Careful, Boy. Careful.
By foggynite
Fandom: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Pairing: Cam/Hunter, Blake/Tori
Summary: Part three of the Nightworld AU. Sometimes it's hard to come back again, but once you're there…
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own PRNS, nor do I make any claim on them. I'm just a poor student.
"We're twenty minutes out, C," Shane's voice murmured in his ear. Adjusting his earpiece, Cam called up the city map on his monitor. Three blinking lights, all primary colors, were proof that his tracking spell worked.
"I'll be sure to leave the porch light on." Not his best rejoinder, but he was tired.
Suppressing a yawn, Cam tried to stretch in the padded computer chair. The rangers had interrupted three muggings, two robberies, and an attempted rape, all involving nightworld citizens, in one night, and he still had to finish the reports when they got back to base. Either the nightworld population had skyrocketed in Blue Bay Harbor during the past month, or there was a new spell out there that completely blew away all laws of probability. Looking over his incident statistics for the past two weeks, Cam was willing to bet Lothor was recruiting from other cities and shipping thugs in.
That thought made him nervous. Considering the numbers the rangers were reporting from their patrols, there would soon be enough of Lothor's people in the city to constitute a small army. Three rookie rangers, one back-up tactician, and a guinea pig were all that stood in Lothor's way.
Cam rolled away from the tracking screen with a sigh and started going through the back logs on another computer. An absent sip from his mug made him spit the stale, cold coffee back out.
"Just great." He set the mug aside in disgust and turned to another monitor screen. He was in the middle of finishing an old report when a warning from the alley ward shot across his skin.
A glance at the tracking screen had the rangers on the other side of the city, so he switched to the security monitors. Someone knocked heavily on the back door three times, the sound reverberating through the basement. An eyebrow went up. He shouldn't have been able to hear that with the wards.
A flicker of movement on the security monitor showed two figures, the taller one pacing roughly in front of the door while the smaller one was on the other side of the alley, slumped between the concrete wall and the end of the dumpster where Shane usually parked. The first person was obviously agitated and pounded on the door again, noise from upstairs matching the events on the screen as navy blue light crackled from his hand.
"We have company?" His father asked dryly, appearing out of the tubing network running through the dojo airducts.
"Looks like, and I have a fair idea who it is." With a sigh, Cam stood. He didn't want to deal with the Bradley brothers again. Not now, not ever. Especially when he was half-exhausted.
But he climbed the stairs with heavy feet, unable to turn anyone away if they were a nightworlder requesting ranger aide or shelter. There was a back storage room in the dojo that doubled as a hostel when needed, but he really didn't want the two of them in the dojo, let alone staying for any length of time.
His father had, on occasion, pointed out that he had a tendency to hold grudges. Cam usually just snorted and replied, "You say that like it's a bad thing."
Trying to kill his only surviving family member? Not so much with the sympathy here.
He waited to open the heavy side door until the basement wards sealed behind him, twice as strong as when the brothers had first invaded. At least they had shown Cam and his father the weaknesses in their defense grid.
Cam put on his most severe expression. "Can I help you?"
Pausing mid-step, Blake just stared wild-eyed at him for a moment, like he hadn't really expected them to answer. At least he didn't even try to come in first before he spoke.
"Uh, Cam? Hi." He ran his hands through his hair. "Yeah. We—we need some help here, man."
"And I should trust you because…?" Cam asked, which he thought was quite reasonable on his part.
"Look, I know there's some bad blood here," the younger Bradley said quickly, hands up in a placating motion. His fingers were shaking. "I know, dude. And please believe me when I say that we'd really like to make up for it if you'd let us. But right now, we don't have time to get into this." Blake craned his neck so he could watch Hunter and Cam at once. "He's sick. Like, really, really sick and I don't know what to do. You guys are about the only place we can go where we know Lothor doesn't have someone waiting, and Cam, please, he's really sick. Please believe me, I'm not lying here. I'll swear on anything you want me to, I'll take a blood oath, make a pact, whatever you want, just help him."
The whole thing could be a set-up. The last time he had an injured Bradley in the dojo, Blake had no trouble taking advantage of his injuries to find out about their ward system. Who knew if they were after anything now, but Hunter was almost doubled over, hunched next to the dumpster, and Cam didn't think he was faking. For one, he was being unnaturally quiet. Not even shaky breaths. And Blake was obviously in a state of honest panic.
