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One universe has us right, of all the millions stacked on millions.
(It’s not this one.)
-Elizabeth Hewer
1. Blue
Friendship plants itself as a small unobtrusive seed; over time, it grows thick roots that wrap around your heart.
When a love affair ends, the tree is torn out quickly, the operation painful but clean.
Friendship withers quietly, there is always hope of revival.
Only after time has passed do you recognise that it is dead, and you are left, for years afterwards, pulling dry brown fibres from your chest.
― Anna Lyndsey
The blast from the Yovatian hits just a little to the left, knocking out an engine but not Sky. There is no trip to the infirmary, no reveal of the colors on Sky's arm, just another round of paperwork and a joke about bad aim.B-Squad never find out they're Soulmates, and instead of feelings blooming they just begin to wither away beneath the surface.Sky moves on. He’ll always be a bit too in love with his Soulmates but in a world where he doesn’t know about who they are to him, he eventually stops wallowing in his misery and instead turns his love to other things. He learns to be just friends with the people he loves, how to love without being in love, how to stop obsessing over what he can never have.It’s a cycle with only a few missing details. They take down Gruumm, Broodwing, and A-Squad. Z gets pregnant and Jack leaves S.P.D. to take care of the baby and to work with a local charity. They all get promoted after he leaves. Then Sky gets promoted again and Bridge becomes Red and-They drift apart. There is nothing holding them together. They’ll still occasionally have a conversation over the lunch table, reminisce about old times, but at the end of the day, they’re just old teammates who have moved on with their lives.At the end of the day, they aren't in love. They never become more than friends, than teammates.-It's been two years since Jack last saw Sky when he comes into S.P.D. one day to deliver a file that Bridge forgot at home and bumps into the new Commander of the Earth base. Sky's older than he remembers. There's a scar running down the side of his face and he's wearing the long overcoat-uniform that Jack can remember Commander Cruger wearing so vividly. It's almost abrupt, just how changed he seems."Good afternoon, Jack," Sky says, holding out a hand to Jack, and Jack shakes it with a smile."Nice to see you, man," Jack says, "Congratulations on your promotion. It's well-deserved.""And congratulations on your Soulmates' promotions," Sky says. "Bridge as Red is well-deserved."Jack can definitely agree. Bridge as Red was never something he thought of back when he was in B-Squad, but now that he's seen it he thinks that Bridge makes a pretty fantastic leader. He's got a mind for figuring out people's weaknesses and strengths, a logic for determining the best ways to make people work. "Yeah, it definitely was," Jack says.For a moment, the silence sits awkward between them. Jack guesses that that's what happens when you haven't spoken to someone in ages, when you haven't shared a team and lunch quarters and life has just kind of moved you apart.Then Sky asks: "So, how's Eve doing?" Sky asks.Jack smiles. "She's doing great," he says, "Already duplicating herself- gives us a headache."Sky chuckles. "I can guess.""You have anyone?" Jack asks, and Sky shakes his head."Not yet," he says, and Jack raises an eyebrow."You UnBonded?" he asks, voicing the question that none of the team ever had the courage to ask during their B-Squad days.Sky shrugs, another motion unfamiliar. "Looks like it.""You been getting yourself out on the dating scene?" It's a scene that Jack has never had to adventure into, due to his Soulmates, but it's one that he's had some UnBonded friends head into."Not much time for that with this job," Sky admits, "But maybe sometime soon." Then Sky's comm goes off. "Sorry, Jack- I've got some business to take care of."Jack nods. "I remember those days." He holds up the file in his hand. "I've gotta get this to Bridge anyway.""Have a good day," Sky says, a small smile curving his lips."You too, man," Jack says, and they split off into their respective directions without a glance back.- Sometimes teams just drift apart. Sometimes the mission was the only thing keeping you together, and sometimes opportunities just pass you by. Sometimes trust issues dig too deep to be overcome by anything less than a large push. Without that push, some relationships would never get together. (Sometimes a Soulbond breaks apart without anyone noticing, the bond retreating too far beneath the skin to ever be activated. And no one ever notices, because no one ever thought to look in the first place.)
2. Yellow
The Devil is real, and he's not a little red man with horns and a tail.
He can be beautiful.
Because he's a fallen angel, and he used to be God's favorite.
