A Darker Shade of Red (Time Force/Power Rangers, T, Chapter 36: Wants)
Go illness for inspiring the muses! I'm on a roll!
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/: The more chances I give Alex to know his relatives, the more cuddly he seems to become. I've always known the boy was affection starved, but this is getting ridiculous. -Frowns at him- I'm sort of afraid of what he'll do next.
But at the same time, it's so damn adorable I don't care.
Love to phantom_blue for her *attempt* to beta. ^_~
Alex wandered wearily into the kitchen and paused, blinking for several moments. It took a good minute before he finally placed what was wrong, turning around to stare at the dining room table. And it was several more minutes later before he finally realized *why* that was wrong.
Wes grinned at him over his coffee cup. "Not a morning person?" he teased.
He grunted the closest thing he could manage to an affirmative, even though it wasn't quite true.
"I made a full pot," Wes offered, pointing to the coffee pot.
Alex shook his head, going to the cupboard instead and digging out one of the protein shake mixes he usually drank for breakfast. He moved through the process of making it on autopilot, measuring and stirring without conscious thought. Katie had joked once that he could probably have made one of these shakes in his sleep.
It was a good twenty minutes after getting his shake and joining Wes at the table before he was coherent enough to manage conversation. "You sleep all right?"
Wes shrugged, smiling. "As well as can be expected."
He shook his head when Alex frowned at him. "The couch was fine. Very comfortable. I'm just not used to this place," he explained. He shrugged again, and this time his smile was rueful. "Not used to sleeping alone, either."
Alex made a face, because that was one of those things he was fairly certain he hadn't needed to know about his parents.
Wes laughed at him. "That's not what I meant," he protested, but the smile on his face made it hard to believe.
Alex raised his eyebrows at him pointedly.
Wes snickered again. "Yes, Eric and I share a bed. But we also share with Jen, and sometimes Sheep. It's weird being actually able to roll over and not worry about crushing somebody."
He frowned, trying to ignore how odd that statement sounded. "Sheep? That's ... Sky's cat, right?"
"He's supposed to be Eric's, actually," Wes said with a chuckle. "But Sky sort of stole him. We've been talking about getting another cat for Eric to make up for it, but Sky won't promise not to steal that one, too."
"He does love animals," Alex mused, taking a long sip of his shake.
"You should have seen him the first time he helped R.J. out at the animal shelter." Wes shook his head, his smile fond. "That kid was in heaven."
"You two are up early."
They both glanced up at Jen as she wandered past, still in her morning workout clothes. "I always wake up at this time," Alex reminded her.
"I meant you're *conscious* early," she retorted, but she smiled when she said it.
"I've been up for awhile, actually," Wes spoke up. "Hazards of having a dog and working for S.P.D." He grinned ruefully. "We uh, had to borrow your backyard, since I don't know where the park is. Sorry about that."
Jen waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine." She eyed him over her own coffee mug. "I'm just surprised to see you already up and about. It's not the way I remember you."
Wes' smile faded a little, and he shrugged. "People change in twenty-seven years."
"Good morning, everybody!" Katie called cheerfully. "Who's hungry?"
"Do we have time for cooking?" Alex asked with a frown.
"There's always time for a good meal," Katie returned, already turning to the stove.
Wes grinned faintly. "Morning, Katie. Thanks, but sorry - Jen and I already attacked the synthetron." He paused, and winced. "Uh, Dog Jen. Not Human Jen."
"That's gonna be confusing," Trip remarked as he wandered in, Lucas trailing behind him.
Wes shrugged, giving the human Jen an apologetic look. "Sorry. But it's been her name all her life. It's all she knows."
"I can relate," Jen returned dryly, and Trip and Katie snickered.
Alex frowned as he looked past them into the hallway. "Isn't Ben up yet?"
"He hasn't been downstairs yet if he is," Trip offered.
"I didn't hear him when I was exercising," Jen told him.
He sighed and got up. "I don't care what excuse he's got today, he's *going* to school," he grumbled.
"Come on, Alex. Have a heart," Wes coaxed. "It's not every day you get to meet your dad from nine hundred and seventy-three years ago."
