Dream Five: Relief

Note: I had planned on making this somewhat short, sweet and to the point, like the previous chapters….but somewhere in the middle of writing, the muses took over and went coo-coo-bananas crazy! It started out being just Gemma having a particularly nice dream….and then became half nice dream, half Gemma getting into an awkward conversation. Ah well, I've learned not to question the muses and just go wherever they decide to lead. Hope that was a good course of action, ha-ha.

Enjoy.

It was late in the rangers' base of operations. The garage was mostly dark, minus the bright concentrated light by Flynn's workbench where he stood working on some of his devices while the others slept. He wore a white sleeveless undershirt and a pair of blue coveralls with the top half hanging off his waist. He had taken it off during his work after he had begun to sweat. Gemma stood at the top of the stairs that led to the sleeping quarters, watching him intently. She watched the muscles of his arm tighten and flex as he turned a wrench.

Gemma slowly walked down the stairs to get a better vantage point of Flynn. She was dressed in silver satin pajama bottoms and a thin white cotton tank top. Gemma didn't recall having such sleep attire in her wardrobe but didn't care. All that she could focus on was what the blue ranger was doing. As she watched him, Flynn seemed to sense her presence as he stopped what he was doing and looked straight at her, trapping her in his gaze. His eyes held something she'd never seen before. A sort of darkness that, instead of making her feel fearful, sent a jolt of excitement through her the likes of which she had only experienced from watching one of Venjix's monsters meet its end in a fiery explosion. But still, this excitement seemed to affect her on a whole different level, a new unfamiliar sensation.

Flynn's eyes seemed to challenge her. They dared her to move closer, away from the stairs. Her feet gladly accepted the challenge as she padded down the remaining steps. Flynn continued to watch her, wiping some sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. The action left a small streak of oil grease on his skin. Gemma finally stood before him, meeting his gaze before slowly reaching up and wiping away the mark with her thumb. Before she could pull her hand away, Flynn's hands snapped into action and formed manacles around her wrist, holding them up in front of him. His grip was tight enough to suggest he did not want her to step away from him, but not so tight that she felt as if she were in any danger in his embrace and she could move away if she chose to, which she did not. The corners of his mouth lightly turned upwards in a small smile; he was pleased to have her as his compliant captive.

The pair continued to stare into each other's eyes, his gaze still just as challenging and hers a mixture of curiosity and excitement. Flynn then used his grip on her wrists to draw her closer, closing the small gap between them as he crushed her body to his. His head tilted downwards as his lips latched onto hers. Another jolt of excitement ran through Gemma as Flynn, his lips still affixed upon hers, released her wrists and used his now free hands to grab her hips and pull her even closer. Gemma's hands found themselves on the sides of his arms has the kiss slowly grew in intensity.

Somehow in the midst of all their kissing, Gemma found herself laid out on the workbench. Gemma's eyes drifted shut and a content sigh escaped her mouth as Flynn moved his lips from hers and trailed searing kisses down her chin until he reached her neck. He pressed his body into hers, trapping her between the hard surface of the table and his torso. One of his hands stayed on her hip while the other slid up her body to the side of her neck as his lips continued its ministrations on the other side. Gemma bit her lip as her legs, seeming to have a life of their own, wrapped themselves around his waist, keeping him against her—though, it didn't seem like he had much intention of moving away as it was.

Flynn moved his lips back up to hers, kissing her with renewed enthusiasm. Gemma moved her hands up to the back of his head, burying her fingers in his short hair. Gemma's entire being felt like it had been lit ablaze, an immensely good and exciting fire that spread from the top of her head down to her toes. She began to feel a strange yet exhilarating tightness in the pit of her stomach.

"Gemma?" She heard a voice in the distance call. Gemma ignored it as she continued to float in the flames Flynn was causing within her. "Gemma?" The voice called again. She groaned and tightened her hold on Flynn. She could feel this voice was threatening to part her from Flynn's lips and hands, which was the last thing she wanted. "Gemma!" The voice called again, a wave of urgency in it. A hand grabbed her shoulder, wrenching her away from the delicious fire that was Flynn.

Gemma awoke with a start, a hand shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Gem sitting on the edge of her bed, towering over her. The room was dark but she could still see the worried expression on his face.

"Gem?" She asked, confused. Flynn was nowhere to be seen but she could still feel the odd tightness in her belly. The pleasant feelings she had been experiencing were soon replaced by annoyance towards her brother who had pulled her out of the blaze she had been enjoying.

