Chapter 3: Jealousy

A/N: This chapter takes place a few weeks after the previous one. Review Please!

Enjoy!

Z was the last of B-Squad to arrive at the simulator for training at 10:00am. She was tired, as she hadn't slept well the previous night, or the last few weeks for that matter. She was feeling a little left out of the team. She knew she was being silly, she wasn't being replaced. Yet still, Z couldn't help feeling hurt by what Syd had said in their room the previous night. Her mind wandered back to that conversation.

FLASHBACK
Z walked into the room, to see Syd, already on her bed sitting cross-legged; in white tank-top and pink short-shorts. Her holo-tablet in her lap.

"What are you doing?" She asked as she changed out of her uniform and into a pair of black sweats and a yellow tank-top.

Syd looked up at her, a smile etched on her face. "Just looking at some pictures of the old team." Z felt a twinge of jealousy.

"Oh."

"I can't tell you how great it is to have my best friend back. I've missed her so much. You're going to love her." Again, the jealousy rose in Z's stomach.

"Hmm."

"Z, is something wrong?" Syd asked. Something was wrong with Z, Syd was sure of it.

"I'm just tired. Night Syd" Z rolled over, facing her side of the room's wall.

'This isn't over Z.' Syd thought. 'I'm going to get to the bottom of this.'

END FLASHBACK

"Hello? Earth to Z." Z snapped out of her daydream, to see Bridge waving at her.

"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking about something." Z said. "What's up?"

"I just asked if you were okay; you don't seem like yourself. You were staring at nothing." Bridge responded.

"Yeah, I'm okay, just tired is all."

"Okay, if you say so…" Bridge replied uncertainly.

Kat's voice came across the loudspeaker "Simulation 4; 30 Krybots, followed by 5 Orange-heads. No Zord battle. Simulation begin."

The simulation room transitioned to an empty urban street from downtown. Lined with buildings. The Rangers took their positions. Sky in the middle, Z on his immediate right, Syd his left and Charlie behind Syd, Bridge behind Z.

"You guys ready?!" Sky asked.

"Ready!" They responded.

"S.P.D. Emergency!" The Rangers all morphed, keeping formation. All 30 Krybots stood about 30 metres away, waving their arms.

"Alright guys, let's stay in formation." Sky said, drawing his Delta Blasters.

The other rangers drew their DeltaMax Strikers, putting them into Sabre mode.

"On my go; three, two, one, go!" Sky commanded.

The 5 Rangers charged at the Krybots, Sky arriving first; fly kicking one Krybot and then quickly blasting two more with his Delta Blasters. Syd quickly slashed three Krybots, then kicked a fourth. Nearby, Z was engaged in battle with 4 Krybots. She round house kicked one, slashed two more and then did a round-off flip and struck the fourth, taking it down. Bridge charged forward and dove; rolling past two Krybots and quickly struck two immediately in front of him. He switched his DeltaMax Striker to blaster mode, ran toward a third Krybot and kicked off it, blasting the first two Krybots. Charlie immediately switched her DeltaMax Striker to blaster mode and found herself in a circle of 6 Krybots. She quickly spun in a circle and took down all 6, without any trouble. The rest of the Krybots were quickly destroyed and the Rangers regrouped.

"Nice job guys!" Syd praised.

"Yeah, that was awesome." Sky agreed.

"Still haven't lost it, huh?" Bridge asked Charlie.

"Guess not." She winked.

"Uhh guys, we've got trouble." Z commented, panic in her voice.

The Rangers turned toward the intersection where they'd begun the battle. However, there were six Krybots instead of five.

"What? I thought there were meant to be five, not six." Syd said, confused.

Sky placed a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. "It's going to be okay, I'll take care of them."

Again, the Rangers drew their sabres, Sky however did not have one. "S.P.D. Battleizer, Cyber-mode!" In a flash, Sky had transformed, now wearing his Battleizer and holding a sabre in his right hand. Both the Orange-heads and Rangers charged. Sparks flew, weapons clashed.

Syd was easily combatting her Orange-head, blocking attacks and countering with her own. 'Wow,' she thought. 'All those extra training sessions with Sky over the years has really helped.'

Charlie and Bridge, having been trained most of their lives were having little issue with theirs.

