A/N: I don't own Power Rangers and blah blah blah. R&R...that's all i have to say. Oh! and thanks again for all of your lovely reviews!
Chapter 9
"The Edge Of Breaking"
Another week has passed and while Bridge was hanging out alone in the common room working on a few gadgets for Boom, Sky barged inside the room anxiously as he walks over to him with his frustrations running wild. Bridge looks up and gasps, raising his hands up defensively from a blow. "Sorry, it wasn't my idea!" He exclaims, assuming that he has found out about him and Syd eavesdropping in his case. "Don't hurt me!" Sky stood in front of him with his eyebrows raised.
"What are you talking about, Bridge?"
He looks at him curiously as he straightened up and relaxes. "Oh sorry…" He bit his lip. "I've been working on this thing for awhile now…so I'm a bit tensed." Bridge explains his odd behavior.
"Yeah…" Sky eyes him suspiciously, "I can see that."
"So what's up?" Bridge places the gadgets down next to him on the couch.
"Yeah, do you have a minute?" Sky uneasily scratches the back of his head. "I need to talk to you."
"Sure, sit down." He moves over to leave room for Sky to sit. There was a long pause for Sky had trouble starting off.
"I made a mistake, Bridge." He finally says after a brief moment as cadet Carson listens intently with his eyebrows raised. "I don't deserve to be a ranger."
"Whoa," he slightly chuckles in surprise for those were the last words he would ever hear coming from Sky's mouth, "where is this coming from?" He questioned out of curiousity. "Sky, you of all people deserve to be a ranger. I mean you've worked so hard for it."
"I know, but--" he pauses in mid-sentence, followed by a deep sigh, "it's more complicated than you think."
Bridge looks at him worriedly. He has never seen Sky so worried and in this emotional state before. "What is it, buddy?" There was a moment of silence as Sky buried his face in his hands. "What's wrong?"
"I-I can't," he stutters, struggling to let it all out as his male companion tries to understand him, "I can't turn her in."
Bridge's expression was uncomprehending and almost blank. "What do you mean you can't turn her in?"
Hesitating to respond, his lips parted and then he finally says with a held breath, "I'm falling for her."
Bridge raises an eyebrow as a smile crept over his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, but it was good news to his listening ears. "Yes!" He unexpectedly shouts out and jumps up from the couch with his arms raised up in triumph. 'I may have a chance after all,' he thought. Sky looks up at him in bewilderment as Bridge embarrassingly sits back down. "I mean…wow, man." He softens his tone. "That's tough."
"I don't know what to do, Bridge."
His smile fades as he puts on a serious face. "You know you're gonna have to turn her in—turn them both in." Bridge tells him straightforwardly. "They're criminals, Sky. You can't just break the rules. If Cruger finds out he'll suspend you from the academy."
"I know, but I can't help the way I feel for her. She makes me feel...alive."
Bridge smiles and immediately thought about Syd. "Yeah, I know that feeling."
"I would never want to hurt her." Sky stresses deeply on the thought as Bridge sighs on his behalf.
"Look, I'm not great with advice since I don't really follow them." This made Sky crack a small smile for the first time since the start of their conversation. "But anyway, if you really care about this girl then you should be completely honest with her."
"I've tried so many times, but I just don't have the heart to." Sky looks down sadly. "I really care about her and she's no criminal! I don't care what she's done in the past...but I know she changed and she deserves a second chance!"
Bridge shot him a look. He has never seen this soft side of him, especially when a woman is involved. When it comes to Sky, there are no second chances. "Oh wow, this is--" he breaks off, "this is pretty serious."
"No kidding." He peers at his worried teammate as a smirk crossed his face for he found this quite amusing. Sky catches him from the corner of his eye and shot his friend a dirty look. "What? You're aware that this is a pretty serious situation for me right?"
"Yeah, I know and it sucks." Bridge states honestly. "But…it's just funny that after these years of knowing you I didn't think you would slack off in your work over some girl."
