A/N: First of all, I'd like to send out a big thank-you to Z from the Tate Twins for beta-reading this story. I don't think I'd be able to post it if she hadn't. I'd also like to thank Overdrive Red for reading it and giving me her opinion on it.
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Power Rangers. Never have, never will.
There's No Way
There's no way their relationship would ever work out.
At least, that's what they tell their friends (and themselves, actually). After all, they are completely different people: The quirky technical whiz and the stubborn street rat? Yeah right.
But then why, whenever they look at each other, does the world just fall away? Like there's nothing else that mattered except the two of them, and if they just took that one step, the world would be stunning, no matter how heartbreaking and cruel it really was.
Whatever. That didn't matter. It also didn't matter how she listened to his every word as if they were the most important things she'd ever hear, or how he gained her trust so quickly that she felt like she could tell him everything about her past, even the stuff that she hadn't trusted with Jack (and there was more stuff than you'd think). Society informed them, point blank, that they were the completely wrong people for each other.
Except that neither of them were people who actually listened to society. Quite the opposite, in fact.
So, instead of listening to society's opinion, they asked their friends.
"He babbles way too much," her friends would say. "You'd be better off with a man who had a better grip on what he was saying."
"She's too stubborn," his friends would reply. "Someone who wasn't so set in their ways would probably be more preferable for you."
Which would be perfectly good reasons, if it weren't for the facts that she adored his babbling (if she got him distracted enough, it was the only times he'd come out behind the brave face that she knows he puts up) and that her stubbornness was one of the things that he admired most about her, even from the first day (it showed that she wasn't going to let anybody walk all over her, which is something that he wishes he could prevent for himself).
What their friends didn't seem to understand was that they didn't think the relationship would work because the other person was lacking in something. What they were worried about was that they didn't think they were good enough for the other person.
So they lived in denial for a long time, until traitorous thoughts started coming, uninvited, into her head: What if you aren't too uneducated for him? You know he likes being able to explain things to you...
Which is completely true. She's curious by nature, and whenever she asks Bridge to explain something about his latest project, his eyes would light up, and he'd have a smile on his face that never failed to send her heart racing so fast she was positive he could hear it, and then he'd start talking a mile-a-minute about whatsits and thingamabobs and a number of other things that she's gradually understanding, but whether she understands what he's talking about or not, it doesn't matter, because she's mostly paying attention to the look on his face, and before she met him she didn't think it was possible for someone to look that happy, but it's just one of those things that has her completely enthralled with him.
There are hundreds of more ideas like this one that make just as much sense, and no matter how hard she tries, she can't shake the terrifyingly glorious idea that maybe she does have something to offer him.
While she's dealing with the turmoil in her head, the little voice that he's ignored for too long has decided that it's had enough and starts making its presence known: You know, she could actually like your quirks; God knows she puts up with more of them than your own parents do sometimes...
It hurt, but the little voice was right (he wonders if this is why he's ignored it for so long). Whenever he started babbling, or if he tried to ease into a (very uncomfortable) conversation about his powers, his parents would always smile in that 'Oh, what parents have to put up with,' way, and then he'd clam up, because the last thing he ever wanted to be was an annoyance.
Z never gave him that look. Whenever he started talking, she'd stop whatever she was doing and just listen with her undivided attention, and if he ever got carried away (which was often), she was the only one who could actually snap him out of it.
She was also never afraid to talk about his powers. The others avoided that topic like the plague, coming up with excuses like 'He probably doesn't want to share it with us,' or the more honest 'I just don't have the mental capacity to handle Bridge's babbling right now' (that one was never uttered when they thought he could hear them).
Z dove right into the conversations. She asked questions about what he picked up, how auras felt to him, even how his powers have evolved. She asked questions that he'd never even thought of, and it helped his understanding of his powers more than she'd (or he'd) ever know.
The little voice came up with a lot more arguments, and no matter how hard he tries to block it out, he starts thinking that maybe he isn't too weird for her after all.
The thoughts and the voice keep coming up with arguments, and by the end of two months, Z decided that she'd had enough.
She found him working on his computoaster, with a look of such intense concentration that she wondered if she should bother him after all. But just as she was about to leave, he looked up and spotted her.
They know each other so well that he doesn't need to be told why she's here, so she doesn't.
She stares at him for a while, trying to reassemble the thoughts that scattered the moment she saw his mesmerizing blue eyes. Taking a deep (and rather shaky) breath, she begins.
"A relationship between us would never work."
"... Oh. Yeah. Right. Of course."
If he's disappointed by that statement, he doesn't show it, and once again she damns his powers for making him into such a good actor.
"I mean, we're completely different people. You'd probably be better off with someone who can understand your experiments completely, like Sophie" - the name leaves a bitter taste in her mouth - "and I'd be better off with... well, I haven't exactly found someone yet, but I'm sure I could." Who's not nearly as perfect as you, she thinks, but doesn't say it out loud and she's half-praying that he'll pick that up too.
