"Soul's Bonds", Chapter 21
Not much to say about this one, except one tiny note at the end. It's kinda long, but it's one of my favorites, so enjoy.
Chapter 21 (Bridge)
Four Rangers left.
Two assassins attacking.
Not good odds at all... Ka'ladra and Garo were menacing innocent civilians on the opposite side of town from where their computer had been located, so we were forced to fight them instead of following that lead. The two immediately took off in different directions as soon as we'd arrived, so Sky and I went after Garo as Z and Cruger took on Ka'ladra. As we pursued the villain on foot, I found myself strangely grateful that we at least weren't going after Ka'ladra, which I wasn't sure I could handle...
"Stop running away! Fight us, you coward!" Sky yelled, firing his Delta Enforcer in vain frustration at Garo's back. The both of us jumped out of the way as his mace weapon swung back, narrowly missing me.
"You're crazy, Red Ranger! I don't call it cowardice, I call it survival tactics, 'cause I sure as hell am not gonna end up in one of them little containment cards!" Garo shouted back at us. "And anyway, as long as I wear you guys down, you'll be easy pickings!"
"YOU-" Sky fired again and again, but it didn't even slow Garo down. "FIGHT US! TELL US WHERE SYD IS!"
"I wonder... what... he's planning?" I panted. "Is he... just going... to kill us?"
"He's not going to get a chance to. He's going to be too full of holes to move before I get through with him," Sky snarled in response. Garo then stopped as he ran right into a dead end, and Sky and I raised our blasters at him. "Come along and be contained quietly. I don't want to have to do this the hard way."
"Hmm... I prefer doing things the hard way," Garo cackled, and we felt rumbling under our feet. "Too bad for you, though!" Sky and I let out gasps of surprise as the concrete cracked, and a second assassin- this one with a head shaped like a rhinoceros'- popped up from the ground behind us, cutting off our escape. His horn was a large drill, and there were other drills on each shoulder and sprouting from each arm at the wrist; his toes and fingers also appeared to be drill-tipped. "Ah yes, you haven't met my friend Borandig, Blue Ranger. So named because digging is what he does best. He's the strong but silent type, which is good, because we'll be able to hear your screams as you suffer! No need to tell you where the Pink Ranger is, either, seeing as how you'll never see her again!"
"Well, we'll even the odds a little, then," said Sky. "Commander? Z? Do you copy?! We need help!"
"Ah, ah, ah," said Garo, and we were forced to dodge again as the mace shot out at us. "Be good little boys and stay put for the fun! Besides, if all's going well, your communications are being jammed by our ally in another part of town!"
"Sky... -dge," came Z's voice over our communicators, fading in and out. "We... ...you guys... ... ... Syd..." It then went dead, and an alert in my helmet informed us that the signal was being disrupted and would be back online shortly.
"Great. Looks like we're on our own, Bridge," Sky said grimly as we stood back-to-back and raised our Delta Enforcers, the spinning drills and mace weapon menacing us. "Think we've got a chance?"
"Not really, puddin'." I swallowed hard, fear making my heart quicken. What had happened to what was shaping up to be a pretty good day for once? How had we ended up in a fight we were very likely going to lose and end up captured or dead? If this was meant to be my final battle, I was glad that I was at least by Sky's side for it...
"Love you, puss," he said.
"I love you, too," I told him. "On the count... of three, then?"
"Why not NOW?" So we charged, Sky going for Garo and me running at Borandig; I tried ramming into the rhino-like monster, but soon regretted it; he easily knocked me backward with a hard blow to my chest, my S.W.A.T. armor thankfully absorbing most of the impact. Sky fell on top of me, his own chest armor cracked, then scrambled to his feet and shot his Delta Enforcer at Borandig, stopping him from leaping upon us.
