Blue & Evil: The Beginning
By: PernDragonrider
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Power Rangers. Just borrowing the characters for a little romance then returning them. No money being made; so don't sue.
Author's Notes: This contains SLASH! Relationship between two men and if you don't things like that please hit the back button and go no further. This plot bunny hid and bit before I could get rid of it. This is a prequel to my drabble entitled "Blue Meets Evil On The Beach!" Just one possible explanation for the tale of how Chad Lee and Ryan Mitchell might have became a couple. Special thanks, kudos, and bowing and scraping at CamFan4Ever's feet. Without her almost instant feedback, patience, and encouragement this tale would have never been written. Enjoy and please leave a review. Pern. Now onto the tale…
Chapter Five – Questions & AnswersChad's three days off, following the fiasco with the Cyborg Rangers, went quickly for the two lovers; however they took the time to do things together that interested both of them immensely and Chad found himself enjoying spending time with Ryan more and more. It really didn't matter what they were doing as long as the two were together. Sleeping, eating, or just walking the streets of Mariner Bay, it didn't matter to either of them since the other was there. They took the time for more diving lessons and Chad again took Ryan diving in the bay and together they explored the underwater world that was hidden beneath the sleepy and gentle waves of the bay they lived near.
"You're getting good at this, Ry." Chad said as they stowed his diving equipment into the back of his pick-up truck. "A couple of more dives and you'll know enough to get your diving certification, love."
"I enjoy diving with you, Blue." Ryan told his lover and the man that filled his life so completely. "It's a refreshing change from walking or driving everywhere we need to go and you come alive when you're talking about diving or when you're actually in the water, my love."
"This is my last day off, Ry." Chad said very reluctantly. "Carter is picking me up in the Rescue Rover at six in the morning. I don't want to waste a second of this day cause I'm not sure when we'll have time together again. Joel called this morning and said that we're scheduled for some heavy-duty training when we get back. Apparently Ms. Fairweather has some new toys we have to learn to use again. I don't mind the training; but it doesn't give me time to meet you on the beach at night. I'll leave a message on the answering machine about when I might have time off again."
"I'll be there, Blue." Ryan said as he took the sad and worried Chad into his arms for a quick yet very reassuring hug. "I'll be there whenever you need me; if I can."
"I know that, Ry." Chad said from where he was still wrapped into Ryan's arms and held securely yet tenderly against the taller man. "I'll always be there for you too. Stopping Diabolico and the other demons from destroying Mariner Bay is what I have to do; but I'll always be there when you need me."
"I know that stopping the attacks on the city is something you have to do, Blue." Ryan said with a sad smile on his face yet his mind was churning quickly. "Have you ever stopped to think that you might not be successful and they'll destroy the city and resurrect Queen Bansheera's temple anyway? What happens when you fail, Blue?" "I have to make him see that defeating Queen Bansheera, Diabolico, and the others is something they can't do! I can't lose him! I need him! He'll be killed and I can't allow that!" Ryan's thoughts whirled so quickly through his mind that his facial expression didn't have time to change nor did his worried and desperate attempt to reconcile the conflicting emotions going through him show in his eyes. Only his caring, love, and compassion for the man he held in his arms.
"I don't want to even think about not being successful, Ry." Chad replied with a serious expression on his face. "Failure is something I've never accepted with anything and not now. We have to stop Diabolico and the others! Mariner Bay is our home and failing means that you and I will not be together ever again."
"Blue." Ryan sighed as he held him close. "I'm trying to tell you something that you're not going to like to hear."
"You're leaving because of the attacks aren't you, Ry?" Chad said sadly as he stepped from the encircling arms and the very comfortable embrace of his lover and the man he wanted in his life, forever. "It's too much and your family or just you is going to leave. I don't know if I can cope without knowing you're there for me when I get a chance to get away from my Ranger duties, but I will do the best I can if you promise me you'll come back once these attacks are over. Promise me, Ry. I don't think I can live without you anymore."
"Blue!" Ryan said in exasperation yet still full of his love and growing devotion to the man before him. "I'm not leaving Mariner Bay because of the attacks. I'm staying and fighting for you and for my family; but my family isn't exactly happy with our being together. Conflicts and I have to sneak out to see you and spend time with you. My father isn't the most understanding man in this world. Sneaking away is going to get you hurt, Blue. I can't take that thought."
"How will it get me hurt, Ry?" Chad asked with a relieved tone of voice. "I'm a freaking Power Ranger for God's sake. What the hell can he do to me if I'm morphed?"
"More than I care to tell you, Blue." Ryan sighed sadly. "Blue, my father is Diabolico."
