Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #67: Enemies, T)
Geh.
I have a mild form of food poisoning. Me, being me, found bacon in the salad at a party I was at. And despite the fact that I've been a vegetarian for about ten years now, I didn't want to offend the host, so I ate it anyway.
This is the second day I've been curled up in bed in the fetal position, wishing for death with a trash can nearby just in case. My brother has been sympathetic, but mildly confused/amused with me for deliberately poisoning myself just so I wouldn't be rude.
This experience has also taught me that writing when I don't feel good leaves for interesting new variations on spellings.
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/: #67: Enemies
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/: The first part of this chapter is credited to BlackCrimsonLight for his suggestion on what Sky and Jack could fight over, and
challon86, because he said it while I was reading her comment about enjoying if I ever wrote about a wall. So, here's your wall, Challon. ^_~
Wes frowned, crouching down next to the boy sitting in a corner, doing nothing more than staring at a wall as he munched on a piece of toast. "Bridge?" he asked carefully. "What's wrong?"
"I'm contemplating this wall," Bridge informed him, not looking away from his intense study. "It's a very nice wall, don't you think? Very shiny. Plain, but in a classic way. Nothing special about it. It just sits there, waiting for someone to hit it, or fall on it, or - "
"Bridge," he interrupted. "What's wrong?"
The teen shrugged. "Sky and Jack are working on their alpha male issues. Conveniently, they happened to do it right outside my bedroom, so inconveniently, I had to vacate the premises to get rid of the migraine they were giving me from all the energy flow." He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers by way of explanation. "Unfortunately, this particular migraine seems to be a stubborn one. That is, if migraines had feelings. Or conscious thought, which would actually be kinda weird - "
"Bridge."
He blinked. "Oh. Right. Well, I decided I needed something simple and uncomplicated to contemplate for awhile, so my headache might go away. That's when I found this wall. It's really a very nice wall, at the end of this isolated hallway, away from all the emotions and troubles of the rest of S.P.D. I think I may set up a cot here, and just live by this wall for awhile."
"You want me to call your mom?" Wes asked quietly, resisting the urge to give the boy a hug. That was probably the last thing he needed right now.
Over the years the one thing that had stayed constant about Bridge's unique powers was Aisha's ability to ground him. Sky seemed to have lost that in the wake of their breakup, a fact that dismayed all parents involved and secretly, Wes knew, Sky as well. While Bridge's powers grew and changed, Aisha remained his center, just as he played the same role to his sister.
Bridge shook his head. "I'll be okay. I just need some space."
Well *that* was a bad sign; Bridge only liked to be alone when his powers were really bothering him. "You want me to put a keep out sign at the end of the hallway?" he offered.
"Please?"
The undisguised relief in his tone tugged painfully on Wes' heart. "You got it, kiddo." He tried to sound cheerful as he resisted the urge to tussle the teen's hair.
"Thanks, Uncle Wes."
****
Sign in place, he sighed as he went off in search of Sky and Jack. He didn't like the idea of making the boys feel guilty by telling them they'd upset Bridge, but they needed to remember to be more careful about where they argued. Bridge had apparently empathically absorbed some of the emotions between them; the anger in his voice had been audible.
"You're so - argh! Why can't you admit when you're wrong for once?!"
"Maybe because I'm *not*!"
"Hey!" he barked out. "What's going on here?"
Both boys stiffened, turning to salute. "Sir!"
"One of you want to explain to me what you're fighting over? And why you felt the need to argue about it in the middle of the hallway?" he demanded.
"Sir, he - "
"I - "
"*One*. At a time," he cut in, raising his hand. He hesitated for a moment, because no matter which one he chose to speak first, the other would accuse him of favoritism. "Cadet Landors," he sighed at last. "Would you like to tell me what started the argument?"
He could feel Sky scowling at him as Jack launched into his explanation. "You see Sir, Sky and I were discussing what when wrong in this morning's training mission. *Sky*," he shot a glare at the other teen, "Seems to think our Squad needs to go through more endurance training to build up our speed. I say we just had an off day, and he's blowing it out of proportion."
Wes raised his eyebrows, glancing at his son. "Sky?"
