Variations Of Pink
Chapter 2: Seeking Answers
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: August 8, 2005

Summary: The Rangers speak with Cruger and we meet Syd's parents
Rated: T for now, but it may change
Disclaimer: I don't own PR, Disney does.

AN: OH MY GOD:smiles and huggles everyone: Thank you to all of you who reviewed - garnetred, skyblue266, timeforce101, BloomingViolets, Sailorjlita, Blake-Tori88, Ghostwriter, NinjaStorm4Life, aquarius12285m masterranger3, grabbagirl, gymkidz2000, BlueAngel07, Beautiful-Me89. I never expected such support. :grins and looks to BloomingViolets: Well, you're partially right, but not in quite the way you were expecting. :laughs: and yes, there will be some former Rangers popping up (obviously Wes and Jen – and according to BV, much thanks has to go to White Time Ranger for that, and possibly some of my other faves who are relevant to the story). And finally, aquarius12285 don't worry, Syd will be back to normal…eventually. It's part of the storyline for that.

"When clouds above you start to pour, and all of your doubts rain like a storm, and you don't know who you are anymore; let me help you find what you've been searching for." NSYNC

Commander Anubis Cruger stood in his office, staring out the window at the Cadets training below on the obstacle and mud courses. After Sydney had returned to SPD Headquarters, he'd received a phone call from her father, her adopted father, explaining just what had been going through Syd's mind when she'd returned.

Now he stood, his arms behind him, lost in thought. He'd told the Rangers that they'd come from the pioneers of SPD technology, what he hadn't told them was that most of those original SPD members had also been members of other Ranger teams stationed on Earth.

"She'll come to you for answers, Doggie," Kat told him as she sat in the chair in front of his desk. "She's with Sky, and he knows you have ties to the others. They'll come to you for the answer's they're seeking."

"I know. Her father asked me to tell her as little as possible until he can get here and explain. He didn't know what to say to her when she got ready to leave home," Anubis told her, sighing, but never turning to face his feline friend. "Kat, she shouldn't have told Sydney she was adopted, at least not like that. We really didn't need her distracted now that we've got a new set of problems popping up."

"She has kept their secret for so long, you knew eventually, just as I did, that it was bound to come out. Sydney's parents, both sets of them, made sacrifices for her, ones that have to be honored," Kat told him, closing her eyes, two smiling figures holding a beautiful baby girl in their arms coming to mind.

Tears clouded her vision when she opened her eyes to stare at Anubis' back. 'I miss you, so much, but your daughter bears your courage, your drive, your stubborn nature, but most of all, your convictions to do what is right and true, and to save this world' she thought of her lost friends.

"Doggie, you need to give her enough information to at least figure it out on her own, especially if he isn't going to get here soon enough to tell her."

"What do I say to her, Kat?" Anubis literally barked as he spun around to face his assistant and friend. "Do I just blurt out that her parents were two of the most courageous people I've ever met, that they died in the line of duty they should have never had to pick up again so many years after they retired?"

Kat was a loss for words. "They were the first two friends from this planet I ever had, and I want to honor their memory by telling their daughter, but I have to also remember, I have two friends now who are going to be hurt if I speak a word of this to her."

Neither could continue as a knock was heard at the door of Cruger's office. "ENTER!"

When the door slid open, five faces peered in. "Commander, may we speak with you?" Jack asked, straightening his posture.

After Syd and Sky had explained the situation to the others, the three other Rangers had rallied behind them. Z had mentioned creating a untied front against Cruger when they went to speak with him, and the team had agreed. So here they were, standing together as they did in battle, facing Cruger and Kat.

"Come in Rangers," Anubis motioned for them to enter.

Jack nodded to Sydney, who took a step away from where she was standing with Sky. "Commander, you know who my real parents are, don't you?" she asked, biting her lip.

Kat had to look away from them. Sydney was so much like her mother that it hurt. Kat had been friends with Syd's parents, just as Anubis had, and to have lost them the way she had hurt her just as much.

"Cadet Drew, I've just gotten off the phone with your father," he said, turning to face the window for a moment before staring straight at the team. "He wants to be the one to tell you the truth. I'm asking you to wait until he gets here."

"Commander, I mean no disrespect, but I want you to tell me. They were Rangers, weren't they?"

