A/N: Based on the soap opera a bunch of people created on the RangerBoard thread "Power Rangers Romance & Shipping". (There is a LOT of relationships XD) Everyone should thank those people for this wonderful idea. To see all of the relationships, find this story on Archive Of Our Own.
I hope I do their ideas justice!
Six people in colored spandex punched, kicked, dodged, slashed, and shot at an alien monster who was trying to retrieve powerful gemstones known as the Energems. These people in spandex apparently were bonded to these great Energems and fought for their lives daily to protect and defeat the evil force that wanted to so desperately steal the Energems and use them for their own evil purposes. Though, this group in spandex known as the Power Rangers would stop at nothing to keep it from their evil clutches, so they fought endlessly against this evil to prevent the end of the universe.
It was a heated battle.
Literally.
There was fire and lava everywhere and the Rangers had to be careful where they stepped because they would have been melted to nothing if they so much as accidentally stepped in the wrong direction. Getting up close and personal with the monster because of his talent with a sword, Riley slashed at the monster several times before being knocked back by the sheer force of the annoyed monster's punch. Chase quickly fought off a Vivix and jumped up in the air to successfully catch Riley, landing on his feet and putting Riley safely back on the ground. The Black Ranger aimed at the monster and shot at it, shouting, "Para Chopper!"
All shots struck the monster on its chest as it backed away slightly from the pain and its hand reflexively went to its chest, "You'll pay for this, Rangers! I'll be back!" The monster quickly fled the scene as Chase shot at it a couple more times before it disappeared from view. Once they knew there were no monsters or civilians around, the Rangers powered down and exchanged unsure looks.
Tyler took out his Dinocom at the sound of a beep and looked at the screen to see Kendall as everyone ran over to see what their mentor had to say, "Guys, it's bad. The Silver Energem-" She said distractedly and looked at a different monitor before turning back to them. "We need to find the Silver Energem quickly before Sledge does."
"Yeah, um, could you tell us where the Energem is exactly?" Chase asked as the others nodded in agreement.
Kendall shrugged in confusion, "I can't pinpoint its exact location, but all I know is that the signal it's emitting is untraceable now and something is tampering with the signal. I do know that it is in the forest just a few miles away from the city. I'll join you guys as soon as possible."
The connection was severed as Tyler put the Dinocom away and nodded at the others, "Let's go." They quickly ran for the red jeep and got in as Tyler started the engine and backed out of the parking lot, driving in silence in the direction Kendall told them to go. They soon arrived near the forest as Tyler parked his jeep off the side of the road and the others jumped out quickly. "Alright, where do we start?" Tyler asked for any suggestions, but some of them just shrugged.
Another car drove up to them and parked behind the red jeep as Kendall shut off the engine and got out, locking the car. "We split up in pairs." Kendall informed them as if she heard Tyler's unanswered question. "Philip will arrive shortly, since he just so happens to be arriving to town soon. Ivan, you'll wait for him and once he gets here, start searching. Sledge's minions are supposedly already in this forest, so be careful." Kendall somehow felt that she couldn't stress those two words enough and nodded at them before running into the forest with Koda right behind her.
Tyler and Shelby paired up as Shelby turned to the remaining pair with a slight smile before dashing off into the forest with Tyler right next to her. Riley internally sighed and felt a hand grasp his shoulder, turning around to face the smiling Kiwi, "Alright, time to go, mate."
"Right." Riley mumbled distractedly and looked behind Chase to look at Ivan, who held an amused smile. Riley sighed, "Right," he repeated. "Let's go." The two quickly ran into the forest and jumped over fallen trees and shrubbery. Of course, he had been paired with Chase. The rest of the team probably planned it that way because they knew that he liked Chase. He liked the Kiwi more than he would like to admit. But it seemed the Black Ranger had no idea of the Green Ranger's attraction towards him, which relieved much of Riley's nerves.
A hand being waved in front of his face caused him to blink a couple of times in confusion and shake his head to clear his thoughts. "Hello?" Chase called, still waving his hand in front of the other's face. "Earth to Riley? Yoo-hoo~! Is anybody in there?" Chase went to knock on the Green Ranger's head playfully, but Riley lightly shoved the hand away and smiled.
"Cut it out!" Riley replied, laughing. "You'll ruin my hair!" He said, his hand instinctively moving to fix his hair despite Chase not even touching it.
Chase placed his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow expectantly, "So?"
Blinking at the Kiwi in confusion, Riley tilted his head slightly, "Sorry, did you say something earlier? I didn't hear."
Sighing, Chase stopped walking and closed his eyes briefly before pursing his lips as Riley stopped and turned to face Chase. Chase frowned, "Riley, it's been a less than a year since we met and I'd like to think I know you pretty well. These past couple of months involved you acting strangely and I couldn't help but notice your behavior." Riley tensed. He noticed. Chase noticed how strange he'd been acting. Riley wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and disappear from the world. Chase continued when he didn't elicit a response from Riley, "I didn't want to say anything because it's your business and I wanted to wait until you said something about it to me. But clearly you won't say anything unless I ask you, so…" The Black Ranger saw Riley wince and hesitated before repeating his unheard question. "What's going on in that brain of yours?"
