Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #75: Storm, T)
A quick post before work, because I had so much fun writing this (once it finally came out) I had to share.
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #75: Storm
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: My attempts at writing angsty fluff, since I haven't written much fluff in awhile.
This chapter is dedicated first to cmar_wingnut, who showed me how much fun Eric and Wes could be together, and how their relationship will *never* be perfect. And second, to SierraNicole, because her YouTube videos are what keep this story going.
He didn't like not knowing where he was.
It bothered him to have this obsessive need to always know. It wasn't like him to worry over people like this. That was *his* job.
He found him sitting on the front porch swing. He sighed as he leaned against the doorway and folded his arms, trying to sound more exasperated than concerned. "What are you doing out here, Wes?"
"Listening."
He swallowed. Something about the tone of Wes' voice was off. "Where's Jen?"
"Hiding under the bed. She doesn't like the thunder."
He moved to sit next to him, but Wes didn't so much as glance in his direction. "So why are you listening?"
"Reminding myself that it's just a storm." He could just barely make out a slight shrug in the darkness.
He sighed quietly. "You could have asked for company, you know. It would have been better than sitting out here by yourself."
"I don't mind."
"I do."
Wes looked at him, and he caught a brief glimpse of a slight smile during a flash of lightning.
"I'm serious, Wes," he insisted. "I don't like seeing you sulk like this. It's - " He hesitated. It's wrong.
A hand reached out to squeeze his. "I'm sorry," Wes said simply.
He sighed, leaning his head back against the bench. "Me, too."
When he'd told Wes that things couldn't be the same between them, even he hadn't realized how much they'd already changed. When their relationship was still new and just starting out, it was a constant challenge, trying to find some sort of balance between them. Wes had dated other guys before - Eric hadn't. And there was definitely a difference between dating a girl, and dating a guy. Those first two years had been filled with almost nothing but fighting, and it was a miracle none of their breakups during that time had been permanent.
But eventually they'd both realized two things: first, that they actually *enjoyed* fighting with each other. Wes claimed they both liked a challenge; Eric maintained it was because they liked 'making up' afterwards. Or that they were just sadists.
The second was that somewhere in all the arguments and occasional fist fights, they genuinely cared for each other.
It had been something of a shock for Eric to realize; there were very few people in the world that he truly loved. His brother had been one of them, and losing him, and eventually both of his parents, had made him withdraw from getting close to anyone again. But Wes was nothing if not persistent, and somewhere in between all the fighting, Wes had always insisted that they were friends - no matter how he treated him.
Maybe Wes was masochistic. Maybe he was just stupid. Either way, it was sort of ... charming. In a 'Wes' sort of way.
Their simple relationship had been forced closer a lot faster than either of them had anticipated in the wake of Wes' father's disapproval, and he'd found himself with a roommate he hadn't planned on or even wanted. It had been hard at first, maybe even harder than learning that under all the fighting, there was still something between them. He hadn't wanted to admit it then, but now he could look back and see that he had started a lot of those problems himself. Frankly, Wes had to be some sort of saint to put up with him.
And then simple had gone from roommates to damn near married within another four years. Things had worked out with Wes' dad, Wes' mom adored him for reasons he couldn't understand. Even the Silver Guardians had seemed to accept that they were together. He still didn't know exactly how it had gotten out, or who'd spread it around - and he'd have killed the person who did it if he ever found them - but strangely, their guys had been mostly okay with it. Everything just ... settled into place in a way he'd never expected it to.
Then they'd started talking about families.
He'd always wanted kids; getting together with Wes hadn't changed that dream. His own family had been so screwed up he wanted one that was normal, and wholesome. Maybe Wes wasn't exactly the wife he'd pictured when he was a kid, but he loved him, and he could still see the two of them with kids that laughed and smiled, and came home to two parents at the end of the day. In his dreams it was perfect, and it was wonderful.
Those perfect dreams had kept him from seeing the shadows in Wes' eyes when he mentioned it. They blinded him to Wes' hesitation as he talked about the lab in Switzerland, leaving him too ecstatic at the new possibility to see. And those dreams had kept him going, telling himself it was just nerves, that Wes really was just as excited as he said he was.
