A/N: So, in the end I didn't add mature content. Not much, however, there is high toned scene, careful kids! Hope you enjoy! END CHAPTEEER!

The Final Confrontation

It had been over a month since the nuclear facility's incident, and the constant medical-exams and searches for radiation had Sky going nuts. It was the necessary medical procedure, doctors said. Despite of their power-suits and their apparent healthy state, Sky and Bridge were in terrible danger of having been contaminated by the high levels of radiation. And just to make sure that didn't happen they had to be kept in quarantine, not being allowed any form of direct contact with other humans.

Bridge wasn't taking it so badly. For one, Sophie was not a human, so they allowed her to enter the room where her boyfriend was and remain with him all the time she wanted. Besides, Bridge used to fantasize about the idea of radiation turning him into an enormous buttery toast mutant monster with amazing powers like… throwing toasts at people.

Sky, on the other hand, was just about to lose it. He would have normally enjoyed the peaceful isolation, lack of paperwork, and great amount of time that could be spent in reading SPD-Regulation books with no one other than Bridge to disturb him. But the Sky that had come back from his second suicide mission had come back with one single priority in his mind. Only one, and it was killing him that he couldn't fulfill it.

Elizabeth Delgado. He had come back, his heart beating fast, his determination incorruptible, determined to find her, hold her in his arms, and kiss her victoriously for the second time, like heroes in movies do. Of course movies never mentioned that the Health-Team of the SPD Command Center would intervene in that scene before it even unfolded, to pick up the hero and throw him into a white prevention tent, with a lot of doctors checking his pulse, taking blood-samples and giving him steam baths.

Ever since and for a whole month, he had only been able to see her and the other guys through polarized windows, and never had a chance to talk to her in private, since Bridge didn't seem to pick up on his hints of leaving the both of them alone.

Ironically, this time Bridge had seemed to catch the clue, and he left to sleep early, giving Sky a few minutes alone with her. He glanced at her from behind the glass. She was smiling at him, constantly playing with her hands in a nervous way. It seemed like they both had a lot to say to each other, but Sky couldn't find the right words to begin. In the end he decided that it didn't really matter anymore. Even if he made a fool of himself, he needed to tell her.

"So, about what happened between us last time… you know… before I left…" Z raised her eyes to his in expectation. "I just wanted you to know that I…" the alarm sounded in that same moment. "Curse you!" he spat angrily. They had interrupted him again. Fate seemed to want to keep them apart. Z bit her lip reluctantly before getting up.

"I'm sorry, I have to…"

"I know, go." Z was completely aware of her duties. Something was off in the city and she was needed. Besides, with the red and the shadow ranger gone, the green, pink and yellow ladies had a full-time schedule. One they couldn't avoid, even if it implicated missing "the talk" from your "it's complicated"-friend.

"Bye, Sky." She turned to walk away, and before she opened the door she heard Sky calling her softly again. "Yes?" she said to him.

"Do you think a little radioactive contamination coming from me would actually kill you?" he said in a bitter, mocking way, which made her snort.

"Not really, no." His expression was totally serious when he looked at her, and Z couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by his longing blue eyes.

"I really need to talk to you. Confront you. I am willing to… break the rules."

"Sky Tate breaking the rules? That doesn't add up. Maybe radiation is really messing up with your brain." Sky let out a quick laugh.

"Maybe. Hurry up, they must be waiting for you." Z didn't really understand what had just happened, so she exited the room with a strange feeling of expectation running down her spine.

.o.O.0.O.o.

She woke up with a start and got out of the bed, suddenly realizing she had completely forgotten about Sky and their talk that night. How could she be so stupid?

It's not your fault, Z, you're completely worn out from the day. Who can blame you? She cursed the alien she had fought earlier that day. He had punched her so hard in the stomach that she had needed a medical check and after she had collapsed on the bed she had lost her memory of time and space.

She hurried towards the infirmary and lazily opened the door, not sure of what to do. The section where they kept Sky and Bridge was a secluded one, no one could trespass it. Before she could figure out a way to get to Sky without activating all the alarms in the Police Station, a hand grabbed her shoulder, making her shriek silently. The hand went to cover her mouth and Z out of instinct grabbed it and tried to punch its owner. The punch was blocked.

"It's ok! It's me!" Sky's voice whispered from behind her ear. Z turned around, stunned and shocked.

"Madre mia!" she gasped for air. "Don't scare me like that!" a smile was crossing his lips when she looked at him.

"Say that again."

"Say what aga…?" before she could finish her question he had already taken her face in his hands and kissed her softly.

It was a bold move for Sky Tate, but she had done the same a few days ago, and it had gone well. Z's hands clutched the hem of his shirt tightly. She couldn't recall how long she had been waiting for this to happen. The kiss was short lived, but it didn't matter this time, they had all night to keep on going. Sky pulled away and looked at her face, her cheeks flushed, her lips full and wet, her expression dazed. He had never seen her so beautiful, and he wondered if he looked as marveled as she did at that same moment.

"I like it when you curse in Spanish." She opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"It wasn't a curse."

"Oh…"

"Yeah…" her arms went to hug his neck as she came closer to him again, with their lips almost touching. "Here's something that's not an insult either… te amo."

"What does that mean?" He asked. She shrugged, a playful smile on her mouth. "Do I need to go on another suicide mission to find out?" Her smile dropped and it was turn for Sky to laugh. "You're not the only one with these types of jokes, señorita."

