A/N: I'd suggest, read the chapter again, once you understand the plan. So many things will make so much more sense that your mind… will be BLOWN.

Chapter 10: Until Our Cars Collide Again

Sky's POV

She's just lying there on top of me. Her head rests against my chest. My fingers comb through her hair, and my other hand rests in the small of her back. We are lying in a dark, abandoned SPD hallway. No lights, no fans, no Air Conditioners, no nothing, just the two of us. It's strange to see the diminishing candle flame give out a creepy glow from the common room, which is just slightly visible.

We made love for four straight hours. It's a little over five in the morning now, I think, I caught a glimpse of Z's wristwatch, but it was hard to tell in the dim light. My watch, my phone, my morpher, they must all be lying in some corner of the hallway, or possibly the common room. And oh how my head is hurting despite all the almost macabre beauty of this situation. We must've gotten hell drunk, to cause me of all people such a hangover. I can't even imagine Z's situation right now. Maybe that's why in the past half an hour she hasn't stirred a bit, except the heavy breathing, and occasional reaching out and clenching of my hand.

I had really needed her, and she had really needed me, for moral support, for faith, for belief in life itself. Today's the day for which we had been waiting. It's do or die time, and I know that in less than one hour, both of us will set to the task of implementing the plan. Knowing this fact, I want to savor this last moment of peace as much as I can, and maybe she feels the same way. So we just lie here together. We know that neither is asleep, we've made it quite evident, but we're not really in a mood to talk either. We just want to be close to the other. we'll talk. Of course we will, but some moments are better in silence. Aren't I getting a little too philosophical? Maybe being near to death does that to one.

Now that the morning and subsequently the sunshine is here, I actually can believe that maybe the plan will work after all. At least I can believe it more than I could any time last night. New Day, New Hope. I'm surprised at how many philosophers are coming into my mind, from Socrates to Dante to _. Were all these people near death sometime in their lives? Not that I have time to ponder on that, because Z opens her eyes, and looks at me. Looks like time for peace and silence is over.

"morning handsome" she says, smirking, and I return the compliment, "morning beautiful" she brings herself up to kiss me on my lips, and I savor that feeling also, after all, who knows if we might get any time again.

"last night was amazing" I say, "I never thought that we'd…" I trail off, thinking about our intimacy, and the numerous confessions of love.

"I love you Sky, and I want you to know that what we did last night had nothing to do with the fact that I was drunk or was afraid of death or anything other than the simple fact that I'm in love with you" she said, and I replied, "hey! Those are my lines" and we shared a short laugh, after which we grew serious again, "I know Z, the feelings were sincere from my side as well"

We share another short kiss, and then resume our state of restlessness for a few more minutes, after which we have to reluctantly get up, and get dressed, and get to the plan.

Going to our separate rooms, we take a shower, separately (she didn't want to waste any more time making love apparently, rejected my suggestion) and meet each other, dressed in our suicide squad gear, aka turtlenecks, with SPD logo on the back, jackets, to cover the logo, skinny jeans, also black, with a utility belt, and a safe pocket on the underside, to hide the tasers and EMP and other stuff we collected yesterday. She looks cute, even dressed for potential death and/or murder.

Hey! Maybe we wouldn't have been so pessimistic about this whole death thing if we hadn't seen the brutality of Syd's murder. Wow! I'm still not used to saying those two words together.

Anyway, so now, the lights at SPD are out, and Z and I get to the task of implementing the plan. It calls for decent planning, organization skills, and most of all, amazing acting, on both our parts. We are trying to make SPD look as if it's been almost undisturbed. Like there's only been one person here all this while and not two.

Any flaws? (the fact that xyz saw two people?) Ignore them. Or do we? I'm pretty sure there's a simple explanation somewhere out there.

We tidy the whole base, and to be honest, it looks like there has been some rushed tidying done, as it has; I mean it's so evident. Even a rookie can make it out. Though we try to make sure that all attempts to conceal it have been done. The next task is a bit trickier.

