Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own anything you recognize.
KINGS AND VAGABONDS
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Twenty-Six: Nowhere Is Home II
It was cool outside. The weather hadn't descended into the blistering cold and snow that marked Newtech City in the winter, but there was a hint of that in the breeze. Right now, it was pleasant. Perfect weather for being on a patrol – cool enough to welcome a warm building and hot drink when the shift was over, but warm enough that it wasn't uncomfortable to be outside and bring in crooks.
Sky stuck his hands in his pockets, scanning the grounds for Paris. The others were still inside, reeling over what Kat had told them. Their parents had told them half the story and Kat had filled in the blanks. There had been no other choice but for the dog to be dismissed from SPD and let the courts reopen the case – jail for Cruger. He let out a long breath. He hated what had been done to them, what Cruger had forced his parents to do. He hated being confused. His adopted father, his real parents, all of them loved him and he didn't want to choose.
The new commander – a Doctor Thomas Oliver – was currently talking with Conner and Kira in an attempt to get caught up on the situation. His tech man – Ethan James – was surveying the systems with Kat. Trent Fernandez – another one of Doctor Oliver's associates – was talking to their parents. In a little bit, Doctor Oliver would want to meet with the B-Squad – the highest ranking cadets at the SPD Academy and the most powerful members of SPD on Earth since the A-Squad went MIA. But that wasn't imminent and they could all be reached on their morphers. Besides, they had to decide what to do.
Cruger had been right about one thing – the six of them did have the power to save Earth from the Troovians, on their own and without ranger powers.
He didn't understand the kidnapping – and that was what had happened. It might have turned into a legal kidnapping, but it was a kidnapping nonetheless. The six of them might not have initially chosen SPD, but each of them would realize that they – and no one else – had the power to protect Earth and would have ended up at SPD. Their parents understood that – each of them would have learned it.
What made him the angriest was that all of this could have been avoided had Cruger just thought things out rationally.
Well, it didn't matter now. Nothing could change the past. Syd had asked him to come out here and make sure that Paris was all right. She had slipped out in the middle of Kat's explanations, looking defeated.
The swings swayed in the breeze – the playground looking desolate and dismal.
Paris was there on the swings. Her hair was down and ruffled in the breeze. One hand curled around the chain that held the swing up, her long, thin fingers loosely grasping at the metal. She looked lost in thought, like she had been so many times when he found her in the archives, gazing at endless newspaper articles. Paris had fought so long and so hard to find her parents and know the truth. Now, her battle was over. He knew that the war was far from over, but she had won her battle.
He walked across the all-too still grounds and sat down on the swing next to her. She didn't acknowledge his presence.
"Hey," he said softly.
Paris turned to him, her blue eyes alight with an emotion he couldn't identify. "Hey," she echoed. "Syd asked you to come out here?"
"Yeah," he admitted. He gave her a sidelong glance as her gaze went back to the ground, her foot planted and moving her and the swing slightly.
"You know," Paris said softly. "All this time I've believed that my problems would go away the minute I found my parents." She let out a short, mournful laugh. "I didn't know that I would escalate the problem by finding them." She shook her head. "I don't remember being picked up en route to my Uncle Ryan's house. I guess I blocked it out for obvious reasons."
"You weren't that old."
"I was old enough to remember something like that."
Sky paused. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't remember a thing about my real parents. All I remember is a swing set in a huge backyard – and a butler."
"But your adopted father is your real godfather. He cared about you before ever becoming your parent." She stopped for a moment. "You were the lucky one."
"I won't argue with you on that." He gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "You and Syd have never had it easy, at least in the time I've known you."
"No," she agreed.
They fell silent for a minute. He glanced at her uniform. The patrol officer's uniform was the same as a ranger's, except that it remained dark gray where a ranger's would reflect his or her color. It was the uniform that cadets on the ranger track wore until becoming rangers and getting a ranger color. Patrol officers had to have graduated from the academy, so it was easy to tell who was a patrol officer and who was a ranger-in-training.
She should have been wearing a uniform with a ranger color, just like the rest of them.
