Author's Note: Presenting a 'mostly' original chapter to make up for the obsessively long wait between them. School's out! Hopefully that means time to write this summer :)

CHAPTER EIGHT

SPD HQ

"Guilty. You are responsible for atrocities across the galaxy." Cruger's voice got harder and harder with every accusation. The X flashed again. "And," he added. "You are charged with the disappearance of Isinia Cruger on Sirius."

His jaw dropped as the morpher changed to a green circle. "Innocent?" Cruger gasped. "But how-"

Sky's fingers raced over the controls, skimming through at least a decade or more of data. "That's exactly what I'm going to find out," he muttered to himself, flicking a data record onto the screen, scanning it, and discarding it before throwing another one up onto the holoscreen.

Beside him, RIC gave a low, mechanical whine and nudged his leg. "Not now, RIC."

The robotic dog looked up at Sky, then, nudged him again. It was hard enough this time that it moved Sky's entire leg. "RIC!" Sky exploded.

"Whoa," Luna said. "Somebody needs a sleeping pill." She stepped into the records room, two hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate. "Couldn't sleep, so you felt like doing some data mining?" she questioned Sky, slipping an arm around his waist.

"No beverages allowed near the consoles," Sky told her, never taking his eyes off the current record onscreen.

Luna raised an eyebrow, the ridges above it going almost to her hairline. "Yeah? Well, there's no dating fellow cadets either, sooo…" She stood up on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on Sky's jawline. "Seriously, Sky. It's late, and I know you were off the clock like three hours ago." She waved a hand, and the data record Sky was reading slid back into its file. "What are you doing in here?"

Sky sighed, and shut the console down. "Something Benaag said when Cruger was reading his charges. That he wasn't responsible for Cruger's wife's disappearance."

"Yeah." Luna patted RIC by the tail, lifting his ball with one hand and banking it out into the hallway. RIC scrambled after it excitedly. "Yeah, that bothered me too. He never said much about his time before SPD when I knew him. Not even to Dad. Probably not to Bridge's dad or Syd's mom either."

"My mom and dad never said anything either," Sky said. He ran a hand through his hair. "So it's not sitting right with me."

"You're a good guy, SPD Blue," Luna teased. "Cruger's lucky to have you looking out for him." She took a sip of her hot chocolate and frowned. "Ah, at least he might be if he knew you were doing it, you know, not behind his back." She stuck two fingers up near her hair, done up in Sailor Moon-style buns. "'Teams don't keep secrets,'" she mimicked Kat Manx with a smile.

Sky grinned at the impression. "Yeah," he said. He ran a thumb over her eyebrow ridge. "Except we kind of are, aren't we."

She nodded. "We are. But I don't think Doggie needs that on top of everything else going on. I plan on telling him, eventually. He's my godfather, I can't keep it a secret for long."

"And he's my CO," Sky put in. "And if he finds out, I won't be SPD Blue much longer."

"Schuyler Tate, always playing by the book," Luna said.

"Nobody calls me Schuyler."

She grinned. "Not to your face," she teased. She set her mug down carefully, reached up to take Sky's face in her hands. "Hey, so, are we still on for tomorrow afternoon?"

Sky frowned. "You, me, picnic…" Luna reminded him. Her face fell. "You forgot."

"I didn't…I just…" Sky sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I forgot. I'm sorry. But, yes. When I get off tomorrow afternoon, definitely. You, me, picnic."

"Can I bring holochess?"

"Absolutely not," Sky objected.

"You just don't like losing," she accused him.

He tweaked her chin. "You're right," he agreed, leaning down to kiss her.

Alarm bells sounded off the walls, and Luna jumped, banging her hip against the console. Her mug jolted, then started to tip. Sky threw up a shield over the console as Luna thrust two fingers out, holding the mug steady until Sky could return it to its' upright position. Then, the two of them leapt apart as the doors slid back and Jack and the others came sliding in. "Monster, down by the ports," Jack informed them, eyeing the two curiously. "We gotta go."

"Yes, sir," Sky said, yanking his morpher from his uniform pocket and joining them as they morphed and took off for the Delta Runner Bay.

Luna watched them go. Be safe. RIC came bounding back into the room, dropping his ball at her feet. Luna lifted it off the ground with her fingers, and patted RIC behind the ears.