We need to make sure that all the security features at SPD are disabled. I go up to the command centre, while Z's still down, going through all the rooms we searched, doing the cleaning up gig.

So now I have to hack into the SPD computers. I have a person in mind to consult for it. But talking would take a longer time, so I just text her, and within minutes, she replies, guiding me through, understanding my situation, into the SPD mainframe. Apparently it is known all around the galactic headquarters that SPD earth might be down, and there's nothing they can do about it. It's known universe-wide, that Z and I are the only chance SPD Earth has. They, as well as our nemeses, forgot to consider one variable factor though.

So S.O.P.H.I.E. guides me through, telling me what to do, and how to do, and what keys to press, and what files to upload to corrupt the software. Once that is done, she tells me to fry the computers best I can. The data is all on the cloud, so no data loss, in fact, frying the hardware, right now, is beneficial, as it can protect private SPD data from them. They might wonder how it happened, so we'll have to craft an explanation for that as well.

So I corrupt the software, just enough that anyone can enter SPD without nay sort of access cards, and operate certain systems, but cannot access main files, criminal records and the like.

My next task is to get the Zords working. I jump from the hatch, and I land up at the Zord bay, where I was a while back. Manually, I exit the Zord and then I look up everything there is to know about the functioning. Then I take a piece of paper, well, several pieces of paper, and scribble it all down, hot to operate the Zords and whatnot, without Dr. Manx's help, i.e. manually. Yes, on paper, not laptop, not iPads, not any high tech writing devices, not even a typewriter. Just a plain old fashioned piece of printer paper. The Zords can't combine on their own, without five drivers, so I also, for good measure, take the Delta Command Megazord, and reprogram it for red morpher as well. Scribbling all of it down, I finish my report, signing off as 'Sky' and call Z up.

"I'm done" I say, and she sighs, "me too"
"meet up?" I ask, "common room"

And so, in minutes, I am waiting for her in the common room. "found the place?" I ask when she walks in, and she nods, and takes a seat beside me. I hand her my paper, and she scribbles down all of her parts. Whatever she had to contribute, and I watch, finding myself awestruck by her. she's beautiful, she's intelligent, and if we get out of this, I owe my life to her.

When finished, she leans back against the couch, as if awfully tired, but I know what it really is.

The most difficult part. The Parting.

"how long?" I ask, "till they come and attack?"

"I really don't know" she replied, maybe hoping somewhere in there that they never come, but knowing it'd be just as bad if they don't. "it's about half an hour to a complete Forty-Eight hours since the call."

"let's hope they are punctual then"

She smiles, and then brings her hands around my neck, and drags herself up to sit on my lap. Automatically, my hands lock around her waist, and grip her hips. We stare at each other for a few moments before being dragged into an almost love-starved frenzy of kissing and nibbling. I find her reaching for my crotch, and my heartbeat going up, just as we are interrupted from the daze by a loud thud sound. They're here. She realizes this as well, and we break apart, she looks almost in a drunken daze, though I know she's not, and hurriedly gets off of me, adjusting her clothes, which were almost off, and nervously looks back at me. I get up with her, zipping my jeans back on, feeling embarrassed by the bulge.

She gives me a nervous smile, and I return it with a bear hug, "We'll meet again" I say, and she nods, my shirt gets a little wet with her tears, "Even if its in the afterlife" she adds, metaphorically of course, and then, she breaks away, I try to smile, but somewhere in my heart, I feel, it's the last time I'll ever see her.

"RUN!" is all I yell, and I push her, and she, taken aback, but understanding, turns around, and whispers, just loud enough for me to hear, "please don't ever forget me"

"I love you," I say, and then she turns back, i see the reply in her eyes, though her lips dont say a word. The eyes, they scream. She loves me too

I take to a hurried utility check, seeing if I have everything that I will need. Yes I do, and I am just about to sit back down, when a squad of seven people, dressed in black, with masks, and practically every effort to conceal their identity, enter, with massive guns, sabers, and other weapons. Z was right. If it came to it, we could've never fought and fended them off just like that. The plan was truly the best way to go. I don't know exactly when, but we came up with a cake metaphor for it; fun to say, and doesn't make any sense until you know the context.

