Disclaimer: After reading some articles about potential copyright legalities regarding fanfiction, I decided to make a semi-serious disclaimer. I don't own nor am I affiliated with Power Rangers: SPD in any way. This story is for pure stress relief, my own and my readers', and I am collecting not a cent for my work. Oh, but Ree's miiine!
Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update! I got swamped in the first round of midterms, attempted some NaNoWriMo afterwards, then got run over by the second wave of midterms. Sad to say I didn't do very well on any of the above. Wah!
Also, the bits of Ree's backstory mentioned in "Night Watch" and "After School Visit" have been nullified by certain revelations in the episode 'Reflections'. Therefore, I will regard those two stories as AU from this and all future stories involving Ree.
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Jack slowed his pace in the hallway when he saw a familiar blonde walking in his direction. She was in civilian wear, meaning she was free for the day unlike him. Their eyes met as she came near, and she nodded to him with an impassive expression.
"Good morning, sir," she said stiffly, making him frown. He knew she played up the formality to an unnecessary level because it annoyed him. Well, two could play at that game.
"Good morning, cadet," he said coolly, raising his chin a little superiorly.
They came to a complete halt in front of each other, their stony expressions growing more and more ridiculous as the silence lengthened. Finally she chuckled, shaking her head at their antics, and he grinned.
"How've you been?" she asked, turning slightly so her back was to the wall, and propping a foot against it idly.
"Pretty good." He noted that the fluorescent lightning directly above her made her already blinding white tracksuit seem almost radioactive. "Pretty busy. You?"
"Same," she glanced at his uniform. "You're on duty today?"
"Yeah, lucky me. I got the weekend shift this week."
"Well, some poor soul will be saying the same thing next weekend."
Sky was the one slated for next weekend duty. "Somehow I don't think he'll need much sympathy."
"Why's that?"
"Because he's a workaholic. He'll enjoy the extra hours."
"Geez. What a bore."
Jack grinned. "My thoughts exactly."
The smile on her face made him think that she knew exactly who he was talking about, which wasn't all that impossible. It probably wasn't hard to guess.
"But," she said, straightening up. "Hard work is important. Especially yours. In fact, perhaps it's best I didn't keep you from it." Her lips twitched upward at the corners. "Sir."
Jack raised an eyebrow at that; he thought they were done with this 'sir' business. "Perhaps it is best then if all you insist on doing is annoy me. I can't be bothered by the antics of an immature maggot."
'Maggot' was a term he'd heard used around the Academy in reference to the D-squad cadets, obviously derogatory in origin. It was likely to insult a C-level cadet, who was significantly more seasoned, but the way he used it now was in the same tone she used whenever she called him 'sir'—lightly mocking. It was the only comeback he could think of to try to grate on her nerves the way she enjoyed grating on his.
"Maggot, am I?"
Unfortunately, the look she gave him was hardly annoyed. Instead, it was more haughty…and somewhat provocative. She stepped a little closer to him.
"Don't forget who kicked your butt on the range last week," she said in a low, smug voice.
Before he could respond, she straightened up again, bid him a token 'good day, sir' and practically speed walked down the hall. He watched her round the corner, a perplexed expression on his face. She was a proud one, all right, just like he was. It made for an interesting game of hard-to-get, but in the few encounters that they'd had so far, she somehow always managed to have the last word.
Jack continued down the hall in the direction he'd originally been going in, and not more than a minute later, he ran into Sky. The Blue Ranger was dressed in black track pants and a blue windbreaker, looking distracted and cranky.
"Yo Sky!" Jack called loudly, just to see what his teammate would do.
A muttered, "Hi, Jack" was all he got as the Blue Ranger brushed right past him, never once slowing down. Jack turned his head to watch Sky's retreating back curiously, wondering what was up. While Sky wasn't the nicest guy in the world, he generally wasn't in such a foul temper either.
Just when Jack thought his morning wouldn't get any more eventful, he ran into Syd in the lift. She was in civilian wear also, the fanciest he'd encountered that morning by far. The style of her dress made him wonder if it was left over from her days as a magazine cover-gracing starlet; she looked even more stunning than she had on the evening of her birthday party. Curiously though, her expression could only be described as gloomy, which was doubly unusual for the normally cheery Pink Ranger.
"Hey," said Jack warmly. "You're looking very fine this morning, if I may say so."
He was rewarded with a half-hearted smile. His 'debonair' routine always amused Syd.
"Thanks."
"Where are you going?" He noticed she had hit the button for the ground floor.
"A birthday luncheon with my parents," she replied. "They insist on some sort of celebration, however belated it is."
