Chapter 2
He was glad when the distress call came, restricted SPD channel or not. Even if there was only one reasonable explanation. Even if they were being lured away from Earth with the one message that would make them go when Grumm was this close to a final offensive that might destroy their planet once and for all. Even if a message from their lost Ranger team, almost a full year after they'd disappeared, could be nothing but a trap.
It was a trap that would get them away from the Delta base. Their departure would prevent or at least postpone a showdown between Jack and Commander Cruger that might tear this team apart. Trap or not, that was something.
Right now, it was everything.
When it actually was A Squad that they found--not at the exact coordinates of the distress call, but certainly close enough considering the sheer volume of space involved in the search to date--he was more relieved than he'd expected to be. Not because the signal was genuine. Not even because they'd finally found Charlie's team. Because there was no longer anywhere for the "promotable" members of B Squad to go, and maybe that would bank the power struggle between Jack and Cruger a little longer.
He'd find out tomorrow. They were spending tonight at a seasonal outpost in Caspian space, operated under contract with SPD and currently empty. It had power and water and breathable air, not to mention a lot more space than the ship B Squad had brought from Earth. The layover was nominally for A Squad, to give them a chance to get accustomed to the idea of human contact and civilization again, but Charlie was a fool if she didn't know what all the medical checks were for.
Not a fool, Sky thought grimly. Not like him. But he'd learned more than one lesson from Dru, and B Squad no longer took MIA recovery lightly. Charlie's team would be re-evaluated, thoroughly scanned, and gently interrogated before any of them got within a lightyear of SPD Earth.
It was a delicate task. It wasn't one he was well suited to, either, given that he had a history: both with the situation in general and Charlie in particular. She pushed his buttons without even trying. He'd grown up enough to know that she probably wasn't trying, but it didn't keep her from bothering him. He was still sensitive when it came to "amnesia" victims.
Every member of his team tried to point this out to him, starting with Bridge, who mentioned vaguely that A Squad might not need to be surrounded by all these people right now. Syd was less subtle, suggesting that Sky go find Jack and make sure station power was holding up under the suddenly increased demand. But it wasn't until Z said, point blank, "Sky, this would be easier if you didn't help," that he threw up his hands and stalked out of the outpost's medical facility.
He found Jack and Sam in the command module of the ship that Jack insisted on calling the "Treehouse." They were sitting side by side, feet propped up on the nav console, chatting idly about something that didn't make any sense. Probably swapping comic book stories, Sky thought, trying not to grind his teeth. He still didn't know what Sam was doing on this mission.
Jack must have heard him at the hatch, because he leaned back in his swivel chair and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, hey," he said, smiling in welcome. "They finally kick you out?"
Sam made a sound that could have been a laugh, but was muffled too quickly to be sure. Sky glared at him anyway. Unlike Charlie, Sam did deliberately try to piss him off. He knew it was stupid to be jealous of a little ball of light that couldn't even demorph, but that didn't change the fact that he was and Sam didn't have any reservations about taking advantage of it.
"I wasn't really contributing anything to the process," Sky said stiffly, unwilling to confirm an assumption that only annoyed him more. Not only was he not helping, but everyone knew he wasn't helping and they didn't seem that surprised.
All Jack did was wave at the empty chair to his left, remarking, "Join the club."
He sighed, but what choice did he have? He took the seat on Jack's other side, slumping against the back and folding his arms over his chest. "They actually do have records of most of the year," he told the forward screen. "Black box data confirms their capture, escape, and subsequent crash in the Gamma Orion system."
"Yeah?" He saw Jack's head turn toward him out of the corner of his eye. "Their ship was pretty messed up."
"It took heavy damage when they were captured," Sky said, not moving. "According to system data, they were lucky to make it through an atmosphere, let alone crash land."
"You'd think they would have used up all their luck finding a habitable planet in the first place," Sam remarked.
The Omega Ranger's voice was utterly undistorted by his morph, which was either a tribute to the technology of the future or a result of him not actually speaking in the traditional sense. They heard his words just as clearly when he was in his light form, after all. The possibility of telepathic communication disturbed Sky enough that he'd decided it was better not to know.
"What about the guy out back?" Jack was saying. "He just happened to crash land in their backyard with a compatible comm system they could hijack to send out a distress call? These guys are luck personified."
"They're Power Rangers," Sky pointed out, wondering if he could put his feet up too without looking stupid. "It's not just luck. They really are that good."