I yell, "SPD EMERGENCY! FOUR SPD YELLOW!" and morph into said color. "SWAT MODE!" and then I fight. I fight well, but not well enough, as all I have to do is buy time, time for her to run, get out, and execute the rest. She knows what to do. But this is just the first layer of the cake.

Within an hour, I am captured. Good. My Yellow Ranger helmet is taken off, and I am bound, all my weapons removed, but my small utility kit is still with me, inside the SWAT utility belt. They don't care enough for anything other than weapons, because well, nothing else can harm them.

XYZ arrives, yep, I recognize the initials KT, and he speaks to me, in the same electronically modified voice.

"Yellow boy. The color doesn't really suit you, you know? I think Blue would really bring out your eyes." He comments, nonchalantly, as if he's talking to a friend, rather than his POW.

I roll my eyes, trying to keep it casual, I can still buy her more time, "where's the other one? She's the red one isn't she?" maybe the guy's color blind, I think, anyway, "she ran," I say, bitterly.

"Ran?" he asks, in disbelief, "I thought you SPD people were like, sacrificing-your-own-lives-for-the-sake-of-greater-good type."

"she never really was SPD type" I say, as convincingly as I can, "Cruger picked her off the streets,"

"looks like little yellow boy has his heart broken" Xyz said in mock pity, the others in the background snickered, "shall we patch him up?"

"I don't need your pity" now these emotions? True to the core. All my hatred for everything and everyone who isn't lost or dead is coming surging back. Mom, Bella, Amedeo, These people, it's rising, but I have to control it. Emotions have no play in this game. It's all about calculated moves. Like chess.

"where's she?" he asks again, and I let my act falter, just for a second, if he's smart enough, he'd pick up the hint. "sh—she's not here" I stutter, as if lying, and he gets suspicious, "once a street rat, always a street rat."

But he's caught me, "He's lying. You're a good actor, little Yellow, but not GOOD ENOUGH."

"you'll never get to her!" I spit out, in the classic thriller flick style.

"We'll see about that" he turns around, and gives the orders, "find her, dead or alive; oh and knock him out as well."

I am met by a blow on my head, and the last thing I remember is collapsing onto the floor, out cold.

X-X-X

Z's POV

I never wanted to leave him. I love him so much. This has been the hardest part of the past few days. But I had to run. It was the only way.

Well, not I have to hide. And hide is precisely what I do. I had already found a spot for me to hide at, which I could use, which would be a pretty good hiding space, but a location, that could be easily found in a thorough search.

As I ran from Sky, my first stop was the command centre, where inside Cruger's desk, I slipped in all the papers Sky had drafted. I also sat there for a few minutes, and scribbled down to write about all the developments that had taken place at SPD so far. As well as the instructions he'd need to carry out. Then I went and hid at my hideaway.

Wonder what will happen now. I just sit in that little storage closet, and I lie back, leaning against something that used to be something else. I bring my knees close to my chest, and curl up, and I close my eyes.

I hope Sky's okay. I really wish nothing bad happens to him. I won't be able to live knowing something happened to him because of me and my stupid plan. I hum that tune he told me he hummed when he was afraid, though I don't remember any lyrics. He's right, it is very soothing. But after a while I automatically find my thoughts drifting to last night. Oh it was so amazing! I wish I could savor that closeness, that love, those feelings for more than a single night. I wish I didn't have to leave his caring, strong arms, and go out into this unknown.

I try to push all the negatives thought out of my head, it's hard to do, but I settle down, thinking of my friends, the memories, the good times. Bridge's buttery toast, Syd and Peanuts, Jack and his bossing us around, the mud runs, Sky and his rulebook. Sam the glowing lightball. Going to buy kid Sam a bike. God! I wonder where he is now. He never even came to my mind! What must he and those other little kids must be feeling? Stuck there with those monsters? And Isinia? Was she also taken with Cruger? Pretty sure she was, because she's nowhere around to be seen.