"I told you to stay still," said Garo, grabbing me and slamming me against a wall. I swiflty raised my Enforcer and fired right into his face before kicking at his knees; Garo dropped me and fell back, growling as he felt the smoking hole where his left "eye" had been. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, SQUIRT!" he screeched and charged at me, too fast for me to dodge. Sky tried leaping to my defense but was held back by Borandig, giving a cry of pain as drill-like claws dug through his suit and into his leg, pulling him down and making him drop his gun. Garo knocked me into the wall again, and though I tried to stop it with all of my might, I demorphed. Near us, Sky had also demorphed, and Borandig had him pinned. "Heh. Listen to me next time," Garo smirked, then punched me right in the throat. Tears clouded my vision as I gasped for breath, and I clutched at my neck before he threw me to the ground. Feelings of dread and despair started rushing in, my chest tightening. No, I pleaded. NO... not a panic attack, not at a time like this! Though I fought hard to focus, to keep myself in reality and not succumb to my awful memories, I could do little to stop Garo as he reached inside his body, pulled out a chain, and tied me up with it. He then pulled both my gloves off, shredding them on a spike of his mace weapon, and waves of intense emotion from everybody else present- fear, anger, hatred, evil triumph- now flooded in, threatening to overwhelm my already strained senses. I barely took in what happened next.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Let him go!" Sky snarled. His right arm glowed as he started to generate a force field, but was forced to be still as a drill was pressed against his windpipe.
"I'm making sure the squirt stays nice and docile for what happens next, of course, hero boy. Now I'm going to show you two something few have ever laid eyes on before and lived to tell the tale," said Garo, opening his chest cavity, revealing nothing but emptiness inside- nothing except a glowing, gelatinous blob near the neck of the armor. "Do you know what this is?"
"Tri'rym," Sky gasped out, and my eyes widened.
"Oh... you humans are good," sneered Garo, reaching down into a leg of his body and pulling out a container with another Tri'rym inside. "Done your homework, I see. And I guess you know what they do, don't you? They take over things, but they're usually too stupid to control them for too long. When properly bonded to an intelligent soul, though- like, say, mine or yours- they become a deadly weapon. The perfect fighter and servant, because while a physical body can be destroyed, a Tri'rym can easily escape to live, find a new host, and fight another day. Once you're under its control and it binds to your soul, I can take you to our master, and he'll kindly erase all of your memories, make it so your only purpose is to serve him and complete his plan. Now, many of our experiments haven't survived the process- but you can't win if you don't try again, right?" He turned me over onto my stomach, opening the container then poising one of his clawed fingers over the back of my head, right over my brainstem. I could feel purely evil glee oozing from him. "This might hurt a little bit, squirt, but once you stop resisting, it's all over. You either die, or you become one of us."
"NO! LET HIM GO!" Sky yelled, thrashing madly, ignoring the drills as they pierced his skin. "DON'T DO IT! TAKE ME! Do it to me instead! NOOOOOOO!!!" I screwed my eyes shut, not even bothering to struggle, knowing this was the end, that there was no hope left, and the panic attack fully took hold, making me leave reality completely this time because my powers were uninhibited-
-and I was being held by Ka'ladra again. Hearing him laugh as he taunted me with my worst fears, telling me over and over that my friends didn't care about me, were never coming for me, that I was going to die, but not before he made me tell him everything I knew about them and about SPD...
"Poor kid," said an unfamiliar female voice as I left my memories. Was this real? Was I now infested and hallucinating, or had I died? I couldn't have, though, as I hadn't seen the gate. Every breath I took was painful, as well- too painful for it to mean I was anything but alive. My mind had stopped racing, as had my heart, and the emotions around me had gone from chaos to (relative) calm. I seemed to still be in control of myself, as well. "He looks awful. Come on, let's get him into our hovercar..."
"Don't touch him," said Sky. "Please... I mean no disrespect, of course, but he was having a panic attack when you guys got here, so maybe it's best if he doesn't have three unfamiliar faces gathered around when he's coming out of it. His psychic powers are also uninhibited, so it might set him off again if his bare hands touch you. I'm his boyfriend, I'll care for him."
