Any Moment Reprise Chapter 34: Without You, a power rangers fanfic

Chapter 34

Without You

I don't own Rent

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was something brewing, something mysterious and weird and completely out of Dustin's league, but there was definitely something churning up in Hunter's head.

And for the life of him, the yellow ranger couldn't figure it out.

He decided not to worry about it too much though, it couldn't be that bad. Minor, at most. It was probably just another one of those pride-fights that the blond had with Shane every once and a while. They'd be mad at each other for a little bit, and then they would beat up a monster together, shake hands, and call it a day.

Worked every time.

And since it was just more of the same, there was nothing really to worry about, so Dustin immediately pushed the insanity that was Hunter/Shane relations out of his mind and called Cam to give him an update on the good news. Hunter hadn't even fought him or anything. Either Dustin's cookies were really just that epic, or his skills of persuasion were reaching newer and better heights.

If it was the latter, Cam best be on the lookout.

"Go for Cam."

Yes, I will.

Dustin grinned, picturing the wonderful piece of man-meat waiting for him at Ninja Ops. He was sure there would be rewards for his clean victory.

"Dude, I got a yes."

Because he was awesome

"Just like that?"

By the skeptical tone of voice, Dustin could tell that clearly somebody was not aware of Dustin's improved powers of persuasion. So much the better for him, now it would be a surprise when he convinced Cam to do that one thing-

"Yeah," he replied cheerfully. While, he desperately wanted to stick to the train of thought that focused on a certain attractive green ranger and certain to-this-point-forbidden activities, there was something nagging at the back of his mind, something he was supposed to remember…

"Oh yeah," he whispered, snapping at the revelation, as was required when such revelations were made. "Hunter says to tell Shane that he put up a big fight."

Dustin took comfort in the fact that the crimson ranger was just as lost when it came to the purpose to this as Dustin was. But it was most likely because of pride. That was what they fought about, right?

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. "But he didn't."

"Nope."

Another pause.

See, even Cam was confused.

Somehow, that made Dustin feel less confused.

If that made any sense.

Cam cleared his throat, covering up his hesitation. "Let me get this straight. Hunter has urged you to tell Shane that he put up a big fight, when he in fact, acquiesced to our appeal with moderate ease?"

Dustin thought about this for a second.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

There was another pause, but Dustin was pretty sure this one was simply from digesting and understanding that their friends could be a special kind of stupid sometimes, rather than actually being confused, which was where Dustin tended to make his home.

It wasn't a pleasant fact, but it happened.

Before Dustin could mourn this, Cam cut back in. "I'm deliberating whether we should enable this behavior."

What, the lying? Yeah, Dustin had been on the fence about that one too. But then he thought about it.

He wouldn't lie, he was uneasy with the lack of honesty, especially in regards to his best friend. He liked Hunter a lot, maybe enough to also call him best, but Shane had been best first and that deserved a little consideration.

At least, those were the rules Dustin had made himself. It made things easier to think about, in the grand scheme of things.

"Yeah, that bothered me too, but the way I see it, it's a pretty small demand compared to what we're asking him and Blake to do." He paused for a second to allow that brain-sickle to melt in. "Also, if this is just another one of their fights, it'll probably blow over in a few days."

There was a thoughtful silence on the other end of the line.

Though, Dustin supposed since all of Cam's silences were thoughtful, in the world of the green ranger it was just another silence.

The thoughtfulness was inferred.

"…I suppose you have a point."

Dustin smiled, pleased that everything was going so well. Hunter and Blake were going to be moved somewhere safe, where they were cared, and Dustin didn't have to lie, or beg, or get yelled at to make it happen. Everything was going to be okay.

"Yes, I believe I do."

His point was awesome. Now he just needed to get back to Ninja Ops to make blow Cam's mind with his sexy brain persuasion.

It was a good day.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam frowned at his morpher, anxiety and wariness settling in his stomach. The ease with which Hunter had surrendered couldn't help but set Cam on edge. There had to be a greater threat occupying Hunter's attention that allowed this sudden and definite change to occur so effortlessly. True, while Hunter claimed to not be an individual entirely driven by emotion, the blond had a nasty habit of responding to logical and reasonable responses excessively…and sporadically.

