Look at this! Another chapter for you all, and a new voice this time!
Thank you to everyone who left a comment on the previous chapters - it's brilliant to hear people's thoughts and to see you engaging with the characters! To justafan and Maggie especially as I can't thank you personally: thank you!
Huge, huge thanks must go to RebelPaisley for tackling this monster. Honestly, it wasn't meant to be this long, but turns out, air ninjas are chatty sods. Who knew? RP, you are THE BEST. Seriously guys, show her some love and check out "Filled With Good Works". There's angst and ninjas and snark and everything. You won't regret it.
Okay, I'm hoping the next chapter will be up along the same time frame as this one but I was on a really good roll with writing and then got horrifically side-tracked. I was asked to be the Best Man (best woman? best person?!) at a friend's wedding which was fantastic but also terrifying as I also had to do the Best Man's speech in front of 120 people. Eeep! It all went really well though, so now I can focus on the next chapter for you all. I can't promise it'll be out before the New Year but I'm going to do my best.
In the meantime, grab a cup of tea (or beverage of choice), sit back, and enjoy Chapter 21.
~the real vampire~
21. Shane
And on that day, when you need your brothers and sisters to care;
I'll be right here
Citizen soldiers;
Holding the light for the ones that we guide from the dark of despair;
Standing on guard for the ones that we've sheltered;
We'll always be ready because we will always be there
~ 3 Doors Down
"Dude, we have to do something. It's gotten, like, ridiculous."
I pause in serving my lunch, spoon of pasta hovering in mid-air as I give Dustin a level stare before speaking. "Remember the conversation we had about, you know, conversations? Like how you start one and don't just jump into the middle?" He nods, if a little uncertainly. "Well this is one of those times."
An abashed look settles on the brunette's face as I return to dumping food onto my plate, shifting my tray along the line towards the cashier.
"Hunter and Tori," he explains after a moment's consideration, chucking an apple absently between his hands as he waits for me to pay. "They're still not talking."
I hum an acknowledgement, thanking the lady at the cash register and shoving the change in my jean pocket before collecting my tray. I had noticed. The crimson ranger had been conspicuous last week in his absence, and the less said about Tuesday's altercation the better (although the memory of Tori putting the blond on his ass still brings me a guilty amount of joy, even now). Both Bradley brothers then skipping training last night had not gone unnoticed either, and I can feel the frayed threads that have so far held the team – my team – together slowly unravelling.
As we walk through the cafeteria looking for a free table, the Earth ninja repeats his earlier assessment. "Dude, we have to do something. It's totally messed up. And it really, really shouldn't be. All they need to do is talk to each other and I'm sure it's all some big misunderstanding."
Keeping an eye out for Blake and Tori, I give Dustin a suspicious look, dropping into a chair at an empty table. "You know what happened."
I manage to keep an accusing tone out of my voice, but only just. I'm pretty sure Tori's told the brunette about whatever it is that went wrong between her and Hunter, and a part of me is slightly annoyed she hasn't spoken to me about it. I'm meant to be the leader of our just-about-functioning team, and surely that should mean I'm the one people come to with problems, but if anything, I'm one of the last to know. I dunno why, but there's the faintest distance between me and the others now that I'm sure wasn't there before.
Or maybe I'm just being paranoid, whatever.
Dustin pulls a face, looking slightly awkward, the way he normally does when he's given a choice between lying or revealing something he promised he wouldn't.
"Dude, no," he begins, then his frown deepens. "Not really. I mean, I spoke to Tori and like, I know what she thinks happened, but I don't think what happened means what she thinks it means. Like, the actions probably are right but maybe the reasons behind them aren't and she was angry and upset so I don't think she was really thinking. And I think Hunter meant the first thing but not the second; he just had like a freak out and thought he'd make it better but actually he just made it all worse and Tori thinks the second part is actually the real bit so she is super-mad and sad and like, those would be the real feelings if he actually had meant… what she said he said. And I spoke to Hunter and he said he was going to say sorry and I made him promise to come back to training, which he totally did but then something else happened and I don't know what because Tori wouldn't tell me, even though I tried everything she seemed like, totally distracted. And how can anyone make something worse by saying sorry? Unless he didn't, but he said he would and Hunter isn't mean and I don't understand."
He trails off with a wail and I hold up a hand to halt the babble before he can start again, a faint tension headache building as I try to deconstruct the facts beneath the onslaught of words. There's something there, something Dustin isn't saying, but I'm not going to press him on this, or make him betray either Tori or Hunter's confidence.
Well, if it was just Hunter I might press the issue, but Tori's involved, which makes this whole situation infinitely more confusing and worrying. I've never really had to worry about the Water ninja before; she's always taken care of herself just fine. And her judgement has never been questioned.
"Bro, it's fine. I'll just… I'll speak to Tori."
Dustin's face lights up with a mixture of relief and hope, and I feel my heart sink a little at the display of total and utter trust from the yellow ranger. While my team may not always bring their problems to me, they still expect me to fix them once I do know. As if I have a magic wand or something. We're ninjas, not wizards, and I've had about as much life experience as they have. Less, if I consider Cam and Hunter (and Blake too, I guess. I mean, sure he's younger than me age-wise, but he's been through a hell of a lot more).
I'm about to open my mouth again to ask the Earth ninja exactly when he'd spoken to Hunter, trying to put together a timetable of events in my head, but at that moment we're interrupted by the arrival of one of the subjects of our discussion; blonde hair straggling across her face as she drops into the chair beside me, mouth turned downwards in a frown.
"Everything okay?" I ask, concern colouring my tone at the unusualness of her expression.
"Yeah, just starting to feel a bit ill," she replies, voice an octave deeper than usual, croaky and rasping. "I think I've got a cold. My throat is killing me. I sound like someone who's been smoking for forty years."
I pat her arm comfortingly, about to offer some (probably useless) words of sympathy, when across the table, Dustin has other (read: better) ways to cheer her up.
"Naw, you sound more like one of those old movie actresses… Y'know, like Lauren Bacall." The brunette pitches his voice higher, adopting a husky tone as he quotes, "You know you don't have to act with me, Steve."
His impression draws a laugh out of me, and makes Tori smile, her face softening as she watches him fondly.
Sensing a receptive audience, the yellow ranger flutters his eyelashes in what I think he thinks is a fetching way and continues in his faux-feminine voice, "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow." He accompanies the last word with pouted lips, blowing a kiss across the table at us both, ruining the moment less than a second later by dissolving into giggles. I'm chuckling along with him not long after.
"What's going on?" Blake's arrival is punctuated by him tossing a plastic-wrapped package of sandwiches down on the table, sad and squished-looking after a morning spent shoved in the bottom of his backpack. He glances between the three of us, our expressions ranging from quiet amusement (Tori) to all-out gleeful (Dustin).
"Classic film impersonations, by the looks of it," I say drily, fighting back my laughter at the yellow ranger's dramatic attempts.
"Oh yeah? What, like..." Blake pauses before deepening his voice, drawling out in old-school New Yorker, "Here's looking at you, kid."
Dustin lets out a whoop. "Casablanca, nice one dude. Shane?"
I'm startled out of my surprise at the navy ranger's more-than-passable Humphrey Bogart to find big brown eyes fixed on me, expectation dancing behind them. "Huh?"
"C'mon dude; your turn," Dustin enthuses, and I find my eyes flicking automatically to Blake and Tori for back up.
