Disclaimer: Don't own PR

Thanks you once again to all those who reviewed! I'm glad you liked it and if I had more time (and a larger attention span) I'd thank everyone specifically. PLEASE READ so you're not confused! At the end of the last chapter I mentioned A-squad, and while I am glad that I managed to throw people for a loop in the very last chapter, it honestly was not intentional. I simply added that to bring us back into the SPD universe seen on the show; Ch. 9 ends about the same place/time the episode Resurrection begins. Heh, sorry for making that confusing. This is chapter occurs about five years after Endings Pt 2, so the fall of A-squad and Grumm have already happened. Anyways, thanks again and enjoy!


Epilogue

When he answered the door to his apartment, Jack was shocked to see the commander of SPD Earth standing outside. "Sky?! How did you get into the building without calling up?"

Sky shrugged, "I was about to, but the guy at the front desk recognized me when I was standing outside and trying to remember which apartment you were in. He let me inside; I think he believed that I was here on official SPD business."

"Okay…why are you here, anyway?" asked Jack.

Sky rubbed the back of his neck, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Um, alright. Come on in; do you want something to drink?" Jack shut the door behind Sky and headed further into the apartment. "I was just about to make some coffee for Ally and me."

Sky noticed the blonde woman sitting on the couch in front of Jack's TV. "Oh, hello Ally. I didn't expect you to be here. I guess I should not be too surprised; you do live a floor below, and you two have been dating for how long now?"

Ally stood up and gave Sky a hug. "Four years, technically; we broke up a couple times in there, once for almost an entire year. It's good to see you again, Sky."

Jack called from the adjacent kitchen, "That one was only because I thought you were moving to New York for good!"

Sky shook his head, "It's nice to see you too, Ally. You look good."

"Thank you, Commander Tate," she grinned. Both returned to the couch. "I never did get to congratulate properly you on that promotion. I was still in New York during the ceremony, and every time I've seen you since I got back something else has come up."

Sky smiled, "Thanks."

Jack returned from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and handed one to his girlfriend as he sat next to her. "Speaking of promotions, how's Cruger doing now that he's Supreme Commander?"

"He seems to be doing very well. He's busy though; he told me that he doesn't get enough time to spend with his son. I think Sirius will be fine; Isinia is a fantastic mother, and no matter what he says Cruger always makes time for his pup."

"Yeah, he emailed me a picture of Sirius playing under that huge desk in his office. Sirius sure is getting bigger," Jack replied. "That reminds me, did you get the email from Sydney? I'm pretty sure she sent it to everybody."

Sky nodded, "Of course; she's staying with Z at SPD. She should be back in town by New Year's Eve."

"That will make for one heck of a party," said Ally. "As I recall, Syd likes to bring in the New Year with a real bang. When I was in New York, she took me backstage for the party in Time Square – she had a singing gig with Kira Ford. You should have seen the crowds; I would have died performing for front of that many people, but Syd and Kira loved it."

"I saw them on TV," Jack agreed. "I still can't believe Sydney left SPD to be a pop star."

"Singing with Kira Ford was Syd's dream for as long as I knew her," Sky explained. "I'm not surprised, and I don't blame her. She still trains cadets for SPD every once in a while, and all the cadets complain that her courses are too difficult. Our once pristine pink princess is now the feared queen of the obstacle course."

Jack laughed, "I'm glad I escaped that one. How about Bridge? Does he make a good red ranger?"

"He makes a fantastic red ranger," Sky answered. "He's probably better at it than I was. His ideas are nuts, but they never fail. Last week he got back from a successful mission to the past; I can't tell you much about the mission because the information is classified, but I can tell you that we made sure his new/old friends were all there to greet him when he got back. They were all kind of unhappy that he hadn't aged in the eighteen years since they saw him, though."

"I'm sure they all felt better after eating a bit of toast," chuckled Ally. She had been subjected to the current red ranger's buttered toast fetish on their second meeting.

"Actually, that made everyone from the mission sad," Sky said. "Apparently this butler who made, and I quote, 'the butteriest toast ever' while Bridge was on the mission passed away a couple years ago."

"Aw, poor Bridge; it can't be easy to skip that many years," said Ally.

"Trust me," Sky replied, "it isn't easy to skip a few days. But things usually work out in the end; the group was happy to tell Bridge what they had been doing for the years in between, and he was finally able to talk about the future – er, present – as much as he wanted."

