Author: Jadelyn Ja Lee
Story: Through Her Eyes
Disclaimer: I own no one. Don't sue!
Time Frame: During Shadow, Part One & Two. This is where it starts to become AU.
Summary: She may not have been a ranger but that didn't mean she didn't care. Power Rangers SPD.
Author Notes: This is where things shift. This chapter also goes kinda quickly. Enjoy!
Sydney: You think we should call for some backup?
Jack: Nah. We got this one.
they fight Orangehead and they're thrown backwards
Sydney: How about now?
Jack: Nah. He's falling right into my trap.
they fight him again and are thrown backwards again
Jack: Syd?
Sydney: Yeah.
Jack: Maybe we need some backup.
Sydney: You think? Shadow, Part One
Bridge: Sir, we don't leave a man behind. Even when the man's...a woman. Shadow, Part Two
"…Insubordinate!..." Cruger growled as he paced the command center. AJ tried ignoring him as she monitored the battle. The SPD commander continued muttering to himself.
"…doesn't know what she's talking about…I can't go back…the rangers can handle it….insubordinate…."
"That's it!" AJ growled, twirling around. She glared at Cruger. She had heard the story of the attack on Sirius and she knew what Kat had given the commander. She also knew that Cruger feared failure. But the rangers we getting their asses kicked.
"Lieutenant?" Cruger turned to her. Her eyes flashed.
"Kat's right! You're the only one who can defeat Banaag and you know it!" she accused. Cruger growled at her but she refused to back down.
"Don't you growl at me! I grew up with the original evil ranger as a father! No one can scare me with a silly growl." She told him angrily, hardly realizing what she was saying.
"Look, you may be afraid of failure, but I swear to god, if one of those rangers gets some much as a scratch on their bodies, I will personally hold you responsible!" she told him. Cruger's eyes flashed.
"Hold your tongue, Lieutenant, or I'll have you court marshaled." He told her angrily. AJ glared at him.
"Well you better get the papers ready because I'm not through! You've fought this guy before, and yeah, bad memories attached, but the best chance earth has of defeating Gruumm is currently getting their asses handed to them and you're refusing to help them. If they die, I will never let you forget it!" She yelled before stomping out the door.
"Kat!" AJ called once she saw the feline. Kat turned around and smiled at her. Neither woman noticed the two men following them.
"You were right about Cruger, Kat. He should be out their helping them." AJ told her. Kat smiled bitterly.
"I know. He can be so…stubborn." She muttered. AJ smiled wryly.
"Don't I know it. He sometimes reminds me of my dad. He's scared to face the past but he knows he has to. We just have to pray he does the right thing." AJ told her. Kat smiled.
"You're right. By the way, what are you doing out here?" Kat asked, puzzled. AJ blushed.
"I kinda blew up at him." She admitted quietly. Kat chuckled. Just them, they heard the sound of someone walking around them. The two scientists frowned and looked around.
"What was that?" AJ asked. Kat shrugged a frown on her face.
"I have no idea…" She murmured just as a man jumped her and another jumped AJ. The two women fought, but were eventually overpowered. Just then, RIC appeared and tackled, for lack of better word, the man holding Kat prisoner. He then bit the leg of the second man and tugged him away as their identities were revealed.
"Krybots!" AJ gasped as she leaned against Kat. Just then, General Banaag appeared in front of them.
As Banaag taunted RIC, AJ slowly inched her hand towards her communicator. Before she could do anything however, RIC jumped at the general who fired at the mechanical dog.
"NO!" AJ and Kat cried out. Neither noticed more krybots surrounding them until they were knocked unconscious.
Back at base, the cadets were watching the hologram of Kat telling them it was a trap. Cruger's eyes flashed as Banaag came back on.
"Oh and by the way. I also have one of your precious cadets." The evil general told Cruger before cutting to a picture of AJ unconscious and hanging on a cliff wall. As they watched, she slowly woke up and looked around. Sky's expression turned ugly when he saw the bruising on her neck and face. The vision turned back to Banaag.
"If you want either one of them back, come to the quarry and get them." The hologram blinked out of existence just before Sky's fist smashed it into little pieces. Cruger didn't bother to reprimand the blue ranger as the other cadets began arguing that they should go and save Kat and AJ. Cruger refused and told them to prevent the seventh spike from being placed. Reluctantly, B squad headed out. Cruger then turned to Boom.
"Keep and eye on them Boom." He ordered before leaving. Boom, near hyperventilation, nodded to thin air.
"Yes sir." He squeaked.
At the quarry, AJ had decided that things were bad but they were fixable. She started breathing slowly and evenly, knowing if she panicked she was doomed. Ignoring the pain on her wrists, she slowly began swinging back and forth not seeing two krybots poke their heads over the cliff.
