Author: Jadelyn Ja Lee
Story: Inheritance
Pairings: Sky/OC (Aimee), Bridge/Z, Jack/Syd, Tommy/Kat Manx
Disclaimer: I own no one.
Summery: Sequel to Through Her Eyes. 20 years after Gruumm's defeat, a new generation rises to face an enemy from within…
Author Notes: Meh. Enjoy!
Buffy:We are totally overreacting.
Xander:But its fun, isn't it?
It was the day after Phobos' attack and Cratus' appearances. It also happened to be the weekly poker session between the former members of B Squad. Due to everything that had happened that week, everyone had decided to hold it in Sky and Aimee's office instead of at the Tate house.
"Do you really think this is a good idea? I mean, maybe we should post-pone or something." Sky suggested as he helped his wife set up the poker table. Aimee eyed him skeptically as she added two extra chairs.
"Sky, honey, we need a break. And this way we can talk about what's going on without worrying about people overhearing. Besides, Syd thinks it's a good idea and the last time you cancelled, she kept you from active duty for a week, remember?" She pointed out. Sky made a face. Syd had stated a medical issue and even though it was psychologically rather than physically, Cruger had agreed. Somehow Sky knew Tommy would be the same way.
"Good point. Though that was cause I was dealing with the fact you went undercover without telling me." He pointed out a bit sourly. Aimee looked at him warily.
"Please don't tell me we're going to start this argument again?" She asked him. Sky opened his mouth to reply and she cut him off. "Yes, I know it was dangerous but I had Syd and Z with me, No, I'll never go undercover as a stripper again, yes, I know my dad didn't approve but at least he understood the reasoning, I love you and only you, and no I won't ever go into a situation without backup again. Anything new today?"
"You're going on about that again? Dude, get over it already, I have." Jack commented as he walked in with a cooler. Sky shot Jack an annoyed look before turning to Aimee when she placed a hand on his arm.
"Honey lets not argue, okay? We have too much to deal with already; I don't want to add an angry husband on top of it." She asked quietly and pleadingly. Sky's expression softened and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I know and neither do I." He replied, bending down to kiss her. She inched away, a frown on her face and a twinkle in her eye. Inwardly, Sky groaned. Twinkling eyes never meant anything good. At least not for the person they were aimed at. "What?"
"I didn't realize, Sky. What are we going to tell the kids?" She asked mock worriedly. Sky frowned and mentally went through the conversation in his head. He suddenly got it and rolled his eyes.
"Very funny Aims. I get enough of that from the cadets, do you really have to add to it?" He asked rhetorically. He never expected an answer and Aimee never gave him one. They both knew the only reason he dealt with the annoying speculation without bashing in heads was because he'd had Aimee to joke about it with.
"Dude, you stop acting like your hiding the fact you're gay and the cadets will stop speculating that you are gay." Jack commented from his place beside the cooler. Sky glared at him.
"I do not act like I'm hiding the fact I'm gay!" he argued.
"You're gay?" Z asked as she walked in. "Wow, I never knew. Guess I owe Lt.'s Negra and Arrow twenty bucks after all."
"No I'm not." Sky repeated stubbornly.
"Yes you are." Jack shot back.
"No I'm not."
"Are too."
"Are not."
"Are too"
"Are not."
"You are too Sky." Syd said as she walked in. She sat down on Jack's lap and looked at him. "What did I just accuse him of?"
"That he's gay, babe." Jack replied, ignoring Sky's glare. Syd nodded.
"Got it." She replied. Sky threw his hands up in mock surrender as Aimee and Z giggled.
"Got what?" Bridge asked as he walked in with the box of chips.
"Jack, from the looks of it." Tommy replied as he and Kat walked in behind him to see Syd and Jack snuggling. Syd stuck her tongue out at the Commander. Tommy smiled and did the same back at her. Syd blinked. Kat and Aimee exchanged amused looks as Bridge snickered.
"Congrats Dr. O. You finally shocked the Pink Princess into shutting up." Z smirked. Syd glared at Z.
"Very funny Elizabeth." She retorted mock angrily. Z smirked and stuck her tongue out. Kat sighed loudly.
"And here I thought they were adults." She said loudly. Jack, Syd, Bridge, Z, Sky, Aimee eyed her bemusedly.
"Whoever said we were adults?" Jack asked. Syd nodded.
"They obviously assumed." She agreed. Aimee smirked.
"And we all know what assuming does." She commented.
"It makes an ass of you and me!" Z finished. Bridge and Sky glanced at each other and stepped away from the four officers.
"I'm not with them." They chorused only to wince when Z and Aimee slapped them.
"So, are we doing this or are we doing this? By the way, I invited Dad and Kat." Aimee said loudly to cover the snickering from Jack and Syd and the chuckles from Tommy and Kat. Sky grinned and kissed his wife.
"I'd wondered why you'd added two chairs." He commented as he sat down. Jack, Syd, Bridge, and Z laughed, assuring the commander and scientist they didn't mind in the slightest. Tommy looked around with a bemused expression; they were all spread out with none of the couples sitting together. Bridge smiled knowingly.
"We used to sit next to our significant others but we all kept cheating so everyone has to sit two across from their husband or wife." Bridge explained. Tommy snickered and he and Kat sat down. Aimee smiled; it seemed no matter how many people they had it always ended up with the women on one side and the guys on the other. The next few minutes were spent joking and teasing as everyone got settled, collected their chips, got drinks (with Tommy joking that he didn't see the beer and certainly never drank any as he grabbed a can for himself), and Z and Syd passed around the snack foods.
