Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing! For some reason I didn't get an email telling me people had commented and I got all sad because I thought no one had read. But now I am happy.

Power Rangers Central lists Jack's special ability as 'acquiring targets'.

Chapter 2: Blue v. Red

Sky stalked down the halls of the dormitory section of the academy. Younger cadets who crossed his path cowered away from the imposing figure dressed in blue and black, and even staff much older than the young man shuffled away and dropped their gaze to the floor. Schuyler Tate was on a mission, and the whole of S.P.D. knew to get out of his way.

Finally arriving at his destination, the blue ranger squared himself in front of the doorway. Lifting a hand, he jabbed at the ringer to alert the occupant that someone was outside, and at the sound of "Come in!" he zoomed through the doorway and got straight to business.

"So, what'd you tell him? Flowers, chocolates, romantic dinner?"

Jack frowned and blinked hard as he looked up from his magazine. "What?"

"Bridge. What foolish advice did you give him for talking to Sophie?" The blue ranger was a foot away from Jack now, hands clasped tightly behind his back and looking as if he were berating a cadet for having an untidy uniform, not talking to the red ranger about dating advice.

"Would you calm down, man? I don't see how this is any business of yours."

"Bridge is my business!" Sky growled, earning two raised eyebrows from the former thief. Realizing how that statement sounded, Sky shut his eyes, took a deep breath to steady himself, and tried again. "He's our teammate and my roommate. If you get him into a relationship with a fellow cadet, not only are there all kinds of rules potentially being broken, but I'm the one who's going to have to deal with him swooning over her when they're good and listening to him mope when they're bad. I refuse to have that kind of liability in the team and I refuse to have that kind of annoyance in my roommate."

Jack shook his head in frustration, shutting his magazine and standing up to face down the blue ranger. Sky had several inches on him, but it didn't stop the shorter man from forcing eye contact. "Teammate and roommate? What about 'friend', Sky? Bridge wanted your advice, as a friend, and you pushed him away. Don't you want him to be happy?"

"What, with some blundering D Squad cadet?" Sky knew that Sophie could hardly be described as 'blundering' – she was the best in her squad – but he was angry and looking for any means of tearing her down.

"With anybody!" Jack responded, throwing up his arms to signify the space around them. "We're not all perfect rangers-in-training like you Sky! We need human interaction! Male or female, romantic or friendly, we need some kind of contact outside of the squad and our superiors! Bridge feels like maybe there could be something with him and Sophie. He wants to go after it. Why do you have a problem with that?"

Anger, frustration, confusion and something else kept pulling at Sky's insides, forcing him to shout back at Jack, "BECAUSE, he's … "

Because he's MINE!

Some corner of Sky's brain was shouting, chanting the phrase over and over. Mine, mine, mine! But the blue ranger fiercely bit his lip to stop himself from saying what he would definitely regret. Especially if said in front of Jack. Another deep breath, and he tried again. "Because he's my teammate and my roommate, as I said before."

Jack was watching his fellow ranger closely, brow knitting as he observed the slowly whitening bottom lip and tense frame of Sky. Not that Sky wasn't always tense, but this was a different kind. Like there was something going on inside of him that was about to burst out without warning. Suddenly, something clicked in the back of Jack's mind. He fought to keep a smirk off his face, instead simply lifting a brow. "Jealous much?" he chirped. The fierce glare that statement earned from the blue ranger was enough to confirm Jack's suspicions.

"What?" Sky spat out.

"Nothing, man. It's just, the last time I saw you this heated was … oh yeah, when you found out I was going to be the red ranger, and not you." Now Jack let the smirk show, gazing at his teammate with undisguised amusement.

Sky was speechless for a few seconds, brain scrambling to take in what Jack said and what his brain was yelling and still make a coherent response. "You're crazy," he growled finally. "And out of line!"

Jack's smirk grew to a grin as he shrugged his shoulders and moved back to his bed. "If you say so. If it's not true, then I apologize for making assumptions and won't mention it again." Stretching out on his bunk and grabbing for his magazine, Jack fixed Sky with a cool, brown-eyed look. "But if it is true…"

Sky glared at Jack for a few seconds longer, then let out an incoherent growl of frustration and stormed out of the red ranger's room.