-American Horror Story
The first time Z Delgado meets Schuyler Tate is in the bowels of prison. Sky’s got power-dampening chains wrapped around his forearms, a chunk missing from his right earlobe, and a flat look in his eyes.“So you’re the man who betrayed S.P.D. and destroyed the Flavorian System along with Dru Harrington?” Z asks, sitting down at the interrogation table. This is one of her least favorite parts of the job, and she's rarely the one doing it- Syd's a lot better at this- but Commander Cruger noted this down as a conflict of interest for Syd and Bridge so Z's been put on the case.Sky sighs, rolling his eyes, and Z kind of wants to smack that look off of his face. Turning on his partner does nothing to make up for all the damage he's caused, the hundreds of thousands of lives damaged or ended. “What’s it matter to you?”Z doesn't really have the patience for this. “I’m the B-Squad Yellow Ranger, and I was assigned to interrogate you for our ongoing case."Sky’s eyes narrow. “You’re on B-Squad?”“The team you left behind?” Z scoffs. “Yeah, I am.”Sky actually blinks, and for a moment- just short enough that Z can’t be sure if he imagined it or not- his face seems to soften. “Are Bridge and Syd still there?”Anger rises in her chest. What kind of claim can the man who betrayed Z’s Soulmates possibly believe that he has on them? This dick betrayed his S.P.D. oath and his team- how can he be trying to pretend like he still cares? But then Sky's face shutters close. "Nevermind- it doesn't matter."Z can't deny that she feels a bit of whiplash, but she tries to ignore the feeling by turning to her duty. "Why did you turn in Dru Harrington to S.P.D.?" Z asks, starting off with the first of her prepared questions, probably the one that she is honestly most curious about. After all, Sky broke Bridge and Syd's hearts when he betrayed them. They had trusted him as their friend, and he had abandoned their team. Z can't possibly imagine what could possibly cause Sky to betray his friends, to go off and commit intergalactic crime with Dru Harrington."I thought he was my Soulmate," Sky says, and there is something almost human in his eyes. For a moment, Z is startled. She wonders what Sky means when he says "thought he was my Soulmate"- there's very little way to continuously fake Soulmarks. "I was wrong. That's it." Then his expression snaps back to its usual cold state. "Not that you'd care. I heard you were just a criminal before Cruger recruited you."Any ounce of sympathy Z may have had disappears in an instant. "My background's not relevant," he says. "What is relevant is why you felt it necessary to turn your back on your sworn oath to S.P.D. in order to commit mass war crimes against other planets."Sky gives her a stony look. "Why would I tell you?""Leniency," she answers. "You can earn a kinder deal if you give us information about Dru Harrington and how he operated."Sky's gaze is flat, but she knows that he understands the process and the reasons why it would go so much better for him if he just answers her questions. He did work for S.P.D. after all- he knows the advantages and disadvantages to answering questions once you've been arrested.So the majority of the interview proceeds in a mostly linear fashion, with Sky providing impersonal information about Dru and their methods. Sky talks about how he mostly operated in a physical capacity, with Dru utilizing his powers and memorized knowledge of the galaxies to take advantage of planetary weaknesses.By the end of two hours, Z has all the information she's pretty sure she's going to get. So she gets up from the interrogation table. "You'll hear from S.P.D. Headquarters within a few days with an offer for a plea deal." She then heads to the exit to the cell and nearly makes it to the door before Sky speaks."If I may ask," Sky says as she has her hand on the door to exit, "What colors did Syd and Bridge end up with?"Z has no reason to answer his questions, but something has her pausing at the doorway. Maybe it's the fragile tone of his voice, maybe it's his polite words- she's not sure why she's giving this criminal any time.But nonetheless, the words leave her mouth: "Syd's the Blue Ranger," she says, "And Bridge is Green.""Neither one is Red?" Sky asks, and she turns around a little to look at his face. There is something akin to regret in his expression, something she sometimes sees on more human faces like Syd's."Jack Landors is Red Ranger," she says, voice even, but Sky's eyes go wide anyway."Their Soulmate Jack?" he asks, voice shocked.Z wonders how he got to know Bridge and Syd so close that he remembers their Soulmate's name all these years later, and yet he still was the bastard who betrayed them. His answers, for the most part, have all been rather impersonal. She's learned a lot about how he and Dru operated, but very little about his background or motivations other than that one comment about Soulmates.Should she give him this information? Does he have any right to this?Z has the option to be kind or cruel to this criminal who did far worse than she and Jack ever did, to let him know information he gave up the right to when he left the team. She has the option to let him know what happened, to give him information he doesn't deserve.She lets out a small sigh. She's not Syd, able to just decide to hold a grudge and keep it, or Jack, with his trust issues. She's too nice for her own good.Z got into S.P.D. to get to know her Soulmates better and to make the world a better place, not to hunt down criminals. "Yeah, he's their Soulmate," she answers.Then, voice low, Sky asks: "Are they- are they happy?"Z looks at Sky Tate, at the chunk missing from his ear, at the chains restraining his arms, at way his gaze has finally fallen from her face and to the top of the table.Then she nods, says, "Yes, they are," and leaves the cell. Z never sees Sky Tate again.
