Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) belong to BVE, who are related to Disney. No infringement is intended.

BOND ENFORCEMENT

By Etcetera Kit

Part One: On the Run
Chapter Five: Chase Scene

Going to the shooting range was fast becoming an odd form of bonding. Eric crossed his arms over his chest and studied the targets that Kendrix, Cam and Kira had been using. Cam could hold his own, having picked up what to do quickly enough. He had picked up how to compensate for gravity. Well, he was a mechanical genius and had enough physics to make a normal person dizzy. It was no wonder that he picked things up so quickly.

The girls were another story. Girls… women… he mentally corrected himself. Someone had already been offended because he referred to them as 'girls' to Mike. In fact, 'Kendrix and Kira' would probably be the safest thing to say. The fact of the matter was he used the term 'girls' to refer to any female under the age of about sixty. Seeing as the pair of them was well under that, he didn't see a problem. It didn't bother him when they referred to himself, Cam and Mike as the 'boys.'

Kira was doing all right. At close range, she'd be able to wound someone without causing serious amounts of damage. The last take-down he had gone on with her, she hadn't even pulled out her gun, just tackled the guy. The direct approach did work. And Mike had been right about how fast she was. She was giving Cam a run for his money and he was fast by the virtue of being a ninja.

He glanced at Kendrix. When they would first arrive here, she would do all right, hitting the targets in a fairly predictable pattern. As the evening would wear on, it was like her skills would deteriorate. That he didn't understand. She had to be able to hit a human-sized target at fifty meters in order to be in the GSA. That meant she had extensive upper body weight training and balance—and she had been trained on both standard and laser guns. It wasn't because she was getting tired. Something was wrong with her and—he stopped and stared at her, not believing that he had missed it. She was having trouble with the recoil from the standard guns.

Kendrix set down her gun to reload it. Eric pushed himself from where he had been leaning against the wall and walked over to her.

"Kendrix?"

"What?" she asked, her tone tired and cranky.

"Are you all right?" He said the question carefully. There had been a few female guardians and most of them got offended if the males tried to baby them. Questions had to be bland enough to sound like a general question he asked everyone. Plus, she needed to get around to telling him the problem herself. He would be patient…

"Why?" she countered.

"You're getting worse." It was a fact that couldn't be denied. "And you shouldn't be tired yet." He wanted to shake her to get her to admit to it. No… He. Would. Be. Patient.

Her face fell. "I know."

Eric tried to curb the instinct to lash out at her. "Are you really tired?" Maybe it was just one of those girl things that he didn't understand and didn't want to understand. It didn't necessarily have to be chronic—she could just be having trouble tonight.

"No."

"Then what's going on?" He paused. "You were a GSA officer! I know for a fact that you had to have been able to hit a human-sized target at fifty meters. You've had weight training and balance! You've been trained on standard and laser guns!"

Tears began to fill her dark blue eyes. He inwardly cursed himself. In the two weeks that all of them had been living together, the one thing he hadn't done was make one of the girls cry. Now that he had just accomplished that, he could safely say he had done just about everything possible to piss them off.

Eric gently took her arm, steering her out of her booth and towards the side exit. On the way, he passed Cam and poked him in the back. The ninja turned around. Eric pointed towards the exit. He nodded in affirmation and went back to what he had been doing.

The night air was cool when he guided Kendrix outside. She pulled away from him and began to wipe at her eyes.

"What is wrong?" he asked, hoping that the impatience he felt hadn't been conveyed in his voice. She just needed to tell him…

She sniffed violently and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry," she said in a small voice. "That was unprofessional. I'll go back now." She started for the door.

Eric grabbed her arm, stopping her progress. "What the hell was that?" he spat. "I'm not your superior anymore, Kendrix! Quit acting like I am!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" He paused and let go of her arm, raking a hand through his hair. "The only person who can order us around is Mike!"

"Then why do you?"

There was another unspoken accusation underneath her words. She knew the story of how he became the commander of the Silver Guardians—anyone who worked for Bio-Lab or any other company Collins owned knew that story. It painted him as a career climber, someone willing to do anything to reach his goals. She was insinuating that that was what he was doing here—trying to replace Mike.

"I'm trying to keep you alive," he said softly. "I know it sounds like I'm ordering you around, but… you can tell me to go to hell if you want."

"But Mike lets you."

