Disclaimer: the usual…………….
CHAPTER 4
Apologies and Flirting
"YOU DID WHAT!" Syd screamed into her phone, having received a call from Sky. She was in her room, hanging out with Z when her phone had rung. She picked it up and answered in her usual perky tone, only to have her best friend explain what had just gone down between him and Michaela.
"I couldn't help it Syd, she was getting me so angry," Sky pleaded.
"I don't care Sky, Z and I talk to you like that all the time and you don't get angry with us! You scared the poor girl, what is your problem!" Syd asked her fellow ranger. Z frowned, doing her best to keep up with the conversation as she was only hearing one side of it.
"I..uh..well..I…," Sky stumbled, trying to answer her question.
"I…uh…well…SPIT IT OUT SKY!" Syd screamed to him, upset beyond control. Z knew she needed to intervene before Syd blew a gasket, so she grabbed the phone from her roommate.
"Sky, why do you get so angry at her? Nobody gets under your skin that easily," Z said, honestly questioning her fellow ranger. She heard Sky sigh and mumble something she knew she wasn't supposed to hear.
"Yea well, I'm usually not attracted to anyone else," he said softly. Z's eyes bulged out.
"YOU LIKE HER!" she screamed, causing Syd to perk up.
"Would you keep it down! I don't want Jack and Bridge to know. Look, I'm going to try and find her and try to do SOMETHING to make up for scaring her but could you guys cover for me over there? Please?" Sky said. Z was a little surprised by the pleading sound in his voice.
"Sure, we'll do what we can for now but I can't promise how long we'll be able to pull this off," Z said.
"That's all I need. I owe you two," Sky said. Z smirked.
"Oh, don't start counting now," she said sarcastically before hanging up. Syd just stared at her.
"Well?" she asked.
"Let's just hope Sky doesn't make a further fool of himself in his attempt to find Michaela and apologize to her," Z said. Meanwhile, Sky was exhausting his search for his missing charge. He was silently cursing himself for whatever he had done to her. He had to admit, if Syd or Z had said that stuff to him, he wouldn't have reacted the same way. It was true that he was developing feelings for Michaela, and was not sure how to go about handling them. But what baffled him was that scared look she got when he grabbed her. He got a vibe from her, like she was recalling something. Something that horrified her.
Sky found himself near the harbor storage centers. There was plenty of hiding spaces and he was scanning all over for her. He was about to move on to the next place when Krybots appeared.
"Great, just what I need," Sky said, putting his scanner away and engaging in a fight. He flipped, kicked, punched, and ducked with the best of them. He was fighting so hard that he didn't notice how fast the Krybots were multiplying and he wasn't about to stop to call for help. He also didn't notice Broodwing hanging nearby.
"Say goodbye Blue ranger," he said, about to unless one of his bats that would've been lethal for Sky. Unfortunately for Broodwing, Michaela was nearby in invisibility form and saw him, knowing what he was planning. She might have just fought with Sky, but she didn't want him hurt. She got an idea and unleashed a call from her mouth, but no one nearby heard her. That was what she was going for. Suddenly, the Krybots and Broodwing stopped, hearing a lot of barking. Sky frowned.
"What in the world?" he questioned silently, before a mob of dogs came running towards the group. Everyone was stunned beyond recognition and Sky suddenly felt something pull his arm to the side just as the Krybots ran from the dogs. He stumbled and struggled only to land on his back and something fell on top of him. From the impact of falling on Sky, Michaela was knocked out of invisibility mode. Sky his hands gripping her hips and they were both breathing hard from the shock. She smiled nervously at him.
"Hi," she said simply. Sky frowned, still a little baffled.
"Hi," he said. Michaela just smiled from looking up and noticing that Broodwing was gone.
"Oh good, he's gone," she said, moving off of Sky. Sky sat up and looked at where she had been looking.
"Who?" he asked.
"Some freaky looking guy hanging upside down from the building. I heard him say "Say goodbye Blue ranger" and that's when I called the dogs," Michaela explained.
"Speaking of dogs," Sky said, looking past Michaela. She looked behind her and saw Clover and RIC approaching them. She smiled, looking back and Sky and got up to go to them. Sky rushed up and gently grabbed one arm, careful to not repeat the incident from before.
"You saved me after what I said and did to you?" he asked, unsure of her motivation. Michaela sighed and looked at him.
"Look, I might be upset with you but I don't want you to like..ya know..get hurt or something worse. I can tell you're not a bad guy," she said.
"How?" he asked. It was just then that RIC and Clover came up to either side of Michaela. She just looked at the blue ranger.
"A bad guy wouldn't have friends like you have. A bad guy wouldn't have come looking for me. A bad guy would've done a lot worse than you did," Michaela said gently. Sky felt a pang of guilt and swallowed hard.
"Look, I'm…I'm really sorry about that. I don't know why I lost my anger so easily with you. Honestly, I knew I wouldn't have reacted that way had it been Syd or Z, not that that's an excuse of any kind, but, I'm sorry. I really didn't have any intention of scaring you the way I did," Sky said. Michaela looked into Sky's eyes and saw how sincere he was being. She sighed and collected herself.
"Well, I didn't help by antagonizing you so maybe we could start over?" Michaela asked, being sincere, yet feeling a little corny with the whole conversation. Sky smiled and nodded.
"Sure, sounds good," he said before stepping back and clearing his throat, putting out his hand.
"Schuyler Tate, SPD B Squad Blue Ranger. Call me Sky," he said, going from serious to actually laughing a little. Michaela smiled and noticed how attractive Sky was when he smiled. She shook his hand back.
"Michaela Harper, my friends call me Kay," she said. Sky raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Really? So it's Kay now?" he questioned. She smirked.
"Well, right now, only to you. Race you back to SPD," she said quickly before running off.
"Hey wait up!" Sky screamed, laughing as he chased her. Clover and RIC followed close behind as the two chased each other through the city. When they neared SPD headquarters, Michaela got a little tired and Sky caught her, binding his arms playfully around her shoulders. Little did they know that they were being watched by roaming eyes, both good and bad.
"Hmmm, looks like the blue ranger is giving us some leverage," Grumm whispered to himself as he watched the two.
"Move over Bridge I can't see!" Z yelled as she tried to watch the two from the window.
"Would you keep it down? I can't hear," Jack said. Sky and Michaela laughed at their playfulness when suddenly Sky got serious.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked. Michaela noticed his seriousness and got a little concerned.
"Sure," she said.
"What did you remember that scared you when I grabbed you?" he asked carefully, not sure if he was intruding on private territory. Michaela's face fell. She wanted to get to know Sky and the other rangers better but she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about something that not even Cruger or her dad knew. Sky noticed this and spoke up.
"Listen, you don't have to tell me. Just know I'm here to talk if you need it," Sky said. A single tear escaped Michaela's eye as she smiled in appreciation. Sky engulfed her in a gentle, friendly hug. Michaela accepted it whole heartedly but wondered when she would be ready to tell everyone about her mother and what had been left to her after the tragedy.