'Emotionally' - could be the word Cam would use for it, though out of respect, he avoided using such language. The tech had predicted denial at first, among other negative responses, and then after a little more resistance Hunter would inevitably surrender to the most logical course of action. In the end, the crimson ranger was a reasonable when addressed with things that didn't immediately affect his person in what could be considered an "intimate" fashion. And even when it was something more personal, that reasonableness didn't completely disappear. Near the end of his time of rebellion, that intelligent counterpart would make his appearance, and the initial, reasonable, logical choice of action would be allowed its victory.

So Hunter's easy surrender did little to calm Cam's nerves on the Thunder ranger's imminent move into Ninja Ops. In fact, despite Dustin's protests otherwise, the tech was almost certain that on top of his concerns for sharing a home with the Bradley brother,s there would undoubtedly be some newer, bigger, more unique and outlandish threats to occupy his time.

The only silver lining was that in all probability, this new "Hunter problem" was entirely centered around Shane.

If that was a silver lining at all.

Cam was fond of Shane. He was, aside from Dustin, Cam's best friend. And while the green ranger was not well-practiced in the role of "best friend", he knew that preventing disasters of the social and emotional spectrum from occurring was probably within the job requirements. It was also part of basic human decency.

However…there was the slight chance that the tech was simply overthinking this, as he tended to do with things that concerned his friends. Sure, Hunter was difficult, to put it kindly, but whatever his motivation, it probably wasn't nearly as bad as Cam envisioned it to be.

Dustin was right; it was far more likely that the two reds were simply on the outs again. Give it a few more days, and balance would be restored. In the meantime, the team could take advantage of this little tiff and move Hunter and Blake into Ninja Ops with no resistance. Everybody won.

And yet in knowing all this, Cam still hesitated before calling Shane to update him on the situation.

It was unavoidable, he supposed. One couldn't completely divert from what was the natural order of things. Paranoia, treading lightly - it was simply in his bones.

He needed to have faith.

"Go for Shane."

It was a confident, relaxed tone. The red ranger wasn't on edge - probably assumed from the lack of exploding buildings and kidnapped citizens that this was simply the progress report that it was, as opposed to an actual attack.

Cam got right to the point.

"Dustin got a yes."

As they knew he eventually would. The pause then, on the other end of the line, was merely a period of adjustment Cam had felt similarly, surprised it had taken only one visit. While Shane became accustomed to the gravity of the situation, Cam recalled the terms that were negotiated for such results, and prepared himself for an action that would probably be inconsequential at the end of the day.

Though this knowledge brought him little comfort.

Cam flexed his jaw got on with it, not waiting for Shane's response.

"From what I heard though, he put up a rather impressive fight before reaching this decision."

Though that was all he heard.

There was a quiet scoff on the other end of the line. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

And then there was…nothing.

No distrust, no anger or frustration - just nothing.

It seemed that Dustin was right after all. There was nothing to worry about, no warnings that needed to be issued. The lie had been given and for Shane it was…expected. Welcomed, even.

It made Cam wonder if the planted information had been for Hunter's benefit at all, or if it was simply the blond's way of…informing Shane that the natural balance of things hadn't been lost.

It was a puzzle that Cam did not like. There was something to be worried about here, something…He wasn't sure what, yet, but he would stay vigilant. Eventually, he and Hunter would share the same roof, and Cam was going to keep the crimson ranger under observation until he could determine what the other teen's endgame was.

"Yes, I suppose it does."

Shane was Cam's best friend. He loved him, and he was prepared to worry and protect the air ninja from...whatever this was.

It was something, right?

There had to be something.

-:-:-:-:-:-

On move-in day, everything went smoothly. There weren't any big hang-ups - mostly, Shane supposed, because the thunder rangers didn't have very much to move in the first place. Cam had gone ahead and cleared out a suite (which Ninja Ops apparently had, and Shane was beginning to wonder what else the tech was hiding from them) for Blake and Hunter, moving out a few pieces of furniture to make room for the Bradley collection. True, what they had was ragged, stained, and bore no overall cohesive design, but it was theirs and somehow the green ranger knew that they should be allowed their little piece of "home" without ever having been told as much.

From what Shane could tell, the thunder rangers appreciated the sentiment, though Blake was the only one to say as much. It wasn't like any of them were expecting Hunter to say anything anyway. Hell, him not being overly rude towards Cam was his little way of saying thank you. Shane would have hugged him for it, were allowed anywhere near the grumpy blond.

Well…he'd take what he could get.

Right now, that apparently entailed 'nothing'. A great load of nothing.

