Wes, Eric, and all other characters from Power Rangers belong to Disney/Saban. I am using them without permission, however I have not and don't expect to make money from this.
Anyone you don't recognize is mine.

Rated T: language, violence, sexual content including m/m sexual relationships.

A/N: This is a response to the Power Rangers Slash Write 22 challenge, a slash-oriented romance theme challenge. A link to the challenge site on LiveJournal is in my profile.

Reviews are always appreciated.

Turns in the Road

A Walk on the Wild Side (animals, watermelon)

- - -

"Shhh!"

I made a face at him as Eric held up a hand to warn me back, and stepped softly to his side. He was leaning to peer around a thick tree trunk at two deer, male and female, grazing in a small, sun-streaked clearing a few yards away from us. Bright animal eyes turned to me as I smiled and moved into plain view, ignoring Eric's disapproving frown.

"See?" I said. "No one's ever hunted here. They're not afraid of humans." The deer raised their heads, ears twitching, and then got back to the business of eating.

"Stupid of them," he muttered, voice lowered.

"They're protected by the spirits that guard this place. Not like the rest of the world."

"Huh. Any other animals around here?"

"Of course. Lions, tigers..." I couldn't help myself, "...and bears." I failed to mention that they were zords, and not in the habit of attacking non-bad-guy people.

"Yeah?" He looked around, eyes widening slightly. Obviously a city boy.

"If they make you nervous, let's go back."

"I'm not nervous," he said nervously, glancing again into the clearing.

He was distracted. I was right next to him. It was the perfect tactical opportunity to regain the property I had temporarily lost, and Taylor Earhardt is certainly not one to let opportunity pass by. With a cry of triumph, I grabbed back the book he had snatched out of my hands a few minutes before, and backed off, laughing. There was a burst of bird calls at the sudden sound and movement, and the deer took off.

"Why, you..." He grinned, and started for me. With a rather disgracefully girly squeal, I beat a strategic retreat back towards the meadow where the rest of my team, and his, were stuffing their faces, playing games, and generally having a good time.

After a short chase I came to a breathless stop just inside the line of trees, blinking at the brightness after the relative gloom of the forest here on the Animarium. The crunch of footsteps on the leaves behind me was Eric, catching up as I turned back to face him. He made another grab at the book - I moved it behind my back - he came close, reaching around me, his arms circling me. I leaned my body against his and raised my face, waiting...

After a moment of hesitation, Eric dropped a quick and decidedly non-romantic kiss on my lips and stepped back, apparently deciding the game was over. He turned to look out into the sunshine at the others, several of them still eating, some scattered in small groups here and there. Shrugging inwardly, I followed his gaze. At least Shayla wasn't singing. Yet.

I slid a sidelong glance at the man beside me. While I won't pretend to be widely experienced in the areas of love and sex, I had spent most of my life around men and had some idea of what most of them are like. In this situation, most red-blooded, healthy, patriotic American males would have made a pass at me within five minutes of finding us alone in the middle of a deserted forest, especially after the half-teasing, half-flirting that had gone on between me and Eric for the last two days. He seemed to like me, there had been no mention of a wife or girlfriend, and he looked about as red-blooded and healthy as any guy I'd ever met. But - he hadn't tried anything, even with a blatant invitation, and I wanted to know why.

This would take my usual subtlety and tact. "Is that what you call a kiss? What's your problem?" I asked.

"Huh?" He looked astonished. Probably not used to women who aren't afraid to say what they think.

"I don't bite, you know. Unless you want me to."

"Shy little thing, aren't you?" He sounded a little irritated. And he wasn't the only one.

"Yeah, shyness has always been my problem. Are you married?"

"No." His eyes had become guarded. Was he lying? Somehow I didn't think so.

"Engaged?"

"No."

"Dating anyone?"

"No." His tone was sarcastic now. "Any more questions that aren't any of your business?"

"No." I crossed my arms. "Just trying to figure you out."

That got a snort of amusement. "Well, if you do that, let me know."