Alex scowled at him. "Stop trying to corrupt my little brother," he warned.
Wes just grinned back.
Trip was frowning, his head tilted in thought. "You're from 2029, Wes?" Alex heard him ask as he headed for the stairs.
He paused just before the door of the room he and Ben shared, knocking quietly, but loud enough for Ben to hear him. Ben didn't like surprises, especially when they involved the invasion of his space. "Benji?" he called quietly, opening the door slowly. "It's me."
The room was mostly dark when he opened it, which immediately set him on edge. The only light came from the small lamp they kept on the nightstand beside Ben's bed. He surveyed the room quickly for signs of a threat before at last settling back on the bed in the corner, and the lump of red and black blankets.
He sighed, flicking on first the wall light, then the lamp in the opposite corner. When he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, he wasn't surprised to notice the lump was shaking. "Benji, why do you do this to yourself?" he murmured, reaching out to rub what he judged to be Ben's shoulder.
"M' sixteen," came the muffled response. "Not s'posed t' be 'fraid of the dark."
Alex closed his eyes briefly. "You're not sixteen," he reminded him quietly. "You should be thirteen."
Ben didn't answer.
He sighed. "He's not going to care, Benji."
The lump stiffened. "That's not why I'm doing it."
"Really."
The blankets slipped down enough to reveal a single, glaring blue eye. It was slightly watery, but he pretended not to notice. "It's not fair!" Ben burst out.
He reached out again, running a hand over his brother's hair. The thought that Wes had done the same for him only last night occurred to him, but he pushed it away. "Which part isn't fair now?"
Ben crumpled slightly at the acknowledgement that there was more than one thing for him to be angry over. "You," he muttered finally. "And him. You already know him. I don't ... I don't know anything."
"You're right," he agreed. "It's not fair."
The blankets moved enough for Ben to scowl up at him. "Stop being so nice!" he demanded. "I can't be mad at you when you're being reasonable!"
It was hard not to smile. "But you're right," he reminded him. "None of this is fair. Any of it. Him being here. The way I know him so well - the reasons I do." He paused, brushing Ben's bangs back from his face. He hesitated, finally forcing himself to say it. "The fact that he knows *me* well enough to tell me last night that he wasn't going to take you away from me."
Ben gave him a weird look. "Why would you think he would?"
He sighed again, looking away. After a minute he shrugged. "You don't have to stay here, Ben. In this time. You don't know anyone but me and the Rangers, and I know ... I know it's been hard for you. You can give your morpher to someone else if you really want to."
"Now you're just being stupid," Ben said flatly, blankets falling in his lap as he sat up. He put a hand on Alex's shoulder, shoving him roughly. "*You're* here, aren't you?"
"What else is keeping you here?" he pointed out. "If you ... if you went back to 2029, with Wes, you could start over. You'd have a whole family. No one would know who you are or about where you grew up. You'd just be Wes and Eric's son."
There was a long pause.
"Are we talking about me or you now?" Ben asked.
He closed his eyes, burying his head in his hands. "I don't know," he muttered. "I ... know I can't, but ... But sometimes I wonder ... what if I did?"
"So why can't you?"
He lifted his left wrist wordlessly.
"Your morpher?" Ben guessed.
He shrugged and nodded. That was more or less what he meant. It was the source of most of his problems, anyway.
"That's a stupid reason," Ben decided.
Alex sighed. "Benji - "
"It is!" Ben interrupted, sounding irritated now. "That piece of techno-junk has done nothing but make you suffer. Make *us* suffer. Why should it keep you here?"
"Because ... " He swallowed, feeling his eyes burn. "Because I'm the only one who - "
Then he stopped, shaking his head. Because that wasn't the real reason he stayed, no matter how much he pretended it was. There was only one reason.
Well, four.
"Jen," he said finally. "Trip. Lucas and Katie. They keep me here."
Ben leaned against him, resting his head on his shoulder. "That's funny. They keep me here, too," he remarked.
Alex smiled a little. "So does that mean you finally like them?"
