Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #52: Blue, T)
-Whining- I don't *wanna* go to work today ... I wanna keep writing. And hopefully produce something that I don't hate. >.<
On another note, I reread The Fink's Identiverse earlier, and came to the conclusion that if my Eric from Bright Skies ever met up with their Time Force Rangers, the only person he would probably trust would be Alex. -Is amused-
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/: #52: Blue
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 hate this prompt. I hate this chapter. I hate Sky for being a pain in the ass, and Wes for either over or under-reacting.
I love BlackCrimsonLight and
phantom_blue, because they worked me through it. I still hate what came out, but at least now I can move on.
Wes leaned back in his chair with a sigh, staring off at nothing in particular. "You know, sometimes I don't know if I want to hug my son, or strangle him."
Rocky snorted. "Welcome to parenthood."
Jason raised a hand. "At the moment, I vote for strangling."
Tommy, Zack, and Rocky all raised hands as well. "Here, here!" Zack declared.
Wes scowled at them all.
"Wes, I hate to say it, but Sky was a total self-centered brat today," Jason pointed out. "And believe me, I *really* hate to say it - he's *my* cadet. But he disobeyed orders, let a major resource fall into Grumm's hands, and completely disrespected not only his Squad leader, but Kat."
Wes sighed, letting his head fall into his hands. "I know he screwed up today, Jason," he said quietly. "And I know Sky knows it, too."
"Why do you think I convinced Cruger to give him light punishment?" Jason asked. "Sky'll punish himself better than any of us ever could."
"That kid's got a serious chip on his shoulder these days. I mean, come on. He won't even play *lightball* anymore," Rocky complained. "And that game's a total blast!"
Jason looked at him, amused. "You're just saying that because you still like to think of it as a training exercise."
Adam shook his head. "You know, you might try thinking about this from Sky's point of view," he reminded them.
"I have," Tommy informed him. "In fact, that's why I told Kat to make him Blue."
Wes looked at Tommy in surprise. "You mean *you're* the one who made Sky Blue? I thought it came from Cruger."
Tommy snorted. "Cruger may be getting more involved in the Ranger Program, but I'm still R.C. Making Sky Blue was *my* idea."
"Why?"
He sighed. "After Jason said Sky wasn't ready to be a leader, I took some time to think about why. That's when I remembered all the reasons I've heard Sky give on why he has to be the *Red* Ranger. He wouldn't even consider anything else. And his reasoning ... " He shook his head. "I'm not making him a Red because he thinks he *has* to be. That's not what Red is. It's not what we do. And as much as I'm sorry to say it, Sky isn't ready for Red. Maybe he will be someday, but not now."
Wes frowned. "So why Blue then?"
A faint smile crossed Tommy's face. "He follows Blue Tradition."
'Blue Tradition' was a newer S.P.D. term, cooked up by former Rangers to describe the similar personalities of Rangers who wore Blue. Blue Rangers had developed a reputation of being focused, naturally suspicious of anything they didn't know much about, and extremely defensive when provoked. They were also excellent tacticians, almost fanatically attentive to detail, and fiercely loyal to those who earned their respect.
Yeah, that was Sky all right.
After a moment, Wes found himself smiling a little, too. "You're right," he admitted. "That is Sky. I just wish he could see that." He pushed himself to his feet with a sigh. "I think I'm going to try talking to him again."
"Good luck with that," Zack told him.
"If he stops listening, go for strangling," Jason advised.
Wes shook his head with a sigh. "Later, guys."
****
"Look, Sky. The reason why I left you at the warehouse was that I was pretty sure those Krybots were coming back, and you're our strongest fighter."
Wes froze in the hallway as he heard his son's retort. "Yeah, right."
Well, apparently Jack had come to confront Sky before he could. Hopefully there wouldn't be *too* much fighting. In spite of himself, and even though he knew he shouldn't, Wes found himself listening in. He wasn't quite sure if Sky and Jack could talk to each other reasonably yet, and the Drill Sergeant in him balked at the idea of leaving them alone in case something happened.
"I'm serious." There was a long pause. "I know you don't trust me, and hey, hey, I don't blame you, okay? I'm still learning to trust myself. But I'm willing to working with you, if you're willing to work with me. What do you say?"
Sky let out a slow sigh. "Well, it's not working bumping heads."
Wes allowed himself to smile a little. Maybe they didn't need help after all. Maybe Jack was already growing into his role as a leader, and learning to take responsibility. And maybe Sky had finally realized that Red Ranger or not, he still needed to learn how to work as a part of a team.
"So tell me; is that you in that picture?" Jack asked, sounding amused.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Nothing. It's just ... aren't you supposed to *smile* for pictures?"
"Very funny. It wasn't exactly taken at one of the highest points of my life, okay?"
Wes leaned back against the wall with a sigh of his own as he realized what they were talking about. He hadn't even realized Sky still had that picture.
It had been taken several months after they'd lost Elizabeth and Jaz. Sky had been slowly but surely recovering through his therapy sessions, and lots of attention from himself and Nes. In an effort to draw Sky a little more out of his shell, someone - he couldn't remember who now - had come up with the idea of letting Sky get his picture taken with his 'hero'.
While Wes had been more than slightly embarrassed at the idea, Sky had been thrilled - at first. The moment he got in front of the camera he became so nervous they couldn't even get him to lift his head. It taken a great deal of coaxing and reassurance to get Sky to look up at all, and even then he'd refused to smile. The end result was quite frankly, one of the worst pictures Wes had ever had taken: it was shortly after a newly butchered S.P.D. haircut, Sky was nervous and as a result looked like he was furious to even be there, and seeing himself in standby mode with that S.P.D. badge he'd taken to wearing after the mission to Aquitar just made him feel ... old. Maybe even out of place. The man in the picture didn't even really look like him anymore.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Jack paused. "Why do you want to be the Red Ranger so bad? I mean, Bridge and Syd seem like they're happy just to be Rangers, but for you, it *has* to be Red. ... I kinda wondered why that was."
