This story is a collaboration between Cmar and MzDany. While it is action/adventure, it also contains slash, in the form of Wes/Eric and Cam/Hunter. It's based on background events in MzDany's C/H slash series and Cmar's 'Red Fire' slash series.
The sky was just starting to darken as they filed silently through Eric's door and settled down in his living room again. Wes could tell Cam and Hunter were both tired and dispirited, and he had to admit he wasn't exactly cheerful himself. As for Eric - he had gone quiet, always a bad sign.
"So what now?" Cam asked, looking up from his seat on the couch, next to Hunter.
"I think it's time to ask for some help," Wes told him. "Frax is from the future. He was supposed to be gone from this time, but since he's shown up again..."
"Yeah, he's Time Force's problem, not just ours," Eric said. "So we're going to call them?"
"Yeah." Wes met his partner's eyes and wondered just what Eric was feeling at the prospect of possibly seeing Jen again. Of course, Eric must be thinking exactly the same thing about him. They had all parted as friends; Jen knew it was over between them, and why, and she was back with Alex. She knew he was gay and that he and Eric were together now. Still, while he looked forward to seeing her again, the prospect was not without some anxiety.
He had known the decision was inevitable. When they had stopped at the Collins house on the way back from Blue Bay Harbor to pick up his car and give his excuses to his father for missing their dinner appointment, he had also brought the chrono-communicator. It took only a few minutes to bring it in and set up the thin frame with two upright rods that would project a screen between them that could reach a thousand years into the future. He pressed in the signaling code, and tried not to let his palms sweat as they all waited silently, clustered around Eric's coffee table.
He heard a sharply indrawn breath from Cam and Hunter's direction as a picture snapped into existence in the communicator. He knew Time Force was likely to direct them to one of their former teammates, so he was not really surprised to see the eagerly smiling face of a young Asian man, topped with improbable bright green hair. He was, however, pleased.
"Wes! Eric! Hey, it's great to see you!"
"Hi, Trip." Wes grinned, and saw Eric nod. "Great to see you too."
"What's up? Who are your friends?" His smile faltered a little as he caught sight of Cam and Hunter.
"Cam Watanabe and Hunter Bradley. They're-"
"The green Samurai Ranger and the crimson Thunder Ranger! Wow!"
"You know who we are?" Cam asked.
"Sure! History of early twenty-first century Rangers! Everybody knows about you! At least - everyone in Time Force does."
Hunter and Cam exchanged an uncertain glance. Wes knew exactly what it felt like to realize you're a part of someone else's ancient history. "Trip," he continued, "We have a problem here, and it concerns Time Force." He took a breath. "Frax is back."
"Frax? But... he was destroyed. We saw him ourselves. He was gone."
"Maybe," Eric said. "But he's sure as hell back now, along with his usual mob of cyclobots."
"He's teamed up with the guy Cam and Hunter went up against when they were active Rangers," Wes said. Quickly he explained the current situation. "So the two of them have kidnapped the rest of the former ninja Rangers," he finished. "Lothor seems to be out for revenge, but Frax - well, he was never too tightly wrapped, and my feeling is he's worse now. We have no idea if he's just working for Lothor or what he's really up to, but for sure it's not good."
"I see." Trip had listened with only a couple of interruptions for questions. "This isn't in the history files. Must be an aftereffect of Ransik's interference in your time."
"Is there anything you can do?" Cam leaned forward. "Without our Ranger powers, we need all the help we can get."
"You still have your morphers?" Trip asked.
"Yes, but they were drained of energy."
Trip was staring into space now, his voice thoughtful. "Most of the old morphers needed an energy source... trizirium crystals - maybe they could be adapted..." His eyes focused on them again. "I have to talk to Captain Logan, and Alex, and Jen. I'll call you back." The picture winked out without waiting for a response.
"Hey!" Hunter exclaimed. "Are they going to help us or not?"
"They'll do what they can," Wes said.
"When's that going to be? Who knows what Lothor's doing to my brother and the others right now?" Hunter was on his feet, glaring. "I thought these guys were your friends, and all they do is say they'll call you back?"
"Wes said they'll do what they can," Eric said coldly. "Now sit down and try to act like a grownup."
"Eric..." Wes said.
"Hunter..." Cam said.
"Damn it!" The blond ninja sat with a thump.
Cam looked between Hunter and Eric, shook his head and stood up abruptly. "Mind if I get some fresh air?" he muttered.
Eric pointed. "Help yourself. The back door's that way."
Wes watched him go. He could imagine how both of them felt; a father and a brother missing, an old enemy returned, their own lives in danger, and themselves forced to turn to strangers for help. And Eric wasn't exactly making things easier. He stood up himself, mumbled an excuse, and headed after Cam.
The dungeon...
