20_est_relships Fic: "Worth It", G, Bridge/Sky luff
Title: Worth It
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #19 Future
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge envisions what his perfect future with Sky would be like.
Notes: Spoilers for the whole S.P.D. series and Sky's brief mention in "Once a Ranger pt. I". Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters and canon. Tessie is an OC from another S.P.D. epic I wrote, though that fic and this one are in different universes.
CLEARLY I HAVE NOT WRITTEN ENOUGH BRIDGE/SKY ALREADY, BECAUSE I SIGNED UP FOR ANOTHER FIC CHALLENGE FOR THEM. Enjoy.
S.P.D. Earth, 2040
"Commander? ... Commander?" Z sighed as she peered inside Delta Command, seeing that he wasn't there, and went to look elsewhere. She could never seem to find him when she needed him most, and today was no exception. She thought about calling him on her communicator, but it wouldn't do any good if he was engrossed in a project, as he almost always was when he disappeared. So she continued her search, finally finding him crouching underneath a table in the lab, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he used tweezers to stick a series of wires into a plug. "Commander!" she said, standing to attention, making him jump and hit his head on the table, his glasses going askew. "Oh... sorry, sir."
"Ow." The Commander sighed, set down his work, and stood up, rubbing his head. "It's alright, this isn't the first time that's happened. Not even the first time it's happened today, in fact. And how many times do I need to tell you not to call me 'sir'?" Z laughed and walked up to him, pulling him into a one-armed hug.
"You can never tell me that enough, Bridgey," she informed him as he returned the gesture. "Because it's funny. I won't lie, I still sometimes have to stop and boggle at the fact that you became Commander of Earth."
"Hey, sometimes I boggle at it, too," Bridge said. "When I joined S.P.D., I wasn't sure I'd ever become a Power Ranger to begin with, then when I did I didn't think I'd get further than Green and just when I was getting fine with that I got Blue then all of a sudden I'm Red and then Shadow." He smiled at Z, giving her a squeeze. "And how's my best Red Ranger?"
"Feeling old," Z grumbled. "Some of the new cadets are about half my age. Oh, and also feeling weird. I think this is about the time that Sam's due to come back from our past. It's going to be strange seeing him... as strange as it'll be for him to come back to such a drastically changed future from what he knew, I'm sure."
"Yeah, I tried figuring out how all that works, but it made my head hurt, so we'll just welcome him back as soon as he shows up. And I feel old, too," Bridge said, frowning at her. "I found another gray hair when I looked in the mirror this morning." He winced when Z punched him in the shoulder.
"We should stop talking like this. We're both too young to be feeling this old."
"Says you. You're only 32. I'm 36- four whole years older than you. Four years can make a big difference when you're as old as I am. Besides, we've handled plenty in our lives- we both have a right to feel at least a little old, maybe not old as in old old, but old as in world-weary." Z shook her head, and the two walked toward Delta Command together.
"I just hope you don't have a midlife crisis when you hit 40," she teased him. "Then again, your version of one of those would probably involve manic overnight sessions of overhauling the entire computer system. You'd have us upgraded in about a week."
"I'd like that," said Bridge, with a dreamy expression on his face. "I doubt my husband would, though."
"True," said Z. "He'd probably be going through his own crisis at the same time and go back to being the same rule-enforcing stiff he used to be." Bridge winced.
"I hope he never does," he said. "It took me long enough to get him to even want to hold my hand in public, I can't imagine what it'd be like if he went back to being strict about the rules again. I don't even want to think about it, in fact. Speaking of him, have you heard from him lately?"
"No, his assistant said he was in a meeting when I called earlier to get his opinion on our choices for the new Ranger team," said Z, rolling her eyes. "So you know he's going to be in a pissy mood when he can get back to us-" Her communicator then beeped. "Speak of the devil." She answered it, and Kat's voice came from the other end.
"Supreme Commander Tate is on the line," she told them, and both Bridge and Z could tell she was trying hard not to snicker. "He had a bad meeting so... try not to tease him too much, alright?"
"Okay, thanks," said Z, shutting her morpher as she and Bridge exchanged looks. "That doesn't sound good. I wonder what went wrong?" The two soon got their answer as they came into Delta Command, and Sky's image came up on a monitor.
"Go on, I know the two of you are wanting to laugh, so get it over with," he snapped. The Supreme Commander's long hair was sticking in every direction and looked charred at the ends on one side. "This is what you get when you convince me to allow Boom to sit in on our meetings to discuss and demonstrate new weapons technology. You'd think that after 20 years with Space Patrol Delta, he'd know better, but no. He still manages to cause chaos everywhere he goes."
