Story Title: A Boy and His Car
Author: Mathais
Rating: T
Fandom: Power Rangers
Warnings: None
Pairings: None
Summary: A young man goes for a ride with his car.
Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers and the things associated with it; they belong to either Saban or Disney now, not sure which.
Notes: Belated Christmas-turned-New Year's-gift to Tsukino Akume because her wish list gave me the plot bunny for this story, and with her stories she totally deserves it. I'm not sure this counts as good, but it has Justin, so, enjoy~
OoOoO
Justin dropped the last sponge with a happy sigh, shifting his neck to ease the cricks. Taking a moment to brush his bangs out of his eyes, he smiled at his handiwork. Fingers trailing over the smooth body, cupping down the side, over the buffed finish. Every little bit of work he'd done himself, he admired with a gentle hand.
The motor let out a little purr, and Justin chuckled.
"I'm glad you like it too."
A series of whirs and beeps answered him, and Justin cocked his head to the side. "But you just got clean!"
Insistent honks answered.
"Aw come on, I just spent—"
A long, loud horn cut him off, enough so that a voice shouted down from above. "Keep it down!"
"Sorry!" Justin shouted back, just as the horn stopped. He frowned down at his car, which had its mirrors tilted just right for a stubborn look. "You know that you shouldn't—" He froze at the soft hum, barely audible but constant. The mirrors pointed upward, and, slowly, Justin did as well. His Adam's apple convulsed as he tried to summon his best glare, but briefly, just briefly, the volume increased.
He dropped his hand down on the hood. "All right, all right! Let me change into something acceptable," he groused.
The lights flickered on almost smugly, and he swatted the side.
"Don't get too cocky," Justin called back as he left. "Storm Blaster? I'm driving."
The headlights turned on for a brief moment, but the door was already swinging shut.
Not too longer later, Justin had his hands firmly on the wheel as he steered his jeep through the streets and navigated the city. The wind blowing across his face, ponytail flying in the wind... He never, ever got tired of the feeling, especially since he so rarely got to do it in Storm Blaster.
"Just a little farther," Justin murmured when the engine suddenly revved.
Once everything bled away and nothing but the wind, sun, and open road, Justin leaned back and made sure his seatbelt was secure. He took his hands off the wheel and then... relaxed.
"Needed this, didn't you?"
Storm Blaster's horn turned into a soft purr, and Justin couldn't help but grin at the sheer delight. The jeep around him shifted and wavered until Storm Blaster's true form emerged. Blue, bright shining blue, with the Turbo logo proudly displayed on the side—fondness crept into his smile.
"How was the latest one? How'd you look?"
Justin normally asked few questions when Storm Blaster came back from his various dealings with Ranger teams (in a small, secret part of his heart, he was crazy jealous about them), but he'd look so dented and damaged this time that he couldn't hold back his questions. Running his hands over the steering wheel, he could feel Storm Blaster almost tense up before he briefly sighed.
The frame flickered a bit and then smoothed out in a deep green. The steering wheel was a little higher, the seats a little larger, and an unfamiliar crest adorned the side—but the soul beneath it all was still the same. It was still Storm Blaster. Storm Blaster honked, and Justin understood.
He was finally ready to talk.
This would take a bit more than their usual communication. Justin knew he was special in this regard; he was one of the few who could instinctively understand what Storm Blaster was trying to say. And, when he opened his mind, he could understand Storm Blaster on a much deeper level. After they'd gotten their partners back, he and TJ had talked about the issue, which they subsequently decided never to reveal to anyone else. There was something too special, too intimate about it to discuss lightly, and even then they only did it in hushed tones (as well as one spectacular case involving too much alcohol for the underage pair that'd gotten Tommy so pissed off at them).
And so, closing his eyes, Justin placed his forehead against the wheel and opened his mind to the little bit of it that he come to associate with Storm Blaster.
Images, blurred around the edges and flashing by so fast that Justin wasn't sure he could get them, raced through his mind along with bits and pieces of emotion. Everything that Storm Blaster saw, everything that he felt—all of it went into him as smoothly as if they were his. He saw laughter and pain, joy and sadness. He felt Storm Blaster's anger, felt his sorrow, and felt his desire to protect rise. Green rising strong and proud, sniping with the one unhurt hand as they raced through the battlefield as one. Watching as Megazords, as magnificent as the Turbo and Rescue Megazords, fought with all their might, combining into one filled with strength and light. Jubilation and elation as the light overtook the giant Megazord and the enemy disappeared into the rainbow.
Sadness as the Rangers teleported down, drained and half-dead. Pushed away as the support crew came in, unable to do anything and brushed aside when trying to help. Relief at the recovery, but still staying only long enough to know that partner was all right. An intense desire to recuperate somewhere safe with someone else.
Justin shuddered in place and drew in a deep breath as reality snapped back into place. Unable to release his iron grip on the steering wheel, Justin let his tears fall without care.
"Storm Blaster," he murmured.
Storm Blaster honked with none of his usual vigor.
"It's all right. It'll be all right."
For the first time, Justin realized how lonely Storm Blaster could get. Not many planets knew how special Storm Blaster was—and here he was, traversing the stars with only Lightning Cruiser as company, carrying all of this inside. The pain of not being acknowledged by the very people he helped save, to be pushed aside, if unknowingly, by his team.
Justin knew it well.
"...I was the same way. A while ago." He leaned back in the seat, though he never lost the tactile contact with the steering wheel. "Back during that year. Longer than that."
His grip on the wheel tightened. "I was in pain and I was alone with it. Even as I came back with you, I hated everything to do with the Rangers. I hated the suit I wore, and I absolutely hated the color blue." Justin focused on his words, because he didn't think he could hold off the burn in his eyes without it.
"It took a while to get over it. I had friends though, friends outside of the Power who helped me along even without knowing the true reason. They stuck by me and never let go even when I shouted and cursed at them." Inadvertently, Justin's mouth twitched upward. "You know, the first time Fred was on the receiving end of that, he socked me in the face before paying for my lunch?"
Storm Blaster's horn blared in his rough approximation of a suppressed chuckle, and Justin did as well. "Nico kicked me in the shin and then bought me dinner. Kayla grabbed my ear and only let me go when we were at the Surf Spot."
"They were there for me when I didn't trust anyone at all. They stood by my side no matter how I tried to get them to leave like everyone else. Kayla wouldn't even let Rocky near me for a good half-year. Fred made Tommy's life miserable whenever he came near me, and you really don't what to know what Nico did to Adam using toothpaste, chicken feathers, and lemon drops."
"And just as they were there for me, I'm here for you Storm Blaster."
Though their pace never slowed, Justin could feel Storm Blaster mull this over. And when he rumbled softly, a full-bodied shiver that trailed up Justin's spine, Justin knew his answer.
"Yeah."
Trailing his hand down the car's side, Justin felt a grin appear on his face. "You know what? Let's run. Let's run as far and as fast as we can. You know you need it too."
Storm Blaster's lights flashed in agreement, and Justin twisted his wrist to make his morpher appear. Without the gratuitous hand gestures, he slid the key into the bracelet, twisting it definitively.
"Shift into Turbo!"
And his whoop of exhilaration mixed with loud honks as all that was left was a blue blur speeding off into the distance.