"Are you alright?" Gem asked. "You sounded like you were hurt. Were you having a bad dream?" He asked.

"What?" She asked, still confused by being woken up.

"You were moaning," he explained. Gemma blinked and her cheeks suddenly grew very warm.

"I was?" She squeaked out.

"Uh huh," Gem replied.

"Oh….um…yeah," she said, slowly sitting up. "Yeah…it…it was the dream about us being in th-the work camp again," she stammered. She couldn't understand the dream she had just had, or the feelings it was causing inside of her, but something told her it was something she did not want to discuss with her brother.

"Oh, Gemma," Gem sighed, reaching for her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked. That being the absolute last thing she wanted to do, Gemma quickly shook her head.

"No," she quickly said, a little too quickly.

"Are you sure?" Gem asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure, it was just a dream. I'm fine," she assured him. "I'm sorry for waking you up," she apologized.

"It's okay," Gem assured her.

"You should go back to sleep," she suggested. "I…I'm just….going to go downstairs and get a drink," she added. She needed to get out of the room and think about what she had just experienced, or not had the chance to experience thanks to Gem waking her, and something told her those thoughts needed to be had anywhere that wasn't the room she shared with her twin brother.

"Oh, are you sure you're okay?" Gem asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Just…thirsty," she said. Gem nodded and stood up. She watched as he crawled back underneath his covers. Gemma climbed out of her own bed and moved to the door. "I'll make sure to be quiet when I get back," she stated before leaving the room.

She went to the top of the stairs and was surprised to see a light on in the lower level of the base. Her dream still fresh in her mind, she crouched down to peer under the banister to look downstairs. She was both relieved and disappointed to see that it was not Flynn at his workbench but Summer sitting in the kitchen area. The yellow ranger sat hunched over on the counter, sipping a glass of milk while seemingly deep in thought. She was dressed in her pajamas with her blonde hair up in foam curlers. Gemma sighed and slowly walked down the stairs. The sound of her footsteps must've gotten Summer's attention as her gaze, which seemed to be off in the distance, reverted to the approaching Silver ranger. Gemma sat down on one of the stools across the counter from Summer.

"Hey," Summer greeted. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?" She asked. Gemma sighed. Sleeping wasn't the problem at all; it was being awoken by the brother Gemma was suddenly growing to dislike that was the problem.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said after a moment. Summer nodded.

"Want some milk?" She offered.

"Sure, thanks," Gemma replied. Summer slid off of the stool she had been sitting on and retrieved another glass before pulling open the small refrigerator and getting out the carton of milk. She filled the glass before placing the milk back in the refrigerator and returning to her spot at the counter, sliding the milk over to Gemma as she sat. The two sat in silence as they sipped their milk, both falling into their own respective thoughts. Gemma felt the tightness in her belly start to dissipate slightly and though that should've been a relief, Gemma couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It felt as if something inside of her knew that that feeling was meant to reach a certain point and its current dissipation was from giving up after being unable to reach it. Gemma frowned, not understanding what that all meant.

"Is something wrong?" Summer asked as she took note of Gemma's troubled expression. Gemma blinked and looked at her fellow ranger.

"What?" She asked.

"You look upset," Summer noted. Gemma took a long sip of her milk as she contemplated whether or not she should voice her thoughts.

"Not upset…" She replied. "Just…confused."

"Confused? About what?" Summer asked. Gemma felt her cheeks grow warm again.

"It's…hard to explain," Gemma said.

"Oh," Summer said. "Well, I'm not going anywhere…if you want to take your time explaining," she added with a shrug. She frowned, realizing she was probably overstepping some boundaries. It wasn't like she and Gemma were especially close. What right did she have to pry? "Or not," she said, "I mean if this is something you'd rather just talk about with Dr. K or Gem or-"

"I cannot talk to my brother about…this…" Gemma quickly cut in, her face donning a horrified expression. Summer sat up straight, surprised by Gemma's sudden outburst. She tilted her head at the silver ranger, regarding her carefully as she wondered what brought it on. Her eyebrows went up a fraction of an inch as it finally dawned upon her.

"This wouldn't happen to be about Flynn, would it?" She asked, a small smile playing on her lips. Gemma's eyes widened and she quickly looked away, the blush on her cheeks growing deeper. Summer's smile widened, receiving her answer.

