Sky jerked awake. After his fight with Chase he had stormed out of their apartment and driven his bike downtown to where Syd and Z shared an apartment. He and Syd had talked for a little bit in the living room. They had the whole place to themselves; Z had decided to stay at the academy and hang with Bridge to keep him company since Sophie was still away on another planet. They didn't talk about much, Syd kept on trying to figure out what was wrong with Sky. All he said was that he was fine, just glad that they had all made it out alive and that Bridge would be okay. Soon after the two headed to her bedroom, just as they had many times whenever Sky came over late.

Sky turned his head and found Syd sleeping soundly next to him, one arm wrapped around his waist. He began to wonder if Chase was right: was he just using Syd as a way to avoid his problem or did he genuinely care for her….. He gently stroked her face, brushing a blonde strand of hair out of her eyes. Being careful not to wake her, he carefully moved her arm off of him; pulling the covers off he got out of the bed and put on a pair of pants. He reached over and pulled the cover over her body. "Be right back…." he whispered as he ghosted a kiss onto her cheek.

He headed straight for the kitchen, he never really had finished his dinner and Syd had already eaten when he had arrived, not that he was hungry. He opened the fridge and started pulling out condiments to make a sandwich.

"Holy crap…." Z jumped the moment she turned the corner to find Sky in the kitchen pulling things out of the fridge in the dark. She hadn't expected to find him there; she didn't even know he was here. She had gotten home so late and just headed straight to bed the moment she walked through the door, which was only a couple of hours ago. "Sky….What are you doing here?" Then she thought better of it. "Wait, on second thought…. I don't want to know…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He turned to her, scowling, as he closed the fridge and started to make himself a sandwich.

"Nothing. I just don't care to know every detail of your and Syd's love life." She eyed him; he was being moody, much more moody than normal. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing's gotten into me." he answered all too quickly.

"Right…." She nodded her head. "So you're always this moody, after you and Syd…."

Sky shot her an annoyed look. "I thought you said you weren't going to get into my love life with Syd."

"Right, sorry." She rolled her eyes as she walked around the counter and took a seat across from Sky. "So why are you upset?" she asked as she reached for a pickle.

"Z, it's four in the morning….." Now wasn't the time or the place to be talking about his issues with Chase, not that it concerned Z what had gone on between the two. "I don't want to talk about this now."

And when do you ever talk about what bothering you… "So you're admitting that there is something bothering you." Not that he needed to admit it, it was very obvious to her that he was upset about something, something more then what had been going on with him already for the last few months.

"If I say yes, will you just drop it?"

"….It's about Chase, isn't?" She knew there could be a million other things that could be causing Sky's mood to be like this, but that was the only thing she could come up with at the moment. And she knew Sky had every right to be angry at Chase for what had happened. She herself was a little angry, but after her run in with Chase she was beginning to wonder if there was another story going on here, one that none of them knew about. Well…..almost everyone.

"And why do you say that?" he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"Well, for starters, you're sleeping here tonight…."

"So? I've slept over plenty of times before."

"And you're chowing down that sandwich like you haven't eaten anything in days." she commented, watching as he ate it like there was no tomorrow, which was something she was all too familiar with from back when she and Jack had lived on the streets never knowing when their next meal might be.

"I'm hungry…"

"You've never been this hungry…."

Sky knew she was never going to let up. She had been on his case the moment he and Syd had started dating and nowadays it seemed like everyone else was getting on his case: about his relationship with Syd, his problems that he had been keeping to himself, things he couldn't really discuss even if he wanted to. "I'm going back to bed." He got up and headed back towards Syd's bedroom.

"Hey, you need to put all this stuff away…." she yelled after him, referring to the mess he had left on the counter.

"As I recall, you like living in a mess…."

"Men…" Z groaned.

Sky crawled back into bed and Syd cuddled up to him; she opened her eyes just a little. "Where'd you go?" she asked as she rested her head on his chest. "I thought you left."

"I just went to make a sandwich." He planted a kiss on her forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay." Syd yawned heavily as she closed her eyes, very content having Sky lying so close to her.

Sky and Chase were in the training room with ten members of the B squad, five of which in the oncoming month would be chosen as the new B squad Ranger team. The training sessions had been going well, but the cadets could detect tension between their two Lieutenants in the way they would disagree over eachothers judgment and how the class had been progressing. It looked as though either one of them could explode and lash out at the other at any moment.

Which didn't seem surprising to any of the cadets; a rumor had been going around for the past few days that Chase had froze up during one of the fights and caused Officer Bridge Carson to get injured. It was no surprise to them that 'by the book Sky' would be a on edge with Chase, but as the class went on it seemed that more had happened between the two than just the mishap at the warehouse.

