The Idiotic, Reckless Ranger [Jack]

It had been a week since Jack had started to stay with them, and everything had started to become better over those few days. Every time they found themself waking up from a nightmare, they noticed that they would reach back to grab his hand just to make sure he was there. Though this specific night, he seemed to be missing, not even on the floor like he had been Tuesday when they accidentally kicked him out while they were sleeping. Sitting up, they would look around in search of him, noticing that the room was a bit too chilly. When they stood up and looked around, they noticed that the window was cracked more than usual. Quinn's room was on the third floor, so how he got down there was something they couldn't really know at the moment, though they would sit on the bed and wait for him. Wrapping themself into a blanket cocoon, they left enough space for their face to poke out and look at the window.

Ow.... ow.... ow.... ow.... Hold on... waiiiiit a minute... yep ow...

Jack had started this night feeling great! It had been a week sense he had started living with Quinn and he had to say things were going pretty well! He had two square and one triangle meal  a day. He finally caught up with all the happenings on the interwebs, and was back to his fifteenth watch through of every episode of Featherman Ranger, he was currently on Turbo... no not that one.

But there was something missing... something that just felt... off... Yes he was sitting in the lap of luxury, but he felt he still needed to be on the streets... So one night when he was sure Quinn was fast asleep he snuck out of bed, that he still shared with Quinn by the way... he offered to sleep on the floor after the first night but they insisted, and out the window. After a short climb down he was back outside and ready to fight the forces of evil once more!

Unfortunately his week off had left him slightly rusty. What should have been a simple mugging turned into a blood bath... He had been sloppy... there was no two ways about it. He had forgotten to kick the mans knife away after he knocked him out... he had forgotten to just warn the civilian and leave... he didn't hear the mugger stand back up and grab his knife. What did do however, was feel every inch of the icy blade slide into his shoulder. He felt the man pull it out and try for another stab. Luckly this time Jack was able to react in time and block the blade... with his arm... With the element of surprise gone, Jack was quickly able to dispatch with the man... but not before he had been cut several more times, none as deep as the first two stabs, but enough to draw serious blood.

Which brings us to where he is now... climbing up the side of Quinn's house, suit tattered and caked with dirt and blood. He would have loved another trip to Akumu's for a patch up... but that was on SanMalarus... he would have died from blood loss by the time he got there. He had to patch himself up this time... eh... wouldn't be a first... but he had lost a lot of blood already... this was going to be close.

With one final grunt he heaved himself back into Quinn's darkened and lay panting and bleeding on the floor... w-wait... Was Quinn still awake... Damn it Jack... now ya traumatized the poor thing!

"O-Oh... H-Hey Quinn... I p-p-promise not to bleed... on your floor... to much. I'll... I'll clean it up later... I promise."

They felt themself drifting off before they heard a thud on the floor in front of them. They didn't realize what was wrong until turning on a light, when they saw the blood on him. The scream that emitted from them might have been a bit too loud, it might have even woke someone up in the process. They'd drop to the floor, ditching the blankets as they leaned over him to check the wounds a bit. "What the hell did you do?!" They had no idea how to do this in the first place, what were they supposed to do? Grabbing his arm, they would attempt to drag him towards the bathroom. "Help me you idiot. I need to get you in there." They felt like they had started to cry in the process of trying to drag him into the other room. Once getting him there, they would try to sit him up against the wall, rummaging through the cabinet like a mad man, searching for gauze and such. "Shit!" Dropping almost everything into the sink, they could defiantly feel tears, but after finding the thing they were looking for that didn't matter. "Jesus Christ I can't do this... No I have to..." Kneeling down, they tried to get his top off, not really thinking about the fact that they were trying to get him undressed.

