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

BEHIND THE CLOUDS

By Etcetera Kit

Chapter Eleven: Shadows III

The day couldn't go by fast enough. Z felt almost like a zombie walking through her duties and the training exercises that they had. However, the weird thing was that none of them, except for Bridge, seemed to be functioning on all levels. Austin seemed to have noticed it too, because he spent a lot of time frowning at them and looking as though he wanted to figure out what was going on, but didn't want to ask.

She knew why Bridge was all of a sudden cheerful – he had gotten his cell phone number changed last night and didn't have to worry about his adopted mother calling him and bothering him. She found it strange that he cheered up once he knew she couldn't contact him, but she had never claimed to know how Bridge's brain worked. After giving them all scrutinizing glances, Austin had decided it would be better for him to remain in Newtech City for the weekend, rather than going to Mariner Bay.

Z sat on the stone bench outside the main entrance to the SPD Academy. Her yellow backpack sat next to her, containing all the items she needed for a weekend at home. It was nearing four – and her mother was picking her up at four. Ordinarily, she would have waited in her room and the person at the front desk would have given her a call to let her know that her mother had arrived, but not today… She wanted to get away from here as quickly as possible and forget about that pimp house…

The familiar white car pulled into the main drive – the long driveway in front of the academy that was mostly for show. Everyone who knew anything knew long-term parking was in the parking garage in the back. Her mother's car had a Mickey Mouse antenna ball and a bumper sticker from Turtle Cove Elementary. Of course, she now had a window sticker that read 'Mom of a SPD Academy Graduate.'

Shooting to her feet, she pulled her backpack on one shoulder and dashed to the car. Her mother looked a little concerned as she unlocked the doors and slid into the passenger seat. "Hi, Mom," she said with a smile.

"Hey, honey," her mother replied. Z knew that she could see right through the façade she had put up. Alyssa Evans was not a stupid woman – and she could read her husband and daughter better than anyone. However, Z also knew that she wouldn't push her for information until she was ready to talk about it. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she replied quickly.

Alyssa's dark eyes said clearly that she didn't believe her, but she didn't say anything. She just put the car into gear and pulled down the long drive, merging onto the street in front of the building. Z watched the familiar sights of Newtech City fade away as they got onto the freeway that would take them to Turtle Cove.

Soon enough, her mother pulled the car into the driveway of their house.

"I'm going to crash before dinner," she told her mother as they came into the house. Her mother nodded, looking concerned.

"I'll wake you up for dinner," she replied.

Z turned and took the steps two at a time, going to her room. The house had three bedrooms – one had always been a guest room. The room that had been hers had been decorated to her tastes over the summer. Gone was the pink paint and blue bedding – the walls were a soft baby yellow, warm and inviting, not loud and harsh like yellow could be. She had found yellow bedding with a reversible comforter – one side was plain yellow and the other was a light green plaid. Her posters littered the walls – her mother had obviously come in here and put her clothes in the dresser, straightening up from the mess that Z managed to make in all her living spaces.

Dropping her backpack on the desk, she unzipped it and pulled out her pajamas. The bright green pajama pants were actually Bridge's – he didn't wear them often, so she had commandeered them a few months ago. Changing into the pajama pants and a yellow tank top, she pulled Olive from her backpack and got under the covers of her bed.

Her thoughts churned. She didn't want to remember the place where Paris and Kira were on that undercover assignment. As much as she wanted the organization to be brought down, she didn't want her friends to get hurt either. And she didn't want her friends pestering her this weekend – part of the reason she hadn't told any of them her plans, most importantly, where she would be this weekend.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

"Why are you still hanging around here?"

Sky looked up from where he had been trying to pack some things for the weekend. Austin was standing in his door – having changed from his uniform to a long-sleeved white shirt and jeans. The B-Squad Red Ranger looked curious.

"My dad's not expecting me until tomorrow morning." Sky shrugged. "Wes and Jen are in town with Gemma – I figured I'd give them all a night to catch up."

"Sweet! Do you want to go catch a movie or something tonight?" Austin paused. "Z should still be around too, so we can ask her. No need for us to hang around here all night on a Friday." Austin looked like not having plans for Friday was a fairly repulsive thing. That sentiment wasn't surprising as all three of the Grayson siblings were active people.

