Jerome Stone settled his elbow on the now well worn corner of his desk pad. Not much was happening this semester, which was rather nice. The bank of screens in front of him gave him a view of just about every part of the Academy, most of them changing viewpoints. A couple remained steady: the one on the Headmaster's office, and the one that was wherever Ashley Hammond was. It was currently lunch, so most of the rooms were empty except, of course, the Commissary.
The intercom next to him beeped. "Lt. Stone?"
"Yes, Bulk?" No matter how many times he told Bulk, Skull, and most of the rangers - current, former, and inactive - that he was no longer a Lt., they still called him that. And most of the cadets had picked up on it.
"There's a cadet out here who wants to speak to you. She's asking questions about the surveillance cameras."
"Send her in." He signed off and turned his chair to face the door as a tall blonde girl walked in. She was pretty, muscular, and looked almost lost. "Hello. How may I help you?"
She smiled a little nervously. "You have cameras in all the rooms, right?" she asked. "I mean, the class rooms?"
"Yes."
"Are they on all the time?"
"Yes."
She took a deep breath. "Yesterday, around... 10:30, Mr. Scott performed a really cool defensive move in the Teamwork class. I was wondering if you caught that, and if I could get a copy of it on my datapad. I'd like to learn it, if I can."
Jerome smiled. "You could just ask Jason if he'll teach it to you," he suggested. The girl shook her head.
"No, I don't want to bother him." She even had the grace to blush a little.
"Yesterday around ten thirty," he mused, and turned to the log on his desk. "Have you had lunch yet?"
"No, sir, I wanted to get this done first."
"Well, it's going to take me a while. Why don't you go down and eat, and I'll have this for you to download when you're finished, okay?"
She hesitated a moment, then nodded. "All right. Thank you." She left, closing the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, he pressed the button on the intercom.
"Bulk, let her in when she comes back."
"Yes, sir," came the response, and Jerome smiled. Something about those boys really made his day.
He'd found what she was looking for in a few minutes - she was right, it had been impressive, a combination kick and throw - and turned his attention to the video screens before him. All was quiet, everything proceeding as usual, until a camera clicked on that had been on standby. He watched, curious, as Carlos and TJ faced off, wishing he could hear what they said. Without warning, TJ struck at Carlos, then they were exchanging blows, and he wasn't good enough to know if they were just sparing or if they were fighting for real.
A gasp behind him was his first clue that he wasn't the only one watching the fight, and he turned to see the girl who'd come in earlier. Her eyes were glued to the screen, watching the blows the two men traded. "Pretty intense," Jerome said.
"Yeah. I didn't know he could fight that well. I think he's improved," she said, almost in a daze, then she shook her head, breaking the hold the fight seemed to have on her. "Did you get the chance to find that?" she asked, almost timidly.
"Yes. And you were right. That was an impressive move." He connected her datapad to his consol and downloaded the requested data. "Which of them has improved?" he asked off hand as he handed it back to her. To his surprise she blushed furiously.
"I've never seen the Blue Ranger fight. At least, not out of uniform," she added, almost shyly.
"So, you know Carlos." There was a story there, and he was suddenly very curious about this girl.
"Once," she said shortly. Her eyes flickered back up to the camera, where the two men had either called a truce or were taking a breather before starting again. At any rate, they were standing across the room from each other, and Carlos was leaning against the wall. Jerome smiled.
"He's not the same." He sighed. "Good luck on learning that. And I'm sure Jason wouldn't mind teaching you."
She shook her head. "Thanks again," she said softly, and left his office, casting one last glance at the screen.
He followed her gaze. TJ was gone from the room, and Carlos sat slumped against the wall he'd been leaning against. After a short pause, he touched his intercom. "Bulk. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, I'll try, anyway."
"Get someone to cover your position, go to room 23, and make sure Carlos is okay. He knows you, and I don't think he considers you a threat to him." He certainly seems to consider everyone else a threat, or something.
"You got it, Lt. Stone. Out."
Jerome watched as Bulk appeared at the doorway. Carlos was still slumped against the wall but looked up. Bulk said something, Carlos replied, and after a minute, Bulk left again. Jerome sighed.
Bulk knocked before entering. "Lt. Stone?"
"What did he say?"
"That he was fine. He told me to thank you for checking up on him." He shrugged. "Something's up with him, but he wasn't going to tell me what it was."
"Thanks," Jerome said, and turned back to the screens. He half noticed, half an hour later, that the room was empty again, and wondered distantly what had brought that on.
"Hey, Jerome," a young voice interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to smile at Justin.
"Justin! How's your dad?"
"Happily on his honeymoon. They'll stop in when they get back." The twenty-one year old genius lounged against the door frame, grinning. "What about you?"
Jerome thumped the arm of his wheel chair. "The last tests came in," he said, no longer depressed about the news. He'd had some months, plus two or three batteries of tests to prepare him for this. "I'm in this for the rest of my life."
Justin's smile straightened. "I'm sorry."
Jerome shrugged. "Well, it's not like I'm out on the street begging for food. And this isn't the most exciting job... well, okay, scratch that," he grinned. "Sometimes I get an eyeful from the science lab, and there was an impressive move done yesterday. But frankly, I'm glad to be here. I feel like my job hasn't really changed, just... I know all about you, now."
Justin nodded. "Still.... Ranger-related injuries are hard enough to take, never mind the ones that we really can't do anything about." He sighed. "Especially drunk drivers." He shook his head. "Anyone get anything out of Carlos yet?"
"I think TJ might have gotten a little blood, but other than that, no, I don't think so."
"Blood?" For an instant, he looked like the lost twelve year old that, for a reason Jerome couldn't comprehend at the time, liked to hang out with high school seniors.
Jerome nodded. "They were fighting a while ago. I couldn't tell if it was a real fight or just a spar."
He seemed to absorb the information, then took a deep breath. "How's Ashley?"
"If what Zhane says is true, and I'm sure it is, she's going crazy."
"Taking Andros with her, right?" Justin grinned. "Not that his is a far drive, of course."
Jerome laughed. "Droz has got something for you to look at, as soon as you change out of the nice clothes. Zhane did a report for Andros, and I made sure a copy made it's way to your desk. Take a look at it. I think you'll enjoy it."
Justin nodded. "I will. I think I heard something about it. I'm going to go change before I lose my mind completely."
"Check in with Andros, too. He's waiting for you."
"As ever. See you later." Justin turned to leave, then turned back. "Hey, Jerome. I'm glad you're here," he said, and stepped out the door. Jerome turned back to the screens in front of him, smiling slightly.
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