Hi all. He's the second chapter of the Kiss & Tell arc, still on time. There's a chance that ch.11 will be on time as well - thought you might want to know that.

This chapter's title brought to you by Mara Aoife.

Love and Gratitude to the Constellations Team: Mara and Camille (beta), Tami (characterization and discussion pal), Navot (battle scene advisor) and Roie (who made this possible).

Feedback, as always, is very much welcome.

10. Awakenings

She woke suddenly, as she always did. Tori lay with her eyes closed, trying to remember where she was: the feel of the mattress under her was wrong, the air different. It came to her in seconds: she was at Ninja Ops, and the mattress felt weird because it was a futon. Lying still, she kept her eyes closed, using this opportunity to examine how much information she could gather by ear. The hum of the computers was, naturally, the most prominent sound. There were also the sounds of breathing: she could tell, by the different rhythms, that only one other person was awake.

Last night they had placed their futons against the wall opposite to the monitors. Or most of them had, anyway: Cam put himself between everyone else and the main console, and Hunter had positioned himself so far to the side that he was effectively against a different wall. He hadn't really wanted to stay, but Blake seemed unwilling to leave for wherever it was they were usually staying. Blake was also the one closest to Hunter, with Dustin and Shane next in the row, and Tori the one closest to Cam. She opened her eyes, and found that she was looking straight into Shane's sleeping face. On her other side should've been Cam – but now that she could orient herself, she knew that he was the one awake. Turning to her other side she saw that indeed, Cam was already by the monitor.

She smiled at the large soundman-style headset that he was using. It had caused quite the argument the night before – Cam had tried going to sleep with regular earphones, and the escaped noise had kept everyone else from falling asleep. Eventually Shane had put his foot down, telling Cam that not trusting them enough to leave them alone with the computers overnight was one thing, and forcing his questionable musical taste on them was another.

She was too awake to lie in bed, so she pushed aside the covers and sat up. Cam turned as soon as her feet touched the deck. She smiled at him and mouthed "Good morning." Cam smiled in reply, touched something on his keyboard and took off his earphones.

"Morning," he said quietly after she'd padded over. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah." She leaned against the corner of the console, as there wasn't another chair. "You?"

"Once I fell asleep." He tapped his earphones. "I take it these isolate the sound well enough even for you guys with the super-hearing?"

"Yes," she said, and added, "Look who's talking, Mr. I-can-sense-your-feet-on-the-floor!"

He grinned. "The deck was my idea, when Dad and I designed this place."

"To allow you to block your other senses from your surroundings?"

"To assist in security," he replied with a straight face. "You should see what Dad can do with this. Not that he needs it, nowadays."

"Rodent hearing?"

"Definitely."

"How well can he hear?"

"Better than you," said Cam. The sullenness in his tone made Tori grin.

Dustin rolled in his sleep.

"Speaking of which," said Tori, dropping her pitch even lower, "we'd better take this out of here before we wake everyone up."

Cam pointed at the monitors, giving her a look.

"Come on," coaxed Tori, "Don't tell me we can't get the security feed in the kitchen."

"Do you think I'm that paranoid?"

"No," she replied with a straight face, "I know you are."

He rolled his eyes, but got up. "Coffee doesn't sound too bad, actually."

"How long have you been awake?" she asked once the door closed behind them, glad that she didn't have to whisper anymore.

"About half an hour ago."

The monitor had said 06:30. "Wow, you wake early."

"So do you," he said, "and you were way more active than me, yesterday."

"I slept six hours."

"And that is enough how?" Cam demanded as he swept into the kitchen.

"No, I mean…" Tori slowed her step, trying to organize her thoughts. "We sleep less," she said, "All three of us, since we became Rangers. I sleep three or four hours on a regular night. So, six hours, that's a lot."

Cam nodded, turning from the counter to the fridge. "What do you do with all the extra time?"

"Homework," she said dryly, catching the fridge's door from him and examining the contents for herself.

"How much homework do you have?" asked Cam, pouring milk.

"Too much," she admitted. "I have a couple of AP classes. I'd have to drop them, if not for the sleep thing."

