Hayley opened her front door to find Tommy staring back at her. His face was uneasy, not too surprising after what had gone on with the two of them; it hadn't even been a full two weeks yet since she told him about the child she had given up years ago, a child he had fathered.

Rex the family dog was jumping up at Tommy's legs, a gift he had bought the kids months before. Tommy bent down to pick the pup up, almost using the dog as some sort of security blanket. His face became very serious. For weeks now he had debated on whether or not to tell Hayley the truth about what he had known all these years; while it would be difficult, he knew that it was time for the two of them to stop keeping secrets from each other. They had protected each other long enough. "Hayley, we need to talk."

"Okay…" She wasn't sure what that meant, but the look on his face was serious and even worrisome, as if whatever he had to tell her had been hanging on his shoulders for a long time. She led him to the living room where they could have some privacy away from the kids who were upstairs playing video games. Eric was away at work in Silver Hills for the day, going through two very important meetings at Bio-Lab, concerning its future with SPD.

The two settled on the couch, Tommy with Rex in his lap rubbing the dog's back. He knew she would be angry that all these years he had kept it to himself, knowing full well how hard it was, but yet she too had never spoken a word, but then again she had no clue that he knew anything. He bit his lip, taking a deep breath as he met her eyes in what felt like a moment that would never end. "I knew, Hayley…"

"Knew what?" She had no clue what he was referring to, the two had hardly seen each other since she had told him.

"About the baby…." He watched as her face went through all sorts of emotions. Shock. Anger. Hurt. All bundled into one.

"You knew!" she exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief. "But….but how…."

"One night when I showed up to pick you up for one of our dates. I stepped into the bathroom, found one of the tests."

"….But you could have thought it could have been any one of us." she exclaimed. There had been two other girls living there at the time as well. "How'd you know it was me, Tommy?"

"You'd seemed uneasy that night. I tried to get you to tell me…." He sighed, as he let Rex jump off his lap. "I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to flat out say it. I wanted you to be ready to tell me…"

She could understand that. She had been freaked out by the whole thing and needed time to deal with it before she told him. Back then they had been so young, she wasn't sure how he would have taken it, after all they hadn't really planned on getting together; it just sort of happened. "But then the thing with the gems happened." She watched as he nodded his head. And without any words she understood why he had left without a word, after all these years, she finally understood why. "You were afraid, weren't you? Afraid something bad could happen to me or the baby, if anyone knew?"

"More than you ever knew."

"And you calling me out of the blue, after you escaped. It wasn't just to catch up on old times? You wanted to know…."

"Yeah."

Hayley smiled faintly. All these years, her and Tommy's relationship has been a strange one, each one feeling guilty for things that had happened. So each one over the years had done things for the other, things that went above and beyond a friendship. "All these years I thought I was the one who was feeling guilty."

"I don't want our friendship to be based on guilt anymore…."

"Neither do I." Hayley knew she couldn't be angry with him; the two had suffered enough. She leaned in and gave him a hug, a hug both of them needed to let go of all the guilt each one had been holding in all these years. Today would mark a new beginning, a beginning without the guilt.

When they pulled away Tommy smiled back, grateful for her understanding. He had left out one minor detail about the ring, but that was something he didn't need to share. There was no reason to bring up that. No good could come from it. "Did you ever try to find him?" All these years a part of him had always had wondered about the child they had, about what had happened to him, if he was okay and happy.

"I tried once." She licked her lips. "Mr. Collins set me up with a private investigator. I never told him who it was for, just that I needed to find someone."

"What happened?"

Hayley shook her head disappointingly. "He came up empty, couldn't find a thing. Back when it first happened it had been so difficult for me and my parents, that back then the less we knew about the adoption the better. The agency promised us they had placed him with a good family and that was all I knew…"

To hear the story, knowing he should have been there for her broke his heart, but it was something he needed to hear. "I should have been there for you and I'm sorry I wasn't."

"It was a long time ago."

"If you want to..." he reached out and gripped her shoulder, "I'll help you try to find him. Whatever it takes."

