Serene Relations

A.N: Hmm, I wonder what the title insinuates? Anyone know? Of course I do, but then again, it should be so obvious that most people who have been following the fic so far should know as well. And sorry about the near absolute lack of Bridge/Kat-ness in the last chapter. But I think that exploring Kat's past was worth it, plus, you've now got my take on Kat's past. Which was also near non-existent in the show. Except for the bit with Mooney. Other than that, it was just 'sending Runners' or 'sending Flyers'. Damn. Another rant. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers.

Bridge woke up with a start.

First thing he noticed was that his room was considerably larger than it normally was. Second thing he noticed was that it lacked the blue and green colouring that signified the colours of the occupants. Not only that, but the bed he was in currently was quite a lot more comfortable than his.

Then he realised that he was in Kat's room.

Oh God, don't tell me that we actually did that…he thought frantically. He ran his hands down his chest, and found that his clothes were still on. They were the same ones he wore last night, but it was better than having none on at all.

He checked the bed as well, in case. Kat wasn't there, nor was she naked either.

Several facts ran through his mind. The fact that he still had his clothes on, and he had no recollection of him and Kat actually doing it. Add in the fact that there was no naked Kat lying in the bed with him, all of his deductions pointed towards the fact that he and Kat didn't get that far last night.

He sighed in relief.

Looking around the spacious room, Bridge yawned, stretched and then hopped out of Kat's bed. He walked over to the bookshelf, curious as to see what Kat liked to read. And the framed photographs also attracted his attention as well.

Reaching the shelf, he glanced at the titles on the spines of the books. A majority were mainly technical and computer related, which didn't surprise him. However, there were a few novels within the shelf that surprised Bridge. Namely, a few that didn't quite fit Kat's style.

Continuing through the shelf, he found himself looking at the various framed photographs that were placed there. Some shots of Kat standing with a small group of people outside the Science Academy. Another shot of Kat caught kissing someone he didn't recognise. The picture caused something unidentifiable in his stomach to churn. He put it down, and moved on.

He looked through the entire shelf, and then glanced at the time on the clock. Seeing as it was almost seven, he glanced around the room, wondering where Kat had slept while he had occupied her bed.

Bridge found her lying on the sofa, her head on one armrest, and her body lain out across the length of it, her legs propped up on the other armrest. She almost looked like she was ill, except that she was sleeping peacefully.

He shook her shoulder lightly.

"Kat?"

She groaned in response, turning over.

He poked her again. "Kat?"

Kat groaned, turned again, and opened her eyes.

"Bridge? What do you want?" she asked, rising to a sitting position and rubbing her eyes.

"Just waking you up."

Kat stood up, and was rewarded with a cramp in her back. She cursed, before stretching to alleviate the pain.

"Something wrong?" Bridge asked, seeing her stretch.

"It's just my back," Kat groaned. "It happens when you spend a night on a sofa."

"Sorry," Bridge apologised, looking sheepish.

"Don't worry; I've slept like that before, like I told you," Kat said, cracking her neck. "Still, it wasn't particularly pleasant: I haven't slept on a sofa for a long time."

"Sorry," Bridge repeated, awkwardly rubbing Kat's shoulders with his gloves still on.

"Are the gloves necessary? I've told you everything about my past," Kat said.

"I still don't know what's going to happen though. And I might accidentally read your thoughts," Bridge explained.

Kat sighed. There were still a lot of things for Bridge and her to go through before they could really benefit from this relationship.

"Do you have anything today?" Bridge asked suddenly.

"You mean work?"

"Yeah."

"I still got to get some reports done, and the Runners are still nowhere near completion," Kat said.

"Can it wait?"

"Why?"

"I was thinking of going to a masseuse. You know, because of your back, which I unintentionally caused by taking your bed, so, I kind of have to make up for it and all..."

"Bridge, we'll see. I should be able to get some time off, but Doggie's going to start questioning why the reports are coming in slower."

"Thanks. I'll go and see the guys now," Bridge said, hugging Kat before he left.

"Have fun," Kat called out after him.

She stretched once more, and walked into the shower. After a night on the sofa, she really was looking forward to a hot shower.

Ten minutes later, Kat walked into her lab, showered and refreshed. The shower only marginally helped her back though. She sighed as she slumped into her chair, and turned on the computer. The screen blinked, and Kat started typing. There were a lot of things to do today.

Entering the cafeteria, Bridge spotted Sky and Z sitting at one of the tables. Both were not clad in their uniforms, as were a number of others, who Cruger had also given a break-though not nearly as long as B-Squads.

