Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #70: Strangers, T)
-Throws confetti and blows a noisemaker- I AM HALFWAY THROUGH THIS CHALLENGE!
-Squees- Considering I never thought I'd make it this far and I'm still having fun with lots of ideas for the prompts, this is big news!
Much love, hugs, and many, many, thanks to everyone who's supported and pushed me this far. You guys are awesome.
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/: #70: Strangers
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/: I wrote the first part of this chapter during work, while waiting for something to happen. Somehow, that developed into one of the strangest debates I have ever written. Because in my little world, Eric is a closet gamer and semi-comic book geek.
Karone is here expressly for
purplestripe66. I only got one part of your requests in, but here you go, sweetie. ^_~ Although I think I'm channeling
starandrea's Karone rather than cannon. Um, oops? Uh ... It's all Zhane's fault! He's corrupted her!
It was the eyes that bothered him. The way they followed him set every instinct he had on edge. It took effort to keep from snapping some days.
He wasn't quite sure why they avoided him, although he had an idea. After all, these people knew Wes had left him and come here. They knew that something had happened between them at Taylor's wedding, and that they hadn't seen each other again until the day he'd showed up after - after Mirloc.
He knew they didn't trust him, didn't know him, and he felt the same. He was surrounded by an endless sea of faces he had never seen before or didn't know how to talk to now. The highlights of his days were working with his cadets, talking to Wes, and coming home at night to a warm meal, Gracie, and Sky. It was the sort of life he'd secretly dreamed of.
Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. For one, Vanessa kept staying so late at the labs that he was usually the one stuck making dinner. For another, she wasn't the greatest cook in the world. Neither was he to be fair, but after so many years of living on his own, he'd at least learned to follow a recipe. Vanessa still refused to make anything that didn't come in a box.
And then there was the fact that Vanessa was *not* the person he'd imagined himself raising a kid with. That had almost been Denise, and Wes before that. And when he was younger, he'd pictured having a family just like the ones his parents had.
He snorted to himself. Well, he certainly had that. He lived with a woman he could barely tolerate, they slept in separate rooms, and were rarely home at the same time. The only thing keeping them together was Sky.
The thought of Sky made him sigh. He'd only spent barely a year getting to know the kid, but somehow he couldn't imagine life without him now. Maybe it had to do with the memories of the time he'd known Sky when he was little. Maybe it had to do with knowing he was Wes' son. Whatever it was, he was fond of the kid. Maybe almost too fond.
He slid into a seat at one of the cafeteria tables with a sigh. He usually tried to eat outside to avoid the eyes, but the rain pouring down had nixed that idea. Maybe he'd get lucky and Sky would show up on his break or something to keep him company.
He was startled out of his thoughts by someone sitting down beside him. He glanced up and frowned. "What do you want?"
"Food," Taylor retorted, picking up her sandwich.
He scowled at her. "And you're sitting *here* because .. "
"I felt like it. So deal with it."
"Dude, I'm telling you, the Power Rangers could so take the X-men!"
Eric stared as the two men joined them without even bothering to stop their argument.
"First of all, the X-Men aren't even real," Shane countered. "And second, if they were, they would so own on any Ranger team they went up against."
"First of all," Dustin mocked back, "You used to say Power Rangers weren't real, too. And second, that's so not true, Dude!"
"*That's* what you've been arguing about all day?" Taylor demanded. "Are you two getting too much oxygen to your brains, or are you just that high?"
Dustin looked thoughtful. "Well, there was that oxygen tank that got loose in the shop. That could've had something to do with it."
The three of them stared at him, and he blinked. "Oh. You were kidding."
"You sure you're not channeling Dax, Dustin?" Taylor asked wryly. She froze instantly, wincing.
Shane sighed quietly, glancing away, while Dustin looked down his plate. After a moment, he picked up his fork to slowly poke at his food.
The silence was oppressive. Eric knew about Dax and Tori - who didn't? They were planetary heroes. He also knew that his Squad, F Squad, used to be under Tori's command. That was the reason Shane had taken G Squad: he flatly refused to take over the Squad of his deceased best friend.