"N-n-no," Gemma said, attempting to deny Summer's assumption. Summer gave a soft chuckle, not believing Gemma for a second. She was actually relieved to see perhaps she wasn't the only ranger experiencing some woes and confusion thanks to the opposite sex. Though Dr. K had discussed Summer's attraction to the red and black rangers not too long ago, she had done so in too much of a technical manner. It felt like being spoken to by a persistent encyclopedia.

It actually helped Summer feel better that perhaps there was someone going through a similar experience that she was with Dillon. Though, Summer figured, Dillon himself was quite a unique case—given the, for lack of better term, mechanics of his situation and the increasing need to locate his sister—but there were still the factors of certainly feeling something towards a comrade that Summer felt she could relate to. There were some suspicions that perhaps Dr. K wasn't unaccustomed to this sort of feeling—Summer was pretty sure that Dr. K's penchant for viewing Ziggy as the bane of her existence was a front to hide a whole other view of the green ranger, even from herself—But Dr. K was less likely to gab and swap stories about her attraction to someone. Gemma may be in denial, but Summer could tell she would have a better chance in talking with her. Though Summer had changed greatly from her girly and pampered old self, there was a part of her that missed her interactions with her old gaggle of friends, even if when it came down to it they proved to be not as good of friends as she thought—what with leaving her to fend for herself while leaving on the van to Corinth.

"Gemma," Summer finally spoke, deciding to voice her view on the situation they were in. "if you want to talk about it, you can. And let's face it," she continued, her tone blunt and to the point, "is there anyone else you can talk about this kind of thing with?" Gemma pursed her lips as she considered Summer's point.

"O…kay," Gemma reluctantly agreed. "But…you promise not to tell anyone?" She asked.

"Of course," Summer assured her. Gemma raised her arm up, placing her elbow on the counter. She held her hand up in a loose fist with her pinky sticking up.

"Pinky swear?" She asked. Summer opened her mouth to chuckle or protest. She hadn't pinky swore anything since she was ten years old. She stopped when she realized who she was talking to.

"Alright," she agreed, raising her hand and hooking her pinky with Gemma's. Once the girls separated their pinkies, Summer leaned against the counter with interest. "Okay, I'm all ears," she encouraged. Gemma sighed and slid her almost empty glass to Summer.

"I'm going to need more milk first," she said, as if the diary product were her liquid courage. Summer nodded and quickly refilled the glass and passed it back to her. "Okay," Gemma said after taking a long gulp and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I…had a dream….about Flynn…and…..it's left me feeling funny," she stated, her eyes trained on the counter, afraid to meet Summer's curious eyes.

"Funny?" Summer asked, hoping for some elaboration. Gemma nodded. She sighed and decided to just bite the proverbial bullet. Keeping her eyes lowered, and with her blush still staining her cheeks, Gemma told Summer of the dream she had just had. She revealed what she felt while in the grips of the dream and the annoyance she felt towards Gem over being pulled out of it. Once she was done she took another long gulp of her milk. She then took a deep breath and chanced a look up at Summer. She wasn't sure what reaction she expected out of the blonde ranger, but what she got sure wasn't it. Summer was looking at her with an amused smile. After a second, once certain that Gemma was done speaking, she started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Gemma asked, suddenly regretting ever telling Summer anything. Summer covered her mouth in an attempt to stop her laughter.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said between the laughter she was trying to reign in. She took a deep breath with the hope of being serious. A quick giggle escaped before she finally got control of herself. "I'm sorry, that was terrible of me," she apologized. "It's just...well….having that sort of….reaction….and your brother waking you up? It's kind of funny," she said, hoping Gemma would forgive her and see the point she was making. Gemma's mouth turned downward in a confused frown.

"What do you mean…that sort of reaction?" She asked. Summer's eyes widened. Gemma wasn't joking. She really didn't know what had gone on within herself.

"Um…" She began, unsure how to go about addressing the subject. "Well, you….I mean…." She blew out a breath. "You mean you don't know?" She asked incredulously.

"Know what?"

"You're…um…" She cleared her throat, "…frustrated," she said lowly behind clenched teeth. She really hoped Gemma understood and they could backtrack out of the subject.

"Of course I'm frustrated, I have no idea what you're talking about," Gemma replied, throwing her hands up in defeat. Summer groaned. She had to stop herself from banging her head against the counter over Gemma being so obtuse. She took a deep breath and prepared herself for going there.

"When you were growing up….didn't anyone talk to you about….y'know….growing up?" Summer questioned. Gemma frowned and tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't understand," she said.

"You know…the changes that go from….erm…transitioning…from child to….no longer a child?" She asked. In the moment, she greatly understood Scott's point about talking to Gem and Gemma being akin to talking to children.