"Hey guys," Bridge said, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

He then noticed that Z had a sly grin on her face.

"Hi Bridge," she said, snickering a little.

"Morning Bridge," Sky followed, who looked like he was evading Bridge's gaze.

"What?" asked Bridge. "What's going on?"

"Nothing Bridge," Sky deadpanned.

Z kept on snickering. She stopped long enough to talk.

"So Bridge, Sky was telling me a moment ago that you weren't in your room last night," Z said with a knowing grin.

Bridge paled. "It's not what you think!"

"Did you have fun?" Z questioned.

"I told you, me and Kat didn't do that!" Bridge protested.

"Shh, you don't want the whole Academy to find out do you?" Sky asked.

"Me and Kat did not do…that!" Bridge forcibly whispered.

"Sure you didn't," Z answered slyly.

"How did you even find out I wasn't in my bed?" Bridge asked. "I know that I didn't sleep in it, but if I wasn't there, how do you know that I didn't sleep in it, instead of me going earlier?"

"Because Bridge, there was no evidence that you had slept in it," Sky answered.

Bridge sighed. "Guess you got me there."

"Did you have fun?" Z asked again.

"Z!"

"Sure you didn't," Z said.

"Come on Z, let Bridge eat," Sky advised.

"Don't worry. I think I'll go out for breakfast," Bridge said, standing up.

"Bridge! I'm sorry; I couldn't help a few jokes!" Z's face showed concern.

"It's alright. I know it was just a bit of fun. I just feel like a croissant, and the ones here aren't buttery enough, or as good as the ones they make in the city."

"Feel free to join us later Bridge. We're going to the park for a bit of fun, and then out to lunch," Sky said.

"Maybe. See ya later," Bridge said, walking off.

As soon as he was out of an earshot, Z asked Sky, "Do you really think he slept with Kat?"

"…and then they were asking me if we had ended up doing, well, you know what I mean!" Bridge said.

Kat nodded. "You didn't think that you would go unnoticed during the night, would you?"

They were sitting outside a café, eating breakfast. Bridge had convinced Kat to join him, and now he was in the middle of informing Kat of his questioning.

"Well Bridge, you'll have to find a way out of this," Kat said. "I'm not too particularly concerned about gossip or rumours. I'm just here to do my job."

"And be my girlfriend," Bridge added. "Do you have the word girlfriend on your planet?"

"Well well, Katherine. A fancy meeting you here," a sly voice declared, cutting off Kat's response.

Kat turned around, and then quickly faced Bridge again. He saw her roll her eyes in annoyance. A man approached their table, dressed in a white jacket, pants of a similar colour and sunglasses.

"Jeffery," Kat coldly greeted without turning around.

"Who's he?" Bridge asked.

"Bridge, this is Jeffery Aarons. He used to go to the Science Academy. Jeffery, this is Bridge Carson, S.P.D. Blue Ranger," Kat introduced, hostility evident in her voice.

Bridge didn't need to be a psychic to know that Kat wasn't particularly fond of the person standing next to her.

"Well, nice to meet you," Jeffery said. "Like Kat just said, I'm Jeffery Aarons."

"It's nice to meet you to," Bridge responded, shaking the offered hand. He noticed Jeffery's glance at his gloved hand. "I'm a psychic," Bridge explained.

"Oh," he said in surprise, drawing his hand back. "Like a mind reader?"

"No, I can't read minds unless I touch with bare skin. That's why I wear gloves," Bridge explained.

"Well, that's…good to know," he said, taking off his sunglasses and putting them into his jacket's pocket. "Do you want to go out sometime Kat? You know, for old time's sake."

"Jeffery, I'm already seeing someone," Kat answered, annoyance creeping into her voice. "I've been seeing Bridge here for almost a week now. And there were times with you that I never want to experience again."

"Oh come on Kat. Have a little fun," Jeffery said slyly.

"Sorry Jeffery. You came too late during the Science Academy, and you came too late now. I'm in a happy, if somewhat stressful relationship with Bridge here."

"Stressful?" Bridge asked.

"Then you can come with me. I'll take all your troubles away."

"You don't get the hints do you?" Kat asked. "I thought I left plenty enough for you to get the message. I don't want a relationship with you. I'm already in one, so goodbye."

Kat stood up, and leaned over to kiss Bridge. Bridge wasn't sure if it was his mind, but Kat seemed to kiss him a lot more…passionately, than the other more casual exchanges in her lab. She broke the kiss, and walked off towards the Delta Base.

