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"That was stupid," Cam said, making sure the remains of the fried chicken and the paper containers were safely tossed away. He should have left cleanup to Hunter or Blake, but he didn't remember whose turn it was, and besides, he was a firm believer in the idea that if you wanted a job done right, you had to do it yourself.
Besides, Blake and Hunter rarely spent much time in their bedroom anyway. They seemed to avoid it, like there was something evil and dangerous in there. Which Cam was sure was untrue.
Blake buried his face in the arms of the couch in what Cam called the 'rec room'. "Tell me about it! I can't believe I got her motocross tools!"
"I know better than to get a girl acne wash most of the time too," Cam said, sitting next to Blake on the couch and patting his shoulder. "It was the spell."
"Doesn't help much," Blake said gloomily, lifting his head and turning to Cam. "Spell or no, she thinks I'm crazy."
"Blake," Cam said patiently, "this is Tori; she understands. She does have the most brains of the Winds." He looked at Blake intently, trying to reassure him with a look.
"I'm never gonna get her to... to..." Blake sighed and collapsed against the couch arm again.
"Blake. You. Were. Under. A. Spell." Cam tapped a finger on Blake's shoulder. "So was I. Do you think I'd ignore a giant mechanical mouse with a bow just to fight with you?"
"For Tori? Why not?" Blake asked rhetorically, as if anybody in their right mind would fight him over Tori.
"For one thing, I am dating someone," Cam pointed out calmly. "The spell made me forget her." He wondered if Trini would laugh or be annoyed over his antics. Since she'd probably never been under a spell before, it might be interesting to explain if she ever found out about it. Good thing she was overseas. In some ways, she was a better fighter than he was.
"You're not into Tori?" Blake said, eyes lighting up. Cam tried to ignore the expression. Blake really thought he was interested in Tori? Sure, she was the brightest of the three Winds, but still...
"No," Cam said, sipping at a glass of water. "First word jail, second word bait. Blake, I'm nearly twenty-six. She's not even eighteen!"
"Only for another couple of months," Blake said absently, picking at some thread on the couch. Then the rest of what Cam had said sunk in. "Wait, you have a girlfriend?"
"No, I'm dating your brother," Cam said sarcastically. "Yes, I have a girlfriend."
"Cam, you could be dating an electronics store clerk and we wouldn't know about it," Blake said in exasperation, ignoring the potentially charged comment. He stopped picking at the threads, much to Cam's relief. "How much do we know about you, anyway?"
"About as much as I know about the two of you," Cam responded, his tone pointed.
"Touche';," Blake said, looking up from the couch and turning to face Cam once again. "OK, ask away."
"Why didn't you want to move to Ops?" Cam asked, his voice clearly concerned.
Blake sighed. He'd been hoping for an easier question. Like "why were you adopted" or "have you ever gone looking for your biological parents" or "are you sorry you tried to kidnap me". But no, he got asked why he hadn't wanted to move to Ops. "We were afraid of Sensei Omino's reaction to us living with the Sensei of the Wind Academy."
"Blake, he's your guardian," Cam said reasonably.
"Yeah, but he's kinda distrustful of the other Ninja Academies," Blake said with a shrug.
"He loves you?" Cam prompted, clearly leading somewhere.
Blake just nodded. It seemed safest.
"Would he want you living in that seedy hotel with not enough to eat? Getting sick?" Cam asked, his tone level.
"No," Blake acknowledged, head down. He pondered the couch again. "I don't think he'd be very keen on this... but I don't think he'd like us to get sick, either." His stomach seemed to growl and looked up. "Bro, I need more to eat. Way more than what we had."
"You know where the kitchen is," Cam said, smiling at that. He'd hoped Blake would be hungry again. "There's plenty of leftovers."
"Good," Blake said, getting up and heading towards the doorway. He paused and looked back at Cam. "You know, it's good to be able able to say that I'm hungry?"
