"Hunter!"

Overloading and out of control, the Glider Bike couldn't maintain any kind of altitude. The crash site exploded into flame and debris. The chopper couldn't get there any faster than it was already going, and the burst of energy had temporarily overwhelmed Hunter's Power signature. He couldn't find the Crimson Ranger anywhere.

"Are you all right?" Cam demanded of the comm. He hoped his Power signature had only been overwhelmed. "Can you hear me?"

For one long, heart-stopping moment, there was no reply. Finally, though, the scanners recovered from their blindness and zeroed in on a single, steady reading in the middle of the madness. It wasn't moving.

"I'm fine," Hunter's voice answered at last. The words were strained, but there was real disappointment in his voice when he added, "I think my bike's going to need a little body work."

Cam regretted ever touching that bike.

"Can you get a fix on Motodrone?" Hunter wanted to know. "He disappeared."

No, you disappeared, Cam wanted to tell him. Instead he just shook his head, resetting the scanners as he answered, "I'm working on it." The scanning scope headed for Motodrone's previous location and came up empty, zooming out and settling into an automatic search pattern. "Nothing yet."

He heard Hunter grunt in response, and he reached for the newest set of controls. The mobile teleportation system was still a prototype, but the default setting would kick in if it were unable to lock. It found its target faster than the scanners, flashing an "acquired" message almost as soon as he asked.

A moment later, Hunter was standing behind him. "Whoa!" The Crimson Ranger grabbed the back of his chair to steady himself, then braced one arm against the top of the cockpit as he leaned forward. "A little warning next time!"

"You're welcome," Cam replied. "But if you think I'm fixing that bike again, forget it."

"You could show some compassion for the guy who just got blasted out of the sky," Hunter told him. His voice was still rough, and Cam didn't have to look back to know that he wasn't just leaning against the wall for balance.

"I'll show some compassion when you stop trashing my equipment every other week," Cam said, forcing himself to keep his attention on the scanners. The Wolfblades were closing in on the other Rangers.

A hint of Hunter's usual mocking tone broke through the tired rasp of his voice. "The bike was Perry's, dude."

"And he designed it to kill you," Cam retorted. "I think I can take credit for a few modifications!"

The scope flashed and a realtime image of Motodrone appeared on the screen. "Shane," Cam said, triggering the comm immediately. "I've got Motodrone at the beach. And the Wolfblades are right around the corner from you."

There was a brief pause, and then Shane's voice came back. "I'm on my way, Cam."

"I'm ready," Hunter added behind him.

"You're not going," Cam said without looking up.

"Very funny." Hunter didn't sound amused. "Send me to the beach."

"Forget it," Cam replied. "You can barely stand up."

"I can fight!" Hunter exclaimed angrily.

"So can Shane. Skyla's with him. He can handle Motodrone."

"Skyla's dead," Hunter said harshly. "I can fight my own battles!"

"This isn't about you," Cam shot back. "This is about the best person for the job. Shane let you go after Motodrone because there was no reason to think you couldn't handle him. Now there's reason. He's stronger than we thought--"

"Don't try to keep me out of this!" Hunter sounded furious, the implied insult no doubt making a bad situation worse. "That's my nightmare down there!"

Cam gritted his teeth. He was right about this, and he wasn't backing down. "Shane will handle it," he said, as calmly as he could. "This isn't a one-man team, Hunter, no matter how much you try to make it one."

"Just because you wouldn't take him on doesn't mean I can't!"

Cam was on his feet before he knew it, facing off against someone whose ability to make him laugh was matched only by his recurring tendency to infuriate him. "Are you listening to me?" he demanded. "Motodrone is stronger than you are! He's almost killed you twice now!"

Hunter was utterly impossible to intimidate. "Stop trying to protect me," he hissed, glaring down at the Green Ranger.

"I'm not trying to protect you!" Cam shouted. "I'm trying to protect Shane! You wouldn't have his back out there and he doesn't need you taking him down with you! Especially not over some stupid desire for revenge!"

The comm interrupted them, and Hunter fumed silently for the few seconds it took the other Rangers to report. Cam spun back to the console, berating himself for letting a childish confrontation distract him from the fighting. Hunter couldn't stay.

"I'll see you back at Ops," he muttered, hand hovering over the teleport controls. There was no answer, and he wasn't surprised.

He had challenged the other Ranger's authority, insulted his ability, and taken a battlefield decision away from him. It could be days before Hunter spoke to him again. And yet there was nothing else he could have done. Sometimes the team was more important.

The Crimson Ranger sulked for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, he refused to sulk in private, and it was a bit disconcerting to have him standing that close and know he wouldn't return a look even if it was offered. Hunter had gotten in the habit of leaning on Cam's chair while the others were talking, and today was no exception. The difference now was that no matter how often Cam looked up, Hunter's gaze didn't leave the computer monitor.

He tried not to think about it. He tried to ignore it, the way Hunter was ignoring him. But the close quarters made that impossible. He was almost relieved to learn that their emergency Power source would require an extended search, and that given the circumstances the search was going to have to be a solitary endeavor. He would take that mission gladly.

He walked right into the Wolfblades' trap. He should have seen it coming, should have known that Marah and Kapri weren't completely incompetent. But it wasn't until the chopper was on fire, veering out of control as he tried and failed to halt its sudden freefall, that he recognized the situation for what it was.

