An SPD squad car pulled up on main street and Lina and Z stepped out onto the sidewalk. Almost immediately there was as buzz from passersby as they caught sight of the officers. Unfamiliar with the attention, Lina tensed and her hand instinctively reached for her weapon. A firm hand from the yellow ranger instantly released her tension, "Easy there Timeforce", she whispered, "you'll get used to this". The blue ranger nodded and the pair continued on their walk down the street. Lina couldn't help but keep an anxious eye on everyone. She wasn't used to walking out in public dressed in her SPD uniform. Back when she was part of Timeforce their identities were a closely guarded secret. Tensions between law enforcement and the general public were still at an all time high and the risk of reprisals was too great of a risk.

The further they continued, Lina couldn't help but marvel at the ease that Z dealt with the attention. The yellow ranger offered a quick smile to those that addressed her directly and to Lina's eye, she appeared to be revelling in the attention. At one point a young boy stopped the yellow ranger by grasping at the helm of her long jacket. The youngster couldn't have been any older than ten, "Hey there kid", Z crouched down so she was at his level, "I hope you're behaving yourself for your parents".

"I am so sorry", a man caught up to the two officer, wheezing slightly , "Dale what have I told you about running off", he scolded the child.

"No harm done, right Dale", Z ruffled the boy's hair. She spotted a phone in the child's hand, "Tell you what, fancy a quick picture to show your friends?" The boy nodded enthusiastically, "Give your phone to your Dad and he'll do the rest". The yellow ranger looked up and caught Lina's eye, "To make it really special, why don't we invite one of SPD's newest team member to join us", she said with a devious glint in her eye.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea Officer Delgardo", Lina hissed back through gritted teeth.

"Nonsense Officer Song", Z's voice practically danced with mischief, "can't disappoint our young fans, can we?" Lina grumbled under her breath and reluctantly crouched down next to Z. She offered a tight lipped smile which contrasted with Z's broad grin. Almost the second the picture was taken, she hopped back to her feet and resumed her eagle eyed search for potential hidden danger.

Z bade the child and his father goodbye and the two officers continued their tour of duty. They walked in silence for a few minutes, a rather uneasy silence at that. Eventually the yellow ranger couldn't take any more of the silent treatment from her partner, "You're unhappy with something?"

Lina bit her tongue for a couple of moments, trying to avoid saying something that would make the rest of the patrol awkward. After thinking long and hard she responded, "It's just not how things were done", she sighed, "so much has changed in the last few years".

"For the better though", Z replied, "no offence to your team but you were kinda intimidating".

"Yeah that was the point", Lina snorted, "Timeforce was trained for battle, not cuddling small children and taking pictures for their Instagram account". She snorted again, "Plus who honestly buys their child a top of the range smart phone, I wasn't allowed a phone until I started High School".

Z playfully nudged her in the shoulder, "Easy there Grandma, you'll break your rocking chair". Lina flashed a withering glare at her partner, not too happy that she was the one getting teased for a change. "Obviously I can't speak for Tate but with Grumm gone, there's need for the shock and awe tactics of the past. Maybe what this city needs is a cuddlier version of SPD to help heal the wounds of the past".

"Grumm's not the only monster in the world Z", Lina said with a resigned sigh, "the wounds that Hexagon caused won't be healed with smiles and selfies". She stopped and looked her partner forcefully in the eyes, "What I'm trying to say is watch your back because I won't always be able to".

"You just don't switch off do you?" Z retorted angrily, "and who or what is Hexagon, never heard of it before".

Lina gaped at her partner, almost disbelieving that she hadn't heard of Hexagon before. She knew that Z was about ten years younger than her but the yellow ranger would've lived through the turmoil of 2014. Maybe her young mind had blocked out everything that occurred during that time. Nevertheless her Ranger history classes at SPD should've covered that period, unless someone in Command had airbrushed that time out of the lessons. "Let's just continue with our patrol", Lina mumbled and carried on walking.

