Chapter 18- Never Getting Freedom

Sydney let out a loud moan of pain as she tried to stand up. Morgana smiled with delight at her suffering. The tiny blonde managed to pull herself up to her feet, trying to suck up the intense pain shooting up her leg.

"I love attacking you Sydney. You are so fun to mess around with." Morgana's lips formed an evil grin.

"I'll show you just how fun messing around with me is." She got on a fighting stance , not ready to back down against one of her biggest enemies. She knew she had no chance of beating Morgana yet she knew she had to at least try. She wouldn't allow her to have the satisfaction of beating her.

"What are you going to do? Hop around on one leg until you can hit me?" The villain let out a loud laugh at her own joke. After all those years they had spent together, the Pink Ranger still didn't understand her affinity to laugh at her own jokes, which weren't even that funny.

"No. I'm going to do this." Syd took out her morpher. "SPD Emergency!"

She waited a few seconds for something to happen, but nothing did. It was then when she realized that her morpher had gotten wet and damaged by the blasts Morgana fired at her.

"Technology, just when you need it the most, it fails and abandons you." Syd dropped the device on the dirt and adopted her fighting stance again, glaring at her opponent. She clenched her fists and put her arms in front of her chest, just as Cruger had thought her while training.

When Morgana rushed to attack her, she braced herself and dodged as much of the punches as possible, only taking a few ones to the stomach. She flet like she was in a boxing ring. And she knew she was losing badly. Her injured leg wasn't helping, either.

When the raven-haired girl aimed at her face, she did a back flip and landed on her back. Sydney was getting sloppy, and the villain definitely had the upper hand in this battle, which she hated.

"Had enough, Rogue?"

"Don't call me that. My name is Sydney." She hissed fiercely.

"No. You see you were born under that name, but you know quite well that this isn't the real you." The villain circled her and smiled evilly. "You've been Rogue for most of her life. This is only something you're doing to be with the Blue Ranger."

The last words stung the Pink Ranger. A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it off her face quickly, not wanting Morgana to see her crying. "Let me guess, you and the beau had a fight, probably about you, am I right?"

"What I do is none of your business."

"Guess what, princess? It is." She kicked the Pink Ranger and rolled her on her stomach. She put her on Syd's back so she couldn't get up, which made her cry out in pain. She raised the petite girl's blouse slightly and ran her fingers over the brand.

"You see, this brand you have back here says otherwise." There she went again, mentioning that ugly reminder that she would never be free as long as both Morgana and Grumm were loose. "You're mine, Sydney. You will eventually come back to me, begging to be Rogue again."

"Never." She hissed again, groaning loudly as Morgana removed her foot from her back. Syd immediately rolled onto her back to remove the pressure from her leg.

"We'll see about that when you hurt the ones you love the most. The evil inside you is getting stronger every day. It's only a matter of time until you become Rogue, because that's who you are. Sydney is only a façade you're hiding in." She spat at her viciously.

Syd had heard enough. There was a lot of anger bottled up inside her, just begging to be let out. She closed her eyes and did the only thing she could think of to defend herself. She closed her eyes and began forming a blast and then, the inevitable happened. She blasted her, using her power only as a last resource.

Just as Morgana hit the floor a few meters away, Jack, Bridge, Z and Sky arrived to help her. While Jack and Bridge helped her up, Z began walking to where Morgana was lying. The villain stood up quickly and smiled evilly. "Remember what I said, princess." With that said, she vanished into thin air, leaving everyone but Syd dumbstruck.

"What was that all about?" Bridge asked gently as both Jack and him helped Syd walk to the jeep.

"Nothing, you know how crazy Morgana is. She's like a good contemporary comedy, she makes no sense whatsoever."

"Why didn't you call us to come help you?" It was clear that Sky was very irritated. "If it weren't for Boom you'd be dead, or worse, you'd be in Grumm's ship again."

"Gee, Sky, you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better." Syd muttered sarcastically.

"It wasn't supposed to make you feel better. You're the one who said we were supposed to act like a team, remember?" His words stung to her very core. She glared at him as she lied down on the back seat of the jeep.

"Yes, I do remember and I'm sorry, ok?" She screamed. "Do you think I wanted to get killed by Morgana?"

"It sure seemed like it. You could've called us and this wouldn't have happened." He pointed at her leg, which only made her angrier.

"My morpher got screwed up, ok? It got damaged when Morgana hit me and then I fell into the lake to save…" She mentally slapped herself for forgetting about RIC. "We need to go back."

"You want to fight more, princess?"

That was the last straw. She got up and faced Sky, glaring at him. "Oh yes, please. Bring Morgana and more aliens so I, the defenseless, one-legged princess, can fight against them."

She began walking back, following her lead. She looked back and shot a look that could kill at the Blue Ranger, who was acting like nothing was wrong. She got on her knees, stifling a scream as she hit the floor, at the lake. She put her hands over RIC's parts and stared at the team. "He saved me from getting killed. He was loyal until the end."

