Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.
Dissension within the Ranks
Chapter 17
Sky was in the middle of packing his things when Bridge entered the room that he and Sky shared. He froze in place as soon as he entered. He couldn't figure out why Sky was packing. S.P.D. meant everything to Sky. Bridge knew that Sky has worked his entire life to be where he is today. He couldn't figure out why he'd give that up.
"Why are you packing? Are you going somewhere?" Bridge asked.
Sky didn't even bother looking at Bridge. He just continued to pack which made Bridge wonder if he even heard his question. Bridge noticed that tears were rolling down Sky's cheeks.
"Maybe you should ask your commander," Sky said rather unemotionally.
Bridge wondered what Sky meant by that statement. As far as he knew Cruger was Sky's commander too. Then, that is when the realization settled in.
"Did you get fired or stationed somewhere else or something?" Bridge asked hoping it was the latter reason rather than the former. Bridge noticed something that he hadn't before. Sky wasn't wearing his S.P.D. uniform. He was wearing street clothes. He had on a blue tank top and khaki shorts. His uniform lay on the corner of his bed neatly folded up. On top of his uniform was his morpher. Bridge realized what that meant.
"I got fired Bridge. In case you didn't know, I tried to suffocate civilians under a force field. Birdy is going to come to personally escort me off Earth in two days," Sky stated.
Bridge knew this must be tearing Sky apart. The worst part of it was that Sky was under mind control when that incident with the civilians happened. Everyone knew that Sky would never do that to civilians intentionally. Bridge couldn't believe what he heard Sky say. He heard him, but it just hadn't set in as being true yet. Bridge saw Sky as a kind of big brother as well as his best friend. He didn't want to lose him. He didn't want him to go away and never be able to see him again.
"It wasn't your fault though!" Bridge exclaimed. He had wanted to say more than that, but he simply couldn't find the right words to say.
Sky had finished packing. He picked up his suitcase and put the duffel bag over his shoulder. He headed out the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned around to face Bridge.
"Tell Cruger, my morpher and uniform is on the bed," Sky said before turning around and leaving the room.
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Cruger and Kat were in the command center. Cruger was visibly upset. He hated himself for being more concerned with keeping his job than to stand up for and defend Sky whom he viewed as his own son.
"I hate this! I don't agree with Birdy's decision at all! Sky deserves to be here just as much as any of us!" Cruger exclaimed.
Kat was bothered by this whole ordeal as well. She secretly wondered why Cruger didn't just say that to Birdy in the first place. She was angry that Cruger was so willing to throw his relationship with Sky away just to please Birdy.
"You hate this? You have a funny way of showing it!" Kat shouted.
Cruger looked at Kat with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that Kat thought he was betraying Sky. He was just following Birdy's order though he didn't agree with it. That's the way the S.P.D. hierarchy works. Though he admittedly did feel kind of selfish for rather having Sky lose his job instead of him.
"I care about Sky like he was my own son!" Cruger barked.
Kat scoffed at that statement. She shot Cruger a glare. "That's bullshit Cruger and you know it! You just fired him for Pete's sake!" Kat hollered.
Cruger started growling. He did not like the tone of voice that Kat was taking with him. He did outrank her after all. Cruger knew that it was a bad sign when Kat referred to him as 'Cruger' instead of 'Doggie'. That usually meant that she was angry with him. It wasn't like Cruger enjoyed firing Sky. He hated it more than anything, but knew that it was something he had to do no matter how difficult it would be. Just then, Bridge entered the command center.
"Cruger, Sky told me to tell you that his morpher and uniform are lying on his bed," Bridge said.
Kat and Cruger exchanged worried glances with each other. They knew it would not be safe for Sky to be out on his own. Gruumm was more than likely looking for him. Not to mention that Marcus seems to have a bone to pick with Sky for expressing interest in taking custody of Chris and Simone. They knew that Sky wouldn't take the news well, but Birdy wasn't coming for two days and they had hoped that Sky would stay at the Academy until then. They ran out of the command center to find Sky before it was too late.