Cam frowned, but didn't say anything at that. He reminded himself that yelling at either of the Thunders wasn't going to do him much good.
"What?" Blake asked, leaning against the wall. At least it was just a casual, "I'm leaning here because I don't want to stand in the middle of the room to talk" instead of a "I'm leaning here because I'm going to collapse."
"I just can't imagine how you two were feeling when we made you move in here," Cam said quietly, getting up to follow the other Ranger. "It scares me what might have happened if we hadn't pressed the issue."
"You said one or the other of us would have collapsed," Blake said nonchalantly. "And I'm not sure what I would have done if it had been Hunter, and we wouldn't have been able to call for help. I kinda guess that neither of us wanted to say how bad we were. Me, especially. Kinda not a way to attract a girl, you know?"
Cam gently smacked Blake over the head. "You don't keep that kind of stuff secret just for a girl."
"It's a long story," Blake said with a shrug. "Besides, we didn't want you to lecture us in front of the others."
"Would I do that?" Cam asked, crossing his arms.
"Because you can," Blake said, nodding emphatically.
Cam sighed heavily, dropping his arms to his sides. "I wouldn't embarrass you two. I just want you safe and healthy. Neither of which was true where you were. Should we move into the kitchen? I don't want you going hungry."
"Good idea. Unless you want me collapsing on you," Blake said lightly, though he felt terrified that he'd do just that. He'd had a nightmare about it, to join the one about Vertigo Island.
"You OK, Blake? You've gone pale," Cam said as he stepped closer to Blake.
"I'll be," Blake said, covering quickly at the memory of the nightmare and walking towards Ops' small kitchen. "I tested my blood sugar. I'm at 157." He hoped Cam wouldn't come to the wrong conclusion. But then again, Cam had *scanned* him, and Cam should know he wasn't diabetic. Just paranoid.
"You tested your blood sugar?" Cam repeated in disbelief. Blake wasn't diabetic, as far as he could tell. Had he missed something in his scans? Were there going to be complications? "Blake, is something wrong? You're not diabetic are you?"
"No," Blake said sheepishly as they reached the kitchen, and Cam relaxed a little bit. There were reasons behind Blake's actions, but his reaction was clear enough. As Cam was pondering this, Blake added, "just being careful. I don't want to get sick."
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Cam asked as Blake pulled out the chicken from the previous night and started making a sandwich. Cam quietly pondered the nutrients and remembered to add that to his database.
"No," Blake said, a little too strongly and a little too quickly as he started cutting tomato slices.
Cam mentally added the tomatoes to the tally and decided he needed to concentrate more on Blake's emotional well being. "Blake, what's wrong?" Cam said gently.
"I don't want to talk about it," Blake said adamantly, hitting the tomato with a little too much force and causing the seeds to splash out over the cutting board. "Shoot!"
"Should I sic Hunter on you?" Cam said, trying to keep his tone light and teasing so he wouldn't reveal his seriousness.
"No!" Blake said vehemently. "I mean... he'd only worry."
"About?" Cam patiently prompted Blake to elaborate.
"Cam, let's not talk about it, okay?" Blake asked, turning around long enough to toss Cam a pleading look.
"Blake, you're worrying me," Cam said frankly, his expression one of perfectly schooled concern. "Something's got you scared, and I want to know what."
"It's nothing," Blake said, quickly. He turned back to cutting the tomatoes in a very precise manner
"The last time you told me that, I did this scan and found out you were suffering from serious malnutrition," Cam said, crossing his arms and moving closer to Blake, "so pardon me if I don't believe you."
"Look, it's something I can't even really talk to Hunter about," Blake said, looking at Cam's crossed arms. "Lay off, will you?" he asked, motioning with the knife.
"I can't," Cam said, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder and gently pulling the knife away. "And telling me you can't talk to Hunter about it isn't exactly going to allay my fears."
"Sometimes there are things you have to figure out on your own," Blake said firmly. At least he thought it was firm. He wasn't too sure.
