A/N: AU and not part of my C/H series;
I consider it AU, because both Cam and Hunter are gay and sexually experienced. Not with each other, although by the end of this story, they will be :)
Timeline: Before Cam became the Green Samurai Ranger.
WARNING: This is slash, meaning two men depicted in sexual situations. If this is not your thing, DON'T READ THIS!
That established – on with the story…
By Dany
Rated R
Summary: Cam finds out that finding the perfect birthday present for Hunter is harder than he thought…
Come on, bro, you can do better than that!" Blake gave his brother a smug grin, skewered his wooden training bo into the sand and waited for the older Bradley to push himself into an upright position. Hunter glowered at his brother as he scrambled back to his feet, retrieved his own training staff from where it had landed a few feet away and re-assumed his two-handed attack stance. Their sparring session so far had definitely been in Blake's favor, but from the expression on Hunter's face, it was clear that he had every intention of turning that around.
"It's your fault I'm not at a hundred percent today," he snapped at the black-haired boy. "You kept me up half the night with your snoring."
"I do not snore!" was Blake's indignant retort.
"Dude, I'm so gonna tape you next time. You sound like a buzz saw." A half-grin now forming on his face, Hunter followed up on that statement with a lightning-quick charge and for the next few moments, the only sounds on the small strip of beach were the clanking of the two Thunder ninjas' weapons. The wooden practice staffs crashed into each other again and again with such blinding speed that their individual movements were almost indiscernible.
A few feet away, reclining with his back against a boulder, Cam couldn't hold back an amused snicker at the brotherly bantering while he tried to keep a sharp eye on the two Thunders' training weapons. Ever since Blake and Hunter had officially joined the Wind Rangers' team about a month ago, Cam had discovered that, in addition to their almost daily work-outs with Tori, Dustin and Shane, the Bradleys also had their own training routine. After official ninja training, they would often stay and take the wooden versions of their Thunderstaffs down to Ninja Ops' concealed beach cove and spar for another hour. A week ago, after a heated argument over who had scored the most hits, they had drafted Cam as scorekeeper. Cam had protested at first, citing that on top of fixing zords, gliders and other assorted equipment, he hardly had time to lounge around the beach, but he had been overruled. Now he was glad about it, for he had to admit that it was nice getting out of the cave every now and then.
And then there was the other reason, of course; it gave him a most convenient excuse to watch Hunter.
Following the blond Thunder ninja's fluid, graceful movements with his eyes, Cam had a hard time keeping his attention on the poles instead of Hunter's face and body. Cam had known for years that he was gay, and whereas he wasn't flamboyant or even fashion-conscious, he also made no motion to hide his lifestyle; he had faced up to and accepted his attraction to other men a long time ago. The three Wind Rangers knew about his inclinations and as far as he could tell, they were all fine with it. And he had come out to his father a few years ago before he left for college.
Cam gave a small, inaudible sigh. He had been back from UCLA only a few months and the attack on the academy had occurred in the same week as his return. So within days after he had set his suitcase down in his old room, he found himself living in an underground cave, his father turned into a guinea pig, monitoring a crazy space ninja wreaking havoc all around Blue Bay Harbor and directing three inept ninja students-turned-Power Rangers in fighting the man and his monsters. Then the two Thunder Rangers had appeared on the scene, but thankfully, they had been able to cure them from Lothor's brainwashing. Things had gotten a little easier after they joined the team, but Cam couldn't help but notice his concentration slipping every time a certain tall, blond ninja was within close proximity.
But why Hunter? He had been mulling this over for quite some time, yet it continued to confuse Cam, for he certainly didn't feel anything of the sorts for any of the other male members of the team. Maybe it was Hunter's frankness, his temper – so different from his own – or his sparkling blue eyes…
"Damn!"
Hunter's strained exclamation made Cam blink and brought his attention back to the sparring going on before him. Blake had just scored another hit to his older brother's side. The dark-haired Thunder ninja smirked and reined in his staff.
"Dude, I'm leading by, like, five hits," he grinned, completely unfazed by Hunter's smoldering glare. "I think we can safely declare this session finished."
Hunter threw Cam a glance and raised his eyebrows as if to say Five? Really?
The technician nodded in affirmation, causing Hunter to make a face, feinting dismay. But then he shrugged, clamped his bo under his arm and started towards the shorter Bradley. They rapped leather-wrapped knuckles and Hunter slapped Blake playfully upside the head. "All right, I'll wipe the floor with you tomorrow, then."