"WHAT?" Chad roared as he looked at the very sad and nearly despondent man before him. "You've picked the worst subject in the world for joking about, Ryan!"
"What by all of Queen Bansheera's powers did I just do?" Ryan thought in an absolute panic. "Father, not to mention Vipra or any of the others will ever allow me to continue to live after telling him that. I've got to fix this; but how?" Ryan's internal struggle never showed on his face and before Chad could get even angrier, Ryan's slow sultry voice floated out over the waves and caressed Chad's ears; "I'm teasing you, Blue. I can't stand it when you're all pouty and sad. It got you out of the funk you'd fallen into; didn't it lover?"
"That is not something that you should ever want, even in jest, Ry." Chad said with a calming exhale that turned into a sigh as he caught sight of the time on his watch. "We should go back home, love. It's getting late and I have to be up early in the morning. Carter and his five a.m. pick-ups are going to drive me insane. I won't even have time for a quick dive in the morning to center myself before I have to work my ass off training."
"Forget working your cute, luscious ass off training, Blue." Ryan said as he too exhaled a sigh that turned into a small chuckle. "I'm going to work that tight ass off before Carter even has a chance to touch it." Ryan pulled an unresisting Chad into a passionate kiss and when both men needed oxygen more than they needed the escalating passion between them; they broke apart with twin sighs of regret and longing.
"I'm going to hold you to that promise, Ry." Chad said with a grin of sheer delight gracing his face. "I'll forgo my morning dive for a night in your arms anytime, lover."
"Then let's get back to the apartment so I can make good that promise while keeping both of us out of jail for indecent exposure, Blue my love. Drive as fast as you can without getting pulled over for speeding. It wouldn't do for the Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger to have to explain to the police that he was speeding and driving erratically because he wanted to get his lover home and let him have his ass for the night." Ryan teased as he jumped quickly into the passenger seat of Chad's truck and smiled a purely lust filled smile at his lover that was just climbing into join him.
"And just who says that I won't be the one having your ass for the night, Ry?" Chad asked as he smiled brightly at his lover and entwined his right hand with Ryan's left hand that was resting on the seat between them. Chad pulled the captured appendage to his mouth and gently teased Chad's palm with a light kiss and an even lighter nip to the sensitive areas he'd discovered their first night together.
Ryan's breathing quickly jumped to a faster pace as Chad teased him mercilessly. "Blue. Home. Please?" Ryan pleaded with a note of quickly rising passion in his voice.
Chad chuckled, started the truck, and drove back to his apartment all the while never releasing Ryan's hand from his own. When Chad parked in his assigned space, both men were quickly out of the truck and rushing headlong toward the door to the apartment they shared. The door hadn't been unlocked and opened for longer than a few seconds before both of them were wrapped in the arms of the other and they were kissing like neither of them would ever see the other again. Ryan retained just enough of his higher brain functions to kick the door closed before he couldn't think of anything but the man in his arms that filled his senses and his heart so completely that every time he tried to think of making his Blue one of the pitiful slaves of the demons that had raised him. He shivered with fear.
Both Ryan and Chad made love to each other many times during their remaining time together. By the time they fell into an exhausted sleep with one wrapped about the other, it was well after two in the morning. Neither of them heard the alarm, the horn of the Rescue Rover blowing repeatedly, or the shrilling of the telephone. Chad awoke when the rays of the afternoon sun snuck through the closed dark curtains over his bedroom window and he grimaced even as he tried to hide his face from the bright sunlight outside. "Gonna get it over this." The thought crossed Chad's brain even as he reluctantly and slowly disengaged from the tangle of limbs he and Ryan always slept in. "Capt. Mitchell isn't going to be happy when I didn't show up today; not to mention how ticked the rest of the team must be. God, there goes my next days off for a long while. Something has got to give or I'm going to lose Ry and my job at the same time."
Brrring, brrring! Chad grabbed the shrilling telephone after the second ring. "Chad here." He said with a gruff and sleepy voice.
"Chad?" Dana said softly. "You need to get your butt back to the Aqua Base a.s.a.p. I covered for you with Carter; but Dad just got back from the weapons demonstration with Ms. Fairweather. We've got a meeting in thirty minutes. You HAVE to be here for that or your going to get into some nasty trouble."
"I'll be cutting it close, Dana." Chad replied with a small rueful grin gracing his very exhausted Asian features. "But I'll be there. Thanks for covering and before you ask; I had the best time off imaginable. I spent it with my boyfriend. I really can't wait for the two of you to meet one day."
