It wasn't long before Sky came to the realization that the implementation of this experiment had been poorly planned. He felt like kicking himself, but he knew it was his own impulsivity that got him into this situation. Sky had enough self awareness to know that his single-mindedness (a.k.a. pig-headedness) was often a source of problems for him; tonight was no exception.
Sky been pondering Bridge's situation for a while, but he hadn't been sure about how to approach the problem. It occurred to Sky that of the five Rangers, he and Bridge had the most similar powers. The others' powers all had to do with manipulating matter; and although technically Sky also manipulated matter when creating his shields, he made them with his mind. So if anyone should be able to make some kind of connection with Bridge it would be him.
Sky argued in his head for days about the best way to apply his power to help Bridge, and when he'd finally come to the conclusion that the direct approach was best, he'd marched himself down to Bridge's room. Now, here he was, perched on the end of Bridge's bed, totally unprepared. Not a book, magazine or vid-link close at hand. He was trapped with nothing to do.
It was going to be a long night.
Sky absently rubbed his temple and let out a soft sigh of annoyance as he looked around. It was clear from Bridge's earlier reaction that even a moment of disconnection made a difference. Sky didn't have the heart to disrupt what looked like Bridge's first good night's sleep in months, so he couldn't even dart across the room to grab a book from the overstuffed bookshelf. It just tormented him - it was tantalizingly close, but he couldn't take the risk to get to it. It was times like these when Sky wished he were telekinetic.
Sky continued to scan the room and assess his options. Even though Bridge's desk was close by, the only things within reach were some random computer gadgets and tools. Even if Sky had been able to reach the mouse or keyboard, he was not in a good position to see the monitor, so any attempt at using the computer would be useless. At least the lights were still on and he wasn't sitting in the dark.
Sky settled himself so his back was against the wall, and pulled his legs into a cross-legged position in front of him. It didn't seem to matter how much movement he made on his end of the bed, Bridge was out like a light. And, as long as Sky maintained contact, Bridge would stay that way. Sky allowed himself a smile as pride welled up in his chest. It's a good thing. And I'm the one who's helping.
As proud as Sky was feeling about his accomplishment, even greater was the feeling of satisfaction that the plan had actually worked. Until Bridge had expressed how quiet everything was, Sky wasn't sure the shield was working. Up until that point, it didn't seem like anything was different, and Sky was beginning to get worried. Not that he'd had any concerns about making the shield; it was that he'd never attempted to use a shield to block anything other than solid matter. It was a new area for Sky, and that was another reason he wanted it so desperately to work.
Sky had always been driven by the desire to be the best that he could be. In his mind "the best" was equated with the position of Red Ranger. To say that he was devastated when Cruger assigned the red morpher to Jack would've been an understatement. It was nearly the end of the world in Sky's way of thinking. It didn't matter how eloquent he sounded when he rehearsed his arguments in his head – whenever he attempted to approach Cruger about the decision he sounded like a resentful, whiny brat. Not that he didn't feel resentment; because he did…it just didn't pay to sound like that.
So he'd stopped talking to Cruger and decided that his actions needed to speak louder than his words. If Cruger wouldn't listen to his feelings on the subject, Sky would make him see, through his superior behavior that he should have been and should still be the Red Ranger. Not that that plan had exactly worked out either – the debacle with the diamonds and the incident with Drew did not look good on Sky's record.
But this was different. What he was doing tonight was the act of a leader. He'd seen a problem with a member of the team and used his unique skills to address it. Let's see Jack help Bridge get a good night's sleep! Sky thought to himself. Immediately, Sky felt guilty. It should be more important to him that he was helping Bridge, rather than showing up Jack. He'd never even given Jack a chance to be part of the solution. He'd brooded on the problem by himself for days, and when he decided to take action the only person he involved was Bridge.
I know I want Cruger to see me as special…as Red Ranger material. Is that so wrong?
Sky shook his head and snapped himself out of his thoughts. Desperate to distract himself, he began looking around the room again. It wasn't nearly as disorganized as first impressions made it appear. Things didn't necessarily seem to have designated places to be, but there seemed to be definite zones. Clothing and other similar items landed near the closet zone. There was a hamper, but a good portion of the items hadn't made it in. The desk zone held a ton of computer equipment; Sky couldn't begin to guess the function of most of it. The bed zone currently held Bridge, his messy blankets and…what was that under his pillow. Sky squinted as he tried to make out the shape. Is that a dinosaur?
Sky turned his attention to the bookcase across the room. Even if he couldn't read a book, at least he could read the titles. The books were stacked haphazardly, so there were just as many books with the pages facing Sky as there were with the spines facing out. Many of the books on the large, bottom shelf were bound manuals; they all seemed to be related to computer programming. The middle shelf held a mish-mash of SPD recommended reading, textbooks and computer magazines. Sky was beginning to think it was just as well he couldn't reach any material on the bookcase – all of it was likely to put him to sleep.
