Author: Jadelyn Ja Lee
Story: Through Her Eyes
Disclaimer: I own no one except those you don't recognize. No sueing of the poor college student!
Time Frame: The end of Stakeout
Summary: She may not have been a ranger but that didn't mean she didn't care. Power Rangers SPD.
Author Notes: I've decided to make a fairly big change in the SPD universe: Sam and the Omega powers never show up. Not sure yet how I'm gonna get around that, what with the monumental battle and all, but I'll figure it out. Just thought I'd give you guys a heads up before I actually do it.
PRESENT FOR ALL MY READERS: The identity of AJ's father is finally confirmed! And some more background on AJ. Enjoy!
Jack: (To Syd) So, like, every year, it'd be my birthday too?
Syd: Exactly. And if you know what you're doing, you can milk it for a whole week. Stakeout
Reefside
"AJ! Have you seen my new, pink strappy heals?" Zoe yelled from the top of the stairs. AJ looked up from her book.
"Try your under your bed!" She yelled back. A muffled thanks was heard as the sixteen year old walked away. AJ shook her head and went back to her book.
"Aimee! Have you seen my guitar?" Caleb poked his head into the living room. AJ nodded in the direction of the kitchen.
"Last I saw it, you had it at dinner last night." She told him. He flashed her a grin.
"Thanks!" he called as he disappeared. AJ shook her head and went back to her book, only to be interrupted again, this time by Camryn and Dylan.
"AJ? Will you help us with our computer homework?" The two high school freshmen asked. AJ set her book down.
"What do you need help with?" She asked as they settled in other either side of her. As they explained the problem, she smiled. It was nice to be home, with her family. It would have been even better if her brother could have been there.
After the somewhat useless trip to Galaxy Command, Commander Cruger had ordered the short brunette to take a break and visit her home. She'd agreed since right as he told her to, Tate and Landors had started argueing again. She'd been hoping for a relaxing vacation away from the hustle and bustle of SPD. So far, she'd been home alone for four days, upgrading her dad's computer systems with sporadic phone calls to her Uncle Billy, her Uncle Cam, her Uncle Justin, and even once to Dr. Manx and Boom when something exploded when it wasn't supposed to. She'd spent another two days working with her Aunt Hayley to fix a bunch of the broken computers from the Cyber Café and gotten berated for upgrading her dad's computers without the redhead's knowledge.
Of course, she'd also spent an entertaining girls night out at the movies with her Aunt Kat, Aunt Hayley, her cousins Laura, Jaelyn, Paige, and her two sisters. She'd had six noisy dinners with her father and four younger siblings, a couple hectic breakfasts as everyone got ready for school, and an odd lunch with her Aunt Kira which had people coming up to ask for autographs every five minutes. The only normal visit she'd had was when she drove to Angel Grove to visit her Uncle Billy for the day.
"Thanks AJ! We're going to miss you when you leave. When are you leaving?" Dylan, the overactive fourteen year old asked. AJ smiled.
"Sunday." She told him. He grinned and the two left. AJ picked up her book and opened to the page she had been reading.
RING!
"Oh for crying out loud!" She mumbled, tossing her book on the couch. She glared at it, as if it was the thing responsible for her continued interruptions. Caleb poked his head in the door again.
"AJ, do you have a boyfriend you didn't tell us about?" he asked. AJ looked at him blankly.
"No…." She told him slowly. He smirked.
"Well, I'll just tell the guy calling for you, Sky something-or-other, that you're not interested." He told her before disappearing. AJ yelped and lept up off the couch. She ran into the kitchen.
"…sorry, but AJ said she's not interested. Exactly what I said it means!" her brother was sitting on the counter, the phone in his hand and a wicked gleam in his eye. "Maybe you're ugly. That could be why."
"Caleb Adam!" AJ yelped, leaping forwards. He jumped up and took off through the open door into the dining room where her startled father was grading papers. As she passed him, she absently noticed him putting his head in his hands and laughing.
"Caleb! Give me the phone!" she yelled.
New Tech City
"Caleb!" Sky winced and moved the phone from his ear. Z, Jack, and Bridge looked at him oddly. They'd gathered together so they could call Lt. Roberts and Sky was looking nothing short of amused.
"What's going on?" Z asked. Sky smirked.
"Her brother won't give her the phone." He told them. They snickered. Sky listened for a few more minutes, ignoring the questions Roberts' brother was throwing at him. He heard several crashes, Lt. Roberts cursing, and then what could only be her brother getting tackled.
"Gotcha. Now give me the phone!" He heard her yell as a strange whistling sound could be heard.