At the thought of Syd, he felt a pang in his stomach. Austin obviously didn't know that Syd had gotten angry with him. Sky had tried to find her and talk before everyone left for the weekend, but she had taken off just before his shift ended. Now – the talk that he wanted to happen face to face would have to wait until Sunday night or Monday.

"Sure," Sky replied. He could finish packing later tonight or tomorrow morning before he left. His parents wanted to take everyone out to breakfast – so that meant he had to be at the house by nine at the latest. He picked up his wallet and keys from his nightstand, shoving them into his pocket.

"Sweet," Austin commented again. "Let's go find Z."

Fifteen minutes later, they had come to the conclusion that Z had either hidden herself somewhere on the grounds quite well or she wasn't at the academy. They had checked all the logical places – the command center, her room, the lounge, the library, even the infirmary. No one had seen her and no one had an inkling as to where she had gone. Sky didn't like the situation. Something was wrong…

"We can check the front desk's log-out," Austin suggested.

It was practical – they were still in the library which was close to the lobby. The receptionist was quite helpful – Z had gone to Turtle Cove for the weekend and her mother had picked her up at about four that afternoon.

"Why didn't she tell us?" Austin muttered.

Sky shook his head. "She's upset about something," he replied and then turned to face Austin. "Let's take a rain check on the movie – I've got some things I need to do."

Austin looked disgruntled. "I'll just be a loser and spend Friday night alone."

"That's great – thanks," Sky said absently as he headed for his car.

The sun had set. Z blinked and then squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to go back to sleep. She didn't want to think, didn't want to remember. Holding Olive to her chest, she glanced at the picture on her nightstand. It had been taken over the summer, before their leave time. Doctor Oliver had given them a rare day off and the four of them had traipsed down to the beach, dragging along the twins, Conner and his daughters for good measure.

Paris was in the background, sunbathing in a black bikini. Austin and Conner were beyond her and, in the picture, Conner had just hit a beach ball off his head. Sky was in the front, giving Syd a piggyback ride. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck, but her face appeared over his shoulder with a large grin. Z was sitting in a lawn chair next to them, wearing a yellow bathing suit top and feminine board shorts. Bridge was leaning over her, pressing a kiss to her cheek while still managing to look at the camera.

Madeline had taken the picture – and it was amazing that she had captured so much life in that single shot. A nine-year-old had taken one of the best pictures she had ever seen. If Z had been taking it, there would have been a finger in it or someone's head would have been missing… the snapshot would not be so clean and capturing them so perfectly.

The moment had been perfect – that whole afternoon had been so right.

She buried her face in the dinosaur's worn fur. He smelt like Bridge's cologne, since he had been in the boys' room since Ryan got rid of the demon. Bridge had given him to her before he left for the weekend, knowing she would want the comfort. In fact, he had probably purposely sprayed cologne on the stuffed animal.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she called, sitting up and running a hand through her tangled hair in a last minute effort to make it look halfway decent. She was on the losing side of that battle.

The door opened and her father came in, hovering in the door. He had changed out of his scrubs and was wearing khaki pants with a long-sleeved red shirt. His eyes met hers – their color more gray than blue.

"Dinner's ready," he said softly.

The smell of her mother's homemade tamales hit her nostrils. She hadn't even noticed the scent earlier – a mark of how distracted she was. Ordinarily, the idea of tamales made her mouth water and her stomach growl whether or not she was actually hungry. Tonight, she just felt like anything she tried to eat would come back up.

Cole let out a breath at her lack of reaction. Shutting the door, he came into the room and sat down on the edge of her bed, his concerned gaze meeting hers. "What's going on?" he asked softly. "Your mom said you were acting a little strange – and you sounded awful when you called me yesterday." There was no demand in his voice, just a plea to know what was going on with his only child.

Z sighed. "It's a long story."

"Tell me." Again, the request wasn't a demand.

"Kira and Paris are on an undercover mission at this…" She trailed off, not wanting to articulate what that place was – drug ring, whorehouse… "Place," she finished lamely.