Only there doesn't appear to be any; Blake's grinning along with Dustin and the blonde just purses her lips at me, smiling. Humour him, seems to be the underlying sentiment here and I sigh, wracking my brain for a suitable rejoinder to the conversation.
Feeling absurdly self-conscious, I lower my voice, injecting as much gravel into it as possible as I say, "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
There's a beat of silence, and I wonder if I've astounded them with my so far unknown acting prowess, but then-
"Oh dude, no," the brunette exclaims, just as his current partner-in-crime makes an equally disgusted noise.
"What?" I respond indignantly. I couldn't have been that bad? No worse than Dustin's Lauren Bacall attempt at any rate.
Blake's already shaking his head. "Bro, first off… Dirty Harry? Really?" The black-haired teen's raised eyebrow speaks volumes to his levels of unimpressedness.
"Hey, it's a classic!" I protest, but the Thunder ninja just waves me off.
"Secondly," he continues, unabated. "You got the quote wrong. What he says is: 'You've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?' Bro, you just fell into one of the classic movie mistakes."
He looks strangely smug about it all. Perhaps he's glad it's not him being shown up with his lack of knowledge about current popular culture. Finding out that the Bradley's don't own a tv certainly explains more than a few things about their combined ignorance of all things super-modern.
A quick glance shows Dustin nodding along in wholehearted agreement, so I turn to my last bastion of sanity for support, but Tori just shakes her head at me.
"He is right, you know," she whispers, clearly trying not to aggravate her throat any more than she needs to.
I throw my hands up in the air in mock exasperation. "Traitors, all of you. I should have you done for mutiny, or insubordination, or something," I grumble.
But I join in the laughter that follows nonetheless, revelling in this small, brief moment of normality. Even the weird, not-quite-tension that has been present between Blake and Tori since they broke up has eased somewhat. I enjoy it while it lasts.
Because in our line of work, we never know when everything might implode. And given the state of our team dynamics recently, it might be a whole lot sooner than we'd like.
XxX
Tori drives us up to Ninja Ops straight after school for training. Well, not right up to the Academy (obviously), but to a track off the main road where she can leave her van and we can get to the waterfall-portal with only a short hike.
The blonde really doesn't look well by the time we park, there's a slowness to her movements and her voice is no longer a pleasant huskiness but a barely-there croak. I keep an eye on her during our hike and by the time we reach Ops, I've made up my mind.
"Tor-" I catch her arm just as we enter the main room. "I think you should sit out this afternoon," I say quietly, trying to spare her the embarrassment of admitting a weakness in front of the others. Mostly, because I know how much I'd hate it.
The look I get back from her is withering. "I'm fine, Shane. Besides," she tries to add breezily, but it comes out as cracked and painful-sounding. I can see her trying to hide a wince. "I promised Dustin I'd run through some of the meditative katas with him today."
"You know that can wait," I say patiently as we cross the floor.
"Shane, I'm fine- ey-ah-CHOO," she sneezes, grasping for a tissue and ducking her head away from me.
I stop, crossing my arms and giving her my best unimpressed look as she turns back to me. "You're not fine."
"Dude, I'd rather wait 'til you're well," Dustin chimes in, at the same time as Blake adds, "Tor, you really don't look that great."
So much for not doing this in front of the others. But I am glad for their back-up.
"I can train," she protests and I'm about to object when a quiet, solemn voice interjects.
"No Tori, I think what is best for you today is rest." Sensei appears in the midst of us, silencing the argument with his usual modulated tone. The blonde's shoulder's sink at his involvement, already knowing she has lost the discussion (if that's what this was). The fight fades from her eyes, leaving tiredness in its wake. Sensei sees this too and gentles his voice as he continues, "I find tea a great comfort when I am unwell. There is a particularly wonderful blend in the kitchen at the moment if you would like?"
Although phrased as a suggestion, the instruction is implicit and Tori bobs her head in acquiescence, managing a quick bow to Sensei before heading slowly off down the corridor that leads to the kitchen.
The most immediate trouble sorted, I can extend my focus to the rest of the group, and find we're one short yet again. I have to bite down a sigh before I sidle up to Blake, faint determination stirring within me as I vow to get to the bottom of this sooner rather than later.
"Where's your brother?" I ask him, aiming for casual but I'm pretty sure it still comes out as confrontational.
"Not here," the shorter teen replies insouciantly and I glare at him, not appreciating the attempt at humour. If that's what he'd intended. There's a moment of terse silence, our eyes locked on each other's, and then Blake sighs, shoulders slumping in apparent defeat. "He has work. And you know…" He trails off, brown eyes wide, doing a very good impression of one of Dustin's pleading puppy-dog looks. I wonder if they've been exchanging notes.
"… You guys need the money. Yeah, got it," I finish for him, biting back the frustration I feel lurking beneath my words.
I do get it, mostly. Okay, so I don't actually know what it must be like to worry about – to paraphrase Blake – food, and rent, and bills, and all those things that our parents take care of, but I'm not heartless. I can sympathise, even if I can't quite empathise.
Not that either of those emotions are welcomed by the Bradleys.
Our navy ranger gives me a small smile, perhaps offering me some empathy in return (because he's had years of dealing with his brother; if anyone can understand how exasperating the blond can be, it's him), then wanders off to start training with Dustin. End of the conversation, apparently. I shake my head; surely this level of disrespect in any 'real' military organisation wouldn't be tolerated? But we're not military, and that isn't a bad thing.
I glance to where Cam is typing away at the computer, considering. It's always difficult to tell if the tech is busy-busy (ie. with super-important, 'if-I-don't-do-this-right-now-Lothor-will-win' stuff) or working on non-essential things that he really should take a break from doing. If it's the latter, I can drag him away to spar with me for bit, but if it's the really important work, even breathing around him is a major no-no.
But computer code just looks like computer code – unfathomable, to my untrained eyes anyway.
I'm about to risk it when the Samurai's shoulders stiffen.
"Busy, Shane." Cam's voice is even, with just the barest undercurrent of irritation palpable.
How did he even-?
"I can feel you thinking from here." Sensei's son spins his chair around to face me, a faint smile crinkling the corners of his eyes as he pulls off his glasses to give them an absent wipe on his shirt. The humour fades from his expression slightly as he looks off in the direction Tori had gone. "You should go speak to her," he suggests, nodding his head towards the passageway. Our eyes meet a moment, silent communication revealing the green ranger's concern for the blonde, before he adds quietly, "She might actually listen to you." As he turns back to the console, glasses firmly replaced on his nose, I hear him mutter, "Anything I say will just be an 'I told you so'."
I let out a sigh, wishing – not for the first time – that Cam had bought his concerns to me earlier, not when it was too late for me to do anything about them. Not that I actually think I could have done anything in this case, but if our eldest team member'd had worries (and clearly, given what's happened, they were well-founded), it would have been nice to be told. To be aware of them, at the very least. Our entire conversation about Tori and Hunter had occurred after one training session last week, when the crimson ranger had first pulled his vanishing act and the Water ninja was distracted and distant. All the Samurai had said was that he didn't think Tori had truly understood what she was getting herself into when she'd reached out to the broodier Bradley brother, and that he'd warned her a couple of weeks ago to be careful.
She obviously hadn't heeded Cam's advice.
I suppose in some ways we should have foreseen this- I wouldn't call it a break-down, because that would imply there was something there to break, but more like a lack of communication. When a group of fiercely independent and self-reliant people (which, in our ways we all are, even Dustin – being made the man of house when his father walked out took its own toll) are thrown together to form a team, it's going to take a long time before they start realising they don't have to do everything by themselves.