"Do I get a choice?"
He chuckled, remembering the last time Ben had asked him that. "No. Not really."
"Figures."
Alex tilted his head against his brother's with a sigh. "You really don't want to go to school today, do you?"
"A, I *never* want to go to school. I'd rather be home schooled, but you won't listen."
"You've never had the chance to be a normal kid, Benji. You deserve that."
Ben huffed. "A, I'm not *you*. Maybe that's what you wanted. But I *like* spending my time at Ranger Tower and hanging around home. I like knowing where you guys are if I need you or you need me. I like ... " He hesitated.
Alex nudged him gently. “You like what, Benji?"
Ben sighed. "I like being a Ranger, A," he confessed softly. "I know you hate it. And I know why ... but I don't. I think ... I think maybe ... even if things were different? This is what I would have always wanted to be."
A cold feeling had settled over Alex, and he tried not to shudder. "You want to join Time Force," he whispered.
"No!" Ben insisted quickly. Then he paused. "Well, not ... *our* Time Force. But ... Jen's Time Force, maybe." He shifted slightly, and Alex could see him peering up at him out of the corner of his eye. "I want to work with the Rangers, A. I want to help protect people."
This time, he did shudder.
"Let me think about it for awhile, Benji," he murmured finally. "Please? I ... I understand. I think. I just ... "
Ben's arm wrapped around his waist, and he cuddled closer. "Thanks, A," he mumbled.
And that was all they needed to say, really.
He wasn't sure how long they sat like that, leaning on each other, before he heard a soft knock on the door. He glanced up and saw Wes leaning on the frame, watching them together with a soft expression. "Hey ... " he said softly. "Sorry to interrupt, but Jen's complaining that we're either going to be late to school or court, and Katie won't let anybody leave until they've eaten."
"Sounds about right," Alex muttered. He glanced at Ben and sighed. "All right. You don't have to go to school today."
Ben whooped and threw his arms around him, tackling him back onto the bed. "You're the best, A!"
"Benji, you're heavy!" he groaned, even though he wasn't.
He could hear Wes laughing from the doorway, and for a single moment, everything was perfect.
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/: The more chances I give Alex to know his relatives, the more cuddly he seems to become. I've always known the boy was affection starved, but this is getting ridiculous. -Frowns at him- I'm sort of afraid of what he'll do next.
But at the same time, it's so damn adorable I don't care.
Love to phantom_blue for her *attempt* to beta. ^_~
Alex wandered wearily into the kitchen and paused, blinking for several moments. It took a good minute before he finally placed what was wrong, turning around to stare at the dining room table. And it was several more minutes later before he finally realized *why* that was wrong.
Wes grinned at him over his coffee cup. "Not a morning person?" he teased.
He grunted the closest thing he could manage to an affirmative, even though it wasn't quite true.
"I made a full pot," Wes offered, pointing to the coffee pot.
Alex shook his head, going to the cupboard instead and digging out one of the protein shake mixes he usually drank for breakfast. He moved through the process of making it on autopilot, measuring and stirring without conscious thought. Katie had joked once that he could probably have made one of these shakes in his sleep.
It was a good twenty minutes after getting his shake and joining Wes at the table before he was coherent enough to manage conversation. "You sleep all right?"
Wes shrugged, smiling. "As well as can be expected."
He shook his head when Alex frowned at him. "The couch was fine. Very comfortable. I'm just not used to this place," he explained. He shrugged again, and this time his smile was rueful. "Not used to sleeping alone, either."
Alex made a face, because that was one of those things he was fairly certain he hadn't needed to know about his parents.
Wes laughed at him. "That's not what I meant," he protested, but the smile on his face made it hard to believe.
Alex raised his eyebrows at him pointedly.
Wes snickered again. "Yes, Eric and I share a bed. But we also share with Jen, and sometimes Sheep. It's weird being actually able to roll over and not worry about crushing somebody."
He frowned, trying to ignore how odd that statement sounded. "Sheep? That's ... Sky's cat, right?"