Taking the gauze in one hand and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the other. Once they got his top off, they would try to ignore how bad the wounds looked, still crying a bit as they tried to look him in the eyes. "This is going to sting a bit, but it's going to feel okay in a second." They'd pour the liquid onto the first wound they saw, watching a bit as the white bubbles began to appear like it was nothing. They'd go to the next one and repeat the process until every one was done producing the white substance. They'd wipe their own tears away, wrapping the gauze around his abdomen before moving it to wrap a few times on his shoulder and anywhere else where there was a wound. Once he was good and done, they would hug him tighter than they though they would, crying a bit more now. "Stupid reckless ranger." They'd laugh a bit, which sounded a bit muffled as their voice went out on them a bit.

Jack was in a daze from the moment he hit the floor. He knew someone had called out to him and a light came on in whatever room he was in... but beyond that he had lost to much blood to be completely cognizant. He would regain a little lucidity as he felt, or at least noticed, someone picking him up and hobbling him towards the bathroom. He would do his best to help them while willing himself not to bleed on them to much... After all, whoever this nice person was they sure as hell didn't need his blood all over the place.

When he was put down again he felt a bit of darkness fall over him... damn this floor was soft... like... really soft... and he was so tired that... a nice nap would feel great right about now. The darkness crept closer into his vision as he felt his eyelids become heavy and sag... Well... whatever happens... he's sure he'll feel better in the-HOLY MOTHER OF GOSEI THAT STINGS LIKE A BITCH WHORE!

"SON OF A BITCH!" Jack would call out as Quinn began pouring the peroxide on his wounds. Normaly when he got this beat up he would go to Mr.Oliver and he'd patch Jack up well enough. Though he never had fancy things like Peroxide... so he usually just pour a hefty amount of Jack Danial's on whatever wounds he found "Jack for Jack" he would always say."MMMMHMHMMMM! That'll get cha up in the mornin!... Quinn? What are you doing here... oh... I got my ass beat didn't I? Yep! It's all comen back to me now! Shit this hurts..."

Jack would watch Quinn work quietly. Not quite sure what to do. They were crying... Over him?... No, no had to be because he dragged his bloody ass in through the window at God Only Knows o'clock. However, he would feel the pain and wooziness leave for a moment as Quinn hugged him... It felt... nice...

"Qu-Quinn?.... heh... Yeah... I guess I am," Jack would smile and gently hug them back. He would enjoy the closeness for only a moment before gently pushing Quinn away and trying to put a stern look on his face"We're not quite done yet... I need... Ugh feelen woozy... I need a needle, thread, a lighter, and a metal butter knife... Oh... and some OJ if ya have it... heh... Can't... Can't quite walk right now. So I need your help a little longer"

Well the wounds were clean and he probably wouldn’t get an infection, but the gauze was already showing blood seeping through; maybe they didn’t put enough on or something? “I hope I did that right… If not, I’m not really useful for anything now am I?” They’d laugh, trying to wipe the tears from their eyes. The only reason they started crying was because of the fact that he could have died if they didn’t do anything. Granted he might have been okay if they called an ambulance, but the reasonability was mostly on them. “You are not sewing up that wound by yourself, are you crazy?” Looking down, they realized that Jack was pretty much partly naked on their bathroom floor. Though that thought was quickly lost as they saw the scars that were pretty much everywhere on his chest. “That’s how you get all these scars on you. I think you should just leave it… Or at least go to the hospital.”

"Not use-... Quinn..."Jack would take his non bloodyed hand and wipe a tear from Quinn;s cheek with his thumb, subconsciously letting his hand linger on their cheek for a moment."You jut saved my life. If that's not useful I don't know what is. Thank you...."Jack would inspect Quinn's handy work for a moment. While a few of his wounds would definitely need some stitches... they had patched him up well enough for him to get by for at least a few hours. Juuuuust long enough for Quinn to go back to sleep so he could sneak down to the master bathroom and grab the med kit. He knew that he had to finish the job himself... he couldn't ask Quinn to do anything more.

"Hospital?... Heh... No they ask to many questions like... How did this happen? Where did you get that stupid costume? Do you have insurance? Plus they almost always call the cops... Not fun, heh... Guess I'll have a few new scars to add to my collection..." Jack would look into Quinn's eyes for a moment before turning slightly red and chuckling to himself,"Sorry about all this..."

