Hey, folks!

Sorry about the slightly belated update, university work has been a little manic these past couple of weeks. But I'm rewarding your patience with a HUGE dose of shameless fluff. Because I needed it. And so did Bridge. Diabetics beware, this stuff is sweeter than candy floss.

A massive thank you to all those who reviewed last time, I loved hearing from you all! :)

"I thought I told you to duck!"

Sky glowered, carefully probing his lower lip with the tip of his tongue and grimacing at the coppery taste it left in his mouth. "I did duck. That's why he kneed me in the face."

Jack eyed the split lip warily. "Kat's not gonna be happy about this."

"Ya think?" the blue ranger snapped, jamming his thumb into the floor number repeatedly in a futile attempt to make the elevator move faster. He saw Jack's wide-eyed expression and sighed, rubbing a hand across his eyes. "Sorry. I'm just..."

The shorter man nodded in the growing silence, heaving a sigh of his own. " Yeah. Me too."

Sky's morpher chirped shrilly, interrupting the awkward moment. His hand shot to his uniform belt with practised ease, sliding the device out of its clasp and flipping it open. "Tate here."

"I've managed to trace Bridge's residual ranger energy to level six," Kat informed them, her tone clipped and professional. "He's in the squad lounge. And he's not alone; I'm detecting a secondary heat signature. Proceed with caution, gentlemen. Let's keep casualties to a minimum."

"Copy that," Jack replied, leaning into Sky's personal space as the blue ranger leant over to press another floor button. "What's the security status?"

"Captain Simmons is holding position at the head of corridor B12, and there's a squad on the way to block off the east exit. The only other way out is down the elevator shaft."

The red ranger nodded once, sharply. "We've got that route covered. Tell Simmons to set blasters to stun, we might need more than brute force if things get outta hand."

"Understood. Good luck, rangers."

Sky glared at him as his snapped the morpher shut. "Since when was opening fire on fellow squad members considered standard procedure?"

"Since he knocked out a security guard. With a fire extinguisher, I might add."

"He was confused!"

"Exactly." Jack's voice was firm and unrelenting, but the grip on Sky's shoulder was gentle. "Confused means dangerous, Sky. We can't risk him getting out and hurting anyone else."

The older cadet frowned, shrugging off his teammate's comforting hand. "Still doesn't mean we have to shoot him."

"Only as a last resort, man. Simmons won't give the order unless things look grim."

Sky nodded grudgingly, his posture tensing as the elevator slowed to a halt and the doors slid open with a cheerful 'ding' that seemed to serve no other purpose than to grate on his nerves. Together, they took off down the corridor, casting grey shadows against the walls in the dull lighting. Anthony Simmons and his security team were there to meet them as they rounded the corner; standing in formation just beyond the closed rec. room door, two men positioned on both sides of the corridor with their backs pressed against the walls and the captain himself in the centre, filling the passage with his muscular form. The B-Squad rangers acknowledged him with curt nods, moving to stand either side of the door.

"Whoever else is in there with him could be hurt," Jack whispered. "If needs be, I can keep Bridge distracted while you get them out. But let's try not to escalate the situation. Keep it cool. Only ranger up if he becomes a real threat."

"Got it." Sky took a deep, steadying breath and glanced towards his teammate. The corner of his mouth twitched. "Nice PJ's, by the way."

"Shut up. Are you ready or not?"

Sky nodded. "Let's do this."

They entered the recreation lounge. And froze.

Bridge was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, a plate of toast balanced on his knee as he gulped milk from a tall glass. He was still dressed in the green S.P.D t-shirt and dark sweatpants that they had managed to wrestle him into a few hours earlier, hair sticking up at odd angles from his brief tussle with Sky in the infirmary. He looked pale in the semi-gloom of the partially lit lounge, the dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes belying his apparent energy and enthusiasm as he gestured emphatically towards his companion. Jake Simmons, who seemed completely unfazed by the green ranger's unusual attire, sat perched on the edge of the small, rectangular coffee table in front of the couch, his knees almost touching Bridge's, eyes wide and eager as he listened to the near-unintelligible ramblings.

"But what happens when a zord gets hit? Don't you guys feel it?"

Bridge grinned and shook his head, reaching for another slice of toast. "It relies on our ranger energy, but we're not connected to it in that sense. I mean, we do get bashed around a fair bit, but that's kinda an occupational hazard, you know?"

The sandy-haired teenager nodded enthusiastically. Movement from the doorway caught his attention and he smiled, turning to face the two newcomers. "Oh. Hey."

Jack stepped forward and slowly, cautiously, held out a hand. "Jake, come towards me."

As though a switch had been flicked, the atmosphere of the room changed and the boy's smile faltered. He glanced back and forth between Bridge and the two senior cadets, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. "Sir? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, bud," Jack said reassuringly, pulse quickening as he saw Bridge tense up on the couch. "But I need you to come over here for sec."

Jake glanced at Bridge, looking unsure. "I...I was just talking to-"

"Simmons," Sky growled, in a tone he usually reserved for the criminals they apprehended. "Here. Now."