When Syd opened her apartment door it was pretty late. With Bridge off duty and Cruger having suspended both Sky and Chase earlier in the day, she and Z had worked overtime. Z was still there on night duty and would remain there at least until tomorrow and would stay in one of the academy dorms. She walked inside and found someone sitting on the couch with their head down, sighing heavily she closed the door behind her and set the keys down.

"I thought you might be here." She was pretty sure she had seen his bike parked in the lot when she had driven in. She sat down next to him, wrapping her arm around him. "You going to be okay?"

"I will when I get my morpher back," he answered with a bit of tension in his tone. He was still plenty upset over what had happened earlier. "Cruger shouldn't have taken it away."

"Yes, he should have." She looked him in directly in the eyes and right away she could see he was angry and hurt by what she had said, but at the moment she didn't care. She might be his girlfriend but that didn't mean she would always side with him, not when she didn't agree with what had happened between Sky and Chase during the class session. They were supposed to be role models, be looked up to, and the behavior the two had shown was anything but something to look up to. "And you know I'm right Sky. Commander Cruger could have done a lot worse…"

Sky turned away from her, hating it when she was right. Cruger could have done a lot worse; two weeks suspension was nothing compared to what really could have happened. Right now he could be sitting in a cell with no chance of ever getting his morpher or rank back. He felt as Syd reached for his hand, taking it into her own.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No." After he had left the academy, food was the farthest thing from his mind. He just rode on his bike for a while, not really caring where he ended up, just as long as it wasn't anywhere near Chase Ryder he could have cared less. But after a couple of hours of just wandering he had ended up here and just sat on the couch in the dark. Alone. Alone with his thoughts, with his anger right at his fingertips. "Not hungry…"

He knew he had acted inappropriately, but he just couldn't help himself. Chase had hit on some sore spots, pushed the wrong buttons and he was already upset with him to begin with. He had just lost control of himself and couldn't stop. And right now he was having a hard time letting go of his anger.

"You need to eat, Sky." She gently stroke his hand, hoping that her gentle and soothing touch could break through that stone coldness in him that he put up when he was angry or just didn't want to talk about his problems. "It'll be my treat…"

"I should get going…." He pulled his hand away, getting up from the couch. "You're going to need your sleep, with me on inactive duty….Cruger will have you and Z working a lot of hours." He started heading towards the door.

"Sky. You don't have to go." She went after him, grabbing him by the shoulder. "You shouldn't be alone tonight." A big part of her was afraid of what he would do alone, the way he was right now.

He turned to face her, sighing heavily. The truth was he too was afraid what he would do. He didn't want to go back to his apartment, just on the chance that Chase could be there, and right now he didn't want to run into him. And he couldn't go to Reefside after what happened, along with everything else he couldn't face going there, especially when there was the chance of running into someone else he wanted to avoid even more than Chase. "What about Z? She hasn't exactly been thrilled with me staying over the last few nights."

"She'll be at the academy all night." She wrapped her arms around his neck, looking into his eyes. "We have the whole place to ourselves." She leaned her head against his, smiling as she ghosted a kiss onto his lips. "Now how about I get you some dinner?"

He smiled faintly. "Sounds good."

She quickly kissed him on the cheek, as she made her way over to the fridge and stove to make the two of them a bite to eat before they would head off to bed.

Cruger was standing at his post. He had relieved Z and had sent her off to bed in one of the academy dorms knowing that she had a long day ahead of her tomorrow and he wanted her to be ready to roll tomorrow, as she and Syd would take on more duties in the absence of their teammates. He was frustrated to say the least. It was more directed towards Sky than Chase, whose issues, while they did concern him, were a little easier to deal with. He hoped that the trip that Chase would be taking would resolve the young blue Ranger's problems.

Sky, however, would be a little more difficult. He had for years tried to help Sky with his anger, but had yet been able to accomplish anything. A lot of which could be his own fault, he might have tried too hard or maybe not hard enough. Maybe he had just protected Sky for far too long and never had tried to help him the way he should have. He had known back on the very day Sky came to the academy that the boy had issues, but back then he had been too set on getting him into the program, ready for the future and the fact that deep down inside he felt like he owed something to Sky for the death of his father.