"AP." Cam frowned, handing her the milk carton to return to the fridge. "Advanced Placement, right?"

"Yeah." Cam knew so much about most things, it was easy to forget how much he didn't know about normal everyday life. If he'd ever had one day of formal education, it had to be years ago. "So, what do we make for breakfast?"

"I usually just have coffee."

"Really?" She smiled, despite herself. "How unhealthy of you."

He shrugged. "We can't all be perfect. That was off the record," he added hurriedly.

"No problem," she said. "So, how about pancakes?"

"It would placate the wolves when they wake up," he said dryly, "which should be in about half an hour."

"How do you know?"

"They fell asleep about half an hour after you. I checked the IR records first thing when I got up this morning."

She arched a questioning eyebrow. "Do I want to know why you record everything even when you sleep in the same room with us?"

"Precisely because I was asleep. Can't watch over you when asleep, can I?"

"Cam, that's ridiculous - "

"No, it's not," he snapped. "Who else would watch over you who actually knows enough to help, if anything were to go wrong? Who else do you have for backup? My watching over you is the only safety net you guys have."

He startled her, and she tried not to show it. She knew that Cam had a way of always being there, that he always seemed to anticipate what any of them would need and have it ready before they'd ask. She hadn't thought, until that moment, about what it meant for him, or realized the full weight of the responsibility he carried.

Cam looked away. "Forget I said anything."

"Cam." She stepped away from the fridge and towards him, realizing for the first time that he'd made her coffee, too. "You're part of the team just like everyone else. You know that, right?"

"I can't be a part of the team just like everyone else," he said in a low voice, still not making eye contact.

"You are to us," she said simply, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're all in this together."

He broke contact, turning around and picking up the two mugs, offering her the one that had to be hers. "So, pancakes?"

Inwardly, she sighed. "Pancakes."

Lothor was strict about meals. Everyone was to be present and no one was to be late, no exceptions. Usually, everyone was waiting by their chairs a few minutes before meal time, waiting for Lothor to arrive. No one touched the food and drink until Lothor had arrived and sat down. 'Everyone', though, was now just the sisters and Zurgane: Choobo had not been present at meals for three days, now. Not banished, yet, but diminished. Kapri wondered, sometimes, if he would meet the deadline Lothor set him but mostly, she didn't really care. It was just Choobo, and she and Marah had known all along that he wouldn't last.

Lothor sauntered in with his usual punctuality, not so much as batting an eye at the empty space. "Morning, everyone," he said with his usual morning cheerfulness as he sat down. "Bon appetite."

"Bon appetite," they replied, a well-trained choir, as they sat down.

Marah, who sat to Lothor's left, was usually the one to pour him tea. That morning, though, she only stared at her plate. Kapri reached quickly for the jug and poured her uncle his tea.

"Thank you, Kapri," he said, but did not look at her. His attention was focused on Marah. "Sleep well, Marah?"

"Yes," she said in a choked voice of sorts.

Kapri bit her lip. Displaying weakness in front of Lothor was always a bad idea, as she'd tried to explain to Marah earlier, but apparently her younger sister couldn't help but wear her heart on her sleeve.

"Fruit, sir?"

"Thank you, Zurgane," said Lothor absently, taking the basket and putting it next to his plate without touching the fruit. He was still considering Marah intently. "Then what is wrong with you, girl?"

"It's – it's George," said Marah, twisting her napkin violently.

"George?"

"Her blowfish," explained Kapri.

"Yes, yes, I know." He was still looking at Marah. "What ever happened to him?"

"He's…" Marah's lower lip began to tremble. "He's…" She began to cry.

Zurgane ceased eating, considering Marah with interest.

"She found him doing a backstroke," explained Kapri awkwardly, "Only he wasn't stroking, if you know what I mean."

Lothor finally looked at her, a sharp look that nearly made her squirm. "Ah," he said. Then he finally picked up his mug and tasted his tea. "Really, Marah," he said as he put down the cup, "it's just a pet. I'll get you a new one."

