Roses and Thorns
Chapter Twelve
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Power Rangers, Ninja Storm, and I'm not making any money from this fic
Author's Note: I decided to try and finish off Roses and Thorns before I resume work on Is Love For Real? again... Hope no one minds
Replies to reviews:
CamFan4Ever: Yay, cookies! . Actually, I wasn't just talking about the catalyst part, but never mind . You can have DarkCat for as long as you want. I'm sure I can find a temporary muse to keep RedFox and DarkAngel from killing each other. Here ya go. -Picks up DarkCat and hands her over to CamFan4Ever- Now, she likes most kinds of fish, and communicates with mental pictures. Don't let her get sick. Oh, and she prefers water to milk, though she will drink milk sometimes if she feels like it
Jorgitosbabe and BlueAngel07: Glad you liked it
Now, what muse can be a temporary replacement for DarkCat? Hm... -Thinks-
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Peter watched as his sister came down the stairs, dressed in faded blue jeans and a slightly baggy T-shirt, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Then, he told her, "You are not going to go out dressed like that!"
"What are you, dad?" Lila shot back. "I'll go out dressed how I want to. There's nothing wrong with my clothes." She went into the kitchen to get some orange juice.
Peter slowly shook his head. Guess she's quite affected by what's going on at the moment. I kind of wish that it was over now. It feels kind of... nerve-wracking, I guess, wondering who we're going to end up fighting next. Still, at least Lila got what she wanted. We didn't destroy the violet and orange rangers, just put them out of action.
Peter walked into the kitchen, and watched his sister getting some breakfast as he stood in the doorway, arms folded across his chest. "Are you protesting?" he asked her.
"No!" Lila snapped, banging the carton of orange juice down on the worktop. She growled a little as some of the liquid splashed onto the surface, and went and got some kitchen roll to mop it up with.
"I think you are," Peter told Lila. "But why are you protesting, sis? We talked about this, remember? We both agreed to do this."
"But maybe it wasn't the right decision to make," Lila muttered.
"How else will we be able to get our parents back?" Peter wanted to know. "We have already talked about this. We've already talked about the pros and cons. We agreed that the price wasn't too high for us to pay."
Lila looked at her brother. "Do you trust Lothor?" she asked.
"No, I don't," Peter answered immediately. "Why do you think we're staying here instead of actually on Lothor's ship? I don't trust that space ninja at all. But he needs us. He will keep his side of the bargain simply because he has no other choice." Even as he spoke, the brown silk ranger wondered just who it was he was trying to convince - his sister, or himself.
Lila slowly shook her head. "But it would be so easy for him to just go back on our deal," she replied. "After all, once the Power Rangers are destroyed, there's nothing forcing him to keep his end of the bargain."
"You don't want to destroy the Power Rangers." It wasn't a question.
"I don't want there to be blood on our hands," Lila insisted. "What good is getting our parents free if we end up being killers? Is that too high a price to pay?"
Peter hesitated for a long moment. Lila's argument wasn't lost on him at all. He could see precisely where she was coming from. But there was no way they could get around the agreement they had made with Lothor. No way to avoid breaking the agreement. And then they themselves would become targets.
There really is nothing else we can do, Peter told himself. Our parents would understand... Wouldn't they? They'd understand that we had no other choice. But the brown silk ranger was clutching at straws, and he knew it. Still...
"We don't have a choice," Peter told Lila. "We have to destroy the Power Rangers. We were able to get around destroying those two light rangers because they weren't part of our agreement with Lothor. But we can't do it again."
"But..." Lila began.
"If you can come up with a way of getting the Power Rangers out of action without breaking our deal with Lothor, then do tell me," Peter cut his sister off. "But I'm sure you won't be able to. Which means that you have to decide something. Who's more important to you? Our parents, or the Power Rangers, who we don't even know?"
Lila hesitated, but there was really no contest. She looked down. "Our parents," she mumbled, hating herself for saying that. But it was the truth. And surely the Power Rangers would understand why they would have to do that? Maybe Lila and Peter could even try and get Lothor to release the other ninja schools as well...
No, that probably wouldn't work. Even if Lothor did agree to free the other ninjas, which wasn't very likely, he'd probably get the two silk rangers to do something else for him. It would be better this way.
"Good," Peter replied. "I was beginning to think that you no longer knew what was truly important." His gaze traveled up and down his sister's body, and he frowned. "Meanwhile, you'd probably better get changed. I'm sure you've got something more fashionable to change into. That casual look really doesn't suit you."
Lila stuck her tongue out at Peter. "I'll dress how I want to," she told her brother.
"Where are you going today?" Peter asked.
