A/N: Challenge ficlet for the Power Rangers Slash Write community on LiveJournal. Can be seen as a sequel to "Third Base" (see my bio for the link) or a stand-alone. This is Shane/Dustin slash! Consider yourself warned - if this is not your thing, do not continue reading this.

Atmosphere
By Dany
Rated R

It was the rain that woke Shane. Not the bright flashes of lightning or the faint rumble of thunder in the distance, but the sounds of fat raindrops hitting his window. They increased in volume and intensity even as he blinked and lifted his head a few inches off the pillow. The red LED display on his alarm clock showed 11.49pm and Shane grinned; nothing like a nice, wet midnight thunderstorm. At last!

It had been an unusually hot and dry summer and over the past few days there had been some pitiful dry thunderstorms. Meteorologists on TV had said that it was all leading up to one big storm and looking towards his window now Shane was happy to see that the Big One had finally arrived. He would have loved to slip out of the bed, open his window all the way and just soak up the atmosphere, but the body currently half-draped over him made moving pretty much impossible.

Shane smiled down at the dark head; Dustin hadn't stirred a limb yet. The guy could sleep through a plane crash next door. For a moment, Shane toyed with the idea of waking him, but his partner looked so relaxed and comfortable, his head nestled in the crook of Shane's shoulder, an arm slung across his chest and a leg draped over his thigh. Shane moved his head a little to gaze down into Dustin's face and as if on cue, a flash of lightning illuminated the room just long enough for a quick look into that familiar and beautiful countenance of his best friend and lover.

Lover. Even after three months together, Shane sometimes still had trouble wrapping his mind around that word. But lovers they were, minds, bodies and souls. They couldn't get together quite as often as they would like to without arousing suspicions from their team members and families, but whenever they did, they made the best out of their quality time. Like tonight.

The rumble of thunder was getting closer and the subsequent lightning made the shadows dance on the ceiling of his room. Dustin merely let out a faint sigh and snuggled tighter into Shane's side. Shane lifted his arm and lightly stroked his fingers over and through the Earth ninja's curls. Tonight had been a close call, the closest yet.

Maybe it had been the fact that they had the house to themselves or maybe it had been the music and candles or because they had both been more horny than usual…he had no idea. They had been naked and on his bed in record time, mouths locked, tongues warring, fingertips gliding over smooth skin. Soon they were grinding their hips against each other, their hands going from gliding to groping and stroking and somehow it had all ended up with Dustin on his back, legs splayed and Shane on top of him. The desire in Dustin's eyes was so obvious, his tousled hair and flushed cheeks, lips moving in a silent plea and with a start Shane realized that he was poised right at Dustin's entrance and that this could be the moment…

These past few months they had done pretty much all they could with each other without going all the way. But tonight, right there and then, Shane saw the willingness and the trust in Dustin's eyes and all he had to do was reach out towards his nightstand drawer where the lube and unopened pack of condoms were, and God, he wanted this, wanted Dustin so much, had been dreaming about this for weeks…

But something, the by now familiar fear, had held him back once again. Fear of taking that final and irrevocable step, for once he went there, once he was inside Dustin, there was no going back. And Shane knew he was scared, scared of hurting Dustin.

Not so much physically; there were ways to prepare to keep that first pain down to a minimum. No, it was more of a mental fear stemming from the realization of the huge commitment that came with that final step of taking each other's virginities.

So with an enormous effort he fought the primeval urge of simply pushing forward and instead pulled back, panting and trying not to grimace at the disappointed look that flashed across Dustin's face.

They had not talked about it; at least not there and then. There were still two raging hard-ons still to take care of, after all. And so they had reached for one another and taken each other over the edge with hands and mouths instead.

Dustin was out pretty quickly afterwards, but Shane had lain awake, holding him in his arms while his mind went back to that particular moment. What about next time? Could he hold himself back again? Did he want to? Did Dustin want him to? Not from the look on his face today…

The decorative palm tree in the backyard outside of his window swayed with a sudden gust of wind and the rain was beginning to turn into a real downpour, pummeling the windowsill, the roof, the side of the house. The smell of ozone was getting heavier throughout the room and Shane took as deep a breath as he dared with Dustin's head still pressing against his chest. Briefly he wondered what his team mates were doing right now; whether Blake and Hunter were awake and soaking up their elements and whether Tori was out and walking in the rain…

Dustin's fingers across his stomach twitched, his head moved and Shane watched his lover's eyes flutter open. Dustin gave him a sleepy smile and Shane pressed a kiss against this temple. Dustin's gaze went towards the window and after listening for a moment he simply said, "Mmmm, rain. 'bout time," rolled over onto his other side and pulled Shane's arm with him. Shane settled himself into his new position spooned up against Dustin's back and closed his eyes once more as another flash of lightning cut through the darkness. Wherever the others were and whatever they were doing, no thunderstorm – nothing short of the impending end of the world – was going to get him out of this bed and out of Dustin's arms tonight. Because that was exactly where he belonged.

The End