SPD: Jack/Sky/Bridge/Z/Syd; 2. Gravity
I almost forgot to post this here, which would rather defeat the 'community' part of a challenge community fic, wouldn't it. -_-
Title: Balance
Author:
kikos_ai
Pairing: Power Rangers SPD (YEAH) B Squad: Jack/Sky/Bridge/Syd/Z
Theme: Ashleys's theme. #2 Gravity
Rating: R
A/N: Sequel to Defense Mechanisms and New Dawn
He was catapulted out of a deep, blissful and completely dreamless sleep when an electrical current suddenly shot through his left arm, creating a white-hot pain from his shoulder to his wrist. It jolted him awake and seized his breath in a shock filled gasp. His first instinct was to curl up into himself, to yank his arm towards his chest, but something--no several somethings--were holding him down, pressing the live current deeper into his arm so that it traveled up to his skull. Somehow, his is training and Ranger conditioning clicked somewhere in his brain and he bucked one of his legs out in a desperate bid for freedom.
"OWW! ...The hell, Bridge?!"
...Z?
One of the heavy somethings lifted from his waist and knee, but his arm was still trapped and still hurting. He whimpered. Pain. Pain. Pain.
"Bridge? You ok?" Feather light touches skimmed the surface of his forehead. It did little to elevate the pain in his head or in his trapped arm.
"Whatsit? ...Ugh, what time is it?"
Syd's voice. Normally, hearing Syd's voice in his dorm in the middle of the night (day? morning?) would be a cause for some alarm, since the last time he'd checked, Sky said that there were no girls allowed in the guy dorms after curfew. But the pain in his arm was shifting from electrical shock to bone deep throbbing; as though someone was taking his mother's gardening spade and shoveling into his forearm.
"--Really early," Z was whispering, "but right now, Sky's gone missing and there's something wrong with Bridge."
"Bridgey?" He could feel Syd's breath tickling his ear. "Are you awake?"
"Maybe it's just a bad dream."
Maybe he was dreaming. That would explain hearing Z and Syd in his dorm room. But hearing the girls in his room would mean that was a very good dream and he was definitely not feeling good right now so that would make it a bad dream with the girls in it, which didn't make sense cause--ow ow ow. He tugged at his arm again.
This time, the heaviness pinning him down shifted suddenly, grunted, and then nuzzled his shoulder. 'What the?'
"Aww, Jack is too adorable."
Jack was way way way too heavy.
Bridge cracked open one eye and stared directly the curled up form of his leader. "Gitmmphoff," he pleaded. "Please?"
He heard a soft chuckle before he saw hands that gently tilted the still sleeping Jack to one side. Bridge immediately twisted himself in the opposite direction. "Ow ow ow."
"Dead arm?" Z asked in amusement.
"Very dead," Bridge wheezed. "Dead, dead, so dead that I think it's a buried six feet under kinda dead. Ow...."
Z patted the top of his head in sympathy. "Poor baby."
Syd sighed next to him. "Well that's one problem solved."
"Damn you, Sky Tate," Z grumbled. She reached over Bridge to grab Jack roughly by the shoulder. "Come on, Jack, time to get up.”
"Go ‘way, Z. 's comfortable," the Jack lump groaned.
Syd rolled her eyes. "Jack, get your lazy butt up.”
For some reason that got Jack up; their Red Ranger frowned slightly before rolling over and sitting up. "Syd?" He glanced around the room in obvious confusion. "...Where's Sky?"
The girls exchanged somewhat amused looks with each other. “No idea,” said Z. “He was gone when we woke up.”
Jack made a soft huff. “Okay, raise your hand if you think we should have seen this coming.”
Bridge finally sat up so that he could raise his right arm, wincing when the movement felt stiff. Apparently he had one dead arm and one sore arm...sleep piles and late night group confessional...things....were definitely more painful the morning afterwards.
“Alright," said Jack, ever their leader. "We’ll need to track him down. What time is it?”
“Six o’clock."
"Six o’clock?!" Jack had a look of horror on his face that would have been amusing if Bridge hadn’t have felt the same way. He groaned and flopped back onto the floor.
In some strange way, Bridge could sympathize, even understand why Sky would run away from them, sneaking out like a thief--and boy wouldn't Sky love that particular metaphor. Everything was moving so quickly. Yesterday he'd spent most of his day trapped alone in a tiny cement room, with nothing to do but listen to his own voice as it echoed off of barren walls; the only sound, save for an occasional train whistle that slipped in from the outside world. Today Syd and Z were standing in his room, Jack was in his PJs a few feet away from him, there were blankets on the floor and he was surrounded by the familiar hum of the Academy. Yesterday there had been a firm divide between Sky's side of the room (the Spartan, boring side) and his own (the slightly cluttered, creative, fun side). Now, Sky's pillow was being stepped on by Z's foot (Sky would be pretty mad 'bout that), Bridge's blanket was wadded up around Sky's boots and...was that Peanuts on Sky's night stand? Yup.
Everything was different. Like not just a little different, but a very life changing, clichéd soap opera type of different. Because....because Sky's stuff was on the floor and he'd would hate that, and Z was still stepping on Sky's pillow and he'd really really hate that and more importantly, Bridge was still lying on the floor on blankets that Sky and Jack and Z and Syd had used and that was just totally and completely different. That was amazing.
Last night had been the first time Bridge had ever slept close someone since he was out of infancy and instead of it being one person it was four other persons--people? Four teammates. Even if they hadn't done much they'd still--er, well kissed and touched; lots and lots of touching that had left Bridge's mind clouded with colorful emotions. Every single caress, nudge and hug had left him dazed, slightly frightened and overwhelmingly happy. Just...happy. He could float on that feeling all day and yet he knew he could easily lose himself if he wasn't too careful, tumble from a colorful haze to something much more overwhelming. He knew himself better than any of his friends did. He'd gone and done something daring last night, something that he'd never let himself believe in before.
"Hey."
Bridge looked up to find Jack staring at him with some concern. "You hear the plan?"
"Ah.." Bridge frowned. "Plan?"
"The girls left to go get dressed. We're gonna meet them in the rec room and then start looking for Sky."
"Oh."
Jack cocked his head to one side. "You ok there, Bridge?"
"Yeah," Bridge said quickly. "Just kinda still tired, I guess."
Jack groaned. "I hear that." He reached over and causally patted Bridge on the knee. "Meet you outside in ten."
"Sure Jack."
Jack gave him a short wave as he left, phasing out of the room through the wall that connected their dorms. Bridge waited till the last traces of Jack had disappeared before he touched the spot on his knee with wonderment in his eyes.
Six hours later, Bridge's morning euphoria had faded into frustration and weariness, as Sky remained missing past lunchtime and into the early afternoon. To save time, the team had agreed to split up with Jack taking the upper levels, Syd taking the training yards and surrounding neighborhood and Z and Bridge sweeping the lower levels and the Zord Bay. Eventually Bridge had resorted to using his powers to track Sky, but to no success. It was too hard for Bridge to track Sky within the massive Academy building. He not only picked up fresh traces of his friend but also faint outlines of past events, specters of places and things Sky had done within the last week. These old and new colors tended to bend and blur together; earlier Bridge had followed what he'd been certain was a new trail only to end up in his room watching an aura image of Sky settle down to write reports on his desk.
It was hopeless. His control over his powers was still too weak.
'If you can't even track him right,' a nasty voice in Bridge's head thought, 'what makes you think you can handle the rest of it?'
'Oh shove it,' the rest of Bridge quickly countered. 'Gotta find him first. Otherwise there's nothing.'
Apparently his pessimistic side couldn't override his logical side. Bridge sighed as he trudged wearily into his lab. He'd just sit and rest here first.
Although, it wasn't really his lab since it was technically owned by SPD. But it was his in the sense that it was where he and Boom spent most of their time together, constructing or deconstructing various computers or other electrical appliances. He'd built his first computer-toaster prototype here, and had his first major electrical fire here. And his second. And third. The fourth was debatable because that time it had definitely been Boom's fault. But the fifth one had been in his dorm room in Sky's trashcan.
Oh. Sky.
Bridge sank onto one of the lab's stools with a groan. The others were supposed to meet him here soon so that they could regroup and figure out a better plan for finding Sky. Bridge frowned. 'A better plan. Right.' He was fresh out of ideas.
'But what if the others were out of ideas too?' Bridge thought with a growing sense of worry. What if they never-no, that was silly. Of course they'd find Sky. He lived with them. But what if they found Sky but didn't really find Sky in the sense that Sky might refuse to change his mind about...about their, ah...their thing. What if he didn't want to be involved with them? Would their thing work with just the four of them?
No. Bridge shook his head. It wouldn't. He instinctively knew that if one of them backed out, it was truly over. Because Sky was the one who kept Jack from running head first into things, and Sky was the one who Syd fussed over the most in order to feel needed and Sky kept Z happy by challenging her, giving her something to fight with, and to him, Sky was....
Sky was...Sky.
His.
And he wouldn't do it without him. Just like he wouldn't without Syd, Z or Jack. So they had to find him.
'And how will you do that, Carson?' The nasty part of his mind (it actually sounded an awful lot like Cruger) asked. Bridge took a deep breath and slid off the lab stool with new determination. 'Right. First things first. We need a plan.'
