Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own anything you recognize.

KINGS AND VAGABONDS

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Four: Our Beginning IV

Year 2019

The man roughly pushed her out the door. She fell to the ground, throwing her hands out to break her fall and receiving burning pain in return. Moving slowly so she could sit, she inspected her hands. They were scraped and beads of blood were beginning to form. Tears burned in her eyes, mingling with the light, misty rain. Living on the streets hurt so much… she was tired of being in pain, tired of being a freak, tired of living…

Elizabeth Delgado got to her feet, refusing to let anyone take away her dignity and her pride. She had survived almost ten years of this. She could survive more. No one would have guessed that she was just sixteen and had been through more than a person her age had the right to. She had never thought she would stoop as low as to sell herself in exchange for some food, but an aching, growling stomach had made that decision for her.

There had been no real reason for her to run away from the group home when she was six years old. She had been treated like everyone else—a camper at an extended camp. There had been food, a bed, warmth, people to talk to… but vague memories of parents who had loved her and hadn't wanted to give her away drove her. Even at the tender age of six, she wanted to find them, knowing somewhere that they would welcome her back. She hadn't known how she would find them and ten years of searching produced no results. Every so often, the truant officer would get her in school, but the education was spotty. She knew enough to get along on the streets. It looked like the streets were where she would be staying.

Z moved down to an alley. The back door to an Italian restaurant was here and the manager was sympathetic to her. He often gave her food in exchange for sweeping the dining room or washing some dishes. At least he didn't demand her body as payment. She sank down beside the trash cans, blending into the scene. The smell of freshly cooked food mingled with the scent of garbage. She reached into the neck of her shirt and pulled out a locket. There were a few things she had of her life from before the group home. One was a 'Z' necklace that she had lost almost four years ago. The other was this locket. There were no pictures in the heart-shaped locket, but it was sterling silver and looked like someone had paid a bit to get it. She could never bring herself to hock it.

"Elizabeth?"

She quickly put the locket under her shirt and scrambled to her feet. "Mrs. Mancuso," she said breathlessly.

The manager's wife smiled. "Honey, what are you doing back there? It's freezing! Get inside the kitchen and warm up."

Z was only too happy to obey. She moved into the bustling kitchen, following Mrs. Mancuso. The staff here didn't blink an eye at her worn clothing and dirty body. They were used to the managers bringing in homeless beggars and giving them a good meal. The woman guided her to a chair near the hot ovens.

"Pietro!" she called to one of the chefs. "Bring Z the special!" She turned back to Z. "The special is baked chicken parmesan with marinara sauce. I also have some nice cheesecakes that I just made today." Z nearly felt ill, it had been so long since she ate a proper meal. She hadn't even known she was numb with cold until the heat from the ovens began to thaw her out. Pietro brought her a steaming plate of food that she tucked into with gusto. If it wasn't for people like Mrs. Mancuso, she didn't know what she'd do.

"Stephanie!" Z looked up and watched a man with chocolate-colored skin that she hadn't seen before walk in the back door of the restaurant. Mrs. Mancuso obviously knew him, because she allowed him to kiss her cheek. His clothes were worn, like her own, but he looked clean.

"Jack!" Mrs. Mancuso replied with a smile. "Looks like the devil brought you in here." She shook her head. "Still playing Robin Hood?"

Jack grinned. "Of course! There's people worse off than me."

"I assume you're here to beg some food for a poor starving family of twelve you found?"

He looked mildly surprised. "How'd you know?"

"That's what you always come here for." She paused and pointed to another empty chair near Z. "Go sit down. I can at least feed you before I open my heart to your cause."

Jack grinned again and headed for Z. She averted her eyes and studied her plate. She didn't know what to think of Jack or what to say to him. He looked like one of those on the upper level of street existence—someone who knew all the places to get free food and rooms and showers… It was something she had never been able to figure out. Most people told her to go home, when she didn't have a home to go to.

"Stephanie's great, isn't she?" Jack commented as he plunked himself into the chair right next to Z.

Z nodded, not sure what else to say.

"I'm Jack," he continued. "You are?"

"Z," she replied.

"Just Z?" She nodded again. "Is it short for something?"

"Elizabeth."

"So how did you get to Z?"

"It was what my parents called me."

"Your folks dead?"

"I don't know where they are."

Jack looked sympathetic. "That's rough. My folks died when I was thirteen. Been out on the streets ever since."

