by Selma McCrory
disclaimers and notes
Disclaimers first:
All characters and concepts from "The Tomorrow People" belong to either Roger Damon Price, Thames Television, Tetra Films, and/or Nickelodeon. All characters and concepts from "Power Rangers Zeo" belong to Saban. The story is mine, as are any random, one line extras.
End disclaimers.
Still with me? Good. :)
This is yet another of my crossovers, but this time it doesn't fall on the Tomorrow's Future timeline. If you couldn't tell from the disclaimer, this is a crossover with "Power Rangers Zeo", which happens to be one of my guilty pleasures.
For those of you familiar with the timelines for both series, the events of this story happen after "The Living Stones" on the Tomorrow People end, and between "Rangers of Two Worlds" and "Hawaii Zeo" on the Power Ranger end. There is some violence in here, but quite a bit less than what one would see on a standard episode of Power Rangers.
I owe thanks to Wendy Kelley for beta reading despite a busy schedule, and Mandi Ohlin for beta reading, general encouragement, and listening to me worrying about my PR continuity. Stephen Fitch deserves credit for last-minute proofreading. Also to Kittie for reasuring me that I didn't have a piece of junk on my hands, and Mara for having the PR Writers' list for me to post on. :)
The reference to Rocky's love life (or lack thereof) is to Mandi Ohlin's Power Rangers piece, "Irreconcilable Differences".
Something More in Common
a Power Rangers Zeo/ Tomorrow People (new series) crossover
by Selma McCrory
copyright 1997
The Youth Center is crowded. Six young people sit at one of the tables, where there would normally be seven. They seem as happy as the other youngsters that populate the place, Angel Grove's most popular teen hangout.
Nobody notices an almost intangible sadness among the members of the group. That is because the group is good at pretending things were normal, when they are not. Some things have to be kept secret.
Adam Park glances around the room. At least there have been no attacks over the last few days, surprising since they had two sets of foes to deal with recently. Not only is the Machine Empire continuing to be a menace, but Rita and Zedd have returned, and they are equally capable of causing problems. _At least they don't have the tengas or the putties anymore,_ he thinks. Having to deal with putties, tengas, *and* cogs would be a headache. They routinely come out with bruises fighting just one type. Two or three would surely overwhelm them.
"Hey, Adam, are you there?" Kat says, her voice disturbing his thoughts. He smiles at her.
"I think so," he replies. Kat is nearly always the one who notices things. Not that everyone else is blind, especially not Tanya, but everybody is kind of sad after Billy's departure. Happy for him, too, but still...
* * *
Nobody really notices the three teens who walk in the door. Maybe if they'd been new, someone may have noticed, but the three have been coming in on a sporadic basis for the last few weeks. Normally there would have been four of them, but like the first group, they are missing a member today.
The youngest of them spots a table that has just been cleared. She squeals in delight and points to it. The three hurry over, and are fast enough to get it before anyone else does. She then orders for the three of them: two strawberry smoothies, and one baby smoothie.
Jade grins at the others as she sits down. "I guess Megabyte isn't going to tease me over my drink today!" she tells the others.
Adam, the eldest of the bunch, grins back. "Yeah, he'll be sorry he missed coming here, instead of being stuck at that dinner back at his place."
Jade nods. She likes Megabyte, even thinks he is cute, but sometimes the teasing does get a little out of hand. His current ongoing joke involves Jade's choice of drink. She sincerely doubts that her baby smoothie has baby food in it, as he claims. Of course, he drinks all the weird concoctions this place serves up, so he shouldn't tease her about what she drinks. Sometimes Adam can be a tease, too, but not as often.
"Mum wanted me to stay home for dinner, too," the third person says. She inspects her hands. "I offered to take her with me."
Adam laughs. "I seriously doubt your mum would enjoy this place."
"She certainly wouldn't appreciate the time difference," Jade adds. Even though she knows that it is dinnertime back home, she basks in the light coming from outside. Maybe they could spend some time in the California sun before going back home. It is certainly warm.
The smoothies arrive, and the three friends drink.
* * *
Tanya watches the group. Everyone seems a little unhappy, but resigned to the loss of their teammate. All of them have experience with team members leaving, except for her. She's never seen anyone leave the team. She glances over at Jason. With Billy gone, he's the only original Ranger left.
Billy must have seen a lot of them come and go. She's been told about the others. First Trini and Zack, and then Kimberly, then Aisha. Come to think of it, she did see Aisha, before she ended up taking Aisha's place. Even Jason was gone for a while before he came back to the team.
