Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers. So don't try to buy them from me. Please don't get all offended because I mocked your favorite Ranger. I try to mock them all. Besides, it's just for fun. I really do enjoy the show :). Hi to all from AFPR…especially my fellow Psychos. Please let me know if I make any errors. I have no difficulty with receiving constructive criticism.

Would you believe I spent the past three days visiting my aunt who has no TV? So I had time to write yet another story. Anyway, this is story number seven and it was requested by cmar.

Wes and Eric

By

Eileen (Psycho Tangerine)

"Everybody was kung-fu fighting," sang Wes. "Hiya! Those cats were…"

"Wes!" hissed Eric in annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you to be quiet?" He would have to get stuck on yet another stakeout with the overenthusiastic Red Time Force Ranger.

"Hey Eric," Wes whispered loudly.

Eric concentrated on the view through his binoculars. What in God's name had ever possessed him to stay on as Wes' partner? The man had absolutely no discipline. Even Mr. Collins was beginning to get annoyed at the constant spitballs that hit him and the other executives during the meetings.

"Eric!" Wes' voice had raised a little.

Eric leaned forward as he continued to ignore Wes. There seemed to be some rustling in those bushes. He grabbed the car door handle, readying himself to jump out. "There's something in those bushes, Wes," his whispered softly. "On my count, one…two…"

"ERIC!" shouted Wes who hadn't even been paying attention. "KNOW WHAT?"

"Yeeeaaahhhh!" Eric dived out of the car and rolled behind a dustbin, shooting at the bushes the whole time. He stopped when the stray cat that had been rustling the bushes ran off in fright. Luckily, Eric had been shooting to high to hit it.

"Wow, Eric, you really have to do something about that itchy trigger finger of yours," said Wes who had calmly followed him to the back of the dustbin.

Eric looked at him darkly. "Well, if a certain someone would be quiet during a stakeout I wouldn't be so jumpy." He got up and headed back to the car. This mission was probably a bust now. If the thieves had any contacts at all within this electronics store, they'd probably have been warned not to come. He pulled on his door handle, and found it to be locked. He walked around to Wes' side, and that was locked as well. He groaned when he saw where Wes had left his keys; in the ignition.

"Wesley?" asked Eric in his nicest, calmest tone possible. "Do you have the keys? And what the hell are you doing, anyway?"

Wesley, who had been picking up all the garbage that had fallen out of the dustbin, straightened up. "Oh, I'm just doing some odd jobs, that's all." To be honest, he really missed the Nick of Time odd jobs shop. Even picking up garbage seemed less mundane than patrolling the city and going on stakeouts. It also didn't help that he had to live in fear of a gun crazed partner who shot at just about everything he saw or heard.

Eric shook his head. "Fine, just remember to wash your hands this time." He grimaced at the remembrance of Wes using his bare hands to knead bread dough right after he had cleaned out the trashcans behind his house. It took all of Eric's efforts to find a matching loaf of bread in the bakery to switch with Wes' before the Silver Guardians' annual bake sale. "Now, do you have the keys?"
"Nope," replied Wes, who was wiping his hands on his pants.

"And where, pray tell, might they be?"

"In the car." Wes reached into his pocket and pulled out an apple. He calmly began to munch on it, oblivious to Eric's looks of disgust.

"Why?" Eric asked as he looked away. He had no desire to lose his supper, which was fast becoming a possibility.

"Because I was afraid they'd fall out of my pocket." Good, thought Wes when he saw Eric turn away. He was really getting to him. Sooner or later Eric would have to complain to his dad. The Quantum Ranger's overbearing sense of duty wouldn't allow him not to. The elder Collins was already showing signs of regret that he had taken Wes on as one of the leaders of the Silver Guardians. Wes' door plaque had disappeared the week before and in the same afternoon he had spotted it in his father's wastebasket. Not to mention that his favorite meeting chair, the one with the squeaky wheel, had been shoved out of the meeting room just before their last meeting. Yes, it was now only a matter of days before Wes could get fired and go back to doing odd jobs for complete strangers.

"Oh, really?" asked Eric. "Then how are we going to get back into the car?"

"Simple, just unlock…oh," murmured Wes in realization. "I did it again, didn't I? Well," he decided as he pulled out his cell phone, "I guess I'd better…"

"DUCK!" shouted Eric as he dove behind a tree and began to shoot at the opaque glass windows that covered the back of the building. There was something there; something that had moved. He had seen it, he was sure of it. It had to be one of the electronics parts thieves that had been active in Silver Hills. Or maybe it was their contact coming to finish him and Wes off or maybe..it..was..his..and..Wes'..reflections..in ..the..dark..glass. Eric cursed at himself as he reholstered his gun. Maybe he really should stop putting off that trip to the optometrist.

