30_ways Fic: "In With The New", G, Gen
I joined my first fic challenge! I will be doing 30 Bridge/Sky fics for 30_ways. So without further ado, here's the first one for it.
Title: In With The New
Author: Mary (shurimon and shurifanstuffs on LJ)
Fandom & Characters: Power Rangers SPD, Bridge & Sky
Theme: #19 Humility
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge has doubts when Sky talks to him about accepting a promotion he's been offered.
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: I don't own the characters or make any claim to. This is a simple ficlet taking place a short time after the episode "Endings Pt. II", so spoilers for that.
Sky Tate sat on his bed and stared down at the morpher in his hands. Red Ranger. At last. The day he had always dreamed of, hoped for, trained for, had arrived. Though he fervently missed Jack and wished he would change his mind about staying at SPD, Sky nonetheless felt the warm glow of pride inside himself. He'd done it. He knew that tomorrow a freshly-tailored red uniform would be delivered to him, that the Delta Base's maintenance staff would be along as soon as possible to repaint the blue stripe on his wall and change his mattress pad, and he could enjoy his new leadership position. Red Ranger...
He then set the morpher down and picked up another one sitting beside him, fiddling with the slide on the side of it and frowning slightly. This one contained his old powers... Blue Ranger powers. Commander Cruger himself was to choose from among the C-Squad cadets who would be promoted to become the new fifth Power Ranger... but picking a second-in-command was left up to Sky. He knew that all three of his remaining Rangers and friends would make excellent candidates for the position, so he'd gone to seek them out while they helped with the cleanup of the Base, figuring he would get all three of their own opinions on the matter before making a choice. First he had gone to Z, who to his surprise had politely but firmly refused, saying that she was quite happy being Yellow. Next, he had found Syd, who scoffed at the idea of changing her beloved pink uniform. That left Bridge, the current Green Ranger, Sky's close friend and roommate. However, he was nowhere to be found, which Sky thought was odd- not in their dorm room, or the rec room, the lab, Delta Command, any of the usual places. Sky finally went back to their room to wait, figuring he'd turn up eventually.
"Oh... hey." Bridge's voice startled him as the door opened, and Sky glanced up at him, surprised to see that Bridge was pale and looked nervous.
"Hey," Sky said. "I've been looking for you all afternoon. Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure," Bridge replied flatly, sitting at his computer desk.
"What's the matter?" Sky asked, tilting his head. "You're looking a little down in the dumps. You miss Jack?" The other man nodded slightly.
"Yeah." Sky could sense that Bridge wasn't telling the whole truth, but he had no idea what else could possibly be bothering him, so he went on,
"Anyway. Cruger told me I needed to pick a new second-in-command, and..." He stood up and held out the blue morpher. "I wanted to know how you'd feel about the idea. Will you do it?" Bridge's eyes widened, and he looked at the morpher, then up at Sky, his mouth hanging open a little. He then pursed his lips and pushed it away, shaking his head.
"I can't accept this."
"What? Why?" Sky demanded. Bridge shrugged.
"Have you asked Syd and Z yet?" he wanted to know, and Sky nodded.
"Yeah, I did... I went to them first, since I couldn't find you, and they both turned me down. Z said thanks but no thanks, and Syd's exact words were, 'You'll get my Pink morpher when you pry it from my cold, dead hands'. That leaves you. Why don't you want to be the Blue Ranger?" Bridge swallowed hard, looking down and scuffing his feet on the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"... I don't feel worthy," he said finally, not looking up. "I know I'm not worthy, in fact. And before you say anything, I want you to know that I'm sure about it. I've been thinking about this all day, ever since Cruger gave you the Red morpher, because I knew you'd need a new Blue Ranger unless you wanted whoever's going to get promoted to get it, and I figured, you know, you'd give your friends a chance first..." He swallowed again, knowing he was rambling too much. "But I'll get to the point. Sky, you're... an amazing leader. So is Jack. But I'm not one, not at all. Not even enough to be the Blue Ranger. I'm the plucky comic relief. The one with a big heart who makes everybody else laugh, not the one who supports the leader. I was hoping Syd or Z would've agreed to it, but... I'm sorry, Sky. I can't be Blue."
"Bridge..." Sky got up and placed his hands on his friend's shoulders, staring into his downcast grey eyes. "Where did this come from? Why are you being so down on yourself?"
"I'm not down on myself, just humble," Bridge replied. "I know my own abilities. I don't want you to make a huge mistake."
"You do know yourself, but you've also grown up so much ever since this all started, and I don't think you've quite realized that. I certainly don't think you would be a bad leader, Bridge- believe me, I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I didn't believe 100% that you'd do a good job," Sky said sincerely. Bridge looked up at him, and Sky could tell he was fighting down a small smile. "Please... please reconsider this. I don't tell you this enough, but you're one of my best friends. I love you and care about you. It would be an honor if you would fight by my side as the Blue Ranger. After all, someone like me does need a sidekick who knows how to make him laugh, you know? What do you say?" He backed off, and Bridge stood up, suddenly throwing his arms around Sky, who laughed and embraced him back. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Thank you, Sky," Bridge whispered, sounding like he was about to cry. "That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever said to me."
"You're welcome, little buddy. Come on, let's go tell Cruger... you're going to need a new uniform and to have your half of the room painted, too." Sky ruffled Bridge's hair, and the two left, their arms around each other, huge grins pasted on both their faces.