"Blake, you're not worried that you're going to get sick are you?" Cam asked, gently, drawing Blake nearer.
Blake paled.
"You are," Cam said, taking that reaction as confirmation. "Blake, I'm monitoring your health. You're not going to get sick anytime soon."
"I know, I know, it's just..." Blake sighed, shaking his head. Whatever it was "just", it was clear he couldn't continue.
"Just?" Cam prompted.
"I don't know!" Blake said miserably, putting some mayonnaise on the bread and closing off his sandwich. He sat at the kitchen counter and took a thoughtful bite out of his sandwich.
"Blake, you've been through a lot. Some unnecessary stuff, but a lot." Cam shook his head at his teammate's hesitance. "You're safe. You're here. If you want, I can put monitors on you, but you shouldn't need them."
Blake shook his head at the thought of having anything stuck against him. He'd seen Cam's monitors; he didn't desire to wear them like he had when he'd had the concussion. "That would freak Hunter out."
"Let me worry about Hunter," Cam said, resting a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder. "We need to take care of you."
"No, I don't need it Cam, really," Blake said, looking at his sandwich instead of at Cam. "The nightmares will calm down. The other ones did."
Cam just gave him a disbelieving look. The one that said, "Really?"
"Look," Blake said, in an exasperated tone, "You've done a lot for us. You don't have to do everything for us."
"If I don't, who will?" Cam asked patiently.
"Us," Blake said simply. "Look, Hunter and I are the only family we have right now. I mean, we don't really know where Leanne is. We're used to looking out for each other."
"Yeah, but you're so busy looking out for Hunter you're not looking out for yourself," Cam pointed out reasonably.
"You've got it wrong," Blake insisted. "Before Vertigo Island, Hunter looked out for both of us. Still does, in fact." He mentally shook his head, knowing his brother had started reacting - consciously or unconsciously - to Cam the same way. Maybe that bubble dimension had affected Hunter more than it had him.
"Yeah, but you're keeping things from him," Cam frowned, "that makes it hard for him to look out for you."
"He's got a lot to deal with too," Blake said, shrugging as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Yes, but...." Cam shook his head. "Give one of us peace of mind and stop trying to hide things."
"Geez, Cam," Blake said, shaking his head, "Just because Hunter made you our middle brother for a day doesn't mean you have to act like it all the time!" Maybe that bubble dimension had warped both Hunter and Cam.
"Who said anything about middle brother?" Cam said, leaning against the counter. "I'm older than both of you."
"Let's not get into Hunter's twisted ideas," Blake said, turning away and glad lunch was over. He'd eaten. Cam was happy. "Thanks for cleaning up for me, Cam."
"Oh no you don't," Cam said, grabbing Blake by the arm. "You're not getting out of the dishes, or out of the conversation that easily."
"Dishes?" Blake asked. "We ate off of paper plates, dude." What dishes was Cam talking about?
"Not those dishes, these dishes," Cam said, indicating the cutting board on which Blake had made his sandwich and the knife, as well as his plate. "So start cleaning and spill!"
"Since when am I on dish duty?" Blake whined. "And do you want me to spill the dishwater on the floor?"
"Since you made a snack," Cam said. "You mess it up, you clean it up. And you know darn well what I meant by 'spill'."
"OK," Blake sighed, starting some dishwater and putting his plate in the sink.
"So is there something else bothering you besides the brush with malnutrition?" Cam asked, arms crossed again.
"Mostly the brush with malnutrition, bro, er, dude," Blake said. "Other than Mr. Ratwell and the beach."
Cam frowned. Admittedly, he didn't know Blake all that well, but something was wrong. "Are you sure?"
"Sure, bro," Blake said. If Cam was going to insist on acting like Hunter, he'd use "bro," a word that never failed to irritate Cam.
Cam sighed at the "bro" but refused to rise to the bait, instead putting a hand on Blake's shoulder. "I wish you'd trust me." Then Cam walked away from the sink and sat at the bar, as if waiting patiently.
