Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) are property of 'Saban', who are in some strange way related to Disney, who run the show on ABC. No infringement is intended.
Author's Note: (a) There have been some minor changes to chapters 1 and 5-- nothing that affects the ultimate course of the story though. Although, for those of you interested in Cole's love life, I would recommend re-reading chapter 5 because this chapter will flow much better. With that, enjoy the chapter!
ROARING ON THE WIND
By Etcetera Kit
Chapter Six: the Fire Still Burns
"Cole, what was the point of us letting you have the air mattress, if you're going to sleep next to the air mattress and not on it?"
Cole woke up to Eric's amused voice the next morning. He blinked a couple times, trying to figure out where he was. Then he remembered, he was on the air mattress on the floor of Tommy's living room. Only, he wasn't on the air mattress. He was wrapped up in his blanket next to the thing. Eric was leaning over the side of the couch. Tommy had a queen-sized sleeper sofa and TJ and Eric had put a barrier of pillows between them so that there was no possible way either of them could accidentally touch each other or something else equally as questionable.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up. TJ was not anywhere in the room and the sofa had been set back to its original form. Eric was still in his pajamas and was sitting on the couch looking through an old issue of TV Guide. Cole looked at the clock on the wall. It was seven-thirty. That would make it eleven-thirty in Turtle Cove. His stomach rumbled—it was also way past time for him to eat something.
"Where's TJ?" he asked, trying to clear his throat and not succeeding.
"In the shower," Eric replied. "And before you ask, Tommy is down in the lab. Our instructions are to take turns in the bathroom and try not to disturb Andros and Ashley, especially Ashley."
"Where does breakfast figure into all this?"
Eric looked up from the TV Guide. "This is coming from the kid who wouldn't eat anything before eight in the morning?"
"I'm still on Turtle Cove time. In Turtle Cove, it's eleven-thirty and I'm hungry."
Eric laughed. "We could always raid Tommy's refrigerator and see what we find."
"Good call." Cole ran a hand through his hair, managing to get most of it out of his eyes and stood up.
"We're hiding all the blankets behind the couch," Eric told him. Cole looked at the tangled mass that was his sheet and blanket. He quickly folded them and added them to the stack behind the couch, while kicking the air mattress by the wall to lessen the potential damage to it. He picked up the throw pillow he had been using and tossed it on the couch with the others and followed Eric into the kitchen. Cole opened the fridge while Eric rummaged through some cupboards. There was not much in the way of breakfast food in the fridge—it seemed to be limited to produce, lunchmeat and cheese.
"Nothing worthwhile in the fridge," Cole muttered.
"He's got some cereal," Eric replied rummaged through a cupboard. "And… some Bisquik?"
"Excellent," Cole said with a grin grabbing the Bisquik from Eric.
"What are you going to do with Bisquik?"
"Make pancakes."
The throughways in the house jammed just as Tommy was coming out of the lab. Eric was coming downstairs, obviously just showered and dressed. Wes, Leo, Carter and Jason were coming through the front door and everyone could smell pancakes and coffee coming from the kitchen.
"I smell food," Jason muttered under his breath.
"What's going on?" he asked Eric.
Eric shrugged. "Cole's in the kitchen making breakfast." He paused. "I think TJ's in there with him."
"Good," Leo said. "He wouldn't let us eat before leaving the hotel," he added with a pointed glare for Wes.
"That food is not edible!" Wes protested. "I'm doing you a favor!"
Jason yawned loudly. "Mornin' everyone!" he said cheerily to smooth over any forthcoming storms and went into the kitchen.
Tommy exchanged a glance with Wes and they followed the rest of the group into the kitchen. Cole was indeed making breakfast, however, he was still in his pajamas. Coffee was brewing and somehow Cole had found a stack of plates, three of which already held pancakes. He had even managed to find a bottle of syrup. Tommy was impressed. He wouldn't have been able to scare up this much food out of his kitchen.
"This kid is amazing," TJ was saying. "He's made blueberry, chocolate chip and plain pancakes. He should be a chef."
Tommy felt his eyes go wide as Cole picked up the frying pan and flipped the pancakes in the air, catching them neatly in the frying pan. "I can make Mickey Mouse pancakes too," the Wild Force Ranger added, taking the pancakes out of the pan and adding them to the already existing plates of pancakes.
There was a mad rush for pancakes and coffee and soon there were people balancing plates and mugs of coffee all over the house. He and Cole were soon alone in the kitchen. "I was going to make eggs, bacon and toast as well," Cole was saying over the departing noise as he used the rest of the pancake batter. "But you didn't have any." He paused as he flipped the pancakes in the air. "I guess I'll have to go to the grocery store when we get some free time."
Tommy laughed. "I would probably be a good idea to get the Conner-food out of the fridge before Conner gets the idea that he's allowed to leave his food here."