All of the team seem to be coping well. Tommy has been on the team nearly as long. What must it feel like to see everyone go? And Rocky and Adam. Rocky seems to be handling it well, and Adam tends to hide his feelings. He seems to do that a lot. Kat is nearly always the hopeful one. Jason tends to hide a lot also, but unlike Adam, he isn't shy.
Tanya wishes that Adam wouldn't hide his feelings. It's not doing him any good. Of all of them, Adam has been the closest to Billy. He's the one who should be the most upset.
"I need to go, guys," Adam says suddenly. He gathers up his backpack. Tanya hasn't been paying close attention to the conversation. She wonders if someone said something wrong.
She watches as Adam strolls towards the door. He stumbles over somebody's bag, exchanges a few brief words, and exits.
* * *
Jade watches the activity on the other side of the room. About half the time, something's going on. Usually martial arts, but sometimes other classes too. Ballet, for example. There had been a cute gaggle of little girls a few weeks back. And two guys as well, but the guys weren't very graceful.
She feels someone collide with her. She turns around to see a boy. Acute one at that, somewhere around Adam's age, of asian origin. One of the guys doing the ballet dancing. He doesn't look too happy. And from what she can tell, he just tripped over her bag. Of course he's unhappy. She feels the need to apologize. "I'm sorry."
The boy doesn't seem to be bothered. Maybe his mind is somewhere else. She knows where hers is. She likes cute guys, but this is embarrassing.
Adam looks concerned. Of course, he's the one who is always attentive to people's feelings. "Are you all right?"
The boy nods. "It's okay. I just didn't notice where I was going."
He walks away. Jade gazes after him, and then pulls the bag under her seat. She's grateful that Megabyte isn't there. He'd tease her to death about her new 'boyfriend'. She looks over at Adam, who's grinning. [Don't you say a word, Adam.]
His expression says 'who, me?', but she knows she'll be teased about it a bit later. Adam can be as bad as Megabyte, sometimes. At least he doesn't tease her that much.
"It looks like it's going to be warm here," Adam says out loud.
"I brought the picnic supplies," Ami volunteers.
Adam smiles. "It's a perfect day for it. Besides, that park seems so deserted sometimes."
"Not anymore," Jade says cheerily. She likes the park there. Always so nice. It's a shame that the people of Angel Grove don't seem to use the park too much.
* * *
Adam Park walks through the park. He's wary. The park is usually safe, but he's been attacked enough by various monsters there to be careful. The rest of Angel Grove is avoiding the park today. They must figure another monster is ready to come. As if they appear like clockwork. Actually, they just show up at the most inconvenient moments. Not to mention the cogs. He and his friends are the only ones crazy enough to take them on.
At least the park isn't totally deserted. A brave few have come to have lunch. In fact, the picnic tables nearby are nearly full. But that's about it. Adam is heading towards the crowd when he trips over something. He automatically assumes a defensive stance, and then looks down.
His foot is tangled up in a combination of backpack strap and picnic blanket. Three teenagers look up at him, and he hopes they don't see him blush. He vaguely recognizes the three.
"Twice in one day!" the youngest wails. Adam registers her accent and stares.
"It's all right, Jade," the lone male says. Two accents in a row. He wonders if this one's parents work for the same company that Kat's father does. Australian accents aren't exactly thick on the ground. Neither are British, for that matter.
"Um, do you want to join us for lunch?" Jade says to him.
Adam looks at the trio. The lunch looks inviting. He's sure he's seen the three before at the Youth Center. He hopes he can trust them. Maybe he should learn more about them. Besides, his stomach is growling. It's been an hour or two since lunch. His friend Rocky would be about ready to eat again. Good thing they get enough exercise. "You got enough food?"
"Sure," says the other girl, again with the British accent. The three of them must be new to the area, and probably hang out with each other because they don't know too many people in Angel Grove. Adam feels the need to make them feel welcome. Maybe when they get finished with lunch, he can introduce the three of them to Kat.
The three of them are still staring at him. He's still standing up. He sits down in a hurry and eyes the food. Jade hands him a banana. He realizes that he should introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Adam. Adam Park. Are you new here?"
Great icebreaker, Adam, he tells himself as the three teens look at each other. He wishes one of his friends was here. They wouldn't promptly put their foot in their mouth.
"I'm Adam Newman," the eldest says. "This is Ami Jackson, and I think you've met Jade."
