Chapter Seven

Adam knew something was going on when Cam sat down opposite him.

Like Adam, Cam was a fixture at the Ranger's Rest. Unlike Adam, he rarely spoke to anyone, and he never spoke to anyone who wasn't contempory or older than he was. Cam took crossed timelines very seriously.

But today he was deliberately sitting in Adam's booth. Adam squinted, frowning. "You're older'n me. Five years at least. What're you doing?"

"What have you done?" Cam asked, leaning forward.

"What?"

"Your team's changed."

"Has it? To what?"

"To nothing. Every Ranger has a team, Adam, or at least a partner. Why are you solo?"

"Solo," Adam murmured.

"Adam," Cam insisted. Adam blinked, focusing again – why was he so tired? – and realised that Cam was actually worried.

He produced his morpher, dropping it onto the table between them. Cam's eyes widened as he took in the damage. "You morphed with this? And you're conscious?"

"It didn't hold for long," Adam admitted.

"It shouldn't have lasted at all. What were you doing? You know better than this."

"It was necessary."

"Necessary," Cam repeated disbelievingly. Picking up the morpher, he probed it gently. "Of course it was."

Two glasses thumped on the table. Adam looked up in surprise as Zhane swung in to sit next to Cam. "Drink that," he ordered, pushing the second glass over to Cam.

"What is it?" Adam asked warily.

"Liquid."

"He's underage," Cam said without looking up from the morpher.

"He speaks!" Zhane grinned at the glare he got in response. "What's underage?"

"It means he can't have alcohol."

"Is this alcoholic?" Adam asked curiously. "It doesn't taste alcoholic."

"Stop drinking," Cam ordered.

"Why? You're not my team leader. I don't have a leader."

Cam glared at Zhane, who spread his hands defensively. "It's not that strong. It shouldn't be doing that to him."

"He's coming off a loss of power and a battle. His system's all over the place. Make yourself useful and get him something he can eat."

"Sure." Zhane headed for the bar.

Cam snatched Adam's drink as he went for it again. "Food first. Then you can drink." Adam scowled, and Cam added, "Don't make me get Tommy Oliver or Jason Scott in here."

"Jason's not my leader. And you can't make people come to Ranger's Rest, it doesn't work like that."

"You don't know this yet, because you're too young, but there's nothing I can't do."

Adam eyed him warily. He didn't know Cam that well – he didn't think they'd ever spoken – but he was fairly sure he wasn't lying. "After food?"

"You can drink whatever you like after you've eaten."

Zhane reappeared. "Fran's obviously not coming in, they're cooking pizza up there." He dropped a bowl in front of Adam. "Enjoy."

Adam stared at the bowl. "That's not pizza."

"Pizza's coming. Soup first." Zhane leaned over to Cam. "Is he all right?"

"Power loss," Cam said again. "Adam, how did this even work? The channels to the Power are completely gone."

Adam shrugged. "Morphers aren't my thing. I needed it to work, it worked."

"Until it didn't."

"Until it didn't," he agreed.

"You know this is just scrap metal now."

Adam reached across the table, taking the morpher from him. "It's a lot more than that."

"Eat," Zhane told him. "Faster you get some food, faster you can drink and get past the maudlin stage."

"The what?"

"I live with Andros, I know how this goes."

"No you don't, you're gone off with the rebels."

Zhane eyed him for a moment before looking at Cam. "He's not counting. When's the last time he didn't count?"

"He fell out of morph and lost his power, Zhane. Didn't that happen to you?"

"I fell out of morph," Zhane agreed. "I didn't lose my power."

"Rangers who are giving up or handing over their powers do it in private, out of battle, somewhere they can rest afterwards. Losing your power is exhausting. Doing it in battle is worse. My team – never mind, you're younger than I am."

"Pedant," Zhane said cheerfully, glancing at the bar. "Pizza's up. Be right back."

"You know I can hear you, right?" Adam asked, pushing his bowl away.

"No, I assumed that because you're three feet away you'd gone mysteriously deaf."

"That'll be why I don't talk to you."

"I don't talk to you," Cam corrected him.

"Pedant."

Cam rolled his eyes, sitting back as Zhane put a platter on the table and passed glasses of water around. "Dig in." Adam obeyed, taking a slice and picking off the pepperoni. Cam ignored it, sipping his water for something to do.

"You don't want some?" Zhane asked.

Cam eyed the pizza. "That? No."

Adam grinned. "Training diet."

"Training diet? Seriously?"

"It's all very well for active Rangers," Cam snapped. "Metabolism goes up. You can eat anything you want. The rest of us have to be careful."

Adam stared at his plate and Zhane sighed. "Nice, Cam, you set him off again. Where's the alcohol?"

"He can't have alcohol."

"You said I could after I ate!"

"Yeah, that was what we call a misdirection."