"So what's your problem?" Jack wanted to know, and he sounded genuinely curious. Sky turned his head, still resting on the back of his chair, and he found Jack looking back at him. "You don't trust this; I can tell."
"Of course I don't trust it," Sky said. "My ex-boyfriend crashed on Earth after being MIA for a year, claimed amnesia, and then tried to kill the base commander. And me. And all of you. I think I'm naturally wary about trusting people who say they can't remember anything."
Jack made a face that seemed to agree, but it was Sam who spoke. "I missed that," he commented. "Not amnesiac, then?"
"Not so much," Jack said, still looking at Sky. "SPD pilot turned mercenary. Taking money to infiltrate the base."
"Didn't have to work very hard," Sky muttered.
"You let him in?" Sam guessed.
"Yes, I let him in," Sky snapped, his eyes flicking past Jack to Sam's expressionless visor. "He'd just crashed his ship. He needed medical attention."
"Just like A Squad," Sam observed.
Before Sky could snarl something uncomplimentary, Jack jumped in with a question clearly aimed at him. "What don't they remember, exactly? If the black box backs up their story of escape, and the ship was obviously at that crash site for a while, what's the problem?"
"Their capture," Sky said, focusing on him instead of Sam. "They don't remember everything that happened while they were being held. They've as much as admitted that they've been compromised."
"They were tortured," Jack suggested. "They blocked it out."
"Maybe," Sky said. "And maybe Dru was on a top secret mission, using the pursuit of an already imprisoned criminal as his cover."
I knew there was no getting my arrival past you. Dru's words, sweet if somewhat puzzling at the time, had turned bitter and mocking in his memory. You are still the best.
Jack was staring at him. He didn't realize why until Jack asked, "Wait, you knew Dru was lying?"
"Is Dru the guy who infiltrated the base?" Sam wanted to know.
"His cover was lousy," Sky told Jack, ignoring the Omega Ranger.
"You knew he was lying?" Jack repeated. "And you didn't tell us?"
"He said he was on a mission," Sky said with a sigh, turning to stare at the screen again. "Top secret, already said too much, etcetera, etcetera. I trusted him."
"You let your feelings get in the way." Of course Sam had to participate. "Past experience told you to trust Dru, so you did, regardless of what the facts of the time said."
Short of actually hitting Sam, he couldn't come up with anything that would adequately express his current feelings. So he stared straight ahead, wondering what had made him mention Dru in the first place. In front of Sam? He might be a Ranger, but he certainly wasn't B Squad.
"Now you're doing it again," Sam's voice continued. "Your experience tells you not to trust A Squad, so you don't. Regardless of what the facts say."
Was there anything that prevented him from hitting Sam? Sky considered the question carefully. It was true that Sam wasn't B Squad. He wasn't even a cadet. It was entirely possible that, being from the future, he didn't legally exist in this time at all. At least, not as the Omega Ranger.
Was he allowed to hit someone who didn't exist?
"I don't like it when you stop talking, Sky." Jack sounded, of all things, slightly amused. "The silent treatment makes me nervous. Cut it out."
Sky rolled his head against the back of the chair, turning just enough that he could raise an eyebrow at Jack. Really? If that was true, he should rethink his intimidation strategies. Not talking was a whole lot easier than yelling.
"Okay," Sam said, swinging his feet off of the nav console and setting them down on the floor with a thump. "You're a lot younger than I remember, but I'm still kind of scared of you, so. I'm going to go now. Let me know when you stop wanting to beat me up."
"Coward," Jack declared, but he didn't look away from Sky.
"You know it," Sam agreed. "I think I'll go see how the others are doing."
"Remember, no light form," Jack called after him.
Sam's voice drifted back to them through the open hatch. "Yes sir, Commander Jack, sir!"
Sky looked away from Jack to frown over his shoulder, just on principle. Sam was insouciant to the point of insubordination everywhere except in the presence of Commander Cruger. Cruger remained convinced that Sam was the model Ranger: advanced, intelligent, and perfectly obedient. Anyone on base could tell him differently if he bothered to ask.
"You know what worries me?" Jack drawled, and Sky could still feel his gaze. Watching him glare in the direction Sam had gone. "I'm never totally sure he's joking when he says that."
Sky gave him a half-hearted smirk. "The day Cruger promotes you is the day--" And he stopped, because that wasn't funny anymore.
There was a moment of silence, and then Jack said, "You really think A Squad's trouble?"
He tried to think about them without the filter of Dru's betrayal and found he couldn't do it. "I don't know," he admitted at last. "You?"
