A Darker Shade of Red (Time Force/Power Rangers, T, Chapter 6: Support)
My brain has been bouncing back and forth between A Darker Shade of Red and Bright Skies for the last several hours. Which is interesting, because I haven't gotten to a point where I can actually work out my crossover for this so I can finish Bright Skies. But apparently WesMuse and AlexMuse both want my attention now, and they're not willing to share.
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force, slight crossover with S.P.D. (In Bright Skies universe)
Characters/: Alex
Pairings/: Alex/Jen, Lucas/Trip, Katie/OC, Wes/Eric
Rating/: T
Disclaimer/: Saban/Disney/Whoever sure didn't write *this* into the series. The plot comes purely from my own warped little mind, and the characters are merely borrowed from them for my own amusement. Lucky you.
Summary/: The legacy of Wesley Collins and Eric Myers didn't just affect the past - it affected the future. One thousand years after they became Rangers, one person is still struggling against the corruption of Time Force and the heritage he never wanted.
Warnings/: People used for scientific experimentation, corrupted Time Force, character with self-image issues
Author's Notes/: This chapter is for
germankitty, who hoped to see Lucas and Katie's responses to learning about Alex and Trip, and
megthelegend, because her comments to the last chapter made me laugh and smile.
"Hey, Alex!"
The bright greeting startled him, and he looked up from his lunch to stare at Katie as she sat down across from him. "Man, I'm hungry," she remarked, unwrapping her sandwich. "I never realized how much work goes into monitoring Newtech City. Silver Hills wasn't nearly this big." She stopped to consider. "Although we didn't have as much technology to help then." She made a face and took a bite of her sandwich, swallowing quickly before she finished with "But we didn't have to learn how to use it all then, either."
Alex continued to stare at her blankly. When she showed no signs of moving or explaining herself, he finally managed to ask "What are you doing here?"
She gave him a weird look. "Eating lunch."
He tried not to roll his eyes. "I meant, what are you doing at this table?" He sighed at her confusion. "With me," he elaborated. "Why are you having lunch with me."
"I didn't realize this was an exclusive table," she snorted, making no attempts to move.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to rein in his temper again. "You hate me."
"Says who?"
There was a pause.
He looked up, waiting for the punch line, and found her staring at him, looking started. "You really do think we hate you, don't you?" she said softly.
He shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "You do," he reminded her pointedly.
She set down her sandwich, frowning at him in concern. "Alex, I don't like you because you've been a real jerk from the little I *do* know of you. But that doesn't mean I *hate* you." She frowned. "And you can't think Jen and Trip hate you."
He sighed. "Trip isn't capable of hating anyone - he's Xybrian," he reminded her. "But that doesn't mean he can't be angry at me. And Jen ... " He paused, swallowing. "Jen has every reason to hate me."
There was a long silence as she kept looking at him, and he finally went back to his lunch in an effort to pretend he didn't care. Katie and Lucas have never liked me, he reminded himself. And everything I did before, for whatever reasons I tried to make it right in my head, just pushed Jen and Trip further away. The Rangers have every right to hate me.
No matter how many times he told himself that, it didn't seem to make it hurt any less.
"They really have messed with your head, haven't they?" Katie spoke up at last.
Strangely, the look he gave her was only met with sympathy. "Katie, what are you doing here?" he sighed finally. This was giving him a headache.
She seemed amused for some reason. "First of all, having lunch. As for why I'm having it with you, we're teammates now. We're not friends, but I don't see why that can't change. And since I knew you wouldn't make the first move, I did." She casually reached out to steal the banana off the side of his tray. "And I figure it's probably not a good idea to leave you alone right now in case that Blakemore guy you were talking sabout shows up again," she added quietly.
She had a point - Blakemore only approached him when he was alone. The last thing he'd want was witnesses. He may be confident in his power over Alex, but he didn't have anything on the Rangers.
Yet.
He frowned down at his plate. "You could get in a lot of trouble by involving yourself with this, Katie."
