This is going to be a Blue October Song fic. I've never done a song fic before but hey I figure I've got my first big fic Shifting Hearts and then I've got my humors one shots with Bridge, so why not go for a whole big collection? All I need now is a song fic, a one shot of fluff, and some slash! Hmm…I wonder if I could fit that all into one? Muahahahahahahahahaha! The challenge to myself has been presented! Now for your reading enjoyment a song/fluff/slash fic! Why not get it all over with at once? My friend would be so proud! (Man love for October Eve!). Now who to slash……..?
Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers or Blue October…well I own their album but that's about it.
The fic is set right after Endings. The song is called A Quiet Mind and I think that it fits Bridge well…this is only slash because I thought it might be fun. Oh yeah and for October Eve cause she loves the man love! Yay Skridge!
"You give me a quiet mind and I …I love you "
Something was terribly wrong. Bridge Carson just couldn't put his finger on it. With so many things in his head anymore it was hard to find the thoughts that were his. Was it the change of wind? He glanced out the window. A storm was coming, but this felt like a different kind of storm. Was it the colors? Everyone seemed off. Jack was gone now, the team was short, and Z just wasn't her normal spunky self. No, that was there, but it wasn't it. Was it the mystery meat in the cafeteria for lunch? What was in that anyway? Bridge walked over to the wall and flipped himself upside down, the better to think... Suddenly the colors shifted again, Sky had walked into the common room. There it is. The newly appointed Red Ranger gracefully strode into the room and Bridge felt everything go blue/gray. Like the clouds outside. Like the sky. He focused on his new leader pacing across the ceiling. The storm was defiantly raging in Sky.
Schuyler Tate was troubled. He had noticed that something was amiss with Bridge. He may not have been the psychic but he could tell when his former roommate and best friend wasn't in his right way. Although, normal for Bridge could be debated. He went about business as usual, tinkering with machines, attempting to perfect the automatic bread maker/ toaster, his passion for the perfect piece of toast taking the helm. But there was something else, something he couldn't quite figure. Something that tore him up inside. No one else saw it because no one else knew him like Sky. He paced in front of the upside down ranger wearing his former color debating how to best approach the subject. Finally he squatted down in front of Bridge attempting to look him in the eye.
"Bridge?"
"Yeah Sky?" The closer the Red Ranger got the quicker Bridge felt his heart beat. He had always known his feelings for Sky. It was the one clear thought in his mind. The one he knew belonged to him.
"What's wrong?" Sky asked bluntly. There never was any beating around the bush with him, a flip side to Bridge's roundabout way of getting to anything.
"Wrong with what?" Bridge could feel the concern radiate off of his friend. It made him feel guilty. Sky was always so careful around him, careful about how much emotion he let out in fear of hurting him. Bridge sometimes wondered if that was one of the reasons he always kept so much bottled up inside.
"Wrong with you?" Sky searched the blue eyes as familiar to him as his own. There was so much about Bridge that the others didn't know. The nightmares, the tears, the uncertainty. Sky was one of the few that really understood his power. You couldn't just turn it off, or not use it, it was always there and always on. The thoughts and feelings of everyone around him invaded Bridges mind whether he liked it or not. The gloves and the layers of clothes only proved as a light barrier against the barrage.
Bridge sighed and fluidly moved from upside down to right side up. Sky was right there was something wrong. Lately his power had progressed. He was starting to hear everyone. Not just the colors and the feelings, but the voices and the thoughts. It was becoming an onslaught. The only redemption he ever had were those nights with Sky when they were roommates. There was something about Sky that could quiet the voices. That's how he knew that Sky was the one. His very aura was soothing to Bridge. Now that Sky was the Red Ranger he had moved out and Bridge was left alone. He would never admit to anyone else that when Sky had donated all of his Blue SPD apparel to Jack and Alley that there was a few items missing. Bridge had stolen…(no not stolen he said to himself) kept as a memento; a few of Sky's blue t-shirts. He wore them under his new blue uniform regularly. Even the contact by proxy was enough for Bridge to feel as though maybe the voices weren't that loud. He wasn't sure if he could find away to communicate that now.
"It's nothing Sky." The look on his face said he didn't buy it.
"The voices have been getting louder, no worries. I just need to turn down the internal volume. That's all." He mimicked turning a dial on the side of his head in hopes of a smile.
