Variations Of Pink
Chapter 6: Hallucinations
Lat Revised: August 16, 2005

Summary: The new A and B Squads jump into their first battle when Sydney has another episode, this one more frightening than the first.
Rating: T, may change later
Disclaimer: I don't own PR, Disney does.
AN: Thank you to all of you who reviewed. I appreciate it. And yes, eventually, Sydney will explain why she's got blonde hair and blue eyes instead of brown hair and brown eyes like her birth parents.

"God, will you let her know that I love her so when there's no one there, that she's not alone? Just close her eyes and let her know my heart is beating with hers." Devotion

Commander Cruger turned when the doors to the command center opened and two teams of Rangers entered. The new A Squad Rangers raised their eyebrows at the sight of the new B Squad Rangers having responded to Cruger's call.

"A Squad, you're time has come once again, and B Squad, it's time to field test your training. We're facing an attack on two fronts," Cruger started.

"Sir?" Jack asked.

"We've got two rogue Zords destroying downtown and a squadron of Krybots a mile from here," Kat filled them in.

"Jack, Sky, Bridge and Z, take the Delta Runners and stop those Zords. Sydney, you're to take B Squad and destroy those Krybots!" Cruger ordered.

"Yes Sir!" the two teams responded. A Squad was surprised by Cruger's orders but followed them none the less.

"Let's do this guys!" Jack hollered at his team as the four Zords whirled into downtown New Tech City.

"Yeah," Z laughed. "Sky probably wants to get back and cuddle Syd some more."

Bridge and Jack chuckled while Sky sputtered. "What? Z, you're imagining things!"

"Really? We've all seen how you always run to her rescue, and how she's the only one of all of us who can provoke a smile from you without trying," Z shot back in argument even as the battled the evil zords.

"Guys, really, this isn't the time to discuss my love life!" Sky hissed, and then belatedly realized what he'd said. The Blue Ranger hung his head for a moment, knowing his friends were not going to let him live that comment down.

"As much as I hate to admit this, for once I agree with Sky!" Jack yelled as his zord was knocked aside and into a nearby building.

"ATTACK!" Sky yelled.

Sydney rolled her eyes as she accompanied the five B Squad Rangers to finish off the Krybots – the five of them were acting childish and were being entirely too tentative in trying to defeat the mechanical pains in the butts.

"What should we do?" Alana, the Yellow Ranger, asked when the team found themselves trying to regroup after being tossed on the ground.

"At least we were never that dense," Syd muttered to herself as she dropped back near the five new Rangers. Pulling out her morpher, she smiled. "S.P.D. EMERGENCY!"

B Squad watched Sydney's body morph from its normal state to its Ranger state in complete awe of the Pink Ranger.

Nodding to each other, the five young adults grouped together. "S.P.D. EMERGENCY!" they called a moment later, having followed Syd's lead. Quickly, the six Rangers engaged the Krybots one more time.

After ten minutes, Sydney suddenly found herself separated from B Squad and overwhelmed. Before she could reach the younger Rangers, panic started to set in, causing her chest to tighten and her vision to blue. 'NO! I have to get to them!' her mind screamed. Fighting fiercely, Syd watched the others being taken away by the Krybots, leaving her alone against a small army.

"NO!" Syd screamed, lashing out at the closest body to her.

Meanwhile, the newbie Rangers were struck by the sheer intensity with which Sydney was fighting. That is, until they attempted to approach the A Squad Pink Ranger and she lashed out blindly at them.

"Whoa!" Aaron, the Red Ranger, cried out as Syd sent him soaring through the air and into a bus bench.

"Give them back! Give back B Squad!" Sydney screeched, hauling the Green Ranger, Travis, up by the front of his uniform and shaking him harshly.

"Radio the base! Something's wrong with Sydney!" Aaron commanded his own Pink Ranger, a petite young woman named Allison.

"God, that was really tough!" Z grumbled as she followed the other members of her team into the command center.

"KAT! Cadet Drew's gone crazy! She seems to think we're the Krybots!" Allison's voice floated over the intercom.

"Understood. Help is on the way!" Kat called back, her eyes darting to the Rangers'. The feline scientist didn't have to speak; the four Rangers were already morphing and heading back out.

"What the heck is she doing?" Jack growled as his team arrived on a disturbing scene.

"She seems to be hallucinating," Bridge told them as Z and Sky motioned for the young cadets to move as far away from Syd as they could.

"SYD!" Z called out to her friend when she got close enough to her, only to have the Pink Ranger lash out and knock Z off her feet.

"SYDNEY!" Sky yelled, causing his friend to gasp and rush toward him. Sky braced for her blows, but not for Syd to throw herself, crying, into his arms.

"Sky! They took B Squad!" she cried softly into his chest.

"Syd, calm down. You're hallucinating; B Squad is standing next to Jack, Z and Bridge," he told her calmly.

"I can't see them! All I see is Krybots and you."

Sky choked down the rising panic in his chest and drew Sydney closer to him. "Concentrate on their voices, Syd," he whispered, stroking her arm soothingly.

