Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay, things have been very hectic on this side of the Atlantic and writing has unfortunately not been my top priority, but it is now!
First off I just want to say I have been completely blown away by the support this lil' fic has generated, so to all you guys... thank you!
Secondly, it has been pointed out to me that I made a mistake in the time difference between California and New York. It's three hours not four. That was my bad sorry! No excuses there just sloppy research. Please forgive me.
Finally couple... hee hee hee! The pairings I have decided on will become clear in this chapter!
Enough of my babble now, on with the story! Here's Chapter 2 - the rangers first full day in New York... I apologise for the length in advance, I got a bit carried away! Read, review if you want, but most of all enjoy!
Day Two – Monday
Bathroom. Cadets' Hotel. 7:00am
"That's the last time I share a bed with Bridge," Sky groaned the next morning as he stumbled into the bathroom behind Jack.
"What happened?" Jack asked, taking in the black lines under Sky's eyes.
"He's a spooner!" the blue ranger exclaimed as he splashed some water on his face. A smile twitched at the corner of Jack's mouth as Sky continued in an irate tone of voice, "I slept on about a foot of bed because he sprawled across the whole double space and then if that wasn't enough at some point in the night he rolled over and spooned me!"
"Spooned?" Jack struggled to keep a straight face.
"Yeah, curled up around me. I couldn't sleep with him draped over me so I ended up on the floor!"
Before Jack could compose himself enough to give Sky an answer, the door opened and an equally tired-looking Syd stumbled into the bathroom. "That's the last time I share a bed with Z," she yawned.
"Oh?" Jack said, fighting, and failing, to keep the grin off his face. "Why?"
"She steals covers," Syd pouted, "And makes funny noises. I couldn't sleep."
Jack cracked up at that point and almost ran out of the bathroom, leaving Sky and Syd alone. "What's with him?" the pink ranger asked.
"No idea," Sky replied.
He turned to leave just as she stepped forward and the two of them found themselves standing face-to-face, or rather face-to-chest, as Sky was so much taller than the petite pink ranger. There was an uncomfortable silence and Syd felt the heat rise in her face as she realized how close to Sky she was.
"I, uh, have to get dressed," Sky said, swallowing thickly, and hurried past her quickly before she could see the blush in his cheeks.
Syd stood still for a couple of seconds as she got her breathing back under control. Snap out of it she admonished herself as she wiped her face clean and pulled out her make-up bag.
"Syd, hurry up," Z, color back to normal after a good sleep, burst into the bathroom to get herself ready. "Jack is a giggling lunatic, Sky is on the prowl complaining about the mess and Bridge is on the verge of eating his own arm."
Main Room. Cadets' Hotel. 7:30am"I'm hungry," Bridge announced for the thousandths time.
"We know!" Sky finally lost it, as irritation, hunger and tiredness caught up with him.
"Ok Bridge, new rule. You can only complain of being hungry five-" Jack, now over his hysterics, saw the look on the blue ranger's face "-three times between each meal. Fair?"
The green ranger, more than a little startled by Sky's outburst, nodded mutely.
Just then the two girls appeared and, with relief from all parties, the five of them headed out to find somewhere for breakfast.
A Diner Somewhere. 7.50am"Mmmmm," Bridge made a contented noise as he dug hungrily into his pile of pancakes topped with bacon, smothered with maple syrup and with a pile of toast waiting.
Sky shook his head in amazement as he saw the pancakes disappear and then turned to his own breakfast, a bagel. Syd had gone for a simple grapefruit and couldn't help giggling a little at Z, who was happily munching on a bowl of fruit loops. Jack meanwhile had gone almost as all-out as Bridge had and was tucking in to bacon, eggs and sausages.
Just as they were finishing, two NYPD officers entered the diner to get their breakfast and Z let out a little squeal, "Look, real New York police officers. Come on Syd, let's get a picture." Not waiting for the pink ranger's reply, she propelled her up off the chair and the two of them went over to the policemen.
Jack shook his head, "They're not going to get a photo."
Sky smiled as he saw Syd talking excitedly to the men, "You want to bet on that?"
"Ok, you're on. Ten dollars say they leave without a photo."
