This one's from Hunter's POV, because I realized—There's only, like, two, maybe three episodes where Cam has a scene with Lothor, and that's a while to wait to meet the main bad guy and yeah, I'm not really following the episodes anyway, but. I just wanted to do Hunter. .

Title: All Of This Past
By foggynite
Fandom: Power Rangers Ninja Storm Vampire AU
Pairing: Cam/Hunter eventually, Blake/Tori
Summary: The new ninjas in town reveal themselves, and also their grudge against Sensei Watanabe.

With a sigh, Hunter leaned back in his padded computer chair and propped his feet on the mahogany desk, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Papers were trapped under his boots, but he didn't care. He was tired of all this planning and scheming crap. He just wanted a good fight.

Lothor insisted they study their opponents to learn their fighting styles and personal habits, but that wasn't Hunter's MO. He'd take an all out brawl over this covert bull any day. Their benefactor had even gone so far as to orchestrate disturbances to draw the rangers out so the two brothers could watch, and the senseless killing of vampires right in front of him didn't sit well with the elder Bradley. It just didn't seem right to sit back and wait for an opening at the dojo when they could see the rangers murdering people.

Why couldn't he just challenge Watanabe? If the guy was as tough as the gossip on the streets made him out to be, then he wouldn't back down. Hunter hadn't believed that Watanabe was on "sabbatical" any more than the rest of the city, but it wasn't until Lothor had revealed the details of his last encounter with the ranger that things started to make sense.

Hunter dropped his legs to the floor and stood, taking a moment to stretch the kinks out of his back. The heavy curtains were drawn tight, and the only light in the hotel suite was a dim yellow desk lamp. He clicked it off with a vicious twist. His vision was better in the dark anyway.

Lothor had set them up at the downtown hotel. It was one of many that the half-witch half-vampire owned, so Hunter didn't feel too bad accepting the free accommodations. It was better than working as a mechanic for some human who had no idea what he was. Better than having to go out during the day, too.

He was lucky to be lamia and not a made-vampire. The sun didn't burn him exactly. It was just there with this overwhelming presence he could feel sapping his strength. No matter how far into the shadows he went, it was still hanging over him.

Like he could feel its position in the sky even with the curtains closed now, and he sighed again, walking over to the small kitchenette in the corner. The suite was set up as an apartment, a tiny one granted, but it suited their needs. He didn't plan for them to be in town long.

Yanking open the fridge door, he surveyed the contents with a frown. Leftover pizza, some stale bagels, bottled water. Dark glass bottles of what looked like wine. He hesitated before picking one up.

Blake would be pissed if he found out how much he'd been drinking, but Hunter had to keep his strength up if they were going to get through this in one piece. It was only cow's blood anyway. Lothor had a deal with a local butcher, so it was fresh, too.

His parents had never let him even taste the stuff, let alone offered him an endless supply, and he could understand why. This was the first case Lothor had sent over since they arrived, and he'd already gone through three bottles, but the rush it gave... It was better than the pig's blood he'd gotten in the last city, and he was surprised at the difference. He'd barely touched the other bottles, but he was drinking these more than he was eating normal food.

Which was part of the reason he hesitated. He set the bottle on the counter and stared at it, fists clenched. He could honestly admit to himself that the cravings disturbed him. Only made vampires needed blood to survive, but he couldn't access his lamia powers without it.

Yet he had been raised to believe humans and vampires could co-exist, and that he didn't need his powers to reach his full potential. He didn't know if his birth mother had felt that way, but that was what the Bradleys believed and that was what they taught to their sons. They'd made sure they lived in a community that supported diversity and accepted the fact that a human ninja and a made-vampire were raising a warlock and a lamia. His parents were rangers, true, but they had had no quarrel with anyone, and their violent deaths had been reported with shock. It had only been three years since they were murdered, and the memories still gave Hunter nightmares.

For all his training, he hadn't been able to save them. He'd been weak. Lothor understood that and had gotten him the blood despite the man's own reservations about it. Blake had freaked the first time he caught Hunter drinking it. Seeing his brother near tears had almost made him quit, but. Lothor was right; he couldn't protect Blake without it. It was something that Hunter needed to do.

But how could he explain it all to Blake? His little brother hadn't been there. Hadn't had to watch. Cursed or not, the creep who killed their parents in cold-blood was in the city at that moment, and Hunter wanted to put a stop to the murders.

He knew Blake wasn't as enthusiastic about Lothor's plan as he was, and even he had reservations about it, but wasn't it their duty? They were trained as rangers, too. They knew the code, and Watanabe had obviously violated it. The Council hadn't even sought to punish him for his transgressions, but Lothor was giving them this chance to make the world a little bit safer for their people.

Hunter got a mug from the cupboard.

And if he happened to pour a little bit more than usual, he justified it by telling himself he had to be especially alert, after the attack on Blake. If that fool Zurgane hadn't gotten all worked up, Hunter wouldn't have had to stay late at Lothor's office calming him down. He would have been there to watch his brother's back at the Bloody Mary. When he caught the scum that dared...

The mug creaked warningly in his hand, and he forced himself to breath. He didn't bother heating it up, like some of Lothor's men did, and just chugged it as quickly as possible.

The fact that it had all worked out in the end didn't comfort him. The ranger girl had saved his brother from the back alley, and Blake still couldn't remember how he got there, but he had gotten inside the back dojo wards. The wards on the front weren't as strong, as Hunter had discovered when he visited, but they were different than the ones around the control room. Getting in the back was something they'd been trying to figure out how to do for the past week, and Blake was reasonably sure he could open a rift in it, now that he'd felt how it was woven.