"Well, they weren't out terrorizing the Helix nebula in a ship that's too busted up to even call for help," Jack pointed out. "And I gotta say, they look damn glad to see us."
Sky let out a breath, trying to force himself to relax a little. "Yeah."
Then Jack added, "I told Sam to stay in his human form as long as he can. Might as well not mention the fact that one of us can become noncorporeal, just in case."
Sky swiveled his entire chair around to stare at Jack. "Just in case?" he repeated.
Jack shrugged, rocking his own chair back a little. "Like you said," he remarked carelessly. "Dru did try to kill us. You're not the only one who remembers."
Sky was trying to figure out what to say when Jack put his feet on the floor and turned to face him. "Also?" he said, unclipping his morpher and waving it in Sky's direction. "Terra's team is holding position just outside the system. They expect to hear from us every hour, on the hour, from now until we head back home.
"They offered to follow us to Earth if we want," Jack added. "But I figured if we don't know where we stand by then, we shouldn't be going back anyway."
Terra. One of the Border Rangers who had been searching for A Squad. Objectively, Sky knew why an SPD team would choose to call for help on a squad-restricted channel: undercover, not sure who to trust, or weakened and trying to avoid detection. This last clearly applied to Charlie's team, but by focusing the distress signal so narrowly they had avoided alerting the very Rangers who were actively looking for them.
Just one more aspect of the situation that had screamed "trap" from the beginning. Yet here they were, with an apparently un-brainwashed, un-cloned, non-villainious A Squad. Still preparing for some hypothetical moment when all their good luck turned out to be an illusion.
"You're more skeptical than I gave you credit for," Sky said after a moment.
"Learned from the best," Jack said flippantly.
For a while they sat there, looking at each other. Because there was so much to do when their non-villainious teammates weren't turning on them. At this rate, it could end up being a long night.
"I can't believe I'm trying to think of ways to pass the time if they don't turn out to be evil," Sky said at last.
Jack actually laughed, spinning his chair around once, a complete circle that ended when he caught his foot against Sky's outstretched legs. "We'll be able to get some sleep, at least. The station has plenty of bunk space."
Sky braced his legs as Jack pushed off again, spinning in the other direction this time. "Especially considering that some of us are willing to share."
"Yeah?" Jack's foot caught against his ankles this time, bringing his chair to a halt as he grinned at Sky. "That'll make the time go faster."
"Someone's going to have to keep you awake if you really plan on checking in with Terra every hour," Sky pointed out.
Jack scoffed. "I'm not going to check in every hour. B Squad is going to check in every hour. I figure if we each take a check-in or two we should all be able to get a decent amount of sleep.
"Or whatever," he added, smirking at Sky.
"I'm sure the rest of the team will appreciate the fact that you're dividing up the chores to make sure you have time for uninterrupted sex," Sky observed, crossing his ankles without moving his legs away from Jack's.
"I'm sure at least one member of the team will," Jack agreed.
Sky just watched as Jack lifted his feet and braced them on the edge of Sky's chair. One on either side of his legs. "You're very willing to talk about sex," Jack said suddenly. His gaze was intent. "Why?"
Sky raised an eyebrow at him. "Why not?"
Interestingly, this seemed to stump Jack, and he felt the corners of his mouth twitch. "What did you expect?" he wanted to know. "You figured since I keep my mouth shut so much the rest of the time, I wouldn't have anything to say about this?"
That made Jack grin again. "I dunno," he admitted. "It sounds stupid when you put it like that."
"If I want your opinion," Sky reminded him, "I'll give it to you."
Jack chuckled, pushing his feet against the edge of Sky's chair to make his own tilt back a little. "And you have," he drawled. "Many times."
"For the good of the team," Sky said, straight-faced and solemn.
"Uh-huh." Jack's eyes were half-lidded as he leaned back, watching Sky with unmistakable amusement. "Lucky us, you've become so much more sharing since we first met."
"I hope you're not implying that you've had anything to do with that," Sky said skeptically. "And yes, thank you, I know when you're being sarcastic."
Jack closed his mouth, but his smirk didn't fade. He was so obviously asking for it, spread legs and sexy expression and the verbal poking that passed for foreplay with him, that Sky found a perverse pleasure in ignoring him. All evidence suggested that the longer Jack was ignored, the more pronounced his attention-seeking behaviors would become. Sky sensed potential entertainment there.
What could he say? He was bored.
