Dark Dreamers V

Disclaimer- Disney owns the Power Rangers, Wes Craven owns Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare series. I have no rights to either of these so please don’t sue me. All I own are the characters I come up with.

AN- As always thanks go to Carla, you rock girl!

“Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.”- Anonymous

Chapter Four: Facing the Nightmare Pt. 1

“What’s that?”

“A Super Computer.”

“What does it do?”

“It… well, runs programs and is also used to monitor the city.”

Bright eyes watched with unwavering interest as Cam’s fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up a program of the Zord schematics. A 3D version of the Samurai Star Chopper spun around, pointing out various parts, stating that nothing was wrong. After Cam exited out the program, Katie turned to look up at him. “Daddy, do you love Mommy?”

“… I… there’s always a part of me that will love your mother.” Cam said, surprising himself. It was true though; he still had feelings for his old flame, which wasn’t exactly a good thing since he was sort of seeing someone else.

“Did you want to be a daddy?”

Cam tried not to grimace; Katie was most definitely his daughter. “I… well, yes, I did, and I still do.”

“Will I see you more now?”

“I hope so.” Cam blinked; he had accepted his daughter with ease, most of his anger with Micky fading. Subconsciously he had wanted a family with her, but when she left… it tore his heart out. He sighed softly; he really wanted to be a part of Katie’s life. “We’ll talk with mommy when she comes back, okay?”

Katie nodded and snuggled close to Cam. “Kay.”

Footsteps leading into Ninja Ops caught both father and daughter’s attention. Cam turned in his chair, seeing Dustin followed by Hayley coming into Ops. Katie’s face lit up when she saw her uncle, squirming out of Cam’s arms, she ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. “Uncle Dusty!”

Dustin couldn’t help but grin as he scooped Katie into his arms, spinning around once. “There’s my number one girl.” His gaze met Cam’s, his tone then turned considerably cool. “There’s been a problem.”

Cam had stood to greet Hayley, kissing her cheek as he did. When his gaze met Dustin’s, he immediately knew something was wrong. “What happened?”

“Krueger.” Dustin spat, venom in his voice, startling Katie. “He attacked Kim, then Micky.”

Cam felt his blood turn to ice. What? “Are they…?”

Dustin glanced down at his beloved niece who was hanging onto his every word. “They’ll be fine. Sensei’s patching them up in the infirmary.” He was saying something else, but Cam didn’t hear him, he flew past Hayley and Dustin in a flash of green.

Dustin felt then saw Cam rush past them, he fought back a grin. “Not over her my foot,” he muttered. He threw a look at Hayley, who was staring after Cam. This will probably get ugly real quick, he thought before clearing his throat.

The redhead looked at the Yellow Ranger, extremely confused. She then got a real good look at the toddler he held in his arms. She had bright brown almond shaped eyes, dark brown almost black hair. She could feel her heart sink, but forced herself to walk toward them. She smiled, albeit it was forced, at the child. “Hi.”

Katie smiled back, ever trusting. “Hi.”

“I’m Hayley, what’s your name?”

“Katie.”

“Where are your mommy and daddy?”

“Mommy went for a walk and Daddy just left.”

Hayley’s brow furrowed in confusion, there was no way… Cam would have told her. It had to be a mistake. She looked to Dustin to confirm; as he nodded grimly Hayley shook her head in denial, though she knew it was true. “Did he…”

“No, he found out earlier.”

Hayley walked past him, with a determined look on her face.

Dustin sighed and quickly followed after her. This was really going to get ugly.

XxX

Kim hissed in pain as Tommy gently dabbed aneseptic on the cuts on her arm. They were shallower than she had guessed but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. “Ow!”

“I’m sorry Kim,” Tommy said, looking regretful. He picked up several gauze pads, gently placing them onto Kim’s wounds. He then wrapped an Ace bandage around her arm. His gaze met hers and they both smiled shyly at each other. Tommy then glanced over at Sensei who was tending to Micky’s wounds. She was lying on her stomach; her eyes were closed as if she were in a peaceful sleep. “Is she going to be okay Sensei?”

“Is she asleep?” Kim added, feeling concerned for someone she didn’t know. Yet she felt like she did in a way.

“She is not asleep exactly Kim, Micky is in a healing sleep where the entity cannot reach her.” Sensei turned to Tommy. “Micky will be fine Tommy, I’m quite sure she will make a full recovery.”

Tommy nodded then followed Sensei out into the hallway to speak with him. As soon as the door closed behind them, Tommy immediately began to voice his concerns.