The dreams that had come true in the shape of two beautiful little boys, one with his eyes and Wes' lips, and another with his face and Wes' eyes.
They'd shattered barely a week later, and shattered again a month after that, when he finally learned the truth. Wes confessed everything, breaking his heart and ruining what he thought was *their* dream now. But it had been tainted all along. He'd just never realized it.
It had taken years and multiple failed relationships to realize that problems or not, Wes was the only person he could stand for long periods of time. He was the only one he trusted at his back in a fight, and the one he wanted in his bed at night. He'd *never* connected with anyone that way before, or since.
He wasn't the type to believe in 'soulmates', or any of that new age junk, but if he had been ...
"What are you thinking about?"
He blinked at the sudden voice, glancing over at him. "You," he said honestly. "What are you thinking about?"
Wes smiled faintly. "You."
"Liar."
"Yeah. But it sounded good, didn't it?"
He laughed slightly in spite of himself. "Moron." It came out entirely too fond. He paused. "What are you really thinking about?"
Wes sighed softly. "Aquitar," he confessed quietly. "The thunder ... " He stopped, shaking his head.
"Grumm didn't attack Aquitar the way he's attacked Earth," he said after a moment. "At first he did, but ... I don't know if he doesn't have as many resources now, or if he's just trying to distract the kids while he works on a bigger plan. Maybe it was because he'd already defeated the Aquitian Rangers by the time we got there.
"Whatever the reason, Aquitar was a war zone, plain and simple. People ... I saw people fall down and never get up again. I saw an entire city dome shatter. Some of the Aquitians ... " He swallowed. "People did what they had to, to save themselves and their families. You never knew who you could trust anymore. All I had were the other Rangers. And there were times when we had to split up to handle different threats." He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. "I never felt so alone in my life," he admitted softly.
Eric swallowed, watching the way Wes seemed to curl in on himself as he talked. Stop it. I don't wanna hear this.
But he had to. Because this was a part of Wes he didn't know anymore, and knowing that tore him apart. And Wes would never get through an experience he never talked about.
Wes had taught him that, years after losing his brother, when his father had retreated back to the military life he knew, and his mother could barely look at him anymore.
He reached out to touch his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "How'd you get through it then?" he asked quietly.
Wes glanced up, and he found himself caught in bright blue eyes as the lightning flashed again. "I thought about you."
He blinked. "Really?"
Wes nodded. "At first I tried thinking about Sky, trying to remind myself what I had to come back to. But when I was alone, I'd remember things you used to tell me in training. From there, I started thinking about what you'd do if you were there."
"I wish I was," he heard himself whisper, and cursed silently. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"I'm glad you weren't," Wes said simply. "I wouldn't want you to go through that, too."
But *you* did.
He kissed him, slowly and searchingly, almost as if he were trying to pull Wes' mind back to him, to now. The response was a little more hesitant than he'd hoped for, but none the less there. He even heard a contented sigh when he finally pulled away.
A hand drifted up to touch his cheek, and for a moment, he could imagine that Wes' eyes were really staring into his.
A year of fighting against one another and another of fighting side by side. Months of hesitant flirting, seven years of the most bizarre romance he'd ever been involved in. Ten years alone, trying to move on and never being able to. Four years of sitting at his side day after day, silently begging for him to wake up. Five years as friends, and finally, *finally* something more again.
"You're making that face again," Wes whispered. "Stop it."
"We've gotta be the most screwed up couple to show our faces at S.P.D., you know that?" Eric told him. He wasn't sure why he said it so softly; almost as if he was afraid of ruining the mood.
"Nah. There's worse."
"Oh, yeah? Who?"
"I'll tell you when I figure that out," Wes murmured, leaning in to kiss him again.
It took several minutes of slow, lazy kisses working their way into something more needy before he finally realized where they were going with this. "Maybe," he forced out between Wes' lips meeting his again and again, "We should. Take this inside."
"Nes will never. Forgive us."
He doubted that; Wes wasn't the one who had to listen to her complain about how drafty the garage was, and how much she missed her 'real' lab. Or her pointed looks when Wes went into his own room at night alone. Or the 'present' she'd given him two weeks ago, with a card that instructed him to use it well.