"Understood," said the voice. I opened my eyes, the scene around me swimming into focus. Someone had untied me and sat me against a wall. Sky crawled over and slumped against it next to me, his aura a mix of relief, concern, and fear. His left leg, which Borandig had grabbed, was roughly bandaged, and bleeding wounds covered his face and body. There was blood all over the ground, in fact. I tensed when I saw three aliens nearby, but read confidence, friendliness, and humor in all of their auras and relaxed, knowing we were in the company of friends.
"That was a close call. Way too close. Are you OK?" Sky asked me. I tried to speak, but I felt so weak and my throat hurt so badly all I could manage was a moan. "Not surprised that you can't talk. As long as you're alive, though... These three are the Sun Vulcan Squad. They saved us," he explained. "When you went completely out of it, they came out of nowhere. They're amazing fighters. We now have Garo in containment, but Borandig got away through the ground. The Vulcans will be taking us back to base; Cruger and Z are already on their way there. They didn't find out anything about Syd... Ka'ladra fled soon after they started chasing him." I nodded again and tried standing up, but my legs wouldn't support me. The battle and panic attack had left me completely exhausted, and all I wanted to do now was go to sleep and forget about what had just happened...
"'ere, little fella," said a second unknown voice, and I was helped up by the largest of the aliens. He was at least seven feet tall and very well-muscled; he resembled Commander Birdie, except his feathers were red. He wore a blue uniform with SPD badges on it. "Lean on me, I'll take care of you. Hey, you're a Blue Ranger, like I am. My name's Charles Cardinal Birdie, but call me Charlie, everyone does. Despite my red feathers I'm the Blue Falcon Vulcan. What's your name?" I looked up at him, making a feeble squeaking noise as I crammed my hands in my pockets to dampen my powers, wishing that Garo hadn't shredded my gloves. "Oh, that's right, you're injured."
"I'm Schuyler, but everyone calls me Sky. His name is Bridge," said Sky. "He already has problems speaking because his throat was slit a while ago by one of the assassins, that punch just made it worse." He stood up but almost immediately fell back down, his face screwed up in pain, when he tried putting weight on his injured leg. "AHHHHH. Oh. Crap."
"Wow, this kid survived getting his throat cut? Must be a tough guy, then," said a third voice. I looked to my right to see a dark green-skinned alien, who was of an unknown species resembling an anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus, giving me a toothy grin as he helped Sky up. He was dressed in a yellow uniform. "Nice to meet you guys, Bridge and Sky, though I wish it coulda been under better circumstances, don't ya know. My real name is unpronounceable in English, so I go by David. I'm the Yellow Rex Vulcan."
"And I'm Joanoirie, but you can just call me Rie," said the female alien, who was very cat-like and wore a red uniform. She also carried the container holding the Tri'rym Garo had intended to infest me with. "I'm the Red Lynx Vulcan and leader of the Squad."
"I don't know how to thank you all," said Sky as they led us over to a big hovering convertible-like vehicle. "You saved our lives."
"It's our job, ain't it?" Charlie asked, easily lifting me into the back seat before hopping into the driver's seat. "Looks like you all could use some help, anyway. Supreme Commander Birdie said it was bad here, but I didn't realize how bad til we fought those things."
"We'll take care of defending Earth from here, right now you guys should get some rest and treatment for your injuries," said Rie. She and David helped Sky get into the car next to me, then got in themselves, and off we went. I kissed Sky then lay my head on his shoulder, and he rested his head against mine before he pulled one of my hands out of my pocket to hold it; I could feel that he was just as tired as I was, though there was plenty of love coming through as well. His other hand moved up to stroke my hair.
