Against her Doctor's orders, Lauren checked herself out of The med bay the following morning. About a block away from the hospital she instantly regretted the jacket. Sweat was pouring off her body, making every step uncomfortable. Soon she began to feel faint and had to sit down at a nearby bus stop, "Maybe this was a mistake", she she was out of the med bay, Lauren realised that she had no idea where to go. Heading for The Shiba mansion was probably the sensible option but she really didn't want to face the team yet. That only left her with one place to go and fortunately the appropriate bus was coming her way. She stood up and extended her arm, her oldest friend would know exactly what to say.
Twenty minutes later the bus dropped Lauren off outside Taylor and Eric's store. The blonde haired co-owner was arranging a display outside and greeted the red ranger warmly, "Hey Lauren, didn't expect to see you here". The smile quickly fell from Taylor's face when the tired looking Lauren lowered her hood, "He's in the manager's office", Taylor stated. Lauren gave her a half smile in return, Taylor always knew when something was wrong with Lauren, She wasn't jealous of the close relationship between Eric and Lauren, knowing full well about their shared experiences.
Lauren didn't even bother to knock on the manager's door and was greeted by a startled Eric hunched over the desk surrounded by paperwork. The moment he set eyes on Lauren he let out a loud sigh, "I'll break out the whiskey".
As Eric opened his desk draw her head, "Think I'm going to see something stronger than that today", she slumped into the chair opposite Eric.
The former red ranger frowned and opened another draw, pulling out a small silver flask, "Russia's finest, courtesy of Skarl". Lauren frowned, knowing the reputation of Skarl, "Don't worry it's legal", Eric chuckled and pushed the glass of clear liquid over to Lauren.
The red ranger took a sniff at the glass but whatever was inside was completely odourless. She took a small swig and almost instantly the back of her throat began to burn, "Jesus Christ", she coughed, "that's like liquid fire".
"And people criticised President Trump's close relationship with the motherland", Eric smiled, "what happened this time?" Lauren's head snapped up, "I'm not a total idiot Shiba the only time you visit me nowadays is to complain". A small grin appeared on his face.
Over the next few minutes Gwen went into a detailed explanation of the last week's events. Since Eric was a civilian he would only have the presses account of things. To her knowledge the Psycho's attack at the warehouse yesterday hadn't even made the news which was a small blessing. She could see the fire behind Eric's eyes beginning to burn. Deliberately hurting Eric's friend, that was the last straw.
When Lauren was finished Eric didn't say a word and that really made the red ranger worried. Whenever her oldest friend went quiet like this, it was usually the sign of a massive eruption brewing. "Eric don't do anything stupid", she could see his hands shaking with rage across the desk.
Eric calming stood up from his chair, "I'm not going to do anything stupid" he began and slowly made his way towards a cupboard on the other side of his office. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the medium size door, "This is probably the smartest thing I've ever done". He reached inside to retrieve his morpher and Quantum defender, "I'm going to track down the Psycho's and delete them fro existence".
"Eric don't", Lauren stood in front of main office door, "Getting angry isn't going to solve anything",
"I'll get angry if I want", Eric banged the defender against the desk. Before their conversation could continue the office door opened. At first Lauren thought it was Taylor but to her shock, it was Commander Tate, "Ms Shiba, this doesn't look like The med bay to me", he barked. Lauren was too tired to stand up and give him a proper salute, merely waiving vaguely in his direction, "At ease", he snorted sarcastically, I have some business with your friend".
"Me?" Eric pointed at his chest, "Look Commander I'm out of the ranger game, have been for a while". He then began to frown, "If it's about that last shipment that Skarl brought it, I promise you it was from a legal source".
"I'm not here to talk about Skarl", Tate began, "actually I'm not here to talk to you at all".
The Commander stepped aside and another man entered the office. Lauren immediately recognised him as Supreme Commander Andros. The red ranger began to get up but the older man waived her off, "Please Lauren stay seated", he began, "I know the last 24 hours have been hard on you".
"It hurts you more mentally than physically", she commented.
A sad look crossed Andros's face, a look that suggested he knew exactly what she was going through. He soon shook it off and turned his attention to Eric, "I know you've been out the business for a while Eric but I've come to make you an offer old friend."
Eric raised an eyebrow at the Supreme Commander, "Is this a financial offer, if it's not then I'm not interested".
"Myers", Tate growled, "show a little respect".
"At ease Tate", Andros smiled, "of course Eric you will be financially compensated if you accept my offer".
Lauren watched Eric's face carefully, she could almost see the grey cells in his head working away, "I'm listening", the former Quantum ranger answered.