Chapter 28

You'll Be Alone

Every ounce of adoration and gratitude to the awesome real vampire for beta-ing this chapter! Were it not for vamps handiwork there would be so many more errors and inconsistencies, and I am always grateful and honored to get to work with such a lovely beta! Additional appreciation goes to Kei Luna Shoryu for supplemental beta-ing efforts and all-around cheerleading, for listening to all my rambles for both this story and future ones with equal patience and enthusiasm.

If you guys are looking for more Ninja Storm goodness and still haven't tried out the same two stories I keep recommending (or literally just, any of their stories, they are all good ^_^), check out 'My Brother's Keeper' by the real vampire or 'The Art of Cohesion' by Kei Luna Shoryu. Try new things, live your best life :)


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It was just a stupid front door.

There was nothing particularly special about it in the slightest. It was worn - not new, but not decrepit. Lived in, homey, well-loved maybe – those were better descriptions. Point was, in the grand scheme of doors, this front door was neither too old nor too new, too broken or too whole. It was right in the median; as average as average could be.

Hunter noted its difference from the backdoor he knew so well, a shining sight that had once promised shelter, protection, and freedom. He wondered if the paint was still peeling, or if Eric had given it a fresh coat. Maybe he'd even replaced it altogether.

Or maybe it looked just like this door, save for the fact that it did not bear an impenetrable amount of doom upon Hunter just from the mere sight of it.

Beside him, Fran fidgeted, head swiveling to scan up and down the street for pedestrians. A useless endeavor, as there weren't any.

Hunter wondered how old Alice was, and promptly shoved the thought away.

It was a stupid door.

"Are you going to…?" Fran motioned towards the door, her expression uncertain, as though she doubted Hunter's destination. Perhaps she was concerned, but Hunter didn't know Fran well enough to handle that thought, so he threw that onto the list of 'shit he did not care about' and moved on.

"Gimme a minute," he replied, shoving his hands deeper into his coat pockets.

There was a chance that this was all for nothing anyway. Alex could be done with his mission- Hell, Alex could have finished the whole thing years ago now that he didn't have Hunter around to-

Help? Bother? Comfort?

Hunter wasn't there, was the point, and Alex could just as easily not-be too.

If it was just his old pal Eric and frowny-pants Adam shacked up in the modest two-story house in front of them, it wasn't quite so daunting, was it?

It wouldn't have been, except Hunter remembered how it ended, and maybe they weren't the greatest pals after all. Even in his rage, Hunter wasn't sure what he could have expected from Eric, but maybe some support would have been nice.

Now, in hindsight, he understood the reasoning behind Eric's… well, reasoning, but in the moment it had stung, a secondary betrayal so sharp it struck him silent even now months – years – later, hovering at the end of the Quantum ranger's driveway.

"It's been a minute," Fran noted.

Hunter rolled his eyes, but privately appreciated Fran speaking up. Fran was safe, in a way, something that wasn't so indebted with then and was too new to now to be anything other than neutral. Like, being both then and here made her the best barometer for how he should be acting, even if she wasn't aware of the then-part yet.

Fran opened her mouth, probably to say something else equally 'helpful', and Hunter moved forward, making his way towards the front door.

Walking wasn't hard, see? It was easy. It was just one foot in front of the other without thinking, just as he had done for the majority of his life.

His throat felt tight as he paused, hesitating between knocking on the door and using the doorbell, or hell, just going for the spare key he knew Adam had bullied Eric into keeping around. Would it still be there? Would they still be there?

There was only one way to find out, and Fran took the decision out of his hands by punching the doorbell, eyeing the front door with an intensity that almost rivaled Hunter's, though with an enthusiasm he definitely lacked.

Jesus, he should just leave. What was he doing here, what was he expecting? Alex wasn't going to be here; it was way past his time. Even if that time was relative to the visiting moments, that had been-

The doorknob rustled, tell-tale sign of someone unlocking it from the inside, and the door swung open, revealing Adam in all his glory.

