Any Moment Chapter 36: As We Stumble Along, a power rangers fanfic

Chapter 36

As We Stumble Along

I don't own the Drowsy Chaperone.

Cyber Cam's finally reared his ugly head and everybody's got an opinion about it.

Except the blue rangers, because they were too busy dancing off screen. Seriously, look over there, they're dancing!

-:-:-:-:-:-

While he could sit and ponder the many instances where Cyber Cam's programming could have gone awry (and he had to be realistic, there were many), Cam had chosen instead to stew over his decision to insure Cyber Cam's unlimited access to his entire array of databases. He could easily chalk it up as an unnecessary precaution, his paranoia working at it's finest, but if he was going to be honest it was because he had taken a small pride in the fact that he could. Yes, it was useful to have a program that knew everything and in theory, it sounded completely logical. What was the point of designing a super computer if it didn't have the capabilities to provide solutions for any situation? There wasn't. But there was even less of a point if something in the hardware blew out and total operational control had been compromised. Which was also because of his pride…and his desire to want to spend more time with Dustin…and Dustin's desire for him to spend more time with Dustin…

So Cam may have jumped the gun a little. May have gotten too eager, didn't run enough tests, didn't check everything as thoroughly as he should have.

And now he was trapped in a closet, joints bound by a rather creative and ingenious combination of knots, so intricately woven that he would be lucky if he managed to untie them in anything less than three hours. To say he was displeased with this turn of events would be like saying he was displeased with Lothor trying to take over the world. It just didn't quite do his circumstances justice.

And during his lost time here who knew what Cyber Cam could be up to. Cam thought he knew, thought he had some idea what the rogue program could have wanted, but if his command override was failing any number of his hologram's other systems could have backfired or completely fallen into decline. For all Cam knew his program could be doing something as harmful as running around attempting to lead the Blue Bay Harbor's citizen's into revolution or as benign as sunbathing.

The damage was too deep…probably, and Cam was too occupied to really give it much thought.

One thing was guaranteed though; Cyber Cam did not take well to authority figures. He had missed Cam's father luckily, but if the hologram met up with Shane or Hunter and orders started flying things would probably not go well. Social confrontation through bondage does not a solid relationship make. Probably. Cam wasn't too up-to-date on those kind of things but that seemed like one of the more obvious rules. Then again, there seemed to be a number of unnecessary and stupidly enforced colloquialisms out there nowadays. The fist bump thing, a modern twist on the traditional handshake, or a germaphobe's poor attempt at blending in? Who knew?

He exhaled sharply through his gag, commanding his mind to get off of those useless trains of thought and back to the matter of acquiring his freedom. A note for later, he needed to improve the ventilation to the closets. The stifling heat and lack of oxygen were hindering his progress somewhat.

Somewhat, he thought again, rolling his eyes. His mind may be impaired but his pride was stilling chugging steadily along, completely unbothered by this turn of events.

He frowned as much as the constraining cloth allowed, berating himself as his fingers picked away at the third knot, painstakingly slow.

Pity would get him nowhere. Still, he couldn't help but…no, he needed to focus.

Victory came slowly over that one knot, a naive amateur among seasoned pros, and Cam moved on. Despite knowing better he couldn't help but trail his mind over the possible actions his creation could be executing. Would he seek out the others? Dustin? Cam loathed the thought, hoped that that particular development happened so late in the programming stages that Cyber Cam didn't hold the same fondness for the yellow ranger that Cam did.

No, at the time he had been focused on Sha…

Cam shook his head, wrists jerking and fingers slipping with sweat, and the jolt of pain (small as it was) was enough to bring him back on track.

Cyber Cam should hold no preference for any of them, but then again, Cyber Cam shouldn't have gone rogue. He shouldn't have become independent. And the list goes on and on about what he shouldn't be able to do, and what he could do and what he might be doing but when it all came down to it all Cam could do was sit in this god forsaken closet and work at untying the Mona Lisa of knot combinations so that he could get outside and put a stop to whatever shenanigans or not-catastrophes his cyber replicate could be committing. In fact, it didn't even matter if all his program had done after he tied up Cam was stand still facing a wall, the tech was going to bring it down and bring it down hard.

And then, when the mess was cleaned up and he set in the mother of all command overrides, he was going to take a nap. Preferably with Dustin. Because if he had learned anything from his time with Shane (as much as he tried to forget it), it was that stress was as dangerous a thing as any of the monster they fought. And like the monsters they fought, it needed to be dealt with accordingly.

And with pillows.