"So….Black Jack?" Jack asked jokingly. The group groaned.
"That jokes getting old, Jack." Sky told him. Jack gave Sky the finger which the former blue and red ranger returned with a smirk. Syd and Aimee exchanged exasperated glances while Bridge, Z, Tommy, and Kat snickered.
"Seriously, what do we want to start with?" Jack asked, shuffling the cards. Sky exchanged a smirk with Tommy. Aimee groaned.
"I knew playing with these two was going to be a bad idea but do I ever listen to my common sense? No." She grumbled. The group chuckled.
"Don't worry hun, you get that from your father." Kat joked. Tommy chuckled then abruptly stopped and stared at his wife, frowning.
"Hey, wait a minute…!" The others laughed as Kat smiled sweetly at him from across the table.
"Yes, Honey?" She asked innocently. Tommy rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Let's just play." He grumbled. Aimee elbowed Kat lightly and the two women broke down in giggles which sent the others off again. Tommy just sighed. He was used to it.
"Texas Hold Em." Sky suggested. The others nodded and Jack started the game. Aimee studied everyone as they looked at their cards, noting that Bridge lips were quirking, meaning he had a good hand and Syd's cards were practically on top of each other, meaning she had a sucky hand. Z, as always, was hard to read as was Jack but from the way Z was pushing her back and the way Jack was playing with a dread, she knew they had bad hands. Her father was relaxed, his cards down, studying the group. She smiled. Thanks to tips from her uncles she knew he had a good hand. Kat was frowning but that was probably because she didn't play card games all that often and was thinking of the game itself rather than the cards. Finally Sky was smirking which was nothing new. She'd yet to figure out his physical tip offs.
Jack looked over at Kat. "You're bet Kat."
Kat smiled and tossed in 50 cents. Aimee smiled. She had a good hand. Kat always bet high when she had a good hand. She was fairly predictable that way. Whether her hand stayed good was always up for grabs.
The game continued with first Z, then Aimee, Syd, and finally Jack all folding. Aimee eyed the ever expanding pot before studying her father, stepmother, husband and friend. "Do you think Piper is going to be okay with Cratus showing up?" She asked.
Kat and Sky both looked up, startled. Aimee hid a smile, neither one had good hands but were struggling to stay on. Tommy and Bridge weren't fazed, meaning they had good hands.
"I think she will. She is part Oliver and Oliver's have always been resilient." Tommy replied, throwing in a dollar. Sky sighed and folded. Bridge called and Kat folded as well. Z and Aimee exchanged amused looks as Bridge glared at Tommy from over his cards. Black Christmas didn't notice.
"She's also a Tate, meaning she's going to be able to deal with the weird and unexplainable." Jack commented. Sky shot Jack a thankful look at the compliment.
"I'm more worried about Ella to be honest. She's been able to deal with Piper because she's not acting any differently. Cratus definitely acted differently than Ella." Z put her two cents in. Syd waved her concern away.
"The thing with that though is Ella knew what she was doing when she allowed Cratus in. She's going to be fine. And so will Piper. Its Nikki I'm the most worried about. She's struggling and she's losing. She's not going to be able to hold Apate off for much longer. Nikki's strong but she's not that strong. She's going to need help." Syd said quietly as Tommy and Bridge continued the game.
"And she'll have us. She'll have Piper, not to mention the other four. And she'll have Troy and the rest of B Squad." Tommy told them. "Piper told Thomas who told Trini and Ian. They're really worried about Nikki now that they know what's going on. Troy's knows something's wrong he just doesn't know what. We need to tell him by the way."
Aimee nodded in agreement. "He'll be pissed if he finds out after the fact. Helios said Apate is going to be strong enough to fully possess Nikki within the week which means the Apate/Tyche showdown will be within the next month." She explained. Z glanced at her.
"Any word from Salene?" She asked sympathetically. Aimee shook her head no as she thought of her old friend. After the destruction of the medallion, Salene had gradually faded away until five years after the battle she had disappeared all together. Helios said it was because the medallion was her connection with the mortal world and when the medallion shattered, that connection was broken. They'd put together a new medallion but they didn't have the power to connect Salene to it. It was doubtful they ever would. Before she'd disappeared completely, she'd made Helios promise to stay and help Aimee, JD, and there families in any way possible, a promise he'd performed faithfully.
"I wouldn't worry about the battle too much. Its going to be hard but I have a feeling its not the final showdown. It's a major battle, true, but its not the final fight." Bridge told her. Everyone looked at him. He'd finally voiced what everyone had been thinking but no one had been willing to say.
They were in a war.
End Notes: Kinda filler-ish, I know, but it had to be done. Oh well.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes, they meant a lot. They still haven't found the guy but he's wanted for a couple accidents he caused so I might get my revenge eventually.
Thanks to L123o123v123e123, Lauren, general-joseph-dickson, Tierra, and the real vampire for the reviews.
I made "book covers" for THE, Inheritance, and the next two fics which as of right now are titled "Birthright" & "Lineage" I'm going to take a bit of a break before going into "Birthright" though so don't expect that one until late August, early September at the earliest. I should have this finished by the end of my summer vacation (I think). All my graphics can be found on my LiveJournal: JadeTate (grins). Go check em out!
Finally…EstelKenobi made a kicka trailer vid for Inheritance. It's freakin awesome and has Michelle Trachtenberg playing Piper and Anne Hathaway playing Aimee. She did a kicka job and you should all go check it out. It's on my Vlog on YouTube (Artemis85) or can be found on my LJ. Thanks again Estel!