"But I loved him!" protested Marah, still crying. She was accumulating quite the pile of tissues. Kapri waved for a Kelzack to clean it up. "Don't any of you know what love is?"

"Maybe that's your problem, Marah," suggested Kapri. "You love people."

Lothor considered her again, at that, and this time his gaze was nearly appreciative.

Marah wailed louder.

Zurgane considered Marah, his impassive visage somehow condescending. Shifting his attention back to Lothor, he had apparently decided to ignore her and continue the conversation as he had any morning for the past days.

"If I may ask, Sir, how is Choobo handling his assignment?"

"He should be executing his plan today."

"Really, now." Naturally, Zurgane seemed dissatisfied: his animosity towards the lower-ranking Choobo was almost comical, at times. "And his plan would be…?"

"Doing what he does best, other than being a fool," said Lothor, munching on a bit of toast. He cleared away the crumbs with a napkin, and finished: "One may say he's gone fishing."

Kapri grabbed the arm of the Kelzack who had just placed the fresh bread on the table. "Get a new tissue box," she told it, "and fast, or you're my next practice target."

"That's the last of the new stuff," reported Blake as he and Hunter emerged from the back room, having unpacked and shelved all the new goods. "Anything else?"

"I think you're done for today," she told him.

He nodded. "Thanks, Kell." Behind him, Hunter nodded shortly.

"You're welcome." She wondered how long it would take him to stop thanking her at the end of each shift. She also wondered what his and Hunter's situation was, that the part-time opening she'd had meant so much to them. She didn't ask, though – Dustin vouched for them. She'd known Dustin since he was eleven, and his sense for people was uncanny.

"See you on Monday!" she called as the two were already at the door – Dustin was already waiting for them in the van. Blake turned and waved, flashing another smile. She smiled back despite herself – apparently the kid just had the charm turned on at all times. Which was probably a good idea, considering his brother's unwavering brooding expression.

She shook her head and went back to her customers.

The first sign of trouble was the van's cargo doors, wide open. The second was Dustin's bike, lying abandoned on the ground. Hunter picked it up, and so retrieved the third and last sign: Kelly's keys, which Dustin had held, had been on the ground next to the bike.

"This is not like Dustin," said Hunter. "Something's wrong."

"And we don't need to ask who's behind it," agreed Blake. He fished his cell phone from his pocket, and called Tori. After a few seconds, though, he shut it and put it back. "Either her cell is off, or she's somewhere with no reception."

Hunter's look grew darker. "So whatever got Dustin got her as well. Chances it got Shane?"

"Pretty damn good, I'd say."

They looked at each other for a moment. Then, with a minute sigh, Hunter tapped his morpher and raised it to his mouth. "Hunter to Ops."

"Cam here, go ahead Hunter," came Cam's voice after a second.

"We think somebody got the Winds."

There was a short pause, and then Cam said: "Care to explain this?"

"Dustin's bike and keys were lying next to the van," said Blake, "and wherever Tori is, her cell phone has no reception."

A shorter paused. "Get here as fast as you can," said Cam finally. "See you here. Cam out."

Cam was seated in front of the main monitor when they came in, and the monitor was showing Choobo, alone in a forest clearing.

"What's going on?" asked Hunter as soon as they stepped into the room.

"I still don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain it has something to do with this," said Cam, indicating the screen.

"Yeah," agreed Blake. "I don't think he's there for the view."

"Anything else we need to know?" Hunter asked.

"I'll let you know if there's anything," said Cam simply. "Good luck."

Hunter nodded. He looked at Blake. "Let's do it."

They had taken their Tsunami Cycles to the edge of the grove, and continued on foot from there. Some ninjas were sensitive enough to sense other ninjas' streaking, and they had no intention of finding out if Choobo was one of these ninjas. Finding the quickest path through the trees was not a problem, as Cam had calculated a track based on the satellite feed and had transmitted it to their helmet display by whatever electronic voodoo he was practicing.

"I have good news and bad news," said Cam's voice, very quietly, when they were about one third of a mile from their target.

They paused.

"Go on," said Hunter.

"The good news is that I know where the Winds are. The bad news is that they're inside yet another pocket dimension, located within Choobo's back pack."