Pinning the younger Bradley with an assessing gaze, Cam deliberated for a moment then nodded. No need to think they were getting in on anything but Cam's good graces.
"Bring him in, then." There was no way in hell was he going out into the alley alone to help them, real illness or not. They could drag each other in if they wanted. "We have a cot in the back."
"Thanks, man." Blake hurried to his brother's side. "Hunter. Bro. Hunter. C'mon man, we need to walk."
Hunter barely responded to Blake's words or touch. The elder Bradley seemed disoriented, eyes unfocused and blonde hair plastered to his forehead. There was a slick sheen of something on his skin that Cam couldn't identify. Worry of possible contaminants, various spells for exuding poison through one's body to kill many people at once, came to mind, and Cam ground his teeth. He didn't like this at all.
Slinging Hunter's arm over his shoulders, Blake staggered across the alley and through the open door. He was visibly relieved when Cam activated the wards behind them.
Motioning to the back room, Cam kept his distance. He certainly wasn't going to place himself in a vulnerable position with two possible enemies. Then he realized Hunter was sweating blood through his pores, and his first thoughts were of the Black Plague, then he was ushering them quickly into the room.
"Lay him on that bed," he pointed to the nearest one while he retrieved the first aid kit from the kitchen. "Has he mentioned any symptoms? Told you anything about what's wrong?"
Hunter was just lying on the cot, eyes closed. Even from just the few times they had spoken, Cam could tell something was seriously wrong.
"He never complains about his health," Blake said with quiet frustration from his crouch beside the bed. "I didn't realize something was wrong until yesterday, when he doubled over, holding his stomach. I teleported him to the nearest apothecary, but… that didn't exactly go well." Blake looked up at Cam solemnly. "Lothor's put a price on us. He didn't specify how we're supposed to be brought in, either."
Burying the stab of sympathy he felt for them at that, Cam took Hunter's temperature with an ear thermometer. 107. Lamias usually ranged from 101 to 102. With a frown of concentration, he set one of the healing crystals on Hunter's chest, trying to sense where the imbalance in his body was. It wasn't difficult to find.
It felt like the cells of his body were dying, like all the little platelets and hemoglobin were shriveling up, leaving every body part parched and aching. If it continued for much longer, his organs would fail and there would be nothing for Cam to do. But he still didn't know why it was happening. Poison? He couldn't detect any foreign particles in Hunter's system. A death spell? But there weren't any bindings on his chi that Cam could feel. The pain was worse in Hunter's stomach and kidneys. Maybe something he ingested?
"When was the last time he ate or drank anything?" He demanded, opening his eyes in time to catch Blake's guilty expression at the question before the younger man looked away.
"He kept saying he wasn't hungry, and he was drinking lots of water. I just didn't think about it. I mean, I haven't seen him eat in the week and a half since we left, and I thought he was okay." The self-deprecation was evident, but Cam didn't have time to give hollow platitudes.
A week and a half was a long time, even for a lamia. Frowning, Cam wiped Hunter's brow with a gauze pad, peering at the blood soaked up.
"I need to get my father," he muttered. Staring at the pad, Blake looked like he was going to be ill.
"I am here, Cameron," the elder Watanabe said calmly from the foot of the bed. "And I believe I know the cause of his condition. His energies are very different from his last visit."
That declaration made Cam pause before he realized his father was referring to the attack and not the times Hunter dropped in for information before then. He could feel his cheeks flush.
At his father's confidence, Blake's expression lit up hopefully, but was quickly stifled with the next question.
"When was the last time he consumed blood?"
"I don't know," Blake said, the full implications sinking in. "I mean, Lothor had some at the hotel for him, but I don't think he's drunk any for a month or so? Not that I've seen." The younger man looked frustrated, with himself or his brother, though, Cam wasn't sure. "We argued about it when we first got here, so I don't know. It was a sore subject."
Gently, his father hopped onto the bedspread and padded up to rest on his haunches next to Hunter's blonde hair.
"Hunter?" He asked softly. When he received no response from the lamia, he laid his tiny paw on Hunter's temple. Blake looked at Cam questioningly, but Cam just shrugged. After a moment, his father withdrew and sat back, hands folded in his lap.
"I am afraid we shall require a bottle from the fridge, Cameron."
Nodding, Cam quickly went to the kitchen and opened the compartment at the bottom of the refrigerator, pulling out a twelve ounce bottle of pig's blood from the stock they kept on hand for itinerant vampires.