Eric hadn't known Tori, and taking charge of her still grieving cadets hadn't exactly been easy. There had been a long talk with them about how he wasn't Sergeant Bradley, he would never *be* Sergeant Bradley, and while he respected her and what she had done, they shouldn't expect him to treat them in the same ways as she had. The conversation hadn't been a happy one, but it had bridged the gap between him and the cadets much faster than he had expected, and smoothed things over between them. There were still rough patches here and there, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
But then, he hadn't *really* known Tori or Dax. He respected them, grieved for the loss of good people, but they weren't his friends. The awkward conversations that everyone else was still struggling with were no longer a problem for him. And the only person he had to grieve for was still alive. Wes wasn't okay, but he wasn't really gone, either.
"Which teams?" Eric asked abruptly.
The other three look at him, startled. "What?" Shane asked.
"Which teams," he repeated. "X-Men Animated Series, X-Men Evolution, Ultimate X-Men, movie X-Men ... ?"
"Uh, Animated Series," Dustin said after a pause.
"Against which Rangers?" he persisted.
There was a long pause as Dustin considered. "Original six Mighty Morphin."
Eric snorted. "X-Men would win."
"Dude, where's your Ranger loyalty?" Dustin demanded as Shane and Taylor stared at him.
"I *have* loyalty. I also have common sense," he retorted. "X-Men would win." He smirked faintly. "Time Force is a different story. We'd take them down before they saw what hit them."
"How can you say Time Force has a better chance than Mighty Morphin?"
He raised his eyebrows. "You ever heard of my mega-battle armor? Seen Jen when she's mad? Know what Trip can do when he puts his mind to it? Not to mention the whole Time Ship thing."
"Gee, Eric. Someone might almost think you like your team or something," Taylor teased, smirking.
He shrugged. "I know what my allies are capable of."
"So what about Ninja Storm?" Dustin asked after a moment, watching him curiously.
He eyed him. "All six, or set of three?"
There was a pause. "Six," Dustin said finally, although his eyes had darkened slightly.
He thought about it for a moment. "Ninja Storm. But it'd be close."
Surprisingly, that seemed to perk Dustin up slightly. Shane eyed him with a strange sort of respect and appreciation in his eyes. Taylor just shook her head like he was nuts.
"Eric. It's good to see you," someone greeted, and he looked up at Adam, Rocky trailing behind him.
"Good to see you're not avoiding us anymore," Rocky added with a grin.
He frowned. "I'm not avoiding anyone."
Taylor snorted into her drink, and he scowled at her.
Adam and Rocky slipped in to join them, once again without an invite, and Eric resisted the urge to glare at them all. Didn't any of these people have any respect for manners and common sense? When exactly did he say he wanted company?
"May I sit here?"
He looked up, and in that instant, decided he liked Karone. "Might as well," he returned with an indifferent shrug.
She glanced around the table, looking over everyone before turning back to him. "They get overwhelming sometimes," she said simply. "They're too friendly."
Rocky and Dustin were frowning at her, but Adam had already tried to hide his grin behind his glass. "You're one to talk," Dustin complained. "You're the reason I knew who everybody was when I first got here!"
She shrugged. "Information is my job." She raised an eyebrow as she picked up a muffin. "Besides, you hate being alone. Eric doesn't mind it."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He didn't actually like being alone, but that was just the way he always tended to be. But the way she'd said he didn't *mind* it suggested that she already knew that.
Interesting woman.
Then he paused, getting a good look at her. "I thought you were in the information department."
"I am," she returned calmly, taking a bite of her muffin.
Taylor looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. "Karone, are you wearing Zhane's shirt?"
"I couldn't find mine this morning," she explained, pausing to examine the muffin. "It was his turn to do laundry, and he forgot. So I took his last clean shirt. What flavor is this?"
"Don't ask," Adam warned her. "You probably don't want to know."
"Admit it, Karone. You just have a thing for wearing leather," Rocky teased.
She shrugged, tossing her hair. "I like to look good, and I have a nice body," she informed them. "I deserve to show it off."
"You know, Leo swears she used to be really shy, but I don't believe it," Shane commented, looking amused.
For a moment, Eric stopped eating to just look around the table. He didn't feel completely comfortable surrounded by all these people, but he didn't feel unwelcome, either. Had things always been like this and he just hadn't noticed, or did something change in the span of one lunch?
Was this how Wes had felt when he first got here, one of them, but ... not?
"You in there?" Taylor asked quietly as everyone else continued Dustin's X-Men/Power Rangers argument.
"Yeah. Yeah," he muttered. "I'm here."
She smirked, but her voice was soft. "Good. Because this is where you belong."