That there are other people to rely on.
I knew, as soon as they'd agreed to join us, that we'd probably have these issues with Blake and Hunter. It was going to take more than a tentative alliance to break through the years of co-dependency. I was expecting that.
I wasn't expecting to have to deal with the same sort of thing from my other teammates. It's annoying as hell, but I can't do much about it now. I can only deal with what's happened.
Not that I know that, either.
I'm tempted to quiz Cam some more, clarify exactly what it is he's seen. Or heard. Or, y'know, generally thought. But our tech is already firmly engrossed in whatever it is he's doing and I am the leader. I should be able to speak to a member of my team without being prodded into action.
More than that, Tori is family. I should be able to talk to her.
She should be able to talk to me.
So I follow her path deeper into Ninja Ops, heading for the kitchen where Sensei had sent her, arriving in time to see her carefully transferring the tea from its jar. Just as her hand nears the small, wrought-iron teapot, she's suddenly wracked by a series of sneezes; the crinkled browny-green leaves scattering all over the surface of the counter, shaken free from the spoon as her body spasms.
"Goddammit!" she bursts out, annoyance and frustration apparent, and I find myself staring at her in surprise.
Tori never curses. I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard anything worse than 'shoot' come out of her mouth and I frown, wondering where this has come from. I have my suspicions, as there's only one member of the team that regularly uses non-PG rated language, and she's spent a lot of time with him recently.
I move up towards her, gently nudging her aside. "Here, let me," I say, scooping the spilt leaves off the worktop and chucking them in the trash.
The Water ninja steps back, allowing me room to manoeuvre in a rare display of accepting help, fumbling in her pockets for a tissue. While I spoon some fresh tea into the pot, she sags back against the fridge, flimsy white paper held over her nose, and groans.
"Ugh. This sucks."
I make vague sympathetic noises in agreement (being sick is undeniably one of the suckiest things even us rangers have to deal with) while I finish pouring the boiling water over the tea leaves and replace the lid to allow them to infuse, then turn back to the blonde with a serious expression. I figure I should just try and get this her-and-Hunter talk over with. Or started, at the very least.
"Tori-"
"Please don't, Shane," she interrupts, hands pressing against her eyes. "I'm tired and I'm sick and I don't want to have this conversation with you right now. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I just… I can't."
Her voices breaks just a little on that last word, and I can't help but reach out to her, my hand coming to rest on her shoulder to offer what comfort I can.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," I tell her, trying to put as much reassurance into my voice as possible. "Look, I don't know what's gone on between you and Hunter, but don't take it to heart. We all know Mr. Tall, Blond, and Moody isn't going to win prizes for 'most agreeable teammate' anytime soon. His issues have issues so… whatever it was it probably wasn't personal." Probably, but it's so hard to tell with the Thunder ninja. "And yeah, he's more than a bit of a dick, like, all of the time, but you have us and whatever's happened, whatever he's done, we're still here for you. Me and Dustin, and even Cam – if you can drag him away from the computer long enough." I try and inject some humour into my tone. "So don't let him get to you and if he does… You can just put him on his ass again. Teach him not to mess with you, right?"
Tori pulls away from me before I finish that last sentence; my hand falling back down to my side as she huddles in on herself, arms wrapping around her chest almost defensively. She suddenly looks very young and very vulnerable, in a way I don't think I've ever seen her look before. I find myself silently cursing Hunter for hurting her so badly, for causing this.
There's a long moment of quiet before she speaks.
"You've got it wrong, Shane. This whole situation… It wasn't completely his fault." Her voice is low, eyes dropping to the floor as she continues, "I'm to blame too. I pushed him too far. I wanted to get close to him but Hunter… I don't think he'll ever let me. And we both did something stupid. I think he realised that right away, way before I did, and he… he did what he thought was the right thing, at the time." She appears to hesitate for a moment before adding, barely above a whisper, "Even if it wasn't the right thing for me."
I wanted to get close to him… I'm not sure I like what she's implying with those words. Or with any of this, to be honest. I hope I'm reading too much into things, over-exaggerating it all because I don't know what happened. Imagination is always worse than reality, right? In fact, I only know one concrete thing about this whole situation, one undeniable truth…
"He hurt you," I say simply, not understanding why she's suddenly defending him again. I didn't understand really why she started defending him before, but I guess even I can admit the crimson ranger has been a slightly (ever so slightly) better person to be around recently. And if that was after only a month or so of Tori's influence… I wonder what she's seen in him, that none of the rest of us (bar Blake) have.
Tori looks back up at me, blue eyes sad. "Yeah, he did," she says softly. "But I… I've made things worse." There's a faint crack in her voice, though that might be from her cold and not emotion. She pushes a strand of hair off her face and sighs. "I think he might have been trying to apologise, the other day when he came after me, but he was all… all Hunter about it and I just got angry."
That sounds about right for the blond. Dustin did say he was sure Hunter was going to try and say sorry, but it figures that the Thunder ninja would have messed it up somehow. I don't think now is the moment to mention that though, so I turn away from Tori to grab some cups off the drying rack and pour the tea instead; the faint smell of jasmine rising up with the steam.
"I said some pretty terrible things to him, Shane," she says from behind me, sounding almost like a confession.
I shrug, not really seeing where she's going with this. "People lash out when they're angry." As I know very well. I set the fragile Japanese teacups on the breakfast bar next to me and turn around, intending to reassure her. "It's a thing; it happens."
Which clearly is the wrong thing to say as Tori's already shaking her head at me. "No, Shane. You don't understand."
It's the hint of desperation in her tone, the barely concealed pleading note that catches my attention, almost as if she's begging me to listen without actually wanting me to notice. I pause, re-evaluating the situation. She's really upset by this. And it isn't aimed at Hunter. Personal dislike of the blond aside, I know Tori well enough by now to see where her frustrations are aimed.
She's upset at herself. At something she's done, some action she's taken, that she is now regretting. I sense she wants to talk it through with someone, in need of reassurance that she hasn't done something awful. Personally, I think Hunter's had something like this coming to him for a while, but even I wasn't expecting Tori to be the other team member involved.
I take her hand and guide her to one of the tall seats at the counter, gentling my tone as I sit beside her. "So talk to me, Tor. I can't help you if you don't talk to me. What happened on Tuesday?"
I was going to ask what had happened between them, but I'm pretty sure she still won't tell me. And I'm not entirely sure I want to know the answer now. I'm beginning to suspect things, things I really wish I wasn't, about her and Hunter's relationship. I think, if I really tried pressing her on this, she would admit her feelings for Hunter run deeper than any of us ever expected they could.
And I… I don't need to hear that.
Some things are better left unsaid.
She bites her lip, worry creasing her brow. "So Hunter told me some stuff… stuff about his past and… it was personal and he didn't have to but I guess, for some reason, he trusted me enough to tell me. He trusted me, Shane. You know what he's like. It was- It is a big deal. But then I was so angry and hurt and I just…"
She trails off, reaching out with her free hand to run a finger absently around the rim of her cup. There's a long moment of quiet, of just our breathing filling the converted cavern.
