Race Against Time
Chapter 5: Temporary Comfort
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: December 13, 2005
Summary: Spoilers for Endings Pt. 2 - 5 yrs. post Endings Pt. 2, and the infamous B Squad Rangers are invited to celebrate Cruger's reassignment to General and head of SPD HQ and Sky's promotion to Commander, but something goes awry, and they have to race against the clock to save one of their friends before it's too late.
Ships: Syd/Sky, Bridge/Z, Jack/Ally, Cruger/Isinia, Kat/Boom
Rating: M – changed for Adult Themed Situation.
AN: I am so sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out. Between other projects, finals, and work (some days it doesn't pay to work grocery during the holiday season) I haven't had time to work on this one. Very big thanks to all of you who emailed! With the new pm system on here, I can get back to you much more quickly.
Dedication – BloomingViolets – hope the kiss and the other SydSky scensare steamy enough for you --winks-- and thanks for the chapter title!
--
It was utterly dark when the shuttle landed on Earth nearly a week later. Z exited the shuttle first, followed by Bridge, who was carrying Nova, the little girl fast asleep in his arms. Anubis stepped off after them, followed by Syd and Sky, the latter of which was supporting the former, who was half asleep herself.
Jack was the first person of the ten person group to rush forward, only to stop in his tracks when Sydney flinched away from him. "Syd?" Jack asked, tentatively reaching out to touch her cheek. When she looked at him with terrified eyes, Jack felt his heart break. He immediately moved his hand away from her face, opting instead to take her hand. "I'm Jack."
Moving out of the way, Jack pointed to Ally. "That's my wife, Ally, and our newborn, Trevor Alan." Syd nodded slightly. Sky had told her about Jack, who was the former B Squad Red Ranger.
"Welcome home, Sydney," Ally smiled for her.
"And that's Kat, and Boom, and the new Rangers," Jack introduced, watching Syd's eyes land on the group of seven. "And that's Isinia, Doggie's wife."
Sydney nodded to the female dog, remembering her from the picture in the shuttle. "Guys, I hate to cut this short, but I know Nova's not all that light for Bridge to carry, and Syd's looking a little tired," Z murmured, the others nodding in agreement. "Jack, did you ready a room for her?"
"Yeah, she's next door to your and Syd's old room, which we've put you and Bridge in. Syd can stay with Sky for now. Kat and I didn't want to make her uncomfortable."
Sky smiled his thanks and began leading Sydney toward the escalator and up to their room, the others following to go to their various quarters.
--
Sydney was surprised, as Sky led her through the halls of the academy, how familiar the trek from the shuttle bay was. When they entered a room off of the common room, Sydney had a weird sense of déjà vu. "I've been in here before."
Sky grinned and nodded. "This use to be my and Bridge's room during our Ranger days."
Carefully, Sydney left Sky's side and moved further into the room, her mind switching back and forth through the haze to remember how it had looked done in green and blue, and then in blue and red. Now it was mainly silver and black, with red and blue accents here and there, like his bed spread and his desk chair and the curtains.
Sighing, Syd slowly sank down on the bed, her head aching from the overload of memories and present images. "Take your time to remember, Syd. If you force it, all you're gonna do is hurt yourself."
"I'm tired, Sky, really tired," she told him, her face contorting in a way that made him ache for her.
"Come on, you need some sleep," he spoke, nudging her back on his full size bed. One of the perks of not having a roommate anymore was being able to have a bigger bed in his room.
"Lay down with me?" she asked softly, snuggling under the heavy red comforter. Sky nodded, stripping off his uniform jacket and shoes before lying down under the covers with her.
The two of them lay there for what seemed like forever, each one dozing off for a few minutes before waking back up. Finally, Sydney sat up, startling Sky briefly. She looked at him, trying to understand why her heart did a little flip inside her chest every single time those hypnotizing, deep, ocean blue eyes of his stared deep into her own. "Can I ask you something?"