The distraught Pink Ranger closed her eyes and laid her helmet encased head against Sky's shoulder. Blocking out everything around her, Syd focused on the voices of her friends. She heard the B Squad calling to each other as the moved to battle the remaining Krybots. She could hear Bridge, Jack and Z gather around her and Sky, murmuring assurances to her frazzled state of mind.

"Sky, I'm scared. I still can't see the others, only you."

The Blue Ranger caught Jack's nod and returned it, watching his teammates move out until they had formed a triangle of protection around him and Sydney.

Carefully, Sky held her tighter to him, feeling her relax at his touch. Once that had happened, he threw a shield up around the two of them. Once Sky was satisfied with the shield, he nodded again to Jack and watched the Green, Red, and Yellow Rangers dash off to help the B Squad.

"Sky, what's happening?" Syd asked, looking around. Finally, and to her utter relief, she could see her friends again.

"I've got you in one of my shields, that way you can't hurt the others if you freak out again."

Sydney was hurt by his words, and only too glad he couldn't see the tears rolling down her face. 'He's right though,' she thought sadly. 'Something's happening to me, and I nearly hurt the others because of it!'

"Syd, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Sky whispered when he felt her tense.

"Don't apologize, you're right. I nearly injured the others; I'm not safe to be around."

Sky shook his head and held her still tighter to him. "Syd, we'll figure out what's wrong, and then you'll be back to normal."

When the eight Rangers were done with the Krybots, they cautiously approached Syd and Sky.

"Syd, you ok?" Z tentatively asked, inching closer to her friend and teammate.

The A Squad Pink Ranger nodded her head, stepping away from Sky and letting her morph go. "I'll ride back on Sky's bike with him. B Squad's terrified of me, and so are the rest of you. I don't want to make you more uncomfortable than you already are."

Sky nodded his agreement and let his morph go as well, before he slung an arm around Syd's shoulders, gathering her close to his side.

"We'll meet you back at base then," Jack murmured, watching Sky lead Syd over to his motorcycle. Z moved back toward her and Syd's jeep while Jack and Bridge headed for their bikes and the B Squad moved to their jeep.

Standing with her head held high, Sydney prepared herself for Commander Cruger's punishment for her actions against S.P.D. and her teammates. "I should take you off active duty until this is all over with," Anubis barked at her, watching with a smile as she never once flinched. That was one thing he saw in her that her birth mother had had – she was hard as nails when she needed to be and soft when she wanted to be, but above all else, she would accept her punishment without shame.

"Sir, should I turn my morpher into Dr. Manx?" she asked, her voice never once betraying her emotions. She didn't want to be taken off active duty, she didn't want to have her powers taken from her – it seemed next to Sky, her powers were the one thing that made her feel safe in the midst of all this chaos.

"Did I say turn your morpher in?"

"No, Sir, you didn't."

"Then don't assume that's what I want you to do, Cadet Drew. I said I should, but I'm not going to. I believe your powers may be the very key to saving your life at the moment. I am, however, assigning you a battle partner from here on out. Cadet Tate will watch over you, make sure you don't have any more episodes like you did today, and he'll report to Dr. Manx or me the second you do. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Syd, I'm worried about you. Whatever happened, it's affecting you in more ways than we can begin to count, and I don't like it."

Sydney relaxed her stance and finally took a look at Cruger. She could see the worry lines and the weariness in Anubis' face and eyes. "Commander?"

"Be careful, Syd, please."

"Yes Commander."

Anubis nodded. "Dismissed."

The second Sydney walked through the doors to the common room her friends were on their feet. With them, B Squad stood anxiously awaiting to hear what she had to say.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she started, standing before them. The nine Rangers nodded.

"What he'd say Syd?"

Sydney's eyes moved to Z's face. "He's not taking me off active duty, he seems to think my powers may actually help save my life."

"And?" Jack asked.

"He's assigning, basically, a bodyguard and battle partner to me."

"Who?" Aaron questioned, worried who would be put in the position of trying to help Syd when she was so precariously close to the edge.

"Sky."

Jack cracked a grin, Z coughed though it sounded more like a chuckle, Bridge laughed, B Squad remained quiet and Sky shot an eyebrow up in confusion. "Me?"

Syd nodded. "That is, unless you don't want to do it. If you don't, we'll probably need to find another Pink Ranger for A Squad, because I don't think Commander will let me go it alone."

Sky strode forward and reached his fingers out to Sydney's chin, tipping it upward. Blue met brown. "Just answer me one question."

"Shoot?"

"What the hell's going on with your hair and your eyes?"

Syd laughed. "Would you believe brown is my natural color for both? I've been wearing colored contacts since I was eleven, and I dye my hair blonde because it's what all my friends were doing, and I found I look better with blonde hair. I actually look incredibly a lot like Kimberly and Tommy when I go au natural."

The teams laughed softly at that. "But they changed so fast?"

"I think that may have some to do with whatever's happening to me."

"Syd," Sky whispered so softly, she barely heard him. "Blonde and blue, it's the only way I know you. But I'm cool if you go with brown again."

Sydney smiled. "I actually miss the blonde and blue. I think I'll go back to it."