"She'll get over it. And if she doesn't - " He struggled to keep from gasping as Wes did something very pleasant to the side of his neck. "She can bite me," he finished.
"Nah," Wes breathed in his ear, and dang, he'd forgotten how seductive Wes could be when he tried. "That's my job."
****
It would have been the perfect way to wake up except for two things: The black ball of fuzz curled around his face, and the large golden lump trying to shove his feet off the bed.
"Coffee's done! Get your asses in gear before you're late to work!"
Make that three things.
He groaned, gagged on cat hair, and shoved the stupid cat off the bed. "Damn it, Sheep," he growled. "Stay in your own room." He added a glare down at the dog looking up at him sleepily. "You, too."
There was a muffled chuckle against his shoulder. "You know, technically it's their room too."
"Not when I'm trying to sleep it isn't," he grumbled, wrapping an arm around Wes and pulling him closer.
"Mmm ... " Wes sighed, nuzzling under his chin. "We should get up. Work, and all that."
"Don't want to," he muttered, kissing the top of the blond head. He'd almost forgotten how nice it was to wake up next to someone. How nice it was to wake up next to Wes.
He paused as something finally filtered through his sleep-fogged brain. "*Their* room?" he repeated.
Wes sat up, turning to look at him. It was one of those perfect instances where the sun filtered through the window just right, the blanket had slid to that seductive place just around his hips, and his hair seemed to have a temptatious golden halo around it. And then he smiled, and it took Eric's breath away.
"Well, Vanessa *does* want her lab back ... "
Author/: Tsukino Akume
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force moving into S.P.D., multiple Rangers from each season
Characters/: Wes (Time Force), multiple Rangers from other teams (Literally too many to list)
Pairings/: Post - Wes/Eric, Rocky/Adam, Shane/Dustin, Hunter/Cam, Carter/Dana, Andros/Ashley, Zhane/Karone, Carlos/Ronny, Jason/Taylor, Conner/Ethan, Justin/Rose, Tommy/Kimberly, Tyzonn/Mack, Cassie/OC, Nick/Maddison, Zack/Aisha, Trent/Kira, Post - Billy/Cestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #75: Storm
Rating/: T (For non - graphic mentions of people having babies and being violent with one another)
Disclaimer/: I don't own the Power Rangers, but if Disney's hiring any new writers I volunteer.
Summary/: When Wes' life starts to fall apart, an accident gives him a chance at a fresh start in New Tech City, with Space Patrol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends. Meanwhile, Eric tries to move on.
Warnings/: A mentally handicapped person living in a medical facility, angst, male and female slash, non-cemented couples (In otherwords, pairings that will be separated), children created by scientific means, character death
Author's Notes/: My attempts at writing angsty fluff, since I haven't written much fluff in awhile.
This chapter is dedicated first to cmar_wingnut, who showed me how much fun Eric and Wes could be together, and how their relationship will *never* be perfect. And second, to SierraNicole, because her YouTube videos are what keep this story going.
He didn't like not knowing where he was.
It bothered him to have this obsessive need to always know. It wasn't like him to worry over people like this. That was *his* job.
He found him sitting on the front porch swing. He sighed as he leaned against the doorway and folded his arms, trying to sound more exasperated than concerned. "What are you doing out here, Wes?"
"Listening."
He swallowed. Something about the tone of Wes' voice was off. "Where's Jen?"
"Hiding under the bed. She doesn't like the thunder."
He moved to sit next to him, but Wes didn't so much as glance in his direction. "So why are you listening?"
"Reminding myself that it's just a storm." He could just barely make out a slight shrug in the darkness.
He sighed quietly. "You could have asked for company, you know. It would have been better than sitting out here by yourself."
"I don't mind."
"I do."
Wes looked at him, and he caught a brief glimpse of a slight smile during a flash of lightning.
"I'm serious, Wes," he insisted. "I don't like seeing you sulk like this. It's - " He hesitated. It's wrong.
A hand reached out to squeeze his. "I'm sorry," Wes said simply.
He sighed, leaning his head back against the bench. "Me, too."