"If you guys wanna have a victory make-out, s'alright, but don't be too loud," said Charlie, and the other two laughed uproariously, making me pull away self-consciously. "Oh, go ahead, lean on each other, we don't care. Having emotional support's sometimes even better than physical support after a tough battle. Tell me then, Sky, what have you heard about us from that smug, overstuffed, feathery ass Commander Birdie?" The two of us looked at him, shocked. "I can talk about him like that because he's my brother," Charlie explained, guffawing. "David and Rie can get away with it, too- we've all been friends since we were little, and we trained to be part of SPD together. So, go on, tell us what you thought we were gonna be like."
"Well, erm, I'm surprised that you're so..." Sky began.
"Fun?" supplied David.
"Lighthearted? Cool?" suggested Rie. "We get that a lot. We only turn serious when we're fighting or training, but outside of battle, we know how to have a little fun. Relieves a lot of job stress, humor does. Why, I remember this one time..." As she launched into her story, I closed my eyes, thinking I was just going to rest them for a little bit, then...
..."Look at the two sweethearts, sleepin' and holding hands," Charlie said in a low voice. "Either you bored 'em to sleep like you do us, Rie, or they're really beat." I then felt myself being carried into the base by him, wanting to protest but so exhausted I was unable to move, and he was assuring me that it was no problem, he'd put me to bed with Sky as soon as his injuries were patched up, then...
...Charlie was pulling my jacket and shoes off, laying me down in Sky's bed and covering me with something, and I was murmuring thanks, and...
..."My own li'l kitten," Sky whispered in my ear as he got into bed with me. "All mine to cuddle for the rest of the day. I love you, Bridge." As he snuggled close to me, I felt almost overwhelming love, affection, and relief coming from him, soothing me right back to sleep.
One note: I realized after I'd finished the story that the evil A-Squad Red was also named Charlie. *facepalm* I obviously didn't think of it when introducing the Sun Vulcan Squad, my logic being, "OH hey! One of them can be a bird, and I will make him look like a cardinal and name him after Charlie Cardinal, Ball State's mascot!". But by the time I realized my goof, he was too firmly entrenched in my mind as "Charlie", so Charlie he shall stay.
Also, the Squad is named after and very, very loosely based on the Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan.
Chapter 21 (Bridge)
Four Rangers left.
Two assassins attacking.
Not good odds at all... Ka'ladra and Garo were menacing innocent civilians on the opposite side of town from where their computer had been located, so we were forced to fight them instead of following that lead. The two immediately took off in different directions as soon as we'd arrived, so Sky and I went after Garo as Z and Cruger took on Ka'ladra. As we pursued the villain on foot, I found myself strangely grateful that we at least weren't going after Ka'ladra, which I wasn't sure I could handle...
"Stop running away! Fight us, you coward!" Sky yelled, firing his Delta Enforcer in vain frustration at Garo's back. The both of us jumped out of the way as his mace weapon swung back, narrowly missing me.
"You're crazy, Red Ranger! I don't call it cowardice, I call it survival tactics, 'cause I sure as hell am not gonna end up in one of them little containment cards!" Garo shouted back at us. "And anyway, as long as I wear you guys down, you'll be easy pickings!"
"YOU-" Sky fired again and again, but it didn't even slow Garo down. "FIGHT US! TELL US WHERE SYD IS!"
"I wonder... what... he's planning?" I panted. "Is he... just going... to kill us?"
"He's not going to get a chance to. He's going to be too full of holes to move before I get through with him," Sky snarled in response. Garo then stopped as he ran right into a dead end, and Sky and I raised our blasters at him. "Come along and be contained quietly. I don't want to have to do this the hard way."
"Hmm... I prefer doing things the hard way," Garo cackled, and we felt rumbling under our feet. "Too bad for you, though!" Sky and I let out gasps of surprise as the concrete cracked, and a second assassin- this one with a head shaped like a rhinoceros'- popped up from the ground behind us, cutting off our escape. His horn was a large drill, and there were other drills on each shoulder and sprouting from each arm at the wrist; his toes and fingers also appeared to be drill-tipped. "Ah yes, you haven't met my friend Borandig, Blue Ranger. So named because digging is what he does best. He's the strong but silent type, which is good, because we'll be able to hear your screams as you suffer! No need to tell you where the Pink Ranger is, either, seeing as how you'll never see her again!"
