A/N: Sky likes to overthink. Short chapter. Hadn't updated in a while, sowwy for dat!
Chapter 7: With Nothing to Say
She was close to him, she was very, very close. Everything else around seemed to be a blur of white flashes, all in a haze. The lights were too bright, and warm, and there were greens, and it felt… nice… very nice… He had his arm draped around her naked waist, and they were happy… her chocolate brown eyes filled with joy, as she took him in, and smiled, running a hand across his chest, sending goosebumps across his flesh…
And then all of a sudden, it was all over.
The loud ringing of the alarm clock made Sky Tate cringe in annoyance, as he was pulled from his dream, and back into reality, where the head of the girl who had taken over his nights was just peeking out from under the bed covers, across the room from him.
So close, yet so far away.
Sky shuddered realising he had been subconsciously thinking about Z, intimate and close to him, as she had been, the night of their wedding.
Wedding. His mind echoed the word.
They were still married… Weren't they?
XXX
Later the same day, Sky and Z were training some D-Squad cadets, when suddenly the intercom buzzed, "B-Squad Red and Green ranger please report to the command centre, immediately!" Kat Manx's voice called them, and Sky and Z had to disperse the class half an hour early, and run to the Command Centre.
"Sir?" The two saluted, and Cruger got up from behind his desk, and greeted them.
"Cadets, I have some important information. We have a new Ranger promoted to your ranks," he informed, and Sky and Z looked at each other. Okay, that was a good thing, as well as a bad thing. Both of their minds independently weighed the pros and cons.
Z's mind focused more on the pros. She wouldn't have to spend all the time with one teammate. They could team up differently for missions, train cadets separately, and maybe if the new kid was a good sport, she'd get to have fun with him/her too. It'd take her mind off of things, and at a time when she needed to get these things off her mind the most. A time when Jack, Syd AND Bridge had ditched her to get busy in their own lives, (Not like Z blamed them, but still it hurt). Battles would be easier, things would be better. Maybe if she had some time away from Sky, who was now her teammate, roommate AND husband, she'd be able to think more clearly, feel better.
Sky's focused more on the cons. He and Z would not be the only two people on the team anymore, there would be a third person, probably someone from the C-Squad, and getting used to having them around would actually be a little difficult for Sky (and his antisocial personality) to get used to. And what if Z liked spending time with that person more? Out of the blue, he started feeling insecure… for his wife.
"And Cadet Delgado, for the time being, I am promoting you to Blue Ranger" he said, offering her the morpher, and Sky felt warmth spread over his heart as he saw her smile.
"Thank you, sir"
And then the Commander introduced them to their newest teammate, "Cadets, this is Cadet Jhavier Garcia" Cruger stumbled a little on the Spanish pronunciation, but barely managed it through.
"Sir, it's Javier," Javier corrected, with a smirk that could light up a million bulbs. Z felt the thrill of an electric spark across her spine, Sky felt that same spark, only more of a shock from it, than the thrill.
"Yes, cadets, he is your new Black Ranger, as he requested for the color, and I hope you will treat him accordingly" and then nodding, Cruger left.
Sky, Z and Javi stared at each other for a couple of moments, and then Z and Javier burst into mirroring smiles, "You BASTARD!" Z said, her tone full of excitement, Sky felt an expression of disgust.
"Why couldn't you tell me last night that you were gonna be IN OUR FUCKING SQUAD?" she asked, almost punching him in the gut, but then stopping playfully as he dodged it.
"Surprises are the best thing ever" he said, his million dollar smile
"No they're not." Sky said, bitterly.
Z looked at him, and saw something in his eyes, that she didn't say, but did back him up, "Some surprises are… a bit of a pain…" she uneasily glanced down at her hand, but before Javi's gaze could follow, she thrust it back into her pocket. This was followed by a couple minutes of awkward silence, which Javi broke, all of a sudden.
"What were… we talking about?" he said, excited again, "oh yeah! I was introducing myself" he winked, "Hi, I'm Javi!"
"We know you're Javi" Sky said dryly, "Cruger just introduced you. And we met last night"
"No, what you know me as, is JAVIER, what I'm sayin right now, is Javi… fine line" he grinned again.
"Oh" Z made a fakey-surprised face, and said, in a hilariously feigned Mary Poppins voice, "Well in that case, my dear man, I am Z!"
Javi copied Sky's words, "we know you're Z" though he was grinning broadly unlike Sky.
And Z copied Javi's words, "But no, my good sir, what you know me as, is Elizabeth, what I'm sayin right now, is Z… fine line" (^^)
Sky felt that emotion of insecurity deepen, as he watched Z and Javi's playful, flirtatious interactions. They seemed so much at ease talking to each other, something Sky and Z themselves had shared, not so long back. He remembered before Syd nad Bridge's wedding, he, Syd, Bridge and Z had gone shopping together, on Syd's insistence, and while the couple did their lovey-dovey stuff, these two were bored to death, so they sneaked away, gave their friends a ditch, and spent an entire day at a Virtual Reality studio. They were flirtatious, playful, and everything Z and Javi were, right now. The way Z had hidden the wedding ring, it stung so much. He was the one she was supposed to smile at, like that, HE was the one who she was supposed to call bastard and punch, he was the one who should've done stupid things to make her laugh. Not this… this JAVI fellow. And why did cruger put him in the B-Squad? Sky felt fairly certain that before coming back from the wedding, he had never seen the guy at the academy before, and suddenly Cruger puts him with them? Ugh another thing he and Z had in common, why don't they bond over THAT?!
Sky felt alienated from the conversation
Those two had a sort of a spark, something Sky hadn't seen or felt, since that night when he and Z had gotten drunk and had sex.
And for some reason, that worried Sky Tate all the more.
XXX
Dr. Kat Manx pulled commander Cruger aside the moment they were out of earshot of the cadets.
"Sir, you seemed very nervous" she remarked.
"I'm not an actor. I am a Warrior. I prefer to be natural, and stay away from schemes" he explained.
"Sometimes, Doggie" Kat placed a hand on his shoulder, "you need to be a little sneaky, for the greater good. That's how spies work"
"But are you sure this is the right way to go about these things?" he asked, still a little unsure about having to interfere into the love life of his juniors.
"It's for the greater good" Kat repeated, "and anyway, jealousy works even Better than cupid's arrows of love" Kat smirked knowingly.
A/N: Nothin like a little Jealousy in the mix... is there?