Lots and lots of pillows.

-:-:-:-:-:-

New Cam was starting to freak him out just a little bit.

Dustin didn't know what happened, he didn't know if he said something that made Cam decide to…dude up or if the computer genius just kind've epiphanied it on his own, but between this morning and now Cam had decided to give himself a major overhaul and Dustin didn't know if he was supposed to feel flattered or mildly freaked out.

It was touching, in a way…kind've.

His boyfriend was trying so hard (and succeeding, he totally smacked Shane down at skateboarding) and being so peppy and happy and…radical. But it was really weird. Like, really weird. And most of Dustin just wanted to find the reset button on this day so he could just hang out with Cam and prevent whatever caused this to happen.

Because Dustin wasn't happy with this, not even a little bit. Well…the pants were cool, he'd give Cam that, but everything else was so not flying with Dustin it might as well be deep-sea diving for Davy Jone's lost eyepatch or something. Could he really be blamed here? He liked old Cam. Old Cam was the chocolate to his sundae, the cheese to his burger, the button to his teddy bear's eye (and yes, you were never too old for a teddy bear). Old Cam, normal Cam was the perfect compliment to Dustin; he was the calm one, the smart one, the dominant one. He gathered all of Dustin's wild thoughts and made sense of what the yellow ranger had been repeatedly told was indiscernible. He was sarcastic and lovably grumpy and just the right amount of crotchety that made Dustin's days sparkle like a little girls tennis shoes.

And he wasn't hating this because he didn't like change, he just…he liked original Cam better. This sequel, new and improved, "totally wicked" version was giving him a sour feeling in his stomach and he didn't know how to deal with it. Was this what Cam thought he wanted? Like, another him? Why would Dustin want to date himself? He wasn't that big a fan of himself, that was why he was dating Cam. Did he really come off as that self-absorbed?

And the worst part wasn't even that Cam decided this completely out of the blue (because Dustin hadn't even giving off a hint that he was unhappy and required changes now please-and-thank-you-very-much), it was the fact that this…

This was pretty much Cam's interpretation of him.

And as good as he was at sports, Cam's interpretation of him was kind of a tool.

Like, all the couple-y stuff Dustin had finally gotten them to work up to in public had been completely thrown out the window. Cam was ignoring him, maybe because he wanted to do a good job of showing off how much he could change, but this was really working against what Dustin wanted. How could a guy who was that smart do something this stupid? Seriously, Dustin wanted to know. If there was a book or website that someone could point him to he would be really very thankful because none of this made any sense.

And he wasn't the only one who thought this. He could tell, the best friend language he had working out with Shane totally screamed that he wasn't buying whatever it was Cam was selling either. And Dustin didn't need to be bestest-best pals with Hunter to see that the crimson ranger was suspicious too, occasionally glancing at Dustin searchingly, as though he knew anything about this.

Dustin scrubbed a hand angrily through his hair, sending a worried look Shane's way. He didn't care how good Cam was at surfing, he just wanted him back.

Shane caught his eye and reached over to give his arm a comforting squeeze, somehow reading his mind. Dustin hated this, he didn't know why…

The thought came to him so suddenly that he was pretty much bowled over by it, air leaving his lungs so fast that Shane sent him a concerned look and Dustin had to wave him off, pulling away to get some space. And it was stupid, it was a stupid thought because by this point he and Cam had reassured each other of their relationship so many times they were practically champions of it, of being insecure and doubtful and needy and it was almost a wonder they managed to breath without the other calling the other into question. It was beyond ridiculous, it was just sad really, because they should know, know by now where they stood but then Cam went and did stuff like this and Dustin couldn't help but wonder if Cam was really trying to give him what he thought Dustin wanted or if he was trying to get him to break up with him by giving him what he knew was the exact opposite of what he needed.

And it hurt.

The idea, the possibility hurt, and the fact that Dustin thought of it hurt but once it was there it refused to leave, dancing an Irish jig around his brain, and he couldn't take his mind off of it. If this was how Cam saw Dustin he really should break it off now because it was like an awful parody of a human being, the language and actions all exaggerated and his voice way too loud. It was like a joke, but Dustin wasn't laughing, and as far as he could tell no one else was either.

There should be rules, that if you wanted something you should just come out and say it, or ask it, or do something besides completely change your personality for no obvious reason.

