I don't own Power Rangers, nor do I make any money from this work of fiction.
Hunter/Cam slash, maybe Blake/Tori if you squint.
Summary: Set right after Storm Before the Calm. The former Rangers realize that life as they know it is about to change, and instinctively seek out companionship in the ones they've become closest to.
Notes: A short piece that I wrote in under an hour, so forgive any errors. I just came back home after six months abroad, and I'm feeling very disconnected right now…and so came forth this story. It's not quite happy and not quite sad, just…contemplative. And it's mostly Hunter's POV, which is something different for me.
On the Brink of Change
"I thought I'd find you here," said a familiar voice.
Cam glanced up from whatever it was he was doing as Hunter walked into the room. "There were just…too many people," he said, by way of explanation.
"This place is wrecked," observed Hunter, looking around the remains of Ops.
"I know," Cam replied, sighing.
"But it's not like we'll need Ops again anyway," added Hunter.
Cam flinched. "That's true," he said evenly.
"Sorry," apologized Hunter immediately, wincing. That had definitely been the wrong thing to say. "Didn't mean to put it so harshly."
"It's fine," said Cam, abruptly standing up and brushing himself off. "You're right. We won't need Ops anymore. It was for Rangers, and we don't have the Power anymore."
"You put a lot of work into this place," said Hunter, feeling disoriented and kind of like he was trying to navigate in the dark. "I'm sorry that Lothor destroyed it."
"Life happens. One project is over, move on to the next one," said Cam briskly.
Hunter frowned. Okay, not that he was a complete expert on Cam yet, but the technician was totally distancing himself. "I leave tomorrow," he said, after a moment. "For the Thunder Academy." To be a teacher. The head teacher. Was he even ready to be a teacher? He still felt like a student himself, even if he was a graduate now.
"That makes sense. You've got just as much rebuilding to do as the Wind Academy," replied Cam, turning away as he began to clear equipment.
"Cam, talk to me, would you?" asked Hunter, exasperated. "Look, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of reeling over what just happened! I mean, Lothor's gone; our powers are gone! And right now, it feels kind of like you're gone too! And I'm not ready for this! I'm not ready to stop being a Ranger, to stop living in Blue Bay Harbor, to give up on pro racing for teaching, to say goodbye to the Winds, to be separated from Blake for months at a time!"
A beat, and he sighed and admitted, "I'm not ready to not see you every day," feeling awkwardly exposed. But he had said it. His words were hanging in the air between them, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Cam sighed, still facing the wall. "Life doesn't wait for you to be ready," he said, after a moment.
"That's it?" snapped Hunter, a sudden surge of anger rising. "I just put myself out there and all you can say is that?"
"What do you want me to say, Hunter?!" snapped back Cam, whirling around. "Life doesn't wait for you to be ready. Do you think I was ready to have my home destroyed and my father turned into a guinea pig by Lothor? To have to deal with five Rangers running in and out of Ops? To see my mother, after all this time, and not to be able to even let her know who I was? To have the Ranger powers and the amulet—my mother's amulet—taken away?"
There was a brief pause and Cam added quietly, wearily, "To finally, finally, find someone who was worth getting to know, someone worth trusting, only to have them leave? Do you think I was ready—that I am ready—for any of it?"
Hunter had to take a moment to process all of that, and once he did the anger faded as quickly as it had arisen. They were both going through the same thing, after all. They just dealt in different ways, and Cam's way was to try to pretend it wasn't happening and that it didn't affect him.
"I'm that someone, right?" he asked, trying to ease the tension. "'Cause, you know, I'd be kind of pissed off if you were talking about someone else." He half expected Cam to snap at him again for that.
His lame attempt at humor actually seemed to work, though, Cam's posture slumping as the tension faded away.
"What if I said that I was talking about Tori?" he asked, glancing at Hunter.
"Then Blake would be pissed off too, and dealing with you guys once was more than enough," replied Hunter, smiling slightly. It faded as he approached Cam, settling his hands on his waist.
"We're gonna make it though this," he said, although it came out as a mixture of statement and question.
"You don't know that," said Cam quietly, as they touched foreheads. "Our relationship might depend on the fact that we saw each other every day. What if we don't have anything in common besides the fact that we were once Rangers?"
"If that was the only thing holding us together, then we wouldn't be together at all," Hunter pointed out. "Come on, Cam, give us a little more credit, here. I liked you before you were a Ranger, and I know you weren't impressed by the fact that I ran around in crimson spandex—even if I did look good in it."
Cam's lips quirked up, and Hunter pressed forward.