Zhane looked at Adam. "I'm still getting used to Earth English. That's another word for lie, right?"

"No," Cam told him crisply. "A lie is when you say something untrue. A misdirection is where you imply something untrue."

"You said I could drink whatever I wanted after I ate."

"And turned twenty one. That part was implicit. You can't have alcohol, your system's still off."

"And you're underage!" Zhane said cheerfully. "Well, if you can't have alcohol, sugar's the next best thing. Be right back."

"That guy needs to be tied down," Cam muttered, watching him go.

"Cam?" Adam said quietly. "No team?"

"You burned out your morpher. The trace energy that tied you to the Morphin' Rangers is gone. And you passed on the Turbo powers."

"No team ever again?"

Cam closed his eyes momentarily. "I can't confirm or deny. You know that."

Adam nodded slowly. "No team," he said, as though testing.

"It doesn't mean no team. My team –" Cam swallowed. "You know when I am?"

"Six years."

"I'm active five years after you. And our powers are ripped away in our last battle. But we're still a team, Adam. Losing the Power isn't the end of everything, whatever it feels like."

From the corner of his eye he saw Zhane start towards them, clock their expressions and abruptly turn away, dropping beside the curly haired, nervous boy and talking loudly. The Astro Ranger was headstrong and careless, but he had an almost supernatural ability to read people.

"You told me about something that hasn't happened yet," Adam murmured. "That's against your rules."

Cam smiled faintly. "My Yellow Ranger would say something long and complicated with lots of weird references, and it would boil down to; rules are made to be broken."

"She sounds smart."

He snorted softly. "I'll pass that along. Drink your water, ok?"

"You're being nice. I should talk to you more often."

"You definitely shouldn't. Drink the water or I'll pour it down your throat, how about that?"

"Yes, sir," he muttered, taking a sip.

"It feels like the end," Cam murmured. "Like nothing will ever be right again; like you've lost who you are. But it's not. It gets better."

Adam studied him for a long moment. "Should really talk to you more often."

Cam rolled his eyes, looking around to find Zhane already coming towards them. "Oh joy," he said dryly. "Sugar. Just what Zhane needs."

"I heard that," Zhane told him, sliding a smoothie towards Adam and another glass of water to Cam. "I'm not drinking anything, for your information, I have to go soon."

"Aw, so soon? What a terrible shame."

"Be nice," Adam told him, taking a sip. "Blearugh. What's in this?"

Zhane shrugged. "Dunno. Some kind of fruit. And lots of sugar."

"It's awful."

"Drink it anyway," Cam ordered.

"Sir," Adam muttered. "Is this bananas and pineapple?"

Zhane shrugged again. "Who knows? Your fruits are weird."

"And cherries?"

Cam made a face. "Drink a bit more. Sugar is good."

"Not active, remember? I have to be careful what I eat."

"I think you'll be all right today. Zhane, shift." Zhane blinked, standing so Cam could get out of the booth. "I'll be back in a minute."

Zhane gave him approximately five seconds before sliding a glass over to Adam. "Drink up."

"That's the alcohol."

"Yep. Quick, down the hatch before Cam gets back." Adam eyed him, and he sighed. "Or don't. Up to you."

"I'm underage."

"I'm sure that's very serious," he agreed solemnly. "It sure sounds like something a Ranger should remember. Want the drink or not? He'll be back in a second."

"Hand it over." Adam downed the glass, taking a gulp from his smoothie to hide the taste. "Blearugh."

"Good." Zhane pulled the glass in front of himself. Cam would know, of course, but there was no reason to make it easy on him.

"Why d'you want me to get drunk?" Adam asked.

"I told you. I live with Andros. I know about brooding and how to deal with it. Drunk helps mute it out for a little while, and by the time you get better it won't be so immediate. Talking about it might work for Cam, but getting drunk works for everyone."

"I've never been drunk before."

"You're not drunk now. You're just a little bit buzzed. Possibly. Do you feel any different?"

"Shove in," Cam ordered, and Zhane bounced down the seat to make room for him. "How's your smoothie, Adam?"

"Fruity. And sugary. Yum." He took a gulp and tried very hard not to choke on it.

Cam snorted, turning to look at Zhane. "You can't even get him drunk discreetly."

"The actual getting him drunk was very discrete," Zhane protested. "He's just not a discrete drunk. And he's not drunk."

"Oh, does Cam know now?" Adam asked. "Can I have some more, then?"

Cam sighed, shaking his head. "Finish your water, and then you can have more."

"Aw..."

"You're supposed to balance water and alcohol," Cam reminded him. "Drink your water and then Zhane can get you something to drink."

"Whoa, hang on, when did I become the supplier?" Zhane asked in alarm.

"When you started supplying him," Cam said matter of factly. Adam held up his empty glass and Cam grinned, sliding out of the booth. "Off you go."