"It's alright, don't worry about it." They felt relief as their body relaxed a bit, which was pretty surprising since they had just seen so much blood. Usually they would pass out and stay out for a few hours, which would've been really bad. They still felt tired from only just waking up ten minutes ago, but Quinn probably couldn't sleep after seeing that, maybe for just a few nights though. "You know what, let's watch a marathon of Phoenix Feathermen, I think it'll make you feel better." Standing up, they'd offer Jack a hand up before moving into their room and switching on the flat screen that was mounted on the wall in front of their bed. Turning on Netflix, they would scroll through the shows before coming onto the show that was marked as the only thing on their list. Leaning back against the headboard, they'd hit play to the original season of Phoenix Feathermen, turning off the bedside table in hopes of keeping Jack put since they knew he would probably try to leave and probably burn his wound shut.

"Heh... you have a big heart Quinn... Don't let anyone take that from you... And yeah... That sounds nice... I need something to keep me awake or else I'll pass out and die... And I really don't want to do that again... heh" Jack would cringe from the pain as Quinn moved him. YEAH! That hurt! It hurt a lot! Say what you will about Quinn's bedside manner... but their "Getting you out of bed" side manner had a lot to be desired. He would groan as they led him to their bed. He mentally forced his heart rate to slow as to not get blood on their sheets.

He smiled as she made her selection... Original Phoenix Featherman... Wise choice... Jack hummed along with the opening theme and relaxed into the head board... He felt... so calm right now... so relaxed. Quinn really did know how to make the Red Ranger happy. Heh... Jack felt a slight red creep onto his otherwise unhealthily pail cheeks. "Thank you Quinn... for everything. I there anything I can do to repay you for all this?" Jack turned his face to face Quinn's leaving a gap of only about 5 inches between them.

They felt themselves get too distracted by the show that they had completely forgotten that Jack was there; mostly their focus was Blue Swan and how amazing the original one was. Though when he spoke, it did pull their attention out of the show but only a bit. Of course they were listing, but the show had their vision. “Well it’s no trouble; I couldn’t just let you die on my floor… If I did, then I’d have to deal with the police and questions on where you got those stab wounds.” They’d laugh a bit before slowly taking their attention off the show, turning to face him. Noticing the very close distance, they would turn quickly away, trying to hide the slight blush. Though they’d turn too fast, which lead to them falling on the floor next to their bed. "I'm okay..." They had totally forgotten that they were on the edge of the bed in the first place, though they’d decide to stay on the floor, laughing way too hard at themself.

Did... Did Quinn just make a joke then fall flat on their ass? hehe... EHEHE... AAHAHAHAHAHA! Glorious! Simply glorious!"AHAHAHA! You sure you're ok down there Quinny? I mean if your hurt I could probably spare you a few bandages! ahahAERG! OH! ow ow! To soon! Toooooo soon to be laughing! MMmmm still far to little blood and far to many gaping holes to be laughing right now..." Jack would continue to chuckle to himself and cringe from the pain... when was the last time he laughed this hard?... Or felt this relaxed about everything? Wow it felt like a life time ago... Just having fun without worrying about angels or shadows... Sure he was within an inch of his life but, he still felt relaxed and happy... like he had not a care in the world. He tried to chock it up to blood loss, but no... this was obviously because of Quinn...

Quinn..."Ahhhh... Ya know what Quinn... you're the best pal a Featherman Ranger could ever ask for..." Jack would cringe as he reached over the bed and offered Quinn a hand up.