Jack smiled, "I bet he loved that. You know, I really have to come and visit you guys more often so I can keep up to date."

"Well you're welcome to come to SPD's New Year's Eve party – both of you are welcome," Sky said.

"I'll make sure he gets there on time," Ally nudged her boyfriend's arm. "It's hard to believe it will be 2030 in another week."

"It's hard to believe it's Christmas Eve," Jack added. "Oh, shoot! It's Christmas Eve! What time are we supposed to meet your parents?!"

Ally rolled her eyes. "See what I mean, Sky? The man has the memory of a goldfish." She turned back to Jack. "We have to be at their house by 5:00 for dinner. It's not quite noon, so you still have plenty of time to get a shower and put on something nice. However, I do need to get back to my own apartment soon so I can start getting ready."

"I actually need to get going soon, too," said Sky. "I meant for this to be a pretty quick visit, but it is important."

"That's right; you said you wanted to talk about something. You seemed kind of nervous about it, too. Is something wrong?" asked Jack.

"No, not at all…at least I hope not. But, erm, I kind of wanted to talk to you…alone?" Sky gave Ally a pointed look.

She glanced at her watch and grabbed her purse. "Look at the time! I think I will need four hours to get ready. See you tonight, Jack." She kissed him quickly. "Don't forget to be ready by 4:00!" Ally gave Sky another hug. "It was good to see you again, Sky. I hope everything is okay; I'll see you on New Year's!"

"Thanks, Merry Christmas," Sky replied.

"You too!" she called as she walked out the door.

"A subtle exit, wouldn't you say?" Jack grinned. "Now what did you want to talk about?"

Sky started shuffling his hands. "Well, I don't really want to talk. I just need to ask you something…about Z…"

"Z? Is she alright?" asked Jack. "Does this have something to do with her heart? I know Dr. Felix said she would have problems with it even after she recovered, especially as a ranger. She's been the blue ranger for more than a year now; I can't imagine how devastated she would be if they told her she had to stop…"

"Jack!" Sky shouted. "It has nothing to do with that. Z is perfectly healthy." Subconsciously, Sky scratched the scar on his forehead. To his great relief, it looked nothing like a lightning bolt, although Jack refused to stop calling him Harry Potter.

"Oh," said Jack. "Well then, what were you saying?"

Sky took a deep breath, "Look, you know Z and I have been going out for around five years now, without breaking up. I mean, we've had our fair share of fights but…never mind, I'm sounding like Bridge. I know you and Z are like family, and since you're the only family she really has I thought I would ask for your permission to…to ask Z to marry me."

For a moment, Jack stared at Sky with his mouth agape. "Are you serious?" he finally managed to say.

Sky reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and showed Jack the ring inside. "Completely."

The front door opened and Ally walked in. "Hey Jack I forgot to grab my…" She paused at the sight of Sky presenting a diamond ring to Jack. "Whoa, I think I missed something here." Sky shut the box and put it back in his pocket, both men protesting vehemently to Ally's assumption. She backed out of the room, chuckling, "Don't worry, boys, I'll keep your secret. Have fun."

"That did not go quite like I planned," Sky muttered.

Jack laughed, "No kidding. I'll talk to her later, but I'm pretty sure she knows what was really going on."

Sky nodded, "I know. Still, I was hoping to keep the whole idea a secret."

"She won't tell anybody…yet…" said Jack.

Sky sighed, "So…"

"So what?"

"You never answered the question," Sky explained. "Can I marry your sister?"

Jack smirked, "First you will have to answer a series of questions, followed by the completion of three very important tasks. Your overall score will decide my answer. First question: do you love her?"

"More than anything," Sky swore.

"Do you respect her?"

"More than anyone."

Jack pretended to write on an invisible score card. "Mm-hmm. Do you understand that if you ever break her heart I will break every bone in your body?"

Sky smiled, "I think we have been over that a few times, Jack. If that ever happens, I'll have to kick my own ass before you get a shot at me."

"No way; Z gets the first punch, then me. You can have whatever is left. Anyway, that's the end of the question section. Now I will explain all three tasks, do not interrupt. First, you must ask Z to marry you and accept her answer. Second: should she agree, you must marry her and agree to whatever ridiculous ideas she has for your wedding. Finally, you must love, respect, and care for her forever – I always thought the whole 'until death do we part' thing was stupid. Can you complete these tasks, Schuyler Tate?"