Lila shrugged. "Storm Chargers," she replied casually. She wasn't going to tell Peter what she was going to get in the shop, though.
Peter raised his eyebrows. "Then you should really go and get change," he told Lila.
"I am not going there just to see Hunter!" Lila insisted. Not that she would mind seeing him. But that wasn't her true purpose in going there.
"Oh, really?" The tone of Peter's voice suggested that he didn't really believe Lila. "Then why are you going to Storm Chargers?"
"I'm not going to tell you," Lila replied. "It isn't any of your business." Besides, it's not his birthday for a couple of weeks yet.
"Just go and change," Peter told Lila. "If you do end up seeing Hunter, do you really want to look like that?"
Lila hesitated for a long moment. Then, grumbling under her breath, she went upstairs to get changed, leaving the orange juice carton on the work top.
With a sigh, Peter put the orange juice back into the fridge.
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"Son, you should not work so hard," Sensei told Cam. "Surely you can have a break, at least for a little while?"
"Well, I'd rather not, actually," Cam admitted. "I really want to try and find out more about this catalyst thing. It would be a very useful ability for the Power Rangers to be able to use."
"But the ability is not all good," Sensei said. "If used unwisely, it could very well cause great destruction."
"I know, dad," Cam replied. "That's why I'm trying to find out more about it. I'm trying to work out if there's a way to use it to the best possible advantage."
"Possibly when there is a particularly dangerous foe that is very difficult for the Power Rangers to defeat," Sensei commented. "Fortunately, that is not all that likely to happen. Also, you do not know for sure if either of the two light rangers have that ability. It would not be a good idea to count it among your assets until you know for sure."
"I know," Cam said. "But I still want to find out more about it."
"What have you found out so far?" Sensei wanted to know.
"Not a lot," Cam admitted. "I've found out some people who have had the ability of a catalyst. But there doesn't seem to be any kind of link between them. Also, some of them seem to have only had the abilities of a catalyst for a short time. There's not even a link between the ages. Old people along with younger people have had the ability."
"It does not seem to be a gift that really cares about outward appearance or age or even experience," Sensei agreed.
"Actually, there seems to be some kind of link between some of these people," Cam said suddenly. "The ones who have only had the ability for a short time have been those who have used its power for evil, or for their own gain."
"So it depends on what the gift is used for by the recipient," Sensei commented. "It will only allow itself to be used for the purpose of good."
"But that makes no sense," Cam muttered. "An ability cannot pick and choose where it appears or doesn't. It would have to have a conscience for that. And that would be technically impossible."
"Yes, that is impossible," Sensei said. "But perhaps the gift can actually be used up in some ways?" the guinea pig suggested. "Perhaps it is simply that using the ability for evil purposes uses it all up."
"That's possible, I suppose," Cam replied slowly. "It seems a bit strange, but it probably would be possible."
"And perhaps you could take a short break now?" Sensei asked, wishing that he was not trapped in the form of a guinea pig so that he could gently steer his son away from staring at the computer screen and put him to bed, just like he had when Cam had been a small child. Minus the steering him away from the computer, of course. He was pretty sure that his son hadn't been as obsessed with technology then as he was now. Then again, he could have been. He had to have gotten his love of computers from somewhere, after all.
"In a moment," Cam replied, still studying the articles he had pulled up. "The details here are fascinating," the green samurai ranger added.
Sensei sighed softly. "Son, if you still want to find out more about this catalyst ability, then program CyberCam to do that for you," he told Cam. "But you really must get some rest. You will not be any good if you are completely exhausted."
"But..." Cam began, looking longingly at the screen.
"Bed. Now," Sensei said firmly, using his teacher-voice, a tone that he rarely used with his own son.
It had the desired effect. Almost immediately, Cam activated CyberCam, and told him what he wanted him to do.
"Yeah, sure, no worries, dude," CyberCam replied, giving Cam the thumbs-up sign. "You go and get some rest. I'll finish up here for you."
Cam hesitated for a long moment as CyberCam started reading the articles he had pulled up on the computer screen. Then, seeing his father's eyes on him, he quickly went into his room.
He lay down on the bed, and was pretty soon asleep. And, as such, did not notice, or feel anything, when a tube slid painlessly into his arm.
The green samurai ranger glowed with a soft green light as his energy was taken from him and drawn down the tube.
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Hunter was helping his brother unpack some boxes in the storeroom. They'd been doing it for some time now, but neither of them were bored. Unpacking the boxes without Kelly around gave them the chance to talk.
"Do you still not trust Lila?" Hunter asked Blake in a low voice.
Blake hesitated for a long moment. Then, he shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think, bro," he told Hunter. "It only matters that you like her."