"You wish," Blake grinned, swiping back at his brother half-heartedly. "Face it, you're getting old, eighteen." The two Thunder ninjas were only a few feet away from Cam's resting spot and as Blake walked towards Cam, Hunter fell in step with him.
"Hey, that's still three days away, all right, and don't you even start with me; you're only a year behind me!"
Cam, who had been pulling himself to his feet, paused for a brief moment, suddenly alert. Hunter was turning eighteen in three days?
Blake and Hunter had reached Cam's boulder. Cam slapped Blake's shoulder lightly in silent congratulation for the won match, and together the three of them made their way across the sand and back towards Ninja Ops. The Thunder brothers were discussing the various scored hits, asking Cam's opinion repeatedly, but Cam suddenly had a hard time keeping his focus.
Hunter's birthday…
Deep thoughts…
Peace and quiet. Finally.
Cam lay on his bed, arms crossed on the pillow behind his head, staring up at the stone ceiling of the small, windowless room that served as his temporary home inside Ninja Ops. Blake and Hunter had hung around for a little while longer after their return from the beach, then finally headed back to Blue Bay Harbor and their shared apartment. After their departure, Cam had tried to get some work done on the supercomputer, but for some reason, his mind kept returning to the little snippet he had overheard on the beach. So Hunter's birthday was on Saturday. In three days. Cam had stared at the schematics of the Thunderstorm Megazord on the eighty-inch screen before him, but instead of the multicolored robot, he saw an imaginary parade of random items dancing across the screen: anything from crimson-colored motocross outfits to the latest editions of Japanese anime comic books a certain blond Ranger favored. After a long moment, Cam admitted defeat and pushed away from the computer console to retreat to his room. He was too distracted to focus on work. Instead he wanted to lie down and concentrate on the perfect birthday present for Hunter.
Not just any present would do. Cam was a perfectionist; he was going to get Hunter not just something that would look nice, but also be practical - preferably in crimson. And most importantly, something Hunter would be genuinely happy to get. He wanted to put a smile on the Thunder ninja's face, a smile that would be directed at him alone.
Cam wondered - not for the first time - just when that undeniable attraction he felt towards Hunter had crept up on him. Certainly not from the very beginning, for kidnapping one's father definitely wasn't listed as a turn-on in Cam's book of Rules Of Attraction Towards Other Men.
He had to give Blake and Hunter credit for a few things, though; ever since the Thunders formally joined the team, they had worked diligently on redeeming themselves in the eyes of the Wind Rangers, Sensei and Cam. They fought Lothor's monsters with single-minded determination, had not missed one day of training and generally made repeated and serious attempts at being friends. Blake's efforts in that regard were noticeably focused on Tori, whereas Cam had found himself on the receiving side of Hunter's attention, albeit more subtly. A seemingly innocent touch here, a longer gaze there...but Hunter had never downright come on to him. Therefore Cam had no idea whether to read more into Hunter's behavior around him or he actually only imagined it all.
Cam sighed and shifted on his mattress. He couldn't deny that he wanted it to be more than just innocent looks and touches, but he also knew that he would most likely have to keep dreaming about it, for he didn't have the nerve for any straight inquiries into that direction.
He had made that mistake once, years ago, when he approached a Water sensei he had had a secret crush on for the longest. It had taken him weeks to work up the nerve to ask him out and the Water teacher had not only rebuffed him fiercely, but had peppered him with silent glares for weeks afterwards until Cam could barely stand to be on the same school grounds with him anymore. The pain and embarrassment of that rejection was seared into Cam's memory and he had sworn to himself that he would never make the first move on another man again unless he was completely sure the other's inclinations ran the same way – even if that meant self-imposed celibacy. Consequently, there had only been two men in Cam's life so far, both fellow college students – and both affairs had been quick and shallow.
Cam yearned to fill the empty spot inside him, to wake up in the arms of somebody he actually cared about, but that seemed to turn more and more into nothing other than wishful thinking.
Sighing again, he took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes and did what he always did when the loneliness threatened to overcome him; he hugged his pillow, squeezed his eyes shut and blocked the intruding emotions from his mind by concentrating on whichever task was at hand at the moment, namely thinking up the perfect birthday present for a team member.
Only a team member. Nothing more. Nothing more…
Shopping – first attempt…
Cam was in Ninja Ops' kitchenette the next day fixing an early-lunch sandwich when he heard the telltale thumping of boots bounding down the stone steps. A moment later, the three owners of those boots stuck their heads around the corner.
"Hi, Cam."
Mouth full of ham, cheese and bread, Cam could only nod at Shane, Tori and Dustin in greeting.
