Duty
Commander Cruger earned his rank through hard work and serving the galaxy. He takes the honor of this rank and his duty to the masses very seriously. There are responsibilities to his branch, to SPD, to the planet, to the rangers. Most of all, though, he takes his unofficial job the most seriously: his job as protector of Katherine Manx.
She doesn't always appreciate it, when he gets overprotective, though he's usually pretty good at letting her be. It is endearing, how caring he is, and she wouldn't have him any other way. She loves him just the way he is...just don't tell anyone, or they could get in big trouble. That's the excuse they use not to tell each other, that is.
Cruger takes his duty very seriously. His duty to his rangers is to fight alongside them, not protect them. There might be an occasion on which they need his help but they are comrades. His duty his branch and SPD go with him being a Commander, and damn good one at that. He puts up with Fowler Birdy on a fairly regular basis, how much better a person can you ask for? His duty to the planet entails him being Shadow Ranger, sworn to protect the galaxy.
Cruger's duty as Kat's protector is more subtle, but an all consuming job for him. Whether it's having a button installed in her office that alerts him to trouble (which she hated, by the way) or fighting off a hundred krybots, he will protect her. He will protect her at the cost of his life because the thought of her being hurt is too much for him—he'd rather die. Anybody who dares to try and lay a hand on Katherine will go through him.
"Doggie, I'm okay, really, I promise," Kat says to him for the third time, standing outside her quarters stubbornly. "I just got up for a glass of milk, I'm fine."
"You're shaking, Kat, you're not fine," Cruger protests. "There's nothing wrong with having some aftershock fear from today."
"It's not fear...it's not fear for me." She finishes quietly. "It's fear for you."
"For me?" he frowns deeply, not wanting Kat to be worrying about him at a time like this.
"I keep dreaming...that you didn't beat those krybots...that there were too many, and..." Kat presses the back of her hand to her lips to keep from making a sound.
Cruger silently takes her into his arms and lets her cry. He knows that she wants to stay strong but she is solidarity itself, he is the rock she can lean on when her own strength is just too heavy for her.
"I don't know what I would do if you..." Kat breaks off into more sobs, buried in the warmth of his strong chest.
"I'm here, Kat. I swear, no one will hurt you again," Cruger says gently. Inside he is still raging, raging at himself for letting her get captured in the first place and raging at everyone else who tried to hurt her. "No one will hurt you."
If there is one duty of Commander Anubis Cruger's that he takes seriously, it's his role as guardian and protector of Katherine Manx. He is her guard dog, and he takes care of her the way one can only take care of someone they love with all their heart. This is duty.