"See you at the Base, Bridge," Kat said.

Jeffery watched her go, until Bridge broke in.

"Hey, can you stop?"

Jeffery turned to face him. "You gonna stop me?"

"Well, I can't stop you, because you're not really breaking any rules at the moment, and you can't stop looking at people unless you turn your eyes off, but-…"

"I don't know how Kat fell for you," said Jeffery with a shake of his head.

"Magnetism?" Bridge put in.

Jeffery shook his head again, and turned to look for Kat. She had caught his eye at the Science Academy. Back then, he had prided himself for being almost godly among the female population of the Science Academy. Kat Manx had shown up, but he had been distracted by other newcomers as well. It wasn't until later on that he had noticed her.

"Seriously, can you stop? Kat's already made it clear she doesn't like you," Bridge said.

"I'm persistent. And besides, Kat probably only felt sorry for you."

"What?"

"She's probably going out with you because she feels sorry for you. Who would want to go out with a geek like you? Jeffery sneered.

He walked away, leaving Bridge alone with his thoughts.

The bus stopped, its doors hissing open. One figure stepped out of it, and gazed up at the structure in front of her. The Delta Base certainly was an impressive sight, towering over the other structures around it. People, both human and alien, streamed in and out of the glass entrance.

Walking forward, Michelle Manx couldn't help but be intimidated by the sheer size of the building. As she walked, she absent-mindedly brushed her hand along the scar that ran across her left hip. Dressed in a white shirt and jeans, she fitted in with the civilians coming in to report something to S.P.D, but out of place with the bustling cadets. Her long, dark hair which flowed to her shoulder blades was caught in the wind as she walked. Her ears poked out through the top of her hair, twitching slightly as she heard all the conversations going on around her.

"Hello, how may I help you?" politely asked one receptionist as Michelle walked over towards one of the many desks.

"Hi, I'm looking for Katherine Manx. I was told that she was working here," Michelle said.

"I'm sorry, but Dr. Manx is not available to just anyone. Do you have any I.D.?"

As Michelle tried to argue with the stubborn receptionist, Sky and Z were making their way out the entrance, pushing past cadets and civilians. Sky was asking if they were going to meet Bridge when Z caught the word 'Manx' from one of the many words and conversations going on.

"Sky, did you hear someone say 'Manx'?" Z asked.

"Maybe her," Sky suggested, pointing.

Z looked over to where Sky was pointing, and found herself looking at a near mirror image of Kat.

"I need to speak with Katherine Manx!" said the Kat look-alike.

"Kat? What do you think she wants with Kat?" Z asked.

"Maybe it has something to do with that fact that they are the same species," Sky wirily said.

Z walked over, with Sky in tow.

"Excuse me," said Z, stopping. The person turned to her, and Z was almost shocked by the resemblance to Kat that the person had. She had the same colour hair, the same green eyes. "Did you say you needed to speak with Kat?"

"Yeah," Michelle answered, surprise, uncertainty and cautiousness apparent.

"Why do you need to meet her?" asked Sky. "Because if it's something important, we can contact her."

"I'm her sister," Michelle quietly said.

"Sister? Is that why you're almost identical to Kat?" asked Z.

"Yeah. She's older than me by a few days."

Z looked at Sky, who shrugged and pulled his morpher out of his pocket.

"Kat?"

A few seconds later, Kat's voice came back. "What is it Sky?"

Z placed one finger on her lip, directing it at Michelle, who stayed quiet.

"Someone here wants to meet you," Sky told Kat. "They'll be waiting for you in the lobby."

He heard Kat sigh in the background. "I'll be right there."

Sky closed the morpher, and looked at Michelle. "She'll be coming down soon. Why don't you sit down somewhere first?"

"Thanks for the help," Michelle said.

"It was nothing. Just doing our jobs," Z said.

They walked off into the entrance and out of the Base disappearing with the crowd of people. Michelle occupied herself looking around the interior. Glass walkways stretched out above her, where even more people walked. Armed guards were present as well, keeping an eye out.

Michelle couldn't help but to listen to some of the people talk. Everyone spoke English, which made it easier to understand. She had gotten a basic course in English when she was coming over to Earth, but struggled with some of the finer parts of the language. She still knew enough to hold conversations, and enough to pass by as a fluent speaker.

She heard an elevator stop, and doors opening. She stood up, and glanced around, before spotting who she wanted. She would have ran, but the crowd stopped her from doing so, so she settled with a brisk walk.