"Well, we'll even the odds a little, then," said Sky. "Commander? Z? Do you copy?! We need help!"
"Ah, ah, ah," said Garo, and we were forced to dodge again as the mace shot out at us. "Be good little boys and stay put for the fun! Besides, if all's going well, your communications are being jammed by our ally in another part of town!"
"Sky... -dge," came Z's voice over our communicators, fading in and out. "We... ...you guys... ... ... Syd..." It then went dead, and an alert in my helmet informed us that the signal was being disrupted and would be back online shortly.
"Great. Looks like we're on our own, Bridge," Sky said grimly as we stood back-to-back and raised our Delta Enforcers, the spinning drills and mace weapon menacing us. "Think we've got a chance?"
"Not really, puddin'." I swallowed hard, fear making my heart quicken. What had happened to what was shaping up to be a pretty good day for once? How had we ended up in a fight we were very likely going to lose and end up captured or dead? If this was meant to be my final battle, I was glad that I was at least by Sky's side for it...
"Love you, puss," he said.
"I love you, too," I told him. "On the count... of three, then?"
"Why not NOW?" So we charged, Sky going for Garo and me running at Borandig; I tried ramming into the rhino-like monster, but soon regretted it; he easily knocked me backward with a hard blow to my chest, my S.W.A.T. armor thankfully absorbing most of the impact. Sky fell on top of me, his own chest armor cracked, then scrambled to his feet and shot his Delta Enforcer at Borandig, stopping him from leaping upon us.
"I told you to stay still," said Garo, grabbing me and slamming me against a wall. I swiflty raised my Enforcer and fired right into his face before kicking at his knees; Garo dropped me and fell back, growling as he felt the smoking hole where his left "eye" had been. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, SQUIRT!" he screeched and charged at me, too fast for me to dodge. Sky tried leaping to my defense but was held back by Borandig, giving a cry of pain as drill-like claws dug through his suit and into his leg, pulling him down and making him drop his gun. Garo knocked me into the wall again, and though I tried to stop it with all of my might, I demorphed. Near us, Sky had also demorphed, and Borandig had him pinned. "Heh. Listen to me next time," Garo smirked, then punched me right in the throat. Tears clouded my vision as I gasped for breath, and I clutched at my neck before he threw me to the ground. Feelings of dread and despair started rushing in, my chest tightening. No, I pleaded. NO... not a panic attack, not at a time like this! Though I fought hard to focus, to keep myself in reality and not succumb to my awful memories, I could do little to stop Garo as he reached inside his body, pulled out a chain, and tied me up with it. He then pulled both my gloves off, shredding them on a spike of his mace weapon, and waves of intense emotion from everybody else present- fear, anger, hatred, evil triumph- now flooded in, threatening to overwhelm my already strained senses. I barely took in what happened next.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Let him go!" Sky snarled. His right arm glowed as he started to generate a force field, but was forced to be still as a drill was pressed against his windpipe.
"I'm making sure the squirt stays nice and docile for what happens next, of course, hero boy. Now I'm going to show you two something few have ever laid eyes on before and lived to tell the tale," said Garo, opening his chest cavity, revealing nothing but emptiness inside- nothing except a glowing, gelatinous blob near the neck of the armor. "Do you know what this is?"
"Tri'rym," Sky gasped out, and my eyes widened.