"Mike trusts me," he countered. "Of the five of us, I have the most experience doing police related work." He paused. "He trusts my judgment." And he wouldn't still be working on this squad if Mike didn't… There was a difference between letting someone take over and acknowledging that that person had more expertise in the area. Mike was quickly learning the ropes and, soon enough, Eric wouldn't be giving orders or even suggestions. All of that would be Mike's territory.

Kendrix nodded. "I think I knew that."

Eric sighed. "You want to tell me what's wrong now?"

She looked at a spot somewhere beyond his shoulder. "It's going to sound stupid."

"I'm willing to bet it's not stupid."

"I don't like the recoil from standard guns," she whispered. "I was part of the Terra Venture employees and all we used was laser guns."

Finally, she admitted what was wrong. She should have just said that in the first place and saved him all this drama. He wasn't sure whether he should kiss her or strangle her. "It takes some getting used to, but you will get used to it again." He paused. "Come on."

They went back into the building. Cam glanced at them as they passed and his raised eyebrow was enough to reveal what he had been thinking. Eric gave him a pointed glare which warned him to keep his mouth shut. He corrected Kendrix's sagging posture and guided her as she continued with the target practice. He was all too aware of the slim body his arms were around, but he banished the thoughts. Now was not the time… especially not after… he banished that thought too.


"So Kendrix has been doing a lot better since the last time you guys went to the shooting range," Mike gave Eric a sidelong glance. The Quantum Ranger didn't say anything. What he wouldn't have given to have Leo around. Leo was a master at wheedling information out of people before they even realized what he was doing.

"Is there a reason you think this guy is going to be at his house?" Eric changed the subject. The FTAs for the week had slowed down enough that they could take a minute to breathe. The most recent guy was the one giving them trouble. Myers had been pretty sure that he wouldn't be at his house, but since it was the only place that they hadn't checked, Mike figured that it wouldn't hurt.

"It's the only place we haven't looked," Mike replied. "It's worth a shot."

Eric didn't reply, just let out a long breath. If there was one thing Mike had learned about Eric, it was that he did follow orders, even if he was scheming to replace a leader. Of course, that seemed like it should be the least of his worries surrounding Eric. The man had to have an ulterior motive for leaving the guardians and joining the bounty hunters. He might tell others—and himself—that he did it for the pay raise, but there was something else. This career move didn't quite gel with what else he had seen of the Quantum Ranger.

Myers stopped the car in front of the suspect's house. Mike gave him a pointed look before they got out of the car and walked up to the front of the house. Eric immediately rounded the house and headed for the back. That was acceptable protocol if there was reason to believe the suspect was in the house. It also meant that Eric was covering his ass by going along with what Mike seemed to think.

Lights were on. Mike stepped up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

A woman wearing a bathrobe with her hair in curlers opened the door. "Yeah?"

Mike forced a professional smile. "I'm Mike Corbett, ma'am. I represent Collins' Bond Agency. Is Carl Mancuso here? He missed his court date and needs to reschedule."

The woman didn't even give him a second look. She turned into the house and bellowed, "CARL! THERE'S SOMEONE HERE TO SEE YOU!" Bingo…

He fought the urge to hold his ears. A skinny man in his late thirties came pounding down the stairs and looked at Mike. He was unshaven and stank of alcohol. "What do you want?" he asked, wiping the drool off his chin with the back of his hand.

Mike gave the speech about being with his bond agency once more. The man looked at him and blinked.

"You're one of those bounty hunters, ain't ya'?"

"I prefer fugitive apprehension agent." That had Mr. Mancuso confused. "I need you to come with me to reschedule your court appearance."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!"

Mike stepped forward, but Mancuso was faster and ran off into the house. He fumbled with a drawer in the kitchen and produced a small .38 caliber revolver. Mike sighed and pulled his own gun out of his jacket. "Put the gun down," he ordered.

Eric came in through the back door and Mancuso was effectively cornered in his own kitchen. "Drop the gun," Eric said, leveling his own gun at the man.

Carl fired his gun. Mike ducked out of instinct, something that the GSA taught trainees to do when they heard gun fire. He glanced up and Carl Mancuso was running out of the house and down the dark street. Eric was clutching his left arm, a blood stain blossoming over his jacket.

"Go get that bastard!" Eric growled through clutched teeth.