Quickly putting up a façade, Riley smiled, "Nothing, I've just been thinking about home. We should probably hurry up, the Energem might be around here." Riley brushed past Chase and continued to walk before a gentle hand rested on his shoulder. Tensing once again, Riley quickly turned to see Chase retract his hand and place it loosely at his side.
"You're not convincing me, mate." Chase said, his expression dead serious which startled Riley. He realized that he was not getting out of this conversation without telling Chase the truth. "I know how important the Silver and Aqua Energems are, but if you don't trust any of us, how can we function as a team?"
Riley clenched his hands and nearly growled, walking away, "Chase, you don't understand-"
"How can I understand something if you haven't even told me anything about it?!" Chase yelled after him in annoyance. He was getting fed up with Riley's excuses and stubbornness. "Tell me, Ry!" This made Riley stop. "Give me a reason to walk away and forget this conversation ever happened. Cause I'll be damned if you get hurt for constantly getting distracted!"
Riley swiftly turned to face the Kiwi and argued, "I'm not getting distracted!"
"Really?" Chase exasperated in disbelief. "Your training says otherwise. You were missing tennis balls left and right, mate. And your training in the morning seemed to slacken."
"Well then, I'm sorry I miss home!"
Chase clenched his jaw, "What are we to you? Are we not family? If you miss home so much, maybe you should stop being a Ranger!" Chase didn't stop it from coming out of his mouth. He was pissed at Riley for not being able to trust his teammates, despite how long they've all known each other. "Maybe you should finally sit on your ass at a farm doing absolutely nothing while we risk our lives everyday from Sledge! See if I care!" Chase angrily stomped away from the Green Ranger and continued his search for the Silver Energem, then a shout froze him in place.
"I LIKE YOU, OKAY?!" His sudden shout seemed to echo throughout the forest and he feared that the others may have heard. The stunned Ranger turned around in surprise and blinked his eyes, wondering if he had heard right. Riley took deep breaths to calm himself down and lowered his voice to a mumble that Chase could barely hear. "I like you…" He repeated reluctantly, which confirmed that Chase did hear correctly. The Black Ranger slowly walked towards the Green Ranger who turned away in shame and refused to see what Chase's reaction would be. "I was distracted because I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want to tell you because it could ruin the dynamics in our team. I refuse to lose this close friendship I have with you and just kept telling myself that you aren't into guys."
"Riley… I-I had no idea…" Chase said quietly and sighed when Riley cut him off.
"How could you know?" Riley shook his head. "You wouldn't notice a guy like me because you like girls."
"I'm sorry, I don't reciprocate those feelings towards you." Chase replied as Riley's confidence shattered in an instant. He knew Chase would reject him, but there was something deep down inside of him that told him Chase would like him. Unfortunately, that feeling was wrong and Riley bit his lip to keep from crying. Chase placed a comforting hand on Riley's shoulder and lightly squeezed in assurance. "You're a great guy, Ry, but honestly, there has to be a better guy out there for you. Sadly, I'm going to be chasing girls my whole life until I find the one, but don't take this rejection to heart. Please, don't take this to heart. I may not like you in that way, but I know there's a better guy out there. You just need to find him." By this point, Chase stood in front of Riley with a wide smile that earned a small smile back.
"Thanks Chase." Riley said. He honestly appreciated every word the Kiwi said and although it was heart wrenching to be rejected, Chase immediately made him feel better.
The two started walking through the forest again as Chase beamed, "No problem, mate! By the way, I'm helping you."
"Helping me?" Riley echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep! I'm gonna help you get a boyfriend!" Chase answered with a wide smile, but Riley's face practically dropped. "I know lots of people who could be interested in someone like you. Oh, first! What do you think about Koda?"
Riley waved his hands in front of him, "Oh no, you don't! I am not having you as my wingman! And I am not dating any teammate of mine." Riley said sternly.
"Why not?"
Riley couldn't tell if Chase was asking him about being a wingman or dating a teammate, so he just assumed he meant both. "First off, I am not risking being with anyone on the team for obvious reasons. Secondly, you being my wingman is not happening because you'd probably set me up with someone more than three times a day."
"I would not!" Chase defended with mock hurt, but Riley gave him a serious look. "Okay, maybe I would, but if I'm not your wingman, then you will never find your special someone."
"I already said no." Riley said and stalked off as Chase followed closely behind and kept insisting to be his wingman. No matter how annoying it got, Riley couldn't help but smile. Chase may not like him back, but at least he didn't lose his friendship with him.
A/N: And there's chapter one! I hope you enjoyed!