"Weston," Jade interjects. She's blushing furiously, maybe even more than he is. "We're visiting for the summer."
Adam is somewhat relieved. Good thing his name is relatively common and he's used to running into other people with the same name. "That's good," he said. "Where are you staying?"
The three look at each other again. Ami smiles. "South of here," she says.
"You had much of a chance to meet people?" Adam asks, trying to desperately maintain the conversation. This is definitely not his strong point. Maybe he can get far enough to get them to the Youth Center. Then, the others can take over. This new group can get everyone's minds off Billy.
"Not really," the other Adam says. "We've been here for a few weeks, but we've also been sightseeing, so we haven't been in town much."
Definitely a good time to get the others involved. "I'm meeting a few of my friends later," he says. "Want to come along?"
"Sure," the other Adam replies. The two girls nod in delight.
* * *
Jade is so glad that this guy, this other Adam, tripped over her bag. She knows they have to be cautious about what they say to people, but that doesn't mean that they can't make friends with the people they encounter. And their new friend is kind of cute looking. And she's looking forward to meeting his friends. She can tell that the others are, too. If they handle this right, no one will ever suspect that they don't live in town.
[I think we should take him up on his offer,] Adam says. [Something's wrong here. I want to find out what.]
Ami nods. [He seems so lonely. But he says he's got friends...]
[Some things you don't share with anyone, Ami,] Adam says quietly.[Even your friends.]
Jade looks at him. He seems so sad, like he is when he thinks no one is looking. One doesn't have to be an empath to tell he's speaking from experience. [And some people hide things no matter what,] she replies.
[Even without realizing it,] Ami says. They watch as their guest goes through another banana.
They have plenty of time.
* * *
Adam is momentarily startled as his communicator goes off. So are the three he's with. "Beeper," he says, hoping that they believe him. "I've got to go. Maybe we can meet tomorrow? I teach karate at ten, you can meet the others after."
"Sure," the other Adam says.
"Bye, Adam!" Jade tells him.
"Be safe," Ami replies.
Adam waves to the trio and takes off, seeking a safe, isolated spot. He activates his communicator. "Adam here."
"Adam, this is Kat. We need help. Immediately!"
"Right away," he says. He looks around to see if anybody's watching. "Zeo Ranger four- green!"
He morphs and teleports away.
* * *
Adam, Ami, and Jade continue eating after the other Adam's hasty departure. Jade sighs after the young man they got to meet this afternoon. Undeniably handsome, with dark, curly hair and eyes to die for. She didn't see a beeper on him, though. And besides, Adam wears one of those, and it doesn't sound anything like it. Maybe it is some stylish American thing she doesn't understand.
At least she'll get to see him again. If he doesn't flee.
A siren starts up. The three look around to see the other picnickers hurry out of the park. Jade looks at the others, but they don't look like they have a clue either. [What's going on?] she asks.
[I don't know,] Adam replies. [These people know what to do, maybe it's normal.]
[Maybe we should follow them.]
The three of them follow the rest of the people. Adam manages to get his hands on one of them. "What's going on?" he asks.
"Monster," the woman says.
[Monster?] Jade asks. The other two shake their heads.
[It must be one of those evacuations they've been talking about,] Ami says.
They follow the woman, hoping to get a clue as to what was going on. "I wish our friend had stayed around to tell us what to do," Jade says.
"Maybe he saw this coming," Adam jokes weakly. The ground shakes.
Ami points up behind them. "That must be the monster," she says.
Jade looks where Ami is pointing. It's hard to make out what the thing is. All that she can tell is that it looks like it's made of metal and resembles a big iron. Five giant robot-things come up and fight it. She wonders if she's just imagining things. Certainly she must be imagining the big pyramid.
[I think we had better get out of here,] Ami says.
Jade nods. The three disappear.
* * *
"Wow! I missed all that adventure?" Megabyte exclaims as they fill him in on what happened the day before. "Why do you get all the luck?"
Adam sighs. He'd had a hard enough time getting Jade out of there. He wonders where Megabyte's misplaced sense of adventure comes from. They get into enough trouble when they're not looking for it. They don't really need to get involved.
He looks at Jade. Jade will be disappointed if she doesn't get to see the other Adam again. Plus their new acquaintance would probably wonder if they didn't turn up again. They don't want to arouse suspicion. That, too, can be dangerous.
