Bright Skies (Multi - Season Crossover/Power Rangers, prompt #78: Sun, T)
LiveJournal's being a pain again. Hopefully it'll actually let me post this. -Eyes Frank suspiciously, holding a baseball bat threateningly- Behave, damn you.
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/: #78: Sun
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/: Much love for challon86 for her help with team building exercise suggestions.
Because Zapped amused me more than it probably should have.
"So," Adam said finally as they watched the fight finally wind down. "Team building activity?"
Kimberly nodded. "Oh, yeah. Suggestions?"
"Well, obviously fighting for their lives together didn't work, and I wouldn't wish a DeSantos Family Reunion on anybody," Aisha remarked.
"Hey!" Rocky protested as Kimberly and Adam shuddered in agreement. He paused as they looked at him, Aisha folding her arms and raising her eyebrows. "It wasn't *that* bad," he muttered rebelliously.
"What else do we have?" Shane wondered. "'Cause I wouldn't recommend one of Sensei's training missions."
"Can't be anything public, either," Dustin said thoughtfully, leaning on Shane's shoulder absently. "I mean, having a Ranger running around where just anybody can walk up to him is like, totally asking for trouble, dude."
"Don't look at me," Wes put in, holding up his hands in surrender. "My team bonded because we were forced to live in a drafty clock tower together."
Karone shrugged a shoulder. "The Galaxy Rangers had a sleepover with me, but Sam doesn't need to sleep. And the Astro welcome wouldn't work either; he doesn't need slippers."
Eric gave her an odd look. "Slippers?"
"T.J." she returned simply, and he nodded in understanding.
"So ... who else's team had a private bonding session?" Kimberly asked.
"Zeo, Wild Force, and Mystic Force," Karone recounted.
"Somehow I can't see them agreeing to sit through a movie night," Adam sighed.
Rocky snorted. "More like spending the whole time fighting over what to watch first."
"I don't trust any of them with fire, so Wild Force is out," Taylor said dryly.
"You really think they'll sit through a board game without fighting?" Aisha looked skeptical.
"We could always put them through those cheesy team building exercises the Silver Guardians had to do," Wes joked. He paused when no one laughed. "Guys, I wasn't serious."
"They'll hate us," Eric commented, sounding almost pleased.
Zack grinned. "Nothing like uniting against a common enemy to build trust."
Wes groaned. "For the record, I had nothing to do with this."
****
"We were just a little - "
"Jealous."
"There is no room for jealousy here! You are my Rangers. You are my team. You will just have to trust that. Trust in yourselves. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir!"
They managed to wait until Cruger had stormed off, still furious over B Squad's behavior. He was improving, Wes mused to himself. At least he had finally admitted that they were a team.
"*Ow*!"
He looked up at Sky's yelp as Eric smacked him in the back of the head, followed by a "What was that for?!"
"For being a brat," Eric informed him coolly. "Jealousy doesn't have any place on a Ranger team."
Wes struggled to hold in an awkward cough; he failed.
Ryan covered his reaction by moving swiftly to pull his daughter into a tight hug. Syd clung to him, leaning into his shoulder as he reached up to stroke her hair. "Where's Carter?" she asked, obviously trying not to sniffle.
"You want Carter, too?" Ryan returned softly. He kissed the top of her head when she nodded. "Let's go find him."
He watched them leave, sighing to himself. While Syd's time under mind-control had been thankfully brief, that didn't change the fact that she'd lost her free-will today. Before they did anything else, she needed some time with her parents.
"What are you thinking about?" Aisha asked quietly beside him.
He glanced at her. "You ever get the feeling ... we're just coming in to pick up the pieces?" he asked quietly. "Like we're just here to fix what went wrong after they go through something?"
"All the time," she sighed, giving his shoulder a brief squeeze.
They watched the kids for a moment, as Sky tried to argue with Eric and failed, Justin pulled Z against his side in a loose, one-armed hug, and smiled when she leaned into him, Rocky moved to show something to Bridge, who watched him with rapt attention, and Jack ...
He blinked. Jack was talking to Keri.
"When did she get here?" he whispered to Aisha. He paused. "And why aren't they killing each other?"
It was true: the two teens were talking quietly, Jack leaning back casually against a console with his arms folded. Something he said seemed to agitate Keri, who immediately got into his face, jabbing her finger at him for emphasis. But Jack just laughed, grabbing her finger and pulling her closer to ruffle her hair. She glared furiously at him, merely getting a cheeky grin in response. Finally she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder and slapping a hand against his chest almost absently.
"I have no idea," Aisha murmured, looking just as stunned as he felt. She glanced at him. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," she advised.
He smiled slightly. "You think if we pretend not to notice, they'll keep doing it?"
"We can only hope."
"B Squad!" Kimberly clapped her hands to get their attention. Omega Ranger stood beside her, glancing down at her almost warily. She smiled when they finally looked at her. "I think it's time for a talk, don't you?"
Wes could have sworn he heard more than one cadet sigh.
****
"I swear, they come up with these things just to torture us," Z grumbled.