3. Pink
I'd like to be settled into somewhat of a normal life.
Somewhat. I know it's never going to be completely normal.
-Michael Jordan
Maddie Carson and Nathan Tate die defending their home cities from the Venjix invasion. They have barely had a chance to figure out how to use their powers, but they do try. Maddie goes down trying to help her sister Fran's team protect the citizens of Ocean Bluff, while Nathan lasts a few months longer but whose shield eventually fails him against the onslaught of Grinders.Lionel and Jake Drew make it to Corinth by bribing people along the way. They carry their son to Corinth, where they become a family like the Landsdowns, former rich who have to find jobs in the city. Lionel joins the science division of the army, and Jake takes up work as a lawyer for one of the cartels. They end up adopting a little baby girl they name Syd, a small child with blond hair and blue eyes whose parents died in the invasion, and they raise their two children to the best of their ability.Michaela Delgado is heavily pregnant when she is the last person picked up by a Scottish-accented bus driver. She makes it to Corinth City, where she gives birth to a perfectly ordinary daughter who can't phase through walls or duplicate herself or read auras. No, Z Delgado is nothing but an exceptionally kind child who cares too much about others and who has a smile that can light up a room.Scott Truman and Lia Jackson have different Soulmates, this time around.Scott becomes the Red R.P.M. Series Operator and protects the last city on earth. He and his team defeat Venjix, and eventually he and his four Soulmates have two children- a baby girl named Kate (who's pretty obviously Scott's biologically due to her brown skin and dark head of curls), and a baby boy four years later (who could be any of any of their other Soulmates', with his blue eyes and brown hair and pale skin) named Mason.Lia is made into a hybrid by Venjix and ends the war with her eyesight back but a wealth of psychological triggers and haunted dreams. Eventually she and Gem end up together, two years after the war ends. They end up adopting a ten-year-old orphan named Roger Akita four years later.There is no son named Jack, no son named Bridge, no son named Sky. There is no S.P.D., no enhanced abilities, just a single domed city that survives the apocalypse intact and billions of dead souls around the world.-Syd Drew and Z Delgado meet in elementary school in the last city on earth, pink and purple the only colors on their arms. They have no powers between them, no duplicates or element-changing fists. They are just too little girls who were born this side of the apocalypse, who grow up in a completely different world than their parents. The war with Venjix is over by the time they are able to develop long-term memories.Ex-Ranger Summer Landsdown is their econ, history, and politics teacher, while one of her Soulmates, another ex-Ranger named Ziggy Grover, is the school's cooking teacher in the afternoons, when he's not busy at Jungle Karma Pizza down the road.One time, Syd gets to meet all of Ms. Landsdown's Soulmates at once for a sixth grade history class where they all come in to talk about the history of Corinth and the Power Rangers.In any universe, Syd notices things. She catalogues and details and measures. Here, in her middle school, she notices the way the five Rangers all work and act around each other, the way Ms. Landsdown's smile never falters and Mr. Ziggy is constantly casually touching his Soulmates, fidgeting as he usually does but somehow always maintaining contact with someone's arm or back or shoulder.Syd wonders if that's something that happened entirely on its own or whether that's something the Power did, whether the famously Soulbound Series Operators were always as close as they are now. Syd knows that her parents' Soulbond didn't guarantee as affectionate of a relationship as the ones that the Power Rangers have, after all.Syd looks back at Z and thanks the Power that she has someone that fits with her so well. She's so happy that she found her Soulmate after the apocalypse happened, that she didn't have a blank arm like so many kids in their class. She's glad that she and Z care about each other like Syd's parents don't, that their Soulmate relationship seems destined for happiness.Z raises her hand. "Ms. Landsdown?"Ms. Landsdown nods. "Yes, Z?""I wanted to know how you all became