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

KINGS AND VAGABONDS

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Twenty-One: Star of Morning I

Her morpher was beeping. Z groaned. She didn't remember falling asleep last night – she remembered changing into her pajamas and starting on a book that Bridge had loaned her. Her mind had been churning last night and she hadn't been sure that she could sleep. The book was still in her bed, opened to the page she had been on. The clock read seven-thirty – meaning she had slept through the wake-up call as well. Syd was still in bed asleep from the looks of things.

The beeping got louder.

"All right," she muttered, grabbing the device. The moment she sat up, the events of the previous night came tumbling back to her. Heart hammering, she opened the morpher. "Delgado here," she said quickly. It was the standard message when one answered a non-urgent link.

"This is Hal at the front desk," came an unfamiliar male voice. The front desk meant he was in the lobby, where visitors checked in. Z swung her legs down off her bed, searching for a pair of shoes to shove on her feet.

"Hey," she said, trying to speed along the formalities.

"I've got two people down here to see you, but you don't have any record of formal visitors coming to see you and I just—"

"It's fine," she said breathlessly. "I'll be down in a second!"

The only shoes that she could find were a battered pair of flip-flops that had once been shower shoes, but now were shoes for kicking around her room since she and Syd had a private bathroom. She clipped her morpher to the waistband of her pajama bottoms, ran her fingers through her hair and hurried from the room. The halls were starting to fill up with people trying to make breakfast before their shifts and training sessions started at eight. Most people were sleepy and not too alert, but the cadets that made up the C-Squad and D-Squad stared at her in open amazement as she rushed passed them in her pajamas.

The lobby was the only place that was still dead. Most people didn't show up for business or visiting until after nine. The receptionist – Hal, she supposed – was sitting behind the desk and two people were sitting in the chairs reserved for visitors. Both of them stood up when she entered the lobby. The man had longish black hair was seemed a little on the wild side, blue eyes and was built solidly. The woman had darker skin, with light brown hair and brown eyes. Z felt a flutter of recognition.

My parents, she thought. Then a whole range of question ran through her mind. How was she supposed to address people that she hadn't seen since she was three? Not that she had anyone else in her life to call her parents, but still… These were the people that had loved her – the people from the memories that Bridge kept seeing in her blanket.

"Z?" the woman asked tentatively.

"This is, uh… Cole and Alyssa Evans," Hal offered. "You know them?"

"They're my parents," she replied softly.

"Oh, uh—"

Z whirled around to face Hal. "They are with me." He paled under her glare – the man had to be lower level and was afraid of pissing off an upper level cadet who also happened to be the Yellow Ranger on the B-Squad.

Alyssa stepped forward, closing the gap between them, one hand brushing her cheek. "I can't believe it," she whispered. "After all these years…"

"I can't believe it either."

Z wasn't sure who stepped forward first, but she found herself wrapped in her mother's embrace, tears stinging her eyes. Alyssa released her and passed her on to her father. He hugged her just as tightly. She had so many questions about why her parents would put her up for adoption, but she had a feeling that none of it was voluntary, judging from the reception that she was getting from them.

"We thought we had lost you forever," Cole said.

Z smiled. "Apparently not." She paused, taking their hands. Now that her parents were here, she didn't want them to go away again. "Come on. I'll take you up to the lounge and you can get some breakfast on my key card."

"What do you do here?" Alyssa asked, shifting so that they were linking arms. "Paris said that you were here – at the academy – and that this is where we could find you."

"I'm a ranger," she replied. As they left the lobby and headed for the hall that led to the lounge and the upper levels, she caught movement in the corner of her eye. Kat was standing just around the corner, a smile on her face. She nodded. Z shook her head, wondering what Kat was doing there. "I'm the B-Squad Yellow Ranger," she continued, faltering for just a moment.

Cole and Alyssa exchanged a dark look.

Z glanced at them. "But what about you? Don't you have to work?"

Her parents exchanged another glance and laughed. "Come on," her father said with a smile. "Breakfast is starting to sound like a good idea."

