Author's Note:Yeah, so on the last chapter's note when I said 'tomorrow', I totally meant 'a week'.

Chapter 4: Blue v. Pink

Sky Tate was tired. With training for himself and his squad, training for the D squad, battles with monsters and the Bridge Situation, the blue ranger found himself more exhausted at that moment than he could ever remember being. Usually he wouldn't give in to his body and try to sleep at only 1800 hours, but with the knowledge that he had just removed the threat of Sophie from SPD only a few minutes prior, Sky felt he had earned himself some rest.

"What's your problem, Sky?" Sydney shouted as she burst into the other cadet's room.

So much for peace and quiet. "Back off Syd!" Sky shouted back before grabbing his pillow and shoving it over his head to block out the shouting he was sure would follow.

"No!" Sydney responded, using her short legs to stride over to Sky's bunk and rip the pillow from his grasp. Sky stared up at her moodily, but she wasted no time in getting to the point. "You upset Bridgey, a sin in itself since nothing you do is ever wrong in Bridge's eyes, you act angrier and terser than usual all week, and you start expelling cadets without even asking Cruger? And now you're telling me to shut up?" Syd crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "Nuh-uh, no way. Start talking."

Sky produced something between a growl and a sigh as he rolled over in his bed, towards the wall and away from the furious pink ranger. "Nothing to talk about," was his response.

"Oh, don't you dare bullshit me, Sky." Sydney abandoned the pillow, and then stepped onto Sky's bunk and over him, setting herself in a seated position between him and the wall. "I know your games, okay? When you have a problem, you clam up and start working out. You don't open your mouth unless you have to, even when there's a rule being broken right in front of you. Like a cadet entering a fellow cadet's quarters without his permission." Syd lifted a blonde brow expectantly, but Sky only glared at her and then focused his attention on his sheets.

"Sky," Syd tried again, reaching out a hand to maneuver Sky's face so he was actually looking at her. "I've known you 10 years, and I'm the surveillance expert. You know I'm not as dumb as I look. And you know I'm not going to leave this room until you tell me something. Which has the potential for some lovely rumors."

"Agh," Sky moaned, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Fine. I have a problem," he admitted.

Sydney did not even blink as she added two words to his admission. "With Bridge."

Sky shot her a glare, but Syd's cool demeanor told him that nothing he could say could convince her otherwise. "Fine, yes, with Bridge. And Sophie."

"You're jealous."

"Why does everyone have to say that?" Sky exploded as he shot from his bed. "Why? Why would I be jealous?" Tate was now pacing back and forth in front of Sydney, who coolly watched him. She had taken some of Z's advice before coming over here, and was glad of it because this confrontation was resulting in a lot less screaming than she had envisioned.

"Because Bridge has practically been your boyfriend for the past ten years," she answered, her voice free of question or uncertainty.

Sky froze in his stride, goggling at her as if Sydney had just announced her engagement to Piggy. "… WHAT?"

Sighing, Syd rolled her blue eyes and started to explain. "Sky, you're not the most open of guys. You want everyone to believe that Schyuler Tate is the job, that you don't exist outside of that uniform. You almost had me fooled, too. I thought you were obnoxious and when not that, boring. And then one day some of the other kids, a couple years above us, stole one of Bridgey's gloves. Remember?"

Sky shut his eyes as the memory flooded his mind: a 13 year old Bridge, frantic and near tears as he ran from one end of the rec room to the other following his glove as the older students tossed it between them. The laughter and taunts of eight years past echoed in his ears, mixed with Bridge's cries. "Yeah," was Sky's choked reply.

"You stopped them. They were years older, and even Dru who was always attached to your hip was pretending to ignore it. But you threw up a field to intercept the glove and it bounced right into Bridge's chest." Sydney paused in her story-telling, her own memories of the event catching up to her. "He was so exhausted from the emotional overload; he just collapsed right after putting his glove back on. He just crumbled." Shutting her eyes at the memory, she opened them up back on Sky. "Those older kids yelled at you, but you marched right up to Bridge and practically carried him back to your bunks."

Eyes still shut, Sky relived the episode in painful detail. Bridge's face had been so pale and clammy, and every few steps his body would tremor slightly. It was one of the scariest moments of his life. Remembering Syd's presence, he fought for his voice again. "Point?"

"Bridgey makes you human. You only show emotion around him and all your emotion is directed toward him. You love him Sky, plain and simple."

The blue ranger's gaze shot up to match his teammates. "Love?" she scoffed derisively, but something about the way the word felt on his tongue made him swallow his scorn.

"Yes, love," Syd answered, shaking her head of blonde curls. "You know, when you care about someone more than yourself, when you place their happiness above your own, when you get jealous when they show affection to others."

Sky bristled at the truth in Sydney's words. "I'm not a faggot," he asserted, defensively crossing his arms over his chest.

Shock made Sydney hesitate, but was quickly converted to outrage. "Is that why you won't tell Bridge what's going on? That's why you're expelling people on a whim? Because you're homophobic as well as a prick, and scared of what you feel?"

"I'm not homophobic," Sky growled at her.

"As a general rule of thumb, Sky, usually only homophobes use words like 'faggot'." At Sky's lack of response, Syd sighed and stood up from her teammate's bunk. "Deny it all you want Sky, but it's not going to go away. You love Bridge. The signs are all there." She paused at the boys' mirror, checking her reflection before sauntering out the door as if nothing had happened. "And that's my expert opinion."