"What's the catch?" asked Blake.

"The pocket is actually within the box," explained Cam, "not just the portal to it. It means that if you smash the box, like I did with that shell, the Winds will likely be destroyed."

"How about we just force it open?" asked Hunter.

"Most likely you'll just get sucked in."

Hunter nodded, though Cam couldn't see that. "We'll figure something out. Keep us updated if you find anything more."

"Try not to get caught," said Cam. "I haven't cracked the phase shift yet, so I can't contact those who are inside."

"We'll try," said Hunter dryly. "Thanks. Hunter out."

The comm indicator light on Hunter's morpher went off. The two brothers walked on, until they came within view of Choobo. They had arrived from Choobo's right. Hunter indicated for Blake to move to Choobo's other side. When they were both in place, they attacked.

Perfectly synchronized; they didn't need to coordinate their moves. Hunter provided the cover fire of thunder and lightning, and Blake moved easily between his brother's bolts, staff crackling as he utilized one of his quicker combination moves. By the time Choobo recuperated enough to hit back, Hunter had already moved in, shooting the alien ninja's chest point blank. Blake grinned under his helmet: Hunter's tendency to work up close has had more than one opponent surprised, as they expected him to make use of his long limbs.

After the high-energy opening sequence, they reverted to mostly hand-to-hand combat. Blake used this opportunity to evaluate their opponent. Choobo didn't have the raw brutal strength that they did, but he packed mean chi attacks that Blake would rather not experience again. He was slower than they, but annoyingly resistant.

Ducking under a blow, Blake aimed for where he hoped Choobo's privates would be. Either he guessed wrong, though, or Choobo had the best balls shield ever. Switching tactics, Blake rolled aside, drew the antler and grabbed Choobo's shoulder – the torso was just too thick. Hunter cleared away in the blink of an eye, and Blake started pumping out electricity through the amplifier that was the antler.

Choobo writhed. Crying out in pain, he tried to remove the antler with his other hand. Hunter wasn't going to take any of that, though: the charge from his blaster hit Choobo's hand before he so much as touched the cable.

Holding on against Choobo's attempts to break free, Blake maintained the current for as long as he could before retracting the antler and flipping backwards, before Choobo could aim anything at him. Hunter, who had stayed clear of Blake's high-voltage attack, moved in promptly. Making heavy use of his staff, he alternated between regular and charged blows. Seeing that his brother was holding his own, for now, Blake tapped his morpher. "Cam! Any leads?"

"Nothing we can use, yet!" was the quick reply. "The phase shift has some sort of randomized cycling – I didn't manage to crack it, yet."

"Can't we break in somehow, without cracking the code?" He hardly knew Watanabe's son, but the guy gave off an intelligent vibe that was palpable. Plus, he'd seen the blind trust the Winds had in him, and had seen the technology of Ninja Ops. Putting all these together, Blake was sure that Cam would supply him with the answer he needed – if he just pressed enough.

"Only by breaking the linker – the item connecting the pocket dimension to the outside."

"Okay. What's the linker?"

"I can't lock on it without the phase shift," – Blake was about to say something – "but if I had to make a guess, I'd say the tubes. You can see them yourself."

There were two white tubes, running from the pack to Choobo's chest.

"Should I tear them out?"

"No, you'll probably just get sucked in."

What else could he do? "How about if I electrocute them?"

Slight pause. "Maybe if you applied the voltage from your antler directly to one of the tubes," said Cam finally. "They seem to be pretty well-insulated. Nothing less would so much as tickle these."

"On it," said Blake simply. "Blake out."

Using the antler required relatively a lot of energy – there was a reason Blake had never used it twice in the same battle before. If that were the best chance they had, though, then that was what he would do. He considered his target: the tubes were relatively narrow, a small target, but nothing he couldn't handle. It was be best if he could apply the voltage from as short a distance as possible, as that would maximize the amplifier's output.