Dustin didn't notice how tightly he'd wound his arms across his chest until Shane draped an arm over his shoulders. The tension was obvious and he tried to breathe it out, like they did in training, but it was harder to do than it should have been. He hated new Cam, he hated new Cam and he was pretty sure Shane hated new Cam but he couldn't talk about it. He couldn't joke about it and bond about it like he would have with Shane because…and it was odd, because he should. Dustin should be able to talk to Shane about everything, because he was Shane, but every time he opened his mouth the words just kind've choked up in his throat and he couldn't do anything but breathe and avoid the other's eyes. When did that happen? When did he lose Shane? They'd been doing the same things; they were like they had always been except…they weren't.

Dustin hadn't realized it, but it was like there was a wall there. And he tried and tried to remember when he put it up except he didn't think he put one up but he could have he supposed and…

Was it Shane, or was it him? Was Shane holding back, or was it because Dustin never wanted to share any of the secret world of Cam and that was pretty much all he could think about nowadays. The thoughts danced harder, tapping to a thunderous applause that made Dustin's head hurt and the tension came back with a vengeance, the arms digging in tighter.

When did he lose both of them?

What did he do?

What could he do to fix it?

The questions echoed with the thoughts, pounding, pulsing, reverberating, steadily beating on and on until everything else was muted into nothingness. The world went on around him, Cam kept surfing on the waves (the stupid, awful devils of salt) and Shane kept an arm around him. Hunter and Blake were still on standby trading jokes and casual barbs, but all Dustin could hear is the chaos in his head. He couldn't surrender to it, because he knew it was an overreaction and he needed to hold still and evaluate the situation and then make a choice (which was lesson that took him a painful amount of time and numerous failures to learn) and not give into his emotions. He couldn't lash out right now. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Sensei had taught him better, and maybe it could change. Maybe he could get back old Cam.

It wouldn't alter the fact that he had lost Shane, but he couldn't focus on that now. That was something he was going to have to fix later. Right now, he had to keep his priorities straight.

There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept trying to tell him Shane was just as important as Cam was, maybe more, but with well practiced ease he managed to ignore it.

That wasn't something he could think about now.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As amusing as Cam's abrupt personality one eighty was, the novelty was beginning to wear off and Hunter couldn't help but feel that new Cam was a bit of a dick. And yeah, that was about all he felt about the matter.

Well, that and the growing irritation of losing at a sport he was really, really good at, and knowing that Blake wouldn't stop whining about it once they got off the track.

But that was nothing compared to what the rest of the team was feeling.

He couldn't decide if Shane got his obsessive need to over complicate things and marinate in his own personal angsting juices from Dustin, or if the yellow ranger had simply osmosised it from the red ranger, because right now the mechanic was stirring up a whole mess of unpleasant feelings that would put even the most temperamental depression-consumed individual to shame. It was actually rather impressive. Hunter had taken a moment to simply…appreciate it made him sound like the lowest of scum so he supposed that saying he just acknowledged it would have to do, because really, Dustin was grieving badly.

Not that Hunter could blame him.

It figured that once their team managed to sort out a semblance of balance with each other (everyone had someone to turn to, even if Hunter had to unwillingly drag Shane kicking and pridefully not-screaming) that someone would go and do something remarkably stupid to ruin it. It just had to be done at some point. Though he honestly expected it to be his brother because Cam had way too many screw up's lately. At least, as far as team relations went. He should have been relationship-problemed out by now, and sometimes Hunter thought that the tech just stayed up late into the hours of the night inventing new ways to screw with the rest of them.

Alright, even Hunter could admit that was a little harsh, but he was still a little sore over the cracked ribs thing so the blond believed he was entitled to a little inner-pettiness.

But that wasn't the real problem here.

It was almost like Cam was having a mid-life crisis thirty years too soon (though were he measuring the other's life by accomplishments Hunter would rank him somewhere in his mid-seventy's). Perhaps all the stress of saving the world plus the combined epiphany of "Why yes, Dustin does bring me jollies" may have brought on some kind of mental break down, which also seemed appropriate. It made sense, given the job. Now that Hunter had thought of it he was honestly surprised this hadn't happened to any of them sooner. Maybe Shane was just a scraped knee away from becoming a ballroom dancer, or Tori a chipped nail from tagging graffiti, or something.

Blake was fine, Hunter had seen to that, but he would keep a closer eye on Shane. Just in case.

He was really not a fan of ballroom dancing.

On a normal day Hunter would attribute a portion of the blame for this to Dustin, because he was the one in charge of keeping Cam sane and not acting so incredibly dick-like, but right now he just didn't have the heart for it. It wasn't Dustin's fault he had such a hard task in front of him, but he was the one who knew Cam best.

