Hi all!
So it's been a very long time since I have posted anything Ranger (or just posted on this account at all). I've had a long and detailed Ranger story in the works for a while now and it's finally coming to fruition. I just can't let go, apparently. Consider it a labor of love for 10 years of playing Pokemon Ranger.
If you've read any of my old stuff (from ~4-5 years ago, it's been a while), then you'll know that I am crazy obsessed with Spenser/Solana, love to write the holy trinity of Spenser-Joel-Jackie, cherish the bestbros!Solana and Lunick, and have lots of thoughts and feelings on the world of the rangers. I've also developed out my Shadows of Almia characters a lot more in this story and have lot of feelings, so please love them as well.
The story's also posted at AO3 for those who have accounts there. Hope you like it!
It was eleven in the morning and Spenser still hadn't emerged from his room.
Solana had spent the morning flitting between the kitchen, the living room, and Spenser's door, chatting with Melody and Lunick when they got back from patrol and keeping Lunick company while he made a round of pancakes for everyone for breakfast. However, she always found herself casting a watchful eye on the still firmly-shut door, waiting for any indication that Spenser was even alive in there.
He had gotten in late from Fall City last night and gone straight to his room, door sliding behind him before Solana could even get up from the couch and ask how the day had gone. However, according to a styler message from Aria and the morning Fiore news, it hadn't been good.
She and Cindi were supposed to go out for another patrol in about ten minutes and Solana's anxiety was at an all-time high.
Lunick appeared at her side, a plate of pancakes in one hand. He nodded toward the door and gestured with the plate of pancakes. "Check on him. See if he wants any."
Solana took the plate hesitantly. "I don't want to wake him up if he's actually getting sleep."
Lunick shrugged. "He'd want to be awake anyway. And you're going to burn a hole through that door if you stare at it any longer."
She made a face at that, but decided that it was ultimately accurate and headed for the door. Basically all of the occupants in the living room watched her as she did, suddenly going silent. Solana gestured at Lunick to keep them busy. The last thing they needed was nosy junior rangers.
She knocked first, hesitantly, with no response. Turning the handle and pushing the door forward, she peeked into the completely dark room for some sign that Spenser was cognizant and breathing.
"Spenser?"
She was answered by a low groan and a shift in the mass of blankets in Spenser's bed.
She grinned. She could deal with Sleepy Spenser. Sleepy Spenser was her favorite because he typically refused to seem sleepy ever and it was so fun to be reminded (and to remind him) that he was only human.
"Rise and shine, sunshine," she greeted him in the softest and most ridiculous voice as she slipped into his room and pulled the door shut behind her. She approached the bed and sat on the edge, placing the plate of pancakes on the bedside table. "Rough night?"
Spenser finally pushed him head out from beneath the cocoon of covers. Solana couldn't see much in the dark of the room initially, but her eyes were starting to adjust and she saw him blink blearily and finally focus in on her.
"Solana, hey," he answered, sounding relieved that it was her. He flopped back onto his pillow, green hair going every which way. There was a long pause as he gathered his surroundings. "What time is it?"
"Eleven," she said and grinned at his disoriented state, unable to help it. "Sleepyhead."
He groaned at that. "Fuck. Ugh."
"I'm so glad to be graced by Swearing Spenser right now. That never happens."
He grinned wryly despite his exhaustion. "Hm, enjoy it while it lasts."
There was a long moment of silence then and Solana wasn't sure what to do next. She couldn't remember the last time Spenser had been like this – if he'd ever been like this. From beside her, Spenser took a deep, shaky breath and let it out, rubbing at his face.
"I'm really fucked, 'Lana."
"We'll figure it out," she answered quietly, watching his profile in the dark. "We always do."
He tilted his head to look at her and the set of her jaw must have meant something to him because he nodded. "Okay," he sighed. "Okay. Well, I have to finish my mission report first. I spent five hours on it last night and still didn't get it done."
"Sure," she said, getting up. "There are pancakes on the table there and I'm gonna get you some orange juice. I'll be right back."
He nodded, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. She exited the room, closing the door behind her. Lunick was waiting on the other side, leaning against the wall and flipping through his styler like he was doing something besides hovering. She smiled at the picture, remembering that they all looked out for each other. If she were to look around the corner, she was sure the rest of their rangers were listening in, nosy little things.
She kicked at his foot and he looked up, giving her an inquisitive eyebrow raise.
"It's gonna be a rough day."
He nodded, as if he had expected this. "I'll take your patrol then."
"You sure?"
"Keep him company and get him moving," Lunick assured her, slipping his styler in his pocket. "Do your thing. Cindi and I got this."
She nodded, pushing her bangs back and sighing. She watched Lunick tap Cindi and get ready to leave. The TV in the living room still hummed in the background and one of the other base members had turned it to the news recently.
