A/N: Parts of this chapter should actually be rated R because of sexual insinuations and situations. Just thought I'd warn you all…

Blue Bay National Airport was unusually quiet for a Friday morning. There were no lines at either the taxi stands or at any of the check-in counters of the five airlines that serviced the city. The only thing that broke the idyll were the two figures sprinting through the departure terminal towards the waiting plane at Gate 2, where two United agents were boarding the last of their passengers.

"I can't believe you didn't start packing until this morning," Hunter grumbled as they rounded a souvenir cart. Next to him, Blake shrugged, trying to keep up with his brother's long-legged pace.

"Didn't think it would take long to pack."

"Dude, it took you forever just to get all your hair-care products together. Worse than a girl!"

Blake just grinned as they reached the boarding counter. The ex-Navy Ranger handed his ticket to the agent, and while the man verified Blake's information in the computer, Hunter pulled his brother a few steps back and lowered his voice. "Listen, don't you dare show up back here unannounced in the next few days, you hear? Long-distance streaks are extremely taxing, if you remember…"

"What makes you think I would?" Blake asked in feigned exasperation.

"Oh, come on, I've only known you all your life," Hunter said with a half-smirk that earned him a dark look from Blake.

"Blake, don't worry, okay? Cam and I will make it through this somehow." Seeing the look on Blake's face, he quickly continued. "Hey, you were the one who set all this up, after all."

Blake took his ticket back from the gate agent, then raised his hands in capitulation. "All right, but I'll call you tomorrow!"

"Fine. Now get going, will ya?" Hunter pressed, eying the other United agent waiting impatiently at the boarding gate. "Or you might have to do that long-distance streaking after all."

He pulled Blake in for a quick, yet fierce embrace. "Get out of here. Go!"

Blake's mouth was set in a tight line as he stepped back and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He fixed Hunter with a long, penetrating look, not caring whether the ticket agents behind him were drumming their fingers onto the counter. "I…I'll see ya, bro."

Hunter nodded, forming his mouth into something he hoped resembled his usual crooked grin and made a shooing motion with his hands.

The airline ticketing agent closed the ramp door almost immediately after Blake had stepped through it, leaving Hunter to stand forlornly in the space between the gate counter and a row of plastic seats, staring through the huge panoramic window at the plane that would carry his brother way too far away for comfort. He drew a long, ragged breath, held it, then expelled it mumbling, "And you better win this race."

Some time later…

Hunter knew he was on a short fuse. Thankfully, this was his last katana class for the day, for he had repeatedly snapped at his students for minor details that he normally would just have let slide. And from the way his ninjas were looking at him, his usual 'tough guy' face must have been set even harder than normal.

Problem was, he didn't care. Not today.

He was tired; it had been a long day, from the early morning rush to the airport to his overflowing class schedule – and more. The physical fatigue he could handle; it was the inner exhaustion from his nightmares that strained him more. Although he was usually able to fall back asleep pretty quickly after his nightly 'episodes', he never woke rested the entire time they haunted him. The symptoms were the same every year, so he knew he wouldn't be getting a good nights' sleep for at least another two or three days. Nevertheless, he could deal with that, had been dealing with it all these years. What he couldn't deal with, however, was the highly discomforting change of routine this year.

Wearily, he rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand before he addressed the ill-at-ease ninjas student before him once more, trying to elaborate on some of the boy's mistakes during the previous exercise in as calm a voice as possible.

The student listened, nodded, promised to do better next time and was just about to bow when his eyes fixed on something beyond Hunter's shoulder. That, together with the tingling of his own ninja senses, told Hunter that someone was there.

He turned to see Cam leaning against a tree a few yards behind him, dressed casually in jeans and the short-sleeved shirt with horizontal stripes in four different shades of green that Hunter had gotten him as a birthday present. With his relaxed half-smile, Cam looked good enough to eat and normally Hunter's thoughts would have instantly turned to doing just that the moment he got Cam to his room. Unfortunately, life wouldn't be back to normal for at least another two days and for once, Cam's presence did not have its desired effect on Hunter.

He gave Cam a curt nod, then turned back to his class, dismissing them for the day. He remained where he was, watching as his students dispersed from of the training plaza, until Cam appeared at his shoulder.

"Here for your babysitting duty?" Hunter hadn't intended to sound snappy, but it came out that way nevertheless. Luckily, Cam was unfazed.

