20_est_relships Fic: "After The End", G, Bridge/Sky
Title: After The End
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #7 Understanding
Rating: G
Summary: A post-"Endings" fic. Z comes to understand why Bridge and Sky love each other, and Sky comes to understand why Jack's leaving doesn't mean they'll stop being friends.
Notes: Spoilers for the whole S.P.D. series. Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters and canon.
Sky's head was spinning.
He knew it was mostly tiredness- fighting Troobians could take a lot out of a person, and he'd been awake for close to three solid days. During that time, so much had happened, too- he and his comrades had lost and regained control of their own base, lost a Megazord, defeated their old superiors the A-Squad, fought and contained Broodwing, been captured and imprisoned by Gruumm, then been freed to defeat the Magnificence. Even when all that was done, there had been no rest for the Rangers- they'd had to recount what had happened countless times and helped take stock of what they'd lost, what they still had, who had been injured...
And on a personal level, Sky had suffered one huge loss and one huge gain at the same time. Becoming the Red Ranger was the reason he'd joined S.P.D., the one thing he still wanted above everything even though he'd learned to live with being Blue... but it had come at the expense of Jack no longer being at S.P.D., which soured it. He'd grown to trust and respect Jack as his leader and his friend... and Sky Tate's respect was no easy thing to earn. He already missed Jack so much his stomach hurt, but he also knew there'd be time to think about that and work through his feelings later.
Right now, now that he'd been given permission to rest, he found that all he wanted was to cuddle with his boyfriend and sleep, for perhaps the next month or so, he thought.
Bridge had long since fallen asleep when he was finally able to get away and return to their shared dorm room. Many, many people had insisted on stopping Sky to congratulate him on his promotion, or thank him for saving the world, and he felt it would have been extremely rude to tell them that he was tired and didn't want to talk, so he'd chatted with every one. Bridge was snuggled deep into the blankets on Sky's bunk when he entered, his breathing slow and steady. Not even bothering to change out of his uniform, Sky merely unstrapped his morpher and laser blaster, carelessly tossing them aside and kicking off his shoes before he crawled into the bunk. He took a moment to gaze affectionately at his boyfriend and reached over to pull him into his arms-
-then, there was a knock on the door.
Unable to suppress a frustrated half-growl, Sky got up and went to answer the door, while Bridge obliviously slept on. He opened it to find Syd standing there, dressed in civilian clothing and clutching the handle of a wheeled pink suitcase. She looked none the worse for wear; only Sydney Drew could manage to come out of what they had still looking half-decent, he thought.
"Hi, Sky," she began, then peered around him and lowered her voice when she saw Bridge. "I just wanted to say 'bye' to you guys- I'm taking a few days off. Going to go stay with my parents... go shoe shopping... drag Z to the spa with me at some point. Fun girly stuff. I need to unwind in the worst way."
"I understand. See you, then," said Sky, returning the hug Syd pulled him into.
"Give one of these to Bridgey for me when you guys are conscious again, will you? ... I love you guys."
"...You, too, Syd. Have a great time." She smiled before she left, pulling her suitcase behind her. However, Sky had barely closed the door and turned back around when there was another knock. Rubbing his eyes, which were stinging with tiredness, he opened it again to find Commander Cruger was there now, and hurriedly stood up straight and saluted him, nodding to Isinia, who was standing behind him.
"Cadet, I came to ask you-" He stopped short when he got a good look at Sky's face, then winced when Bridge gave a loud, raspy snore behind him. "My apologies, Sky... I forgot, you must be exhausted. I'm sure the two of you also want to..." He cleared his throat. "This can wait until you get up. Good night."
"G'night, sir... Mrs. Cruger," Sky said, watching them walk away, feeling a strange warm glow inside himself when he saw the two holding paws as they walked out of the rec room, thinking suddenly about how hard it must have been for them to be separated for so long. He couldn't imagine Bridge being missing for years, and thinking he was dead, then not knowing if he was alive or if his enemies were just playing with him... he shook his head. Time later to think about all of that, he reminded himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Bridge, who had now rolled onto his back and was snoring softly, then started to crawl back into the bunk...