"You just keep him happy, Chad Lee." Dana said with a smile in her voice. "I'll meet him when you're ready to introduce us. Now get your tail moving and get to the base; in time for that meeting."
"I'm on my way, Dana, and thanks for covering for me." Chad replied quietly as Ryan started stirring in the bed. "I'll be there for that meeting."
"You're my friend, Chad." Dana replied with a smile. "I help my friends out whenever I can. Just get here for this meeting or you won't be able to spend time with your boyfriend for at least a month. Dad isn't like the other military types; however missing this meeting will get you confined to base except for fighting of monsters."
Ryan rolled over in the bed and wrapped around Chad's body. Chad sighed tiredly and stroked Ryan's soft hair as he said, "I've got to fly, love. Dana covered for me for missing my ride this morning, but there's a mandatory meeting at the base in thirty minutes. If I'm not there I get confined to base for the next three weeks."
"Go, Blue." Ryan said softly and kissed Chad's side just above the waistband of his briefs. "I'll be here for you, always."
Chad sighed again and twisted to he was half sitting on the bed and half lying on his lover. "Love you, Ry." Chad whispered as he caught Ryan's smiling mouth in a searing kiss of longing, love, and passion. Ryan returned the kiss and the two were again lost in each other until Chad's diving watch chirped on the quarter hour mark. Ryan reluctantly ended the kiss and gently pushed his lover away from him.
"Blue, you have to leave, lover." Ryan sighed in resignation and loss. "I'll be lonely without you, love; but you have to go. You can't chance being late and you're going to be cutting it close as it is. Go before I wrap you up and keep you here with me forever."
"You know I want nothing more; don't you?" Chad asked with a forlorn sigh as he scrambled from the bed and quickly started tossing on clothing. "The day this mess with these demons is over with we're going to spend all the time we've missed, because of this fight, right here in this bed, together, Ry."
"I know, Blue." Ryan sighed again. "I want the nearly perfect future you paint for us, Chad; but father and the others are strong, invincible. The future I have to look forward to doesn't include you at my side as willingly as you are now, love."
"We'll beat them, Ry." Chad said as he bent down and gave Ryan another searing kiss on the lips. This time Chad didn't let himself get carried away and when Ryan's hands rose to push up Chad's tight blue t-shirt. Chad broke the kiss and both of them struggled to get their emotions and breathing back under control. "It's getting harder and harder to leave you, love. Don't come to the door or the window please, Ry. I don't think I'll have the strength to leave you if you do."
"I'll just lay here and dream of when we can be together again, Blue." Ryan told Chad very seriously; yet there was a hint of playfulness in his voice too. "It's warm and I could use the extra sleep anyway. Some idiot, nice lady, woke us up way too early with that phone call. I'll just sleep the rest of the day away and then stroll down to the beach to watch the sunset. I might run into this gorgeous Asian man with dark hair, dark eyes, a killer body, which carries enough passion around inside of him to ignite the stars while I'm strolling along the sand. What do you say, Blue?"
"I think, if I can get out of the Aqua Base, that I might just take a walk on the beach tonight too, Ry." Chad replied with a smile spreading across his face as he grabbed his Lightspeed duffle bag and jacket from the chair by the bedroom door. "I might meet this absolutely beautiful and godlike man on the beach. His eyes sparkle with laughter all the time and there's something that draws me to him that I can't explain. Maybe it's his smile, his laughter, or the way he seems to stalk around like a large predatory animal stalking its prey; but I'm completely taken by this man and never want to be anywhere but with him, always."
Ryan didn't have a chance to reply because Chad looked down at his watch, quietly cussed, and then bolted from the apartment with a the front door slam echoing back to where Ryan lay on the bed with a startled expression on his face. "Wow, have to remember he can move that fast from now on." Ryan said with a sleepy smile crossing his face as he heard Chad's pickup squealing out of the parking lot. He snuggled back down in the bed and was asleep almost instantly. Ten minutes later Ryan was rudely awoken by his father's voice echoing in his head.
"Ryan!" Diabolico screamed angrily into Ryan's mind. "You were supposed to keep him from leaving the apartment today. You were to make him late so he'd get into trouble with his superiors. You're disobeying my direct orders and if you don't start following them; you'll not see this Ranger again! Queen Bansheera's return is all that must occupy our thoughts and hearts, son. Now, either get your PET Ranger into trouble somehow or come home! You need to train for your next mission for the Queen."
"Yes father." Ryan thought back quickly and obediently. "I'm supposed to meet him on the beach at sundown tonight. I'll do my best to find someway to get him into trouble then."