With a grim look on his face, Bridge marched over to a nearby blank wall and with well practiced ease he vaulted onto his hands into a headstand.
And nearly screeched with pain as bolts of electricity shot through his arm and upper back.
Shocked, Bridge toppled to the floor as his arms suddenly gave out on him, ramming his shoulder into the hard floor. He immediately curled up into a fetal position. The only sounds he made were gaspy wheezes as he rode out painful muscle spasms. It was like liquid fire was racing up and down his arms, with angry whirlpools at the part where his arms met his shoulder blades. But after a few minutes, the sharp pains faded into a dull throb, with a tingling sensation remaining in his fingers and wrists. It was a swift attack and then it was gone.
'What was that?'
It wasn't possible that sleeping on the floor in a human dog pile could make him that sore...could it? To not be able to do a handstand...it was like taking away his ability to think!
...Sortof.
Not really.
But it was still annoying, damnit.
Bridge loved his thinking position. Partially because it was a unique thinking position-- he was almost positive that no one had ever thought of it before. But he also loved it because it worked. He had once told Boom that doing a handstand caused gravity to pull ideas downward from the head, allowing the person to think better. That was also partially true. The true magic of the headstand was that it forced the individual to balance himself, to shift their center of gravity to a new place. To adjust to a whole new way of standing.
Balance is key. It takes a lot of concentration and a lot of effort to get it right. At least at first. The first time Bridge had tried to do a handstand he'd been a kid and he must have fallen over a dozen times or more. Each time it was because his balancing wasn't perfect; he'd lean too far to the left or too right, too much forward and not enough back. But the first time he'd gotten it right, it had given him a rush of satisfaction. He had achieved the perfect balance, the middle of every direction.
It had taken a lot for him to learn to center himself in order to achieve that balance. One of the benefits was that in all that concentrating, Bridge rarely had time to notice anything else. That was the secret of the handstand. At least for him. He spent so much time trying to focus his body that he mentally blocked out the extra sensory information that was constantly parading through his head. As kid he'd been so confused, so overwhelmed that any type of distraction was a welcomed experience. It was why he'd gravitated to computers and books. They made him forget how much his head hurt and they didn't cause wavy colors when he looked at them. Now that he was older, he had better control of his powers, to the point where standing on his head didn't do much anymore. Yet he was so comfortable with it that he still did it and it still helped him to think better. Maybe it was just conditioning. Whatever the reason, it worked.
When he could do it that is.
Bridge found himself quietly fuming at the wall. No Sky, no thinking position, meaning no thinking, which meant no plan for finding Sky, which meant the best thing to ever happen to happen to him was gonna end without ever really starting. And he hadn't even gotten to...to...to do whatever it is one did with four other people who really really liked them. Er. Him.
To top it all off, his shoulder was still hurting and he had no energy to move.
Bridge growled. "I hate gravity."
"You hate what?"
Bridge blinked and rolled onto his back with a groan. He heard soft footsteps make their way over to him and the somewhat strained face of Z appeared above him.
"Bridge? What are you doing on the floor?"
"Ahh...thinking?"
"I thought you stood on your head for thinking."
"I do, and I did," Bridge said quickly. "But it didn't work out so well so I ended up here."
A tiny smile appeared on Z's face. "You ended up there eh? Don't tell me the great Bridge Carson actually fell from a handstand?"
Bridge gave her a rather toothy grin. "What? Me? Really? Never."
He was saved from further comments from Z by the hissing sound of the door opening and more footsteps.
"Anything new to report? ....Why is Bridge on the floor?" The annoyed voice of Jack said.
"He's thinking."
"Well stop thinking and get up already."
Bridge took a deep breath before picking himself up. He struggled to keep his face as neutral as possible as his body protested the movements. 'Man, even my legs feel heavy. Next time someone plans a human dog pile, everyone should go on a diet first.'
"So," Jack said impatiently. "Anything?"
"Nope," said Z.
Bridge shook his head.
Syd flung out her arms dramatically. "Alright, enough is enough." She turned to face the door. "R.I.C.!”
R.I.C. bounded over from where he'd been lurking at the doorway to the lab. “R.I.C., find Sky. He’s avoiding us and we can’t find him, so we’re counting on you, okay?”
R.I.C. barked an affirmative and made a mad dash for the door, barely pausing to let it open before running out.
“Setting RIC on him? That’s low, Syd. I approve.”
"Well nothing else is working."
Jack gave the team a grim smile. "He'll find him."
Bridge nodded even as his mind whirled with thoughts. 'When he finds him...then what?'
But Bridge had no answer for himself.
Jack's words proved prophetic when R.I.C. finally led the team to the stairwell leading to the Academy rooftop. It was the perfect place, thought Bridge, for anyone to brood with a view. By unspoken agreement, Bridge and the girls watched from behind as Jack marched up the stairs with a determined look on his face. It was only afterwards when Jack made his descent with a sheepish Sky in tow that Bridge realized that he and the girls had spent the fifteen minute waiting period with linked arms; Z in the middle with a worried Syd on one arm and himself on the other.
“Don’t say anything,” Z said as soon as Sky's foot hit the last step. “You’ll just dig yourself in deeper.”
Bridge breathed a sigh of relief when Sky wisely kept his mouth shut.
It was funny how the end of a stressful situation only made a person gravitate towards routine. With Sky back in the fold and the rest of them deciding not to talk about "that thing they'd spent most of the day thinking about", the only option left to them was dinner. They made their way as a group to one of the Academy's many generic rec rooms, because by another collective conscientious it seemed as though everyone was avoiding the room they thought of as 'their' rec room, the one designated specifically for B-Squad. Of course since it was past sunset, the room was completely empty, with most of the base either finished with dinner or gone home for the day.
Bridge picked listlessly at his meal of roast beef and green peas, for once completely uninterested in eating. The awkward atmosphere at the table was intense and it was making his head hurt. Plus the pains in his arms had returned and throbbed every time he bent his arm at the elbow or wrist. It made scooping up peas very difficult.
"What are you doing?" Syd asked in a tone that was part frustration, part weariness.
"Ah..." Bridge lifted his head slightly from where it was tilted at an approximation of a 90-degree angle to his plate and fork. "Eating?"
Syd sighed. "How about trying to eat like a normal person. "
"Hey, lay off him, Syd," Z protested from across the table. It was the first she'd said since they'd sat down.
"Hey, mind your own business, Z," Syd shot back.
"Ok, what's with the hostility all of a sudden?"
"What hostility? Bridge is the one who can't eat like he's human."
Bridge's face fell. "Ouch. You're not getting any of my Jell-O anymore." Bridge edged the bright pink Jell-O closer to his own plate, wincing when the movement made his arm twinge.
"Oh please, like you were gonna share that, really."
"Leave him alone, Syd," Jack growled from his own plate.
Syd just glared at him while making frustrated stabbing motions at her salad.
Suddenly, Sky stood up from the table, pushing his chair back with a loud squeak. Without saying anything he began to walk away from them with a slightly defeated slump.
Before anyone could say anything or make a move, R.I.C. was standing directly in front of Sky with his head down low.
"Go away R.I.C., " Sky grumbled.
R.I.C. growled and his LCD lights seemed to narrow at Sky.
"R.I.C.! Go away! Damnit I'm just going to the restroom, move it!"
R.I.C. barked.
Jack made a sound like he was trying to stifle a laugh. "I don't think R.I.C. trusts you, Sky."
"This is ridiculous," Sky grumbled. "I'm not running away!" He tried to step over R.I.C. but the robot canine countered by latching onto Sky's pant leg, causing the Blue Ranger to flail his arms wildly in the air to prevent himself from tripping.
It was just the thing the team needed to break the tension and the room exploded with laughter.
"This is so not funny!"
"Y--yes it is," Z chortled. "R.I.C. knows you too well, Sky!"
"I guess you're gonna need an escort," Jack laughed. "Use the buddy system from now on."
"Ha, ha, so hilarious," Sky deadpanned.
Bridge grinned. "Hey Sky, you're just lucky R.I.C. hasn't tried to use the spare handcuffs yet, cause that would be really difficult to explain to the rest of the base."
With his mouth still fully attached to Sky's pant leg, R.I.C. cocked his head slightly, then made a loud popping noise as one of his spare compartments opened and a spring loaded pair of handcuffs shot out. The four Rangers descended back into a fit of hysterics.
Sky just buried his face in his head with a groan. "Morons."
"Good boy R.I.C.," Syd giggled.
"I'm gonna have to remember that little trick," Jack thoughtfully. Z gave him an odd glare and suddenly Jack flinched and reached down to bat at something under the table. "OW! What was that for?"
"I know exactly what you were thinking," Z scolded. "You perv."
Sky smiled at the exchange--a rare genuine smile that made his eyes light up and made Bridge's stomach feel all queasy. Of course, it could have been the green peas or the roast beef...
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ya huh."
"Somebody has a dirty mind."
"You looked in a mirror lately?"
"Ah hem." Sky cleared his throat. "Someone call off R.I.C. before he rips something."
Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "Well I dunno. How do we know you're not gonna run off again?"
Sky glared at him. "Call the dog off, now."
Jack grinned. "I know! I'll go with you."
"What?!"
"Buddy system, Sky."
"You are not going with me to the restroom."