"You're a freaking genius, and funny, when the sarcasm isn't directed at me—and even when it is, sometimes—and it doesn't hurt that you're hot. And despite the fact that you're socially inept, stubborn, and almost unbelievably introverted, I'm still kind of into you. So. That has to mean something," he told Cam.
He smirked and finished with, "Probably means I'm crazy."
Cam was giving him a look that was somewhere between amused and annoyed. "You," he said, "Are just as stubborn as I am, for the record. And you're hot-headed and arrogant on top of it. But…I like you too. Which probably means that I'm just as crazy as you are."
"What, you aren't going to list my good qualities?" asked Hunter, grinning at him.
"Remember what I said about the arrogance?" replied Cam dryly.
It was okay. Hunter didn't care about his praises being sung. From Cam, the simple 'I like you' was worth a million other compliments.
"We'll make it though this," he repeated, more definitively this time, "If only because I don't know anyone else that could put up with either of us."
Cam smiled slightly. "Your logic has flaws," he pointed out.
Hunter smirked. "That's why I keep you around," he replied. "Someone has to make sense, after all."
Footsteps sounded as someone approached and they broke apart, knowing that anyone could be walking down those stairs now, not just those in their trusted circle. It was just Shane, though, and he gave them a slightly apologetic smile for intruding.
"Sorry," he offered. "I just…didn't know where else to go, y'know?"
"I feel you, man," replied Hunter, as they rapped knuckles, "And this isn't even my Academy."
"It is," disagreed Cam, surprising him.
"Yeah," added Shane, further surprising him. "You and Blake may have gone through most of your training at the Thunder Academy, but Sensei let you graduate from here for a reason. I mean, we went through some pretty life-changing stuff here. It's kind of a big deal. You made this place your own, and that's the way it'll stay…even if you're not gonna be here anymore."
"…Thanks," said Hunter at last, for lack of a better expression of his gratitude.
"No worries, man," Shane told him, with an easy grin. "You're one of us."
"Yes, there's no escaping now," deadpanned Cam.
"What are we escaping?" asked Tori, as she walked down the stairs.
"Besides the massive crowd out there," added Blake, as he followed her.
"Don't worry about it," Cam told them.
"We figured you guys would be down here," Tori told them, smiling. "Even Shane gets tired of having all the attention on him."
"Hey!" protested Shane, although he was grinning. "Cam and Hunter were here first."
"Cam was here first," corrected Hunter, holding up his hands in a gesture of guiltlessness.
"Ever our anti-social genius," teased Blake, clapping the technician on the back. He sighed. "I think I'll actually miss trying to socialize you."
"I'll miss everything about us," admitted Tori, looking a little downcast.
"In every ending there's a new beginning," Shane quoted.
"Yeah, the beginning of you sounding like Sensei, dude," said Dustin, as he bounded down the stairs.
Everyone laughed and Shane took it all in good nature. "Hey, I'm surprised too," he said, shrugging. "I mean, think about it. This time a year ago we were this close to getting kicked out, and now we're graduating? Crazy."
"This time a year ago we were entirely different people," said Blake, as he and Hunter glanced at each other.
"This time a year ago I would've been buried in work, completely avoiding everyone else," said Cam dryly, to avoid the conversation taking a morose turn.
"What's changed, then?" teased Shane, as everyone laughed.
Cam took the lighthearted ribbing much better than he would have in the past. "Just remember," he said lightly, "I'm the head teacher now. I could make your lives miserable if I chose to."
"Not me," claimed Blake. "I'm on the road."
Cam just arched an eyebrow, and Dustin told him, "Dude, if it's one thing we've learned in the past year, it's to never doubt Cam's powers."
Blake winced. "Point taken," he agreed, as everyone laughed again.
Things were going to be different, Hunter knew. The six of them would go in different directions, have different lives…but this, this dynamic…he knew that it wasn't going to fade unless they let it. They had trusted each other with their lives, with their secrets…and in some cases, with their hearts. Bonds like that weren't easily broken, not unless you let them be, and he was definitely going to fight for what he had gained.
So he joined in on the fun and laughed and teased and celebrated with his friends, his arm wrapped tightly around Cam the whole time. And he stopped worrying. Cam was right, life didn't wait for you to be ready.And last time he'd been thrown into a new situation, he had gained three new friends and a boyfriend, so maybe change wasn't so bad after all.
Cam glanced at him and smiled, and Hunter automatically grinned back.
They would be okay.
Just a short and sweet fic about endings and keeping in touch with friends. And now I really have to get back to work. I hope you guys enjoyed this!