Except for maybe Shane, but even he didn't look all that happy about this new turn of events.

Yes, there was much distress brewing there.

Shane was picking up all of Dustin's stray sorrow rays, and his face was most definitely sporting "the leader is not happy" look. Seriously, if Cam didn't come down from his mind trip soon someone's brain was going to shatter and the mushy explosion thereafter was not going to be a pleasant clean up for anybody. Hunter was a realistic guy, he knew the signs, he knew it was going to happen eventually because of the not-looks that kept passing between Cam and Shane and the not-dating happening between Blake and Tori and the secret meet-ups happening between the blues and a certain yellow.

He knew it was inevitable, he just didn't want the catalyst to be something this ridiculous.

Really, was that too much to ask?

That was it; he was having a nice, long chat with Cam after this little afternoon foray is over. The kid gloves needed to come off, and as much as Shane and Dustin probably wanted to tackle this and have an all out feeling-fest, Hunter thought a little frank heart-to-heart would probably go over a lot better. That and a sharp smack to the head would do the trick. Hunter would let the tech know in completely unfriendly words (okay, so he was still a little miffed about the fact that Cam was currently wiping the floor with him at his own game) how this stupidity must cease and desist.

He was really dying to know what had happened to make this whole chain of events be. Did Cam hit his head?

Well…yes, he did early during training, but it hadn't been any different from when the rest of them had gotten smacked around.

Maybe this was one of Lothor's monsters in action.

See, that made sense. Tori had told Blake about this one time Lothor had made an evil clone of her (though the only crimes it managed to commit were against fashion, so he heard) so perhaps this was something like that. Then again, while Cam's new wardrobe was painfully awkward (Hunter had every intention of stealing that beanie first chance he got for the goodness of humanity) the green ranger's usual attire was put together so haphazardly through benign negligence that this could be Cam's sorry attempt at "cool". Hunter could see that, the entire thought process behind it. It was like Cam tried so hard to research the pieces and was like, "Yeah, jersey and camo are totally in, and that beanie thing, it will totally work" except with a lot more multi-syllable words and biting sarcasm.

As much as big as Cam was on self-inflicted pain, Hunter was really starting to lean towards the idea of monster tampering here.

Maybe he got hit by a ray gun.

Or he got hit in the head and then got hit with a ray.

Or maybe a monster hit him with a ray and then hit him in the head, or maybe it was a spell, or a potion, or voodoo…

The list went on, but now that Hunter had thought of it he couldn't see past it, knowing in his gut that he couldn't be wrong. Unfortunately he couldn't do anything about it until evil-maybe-under-a-spell Cam decided to start wreaking havoc (of the bodily harm kind, as opposed to this psychological warfare he was currently employing) that went beyond schooling them at their respective sports. If the monster's goals were to hurt their feelings he managed to succeed, though it had very little to do with his physical victories and everything to do with new Cam's very unpleasant disposition.

As sure as he was, Hunter didn't want to give Dustin any false hope on the off-hand chance he was wrong. He was pretty sure he wasn't, but with all the…sorrow that was getting generated over there Hunter wanted to be a hundred percent positive. There was no sense in dealing out any more damage just because he had a theory. That doubled for Shane too. As much as he'd deny it (though the red ranger never had aloud, because Hunter had never asked him) Shane held Cam in very high regard, and this tomfoolery (Blake won't get off that stupid word this week) was hurting him just as badly as it was hurting Dustin.

Hunter would try to broach the subject later when all this was over, though he could almost guarantee that no progress would be made. Their fearless leader was a freaking brick wall when it came to most things of the touchy-feely variety and Hunter wasn't exactly a pro when it came to managing them either which could lead to…mixed results. Maybe the unconventional would be exactly what Shane needed to get dragged out of this funk.

But that was a problem for later.

Right now he had an evil-clone-hypnotized-head-smashed-super-talented Asian to keep an eye on. And a headache with the promise that it would steadily grow as the day progressed.

So really it was just another Saturday.

-:-:-:-:-:-

So while there had been a lot of things Shane hadn't liked about new Cam (like his complete disregard for Dustin and respect and manners and normal team function and arg-) the whole abandoning-them-mid-fight was kind've taking the cake right now. Shane couldn't really put to words how angry he was but if he had to paint a picture it would be blood-red dipped in black dipped in anger and then doused in gasoline and set on fire and then the ashes would have been jettisoned into the depths of space for Lothor to chew on because that was how much he didn't feel like dealing with the idea of being angry at Cam. No…wait, that was how angry he was at Cam. Right.

