Disclaimer: And so I ask myself, Self, where exactly is Ninja Ops? But it turns out that the answer is unimportant to the story. Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers.

Reciprocity
by Starhawk

The portal flashed behind him, casting momentary shadows across the digital readout. He ignored it, knowing that whoever had come through would call out to him if they saw him. And if they didn't, well, for once he'd be able to get some readings without being interrupted.

Another shadow fell across the readout, and he lifted his head automatically. The skin on his arms tingled, and he didn't have to look around to know who it was. "I feel like I'm being stalked," he muttered aloud.

"Not this time." Hunter's voice sounded amused. Not amused--mocking, as always. There was a difference. "Just a coincidence," the Crimson Ranger added. "I swear."

"Sure it is." He responded without thinking, most of his attention focused on the handheld monitor. The readings were almost complete, and Hunter probably didn't know that blocking the sun was making the readout clearer. "You just happened to be coming through at exactly the same time I was monitoring the portal."

"It's a door, Cam." Hunter's exasperation was obvious, but the mocking note still lurked beneath his words. "We use it all the time."

The device beeped and the readout cleared, indicating it had completed its task. He let his hand fall and turned around, startled in spite of himself by how close Hunter was. The other boy only smirked when he took an instinctive step backwards.

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Cam said, irritated.

"What?" Hunter folded his arms. "I told you, it was just a coincidence."

"Not that." Cam pushed his glasses up on his nose and changed the subject before Hunter could reply. "Look, do me a favor and go back through the portal."

"Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed? I was going the other way," Hunter informed him. "All you have to do is ask and I'll leave you alone with whatever geeky science project you're doing now."

"If you can't spare three seconds for this 'geeky science project' then you can just keep going," Cam snapped. "I didn't ask you to stop and bug me."

Hunter opened his mouth, gave him an odd look, and closed it again. He turned and walked back through the portal without another word. Cam barely got the monitor reset in time, but he managed to capture the appropriate readings when Hunter reemerged. He didn't know whether to rebuke the other Ranger or thank him.

"So?" Hunter asked, making his way back toward Cam. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a way to mask the effects of the portal," he muttered. He had taken these same readings before, and yet they weren't identical. What if the portal responded differently to Rangers than to regular ninjas?

"Not to point out the obvious or anything," Hunter said dryly, "but aren't the effects kind of important? Holographic projection, teleportation, that kind of thing?"

"I'm not going to shut it down." Cam frowned at the monitor in lieu of glaring at Hunter, which was what he really wanted to do. Sometimes he was sure the other Ranger misunderstood on purpose. "I'm just trying to keep other people from stumbling over it."

"Yeah, I worry about that a lot." Hunter's sarcasm couldn't have been more obvious. "This isn't even the middle of nowhere; it's the far distant outskirts of nowhere. There's nothing but logging roads for miles."

Cam didn't bother to look up. "It's called recreational land use, Hunter, I'm sure you've heard of it."

"That's funny, coming from you!" Hunter retorted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cam told the monitor. He had been sparring just the other day, and Hunter had seen him coding the night before. Now suddenly he didn't know how to have fun? "I'm going back inside to download these readings into the mainframe."

"That's what I'm talking about!" Hunter exclaimed. "That's exactly it! When was the last time you just hung out?"

"I don't have time to 'just hang out'," Cam informed him. "I do have work to do, you know."

"You mean you make work to do," Hunter corrected. "Who cares whether the portal is masked or not? It's never been a problem before, and now you're using the one afternoon when there aren't any zord repairs, upgrades, or morpher diagnostics to fix something that doesn't even need it!"

"You know who decides what needs to be done around here?" Cam demanded. "Me. I decide, because no one else pays any attention! So if I say the portal needs to be masked, it doesn't matter whether it's ever been a problem before. It's getting done."

"Maybe no one else pays attention because you don't bother to tell them what's going on," Hunter retorted. "The only reason you do everything is because you won't let anyone else do it!"

"No one else knows how to do it!" Cam exclaimed.

"So show us!" Hunter shot back. "We're not stupid, you know! We can learn!"

Cam waved the monitor at him. "Does this mean anything to you? Do you even know what it says?"

"Since when do you let us play with your toys?" Hunter wanted to know. "Did it ever occur to you that if something happened to you the rest of us would be screwed?"

Cam frowned. It had crossed his mind, once or twice, but there never seemed to be time to do anything about it. "There's a backup," he muttered uncomfortably.

"Programmed and operated by you," Hunter pointed out. "What would any of us be able to do if he got all weird on us again? More weird than he already is for being like you, I mean."

"Gee, thanks," Cam said, rolling his eyes. "Now you see why I haven't tried to train any of you. I'm just the one with the geeky science projects. Can you really see any of the others wanting to learn about this stuff? Would you?"

"Yeah," Hunter said, surprising him. "I would. It's only geeky 'cause I can't do it," he added, flashing a smirk in Cam's direction.

"Prove it," Cam challenged him. "Help me test some masking scenarios for the portal."

"No." Hunter folded his arms. "Come to Storm Chargers with me now, and I'll learn everything there is to know about holographic entryways and masking effects later."

"What's so great about Storm Chargers?" Cam wanted to know. "You work there; why do you always hang around when you don't have to?"

Hunter just looked at him. His expression somehow managed to be smug and long-suffering at the same time. He didn't say anything, and finally Cam got it.

"This is different," he said defensively. "The Rangers--"

"Are work," Hunter interrupted. "This isn't. Come on; my bike's at the shop."

"So?" Cam demanded. He wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"So I hear Dustin's been teaching you to ride," Hunter replied. His gaze was just as challenging as Cam's, and he let the statement stand on its own.

"Teaching, yes," Cam grumbled, privately horrified by the idea of Hunter seeing him on the track. "Successfully, no."

Hunter actually smiled, and there was no hint of mockery in the look. "Good," he said, sounding oddly satisfied. "Might as well learn from the best."

"Could you try to be a little more arrogant?" Cam snapped. He knew there had to be a dozen ways to get out of this, and he couldn't think of a single one. "It's so disheartening to see you doubt yourself like this."

"Only if you'll try to be more sarcastic," Hunter answered. He plucked the device from Cam's fingers and gave it a disinterested look. "This coming with?"

"That's going back inside where it belongs," Cam said firmly. "Try not to break it."

Hunter backed away, waving the monitor in a casual salute. "Don't go anywhere," he called, flipping the device from one hand to the other as he turned toward the waterfall.

Watching him go, Cam could only sigh. It didn't look like that was an option.