Mike didn't think twice. He sprinted out of the house and took off after Mancuso. The man was obviously out of shape, because Mike could hear him wheezing down the street. The woman who had been in his house was standing on the front porch laughing. He didn't stop to roll his eyes as he quickly closed the gap between himself and Mancuso.

Putting on an extra burst of speed, he tackled Mancuso, the adrenaline running through his body and the joy of this small triumph running through his mind.

"Get off!" the man yelled.

Mike pulled the cuffs off his belt and put them on Mancuso. "Get up," he ordered, dragging the man to his feet.

Apparently, this guy knew when he was cornered, because he walked towards the car. Mike pushed him into the backseat and put the shackles on him, preventing an escape. Kendrix and Kira had had someone open the lock on the door with their feet and get away. That had also been a waste of a perfectly good pair of handcuffs…

Eric stumbled out of the house and met Mike on the street. He was still clutching his arm and he was pale—in pain.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Let's get this bastard to headquarters."

"You need to go to the hospital," Mike countered.

"It just grazed me—I'm fine."

"No, you're not!" Mike glanced to the backseat where their skip was. The skip needed to be taken care of, but he was pretty sure that Eric needed stitches at the least, maybe even a tetanus shot. Besides, Eric looked like he was trying to valiantly downplay what had happened to him. "I'll drop you off at the ER," he said.

Eric frowned and got into the car. He knew better than to disobey what could become a direct order from his superior. The hospital was closer than the Silver Guardians headquarters, so it was even less of an issue.

He took Eric to the hospital and then took care of the skip.

A young cub guardian was doing the paperwork—and being excruciatingly slow about it. Mike pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, not wanting to strand Eric at the hospital. There had been times when he knew that Leo felt like he had abandon him, like when he was going on Terra Venture and was going to leave Leo on Earth. It always killed him to do that to his brother—and it had spread to everyone.

The phone rang a few times before someone at the townhouse picked it up.

"Hello?" It was Cam. "City morgue."

"Are you trying to scare people off?"

There was a pause. "Oh! Hey Mike! No… there was this telemarketer that called here a couple dozen times in a row. They hung up last time I said 'city morgue'."

"Look, Eric's at the hospital and I'm hung up at the guardians'."

"He's at the hospital? What happened?"

"A skip shot him."

Cam let out a low whistle. "You want one or two of us to go down there to be with him?"

It was more of a statement than a question. Mike smiled to himself. "Yeah."

"No problem." Cam paused. "I'll take Kira with me. Kendrix is probably asleep by now." There was another pause. "I think Kira has cabin fever."

More like townhouse fever. "Thanks. I'll meet you guys there."

"Okay. See you in a few. Bye."

"Bye." He disconnected the call. He stared back at the paperwork. Could a person possibly go any slower?


This was the world's biggest waste of time. Eric sat on one of the tables in an examining room, glancing to his bandaged arm. It had required a few stitches—that was all. For a precaution, the doctor wanted him to have a tetanus shot. The nurse was supposed to come in and give it to him so he could fill out all the necessary paperwork and get out of here before prime time television was over. However, it appeared that the nurse had gotten lost.

There was a tap on the glass window in the door.

He looked up and a smile spread over his face.

Kira had her face pressed up against the glass, nose and mouth smashed, with her eyes crossed, effectively looking like a cartoon rendition of road kill. Cam was just behind her, giving her bunny ears with a nonchalant look on his face. Kendrix pushed past them and opened the door, causing Kira to lunge forward and catch herself just before she fell.

"Give me some warning," she told the former Galaxy Ranger.

Kendrix, however, ignored Kira and crossed the room to him. Her eyes really were dark blue—no one noticed them because of her glasses. Her hair was down and she was wearing her pajamas—a white tank top and pink pajama pants that had sheep on them. She had blonde hair that looked silky and not teased, like Taylor's had. No… he couldn't allow himself to fall for her. He had fallen for the last blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl that came his way and that had ended in a complete and utter disaster.

But he already had. Kendrix was so incredibly different from Taylor…

She took the hand of his uninjured arm, her eyes going to the bandage around his left arm. "Are you all right?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

"I'm fine," he reassured her. He gently squeezed her hand.

"Are you guys sharing a moment?" Kira asked. "Because we can leave."

