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

KINGS AND VAGABONDS

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Nineteen: Unbelieving V

There was something about Tuesdays that he had just never got the hang of, Sky reflected as he changed out of in his uniform and into khaki pants with a blue striped shirt. Sundays were always a little depressing because it was the end of the weekend and Mondays were just spent getting back into the routine, but Tuesdays were just monotonous because one realized that there were three more days of this garbage before the weekend rolled around again.

"You're going out?" Bridge asked mildly from his bed. The Green Ranger was sitting on his bed, reading a copy of his latest computer magazine.

"Does going on a walk count?"

"You'd normally just wear your uniform for that."

"I'm getting tired of that thing," he ended the conversation with a grin. Bridge returned a knowing smile before going back to the magazine.

Their room fell silent once more. Not so long ago, it would have been filled with Bridge's inane chatter as he tried to block out emotional projections in the air. He would have responded to the inane chatter with the expected nods and grunts in the appropriate places - understanding why the incessant talking happened. Now, each of them was content to be alone with their thoughts and Bridge had stopped wearing gloves without the previous results of sensory overload or even the seizures he had once.

"Oh my God!"

He heard Syd storming down the hall before she actually entered their room - and she entered with a dramatic flare, throwing a data pad on his bed and collapsing with feigned faintness into his desk chair.

"Read that!" she commanded.

Sky picked up the pad, noting out of the corner of his eye that Bridge had stopped reading the magazine and was listening to them. He started to read aloud. "B-Squad members, please remember that, even after official duty hours have ended, you are still on call unless leave time has been granted. You must remain on academy grounds and have your morphers with you at all times."

He glanced at Syd. She was wearing jeans and a pink tank top, her arms crossed over her chest as a disgruntled look had settled over her face. Sky stayed still for a moment, not knowing how to respond to the official reminder. It meant that they couldn't go to the park unless someone covered for them - and the other members of the B-Squad had already been covering for them too often. It would be unfair to ask them.

"That's where I left Peanuts!"

Sky focused in on Syd enough to realize she was looking at the ridiculous stuffed animal sitting on his bed. "Yeah…" he replied slowly.

"We had room inspections this morning," Bridge piped up. "Cruger thought it was a little odd that Sky had a stuffed animal."

"And it's not odd that you have one?" the Blue Ranger shot back.

Bridge just grinned. "You guys for a walk around the grounds and I'll go collect Z so that we each have a room to ourselves." The Green Ranger glanced at his watch. "Lights-out is officially at ten-thirty."

"I'm aware," Sky replied, checking his own watch.

He met Bridge's gaze, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Sometimes it was scary that they came to the same conclusion without any of Bridge's mind jumps or anything of that nature. Brothers… how often had he actually referred to himself and Bridge as brothers? So often that it was natural.

Syd grabbed his hand, threading her fingers through his. "Thanks, Bridge," she said with her trademark, radiant grin.

He just shook his head and allowed himself to be dragged from his room. He didn't know what the future would bring - more strenuous training, monsters that they couldn't defeat, more knowledge of their pasts - but right now, he was content.

Paris walked into the communication center at the time she had scheduled. Intergalactic phone call times had to be scheduled in advance - although some leeway was given for emergencies. She smiled as she walked up to the check-in desk. The woman sitting there had graduated from the academy the same year she did, although her specialty had been communication, while Paris went on to become a patrol officer.

"Hey, Susie!" she said. Sometimes, acting was a good thing.

"Paris," the woman responded with a smile. "Calling Austin?"

That was who she would normally be calling - that was who she fervently wished that she was calling. It would make it so much easier. "Not today," she replied, overlooking the confused shadow that crossed Susie's eyes. "I need to get in touch with some people on Mirinoi - Mike and Maya Corbett."

"Case work?"

"In a manner of speaking."

She gave Susie the information that had been listed for them, watching as her fellow officer typed it in and brought up the correct communication lines. "All right - I should be able to get through to them. You'll have half an hour to talk."

"Thanks," she replied, heading for the booth that had been allotted to her. Paris slipped inside and shut the door, putting on the headset and keeping her data pad ready. She gave Susie a thumbs-up, hoping that nothing would go wrong - not when she was so close to having the answers she had been seeking for such a long time.

Some static filled the line, before a ringing began. Lord, she hoped that the Corbetts' were actually home at this moment and that they wanted to speak with someone who knew where their son was. All the worst case scenarios flashed before her eyes, but the news articles about Bridge being kidnapped gave her the most hope of all.

"Hello?"

Paris was so startled when a female voice answered the call that she nearly dropped her data pad. Gripping the cool metal, she tried to steady herself. "Hi," she said, the poise she had prided herself on for so long falling away in awkwardness. "May I please speak to Mike or Maya Corbett?"

"This is Maya Corbett," the woman said slowly.

"You don't know me," she said quickly, hoping that the woman wouldn't hang up on her. "I'm Paris Drew. But I know your son, Bridge."

Silence filled the other line. Paris felt her heart hammer in her chest, not wanting the person she had hoped would tell her everything to disconnect.

