Title: Much Ado About Nothing
Author: LttleDvl
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Pairing: Z and Bridge
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own a bit of it; I just like to play around with the characters.
Summary: Z and Bridge find themselves alone; wonder what they’ll do next...
Word count: 1995
This one was supposed to get posted to
MMOM, but my muse started to haul this part of the story off the deep end and was trying to make it into a danged novel, which I had to put a stop to. After all, this is supposed to be a short story piece. Silly muse. *shakes head*
Emergencies occur with alarming regularity in Newtech City. So it shouldn’t have been a terrible surprise when Bridge and Z’s moment was rudely interrupted by a series of claxons and alarms.
Returning from the latest battle, all the Rangers were quite weary. Z had commandeered the shower from Syd and so she was one of the first to return to the B-Squad common room. She got a jolt when she spied Bridge sitting on one of the beanbag chairs; curled up upon himself slightly with his head hanging limply, eyes closed.
She crossed the room quietly and sat down on a chair near him. “Bridge?” she called quietly.
His only response was a quiet sigh as he shifted himself further down into the padding of his chair.
Z sighed and shook her head. I wonder if I should wake him? I’ll bet he was waiting for Sky to get done with the bathroom and fell asleep instead. Z stared down at Bridge, smiling ever so slightly. He’s just too gorgeous for words. And I still can’t believe that he chose me over anyone else.
She sat there for a few moments, watching him doze. The sunlight streaming through the window made patterns of gold and red dance through the tips of his hair. Her eyes continued to skim across his body, finally stopping to study the way his long dark lashes fanned out against his pale cheeks.
“Z?” came the mumbled query as Bridge began to stretch himself out, blinking and yawning sleepily. His eyes finally focused on her. “What are you staring at?”
“Acres and acres and it’s mine; all mine,” she replied, smiling down into those immense blue eyes.
Bridge’s brows furrowed together in confusion. “What’s all yours?”
Z leaned down closer to him; smirking, “You.”
“Oh.”
She grinned at him, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She was about to say something more when the door to the Green and Blue Ranger’s room opened and Sky walked in. He chucked a towel at Bridge.
“All yours. And no; the water’s not going to be all cold. Warm water is better for getting out the kinks,” Sky stated.
“Warm water? You? Surely the world is coming to an end,” Z quipped at him.
Sky opted to change the subject instead of responding to her jest. “Where’s Syd?”
“In the shower. She’ll probably be in there for the rest of the day, too. Honestly, I can’t see how one person can take so much time in getting washed. I’m a ‘quick and get out’ kind of gal.” Except for those few occasions where I take just a little bit of extra time, she added mentally.
Sky just gave her a disparaging look as he claimed a seat on one of the chairs. “Whatever.” Brow furrowing, he glanced quickly between the two rangers. “What’s going on between you two?”
“What do you mean?” Z asked.
“You two have been acting a little odd around each other since yesterday. What is it?” Sky asked.
“Nothing. It was just a bit of misunderstanding, but we got it all worked out, didn’t we Bridge?” Z turned towards the Green Ranger as she finished speaking.
“Yep, no problems here.”
Sky narrowed his eyes slightly at both of them, but didn’t voice his opinion. Yah, right. And I’m the Pink Ranger, too, he thought.
As if his thought had summoned her, Syd popped in. “Hey guys, what’s up?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all, Syd.” Sky stated crossly as he pulled out his S.P.D. handbook and began to focus on the pages.
“Typical,” Syd stated as she let out a huff. She turned towards the others. “So what about you two?”
“We’re not doing much either.” Z replied as Jack put in an appearance.
“Hey, I’ve got some good news. Since that last monster was pretty tough Cruger decided to give us the rest of the day off. Barring any other emergencies that is,” Jack clapped his hands together once as he continued, “So, what are you guys going to do with your free time?”
“I’m going to go out!” Syd replied, “I need to pick up a few things from the mall. Want to come with me Z?”
“No thanks. I’ve been wanting to re-organize my cds, but haven’t had a chance until now. Sorry,” Z replied.
“You’re going to stay cooped up in here all day? Geesh!” The Pink Ranger turned her attention towards Bridge. “How about you, Bridgey?”
“Uh, sorry Syd,” he screwed his face up slightly as if it almost pained him to tell her no, “But I’ve got an upgrade I’ve been meaning to do with my system. It will not only increase the processing speed but also make toast faster too.” He looked off into space as he continued thinking. “Though...it might end up burning more toast that way. Hmm. I’ll have to make sure to debug the program sufficiently enough that...”
“Bridge,” Jack cut in, “Sounds...fascinating. I hope you have good luck with it.”
“I know!” Syd chirped, “You and Sky could come with me, Jack.” Jack looked like he was trying not to cringe as Sky rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, guys! It’ll be fun! We can leave Bridge and Z here to do their boring things.”
Z just shot her a look as Bridge began to disagree. “Hey, upgrading my computer is not boring...”
“Sure, Syd. Anything’s better than listening to another description of Bridge’s toast making computer,” Jack stated.
“For once I agree with Jack,” Sky added.
“Hey!” Bridge said, rather affronted.
“Alright! But you guys need to change first; there’s no way we’re going out like this,” Syd stated.