"That's not coming out of MY paycheck," argued Wes as he gaped at the shattered windows. He definitely had to get away from this job and away from his insane partner before he ended up as a statistic. "Anyway, I'll go call roadside assistance." With that, he pressed the much used number on his speed dial.

"Great," moaned Eric as he who half-listened to Wes' arguing with the service people as he began to kick the glass shards into the surrounding bushes in the futile hope of hiding the damage. Unlike Wes who was once again living off daddy's money, Eric couldn't afford to lose any money. His rent was already overdue and he hadn't had any electricity for almost a month now. Maybe it was time for him to tell Mr. Collins that the prestige of his position wasn't enough and that he'd need to be paid more than the minimum wage he was currently receiving.

"One thousand dollars, but that's my final offer. Are you sure you can't help us? No, I promise he won't shoot when the door locks pop open. Yes, I understand you've been in therapy for the past three months for that. But…but…goodbye then." Wes turned his cell phone off. "I think we're on our own here."

"Great, just great," sighed Eric. "Another stakeout ruined all because you have to act like an idiot. So, what do you propose we do?"

Wes snorted. "We'd be able to get help if you stopped terrifying everyone."

Eric glared at his partner. "What do you mean? I'm one of the good guys. I don't terrify anyone but the criminals."

Wes didn't reply. Instead he picked up a pebble and tossed it over a fence.

At the sound of the pebble landing on the other side, Eric whipped around and shot through the fence. A second later he stopped when he realized what he was doing.

"Oh my God! Myrtle!" screamed a man at the other side of the fence.

"Oh great," hissed Wes. "Now look what you did. Poor Myrtle."

"Me?" Eric hissed back. "If you hadn't tossed that pebble…"

"Oh come off it, only a nutjob would shoot at every sound he hears." Wes picked up his cell phone. "Well, I'm going to call in the police and report this. They'll have you in the chair in no time."

"But…"

"Oh Myrtle, Myrtle, Myrtle," cried the man across the fence. "Wherever am I going to find another gnome to replace you with?"

Wes blushed as he quickly clicked off his cell phone. "Hehe, I was just joking."

Eric glowered at him. "A gnome? You were going to send me to prison for a damned garden gnome? That's it! I've had enough of being your partner. When we get back from this mission….I'm telling your Dad!"

Wes stuck his tongue out at Eric. "Fine go ahead, be a tattletale. See if I care?" Inwardly, he was dancing. Soon he'd be free to live the life of a hobo. Hopping trains, wearing ratty old clothes, begging strangers to let him do odd jobs for him. Yep, that was the life.

Eric shook his head at Wes' childish behavior. "Well, we'd better work on getting back into the car so we can finish this assignment." He began to look around the dustbins.

"What are you looking for?" asked Wes.

"For some wire or something thin enough to put through the window," replied Eric as he began digging through the refuse. He almost barfed when he came across some rancid beef stew.

"Oh, I have a coat hanger in the trunk," stated Wes. "Hold on a second." With that, he pulled a spare set of keys from his pocket and popped open the trunk. He pulled out the hanger and handed it to a now befuddled Eric.

"You…you…had an extra set of keys on you the whole time?" he croaked.

"Huh?" asked Wes.

"YOU HAD ANOTHER SET OF KEYS?! WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?" Eric was seething now.

"Oops, I forgot I had the made after our last lock out." Wes grinned apologetically. "Sorry about that." He unlocked the doors.

Eric took a few breaths to calm himself down. "Forget it," he said as he slid into the car. "Let's just get back to work. Not that it really matters since there's no way no one heard…"

A black van pulled up at the other side of the parking lot. Eric pulled out his binoculars. He smiled in satisfaction when he saw the thieves pry open the store's back door. He practically beamed when they began to come out dragging stolen merchandise out on stolen dollies.

"Ok, Wes, this is it," Eric whispered. "On my count we will surround them on both sides." He pushed the door open very gently. "One…two…"

"HEY ERIC, GUESS WHAT?"

"Yeeeeaaaahhhhh!!!!" screamed Eric in a panic as he shot at the truck. All of the tires went flat. The thieves dove to the ground, covering their heads in utter fear.

"What?" groaned Eric as he and Wes headed towards the cowering criminals, handcuffs in hand.

"You know how we're at a stakeout?" inquired Wes.

"Yes," sighed Eric as he handcuffed one of the perpetrators.

"Well, after this, we could go OUT for STEAK!"

Eric groaned at this. "Just put them in the back of the car."