SB: Drunk!B-Squad and Interlude #1
Here's the promised original ending to chapter 13 and beginning of chapter 14. But first, an interlude!
Title: Together Again
Author: Mary (shurimon and shurifanstuffs on Livejournal)
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Rating: G
Warnings/Indications: Unbeta'd.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and make no claim to.
Summary: One-shot explaining the reason Kat and Doggie weren't there to meet Bridge the day he came home from the hospital.
Notes: First-person from Kat's point of view. This fic will not make sense if you haven't read up to Chapter 13 of Soul's Bonds. Takes place right before Bridge and Sky come home from their date in chapter 13.
Together Again (Kat)
"Wheeeeee! Let's go, boy!"
"Woof!" I poked my head out of Delta Command just in time to see Tessie run past, R.I.C. at her heels.
"What's the rush, Tess?" I called after her, making her skid to a stop, back up several paces until she was level with me, and jog in place.
"Sky n' Bridge are on their way back, Kat, they're almost home!" she informed me, R.I.C. circling her several times, barking happily. "Actually, I came by this way for a reason, but damned if I can... Oh, NOW I remember! I was supposed t'come get you and the Commander so we could welcome them back together. Sorry, I'm just so excited I can't keep m'head on straight. Bridge is comin' home and he and Sky are in love and... oooh, I'm all a-flutter!"
"We'll be there in a moment, then," I said, unable to suppress a smile at her exuberance. "Go ahead, we'll catch up to you." She saluted me and took off once more, giving another whoop as I turned to the Commander. He was at a computer console, lips moving as he quietly read something to himself off the screen. "You heard Tessie, I'm sure, sir. Bridge is home. Come on, let's go and meet him."
"Hmm?" he asked absently, not looking up. "Oh, yes... you go on, Miss Manx. I'm far too busy to get away right now."
"Even for five minutes?" I questioned, going over and shutting his screen off. "You've been working far too hard lately, Commander. Take a bit of a break."
"SPD does not run itself, Kat. I'll say hello to Cadet Carson tomorrow; I am sure he wants to spend time with his friends instead of his commanding officer on his first night back, anyway."
"You're his friend, too, not just his commander," I reminded him. "Take a break from what you're doing, it's not going to matter. Remember, you've only been able to get away to see him twice since he was hospitalized, and both times he didn't know you were there. I know he'd be happy to see you."
"No, I really can't spare any more time." He sighed when I looked severely at him. "Ah... you're right, Kat," he finally conceded, and we left the command center together in silence. As we walked, I wondered why he was so reluctant to see Bridge; it was true that, as the Commander of SPD on Earth, he tended to be more calm, composed, and more focused on work than his Rangers, but surely he could let go for a short while...? We stopped at the balcony overlooking the main entrance, watching as Sky, Bridge, Tessie, Z, Syd and Jack went toward the Rangers' quarters, Sky and Bridge holding hands, the others all with their arms locked together. All had huge grins pasted on their faces, and their laughter echoed through the entire entrance hall. I started moving toward them and motioned for the Commander to follow, but stopped short when I got a good look at his face.
"Oh, Commander... why are you crying?" I asked gently.
"I'm not," he said gruffly, but there was no mistaking the glistening tears rolling down his snout.
"I can see you, Doggie," I said. "Is that why you didn't want to meet them?" He nodded slowly and put an arm around me, and we watched them leave together.
"Yes, it is," he admitted, reaching up and wiping one eye. "...I feel so weak, old friend, even if they are tears of happiness. I haven't cried in years."
"Don't be ashamed," I said. "They're smiling again. We haven't seen them this happy in a long time. Bridge is alive, and back home, right where he should be. I know you were just as worried as we were that he was going to die. You never slept a wink the entire time he was being held captive. You love those kids, Doggie. Being happy for them is not a bad thing."
"I know, Kat. But I can't let them see their Commander crying like a whiny little puppy in front of them," he told me. "I'd never hear the end of it." I laughed.
"That is true. Let's get back to work, then... there's always tomorrow. Tonight, we can let them just have each other." Still arm-in-arm, Doggie escorted me back to Delta Command, and I wiped a few tears of my own away.