"You know Bridge," Maya said softly and slowly.

"Yes," Paris breathed.

"I'm listening."

"So how does this work out? Sky and Syd are going for a walk, so you offer to consolidate the rooms until lights-out." Z paused and gave him a withering look. "You are too incredibly nice for your own good."

"They'd do the same thing for us," he replied mildly.

"Yeah, after you twisted an arm or broke all Syd's nails."

Bridge smiled at her. "It wouldn't take that much persuasion."

"Want to bet?" Z collapsed onto his bed, throwing an arm over her eyes in the same gesture. "Those two need to get over the whole 'we're so in love' part of their relationship. It's starting to make me sick."

He was about to reply that they had done the same thing, when he realized that they hadn't. He knew exactly what Z's feeling for him were - and knew that if she doubted him, they wouldn't be together anymore. Bridge just let out a long breath and sat down on the edge of his bed, next to Z. For so much of his life, he had been confused. Now, he just felt like he understood what was going on around him, which was a good thing.

"What are you thinking about?"

He turned. Z had propped herself up on one elbow and was looking at him. She had an expectant look on her face that meant, if he didn't tell her, she was going to get it out of him somehow. "Something is going to happen," he said slowly. He never had anything resembling precognition before, unless it happened to be in someone's aura.

"Something is going to happen?" Z echoed, sounding incredulous. "Like what?"

"I - I don't know," he faltered.

She sat up and scooted closer to him, her arms going around his waist. "Bridge," she whispered. "I know that you're much more attune to the world around you than you would ever let on, but things are always going to happen." Z paused. "Is it supposed to be something huge?"

Bridge nodded, not returning the physical gesture. He was suddenly tired - tired of searching for something that he had never been able to find, tired of running constant interference between people, tired of the training sessions that were focused on turning him into a super-weapon, tired of everything in general… The weekend at the cabin had been great - and opened up a whole world of possibilities for him. Finally being able to block out images from handling items, without gloves, was one of the better things to happen to him. However, Cruger saw it as one more thing that could make him a stealth weapon.

"We're people," he said softly. "We're human beings - we're alive. No one understands that. They see us as freaks or mutants… not human." He sighed. "Maybe it would have been better if we were aliens and not human."

"Don't say that."

"We are," he replied flatly. "There's no other term for it."

"We're unique," Z said. "We had nothing to do with what we are."

"But somehow we've become weapons and not people?"

"That's Cruger!" Z released her hold on him, standing on the bed to emphasize her point. "No one else thinks of us that way. We can't think of ourselves that way!" She shook her head and knelt down next to him, cupping his face between her palms. "You can't let one person define who you are. I know you a lot better than Cruger." She pressed a feather-light kiss to his nose. "You are not a freak."

Bridge smiled tentatively, leaning forward to capture her lips in a proper kiss. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm just… tired."

Z just shook her head. "I can tell. You never snap at anyone."

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. It's only human." She reached over to his alarm clock and set it for ten-fifteen. "That should be adequate time to boot Sky out of my room and get in bed by the time Cruger wants us there."

He nodded, allowing Z to push him down onto his bed and tuck the blankets around him. He let out a contented sigh as she settled next to him. Had he been so starved for a simple touch all these years that, now that he and Z were together, he could look beyond controlling his powers and functioning on the same level as the others?

"Z?"

"Mmmm?" She sounded sleepy and content.

It was time for another non-relevant question. "Would you ever regret joining SPD?"

She shifted against him. "I didn't have a choice. Join SPD and get the cushy benefits of being a ranger or rot in prison. I don't see that as a choice - do you?" She yawned. "The crazy training schedule and demands are a drawback to an otherwise great deal."

"Oh - okay."

So none of them had had a choice about coming to SPD - except for Sky. Why was it that all of them except for Sky fell into the patterns that each of them had been noticing since Paris started investigating all their parents?

Was SPD really the deciding factor about all of it?

He closed his eyes, feeling himself drift off into sleep, where things like that didn't matter any more.

Sky was dozing lightly. Syd smiled and ran her nails up his bare shoulder, stifling laughter as he twitched, but didn't wake up. One of his arms was around her waist and the other around her shoulders, effectively keeping her in his embrace. She didn't mind - it was safe and secure being in his arms. Soft, smooth skin over hard muscles… she rested her head against his chest, breathing in his scent and listening to his heartbeat.

She closed her eyes, the distant memories from before the adoption suddenly bombarding her. The bay and the boats… She could remember standing on a pier, watching the boats come and go, holding Paris' hand… someone had told them to hold hands and stay together, but who had told them? Austin had been crouched on the pier, fiddling with the sail on a toy sailboat he had. What had happened to that toy? Where had the bay and the boats even been?

For some reason, she thought a picnic was also associated with that memory. It was so hard, trying to remember something that was so elusive. Most things before she started kindergarten were a blur - and the adoption had taken place when she had been four. She remembered running through backyards in a middle class neighborhood - and that couldn't have been after the adoption because her adopted parents lived in a mansion. There was also a vague memory of Peanuts sitting under a Christmas tree with a red bow tied around his neck. That had been before the adoption too.