Jack was literally stalking him by the time Z showed up. Prowling around Sky's chair, he was making a show of poking and prodding anything he passed--other chairs, control consoles, any part of Sky that happened to be within reach--but the intensity of his attention whenever Sky spoke belied his casual restlessness. They had gone from talk of the team to a debate on how A Squad's ship compared with the Treehouse to an outright argument over whether saltwater or freshwater fishing required more skill.
Sky had silently estimated Jack's frustration threshold at under five minutes and falling fast when Z walked into the command module. "Geez, guys," she said, folding her arms as she took in their tableau. "Just make out already."
Jack was noticeably distracted when he responded, "A Squad check out okay?"
"So far so good," she said lightly. "Looks like we'll be getting some sleep tonight after all. At least," she added, and for some reason it was Sky she smirked at, "some of us will."
"Hey." Jack acted like he'd just noticed what she was implying. In his best leader voice, he demanded, "Is the innuendo really necessary?"
Sky couldn't help it. He snickered, and Z's knowing gaze was playful. "Sky," she said, her tone full of mock reproach, "you've been teasing him again."
"Hey," Jack objected, but she paid no attention.
Sky just shrugged, and Jack turned that glare on him. "Nothing else to do," Sky pointed out. "And he's cute when he's trying to be subtle."
"Not his strongest area," Z agreed, grinning at Jack's obvious outrage.
"Not my--" Jack broke off, leveling a finger at Sky and then clearly catching himself. "Was there something you wanted?" he asked Z.
"Dinner," she said, unfazed. "Bridge pumped Charlie and her team full of vitamins and protein shakes, and Syd's sent them off to take showers and get cleaned up the rest of the way. I figured they could use some real food, so we're setting up a pizza party down the hall."
He was all for pizza. "I'll help," Sky offered, spinning his chair around and getting up. "Ship synthesizers or station?"
"Sit down," Jack said sternly.
The order took him by surprise, and he reacted before he thought. Z's eyes sparkled with laughter. He grimaced, but it didn't change the fact that, somewhere along the line, he had become yet another Ranger who would automatically do whatever Jack told him to. It seemed like there were fewer holdouts every day.
"We'll be there in a minute," Jack was saying. "The big observation area near the infirmary?"
"That's it," Z agreed. "I'll grab some pizzas and head back. But if you don't show," she added, backing toward the hatch, "next time I'm sending Bridge."
"We'll be there," Jack said, rolling his eyes. "Go. Shoo."
"Oh, 'shoo,'" Z mimicked. "Bringing out the big guns, now!"
She was already retreating, and Jack didn't fight her for the last word. His full attention shifted to Sky. "Cute when I'm trying to be subtle?" he repeated, wide eyes making his expression more amused than indignant.
"Don't let it go to your head," Sky told him, leaning back in his chair casually.
Jack stared at him. "What if I'd just said 'let's make out'?" he wanted to know.
Sky shrugged, not moving. "All you had to do was ask."
"Yeah?" Jack looked like he was trying not to smile. "Well, I'm asking."
Sky stood up, close enough that Jack had to look up at him, which had never seemed to bother him as much as Sky thought it should. "About time," Sky muttered, and he'd meant it to sound exasperated but he was afraid it just came out sounding relieved.
Jack slid a hand around behind his neck when he didn't move quickly enough, stepping into him, lifting his head, pressing their mouths together--gently. A careful kiss that was soft and warm, open-mouthed, but sweet and unintrusive. Breathing without effort, more lips than tongue, he... lingered.
Jack was kissing him like kissing was the point. Sky smiled into his mouth, just enough that Jack could feel it. "You learn fast," he murmured, the words twisting around the kiss.
"Mmm," Jack mumbled, and it was hard to tell whether he was agreeing or just caught up in the closeness. "Top of my class."
Sky let out a breath of amusement, tongue sliding into the corner of Jack's mouth so his lips could move more easily over it. Jack made a soft sound, his other hand flat against Sky's chest, and Sky knew where that was going even before he felt fingers fumbling for the zipper of his jacket. He didn't protest. They had a few minutes: Jack could have his fun as long as Sky got to kiss him while he did it.
It wasn't so much that he regretted that decision later as it was that he suddenly remembered why he should. He was going to have to walk into a room full of SPD Rangers with the team leader he'd just been... his jacket was undone, t-shirt wrinkled where Jack had been playing with it, lips wet and tingling from the pressure and yeah, he was gonna need time to do more than catch his breath. Fucking Jack.