"No offense, but that's gonna take time," Blake said. "This isn't my home. It's not going to happen soon."
"It'll happen sooner than you think," Cam responded steadily as Blake finished washing.
Blake sighed heavily. "You're not pushing or anything." Which Cam was. Why couldn't he just *let up*? Or practice the therapy on Hunter or something.
"We're fighting for our lives together," Cam said matter-of-factly. "Which is why I'm so shocked that it hasn't happened all ready."
Blake shrugged. "Hunter and I are used to being together," he said unapologetically. "You grew up here. You knew the Winds before we did. What are we? People who nearly destroyed your Dad."
Cam bit his lip. "I know what it's like to lose a parent," Cam said quietly, looking at the floor. "Mom got sick. There wasn't anyone to blame... In your shoes, disoriented, confused, no one to guide you other than Lothor... I could see how you got to where you were. You and Hunter are good people, Blake. You made a mistake."
"Hell of a mistake," Blake snorted in disbelief.
"Look, if there's anybody who should be upset, it's me and my father. I can't say that it was easy to forgive you, but both of us did." Cam said. He was clearly *trying* to look Blake in the eyes. He just wasn't succeeding.
Blake looked at Cam's body language. "Right. You're still trying to deal with the two of us being Rangers after we held you hostage and kidnapped your Dad."
Cam scrubbed a worried hand through his hair. "Look, Blake..." He paused, looking at Blake and seeing beyond the issue. "I see what you're doing. This isn't the real issue. You're trying to distract me."
"Look, we're eating regularly, and Hunter's even gotten used to Shane being in command," Blake pointed out sharply. "What more could you want?"
Cam sighed, clearly growing frustrated. "You not going insane? Blake, if you let things fester, they're just going to blow up on you. And let's not get into what happens if that's while we're on a mission."
"Cam, I did grow up at a Ninja Academy," Blake said patiently. "You should know that you can't live at a place like this without picking up a thing or two."
"Blake," Cam said, reaching out a hand to put on his shoulder.
Blake jerked away.
"What's going on?" Hunter said from behind Cam.
Cam whirled to find the elder Bradley glaring at him, arms crossed. Hunter in protective mode. Never a good sign.
"Nothing," Blake said, dejection and a little bit of sullenness in his voice.
"You sure, bro?" Hunter asked, moving to Blake's side. "It kinda looked like something."
Cam decided it was time to bring in the cavalry. "Did you know Blake's been checking his blood sugar?"
"Bro's paranoid," Hunter said, shrugging. It was an odd shrug, since his arms were still crossed.
"You don't find this consternating at all?" Cam asked, arms spread wide, voice full of disbelief.
"Nope," Hunter said calmly, putting a hand on Blake's shoulder. This was just what Cam needed. Hunter to get in protective mode.
"It must be genetic!" Cam exclaimed in confused exasperation, throwing up his arms.
Hunter and Blake just stared at him as if he were nuts.
"Oh. Good point," Cam said sheepishly, looking at the two. "What did your parents *do* to you?"
"Raised us," Hunter responded simply. He turned a questioning look at Blake, as if imploring his little brother silently to tell him what big bad Cam had done to scare him.
Cam smacked his forehead and left the room, shaking his head. He should lie down for a while. Blake had given him a headache.
As soon as Cam was out of earshot, Hunter turned to Blake, frowning. "Why are you checking your blood sugar, li'l bro?"
Blake put his hands in his pockets. "It felt comforting. You know how Sensei Omino's wife had to do it? I used to be afraid that I'd have problems too."
Hunter put an arm around Blake, pulling him close. He bent his head against Blake's nearly whispering in his ear. "You're not going to have problems. You have plenty to eat, Cam's keeping an eye on our health, everything's going to be fine."
Blake grinned slightly. Unconvincingly. "Right." He pulled away from Hunter.