A third knock. Sky almost moaned aloud with misery, but held himself in and went to answer the door yet again... to find Z, dressed in her pajamas and looking even worse than Sky felt. He could tell right away that she'd been crying.
"I'm sorry, Sky," she said at once. "I know you guys're probably trying to sleep, it's just... it's just... ...can I sleep in here? Syd left, I have no one else to talk to, I really don't want to be alone right now..." She trailed off, biting her lip.
"...and you miss Jack," Sky finished, and she nodded, wiping away more tears as they fell. Sky studied her for a long while, wondering if he wanted to- or even could- deal with an emotional Z, then relented. He knew that Jack being gone must have hurt her 1,000 times worse than it did him, and that he would have appreciated companionship were he in her situation. He also realized that he and Bridge weren't likely to be doing anything besides sleep anytime soon, so another person in the room wouldn't be a problem. "Come on in." Z managed to smile at him through her tears, drifting over to Bridge's empty bunk and sitting down, wiping her eyes. Sky felt himself going red, looking down at Bridge and suddenly feeling awkward, as he'd never cuddled with him around another person before. "Ah... uhm... you... you don't mind if I hold him, do you?"
"Why would I?" Z asked, giving him a puzzled look, and Sky shrugged. Feeling relieved that she was OK with it and reasonably sure that he'd get no more visitors, Sky finally lay down beside his boyfriend, putting an arm across his chest. Upon feeling this, Bridge opened his eyes, blinked, and turned his head to the side.
"Oh, 'ey, Z," he said thickly, and Sky saw him give a little wave. "...We did it, 'uh? 's good t'save the world, 'specially 'f we didn't, we'd never get t'sleep, except we might've been put t'sleep permanently 'n that'd be bad..." He chuckled when Sky tickled his side.
"Go back to sleep, Bridge. We can talk once we're all rested."
"Bu' Sky, we just saved th' world," Bridge protested, closing his eyes and rambling onward. "Maybe we should be out celebratin'- hehehehe!" Sky tickled him again.
"Are you gonna sleep, or do you want me to tickle you until you can't stand it?"
"You're..." Bridge paused to yawn widely. "...no fun." Forgetting that Z was there for a moment, Sky pulled Bridge close when he turned to face him, giving him a loving smile before kissing his forehead. Sky then looked up at their guest, and felt his face go hot once more, turning his head away.
"You guys are so cute," she said fondly, then rolled her eyes when Sky snorted. "You really are. ...It's just unusual to see you being so affectionate, that's all."
"He's my boyfriend," Sky said defensively, feeling embarrassed now.
"And the way you act in public around him, we'd never have guessed it unless you guys told us. Sky, I'm not criticizing you, I'm just saying it's nice to see a different side of you." His face still burning, Sky looked at her and gave a sheepish grin. One hand almost automatically moved up to play with Bridge's hair, and Bridge moaned softly into Sky's chest, his right hand grabbing a handful of his jacket. Sky himself felt his eyelids drooping lower and lower-
* * *
Bridge was warm.
He liked this feeling.
So warm and so loved and content, especially after going through hell.
Without opening his eyes, he nuzzled Sky's chest, making his boyfriend grunt in his slumber. Bridge opened his eyes to see that the room was dark, that Sky was on his back, and he was lying on top of him, snuggled close... and by the wet spot on his boyfriend's jacket, Bridge could tell he'd been contentedly drooling for however long they'd been asleep.
"Bridgey?" a soft voice asked, making him jump, and he turned his head to see Z curled up on the other bunk. "...Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"S'alright. What're you doing in here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He had a vague recollection of talking to her when Sky had finally come to bed, but it might have been a dream, especially because he'd been so tired...
"Sky let me sleep in here," she explained. "Syd left to go stay with her parents, and I just didn't want to be alone. You must not remember seeing me before, huh?"