He disappointingly looked pretty much the same. Different shirt, had clearly gotten a haircut recently, but it was the same guy. Seemed like he could be just as dependably consistent with his appearance as he was with mishandling anguished teenagers. How lovely.

Adam paused, but didn't seem all that surprised to see him – not even Fran, when he deemed the brunette worthy of a brief inspection.

Before his nerve was lost, Hunter cut to the chase, putting on his best no nonsense expression with a side of 'no, you will not BS me today'.

"Is he here?" Hunter asked. His stomach was tense, tight and twisted as he delivered the words. He managed to keep it off his face though, and that was the important part.

It probably would have been slightly more effective if someone (–cough– Fran –cough–) would knock it off with the concerned eyes, but it was something. Adam's attention didn't stray from the thunder ninja, and that was what mattered. He

Adam didn't miss a beat either – wasn't thrown, didn't pause, didn't stumble – because Adam was a deceptively collected SOB and had been doing this longer than any of them.

"You can't see him," the black ranger said.

His expression wasn't hard, not cruel in challenge, but there was definiteness to his statement that said he would not be budged on this.

Hunter would have revolted from it simply on principal, were it not for his mind's determined urge to completely lose all train of thought.

Alex was there. Alex was here.

Even with all the posturing and planning and pep-talking, Hunter hadn't actually expected it. Hadn't believed– had known, with unforgivable clarity, that Alex couldn't be here. It had been too long, the mission couldn't– Even if time didn't really matter to Time Force – it had to be over. It had to be done. Hunter wasn't ever supposed to have a shot at closure.

And now here he was, trying not to fall to pieces again, all over the thought of Alex.

"Why not?" Hunter found himself replying before he had collected himself, had fallen into the old defense mechanism of snark and challenge, using the arrogance to guard his jumbled thoughts. "He too busy?"

Adam didn't glare, but he did his rough equivalent, narrowing his eyes in a way that was half-disappointment, half-weariness.

Hunter had never liked that expression; it made the black ranger look old.

"You can't see him," Adam repeated, voice soft, but firm. "He needs…"

He trailed off, but Hunter had no problem filling in the gaps. Tori had forced them to watch enough crappy romantic comedies to be able to recognize the clichés that devolved from long separations.

He needs more time.

Hunter laughed at that, the sound sickeningly bitter with contempt even to his own ears, but he didn't care. Didn't care about Adam's set frown, didn't care about the concern pouring from the two individuals beside him, he didn't care.

All that, for nothing.

"What?" Hunter drawled, smile sharp and predatory on his face. "What does he need?"

"Hunter." There was something unreadable about Adam's expression, and that only served to piss Hunter off more, like he was some kind of child at the spelling bee, awarded a consolation prize just for showing up.

News flash, Hunter didn't want placation; he just wanted to end this.

He needed this to be done, but screw it, if the universe wasn't going to help out with that, he could take a hint. Ignoring and repressing the problem it was then.

There was a hand on his arm – Fran's – but Hunter shook it off, backing away from the doorway.

"Alright," he said. Agreeing to whatever unspoken contract was hanging out there that would allow him to leave. "I got it; we'll just get out of your hair."

Adam's frown was desperate, or insistent, or maybe it was – hey – just a frown, because it wasn't like Hunter was the greatest at reading people anyway. This entire experience could probably support that with examples to spare.

The black ranger moved forward, eyebrows furrowed – distressed. "It's just that now's not a good–"

"Time." Hunter laughed, but there was nothing mirthful about it. He grabbed onto Fran's hand, as the brunette had chosen that moment to go all statue on him, unsure as to where to go. He moved towards his bike. "I get it. Perfectly understandable."

It would figure that a guy who could get all the time in the world would be struggling for more. There was something ironic about that, or maybe that was just Hunter.

