He started, confused for a moment by his surroundings. Lights... the table... Ninja Ops. Was it morning? He needed to get up. It wasn't morning. Were those the Dragonforce specs? He was supposed to be working on that...

He had fallen asleep again. He blinked, hard, then again for good measure. Why didn't his dad wake him up when he did that? It wasn't like it helped anyone to have him napping in the middle of the control room.

He shook his head, wondering what time it was. The day was starting to come back to him. Hunter... The Gem of Souls, and the energy field surrounding Lothor's ship. The ninjas he couldn't rescue, the uncle he couldn't defeat, and the Dragonforce vehicle he was still trying to salvage.

Hunter...

It had been a really long day. It had to be late. He couldn't even remember what time it had been when he started working. The control room was eerily deserted. Hadn't Hunter been here a minute ago? Or--a few minutes ago? How long had he been asleep, anyway?

He stiffened. That was the same voice that had woken him up. The same voice that used to wake him up when he was too young to remember, he was sure. The same voice that had forgiven him everything he was and couldn't be with a few innocent words... and the same voice that had told him goodbye thirty years ago.

He turned slowly, not sure he wanted to know just what was lurking behind him. He could still be asleep. That would explain the incredibly surreal nature of the moment, and the sense of dread that made him want to walk out of the room without seeing. Where was Hunter?

It almost didn't surprise him to see Miko standing there, looking just as she had decades before. Because after all, it had been that kind of day. The kind where dead relatives started appearing to you because they had nothing better to do, and you saw them because you were just too tired to bother with disbelief.

"Mom?" He heard himself say the word, heard it interrupt the silence like the voice that broke into a dream, but she didn't vanish and suddenly a more logical explanation occurred to him. "Hunter was right. The gem fragments are still connected to the cavern of lost ninjas somehow."

Miko smiled, and it was a warmer expression than any she had worn the last time he'd seen her. Or... the first time? He supposed that the last time he had seen her had been the first time she had seen him. The first time he had seen her he hadn't been old enough to remember, while the last time she had seen him--

Time travel gave him a headache. How was she here, now? Was she really here? He wanted Hunter to walk in, to prove to himself that he wasn't still sleeping. He wanted Hunter to know that he had been right, that hanging on to the gem fragments hadn't been just forlorn hope and loneliness.

Maybe, if he admitted it to himself... he wanted Hunter to know his mother.

Only when he reached for his necklace did he realize he wasn't wearing it. He pressed his hand to his chest, instinctively wanting to turn and look for it but afraid to take his eyes off of her. He hadn't removed it, barely took it off at all, except to study or use it--

My Cam. She was holding it, he realized suddenly. Still smiling. You bring honor to our family, Cameron.

He swallowed hard, not wanting to tell her that honor wasn't much comfort sometimes. He wouldn't mind a little more family and a little less honor. Would that disappoint her? What would she think of Hunter? What would she say if she knew there were days when being loved was more important to him than anything he could do as a Ranger?

It's you that brings us honor, she repeated. Not your actions, but you. The person that you are. The son who has always made me so proud. Never doubt that we love you, Cam.

"I have a boyfriend," he blurted out. All those things he had wanted to ask--he had made a list, once, right after he returned from the past. In case the opportunity ever presented itself again. But his priorities were different now, and there was nothing he wanted more than her approval.

So much like your father, she mused. At first he thought she meant him, until she added, He challenges everything because he wants to know why. Not because he disrespects it.

She looked at him for a long moment. But then, you already know that, don't you.

He felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "It's a comparison I made once," he allowed. "Hunter wasn't amused. And to be honest, I try not to go there."

She regarded him, the intensity of her expression undiminished though amusement flickered in her eyes. Understand that that's part of what makes it so hard for your father to accept. He loves you. He respects Hunter. But sometimes he doubts himself.

And of course, she added fondly, he worries.

"He wouldn't be a parent if he didn't," Cam said with a sigh. "I know. But if I hear 'be careful' one more time today..."

She only smiled at that. And how many times have you said the same to Hunter?

"Do you have spies?" he demanded, torn between amusement and chagrin. "Or are the other ninja spirits so boring that you'd rather spend your spare time watching over us?"

All we do in our spare time is care for those who care about us, she told him. Her conspiratorial smile softened as she came toward him, holding the amulet in both hands. I will always watch over you, my son.

She held up the amulet and he ducked his head automatically. He felt the necklace settle against his skin, and he lifted his hand to touch it. It was solid and cool under his fingers, but when he raised his head, Miko was gone.

A hand on his shoulder made him tense, and he spun around.

"Hey," Hunter said, lifting his hand but not backing off. "Didn't mean to startle you. Your dad said you dozed off."

He touched his necklace again. It was still there, warm as though it had never been removed, and of course the space behind him was empty when he glanced over his shoulder. "Dad told you that?" he said at last.

"Yeah. Crazy, huh?" Hunter's mouth quirked, a faint echo of his typical smirk. "First words he's said to me all night.

"I got the snaps you wanted," he added. He held up the scanner that Cam had given him earlier, twisting it for emphasis. "Maybe you should wait till tomorrow to upload the rest of the stuff?"

Cam hesitated, but his train of thought was totally gone. Whatever he'd been working on before... he wasn't even sure he could recognize it right now, let alone pick up where he'd left off. "Yeah," he agreed reluctantly. "I guess."

Hunter smiled then, a small smile but a genuine one nonetheless. "Thanks for giving me something to do," he said quietly.

Brought back to the moment by the tone of his voice, Cam smiled back at him. There was nothing like feeling useless when no one really knew what was going on--in that, at least, they thought alike. "Thanks for helping."

"Anytime," Hunter promised. Then he added, with studied indifference, "Except, y'know. If it's something really boring."

He wouldn't have chuckled if he had been a little less tired, but he couldn't help it and somehow Hunter's inordinately pleased with himself look wasn't as annoying as usual. It was just Hunter, being happy about something again. And if it was at Cam's expense--

But it wasn't, was it. Not really. The joke had been for his benefit as much as Hunter's, meant to amuse him too... as most of Hunter's jokes had been lately. He looked back one last time as they made their way out of the control room, thinking about people who cared for those that cared about them.