"I'm here to spend the night with you. You've never complained about that before."

"Sorry," Hunter mumbled, his face softening. "Edgy, that's all."

Cam simply inclined his head in acknowledgement, bumped Hunter's shoulder with his and said, "Come on, let's get something to eat." He glanced at his partner's uniform. "Want to change first?"

Hunter nodded, and they made their way to his room.

However, his mood changed when they got there. Once inside, Hunter took off his leather top, then suddenly grabbed a startled Cam around the waist and, in one smooth move, threw the samurai onto the bed, pinning his arms above his head.

Cam could have broken Hunter's grip three different ways in under two seconds, if he wanted to - which he didn't. The blond ninja's body on top of him felt too good to move. Besides, after four days of not seeing so much as a crimson shadow of Hunter, Cam was more than happy to be on the receiving side of his affection.

"Or we could stay in and snack on other things," Hunter smirked suggestively, making no secret out of what it was he preferred to put in his mouth.

Cam grinned up at him. "Normally I would like nothing better…if I weren't starving right now. And I won't even ask when the last time was you had any food."

Hunter narrowed his eyes in contemplation. Cam had him there. Hunter couldn't remember what he had for breakfast – or if he had had any at all.

"Besides, you should get at least some of your protein from an actual plate." Cam wiggled out from underneath Hunter, then held out a hand to pull him up, smirking at the Thunder ninja's wry look.

Food…

The communal dining hall of the Thunder Academy was smaller than its Wind counterpart, but the food was just as good. They had no trouble finding an empty table, for it was Friday evening and most of the students had bolted for Blue Bay Harbor the moment their senseis had released them for the weekend. And the few students and teachers that had remained on academy grounds barely glanced at Cam; his presence was as common a sight here by now as Hunter's was in the Wind Academy mess hall.

They grabbed trays and headed to the serving stations. Cam was pickier about his dinner than Hunter, and by the time he arrived at their table, Hunter was already busy devouring his food. Cam eyed the contents of his partner's plate skeptically.

"Let's see: polysaturated fat, sodium, sugar…" Cam shook his head. "You'll be dead by the age of forty."

Hunter wasn't moved by this exclamation. "Not at the rate I'm exercising," he promptly shot back, his crooked grin somewhat distorted by a cheek full of food.

Cam simply couldn't let this one slide. "Which exercises? The ones in or out of uniform?" he grinned and speared a mouthful of his own dinner onto his fork, eating without taking his eyes off Hunter.

Hunter grinned back. "Both, but I like the ones out of uniform best." He gave Cam a look that all but said and I'll show you some impressive moves once we get back to my room. Cam snorted a laugh, returning the look with one of his own. Bring it on!

For a while they ate in comfortable silence, tossing back and forth only occasional remarks.

"I don't know where you're putting it all," Cam commented after Hunter stole a chicken drumstick from his plate since the Thunder ninja's own plate was already empty.

Hunter shrugged casually. "Hey, I've been working hard all day. Besides, I'm still growing."

Cam made a face. "God, I hope not; otherwise you might have to change professions and take up basketball."

"Nah, I'd be the downfall of the NBA." Somehow, Hunter managed to chomp down on the drumstick and chuckle at the same time.

Cam eyed him surreptitiously while he ate. For a moment he was almost the usual Hunter. Almost. The differences were subtle, but Cam picked up on them nevertheless. The way Hunter was stabbing at his food just a little too hard, the fact that his grin never quite reached his eyes and his posture was just a bit too rigid. Not to mention the fact that he was working just a little too hard on not letting any of this show.

All of this wouldn't have fooled Blake for a second, but since Cam was still new to it all, it took him a minute to catch on. He wondered how much Hunter's mood would deteriorate once they got back to his room. Cam cast a glance out the window; dusk was already well under way, the sky taking on an ever-darkening shade of purple.

No use procrastinating. Cam gathered up their empty glasses and plates. "Ready to go?"

Hunter looked anything but ready as he pushed his chair back. "All right, let's get this over with."

Relaxation techniques…

A little while later, back in Hunter's room, Cam was studying his boyfriend from the doorway of the bathroom.

Hunter was reclining in his desk chair which he had tilted back on two legs, his feet propped right up on top of a stack of papers. Some Thunder ninjas were going to get their test papers back with boot prints on them.

He was nervous. Cam could feel the tense energy simmering underneath the feigned insouciance as the blond ninja flipped through a magazine, pretending to be interested in an article.