Sky nodded once.
"Were we, you know, together, before I disappeared?" she finally asked, biting the side of her bottom lip. The quick intake of breath on Sky's part left her confused and anxious.
Sydney watched as Sky let out a breath and closed his eyes, a look of pain crossing his features. "No."
She felt something inside…die…at his words. "I see."
"We were working toward it when you took off on the mission for General Birdie," Sky continued, as if she hadn't spoken a word. His comment made her feel light headed.
"Were we?"
Sky could only nod, his eyes opening as he reached out to tuck a stray blond curl behind her ear. "The day you left for the recon mission was the day I was gonna ask you on our first date."
Syd's face scrunched up at the sound of that. "That sucks," she muttered, making Sky smile.
"Sydney, my feelings for you over the years of your absence haven't changed. If anything, I realized how much of an idiot I was to wait so long to tell you, and I promised myself that when I got you back, I was going to tell you."
She looked slightly frightened by what he could possibly feel for her. "What's that?" she asked, her question so innocent sounding.
"I love you, I have loved you for a really long time," he told her, cupping her cheeks with his hands as he sat forward, closer to her.
Unconsciously, Sydney let her tongue peek out and moisten her lips, and unbeknownst to her, drew Sky's attention to her mouth. It wasn't so much conscious thought that led them to lean forward as it was a basic need to be near each other, one that was as ingrained in them as the need to breath.
Before either of them really realized it, they were kissing, mouths slanted against one another, eyes closed to savor the moment.
For Sydney, it was an education of sorts. She couldn't remember what kissing felt like, but she instantly knew that whoever she'd ever kissed before, they held no comparison to Sky Tate. His lips were sinfully skilled in caressing her own; he seemed to know almost instinctively how and when to move his head, how much pressure to apply, and exactly when to move a fraction of a distance away to let her suck in a breath before he dove right back in.
For Sky, it felt like the world had just tilted back into place the second her lips met his. He'd imagined, more times then he cared to count, how soft and sweet her lips would be. The reality blew his day dreams so far out of the water it wasn't even funny. Because he wanted to, Sky threaded his fingers in her wealth of blond curls, holding her head close to his own. Without a second thought, he used his tongue to nudge Sydney's lips apart and let the deft pink muscle wrestle with Sydney's own. Just from her opening her mouth, the kiss changed from innocent to achingly needful.
The former Red and Blue Ranger savored the sounds coming from her; tiny whimpers, lusty moans, and the purring from the back of her throat that just about did him in. He jumped slightly when Syd moved her hands up to curl under his arms and around the backs of his shoulders, but soon he relaxed when he realized she was just trying to find something to hang on to that would help anchor her. He was infinitely glad she was comfortable enough to touch him.
Finally, air became a necessity that they couldn't put off, so they pulled apart, but only about an inch, their eyes finally opening as they did so. Sky gulped in breath after breath while Sydney stared into his eyes, startled and yet surprisingly happy. "Oh wow."
"I'll second that," Sky grinned, nudging her nose with his own, their lips meeting again, however briefly. "I've wanted to do that for so long."
The former Pink Ranger smiled at him, before she leaned forward and initiated another kiss. Where as the kiss Sky had initiated had been full of passion, heat, and love, Syd's was more toward tender and soft, as if she wanted to make sure it was all real and not a day dream.
After they pulled apart they both lay back on the bed, Sydney tucked securely in Sky's arms, her head on his shoulder and their legs intertwining. Sky let out a deep breath before pecking a kiss to the top of her head and then her forehead when she looked up at him. "I think we'd better try to sleep now," he murmured.
Sydney nodded her assent, and the two closed their eyes and drifted off.
--
"Well?" Anubis barked as he entered the Command Center. One eyebrow went up when Kat and Boom looked up at him, the pair of them standing awfully close to each other, much closer than he'd ever seen them stand together.