"I promise to do my best," he answered.

Jack nodded, "One last question then: why the hell are you asking me?! Z is perfectly capable of making the decision without my help or permission! You know what? Don't bother answering the question, get going! I am really happy for you, Sky. No matter how poorly we tend to get along, you make her happy and I could not imagine a better person for Z to marry."

Sky grinned, "Thanks, Jack."

"Yeah, whatever. You're still a jerk," Jack joked.

"You're still a thief," Sky replied as he stood up.

Jack followed him. "In that case, you are about to ask a thief to marry you."

"I believe the term is criminal mastermind, and I wouldn't have it any other way," said Sky. He pulled open Jack's door.

Jack smiled and the two shook hands. "Good luck, man. You better take good care of her – I meant what I said about your bones."

"I know; I meant it, too," Sky answered. "Merry Christmas, Jack."

"Merry Christmas, Sky. I'll find Ally and swear her to secrecy. Have fun tonight." Jack followed Sky into the hallway and locked the door behind him. The two separated on the next floor down. As he walked to his car, Sky put a hand around the box in his pocket and grinned.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Z and Sky were driving back from Christmas Eve Mass. Mrs. Tate had invited Z to stay with them for Christmas every year since Grumm's defeat, even after Sky was promoted to commander and received a very large, private apartment within SPD. Z raised an eyebrow as Sky turned the car away from the bright lights of New Tech City. "Sky, do you realize you were supposed to turn left, not right?"

"No I wasn't, not for tonight. I want to show you something," he explained. They continued driving until they were far out of the city, heading into the dark woods.

"Where are we going?" Z asked.

Sky smirked, "It's a surprise." Another ten minutes of banter and cryptic answers brought them to a stop. Sky got out, opened Z's door and ordered her to close her eyes. Sighing, she did as she was told and let him lead her further into the woods.

He stopped suddenly and let go of her hand. "Sky! Where are you?!"

"Right here," he laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the back of her neck. "Open your eyes."

Z opened them, and gasped. They were in the middle of a clearing with a gigantic tree in the middle of it. The tree had been decorated with thousands of sparkling lights. "It's beautiful!"

"Just like you," Sky whispered.

Z turned in his arms. "You did this for me?"

"Merry Christmas," he answered.

"How can I ever...this is incredible!"

Sky grinned, "Just do one thing, and we'll be even."

"Anything," she promised.

"Good, that saves me a lot of embarrassing and useless attempts to say something poetic," he grinned. He took her hand, kissed her finger, and put a ring on it. "Say yes."

Z looked from the ring, to him, to the tree, and back at him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. "Do you really want to get married?" she asked.

"I even asked Jack for his permission – which was ten times more difficult than fiddling with a bunch of lights. Z, I love you."

"I love you more," she argued. Z laughed, kissed his lips again and whispered, "Yes."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

In the morning, Jen was not surprised to find her son and his girlfriend curled up on the couch in front of the Tates' artificial Christmas tree. After taking a picture, she decided to let the two sleep.

Half an hour later, Sky woke up to the smell of French toast. His stomach growled. "I'm hungry too," Z chuckled.

He looked down to see his fiancé leaning on his chest. He kissed her forehead. "Morning, beautiful."

"Afternoon, handsome."

"It'll be evening if the two of you don't get in here soon," Jen called. "But I appreciate the compliments!" They blushed and quickly headed for the kitchen. "So what kept you so late? I went to bed at 11:30 and you still weren't here."

"We took a detour," Sky explained, handing Z a plate.

Jen smiled, "I see. So when do I need to start losing weight?"

Sky frowned, "Mom, it's Christmas and you certainly do not need to…"

"Now, now; I have got to fit into something nice for your wedding, don't I?" Jen laughed. "I have been dying to see the ring on your hand closer for the past two hours!"

Z blushed, "Mrs. Tate, I…"

"Call me mom, honey, and let me see the ring! Sky, this better not be junk."

END

As promised, a Preview:

Z was up to her ankles in snow, but she didn't feel cold at all. She looked around at the grey landscape, broken only by darker grey trees. Snow fellsoftly, covering the naked branches in white lace. Ahead of her, Z could hear someone crunching through the snow. She ran forward, but her feet left no tracks in the blanket of white

Just beyond the trees she could see two people: a tall, handsome, violet-skinned man and a human female with long, dark hair. They wore SPD uniforms: the woman's with a white stripe down the side, the man's with gold. They stood a few feet apart, back to back, and scanned the woods around them. Even when the man's yellow eyes crossed with hers, they never seemed to notice Z. The man looked through her, like she was invisible to him.