"So... you think that I should, um, date her?" Hunter wanted to know.
Blake rolled his eyes. "Bro, haven't I been saying that all along?"
"I guess..." Hunter replied slowly. "Just that I'm not totally sure that I want her to become my official girlfriend."
"So why don't you just take it slow?" Blake suggested. "See what you both want. But you both like each other, so..." He shrugged.
"It's just that the whole thing with me being a Power Ranger means that I'm going to have to keep a huge secret from her, though," Hunter admitted. "However close we get, there's always going to be a wall between us."
"You might find that you need to tell her," Blake told Hunter. "Then again, you might not need to. We could defeat Lothor soon, and then there will be no need for you to keep any secrets from her at all."
Maybe Blake's right, Hunter thought to himself. But I can't tell her about my identity as a Power Ranger, of course. I'll just have to hope that I can come up with enough excuses for having to keep on disappearing off, possibly during our dates, and hope that she doesn't get suspicious or think that I might be seeing someone else.
"Anyway, it's your decision, bro," Blake told Hunter. "I can't make it for you. But you should date Lila if that's what you really want to do."
"You're just saying that so that you can double date with Tori," Hunter muttered.
"Yeah," Blake grinned. "That would be cool, wouldn't it? But that's not the only reason I think that you should date Lila, though," he added.
Hunter opened his mouth to say something, but, at just that moment, Dustin walked into the storeroom.
"Hey, dude, Lila's here," the yellow wind ranger told Hunter. "I figured I'd come and help Blake out here cos I thought that you might want to see her."
The crimson thunder ranger shot his brother a glare as Blake snickered, then walked out of the storeroom and into the main part of the shop. When he was gone, Blake and Dustin gave each other high-fives.
Lila was standing looking at the helmets with her lower lip caught between her teeth, probably thinking about which one she should get for her brother. She was wearing a black skirt to just below her knees with a white blouse and black high heels.
Hunter walked over to Lila. "Hey," he said. "Need help?"
Lila turned to smile at Hunter, though both automatically avoided making eye contact. "Actually, yeah," she admitted. "I'm trying to work out what kind of helmet to get Peter. I don't know what sort he might like."
"Hm." Hunter's eyes flickered over the helmets, though his mind was actually on what he and Lila were going to do that evening. "Why don't you just bring him in on his birthday and let him choose one for himself?" he suggested.
Lila pouted a little. "I wanted it to be a surprise," she replied.
Hunter grinned. "That's why I suggested doing it on his birthday," he said. "You don't have to tell him where you're taking him at all."
"Hm..." Lila looked thoughtful.
"Are we still on for tonight?" Hunter asked after a moment.
Lila beamed, and nodded vigorously. "Yeah," she answered brightly. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Good. Hunter relaxed somewhat, and allowed his fingers to brush against the back of Lila's hand. "I'm looking forward to it," he told her.
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Cally knelt in front of the toilet, throwing up. She felt awful. Her chest hurt, she felt really weak, and now she was feeling sick.
The violet light ranger couldn't manage anything more than a small amount of water. Forget morphing. She wasn't about to try. Just the thought of using her morphing abilities made her feel even more ill.
Faye was holding Cally's hair out of her way, a worried look on her face. She was concerned about her friend. The strange object implanted in her chest seemed to be causing some sort of reaction inside the violet light ranger's body.
Why did they do it? Faye wondered. They could have killed us... But they didn't. All they did was prevent Cally from morphing. Prevent her from doing anything, it seems. What is that crystal ball-type thing?
"Hey, are you all right?" Faye asked softly.
"No, not really," Cally admitted in a low voice before throwing up again. She grimaced at the acid taste in her mouth. There wasn't anything left for her to actually throw up. Only stomach acid, which left a foul taste in her mouth.
"Do you want me to get you a drink of water?" Faye offered.
"Ugh." Cally made a face. "I feel similar to that time that I got really drunk, and had a hangover the next morning. Only, this time I feel really weak... And, as far as I remember, I didn't do any drinking of alcohol last night."
"No, you didn't," Faye agreed, rubbing her friend's shoulders. "It's that thing inside your chest that's making you feel like this."
"It won't come out," Cally muttered. "It seems to be embedded into my skin."
"You tried to pull it out?" Faye was alarmed.
"It's all right," Cally replied in a soft tone. "I didn't try too hard. But it's well and truly... embedded into my skin. I don't think that there's anything left for me to throw up," she added.
"You want to try something to eat?" Faye wanted to know.
Cally shook her head firmly, and then winced and pressed her hands to her forehead. "Even the thought of food makes me want to be sick."
Faye pulled Cally's hands away from her forehead, and pressed the back of her own hand against the hot skin. "I think you've got a temperature."