Cole Evans smiled to himself as he watched his wife and daughter have an animated discussion about the quality of institutional food. Alyssa was a teacher – and ate school cafeteria food more often than not. Z had been at the SPD Academy for a few months – and had been eating 'nutritionally balanced' cardboard from day one. She had changed into her uniform – he vaguely recognized it as a standard uniform for most officers. Z's had yellow trim to go with her ranger status. He should have realized that Cruger would make the children rangers. The B-Squad rangers made the news quite often, but no one wondered about their identities.

So far, he had managed to avoid talking about the adoption. All Z knew was that they hadn't wanted to give her up – and that it would be better to wait until the rest of the parents showed up. He knew they were coming. Paris – one of the twins he recalled belonging to Carter and Dana – had contacted everyone and there was not a chance that they wouldn't show up here, if for nothing more than to see their children.

He studied his daughter, wanting to know what happened to her. Before he had been thrown in jail fourteen years ago, he remembered her as a happy child, her brown eyes always alight with excitement and joy. Now, most of that joy had been replaced with pain and sorrow. What had happened to his daughter that he could have prevented if Cruger had just let well enough alone? It hurt him to think that Z had suffered…

"This is so amazing!" Z was saying. "I don't remember much about you guys before this, but I have my locket and this baby blanket – and I had Bridge touch it. He said that he could see all the love that had touched the blanket before that, but he couldn't get specific images because the memories were old—" It was as if she couldn't get enough words out at once.

"Bridge?" Alyssa gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah," Z continued. "Bridge. He's the B-Squad Green Ranger. He's also psychometric, among other things, so he can pick up images and emotions off of objects – of the people that have touched the object that is. He's my boyfriend."

Cole sat up a little straighter. It was hard to believe that Z was seventeen – more than old enough to have a boyfriend and not need anyone to monitor them. He felt an ache in his heart when he realized that he wouldn't get to see her first interest in boys or scare off the boys that would try to chase her.

"There he is!"

The former Red Wild Force Ranger turned towards the door to the lounge as Z scrambled up from the couch to meet the people that were entering. Two guys came into the room – one with a blue-trimmed uniform and one with a green. Bridge had to be the one in the green. The guy in the blue was on his cell phone, obviously trying to get through to someone who wasn't answering. A girl followed them in, wearing a pink-trimmed uniform.

"Bridge!" Z called, taking the guy's hand and pulling him over to them. "This is Bridge," she announced.

"Hi!" Bridge replied with a small wave.

"These are my parents."

"Alyssa and Cole Evans," his wife replied with a smile, holding out her hand. Cole studied Bridge. His blue eyes vaguely reminded him of Leo Corbett – one of the Red Rangers that had gone on the mission to the moon with him. But Leo hadn't worked for SPD – however, his older brother had. Bridge had to be the son of Mike Corbett. He glanced at the ones in the blue and pink. The blue guy had the same eyes as Wes Collins, while the girl in the pink was a dead ringer for Dana Grayson.

Then it clicked.

Not only had Cruger brought all the children with powers to SPD – he had wanted them to become Power Rangers. That was exactly what he had done. Four of the five rangers on the B-Squad were the victims of the kidnappings all those years ago.

But why wasn't Cruger aware of them being here, unless he was no longer at SPD? Why wasn't he stopping them? They shouldn't have been able to even get into the heart of Newtech, let along inside the SPD Academy. What was going on?

He had a suspicion that there was more going on than what met the eye.

"Morning, Conner!"

Cole turned again to get a glimpse of the newest arrival. A man in a red-trimmed uniform came in, carrying a couple of data pads. He was older than the rest of the B-Squad – perhaps in his early or mid-thirties.

"We've got a free day!" he called to the other B-Squad members.

"That means we're not officially on duty," Z translated. "We're just on call." She paused. "We can roam around the grounds and do what we like, we just can't leave the grounds."

"I'm going to take off then," the guy in the blue told Conner.

Conner nodded. "Stay safe, Sky," he replied, clapping Sky's shoulder. He nodded and then left the lounge.

