Category: TV Show » Power Rangers

Author: Twix3780

Language: English

Rated: Fiction T

Genre: Angst

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

She couldn't believe it. He had lied. He had lied to her face for months. Blake Bradley was working for Lothor. All the months he had spent with her, fighting against Lothor, trying to protect the world, it was all a lie to hide the truth of his deception.

At first, she hadn't wanted to believe Cam when he had revealed the truth at Ninja Ops, but after he had supplied proof of the Bradley's betrayal; Tori knew that she couldn't deny it any longer. The look of hurt and betrayal must have shown on her face, she knew it had to have because the minute the brothers had revealed their true colours Shane and Dustin had tried to comfort her. But she didn't want their comfort. She wanted to be alone. This was why she had fled Ninja Ops without as much as a backward glance.

Tori slammed the door to her apartment and run into her bedroom. She didn't know what to think right now. Her heart was racing inside her chest, her breathing was coming in short, panicked gasps, and her head was spinning. Everything was happening too damn fast for her to keep up.

"Hey, are you OK?"

Tori spun around at the voice. His voice. He stood, as if nothing had happened, in her doorway. She glared at him. "Come to finish off the job?" she asked.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"You know damn well what I am talking about," Tori said harshly. "I know what you did to Dustin and Shane. Do you have any idea how lucky Dustin is? You could have done serious damage, Blake! Damn it!"

Blake frowned. "Whoa, wait a second, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"You're working for Lothor!" Tori yelled. "Don't try and deny it. I know you are. I have proof."

Blake shook his head. "It's not what you think," he said.

"Oh, and what do I think?" Tori asked, folding her arms.

"That I used you," Blake answered. "Just let me explain, please?"

Tori shook her head. "I don't need you to explain anything," she said. "The facts speak for themselves. You need to leave."

"No, I'm not leaving," Blake said. "Not until we talk."

Tori felt her heart pound. She didn't have the strength, emotional or physical, to deal with this right now. She also knew that he wouldn't leave until he had said his piece. She sighed and shook her head. "Fine," she said. "Explain. Explain to me how you could stand in front of me for months and lie to my face. I can only guess what you've been planning with Lothor, putting my friends in harm's way only begins to cover your deception."

"Tori, I -"

"I'm not finished," Tori interrupted. "I stood in front of my sensei and defended you because I truly believed you were a good guy, and now I have no idea who you are. How do you think that makes me feel? How do you think that makes me look? I put my friendship with Shane and Dustin on the line for you, and this is how you repay me. The others trusted you because I trusted you, now I know it was a mistake. I put my heart on the line for you; I actually believed that I could love you. So tell me, Blake, who's the fool, me or you?"

Her breathing was coming hard and fast, and tears had appeared in her eyes. She was doing everything she could to stop herself from just slapping him. God knows she wanted to so badly.

Blake lowered his gaze. He couldn't help but feel the regret, remorse, and hurt that bubbled inside him. He hadn't have meant to hurt her so bad, but the fact remained that he had. He should've realised that he couldn't hide from her forever. But he had also never meant to fall in love with her either. It wasn't part of the plan.

"Tori, please," Blake said, speaking finally. "I would never have let anything happen to you. You have to believe me when I tell you that I was doing all this for you, so I could protect you. I only agreed to follow Lothor so that I could find out what he had planned for you, yeah, I lied to you about my true reasons, but what happened between you and me along the way, that's all true. It's all real, and I'm not going to apologise for that. You're angry with me, I get that, you have every right to be, but please don't walk away from us."

Blake walked closer and reached out a hand.

Tori pulled back, putting enough distance between them. "You need to leave, Blake," she said. "You need to leave, and never come back."

Blake didn't move. He stood in the same spot, staring at her. Almost like he hadn't heard her. But he had. He had heard her clear as day. But that didn't mean he had to listen. She was hurt, he could understand that, but what she was saying was because of that hurt. She didn't mean it. She couldn't.

"Look at me," said Blake, his voice shaking. "Look at me and tell me you want me to leave. I can't take your word for granted unless you look me in the eye and tell me."

Tori took a deep, steady breath, and raised her gaze to meet his. "You need to leave," she said.

Before she knew it, Blake had closed the distance between them. Tori bit back a squeak as he cornered her against the far wall of her bedroom. He wasn't that much taller than her, but just enough that she had to look up to see his face. She could feel his breath on her face, and couldn't help but get lost in his dark eyes.

"You know what I think?" Blake asked. "I think you don't mean that. You're just angry at me right now; you don't want me to go. You're afraid of what we have. Face it, Tor, me working for Lothor isn't what you're really angry about. You're angry because, despite knowing the truth about me, it doesn't change how you feel."

He ran his fingers down her arm, leaving goosebumps in his wake.

"You want this, you want us, and the only thing that is stopping you is your fear of what the others will think," Blake continued. "We both know that your friends will never approve. But isn't that part of the fun, Tor? Isn't that what makes the possibility of us so exciting? The forbidden-ness of what we have, what we're doing, it's both exciting and nerve-wracking. I don't need to hear your heartbeat to know that I'm driving you crazy."

Tori tore her gaze away from his and closed her eyes. She drew herself further into the wall, hoping to put some distance between them again, and even folded her arms across her body, putting an invisible barrier between them.

Blake brushed her hair aside and leaned in. "It's your move," he whispered in her ear.

Tori opened her eyes as she heard the slamming of her front door. Blake was gone.

Releasing the breath she had been holding, Tori looked down at her hands and clenched them into fists to try and stop them from shaking. But it didn't help. She sank to the floor and buried her head in her arms. A shudder ran down her spine as one thought passed her mind. What the hell was she going to do now?