"Oh but I am. Heel R.I.C., I got him."
"Jack--" Sky was frowning but Bridge was pretty sure he wasn't too annoyed; the vein in his forehead wasn't ticking like it did when Sky was really angry at Jack.
"Now hold my hand so we don't get separated."
"....I hate you so much."
Jack beamed. "Oh Sky, you say the nicest things." The two walked--or in Sky's case stalked--out of the Rec room holding hands, Jack attempting to swing them back and forth like a child and Sky resisting like a dead weight.
Back at the table Z and Syd were still caught up in a fit of giggles, while Bridge watched them with an amused grin. Z continued to chuckle as she bused her dinner tray. When she left it was just Syd and Bridge alone at the table. Turning serious once more, Syd turned gave Bridge a guilty look. "I'm sorry. About earlier. That was mean."
Bridge nodded and gave Syd his Jell-O. "It's not my color anyways."
"Aww. Thank you."
"....You're not gonna eat all of your salad, are you?"
"Oh Bridge."
When Jack and Sky returned to the rec room they found Syd and Z arguing over movies, since apparently the two roommates had decided that the night was going to be a team movie night. "Cause everyone's still weirded out," Syd had said, although Bridge was pretty sure by everyone Syd meant 'Sky' since she and Z looked perfectly fine. In fact the two of them were being very affectionate with each other. Even as they bickered, the two of them were sitting very close to each other on one of the couches and every so often one of them would touch the other to make a point.
"I am not watching anything with mindless violence and gore," Syd pouted.
"Well I'm not watching some stupid romantic comedy," Z shot back.
"What's wrong with romantic comedy?"
"Ok, one; romantic comedies are totally sappy. Two? They're totally unrealistic. No one falls in love with total strangers the first time they ever see them."
"Word," said Jack from the doorway.
"You're both totally heartless."
"No one wants to see that stuff but you, Princess."
"That's not true, Sky likes them!"
"No I don't."
"So why did I catch you sneaking looks over your handbook the last time Bridge and I watched Sleepless in Seattle?"
"It was because the woman's voice in that was shrill and obnoxious.”
"You think Meg Ryan is shrill and obnoxious?" Syd squeaked.
Sky rolled his eyes. "Not her. The other one. Her girlfriend."
"Oh my God, shut up, I love Becky!"
"Oh my God, shut up, you're gonna make me puke," Z groaned.
Bridge watched the face off from a barstool by the food replicators. For some reason, perhaps completely unintentionally, Jack and Sky had chosen to stand next to Z and Syd respectively and the banter was slowly turning into a tag team effort. They made a nice picture, the four of them. Two girls and two guys....and it was such a nice picture that Bridge didn't feel too bad sitting far away from them. At least, not too much.
Four of them would make more sense. Two on two made the relationship balanced. Two of course was the norm. Three-- well, three seemed complicated--cause what did the extra person do when the other two were...ah...yeah. But it wasn't as complicated as five. Five was a lot. That was ten sets of hands and feet, and five really sounded kinda chaotic. Five was a prime number. It was divisible by nothing; except of course, by itself and one. But maybe that was the key. It was poetic at any sense. If only the only thing that could divide them was themselves...
"--Not watching Star Wars for the millionth time! Bridge back me up here!" Z pleaded, interrupting his train of thought.
"Huh?"
"Say no!" someone shouted at him.
"...No?" Bridge questioned.
Z whirled around. "That's cheating Sky! No more nerdy movies!"
"Romantic comedy!"
"Shove it, Syd."
Bridge bit back a smile. For some reason, some chance that was rather unmathmatical...somehow they worked as five people. Somehow they balanced each other. He was so used to feeling unbalanced, so off from everyone else, put aside because he felt things so vividly, saw things no one else ever saw...
He looked down at the black gloves on his hands, so stark compared to the pale skin of his wrists.
It was a delicate balancing act, having psychic powers. He saw everything in dual images, seeing the ordinary world in solid imagery and also in abstract colors that were the most simplistic, base expressions of human existence. The gloves only muted his gift, taming the brilliance of the psychic lights into something manageable. Sometimes Bridge wondered what the real world looked like, to normal people. If he took off his glove he'd see his friends completely, and there was always something very scary and very soul shaking in doing that. Even when it was just an accident, a moment where the glove slipped or a shower interrupted by his roommate, it felt a bit wrong, to know that much about people he cared about. Krybots, strangers, or criminals--he could steel himself against that. He didn't care how they felt about him. It was his job to track them after all. But it was different with someone he cared about. It wasn't bad. Just overwhelming.
The colors only hurt because he could feel them as well, sometimes almost like tangible objects. Sensing the emotions of others sometimes made him feel like could fall through the floor, like being pulled toward the center of the Earth. Or they could feel icy and numb or like tiny pricks like when someone fell asleep at the computer and woke up with QWERTY imprinted on their forehead. He knew what people felt by sight and touch, knew that when Jack was amused he was turquoise with threads of lemon that tickled like the sensation of a carbonated drink down his throat. He knew that when Syd was angry she was a literal storm cloud of gunmetal grey and dark purple and that she burned his hands as if it were like he was holding them directly to a flame. When Sky was relaxed he was an opal, shimmering and soothing like satin through his fingers. When Z laughed it was the most beautiful thing in the world, blue and star shine gold, with caramel and the color that exists between the horizon and the morning sky.
Yet when she was scared she became twisted, a muddy orange, razor sharp and impossible to hold. When the entire team was scared...there was nothing more painful than fear. Even the evilness that had radiated off of Gruumm that one time Bridge had saw him (muted as his powers were by his suit) had been more of a numbing sensation, a freezing coldness.
What would his friends think if they truly knew how his powers worked? How he was addicted to Z's warming courageousness or even Sky's bright red pride, which was like touching a lion's shiny mane. Could he really have a relationship with all of them and not get overwhelmed by it all? He could barely deal with the way it was right now, using his clothes to block it all. Mute everything. Not feel everything.
"Bridge?"
Z was touching his elbow, shaking him. "We're going with The Matrix."
"Original or remake?"
"Remake. The graphics in the original are horrible."
"And new Neo is totally hot," Syd piped up.
"It's the only reason why she'll watch it," Sky muttered from the couch.
"You know the original Neo wasn't too bad looking," Jack said from his slouched position on a beanbag.
"Ew! He's ancient."
"He wasn't back then."
A warm hand snaked its way around Bridge's arm, curling around him and leaving a soft butter colored trail that felt like feather down. It made his arm hurt and his headache reappear but he snuggled into the space between Z and Sky with a contented sigh.
He could learn to live with this. It was the first time he'd ever wanted to really try.
Bridge was so physically exhausted that he fell asleep somewhere between the appearance of the white rabbit and Neo's first introduction to Trinity. One minute he was resting comfortably on Sky's shoulder and the next his shoulder was being roughly shaken.
"Bridgey."
His entire body was uncomfortably numb and he had no idea what his head was resting on. Whatever it was, the position it had his head in was causing semi painful tremors to run down his neck.
"Lovely. He drooled all over my jacket."
"Ew."
"Come on Bridge, get up."
Strong hands suddenly pulled him up into a sitting position, but it might as well had been Gruumm reaching through his back to pull out his spine because it sent excruciating pain signals all over his body. He yelped.
"Bridge!"
Ok, maybe it was more of a scream. His back was on fire, worse than the electrical shock type pains he'd felt though out the entire day. It literally felt like someone was carving though his back with a firey sword. Maybe even a lightsaber. A Troobian lightsaber.
"Bridge, open your eyes!"
Bridge panted. 'Maybe later Sky, when Gruumm puts the bones in my shoulders back,' he thought morosely.
"Did he say something about Gruumm?!" There was a hazy glint of orange across Bridge's eyelids and he groaned at the sensation of someone close to him beginning to panic. 'Please go away, dying right now, try again later.'
"Bridge?" A soft hand cupped his cheek. Sky. His hand felt cold and Bridge wasn't sure if that was because of temperature or because it was from the tight control Sky had over his emotions right now, a light tint of color held together with a mask of professional calm. "What hurts?"
Bridge peaked one eye open. "Everything," he muttered miserably.
Sky cocked an eyebrow at him. "Gotta be more specific, buddy."
He sighed. "Back...shoulders, arms, wrists, thighs, legs, ankles, fingers, toes, clavicle--"
"Ok, I get it," Sky interrupted. "Everything. It's the Infirmary for you."
Infirmary. That meant walking. Walking meant pain. "Ah...can we just talk about this for a minut--oww!!" Bridge swore he heard several of his bones pop when Sky abruptly pulled him to his feet.
"Suck it up, Bridge," Sky scolded him as he began to lead him out of the room by the elbow. Bridge glared at his roommate and briefly considered biting him, since his teeth were probably the only things not hurting at the moment.
"What the hell just happened?" He heard Jack say just as he and Sky made it out of the rec room. He missed hearing the reply from one of the girls. 'Perfect ending to a perfect day,' Bridge sighed to himself. 'Ow. Ow. Ow. Owie. Ow.'
Dr. Felix was none too happy to be called into the Infirmary so close to curfew, but once he saw the look of misery on Bridge's face he quickly donned a pair of thick gloves to do a complete checkup. About an hour and a half later, Bridge was completely scanned, x-rayed, poked, prodded and sent home with a prescription of painkillers and a shot of something extremely warm and soothing in his left arm.
