Race Against Time
Chapter 10: SPD Emergency
By: Pink-Green-White-4ever
Last Revised: March 11, 2006

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: More heartbreak for our heroes, heartbreak some of them may not take well. Thanks to those of you who reviewed, I appreciate the support! The scenes with Sky in his room were inspired by the Keith Urban song "Tonight I Wanna Cry".

--

The radio was playing softly as he lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd finally calmed down from his rage after returning to the base following Sydney's disappearance. He'd screamed, he'd hollered, he'd cursed, but he'd done so in the privacy of his quarters. Kat and Isinia had sent him directly to his room once he'd explained what had happened.

The song playing spoke volumes of how he was feeling at the moment. It was an old song, by an artist named Keith Urban. It was a very sad love song, but each word in it struck a cord with him in a way he'd never wanted to feel.

He looked around the room and all he saw was her; pictures of the team, where she was smiling widely; her clothes were scattered here and there; her scent hid in crevices and hung to every thing in the room. What had happened? Where had his Sydney gone? Had she ever really returned from M-51 or had this whole situation been one big front?

For as long as he lived, Sky knew he'd never forget the moment she'd looked at him so calmly and explained what she'd done. He'd never forget the ache; the muscles in his stomach had tightened, he'd suddenly found himself out of breath, and his throat had felt clogged. Nor would he ever get the image of her disappearing from the jeep from his mind. Was he destined to lose all the people he loved most?

He closed his eyes and brought his hand up to rub over his chest, where he could feel a tightening from just thinking about what had happened. His life had fallen apart when she'd suddenly disappeared, and then just as suddenly, she'd reappeared, and now, it felt like the support pillars of his life were falling down around him.

Tears slowly and steadily tracked down his cheeks and into his hairline. He didn't even bother brushing them away. For the first time in a long time, Sky Tate just wanted to wallow in self pity.

'You need rest, some food, and a hot shower before you start trying to think this over.'

Isinia's words came back to him, making him sigh. Reaching up, he wiped the remnants of his tears from his face and pushed his body into a sitting position. "Since I know I won't be able to sleep, and I'm sure as hell not hungry, let's try option number three - the shower."

--

She was amazed that she had slipped into the academy undetected. She was also mildly surprised that Sky hadn't issued a warrant for her arrest yet, but she figured that probably had to do with the fact that he had more important things, like finding the others and keeping the city safe, on his mind.

She could hear the cadets talking and gossiping around her as she made her way to a maintenance console in the corner. The base was still on high alert with everyone looking for Anubis, Z, and Jack and with her having gone AWOL on them. 'Sky's next' she thought, and closed her eyes as the ache spread throughout her, causing her chest to tighten up and the tears to sting her eyes. 'Not now. Thinking about him is a distraction I don't need.'

In the four hours between jumping out of the jeep and now, Sydney had had a torrent of memories wash over her, like the rain during a spring storm. Among those now recovered memories were some of what had happened in her five year absence from New Tech City.

Carefully, Sydney managed to bypass the security on the console she was at and quickly found Sky's location, so that she could avoid him at all costs. 'Wonderful, he's in the shower' she thought sourly, vividly remembering the shower they'd shared earlier in the day. She knew her task had just doubled in difficulty. What she needed was in her bag, the one they'd found on her crashed shuttle. Said back was in Sky's room near the foot of his bed. Deciding that getting it while he was in the room ran too much of a chance of being discovered, Sydney moved until she was in a corner away from the console, so she could rest and wait for the foot traffic in front of her to die down.

"I can't believe we could find her," Sam muttered crossly as he and Nova happened to stop right in front of where Sydney was hiding.

"We've got to find her! I'm afraid, Sam, of what'll happen to the others if Sydney's plan doesn't work!" Nova cried, tears actually pooling in her eyes.

Sam nodded and carefully put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her to his side, hugging her tightly. "Look, we're going to find her. And it's not like her plan won't work. We already know she didn't tell Sky what was really going on, not with the way he reacted when he returned to base."

"Nova!"

The pair swung around and stared in wonder when they saw their missing Pink Ranger huddled in the dark corner. "Sydney?" Sam asked even as he and Nova looked around to make sure no one was watching them. They carefully crawled into the corner with her.

"Shh! I need you two to do me a favor. Look, I know you could march right into the Command Center and tell Sky, but I'm asking you to trust me."

"What do you want us to do, Sydney?" Nova softly responded.

"There's a small silver device in my bag in Sky's room, the bag they found on my crashed shuttle. I need you to get it for me."

"What is it?" Sam questioned.

"My Phoenix morpher. I left the other in Sky's jeep."

The two kids looked at her in confusion. "Phoenix Morpher?"

Sydney sighed and nodded. "I was apart of a special assault team investigating the M-51 Galaxy. I was assigned the codename Phoenix and given the Pink Ranger morpher to go with," she filled them in, smiling sadly. "If I'm going to take out Master Vile and his army, I need my morpher. Without it, I won't be able to use my new powers, or save the others."

Sam and Nova shared looks with each other, before nodding in agreement. "Wait here. We'll be back in ten minutes."

"Hurry you two!" Syd urged them. 'I can't believe she told him, but I'm glad someone's with her if I can't be' Syd thought of Nova, and Sam.