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Jack, Z, Syd, and Sam were just coming out of the cafeteria, when they saw Sky with a duffel bag draped over his shoulder and wheeling a suitcase behind him.
"Sky, what's going on? Where are you going?" Syd shouted.
Sky turned around to face the four rangers. Tears were still streaming down his cheek. He didn't know what to say to them. His heart was broken in two. He was left speechless.
"Were you just going to leave without telling us?" Z asked hurt.
That question was like a knife to Sky's already shattered heart. He cared about his teammates more than anything. They were not only his friends, but his family. They were all he had left with his parents both being deceased as well as his butler, William. It hurt like hell for him to leave them, but what choice did he have? A rule is a rule.
"Why aren't you in your uniform?" Jack asked seeing how Sky was dressed in civilian clothes.
Sky didn't answer right away. He tried to fight back the tears so he could answer without his voice breaking. "What do you think? Cruger fired me! Birdy's coming to personally escort me off this planet in two days, but in the meantime, I am no longer associated with S.P.D. so I have no reason to stay here," Sky answered before turning away from them. He couldn't take to see the hurt in their eyes. The way they felt like he was betraying them. That was far from the truth.
"Sky!" Chris and Simone shouted running down the hallway towards Sky.
Sky knelt down on the ground so he was on their level. From there, the two young children could clearly see Sky was crying. They never saw Sky cry before. It frightened them.
"Why are you crying?" Chris asked.
Sky was thinking of how to tell them what had just happened not too long ago. How could he possibly put it in words so that five year olds could comprehend it? That was the least of his worries. What was far more urgent was where was he going to stay? How would this affect Sky's chances of getting custody of Chris and Simone? Would Chris and Simone even still want him for a father?
"I lost my job. I have to leave Earth in two days. Until then, I can't stay here anymore," Sky said hoping they would understand.
They were too young to understand. They looked at each other with "Do you know what he just said?" faces.
"We can come with you right?" Simone asked.
Chris and Simone both put on their very best puppy dog faces with their hands clasped to show that they were begging.
"Actually, I was wondering if you could stay here for a little bit. At least until I get done with my business meeting with LeAnn," Sky answered.
Jack, Z, Syd, and Sam were shocked. They wondered how Sky could possibly still be up for the business meeting after the bombshell that had just been dropped.
"You mean your date?" Syd asked.
Sky snickered and rolled his eyes. "I told you it's not a date!" Sky answered.
Syd and Z rolled their eyes in response. They put on "whatever" faces.
"So you want us to baby-sit?" Jack asked.
Sky nodded his head yes. He rose to his feet.
"I better go. I don't want to be late," Sky said. He turned around and continued to head out of the Academy.
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Sky was walking down the streets of New Tech City when he noticed that people seemed to be afraid of him. They didn't seem to forget how he had nearly killed civilians by trapping them beneath a force field. Parents grabbed their children and pulled them back when they saw Sky approaching. They clutched onto their children tightly.
"Go on! Get out of here! You're not welcome here anymore! You're a monster!" civilians shouted at Sky.
Those words stung badly. They didn't understand that his mind was under control. Sky was beginning to think that maybe him leaving Earth was what was truly best for everybody. He couldn't believe people were afraid of him. He used to be a part of S.P.D. He used to be a power ranger for crying out loud. The people he was supposed to protect shouldn't be afraid of him, yet they were. Sky tried not to let their response and their words get to him, but the truth was they did get to him. Things had gone so badly for Sky as of late. First he was fired from S.P.D., and then he found out that civilians are afraid of him. He continued to walk toward Social Services trying not to pay much attention to what civilians were shouting at him and calling him.
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Kat, Cruger, and Bridge nearly bowled over Jack, Syd, Z, and Sam outside of the cafeteria.
