20_est_relships fic: "All-Nighter", G, Bridge/Sky
Title: All-Nighter
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #9 Comfort
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge, in the process of trying to be helpful, ends up simply messing things up and seeks comfort from Sky.
Notes: Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters.
The bad thing about being one of S.P.D.'s best computer technicians, thought Bridge, is sometimes it required him to pull all-nighters.
And the bad thing about all-nighters, especially three in a row, was that he didn't sleep.
And the bad thing about not sleeping was it impaired his ability to function well.
When he was in the midst of a marathon session of writing program code, sequencing, upgrading and restructuring S.P.D Earth's mainframe, however, "not functioning" wasn't an option.
Bridge took his eyes away from the multiple monitors around him for a minute, resting his head against the nearby wall and sighing. This is what he got for volunteering to do this all by himself, he knew. He had jumped at the chance when hearing that waiting for a technician from Command could take weeks. He did it because it would leave Kat free to do her own duties- always a good thing when her backup, Boom, was also running on little-to-no-sleep from helping Bridge and when monster attacks were still imminent at any time- and because he felt he could do a good job of it, be proud of himself, and have Cruger be pleased with him for taking the initiative.
It was pride that was keeping him from asking for help now, even simply taking a break to nap and asking someone else to take over in the meantime. He somehow felt that if he backed off from this task, let Kat or Boom do the programming for a while, then the computers would win. Bridge was not about to let that happen.
"Man, I think I've been with Sky for too long," he groaned to nobody, rubbing his forehead. "That sounds too much like him and not like me because I've never been one to let pride get in the way. Maybe it IS time to just give up for a while..." He then eyed the empty coffee cups littering the desk. "Or at least get something stronger to drink."
"Carson!" Bridge jumped, having not heard the Commander approach, and hurriedly stood up to salute him. "How is it coming along, Cadet?"
"Fine, sir!" Bridge squeaked. "Fine, just fine, ah, about twelve more hours should do it..."
"Carson, maybe you should take a break," said the Commander with concern when he got a look at Bridge's face. "You look exhausted."
"I'll be okay, sir!" Bridge insisted, running his fingers through his hair. "Besides, I can't stop now. I'm almost done, and if I back away now... the computers... will win! I have to show them who's the boss, and that the boss is not some stupid machine!" Cruger sighed heavily, shook his head, and began to walk away.
"You've been with Cadet Tate for too long," Bridge thought he heard him mutter. Or maybe his addled mind was making him hear things. He was sure he then heard his Commander say aloud, "If you insist, I will leave you alone. Do not make yourself ill, however, Cadet, especially if lack of sleep is becoming problematic. Send for help if you need it."
"Yes sir!" said Bridge, trying to sound cheery. He then turned back to his work, sat down and stretched, hoping his second wind would come. Or his third... or fourth... or whichever wind he was on right now. He pushed the empty coffee cups into a trash can, cracked his knuckles, and got back to coding. However, he could feel his eyelids begin to droop... maybe if he took a power nap, it would be OK... he was so awfully tired...
He jumped when he heard a happy bark behind him and spun in his chair to find R.I.C. coming toward him. The robot dog had a string in his mouth and was pulling a cart with several energy drinks on top of it behind him.
"Hey, buddy," Bridge smiled, reaching out to pet R.I.C. On top of the energy drinks sat a note, which he picked up and read aloud. "'Since the Commander said you're continuing to be an idiot and refusing to quit, I thought I'd send you a little pick-me-up. Love, Sky.' Such a thoughtful boyfriend..." Bridge picked up one of the energy drinks, opened it and downed half of it in one go, setting the other cans aside for later. "Thanks, R.I.C. Oh, and tell Sky thank you for me, too, will you?" R.I.C. barked again and trotted off, dragging his cart. Bridge went back to his coding, waiting for the drink to take effect... before blinking hard and realizing he'd written the same line 10 times.
"Aww, nuts... now, where was I?" he murmured, deleting the extraneous code, then scrolling up and reading what he'd written, trying to remember what he needed to write next. His fingers started moving across the keys almost automatically. His eyelids began to droop once more-
"GAH!" Bridge yelped, realizing there was an alarm going off, which had awoken him from another doze. Furthermore, he seemed to have been leaning on the keyboard as he slept, as the code he wrote was now a snarled mess. "Son of a-" He quickly threw his uniform jacket on and swallowed the rest of his energy drink, scrambling off to meet his teammates in Delta Command. There was a giant robot attacking the city...