"Well, one of the women at Alphabet Soup did discuss the routine occurrence of menstruation in the adult female anatomy," Gemma informed. She shook her head. "That was scary, I mean I didn't know what was happening the first time," she supplied. "Is that what you mean?" Gemma questioned, though not understanding how that explained how her dream made her feel. Summer opened her mouth and quickly shut it, unsure how to respond to that.

"Well…ye-….n-no….sort of," she said. Summer sighed as her face scrunched up, trying to find a way to explain it in a way that Gemma's naive nature could understand. After a moment she heaved a relieved sigh as it finally occurred to her. She was actually surprised she hadn't thought about it sooner. "Okay…you and Gem like making bombs and explosives, right?" She asked. Gemma grinned.

"We love explosions!" She said. She opened her mouth, and Summer knew the dark haired ranger was about to go into her excited recitation of explosion sounds. She quickly held up a hand.

"A simple yes will do fine," Summer said, afraid that Gemma's excitement would wake the others.

"Oh, sorry," Gemma replied, composing herself.

"Alright, so...hmm…okay, imagine you…and just you, not you and Gem..." She quickly said, trying to banish Gemma's brother from this analogy. That would certainly raise the icky factor in the conversation. "You made a big elaborate bomb. You measured all the ingredients perfectly and were looking forward to it," she winced at the choice of words she was about to utter, "going off." She paused, hoping Gemma was following. Gemma nodded along. "Okay, so you put the bomb…wherever you want the explosion to occur…but before you can set it off, something happens and interrupts the process."

"What happens?" Gemma asked. Summer sighed.

"I-I-I don't know….someone destroys the detonator or something," Summer replied. "Okay, so…this bomb that you were looking forward to….exploding….doesn't go off, how would that make you feel?" Gemma pursed her lips as she considered the scenario. She scrunched up her nose and pouted ever so slightly.

"I think I'd be rather upset at whoever destroyed my detonator," she said. Summer nodded.

"Okay, okay, well….that dream you had about Flynn….it…created a sort of….bomb inside of you….and…."

"And Gem destroyed my detonator by waking me up?" Gemma concluded, slowly understanding what she meant. Summer gave her a round of quick nods, glad to see Gemma somehow understood.

"Yes, yes, exactly," Summer said. She gave herself a slight satisfied smile and took a sip of her milk.

"So, what do I do to get the bomb to explode without the detonator?" Gemma asked, causing Summer to choke on her milk. She coughed as the milk fell out of her mouth and back into the glass. "Summer?" Gemma asked, perplexed by her reaction. Summer coughed a few times, clearing her airways of the beverage.

"Wha…well, that's…difficult to explain," she evasively stammered. "I….different things work for different people…I suppose…"

"Well, what do you do to get your bombs to explode?" Gemma asked. Summer's mouth fell open. She definitely was growing to regret trying to relate to Gemma in the matters of romantic thoughts concerning fellow rangers. This was not at all how she thought the conversation would go.

"Um, you know what? I-I-I-I think I'm just going to go to bed," Summer said, making a move to stand. Gemma quickly reached out and took hold of her arm, stopping her.

"Wait, Summer, please don't go," she pleaded. Summer looked at her and groaned. Gemma was giving her a puppy dog look that she was hard-pressed to deny. "I'm sorry if my question was out of line," she said. Summer sighed and sat back down. Gemma was relieved to see Summer wasn't leaving and let go of her arm.

"It's okay," Summer said. "Its just…um, 'explosion making' is a very private subject. Maybe someday we can discuss it," she said though her mind was snorting and uttering the phrase not freaking likely, "but it's not appropriate for right now," she said. Gemma nodded.

"I understand," she said. She sat up as something occurred to her. "Summer? Can I just ask you one more question about….explosions?" She asked.

"Um….I suppose," Summer slowly replied, unsure what she was getting into.

"Well," Gemma began, "when Gem….interrupted the explosion…I felt….strange and something told me I really didn't want to be in the same room as him while…contemplating the….bomb," she explained. Summer pressed her lips together to keep from laughing again and simply nodded. "Is that…normal?" Gemma asked. Summer nodded.

"Yes, yes, that's completely normal," Summer assured her. "You generally don't want to….deal with those type of explosions…around family members, it's not….well it's just not done," she explained. "….and, depending on the circumstances, you might want to keep it from some friends too," she added. She feared that without that added advice, Gemma would make the mistake of embarrassing herself by repeating the subjects of the conversation in front of the others—especially the guys. "Explosions are a personal thing," she said, "you should only get into the subject with people you're comfortable discussing it with." Gemma nodded.