"I'm glad you'll get your party after I ruined the first one," he offered loyally, though he knew she'd already forgiven him. "But you don't seem so thrilled. I thought you liked parties."
The Pink Ranger sighed. "I guess I'm not in a celebratory mood."
"Why not?"
Syd paused. "I…Sky and I kind of got in a fight this morning."
"Really?" Now he had an explanation for the Blue Ranger's foul mood. But for Syd's sake, he tried to appear more sympathetic than curious. "About what?"
"I asked him to come to this luncheon with me, but he said he didn't have anything he could wear, and I…sort of got mad at him for it."
"You got mad at him for having nothing to wear?"
She looked a little embarrassed. "Yeah. I really wanted him to come, and it seemed like such a stupid reason for him not to."
"I know Sky has clothing other than his uniform, contrary to popular belief. We've all seen it."
"Yeah, but nothing fancy enough. The luncheon's at the country club, so I guess he was right…"
"You are quite the vision."
Syd rolled her eyes, but smiled anyway. "It's partially my fault. I only told him about it this morning, and that's why he got annoyed. He would have gone if he'd had time to find something suitable to wear."
That surprised Jack. Since when did Sky do anything leisurely outside of the Academy?
"So why didn't you tell him earlier?"
The lift reached the floor he had intended to get off at, but he just reached over and hit the button to close the doors again.
"I don't want to keep you," Syd protested.
"It's okay," he soothed. "It's slow work this morning. I'll walk you down."
The lift had begun descending again, so any further protest was fruitless. All she said was, "Thanks."
"No problem." He leaned against the side of the car indolently. "So…why didn't you tell him earlier?"
"I couldn't find him all week."
"Syd, we see each other every day."
She pouted a little. "I didn't want to ask him while we were on duty. You know he'd just get annoyed."
That, Jack had to agree with.
"I guess I did see him once," she amended, frowning. "I was about to ask him, but he said he had to work this weekend, so I figured it didn't matter what I said next. I let it go. Now I know I should've just asked." She slouched against her side of the car unhappily.
Jack had the vague impression that this was what 'girl talk' was like. In the beginning, he'd thought that maybe there was something he could help her out with, but as the conversation went on, he realized the situation was over and done with, and that Syd was just in need of venting. He was familiar with this need in girls, having been Z's only companion for several years.
But also, in this particular predicament, he was privy to some info that Syd wasn't, namely that Z and Bridge had been the ones to switch his and Sky's shifts in the first place. He had a feeling that Syd would be much more pacified if Sky's reason for missing her luncheon was because he really did have to work, rather than because he was such a stick-in-the-mud with a wardrobe to match.
They reached the ground floor, and true to his word, Jack walked Syd all the way beyond the outer security gate to where her car was waiting. It was a beautiful day out, bright and clear, with the air just crisp enough to encourage some light physical activity. A soft, cool breeze was blowing around, feeling so refreshing that it made Jack sorry he had to work all weekend. Though it was certainly nice to have a secure roof over his head, he sometimes felt a little suffocated being inside the Academy for long stretches of time. He didn't miss the hunger and the inescapable cold of street-living, but he definitely missed the fresh air.
Beside him, the breeze made Syd's skirt flutter elegantly around her knees, and her blonde curls glinted gold in the sun. Even her gait was graceful and confident in an understated way. It wasn't hard to see how she had been such a smashing success as a model and cover girl.
He walked ahead to get the limo door for her, but she stepped around it to give him a hug, thanking him for listening to her 'ramble'. He returned the embrace in earnest, but as he did so, he saw from the corner of his eye two familiar figures running together in the distance. The taller was in blue and black, the smaller in pure white.
His instinct was to not tell Syd, but just as she was about to get into the car, she spotted them anyway.
"Where are they going?" she mused aloud, glancing back at him. He shrugged.
"I don't know." He was surprised Syd even knew the girl in white.
The Pink Ranger didn't say anything more and climbed into the car. He thought her expression looked a little sad.
"You weren't kidding when you said you could milk your birthday for a whole week," he said, inviting her to share the playful memory. "Here you are, a week later and still celebrating." He smiled.
She lifted her chin a little proudly. "I told you I'm an expert at this."
"So it seems," he chuckled "You'll have to give me lessons before our birthday rolls around next year."
"I will. Thanks for listening, Jack. I really mean it."
"Not a problem, Syd. Have fun."
He closed the limo door and watched the gleaming black car drive off. He took his time heading back inside the Academy, but as he did, he whipped out his morpher and called the Yellow Ranger.
