Until The End

Note: I do not own these characters, just the ideas. This is my first Jack/Z story, so please be kind.

Timeline: SPD

Rating: PG13

Genre: Angst/Drama

---

The darkening clouds overhead burst open and rain covered the ground. Even though the rain was washing her blood away, the metallic scent was still overpowering enough to sting his nostrils. His tears mingled with the rain and blood that covered her face. He never wanted her life to end like this, in so much pain and agony. She was struggling against death, prolonging it, and suffering for each breath. His hand was pressed to her cheek and the other was holding the small of her back.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this," he whispered, she gave a small laugh and coughed, spraying blood from her mouth.

"But at least I went down in a blaze of glory," she whispered, which broke off to more coughing, the blood flow from her mouth had gone from a mist to a constant river. He sobbed and clutched her to his chest,

"Don't leave me," he whispered, and she gasped out the next words.

"Too late, baby. I love you Jack," she whispered, his sobs held his last words to her.

"I love you too Elizabeth," she smiled and then her body jerked once, twice, and then went completely still. As he held her corpse in his arms, he completely broke down and cried until there were no more tears left within him.

---

A few days later

The funeral had ended and he refused to leave her grave, his eyes were locked on her headstone, wishing he would awaken from this nightmare. After everything they had shared, the endless talks, the adventures, the danger, the passion and silent promises he couldn't make himself realize that her death had happened. The other SPD rangers were standing a few steps behind him, allowing him his time, their tears falling as silent as his. No longer caring that they were there behind him, he collapsed onto his knees, began to curse her.

"Damn it Z! Why didn't you wait for me! You couldn't have waited five more God damned minutes until I could have helped you! Why Z, after everything, you weren't supposed to go like this!" Jack broke off weeping bitterly, "Why?how could you leave me? We promised Z, until the end, that was how it was going to be. You and me, together, forever. Oh Elizabeth," he sobbed, rocking on his knees, his stomach clenching, making him feel ill. For a moment he felt her cold, hard body in his arms and he looked down to find his arms empty.

Behind him Sydney left out a choked sob and Sky pulled her silently to his shoulder and she buried her face into shirt and sobbed. Bridge scrubbed angrily at his eyes as Jack's breakdown began to affect him as well. The Commander knew what had to be done, and turned to everyone, his hand gently clasped with Kat's.

"Let's go, we need to let Jack have his time," Kruger said, and lead the others from the graveyard. The big blue dog paused once more to glance behind, his eyes going from Jack's sobbing form to the headstone, which the young man wept in front of. Written in the stone was a simple message.

"Elizabeth "Z" Delgado," Was written in bold above one word. "Hero."

---

The next day Kruger was sitting at his desk when Sky entered, holding a slip of paper and his face was grave.

"Commander, this was found in Jack's room," he said and handed it to his superior. As Kruger read over the letter he sighed, and once it had been read, he let it flutter down to the top of his desk.

"I feared this would happen, he needs time Sky. He just lost his best friend, his constant companion, teammate and love. It's going to take a long time until he is well again, the guilt he is feeling is controlling him, I know how it is, losing a woman you loved," his thoughts went to his wife before she had died. Sky nodded and removed something from his pocket and set it on the desk before leaving. Sitting on top of the letter red SPD morpher. Kruger sighed and reread the letter within his mind.

"Commander Kruger,

I can no longer be the Red SPD Ranger or an officer. Every time I look at it, I think of her. Everything I see reminds me of her. I need to leave; I need time to clear my head and to escape from all of this. If had I just gotten there a few minutes earlier Z would still live, it is my fault she is dead and I have to face that fact. I will contact you eventually.

Good-bye and I wish you all the best,

Jack Landers,"

---

Jack wandered the streets, each place he saw haunted him. He could hear Z's laughter in his ears and see them as they had been before becoming Rangers. Two kids living on the streets, all for one and one for all in their case had been two. He swore to protect her back when they first met and hated himself now that she was gone. As tears filled his eyes he couldn't deal with being on the streets and sought somewhere to go. He spotted the cemetery and entered it, heading to where her body lay.

He collapsed in front of her grave and let the tears flow silently.

"I'm so sorry Z," he whispered and to his surprise he heard a soft reply.

"For what?" looking up she was standing in front of him, dressed as he had seen her last, in her SPD uniform. This time it was absent of her blood, the rain and the gore that had been the wound that caused her death.

"I let you down Z, it was supposed to be us until the end," she laughed softly.

"It was my time to go Jack," she countered, "We didn't know that. Sometimes the end is closer than we think it is. I don't blame you Jack, I never did. It was my choice not to wait; I wanted to be the hero, so much for that idea. Please Jack, leave here now, and don't return."