"You can't blame yourself….." Kat announced as she walked into the command center.

"What are you doing up so late?" He turned to her. "You should be asleep."

"You're not the only one around here who works late."

"Do you think I did the right thing by suspending Sky for two weeks?"

"Yes, I do. The time off for Sky will be good for him. He works far too hard as it is." She set her files off to the side and gave him a sidelong look, knowing there was more to it. "But that's not what you're asking, is it?"

He should have known that Kat would be able to see through him and get to what he really was getting at. He and Kat had known each other for years and, like his wife, she too knew when he was hiding something. "Commander Birdy asked that in five years when he steps down that I take over for him."

"That's a great honor, that he would ask you that." She was also pointing out the fact that Birdy and he had never been on the same level with each other. But deep down she knew that Birdy had made the right choice, Cruger was the best man, or dog, to take over all of SPD. For as long as she had known him, she had known that he cared very deeply about this establishment. "I don't understand what the problem is though. I would have thought you would be thrilled. For as long as I've known you, you always wanted that job."

"It is….but…. It would also mean having to choose my replacement…." He eyed her. "And after today, I don't know if he could handle it, and Chase doesn't want the job." He was torn. How could he leave Earth's SPD base in charge of someone he wasn't a hundred percent sure could handle it?

And now she understood why this had been so difficult for him. She knew he was right; Sky was the best choice, he was one of the best they'd had at the academy in years, but he had one flaw and it wasn't a minor one. "Maybe in five years things will be different."

Would five years make a difference? Would Sky be able to get past all his anger and handle his emotions better? Would Chase change his mind about the position? He didn't know. Five years was a long time. Anything could happen. Things could get worse or things could get better. He felt as Kat gripped his shoulder. "You have to stop being so hard on yourself."

"I know. It's just difficult with him. I've never been this way with any of the other cadets or Rangers."

"You need to forgive yourself for Wes's death. That was a long time ago, Doggie, it's time to let go."

And that was what made things so difficult for him and Sky. Wes was a big part of the problem. Sky had done everything he could to become just like his dad, while a big part of Cruger had never forgiven himself for Wes's death. And because of that he held Sky in high regards and expected a lot out of him, sometimes maybe too much. "That is something I will never be able to do." He faced her. "I should have been the one out there fighting Mirloc. I should have been the one to answer the call that day, not Wes." But he had been a coward back then, too afraid to pick up his sword and fight. It had been a problem that had taken him years to get over.

"You can't keep doing that to yourself and try to help Sky at the same time. That could very well be the void that prevents you from getting through to Sky."

"As I recall, you too were upset about me calling Wes in."

"We were both wrong," she answered. "But I am telling you this as a friend, that in order for you to ever get through to Sky and give him the help he needs, you need to let go, Doggie." For too long she had watched as he held onto his guilt and watched as it had hardened him and prevented him from doing the things that he needed to do. "Wes would want you to…"

"Okay, I need to go pack my bags and get ready," announced Chase as he and Megan entered the apartment. He had brought her home since the young cadets had two weeks vacation. The first week of which Megan had decided to stay in Newtech City so she and Sam could hang out, and then she was planning on going home to Reefside the next week.

"And where are you going?" asked Megan as she went to the fridge to grab something to eat.

"Rather not say, just some place I need to go."

Megan just shook her head and grabbed a water bottle off the shelf. Ever since she had uncovered the little bits and pieces of information from the scraps of papers he had, he had been acting a little strange and didn't want to talk about what he was doing; as if he were afraid something bad could come out of it. "Does it have something to do with Rose White?" But she never got an answer out of him, as he entered the main room with a bag packed full.

"When's Sam getting here?"

"He said he'd be here by one."

Chase looked at his watch; it was a just about ten minutes until one. "Shouldn't be too long then, as he doesn't have to worry about traffic."

"You know…" Megan took a sip of her water. "You don't have to wait around. I'm sure Sky will show up eventually."