The original end of chapter 13 and the beginning of 14 Note: The beginning of 14 has been changed to go with the new end of 13, so this snippet doesn't spoil anything. I included it to have the full effect.
[...]
"Well, all of us have the night off, don't we? And the wine I bought is still good. I say we all let go for one night, celebrate our asses off and get drunk," said Sky cheerfully. The girls and I looked at each other, aghast.
"Who are you... and what have... you done... with Sky?" I demanded.
"What? Why are you guys so shocked?" he asked, sounding a little amused. "I like to have fun and break the rules on occasion, you know, and it's not every day we have such a great reason to do so."
"I heard and saw nothing," said Boom, quickly gathering up the towels and most of what we had carried in and walking away. "Come on, R.I.C., we don't need to hear any of this."
"I'm mostly surprised that you of all people are suggesting this, Sky," said Z, crossing her arms and frowning. "You know that Cruger's going to crucify us if he finds out- and he almost always does."
"Wait- US?" said Syd, giving her a sidelong glance. "You're actually going to join them?"
"Why not?" said Tessie. "We can all celebrate Bridge comin' home together. Come on, Syd, you're smiling, you want to do it, too."
"Well, of course I think we all deserve a little fun now and then," she conceded, "but Z's right, we'll be in big trouble if we get found out. I somehow doubt Cruger would go easy on us even on a day like this."
"Then we won't... be found out," I said, starting to like the sound of Sky's idea. "Nothing says... we have to get... totally bombed... am I right? Once... isn't gonna... hurt us. As long as... we're discreet... we should... be fine." And so it was that, 10 minutes later, we found ourselves locked inside Sky's and my bedroom, pouring out the wine for our little party. I didn't talk or drink much, but just watched my friends, feeling fortunate to be here and simply celebrate being alive- and celebrate my friends did. Everyone got more and more giggly as time slipped away, but it remained fairly clean and quiet between us until Sky, very visibly drunk, gave me a sloppy kiss on the lips right in front of everyone. "Hey!" I said playfully. "You're... gonna make me... spill my glass."
"'kay. Wanna make out?"
"Not right now," I whispered, slapping away his hand, which had started wandering under my shirt and up my back. "Maybe... later."
"Awww." Sky lay his head in my lap, and I shifted nervously. Between the drinks and his advances I couldn't help but get aroused, but I didn't want to take advantage of his drunkenness and persuade him to go beyond kissing, either, which I knew he would regret upon waking up tomorrow morning. Instead, I merely began stroking his hair, making him let out a noise that sounded a lot like a purr. "Feels s'good."
"I think we've... all had enough... to drink," I said, looking around at everyone. Tessie was already passed out in my computer chair, a half-empty wine glass in her hand. Z and Syd lay against each other, both sniggering drunkenly. Feeling a little uncomfortable now that I was the only one close to being sober, I decided to persuade everyone to go to bed before it got out of hand and we got busted. The girls were easily convinced, though Tessie almost threw up all over me as I helped her to her room. Finally, only Sky and me were left. Now that everybody was gone, we did have a very intense make-out session (satisfying my desires nicely) before he finally passed out onto his bed. I smiled at him fondly and started changing into my pajamas, before getting the idea to play a little joke on him. "Hmm..." Carefully peeling off all of his clothes, I climbed into bed with him, also naked (except for my gloves, of course) and snuggled up to him, covering us with the blanket Tessie had made for me. He gave a loud snore in response. I smiled to myself as I fell asleep, wishing that we'd do more than kiss, but content with this... and looking forward to the look on his face when he woke up tomorrow morning.
Chapter 14 (Sky)
The morning after our drunken party, a splitting headache was the first thing I became aware of.
The second thing was that someone was in bed with me.
