Whoever woke up first got the van. It wasn't true, but that's what the guys believed. It was her bus through, and nobody was taking it except from her. Not that they had called her on it. She was always the first one up, so it had never been an issue.

They rode to the beach in near silence, Shane only half-awake in the passenger seat.

"How can you still be tired? You slept forever!"

"How can you be so awake?" he countered. "I don't even know what time you finally got back to the room last night."

This morning actually, she thought. Hunter and Cam had left the motel room, and Blake and she had just lost track of time. Suddenly it was morning and they had not returned.

Blake hadn't seemed overly concerned, which was odd. The Bradley brothers were always worrying about each other over something.

And it wasn't so much the lack of worry that made her curious. It was that Blake seemed... frustrated? He thought he hid it well. He didn't though. Not from her. And he didn't have a clue.

That was one thing about being the only woman on a team of guys. It was obvious to her just how much they repressed, well, except for Dustin. Dustin was open about most everything. But the Yellow Ranger didn't appear to be Blake's problem.

If Blake wanted to know what Hunter was keeping from him, she could have told him. She could have, but she wouldn't.

She had suspected for some time that Hunter and Cam were seeing each other. But she had no proof, and it wasn't her place to tell even if she did. So when they left together last night, it wasn't exactly proof. But when they ended up gone half the night, it could only lead to rumors.

Maybe with the close quarters in the coming week, all the guys would get their stuff sorted out. Whatever that assorted stuff may be.

As she pulled into the parking lot, Shane's sleeping head hit her shoulder. Perfect timing. She put her VW bus into park, then used the same hand to shove Shane off her and gently awake.

"We're here. Get up before you drool on me."

He stretched and popped his seatbelt. "And I thought you were WaterGirl."

She rolled her eyes and took off her belt too. "Not like that. Now c'mon."

********

Dustin finished filling his water bottle, and stepped back from the water fountain. As he did, he bumped into someone coming out of the bathroom.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ma'am," he apologized, turning around. Then he stopped.

"Marah?"

"Hi," she waved shyly.

"What are you doing here?" It had been a few days since they had talked, sure. But he thought for sure he would have remembered if she'd mentioned going to the X-Games.

She shrugged. "Kapri wanted to take a vacation. She mentioned the coast and yummy guys. When I realized she meant here, I thought maybe I could find you."

"Won't Lothor miss you?"

"Are you kidding? Uncle's probably very happy we're gone."

"So, are you with Kapri now?" he asked, wondering if they could spend time together. Belatedly he remembered he was at this event with Hunter, Cam, and Blake.

"Yeah. I should probably be getting back."

"We'll have to ditch the others and go somewhere together while we're here," he grinned. "Sound cool?"

She nodded. "Totally. I'll call you when I can get away."

"Awesome." He waved as she skipped off, disappearing into the crowd.

********

Okay, LA traffic sucked. He'd heard about it, of course. But actually driving in it? Dude!

He was sorely tempted to streak everywhere. He really was. But he knew Sensei wouldn't approve. And he was working right now so he couldn't anyway.

The guys had discussed dinner plans, and as soon as the moto event was over, Dustin had jumped in Kelly's van. The sooner he got this Storm Chargers' stuff delivered, the sooner he was free to enjoy the rest of the week with no responsibilities.

He'd kinda exaggerated to everyone what he had to do. But he had a good reason. It was so he'd have an excuse to miss dinner in case Marah called. He didn't want to bail on his friends. But the chance to be out in public with Marah in a city where no one would recognize them was just too good to pass up.

Plus, he missed her. Okay, it had only been a week since they last got to hang out properly, but he still missed her.

He finally made it to the X-Games' office. He dropped off the things from Storm Chargers, and filled out several dozen forms. Mercifully, his cellphone rang then, saving him from having to talk to any more officials. He thanked them, excused himself, and all but ran out the door.

The caller ID on his cellphone was blank. It could never figure out Marah's PAM signals enough to even say, "CALLER UNKNOWN".

"Hi!" she greeted him enthusiastically. "Can we meet tonight?"

"Absolutely," he agreed, starting the van. "Where are you staying? I'll pick you up."

"The Motel 6 on 12^th."

"No way! Dude, that's where we're staying!"

She giggled. "Well, that's convenient. So, about seven?"

He checked the van's in-dash clock. That should give him enough time to get back and get ready. "Sure, sounds good."

"Great! I'll see you then."

"Later!" He hung up and pulled back out into traffic. Suddenly the gridlock didn't seem so bad with so much to look forward to.