"Blake," Hunter said, pulling his brother close again. "We're. Going. To. Be. Fine."
Blake nodded obediently, but without conviction. He rubbed the toe of his boot against the tile floor.
"Want me to get Cam back in here and tell him it's more than just you being paranoid?" Hunter threatened quietly.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked. "I'm not paranoid."
"I'll tell him something is wrong and you won't tell me what it is," Hunter threatened again, letting go and moving towards the doorway and in the direction that Cam had gone.
"Nothing's wrong!" Blake said, moving to intercept him and blocking his way.
"See what I mean?" Hunter said, motioning in Blake's direction.
"You wouldn't." Blake let go of the sides of the doorway, heading for their room, head down.
Hunter grabbed his arm, restraining him. "Yes, I would. *Talk* to me, bro."
"I've forgotten," Blake said, staring at the floor and shrugging.
"Excuse me?" Hunter said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're a terrible liar, do you know that?"
"Hey, the Winds believed me," Blake said brightly. "And you, when we first met them."
"You're better with strangers," Hunter explained, looking at Blake intently. "How much longer do you think that you could've lied to Tori?"
"Tori?" Blake asked, a smile nearly tugging at his lips. "I'm glad we revealed ourselves when we did, bro."
Hunter rolled his eyes. "Maybe I should sic her on you, I'm getting nowhere."
"Would you believe that Cam's already calmed my fears, bro?" Blake asked, eyes looking up at his brother hopefully.
"If he all ready calmed your fears, why did he bring me in on it?" Hunter said rhetorically. He motioned towards Cam's doorway. "You know if you try that, I'm going to go ask him."
Blake shrugged. "You do just that. I'm gonna nap, bro. Or sleep."
"Fine, I will," Hunter said, and stalked off.
Blake sighed with relief and headed to the bathroom. With luck, Hunter would catch Cam in the middle of Zord programming.
* * *
Hunter went to Cam's room and knocked on the door, hoping that Cam would answer and not ignore the knock.
"Come in," Cam's voice said, and the door opened.
"Uh, hey, Cam," Hunter said as he walked in, looking more than a little sheepish.
"What's up?" Cam asked, sitting up on his bed, on top of the green army blanket.
"Could you talk to Blake for me?" Hunter asked, sitting at the desk and staring at the betta bowl on top of the file cabinet instead of looking at Cam.
A look of confusion crossed Cam's face. "Why? You're his brother."
"He's being stubborn and won't talk about what's bothering him," Hunter said simply with a shrug.
Cam sighed, his growing frustration becoming more evident. "And here I thought you knew."
Hunter shook his head, hurt evident on his face. "I should've been able to get it out of him. I figured if I got you off his case and then got him alone, he'd tell me. He wouldn't. This isn't like Blake, Cam. He doesn't usually keep things from me."
Cam nodded. He couldn't *say* that he knew the Thunders all that well, but both Hunter and Blake seemed capable of hiding things from one another if they thought it was for the better. "Do you have *any* idea of what this is about?" he asked calmly, hoping Hunter would put his mind to his brother's problem.
"I'm not sure it's all about the not eating right," Hunter said thoughtfully. "I mean, it's got to be part of it. Why else would he check his blood sugar? It just... there's something else. I think. Maybe." He shook his head in frustration at his little brother's closed-mouthedness.
"When I started talking to him about fears, that's when he started avoiding me," Cam said, nodding at Hunter's revelation. "Maybe you need to talk to him about his fears."
Hunter nodded glumly, but didn't say anything.
"Go," Cam said reassuringly. "I think he'll be more comfortable if you ask him... I think you just need to know what to ask."
"You sure?" Hunter asked, clearly unconvinced.
"You want me to e-mail my girlfriend the psych major?" Cam asked plaintively.
"Your girlfriend's a psych major?" Hunter repeated. Then his brain caught up with what Cam had just said. "Wait. You have a girlfriend?"