Muscle strain, Dr. Felix had said. A delayed reaction to all the tense physical activity he'd gone through the other day when Bork had held him captive. After all, Bridge had tried to hold back an entire wall that had tried to crush him to death, and he'd put most of the strain on his arms, shoulders and legs. It was exacerbated by the short morphed battle afterwards and all the stress he'd been under lately.
A night spent sleeping on the floor probably hadn't helped either.
Dr. Felix said he was lucky he hadn't completely thrown out his back when he'd been stuck in Bork's trap.
'Lucky. Right.'
Before they left, Bridge had watched through half closed eyes as Dr. Felix gave Sky a long list of instructions, something about a hot/cold compress and staying warm. Then before he was even aware of it, he was being guided down various hallways by strong arms that rested comfortably on his shoulders. He was grateful for the grip Sky had on him because the world kept dipping and waning like he was in the cockpit of his Delta Flyer, gliding across the sky. 'Hee. Sky and sky. Sky-sky. Sky Sky Sky.'
"Will you quit that?"
Bridge tilted backwards with a drowsy grin. "Quit what Sky? Sky-sky."
"Quit saying my name like that. And for heaven's sake, will you walk straight? You're heavy!"
"Sooorry, Schulyerrrr."
"Oh for the love of--That's it!"
Bridge giggled as the world suddenly tilted and turned sideways as Sky manipulated him into a fireman's carry. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. This was way more fun than being in his Flyer.
"Hmm, your hair's soft," Bridge mumbled.
A grunt.
"'S funny cause it looks all spiky but if you touch it its reallllly soft."
A growl.
"Soft spikey, Sky-sky."
"Bridge!" Sky snarled.
"How come he gets to give you a pet name?" The amused voice of Jack suddenly asked. Bridge blurrily lifted his head to look for him even as he felt Sky slow to a stop.
"Shut up and take him will ya."
"Woah."
Bridge blinked. The soft Sky hair was gone and he was now looking up Jack. "Oh, dreads!"
Jack's eyes widened, then narrowed into a frown. "He's totally wasted!"
"Just help me get him into bed."
There was a rustle of movement and some groaning--"Man, he's heavy"--and then he was in his dimly lit room and Jack was trying to pull off his shirt. Hmm. Pulling off his shirt was normally a very bad idea...if only Bridge could remember why...
"Don't do that."
Jack froze. "Why not? Don't tell me you're gonna freak again, Sky--"
There was a deep sigh from Bridge's far right. "You'll activate his powers if you do that. It's why he wears gloves, remember?"
"...Oh. Crap." Bridge felt Jack take a few steps back. Bridge frowned. He liked Jack touching him. Sky-sky needed to butt out.
Sky was trying to remove his shoes even as Jack was pushing him backwards into the softness of his bed. It felt wonderful, but even then there was something he wanted to say to them...there was something he wanted...
Jack placed something grey and squishy onto his chest, although it was too dark to see what it was clearly.
"Syd said you could borrow him," Jack explained. "Just for tonight."
"Hmm," Bridge snuggled Peanuts close to his chest. "Soft."
Jack and Sky were talking in low voices just over his head, too faint for him to understand what they were saying. There was something Bridge wanted to say...but in the warmth of his bed, the low chattering by his bedside and the soft touch of Peanuts, he drifted off into a drug induced sleep.
When he awoke again, it was quiet in his pitch black dorm room. Woozy, but much more lucid, Bridge shifted uncomfortably as became aware of a familiar pain in his shoulder.
"You awake?"
Bridge jumped. "S...ky?"
A dark blur appeared at his bedside. "Hold on a sec." There was a soft rustling and something blissfully warm was laid across his shoulder. "Better?"
Bridge sighed. "A bit. Whatsit?"
"Z's heating pad. And don't ask why she has one; trust me you really don't want to know."
The comment only confused Bridge further. "Where's Z?"
"In her room."
"Oh." Of course. That made sense. "Where'd Jack go?"
"Z and Syd's room." By the sound of his voice Sky didn't sound too pleased with that.
Bridge frowned. "But you're here?" 'With me?'
"Yes."
"Wait, why--"
"We stayed up and talked a lot, after you knocked out," Sky interrupted quietly. He paused. "Or rather the girls came over and talked, and I was forced to listen to them.”
Yeah. Bridge couldn't picture Sky talking about his feelings willingly. Or Jack for that matter. Guys weren't supposed to talk about that stuff...right? Either way, Bridge was kind of glad he missed this conversation. "And?"
It didn't mean he wasn't curious. Just a little.
Bridge swore he saw Sky glare at him through the darkness. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"I did. Er, rather I was sleeping. I slept. But I'm awake now."
"It's 4:30 in the morning. Sleep more."
"But--"
"Bed. Now." Apparently, he was not going to get Sky to spill his guts. Oh well. That was what Syd was for, after all.
One more try. "But my shoulder still hurts," he whined.
Instead of replying, Sky shuffled closer till he was nearly sitting on Bridge's bed. "Sit up a bit."
Curious, Bridge did what he was told, wincing when that caused his back to complain. "Why does it feel like I got run over by a herd of Zords?" Like a whole pasture of them, big honking Truck Zords that grazed on hydrogen-grass, waiting to be called upon for battle. The mental image made Bridge smile.
Sky said nothing but instead took the warm heating pad and slid it under his tee shirt. Bridge immediately got the faint sense of Z, mellow yellow and faded brownish red, too distant to bother him much.
"That better?"
"Little more to the left," Bridge purred happily. It really did feel wonderful.
But as Sky shifted the cloth over a few inches, his knuckles accidentally brushed the base of Bridge's neck, and with the touch came a swift rush of colors--pale blue, burgundy, and a bit of deep red, all of which felt warmer than the heating pad Sky was using. Like velvet.
"Damn." Sky yanked his hand back like it had just been burned. "Sorry Bridge."
Bridge was already reaching for Sky's hand again. "You're warm."
"...Warm?" There was the slightest hint of hesitation in Sky's voice, barely perceptible that probably could have gone unnoticed to anyone but Bridge.
"Feels good. Nothing but good colors." Peacefulness. Protectiveness. Love. He shifted over, giving Sky tacit permission to sit and was relieved when Sky sat down next to him. Cautiously, Sky put his hand back on Bridge's neck. The colors returned, along with the velvety softness and Bridge felt himself relax, the pain in his body fading under a coat of shifting colors.
"What do you see?" Sky asked quietly.
It took Bridge a while to respond to that. "It's beautiful," he said finally.
Colors shifted and vibrated gently as Sky reacted to that. "Yeah?" He heard Sky ask softly. His hand started to drift down Bridge's neck, like a concert pianist at work.
"Yeah." Bridge knew by the shifting colors on his neck what Sky was thinking even before his roommate leaned forward to kiss him passionately. The cascade of emotions gave the kiss an edge that was powerful and exhilarating. It was like being physically surrounded by all the abstract things that made him love Sky-- all of it, overwhelming but addictive. Just like before with the others. He wanted to feel them to feel like this all the time.
Sky broke the kiss and pulled away slightly, till they were sitting up facing each other. "Can we--" He stopped. "Actually, I don't really know what I was going to ask," he admitted sheepishly.
Bridge nodded. "I'm not sure. I've never--"
"Yeah."
"But maybe--"
"Go slow?"
"--Could experiment--"
"Can I touch you?"
"Yeah--” Bridge shuddered as Sky began to run one of his hands across the bare back, beginning with his shoulder and moving down his back ever so slightly. "Slow's good. Oh! Very--" Sky silenced him with another long kiss that turned into gentle sucking on his lower lip and wandering hands that made it clear even without psychic abilities that Sky was enjoying going slow too.
Speaking of wandering hands...Bridge's own hands were still clutching at his blanket. Could he...maybe he should....Bridge groaned as Sky began to suck on his neck. Oh yeah. He definitely had to at least try....
He fumbled for a bit as he pulled at the Velcro on his right glove, the scratchy sound muffled by his blanket. Sky didn't seem to notice, as he was pretty concerned with sending Bridge higher and higher by sucking on him and roaming his hands across his chest, pushing him lower onto the bed. He trailed kisses back up to Bridge's mouth; pausing occasionally to look at him, really look at him, with dazed dark eyes. It was amazing and distracting but Bridge finally managed to free his hand from his glove, and he held it up high enough for Sky to take notice and pause. He really wanted Sky to know what he was about to do.
Sky blinked then sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes focused on Bridge's bare hand. He hesitated slightly, and then nodded. Bridge reached up and slowly rested his bare hand on Sky’s cheek--and the world exploded in a brilliant burst of color. It came too fast and too bright for him to catalog it all, just a giant wave of colors that intimately revealed Sky; he could actually for a moment see himself through Sky--he saw that he had a look of pure amazement and love on his face that shook Sky to the core. He felt Sky's deep sense of love, awe, slight embarrassment and deep down, a bit of insecurity. But he knew how to stop Sky from feeling that too deeply. He pulled him close and kissed him, again and again until they were both breathless, till their thoughts merge into a harmonious wave.
