Regaining Light

"Hey, Jack! How about this?"

Jack turned to look at the top Z was holding up. "It's purple." he pointed out.

"So?"

"It's…purple."

"You're so helpful, Jack!"

Jack grinned, leaning against the stall while she rooted for something new. Three days of quiet had all the Rangers on edge and Cruger had banished them from the base for a while; Z had remembered the market was running this week, and here they were. Syd and Sky were looking through a stall a little way down the aisle, while Bridge was on the other side of square sitting on a wall. He'd looked around for a while, but the crowd was getting to him.

"Jack." Z jerked her chin towards Bridge, and Jack followed her gaze, frowning as Bridge's words became audible.

"…don't want to talk to you." he said firmly, turning away from the girl in front of him. About their own age, she looked vaguely Hispanic and was obviously angry as she chased him.

"You need to…"

"I don't need to do anything except go with my friends. Go home."

"Bridge…"

"Go home." he repeated, breaking into a jog to rejoin them. The girl glared after him but made no move to follow.

"You alright?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." He very deliberately didn't turn. "It's fine."

"Sure?"

"It's fine." Bridge repeated.

"Who's she?" Z asked.

He still didn't turn. "Someone I used to know."

"Used to." Jack repeated.

"She's still staring at you." Syd added.

"I know. Are we done?"

He strode off without waiting for an answer, and the four exchanged glances.

"Forget this." Jack said finally, turning and heading for the girl. She watched him calmly.

"Who are you?" Jack demanded.

"A friend of Bridge's." This close she looked older, maybe as much as ten years older than them. Dark hair and eyes added to the 'Hispanic' impression, but her skin was oddly pale. She was probably a little taller than Syd.

Sky stepped into Jack's peripheral vision, providing silent support. He figured the others had probably gone after Bridge.

"He doesn't usually run away from his friends."

She flinched, staring over Jack's shoulder in the direction Bridge had taken. "We were friends once. I'd hoped we still could be. But he's not forgotten."

"Forgotten what?"

Abruptly she refocused on him, and her tone was oddly wistful when she said, "He looked happy."

"Until just now, he was." Jack said pointedly, and she flinched again.

"We used to be friends." she repeated in the same wistful tone, and then she turned and walked away.

"We were never friends." Bridge said firmly.

"S'not what she says."

"You talked to her?"

Jack blinked at the dismay in Bridge's face. "Who is she, Bridge?"

"Jack, do you trust me?"

"What? Of course I…"

"No. I don't mean as a Ranger. Do you,Jack Landers, trust me?"

"Yeah, Bridge." Jack didn't bother thinking about it. "I trust you."

"Then don't talk to Singer. I mean it; just ignore her."

"You think we'll see her again?"

"Yeah." Bridge nodded. "I think we'll see her again."

They didn't see her for a long time, though, and three of the Rangers forgot about it. Bridge was quieter than normal for a couple of days, before snapping right back out of it.

Jack kept an eye out whenever they were in the city, aware that Bridge was doing the same. Occasionally he caught a glimpse of Singer, but she wasn't making any effort to approach and didn't seem to be trying to be seen. Bridge still refused to talk about her, and eventually Jack gave up; if he needed to, he'd tell them, and until then it wasn't worth upsetting him over.

So he was surprised when he—literally—ran into Singer as he was leaving headquarters one day.

"Singer." he drawled. "You know I could have you arrested for loitering, right?"

"I need to talk to Bridge." She was much more agitated this time than she had been the last time.

"He doesn't want to see you."

"I know that. I need to talk to him anyway."

"Why?"

"Because he needs to hear what…he told you my name is Singer?"

"Yeah. While he was telling me not to talk to you." Jack turned to go back into the building.

"Jack, please!" There was something very close to fear in her voice, and he found himself stopping without really thinking about it. "Please, just…ask him for me? It won't take long, he just needs to…"

"Whatever you guys used to be," Jack cut her off, "you clearly aren't anymore. Now you messed Bridge up but good the last time, you think I'm gonna let you do it again?"