The boy was on his feet in half a second. Nervously making his way across the room, he came to stand in front of the gruff blue ranger. Jack caught hold of him as soon as he neared them, wrapping an arm about his shoulders and drawing him in closer.

"You okay, kid?"

"Yeah, 'course." Jake was eyeing him warily, shoulders tense in Jack's hold. "Um, sir...what's going on?"

"We'll explain later," Sky replied, reaching over to squeeze a bony shoulder. His expression had softened significantly. "Your dad's waiting at the end of the corridor. Go find him."

Jake still looked unsure, but obeyed without complaint, shooting one last glance at Bridge as he stepped out of the lounge. The remaining occupants could hear the security captain's sharp intake of breath and soft, startled "Jake?" before the door slid closed behind him. Silence reigned for several minutes as Bridge continued to stare blankly at the opposite wall, his face lax and pale as the worried teammates exchanged significant glances.

Sky moved forward so that he was standing on the opposite side of the coffee table, regarding his roommate warily. The younger ranger's eyes were half-lidded and distant, lacking their usual youthful spark. He looked drained; empty. It was a worrying sight.

Sky inched a little closer. "Bridge?"

The slighter man jumped, startled. He glanced up at Sky and smiled, as though seeing him for the first time. "Hey. Having trouble sleeping? Me too. Thought I'd sit in here for a bit. Wanna slice of toast? It's buttery. " He held up the laden plate and wiggled the gloved fingers of his other hand. Then his eyes narrowed and the smile faded. "What happened to your face?"

Sky winced as he carefully wiped away the fresh blood. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Bridge?" Jack edged around the side of the couch, every move measured and non-threatening, and gently pulled the plate of toast out of the younger man's grasp, setting it down quietly on the coffee table. "How do you feel?"

"Huh?" The empath blinked, surprised. "Oh. I'm...I feel..." He trailed off, what little colour he had retained slowly draining from his face as he curled a hand tightly around the cushion in his lap. He shuddered, hugging it to his chest as he swallowed reflexively. "Actually, I don't feel so great."

A trashcan was suddenly thrust in front of the green ranger, narrowly avoiding a collision with Jack's head. But the intrusion was easily forgiven when, mere seconds later, Bridge lost the contents of his stomach. Jack shot a grateful look towards his teammate, but Sky was too focused on Bridge to notice. He sat squished between Bridge and the armrest, one hand gripping the trashcan while the other rubbed the younger man's back in slow, firm circles. Jack stared open-mouthed, unable to help himself. This was a side to Sky Tate that he rarely saw; hidden too often beneath layers of pride and self-assurance.

"Pass me a couple of napkins, would you?"

Jack stared at him blankly. "Huh?"

"Napkins," Sky repeated, his gaze never leaving Bridge's shivering form, his hand still trailing a soothing pattern over the heaving back. "They're over by the coffee machine."

Jack retrieved them wordlessly and tried not to make a face as the smell of bile hit him. Handing them over, he gingerly took the proffered trashcan and deposited it on the other side of the room. Out of sight, out of mind. Pity the same doesn't apply for the smell. But it was the best they could do for now. He would call for a domestibot once Bridge was safely tucked up in the infirmary.

He returned to his teammates and dropped into a crouch, reaching out to place a warm hand on Bridge's knee. "Feel any better?"

The teenager nodded, tossing the scrunched-up napkins onto the plate of toast. He glanced towards Sky and sucked in a sharp breath, raising a shaking hand to touch the side of the older man's face. Sky held perfectly still, his expression neutral as Bridge traced the darkening bruise and split lip with gloved fingers. His eyes were wide, fearful, making him look all of six years old. His Adam's apple bobbed visibly as he swallowed.

"Was...was that me?"

Sky caught his hand and slowly, gently, lowered it back to the cushion in his lap. "It was my fault. I moved too fast, it startled you."

Bridge shook his head, eyes brimming. "God, I am so sorry."

"Hey." Sky looped an arm across the quivering shoulders and pulled him into an easy half-hug. "You've got nothing to be sorry about. You couldn't help it."

"I was dreaming," the green ranger murmured, exhaustion and grief thickening the words. "I was in this prison – well, Brox was, but it felt like me. All the guards were Vissonian, so I must've been back on my – his – home planet. They were gonna lock me away for life and I...I got angry. Furious, even. I wanted to hurt them all. So I did." His voice dropped to a whisper. "All of them."

Sky shook his head, squeezing the shoulders a little more firmly. "It wasn't you, Bridge. It was a bad dream, that's all."

Bridge bit his lip, eyes welling up again. "But I hit you."

"Hey, we've already discussed that," Sky argued, gently but firmly. "Don't go beating yourself up about it. Nobody's blaming you."

The teenager didn't reply, but pressed further against Sky's side, seeking contact. Sky could feel the tremors running through the slight frame and he frowned, pressing the back of his hand against Bridge's forehead. The younger man winced at the skin-on-skin contact but didn't move away.