It's like being dropped from an airplane, a shocking freefall that turns into glorious soaring. For the first time, Bridge is perfectly balanced. He finally knows that with the right people, he won't fall.
Title: Balance
Author:
kikos_ai
Pairing: Power Rangers SPD (YEAH) B Squad: Jack/Sky/Bridge/Syd/Z
Theme: Ashleys's theme. #2 Gravity
Rating: R
A/N: Sequel to Defense Mechanisms and New Dawn
He was catapulted out of a deep, blissful and completely dreamless sleep when an electrical current suddenly shot through his left arm, creating a white-hot pain from his shoulder to his wrist. It jolted him awake and seized his breath in a shock filled gasp. His first instinct was to curl up into himself, to yank his arm towards his chest, but something--no several somethings--were holding him down, pressing the live current deeper into his arm so that it traveled up to his skull. Somehow, his is training and Ranger conditioning clicked somewhere in his brain and he bucked one of his legs out in a desperate bid for freedom.
"OWW! ...The hell, Bridge?!"
...Z?
One of the heavy somethings lifted from his waist and knee, but his arm was still trapped and still hurting. He whimpered. Pain. Pain. Pain.
"Bridge? You ok?" Feather light touches skimmed the surface of his forehead. It did little to elevate the pain in his head or in his trapped arm.
"Whatsit? ...Ugh, what time is it?"
Syd's voice. Normally, hearing Syd's voice in his dorm in the middle of the night (day? morning?) would be a cause for some alarm, since the last time he'd checked, Sky said that there were no girls allowed in the guy dorms after curfew. But the pain in his arm was shifting from electrical shock to bone deep throbbing; as though someone was taking his mother's gardening spade and shoveling into his forearm.
"--Really early," Z was whispering, "but right now, Sky's gone missing and there's something wrong with Bridge."
"Bridgey?" He could feel Syd's breath tickling his ear. "Are you awake?"
"Maybe it's just a bad dream."
Maybe he was dreaming. That would explain hearing Z and Syd in his dorm room. But hearing the girls in his room would mean that was a very good dream and he was definitely not feeling good right now so that would make it a bad dream with the girls in it, which didn't make sense cause--ow ow ow. He tugged at his arm again.
This time, the heaviness pinning him down shifted suddenly, grunted, and then nuzzled his shoulder. 'What the?'
"Aww, Jack is too adorable."
Jack was way way way too heavy.
Bridge cracked open one eye and stared directly the curled up form of his leader. "Gitmmphoff," he pleaded. "Please?"
He heard a soft chuckle before he saw hands that gently tilted the still sleeping Jack to one side. Bridge immediately twisted himself in the opposite direction. "Ow ow ow."
"Dead arm?" Z asked in amusement.
"Very dead," Bridge wheezed. "Dead, dead, so dead that I think it's a buried six feet under kinda dead. Ow...."
Z patted the top of his head in sympathy. "Poor baby."
Syd sighed next to him. "Well that's one problem solved."
"Damn you, Sky Tate," Z grumbled. She reached over Bridge to grab Jack roughly by the shoulder. "Come on, Jack, time to get up.”
"Go ‘way, Z. 's comfortable," the Jack lump groaned.
Syd rolled her eyes. "Jack, get your lazy butt up.”
For some reason that got Jack up; their Red Ranger frowned slightly before rolling over and sitting up. "Syd?" He glanced around the room in obvious confusion. "...Where's Sky?"
The girls exchanged somewhat amused looks with each other. “No idea,” said Z. “He was gone when we woke up.”
Jack made a soft huff. “Okay, raise your hand if you think we should have seen this coming.”
Bridge finally sat up so that he could raise his right arm, wincing when the movement felt stiff. Apparently he had one dead arm and one sore arm...sleep piles and late night group confessional...things....were definitely more painful the morning afterwards.
“Alright," said Jack, ever their leader. "We’ll need to track him down. What time is it?”
“Six o’clock."
"Six o’clock?!" Jack had a look of horror on his face that would have been amusing if Bridge hadn’t have felt the same way. He groaned and flopped back onto the floor.
In some strange way, Bridge could sympathize, even understand why Sky would run away from them, sneaking out like a thief--and boy wouldn't Sky love that particular metaphor. Everything was moving so quickly. Yesterday he'd spent most of his day trapped alone in a tiny cement room, with nothing to do but listen to his own voice as it echoed off of barren walls; the only sound, save for an occasional train whistle that slipped in from the outside world. Today Syd and Z were standing in his room, Jack was in his PJs a few feet away from him, there were blankets on the floor and he was surrounded by the familiar hum of the Academy. Yesterday there had been a firm divide between Sky's side of the room (the Spartan, boring side) and his own (the slightly cluttered, creative, fun side). Now, Sky's pillow was being stepped on by Z's foot (Sky would be pretty mad 'bout that), Bridge's blanket was wadded up around Sky's boots and...was that Peanuts on Sky's night stand? Yup.
Everything was different. Like not just a little different, but a very life changing, clichéd soap opera type of different. Because....because Sky's stuff was on the floor and he'd would hate that, and Z was still stepping on Sky's pillow and he'd really really hate that and more importantly, Bridge was still lying on the floor on blankets that Sky and Jack and Z and Syd had used and that was just totally and completely different. That was amazing.
Last night had been the first time Bridge had ever slept close someone since he was out of infancy and instead of it being one person it was four other persons--people? Four teammates. Even if they hadn't done much they'd still--er, well kissed and touched; lots and lots of touching that had left Bridge's mind clouded with colorful emotions. Every single caress, nudge and hug had left him dazed, slightly frightened and overwhelmingly happy. Just...happy. He could float on that feeling all day and yet he knew he could easily lose himself if he wasn't too careful, tumble from a colorful haze to something much more overwhelming. He knew himself better than any of his friends did. He'd gone and done something daring last night, something that he'd never let himself believe in before.
"Hey."
Bridge looked up to find Jack staring at him with some concern. "You hear the plan?"
"Ah.." Bridge frowned. "Plan?"
"The girls left to go get dressed. We're gonna meet them in the rec room and then start looking for Sky."
"Oh."
Jack cocked his head to one side. "You ok there, Bridge?"
"Yeah," Bridge said quickly. "Just kinda still tired, I guess."
Jack groaned. "I hear that." He reached over and causally patted Bridge on the knee. "Meet you outside in ten."
"Sure Jack."
Jack gave him a short wave as he left, phasing out of the room through the wall that connected their dorms. Bridge waited till the last traces of Jack had disappeared before he touched the spot on his knee with wonderment in his eyes.
Six hours later, Bridge's morning euphoria had faded into frustration and weariness, as Sky remained missing past lunchtime and into the early afternoon. To save time, the team had agreed to split up with Jack taking the upper levels, Syd taking the training yards and surrounding neighborhood and Z and Bridge sweeping the lower levels and the Zord Bay. Eventually Bridge had resorted to using his powers to track Sky, but to no success. It was too hard for Bridge to track Sky within the massive Academy building. He not only picked up fresh traces of his friend but also faint outlines of past events, specters of places and things Sky had done within the last week. These old and new colors tended to bend and blur together; earlier Bridge had followed what he'd been certain was a new trail only to end up in his room watching an aura image of Sky settle down to write reports on his desk.
It was hopeless. His control over his powers was still too weak.
'If you can't even track him right,' a nasty voice in Bridge's head thought, 'what makes you think you can handle the rest of it?'
'Oh shove it,' the rest of Bridge quickly countered. 'Gotta find him first. Otherwise there's nothing.'
Apparently his pessimistic side couldn't override his logical side. Bridge sighed as he trudged wearily into his lab. He'd just sit and rest here first.
Although, it wasn't really his lab since it was technically owned by SPD. But it was his in the sense that it was where he and Boom spent most of their time together, constructing or deconstructing various computers or other electrical appliances. He'd built his first computer-toaster prototype here, and had his first major electrical fire here. And his second. And third. The fourth was debatable because that time it had definitely been Boom's fault. But the fifth one had been in his dorm room in Sky's trashcan.
Oh. Sky.
Bridge sank onto one of the lab's stools with a groan. The others were supposed to meet him here soon so that they could regroup and figure out a better plan for finding Sky. Bridge frowned. 'A better plan. Right.' He was fresh out of ideas.
'But what if the others were out of ideas too?' Bridge thought with a growing sense of worry. What if they never-no, that was silly. Of course they'd find Sky. He lived with them. But what if they found Sky but didn't really find Sky in the sense that Sky might refuse to change his mind about...about their, ah...their thing. What if he didn't want to be involved with them? Would their thing work with just the four of them?
No. Bridge shook his head. It wouldn't. He instinctively knew that if one of them backed out, it was truly over. Because Sky was the one who kept Jack from running head first into things, and Sky was the one who Syd fussed over the most in order to feel needed and Sky kept Z happy by challenging her, giving her something to fight with, and to him, Sky was....
Sky was...Sky.
His.
And he wouldn't do it without him. Just like he wouldn't without Syd, Z or Jack. So they had to find him.
'And how will you do that, Carson?' The nasty part of his mind (it actually sounded an awful lot like Cruger) asked. Bridge took a deep breath and slid off the lab stool with new determination. 'Right. First things first. We need a plan.'
With a grim look on his face, Bridge marched over to a nearby blank wall and with well practiced ease he vaulted onto his hands into a headstand.
