Title: Revealing
Author: Prinzessin
Summary: Sky relives a few painful memories- both real and fake.
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sky/Bridge
Disclaimer: Since you don't see stuff like this on TV, suffice it to say that they aren't mine.
Spoilers: anywhere between Idol and Messenger, so no Omega Ranger
---
The B-Squad cadets were told to take it easy, though they didn't technically have the day off. Sky was running an errand for Kat while the others stayed behind at headquarters doing various things. He'd heard Bridge talking about a project with Boom that he was going to be working on, only to have his beloved green Ranger run off excitedly to work on something Sky knew nothing about.
He sighed, trudging along. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Kat, he just didn't want to visit the particular professor that Kat had sent him to see. He was passing through a park when it appeared that his wish was granted…in the form of Krybots, brought about by Morgana.
"Wonderful," he muttered, taking a defensive stance, thinking something about being careful what he wished for.
The Krybots attacked when Morgana ordered them to, and they did at once. It took Sky a while to defeat them all, but he did so without morphing. That left him alone versus Morgana, and he took the opportunity to morph, knowing that a monster wasn't too far away.
"SPD, E…" Sky began, but was unable to finish when his morpher was blasted from his hand.
The blast knocked him off his feet, sending him flying to the ground. He looked around, scrambling to find his morpher. He saw it several yards away, and he knew he wasn't going to reach it in time.
Another blast was coming his way, and he knew he couldn't take a direct hit unmorphed. So with a wave of his hand, a force field appeared in front of him and the blast deflected off of it. But when he went to make the force field dissipate, nothing happened. Looking past the field to Morgana, he was sickened to see the smug look gracing her face.
"Problem there, Ranger?" she asked tauntingly.
Glaring, Sky asked, "What have you done?"
"Me? I have done nothing," she answered with an arrogant fake innocence.
"Right," Sky snorted, suddenly realizing that the field had grown to completely surround him. He cursed himself silently for letting Morgana distract him, though he thought that it was going to happen anyway. "What game are you playing this time?"
"I'm trying a different tactic and you were such an easy target," Morgana answered. "All alone with no friends…"
"The other Rangers will come," Sky stated.
"And they'll be too late. You see, what we have planned will only take a matter of minutes," she replied, then turned to her companion. "Do it."
The monster stepped forward, holding his two 'hands' out in front of him toward Sky. A black fog grew from his hands and seeped into the bubble. There wasn't a lot of physical discomfort from the fog, as Sky was expecting. But he wasn't expecting for what assaulted his mind. Images of his father, falling, dying, being killed in the line of duty. Dru revealing his true form, attacking Cruger and having to fight his former best friend.
Bridge, lying on the ground, bleeding from a would to the chest…and Sky standing over him with an accomplished grin, watching as the demorphed green Ranger bleeds to death with no one around to help him.
"No, no, not Bridge…it's not real…" he mumbles and repeats as he watches the scene unfold.
He knew nothing except for the image of Bridge on the ground, bleeding out. So when the image dissipated amid so much noise, Sky was left disoriented and unsteady. It wasn't until the image completely dissipated that Sky was beginning to see what was going on around him.
"Sky!" Bridge's voice broke through. "Sky!"
An arm around his shoulders as he faltered on his feet let him know that his friends had come for him. He was lowered so that he was kneeling, hunched over with one hand bracing him on the ground while his other was holding onto Bridge for dear life.
He knew he was shaking, but there was nothing he could do about it. Trying to steady himself, he took a few deep breaths. It took several minutes, but the coughing subsided and he leaned against Bridge, unable to support his own weight.
"It's okay now, Sky," Bridge soothed, holding Sky tight against him. "It's okay."
With Bridge's help, Sky eventually got onto his feet. With an arm around Bridge's shoulders and the other around Jack's, the five rangers made their way back to base.
---
"You sure you're feeling okay?" Bridge asked for the hundredth time, or at least that's how Sky felt.
"I'm fine," Sky answered, "My chest and throat still hurt a little though, but Kat said it'll get better soon enough."
Bridge nodded, though Sky could still see that Bridge was concerned for him. Sky was settled in his bed, having been cleared a couple hours earlier since there was no sign of any lingering effects from the fog.
"You mind if I…" Bridge began, hopefully, pointing at the bed that Sky was occupying.
"Not at all," Sky sighed gratefully.
Bridge changed from his cadet uniform into sleep clothes quickly, then joined Sky in the cramped bed. Since he was hurting more than he admitted, he curled into Bridge and allowed the green Ranger to comfort him. He was the first asleep, with Bridge following suit later on.
Bridge woke to the feeling of panic and immense sorrow, and the fact that Sky was shaking against him.
"Hey," Bridge said quietly, "What's wrong?"
"Nightmare, I guess," Sky answered, the nightmare having woken him up.
"About?"
"I didn't tell you everything," Sky said, and Bridge was surprised. It wasn't like Sky to keep anything from him, or from the team when it came to events during confrontations.
"What didn't you tell us?" Bridge cautiously asked.
"The last of the images…" Sky began, then buried his face in the crook of Bridge's shoulder for a moment.
"You can tell me," Bridge whispered, fingers weaving their way through Sky's hair.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I let you die, I'm sorry I killed you, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
The words tumbled from Sky's lips and were like a sucker punch to Bridge's gut. But all Bridge could do was hold on to the trembling man until he stilled again. Sky's body shook as the sobs racked through, and the tears falling down Bridge's face were his own.
"We'll get through this, Sky," Bridge said, though he was sure Sky couldn't hear him. "I don't care how much proving I have to do, I'm here and I'm staying put. We'll get through this."
FIN