The top shelf held the most interesting books as far as Sky was concerned. There were a few titles relating to Jungian psychology and the collective unconscious (No wonder he's been spouting off about that recently) but mostly the shelf contained well worn paperbacks. The book selections tended more toward fantasy than science-fiction – Sky wasn't expecting that. He would've thought that someone with Bridge's mechanical bent would have been all about robots and space stations. Sky was pleasantly surprised to see a few titles he recognized; he thought it was ironic that Bridge would probably be equally surprised that they shared similar tastes in fiction.
It's not really surprising when you stop to think about it. All those fantasy books have people with special talents…talents like ours.
It was, in fact, one of those books that had motivated Sky to try this experiment with Bridge tonight. He'd been sitting in his room brooding about what to do and feeling irritated because he knew the solution should be obvious and it wasn't. He had a strong feeling that he'd read something that could be helpful, but he couldn't put his finger on it. No text book or SPD manual that he had on had had anything helpful about the way to employ a mental shield to block out bad dreams. But he knew he had read about it somewhere and that resulted in a search of his bookcase, locker and closet.
In the darkest depths of the closet, Sky had come across an old and well-loved copy of Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz that he had forgotten he had brought with him to the Academy. It wasn't recommended reading (which was why it had ended up shoved way in the back of the closet), but he loved it too much to leave it behind (which was why he'd brought it in the first place). Sky was thunderstruck when he realized that that was where the idea of mental shielding had come from. The Deryni in the books used their abilities to shield themselves not only from physical harm, but also from mental intrusions. Inspired, Sky reread all of the books in the series that he could get his hands on, and came up with a plan.
All of which led to this – sitting on the end of Bridge's bed with nothing to do. Sky rubbed his head with his free hand again. It concerned him a little that a headache was creeping in already. He'd been holding the shield for less than an hour, and he'd been counting on being able to ignore any physical discomfort for much longer than that.
Though Sky hadn't voiced it to Bridge, this was another reason he hadn't involved Cruger or Dr. Manx. It was well known that the Rangers had genetically enhanced abilities, and the use of those abilities was heavily restricted. Dr. Manx had them jumping through hoops when they'd first arrived at SPD, similar to what she'd put Jack and Z through when they'd joined. She called it "getting a baseline" for their abilities. Though they were encouraged to use their abilities in combat situations or training simulations, they were not encouraged to exercise them ontheir own. Dr. Manx liked being able to chart and graph and document every little nuance of them using their powers.
As much as Sky held the ideas of duty and service close to his heart, it chafed at him not to be able to employ his own skills as he saw fit. Call it another example of pig headedness, but he just didn't like being told where or when to use his skills…not when he thought they could be used for a greater purpose. If Sky had approached Dr. Manx with his theory, he and Bridge would've been locked in a room with electrodes stuck to their heads and machinery recording everything they did. Sky couldn't take that, so he didn't tell.
Sky was fairly confident he could pull off this experiment successfully; and if, after it worked, Dr. Manx wanted to look at his brain, he could deal with that then. His confidence was bolstered when he noticed an change in his power after becoming a Ranger. There was definitely an increase in his ability to build and hold a shield since then. It followed that if his abilities were increased, the others abilities would be too. And following that train of thought, it wasn't a big stretch to understand why Bridge was picking up so much more from the people around him and being unable to block it all out.
Sky looked over at Bridge sympathetically. I'm glad I'm not the one who picks up on every mood or feeling…I don't know how he deals with it. That look of relief on his face…that was something. I'm so glad this worked.
Sky switched positions again, pulling his right foot up onto the bed so he could bend his knee. He left his left leg tucked under the right. Resting his right hand on his knee, Sky could read his watch. It read 12:37. One good thing about Dr. Manx's excessive documentation was knowing how long he could maintain a shield. The longest he had gone was four hours; but the reaction headache it had given him laid him out for nearly a day. But that was before he'd become a Ranger; before he'd noticed the change in his strength. Alright – I doubt I can give him eight hours…but maybe I can give him six.
Staring at the ceiling, Sky started to recite the SPD rule manual aloud. It would keep him occupied, but had the potential of putting him to sleep. If he fell asleep he'd lose the shield, so sleeping was not an option. He'd see how far he could make it through the manual before he needed to occupy his thoughts with something else.
"Space Patrol Delta, to protect and serve…"
Author's Note - Thanks so much to all of you who've taken the time to read and review. It means a lot to me! Shout outs to AngelMouse5, Anastasia Athene, Funky in Fishnet, Hybyrd0, FudgeMonkey99, Spreet and Ghostwriter.
Mrs. Coolio - no plans for romance at this point, but with the way stories run away with me anything's possible in the future!
MzDany - I love that you're so tuned in to Bridge. Thanks for your constant support!
BloomingViolets - I get what you're saying about Bridge/Syd/Sky. We'll see where it goes - I've got to get them through the night first!
Akume-WOOHOO! Glad you liked it! You know me...give me a Jason-centric story and I'm a happy camper. But as an idea, I'd love to know his thoughts pre and post the Red Ranger episode (brain freeze...I can't remember the title). Why was he late? What was he thinking when Tommy just walked away leaving him with the others? As for my Shane/Dustin fic - it's finally begun!
Etcetera Kit - I like the idea that Bridge is so attuned to everyone else that he out of tune with himself and needs a moment or two to catch up. Here's a Sky chapter for ya!
