Disclaimer: The usual. Don't own anything you recognize.

OF YOU

By Etcetera Kit

33 - Reaction

There was just something about Thursdays – something that was foreboding and made it seem like everything was going to go wrong. She had gotten lucky. After the party on Saturday night, he hadn't said anything, hadn't acted unusual. The B-Squad had gone about their normal duties without much mishap. She had just been lucky not to end up on duty with him at any point in time. Now… she had night shift with him.

She and Z sat in the command center after dinner. The Yellow Ranger had some work to catch up on. Night shift started in exactly six minutes and twenty-three seconds… twenty-two seconds… twenty-one seconds… There was no chance that he would be late and there was no chance that anyone would switch with her.

"Please?" she begged. "I'll take two of your shifts!"

"No, Syd. You can't avoid him forever."

"I'm not avoiding him," she grumbled. "I just don't want to end up in an inevitable conversation about my underwear with him."

"Just be glad it was cute underwear," Z replied, tapping the controls at her consol. "At least it wasn't granny panties."

"I don't own granny panties."

"That's not surprising."

The doors to the command center slid open. He came in and took a seat at one of the consoles. Syd stared at him. He was five minutes and nineteen seconds early. He just took away five of the minutes she had planned on using to come up with something to say to him. But he just brought up the security feeds, acting perfectly unaffected, nonchalant.

"Well," Z said, standing up. "I'm going. Night, Syd… Sky."

"Night," Sky replied.

"Night," Syd echoed, her terror increasing as Z left the room. How could she leave Syd alone with Sky? What kind of a friend was she? She had put her thong around Sky's neck in the middle of the dance floor! That was not the type of thing one did to start a relationship with someone. Conversations, sure, but a relationship?

Whoa – backtrack! Did she just admit internally that she wanted a relationship with Sky? That, in and of itself, was ridiculous. He was Sky. There was no other way to describe him. He was the SPD Handbook monitor. He lectured lower level cadets. He lectured them. The silence had become oppressive. Was he going to say anything or was he just going to sit there and stare at the security feeds all night? Any other normal male would definitely have had something to say to the girl was put her underwear around his neck! In fact, any other normal male would have confronted her about it much sooner than this.

There was no reaction here!

Syd slumped in her chair – half the fun of taking the dare had been the internal scenarios about his reaction to it. No reaction was worse than all the other reactions she had anticipated.

"You have cute underwear."

She blinked and turned to him slowly. He was still staring at the security feeds. The minute her gaze landed on him, he looked up, moving ever so slowly and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. It wasn't his normal smile. He looked like a dork when he smiled normally. This smile was sly, smug and almost challenging.

"Thank you," she replied primly, sitting up straight and focusing her attention back on her console. Who was this man sitting next to her and what had he done with the real Schuyler Tate?

His shoulders shook ever so slightly. She swung around to face him. "Are you laughing at me?" she accused.

"No. I'm just a little surprised that you took that dare."

"How did you find out it was a dare?" Great – don't even try to deny the fact that she got fifty bucks off of Z for doing it.

"Bridge," he replied with a shrug.

"And what of it?"

"Nothing – I just thought you might like your underwear back."

He reached into the pocket of his uniform jacket and pulled out her underwear. It was obvious that he had washed the hot pink thong and folded it as neatly as a thong could be folded. Her jaw dropped. Not only had he kept her underwear, but he had washed them and was giving them back to her. It didn't make sense!

Almost in slow motion, his hand extended. She reached out and met him halfway, their fingers and palms brushing as he deposited the thong in her hand. Wrapping a tight fist around her underwear, she shoved them as quickly as she dared into the pocket in her uniform top.

"Cadets!"

She looked up to see Commander Cruger standing across the main console from them. How long had he been there? How much had he heard?

"As interesting as Cadet Drew's unmentionables may be, don't you have work to do?"

Blushing hotly, she studied the security feeds as Cruger moved to his desk. She gave Sky a sidelong glance. He was bringing up his profiling files – he wasn't blushing or looking even the least bit ashamed that Cruger heard their whole exchange. He still had no reaction.

Damn him!

To Be Continued...

Author's Note: Okay, so I posted the second one too because these are so short! lol.