Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's Note: I am still working on getting back to my rhythm; it's a lot harder than I anticipated. Thank you for being patient.

Understanding

Syd looked over at Z who was just as quiet as she was. She wondered when Kat would know about the pen. Looking around again her eyes rested on Sky who was pacing, again. It really annoyed her when he did that. She didn't know why he couldn't just stand and wait.

"Sky, must you?"

He looked over at her with an eyebrow already raised, "Must I what?"

"You know very well what. Please stop pacing. Just…just stand still for a bit." He rolled his eyes and continued his movements. "Sky I saw you roll your eyes at me."

All that came from him was a loud sigh and even though she couldn't see his face at the moment she knew he had rolled his eyes again. She started to take a step closer when Z spoke up, "Don't. Alright. We're all worried."

"Doesn't mean he has to annoy me."

"Syd look, it's not that big a deal, look away if it's bothering you."

Her mouth fell slightly open for a moment before she recovered herself, "That's just…well that's just…Z."

Z gave her a look, "Gonna finish that thought Syd?"

"Well now maybe I don't want to."

The yellow ranger gave her a small smile, "It's going to be alright Syd, don't worry. Kat will figure out about the pen and we'll…we will find them alright?"

Syd nodded, still not quite convinced and folded her arms.

"Really, I mean it, don't worry." Her brunette friend placed her hand on Syd's shoulder and smiled at her.

"I'm trying. Doesn't make it any easier."

"I know."

Those words from Z seemed to calm her down just a bit more than before. Her body was still rigid and she could feel the tension throughout her body. She hadn't voiced her other fears to the others, the one regarding Bridge and her Mother being tortured like she had been. She couldn't handle even the idea of something happening to them. Thinking about what had happened to her, to everyone regarding that man…it gave her no hope. Z offered a bit, just a bit and she wanted to desperately hang onto it, it was just so hard.

Bridge and Rebecca finally found the stair case and were quietly making their way down them. It was a back stair case, something Bridge hadn't heard of before, so he felt more than a little lost. There was carpet on them to keep the footsteps down so it was good for them, however that also meant anyone else could be walking on them. They needed to hurry and get out of there before they were attacked. If they got that fog…or whatever it was again they would be out for the count and then who knew where they would end up.

Bridge looked behind him as Rebecca quietly stayed near him. It was quite odd working in this close proximity to Syd's mother, especially with all the hostility as of late.

He saw another door and decided to try that on. He started turning the handle on the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Why are you trying that door? Shouldn't we stay on the stairs to the bottom floor?"

Bridge looked back, "Normally yes, but…we need to get more of a bearing. I mean I don't think these stairs are the main stairs for here."

"Of course not, they're servant's stairs. It's an older house, although I'm sure this was build to a certain specification. The servant's stairs are for the whole house."

Nodding Bridge turned back to the door, "And anyone can sneak up on us, which we don't want. Plus we need to find the front door."

"I know."

The Ranger only nodded and turned the knob; thankfully it was open and he was able to head into the room followed by Rebecca. It was a rather large room with couches and chairs. He then heard some noise coming closer, "We should go…quickly." Bridge said moving towards the side of the room where another door was. Quickly he pulled Rebecca into another room and shut the door just as the outside door opened.

He held his finger up to his girlfriend's mom who nodded and the two listened closely.

"He said we can relax for a few minutes." A deep male voice said.

"Oh did he? Are you sure?" A softer voice asked.

"Go ask him yourself."

There was silence for a few minutes before a female voice responded, "No, I'll take your word for it."

"Good, let's watch something while we wait."

The sound of a movie filled the room. Bridge looked around the room and noticed that it was a small storage room. "I think we're safe in here for now."

"Good."

After a few minutes Bridge looked over at her, she didn't seem so intimating now. In fact Bridge felt almost comfortable being in the same room with her, about as comfortable as being with your girlfriends' mom would make you. "So you know Derrick?"

"Yes."

"Then why is he holding you hostage?"

Rebecca looked around the room and shook her head, "I knew that he wanted me, but…"

"You knew that he was after you? Did your husband or Syd know?"

"No, he came a few weeks ago to our house and left a note for me. It was demanding that I go back with him." She shook her head, "utter nonsense."

"Go back with him?"

"He and I were engaged at one point. But…he really started to get on my nerves and well; I broke things off with him?"

Bridge felt his eyebrow raise but before he could hide it he realized that Rebecca had noticed it, "Sorry."

She gave a small laugh, "Don't be. Truly, it wasn't ridiculous, although I suppose the way I responded sounded as such. He became very demanding and controlling. So I left."

"And that's it?"

"I wanted to do something else with my life, and I saw SPD, that is why I joined."

Bridge nodded, "That makes sense, but…"

"What?"

He took a deep breath and looked at Rebecca, "Why do you not like SPD or…me?"

Syd's mother looked down at the ground before looking straight at Bridge, "Don't tell me you can't forget what she looked like after that horrible mission. How she almost didn't make it back?"

Bridge did remember. He remembered picking up her limp body and thinking that she could die at any moment. "Yeah…" he softly replied.

"You do remember, don't you? It…hurt you?"

Bridge looked up at Rebecca, "Of course it did. Even if Syd and I were just friends I would still have been worried about her. But I do care about Syd, a lot."

"I think that's…it's very reassuring, but I still don't want you with her."

Bridge exhaled, "Of course."

"Listen, I don't want you with her because if she's with you then there's no way I'll get her away from that danger. Sure I was in SPD, but I wasn't a ranger. I…she's my daughter and she could so easily get hurt."

Bridge thought for a minute, so the reason she didn't like him was concern for her daughter, he could understand that. "Look, Syd knows how to take care of herself."

"If she does then what happened that time? Or the other times that she was hurt or could be hurt?" Her voice getting higher at the end.

He put his finger up to his lips and she nodded understanding what he meant, "I know, but those are only just a few times, it's not like she's hurt all the time. And she likes being in SPD."

He watched as her shoulders fall, "I know, she won't be talked out of it. She likes helping people. But if she found…someone who could make her forget about SPD and do something safe…"

"Then she would be safe."

"Exactly."

"Look, Syd knows what she's doing. And she's going to continue what she loves to do. We as a team do all that we can to always help out each other. And I also get worried about something happening to her, but I know that she can handle herself and—"

Bridge stopped talking when he heard some voices near the door. He and Rebecca looked at each other and he quickly moved her further back into a corner standing in front of her, hoping that they wouldn't be discovered.