"Place?" her father sounded skeptical.

"It's a—" She took a deep breath. "—whorehouse." Her father was frowning, but he was silent, meaning that she could continue. "I worked there when I was living on the streets." Her voice had gotten small and timid. "The only hope there is to be thrown out before you're killed or you die of an overdose." She paused. "I managed to avoid the drugs – and I was thrown out for being too frigid because I wouldn't do the drugs." A shudder tore through her body. "I was so glad… I'd have rather died in an alley than there."

Cole wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled close to his side. The simple gesture told her that she was still loved – no matter what her past. "Why are Paris and Kira undercover there?" he asked softly.

"So they can make a key arrest – start taking apart the hierarchy." Z paused, burying her face in her father's shoulder. "It was so scary being there," she whispered, a strangled sob escaping from her throat. "They hurt everyone… they—they…" She couldn't finish the thought, couldn't say it aloud. The sobs took over her speech and her father wrapped both arms around her, holding her close while she cried.

"I am so sorry you have to go through that," he whispered, one hand stroking her cheek as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Pain was evident in his eyes. If only… she wouldn't have had to go through any of that if she had grown up with her parents. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I will always protect you," he promised.

Z just snuggled back against him, wanting the love and protection her parents offered.

"I don't think I ever told you about your name," Cole said softly. "You're named after my mother." He paused. "Your mom thought it would be a nice tribute… but I've always known that you are so different and that's why I started calling you Z. You're unique… and you have no idea how much I love you."

"I think I have an idea," she murmured.

Cole gave her another squeezing hug and kissed her forehead again. Standing up, he smiled at her. "Do you want to come down for dinner?"

"I'm not hungry."

"We'll save some for you." He paused at the door. "I'll be back to check on you in a little while, all right?"

Z nodded, snuggling under the covers again. For some reason, she felt a lot better than she had. The memories still hurt and she couldn't talk about what had happened to her in that place – but her parents would love her no matter what. She squeezed Olive. Bridge had seen the scars – he hadn't commented on them, but there was no way he could have missed them, especially when he… a small ripple of pleasure shuddered through her. She had given up being able to get pleasure from sex until Bridge had shown her ecstasy. He worshipped her and, for him, sex was one of many expressions of how much he loved her.

There was another knock on her door.

"I'm not hungry – I'll get dinner later!" she called.

"Too bad," a voice called back.

Her mind froze for a minute. The voice was not one of her parents and they hadn't mentioned anyone coming over. People from their ranger team visited all the time – including Taylor – and their friends from work and social activities. However, the voice did sound awfully familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

Throwing off her covers and setting Olive on the pillow, she tried to smooth down her hair and padded to the door, glad she was wearing a bra with the tank top. She opened the door.

"Sky?"

He had a rare smile on his face, looking bemused at her reaction to him. He balanced a pizza box in one hand and a to-go drink holder with all four cup slots filled in the other. Z gaped at him for a minute. How had he found out she was here? Besides, he was supposed to be getting ready to go home in the morning.

"Don't look so shocked," he replied.

Her mind began to work. She moved her backpack from her desk, giving him a place to set down all the food and drinks. Sky set the pizza down on the desk and the drinks next to it. "I had to call Bridge to find out what you eat on your pizza – and then I got the run-down on all the food you like. He also completely freaked out so I have to call him and tell him that you're all right and—"

She didn't give him a chance to finish the thought. Z threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug. He stiffened for a moment, but his shoulders relaxed and he returned the gesture. "Thank you," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek as she released him.

Sky looked fairly shocked at her familial gesture. He shrugged. "You scared us. Me and Austin wanted to see if you wanted to join us for a movie – and we couldn't find you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be – you could obviously use some cheering up." He motioned to the food.

Z cracked open the pizza box, the heavenly smell of hot, melted cheese and tomato sauce drifting up. Pepperoni and mushrooms – her favorite… She glanced at the drinks.

"The cherry coke and root beer float are yours," Sky prompted. Z glanced at the labeled lids of the drinks, picking out hers. The Sprite and the iced tea had to be his.