Why don't these thoughts go away?

Think positive. Everything' gonna be alright. Everything's gonna be okay. It's gonna be a good lif—

There's a flash of blinding light, and I shield my eyes. Then I feel a hand grab my wrist, and yank me from my hiding spot.

They've found me!

And now four or so people stand in front of me, with massive weapons and ammo, and with every attempt to conceal their identity, and are ready for me to morph. I don't. because I don't have a morpher. I instead raise my arms, and call out, "NO PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING TO ME!"

Xyz emerges from behind, "well, well, well, if it isn't big red, begging for mercy!"

"how'd you find me?" I ask, scared. Or at least, pretending to be, hoping they'd take mercy on me.

"your partner ratted you out"

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted that bitch" I say bitterly through gritted teeth.

"you thought that you could play us huh?" Xyz says conceitedly, "pretend to run, so that you can chase after us, and decimate us from outside? Well guess what? NOT. GONNA. HAPPEN"

I look at him skeptically, and I try, in vain to fight the goons, "you'll never get me!" I act.

Second layer of the cake.

"oh but I think we already have" he says, in a voice higher than it should've. I think the electronic modifier malfunctioned, or maybe something else, but I don't care, "we are the most powerful beings in the universe. And so is that friend of yours. Anyone with the remotest powers is on a higher rung of the evolutionary scale. We deserve to rule the inferiors. We are the chosen ones, chosen specially for this purpose. Inferiors are to worship us. We are the new gods. And WE will make a better world; free of the inferiors and the misery they caused us. We will take the justice that your SPD could not give us, the protection that we sake when we were helpless, and was denied to us!"

Ah the same old Nazi ideology. One person is superior to the other for some reason or the other, and deserves to dominate, causing misery to them on the pretext that they wronged them first! How fucking cliché.

"Really? That's your cause? What justice did SPD deny you? You bloody motherfuckers are just sorry that you couldn't deal with being different!" I mock, bring different myself makes me relate, but it doesn't mean I go crazy and do stuff like this! I look around, for a snarky reply, but instead, what I get, is two different blades impaling my abdomen from two different sides.

Not a part of the plan!

*Fade to Black*

X-X-X

"YOU MORONS!" Xyz exclaimed, as the girl collapsed onto the floor, "we had to check whether she was an empowered before we killed her!" then he breathed, as if trying to soothe his nerves, "listen carefully, WE… DON'T… KILL… THE… EMPOWERED!" he shouted irately.

The other two looked at the body on the floor. They didn't know if she was dead or alive. They shrugged, "she insulted us"

Xyz rolled his eyes, "get her up. We'll check, and then decide whether she's worth saving or not."

And with that he left. The others in pursuit. Sky Tate bound, gagged, and unconscious, being dragged. Z Delgado, possibly dead, and also being dragged.

X-X-X

Jack Landers arrived by train, to SPD, sweating, afraid, and with a purpose.

He was just in time to see about seven or maybe eight people in heavy gear and with heavier armaments. He wanted to attack them, and maybe kill them all at the very moment, because they were here to hurt his sister. But Jack couldn't do this. He wanted to, so bad, but Z had already warned him, on call, that he was to do NOTHING, until these people left. Otherwise he'd ruin their plan. So instead, he went and hid himself in a tree, and waited.

The birds began a ruckus, for what Jack did not know. But the birds knew very well. They had sensed someone's life slowly starting to drain out of their body. They were petrified. Jack got irritated by the ruckus, but stayed hidden.

He had to wait for about an hour and a half, after which they emerged, what with, Jack couldn't see properly, because of the distance. And once they were out of sight, and as Jack ascertained, out of reach, and would not come back anytime soon, he got down. And made his way into the academy. Z had told him he'd not have any difficulty in entering the Academy, and true to her word, the gate opened without asking for any ID or anything of the sort.