When he returned to the room, the elder Watanabe was speaking softly to Blake.
"We can only hope to ease his pain, but we cannot fully abate it. The best thing for you to do now is to make him as comfortable as possible."
Soaking a pad of gauze with the blood, Cam carefully dabbed it at Hunter's chapped lips, ignoring the conflicting emotions in his chest. He didn't have time to think.
The effect of the blood on the elder Bradley was almost instantaneous, his eyes opening but remaining unfocused, nostrils flaring as he grabbed Cam's wrist in a steel grip. Wary of having his hand mistaken as the source, Cam didn't struggle, but he did fumble for a bigger piece of gauze in the first aid kit with his free hand and soaked that through. When he offered it to Hunter, the blonde eagerly latched onto it with his teeth, eyes reflexively sinking shut. Cam tried not to freak, but this was definitely closer to a feeding lamia than he had ever wanted to be.
After a moment, Hunter started moving restlessly, pulling away from Cam and trying to sit up. Cautiously, Cam laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, and Hunter stilled.
Blake scooted closer to the other edge, touching Hunter's arm. "It's all right. We're safe, bro."
Some clarity seemed to return to Hunter at Blake's voice, and he spit the gauze out with a grimace. He was still shivering, enough to shake the bed. Cam dragged a spare blanket over and covered him. Hunter stared up at him for a moment.
"Cam?" His voice was gravelly, inhuman but also dry and weak.
"Hi." Cam said shortly.
Hunter's head lolled to the side, looking for Blake.
"Wha--?"
"We're at the Watanabe dojo," Blake explained. "It was the only place to go."
His eyes drifting shut, Hunter didn't respond. A shudder racked his lean frame.
"Your body is returning to its natural state," the elder Watanabe explained from his position next to Hunter's head. "You and your brother may remain here while you recover."
Unsealing the bottle cap again, Cam motioned to Hunter, who had focused on the smell immediately.
"If we sat you up, do you think you could hold some down?" He knew from experience that vomited blood was extremely unpleasant for everyone involved.
"Yeah," Hunter rasped, and winced when Blake supported his shoulders so he could sip from the plastic cup Cam held to his lips. Another tremor ran through the lamia's body and he tried to curl into the fetal position, narrowly missing the half-full cup. Blake looked to Cam helplessly when his brother convulsed again, and the two lowered Hunter back onto the bed. The more blood Hunter drank, though, the deeper his breathing was, and Cam didn't know if that was a good sign or not. It was all fairly frightening.
"Perhaps a cool cloth might help, Cameron?" His father suggested quietly, still next to the elder Bradley's pillow. Swallowing tightly, Cam nodded and went over to the kitchen sink, soaking a set of hand towels.
"Here," he said quietly as he handed one to Blake. The younger Bradley gently laid it on Hunter's forehead, and for the first time, the blonde allowed a groan to escape. He stopped breathing again, but he also seemed to slip into a shallow state of rest. If his condition had been progressing for days or weeks, then he was probably exhausted.
There wasn't anything more he could help with, so Cam prepared to withdraw from the room. He was familiar enough with Hunter's personality to know that he wouldn't appreciate an audience. He started gathering the unneeded medical supplies, but Blake's words made him pause.
"I don't get it," the brunette murmured. "I thought cow's blood wasn't that strong."
That was something for his father to answer, and Cam looked to the guinea pig for a response. The elder Watanabe's pause was audible.
"Blake," his father finally said gravely. "I'm afraid a reaction this-- strong is not caused by any animal's blood."
What little color left drained from Blake's stricken face. His voice was barely more than a whisper. "Oh man. Oh, no way. He's gonna freak."
"Most likely, it suited Lothor's plan to have your brother as strong as possible. While animal's blood does enhance the powers of the lamia, it lacks the properties to bond as completely with their cells."
Blake stared down at his brother's still form and Cam pressed his lips together to keep from saying something inane. Empty reassurances weren't going to do them any good, and really, how trusting were these two? They just blindly believed everything Lothor told them and ate whatever he put in front of them. They needed a keeper, because they obviously couldn't be left on the streets to their own devices.
