Author's Note: ... Yeah, I got nothing. It's an unclever day. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Blue v. Green, Round 3

"You know, Piggy was right. If Sophie wasn't a cyborg, we wouldn't have thrown her out on the street without asking some questions first." The comment was spoken for the consideration of the entire squad, but Bridge's eyes found their way to Sky's when he spoke. It was also an accusation.

Sky's face burned from the gaze directed at him. Bridge was so disappointed and sad; he could not bear to look at him. Syd's remark did not make him feel any better.

"I can't believe I'm prejudiced," she whimpered. No, you can't believe that because you're not, Sky thought to himself. What you meant to say is you can't believe Sky is prejudiced, selfish, responsible for losing an innocent cadet and putting her in danger. You can't believe how badly I've let you all down. I can't believe how badly I've let him down.

Sky stared at Bridge as the other man continued to paper the street. Somehow during his inner monologue, all the other rangers had disappeared, leaving green and blue alone with each other. It felt odd to Sky. These past couple of days, Bridge had been giving him the cold shoulder, but usually Sky was in a relatively busy public area at the time and could ignore the treatment. They were only alone together in their bunk, and Bridge usually faked sleep then to avoid the awkward silence or the painful conversation. But now it was just the two of them in this lonely little alleyway. Sky needed to make his move.

"Bridge I'm sorry," he rushed out.

To Tate's disappointment, Bridge did not even pause in his actions. "What for Sky?" he asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and innocent laughter. A lump suddenly caught in Sky's throat. Bridge was letting him off. He knew how hard it was for the blue ranger to admit he was wrong, and he was actually going to play Sky's apology off like it was not happening. Sky didn't know whether to feel touched by Bridge's concern or hurt by Bridge's measure of his vanity.

Sky moved in a flash, suddenly centimeters away from Bridge's left shoulder and nearly breathing in his ear. He placed a hand over the flyer that the green ranger was posting, demanding his attention.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted when you asked for advice. I'm sorry for kicking Sophie out. I'm sorry for insulting your integrity. I'm sorry for not being a good friend. I'm sorry for being jealous." I'm sorry for choosing to stand so close to you like this. Sky's apology was sincere, but had come out a little huskier than intended. It was a strange sensation, Sky decided, to be told you love someone and then find yourself as close to that someone as you can be without touching, alone in some private alleyway with the knowledge that your friends think you are working and should not be looking for you for a while. Suddenly you start to notice things, like the way Bridge's hair tapers at the nape of his neck, the way he smells, the slight tremble and scant goose pimples that follow every time you breath at his ear, the way he licks his lips, and how easy it would be just reach out and pull him into your chest, trail kisses up his neck, nibble at his ear, make him gasp and moan and …

Bridge's reply brought him back to reality. Sky found himself flushed and breathing far too heavily. No, he was not the only one breathing heavily. Was Bridge reacting to him like was Bridge? Did Bridge maybe feel the same way about him and Sky, being Sky, had missed it? His stomach did a summersault as he whispered at Bridge's ear again, the slight tremor in his friend's body bringing a smile to his face. "What was that?"

"I said, 'Why?'" Bridge managed, his voice strained. "Why would you be jealous, Sky? I mean, all you had to do was say something and I would have backed off. There's no way she would have chosen me over you."

Sky's mind went blank. His thoughts moved slowly, as if there were fighting quicksand and his fleeting fantasy that Bridge liked him back was sinking terrifyingly quickly. "What?"

"I mean, now that we know she's a cyborg, I could just program her to like you. No problem." Bridge's voice could have been called harsh, but it was obvious that this was not a tone in which he was accustomed to speaking. He spoke too loudly and backed away from Sky too quickly for his comment to be scathing. Instead of embarrassing Sky, it just made him sad. He had no idea what Bridge thought of him anymore. And Bridge's opinion was all that mattered at that moment.

"Bridge," he started, but the pained expression in Bridge's eyes cut him short. The anger, frustration and sadness he saw there were not directed at him, but being confronted with the fact that Bridge was hurting so badly was like a punch in the gut. He struggled to regain his train of thought. "That's not what I meant," was his weak reply.

Bridge's expression only grew more pained. "I don't care what you meant anymore, Sky." The blue ranger took a step forward, mouth opening to try and make things better, but Carson held up a gloved hand. "Just shut up." Sky blinked and shut his mouth immediately, while Bridge struggled to keep himself from screaming or crying or both. "I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being yanked around like nothing. One minute you're my best friend and the next I'm just a part of the squad. You can't play with people like that, Sky."

Sky wanted to respond. He wanted to tell Bridge that he had it all wrong, but he could not think of a way to explain himself. He wanted to apologize and say he was sorry a thousand times, but he knew that Bridge would not listen. He wanted to say something, but nothing would make their immediate situation any better. So he stood there, gazing back at Bridge as contritely as he could manage. And Bridge stared back, then shut his eyes and shook his head. "We don't have time for this. We need to find Sophie."

The green ranger strode down the alley and quickly found Syd who was coming around the corner, apparently looking for them. Sky bit his bottom lip and followed.