Both of them blushed before Kat turned on the holoscreen for him to see what they'd found. "You're not going to like what we found," Kat spoke, gesturing to the screen.
"What is it?"
"It looks like a cross between a Troobian brain-drain machine and a specially modified Aquitian personality scrambler," Kat told him matter-of-factly. "Doggie, if it is that, I'm almost afraid to think what it did to Sydney."
"What exactly are the possibilities of what it could have been used on Syd for?" he asked, looking to Boom who was frowning.
"Scramble her memory, change her personality, re-program her, if you will, to do whatever they wanted her to do. Until Nova or Syd can tell us something about the machine, we won't know what it was set to do to Sydney, or what it actually did."
Boom looked over at Kat and the two shared a long look, one that spoke volumes to Anubis about their worry for Sydney, as well as the change in their relationship since he'd last been on Earth. It warmed his heart, in a way it wouldn't have before the defeat of Gruumm, to see two of his very good friends find happiness, especially with each other.
"Have you spoken to Sky or the others yet?"
Kat shook her head. "No, I wanted you to know first, before I brought them in on this. Do you think we should tell them just yet?"
A grim look passed over Doggie's features. "Not yet, not until we have more substantial evidence."
--
"Spread out, they're both here on Earth somewhere! Find them before the master destroys us!" Klank hollered to the cogs, Tengas, and putties that were standing in squads around him. "FIND THEM BOTH!"
--
She bolted upright in bed and bit back the blood curdling scream that bubble up from her chest. Her breath came raggedly, her throat closing convulsively while she shut her eyes and tried to block out the searing pain that throbbed at her temples and the horrible memories of her time in the prison, and the damn voice in her head, the one that was so sinister sounding, the one that kept telling her to destroy them.
Sighing, she turned slightly to look at the other side of the bed. Sky was sound asleep next to her, one arm tucked under his pillow and the other across his stomach, where it had shifted to some time during the night from its original spot around her waist. The blankets had been kicked down somewhat, so that they only covered their waists. The room was almost completely dark, except for the soft orange glow of a nightlight plugged in across the room.
Shaking her head, she turned and climbed out of her side of Sky's bed. Quietly, she padded over to Sky's dresser and opened the top drawer, finding red, white, and blue t-shirts tucked inside. She chuckled to herself, thinking how patriotic his wardrobe was, and was surprised that she had remembered that the national colors of the United States were red, white and blue, when she could barely remember anything else. Carefully, she selected a large blue one, before turning and heading into Sky's bathroom.
She laid the shirt on the sink before stripping off her shirt and sweats, which were soaked through with sweat, not to mention her underwear, which seemed awfully damp to her. 'Probably has to do with the dream I was having before the nightmare' she thought, blushing even as she stepped into the shower under the hot spray.
Her dream had made her ache in more ways than she cared to analyze. She wanted Sky. She wanted him badly. Of all the things she could have forgotten when she lost her memory she hadn't forgotten how bad she could want to be with somebody. Apparently, Sky was definitely that somebody.
The hot spray helped work out the kinks in her muscles and washed away the remnants of her nightmare. She couldn't see how she could do what the voice demanded she do, not when she'd gotten to know Z, Bridge, Doggie, and Sky so well again over the course of the time she'd been back with them. Not to mention what she saw of Jack she liked, a lot. He reminded her of an older brother figure, not that she could honestly say she remembered what that was like, she just knew that if she had an older brother, Jack was probably it.
'I cannot and will not hurt them! They're my family and friends!' she cried to herself, moving to lean her right side against the tile of the shower while she cried. The only problem with that thought was, she knew that if she did what the voice was telling her to do, she'd get rid of the pain in her head. 'I'm stronger than this! Besides, the pain in my heart will be so much more of a burden if I ever hurt one of them!'
She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the shower door open, didn't realize she was no longer alone until the warm, strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
"AHH!" she screamed, turning reflexively and elbowing her companion in the ribcage.
