But there was no other option now. Blake's eyes squinted into a tense grimace as the bell on the door jingled overhead, somehow ringing out above the music blared through speakers. The store seemed busy enough, considering how late it was, with several customers completing a purchase at the counter, another passing Blake to exit.
"Hey! Dude, you're from that last big race, right? You and your brother kicked ass!" the customer stopped and was speaking with terrible volume. Blake cringed and, for a moment, considered the possibility of shoving him the tauntingly brief distance to the door; the last thing he wanted was some half-cracked fame and glory, while his brother's life was hanging in the balance. Patience was not on his current list of priorities. So, with furrowed brow and stiff movements, Blake shouldered past the man, head still bowed.
"Sorry, you must be mistaken," he muttered hurriedly. Ignoring the response, he weaved through the racks of merchandise to the back counter where he heard the stupid rolling voices of Dustin and Shane. He felt an unexpected pit of disappointment, realizing that Tori would not be here too. A muscle in his jaw twitched, and he stepped up to the counter's half-door.
"... Blake?" Two sets of widened eyes stared with grating confusion. Shane jumped to his feet, beating Dustin to the door's latch. With one clean motion he let Blake into the small space. Blake realized, from their reactions, that he probably looked like hell. What other reason could there be for such concern.
"What are you- I mean, how have things... been?" Shane offered.
Oh, Blake thought, how little he knows. He pulled himself to his full height, and with all the dignity he could bear to feign, he finally spoke. "I need your help."
\\\
The ship trembled despite itself, humming its anxieties in subsonic pulses that shook Marah where she lay, splayed across her bed, her booted feet hanging limp over the edge. Her heart had beat itself into such a frenzy before plateauing in some unpleasantly idle form. She had decided to sleep in her clothes, all necessities hidden about her slight frame, all concealed with a vain hope. She had to be ready at a moment's notice. The time could present itself when she least anticipated, and being caught unprepared could prove fatal... for her and for Hunter.
Her eyes flicked side-long to the door as a shadow passed irregularly. A kelzack was fumbling with the keypad to open the door. Must be mealtime, Marah noted vaguely, not knowing which meal this would be. Time of day was a thing of the past. But as the door finally slid open, she had an idea, and she rushed to meet the crony at the entrance.
"I want to speak to him," she barked. "Now." The kelzack stared with its unintelligent blank face, the tray of food suspended in air with a single hand, the other blocking the doorway. "I am Lothor's NIECE! And I demand to see the Crimson Ranger immediately. That's an order!" She jerked the tray from its grip, sending utensils clattering to the floor. Her eyes flashed, triggering some primitive nerve in the kelzack, sending it loping off down the hall after first slamming the door quite close to Marah's nose.
She let out a controlled gasp, blinking against Hunter's bloodied, selfless face-- an image which had been relentlessly haunting her, flooding her conscience and spilling her over. Leaving the scattered metal bits on the floor, she roughly landed the tray on her vanity, her mind racing, countless plans playing out in her mind's eye, each one systematically failing, one after the other.
"Damnit!" she thrashed out, throwing a standing lamp off balance. She had to see him. She had to free him from this nightmare-- one he was never meant to endure. This was her own private punishment, her own malicious family failure. Not Hunter's.
\\\
"It's impossible!" Cam laughed. "You're asking me to hack into a BROKEN system. You might as well be asking me to hack into a coconut! A surf board! If there isn't a running operating system, I can't do a thing. I can't hack into something that doesn't currently exist."
"Come on, dude! There has to be a way! If anyone can figure it out, it's you." Dustin and Kelly stood draped over each other, with Shane and Blake on Cam's other side. There was an anxious silence in the dim of the dojo.
"I just don't see how-"
"Quit the crap, Cam. If it were one of US up there, you wouldn't let a second go to waste." Tori had appeared at the entrance to the room, standing cautiously on the bottom step. She glanced in Blake's direction with a pained expression, then shifted her gaze to Cam, hardening it with threatening influence. Everyone turned to look at her in surprise, before Dustin seized the opportunity to pitch in again.
"He's just as much a Ranger as any of us."
Blake shifted as if standing in a bed of hot coals, panic having drained the color from his face, sapping the energy from his body. All he could do was submit himself to the aid of this bumbling, strangely unified group. Did this make him one of them, by asking for their help? Was he dishonoring his parents, his brother, himself? Would this be seen as defeat in Hunter's eyes? Well, Blake thought solemnly, as long as he's alive to hate me.
Cam looked to the Navy Ranger, his slackened posture, the distance in his gaze. His only family was in serious danger, helpless in the clutches of those who had betrayed and used them both. Surely they were worth more than that. Cam had always been taught forgiveness, even for those who had held him captive in his own domain not long ago. He looked back to Tori then, with her crumbling resolve and tentative blue gaze fixed to the back of Blake's head. Shane, Dustin and Kelly were all watching the Navy Ranger too.
As if to save Blake from having to speak, Cam found his voice at last, "I'll do the best I can." And with that he turned his back to the crowd of them, focusing on his computer screen. The Morse code of clicking keys filled the otherwise silent room.
\\\
AN: Sorry this is so short an update, but I'm still getting back into the old groove, and I don't want to rush anything and ruin the story. There may be a few nit-picking inconsistencies, because I haven't gone back to reread the last few chapters, but bear with me? Thank you so much for the support and encouraging words.