"BRIDGE!" Jack's furious voice came over his communicator. "What in the hell is WRONG with you?! Why are you sitting there and not doing anything?"
"Ah-" Bridge gulped hard. He didn't remember even MORPHING, much less going to his Zord, and yet here he was in the cockpit of it. In the middle of a fight. Looking through his helmet. With the giant robot bearing down on him.
"Stop spacing out, wake UP and get with the program here!"
"Right!" Bridge felt fully awake now, filled with the adrenalin rush that usually came with a Zord fight and swearing to himself. Now he'd potentially put his teammates in danger due to his stubbornness... But excuses could come later. Right now the others needed him. "Super crime scene tape!"
"NOW we're talking," said Jack with satisfaction. In short order, the Rangers had destroyed the robot and confined its pilot, and Bridge could relax and get back to work. As soon as Cruger had dismissed the Rangers from their debriefing, he eagerly went back to the console he'd been working at.
"-all screwed up," he could hear Kat's voice saying as he approached. "I don't believe this!"
"What's the matter?" Bridge asked quickly, running up to stand beside her, gulping when she glared over at him. She seemed furious.
"Bridge, have you been paying ANY attention to what you've been doing?" she wanted to know, arms folded, lips pursed.
"Of course I have been!" said Bridge, feeling himself smiling in spite of the fact that he felt very uneasy. "Well, except for a little power nap or three I took before the alarm went off..."
"Really? Because I took a look at your code and it looks pretty hopeless to me."
"... huh? Have I really been doing it wrong this whole time...?" Kat gave a growl of frustration, shook her head, and waved Bridge away.
"You really should not have done this by yourself. I'll have to fix it for you now."
"Let me help-"
"NO, Bridge," said Kat. "Just leave me to it, and go to bed. Don't try and make things better, because right now you're just making it worse." Bridge, stunned by her curtness, stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly. "Bridge. GO. Please." He turned to leave, sagging, feeling as though his legs were made of lead.
"Cadet?" Bridge almost moaned aloud with misery when Cruger addressed him as he passed by the command center, but held himself in, stood erect and saluted. "I wanted to speak to you without the others present. What happened in that last battle, Cadet?"
"Ah, ah, we won, sir?" Bridge supplied lamely.
"More like your teammates won. You did not appear to be there at all. I know you've been working for a while, and I know you are tired, but if you are not going to take your job as a Ranger and your commitment to teamwork seriously-"
"But, sir," Bridge protested feebly.
"No excuses, Cadet. If this kind of behavior keeps up, you are going to be in serious trouble. Dismissed." Bridge blinked as Cruger walked away, then shook his head, his eyes stinging- both with tiredness and perhaps with held-back tears. He made a beeline straight for his and Sky's empty dorm room, threw himself onto his bed, lay on his side and hugged his knees to his chest, wondering how badly he'd screwed up.
Pretty badly, I bet.. Even Kat's mad at me. She's NEVER mad.
The door then slid open.
"Hey, Bridge," said Sky.
"'ey," Bridge replied gloomily.
"Wanna go get some pizza?"
"No."
"Why not? You're ALWAYS in the mood for pizza."
"'m tired and 'm in a bad mood. I don't want to go out right now."
"...Alright, fine. Excuse me for trying to be nice to you." Bridge turned to stare at Sky incredulously, but his boyfriend had already left. Bridge groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, wondering if anybody ELSE was going to come in and yell at him. He'd just been doing his job... of course, he HAD messed up... but did it warrant him being told he didn't take his job as a Ranger seriously enough? He dozed off once more, thinking there wasn't much else he could do aside from that now...
"Bridge?" He half awoke at the sound of Sky's voice, but pretended to still be asleep. He heard Sky sigh, then felt his boyfriend gently lift his head, place the pillow underneath it, then pull his blanket over him. He felt a bit better when Sky kissed his cheek and murmured softly in his ear, "I love you, and I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Have a good night's rest." Bridge gratefully grabbed a handful of his blanket and drifted right back off...