"Got'cha," Gemma said. Summer was relieved to see that Gemma was on the same page as her, unlike previous parts of their conversation. Now that the 'unknown response' part of Gemma's occurrence was dealt with, Summer could dwell upon the other aspects of what Gemma had revealed. She couldn't help it as a tiny grin affixed itself upon her features.

"So, you want to kiss Flynn?" She good naturedly teased. Gemma blushed and looked away, a shy smile growing on her face.

"Yeah, well…" She looked back up at Summer, mimicking her expression, "You want to kiss Dillon," she teased right back. Summer's response was much like Gemma's as she too blushed.

"Maybe," she muttered. The two girls shared a quiet giggle which was quickly cut off by the distinct sound of footsteps on the stairs accompanied by a yawn. Summer looked past Gemma's shoulder to see Flynn descending the staircase and shot Gemma a warning look. Gemma turned her head to look back. There was Flynn in his bed clothes—that consisted of an undershirt much like the one he wore in her dream, and blue sweat pants—Gemma's eyes widened and her blush increased before she quickly faced forward.

"I thought I heard voices down here," Flynn spoke as he shuffled over towards them. He reached the counter and leaned against it, standing beside where Gemma sat. Summer and Gemma shared a look. All of Gemma's instincts told her she needed to get up and run back up to her room, possibly even hide under her covers. Unfortunately she was frozen in place.

"What did you hear?" Summer asked. Flynn furrowed his brows at Summer and shrugged.

"Nothing," he replied. "Just...heard talking, wondered who was up at this hour." Beside him, he heard what sounded like Gemma expelling a deep breath.

"And what are you doing up at this hour?" Summer asked, deciding for Gemma's benefit, to keep Flynn's attention on herself until Gemma could pull back the deep crimson coloring on her cheeks.

"Felt the need of a late night snack," he explained, patting his belly. He stepped away from the counter and walked to the refrigerator, where he found a pitcher of blueberry smoothie he had made earlier that day. He poured himself a glass before placing the pitcher back in the fridge. He returned back to where he had been standing beside Gemma and took a few long gulps of his smoothie. Once the contents were reduced down to half the glass, he set it down on the counter. "Ahhh, much better," he said. Gemma chanced a sideways glanced at the blue ranger. She gave a tiny giggle at the sight of a smoothie mustache over his upper lip. Flynn looked at her and donned a confused half smile. "What?" He asked.

"You've got a…" she trailed off, pointing to his lip. "Stand still," she lightly ordered. She reached a hand up and cupped it gently against the side of his jaw. She swept her thumb over his lip, wiping away the moustache. She blinked as the action brought back a similar action done in her dream. She suddenly felt very nervous again and quickly pulled her hand away.

"Oh, thanks," he said. Gemma simply nodded. She nervously cleared her throat before chugging the rest of her milk and looking over at Summer.

"I think I'm going to go back to bed," she blurted out as she slid off the stool.

"Gemma, you've got..." Flynn began, his hand reaching out to return the favor she had done for him. Gemma quickly ran the back of her hand across her mouth.

"G'night," she hurriedly muttered before all but sprinting up the stairs. Flynn and Summer heard the sound of a bedroom door opening and closing.

"Hmm, she left in a hurry," Flynn murmured before taking another sip of his smoothie. Summer reached over and took Gemma's empty glass and deposited it in the sink. She cast a look over at Flynn, slightly suspicious.

"How much did you really hear?" She asked. Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized him carefully. Flynn gave her a look that was a mixture of confusion and innocence.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Summer," he replied. Summer slowly nodded, figuring she might as well believe him.

"Alright," she said. "Well, I guess I'll follow Gemma's example and give sleep another go," she said, finishing off her milk and placing her glass in the sink next to Gemma's. She slid off her stool and walked to the stairs. "Shut off the light when you're done," she requested.

"Will do," Flynn replied. He returned to innocently sipping his smoothie as he heard Summer's footsteps ascend the stairs before she opened and closed her bedroom door. A slow self satisfied smirk found its way to Flynn's lips as he sipped another sip from his glass.

-END-

AN: Yeah, as you can see this chapter totally got away from me, ha-ha. Hope you all enjoyed my first step into RPM fic. If enough people are interested (*coughcough*reviews*coughcough*) I might consider writing a sequel/continuation.