(Crossposted to 30_ways)
Title: In With The New
Author: Mary (shurimon and shurifanstuffs on LJ)
Fandom & Characters: Power Rangers SPD, Bridge & Sky
Theme: #19 Humility
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge has doubts when Sky talks to him about accepting a promotion he's been offered.
Disclaimer/Author's Notes/Spoiler Warning: I don't own the characters or make any claim to. This is a simple ficlet taking place a short time after the episode "Endings Pt. II", so spoilers for that.
Sky Tate sat on his bed and stared down at the morpher in his hands. Red Ranger. At last. The day he had always dreamed of, hoped for, trained for, had arrived. Though he fervently missed Jack and wished he would change his mind about staying at SPD, Sky nonetheless felt the warm glow of pride inside himself. He'd done it. He knew that tomorrow a freshly-tailored red uniform would be delivered to him, that the Delta Base's maintenance staff would be along as soon as possible to repaint the blue stripe on his wall and change his mattress pad, and he could enjoy his new leadership position. Red Ranger...
He then set the morpher down and picked up another one sitting beside him, fiddling with the slide on the side of it and frowning slightly. This one contained his old powers... Blue Ranger powers. Commander Cruger himself was to choose from among the C-Squad cadets who would be promoted to become the new fifth Power Ranger... but picking a second-in-command was left up to Sky. He knew that all three of his remaining Rangers and friends would make excellent candidates for the position, so he'd gone to seek them out while they helped with the cleanup of the Base, figuring he would get all three of their own opinions on the matter before making a choice. First he had gone to Z, who to his surprise had politely but firmly refused, saying that she was quite happy being Yellow. Next, he had found Syd, who scoffed at the idea of changing her beloved pink uniform. That left Bridge, the current Green Ranger, Sky's close friend and roommate. However, he was nowhere to be found, which Sky thought was odd- not in their dorm room, or the rec room, the lab, Delta Command, any of the usual places. Sky finally went back to their room to wait, figuring he'd turn up eventually.
"Oh... hey." Bridge's voice startled him as the door opened, and Sky glanced up at him, surprised to see that Bridge was pale and looked nervous.
"Hey," Sky said. "I've been looking for you all afternoon. Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure," Bridge replied flatly, sitting at his computer desk.
"What's the matter?" Sky asked, tilting his head. "You're looking a little down in the dumps. You miss Jack?" The other man nodded slightly.
"Yeah." Sky could sense that Bridge wasn't telling the whole truth, but he had no idea what else could possibly be bothering him, so he went on,
"Anyway. Cruger told me I needed to pick a new second-in-command, and..." He stood up and held out the blue morpher. "I wanted to know how you'd feel about the idea. Will you do it?" Bridge's eyes widened, and he looked at the morpher, then up at Sky, his mouth hanging open a little. He then pursed his lips and pushed it away, shaking his head.
"I can't accept this."
"What? Why?" Sky demanded. Bridge shrugged.
"Have you asked Syd and Z yet?" he wanted to know, and Sky nodded.
"Yeah, I did... I went to them first, since I couldn't find you, and they both turned me down. Z said thanks but no thanks, and Syd's exact words were, 'You'll get my Pink morpher when you pry it from my cold, dead hands'. That leaves you. Why don't you want to be the Blue Ranger?" Bridge swallowed hard, looking down and scuffing his feet on the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"... I don't feel worthy," he said finally, not looking up. "I know I'm not worthy, in fact. And before you say anything, I want you to know that I'm sure about it. I've been thinking about this all day, ever since Cruger gave you the Red morpher, because I knew you'd need a new Blue Ranger unless you wanted whoever's going to get promoted to get it, and I figured, you know, you'd give your friends a chance first..." He swallowed again, knowing he was rambling too much. "But I'll get to the point. Sky, you're... an amazing leader. So is Jack. But I'm not one, not at all. Not even enough to be the Blue Ranger. I'm the plucky comic relief. The one with a big heart who makes everybody else laugh, not the one who supports the leader. I was hoping Syd or Z would've agreed to it, but... I'm sorry, Sky. I can't be Blue."
"Bridge..." Sky got up and placed his hands on his friend's shoulders, staring into his downcast grey eyes. "Where did this come from? Why are you being so down on yourself?"
"I'm not down on myself, just humble," Bridge replied. "I know my own abilities. I don't want you to make a huge mistake."
"You do know yourself, but you've also grown up so much ever since this all started, and I don't think you've quite realized that. I certainly don't think you would be a bad leader, Bridge- believe me, I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I didn't believe 100% that you'd do a good job," Sky said sincerely. Bridge looked up at him, and Sky could tell he was fighting down a small smile. "Please... please reconsider this. I don't tell you this enough, but you're one of my best friends. I love you and care about you. It would be an honor if you would fight by my side as the Blue Ranger. After all, someone like me does need a sidekick who knows how to make him laugh, you know? What do you say?" He backed off, and Bridge stood up, suddenly throwing his arms around Sky, who laughed and embraced him back. "I'll take that as a yes."
"Thank you, Sky," Bridge whispered, sounding like he was about to cry. "That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever said to me."
"You're welcome, little buddy. Come on, let's go tell Cruger... you're going to need a new uniform and to have your half of the room painted, too." Sky ruffled Bridge's hair, and the two left, their arms around each other, huge grins pasted on both their faces.
(Crossposted to 30_ways)