Safety First

Adam knew going to Rocky for help was a very bad idea the minute they pulled into the convenience store located, not-so-conveniently, twenty miles outside of Angel Grove.

"What are we doing here?" Adam asked warily.

"Getting supplies," Rocky answered.

"Supplies?" Adam repeated doubtfully. "For what?"

"Our revenge against Jason."

Adam stared at his best friend blankly for a moment. "We're at a gas station. To get revenge supplies," Adam clarified; sure he must be missing something. Rocky just nodded his agreement, so Adam was forced to ask, "And we couldn't get these revenge supplies in town?"

"We could get them in town," Rocky said as he opened his car door, "but I didn't want to embarrass you." With a cheeky smile he stepped out of the car, forcing Adam to follow if he wanted to continue the conversation. And while he didn't want to, per se, he had the feeling he really needed to follow Rocky's train of thought to its horrific end.

Catching the exuberant red ranger at the door, Adam put one arm out to prevent the madness from continuing any longer, and to give his best friend an I-am-Ranger-fear-me glare. Rocky grinned at the action, not intimidated in the slightest.

"Hey, it's your non-existent sex life," Rocky said with a shrug. "If you don't mind it staying non-existent we can head home now."

Adam's eyes widened in horror as he looked around desperately to be sure no one had overheard that comment; Rocky took advantage of his distraction to enter the small store and went unerringly to the section of condoms. Adam wondered briefly why his friend knew exactly where to find them, but decided it was probably a dangerous question to ponder. Therefore, he was mildly relieved by the amount of surprised glee in Rocky's face when he began reading off the labels. This was obviously his first time studying the surprisingly diverse selection.

"Ribbed for her pleasure," Rocky paused to run an assessing eye up and down Adam. "Do you suppose that means ribbed for his pleasure too? Or is there something about Tommy you want to tell me?"

Adam rolled his eyes involuntarily before remembering that he was trying to pretend he didn't know the crazy man in the condom aisle. The black ranger slid down the section of medicines and made his way to the next row of goods. Unfortunately, Rocky was too keyed up to notice that Adam was ignoring him.

"Cherry flavored?" Rocky's forehead furrowed in that way that left him looking more like his spirit animal than the teenager would have probably be comfortable with. "Why do condoms need to be flavored?" He raised his voice enthusiastically to be sure Adam could hear him over in the next aisle. "Did Jason's lesson say anything about needing condoms for bl…?"

"Rocky," Adam yelped, darting across the divider in case physical restraint was necessary to prevent Rocky from literally killing him with embarrassment.

"What?" Rocky asked his voice muffled behind the restraining hand Adam had slapped across his mouth. "I'm only thinking of your safety."

"Yeah, that's what Jason said," Adam said, warily lowering his hand back to his side

"Well, there you go then. I wouldn't want you to think I'm not as good a friend as Jason." Rocky smiled quickly before returning his attention to the selection in front of him. "How do you feel about glow-in-the-dark? That seems like you could have some nice childish fun before the more adult fun starts. And you could leave the lights off; I know how self-conscious you can be."

"Do you?" Adam asked pointedly. Rocky ignored him; something far more interesting had caught his eye.

"Vibrating condoms!" Rocky exclaimed with undisguised glee. In a movement born of sheer self preservation, Adam swept an entire shelf of the prophylactics into his arms and practically sprinted to the counter, anything to get out of this store before he stroked out.

Two hours, three pep talks, and forty dollars later, Adam found himself back where this all had started, Tommy's doorstep. This time he had his best friend beside him for fortification, and an innocuous brown paper bag clenched in his arms. Adam reached for the doorbell, but Rocky knocked his arm out of the way.

"Don't," he said, a giddy smile on his face. "This'll be much more fun if he doesn't see us coming."

Adam rolled his eyes, but shifted away from the bell to open the door unannounced. He moved up the stairs quickly, not bothering to keep quiet; if he didn't do this now, he'd probably talk himself out of it.

At the door to Tommy's bedroom, two sets of surprised eyes turned toward him, and Adam faltered. Rocky didn't pause at all; he just shouldered Adam aside to see what the problem was.

"Oh, good. You're here," Rocky said gleefully and turned back to his best friend. At the panicked look on Adam's face, Rocky sighed in exasperation. "Fine, I'll do it." He reached for the bag, but Adam snapped out of his trance and clutched it tighter to his chest.

"No, I got it," he said, just loud enough for Rocky to hear. Setting his jaw in what he hoped was a determined manner; he marched across the room, opened the bag, and upended an entire convenience store shelf's worth of condoms over the former Red Ranger's head.

For a moment, only the sound of Rocky's gasping laughter, his mirth way out of proportion to the event, filled the room. Tommy and Jason stared at Adam, surveyed the spread of brightly covered foil covering Jason and the bed, and then looked at each other solemnly before bursting into laughter.

"Oh, yeah," Jason said, wiping at his eyes, "He's a keeper."

Tommy smiled broadly at the Black Ranger. Adam finally allowed himself to relax; and, emboldened by the success of his stunt, sat across Tommy's lap. Tommy's arms wrapped around him automatically as he said, "Don't I know it."

Helpless against the affection coming out of those tempting lips, Adam covered them with his own, sighing softly as a skilled tongue swiftly caressed his before pulling back. Adam was sure they looked like a couple of twelve year old girls the way they were staring into each other's eyes and grinning goofily at each other, but just now he couldn't find it in himself to care.

"Just so you know, team leader or not, if he hurts Adam I'm gonna have to kick his ass," Rocky said conversationally to the former Red standing next to him. Adam opened his mouth to protest, but Tommy shook his head minutely, eyes filled with delight.

The echoing amusement was also obvious in Jason's voice when he answered. "I can respect that. The same goes for me if Adam screws this up." Tommy rolled his eyes, but kept his silence.

"So," Rocky said to his predecessor, "up for some Red Ranger bonding?"

Adam spared a moment of gratitude for his best friend. Then he thought about how hard it would be if they were separated, and reluctantly stood up. "How about adding some Black and White to that mix?"

Jason's eyes darted quickly to Tommy, but he directed his question to Adam. "Are you sure?"

Adam smiled sweetly. "Of course. I'm supposed to protect the city; I can't let you two wander around unsupervised."

"Ha, ha. Very funny," Rocky grumbled as he and Jason turned in unison. Tommy caught Adam's hand, and gave it a quick, grateful squeeze before following their friends out the door.