Kat stepped out of the elevator, and into the crowded lobby. The doors slid shut behind her, and Kat was glad that she was taller than most people around. Her height allowed her to see over the heads of the majority of the crowd. Therefore, it was easy to see her.

But the sight of her long lost sister stunned Kat, who stood shock still as she tried to make sense of the situation. Michelle was walking as fast as she could towards her, pushing her way through the crowd.

Kat snapped out of her state of shock, and had taken two strides forward when her sister all but flew into her arms.

"Kat!" cried Michelle in their native language.

She started to sob into her older sister's shoulder, just like old times. Tears started to well up in Kat's eyes as well, threatening to break loose.

"I missed you," Kat told her as she consoling rubbed her sister's back.

"Are you going soft?" Michelle teased.

Kat rolled her eyes. "We meet after so long, and you're already teasing me?"

"I'm just so glad to see you," Michelle said, before dropping her head again.

"We better go. We're making a scene," Kat said, mindful of the stares that were being given towards the two Manx sisters.

She led her sister to the elevator, and pressed the button towards her floor and room.

Inside the elevator, Michelle stopped her tears long enough to look at Kat. She finally got out of her sister's hold, and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"What have you been doing?" she asked.

Kat smiled. "How about we wait until we're in my room? And I should be asking the same for you."

The doors hissed open, and Kat led Michelle out. She looked around the bland hall with mild interest.

"Why is everything so bland?" she asked.

"It's S.P.D., Michelle. Everything has to be professional."

Kat reached her door, and pulled out her I.D. card, slotting it through the reader. The door opened, and Kat let her sister in first.

"This is your room?" Michelle asked in surprise.

Years of staying in a cramped barracks, staying on a transport and then in a cramped camp made Kat's room seem like a palace compared to what she had seen over the many years.

She watched as Kat walked over to a curious device embedded in the wall. Kat tapped a few buttons, and a whirring started up.

"Do you want anything?" Kat asked.

"Something warm maybe?"

Kat tapped more buttons, and a cup of steaming tea soon appeared. She took it, and handed it to Michelle.

"Thanks," Michelle said, accepting the cup and taking a sip. "What is this anyway?"

"Tea. Now sit down," Kat said, gently pushing her sister onto the sofa, and then sitting as well. "We've got a lot to go through. How did you survive?"

"You know how we got separated when we were recruited? Well, I managed to get through most of the civil war intact. It was when the Troobians invaded that I got this."

Michelle lifted up part of her shirt, revealing to Kat the long scar. Kat stifled a gasp, and gently traced it with one finger.

"What happened?" Kat asked, tearing her gaze away from the scar.

"Krybot," Michelle simply said.

"But it should have healed," Kat said, frowning. "Unless…"

"It was contaminated," Michelle said.

"Radiation?"

Michelle nodded sadly. "One of the doctors, he managed to stop the radiation before it could do any harm. But the scar stays."

"The scar staying is preferable to you being killed by radiation," Kat sighed. "How did you get off the planet and escape? Grumm was blasting all the escape ships."

"The ship I was on was grazed by a laser blast. The blast knocked out the communications, and destroyed one of the engines. The pilot quickly shut down most of the systems, with only minimal power to keep the life-support on. The lack of power must have confused Grumm's sensors, because he never shot at us. We watched as Grumm plundered the planet for what resources we didn't use up in the civil war-…"

"At least the civil war had a purpose then," Kat said with a sad smile.

"Before he destroyed it and moved on. We waited more days to make sure that there weren't any more Troobians before we moved again. We stopped at one of the many refugee camps scattered across the galaxy. From then on, I just wandered around. I checked all records, to see if you were still alive," Michelle said. "But it was only less than a year ago that I found out from an S.P.D. officer that you were actually working with S.P.D.!"

"Go on," Kat said.

"Well, I spent the rest of the time travelling to Earth. And well, the rest is history," Michelle finished.

Kat took the time to process the information that Michelle had just told her. She and Felix weren't the only survivors then. But as it stood, she wasn't sure if there were any others off Earth.

"Are there any more from Sphinx?" Kat asked.

"I'm not sure what happened after I left. There might be, but there are so few of us it almost doesn't matter."

"At least you're alright," Kat sighed.

"Same here," Michelle agreed, taking a large gulp of tea.

The door chime rung suddenly. Kat got up and frowned.

"What was that?" Michelle asked.

"Someone's at the door."

Kat strode over to the door. It slid open.