"You sure you got this?" Jack asked Sky in the lift down to the holding cells. Wootox, if that was even the purple monster's actual name, was putting up a hell of a fight in his cuffs. "I mean, I'll take the excuse not to do paperwork," he added.

"Well," Sky reminded him with a sarcastic grin as the lift doors opened onto the detention level, "that's just part of the Red Ranger job description." With a wave, he shoved Wootox off the lift and down the bright white hall to the holding cells. "Knock it off," he told Wootox, who was pulling against his grip. He was mentally exhausted from the MegaZord fight—Wootox had been strong enough that they needed to call in Commander Cruger and the Delta Command MegaZord—along with his late night databank searching. He wanted nothing more than to collapse in his quarters and sleep like the dead until his date with Luna-

And that was when Wootox got the drop on him.

The criminal cranked his body sideways, slamming Sky into the wall near the open holding cell. Sky gasped, the wind knocked from him. He attempted to get up, to reach for his morpher and call for backup, but Wootox kicked him in the chest, sending Sky staggering. Wootox put a hand on either shoulder and pinned Sky to the wall. His morpher dropped to the tile.

"Grumm sends his regards," Wootox hissed in Sky's ear. Then, Sky saw a bright orange glow, a stabbing pain in his forehead…and then suddenly, he was looking down at himself.

"What the hell?" he said, but the voice that asked the question wasn't his. In shock, Sky staggered backwards away from himself…as his body stood up and dusted itself off, straightened the collar.

"Enjoy prison," his voice said, tossing Sky into the cell and closing it.

Sky climbed to his feet and reached for himself through the bars…his eyes falling on a pair of purple, clawed hands. "Son of a b-" he cursed, realizing what had happened. Wootox had somehow swapped them. His consciousness was in Wootox's body, and Wootox was in his.

"Hey," he heard his voice say, reaching through the bars for the gold collar around his neck. He gripped it and pulled hard, nearly sending Sky's new face into the bars. "Language," Wootox reprimanded him, and yanked the collar off, crushing it under his boot. "See you in oh, ten to fifty," Wootox said, offering Sky a sarcastic salute, before making his way down the hall.

"Get back here with my body!" Sky yelled after him, but he didn't understand a word of what he'd just yelled. That collar must have been some kind of translator. Which means no one can understand me…and nobody's going to realize that I'm not me until it's too late!

Luna sat cross-legged on Z's bed, her chin resting on her fists as she stared at the two outfits Syd was holding up. "I dunno, Syd. Neither one of these really looks like-"

"Like what?" Syd interrupted. "Like a 'this is our first official date even though we've basically been dating forever' outfit?"

"Exactly like that," Luna confirmed. She flopped back on Z's bed, fingers toying with the neon blue streak in her braid. "Why is this so complicated?"

"It's not, not really," Syd replied. She held up the blue tank minidress in her left hand. "This one matches your hair, and Sky's favorite color is blue. You wear this with…" She paused, biting her bottom lip. Then, she snapped her fingers. "With these." She reached down and pulled out Z's calf-high combat boots. "A little bit beauty queen, and a little bit badass. But definitely all Luna Oliveira." She grinned. "And, I bet Z could do something amazing with your hair."

Luna propped herself up on one elbow. "You think?"

Before Syd could reply, the door slid back and Sky stepped into the room. Only…Luna sat up slowly, studying her boyfriend. Sky looked like he hadn't slept-understandable, considering-, but the look in his eyes was sleepiness or tiredness. It was…Luna shivered. Something.

"Excuse you," Syd said. "Can we help you with something?"

Sky stared at her. "No," he said finally, and walked back out.

"The hell was that?" Syd groused as she moved to put the other outfit she'd chosen for Luna away.

Luna stared at the closed door. "I don't know," she whispered.

The door slid back again, and Z Delgado stepped into the room, the top half of her uniform tied around her waist, revealing a yellow SPD workout tank and her dog tags. "Sky looks like he hasn't slept in days." She grinned at Luna. "He's probably gonna fall asleep on your picnic."

Luna's eyes never left the door. "Does everyone know we're dating?"

"Everybody but Cruger," Z supplied. She pointed at the two of them with her index and pinky fingers. "What's with the two of you?"

"Sky just came bursting in here like he owns the place," Syd complained. "Like, didn't even knock or anything."

"Really? Mr. SPD Handbook Monitor broke a regulation?" Z raised an eyebrow. "That's weird."