"You really were there? Good, so I wasn't imagining it," Bridge yawned. "'cause sometimes I swear I've seen or said things while half-asleep and it turned out to be a dream, and there are times when I thought I was dreaming but it was real... ever had that problem?"
"Can't say that I have," Z chuckled. "...You doing OK, Bridge?"
"Still tired," Bridge replied, wriggling out of Sky's grip and sitting up on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. "...But now that I'm awake, I'm starting to think about everything that's happened and I doubt I can get back to sleep for a while-" Z held a finger to her lips.
"Let's go for a walk," she suggested in a whisper, also sitting up. "Or at least go out into the rec room. I'd love to talk, but I don't want to wake Sky up, either."
"Oh. Good idea," Bridge agreed. The two of them slipped out of the dorm room into the empty, dimly-lit rec room and took up seats beside each other on a couch. Bridge remembered with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Jack was gone... He realized that this was likely the biggest reason Z had wanted to stay with them, too. "...I'm trying hardest not to think about how many times we've come close to dying in the last couple of days- or, heck, even in the past YEAR," he told Z. "I know we're all alive, but it still gives me chills to think about it. And I know it's going to give me nightmares for a while, too."
"Tell me about it," said Z, staring off into space. "...Gruumm capturing us... and those Krybots coming in to destroy us was the worst." Seeing that she was very depressed even without needing to use his powers, Bridge gave her a reassuring smile.
"We made it, though. We're all in one piece... and now we have peace. Well, not much peace since we have to clean everything up and we're talking instead of sleeping and we're going to be rehashing everything that's gone on amongst ourselves for a while, but it's peace compared to, say, having a giant tentacled monster bearing down on us."
"True. Having this is going to take some getting used to, though," Z said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. "Not having to constantly be on the lookout for Troobians, always watching our backs when we leave the base... we'll be dealing with stuff normal police officers have to for once."
"I don't know, I think it'll be nice to have a normal, boring life," Bridge grinned. "Well, not 'normal' as in normal normal, since we're far from normal, but you know what I mean." He could feel himself going red as something else occurred to him. "And on a personal, extremely selfish note, I'm really looking forward to being able to spend more time with Sky without those worries, either. These past couple of months have been really hard on us." He could feel his stomach sink lower and lower now. Bridge's insecurities about his and Sky's relationship were going to be coming back to the forefront, too, he knew. They'd managed to keep putting off and putting off addressing the problems they had with one another due to the more pressing matters in their lives, but now that the distraction of the war was gone...
"I'll bet," Z said quietly.
"Yeah. We chose a bad time to act on our feelings for each other," Bridge said with a nervous laugh. "...But now we've got all the time in the world, and I do have hope that we can work things out." Z nodded, then played with a stray thread in her nightgown before saying abruptly,
"Uhm... Bridge? Do you mind if I ask you something really, really, insanely personal? I apologize in advance if it offends you, and you don't have to answer me if it does." Bridge studied her, frowning.
"Well, I won't know if it does until you ask, so go ahead."
"...What is it you see in Sky, anyway? I've wondered that... pretty much ever since we found out you two were dating. I've never seen him be openly affectionate toward you until just before he fell asleep today, he belittles and insults you a lot... it's like I told him, I would never guess you two were boyfriends if you didn't say you were. He's just... Sky. I like him as a friend, I respect him as a fellow Ranger, but I doubt I could ever date him. He would drive me nuts, and we'd probably kill each other. How do you make it work as well as it seems to be working, in spite of everything?" Bridge was blindsided by this question and blinked hard at Z, his mouth slightly open. "...I'm sorry, Bridge, that was rude of-"
"No, no, it's OK," he assured her. "...I just need to think about it." A long silence then stretched between them. Z became very interested in the nearby fish tank, while Bridge stared out the window, trying to articulate his attraction to Sky before he finally said, "...I don't know if it's something I can really put into words. It's just a feeling I've had and do have about him. He and I have been best friends pretty much since I joined the Academy about 4 years ago. He was a bit easier to get along with then, and we became friends because he was the first person my age to accept me. He didn't automatically push me away after finding out about my personality or my powers. He could just as easily have totally rejected my friendship when I started tagging along with him and Dru, and he didn't. I never got along with Dru, and that drove him nuts, but he was also still willing to stand up to him for me; Dru tried making me feel like I was coming between them, and I started withdrawing out of fear of losing Sky, but he told me to never, ever worry about that, and that struck me. From then on, that made me stick by him no matter what.