* * *
Adam smiles at his students as the class ends. It's been a quiet day, so far. Just the normal stuff. Being a teenager is hard enough. Between school and his classes and being a Power Ranger, and he can't believe he has time to himself.
Suddenly, he pales as he remembers. He's supposed to introduce the friends he met yesterday to Kat. He hasn't even mentioned it to Kat. He nearly slaps himself. Since Billy left, he's been getting as forgetful as Tommy. Not a good thing.
At least Kat's there. Things are not a total mess. He jumps as a hand touches his shoulder. He turns around to see Tommy's and Jason's concerned faces. "What's up, man?" Tommy asks.
Adam looks at the two of them. "I forgot, I'm supposed to introduce some people I met yesterday to Kat."
"Oh, who?"
Adam shrugs. "These three people I met. An Australian guy and two British girls. They're here for the summer. I wanted to introduce them to Kat yesterday, but we had to face Ironface."
As if on cue, Kat and Tanya come up to the three boys. "What's up?" Tanya asks.
"Adam wants Kat to meet some people," Tommy says offhandedly. Adam tries to restrain himself from blushing. Of course Tommy has to blurt it out. He would have been more discreet about it.
"They're not here yet, though," Adam adds. "The class finished a little early."
"I can't wait to meet them," Kat replies eagerly. Adam gazes at her. Kat's open, welcome face attracts people, and her personality keep them listening to her. She will probably get along perfectly with the newcomers.
* * *
"It's time," Jade says eagerly. She notices Adam sigh. "Come on, Adam, it'll be fine!"
Adam seemed to be debating with himself. "Okay," he says. His shoulders are slumped, as if he's resigned to keep an eye on the rest of them. Jade doesn't know why. It's not like they get in that much trouble.
"The day's slipping past! Let's go!" Megabyte is practically bouncing up and down.
Ami looks at her watch. "He's right. It'll be time for bed in a few hours."
Adam nods, and they all teleport back to Angel Grove.
* * *
Kat looks around eagerly for the newcomers. Adam can be a little nervous around people he doesn't know. That he made friends so easily is a good sign to her. She might sometimes wish that he was a little less quiet. But maybe that's part of his charm.
There are a lot of people in the Youth Center. Adam hasn't pointed anyone out yet, so they must not be there. Maybe they're shy too.
Adam approaches a group of four people. From the way he's gesturing, these must be the people he wanted her to meet. She looks at the four appraisingly. Two boys. One maybe a little older than her, one maybe a little younger. The older one is quite a looker. Dark hair, but kind of skinny. His younger friend could use a more flattering haircut. Redheads really shouldn't cut their hair as short as his is. It kind of reminds her of Rocky right after he had his hair cut. His hair might be darker, but it wasn't very attractive.
Two girls as well. One black, darker skinned than Tanya. Lots of jewelry. One that was barely in her teens, with long, braided blond hair. She walks up to the group.
Adam turns, blinks, and turns to the group again. "This is Kat."
"Hello," Kat says.
"This is Adam, Megabyte, Ami, and Jade."
"Hello. Pleased to meet you," the one introduced as Adam says. She blinks, surprised with the familiar accent. No wonder her Adam wanted her to meet this bunch.
The other three chime in with various greetings. "Did you just move here?" she asks. She tries to remember if her family said anything about new hires from their homeland.
"We're just here for the summer," Megabyte says.
"We've been out of town a lot," Jade adds.
"Oh," Kat says. "Have you met a lot of people yet?"
"I've been trying to introduce them to some," her Adam says. "I would have yesterday, but things - happened."
"Like that monster," Jade chimes in. "We've never seen a monster before."
Kat shrugs. "It happens every so often."
"You've never been in town during an evacuation before?"
The foursome look confused. "No," the other Adam finally says. "We must have always been out of town."
The rest of the team comes up. "Are these the new people?" Tommy asks.
"Yes," Adam says, and then proceeds to introduce them once again.
"This is great!" Tanya says. "Hey, what about a picnic. It's not like we're going to have a monster attack two days running."
The rest of the rangers nod, and the foursome does too. "Sounds great," the other Adam says.
"We'll go pick up some picnic supplies," Jason says.
"We should too," Ami replies. "Should we meet you in half an hour?"
"Sounds good."
The foursome leaves. Most of the rest of the team does too. Tanya and Kat find themselves alone. "That was a great idea, Kat. Just what we need to relax ourselves. Especially Adam."
"What do you mean?" Kat says, a little confused.
"You haven't noticed?" Tanya asks. "Ever since Billy left, Adam's been kind of... you know, glum."