"Extremely," Syd agreed. She looked over at Luna. She was still staring at the door. "Hey. You okay?" She moved to come sit next to Luna. Z joined them.

Luna blinked. "I…yeah. Just nervous, I guess. Sky seemed a little…off." She smiled, but it was forced. "Maybe he's just nervous for our date this afternoon."

Sky banged on the bars of the holding cell, hoping maybe Wootox was some kind of species where the bars wouldn't be as much of a match for him. So far, the only thing he'd succeeded in doing was getting the rest of the prisoners in the holding cells to yell at him to shut up.

"You wanna keep it down in there?" Jack Landors slammed a hand against the outside wall of the cell, startling Sky enough to make him jump backwards.

"Jack! It's me!" he tried yelling, but the only thing that came out was alien gibberish.

"He's really agitated," Bridge noted as he joined the Red Ranger outside the cell. He frowned. "The guy we brought in was pretty calm. I wonder what happened between now and then?"

"Well, we did put him in a holding cell pending judgement and confinement," Jack offered.

Bridge nodded. "Right. Fair point."

"Bridge!" Sky tried. "Bridge, it's me. Can't you tell?"

Bridge eyed the monster curiously. "We could understand him earlier," Bridge remembered. "I wonder why we can't now?"

"Maybe he had a translator on him," Jack said. "I'll check with Sky, see if they confiscated anything from him before they put him in holding."

Bridge nodded. "Sounds good," he said, but he still sounded mildly confused.

Sky waited. Maybe I got through to him? He saw Bridge tug at the Velcro on his hand, slip a glove off. Come on, Bridge, figure it out! It's me! He held still, knowing his agitation wouldn't make it easy for the empath to get a good read.

Jack watched Bridge wave a hand in the general direction of Wootox. "Pick up anything?" he asked.

Bridge held his hand up another second, then dropped it. "No," he said. "Nothing really. I've got anger, frustration…all stuff I'd feel if I'd gotten locked up in a holding cell after trying to destroy a city too," he added with a shrug.

Jack nodded. "Fair enough. Okay, let's go find Sky and report to Cruger regarding confinement." He eyed Wootox. "And you, settle down," he ordered him.

Injecting a little of his own frustration, Sky rattled a bar for good measure, staring down Jack. He watched the two of them leave.

I've gotta get out of here. But how? He paced the cell, thinking. Bridge couldn't tell it was me even with his powers, and he'd be the only one who could! I have to find Wootox and switch us back, or else-

His eyes widened. Luna. She doesn't have a clue that the guy wandering around isn't me! I have to get out of here, have to warn the team!

An idea struck him. Wootox had fairly muscular arms, but the advantage was the ridiculously long claws or fingernails. And maybe I can make that work, Sky thought. He stepped closer to the bars, leaned against the, and twisted an arm through one of the openings. There was a keypad on the side of the cell, and Sky knew the command code to unlock it. If I can reach it…He grimaced, straining. Come on…come on!

He felt the plastic of the panel, and grinned. Gotcha.

"Wootox has quite the rap sheet," Cruger noted, scrolling through his file up in Ops. Luna had joined her friends, noting, still uneasy, that Sky was also there. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, unable to stay still. That's odd, she thought. There's a reason Jack jokes about Sky having a stick up his-

"Judgement and containment have been approved," Cruger said.

"I say do it now," Sky cut in. "Better safe than sorry."

"It's not like he's going anywhere," Z put in.

"Yeah, he's in a holding cell," Bridge added.

No sooner had he said that, the red emergency lighting flicked on, the red alert klaxons sounded, and Luna jumped in Z's combat boots. "Override code's been put in down in Holding," Jack noted.

"Wootox," Sky growled. "I'm on it."

"How'd he get the override code?" Kat Manx wondered. "Nobody has those codes except select SPD personnel."

"Also, I'm sorry, what?" Syd stared at Sky in confusion. "Did you forget this morning it took all of us to bring him in and you and Jack to put him in handcuffs?"

"Then keep up," Sky tossed over his shoulder, and took off.

Cruger watched him go, then turned to Jack. "Do not let him out of your sight," he ordered him.

Jack nodded. "I'm on it," he said darkly, and sprinted off after him, Syd and Z right behind him.

Luna grabbed Bridge by the back of his green uniform jacket. "Hey," she said quietly. "This doesn't seem like Sky at all. Be careful? Tell the others too."