"Why?" Jack asked, she frowned and crouched down in front of him, his eyes met hers and he reached out to touch her face. She leaned away from his hand and sighed.

"Don't do that Jack, you can see and hear me and that is all. You wouldn't feel my warm skin, just cold nothingness. I don't want to destroy the memories of me in your arms, now please go, if you stay you will be killed," she insisted, and was horrified to see light return to Jack's eyes at that statement.

"Good, then I can be with you again," she shook her head rapidly.

"No! Don't say that! If you do we will never be together, this isn't you're time to go and if you do die, you won't be able to join me, please Jack, for me, go," she begged, tears were welling within her eyes and he nodded numbly.

"I love you Elizabeth," he whispered, she nodded and watched him go, her words hung on the air.

"I love you too Jack."

---

Jack returned to the SPD command center and went to his room, not looking at anyone as he passed the other Rangers who were heading to Kruger's office. He collapsed onto his bed and lay on his bed, closing his eyes he felt the warmth of Z surround him as he slipped off to sleep.

As he dreamt, she was there, this time it wasn't in her uniform. He hadn't seen her formal dress before but couldn't believe how beautiful she looked.

"Z, you look beautiful," he told her, she beamed at him and spun slowly.

"Just for you, I hoped you would like this, now come here and dance with me," she said, and held out her arms, he stepped forward, realizing he was now in formal wear as well. His hand touched hers, find it warm and solid, he didn't want to do a formal waltz so he dropped his hands to her waist and pulled her close. Holding her as close as he could, they slowly began to sway in a circle.

"I'm sor-" she cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"Shh, don't ruin the moment, just dance with me. Stop apologizing and wishing you were dead so you could join me, you have a long life a head of you." She promised him, she rested her cheek to his chest, his heartbeat filling her ears.

"Its no life without you, you're supposed to be here with me," he insisted, she smiled.

"I will be Jack, I'll always be watching over you, guiding and guarding you. Besides I'll always be with you here, when you close your eyes at night, I will be waiting for you," she said, his lips touched the top of her head.

"You promise?" he asked, she looked up at him, holding his eyes.

"Until the end."

---

Jack awoke with tears on his face; he could still feel her in his arms, her warmth cascading through him again.

"Thank you Z," he whispered, and lay awake until sleep took him once more to reunite him with her.

Fin

Note: I hope you enjoyed this, I didn't know originally who I was going to center the story on after I wrote the first paragraph. Then I decided I would give Jack/Z a shot. I hope that it was all right and I will soon have my new SPD story: Burning Bright up.

This is a preview for it:

Power Rangers SPD: Burning Bright

Preview

In the era of aliens and humans there are also machines. Machines are depended on more than ever in this time, everyone has anything they need at their fingertips and it's due to the machines that make life easier. The laws that were once in place have changed in limited ways, security is up and the laws against speed have been forgotten. People have changed, the world has changed and with evil running through it more than ever there is one force to try to protect it. As they have for all generations the Power Rangers are there to fight the forces of evil. The forces of evil have now begun using the machines to harm and to kill. They have cloned the Rangers RIC to make their own, simply titled the Mechanical Hound and this one only kills and destroys. Once it is set to hunt, it won't stop hunting until its target is dead.

Note:

This idea had been inspired from a novel I read in class, which was written over 50 years ago. This novel is simply an amazing piece of work; it's Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. The idea for Grumm's Mechanical Hound comes from this novel and I'm posting quotes so you get to know the creature that he created in 1953. So really I am borrowing the Mechanical Hound from Mr. Bradbury and I'm thankful.

Quotes:

"The mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live in its gently humming, gently vibrating, softly illuminated kennel back in a dark corner of the fire house. The dim light of one in the morning, the moonlight from the open sky framed through the great window, touched here and there on the brass and copper and the steel of the faintly trembling beast. Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber padded paws.

Nights when things got dull, which was every night, the men slid down the brass poles, and set the ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound and let loose rats in the fire house areaway. Three seconds later the game was done, the rat caught half across the areaway, gripped in gentle paws while a four-inch hollow steel needle plunged down from the proboscis of the hound to inject massive jolts of morphine or procaine"

Mechanical Hound: The Hound is a computerized animal used by the government to punish its enemies, such as Montag. Though Montag torches the first Hound, a second one is brought in to track him. The Hound represents the strong hand of dictatorship

Mechanical Hound: The terrible triumph of modern technology, the Mechanical Hound is programmed to track down and destroy any victim to whom its infallible sensors are set. The Hound stabs and injects Montag's leg with procaine before Montag destroys it with a flame-thrower. Later, having been thrown off by Montag's altered chemical balance, the replacement Hound attacks and kills an innocent man so as to keep the faith and fear of the people

Pairings:

(Eventually)

Jack/Z

Sky/Syd

Kruger/Kat

Bridge/OC