"Fall City Rangers are still cleaning up the devastation of the recent Gyarados attack last night. Sources report that Ranger Leaders Joel of Fall City and Spenser of Ringtown led the charge and failed to subdue the Gyarados as it destroyed an entire pier of Fall City, resulting in two severe injuries and multiple other minor injuries. The Ranger Union has been silent on what happened, but have formally apologized on the behalf of their rangers-"
The TV shut off abruptly and Solana glanced up to see Kai, the Ringtown mechanic, holding the remote. He gave her a nod and a small smile and Solana felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
They would get through this.
When Keith arrived at the scene, he had never seen Fall City so demoralized and chaotic.
It was no secret that Joel ran a tight base. He had to, considering Fall City was the largest base in Fiore and Almia in terms of case load and rangers. Plus, Keith had grown up in Fall City and used to stalk the Fall City rangers before he went away to Ranger School because being a ranger was all he had ever wanted, so he was very familiar with the city and the way Fall City's base had to run.
This was a sad shadow of what Fall City usually was. Keith could see the decimated pier during the approach on his starraptor and, as he got closer, saw the swarming mass of people being held back at the barriers. Discarded rubble was still being cleaned up all over the harbor and it was clear that the damage had been significant. He could spot news cameras rolling by the barrier and he winced. Today was not a good day for the Rangers.
He landed and dismounted near the end of an undamaged pier, giving himself time to get a view of the full picture before jumping in. As he got closer, he noticed Joel at the far end of the harbor, deep in conversation with a curly, blonde-haired woman that Keith could recognize as Maggie, the Fall City base mechanic. They appeared to be arguing, the blonde woman waving her arms frantically while Joel crossed his arms, expression looking stony even from here.
Figuring it would be a few moments before Joel was free to talk, Keith moved towards the Fall City rangers working the barricade. He caught one near the edge of the group, directing some Machop and Hariyama on moving the rubble. She was petite – likely right out of the last class of ranger school, since he hadn't seen her before – with brown hair and brown eyes. She wore the typical Fall City ranger uniform and a red scarf on as an accessory.
"Hi, you're a Fall City ranger, right?" He asked, offering his hand. "Keith, from the Ranger Union.
The girl blinked, expression perfectly schooled despite her surprise at Keith's approach. "Summer," she answered smoothly, offering her hand. "You must be here to assess the damage."
"That's me," Keith said, as disarmingly as he could. He hated being the bad cop, especially when he wasn't actually the bad cop. He was just the cop who drew the short straw and had to do a cursory internal investigation of people that he very much respected and appreciated. "Could you point me to one of your senior rangers? Sam or Aria, I assume?"
"Of course," she answered, and pointed in the direction of the barricade. "Aria's in charge of the barricade and Sam's over there. He's running a system of categorizing and returning any civilian items to the mob there. That's what most of them are here for. We've cut off access to the boathouse and a few harbor apartments and people want to know if their belongings are okay."
"Thanks," Keith nodded and continued down the harbor, leaving the girl to her work. Aria was pacing the barricade fence like a pyroar, watching carefully for any jostling or pushing. She seemed utterly and totally occupied and so Keith made a beeline for Sam, who was conversing with another younger ranger. He didn't know the other ranger terribly well, but they'd met at a few ranger gatherings and Keith knew most of the Fall City rangers in one way or another. He hung back for a moment, waiting to see where he could step in.
"You're doing great, Jess. You and Kace just finish securing those apartments and we can move the angriest of these civilians back into their homes. Do you need any back-up?"
The girl shook her head emphatically. "Nope. We're on it. Give us another 20 minutes and we're good."
"That's what I like to hear," Sam grinned in return. Jess gave a small salute – whether in jest or solemnity, Keith wasn't sure – and departed, which gave Keith a convenient in.
"Sam, hi," Keith greeted him and reached out a hand. "Good to see you again."
"Keith," he said, tone warm. "Welcome back to Fall City. You talked with your parents? They're okay?"
"Yeah, they weren't anywhere near the port last night," Keith answered. "Thanks for asking."
"Sorry about all this," Sam looked around mournfully at the rubble of Fall City. "We're doing everything we can to create as little inconvenience for the people of Fall City as possible."
"Of course, understood," he answered. This was always the most difficult part of being a Ranger: picking up the pieces and wondering if you could have done something – anything – differently. As a Top Ranger, Keith hadn't done this in a while. Hopping place to place wherever he was needed meant that it was usually someone else's job to pick up after him. "I'm here to help in whatever way I can."
"And report back to the Union," Sam said wryly. Keith was no people-person or reader of politics, but even he knew that Sam was the type that knew which way the political winds were blowing: namely, not in the direction of his leader. Being the biggest and most bureaucratic base, Fall City rangers were always the first to know the political landscape, and, as a senior ranger of Fall City, Sam Castaneda was savvier than most. "As you can see, we're responding according to all the Ranger policies. Right now, Joel is hashing out the cost to the city and any kind of punitive damages toward the rangers. Legal issues. He delegated the immediate physical clean-up to his two senior rangers – Aria and myself – who both have been rangers in Fall City for close to ten years and know the city top-to-bottom. Our operator and an assisting ranger from Wintown are holding down the main base in case of emergency. Summer is doing clean-up with those Machop and Hariyama—" he gestured to the girl that Keith had met previously, "and Jess and Kace are clearing the port apartments to make sure there is nothing dangerous or life-threatening to our residents. Lastly, Ryder and an assisting Summerland ranger are patrolling the other sectors of the city to keep the peace."