"Conner!" Z called. "Come meet my parents!"

Cole just smiled and resigned himself to another round of introductions.

The house was quiet as Sky let himself in and locked the door behind him. It was still mid-morning – his father wouldn't be home from work until late that afternoon. No – his adopted father, not his real father… Sky inwardly cursed as he moved to the back of the house to his bedroom. The only memories he had of another family involved a swing set and a butler, which made sense, now that he knew his real parents were billionaires.

His room was exactly as he had left it a few months before – shortly after he, Bridge and Syd had become Power Rangers. It had been a chance for him to wind down and cope with the disappointment of being made the Blue Ranger. The room was neat and devoid of life.

He dropped his bag on the bed. He wished that he was still ignorant of his real parents and his life until he turned three. He had been happy knowing that Eric Myers was his father – happy knowing he was the son of the Quantum Ranger, happy knowing that his father had once been the co-commander of the Silver Guardians… Sure, he had wondered about his real parents, but he didn't have a reason to complain. His father loved him – and he knew that his father's girlfriend, despite her surface indifference, cared about him too. He had been secure with his family, himself, even his powers growing up…

And he had the choice to go to SPD. It wasn't what his father wanted him to do – and it was the biggest fight they ever got into. He wanted to be a cop – a Power Ranger if he could swing it and SPD was the only place he could do both. Eric was a cop and a detective – Sky could remember when he had been going through the detective training. At the time, he hadn't been able to fathom why his father wouldn't want him to follow in his footsteps.

His adopted father was really his godfather. His parents had sent him away with his godfather at age three because of Cruger? He had been conceived in 2002, but born in 2000 because his mother was a Time Force officer? Sky was confused about the raw facts he did have. What the hell was Time Force? And what did Cruger have to do with anything?

Ignorance is bliss…

Sky let out a long breath. He hadn't slept at all last night. Sometime around three, when Bridge had finally fallen asleep, he had turned out the light and spent the remaining hours until wake-up call watching the moonlight and eventual sunlight move across the ceiling.

He was exhausted and confused – and his father wouldn't be home for another six hours, at the earliest. No answers were forthcoming until he could talk to his father. Quickly changing out of his uniform and into his pajamas, he got into bed, seeking the comfort and security of his childhood home. In a few minutes, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

Eric Myers frowned as he pulled his car into his driveway. He hadn't even seen Sky yet and he could tell that something was wrong. Sky's car was in the driveway – or more, the junk bucket that he had managed to save up for. Normally, on the weekends that Sky actually could get home, he didn't show up until dinnertime or later on Friday – and he had to leave first thing Sunday morning… The fact that it was five in the afternoon and Sky was home already meant anything other than something good.

He grabbed his jacket and briefcase from the car and headed into the house. Nothing was out of place – that much was normal. Sky was never one for making messes – not even as a little kid. Eric yanked his tie off, throwing it on the coffee table with the rest of his things from work. The door to Sky's room was closed. Something was definitely wrong.

He knocked on the door to Sky's room.

"Sky?"

There was some shuffling before Sky threw the door open. He looked like he had just woken up, rubbing his eyes. "Dad?" he croaked. "You're home early."

"I might say the same thing about you."

Sky sighed, opening the door to his room all the way and moving back inside, sinking down onto his bed. He raked a hand through his hair. "You knew my real parents."

Eric felt an icy hand close around his heart at those words. Where in the world did Sky find that particular piece of information out? God – Cruger and all the other crazies at SPD had threatened to kill him if Sky found out about his real parents. No… not now… he was not going to lose his life. Sky was twenty – more than old enough to have found things out on his own. Eric closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to steady himself.

"Where did you find that out?" he asked softly.

Sky shrugged. "It's not important." He paused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I haven't admitted to anything yet."

"It's true though," Sky continued. "You're my godfather."

Eric sighed. "Yes, it's true. Your father and I were partners – I worked for his father for about a year before we became partners. Your father and I went a prep school together for a while. We were close friends." He shook his head. "You have no idea how much it meant to me when he made me your godfather. I – I haven't been able to talk to him since he gave you to me so that I could hide you."

