A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed: alexis, here's your update, sorry it took so long. Little, was that sarcasm? If not… thanks! Anyway, I thought Jack sucked at his recon mission with Syd, so if you think otherwise, it's slightly AU (well, it is as that mission never happened in this…) I just realised that Tommy and company would be about 50 in SPD. Cool. Eep, the last chapter was 6 pages long! What!

Pairings: To be announced (evil grin). Nightlancer6000, I'm afraid what I did tell you has changed slightly. (bigger evil grin) It turned out my original plan for the story didn't work. So now everything said before (well, except the previous chapter) is redundant.

Chapter 2 – I don't know you and I… I don't want to

Sky hauled his case through the front door, muttering obscenities under his breath. He couldn't believe how badly he had wanted to throw this mission back in Cruger's face, but knew he couldn't; one week of cleaning was bad enough.

Then again, another week might just be better than this, he thought to himself, looking over at the black man bringing in his own suitcase. A scowl immediately developed on both faces, and they started unpacking while ignoring the other as best they could.

Thinks he's so great, Jack complained mentally, unaware of how childish he sounded. Little kiss-ass, making out he's so high and mighty when he depends on me to get him out of a situation! We'll see who completes this assignment first, and then it'll prove to him that he's no better than me!

Sky, meanwhile, was pondering over what he would do after the mission (as he would, of course, complete it quickly, efficiently and - most importantly - alone).

I have some extra hours built up, perhaps I'll go watch the Matrix marathon; the graphics were terrible back then… But it's time away from the Academy, and Dad always loved them…

A small smile formed on his lips, thinking of how his dad had explained so passionately about the trilogy of films, even though the young boy hadn't understood a word his father said. Jack, unfortunately, saw the smile and misinterpreted it.

"What are you smirking about?" he snarled. Sky glared in retaliation.

"Oh, just about how badly I'm gonna kick your ass on this mission."

I'll prove to Cruger that he made the wrong decision… he added silently.

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Three days later, there was no sign of Heavyarms. Jack pulled at his dreads, groaning.

Recon missions officially suck, he thought. There was no action - just a lot of watching and waiting.

And Jack hated waiting.

The boys had 'strolled' along the streets of Angel Grove to familiarise themselves with the surroundings, and had noticed that it had a rather small alien population, unlike many of the other cities in America. Jack had learned that it was due to the attacks from Rita, Zedd and the various other evil aliens. Angel Grove, once what might have been the most culturally mixed place on Earth, was species-ist.

He was sitting in a small juice bar, close to the local high school, drinking a smoothie. He was vaguely keeping tabs on the people around him, but his mind was focused on something else.

A girl, to be precise.

I wonder how-

His thoughts were cut off as a loud scream erupted from the far corner. Instincts taking over, he whipped around to face a young boy, possibly 13 (Why isn't he in school?), cowering from an alien. It had strange clothing, so it was probably new. Most aliens tried to fit in. Unfortunately, Jack couldn't place the species.

A loud bang erupted from behind the alien, the impact of an energy blast bowling him over.

The human on the other side sneered.

Oh. That's what he's scared of.

Taking charge, he barrelled towards the human, probably younger than himself, and knocked him over. The boy, for that was what he was, rolled back onto his feet and traced his lips with his hand, bringing away blood. He glared at the holder of the Red.

"You'll pay for that," he snarled, eyes narrowing to barely perceivable slits. His hand moved to his side, and he looked shocked when he grasped thin air.

Before him, Jack grinned, waving a gun in his hand.

"Not that good are you, kid?"

The teenager smirked. "Kid? You've got to be kidding me. You're what, 22, oldest?"

Looking over his opposition, the teenager smiled.

"This could be interesting after all."

With that, he sprinted away from the building. Jack followed him outside, but couldn't find any trace of the teen.

Growling, Jack went back inside to survey the damage.

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"What the hell were you thinking!" Sky yelled when Jack had returned to their temporary home. Jack rolled his eyes, holding an ice pack to his head. He'd whacked his head against a table after ramming into the violent teenager. He'd been too focused to pay attention to it until after he had checked on everyone's health.

Which of us is the leader here? he found himself thinking.

"You could have endangered the mission! We're undercover, remember? No heroics - they draw attention!"

"So what would you have done then, Sky?" Jack asked, eyebrow raised. "Would you have sat back and let the kid shoot everyone in there? Would you have allowed innocent people to die?"

Sky drew back, a slightly ashamed look on his face. Yes, he desperately wanted to show Jack up, but he did have a point…

"You were supposed to be on duty here."

"Don't change the subject."

"It's a good thing I was here, wasn't it?" Sky growled, ignoring the black man's previous comment. "Because I've seen him enter the warehouse."

Jack looked shocked at the startling information.

"What? When?"

Sky smirked.

"Not too long ago, but he's still in there. He's having a meeting, by the looks of things - not many suspects, so I don't think we have any evidence with which to take him in… If we keep an eye-"

A loud explosion cut the Blue Ranger off and both men were on their feet in an instant, guard up. They ran to the window and looked outside, stoic professionalism replaced by abject horror.

The warehouse had exploded.

All that was left of the wretched place was a few metal pillars and rubble. Smoke rose into the air, released from the vivid flames that danced in the remains, burning everything left. The fire licked the air, tainting it with noxious fumes and made its way slowly along the ground, moving to its own rhythm. The two SPD officers morphed and ran out of the building, forgetting their current mission.

Not that it mattered anymore, as the target had been neutralised.

Crap, Jack thought as he jumped through the flames in an attempt to search for survivors. His helmet enabled him to see through the smoke that was rapidly smothering the area, but it wasn't a lot of help. The remains of the building had been charred as badly as the ground, blending in perfectly. He shouted into the ruins, coughing slightly as the filtration system in his helmet didn't filter the noxious smoke completely, and searched hopelessly for anyone who may have survived.

Sky, meanwhile, had called the fire service and started to set up a barricade, lest the more nosey public attempted to find out was going on (or the heroically stupid attempted to help). He could tell from the force of the explosion that no one, alien or human, could have survived.

As he was putting the final part of the street blockades up, he noticed a teenager standing in the alley across the way, watching.

"Hey, kid!" Sky called, waving his hands in a shooing motion. "This is a crime scene, get out of here!"

The boy watched him curiously for a moment, then laughed. It was a short, almost barking sound - not completely natural. In fact, it sounded like the first time the boy had laughed. His ice blue eyes narrowed as he fixed a glare at the Blue Ranger, who felt a chill shoot down his spine. There was something familiar about the boy, but he had never met him before - Sky had an amazing memory for faces.

So what was it?

The boy said something, but he couldn't hear it over the roar of the fire behind him. Sky jumped over the tape, prepared to move the kid himself, but the teen ran away.

The Blue Ranger looked at the spot that the strange boy had occupied.

Why did Sky feel like he knew him?

Gah, it's dragging, isn't it? Tell me, I can handle it! Sorry about ages for the update, my excuse is coursework but it is a lousy excuse. I'm just a lazy person (and I had to rework the entire thing).

Well, criticism anyone? Is it vague enough still? I'll probably come back to this chapter at a later stage and edit it somewhat...

Yours,
Straitjackit.