Finally…

Not much later, two pairs of jeans had joined the shirts on the floor, equally discarded and forgotten.

Cam and Hunter were laying on the bed, now only wearing their boxer shorts. A few moments before, Cam had reached for the Crimson Ranger's belt and as they gazed into each other's eyes, an understanding passed between them that needed no more words.

Hunter had reached out as well, and a moment later the Green Ranger's jeans were also sliding down his hips.

Now with only the thin fabric of their boxer shorts between them, their desire for each other was even more obvious, and with a mindless need for more, Cam pressed himself tightly to Hunter, eliciting a groan from him. The Thunder Ranger pressed back immediately. "Cam, I'm not gonna be able to stop this time," Hunter's voice was hoarse with excitement.

In response, Cam slid his knee in between Hunter's legs. "I don't want you to," he replied, eyes dark, wide and honest. "Because I won't stop either."

Another kiss followed and they stayed locked in their embrace until Hunter slid his hand down Cam's thigh. Cam heard the Thunder Ninja whisper something that sounded like his name, and then the hand on his thigh slid inside his shorts. Cam couldn't stifle the small moan as Hunter's fingers encircled him and began to stroke him slowly and gingerly. He raised his hips and wiggled out of his underwear.

With an appreciative look on his face, Hunter's eyes took in his boyfriend's body. Cam was lean rather than muscular, but his appearance belied the power that lay within this body. Hunter, though, was very aware of this power, for he had seen Cam in action plenty of times. He had never told Cam this, but he loved watching the Green Ranger fight. It was just too damn sexy. Hunter himself was fighting right now, against the surge of desire that threatened to overwhelm him for this man.

He backed off a bit, taking slow, deep breaths. This was for Cam, after all.

Cam met his boyfriend's eyes, and the nakedness he suddenly felt went way beyond physical; it was as if his mind and soul were equally laid bare. This would normally have been a disquieting thing for him, but his feelings for Hunter were stronger, quickly overcoming those old reservations.

He was about to reach for Hunter, but the Crimson Ranger caught his wrist, smiled and shook his head. "Not yet."

Gently but insistently he pushed Cam onto his back. "Just lay back and enjoy, ok?"

And, excruciatingly slowly, Hunter's hands and mouth went to work.

A few moments later Cam discovered sensations he didn't know his body was capable of producing.

If a fortune teller would have told him a year ago that he would end up in bed with another man, letting him do the things Hunter was doing to him right now, he most likely would have laughed her off and asked her for his money back.

Now he was only wondering why they hadn't done this much sooner.

He reached out blindly, fingers curling around unruly, dirty-blond hair while with his other hand he grabbed a pillow and squeezed it so tightly that his knuckles turned bone white. His body was in flames, awash with feelings so new, so exquisite, that there was no way he could last much longer.

Cam groaned. He could feel the pressure reaching its limit…was he supposed to give at least some sort of warning? He had no idea; his brain had been effectively shut off.

"Hunter…" But Hunter didn't need any warning; he was ready.

"Oh god…" Cam's cry was cut off as colors exploded behind his closed eyelids, and the world around him shook to its core.

And then…

When he was once again aware of his surroundings, and it felt safe enough for him to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was Hunter's face hovering over him.

"You all right?" His lover's eyes were like two sapphire spheres, the many emotions behind them plainly visible. Cam reached out and pulled Hunter on top of him. "Better than all right." He kissed him long and deep, tasted a hint of himself, and words like 'strange' and 'embarrassed' suddenly vanished from his mind. They stayed locked in their embrace for a while, simply kissing, until the hard bulge pressing against the inside of Cam's thigh reminded him that there was still unfinished business to be dealt with.

It was time. He knew he could do this, yearned to return the pleasure he had received. Hunter had shown him the way, had given him the courage …Cam flexed his muscles and flipped Hunter over onto his back, effectively reversing their positions. Hunter grunted with surprise, but Cam's tongue in his mouth stifled anything more verbal. Hips and mouths grinding together, they kissed for a few more moments, before Cam tugged at the waistband of Hunter's boxers. Hunter pushed up just a bit, and Cam slid the shorts over his hips and down his legs in one swift motion.

The Crimson Ranger lay motionless, simply enjoying the sensations Cam's ministrations elicited from him. Hunter felt a joy he had never experienced before. Moments ago he had made love to Cam and now Cam was getting ready to make love to him.

And love it was. Hunter had known it for a while that he loved Cam.

They hadn't said the three words to each other yet, but they would eventually.

No need to rush. They had all the time in the world, after all. And what was happening right now was more than enough. Matter of fact, if this wasn't heaven, then he couldn't imagine what was.