"…I wanted to hurt him," she admits, sotto voce. "So much. I'm not… You know me; I'm not mean. I never thought I was mean but I just… I threw it all back at him. No, worse than that; I used it against him. I wanted to hurt him like he hurt me, because I thought he didn't care." She finally looks back up at me, sniffling slightly. "But I think he does care and I… I've made a horrible mistake." There's another pause as she dabs at her nose with the tissue, crumpling it into a ball between her fingers as the hand I'm still holding tightens its grip, seeking familial comfort through the contact. "And if what I think is correct… I don't know what that means or how I feel, because it- It would cause a lot of complications."
And there… There's that hint, that confirmation that I wasn't looking for, that I'm right about her feelings towards the blond but I can't- I don't want to focus on the implications of her words because this isn't something Tori and I have ever shared. Relationships and things… She's my sister and I want her to be happy, but we've never spoken about love and that stuff, aside from the teasing around Blake.
Blake…
I don't need to hear about her feelings for Hunter. About her feelings for a man I- don't actively dislike, not really, but who I wouldn't want someone I cared about to date. About her feelings for the brother of someone who has rapidly become one of my best friends.
After all of this, I still want to be able to look Blake in the eyes.
So instead I concentrate all my attention on the main gist of her explanation and not on the last part. I can pretend I never heard that part.
"You're right Tor. I do know you and I know you're not a mean person. We all know that. Even Hunter." Perhaps especially Hunter. "And you were upset and angry, not thinking straight, and maybe you had every right to be-"
"But I hurt him, Shane," Tori bursts out. "You weren't there; you didn't see the look in his eyes when I- When I told him we weren't friends. After everything he's shared with me, after the trust he put in me… I told him we weren't anything. That we're nothing."
Her blue eyes are suspiciously damp and I release her hand, under the pretence of running it across my hair, to give her the freedom to wipe her face if she needs to, as subtly as she can.
"Look," I sigh, trying to find the right words for this situation, trying to be the leader. "You can apologise to him if you want. Tell him you're sorry and that you didn't mean what you said. If you think he deserves it." Perhaps he does. I make sure she's looking at me as I continue, "But here's the thing; he hurt you first and he has to apologise to you. Doesn't matter if he did or didn't mean to do… whatever it was he did. Fact is, he did something and you got hurt. You're still hurting from it; I can see it. And I hate that he did that and I don't like that you seem so ready to forgive him for it, but I don't know what happened and it's your choice-"
"Yes it is," she cuts in, and I can hear familiar steel in her tone. It fills me with relief, to hear her sounding so much more like herself.
"And that's fine," I say quickly, before she mistakes my words. "If you want to, that's completely up to you. But he needs to make things right with you too. You shouldn't accept anything less than an apology from him, Tori, because no one – not even Hunter – has the right to hurt you. Never let a man make you feel like shit."
"Shane Clark!" the Water ninja exclaims, her turn to be surprised by an unexpected curse word. She hits me lightly on the knee, but there's a smile playing around her lips now and the glint is back in her eye. The same as it was when we first met.
Well, first met officially. It's like I told Blake; everyone at middle school knew who Tori Hanson was. With her sun-bleached blonde hair, natural athletic-ness and intelligence, she was pretty much the poster child for an all-American Girl. But despite her more-than-adequate credentials, she never hung out with the 'cool kids'; it was her and Dustin and no one really knew why. And then one year they were split up for some classes and Dustin ended up with me for science. The guy I'd sat next to the year before had also been moved, so we were put together as lab partners, working together on the usual science projects, growing beans in jars and making batteries out of lemons. We had nothing in common – I was into skating, by myself or with friends, and he was into comics and biking with his dad – yet somehow we got along. There was something between us that just worked, and still does. And I'm so very grateful for that.
But in spite of our burgeoning friendship, stretching as far as hanging out together after school some days, I didn't get to know Tori at all. I didn't even meet her. Not right away. Dustin was – and maybe still is – real good at keeping his life compartmentalised.
It was just before summer break, one of the last days of the school year, when Dustin's two worlds collided. I was walking past where the brunette was waiting for Tori outside a classroom at lunch just as some of the more popular kids – the one's you just know are going to end up as either jocks or drop-outs – started picking on him. Dustin was different, and being different at school is to be considered fair game for those guys.
There was no reason for me to step in, to get involved. I don't even think Dustin would've blamed me if I'd just walked away, but I guess even back then I had very adamant ideas about what was right and what was wrong, and probably even less self-preservation instincts than I do now, so when one of the guys went to throw a punch, I found myself pushing between them without thinking.
I'd like to think I tried to defuse the situation with words, but I have a strong feeling it was mostly just incoherent yelling along the lines of 'Leave him alone', and then 'Well you're going to have to go through me', followed immediately by the first time I got punched in the face.
Which freakin' hurt.
And then… Then everything exploded in a melee of limbs and there was a flash of blonde hair as what I can only describe as a force of nature joined the struggle; Tori having seen my defence of Dustin and jumped straight in to protect her brother. Three of us against six of them…
It was the first time we fought together.
I can still remember clearly sitting outside the Principal's office later, the fight having been swiftly broken up by the arrival of teachers, my heart in my throat as I waited for the inevitable "We've phoned your parents…", when Tori turned to me, one eye already blackened and beginning to swell, and just grinned; blue eyes alight with that spark, the one that's so totally the Water ninja that it's painfully obvious when it's not there.
"Hi, I'm Tori," were the first words she said to me, but it was the actions beforehand that sealed our friendship (my defence of Dustin earning her unwavering approval).
The three of us have been pretty much inseparable ever since.
"Hey." I nudge her with my foot. "I might be the red guy and the leader and you might think that's how I'm going to treat every situation while we have this gig… But we're family. You, me and Dustin, and that comes before anything – and anyone else. You're my sister and I will always have your back so just… talk to me in future?"
Her face is soft, smile still present as she says, "I know, Shane. I know and I'm sorry. Things got messed up and I guess I just got trapped in my head a bit." She slides off her stool and closes the gap between us, sliding her arms around my waist. I wrap my own tightly about her in return, my chin coming to rest on top of her head as she whispers, "Thank you."
"Any time," I reply, just as gently, a quiet relief washing over me. As long as we have each other, everything will be fine. It will be fine.
XxX
I don't really know the thought processes that end with me standing outside the Bradley's apartment later that evening. I just know that I'd been distracted all through dinner, fragments of my conversation with Tori bubbling around my subconscious.
I knew the only way to curb my restlessness and stop all of this from preying on my mind was just to face Hunter and be done with it. So I'd borrowed my mom's car with a carefully constructed lie about needing a book Blake had so I could complete my homework (a justified deceit, given I'm only allowed to use her vehicle in special circumstances and I didn't want to have to walk through that part of town this late into the evening) and driven across Blue Bay Harbour to their block, locking the car door securely and walking up to the main entrance before I have a chance to second-guess myself.
It's stupidly easy to gain access to the apartment complex. The door is rusted and worn, with barely any trace of the security measures that used to be in place. The intercoms are broken, buttons missing and wires hanging loose from the box, and the door itself opens when I give it a push, stiff metal hinges squealing as it grinds open. I slip inside, half expecting to be challenged as I make my way up the stairs, footsteps echoing loudly in the silence, but no one does. I only meet one other person on route, hood up and pants hanging low around his thighs, who skulks past me without a word.
And then I'm outside the Bradley's apartment, staring at the battered door, number only visible because as the paint has peeled away its revealed clean wood amidst the grime, a sort of reverse shadow effect going on and why am I noticing all this?
