SPD: Jack/Sky/Bridge/Syd/Z: 15. Crazy
Title: Closest Thing to Crazy
Author: scifislasher
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pre-OT5. Jack/Sky/Bridge/Syd/Z
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Theme: Ashley's Theme. #15. Crazy
AN: Spoilers for SWAT parts 1 and 2
This was insane, Sky thought in frustration as Jack and Bridge threw themselves around the rec. room in the name of ‘sparring’. Did they have to do this in here? There wasn’t supposed to be fighting in the rec. room, and that was frequently the only reason he hadn’t taken a swing at Jack before now. Of course, rules only applied to people other than Jack Landors, he thought sourly. Of all the arrogant, self-satisfied…He frowned as Jack’s hands held onto Bridge’s arms a little longer than was strictly necessary. Actually, he was surprised Bridge’s momentum hadn’t suffered for it. Not that they should be sparring in here anyway, he reminded himself firmly. Because they shouldn’t. And Jack really was getting a little too familiar with Bridge. His hands didn’t have any reason being there.
He jerked his eyes away abruptly. He shouldn’t be looking there either.
***
Jack wouldn’t admit it, but part of the reason he was sparring with Bridge was to try and get a reaction out of Sky. Sky with his uptight adherence to rules; Sky with his model plane that seemed to require a lot of the blue ranger’s attention and intricate finger work; Sky who should be paying attention to him, damn it. What did it take?
Then again, he wasn’t exactly complaining about the chance to get his hands all over Bridge either. And when Bridge all but fell into Sky’s lap? Definitely not complaining.
***
Bridge ducked as Jack aimed a swipe at his head and grabbed the other man’s wrist in an attempt to flip him. It failed, but it had at least thrown Jack off balance, prompting him to roll over the nearest couch to regain some stability. Of course, Jack came back quicker than he’d anticipated, which he should really have anticipated in the first place… He jerked backwards as Jack came at him again and really, perfect opportunity right here.
He let himself fall right next to Sky when it wasn’t really necessary; he could’ve righted himself from that shot pretty easily. About the only person close to his flexibility was Z; the way she wriggled out of situations was really very…
Loud. Z was very loud.
***
Z stormed into the rec. room fuming and yelling. When would Syd learn to keep her stuff to herself? It wasn’t as if Z needed Syd’s clutter all over the bathroom, not when pink things littered the room, even getting onto her bed, making everything all girly and prissy. Syd wore too much make-up anyway, she should try wearing less. It would probably suit her better.
***
Why was Z being so stubborn? Syd wondered, her hands clenching reflexively at her sides. All she was trying to do was help. Z could use a little more blush, god knew. It would accentuate her cheekbones and a little eye make-up never hurt anyone. Z could be so much more glamorous if she just applied herself. But no, she had to be all stubborn, determined to stick with the ‘indie chick’ look. And that was just a total waste.
***
Commander Cruger frowned as he walked purposefully through the halls of his base. His rangers were arguing again. This was the third time this week he’d overheard some of them having a fight over something irrelevant and he was sick of it. He’d thought they were learning, starting to come together as a team, even if it was nothing more than closing ranks against Sam and what they saw as his attempt at replacing them. Ridiculous. As if any one ranger could replace this team. But he was going to have to do something about this, they simply didn’t have the luxury of allowing the rangers to wallow in their petty bickering. It looked like he needed to make a call to an old friend.
***
Sky scowled behind his book. This was the last place he wanted to be right now: cooped up in a shuttle with the four people he most wanted to avoid. It was just… madness, that was the only word that accurately summed up the situation he found himself in. It wasn’t enough that he found himself with a completely inappropriate crush on a teammate, oh no. He had to have one on all four of them and he was sure that he was going completely out of his mind.
He glanced over the top of his book at the sound of the girls bickering in the front seats and sighed silently. Two of his biggest problems, right there. Syd was hot at the best of times but when she was pissed? Even more so. She also, for some reason, seemed to have made it her mission in life to make him laugh. He wasn’t sure why, but she had. And she was successful more times than he liked to admit, even to himself. Z was also a very attractive woman, but it wasn’t the yellow ranger’s looks that attracted him to her. Z challenged him, challenged his view of the world and pushed him to change those views when they proved wrong. They’d come a long way since they’d met; he was now no longer so dismissive of her and her opinions. The fact that she’d been a thief and had a substantial criminal record no longer bothered him in the slightest.
His eyes drifted to his left and he promptly scowled. Jack and Bridge were being very touchy-feely in the corner and it was very distracting. Therein lay the rest of his problem: Bridge with his frequently dishevelled hair and perpetually cheerful outlook on life and Jack who was just… Jack. Irritating, smug, annoying and scarily perceptive. It was unnerving how Jack seemed to know him so well, that he knew just which buttons to push to get a reaction, and it was only adding insult to injury that the man had to be so damned attractive too. There had to be a rule against people like that. Or if there wasn’t there should be.