"Sir," the other boy returned stiffly. "B Squad's training scores have suffered a significant eight percent drop since adding the two unknown variables to our team. I believe retraining for the entire squad is - "
"For crying out loud, we have names!" Jack snapped.
Wes tried not to wince. Unknown variables? That was cold even for Sky. "Cadets," he interrupted before another argument could break out. "What is the first rule of H Squad?"
Jack stared at him in confusion, but Sky seemed to sag. "Teamwork, Sir," he sighed, ignoring the odd look Jack shot him.
"Maybe you two should start thinking about that first before you start arguing over what's wrong with your team," he reprimanded gently. "And maybe next time, you'll also make sure not to start fighting in front of Cadet Carson's room."
Sky froze in horror, while Jack looked between them oddly. "Is he - " Sky began.
"He's spending some time alone to calm down," he answered. "I'm sending Aisha after him in about half an hour."
Sky's shoulders slumped. "I'm - "
"Don't apologize to me, Sky. I'm not the one who needs to hear it," he told him softly. "Just try and be a little more considerate next time, okay?" He nodded to Jack. "And try explaining things for Jack while you're at it? For Bridge's sake, at the very least."
Sky nodded. "I will, Dad," he promised.
Jack started as Wes turned to leave them be. "Wait - *that's* your dad?!"
He smiled faintly to himself. Sky *really* needed a better picture of them together.
But then, hadn't Eric reacted the same way when he'd learned who *his* father was, back in prep school, back when they'd just barely been friends?
Come to think of it, Sky and Jack were a lot like him and Eric.
Sky, like Eric, had that desperate need to prove himself for reasons no one else could see. He was rude and standoffish because he feared getting close to people. And heaven help you if you tried to prove him wrong about something, because he was *never* wrong about *anything*. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought Sky was Eric's son rather than his - which, in a way, he was.
Jack meanwhile, was struggling to fit into a way of life he didn't know and could barely understand. But that, if anything, only made him try harder. He both wanted and feared seeing things outside of the norm, although while he had only pushed himself forward, Jack had a tendency to pull further away when he was outside of his comfort zone.
Sky and Jack fought like cats and dogs, which brought back interesting memories. Sky and Eric loved authority and strove to be respected; he and Jack went out of their way to push people's buttons and could care less what others thought of them most of the time. He and Jack were the first to own up when they did something wrong, while Sky and Eric would rather pretend it never happened.
He snorted to himself. Jack's best friend was Z, just has his had been Jen, and now Vanessa. And Eric could hardly stand Jen *or* Vanessa, just like ... Sky ... and Z.
He froze in the middle of the hall. Were Sky and Jack fighting because they were fighting the tension between the two of them, not just because they saw each other as some sort of enemy? Because they were drawn to each other in a way that neither one wanted to admit to, just like he and Eric had been?
Oh, that put a whole, not-so-nice spin on what was wrong with Bridge earlier.
"What are you brooding over now?"
He glanced up, blinking in surprise. Distracted or not, very few people could sneak up on him anymore, and he was pretty sure R.J. didn't count.
Namely, only one.
"Eric," he greeted. He frowned as the other man's words registered. "I'm not brooding. I was just realizing that Sky and Jack are a lot like you and me."
"Took you long enough," Eric snorted. "If you want to know something really tragic, there's the fact that Sky's still holding a candle for Dru."
"Even though he's MIA?"
"Yup. So even though he's attracted to Jack, he won't do anything about it because he thinks he'll be betraying Dru."
"Poor Sky," he murmured. He glanced up at Eric. "Hey, out of curiosity - do you still think of me as your enemy?"
Eric stopped to look at him oddly. "Wes, I never thought of you as my enemy. My rival, maybe. But half of that was because I wanted to bring myself up to your level." He raised a hand before Wes could protest. "Yeah, stupid, I know. I was a lot dumber when I was younger. I've grown up since then."
Wes felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "So we're not rivals anymore?"
Eric humphed, wrapping an arm around Wes' shoulders. "Only in bed," he informed him with an audible smirk.
Wes leaned against him with a laugh. "Good," he murmured contentedly.
And silently, he wished Jack the best of luck at taming his own 'rival'.