Hunter was giving him the master of silent treatments, the coldest of shoulders. The blond had neither made eye contact, spoken to, or even verbally addressed to the other rangers anything that had to do with Shane. Even when they ended up moving the couch down the stairs together, the crimson ranger had somehow managed to pretend he was taking on that particular endeavor all by his lonesome.

It wasn't that he was ignoring Shane and letting Shane know that it was happening; it just seemed that Hunter didn't want to acknowledge he existed right now. So he didn't.

The others had sent Shane concerned looks when they first began noticing it, Dustin worried and Cam looking speculative, trying to dissect the causes for such behavior while Tori and Blake stared on with confused looks on their faces. Clearly, the younger Bradley hadn't been let in on this behavioral choice.

Shane waved off their concern.

It wasn't anything to worry about. Hunter simply needed to get this out of his system before they could go back to what they had before. It was the crimson ranger's odd way of saving face. Hunter was a proud guy who needed his space, and Shane was willing to give it to him.

He contemplated, very briefly, pretending that this behavior actually bothered him. That was probably the point of it all, right? To get upset? But he just…he couldn't. Because he honestly wasn't upset. He saw this for what it was, and more importantly, what it actually meant, and couldn't help but ultimately be relieved.

Because this was the light at the end of the tunnel. This was the one last act of defiance before everything would go back to normal.

So he couldn't be mad.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blake did not like this new change.

He did not like this new change at all.

While it was pretty obvious that he and his brother weren't the champions of communicating effectively (as evident by the three months Blake spent on cautious flirting before he actually asked Tori out), he was pretty sure that Hunter's newest plan-of-attack for winning Shane's affections was probably the most stupid thing that had ever come into existence.

A few days would have probably been acceptable. At least, in the world of Shane-and-Hunter-communications, where the standards most of society used to perceive things were non-applicable, it could have been acceptable. Blake figured that they just had another fight or something, and Shane would allow Hunter the few days he needed to do…whatever he was doing, and then they would be fine. Hunter would go back to mooning over Shane in the most concealed, stealthy, macho way and Shane would go back to being the ridiculously best, best-friend and they would go on being completely unaware of the lovey eyes they kept throwing at each other until the damn on their sexual tension burst and they started making out in Storm Chargers.

Which wasn't something Blake enjoyed thinking about, but seeing as it was inevitable, he had begun to slowly integrating these ideas into his normal thought processes as a form of future coping.

You know, to be prepared and stuff.

Though to look back on things, Blake was pretty sure that Hunter's feelings were reciprocated. It was the only way the skater could be this patient with Hunter's epic amount of stupidity.

But it wasn't not like Blake could tell his brother that.

Okay, he could (and had tried), but it wasn't like he could get Hunter to actually listen.

The older Bradley had already decided to do things the hard way.

So when it hit ("it" being 'Hunter's Stupid Plan', as Blake had labeled it) the one week mark, the navy ranger had begun to get a little worried.

One week was pushing it, even by red ranger standards. One week was over-doing it. One week meant that the younger Bradley had to reevaluate the situation to see if he could understand whatever the hell his stupid older brother was doing. Maybe he and Shane hadn't gotten into a fight. Maybe this was Hunter's very awkward, very horrible way of flirting.

Ugggh, that thought killed Blake a little inside, because no relationship was that screwed up. Hunter was not that screwed up to think this might actually might work.

That meant that Hunter wasn't flirting, because while the blond was stupid, he wasn't like…stupid. It had to be a fight. But not an average fight, Hunter was pulling out all the stops for this one, going for the long haul with an amount of effort he normally wouldn't bother exerting. Either Shane had done something very, very bad to piss off his brother, or he had done something very, very right, and Hunter was expressing his thanks by being the world's biggest jackass.

One more day. Blake would give Hunter one more day to celebrate his emotional ineptitude before they had a very blunt heart-to-heart.

This wasn't acceptable.

Whatever this was.

-:-:-:-:-:-

A week was just a week. It was just a unit of time, signifying nothing more than the passage of seven days. And while most weeks were just that – weeks – Shane couldn't help but feel a little on edge because of the…conditions of this particular week.

Hunter was still ignoring him.

