Disclaimer- Don't own.
AN- I'm a horrible person. I'm sorry about the slow updates but this story is giving me trouble. Plus I had another new idea for a Buffy fic and I just had to get the first chapter out. Then a Gundam Wing fic popped into my head. Those stories are, so far, writing their selves much better than this fic. It took me about two weeks to come up with the first half of this chapter, then about another two weeks for me two come up with the second half. Plus I keep getting knew ideas for the other PRNS story I'm working on. Now if only I could figure out how to begin it. But not to worry, I am not abandoning this fic. If you wanna check out the Buffy story, I do have to tell you one of the characters is based after a character Glenn McMillan plays in the (at the time of this writing) upcoming Zenon: Z3 movie on Disney Channel.
Truly Seeing
By Ravyn Jayne
Chapter 4
Cam carried extra sleeping bags and pillows down to the living room where the boy Rangers had decided to camp out. Tori, Marah, and Kapri were staying in Cam's room, while Giles, Buffy, and Sensei each got their own room.
Arriving in the living room Cam found Marah, Kapri, and Tori had joined the boys, who had their sleeping bags spread out across the floor. All of them, including Cam, were in their pajamas. The girls were talking and the guys stared at them dubiously. Kapri noticed Cam first.
"Let's ask Cam." she said.
"Cam's smart." Marah quickly agreed. Suddenly all eyes were on Cam.
"Bad boys." Tori said. Cam lifted an eyebrow.
"If that was the question, the answer is a definite yes." Cam said simply.
"So you go for bad boys?" Kapri asked. "I mean you're good and all that."
"Opposites attract, I suppose." Cam shrugged. "Besides, if you ask Giles, Summers women have a genetic weakness for bad boys."
"Your mom fell for your dad." Shane pointed out. Cam smirked.
"You didn't go back in time and meet him as a young man. There are different types of bad boys. He was a good guy, best student, always did the right thing, but he had the attitude of a bad boy. All the signs were there." Cam explained.
"There are signs?" Blake asked. Cam nodded wisely. "Okay, Hunter and I were 'bad boys' and I don't remember any 'signs'."
"Of course you don't." Buffy said walking up behind Cam. "True bad boys don't see the signs."
"Alright, I gotta ask." Hunter said. "What are these signs?"
"The brooding pout, the tortured puppy eyes." Buffy said.
"The dangerous air that hangs over them like a looming thunder(1) cloud." Cam added. Marah and Kapri giggled.
"That is so you two." Kapri told the Thunder Brothers. Even the Wind Rangers were chuckling a little, recognizing the 'signs'.
"Okay, maybe, but we're not bad guys anymore." Blake said.
"Not 'bad guys', bad boys. There's a difference." Cam pointed out. "True bad boys have, at sometime, done something to make them a bad guy. The trouble is spotting the ones who are still bad guys and the ones who are reformed."
"The reformed ones are good?" Marah asked.
"The reformed ones are everything you could ever want." Buffy confirmed.
"Our mother had a very simple saying. 'You lust after the bad boy, but you marry the good guy.'(2)" Cam said.
"So reformed bad boys are the best of both worlds." Tori caught on.
"Exactly." Buffy and Cam said in unison.
"I don't know." Marah said sneaking a look at Dustin. "I think I like the plain old good guys."
"That's because you were a bad girl." Cam said knowingly, putting the pillows and extra sleeping bags on the couch.
"I like bad boys." Kapri said. Cam shrugged.
"That's why the bad boy philosophy is more an opinion than a rule. Everyone's different." Cam explained. The boys all nodded like Cam just revealed a secret of the universe. Tori scowled playfully at them.
"So I talk about bad boys and I'm crazy. Cam talks about bad boys and she's distributing sage wisdom?" Tori asked.
"Cam, like, knows stuff." Dustin said. The other boy Rangers flinched and backed away from Dustin. Tori glared at Dustin, but the tension stopped when Buffy and Cam laughed. They all looked at them.
"Sorry." Cam said sitting on the couch. "It's just, Dustin, you've gotta meet Xander. When it comes to cluelessly sticking your foot in your mouth…"
"You've got one too?" Tori asked.
"If it makes you feel any better, he's mostly grown out of it." Buffy assured.
"Well, I guess there's some hope for Dustin then." Tori said, the sting taken out of the words by her affectionate smile.
"Well, it's getting late. I'm going to bed." Buffy announced. She kissed Cam's head and waved to the others, walking up the stairs.
"I don't wanna go to bed yet." Shane said. "How 'bout we watch a movie?"
The others readily agreed.
"I'll make some popcorn and get some sodas." Cam said going into the kitchen. Hunter stared after her for a moment then followed her into the kitchen. The microwave was already running and Cam was pulling bowls out of the cupboard. Hunter took this opportunity to look at her, still having trouble believing that this was real. That she was real. Cam had been his best friend and, through some crazy stroke of fate, was now the girl he loved.
Her hair fell in soft, shiny, black curls down her back. Hunter had no doubt that if he ran his hands through it, like he desperately wanted to, it would feel as silky as it looked. Though her back was to him, he had no trouble picturing her fathomless black eyes. Or her full red lips, or small upturned nose. No, he had lied awake at night, after one of the dreams, and burned her features into his brain, afraid that was the only place she'd ever be.