"Z. Your plan backfired."
x-x-x-x-x
They exchanged wary glances when Z's morpher chimed. Bridge had been about to let have her first taste of brie, but it seemed his lesson in high-class dairy would have to wait. With a sigh, Z retrieved the little device and snapped it open.
"Z. Your plan backfired."
"Jack? What's going on? What plan?"
"Your plan to get our pink and blue lovebirds out on a lunch date."
Today was Syd's birthday luncheon, she remembered. Bridge sat up in interest after Jack's words, turning an ear towards the small communication device.
"What happened?" Z asked.
"According to Syd, she and Sky had a little tiff this morning because she asked him to the luncheon too late, and he didn't have anything to wear."
"Nothing to wear? Are you kidding me?"
"Honest to goodness, Z. He must have heard too late that he got the weekend off, and Syd didn't bother asking him when he told her he had to work. Now I'm stuck doing the weekend rounds for nothing instead of being outside enjoying this beautiful day."
Z rolled her eyes. "So what are they doing now?"
"Syd just left for her party, and Sky ran off somewhere into the city."
"Great," Z groaned and flipped her morpher shut. She looked at Bridge. "Nothing to wear?" The Green Ranger looked amused by her reaction. "I thought only girls could come up with that excuse."
Bridge smiled. "You remember what he wore to Syd's surprise party. You were the first to give him a hard time about it."
"But I didn't think it was because of lack of options. Does he really own nothing but his uniform?"
"He has some shorts and tshirts in there. But probably nothing good enough for the kind of party I know Syd's parents are capable of."
"He could wear his uniform again," said Z dryly. She reached for a wheat cracker from the package that sat between them on the picnic blanket, but Bridge held her arm.
"Ah-ah." In his other hand, he held up the original cracker she'd been about to eat when Jack called. "Not without the brie."
With a grin, Z leaned forward and took a bite of the cheese-smeared crisp as he held it out for her. She chewed thoughtfully, pretending to seriously deliberate its flavor.
"Very good," she said approvingly after she'd swallowed. "Tastes like every other cheese I've had today."
Bridge looked skeptical. "Even the extra, extra sharp cheddar?"
Z wrinkled her nose—she hadn't liked that one. "Well, okay. Maybe milder than that."
The Green Ranger looked appeased, and she let him feed her the rest of the treat.
It was a perfect day to be outside, and given that, she did feel a little guilty that Jack was stuck inside the Academy for no good reason. She and Bridge had planned this picnic a week earlier, and it was by sheer luck that they caught such great weather. The contents of the picnic, however—the classic checkered blanket and wicker basket full of crackers, cheeses, bread, and grapes—was all Bridge's doing. She definitely knew the Green Ranger had an affinity for toast, but the more she got to know him, the more she realized he had an affinity for food in general. When he heard she'd never tasted brie or Tillamook cheddar in her life, he had been appalled.
"Next we have—" Bridge took out another sample of cheese from the basket, this one with a pale yellow interior and dotted with small holes. "Havarti. Made in Denmark in the 19th century by a cheesemaker named Hanne Nielsen, who named it after his farm—"
"Where'd you learn so much about cheese?" she interrupted, detecting an inevitable ramble. "Or just food in general."
"My mom," he said, turning the triangle of cheese over and over in his hands trying to find the edge of the wrapper. "She home-schooled me one year when I was little because I had a hard time fitting in with the kids at school, and I spent most of my lessons in the kitchen with her, getting distracted and asking what she was doing instead. She'd spent a few years in a culinary academy when she was younger, so she knew tons of neat trivia about certain foods."
She smiled, relishing this new bit she'd learned about the Green Ranger. "So that's where you got your obsession with food from."
He nodded. "Maybe you'd like to come over for dinner sometime," he said hopefully. "She makes the best risotto and lemon meringue pie."
"I'd like that." His dinner invitation gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling inside, but she found she didn't mind it so much this time. "What's risotto?"
From the look he gave her, she might have sprouted another head, and she laughed.
"Well, it's a good thing I have you to teach me about finer dining," she teased lightly. "I was beginning to think regenerated matter was as good as it gets."
"It's not bad, considering it is regenerated." He finally got the wrapper off the havarti and started cutting off small slices to put on the crackers. She snagged the first one and ate it plain, and was surprised by the smooth, creamy flavor that spread across her tongue.
"Wow," she exclaimed, making him look up. "This one's really good." She reached for another piece. "I think it'll be my favorite."
His face lit up with an adorable smile. "It's my favorite, too."
x-x-x-x-x
"Meet me in the art store when you're done."