"Okay," he gasped, turning away to block his view of Jack. "In case you're curious, swearing at you in my head doesn't do any good."
Jack laughed like he was fine, but his voice sounded funny when he said, "Do it out loud if it helps."
Sky couldn't help shooting a covert glance in his direction. Jack was doubled over, and there was no way that was comfortable but his hands were braced on his thighs, braids falling toward the floor. "What are you doing?"
Jack straightened up, tossing his hair back away from his face, and he gave Sky a unrepentant grin. "Gets the blood going in the right direction," he said. "You ready?"
Sky stared at him. "Do I fucking look ready?" he demanded.
Jack's grin widened, and Sky closed his eyes to block out Jack's lazy appraisal. "Oh yeah," Jack's voice teased. "You look pretty fucking ready to me."
"Shut. Up." The words were ground out, and he lifted a finger in Jack's direction without opening his eyes. "Don't even think about it."
"Hey," Jack said lightly. "I'm not the one who said it."
He was trying so hard not to smile that he might actually be thinking slightly less about kissing than he had been seconds ago. He could probably blame his mistake on that. Or on some sort of Freudian slip, which he had zero intention of saying aloud.
Not that he really had to say it. Looking at him, it had to be pretty obvious.
"Seriously," Jack said, and the amusement was still there in his voice but he wasn't teasing anymore. "Take off your jacket. Fix your shirt. I didn't touch your hair, and once you splash some water on your face, you'll be good to go."
Sky opened his eyes. Jack's darker skin didn't flush easily, and Sky had been more concerned with getting his tongue in Jack's mouth than getting his hands under Jack's clothes. Still, Jack looked irritatingly put together, calm and composed and next time, Sky promised himself, he's not going to look that good afterward.
He did leave his jacket behind, on the condition that Jack take his off too. It turned out that this drew fewer double takes than he'd expected, since Syd and Z were down to their t-shirts too and Bridge wore his jacket open whenever he could get away with it. He and Jack got to the observation area before anyone from A Squad, and for a few minutes it was just the five of them, relaxing on a station they had mostly to themselves.
...Just the five of them?
"Hey," Jack said, winding extra cheese around his finger as he pulled a slice of pizza free and managed to not totally destroy the integrity of the surrounding pieces. "Where's Sam?"
"He didn't really want to sit around and watch the rest of us eat," Z said, rolling her eyes in a way that made it clear she thought Jack was being insensitive. "He's out exploring the station."
"He said he'd come hang out later," Syd added. She was the only one with a napkin in her lap, her pizza folded carefully and precisely to minimize spills.
"Huh." Jack seemed to be paying more attention to Sky's pizza than he was to their answers. "A Squad got some clean clothes, right?"
"No, Jack." Z was definitely rolling her eyes again. "We sent them off to the showers with no towels and just their old dirty uniforms to put on afterward."
"We should burn those," Syd said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "They're probably clogging up the air cyclers on the station just by existing."
"Whereas starting a fire in a closed system with a limited amount of oxygen would clearly solve the problem," Bridge remarked.
"Mmm." Mouth full, Z made a sound to hold her place in the conversation, pointing at Bridge to indicate the thought was directed at him. Swallowing, she said, "The problem was clogging the air cyclers with contaminants. Technically, burning the contaminants does solve said problem."
"The immediate problem was clogged air cyclers," Bridge said mildly. "The implied problem was a lack of air due to clogged air cyclers. A fire will deplete our air faster than cycler failure, thus accelerating the problem we'd be trying to prevent."
"Guys?" Syd waved a very clean hand in their direction, eyeing them dubiously over her pizza. "I was kind of kidding."
Sky was distracted by the way Jack was sprawling across the couch beside him, taking up a lot more than his share of the space and not being anywhere near as careful with his pizza as he should be. "Get food on this shirt and you're giving me yours," he warned, trying to shift out of reach of Jack's carelessness.
"I'm flattered that you think my shirt would be cleaner than yours," Jack countered, bouncing a little to establish his space. Scooping a piece of tomato back onto his pizza just before it could fall, he stuck his finger in his mouth, then wiggled his just-licked fingers in Sky's direction threateningly.
Semi-threateningly. He had, after all, cleaned them off beforehand. And Sky really didn't have any reason to be afraid of Jack's germs at this point. "At least the sauce will show less on your shirt," Sky muttered.
That was when he realized that Syd, Bridge, and Z had abandoned their discussion of odor versus air to stare at them--and they weren't the only ones. Charlie had padded silently into the room on stocking feet while he and Jack were bickering. Her team trailed behind her in a disorderly but unmistakably cohesive fashion.