"Oh, sure," Cally replied, sounding a little sarcastic but also really tired. "I have everything else. Why shouldn't I have a temperature too?"
Faye bit her lip. "We really need to try and get that crystal out of your chest," she mumbled.
"Hey, I'm not allowed to play with knives, remember?" Cally's eyes were hard. "Wouldn't using a knife on my chest enable me to die more easily? Actually, never mind. Use one anyway."
Faye stared at her friend in shock. She doesn't mean it, she tried to tell herself. She's really sick, so she's going to say things that she doesn't really mean... Right? But Faye still felt chilled, and she really wished that David was still with them. Cally's brother had used to care about his sister a lot, and Faye was sure that he still did, despite his cold words to the violet light ranger. His feelings had to be buried deep down inside himself, though.
"What's wrong?" Cally tilted her head to the side.
"I..." Faye swallowed hard and tried again. "You don't really... mean that, do you? You don't really want to die."
"I do," Cally admitted. "But you don't have to worry, Faye. I won't try and take my own life again."
"I hope you don't," Faye whispered. "I couldn't continue being a Power Ranger if I was the only light ranger left."
Cally blinked several times, and then wiped a hand across her eyes. "Faye, I should probably go back to bed," she told her friend. "Make me some toast, ok? Who knows, I might be able to swallow something later."
Faye nodded slowly, and helped her friend to stand up. "But you're going to have to have that crystal removed," she said. "It can't stay inside you. It'll kill you."
"Don't worry," Cally replied softly. "I'll go to NinjaOps, and see if someone there will know how to remove it."
Faye stiffened. "Cal, you can't do that!" she insisted. "You'll end up revealing your true identity to them."
"I don't have a choice, Faye," Cally said. Her eyes were dark and distant and filled with a deep pain. "You were right. We'd never be able to work with the other Power Rangers if we don't trust them inexplicably. And I can't leave this thing inside me. It'll make me weak and useless, and we don't even know if it won't kill me anyway."
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The dinner out hadn't been a great success.
Hunter felt slightly amused as he thought back on it. Lila had started to sit down, and had then jumped up screaming because there was a spider right above her head. She had sheltered behind Hunter, and had flatly refused to sit there because she was worried about the spider dropping onto her head.
Hunter looked down at Lila, and slowly shook his head. I'd never have thought that she was frightened of spiders. Still, I guess that everyone's got to be frightened of something
Hunter had ended up having to ask the waiters to please move them to a different table. He was sure that they had been amused by his explanation that the woman he was with was terrified of the spider on the ceiling, but they had found another table for Hunter and Lila, and had promised to get rid of the spider.
Hunter and Lila were just walking along the streets now. Neither of them had had to ask to know that they weren't quite ready to part company yet. By unspoken agreement, they had just started walking randomly, close to each other but never actually touching.
Well, I'm definitely attracted to her, Hunter thought to himself. And I'm pretty sure that she feels the same way about me... But what if she doesn't?
Neither had drunk much wine at all at dinner, so there was no chance of one or both of them being drunk. Which meant that they would remember everything that had occurred between them.
And I really don't want to make a fool of myself.
Just then, Hunter's came up with a mental image of Blake telling him that he should just get on with it and not worry about the consequences, and he had to laugh.
Lila glanced up at Hunter. "What are you laughing about?" she wanted to know.
"Oh, just something that my brother said to me," Hunter replied.
"Oh." Lila looked down, and shifted her weight a little, feeling suddenly shy for apparently no reason.
Hunter looked carefully at Lila, and finally decided to just go for it. He'd probably end up regretting it forever if he didn't.
The crimson thunder ranger lifted Lila's chin, and then, before she could do or say anything, his lips were on hers.
For just a moment, Lila stood frozen in shock. Then, she was kissing back, her arms slipping around Hunter. She felt gentle hands stroking her hair and back as they continued to kiss.
Finally, Hunter pulled away. He gently pulled Lila closer to him, and tucked her head under his chin, content to just hold her.
"Well... That was unexpected," Lila said finally, raising her head to look at Hunter but not pulling away from him.
"Was it unpleasant?" Hunter wanted to know. He held his breath, waiting for the reply.
Lila quickly shook her head. "No, of course not," she answered.
Hunter hesitated for a long moment before asking, "Would you like to come back to my house with me?"
Lila stared at him.
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Ok, I'm leaving it to you readers to decide what Lila does . If she goes back to Hunter's place, they will probably have sex, which I will write as a separate fic. But it's up to you readers.
I apologise to anyone who thinks that I made Hunter act out of character... But it has to do with something that I heard about on a video I watched quite recently.
Anyways, read and review, please!