Z and Sky however, were having trouble. Z being the least experienced Ranger, was not as strong as the others in fighting prowess. Rather than using martial arts, Z had more of a street-brawler fighting style. Sky on the other hand, was a different story. He was the best fighter on the team, (on par with Charlie and Bridge, if not better,) perhaps almost as good as his father was. He prided himself on it. Despite this, two Orange-heads was quite a bit to handle. He was easily able to block their attacks, but as there were two of them, before he could attack one, the other would attack him.

About 10 metres away, Z was thrown to the ground, the Orange-head approaching her. Suddenly, Bridge appeared, kicking the Orange-head away from her. He ran to her and helped her off the ground. "Let's finish this guy together."

"What about your Orange-head?" She asked him.

"I destroyed him already."

"Okay, let's do it."

They both charged toward it, Bridge in front of Z. Bridge fly kicking it, Z flipping over him and destroying it with three quick slashes.

About fifteen metres away, Sky was beginning to gain the upper hand against his two opponents. However, just as it seemed Sky was going to be able to land a strike with his sabre, one of the Orange-heads, struck his chest with its sword and the other swept his leg and aimed his sword down at Sky's chest.

"Surrender Red Ranger." It ordered in a monotone, robotic voice.

"Never," Sky choked out.

"Heads up, asshole!" Charlie yelled. Kicking the Orange-head away from Sky.

The second Orange-head approached Charlie's back. "Charlie, watch out!" Sky screamed from the floor. Suddenly, Syd appeared; flipping in front of it, slashing it twice with her Striker and then kicking it away. Charlie helped Sky up off the asphalt.

"Let's finish this. Together." Charlie told him.

Sky grinned under his helmet and nodded. "Okay."

Sky turned to Syd. "It's okay, I've got this one," she told him. "You and Charlie take the other."

The three Rangers quickly finished off the remaining Orange-heads and the simulation ended.

"End simulation." Kat's voice echoed.

"Power down." The Rangers chorused.

"Good job guys," Sky told them. He was disappointed in himself. He should've been able to take on the two Orange-heads on his own. He should never have put Syd and Charlie in a position of more danger than necessary, which he had done by being incapable of dealing with the two Orange-heads.

Commander Cruger walked into the simulation room. "Well done, B-Squad. You continue to impress me. You're well on the way to becoming the team I know you can be." He told them. "Dismissed!" They saluted and Doggie walked out of the room.

"Like I said, well done guys." Sky praised again. "Really good work. Obstacle course 4 at 12:00 hours." It was currently 10:30am.

As they all went to leave Sky stopped them. "Z, can I have a word?"

Syd, Bridge and Charlie gave him a curious look as they left. Z approached him. "Anything wrong?" She asked, although she knew what this was about.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned, peering down at her. "You weren't yourself out there. That's all."

"Everything's fine." She snapped. "Leave it alone, Sky."

"Clearly not, Z. You performed below yourself in that simulation. As the team's leader-"

She cut him off "Everything isn't about being a Ranger, Sky! Not every issue has to do with S.P.D.! I can't fu-"

Now it was his turn to cut her off; "-and as your friend, I have a responsibility to make sure you're okay." He yelled back. "I can't believe that you haven't realised that I've changed. I'm not perfect, but I'm no longer the dark, brooding guy I used to be. I thought as my friend, you would have realised that."

Z glared at him. Sky glared back for a minute. He walked toward the door, but stopped as he reached it. "When you're ready to talk, we're all here for you." He reminded her. "Especially Bridge." He added.

XXX

Bridge sat around their usual table, listening to Charlie and Syd chatting about boys.

"You and Sky. I'm going to be honest with you Syd; I always thought you were the one for him. All those late night talks with me about him? I'm so glad you two are together now." She grinned. "He's so much more laid back than he was after Dru went missing. We've got the old Sky back." She said. Bridge and Syd nodded in agreement.

"I know. I really miss the old days." Syd reminisced. Charlie nodded response. "What about you, Charlie? Any guys on your radar?" She winked.

"You know the answer to that." Charlie laughed. Charlie was the type of girl to casually date guys, no one night stands, but nothing too serious either.

They both turned to Bridge who was silently playing with his salad, poking it with his fork.

"What's wrong Bridgey?" Syd asked her other best friend.

