Sky

Something to lose

Sky knew what sacrifice meant. Since the day his father died in duty. It wasn't the first time he sacrificed himself, and he was aware that this time he might not be as lucky as last time. This time there would be no Jack having his back. And it was fine that way, the Shadow Ranger wasn't supposed to fear death.

"We need to close the energy field before it explodes and destroys the whole city."

"We cannot close it." Z mentioned. "It's already too powerful and if we get any closer we'll be roasted in one second."

"Not if we are fast enough." Sky commented.

"It's suicide." Syd hissed.

"It's the only way."

"Wait… it would just take one shot from a very powerful gun to damage the source of energy and destroy it." Bridge added.

"Yet, we have to be close enough to be able to aim at the source. And no one can get closer than one kilometer." Z said.

"Do we have another option?" Syd shouted at the border of desperation.

"Yes, we let it explode." A cutting silence fell over the team. They had to make a decision now; there was no one else available to make it for them.

"We are rangers." Sky said breaking the silence. "If we have to die for the sake of the people, we die." He looked at the rest of the squad and they nodded, determined. "Bridge, you'll take the de-atomizer and destroy the source of energy. I thrust now that you are red ranger, that your target abilities have improved."

"They have, sir… I mean, Sky, I mean…"

"Syd and Z, you will activate the curfew and make sure every corner in the city is properly evacuated. In case things go wrong… we need to save as many people as we can."

"Yes, sir!"

"Take the helicopter; we'll open the tunnels underground."

"Yes, sir!" This time only Syd answered.

"What about you?" Z's question caused an awkward silence to fill the already thick atmosphere. They all knew the answer to that question.

"Bridge needs a distraction if he wants to approach the center of the facility unharmed. A magnet for the radiation rays"

"You mean you'll be the cannon fodder?"

"We have no other choice." Z opened her mouth to complain, but Sky cut her. "End of discussion, Cadet Delgado."

Syd and Bridge gulped. They knew better not to try changing Sky's mind, both knew it was impossible. Sky was the Shadow Ranger and one of the fastest drivers anyway, if someone had a chance of evading the mortal strikes of radiation rays and surviving this mission it was him.

"Get ready, rangers."

"Yes, sir!"

.o.O.0.O.o.

"Shuyler Tate…" the sound of her laugh clanged in his ears and he shot her a look.

"Stop laughing at my name."

"It's funny! Oh, no one would like to be called like that! Sky sounds a lot cooler, doesn't it?"

"What about you, Elizabeth Delgado?" this time it was her who shot him a look.

"Don't call me like that, Shuyler."

"Why not, Elizabeth?"

"Very funny, Shuyler."

"It is, isn't it? Elizabeth?"

"Shuyler…"

"Elizabeth."

"Sydney!" the blond shouted as she came into the common-room, followed by the blue and green rangers.

"Sophie!" the green ranger followed.

"Bridge… Why are we saying our names? Is this some kind of name memorization? Because I thought we already knew our names since we were born… well, maybe not since we were born, but since we have the gift of memory or maybe…"

"Bridge, shut up!" they all shouted.

"Anyway, what's going on here?"

"Elizabeth was laughing at my name."

"And Shuyler is a little kid who can't take a joke."

"Now that's what I call a nice make out session." Syd commented with a wicked grin. Sky and Z blushed furiously and Z started to shout at her blonde best friend, while the red ranger just buried himself inside the SPD Regulation Handbook, waiting the heat of his face would go away.

"Dios me libre de ti, Syd, you are talking nonsense! I always knew all those blond locks were suffocating your head!"

From the corner of his eye, Sky looked how the morena exited the room in the middle of the laughter of her teammates. "Though it wouldn't be that bad if we had the chance to make out sometime... crap, what's wrong with you, Tate? Maybe those toxic fumes from the nuclear facility in the last mission really affected your head." Sky forced the thought out of his mind and tried to foccus on reading. But for some strange reason he couldn't shake free of Z's image for the rest of the day.