"I know he can be, to put it quite bluntly, an insufferably stuffy asshole," Bridge continued. "He can be rude, he can be inconsiderate, he can be insensitive, but I'm willing to put up with it. I guess it's because my powers help me see so clearly that he's a great person underneath it all, because I do often see his caring side, and that no matter what he says, he loves me because of who I am, not in spite of it." He could feel his face burning, and was surprised when Z suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"...That's so amazing, Bridge."
"Er," he replied. "Thanks?"
"It really is," she replied. "He loves you for the same reason the rest of us do- because you're you." Bridge went redder and returned the hug. "I have to admit I AM a little jealous of you guys after seeing you cuddle, just 'cause you guys have each other to hold. Still, with you around, Jack not being here doesn't hurt as much." Bridge rubbed the back of his head, looking down, his face still flushed. "I think I'm ready to go back to bed, big brother. How about you?" Bridge nodded, and the two tiptoed back into the dorm room.
It wasn't until Bridge had resnuggled with Sky and was almost asleep that he realized Z had called him "big brother"... and that, he thought, somehow meant as much to him as Sky's love did.
* * *
When Sky finally woke up, the room was filled with bright sunlight, Z was gone, and Bridge was still snuggled against his side. A glance at his bedside clock told him he'd been asleep for more than 12 hours; he felt as though he could have gone longer, but figured he should at least get up and stretch his stiff and sore muscles first. He gently detached Bridge from himself before sitting up, cracking his neck. He took a few minutes to make himself look presentable, in case the Commander came by, and opened his door, stooping to scoop up two packages covered in brown paper sitting outside of it. He saw that they were addressed to him, so he quickly ripped open one corner of the top one, biting back a cry of delight when he saw red fabric- his new uniform. The other package likely contained undershirts for him.
Then he remembered why he had a red uniform now...
Sky turned and set the packages on his desk before going out into the rec room, looking around and spotting Z sitting in a beanbag chair near the window, looking a lot better than she had yesterday. He went over to the synthesizer for a drink of water before drifting over to her, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside her.
"Hey," she said, smiling at him.
"Hi," he replied. "You sleep alright? You look better."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm probably going to go back to bed in a minute, but I won't intrude on you and Bridge's privacy any more... I'm fine sleeping in my own room."
"You sure? We don't mind the extra company."
"I know," said Z, patting his back. "How're you doing, Sky?"
"I'm alright... just... wishing that Jack was still here. I'm glad that I get to be the Red Ranger, but I didn't want it to be because he left."
"You deserve it, though," she told him, and Sky looked over at her, surprised in spite of himself. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about it... and I'm kinda alright with him going now. It still hurts like hell, don't get me wrong, but I'm happy because Jack is happy. He gets to go back to doing what he loves, changing the world the way he does best, and you and I and Bridge and Syd keep doing what we love and do best, too. And just because he doesn't live here and isn't our leader doesn't mean our friendship is going to mean any less, you know?"
"Yeah," said Sky, nodding slowly, realizing the truth in her words. "We'll all still be here for each other. ...Thank you for saying that. It makes me feel better."
"Any time, brother." Sky raised an eyebrow at her, and she merely grinned back. "I'm gonna get back to sleep... not that I haven't already done a lot of it, but still, a few more hours couldn't hurt. Love you."
"...Yeah. You too." He watched as she got up and left, disappearing inside her and Syd's bedroom, before standing up himself and going back to Bridge, once more holding his sleeping boyfriend.
For the first time since the war with Gruumm had started, Sky felt- even though he knew it wasn't true in the literal sense- that all was right with the world.