Suddenly Cam looked up, and Hunter saw such passion in those beautiful almond eyes that his heart seemed to stop for an instant.

It took only another moment to finally push him over the edge.

Morning After…

An annoying buzzing sound slowly wormed its way into Cam's consciousness.

The phone. He cracked one eye open and raised his hand to reach for it, but found that he couldn't move because of the body that was half draped over him. Hunter was nestled into the crook of his arm, head turned towards him, an arm slung across his waist. Cam smiled as he looked into the face of his lover, whose blue eyes were just now opening, blinking sleepily.

When was the last time he had woken up naked in bed with anybody and felt so wonderful about it? Cam seriously couldn't remember.

He stretched, managed to knock the receiver off the handle and brought it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he said thickly.

"Cam?" Blake's voice came through the receiver. "Sorry to wake you, bro, but I just wanted to make sure you guys remembered that we're all meeting for breakfast at nine."

Cam looked at the bedside alarm clock. 8.30am. "It's a good thing you did call, then."

"Hey, won't you come over and pick me up when you're both ready, ok?" Blake said.

Blake was giving them a chance to re-group at the Bradley room, so the three of them could show up for breakfast together. Cam smiled at Blake's regard for their discretion.

"Will do. Thanks, Blake."

"No sweat. See you in a few."

Cam hung up the phone and turned towards Hunter. "Good morning," he smiled.

Hunter grinned back and stretched his lanky frame. "Yup, it's definitely good."

Their mouths came together for a lingering kiss.

Neither one of them was in the least inclined to move from under the warm covers, for the remnants of sleep still lingered with them. Their lovemaking the night before had been clean and unsoiled in spirit, yet sweaty and messy in practice, and afterwards they had fallen into the kind of dead sleep that only came from complete drainage and exhaustion. They hadn't tried everything yet, but they had come close, and Cam had been nothing less than astounded at the ease with which he acquainted himself with this new intimacy.

"Your brother's got our backs," the samurai said when they finally pulled apart.

"That's my bro. But that doesn't mean he won't try to grind my face into the dirt on the track later on." Hunter's fingers were drawing lazy circles on Cam's chest.

Cam grinned, but let out a sigh at the same time. "Kind of makes me wish I had a brother, too."

"You have. You just talked to him," Hunter said without missing a beat.

Cam gazed at him, and his eyes shone with the knowledge of what Hunter had just implied.

Suddenly, a mischievous grin appeared on the Crimson Ranger's face, his hand on Cam's chest moving lower, but Cam grabbed it quickly. "You start anything, and we'll totally miss breakfast."

Hunter glanced at the clock, and let out an exaggerated sigh.

Cam reached out and smoothed a few stray strands of blond hair out of his boyfriend's eyes. "Hey, at least we still have time to shower."

Hunter's eyes glinted. "But only for one shower."

Cam wiggled his eyebrows. "So what are we waiting for, then?"

Laughing, they made their way out from under the comforter and into the bathroom.

Moments later they were soaping each other up under the hot jets of Cam's shower.

The samurai dodged another one of Hunter's playful grabs between his legs.

"You must not be hungry," he exclaimed with mock sternness.

The blond man's face was inches from his own. "Oh, I'm starving. Just not for food."

Cam closed the short distance between their mouths with a wet kiss.

"So how do we explain our wet hair and the fact that we smell the same?" Hunter wanted to know when they parted again.

Cam did a pretty good imitation of his lover's lopsided grin. "I don't think anyone will notice the scent, and as for the hair…there's this thing called a hairdryer," he replied.

Hunter grinned back. "Never heard of it."

"Why am I not surprised?"

They finished their shower, but just as Cam was about to open the glass door, Hunter held him back. The Thunder Ninja's face was suddenly solemn.

"So you don't regret last night?"

Cam was surprised at this question, but he shook his head. "Not a minute of it," he answered him honestly and ran his knuckles gently over Hunter's cheek.

"Matter of fact, I think life will only get better from here on."

Epilogue…

Two days later…

Hunter found Cam sitting on the floor in the middle of the wrecked Ninja Ops command center. The Asian man's back was turned to the stairs, but Hunter could pretty much gage Cam's mood by the way his shoulders slumped. The former Green Samurai Ranger, now stripped of his powers just like the rest of the Power Rangers team, had to have heard his heavy footsteps on the stairs, but didn't even turn around. Hunter circled around him until he stood directly in his line of vision.

"Cam?"

