Not mine, don't own them…isn't it sad?
Quick note to my reviewers, I'm very glad that you feel for our darling Dustin, and in a way yes Shane is to blame for the hard time Dustin and Hunter are facing but…would you please refrain from beating my characters to death with shovels, or axes or any other large objects you find! Thank you for your co-operation.
Perspective (Continued)
Dustin slowly opened the bathroom door, looking around to see if Hunter was going to pounce on him within a second.
"He fell asleep." Came Blake's voice from the kitchen. Dustin looked over, seeing the younger Bradley standing with his arms crossed over his chest. He was clearly in protective little brother mode. "You been in there since you came back?" Blake asked, nodding his head to show he meant the bathroom. Dustin couldn't form words, shaking his head his gaze drifted to the sleeping form of Hunter on the sofa. He wasn't sleeping like he usually did. Usually Hunter had a small smile on his lips as he slept, but now he just looked like he was exhausted. "Dude, I don't really know what's going on with you two but…Hunter's never really been like this before. Not with anyone, a girl or a guy." Dustin stared at Blake.
"You mean, Hunter's been with other guys? Hunter's been with girls?" Dustin walked towards the kitchen, leaning over the counter that separated the kitchen and the sitting room.
"Yeah," Blake laughed a little, "during our training at the Thunder Academy Hunter was quite the lady killer. It was only off campus that he ever bothered with guys. And that was only really a few months before Lothor attacked. I think you're actually his first serious relationship." Blake told Dustin, frowning as he thought about it all.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been." Dustin said with a sigh.
"What's up, bro?" Blake asked, clearly concerned for both Hunter and Dustin.
"I think that maybe…well…Hunter kissed Shane. And I can't help but feel betrayed." Dustin let his head fall to hit off the counter. "But Hunter's trying to make it up to me and…I'm being an idiot." Dustin sighed in defeat. "I bring this upon myself." Dustin said, Blake frowned.
"Dude, sometimes I don't get you. What are you talking about?" Dustin looked at the Navy Thunder ranger.
"My first ever boyfriend, Marcus, he cheated on me and I totally freaked out. But I didn't do anything about it and he just kept doing it till he got bored with me." Dustin explained, hoping that Blake could maybe give him some helpful advice on what to do.
"What happened?" Blake asked, not to be nosy but because he cared.
"I let him leave. I remember that I would just sit up at night when he wasn't there and just hope that he left and didn't come back." Dustin said, looking up at Blake. "I did that last night, thinking that it could be Hunter." Blake shook his head.
"Dude, Hunter wouldn't do that. I know my brother and he is totally not going to ditch you. Not like that." Blake said.
"It didn't stop me sitting up last night. I was almost hoping he'd leave." Dustin only just stopped the tears getting by his face. "I have to go to bed, and finish packing. I'll see you tomorrow." Blake tried and failed to keep Dustin from leaving. But he made it to his and Hunter's room, the one that Hunter hadn't slept in for two nights now since Dustin was still too upset for them to sleep in the same bed last night. Dustin sighed, picking up the suitcase and putting it on the floor at the end of the bed. Maybe he would feel better in the morning. Maybe he could forget everything till then.
-
Hunter's eyes fluttered open as he heard the sound of Dustin's voice, and Blake's.
"- I just hoped that he had left and didn't come back. I did that last night, thinking that it could be Hunter." Hunter nearly jumped out the sofa to get to Dustin, but Blake's voice stopped him.
"Dude, Hunter wouldn't do that." Hunter nodded, damn right he wouldn't. "I know my brother and he is totally not going to ditch you. Not like that." A frown appeared on Hunter's features. Where did this 'not like that' come into things? Why would he ditch Dustin?
"It didn't stop me sitting up last night. I was almost hoping he'd leave." That hit Hunter hard. He tuned out to anything else that was being said, his body numb to it all. Dustin wanted him to just leave? Was that why he was constantly mad at him? Was it all brought on by the Shane thing or was that just a good excuse to start it up? Hunter heard the door to his and Dustin's room close and then Blake moved about in the kitchen before heading to his. Hunter closed his eyes and pretended he was still asleep. Blake threw a blanket over him, messing up his hair lightly.
"What an idiot." And then Blake went to his room. Hunter just lay there, on the sofa in the dark. Did Blake honestly just want him to leave? Was it just completely over with them? Hunter didn't sleep that night; he couldn't stop thinking about what Dustin had said to Blake.