Snapping the first aid kit shut, Cam stood quickly. Briskly, he quietly told Blake, "You can stay in here for now. Upstairs and downstairs are off limits, but you can use the dojo kitchen. No visitors and curfew's at ten. The dojo opens at seven, so keep that in mind and stay out of sight." He took in Blake's torn jeans and dirty jacket. Hunter's clothes were beginning to stain red. "Make sure you keep the door closed, just in case any customers come back here. There's a shower in the bathroom," he motioned to a small door on the other side of the room. "If you want to get cleaned up—"
His earpiece beeped, interrupting with Dustin's voice, "Dude, is everything cool on your end? There's some weird power sigs out here."
Turning away from Blake and tapping his earpiece, Cam said through gritted teeth, "Everything's fine, guys. Just get in here and finish your reports. We have guests in the extra room. Try not to kill them by accident."
"Guests?" Tori's voiced chimed in, but she didn't ask any further questions. Cam still wasn't sure how secure the wireless communicators were, but they were more reliable than the cell phones.
The alley door opened, wards tingling yet not going on alert, and Cam met the three rangers in the kitchen. After checking to make sure Hunter was still asleep, Blake followed him.
"What's he doing here?" Was Shane's first reaction, the lead ranger dropping into a defensive stance.
"He's one of our guests," Cam said in what he hoped was a quelling tone. Shane didn't look happy, but he relaxed into a less obviously aggressive position. Cam waited until the younger man looked away from his gaze before he continued speaking. "Blake and Hunter will be staying with us for a few days."
"So where's the other one?" Shane demanded, glaring past Cam at Blake.
The younger Bradley kept slouching in the doorway, but he responded softly, "Hunter's sick."
Shane made a derisive noise, but Tori stepped forward with genuine concern. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Blake gave her a wan imitation of his usual charming smile. "Nah, we got it covered. But thanks."
"Anytime," Tori said quietly.
Cam resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and derailed any further discussions by raising his arms. "All right. It's been a long night for everyone. Rangers, downstairs. Blake, I'm sure my father can show you where the supplies are if you need anything."
The obvious dismissal worked, because the group broke up. Shane thumped down the stairs, and Blake grinned at Tori as she passed, but turned to Cam. "We're good for now, man. Thanks."
The last part wasn't just for towels and shampoo, but Cam just nodded at him and went down the basement stairs. Dustin murmured a greeting to Blake and thumped down behind Cam, while Tori lingered at the top of the stairs for a moment. That was a complication Cam didn't need, but she was a strong woman who could take care of herself. He just didn't have to like it.
Shane was obviously thinking the same thoughts, because he whirled around to scowl at Cam as soon as they hit the bottom of the stairs.
"Are you insane?" The ranger growled. "Or have you just forgotten what they tried to do last time they were in town?"
"No, Shane. I haven't forgotten," Cam said in clipped tones and stepped around the ranger to resume his seat at the computers.
"Hello, they were working for Lothor!" Shane yelled at his back.
Unbuckling his uniform, Dustin replied for him. "But they were totally lied to and everything. I mean, technically, Hunter saved us when he had the chance—"
"It could all be a plot to get us to trust them, or maybe, let them stay in our base of operations--"
"I think they're legit, dude. Their parents set them straight—"
"You though that werewolf was 'legit' too, before she tried to rip your head off—"
"Are you trying to say something?"
"Gee, Dustin, let me think—"
Cam tuned them out and called up the security grid for the dojo, focusing on the spare room. His father could ward rooms from the shrine under the basement stairs, but Cam was more technologically inclined for his own magic. This was a simple surveillance spell. If anyone entered or left the room, the computer would alert him through his communicator.
Tori came down the stairs, a bemused look on her face that quickly changed to a frown as Shane glowered at her.
"Do you have to be so friendly with them?"
"Do you hear something, Dustin?" She said pleasantly. "We really should get the wards checked."
Dustin wisely said nothing. Cam, however, was reaching the end of his patience. He already had most of the night's reports written up, thanks to the new communicators, but he needed to make sure that there wasn't anything new to add before he sent them home.
"Reports?" He barked as he swiveled the chair to stare at them with a neutral expression. For a moment, Shane looked like he wanted to continue protesting, but the rangers finally settled next to the weapons table as they got out of uniform.
"Two of the muggings might have been kidnap attempts," Shane said in a brisk tone, all business. "And maybe the rape. Those were definitely Lothor's men. The one mugging was just a punk witch who used a memory hex, so the victim doesn't remember anything. We still made her give the guy his wallet back, though."