Rangers."Mr. Ziggy's face splits into a grin and nudges Dillon Grover (Mr. Ziggy has explained why his Soulmate had the same last name as him plenty of times over years that Syd's been going to school here- something to do with Dillon not having a last name due to the apocalypse and adopting his after their Bonding ceremony a decade ago) in the side. Mr. Grover rolls his eyes at Mr. Ziggy."Well, lil' lass," Flynn McAllistair, the head of McAllistair & Son Tech says, a confident grin on his lips, "Scott, Ms. Landsdown," he shoots Ms. Landsdown a small side-smile, "and I became Rangers first, right after the Apocalypse. We were Rangers for about a year, just the three of us, and we did pretty well for ourselves."Syd thinks about the Ranger teams that have come since the Series Operators- the Dino Charge team from when she was in elementary school, the rumors about Samurai Rangers from when she was even younger, the Project Lightning from just last year. She wonders what it would be like to be a Ranger, to save the world."Then came Dillon," Captain Scott Truman says, "Dragging Ziggy along right behind him."Mr. Ziggy rolls his eyes. "I pulled him along with me, if you'd remember correctly."Ms. Landsdown, eternally presentable, snorts. "You literally denied that he was your friend the first time we met you guys.""And yet I'm the one who brought this team together," Mr. Ziggy says with a smirk."That'd be Dr. K, but you can keep believing that," Mr. Grover says, and Captain Truman snorts."No, that'd definitely be Ziggy," Captain Truman says, "We wouldn't have gotten together if it hadn't been for him.""You're one to talk, Scott," Mr. McAllistair says with a raised eyebrow. "Or do you remember who kissed first-"Ms. Landsdown clears her throat and nods her head toward the class. "You were answering a question for the kids?" she points out, and a few of her Soulmates look a bit chastised. "About the team, not our personal lives?"There's a story they're not telling, Syd can tell. It's like the times that she asks her dads what happened before the Apocalypse, the way her Dad sometimes looks at her father like there's something he can't speak to Syd about.So Syd raises her arm. "Mr. Ziggy and Ms. Landsdown," Syd asks, "I'm actually curious. Can you tell me about how you guys all first met your Soulmates?""These idiots?" Mr. Ziggy jokes, which earns him an elbow nudge from Ms. Landsdown. "Sure, I can tell you plenty, Syd. I met Dillon out in the Wastelands-" which gets a veritable 'ooh' from the class, who has heard legends about the Wastelands back before Venjix was destroyed. "And the other three in prison."Prison? Syd raises an eyebrow. Ms. Landsdown and Captain Truman were in prison?"He's stretching the truth," Captain Truman says, gesturing placatingly. "We met Ziggy when we went to get him and Dillon out of prison. We weren't ever in prison.""Moral of the story, kids," Mr. Ziggy says, "Power of redemption. You can move on from anything." (Mr. McAllistair and Mr. Grover are looking at Ziggy with such affection in their eyes, and it's almost kind of startling just how easy their affection is. They've been together for over ten years now and they are still so in love. How do they do that?)Something buzzes at Mr. McAllistair's hip and he picks up his comm to check the screen. "Looks like it's time for me to go pick up Mason from preschool," he says, and drops a kiss on Ms. Landsdown and Mr. Ziggy's cheeks as he passes by to the door."No kisses for us?" Captain Truman asks, raising an eyebrow and gesturing between him and Mr. Grover."I'll see Dillon in an hour when he gets home from this and, well, this is for you not switching loads of laundry last night," Mr. McAllistair says."It was just an extra hour," Captain Truman actually grumbles."Mildew, Scott," Mr. McAllistair scoffs as he leaves the room, and when Captain Truman turns back to the rest of his Soulmates Mr. Grover is raising an eyebrow."He's got a point, man," says Mr. Grover."Of course you take his side," Captain Truman says, almost...is that pouting? Can a Captain and Series Operator pout? Syd's father has always told her that pouting is immature, but between the Series Operators it almost seems like something normal."So," Ms. Landsdown says, turning back to the students, "Any more questions?"