Because now that I'm here, I'm starting to doubt myself- which is stupid, so I rap my knuckles against the door before I can psych myself out of having this conversation, and then step back to wait. There's the sound of voices from inside, then the sound of a chain being unlatched and I brace myself, unsure who to expect on the other side.
The door's opened by Hunter. If the blond is surprised at my presence, he doesn't show it. Or if he does, I can't tell. I know Tori is good at reading people; Dustin too, though he doesn't think he is. Although maybe that's not so much reading people as integrating himself with them until they drop their guard; he's sneaky like that.
But I'm not. Not really. I mean, I can read Dustin and Tori well but that's because I've know them for so long. I've spent years with them, learning their tells and moods and emotions. I know what they're thinking- perhaps even before they actually think it themselves. And they know me just the same.
The others?
Well, Cam was difficult. Still is difficult, if I'm being honest. The age thing played a part definitely (not to mention his barely-hidden disapproval of the three of us, and looking back, I understand it perfectly. We were far-from-ideal students) but I have a better read on him now. I guess us proving to him we're not as useless as he'd feared, combined with his acceptance onto the team, has meant a lot of the barriers between us have been erased. Mutual understanding has been reached. Weirdly, I think the arrival of the Bradley brothers expedited things; bonding against the unfamiliar and the vaguely threatening.
As for the Bradley's themselves… Blake is very open with us - for the most part - which is incredible really, when you consider just what he's been through. He doesn't talk about their past much, but he isn't deliberately obtuse about it when it does come up. Although, on reflection, he was wary of us to begin with, elusive and politely distant. Then it was like he made a decision – all or nothing – and dropped all of his pretences and visible walls. With the team, at any rate. I've noticed he still keeps apart from the other people in class, the non-rangers, but with us he's fine. I can usually tell his emotional state pretty accurately.
And there isn't really a need to mention Hunter's general lack of affability, nor does it come as any surprise that I never know what is going through the blond's head, or even what he's going to do at any given moment. Mostly, I just have to trust in the fact that Lothor killed his parents and (as he's already proved) he'll stop at nothing for revenge.
I drag my thoughts away and refocus on the pair of blue eyes that are watching me calmly.
"We need to talk," I tell him, slipping into what Dustin refers to as my 'Leader Mode' without having to think. It's getting easier, this whole being-in-charge thing. Practice really does make perfect. Or at the minimum, makes it less strange. "Is now a good time?" The tone in my voice is deliberate, letting Hunter know he doesn't really have a choice.
The crimson ranger shrugs, glancing inside to where Blake obviously is, before stepping out and partially closing the door behind him. I follow him a little way down the corridor, far enough away that his brother can't hear us, unless things get really heated, where he stops and turns to face me, arms folded across his chest, almost defensively. He doesn't say anything, just raises one eyebrow expectantly, waiting for me to begin.
So where do I begin?
I hadn't really thought through exactly what I was going to say to him, or how this conversation was going to go. All I know is that this whole situation has gone on far too long and as the leader I should be doing something about it. I spoke to Tori earlier, but she isn't the instigator in this, of that I'm certain.
Hunter is, and I'm about to demand an explanation from the blond, let him know that he's behaved appallingly, and that if he wants to remain in the team's good graces he better apologise to Tori and quickly, when I see it.
The tiniest tensing of his jaw, the setting of his shoulders, almost as if he was preparing himself for a fight but not quite; more as if he's bracing himself for my anger without planning to retaliate, like a child who's knows he's done something wrong and is waiting to be told off. Waiting to be yelled at.
And ok, sure, I guess I hadn't ruled out yelling at him. If I'm being perfectly honest, there would be only one outcome to the course of action I'd considered above, and that would be me getting mad and, yes, shouting at him. But now I can see he's expecting it, I also know, from past experiences, that it's not going to work. If this had been any other situation, I could easily see the older Bradley brother getting defensive - snarky probably - and pushing back against me. Resisting my attempt to lead him. But this time… I don't see that happening.
Instead I can see Hunter standing here and letting me vent, not giving me anything back, because now that I'm looking at him – really looking at him – I can see guilt extruding from him, in his posture, on his face and in his eyes. And telling him he's done something wrong when he already knows it is pointless.
He knows he's hurt Tori.
And yet, I don't think he truly understands how that's affected the team. So I change tactics.
"I don't know what's going on between you and Tori, and I don't particularly care. I'm not here to demand an explanation," I begin bluntly, keeping my tone even and professional, sort of like I've heard my dad and brother do when they're on the phone to junior members of their staff. No emotion, no drama; just some facts and an 'I-expect-you-to-listen-and-then-do-as-I-say' attitude. "I'm not even here to demand you two make up and play nice, although the whole team really rather you would. I'm actually here to remind you that there's more at stake than petty inter-team dramas."
"You think I don't know that?" the blond's tone is incredulous, mocking even, and I have to bite down my smile because this is right where I wanted the conversation to lead.
"No, I know full well you do. Which is why I'm even more disappointed in your behaviour." Wow, and wouldn't my parent's be proud to hear me parroting sentiments they've expressed to me on a regular basis. Actually, scrap that, they probably wouldn't be. "You disappeared for a week. No training with us, no nothing. I didn't chase you then because I figured you had some things to work through. Issues, whatever. I figured once you'd got your head straight you'd be back and perhaps things would get back to normal. I haven't gotten involved with whatever has happened with you and Tori because it isn't any of my business."
"Damn right," Hunter growls, uncrossing his arms and standing up straighter, staring me down; blue eyes flashing dangerously.
I refuse to rise to the bait, which is what that very much is. Hunter is deliberately provoking me, and I'm pretty sure it's not because he's spoiling for a fight, but rather wanting (if that's even the right descriptor) someone to scream at him and tell him how bad he's been. But I'm not going to do that.
"When it starts affecting the team though," I continue as if I hadn't heard him, keeping our eye-contact as non-threatening as possible. "Then it becomes my business. I know you probably haven't even realised it's been affecting us, perhaps think it's just between you-and-Tori, or maybe that whatever happens we'll always side with Tori because we've known her longer or whatever, and you may be right. But that doesn't mean the team isn't impacted by your actions. You might not be able to see it, but I can. I'm the one who has to deal with the fallout. And there has been fallout, Hunter."
I pause for a moment, trying to see if anything I'm saying is having any effect on the blond, but the stony face remains unchanged.
"You not being there... It's been noticed. And not just in a 'isn't that weird' sort of way, but in a 'the team isn't working so well' kinda way. Cam's annoyed and Dustin's confused and Blake's-" I was about to say sad but something tells me to change that to "-distracted and you not being there has meant I'm focusing on all this instead of what I should be focusing on, which is strategy and training goals and team-building so we can, y'know, save the world. And you're not the leader, Hunter, but you are my second in command. I know we've never said anything official about it but we shouldn't have to. I see what you do; you're the one who knows exactly which areas each team member needs to work on and you train with them on it. If Dustin's not getting a certain block, or if Cam's too tense, you're the one that gets them up to speed. Which leaves me free to focus on the bigger picture; I can focus on the bigger picture because I know you have the details."
I'm not sure where I'm dragging up this information from, but as soon as I say it I know it's the truth.
"Look," I say, exasperation colouring my tone, but I'm on firmer ground now. "We can cope with you and Tori being on the outs. We cannot cope without you being at training. We're a team, and when one member is missing it throws the whole balance of that team off. I know you probably think we don't care about you as a person, but please believe me Hunter when I tell you you're wrong. We care, and your absence is affecting us all. What I'm basically saying is we need you back at training. We need our team to be complete if we are to have any hope of surviving this. Because, unfortunately, what's important has to come before what's personal."