He had to grin at that, Megan had spunk to her. "Nice try, but I was a kid once too. I'm not leaving you and Sam alone without some supervision."

"Come on, I'm fourteen." She crossed her arms against her chest. "I'm not a baby."

"Nope, you're not a baby." He smiled. "But I know for a fact that you can get in plenty of trouble and I really don't want to hear about it from Sky later on."

"Speaking of which, have you two gotten over your little feud?"

Chase was about to answer when the apartment door opened. "Great, you're here!" Sky slammed the door shut. It might be the start of a new day, but he really didn't care to run into Chase first thing.

"Guess not…." Megan muttered under her breath, feeling once again that awkwardness between the two, as if both sides expected her to choose a side to be on, something which she didn't want to do.

"Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair within the hour," remarked Chase. He had hoped that a night of sleep would have cooled Sky down, but apparently Sky was still fuming. "I'm going to be out of town for a few days."

"Don't bother." Sky got right into Chase's face. "I was just leaving, anyways…."

"Sky, come on, can we stop this and call a truce?" Chase was tired of this. He didn't want to leave things unresolved between them while he went on his trip to find himself. He wanted things to go back to how they were when he first had arrived and joined the team.

"No." Sky shook his head. "It's too late for that…."

"Hey guys! What's going on?" announced Sam as he appeared in the apartment.

"Sam!" yelled Sky, as he turned to the young boy.

"Oops. Sorry. I forgot…." Sam quickly teleported out before Sky could say or do anything else.

"Sam…Don't…." Megan turned to Sky, now she had had about enough of his attitude. "Nice going, Sky. You're such a jerk sometimes…." Megan for the first time ever stared at him in disgust and turned away as she headed towards her room and slammed the door shut.

"Thanks…" Sky glanced at Chase hard seeming to blame him for that too. He turned away as he headed towards the door. He opened it and found Sam getting ready to knock, staring up at him a little frightened. Sky sighed heavily, he didn't know what was wrong with him; lately he seemed to be snapping at just about everyone. "Later, Sam…" He walked past the boy and didn't look back.

Sam walked into the apartment and turned to Chase. "Is Sky okay?"

"I don't know, Sam." Chase sighed heavily as he closed the door behind them. "I hope so." He grabbed his cellphone off his belt and dialed a number. "Hey Bridge…. What are you doing tonight?"

About a half hour later, Chase returned once again to the apartment with Bridge. Having no clue if Sky was ever going to show up later, he didn't want to leave Megan alone in the apartment, and the girls were teaching a class with what would be future Rangers in the making.

"Okay, they're, all yours." Chase patted Bridge on the back, as he picked up his bag from the floor. "I'll see you later, Megan."

"Okay." Megan turned from the couch to bid farewell to Chase. "Drive safely."

"Have a nice trip," waved Sam.

"Thanks." Chase waved goodbye and headed out the door.

"So…." Bridge moved along on his crutches and went to join the two on the couch. "What do you guys want to do tonight? I thought we'd order in and watch the science channel, they have this really neat special on how to upgrade computers and appliances together."

Megan and Sam shared a look and then a grin crossed Megan's face. A grin Sam knew all too well. He began shaking his head no, knowing just where this was going to go and he didn't like it one bit. "Hey, I got an idea." Megan turned to Bridge excitedly. "How about we play hide and go seek."

Bridge looked at her, a little confused. "You still play hide and go seek?"

Sam was about to answer, but Megan kicked him in the leg before he could say a word. "Yeah we love hide and go seek." She turned to Sam, giving him that look, that he better go along with it or else. "Don't we, Sam?"

"Yeah." he ground his teeth as he rubbed his leg. "We love it," he reluctantly answered, going along with whatever plan Megan had just come up with.

"That's great!" exclaimed Bridge. "I thought I was the only one who still liked to play that game."

"Really?" Megan was amused, to say the least, it was like taking candy from a baby. "How 'bout you count and we hide."

"Okay." Bridge closed his eyes tight.

"Don't forget to cover your ears," announced Megan as she motioned for Sam to get off the couch.