"It's Z." He responded. "She just wasn't herself today."

Syd nodded. Charlie spoke up "I think it's me." Bridge and Syd turned and looked at her, confused. She continued. "I think since I got back, she's been feeling a little left out."

"That's ridiculous!" Syd protested.

"We haven't been leaving her out, have we?" Bridge asked Charlie, worry imprinted upon his face.

Charlie paused, wondering how she should phrase this. "No. Not leaving her out; I just think that us talking about our old stories and things might make her feel as if she isn't part of the team."

Bridge and Syd looked shocked. Bridge turned to Syd. "Sky, Charlie and I never made you feel that way, did we?"

"No. Not at all. You guys always included me. But you've got to remember Bridge; Z didn't have the childhood I had. She's a little insecure because she's never had a place to belong. If things start to worry her, she shuts out her emotions. The difference with me was that if I felt left out, I'd let you guys know about it. But then again, I always enjoyed listening to your stories. And besides, I had stories of my own to tell you guys. Z doesn't.

As if on cue, Z walked into the cafeteria and looked over at the table. She saw Bridge, Syd and; Charlie. She promptly turned around and walked away. Bridge looked upset and defeated.

"You should go talk to her." Charlie said. "She won't open up to Syd and she sure as hell isn't going to listen to me."

Bridge nodded and stood up. He left Charlie and Syd alone at the table, the mood significantly less upbeat.

"Sky hasn't come down for lunch yet. I should go find him. I think he was disappointed in himself after the simulation today." Syd informed Charlie.

Charlie agreed. "Okay. I'm gonna go have a shower anyway. I'll meet you at the course at 12?"

Syd nodded and left.

XXX

Sky stood in his room, in his red S.P.D. shirt, hitting the red punching bag. 'You can never allow yourself to put your friends, sister, Bridge or Syd in that kind of danger ever again!' He told himself, hitting the bag harder and harder.

Syd was walking towards the door when she heard Sky hitting the bag. 'Oh god. He's punishing himself for the simulation. He's an idiot.' She mentally noted.

She let the door open for her and walked in. Sky stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Can I help you?"

"Excuse me?" Syd was annoyed at him now. She knew he was in a bad mood, but she wasn't going to take his crap.

"I said; can I help you?" He responded sarcastically and slowly.

"I know what you said Schuyler. I was talking about your tone." She countered.

He winced at the use of his full name. "I'm not in the mood to fight Syd." He told her.

She closed the space between them. "I didn't come here to fight," she said placing her hands on his forearms and looking up at him. "I came to make sure you were okay." Her baby-blue eyes shone up at him. He couldn't be angry anymore, not with her around.

"I let you guys down today." He sighed.

Syd frowned up at him. She took her right hand and placed it on his left cheek. Sky leant into it. "No, you didn't" she whispered. "You don't have to do everything alone."

"I know that. You know I know that. I just can't believe that I put you and Charlie in unnecessary danger, because I couldn't handle to two Orange-heads."

"Sky, we know the risks. We're a team. A family. We're always going to protect one another." She consoled him.

"It's just that I love you guys, all of you. But you – you more than anyone. I could never forgive myself if something happened to one of you, because of me." He confided in her.

"Well, then we all need to train harder. Not just you. If one of us has an issue, we all have an issue." She smiled at him.

Sky leant down and kissed her, softly. "I love you Syd. I promise you that you are the only woman I will ever love." He breathed.

"Don't let your mother or Charlie hear you say that," she teased.

"You know what I mean." He laughed.

"Yeah, well, I love you too." Syd checked her watch. "Come on; let's go run that obstacle course."

End of Chapter 3. Please Review :)

A/N: Just wanted to clarify a few things that people have messaged me and asked;
1. No, Syd and Sky will not break up at all. I'm not a huge fan of the whole 'on-again-off-again' thing. I just think that these two have fought together in essentially a war, they're not going to break up unless it's something like an affair (let's be honest, neither would) or Sky removes Syd from active Ranger duty (which is fucking stupid. He knows she can handle herself.) Despite this, they will fight, because all couples do.
2. I have plans for Charlie and yes, I'm planning on bringing my OC Brad in later as well as Sarah (another OC character, like Brad.) AND I really need to find a way to introduce Boom, any suggestions?