And nearly screeched with pain as bolts of electricity shot through his arm and upper back.
Shocked, Bridge toppled to the floor as his arms suddenly gave out on him, ramming his shoulder into the hard floor. He immediately curled up into a fetal position. The only sounds he made were gaspy wheezes as he rode out painful muscle spasms. It was like liquid fire was racing up and down his arms, with angry whirlpools at the part where his arms met his shoulder blades. But after a few minutes, the sharp pains faded into a dull throb, with a tingling sensation remaining in his fingers and wrists. It was a swift attack and then it was gone.
'What was that?'
It wasn't possible that sleeping on the floor in a human dog pile could make him that sore...could it? To not be able to do a handstand...it was like taking away his ability to think!
...Sortof.
Not really.
But it was still annoying, damnit.
Bridge loved his thinking position. Partially because it was a unique thinking position-- he was almost positive that no one had ever thought of it before. But he also loved it because it worked. He had once told Boom that doing a handstand caused gravity to pull ideas downward from the head, allowing the person to think better. That was also partially true. The true magic of the headstand was that it forced the individual to balance himself, to shift their center of gravity to a new place. To adjust to a whole new way of standing.
Balance is key. It takes a lot of concentration and a lot of effort to get it right. At least at first. The first time Bridge had tried to do a handstand he'd been a kid and he must have fallen over a dozen times or more. Each time it was because his balancing wasn't perfect; he'd lean too far to the left or too right, too much forward and not enough back. But the first time he'd gotten it right, it had given him a rush of satisfaction. He had achieved the perfect balance, the middle of every direction.
It had taken a lot for him to learn to center himself in order to achieve that balance. One of the benefits was that in all that concentrating, Bridge rarely had time to notice anything else. That was the secret of the handstand. At least for him. He spent so much time trying to focus his body that he mentally blocked out the extra sensory information that was constantly parading through his head. As kid he'd been so confused, so overwhelmed that any type of distraction was a welcomed experience. It was why he'd gravitated to computers and books. They made him forget how much his head hurt and they didn't cause wavy colors when he looked at them. Now that he was older, he had better control of his powers, to the point where standing on his head didn't do much anymore. Yet he was so comfortable with it that he still did it and it still helped him to think better. Maybe it was just conditioning. Whatever the reason, it worked.
When he could do it that is.
Bridge found himself quietly fuming at the wall. No Sky, no thinking position, meaning no thinking, which meant no plan for finding Sky, which meant the best thing to ever happen to happen to him was gonna end without ever really starting. And he hadn't even gotten to...to...to do whatever it is one did with four other people who really really liked them. Er. Him.
To top it all off, his shoulder was still hurting and he had no energy to move.
Bridge growled. "I hate gravity."
"You hate what?"
Bridge blinked and rolled onto his back with a groan. He heard soft footsteps make their way over to him and the somewhat strained face of Z appeared above him.
"Bridge? What are you doing on the floor?"
"Ahh...thinking?"
"I thought you stood on your head for thinking."
"I do, and I did," Bridge said quickly. "But it didn't work out so well so I ended up here."
A tiny smile appeared on Z's face. "You ended up there eh? Don't tell me the great Bridge Carson actually fell from a handstand?"
Bridge gave her a rather toothy grin. "What? Me? Really? Never."
He was saved from further comments from Z by the hissing sound of the door opening and more footsteps.
"Anything new to report? ....Why is Bridge on the floor?" The annoyed voice of Jack said.
"He's thinking."
"Well stop thinking and get up already."
Bridge took a deep breath before picking himself up. He struggled to keep his face as neutral as possible as his body protested the movements. 'Man, even my legs feel heavy. Next time someone plans a human dog pile, everyone should go on a diet first.'
"So," Jack said impatiently. "Anything?"
"Nope," said Z.
Bridge shook his head.
Syd flung out her arms dramatically. "Alright, enough is enough." She turned to face the door. "R.I.C.!”
R.I.C. bounded over from where he'd been lurking at the doorway to the lab. “R.I.C., find Sky. He’s avoiding us and we can’t find him, so we’re counting on you, okay?”
R.I.C. barked an affirmative and made a mad dash for the door, barely pausing to let it open before running out.
“Setting RIC on him? That’s low, Syd. I approve.”
"Well nothing else is working."
Jack gave the team a grim smile. "He'll find him."
Bridge nodded even as his mind whirled with thoughts. 'When he finds him...then what?'
But Bridge had no answer for himself.
Jack's words proved prophetic when R.I.C. finally led the team to the stairwell leading to the Academy rooftop. It was the perfect place, thought Bridge, for anyone to brood with a view. By unspoken agreement, Bridge and the girls watched from behind as Jack marched up the stairs with a determined look on his face. It was only afterwards when Jack made his descent with a sheepish Sky in tow that Bridge realized that he and the girls had spent the fifteen minute waiting period with linked arms; Z in the middle with a worried Syd on one arm and himself on the other.
“Don’t say anything,” Z said as soon as Sky's foot hit the last step. “You’ll just dig yourself in deeper.”
Bridge breathed a sigh of relief when Sky wisely kept his mouth shut.
It was funny how the end of a stressful situation only made a person gravitate towards routine. With Sky back in the fold and the rest of them deciding not to talk about "that thing they'd spent most of the day thinking about", the only option left to them was dinner. They made their way as a group to one of the Academy's many generic rec rooms, because by another collective conscientious it seemed as though everyone was avoiding the room they thought of as 'their' rec room, the one designated specifically for B-Squad. Of course since it was past sunset, the room was completely empty, with most of the base either finished with dinner or gone home for the day.
Bridge picked listlessly at his meal of roast beef and green peas, for once completely uninterested in eating. The awkward atmosphere at the table was intense and it was making his head hurt. Plus the pains in his arms had returned and throbbed every time he bent his arm at the elbow or wrist. It made scooping up peas very difficult.
"What are you doing?" Syd asked in a tone that was part frustration, part weariness.
"Ah..." Bridge lifted his head slightly from where it was tilted at an approximation of a 90-degree angle to his plate and fork. "Eating?"
Syd sighed. "How about trying to eat like a normal person. "
"Hey, lay off him, Syd," Z protested from across the table. It was the first she'd said since they'd sat down.
"Hey, mind your own business, Z," Syd shot back.
"Ok, what's with the hostility all of a sudden?"
"What hostility? Bridge is the one who can't eat like he's human."
Bridge's face fell. "Ouch. You're not getting any of my Jell-O anymore." Bridge edged the bright pink Jell-O closer to his own plate, wincing when the movement made his arm twinge.
"Oh please, like you were gonna share that, really."
"Leave him alone, Syd," Jack growled from his own plate.
Syd just glared at him while making frustrated stabbing motions at her salad.
Suddenly, Sky stood up from the table, pushing his chair back with a loud squeak. Without saying anything he began to walk away from them with a slightly defeated slump.
Before anyone could say anything or make a move, R.I.C. was standing directly in front of Sky with his head down low.
"Go away R.I.C., " Sky grumbled.
R.I.C. growled and his LCD lights seemed to narrow at Sky.
"R.I.C.! Go away! Damnit I'm just going to the restroom, move it!"
R.I.C. barked.
Jack made a sound like he was trying to stifle a laugh. "I don't think R.I.C. trusts you, Sky."
"This is ridiculous," Sky grumbled. "I'm not running away!" He tried to step over R.I.C. but the robot canine countered by latching onto Sky's pant leg, causing the Blue Ranger to flail his arms wildly in the air to prevent himself from tripping.
It was just the thing the team needed to break the tension and the room exploded with laughter.
"This is so not funny!"
"Y--yes it is," Z chortled. "R.I.C. knows you too well, Sky!"
"I guess you're gonna need an escort," Jack laughed. "Use the buddy system from now on."
"Ha, ha, so hilarious," Sky deadpanned.
Bridge grinned. "Hey Sky, you're just lucky R.I.C. hasn't tried to use the spare handcuffs yet, cause that would be really difficult to explain to the rest of the base."
With his mouth still fully attached to Sky's pant leg, R.I.C. cocked his head slightly, then made a loud popping noise as one of his spare compartments opened and a spring loaded pair of handcuffs shot out. The four Rangers descended back into a fit of hysterics.
Sky just buried his face in his head with a groan. "Morons."
"Good boy R.I.C.," Syd giggled.
"I'm gonna have to remember that little trick," Jack thoughtfully. Z gave him an odd glare and suddenly Jack flinched and reached down to bat at something under the table. "OW! What was that for?"
"I know exactly what you were thinking," Z scolded. "You perv."
Sky smiled at the exchange--a rare genuine smile that made his eyes light up and made Bridge's stomach feel all queasy. Of course, it could have been the green peas or the roast beef...
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Ya huh."
"Somebody has a dirty mind."
"You looked in a mirror lately?"
"Ah hem." Sky cleared his throat. "Someone call off R.I.C. before he rips something."
Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "Well I dunno. How do we know you're not gonna run off again?"
Sky glared at him. "Call the dog off, now."
Jack grinned. "I know! I'll go with you."
"What?!"
"Buddy system, Sky."
"You are not going with me to the restroom."
"Oh but I am. Heel R.I.C., I got him."