...then awoke again to the orange sunlight of morning filling his room. Bridge yawned widely and rolled over to find Sky in the bed next to him, still peacefully asleep.
"Hmmm..." Bridge lifted one of Sky's arms, wriggling underneath it and snuggling in close. His heart still felt heavy after the previous day, and now all he wanted was a little bit of comfort. Sky made a grunting noise somewhere deep in his throat, stirred.
"'s matter?" he asked, his voice thick with sleepiness.
"Wanna cuddle," Bridge mumbled in return. "You can go back to sleep if you want, though." Sky yawned widely, waking up a little more and shifting so that he could hold Bridge more comfortably.
"You alright?" he asked.
"No. I'm probably going to have to spend the whole day doing damage control. Oh, and being told I don't take my job seriously enough again. Not looking forward to it."
"Don't worry so much," Sky replied, kissing his forehead. "I think everyone was having a bad day yesterday. And anyway, you have to admit you WERE asking for it a little when you refused to take a break-"
"Oh, THANKS," Bridge snapped, pulling away and starting to crawl out of the bunk. "It's so great to know I have such a caring and sympathetic boyfriend!"
"I didn't mean it that way, Bridge... come back..."
"Then what DID you mean?" Bridge wanted to know, pushing himself as far away from Sky as he could get in the bed.
"One, that I'm half asleep and clearly that makes me even more tactless than usual." Sky rubbed his forehead, appearing to trying to work out what to say next. "What I meant is you had the best of intentions, but you also made a mistake. It happens. Doesn't mean they should've yelled at you like that, but don't wallow in it, either. You are only human and you were trying to do your job."
"... Alright," Bridge sighed.
"Still want to snuggle?" Bridge grumbled under his breath, then nodded somewhat begrudgingly and allowed Sky to take him back into his arms. "Things'll be alright. Let's go back to sleep for a a bit, and you can worry about what Kat and Cruger'll say when we've both had enough rest." Bridge nuzzled his boyfriend's chest, still not entirely convinced that things were going to be okay, and settled into his embrace once more.
He next awoke about two hours later to the blaring of his alarm. Sky, of course, was already up and gone; Bridge wasn't unduly bothered, as he knew Sky was always an early riser. He got up, rubbing his eyes, and plodded over to his closet to get out a fresh uniform for the day. When he emerged, something on his desk caught his eye. He sighed with relief when he went over and saw that it was a small gift- the newest issue of Private Perfect- along with a note.
Bridge- Stressful times like this can bring out the worst in everyone, and I was already stretched to the limit when I decided to check up on you. You did a good job, as usual; I was in a rush and didn't check thoroughly and instead snapped at you for the errors I did see. For that, I apologize. You've been a big help with this project and you did not deserve to be yelled at like that. From Kat. Some of his relief then washed away when he saw another note on his computer screen-
See me. -Commander Cruger Bridge hastily got ready, bolted down some breakfast, and went looking for Cruger, finding him alone at his desk in Delta Command. Bridge swallowed hard and approached him, figuring he might as well get it over with.
"Sir? You wanted to talk to me?" Bridge asked, standing at attention.
"Ah- Bridge." Cruger cleared his throat. "About what I said yesterday." There was a long pause; Bridge was about to prompt him to go on when Cruger then went on, "My comments to you were uncalled for, so I apologize. You are a great Ranger and a hard worker; I know that you were only trying to help, even if you DID have a lapse in judgment."
"Thank you, sir," Bridge said, feeling himself going slightly red.
"Miss Manx has finished all of the coding and sequencing, so you are free to go about your duties as usual. Dismissed."
"Sir!" Bridge saluted him and quickly left, unable to hide a grin. He emerged from Delta Command to find Sky waiting for him, smirking. "So you heard?" Sky nodded and opened his mouth to speak. "DON'T say 'I told you so'."
"I wasn't going to. Honest," Sky said, smiling unconvincingly. "I just came to get you so we could go to martial arts class." Bridge punched him in the shoulder and the two walked off, holding hands briefly. "So everything's cool?"
"Uh-huh. But that's the last time I pull an all-nighter," said Bridge.