"I've been fighting for so long," she whispered. "Now I don't have anything to fight for."
"That's not true!"
"Isn't it? What am I supposed to do now? Stay at SPD. I hated it here when I was a cadet and it didn't get much better when I graduated."
"Maybe." Sky pushed off the ground with his foot, making the swing go back and forth. It had been so long since he had been on a swing set – seventeen years. All that remained of his childhood before being hidden was a swing set. "I can't tell you what to do." He used both feet to push off the ground properly. That was better – the swing began to move in a small arch.
Paris didn't reply. She stood up from her swing and began to push him on the swing – her hands hitting the small of his back in a rhythmic fashion. He had a sudden flash of standing on a balcony with an umbrella, thinking the umbrella would act as a parachute and he would be able to fly. He had been thrilled to learn that he had the one Delta Runner that took to the air. Perhaps he truly did want to fly. And for the first time since leaving the academy grounds on Friday, he wasn't cold.
Without warning, Paris ran from behind the swing and took off across the grounds. Sky slowed the swing down and followed her flight. A lone man was walking across the deserted grounds. He was tall with blonde hair – and wearing a uniform from the Nebula Academy. It had to be Austin – the long lost older brother of Paris and Syd that none of them had met. Paris hugged him tightly and dragged him over to Sky.
"This is Austin," Paris said. "That's Sky."
Austin nodded. "Syd's boyfriend." It wasn't a question.
"Yeah," he replied.
Austin gave him an appraising look before turning to Paris. "I got your urgent message. Didn't quite believe it at first."
"Would I lie about something like that?"
"No – that's why I'm here." His hair was longish and looked like it had been styled to appear all over the place. He pushed his hair out of his eyes. "I thought the urgent meant something like nail polish colors or something."
"I'm insulted," Paris said, sniffing.
Austin raised his hands in defeat. "I just know you and Sydney too well."
Paris just rolled her eyes. Sky was well aware that Austin couldn't be more than a few minutes older than Paris, but she acted like the older sibling. Austin wrapped an arm around his little sister's shoulders.
"So when I do I get to meet everyone?"
Sky's morpher beeped. He pulled it out and clicked it open. "Tate."
"Sky," came Conner's voice. "Meet me in the command center. Doctor Oliver wants all of us there to talk. Bring Paris too." There was some shuffling. "And Austin. It looks like his shuttle has landed."
"Sure. We'll be there in a minute."
Sky gazed at the twins. Both had heard Conner. He felt a sudden chill again. Outside, swinging, he had felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. He couldn't identify it, but it was there. He was tired of being cold.
No one got to the command center promptly. Tommy sighed to himself, hoping that this was not the norm with the B-Squad Power Rangers. He wasn't used to institutionalized rangers like this, where schedules and specific training had to be met. He, Ethan and Trent were around the command center. Ethan had faxed in their resignation letters to CTU earlier that morning. Trent had sent in the last draft of the final comics, telling them to get the inker to finish the rest of the details.
For now, Trent was heading up a previously non-existent Human Resources department and had made an abandoned large closet his headquarters. He had bribed one of the younger cadets who was a fan of his comics into watching the hastily set up phone while he attended the meeting. Ethan was taking over Katherine Manx position. Both her and Cruger had been formally taken into custody a few moments ago. What would happen to them was anyone's guess. For the most part, the victims were still reeling and the anger at Cruger had been displaced with relearning things about their children. Z and Bridge, still being underage, had some custodial disputes that would arise soon. Z was still a ward of the state, while Bridge had been adopted.
All of the legal matters would be settled. For now, he wanted to know what the B-Squad rangers were planning to do. How many of them wanted to leave SPD? How many of them would go home or join in the legal battles against Cruger? After what had been done to them in the name of SPD, would any of them remain? Oh, he could get other rangers, equally as qualified, but none of them would have the innate skills that they had.
The three Grayson siblings burst into the command center. A tall boy was between the girls – he had a shock of blonde hair and looked like a younger Carter. Tommy smiled, remembering the baby showers for the three siblings. He had lost touch with the old group of Red Rangers, so he hadn't known that their children had been taken. He even chalked up the lack of Christmas cards to the fact that he moved so often. The trio was smiling and laughing, something that it didn't appear Paris did often.