"Jack--" Sky was frowning but Bridge was pretty sure he wasn't too annoyed; the vein in his forehead wasn't ticking like it did when Sky was really angry at Jack.
"Now hold my hand so we don't get separated."
"....I hate you so much."
Jack beamed. "Oh Sky, you say the nicest things." The two walked--or in Sky's case stalked--out of the Rec room holding hands, Jack attempting to swing them back and forth like a child and Sky resisting like a dead weight.
Back at the table Z and Syd were still caught up in a fit of giggles, while Bridge watched them with an amused grin. Z continued to chuckle as she bused her dinner tray. When she left it was just Syd and Bridge alone at the table. Turning serious once more, Syd turned gave Bridge a guilty look. "I'm sorry. About earlier. That was mean."
Bridge nodded and gave Syd his Jell-O. "It's not my color anyways."
"Aww. Thank you."
"....You're not gonna eat all of your salad, are you?"
"Oh Bridge."
When Jack and Sky returned to the rec room they found Syd and Z arguing over movies, since apparently the two roommates had decided that the night was going to be a team movie night. "Cause everyone's still weirded out," Syd had said, although Bridge was pretty sure by everyone Syd meant 'Sky' since she and Z looked perfectly fine. In fact the two of them were being very affectionate with each other. Even as they bickered, the two of them were sitting very close to each other on one of the couches and every so often one of them would touch the other to make a point.
"I am not watching anything with mindless violence and gore," Syd pouted.
"Well I'm not watching some stupid romantic comedy," Z shot back.
"What's wrong with romantic comedy?"
"Ok, one; romantic comedies are totally sappy. Two? They're totally unrealistic. No one falls in love with total strangers the first time they ever see them."
"Word," said Jack from the doorway.
"You're both totally heartless."
"No one wants to see that stuff but you, Princess."
"That's not true, Sky likes them!"
"No I don't."
"So why did I catch you sneaking looks over your handbook the last time Bridge and I watched Sleepless in Seattle?"
"It was because the woman's voice in that was shrill and obnoxious.”
"You think Meg Ryan is shrill and obnoxious?" Syd squeaked.
Sky rolled his eyes. "Not her. The other one. Her girlfriend."
"Oh my God, shut up, I love Becky!"
"Oh my God, shut up, you're gonna make me puke," Z groaned.
Bridge watched the face off from a barstool by the food replicators. For some reason, perhaps completely unintentionally, Jack and Sky had chosen to stand next to Z and Syd respectively and the banter was slowly turning into a tag team effort. They made a nice picture, the four of them. Two girls and two guys....and it was such a nice picture that Bridge didn't feel too bad sitting far away from them. At least, not too much.
Four of them would make more sense. Two on two made the relationship balanced. Two of course was the norm. Three-- well, three seemed complicated--cause what did the extra person do when the other two were...ah...yeah. But it wasn't as complicated as five. Five was a lot. That was ten sets of hands and feet, and five really sounded kinda chaotic. Five was a prime number. It was divisible by nothing; except of course, by itself and one. But maybe that was the key. It was poetic at any sense. If only the only thing that could divide them was themselves...
"--Not watching Star Wars for the millionth time! Bridge back me up here!" Z pleaded, interrupting his train of thought.
"Huh?"
"Say no!" someone shouted at him.
"...No?" Bridge questioned.
Z whirled around. "That's cheating Sky! No more nerdy movies!"
"Romantic comedy!"
"Shove it, Syd."
Bridge bit back a smile. For some reason, some chance that was rather unmathmatical...somehow they worked as five people. Somehow they balanced each other. He was so used to feeling unbalanced, so off from everyone else, put aside because he felt things so vividly, saw things no one else ever saw...
He looked down at the black gloves on his hands, so stark compared to the pale skin of his wrists.
It was a delicate balancing act, having psychic powers. He saw everything in dual images, seeing the ordinary world in solid imagery and also in abstract colors that were the most simplistic, base expressions of human existence. The gloves only muted his gift, taming the brilliance of the psychic lights into something manageable. Sometimes Bridge wondered what the real world looked like, to normal people. If he took off his glove he'd see his friends completely, and there was always something very scary and very soul shaking in doing that. Even when it was just an accident, a moment where the glove slipped or a shower interrupted by his roommate, it felt a bit wrong, to know that much about people he cared about. Krybots, strangers, or criminals--he could steel himself against that. He didn't care how they felt about him. It was his job to track them after all. But it was different with someone he cared about. It wasn't bad. Just overwhelming.
The colors only hurt because he could feel them as well, sometimes almost like tangible objects. Sensing the emotions of others sometimes made him feel like could fall through the floor, like being pulled toward the center of the Earth. Or they could feel icy and numb or like tiny pricks like when someone fell asleep at the computer and woke up with QWERTY imprinted on their forehead. He knew what people felt by sight and touch, knew that when Jack was amused he was turquoise with threads of lemon that tickled like the sensation of a carbonated drink down his throat. He knew that when Syd was angry she was a literal storm cloud of gunmetal grey and dark purple and that she burned his hands as if it were like he was holding them directly to a flame. When Sky was relaxed he was an opal, shimmering and soothing like satin through his fingers. When Z laughed it was the most beautiful thing in the world, blue and star shine gold, with caramel and the color that exists between the horizon and the morning sky.
Yet when she was scared she became twisted, a muddy orange, razor sharp and impossible to hold. When the entire team was scared...there was nothing more painful than fear. Even the evilness that had radiated off of Gruumm that one time Bridge had saw him (muted as his powers were by his suit) had been more of a numbing sensation, a freezing coldness.
What would his friends think if they truly knew how his powers worked? How he was addicted to Z's warming courageousness or even Sky's bright red pride, which was like touching a lion's shiny mane. Could he really have a relationship with all of them and not get overwhelmed by it all? He could barely deal with the way it was right now, using his clothes to block it all. Mute everything. Not feel everything.
"Bridge?"
Z was touching his elbow, shaking him. "We're going with The Matrix."
"Original or remake?"
"Remake. The graphics in the original are horrible."
"And new Neo is totally hot," Syd piped up.
"It's the only reason why she'll watch it," Sky muttered from the couch.
"You know the original Neo wasn't too bad looking," Jack said from his slouched position on a beanbag.
"Ew! He's ancient."
"He wasn't back then."
A warm hand snaked its way around Bridge's arm, curling around him and leaving a soft butter colored trail that felt like feather down. It made his arm hurt and his headache reappear but he snuggled into the space between Z and Sky with a contented sigh.
He could learn to live with this. It was the first time he'd ever wanted to really try.
Bridge was so physically exhausted that he fell asleep somewhere between the appearance of the white rabbit and Neo's first introduction to Trinity. One minute he was resting comfortably on Sky's shoulder and the next his shoulder was being roughly shaken.
"Bridgey."
His entire body was uncomfortably numb and he had no idea what his head was resting on. Whatever it was, the position it had his head in was causing semi painful tremors to run down his neck.
"Lovely. He drooled all over my jacket."
"Ew."
"Come on Bridge, get up."
Strong hands suddenly pulled him up into a sitting position, but it might as well had been Gruumm reaching through his back to pull out his spine because it sent excruciating pain signals all over his body. He yelped.
"Bridge!"
Ok, maybe it was more of a scream. His back was on fire, worse than the electrical shock type pains he'd felt though out the entire day. It literally felt like someone was carving though his back with a firey sword. Maybe even a lightsaber. A Troobian lightsaber.
"Bridge, open your eyes!"
Bridge panted. 'Maybe later Sky, when Gruumm puts the bones in my shoulders back,' he thought morosely.
"Did he say something about Gruumm?!" There was a hazy glint of orange across Bridge's eyelids and he groaned at the sensation of someone close to him beginning to panic. 'Please go away, dying right now, try again later.'
"Bridge?" A soft hand cupped his cheek. Sky. His hand felt cold and Bridge wasn't sure if that was because of temperature or because it was from the tight control Sky had over his emotions right now, a light tint of color held together with a mask of professional calm. "What hurts?"
Bridge peaked one eye open. "Everything," he muttered miserably.
Sky cocked an eyebrow at him. "Gotta be more specific, buddy."
He sighed. "Back...shoulders, arms, wrists, thighs, legs, ankles, fingers, toes, clavicle--"
"Ok, I get it," Sky interrupted. "Everything. It's the Infirmary for you."
Infirmary. That meant walking. Walking meant pain. "Ah...can we just talk about this for a minut--oww!!" Bridge swore he heard several of his bones pop when Sky abruptly pulled him to his feet.
"Suck it up, Bridge," Sky scolded him as he began to lead him out of the room by the elbow. Bridge glared at his roommate and briefly considered biting him, since his teeth were probably the only things not hurting at the moment.
"What the hell just happened?" He heard Jack say just as he and Sky made it out of the rec room. He missed hearing the reply from one of the girls. 'Perfect ending to a perfect day,' Bridge sighed to himself. 'Ow. Ow. Ow. Owie. Ow.'
Dr. Felix was none too happy to be called into the Infirmary so close to curfew, but once he saw the look of misery on Bridge's face he quickly donned a pair of thick gloves to do a complete checkup. About an hour and a half later, Bridge was completely scanned, x-rayed, poked, prodded and sent home with a prescription of painkillers and a shot of something extremely warm and soothing in his left arm.
