Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #4: First, T)
Yet another
pr_au100 repost.
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/Crestria. Future Ryan/Carter and Billy/Hayley. More couples will most likely be mentioned, but not shown.
prompt/: #4: First
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 Partol Delta. But even a new life has its ups and downs - and weird friends.
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
Author's Notes/: Edited this chapter slightly to explain why S.P.D. has now become Power Rangers Central - pun about the website unintended.
"Welcome to the cafeteria," Taylor told him, gesturing outward.
He surveyed the room, raising an eyebrow at more grey walls and awkward - looking furniture. "Charming."
"Dude! Wes, Taylor, over here!"
He smiled and waved at Dustin, then blinked as Taylor twitched. "Wait a minute. Commander Cruger said Dustin was the head of the Department of ... Vehicle Department. Didn't you say that's what you do?"
She nodded, letting out a long sigh. "Department of Vehicle Design and Maintenance. He's my supervisor."
He looked at her in surprise. "But isn't he younger than you?"
"He joined S.P.D. first," she admitted, "So he gets seniority. And ... " She glanced around quickly, then hissed in his ear "I will deny this to my dying day if you tell anyone, but he's got a good imagination and he likes to experiment, which is what we need. And when he actually focuses on something, he's pretty smart." She stepped back, scowling. "Even if he is an idiot." she finished louder.
"I heard that," Dustin called. "I love you too, Taylor!"
"Excuse me?" demanded the dark - haired boy beside him.
Dustin flashed him a bright smile, leaning over to kiss his cheek in appeasement. "After you, Dude."
The other boy grumbled, wrapping an arm around his waist and stealing food off his plate.
"Half of the Rangers that work for S.P.D. are gay," Taylor informed him with a sigh as she lead him to the buffet line.
"Not true!" protested a voice behind him. "Couples are six to nine, in their favor. See Dax, that's why you need a boyfriend."
"Thanks Rocky, but I uh, like girls," confessed another voice.
Amused, Wes turned to regard the pair in line behind him. Both wore the same 'Training Department Greys' as he did, but the short one had blue trim while the taller had the same red as his own. The taller also seemed older, with dark hair kept sort and spiked and brown eyes that laughed. His companion was Asian with a similar haircut and big smile.
"Liking girls has nothing to do with it," protested the man in red. "You can like girls just fine, as long as you get a boyfriend and help balance out our numbers."
"I don't even want to know how that works out in your head," Taylor informed him.
He grinned, then eyed Wes speculatively. "Are you single?"
Wes coughed, giving him a slight smile as his heart ached. He discreetly kicked Taylor's ankle to tell her to stop glaring on his behalf. "Recently left a relationship. Not looking just yet."
"Sorry, man," he offered, looking sincere. He held out a hand. "Sergeant Captain Rocky DeSantos, former second Red Ranger and Blue Zeo Ranger." He nudged the boy behind him with an elbow. "This is Sergeant Corporal Dax Lo."
"Former Blue Overdrive," Dax put in, shaking his hand with a bright grin of his own.
"Wes Collins," he returned, frowning slightly. "Um ... I'm Time Force Red, but I don't remember - "
"Sergeant Captain," Taylor filled in, rolling her eyes. "And I told you it really doesn't matter. The Training Department just like to brag."
"You'd make a great Drill Sergeant, you know," Rocky told her. "You're just too much of a grease monkey to leave DVDs."
"I never said I couldn't be a Drill Sergeant," she retorted. "I just prefer to spend my time with people of - " She paused. "Relative intelligence."
"Ooh, burn," Dax snickered.
Wes raised his eyebrows as the other two stared at him.
Dax blinked, then sighed. "I missed another one, didn't I?"
Rocky patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay buddy; we didn't hire you for your brains."
Wes shook his head, chuckling as he followed them to a table.
"We don't have any specific seating," Taylor commented as she sat near Dustin, "But we still tend to sit by department just because we have more to talk about."
"Hey, hey, no work speak at the table!" Rocky protested.
She shot him an annoyed look. "How else is Wes going to lean anything?"
"Rocky just doesn't want to talk about how far D Squad has fallen for disciplinary marks," commented another man with a slight smirk.
Rocky gave him puppy dog eyes. "Adam, you wound me. Why would that be the first thing you think of when we talk about not using work speak?"
"Maybe the fact that we all know you're behind half of the pranks they were marked for?" a young woman with long blond hair asked, looking amused.
"Deny it all you want, Rocky." chimed in an Asian girl with a mischievous smile. "We all know every prank has taken place in an area your squad was assigned to."
