Disclaimer: Don't own power rangers or any of its characters. If I did, there would SOO be a PR:SPD season 2! Unfortunately I don't! Sigh! ANYways! I don't make money from this! I write itfor fun!

Hey people! This is my second PR fic. I hope you like it. It is Sky centric!Let me say upfront that there is no romance in here between Sky and Syd(or Sky and Z! Or Bridge and Z! Or Sky and Bridge, cuz you never know!) Heck! There is no romance at all! Just friends chillin together. It is set before the time Grumm is destroyed, so Jack is still red ranger in this and Sky is blue. While I haven't set definate ages for the rangers, all of them are above nineteen (which is the legal drinking age in Canada! Whohoo! ;P) Sky and Jack are the oldest. Probably each about 22 to 24. 21 at the youngest. ANYways! Not important! Just background info! Enjoy the story!

Chapter One: A Night Off

"I will survive!

As long as I know how to love

I know I will stay alive!

I've got all my life to live!

I've got all my love to give

and I'll survive

I will SURVIVE!"

The crowd in cheered happily as Jack and group of fellow cadets bowed, finishing their performance in the karaoke bar. Jack hopped off the stage and walked off towards his friends who were sitting at one of the tables. He plopped down between Syd and Z, looking fairly satisfied with himself.

"Nice performance there, Jack," Z said sarcastically with a smirk on her face.

"Well you know how it is!" Jack replied slyly, ignoring the sarcasm. "They didn't make me the red ranger for nothing."

"They also didn't make you it for your singing abilities," Sky mumbled from behind his book.

Jack just rolled his eyes, snatching the novel from Sky. Of all the people he knew, only Sky would bring a book with him to a karaoke bar. The guy seriously needed to learn to lighten up. Jack didn't know what his problem was but tonight he didn't care. He was there to have a good time and he wasn't going to let soldier boy over there ruin it by being his usual overly uptight self. Sky glared daggers at Jack and attempted to grab the book back. Jack, being at the other side of the table, held it just out of his reach.

"Hey! Give that back!" Sky said. He was did not look amused. Jack on the other hand looked quite pleased with himself, making Sky even more angry.

"Come ON Sky!" Jack said exasperated. "We're at a karaoke bar! You don't read at a karaoke bar. You sing, drink, watch the show, and hang with your friends. This is not the place to be expanding your vocabulary! We brought you here to have a good time."

"Yeah Sky!" Syd chipped in. "You haven't said anything all night long. You've just had your nose stuck in that book."

"It is kind of rude not to ignore everyone like that Sky," Bridge added.

"Hey! I wasn't even going to come, but you guys forced me. Besides, I enjoy reading!" Sky gave another swipe at the book but Jack moved it out of his reach. "Please! Just give it back."

"No." Jack replied, matter of factly. "As your superior officer I order you not to read to tonight, and to enjoy this night out with your friends."

The only answer Jack received to his order was a furious glare from Sky. Jack didn't care though. He knew he won the argument and that was enough for him. He smiled to himself. He was really starting to enjoy this chain of command thing.

"Waitress," Jack called to the women walking by. Hearing the call, she walked over to the table. "Hi! Can we get another round for me and my friend over here?"

"No!" Sky replied hastily. "Just make it one." He turned to Jack. "I don't drink."

"Come on! Lighten up a little. You're legal! And if anyone needs a drink it's you!" Jack turned to the waitress. "Make it two." The waitress nodded and waltzed off.

"Hey wait!" Sky called after the girl, but she didn't hear him and kept on walking. He glared at Jack angrily. "Jack, I don't drink."

"Well we're going to have to change that tonight, aren't we?" Jack said playfully, slapping Sky on the shoulder.

"Yeah! Come on Sky," Z said. "Grumm hasn't been spotted in weeks and Cruger gave us the night off. He and Omega have got things covered if there is an attack, so we're not even on call. You are allowed to have some fun once in a while. The only person who can't have anything to drink is Syd because she's the designated driver. I mean it's just one drink. You're the only one here who hasn't had anything."

Z was right. All of them, even Bridge, had something to drink.

"No," Sky replied with a tone of finality.