"Your target shooting has been moving along smoothly-"

"But it could be better," interrupted Sky. "In order for you to become a Ranger, you have to always be on your feet, always ready for anything." He glanced over at Chase. "And never let your guard down…"

"So how's the class going?" asked Z as she and Syd sat down next to Bridge who was sitting on a bench. He had been there since the class had begun. Having a broken leg left him with little to do, so he thought he would sit in on one of Sky and Chase's classes.

"….You can't just let it go, can you?" remarked Chase.

"I'll let it go when you start shaping up and getting your ass in the game!" answered Sky sharply, getting into Chase's face. The two were neck to neck, looking like they were going to start something…..

"Does that answer your question?" Bridge sighed; he had been seeing this behavior throughout all the sessions. He had even tried to step in to break the two apart once already today, but apparently it hadn't done much good. It was only a matter of time.

"This has got to stop between them. Enough is enough!" exclaimed Z as she stood up from her seat, starting to get sick and tired of having to watch as the two continually argued day in and day out, not to mention the fact that Sky had been staying at the apartment the whole time this had been going on. While Syd might be enjoying having Sky around more often, she was starting to get annoyed with having him around all the time. She already worked with the guy, she didn't want to live with him too.

"I know Sky was angry that Chase messed up during the fight, but we've all messed up before," said Syd, who for the life of her could not figure out why Sky was being so hard on Chase. She understood he was their leader and had a lot of pressure and more responsibility than he had when he was blue, but even Sky himself had made mistakes and they had always backed him up, especially when Sky himself had screwed up with Mirloc escaping from prison last year. Why wouldn't he do the same thing for Chase?

"You've been wanting to start something the past three days, so what are you waiting for?" announced Chase. He was getting tired of this back and forth and just wanted something to happen, just to get it over and done with.

"Gladly!" Sky clenched his fists together and took the first swing, but Chase was ready for him and blocked the punch by grabbing hold of Sky's fist and then took his own swing, punching Sky smack in the face.

"Oh crap!" sighed Z, all she and her friends could do was watch, along with the ten of B-Squads recruirts just stood there stunned.

Sky wiped away the blood from his lip and locked his eyes smack on Chase. "Bastard!" Angry and wounded with pride, Sky attacked Chase.

"….Hey guys, guess who's back!" Jack entered the room just as Sky knocked Chase to the ground, punching him in the face continuously. "Did I miss something here?"

"What is going on here!" roared Cruger's voice.

Chase was on the ground, face bloody, with Sky on top of him looking no better. Sky cursed under his breath as he immediately got off of his teammate and stepped away as Chase slowly pushed himself to his feet. The whole room fell silent; a pin drop could be heard a mile away as Cruger's eyes lingered on each and every one of them. The cadets just stood back trying to make as little eye contact with their commander as they could; all of them knew this wasn't going to be good. It was strictly against regulations for officers to engage in such aggressive behavior with each other.

"Well, isn't anyone going to answer?" he ordered, searching the room looking for a victim. His eyes locked onto Danny Rockford. "Officer Rockford, can you tell me what just happened between Lieutenants Tate and Ryder?"

Oh shit! Danny could feel his heart racing, this definitely was not the type of position he wanted to be in. He and Sky had trained and studied at the academy together and the last thing he wanted was for Sky or even Chase to lose their positions here, but he knew if he didn't speak up he himself could be kicked out. "Well ah…. Commander Cruger…."

Sensing that Danny needed help, Bridge pushed himself to his feet, leaning on his crutches. "What I think Danny is trying to say is that…. Sky and Chase were demonstrating how not to lose control with… eh um… leadership of the commanding officer."

Cruger eyed Bridge coolly. "Sit down, Officer Carson."

"Yeah….but…."

"Sit down!" exclaimed Cruger sharply darting his eyes on Bridge.

"Sitting down." Bridge gulped in heavily and took back his seat on the bench next to Syd; she gently gripped his shoulder

"Officer Rockford," annouced Cruger looking directly at Danny who was one of the oldest members of B-Squad. He and Sky had joined the academy at the same time. "I want you to take the squad out on the training course and run ten laps. Dismissed!"

"Sir!" Danny exclaimed as he and the others all saluted Cruger before hurrying out the door, not even wanting to know what was going to happen next, all too afraid that both Sky and Chase would become permanent fixtures on the floor and they didn't want to be next.

Cruger approached the two who stood a few feet apart, neither one looking too happy. He was furious with both of them; never had he ever been so disappointed and ashamed of any of his cadets until now. "You two have a lot of explaining to do."

After Cruger had intervened he had ordered the other Rangers and Jack to leave so he could deal with Sky and Chase privately. Z and Jack had gone off to the park so they too could have some privacy; it had been a few months since the two had last seen each other.

