PR: SRR: Darkness
Warning: This one is darker than the others. Fluff will follow soon, I promise. But this one was screaming to be written.
Timeline: Shadow, part one
Challenge: Darkness (challenge number 38)
You shake under your covers, eyes open...you're too afraid to close them, to see the terrors that your imagination will pull together. You knew that accepting Cruger's offer of freedom came with strings...you knew that you would be battling. You have battled, you've fought, you've won. Sure, at the end of the day, you were bruised and bloody, but still, you won. Defeat and loss never really seemed a reality. Power Rangers never lose, right? It's an unwritten code somewhere. Look at Tommy Oliver...a ranger of how many colors, how many teams? He's led, he's followed, but never been defeated.
Why did Cruger have to tell you about Sirius? Why? What was the purpose? If you close your eyes, you see his team-members, his littermates, his wife for heaven's sake, all murdered in their prime. Cruger had said that they were his squad...how long had they been together? What happened to his youth? What was it like, to watch those that you loved, that you had protected and guarded and given your life to, to watch them fall like so many toy soldiers.
You can't keep your eyes open though, because then your mind shows you the possibility of loss...of watching Bridge lose his hold on sanity...watch Sky loose his head in a battle, and rush into gunfire. You see Syd broken and lifeless on the ground, fist still clenched with a piece of steel in her palm. Boom lies across the lab table, eyes open but unseeing. Kat and Cruger survived the warfare on their home planets, and crossed galaxies to find a safe haven, but still fall to the onslaught of evil and terror. But worst of all, you see Z, whom you promised to protect, with a gory wound slashing across her abdomen, oozing blood, holding her blood-slick hand as she trembles with the agony. You watch as those vivid chestnut eyes cloud over, as the breath that gave her life slowly rattles and dies.
You watch as the Angel of Death takes her back home.
Your watch beeps, and you jump. Realizing that you have spent most of the night torturing yourself with fears of the future, you climb out of bed, and slip a red tee-shirt on, and step up to the door, triggering the motion sensors. Are surprised when you find a woman curled up against the door, a yellow blanket wrapped tightly around her. Why aren't you surprised that she sensed your fears as well? You kneel beside her, and see that while sound asleep, dried tears have left their tracks on her flawless cheeks. You scoop her up, holding her close to your chest, as you make your way to the commons room. Not the one for the base, but for the B-Squad Rangers. The rules may say that she can't sleep in your room, but there isn't anything against both of you taking a nap in the common room. As you settle on the floor, she moves in her sleep, molding against you, a slender hand resting on your chest. It takes you a moment to realize that the hand is right over your heart. Pulling a blanket over you both, you leave the lamps on to beat back the darkness for a few more hours. Just until daylight brings noise and controlled chaos, and activity to keep your mind off the dreams and nightmares.
Just until you both are safe. Just until dawn.
***********************************
Dawn