There was none. Instead Sky's face washed over with worry. He always felt so helpless when it came to Bridge. There was never anything he felt that he could do for him.
"What do you mean getting louder?" The concern in his voce growing stronger.
"I mean it's not just everybody in the room anymore, it's every body down the hall, two rooms down, and in the command center." There was no lying to that face.
"Why?"
Bridge wanted to tell him "Because your not there to make them go away. Because I'm lost without you. Because I love you." He had said it a million times in his head, but when it came to real life he was too afraid that Sky would tell him that it would never work or that he didn't feel the same way or worse get freaked out and leave. Having him as a friend was better than nothing. For some reason Bridge could never get a really good read off of Sky. He theorized that it was because of Sky's genetic power. His force fields were made of energy but they were constructed by his mind so in a way he had like a built in mental block. That was probably why when they first arrived at the academy Kruger had made them roommates. Anyone else would have been an open book too him, but not Sky.
Bridge looked into Sky's expectant eyes. The new red of his uniform muted the normally brilliant blue. He wanted to reach out and hold him, to take the full round lips from the otherwise angular face and softly whisper all the things that kept him awake at night. What would happen if he touched him without the aid of his gloves? Bridge wanted to know. Instead all he could come up with was –
"I don't know."
Sky became exasperated with his friend. Normally you couldn't get Bridge to be quiet for more than 5 seconds. Why was he being so reserved now? In the back of his head, Sky already knew the answer. He had known for a long time that the feelings Bridge had for him went beyond platonic. They had always shared a special bond that most people took for brotherly love. Sky couldn't deny that he had sat on his bed and watched the surprisingly fragile ranger sleep, not just to keep an eye on him but to enjoy the innocent, peaceful look on his face. Sky Tate had never acted upon his feelings for good reason. First it was against regulation, they were roommates and fellow rangers! Second was that, what if anything had happened to them? As friends? Sky wasn't sure he could bear not to have Bridge in his life no matter what capacity. He was the Red Rangers one real weakness. The move had been hard on both of them. Sky found himself staring at the empty wall where Bridges bed had been. The room was too quiet anymore. Sky had always joked that he would be ecstatic for the day that he could lay down to sleep without hearing Bridge go on for 30 minutes about why he thought sheep didn't shrink when it rained. But now he found he had a hard time sleeping without it.
Sky was beginning to realize he knew what was wrong with Bridge, he knew why the voices were getting louder, and more importantly he was pretty sure he knew how to make them quiet.
Sky scanned the room to make sure they were alone, and then pulled the Blue Ranger into his arms. Bridge was stunned. Rapidly the storm of colors went from gray to red. The feel of Sky's strong arms around him sent warm shivers down his spine.
"Bridge, I'm sorry." Sky cupped the back of his head and stared deep into his eyes.
"Sorry for what? Sorry for the 5 mile run this morning or maybe the dent in my toaster? I know it was…." His nervous babbling was cut short when Sky crushed his lips down on his. Bridges mind exploded in color from the contact. The deep reds and brilliant orange that made up Schuyler Tate was the most amazing aura he had ever seen. He held on for dear life drinking in the whole of him never wanting to let go.
"I'm sorry…"repeated Sky when they had finally come up for air, "That I didn't do that sooner." He flashed one of his amazing smiles that made Bridge melt.
The tears rolled down Bridges face slowly. The emotion from Sky was overwhelming filling every part of him, but there was a void that Bridge couldn't help but notice. The voices are…
"…Gone." He looked at the man he had loved since before he knew what that love meant.
Sky gave him the one thing no one else could, a quiet mind.
A slow strangle with your feet on the floor. I've got 14 angels and we're sleeping alone in the back of a cave where the rest of us go to feel normal.
I call baby up, leave me alone, I'm in pain but I wont let you band aid my wound, I am not at a stage where I cant even to handle my own. Can't even handle my….
You give me a quiet mind and I…I love you.
You give me a quiet mind and I …I love you.
Until the end.
Until the end.
Give me strength to be kind, to combine all the good things in life that are so hard to find. But I have and I wont let them go like I do with my friends.
Still hearing voice from front, from behind. They're the reason I choose when to live, how to die. When to cast, when to reel, when to buy, when to steal, and when to fiend for the friends that taught you being inappropriate will…
Give me a Quiet mind and I... I love you
You give me a quiet mind and I …I love you
Until the end.