There's a long moment of silence following my words, and I can see the Thunder ninja considering them, the anger draining from his eyes as he seems to grasp what I'm saying. Then his shoulders slump, one hand coming up to run through his hair.
"I'm sorry, Shane," he says, for once unprompted, and I actually think he means it. There's sincerity in his tone, and I'm shocked into silence when the next thing out of his mouth is something I never thought I'd hear from him; "You're right. I'll be at training on Saturday morning, I promise."
He doesn't shy away from my gaze and I think he's genuinely telling me the truth.
"Okay then," I say with finality, letting him know that as far as I'm concerned, the discussion is over. I've said what I wanted to say, and I have his word that he'll be back at training. Asking for anything more would be pushing things.
There's a brief pause and then Hunter clears his throat. "You know-" he begins, then cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "Nothing," he mumbles, but I have a strong sense of what he was going to say.
"You were expecting to be yelled at, right?" I say lightly and the blond gives me a wry smile.
"Well... yeah, I was," he admits.
I take a breath, allowing some of the tension I'd been carrying in my shoulders to escape when I tell him, "Well, you don't always get what you deserve."
There's another, pregnant moment of silence as I wonder how Hunter will take my words, spoken before my brain had time to catch up with events, and then the blond nods. Just the once, but it's enough for me to see that he's acknowledged what I've said, and not found it to be untrue.
Deciding the conversation really is over, Hunter turns and makes to walk away, to head back to that little, dirty apartment him and his brother call home; such a stark difference to my home, or Tori and Dustin's homes that I can't help but be reminded how much our lives contrast and yet, here we are, fighting alongside each other for the same cause.
Even if we don't always see eye-to-eye on things, we've still got the same end-goal in mind; protect the Earth, defeat Lothor, don't die in the process.
I'm suddenly reminded of the first time our favourite evil Space Ninja sent an alien for us to fight after the Bradleys had officially joined the team. We were at Ops, training (although that was mostly still trying to deal with the fallout from The Island, and yes, the capital letter is fully justified there. That whole experience was brutal), when the sensors went off. My team had looked to me while Blake had looked to Hunter and something had risen in me then, something petty and vindictive and totally not appropriate for a red ranger, but I'd ran with it and told the brothers we could handle this. I don't know if it was just because I could forbid them, or because I still wasn't certain about their allegiance and a part of me feared they were still going to turn around and stab us in the back.
I think maybe after all the crap that'd gone down, everything they'd put us through – how easily they'd beaten us in battle – I wanted to prove something to them. Prove we weren't as useless as they clearly thought.
Sensei hadn't intervened, and my other two teammates had said nothing, but I'm pretty sure they were disappointed in me.
If I'd felt any guilt for it at the time, I hadn't let it bother me.
During the battle I found myself going one-on-one with the Alien of the Day, Tori and Dustin dealing with a horde of kelzacs and, well, even now I don't know exactly how it happened but I found myself flying back through the air, bouncing off a rock and, once my breath returned, staring up at the creature's fist swinging towards me, thinking, 'This is gonna hurt.'
But it never reached me.
Instead there was a flash of crimson; the streak of light putting itself between me and the alien, shielding me from the blow that would have certainly made contact. And then Hunter was standing over me, pulling me to my feet without any apparent effort on his part. As we stood there, the battle still raging around us, his mask had snapped up and those cold blue eyes glared at me; "Next time, you don't leave us behind."
Those words, and the ice dripping from them, had stayed with me for days afterwards and had in no small way contributed to the hostility and (dare I say it) inadequacies I felt in the weeks that followed, leading up to us embarrassing ourselves while training for Total Trek.
I'd been smarting after that, yes, yet looking back, the rest of that battle had gone far, far more smoothly than I'd imagined; the Thunder rangers slotted seamlessly into the team; all the issues we'd had in training and personal life were forgotten, at least until the alien was destroyed.
And now here he is apologising to me, telling me I'm right about something… That says a lot about just how much our dynamic has changed.
Something in that memory makes me re-consider the current situation. I hadn't trusted him during that first battle, and I don't think I trust him now, with Tori. But he proved me wrong then and maybe I need to give him the chance to do the same here.
"Peanut Butter Cups," I say to his departing back.
The open confusion on his face as he turns to face me is almost comical, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing aloud.
"Tori's favourite candy; peanut butter cups," I clarify, moving to stand beside him once more; the last traces of my anger draining away. "If you want to apologise to her, candy might help sweeten things. She probably won't throw them in your face, at least."
Hunter watches me cautiously for a moment, gauging the information I've given him, and then his lips quirk upwards. The smile is strained and tenuous, as if he's trying but the muscles don't seem able to remember how. "I… Thank you," he says awkwardly, and I see his cheeks tinged with something that could be considered a blush.
"It's fine," I reply casually. "That's what teammate's are for." I almost reach out to clasp his shoulder, as I would do with Dustin or Blake, but catch myself in time. There's progress, yes. But I don't think we're at that level of familiarity right now. Instead I just give him a reassuring smile before I walk past him, starting to head off down the corridor in the direction of the stairwell.
I've only gone a few feet when I'm stopped by Hunter's voice. "Shane-"
I glance over my shoulder in time to see a strange expression cross the blond's face. It's gone in a flash so I can't be sure, but it looked suspiciously like uncertainty. Which comes as a surprise to me, because he always seems so self-confident in every argument we've ever had. The idea that Hunter might not be as sure as he seems is a new and unsettling one.
He appears to waver a little as I turn to face him, before saying, "Just so you know, whatever problems you think I have with you-" I raise an eyebrow at him and he quickly amends his sentence,"-Whatever problems I have with you... It's not personal. I mean, it isn't you." He shoves his hands deep into his pockets, discomfort radiating from his posture as he continues, "It's always been just the two of us and I've had to be the responsible one for so long... It's difficult to give some of that up, y'know? To put a bit of our lives and our safety in someone else's hands isn't an easy thing to do." His eyes come up to meet mine, their usual, indecipherable blue, and I'm struck by the weight of his gaze. "But Blake trusts you, and you haven't let us down."
Yet…
It's unspoken but implicit, and his words settle the cloak of responsibility that much heavier on my shoulders.
They must have been difficult for him to say, but the effort means all the more. I'm left at a sudden loss, unsure how I should reply to him, and find my throat is inexplicably dry. What is the appropriate response to someone basically admitting their life – and, more importantly, the life of someone they love – is in your hands?
What's more disconcerting is that it's Hunter saying it.
Hunter, who is Mr. Self-Reliant incarnate. Hunter, who challenged my leadership at every chance he got, and resisted all efforts to work together until Sensei forced us to compete together in Total Trek. Hunter, who even now treats my leadership at times with barely-disguised disdain.
Okay, that's a little unfair. I didn't exactly react well to the elder Bradley brother to begin with either. Still don't, in fact. And as much I like to believe that my initial rivalry with the crimson ranger wasn't because I was jealous of him, or threatened by him, pretend that it was because he was an arrogant ass (which, yes, I still think he is at times), looking back now I realise I was more than a little threatened by the Thunder ninja's arrival. And not just in an alpha-male sort of way.
We both may be [shades of] red, but we're neither one a stereotypical macho man.
