A Lifetime Of Love: Syd and Sky
Series presented by: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Challenge: The Call
Last Revised: October 13, 2007
Summary: It's the call Sky never wanted to get
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, wish I did.
Genre: General
Rating: T, for now.
Ship: Sydney/Sky
AN: Set after New Years, and I'm issuing a tissue warning.
Lately nothing I do ever seems to please you
And maybe turning my back would be that much easier
Cause hurtful words are all that we exchange
But I can't watch you walk away
Can I forget about the way it feels to touch you?
And all about the good times that we've been through
Could I wake up without you every day?
Would I let you walk away?
No, I can't learn to live without
And I can't give up on us now
Oh, I know I could say were through
And tell myself I'm over you
But even if I made a vow
I promise not to miss you now
And try to hide the truth inside
I fell cause I, I just can't live a lie
Could I forget the look that tells me that you want me?
And all the reasons that make loving you so easy
The kiss that always makes it hard to breathe
The way you know just what I mean
-- Carrie Underwood, I Just Can't Live A Lie --
--
"Dinner? Check. Candles? Check. Music? Check," Sky ticked off his list, making sure everything was ready for when Sydney came home from work.
They'd been so busy the last couple of weeks because of the holidays and work, that they'd only seen each other in passing, when they went to bed at night and when they got up in the morning. He wanted this, their first night off together, to be a nice, quiet evening at home.
While dinner simmered on the stove, Sky headed into their room to take a shower and get dressed. He never heard the chiming of his morpher over the patter of the water in the shower.
--
Sky looked at the clock and frowned. Sydney was more than two hours late and she hadn't called to let him know, and it was starting to worry him. She always called when she was going to be late, so it wasn't like her not to. Shaking his head, he went into the living room just as his morpher sounded.
"Tate here."
"Sky, get to the Academy!" Z's terrified voice sounded.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Bridge and Syd!"
Sky didn't respond, he simply ran and grabbed his keys before rushing out to his car and speeding toward the academy.
--
When he got to the medical wing, Sky found Z in a chair, knees pulled to her chest, rocking back and forth. Her uniform was bloody and ripped all over. "Z?"
She looked up at him, the sadness in her eyes overwhelming. "Sky."
"What happened?"
"I tried calling you before," she whispered. "You didn't answer."
"I was in the shower. What happened?" he demanded, this time more forcibly.
Z looked ready to cry, which was scaring him even more. "Kat sent Syd and two C Squad cadets to check out a robbery in progress. Bridge and I were across town. Syd said she had it handled, but Bridge wanted to back her up. I came back here to file our reports, figuring they had it handled, and the next thing I know, Bridge is requesting medical assistance. By the time I got there, I found out what happened."
Sky's face was suddenly pale and his body was vibrating. "Z?"
"Armed robbery. Both the C Squad cadets are dead and when we got Bridge and Syd back here, they were critical."
The Red Ranger sunk down on the chair next to her, pulling her into his arms as their shared their grief and worry.
--
"Kat?" Z whispered when the feline scientist emerged from the emergency room doors. For the first time in a long time, Kat looked weary and tired.
She stopped in front of the Rangers and sighed. "Bridge is stable. He took a bullet to the shoulder and one to the left thigh. Dr. Felix is having him moved to his own room once he's awake."
Sky swallowed, feeling relief for Bridge's condition and apprehension over Syd's. "What about Syd?"
Both Rangers gasped when they saw Kat's eyes fill. "Kat?" Z uttered.
"She's still critical. Dr. Felix isn't sure she's going to make it."
Z's eyes snapped to Sky's face, watching the shock filter across him before his legs gave out and he sunk to the floor. The Yellow Ranger sunk down next to him while Kat hurried to get Cruger, Sky's quiet sobs echoing down the hall behind her.
--
The room was dark when Z wheeled Bridge in. The only light came from the window where the moon shone brightly. The only sound was the steady beeps from the machines telling them that Sydney was still alive. Z moved Bridge as close to the bed as she could before she moved over to tuck the blanket tighter around Sky, who slept in a chair on the other side of Syd's bed.
"I always figured this would happen as Rangers against Gruumm," Bridge whispered. "Not while on patrol in the city."
Z nodded. "I always figured it would be me, Sky or Jack, not you or Syd."
"Sky's blaming himself." Bridge uttered it so confidently that Z knew she didn't have to tell him what she'd seen from the Red Ranger in the days following the robbery. In the four days since, Z knew the Red Ranger had gone through every emotion he was capable of and then some.
"It's not his fault, and he knows that, but you know how much her loves her."
Bridge just nodded. "Z, do you think she'll survive?"