"Hello to you, too, puddin'," said Bridge cheerfully. "And you know Boom has proven his worth over and over again, or else we wouldn't keep him around."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sky grumbled, turning his back to them and pulling out a comb to tame his hair. "And don't call me names. I'm-"
" 'The Supreme Commander of S.P.D., and even though we're a couple you should address me as such unless we're together in private'," Z finished, rolling her eyes. "Sky, for Heaven's sake, I know it's not the most professional thing to do, but it's not like it's any secret that you and Bridge are together, either. I mean, you DID get married."
"Yeah, it's a wonder we didn't get kicked out, considering how many regulations-"
"But we didn't, and life goes on," Bridge said, his smile widening as Sky turned back around, looking a little more presentable. "It happened 10 years ago. Nobody cared then, nobody's going to care now."
"I know, I know. Just... keep the pet names for when we're alone together, alright?"
"Which doesn't happen often enough," Bridge sighed. "Ever thought about retiring from Supreme Command early? And the rest of us giving up our part-time Ranger duties, and everyone becoming full-time instructors or advisors at the Earth branch instead? We've done just about everything we can do in S.P.D.- repelled the Troobian invasion, saved Earth from a race of brain-stealing aliens, kept the peace, stopped countless crimes from happening..." He stopped when Sky looked at him, horrified.
"You can't be serious! And make them pick ANOTHER Supreme Commander for the fourth time in twenty years? Besides, Doggie's told me more than once that I'm the only person in the organization he'd trust to run S.P.D. with competence, fairness, and justice." Bridge noticed his husband's chest puffing out a little as he spoke, and shook his head. Some things about Sky never changed, even if he had been persuaded to grow his hair long (he hardly even protested the idea once Bridge told him he'd find it sexy) and no longer felt the need to make them act completely according to regulations. Though, he supposed, that was one of the things he loved about him.
"Alright, we won't retire, then," said Bridge. "When are you going to be able to come home for a while, though? I miss you."
"We all do," Z piped up. "Our Command team here is all women! Kat, Tessie, Sophie, Syd, and I need another good male around here regularly... a human one, at least. You and Boom are gone so much, I think Bridge is becoming one of the girls, too. Jack doesn't stop by nearly enough to make up for it."
"Har har," Bridge grumped, nudging her, and she smirked back in return.
"As much as I'd like to join you, it looks like I'm booked solid for at least another week," Sky said, picking up his schedule book and frowning. "Meetings, criminal sentencings, all that kind of stuff. Though I do have time for a double date with Jack and Ally written down for next week. Oh, there's a note here... Z, Jack said you can make it a triple date if you bring Piggy." Z was about to open her mouth to tell him to shut up when she saw Sky chuckling. "I'm just kidding, they wanted all of us to come; Doggie and Isinia said they'd meet us, too, if they could find a puppy-sitter for the night. Tell the others, will you? I have to go, though- more meetings." He sighed.
"No problem," Bridge said, though he was sad to see him go. "I'll let you know who's coming later, alright?"
"Sure. I'll let you know ASAP when I can get away for a few days, too. Command out." Sky's image disappeared, and Bridge found himself staring longingly at the now-blank monitor. Though it had been years since Sky had become Supreme Commander, and he spent as much time at the Earth branch as possible, he still hated it whenever they were separated- especially at times like this, when Sky had to be gone and almost completely out-of-touch for days at a time due to being caught up in his various duties.
"Come on," Z said, after a while, tugging on his sleeve. "It's almost time for us to go and welcome the new recruits, anyway; wouldn't want to leave the others in the dirt."
"Yeah," said Bridge, sighing and reminding himself that he'd get to see his husband for at least a little while next week, if nothing else. On their way out of Command, they met their fellow Rangers- Syd, who had steadfastly refused to wear any color other than Pink in her long career at S.P.D.; tall, brown-haired and bespectacled Tessie, who had taken up the position of Blue Ranger when Z had agreed to become Red; and the cyborg Sophie, who wore Green. Yellow was the only vacant color, as its previous holder had been transferred off-planet for further training.
"There you guys are," Tessie grinned. "How's our favorite Supreme Commander holdin' up?"
"Oh, you know, the usual- endless meetings, things blowing up in his face," said Bridge. "Have you guys gotten a look at our recruits yet?"
"Yeah," said Syd, nodding. "A pretty good batch this time; all of them passed their entrance exams with flying colors. Man, do you remember what it was like right after we defeated Gruumm? People wanting to join left and right, and a lot of them were so overconfident they didn't realize they were... to put it nicely, not qualified?"