And maybe ... Maybe she wasn't *completely* wrong about that.
-Squees- Considering I never thought I'd make it this far and I'm still having fun with lots of ideas for the prompts, this is big news!
Much love, hugs, and many, many, thanks to everyone who's supported and pushed me this far. You guys are awesome.
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/: #70: Strangers
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/: I wrote the first part of this chapter during work, while waiting for something to happen. Somehow, that developed into one of the strangest debates I have ever written. Because in my little world, Eric is a closet gamer and semi-comic book geek.
Karone is here expressly for
purplestripe66. I only got one part of your requests in, but here you go, sweetie. ^_~ Although I think I'm channeling
starandrea's Karone rather than cannon. Um, oops? Uh ... It's all Zhane's fault! He's corrupted her!
It was the eyes that bothered him. The way they followed him set every instinct he had on edge. It took effort to keep from snapping some days.
He wasn't quite sure why they avoided him, although he had an idea. After all, these people knew Wes had left him and come here. They knew that something had happened between them at Taylor's wedding, and that they hadn't seen each other again until the day he'd showed up after - after Mirloc.
He knew they didn't trust him, didn't know him, and he felt the same. He was surrounded by an endless sea of faces he had never seen before or didn't know how to talk to now. The highlights of his days were working with his cadets, talking to Wes, and coming home at night to a warm meal, Gracie, and Sky. It was the sort of life he'd secretly dreamed of.
Okay, so that wasn't entirely true. For one, Vanessa kept staying so late at the labs that he was usually the one stuck making dinner. For another, she wasn't the greatest cook in the world. Neither was he to be fair, but after so many years of living on his own, he'd at least learned to follow a recipe. Vanessa still refused to make anything that didn't come in a box.
And then there was the fact that Vanessa was *not* the person he'd imagined himself raising a kid with. That had almost been Denise, and Wes before that. And when he was younger, he'd pictured having a family just like the ones his parents had.
He snorted to himself. Well, he certainly had that. He lived with a woman he could barely tolerate, they slept in separate rooms, and were rarely home at the same time. The only thing keeping them together was Sky.
The thought of Sky made him sigh. He'd only spent barely a year getting to know the kid, but somehow he couldn't imagine life without him now. Maybe it had to do with the memories of the time he'd known Sky when he was little. Maybe it had to do with knowing he was Wes' son. Whatever it was, he was fond of the kid. Maybe almost too fond.
He slid into a seat at one of the cafeteria tables with a sigh. He usually tried to eat outside to avoid the eyes, but the rain pouring down had nixed that idea. Maybe he'd get lucky and Sky would show up on his break or something to keep him company.
He was startled out of his thoughts by someone sitting down beside him. He glanced up and frowned. "What do you want?"
"Food," Taylor retorted, picking up her sandwich.
He scowled at her. "And you're sitting *here* because .. "
"I felt like it. So deal with it."
"Dude, I'm telling you, the Power Rangers could so take the X-men!"
Eric stared as the two men joined them without even bothering to stop their argument.
"First of all, the X-Men aren't even real," Shane countered. "And second, if they were, they would so own on any Ranger team they went up against."
"First of all," Dustin mocked back, "You used to say Power Rangers weren't real, too. And second, that's so not true, Dude!"
"*That's* what you've been arguing about all day?" Taylor demanded. "Are you two getting too much oxygen to your brains, or are you just that high?"
Dustin looked thoughtful. "Well, there was that oxygen tank that got loose in the shop. That could've had something to do with it."
The three of them stared at him, and he blinked. "Oh. You were kidding."
"You sure you're not channeling Dax, Dustin?" Taylor asked wryly. She froze instantly, wincing.
Shane sighed quietly, glancing away, while Dustin looked down his plate. After a moment, he picked up his fork to slowly poke at his food.
The silence was oppressive. Eric knew about Dax and Tori - who didn't? They were planetary heroes. He also knew that his Squad, F Squad, used to be under Tori's command. That was the reason Shane had taken G Squad: he flatly refused to take over the Squad of his deceased best friend.
