A/N: Thanks for the review(s)!!!

Chapter 7: Crimson Flare

Shane and Tori entered Storm Chargers, the two of them had left Dustin's apartment an hour ago. Looking to their left, they found Hunter and Blake standing near the bikes and talking. The blonde forced a smile and headed towards them.

"Blake?" She glanced at them, "Your back."

"Not for good." He responded, crossing his arm, "I came back cause I heard you found Dustin?"

Shane rolled his eyes, "Not exactly a nice guy anymore."

"Can you blame him?" The navy ranger smirked, "He did go through a lot."

"How long is he going to keep this up?" Hunter muttered, "He needs to learn to move on."

"Give him a break. He did lose his parents."

"So did we." Hunter snapped back, "And I didn't throw all my friends out of my life."

"If I don't recall,you did hold onto the Gem of Souls, hoping to see them again." Tori pointed out, "And people take things differently. Stop being so rude."

"I'm being rude?" He took a step forward, "I'm sick of his whining bullshit. I can't help it if I come out sounding rude."

"What's your problem dude?" Shane pushed him back, "That's my friend your talking about."

"He's my friend too." Hunter corrected him.

"Oh yeah, you certainly been acting like his friend. You created this arrogant jerk of an attitude ever since he shot you."

"What do you expect?" The two shades of red began to feud with each other, "He nearly killed me. I don't care if it was an accident, if I was his friend he would have trusted me."

"The evidence pointed towards you." Tori interuptted the conversation, "Hell, I thought you did kill his father. It was an easy mistake, he fooled us all."

"And we got rid of Van." Blake spoke afterwards, "There should be no problem. The only thing we can do is be supportive and patient."

"By the way, did you figure out if your parents were still alive?" Tori decided to change the subject, "How accurate was that report Van gave you?"

"Not so accurate." Blake shrugged, "I got a real report down at the police station. And from Sensei Amino."

Hunter groaned and stormed off. The others turned and watched as he slammed open the door and exited quickly. The crimson blonde quickly ninja streaked off and towards the south part of Blue Bay. He decided to give his shot and knocking some sense back into Dustin. He looked around, totally lost. Never been in this section of the city, he pulled out his crimson power disc and talked into it.

"Hey Cam. Can you give me the location of where Dustin is?"

"Hunter." Cam's voice responded, "He's still in his apartment. South from your location, shouldn't miss the building. It's the oldest one in the city."

"Thanks man."

Hunter put away the communicator and began walking a bit more. Moving around the corner, he spotted the building and sighed deeply. Taking a deep breath, he entered the building and walked up the decaying wooden steps. Knocking on the door, he took a step back.

"Screw off!" A voice inside echoed, "I'm busy for god sake! Leave me alone, I told you!"

Hunter kicked open the door and found Dustin sitting on his bed with a needle in his hand. Dustin looked up, tossing the needle aside and walking towards him.

"Are you deaf Hunter." He jumped down his throat, "I said go away."

"Hello to you too." He muttered.

Dustin walked past him and looked out the hall before closing the door. Turning, Dustin moved past him once more and back towards his bed, cleaning the place up a bit.

"What do you want? Tori and Shane already came by an hour ago." He informed him, "I don't know what you have to say that they already haven't."

"How bout you stop being such a baby." Hunter smirked, "Did they tell you that? How bout stop being so dumb. So stupid. Why don't you stop crying and try a little harder." Words flew out of his mouth, "Did they tell you that?"

"Well, aren't we honest today?" The brunette grinned, "Did that gun shot wound do something that made you so honest now?"

Hunter sarcastically laugh, "Good one Dustin." He shot back, "Your jokes are as bad as your situation." He gave fake smile, "You have no idea what you are throwing away."

"No." He moved forward, "You have no idea what I'm saving myself from. Understand that I don't want to listen to you. Back off before I shoot you again or something."

"Your threats aren't going to do anything." He snarled, "Just admit that your family is dead. Move on!!!"

"Fuck you!" Dustin try to throw a punch, Hunter moved out of the way. The brunette hit the wall, screaming in rage, "I hate you! Leave me alone."

Tears began to form in his eyes as Hunter moved in and spun him around. Hunter grabbed him by the hair with both of his hands and he forced the brunette to look at him.

"Look what you're doing to yourself." Hunter roared, "This isn't the Dustin I became friends with."

"I don't care!" He bursted into tears, closing his eyes and trying to break himself from his grip, "I don't care about anything." He broke the grip and fell to the floor, "I don't care if I live. I don't care if I die. I don't care!" He screamed.

Hunter picked him up and slammed him against the wall, wrapping his hand around his throat and began choking him, "You want to die!?" Hunter screamed, "Fine! Allow me to do it!!"

The crimson blonde began to tighten the grip as Dustin did the best he could to free himself. The sound of the brunette trying to breath began to get louder. More tears began to flow, as he started to slowly give up. The door bursted open and Blake entered, looking over to see what his older brother was doing.

"Hunter!" He shouted.

Blake ran over and grabbed Hunter, tossing him aside. Dustin fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Bending down, Blake checked if he was all right before looking up at his brother.

"What the hell do you think your doing!?"

Hunter was breathing heavily. He looked at his hand, at what he nearly did. Closing his eyes, he turned at the heal and stormed out of the room without a word. Blake turned back to Dustin, putting his hand on his back.

"You alright man?"

"Go." He said between breath, "Just leave me alone please."

He nodded, "All right."

Dustin laid there as he watch Blake quickly leave, closing the door behind him. Leaning his head against the wall, Dustin calmed his breathing, wiping away his tears. He turned, trying to comprehend everything that just happened. During that whole event, he felt the whole world slipping between his fingers. He felt scared of death, even after all these months of not caring if his life would end. It helped him realize, but it made him so confused. He tugged at his hair and buried himself in his knees.

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Blake ran out of the building to catch up with his brother. Hunter was standing at the edge of the sidewalk, lost in thought.

"What the heck were you doing?" Blake snapped him out of reality, "What is your problem?" He spun hm around.

"I don't know." He snapped back, "I don't know what I was doing."

"You were trying to kill him!" He stated the obvious, "Are you insane."

"I didn't mean too."

"There's helping and there's hurting."

"I know!" He grew frustrated, "I realize that. I can't.. I can't."

"What is with you?"

"I just think he's making a big deal of losing his parents." Hunter muttered, "I know its bad that he did. But its been 3 years almost."

"It took us forever to move on when we lost our parents." He pointed out, "Maybe not as long, but you have no right to force someone to move on when they are ready. That's how they snap."

"So what are suppose to do?"

"We wait." Blake crossed his arm, "We wait when he's ready. Even if it takes another year. What else can we do?"

"I'm such an idiot." He groaned, "I was just so angry. I thought Dustin could understand us, cause we know what its like to lose family. But his arrogance, his way of going about things just fuels my rage. How he jumped to conclusion, shot me and then left us worrying for all this long."

"We can't change what has happened. We just have to make sure we don't lose a friend in a future."

"You're right."

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