"Conner was the driver, right?" Cole clarified as he put the last of the pancakes on the not-surprisingly empty plates. Tommy watched as in amazement as Cole put all of the dishes in the dishwasher except for the plates with the pancakes and the unused plates and mugs.
"Yeah," he replied. "Do you always clean up the kitchen this well?"
Cole shrugged. "The only room of my apartment that is clean is the kitchen." He paused. "Well, and the bathroom. Alyssa kind of beat that into my head."
"She's your girlfriend?"
Cole shrugged. "Kind of. I'm not sure what our relationship is anymore. I guess I could still call her my girlfriend although I'm expecting the break-up call any time now."
"You seemed resigned to it," Tommy stated as he poured himself a mug of coffee and divided the remaining pancakes between himself and Cole, while leaving some for Andros and Ashley who had yet to make an appearance.
"There's not much I can do about it," Cole replied, taking his plate of pancakes. "If I begged her to stay with me, it would only make her mad. I mean I can't force her to stay in a relationship if she doesn't want to."
Tommy nodded. "I felt that way about someone once."
"Kimberly?" He nodded. Was there anyone who didn't know that story? "Eric says you still love her even after she dumped you and hasn't talked to you in years."
"Eric has a big mouth. Actually Wes probably told him." He sighed. "I don't know if what I feel for her is love anymore. I haven't spoken to her in so long that it's very likely that we're different people now. I've been clinging to the past for so long now, afraid to let it go. Maybe all I've ever really loved since she broke up with me is a memory."
"That's not good," Cole said softly. "Memories can be warped to fit what you want."
Tommy sipped coffee from a thermos as he waited for the soccer game to start. The day was sunny, but there was a nasty breeze that colder than anything they had yet. Probably meant that it was going to be a cold winter or something along those lines. Trent was watching the café while Hayley came to the game. Hayley was sitting in a lawn chair while Ethan and Kira sat on a blanket waiting for the game to start. All his 'guests' had managed to find decent excuses not to attend the game—not that he could blame them. None of them knew Conner well at all and no one probably felt comfortable coming to the game. Billy had said he might drop by later, depending on what the girls had going on.
Well, after breakfast was over and the kitchen had been cleaned (by TJ and Eric who threw Cole out of the kitchen to go take a shower and get dressed), everyone seemed eager to get started on the tasks at hand. TJ and Andros had taken over the diagnostic scans on the zords and also wanted to make sure that the systems were clean with no viruses or anything. They were supposed have the extent of the damage and repairs needed by the time Tommy and the other Dino Thunder rangers got back from the soccer game. Carter had been working on Tommy's Jeep, which had died during its period of disuse. Leo, Wes and Jason had looked at the scanner readings and were going to make a preliminary search for the missing Dino-Gems. Cole and Eric had headed to the grocery store to get mass amounts of food for the people staying at Tommy's house. They had left shortly before Tommy equipped with Wes' credit card, a tentative shopping list and Andros' car.
A school bus pulled up to the soccer field and the opposing soccer team in bright orange jerseys streamed out and onto the field. Their jerseys clashed horribly with the bright red uniforms that the Reefside team sported.
"Who're we playing?" he asked Ethan and Kira.
"Angel Grove," Ethan replied in a voice that indicated he would rather be anywhere but on a soccer field watching Conner play.
Tommy snorted. So Angel Grove had changed their school colors since he had gone there and apparently the mascot. When he had been in school, the colors had been blue and white and the mascot was a lion. Now the colors appeared to be orange and black and he assumed that the mascot was a tiger from the cartoon tigers on the front of the soccer team's jerseys. The coaches got off the bus after the team and began yelling orders.
Conner dribbled a soccer ball over to them with a grin on his face. "Our biggest rivals," he said indicating the orange team that was taking over the field.
He must have really been out of the loop, because he didn't remember Reefside High School when he had gone to Angel Grove. Then again, Tommy had never been affiliated with the soccer team in any way.
"They've got the best coach around too," Conner was saying. "Apparently, he turned their whole soccer program around. They went from last in the region to third in one season."
"Who's the coach?" Kira asked.
"Some guy named Adam Park," Conner called as he rejoined the team for their warm-ups.
Tommy's heart froze. Adam Park? The same Adam Park who had been a ranger with him all those years ago? The same Adam Park who he had eventually stopped speaking to from lack of contact on both their parts? How many other Adam Parks could there be? He studied the coaches on the other side of the field, barking orders. It was hard to tell who any of them were partly because they were so far away and partly because they were all in identical polo shirts with bright orange bandanas around their heads. None of the coaches looked like Adam.
"This game needs to start," Ethan grumbled. "Because I'm about to freeze to death."
Kira gave him a scathing look. "It's not that cold out here."