When he'd told Wes that things couldn't be the same between them, even he hadn't realized how much they'd already changed. When their relationship was still new and just starting out, it was a constant challenge, trying to find some sort of balance between them. Wes had dated other guys before - Eric hadn't. And there was definitely a difference between dating a girl, and dating a guy. Those first two years had been filled with almost nothing but fighting, and it was a miracle none of their breakups during that time had been permanent.
But eventually they'd both realized two things: first, that they actually *enjoyed* fighting with each other. Wes claimed they both liked a challenge; Eric maintained it was because they liked 'making up' afterwards. Or that they were just sadists.
The second was that somewhere in all the arguments and occasional fist fights, they genuinely cared for each other.
It had been something of a shock for Eric to realize; there were very few people in the world that he truly loved. His brother had been one of them, and losing him, and eventually both of his parents, had made him withdraw from getting close to anyone again. But Wes was nothing if not persistent, and somewhere in between all the fighting, Wes had always insisted that they were friends - no matter how he treated him.
Maybe Wes was masochistic. Maybe he was just stupid. Either way, it was sort of ... charming. In a 'Wes' sort of way.
Their simple relationship had been forced closer a lot faster than either of them had anticipated in the wake of Wes' father's disapproval, and he'd found himself with a roommate he hadn't planned on or even wanted. It had been hard at first, maybe even harder than learning that under all the fighting, there was still something between them. He hadn't wanted to admit it then, but now he could look back and see that he had started a lot of those problems himself. Frankly, Wes had to be some sort of saint to put up with him.
And then simple had gone from roommates to damn near married within another four years. Things had worked out with Wes' dad, Wes' mom adored him for reasons he couldn't understand. Even the Silver Guardians had seemed to accept that they were together. He still didn't know exactly how it had gotten out, or who'd spread it around - and he'd have killed the person who did it if he ever found them - but strangely, their guys had been mostly okay with it. Everything just ... settled into place in a way he'd never expected it to.
Then they'd started talking about families.
He'd always wanted kids; getting together with Wes hadn't changed that dream. His own family had been so screwed up he wanted one that was normal, and wholesome. Maybe Wes wasn't exactly the wife he'd pictured when he was a kid, but he loved him, and he could still see the two of them with kids that laughed and smiled, and came home to two parents at the end of the day. In his dreams it was perfect, and it was wonderful.
Those perfect dreams had kept him from seeing the shadows in Wes' eyes when he mentioned it. They blinded him to Wes' hesitation as he talked about the lab in Switzerland, leaving him too ecstatic at the new possibility to see. And those dreams had kept him going, telling himself it was just nerves, that Wes really was just as excited as he said he was.
The dreams that had come true in the shape of two beautiful little boys, one with his eyes and Wes' lips, and another with his face and Wes' eyes.
They'd shattered barely a week later, and shattered again a month after that, when he finally learned the truth. Wes confessed everything, breaking his heart and ruining what he thought was *their* dream now. But it had been tainted all along. He'd just never realized it.
It had taken years and multiple failed relationships to realize that problems or not, Wes was the only person he could stand for long periods of time. He was the only one he trusted at his back in a fight, and the one he wanted in his bed at night. He'd *never* connected with anyone that way before, or since.
He wasn't the type to believe in 'soulmates', or any of that new age junk, but if he had been ...
"What are you thinking about?"
He blinked at the sudden voice, glancing over at him. "You," he said honestly. "What are you thinking about?"
Wes smiled faintly. "You."
"Liar."
"Yeah. But it sounded good, didn't it?"
He laughed slightly in spite of himself. "Moron." It came out entirely too fond. He paused. "What are you really thinking about?"
Wes sighed softly. "Aquitar," he confessed quietly. "The thunder ... " He stopped, shaking his head.
"Grumm didn't attack Aquitar the way he's attacked Earth," he said after a moment. "At first he did, but ... I don't know if he doesn't have as many resources now, or if he's just trying to distract the kids while he works on a bigger plan. Maybe it was because he'd already defeated the Aquitian Rangers by the time we got there.