-
Blake and Dustin woke at the same time the next morning. Both were trying to be quiet in case they woke Hunter up. However neither had to worry about that.
"Morning." Dustin said, scanning the room for the other Thunder ninja. "Where's Hunter?" Blake just shrugged.
"Probably headed out to Storm Charger's already." Sure enough there was a note on the kitchen table from the older Bradley. "Went to work, breakfast's in the oven, enjoy. See ya later. H." Blake shrugged, opening the oven door and bringing out the pancakes. Blake frowned.
"What?" Dustin asked, getting plates, forks and some sauce for the pancakes.
"He made six. That's two for the three of us, but there's still six here." Blake said, looking at the pancakes like they were the root of all evil.
"Maybe he made nine." Dustin said with a shrug. "Like he's still trying to make up for not coming with us."
"Dude, he'll be up on Saturday. That's tomorrow. One day without him won't kill you." Blake said, putting the pancakes on the plates Dustin had put out for them. The yellow wind ninja sighed.
"You think I'm being an idiot too?" Blake just nodded. "Well…I guess we can talk on Saturday, that's not too long away."
"Exactly." Blake said through a mouthful of pancake. Dustin just shook his head, pouring the sauce over his breakfast and tucking in.
-
The five ninja's arrived at the beach house early on Friday night, making it just in time to catch the sunset and a meal at a near by restaurant. Dustin and Shane made arrangements to go water skiing the following morning whereas Cam decided he wanted to trek up the mountain a bit to see if there were any good sites for photographs.
"So, what do you wanna do tomorrow?" Blake asked Tori as they walked by the shore. The sky had just turned the most amazing shade of black and the stars were adding a glow that was reflected in the water.
"Well, I saw this nice place not too far away and I thought maybe we could pick up where we left off with your surfing lessons." Tori said, smiling innocently at Blake.
"You still wanna teach me?" Blake asked, astonished at her persistence. "Last time it didn't really go all that well." Tori just laughed.
"Well, yeah but isn't that what learning is all about? Trial and error? Unless you don't want me to teach you." Blake shook his head; she was getting far to good at the emotional blackmail. Almost as good as Hunter was.
"Okay, I'll give it another try. But I'm warning you, I'm not exactly a sea fairing person." Blake joked, nudging his girlfriend. She just slipped her hand into his, leaning her head against his shoulder.
"That's okay, I wouldn't have it any other way." Blake smiled at her; glad that he had finally found someone he could share his life with.
-
By Saturday night the group were sitting on the porch of the beach house, finishing off what was left of the barbecue they had made. Dustin seemed a little edgy, looking around every few minutes.
"Dude, what's up?" Dustin looked at Shane, noticing that the others were also waiting for his reply.
"It's Saturday." Dustin said, expecting that to explain it all. Realisation dawned on Blake and Tori, but not Shane or, surprisingly, Cam.
"Hunter said he'd be down tonight." Blake said, looking over his shoulder to see if there was any sign of his brother. "Dude, he'd be riding his bike, we'll hear him coming." Blake told Dustin, giving him a small pat on the shoulder. Dustin nodded, sighing a little as he looked around. Maybe there were other ways to get to the beach house. What if Hunter had taken a wrong turn and ended up on the other side of the lake? What if there had been an accident? What if Kelly didn't let Hunter leave? Dustin stood up.
"I'm just gonna…go and…see if the jacuzzi is working. I could use a little relaxing." Dustin said, hoping the others would buy it.
"That's a great idea. We should all go. It's big enough." Tori was indeed right, the jacuzzi was probably big enough to fit most of Lothor's goons in it as well. Dustin nodded, heading into the house to get his trunks from his case while the others did their own thing. Once he got to his room, Dustin fished around in his case till he found his cell phone. He quickly searched through his address book until he found Hunter's name and hit 'send'.
-
The ringing phone startled Hunter. Frowning he looked to see who it was calling on the caller ID pad, recognising Dustin's cell number. Hunter thought about picking up the phone, but figured if he did that then Dustin would talk him into going up to the beach house. And he really wasn't in the mood to be talked into doing anything. Ignoring it, Hunter went back to doing what he was doing.
-
Dustin hung up when there was no answer; Hunter must already be on his way then. Unless he's still at Storm Charger's. Looking at his watch Dustin quickly ruled out the possibility that Hunter was still at work. The place had closed over two hours ago.
"Hey, Dustin, this was your idea. You coming?" Dustin put his phone back down on the bed, shrugging before heading down to join the others in the jacuzzi.