The blue ranger's mind was still whirring about Z's admission fifteen silent minutes later. Who had taken the decision to remove any references to Hexagon from the curriculum and would it have any bearing on her personal mission? Suddenly she bumped into Z's back, her thoughts had been so busy that she hadn't noticed the yellow ranger had stopped moving, "Watch it, don't want to send you to the infirmary after our first patrol".

Z had stopped because she recognised the name above the store and if she was honest, it was a little bit of a surprise.

"Landors and Samuels Clothing Emporium", Lina read out loud. It took her a few moments for the name to click inside her head, "Surely this isn't old Jack's place is it?"

"Must be", Z replied numbly. Last time she heard her old friend and former SPD red ranger Jack Landors was running a charity donating clothes to the homeless of Newtech City. Now it appeared he had branched out into the sales business without mentioning it to anyone. Lina looked over and noticed the hurt expression on her partner's face. Curious to find out why, the blue ranger took a few steps towards the store, "Hey we can't go in there", Z called out.

"Why not?" Lina replied, "Jack's an old friend of yours", she smiled, "plus we're just showing the new cuddlier side of SPD to the local business owners".

"I haven't told Jack that you're out of containment", Z admitted to her partner.

Lina though didn't seem to care, "And Jack forgot to tell you he opened a new store, guess that makes you even". Without waiting for a response Lina confidently stepped inside, forcing Z to follow after her.

Inside the store the walls were full of men's, women's and children's clothing. There were several tall racks in the middle as well, obscuring much of the view of the store. Lina had a quick check on some of the prices. They weren't unreasonable, in fact they were very cheap for this part of the city which was more used to seeing high end retailers. This store felt more like a budget or factory outlet where the merchandise was piled in and sold a cheaply as possible to make a profit.

Another thing that struck Lina was how busy the place was. It was still early in the morning but some of the aisles were already crammed. Lina just found a stack of blue t-shirts when a bright voice called out, "Welcome to Landors and Samuels, anything I can help you with?" Lina spotted the blonde haired woman and was about to respond when Z finally caught up with her, "Z, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Ally", Z waived, "so is this place new, I thought you were still working out the van?"

"Pretty new, only been open for a few weeks", Ally began, "even with Piggy's generous donation, we couldn't afford to keep giving away clothes. This place", she opened her arms up, "allows us to make some money and we have so much stock we can still keep the charity side of the operation going". Ally frowned at the blank expression on Z's face, "Jack didn't tell you any of this did he?" Z responded with a firm shake of the head.

"Who didn't I tell?" a voice called out and second later the familiar face of Jack Landors appeared. She was about to greet his oldest friend but his eyes suddenly fell on Lina, "You", he cried, "who the hell let you out of prison?"

"Supreme commander Andros " Lina replied.

Jack fumed silently until he noticed the blue trim to her uniform, "Didn't let you back in at the top then", he said with a smirk, "clearly they don't forgive traitors that easily".

Lina tried her best not to rise to the bait, especially in full view of the public but something about Jack just rubbed her up the wrong way. The fact that he had literally come in off the street and been parachuted into a leadership position really ate away at her. Deciding to let go of her annoyance, for now at least, she retorted, "Mr Roboto is doing a fine job of being the commander, even if he is an insufferable douche bag most of the time". Despite their differences even Jack had to smile and agree with Lina's statement.

Ally meanwhile spent the entire time glancing between Lina and Jack in confusion, "Do you two know each other? She isn't some crazy ex you left behind at SPD is she?"

There was a brief pause before both former red rangers burst out laughing, "God no, I wouldn't touch Jackie here with a ten foot stick, no offence to you both", Lina snorted.

"None taken", Jack hissed, "Ally I would like to meet Lina Song who is apparently the new blue ranger on B Squad", he took a breath and added, "and the former traitorous pink ranger of Timeforce who very nearly condemned us to servitude to Ransick".