“I don’t like this Sensei, first Kim gets attacked then Micky, and now with Blake and Trent… gone as well, how will we defeat this guy?”

Sensei held up a hand. “I understand your concerns Tommy. I have already recruited Micky as the Fire Ranger; Kimberly mentioned that there was another gem?”

Tommy nodded then pulled out a shimmering green gem on a gauntlet out of his jeans pocket. “For the saber tooth tiger, Kim’s it, I know it; the gem’s already responding to her.”

Sensei nodded. “As soon as Kim and Micky are able, I propose we conduct a training session.”

Tommy’s brow wrinkled with slight confusion then rose in understanding. “A training session, good idea.”

“Yes, meditation to strengthen the mind and sparring for the body.”

Tommy nodded then saw a green blur come into his vision. Cam skidded to a stop in front of them, looking less than composed that Tommy was used to seeing the Samurai.

“Dad… is Micky--”

“She is fine Cameron. She’s resting.” When Cam made his way to go into the infirmary, Sensei stopped him. “Now is not the time my son.”

Cam started to protest but then nodded.

Sensei looked like he was trying to hold back a smile. “Cam, would you please get the other Rangers, Hayley, Katherine and Jason and take them to Ninja Ops?”

Cam nodded, “Sure Dad.” He nodded to Tommy then turned and made his way out of the infirmary wing.

XxX

Shane was pacing to blow off steam, though he was well aware of seven pairs of eyes watching him. His hand unconsciously gripped Krueger’s hat. It really shouldn’t have surprised him that Micky pulled it out of her dream, but it did. He had seen all the Nightmare movies, who hadn’t? They had all gone to see the most recent one, Freddy vs. Jason then immediately picked at it afterward over pizza. It just hadn’t been up to their horror movie standards.

“Was it just me or was that the worst one ever?” Tori inquired as they made their way out of the Hollywood Cinema.

It was a few days after Lothor had been destroyed and the Ninja students had come home safely. It was the only evening that they all could get together before classes officially started and Blake would be preparing to leave for Factory Blue. Dustin suggested they go see a movie to celebrate the homecoming of Micky, who had been one of the many students on Lothor’s ship, and an unofficial going away party for Blake. It was bittersweet to say the least

“No lie,” Dustin agreed. “Should’ve just left it with New Nightmare; that was the best one since the first one.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Blake said more to Tori than the others. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Yeah right, it was just an excuse for pure gore, if you could call it that, and why is it that every new movie has a new set of teens?”

“What do you mean?” Cam asked.

“She’s referring to the sixth movie, Freddy’s Dead, where all the children from Springwood are dead and all the adults basically have lost their minds.” Micky said. “And did anyone else find it weird that they drove from Springwood to New Jersey in under a half hour?”

Hunter glanced at Micky. “Say what?”

“Friday the 13th was filmed and supposedly set in New Jersey, Springwood is in Ohio.”

“Only in the movies Mick,” Shane chimed in. “Only in the movies.” He grinned at her. “Why don’t you write a script?”

“Maybe I will.” Micky said before rolling her eyes at Shane’s previous comment. “Only in stupid movies.” She inhaled deeply and looked up at the night sky, ecstatic to be home. She felt Cam wrap an arm around her and she smiled at him.

They arrived at a Pizza Hut a few minutes later; snagging a large booth in the back that was fairly private. Despite it being a Saturday night, the place was slow.

Micky snagged a breadstick from the basket and downed half of it happily, ignoring stares from her friends, brother and boyfriend. She swallowed the garlicky bread. “What?”

They all shook their heads, knowing better not to pry in a public place. Shane changed the subject, reaching for a breadstick. “So now that you’re back, what’re gonna do?”

She shrugged, finishing off her breadstick. “Dunno, you guys are all teachers and college students now, as far as everyone knows I’m a dropout.”

Dustin shook his head. “No way, did you really think we would let that happen?”

“Yeah Micky, you should know us better than that.” Tori said smiling.

“So what did you do?”

Dustin suddenly looked uncomfortable. “I uh, had to tell mom and dad that Lothor attacked the Academy and that we were Rangers. They made it so you were taking a year off to… travel.

She nodded, remembering the reunion at the graduation ceremony. “I’m glad you told them.”

“Shane?”

Shane turned, seeing Hayley quickly making his way toward them with Dustin on her heels and Katie in his arms. The Red Wind Ranger inwardly winced; though he’d known the Dino Rangers tech support briefly he knew not to get on her bad side. He really didn’t envy Cam right now. “Hayley,” Shane began when she reached him, “I know this looks… bad, but really Cam just found out about Katie right before you guys got here.”