Sky nodded and headed back down the block towards the hardware store. At one point he glanced over his shoulder, and saw his sister crossing the street in a direction that was definitely not towards the art supply store. The way she ambled along, he knew she wasn't counting on him catching her taking a detour. He sighed to himself, simply hoping she wouldn't take too long, wherever she was going.
The hardware store wasn't small, but it was dark and musty nevertheless on account of the numerous crude wooden shelves blocking the windows, and thousands of screws and bolts and tools releasing their metallic odor into the air.
Let's see...what did he need. A handful of nails of varying lengths, and more sheet metal. He asked the clerk if he could have the metal cut to the sizes he specified, and was relieved when the man said yes. That would save him time from having to cut it himself, and would also make transporting the metal back to the Academy a whole lot easier.
While he waited, his mind drifted back to the events of that morning. By nature, he wasn't one to dwell, but his most recent argument with Sydney didn't feel as inconsequential as others had been. It was a fact of their existence that he annoyed her as often as she pestered him, but rarely did she become genuinely upset with him.
He understood why it had happened, but what he didn't get was why she had reached critical mass all of a sudden. He knew she harbored feelings deeper than friendship for him—something he had had confirmed for him on two separate occasions by two unsolicited people—but that had gone on for months, and she had never shown signs before of discontentment with the quasi-platonic nature of their relationship. His arrogance amused her and her feistiness challenged him, and that was how he liked it. He would cherish and protect her if she agreed to be his, but he didn't care to walk down the path of token handholds, empty whispered nothings, and stupid pet names, which apparently was what she wanted now. Girls always liked that stuff, and sooner or later, they got huffy if they didn't get it.
Well okay, maybe there was one schmaltzy thing he would have liked to do, but in general, his lack of affectionate or emotive demonstrations was a matter of preference rather than restraint. He glanced at the splint on his left hand. Could someone like Sydney, who most definitely enjoyed being treated like a princess, understand that he just had atypical ways of showing that he cared?
The clerk returned with the sheet metal, and he paid for his few purchases and left. Not surprisingly, Ree was not at the art store yet. He browsed through the aisle of model kits while he waited, and was considering getting one with a fighter jet when his sister walked up. Her nose was buried in some book colored pink and gold, and she had a plastic bag with the local bookseller's logo on it hanging from her arm.
"You're late," he said flatly.
Her gray eyes flickered from whatever line she was reading to his face for a moment, and then back. She chuckled and shut the book, handing it to him.
"I got that for you. A must-have for your collection."
He was not amused by the title—1001 Ways to Be Romantic.
"Thanks, but no thanks." He handed the book back to her. She opened it to a random page in the middle and read a few more lines.
"You're right," she concluded, sliding the book into the plastic bookseller's bag. "This might be too advanced for you. I should have stuck with Romance for Dummies."
"It's none of your business," he said sourly. She arched an eyebrow.
"Excuse me? You made it my business when you asked for my help with this arts & crafts endeavor of yours."
"And that's the only thing I need your help in."
Ree scoffed. "If only that were true, Casanova. But hey, have it your way."
He was only too happy to let his unruly other half drop the subject. He looked at a few more model kits while Ree pulled a second book from her bag and looked through that. In the end, he decided he'd go with the fighter jet, and then the two of them headed over towards the acrylic paint aisle.
"A romance novel?" he asked skeptically when he saw the passionately embracing couple on the cover of the small paperback she held. His sister usually read things like Stephen King and Homer.
"I have my reasons," she said cryptically. She shivered dramatically and put the book away. "This book is god-awful."
"Huh." He looked confused, but didn't ask for an explanation.
In the paint aisle, he let Ree have full control of what colors they would use because she wanted it. He hung back while she eyed the palettes critically, selecting and deselecting several different jars. Occasionally she'd hold up two ridiculously similar colors and ask his opinion. He helped when he could.
As she fluttered around the paints, he found himself wondering—and he would never admit it aloud to her—what exactly was in that romance guide she'd picked up for him. Would it explain why women liked the mushy little gestures that more often than not were quite useless?
Now Ree was bent over and rooting through the middle shelves for something. She slid the bookseller's bag down from her elbow into her hand and shoved it backwards at him.
"Hold this."
The pink and gold book winked at him from inside, like a sign from above.
"What are you looking for?" he asked when Ree stood up straight again, frowning in dissatisfaction.
She didn't answer him because she turned to call out to a passing sales boy. "Excuse me!" The boy turned and smiled pleasantly at her. "Do you guys carry the new holographic paints by Horizons?"
"Yes, we do," the boy answered, looking awfully pleased, and proceeded to lead them to an aisle near the front of the store. Or rather, proceeded to chatter up a storm with Ree about paints while Sky followed a few steps behind.