No shoes, Sky thought distantly. Why that one thing about their appearance should strike him, he had no idea. Clad in standard issue squad pants and clean SPD t-shirts, they were all wearing white socks and no shoes--with the exception of Rose, who wasn't even wearing socks. Emergency supplies from the Treehouse.
Seeing them cleaned up, in fresh clothes, looking as normal as they could possibly look under the circumstances... somehow that brought it home like nothing else. Even generic unisex clothing couldn't disguise their gauntness. And station lighting did nothing to hide their weariness, the tired lines on faces that were trying so hard to look alert and appreciative.
Charlie's gaze flicked to Jack while he was still staring, then back to Sky. "He only wants it because it's red," she said. Her voice was less stern than he remembered.
The cushions shifted as Jack scrambled to his feet, putting his pizza down on the table and grabbing a napkin. "Yeah," he said, glancing at Sky and then offering his hand to Charlie with a grin. "That's not why.
"Jack Landors," he added, when she shook his hand. "SPD Red. I don't think we were properly introduced before."
"Charlie Carrera," she said, and now all her attention was on Jack. The corner of her mouth twisted ironically as she added, "SPD Red."
"Oh, yeah, hey." Jack didn't look embarrassed, just vaguely apologetic. "Sorry. You were gone kind of a while."
Sky didn't have to look to know that Z would be shaking her head at Jack again. For all that she pretended to be the tough one, the one who didn't take any crap and wouldn't be suckered by a sob story, she did occasionally know what not to say better than Jack did. It didn't always stop her, but she knew.
"I guess you guys are the new A Squad," Rose said, coming forward on bare feet to join them. Sky didn't miss the way her hand touched the back of Charlie's elbow. "I'm Rose. It's nice to meet you, Jack."
"Hey," Jack said, holding out his hand to her too. "Same here."
Only when Sky realized the others were quietly gathering--Syd and Z coming to stand beside Jack with Bridge waiting a little behind them, the rest of Charlie's team ghosting up behind her and Rose--did it occur to him to get to his feet. The surreal nature of the situation held it all at a distance. He wasn't sure he'd even accepted it yet.
A Squad. Here. SPD superstars, missing so long that they'd achieved almost mythic status. And B Squad, the cleanup team, doing Ranger duty because there wasn't anyone else... a team made up of cadets and convicts and some extra personnel who seemed to have picked up morphers almost by accident.
"We're still B Squad," Syd was saying. "Commander Cruger wouldn't promote anyone to your positions, even when Galaxy Command tried to insist. He never gave up on you."
Sky glanced at Jack in time to catch Jack's sidelong glance in his direction. Charlie had seen it, he realized as soon as he looked away. She narrowed her eyes at them, but whether it was for their timing or the look itself, he couldn't tell.
A series of squeaks and grunts replied to Syd as Charlie's Second stepped up to her other side. "He says Cruger's a stubborn dog," Rose said fondly. "Miguel's translator has been on the fritz lately," she added, probably for Jack's benefit.
"Broken?" Jack asked, glancing over his shoulder. "Bridge?"
Bridge shook his head. "Already looked at it," he reported. "It's in and out: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There's nothing I can do without better diagnostic equipment. He says it's doing a better job with our language than it is with his."
Miguel said something else, and Rose translated, "It's a good thing you guys showed up when you did, because he would have been really bored with only me to talk to."
Charlie's second-in-command reached around behind her and smacked Rose on the back of the head, a surprisingly human gesture that actually made Rose giggle. It was the first time Sky had seen any of the A Squad Rangers laugh since B Squad had found them. The sound seemed to make even Charlie relax a little.
"He says it's lucky you're here and he'll be glad to get back to SPD before it fails completely," Rose admitted. "I added the part about me being boring."
"Translator seems to be working fine now," Charlie muttered.
Miguel held up his right hand and offered her another very human gesture.
"Fuck off," Rose said helpfully.
"Yeah, thanks," Charlie said. Her lips twitched. "I got that."
Miguel opened his hand and offered it to Jack. He said something that, again, the translator didn't render, but the gesture was clear enough. Jack reached out to shake his hand even before Rose started to interpret.
"This is--" Rose made a series of sounds that might have been exactly what her alien teammate had just said or might not. "He goes by Miguel."
"Nice to meet you," Jack said easily. "Sorry about the translator."