********

They'd managed to get hold of Shane and Tori to tell them where they were meeting Dustin for dinner. Tori had quizzed them about the menu options, like she didn't trust them to choose a place she could stand, and Shane had repeatedly tried to interrupt her. Hunter smirked when he failed--also repeatedly--but it wasn't until they'd all agreed on the time and place of meeting that the trouble began.

It turned out that they hadn't all agreed. The whole point of discussing it before Dustin took off had been to find a place everyone liked. Cam hadn't contributed, so they had just assumed he didn't care. No sooner had Blake ended his call to Tori, though, then Cam had casually announced that he would see them back at the room afterwards.

That had made Hunter stop, and Blake's mild surprise at Cam's statement turned to studied interest in his brother's reaction. "What do you mean, afterwards?" Hunter demanded. "You're not gonna eat?"

"We ate an hour ago," Cam countered. "I'm not hungry."

Neither was Blake, but they didn't have food in front of them yet either. He'd probably be hungry by the time they got there, ordered, and sat around waiting for who-knew-how-long. Besides, it wasn't really about the food. Okay, it was, but it was also a chance for all of them to be together. They were on vacation. They were supposed to do at least a few things as a group.

If he hadn't been so intent on watching his brother argue with a brick wall, he might have noticed the irony of that statement coming from a Thunder Ranger.

He waited until Cam was gone to smile, and it didn't take long for Hunter to turn that angry look on him. "What are you grinning about?"

"You, bro. You and Cam."

Hunter's frown deepened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You tell me," Blake said, folding his arms. He really didn't want to be wrong about something like this, at least not out loud, but he'd given Hunter plenty of chances to explain and so far it hadn't happened. "What's up with you two?"

Hunter gave him a disgusted look that wasn't even close to convincing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look, you hang out with Dustin at the shop. You talk to Tori when she comes to the track. You even went to one of Shane's skateboarding demos."

"Yeah, so?" Hunter's hostility didn't abate in the face of confusion. That was one of the best things about his brother, Blake thought. He was nothing if not dependable.

"So you picked Cam up twice last week," Blake reminded him. "Once you met him somewhere, and there was definitely some extra training time that I didn't pay much attention to. That's more than you hang out with everyone else combined. And that was just last week."

Hunter had hooked his thumbs into his back pockets and was staring at the ground. He glanced up when Blake paused, and Blake just smirked at his expression. Yup, now they had progressed from defiant rebel to the guilty little boy look that typically had people falling over themselves to help his brother out. He was onto something. No question.

Hunter still didn't say anything, and finally Blake prompted, "Anything you want to tell me, bro?"

Hunter squinted over his shoulder for a moment. When he caught Blake's eye again, he shifted uncomfortably. "I told him you probably knew," he muttered.

That wasn't something you said about a friend. Not even a best friend. It would just be ridiculous... which left only one conclusion. "Are you guys dating?" Blake demanded.

Hunter shrugged once. "Sometimes," he admitted, staring off down the street again.

"Sometimes?" Blake repeated. Getting Hunter to give up information was an art form, and he didn't always have the patience for it. "Bro, you're going out with Cam? And this never came up before? How hard is it to say, 'by the way, me and Cam have a date tonight'?"

"Harder than you'd think," Hunter retorted.

Blake considered that, thinking back to his first two failed attempts at taking Tori on a date. He'd never technically told Hunter, either... he had just been obvious about his interest. Something that Hunter wouldn't do, if he was interested in someone like Cam--for more than one reason. The first being that Cam would never tolerate someone leering at or fawning over him. The second being that Shane and Dustin would tease them both mercilessly... and the third being that Cam was a guy.

Blake wasn't totally without a clue. He knew who his brother watched, who he paid attention to and who he didn't. Hunter would agree with any assessment of the female population that happened to be made in his presence, but he rarely volunteered an original opinion. He didn't bat an eye when Tori walked up behind him and leaned against his shoulder--and even Dustin jumped when she pulled that trick. He liked Kelly well enough, but it was Roger Hanna he was polite to.

It was nothing conclusive, really. Nothing that had to mean anything, and certainly nothing that was worth making an issue over. The thought had crossed his mind, but there had never been anything to substantiate it.

Until he'd made the Cam connection. Hunter listened when Cam spoke. He defended him in casual conversation, even when it was just with Blake. There wasn't a person on the team he hadn't questioned about Cam: is he always funny, why wasn't he a Ranger, did he ever go to the track? Cam held Hunter's attention in a way no one else could, and Blake had finally started to wonder.