One dark and one blond head were turning towards their leader and Shane came right to the point. "Dude, we were hoping we could cut the training short today, because we were gonna go shopping for birthday gifts for Hunter," the Red Ranger said. "Wanna come along?"
During the few moments it took Cam to chew and swallow, he thought about the invitation. His first inclination was to decline; the three Wind ninjas certainly didn't need him for their shopping spree, yet they had asked him anyway. Him – the perpetual outsider. It was quite thoughtful of them, and Cam was touched.
"Actually, I was planning on doing the same thing, so...sure," he replied.
"Great." Three grins were now aimed at him.
"Let's head out now, then," Shane suggested. "The earlier we get to the mall, the more time we have to find some cool stuff."
"Speaking of stuff…" Dustin chimed in. "Cam, do you have any idea what Hunter would like?"
That question took Cam by surprise. "Why're you asking me?"
Dustin scratched his head. "'cause you're the smartest – and when we asked Blake, he came up with all this outrageous stuff like convertibles, beachside condos and Hawaiian vacations."
Cam chuckled while he grabbed his jacket from the counter and shrugged into it. "Well, since I keep seeing Hunter in the same few shirts all the time, I'd say his wardrobe could use some supplementing. And a couple of gift certificates for some free haircuts definitely wouldn't hurt, either." The technician grinned – an expression that instantly froze when suddenly, the shrill sounds of the supercomputer's monster alert rang through the command center. He was across the room and in front of his keyboard in the blink of an eye, calling up the source of the alarm.
The huge screen came to life showing the Harbor Shore Amusement Park – and a huge, clownish-looking robot monster stomping among the multicolored tents and various rides, swinging his huge fists into concession stands and ticket booths, sending them flying. His head swiveled from side to side, making his wild, orange-colored hair dance in the wind. His big, red clown-nose glowed brightly and despite the wide, immobile grin on his metallic face, he bellowed, "Is everybody having FUN? Yes? Well, too bad, because I HATE FUN!"
From behind and next to Cam's chair, Tori, Shane and Dustin took in the scene with grim expressions.
"Guess Lothor didn't feel like wasting time with the usual warm-up battle," Dustin remarked, eyes fixed on the huge creature. "He went right for giant size this time."
"Time to teach Grumpy some manners," Shane said, already turning from the screen to get into morphing position.
"Yeah," Tori agreed, elbowing the dark-haired boy next to her, then pointed at the monster. "And don't bother to tell him any clown jokes once we get there, Dustin, okay? Somehow I think he would not be amused."
"Well, neither am I," Cam commented, more to himself, as he slammed his hand down onto the communicator button. "Cam to Hunter!"
"What's up, Cam?" came the almost immediate reply.
"Freak-sighting at the Harbor Shore amusement park," Cam reported urgently. "Big, nasty one, too. Is Blake with you?"
"Yup."
"Meet the others at the main entrance. I'm sending the zords." Cam cut the connection, already punching buttons, calling up the lock-release commands on the Rangers' battle machines as behind him, the three Wind ninjas called out their familiar morphing call.
By the time he turned around in his chair, they were suited up and ready.
"Good luck, guys," he said. "The zords should get there right after you do."
The Red, Yellow and Blue Rangers nodded and headed towards the door.
'I don't believe this!' Cam thought, dismayed, as he watched the three Rangers streak out of Ops to meet their new foe. 'This is a conspiracy to keep me from going shopping for Hunter.'
As soon as the thought left his brain, Cam barked a harsh laugh. Of course it was a conspiracy, albeit Lothor had very different reasons!
With a heavy exclamation, Cam swiveled around again in his seat, facing the computer and zoomed in on the location of the monster to monitor the fight.
Battle and aftermath…
The battle was long and brutal. Lothor was learning from his earlier defeats, for lately his monsters had become faster, stronger and better armored. The robot-clown exploded at last, but not before the Wind and Thunder Rangers had used up a disconcerting amount of power spheres as well as most of their heavy artillery. Cam had begun to worry that they would run out of weapons sphere disks, but thankfully the last blast from the Lion Laser had proven to be enough to finally obliterate their enemy.
Nevertheless, the Thunderstorm Megazord was in a pitiful state and the Rangers more limped than drove their zords back to Ninja Ops.
Hands on his hips, Cam ran a thorough eye over the machines as they sat suspended in their respective slots in the Zord Bay. There were countless scratches, dents, cracks and other battle marks on their outer hulls, but that wasn't what concerned him the most. The self-regeneration units would take care of the exterior damage, but it was up to him to fix the internal systems, not to mention replenish the now alarmingly low stock of Power Disks.
