"…you'll see, the view is really worth the hike."

Bridge crested the hill with Sky just a few steps behind him. They stepped out from between the trees and into a small clearing – and all Sky could do was stare at the sight before him, speechless.

Bridge was right; the view was nothing short of spectacular.

A few feet ahead the glade abruptly ended at a steep cliff, and laid out before them was a seemingly endless expanse of nature in half a dozen shades of green, hues of brown and a brilliant blue sky speckled with puffy clouds. Far ahead in the distance, NewTech City looked like a miniature model town at the end of the picture-perfect valley that stretched out below them.

It had taken some time to get here; the national park was almost an hour's ride from the city on their Delta Cycles, then a rather steep hike up a rocky trail until Bridge suddenly veered off the path and led them through the woods along a deer path Sky would have never noticed by himself. Ten more minutes of navigating through some dense underbrush had then led them to the edge of the woods and to this clearing.

And it had indeed been worth the trip.

Bridge came up next to him and in companionable silence they looked out over the beautiful sights ahead of them.

A familiar feeling of peacefulness seeped into him. The place never failed to quiet his mind, and he took in a lungful of clean air and just let the feeling flow through him.

Next to him, Sky seemed to be experiencing the same thing; gazing out over the amazing view, Sky looked relaxed and…happy. It was a good look on him, and watching Sky's handsome profile was suddenly a lot more interesting than watching the scenery.

The content look on his partner's face also proved to Bridge that he had made the right decision by telling him about the clearing.

Last night, after a movie and a serious making-out session, Bridge had spontaneously asked Sky if he wanted to go on an overnight camping trip with him to 'this place I know'. It was partially because Cruger had given them all the next two days off, but also because he was so damn glad that Sky had made it back safe and sound, especially after he had told him about Corian's extraordinary powers.

This was Bridge's special retreat, his quiet place. A place he and his parents had stumbled upon almost a decade earlier by getting lost in the woods while hiking. A place he could withdraw to every now and then when he needed to purge his mind of all the mental and emotional pile-up that came with living with hundreds of people in a relatively small area such as the Delta Base.

He had never brought anyone along on his trips up here. Until today.

Next to him, Sky took his eyes off the view to take a closer look around their surroundings. He gestured at an old campfire ring. "That yours?"

Bridge nodded. "Yeah, it's been a few months since the last time I was here, and it looks exactly the way I left it," he said. "I really don't think anyone else knows that this place even exists."

He pointed back towards the trees. "There is a small stream a little further down through the woods. We can fill up the canteens there. I brought some water purification tablets."

"Let's set up camp, then."

They spent the next hour putting up their small two-man tent, setting a perimeter alarm for later, collecting kindling, lighting their campfire and getting water from the creek.

Technically, they didn't need the fire; it was a balmy July evening, their MRE rations came in self-heating packaging, and they had both brought along flashlights.

Bridge insisted, however, that camping wasn't camping without a real fire, and so they sat on their spread-out bedrolls around the fire ring, watching the flames pulsate in orange, yellow and red while they spooned their dinner from their MRE packets and watched the shadows lengthening all around them as the full moon slowly emerged in the late afternoon sky.

Bridge pointed upwards with his spoon. "To think that less than one hundred years ago people might have sat at this very same spot, looked up at the moon and had absolutely no way of getting there."

Sky nodded while he took a sip from his canteen. "While we can hop on a shuttle and be there in an hour."

"Hey, have you ever been at that awesome diner in the Armstrong Annex of the moon base?"

"Yeah. I love those pink-speckled cookies they serve there."

"You mean the ones that start wiggling by themselves if you leave them on your plate too long?" Bridge grinned. "Yeah, those are great!"

Their conversation ebbed and flowed for the better part of the next hour while a gentle breeze rustled the tree tops around them and the violet sky was turning indigo. The first stars appeared and the crickets promptly began their all-night serenading, replacing the chirping of the birds. Night was settling over the park.

Sky was poking at the fire with a stick, making the lambent light dance across his face and arms in golden hues. "Thank you," he said suddenly, quietly, and Bridge shot him a confused look.

"For what?"