Miguel replied, and this time Jack looked at Rose when she ducked her head. "He says he's in my debt," she said, clearly embarrassed. Miguel said something else, longer this time, and she continued reluctantly, "And you should thank me, because he does, and without me he would have gone crazy months ago."
Jack didn't hesitate. "Thanks, Rose," he said. To all appearances he was completely sincere.
Then Z chimed in, and Syd, and even Bridge, and somehow Sky found himself muttering, "Thanks, Rose." He thought he felt Charlie's gaze rake across him, but she and the rest of her team had closed ranks around Rose and were touching her, hugging her, ruffling her perfectly straight hair.
"Hey," one of Rose's remaining teammates said, leaning around her to offer his hand to Jack. "Des. Thanks for coming after us."
"It wasn't just us," Jack said, shaking the Green Ranger's hand. "Rangers from all over the galaxies have been out here looking for you."
"Don," the Yellow Ranger said, taking Jack's hand as soon as Des let it go. "We thought they would, y'know, Ranger solidarity and all. But we figured we were so far from our last known location that the odds of anyone stumbling over us were slim to none."
"Emphasis on 'none,'" Des agreed. "Criminal or not, we owe that little guy with the weapons. His ship might've been banged up as bad as ours, but at least the comm was salvageable."
A new voice interrupted, sounding remarkably plaintive. "I'm sure we were promised more food at some point. Surely that takes precedence over the rehashing of--"
Miguel's translator cut out in the middle of the sentence. He continued for a few seconds before throwing up his hands in disgust. Whatever he said after that was probably best filtered through Rose, who said only, "Maybe we could eat while we're talking?"
Don clapped Miguel on the shoulder sympathetically, but Syd launched into a description of their pizza options while Sky tried to ignore the look Charlie was giving him. Then Z made an offhand comment about the food coming from the Treehouse, Don recognized the reference, and the conversation degenerated from there. Of course someone on A Squad read Ranger Quest.
"So," Charlie said, under cover of the comic book love fest that was going on around the pizza. She hadn't made any move to get her own, maybe waiting for her team. Maybe just waiting to talk to him. "I never did congratulate you on..." She waved vaguely in the direction of his delta morpher.
He'd made Ranger just days before her team shipped out. Not Red. Not even A Squad. Now he shrugged if off. "You were kind of busy." He didn't mention that he probably would have blown her off if she'd tried, reading any kind of "congratulations" from his higher-ranked rival as condescension.
She folded her arms. "You should have been Red."
"Funny," Sky said, glancing over at Jack automatically. His team leader was trying to bring Don up to speed on a year's worth of issues in a matter of minutes. "That's what I said."
Jack looked up just then, catching his eye. He paused in the middle of whatever he was saying and tilted his head at Charlie inquiringly. Sky shook his head once. They were fine.
The corner of Jack's mouth quirked in acknowledgment. Sky could feel himself smiling back as he told Charlie, "Luckily, Cruger won that one."
Charlie's expression made it clear that she'd interpreted that exchange exactly as it was. "Finally stopped pining for Dru?" she asked bluntly.
"Dru came back," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Not dead. Working for the other side." It turned out that it got easier to say with time. "He's behind bars now."
He couldn't deny that her flicker of surprise was reassuring. He wasn't the only one who had totally misread Dru Harrington. Jack had been suspicious of him from the start, after all.
"Sorry," she said after a moment.
Sky shrugged again, because there was nothing else to say. "It's over."
"Yeah." She shifted, and he realized they were mirroring each other at the same moment she did. They both dropped their arms awkwardly, and he cleared his throat. She wasn't exactly the teammate he remembered.
"Well," she said, in a tone that said maybe he wasn't quite who she remembered either. With a half-shrug, she added, "In retrospect, I guess you're lucky you didn't make A Squad."
He tried not to smile, but it was harder than he expected when his rueful look prompted one from her. "The thought crossed my mind," he admitted.
Charlie held out her hand. "Thanks for coming after us," she said simply.
He clasped her hand without hesitation, shaking it once, because some things were more important than team rivalry. "Welcome back."
"Hey," Jack's voice interrupted, loud enough to warn them that he was coming as he sauntered back toward the couch and his own abandoned dinner. "You guys are making me nervous over here. You plotting to overthrow me?"
Sky rolled his eyes. "Not everything is about you, Jack," he informed the entire room.
Jack grinned, walking right up to him and throwing an arm over his shoulders. "Why not?" he wanted to know.