Z put a hand over her shoulder and helped her up. "It wasn't your fault. Morgana did this to him."

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that he's…well, damaged beyond repair." She picked up some of the parts and handed them to Jack and Bridge. She took one last look at RIC's head and handed it to Z. All three of them took that as a cue to leave her and Sky alone.

"I'm sorry, Sky."

The Blue Ranger was stunned at her words. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I told my mom the truth and she was very happy."

"I told you it would be that way. When you're a Ranger, color doesn't mean anything. What matters is how you use the suit and the power and responsibility that come with it. That is my perspective." She said gently. Sky put his arm around her and smiled.

"By the way, if you ever call me princess again, I will murder you."

The Blue Ranger knew she had meant it as a joke, but knowing Syd, he decided it was better not to piss her off. While they were walking, the petite fell down, her ankle finally failing her. Sky picked her up in his arms and carried her in his arms. They stopped where the others couldn't see them.

"I'm not ready for anyone to know about us."

"Neither am I. We will tell them when the right time comes." Sky agreed with Syd and put his arm around her to support her weight while they walked. Once at the parking spot, he placed her on the back seat gently and began driving to SPD.

After giving the blonde girl a sedative to help deal with the pain, Kat Manx came out of the medical wing and smiled at a very worried Sky, who was waiting in the command center.

Sky had spent the last two hours checking the cameras around the park to see if they had gotten anything on Morgana's attack on Syd and RIC. So far, he had only gotten a few surveillance videos that showed the girl running around the park with RIC a few times. He didn't even know why he was doing whatever it was that he was doing, he just needed to distract himself with something.

"She's fine, Sky. She's resting now." Kat told him, but before he could leave, the doctor gave him a bouquet of roses. "Give these to her. No girl can resist roses."

"What if Cruger finds out? Won't he be pissed about us breaking the cadet fraternization rule?"

"Not if he doesn't find out." She whispered coyly.

Sky grinned and grabbed the roses. "Thank you, Doctor Manx."

"Thank you for what?" And with that said, she walked away discretely, pretending to be reading Syd's medical charts.

When Sky entered the hospital room, he found his friend lying on a bed. Her leg had been bandaged and propped up on a pillow to ease the pain she was feeling. He noticed Syd had cleaned up since the last time he had seen her. She had been completely dirty when they brought her in. It looked like Kat had helped her shower and he remembered Z coming inside a few hours ago, probably to help her out.

Sydney immediately turned her head and shot Sky a small and weak smile. She sat up slowly when he sat beside her bed. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" He put the flowers on his lap and returned her smile. "I got this from you. I hope you are not allergic to roses."

"Only if they come with bees inside them."

"I promise that they won't sting you." He set the flowers down on her lap. When she picked them up to smell them, he couldn't help but stare at her. He had felt like this only once before. It was when they had kissed that rainy day at the court. Now he knew the Pink and the Blue Ranger weren't only friends. They were something else, something completely foreign to both of them.

"Thank you." She put them down and grabbed a glass of water from the table beside her and took a sip with a straw. "Do you know what will happen to RIC now that he's trashed?"

"His parts will be recycled. Kat wasn't able to do anything for him." He took her hand in his and put a solemn look on his face. "I'm sorry."

"No, there must be something that we can do. I won't give up on him." She wasn't the brightest bulb of the team but she swore she could hear engines moving inside her head as she thought of any ideas. She grinned and clapped her hands. "Sky, bring Bridge and Boom and tell Z to bring my magazine stack. I have an idea."

"Syd…"

"I may be on painkillers but I'm not crazy. If you trust me, you'll do what I ask you to do." She crossed her arms and put an amused smile on her face as he walked out the door, bringing along what she had asked.

"I brought a permanent marker to sign your cast." Bridge looked closer and noticed she had no cast. "Oh, I thought your leg had been broken because of the impact and the blast…"

"Bridge!" Syd interrupted and handed him and Boom a magazine. "Your subscription arrived at my door last week. And since I'm so into technology, I thought I'd keep it for a while."

"I could lend you my other issues when you have time to read them." The Pink Ranger slapped herself on the forehead and rolled her eyes.

"That was sarcasm."

"So what do you need us to do?" Boom asked her. She gave them a smile and handed them a folded sheet of paper. After both of them read it, they gave each other a high five and left the room.

"Those two get weirder every second they are together." Z muttered and shrugged, waving goodbye to both of them since she was meeting Jack for dinner. Sydney giggled and waved goodbye to her friend after wishing her good luck.

After talking for a few hours, Kat came in to tell Sky that visiting hours were over but before leaving, he kissed Syd's forehead tenderly. She blushed and stared down at her sheets, not knowing what to say.

Just as Sky was about to leave, she grabbed his hand and gave him a small peck on the lips. "That's for leaving me alone here."

"I can't wait to see to what you have in store for me when you get angry." She gasped and punched his shoulder playfully. And with that he left the medical wing with a big smile on his face.