"Try and help someone and this is what you get," Zhane said with a sigh. Cam just smiled and he headed off, still muttering to himself.

The rest of the evening blurred for Adam; he was aware that Cam stayed with them, making him drink enough water to stay relatively sober, and that Zhane, despite what he'd said, hung around, sharing ridiculous and probably made up stories about his time as a Ranger. He was aware of Tommy talking to Cam – an older Tommy, but Adam's eyes crossed when he tried to figure out how much older he was. "Try not to drink too much," he suggested. "I remember being really angry with you tomorrow."

"Timelines!" Adam pressed a finger to his lips on the second try, mumbling around it "You can't do that when Cam's here. He doesn't like it."

Tommy glanced at Cam, amused. "At least he's a happy drunk."

"Shush," Adam insisted.

"You morphed with a broken morpher, knowing it could kill you, and you thought I wouldn't be angry? The only reason I'm not yelling now is you'll be hung over tomorrow."

"Sadist."

"No, a sadist would hand you over to Trini or Aisha while you were hung over."

Adam took a moment to work though that. "Yeah, point," he managed finally.

"Um," said Zhane.

"Um?" Cam repeated. "No one likes a Ranger who says um, Zhane."

"What um?" Tommy agreed.

"He's not going to be hung over."

"Of course he is. He's had four or five of those drinks you're bringing him."

"They're..." He glanced at Adam, editing himself. "Not local. No hangover. Especially since he's matching them with water."

"Ha!" Adam said triumphantly. "No hangover. I won't have any hangover."

"Good, then I can stop feeling guilty about getting Aisha in on yelling at you. See you tomorrow."

Cam gave up trying to make Adam stop drinking after that, though he did make sure he kept balancing his drinks. Zhane came and went and eventually stayed gone, and a little while after that Adam put his head down on the table and went to sleep.

Adam almost never spoke to Cam after that day. Cam certainly never approached him again. Adam didn't push it; Ranger's Rest would work its magic and if they ever needed him again, he'd be ready.

The night of their victory over Thrax, he left his team – new team! He had a team! – at the bar and crossed to Cam's booth. "Just so you know," he announced, "I plan on getting drunk tonight."

"Good luck, Justin's here." Cam looked up from his book, eyes flickering over Adam, and grinned. "New team?"

"New team!" Adam agreed, concentrating very hard on not rhapsodising about them. "How long have you known?"

Cam shrugged. "You've always been hard to read. I see all your teams at the same time. Hard to tell what goes when."

"So, always," Adam translated. Cam scowled but didn't argue, and he decided that was as good as an admission.

"Who's with you?" Cam asked, glancing past him.

"My new team." And he should really stop smiling so widely. Sometime. Later. "Why?"

"If you remember, the last time you got drunk in here..."

"Only time I got drunk in here!"

"...we had to let you sleep it off in a booth because we couldn't find anyone who could take you home. And Zhane isn't here today. No hangover free alcohol."

"Bridge is from 2027. He says they have drinks like that there. Anyway, it's moot while Justin's here."

"He probably won't be here very long, then. Are they legal?"

"I'm not sure about Kira," Adam admitted. "I'll have to check."

"Tell me, did Tommy unleash Aisha on you the day after you got drunk?"

Adam winced. "Why do you think I never got drunk again?"

"But you're doing it today?"

"Special circumstances."

"Have fun," Cam told him, turning back to his book and effectively blanking Adam.

They did have fun. They started out on soft drinks, but after a while Adam realised he was drinking alcohol. A glance around confirmed that neither Justin nor the Samurai boy – one of these days, Adam would figure out his name – was there, and everyone else was either over their majority or close enough to it.

Kira, it turned out, was not only legal, but she knew all the best drinking games. Adam had half expected Bridge to go down early, but long after Adam's vision was swimming Bridge was still matching Kira and Tori drink for drink.

"How're you doing that?" he asked after a while.

"Doing what?"

"You're not even drunk!" he said accusingly.

Bridge smiled. "I will have been going to be living in the SPD barracks since I was fifteen, which is twelve years in the future of now. And I was will be going to be on a team with Jack and Z for a year."

Adam didn't even try to unravel the grammar. Maybe Bridge was drunk after all, although he wasn't quite sure why it would manifest like that. "Barracks! Not a dorm! They're meant to be strict about things like this!" He rounded on Tori, almost falling over before Xander got an arm around him. "What's your excuse?"

"I spent a year on a team with five boys, Adam. I can burp the alphabet, too."

"Does Blake know about that?"

"Who do you think taught me?" she said with a grin.

"Gross," Adam muttered, twisting to try and see Xander. "You're not drinking?"

"I'm the DD, remember? Someone has to get us back to the house."