"OMPH!" Sky let out, feeling the bit of Syd's elbow in his ribs.
"SKY!" she chirped, spinning around to catch him before he hit the tiles. "Are you alright?"
Sky groaned, and then realized it was a lot better than if she had caught him somewhere else. "Just peachy," he gasped, sucking in a breath.
"I'm so sorry! You startled me!" she explained, helping him stand up, her right hand going to the place where her elbow had connected with his side. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "I should know better than to startle you, you always did have the reflexes of a damn cat," he muttered, leaning forward so that his head rested on top of hers and their bodies ended up pressed together. Both of them were instantly and acutely aware of the fact that they were naked, alone, and aroused.
Pulling back, Sky looked down into her face and felt his heart shudder. Her eyes were red, like she'd been crying, and her cheeks were flushed, because he knew their proximity was getting to her. Without a second thought, he leaned down and kissed her.
Sydney moaned into his mouth and arched against him before sliding her arms around his waist, feeling him do the same to her. She was shocked that they were both naked, in the shower together, and she wasn't one bit scared about that fact. Soon enough, Sky's mouth moved down to the curve of her shoulder before coming back up to latch onto her neck.
"Sky!" she whined softly in his ear, causing goose bumps to appear on his arms. Silently, Sky moved them so that Syd was standing back against the shower wall and he was in front of her. Needing to be closer to him, Sydney did the only thing she could think of – she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and then carefully wrapped her legs around his waist.
The second Sky realized what she'd done, he groaned, loudly. "Sydney?"
"What?" she hissed, rocking her hips against his slightly.
"We'd better go in the bedroom if we're gonna do this now," he whispered in her ear. "I'm not gonna be able to keep enough coherent thought to hold us up."
The haze of desire and longing seemed to clear for a second, allowing Sydney to rationalize what was happening. She wanted this, and badly, but he was right. If they did it in the shower, they'd both get hurt. "Hurry Sky," she whispered in his ear, sliding her body down his before allowing her feet to touch the floor of the shower.
Leaning over, Sky shut the shower off in a hurry, stepped out of the stall, helped Sydney out and then picked her up, before carrying her bride style into the main portion of his bedroom.
Sydney was amazed that for all his strength, he treated her like a glass doll that would break when he set her on his bed. Of course, all coherent thought was blotted out the second his lips met hers and his body covered hers.
It wasn't long before kisses that had been tender burned with desperation, and bodies that were enjoying the friction soon found it maddening. Sky whispered in her ear that he didn't want to hurt her after he'd taken the necessary precautions to protect her. Sydney's only answer was to touch her lips to his after murmuring how he could never hurt her.
There was pain for her, initially, followed by a sense of finally coming home, and a strange completeness that filled her to the brink as surely as Sky's body filled her own. When they moved, they moved together, rocking as if they'd done this a million times before with each other.
And just when it seemed that neither thought they could feel any better than they did the moment they first locked bodies, both of them hit their climaxes at the same moment, Sydney's body locking tight around Sky's whose pulsed inside her for several long, slow moments.
Finally, Sky's body crashed down on top of Syd's, his face burying in the crook of her shoulder while her arms and legs were still wrapped around him, holding him to her. A thin sheen of sweat covered both their bodies even as their breathing slowly calmed from its frantic pace.
Knowing that he was crushing her, Sky made to move, only to find that Sydney wouldn't let him. "Stay," she whispered softly, looking up into his deep navy eyes through sleep heavy lids.
"Let me go take care of this," he told her, carefully pulling out of her, causing both of them to groan at their separation. When he came back, Sky pulled the covers over both of them after sliding into bed with her again, his arms banding around her as she buried her face in his chest. They fell asleep holding one another, both feeling incredibly satisfied.
--
"Report!"
"We've found her, Sire!" Klank excitedly spoke into the communications device.
"Where is she?"
"She's on Earth, Sire, at the SPD Academy in New Tech City."
"Good. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Of course, Sire!"
--