Power Rangers are not my property.
"Wanna play some pool?"
Bridge Carson, green ranger, master mechanic, and possessor of psychic powers, looked up from his plate of toast to see Z standing in front of him, hands and her right foot moving impatiently.
"Me?" he asked bewilderedly.
"Of course you!" She sat down next to him on the couch. "I've been dying to play for awhile now."
"I don't know how to play," Bridge said sheepily as he continued to butter his toast.
"That's alright. I can teach you." Her smile was a mile wide as she looked at the flummoxed green ranger. "I'll meet you outside headquarters in thirty minutes. Wear something casual."
Z literally bounced out of the room to go change. Bridge stood up, grabbed his toast and made his way to the room he shared with Sky.
Across the room, Jack his head lightly and sighed as his Blue Centurion plowed into Sky's Megazord. Syd, who was doing her nails while watching the boys play, noticed the change in the red ranger's demeanor.
"What's up Jack?"
"Z just asked Bridge to play pool." He replied.
"Pool? What's wrong with that?" Sky asked, slightly interested.
Jack smirked and took of advantage of the distraction. "It's the test."
"What test?" Syd put out her hand to admire her French manicure.
"The test she puts to guys she likes."
Both the video game and Sydney's nails were forgotten at this little piece of news. Sky looked at Jack, "No way! She's interested in Bridge?"
"I wasn't sure, even I have a hard time understanding Z, and I'm her best friend. But this confirms it."
"But why pool?" Syd asked.
"Z has a system."
Bridge waited outside headquarters wearing his green, long-sleeved SPD shirt and jeans. He opened and closed his hands impatiently, stretching and relaxing the new gloves he had on. After a few more minutes, he saw Z walk out the front entrance. She had on her favorite yellow leather jacket, a black tank top and jeans. Her hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail with side-swept bangs.
He watched as she came towards him, butterflies fluttering in his stomach as he thought about how pretty she looked. Bridge didn't know when he started to be attracted to Z Delgado. It crept in slowly, from the smile and look she gave him when she first joined the squad to the trill of her laughter when he started going on about his latest computer/toaster upgrade. He looked forward to spending some alone time with her.
"So where are we going?" He asked.
"This place called Gillian's that I go to now and then. Good service and great tables." With that she hooked her arm through his not noticing the blush reddening his cheeks. They walked through Parkington Plaza, the place where they first met and tried to beat each other up, to an alley behind it.
They walked through the double doors into a smoky room. The top 40 hits of the last two decades could be heard as they traversed down the carpeted walkway. In front of him, Bridge could see a long elliptical bar with customers on both sides. The bartenders walked back and forth leisurely as the poured drinks and made small talk. Sitting behind the glass counter to Bridge's left was an old man, tall and with a smile punctuated with the black of missing teeth.
"Z! Long time no see! Do you need a table?" the old man asked as he gave Bridge a glance. "Who's your friend?
Z smiled. "Mark, this is Bridge, we're on the same squad together. And Bridge this is Mark, who used to be 17th in the world before he bought this crappy place."
"This place may be crappy, but I don't see you shooting anywhere else."
"I'd miss your smile if I did. Can we get a corner table?"
"Sure, take number 19. Nice and private." He handed Z a tray of billiard balls and winked at Bridge who was still soaking in the surroundings. Z poked him in the ribs and took his arm again.
As they walked pass the other tables, they could see people of all ages and persuasions playing: salty old men playing one pocket, teenagers trying to convince a waitress to get them a beer, two middle-aged men locked into a serious competition and a dad showing his son how to hold a cue straight. Many of the people playing waved and greeted Z as the two rangers made their way to the back tables. They arrived at the corner table lit only by three lamps overhead.
Bridge sat down in a tall wooden chair as he watched Z place the balls on the table and approach the rack of cues along the wall. She had a pensive look on her face as she inspected each pool stick until she was satisfied with two cues. The yellow ranger quickly and expertly racked the balls in the triangle and turned back to Bridge.
Noticing Z's routine movements, Bridge felt a little worried and nervous. "So, I'm guessing you've been here a lot."
Z laughed, "Maybe."
"Maybe? I think I'm gonna get hustled. Are you good?"
"One lesson I learned in life is that you never say that you're good. That only gets your ass kicked. I'm alright. Let's get started."
The rest of the rangers had moved on from recreational activities to dinner. The topic of conversation had not moved on from Bridge and Z.
"So what's the system?" Sky asked as he picked at the mashed potatoes on his plate.
Jack looked up from his meatloaf and leaned back in his chair. "Everything about the pool date is calculated from how the guy reacts to other people.."
"What?" Sydney interrupted.
"Z's a regular. She knows a lot of people there and they know all about her system. They know what's happening before the guy does."
"Geez, what's the fun in that?" Syd asked as she dug through her salad.
"She has a hard time trusting people. Comes from people calling her a freak and monster when she was little." They all were quiet after that comment, contemplating their own experiences with their powers.
Z watched as Bridge awkwardly handled the cue. It stuck up at an angle and it looked like it was ready to spear the table. They had started slow, Z broke and demonstrated the basics: how to hold a cue, what the balls were, and how to play solids and stripes. Bridge just nodded his head appearing to understand.