"Great! This is perfect!" his sister enthused when the boy showed her the row of minuscule one-ounce jars with metallic labels.
"Anything else I can help you with?"
"A basket would be nice."
With a nod, the sales boy went off to carry out her request as if there were nothing else he'd rather do. Sky rolled his eyes disparagingly, and then Ree thrust a jar towards his face for him to see.
"You will love these."
The magenta labeling boasted the frou-frou name 'Flower Fest Pink'. He made a face and glanced at the so-called sale price taped to the shelf.
"These are expensive for paint, Ree."
"But they'll be worth it," she insisted, already turning around to pick out a few more colors. "Trust me."
"I don't usually find that a wise move."
The sales boy returned with a shopping basket, for which Ree thanked him ardently and then let him lead them up to the checkout counter. Again, Sky followed a few paces behind, their idle dialogue buzzing in his ears without really being absorbed. But he recognized the talent, a certain sociability that he couldn't claim to possess. It was like a supernatural force that encouraged other people to respond positively in turn. Sydney possessed that power, Sydney who could make anyone feel at ease. She was the reason they had ever managed to become friends in the first place, with her sunny personality and a warm smile that welcomed everyone, even him.
Yeah, he really didn't like having her be upset with him, especially so unreasonably so. Unfortunately, he remembered hearing somewhere that even if they were the ones who were wrong, women liked for men to take the first step in any reconciliation. There was just no logic in that, as the one at fault should be the one to remedy the situation. But it was true.
As they exited the art store, Ree said she wanted lunch. The moment she suggested food, he realized his stomach felt quite empty as well and accordingly started to protest. It was already 1:16 pm, and the 5-mile trek back to the Academy would require much refueling. They picked up sandwiches from a popular local vegetarian deli and took them to the Newtech City Plaza to eat outside in the sunshine.
For a long while they ate in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts and watching disinterestedly the people passing by in the plaza. But Ree tolerated quiet much less aptly than Sky did, and about two-thirds of the way through her sandwich, she got restless and pulled out a sprout, offering it to him.
"Alfalfa sprout for your thoughts?" she said.
He didn't take the sprout, of course, but it had done its job of getting his attention, and she popped it her mouth after he glanced at her. When his pensive look didn't fade, she remarked casually, "You've got it bad."
"I was wondering if we could finish the outer casting by tonight," he said, "Or possibly even the entire thing."
"Liar," she said around a mouthful of sandwich. "But yes, I think we can."
He frowned. "Which one?"
"Depends how much sleep you'd like to get tonight."
"The optimal amount would be preferable. But I also want to just get this over with and be done with it."
"Same. I'm missing amusement time on the range."
"With Jack," he mumbled.
Ree nearly choked on her food. How the hell did he know about that?
"It's against regulations, you know," he said with a sideways glance.
"Were you spying on me? And no it's not. Besides, there's nothing going on between us, you incorrigible prude."
"I wasn't spying. And it is against regulations for inter-squad relations. To prevent preferential treatment and the like."
"I'll take your word for it."
"I know Jack—he likes to charm, but nothing ever really comes from it. I figure it'll be the same here."
Ree felt her face warm a little. "You know, that's an incredibly insensitive thing to say."
He just shrugged. "I'm just telling you the truth."
"Maybe you should consider learning a thing or two about charm instead."
The sudden chime of Sky's morpher saved them from further argument. They glanced at it simultaneously before he balled up his empty sandwich wrapper in one hand and answered the call with the other.
"Tate here."
"Tate, Ranger emergency downtown in your approximate vicinity, sector A12G. The other Rangers are on their way."
"I'm on it, sir." He snapped the morpher shut and stood up. They both jumped when a loud explosion was heard in the distance, and glanced in the general direction of the noise.
"Sounds like a bad one," Ree remarked, glad for the distraction from their unpleasant conversation, but wisely concerned about the danger of the attack. "Good thing you ate."
Sky didn't respond to her light humor, having snapped into full Ranger mindset now. "You'll be okay getting back to base?"
"Of course." Already she was gathering up their purchases, stuffing smaller bags into larger ones so there'd be less to carry. In the end, she only had two, both thankfully light. "Hey…be careful, okay?"
She didn't think he really heard her, even though he nodded once before he took off running towards the attack. She sighed and hurried off in the opposite direction, along with other citizens intelligent enough not to stand around and gossip until the attack came close enough for them to see.
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Author's Comment: The risotto bit is a shout out to Jackie, who 1) taught me what risotto even is; 2) made it sound super delicious; and 3) offered to cook some for me if I come to visit. Yay!