(crossposted to 20_est_relships)
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #9 Comfort
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge, in the process of trying to be helpful, ends up simply messing things up and seeks comfort from Sky.
Notes: Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters.
The bad thing about being one of S.P.D.'s best computer technicians, thought Bridge, is sometimes it required him to pull all-nighters.
And the bad thing about all-nighters, especially three in a row, was that he didn't sleep.
And the bad thing about not sleeping was it impaired his ability to function well.
When he was in the midst of a marathon session of writing program code, sequencing, upgrading and restructuring S.P.D Earth's mainframe, however, "not functioning" wasn't an option.
Bridge took his eyes away from the multiple monitors around him for a minute, resting his head against the nearby wall and sighing. This is what he got for volunteering to do this all by himself, he knew. He had jumped at the chance when hearing that waiting for a technician from Command could take weeks. He did it because it would leave Kat free to do her own duties- always a good thing when her backup, Boom, was also running on little-to-no-sleep from helping Bridge and when monster attacks were still imminent at any time- and because he felt he could do a good job of it, be proud of himself, and have Cruger be pleased with him for taking the initiative.
It was pride that was keeping him from asking for help now, even simply taking a break to nap and asking someone else to take over in the meantime. He somehow felt that if he backed off from this task, let Kat or Boom do the programming for a while, then the computers would win. Bridge was not about to let that happen.
"Man, I think I've been with Sky for too long," he groaned to nobody, rubbing his forehead. "That sounds too much like him and not like me because I've never been one to let pride get in the way. Maybe it IS time to just give up for a while..." He then eyed the empty coffee cups littering the desk. "Or at least get something stronger to drink."
"Carson!" Bridge jumped, having not heard the Commander approach, and hurriedly stood up to salute him. "How is it coming along, Cadet?"
"Fine, sir!" Bridge squeaked. "Fine, just fine, ah, about twelve more hours should do it..."
"Carson, maybe you should take a break," said the Commander with concern when he got a look at Bridge's face. "You look exhausted."
"I'll be okay, sir!" Bridge insisted, running his fingers through his hair. "Besides, I can't stop now. I'm almost done, and if I back away now... the computers... will win! I have to show them who's the boss, and that the boss is not some stupid machine!" Cruger sighed heavily, shook his head, and began to walk away.
"You've been with Cadet Tate for too long," Bridge thought he heard him mutter. Or maybe his addled mind was making him hear things. He was sure he then heard his Commander say aloud, "If you insist, I will leave you alone. Do not make yourself ill, however, Cadet, especially if lack of sleep is becoming problematic. Send for help if you need it."
"Yes sir!" said Bridge, trying to sound cheery. He then turned back to his work, sat down and stretched, hoping his second wind would come. Or his third... or fourth... or whichever wind he was on right now. He pushed the empty coffee cups into a trash can, cracked his knuckles, and got back to coding. However, he could feel his eyelids begin to droop... maybe if he took a power nap, it would be OK... he was so awfully tired...
He jumped when he heard a happy bark behind him and spun in his chair to find R.I.C. coming toward him. The robot dog had a string in his mouth and was pulling a cart with several energy drinks on top of it behind him.
"Hey, buddy," Bridge smiled, reaching out to pet R.I.C. On top of the energy drinks sat a note, which he picked up and read aloud. "'Since the Commander said you're continuing to be an idiot and refusing to quit, I thought I'd send you a little pick-me-up. Love, Sky.' Such a thoughtful boyfriend..." Bridge picked up one of the energy drinks, opened it and downed half of it in one go, setting the other cans aside for later. "Thanks, R.I.C. Oh, and tell Sky thank you for me, too, will you?" R.I.C. barked again and trotted off, dragging his cart. Bridge went back to his coding, waiting for the drink to take effect... before blinking hard and realizing he'd written the same line 10 times.
"Aww, nuts... now, where was I?" he murmured, deleting the extraneous code, then scrolling up and reading what he'd written, trying to remember what he needed to write next. His fingers started moving across the keys almost automatically. His eyelids began to droop once more-
"GAH!" Bridge yelped, realizing there was an alarm going off, which had awoken him from another doze. Furthermore, he seemed to have been leaning on the keyboard as he slept, as the code he wrote was now a snarled mess. "Son of a-" He quickly threw his uniform jacket on and swallowed the rest of his energy drink, scrambling off to meet his teammates in Delta Command. There was a giant robot attacking the city...