"You feel clammy."

"S'cold down here," Bridge mumbled, hugging the cushioned tightly and renewing his attempt to steal Sky's body heat.

"We need to get you back into bed, kid," came Jack's deeper voice from somewhere to the right; somewhere Sky couldn't quite see over Bridge's head. "Think you can make it as far as the infirmary on your own steam?"

Bridge shook his head miserably.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the red ranger soothed. "I'll get the backup security squad to bring us a stretcher. You take it easy for a few minutes."

As Jack stepped out into the corridor to make the call – and to tell Simmons that the situation was in hand – Sky shifted his position so that Bridge's head could rest against his shoulder. He frowned worriedly at the fresh tear tracks on the younger man's face.

"Hey, what is it?"

Bridge took a shuddering breath, squeezing his eyes shut as he buried his face in Sky's uniform. "Nothin'. S'just...I hate this."

Sky swallowed to ease the lump in his throat as he rested a cheek against the unkempt brown hair. "So do we, bud," he sighed. "So do we."

o~O~o

He awoke to screaming.

His body moving of its own accord, he threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His foot connected with something solid and he grunted in pain and surprise, simultaneously registering his surroundings. Infirmary. Right. His brain caught up and his gaze shifted towards the bed nearest his own. Bridge was sitting bolt-upright, eyes wide and panic-filled, chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. Sky was out of bed and at his roommate's side in an instant, hands held in a semi-defensive position as he looked for any signs of recognition in the younger man's face.

"Bridge?"

Softly, tremblingly, "Sky?"

Releasing the breath he had been holding, Sky lowered his arms and sat down on the edge of the mattress. Slowly, carefully, watching all the while for that glint of uncharacteristic fury he had seen in the teenager's eyes earlier that morning, he placed a hand on Bridge's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you alright?"

The green ranger shook his head, lower lip trembling. "He...he killed them, Sky. They were so little. They were scared and hurt and crying and he didn't even care. H-he..." the teenager's voice broke as a tear left a shiny streak down his face, "he enjoyed it."

Sky's face was pained. He moved further up the mattress and pulled the younger man against him in a firm embrace. "We got him, Bridge. He can't hurt anyone else."

"They begged me to stop," Bridge continued as though he hadn't heard him, his voice thick with tears and muffled in Sky's chest. "Why didn't I stop?"

"It wasn't you, Bridge," the older man said firmly, resting his chin against the teenager's head. "None of it was you."

"Well it felt like me. It still feels like me."

Sky shot Jack a dark look over the top of the kid's head. The red ranger was hovering at the foot his own infirmary bed, face drawn and fatigued but brown eyes alert and full of concern as he met Sky's gaze. They were both aware of Brox's lengthy criminal record – the detainment facility on Vissonia Prime had sent a copy of his file to S.P.D soon after the incident. Even the scarce details that Cruger had revealed to them in their sombre debriefing had given them a clear enough picture to establish the kind of monster they had been fighting. Sometimes detainment seemed too lenient a punishment for scum like Brox.

And now that bastard's most vivid memories had been thrust upon Bridge. The thought made Sky's blood run cold. His roommate was so young, so naive. It just wasn't fair.

The memories would fade. They always did. But in the days it took for the images to pass, Bridge wouldn't be Bridge anymore. Plagued by nightmares and haunted by images of a life he had never lived, of crimes he had never committed, he would exist as a shadow of his old self, frightened and fragile; broken, even. Sky could do nothing to prevent it. And it killed him inside.

"I think he's asleep."

Sky started a little, opening his eyes and glancing down at the warm weight that had settled against his side. He wondered how long he'd been sitting there, lost in his own thoughts. It appeared he had moved position at some point, because now he sat slouched against the headboard in a semi-reclining position with his legs up on the mattress. Bridge had indeed fallen back asleep, but curled up against Sky's side with his head pillowed on the older ranger's chest and his hands fisted in the blue S.P.D t-shirt that Jack had forced him into after Kat had finished patching up his split lip.

His mouth curled up in a half-amused smile at the sight. The kid was adorable, no doubts there. But his clingy nature did have one significant drawback. Sky was, quite irrefutably, stuck.

He sighed, glancing up at his teammate. "Looks like I'd best get comfortable."

Jack grinned, eyeing their snoozing squad member with a fond expression. "What I'd give for a camera right now."

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Mm, I'll think about it."

"Jack..."

The red ranger winked, throwing himself onto the nearest bed and tugging the blanket up around his shoulders. "I'll see how I feel in the morning."

"It's zero-four-thirty, Jack. It is the morning."

"Smartass. Go to sleep."

And few minutes later, that was precisely what he did, the shadow of a triumphant smile still lingering about his lips.

*blushes*

Yes, shameless fluff. I did warn you. I apologise if I'm responsible for giving you a cavity or two. But I was craving some Sky/Bridge fluff, and this is what the plot bunnies demanded. Let me know what you thought!

Next chapter should be out in just over a week.

xxx