"Yeah," he said at last. His brother wasn't the most talkative person in the world, and he wasn't one to put himself out there if he had any doubt. That was usually Blake's role: Blake took the personal chances, and Hunter took the physical ones. They were a team of opposites, and if Blake had been open about his new crush he probably should have expected that Hunter wouldn't be. "Okay, I can see that."

"Yeah?" Hunter was watching him from the other side of a downcast gaze and wary expression. He looked like he was ready to shrug the answer off, but Blake knew all of his brother's attention was focused on him. "You okay with it?"

Blake scoffed at the question. "Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Hunter just shrugged, but the relief was evident in his posture.

"Come on, man." Blake held out his hand, and Hunter clasped it automatically. "We're bros. You just gotta remember that, and it's all good."

A reluctant smile lightened his brother's grim look. "Yeah," Hunter agreed. "It is."

"So what," Blake prodded, letting go to shove his hands into the top of his pockets. "You gonna duck out of dinner too?"

Hunter grimaced in his direction. "He doesn't want to talk to me."

"Never know till you try," Blake told him. "Not wanting to do the dinner thing with all of us isn't exactly the same thing as not wanting to talk to you. Go on--I'll cover for you."

Hunter managed a great show of reluctance without actually protesting. "If he's not at the hotel," he said finally, turning to face Blake as he walked away, "I'll meet up with you guys at the restaurant."

Blake thought about pointing at his morpher, but he was guessing that Hunter had really meant, "I'll meet up with you if he won't talk to me." That was probably a good contingency plan. Cam was more moody than usual these days.

Of course, in all fairness, Hunter had been pretty temperamental lately too. And it was easy to see why: if he'd had to choose the two Rangers on the team who would have the hardest time in a romantic relationship, it would be the team's technical genius and his own brother. Naturally, the two had to be drawn to each other.

"We won't wait to order," Blake called after him.

***

He really would have to eat at some point. He wasn't hungry now, but he would be before the others got back. He probably should have just gone to dinner with them. It didn't sound quite as unappealing now, sitting alone in a quiet room, as it had while standing in the middle of a crowd with the roar of freestyle motocross still ringing in his ears.

Cam looked up at the sound of the lock clicking open, and he raised his eyebrows as Hunter came strolling through the door. Was he being stalked, he wondered? He couldn't go anywhere lately without Hunter being there too. The most annoying part was that he couldn't decide whether that bothered him or not.

"Fast dinner," he remarked, looking down at his laptop again. Somehow, he didn't think its presence would go uncriticized.

"Didn't go," Hunter answered. He hesitated by the door, which struck Cam as unusual. "You wanna be alone?"

Cam gave him an amused look, unable to suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. "Since when has that stopped you?"

Hunter smirked, apparently taking that as his invitation to saunter over to Cam's side. "Figured I should ask. Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing," Cam said defensively. He suspected that his usual answer wouldn't pass muster in this situation.

Hunter got it anyway. "Working, huh?" He threw himself down on the bed behind Cam, rolling onto his stomach so he could peer over Cam's shoulder. "Wanna entertain me?"

"I think you misunderstand the conventional definition of 'work,'" Cam commented. Having Hunter's voice next to his ear was distracting, but not unpleasant.

"Hey, entertaining me is work," Hunter informed him. "I'm easily bored."

Cam couldn't decide whether to be amused or exasperated. "Is there something you want?"

"Yeah," Hunter replied immediately. "Why didn't you come to dinner with us?"

Cam frowned at his computer screen. He just hadn't felt like it. It had been a long day surrounded by screaming people and sporting events that he didn't really understand. It wasn't that he couldn't figure out what was going on, just that he didn't have any of the history that made it so interesting to the other Rangers.

"I don't know," he said at last. "Just tired, I guess."

"Yeah?" Hunter didn't sneer. "I guess moto's not as interesting when you don't recognize any of the people riding in it."

Cam blinked. He'd said "tired," not "bored," but Hunter had gotten the message anyway. "No," he agreed. "It's sort of like you watching me program zord upgrades."

"Nah," Hunter said unexpectedly. "It's probably like me watching someone else program zord upgrades. It's kinda cool when you do it."

Cam didn't know what to say to that.

"You sure you don't want to be alone?" Hunter asked after a minute. "I can't tell if you're listening or working."

Cam hadn't been aware of the information on his screen since the moment Hunter had laid down behind him. "Where did this insecurity complex come from?" he wanted to know. "You've never cared whether you were interrupting before."

There was a moment of silence. Then Hunter said abruptly, "Blake knows."

"That we're..." He couldn't find an easy way to finish that sentence.

"He knows we're dating," Hunter clarified. "He asked, and I wasn't gonna lie to him. You okay with that?"