-That night, Syd spends the night at Z's family's apartment. She cuddles with Z and ends up dreaming in red and green and blue, of fists of iron and multiple Zs and flashes of shields. When she wakes up, she doesn't remember any of it. -They teach kids the meanings of the Ranger colors in basic history classes, the reasons why each Ranger is chosen for the team. Pinks are the heart of the team, Reds are the leader, Blue are the common sense, Greens are the spirit, Blacks are the spine, Yellows are the kindness, Sixths are the innovation. It's glaringly obvious what makes the Series Operators different.: R.P.M. doesn't have a pink.Syd sometimes wonders how things are different for R.P.M., how they function with two Sixth Rangers and no Pink, who the heart of their team is. Do you need a heart of a team in a world like theirs? Do you more need extra innovation, a spine and a spirit, than a heart, when the world has been destroyed and you are just trying to survive?Looking at Ms. Landsdown and Mr. Ziggy and their Soulmates, it's clear that they love each other. Is it possible for the team to have a heart without a Pink, for another Ranger to function in the traditional Pink role?Sometimes Syd wonders what colors she and Z would be, if they were Rangers. Z is always so kind, so spirited- she'd make a really good Green or Yellow. And Syd? She's stubborn enough to be a Red or Black, definitely. Blues are generally second-in-commands, with common sense- maybe the two of them could be stretched to that.(Maybe, in another world, one of them could have been Pink, could have given a team a heart. Who knows?)-When Syd turns fourteen, she kisses Z for the first time. It's at a weird angle and they bump noses, but it ends up with smiles and laughter."I love you so much," Z says, her fingers in Syd's curls, her eyes warm and bright."Love you too," Syd replies, hands on Z's waist, and then leans in again.They're young and alive and in love, and that's really all you can ask for in a world like theirs.-Corinth never gets a Pink Ranger, and Syd Drew never becomes a Ranger down the line. Neither does her Soulmate. The two of them live and love and are completely normal for the world they're living in.
4. Red
Of course I’m the disaster
but you’re the one foolish enough
to learn my name. You’re the one
who showed up with two good feet
and trusted the ground to stay beneath them.
You’re the one who didn’t run.
-Clementine von Radics
Jack meets Bridge at a Ocean Bluff soup kitchen two years after Bridge leaves to join S.P.D. They're both only seventeen; they are a long way away from when they ever would have met in any other world.Bridge isn't in his cadet uniform, just a faded JKP's t-shirt and jeans, while Jack's in a faded red-and-green plaid shirt, old jacket, and thriftstore cargo pants. They're just two ordinary almost-adults without the shadow of S.P.D. or crime hanging over them.And they fit so well.Jack, for once, finds himself content to let someone talk circles around him. Bridge's babble is at once interesting and soothing, the curve of his smile rather attractive. Jack's used to small talk about the streets, conversations about shelters to avoid and the warmest street corners to sleep on- Bridge is nothing like that.Bridge has the unique ability to carry on a ten-minute monologue debating the merits of buttery toast at higher altitudes v. at sea level and somehow make it fascinating. He engages Jack in a discussion about favorite Power Rangers and they both realize their shared admiration for the Purple Wolf Ranger of the Ocean Bluff team as well as the Pink Ranger of the Dino Charge team. They spend half an hour moving boxes for the cook while they debate the use of pineapples and anchovies on pizza. They spend the day talking about everything under the sky except their jobs. Since Jack doesn't bring up his own job to Bridge (one that mostly consists of stealing, if he's honest), he doesn't really hold it against Bridge. He doesn't get the vibe that Bridge is purposefully hiding anything, though- it's more just that Bridge has so many things to be passionate about other than his job.(Jack also spends the day getting distracted by Bridge's smile, so effortlessly happy and casual, or distracted by the way he moves his hands so expressively.)"See you again sometime," Bridge says, and Jack smiles."I'll take you up on that offer," Jack says, and for once, he means it.Bridge shakes his hand as he leaves and Jack notes his gloves. He wonders why Bridge wears them- maybe (hopefully) it has to do with covering up his lack of Soulmarks. After all, Jack does the same thing. - Jack goes to the soup kitchen every Saturday evening, curious to meet the man again. Bridge wore long sleeves and gloves the entire time they worked together- there's a very strong likelihood that he's Soulless, which means he's probably open to dating. Jack definitely wouldn't mind taking Bridge on a date, learning more about him and, who knows, maybe kissing him someday.