She glanced back to Sky. He looked a little awkward, but pleased. "Thank you, Sky," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "Thank you so much."

Sky sat crossed-legged on one corner of Z's double bed. The pizza was gone – and Z was working on her root beer float. She had her cell phone pressed to one ear and was talking to Bridge. However, it was clear that Bridge's house was full of relatives as Z had to get him to repeat things and Sky had been able to hear Bridge yell for some quiet at one point in time. Bridge's Uncle Leo and Aunt Kendrix had four kids – one was older than Bridge and three were younger. Combined with his parents and baby brother, it made for some chaos. It didn't help that Leo and Kendrix had four girls…

Sky thought briefly to his own baby sister, just a few weeks old. Wes was an only child and all of Jen's relatives were in the future. His father was long estranged from his family and Taylor was an only child. Needless to say, he didn't have all the crazy cousins to deal with. Gemma was growing up in the lap of luxury – Sky thought to the cardboard space ship he had built in the second grade and how disappointed he had been that it didn't lift off. He only hoped that Gemma would be able to do things like that.

"Bridge – you need to get back," Z was saying. "Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. We can talk about it on Sunday." She paused, looking amused. "Say 'hi' to Mallory for me… All right… I love you too – bye." She closed the cell phone.

"Which one's Mallory?" Sky asked.

"His twelve-year-old cousin," Z replied. "Those girls are nineteen, sixteen, fourteen and twelve." She shook her head. "I don't know how any of them deal with it." Z poked her spoon around in the float. "I'm pretty sure she has a crush on you. Last time I saw her, I had to make it extremely clear that you are taken."

He nodded, forcing a smile. Syd… he still wasn't entirely sure what he had done wrong and he didn't want to apologize when he didn't know what he was apologizing for – and that would just make Syd angrier. Sure, there was her base accusation that he was cheating on her with Paris, but he had a feeling that was a cover-up for something else. Rather than admit she felt neglected or something along those lines, Syd had convinced herself that he was cheating on her and it was far easier to yell than talk.

Z was scrutinizing him. "What is going on between you and Syd?"

"I wish I knew," he replied with a sigh.

"Well, you wouldn't cheat on her. I think she knows that too on some level."

"I wouldn't dare – her father, uncle and Austin would have me drawn and quartered."

Z cracked a wry smile, licking the ice cream off her spoon and setting it on the pizza box. "She might have felt ignored," she mused as she picked up her soda. "I mean you've been so busy with the show and the RA stuff – you are the only one taking that job seriously."

"And Doctor O wants me to take over the combat training." He paused. "In addition to all my normal responsibilities."

The Yellow Ranger grimaced. "At least Conner hasn't gotten to you yet about joining the intramural basketball tournament."

Sky let out a long breath. "I don't know how to stop ignoring her if she's ignoring me." He shook his head. "I didn't know I was ignoring her – she normally demands attention if she's feeling left out or neglected."

"She's been busy too. Granted, not a busy as you," Z acquiesced. "But busy enough."

"How do you and Bridge do it?"

Z shrugged. "We tend to be a lot of the same places. I mean we both generally have to be at rehearsals the same amount of time – and we're both in charge of the cadet newspaper. And we make time for each other."

Sky shook his head. "That would be so much easier if I didn't have responsibilities for the damned play all day and night."

"Then quit – Paris can find someone else."

"That's easier said than done." He raked a hand through his hair. "I'm going to start having nightmares about the musical numbers."

"You know what you need to do?" Z said. "Send her some anonymous flowers with a blue ribbon on them – and then leave her little presents." She looked sympathetic. "Syd will get out of her funk and come around. She does love you, Sky."

"I hope so," he replied.

"Oh come on – you sound like you have some kind of monetary…" Z trailed off as he met her gaze and Sky knew he had just been read like a book. "You bought her an engagement ring? Oh my God! Where is it? Can I see it? When are you going to ask her?"

"In a vault in Silver Hills, no and not for a few years." He gave her a pleading look. "And can you please not spread this around?"

"I won't tell Syd," Z promised. Sky fought the urge to groan.

To Be Continued...