I have a mild form of food poisoning. Me, being me, found bacon in the salad at a party I was at. And despite the fact that I've been a vegetarian for about ten years now, I didn't want to offend the host, so I ate it anyway.
This is the second day I've been curled up in bed in the fetal position, wishing for death with a trash can nearby just in case. My brother has been sympathetic, but mildly confused/amused with me for deliberately poisoning myself just so I wouldn't be rude.
This experience has also taught me that writing when I don't feel good leaves for interesting new variations on spellings.
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/: #67: Enemies
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/: The first part of this chapter is credited to BlackCrimsonLight for his suggestion on what Sky and Jack could fight over, and
challon86, because he said it while I was reading her comment about enjoying if I ever wrote about a wall. So, here's your wall, Challon. ^_~
Wes frowned, crouching down next to the boy sitting in a corner, doing nothing more than staring at a wall as he munched on a piece of toast. "Bridge?" he asked carefully. "What's wrong?"
"I'm contemplating this wall," Bridge informed him, not looking away from his intense study. "It's a very nice wall, don't you think? Very shiny. Plain, but in a classic way. Nothing special about it. It just sits there, waiting for someone to hit it, or fall on it, or - "
"Bridge," he interrupted. "What's wrong?"
The teen shrugged. "Sky and Jack are working on their alpha male issues. Conveniently, they happened to do it right outside my bedroom, so inconveniently, I had to vacate the premises to get rid of the migraine they were giving me from all the energy flow." He held up a hand and wiggled his fingers by way of explanation. "Unfortunately, this particular migraine seems to be a stubborn one. That is, if migraines had feelings. Or conscious thought, which would actually be kinda weird - "
"Bridge."
He blinked. "Oh. Right. Well, I decided I needed something simple and uncomplicated to contemplate for awhile, so my headache might go away. That's when I found this wall. It's really a very nice wall, at the end of this isolated hallway, away from all the emotions and troubles of the rest of S.P.D. I think I may set up a cot here, and just live by this wall for awhile."
"You want me to call your mom?" Wes asked quietly, resisting the urge to give the boy a hug. That was probably the last thing he needed right now.
Over the years the one thing that had stayed constant about Bridge's unique powers was Aisha's ability to ground him. Sky seemed to have lost that in the wake of their breakup, a fact that dismayed all parents involved and secretly, Wes knew, Sky as well. While Bridge's powers grew and changed, Aisha remained his center, just as he played the same role to his sister.
Bridge shook his head. "I'll be okay. I just need some space."
Well *that* was a bad sign; Bridge only liked to be alone when his powers were really bothering him. "You want me to put a keep out sign at the end of the hallway?" he offered.
"Please?"
The undisguised relief in his tone tugged painfully on Wes' heart. "You got it, kiddo." He tried to sound cheerful as he resisted the urge to tussle the teen's hair.
"Thanks, Uncle Wes."
****
Sign in place, he sighed as he went off in search of Sky and Jack. He didn't like the idea of making the boys feel guilty by telling them they'd upset Bridge, but they needed to remember to be more careful about where they argued. Bridge had apparently empathically absorbed some of the emotions between them; the anger in his voice had been audible.
"You're so - argh! Why can't you admit when you're wrong for once?!"
"Maybe because I'm *not*!"
"Hey!" he barked out. "What's going on here?"
Both boys stiffened, turning to salute. "Sir!"
"One of you want to explain to me what you're fighting over? And why you felt the need to argue about it in the middle of the hallway?" he demanded.
"Sir, he - "
"I - "
"*One*. At a time," he cut in, raising his hand. He hesitated for a moment, because no matter which one he chose to speak first, the other would accuse him of favoritism. "Cadet Landors," he sighed at last. "Would you like to tell me what started the argument?"
He could feel Sky scowling at him as Jack launched into his explanation. "You see Sir, Sky and I were discussing what when wrong in this morning's training mission. *Sky*," he shot a glare at the other teen, "Seems to think our Squad needs to go through more endurance training to build up our speed. I say we just had an off day, and he's blowing it out of proportion."
Wes raised his eyebrows, glancing at his son. "Sky?"