Not much shocked Kat. She had seen nearly all of it during her time on Earth. She had seen drunken teenagers, even experiencing some of it herself. She had seen and experienced break-ups, had seen couples get together. She had seen worlds and lives destroyed, and life been born.

But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

"Bridge?" Kat asked, dumbfounded

"Hey babe," Bridge said in a deeper voice, rather than his normal tone.

Not only that, but he was wearing a blue sports jacket, and jeans. To top it all off, he was wearing sunglasses as well. All of it looked too much like Jeffery for Kat's liking.

Bridge pushed forward, and captured Kat's lips with his own. He was careful not to push too hard, aware that there wasn't a wall behind Kat, and pushing too hard could cause them to fall back onto the floor.

Kat, though confused, returned the kiss. The moment would have gone on for longer, had Bridge not yelped suddenly, and leapt back. He flicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth a few times.

Kat tasted something, before realising it was blood. And it wasn't hers. Realisation dawned on her.

"You forgot that I had fangs, didn't you?" Kat smirked.

"Kinda…never realised how sharp they could be," Bridge said.

"Show me it," Kat said.

"Huh?"

"Your tongue."

Bridge reluctantly poked out his tongue. Kat did a quick check of it.

"You're lucky. It was just a minor graze. It should stop bleeding soon," Kat said.

"A minor graze in your terms, or a minor graze by human definition? I mean, we don't have really, really, really sharp fangs. So a minor graze for us isn't that much, but you know, for you, a minor graze might be a lot, right?" Bridge said, reverting back to his normal personality.

"You'll live," Kat said, shaking her head.

"Thanks babe."

"Is there any reason to your visit other than to express your affection for me?" Kat asked. Bridge's attempt at being 'cool' wasn't sitting well with her.

"Well, I just got an invite from Sky, to join him and his girl on a lil' trip to the city," Bridge began. "You wanna join me?"

Kat bit her lip in thought. While she wanted to stay with Michelle a little longer, she would have to show her sister around sometime. And what better way than to have Michelle make a few friends as well?

"Sure, just wait a bit." Kat turned back to face Michelle. "Hey, Michelle, we're going out for a little while. Do you want to come?" she called out.

"Who's Michelle?" Bridge asked, alarmed.

"Come in," Kat sighed, walking into her room with Bridge following.

"Bridge, this is Michelle Manx, my younger sister. Michelle, this is Bridge Carson," Kat introduced.

Bridge put out his hand. "Hi. Wow, you look like Kat, except for the hair."

"Thanks. Nice to meet you," Michelle said, eyeing Bridge and shaking his hand.

An uncomfortable silence followed, with Bridge trying not to squirm under Michelle's gaze. His cool façade melted under her scrutiny, similar to Kat's piercing gaze, but she stared at him for far longer.

Kat cleared her throat, and broke the uncomfortable silence. "Michelle, Bridge here wants me to go to the city with him. Would you like to come as well, so I can show you around?"

Bridge was a bit surprised. He really had intended for Kat and him to go, but it would seem a bit rude to exclude Kat's sister from it. After all, he had plenty of time to get with Kat.

"Yeah, why not?" Bridge said. "It'll be fun; we'll introduce you to the rest of the gang.

"Sure, I'll come," she said.

Kat smiled. "Get up then. We're going now."

A.N: Well, one thing first of all. Sorry for the long delay it took for me to get this up. Several reasons. One, school started. Year 11 for me, which means tonnes of homework and assignments. Two of which are due Friday, Central Australian Time. I've been peeling time off my study schedule to complete this chapter, which was already two-thirds finished when school started. And another consequence of school is longer waiting times for you readers out there. Please bear with me.

Secondly, I swear I spent more time redirecting alerts from my Email account to Blueberry's. No, it hasn't got me down that I'm the under-appreciated one.

Also, there's yet another reference to real life thrown in this chapter. Try to find it, if you can. You'll get virtual...something...

This chapter was originally meant to be far longer, but I decided that letting it drag on isn't a good thing. I've moved whatever that was left that I had planned for this chapter to the next one. Gimme a couple of weeks to get that chapter done, please.

This was one chapter that I thought was one of my better ones. The scene in the lobby felt kinda rushed though. Sorry bout that.

So, please bear with me as I try to find the time to get the next chapter done. And if you have any knowledge about chemistry or physics, help! Not yet anyways… : )

Feel sorrry for the people in Queensland who have been flooded a few weeks ago. And here I was thinking that getting rain here was a miracle enough...luckily, the flood didn't affect me.

See ya next time, review please!