Thunder Gold, Chapter 4.
oOo
The explosion of Crusteon was unexpected, the alien monster revealing a volatile new power to self-implode. Rolling to his feet Hunter shook off his disorientation and sought out his teammates. Blake was nearly on the other side of the clearing and appeared unhurt if a little wobbly. There was no sign of Alex.
"Blake! Where's Alex?" The smaller Ranger cast about him, but finally shook his head. Hunter cursed, conflicted over searching for his lover or waiting to see if Crusteon was going to re-form.
The choice was abruptly waylaid as he was tackled to the ground, his assailant landing several punishing blows before he could throw him off. The Red Wind Ranger sprang to his feet and came at him again. The two fought with no quarter given or words exchanged. The force of their blows tore into the ground and felled trees, the clearing left nearly a mile behind before their supernatural power deserted them. Falling weakly apart Shane stumbled into a tree and sagged against it for support. Warily, he watched Hunter clumsily draw himself into a crouch.
"Bastard."
Hunter didn't plead ignorance, tired of denying he'd claimed what was his for the taking. His by right. The Wind Rangers had treated Dustin like a second rate ninja, a wannabe who barely deserved their time, let alone their respect. Unfortunate it had taken his loss for them to realize his worth, but his pity would not extend to returning the Yellow Ranger. Dustin was forever Alex, and no rage on Shane's part could refute that.
The Thunder Ranger's continued silence infuriated the other youth. "Don't you have anything to say? Tell me that I'm wrong, that you didn't kidnap Dustin and brainwash him? Why don't you lie to me now? Damn you, we trusted you!"
Hunter angrily shook his head. "Then you were a fool. This isn't recess. It's war and to win I will do anything. You're weak. Your team is weak. Only the strongest survive and to do that you need a complete triad. A Yellow Ranger. Your bad luck there's only one and he's ours."
The Wind Ranger gave an inarticulate cry and charged him, but Hunter easily avoided the clumsy attack, continuing to taunt the other teenager as they circled. "You treated your Yellow Ranger as a joke. Instead of giving him the attention he needed, you ignored or mocked him." Another wild rush of red, but Hunter stepped into it this time, blocking Shane's blows and delivering his own open palm slap. The other Ranger's head snapped to the side and Hunter took two handfuls of red spandex, bringing them chest to chest. "But even if you had been the friends he deserved, you couldn't have given him what he needed."
"You sick fuck, Dustin isn't like that! You're forcing him!"
"You'd like that to be true, but I wouldn't betray Alex that way. Everything we've done, it's been by mutual consent."
"No!" Shane struggled to free himself and Hunter shoved him away, sending the other Ranger to his ass in the tall grass.
"Dude, that's exactly what I'm talking about."
"Hunter!" "Shane!" The two blue Rangers flashed into the clearing. "We can't find Dustin!"
oOo
Alex listened to the two Red Rangers argue from his perch in a tree bordering the clearing. When he'd come to some distance from the battle, he'd quickly shaken any plaguing dizziness and rushed towards the sounds of fighting. Only to find his boyfriend duking it out with the guy Wind Ranger. Hesitating in uncertainty, his confusion had only deepened when their argument moved to words. Who was Dustin? Nothing they said made sense, the burning pain lancing up his spine furthering his turmoil.
When the blue Rangers arrived Alex fled. He needed to think, to try and remember what Shane and Hunter were fighting over. Was it him? Had the Wind Ranger confused him for this Dustin? His back continued to burn, making him want to stop, to return to Hunter, but he pushed himself to run, to ignore the pain calling him back to his lover. Behind him, he could hear Hunter calling his name, his voice drowning out all the others.
"Alex! Where are you?"
I'm here, I'm here, right here, oh please make this stop, I'm right here. The words echoed in his head and chanted out of his mouth, a litany that kept rhythm with the pound of his feet. Hunter called to him, yet he ran, the pain fueling him to go faster, to run until there was nothing left to make sense of. Branches tore at his uniform and scratched his helmet, but his mounting panic blinded him to the path he cut through the trees.
He almost ran down the boy who suddenly dropped in his way, swerving at the last moment to trip over his own feet and crash to the forest floor. With a groan of protesting muscles he rolled over, glaring up at the Asian warily watching him. "Man, watch where you're going."
"Sorry. You're Alex, a Thunder Ranger, right?"
"Yeah," Alex answered slowly, his guard coming up. What if this was one of Lothor's goons?
"I'm Cam. I work with the Wind Rangers." He stepped closer. "Are you okay?"
At his approach Alex scrambled to his feet, eyes darting back the way he had come, to the lover still looking for him. "Good. I'm good."
His uneasiness must have been palpable, because Cam stopped and held his hands palm up where Alex could see them. "I'm not going to hurt you, Alex. I know you don't remember this, but we used to be friends."
"I don't, but there's a lot I don't remember." Like who I am supposed to be.
The other boy's answering smile was sad, but renewed the warmth of his eyes. "I know things are really confusing right now, but I trust your heart to know where you belong. To know where you'll do the most good."
"Do you know who Dustin is?" Alex blurted.
"Yeah," Cam grinned, "and so do you. This used to be his actually, but I bet he'd like you to have it." The older teen reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a watch, tossing it at the Gold Ranger.
Alex caught it one handed and held it up. "Hey, this is a morpher!"
"Yours now."
"But I already have one."
"Thunder and Wind are meant to work together," was his enigmatic reply. "Go on, put it on."
The morpher looked legitimate, but more than that, it felt right. Like it was meant to be his. With one final glance at his self-proclaimed friend, Alex clapped the band over his unadorned wrist.
TBC.