"Not to mention you pulled the doorknob slime prank back in high school." added a familiar voice. Jason Lee Scott nodded to Wes with a faint smile. "Hey, Wes. Welcome to the Drill Sergeants."
"Thanks." He eyed the rest of the group at his table warily. "I think."
"Where's the trust?" Rocky complained.
"We trust you," the man who'd brought up the discipline marks in the first place told him, "But we also know you."
"Why did you marry him again, Adam?" Jason drawled, stirring a portion of his tray with a fork.
"He's cute?" the man offered in return.
Rocky scowled. "Okay, marriage jokes are not funny."
"Sorry, Rocko," he chuckled, squeezing his hand.
"Wes," Andros greeted as he joined them, a cheerful brunette at his side. "How are you settling in?"
"I have no idea what's going on," he told him honestly.
There was a round of laughter.
"How about we start with introductions, and work our way from there?" Andros offered with a smile.
Jason was called Specialist Sergeant Commander and worked with the B Squad cadets. Apparently he was also second in charge of the Training Department. The man who'd squeezed Rocky's hand was Adam Park, former second Black Ranger, Green Zeo, and Green Turbo Ranger, Sergeant Captain of C Squad. E Squad belonged to the pretty Asian girl, Sergeant Corporal Cassie Chan, who introduced herself as the former Pink Turbo and Astro Rangers. The blond beside her was Lieutenant Sergeant Tori Hanson, Blue Wind Ranger, who ran F Squad.
To round things out, he learned that Dax had G Squad, while Rocky was in charge of the trouble - making D Squad. A Squad went to Andros, who he was informed was the only squad Sergeant able to choose his own cadets, and extremely picky about who he selected.
Each of the them wore the same outfit he did, but trimmed in their own Ranger Color. In the case of Jason, Rocky, and Adam, who'd apparently been more than one Color, the left and right sides of their uniforms were decorated separately to represent each one. He wasn't quite sure why everyone was required to wear their Ranger Color here, but at least it made it a little easier to remember who was who.
The brunette that had followed Andros was apparently his girlfriend Ashley Hammond, the former Yellow Turbo and Astro Rangers. Ashley wore the same white pants and a turtleneck that he'd Dana in earlier, but with a long yellow vest buttoned over the top, which she'd been more than happy to explain was the Medical Department's uniform. She also told him that he apparently needed an 'S.P.D. Regulation' Physical Exam, but wasn't sure what made it so much better than the results he still had from working with the Silver Guardians when he asked.
"So why are there so many Power Rangers at S.P.D.?" Wes asked finally.
"Bad luck?" Rocky offered.
Cassie threw a napkin at him with a laugh. "Technically, the Astro Rangers were recruited by the original S.P.D. to begin a base here on Earth," she told him. "We wanted people that we knew could take charge of a brand new organization that would someday be a part of Earth's defense against outside forces."
Tori made a face. "You sound like you're quoting that handbook they tried to make us read."
"But it's true," Cassie insisted. "We couldn't just start recruiting people into S.P.D. who barely knew about anything outside their *galaxy*, let alone their own planet. Not for leadership positions, anyway."
Ashley wrinkled her nose. "And for political reasons, there had to be people from Earth so it wouldn't seem like we were training Earthlings for some sort of alien army for something."
Andros gave her an amused look. "The first person we recruited was Tommy Oliver. He's known for his years of experience as a Ranger as well as his knowledge of other potential S.P.D. candidates."
Wes raised an eyebrow. "So ... you just used Tommy's address book and started randomly calling people to say 'Hey, we're making a new base for some intergalactic police force on Earth. Wanna join up?'"
"Pretty much," Cassie admitted, grinning sheepishly as Ashley giggled. She winked at him. "You just joined on your own before we got to you on the list."
"They showed up at the academy and asked if we still wanted to help protect Earth," Tori said with a wry smile. "What were we supposed to say? No?"
"No one was forced to join," Andros reminded them all pointedly.
"Well, yeah. But we're still Power Rangers aren't we?" Dustin piped up.
The man beside him nodded solemnly. "Nothing is more important than protecting this planet. If S.P.D. is willing to give us a better way to do that, then we have no choice."
"Once a Ranger, always a Ranger," Adam murmured.
Silence lingered for awhile.
Wes sampled his roast beef warily, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it tasted much better than it looked. They had one up on the Silver Guardian's cafeteria. He tried to run over everything he'd been told so far in his head for awhile, at last giving up with a sigh. "There is no possible way I'm gonna keep everything straight."
"It's really not as hard as it seems at first," Ashley tried to reassure him.