"Where'd you come from?" Charlie asked, eyeing him. "You weren't a cadet at the Earth academy."
"Not a cadet at all," Jack told her. Jerking his head at Sky, he said, "He arrested me. I broke out, stole a morpher. They haven't gotten rid of me yet," he finished cheerfully.
Sky sighed, because of course, all of A Squad was listening now. "He didn't steal it."
"But you did arrest him?" Charlie sounded skeptical.
"It's a long story," Sky muttered.
"What about you?" Don was asking Z. "I'm sure I'd remember you if we'd met before."
Z swallowed a mouthful of pizza, licked her fingers unapologetically, and gave him a smirk to mirror Jack's. "They arrested me too."
"Ah, but you didn't break out," Jack interrupted, his arm sliding off of Sky's shoulders as he turned. "I win the delinquent award for that. You took Cruger's deal, fair and square."
"What, is this a competition now?" Z wanted to know. She sounded more amused than anything else. "My record's a lot longer than yours, Jack."
Jack snorted, paying no attention to the looks the A Squad Rangers were giving each other. "That happens when you have an actual identity!"
"Well, you do technically have an identity," Bridge pointed out. "It's just that no one knew what it was. Except for a few people. Like Kat. And obviously your parents would know. And anything Kat knows, Commander Cruger knows, so--"
"Is Grumm still threatening Earth?" Charlie interrupted, her voice cutting through Bridge's monologue without apology.
Jack grimaced, but he didn't seem surprised by the question. "'Fraid so."
"You let him blow up anything important?" Charlie demanded.
Jack had to think about it. "Not yet," he decided at last.
"That's all we need to know," Charlie said.
Sky raised his eyebrows, but Charlie turned and headed for the pizza without another word. He and Jack looked at each other. "Is that good?" Jack whispered.
It wasn't A Squad turning evil and drawing their blasters. In that order or any other. "Seems like," Sky muttered, watching Charlie warily.
It continued to seem that way as the pizzas were divided up, the mingled squads separating out again as they found places to sit. It was a little strange to realize that, somewhere along the line, B Squad had become as cohesive a group as A Squad. Not exclusive. Just very... friendly.
Okay, Sky thought, as Jack flopped down beside him again. The Red Ranger's foot hooked over his ankle and tapped his toes once, giving him a wink when Sky glanced at him. He was sprawled against the end of the couch again, plate on the arm, making it very clear that there was no room for anyone else there. So maybe a little exclusive.
Miguel did remark, in a moment when his translator was working, that he used to hate pizza. Z offered to get him something else. This inspired a round of "food the synthesizer does best and worst" from Bridge and Syd, but Miguel waved it away as his translator cut out again.
"That's not what he meant," Rose said, her half-eaten slice of pizza already set aside so she could do something with Charlie's hair. "He says he can't believe he used to hate it, because now it tastes so much like home that he can't imagine anything else."
"I tell you," Don agreed, "it's a good thing there's no beer, because otherwise I'd think we're all dead in heaven right now."
"Sorry," Syd said, making a face. "Synthesizers still don't produce alcohol."
"Seriously? After a whole year?" Des shook his head in mock sadness. "Man, the future ain't what they said it'd be."
"We get back to Earth," Jack said, wiping his fingers on a napkin Sky had shoved into his lap, "the first round's on me."
"He asked for beer," Sky pointed out, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Not tequila."
Jack grinned, but it was Charlie who answered. "We're flexible," she said, somehow still a commanding presence even when her only female teammate was playing with her hair.
"Hey, is that a Red Ranger thing?" Bridge asked, apropos of nothing.
"What?" Jack wanted to know. "Tequila?"
"Probably," Charlie said, right on top of him. From the other side of the room, her eyes met Jack's, and Sky didn't miss the look of shared amusement.
"Braids," Z said. "I thought that was funny too."
"Oh, hey," Syd said, looking from one of them to the other. "You both have braids!"
That's what Rose was doing, Sky realized. Twisting Charlie's hair into braids. Her trademark red streak was wound through the right one from the top down. Funny... he'd always thought her hair was dyed, but seeing it now, it had to be either natural or some kind of magic.
"It's just practical," Jack said.
He said it at the exact moment that Charlie said the same thing. Their words actually overlapped. They looked at each other again, and this time they wore identical expressions of surprise.
Two Red Rangers whose sole purpose in life was to drive him crazy and they were already speaking in stereo.
"Great," Sky remarked, to no one in particular. "My life is now officially hell."