"Huh... ohhhh," I moaned, shutting my eyes just as quickly as I had opened them; the bright sunlight filling the room only made my headache intensify. I groped around on my nightstand for a few minutes, finally finding my sunglasses and slipping them on so I could at least open my eyes without being blinded. I found upon doing so that the someone in bed with me was Bridge, looking dreamily content as he slept, one arm draped across my chest. We were also both stark naked except for a green and blue blanket mercifully covering both of us around the middle. "Ohhhh," I moaned again, rubbing my aching forehead. "Did we? Wait, don't tell me..."
"Tell you what?" Bridge asked sleepily, looking up at me.
"What the hell happened last night, because my imagination and my headache are both bad enough. I have never gotten drunk before, I never, EVER want to again, and most of all, I don't remember how we got here. AT ALL. Last night is a complete blur after all those drinks... all I can recall..." I thought hard. "I just remember getting drunker and drunker, making out with you on my bed, then nothing. What the hell did we do after that? Why are we naked?" Bridge smiled, laying his head on my chest.
"You said... not t'tell you," he yawned. "I remember... clearly. I didn't have... that much t'drink."
"Well? What happened?"
"Won't tell," said Bridge, kissing my neck and sending a pleasureable chill down my spine.
"Aww, come on, why not?"
"Because... I can... hold it... over your head," said Bridge. I was about to start pleading with him when there was a knock on our door.
"CADET CARSON! CADET TATE! Get out here IMMEDIATELY!" roared Commander Cruger, and Bridge and I looked at each other, both our faces falling.
"Oh, no," I wailed. "He must have found out..."
"We're so dead," he agreed as, quickly as we could, we got half dressed and opened the door to find the Commander waiting for us, looking livid. "Sir?" Bridge asked, gulping.
"There are some rumors going around that there was drunken debauchery amongst the B-Squad in this very room last night," Cruger informed us, crossing his arms. "If it turns out to be true, I am going to be very angry. You are supposed to set examples for everybody else, Cadets, and that means acting maturely and staying away from such vices." Bridge and I looked at each other again, unsure of what to do. I couldn't think very clearly through my hangover fog to begin with, and Cruger's shouting was making my headache much worse. "WELL? Have you nothing to say to me?"
"Uhm..." I began.
"We just..." Bridge muttered. The Commander stared us down, then, much to our surprise, he started laughing and patted us on the shoulders.
"At ease, gentlemen. Don't look so nervous, I'm just playing with you. I know you would never be stupid enough to do that on SPD property... right?" he asked pointedly.
"Of... of c-course not, sir," I stammered, hardly believing that he was going to let it slide; normally the slightest transgression led to getting chewed out at the very least, usually with punishment duties on top as well, and we'd broken the rules (and the law) in the worst way the night before.
"Cadet Carson, welcome back. I am very happy to see you," Cruger then said with such sincerity that Bridge looked a little surprised. "And... I know it's been a while, but I owe you an apology for what happened the day you disappeared. I'm ashamed of the way I treated you, and feel like I should apologize to you for being out-of-line. I had unreasonable expectations of you and punished you unjustly."
"Accepted... and thank you... for it, sir," said Bridge, touched. "It's... no big deal... now, especially after... all that happened... right?"
"You still can't talk very well?" the Commander asked with concern, gently running a finger along the scar on Bridge's neck, and he nodded.
"It's... painful... sometimes. Not as hard... as it was... for a while."
"At least you're still with us," Cruger said quietly. "You seem fit and healthy otherwise. I hope you're ready to return to duty; your skills have been missed these past weeks."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, if that's all, I'll see you gentlemen in the main control room in one hour. Dr. Manx and I have conducted some more analysis of the captured assassin recently, and now that you're all together again, you Rangers need to be briefed on our findings." We saluted him as he started walking away; he then paused and said, "Ahem. I know neither of you will need it because you're responsible officers, but just in case, I hear the infirmary has a very effective hangover cure." I laughed nervously as he went on his way again, then turned to Bridge.
"WOW. We dodged a HUGE bullet there. OK, be honest... DID we really do anything last night besides make out?" I asked.
"No, we didn't," he giggled. "I was... just playing... a li'l joke on you. We did... absolutely nothing... I swear. I didn't want... to end up... persuading you to do... anything you'd regret. You were... pretty out of it... and I'd feel bad."
