After the Fall

Jack sighed and rolled his neck on his shoulders as he drove along the quiet streets of New Tech City. He couldn't wait to get home. It had been a long day and finishing off with an unnecessary dispute with City Hall meant that he was more than ready to collapse at home and be glad the day was over. Tired as he was, his reflexes were a little slower than usual, so when the sudden shape loomed out of the corner of his vision he wasn't able to react quickly enough and the world went dark.

Sky walked along the corridors of the hospital, very firmly not running, his ears straining for anything that would give him a heads up on how Jack was before he got there. Z had been here a while, ever since the hospital called a few hours ago. Seeing as Jack apparently had her down as next of kin or whatever in case of emergencies, it was understandable, but it was frustrating too. Okay, it wasn't as if he and Jack were… anything really, despite the way things had been going before the other man resigned, but still…

Ah. There. Jack's heartbeat. He didn't know how he knew, he just did, and besides, there were lots of things about himself since the Change that he didn't understand fully so he paid it no attention. Jack's heartbeat was steady and that was a good thing, a very good thing, and the panic that had been lurking at the edge of his mind eased. Knocking on the door, he saw Z glance round before she beckoned him in.

"How's he doing?" he asked quietly.

"Alright," she replied. "He hasn't woken up yet but the doctors aren't too worried about that. He's got a couple of broken ribs and there's some internal damage but apparently it's not life-threatening. I think they're a little surprised at how resilient he is." She smiled slightly. "I guess he still has some benefits from being a ranger."

Sky nodded. "Looks like." He grabbed the only other chair in the room and sat down, deliberately not looking at Z. He didn't need to look at her to know she was curious about what he was doing there and he didn't really want to have to answer any of her questions, especially since he wasn't entirely sure why he was there himself. All he knew was that since the call had come through about the accident he hadn't been able to concentrate on anything, the need to find Jack and see for himself that he was alright almost overwhelming, making everything else seem trivial.

The door opened and Sky turned, half expecting a doctor but finding Ally instead. Ally. Jack's girlfriend. It wasn't surprising that she'd be here, only that she wasn't here before he was. It was interesting to note though that Ally didn't seem any happier about finding him here than he was about seeing her. He knew it wasn't fair to her for him to dislike her the way he did, after all he barely knew her and the few occasions when they'd met she'd seemed okay, giving him no reason for his irrational dislike. But she didn't seem to like him much either, which was fine with him.

"How is he?" she asked, directing the question to Z rather than him.

"Okay," Z replied, filling her in the details while Sky sat back in the chair. He wasn't moving, not for her. "Anyone thirsty?" Z asked, in an attempt to break the heavy silence that had fallen. "I was going to get coffee if anyone wants some."

"No thanks," Sky replied and Ally shook her head as well.

"Okay, just me then," Z said brightly. "Try not kill each other while I'm gone," she muttered under her breath and Sky scowled at her departing back. It wasn't that bad.

"So," Ally said, a little stiltedly in all fairness. "How are you?"

Sky scowled inwardly. Why did she have to try to be so nice? "Not too bad. You?"

"Same."

Silence descended once more, heavy and oppressive.

"Look," Ally began. "I don't know how things stand with you and Jack now, and I'm not asking, I just… I'm not trying to get in your way or anything, that's not why I'm here."

Sky stared at her blankly, as if she'd suddenly started speaking Japanese or something. "What?"

Ally's expression tightened. "You and Jack."

"What about me and Jack?"

She scowled. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

Sky blinked, caught completely off guard. Did she really think he'd do something like that? Go after Jack when he knew full well the other man was already seeing her? He didn't think her opinion of him was that low.

"Just because Jack and I broke up, it doesn't mean I don't care. That's why I'm here, not to step on your toes."

She must have seen something in his expression because she gave him a confused look. "You did know that we'd broken up didn't you?"

Sky shook his head wordlessly. When had that happened? Why hadn't anyone said anything? Right on cue, Z walked back in.

"Did I miss anything?"

Ally hadn't stayed much longer, it was too uncomfortable all around so she'd made her excuses and left, with Z promising to let her know how things went. In spite of the urge to demand answers, Sky kept silent. He'd get answers from Jack first, then he could go after the others. It didn't mean he wasn't curious though, because he was, and more than a little annoyed as well. You'd think someone would have thought to let him know Jack wasn't with Ally anymore.

His determination not to demand answers wavered, but he was saved from saying anything by a subtle change in Jack's breathing rate, followed by a more noticeable change and Jack's eyes forcing themselves open and focusing straight on Sky.

"Hi," he mumbled. "What's going on?"

"You were in an accident," Z replied. "Car ran a red light and smashed into yours, too fast for you to phase out apparently."