"Fine," Jack replied. "You can sit there and just watch the rest of us have a good time while you sit there and brood."

"Whatever," Sky mumbled under his breath. He crossed his arms leaning back in his chair as the others turned their attention back to the next performer. It was going to be very a long night for Sky.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The rest of the evening passed by giddily as the Jack and the others went up for several more tries at performing, all making complete fools of themselves (except for Syd who actually could sing) and none of them caring. They were just happy to be hanging out and having a normal night for once in their lives. Sky spent the rest of the night sitting in the exact same corner doing exactly what Jack had predicted he would do, brooding. This was much to Syd's disappointment as she would have liked to have some sober company for the evening, at least to make some conversation with. Not that she didn't try, it was just Sky did everything in his power to kill every conversation she started so she eventually gave up.

By 1 AM Syd decided it was time to head back to the base. They had already stayed much longer than they had planned because, the now very drunk, Jack insisted on going back up for an encore performance. Sky helped the Syd lead their giddy friends back to the SPD jeep and began heading off towards his motorcycle without a word. This was the last straw for Sydney.

"You know you could have been a little bit nicer to me this evening," Syd yelled after Sky.

Sky didn't stop to respond, and only grunted something as he continued towards his bike.

"Hey! I'm talking to you," Syd yelled. "We invited you because you're our friend and we wanted you to have a good time. But all you do is make the night miserable for everyone around you. What is your problem? Why can't you just loosen up? Have some FUN? Just join in for once! You know? Talk. Smile. Have a drink. Is that so hard?"

Sky stopped for a moment. He shoulders lagged as he sighed and turned around to face the now furious Sydney Drew. "I'm sorry," he said bluntly.

Sydney was in shock. Had Sky just apologized to her? "Excuse me?"

"I said I'm sorry." Sky leaned back against a car and began to absent mindedly kick at the dirt. "Look, I appreciate what you were trying to do and I know I'm not exactly the best company. It's just… places like that… they're just…" Sky contemplated how to word what he wanted to say.

"They're just what?" Syd asked, not quite sure what Sky was trying to get at.

"They're just-

HONK!

"SYD-NEY!" the giggling voice of Jack called coyly. Bridge and Z were sitting in the front seat, now how far too much fun honking the horn of the jeep. Sydney rolled her eyes in annoyance, shaking her head at her team mates' childish behavior.

Sky sighed. "They're just not my idea of fun," he said quietly. He turned back around and headed off towards his motorcycle.

Sydney frowned as she watched her sullen friend go. He had seemed strangely sad as he watched their friends play about in their drunken state. She had expected anger from him, annoyance at the very least, but instead she saw something else in his eyes. It was something he quickly hid behind his usual unreadable mask, but not before Syd had spotted it.

HONK!

Syd jumped as the horn went off again, followed by a flood of muffled giggles. She rolled her eyes at her giggling friends as she turned back to the jeep raising her hands in surrender. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Relax." She shook her head smirking to herself. Usually she would have been annoyed at being the one chosen to be the designated driver, not being able to join in the fun with her friends, but tonight was different. Earlier that day she had overheard Cruger asking Kat to arrange for an early morning surprise simulation they were planning to spring on them the next morning, well actually, this morning as it was technically the next day. Needless to say, all of her very hung over friends would have deal with consequences of their actions with a very nasty wake up call, amplified that much more by the after affects of the alcohol. It was not going to be a very pretty sight, thus, she would have to bring a camera. Who knows? With a sight like that, she might even get to see Sky smile, or at least smirk, and that was the closest she could ever hope to get out that Ice King.

Still, something about that last moment with Sky bothered her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she knew something was up. Something was bothering him that he was telling her about, not that he would tell her if something was. He wasn't exactly the sharing type of person. She'd have to ask Bridge about it tomorrow, for now though, she had some very drunken friends she had drive home and get to bed. They needed as much sleep as they could get before the wake up call they were about to receive.

To be continued...

So that was my first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. There is definately more to come.

Please review! Whether good or bad, friendly or flaming! I don't care. If you really hate it that much than by all means, flame away. I have no beef with constructive critisism. If you don't like something about the story or the way I write I want to know so I can improve.

Thanks!