"That's good to know," I said, relieved.[...]
Title: Together Again
Author: Mary (shurimon and shurifanstuffs on Livejournal)
Fandom: Power Rangers SPD
Rating: G
Warnings/Indications: Unbeta'd.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and make no claim to.
Summary: One-shot explaining the reason Kat and Doggie weren't there to meet Bridge the day he came home from the hospital.
Notes: First-person from Kat's point of view. This fic will not make sense if you haven't read up to Chapter 13 of Soul's Bonds. Takes place right before Bridge and Sky come home from their date in chapter 13.
Together Again (Kat)
"Wheeeeee! Let's go, boy!"
"Woof!" I poked my head out of Delta Command just in time to see Tessie run past, R.I.C. at her heels.
"What's the rush, Tess?" I called after her, making her skid to a stop, back up several paces until she was level with me, and jog in place.
"Sky n' Bridge are on their way back, Kat, they're almost home!" she informed me, R.I.C. circling her several times, barking happily. "Actually, I came by this way for a reason, but damned if I can... Oh, NOW I remember! I was supposed t'come get you and the Commander so we could welcome them back together. Sorry, I'm just so excited I can't keep m'head on straight. Bridge is comin' home and he and Sky are in love and... oooh, I'm all a-flutter!"
"We'll be there in a moment, then," I said, unable to suppress a smile at her exuberance. "Go ahead, we'll catch up to you." She saluted me and took off once more, giving another whoop as I turned to the Commander. He was at a computer console, lips moving as he quietly read something to himself off the screen. "You heard Tessie, I'm sure, sir. Bridge is home. Come on, let's go and meet him."
"Hmm?" he asked absently, not looking up. "Oh, yes... you go on, Miss Manx. I'm far too busy to get away right now."
"Even for five minutes?" I questioned, going over and shutting his screen off. "You've been working far too hard lately, Commander. Take a bit of a break."
"SPD does not run itself, Kat. I'll say hello to Cadet Carson tomorrow; I am sure he wants to spend time with his friends instead of his commanding officer on his first night back, anyway."
"You're his friend, too, not just his commander," I reminded him. "Take a break from what you're doing, it's not going to matter. Remember, you've only been able to get away to see him twice since he was hospitalized, and both times he didn't know you were there. I know he'd be happy to see you."
"No, I really can't spare any more time." He sighed when I looked severely at him. "Ah... you're right, Kat," he finally conceded, and we left the command center together in silence. As we walked, I wondered why he was so reluctant to see Bridge; it was true that, as the Commander of SPD on Earth, he tended to be more calm, composed, and more focused on work than his Rangers, but surely he could let go for a short while...? We stopped at the balcony overlooking the main entrance, watching as Sky, Bridge, Tessie, Z, Syd and Jack went toward the Rangers' quarters, Sky and Bridge holding hands, the others all with their arms locked together. All had huge grins pasted on their faces, and their laughter echoed through the entire entrance hall. I started moving toward them and motioned for the Commander to follow, but stopped short when I got a good look at his face.
"Oh, Commander... why are you crying?" I asked gently.
"I'm not," he said gruffly, but there was no mistaking the glistening tears rolling down his snout.
"I can see you, Doggie," I said. "Is that why you didn't want to meet them?" He nodded slowly and put an arm around me, and we watched them leave together.
"Yes, it is," he admitted, reaching up and wiping one eye. "...I feel so weak, old friend, even if they are tears of happiness. I haven't cried in years."
"Don't be ashamed," I said. "They're smiling again. We haven't seen them this happy in a long time. Bridge is alive, and back home, right where he should be. I know you were just as worried as we were that he was going to die. You never slept a wink the entire time he was being held captive. You love those kids, Doggie. Being happy for them is not a bad thing."
"I know, Kat. But I can't let them see their Commander crying like a whiny little puppy in front of them," he told me. "I'd never hear the end of it." I laughed.
"That is true. Let's get back to work, then... there's always tomorrow. Tonight, we can let them just have each other." Still arm-in-arm, Doggie escorted me back to Delta Command, and I wiped a few tears of my own away.