She watched as he knocked around the balls and failed to sink any of them into the pockets. She like how determined yet childlike he was to learn how to play. Z looked at the clocked and noted that they had been there for ten minutes. She counted to ten under her breath.
"He's a cute one." A voice said from behind Z.
"Yeah," Z replied absent-mindedly. Her eyes were completely focused on Bridge. She turned to face the person speaking to her. It was a tall, brown haired girl dressed in a white shirt and black pants.
"Hey, Deb," the yellow ranger smiled at her favorite person at Gillian's. "How's business?"
"Not bad, I wish I was doing as well as you are. He's got a nice ass." The waitress said appreciatively as she checked Bridge out.
"Hey, hands off!" Z slapped the girl's hand in play. "I'll have my usual, go and ask him what he wants."
The girls turned their attention back to Bridge as he finally managed to sink a ball, the cue ball. They laughed and signaled him to come over to the small bar table near the pool table.
"Hey hun, what can I get you?" Deb asked putting in as much flirt as possible.
Bridge looked over to Z, "What are you having?"
"Maker's and ginger ale."
"What's that?" he asked puzzled.
"Bourbon whiskey and soda."
Bridge thought for a few seconds before speaking again. "I'll have the same thing." He walked back to the pool table and tried to sink in anything but the cue ball. Deb stayed by Z's side.
"So what does that mean?" she asked.
"He trusts me and he's willing to try anything." Z smiled and went to the table to help the hapless ranger.
Jack, Sky, and Sydney settled in on the couch to watch Survivor 30: Triforia. They were still dumbfounded by Z's test.
"Jack, you sure know a lot about this test." Syd asked as they watch the contestants eat live banoinga worms.
"Z pulled the test on me," he said cringing from the horrifying scene.
"Really?"
"Yup, after I hit on the waitress and had a temper tantrum when she won, she called me an egotistical jerk and decided we should stay friends."
"Typical," snorted Sky. "She made a good decision."
"Z looks at everything: how the guy treats the waitress, what he orders, how competitive he is, if he can handle defeat. And that's just the mental portion of the test."
Syd looked at Jack, "There's more?"
"I don't know if Bridge has what it takes to pass the physical."
Bridge gulped nervously as he watched Z walk away from the table and take off her yellow jacket.
"It's getting warm in here," she commented.
"Yeah," Bridge definitely felt warm as he saw her newly exposed arms. He took a sip of the drink that Deb had brought back and sputtered as the alcohol burned down his throat. Z, on the other hand, looked completely relaxed as she took small sips from her glass.
"Z, am I holding this right? It feels okay but the balls still don't go where I want them to go. They seem to have a mind of their own. They don't want to go into the holes," he looked down at the six ball. "The hole is your home! Don't you want to go home? Oops!" Bridge fumbled the cue and dropped it onto the ground. "I'm hopeless aren't I?"
"No, you're not," she couldn't help but giggle. "Here let me show you."
She approached the table and picked up the cue. "Hold the cue firmly in your bridge hand and use your other hand to keep it as parallel to the table as you can. Make sure that your feet are apart and look at the ball.
"Imagine a line is going from the pocket and through the ball. Then aim the cue ball at the where the line meets the spot where you're going to hit the other ball." Z lined up her shot and sank the ball into the pocket. She then set up the cue ball and the nine ball so that it would go straight into a side pocket. She walked back over to Bridge and handed him the cue. He tried to imitate the stance Z had taken before but was still having trouble.
"Here," Z said as she moved his arm. "You want to bend at the elbow a little bit more." Bridge felt her tan arms surround him, nudging his body until it felt steadier. Her body was close to his as she guided his back arm back and forth in a smooth motion. Z let go of his arm and Bridge made contact with the cue ball, watching it sail into the other one. The nine ball rolled smoothly into the pocket.
"I did it!" Bridge turned around and swept Z into a big hug, swinging her around and laughing. He set her back down again, arms still around her waist and looked into her smiling eyes, big and brown. They stared at each other as the background faded into silence. Involuntarily, his hand went up to caress her cheek. She closed her eyes and pressed her face into the warm leather.
Time slowed as Bridge lowered his lips down to hers. Their motions were smooth and sweet as they kissed, mental fireworks firing in their heads.
They stayed that way for moments until they heard the cheering and whistling from the rest of the club. Bridge and Z blushed as they were encouraged with catcalls of "Go Z!"
Z turned away from Bridge and yelled out, "Ok! Show's over!" She looked back at him and smiled as the adoration in his eyes.
"I want to do that again," Bridge said innocently.
"What the shot or the kiss?"
"Both," he replied. Z kissed him on the lips and set up the same shot as before.
Back at headquarters, the other rangers finished up a night of tv watching. They were all about to turn into to bed when Sky asked, "So how do we know if Bridge passed the test?"
Jack smiled. "Oh, he passed. Look." He pointed out the door as Bridge and Z walked past the rec room hand in hand and completely oblivious to anything but each other. Jack left the rec room as Sky and Syd stood with their mouths agape.
"Hey Sky?" Syd asked still stunned.
"Yeah, Syd?"
"Wanna play some pool?"