"Don't worry, I will." I considered him for another moment. "You're not being very cooperative."

"And you're asking too many questions." His tone was still light, but there was a warning glint in his eye.

He didn't even come close to scaring me. "Got something to hide? A secret affair? A married woman, maybe? Or someone at work?"

"You're not even warm."

"Hmm... Unrequited love then? Although it's hard to imagine you taking 'no' for an answer, from anyone."

I had only been teasing - but I saw his face tighten and his eyes flash with something close to anger as he muttered, "Don't be ridiculous."

Apparently I had struck a nerve. Hands up in surrender, I said, "Okay. Sorry."

As we fell into an awkward silence, I saw his gaze slide past me to the group of people in the meadow again, and turned to look. Two patches of red caught my eye - Cole and Wes, my red Ranger and his, walking together away from Jen and Alyssa to the accompaniment of a few shouts and cheers, with Danny, Katie, and Trip watching from a short distance.

Unrequited love. Someone here today, maybe? One of his Time Force teammates - Jen or Katie? If it was Jen, I could see why he wouldn't want to admit having a thing for his partner's girl. If it was Katie - he hadn't shown any reluctance to flirt with me in front of her. Unless he was trying to make her jealous. But what would be the point; she wouldn't be around after today anyway. Maybe that was the problem; with either woman there was no chance of anything permanent.

I shook my head and sighed impatiently. Probably my imagination and he just wasn't interested in me. Sometimes I think I tend to scare men, although it was hard to imagine that stopping a guy like Eric. Another glance showed him still staring, watching Wes and Cole who seemed to be having a little footrace now while Alyssa and Jen cheered them on, the sound of happy voices ringing cheerfully over the meadow. I saw his eyes follow Wes - softening and warming with a slight smile as the two red Rangers trailed to a laughing stop in an apparent tie - watching as they walked back to their audience, and then narrowing slightly, his mouth turning into a frown, when Wes threw an arm around Jen's shoulders.

"What's the matter, you don't approve?" I asked.

"Approve of what?" He gave me a cold glance, the kind that probably had his Silver Guardians quaking in their sexy black boots.

"Of Wes and Jen, of course." I nodded in their direction, ignoring his irritated glare. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing!" He balled his fists and jammed them into his pockets. "No problem at all. She's gonna leave again, and he's gonna spend the next six months moping around whining about it. Why should I care?"

"I don't know. Why should you?"

"I don't," he informed me unconvincingly. "Come on. Let's get back."

I followed on his heels as the pieces began to click into place in my head. Eric's reaction to seeing Wes and Jen - a little too angry... Jealousy? I remembered the easy closeness and warmth I had seen between Eric and Wes when we first met. The way they had seemed to communicate with only a glance or a gesture, like lifelong friends. All that had stopped as soon as Jen had showed up. Nothing obvious, Eric had even smiled to see them together - at least when he knew someone was watching. But that was when he had started to keep his distance from them. That was also precisely when his attitude towards me had gone from semi-hostile verbal sparring to outright flirtation. Yes, I suspected Jen was the culprit.

While I didn't appreciate being used to make someone else jealous - looking at Eric's stormy expression I couldn't help feeling just a touch of sympathy. I know what it feels like to see the person you love with someone else, and it can make you do things you'd normally be ashamed to do. So - maybe it was sympathy. Maybe it was curiosity. Maybe I just wanted to know what my competition had that I didn't. On impulse, I decided to find out exactly what was going on here.

As we got closer, Jen gave us only a glance and a smile. Wes's reaction puzzled me - a sharp look and a slight frown, quickly concealed, as he saw us together. Strange. I was still wondering when Eric mumbled something about getting more food and stalked off. Cole and Alyssa said they were going to take a walk and wandered away, leaving me with Wes and Jen.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" I asked. Thank God for the weather, it always gives you something to talk about.

"Yes, beautiful," Wes said with a polite smile, obviously distracted as he looked in the direction Eric had gone.

"Of course, it's usually nice here. One of the advantages of a floating island. We rise above the weather."