Reefside
"Oh no." AJ muttered when she looked up. Zoe was holding a pink heal in one hand, the phone in the other. "Please don't, please don't, please don't."
"Who is this?" AJ groaned.
"Who?" Zoe asked confused just as their father came in and took the phone from her hands.
"Hey!" The sixteen year old yelped. Her father gave her a look and she quieted down.
"Hello?"
NewTech City
Sky stared at the phone. He had a very bad feeling he knew who had taken the phone this time.
"Hello, this is Sky Tate, at SPD. I'm trying to get a hold of Lt. Roberts." He said, waving away the others inquiring stares.
"Oh, hello cadet Tate. This is Aimee's dad. Hold on, let me get her." Roberts' dad told him before he could hear the phone being passed.
"Thank you daddy. Tate?" Lt. Roberts voice came over the line and he sighed in relief.
"Hello Lieutenant." he acknowledged.
"So what's up?" She asked as her father could be heard in the background telling her brother to clean up the broken cup he'd knocked down and that the smashed vase was coming out of his allowance. Z sighed in annoyance and took the phone from him.
"Hey, lieutenant, its Z. Listen, Syd's birthday was today so we're throwing her a surprise birthday party at the park tomorrow. We were wondering if you could make it." She said, waving away Sky's annoyed look.
"What time? What park?" She asked.
"Two o'clock, the city park at the gazebo." The yellow ranger told her.
"Yeah, I'll be there. I don't have to go back till Sunday, but I can spend a few hours at the park with you guys." The science officer told her over the line. Z grinned.
"Great! See you there!" She chirped before hanging up. Z turned around.
"She'll be there." She reported. They grinned and started talking about who else they could call. Sky just sat back, looking thoughtful.
Reefside
"You're going back to NewTech?" Her father asked as she hung up. AJ nodded.
"Today is the pink ranger's birthday and they're throwing her a surprise party tomorrow at the park." She explained as Zoe and Caleb whispered together as the latter cleaned up the broken vase. Her father smiled.
"That sounds like fun. By the way, we're going out to dinner on Saturday." He told her. She nodded.
"Okay. I probably won't be here when you get home tomorrow." She told him. He looked down at her.
"What about dinner?" He asked worriedly. She smiled.
"I'll pick something up on my way home." She replied, retrieving her book from the couch. He nodded and headed back into the dining room.
Late that night, AJ decided she could not sleep with her sister's clacking on their keyboards. She got up.
"Where are you going?" Zoe asked. AJ smiled at her.
"I'm going downstairs to read." She told her. Zoe nodded, already back to the English paper she was writing. Camryn smiled at her as she looked something up on the net. AJ quietly gathered her blankets, a pillow, and a book. She walked quietly downstairs, passing the boys open door as she went. Caleb wasn't home yet; he had a date with his girlfriend and wasn't expected until midnight. Dylan was sitting on his bed, a science book propped up in front of him. He looked up and smiled.
"Can't sleep with the Brats?" he asked knowingly. She smiled.
"They're doing their homework. The clacking bothers me." She explained. He nodded and went back to his book. She sighed and went downstairs. Her father was in the dining room and she didn't want to disturb him. At dinner he'd mentioned he still had a hundred tests to grade for three of his classes. She silently touched the dinosaur skeleton that opened the secret entrance to the DinoLab and walked down. As she stepped inside, the lights came on, allowing her to see the boxes of ranger gear her father had kept after the final battle with Mesogog. Pictures lined the walls; several of her father with the "old gang," snapshots of every team of rangers, including the SPD teams, and pictures of the families each ranger had created after their time in the suit was over. AJ sighed when she saw the picture her father had of the Tate family. Even though he wasn't close to the SPD teams, he'd made sure to include them in his photo collection. Suddenly AJ grinned. Sky was so small!
She paused at the last two frames. One held the currently MIA A Squad. AJ shook her head. They still had no idea if the missing rangers were dead or simply unable to contact them. She looked at the last frame and smiled softly. This one didn't have a photo but the nameplate next to it had been partially engraved.
To Serve and Protect the Galaxy
SPD B Squad 2025-
Jack Landors: SPD 1-Red
Schuyler "Sky" Tate: SPD 2-Blue
Bridge Carson: SPD 3-Green
Elizabeth "Z" Delgado: SPD 4-Yellow
Sydney "Syd" Drew: SPD 5-Pink
Shaking her head, she went over to the side room and pulled out the mattress her father kept on hand in case they every needed to sequester themselves in the DinoLab for safety. As quietly as she could, she made her bed and lay down. A quick tap on the keyboard lowered the lights and the Space Patrol Delta lieutenant fell into a light sleep.