A hand reached out to squeeze his gently, and he started. "That's what teammates are for, Alex," she informed him softly. "We protect each other. Maybe we didn't mean to be a team, but we are now. And I'm not going to let you stand alone in this."
He blinked rapidly for a moment. "I don't know what to say ... " he murmured at last. He'd never been good at interacting with people.
He glanced up into her warm smile. "Thank you is a good start."
****
It was hard to say if he was surprised to see Lucas join him as they left the status meeting a few days after Katie had first approached him. Katie had spent her lunch with him everyday without fail, chatting about her family and how she'd grown up and all sorts of details about her life he'd never known and still wasn't sure if he cared about. But this was *Lucas*. Lucas had always been very clear on how much he disliked Alex, and Alex had always been respectfully irritated by him.
He didn't say anything to draw attention to it, of course. Lucas was being deliberately casual, acting as though walking beside him was an ordinary occurrence. He may not have been sure *why* he was doing it, but he wasn't stupid enough to question it.
"Did Trip tell you he's planning to rebuild the Electro Booster?" Lucas asked suddenly, glancing at him as he pressed the call button on the elevator.
Alex frowned. "He is?"
Lucas nodded. "He's still complaining about losing the first one." He rolled his eyes, but his expression was oddly fond. "Now he's talking about making more than one, so that we each have one. That or upgrading the Chrono Blasters. He's been going back and forth."
Alex considered. "If he upgrades the Chrono Blasters permanently, we'd still need a better range of blast settings, depending on the nature of the criminal. The Electro Booster might be useful, but I'd be concerned with becoming too dependant on it."
"But having that kind of back up available isn't necessarily a bad thing, either," Lucas pointed out.
"Good to see you back in the game, Alexander," a voice purred behind him.
He stiffened, and it took serious effort to keep from reaching for his sidearm. "Commander Blakemore," he forced out, trying not to grind his teeth. So much for not wanting witnesses.
"Sir, is there something you needed?" Lucas cut in coolly. The look he gave Blakemore was the kind most people gave to a noisy child.
"Just checking up on our Rangers," Blakemore said smoothly. "Time Force likes knowing we have you at your best, after all."
Lucas' smile was glacial. "Newtech City doesn't need to worry - the Time Force Rangers will always protect it," he returned. "You'll excuse us. Sir," he added as the elevators opened.
It was all Alex could do to not to stumble after him as Lucas pulled him inside. He watched the doors close on Blakemore's outraged expression, and fought the urge to shiver. "You shouldn't have done that," he murmured.
"Not here," Lucas returned softly, watching the floor lights as he selected the appropriate button.
The elevator ride was awkwardly silent, and Alex spent most of his time trying to get his emotions back under control. Having Blakemore approach him so casually always left him shaken, no matter where he was. He knew that was why the jerk did it, but knowing didn't help get rid of the fear.
The moment the doors reopened, Lucas was back to chatting about other upgrades and possible weapons or technology Trip was working on. Some of it Alex wasn't even sure that Trip was actually considering, and he was hard-pressed to follow the conversation. But for some reason, Lucas didn't seem to be waiting for answers, just listing Trip's ideas.
The sight of his office was a welcome relief, and it was hard to keep from running to it. Instead he entered calmly, moving to partially lighten the shading on the window. Lucas followed him, and he waited until the other man had taken a seat before activating the privacy lock.
He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes on the city outside. "There are no cameras in here," he said at last. "We can speak freely."
"Does he usually come up to you like that?"
He shrugged a little. "Sometimes. He likes to make sure I don't forget."
Lucas muttered something darkly under his breath.
Alex sighed, finally turning to look at him. "Why are you here?" he asked quietly. "You have a family, Lucas. Making him think the Rangers are protecting me isn't going to keep him away from them, much less me. You're only putting yourself at risk."
