Different

When Doggie Cruger arrives back after three months in space, things are...different.

He's different, he guesses. Birdy assigned him to be an interplanetary delegate for the survivors they found of the Troobian campaign. One little nagging in his mind told him it could be Isinia. Another part knew it was a hopeless little flight of fancy. Still, he was able to at least confirm that she died about twelve years ago. He had found the closure he never really got before.

Now, though, as he walks through his base, he feels like a stranger, and an unwelcome one at that. The air is heavy, and while he hasn't caught any weird looks his way, he feels something has shifted in his absence.

"Commander?"

Cruger turns around to see Z, in her usual yellow cadet's uniform. Her eyes seem apprehensive, and her body language is defensive. "Hello, Cadet, how are you?"

"Well, sir, and you?" when she asks her tone is flat.

His ears perk and he frowns. "Well, thank you, Z. Can you tell me what has happened?"

"What do you mean?" she asks with a slight shrug.

Doggie can hear the most minute increase of her heartbeat and knows something has set her off. "Things seem...off. Would you know anything about that?"

"Hey, Z, Kat's done with her checkup so—"

"Cadet Drew," Doggie addresses Syd, though her reaction to him is more frightened surprise than anything.

"Commander Cruger, welcome back, sir," she nods with her hands behind her back, though her eyes are apprehensive like Z's. She gives off the same standoffish waves.

"What's wrong with Kat?" Doggie asks, concerned as to why Syd would know Kat had a doctor's appointment, let alone be with her for it.

"Nothing, sir," Z answers first, Syd looking around, unsure.

"I'm going to find her," he turns without further ado. He's aware of Z and Syd following him, like guard dogs making sure he doesn't get close to their martyr. "Can I help you with something further, Cadets?"

"No, sir," they answer together, still following him, still firm in demeanor.

"Commander Cruger?" Bridge spins around, head first, then body, with a sandwich in one hand. He's less agitated seeming than the girls, but still, he's not entirely himself; he's different. Something that jumps out at Doggie is that he wears only one glove. "When did you return, sir?"

"Shortly ago," Cruger nods, still looking at his ungloved left hand. "I'm looking for Kat."

In a second, Bridge shifts to a cooler demeanor, more befitting of his blue ranger predecessor, Sky. "I see, sir, but I believe Kat's very busy."

"I shall see for myself, Cadet," Doggie turns and continues on, only more irritated by Bridge's behavior. He knows Bridge is reading his aura.

"Commander Cruger," Sky stands outside of the office. He wears his red cadet uniform, standing at attention. His face is hardened and he seems downright defensive. "I heard of your return. Did you find what you were looking for, sir?"

Doggie regards Sky harshly, checking him for tells. There's nothing though, except the general air that he has offended Sky in some way. The cadet's body language is defensive, protective, positioning himself at a ready stance. The kids behind him look the same. "I was able to speak with some survivors of the Troobian campaign. They're establishing various colonies and we have set up other liaisons to help us keep in touch with them." After another moment he tells them what he knows they really want to know. "I confirmed that my wife, Isinia, died approximately twelve years ago."

This seems to both put the rangers more at ease and make their backs come up further. He can sense them trading looks. Eventually, things come back to Sky, and his eyes drop, as if nodding to them. Cruger meets Sky's eyes and follows him to Kat's lab.

Even her lab is different. Everything is immaculate, like always, but the structuring is different. Kat's working space has expanded, and seems detached from the lab aesthetic. Boom's experimental area is neat and hazard free, which is different. The lighting has been changed from florescent to a source that offers as much light, but doesn't give off any chemical affects (the element comes from a planet in the Boranian sector). There's hand sanitizer on her desk, as well as tissues, an apple, an air filter, her computer, and a fresh lily sitting in a vase.

"Commander Cruger," Boom greets with the most grave face he can muster.

Doggie is now alarmed. "Boom, I'm looking for Kat."

"I know," he says heavily, letting the statement speak for itself: he's not going to disclose that information.

"She's not here," Jack phases himself through the wall. He seems different too, but in a reverse–progress kind of way. In his time with SPD, he had softened, become warmer. The Jack looking at Cruger now is dark and angry again.

"Is anyone going to tell me what has happened? I was worried as is when I was unable to contact Kat for three months, now you've given me the impression that something is wrong with her." He watches them as he speaks, for their reactions. When he finishes they're immovable, and still displeased. "Kat!"

Everyone looks confused as to why he has called her name at what can be considered a volume only slightly above normal. They trade confused looks until, before anyone can react, the door swishes open. Kat walks through them slowly, with a black dress on under her lab coat. She stands at the door, above the sunken in lab area. When she stops walking Sky and Jack stand by her sides, protectively. "Doggie, when did you get back?"