But Cam was staring straight ahead, at some point past the Thunder Ninja's shoulder. Hunter crouched down, ignoring the mess all around him as he peered into his boyfriend's stony face. He was just about to repeat his name when Cam opened his mouth. "I just can't believe it's all gone. The Megazord, my entire computer set-up, CyberCam, the Ranger Powers…" His voice was monotone and as emotionless as his features. His eyes, however, were anything but. And the expression he saw there chilled Hunter to his core.

Cam looked…crushed.

Cam was still staring straight ahead, wouldn't meet his eyes. "This is all I could salvage." He lifted his hand in a weak gesture, and Hunter noticed for the first time the small pile of gadgets stacked next to the samurai. "I combed this entire place, and this is all I could friggin' find that might still be functional."

Hunter's forehead furrowed deeply. Cam never swore. This only showed him the dire emotional state his partner was in. Hunter reached out and clasped Cam's shoulders. "Cam, look at me."

He had to repeat the sentence before Cam's head finally turned and his eyes focused on him. The two ex-Rangers looked at each other, and Hunter emphasized his words carefully. "Aren't you forgetting something? Lothor is gone, too. For good this time." Hunter's gaze was intense; he wanted to make sure he got through to Cam. "The schools are back, all the ninjas are safe, your father is back in his human form…" The Thunder Ninja poured all of his conviction into his short speech. "In light of all that, I think sacrificing the Ranger powers was a relatively small price to pay."

Cam stared at him wordlessly for so long that Hunter wondered if he had even heard him.

But then he nodded slowly. "Of course. You're right." The samurai sighed. "The Rangers have fulfilled their destinies after all. I should be happy about that."

He couldn't have looked more dejected.

Hunter took his hands off Cam's shoulders, and his eyes couldn't help but to dart to the empty spot on his wrist. There was no point in wearing the morphers anymore.

"I miss it, too, Cam," he confessed. "especially the powers…"

Cam gave a little shake of his head. "And I had just started getting used to it all."

"Even the outfit," he added with a sad smile.

Hunter's own grin came out somewhat distorted as well. "You looked good in it, too."

His fingers brushed against Cam's cheek briefly. "But then again, you look good in just about everything. Doesn't necessarily have to be green spandex."

That finally got a small chuckle out of Cam. But it was short-lived, and before long the samurai's face had resumed its gloomy expression once again. "I can't help but wonder how life would have turned out if Lothor had never shown up at all."

Hunter's reply was prompt. "Well, I'm pretty sure that Dustin, Shane and Tori would have been expelled from the Wind Academy by now, and you would most likely be head teacher." With a wink he added, "But since that's what you are now anyways…"

The corners of Cam's mouth lifted a bit. "You didn't do so bad yourself in that respect," he said and nodded towards the symbol of the Thunder Academy Head Teacher stitched onto Hunter's uniform lapel.

The Thunder Ninja looked a bit sheepish. "Yeah, who would have thought, hu? A year ago I didn't even think I would ever graduate."

There were a few moments of silence before Hunter continued. "But, you know, with all the crap Lothor has put us through, there's one thing I am grateful to him for."

Cam gave him a knowing look, but Hunter said it anyways. "If Lothor had never attacked the schools, then you and I would have never happened."

Cam nodded determinedly. "You're right," he said.

"Of course I am." That cocky grin was showing up on Hunter's face again.

But Cam's own smile was coming easier now; it actually reached his eyes. "I'm so glad you're not conceited at all."

Hunter snorted in reply and punched his boyfriend playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, I'm sure that one day you'll figure out a way of getting the old toys that are still left in the Zord Bay to work again. And when you do, then we'll take a spin in the samurai chopper every now and then, just for kicks."

Cam held his partner's gaze. "I might just do that," he said softly.

Hunter watched the samurai's face carefully. "Look, as hard as this may sound…The Ranger part of our lives is over. Now we have to work on making the next part work and the sooner we get on it, the faster we can have some sense of normalcy back." He shrugged. "Or as normal as the lives of two head teachers of secret ninja training academies can get."

He rose in one graceful, fluid motion and extended his hand. "Now come on. By now you have already stretched the limits of my psycho-analytical abilities as it is. Plus there are a lot of people topside who could use our help. We have two schools to re-build, after all."

Cam was only too happy to grasp the offered hand and let himself be pulled up. The two partners embraced in a companionable hug, and Cam grinned. "All right, Dr. Freud, let's get going. Lots of work to do up there."

They left the destruction of Ninja Ops behind and ascended the stairs towards the sunlight side by side.

THE END

If you enjoyed this story and would like to read my original, NC-17 version of it, you can find it at Cmar's www. Rangerfiction . net website

Please be aware that the sexual scenes in that version are a bit more graphic.

You have been warned!