Muscle strain, Dr. Felix had said. A delayed reaction to all the tense physical activity he'd gone through the other day when Bork had held him captive. After all, Bridge had tried to hold back an entire wall that had tried to crush him to death, and he'd put most of the strain on his arms, shoulders and legs. It was exacerbated by the short morphed battle afterwards and all the stress he'd been under lately.
A night spent sleeping on the floor probably hadn't helped either.
Dr. Felix said he was lucky he hadn't completely thrown out his back when he'd been stuck in Bork's trap.
'Lucky. Right.'
Before they left, Bridge had watched through half closed eyes as Dr. Felix gave Sky a long list of instructions, something about a hot/cold compress and staying warm. Then before he was even aware of it, he was being guided down various hallways by strong arms that rested comfortably on his shoulders. He was grateful for the grip Sky had on him because the world kept dipping and waning like he was in the cockpit of his Delta Flyer, gliding across the sky. 'Hee. Sky and sky. Sky-sky. Sky Sky Sky.'
"Will you quit that?"
Bridge tilted backwards with a drowsy grin. "Quit what Sky? Sky-sky."
"Quit saying my name like that. And for heaven's sake, will you walk straight? You're heavy!"
"Sooorry, Schulyerrrr."
"Oh for the love of--That's it!"
Bridge giggled as the world suddenly tilted and turned sideways as Sky manipulated him into a fireman's carry. Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. This was way more fun than being in his Flyer.
"Hmm, your hair's soft," Bridge mumbled.
A grunt.
"'S funny cause it looks all spiky but if you touch it its reallllly soft."
A growl.
"Soft spikey, Sky-sky."
"Bridge!" Sky snarled.
"How come he gets to give you a pet name?" The amused voice of Jack suddenly asked. Bridge blurrily lifted his head to look for him even as he felt Sky slow to a stop.
"Shut up and take him will ya."
"Woah."
Bridge blinked. The soft Sky hair was gone and he was now looking up Jack. "Oh, dreads!"
Jack's eyes widened, then narrowed into a frown. "He's totally wasted!"
"Just help me get him into bed."
There was a rustle of movement and some groaning--"Man, he's heavy"--and then he was in his dimly lit room and Jack was trying to pull off his shirt. Hmm. Pulling off his shirt was normally a very bad idea...if only Bridge could remember why...
"Don't do that."
Jack froze. "Why not? Don't tell me you're gonna freak again, Sky--"
There was a deep sigh from Bridge's far right. "You'll activate his powers if you do that. It's why he wears gloves, remember?"
"...Oh. Crap." Bridge felt Jack take a few steps back. Bridge frowned. He liked Jack touching him. Sky-sky needed to butt out.
Sky was trying to remove his shoes even as Jack was pushing him backwards into the softness of his bed. It felt wonderful, but even then there was something he wanted to say to them...there was something he wanted...
Jack placed something grey and squishy onto his chest, although it was too dark to see what it was clearly.
"Syd said you could borrow him," Jack explained. "Just for tonight."
"Hmm," Bridge snuggled Peanuts close to his chest. "Soft."
Jack and Sky were talking in low voices just over his head, too faint for him to understand what they were saying. There was something Bridge wanted to say...but in the warmth of his bed, the low chattering by his bedside and the soft touch of Peanuts, he drifted off into a drug induced sleep.
When he awoke again, it was quiet in his pitch black dorm room. Woozy, but much more lucid, Bridge shifted uncomfortably as became aware of a familiar pain in his shoulder.
"You awake?"
Bridge jumped. "S...ky?"
A dark blur appeared at his bedside. "Hold on a sec." There was a soft rustling and something blissfully warm was laid across his shoulder. "Better?"
Bridge sighed. "A bit. Whatsit?"
"Z's heating pad. And don't ask why she has one; trust me you really don't want to know."
The comment only confused Bridge further. "Where's Z?"
"In her room."
"Oh." Of course. That made sense. "Where'd Jack go?"
"Z and Syd's room." By the sound of his voice Sky didn't sound too pleased with that.
Bridge frowned. "But you're here?" 'With me?'
"Yes."
"Wait, why--"
"We stayed up and talked a lot, after you knocked out," Sky interrupted quietly. He paused. "Or rather the girls came over and talked, and I was forced to listen to them.”
Yeah. Bridge couldn't picture Sky talking about his feelings willingly. Or Jack for that matter. Guys weren't supposed to talk about that stuff...right? Either way, Bridge was kind of glad he missed this conversation. "And?"
It didn't mean he wasn't curious. Just a little.
Bridge swore he saw Sky glare at him through the darkness. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"I did. Er, rather I was sleeping. I slept. But I'm awake now."
"It's 4:30 in the morning. Sleep more."
"But--"
"Bed. Now." Apparently, he was not going to get Sky to spill his guts. Oh well. That was what Syd was for, after all.
One more try. "But my shoulder still hurts," he whined.
Instead of replying, Sky shuffled closer till he was nearly sitting on Bridge's bed. "Sit up a bit."
Curious, Bridge did what he was told, wincing when that caused his back to complain. "Why does it feel like I got run over by a herd of Zords?" Like a whole pasture of them, big honking Truck Zords that grazed on hydrogen-grass, waiting to be called upon for battle. The mental image made Bridge smile.
Sky said nothing but instead took the warm heating pad and slid it under his tee shirt. Bridge immediately got the faint sense of Z, mellow yellow and faded brownish red, too distant to bother him much.
"That better?"
"Little more to the left," Bridge purred happily. It really did feel wonderful.
But as Sky shifted the cloth over a few inches, his knuckles accidentally brushed the base of Bridge's neck, and with the touch came a swift rush of colors--pale blue, burgundy, and a bit of deep red, all of which felt warmer than the heating pad Sky was using. Like velvet.
"Damn." Sky yanked his hand back like it had just been burned. "Sorry Bridge."
Bridge was already reaching for Sky's hand again. "You're warm."
"...Warm?" There was the slightest hint of hesitation in Sky's voice, barely perceptible that probably could have gone unnoticed to anyone but Bridge.
"Feels good. Nothing but good colors." Peacefulness. Protectiveness. Love. He shifted over, giving Sky tacit permission to sit and was relieved when Sky sat down next to him. Cautiously, Sky put his hand back on Bridge's neck. The colors returned, along with the velvety softness and Bridge felt himself relax, the pain in his body fading under a coat of shifting colors.
"What do you see?" Sky asked quietly.
It took Bridge a while to respond to that. "It's beautiful," he said finally.
Colors shifted and vibrated gently as Sky reacted to that. "Yeah?" He heard Sky ask softly. His hand started to drift down Bridge's neck, like a concert pianist at work.
"Yeah." Bridge knew by the shifting colors on his neck what Sky was thinking even before his roommate leaned forward to kiss him passionately. The cascade of emotions gave the kiss an edge that was powerful and exhilarating. It was like being physically surrounded by all the abstract things that made him love Sky-- all of it, overwhelming but addictive. Just like before with the others. He wanted to feel them to feel like this all the time.
Sky broke the kiss and pulled away slightly, till they were sitting up facing each other. "Can we--" He stopped. "Actually, I don't really know what I was going to ask," he admitted sheepishly.
Bridge nodded. "I'm not sure. I've never--"
"Yeah."
"But maybe--"
"Go slow?"
"--Could experiment--"
"Can I touch you?"
"Yeah--” Bridge shuddered as Sky began to run one of his hands across the bare back, beginning with his shoulder and moving down his back ever so slightly. "Slow's good. Oh! Very--" Sky silenced him with another long kiss that turned into gentle sucking on his lower lip and wandering hands that made it clear even without psychic abilities that Sky was enjoying going slow too.
Speaking of wandering hands...Bridge's own hands were still clutching at his blanket. Could he...maybe he should....Bridge groaned as Sky began to suck on his neck. Oh yeah. He definitely had to at least try....
He fumbled for a bit as he pulled at the Velcro on his right glove, the scratchy sound muffled by his blanket. Sky didn't seem to notice, as he was pretty concerned with sending Bridge higher and higher by sucking on him and roaming his hands across his chest, pushing him lower onto the bed. He trailed kisses back up to Bridge's mouth; pausing occasionally to look at him, really look at him, with dazed dark eyes. It was amazing and distracting but Bridge finally managed to free his hand from his glove, and he held it up high enough for Sky to take notice and pause. He really wanted Sky to know what he was about to do.
Sky blinked then sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes focused on Bridge's bare hand. He hesitated slightly, and then nodded. Bridge reached up and slowly rested his bare hand on Sky’s cheek--and the world exploded in a brilliant burst of color. It came too fast and too bright for him to catalog it all, just a giant wave of colors that intimately revealed Sky; he could actually for a moment see himself through Sky--he saw that he had a look of pure amazement and love on his face that shook Sky to the core. He felt Sky's deep sense of love, awe, slight embarrassment and deep down, a bit of insecurity. But he knew how to stop Sky from feeling that too deeply. He pulled him close and kissed him, again and again until they were both breathless, till their thoughts merge into a harmonious wave.
It's like being dropped from an airplane, a shocking freefall that turns into glorious soaring. For the first time, Bridge is perfectly balanced. He finally knows that with the right people, he won't fall.