(One thing he would have learned about Bridge, in another world, is that Bridge attends services every Saturday at the synagogue in New Tech City, which is why he very rarely gets the chance to come down to Ocean Bluff. The only times Bridge volunteers at this particular soup kitchen are the days in which he can spend the whole weekend in Ocean Bluff.)The last weekend Jack stays at the soup kitchen before moving back to his old rounds of volunteer work, Bridge comes back. When Jack first sees him enter, Jack's heart races and a smile threatens- he's been waiting to see Bridge again for nearly two months now.Then he sees the three people behind him. They look pretty ordinary to Jack- a tall guy in a black long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, a girl with a blonde ponytail in a yellow polo and slacks, and a girl with a brunette bun, an old gym shirt, and jeans."Hey, Jack!" Bridge says with a grin and a wave. "It's nice to see you again. Look who I brought with me this time!"Jack doesn't trust easy; Bridge was an exception, not the rule. His tone is a bit sharp when he says, "Who are these people?"Bridge, however, just smiles. "These are my Soulmates!"And Jack's heart sinks. No, more accurately, it plummets. Bridge has not just one Soulmate, but three. Dating a Soulless man is one thing; a Bonded one is something incredibly different. "I told you last time that my family is from Ocean Bluff, right?" Bridge asks, that same bright smile on his lips, and Jack manages a nod. "Well, I was coming home for the weekend and I asked Syd, Z, and Sky if they wanted to come volunteer. And look, they did! I can't wait to show them how to make that tomato stew you like-"Jack feels a rush of indignation. That was Bridge and Jack's thing-Jack can't believe he's feeling a rush of jealousy over a man that isn't even his to be jealous over in the first place.- For the sake of Bridge and the homeless people he serves here, Jack sticks around for his shift. He mostly just talks to Bridge (when Jack does talk, that is), not really to his Soulmates. They seem like nice enough people, but they're not Bridge. And even Bridge isn't looking as attractive as he did before.Jack doesn't trust easily. He didn't even really trust Bridge- he was kind of attracted to Bridge and willing to take a chance with him, but that small ounce of trust is gone. Bridge really isn't an option anymore, no matter how much he still interests Jack.At the end of the shift, Jack fades through the wall and out onto the street outside. Jack never returns to this particular soup kitchen, instead volunteering at the other dozen or so throughout Ocean Bluff. He doesn't meet Bridge Carson again, doesn't get to know Sky, Z, or Syd. He doesn't get drafted into S.P.D., doesn't learn the truth about his powers or his parents. He spends his life helping out the homeless and stealing and living on the streets.-(The experiment hit Scott wrong this time around, not Nathan Tate, and Scott was the one to lose his Soulmarks.Scott and Lia had a son, but then they died and that son entered an orphanage. Jack never had anyone to tell him about his Soulmarks. He's never had the chance to even contemplate the fact that he might not be Soulless. And he never has any reason to find out. Jack's trust issues are even worse this time around- he doesn't have any Soulmarks (he never has), and no best friend to comfort him on the streets growing up. (Z had three Soulmates living in various homles growing up- she moved into the Drews' house when she was disowned, rather than staying on the streets.He has no reasons to join S.P.D. He has no Soulmates, no Z, no loyalty to anyone to make him second-guess his decisions to not trust anyone.)-But some nights, Jack finds himself dreaming of Bridge's smile, of the way he talked with his hands, of the sound of his voice. He dreams of kissing Bridge, of the way Bridge's hand might have felt under that glove.
5. Green
I mean, I hope you're happy,
But the sky is still the sky without you,
And I'm not surprised by that anymore.
