A/N: All apologies for the long update time. Anyway, I have some kinda awesome news: Matt Austin actually tweeted me! I literally died when I got the email. He was basically asking his followers random questions and here's the actual conversation:
"Thanks for the feedback every1. And now, what sort of secret could a new gf/bf tell you that would change how you think of them?"
To which I replied, "That they listen to Nickelbaclk... And enjoy it."
I wasn't really expecting him to read, let alone find it amusing. I seriously did a little happy dance in my room when I found his reply of, "Oh my lord."
So sorry for the long spew of happiness, just thought I'd share one of my greatest moments on the twitter. On with the story. Oh, and for those of you who forgot what the stone was, chapter one should refresh your memory c:
Sky had hoped that the "disturbance" Cruger called him on was going to be something important, but much to his dismay it was far from that. A few alien thugs had gotten into a relatively physical disagreement and were being charged with disruption of peace. He had them both unarmed and detained within minutes. "But we weren't doing anything wrong!" one of the criminals shouted from his containment card.
Rolling his eyes, Sky decided to ignore him. That's what they all said.
He stored the cards in his pocket file and added their records into his data pad. Part of him almost wished they hadn't defeated Grumm yet. The guy was frustrating sometimes and not to mention, just downright annoying, but without his evil followers constantly descending on Earth, there just wasn't that much action for SPD anymore. Things now were almost boring.
After finishing the criminal's records, Sky hopped onto his motorcycle, fastened his helmet, and headed back to base.
"Oh please Sky," said Syd, "Quit complaining! The most action I got today was going around and collecting people we had warrants on. And do you know how awful that is? One of them even started hitting on me…"
"Was he cute?" asked Bridge
"Are you kidding me?" Syd shrieked, "He was at least fifty! And he was blue! Not my type at all!"
The rangers all laughed.
"So Bridge," asked Z, "any interesting calls today?"
"Oh yes," he replied, "And I think mine tops all of yours. It turns out that the 'disturbance' Cruger had me go investigate was a group of Fernovian streakers."
"Oh dear god," Z replied, letting out a small gag, "Guys or girls?"
"A combination. And it was terrible. I didn't want them in the containment cards naked, so I had to cuff them all and dress them myself."
"Well I hope none of those women laid any hands on you. After all, you are mine."
She curled up to him and placed a kiss on his cheek.
Sky felt the jealousy begin to boil in his stomach. Clenching his fists, he gritted his teeth in an attempt to suppress it. "I'm sorry, but I just realized I need to go find something," he said.
"Okay, I'll go with you," said Jack, "What is it?"
"Nothing you can help me with," Sky mumbled as he walked out of the common room.
It wasn't a total lie. He was dying for some alone time so he could find the stone and get out of this strange universe as soon as possible. The problem was, he had no idea where to start. "I guess I'll just start at the entrance and work my way around," he said to himself.
xxx
Outside of the base, there seemed to be no place where a small stone would be hidden, except for in the landscaping. Searching through dirt and trees for something that was most likely not there was something Sky really didn't want to do, but he knew that if he acted too lazy, it would never be found. Letting out a breath of annoyance, he journeyed to the first patch of foliage. He looked around the trees, under rocks, and in bushes. He even began to kick up the dirt to see if it was possibly buried somewhere. No success.
Frustrated, Sky moved to the next patch. Still no luck. "God damn it! It's never going to be found!" he shouted.
"What can't be found?" someone asked him.
"Something!" Sky shouted back as he bent down and looked under a rock, "Now just leave me alone!"
"That's not the way to talk to someone who has something that you will be looking for in the next, I'd say thirty minutes."
He looked up from his work to see Bridge standing over him, smiling.
"And what would that be?" he snapped.
"I don't know, maybe these," Bridge spun a small ring of silver keys around his finger, "I would imagine it would be very difficult to go out on duty when you don't have anything to start your motorcycle with."
Sky got up from his place on the ground. "Give them here," he demanded, outstretching his hand.
"What's the magic word?" Bridge sang out in a childish voice.
"It's not funny! Okay, fine. Will you please give me the keys to my motorcycle?"
Bridge smiled and tossed him the keys. "So what's been bothering you?" he asked.
"I can't tell you," Sky replied, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"You can't or won't?"
"A combination of both."