Hunter ducked. Blake didn't wait for a second chance, launching himself into a flying kick aimed at Choobo's chest. Choobo stumbled back. Pushing his reflexes to their limits, standing no more than two feet from his prey, Blake grabbed one tube with the antler and applied the most violent voltage he could control, as the highest current he could supply. The wave of energy went directly to Choobo's pack, causing the lid to rattle.

It wasn't enough. There was only so long Blake could maintain such a power spike, and when he finally had to stop he was too tired, too slow, to block Choobo's punch. Choobo must've packed everything he had into that blow, because Blake flew back in the air, hitting a tree. When he picked himself up he saw that Hunter had moved in, fighting hand-to-hand and disturbingly close to the green monstrosity.

Hunter tripped Choobo; Choobo gripped Hunter's collar while letting himself fall, clearly intending to roll back and toss Hunter away; Hunter, though, seemed to have expected precisely that, before he pulled out his staff in record time, passing it through the loops of both tubes. The two combatants fell on top of one another, waves of crimson electricity running over them. Blake cried out: while Hunter was relatively immune to electricity, more so in his morphed state, there was still a limit – and judging by the smell of ozone, he was pushing it.

Hunter and Choobo were both smoking; the tubes were glowing, the lid of the pack nearly opened several times, but Choobo had forced it back each time. Then, with a cry of sheer defiance, Hunter pressed down, upping his output. The crackling cascade of energy grew so bright that Blake had to close his eyes. He heard an explosion, Hunter crying out in pain, and three thumps.

"Hunter!" he called. The clearing was filled with dense smoke.

"Blake, it's all right!" called a familiar voice – though not Hunter's.

"Tori!"

"Let's do it, guys!" called Shane's voice.

Even through the smoke, Blake could see the flashes of light created by the Winds' morphing. Running in that direction, he saw three shadows fighting a larger shadow – and another one, lying on the ground. Blake kneeled next to his brother. "Hunter?"

Hunter, still morphed and apparently conscious, turned his head. "It worked."

"Yeah," agreed Blake. "Try not to scare me so much next time though, okay?"

"Sorry. That's what it took to make it work, though."

The smoke was clearing. Blake could now see that Choobo had been considerably damaged by the explosion: he had charred spots all over him, and other areas were red and very obviously burnt. The Winds, apparently, were unharmed by their stay in the prison dimension – and heavily laying into Choobo. It was a short, intensive fight, ending with the Winds assembling the Storm Striker and blasting the green nuisance out of existence – or almost. Blake wasn't the only one swearing when the glowing kanji descended from the sky, followed by the rise of a skyscraper-sized Choobo.

Kapri winced several times during the zord fight. Choobo wasn't exactly a bad warrior, and had a powerful motivation to fight, what with the threat of banishment hanging over his head, but it didn't look like he was going to make it. He was facing off against two Megazords, and all five Rangers piloting said zords seemed to really have it in for him. Choobo seemed to know that he was doomed. He, too, had seen the fate of every ninja who went against a Megazord. His efforts were becoming more and more desperate as the fight went on. When both Megazords drew their swords, Kapri knew the battle was over.

"What do you say, girls?" asked Lothor, "Should I put up an ad for a new lieutenant?"

"Will he be as amusing as Choobo was?" asked Marah. She was not too thrilled about Choobo's expected demise – she, more than Kapri, had taken to teasing Choobo as a pastime, and it seemed she considered the loss of her pet and her favourite toy on the same day to be too much.

With typical synchronization, the two Megazords brought down their swords then turned their backs on the resulting explosion. For a moment, the bridge was silent. Then Kapri's PAM beeped. Surprised, she glanced at the display.

"He survived," she said.

Lothor leaned back in his throne. "Beam him up, then."

Zurgane stepped forward. "Sir, but you specifically said - "

"I know what I said, General. Bring him up, Kapri."

With the stroke of a key, Choobo appeared in the room. It took Kapri a moment to process what she was seeing, and then she burst out laughing; it was just too precious. Marah, too, took a moment to realize what she was seeing, but her reaction was to run forward, squealing loudly, "Oh, Elements, he is so cute!"