"Just a half hour ago," he says casually.

She seems different too. Her hair is a little longer than when he left. She seems tired. If anything, she seems to be the only one not upset at his return. "How'd it go? I heard about the colonies being set up. Did you find everything you needed?"

He watches her descend the stairs towards him gracefully, ignoring Sky and Jack. Boom bristles behind him but Kat's steady gaze pacifies him. "I found out Isnia died twelve years ago."

"I'm sorry," she means it, but it's different from the other times she has said it. "Doggie, I'm sure you want to know why our kids are glaring at you right now."

"It crossed my mind," he remarks snidely, looking around him and feeling on trial by ranger. They look down at him with frowns. What does assure him is that Kat doesn't seem to advocate their behavior.

"Guys, knock it off; Doggie's back, and this can be sorted out," Kat tries to pacify her kids. "Doggie, the rangers have been helping me for the past few months a great deal. Sky and Jack have been by my side all but twenty–four–seven, and when they're not, Boom is. Syd and Z have been making sure I take care of myself, vitamins, eating properly, and there's always one of them at my appointments with me. Bridge looks out for me when I'm not at the doctor. I told him he didn't have to, but he insists on having one hand ungloved at all times to check on things."

"Kat, what is happening?" Doggie's voice is so full of concern that even the frigid adolescents surrounding him soften a bit. "Please, what happened to you? I want to help."

"I'm pregnant," Kat sighs, having made her peace with it. She moves her hands to her torso, holding them so the bulge of the youngling may be seen. "I found out just after you left."

Cruger stares at the mild bulge of his child – his pup – growing inside the love of his life. They had shared a night or two after the defeat of Omni, in celebration, but they hadn't really talked about a relationship in any way. Not that he's opposed to it. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kat looks around at her kids, all looking indecisive. She nods them off and they reluctantly drag themselves out to give them some privacy. Looking back at Doggie, she sees his own struggle with things. She came to peace with how things are.

When she found out, she hadn't known what to do. Doggie had already left and they had slept together all of twice. Thus, she enlisted the rangers' help, mostly to keep things a secret. Syd and Z took care of her, Bridge gave her daily, sometimes hourly, readings on the baby's aura. Sky and Jack had taken up a level of protectiveness that bordered on stifling but it was touching all the same. It made her feel a little less alone in all this.

Doggie's eyes show nothing but worry and regret. She knows how he is with self–blame and it burns in his eyes as plainly as his scales show on his face. His heart clenches at the loneliness that radiates off of her. "Kat...if I had known...I wish... "

"Never mind it, now, Anubis," Kat sits him down with her. "Things are...different now."

"That was my word for it," his eyes remain on his pup. He thinks how wrong it is, that he doesn't have the right to dote on it, as its father. "May I?"

"Of course, it's yours," she guides his shaking paw to it, feeling warmth spread through her at the sensation. The little one stirs at the recognizable presence. "It knows you."

"I've let you down," he sighs, speaking to both Kat and the youngling.

"You've done no such thing," Kat raises his muzzle to her eyes. "I made the choice not to tell you, which might not have been the best choice, but it was mine, nonetheless. The rangers might be a little bitter at the moment but things will clear up. I wasn't sure if you were coming back, and if you were, if it would...alone, or...I don't know."

Doggie and Kat both look ahead, though his paw remains on her bump. He feels his young one responding to him, which is comforting. When he found out Isinia had indeed died he felt grief, of course, but also relief at the closure. For years, he had wondered of the possibilities. A little against his will, he also thought of Kat. Maybe it was betraying his wife but he had her memory, and Kat is not a memory. He loves Kat, and has loved her, for years. He wishes he had told her before he left, properly. There was a whisper of it during love–making, but it was never addressed. "I love you."

"I love you too," she answers easily. This is the first moment she's had at ease in months.

"You'll marry me?—and not just because that's my pup, but," he pauses and looks into her dangerously green eyes, "because I love you. I wish things were different."

"They are different, but maybe it's not so bad," she looks at him sweetly. Ghosting a hand over his muzzle and to the back of his neck she smiles more genuinely than she has since before he left. "You're back, and that's all that matters now. I'll marry you and that's all that matters."

"I had a feeling things were different when I got back," he smiles softly.

"Different," Kat muses to herself, rubbing the baby with her hand and Doggie's paw.

"You're different," he says and she looks worried. "In a good way, I mean, Kat."

"Oh, good," she tries to scoff, but she blushes a bit. "You're different: you're a father."

"I guess I am," he kisses her lips tenderly, then the bulge of his pup.