He'd given it some thought since he'd asked Hunter the same question. "Yeah," he said at last. "That's fine."

"What about the others?" Hunter pressed. "You care about them? Blake can't lie worth anything. I bet Tori knows by tomorrow at the latest."

"Tori probably already knows," Cam muttered. "Inductive reasoning is a strength of hers."

"You think?" There was a pause during which Cam didn't bother to reply. "You ever think about just... y'know, telling everybody?"

"What, like coming out?" Cam envisioned an awkward announcement and serious weirdness to follow. "No."

Hunter didn't say anything, and Cam added, "They're ninjas. Let them figure it out for themselves."

"So..." Hunter cleared his throat. "You don't mind if they find out. You just don't want to tell them, is that it?"

Okay, so it sounded more childish aloud than it had in his head. "Does it matter?" he demanded. "What's with the interrogation?"

"It matters," Hunter told him. "And you owe me twenty questions, so deal. Do you care if the other Rangers find out? Yes or no."

He had already opened his mouth to protest his supposed obligation when Hunter threw the same question at him for the third time. "No, okay? No, I don't care if they find out."

"Then why don't you want to tell them?" Hunter persisted. "What's the difference?"

"The difference is that we shouldn't have to tell them," Cam snapped. "No one else has to come out. Tori and Blake never said, 'hey, we're a couple.' Why should we have to make a big deal of it? Why can't everyone just use their brain for a change?"

"Oh." Hunter's tone was subdued. "I thought maybe you just didn't want people to know you were seeing me."

Cam stared through the screen for a long moment. Hunter was a star at the local track, a motocross rider who cleaned up in meets across the state. He was intelligent, occasionally articulate, and appallingly good-looking. If he paid any attention at all to the people around him, Cam would have no end of competition.

The thought was vaguely disturbing.

"That's ridiculous," he said at last. "If I didn't want people to know that I'm dating you, we wouldn't be dating."

"Good." Hunter sounded totally neutral this time. "Because it's not gonna take Tori long to tell Shane and Dustin."

"If she hasn't already," Cam said under his breath.

He could tell Hunter had turned his head by the sound of his voice. "Are you that paranoid, or do you know something I don't?"

"Both?" Cam suggested.

"Funny." Hunter waited expectantly.

"No," Cam admitted. "It probably hasn't even occurred to them." With a sigh he added, "It might not occur to Dustin for days, even after Tori tells him."

"Don't bag on Dustin," Hunter chided gently. It was an open question whether his words or his tone were more of a surprise. "He's faster on the uptake than you seem to think."

"Since when are you Dustin's champion?" Cam wanted to know.

"Since you decided not to be." Hunter's reply was cryptic, but he continued before Cam could call him on it. "He does see things, you know. He just forgets to mention them."

"Like he forgets everything else?"

"We can't all be you," Hunter countered. "Some of us are only human."

Cam frowned. "I never said I wasn't human. Everyone has their faults. I just think that Dustin takes a little too much pride in his human-ness."

"You know what I think?" He could feel Hunter's breath against his the side of his neck, and it was followed by a light kiss that startled him as much as it made him smile. "I think sometimes you don't appreciate how fun it is to be human."

"I thought that's why I was dating you." He didn't know what made him say it, except that Hunter had just displayed a rare moment of empathy for another person and it made him seem... closer. "So you could remind me."

"Don't think I won't," Hunter replied lightly, and it was impossible to tell whether it was a threat or a promise. "Speaking of, you want to get some take-out or something?"

"From where?" Cam wanted to know. He wasn't totally averse to the idea.

"Beats me. We're in the middle of the city; how hard can it be to find take-out?"

So this was going to be one of those things that turned into a full-blown excursion. He supposed he could handle that. And food was starting to sound more and more appealing, so that helped motivate him. "Maybe we shouldn't limit ourselves," he remarked, as he saved his work. "We might have better luck if we settled for any food we both agree on."

"That is the only food we both agree on," Hunter said dryly. "That's why I was surprised when you didn't complain about the restaurant, earlier."

He had spent most of the restaurant discussion planning ways to get out of going. "Fine," he said. "Take-out, or any as-yet-undiscovered and entirely hypothetical food on which we can agree."

"Do you have to plan everything?" Hunter complained, rolling to his feet off the end of the bed. "Can't we just find what we find?"

"We probably won't find anything we don't find," Cam pointed out. He let his laptop power down before he stowed it under the bed. Hunter was waiting for him when he stood up.

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"I have about as many answers as you have questions," Cam countered.

Hunter scoffed, tossing his reply over his shoulder as he headed for the door. "Too bad they never match!"