Cruger arrived at the quarry with the sword in one hand and the shadow morpher in the other. As General Banaag appeared and told Cruger what he had to do to save Kat, the commander of SPD spotted AJ swinging on the cliff face.
"…Or you can save your cadet. If you choose to fight my krybots, your student will fall to her death. If you choose your student, your scientist will explode. The choice is yours." Banaag was telling him. Cruger bowed his head before slowly looking up.
"SPD, Emergency!" he morphed and quickly began battling the krybots, praying he could save both women. With a smirk, Banaag quietly motioned to the krybots above AJ. Banaag then went after Cruger himself. With one very lucky shot, Cruger destroyed the force field holding Kat.
B Squad arrived just as Cruger faced off against Banaag one last time. They looked around for Kat and AJ. When Sky spotted the science lieutenant, he went pale.
"Stay here." He ordered his teammates as he ran to the cliff face, demorphing as he went. Jack was about to follow but Syd held him back.
"Let him do it, Jack." The pink ranger asked pleadingly. After a moment's hesitation, Jack nodded.
"Oh, God." AJ whispered when she felt someone messing with the ropes. She looked up and swore. The krybots were attempting to saw through the rope. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cruger facing down Banaag and Kat free from the force field. Then, the rope broke.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed as she fell to the earth. Suddenly, she felt something come up from under her and she began to slow down. She twisted around and gaped. A glimmering blue force field was cradling her and slowing her descent. Standing on the ground was Sky, unmorphed, and with a hand in the air. About ten feet off the ground, the force field popped and she fell into the blue rangers arms. Physically unable to do anything since her hands and feet were still tied, she said the first thing that came to mind.
"My hero!"
She then passed out and didn't see the look of half amusement, have pride on Sky's face.
Later that day, AJ was sitting in her room attempting to forget her near brush with death. The rangers had asked her to go to Piggy's for dinner with them but she had declined. She just wanted to be alone. She kept remembering the feeling of the rope snapping and her falling. Additionally, she kept remembering the look of intense concentration on Sky's face when he lowered her and the relief when she landed safely in his arms. The fact he had risked being unmorphed in order to save her was weighing heavily on her mind as well.
The computer suddenly announced a visitor at the door. She glanced at the clock. Cruger, Boom, Kat, and B Squad had been gone for about an hour.
"Come in!" She called, setting her book down. The door opened to reveal her father and her uncles Jason, Billy, and Adam. She blinked as Tommy hurried to her side.
"Aimee! Are you okay?" Tommy asked worriedly. Aimee suddenly found herself in her father's arms. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Behind Tommy, the former rangers exchanged glances and quietly walked out.
"I was so scared, Daddy. I really thought I was about to die." She cried as he made soothing noises and hugged her tightly to his chest.
Tommy buried his nose in her hair and blinked back tears. When Cruger had called the former ranger to inform him what had happened with Aimee, Tommy had nearly had a heart attack. Luckily, all the male rangers in half hour drive to Reefside had been at the house for their weekly poker session and had calmed the original green ranger down enough to convince him to let Jason drive to NewTech with Billy and Adam. The entire drive had consisted of Tommy worrying out of his mind. He'd known that being connected to rangers was almost riskier than being an actual ranger but he hadn't expected his little girl to nearly die. He slowly leaned back to look at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was plastered to her face. He gently tucked the loose strand behind her ear.
"What happened, princess? All Cruger told me was that you had been kidnapped and nearly died." He asked gently, conveniently forgetting that he hadn't let Cruger finish telling him what had happened before he dashed out of the house. AJ sniffled.
"General Banaag was one of the people who destroyed Sirius. He kidnapped me and Dr. Manx when we were outside base. He set a bomb on Kat and tied me to a cliff face. He gave Cruger a choice, save Manx or save me. He started fighting the krybots while Banaag had another two krybots start cutting the rope. Cruger contained Banaag but the krybots got through the rope. I was falling…and…and…" she started crying again and Tommy pulled her towards him. She cried into his chest for a few minutes before pulling back.
"I was falling and then I started slowing down. Sky, the blue ranger, he can create force fields with his mind when he's not morphed and he de-morphed and he put one just below me so he could slow my descent. He caught me, daddy. He saved my life." She rambled, burying her face back into his chest. Tommy hugged her tightly, realizing for the first time that he was crying as well.
Ten minutes later, Cruger walked into officer commons with Kat, Boom, and B squad following him. The woman at the front desk had quietly informed him that Lt. Roberts had visitors and Cruger suspected he knew who it was. All of a sudden Cruger noticed that B Squad and Boom had stopped in their tracks and he soon saw why. Sitting on the couches talking quietly were the original red ranger, Jason Scott, original blue ranger Billy Cranston, and the second black ranger, Adam Park. He glanced at Roberts door and knew that Tommy Oliver was inside with his daughter. Jason suddenly looked up and saw them.
