Cam was really terrible to sleep with. He was a workaholic, restless, and a light sleeper on top of it. He got up and returned at seemingly random hours of the night, he didn't stay in one position longer than ten minutes when he did doze off, and he would wake up for absolutely anything. A pin dropping down the hall would rouse him.

It was a problem that Hunter had never particularly anticipated, distracted as he was by the more pleasant possibilities of such close quarters. And those possibilities were certainly... worthwhile. He didn't mind exploring them on something more comfortable than the training room floor. It was just that it hadn't occurred to him how hard it actually was to sleep--literally sleep--with someone like Cam.

Cam sighed, shifting a little without opening his eyes, and Hunter lifted himself up onto one elbow. He had learned to move when Cam did if he wanted to observe without being observed. Perversely, Cam seemed to notice less when he was half awake than he did when he was completely asleep.

That wasn't the only thing he had discovered over the last few months. He had also learned how far he could scrunch up the pillows before Cam protested, and exactly how much of the blanket he could expect to end up with if they shared. How far open he could leave the window before they traded "stifling" for "breezy." How early Cam considered early enough, and whether the radio did or didn't count as an alarm...

He echoed Cam's sigh without realizing it. If he had known how hard it would be to sleep with someone else, all night, he might have thought twice before inviting Cam over that first time. Sharing a bed with Cam was uncomfortable and annoying and full of more compromises than anything else they did together.

He wished they had been able to do it more often.

He gave his head a shake, the movement slight, brief, and involuntary. Weird nostalgia taking over... and where had that come from, anyway? What made him think of this as the past? So they didn't get to spend enough time together. That could change. They could change it, if they wanted to. They had just been, you know, busy, lately. Busier than normal, between the shakeup in Lothor's army and the weirdness in their own lives--

The odd sense of sadness touched him again, and he frowned irritably. Okay, nostalgia not going away. Since when was he such a sap that he couldn't even watch Cam sleep without getting all teary-eyed? The guy was good enough looking, or whatever, but asleep he was just like anyone else: unconscious, unresponsive, and frankly too much of a bed hog to justify the disappointment that was keeping Hunter awake.

He pulled away from Cam, stealthily but steadily, knowing that Cam would sense the change no matter how quiet he was about it. He had actually pushed himself into a sitting position, feet almost on the floor before Cam rolled over, eyes less than half open as his vision struggled against the dimness. Weird. Maybe Cam really was getting used to him, after all.

"S'all right," he muttered, voice barely louder than a whisper. "Back in a sec."

Cam made a noise that could have been anything, but was probably just an indication that he had heard. His eyes were already closed again, and he hadn't bothered to lift his head. He used to wake up all the way, Hunter was sure. It was only recently that Cam had stopped complaining about every single time Hunter moved, got up, or spoke in his sleep. Sometimes Cam didn't even seem to remember it in the morning.

How much faster would it have happened, Hunter wondered, if they had been able to sleep together more often?

Don't push your luck, a voice in the back of his head told him. They were lucky they'd had these few nights. Without discussing it, they had both decided that spending the night at Ninja Ops was an unworkable idea. Lothor's aliens could attack at any time--and had--necessitating the immediate presence of the other Rangers in the command center, where it would be difficult to explain why no one ever arrived before Hunter. And of course, there was Sensei.

Hunter still wasn't sure how much Sensei knew or had guessed. He did know that Cam usually informed his dad of his overnight plans by referring to "the Thunders' apartment," or "Hunter and Blake's place," thus making it sound less like he was going exclusively to hang out with Hunter. Except that of course the nights he stayed there always coincided with nights when Blake was out with Tori or otherwise absent. Sensei wasn't stupid, and he wasn't slow. But since Hunter wasn't going to be the one to bring the subject up, it looked like he would have to live with his curiosity.

There it was again, he realized abruptly. They were lucky they'd had these few nights. Like they were over now, like this was the last time. What the heck was going on in his subconscious?