--

Sam waited in the hallway outside Sky's quarters while Nova darted inside. She was thankful she could still hear the shower running, it meant Sky would be occupied long enough for her to get what she'd come for. Quietly, she made her way to Syd's bag and found what she was looking for. Sighing in relief, she grabbed the morpher and started to leave.

"Can I help you with something, Nova?"

At the sound of his voice, Nova winced and turned around. She found Sky standing before her, wearing nothing but a towel, still dripping wet from his shower. His arms were crossed over his bare chest and he was glaring at her.

"No Commander."

"Then what are you doing in here?" Sky all but demanded. Looking at her hurt, because she reminded him of Sydney, not in a physical sense, but in the sense that she'd been with Sydney since this nightmare had begun.

Lip quivering and eyes filled with anger, Nova lifted her chin defiantly. "I was getting something from Sydney's bag."

"What?"

"None of your business, Sky, it's mine and I wanted it back."

Sky glared at her a few seconds more before he noticed the tears clinging to her lashes, and let his face soften. "I'm sorry, Nova. She tricked all of us, not just me," Sky murmured, lowering his gaze from her face.

"You never really loved her, did you?" Nova demanded to know suddenly, watching Sky's face scrunch up. She was trying to make sense of why he was acting like this toward Sydney, why he hadn't already figured it out all. The only conclusion she could come up with was that he didn't love Sydney, because if he had, he'd have known better.

"Excuse me?"

"You never loved her, did you? If you loved her, you'd have figured all of this out. You'd have known she was lying to you!" Nova started to cry, her voice rising in pitch, becoming almost a scream worthy of her mother's Dino Power. "She did all of this because she wants to save Bridge. She made the deal with Klank so all of you could be together when you saved Bridge and destroyed Master Vile!"

"What?"

"Do you think she liked hurting herself, liked lying to all of you? She never wanted to keep it from you, but she knew it was the only way!"

Sky's face seemed paralyzed with fear and slowly taking on a hurt expression. Sydney had tricked them into believing she'd turned against them? But the question was why?

"Why?"

Nova shook her head, her chest heaving as she tried to stop crying. She was acting like a baby, and knew that for Sky to start truly understanding, she'd have to explain it to him. "It has to be believable, when Klank takes you, or they'll kill her, and the others."

Sky could only stare at her. He didn't even react when Nova turned and sprinted out of the room, he just stared at the spot where she had been, turning the new information around in his head.

"What took you so long?" Sam demanded as the pair went running down the hallway.

Nova winced. "Don't tell Sydney, but I told Sky."

"NOVA!" Sam hissed as they continued to head for Syd's hiding place.

--

"Jack, give it up!" Z barked lowly at her 'brother'. Jack rubbed his forehead and sat down. He'd been trying for hours to phase through the walls of their cell, with no success.

"This sucks," Jack pouted.

"I'm sorry, forgive my manners, Rangers. I should have provided entertainment for you during your last hours alive."

All eyes turned toward the bars of their cell, where Master Vile appeared in the hallway. He looked infinitely pleased with himself, and wasn't about to let the opportunity to torment the Rangers pass him by.

"VILE!" Doggie's voice was low and harsh.

"Anubis Cruger, famed head of SPD. I shall enjoy destroying everything you've worked so hard to create!" Vile laughed.

"My Rangers will stop you."

"You mean Tate and Drew? I think not. They can't even stand the sight of one another now, and I have my machine and Klank to thank for that. Not to mention my secret weapons waiting in the wings."

"What does that mean?" Z wanted to know.

Master Vile seemed to smile. "It means, my dear Yellow Ranger, that Ms. Drew has made a deal with the devil, one she plans to go back on, thinking she can save you. What she doesn't know is that I know all about her plans, and have ensured my own will nullify her feeble attempt to save you.

"No!" Z uttered, her hand wrapping around Jack's forearm as the former Red Ranger started to move forward.

"Oh yes. I will accomplish what Gruumm couldn't – the destruction of the pathetic B Squad Rangers, and their esteemed leader, Anubis Cruger!" Master Vile laughed, before he turned and left the Rangers to absorb the new information.

"If Syd's planned this, does Sky know?" Jack asked Doggie.

"No. He'd have told all of us if she'd confided in him," Bridge interrupted.

"Oh Syd!" Z cried in despair.

--

The only sounds in the room were his grunts and groans and the click of weights being lifted and set back down on the bar. After his run in with Nova, Sky had decided that he needed to work off some of his anger and confusion. Since all of his friends and the love of his life were missing, the only thing he could think of was to go lift weights to clear his head.

"Well, well," a voice rang out, startling Sky.

"You!" Sky hissed, spotting Klank as he set the weight bar on its resting spot. Quickly, Sky took up a defensive stance facing Klank, who was staring at him quietly.

"Me. So, are you ready Commander? You know you're the last one left."

Sky glared. "If you think you're good enough, bring it. I'm more than ready for you, you tin can!"

"Say goodnight Tate!" Klank laughed cruelly, bringing up a laser and shooting it at Sky. In a matter of seconds, Sky disappeared in a blast of blue light, never having the time to react.

--

"RANGERS REPORT TO THE COMMAND CENTER!" Kat called over the intercom. The A Squad, Sam, and Nova raced into the room five minutes later, all out of breath and wide eyed.

"Dr. Manx, what's the emergency?" Nick demanded to know.

Kat's face was filled with fear and worry as she faced them. "Commander Tate's missing."