“What’s wrong with our uniforms?” Sky asked.
“Hell-o; they’re uniforms. Fine for when we’re on duty. But since we’re not; we could use a change,” Syd replied.
“Whatever; fine,” Sky stated as he headed off to his room.
“Sure,” Jack shrugged; then left the common room, headed into his quarters.
Syd then bounded out; suddenly leaving Bridge and Z alone in the room once more.
“Well, that was quick,” Bridge stated.
“Think of it this way; at least it will be a lot more quiet around here,” Z replied.
They sat in silence for several moments until the others returned to put in a brief appearance. They were all looking rather sharp in their civilian clothes.
“We’ll see you guys later, alright?” Syd called out as she stepped between her companions; hooking each of her arms through one of theirs.
“Bye,” Z waved as Syd herded them all out.
“Syd; she’s nuts,” Z stated, shaking her head slightly.
“She’s okay. She really does try to look out for the rest of us, you know. Making sure we never take ourselves too seriously,” Bridge responded.
“Kind of like you,” Z stated quietly, gazing into his eyes once more.
“I suppose...,” Bridge trailed off.
“Look, why don’t you go catch that shower you were waiting on? I’ll see you around, okay?” Z spoke as she stood up and headed towards her room.
“Okay,” Bridge said quietly.
**********
After about 15 minutes, Z figured it was just about time to put her plan into action. Though it had led to an overwhelming and joyful discovery, Z was determined to get Bridge back for startling her when he had been in her room.
She left her own room and approached the door to his. She knocked slightly, but got no response. Now how on earth did he get my door open? she wondered.
She jerked back slightly as the door suddenly opened. I wonder if that’s a problem we need to fix? she mused. Stepping in, she glanced around quickly; not immediately seeing Bridge anywhere. She heard the faint sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Oh good, he’s still in there. I got him now.
She walked over to lean against the wall right next to the bathroom door; crossing her arms over her chest and placing one ankle over top of the other. After a few more moments, she heard the water shut off and the door slid open.
Bridge stepped out; wrapping a towel around his waist, water still dripping from his hair. He looked up briefly. “Hi Z.” Then he went back to adjusting his towel for a second before he stopped suddenly and his head shot up to stare at the Yellow Ranger, eyes widening slightly.
“Z! What are you doing in here?” He nearly croaked on the words as his cheeks flushed slightly.
“Payback. You surprised me last time I got done with a shower; now it’s your turn. Turnabout is fair play,” Z stated.
“But how? The door?” Bridge stammered.
“That I don’t know. It might be a problem we need to look into. But in the meantime...,” Z shrugged lightly and smirked at him, “I got no complaints.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.
“Z...,” he groaned, “You could get in trouble. If Sky were to walk in...”
“Sky is out with Syd, remember? And the way she goes through a mall, we’ll be lucky if we see them again before dark,” Z replied.
“I suppose, but even so...,” Bridge trailed off as he didn’t know what else to say.
“How about you get dressed?” Z asked.
“Uh, yeah,” he responded.
Bridge moved past her and began to rummage in his closet. Z continued to lean against the wall as she stared at Bridge’s back. She could see the muscles ripple slightly beneath the skin as he moved. Small beads of water still clung to him here and there; adding a slightly shimmering glow to his bare skin. A trickle of water escaped from his hair where it met with the back of his neck and continued down along his spine.
Z watched it, mesmerized until it ran all the way down to the towel. She swallowed thickly after it had reached its destination. Just watching him was beginning to make her feel hot.
Bridge could feel Z’s eyes on him, but he tried to ignore it. As he continued searching for clothes, he began to feel Z’s thoughts push through his own. And what she was thinking about was beginning to make him extremely flustered.
“Z, do you mind?” he spoke up.
“Huh, what?” Z pulled herself out of her reverie. “Oh right. Do you want me to leave?”
“Well, you don’t have to go, but could you tone it down a little? At least so I can get dressed?” he replied.
“Tone what down? What are you talking about?” Z was thoroughly confused.
“Your...thoughts. I can hear them, you know,” he quickly flashed an ungloved hand at her, “See?”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize. Hope it didn’t bother you too much,” she stated.
“No, it doesn’t bother me. It’s just...well I’m not sure, actually. I’m just not used to having someone think of me in such a way,” he responded.
“Really? Then we’ll just have to remedy that won’t we?” Z stated.
Suddenly, Bridge felt arms snake around his waist and slide themselves up along his chest. He could feel Z’s cheek pressing against his back.
“Uh, Z? What are you...,” Bridge started but Z gently cut him off.
“Hush. Just relax. Trust me,” she replied.
Z closed her eyes as she remained pressed against Bridge’s body. Slowly she began to think of herself sliding her hands all along his muscular frame, though in reality she didn’t move an inch. But apparently, her thoughts were beginning to have an affect as she felt Bridge quiver faintly.
She smiled slightly as she continued to project her thoughts at him. She imagined her fingers gently caressing and lightly tickling his chest, then slowly trailing down to his navel.
Z heard Bridge gasp audibly and suddenly she found her world spinning as Bridge quickly turned within her grasp and pulled her in close to him; planting a passionate, almost desperate kiss on her soft and yielding lips.