"Sir," the other boy returned stiffly. "B Squad's training scores have suffered a significant eight percent drop since adding the two unknown variables to our team. I believe retraining for the entire squad is - "
"For crying out loud, we have names!" Jack snapped.
Wes tried not to wince. Unknown variables? That was cold even for Sky. "Cadets," he interrupted before another argument could break out. "What is the first rule of H Squad?"
Jack stared at him in confusion, but Sky seemed to sag. "Teamwork, Sir," he sighed, ignoring the odd look Jack shot him.
"Maybe you two should start thinking about that first before you start arguing over what's wrong with your team," he reprimanded gently. "And maybe next time, you'll also make sure not to start fighting in front of Cadet Carson's room."
Sky froze in horror, while Jack looked between them oddly. "Is he - " Sky began.
"He's spending some time alone to calm down," he answered. "I'm sending Aisha after him in about half an hour."
Sky's shoulders slumped. "I'm - "
"Don't apologize to me, Sky. I'm not the one who needs to hear it," he told him softly. "Just try and be a little more considerate next time, okay?" He nodded to Jack. "And try explaining things for Jack while you're at it? For Bridge's sake, at the very least."
Sky nodded. "I will, Dad," he promised.
Jack started as Wes turned to leave them be. "Wait - *that's* your dad?!"
He smiled faintly to himself. Sky *really* needed a better picture of them together.
But then, hadn't Eric reacted the same way when he'd learned who *his* father was, back in prep school, back when they'd just barely been friends?
Come to think of it, Sky and Jack were a lot like him and Eric.
Sky, like Eric, had that desperate need to prove himself for reasons no one else could see. He was rude and standoffish because he feared getting close to people. And heaven help you if you tried to prove him wrong about something, because he was *never* wrong about *anything*. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought Sky was Eric's son rather than his - which, in a way, he was.
Jack meanwhile, was struggling to fit into a way of life he didn't know and could barely understand. But that, if anything, only made him try harder. He both wanted and feared seeing things outside of the norm, although while he had only pushed himself forward, Jack had a tendency to pull further away when he was outside of his comfort zone.
Sky and Jack fought like cats and dogs, which brought back interesting memories. Sky and Eric loved authority and strove to be respected; he and Jack went out of their way to push people's buttons and could care less what others thought of them most of the time. He and Jack were the first to own up when they did something wrong, while Sky and Eric would rather pretend it never happened.
He snorted to himself. Jack's best friend was Z, just has his had been Jen, and now Vanessa. And Eric could hardly stand Jen *or* Vanessa, just like ... Sky ... and Z.
He froze in the middle of the hall. Were Sky and Jack fighting because they were fighting the tension between the two of them, not just because they saw each other as some sort of enemy? Because they were drawn to each other in a way that neither one wanted to admit to, just like he and Eric had been?
Oh, that put a whole, not-so-nice spin on what was wrong with Bridge earlier.
"What are you brooding over now?"
He glanced up, blinking in surprise. Distracted or not, very few people could sneak up on him anymore, and he was pretty sure R.J. didn't count.
Namely, only one.
"Eric," he greeted. He frowned as the other man's words registered. "I'm not brooding. I was just realizing that Sky and Jack are a lot like you and me."
"Took you long enough," Eric snorted. "If you want to know something really tragic, there's the fact that Sky's still holding a candle for Dru."
"Even though he's MIA?"
"Yup. So even though he's attracted to Jack, he won't do anything about it because he thinks he'll be betraying Dru."
"Poor Sky," he murmured. He glanced up at Eric. "Hey, out of curiosity - do you still think of me as your enemy?"
Eric stopped to look at him oddly. "Wes, I never thought of you as my enemy. My rival, maybe. But half of that was because I wanted to bring myself up to your level." He raised a hand before Wes could protest. "Yeah, stupid, I know. I was a lot dumber when I was younger. I've grown up since then."
Wes felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth. "So we're not rivals anymore?"
Eric humphed, wrapping an arm around Wes' shoulders. "Only in bed," he informed him with an audible smirk.
Wes leaned against him with a laugh. "Good," he murmured contentedly.
And silently, he wished Jack the best of luck at taming his own 'rival'.