Dr. Tommy Oliver wiped his eyes. He'd finally finished the damn tests he'd so idiotically sprung on the freshman the day before last.
"No more pop quizzes" he muttered as he packed up his bag. He did a quick inventory of the dining and living room before finding the door to the lab open. He frowned and quietly walked down, stopping in the entrance. Aimee had pulled out the mattress and was fast asleep on the floor, close to the wall next to the computers. He chuckled and slowly walked over. He kneeled next to her and smiled softly.
Aimee had been a true blessing, her and her siblings. For so long he had feared he'd never be the father he so desperately wanted to be. He'd always dreamt of having people who were related to him by blood. Part of that yearning had lessened with the discovery of David but until he had held onto Aimee and Jason for the first time, he hadn't realized how much that still meant to him. The relationship with Abigail had been a disaster waiting to happen but if given the choice he still would have married her for the simple fact she had given him his most precious possessions-his children.
Aimee mumbled something as she snuggled deeper into the covers and Tommy laughed softly. She and her brother used to come down to the Lab at night and sleep. He'd never moved from the house outside of Reefside because he couldn't take the chance someone would discover the Lab. That meant that his six kids had had to share two rooms. More often than not, Tommy would walk downstairs to get a glass of water only to find the door to the lab was opened. He'd go down and find the twins either sleeping peacefully or laughing as they lay in sleeping bags on the floor.
According to Jason, Aimee was just like him. Quiet, somewhat of a loner, excellent at hand to hand fighting, and passionate about what she does. He'd been so proud when she had gotten into the SPD academy and so desperately worried when he began watching the news again and realized his baby girl would be the one in spandex, battling evil. Of course, it hadn't been her after all but JD. Cruger had told Tommy that Aimee had originally been given the opportunity to go to KO-35 but that she had turned it down in favor of her brother who wanted it more than she did. That singular act had cemented the already close friendship Aimee had with Billy; they'd both given up a power so some else could be a ranger. Given the fact he'd had six powers and was collectively known by his friends as Black Christmas, Tommy couldn't understand the feelings Aimee had gone through after she made her decision. The former blue ranger had and had helped her through them. Somehow, according to Sam as well as Tommy's parents, she'd also inherited David's calm, stoic demeanor and the former green/white/red/black ranger's short fuse. It was still a combination that confused not only him, but everyone around him.
Tommy studied his oldest child. She had her mothers hair, his hazel eyes, and, according to Sam, his biological mothers height. She'd been named after his mother; both of them. Aimee Josephine. He smirked. Kimberly had commented that she liked the combination but that the spelling was off. AJ's twin brother had been named for Tommy's best friend and his brother, Jason David. He'd been immediately nicknamed JD by the former red ranger and had gone by it ever since. Caleb Adam had been named after Abigail's father and Tommy's good friend; Zoe Kimberly after Abigail's mother and Tommy's first love; Dylan William after Abigail and Tommy's friends; and Camryn Katherine had been named after Abigail's best friend and Tommy's second love. He went to pull the blanket up a bit more only to find her staring at him sleepily.
"Hey there, princess." He whispered. She gave a half smile.
"Hi, Daddy. They clack." She mumbled as she pulled the blankets closer around her. Tommy just chuckled and tucked her in.
"Get some sleep sweetheart." He told her. She nodded and closed her eyes. Tommy smiled and stood, his knees protesting. He slowly walked up the stairs only to stop and stare down at her.
"I love you princess." He whispered and smiled softly when he heard her quiet voice answer him.
"Love you too, Daddy."
NewTech City
Sky smiled as he watched the Syd, Z, and Bridge tackle Jack. He glanced around; Commander Cruger was talking with one of the teachers, Dr. Manx was having an animated discussion with Boom, and Lt. Roberts was sitting on the railing, watching the rangers. He walked over.
"Thanks for coming Lieutenant." He said as soon as he got near. She looked up.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. Thanks for inviting me." She told him absently. Sky frowned.
"Is something wrong lieutenant?" he asked. She looked down and smiled.
"No, just remembering some of the times I had with my friends. By the way," She turned to look at him, "When we're not on duty, you can call me AJ."
"Sky." He told her. She smiled and motioned for him to sit.
"Syd and Jack are getting closer." She observed, watching the red and pink rangers as they tickled each other.
"So are Bridge and Z." Sky replied, watching his friends and the two young women he was beginning to look to as little sisters. AJ laughed.
"You know, I shouldn't be surprised since red and pink rangers have a habit of getting together. But I am. Syd and Jack come from two different worlds." She commented. Sky nodded.
