maybe we can ask them what they think of Sky!" Syd exclaimed excitedly. Romy nodded with a grin on his face.

"Bridge." He stated. The green ranger's head whipped up.

"Yeah?" Romy laughed.

"No, you're who he likes."

"ME?" he asked, eyes wide in disbelief and wonder. "Really?" Romy nodded.

"Oh, Bridgey this is perfect! We can give you as the most perfect birthday present ever! Sky will be so pleased! Come on, we need to get you ready!" Syd grabbed the green ranger, tugging him back down the pathway to the road.

"Uh, okay?" Jack asked, confused. "Thanks for your help." Romy smiled.

"I don't like seeing him miserable. If he's miserable, I hear about it."

"Talk a lot?" Z asked.

"No, I'm dating his cousin."

When Sky entered the academy he found it to be suspiciously quiet. He walked carefully down the hallway, keeping ears and eyes peeled. He was still amped up from the fight and was ready to get into another one with enough prompting. Noticing a light flickering in the common room, he eased around the door jam and froze solid at the sight that greeted him. A humongous birthday cake stood on a table in the middle of the room; the flickering light had been the lit candles.

"Happy Birthday!" Sky's gaze slid from on smiling face to the next but he didn't move a muscle, not quite trusting himself at the moment. The grins slid from his teammates' faces and a worried concern replaced them.

"Sky? Are you alright," Jack asked tentatively.

"Don't you like it? We know you don't particularly like celebrating, but…well, we think your birth is something to celebrate." Syd stated. Z and Bridge hung back, watching the blue ranger, trying to read what he was feeling.

"How – " he cleared his throat, which he suddenly found choked with emotion. "How did you find out?"

"Bridge sensed you were depressed. We thought maybe…anyways, Dr. Manx found out it was your birthday when she was going through your file."

"Is this okay?" Bridge asked, eyes searching his friend's face. Sky nodded dumbly.

"Yeah, it's…thanks." The tension eased from the room and soon a jovial mood took its place. Pizza was ordered and enjoyed, the rangers laughing as Bridge did his best to inhale the breadsticks before anyone else could have one. Movies were pulled out and watched until the wee hours of the morning, when Cruger found them passed out on the sofa, the latest slasher movie playing on the TV. Banished to sleep in their rooms, Sky stopped to thank his friends for the day.

"Hey man, it's no problem. We're just glad Bridge brought it to our attention." Jack said, smiling.

"Where is Bridge?" Sky asked, looking around for the green ranger.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up," Z stated, elbowing Syd in the side when she started to snicker. Sky eyed his friends worriedly. "Go on, go to bed. Scoot." Z shooed him.

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Sky laughed. As the door slid open, he flicked on the lights, freezing inside the doorway. "Bridge? How…?"

"Syd," came the short reply. There, on his bed, laid the green ranger, hands tied to the bedframe and a bow wrapped around his middle.

"But…"

"It was my idea." He stated. A slow grin started on the blue ranger's face.

"Well, he stated, shutting the door." In that case…"

Hit the review button. Hit it...