.o.O.0.O.o.

Bridge gulped hard as Sky finished charging the de-atomizer and handed it to him. The Shadow Ranger looked at his best friend and for a moment his stone-cold expression changed as he saw certain vulnerability in his eyes. He squeezed his shoulder.

"Ten more minutes, Carson. I suggest you go say goodbye to Sophie… just in case."

"I already did. Now I would like to wish my best friend good luck…" Bridge seemed to be at the border of tears. Sky held his shoulder until he composed again. "Good luck, Sky."

"Good luck to you too." Sky and Bridge turned as they saw the girls walk into the weapon room.

"Guys…" Syd went to them and hugged them. "You better come back alive, or I'll haunt you in hell."

"Since when are you threatening us?"

"She's spent too much time with Jack, I think." They all shared a sad laugh. It worked to ease everybody's nerves for a second. Still, the tension was growing in the little room. Syd grabbed Bridge's shoulder and nodded softly. Bridge turned to the two other rangers.

"We'll be… waiting in the platform." He said and they both exited the room.

Once they were alone, Z made a move to approach the Shadow Ranger and hug him. It was short-lived, a friendly, yet cold hug. Sky didn't dare look at her. He knew he should, for this was maybe the last time he'd ever see her again. Yet, the thought of it just made his heart pound in fear. He wasn't supposed to fear death, and he never had, not until he had something to lose. He didn't want to have it.

"I want to go with you." She said after a few seconds.

"That's out of the question." Sky simply said.

"No, it's not. If two of us go than maybe…"

"I won't hear more."

"Sky…" he looked into her almond eyes and his heart pounded painfully in his chest. She sighed. "Fine." She made her way out of the weapon room.

"Z… wait." The soft hold of her arm made her turn around and approach him until she was only centimeters away from his body.

"If you have something to say, Shuyler Tate, than you better say it right now."

Sky froze from her sudden closeness, and a battle started to build itself inside his brain. He had always been a calculator, known for thinking before feeling, it was what had kept him alive, what had made him the Shadow Ranger. Yet right now it was different. It was… her.

He knew what he felt for her. He wasn't sure of when it started; maybe it had always been there, ever since they met. He had gotten to know her, like he had gotten to know Jack. But his feelings with her were completely different and he guessed, it was the same with her. Now they both danced around each other; fighting, waiting, playing that dangerous game of courting that seemed to have no end. He didn't know what it was that attracted him so madly to her. Maybe it was her everlasting internal force, maybe her annoying will or her playful temper. Maybe it was the way she had of lightening the mood of every single individual she wanted to approach, maybe it was the way she helped and took care of everyone who needed her. Maybe it was the strange way she had to enlighten his soul in the most blissful flashes of joy. The way she never gave up on making him smile.

She was like the sun for him, warming up his cold being. And as much as he wanted her to always be by his side he also knew that it implied something terrible. Something he wasn't sure he could cope; His fear of death, which was always nonexistent for a man, until he realized he had something to lose. He had something to lose, he could lose her.

The tiny alarm in his clock made them both jump; perhaps she had been lost in her thoughts too, missing such an important moment of what might have been their last moment together. Sky let go of her arm and took out his morpher.

"It's time." He said. Z sighed again and nodded. But this time, when Sky tried to make his way out of the weapon room, it was her who took him by the arm. He turned around not too keenly, for they had little to no time to talk, but in that moment her lips clashed against his and he lost all thought of time, of the mission, of everything that wasn't her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closed to him. The kiss was also short lived, for they had no time to get lost in each other. Sky buried his head in her hair as she hugged him vehemently.

"We shouldn't have done that." He said.

"I'd rather have you die knowing that I kissed you at least once in my life." That was a good point. That was the hell of a good point. And suddenly Sky wasn't as afraid of death as he had been earlier.