Roses and Thorns

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it. And if I tried to get any money out of this fic, I'd be sued

Author's Note: Well, I've just worked out that if I do delete this fic, I'm still going to be bothered by it. I have to keep writing until the end, and after that... -Shrugs- Who knows?

RedFox: You just don't want them to know that... Mmph! -Is cut off by DarkAngel's hand over her mouth

Replies to reviews:

garnetred: Well, obviously I can't tell you the reasons behind David's actions... It would ruin the fic for you, probably

CamFan4Ever: Just Faye and Cally? Lol. Thanks, glad you like them!

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"So... We now know the identity of two of the Power Rangers," Faye said to Cally.

Cally started to nod, then frowned. "Well, we don't know their names," she said. "We just know what they look like."

Faye shrugged a little. "Same difference," she replied. "We know what they look like. We'll know them when we next see them."

Cally nodded. "What do you think about David?" she wanted to know.

Faye leaned back a little, frowning. "To be honest, I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, he was acting totally out of character. David might be mad at you for cheating on Dustin, but he definitely wouldn't want to attack you or try to kill you for it."

"Do you think that the crimson thunder ranger was right?" Cally asked. "That David could have been... brainwashed... by Lothor."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Faye muttered. "I suppose it is possible... But if that did happen, how are we going to be able to bring him back?"

"I don't know," Cally shrugged. She then yawned.

"Tired?" Faye asked.

Cally nodded, yawning again. "That fight really took a lot out of me," she said. "I'm really glad that you came up with the idea of combining our weapons."

"I should have come up with that idea earlier," Faye replied. She gave a soft sigh. "I think that we both need some rest," she added.

"I'm too exhausted to sleep," Cally admitted. "I don't think that I'll be able to get my body to relax."

"Why don't you just try clearing your mind of every thought?" Faye suggested. "Like you do when meditating."

"And risk what happened earlier happening again?" Cally shook her head. "There's some washing up and drying up to do in the kitchen. I'll do that, and then I'll go to bed."

"Do you want me to keep you company?" Faye wanted to know.

Cally shook her head. "No, I'll be fine," she replied. "You go on to bed. Don't worry about me."

Faye nodded, and got up from the sofa. "See you in the morning," she told her friend.

When Faye was gone, Cally walked into the kitchen, and ran some hot water. She then washed up the plates and glasses and cutlery which were next to the sink.

What can I do? Cally wondered as she wiped some soap bubbles off of her morpher with a tea towel. Things were bad enough with Dustin hating me... Now David wants me to pay, and he probably wants to hurt Faye, too. Which doesn't make sense. Faye's his girlfriend, after all.

Cally dried up the things, and put them away. I guess I should try and get some sleep, she thought to herself. If I don't, I'll just be really tired when I get up tomorrow morning.

Cally went upstairs, and went to bed.

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Hunter slowly stirred, and looked around, blinking a little.

Where am I? the crimson thunder ranger wondered. Oh, yeah. NinjaOps. What am I doing here?

Cam then came into the rec. room. "Oh, you're awake," he said shortly. "How are you feeling? Any side effects?"

Side effects of what? "Could I have a drink of water, please?" Hunter asked out loud. "My throat feels really dry."

"Ok," Cam sighed. Not that he could really fault Hunter for being thirsty. "But then tell me how you're feeling, and what happened."

"I will."

Cam nodded, and left the room.

There's... something I need to remember, Hunter thought to himself, frowning a little. I know that it's something important... But I can't remember what it is.

Hunter remembered fighting the tentacled alien with the two light rangers. He even remembered them realising that they could actually combine their weapons to create a new ultimate weapon, based on the suggestion of the orange ranger. Hunter also remembered one of the tentacles hitting him across the chest, drawing out the last of his energy and causing him to demorph.

And, after that, everything was a blank.

Hunter winced. Thinking through everything that had happened made his head hurt. He wondered if the two light rangers were feeling the effects of the fight as well. Probably.

How did I get here? Hunter wondered. The most likely explanation was that the two light rangers had somehow brought him here... But wouldn't that have meant that they'd seen Cam unmorphed, too?

So they probably know the identity of two of us, Hunter realised. Pity that none of us have any idea of their true identity... It would certainly make things more even between us.

Almost as though those thoughts had unlocked a hidden door in his mind, Hunter remembered other things as well. After he had been knocked down, there had been the arrival of another Power Ranger... A third light ranger. And...

They referred to each other by name, Hunter remembered. But I can't remember what their names were, or any of their conversation.

At just that moment, Cam returned with a glass of water, interrupting Hunter's thoughts.

The green samurai ranger helped Hunter to take small sips of the water before asking, "So... What happened?"

Hunter relayed everything, up until the time he had been knocked down and forced to demorph. He didn't mention the arrival of the third light ranger, though. Didn't want to cause any of the others any more worry than he had to.

When Hunter had finished, Cam nodded slowly. "The two light rangers brought you here," he told the crimson thunder ranger.