Cam squeezed his eyes shut as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. So much to do, and all needed to be done right away…
The Rangers had slunk away to recuperate from the battle, but Cam would be getting no rest any time soon; when the Rangers' work was done, his only began. He looked up at the zords one more time.
High time to get on it – if I'm lucky, this will only take half the night…
Cam turned and headed back to the command room, his head already buzzing with a mental list of everything that needed his immediate attention.
Gift-shopping, however, did not make it onto that list.
Shopping – second attempt…
Cam made it through the next day's sparring session only because of the artificially induced adrenaline rush of too much coffee. The most pressing repairs on the Rangers' zords had indeed kept him up half the night and the little bit of sleep he had gotten definitely wasn't enough. But there was still much to be done before he could even think about a nap; present-hunting now having turned into the most pressing item on today's agenda.
He did not protest when the Rangers suggested cutting the training short a bit, citing half a dozen excuses ranging from lingering exertion from yesterday's battle to much-needed paid overtime at Storm Chargers.
Cam tried not to look too eager to see them off as he watched them filing out of the command center.
Great. A quick shower and then off to the Oceanside Mall…
"Uhm, Cam?" Tori's voice sounded from behind him.
Surprised that she was still here, Cam turned around. "Hey Tori, what's up?"
"I was wondering…you're pretty good at math, right?" The blonde ninja studied Cam while twirling the end of one of her braids awkwardly. Clearly, there was something on her mind.
Being that I have a Bachelor's degree in computer science, yeah, I would say so…"Yeah, I can count to ten, why?" Cam wanted to know.
More twirling. "Well, I have an important math test tomorrow and the stuff I need to know for it is all Chinese to me so I was kinda hoping you might be able to help me study for it."
Cam cringed inwardly. "Aren't Shane or Dustin in your math class?"
"Shane is, but he's even more lost than I am," Tori said. "I have no idea how he's going to fudge his way through this test tomorrow."
Cam stifled a sigh and nodded. Might not be more than an hour or so… "All right, sure."
"Great!" she cried, her face lighting up instantly. "Thank you, Cam! I'll just go and get my notes from my van." With another grateful grin, she dashed up the stone steps only to be back a minute later, lugging her study materials.
Cam's spirits sunk into his shoes when he saw the three thick books. He scanned the titles.
"College-level algebra, Trigonometry, Spanish?" He cast a questioning look at Tori. With an abashed look of her own, the Water ninja shrugged, chewing on her thumbnail.
"Uhm, there's also this test on Monday, so I thought maybe while we're at it you could quiz me on some vocabulary…?"
For half a moment, Cam actually considered telling Tori that he didn't have time for all this, but he had never been able to refuse his blonde friend anything. Instead, he stitched a smile onto his face and motioned towards the command table. "Well, looks like we've got a lot of material to cover, then. Better get started, shall we?"
There goes the trip to the mall. Mierda!
Shopping – third attempt…
"Son?"
Cam looked up from the system maintenance program he was configuring to regard his guinea pig father. "What's up, Dad?"
"I was wondering whether you would have time to run an errand for me," Sensei inquired.
"Are we out of guinea pig food already?"
Sensei produced a small slip of paper which he handed to his son. "No, I would like you to go to this calligraphy shop in town and get the items on this list for me, please."
Cam scanned the paper. The name and address of a Japanese shop together with a short shopping list: ink, brushes, rice paper scrolls…
"I was planning on creating a scroll for Hunter with an inspirational Zen quotation," Sensei explained. "Do you think that would be an appropriate birthday present?"
Cam thought of his own scroll hanging over his bed, also hand-written by his father. It was a prized possession. He nodded. "I think that's a wonderful idea. When do you need them?"
"Well, since Hunter's birthday is tomorrow, I was hoping you could get them for me today," Sensei replied.
"No problem, Dad," Cam agreed readily. He had been planning to hit the mall in Blue Bay Harbor later on anyways to see if he could finally find a suitable present for Hunter himself. Yesterday's study session with Tori had indeed run as long as he had feared and by the time Tori had finally had a sufficient understanding of the required math material, he was left with a headache that made the idea of a shopping trip into town about as appealing as a ten-mile high-velocity run through the woods. He had crashed on his bed not five minutes after her departure. Subsequently, he needed to hit the town today.
He tapped a few more buttons on his keyboard, executing the computer system's maintenance and virus scan program and pointed at the screen. "The scanning process is going to take a few hours, so I might as well head into town now." Cam rose from his chair, pocketed the slip of paper and winked at his dad. "Try not to hop onto the keyboard while this is running, okay?"