Okay, Shane was willing to admit that one week was pushing the bill on over-reactions, even as far Hunter was concerned. It was getting a little depressing. When Hunter worked the cash register at Storm Chargers, Shane would just hang around nearby, catch up on some reading or watch the latest competition footage or just…be there, waiting for whenever the blond felt like acknowledging him again. He wasn't even sure if this was the right thing to do anymore. He couldn't tell what Hunter wanted. Did he want Shane to talk to him? Did he want the red ranger to be the one who broke the silence? Did he want Shane to give up?

But maybe he was worrying for nothing. It had only been a week. It had only been seven days.

Not unbearable days. Not particularly difficult days. Just…days.

He was being stupid. Shane was literally overreacting to nothing.

Things would restore themselves soon enough.

Until then, he just had to keep waiting.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Okay, Blake was beginning to think that Lothor must have zapped Hunter with another mind beam, because the crimson ranger had surpassed ridiculous and taken his new obsession with avoiding Shane to higher levels of absurdity. Things had officially gotten out of hand.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much any of them could do about it.

Even the act of talking about Shane seemed to be off limits. Even with him - Blake, Hunter's brother. The guy who was also adopted and experienced the life-shattering death of his parents. That guy.

Yeah, Hunter didn't exactly feel like talking to him.

Not about Shane.

It was…'insanity', was the only word Blake could think for it. It didn't make any sense. What the hell happened? Shane had to have done something awful. It was the only explanation.

With that set in his mind, Blake decided to corner to skater to talk one-on-one, just the two of them, and…

And he seemed just as confused as Blake.

Their conversation had gone a little like this:

"Dude, what'd you do to Hunter?"

The honest reply - the exasperated, frustrated, agitated reply - just oozing with undertones of hurt and bewilderment and whatever else was in those sappy movies Tori made Blake watch (no, he did not like them), was just this:

"After apologizing, nothing."

And then like the depression-suppressing good-natured guy that he was, Shane walked off with slumped shoulders, mourning the loss of contact with a guy that was obviously kind of insane.

Seriously, there had to be love there. Blake just could not think of another way for this to work.

He wished Hunter could see that.

You know, before he did too much damage.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It needed to be done. Dustin didn't want to do it, but it needed to be done.

Like, yesterday.

He contacted the crimson ranger's morpher.

"Go for Hunter."

Dustin paused, totally to catch his breath or mentally prepare himself or anything that wasn't being slightly intimidated about what he had to do.

Not at all.

"Hey, uh…Hunter?"

An awesomely powerful start.

You know, comparatively-speaking. If he was using that word correctly.

He probably wasn't.

"What, Dustin?"

The mechanic hesitated at the gruffness of the older Bradley's tone before remembering the note cards he had created for occasions such as the urge to chicken out, and picked up where he had left off, squinting down at his chicken scratch. It helped to be prepared.

"Did Shane like…kill your imaginary friend, or something?"

Dustin figured if he eased Hunter into the conversation, he would receive better results. Not that he was very good at doing things slow or tactfully or…

Well, the 'imaginary friend' thing would probably throw the blond for enough of a loop that he would stay onboard for the rest of the conversation.

Hopefully.

Dustin continued, "Not that it's bad to have imaginary friends or anything. I think they're great."

He used to have a ton of them.

Used to.

"They don't really compare to real friends, but like…"

Because after getting the real deal, the fake ones lacked a certain pazzaz.

"Cuz - you know, real friends can actually talk to you, and give you hugs and stuff."

Which Dustin was a pretty big fan of.

He thought Hunter had been too.

"You know, like when you're sad."

And alone and just need someone to be there for you.

Dustin sighed, abandoning the pretty much useless flashcards. He was rambling.

"I like having real friends," he continued, trying to make Hunter see what he was doing.

The bad of it.

There was a short silence on the other end of the line before Dustin finally got his reply.

"…Is there a point to why you called?"

The crimson ranger sounded annoyed. Seemed that what Dustin had been trying to get across was completely missed by the other ranger.

Dustin coughed, tilting his head bashfully.

This should be going better.

"Uh…yeah."

Wasn't it obvious?

Another annoyed pause.

"…And?"

"It's just-" Dustin scrunched his nose, thinking. "It's hard to keep real friends if you treat them like imaginary ones."

But not- not really. It was different, but still wrong.

He clarified, "Except instead of like, no one else being able to see them, it's only you."

And Shane hadn't done anything wrong to be an imaginary friend.

"It sucks dude."

Shane was a real friend.

And real friends had needs, and concerns, and deserved respect, because that was how you kept real friends. That was why you were friends.