Sky came in after them. He didn't appear involved in their noise or joy, just came into the room and saluted him formally before standing at ease. Bridge and Z followed, holding hands and both of them looking unsure.
He didn't know what would happen with these six. Could the formal adoption for Bridge be dissolved so that his parents could care for him once more? Z would be less of a problem since it would be a matter of transferring her custody back to her parents. But the ones that were of age – last names could be changed back to their original birth certificates, but how would any of them synthesize their true pasts with the ones that had been fabricated for them?
Conner and Kira entered – Kira noticeably lacking a uniform. The old Dino Thunder team was together again. The four kids… no, none of them were kids anymore. Ethan had been second-in-command at CTU. Trent was successful and famous in his own right with his comics. Kira had won Grammies. And Conner… he was a father with two daughters. None of them were high school seniors that needed a mentor anymore.
Tommy stood up and the room immediately quieted. He nodded towards the rangers and the other assorted people with powers that were gathered. "Thanks for being here," he said softly. "I want you to know that none of you are under any obligation to stay."
No one moved or even dared a glance at his or her neighbor.
"For now, Ethan James will be the acting Head of Technology Development. Trent Fernandez is beginning a long-needed Human Resources department." He paused and glanced at the rangers. Everyone had a carefully blank look on their faces. "You have been through a lot in the last forty-eight hours. Each of you has had your world turned upside down in some way. It might be good and it might be bad."
Sky was shivering. Syd glanced at him and moved away from her siblings, wrapping an arm around Sky's waist. He returned the gesture, still shaking.
"What has happened to you is a matter between you, your parents and Anubis Cruger. SPD, as an organization, will not be implicated, since Cruger used his power as commander of SPD on Earth, rather than using the infrastructure of the institution."
"In other words, SPD's not going anywhere?" Conner clarified.
"No," Tommy continued. "There are legal matters concerning some of you that we will do our best to clear up. It may take time." He drew in a deep breath. It was time to come to the part of the speech that he had been dreading, but also had a burning curiosity about. How many of them would actually stay on board as rangers?
"Each of your jobs as Power Rangers is still open to you, should you choose to remain with SPD. Obviously, there will be marked changes in the training program and the distribution of work amongst rangers and officers." He paused. When he next spoke, his voice was softer. "If you choose to leave, we will recruit others to become rangers and continue the battle with the Troovians. But, you know you have the power to save Earth. I'm not going to force you to stay here…" He trailed off. "But you know what power you have."
It was a lame ending. It had been a lame speech. If he had been one of these kids, he would have jumped at the first opportunity to leave SPD. No one moved for a minute. In fact, he wasn't sure if anyone was breathing.
"Can we have some time to think about it and talk about it?" Bridge asked.
Tommy nodded. "I'll need to know by tonight."
Bridge returned the nod and the rangers began to leave the command center in ones and twos, until the Dino Thunder rangers were all that remained. The five of them were together once again after a decade and a half of separation.
"What are we going to do?" Kira asked softly.
"There's nothing we can do until they make their decision." Tommy glanced around at the former rangers. "I'm hoping I can count on you four."
"If we have to, we'll become rangers again," Ethan reassured him.
"Again or still?" Conner asked dryly.
"You don't count, bro," Ethan replied. "You're as bad as Tommy here."
That got laughter out of the five of them. Perhaps things would work out.
"Cruger wasn't really going to follow through on any of his threats, was he?"
"We can never know," Maya replied, laying a hand on Bridge's head. "At one time, those threats might have been genuine, but not now. Fear is a powerful device."
Bridge just let out a long breath. He didn't know what to do anymore. Before actually enrolling at SPD, his adopted parents had told him all about how great it would be. For the past two years, it had been his life. After becoming a ranger, he even forgot that he was still underage and that his adopted parents could take him out of SPD. He assumed that papers with all the correct signatures were sent to them and signed, because he was always allowed to participate in what the others did.
"I don't know what to do," he whispered.