Sky nods his head and chuckles. "I'm not slacking off. I'm just--" he trails off, "stalling a bit."
"Right…" Bridge mischievously smirks. "Sky Tate is actually falling for someone. Now it explains why you're out all the time and taking awhile! At least now I know you're not gay." Sky glares at him as he punches him on the shoulder. "Ow, it's a joke!" His laughter subsided as soon as Sky darted him the evil eye.
"Yeah, it better be a joke."
"This girl must be really something for you to stall a bit and be distracted with your undercover work."
Sky pursed his lips and sighs. "You have no idea." He smiles just thinking about her. "This girl is so amazing. But when she finds out that I'm SPD, she's gonna be so hurt."
Bridge places a hand on his shoulder. "Hang in there. Just don't wait any longer, Sky. You know you have to tell her…" there was a small pause, "and then turn her in."
Z Delgado begins ascending the steps of the apartment feeling content and excited after her night out with Sky. As she digs through her pockets for the keys, she hears footsteps coming from behind. She took it as a warning sign and without looking back, her heart begins to race in fear as she grabs the key and shoves it in the keyhole. The footsteps gets nearer and nearer with every step, Z struggling to turn the knob open when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumps up in fright and screamed, turning around with her eyes wide open at the figure standing before her. "Jack!"
"Whoa!" He stood back, wrinkling his forehead due to her surprise behavior. "Hey…you're a bit shaky."
Z sighs in relief. "You scared me." There was a moment of awkward silence as the two stare at each other's glance. "So how have you been?" She asked while opening the door to their apartment as an attempt to avoid the awkwardness between them. It has been awhile but they managed to leave the past behind as though their argument never happened.
"Fine and you?"
Z looks over her shoulder and smiles. "Never better." Jack raises an eyebrow as they both enter the living room of the apartment.
"You sound happy." He notices the glow on her face and the ecstatic tone of her voice while closing the door behind. "And you're looking great by the way."
Z follows his glance and smiles. "Thanks, Jack. So do you."
He looks down and pauses. "I really missed you, Z." He says as though he's been yearning to say it for quite some time now. "It's been awhile."
"I missed you too, Jack." She couldn't help but smile for she's been waiting for this day to come. "You know, it kills me that we're not talking."
"We're talking now right?"
She smiles in response, "Right." She takes off her jacket and sits down comfortably on one of the arm chairs.
"So what have you been up to?" Jack questions to make conversation as soon as the room fell silent. He walks towards the chair sitting across from her.
"Oh my gosh I have the greatest time with this guy. He's so amazing."
Jack raises an eyebrow. "A guy eh?"
"His name is Sky. He's tall, has the most gorgeous eyes--"
"Yeah." He stops her from going any further. "I get it." He looks down and groans. "Listen, there's something you need to know about this guy."
"What?" She raises an eyebrow. "You know him or something?"
"No, but I found out who he really is."
Z narrows her eyes at him. "Have you been spying on me, Jack?"
He grunted. "No, can you just hear me out?" She folds her arms across her chest and listens. "This guy you've been hanging around with is bad news. You can't trust him."
Z scoffs, "and why not?"
"He's up to something!"
"How would you know?" She retorts angrily. "You don't even know him! Just because you shelter yourself from the real world doesn't give you the right to tell me who I should hang out with because of what you think!"
"Piggy found out."
"What!" She shot back in disbelief. "You let Piggy do all the dirty work for you?"
"No, he just told me! He gave me this information; I didn't know what you've been up to!" Jack exclaims. "I swear! You have to believe me, Z!"
"And why should I?"
"Because…" he trails off, releasing heavy breaths from all that yelling, "you're my best friend—my sister." He added as she tilts her head to the side, reading him carefully. "We used to always trust each other." His voice was serious and yet sincere. "Why can't that day be now?"
A/N: Dun! Dun! Dun! Stay tune for more...