"You're right," Kat says, considering Adam's mood. "It's a good thing we did meet them."
* * *
The two groups meet at the park. It's even more deserted than the day before. There are plenty of picnic tables there. Maybe people figure that the next monster is going to attack the park, since the last one attacked the beach.
Whatever the reason, Adam is kind of glad there aren't a lot of people there. The six of them plus the new four is going to make things a bit crowded. At least it should give them a chance at a bit of fun and relaxation, some time the team desperately needs. And it's good to meet some new people. They just have to be cautious as to what they say.
Adam watches his friends and the new people interact. Everybody's doing their best to make them feel at home. And the newcomers seem to be enjoying the interaction. Maybe the other Adam is a little reserved, but it's hard to be restrained around Kat when she's really trying.
Not to mention the rest of the team. Looks like Jason and Jade have really taken to each other. Kat's focused on the other Adam, Tanya and Ami are discussing something, and Rocky and Megabyte are trying to out-joke each other, with Tommy looking on.
Billy should be there as well. But Billy is trillions of miles away, living with Cestria on Aquitar. It makes sense, anyway. He's a hero there, and everybody knows it. Not like here, where they all have to hide their identities. Not that Adam minds hiding. He never liked to stick out.
He wonders what their guests would think if they knew they were lunching with Angel Grove's very own set of superheroes. Nobody who lives in Angel Grove for any amount of time can avoid hearing about them. At least he knows that it's worth it to do what he's been doing for the last couple of years.
A voice interrupts his thoughts. "Hey, Adam," Tommy says. Adam looks up to see Tommy looking concerned for him. He looks around, seeing Kat and the other Adam looking up curiously.
He smiles bravely and tries to join Kat's conversation.
* * *
Adam looks over from where he and Kat have been talking. Tommy's words inadvertently tore him away from their conversation. He's been catching her up on current events in their shared homeland, and she's been trying to probe about his life here. Adam can tell that she means well, but it's hard for him to talk about living in the States, or Angel Grove for that matter, when he spends most of his time in a spaceship on a deserted island.
Besides, Kat doesn't fascinate him as much as the other Adam does. Something within him is telling him something's wrong with the other teenager. Adam knows his instincts are not to be ignored. He has to find out what's going on.
"Are you okay?" he asks. He notices Kat looking on expectantly as well. She must be able to spot her Adam's problems. He's hoping that she gives him some insight. After all, she knows him better than Adam does.
"Just a little squashed," the other Adam jokes feebly. Adam watches as Kat frowns briefly.
"Maybe we should take out the blankets," Kat says, her smile returning. "That way we'll be able to talk without squeezing each other out."
"Good thing we didn't bring any more of us," Adam replies, smiling back. He notes that the two share brief looks at each other, and decides that he must have hit a sore point.
Now that he notices it, he decides that the other group must be short a member too. He remembers how it was when they first lost Lisa. It was even worse when they lost Kevin. Sometimes he, or Megabyte would expect one of them to be there and they weren't.
He wonders who this group is missing, and what happened to them. He doesn't know how to approach the subject, so he hopes somebody brings it up.
* * *
The picnic soon turns into an idle day in the park. Adam is sitting under a tree, watching his friends play with frisbees that Kat and Tanya brought. It's just the relaxation that the team needs. The four others are relaxing as well. Adam thinks that he's done a good thing by introducing the two groups to each other. And from the looks Kat's been flashing him, he did a good thing by introducing the other Adam to her.
One of the frisbees landed right next to Adam. "Hey, toss that back over," Rocky calls.
"What? Don't tell me you've gone fishing," Megabyte replies lightly.
"You're trawling," Rocky says, grinning. The two laugh and go back to tossing the frisbee.
Adam groans. Getting everyone together was a good idea, with maybe the exception of Rocky and Megabyte. Neither group is going to thank him for putting those two together. Rocky's always had a weird sense of humor as long as Adam's known him. It has made him the jokester of the team. Even back in Stone Canyon, before they became Rangers, Rocky always had a joke on hand. Maybe he'll ask the other Adam if he has had similar problems with Megabyte.
Maybe Rocky's lightness is a good thing. At least he's not brooding. Fishing always makes Adam think of fish, and right now, fish make him think of Billy. Maybe everything does. Billy's always there. Before, he was with the team, and then, supporting everyone in the Power Chamber.