The original end of chapter 13 and the beginning of 14 Note: The beginning of 14 has been changed to go with the new end of 13, so this snippet doesn't spoil anything. I included it to have the full effect.
[...]
"Well, all of us have the night off, don't we? And the wine I bought is still good. I say we all let go for one night, celebrate our asses off and get drunk," said Sky cheerfully. The girls and I looked at each other, aghast.
"Who are you... and what have... you done... with Sky?" I demanded.
"What? Why are you guys so shocked?" he asked, sounding a little amused. "I like to have fun and break the rules on occasion, you know, and it's not every day we have such a great reason to do so."
"I heard and saw nothing," said Boom, quickly gathering up the towels and most of what we had carried in and walking away. "Come on, R.I.C., we don't need to hear any of this."
"I'm mostly surprised that you of all people are suggesting this, Sky," said Z, crossing her arms and frowning. "You know that Cruger's going to crucify us if he finds out- and he almost always does."
"Wait- US?" said Syd, giving her a sidelong glance. "You're actually going to join them?"
"Why not?" said Tessie. "We can all celebrate Bridge comin' home together. Come on, Syd, you're smiling, you want to do it, too."
"Well, of course I think we all deserve a little fun now and then," she conceded, "but Z's right, we'll be in big trouble if we get found out. I somehow doubt Cruger would go easy on us even on a day like this."
"Then we won't... be found out," I said, starting to like the sound of Sky's idea. "Nothing says... we have to get... totally bombed... am I right? Once... isn't gonna... hurt us. As long as... we're discreet... we should... be fine." And so it was that, 10 minutes later, we found ourselves locked inside Sky's and my bedroom, pouring out the wine for our little party. I didn't talk or drink much, but just watched my friends, feeling fortunate to be here and simply celebrate being alive- and celebrate my friends did. Everyone got more and more giggly as time slipped away, but it remained fairly clean and quiet between us until Sky, very visibly drunk, gave me a sloppy kiss on the lips right in front of everyone. "Hey!" I said playfully. "You're... gonna make me... spill my glass."
"'kay. Wanna make out?"
"Not right now," I whispered, slapping away his hand, which had started wandering under my shirt and up my back. "Maybe... later."
"Awww." Sky lay his head in my lap, and I shifted nervously. Between the drinks and his advances I couldn't help but get aroused, but I didn't want to take advantage of his drunkenness and persuade him to go beyond kissing, either, which I knew he would regret upon waking up tomorrow morning. Instead, I merely began stroking his hair, making him let out a noise that sounded a lot like a purr. "Feels s'good."
"I think we've... all had enough... to drink," I said, looking around at everyone. Tessie was already passed out in my computer chair, a half-empty wine glass in her hand. Z and Syd lay against each other, both sniggering drunkenly. Feeling a little uncomfortable now that I was the only one close to being sober, I decided to persuade everyone to go to bed before it got out of hand and we got busted. The girls were easily convinced, though Tessie almost threw up all over me as I helped her to her room. Finally, only Sky and me were left. Now that everybody was gone, we did have a very intense make-out session (satisfying my desires nicely) before he finally passed out onto his bed. I smiled at him fondly and started changing into my pajamas, before getting the idea to play a little joke on him. "Hmm..." Carefully peeling off all of his clothes, I climbed into bed with him, also naked (except for my gloves, of course) and snuggled up to him, covering us with the blanket Tessie had made for me. He gave a loud snore in response. I smiled to myself as I fell asleep, wishing that we'd do more than kiss, but content with this... and looking forward to the look on his face when he woke up tomorrow morning.
Chapter 14 (Sky)
The morning after our drunken party, a splitting headache was the first thing I became aware of.
The second thing was that someone was in bed with me.
"Huh... ohhhh," I moaned, shutting my eyes just as quickly as I had opened them; the bright sunlight filling the room only made my headache intensify. I groped around on my nightstand for a few minutes, finally finding my sunglasses and slipping them on so I could at least open my eyes without being blinded. I found upon doing so that the someone in bed with me was Bridge, looking dreamily content as he slept, one arm draped across my chest. We were also both stark naked except for a green and blue blanket mercifully covering both of us around the middle. "Ohhhh," I moaned again, rubbing my aching forehead. "Did we? Wait, don't tell me..."