"It's a great place."

I decided I might as well get to the point, or somewhere close to it. "Too bad you guys can't stay longer, but I guess all of you have to go home soon."

"Yes. Too bad." Wes dragged his attention from Eric, who had reached the picnic table, picked up a knife, and appeared to be attacking a watermelon. "But Eric and I have to get back to our jobs."

"So do we," Jen said. Her voice was lowered, her eyes raised to Wes's. "As soon as this picnic is over, we'll have to go back to our own time."

"I'm sorry." I felt a little ashamed of myself, bringing up an obviously painful subject out of my own curiosity. "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, it's okay. We're all having a great time here, today. That means a lot." Jen put a smile back on her face, but it no longer looked happy. "You and Eric seem to be having a good time, too. I think he likes you."

Caught off guard, I mumbled, "I dunno... mostly we've just argued..."

"I'm sure that's not what you were doing in the woods all this time."

"Well, no. Not exactly arguing." I smiled. It was clear that if Eric had a crush on Jen, she had no idea of it.

"That's nice. I hope it works out for you." Jen's smile seemed wistful now. Wes was frowning again, his gaze moving back to Eric as if magnetically drawn.

"Hey, you guys! Having a good time?" The new voice turned us around to see Katie, a big grin on her face and a can of soda in her hand.

"Yeah, great," Jen said. "Listen, I think I'm going to take a look at the woods myself. Wes...?"

"In a minute," Wes said with a touch on her elbow. "I'm going to grab some more food first."

"Okay."

They both walked away - Jen slowly pacing towards the trees and Wes heading towards the picnic tables and Eric, who by now had completely dismembered the unfortunate watermelon into ragged hunks.

"Is it something I said?" Katie asked.

"No, it's my fault - we got on the subject of all of you having to go back to your own time, and... I guess it kind of spoiled the mood." I gave Katie a thoughtful look. Whether it was fighting at each other's sides or some sort of bond between yellow Rangers, she and I had gotten surprisingly friendly in the last couple of days, friendly enough that I felt comfortable asking her what I wanted to know. "Maybe it's none of my business, but I can see that Wes and Jen are close."

"Close. You could say that." Katie smiled with a tinge of sadness. "When we were in 2001 fighting Ransik, they fell in love. Poor Jen - They never told each other until it was time for us to leave."

"Will she be able to come back and see him? Spend time here, or take him to the future?"

"No. No, there's no way. None of us can stay here, or visit, and Wes can't leave to come to our time. It would endanger the course of history."

"So - they're in love but they can never be together? How awful for them."

"Yes, it is."

We were quiet for a moment as we started to walk slowly in the direction of the picnic table where I could see Wes and Eric standing side by side, their backs to us and their body language telling me their conversation wasn't a friendly one. I felt a stab of pity for Wes and Jen as I saw Shayla and Merrick, sitting on a fallen tree trunk in quiet conversation as we passed. They certainly had their problems, and maybe their obvious but unspoken love for each other would never come to anything, but at least they didn't have a thousand years keeping them apart.

Katie bent her head a little closer to mine, her voice lowered. "Jen told me she thought about staying anyway. Just give up her career, hide out from Time Force, take the chance of changing history."

"What? Is she going to do it?"

"No, of course not. She'd never be happy if she ran out on her responsibilities like that. I don't think Wes would be happy about it either. She said he asked her to think about it, and when she did - she changed her mind."

"Probably better this way, but it's still sad."

By this time we had gotten close enough to Wes and Eric to hear their voices, rising in angry tones just as our own conversation ended. I clearly caught the words Eric snarled as he drove the knife through an already-hacked slice of watermelon and into the table beneath.

"Who the hell are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm not! I just want to know why you're acting like that when you're not interested!" Wes retorted.

"Hey, you're the one who said she's 'just my type'!"

"I was kidding! Obviously, when I know you're..."

"I'm what?" When Wes gave no answer except to angrily slam down the watermelon slice he had been holding, Eric went on mockingly. "You can't even say the word, can you?"