"Tell me about it," Sophie said, wincing. "I remember being bounced all over the place to fix up computer system screwups. I was exhausted by the end of it- and I'm not even human!" The group began to walk away, chatting happily, but Bridge still couldn't banish his sadness and longing.
Those feelings still lingered much later in the day, when he'd crawled into bed and lay half-asleep, half-awake, remembering what it was like when he and Sky had first gotten together, way back when he, Bridge, was the Green Ranger and Sky was Blue... how they'd gotten off to a rocky start in many ways because of Sky's personality, but how Bridge was able to break down his walls one by one, get through his tough and professional exterior, patiently bringing out the kind and affectionate person Bridge knew he was deep down. How they soon couldn't keep their hands off each other... how it had developed into an inseparable bond...
Bridge wasn't sure if his memories had turned into very realistic dreams when he thought he felt a familiar embrace, pulling him close... a shy kiss on the cheek... until he opened his eyes to find himself staring into-
"Hey," Sky said, and Bridge sleepily grinned and kissed back, snuggling into his husband's arms.
"Thought you were gonna be stuck there," he said thickly, rubbing his eyes.
"I did, too, but had to get away," said Sky. "I can only sit through so much of that stuff before I miss you guys and just have to come see you... especially you." He kissed Bridge's forehead again, and Bridge felt like his giddy younger self again when Sky's fingers began to play with and run through his hair. "I might be Supreme Commander of S.P.D.... but sometimes... sometimes, I've just got to be Sky." The two adjusted so that they were more comfortable, and Bridge lay his head on Sky's chest, feeling at peace.
* * *
S.P.D. Earth, 2026
Bridge smiled secretively to himself as he stared at the words he'd just finished typing.
Writing had been very therapeutic after one of his fights with Sky, even if it was a cheesy and somewhat implausible fantasy about the future. He'd have to thank Tessie for the suggestion.
"And Sky's never going to find out about it," he mused aloud as he saved the file, then encrypted and password-protected it, not glancing over his shoulder as the door to his and Sky's room opened, knowing who was walking in, and knowing the conversation that was about to take place. Sky would say he was sorry, Bridge would of course accept his apology, then perhaps they'd "make up" in other ways...
It was frustrating to be repeating this scenario over and over, and it was one of the perils of having won Sky Tate's heart, Bridge knew.
But if reality turned out even half as well as his fantasies... it would all be worth it.
(Crossposted to 20_est_relships)
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #19 Future
Rating: G
Summary: Bridge envisions what his perfect future with Sky would be like.
Notes: Spoilers for the whole S.P.D. series and Sky's brief mention in "Once a Ranger pt. I". Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters and canon. Tessie is an OC from another S.P.D. epic I wrote, though that fic and this one are in different universes.
CLEARLY I HAVE NOT WRITTEN ENOUGH BRIDGE/SKY ALREADY, BECAUSE I SIGNED UP FOR ANOTHER FIC CHALLENGE FOR THEM. Enjoy.
S.P.D. Earth, 2040
"Commander? ... Commander?" Z sighed as she peered inside Delta Command, seeing that he wasn't there, and went to look elsewhere. She could never seem to find him when she needed him most, and today was no exception. She thought about calling him on her communicator, but it wouldn't do any good if he was engrossed in a project, as he almost always was when he disappeared. So she continued her search, finally finding him crouching underneath a table in the lab, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he used tweezers to stick a series of wires into a plug. "Commander!" she said, standing to attention, making him jump and hit his head on the table, his glasses going askew. "Oh... sorry, sir."
"Ow." The Commander sighed, set down his work, and stood up, rubbing his head. "It's alright, this isn't the first time that's happened. Not even the first time it's happened today, in fact. And how many times do I need to tell you not to call me 'sir'?" Z laughed and walked up to him, pulling him into a one-armed hug.
"You can never tell me that enough, Bridgey," she informed him as he returned the gesture. "Because it's funny. I won't lie, I still sometimes have to stop and boggle at the fact that you became Commander of Earth."
"Hey, sometimes I boggle at it, too," Bridge said. "When I joined S.P.D., I wasn't sure I'd ever become a Power Ranger to begin with, then when I did I didn't think I'd get further than Green and just when I was getting fine with that I got Blue then all of a sudden I'm Red and then Shadow." He smiled at Z, giving her a squeeze. "And how's my best Red Ranger?"
"Feeling old," Z grumbled. "Some of the new cadets are about half my age. Oh, and also feeling weird. I think this is about the time that Sam's due to come back from our past. It's going to be strange seeing him... as strange as it'll be for him to come back to such a drastically changed future from what he knew, I'm sure."