Jack frowned. "I don't--"

"The doctors said you might not remember at first. It'll probably come back to you."

"Oh joy," Jack muttered. "Just what I need."

Sky snorted softly. "You're lucky you're in one piece, stop complaining."

Sensing the oncoming argument, Z pre-empted them by getting to her feet. "I'll go let the others know you're awake," she said, once again leaving Sky to talk to someone he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked quietly and he shrugged.

"Where else would I be?"

A dark eyebrow rose slightly. "At work?"

Sky scowled. "The Commander kicked me out."

Jack's other eyebrow shot up. "He kicked you out?"

"I believe his exact words were 'Get over there before you drive everyone crazy'," Sky replied, scowl replaced by a faint smile. "I think I was making him dizzy."

Kat Manx walked into the control room, clipboard in hand. "These are ready for your signature, Commander."

The Sirian looked up. "I hate paperwork," he growled and he took the clipboard off her with bad grace. "Only humans could invent something so tedious."

Kat grinned. "Especially on Triforia."

Doggie groaned. "That planet takes filing in triplicate to extremes," he snapped. "The less time I spend there the better."

Her grin becoming a smirk, Kat took back the clipboard and folded her arms. "I hear Jack's woken up."

Doggie looked up immediately, his discontent vanishing. "He has?"

"About half an hour ago, according to Bridge and Syd. I think they're on their way over now that their shifts have finished." Doggie nodded and sat back in his chair, trying to hide his relief behind the oh-so-proper mask of 'Commander Cruger', a pose he was having more and more difficulty with now that he had Isinia back in his life, healing some of the wounds he'd carried for so long. "Why did you let Sky go?" she asked curiously. That the red ranger had been upset had been obvious, but she hadn't expected Doggie to let him go, at least not until his hours in the control room were over.

"He was making me dizzy," Doggie responded sourly. "Not to mention walking a hole in the floor. And besides, he wasn't concentrating on his job. Better that he be somewhere he knows what's happening."

"And that would be the hospital."

Doggie nodded, then indicated they should walk, putting them out of range of prying ears. "There's so much we don't know about Sky," he continued quietly. "Before Jack resigned, the two of them had a very strong connection and we have no idea how deep that ran."

"Or how badly it was damaged when Jack resigned," Kat surmised.

"Exactly. Sky's not usually irrational, but that all changes when he's around Jack. If it had been anyone else in the accident I don't think he would have reacted as badly." Doggie sighed quietly. "Besides, those two have been practically mated in all but fact for over a year, it's about time they did something about it. Preferably before the hormones drive me crazy."

Fighting back a smile, Kat assumed a more serious expression as Doggie glowered at her. "Maybe this will help that along," she said innocently, not at all fazed by the glare that regularly cowed most people around the base. "If it doesn't I don't know what will."

Jack frowned slightly. "You didn't know?"

Sky growled inwardly. He would have thought that much was obvious. "No," he said evenly. "I didn't."

"Oh. I thought you did."

"Well, I didn't."

"Clearly," the former ranger mumbled and Sky glowered.

"I heard that."

"You were supposed to."

Sky sat back in his chair and glared some more. "You are the most infuriating person I've ever met."

Jack grinned tiredly. "Bet you say that to all the guys."

Sky reminded himself firmly that Jack had just been in an accident and he couldn't throttle him. No matter how tempting it was. Times like this he wondered why exactly it was Jack he'd fallen for and not someone less annoying.

"So," Jack said slowly, drawing the word out. "Where do we go from here?"

Sky sighed. "I don't know." He knew where he wanted it to go, he just wasn't sure if it was possible anymore. It was then - naturally - that the remaining members of B Squad arrived, their combined volume shattering the uneasy quiet that had settled over them. Making his excuses Sky left the room, heading for the nearest vending machine. He could use that coffee round about now.

Z sat down next to him a moment later. "I thought you knew about Jack and Ally," she said quietly. "Otherwise I would have told you."

Sky shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I know now."

"So… you and Jack…?"

He gave her a wry look. "Not yet."

She nodded and took a sip from her own cup of coffee. "One thing though, for when the two of you finally your acts together." Sky raised an eyebrow at the 'when'. Not 'if', 'when'. She seemed very certain of that. "I say this in the nicest possible way, because you are a friend, but if you hurt him in any way… I don't care how strong you are, how fast you are, none of it will stop me making you wish you'd never been born. Are we clear?"

Sky blinked as the words sank in. He didn't doubt she meant every word and considering this was Z Delgado it was no idle threat. She was more than capable of following through. "Crystal."

"Good. So, how long do you think we should give them before we go rescue him?"