"And what happened to showing support for your teammates?" Hayley reminded him over the computer magazine she had been reading.
A black Jeep Cherokee with an orange flame job pulled into the parking lot adjoining the field where the bus had ultimately parked. A man dressed exactly like the other coaches got out of the car and hurried over to the field. Tommy felt like he should recognize him, but nothing rang a bell. Maybe the Adam Park who was the coach was not the same person he had known after all. He thought back to his conversation with Cole back at breakfast. He had been hanging onto the past for a very long time. Every time he turned a corner he expected to see someone he had been a ranger with, never mind the fact that they were spread all over the country, not to mention the world and the universe.
Billy's forest green Explorer pulled into the parking lot and Billy got out of the car with his cell phone to his ear. Tommy heard the last part of the conversation as Billy hurried over to where they were.
"No… that doesn't sound good. Do you know if the zords had prolonged contact with something unsavory after the last battle? Just run it through the scanners anyways… Running it past Norton's or McAfee would work to identify something simpler… I have a program that will scan for that sort of stuff that I built… I'll bring it after the game… No problem… Make sure you scan the primary systems for errors… do the auxiliary last. They can go into battle without the auxiliary systems… Okay. Call me if you need anything else. Bye."
Billy disconnected the call and turned to a woman that had been looking at him strangely. He shrugged.
"The guys in my Boy Scout troop are hardcore gamers and I was giving them some advice on War of the Computer Viruses II."
The woman looked curious. "Is it a new game? I have a son who loves that kind of stuff."
"Well, it's kind of a prototype we're working on," Billy replied evasively stepping over to Tommy and the others.
"Andros?" Tommy asked.
Billy nodded. "He wanted some advice on a system glitch they found. I think he got my number from Jason." He paused and put his hands in his pockets. "I asked the girls if they wanted to come along, but Susie was watching Care Bears and Mary Anne had a Pre-Cal test she needed to study for."
"You're just in time," Tommy replied. "So how are the repairs coming?" he asked in an undertone to prevent the woman who had been listening to Billy's phone conversation from getting any strange ideas about them.
"It's hard to say. I'd imagine they won't be done with the initial system diagnostics until sometime this evening. There are quite a few zords. They probably won't be able to start any serious repairs until tomorrow morning."
"What are they running the scans for?"
Billy shrugged. "Everything. Since the zords have dinosaur DNA for their neural functions, it is imperative that they be scanned for viruses and potential system glitches that could lead to a zord malfunction causing the zord in question to go crazy, so to speak."
Tommy had forgotten how quickly Billy could pick up a computer system—or an entire Power Grid—and analyze everything that was going on in less than twenty-four hours. That was how the genius' mind worked, systematically. He took in all the information regarding something and had it all organized and its relationship to one another down in no time.
"Are you Billy?" Ethan asked in the direction of the former Blue Ranger. Tommy smiled to himself, realizing the similarities between Ethan and Billy. They both were the Blue Ranger and their zord had been the triceratops. Both could be considered the geniuses of the group they were a part of.
Billy nodded. "Affirmative. You two must be Ethan and Kira. Tommy was telling us about you guys yesterday."
"I hope it was good things," Ethan replied, sounding slightly mortified.
"Mostly," Billy said in an off-hand manner. "Most of the derogatory comments were regarding Conner and his choice of food."
"That's scary on a good day," Kira muttered.
"The freezer was full of Bagel Bites," Tommy growled.
Billy just laughed good-naturedly at all of them. Tommy rolled his eyes at him and tried drinking more of the coffee. He was reasonably warm except for his fingers and the rapidly cooling thermos wasn't helping the situation. Tommy and Billy had talked about the teaching situation before Billy left yesterday and had decided that Billy would go ahead and take over the classes. The reasoning was that Tommy would spend the extra time helping with the team and acclimatize himself back to society.
The soccer game passed quickly. In no time, the Angel Grove Tigers had beaten the Reefside Knights, 3-1. Conner looked disappointed, but lined up all the same to shake hands with the other team. Tommy looked at the coaches who were standing in the middle of the field talking. The one who had arrived late was facing their side of the field. Tommy suddenly had a flash of Adam at a karate tournament when they had still been in high school. He recalled that Adam's hair had been longish, although it had not been long enough to tie into a ponytail or something to keep it back completely. At that tournament, Adam had his hair held back by a green bandana. The coach had longish black hair except it was held back by an orange bandana. Tommy continued to stare. The man looked kind of like Adam, older and slightly more muscular… Tommy's face broke out into a grin. If that guy wasn't Adam, then there was something seriously wrong with his memory.
Billy seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Is that Adam?" the genius asked.
"I think so."
Billy shrugged. "I should have known he would end up a soccer coach."
Tommy looked at him. "How so?"