"But we don't get hangovers, right?" Suddenly anxious, he looked at Bridge, vaguely aware that Xander was steadying him again.

"No hangovers," Bridge confirmed. "But we still get drunk. Really drunk, apparently, looking at you."

"You're such a lightweight," Kira agreed. "Don't you ever drink?"

"Only been drunk once," Adam muttered.

"Seriously? But you're Dr O's age."

It took him a minute to remember who Dr O was. "Older," he said firmly. "I am older than he is."

"That's even worse. You've only been drunk once? Whose round is it?"

"I don't think we have to try much harder," Xander said in amusement.

"M'not drunk," Adam protested.

"Just leaning on me for the fun? Plan Xander always works eventually."

Adam thought about that for a while. "Water," he said eventually. "We all need water. Whose round is it?"

"It should be yours, but I'm not convinced you can get to the bar and back," Kira said cheerfully. "C'mon, Bridge, we're up."

"Why us?" Bridge protested.

"We're sober-ish."

"Xander's actually sober!"

"And holding up our fearless leader. Come on, it won't take long."

Adam frowned, concentrating. "Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you really burp the alphabet?"

"Do you want a demonstration?"

"No!" Xander and Adam overlapped each other. That struck Adam as really funny, and he was still laughing when Kira and Bridge came back with glasses and a pitcher of water.

"What did you do?" Kira asked, glaring at Xander.

"Hey! Me? Why am I the one in trouble here?"

"She probably thought it was you because on her first team, she was the one with the most social aptitude, so if something went wrong it was a guy's fault, and I was with her and Adam's probably not laughing at himself, so that leaves you. Although he's pretty drunk. He could be laughing at himself." Bridge poured out four glasses before realising they were staring at him. "What?"

"How do you know about my team? My other team?"

"It's all will be in the historical databanks. I will have had a little time to do some reading before I went came back."

"You knew this was going to happen before it happened?"

"It was after it happened," Bridge reminded her. "From where I was, anyway. And no. Operation Overdrive isn't won't be very well documented, for some reason. No mention of Thrax, or us."

"Probably better," Adam mused. "There's a lot of old Rangers out there would have loved to be picked for this. We shouldn't rub it in."

"Are you sober?" Tori asked, eyeing him.

"No." Adam stared at the pitcher for a moment before looking back at her. "Make it do something cool."

"I thought you liked being old school and hands on?" Xander teased him.

"I could be hands on with that jug, but it would end up in your lap," Adam told him.

"It's so wrong to hear things like that from my teacher's teammate," Kira muttered. "Do something with the water, Tori."

"Why don't you do something?"

"Cos I kind of think they'd rather all the glassware stays in one piece. Come on."

Sighing, Tori gestured at the pitcher. A thin stream of water pushed up out of it, swaying over the table like a snake; Adam laughed, reaching for it, and it splattered all over his hand. "Cold," he protested, shaking it off.

"It's drinking water. What were you expecting?"

"Did you make it cold?"

"No," she said patiently. "It's just cold."

"Are you sure?"

"It's just cold. Let's not do that anymore, then."

Xander struck up a loud conversation with Kira about having her into his music store for a session. Tori offered to come, and Bridge made vague references to things that might or might not happen at it.

"They have no record of Operation Overdrive in the future, but some random music session in a little music shop, that you know about?" Tori asked exasperatedly.

"Whoever put will put the archives together had will have a weird sense of priorities," Bridge agreed.

"Hey! Random?" Kira protested.

Adam smiled dreamily, listening to his team. "It would have been worth it," he said abruptly.

"What's worth what?" Kira asked.

"The hangover."

"What now?" Xander asked.

"The hangover," Adam repeated. "It'd be worth it, for a night like tonight."

"Oh, lord, he's hitting the maudlin stage. Someone get another drink into him," Kira said, looking around.

"My round," Tori said with a grin. "I'll be right back."

"Play dead," Xander urged Adam. "I've seen that look on a woman's face before. It usually ends up badly."

"Tori's on our team, Xander," Adam said sternly. The effect was marred by his grin. "She's not going to do anything bad."

"Uh huh," Xander said disbelievingly. "Then why is she grinning like that?"

"Maybe she's happy."

"Maybe she's plotting something," he muttered.

Tori reappeared, carefully carrying a tray with five little glasses of something neon on it. "Yours is water with food colouring," she said before Xander could protest. "I thought you might like to join in."

"Thanks, Tori," he said, pleased. "Sit up, bossman, you can't drink anything like that."

"I can sit up any time I want to."

"Good, sit up now, then."

He poked Adam until he sat up, grumbling. "What is this?" he asked, studying the drink.

"It's a toast," Tori told him. "To the Retro Rangers. Here's to showing them that old school can still get it done."

Adam grinned, raising his glass and meeting all their gazes, one by one. "The Retro Rangers."