"I still think the robberies are connected," Tori interjected as she helped Dustin with his lacings. "Both gangs were going for the same types of equipment."
"That one dude was a general," Dustin said casually as he struggled with his tunic, pausing as everyone else stared at him. "What?"
"Which general?" Cam asked as he turned to the ranger database. "How did you recognize him?"
"He was in that file you made us all read. Anthrax, anthill, something like that. The dude who can transform into a lizard or something."
Cam blinked. "You actually read something I gave you? Wait, never mind that. A lizard? Vexacus, maybe?"
"Yeah, that's it," Dustin agreed happily. "He was at the first store. Just kinda stood there and let us thrash his guys. Lothor really doesn't care about his thugs, does he?"
Cam's stomach sank. If Dustin was correct, and he probably was for all that he seemed like a space-case, then that meant that both Zurgane and Vexacus were in Blue Bay Harbor. The top two generals in Lothor's outfit, and they hated each other passionately, which meant they were probably here under higher orders.
He stared at the long list of Vexacus' crimes from the database, and just felt so amazingly tired. They were screwed.
"Anything else?" He snapped, head pounding.
The rangers exchanged glances and shrugged at each other. Shane spoke up, "I think we gave you everything earlier. You still want us to check out the docks tomorrow?"
Cam pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let me make a few phone calls first. Some people owe me favors."
"All right." The subdued tone was out of character for Shane, but when Cam turned to look at the rangers, they were all busy with their uniforms and avoiding eye contact.
With a triumphant smile, Dustin held up his staff. "Hey, look what I brought home in one piece!"
Cam's eye started twitching all on its own. "Thank you, Dustin. Let's try to keep that up in the future, hm?"
The younger man just grinned and bobbed his head. Shane and Tori added their weapons to the table, and soon they were standing in their street clothes. They exchanged glances with each other, which made Cam lean back in his chair and cross his arms over his chest.
"We're gonna head out now," Shane announced unnecessarily. "Maybe catch a few extra Zs tonight."
"Yeah," Dustin chimed in. "I know I've been totally missing sleep, man."
"Maybe you should call it an early night, too, Cam," Tori said innocently. "Consider it, like, a mini-vacation or something. Dustin could cover your morning class for you, so you could even sleep in. If you wanted to, I mean."
"I could?" Dustin asked, then winced as Tori stepped on his foot. "Oh yeah, I totally could, dude. No problem."
Cam peered at them, unamused, until they started to squirm.
"I don't take vacations, mini or otherwise," he finally said severely, and spun his chair back around to call up the night's reports. "Report at seven tomorrow."
A series of assents echoed as the rangers gathered their civilian gear and shuffled out. Cam stared at the computer screen for a moment, telling himself not to bother caring. He was fine. He could do his job. What, did they think he wasn't capable now? Bad enough his father wouldn't let him out in the field, but now the rangers were doubting him too?
"They are only concerned for you, son," his father stated from above him on the monitors. It was an eerie habit his dad had, creeping around and responding to things Cam was thinking. An image of his father with a cat bell on crossed his mind.
"I'm fine, Dad," Cam said in much of the same tone he used on the rangers, but it had never worked on his father.
"You push yourself very hard, and have exacting standards. It is all right to admit you are merely human."
"Well, considering I'm a warlock, I'm not very human, now am I?" Cam snapped and started typing furiously. After a moment, his father hopped back to the air duct.
"I am retiring for the night, Cameron. Perhaps you should do the same?" A subtle reprimand that Cam ignored as he gave a careless wave.
Once he felt his father move further up into the dojo to their living quarters, his typing stuttered to a halt and he just stared blankly at the screen. He'd love to be able to sleep in. He'd love to be able to take a vacation. But he couldn't afford to, just like he couldn't afford to let his guard down again. He wouldn't put his father in danger again.
The thought of their unwanted guests upstairs churned his stomach. He hated the part of himself that felt a frisson of excitement at having Hunter around again. Even after everything the man did to his family, the blood addiction he had to kick, the bleeding from his pores thing he had going on—Even then, Cam still thought he was attractive. Still looked forward to the arguments they were sure to have.
"Maybe I do need a vacation," he whispered to the empty room.
TBC...
Gentlemen our faith is wounded
And yes, we are wounded too
They've come out from the swamp
But we, we stand on both legs
Finch "Worms of the Earth"