Twenty seconds later there was an exclamation of, "No way!" from Jack as Z handed her camera to the waitress and the two girls sat next to two extremely-pleased looking officers and posed for a picture.
Sky raised his eyebrows and simply held out a hand. Jack sighed and handed over a ten-dollar bill. Grinning, Sky pocketed the bill but, glancing back over to where Syd was laughing at something one of the officers had said, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Well, if a 'twinge' meant he wanted to leap over the tables and give the guy a black eye for even trying to chat up Sydney; an act that the calm, sensible, reasonable Sky Tate knew would achieve nothing more than getting him arrested for assaulting a police officer. Snap out of it Schuyler.
Z returned, triumphantly clutching her camera, with a still-smiling Syd. "You guys done yet?" the yellow ranger asked, "'cos we've got a tour bus to catch in… oh, about ten minutes."
Stuck in traffic on 5th Avenue. 11:15am
Syd pressed her nose against the window of the bus, eyes wide as they passed some of her favorite shops, Gucci, Prada, Jefferies… "Oh couldn't we stop the bus to take a quick peek?" She turned to the others, a light shining in her eyes at the thought of shopping.
"No Syd," Sky sighed, and, before her mouth could form the shape of the words, he was already answering her unspoken question, "Because we all know you say a 'quick peek' but five hours and thousands of dollars later we'll still be there. We've got to get to the Lincoln Center for our seminar at twelve and we haven't even got to Central Park yet."
Syd rolled her eyes and sat back into her seat, her eyes straying wistfully to the sidewalk. All those wonderful shops and she was stuck on a bus. She pouted; this was torture taken to the extreme.
The five of them had made it back to the hotel just in time for the tour bus and found they were the only people on it. Their tour guide, a true New Yorker, had proceeded to give them a running commentary on the history of New York and all its buildings as they'd left Hell's Kitchen, where their hotel was, and had headed downtown to the Seaport and Financial District before then heading back up through SoHo, China Town, Times Square and Broadway. Now they were aiming for Central Park, passed the Empire State Building, but had hit traffic.
"I'm hungry," Bridge announced as he caught sight of a hotdog seller on a street corner.
"One," Jack said, quirking a grin.
"Huh?" Z asked, puzzled.
"Bridge's new rule; he can only complain about being hungry three times in between meals. That's one complaint used up, only got another two now."
"Joys," Sky muttered from where he was staring out at the yellow cabs lined up head to tail down the road.
Syd, who was sitting in front of him, turned around and knelt up on her chair to look at him, "That's not the right spirit Sky," she chided the blue ranger gently. "We're on vacation, of sorts. No moaning or sarcasm or fights for our lives or SPD rules or regulations needed ok?" No SPD uniforms either she was glad to note. Even Sky had relaxed a bit and was wearing a loose pair of jeans and a blue sweater. He looked good, very good. Hot even. Suddenly Syd felt her face heat up again; where had that thought come from, she wondered as she quickly turned away and sat down in her seat.
Finally the traffic started moving again and it wasn't long before they reached Central Park. The bus stopped to give them a chance to stretch their legs and, while a close eye was kept on Syd to make sure she didn't disappear to do some shopping, Bridge slipped away to get some food. The other four, not seeing him walk away, got back onto the bus and were halfway down the road before they realized he was missing.
"Damn him!" Z groaned as they had the bus turn around and go back to where they had last seen him. The green ranger was nowhere to be seen.
"We're going to be late," Jack said, checking the time on his watch. It was now 11.30 and they still had to get to the Lincoln Center for their seminar. "Why don't we just leave him? I mean, he's got his morpher, how much trouble could he get into? "
The red ranger was met by three identical looks from Sky, Syd and Z. "This is Bridge we're talking about." Sky said meaningfully, "You really want to leave him alone in New York City, even with his morpher? You need to rethink that."
Jack realized what he had said and winced. It wasn't that Bridge was stupid or incapable of looking after himself; the green ranger was actually very intelligent and had proved on more than one occasion that he was perfectly able to take care of himself, it was just that he was very… naïve would be the best word. Innocent too. He tended to take things at face value and not look deeper for hidden meanings. And he was friendly. Naïve and friendly, a mix that, although was good most of the time, would not bode well in a city that he had never been to before. A dangerous mix, which could quite easily get him into serious trouble…
Just as Jack was beginning to let his imagination run away with him, a voice interrupted his thoughts. "What have you lost?"