"Where's Sky?" Bridge asked.
Bridge got no response. He noticed that it looked like Jack, Syd, and Z were about to go off on Cruger though. Not that he blamed them though. He would do the same thing if he wasn't such a chicken. So long as they were going to go off on Cruger, maybe he'd join in. After all, there's strength in numbers.
"What the hell were you thinking firing Sky?" Z shouted.
"Are you insane? He's one of our best fighters!" Jack added.
"You might as well gift wrap him and deliver him to Gruumm!" Syd yelled.
Cruger looked at the red, yellow, and pink rangers in shock that they were venting their frustration on him. He felt it should be Birdy that was subjected to their frustration and not him. Kat on the other hand, thought Cruger deserved every bit of it.
"Do you have anything to say to me?" Cruger asked Bridge.
Bridge swallowed a lump that was beginning to form in his throat. He did view Sky as his best friend and like a big brother, so he should defend him, but Cruger was putting him on the spot and all of the focus was on him. He saw Syd, Z, and Jack look at him like they were telling him to say how he feels. Then he looked at Cruger who had hope in his eyes. Hope that he wouldn't go off on him like the others did. Bridge was torn.
"I…um…am going to sit this one out," Bridge finally managed to get out.
Jack, Syd, and Z let out frustrated sighs. Cruger on the other hand looked relieved. Kat had widened her eyes at Bridge's response.
"Look, I had no choice. I have to follow the chain of command and Birdy is my boss. When I told Sky, I didn't mean he had to leave right away," Cruger said.
"I'm bored!" Chris complained.
"Me too!" Simone added.
"When's Sky coming back?" Chris asked.
"Yeah we want Sky!' Simone exclaimed.
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Sky had arrived at Social Services and found the door standing wide open. There was a body prone on the floor. As he got closer he noticed who it belonged to. It was LeAnn.
"Oh my God! LeAnn! Are you ok? What the hell happened to you?" Sky hollered checking for a pulse. He was relieved to find one. He noticed the blood on LeAnn's neck from where Marcus' hand was when he was strangling her.
LeAnn's eyes slowly opened. She couldn't believe what she saw when she opened her eyes. It was like a dream. It seemed too good to be true. She got butterflies in her stomach at the sight before her.
"Sky? How'd you get here? Where am I? What happened?" LeAnn asked unaware of her surroundings after being unconscious for awhile.
Behind a plant lurked Marcus with a knife in his hand.
"I got you now pretty boy!" Marcus thought to himself.
To Be Continued…
A/N: I'm extremely sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I guess this is what happens when I have three stories going on at one time. I figured I'd update this story while I had an idea for the chapter in my head. I also didn't want those of you who do read and enjoy this fic to feel like I had forgot about this story or was neglecting it or anything of that nature. I know I had said that I was going to conclude this story by Chapter 20, but now I'm not so sure I can get everything crammed into three more chapters. I guess I just had an idea that 20 was a nice number to end the story at, but it doesn't have to be the end. Honestly, more than 20 chapters would be nice because that was one of the reasons why it took me so long to update. I was trying to figure out how to get all my ideas I had incorporated into the 3-4 chapters I said there would be left. By the way, I said I had ideas in my head about what I wanted to happen in this story, but that by no means, that I had 3-4 chapters already written. Ideas are far from actual written chapters. So much more has to be elaborated on and developed in order for ideas to become chapters. What do you guys think? Should I go longer than 20 chapters? Should I not put a cap on the length of this story at this point in time? I'll try to update soon, but between class, and two other fics that I've started, I can't give you a set date on when I'll get the next update up. Thanks to those who have reviewed. Thanks to those who have listed this story as one of their favorites. Thanks to those who have listed me as one of their favorite authors. I'm truly grateful for that. This may be my first fic, but you guys have made it an enjoyable experience. Please read and review and no flames please. Thanks.