"Tell you what?" Bridge asked sleepily, looking up at me.
"What the hell happened last night, because my imagination and my headache are both bad enough. I have never gotten drunk before, I never, EVER want to again, and most of all, I don't remember how we got here. AT ALL. Last night is a complete blur after all those drinks... all I can recall..." I thought hard. "I just remember getting drunker and drunker, making out with you on my bed, then nothing. What the hell did we do after that? Why are we naked?" Bridge smiled, laying his head on my chest.
"You said... not t'tell you," he yawned. "I remember... clearly. I didn't have... that much t'drink."
"Well? What happened?"
"Won't tell," said Bridge, kissing my neck and sending a pleasureable chill down my spine.
"Aww, come on, why not?"
"Because... I can... hold it... over your head," said Bridge. I was about to start pleading with him when there was a knock on our door.
"CADET CARSON! CADET TATE! Get out here IMMEDIATELY!" roared Commander Cruger, and Bridge and I looked at each other, both our faces falling.
"Oh, no," I wailed. "He must have found out..."
"We're so dead," he agreed as, quickly as we could, we got half dressed and opened the door to find the Commander waiting for us, looking livid. "Sir?" Bridge asked, gulping.
"There are some rumors going around that there was drunken debauchery amongst the B-Squad in this very room last night," Cruger informed us, crossing his arms. "If it turns out to be true, I am going to be very angry. You are supposed to set examples for everybody else, Cadets, and that means acting maturely and staying away from such vices." Bridge and I looked at each other again, unsure of what to do. I couldn't think very clearly through my hangover fog to begin with, and Cruger's shouting was making my headache much worse. "WELL? Have you nothing to say to me?"
"Uhm..." I began.
"We just..." Bridge muttered. The Commander stared us down, then, much to our surprise, he started laughing and patted us on the shoulders.
"At ease, gentlemen. Don't look so nervous, I'm just playing with you. I know you would never be stupid enough to do that on SPD property... right?" he asked pointedly.
"Of... of c-course not, sir," I stammered, hardly believing that he was going to let it slide; normally the slightest transgression led to getting chewed out at the very least, usually with punishment duties on top as well, and we'd broken the rules (and the law) in the worst way the night before.
"Cadet Carson, welcome back. I am very happy to see you," Cruger then said with such sincerity that Bridge looked a little surprised. "And... I know it's been a while, but I owe you an apology for what happened the day you disappeared. I'm ashamed of the way I treated you, and feel like I should apologize to you for being out-of-line. I had unreasonable expectations of you and punished you unjustly."
"Accepted... and thank you... for it, sir," said Bridge, touched. "It's... no big deal... now, especially after... all that happened... right?"
"You still can't talk very well?" the Commander asked with concern, gently running a finger along the scar on Bridge's neck, and he nodded.
"It's... painful... sometimes. Not as hard... as it was... for a while."
"At least you're still with us," Cruger said quietly. "You seem fit and healthy otherwise. I hope you're ready to return to duty; your skills have been missed these past weeks."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, if that's all, I'll see you gentlemen in the main control room in one hour. Dr. Manx and I have conducted some more analysis of the captured assassin recently, and now that you're all together again, you Rangers need to be briefed on our findings." We saluted him as he started walking away; he then paused and said, "Ahem. I know neither of you will need it because you're responsible officers, but just in case, I hear the infirmary has a very effective hangover cure." I laughed nervously as he went on his way again, then turned to Bridge.
"WOW. We dodged a HUGE bullet there. OK, be honest... DID we really do anything last night besides make out?" I asked.
"No, we didn't," he giggled. "I was... just playing... a li'l joke on you. We did... absolutely nothing... I swear. I didn't want... to end up... persuading you to do... anything you'd regret. You were... pretty out of it... and I'd feel bad."
"That's good to know," I said, relieved.[...]