The Yellow Ranger gazed at her friend who was so still and pale in the hospital bed. "God, I hope so."
--
The firs thing that registered was the searing pain. The second thing was she couldn't talk or move her body much. Panic welled before she opened her eyes to the familiar sight of Sky sleeping. She knew she was in the hospital, because she remembered being shot and then being loaded into the ambulance. That had been her last clear memory before now.
"Welcome back, Sydney," Dr. Felix's soothing voice intruded on her thoughts. "Don't panic, Sydney. The meds we have you on have paralyzed your muscles. I'm going to go get a nurse and we'll see about getting that tube out of your throat."
Syd blinked in understanding and watched him hurry out. Turning her head as much as she could, she took in Sky's pale, unshaven face. The dark circles under his eyes and the hallowed out cheeks broke her heart. Even as the tears spilled down her cheeks, she saw him being to stir. When his eyes opened, she watched him focus on her face. "Syd?" he gasped softly.
She blinked at him, watching his own eyes fill with tears. Her heart broke all over again as he shakily sat up and leaned over her bed, resting his forehead against hers. "Sydney," he whispered, his voice breaking at the end of her name.
"Mr. Tate, I'm going to have to ask you to step outside," Dr. Felix announced as he and a nurse entered.
Sky wanted to protest but didn't; the sooner the doctor got to work the sooner Syd's tubes would come out. "I'll be back in a bit, Baby. I'm going to go call Z and Bridge."
Sydney blinked at him but felt lonely when he kissed her cheek and headed out.
--
The minute the door opened, her eyes popped open and took in her visitors. Z was wheeling Bridge in, with Kat, Anubis, Isinia, Boom and Sky right behind them. "Hi," she whispered in greeting, her throat still raw.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Z teased before she leaned over and gave her friend a hug.
Syd nodded and looked over at Bridge. "Bridgey, how are you feeling?"
He smiled. "Better. You've heard about the others?"
Syd nodded again and blinked back tears. She'd still been unconscious when the two members of C Squad had been buried. "Yeah, I did."
The others sensed the tension between Syd and Sky when Sky moved to stand by the window instead of near Syd's bed. Z all but growled when Sydney's eyes stared at the Red Ranger's back and filled with more tears before she bowed her head.
"Dr. Felix says you can go home in a few more days," Kat announced. "Thanks to your advanced Ranger healing abilities, you're out of danger."
Syd could only stare at her hands, not wanting them to see how much his distance was killing her inside. "How soon before I'm back on duty?"
"Two weeks, on light duty," Anubis told her. All of them were shocked when Sky stiffly strode from the room without a word.
--
Sydney gingerly hobbled around the apartment while Sky carried her bag into their bedroom. In the few days since she'd woken up, he'd been cranky, rude, and distant. He hadn't kissed her since she'd initially woken up; he hadn't touched her, nothing. The Pink Ranger was beginning to feel more and more like her boyfriend wanted nothing to do with her.
"Can we talk?" Syd asked when he reentered their living room.
Sky stood in the entry, leaning against the wall. "What?"
Having finally had enough, the petite blonde glared at him. "Mind telling me why I'm getting the cold shoulder?" she demanded to know.
The Red Ranger continued to stare at her, arms still folded over his chest. "Look, I don't know about the others, but I don't think you should go back to duty just yet."
"Sky, that's not an excuse for you treating me like an incurable disease," she pointed out.
He stared at her for a full three minutes before he said what was really on his mind. "I don't want you going back on patrol."
"Not possible, considering I'm a Ranger," she told him.
"Which is why I've asked Cruger to find a new Pink Ranger."
Syd's jaw dropped at that announcement. "You can't do that! I earned my spot!"
"I won't stand back and watch you get yourself killed!" Sky exploded at her.
Shaking her head, Syd bit back the tears, knowing now was not the time to cry. "You're a hypocrite," she whispered angrily. "All the times you've been in that uniform and you've done something completely asinine, and you're standing there bitching at me? Who let Gruumm get all those diamonds, who let Dru into the academy where he almost killed Cruger, and who let Mirloc loose?" she raised her voice with each word. She didn't care that his face paled at the accusations. "Don't you dare stand there and bitch at me! I was doing my job!"
"You could have died!" he yelled back.
"I could drop dead in five minutes! I could cross the fucking street and get hit by a damn truck!" she shot back. "Does that mean you're going to baby-sit me twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year?"
"Sydney…"
"Don't you Sydney me! Leave me the hell alone if you can't respect me!" she screamed at him.
Finally having had enough, Sky moved to the coffee table, grabbed his keys, and stormed out of the apartment. The last sound he heard was Syd's muffled sobs.