On the opposite side of the clearing were two little girls. Perhaps it was the distance, but to Z they looked identical: same dark hair, same height, even the same red and gold checkered dresses. The girls were playing a game with their hands and laughing, repeating what sounded like a nursery rhyme. The SPD officers were oblivious to the girls' presence, or that of a green, bug-like alien of unidentifiable gender that was sitting in the trees above them. The alien pulled out a gun, aiming it towards the man and woman below.

"Look out!" Z shouted. No one heard her but the two little girls, who stopped their game and stared at Z. She tried to run into the clearing in order to warn the officers, but found her feet had frozen to the ground. In the second she looked down at her feet, two bangs interrupted the silence that had replaced the children's laughter. Z's head snapped up in time to see the woman fall to the ground, her blood staining the white of the snow beneath her body.

Three voices shrieked, "Mommy!" Z was shocked that one voice was her own, joined by the two small girls across the clearing. She grabbed onto a nearby tree and tried to pull herself forward, desperate to reach the woman that had fallen dead in the snow. The man was kneeling next to his partner, cradling her body against his. Two more shots came from the tree, and the little girls stopped screaming. Their tiny bodies dropped to the ground and the red devoured the gold of their dresses.

"NO!" Z cried. She couldn't move to help them; the ice was crawling up her waist, freezing her body solid. The ice covered her face; Z couldn't breathe. The bug-alien in the tree turned its gun on her and fired, shattering the ice.

Z awoke with a start. Her breathing was ragged and entire body shook, unable to melt the ice of her dream. It took her several minutes to regain control of her thoughts and remember why she was not in her room at SPD. The walls were metal, the bed was much higher with a ladder attached to the end, and the window next to her displayed stars. The stars jogged her memory: she was on a ship headed for Niveus.

Z stretched and pushed away the blankets. She slipped down the ladder, careful not to wake Sydney who was sleeping on the bottom bunk. Z quickly changed into a clean uniform and pulled a yellow SPD sweatshirt over her head: she was still freezing. Quietly, she opened the door and made her way to the ship's main area.

The ship wasn't very big. It had a single hallway with four doors: the girls' room, the boys' room, the bathroom, and a closet. The hallway opened into a wider space filled with the ship's controls and other machinery. The front viewing screen was closed, since the ship was on autopilot and had been locked down for the night.

Z went to a food replicator at the side of the room. "Hot tea," she ordered. A steaming black mug appeared. Z took it to her desk and sat down with a sigh. She blew over the top of the mug and took a sip, thinking over her strange dream. "More like a nightmare," she muttered.

She had been very young when her mother died and did not remember any details of the woman's death. In fact, Z barely remembered her mother at all. She knew that her mother's name was Kendall, and her father had told her many stories about his attempts to get her attention. But that was it; Z only knew her mother through stories. Her father had taken care of her until he, too, passed away in a terrible car accident – an accident that left Z with a scar on one side of her forehead, easily hidden by her dark bangs.

Z could recall just one, clear memory of her mother singing a Spanish lullaby as Z went to sleep. She started to hum the melody and her eyes grew wide; the two little girls had been singing the same song! But what did it mean? Z had no siblings and was sure that her mother had never been involved with SPD – had she? Her father had worked as a scientist for them, but her mother…she couldn't remember. It had something to do with flowers. Even if the woman was her mother, even if the little girls were supposed to be her duplicates, who was the purple alien? She had never seen him before and he seemed to have a close relationship with her mother – or whoever the woman was.

She took another sip of tea and put her mug on the desk. The tea within it rippled. Z stared at it and noticed that the entire ship was shaking. Confused, Z ordered the computer, "Unlock, authorization B-squad yellow, password M-U-S-I-C." With a soft hiss, the terminals sprang to life and the front window opened. Z stood up with her eyes opened wide; a large green ship was directly ahead of them and, from the looks of the bright red glow emanating from the top of it, the ship was getting ready to fire on them. After a moment of panic, Z composed herself enough to shout, "Computer, shields to full power! Red alert!"

To be continued in…

Dirty Little Secret