And now he's off dating an alien. From a shy teenager to a superhero to an interplanetary traveler in just a few years. Of course, they've all traveled, but nobody else has even considered living off Earth. Nobody's spent the time that Billy has off-planet. During the last few months before he left, he'd been spending half his time on either Aquitar or Triforia. And before that, he'd spent months on Aquitar. Of course he would fall for someone out there.
If only Adam doesn't feel so lonely. With Billy's departure, Adam seems to be handed the kind of stuff Billy used to do. Sure, he's smart, but Billy was a genius. He can't do half the things that Billy could.
"Hey," a voice comes from behind him. The other Adam sits down. They are the only ones not playing frisbee.
"You're not going to play?" Adam asks.
The other Adam shakes his head. "I'm not very good."
Adam sighs. He isn't too bad at playing frisbee, but he's not really in the mood to get up and join a game. He feels a bit sorry for the other Adam. His friends are playing without him, too. He doesn't mind today, but the other must feel left out. Still, he's not sure he should suggest it, considering what the other Adam just said.
"You okay?" the other Adam asks.
"Fine," he says defensively. In order to make his statement sound less rude, he adds, "I'm just not having the world's best day."
"What happened?" the other Adam asks.
Adam tries to think of a way to explain things. "Well, a good friend of mine went away. A long way away. He's in college. It's far enough away that we won't get to see him much. I mean, he was one of our - group, but he and I got along the best. A few people knew him longer, but we were the closest."
The other nods. "I know what you mean. Me, and Megabyte, and Ami, and Jade are a pretty close group too, but there were two others that we really miss, too. There was this girl in particular that I liked, but she had to leave."
"Why?" Adam asks. He hates to pry, but he hopes to get the attention off himself. The last thing he wants at moment is to be psychoanalyzed.
The other Adam shrugs. "Her family was being harassed by a rogue government agent. She had to sever all contact and move away. We haven't heard from her since."
"Witness Protection Program?" Adam asks.
"Something like that, yes."
"I'm sorry," Adam said, genuinely moved by the other's story. He thinks about the others that have left. Trini, who he barely knew, and Zack. Kimberly and his Stone Canyon classmate Aisha. "One of my friends moved to somewhere in Kenya. I don't hear from her much anymore."
"I'm hoping that we hear from my friend, sometime," the other Adam says quietly.
A shadow falls over the two. Adam looks up to see Jason standing over him. "Come and join us."
The two Adams shrug at each other and join Jason and Jade.
* * *
Megabyte throws himself down on a bench at the spaceship. "Whoa! Now *that* was a good day!"
Jade flops back along the wall. She's tired, which is not exactly surprising, considering she ran around quite a bit, and the time difference means it's bedtime for her. Even if it was getting to be the middle of the afternoon over there.
Ami yawns. "I think I'd better be getting home, Mum will worry," she says, and teleports out.
"Yeah, I'd better do the same thing before I drive Dad crazy," Megabyte adds, and follows Ami's lead. Jade and Adam are the only two left. Jade yawns.
"You'd better be getting home too," Adam says to her. "Your Mum will worry, too."
"I think she's gotten past that already," Jade replies. "I'll go in a few minutes. I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep in the park. That really would have given us away."
Adam shrugs. "I think we could have explained it. They didn't catch on, anyway, as far as I could tell."
"Good," Jade says, stretching. "I don't want Jason to think I'm weird. Or Adam. The other Adam."
"I think they're more open-minded than that," Adam replies. "I think they're pretty safe to hang around."
"So, what were you discussing, anyway?" Jade asks, trying to stave off sleep for a few minutes more.
"Trying to find out what was wrong," Adam said thoughtfully. "They have a friend who he says went to college. It reminded me of Kevin and Lisa."
Jade looks up to see a kind of sadness in his eyes. Usually, he hides his emotional pain quite well. Even keeps from broadcasting his sadness. Sometimes, they do catch him at it. But sometimes Adam can be so private. Nobody knows much about his past, and he rarely even talks about the events that happened since he gained his powers. She's heard of Lisa, of course, but it's only a name to her. Kevin, she got to meet once, but he had gone long before she became a Tomorrow Person.
Still, she doesn't want to pry. She possibly could get all the information out of Adam's mind, but it would be very, very rude. She knows that Adam would be rather upset at her. And he'd be able to tell, too. Not like the rest of the people on this planet, who wouldn't have the slightest idea she was going through their minds. Still, that was wrong, too. Adam had taught her that.