Z smiled, knowing he was a kindred spirit, but the others who had tried to help her fled the moment they learned about her power. She could replicate herself—make exact duplicates of herself for whatever reason. No one stuck around after they learned that about her. If he tried to help her, then he would just abandon her too.

"Eat!" Mrs. Mancuso said to Jack, handing him a plate of food. He smiled and took it, beginning to eat. The woman handed Z a piece of cheesecake as she took away the empty dinner plate.

Jack was nice, but she doubted she'd ever see him again.

Syd tried to keep a brave expression as Paris packed her things. Her older sister had just graduated from the SPD Academy and was a full-fledged SPD officer. She was moving into the SPD apartments reserved for the officers. They had tried to think of a way to stay together—Paris could stay in the dorms or Syd could move into the apartment with her. Regulations didn't budge on that issue. Cadets and officers could not room together. Officers couldn't stay in cadet housing and visa versa.

Over the summer, Syd had gotten permission to stay with Paris, but would have to go back to cadet housing at the end of the summer. In a way, she envied Sky and Bridge. Her fellow B-Squad members were going to Sky's house for the summer. Bridge had a part-time job at a repair shop that fixed everything from computers to toasters. Sky, ironically enough, worked at a day camp for underprivileged kids. The pair of them would also have plenty of time to go to the beach, takes trips and do the other things that made summer fun.

Syd would be doing none of that. She had gotten an internship with the computer experts at SPD for the summer, although she wasn't looking forward to it. Computers were a love of hers, but she'd much rather work on them and learn about them on her own territory—in her room or outside on the grounds. She didn't want to be locked away in a dark room all summer.

"Shouldn't you be packing?" Paris asked her.

Syd let out a long breath. "Yeah. I should."

Paris turned to her and smiled. "It will be okay. I'll still be on the grounds with you and there's no rule about officers and cadets visiting each other's quarters."

"But you won't be close anymore!" Syd said, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. "I don't want to lose another sibling."

"You won't," Paris assured her, pulling her in for a hug. They had gotten no news from Austin in a long time and both were worried. Paris thought that something bad might have happened to him, but she couldn't be sure since he was in another galaxy and not right down the hall.

Paris had turned eighteen in the spring. Syd had her seventeenth birthday, but could only lament the fact that she was not eighteen. Their parents sent more notes, requesting them to come home. As Paris said so many times, they aren't our parents. Somewhere, we've got real parents that love us for what we are.

"I'm going to start saving money and leave days," Paris whispered. "So I can hire a detective and start looking for our real parents."

Syd smiled bravely. There was so much that their real parents would tell them, like how the three of them ended up as pure blondes with blue eyes. No one else at the academy had naturally blonde hair like the three siblings. She touched the end of the French braid that Paris had put her hair into. The pair of them did like to talk all the time about hair, make-up and clothes. Most people thought they were vain, but Syd knew otherwise. Talking about purely superficial things had been their escape. Worrying about what make-up would clash with what outfit took worry away from what their adopted parents might demand of them—visits home, gifts, the respect they never earned…

"Come on," Paris said. "You need to pack. Then we can check out our place for the summer. Decide where the Bronley Hale posters will be most aesthetically pleasing."

She laughed. "We've got priorities."

"Of course!"

Syd turned back to the open suitcase that was half-filled with her clothing. She picked up a pair of pajamas and set them in the suitcase. She withdrew her hands and stared at them. They had perfectly manicured nails… nothing looked unusual about them, until she concentrated hard enough on what her hand was touching, then it would turn into that substance—iron, diamond, brick, even cloth. She had learned a long time ago, not to think too hard about what she was touching, unless she needed to in a battle. Dr. Manx was forever telling her she had a gift and she needed to use it. But the more Syd expressed it, the more she felt isolated from the outside world. Paris understood and, to a lesser degree, so did Sky and Bridge, but embracing it wasn't helping like Manx said it would.

All of them were freaks and alone in the world.

Something was wrong. Z could feel it. She felt unnaturally hot—and it wasn't from the hot summer sun that was beating down on her. The heat felt like it was coming from underneath her skin and like it would boil anything that touched her.

She dragged her aching body into an alley and collapsed against a trash can. Movement was not an option, since she couldn't make her body do what she wanted it to. She wished she could get to Mrs. Mancuso, who would surely help her. But the restaurant was too far away. She would never make it there.

Tears began to well in her eyes. Nothing had been this bad before. No… she didn't need to cry about it. The pain would end—eventually.