***
Z scowled to herself as she made her way around the course. Short course, she snorted. Only twenty miles. Only, hah. God, it felt like she’d been going forever. But at least she was on her own and didn’t have to deal with everyone else’s drama. Syd and her prissy attitude; Jack’s assumption that everyone would do what he thought was best; Bridge and his constant chatter; Sky and his stick up his butt attitude. She scowled harder at Sky’s dismissive voice echoing in her ears. It was so obvious the guy didn’t want to have anything to do with them, he almost seemed to prize his loner status by pushing everyone away. Stupid, stubborn, arrogant pain in the ass. Who did he think he was anyway? The Second Coming?
She was just so tired, tired of having them all in her face, all day every day, all of them getting under her skin - in more ways than one. They were all driving each other crazy; was it any wonder they were arguing so much lately?
“Z! Help!”
She stopped short as Sky’s voice reached her ears and she spun round trying to locate him. Where was he? Sky never called for help, never. What could possibly--? She screamed his name, hoping for answer, a direction at least, but there was no response and she went cold all over. No. She couldn’t lose one of them, any of them.
***
Sky ran through the woods, desperately trying to find Bridge; his roommate’s calls for help still ringing in his ears. God, where was he? If anything happened to Bridge… He shook off the thought. Nothing was going to happen to Bridge, because he was going to find Bridge.
And he did, not a moment too soon. Somewhere along the line Bridge had met up with Jack, although considering they were both running from something it was a good bet they still needed help. That was when he heard the ominous creak and both Jack and Bridge stopped, looking up in frozen shock as the tree started falling towards them. He didn’t even stop to think, ignoring the fear that seemed to have set up shop in his gut, and threw himself at them, knocking them out the way before the tree fell on them.
“Nice save,” Bridge gasped.
“Thanks,” he replied dryly, taking one brief moment to let himself feel the warmth of both his teammates before standing up, half pulling the others to their feet as he did so.
***
When Z finally found Sky it was to find, much to her chagrin as well as relief, that he was fine, and confusion at Syd thinking she’d called for help.
“So… we all came running because we called for help, but no one called for help?” was Bridge’s just as confused question and that was when she saw realisation dawn on Jack’s face. Of course, once it had been spelled out for them it seemed obvious what had happened and it seemed faintly ridiculous that they hadn’t seen it before. They were a team, for crying out loud, it was stupid that they’d lost sight of that. All of the frustrations she had regarding her teammates, Sky’s attitude, Syd’s girliness, all the rest of it, was irrelevant. They were a team and they belonged together.
Author: scifislasher
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Pre-OT5. Jack/Sky/Bridge/Syd/Z
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Theme: Ashley's Theme. #15. Crazy
AN: Spoilers for SWAT parts 1 and 2
This was insane, Sky thought in frustration as Jack and Bridge threw themselves around the rec. room in the name of ‘sparring’. Did they have to do this in here? There wasn’t supposed to be fighting in the rec. room, and that was frequently the only reason he hadn’t taken a swing at Jack before now. Of course, rules only applied to people other than Jack Landors, he thought sourly. Of all the arrogant, self-satisfied…He frowned as Jack’s hands held onto Bridge’s arms a little longer than was strictly necessary. Actually, he was surprised Bridge’s momentum hadn’t suffered for it. Not that they should be sparring in here anyway, he reminded himself firmly. Because they shouldn’t. And Jack really was getting a little too familiar with Bridge. His hands didn’t have any reason being there.
He jerked his eyes away abruptly. He shouldn’t be looking there either.
***
Jack wouldn’t admit it, but part of the reason he was sparring with Bridge was to try and get a reaction out of Sky. Sky with his uptight adherence to rules; Sky with his model plane that seemed to require a lot of the blue ranger’s attention and intricate finger work; Sky who should be paying attention to him, damn it. What did it take?
Then again, he wasn’t exactly complaining about the chance to get his hands all over Bridge either. And when Bridge all but fell into Sky’s lap? Definitely not complaining.
***
Bridge ducked as Jack aimed a swipe at his head and grabbed the other man’s wrist in an attempt to flip him. It failed, but it had at least thrown Jack off balance, prompting him to roll over the nearest couch to regain some stability. Of course, Jack came back quicker than he’d anticipated, which he should really have anticipated in the first place… He jerked backwards as Jack came at him again and really, perfect opportunity right here.
He let himself fall right next to Sky when it wasn’t really necessary; he could’ve righted himself from that shot pretty easily. About the only person close to his flexibility was Z; the way she wriggled out of situations was really very…
Loud. Z was very loud.
***
Z stormed into the rec. room fuming and yelling. When would Syd learn to keep her stuff to herself? It wasn’t as if Z needed Syd’s clutter all over the bathroom, not when pink things littered the room, even getting onto her bed, making everything all girly and prissy. Syd wore too much make-up anyway, she should try wearing less. It would probably suit her better.