"He used to go to the soccer field and practice whatever soccer players practice when he could get any spare time. I guess it was how he relaxed."
Tommy shook his head. He guessed that he really hadn't known anyone on the original power team as well as he thought he had. He thought of the example of Billy and Trini. He had not gotten to know them at all until they had all been at UCLA together. He thought he understood what had happened between them. He had been wrong. Now, he wasn't even sure that he knew Billy anymore after what had happened just before he went to Hawaii. It was just another way that he had been clinging to the past. For some reason, being around all these guys who had bad breaks in their life and had moved on successfully, made him think about whether or not he had truly moved on.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't even see Conner and the Angel Grove coach who he and Billy thought was Adam coming over to them.
"Guys!" Conner was saying. "This is Coach Park!"
It was Adam all right. He smiled broadly at Tommy and Billy. "It's great to see you guys again. Conner tells me that you teach at Reefside High School."
Tommy rolled his eyes and shook Adam's hand. "I see you're a soccer coach."
Adam shrugged as he shook Billy's hand. "I'm a coach and teach a little History on the side so I can remain a coach." He paused. "What are you guys up to?"
"He's on a sabbatical," Billy said indicating Tommy. "I'm teaching his classes while he's off having fun."
Adam laughed. Billy's cell phone rang. He answered it and then the situation began to play out like some kind of bad soap opera.
"Hello?" Billy said into the phone. "Andros, what's going on?" He paused and they could hear the slight mumble of the person on the other end. "How did a common computer virus end up on a zord? Did you isolate it?" He paused again. "It's only on the Stego-Zord. What was it affecting… motor commands… Can we get rid of it? Good. Did you scan the rest of the zords to make sure it really is only on that zord? Yeah… the game is over, we'll be there in a few minutes. Scan the rest of the zords for it. Okay. Bye."
The woman who had overheard Billy earlier was telling her son about the computer game he and his Boy Scout troop were designing. Luckily enough, they were heading towards the parking lot along with the rest of the people who had been watching the game. Adam's expression looked stricken.
"You guys are rangers again?" he asked softly as Billy hung up on Andros.
"He is," Billy said pointing to Tommy. "I'm not."
"What's going on?" Adam asked.
Tommy and Billy exchanged glances. There was no way they were going to be able to brush Adam off about the whole thing. They might as well tell him the whole story.
"Let me guess," Kira said. "He's an ex-ranger too?"
"Are you a ranger now?" Adam countered.
"They're rangers now," Tommy said to Adam. "He was a ranger," he said to the kids and Hayley. "Can you follow us back to my place?" he asked Adam. "I can explain the whole situation then."To Be Continued...
Author's Note: (b) Thanks for all the reviews! I appreciate all the input from people more Wild Force savvy than me. I have extensive knowledge of Power Rangers up through about the second movie, then it skips to Lost Galaxy and then it skips to Dino Thunder. Since who Cole is dating is not really relevant to the story as a whole, I changed his girlfriend to Alyssa since the consensus is that they are the believable couple. I also altered the conversation at the restaurant to reflect the fact that Eric knows who all the Wild Force rangers are. Thanks a bunch to all who contributed to that! With that, here I go with reviewer responses for people who reviewed chapter 5:
cmar- Ah, cmar, the bane of my fan fiction existence. Want to be my beta reader? lol Don't apologize for the outburst- it was grounded and legitimate. I see what you mean and will try my best to reduce those occurrences in following chapters. Although, because I have so many characters going and everyone has their favorite, I'm trying to include everyone at all times. (Probably not the best idea.) However, I see your point. Let me know if it starts happening to an extreme.
Funky In Fishnet- One of my reasons for slightly altering the last chapter. I see your reasoning concerning the Wild Force and Time Force couples and whatnot. Thanks for your insight on that-- like I've said, not savvy on those particular incarnations and any help from reviewers there is most welcome! Thank you so much for your kind words as well!
jim hawking jr- Thanks for your sweet review! In one of your earlier reviews, you asked me about the Ninja Storm red ranger and why he wouldn't be a part of the distress signal. That question will be answered in later chapters, I promise. Once more, thanks for the kind words!
Katalia- Thank you so much for your insight on Wild Force and Time Force. As I have said before, I'm not entirely up to speed on the history there. The chapters have been altered slightly to reflect the history you told me. Although, I'm sure that Eric and Taylor would have been happy together, they aren't going to appear as a couple in this fic. But once more, thank you for your insight!
the-power-of-love- Glad you like the story! Thanks for the kind words!
SilverRider- Glad you like the story. Eric is supposed to be some of the comic relief, so I'm glad to see its working.
white time ranger- I can't tell you if Jen is coming back! That would spoil the story! :) As I said before, patience is a virtue! But I'm glad you like the story-- Ghostbusters is one of my favorite movies as well. Keep reading and I'll keep writing!