Because they were nice people who liked you so they treated you nicely.

Did Hunter not like Shane anymore? Was that why Shane was imaginary?

There was dead silence on the other end of the line.

"Dude, are you still there?"

It would suck if Hunter started ignoring him too. They had just become good friends.

There was a sigh and Dustin smiled, feeling a small sense of relief.

Victory.

Sort of.

"…Unfortunately."

He was getting somewhere.

The yellow ranger decided to push his luck. "…Well, did he?"

He wanted to know. Shane had to have done something right? Something happened.

Or was Hunter really that fickle?

"Did who, what?"

The agitation was back full force, and Dustin couldn't decide if Hunter really had no idea what he was talking about, or if he was like…being vague on purpose.

But he didn't- He couldn't-

He gave up; Hunter wasn't going to tell him anything. Not anytime soon. And Dustin wasn't smart enough to figure it out on his own.

The brunette hung his head low, figuratively throwing in the towel with a sigh.

"…Forget I called."

Forget like how you forgot Shane was your friend.

He was really good at that.

Hunter remained completely unaffected by the disappointment in Dustin' voice, spitting out a hasty, "Whatever" before ending the call, leaving Dustin alone with his failure.

He didn't know what to do.

He knew he needed to do something, he just wasn't sure what.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blake had no idea what to do anymore. His mind was thoroughly boggled. Boggled. Hunter wouldn't talk about it, and clearly Shane hadn't done anything, and Tori kept on giving Blake these looks like it was somehow all his fault. Blake didn't know how this was going to end, but he was pretty sure that somebody was going to end up with a bleeding face and a tearstained shirt, and he was beginning to think that it was going to be him.

He did not like the sound of that.

And neither did someone else.

He didn't bother looking to see who was beeping his morpher. It was the same person who had beeped it yesterday, and the day before that, and he still only had the same answer that he had the last few times.

The same unsatisfying, stupid answer.

At the rate they were going, everyone was going to start ignoring each other.

"What the hell is your brother doing?

Blake flopped his head to the side dejectedly, wondering if there would ever be a time again when Tori wouldn't be mad at him. Seriously, this wasn't his fault.

He sighed and glared at his morpher.

"I. Don't. Know."

And then he hung up, because smart people knew when to retreat.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Tori frowned at her morpher, only somewhat surprised that Blake had ended the call. The rational part of her mind suggested that if she were in his shoes, she would have done the same thing, but she was too frustrated to pay it too terribly much attention. Tori had bigger fish to fry, and if Blake didn't have anything to tell her, then she would go to somebody that would. Someone who specialized in gathering intelligence.

"Go for Cam."

"Is everyone going insane?"

She couldn't help herself, this was nuts. Hunter ignoring Shane for a little while…Okay, that was slightly acceptable, Hunter's crazy. As a team, they had accepted that. They were all a little crazy.

But this, this was blatant and hurtful and stupid. And worst of all, Shane was just taking it like he deserved it or something.

And now Blake was avoiding her and nobody seemed to know anything and Tori really, really wanted to start smacking some sense into somebody. She would take anyone at this point.

Cam didn't hesitate to reply.

"Doubtful."

Well, at least she could depend on the tech's dry sarcasm to be constant. There was some comfort in that.

The blonde sighed, rubbing the side of her head. She could feel the migraine waiting to attack.

"Cam, I'm serious. What the hell is Hunter up to?"

Cam had to know. He was Cam. And…whoa, she was beginning to sound a little like Dustin, but Cam had to have some kind of idea or theory as to why this was going on. Otherwise, why would he let it keep going? After Shane and Hunter, Cam was pretty much the next one in charge.

Why wasn't he taking charge?

There was a subdued, but similar sigh on the other end of the line. "I would probably be the least qualified to answer that."

Yeah, I get it; you and Hunter don't like each other. Get over it.

Tori clenched her jaw closed, trying to keep back from biting out some sarcastic remark. She did not have time for this.

"Well, the most qualified guy just hung up on me, so I'm asking you." The aqua ranger paused a moment, taking a steady breath to regain some sense of…pleasantness. She shouldn't take out her frustrations on Cam. She started again, calmer. "Got any theories?"

Please say you have theories.

There was a small hesitation on the other end of the line. Tori waited, patiently, and was rewarded with a quiet declaration.

"He isn't being tampered with by any outside sources."

He isn't…

Wait.

What?