"He's supposed to be Eric's, actually," Wes said with a chuckle. "But Sky sort of stole him. We've been talking about getting another cat for Eric to make up for it, but Sky won't promise not to steal that one, too."
"He does love animals," Alex mused, taking a long sip of his shake.
"You should have seen him the first time he helped R.J. out at the animal shelter." Wes shook his head, his smile fond. "That kid was in heaven."
"You two are up early."
They both glanced up at Jen as she wandered past, still in her morning workout clothes. "I always wake up at this time," Alex reminded her.
"I meant you're *conscious* early," she retorted, but she smiled when she said it.
"I've been up for awhile, actually," Wes spoke up. "Hazards of having a dog and working for S.P.D." He grinned ruefully. "We uh, had to borrow your backyard, since I don't know where the park is. Sorry about that."
Jen waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine." She eyed him over her own coffee mug. "I'm just surprised to see you already up and about. It's not the way I remember you."
Wes' smile faded a little, and he shrugged. "People change in twenty-seven years."
"Good morning, everybody!" Katie called cheerfully. "Who's hungry?"
"Do we have time for cooking?" Alex asked with a frown.
"There's always time for a good meal," Katie returned, already turning to the stove.
Wes grinned faintly. "Morning, Katie. Thanks, but sorry - Jen and I already attacked the synthetron." He paused, and winced. "Uh, Dog Jen. Not Human Jen."
"That's gonna be confusing," Trip remarked as he wandered in, Lucas trailing behind him.
Wes shrugged, giving the human Jen an apologetic look. "Sorry. But it's been her name all her life. It's all she knows."
"I can relate," Jen returned dryly, and Trip and Katie snickered.
Alex frowned as he looked past them into the hallway. "Isn't Ben up yet?"
"He hasn't been downstairs yet if he is," Trip offered.
"I didn't hear him when I was exercising," Jen told him.
He sighed and got up. "I don't care what excuse he's got today, he's *going* to school," he grumbled.
"Come on, Alex. Have a heart," Wes coaxed. "It's not every day you get to meet your dad from nine hundred and seventy-three years ago."
Alex scowled at him. "Stop trying to corrupt my little brother," he warned.
Wes just grinned back.
Trip was frowning, his head tilted in thought. "You're from 2029, Wes?" Alex heard him ask as he headed for the stairs.
He paused just before the door of the room he and Ben shared, knocking quietly, but loud enough for Ben to hear him. Ben didn't like surprises, especially when they involved the invasion of his space. "Benji?" he called quietly, opening the door slowly. "It's me."
The room was mostly dark when he opened it, which immediately set him on edge. The only light came from the small lamp they kept on the nightstand beside Ben's bed. He surveyed the room quickly for signs of a threat before at last settling back on the bed in the corner, and the lump of red and black blankets.
He sighed, flicking on first the wall light, then the lamp in the opposite corner. When he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, he wasn't surprised to notice the lump was shaking. "Benji, why do you do this to yourself?" he murmured, reaching out to rub what he judged to be Ben's shoulder.
"M' sixteen," came the muffled response. "Not s'posed t' be 'fraid of the dark."
Alex closed his eyes briefly. "You're not sixteen," he reminded him quietly. "You should be thirteen."
Ben didn't answer.
He sighed. "He's not going to care, Benji."
The lump stiffened. "That's not why I'm doing it."
"Really."
The blankets slipped down enough to reveal a single, glaring blue eye. It was slightly watery, but he pretended not to notice. "It's not fair!" Ben burst out.
He reached out again, running a hand over his brother's hair. The thought that Wes had done the same for him only last night occurred to him, but he pushed it away. "Which part isn't fair now?"
Ben crumpled slightly at the acknowledgement that there was more than one thing for him to be angry over. "You," he muttered finally. "And him. You already know him. I don't ... I don't know anything."
"You're right," he agreed. "It's not fair."
The blankets moved enough for Ben to scowl up at him. "Stop being so nice!" he demanded. "I can't be mad at you when you're being reasonable!"