"Hide me?"

Now that he had started telling this story, Eric found that he couldn't stop. No one had heard this story, except for Taylor and she didn't need to have it repeated to her. "Your father joined SPD for a few weeks in 2001 – it was supposed to be joint research for Bio-Lab and the Silver Guardians."

"The companies he owns?"

"I'm sure he owns them now, but at the time his father still owned them." He paused. "He knew that his DNA had been altered from the experiments, but he didn't think you would be taken from him." Eric shrugged. "I was listening to a police band one night when you were three and heard Cruger organizing a hit team to kidnap you. Your parents did the only thing they could think of – had me take you away and hide you."

"But it worked, didn't it?"

He shook his head sadly. "No. Cruger found us two years later. He was ready to claim you a lost cause. I was allowed to adopt you, if I kept your roots a secret. Death always followed in the wake of people who didn't comply. I didn't want anyone harmed, so I followed the instructions."

"So I was the one with a choice," Sky whispered. "I didn't have to go to SPD like all the others had to." He paused, anguish written all over his face. "I walked right into his trap."

"You didn't know – and I couldn't tell you."

Sky sighed, glancing up at him. "But what about my mother?"

"Jen?" Eric let out a long breath. "She was a Time Force officer – from the year 3000. Time Force tracks criminals who escape through time. She kept popping up in our time – you were conceived the second time she came in 2002." He stopped for a minute. "But she went back to 2000 to track a criminal and then found out she was pregnant. Time Force told her to stay put. Your father came back to see your birth – and you guys had only been a family about six months when we left."

"Were my parents married?"

"Once all the time stuff sorted itself out, yeah."

Sky looked like he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him right there. He pressed a hand to his forehead, leaning towards the ground. "I am the odd one out," he murmured. "The others all have the same thing that happened to them, but I don't."

Eric didn't need to be told what others – Bridge, Z and the Grayson kids. He wondered which one of them found out about their parents, how many of them knew that Cruger was behind their senseless abductions.

"I wish I didn't know any of this."

He turned his gaze to his son. Sky was his son, no matter what blood dictated or what others' thought, his godson had become his son throughout the years. He sighed and sat down on the bed next to Sky.

"It would be so much easier."

"I know," he replied. "If it makes you feel any better," he said slowly. "I've always viewed you as my real son."

Sky's gaze met his, that cool blue stare so much like his father's. "Thank you," he whispered.

He wasn't sure what happened next, but Sky was in his embrace, shaking with silent tears. Eric felt bad for him, knowing the truth and then wishing that the truth hadn't reared its ugly head. There was so much more to the story that only Anubis Cruger knew. He had tried his best all those years ago…

And then there was the matter of reestablishing contact with Wes and Jen. Now that Sky knew – and no crazed hit men were forthcoming – there was no sense in keeping his parents whereabouts from him. He had a feeling that they still lived in the same place. If nothing else, the former Time Force Rangers would want to see their son, just to know that he was alive and well. So they had finally come full circle… it was bittersweet. He didn't want to lose Sky to the billionaire parents who could give him everything, but… he was used to loss.

"We can go see your real parents tonight," he said softly.

Sky pulled away from him. "You know where they live?"

"It's probably the same place they've lived for years."

"I don't know…"

"Look, I knew both your parents for a couple years and they're good people."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"I know."

They were silent for a moment. Wes and Jen were good people – and he didn't want to become the green-eyed monster in all this. He had been hanging out with a difficult woman for fifteen years and there was no chance they were getting married or having children anytime soon.

"Get dressed," he said to Sky, getting up. "We can go there tonight."

Sky nodded. He turned towards the door.

"Dad?" He turned back. Sky looked determined. "I'll always view you as my real father, no matter what."

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: I know some of you said in the last round of reviews that you felt like broken records in your reviews, well I'm starting to feel like a broken record in my author's notes. So let's just all be broken records together! Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement you've given for this piece so far! It's been completely awesome.