(crossposted to 20_est_relships)
Author: shurifanstuffs
Fandom & Pairing Power Rangers S.P.D., Bridge/Sky
Prompt: #7 Understanding
Rating: G
Summary: A post-"Endings" fic. Z comes to understand why Bridge and Sky love each other, and Sky comes to understand why Jack's leaving doesn't mean they'll stop being friends.
Notes: Spoilers for the whole S.P.D. series. Assumes basic knowledge of S.P.D. characters and canon.
Sky's head was spinning.
He knew it was mostly tiredness- fighting Troobians could take a lot out of a person, and he'd been awake for close to three solid days. During that time, so much had happened, too- he and his comrades had lost and regained control of their own base, lost a Megazord, defeated their old superiors the A-Squad, fought and contained Broodwing, been captured and imprisoned by Gruumm, then been freed to defeat the Magnificence. Even when all that was done, there had been no rest for the Rangers- they'd had to recount what had happened countless times and helped take stock of what they'd lost, what they still had, who had been injured...
And on a personal level, Sky had suffered one huge loss and one huge gain at the same time. Becoming the Red Ranger was the reason he'd joined S.P.D., the one thing he still wanted above everything even though he'd learned to live with being Blue... but it had come at the expense of Jack no longer being at S.P.D., which soured it. He'd grown to trust and respect Jack as his leader and his friend... and Sky Tate's respect was no easy thing to earn. He already missed Jack so much his stomach hurt, but he also knew there'd be time to think about that and work through his feelings later.
Right now, now that he'd been given permission to rest, he found that all he wanted was to cuddle with his boyfriend and sleep, for perhaps the next month or so, he thought.
Bridge had long since fallen asleep when he was finally able to get away and return to their shared dorm room. Many, many people had insisted on stopping Sky to congratulate him on his promotion, or thank him for saving the world, and he felt it would have been extremely rude to tell them that he was tired and didn't want to talk, so he'd chatted with every one. Bridge was snuggled deep into the blankets on Sky's bunk when he entered, his breathing slow and steady. Not even bothering to change out of his uniform, Sky merely unstrapped his morpher and laser blaster, carelessly tossing them aside and kicking off his shoes before he crawled into the bunk. He took a moment to gaze affectionately at his boyfriend and reached over to pull him into his arms-
-then, there was a knock on the door.
Unable to suppress a frustrated half-growl, Sky got up and went to answer the door, while Bridge obliviously slept on. He opened it to find Syd standing there, dressed in civilian clothing and clutching the handle of a wheeled pink suitcase. She looked none the worse for wear; only Sydney Drew could manage to come out of what they had still looking half-decent, he thought.
"Hi, Sky," she began, then peered around him and lowered her voice when she saw Bridge. "I just wanted to say 'bye' to you guys- I'm taking a few days off. Going to go stay with my parents... go shoe shopping... drag Z to the spa with me at some point. Fun girly stuff. I need to unwind in the worst way."
"I understand. See you, then," said Sky, returning the hug Syd pulled him into.
"Give one of these to Bridgey for me when you guys are conscious again, will you? ... I love you guys."
"...You, too, Syd. Have a great time." She smiled before she left, pulling her suitcase behind her. However, Sky had barely closed the door and turned back around when there was another knock. Rubbing his eyes, which were stinging with tiredness, he opened it again to find Commander Cruger was there now, and hurriedly stood up straight and saluted him, nodding to Isinia, who was standing behind him.
"Cadet, I came to ask you-" He stopped short when he got a good look at Sky's face, then winced when Bridge gave a loud, raspy snore behind him. "My apologies, Sky... I forgot, you must be exhausted. I'm sure the two of you also want to..." He cleared his throat. "This can wait until you get up. Good night."
"G'night, sir... Mrs. Cruger," Sky said, watching them walk away, feeling a strange warm glow inside himself when he saw the two holding paws as they walked out of the rec room, thinking suddenly about how hard it must have been for them to be separated for so long. He couldn't imagine Bridge being missing for years, and thinking he was dead, then not knowing if he was alive or if his enemies were just playing with him... he shook his head. Time later to think about all of that, he reminded himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Bridge, who had now rolled onto his back and was snoring softly, then started to crawl back into the bunk...