Hunter made a slight grimace. "I figured as much," he replied. "Does that mean that they saw you unmorphed?"

Cam nodded slowly. "They said that they'd keep our true identities a secret, though," he added. "Or words to that effect, anyway."

"That's a relief," Hunter said. Why can't I remember their names? I remember everything else! Out loud, he continued, "I don't think that we'd better tell Shane that our identities are now known, though... Does your father know?"

"Yeah," Cam answered. "I told him. He would have ended up getting suspicious, anyway."

"That makes sense," Hunter commented. "Have you told the others about that alien yet?" he wanted to know.

Cam shook his head. "No, not yet," he replied. "I was going to get your brother to come here... But then I remembered what you had said about his and Tori's date, and figured that you'd probably get mad if I did. I decided that I'd wait for a couple of hours, then call him if your condition hadn't changed at all."

Hunter closed his eyes and gave a soft laugh, then winced as it hurt his ribs. He then thought of something. "Hey, Cam, is my morpher shot?" he asked.

Blinking, the green samurai ranger slowly shook his head. "No," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Those tentacles sucked the energy out of my body," Hunter explained. "Out of the light rangers' bodies, too." Now that reminds me of something... Something the white light ranger said, I think. I really wish I could remember.

Cam frowned a little. "I don't think that it'll have any lasting effect on your morpher," he told Hunter. "But you might want to be careful for the next couple of days. No morphing if you don't have a good reason to do so."

Hunter closed his eyes again, and slowly shook his head. "Dude, I never morph without a good reason," he replied.

Cam rolled his eyes. "I'll believe that when I see it," he said, making his way towards the door. "You can stay here for tonight and rest," he tossed over his shoulder.

Hunter nodded. Then, "Hey, Cam?"

The green samurai ranger paused. "Yeah?"

"Let my brother know where I am, ok? I don't want him to get worried."

"I'll tell Blake." Then, Cam was gone.

Hunter let sleep overtake him.

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Dustin, Hunter, and Blake were working in Storm Chargers that morning.

Even Dustin could hardly fail to see the condition the crimson thunder ranger was in. He couldn't carry any heavy stuff, and Blake was hovering around him with a worried expression on his face all the time.

"Hey, dude, you ok?" Dustin asked Hunter when they got a break from shifting boxes into the storeroom and items out into the shop.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hunter answered, though he was clearly not fine. He was too pale, for one thing.

Blake glared at Hunter. "Bro, tell the truth," he ordered.

"I am," Hunter insisted. "I'm fine. Honestly. Give me a couple of days, and I'll have gotten all of my energy back."

Dustin blinked, and looked from Hunter to Blake and back again. Then, dreading the answer, he asked, "What happened?"

"Well, dude, it was nothing really..." Hunter began.

"He went off against one of Lothor's space freaks," Blake cut Hunter off. Glaring at Hunter, he added, "Without backup."

"Well, technically, it wasn't without backup," Hunter protested. "Those two light rangers were helping me out."

"Except that there's apparently a third light ranger who won't play nice," Blake muttered, glaring at Hunter again. "Besides, you don't know anything about those two light rangers!"

"Yes, I do," Hunter said.

"Oh, really? What are their names, then?" Blake challenged.

To Dustin's surprise, Hunter actually looked kind of... worried for a moment. "See, that's a problem," the crimson thunder ranger explained. "The fact is, I went down hard as we defeated the alien and demorphed, and that was when I saw the third light ranger... A white one. And I could swear that they referred to each other by name. And I remember thinking that I had to remember what I heard. But..." He shrugged.

"You don't remember," Dustin guessed.

"Quick on the uptake there, Dustin," Blake muttered.

"He's just annoyed because he got in late from his date with Tori and he hasn't had much sleep," Hunter told Dustin.

"You and Tori went out on a date?" Dustin stared at Blake. "Dude, I never thought you two would actually do that."

"Yeah, well, we did," Blake replied. "It actually went pretty well... Apart from the movie."

"Not a success?"

Blake hesitated. "Tori didn't seem to mind," he answered finally.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Bro, that's because she liked being in your company," he told the navy thunder ranger.

"Guess you two are both pretty good with the whole romance thing," Dustin commented, thinking, Now if only I was.

"Well, sorta..." Hunter said slowly.

"That girl who was in here the other day? She really likes Hunter," Blake explained to Dustin. "But he doesn't want to date her because of the fact that he's a Power Ranger, and he'd be keeping a huge secret from her if he did date her. But I told him that he should just go for it, and made him promise that he would ask her out the next time he saw her."

"Well, here's your chance," Dustin told Hunter, noticing Lila walking into Storm Chargers.

"Come on, bro, you promised," Blake told Hunter with a huge grin on his face as his brother hesitated.

Hunter glared at Blake. "Remind me never to promise you anything ever again," he muttered. But he walked over to Lila anyway.

Lila flashed Hunter a smile as soon as she saw him. "Hello," she greeted him.

"Hey," Hunter replied. "How's it going?"