"I miss Lieutenant Scott," Syd sulked. "At least when *he* made us do teamwork exercises, they didn't hurt in strange places."
There was a pause.
"I didn't mean it like *that*! You guys are sick!"
Wes smiled at the sound of muffled snickering, shaking his head. Teenagers.
"Still, that was pretty random, even for S.P.D.," Jack mused.
"That's because that wasn't S.P.D.'s idea," Sky informed them all. "I've seen them use the Human Knot exercise in the Silver Guardians, when I was visiting my grandfather. Same with the Trust Fall. Which means that was either my dad's idea or Eric's. Eric probably agreed to it just to annoy us."
Wes shot an amused look at Eric, who humphed quietly, while Justin smothered his laughter. Grinning, Wes raised a finger to his lips. They didn't want the kids to know they were listening; that would defeat the whole point.
"Why would they do that to us?" Z asked, sounding annoyed.
"Because they want us to function as a team," Bridge piped up. "'Cause you know, not functioning as a team sort of defeats the whole ... team thing."
"You mean because of what happened today," Jack said flatly.
"Apparently they think we can't function as a unit," Sam remarked.
"I think we can manage that just fine," Z protested. "I mean, sure, we had our problems, but that doesn't mean we can't work together. So what's the issue?"
"That we're supposed to work together and actually get along?" Bridge offered.
"Did they ever do this sort of stuff to you in your time, Sam?" Syd asked suddenly.
"Not exactly. My cadets started a prank war - *that's* how we bonded. Between trying to protect myself and them trying to get me back, somehow we just ... worked out our issues."
"And the commander allowed this?" Sky sounded skeptical.
"Are you kidding?" Sam's tone was wry. "I think he *encouraged* it."
"Sounds like things at S.P.D. have changed a bit in your time," Jack commented.
"You have no idea," Sam laughed. "Some things are still the same, but there's definitely some difference between here in the past, and where I come from."
"Like what?" Z wondered.
"Sorry, but I really can't tell you. The commander made me swear not to alter the timeline any more than necessary." The teen sounded genuinely regretful.
Wes frowned slightly, glancing at Eric again. For someone who was sent to change the past, why would Sam be worried about changing the timeline? If he was supposed to stop the future he came from, it shouldn't matter what he told them ... right?
"Well, can you tell us about you and your team, then?" Syd asked. "Like, how old are you? Are you seeing anybody ... ?"
"Older than you. And um, sort of."
"Sort of?" He could hear the grin in Z's voice. "Come on, tell us about them. Girl, guy? Are you actually dating, or what?"
"Okay, okay!" Sam laughed. "She's a girl, but we're not really dating. There's ... well, we'd like to, but her brothers are really protective. So I haven't really had a chance to do more than spend time with her."
"Aw, that's so sad!" Syd protested.
"Sounds like her brothers are doing their job."
"Jack!"
"What? Isn't that what brothers are supposed to do?"
"Exactly," Bridge sounded oddly cheerful about the idea.
"You guys are hopeless," Z informed them.
"But my sister's still single," Bridge reminded her.
Wes bowed his head, trying desperately to cover his chuckles. The worst part was, Bridge was *right*.
"Unfortunately, so is she," Sam grumbled.
"You really like her, don't you?" Syd asked, sounding thoughtful.
There was a pause. "Yeah, I do," Sam said at last, sounding wistful. "She's ... she's something special."
"You miss her?" Jack sounded uncomfortable.
"I miss *home*," he returned. "I mean, don't get me wrong; it's nice being here, and it's fun to see everybody I know the way they were, but .... I miss my friends." He paused again. "And showers. The first thing I want to do when I get home is take a nice, long, hot shower."
"So they still don't have any idea how to get you demorphed?" Z was sympathetic.
There was a sigh. "From what I can tell, my morpher is stuck in high alert mode - something about stepping into the timestream. It thinks I'm constantly in danger, so it won't let me power down."
"That stinks."
"Tell me about it," he groused. "I haven't slept in days. I never thought I'd miss *sleep*."
"Is that why you're so cranky sometimes?"
"Syd!"
"What? It's a good question!"
"Maybe he's cranky because he's stuck in a time that isn't his own, and he can't power down," Sky spoke up pointedly.
"Oh. Right." Syd sounded sheepish.
Sam laughed suddenly.
"What is it?" Jack asked warily.
"Nothing. It's just ... I'm glad to see some things never change."
"You mean we're still all together like this in the future?" Syd sounded oddly surprised by this.
"It wouldn't be S.P.D. without the B Squad," Sam said simply.
"That's ... kinda cool," Z seemed pleased.
"Yeah, it is."
"Definitely."
"Yeah."
"Nobody's going to call for a Power Rangers cheer, are they?" Sky asked suspiciously.
More laughter, and Wes glanced at his fellow eavesdroppers with a smile. Yeah. B Squad and the Omega Ranger were going to be just fine.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Sam. What is it?"
"Does anyone really know *why* someone painted a giant sun on the ceiling of the common room?"
"Welcome to life with 'The Happy People'," Sky informed him dryly.