A third knock. Sky almost moaned aloud with misery, but held himself in and went to answer the door yet again... to find Z, dressed in her pajamas and looking even worse than Sky felt. He could tell right away that she'd been crying.
"I'm sorry, Sky," she said at once. "I know you guys're probably trying to sleep, it's just... it's just... ...can I sleep in here? Syd left, I have no one else to talk to, I really don't want to be alone right now..." She trailed off, biting her lip.
"...and you miss Jack," Sky finished, and she nodded, wiping away more tears as they fell. Sky studied her for a long while, wondering if he wanted to- or even could- deal with an emotional Z, then relented. He knew that Jack being gone must have hurt her 1,000 times worse than it did him, and that he would have appreciated companionship were he in her situation. He also realized that he and Bridge weren't likely to be doing anything besides sleep anytime soon, so another person in the room wouldn't be a problem. "Come on in." Z managed to smile at him through her tears, drifting over to Bridge's empty bunk and sitting down, wiping her eyes. Sky felt himself going red, looking down at Bridge and suddenly feeling awkward, as he'd never cuddled with him around another person before. "Ah... uhm... you... you don't mind if I hold him, do you?"
"Why would I?" Z asked, giving him a puzzled look, and Sky shrugged. Feeling relieved that she was OK with it and reasonably sure that he'd get no more visitors, Sky finally lay down beside his boyfriend, putting an arm across his chest. Upon feeling this, Bridge opened his eyes, blinked, and turned his head to the side.
"Oh, 'ey, Z," he said thickly, and Sky saw him give a little wave. "...We did it, 'uh? 's good t'save the world, 'specially 'f we didn't, we'd never get t'sleep, except we might've been put t'sleep permanently 'n that'd be bad..." He chuckled when Sky tickled his side.
"Go back to sleep, Bridge. We can talk once we're all rested."
"Bu' Sky, we just saved th' world," Bridge protested, closing his eyes and rambling onward. "Maybe we should be out celebratin'- hehehehe!" Sky tickled him again.
"Are you gonna sleep, or do you want me to tickle you until you can't stand it?"
"You're..." Bridge paused to yawn widely. "...no fun." Forgetting that Z was there for a moment, Sky pulled Bridge close when he turned to face him, giving him a loving smile before kissing his forehead. Sky then looked up at their guest, and felt his face go hot once more, turning his head away.
"You guys are so cute," she said fondly, then rolled her eyes when Sky snorted. "You really are. ...It's just unusual to see you being so affectionate, that's all."
"He's my boyfriend," Sky said defensively, feeling embarrassed now.
"And the way you act in public around him, we'd never have guessed it unless you guys told us. Sky, I'm not criticizing you, I'm just saying it's nice to see a different side of you." His face still burning, Sky looked at her and gave a sheepish grin. One hand almost automatically moved up to play with Bridge's hair, and Bridge moaned softly into Sky's chest, his right hand grabbing a handful of his jacket. Sky himself felt his eyelids drooping lower and lower-
* * *
Bridge was warm.
He liked this feeling.
So warm and so loved and content, especially after going through hell.
Without opening his eyes, he nuzzled Sky's chest, making his boyfriend grunt in his slumber. Bridge opened his eyes to see that the room was dark, that Sky was on his back, and he was lying on top of him, snuggled close... and by the wet spot on his boyfriend's jacket, Bridge could tell he'd been contentedly drooling for however long they'd been asleep.
"Bridgey?" a soft voice asked, making him jump, and he turned his head to see Z curled up on the other bunk. "...Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"S'alright. What're you doing in here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He had a vague recollection of talking to her when Sky had finally come to bed, but it might have been a dream, especially because he'd been so tired...
"Sky let me sleep in here," she explained. "Syd left to go stay with her parents, and I just didn't want to be alone. You must not remember seeing me before, huh?"