"BRIDGE!" Jack's furious voice came over his communicator. "What in the hell is WRONG with you?! Why are you sitting there and not doing anything?"
"Ah-" Bridge gulped hard. He didn't remember even MORPHING, much less going to his Zord, and yet here he was in the cockpit of it. In the middle of a fight. Looking through his helmet. With the giant robot bearing down on him.
"Stop spacing out, wake UP and get with the program here!"
"Right!" Bridge felt fully awake now, filled with the adrenalin rush that usually came with a Zord fight and swearing to himself. Now he'd potentially put his teammates in danger due to his stubbornness... But excuses could come later. Right now the others needed him. "Super crime scene tape!"
"NOW we're talking," said Jack with satisfaction. In short order, the Rangers had destroyed the robot and confined its pilot, and Bridge could relax and get back to work. As soon as Cruger had dismissed the Rangers from their debriefing, he eagerly went back to the console he'd been working at.
"-all screwed up," he could hear Kat's voice saying as he approached. "I don't believe this!"
"What's the matter?" Bridge asked quickly, running up to stand beside her, gulping when she glared over at him. She seemed furious.
"Bridge, have you been paying ANY attention to what you've been doing?" she wanted to know, arms folded, lips pursed.
"Of course I have been!" said Bridge, feeling himself smiling in spite of the fact that he felt very uneasy. "Well, except for a little power nap or three I took before the alarm went off..."
"Really? Because I took a look at your code and it looks pretty hopeless to me."
"... huh? Have I really been doing it wrong this whole time...?" Kat gave a growl of frustration, shook her head, and waved Bridge away.
"You really should not have done this by yourself. I'll have to fix it for you now."
"Let me help-"
"NO, Bridge," said Kat. "Just leave me to it, and go to bed. Don't try and make things better, because right now you're just making it worse." Bridge, stunned by her curtness, stood there with his mouth hanging open slightly. "Bridge. GO. Please." He turned to leave, sagging, feeling as though his legs were made of lead.
"Cadet?" Bridge almost moaned aloud with misery when Cruger addressed him as he passed by the command center, but held himself in, stood erect and saluted. "I wanted to speak to you without the others present. What happened in that last battle, Cadet?"
"Ah, ah, we won, sir?" Bridge supplied lamely.
"More like your teammates won. You did not appear to be there at all. I know you've been working for a while, and I know you are tired, but if you are not going to take your job as a Ranger and your commitment to teamwork seriously-"
"But, sir," Bridge protested feebly.
"No excuses, Cadet. If this kind of behavior keeps up, you are going to be in serious trouble. Dismissed." Bridge blinked as Cruger walked away, then shook his head, his eyes stinging- both with tiredness and perhaps with held-back tears. He made a beeline straight for his and Sky's empty dorm room, threw himself onto his bed, lay on his side and hugged his knees to his chest, wondering how badly he'd screwed up.
Pretty badly, I bet.. Even Kat's mad at me. She's NEVER mad.
The door then slid open.
"Hey, Bridge," said Sky.
"'ey," Bridge replied gloomily.
"Wanna go get some pizza?"
"No."
"Why not? You're ALWAYS in the mood for pizza."
"'m tired and 'm in a bad mood. I don't want to go out right now."
"...Alright, fine. Excuse me for trying to be nice to you." Bridge turned to stare at Sky incredulously, but his boyfriend had already left. Bridge groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, wondering if anybody ELSE was going to come in and yell at him. He'd just been doing his job... of course, he HAD messed up... but did it warrant him being told he didn't take his job as a Ranger seriously enough? He dozed off once more, thinking there wasn't much else he could do aside from that now...
"Bridge?" He half awoke at the sound of Sky's voice, but pretended to still be asleep. He heard Sky sigh, then felt his boyfriend gently lift his head, place the pillow underneath it, then pull his blanket over him. He felt a bit better when Sky kissed his cheek and murmured softly in his ear, "I love you, and I'm sorry for what I said earlier. Have a good night's rest." Bridge gratefully grabbed a handful of his blanket and drifted right back off...
