AN: Hugs and thank yous to everyone who reviewed (replies are at the end of the story). Thank you all so much. Sorry it took my so long...you see I'm quite the absent minded writter.-laughs- Alright I hope you all like this chapter...more young angst Bridge! Woohoo


Chapter 2: Into Place

Bridge's vision slowly cleared. Everything was white. It smelled like medicine, and there seemed to be the distant beeping of machines.

"Welcome back," a friendly voice saidBridge turned slowly, seeing the face of Dr. Kat Manx. "You've been out for almost a day now." The teenager ran a hand across his eyes. "How do you feel?"

"A little like I did the day I tried to discover just how bouncy those sour candy ropes really are," he responded. Kat raised her eyebrow, but did not dare to ask. Bridge pushed himself up, feeling fiery pain explode across his back.

Seeing the grimace on his face, Kat laid a hand on his shoulder. She helped him sit up enough to lean back on the pillows.

"That was a brave thing you did, Bridge," Kat said softly.

"Is the little girl ok?" he asked, concern sweeping his features.

"She's doing just fine," she replied," thanks to you." Bridge smiled, his cheeks flushing red. "You should be fine as well," Kat went on. "As soon as you get orientated I'll take you home. You have stitches in your back for now, so you need to be careful and not do anything to strenuous but I see you've already realized that," she commented as he cringed in pain.

"I'm fine," he replied faintly, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Get some rest; I'll be by to take you home later."

--

Bridge leaned back against the soft car seat. Kat seemed to be lost in thought as they drove. Which was fine with him, as the pain medication was making it hard for him to think at all.

"Bridge?" Kat said, suddenly breaking the silence. "There's something I want to ask you."

"hmmm?" he mumbled an inquiry.

"That thing you did for the little girl. It was extremely heroic."

"That's not a question," Bridge commented, never to tired to be his normal observant self. Kat stopped the car, pulling over to the side of the road. She turned to face him, looking straight into his dark eyes.

"I would like to request you a place in the RangerAcademy."

Bridge turned to her, suddenly very awake.

"What?"

"Well technically you're too young for the actually academy, but I want to try and get you into the Prep school." Bridge could feel the medication kicking in, and he wondered if all of this was a painkiller induced dream. "Would you like that?" she asked.

He was vaguely aware of himself agreeing as he slipped once again from consciousness.

--

It had been two weeks sense then and everything had just fallen into place. With Kat pulling strings it was easy to get accepted into the Prep School. Now the hard part had arrived.

"You? A power…ranger?" His mom did not even try to hide the skepticism in her voice.

"Kat thinks with training I could…" Bridge began to defend.

"That's ridiculous kid," his dad cut in. "Look at yourself Bridge…"

The words blurred into a haze. He did not need to hear them. He had heard them a thousand times before. He was too weak, too stupid, too lazy, too craven. He felt their negativity vibrating through him, pounding in his head. He rubbed his temples in an attempt to block the pain, but he could still feel it. He could still hear their bitter words.

"I don't know why I thought you would understand!" he snapped, taking off up the stairs. They never understood. He slammed the door loudly. They did not care.

He stumbled to the mirror, looking at his reflection. He was still pale from the encounter with that alien a few weeks back. He gazed into the reflective glass at the gangly teenager in front of him.

They were right. He was too weak. He was more out of shape than he had ever been and he had never been overly brave. He bit his lip, a sense of inadequacy filling him. He felt the weight of their disapproval, increased by the keenness of his ability. Had he really been fooling himself this whole time? With a cry of anger he punched the glass in front of him.

Bridge had always been a strange kid. His logics made little sense to those around him. But at the very least he was always in control, always behaved, and never letting his emotions get the better of him. Never until that night.

Feeling a strange confidence from his anger, Bridge waited until he was sure everyone was asleep. He crept slowly down the stairs, a duffle bag over his shoulder and registration forms in his hand. He snuck into his father's home office taking out a signed paper, he studied the writing. Bridge barely kept his hand from shaking as he faked his father's signature.

Everything was falling into place. He would go to RangerPrep school, and train until he could enter the Academy. He would become a Power Ranger. He would prove his parents wrong.

His parents would not look for him. He did not matter, that much was clear. His signature was almost identical to his father's and the school had no reason to believe otherwise. Kat had managed to get him a scholarship, so money would not be a problem. It was also a boarding school and Kat had told him it was fine to arrive early, so tomorrow he would not have to worry about where to stay. And until then…well he was still figuring that out.

He forced himself to shut the front door quietly. Rain poured down, soaking into his clothes as he walked. Bridge liked the rain. Its constant rhythm was always soothing when he argued with his parents. He glanced back at the house with mixed feelings as he realized that would be their last argument for a long time. He squared his shoulders and walked on.

It was dark and Bridge realized he would need to find somewhere to stay. He headed down town. Unlike most boys his age, Bridge liked books and he knew from plenty of reading that when one ran away they always searched for an abandoned warehouse. However, he did not remember the books describing how difficult it was to find a warehouse in the middle of a rainy night.

He struggled on for what must have been hours, he was tired and hungry and his shoulder had begun throbbing from where it still had not entirely healed. Bridge stumbled, falling against the unforgiving concrete. The rain continued to soak into his skin heedless of his plight.

Bridge knew he should get up. Knew he needed to get out of the rain, and do something about his back; but the weight of his exhaustion kept him on the ground. Now his head was pounding on the outside as well as within.

He moaned in pain as something grabbed his injured shoulder and turned him over. He stared blearily up into a dark face.

"You ok?"

It took the teen a few minutes to realize this person was talking to him.

"Fine," Bridge replied, dazed.

"Ya sure you are," the other responded. "Come on." Bridge felt himself lifted to his feet. The person strung Bridge's arm over their shoulder and began dragging him. Bridge closed his eyes, realizing what a terrible Power Ranger he really was. He had not even made it to the academy!


Replies

Puggles Master: Thank you so much! Coolness points for being the first to review!

Terrific Tina: Thank you so much Ms. Terrific

Blue November: Thank you! Bridge is my favorite too. I don't get why SPD isn't as popular as some others...it was so much fun! -laughs- Buttery! Thank you so much for that!

Nobody's Love: Thank you so much! I Promise to update much fast next time

AnaElise: wow -blush- I'm flattered! Thank you so much! I always have trouble coming up with a summery...I'm glad you liked this one. I hope this chapter lives up also. Thank you so much!

Hot Pink Girl: He made it! Yay Bridge. Honestly if I killed off poor Bridge the only one who would be hurting is me. I love Bridge! My friend created and sowed me a Bridge doll for christmas...

Holly-Batali: Thank you!

Everyone gave such nice reviews! You're all so sweet.

Keepin it Buttery always

-Zooky