A nervous Hunter was hard to distract. Cam briefly wondered if Blake had a routine to calm Hunter down before bedtime. He hadn't thought to ask, however, so even if the younger Bradley did, Cam still had to improvise right now.

Fortunately, he knew one tried-and-true method to get his partner's mind off the impending nighttime hours; at least for a little while.

Cam smiled to himself while he approached the desk chair to stand behind it, then wordlessly took the magazine out of Hunter's hand and tilted the blond man's head back for a long and deep, inverted kiss. Hunter's response was almost immediate; his hand came up, circling around the samurai's neck to hold his head in place while he kissed him back and for a long moment they simply enjoyed the new sensation of their tongues exploring each other's mouths from an upturned perspective.

Hunter grinned up at him when their mouths parted. "Hey, you took that idea from 'Spiderman'. I've seen that movie, too, you know."

"Yeah, so? You complaining?"

"No, just wondering which one of us is the girl."

"Oh, we can find that out real fast," Cam murmured with a glint in his eyes as he leaned over Hunter, his hand snaking over the Thunder ninja's chest and towards the waistband of his jeans.

Cam's encounter with The Dream…

The silvery moonlight that fell through the bare window bathed the two naked figures moving in unison on the mattress in an almost ghostly glow. The rhythmic creaking of the bed frame and the occasional gasps and pants were the only noises in the room. Gradually, the movements of the figure on top became more urgent, until he suddenly gave a hoarse cry, followed only a moment later by a second one from the body beneath.

Breathless, Cam collapsed onto the mattress next to Hunter and they held each other silently while the sweat was drying between their bodies.

"Think you can go to sleep now?" Cam asked and Hunter didn't have to look at him; he heard the grin in his voice.

"Are you kidding? I'm halfway into oblivion already," the blond man mumbled. "And that's exactly the effect I want."

Cam chuckled. "Well, normally I would take offense to the insinuation that my most profound effect on you is putting you to sleep, but…"

"And normally I'd be teasing the heck out of you about that," Hunter pulled Cam closer. "But tonight I just don't have the energy."

He contradicted his words when he suddenly did turn to face Cam, eyes now wide open. "Cam, I don't want you to take this wrong, okay, but…" He gave the samurai an awkward look before his eyes moved on to fall onto Blake's Airbed still on the floor a few feet away. "Maybe it would be better for you to sleep over there. I mean, you heard what Blake said – I thrash around when this starts, and I don't want to hurt you by accident."

Cam was shaking his head even before Hunter had finished his sentence. "That is Blake's place over there; mine is right here with you, you hear?"

The two partners locked eyes for a moment, but Cam's voice held a note of finality Hunter just didn't have the resolve to challenge. Not right now, not when he was still basking in the warmth of afterglow with sleep moving into every limb of his body with full force. So he merely shifted, draped a leg over Cam's and an arm across his chest. The soothing motions of Cam's fingers winding through his hair, gently massaging his scalp, were the final straw that pushed him into dreamland. Not a minute later he was sound asleep curled up into his partner's arms.

Peaceful slumber lasted for almost two hours before Cam was roused by a sudden twitching motion and a grunt. He blinked and found himself looking right into Hunter's pained face. His partner's eyes were still squeezed shut, but under the closed eyelids Cam could see rapid movement. Hunter's lips twitched just before he opened his mouth. "D…Don't!"

Cam knew he should be acting, should be taking hold of Hunter's shoulders and shake him awake, but instead he couldn't help but watch in morbid fascination how Hunter's nightmare played out across his usually handsome features.

Hunter's face held an expression of wordless agony. Cam had never seen a look even remotely like it before – on anyone.

Back when they were still Power Rangers, Hunter had been the physically strongest of the team - even Shane had grudgingly conceded to that fact after a while. Moreover, while still Rangers, he had stared down every single one of them all at one point or another with his patented 'Hunter glare' and had always charged at the meanest-looking monsters without even a fraction of the kind of terror that was showing on his unguarded face right now.

Perspiration had already begun to dampen his hair and a few wet, dark-blond strands stuck to his forehead. He let out a garbled cry, throwing his head from side to side.

Cam sat up on one elbow and grasped Hunter's upper arm. "Hunter..."

"No!" The blond man wrest his arm out of Cam's grip, grasping at the air at the same time and for half a moment Cam thought he saw dark red sparks crackle from Hunter's fingertips.