Sky tilted his head and listened to the stream of words coming from Syd's mouth. "He should be alright for the moment. Syd's going on about the plans she has for her birthday party this year. I think she's planning on dragging Jack along."

"Whether he wants to or not?"

"I'd say so."

The yellow ranger grinned. "I can see his eyes glazing over right now."

Sky grinned a little. "Just wait 'til Bridge gets going on his latest invention."

Z winced. The blue ranger had subjected them all to a demonstration of his latest pride and joy - a toaster modelled on their morphers, it beeped when the toast was ready with a noise that sounded suspiciously like the communication function of said morpher. She gave it a week before Sky made it 'disappear', especially if Bridge insisted on keeping it in the rec. room. In his own room it might be safe, considering he was down the hall from the red ranger, but keeping it in the rec. room was just asking for trouble. "We'll step in then."

"If the doctors don't do it for us."

A couple of days later Jack had been released from the hospital, the doctors amazed by how quickly he'd recovered, and he was moving easily enough, albeit a little slower than usual. He refused to let it stop him though and he'd picked up some of the paperwork from the shelter, working his way through it with a grim determination. A determination that got put on hold when Sky knocked at the door. He'd played the good host, getting drinks and the like until they'd sat down opposite each other, close enough to talk comfortably, not so close it made things uncomfortable.

The conversation had been bland, going over inanities until they finally got round to the real reason Sky was there. It hadn't been until a couple of months previously that he'd realised how little he'd seen of the other man since he'd started seeing Ally. It had been alright at first, put down to the workload he knew came with being red ranger, but it had tailed off until suddenly he hadn't seen Sky for months, nor spoken to him. It was also around the point that Ally had told him in no uncertain terms that if he was going to talk about Sky non-stop maybe he should be dating him instead of her.

At the time he'd thought she was overreacting, but he'd eventually realised that no, she wasn't. It was then that he really, consciously, realised how long it had been since he'd seen Sky and that pretty much made up his mind. Ally was great, she really was, but she wasn't worth losing Sky over and if it came to having to choose between the two, there was no contest.

"Why did you stop coming round?" he asked quietly and Sky sighed, staring at the floor as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. He thought he knew why, he just wanted to know if he was right.

"What did you expect, Jack?" Sky replied just as quietly. "What was I supposed to do, just hang around and pretend everything was fine when I could smell her all over you and every other thing that came out your mouth was Ally this, Ally that?"

Bingo.

"I tried at first, but I just… in the end I couldn't keep doing it."

Jack sat forward in his chair, cradling his drink in his hands, trying not to let the tension get to him. At least, not before he and Sky had talked this out. "Ally's great. And on paper she's like the perfect girl for me." Out the corner of his eye he saw Sky stiffen. "But she's not who I want," he finished softly and he felt the knot of tension curl a little tighter in his stomach. Now or never. "You know you were saying just now that Ally was all I talked about? She said the exact same thing about you, that if I was going to talk about you all the time I might as well be dating you." He smiled faintly. "She was right, I guess, even if I didn't see it at the time. We broke up a couple of weeks later. It wasn't fair to her to keep it going when we both knew she wasn't who I wanted."

Sky's expression was unreadable and Jack wished, not for the first time, that he knew what was going on in the other man's head.

"Look," he continued. "Before I left SPD we were right on the edge of something and maybe if either of us had had the guts to go for it we wouldn't be having this conversation. But we didn't. We can change that now. If you want to."

Sky studied him a moment longer, the unreadable expression unwavering before he quirked an eyebrow at him. "If I want to?"

Jack grinned a little. "Is that a yes?"

Sky rolled his eyes and leant forward, his extra inches of height making little of the distance between them, kissing Jack softly. Jack moaned quietly into Sky's mouth, fumbling a little with his mug until it found the table, leaving his hands free to pull the other man closer and only incidentally creating an opportunity to deepen the kiss, Sky's tongue flickering against his bottom lip.

It was at that point naturally that his broken ribs decided they were having abandonment issues, sending a sharp spike of pain through his chest and causing him to jerk away, gasping a little with pain. "Stupid broken ribs," he muttered and Sky relaxed, his concerned expression easing.

"I think that's a pretty good hint to stop there," he said, amusement warring with disappointment and Jack nodded glumly before glancing out the window.

"It's late," he noted, although fortunately it wasn't full moon, or anywhere close. He supposed it really should have told him something when he always reflexively checked the night sky, keeping an eye on how full the moon was.

Sky followed his gaze. "Yeah. I should probably go."

"You could stay," Jack said quietly and Sky froze in the middle of standing up. "I'm not suggesting anything physical because obviously that's not happening right now, but-- I'd like it if you stayed."