-
Hunter didn't show up at all during the weekend. Both Dustin and Blake had started to worry on Sunday afternoon when they could get no reply at the house and Hunter's cell was turned off. Tori had called Kelly, asking if maybe Hunter had been needed to stay the full weekend and just forgotten to call them. But Kelly hadn't seen him since Saturday afternoon when he had pulled the guilt trip on her, causing her to let him leave due to his foul mood and depressive nature during the morning.
"Okay, we can't reach him at all, let's head back just now. He might have just fallen asleep on the floor or something in the apartment." Shane reasoned, hoping that it would calm Dustin and Blake down.
"If we streak we're faster." Blake said, but Cam's hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"You can't use your ninja powers for your own personal uses. Tori learned that the hard way." Cam said, sounding a lot like his father.
"This isn't my own personal use. This is Hunter, he could be hurt, or lost or passed out on the kitchen floor while the tap is running and he's slowly drowning because of the build up in water!" Blake rambled, becoming more and more agitated by the second. Tori wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her head down on his shoulder.
"He'll be fine, don't worry. He won't be drowning in the kitchen, or suffocating on the sofa, or dehydrating in the bathroom. Don't worry." Tori said, trying her hardest not to mock her boyfriend. While the others were consoling Blake no one had noticed that Dustin was already packed and in Tori's van.
"Hey, come on! We have to get going." Quickly everyone packed up their things and they started heading back to Blue Bay Harbour, more specifically, Hunter, Dustin and Blake's apartment.
-
The second the van stopped outside the apartment Dustin and Blake were out of it and tearing up the stairs. Both rushing while the others followed at a slower pace. Dustin unlocked the door, heading straight for his and Hunter's room to see if Hunter was perhaps asleep in the bed. Shane closed the door behind him as he, Tori and Cam stood in the kitchen. Blake sighed, leaving his room.
"Well, nothing seems wrong." Blake said. Shane looked at the kitchen floor.
"Well, he hasn't drowned." The red ninja tried for some tension release. As it was Blake just raised an eyebrow and studied the kitchen table. There was another note. Neither he, nor Dustin, had checked to see if there was a note, they were too busy thinking the worst had happened.
"What's that?" Dustin asked, coming to stand beside Blake as the Thunder ninja picked up the note.
"Careful what you hope for. Just left. H." Blake read, his voice deadpan. He frowned looking at Dustin. "What does that mean?" Dustin took the note, then hit his head.
"He heard us!" Dustin started to pace the kitchen before heading into the living room and picking up the phone.
"Who are you calling?" Tori asked, confused at the whole thing and what Hunter's note meant.
"Hunter." Dustin said shortly, now pacing in the sitting room. Blake watched as Dustin got in a frenzy over his missing love, this wasn't like Hunter. Usually Hunter wouldn't take off without at least talking to Blake, it was worrying that the elder Bradley could be anywhere and no one would know…
"Cam!" Dustin stopped, looking over at Blake with a confused glare; Tori, Shane and Cam were just confused. "Hunter's morpher. You can track him using that!" Blake said, he didn't know why he didn't think of it sooner. Cam nodded at Blake before heading to the door of the apartment.
"Fine, but you two are explaining what's going on while we drive to Ninja Ops." The samurai ranger told Dustin and Blake, both sighed but nodded, deciding that it would be easier if everyone knew.
-
Hunter walked onto the grounds. His backpack slung over one shoulder as he strode into the place. It had been a while since he'd been on the grounds, he had told Sensei Omino that he probably wouldn't be back, and yet here he was. Back at the Thunder Academy, back home.
"Hunter?" Sensei walked towards the student he helped raise after the untimely death of the boy's mother and father. "What brings you back?"
"Long story. One I'm not too interested in sharing right now." Hunter looked around. Even though it was the early hours of the morning all the students were training. "My old room still vacant?" Hunter asked, hoping that Sensei wouldn't ask too many questions.
"Of course it is." Sensei extended his arm, ushering Hunter to walk further into the grounds. "Come, you can have breakfast and unpack. Am I to assume you will be remaining here for a while?" He asked, clearly trying not to pry. He knew that Hunter would part with the information regarding his return in due time, it just had to be left till Hunter felt he could part with the information.
"Yes sensei, I might just be here for a while."
-
AN: I was just going to post this as one whole chapter but it seemed too long and I wanted to write some more. So, here we are. Wonder what happens next? Review and I'll update and you can find out.