...then awoke again to the orange sunlight of morning filling his room. Bridge yawned widely and rolled over to find Sky in the bed next to him, still peacefully asleep.
"Hmmm..." Bridge lifted one of Sky's arms, wriggling underneath it and snuggling in close. His heart still felt heavy after the previous day, and now all he wanted was a little bit of comfort. Sky made a grunting noise somewhere deep in his throat, stirred.
"'s matter?" he asked, his voice thick with sleepiness.
"Wanna cuddle," Bridge mumbled in return. "You can go back to sleep if you want, though." Sky yawned widely, waking up a little more and shifting so that he could hold Bridge more comfortably.
"You alright?" he asked.
"No. I'm probably going to have to spend the whole day doing damage control. Oh, and being told I don't take my job seriously enough again. Not looking forward to it."
"Don't worry so much," Sky replied, kissing his forehead. "I think everyone was having a bad day yesterday. And anyway, you have to admit you WERE asking for it a little when you refused to take a break-"
"Oh, THANKS," Bridge snapped, pulling away and starting to crawl out of the bunk. "It's so great to know I have such a caring and sympathetic boyfriend!"
"I didn't mean it that way, Bridge... come back..."
"Then what DID you mean?" Bridge wanted to know, pushing himself as far away from Sky as he could get in the bed.
"One, that I'm half asleep and clearly that makes me even more tactless than usual." Sky rubbed his forehead, appearing to trying to work out what to say next. "What I meant is you had the best of intentions, but you also made a mistake. It happens. Doesn't mean they should've yelled at you like that, but don't wallow in it, either. You are only human and you were trying to do your job."
"... Alright," Bridge sighed.
"Still want to snuggle?" Bridge grumbled under his breath, then nodded somewhat begrudgingly and allowed Sky to take him back into his arms. "Things'll be alright. Let's go back to sleep for a a bit, and you can worry about what Kat and Cruger'll say when we've both had enough rest." Bridge nuzzled his boyfriend's chest, still not entirely convinced that things were going to be okay, and settled into his embrace once more.
He next awoke about two hours later to the blaring of his alarm. Sky, of course, was already up and gone; Bridge wasn't unduly bothered, as he knew Sky was always an early riser. He got up, rubbing his eyes, and plodded over to his closet to get out a fresh uniform for the day. When he emerged, something on his desk caught his eye. He sighed with relief when he went over and saw that it was a small gift- the newest issue of Private Perfect- along with a note.
Bridge- Stressful times like this can bring out the worst in everyone, and I was already stretched to the limit when I decided to check up on you. You did a good job, as usual; I was in a rush and didn't check thoroughly and instead snapped at you for the errors I did see. For that, I apologize. You've been a big help with this project and you did not deserve to be yelled at like that. From Kat. Some of his relief then washed away when he saw another note on his computer screen-
See me. -Commander Cruger Bridge hastily got ready, bolted down some breakfast, and went looking for Cruger, finding him alone at his desk in Delta Command. Bridge swallowed hard and approached him, figuring he might as well get it over with.
"Sir? You wanted to talk to me?" Bridge asked, standing at attention.
"Ah- Bridge." Cruger cleared his throat. "About what I said yesterday." There was a long pause; Bridge was about to prompt him to go on when Cruger then went on, "My comments to you were uncalled for, so I apologize. You are a great Ranger and a hard worker; I know that you were only trying to help, even if you DID have a lapse in judgment."
"Thank you, sir," Bridge said, feeling himself going slightly red.
"Miss Manx has finished all of the coding and sequencing, so you are free to go about your duties as usual. Dismissed."
"Sir!" Bridge saluted him and quickly left, unable to hide a grin. He emerged from Delta Command to find Sky waiting for him, smirking. "So you heard?" Sky nodded and opened his mouth to speak. "DON'T say 'I told you so'."
"I wasn't going to. Honest," Sky said, smiling unconvincingly. "I just came to get you so we could go to martial arts class." Bridge punched him in the shoulder and the two walked off, holding hands briefly. "So everything's cool?"
"Uh-huh. But that's the last time I pull an all-nighter," said Bridge.
(crossposted to 20_est_relships)