There was a sharp crack as Katie stepped on a twig - probably deliberately, her tactful way of letting them know they were not alone. Not being a big believer in tact, I swore silently at the lost opportunity to overhear more. The men both jumped and swung around to face us, Eric looking startled for just a moment while Wes turned a becoming shade of red.

"Sorry to interrupt, guys," Katie said, eyeing their expressions.

"You aren't..."

"We're not..."

They both spoke at the same time, and both stumbled to a stop, glancing at each other. Eric's face darkened into an expression that was unusually rock-like even for him, and he abruptly stomped away. Wes mumbled something about finding Jen and took off in the opposite direction.

"What was that all about?" I wondered aloud. They had said 'she' - were they talking about me? What deep dark secret did Eric have that would keep us apart?

Katie shrugged, giving me a puzzled look. "Beats me."

- - -

We all went to the beach to see them off, although I would have preferred to skip the tearful goodbyes. Wes hugged each of his former teammates, and watched them vanish inside their little timeship. Jen went last of all, only a solitary tear revealing what she must be feeling as they parted again, probably forever, with a hug, a quick kiss, and a long last look.

And then all was silent as the timehole they had flown into shrank and winked out. Wes and Eric were both standing a few yards from us, looking as alone as if they were miles apart, Wes looking up into the sky, Eric staring at the ground at his feet.

"We should be going," Alyssa murmured.

"Yes, I guess we should," I answered, wondering whether to risk disturbing the two Time Force Rangers or just quietly slink off.

Cole, who's not the most perceptive guy in the world, apparently saw no problem. "Hey!" he called, walking over to them. "It's been great meeting you both. I hope we'll run into each other again."

"Yeah," Danny said under his breath, nudging me. "I bet you hope you run into Eric real soon."

"Shut up," I told him good-naturedly. I went to Eric and held out my hand as the others all clustered around Wes. "It's been a pleasure. Anytime you guys need our help..."

"You mean when you need our help," he said. We both smiled. "Look, Taylor..." He trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "We had fun, didn't we? But..."

"That's all it was. Fun." I shrugged. "No problem."

"Thanks." His eyes drifted to Wes. "So they're gone."

"Yes." I watched Wes too, as the others finished their goodbyes and started back to our cars. He glanced at us quickly and then turned his back, hands shoved in his pockets. "This has been hard for Wes."

"Yeah."

"He looks like he needs a friend." I looked up at Eric's face, seeing it soften. And then it hit me.

The way Eric had watched Wes, his eyes soft, like now. The way he had frowned at the sight of Wes with Jen. When I had made my comment about unrequited love, he had looked in Wes's direction. Even that overheard conversation at the picnic table made sense now - Wes's certainty that Eric wasn't really interested in me, Eric's 'dark' secret. So that's the way it was - I had been right about Eric's feelings, but wrong about who they were for. Too bad, as I gave up on any lingering thoughts of a fancy wedding, a house in the suburbs, and 2.5 children. Just as well. I hate the suburbs and have no time for kids. And on the bright side, I now knew exactly what my rival had that I didn't.

"A friend. Yeah, I guess he does need one about now." Eric turned to me, taking my hand again and gently squeezing it. "Thanks, Taylor. You're a nice girl. See ya." A moment later he was at Wes's side, lifting a hand and hesitating before touching his partner's shoulder.

Wes and Jen's situation sucked - but what would it be like, I found myself wondering, to be in love with someone you saw and worked with every day, with no hope of having your feelings returned? Unrequited love, indeed, of the worst kind.

But... I saw Wes turn his head, his eyes meeting Eric's and softening in just that same way, as his face lit up with such a relieved, grateful, and warm smile that it made my heart leap with the wish that someone would someday smile at me like that. Without a word, only that shared look, they started away side by side. And I remembered again the closeness I had seen between them. Wes's frown when he saw me with Eric. His anger that could almost have been - jealousy.

Unrequited? I wonder. And call me a hopeless romantic, but - I hope it isn't.

TBC...