Just as he was about to open up his mouth to agree with her (because it's just reality), he hears her thought, and he wonders if he hasn't been able to hide the fact that he isn't nearly as capable of blocking her thoughts out as he is with everyone else's.
So instead of agreeing, he says, "Why don't we think this through a little bit before we decide for sure? How about we list the reasons why we'd be bad for each other, and why we'd be good for each other."
For anyone else, it would be a completely random statement, but she loves him even more for saying it.
It was something that her dad had taught her to do. 'Whenever you're not sure about something, Lizzie, just list the good sides and bad sides to the situation. You'd be surprised how often that helps.'
And he was right. It was how she decided if she should run away or not, whether or not to trust Jack...
If she should join SPD.
Because the system has never failed her before, she agrees to use it.
They are silent for a few moments, before he starts.
"Well, for one thing, I talk way too much when I get nervous... or any other time, come to think of it. Like every time I get excited about a new computer program, or when I come up with an idea involving a case, or when a conversation gets really awkward and Sky and Jack are just about ready to kill each other again... and I think I just proved my point."
He's rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face, and Z has to hide a smile at the sight. She always thought he looked irresistibly adorable when he looked like that.
Bridge looks up at her then and says, "Your turn."
She ponders her options, before declaring, "I'm too stubborn for my own good."
The look on his face suggests that he wants to argue that point, but decides to wait until later. Instead, he gives another con.
"I spend way too much time on experiments that most likely make no sense to anyone except for me."
Now it was Z's turn to look like she wanted to disagree, but like him, she decided to hold back. To distract herself, she retorts, "I'm way too sarcastic."
He snorts and says, "Well then, I'm way too quirky."
She scowls at him before replying, "My curiosity has gotten me into too much trouble to be considered healthy."
He quirks an eyebrow at that statement, but doesn't press it. Taking a deep breath, he states his final (and most important) con.
"My powers would probably never let me have a normal relationship with anyone."
Z stays quiet for a moment, before softly saying, "I will more than likely never listen to anything anyone tells me, unless someone else's life is on the line."
They mull over everything the other one has said in silence, until Bridge announces, "Well, I think that we have enough cons at the moment. How about we start listing some pros if we have some?"
Z smirks and notes, "Well, you went first with the cons, so how about I start with the pros?"
He thinks it over, and because he can see nothing wrong with this, he agrees.
Z says, "Your first point would have been an excellent con, if I didn't happen to love it when you babble."
Bridge looks mildly shocked by this, so she explains, "I like knowing how you work things out. It's actually easier to learn stuff from you if you're babbling, too."
He gives her a blinding smile, and she has just enough time to gather her thoughts again before he lists his first pro.
"I don't think that you're too stubborn for your own good. Partly because that means that you'll never let someone talk you out of something that you believe in, and partly because you've saved all of our butts with it."
Z, starting to deny what he just said, stops herself and thinks over his statement for a few moments. Finding that he was (at least partly) right, and not having anything to retort with, she continues with their conversation.
"You don't spend too much time with your experiments; they're a passion of yours, and doing something that you really love is never a waste of time. Besides," she says with a shrug, "when you let me help you with them, it gives me the chance to learn about things I never would've gotten a chance to otherwise."
It takes Bridge a while to continue after she finishes saying that. When he finds the words again, he confides, "I happen to like your sarcasm." Seeing her disbelieving look, he explains, "It always keeps things interesting."
Not wanting to be outdone, Z quickly retorts, "Well, I happen to like your quirkiness. Not one day has gone by since I've met you where it hasn't made me look at a situation in a completely different light."
Momentarily stunned into silence, Bridge eventually comments, "It may be true that your curiosity has gotten you into a few problems, but it's part of what makes you... you. And besides, it makes me feel special -" at this, a blush starts to form on his cheeks "- when you ask about what my experiments are about. No one except Boom, and maybe Kat, has ever really cared."
Z smiles gently at him, and his blush deepens. She then brings up one of her last pros.
"Bridge, when I became your friend, I accepted everything about you. That included your powers. It still does."
Once again, Bridge finds that he has lost the words he was going to say. After they come back, he claims, "Z, you wouldn't be you if you listened to what anybody else told you. I wouldn't know what to do if you did."
They've gotten closer during the conversation, so close that she can feel his breath on her nose. She takes a moment to admire the way that the light reflects off of his eyes before she murmurs, "I've got one more pro."
He's almost too busy wondering how deep her eyes really are to hear her, but when he does he gives her a small smile and replies, "Me too. But you go first."
'It's now or never Z', she thinks to herself, and she takes a deep breath and mutters in a quiet voice, "I love you."
The room goes deathly still, and for one, horrible moment, Z thinks that maybe she just ruined everything, and she shouldn't have been so stupid. Of course he wouldn't want her that way, and she should've just stayed quiet -
But then he looks at her again, gives her the brightest smile she's ever seen him use, and utters the most beautiful words that she's ever heard.
"I love you too."
She's so happy that she can hardly think, but when he reaches out and kisses her, she decides that thought can wait until later.