Eric hadn't known Tori, and taking charge of her still grieving cadets hadn't exactly been easy. There had been a long talk with them about how he wasn't Sergeant Bradley, he would never *be* Sergeant Bradley, and while he respected her and what she had done, they shouldn't expect him to treat them in the same ways as she had. The conversation hadn't been a happy one, but it had bridged the gap between him and the cadets much faster than he had expected, and smoothed things over between them. There were still rough patches here and there, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
But then, he hadn't *really* known Tori or Dax. He respected them, grieved for the loss of good people, but they weren't his friends. The awkward conversations that everyone else was still struggling with were no longer a problem for him. And the only person he had to grieve for was still alive. Wes wasn't okay, but he wasn't really gone, either.
"Which teams?" Eric asked abruptly.
The other three look at him, startled. "What?" Shane asked.
"Which teams," he repeated. "X-Men Animated Series, X-Men Evolution, Ultimate X-Men, movie X-Men ... ?"
"Uh, Animated Series," Dustin said after a pause.
"Against which Rangers?" he persisted.
There was a long pause as Dustin considered. "Original six Mighty Morphin."
Eric snorted. "X-Men would win."
"Dude, where's your Ranger loyalty?" Dustin demanded as Shane and Taylor stared at him.
"I *have* loyalty. I also have common sense," he retorted. "X-Men would win." He smirked faintly. "Time Force is a different story. We'd take them down before they saw what hit them."
"How can you say Time Force has a better chance than Mighty Morphin?"
He raised his eyebrows. "You ever heard of my mega-battle armor? Seen Jen when she's mad? Know what Trip can do when he puts his mind to it? Not to mention the whole Time Ship thing."
"Gee, Eric. Someone might almost think you like your team or something," Taylor teased, smirking.
He shrugged. "I know what my allies are capable of."
"So what about Ninja Storm?" Dustin asked after a moment, watching him curiously.
He eyed him. "All six, or set of three?"
There was a pause. "Six," Dustin said finally, although his eyes had darkened slightly.
He thought about it for a moment. "Ninja Storm. But it'd be close."
Surprisingly, that seemed to perk Dustin up slightly. Shane eyed him with a strange sort of respect and appreciation in his eyes. Taylor just shook her head like he was nuts.
"Eric. It's good to see you," someone greeted, and he looked up at Adam, Rocky trailing behind him.
"Good to see you're not avoiding us anymore," Rocky added with a grin.
He frowned. "I'm not avoiding anyone."
Taylor snorted into her drink, and he scowled at her.
Adam and Rocky slipped in to join them, once again without an invite, and Eric resisted the urge to glare at them all. Didn't any of these people have any respect for manners and common sense? When exactly did he say he wanted company?
"May I sit here?"
He looked up, and in that instant, decided he liked Karone. "Might as well," he returned with an indifferent shrug.
She glanced around the table, looking over everyone before turning back to him. "They get overwhelming sometimes," she said simply. "They're too friendly."
Rocky and Dustin were frowning at her, but Adam had already tried to hide his grin behind his glass. "You're one to talk," Dustin complained. "You're the reason I knew who everybody was when I first got here!"
She shrugged. "Information is my job." She raised an eyebrow as she picked up a muffin. "Besides, you hate being alone. Eric doesn't mind it."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. He didn't actually like being alone, but that was just the way he always tended to be. But the way she'd said he didn't *mind* it suggested that she already knew that.
Interesting woman.
Then he paused, getting a good look at her. "I thought you were in the information department."
"I am," she returned calmly, taking a bite of her muffin.
Taylor looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. "Karone, are you wearing Zhane's shirt?"
"I couldn't find mine this morning," she explained, pausing to examine the muffin. "It was his turn to do laundry, and he forgot. So I took his last clean shirt. What flavor is this?"
"Don't ask," Adam warned her. "You probably don't want to know."
"Admit it, Karone. You just have a thing for wearing leather," Rocky teased.
She shrugged, tossing her hair. "I like to look good, and I have a nice body," she informed them. "I deserve to show it off."
"You know, Leo swears she used to be really shy, but I don't believe it," Shane commented, looking amused.
For a moment, Eric stopped eating to just look around the table. He didn't feel completely comfortable surrounded by all these people, but he didn't feel unwelcome, either. Had things always been like this and he just hadn't noticed, or did something change in the span of one lunch?
Was this how Wes had felt when he first got here, one of them, but ... not?
"You in there?" Taylor asked quietly as everyone else continued Dustin's X-Men/Power Rangers argument.
"Yeah. Yeah," he muttered. "I'm here."
She smirked, but her voice was soft. "Good. Because this is where you belong."
And maybe ... Maybe she wasn't *completely* wrong about that.