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Life Minus The Social
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It was Saturday, and normally Saturday was dedicated to early morning patrol, but today Cruger had given them the day off. Now, a day off for Tammi was different than a day off for the rest of B-squad. She didn�t go shopping like she�d heard Syd and Z talking about doing, She didn�t visit with old friends as Bridge was doing today. She had no family to visit like Sky had grumpily planned for today, and she didn�t . . . do whatever it was Jack did. No, on days off she did what she was raised to do. Train.
Her plans for today were to go down to Angel Grove and train with two of her many �uncles.� After she changed clothes, she went down to the vehicle hangar and grabbed an SPD patrol bike. She drove about forty-five minutes to the small but thriving town. She always loved Angel Grove. She saw it as her home away from home.
She smiled as she walked through the door of the familiar dojo, and there stood a man in red and a man in black both were waiting for her. �Tammi!� The Asian man in black yelled as he wrapped her in a big hug. The man in red followed soon after with a hug of equal size.
�Hi Uncle Adam, Uncle Jason,� she said with a huge smile. She almost felt like crying at the sight of them. There were several times while she was trapped in Gruumm�s dungeon that the fear of never seeing these people again plagued her, and now to be standing in front of the familiar faces again, it was a surprisingly joyful feeling. She could feel her eyes misting over, and quickly pushed those thoughts away. By the looks on their faces they were feeling the same exact emotions. The three of them chuckled a little.
�Well, that�s enough reuniting, it�s time to get you back on track. You ready? Because with you being inactive for so long this may be slightly painful.� Jason said at last.
�If I�m gonna risk my life fighting disgusting creeps everyday, It doesn�t matter if I�m ready. I need to do this,� Tammi said as she set her stuff down on a nearby bench.
�All right then, let�s go.� Adam said as he rubbed his hands together and headed for the mats.
For the next three hours she sparred nonstop with the two middle aged gentlemen, and they were right. It was very painful. She was glad Aunt Kim interrupted them with lunch. It would give her a chance to assess her sore muscles.
�So, Commander Cruger gave you the day off, and you are spending it here?� Kimberly asked her in disbelief as she set out the KFC meal on the table in the staff lounge.
�Yes, I have to get back in the habit of non-stop, no mercy fighting. A monster is not going to stop attacking me if I run out of breath or get a cramp or something,� she said as she began to fill up her paper plate with chicken.
�Hungry?� Jason asked with a laugh as he noticed Tammi�s bending plate.
�I�m starved. You have no idea what that over processed food at headquarters can do to a person.�
Suddenly Tammi realized something, Robby and Lizzie, Kim and Jason�s two oldest, were on the missing A and B squads. An awkwardness seemed to take control of the room, and Tammi looked up across the table at Kim and Jason. She felt a sting of guilt at their expressions. Robby had been her responsibility. He was on her squad. He had been her second in command. The red ranger that was exactly like his father, and she had let Grumm get his hands on him. And Kai, Adam�s daughter, as well. She had been the B-squad pink ranger. No one had expected that. After all she was the daughter of the original yellow ranger and the second black ranger.
She had let everyone down. She wondered if any of their parents hated her. She wouldn�t blame them if they did. She felt a hand touch her shoulder.
�It�s not your fault,� Adam said soothingly.
�But I was the leader; it was my job and responsibility to look out for them. I didn�t do that job. How can you say it�s not my fault?� Tammi asked as she looked away from them all.
�I�ve been where you are, Tammi, and trust me there was nothing you could do. I know it feels like you could and should have done something, but you couldn�t. No one could have,� Jason said as he sat down beside her.
�Oh God, everyone must hate me. I lost their kids . . .� She said with a slight sob.
�Oh, honey, no. We are all just glad that you are alive. Do you know what you being home means?� Kim asked as she too tried to comfort her. �It means there is hope that our children are still alive as well.�
�I . . . I have to go,� Tammi said abruptly as she practically leapt from the table. She couldn�t take it anymore. It didn�t matter what they said, this guilt would never go away, and the longer she sat in that room with them the worse it got. They all called out after her, but their cries fell upon deaf ears. She drove speedily and recklessly back to headquarters.
As she walked to her apartment she took big, labored breaths to keep herself from breaking down. What am I going to do? she thought, I�ll only hurt SPD in this condition. I�ve got to forget about it. I�ve got to push it to the back of my mind and move on. As long as I avoid family members of my teammates It shouldn�t be that hard, she thought with a gulp as she made it inside of her quarters.
�Oh God, Who the hell am I kidding?� she said to herself as she tearfully collapsed on the bed.
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Jack had absolutely nothing to do today. Everyone else had plans, and he refused to do anything strenuous on any of the rare days off Cruger gave them. So he sat around in his room, and hung out in the rec room. It seemed the logical thing to do. He was headed back to his room when he noticed something odd. Tammi was crying. The ice-queen of SPD was crying. Wow, if she took her hair out of that ridiculously tight bun and put on normal clothes she might actually look human, he thought to himself as he watched her brush past him. Something strange happened when she passed him. He began to worry about her. He wanted to ask if she was okay, but decided against it. She seemed to need to be by herself, but at some point he was going to find out what was going on. Something inside him was concerned for her, and he didn�t like it.