― Caitlyn Siehl
They try- no one can argue with that. They try and they try and it still falls apart. Turns out that Soulmarks aren't guarantees after all. The world doesn't always work out. Lives change, people change, or maybe the connection has been bent too far too work out. -Wootox happens and Sky can't forgive. He can't forget. He can't ignore the fact that they didn't realize that it wasn't him.He continues to try in the relationship, but it's not the same. He doesn't think he'll ever be able to forget the feeling of being trapped in his own head, the willingness to die to keep them safe but them still not realizing something was off.He keeps dreaming of the way his doppleganger smirked, how he lied, and how none of the team noticed that Sky was screaming.-Some things are built to fall apart. Bridge hadn't thought that this relationship would be one of them, but in the end the damage has been done. Sky pulls the other four members of B-Squad into the girls' room a month after the incident with Wootox, and that's when it all crumbles.The break up is a quiet one, full of stilted words and quiet sentiments. Sky lays out his reasons, his emotions, his nightmares, and he tells them-He tells them he can't do it anymore. He can't be in a relationship with people who know each other like the back of their hand (literally) and don't know him for himself. He can't spend his life in doubt, playing catch-up.The four of them don't want to do anything that will make Sky uncomfortable, so they nod and accept his decision.The breaking is painful. There's no way to sugarcoat it. Yes, they're friends, but there's no easy way to shift from Soulmates (from a guaranteed life together, from eternity) to just friends again.Going forward, things are awkward. Of course they are. Sky still is their teammate, their best friend, and knowing that there could have been something- that there was something, and that the problem wasn't lack of feelings but a mistake in timing- drives a bit of a wedge in their usual interactions. There is a slight tension between them.-A few months later, Bridge catches sight of Sky's bare skin and he can barely swallow back nausea.There are illegal procedures you can have done to remove the Soulbond pigment. They're only ever done on people with broken hearts, who have had their Soulmates cheat on them or who never want to be with their Soulmate.Sky catches him staring one morning, and his face just falls a little. "I wish things had been different," Sky says, and there is no anger in his voice- only resignation. "That I had met you guys at the right time."Bridge doesn't know what to do with his arms, whether to let them rise or fall or to wrap them up so tight that he'll never have to see anyone's aura again. He doesn't think he could possibly bear seeing Sky's aura, now that he's committed such irreversible damage against their Soulbond."Why..." Bridge, for once in his life, can barely get the words out. "Why did you do it?"Sky glances away from Bridge. "I can't change things, and I don't want to forget that. So I did what I had to do."The man who has always played by the rules, Bridge thinks, committing one of the worst crimes imaginable.
(And we drove him to it.)
"Can I give you a hug?" Bridge asks, barely able to get the words out. He doesn't think he's ever going to be able to touch Sky's bare skin again with the ruptured Soulbond in between them, but he can still hug with his gloves on. Sky is still his friend, just as he was before Jack and Z even joined the team.Sky's smile is small. "Of course you can. We're still friends."We're still friends. The words hum through Bridge's mind as he scoots forward on the bed and leans forward to hug Sky. For a moment, he can almost pretend like the words aren't knives, like his world hasn't been irrevocably stained.But that's all a lie to himself. His world has been permanently turned on its head twice in half a year, has given him a Soulmate and then taken him away. He has learned all too well what it is like to fall in love with someone new and have it ripped away from him.(Because here's what he never gets the chance to tell Sky: Bridge falls in love far too quickly, loves too hard, trips over his own heart's foolishness. He was already halfway in love with Sky before the Soulmarks, and it had taken only a moment to fall off that cliff and into love with Sky.)-They take down Gruumm and Broodwing and A-Squad, and they're still friends. They'll never not be friends. But they will never be anything more than friends. There won't be kisses in back hallways, dates to diners in Ocean Bluff, revelations about parents, sex and cuddles and healing together. Here's the tragedy: they knew, and they loved each other, and it still didn't work. It still fell apart. There was no anger here, just a lack of trust.“So,” Jack says, straightening Bridge’s red jacket for the promotion ceremony. “You guys ready to meet Kristen?”Syd scoffs from her place by the mirror. “You’re really asking that?”Z shrugs, but the motion is less a dismissive gesture and more the shifting of an unspoken weight. “She’s our teammate’s girlfriend, and she makes Sky smile. We should be happy for them.”“Even after…?” Syd says, but she doesn’t speak the words. None of them ever acknowledge it. It's been four years and yet nothing has been said. They fucked up and they don't want to admit to it.Jack nods. "Even after," he says, voice firm, and Bridge gets it, even though he hates the fact that he got it.