There was a moment of silence as Lucas studied him, and he tried not to sigh again. Why did they keep *doing* that? It was like they were trying to read something in his face that he hadn't said. As if he hadn't become a master at shielding his expression years ago.
As if he'd ever really known *how* to show expression.
"No one deserves what they put you through, Alex," Lucas said quietly. "Not even you."
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "You don't really believe that."
"You don't know me well enough to know *what* I believe," Lucas retorted.
He rolled his eyes. "Point," he admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be getting involved in this - any of you." He shook his head as a sudden ache went through him. "The moment you all came back from the past, you should have taken the Chrono Morphers and run."
"Power Rangers don't run," Lucas said flatly. "Not from bigwigs who think they know everything, and not from a teammate in need." He gave him a considering look. "Sounds like no one ever bothered to teach you what being a Ranger really means."
He pinched his nose. "Power Rangers," he ground out, "Are Time Force's private military force. That's all they've ever wanted from them. Maybe it started out as a way to protect the past and make sure that our future exists, but in the end, the Time Force Rangers are nothing more than underpaid soldiers in their pockets."
"You look like Eric."
There was something in Lucas' tone that made him look up, giving him a skeptical glance. "Trip said that, too. What are you talking about?"
"The nose thing," Lucas explained. "Eric does that. I never noticed it before, but you do kind of look like him."
"And judging by your reports, I probably act like him, too," he said dryly, remembering the less than glowing remarks the Rangers had to say about Eric Myers.
Lucas jerked in surprise, sitting up in his seat with an odd look on his face. "You do, actually," he replied, frowning. "You act a lot like him ... " He trailed off, and the look he gave Alex was making him uncomfortable.
"Was there anything else you needed?" he asked finally, turning to look out the window again.
There was a pause. "No," Lucas said finally. He heard him get up. "I should get going."
He nodded without bothering to look back. "Computer, de-activate privacy lock."
There was an answering chirp, and the barely audible sound of the doors sliding open.
"And Alex?"
He glanced back.
Lucas had paused in the doorway, one hand placed on the frame to keep it open. "You're not alone anymore," he said seriously. "And no matter what happens, we're with you."
Alex continued to stare long after the door had closed behind him.
Fandom/: Power Rangers Time Force, slight crossover with S.P.D. (In Bright Skies universe)
Characters/: Alex
Pairings/: Alex/Jen, Lucas/Trip, Katie/OC, Wes/Eric
Rating/: T
Disclaimer/: Saban/Disney/Whoever sure didn't write *this* into the series. The plot comes purely from my own warped little mind, and the characters are merely borrowed from them for my own amusement. Lucky you.
Summary/: The legacy of Wesley Collins and Eric Myers didn't just affect the past - it affected the future. One thousand years after they became Rangers, one person is still struggling against the corruption of Time Force and the heritage he never wanted.
Warnings/: People used for scientific experimentation, corrupted Time Force, character with self-image issues
Author's Notes/: This chapter is for
germankitty, who hoped to see Lucas and Katie's responses to learning about Alex and Trip, and
megthelegend, because her comments to the last chapter made me laugh and smile.
"Hey, Alex!"
The bright greeting startled him, and he looked up from his lunch to stare at Katie as she sat down across from him. "Man, I'm hungry," she remarked, unwrapping her sandwich. "I never realized how much work goes into monitoring Newtech City. Silver Hills wasn't nearly this big." She stopped to consider. "Although we didn't have as much technology to help then." She made a face and took a bite of her sandwich, swallowing quickly before she finished with "But we didn't have to learn how to use it all then, either."
Alex continued to stare at her blankly. When she showed no signs of moving or explaining herself, he finally managed to ask "What are you doing here?"
She gave him a weird look. "Eating lunch."
He tried not to roll his eyes. "I meant, what are you doing at this table?" He sighed at her confusion. "With me," he elaborated. "Why are you having lunch with me."
"I didn't realize this was an exclusive table," she snorted, making no attempts to move.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to rein in his temper again. "You hate me."