"Whatever the reason, Aquitar was a war zone, plain and simple. People ... I saw people fall down and never get up again. I saw an entire city dome shatter. Some of the Aquitians ... " He swallowed. "People did what they had to, to save themselves and their families. You never knew who you could trust anymore. All I had were the other Rangers. And there were times when we had to split up to handle different threats." He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. "I never felt so alone in my life," he admitted softly.
Eric swallowed, watching the way Wes seemed to curl in on himself as he talked. Stop it. I don't wanna hear this.
But he had to. Because this was a part of Wes he didn't know anymore, and knowing that tore him apart. And Wes would never get through an experience he never talked about.
Wes had taught him that, years after losing his brother, when his father had retreated back to the military life he knew, and his mother could barely look at him anymore.
He reached out to touch his shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. "How'd you get through it then?" he asked quietly.
Wes glanced up, and he found himself caught in bright blue eyes as the lightning flashed again. "I thought about you."
He blinked. "Really?"
Wes nodded. "At first I tried thinking about Sky, trying to remind myself what I had to come back to. But when I was alone, I'd remember things you used to tell me in training. From there, I started thinking about what you'd do if you were there."
"I wish I was," he heard himself whisper, and cursed silently. He hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"I'm glad you weren't," Wes said simply. "I wouldn't want you to go through that, too."
But *you* did.
He kissed him, slowly and searchingly, almost as if he were trying to pull Wes' mind back to him, to now. The response was a little more hesitant than he'd hoped for, but none the less there. He even heard a contented sigh when he finally pulled away.
A hand drifted up to touch his cheek, and for a moment, he could imagine that Wes' eyes were really staring into his.
A year of fighting against one another and another of fighting side by side. Months of hesitant flirting, seven years of the most bizarre romance he'd ever been involved in. Ten years alone, trying to move on and never being able to. Four years of sitting at his side day after day, silently begging for him to wake up. Five years as friends, and finally, *finally* something more again.
"You're making that face again," Wes whispered. "Stop it."
"We've gotta be the most screwed up couple to show our faces at S.P.D., you know that?" Eric told him. He wasn't sure why he said it so softly; almost as if he was afraid of ruining the mood.
"Nah. There's worse."
"Oh, yeah? Who?"
"I'll tell you when I figure that out," Wes murmured, leaning in to kiss him again.
It took several minutes of slow, lazy kisses working their way into something more needy before he finally realized where they were going with this. "Maybe," he forced out between Wes' lips meeting his again and again, "We should. Take this inside."
"Nes will never. Forgive us."
He doubted that; Wes wasn't the one who had to listen to her complain about how drafty the garage was, and how much she missed her 'real' lab. Or her pointed looks when Wes went into his own room at night alone. Or the 'present' she'd given him two weeks ago, with a card that instructed him to use it well.
"She'll get over it. And if she doesn't - " He struggled to keep from gasping as Wes did something very pleasant to the side of his neck. "She can bite me," he finished.
"Nah," Wes breathed in his ear, and dang, he'd forgotten how seductive Wes could be when he tried. "That's my job."
****
It would have been the perfect way to wake up except for two things: The black ball of fuzz curled around his face, and the large golden lump trying to shove his feet off the bed.
"Coffee's done! Get your asses in gear before you're late to work!"
Make that three things.
He groaned, gagged on cat hair, and shoved the stupid cat off the bed. "Damn it, Sheep," he growled. "Stay in your own room." He added a glare down at the dog looking up at him sleepily. "You, too."
There was a muffled chuckle against his shoulder. "You know, technically it's their room too."
"Not when I'm trying to sleep it isn't," he grumbled, wrapping an arm around Wes and pulling him closer.
"Mmm ... " Wes sighed, nuzzling under his chin. "We should get up. Work, and all that."
"Don't want to," he muttered, kissing the top of the blond head. He'd almost forgotten how nice it was to wake up next to someone. How nice it was to wake up next to Wes.
He paused as something finally filtered through his sleep-fogged brain. "*Their* room?" he repeated.
Wes sat up, turning to look at him. It was one of those perfect instances where the sun filtered through the window just right, the blanket had slid to that seductive place just around his hips, and his hair seemed to have a temptatious golden halo around it. And then he smiled, and it took Eric's breath away.
"Well, Vanessa *does* want her lab back ... "