See, he was beginning to get so mad he couldn't even think straight anymore.

In a way this was a small blessing. Not that losing Dustin and Tori to an evil perfume lady was ever a good thing, or losing anyone to any monster was ever a good thing, but the exchange so thoroughly rocked his world that he finally snapped out of the funk he had been dragged into as soon as he digested the whole Cam-saying-dude-and-totally-meaning-it thing started happening and went back to doing his freaking job. His entire afternoon had been spent in a confused daze where his eyes processed everything that was going on but his brain was stirring up a traffic jam because of its inability to make sense of it. The only thing he really noticed was how upset Dustin was getting about the entire affair, so Shane had chosen to focus on comforting him as opposed to puzzling out the riddle that was Cam the surfer dude.

So the green ranger couldn't totally take the blame for this, Shane supposed. He should've expected something like this was going to happen. He should've been prepared, he should've watched Cam closer, he should've been watching Dustin's back...

But what was done was done, and the worst part was that Hunter didn't even look remotely surprised by this, which meant the blond had smelled something fishy from the start but hadn't acted on it. Something about the way the crimson ranger carried his shoulder's told Shane that he was just as miffed about losing Dustin and Tori as Shane was (were it possible) and they would probably have a jolly good time beating themselves up over it later.

Later, as in, not now.

Now Shane had some unpleasant business to attend to, like delivering a smack down to the one ranger he'd been mildly avoiding for the past few weeks.

Which would have been a lot more successful if said ranger showed any sign of caring, or even listening.

This was not sitting well with Shane, this was not even kind've sitting well with Shane. Cam wasn't even listening, he didn't even care, he was just lying there, completely unaffected, and for once Hunter had to play the cool-headed one and keep Shane and Blake from unleashing some serious damage because this was completely unacceptable.

It was almost like Cam had been transformed into another person, except this new person was a complete downgrade in every shape and didn't care about the team or fighting or Dustin (which really riled Shane for reasons he couldn't quite describe) but most of all Cam really didn't seem to care about him. Which was a startling realization, and ridiculously self-centered, but the fact still remained. Sure, he and Cam weren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment, but they had always managed to have a very strong working relationship. Cam doled out the facts, Shane doled out the orders, and in the end it all worked out for the best. But now Cam has succumbed to temporary insanity and lost all the…everything they had. Heck, Shane preferred their tense and awkward silences over this mess because at least then they had managed to work as a team and keep everyone happy. And whole. And safe. And not trapped in plastic vials as evil alien perfume.

It was a joke and Shane didn't want to think about (which was how he dealt with the alarming amount of Cam-related problems nowadays) so he lifted the burden off and slipped into the ever familiar "leader mode", choosing to pull all his focus on the simple task of saving Dustin and Tori.

He would leave Sensei to deal with Cam, or Hunter, since he seemed so fond of being a shoulder to cry on, or maybe he would grow a spine and finally confront Cam like he had so many times before the green ranger started dating his best friend. Ultimately, it didn't matter. That was something that had to be dealt with later.

Right now he had bigger and more important fish to fry.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Endnotes:

Hey all, schools started back up again and I finally moved back into my dorm! I have no idea what this will do to the update schedule but I'll try to keep it every one to two weeks. It shouldn't take longer than that, unless I'm dealing with a particularly mean plot bunny.

Originally I did write an extra section for Blake, but I ultimately cut it because it seemed unnecessary, he was just kind've elaborating Shane's feelings a little (minus the Cam stuff).

However, if you would like to read it just send me a message and I'll be happy to share the deleted scene.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the tenth power of a million for all of your reviews! , welcome to the fold, I'm glad you like it! Rogue Ranger (don't worry, if I'm still writing this by spring break I'll keep going until it's finished, and just revise up to that point), and thank you for always sticking with me and giving me feedback, seriously, you've reviewed every chapter and you even read stories in a fandom you don't even know. You are freaking awesome, and you always make me smile (and I mean that as un-creepily as I can say it). RAWR, I deliver Cyber Cam unto you! I can only hope this will appease your awesomeness and whimsy! And finally ValkyrieNyght, because I always give you like an inch and you come back with a mile of genius that makes me re-think most of what I've written. And I could never hate you for having an opinion, because you are awesomesauce (and I'm glad you started writing, if you ever venture into power rangers I'll be sure to hit you up!).

If that is enough exclamation marks for now, I believe I will draw these endnotes to a close.

Until next time.