"Yeah, I tried figuring out how all that works, but it made my head hurt, so we'll just welcome him back as soon as he shows up. And I feel old, too," Bridge said, frowning at her. "I found another gray hair when I looked in the mirror this morning." He winced when Z punched him in the shoulder.
"We should stop talking like this. We're both too young to be feeling this old."
"Says you. You're only 32. I'm 36- four whole years older than you. Four years can make a big difference when you're as old as I am. Besides, we've handled plenty in our lives- we both have a right to feel at least a little old, maybe not old as in old old, but old as in world-weary." Z shook her head, and the two walked toward Delta Command together.
"I just hope you don't have a midlife crisis when you hit 40," she teased him. "Then again, your version of one of those would probably involve manic overnight sessions of overhauling the entire computer system. You'd have us upgraded in about a week."
"I'd like that," said Bridge, with a dreamy expression on his face. "I doubt my husband would, though."
"True," said Z. "He'd probably be going through his own crisis at the same time and go back to being the same rule-enforcing stiff he used to be." Bridge winced.
"I hope he never does," he said. "It took me long enough to get him to even want to hold my hand in public, I can't imagine what it'd be like if he went back to being strict about the rules again. I don't even want to think about it, in fact. Speaking of him, have you heard from him lately?"
"No, his assistant said he was in a meeting when I called earlier to get his opinion on our choices for the new Ranger team," said Z, rolling her eyes. "So you know he's going to be in a pissy mood when he can get back to us-" Her communicator then beeped. "Speak of the devil." She answered it, and Kat's voice came from the other end.
"Supreme Commander Tate is on the line," she told them, and both Bridge and Z could tell she was trying hard not to snicker. "He had a bad meeting so... try not to tease him too much, alright?"
"Okay, thanks," said Z, shutting her morpher as she and Bridge exchanged looks. "That doesn't sound good. I wonder what went wrong?" The two soon got their answer as they came into Delta Command, and Sky's image came up on a monitor.
"Go on, I know the two of you are wanting to laugh, so get it over with," he snapped. The Supreme Commander's long hair was sticking in every direction and looked charred at the ends on one side. "This is what you get when you convince me to allow Boom to sit in on our meetings to discuss and demonstrate new weapons technology. You'd think that after 20 years with Space Patrol Delta, he'd know better, but no. He still manages to cause chaos everywhere he goes."
"Hello to you, too, puddin'," said Bridge cheerfully. "And you know Boom has proven his worth over and over again, or else we wouldn't keep him around."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sky grumbled, turning his back to them and pulling out a comb to tame his hair. "And don't call me names. I'm-"
" 'The Supreme Commander of S.P.D., and even though we're a couple you should address me as such unless we're together in private'," Z finished, rolling her eyes. "Sky, for Heaven's sake, I know it's not the most professional thing to do, but it's not like it's any secret that you and Bridge are together, either. I mean, you DID get married."
"Yeah, it's a wonder we didn't get kicked out, considering how many regulations-"
"But we didn't, and life goes on," Bridge said, his smile widening as Sky turned back around, looking a little more presentable. "It happened 10 years ago. Nobody cared then, nobody's going to care now."
"I know, I know. Just... keep the pet names for when we're alone together, alright?"
"Which doesn't happen often enough," Bridge sighed. "Ever thought about retiring from Supreme Command early? And the rest of us giving up our part-time Ranger duties, and everyone becoming full-time instructors or advisors at the Earth branch instead? We've done just about everything we can do in S.P.D.- repelled the Troobian invasion, saved Earth from a race of brain-stealing aliens, kept the peace, stopped countless crimes from happening..." He stopped when Sky looked at him, horrified.
"You can't be serious! And make them pick ANOTHER Supreme Commander for the fourth time in twenty years? Besides, Doggie's told me more than once that I'm the only person in the organization he'd trust to run S.P.D. with competence, fairness, and justice." Bridge noticed his husband's chest puffing out a little as he spoke, and shook his head. Some things about Sky never changed, even if he had been persuaded to grow his hair long (he hardly even protested the idea once Bridge told him he'd find it sexy) and no longer felt the need to make them act completely according to regulations. Though, he supposed, that was one of the things he loved about him.
"Alright, we won't retire, then," said Bridge. "When are you going to be able to come home for a while, though? I miss you."
"We all do," Z piped up. "Our Command team here is all women! Kat, Tessie, Sophie, Syd, and I need another good male around here regularly... a human one, at least. You and Boom are gone so much, I think Bridge is becoming one of the girls, too. Jack doesn't stop by nearly enough to make up for it."
"Har har," Bridge grumped, nudging her, and she smirked back in return.