Ally took a couple of moments to look over Lina who in return, looked completely unapologetically, "I see and if you don't mind me asking, why are you not serving a lengthy period in confinement?"

"I have no idea", Lina's shrugged, "and apparently the Supreme Commander believes in giving people second chances".

Jack and Ally weren't given much time to mull over Lina's vague statement as the shrill voice of one of their employees echoed down the aisles, "Mr Landors, Miss Samuels we caught a shoplifter in the act, we should get the-", the dark haired shop assistant paused when she finally came into view and spotted the two SPD officers, "well that was quick".

"Thank you Kristen, we'll take it from here", Jack replied and led Lina, Z and Ally towards the manager's office. When they arrived the group noticed a very skinny boy sitting in one of the chairs. Lina couldn't tell how old he was, possibly somewhere between eight and twelve. His face was dirty, almost hollow and his lank hair dangled in front of his face. Immediately Jack recognised the youth sitting in his office, "Oh Daniel, what are we going to do with you", he sighed.

"You know this thief?" Lina asked the two proprietors.

"Unfortunately", Ally began, "this isn't the first time we've caught him trying to steal from the store".

"Even though you run the charity clothing drive?" Z asked the pair.

"That's not always enough", Jack replied, "this winter has been exceptionally cold and the stock we have to give away isn't always satisfactory. This time of year we sell out of winter gear really quickly". Jack placed his hand firmly on the youngster shoulder, "This one managed to get away with several coats just two days ago".

Lina nodded and crouched down, eying the child, "Well looks like an open and shut case, at least the cells down at Headquarters are warm which is just perfect for a little street rat like you". Her tone wasn't condescending but it wasn't especially warm either.

The effects of the words were almost instantaneous though. Seconds later there was an angry snort from Z followed by a slam of the door. Jack was shooting daggers into the green ranger and looked ready to tear her apart, "Smooth", Ally commented, "you do know where my boyfriend and your partner spent most of their childhood right?"

The cogs began to whirl inside Lina head," Oh i know i just don't care".

"That's putting it mildly", Jack said coldly. He turned his attention to the shoplifter and handed over the jacket he had attempt to steal, "This is your final warning Daniel. I know that times are tough, believe me I've been there. Don't let me catch you steal again, otherwise she'll be after you". He pointed at Lina and the youngster's eyes widened in fear, "Ally could you see our guest off the premises".

The blonde complied and left the two alone in the tiny office. The dark skinned man eyed Lina with a mixture of suspicion and anger, "You've upset my best friend", he began, "normally that puts someone on my bad list but are definitely already there".

"Upsetting Z wasn't my intention", Lina began, "sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain".

Jack snorted, "No apology for me then?"

"Would you accept it even if I did?" Jack reluctantly conceded that point, "Let's get one thing straight Jack, To be honest no one likes me over at Headquarters".

"Can you blame them", Jack interjected, "you did your very best to murder most of them and install yourselves as Ransick's personal enforcers".

"Not my finest hour", Lina admitted which surprised Jack slightly. The new blue ranger had seemed very unrepentant earlier and those four words were as close to an admittance of fault as you were likely to hear. "I've blown it, all because of my stupid mouth". She heard a buzzing from her morpher and quickly checked the incoming message, "Not only that, she's taken the squad car back to base", she sighed and snapped the device closed.

Jack shook his head, "Knowing Z for as long as I have, be thankful that's all she's done". The uncomfortable feeling settled back on the room again, forcing Jack to take action, "Well since I've decided not to press charges against our thief, I believe that concludes SPD's involvement here".

Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Lina nodded stiffly, "Be sure to call if you need any further assistance Sir", she gave her generic statement formally and quickly turned on her heel, refusing to see what kind of filthy looks Jack was giving her. She had messed up with Z and on top of that, she now had to walk back to Headquarters. At least it would give her time to work on an apology.