"Just give him a few days," Adam continued. "Hell, a few hours Hunter. Just not now, okay? Things are kind of hectic right at the moment." His voice was steady, but his posture betrayed him, the arms crossed defensively over his chest screaming worried. "A few days, and then–"

"I got it," Hunter repeated, handing Fran her helmet.

He wasn't coming back in a few days. He wasn't coming back in a few months. He was done. This was done.

It had been stupid to come here.

"It was good seeing you again, Adam," Hunter lied, shoving on his helmet so it wouldn't be as obvious. It felt better, with his face shielded, natural. Like old times. "Give my regards to your boyfriend."

The bitterness was muffled by the helmet – hopefully – and Adam's reply muted behind the sunshielded visor. Hunter didn't wait for it though, cutting off the black ranger's response with a rev of his engine.

Fran settled in behind him, and though he could feel how her movements were uncertain, like she wanted to stay, she complied. She followed his ground rules because she was a good friend, and Hunter took advantage of that generosity the moment she felt secure on his back.

Hunter pulled out of the driveway and took off down the road, never looking behind him.

If this was going to be a trashy romantic drama, he was going to do this shit right.

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They stopped at a park halfway back to Blue Bay Harbor, because parks, you know, were kind of their thing, and Fran was executing the desperate 'rest stop now or pay the consequences' signal she and Hunter had worked out before this thing had started, back when he was all nerves mingled with dreaded anticipation, instead of resignation and weariness.

He was waiting on a bench, parked outside the smoothie shop Fran had bee-lined for, when a secondary inquiry he had forgotten to bring up with Adam made itself known.

Leo plopped down beside the blond without so much as a 'hello', causing Hunter to roll his eyes.

How the 'Stop sending other rangers after me' thing slipped his mind, he didn't know, but there wasn't much Hunter could do about it now.

"You followed us."

It wasn't a question. It couldn't be a question; it wasn't like Leo was just hanging around parks twenty miles from where he'd been staying the week previously just for funzies.

In his peripherals, Leo shrugged unapologetically. "It seemed like the thing to do."

"You don't have to, you know." He was channeling Dustin up a storm today, jumping halfway through conversations they hadn't had – but Hunter was too tired to dally with pleasantries and a natural conversational path. "It's over, alright?"

Leo caught on, Hunter knew he had, but made no effort to show it.

"What's over?" he asked instead.

Hunter wanted to punch him.

He didn't want to deal with this anymore today. Didn't want to handle the delicate prattling that Fran would inevitably throw his way, didn't want to explain to Leo or his brother or his team or Adam or himself, frankly, the absolute depths of why and how and with what he was done.

"In general," Hunter replied, glossing over the truth with a broad generalization. "It's over, go home."

Hunter wanted it to sound firm, dismissive – but at the end of it he sounded more like a child, petulant and moody, and it pissed him off more. He was better than this.

Leo, who was– honestly, Hunter didn't even know him. He'd broken into the guy's apartment once and there was that one time he'd given the other dude a pep talk– that was nothing in Power Ranger terms. They practically took turns giving pep talks every other day, and for ninjas, breaking and entering was just part of the equation. It happened. There wasn't anything even special about it anymore.

But he – Leo, this virtual stranger – was still here anyway, had showed up anyway, and Hunter was at the point in his life where he really wanted to know why.

He was determining the most offensive way to ask this when Leo broke the silence, his gaze fixed to some kindergarten soccer game in the distance.

"You helped me, you know."

There wasn't more to the statement than that, Leo choosing for Hunter to make the next move. Probably a courtesy, or something.

Or maybe this was just how decent people conversed. Who knew?

"Once a ranger, always a ranger," Hunter mumbled, refusing to look at the brunette. "And all that."

"Could you be serious for five seconds?"

"I'm pretty serious about levity, if that makes you feel better."

Leo turned to face him. "Are you?"

