HEY EVERYONE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS! AS I SAID TA THE BEGINNING OF THIS STORY, IT'S SLIGHTLY AU…
THIS CHAPTER AND THE NEXT WILL GO ALONG THE LINES OF 'REFLECTION, PART 1 AND 2' BUT WITH MY OWN LITTLE IDEAS THROWN IN. I PROMISE THAT EVERYTHING WILL BE EXPLAINED!
ENJOY!
Two weeks… It had been two weeks since she had spoken to her twin, and it was killing her. She could still pick up on certain feelings that he was projecting and the one that scared her the most was betrayal…
Sky felt like she had betrayed him and that was possibly worse than him flat out hating her.
Sky was literally her other half. Collin had called when their mother returned home, and he could feel what she was feeling just by talking to her. After a long conversation over the matter, Collin decided that perhaps he and Lucas should come out to New Tech for a weekend to try and sort things out.
The others knew their secret, so why hide it any longer?
At the moment, Ani was pulling her hair into a tight ponytail. She had a simulation training exercise with Jack… according to Cruger, she and Jack were best suited as sparring partners…
She was unsure if the Commander knew what had transpired between the two, but if he did he wasn't talking.
In truth, she and Jack hadn't spoken about it either. Things between B Squad seemed a little tense lately to everyone around the Academy.
Ani stayed at Command when the rangers were out in battle, and she could clearly see the way Sky avoided Jack at all costs, unless it was a dire situation. Training was another story all together.
Sky would constantly push himself harder then the others… he always finished before everyone else, no matter how hard it was on him, and Ani knew he was hurting physically as well as inside. Jack wouldn't speak to her unless it was necessary, and she knew he didn't want to mess with his team and make things worse…
Their latest task was turning out to be an interesting one. Criminals they had already captured were randomly showing up around the city, but they were still in containment…
Sighing, Ani pulled her White SPD shirt over her head and headed out the door towards the main simulation room.
As soon as she entered the room, Kat handed her a readout on the morpher she had been developing…
"The energy levels seem to be fluctuating whenever we test the weaponry circuit," the feline said.
Ani scratched her head as she studied the statistics.
"We would like to test it in action," Kat said as she opened a case next to her.
"And who's the subject?" Ani asked as she pondered the data in front of her.
"You of course. You know everything about this thing. You'll probably know what's wrong better than we would."
Ani took the morpher and opened it up from the back and looked at circuits closely.
As she was doing this, Jack entered and was suddenly struck dumb by the way she looked. She was completely engrossed and concentrated… not to mention that she looked amazing in her tight black shorts and white top.
"Jack?" Kat asked. The red ranger shook his head and snapped to attention. "We're going to try out the new morpher."
"New morpher?" he questioned as he approached Ani.
"The Omega Morpher," Ani answered. "Developed on KO-35 with the latest ranger technology."
She closed the back portion of the device and clipped it to her shorts.
"I have some things to take care of at the lab, so I'll let you two get to training," Kat said. "I want a full report on your findings Ani." Ani and Jack saluted and she let, closing the door behind her.
Jack walked over to the panel and typed in an open plain sequence. The room was instantly transformed into a barren land with a few boulders around. He turned to Ani.
"You know how to use that thing?" he questioned.
"I designed it, built it, programmed it… I think I have an idea," she replied.
Jack smirked and dropped into a fighting stance. "Well then, I suggest you put your money where your mouth is."
Ani got into her stance and retrieved the morpher. "SPD EMERGENCY!"
In a flash of white light, Jack watched as a new ranger stood in front of him. The suit was primarily white with a blue strip and gold running around it. Her helmet was white and blue with a bit of a fin on the back.
"Nice suit," Jack commented as he obviously took in her curves and the way the suit covered them perfectly.
"I suggest you morph before you get hurt," she said as she activated her weapon. As Kat had told her, as soon as she called for her weapon, she received a bit of a shock as it materialized.
She looked at the morpher and programmed in a sequence. Moments later, she called on her weapon again and it worked as she had originally programmed it to.
Jack was impressed… she knew her stuff all right. He retrieved his morpher and was transformed into the red ranger instantly.
They sparred for what seemed like hours before Jack finally got the upper hand. She was good… very good.
He swept his leg under her, catching her off balance. Ani did a backhand spring and landed on her feet.
They both charged and ended up flipping each other over, landing them both on their backs with their heads next to each other.
"Power Down," they both said. Their suits dissolved and they lay there panting.
Jack turned his head slightly and did something that he'd been secretly longing to do for weeks now… very carefully, he kissed the side of her head.
A small smile appeared on Ani's face when she felt his warm lips graze her skin. It felt so… natural. She turned her head and Jack found himself lost in her bright eyes.
Without another thought, their lips met and held for several sweet seconds. They broke away and Jack smiled.
"I was hoping I could make up for the one I gave you before," he said. "That was kind of rushed… not that I didn't want to, but-"
"You were trying to shut me up," she said softly. Jack groaned.
"You caught me… but I had wanted to do that for a while… even if you did try to kill me the first time we met."
"You scared me," she said. Carefully she stood and offered him her hand.
Jack reached out and took her hand. "I'd like to take you out sometime, if that's alright."
Ani thought for a moment. "There is a code in the SPD handbook that states specifically, 'No ranking officer and cadet may partake in amorous relations without prior consent of their commanding officer.' Meaning that I don't think so," she said as she took her hand back.
"Don't tell me you know the SPD handbook by heart," he said jokingly.
Ani stared at him in shock. "You don't?" Jack shook his head and ended the simulation.
"You and Sky really need to get out. Have some fun… life isn't all regulations and rules."
"It is for us," she said carefully. "It has to be."
She grabbed her water bottle and exited the room.
"By the way Jack… since you're Red Ranger, that puts you above me in rank for certain situations." She threw her hair over her shoulder and left. Jack smiled. Maybe he had a shot after all…
Ani walked down the hallway smiling like an idiot. One, she had finally felt the rush of what it was like to be a ranger… and two, she had given Jack a not so subtle invitation to ask her out…
"AJ TATE TO COMMAND, AJ TATE TO COMMAND," came Kat's voice over the intercom.
She ran to command and saw Kat and Cruger looking at a holograph of a criminal.
"How did the testing go?" Kat asked. Ani handed her the morpher.
"One of the circuits was overloaded… I fixed it and it works perfectly… you can probably start the selection process to find the right candidate."
Cruger nodded and looked at the screen. "Excellent work… I wanted to inform you that Sky has been sent on an interrogation mission in hopes of identifying the cause of these criminals showing up again."
Ani smiled inwardly. Sky was always the best interrogator… a trait he inherited from their mother.
"What his estimated return time?" she asked as she looked at the criminal Sky had gone to see.
"Murlock can be difficult to speak to," Kat said.
"Murlock?" Ani asked surprised.
"I see you've heard of him."
"Of course. He was wanted on KO-35 for years until the rangers there put him in confinement at the maximum security prison," Ani answered.
Cruger nodded his head. "Until his return, I want you to finalize the testing on the Omega Morpher. I have a feeling we're going to need it." Ani saluted and took the schematics Kat had for her.
She left the room and Kat turned to him.
"You should have told them about Murlock," she said. "They have a right to know."
Cruger rubbed his temples. "It's not the right time at the moment. When Sky returns I'll tell them everything that happened between Murlock and their father."