"You really were there? Good, so I wasn't imagining it," Bridge yawned. "'cause sometimes I swear I've seen or said things while half-asleep and it turned out to be a dream, and there are times when I thought I was dreaming but it was real... ever had that problem?"
"Can't say that I have," Z chuckled. "...You doing OK, Bridge?"
"Still tired," Bridge replied, wriggling out of Sky's grip and sitting up on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes. "...But now that I'm awake, I'm starting to think about everything that's happened and I doubt I can get back to sleep for a while-" Z held a finger to her lips.
"Let's go for a walk," she suggested in a whisper, also sitting up. "Or at least go out into the rec room. I'd love to talk, but I don't want to wake Sky up, either."
"Oh. Good idea," Bridge agreed. The two of them slipped out of the dorm room into the empty, dimly-lit rec room and took up seats beside each other on a couch. Bridge remembered with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that Jack was gone... He realized that this was likely the biggest reason Z had wanted to stay with them, too. "...I'm trying hardest not to think about how many times we've come close to dying in the last couple of days- or, heck, even in the past YEAR," he told Z. "I know we're all alive, but it still gives me chills to think about it. And I know it's going to give me nightmares for a while, too."
"Tell me about it," said Z, staring off into space. "...Gruumm capturing us... and those Krybots coming in to destroy us was the worst." Seeing that she was very depressed even without needing to use his powers, Bridge gave her a reassuring smile.
"We made it, though. We're all in one piece... and now we have peace. Well, not much peace since we have to clean everything up and we're talking instead of sleeping and we're going to be rehashing everything that's gone on amongst ourselves for a while, but it's peace compared to, say, having a giant tentacled monster bearing down on us."
"True. Having this is going to take some getting used to, though," Z said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly. "Not having to constantly be on the lookout for Troobians, always watching our backs when we leave the base... we'll be dealing with stuff normal police officers have to for once."
"I don't know, I think it'll be nice to have a normal, boring life," Bridge grinned. "Well, not 'normal' as in normal normal, since we're far from normal, but you know what I mean." He could feel himself going red as something else occurred to him. "And on a personal, extremely selfish note, I'm really looking forward to being able to spend more time with Sky without those worries, either. These past couple of months have been really hard on us." He could feel his stomach sink lower and lower now. Bridge's insecurities about his and Sky's relationship were going to be coming back to the forefront, too, he knew. They'd managed to keep putting off and putting off addressing the problems they had with one another due to the more pressing matters in their lives, but now that the distraction of the war was gone...
"I'll bet," Z said quietly.
"Yeah. We chose a bad time to act on our feelings for each other," Bridge said with a nervous laugh. "...But now we've got all the time in the world, and I do have hope that we can work things out." Z nodded, then played with a stray thread in her nightgown before saying abruptly,
"Uhm... Bridge? Do you mind if I ask you something really, really, insanely personal? I apologize in advance if it offends you, and you don't have to answer me if it does." Bridge studied her, frowning.
"Well, I won't know if it does until you ask, so go ahead."
"...What is it you see in Sky, anyway? I've wondered that... pretty much ever since we found out you two were dating. I've never seen him be openly affectionate toward you until just before he fell asleep today, he belittles and insults you a lot... it's like I told him, I would never guess you two were boyfriends if you didn't say you were. He's just... Sky. I like him as a friend, I respect him as a fellow Ranger, but I doubt I could ever date him. He would drive me nuts, and we'd probably kill each other. How do you make it work as well as it seems to be working, in spite of everything?" Bridge was blindsided by this question and blinked hard at Z, his mouth slightly open. "...I'm sorry, Bridge, that was rude of-"
"No, no, it's OK," he assured her. "...I just need to think about it." A long silence then stretched between them. Z became very interested in the nearby fish tank, while Bridge stared out the window, trying to articulate his attraction to Sky before he finally said, "...I don't know if it's something I can really put into words. It's just a feeling I've had and do have about him. He and I have been best friends pretty much since I joined the Academy about 4 years ago. He was a bit easier to get along with then, and we became friends because he was the first person my age to accept me. He didn't automatically push me away after finding out about my personality or my powers. He could just as easily have totally rejected my friendship when I started tagging along with him and Dru, and he didn't. I never got along with Dru, and that drove him nuts, but he was also still willing to stand up to him for me; Dru tried making me feel like I was coming between them, and I started withdrawing out of fear of losing Sky, but he told me to never, ever worry about that, and that struck me. From then on, that made me stick by him no matter what.