Not only the Pink Ranger, but the entire team flinched when they saw the sorrow on Cruger's face, and in his eyes. "Syd, please, don't push him," Kat breathed softly to the Pink Ranger.

Feeling betrayed, Sydney shook her head and clenched her eyes shut. "Fine," she whispered angrily. "When I've spoken to my father, you'll tell me more about them, won't you?"

"I'll talk with you after your father gets here. Until then, you five need to head to bed. You have an early class tomorrow." Nodding, the five saluted Cruger in usual fashion before striding out of the room.

"That went well, didn't it?" Anubis asked. Kat merely raised an eyebrow at him and then strode of the room herself, leaving her friend behind to deal with his pain in private.

"I can't believe you're going to tell her."

Sighing, the man in black slacks and a red dress shirt continued to pack his suitcase. "Honey, we wouldn't have this problem if you hadn't blurted out that she was adopted," he snapped at her, tired of her trying to talk him out of going to their daughter. 'Technically, she's our goddaughter, but we've loved her every bit as much as they did' he thought to himself, his heart aching. It had been years since he'd thought of the two friends - his best friends - whom he'd lost. He'd spent his entire life with one of them, and the other since high school. He'd trusted them with his life, and they'd trusted him with theirs, and then suddenly, they'd been called back into duty and had had their lives snuffed out on them in their prime.

"Besides, it should come from me anyway," he told her. "I'm the one who let them down; I'm the one who let them die."

"Jase," she whispered, her long, limber legs making short work of the distance between them before she pulled him into her arms, hugging him fiercely. "She's our baby. I know that she's their biological daughter, but she's our baby."

"She deserves the truth, the whole truth. She'll always be our baby, but Kath, she won't be whole until she knows what happened, not now, not since she knows something's amiss."

Nodding her blonde head, she kissed his cheek. "Let me pack, then we'll go. I have to apologize for what I said anyway; I don't want her staying mad at me forever."

He smiled, stroking her cheek with his large hand. "She's not the type of person to stay mad at anyone for long."

A soft giggle and a memory-filled sigh was her response. "Just like her mother. I swear, I gave her every reason to hate me, instead, she trusted me with the things that mattered most to her – her powers, her friends…"

"And ultimately her child."

They were silent, all of them, which unnerved him completely. He was always the silent brooding one, and they were the ones who were constantly chattering. For them to be deathly silent was a shock to his system.

Bridge was sitting on the couch to his right, a plate of very buttery toast forgotten on his lap. Jack was stretched out on the floor, to Bridge's right, legs crossed at the ankles and his hands running through Z's hair as she laid perpendicular to him, her head in his lap. Z had a book open and resting on her chest, while next to Jack was a video game controller; both were forgotten.

And then there was Syd. She sat, legs curled under her, in his regular spot in the chair. One manicured hand propped her chin up, allowing her to look at them. However, her eyes were closed and she seemed to be deep in thought, or sleep.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. You heard Cruger, he said he'd give Syd any answers she wanted after she spoke to her father," he tried to reason, though he knew it was futile. They didn't even know when Syd's dad was coming, let alone what she'd learn after he spoke to her.

"How can you be so heartless?" Z snapped suddenly, surging up from her spot, eyes blazing. "Syd's our friend; her pain should be our pain! Or are you too much of a stuck up snob to admit that you care about her? And God, if you cared about her, why can't you show her a little more compassion!"

Jack and Bridge sat in silence, too stunned and afraid of Z to say anything. Sky looked to Syd for help, but the Pink Ranger hadn't moved from her spot, not even flinched or opened her eyes, while Z yelled. "I'm…I didn't…"

"Z, cut him some slack," Jack finally muttered. "Sky sees right and wrong, honesty and lies, he forgets about the gray matter in between. He still thinks Cruger was telling us the truth when he said he'd tell Syd everything."

"Guys, enough," Bridge called out, his eyes on Sydney, who was quickly moving toward her and Z's room.

"Dammit Sky! Show a little more thought and compassion, would ya!" Z hollered again, this time standing up and streaking across the room in the Pink Rangers' wake.

"What? What did I say that was so wrong?" Sky asked, eyes going to Bridge and Jack, who merely rolled their eyes at him.

Short, I know, but I hope you liked it! More coming soon!