After a minute of sitting on the floor trying to make their face the right color, they would sit up right, trying not to laugh at themself. "That happens more than once, but the bed is bigger when there isn't another person taking up half of it." Climbing back up on to the bed, they'd start to bring their attention to the show again, noticing that they missed the best battle the first group of rangers had together. Though that meant that Blue Swan had at least eleven more episodes before the actress died, and Quinn didn't know if they were mentally prepared for that at the moment. "You're totally a cool friend too Jack." Friends, that's all they were, and probably all they were going to be. They pictured Jack as the kind of guy who would want to know their biological sex before they dated, which was something Quinn didn't plan on telling anyone ever. If Jack knew, he'd probably refer to them as that sex and nothing else, which wouldn't help anything.

"Well Excuse me for being so large! Heh. I kinda get the impression you want me out of your bed, and here I was just starting to get cozy." Jack would wiggle his but into the sheet to cement his place on the bed. While the bed was small it was very... VERY soft and comfortable. Much more so then the cold... hard... unforgiving... slightly fascist ground he was used to sleeping on. That... and the bed was warmer with Quinn in it. He had noticed that he spent less time starring up at the ceiling at night and more time sound asleep. All because he felt more at peace knowing someone was there beside him.

"Yeah... Friends..." Easy now Jack... Remember... push it deep down untill it suffocates and dies. Jack's attention returned to the screen for a few moments before he realized something that had been bothering him de-OH HELL YEAH! GROUP HENSHIN CALL! Jack mimicked the moves on screen as best he could with his injuries... now where was he... Oh yeah... deeply. "Hey Quinn. WHen I first got here your little bro asked if I was your new boyfriend... heh... Am I only the most recent of your male house guests?" Jack's tone would be playful... but if they listened closely they would pick up on a twinge of something else burred in jack's voice... worry?

Listing to Jack, they caught that slight worried tone, but took in a different way than it was supposed to be in. "Oh nah, he meant in in such a way that I've never dated anyone, which is really true." They'd laugh a bit. "So don't worry, not like I have one person taking up all my time. I still have time for wicked cool friends like yourself." Accept it, he was a friend, and only a friend. Nothing could happen because Jack was the kind of guy who wouldn't feel comfortable being with them until he knew what biological sex they were. And even if they did start dating after he found out, it wouldn't feel right at all; it'd actually make them sick. "Be honest Jack, you've been trying to figure out my biological sex right? Do you think you're even ever going to figure it out? Or are you just hoping I'll tell you someday?" They wouldn't look at him while they spoke; their tone wasn't aggressive at all, only with a twinge of annoyance.

Jack would turn to look at Quinn for a moment... Did.. did they really think that's what this was about. While that was part of it, it really wasn't his main reason for asking the question... then again he didn't quite know his reasoning... It was... just that he wanted to know if Quinn had dated anyone before. But he couldn't help but feel he had offended his friend with his question... Again....Greaaaaat

"Quinn..." He would start with a slightly hurt by apologetic smile gracing his lips, the shine from the TV lighting up his face in the dim room ever so slightly "Believe me when I say... That to me, all that matters is that you're Quinn... Beyond that I couldn't care less if you're a boy or a girl or something else entirely. Am I curious?... Yes, I'd have to be crazy not to be. But do I ever expect to find out? No. Because it would make you sad, and I'd hate myself if I repaid your your kindness and friendship with tears." Jack would close his eyes and smile to Quinn in the darkness as the episode ended "You're Quinn... and that's all I care about."

They'd blush a bit, though they didn't look away from him this time. Friend or no friend, they couldn't deny that feeling, but there were so many things wrong with this... Quack. First off, Jack probably didn't want to go out with someone who was alike to them at all, being the type of guy he was. "That's sweet." Second, they've only known each other for a short while, and while that seemed okay in itself, it was actually kinda slutty. And finally, with how reckless he was, they would probably lose him after he brings a knife to a persona fight. Even so, all those reasons made them want to try a bit more, which sucked. "I've been thinking... And I know you said you'd think about it, but I really wanted to know if I could join the Rangers. I can't really train my persona on my own, and I don't know anyone else with a team so..." They really hoped he'd say yes, but of course there was that chance that he wouldn't agree so they didn't get their hopes up.