She sighs. Sometimes it seems like it might be beneficial just to go into someone's mind. But she doesn't think Adam would ever agree, and she's too tired to talk to him about it.
* * *
"Thanks, Jason," Kat says while tidying away some of the picnic.
"For what?" Jason asks, trying to think what would make Kat so happy. He's holding one of the baskets that the group used. It's too bad that their new friends couldn't stay, but sometimes things like that happen.
"Cheering Adam up."
"Oh, yeah," Jason says. "I'm glad I could."
"He's been keeping to himself. I'm glad you drew him out."
Jason shrugs, handing the basket to Kat. "He looked like he needed it."
"Yeah, he did," Kat replies, putting the last items in the basket. "Look, I'll see you tomorrow. I have some things to do."
"I'll see you then," Jason says.
Kat walks off, leaving Jason to his thoughts.
Jason picks up some leftover trash from their picnic. He figures he might as well, considering that saving the world will mean nothing if it's a trash heap otherwise. It's the least he can do.
He didn't really notice before Kat mentioned it that Adam had sort of gone into hiding. Of course with Adam it is really hard to tell. Adam is always the one that tries to blend in, and sometimes it is hard to tell if he is just there to be there, or if he genuinely likes to be there. It occurs to Jason that Adam is a bit like Billy, he just didn't start out as geeky as Billy did. And Adam knew how to fight before he joined the team.
But they were both shy, and they both tried so hard to fit in. Jason wonders how close Adam and Billy were. He knew that Billy most frequently talked to Adam and was more relaxed in his presence. Maybe it was because Adam, like Billy, was quiet and non-assertive.
He almost stumbles over the subject of his thoughts. Adam is sitting under the tree that he seems to like.
"Hey, Adam," he says.
Adam looks up. "Jase."
He sits down beside Adam. He doesn't feel totally comfortable at the moment. Still, it wouldn't be the first time he had to talk to someone about their doubts and fears. But talking to Tommy about his guilt is easier than talking to Adam about whatever problems that he's having. Of course, he has a lot in common with Tommy. Adam tends to be an enigma.
"Thanks for introducing those new people," Jason says, hoping to get a clue as to what's wrong.
Adam shrugs. "I thought that Adam might want to have somebody to talk to from his own country."
"That's good," Jason says. "So, what's up with you, man? You've been a bit quiet for the last week."
Adam chuckles. To Jason it sounds forced. "I'm normally that way. You haven't noticed?"
In fact, Adam hasn't sounded cheerful since Billy left. Problem is, Adam's so quiet that it's sometimes hard to tell when he's depressed. He would have thought that Tanya would have. She and Adam are dating, after all.
Maybe Billy *is* the problem. Billy's leaving, anyway. With Billy away on Aquitar, Adam could have lost his best confidante. Or at least Billy isn't coming home anytime soon. There were plenty of times in the last few months when Billy was on Aquitar or Triforia. Adam didn't seem to be really affected then.
Maybe what Adam needs is a quiet pep talk. Jason may not be leader of the team now, like he was when Tommy was having his doubts about his powers and abilities, but he thinks he's qualified enough. "You're missing Billy."
Adam looks up, startled. His expression is enough that Jason knows he hit the target. Still, he doesn't reply.
"I miss him too."
"I just can't believe that he's gone away for the rest of his life," Adam says, finally speaking up.
"I think he'll be back. I'm just happy for him and Cestria," Jason replies. "He sometimes thought he'd never get a date."
Adam laughs. "And then he ends up with a fish. Didn't Billy used to be afraid of fish?"
"Yeah. But I don't think Billy considers looks as important as personality. I just wish I'd gotten to know her, and under better circumstances. He chose a pretty intense time to go."
"Have you ever noticed that we always have an emergency disrupting the important things in our lives?"
"Yeah," Jason replies. "No matter who we're battling, you can make sure that they're making our lives as difficult as possible."
"I decided long ago that we Rangers can't, by definition, have quiet lives. Not while we're a part of the team, anyway. I sometimes can't remember what a normal life is like."
"I forgot for a while," Jason says. "And then, when we went away, I remembered again. Took a few weeks after we arrived in Switzerland, though. When I came back, I'd forgotten what it was like to be a Ranger. Then I had to remember again. Someday, when Trey gets himself back together again, I'll be able to tell you what having some free time is like."
"No bumps and bruises, no inventing excuses to explain why you had to miss class or came home with a sore arm, not having to worry about whether the world's going to end because you fouled up."