"I didn't…" She trailed off, and Jack gestured impatiently. "Realize he hated me that much." she finished, in a very small voice.

"Yeah, well, apparently he does. So you can just go on about your merry way. I'm not going to push him to see you."

"You'll regret it." Singer warned him. Jack rolled his eyes, turning to the guard on the door.

"Escort her off the premises, and make sure she doesn't come back, understand?"

"Yes sir." the guard agreed, coming to stand beside Singer. She glanced disinterestedly at him before turning and leaving.

"You're back early." Z said in surprise when he came in.

"Forgot…something. Bridge, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Bridge, standing on his head against the wall, twisted towards him, caught sight of his face, and fell over.

"Hey…!" Sky ducked out of his way, catching him as best he could. Despite his best efforts, however, Bridge's head bounced off the floor hard enough to startle gasps from the girls.

"Ow." Bridge said dizzily. "Jack, what'd she say?"

"What?" Jack said in surprise.

Bridge sat upright with Sky's help. "You talked to Joanne. I can…" he gestured vaguely. "See it."

"I talked to Singer." Jack's voice was lost under a chorus of "What? She's still around?" "What are you talking about?" and "Did you hit your head?"

"Guys." Jack raised his voice, and they fell silent. "You Ok?" he continued, looking at Bridge.

"Yeah. What'd she say?"

"I talked to Singer." he repeated.

"That's Joanne. Singer's what I used to…what did she say?"

"That she wants to talk to you."

"That's it?"

"That you needed to hear her, and we'd regret it…blah blah blah." Jack crouched in front of him. "Who is she, Bridge?"

"She's…she used to work for my parents. Where is she?"

"She left. I don't know. Why?"

"Because it probably is important." He went to stand up, and everyone reacted at once, pushing him back into a seated position. "Guys, I'm fine."

"Stay." Jack said firmly. Glancing around, he caught the nearest cadet's eye and added, "A doctor."

"Aye." she said quickly, hurrying away.

"I don't need a doctor! I fell over!" Bridge protested.

He kept protesting until the doctor arrived, and then he complained all through the exam, and then snarked at everyone when he was told to stay in his quarters for the rest of the day. The others gathered in the rec room after he'd all but physically thrown them out.

"This girl is messing him up." Jack muttered, glaring angrily at a passing cadet.

"He definitely seemed…" Z blanked, looking at Syd for help.

"He's never been like that. Not ever." Syd's eyes were wide and she was clutching a cushion tightly.

Jack considered her for a moment before turning around. "Anyone who's not B Squad, out!"

There was some grumbling, but the cadets left quickly.

"Cruger won't like that." Sky noted.

"Don't much care right now." Jack said firmly. "Look, you two know Bridge the best. Are we more worried about him meeting Joanne or not?"

Sky and Syd shared a dismayed look. "Bridge is never like this." Syd repeated, sliding down a little further on the couch. "He's not…he's just not."

"She's right." Sky agreed. "He doesn't talk much about his parents. Whoever Singer—Joanne—is…" he trailed off, shrugging.

"She was waiting for me." Jack murmured. "Or for one of us, anyway. And she knew my name."

"She knew your name." Z repeated, frowning. "That's not good. Bridge wasn't talking to her for more than a minute, and she couldn't have got it anywhere else."

"Maybe she knows someone in here." Syd suggested hopefully.

"Then why's she lurking around for one of us? Why not have her friend talk to Bridge for her?" Jack shook his head. "No. There's something else. I'm going to see if I can find her."

"I'll come with." Z said immediately.

"You guys distract Bridge. Watch a movie or something. Don't tell him where we are."

Sky nodded, glancing at Syd. The Pink Ranger only clutched her cushion tighter.

"We'll handle it." Sky promised Jack.

Outside, Bridge shoved away from the wall he'd been leaning against and headed back to his room.