"A friend of ours, Bridge… Bridge!" The four of them turned around to face the missing green ranger.
Bridge, unaware of the trouble he had caused, stood there with a grin on his face, munching a pretzel. "I was hungry and we had stopped and there was a man over there…" he waved a hand vaguely in the direction he had come from, "…selling food so I went and got some. Anybody want a pretzel?" he added, holding up a paper bag, "They're salty."
Before Jack could launch himself at the oblivious green ranger, Z grabbed Bridge's arm and dragged him onto the bus. "Let's go."
Lincoln Center. 12:00pmThe rangers had made it to the Lincoln Center in plenty of time, but had hit a problem as soon as they arrived at the doors; "I tell you we have a seminar here at twelve' o'clock," Jack argued with the bustling security guard who was refusing the cadets entry to the building.
"And I've told you sir, there is no seminar on the 10th floor today," the guard said impatiently.
"I've got the paper to prove it." Jack rummaged in his backpack before pulling out the leaflet Commander Cruger had given him. "Twelve p.m. Seminar for Improving Relations between Police and Public. 10th Floor, Lincoln Center, New York City. Tuesday… Tuesday?" He looked up at the other rangers and the now-smirking security guard. "Cruger said it was on Monday. We planned our whole trip around it being now. What are we going to do?"
Sensing the hint of panic in the red ranger's voice, Syd smoothly took control. "It's nothing to worry about. We'll just rearrange everything to fit. I mean, it was going to fit anyway so it shouldn't be a problem." She grabbed the itinerary off a now-mute Jack, glanced at it and smiled, "Who's up for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island boat tour?"
Sky grinned, "Sounds good." The others chorused their agreement and they headed for the subway.
On the subway, somewhere. 12:50pm"We're lost," Z stated as they stood on a platform and poured over a map of the city. They had taken one train and then, on the boys' understanding, had got off to change; only there wasn't the train they were looking for at that station.
"No we're not," Sky said firmly, "Just give us a second to get our bearings.
Syd and Z looked around the almost-deserted platform and sighed. "Look there's a man over there, maybe we could ask him how…"
"No!" Jack said, "Sky's right, we're not lost. We need to get the… uh."
"Men," Z muttered to Syd, and, while the three boys argued quietly over what train they should catch, the two girls sidled up to a man leaning against the wall.
"Excuse me sir?" the yellow ranger asked. "Um we were wondering, which train do we catch to get us to Battery Park?"
The man raised his eyebrows, "You folks just got off'f that one?" He jabbed his thumb at the rail line they had just got off of. The girls nodded. "Well that's the one you need. Takes you straight there."
There was a dark look on Z's face as she whirled around and stormed back over to the boys. "Thanks very much sir," Syd squeaked at the helpful man before running after Z. The look of murder in the yellow ranger's eyes made Syd feel almost sorry for Jack and Sky as they came face-to-face with Z's wrath…
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. 1:30pmOnce Z had calmed down and the rangers had caught the right subway train to Battery Park, it had been relatively simple to catch the boat that would take them to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The five of them stood up on the top deck and gaped in amazement as they drew closer to Lady Liberty.
There was an awed silence, which was broken by a crunching noise. "What?" Bridge asked through a mouthful of chips as he caught the looks on his friends' faces. "I was hungry, again, and you didn't want me complaining."
"Where did you get chips from?" Sky said, eyeing the bag hungrily.
"Downstairs. They sell lots of stuff."
"Does anyone else want anything while I'm down there?" the blue ranger enquired as he moved towards the stairs.
"Hotdog and fries if they have some," Z said. "Oh and a soda."
"Soda and chips for me," Jack added as he dug out some dollars for Sky.
"Can I have some candy?" Bridge asked. He was met with stares from the others. "So I can eat them when I get hungry," he explained.
Sky sighed; I shouldn't have asked, he thought as he found a pencil and scrap of paper to jot down the orders. "Syd?" he asked, realizing the pink ranger hadn't asked for anything.