Sixteen. It took sixteen steps to walk from one end of their prison cell to the other. Since their involuntary arrival, Shane had tested that fact dozens of times already with his agitated pacing. It was damp, dark and chilly in the small, square room. There were no windows, and the only illumination came from a dirty light bulb on an exposed cable hanging from the low ceiling. The walls, ceiling and floor were of rough stone and there were no furnishings whatsoever in the room. Blake, Tori, Dustin and Sensei sat on the cold floor while Shane kept up his pacing, pausing only every now and then to cast a dark glare at the solid steel door embedded in one side of the wall.
No one told him to sit down; they understood, for they were all highly distraught by the surprise attack, and especially by Lothor's presence.
Right after their unceremonious re-materialization in their cell, Shane, Blake and Dustin went to work on the door, using a combination of elemental powers and raw force, but the hunk of steel hadn't budged. Dustin had tried to burrow into the ground only to find that it was almost entirely composed of solid stone, therefore way too dense even for his formidable powers to penetrate.
They were stuck. So they talked instead. For quite a while they discussed the attack, tossing speculations back and forth only to come up with way more questions than answers. They were also waiting and wondering what Lothor had in store for them – no one doubted for a moment that their old enemy had an evil plan in mind.
Sensei Watanabe sat next to Tori who was flanked by Blake on her other side. Every time she moved, one of them – or both – would cast her a surreptitious glance, even though she had repeatedly assured them that she was fine. The blast from the robot-drone's weapon was superficial; it had left her feeling sore and was discoloring into a nasty bruise on her right shoulder, but nothing worse than that.
Their silence was broken by a faint rumbling sound coming from the direction of Dustin's stomach. The Earth ninja rubbed a hand over his belly, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry. I'm hungry."
"I'm thirsty," Blake commented to no one in particular.
"I'm both," was Shane's contribution to the general misery.
Tori looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't have any food, but..." She waved her hands before her in a circular motion, eyes half closing in concentration. She cupped her hands, then slowly moved them apart to reveal a blue water sphere the size of a large grapefruit in her right palm. Holding it out to Blake, she said, "We obviously don't have any containers, so you'll just have to suck on it."
The narrow-eyed look on his face at this peculiar drinking arrangement lasted only a moment before his thirst propelled him forward. He put his lips onto the sphere and carefully slurped up the liquid until it was no more than a small puddle in Tori's hand.
The Water ninja repeated this process until everyone in the cell had drunk their fill. With a satisfied grin, she leaned back against the stone wall. "I knew I'd have you all eating, well, drinking out of the palm of my hand one day."
They all smiled, but the moment of amusement passed quickly. "Anyone have any ideas?" Shane asked quietly.
As one, they all turned to look at Sensei. Unfortunately their mentor only regarded them out of calm dark eyes, and his words were not encouraging. "My brother has prepared this cell very efficiently. It seems quite well suited to keeping us prisoner. I am afraid I see no way out for the moment."
"Hunter and Cam are still free," Dustin said.
"Yeah, they'll get us out of here," Blake agreed, with more confidence than he felt.
"Correct. My son and your brother will not rest until they have found us."
Sensei's tone was full of reassurance, and Tori pretended, along with all of them, to be cheered. Inwardly, she wondered... If and when the door to their dungeon opened again, would they see Cam and Hunter triumphantly walk in to rescue them? Or would they stumble inside to join their teammates as defeated prisoners?
Meanwhile, Silver Hills...
Outside, in Eric's backyard, Cam looked up. The sky was a deep indigo as it faded into dusk, clear save for the single white vapor trail of an airplane. It was... peaceful here.
A pair of birds was chirping in their cage hanging from a tree. The air was crisp and clean, the temperature perfect for a day at the beach. All in all, it had been a beautiful day - if one overlooked the few small facts that his father and all of his friends were being held captive by his arch enemy in an unknown location and he had no idea where or how to even start looking for them. There was no saying whether the Time Force Rangers would be able to help or when they could arrive, and even if they did, there was no guaranteeing that Trip would be able to re-infuse their morphers with the crystals he had mentioned. A hundred things could go wrong: the crystals might not be compatible with the Ninja Storm morphers, or they might prove to be too powerful and overload or destroy them altogether...
The beautiful day had suddenly lost its appeal. Cam's glance went from the sky to the ground and then back to the house. He was only mildly surprised to see a human form in the doorway, watching him.
"Hope you don't mind if I join you," Wes said, stepping out into the yard.
"Not at all. I just felt like getting into a - a calmer atmosphere for a couple of minutes."
"Know what you mean."
"Hunter's not usually like this," Cam said diplomatically, not sure how Wes would take a remark on his own partner's lack of manners.
But Wes grinned. "I wish I could say the same for Eric. He's really a good guy, just takes him some time to warm up to most people."
"I suppose so... Are those his?" Cam nodded at the birdcage.
"Yeah."
"Seems like a strange choice of pet for a guy like Eric."
"What were you expecting, a pit bull?"
Cam chuckled. "Well... the thought occurred."
"There's a lot about Eric that doesn't meet the eye." Wes paused for a moment. "Just like you and Hunter don't exactly seem like the ninja sensei type."
"Were you expecting assassins in black?"
"Something like that."