It's just… I guess I saw in Hunter the leader I should be. The leader I was supposed to be, and wasn't. Hunter is a lot of things I'm not, and wish I was. He always seems to be so calm and collected in battle, so confidant in his assertions. He can take charge without blinking, and I've never known him to (visibly, at any rate) suffer from the same doubts and fears that haunt me.
But maybe, just maybe, he isn't as self-confidant as he's led us all to believe. Maybe he's just better at hiding his fears and weaknesses, smothering them under cold aloofness. Which would make sense because he was actually trained for this.
It still smarts knowing that Hunter and Blake were chosen to be rangers. Chosen, as in their Sensei had sought them out during the attack on the Thunder Academy with the express aim of giving them the morphers. They were their Academy's number one choice for rangers.
As for us?
I'm under no allusions; Tori, Dustin and I would never have even been considered for the position if there had been any other options, whatever Sensei says about 'fate'. I know the three of us are accidental rangers, while Blake and Hunter… are far from unplanned. And it shows.
It's like when we're talking about strategy; even Cam pays attention to Hunter about certain things. It's not just that he's more vocal in his dissent, but he actually knows what he's talking about. The first time he referred to some abstract text on old military strategy, Cam'd done a double-take. If I hadn't been sulking because the blond's response had just nixed my idea, it would have been hilarious. Turns out, Hunter has had lessons on it. Under the pretence of learning Thunder Academy history to be fair, but the point is, he's studied this sort of thing. Preparation, by Sensei Omino, for the possibility of him ever having to pick up the morpher, even if Hunter didn't know what he was being prepared for. Or that he was being prepared at all.
While me? I've had to learn on-the-job. And so far my training has not covered anything close to this situation. It's not like I have a user manual on 'How to be a red ranger'.
So I end up not saying anything; just give Hunter what I hope is an understanding nod: message received, bro.
It seems to suffice, because the next minute the Thunder ninja is gone, his apartment door shutting with a slam, and I'm left standing in the corridor, alone once more.
Well… that went better than I'd expected.
As I head back down the stairs, a smug sort of self-pride fills my chest. Could it be that this leader-business is starting to click at last?
XxX
"Shane! School!" My mom's voice echoes around the house, bouncing off the marble floors and reverberating through the empty spaces, loud enough to wake even the deepest sleeper.
But I'm not asleep. I'm not even in bed, having woken with the dawn a couple of hours ago and used the time to finish the homework I hadn't managed to do after training yesterday. I've noticed since becoming a ranger I don't need as much sleep as I used to, preferring now to get up and be active instead of lying in bed doing nothing.
I hear the front door slam and the crunch of tyres on our gravel drive as mom heads out for work, and I pad across the soft carpet of my room to peek out the window, double checking that my father's car is also gone. Then and only then do I venture out of my room to get breakfast.
It might be silly and it might be petty, but avoidance is the best tactic I can come up with at the moment to deal with my family. I'd rather stay in my room - out of the way - and have my parents think I'm lazy, than have to endure the awkward silences at breakfast where none of us know what to say to each other anymore. Nothing that isn't some form of criticism anyway. And seven a.m. is really not the time to sit and have all your (numerous, heinous) faults listed and dissected, especially when I can't even offer an explanation for most of them. Late for school? Missed classes again? Forgot to hand in a piece of homework? All dreadful sins in my father's eyes, but what can I say?
I was late because Lothor seems to think eight-thirty in the morning is a perfectly reasonable time of day to start a new world-domination attempt? Well, at least he's a morning person.
I skipped class again because evil also seems to work nine-to-five hours (there must be some sort of alien-henchmen employment laws right? Maybe the kelzaks have a union)?
And that one piece of homework? Must've slipped my mind in-between training with my team, saving the world and making sure I'm still an almost straight-A student.
But I can't tell my parents any of that. So it's best not to be there, and keep our interaction to a minimum until… Well, until I figure out a better way.
I find breakfast left for me on the table, sunlight streaming in from the large windows, and feel my spirits lift. I refuse to let myself dwell on the dysfunctional parts of my life for long. That sort of thing can make a person bitter and I actually have a lot of good things going on; friends who are more like my family than anything else, food and shelter, and a secret life that comes with a whole heap of benefits. I'm a real, straight-from-a-comic-book super-hero (and Air-Bender too, if it comes to it). I can't complain about that.
In many ways I'm blessed, and I'm grateful for that.
I'm also not completely blind to my parents' point of view; they've both worked incredibly hard to get to the top of their professions, and they've faced a hell of a lot of opposition while doing it. My father's parents are Samoan; after training with the marines stationed there in the 1940s, my grandfather worked as a ship repairman during World War II. He was barely fifteen.
I never thought I'd understand how terrifying that must have been for him, but I think I have a good idea now.
Choosing to move to America in the 1960s with two small children was an incredibly brave thing for both my father's parents, but they wanted a better life and I guess it worked because they managed to put my father through college where he met an equally determined and driven young law student who he later married. He started his own business and now, thirty years later, it's one of the biggest companies in California. That's the American Dream, right?
As for my mom… Being an African-American woman in a white, male dominated profession can't have been easy. She got the double whammy of racism and sexism and yet still fought her way to becoming one of the best criminal defence lawyers in the state.
Everything in their lives has been planned down to the last detail, from their careers to their investments to the number of children they had. Everything, except me. I'm the anomaly. It isn't much of a secret; my two siblings are much, much older than me. Porter was almost in high school when I was born and both he and my sister Malie left for college when I was really young, which left my parents with me, at a time in their lives they'd thought they'd be over the whole 'kids' thing.
And I get that. I also get that they grew up in a very different time and they faced a whole heap of abuse and discrimination that I've never had to. But that still isn't a reason for me to follow the path they want me to, which is to go to Harvard and study business like my father and brother, and one day take up a senior management position in the firm (though not, of course, anything too important – that's for Porter).
But that isn't me.
It's never going to be me. And I haven't actually told them that.
So in their eyes, I'm currently rebelling by slacking off, and it's not their fault they think that because I'm not being truthful with them. And while I tell myself that's because Sensei said not to, and I'm doing for their own protection, honestly? It's because I don't think they'd get it. Get why it has to be me. Why I have to be one of the ones to save the world.
If I'm being really honest, I don't get it either.
But- No, I'm not dwelling.
It's just then that my morpher beeps, letting me know Tori is waiting outside. I appreciate the timing. Moping is not a healthy start to the day, not anyone's standards.
I wonder how Tori's feeling today, but that question is answered as soon as I see her. The blonde looks miserable, nose red and eyes dulled by her cold; the smile she gives me as I approach not reaching them fully.
"Hi," she croaks at me as I slide into the back seat.
I shake my head at her. "You sound terrible. Shouldn't you like, be in bed?"
She shrugs, one hand fumbling around to find the tissue tucked under her leg. "Have a test today," she tells me, then gives her nose a firm blow, balling the tissue back up before pulling out of my drive back onto the road.
Dustin and Blake are duly collected, the brunette receiving a flick on his arm for telling Tori, "You look really awful, dude", and we're only two hundred feet or so from the school gate when my morpher starts shrieking a familiar alarm.
"Go for Shane," I say, eyes meeting Dustin's with a barely bitten back sigh.
"We have an alien situation. By the old quarry." Cam's voice is calm as always, no nonsense and wholly factual.