Jason smiles. "Makes you kind of wonder why anyone would want to be a Ranger."
Adam smiles back. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Neither would I. Despite all the bruising. It's a good feeling to save the world."
"Being able to morph is part of it, but you're right. We're the only ones who can save the world from invasion. I never thought that I'd be part of it."
"I remember when Zordon first gave us our morphers and powers. It seems kind of silly, until you actually confront putties or tengas or cogs. I think that's the point when all of us first realized that there was a threat to the world, and that we had to defend it."
"Yeah, but there really wasn't anything to fight until then," Adam says. "I remember the first time I heard about the monsters and the Power Rangers. I thought it was some sort of publicity stunt."
"Things change, huh?" Jason asks. When he came back, he couldn't believe the changes. The enemy was different, the Rangers were different. Angel Grove looked the same, but that was about the only thing that remained the same.
"Yeah," Adam says, glancing up. He's smiling slightly. "You know, if you'd told me a couple of years ago that my best friend would go off to another planet to live with an alien girlfriend, I would have laughed my head off."
"Zach was the same way when Zordon first explained about us saving the world," Jason says thoughtfully. He remembers that he almost didn't believe it himself.
"What happened?" Adam asks.
"Got attacked by putties on the way home. That cured any lingering disbelief."
Adam laughs. "I guess it would. Stranger things have happened."
"It's a job hazard, I guess," Jason says. "You get used to strange things happening. Kind of like we're stuck in a science fiction movie."
"Sometimes it feels like that to me, too," Adam says. "But superheroes never had problems quite like this."
"At least we have each other," Jason says. "Otherwise we'd go mad."
Adam nods. "Yeah," he replies.
* * *
Several days later, Jade walks though Angel Grove park, hoping to run into the people that she and her friends met last week. If nothing else, she'll probably meet them at the juice bar.
Something roars behind her and she hears people scream. She turns around to see something weird and metallic. Several somethings weird and metallic. Something resembling a hair dryer and several nasty looking robot things. She runs, hoping to get a safe distance away so that she can concentrate and teleport.
A green flash of light forms between her and the metallic things, and solidifies into some person in a weird costume with a helmet. The figure starts fighting the metallic things.
Jade pauses and prepares to teleport. The figure seems familiar, but she doesn't know why. She'll have to figure out why later. She concentrates, and disappears in a flash of light, not before several other figures in the same kind of outfit join the fight.
* * *
Adam sighs silently in relief as the others join him. He was walking in the park, and therefore was nearest when Mondo's latest creation attacked. He parries a blow from a cog, and manages to knock several out of commission.
The fight is numbingly boring. They take out the cogs, fight the monster, and knock it to pieces. Then they have to fight it again, giant-sized. Fortunately, the monster is one of the weaker ones, and Jason is able to take it out with Pyrimidas.
It's only after the fight that he thinks of Jade.
"Did anyone see if Jade, that new girl, got away?" Adam asks the others while they are at the Power Chamber. "I couldn't see. There was a flash of bright light."
The others shake their heads, except for Jason. "I saw her too," he says. "She disappeared in a flash of white light, sort of like a teleport beam, but not one."
"Could King Mondo have gotten her?" Adam asks. He looks up expectantly.
I DO NOT KNOW, ADAM, Zordon says. IT IS NOT A FORM OF TELEPORT BEAM I AM FAMILIAR WITH.
"Don't worry, Adam," Tommy says. "We'll find her."
* * *
"That's the third set of cogs I've seen today," Tanya says to Jason. "I wonder what's going on?"
"I don't know," Jason replies. They're hiding behind some bushes in Angel Grove park. "It has to be related to Jade, though. This is where our last battle was."
"But that would mean that they don't have her."
Jason looks over at his teammate. "Possibly. Or that she's not talking."
Tanya shivers beside him. "I hope she's not hurt."
Jason nods. "I hope so, too."
* * *
"Any luck, Alpha?" Adam asks. The little droid runs around. Adam is surprised at how much energy Alpha seems to use.
"No, Adam," Alpha replies. At least he doesn't add 'Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi' to it. Alpha seems to worry excessively sometimes. Not that he doesn't have cause to worry this time, but Adam is grateful nonetheless "I have detected several signals that seem to indicate the same type of beam, but none of them go anywhere near the moon."
"Then where *are* they going?" Adam asks. He knows any clue would be helpful. Although this one is distinctly odd, unless they have a new enemy that they know nothing about.
"I will show you. Displaying now."