Sensing someone behind her, Cam knew it was Hunter. She always knew when Hunter entered the same room as her. Her 'spidey sense' tingled. Turning around she stared at Hunter, while he stared at her. Neither talked which was fine by Cam. She'd always wanted the opportunity to openly stare at the Crimson Ranger, but had been too afraid to do it while in boy form.
His blond hair was, as always, in a controlled mess, like all he ever did with it was run a brush through it, smooth it out, and get on with his day. His stormy blue eyes were intense as he looked at her, and Cam felt her heart foolishly skip a beat. His features were strongly cut, a long straight nose, and a super hero chin. And his body, the shirt and jeans that were just tight enough to show off all his muscles. Cam was so intently studying Hunter's mouth that when the microwave beeped, signaling the popcorn was done, she visibly jumped.
Hunter laughed softly. Cam was one of the hardest people he knew to startle, but there she had been so transfixed with him that she had completely lost her guard. It was very flattering. As Cam put another bag of popcorn in the microwave, then turned to put the first bag into a bowl, Hunter moved to stand directly behind her.
Cam stiffened. Hunter wasn't standing on top of her, but was closer than most people would dare. Close enough that Cam could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and her arms break out in goose bumps. Hunter put a hand on her shoulder and looked around her to see what she was doing. It reminded Cam of the way the Rangers used to hover over 'his' shoulder when 'he' worked at his computer in Ninja Ops.
"Need help?" Hunter breathed in her ear. Cam felt a jolt shoot through her body, but hid it well. None of the other Rangers had ever done that when looking over her shoulder.
"Uh, no." Cam said softly, staring down at the popcorn, like it might run away should she look away.
Cam cursed the way she stuttered, wandering what happened to usual self. Normally, a question like the one Hunter had asked would have provoked a smart ass comment on how only someone intellectually inferior with the motor skills of a blind turtle, like him for example, would need help pouring popcorn into a bowl. But with Hunter standing so close it was hard to remember her own name, let alone work up her usual wit.
"Where are the sodas?" Hunter asked and when she pointed toward the fridge, he moved away. Cam almost whimpered at the loss of his presence so close, but bit her lip so hard that she was surprised it didn't draw blood. Cam put more attention than was necessary into pouring the last of the popcorn into the bowl. Waiting for the last bag to pop, Cam carefully avoiding looking directly at Hunter. A effort that was completely destroyed when he set eight sodas down on the counter, then leaned against it, facing her. As Hunter stared at her again, Cam could feel the blood rushing to her head, and cursed her fair skin.
"So." Hunter broke the silence with his roguish grin in place. "Bad boys, huh?"
"What about them?" Cam asked, smiling back, starting to feel more at ease. This was Hunter, her best friend. Even if she was ass over tea kettle in love him, he was still her friend. Before she realized it, Hunter's face was directly in front of her, lips a breath away. He had that intense look about him again, like she was the only person in his universe. It made Cam's stomach tighten.
"I can be very bad." Hunter whispered huskily. Cam's gaze moved from his blue-gray eyes down to his inviting lips. Looking back up at his eyes, Cam swallowed.
"Trust me, I know." Cam whispered back. Hunter smirked, bringing his head down to hers. Slowly, their lips met, touching softly. Hunter rubbed his lips against hers, before he pressed them together. Cam sighed softly, her mouth opening a fraction, and Hunter readily deepened the kiss, leisurely exploring her mouth.
The microwave beeped and thay reluctantly pulled apart. Hunter prepared the last bowl of popcorn, handing all three bowls to Cam. He balanced the eight sodas, and they returned to the living room where the others were fighting over which movie to watch.
"Ooo!" Marah exclaimed, holding up a DVD. "Romeo and Juliet!"
"You have Romeo and Juliet?" Blake raised an eyebrow at Cam, as Shane and Dustin groaned over Marah's choice.
"Not the Leo DiCaprio one. The old one, where you get to see Romeos butt(3)." Cam defended herself, setting the popcorn on the coffee table next to the sodas.
"Sounds good to me." Tori grinned. Blake gave her a look.
"Doesn't everyone like, die in this movie?" Dustin asked looking at the DVD over Marah's shoulder.
"No, that's Mac Beth." Cam answered matter of factly, sitting next to Hunter on the couch. "In Romeo and Juliet, only the main characters die. Well, and Mercutio."
Hunter put an arm around Cam's waist, pulling her up against his side. Cam blushed but eagerly leaned into him. Blake, Tori, Dustin, and Shane shot them amused glances. Cam was too busy blushing to notice, but Hunter raised and eyebrow at them, daring them to comment. The four just turned away, smiling, and joined Marah and Kapri in looking for a movie.
"You know the odds of them actually agreeing on a movie?" Hunter asked rhetorically and Cam nodded, laughing.
"Ooo!" Marah exclaimed again holding up another DVD. "A talking cat movie!"
"NO!" everyone else said as one.
End Chapter 4
AN- I'll get the next part out as soon as my muse cooperates. I'll have to smack him around a little. It could take a while.
1- pun unintended, I swear!
2- Got this little nugget 'o wisdom from the movie X-Men 2. I don't own them either.
3- I don't remember much about this version other than I liked it better than the Leo DiCaprio version. I was really young at the time, but I remember liking it a lot.