"Says who?"
There was a pause.
He looked up, waiting for the punch line, and found her staring at him, looking started. "You really do think we hate you, don't you?" she said softly.
He shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "You do," he reminded her pointedly.
She set down her sandwich, frowning at him in concern. "Alex, I don't like you because you've been a real jerk from the little I *do* know of you. But that doesn't mean I *hate* you." She frowned. "And you can't think Jen and Trip hate you."
He sighed. "Trip isn't capable of hating anyone - he's Xybrian," he reminded her. "But that doesn't mean he can't be angry at me. And Jen ... " He paused, swallowing. "Jen has every reason to hate me."
There was a long silence as she kept looking at him, and he finally went back to his lunch in an effort to pretend he didn't care. Katie and Lucas have never liked me, he reminded himself. And everything I did before, for whatever reasons I tried to make it right in my head, just pushed Jen and Trip further away. The Rangers have every right to hate me.
No matter how many times he told himself that, it didn't seem to make it hurt any less.
"They really have messed with your head, haven't they?" Katie spoke up at last.
Strangely, the look he gave her was only met with sympathy. "Katie, what are you doing here?" he sighed finally. This was giving him a headache.
She seemed amused for some reason. "First of all, having lunch. As for why I'm having it with you, we're teammates now. We're not friends, but I don't see why that can't change. And since I knew you wouldn't make the first move, I did." She casually reached out to steal the banana off the side of his tray. "And I figure it's probably not a good idea to leave you alone right now in case that Blakemore guy you were talking sabout shows up again," she added quietly.
She had a point - Blakemore only approached him when he was alone. The last thing he'd want was witnesses. He may be confident in his power over Alex, but he didn't have anything on the Rangers.
Yet.
He frowned down at his plate. "You could get in a lot of trouble by involving yourself with this, Katie."
A hand reached out to squeeze his gently, and he started. "That's what teammates are for, Alex," she informed him softly. "We protect each other. Maybe we didn't mean to be a team, but we are now. And I'm not going to let you stand alone in this."
He blinked rapidly for a moment. "I don't know what to say ... " he murmured at last. He'd never been good at interacting with people.
He glanced up into her warm smile. "Thank you is a good start."
****
It was hard to say if he was surprised to see Lucas join him as they left the status meeting a few days after Katie had first approached him. Katie had spent her lunch with him everyday without fail, chatting about her family and how she'd grown up and all sorts of details about her life he'd never known and still wasn't sure if he cared about. But this was *Lucas*. Lucas had always been very clear on how much he disliked Alex, and Alex had always been respectfully irritated by him.
He didn't say anything to draw attention to it, of course. Lucas was being deliberately casual, acting as though walking beside him was an ordinary occurrence. He may not have been sure *why* he was doing it, but he wasn't stupid enough to question it.
"Did Trip tell you he's planning to rebuild the Electro Booster?" Lucas asked suddenly, glancing at him as he pressed the call button on the elevator.
Alex frowned. "He is?"
Lucas nodded. "He's still complaining about losing the first one." He rolled his eyes, but his expression was oddly fond. "Now he's talking about making more than one, so that we each have one. That or upgrading the Chrono Blasters. He's been going back and forth."
Alex considered. "If he upgrades the Chrono Blasters permanently, we'd still need a better range of blast settings, depending on the nature of the criminal. The Electro Booster might be useful, but I'd be concerned with becoming too dependant on it."
"But having that kind of back up available isn't necessarily a bad thing, either," Lucas pointed out.
"Good to see you back in the game, Alexander," a voice purred behind him.
He stiffened, and it took serious effort to keep from reaching for his sidearm. "Commander Blakemore," he forced out, trying not to grind his teeth. So much for not wanting witnesses.
"Sir, is there something you needed?" Lucas cut in coolly. The look he gave Blakemore was the kind most people gave to a noisy child.
"Just checking up on our Rangers," Blakemore said smoothly. "Time Force likes knowing we have you at your best, after all."