Cam rolled his eyes. What was with these two and that fact? "Yes. Go bother Blake. But if you can't get him to talk, I'll ask my girlfriend."
"Right," Hunter said dubiously, heading for the door.
* * *
"Blake," Hunter said, entering their room, where Blake was sitting at one of the desks, looking at - but not seeing - one of his textbooks.
"Yeah?" Blake asked absently. It was as if Hunter didn't exist at all... or maybe Blake was trying to pretend Hunter was Cam or something like that. In either case, Hunter made his way across the room to the other desk and pulled up a chair.
Hunter paused. "Does this place make you nervous?" It was the only way he could think of tackling the fear question without being obvious. Or at least not blindingly obvious that big brother was snooping.
"Huh?" Blake asked, closing the textbook and putting it back in the backpack. "Are you OK, bro? You had enough to eat today?"
"Cam fed me," Hunter said, making a motion towards the kitchen. "I'm stuffed. What do you think?"
"I... um... think..." Blake stammered. Hunter knew his little brother too well.
Hunter leaned forwards his brother, looking him square in the eyes. "Blake, are you afraid something's gonna happen to me? To us?"
Blake nodded, starting at his desk. "We've been lucky, bro," he said, so quietly Hunter could barely hear him.
"Yeah, we have," Hunter said, putting an arm around Blake's shoulders. "But now we have somewhere safe to live and four more teammates to back us up. You think Cam, Tori, Dustin, and Shane are gonna let anything happen to us?"
"Given what happened when they discovered where we were living?" Blake leaned against Hunter, glad to be close to his brother. "No. It's just... I had a nightmare of collapsing and nobody being able to find me. Or you."
Hunter tapped Blake's morpher. "Do you ever take that off?"
"No," Blake said, looking confused.
"So what's your problem?" Hunter asked gently. "Cam can track us anywhere as long as we're wearing these."
"Almost anywhere-- remember Choobo's backpack? Besides, bro, you don't think when you're having nightmares," Blake said matter-of-factly. "You'd think I'd remember that I had a morpher on?"
"No, you wouldn't," Hunter said, gently. "But remember... if something happened to you... which it won't... but if it did, Cam could track you inside like a minute."
Blake nodded at that. "I never thought I'd be grateful to have Cam around."
"Tell me about it," Hunter said, grinning and giving Blake a warm squeeze.
Blake sat reveling in his brother's warmth. "Yeah."
The two sat together for a while, just enjoying each other's company.
"Blake?" Hunter asked suddenly, remembering how Blake had acted earlier.
"Hmm?" Blake asked, eyes closed.
"Is there anything else you should tell me?" Hunter asked him softly. Just in case he wasn't opening up about anything else.
"Nope," Blake said, his voice considerably lighter, though not as light as it maybe should have been. "I think I want to take a nap, bro. Cam stuffed me full of food, again...."
"Don't let me stop you," Hunter said gently, not though clearly not anxious to move.
"Thanks," Blake said, letting loose from his brother's grasp and heading into the lower bunk.
Hunter came over and stretched out next to him.
"Hunter!" Blake exclaimed, exasperated.
"I kinda want to feel safe too, bro," Hunter said, batting a tuft of hair out of Blake's eyes, "and besides, you're not the only one Cam stuffed full of food."
Blake sighed, but scooted over a little so that Hunter would have more room. "We should've forgotten about the desks and left the sofa bed in here."
"Yeah, but who wanted to explain to Cam and Sensei why we needed to keep the sofa?"Hunter asked.
"Not me," Blake added. "And not anybody else, either. We needed desks, so we got desks."
Hunter nodded. "Oh well." He looked over at Blake. "Anyway, bro, how about that nap?"
"Picky, picky," Blake grinned, leaning his head against Hunter's shoulder and closing his eyes.
Hunter let Blake relax, safe under his protection and the protection of Ops. They were safe, he knew, and he let his own eyes close. He was soon dead to the world.
The End