"As much as I'd like to join you, it looks like I'm booked solid for at least another week," Sky said, picking up his schedule book and frowning. "Meetings, criminal sentencings, all that kind of stuff. Though I do have time for a double date with Jack and Ally written down for next week. Oh, there's a note here... Z, Jack said you can make it a triple date if you bring Piggy." Z was about to open her mouth to tell him to shut up when she saw Sky chuckling. "I'm just kidding, they wanted all of us to come; Doggie and Isinia said they'd meet us, too, if they could find a puppy-sitter for the night. Tell the others, will you? I have to go, though- more meetings." He sighed.
"No problem," Bridge said, though he was sad to see him go. "I'll let you know who's coming later, alright?"
"Sure. I'll let you know ASAP when I can get away for a few days, too. Command out." Sky's image disappeared, and Bridge found himself staring longingly at the now-blank monitor. Though it had been years since Sky had become Supreme Commander, and he spent as much time at the Earth branch as possible, he still hated it whenever they were separated- especially at times like this, when Sky had to be gone and almost completely out-of-touch for days at a time due to being caught up in his various duties.
"Come on," Z said, after a while, tugging on his sleeve. "It's almost time for us to go and welcome the new recruits, anyway; wouldn't want to leave the others in the dirt."
"Yeah," said Bridge, sighing and reminding himself that he'd get to see his husband for at least a little while next week, if nothing else. On their way out of Command, they met their fellow Rangers- Syd, who had steadfastly refused to wear any color other than Pink in her long career at S.P.D.; tall, brown-haired and bespectacled Tessie, who had taken up the position of Blue Ranger when Z had agreed to become Red; and the cyborg Sophie, who wore Green. Yellow was the only vacant color, as its previous holder had been transferred off-planet for further training.
"There you guys are," Tessie grinned. "How's our favorite Supreme Commander holdin' up?"
"Oh, you know, the usual- endless meetings, things blowing up in his face," said Bridge. "Have you guys gotten a look at our recruits yet?"
"Yeah," said Syd, nodding. "A pretty good batch this time; all of them passed their entrance exams with flying colors. Man, do you remember what it was like right after we defeated Gruumm? People wanting to join left and right, and a lot of them were so overconfident they didn't realize they were... to put it nicely, not qualified?"
"Tell me about it," Sophie said, wincing. "I remember being bounced all over the place to fix up computer system screwups. I was exhausted by the end of it- and I'm not even human!" The group began to walk away, chatting happily, but Bridge still couldn't banish his sadness and longing.
Those feelings still lingered much later in the day, when he'd crawled into bed and lay half-asleep, half-awake, remembering what it was like when he and Sky had first gotten together, way back when he, Bridge, was the Green Ranger and Sky was Blue... how they'd gotten off to a rocky start in many ways because of Sky's personality, but how Bridge was able to break down his walls one by one, get through his tough and professional exterior, patiently bringing out the kind and affectionate person Bridge knew he was deep down. How they soon couldn't keep their hands off each other... how it had developed into an inseparable bond...
Bridge wasn't sure if his memories had turned into very realistic dreams when he thought he felt a familiar embrace, pulling him close... a shy kiss on the cheek... until he opened his eyes to find himself staring into-
"Hey," Sky said, and Bridge sleepily grinned and kissed back, snuggling into his husband's arms.
"Thought you were gonna be stuck there," he said thickly, rubbing his eyes.
"I did, too, but had to get away," said Sky. "I can only sit through so much of that stuff before I miss you guys and just have to come see you... especially you." He kissed Bridge's forehead again, and Bridge felt like his giddy younger self again when Sky's fingers began to play with and run through his hair. "I might be Supreme Commander of S.P.D.... but sometimes... sometimes, I've just got to be Sky." The two adjusted so that they were more comfortable, and Bridge lay his head on Sky's chest, feeling at peace.
* * *
S.P.D. Earth, 2026
Bridge smiled secretively to himself as he stared at the words he'd just finished typing.
Writing had been very therapeutic after one of his fights with Sky, even if it was a cheesy and somewhat implausible fantasy about the future. He'd have to thank Tessie for the suggestion.
"And Sky's never going to find out about it," he mused aloud as he saved the file, then encrypted and password-protected it, not glancing over his shoulder as the door to his and Sky's room opened, knowing who was walking in, and knowing the conversation that was about to take place. Sky would say he was sorry, Bridge would of course accept his apology, then perhaps they'd "make up" in other ways...
It was frustrating to be repeating this scenario over and over, and it was one of the perils of having won Sky Tate's heart, Bridge knew.
But if reality turned out even half as well as his fantasies... it would all be worth it.
(Crossposted to 20_est_relships)