It was hard not to smile. "But you're right," he reminded him. "None of this is fair. Any of it. Him being here. The way I know him so well - the reasons I do." He paused, brushing Ben's bangs back from his face. He hesitated, finally forcing himself to say it. "The fact that he knows *me* well enough to tell me last night that he wasn't going to take you away from me."
Ben gave him a weird look. "Why would you think he would?"
He sighed again, looking away. After a minute he shrugged. "You don't have to stay here, Ben. In this time. You don't know anyone but me and the Rangers, and I know ... I know it's been hard for you. You can give your morpher to someone else if you really want to."
"Now you're just being stupid," Ben said flatly, blankets falling in his lap as he sat up. He put a hand on Alex's shoulder, shoving him roughly. "*You're* here, aren't you?"
"What else is keeping you here?" he pointed out. "If you ... if you went back to 2029, with Wes, you could start over. You'd have a whole family. No one would know who you are or about where you grew up. You'd just be Wes and Eric's son."
There was a long pause.
"Are we talking about me or you now?" Ben asked.
He closed his eyes, burying his head in his hands. "I don't know," he muttered. "I ... know I can't, but ... But sometimes I wonder ... what if I did?"
"So why can't you?"
He lifted his left wrist wordlessly.
"Your morpher?" Ben guessed.
He shrugged and nodded. That was more or less what he meant. It was the source of most of his problems, anyway.
"That's a stupid reason," Ben decided.
Alex sighed. "Benji - "
"It is!" Ben interrupted, sounding irritated now. "That piece of techno-junk has done nothing but make you suffer. Make *us* suffer. Why should it keep you here?"
"Because ... " He swallowed, feeling his eyes burn. "Because I'm the only one who - "
Then he stopped, shaking his head. Because that wasn't the real reason he stayed, no matter how much he pretended it was. There was only one reason.
Well, four.
"Jen," he said finally. "Trip. Lucas and Katie. They keep me here."
Ben leaned against him, resting his head on his shoulder. "That's funny. They keep me here, too," he remarked.
Alex smiled a little. "So does that mean you finally like them?"
"Do I get a choice?"
He chuckled, remembering the last time Ben had asked him that. "No. Not really."
"Figures."
Alex tilted his head against his brother's with a sigh. "You really don't want to go to school today, do you?"
"A, I *never* want to go to school. I'd rather be home schooled, but you won't listen."
"You've never had the chance to be a normal kid, Benji. You deserve that."
Ben huffed. "A, I'm not *you*. Maybe that's what you wanted. But I *like* spending my time at Ranger Tower and hanging around home. I like knowing where you guys are if I need you or you need me. I like ... " He hesitated.
Alex nudged him gently. “You like what, Benji?"
Ben sighed. "I like being a Ranger, A," he confessed softly. "I know you hate it. And I know why ... but I don't. I think ... I think maybe ... even if things were different? This is what I would have always wanted to be."
A cold feeling had settled over Alex, and he tried not to shudder. "You want to join Time Force," he whispered.
"No!" Ben insisted quickly. Then he paused. "Well, not ... *our* Time Force. But ... Jen's Time Force, maybe." He shifted slightly, and Alex could see him peering up at him out of the corner of his eye. "I want to work with the Rangers, A. I want to help protect people."
This time, he did shudder.
"Let me think about it for awhile, Benji," he murmured finally. "Please? I ... I understand. I think. I just ... "
Ben's arm wrapped around his waist, and he cuddled closer. "Thanks, A," he mumbled.
And that was all they needed to say, really.
He wasn't sure how long they sat like that, leaning on each other, before he heard a soft knock on the door. He glanced up and saw Wes leaning on the frame, watching them together with a soft expression. "Hey ... " he said softly. "Sorry to interrupt, but Jen's complaining that we're either going to be late to school or court, and Katie won't let anybody leave until they've eaten."
"Sounds about right," Alex muttered. He glanced at Ben and sighed. "All right. You don't have to go to school today."
Ben whooped and threw his arms around him, tackling him back onto the bed. "You're the best, A!"
"Benji, you're heavy!" he groaned, even though he wasn't.
He could hear Wes laughing from the doorway, and for a single moment, everything was perfect.