Tori jerks the steering wheel to the right, a sharp turn that takes us away from school and up onto the road leading out of Blue Bay. There's no expression on her face, though perhaps a hint of resignation in the set of her shoulders appears as she responds immediately to the Samurai's words.
"Of course we do," I reply drily. Because what else could we possibly want at eight-thirty on a Friday morning? "On route now. See you there."
Cam doesn't reply. I don't expect him too; he's probably already contacting Hunter to have the blond meet us at the quarry. I shoot another look at the Water ninja, still too pale for my liking. I open my mouth to suggest perhaps she sit this one out when-
"I'm fine, Shane. Let's just get this over with," she tells me sharply, not even sparing me a glance in the rear-view mirror.
I bite back a sigh, but I have to trust that Tori knows her own limits better than we do, and that if she really wasn't up to fighting, she wouldn't put the rest of us in danger by pushing herself further than she should.
That debate settled (well, settled for me at any rate), I turn my focus inwards, trying to mentally prepare myself for the upcoming battle. Which is always super-difficult to do when we never know what to expect. Although I'm always slightly relieved when Lothor's attack centres on the old quarry. It always seemed weird before, that he'd choose an uninhabited scrap of land to fight us on, but we never complained 'cos it was deserted; not having civilians to worry over meant we could focus all of our attentions on defeating the Monster of the Day instead of herding bystanders (also, who stands around with their phone videoing said Monster rather than running the hell away? Seriously, bro? Put it away).
It was Blake that figured it out (kinda, his theory is the best one we have); quarry-aliens are never Lothor's best work. They're prototypes, not intended to actually defeat us – although they do usually give us a good workout. Experiments. He's normally using them to test some new idea he's had, or test us; our responses to certain attacks or poisons or whatever-the-hell his warped brain/generals have come up with that day. I get the feeling he's making notes, and that creeps me out big time.
"Besides," Blake had added, bitterly. "If he's going to kill us, he'll want an audience."
Lothor is a Drama Queen, this we do know.
Somehow, that thought was far from comforting.
The sudden jolt as smooth tarmac gives way to gravel track shakes me from my thoughts; we're here…
We bundle out of the van, muscles tense and ready as we survey the scene. One alien, as per Cam's communication, and a whole bunch of kelzaks. The Samurai himself steps out from wherever he's been lurking, keeping an eye on things, as we line up along the ridgeline, one hand absently playing with the amulet at his chest.
"Looks like they're waiting for us," the green ranger remarks, confirming my suspicions that our not-so-friendly neighbourhood Megalomaniac just wants to play with us today.
Just as Lothor's henchmen spot us (quickly for them; they must've had their caffeine fix this morning), a flash of crimson appears beside me. Hunter, blond hair dishevelled, looking like he's just got out of bed, his mouth set in a hard line as he too takes in this morning's opponents.
"Plan?" he asks shortly, eyes flicking briefly from the approaching kelzaks to me.
I cast a glance down the line, seeing the looks of grim determination on my team's faces, and give the order I know they're expecting.
"Time to suit up."
XxX
I turn away from the disintegrating remains of the kelzak I'd been fighting and pause to catch my breath, looking over at the battle to see how the others are doing.
I find myself pleasantly surprised to see Hunter and Cam working in tandem, flashes of crimson and green as they take on today's Big Bad. Despite their on-going personal issues, and how annoyed at the blond I know the Samurai is, they are carrying out a textbook perfect double attack on the alien, no trace of awkwardness or distance in their movements. Seeing their ability to work together and forget about all the stuff happening in our non-ranger lives gives me hope that we can get through this, that it's all temporary, and we might just be able to hold it together as a team long enough to defeat Lothor.
As green and crimson are batted away at last, yellow and aqua step up to their defence, giving them space to breathe as they launch their own attacks.
Blake chooses that moment to appear at my side, Thunder Staff held casually in his hand. I can almost feel him grinning under his helmet.
"Better than math, right bro?"
I roll my eyes at him, visor shielding my reaction from the navy ranger. "Sure you wouldn't rather be in class?" I reply, just as the last standing kelzak launches a sideways attack on us.
Blake steps forward, staff twirling, and within moments there's nothing left but a slightly twitching red-and-black bundle on the ground at his feet. "Nope," he says airily, with a smug satisfaction. "This is the only sort of subtraction I like."
I groan at his terrible (and y'know, a little disturbing) attempt at a joke, and then the main alien is suddenly upon us. My mind is taken up completely with Fight! Punch! Block! Survive! to think of anything else but the task at hand.
XxX
One brief-but-fairly-taxing zord battle later and we're done; finally done- hopefully done for today (please-oh-please).
We meet back up at Tori's van, morphs dropping as one, but as we relinquish the power I see Tori stumble, one hand coming out to steady herself against the side of the blue VW, colour leeching from her face and leaving her with a decidedly unhealthy grey tinge.
I move instinctively towards her, but Dustin is already there, one hand gently pressing against her forehead, the other carefully cupping her elbow in a sly attempt to support her should she need it.
"Dude, you are like, burning hot," he announces, nose screwing up with concern as he slides an arm about her, giving up on the pretence and giving her someone to lean on whether she wants it or not.
My eyes flick to Cam; the tech is watching Tori closely, worry furrowing his brow. "Tori, I think you need to go home and sleep this off," he says. "Your ranger powers have sustained you this far, but even they require your body to actually rest so they can heal you."
That settles it for me.
"I guess we leave the van here-" I start, but am instantly cut off by the blue ranger protesting that she can drive. I glare right back at her until she stutters into silence and then I sigh, gentling my tone. "Tor, you're not getting behind the wheel. Cam's right, you need sleep. We just need to figure out the best way to get you home." I raise my gaze, drawing the others into the conversation. "Can one of us carry her maybe? I don't think she should try streaking alone."
"I'm not sure she should be streaking at all," Cam interjects. "Her ninja powers have been trying to fight off the illness, but I'm not sure there's much left." He eyes her critically and she scowls right back at him.
"Guys, I am right here."
Tori's complaint is lost beneath the debate that breaks out around her. Even I take my attention off the blonde, leaving her to Dustin as we contemplate the best way to get her home and the rest of us to school, without the possibility of a long walk or having to use our ninja powers in downtown Blue Bay Harbour in the middle of the morning (sneaky, that would not be). It's not like those of us who've passed our road test (Cam and me) can drive the van; I'm on my parent's policy so am only allowed to use mom's car, and Cam doesn't have insurance at all so we're pretty much stranded.
"I can take her home."
The words are quietly spoken, but full of assuredness, cutting through our chatter immediately. We turn as one to see Hunter standing a little way back from the group, a trace of something that could be concern in his eyes, but I'm not sure.
"I have my driver's licence. And Kelly's got me on some special business insurance so I can drive customer's vehicles; I can take you guys back to school and drive Tori home in her van," the blond clarifies, stepping forward tentatively, almost warily.
"Guys, this isn't necessary." Tori tries to shake Dustin off, but her speech is slightly slurred, exhaustion well and truly setting in, and the brunette is tenacious, merely readjusting his arm around her waist so she's nestled in a protective embrace.
I give the crimson ranger a considering look, trying to gauge his intentions, but his expression is typically inscrutable and I'm none the wiser to whatever thoughts are going on behind that mask.
My gaze travels to the faces of my companions to find them all looking to me, waiting for me to make a decision.
No- They're waiting for their leader to make a decision.
I take a breath, mind made up.
Time for a little trust…
"Okay."