“But you’ve known about her.” Hayley countered, she had all but demanded an explanation from Dustin on their way to meet the others.

Shane sighed. “Yeah, I have, I, we,” Shane corrected,”all found out shortly after Mick and Cam broke up. She asked us not to tell Cam, I think she should have, but she was afraid Katie would get caught in the crossfire. It got really ugly between them towards the end.” When Hayley still didn’t look convinced, Shane continued. “Micky’s like my sister and we all told her to tell Cam, so that he could at least help her out, but she didn’t. They hurt each other really bad, so Mick packed up and moved to San Diego.”

“She was in Reefside for Blake’s race, right? So why didn’t she tell him then?” Hayley asked, recalling briefly meeting Dustin’s sister over two years ago. At the time she’d been several months pregnant and she hadn’t thought anything else about it, until now.

“She was going to, but Cam got wind that she was coming he avoided her like the plague.”

“And I’ve regretted it ever since.”

Hayley turned, face to face with Cam. “Cam…”

“You and I should talk.” He looked at Shane over Hayley’s shoulder, “Dad wants everyone down in Ops; we’ll be down there in a few minutes.”

Shane nodded then turned to the group. “C’mon guys.”

Everyone was unusually quiet as they filed past Cam and Hayley. Tori, who had taken Katie from Dustin, patted Cam’s shoulder, silently wishing her friend good luck. Hunter did the same then wrapped an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder as they made their way to Ops.

Cam sighed and looked at Hayley. “I want to apologize; I should have warned you about Katie.”

Hayley echoed Cam’s sigh. “It’s not necessary; I shouldn’t have flown off the handle. But I think you and Micky should resolve what happened between you two so that you can move on… because it’s obvious that you still care for her.”

Cam started to protest but realized she was right, despite all the hate he’d felt in the past, he still… cared for Micky, that much he would admit. He nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk to her when she wakes up.”

XxX

When Tommy went back into the infirmary he saw that Micky was still asleep, but Kim had moved onto her bed. The former Ranger had a hand on Micky’s shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. The young woman murmured something that sounded like Katie, and then settled down, her head turning toward the wall.

Kim looked up, her eyes meeting Tommy’s. She smiled tentatively. “I thought you would’ve gone with Sensei.”

“I was, but I had to do something first.” He eyed Micky. “Maybe we should go Kim,” he said, despite what had gone on before it was suddenly awkward between them.

He hated it.

Kim felt it as well. Nodding, she stood up. They silently made their way out the infirmary room and into the hallway. Kim closed the door firmly then leaned against it, the day’s events catching up with her and it wasn’t even ten in the morning! She sighed. “I don’t think I can take much more of this,” she murmured.

Tommy’s gaze met sharply with hers. “Don’t you dare give up Kimberly. You are one of the strongest people I have ever known. I, we, are not going to let this bastard win.”

Kim managed a small smile. “What did you need to do?”

He gave her a blank look before remembering about the gem. “Oh, right. You know about the gem we found right?” When Kim nodded, he went on. “Well just recently we unearthed it, but since there was really no use for it, it was put away.”

“Until now,” Kim said quietly.

Tommy nodded. “Until now.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gauntlet, the green gem firmly in place. He held it out to her, “the gem’s already begun to respond to you.”

Kim looked at the gem then at Tommy. “I…”

“Please, Kim.”

Kim nodded and held her hand out; her hand was only a few inches away from the gauntlet before it jumped out of Tommy’s hand and onto Kim’s wrist.

Kim gasped; she saw a flash of the saber tooth tiger, a mighty roar erupting from it. She felt a wave of déjà vu wash over her as she recalled feeling the same way when she had morphed into the Mighty Morphin’ Pink Power Ranger.

“Kim? Kimberly?”

Kim blinked, her gaze refocusing onto Tommy’s. “I’m fine,” she murmured firmly.

Tommy started to press her more when footsteps began to sound through the hallway. At the same time the infirmary door gently began to click open. Kim turned, surprised when Micky walked out, seemingly a lot better than before.

Tommy raised an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

Micky sighed. “I was, but it’s kind of hard to do when you’re worried about your daughter. I knew I was supposed to rest and heal but getting to Katie is my priority right now.” At Tommy and Kim’s doubtful looks, she held up her hands to ward them off. “Don’t worry I’m not going to go off falling asleep, I just want to be with my daughter.”