He was frowning down at Cam's sleeping form. He tore his gaze away, troubled, and a gentle green glow caught his eye as he turned toward the door. Great. Just what he needed right now. He considered ignoring it. But that would be rude, and in return for her promise not to bother them while they were... otherwise occupied, he had always felt she was due some amount of courtesy.

He picked up Cam's amulet by the cord, careful not to touch it until he was out of the room with the door pulled most of the way shut behind him. The glow brightened a little, probably impatient, but she had startled exclamations out of him before. Cam would only want to know what they were talking about if he woke up again.

Finally, Hunter set the amulet down on the counter and covered it with his hand as he reached for a cupboard door. "You got something to say?" he muttered, careful to keep his voice soft. It was an unnecessary question, really. When didn't she have something to say?

*Yes,* she answered anyway. *You were a little slow with the tongue on the first--*

He lifted his hand and her voice cut off as fast as it had come. He did not need her commentary on his sex life, and he had told her so flat out over and over again. At first he had refused to even have the amulet in the same room with them, until Cam had told him that, for all practical purposes, the amulet knew what he knew. She was an inescapable voyeur and there was nothing any of them could do about it.

But that didn't mean he wanted her opinion.

Holding a glass under the tap, he raised an eyebrow in her direction as he filled it. The amulet had gone dark--her equivalent of a sigh--and he knew his annoyance had been noted. Whether she would take it seriously was another matter entirely.

Leaning back against the counter, he raised the glass and waited. He had only managed a couple of swallows before the amulet lit up again, a soft glow that didn't hurt his eyes in the dim shadows from the streetlights outside. He reached out and picked up the necklace again, fingers closing around the amulet deliberately this time. She had gotten the message.

She really wasn't bad conversation, either. He wondered sometimes if she got lonely with only Cam to talk to. Well, Cam, and him on occasion. It wasn't exactly a vast social circle, and she seemed pretty intelligent. What did she think about? When she wasn't bugging the heck out of him?

*You're upset.* The words sounded like they were coming from over his shoulder, like someone standing beside him or directly behind him. Perfectly normal spoken speech, except that no one else could hear it. Like wearing headphones with the music turned down low, it overlaid the surrounding conversation but didn't block it out.

"Nah," he said aloud, surprised she had mentioned it. "I'm used to you by now."

Her tone when she replied was amused. *Not about what I said. I meant before that... I saw you watching Cam.*

He frowned a little, unintentionally defensive. "Can't a guy look at someone without it being the end of the world?"

*Funny you would put it like that.* Her voice was pensive now, the humor gone and an uncharacteristic sobriety in its place. *Something's coming, you know. You must be able to feel it. Cam can.*

Okay, she was having a conversation that he had totally missed the beginning of. He'd thought he'd known what she was talking about, but both times it had gone right over his head. Now she seemed to think he had caught up. He hadn't.

"Cam can feel what?" he asked at last. "What do you mean, something's coming?"

*The way the power's gathering. Evil is getting stronger. So is good. There's a battle coming.*

"There's always a battle coming," he said with a shrug. "That's what we get for being Rangers. And I'm not so sure evil's getting stronger... I mean, look at Lothor's generals. They're dropping like flies."

*Lothor isn't the only source of evil in the universe.*

He opened his mouth to ask what that had to do with anything, then thought better of it. Arguing with her didn't do anything to silence the fleeting but disturbing impressions that had been gnawing at him all night. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked warily.

*Smart boy,* she replied, her usual amusement muted. *I'm telling you because things are about to start changing, maybe faster than you can imagine. You should think about what's important to you. And what's important to Cam.*

He frowned, not sure he liked the sound of that. "What do you mean, what's important? I know what's important to me."

*Hunter.* She sounded a little impatient, which he thought was uncalled for. She was being way more cryptic than usual. *Your life is about to be totally rewritten. If you don't know ahead of time what parts of it you want to keep, you'll end up with nothing but what fate hands you.*

"I don't believe in fate," he informed her.