There was a moment of expectant silence before the taller man pulled out his morpher and flipped it open, pushing one of the buttons. "Yeah Sky?" came Bridge's voice, sounding a little distracted.

"I'm not coming back to base tonight, so if anything happens call me."

"Okay. Say 'hi' to Jack for me."

The line went dead before Sky could respond and Jack couldn't help but grin at the stunned expression on his face before Sky looked back at him.

"Not one word," was the stern comment and Jack held up his hands in innocence.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

When Jack woke the next morning it was to find grey-blue eyes watching him, Sky's fingers mere centimetres from his face, almost - but not quite - touching. When he realised Jack was awake, Sky's cheeks turned an interesting shade of pink and he pulled his fingers back hurriedly. "It's about time you woke up," he said with an irritation that didn't fool Jack for a moment. "I was just about to get up."

Of course you were. "Good morning to you too," he said dryly, and he was rewarded with a wry half-smile. Oh he could easily get used to this, he thought. Waking up with Sky was an experience he wanted to repeat over and over, particularly if the other man's hair was always this tousled first thing in the morning. Leaning forward, he took full advantage of the fact that he could do this now and kissed his new boyfriend thoroughly, fingers fisting in the hem of Sky's shirt, his thigh brushing against Sky's, the other man still in his uniform pants. Those would definitely need to be changed when Sky got back to base.

Sky mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'morning breath' but Jack smacked him round the head none too gently, which probably wasn't his best idea ever considering Sky's arm had settled on his waist and he got a sharp slap on his ass in response. He stared at Sky in stunned surprise and the other man smirked back, escaping the bed before Jack could retaliate. Muttering under his under his breath about kinky bastards who always seemed so innocent, he scowled as he heard Sky laughing in the bathroom.

A moment later Sky stuck his head round the door. "You have anything non-scented?"

Jack frowned. "Non-scented? Don't think so. Why? What's wrong with what's in there?"

"Nothing," Sky replied. "For you. But for me… let's just say I don't get on well with scented stuff and leave it at that."

"It's never been a problem before," Jack noted and Sky rolled his eyes.

"Not on you or the others, no." He closed his eyes and sighed before looking back over at Jack. "The last time I used scented shower gel I couldn't smell anything else for a week. I learned that lesson pretty quickly, believe me."

Jack winced. "I'll bet." He'd never thought about that before. Climbing out of bed, he opened the cupboard that held his spare shower stuff and took a quick look. "Nope. Nothing in here. Sorry."

Sky shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I'll shower back at base."

"You'll have to be quick."

Sky grinned. "I've had closer calls."

"Really?" Jack asked, moving closer, encouraged by the smirk on Sky's face.

"Really."

"Feel like sharing?" he continued, their mouths mere inches apart.

"Not right now," Sky breathed before their mouths met, tongues swirling round each other. "Mmm, have to go, have to go," Sky mumbled a few minutes later. "I'll never hear the end of it otherwise."

Jack pulled away reluctantly, stepping back to let Sky out the bathroom. "See you later?"

Sky grinned back. "Count on it."

Forty-five minutes later, Jack was fending off a number of teasing questions from Z, his sister ostensibly phoning to make sure Sky was on his way, but Jack suspected she just wanted to tease and quite possibly say 'I told you so.' A quiet chirrup came down the line and Z's voice became quieter as she turned away from the phone to answer her communicator. Jack grinned as he heard Sky's voice calmly informing her that he could hear her from two corridors away and could she please give it a rest, otherwise the next time he saw Syd he was going to tell her that Z had confessed to a deeply rooted but well-hidden love for the colour pink. Z had changed the subject quickly and hung up not long after.

Paperwork done, he was more than ready to get back to being more hands on and he'd walked into work with a silly smile on his face and a bounce in his step that resulted in most of the volunteers giving him knowing looks and quietly collecting on bets. He made a mental note to make sure the winnings went into the donations jar later. Ally had given him a smile that was faintly tinged with sadness but try as he might, he couldn't feel bad about it right now. He'd talk to her later though, make sure things were still okay between them. He and Ally might not have worked out as a couple, but they were still friends and he didn't want to lose that.

Throwing himself back into work, Jack groaned when he found himself dealing with another of Piggy's 'ventures' that had gone wrong. But, he thought, it wasn't so bad to deal with when he had memories of waking up next to Sky, the other man all sleep-tousled and blushing.

Grinning to himself, Jack returned his attention to the problem in front of him. No, not so bad at all.

AN: Okay guys, this is officially where this series finishes. At least for now. I love this 'verse far too much not to come back to it at some point and either continue the story from here or fill in some of the blanks. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.