“I can understand,” Kim said with a smile.

Micky smiled back. “Where are the others?”

“Kanoi mentioned that he would be meeting the others in… Ninja Ops?” Tommy said.

Micky nodded, her face darkening slightly. “The Ranger headquarters when Lothor was attacking.” She attempted to tame her hair some but figured it was a lost cause. “I know where it is.” She started off down the hall.

Kim looked up at Tommy then they both followed after Micky.

XxX

After fiddling with the many keys on the Super Computer, Blake and Trent were able to get a window to the outside world. They could see and hear what was going on, but they no one on the other side could see or hear them. They had figured since Krueger was using the computer to get to them, why not try to use it to see their friends?

Blake smiled when he saw his friends. His smile grew more when he saw Katie; she’d grown so much since he’d last seen her, which had been her first birthday. After all this is over, Blake thought, I’m going to take some time off and just catch up with everyone. He sighed. Not being around was how I lost Tori in the first place.

“Blake?”

Blake blinked and turned to Trent. “What’s up?”

“Do you really think our friends can beat this guy? He’s not like Mesogog or Lothor. He knows our deepest, darkest fears and will use them against the Rangers.”

“I know,” Blake sighed. “But I have faith in my friends, they’ll beat this guy.”

“I hope you’re right, for both our sakes.”

XxX

It was fairly quiet in Ninja Ops despite the large amount of people inside. But with the attacks on their friends had all of them thinking, different things yet in a way they were the same.

Kira and Conner were shoulder-to-shoulder kneeling at the low table; Kira’s hazel gaze was fixated on Katie. It was hard to believe that Cam was a dad but he was. Thinking about that had Kira wondering about the future, if they were going to have one. If they were, would she and Conner marry? Start a family of their own? If she never sold another record again, it wouldn’t matter to her, even though she had wanted that for the longest time. It wouldn’t matter if they didn’t defeat Krueger. They had to.

Conner’s hand suddenly covered hers. As if he knew exactly what she was thinking. Hazel orbs met warm honey ones. She tried to smile but failed.

His hand gently squeezed hers. Words didn’t need to be said, they understood each other perfectly. He leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to her temple. “I will never let anything happen to you,” he murmured.

Kira smiled. “Just promise me you won’t get yourself killed in the process.”

Conner smiled. “You got it babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.”

XxX

Tori sighed and leaned into Hunter’s embrace, Katie dozing in her lap. It just didn’t seem fair, why Blake and Trent? Why them? They didn’t deserve this. This was nothing they had ever seen before, with little to no time to prepare for it. She knew even if –or when—they “died” they wouldn’t die for real. But it didn’t make it any better.

“Hey,” Hunter murmured to her, not wanting to wake the munchkin up. “I know that look.”

Tori couldn’t help but smile as she looked at Hunter. “Just thinking…”

“About Krueger.”

She nodded. “Yeah, and Blake and Trent; I miss them.”

Hunter pulled her closer. “I do too; we’ll get this bas…” he glanced down at Katie who was looking up at him. “Bad guy and make sure he pays for this.”

Tori suppressed a giggle, Hunter was the most likely to swear when he was angry or upset, but he managed to keep it in check when Katie was around, since she had a tendency to repeat what she heard.

“Hey,” Hunter said when he saw her trying not to smile and knew what she was thinking. “Kids’ mind is like a sponge.”

“Just like her mom and dad,” Tori said smiling down at Katie.

XxX

Tap. Tap. Click-click. Tap. Tap.

Hayley was watching Cam from the table, but he paid her no mind. Which was fine with her, it gave her time to think.

How did she keep falling for men whose hearts belonged to other women? First she fell for Tommy who still held a torch for Kim; now Cam with Micky, though he said he was over her.

Micky; what kind of a name was that for a woman? Sounded like a name for a famous Disney mouse. She heard bits and pieces from Dustin and Tommy. She was an Earth Ninja, though she trained in other elements and had been learning the way of the Samurai as well. She rode motocross like her brother. And she had a child with Cam. Now she was a Ranger.

Hayley began to think back when she’d seen Micky. It had been at Blake’s race in Reefside. They hadn’t spoken but Hayley had seen and heard a conversation between Dustin and Tommy.

“This is great, man,” Dustin said, taking a swig of water. “We all haven’t been together in ages, feels good.”

Tommy smiled. “Too bad Cam had to leave all of a sudden.”

“Yeah,” Dustin said, unconsciously looking at his sister who was with Tori, Hunter and Blake who were well out of earshot. “Too bad.”