"Oh god no..." The rest of the broken sentence was cut off by a choked sob, but it sounded like 'don't go' to Cam.

Hunter kicked, making the blanket that covered them both slide down to their waists.

Cam resolutely gripped his partner's shoulder. "Wake up, Hunter. Wake. Up!"

Hunter reared up, popping back into awareness with a deep heave of breath not unlike a drowning man. He did not look at Cam; instead, he turned away, covered his face with one trembling hand and just breathed.

Cam waited, making his own inhalations and exhalations deliberately slow to calm his own racing heart. He let Hunter regain his composure for a moment before he asked, "Hunter, what did you see?"

Hunter didn't respond; instead, he ran his shaky hand across his face. Cam grasped him by the shoulder.

"What do you remember? Quickly, before it fades."

The blonde man shook his head. "I dunno, it's too vague…"

"Think, Hunter! Try to recall anything, anything at all. Faces, sounds, feelings, tell me!"

Hunter blinked a few times, obviously trying to do just that. He ran his tongue between his lips. It wasn't meant to be suggestive, but rather an attempt to get some moisture into his overly dry mouth.

"There is…someone there with me. A face, real close. A man – but I hear a woman's voice, too." Hunter frowned, frustration contorting his features.

Cam shifted so that he was directly in Hunter's line of vision. "What is this voice saying? Is it talking, or shouting at you? Is it threatening you?"

"No, not at all, but I…" Hunter was quickly becoming irritated. "I can't remember the words, but whatever it says…scares me. Scares the hell out of me." He looked away, his eyes fixing onto his balled fists.

Cam tightened his grip on Hunter's shoulder. "All right. What else? Where are you, for example. Do you recognize your surroundings? Any particular landmarks? Is there any background noise…?"

Hunter rubbed his temple, frowning so hard that his eyes narrowed to mere slits. "It's too fuzzy already…damn!" Hunter sighed and raised his eyes. "No use. It's gone."

Cam was both astounded and dismayed at the stew of emotions he saw on his partner's face. Lingering remnants of fear, frustration, weariness, self-doubt…and above all a hopelessness that sliced into Cam's heart like a precision laser. As much as he wanted more information, the need to comfort outweighed everything else at the look on Hunter's face and Cam reached out, pulling the blond ninja close to him and back down into the warmth of the pillows and blanket.

Not much later, peace and quiet had once again settled over them. Cam, however, could find no sleep; seeing the effects of The Dream had shaken him more than he had expected. Hunter, on the other hand, was out cold again.

Suddenly, a cloud must have pushed itself in front of the moon, for the room was steadily getting darker, up to a point where Cam could barely see the outlines of Hunter's face even though he was nestled into the crook of the samurai's shoulder.

Cam was a little surprised at how quickly Hunter had fallen back asleep, but he figured it was his partner's way of compensating for some much-needed sleep; he remembered that Blake had told him the dream only occurred once a night.

Cam sighed; they could keep doing this together every year from now on, but for Cam this kind of help was not enough; as a matter of fact, Cam didn't see this as helping at all.

There had to be something else he could do; something more efficient, something that would really help Hunter, and the only thing that came to his mind was: Don't just treat the symptoms; weed out the whole dream by its roots instead.

And suddenly, the answer hit him. Literally, for out of the depths of his mind, an old, long-forgotten memory surged forward and if Cam hadn't had the dead weight of a grown Thunder ninja half-draped over him, he would have jolted upright in bed. It wasn't so much the memory that sent the sudden rush of adrenaline through him but the idea that came with it at the same time.

Of course! How could I have forgotten…? So long ago...but it might just work!

Cam blinked into the darkness. It wasn't without risks, but at least it was an option…Problem was that it involved another, very specific, individual. He remembered Hunter's reactions during Blake's initial account of The Dream a few days ago; it was pretty safe to say that Hunter would be less than thrilled to have yet another person involved in this dilemma, but the plan that was currently forming in his head simply could not be executed by him, Cam, alone. It required help of a very particular kind. Fortunately, Cam knew just where to find it.

In the darkness of the room, Cam listened to Hunter's breathing and the beating of his own heart. And he made up his mind.

'I'm sorry, Hunter,' he silently apologized to his partner. 'I hope you won't think I'm betraying your trust with what I'm going to do, but it's the only thing I can think of that might help you.'

To Be Continued…