"Opposites attract, I guess." He replied, watching them. AJ smiled.
"What about you, Sky? What type of girl tickles your fancy and I have definitely spent too much time with my family." She mumbled. Sky laughed softly but didn't answer. She looked at him.
"Well?" She asked. He exhaled.
"I haven't given it much thought. I've always been too focused on making red ranger." He told her honestly. AJ smiled.
"I kinda figured you hadn't dated much." She commented. He gave a little half smile.
"I use to. Back before I joined SPD. Had a girlfriend too." He told her softly. AJ shifted so she could face him.
"What was she like?" She asked. Sky chuckled.
"Frivolous. Self-absorbed. Fashion conscious. Spoiled. Beautiful. She was just like Syd except she didn't have the same softness." He admitted. AJ smiled.
"Is that why you have a crush on Syd?" she asked softly. He glanced at her.
"It's why I use to have a crush on her, yeah. But I don't anymore. She's like a little sister." He admitted quietly. AJ raised an eyebrow.
"I see. So, to the original question, what is your ideal girl like?" she asked. Sky looked thoughtful.
"Dedicated. Honorable. Kind. She's gonna have to be stubborn to deal with me. Basically someone who sees me and understands my dedication to SPD. Cliché, I know, but it's what I want in a woman." He told her truthfully. AJ smiled.
"It's not cliché. Everyone wants someone who understands them. Everyone wants someone who's nice and kind and thoughtful and all the nice description words we humans tend to use. It's how we are. Not many people would say stubborn though." She teased lightly. He chuckled.
"What about you? What's your ideal guy like?" he asked curiously. AJ smiled wryly.
"Ironically enough, I want a guy who has something he'd give his life for. Someone who loves his job enough to argue with his boss when he doesn't think something's right. Someone strong. Safe. Intelligence would be nice too." She added. Sky chuckled. AJ glanced at him.
"Any crushes?" She asked slyly, just as he took a drink of his juice. Sky choked.
"Hey, check out Roberts and Sky." Bridge told Z, Syd, and Jack. The rangers looked over and saw the scientist laughing as the blue ranger coughed. When he finished coughing, Sky looked at the scientist and said something that made her laugh harder. They couldn't hear what they were talking about but Syd and Z noticed the same thing. Sky was laughing and he appeared to be enjoying himself. The two women glanced at each other.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Syd?" Z asked. The pink ranger nodded while Bridge and Jack exchanged startled looks.
"Yup. Should we do it?" she asked. The yellow ranger nodded emphatically.
"Oh yes. We should and we shall." She replied, a mischievous glint in her eyes. As Bridge and Jack stood behind the two girls, bewildered expressions on their faces, Syd and Z bent their heads together and began whispering.
"A crush?" Sky repeated. AJ, still giggling, nodded.
"Yeah. You said you don't have a crush on Syd anymore, I was just wondering if you have a new one." She explained blithely. Sky looked at her.
"If I tell you if I do or not, you have to tell me the same. No names." He added as an afterthought. AJ nodded.
"Deal. No names. Just if you do and when you began liking the person."
"Yes I do. I didn't realize I liked her until yesterday." Sky told her sheepishly. AJ blinked.
"Okay. Alright. Okay, then lets see, my turn?" She asked hesitantly. Sky nodded, studying her. She fidgeted.
"I've liked this one guy for a few weeks now. And it's very annoying, by the way." She told him. Sky smirked.
"Why is it annoying?" he asked. She squirmed.
"Sometimes he can be really funny and smart and a real great guy and other times he makes me want to throw a vase or beat him upside the head with a baseball bat." She told him matter-of-factly. Sky blinked.
"I can see why that'd be annoying."
Across the gazebo, Kat smiled.
"Kat? Why are you smiling? A broken computer chip is nothing to smile about!" Boom exclaimed. Kat looked at him, eyes twinkling.
"I wasn't smiling over that." She reassured him. Boom nodded his understanding and then frowned.
"Then why were you smiling?" He asked curiously. She raised an eyebrow.
"Romance is in the air." Was all she would say.
End Note: Did you enjoy this? I hope you did. I am changing some things about but that's to be expected. I didn't like the premise of Sam; it was a good story line I just didn't like the fact they turned him into a fairy and so he didn't get enough time to develop as a ranger.
With all the changes here at I've decided to make a website to host my fics that aren't allowed and to put up all the banners I've made. I'll put the URL up once I get the site up and running. If you'd like a preview of some of the banners, email me and I'll get them to you as soon as I get the time to drive half and hour to use my parent's computer which they are currently saved to.
Quick question: What apart about this fic (so far) have you enjoyed the most?