"Oh... you humans are good," sneered Garo, reaching down into a leg of his body and pulling out a container with another Tri'rym inside. "Done your homework, I see. And I guess you know what they do, don't you? They take over things, but they're usually too stupid to control them for too long. When properly bonded to an intelligent soul, though- like, say, mine or yours- they become a deadly weapon. The perfect fighter and servant, because while a physical body can be destroyed, a Tri'rym can easily escape to live, find a new host, and fight another day. Once you're under its control and it binds to your soul, I can take you to our master, and he'll kindly erase all of your memories, make it so your only purpose is to serve him and complete his plan. Now, many of our experiments haven't survived the process- but you can't win if you don't try again, right?" He turned me over onto my stomach, opening the container then poising one of his clawed fingers over the back of my head, right over my brainstem. I could feel purely evil glee oozing from him. "This might hurt a little bit, squirt, but once you stop resisting, it's all over. You either die, or you become one of us."
"NO! LET HIM GO!" Sky yelled, thrashing madly, ignoring the drills as they pierced his skin. "DON'T DO IT! TAKE ME! Do it to me instead! NOOOOOOO!!!" I screwed my eyes shut, not even bothering to struggle, knowing this was the end, that there was no hope left, and the panic attack fully took hold, making me leave reality completely this time because my powers were uninhibited-
-and I was being held by Ka'ladra again. Hearing him laugh as he taunted me with my worst fears, telling me over and over that my friends didn't care about me, were never coming for me, that I was going to die, but not before he made me tell him everything I knew about them and about SPD...
"Poor kid," said an unfamiliar female voice as I left my memories. Was this real? Was I now infested and hallucinating, or had I died? I couldn't have, though, as I hadn't seen the gate. Every breath I took was painful, as well- too painful for it to mean I was anything but alive. My mind had stopped racing, as had my heart, and the emotions around me had gone from chaos to (relative) calm. I seemed to still be in control of myself, as well. "He looks awful. Come on, let's get him into our hovercar..."
"Don't touch him," said Sky. "Please... I mean no disrespect, of course, but he was having a panic attack when you guys got here, so maybe it's best if he doesn't have three unfamiliar faces gathered around when he's coming out of it. His psychic powers are also uninhibited, so it might set him off again if his bare hands touch you. I'm his boyfriend, I'll care for him."
"Understood," said the voice. I opened my eyes, the scene around me swimming into focus. Someone had untied me and sat me against a wall. Sky crawled over and slumped against it next to me, his aura a mix of relief, concern, and fear. His left leg, which Borandig had grabbed, was roughly bandaged, and bleeding wounds covered his face and body. There was blood all over the ground, in fact. I tensed when I saw three aliens nearby, but read confidence, friendliness, and humor in all of their auras and relaxed, knowing we were in the company of friends.
"That was a close call. Way too close. Are you OK?" Sky asked me. I tried to speak, but I felt so weak and my throat hurt so badly all I could manage was a moan. "Not surprised that you can't talk. As long as you're alive, though... These three are the Sun Vulcan Squad. They saved us," he explained. "When you went completely out of it, they came out of nowhere. They're amazing fighters. We now have Garo in containment, but Borandig got away through the ground. The Vulcans will be taking us back to base; Cruger and Z are already on their way there. They didn't find out anything about Syd... Ka'ladra fled soon after they started chasing him." I nodded again and tried standing up, but my legs wouldn't support me. The battle and panic attack had left me completely exhausted, and all I wanted to do now was go to sleep and forget about what had just happened...
"'ere, little fella," said a second unknown voice, and I was helped up by the largest of the aliens. He was at least seven feet tall and very well-muscled; he resembled Commander Birdie, except his feathers were red. He wore a blue uniform with SPD badges on it. "Lean on me, I'll take care of you. Hey, you're a Blue Ranger, like I am. My name's Charles Cardinal Birdie, but call me Charlie, everyone does. Despite my red feathers I'm the Blue Falcon Vulcan. What's your name?" I looked up at him, making a feeble squeaking noise as I crammed my hands in my pockets to dampen my powers, wishing that Garo hadn't shredded my gloves. "Oh, that's right, you're injured."