*Maybe you should start,* she said sharply. *There's nothing you can do to avoid what's coming. I just want you to recognize it when it happens, to know that the choices you make in the next few days will affect the rest of your life.*

He stared across the room at the bedroom door, mouth dry despite the empty glass on the counter beside him. He didn't ask how she knew. She was only confirming the inexplicable fear he felt. "It's over, isn't it," he whispered. "This thing, between me and Cam."

For once, she didn't make fun of his inability to say the "r" word. *Maybe,* she agreed, unusually solemn. *I guess that's up to you.*

The sound of a key in the lock made him look over his shoulder automatically, even though there was only one person it could be. He bunched up the amulet's cord in his hand to make it less conspicuous--boxers really ought to have pockets--and turned back to the sink. He was just filling his glass a second time when the door opened and Blake shuffled quietly in.

"Hey, bro." Hunter kept his voice low, but his presence would keep Blake from hitting the lights and he really didn't want to be blinded right now. "Have a good night?"

"Hey," Blake answered, just as quietly. "Yeah, we did." Dropping his keys on the table, he joined Hunter in the kitchen. "You?"

"Yeah." Light spilled out of the refrigerator when Blake tugged the door open, and Hunter added, "Cam's asleep."

Blake just nodded, still scanning. "I figured."

*Because if he wasn't,* the amulet added idly, *you wouldn't be standing in the kitchen talking to his jewelry.*

She really had the worst timing. He was this close to answering her when he caught himself, smiling innocently at his brother as Blake straightened up. Blake gave him an odd look, somewhere between suspicious and amused, but he didn't comment. "Too wired to sleep," he offered instead. "I'm gonna watch some comedian or something. Wanna join me?"

*Let's see,* the amulet remarked. *Sex with Cam, or TV with Blake. Yes, it is difficult decision.*

Hunter hesitated, and not just because it was hard to ignore that kind of commentary in his head. What if this really was... well, the last night? He complained about sleeping with Cam enough that Blake would never buy it if he said he wanted to go back to bed. And yet--he did. But he didn't want to pass up late night channel surfing with his bro, either. He couldn't help feeling that this might be the last night for a lot of things.

Cam solved his dilemma for him by cracking the bedroom door and squinting out at them. "Blake?" he muttered, the word interrupted by a jaw-splitting yawn.

"Yeah, bro," Blake answered softly. "Sorry to wake you up." The apology was automatic, Hunter knew, but Cam probably appreciated it anyway.

Cam was shaking his head. "You didn't," he mumbled, surprising Hunter. He folded bare arms across his t-shirt-clad chest. "Couldn't sleep. Too restless."

Hunter exchanged glances with Blake. "Yeah," he agreed after a moment. "We know the feeling."

"Wanna catch some late night TV?" Blake suggested. "We were just about to crash on the couch."

No sharp response about the dubious merits of such an activity was forthcoming. Instead, Cam just shrugged a little, nodded once, and yawned again. "Sure," he agreed unexpectedly. "Sounds okay to me."

So he didn't have to choose, after all. Would he later? He passed the amulet back to Cam as they settled on the couch, remembering her words: You should think about what's important to you. And to Cam.

The cushions sagged as Blake claimed his spot on the sofa, triumphantly brandishing the remote control after having fished it out from underneath the chair. Hunter grinned, pretended to tousle with him for it, gave up without any real regret. Blake turned the TV on, artificial noise and laughter invading the quiet room, and Hunter shot a sideways glance at Cam.

The television cast an eerie glow over his features, making his skin look paler than usual and his green shirt look grey. His amulet hung just above his crossed arms, and Hunter studied the two of them for just a minute. He had the strangest feeling that he might never see that image again.

Then Cam looked over at him, wearing a quizzical expression for Hunter's intent gaze. Hunter smiled, saw it returned in kind, and slouched down against the sofa cushions contentedly. No use worrying about tomorrow when they still had tonight.