"It's so good to see you. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Jack smiled warmly at her and wrapped his arm around her, giving one of his brotherly hugs.

"How's Ally?"

"She's good. Told me to tell you hi ….oh and Mom and Dad send their love." It hadn't been too difficult for her to think of Jack's parents as hers too; they had taken her in the moment she and Jack had walked through the door. These days she was happier than she had been in years; she had a family that actually wanted her, even loved her.

"Yeah. I've been meaning to give them a call, but you know how work goes…."

"….Speaking of work." Jack led her over to a park bench. "How long have Sky and Chase been at each other's throats? I thought I was the only one that could get Sky's goat."

"A few days. It all started when we got a call to check out a warehouse, Chase just kind of lost all focus….And you know how Sky can be about duty."

"Yeah…" Jack knew all too well that Sky held duty very high, maybe even too high. "So Chase basically couldn't do anything ….at all."

"Yeah. It was like he was in shock or something…frozen almost…"

"Oh boy." Jack ran his hand over his face.

"You know something, don't you…." Z turned to her brother, knowing all his looks, and this one told her he knew something. "About Chase…"

"Look, I didn't think I would ever have to say anything about this, but given the situation between him and Sky…. And then with the added fact of your growing feelings for Cliff." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's kind of why I came here to see you…."

"What does Cliff have to do with any of this….." Chase did seem to have some type of grudge against Cliff, but she felt that it was just a grudge; she had never expected it could be anything bigger than that.

Jack's face no longer looked happy, he knew all too well how Cliff fitted into Chase's problems, though a part of him didn't want to believe it. He owed his life to Cliff, if Cliff hadn't rescued them he would be dead, he would have never seen his parents again. He and Ally wouldn't be a couple. "A lot more than you think…."

"I have never been more ashamed of both of you," exclaimed Cruger as he stared both Sky and Chase down. They were now sitting on a bench, their heads hung low, each holding a towel to his face to prevent blood from going all over the place. "If Supreme Commander Birdy had witnessed this, he would have both of you discharged and held in confinement!"

Sky and Chase continued to remain quiet throughout the whole ordeal; they both knew they were in for it big. There would be no way they could deny that something was going on between them; Cruger had witnessed first hand that the two had a problem with each other, a very big problem. Cruger continued to walk back and forth, anger and fury burning inside. He has never been so angry in all his life, which had been a rather long one considering he was much older than Kat Manx, who was one hundred and twenty eight years old. "And this show of such behavior during a session with future Rangers, is unacceptable!" he exclaimed. "I expect more out of you two." His eyes then moved right to Sky. "Especially you."

Sky could only watch as Cruger continued to look at him with such disappointment and rambled on. "I appointed you the leader, red Ranger. This is not how a red Ranger should be behaving. I may have tolerated this behavior when you were blue, but mark my words I will not tolerate it now that you are red! Is that understood, Lt. Tate!"

"Yes. Sir…"

"Good…" he hissed, as he moved more to the center to face both of them. "Now for punishment, I am giving you each a week's suspension, starting tomorrow…."

"That's bull!" shouted Sky, jumping from his seat. "I'd rather have a week of desk duty."

"Make it two weeks for you, Lt. Tate. Do you want to make it three?" Cruger challenged.

Sky took deep breaths, he could feel the anger burning inside, but knew Cruger meant business. Two weeks suspension was bad enough, three would be far worse. He took his seat back on the bench.

"Perhaps the time off will help both of you get past this childish, pitiful behavior." He hated to suspend them, especially with Bridge on inactive duty and an unknown threat on the horizen, but they had left him with little choice. He could not have two of his top officers at each other's throats. He held out his hands, eyeing them. "Hand in your morphers."

Chase unclipped his morpher from his belt and handed it to Cruger. Sky was a little reluctant to hand in his morpher, it was the worst kind of punishment he could think of, but he finally placed it in Cruger's hand. "Dismissed!"

Both of them stood up and saluted him. "Sir…."

Outside in the hall, shoulder hunched over, Sky stormed his way through. Chase started after him. "Sky, wait up…. I wanted to…."

"Just leave me the hell alone!" Sky shot back, wanting nothing to do with Chase. "You've done enough."

Chase stopped dead in his tracks, watching as Sky turned the corner. Things between them had definitely escalated into something far worse, part of which he knew was his fault. While he might have had good reason for bringing up Syd, it probably would have been better to discuss it in an entirely different manner.

"And you, Lt. Ryder…." Chase turned around to find Cruger standing behind him. "I suggest you find someone to talk to, before things get worse…"

"Yes sir," he answered softly. He knew Cruger was right, as much as he hated to admit it. He needed to talk to someone about what had happened to him, the day his whole life changed, the day he lost everything.