"Want to go somewhere?" Bridge suddenly asked.
"Where?"
"I don't know; just somewhere."
Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Sky's arm and pulled him away.
xxx
The whole thing was just like a fantasy, really. With the way Bridge just whisked him away, it was almost like a something you read in a romance novel. However, instead of being accompanied by a gorgeous girl that he had met at some sleazy nightclub bar, he was with another man who at the moment saw him as nothing more than friends. "Beautiful isn't it?" Bridge asked as they sat barefoot in the sand, looking out on the horizon.
"Why doesn't anyone come here?" Sky asked, "This place is completely deserted."
"Some people don't like to travel a long way just to get somewhere special," Bridge replied with a smile, "They fail to learn that it isn't just about the destination, but the journey as well."
What Bridge had said was true. Sky couldn't think of many people he knew that would be willing to travel like they had to visit the gorgeous beach he had brought him to. It started with a three-hour drive further north of the more populated cities. Here, there was rarely a honk of a horn, any chatter amongst people, or the siren of a squad car. The last town they passed was about forty miles away. After parking in a small patch of dirt on the side of the road, it was another hour of hiking through the dense forest.
The sights were breathtaking and sharing it with Bridge was even better. He now regretted his complaining on what seemed like an endless journey at the time.
That journey was worth it, because he would love to just forget everything and stay where he was forever. Pale white sand that was almost silk to the touch stretched about a quarter mile to his left. To his right, rocks jutted out into the water, forming tide pools in their crevasses. A cave was also formed in them. The turquoise water was as calm as ever, for a reef broke much of the rough surf. He longed to swim out there and see the hundreds of colorful fish that inhabited it. Tiny, gentle waves slowly rolled in and licked at his toes as he and Bridge watched the sunset.
"How did you manage to find this place?" Sky asked, "It's out in the middle of nowhere. I'm sure thousands of people pass by every day and don't even know what they're missing."
"It's actually a pretty funny story," Bridge replied, "My family was driving home from a road trip one day, when our car broke down. My dad offered to walk to the nearest town to get a tow truck and left my mom and I here. A couple of hours later, we were obviously bored so we decided to just venture down the trail. It's funny how fate works sometimes, isn't it?"
Sky nodded.
"I like it better this way," Bridge continued, "If people started to discover this place, pretty soon it would be overrun by tourists. The rich would be building houses down here and this beach would be their property. And to think of what would happen to everything. I'm pretty sure the reef would soon be gone and the water would lose that color. Worst of all, we couldn't come here without anyone to get away."
An awkward silence ensued.
"So I see that things with Z are back to normal then?" Sky said, desperate for conversation.
"Yeah," Bridge replied, "We discussed it some and she just said it was because of stress from work. Nothing else."
"Well that's good," he replied, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"What's wrong," asked Bridge, "I can still feel that something's bugging you."
Sky chewed on his lip. Sometimes Bridge's powers worked too well. He still didn't want to risk things. What if he didn't feel the same way?
"You can tell me anything Sky," Bridge assured him, "I promise."
Drawing in a shaky breath, Sky decided that it was time. "Bridge," he said, "I'm…"
"You're what?" Bridge looked into his eyes and Sky saw nothing but genuine happiness. Maybe him being with Z wasn't so bad after all.
"I'm… so happy that we're finally friends," was what he settled with.
"Me too," said Bridge, "You know, I've always considered taking Z here on a date, but I think it's best if this remains just between you and me. It can be our special spot."
With that, Sky was done holding back. Who knew, maybe Bridge would be happier with him. After waiting so long, he turned to his new friend and looked him in the eyes. Then without thinking he leaned forward into a passionate kiss. He finally let himself go.
Bridge didn't seem to protest. In fact, he seemed to do the exact opposite. Following his partner's movements, he rolled Sky on top of him. A wave suddenly came in, soaking both of them and their clothes, but they didn't care. In the heat of the moment, Sky reached for the zipper on Bridge's uniform jacket in an attempt to remove the clothing.
Bridge broke away.
"I'm sorry," he said, "But I just can't do this."
A/N: O_o Ohhh! A cliffhanger! Hahaha. So the story is almost done being written, then after that it'll be relatively fast updates I hope. c: And just so you know, from this chapter there will only be about four to five more until the end.
