A/N: Hey, guys! Did you miss me? Finally got a chance to start writing again. So here's the final chapter of Schrodinger's Cat!
Bridge wandered the halls of the academy and tried to get his head on straight. It was still spinning hours after Sky had told Bridge that he was ready to move forward with their fledgling relationship. The green ranger was ecstatic…and panicking. Unwelcome thoughts were flying around his head like buzzards circling a carcass. What if Sky changed his mind? What if their relationship didn't work out? Could they still be friends? If they remained a couple, would they remain friends as well? With these thoughts still bustling in his head he found himself standing outside of Z and Syd's room and he knocked on the door. He was caught off guard when the door swung open much sooner than he expected.
"Bridge, thank GOD! I just tried to kill a spider with hairspray. The spider is still alive but his hair now looks FABULOUS! Kill it!" she stated, shoving the green ranger in front of her and pointing to the tiny arachnid.
"Syd, you tackle Gruum's minions almost every day but you can't handle a spider?" Bridge asked, grabbing a handful of tissues and capturing the little fellow.
"That's different. They don't have a million eyes and way too many legs. They're also not complete and utter bastards. Hanging upside down on my ceiling above my head is a bastard move. Ew! Bridge, I said kill it, not capture it!" The scientist rolled his eyes before awkwardly opening the window with one hand and releasing the tiny spider outside.
"Better?" he asked, shutting the window and turning around.
"More or less. By the way, Z vetoed my plan. She said it was illegal and it was highly improbable that it would work." She rolled her eyes.
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," he stated hesitantly. "Maybe it would just be better if we stayed friends. I don't want to muck everything up."
"Oh, we aren't back to this are we? He's in love with you. I know he is! Just wait for him to make a decision!"
"He did!" Bridge snapped before deflating. "I'm just not sure it was the right one."
"He did? You mean - OH MY GOD! You guys are dating?" Syd exclaimed gleefully. Bridge sighed. Trust the pink ranger to focus on that.
"Yes. He said he's willing to give it a go but he's not making any promises. It's just…I'm not sure it's the best idea. What if it doesn't work out and we can't go back to just being friends?"
"Bridgey…" Syd sighed and looked at the green ranger with pity. "I bet if you just carry on as normal Sky will realize that the two of you have pretty much been dating all along." An impish look crossed her face. "The only difference is that you'll both be getting some."
"SYD!" he cried, feeling his face flush and the tips of his ears turn red. The pink ranger laughed at her friend's discomfort.
"Oh, relax. We're all girls here…kind of. But I'm serious, Bridgey. Nothing has to change with how you and Sky interact on a day-to-day basis. And I doubt you'll have to worry about things getting physical for a while yet," she teased, the impish look returning to her face. Bridge groaned and buried his head in the pink ranger's pillow.
"This is your ex-boyfriend we're talking about! You shouldn't be perving on his getting it on with another guy!" Bridge protested. Syd grinned wickedly.
"Does that mean you won't let me watch?"
"SYD!" Bridge shouted, mortified. Syd sighed. The poor boy got riled up so easily.
"Okay, okay. But seriously Bridge, it's IMPOSSIBLE not to love you. Unless we're talking about Gruum but he doesn't love his own mother let alone anybody else."
"Okay, so it's impossible not to love me, that doesn't mean that he's going to be IN LOVE with me." Bridge argued. Syd rolled her eyes. Apparently Bridge was unaware of how absolutely loveable he was.
"Bridge, sweetie," Syd grit out patiently. "What I keep trying to tell you is that he is in love with you. As in, he wants to hug and kiss and sleep and have babies with you."
"Syd, we're both guys. We CAN'T get pregnant." Bridge pointed out as he rolled his eyes.
"That doesn't mean you can't keep trying." Syd's innocent tone clashed with the shark-like grin on her face and the green ranger decided it was time for him to exit stage left.
"Right," Bridge stood up quickly. "This is the part where I leave before things get even weirder than they already have."
"Give Sky a kiss for me!" Syd shouted as the younger teen all but fled from the room. Hearing the door slide shut behind him Bridge sighed, satisfied with having the safety of a door between himself and the blonde female. He was pretty sure that Syd was losing it but he still couldn't shake her advice to carry on as normal where Sky was concerned. Syd's plans might be notoriously horrible but her advice was always solid. Deciding to heed her advice - after all, it couldn't hurt - Bridge headed back to the dorm to see if Sky wanted to grab lunch.
"So, I'm pretty sure that Syd has finally lost her mind." Bridge greeted as he grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom to change.
"I didn't think it'd be so soon but I'll trust your assessment of the situation and try to avoid her unless absolutely necessary." Sky retorted, not even looking up from his book. Bridge rolled his eyes before realizing that the blue ranger couldn't see him.