Why, then, couldn't she remember her parents or any authority figure? Boats, picnics, Christmas… where were the parents in all of this?

Paris and Austin remembered about as much as she did, although there were some memories of their first day of school - the teacher had been a Miss Jones, but neither could remember the name of the school. There were other people in the memories, but their faces had faded to just a blur. Blonde hair, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, even someone with a mustache… but there was not a name or identification to go with them.

Syd sighed, recalling the last letter she received from Austin. He had sounded slightly annoyed. Don't let Paris drag you into her wild goose chase, he had written. I know she means well, but there's no way we can find anything until we get much more money - and no one is going to loan us that money right now. Keep me posted.

"Sky?"

He shifted, opening his eyes to focus on her. "Yeah?" he replied, stifling a yawn and stretching one arm over his head.

"Do you remember anything about your life before you were adopted?"

Sky looked a little startled at the question. "Sure," he said slowly. "I remember a swing set in the backyard - and swinging on it." He then shrugged. "Of course, I was only three when my dad first became my guardian."

"You don't remember anything else?"

He shook his head. "I was three," he repeated. He propped himself up on one elbow, pushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Austin said once that it was a wild goose chase, trying to find our real parents." She paused. "He doesn't know all that we've found out, but there's too much similarity for things to be a coincidence."

"Bridge and Z would agree to that."

"And you?"

Sky was silent. "I don't know what I agree with - the raw facts don't line up for me. But…" He trailed off, running a hand through his hair.

"But what?"

"It's going to sound crazy."

"What?"

"I remember the swing set from before I was adopted, but I also remember there being a butler." Syd stifled a laugh. "No," he said quickly, his eyes serious. "I swear to it. I think he was telling me it was time to come inside."

"Maybe your real parents are rich?"

"Which begs the question why I was given up for adoption." He sighed. "My dad doesn't talk about it - how he became my guardian, that is."

Syd gazed at him for a minute, her eyes meeting his. He had blue-gray eyes that seemed to have just a touch of hazel around the center. It made her wonder where he got those eyes from - where her and her siblings got their blonde hair from, where any of them came from. "I think it's time we all got some answers," she whispered, then glanced at her clock. It read ten-ten in glaring red numbers. She swore. "We've got to hurry or we're busted!"

Paris stared at the data pad in front of her and the piece of paper next to it. There was no way she could convey what Maya had told her into words that would make sense on paper. After she had spoken with Maya, it had been only too easy to collect the rest of the information that she needed on all their parents - Mrs. Corbett had even been able to tell her the cities and general locations of where they had last lived. It proved correct - none of them had moved in almost fifteen years.

Maya and Mike were coming from Mirinoi and would arrive early in the morning, two mornings from now. In a little over twenty-four hours, Bridge would be reunited with his parents. She didn't know why she keeping this from all of them… but it seemed more efficient than letting them and their emotions run rampant. Paris felt guilty, but, since it would all work out in the end, it seemed like wasted breath. And Cruger… when he found out that his ex-employees were on their way looking for their children, what would happen?

It shouldn't matter.

She stared at the piece of paper and began to write in a number code - two numbers represented each letter and Syd knew how to break the code if she could focus enough on it. It was a code they had used to write notes as children so their adopted parents couldn't read them and figure out what they said behind their backs.

There was so much…

Cole and Alyssa Evans were coming soon from Turtle Cove… She hadn't contacted Sky's parents since his situation was more complicated than the others. She had a bus ticket to Mariner Bay to see her and her siblings' parents, hoping that she could arrive without invitation and convince them of who she was. If everything worked out, she would bring them to Newtech City within two days. She had also sent Austin an urgent message, telling him to leave the Nebula Academy and come straight back to Earth.

"You found out."

She whirled around to find Dr. Manx standing in the door of the lounge. It was well after lights-out and she was the only one in the room. As quickly as she got the shocked expression on her face, she wiped it off. "Found what out?" she questioned coldly.

"Who your parents are."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"What if I did?"

Dr. Manx just cracked a small smile. "I'll erase your parents' names from the list of people who have restraining orders within Newtech City." She paused. Paris gaped at her. "So that they can get to the academy without Cruger knowing right away." The cat-woman turned to go.

"Why?" The question burst out of her and she couldn't stop it.

Manx turned back. "It's complicated." She let out a long breath. "Suffice it to say that I thought we did was right a long time ago, but that has since changed."

"I know that none of us were voluntarily put up for adoption."

"That's true."

Paris stared at her. "What actually happened?"

"You'll find out very soon… very soon."

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Garg! I didn't have all the equipment I needed for my internet connection when I got to my room and the IT guys have just now brought all that stuff and fixed it. My apologies! I hate unforeseen technical difficulties. Thanks to Kaidence Ledger for beta fishing this chapter and to everyone who has read and reviewed this piece! It's been completely awesome - I hope it lasts until the end of this piece.