There was a long pause as Wes couldn't bring himself to either join them, or walk away. Jack had asked the question that had been bothering him for months, years even, and maybe ... just maybe .... He'd be the one to *finally* get an answer.
"You know, if it's too personal, you can just tell me it's none of my business," Jack said suddenly, sounding somewhat alarmed.
Sky sighed, finally beginning to speak after a long pause. "You see this? This is my dad."
"Your dad was a Ranger, too?"
"He was the Red Time Force Ranger, one of the best Rangers to have ever been part of S.P.D. Even *Cruger* calls him the best of the best. He saved Silver Hills from criminals from the future - twice, spent four months fighting Grumm's forces off on Aquitar, saved a group of kids from being turned into alien medical experiments, and gave everything he had to protect civilians during the biggest battle S.P.D. Newtech had ever seen before Grumm came to Earth. He's lost two teams - one to the timeline, one to battle. He woke up from a coma after four years and built his skills back up so he could join S.P.D. again."
There was the sound of shuffling. "Then there's Eric, my dad's teammate. He's the Quantum Ranger. He raised me while my dad was gone even though he never had to. He taught me how to fight, shoot, tutored me in school ... He became my father when no one else was there. And the whole time, he swore my dad would wake up again; he never lost faith that he would."
"That's - "
"And there's Alex, and Ben."
Outside the door, Wes froze.
"My dad and Eric weren't the first to wear their Ranger uniforms - my older brothers were. Alex was Time Force Red, too. He lives with my dad's team, in the future. He was nearly destroyed trying to protect people, just like my dad. And Ben was the Quantum Ranger. He ... he gave his life in the line of duty." Sky took a deep breath, sounding choked. "My father, my step-father, and both of my older brothers were all Red Rangers. All I ever wanted was to live up their legacy. I did *everything* S.P.D. told me to! I followed orders to the letter, no matter *what* I thought of them. But for some reason, whatever I did wasn't good enough. I'm not good enough to be Red. I'm *Blue*."
"Sky .... Man, I'm ... I'm sorry. But don't you think - "
The world had begun to gray around Wes. Jack's voice faded in place of the pounding in his ears. Somewhere he could hear himself wheezing, struggling for breath.
Sky ... he thought distantly, the bitter sound of the way he'd said *Blue* twisting like a knife to his heart. He'd thought ... He'd always believed Sky wanted to be Red for some reason, but that Sky thought he *had* to, just because he and Eric were? Because ... because Alex and Ben were?
He wasn't even aware that he'd walked away until he bumped into someone. He blinked for a moment, mumbled what might have been an apology, and tried to go around.
Hands caught his arms, stopping him. "Wes? Wes, what's wrong?"
He blinked again. "Eric?" His voice sounded distant even to his own ears. "Oh. Hi. I've ... I've gotta go .... " He tried to move again, but Eric's grip was firm.
"I don't think so. I think - " There was a pause. "Come on. There's a better place to talk."
"Eric, I - "
"I'll carry you if I have to, Wes. You're not getting rid of me. Now come on."
He was too busy thinking to care about where Eric was leading him, so it was a bit of a surprise to find himself being directed to sit. Glancing around, he realized with a start that he was actually in his own officer's quarters within S.P.D. While he didn't live here anymore, he still kept the room in case of emergencies. Apparently Eric had decided this warranted being classified as an emergency.
He stared at the walls for a long moment. His SightMap didn't do colors so well, but he still remembered that they were supposed to be Red. He'd never bothered to repaint them after what Dustin, Rocky, Dax, and Chip had done.
He closed his eyes at both the memory of the color, and the friends no longer with him.
"You ready to tell me what's going on now?" Eric's voice was soft, but there was an undertone to it that warned he wouldn't let the subject drop.
Wes sighed, leaning forward to press his face against his hands. "Did you know why Sky wanted to be Red?" he asked at last.
There was a pause. "I've got an idea."
He tilted his head just enough to look up at him. "Did you know it's because of all *four* of us?"
Eric froze. "Four?" he repeated slowly.
Wes nodded. "I went to talk to him about today - heard Jack ask why he wanted to be Red." He rubbed his face tiredly, suddenly feeling worn. "He said it was because his father, his step-father, and his older brothers were all Red. He wanted to live up to our 'legacy'." The words came out more bitter than he'd intended.
He could feel Eric studying him for several minutes. "I can't blame him for wanting to live up to your reputation," he said finally.
"I'm *not* some *hero*!" Wes exploded.
He went still as Eric stared at him, slightly surprised at his own outburst. "I'm not a hero," he continued at last, quietly. "I did what I had to. And the last thing I want is for Sky to think he has to follow in my footsteps, and go through the same things I have. Or to think he has to be just like Alex and Ben." He shuddered, both at the knowledge of what had happened to them, and the implication of what it would mean for Sky.
"Maybe ... Sky needs to learn what being a Ranger is all about. And that Red has nothing to do with it," Eric murmured.
"What do you mean?"
Eric sighed. "I've got ... an idea. It *might* help Sky; I don't know. Unfortunately, it's gonna have to wait a bit."
Wes frowned. "Why?"
"Because there was a reason I came looking for you, and Sky wasn't it." Eric looked at him, and everything in his stance radiated seriousness. "Tommy's called a meeting. It's about A Squad."
He sat up, concerned despite the riot of emotions he was still working through from his revelation about Sky. "What is it?"
"Cruger and B Squad might not be able to answer their distress call," Eric said grimly, "But that doesn't mean *we* can't."