Keith raised an eyebrow. "Very thorough."
Sam shrugged disarmingly. "Please inform the Union that we're handling this strictly according to the rulebook. We wouldn't want any misunderstandings."
Keith had expected tension, but this seemed something more. He could certainly appreciate how well Sam was protecting his leader right now – Keith would have done the same thing for Elita back in the day. Any area ranger would.
"Right," Keith answered. Fall City's political standing was the least pressing of his concerns. Although the reports coming out of Fall City were certainly bad, Keith couldn't imagine that Joel could be in that much trouble. As a kid, Keith had watched him go from Fall City's young talent, to being groomed as the next leader, to being Fall City's most trusted figure of authority. He was much more popular than the mayor or local government, to be sure.
Keith wasn't sure what he thought about the narrative that Joel and Spenser recklessly endangered Fall City when they could have called for back-up. Their rivalry was legendary amongst the rangers, but that didn't mean they were idiots. They were seasoned rangers of twelve years who knew what they were doing, not a pair of kids trying to one-up each other.
But things had been more tense than usual at the Union lately. Keith usually didn't concern himself much with the politics of the Union – he had enough to think about. He had Sven and Wendy to guide him on that. And Kate, if she ever decided to come back from her self-imposed exile.
He couldn't think about Kate right now and how she would know what to do so much better than he did.
He turned his attention back to the problem at hand. "Show me what I can do to help."
"You know, Joel is the one that's really screwed."
"It's not a competition, Spense," Solana replied dryly, knowing all the same that it always was with them. It was almost 2 in the afternoon and they hadn't left his room yet. Spenser was still hunched over his report and she was curled up in his armchair under the guise of reading a book, although she mostly just threw worried glances his way and talked him through his report. He hadn't actually said much about what had happened, surprisingly, even when she asked questions. He was proving very adept at avoiding details.
"But I get to hide out back in Ringtown," he said with a quirk of his mouth. "Joel's still in the thick of it." He sighed, resting his forehead on the desk briefly. "I should have stayed."
"You guys would only get in each other's way," Solana said with an eyeroll. "And you needed sleep."
"I know."
There was a long moment of silence, but Spenser still wasn't moving to write his report. Solana sat up straighter and shut her book slowly. This was so unlike him. He never had trouble filing and submitting reports. He wasn't quite at the OCD level of Joel with timely paperwork and there always seemed to be a pile of administrative work on his desk that he just kept avoiding until their operator Kyrie threatened him, but a big mission report like this wasn't the kind of thing you could procrastinate away.
She watched him for a moment as he stared blankly at the page, mind clearly elsewhere. "Spenser, why won't you just tell me what happened?"
He didn't move for a moment, his head still on the desk. His voice was muffled when he spoke, as if that might obfuscate what he was saying. "It was a political shitshow, 'Lana."
"What does that mean?"
Spenser sighed and finally raised his head to look her dead in the eyes. "It means that Joel and I didn't want to take that Gyarados on by ourselves. We were told to."
"What? Why?"
Spenser shrugged. "Some idiot at the Union decided that this needed to be a fucking PR stunt and sent me and Joel to take care of something that we should have taken more back-up to handle. As much as we try not to get politicized, the Rangers are seen as too weak. We have our ideals, but ultimately we make friends with dangerous pokemon, while trainers take them down. This was supposed to be a grand showing to remind everyone that we can handle ourselves."
Solana blinked, remembering the news' exclusive coverage of Spenser and Joel as the sole engagers. Where had the rest of the Fall City base been? "Yeah, I didn't think that Joel would misjudge something like this. And neither one of you have this kind of ego."
"The Union's in trouble, 'Lana," Spenser finally said and Solana immediately realized that this was way over her head. She wasn't interested in the intricate political details of the Ranger Union. She just wanted her little countryside base and home to stay intact. "There's lot of reasons why, I'm sure the first of which involved a whole lot of political maneuvering."
"So, they're making you and Joel take the fall for it?"
Spenser nodded, looking too exhausted to say anything.
"I – they can't," she retorted, leaning forward in her chair. "This is the Rangers. We don't do that."
"Sometimes we do."
"Well, I'm not going to let them do this to you."
"Solana, that's the least of our concerns," Spenser answered. "My ego is irrelevant. If we don't fix this perception problem, the Rangers are gone."
Solana just stared at him.
"'Lana, the Rangers are slated to be under investigation. And we just made it a whole lot worse."