"No, that's not our style. Dad and Sensei Omino - the head of the Thunder Academy - developed our natural skills and abilities, like the elemental powers that Hunter and the others have, and taught us ancient, secret techniques like the ninja beams and the ninja streak. They taught us to fight, with honor, and on the right side. The same side as all the Rangers."
"Sounds like you're close to your dad."
Cam's eyes took on a far-away look. "I am. My mother died when I was very young, so it's kind of been just us, and the Academy. We've had our problems, of course; sometimes it's not so easy when you've got a father who's involved so much with his work." He smiled, fondly. "Not to mention one who can be stubborn as hell."
"Tell me about it." Wes sighed. "My mom died a long time ago, too. My dad was all wrapped up in his business while I was growing up. He expected me to follow in his footsteps, be just like him. Didn't take it too well when I decided that's not what I wanted. Talk about stubborn..."
"When I think of how many times I wished Dad wasn't around to keep me from doing whatever I wanted," Cam said softly. "And now..."
"Don't worry." Wes dropped a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get them back."
Silence had fallen as soon as Wes left the room and Hunter and Eric found themselves with nothing to say to each other. Hunter deliberately didn't look up as Eric moved restlessly around the room, unnecessarily straightening a book here, a picture there. Irritated as he was, there was no point in starting anything, at least as long as they were stuck working together.
There must be better things to be thinking about, like why they were here in the first place. With a sigh, Hunter reached for his wallet and the small collection of photographs inside it. He found the one he was looking for, a young man's face smiling up at him...
"Do you always like to stare at pictures of guys?" Eric's voice came from over his shoulder.
"No," Hunter replied sharply. "This happens to be my brother, Blake."
Eric leaned in for a closer look at the dark-haired, dark-eyed, definitely Hispanic face. "Yeah, I can see the family resemblance."
"We're adopted."
"Oh." There was a brief pause. "Both of you?"
"Yeah."
"Man, your adoptive folks must have really wanted kids."
Hunter shot him a glance. "I guess they did. They're gone now. Died when we were little. It's just Blake and me." And Cam, he added, but only silently.
"Sorry." Eric's voice, for once, was without any edge of hostility or sarcasm. "Sucks to be on your own. I know all about it." Hunter glanced up again, but something in Eric's manner told him the older man wasn't about to elaborate on that.
"And now, Lothor's got him, and..." Hunter trailed off and shrugged uncomfortably.
"You're worried." Again Eric's voice seemed almost... sympathetic.
Hunter looked up, wondering, but any sign that Eric might actually have a nice guy hiding under that hard-edged exterior disappeared as the chrono-communicator chirped, startling him.
"About time," Eric muttered, frowning. "Hey, call Wes and Cam, willya?"
It took maybe thirty seconds for all of them to take their places again. To Wes's relief, Trip was smiling. That had to be a good sign.
"Hi guys. Sorry to keep you waiting."
"What can you tell us?" Wes asked.
"Good news." He looked up at Cam and Hunter. "Trizirium crystals are used in our time as an energy source, for zords and other devices. According to our databanks there's a very good chance they could re-energize your morphers."
"That's great!" Cam said. Hunter gave him a relieved grin.
"That's not all. We're coming to help you."
"You are? The whole team?" Wes asked.
"Yeah, Wes. Just like old times. Well, almost. We have to get some stuff ready, and then we'll meet you on the beach, first thing in the morning. Then we can all sit down and work on a plan to locate Frax – and the other Rangers."
"That's great, Trip." Wes grinned at Eric, who had managed to produce a faint smile. "Can't wait to see you guys again!"
After another moment for goodbyes, he looked up at Cam and Hunter. "So that's it for tonight," he said. "You guys must be exhausted."
"Yeah," Cam answered with a tired smile. "Three long-distance streaks and a fight with Lothor kinda took it out of us. Plus we haven't eaten since breakfast."
Hunter stood up. "So I guess we'd better get going. We still have to either streak back home or find a hotel room here for the night."
"No way." Wes waved a hand in the direction of Eric's guest room. "You can stay-" He caught three dismayed expressions just in time. "-at my house. We've got plenty of room, and a kitchen full of food."
"Uh..." Cam looked at Hunter, who nodded. "Okay. Thanks, sounds great."
"Go on out to the car, I'll be there in a minute." Wes waited while they said a subdued goodnight to Eric and left. Then he just waited.
"Okay, you don't have to say it," Eric muttered.
"What don't I have to say?"
"That I'm being a jerk."
"I would never say that. But... can't you lighten up a little? These guys are having a hard enough time as it is."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Want to come with us for dinner?"
"Nah. I don't want to spoil their appetites. Not to mention mine." Eric shoved his hands in his pockets, scowling.
"Okay, if that's what you want." Wes stepped up to him and leaned in. Eric submitted to being kissed without response at first, but then Wes could feel him relax slightly as their lips lingered. He was even smiling grudgingly when they moved apart. "Goodnight. See you tomorrow morning."
"Do you have to bring those two?"
"Funny. Very funny."
To Be Continued...