So maybe they'd leave town sooner than Hunter had thought. After he taught who ever had attacked his brother a very permanent lesson. He hadn't wanted to enlist Cam's help, but after talking to Lothor and seeing that the man was happy the way things had turned out, he didn't really trust him to give the matter the proper priority. Besides, Hunter wasn't completely helpless. He didn't need Lothor to do everything for them.

The question was, though, would Cam turn out to be as bigoted as his father? That moment of realization in the dojo office still made Hunter smile. That smell of fear. Cam was good, he'd give him that. If Hunter hadn't been what he was, he wouldn't have known the instructor was afraid.

But keeping a fellow warlock from bleeding to death and helping his lamia brother find the perpetrator were two different things. Could be that he'd try to set Hunter up with the rogue rangers, or maybe try to finish Hunter off himself. The guy obviously had power and was trained to use it. It made Hunter wonder why he wasn't out in the field.

Which was why he needed as much of an edge over the Watanabes as possible. He didn't like the thought of dealing with Cam if the man interfered with their plans, but he'd do it if he had to. Even if he did owe the guy for saving Blake's life. No one was going to stand in the way of his revenge. Hunter snorted. So what if the warlock was good-looking?

The mug shattered in his hand, porcelain shards scattering over the linoleum. He watched the cuts in his skin seal closed. Running his tongue over his teeth, licking away the last traces of his meal, he could feel his elongated canines.

No, he needed this power. He was going to set things right.

The elevator chimed down the hallway, and he quickly stowed the bottle back in the fridge. Blake complained less when Hunter hid the evidence. Foot steps that sounded like water droplets echoed through the hall.

Hunter had the mug remnants in the garbage and his face schooled into a more human appearance by the time the door rattled open. Laden with take-out bags from the Chinese restaurant a few blocks away, Blake grinned at him as he locked the deadbolt.

"Hey, you wouldn't believe who I ran into on the way home," he said smugly.

Hunter just arched an eyebrow. "Some girl?"

"Tori. Her name is Tori," Blake frowned at him, but didn't look too upset as he put the bags on the counter. He was practically glowing while rooting through the cartons. The bite mark had faded to a light bruise with angry little scars that would fade given time.

Worry spiked through Hunter, made him want to grab his brother and get the hell out of town before someone got hurt worse. "Bro, you do remember that she's a murdering rogue agent for the bad guys, right?"

Blake's excitement dimmed and Hunter kind of felt like an ass for being so harsh, but dammit. Someone had dumped his unconscious body in an alley.

"Yeah, but. She just. She seems normal, y'know?" Blake said quietly, fiddling with the soy sauce packets. "I expected her to spout off lines about the evils of vampires and shifters and all that. But she doesn't. She's cool about that kind of stuff."

Hunter ground his teeth. "Or, she could be lulling you into a false sense of security because her sensei—that guy who murdered our parents?—told her to."

The parent card was low. Blake tensed, turning to actually look at him for the first time since coming home.

"I know that, okay?" The younger Bradley said quietly. "But maybe she's just confused. Maybe this Watanabe guy's bewitched her. Or maybe his son did. Maybe she needs our help? What kind of rangers would we be if we ignored that?"

Crossing his arms, Hunter glowered. "Or maybe you're just looking for someone to save, bro."

"Bite me," Blake glared, grabbing a carton with angry movements.

"No, someone already did that," he responded tightly. "Which is why you need to keep your head on business, not saving the enemy from herself."

"Dude, she saved me, all right?" His brother dished out fried rice onto a plate, spilling some on the counter.

"Yeah, after you passed out. And it's so convenient that she was there, don't you think?"

"What are you implying?"

"All I'm saying is that you don't remember anything before the dojo. Who knows what could have happened?"

"Okay," Blake slammed the carton down. "That's overly paranoid, even for you. Why would she knock me out just to take me back to her lair, inside the wards?"

"I don't know, and that's why we need to be careful." The smell of the sweet and sour chicken was making him ill. "Maybe they're setting up some sort of trap."

Blake just stared at him for a long moment, eyes pained. Hunter met him head on, not backing down.

"Bro," Blake finally said softly. "What's with you lately?"

"What do you mean?" He tried to keep the defensiveness from his voice.

"You're just—"Blake waved at him and the computer desk. "You're obsessed with all this, man. I mean, I realize the importance of what we're doing, okay? But you're acting weird, even for you."

Before Hunter could respond, he continued. "You're scaring me, bro. Ever since Lothor showed up, you've been brooding more and more, and now you don't even have a job. What happened to all that talk of independence? You're throwing it all away for—"

"For a chance to see some justice," Hunter interrupted. "And it's not like we can't walk out at any time. Why not take advantage if someone offers to bankroll us for a few months?"

"Can we?" Blake asked, sounding tired. "Can we just walk out, Hunter?"

"Of course." If they wanted to leave, no one was going to stop them. Hunter would see to it. "Do you want to walk out?"

And again, it was low, but he needed Blake to actually understand what was going on. The flare of panic in his brother's eyes made his chest clench.

"No." He whispered. "No, I'm with you all the way, bro."

"Good."

Blake swallowed tightly and returned to the cooling dinner. "Which do you want, General Tso's or sweet and sour?"

Hunter shrugged. "I'm not hungry. Just take whatever you want and leave the rest in the fridge."

He ignored the sharp look Blake directed at him and returned to the desk. They were going to be busy that night.