He was going down. Just as Hunter had, in flame and debris, trailing a plume of black smoke behind him as he plummeted out of the sky. And there was no one to bail him out. No one to say, that's it, come back, it's too dangerous. Let someone else try.

There was no one else, and they needed this mission to be a success too desperately to abort it now. He would have to go on, climb out of the crash site and continue on foot, no matter the personal cost or the probability of failure. He realized that he was perfectly prepared to do that, and it occurred to him with no small amount of dismay that this was just what Rangers did. They went on. Whatever the obstacle, whatever the price, they did what they had to do.

They did what he had stopped Hunter from doing that morning. They finished what they started, and they made sure the enemy knew it. The strength of a Ranger was the team... but it was also their willingness to sacrifice for the team. Their willingness to let the greater good be more important than personal safety. That was what made them stronger than the self-centered forces of evil.

That was what he had forgotten when he pulled Hunter out. He had let his own desire to keep the Crimson Ranger safe become more important than the even distribution of fighting forces. He had let it become more important even than Hunter's own judgement, which was as good if not better than his own when it came to his own abilities.

He caught Hunter watching him when they regrouped at Ninja Ops afterwards, one more battle behind them, another piece of technology in their arsenal. Shane and Dustin snuck off as soon as they thought they could get away with it, but Blake kept Tori busy with teasing over some indiscretion for longer than anyone but a smitten teenage girl would have allowed. Cam didn't bother to rescue her, hoping instead to get Hunter alone before Blake dragged him off to rehearse for "Totally Talented".

He sidled around the table, folding his arms as he studied the far wall with as much interest as he could muster. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he said under his breath, deliberately facing away from the still-arguing Tori and Blake.

"This isn't really a good time," Hunter muttered. He was watching the two with undisguised curiosity, and maybe some small amount of amusement. He didn't even glance in Cam's direction.

"I want to apologize," Cam told the wall.

That got Hunter's attention. "Your place or mine?"

Cam rolled his eyes, and he saw Hunter smirk in his direction when the other thought he wasn't looking. "Let's just..." He gestured vaguely toward the stairs. "You know."

Hunter followed him more closely than was strictly necessary, and Cam sighed silently to himself. Hunter wasn't going to let him forget this, he could tell. The only question was, would that end up being a bad thing or a good one?

"Hey, could you program CyberCam to be a little nicer?" Hunter wanted to know, interrupting him before he could even start. They came to a halt in the stone entrance just outside the control room, at the base of the stairs leading to the outside world. "He wasn't too upset when the chopper went down. Blake and I practically had to kick him to get him to send the zords to back you up."

Cam just stared at him, trying to figure out where this was coming from. "That's just what he's like," he said with a frown. "You know that. You're the one who wanted to be able to tell us apart."

"I'm just saying he's annoying," Hunter informed him. "I didn't say you were different."

Cam sighed again, aware that he had set himself up for that one but not sure exactly how. "Look, I shouldn't have pulled you out of the fight with Motodrone. It wasn't my call, and I'm sorry."

Hunter glowered at him. "I wish you didn't make that look so easy," he muttered, his tone vaguely resentful.

Cam's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

"I'm... well--" Hunter broke off. "It wasn't your fault, okay? You were right about Shane. He could take Motodrone and I couldn't. End of story."

"You could have helped," Cam insisted. "You said you could fight, and I should have listened. I was just--I was worried about you. I didn't want to send you back out there, and I should have, I know. But I didn't."

"Yeah, well." Hunter glared down at the ground. "Maybe I have a little more sympathy after seeing the chopper crash. Can't believe you walked away from that."

"Neither can I," Cam said dryly. Then he caught Hunter's look and added hastily, "But think how I felt when the glider went up in flames. At least I had something to crash."

"Yeah, and who's destroying equipment now?" Hunter wanted to know.

Cam's lips twitched, and he saw an answering smile on Hunter's face. Before he could reply, though, Blake sauntered out into the foyer and raked a smug gaze over the both of them. "Ready to go, bro?"

"Yeah," Hunter said reluctantly, catching Cam's eye briefly. "Catch you later."

Cam lifted his chin in acknowledgement, watching as Hunter fell into step with his younger brother. "What are you grinning about?" he heard Hunter ask as they made their way up the stairs. "You get to see Tori's act for 'Totally Talented'?"

"Nah, better, bro." Blake's tone would have warned anyone with ears, but he didn't wait for Hunter to interrupt him. "I got to see you and Cam making up! Isn't that cute..." The Navy Ranger went so far as to make kiss-y noises, and Cam closed his eyes.

"Shut up!" Hunter's exclamation could be heard even as they pushed their way through the door. "We weren't fighting, all right? Lay off!"

"Were so!" Blake's voice taunted.

"Were not!"

The door slammed shut behind them, cutting off their voices and leaving Cam in relative peace. He opened his eyes, shaking his head as he turned back to the control room--and came up short. There was Tori, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"What was that all about?" she wanted to know, staring up the stairs after the Thunder Rangers.

"Oh, you know," he said with forced casualness. "With them, it's always something."

She gave him an odd look, then shook her head. "Well, whatever," she remarked. It was hard to tell whether she was agreeing with him or not. "I'd better go practice. See you later, Cam!"

"See you," he echoed, watching her dart up the steps toward the surface. If Blake had overheard them... how easily could it have been Tori? Were they deliberately tempting fate, having these conversations where anyone could come along? Were they trying to get caught?

He had asked himself the same question many times before. He still hadn't come up with an answer.