"For bringing me here," Sky elaborated. "This is your special place, and you chose to share it with me." There was a depth of emotion in Sky's voice that Bridge had rarely heard before. "That's a lot of trust on your part, and I really appreciate that."

"I trust you with my life, Sky," Bridge said without even thinking about it, and it was neither flattery nor lip service. It was simply the truth. "And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be with up here." He pressed closer to him, bumping Sky's shoulder with his. "I'm really glad you're here with me."

Sky's smile was soft and warm and there was no way Bridge could not kiss him right now.

Sky reciprocated eagerly, wrapping his arms around Bridge, and for the next few minutes they simply sat by the fire, kissing, touching, breathing each other's air. Sky's hand cupped the back of Bridge's head, his mouth warm and promising as he slid his tongue into the Green Ranger's mouth, and the next thing Bridge noticed were the fingers of Sky's other hand curling into the hem of his shirt.

Sky pulled away from Bridge, his eyes asking the silent question, and Bridge simply raised his arms in consent. Sky pulled the shirt over his head, and as soon as Bridge's arms were free he was reaching for Sky's t-shirt in return. When Sky was divested of his garment, the two Rangers looked at each other in the flickering firelight, taking in views they had seen so many times, but never this close. And this time they could finally touch.

Sky touched his hand to Bridge's chest, careful and tentative, his fingers barely connecting with the skin, as if he was wary of Bridge's reaction.

"Is this gonna be ok?" he asked solemnly.

Bridge went for the truth. "I dunno, I never got this far."

"Let's find out, then."

They came together in a cautious hug, their first skin-to-skin contact electrifying and amazing. The comforting familiarity of Sky's aura settled over Bridge like a warm blanket while Sky's gentle fingers were gliding up and down his back, slowly mapping the broad expanse of shoulders and back, along the spine and back down to his waist.

Naked chests pressed together, Sky kissed his way from Bridge's shoulder to the side of his neck. "Just let me know if you need space," he rasped, lips close to Bridge's earlobe, and a shudder went through the Green Ranger at the deep timbre in Sky's voice that promised so much more to come. If Bridge could handle the psychic input.

Bridge knew it would be hard for Sky to reign in his galloping hormones, but there was no question in his mind that he would back off immediately if Bridge indicated that he was getting overloaded.

Which, strangely enough, he wasn't.

His skin seemed to tingle in the aftermath of the Blue Ranger's kisses. And all of a sudden, instead of too much, it wasn't enough!

He needed to feel more of Sky, needed to feel him without anything between them, and since the skin-to-skin contact pretty much cancelled out the effectiveness of the gloves anyway… Sky's eyebrows arched in surprise as Bridge suddenly let go of him, peeled off his gloves and tossed them aside.

"Can I?"

Sky nodded, took Bridge's hand and placed it on his chest above his heart, reminiscent of the way Bridge had done two weeks ago when they spilled their feelings to each other in their room.

Desire, joy, love – Sky's emotions washed over him and Bridge took them all in as his bare hands roamed over Sky's muscled arms and chest. It was actually surprisingly easy. With just the two of them up here and no one else around, there were no psychic distractions from other sources; only Sky's aura and the echo of his emotions, and since Bridge had two years to get used to both, he was now more than pleased to discover that it didn't strain his mind nearly as much as he had anticipated. Sky was also pretty much feeling exactly as he was feeling at the moment, so there were no conflicting emotions to deal with.

Bridge's breath hitched at the sudden revelation that sex was actually going to be an option, right here, right now…

Sky seemed to have read his mind. "Are you up for more?" he asked quietly.

Bridge knew that Sky didn't mean physically, because pressed up against each other as they were, there was no way that Sky didn't feel how very much Bridge was ready for more.

Sky was definitely ready for more, too, because the bulge that was pressing into Bridge's groin was impressive. Definitely something he wanted to investigate further.

Bridge had no idea how much mental stamina he could muster. This was brand-new territory for him, after all, but so far all signs were positive that this could work.

They would make it work somehow. There was no way he was stopping this now.