"Someone is in trouble down there."

"It's a back alley. Of course someone's in trouble."

"No… it's worse than that. I can feel it."

"How?"

"She's projecting her emotions. You know, like, when I know that you're upset about something because you project that emotion."

"All right. Fine."

Z could make out the shapes of two guys coming down the alley. One was taller, while his companion was shorter than him. Her vision was blurry. She couldn't make out their facial features or even make her tongue work long enough to ask their names. The shorter guy knelt down next to her and felt for a pulse.

"She's alive."

A faint blue sheen appeared behind the other guy. "I've shielded the alley. Where are we going to take her?"

"I think there's a halfway house near here."

Z struggled to stay conscious, but succumbed to what her mind wanted. She slipped into unconsciousness where the pain left her.

She didn't know how long it had been when she opened her eyes next. Sun was coming through a window and she was in a bed. Quickly, she sat up and then wished she hadn't moved so fast. The worst of the fever was gone, but she still felt weak and achy.

"Slow down!" a voice said.

She glanced to the side of the bed and saw Jack sitting there. "Where am I?"

"Susie's place," Jack replied. "Two guys brought you yesterday."

"Did they say who they were?"

Jack shook his head. "No."

Z fell back against the pillows. The bed was nice. It had been the first time since the group home that she remembered having a bed all to herself. She had heard of a halfway house run by a woman named Susie, but never had the courage to come here.

"I've got a business proposition for you," Jack said. She nodded. "I run a sort of covert op. I… acquire… food and clothes and give it to the poor."

Z laughed. "Jack, we are the poor."

"No, I mean the people who have less than us." Z didn't see how anyone could have less than they did, but let him continue. "You'd have a share in the take. Think about it, Z. Helping other people and a chance to get clothes and food yourself."

"Where would we sleep?"

Jack smiled. "I've got an eighteen wheeler cab for hauling stuff. The back has bunk beds. It's not much, but it's better than sleeping outside."

Not sleeping on the streets and food and clothes… Z nodded. "All right, but on a trial basis only. I don't want to be roped into something forever."

He grinned. "No binding contracts. I swear."

Z returned the grin. She'd be helping others for a change…

Syd scowled as she pushed her trunk down the hall. She had an hour to finish getting her stuff back in her old room before Crugger wanted the B-Squad to report to the command center for a start-of-year briefing. Paris had tried to get the day off to help Syd move her stuff from the apartment, but no such luck.

"Need some help?"

She glanced over her shoulder to see Bridge coming down the hall. "Sure," she replied. "You and Sky are back?"

Bridge nodded, grasping the handle on one end of her trunk. "We got back yesterday."

"Yeah well, my sister was going to help me move, but Crugger gave her a weekend shift, so I'm doing this by myself."

"You could have asked me and Sky." They hefted the trunk between them.

"Like Sky's going to help me do anything."

"He might. He's very chivalrous."

"To who?"

"He just likes you."

"Yeah, right," Syd retorted as they deposited the trunk in her room. Boxes, bags and folded bedding were all over the place. She wouldn't even have time to make a dent in organizing this mess before Crugger wanted to see them. Her eyes went to the side of the room that had been Paris'. Well, she wasn't going to have a roommate this year, as per Crugger. Apparently there were no incoming female cadets on the ranger track and there was an even number on the officer track. Not that it bugged her… it would be a pretty big adjustment to go from rooming with Paris to a complete stranger.

"Your sister graduated?"

She looked up at Bridge. He was a nice guy. He tended to ramble and wear his heart on his sleeve, but he was a loyal friend. "Yeah."

"Are you going to miss her?"

"She just moved to the officer apartments. I'll see her."

"But not as often."

Syd absently picked up Peanuts, the stuffed elephant that Paris had given her when she was five. Peanuts had belonged to Paris, but, after the adoption, she had decided that Syd needed the memory of their old life more than she did. It would be different coming back to an empty room at night and not be able to expect to see Paris reading a magazine or a book or checking her e-mail.

"No," she agreed. "I guess I'm just afraid that Crugger will send her away like he sent Austin away."

"Your brother?"

She nodded. "And Paris' twin."

"Where did Austin get sent?" There was compassion in Bridge's eyes.

"The Nebula Academy." Syd felt a lump lodge in the back of her throat and tears begin to sting her eyes. "I don't want to be alone."