"Do so, Ryan." Diabolico voice softened from the angry shout of earlier; but his displeasure was still evident to Ryan. "If you cannot accomplish that small task; then you will have to be punished and another will be chosen to complete this very important task for the Queen. Succeed and power as you've never known before will be in your hands. The power to destroy Mariner Bay and the Power Rangers will be in our hands after this mission, son. Don't disappoint me, this time."
"I won't, father." Ryan said out loud and winced as his voice echoed around the room. "I will not disappoint you again." Climbing from the bed, Ryan's face twisted into a grimace of evil even as his heart clenched in pain at the thought of what his actions tonight were going to do to Chad; his Blue. Ryan spent the remaining hours at the apartment pacing while trying to figure out how to get Chad into trouble with his superiors. Hours later he was no closer to a solution as he tossed the small amount of clothing he had at Chad's place into a duffle bag and prepared to meet his lover on the beach.
Chad just barely made the meeting with his teammates. He'd parked his pickup in a restricted zone near the tunnel that the Rescue Rover used to access Mariner Bay and ran the three miles down that tunnel at his top speed. He reached the Rover's elevator access and then cussed like a sailor when he discovered that their vehicle was tucked securely into its slot overhead. He was still cussing as he started climbing the emergency ladder next to the elevator. He finally stopped cussing as Ms. Fairweather opened the hatch above him.
"Problems, Chad?" She asked with a slight smile on her face.
"Not really, Ms. Fairweather." Chad replied with an expression of desperation combined with anger on his handsome face. "Just missed my ride this morning cause I was diving in the bay and lost track of time. Now I'm running really, really late."
"I believe Dana told Carter that you were helping me set the outside sensors all afternoon, weren't you?" Ms. Fairweather asked with a knowing wink on her face. "I see that you've gotten your things from your vehicle and are ready to join us."
"All the outside sensors are in place, ma'am." Chad replied as he finished the climb knowing that he'd have to do just that during his daily morning dive. "And yes, I've gotten my things from my pickup and stowed my personal diving gear there too. I'd appreciate it if someone could move it from the restricted zone at the end of the tunnel and put it in its normal place."
"I'll have it seen to as we get to the conference room, Chad." Angela Fairweather said with a bright smile. She leaned closer and told him quietly. "Dana asked if I'd delay and give you an excuse for being late. Tomorrow, during your dive, would you check on the sensors near pod 5? They need realigning."
"Sure thing, Miss Fairweather." Chad said as he followed the civilian scientist that was responsible for all of Lightspeed Rescue's equipment to fight off the demons that were attacking. He was shocked when one of her civilian assistants grabbed his duffle bag and keys from his right hand.
"I'll see to getting the Blue Ranger's vehicle and gear to where it belongs, Angela." Dorothy said with a huge smile for both Ms. Fairweather and Chad. "Captain Mitchell is awaiting your arrival in the large conference room. And Chad, you might want to dunk your head before getting there; you were supposed to be diving. Oh, and the security equipment that monitors the tunnel's entrance had a glitch about five minutes ago; we've lost all the footage for the last fifteen to twenty minutes. Security is checking it out; but everyone thinks it was a small power surge."
"Thank you, all of you." Chad said with a sigh as he stopped by one of the many restrooms (heads) in the base and proceeded to soak his hair thoroughly.
"Just don't make a habit of it, Chad." Ms. Fairweather said with a wink as they entered the conference room.
After the meeting, Chad kept up the charade of having been diving all morning for their resident scientist. Late after dinner was served in the galley, Chad snuck from the room he shared with the green Ranger, Joel and started toward the tunnel access and the beach above. He met Carter and Dana at the hatch and the three walked up the long tunnel and exited out a small door onto the nearby beach.
Chad's eyes scanned the secluded cove and he sighed in disappointment when Ryan was nowhere to be seen. He walked dejectedly down the beach and instead of stopped halfway between the base entrance and the rocky escarpment that secluded this area from the larger area of the bay; he kept walking and climbed onto the rocks and sat just out of the reach of the encroaching tide. "Damn it all to hell, Ryan!" Chad's thoughts were chasing around like a mouse on a wheel. "I want you, need you, and yet something inside of me wants to wrap my hands around your throat and choke the life out of you. What the shit is going on, love? Every time we're together lately I'm fighting this murderous feeling and today was no different. Am I under some demonic spell or what?"
Chad was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Ryan's soft approach and when Ryan set his hand onto Chad's shoulder. The martial artist, diver, and Power Ranger exploded into action and before he could react or say a word, Ryan was on his back with Chad straddling his chest and preparing to drive his fist into Ryan's stunned face. "BLUE!" Ryan screamed as he frantically tried to push the smaller man off of him or stop the fist that threatened to bash his face into the rocks below his head. "What the FUCK has gotten into you?"