"Commander Cruger!" he called, standing. The others followed his example just as the door to Lt. Roberts quarters opened. Tommy walked out slowly with AJ held firmly to his side. A backpack hung from her shoulder. Cruger glanced at the cadets and saw the realization on Carson, Drew, Tate, and Boom's faces. Landors and Delgado looked surprised. Tommy saw them and his expression hardened.
"Cruger, I'm taking her back to Reefside for the night." He told the SPD commander in a no-nonsense tone. Cruger nodded.
"I figured you would." He acknowledged. Tommy's gaze wandered over the rangers before settling on the one in blue. He looked down at Aimee thoughtfully before gently guiding her to stand beside Billy. The former blue ranger immediately wrapped an arm around AJ's shoulders and they watched her father approach the newest blue ranger.
Tommy stopped just in front of Sky who swallowed. The original ranger studied him. They were nearly the same height and the same build. He was watching Tommy with a wary look in his eyes. Tommy gave him a small smile, his own eyes expressing his appreciation.
"Sky Tate, correct?" he asked. The blue ranger nodded while Sydney and Bridge shifted. Tommy nodded to himself and held out a hand.
"Tommy Oliver, Aimee's dad." He introduced himself. Sky hesitantly took the offered hand and shook. Tommy looked him in the eye.
"I can never thank you enough for saving Aimee. If there's anything I can do, just say the word." He promised as behind him, AJ seemed to come out of her trance. She slowly walked forward until she stood beside her father. Sky broke eye contact with Tommy to look down at the science officer. She gave him a wobbly smile.
"Sky…I…" she trailed off, unable to express her thanks. Sky held her gaze as the others looked on. Tommy slowly looked between the two and blinked in realization. Sky suddenly nodded and AJ surged forward to wrap her arms around his middle. On reflex, Sky hugged her to him. Syd and Z glanced at each other and grinned knowingly. Bridge, Jack, and Boom looked like they had been punched in the gut as they finally realized that the science officer and the blue ranger had feelings for each other. Cruger just shook his head while Kat smiled. Billy and Adam exchanged knowing looks and Jason went forward to pat Tommy consolingly on the back. For their part, neither Sky nor AJ noticed this since they were too caught up in the moment. Sky reluctantly let her go, avoiding her gaze. AJ blushed faintly and looked down. Tommy ran a hand over his face and stifled a sigh.
"Aimee, we should get going. Your brothers and sisters are worried about you. The sooner we get home, the sooner you can get some rest." Tommy told her. AJ looked up and nodded. She turned back to Cruger who simply smiled.
"We'll see you on Thursday." He told her. She smiled thankfully at him. Shouldering her bag, she grasped her dad's arm. She turned back to B Squad and Boom.
"Thank you guys." She told them sincerely. Jack, Bridge, and Boom nodded, still looking stunned. Syd and Z smiled mischievously at her and AJ blinked. That can't be good, she thought to herself as she turned back to Sky. He avoided her gaze but nodded. Biting back disappointment, she turned back to her dad and suddenly noticed her uncles. She stared at them.
"What are you guys doing here?" She asked, puzzled. Jason gave her a half smile.
"Your dad got the call during the poker game. Conner, Ethan, Trent and the others headed home but we came with so Tommy wouldn't drive into a tree or something." The original red ranger told her. Billy nodded.
"We also wanted to make sure you were alright." He told her. Adam smiled and shrugged.
"Hayley ordered me to bring you home. Literally too, I might add." He reported and AJ couldn't help the snicker that escaped. Now smiling, she turned back to Cruger.
"Thank you Commander. I'll see you on Thursday." She promised. Cruger nodded to her.
"Thursday night it is." He told her. Smiling, AJ grabbed her dad's arm and dragged him out of the base. She wanted to go home.
End Notes: Quick question, have any of you noticed something odd about AJ and JD's names? If you can tell me what, I'll give you a gooey chocolate chip cookie!
For the record, this has been changed to Sky/AJ. I wasn't going to have them hook-up but I think it's a natural progression and several fans seem to enjoy the idea. It's not going to be easy and lets just say that imaginations are gonna run rampant. But besides that, can you imagine By-The-Book Tate and the daughter of Tommy Oliver dating! It's gonna be a riot! I think….
One more thing; originally I didn't have the rangers meeting Tommy face to face until Chapter Twenty, (during SWAT, Parts One and Two) but I think it works better in this episode/Chapter. Did the meet-up live up to your expectations?