Z's eyes widened, she couldn't believe it. It just didn't seem possible, but deep down she knew it was true. Now it was all starting to make sense: Chase's harsh tone whenever she talked about Cliff, and how Cliff had acted around her, as if he didn't deserve any compassion. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"When I first learned about the attack on Gamma 4, the details on who did the attacks were always unclear. Chase was in a coma for months and by the time he came out of it and was able to say what had happened, A Squad had been found and Cruger was debriefing them…"

"So Cruger knew when we brought them in?"

"All he knew was what Commander Corbett from Mirinoi had told him, of the possibility that A Squad went rogue." Jack bit his lips. "I wanted to tell you guys, but I was under strict orders not to say a word, even after I left." Jack gripped Z's shoulder, knowing this was a lot for her to take in, but it needed to be said. "….I know you like Cliff." Z turned her face away, not wanting to admit to it, but she knew that Jack knew her too well. "You always did have a thing for bad boys….Look at us." He smiled faintly.

Z returned the smile. "You know, I tried to be something to Cliff, but he turned me away, like he couldn't ever be happy."

"Maybe that's his way of making up for his mistakes…"

"Yeah." Her face saddened a little. "But everyone deserves to be happy at least once in their life." Cliff hadn't really had a happy life. He had witnessed the murder of his father and had been abducted before his mother could get to him; all his life had been was one nightmare after another. It wasn't fair, but then life isn't fair.

"Yeah…." Jack wrapped his arm around her, letting Z rest her head on his shoulder.

"Hey Sky!" Megan ran up to Sky who was getting onto his motorcycle. "I was wondering if we could go over some self-defense moves. I have a test coming up and need to practice."

"Not now, Megan…." He put on his helmet and drove out of the SPD garage without even a wave goodbye.

Megan just stood there watching as Sky drove away. Sydney walked up behind her having witnessed the whole thing; she gently placed her hands on the young girl's shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be up to it tomorrow, sweetie. He and Chase had another fight today."

"Yeah. That's all they seem to be having lately…."

"Would Officers Drew and Delgado please report to the command center."

"You going to be okay?' asked Syd.

"Yeah. Go ahead, I'll find Sam and practice with him."

Syd smiled. "Okay. I'll see you later."

Syd had no idea why Cruger had wanted to see just her and Z and not the others. She assumed it had to do with the attack of a few days before, that perhaps Kat and Boom had figured out what they were dealing with.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes." Cruger looked over Syd's shoulder. "Where is Z?"

"I think she may still be out with Jack."

"I see…." Cruger didn't appear to be upset by that. He had already had enough turmoil for one day.

"Do you want me to call her…"

"No. No…." Cruger sighed in heavily, knowing that this would come as a shock to Syd, but… "Starting tomorrow you and Z will take over the B Squad Ranger program class for the next week."

"Aren't Sky and Chase teaching that class…"

"They have been suspended. Chase will be back teaching the class a week from tomorrow. Sky will be back in two weeks."

"Sky was suspended for two weeks?" Now she could see why Sky had brushed Megan off and driven off. Syd knew how important being part of SPD and a Ranger was to Sky, it was his whole life. It meant everything to him. It must have crushed him when Cruger suspended him, and while she understood why Cruger needed to, she still felt for Sky, both as his friend, but even more so as his lover.

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?"

Syd could feel Cruger's eyes beating down at her. "No. Not at all, sir."

"Good."

It was late; Chase had decided it was best that he not return to the apartment at least for tonight, not wanting to have a run in with Sky, though he suspected that he might be staying with Syd as he had the past few nights, but to be on the safe side. He had had most of the afternoon to think about everything that had happened and knew the best thing for him to do was to do what he had come here for, and that was to continue his mission of finding out about his past.

He slowly walked into the Command Center where he found Commander Cruger standing at his post. "Sir…."

"Lt. Ryder… Is there something you need?"

Chase humbly approached his commander; the last thing he ever meant to do was show any disrespect to Cruger or to SPD. Things had just happened and gotten out of control between him and Sky. "I want to apologize for today, sir. It should have never happened and I take full responsibility for what went on."

"Thank you for your apology." But he could tell that was not the only reason why Chase had come to him. "Is there something else?"

"Yes. There's something I need to do, but it requires transportation and I would prefer to drive myself."

"You would like to borrow one of the academy's trucks?"

"Yes, sir, if it's not too much trouble…."

"Will this trip help in your recovery…?"

"I don't know." His face was unsure, he wasn't sure what to expect from it; all he knew was he needed to do this now more than ever. "I hope so."

"I'll make arrangements tomorrow; you should have it by mid afternoon."

"Thank you, sir."

"Chase…." Cruger paused for a moment. "I hope you find what you're looking for."