Six-inch-tall Choobo cried out and tried to run away, but was no match for the full-sized Marah. She picked him up and cuddled him. "Are you just the cutest?" she purred. Suddenly she looked up at Lothor, eyes wide with hope. "Can I keep him, Uncle? Please? Can he be my new pet?"

"No! No!" cried the miniature Choobo, trying in vain to escape from Marah's firm grip.

Lothor covered his ears against the shrill sound. "Keep him in your room," he warned, "or get him a muffler."

Beaming, Marah squealed again, ran forward, kissed Lothor on the cheek and ran out, new pet hugged protectively.

"Well, at least it's better than her constant wailing," muttered Lothor.

Kapri was inclined to agree – though she made a mental note to check if the Scroll of Empowerment Choobo stole was not tampered with.

Shane was waiting for him in the short hallway outside Ops' med room, lounging against the wall. "Cam told you to rest," he said.

"I did," said Hunter, trying to be civil. The red Wind Ranger had a way of getting on his nerves just by being there. Hunter tried walking past, but Shane moved to block his way. Hunter raised an eyebrow.

Shane crossed his arms on his chest. "For all of ten minutes," he said. "Did you time how long it takes Cam to go down to the Zords bay or something?"

"What are you, my nanny or something?" Really. Did Shane have to involve himself in everything Hunter did or said? Hunter had no idea why he kept letting Shane get away with it.

Shane was still blocking his way. "Listening to Cam is usually the smart thing to do," he said, seemingly oblivious to the venom in Hunter's question, or the way Hunter was considering him. "Take it from someone who's learned it the hard way."

"Well, I'm going home to rest, okay?" They actually had a place with a roof, now: it was a single room and not in the best part of town, but it wasn't in the worst part, either, and it wasn't a total dump.

"And you intend to get there how? Streaking?" Shane took a step forward, bringing him and Hunter nearly chest to chest. Hunter could nearly feel Shane's breath on his face. "You spent so much energy you nearly fried your morpher. Take it a little easy on yourself, all right?"

"Leave me be," said Hunter. He'd really had enough of Shane and his attitude, and he'd certainly had enough of Shane not letting him move. "I mean it, Shane. Get out of my way."

"I really appreciate what you did today," said Shane, out of nowhere. "Saving us and all that. But that was enough crazy shit for one day, okay?"

He was tired, he was sore all over, with a headache on top as a result of the effort he'd expended earlier, and Shane had just pushed him too far. Hunter moved suddenly, intending to trip Shane and send him to the ground, preferably with a dislocated shoulder. Somehow, though, he ended up pressed between Shane and the rough stone wall, wondering when had Shane gotten so fast.

"See?" said Shane through gritted teeth, pressing his arm harder against Hunter's chest for effect. "I never would've been able to do this to you if you weren't halfway to burnout."

"Fine," said Hunter, through gritted teeth as well. "You proved your point."

"Does this mean you're going to stay put for half an hour?"

"What do you think?"

"I think not."

"So you're not a complete fool."

Shane paused. When he spoke again, it was everything but what Hunter had expected: "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, no anger in his voice, just plain curiosity, and something else, which Hunter wouldn't name. He'd heard that from Shane, before, the tone of voice that was warm and approachable, making Hunter want to lash out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he spat. He tried to break free but he must have been really tired, because he didn't get anywhere at all, and Shane just pushed him against the wall even harder, leaning against him with all his body, pressing the two of them together.

He hadn't been ready for this. Not for this. For three heartbeats they stood like that, so close together that clothes were the only distance between them, Shane's face practically in his, warm brown eyes so close that Hunter couldn't possibly look away. Then Shane's lips closed on his and Hunter closed his eyes, instinctively letting Shane in. It felt strange – vulnerable, exposed, distracting. He felt as if the only thing keeping him up was the steady pressure of Shane's body.

Then, suddenly, that pressure was gone and Hunter stumbled, taking a moment to find his balance again. When he looked up, he saw that Shane seemed frozen, as shocked as Hunter. For a moment they stood like that, Shane in the middle of the hallway and Hunter leaning against the wall, and then Hunter pushed himself away and walked past Shane, biting his lip as their sleeves brushed against each other in the narrow hallway.