Sky was kissing him once more, and this time the Blue Ranger gently yet insistently pushed him backwards, easing Bridge down onto the bedroll. Further undressing involved a lot more touching, kissing and exploring, but finally they found themselves in a tangle of arms and legs with nothing but hot, naked skin between them. Bridge found that he couldn't get enough of the feel of Sky beneath his hands as he caressed the smooth skin, tracing biceps and deltoid, fluttering over shoulder blade and collarbone. All the while Sky watched him with a heat in his gaze that kept Bridge's heartbeat well above the normal rate, and it sped up even more when Sky began to move against him, pressing their erections together. His hand slid down between them and Bridge bit his lip and groaned when Sky's hand closed around both of their cocks.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. This is nice." It was way better than nice, but at the moment there didn't seem to be any blood left in his upper body to supply Bridge's brain with a more suited choice of vocabulary.

Sky's gaze was steady on him. "I want to make this good for you, but I'm gonna have to warn you; I might not last very long."

Bridge snorted. "Do you think I will? But hey, there's always Round Two, right?"

Sky smiled, leaned in and kissed him tenderly. "Right." He virtually draped himself over Bridge, his lips moving from Bridge's mouth to his jaw and down to his throat.

Sky's breath was hot on his skin as he continued to kiss his way lower, down to Bridge's chest, mouth latching onto a nipple and god, that felt so good…

Sky took some time alternating between the two nubs before he resumed his trek south, over Bridge's stomach, and Bridge held his breath in anticipation when Sky arrived between his legs. There the blond head drew back, and Sky's eyes seemed to flicker in the firelight as he looked back up at Bridge. "I've never tried this part before, so…"

"Don't worry, I'm not awarding performance points today," Bridge panted, and even to his own ears he sounded almost embarrassingly breathless.

"Good to know." Sky chuckled, and a moment later Bridge's heartbeat instantly doubled when he felt the first touch of Sky's tongue. His hips jerked involuntarily and a strained groan escaped his lips when his partner's mouth enveloped the head of his straining cock.

"Oh god…"

Bridge could feel goosebumps breaking out all over his arms as Sky's mouth and hands on his skin did things to his body and mind he could have never imagined. He clutched at the grass, pulling out clumps of it, the pressure already nearing its peak…no, not yet!

He wasn't ready for that level of intimacy yet, and he was pretty sure neither was Sky. Besides, it was at least five minutes ago that Sky had last kissed him. Way too long.

"Sky…" Bridge pawed at Sky's shoulder. "Come…come up here."

Sky scooted back up Bridge's body, breathing heavily, eyes dark, lips red and shiny, and that was a damn good look on him.

"I was lying when I said I wasn't giving out points," Bridge panted. "You're a ten. Definitely." He pressed his mouth to those incredible lips and Sky's mouth opened under his.

"Not true, but thanks for the compliment." Sky said when Bridge let him come up for air. Then his grin turned wicked as he settled against Bridge's hip. "But it's not my ego I want you to stroke."

Bridge's grin mirrored his as he reached for Sky, only too happy to comply. His hand closed around the velvety steel of Sky's rigid flesh, and the Blue Ranger's eyelids fluttered closed at his first few rhythmic pumps.

It felt strange at first to hold another man's cock, but it didn't take Bridge very long to get the hang of it. He tried out Fast and Tight, running his thumb over the tip of Sky's arousal with every other upstroke, and that strategy turned out to be the right one. Sky swallowed hard, made a breathless noise in the back of his throat and dug his fingers into Bridge's biceps. The next thing he knew Sky was kissing him like it was the last thing he would ever do. His hand had stalled when Bridge began to stroke him, but now he resumed his ministrations on Bridge's cock with renewed vigor.

Bridge was floating on euphoria; with Sky's tongue in his mouth, his cock in his hand and his emotions coursing through his mind, he was suddenly overcome with a feeling of closeness he had never experienced before. It didn't matter that their rhythms didn't quite match or that the right side of his body was off the bedroll and grass and pebbles were scratching and tickling his skin.

"Sky…"

Fire, hot and wonderful, seemed to pool in his groin. The end was inevitable. Bridge thrust up into Sky's fist and his groan came from his very core, colors exploding behind his closed eyelids as he convulsed under Sky's hands, and it was the most intense thing Bridge had ever felt. He somehow retained enough peace of mind, however, to continue stroking Sky, for he sensed that he was close as well.