"Dude, I've so got a shortcut for you, and it *totally* works," Dustin announced from the table across from him.
"What's that?" he asked curiously.
Dustin grinned. "First off Dude, just call everyone by color until you get their names down. If you don't know, fake it."
"That explains a lot," commented the blond sitting next to Cameron on the opposite side of Dustin's table.
Dustin made a face at him before continuing. "You know Cruger, Tommy, and Andros already, so you just gotta worry about the departments, right?"
"Here come the nicknames ... " Jason groaned.
"Technology Department - Billy's people - are Techs."
Wes nodded slowly. "That makes sense."
"Department for Vehicle Design, me an' Taylor and the others, are DVDs," Dustin went on.
"It's Department for Vehicle Design and Maintenance," Taylor grumbled.
Dustin ignored her. "Will's Security Department is the Grunts."
Immediately a group gathered at another table all raised their fists into the air without bothering to look up and grunted in response . Wes was amused to note that nearly all of them had black or red trim to their navy jumpsuits. He squinted for a moment, then laughed softly as he recognized T.J. Johnson, Carter Greyson, and Ryan Mitchell among them.
"Ashley's part of the Medical Department, which is the Docs," Dustin continued, clearly enjoying himself now as he pointed at her uniform. "Information Department is the Know - It - Alls. You Training Department guys are the Drill Sergeants, and everyone in the Outreach Program is an Ambassador.
"The only complicated ones," he gestured to Cameron and the boy beside him, "Are everyone on the Morpher Project, since they go back and forth between Tech and DVDs, and those three." This time he nodded at the blond man, a darker man beside him, and the man at his own left. "Morpher Project people are Floaters. Shane, Hunter, and Blake just won't pick a department; if they're not in with the Grunts or Drill Sergeants, they're usually hanging around playing bodyguard, so that's what we call them."
"You mean what *you* call us," pointed out the darker man opposite him.
Wes couldn't resist, especially when one of them was practically wrapped around Dustin, while the blond kept leaning over Cameron's shoulder. "Bodyguards?"
Dustin flushed slightly and ducked his head, flashing a sheepish grin. "'Cause of the way Shane always hangs around me, Hunter's always pestering Cam, and whenever Blake's not busy, he's with Tori."
"Pestering ... " Cameron mused tapping his chin as he studied some sort of print out in front of him. "That sounds about right."
The blond, Hunter apparently, smirked and leaned in close again to whisper something in Cameron's ear. He was rewarded with an absent swat.
"Blake should totally go for Ambassador, though," Dustin commented thoughtfully. "He'd be good at that sort of thing."
Hunter humphed, mumbling "Not in this lifetime," just loud enough to be heard.
Tori chuckled, flashing Blake a smile. "It's all about that Bradley charm."
He laughed. "Yeah, 'cause Hunter's a real charmer."
"He is when he wants to be," Shane pointed out. "How else did he get Cam?"
"Blackmail and bondage?" Cameron muttered.
Wes choked on his roast beef.
****
He flopped back in his desk chair, looking around his room again.
There were thirty - nine former or current Power Rangers with positions in S.P.D. now, including him. Eight official departments, nine if you counted Dustin's 'Bodyguards'. Sixty cadets in his own department total, ten of which he was in charge of as of tomorrow. Just over nine hundred people total in S.P.D. Earth Base, and there was already talk of spreading out and building more bases on Earth. Ten people he'd known before hand. Three of which he might actually consider real friends, although he wasn't sure how much Veronica counted when he'd only known her for two months.
What the heck was he thinking when he came here?
He sighed, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes. Had he made a mistake? Sure, this wasn't the Silver Guardians, which meant he didn't have to face Eric everyday. And if something went wrong, he wasn't the first person everyone turned to - a fact which both bothered and relieved him. No one looked at him as Mr. Collin's son or Commander Collins, just ... Wes. One of thirty - nine other Power Rangers. It wasn't anonymity, but it was closer than he'd probably get anywhere else.
But seeing all the people laughing and talking around him, couples flirting and being affectionate, just ... killed him. It just drove home that not only had he lost the one person he thought he could *always* count on when it truly mattered, he had lost what they'd both worked so hard to create together. He'd lost any chance he'd ever had at a family with Eric.
And all because he *had* to become a Power Ranger, so that Ransik could be defeated.
What were Alex and Ben doing now, he wondered silently. He knew through what the Chrono Morphers had told him that they would never have a true childhood. They were too small right now to be able to morph. Were they being taken care of? Were they aware enough of their surroundings yet to know that they weren't home, that these weren't the people who loved them?
He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
He didn't know who he was apologizing to.