"I'm going to kill you if you say that again." Z's head went to his chest and remained there for a while.

"I owe you an apology. I should have told you earlier." His hand was slowly stroking her soft hair, as he stood there and thought about his own life. "I'm not made of steel." He suddenly said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He wasn't sure of what it meant. He felt so vulnerable right now, he needed to let go of his strength for a moment, show her his most human side. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, she never had. Still the fear and the pain of letting go of his defenses, letting his internal walls fall, made it hard.

"I am not a superhero, you know? I'm actually just another human being using a power suit, putting his life at stake for the people. If I die, there's… no turning back." Z's hand tightened on his hair. Maybe she didn't want to hear more about death, she had suffered enough while seeing him almost die in that last mission. "I guess I just want to say… that I'm not willing to waste my time and my opportunities again."

"Then don't." she kissed him again, this time more passionately. His hands traveled across her waist and under the fabric of her sweater and tank top to stroke the warm, soft skin of her back. A sudden urge overcame him lightly. He pushed Z softly against the wall without breaking the kiss and started to push her clothes up her body. Her hands in his hair tightened and she sighed against his mouth. His lips left hers for just a moment to take off her sweater. She looked breathtaking. He had always liked it when she wore tank tops with necklines. She didn't use them all the time; she was more of a tomboy than a fashion queen. Fashion was Syd's thing.

Her hands traveled down his toned muscles when he took off his shirt. She kissed him one more time and pushed him against the floor, straddling his hips.

She looked down on him with a victorious smile that made his heart skip a beat. He tried to grab her waist and turn them around on the floor but she didn't let him.

"You don't always get to be the boss around here, Commander." She whispered, kissing his neck. He laughed a little breathless. The power struggle was a lot easier to win when she wasn't half naked on top of him. But perhaps this time, only this time, he would let her win, at least for a while.

.o.0.O.0.o.

"… So that's when I realized, if I had to defeat a giant monster made of popcorn it would be a good plan to sprawl butter all over him, so that I could eat him. I would have preferred the monster to be made of toast, but we cannot have everything in this world, can we?" Bridge was upside down, like usual, talking to Sky about an absurd dream he had had about him being a mutant thanks to radiation and having to defeat a whole lot of creatures made of food. Man, that dude certainly had weird dreams. "So, how was your night?" Bridge asked, and Sky found it a bit odd that the question was so normal coming from his friend.

"If I had known this was the last day of quarantine I would have slept more than 3 hours." They had woken them up at 5 so that they could have a last exam before being set free into the real world. Sky was tired as hell, he did know why, though, and the thought made him blush. Not that he regretted it for even one second.

"I'd say it was worth it, I heard you last night, you know?"

The Shadow Ranger's face turned red as a tomato.

"You… WHAT?!"

"I woke up in the middle of the night after this dream I already told you about and wanted to talk to you about it, and then I heard you." Bridge said with such easiness that it seemed as if he was telling the news. "I have to say, sneaking out of your bed in the middle of the night and cheating the door controllers in order to meet with a girl in the infirmary? That's a first for you. Maybe Z should convince you to break the rules more often."

"It's not going to happen again." Sky said, trying to calm the redness of his face, with no results.

"I think it's more likely to happen every night from now on." Bridge whispered, causing his friend to bury his face in his hands. "So, did you guys talk about it?"

"About what?"

"What you're going to do. The life of a Ranger is not meant to be a peaceful one." Sky sighed.

"Yeah, we did." There was a short silence, before Bridge voiced his next thoughts.

"You know, if you wanted to retire, and Z went with you… there would be no problem. Jack did it, and I can fully understand his reasons." Bridge turned to look at Sky. "Do you remember all those chats we used to have? About what we fear in reality? I said spiders and you said something about abandoning the people you love without wanting to, like your father. But if you don't take the risk of… you know… then you would never leave Z's side, or your family's, if you guys one day decide to have one."

"We just started a relationship and you're already marrying us and giving us children?"

"I have a feeling about it." Sky smiled at Bridge. His best friend always knew what was going through his mind. But he had nothing to worry about now.

"Don't worry, Bridge. I am not afraid anymore." Bridge raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"I'm fine, with everything. This is my place, my mission, and Z's. This is our home."

He remembered what Z had told him last night.

"We are heroes, this is what we do; we put our lives at stake for the sake of other people. We cannot prevent our deaths, if one day they overcome, but we can make sure that by the time they happen, we don't have the regret of having left our possibilities behind. We fear death when we have something to lose, but we face it better when we know we didn't back down from what we could once have. We only reach the dead end when we are too afraid of confronting the abyss."

END

A/N: I know what you're all thinking. What the hell was that end?! Like, totally retarded, it sounded better when I wrote it in my mother language, but I guess it'll do.

Reviews, Favourites, some Love? Did you like it? Did you? I know, I suck at endings. But I was pretty pleased myself. Hope you liked it anyway. Remember, SUPPORT SKYxZ LOVE FOREVER! 3

Just a quick clear-up. Sky and Z found themselves inside the infirmary, according to my story, there is a secluded area apart from the normal infirmary meant to treat people who may have been affected by radiation where they were treating Sky and Bridge, so when you got out of that secluded part, you were basically still inside the infirmary. This is part of the medical procedure because, as you guys probably know, radiation may be contagious if you spend too much time close to a victim of radiation accidents. So, don't worry, Sky was willing to break the rules, but he's not that bold as to get busy with a girl on a corridor :)