Sky wasn't far behind him indeed; the sight of Bridge's orgasm had an obvious effect on the Blue Ranger. His face flushed, his breath came in short, ragged gasps until he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut and gave a hoarse moan. Hot release spurted over Bridge's hand. The psychic echoes hit Bridge like a second orgasm and a sigh escaped his throat as he continued to pump Sky a few more times for good measure.

Sky collapsed on top of him. Bridge slid his arms around him and for a few moments breathing was their only movement. Bridge could feel the frantic beating of Sky's heart against his chest. He carded his hand through his partner's short hair, relishing the feel of the blond strands running through his bare fingers while Sky gently kissed his neck.

"Wow, that was…" The right word once again eluded Bridge. He chalked it up to still being dazed by the profoundness of what just happened between them.

"Great? Fun? About damn time?" Bridge could feel Sky muttering against his neck and he smiled into the night.

"All of those. Also blew my mind in a completely different way than I'd thought it would."

"In a good way, though, I hope." Sky said.

"The best." Still smiling, Bridge lifted their interlaced hands and placed a kiss on Sky's knuckles. Some of them were still abraded from when he had hit Corian. "You know…I foresee a lot of research into wilderness camping for us."

"Or maybe we should just start building a cabin right here."

The two men shared a chuckle that ended in another kiss. That kiss chased another and another until Sky murmured against Bridge's lips that they had sticky fingers and sticky stomachs to clean up.

Secretly, Bridge didn't mind being stuck together forever - in every way -, but Sky was a neat freak and was already moving to extricate himself from Bridge's embrace. Eager to drag out the afterglow, Bridge locked an arm around Sky's waist while he blindly reached around with the other to grab at whatever item of clothing was closest. It turned out to be his t-shirt. That would do.

Sky, however, only gave him a wry look, shook his head and disentangled himself from Bridge to rummage through his backpack inside the tent. He returned a minute later with his canteen and a washcloth, and Bridge couldn't help but grin; leave it to Sky to bring a washcloth on an overnight camping trip.

They cleaned each other up, re-dressed and Bridge once again donned his gloves. As amazing as it had been to touch Sky without them, it was another matter entirely to leave them off for the whole night. It wouldn't make for a restful sleep, and sensing Sky's unguarded emotions while he slept would feel like an invasion of privacy.

He grabbed his canteen to pour over the campfire while Sky shook out their bedrolls and took them inside the tent. The fire had burned down to glowing embers, so extinguishing it completely only took a few moments, and when Bridge crawled through the tent flaps he found that Sky had made a nest of their bedding right in the middle of the tent.

"I thought we should put the bedrolls together and share the sleeping bags," Sky suggested. "You know, for warmth."

It was July, the bedrolls were threaded with self-heating infrared carbon fibers and their sleeping bags were insulated to withstand freezing temperatures.

"Yeah, sure," Bridge said with a smirk as he slid beneath the unzipped covers and into Sky's waiting arms.

Their slight height difference worked perfectly for spooning, and they instinctively arranged themselves with Bridge's back pressed up against Sky's chest. In the dark, Sky's hand found his, bare fingers interlacing with leather-clad ones and Bridge never wanted to move from this position ever again.

"Sky?" he whispered.

"Mmm?"

"I love you."

"Love you too," came the sleepy reply, accompanied by a kiss to the top of his head.

Drowsy, warm and comfortable, Bridge closed his eyes, smiling into the dark at the end of possibly the best day of his life. A day that had culminated in him losing his virginity to the man he loved. How could it possibly get better than that?

With Round Two, his brain immediately supplied. Which would hopefully be happening upon waking up.

But for now – sleep. Bridge exhaled, listened to the crickets and let Sky's calming energy flow over him to guide him towards sleep.

He knew it still bothered Sky that they were breaking SPD regulations, but out here, dressed in civilian clothes, their Delta Cycles parked down the path and out of sight, morphers tucked away in their backpacks, it was surprisingly easy to imagine that they were just two normal guys.

And for now, off-duty and away from base, they were.

Here he was, curled against the man he loved; it was real and solid and more than he ever thought he could have. It was – home.

THE END