"I'll come and see what they have," she said, before adding with a smile, "Besides, I can't see you carrying all that up here without there being an accident. Talented as you are, I don't think waitressing is one of them!"
Sky couldn't disguise the redness in his cheeks that had appeared at her words, Syd thinks I'm talented, "Um, thanks I think," he muttered, quickly turning away and heading downstairs.
Syd stared after him for a second, ignoring the giggles of her teammates. Sky had actually blushed! A small smile formed at her lips and, shaking her head slightly, she followed the blue ranger.
She found Sky already ordering at the food counter and joined him with her own request for soda and a bagel. He couldn't meet her eye, even when she grabbed some of the food off him to stop him dropping it. "Sky I think we need to talk," she said.
He shook his head; "I've got to get this lot up to Z and Jack before it gets cold." He hurried away leaving Syd once again to trail after him.
They could not get off at Liberty Island; it had been closed to tourists since 2015 when some idiots decided to try and re-enact a scene from an old 'X-Men' movie and had crashed a small spacecraft onto it, severely damaging the statue's foundations. Now with modern technology work was underway to reopen the statue and restore her to her former glory, but it was going to take time and wasn't due to be completed until at least 2028. The rangers had to make do with seeing Lady Liberty from afar.
Instead they continued on to Ellis Island where all the immigrants to New York had arrived over 200 years ago now.
"Wow cool, they've got this new DNA testing thingy here that you can use to see where your ancestors came from," Bridge said excitedly.
"Finally, we'll have proof that Bridge isn't human," Z said, but she said it gently, almost affectionately, and the green ranger stared at her. She looked away quickly, but nobody else had noticed.
The five of them decided to split up and meet back at the main entrance by half three, so they would be in plenty of time for the four p.m. boat home. In theory. Bridge wanted to try out the DNA thing, so him and Z left for that while Jack, Sky and Syd headed for the museum.
XxX
The green and yellow rangers, after numerous detours through the museum displays, finally approached the DNA machine skeptically. "What do we do?" Z asked.
An assistant appeared and explained how they just picked their finger on a needle to draw blood and 'the computer did the rest'.
Bridge took the needle and paused. "What is it?" Z looked at him puzzled.
"I can't do it…I have to take my glove off to prick my finger," he said in a low voice.
Realization dawned on the brown haired girl, "Ah. Right."
"Don't worry," Bridge said cheerfully, "I already know that my family came from Ireland. I don't need a machine to tell me that."
Z stared at him, "So why did you want to do it?"
The green ranger shrugged, "I wanted to see if it knew what I knew."
"Is there a problem?" the assistant looked between them.
Z took the needle off Bridge and handed it back to her with a smile, "I'm afraid he's changed his mind." She dropped her voice to whisper confidentially to the woman, "He's got a phobia of needles."
A look of understanding appeared on the assistant's face, "I see. Well you can always come back if you change your mind."
"Thank you," Z said politely and, grabbing Bridge's hand, dragged him away from the machine before he started tinkering with it.
"What did you tell her that for?" the green ranger asked as they headed for the museum.
"I had to tell her something, she might have got suspicious," Z said.
They walked silently for a few minutes before Bridge finally said, "Uh Z, you do know you're still holding my hand right?"
Z suddenly blushed and dropped the green ranger's gloved hand as if it was on fire; "Sorry I didn't realize…" she trailed off as she found herself staring into Bridge's green eyes.
Neither of them remembered consciously moving, but their lips gently brushed each other's. Z pulled back as she grasped what was happening, "Bridge… we can't, can we? I mean, your powers…"
He stared at her, "I don't think I can hurt you," he whispered.
Z looked at him, her brown eyes filled with worry, "I don't want to hurt you."
He smiled, "You won't."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked.
Bridge shrugged, "I'm not, but I'm willing to try if you are."
"Well if you're ok with it…" Their lips met again, this time with more conviction behind the kiss.
Z smiled at the green ranger as they parted, "I could get used to this…"
XxX
Meanwhile the red, blue and pink rangers were still wandering around the museum exhibits. Both Sky and Syd found it fascinating, but Jack was less than impressed and, half-an-hour later he slipped away from the other two to find the gift shop. For the first time this trip, Sky and Syd found themselves truly alone with each other, and there was an awkward silence.