"I know he can be, to put it quite bluntly, an insufferably stuffy asshole," Bridge continued. "He can be rude, he can be inconsiderate, he can be insensitive, but I'm willing to put up with it. I guess it's because my powers help me see so clearly that he's a great person underneath it all, because I do often see his caring side, and that no matter what he says, he loves me because of who I am, not in spite of it." He could feel his face burning, and was surprised when Z suddenly threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
"...That's so amazing, Bridge."
"Er," he replied. "Thanks?"
"It really is," she replied. "He loves you for the same reason the rest of us do- because you're you." Bridge went redder and returned the hug. "I have to admit I AM a little jealous of you guys after seeing you cuddle, just 'cause you guys have each other to hold. Still, with you around, Jack not being here doesn't hurt as much." Bridge rubbed the back of his head, looking down, his face still flushed. "I think I'm ready to go back to bed, big brother. How about you?" Bridge nodded, and the two tiptoed back into the dorm room.
It wasn't until Bridge had resnuggled with Sky and was almost asleep that he realized Z had called him "big brother"... and that, he thought, somehow meant as much to him as Sky's love did.
* * *
When Sky finally woke up, the room was filled with bright sunlight, Z was gone, and Bridge was still snuggled against his side. A glance at his bedside clock told him he'd been asleep for more than 12 hours; he felt as though he could have gone longer, but figured he should at least get up and stretch his stiff and sore muscles first. He gently detached Bridge from himself before sitting up, cracking his neck. He took a few minutes to make himself look presentable, in case the Commander came by, and opened his door, stooping to scoop up two packages covered in brown paper sitting outside of it. He saw that they were addressed to him, so he quickly ripped open one corner of the top one, biting back a cry of delight when he saw red fabric- his new uniform. The other package likely contained undershirts for him.
Then he remembered why he had a red uniform now...
Sky turned and set the packages on his desk before going out into the rec room, looking around and spotting Z sitting in a beanbag chair near the window, looking a lot better than she had yesterday. He went over to the synthesizer for a drink of water before drifting over to her, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside her.
"Hey," she said, smiling at him.
"Hi," he replied. "You sleep alright? You look better."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm probably going to go back to bed in a minute, but I won't intrude on you and Bridge's privacy any more... I'm fine sleeping in my own room."
"You sure? We don't mind the extra company."
"I know," said Z, patting his back. "How're you doing, Sky?"
"I'm alright... just... wishing that Jack was still here. I'm glad that I get to be the Red Ranger, but I didn't want it to be because he left."
"You deserve it, though," she told him, and Sky looked over at her, surprised in spite of himself. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about it... and I'm kinda alright with him going now. It still hurts like hell, don't get me wrong, but I'm happy because Jack is happy. He gets to go back to doing what he loves, changing the world the way he does best, and you and I and Bridge and Syd keep doing what we love and do best, too. And just because he doesn't live here and isn't our leader doesn't mean our friendship is going to mean any less, you know?"
"Yeah," said Sky, nodding slowly, realizing the truth in her words. "We'll all still be here for each other. ...Thank you for saying that. It makes me feel better."
"Any time, brother." Sky raised an eyebrow at her, and she merely grinned back. "I'm gonna get back to sleep... not that I haven't already done a lot of it, but still, a few more hours couldn't hurt. Love you."
"...Yeah. You too." He watched as she got up and left, disappearing inside her and Syd's bedroom, before standing up himself and going back to Bridge, once more holding his sleeping boyfriend.
For the first time since the war with Gruumm had started, Sky felt- even though he knew it wasn't true in the literal sense- that all was right with the world.
(crossposted to 20_est_relships)