Tommy noticed this and changed the subject. “So, does your sister know what she’s having yet?”

Dustin shook his head, “nah, she says she wants to be surprised so she’s got awhile to go.”

Tommy’s brow furrowed. “But she looks like she’s due in soon.”

“Yeah, that happens when you’re having twins.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, she’s five months along.”

“I see, she and her husband must be excited.”

“She is, but the father doesn’t know.”

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s not like she had some one-night stand. She and this guy were really serious but they got into a huge, pointless I might add, fight, broke up and she left. She found out she was pregnant after she left.”

“And she didn’t even tell him?” Tommy asked, eyebrow high with confusion.

“And tell him what? He was gonna be a dad when he didn’t want to be?”

“I guess not, but he has rights.”

“Yeah, she’ll tell him eventually.”

So what had happened? Apparently Katie had a twin, what had happened to him or her? Miscarriage, perhaps, or adoption? Hayley didn’t know and it was none of her business. When all of this was over, and she and he were still together, he would tell her.

XxX

Katie. Katie Miko. Katie Miko Brooks? Or Katie Miko Watanabe? Cam didn’t know his own daughter’s last name. Which he should. Then again if he hadn’t been such an ass, he would’ve known about Katie. Closing his eyes, he could remember the day Micky left; it was as if it were yesterday.

She was packing a bag, her back turned to him. It wasn’t exactly packing, more like stuffing most of her possessions into a huge duffle. The tension was thick in their bedroom. Stubbornly, he turned to the window, watching the water patterns from the rain. Through the rain he could see across the courtyard of their apartment complex, Tori and Hunter were running through the rain, towards Dustin and Shane’s apartment.

Micky zipping up her bag got his attention. He turned, watching her sling the bag over her shoulder, moving to walk out the door. Their eyes met briefly, he could see her holding the tears back. She swallowed tightly and made her way out of the door.

“So that’s it,” he said following her. “You’re leaving without a fight.”

She stopped, keeping her back to him. “I have been fighting for us Cam,” she murmured. “You won’t fight, and I’m tired of waiting.” She turned to face him, tears running unchecked down her face. “I’ll always love you Cam. Goodbye.” Turning, she hurried to the door and just as she laid her hand on the door.

“Micky, wait.”

She turned; a slight hopeful look in her eyes.

There was so much he wanted to say. Ask her to stay, talk it out, fight, whatever but don’t let her leave. But he didn’t. All he could say was: “Goodbye Michaela.”

It nearly killed him when her face crumpled in pain just before she bolted out the door. As he heard her footsteps fade, it hit him. What the hell was he doing? He loved her and he was letting her leave. “Micky!” Cam cried as he took off after her.

She was halfway across the courtyard when he burst out of the building. In the distance he saw a taxi waiting for her. “Micky!”

She didn’t break her stride, but only picked up the pace just short of streaking. No… Cam thought as he ignored his burning lungs as he chased after her. He almost caught up with her as she practically dove into the cab. He heard her yell at the cabbie to go. Cam skidded to a stop to avoid going into traffic. The rain mixed in with tears as the cab merged with traffic. “Micky… don’t go. I’ll always love you.”

Cam found himself blinking back tears of pain. He hadn’t thought about that day in years. Thinking about it he found himself pointing out all the chances he had to stop her. If he had, would she have stayed? More than likely. What if he followed her? Would he catch up with her? And if so, what would he, could he say? Would they marry if he asked? Would they be happy? Too many questions, but no answers to them.

He sighed. When they had gone to Reefside to aid the Dino Rangers, he’d caught wind of Micky’s visit. It had been five months since she had left, the wound still raw, so he had left to avoid seeing her. If he had stuck around, he would’ve known he was going to be a father. But he didn’t, she had gone back to San Diego and he started seeing Hayley earlier this year. She deserved better… because he still loved Micky.

But what to do? He couldn’t exactly blurt it out to her, well he could he just didn’t know how she would react.

Cam tapped a few keys, pulling up the surveillance system of the school grounds. He saw Micky, Tommy and Kim walking in the direction of Ops. He smiled, still as stubborn as ever. First chance he got, he would pull her aside and they would clear the air between them then he would tell her he still loved her and could only hope she still felt the same.

To Be Continued

AN2- Yes, my romantic side is showing. Anyway, next week’s chapter has been giving me some problems but I will work to have it out on time. If not next Friday then sometime that weekend. Until next week.

CamFan4Ever