She shouldn't be this surprised. "You ran tests?"

Of course Cam would have run tests. Anything and everything to cover all the bases, and if Hunter wasn't being tampered with-

Cam confirmed her fears.

"He's clean. He's choosing this course of action deliberately."

But-

"Why?" Tori asked, wanting, needing to know.

Before Cam could formulate an answer, there was another set of familiar beeps on the line, indicating that Cam had another caller.

He sighed, not tired just…saddened. "That's Dustin. I've got to go."

Before Tori could protest, her line was cut off, leaving her with nothing but static and a sour feeling in her stomach.

Why?

Perhaps the world would never know.

She growled, slamming her hand down on her desk with a lot more force than necessary.

No, she would figure it out. Someone had to.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Dustin started off as Cam had expected him to, mildly frantic and guilty, bordering on irrational.

"Dude, I was wrong, you were right, we shouldn't have lied."

No, Cam knew beyond a doubt that there had been no right answer. With either of the decisions Hunter had presented them, to support his falsity or to claim the truth, both would have ultimately led to the creation of these circumstances. Hunter's behavior was beyond their control. The negative actions resulting of it were no more their fault than the lack of oxygen in space. It was inevitable. Hunter had made his decision and the rest of them would just have to accept the consequences until they could prepare a more effective plan of attack.

By his defeated tone, Cam could tell that Dustin was on the cusp of making this revelation, but unfortunately wasn't there yet. He was attempting to understand, to allocate blame in order to comprehend that which bore no definite reason. As though they had some control.

As though they could have prevented this.

Cam wanted to comfort his loved one; he wanted to explain.

But there was nothing he could say that Dustin would accept. Not right now.

"Dustin…"

He wasn't allowed to finish before the storm simmering in Dustin's mind took over and Cam was pushed aside, the mechanic already moving on before he could say anything. "You know, I'll just tell Shane. I'll tell Shane and everything will be okay. We'll be okay."

And with that declaration, Cam was left alone once more with nothing to show for it.

Shane needed to start talking.

Someone needed to.

Before the team completely collapsed inside itself, suffering the loss of one of its braces.

Without support, they were nothing.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter.

Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter because Hunter certainly wasn't thinking about him, and he refused to allow himself to become so pathetic, so damn needy that he would obsess over someone who had clearly decided he wasn't worth the time of day. Not worth talking to, not worth fighting, not worth working with.

Non-existent.

Nothing.

So Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter.

Unfortunately, he couldn't broadcast this fact to the rest of the team, because that would have involved addressing Hunter, so Shane couldn't really control any of them talking to him about…it.

Yeah, 'it'.

The air ninja wasn't surprised that Dustin was the first to crack, though Shane had thought that maybe with Cam on his side, the yellow ranger might have lasted a little bit longer.

Pero no.

"Dude, I'm sorry. We lied. Hunter totally didn't put up a fight about the…well, you know. And I'm not sure why he's mad, but if that changes anything-"

"It doesn't."

Shane hadn't really processed the words before he said them, didn't have to put much thought into them, because that was the honest truth. It hadn't been important.

It didn't change anything.

Dustin was quiet on the other end of the line.

Shane felt for him, knowing how confused the brunette must be. Dustin just wanted to make things better.

"It doesn't?"

There was so much hope in his tone that Shane almost wanted to find Hunter and smack some sense into him. This wasn't just between them anymore, it was beginning to affect everyone. Shane didn't mind being kicked around a bit, he knew what he was getting into with Hunter, but involving the others…

This was going too far.

He shook his head, taking a steady breath. "This isn't your fault Dustin."

The silence Shane received in return was enough for him to know that the yellow ranger didn't believe him.

"…I've gotta go."

Shane didn't bother trying to stop the yellow ranger from hanging up. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. The team- their team was falling apart, and he wanted to do something about it. He needed to do something about this. But what were his other choices? By this point, he had actually tried to engage in some basic small talk. Nothing big - just the weather, sports, hell, even ranger business. In public, that was how desperate he had become.

And for all his effort, he got nothing. Not a cold stare, not even a look of annoyance, just…nothing.

He just…

He just needed to wait it out, that was all. It was unpleasant, but-

When Hunter was ready, he'd be ready.

It was just going to take a little longer than Shane had originally anticipated.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

Do we like how Ninja Ops just keeps getting these magical rooms? It's magic I tells yah, and totally not a lack of creativity.

Until next time.