"You're right," Bridge agreed. "This doesn't seem like Sky one bit. Don't worry. We'll figure out what's going on." He grinned. "Besides, you guys have a date to get to."

"A what?" Cruger exploded from behind them.

Luna glared at Bridge as the Green Ranger's eyes widened, then backed sheepishly out of Ops and after his fellow Rangers. Luna swallowed, then turned to her godfather. Cruger and Kat Manx were staring at her. Kat's expression was one of surprise, but there was joy on her face. Cruger's on the other hand…"Um. I guess we need to have a talk."

Sky saw a couple of officers coming at him and skidded to a stop, turning around as fast as he could on Wootox's feet, and ran the opposite direction. Great plan, Tate, you're out. Now what? The entire base is after you!

Find Wootox. That was the first step. Switch back. Second step. Make picnic with Luna. Third step.

Fourth step…tell his commanding officer that he was dating his goddaughter.

"I'll go down this hall, you guys take that way," Sky directed Jack and the others as they came to a T. Without waiting for Jack's reply, he sprinted off down the hall.

"What's his deal?" Bridge demanded as they caught their breath.

"I don't know, but it's really starting to bug me," Syd said. "I'm gonna go after him. He needs some sense knocked into him before his date with Luna."

"About that," Bridge panted. He swallowed. "Uh, I might've let it slip to Cruger that him and Luna are a thing?"

Jack eyed him. "Dude. Dude."

Bridge ran a hand over his face. "I know! It slipped!"

"If the girls don't kill you first, Cruger might," Jack warned. He nodded to Syd. "Okay, Syd, go. We'll try to find Wootox."

Syd nodded, gave Bridge a Look, and then took off after Sky.

Jack looked at Bridge again. He shook his head disapprovingly, then he and Z started down the hall again.

"You know I don't need my powers to tell you're pissed at me," Bridge yelled at their backs. He sighed.

"It's like this guy knows where the cameras are," Kat said in frustration as she and Luna scrolled through the base security footage, looking for Wootox. She continued flicking through the floors. "So. You and Sky have a date today, huh?"

"Assuming we can hunt down this weird alien, and oh yeah, figure out why he's acting like such an idiot, yeah," Luna replied. She sighed. "You think Doggie's gonna let us go?"

"If he doesn't," Kat replied, "I'll knock some sense into him." She looked over at Luna and smiled. "It'll be fine. Doggie's a lot of bark and no bite," she winked.

"Here's hoping," Luna muttered.

The door to Security slid open and Sky stepped into the room. "Hey," Luna said, hopping off her chair and coming over to him. "Are you okay? You don't look like you feel well."

Sky stared at her. "Where's the cockpit for the Delta Command Megazord?" he asked instead of responding to her question.

Luna frowned. "The…Sky, you know where-" She paused, thinking. "Hey, so, I wanted to know if it was okay if I bring holochess to our date today?"

Sky forced a smile. "Absolutely. Looking forward to it."

Luna nodded. "Sounds good." She stared into Sky's eyes. "Kat, inform B Squad that Sky Tate is the one that let Wootox out of his cell, and he's looking to take command of the Delta Megazord." Then, she used her powers to send a big binder of protocol paperwork straight for Sky's head.

Sky dodged it just in time, and grinned at her. "Figured it out?"

"Didn't take much," Luna replied, backing up so she was near Kat. "Sky's an asshole, but you're really pushing the envelope. Also? Sky hates holochess."

"I'm going to find that cockpit," Sky told her. "You'll make it easier on yourself if you tell me where it is."

"Not a chance in hell," Luna shot back. "Where's the real Sky?"

"Hopefully?" Sky responded. "Getting detained again by…what did you call them, B Squad? With them occupied, it makes my job much easier."

"They're on their way up here," Luna countered. "And we can keep you plenty busy while you wait!" She dove at him, tackling him to the floor.

Jack froze in his tracks as Kat repeated her message. "I knew it!" he said, pounding a fist into his palm. "Something's been off with him all day!"

"Okay, but what the heck is going on?" Z asked. "Sky's trying to hijack the Delta Command Megazord, but what about Wootox?"

"It's obviously all connected," Syd said. "But how?"

"It's because Sky isn't Sky," Bridge realized. The others turned to look at him. "Think about it," he said. "Sky ignores protocol. An SPD override code is used in Holding, and Wootox breaks out. Sky is looking for the DC Megazord cockpit…because Sky is Wootox!"