***
Why was Z being so stubborn? Syd wondered, her hands clenching reflexively at her sides. All she was trying to do was help. Z could use a little more blush, god knew. It would accentuate her cheekbones and a little eye make-up never hurt anyone. Z could be so much more glamorous if she just applied herself. But no, she had to be all stubborn, determined to stick with the ‘indie chick’ look. And that was just a total waste.
***
Commander Cruger frowned as he walked purposefully through the halls of his base. His rangers were arguing again. This was the third time this week he’d overheard some of them having a fight over something irrelevant and he was sick of it. He’d thought they were learning, starting to come together as a team, even if it was nothing more than closing ranks against Sam and what they saw as his attempt at replacing them. Ridiculous. As if any one ranger could replace this team. But he was going to have to do something about this, they simply didn’t have the luxury of allowing the rangers to wallow in their petty bickering. It looked like he needed to make a call to an old friend.
***
Sky scowled behind his book. This was the last place he wanted to be right now: cooped up in a shuttle with the four people he most wanted to avoid. It was just… madness, that was the only word that accurately summed up the situation he found himself in. It wasn’t enough that he found himself with a completely inappropriate crush on a teammate, oh no. He had to have one on all four of them and he was sure that he was going completely out of his mind.
He glanced over the top of his book at the sound of the girls bickering in the front seats and sighed silently. Two of his biggest problems, right there. Syd was hot at the best of times but when she was pissed? Even more so. She also, for some reason, seemed to have made it her mission in life to make him laugh. He wasn’t sure why, but she had. And she was successful more times than he liked to admit, even to himself. Z was also a very attractive woman, but it wasn’t the yellow ranger’s looks that attracted him to her. Z challenged him, challenged his view of the world and pushed him to change those views when they proved wrong. They’d come a long way since they’d met; he was now no longer so dismissive of her and her opinions. The fact that she’d been a thief and had a substantial criminal record no longer bothered him in the slightest.
His eyes drifted to his left and he promptly scowled. Jack and Bridge were being very touchy-feely in the corner and it was very distracting. Therein lay the rest of his problem: Bridge with his frequently dishevelled hair and perpetually cheerful outlook on life and Jack who was just… Jack. Irritating, smug, annoying and scarily perceptive. It was unnerving how Jack seemed to know him so well, that he knew just which buttons to push to get a reaction, and it was only adding insult to injury that the man had to be so damned attractive too. There had to be a rule against people like that. Or if there wasn’t there should be.
***
Z scowled to herself as she made her way around the course. Short course, she snorted. Only twenty miles. Only, hah. God, it felt like she’d been going forever. But at least she was on her own and didn’t have to deal with everyone else’s drama. Syd and her prissy attitude; Jack’s assumption that everyone would do what he thought was best; Bridge and his constant chatter; Sky and his stick up his butt attitude. She scowled harder at Sky’s dismissive voice echoing in her ears. It was so obvious the guy didn’t want to have anything to do with them, he almost seemed to prize his loner status by pushing everyone away. Stupid, stubborn, arrogant pain in the ass. Who did he think he was anyway? The Second Coming?
She was just so tired, tired of having them all in her face, all day every day, all of them getting under her skin - in more ways than one. They were all driving each other crazy; was it any wonder they were arguing so much lately?
“Z! Help!”
She stopped short as Sky’s voice reached her ears and she spun round trying to locate him. Where was he? Sky never called for help, never. What could possibly--? She screamed his name, hoping for answer, a direction at least, but there was no response and she went cold all over. No. She couldn’t lose one of them, any of them.
***
Sky ran through the woods, desperately trying to find Bridge; his roommate’s calls for help still ringing in his ears. God, where was he? If anything happened to Bridge… He shook off the thought. Nothing was going to happen to Bridge, because he was going to find Bridge.
And he did, not a moment too soon. Somewhere along the line Bridge had met up with Jack, although considering they were both running from something it was a good bet they still needed help. That was when he heard the ominous creak and both Jack and Bridge stopped, looking up in frozen shock as the tree started falling towards them. He didn’t even stop to think, ignoring the fear that seemed to have set up shop in his gut, and threw himself at them, knocking them out the way before the tree fell on them.
“Nice save,” Bridge gasped.
“Thanks,” he replied dryly, taking one brief moment to let himself feel the warmth of both his teammates before standing up, half pulling the others to their feet as he did so.
***
When Z finally found Sky it was to find, much to her chagrin as well as relief, that he was fine, and confusion at Syd thinking she’d called for help.
“So… we all came running because we called for help, but no one called for help?” was Bridge’s just as confused question and that was when she saw realisation dawn on Jack’s face. Of course, once it had been spelled out for them it seemed obvious what had happened and it seemed faintly ridiculous that they hadn’t seen it before. They were a team, for crying out loud, it was stupid that they’d lost sight of that. All of the frustrations she had regarding her teammates, Sky’s attitude, Syd’s girliness, all the rest of it, was irrelevant. They were a team and they belonged together.