His eyes were blue, sharp and critical– no, more determined, like Shane's when he was being stubborn and leader-y. Must be a red ranger thing.

The need to fix what you perceived as broken, maybe that was a red ranger thing too.

"Sure." Hunter shrugged, but knew it was the wrong choice of words.

It wasn't levity; it was defensiveness, it was a shield, and they both knew it.

There were things Leo wanted to say, Hunter could tell that, even with his gaze turned away as it was. Something mean, or sharp that he wanted to bite back. Bait he could rise too, but wouldn't.

Yeah, that hadn't worked on Alex near the end either.

Hunter needed to stop doing that.

"You saw me at…" There was a swallow – a falter almost, and that was what it took to gain Hunter's attention. He looked at the Lost Galaxy ranger, but Leo's gaze was on his shoes, his eyebrows furrowed in discomfort.

"It was my weakest," Leo settled on, looking up. "One of my weakest, lowest moments in my life, and you were there to see it."

"This isn't a barter system," Hunter replied. "We don't have to go tit for tat."

"No, but we could be, you know, friends." Leo ended it with a grimace, over what, Hunter didn't know. "My brother was dead. He was dead and I wasn't there for him and he was dead and Kai–"

He swallowed again, looking away, and Hunter didn't watch his throat bob. Didn't follow the movement with uncomfortable familiarity. Didn't understand.

He did, but he couldn't. It wasn't practical.

"This isn't a debt being repaid," Leo said suddenly, surprising Hunter with the strength of his tone. "Hunter, I'm not here because I owe you. I'm here because I understand, and sometimes having someone with that knowledge around– it helps, okay? It's nice. You obviously aren't comfortable with the idea of someone sympathizing with your pain, but that's not what I'm here for."

"You're clearly here to get some lecturing out of your system," Hunter drawled, unable to help himself. "If we're going to be honest."

Like before, Leo didn't rise to the bait. "I'm here because I've been there," Leo said. "I'm here because you're my friend, and whether you believe it or not, you're a good guy who deserves closure, who deserves this, and I will stay forever if that's how long it takes for you to understand that."

"And Kai's okay with this?" Hunter asked, using the name because he was actually an asshole, and he had a point to prove.

He didn't know who Kai was, but he was obviously a sore spot for Leo, and that was enough.

Leo though, he didn't take it. "What's your goal here, Hunter?" he asked, eye squinting in frustration. "What happens when you drive me off? What do you get then?"

"I'll be alone, for starters," Hunter replied, getting on his high horse. Finding it, discovering it, whatever.

"Yeah," Leo said, almost sneering. "You'll be alone."

And how would that be better than before?

He didn't say it, but the words hung there all the same, ugly and true.

How would that be better?

The real question here – Hunter thought – was would it be different?

It wouldn't be.

And that was the part of the story Hunter had always known, but futilely – with the same stubbornness he approached rectifying the perceived wrongs done against him – failed to acknowledge.

They always left.

His birth parents– Hunter didn't even remember them anymore; the Bradleys, Sensei Omino– no matter how many times Hunter tried to start over, it always came to the point where the blond was on his own, and that protection of concern, of familial investment, was gone. Blake was the only thing that was constant, but that was a choice made for his brother by someone else, solidified by their deaths. Blake's very existence in Hunter's life was a random stroke of providence that Hunter couldn't dare repeat, and he was beginning to wonder why he had even tried.

This here, this was some teenage angsting at its finest – but even if Hunter tried to trivialize it, he couldn't help but feel justified, validated; that he had the right to this.

The team tolerated him for his morpher, and maybe they were friends, maybe they were family, but maybe they weren't. Part of Hunter wondered that if he didn't care for them, or didn't act on his concern, if maybe they would stick around. Maybe they would get to live longer.

Hunter had sabotaged himself.