Ideas and distractions…
The trip to the calligraphy store was quick. Package clamped under his arm, Cam exited the shop and scanned his surroundings, trying to get his bearings as to which way to go to get to the mall.
Across the street, a large sign with the familiar green and orange "Barnes & Noble" print caught his eyes and an idea suddenly formed in Cam's mind. If Dad makes Hunter a scroll, wouldn't a book with Zen quotations go really well with that?
Cam swiftly crossed the street and steered towards the bookshop. But the moment he walked inside, his gaze was drawn to the computer section nestled off to the right.
I really could use an upgraded system maintenance manual… His feet veered towards the Computer Manual section almost of their own accord. It took him fifteen minutes to find the desired handbook and he was about to make his way towards the store's Zen collection when a large poster of his favorite suspense writer made him pause.
He has a new book out? Hmmm… Locating the author's latest bestseller and thumbing through the thick volume occupied another ten minutes. Now with two books under his arm, Cam resolutely retraced his steps towards his original reason for entering the store. He was half a dozen steps away from Eastern Mythology when his cell phone rang.
"Cam, I am not sure what is happening, but your computer screen is flashing a rather large warning sign." His father's voice sounded grave.
"What's it say?" Cam asked.
"It says Infection found."
Not particularly worried, Cam kept strolling towards the Zen section. "It's probably just a routine warning window. I'll check it out when I get home."
"I might not know much about computers, Cam," Sensei said, "but I don't think 'high level of threat, unable to remove' is a routine warning."
Level of concern suddenly increasing, Cam frowned. Could be a virus, or a worm, or worse… "I'll be right there, Dad." Cam turned, now moving into the direction of the cash register. "Don't touch anything!" he added before he hung up, already pulling out his wallet. Luckily, there was no line at the checkout counter and he sprinted out of the store only a minute later with his purchases. As he ducked behind the bookstore, readying himself for the streak back to the academy, he sighed.
So much for Hunter's Zen enlightenment.
Bad Dustin…
Spyware. It seemed to have started with a trojan horse picked up from a website named 'MotoFury', which had in turn installed close to a dozen spyware and adware programs. Cam shook his head exasperatedly as he called up the history of activity on that particular site. Someone had downloaded dozens of video clips from there yesterday, and gotten the trojan along with them. Now the Supercomputer's system had a virtual infestation of spyware. Cam opened one of the clips. It was a demonstration of a freestyle motorcycle jump.
"Dustin," he growled as he set towards the tedious and long drawn-out task of deleting the clips and cleaning up his system while he made up his mind whether the Earth ninja should be made to clean the entire Zord Bay or do a triple rounding of the entire Wind Academy. That would come out to about ten miles…
Normally, Sensei dished out the penalty runs for stunts like that, but this time, Cam was of a mind to take the law into his own hands.
Another opportunity for shopping down the drain! Cam raked his hands through his hair and shot his father a glance. Sensei was on top of the command table, brush in paw, busily drawing Japanese kanji characters onto one of the rice paper scrolls Cam had purchased for him.
Oh well, at least Dad will have a present tomorrow.
The big day…
Saturday morning Cam awoke with a sickening feeling in his stomach. Ridding the Supercomputer's system of the spyware pest had been more complicated and time-consuming than expected and by the time Cam was able to finally declare the system purged, it had been way too late to streak back into town to do any more shopping.
So here he was now, on Hunter's birthday, with the team less than an hour away from arriving at Ninja Ops for their daily training sessions and he was still empty-handed.
Cam swung his legs over the bed to sit on the edge of his mattress, head in his hands. There was no way he could find a gift in under an hour, especially when he still didn't even know what to get! With a groan, he pushed himself up and started to pace around his small room. What to do?
There was only one thing he could think of. Only one thing he could possibly do within the limited time frame and only if he left right now…
He pulled out his cell phone and punched in Tori's number. After only minimal small talk with the Blue Ranger, he came right to the point.
"Listen, do me a favor: when you guys get here, bring your presents, okay? But don't let Hunter see them; hide them in Dustin's backpack or somewhere." The Winds had caught up on their shopping while Cam had been busy repairing the zords.
"Uhm, okay," came Tori's reply. The puzzled note in her voice was unmistakable, but Cam neither had the time nor the patience for long explanations.
"And can you get in touch with Blake and tell him to bring his, too? Thanks Tori. See you in an hour." He mumbled a goodbye and hung up, already pulling jeans and sweatshirt out of his closet. He had to hurry; time was of the essence.
To Be Continued…