Disclaimer: Not for profit, just evil gleeee!

Author's Note: Again, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! It really makes my day :)

Uneasy

It was like sharing a room with a python.

He had had his own quarters since he picked up the Red morpher, by virtue of rank and the innocent fact that the Ranger team had an odd number of people. That had ended three nights ago, when after the attack on Bridge, Sky began rooming with him at the commander's orders. Cruger didn't want to have Sky occupying what was essentially a crime scene, nor did he want to further risk the safety of the remaining Rangers by having them bunk alone.

Did that really matter though? It wasn't like Bridge had been rooming on his own when some unknown assailant snuck in and nearly killed him, leaving no identifying evidence behind. He or she was quite possibly still inside the Academy. The Rangers hardly gave half a thought to their own safety, though. They were too angry over Bridge's condition, and were determined to catch whoever had hurt him.

Jack glanced over at his temporary roommate, who currently had his nose buried inside the SPD handbook beneath the light of a desk lamp. The uptight Blue Ranger was undoubtedly the source of most contention for him on the team, and sharing a room with him was turning out to be like sharing a room with a wild animal—easy to provoke and hard to ignore.

At least, it felt that way. In reality, Sky hadn't actually done anything. Lately he'd been unusually quiet, never once picking a quarrel or shoving another miscellaneous regulation down Jack's throat. It was strange to have that side of the Blue Ranger missing; it probably would have lessened the feeling that he was going to pounce on Jack for the first wrong word, and it most certainly would have eased the tension that thickened the air in their room, slowly and surely towards the breaking point.

Yeah, it would be nice to have his room to himself again, but he had to try to hold on to patience. The attack on Bridge was probably what caused this change, affecting Sky more deeply than it affected him. Sky had known Bridge longer, after all, and the two seemed to be closer friends than they let on. Worst of all, Sky had been the one to find Bridge, unconscious and unresponsive, on their dorm room floor. The Blue Ranger had stepped out for his usual early morning run just an hour before.

He hadn't gone on his run since.

Jack had to wonder sometimes what might have happened if Sky had been in the room at the time of the attack. The outcome might have been brighter. Then again, the team might have been down two Rangers instead of one. That stark reality, more than his sympathy, was what made Jack tolerate having his room invaded. They certainly didn't need to lose another Ranger now.

He rolled over in bed, throwing a pillow onto his head as he tried to will himself to sleep. He was tired, it was dead silent in the room, and the small shaft of light from Sky's lamp wasn't a problem thanks to the pillow over his face. So why couldn't he sleep still?

Several minutes passed, each more frustrating than the last, until he finally concluded that it was his own unending swirl of thoughts that were keeping him awake. Every concern and every problem that the team was facing seemed to topple and collide in his mind tonight, all at the same time.

The Rangers were now short one member. Battles were tougher as a result. Bridge was facing an uncertain recovery. The mysterious attacker hadn't been identified yet, let alone caught. Everyone was edgy and extremely short with one another.

This unease he felt had actually begun three nights ago, not unexpectedly, but since then it just kept growing instead of diminishing, until tonight when it loomed so large, Jack worried he might never sleep again. Suddenly he wished the air in the room wasn't so still. He wanted a distraction from his own thoughts.

He lifted the pillow from his face and glanced at Sky again, who was still hidden behind his manual. Dead silent. Jack realized he hadn't seen or heard the Blue Ranger turn a page all night.

"Sky?"

The book was slowly lowered, and the Blue Ranger peered at him from over the top questioningly.

Jack felt something inside him squirm.

"You all right?"

Sky looked a little perplexed, a little annoyed, and a little derisive. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You haven't turned a page in that thing for two hours."

The green-grey gaze seemed a bit icy. "Why were you watching me?"

"I wasn't." Jack half-expected to hear a rattle or a hiss cut through the air, the way they did in the movies. He was used to receiving some level of hostility from the Blue Ranger on most occasions, but tonight…he couldn't explain it, but there was just something off about his teammate. "Never mind."

Sky's face disappeared from view for a moment as he meticulously closed the manual and placed it on the tabletop beside the bed. Then he reached up and shut off the desk lamp, throwing the room into near darkness. Only the glow of city lights filtering in through the window kept the room dimly lit.

A strange sensation swept over Jack, something akin to vertigo, but not quite as disorientating. He rose from his bed abruptly.

"Where are you going?" he heard Sky ask. He didn't know why, but the question deeply unsettled him.

"I'm gonna go get a snack," Jack replied, punching the unlock button beside the door. "Can't sleep."

"'Kay."

Was it just his imagination, or did the door take a second longer than usual to open? He had half a mind to hit the unlock button again when the door slid aside with a quiet hydraulic hiss. He stepped out into the cadet lounge, which was lit at the same dim level as his room, but it was a much wider space, full of shadows and rendered nearly colorless in the dark.

The food replicator, glowing a muted blue in the corner, was a comforting sight, and this time not because it held the promise of edible treats. Jack started to head towards it, chiding himself in his mind that he was too old to be afraid of the dark. He hadn't been afraid of it as a child; why would he start now?

He took another step towards the corner, and paused. Something was wrong. He had been knowing that, but he couldn't figure out what it was, or what to do about it. He surreptitiously glanced back over his shoulder, uncertain of why he expected something different to be looking out at him from the room he'd left just two seconds before.

The door was already shut.