"Pretty good," Lila replied. Then, she grinned. "You made a pretty good impression on Peter. He hasn't stopped talking about you for ages."

Hunter laughed a little. Then, noticing Blake's eyes on him, he asked, "Hey, are you doing anything at the moment?"

Lila blinked. "Um, no," she answered slowly. "I don't believe so. Why?"

"Would you like to go out and get a coffee or something with me?"

Lila gave Hunter a startled look, and the crimson thunder ranger quickly amended, "I mean as friends."

Lila smiled, and slowly nodded. "Oh, ok," she said. "As friends. At least it means that I don't have to dress up."

You'd look good in whatever you wear, Hunter thought to himself. But he didn't say that out loud. Instead, he asked, "Shall we go now?"

Lila nodded. "Sure."

"I'm just taking off, Kelly," Hunter called over his shoulder as he led Lila out of Storm Chargers.

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Despite everything, Cally still woke up quite early, as usual.

Guess old habits are hard to break, Cally noted to herself as she lay in bed, not wanting to get up just yet. Her bed felt comfortable and warm.

Finally, Cally got out of her bed, and, after getting showered and dressed, walked into Faye's room with her hair still wet.

Faye was already up as well. The two had always been early risers simply because they had never got out of the habit of getting up early. It didn't matter how late they went to bed the night before. They still woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how tired they actually felt.

"Morning," Faye smiled.

"Morning," Cally replied. She sat on the edge of her friend's bed. "I'm going to take off this morning," she told her friend. "Thought I'd go for a run or something."

Faye frowned a little. "I was hoping that maybe we could do some training this morning," she replied.

"To be honest, I don't think I'll be up to doing much training," Cally admitted. "Not after what happened last night."

"No, you're probably right," Faye agreed. She looked worriedly at her friend's hair. "Are you going to be all right going out with wet hair?" she wanted to know.

Cally gave a light laugh. "I'll be fine," she replied. "It's hot enough outside that my hair will dry in no time."

"Ok. If you're sure."

Just before she left Faye's room, Cally turned to look at her friend. "You know, you could have gone with David," she said.

Faye nodded. "And ended up like him, quite possibly," she replied.

Cally gave a soft sigh, and tears sparkled in her eyes for a brief moment. "I'm glad you didn't," she said softly. "I don't think I could stand someone else I care about turning against me and hating me." Then, she was gone.

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Dustin was cleaning behind the counter when he felt a kind of prickling sensation and knew that he was being watched. He looked up, and she was there.

Cally was standing just inside the shop. Her dark hair hung in soaked strands, and water dripped down her face. Her white top was soaked through, causing it to go see-through. Dustin wondered if Cally was even aware of that, though. She was making no effort to cover herself. Or maybe she was aware of it and didn't care.

Wishing that Blake hadn't gone to help Kelly out back, Dustin walked over to Cally. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Cally gave him an odd look. "It's raining outside," she answered. "This was the first shop I came to, so I decided to shelter inside here. That'll teach me to listen to weather reports," she added with a slight frown. "I only went out for a run."

"Well, it was nice earlier," Dustin admitted.

Cally gave him a small smile, and Dustin was hard-pressed not to look at her chest. It was rather tempting.

And then, Dustin noticed something else. He stared at Cally's throat, and asked, "What are those marks around your neck?"

"Oh, I had an accident with a scarf," Cally explained after a moment's hesitation, feeling her heart thump hard in her chest. She hadn't actually expected anyone to ask her about this.

Dustin nodded, though, seeming to accept this answer. Then, he frowned. "Did you know that your top's gone see-through?"

"It has?" Cally looked down at herself, and went bright red, attempting to cover up her chest. "Oh, shoot!"

Dustin had to laugh at that. He went over to the counter, and, picking his coat up, brought it over to Cally. He settled it gently around her shoulders.

Dustin's fingers brushed against the bare skin of Cally's throat.

Both froze, feeling the spark that both had assumed had gone. Like a jolt of electricity. Old feelings were reawakened.

Dustin found his gaze drawn to Cally's lips. He ached with the need to kiss her again. Just a light, gentle kiss. Then, he could pull away. Hurt her as she had hurt him.

Dustin's hands rested on Cally's shoulders. He started to lean forward, his eyes still on her lips. Just a little taste...

Someone cleared their throat. Dustin jerked away from Cally, silently berating himself. He had almost given in to his feelings towards her again. Feelings that he thought had been long buried.

Hunter was standing there, Lila next to him. Both looked a little embarrassed, but Dustin didn't care. He was glad that they had returned when they did.

"Um... Were we interrupting anything?" Hunter asked.

Dustin quickly shook his head. "No, of course not!" he replied quickly. He heard his own answer echoed by Cally.

"Dustin, could I talk to you for a moment?" Hunter asked.

Lila's gaze traveled to the healing bruises around Cally's neck.

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Read and review, please!

Wow... That was hard to write. I'm beginning to wonder if this fic is more trouble than it's worth. Anyways, tell me what you think