"I'm Schuyler, but everyone calls me Sky. His name is Bridge," said Sky. "He already has problems speaking because his throat was slit a while ago by one of the assassins, that punch just made it worse." He stood up but almost immediately fell back down, his face screwed up in pain, when he tried putting weight on his injured leg. "AHHHHH. Oh. Crap."
"Wow, this kid survived getting his throat cut? Must be a tough guy, then," said a third voice. I looked to my right to see a dark green-skinned alien, who was of an unknown species resembling an anthropomorphic Tyrannosaurus, giving me a toothy grin as he helped Sky up. He was dressed in a yellow uniform. "Nice to meet you guys, Bridge and Sky, though I wish it coulda been under better circumstances, don't ya know. My real name is unpronounceable in English, so I go by David. I'm the Yellow Rex Vulcan."
"And I'm Joanoirie, but you can just call me Rie," said the female alien, who was very cat-like and wore a red uniform. She also carried the container holding the Tri'rym Garo had intended to infest me with. "I'm the Red Lynx Vulcan and leader of the Squad."
"I don't know how to thank you all," said Sky as they led us over to a big hovering convertible-like vehicle. "You saved our lives."
"It's our job, ain't it?" Charlie asked, easily lifting me into the back seat before hopping into the driver's seat. "Looks like you all could use some help, anyway. Supreme Commander Birdie said it was bad here, but I didn't realize how bad til we fought those things."
"We'll take care of defending Earth from here, right now you guys should get some rest and treatment for your injuries," said Rie. She and David helped Sky get into the car next to me, then got in themselves, and off we went. I kissed Sky then lay my head on his shoulder, and he rested his head against mine before he pulled one of my hands out of my pocket to hold it; I could feel that he was just as tired as I was, though there was plenty of love coming through as well. His other hand moved up to stroke my hair.
"If you guys wanna have a victory make-out, s'alright, but don't be too loud," said Charlie, and the other two laughed uproariously, making me pull away self-consciously. "Oh, go ahead, lean on each other, we don't care. Having emotional support's sometimes even better than physical support after a tough battle. Tell me then, Sky, what have you heard about us from that smug, overstuffed, feathery ass Commander Birdie?" The two of us looked at him, shocked. "I can talk about him like that because he's my brother," Charlie explained, guffawing. "David and Rie can get away with it, too- we've all been friends since we were little, and we trained to be part of SPD together. So, go on, tell us what you thought we were gonna be like."
"Well, erm, I'm surprised that you're so..." Sky began.
"Fun?" supplied David.
"Lighthearted? Cool?" suggested Rie. "We get that a lot. We only turn serious when we're fighting or training, but outside of battle, we know how to have a little fun. Relieves a lot of job stress, humor does. Why, I remember this one time..." As she launched into her story, I closed my eyes, thinking I was just going to rest them for a little bit, then...
..."Look at the two sweethearts, sleepin' and holding hands," Charlie said in a low voice. "Either you bored 'em to sleep like you do us, Rie, or they're really beat." I then felt myself being carried into the base by him, wanting to protest but so exhausted I was unable to move, and he was assuring me that it was no problem, he'd put me to bed with Sky as soon as his injuries were patched up, then...
...Charlie was pulling my jacket and shoes off, laying me down in Sky's bed and covering me with something, and I was murmuring thanks, and...
..."My own li'l kitten," Sky whispered in my ear as he got into bed with me. "All mine to cuddle for the rest of the day. I love you, Bridge." As he snuggled close to me, I felt almost overwhelming love, affection, and relief coming from him, soothing me right back to sleep.
One note: I realized after I'd finished the story that the evil A-Squad Red was also named Charlie. *facepalm* I obviously didn't think of it when introducing the Sun Vulcan Squad, my logic being, "OH hey! One of them can be a bird, and I will make him look like a cardinal and name him after Charlie Cardinal, Ball State's mascot!". But by the time I realized my goof, he was too firmly entrenched in my mind as "Charlie", so Charlie he shall stay.
Also, the Squad is named after and very, very loosely based on the Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan.