Rock Climbing by Anita, Jack/Sky
Title: Rock Climbing
Author: Anita
Pairing: Sky/Jack
Rating: PG
A/N: Written ages ago and I don't think posted before. Fluff, basically.
“Hey, Sky! Watch this!”
Sky closed his eyes, wondering again why Cruger had chosen him to do this. Oh, on paper, the reasons looked sensible: Jack needed to learn how to use old-fashioned climbing equipment, Sky was a good rock-climber. They were of similar weight and strength. Cruger thought they still needed to bond as team-mates. All sensible, logical reasons.
Sky felt more concerned about the fact that he could chant ‘Don’t do that’ till he fainted, and Jack wouldn’t pay the slightest bit of notice.
He opened his eyes again when he heard Jack laugh. The Red Ranger had somehow gone from a metre or so above Sky, to several metres below.
Sky tried not to think about how. “We’re supposed to be going up.”
“Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute.”
Sky watched as he sorted his ropes, frowning in concentration. “Jack, you really shouldn’t be messing around. It’s dangerous. And one day you might have to do this to rescue someone.”
“Sky, this stuff is ancient. We are never going to have to use it in the serious situation.”
He was probably right. Sky couldn’t ever imagine when he’d have enough rope but no modern climbing gear, but according to the SPD handbook, it could happen. “Even if we don’t, messing around is dangerous.”
“Aw, is Sky all worried?”
Sky gritted his teeth at the tone. Fine. Jack could just kill himself. It would be the best thing that had happened yet today. He started to climb again, not bothering to go slow so Jack could keep up.
He reached the top, feeling an unusual amount of relief as he pulled himself over. He went through the motions of undoing his harness and untangling the ropes, before flopping down onto the grass.
Why did Jack have to act like that? This could have been fun. But no. Jack had to turn it into a nightmare, acting like he knew it all and couldn’t get hurt - despite the fact that last week he hadn’t even known how to put the harness on.
“Hey!” He heard Jack shout. “Um, a little help?”
He sat up. No sign of Jack, but his voice sounded close enough.
Sky contemplated lying back down again, but Jack’s second shout made him ask, “What is it?”
“My foot’s stuck!”
“So unstick it.” If Jack was stupid enough to put his foot in a hole, that wasn’t Sky’s problem.
“Sky!”
“You should have been watching where you were putting your feet.”
“Thank you for the advice. It’s really very helpful. Now come over here, and help me!”
Sky got up, walking over to the cliff edge. Jack dangled not far below, shaking his leg in an attempt to free his foot. He looked up when he saw Sky. “Help me!”
“Go back down.”
“What?”
“Go back down, and use your hands to free it.” It sounded sensible, and Sky hoped it would work. He’d never actually put his foot in a hole before.
Jack scowled at him, but started to edge back down. Sky knelt at the edge, leaning over to watch the entertaining sight of Jack bending himself in half in an attempt to get a hand over to his foot.
“This is painful, you know,” said Jack. “You could show some more sympathy.”
“How did you do it?”
“Didn’t see it. And now it won’t come out again.”
Even as he said it, he managed to yank his foot free. Stones showered down the cliff, and Jack paused to dust off his trouser leg before making his way back up.
Sky went back to his patch of grass, and lay down again.
It only took Jack a few minutes to get up. He came and flopped besides Sky, who ignored him.
Jack sighed. “It was your fault, you know. You went off so fast. I was trying to keep up.”
Sky almost told him that he hadn’t been going fast, Jack had been going slow, but then remembered he was supposed to be ignoring Jack.
Besides, a little voice pointed out. Bridge always complained he went too fast as well, and Bridge had been climbing years longer than Jack.
Jack sighed again, this one even more dramatic. “Okay, fine! I’m sorry for being annoying. Now, will you stop sulking?”
“I’m not sulking!”
“Yes, you are, because I wasn’t listening to you. And I’m sorry. I was wrong. Bad me.”
He sounded so insincere it just made Sky angrier. He rolled away, turning his back on Jack and closing his eyes.
He felt a hand touch his shoulder, as Jack sat up. Sky shrugged the gentle touch away, trying not to notice the warmth of Jack pressed against his side.
“Sky, I’m sorry.” Sounding a little more like he meant it, that time. “It’s just that, you get so serious. I can’t help it.”
Sky pushed down any urge to forgive him. He tried to call up reasons why he should be angry, but found it hard. Jack had been annoying. He hadn’t listened.
Fingers touched his arm, and he felt Jack’s dreadlocks brush his face as the other man bent over him. Sky pulled away before Jack could do something like kiss him, because when Jack did things like that, Sky tended to forget stuff. Important stuff, like being mad at Jack and why he didn’t want to be kissed.
“We should go back down,” he said, ignoring Jack’s hurt expression. “Cruger didn’t mean for us to spend all day doing this.”
*
Jack behaved on the way down, following Sky’s directions with a penitent expression and the odd, ‘see how good I’m being?’ look.
Sky ignored them, as well as the growing desire to turn to Jack and say something to make it all okay. Jack would never stop being annoying, if he just thought Sky would forgive him.
He was so busy ignoring Jack and reminding himself to be angry that he didn’t notice the growing slackness in one of Jack’s ropes - a rope that should have been tight. But it was impossible not to hear that sudden yell.
One moment, Jack was there. The next, he was on the ground, and Sky forgot every safety rule he knew in favour of getting down as fast as possible.
“Jack!” He yelled, staggering as he landed and scrambling over to the Red Ranger’s side. “Jack!”
Jack didn’t move. Sky knelt beside him, snapping open his communicator and pressing for the emergency frequency.
His hands reached out automatically, but the trained part of his mind, the part that never panicked, even when the rest of him was shaking and terrified, drew them back before he touched. He remembered broken necks and backs and life-threatening injuries.
Don’t touch. He let his hands hover over Jack, wondering what was taking whichever dopey cadet it was in the command centre so long to answer an emergency call.
“Sky?” Kat’s voice finally asked, and Sky almost gasped in relief. Not dopey, then: they’d gone straight for Kat, knowing she’d be needed.
“Yes,” he said. “There’s been an accident.” Needed to stop his voice shaking. Kat would think he was hurt, the way he sounded. “Jack fell, from around…”
He looked up, trying to estimate how far. Not too far. Couldn’t have been too far. “Six or seven metres up. He’s currently unconscious.”
“Check his pulse,” she ordered. She didn’t have to say the medical team was on its way: he knew it would already be moving.
He went for Jack’s wrist, safer than his neck, and thrown out to the side so Sky had easy access. The skin felt warm and dry, and blood beat strongly underneath.
“Good,” said Kat, when he told her. “How did he fall?”
Essential information, but Sky couldn’t remember. Had he been watching? He must have. Or had he not seen? “I don’t know.”
“Sky!” She sounded frustrated. “Think back. What were you doing at the time?”
Memory cues, normally effective. But Sky didn’t want to remember that he’d been ignoring Jack, because he’d been angry over some stupid little thing.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”
It had been his responsibility to keep Jack safe, his responsibility to make sure nothing happened. And he’d failed, and now Jack was hurt.
Kat’s next words surprised him. “Sometimes accidents happen, Sky. No one can prevent them.”
A jeep appeared on the crest of the hill, painted in white and red. An ambulance came behind.
Sky sat beside Jack as they rode back to headquarters, ready to sleep from exhaustion by the time he saw Jack open his eyes.
*
“You were worried.”
Jack sounded annoyingly smug for someone with a concussion. Sky scowled at him. “I was worried Cruger might blame me for your mistake.”
Jack just grinned. “Yeah, whatever.” He reached out to curl his fingers round Sky’s, squeezing gently. “You were worried. About me.”
“It was your fault.”
“Yeah, you know that, right? I shouldn’t have been messing around.”
Sky looked aware, trying half-heartedly to free his hand. Jack kept it in a firm grip. “You weren’t, when you fell.”
“Yeah, but I was during most of the sessions when the instructors were trying to teach me. So it was my fault. Not yours.”
Sky shook his head.
“No, it’s true. Anyway, I don’t think it’s so bad, what happened.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, look at it this way. If I’d never fallen, you’d never have realised how much you really care about me.”
Sky wanted to hit him, but with Jack holding his hand like that, and grinning that grin, it seemed easier to just smile back.
List of 22: rock
Author: Anita
Pairing: Sky/Jack
Rating: PG
A/N: Written ages ago and I don't think posted before. Fluff, basically.
“Hey, Sky! Watch this!”
Sky closed his eyes, wondering again why Cruger had chosen him to do this. Oh, on paper, the reasons looked sensible: Jack needed to learn how to use old-fashioned climbing equipment, Sky was a good rock-climber. They were of similar weight and strength. Cruger thought they still needed to bond as team-mates. All sensible, logical reasons.
Sky felt more concerned about the fact that he could chant ‘Don’t do that’ till he fainted, and Jack wouldn’t pay the slightest bit of notice.
He opened his eyes again when he heard Jack laugh. The Red Ranger had somehow gone from a metre or so above Sky, to several metres below.
Sky tried not to think about how. “We’re supposed to be going up.”
“Yeah, yeah. Give me a minute.”
Sky watched as he sorted his ropes, frowning in concentration. “Jack, you really shouldn’t be messing around. It’s dangerous. And one day you might have to do this to rescue someone.”
“Sky, this stuff is ancient. We are never going to have to use it in the serious situation.”
He was probably right. Sky couldn’t ever imagine when he’d have enough rope but no modern climbing gear, but according to the SPD handbook, it could happen. “Even if we don’t, messing around is dangerous.”
“Aw, is Sky all worried?”
Sky gritted his teeth at the tone. Fine. Jack could just kill himself. It would be the best thing that had happened yet today. He started to climb again, not bothering to go slow so Jack could keep up.
He reached the top, feeling an unusual amount of relief as he pulled himself over. He went through the motions of undoing his harness and untangling the ropes, before flopping down onto the grass.
Why did Jack have to act like that? This could have been fun. But no. Jack had to turn it into a nightmare, acting like he knew it all and couldn’t get hurt - despite the fact that last week he hadn’t even known how to put the harness on.
“Hey!” He heard Jack shout. “Um, a little help?”
He sat up. No sign of Jack, but his voice sounded close enough.
Sky contemplated lying back down again, but Jack’s second shout made him ask, “What is it?”
“My foot’s stuck!”
“So unstick it.” If Jack was stupid enough to put his foot in a hole, that wasn’t Sky’s problem.
“Sky!”
“You should have been watching where you were putting your feet.”
“Thank you for the advice. It’s really very helpful. Now come over here, and help me!”
Sky got up, walking over to the cliff edge. Jack dangled not far below, shaking his leg in an attempt to free his foot. He looked up when he saw Sky. “Help me!”
“Go back down.”
“What?”
“Go back down, and use your hands to free it.” It sounded sensible, and Sky hoped it would work. He’d never actually put his foot in a hole before.
Jack scowled at him, but started to edge back down. Sky knelt at the edge, leaning over to watch the entertaining sight of Jack bending himself in half in an attempt to get a hand over to his foot.
“This is painful, you know,” said Jack. “You could show some more sympathy.”
“How did you do it?”
“Didn’t see it. And now it won’t come out again.”
Even as he said it, he managed to yank his foot free. Stones showered down the cliff, and Jack paused to dust off his trouser leg before making his way back up.
Sky went back to his patch of grass, and lay down again.
It only took Jack a few minutes to get up. He came and flopped besides Sky, who ignored him.
Jack sighed. “It was your fault, you know. You went off so fast. I was trying to keep up.”
Sky almost told him that he hadn’t been going fast, Jack had been going slow, but then remembered he was supposed to be ignoring Jack.
Besides, a little voice pointed out. Bridge always complained he went too fast as well, and Bridge had been climbing years longer than Jack.
Jack sighed again, this one even more dramatic. “Okay, fine! I’m sorry for being annoying. Now, will you stop sulking?”
“I’m not sulking!”
“Yes, you are, because I wasn’t listening to you. And I’m sorry. I was wrong. Bad me.”
He sounded so insincere it just made Sky angrier. He rolled away, turning his back on Jack and closing his eyes.
He felt a hand touch his shoulder, as Jack sat up. Sky shrugged the gentle touch away, trying not to notice the warmth of Jack pressed against his side.
“Sky, I’m sorry.” Sounding a little more like he meant it, that time. “It’s just that, you get so serious. I can’t help it.”
Sky pushed down any urge to forgive him. He tried to call up reasons why he should be angry, but found it hard. Jack had been annoying. He hadn’t listened.
Fingers touched his arm, and he felt Jack’s dreadlocks brush his face as the other man bent over him. Sky pulled away before Jack could do something like kiss him, because when Jack did things like that, Sky tended to forget stuff. Important stuff, like being mad at Jack and why he didn’t want to be kissed.
“We should go back down,” he said, ignoring Jack’s hurt expression. “Cruger didn’t mean for us to spend all day doing this.”
*
Jack behaved on the way down, following Sky’s directions with a penitent expression and the odd, ‘see how good I’m being?’ look.
Sky ignored them, as well as the growing desire to turn to Jack and say something to make it all okay. Jack would never stop being annoying, if he just thought Sky would forgive him.
He was so busy ignoring Jack and reminding himself to be angry that he didn’t notice the growing slackness in one of Jack’s ropes - a rope that should have been tight. But it was impossible not to hear that sudden yell.
One moment, Jack was there. The next, he was on the ground, and Sky forgot every safety rule he knew in favour of getting down as fast as possible.
“Jack!” He yelled, staggering as he landed and scrambling over to the Red Ranger’s side. “Jack!”
Jack didn’t move. Sky knelt beside him, snapping open his communicator and pressing for the emergency frequency.
His hands reached out automatically, but the trained part of his mind, the part that never panicked, even when the rest of him was shaking and terrified, drew them back before he touched. He remembered broken necks and backs and life-threatening injuries.
Don’t touch. He let his hands hover over Jack, wondering what was taking whichever dopey cadet it was in the command centre so long to answer an emergency call.
“Sky?” Kat’s voice finally asked, and Sky almost gasped in relief. Not dopey, then: they’d gone straight for Kat, knowing she’d be needed.
“Yes,” he said. “There’s been an accident.” Needed to stop his voice shaking. Kat would think he was hurt, the way he sounded. “Jack fell, from around…”
He looked up, trying to estimate how far. Not too far. Couldn’t have been too far. “Six or seven metres up. He’s currently unconscious.”
“Check his pulse,” she ordered. She didn’t have to say the medical team was on its way: he knew it would already be moving.
He went for Jack’s wrist, safer than his neck, and thrown out to the side so Sky had easy access. The skin felt warm and dry, and blood beat strongly underneath.
“Good,” said Kat, when he told her. “How did he fall?”
Essential information, but Sky couldn’t remember. Had he been watching? He must have. Or had he not seen? “I don’t know.”
“Sky!” She sounded frustrated. “Think back. What were you doing at the time?”
Memory cues, normally effective. But Sky didn’t want to remember that he’d been ignoring Jack, because he’d been angry over some stupid little thing.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”
It had been his responsibility to keep Jack safe, his responsibility to make sure nothing happened. And he’d failed, and now Jack was hurt.
Kat’s next words surprised him. “Sometimes accidents happen, Sky. No one can prevent them.”
A jeep appeared on the crest of the hill, painted in white and red. An ambulance came behind.
Sky sat beside Jack as they rode back to headquarters, ready to sleep from exhaustion by the time he saw Jack open his eyes.
*
“You were worried.”
Jack sounded annoyingly smug for someone with a concussion. Sky scowled at him. “I was worried Cruger might blame me for your mistake.”
Jack just grinned. “Yeah, whatever.” He reached out to curl his fingers round Sky’s, squeezing gently. “You were worried. About me.”
“It was your fault.”
“Yeah, you know that, right? I shouldn’t have been messing around.”
Sky looked aware, trying half-heartedly to free his hand. Jack kept it in a firm grip. “You weren’t, when you fell.”
“Yeah, but I was during most of the sessions when the instructors were trying to teach me. So it was my fault. Not yours.”
Sky shook his head.
“No, it’s true. Anyway, I don’t think it’s so bad, what happened.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, look at it this way. If I’d never fallen, you’d never have realised how much you really care about me.”
Sky wanted to hit him, but with Jack holding his hand like that, and grinning that grin, it seemed easier to just smile back.
List of 22: rock