"YOU!" Chad screamed in confusion and pain, as he jumped up and turned his back to Ryan. "Every time I'm with you lately, Ry, something inside of me wants to choke the life out of you. I need you, I love you; but this whatever it is inside that wants to harm you is driving me mad, Ryan!"
"You almost did kill me just now, Blue." Ryan said with a dejected and hurt tone even as his eyes didn't reflect the tone of his voice. They were hard, hard as steel and glinting evilly. "So something inside of you wants to murder me? So do it, Chad! Kill me and get it done and over with! Just fucking kill me like you want to, you fucking asshole. I thought you were different, I was wrong. You're just like every other bastard with a dick! You wanted me until I'm inconvenient. Well screw you, Blue! I'm outta here!" By the time Ryan shoved Chad from behind and turned to leave he was screaming his words for everyone to hear.
"Ry!" Chad called as Ryan's anger gave him the strength to shove Chad almost ten feet from where they'd been on the beach and the next wave of the incoming tide soaked the Blue Lightspeed Rescue Ranger from his already wet tennis shoes to just below his pectoral muscles. "RY!" Chad screamed in despair as his lover kept walking away from him with a stiff back and a very quick stride. He struggled against the pull of the water and regained the rocky area of the beach; but Ryan was gone.
"Problems, Chad?" Carter asked with a frown of disgust and displeasure twisting his face.
"Just a small misunderstanding, Carter." Chad said with a bit of his anger at Ryan leaving in the face of Carter's angry face. "Sorry if I disturbed your and Dana's stroll along the beach."
"Looks more like a faggot's quarrel." Carter said with a sneer. "Maybe Captain Mitchell needs to know that our Blue Ranger needs to be confined to base for conduct unbecoming a Ranger."
"Screw you, Grayson!" Chad said angrily as he pushed past Carter's larger frame and started back toward the base. The Red Ranger's angry words about Chad's choice in lovers, the sunset, and everything but Ryan's words forgotten in his haste to get inside and reflect on what had just happened on the quay.
"Stop right there, LEE!" Carter screamed and then thought better of it as Dana hurried over to see what was going on between the two men.
"What's going on?" Dana asked as Chad had stopped at Carter's scream and turned to face his teammate and leader. "Is there a problem, Carter, Chad?"
"Nothing important, Dana." Carter tried to back pedal and keep Dana away from Chad.
"I had a fight with, Ry, Dana." Chad said dejectedly as he turned away from the hatred in Carter's eyes. "A very nasty and public fight that Carter overheard. I'll go, pack my stuff, and give my morpher to Captain Mitchell on my way out of the base. I won't work with a homophobe that has my life in his hands every day. I can't. I've got to find Ryan. I've got to… " Chad never finished his words as he slid to the beach face first and unconscious at Dana's feet with a large deep gash across his back that was bleeding fiercely. Dana and Carter looked up to see Vipra standing there with her blade dripping Chad's blood. Before the two could morph, she'd disappeared.
"Carter!" Dana snapped. "Give me your shirt. I've got to stop this bleeding."
Carter immediately ripped his shirt off and gave it to Dana. The paramedic used it to staunch most of the bleeding and the rest of the team, Joel and Kelsey, were on the beach with a stretcher. Joel and Carter lifted Chad's unconscious body from the sand and placed him gently face down on the stretcher. The team carried their teammate into the base with grim looks on their faces. The base doctor examined Chad and stitched the wound on his back closed. "He'll be fine in about three days." Captain Mitchell and the team were told as they waiting in the small medical bay for word on Chad's condition. "No diving and no strenuous exercising until the wound is healed. Other than that, he'll be just fine."
"He's a fag." Carter said angrily. "He should be off the team."
"He's our friend, Carter." Kelsey said with an angry tone at Carter's words. "He's a teammate too, a valuable one. His orientation makes no difference to the job he does."
"Kelsey is right, Carter." Captain Mitchell said with a sigh for Carter's homophobia. "I knew before I chose him that Chad preferred male partners; but he does his job to perfection. He's the perfect choice for the Blue Ranger's powers. I will not take his place on the team for his sexual orientation."
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A/N: Well that's the chapter. Drop me a review and let me know what your thoughts are about this one. Hope you liked this one folks. More to come soon as I can work it out in my head and hopefully another case of writer's block won't slam down on this one. Up next, Ryan's reactions to Vipra's attack on Chad as well as the aftermath of their fight. Stay tuned. Pern.