- They meet Kristen, and she's so much kinder than she should be, knowing what they used to be to her boyfriend. They only get a few moments, but every interaction is nothing short of polite and courteous.There's nothing to hate about her. Kristen Cheboi is a nurse with a smile like Z's and a heart like Syd's and an intelligence like Sky's and a passion for her job all her own. She's the perfect partner for Sky.Jack holds Eve in his un-uniformed arms while Bridge, Z, and Syd go up onto the small stage to accept their promotions from Sky, who received his own from Commander Cruger.Bridge can't help but stare at his Soulmate, just like normal, but also at Kristen, sitting across the aisle a few rows back from Jack. She doesn't deserve his examination, his scrutiny, and yet she receives it like any witness. She looks so right here, cornrows pulled back into a loose bun and dressed in a yellow and sky blue dress. She looks like the perfect girlfriend, the kind of person that Bridge, Z, Syd, and Jack could never be, with their trust issues and egos and issues.The title of Red rings slightly bitter in Bridge's mouth.-They get an invitation in the mail a month later, to a wedding they knew was coming.They show up, and Bridge realizes as the bride walks down the aisle that they're all wearing their original colors from so long ago- Jack's got on a red button-down, Bridge is wearing a dark green suit, Z's in a mustard yellow jumpsuit, Syd's wearing a rose pink and gold dress, and Eve...their little girl's wearing a dark blue dress that just so happens to match the color of the groom's tie.He could have been your dad, Bridge thinks as Sky says "I do." If things had been different, he would have loved you.They've moved on, but sometimes, Bridge can't help but think of the could have beens.But that's not the life they're living. Right now, Bridge is holding Jack's hand and watching Sky kiss his wife.- At the reception, Kristen and Sky make their rounds to greet all the guests. By the time the couple get to their table, Jack and Syd are out on the dance floor together while Z and Bridge are still at the table with Eve.Sky crouches down to talk to Eve (something creaks in Bridge's heart, some regret, some instinct he'll never be able to fulfill) while Kristen walks up to Bridge and Z."Thank you guys for supporting him through his decision to leave," Kristen says, and Bridge can't find it in his heart to resent her. She is such a nice woman, and it's nowhere near her fault that things didn't work out between the five of them. "I lost my Soulmate myself, and I'm just glad that I got to have a life with someone as wonderful as Sky."Her smile is so kind and so painful, because she's wearing white like Bridge and all of his Soulmates did the night of their official Bonding ceremony. (Sky's wearing the same white by his blue tie, and Bridge has moved on- he has- but he can't help but think about what their ceremony might have been like with Sky there, instead of him being here, now.)So Bridge smiles back. "I'm glad you did too. He's my friend- I'm happy that he's happy."Kristen nods. "Hope you enjoy the wedding, Bridge."And he does. Bridge, honest to god, has fun. His gloves stay on and no one asks about them. He gets a night off of work, time to dance with his family, and plenty of food. They even have toast with butter on the buffet, awesomely enough.So Sky and Kristen dance the night away, and Bridge finds himself dancing with literally anyone but Sky. He dances with each of his Soulmates and Eve, twirling his little girl around the room.Something still sticks with Bridge. The sense of missed opportunity, the lives that could have been lived- he loves the one he's currently living, he knows, but something about this night is sticking to his brain.This is goodbye. They'll still be friends and co-workers, but the final nail has been hammered into the metaphorical coffin of love.- That night, Bridge dreams of a royal blue aura and the way Sky's eyes shone when they found out about the Soulmarks. He dreams of a thousands worlds that could have been, the disasters and happy endings and middling-in-betweens.He wakes up in a cold sweat, Syd helping lever him into a sitting position. Bridge curls into Syd's chest, his head laying against Syd's chest, and Syd holds him close as the trembling lessens in his body."It's okay," Syd says, voice firm, "He's happy. We're happy."And they are- Bridge knows this. He has three people by his side who he will love until the end of eternity and a daughter who already takes too much after her mother. Maybe there's a missing piece, but he's dealt with loss before. He grew up without a father- he can live without one of his Soulmates. He's lived without Sky for four years, and he's been happy. He can continue to do that.This wedding has dredged up old emotions, old dreams that Bridge set aside ages ago. He shouldn't be letting these feelings fuck up everything he's built, everything he's been happy with.So Bridge curls up against Syd's side, dismissing old memories and alternate worlds. What matters is not the missed possibilities, but rather the family he has built for himself in this world, the life he has made with the four people he loves most in this world. Jack, Syd, Z, and Eve- these are his family.Bridge places his bare hand against Syd's torso, bare under a tank top, letting the touch of his Soulmate ground him against the pull of other worlds. He doesn't need to think of them- he just wants to think about the family has, the people who make him happy. He just wants to focus on Syd, who's always there for him, who Bridge has spent twenty years falling in love with."You're right," Bridge says, voice firm as he soaks in Syd's bright pink aura and the feeling of love that's currently pouring off of her. "I love you. Thank you.""No problem," Syd says, voice quiet.And so they sink away into dreams that are unplagued by other lives, dreams in which the only happy ending is the one they're living now.
Look how far we’ve come.
Turn over your shoulder and just look.
Maybe we’ll come across each other at the turning of the century, racing across the breaches between worlds.
I’ll build my life on that maybe.
-elizabeth hewer