"I can't believe the amount of people that went through here," Syd said lightly as she looked at one of the displays.
"And we think we've got it bad at SPD sometimes," Sky muttered in agreement as he eyed the rows of 'medical' equipment.
"Sky…" Syd turned suddenly to the blue ranger.
"Oh wow, come and see this," Sky darted away from the pink ranger and eyed another exhibit, seemingly engrossed in the plight of those who were refused entry into the country. Syd sighed and wandered off to view another display. Sky glanced at her and shook his head slightly. Why was he avoiding voicing what they both couldn't deny? He liked Syd, didn't he? Really liked her. Maybe even loved her. So what was the problem? Could it be that he, Schuyler Tate, was actually scared of something? He knew the answer to that straight away – yes! Yes he was scared of something; scared of letting someone in, through the wall he had carefully constructed around himself, and seeing the real him; scared of being rejected, pushed away; scared of having someone to lose. Forcing these thoughts out of his head, he realized he was staring at Syd and quickly he turned his attention back to the display, hoping she hadn't noticed.
The pink ranger had noticed Sky staring at her, and she felt anger bubbling under her calm exterior. How dare he make her feel like, like that? Like she was a giddy, love struck kid and then act as if he wasn't interested. He confused her, and Syd hated being confused. Either he liked her or he didn't. But he kept avoiding the conversation and she began to wonder what Sky's problem was. By the end of this trip I will find out just what he thinks of me she promised herself and smirked.
XxX
Three thirty arrived quickly and Jack, Sky and Syd arrived at the entrance, ready to go, but found no sign of Bridge and Z. "Where are they?" the red ranger sighed with impatience and checked his watch again.
"Don't worry, they'll be here…" Syd trailed off as she remembered who she was talking about.
At three fifty-two, the three of them were considering leaving Bridge and Z to fend for themselves when the two illusive rangers appeared, Bridge holding a bag of fries.
"Sorry we're late, someone wanted something to eat," Z said, jabbing Bridge. She looked a little flushed.
"Are you ok Z?" Syd asked.
"Fine, I'm fine," the yellow ranger said very quickly, but the others quietly noted that she seemed very jittery, especially around a certain green ranger.
The five of them almost had to run to catch the boat in time, but they made it and soon they were heading back to land. Instead of going up on deck as they had done on the way there, the chilly wind caused them to stay inside. Five minutes after leaving Ellis Island, the wind increased and the boat started to rock a little more than it had done.
There was a groan from Bridge and the others looked to see that he had turned a sickly shade of green.
"Are you ok buddy?" Sky asked, seeing that Bridge really didn't look well.
"I don't feel too good," he muttered and gave another groan as the boat hit a wave.
"You should have told us you get seasick," Jack said, sympathetically.
"It's not seasickness," Z shot Bridge a sharp look. "You ate all that candy as well didn't you?" she said accusingly.
Bridge nodded slowly, now looking thoroughly miserable. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Don't you dare…that's an order." Jack quickly moved away from the green green-ranger.
"Serves you right for eating too much," Z chided him, but took his arm anyway and steered him away from the others. Braving the wind, she led him up on deck to get some fresh air.
By the time they arrived back to dry land, Bridge's color was more normal and less like his t-shirt and he had cheered up considerably. It was decided between the five of them that they would head back to the hotel and relax for an hour, before going out for a meal in the evening.
'Peep'. SoHo. 7:00pmThe rangers had been recommended a restaurant in SoHo called 'Peep' by the hotel manager and had found it with no problems, unless Jack nearly getting stuck in a subway train door counted as a problem. Apart from hurting the red ranger's male pride, no serious damage had been caused so the journey had been a success. They had been seated relatively quickly and were more than happy to chill in the friendly atmosphere. Syd was particularly impressed by the décor; chrome, mirrors and pink fluorescent lighting, although Jack complained that it clashed with his red shirt. After they had all ordered and had been sitting sipping the water they had been given, Bridge excused himself to go to the toilet. He walked to the mirrored wall opposite their table and disappeared inside. Almost as soon as he had gone in, he was out again and walking quickly back to them.