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Bridge covered his ears and began counting. "One…..two….three…."

"Come on…." Megan whispered, as she held her hand out.

"Oh, you so are going to owe me for this…." Sam groaned, as he took hold of her hand and teleported the two of them out.

"Four….Five….Six….Seven….Eight….Nine….Ten…" Bridge opened his eyes; both Sam and Megan were gone from the room. "Ready or not, here I come, you two…"

Sky was in what used to be his and Bridge's old room at the academy; now it was only Bridge's, with a spare bed. He was taking all his frustration out on the punching bag that hung from the ceiling. He just had been so angry lately and couldn't for the life of him stop being angry.

Jack emerged into the room. While he was staying here he had decided to stay in the dorm room with Bridge. He hadn't expected to find Sky working out. "Isn't that a little unfair advantage, fighting someone that doesn't fight back?" he announced as he watched Sky beat the hell out of the bag like it was a piece of meat.

"What do you want, Jack?" asked Sky as he continued his workout with a little annoyance. All he wanted was to be alone right now, with no interruptions.

"Well, I was going to take a nap." he answered as he sat down on one of the beds. "But seeing as you're in one of your moods…"

"Look!" Sky threw down his gloves and turned to Jack. "I've just been going through a lot lately, so the last thing I need is for you to give me some of your bullshit!"

"Hey. Where's the fire?" Jack jumped to defense. "You need to chill out, Sky, it's me, Jack, your friend. Talk to me, buddy…."

Sky sighed heavily, as he slumped down onto the other bed across from Jack, running his hand over the back of his head. "Sorry. Things have just been so messed up lately…'

"Then talk to me, tell me what's going on. I mean, things were great before I left with Ally. We defeated Gruumm, you became red Ranger….I mean, what went wrong?" Jack leaned forward, hoping to reach out to Sky like he had in the past to get through to him.

Sky bit his lip. He wanted to tell Jack what had gone wrong, but he couldn't, for all sorts of reasons. "I can't tell you. It's personal."

"Okay…." He supposed he could understand that, but he had learned that holding things in like that only made them worse. "Then why don't we talk about the falling out between you and Chase." He grinned. "Because I mean I'm a little hurt that we never had a hashing out with fists." Which got a smile and a laugh out of Sky. "….Ah now, there's the Sky we all love." Jack bumped his fist against Sky's, smiling back. "I may be able to bring in some light about Chase, though." He licked his lips. "Something that may help you understand him a little better."

"Okay…." Sky wasn't sure where this was going to go, but he trusted that Jack wouldn't bring it up if it wasn't important.

It had been over two hours and Bridge had not yet been able to find Megan or Sam anywhere in the apartment. He had searched every room, cabinet and hiding place he could come up with. He had even shouted that he gave up, but still the two had yet to show themselves.

"Guys, come on. I give up. You win!" he shouted again, but still there was no answer.

A few seconds later the apartment door opened and in walked Z. "Bridge? What's going on? I could hear you shouting all the way downstairs," exclaimed Z, who had just gotten off work and had heard from one of the cadets that Bridge had come here to watch Megan and Sam, so that Chase could leave for his trip. She thought she come and check on them and give Bridge a ride back to the academy.

"I was playing a game of hide and seek with Megan and Sam, and now I can't find them."

"How long have they been hiding?" she asked him, already suspicious.

Bridge looked at his watch. "A couple of hours. I've searched this apartment from the inside out." He dug his hand into his pocket. "And made a dollar eighty-five, doing it."

"Was the game your idea or Megan's?"

"It was Megan's…." answered Bridge, not seeming to see why who came up with it was important. "Why?"

Z just shook her head as she gripped her friend's shoulder; for a smart guy he could be pretty dumb sometimes. "Bridge. Bridge. Bridge. I think Megan pulled a fast one on you."

"She doesn't like hide and seek, does she?"

"Nope…." Z shook her head, as she continued to pat him on the shoulder.

"Well, I feel….."

"It's okay. It happens to the best of us…."

"So. If Megan isn't here….' He looked her in the eyes, as his eyes widened. "Then that means…."