Lucas' smile was glacial. "Newtech City doesn't need to worry - the Time Force Rangers will always protect it," he returned. "You'll excuse us. Sir," he added as the elevators opened.
It was all Alex could do to not to stumble after him as Lucas pulled him inside. He watched the doors close on Blakemore's outraged expression, and fought the urge to shiver. "You shouldn't have done that," he murmured.
"Not here," Lucas returned softly, watching the floor lights as he selected the appropriate button.
The elevator ride was awkwardly silent, and Alex spent most of his time trying to get his emotions back under control. Having Blakemore approach him so casually always left him shaken, no matter where he was. He knew that was why the jerk did it, but knowing didn't help get rid of the fear.
The moment the doors reopened, Lucas was back to chatting about other upgrades and possible weapons or technology Trip was working on. Some of it Alex wasn't even sure that Trip was actually considering, and he was hard-pressed to follow the conversation. But for some reason, Lucas didn't seem to be waiting for answers, just listing Trip's ideas.
The sight of his office was a welcome relief, and it was hard to keep from running to it. Instead he entered calmly, moving to partially lighten the shading on the window. Lucas followed him, and he waited until the other man had taken a seat before activating the privacy lock.
He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes on the city outside. "There are no cameras in here," he said at last. "We can speak freely."
"Does he usually come up to you like that?"
He shrugged a little. "Sometimes. He likes to make sure I don't forget."
Lucas muttered something darkly under his breath.
Alex sighed, finally turning to look at him. "Why are you here?" he asked quietly. "You have a family, Lucas. Making him think the Rangers are protecting me isn't going to keep him away from them, much less me. You're only putting yourself at risk."
There was a moment of silence as Lucas studied him, and he tried not to sigh again. Why did they keep *doing* that? It was like they were trying to read something in his face that he hadn't said. As if he hadn't become a master at shielding his expression years ago.
As if he'd ever really known *how* to show expression.
"No one deserves what they put you through, Alex," Lucas said quietly. "Not even you."
He raised his eyebrows skeptically. "You don't really believe that."
"You don't know me well enough to know *what* I believe," Lucas retorted.
He rolled his eyes. "Point," he admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you shouldn't be getting involved in this - any of you." He shook his head as a sudden ache went through him. "The moment you all came back from the past, you should have taken the Chrono Morphers and run."
"Power Rangers don't run," Lucas said flatly. "Not from bigwigs who think they know everything, and not from a teammate in need." He gave him a considering look. "Sounds like no one ever bothered to teach you what being a Ranger really means."
He pinched his nose. "Power Rangers," he ground out, "Are Time Force's private military force. That's all they've ever wanted from them. Maybe it started out as a way to protect the past and make sure that our future exists, but in the end, the Time Force Rangers are nothing more than underpaid soldiers in their pockets."
"You look like Eric."
There was something in Lucas' tone that made him look up, giving him a skeptical glance. "Trip said that, too. What are you talking about?"
"The nose thing," Lucas explained. "Eric does that. I never noticed it before, but you do kind of look like him."
"And judging by your reports, I probably act like him, too," he said dryly, remembering the less than glowing remarks the Rangers had to say about Eric Myers.
Lucas jerked in surprise, sitting up in his seat with an odd look on his face. "You do, actually," he replied, frowning. "You act a lot like him ... " He trailed off, and the look he gave Alex was making him uncomfortable.
"Was there anything else you needed?" he asked finally, turning to look out the window again.
There was a pause. "No," Lucas said finally. He heard him get up. "I should get going."
He nodded without bothering to look back. "Computer, de-activate privacy lock."
There was an answering chirp, and the barely audible sound of the doors sliding open.
"And Alex?"
He glanced back.
Lucas had paused in the doorway, one hand placed on the frame to keep it open. "You're not alone anymore," he said seriously. "And no matter what happens, we're with you."
Alex continued to stare long after the door had closed behind him.