"What's the matter?"
"I can't go there, people can see me," the green ranger said, blushing furiously.
"What do you mean, see you?" Syd asked, looking at Bridge as if he was crazy.
"Watch, I'll go and wave to you." He walked back through the mirrored door.
The other four stared fixedly at the wall, but all they could see was their image being reflected back at them. Sky rolled his eyes and picked up his drink, "Who spiked his water?" He took a sip of his own water before replacing it on the table.
Bridge returned, "There, didn't you see me waving at you?"
They shook their heads. "Bridge all we saw was our own reflections," Syd said.
"But I saw you!" he almost wailed. "I saw Sky pick up his drink and drink it and you staring at me like I was crazy."
Sky looked from Bridge to his drink, where he had put it back down, and then back to Bridge. "Ookay…"
"This the first time you guys have been here?" A man on the next table leaned over to enquire. The five of them nodded. He laughed, "It was a bit of a shock the first time I came as well, but you get used to it. It's kind of funny after a while too. I mean, you think someone's watching you but really they're checking themselves out in the mirror."
"Um, I don't understand," Z said, speaking for all of them.
"The mirrors, the wall between the toilets and the restaurant, they're the one-way mirrors. You can see out, but no one can see in. It's a bit disconcerting at first but take a deep breath and go for it. Nobody can see you- excuse me." His food had arrived so he turned back away from the rangers.
Syd and Z got up and headed for the toilets. True to Bridge's word, you could see right out into the restaurant, although it was like looking through tinted glass.
"Freaky," the yellow ranger said, and Syd had to agree. Just then a waiter appeared with their orders so the see-through toilets were forgotten as they dug hungrily in to the food.
It was Syd that next went to the toilets, and a wicked idea came to Z. She whispered in Jack's ear and the two of them look straight at the place where Syd was and started waving to her.
"What are you guys doing?" Sky said, looking to see who they were waving at. He was met by his own reflection.
"Waving at Syd. She can see us remember."
"But you can't see her- oh," Sky suddenly understood. "That's not very nice Z," he told her.
Z giggled and then Syd appeared, her face bright red. "You could see me?" she asked, mortified.
The yellow and red rangers began laughing at the shock on her face, but Sky gave them both an evil look, "No we couldn't Syd. They were just teasing you."
Relief was apparent of Syd's face as she sat back down, "You guys are evil," she sniffed.
"We do our best to oblige," Jack said with mock modesty.
The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful; even the toilets lost their amusement after everyone had gone, and the five incredibly full rangers reluctantly made a move to get back to the hotel.
Main Room. Cadet's Hotel. 10:00pm"I told you this morning, I'm not sharing a bed with Z again," Syd said firmly, clutching Peanuts.
"And I'm not sharing with Bridge, no offense buddy, but I want to sleep in a bed tonight," Sky said almost apologetically to the green ranger.
"Well I'm not sharing with anyone," Jack said, pointedly lying down on his single bed.
"I refuse to share with Sky," Z cut in immediately.
"I wouldn't want to share with you," the blue ranger retorted hotly.
A large squabble broke out between the four of them, which Jack ignored until it became apparent that he wasn't going to get to sleep unless it was sorted. "OK!" he yelled into a pause as everyone caught their breath. They all turned to him. "Tonight Bridge and Z can have one bed and Sky and Syd the other, no arguments. I'm pulling rank. Now, go to sleep." With that he rolled over and stuck the pillow over his head.
Grumbling quietly, the four of them got into bed. Bridge and Z were more than comfortable and soon drifted off to sleep, but it was another matter for Syd and Sky.
After the day they had had, the last thing the blue and pink rangers wanted to do was share a bed. In the dark, Syd felt Sky move restlessly behind her and she couldn't help the redness in her cheeks. She had never imagined sharing a bed with Sky, and even if she had, this wasn't quite the situation she had hoped for. Letting the breath she realized she had been holding out gently, she shut her eyes and attempted to sleep.
With his back to her, Sky's eyes were wide open as he listened to her breathing even out. Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling hidden in darkness, trying to avoid accidentally touching Syd. His thoughts were a jumble but before he could even think of sorting them out, tiredness closed his eyes and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