"I'm rolling my eyes!" he called as he shoved his lab clothes in the hamper. Sky snorted. "You hungry?" Bridge asked, leaning against the bathroom door jam.
"That depends," Sky stated vaguely.
"On?"
"What the cafeteria is trying to pass off as food," he finished, shooting the green ranger a conspiratorial smile. Bridge laughed.
"Don't worry, no mystery meatloaf today. It's pizza day."
"Then, yes, I'm hungry." The older teen marked his page before setting the book aside. Bridge grinned before leading the way to the cafeteria. They each grabbed a plate before sliding into a corner booth and while they ate it was as if nothing had changed. They joked and teased each other mercilessly but as soon as they cleared their plates an awkward silence settled around their booth like a shroud. Bridge glanced out the window at the bright sunlight.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.
"Sure," Sky agreed, standing and leading the way outside. As they made their way around SPD to the tranquility garden, Bridge began explaining one of the new experiments Kat was letting him help with.
"…they measured the deflection of alpha particles, helium ions with a positive charge, directed normally onto a sheet of very thin gold foil. The gold foil was surrounded by a circular sheet of Zinc Sulfide which was used as an indicator. The sheet would light up when hit with alpha particles. Under the prevailing plum pudding model, the alpha particles should have been deflected by, at most, a few degrees. However they observed that a very small percentage of particles were deflected through angles much larger than ninety degrees. From this observation Rutherford was able to observe and deduct the structure of the atom. Now, what we're trying to do is - "
"Uh, Bridge?" Sky interrupted, clearing his throat.
"Hmm?"
"Please stop talking before you give me headache," he said with an amused smile. He knew Bridge was passionate about science - it was one of the many things Sky loved about him - but he could only take so much.
"Right, forgot who I was talking to," Bridge teased and the older ranger rolled his eyes.
"Well next time remember before I start looking for the duct tape." Sky stated, giving the green ranger a half-hearted glare.
"Oh, come on, Sky, it's not like it's - "
"Rocket science?" Sky cut in with a raised eyebrow.
"Alright, no sciences talk." Bridge agreed. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Light Ball?" Sky asked hopefully, grinning. Bridge groaned.
"Light Ball is about as thrilling for me as science is for you."
"Okay, okay, no Light Ball talk," Sky sighed. Silence fell and soon the only noise was the crunching of their feet on the gravel path. They rounded a curve and stopped to stand next to the reflecting pool and Sky asked, "This isn't going well, is it?" Bridge chuckled.
"No, it really isn't."
"Tell me about your family," Sky stated, turning to face the younger ranger.
"I don't have any," Bridge stated as he stared out at the water. "My dad left, my mom's dead and I was an only child. SPD is my family now."
"I'm sorry," Sky stated quietly.
"I do have a cousin but she can be kind of a handful. Actually, she's kind of a pain in the ass," he laughed.
"You two must have been quite close considering how much you have in common." Sky grinned. Bridge glared at him.
"Smart ass…" he muttered, leaning against a tree.
"So tell me," Sky grinned and Bridge felt his throat go dry as his personal space was invaded. "When was the last time you dated a guy?"
"Uhm, before I joined the academy," he stuttered, pressing himself more tightly against the back of the tree.
"That long?" Sky asked, quirking an eyebrow as he continued invading the younger boy's space. Bridge nodded.
"Didn't want to risk the wrong people finding out about it here," he explained and Sky smirked.
"Is that the only reason?" he inquired. Bridge noted the playful spark in the blue ranger's eyes and rolled his own.
"Well, there was the issue of my being in love with this absolutely impossible git." He stated. Sky's grin widened.
"Yeah? What happened with that?" he asked.
"Nothing," Bridge sighed. "He's still an absolutely impossible git," he lamented. The green ranger often forgot that though the older ranger was wider than he was, he could move just as quickly. And so it was that the younger boy found himself pinned to the tree and being tickled mercilessly.
The rest of the walk was filling with laughter and shameless flirting and by the time they reached their room both rangers had tears in their eyes. Bridge collapsed onto his bed in a fit of giggles as Sky flopped onto his own bed.
"Oh, I don't think I've laughed that hard in ages," Sky gasped. He turned to look at the green ranger and found that Bridge was already staring intently at him.
"Sky, have you ever heard of Schrodinger's Cat?" he asked. The blond groaned.
"I have heard far too much of Schrodinger's Cat."
"Good," Bridge stated, quickly crossing the room and kissing the other ranger. He quickly pulled away and both rangers took a moment to catch their breath.
"Alright, the cat's alive," Sky stated. "Let's go out to dinner tonight."