Syd cocked her head, looking at Bridge. "You know, that actually made sense?"

"Oddly enough," Z agreed. "Which means that Wootox is up in Security right now with Luna and Kat. We gotta get up there!"

Luna tried flipping Sky onto his stomach, to put him in a hold, but unfortunately, her small stature wasn't enough to flip him over. Sky grabbed her wrist and flung her sideways. Her back slammed into console and she curled in on herself.

"Where is it?" Sky roared, turning his attention now to Kat.

Something grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and shoved him up and over a table.

A purple, clawed hand reached down and helped Luna to her feet. She blinked, her eyes widening at the sight of Wootox, tall, terrifying, and in the flesh.

Except…. "Sky?" she questioned. "Is that you?"

Wootox nodded. "Oh, my God. How do we….we have to switch you guys…how-" Her mind raced. Wootox (Sky, she reminded herself) tapped his forehead, then tapped hers. Luna looked at Sky as he wearily got to his feet.

"Oh." She grinned. "Okay. Let's do it." Wootox squeezed her hand.

"You're not gonna stop me!" Sky threatened them.

Luna smirked. "Watch us."

Sky charged them. Wootox caught him, claws sinking into his forearms, locking the two of them together. Wootox leaned in as Sky struggled to get away from him.

Luna stepped up next to them, one hand raised. "Get. Out. Of my boyfriend!" She flicked her wrist, sending Sky's forehead into the orange jewel between Wootox's eyes.

Jack, Z, Bridge, and Syd came to a stop inside the room just as Sky and Wootox fell apart, collapsing to the floor. "Luna!" Syd gasped.

She held up a hand. "Wait. Just wait." She knelt down next to Sky, the real Sky, she hoped. "Sky?" she questioned. "Sky, please, are you….you?"

He opened his eyes slowly. "Lu…" His eyes widened at her outfit. "You look amazing," he whispered, flicking her braid over her shoulder.

"He's him," Bridge confirmed with a wave of his hand. "And ah, that also means-"

Wootox roared as he got up, charging toward Sky and Luna. A sword blocked his path, and he looked up into the furious eyes of Doggie Cruger. "Try it," Cruger suggested, a low growl in his tone.

Luna intertwined her fingers with Sky's as the two of them stood quietly as Cruger paced in front of them sometime later. "This goes against every SPD protocol," he began, turning to the two of them.

"Doggie-"

"Commander-"

He held up a hand, and the two of them fell silent. He looked at Luna. "If your father could see you now," he told her, "he would be very proud of the way you handled yourself today. You were the first to realize that Sky was not himself, and I know it's because the bond you two have shared since you were children."

Luna beamed, laying her head on Sky's shoulder. "And," Cruger continued, "Although regulations state that cadets are not allowed to date each other…" He looked at them. "Because Sky technically is B Squad, he is therefore not referred to as 'cadet' any longer, but rather, 'SPD Blue Ranger'."

Sky processed that. "So what you're saying, sir, is that-"

"I'll allow this," Cruger said. He held up a hand. "On one condition. That neither of you allows it to interfere with your duties here at SPD. The moment it does, I pull the plug."

Sky snapped to attention. "Yes, sir," he replied, doing his best not to wrap Luna in a hug. There'll be plenty of time for that later. This is awesome.

Cruger dismissed the two of them with a wave of his hand. Sky saluted, and gestured for Luna to go on ahead of him. Once outside Ops, he pulled her into a hug. "You saved me today," he told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Thank you."

"You better get used to it," Luna replied. "I've got your back."

Sky grinned. "Yeah, speaking of…" He ran his hands down the back of her dress. "Where did you get this thing?"

"Syd. And the boots are Z's. Why?"

Sky took her hand, led her to the elevator. "Feel free to raid their closet anytime," he whispered as the doors closed behind them. "Because blue is definitely my favorite color."

Before he could react, Luna had reached into his pocket, pulled out his morpher. "Hey, Jack?" she paged the Red Ranger. "Sky just said-"

He shook his head, leaning down to kiss her as he tugged the morpher out of her hand. "Not another word."

"Luna? Everything good?" Jack's voice crackled over the speaker.

Sky held a finger to Luna's lips as he replied, "Wrong number, Jack."

Luna smiled. "Everything's good, Jack. Better than good."

Sky heard Jack laugh. "Roger that."