He looks around, to make sure nobody is out there, and then enters the Academy. Nothing seemed out of place. And that was what scared Jack. He looked around, and the first place he stopped, was the common room, where it seemed like some fighting had taken place. Furniture was broken, and then he saw it, the thing that almost made his heart stop working.

It was Z's helmet, lying by a corner, shining yellow. It's visor was cracked, the red siren lights were blinking, and the moment Jack picked them up, they short circuited, and went out, giving out smoke. Jack's eyes watered, as he held the helmet in his hands, and then hugged it, "why Z? why did you not let me help you?" he cried out to no one in particular.

Then, after sitting with Z's helmet for a while, he realized he had been wasting time, and so he got up, and went searching for whatever Z had said she'd leave him. She had told him to check Cruger's desk, and he did.

What he found there was about an eighteen-page letter, and an SPD morpher. The beginning seven or eight pages were ramblings from Sky about stuff like how to operate the megazord and stuff. Followed by it, was Z's description of the whole plan. And then words of goodbye from both of them.

There were a few lines, right at the end, that stung him. They had been scribbled almost recently, about half an hour or something back? Why did the ink still felt wet for some reason?

"Dear Jack, right now, Sky is in the Common room. He must be fighting for his life. He has my yellow Ranger morpher, so I am not as worried. I am leaving you this morpher, Jack, Sky's. The red one, because face it, no other color would ever suit you" Jack took a look at the morpher in the drawer, "also take the shadow saber, because well, you deserve to, and nobody is going to stop you" classic Z. He smiled to himself.

So the helmet was Sky's not Z's. Good. Well, not good exactly, but at least she was safe. She said that she intended to put up a short, but convincing fight. So that there's not much damage OR suspicion caused. The plan basically said that Sky would pretend that Z ran away, and that Sky was here to hold the fort down. But he had to falter in his act a little, so that they get that he's bluffing. And then, since they already know there were two people out here, they can come looking for Z. Z in turn would have to be immaculate in her acting. No one needs to think that she also had a backup person who would take the initiative in case she was down. Now it was Jack's task. That was the third, and final layer of the cake. The plan was simple. Those people would think that they had everyone on SPD. They'd think they had won, that they had outsmarted the simple plan the two cadets had come up with. Because as far as they knew, there were only two people at SPD. A third person? And that also someone from outside SPD, was unthinkable. This was where Jack came in. When these people had let their guard down, when they had decidedly thought that they had won. Just when SPD galactic command or any other SPD organization from any other planet, could not do anything, Jack would strike.

Then there was a heartfelt goodbye, from both of them, to Jack, that made Jack almost tear up. But Jack Landers never cried. No matter how dire the situation got, he dealt with it; he'd deal with this too. And then, there were the last lines, where Z had written, "Jack, I am now going away to hide, until phase two. If they don't get me by then, you'll find me in a utility closet behind the VR room, on the third floor. If they do, well then, you'll find a small device in my hiding spot, which you can use to track us. Both Sky and I have tracking devices installed in our bodies. He doesn't even know. I slipped it in his whiskey last night. Anyway. Then track us, and use the megazord, and anything at the base, is at your disposal. We trust you Jack, with everything, and everyone SPD. Please don't let us down." And that was the end.

Jack did not know what to feel. All emotions, anger, fear, responsibility, everything came surging back to him, as he thought about the letter, its contents, and his responsibility.

"I wont let you down Z, I promise" he whispered to himself.

Then he headed for the place where Z was supposed to be hiding.

And there, he dropped down to his knees, in shock, and pain, the moment he saw what the scene showed. The place right outside Z's described hiding spot held a pool of blood, from which someone, had been dragged through. One look at it told Jack that he was too late. That he had already let Z down, even before he could do anything. Sky was hurt, and God knows in what condition. Z was bleeding out somewhere, in the care of monsters. And here he was, uselessly sitting around.

Jack felt a tear roll down his cheek.

A/N: I hope it wasn't too confusing, the plan. Rather, the way I laid it all out.