Bridge sat down on the bed next to her, putting his arm around her. "You're not alone," he said softly. "You've got me." He paused. "And Sky." She opened her mouth, but he cut her off. "I know he's not the friendliest guy in the world, but he'll always cover your back."

Syd leaned into Bridge's embrace. He put both arms around her, pulling her into a hug. It had never occurred to her to confide anything in Bridge, but… she supposed there was a certain amount that he could pick up because of his powers. She was almost amazed that he didn't go into sensory overload more often.

She gently pulled away from him. "Thanks, Bridge."

He smiled. "Anytime."

The intercom crackled, meaning there was an incoming message. "B-Squad members please report to the command center right away."

Bridge frowned. "He's early."

They left her room, Syd giving a fleeting glance to all the junk. She had no idea when she was going to organize any of it now. Sky met them in the hall on the way to the command center and the three of them entered the room together.

"Cadets," Crugger greeted them.

"Sir," the three of them said and saluted in unison.

"I trust moving in is going smoothly."

Syd almost opened her mouth to say that she hadn't had enough time to move in since someone insisted upon having her sister work on the weekend, but didn't say it. There had to be an explanation. Maybe no one else could go on that shift and helping one's sister move wasn't a good enough excuse.

Bridge and Sky muttered neutral replies.

"Good," Crugger said. "Your training will start promptly at eight tomorrow morning." Normal schedule for them—getting ready to go and breakfast all before eight. "I'd also like to inform you that there will be a Parents' Night this year for those on the ranger track." Syd's heart fell. In previous years, the ranger track hadn't been required to participate in things like that. "I expect all your parents to be present. Dismissed."

They saluted again and retreated into the hall. Bridge looked a little disgusted with this turn of events while Sky looked like he always did—like he had a stick up his butt. Syd was downright scared. She hadn't talked to her parents since enrolling at the SPD Academy. What was she going to do about this?

She went back to her room, no longer interested in organizing it.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Conner returns next chapter - for those of you interested in where he got to. The normal thanks go out - to Jepoliant for beta reading and to all you wonderful people who have taken the time to review this piece. It never fails to amaze me... With that said, on to the reviewer responses for those who reviewed chapter 4 (or 3 depending on how you look at it):

Anastasia Athene - I'm glad you like my portrayal of Bridge - he strikes me as the type of person who is completely mature about almost everything, but has a few things that he lapses back to childhood for. He's one of my favorites in this piece. Glad you're liking the story!

BloomingViolets - Z is here! I didn't forget about her! lol As for reunions with their birth parents and finding out about their pasts - you'll have to keep reading and find out! I'm glad you like what's going on.

Crimson Mystery - He does still have Olive. lol Glad you're reading and reviewing!

fenestrae - Glad you like what's going on! Keep on reading...

Funky In Fishnet - Thanks! Sam will be addressed in coming chapters - glad you like it!

Giannola - Bridge is the Jewish one (just got done watching Walls where he says he's Jewish.) When Sky talks about his father being a ranger, he is talking about Eric, since Eric can't tell him about Wes and Sky doesn't remember Wes. So, when we eventually see the picture, it will be changed to Eric in the picture. lol Thanks for reading!

Jepoliant - Go away! I've already had this discussion with you...

Juzblue - I can believe he still owns Olive. lol Glad you like it!

MagCat - Here's Z! It's implied (or will be implied) that Eric and Taylor kept up the casual relationship was off and on bedmates. Austin and Paris become rangers? I can't answer that - you'll have to keep reading and find out!

Mrs. Coolio - Thanks:)

pinkpunkemodiva86 - Whoops! I appropriated Bronley Hale from a Zenon movie, didn't I? (And I think he was Glenn McMillan's character too.) Glad it amused you and that you're liking the story!

Silver Warrior - Crugger will be explained in time. Though, truthfully, I don't like his character on the show - just grates on my nerves. Could just be me... thanks for reading and reviewing!

Slshadowfox - Thanks! Bridge did kind of have a homecoming without knowing it, huh? As for people lightening up, only time will tell.

the real vampire - Conner's coming back next chapter! I promise!

Weesta - I think I said in the author's note for the second chapter (Our Beginning I) that Jack will make a minor appearance in the story - he doesn't become the Red Ranger and doesn't have powers. In light of that, I appropriated his power and gave it to the twins. (And, now that I think about it, the twins should have different powers from each other, but since they supposedly came from the same egg... I'm thinking it could happen.) I'm glad you like everything that's going on with the characters - full explanations will be given in time!