He wanted to retcon his intentions, wanted to go back and declare his affection for Alex a result of what he had always known. Alex couldn't stay, how could Alex stay? In what world would that have been possible? Even in Hunter's best-case scenario, Alex couldn't stay behind, and Hunter couldn't go, because that's what star-crossed lovers were (as bitter as he felt using the stupid term, it was appropriate). Alex lived- existed in the future. That was what he did. Hunter would die long before this person came into existence, and Hunter-

He wanted to think he liked Alex because he could have never had him; that his appreciation for Alex was more for the concept than the person. Love without consequence.

Love.

Damn it.

Hunter had destroyed himself, and he couldn't even pretend he had done it on purpose.

There was some kind of messed up logic to that, but Hunter didn't have the strength of mind to sort it from the overwhelming mess of emotions, so he set it aside and let it be, choosing to focus on his surroundings instead.

At some point, he had moved to cradle his head in his hands, his arms bent, resting on his knees. There was an arm around his back – Leo's, or else a really frisky stranger – and another curled against his side, like an awkward half-hug.

He could feel the heat building up behind his eyes, his face warm, throat suddenly thicker, and promptly hated himself for coming to this point for the eighth time in as many days, because no one was worth this much heartache.

"I'm sorry," Leo said, a sound so muted that Hunter almost missed it in the noise of wind around them.

"It's simple logistics," Hunter replied, brushing away the apology and keeping his gaze to the ground, eyes wide and refusing the threat of tears. "Couldn't have happened anyway."

Saying it didn't make it real. It had always been real. Hunter had always known.

If he spent the next ten minutes, folded over, eyes squeezed shut, swallowing down grief, that was no one's business but his own.

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It turned out that Fran had actually finished up earlier during their conversation, but Hunter hadn't noticed her until he had rebuilt his composure, straightening up from his half-crumpled position and squinting into the sunlight.

She was behind the bench a few feet, two Styrofoam cups clasped in her hands, communicating the additional purchase of smoothies on her pit stop. Fran took his glance as permission to join them, and she settled in on Hunter's other side, carefully handing over one of the cups.

It was red. Of course it was.

"For paying customers only," she explained without prompting, fidgeting with the straw of her beverage. Through the plastic lid, Hunter could tell it was yellow. A banana-pineapple mix, or something.

Hunter smiled. It felt appropriate.

"I'm Leo," the brunette offered his hand with an easy smile, shattering Fran's uneasiness with the same charisma that had won Hunter's team over.

"Fran." She accepted the hand with a tentative smile, and they shook over Hunter's lap. The thing that they shared, beneath the grip they shared. Alex would get a kick out of that.

Hey, and now he was going down that road again.

"Whatever you're thinking about," Fran started, a definite frown on her face. "Stop it."

Hunter scowled, glad to be able to dust off his sarcasm after far too many minutes of depression, when Leo interrupted whatever witty remark he was about to make.

"Do you know Alex?" Leo asked Fran, eyes wide, imploring.

"You don't?" Fran's face was pure confusion, cocked to the side in a way that would be adorable, if, you know, Hunter was into that.

Hunter cast off that train of thought in favor of defending himself from the argument Leo was about to unleash, a declaration of inequality that he was still uninformed.

"She's gonna meet him," Hunter explained.

It didn't help Leo's expression any. "Like I already have?"

He frowned. Fran lit up in excitement, no doubt ready to unleash the full tale of Hunter's squalid romance.

Yeah, better cut that off at the head. "Fine," the blond said. "Fine. I'll tell you."

"And maybe you can give us the power ranger-y take on things," Fran added, excitement coming in full force.

"How do you know I'm-?"

"Morpher," Fran and Hunter said at the same time.

They shared a look, Hunter annoyed, Fran brilliant and bright and cheerful, and just like that, Hunter was done.

Kind of. Sort of.

It was a start.


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Endnotes:

You get to find out why it's a 'bad time' next chapter :)

I know this one's short, but the next one makes up for it! Because apparently Alex has more things to say than Hunter ;P

Until next time!