Eric looked up at the pair of them, willing himself to not start blushing at this point in his life. "No," he said quickly. Kendrix tried to pull her hand from his, but he held fast, threading his fingers through hers. He met her gaze. She went from confused to comfortable in a second, a smile settling over her face.

"I can't believe you got shot," Kira said with a grin.

"I didn't get shot," he said testily. "A bullet grazed me."

"A bullet hit you, didn't it? That's called 'getting shot' in my book."

"Whatever." He didn't feel like discussing the finer points of flying bullets with Kira at this point in his life.

"Were you going to call one of us to pick you up?" Cam asked idly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Perhaps," he answered evasively. Cam had a way of getting people to tell him exactly what he wanted to know without that person realizing they had told him anything. His roommate had already found out about his true reasons for leaving the Silver Guardians, or more, allowing himself to be moved to the bounty hunter squad. It didn't have anything to do with Mr. Collins personally or directly… he didn't want to think about it.

"You were going to walk?" Kira asked incredulously.

"Kira," he said sharply, his patience beginning to wear thin. "I was shot in the arm—the bullet didn't even get lodged in my arm. I'm not being given a pain prescription. I am perfectly capable of walking."

"Whatever," she replied, sounding exactly like he did. He glared at her.

"Come on," Kendrix said. "He's injured. Be nice."

He hadn't expected her to defend him and was surprised when a warm feeling bubbled up inside him when she did. His first impression of Kendrix hadn't been positive or lasting—he had seen her as a slightly crazy woman who loved forensics more than people. Now that they had been living and working in such close quarters, he saw a quiet, but determined woman who cared passionately about her friends.

Kira opened her mouth to say something in reply, but stopped short as Cam elbowed her. She settled for a smirk. Cam had the best sense—out of everyone present—of when to open his mouth and when to shut-up.

At that moment, Mike entered the room. "Sorry," he apologized, trailing off at the obvious tension between his squad members. "New guardian was slow with the paperwork."

"It doesn't matter," Eric replied.

Mike looked like he wanted to say that it did matter, but thought better of it. Instead, he said, "You are so much like Leo."

"Your younger brother?"

Their commander looked dumbstruck for a moment. "Yeah." Then it clicked. "That's right—you've met him before."

"Yeah and I'm nothing like him."

"You'd be surprised," Mike muttered.

A nurse walked into the room and stopped short, looking baffled at the sheer number of people in the room. Now she decided to finally show up with that damned tetanus shot. He didn't mind needles as much as he did the residual pain from the particular shot she was giving him.

Soon enough, all of them were out in the lobby, trying to get him checked out and fill out all the necessary paperwork and insurance forms. Cam had filled out all of the insurance paperwork and shoved the clipboard at him.

"Sign it," he said.

Eric took the clipboard and pen. "Is Mr. Collins going to ask questions about you getting shot?" Kira asked.

"I doubt it," he snorted.

"Why?"

"Never mind."

She shrugged and went back to bothering Cam. They had become one happily dysfunctional family.

To Be Continued...


Author's Note: That last part will be expounded upon in coming chapters... with that, part 2 is coming up next. (Intermission time- feel free to go to the lobby to get more refreshments.) With that, reviewer responses for those who reviewed chapter 4:

BloomingViolets: Tension between Eric and Kendrix? I think you're the first to pick up on that:) Thanks!

cmar: Ack! (Still trying to pin down Mr. Collins' character...) That was actually done for the future potential comic relief and it's not so much that he's stingy as the paperwork... At any rate, thanks! I hope the dynamics are working and are believable. :)

Funky In Fishnet: I'm glad you like Cam's characterization. He always struck me as the type to have something he hides from the public eye (a completely messy room). I also didn't want to make Eric completely the bad guy in regards to the roommate dynamics. Keep on reading:)

Sreym: Thanks:)

The Pyran Menace: I'm glad you like the story. I can't guarantee zero romance throughout the entire piece, but it will definitely be secondary to the other things that are going on. Kendrix is not going out on take-downs in the pink skirt and tank top. There's a time lapse between when she's wearing that and when she actually goes out, so it's implied that she's not wearing that anymore. Thanks for reading:)

Weesta: Thanks! I hope you keep reading... :)

white time ranger: I'm developing an affection for Time Force, although they didn't show some of the episodes I wanted to see on PRG. Oh well! Thanks for your kind words:)