Mike shook his head. "You're a ranger – that's a huge responsibility." He paused. "But this is your decision. We can't decide for you."
"But, won't it, like, be harder on you guys if I stay at SPD?"
"There's a difference between SPD and Cruger," his father replied.
Someone knocked on the door to his room – Sky and his family were elsewhere. "Come in!" Bridge called. The doors slid open to reveal Trent Fernandez standing there with a file folder and data pad in his hand. From what Conner had briefly said, Trent had been on the last team of Power Rangers, something like the White Ranger. The pair had been on the same team.
"Hey Bridge," Trent greeted, stepping into the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Corbett," he added with a nod. His parents nodded back. He opened the file folder. "I've been going through the files on the underage cadets and most of it is the normal BS about not suing SPD if your child gets hurt, medical authorization, permanent records… but I found some interesting paperwork that had been done on you and Z – and Syd, Paris and Austin when they were underage."
"And?" Mike prompted.
"Guardianship of you was taken from your adopted parents and granted to SPD. Z was a ward of the state, but the state gave her guardianship to SPD as well."
"What does that mean?"
"It means, that since SPD is your legal guardian, SPD can grant guardianship of you to whoever SPD wants. SPD is now headed by Doctor Oliver and he is prepared to grant guardianship to your biological parents."
"It's not going to be a long, drawn-out legal battle?"
"No," Trent replied. He closed the file folders. "We'll just deal with the paperwork some other time. Just thought you ought to know – would have contacted you on your morpher but I haven't been given a communicator yet."
With that, Trent left the room.
Bridge sighed. At least that matter had sorted itself out.
"Bridge, we can move back to Earth," his father was saying. "I can ask Stanton to transfer me back to the main headquarters in LA. We'd be close that way."
He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that."
"You're not asking us," Maya interjected. "We're telling you. We're not going back to being separated by a galaxy."
"And as for staying with SPD, we were both rangers too," Mike added. "We understand that protecting people is more important than anything else."
Conner walked into the command center. Doctor O was still there, but Ethan and Trent were nowhere to be found. His former teacher smiled when he entered.
"They're all staying," Doctor O said without preamble.
"I've heard that," he replied.
Doctor O picked up a data pad and crossed the room to him. "Until we get further information on the A-Squad, I'm assigning Paris and Austin to the B-Squad. Ethan found some morphers that hadn't had a color assignment yet. They're down there being briefed on their morphers right now."
"Until we get information on the A-Squad?"
He nodded. "There've been some spotty transmissions aside from the initial one, but no one is sure if it's the right people."
"What are you thinking?"
"I don't know yet."
Conner fell silent. There were a couple questions he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure how to phrase them. "Why are you assigning the twins to the B-Squad?" he asked softly.
"Suffice it to say that the morphers without a color designation were always meant for the twins, but neither of them was going to get them based on behavior citations."
"How does it feel to be back?"
Doctor O looked up and met his gaze. "Different. I've been the director of CTU for a long time, but I've never been in charge of an organization this big. And I'm not a ranger this time around, so that makes a difference."
"I'm sure Ethan could fix that."
"I don't need to be a ranger again. You, of all people, should understand that."
He did understand. When Cruger initially offered him the job, he had done it simply to feed his family. But now, he was in the same position that Doctor O had been in all those years ago when the Dino-Gems chose them. "Yeah," he said softly. "Doctor O?"
"Tommy, please."
"All right… Tommy." It felt odd to be calling Doctor O that. It didn't seem to matter that they were both adults now. "Do you mind if I take the rest of the weekend off and spend it with my daughters?"
"Go ahead – and take Monday too. I can get Ethan to head up all the training exercises that will be scheduled." He paused and grimaced. "Plus you might want to steer clear of here once all the phones start ringing."
"Thanks." He turned to go.
"Conner?" He turned back. "Those girls couldn't have a better father."To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Wow - 399 reviews? I'm completely and totally blown away and flattered! You guys are completely awesome! This is a short note, since I've got a backlog of homework to catch up on (plus a Spanish quiz tomorrow!) So everyone keep up the great feedback!