Crouched low on a warehouse roof, Hunter repressed the urge to sigh as Blake shifted restlessly behind him. Again. Slowly, he turned his head to glare. Blake narrowed his eyes at him in a frown.

Dinner, or rather Hunter's lack thereof, apparently had not been forgiven yet.

Lothor's men, overseen by Zurgane, were loading two unmarked trucks with crates from a warehouse. Lothor had assured them that he owned the warehouse and the goods, but Hunter was beginning to doubt if the gang below knew that. They had ripped the door from its hinges and fried the alarm system, which was going to be quite a hefty repair bill. The local police hadn't responded yet, but Lothor said that he informed the station that he would be testing the system earlier. All Hunter and Blake had to do was wait for the rogue rangers to arrive so they could finally fight them and incapacitate them.

"They're not going to show up," Blake finally murmured. "This whole thing isn't normal gang style. The rangers won't bother with it."

"They'll be here," Hunter muttered.

"What's in all those crates anyway?"

"Like I know."

Blake didn't respond to the sharp tone, so Hunter merely squared his jaw and settled back into his watchful pose. Before Blake could keep speculating, movement on the periphery of the warehouse lights caught their attention. The only thing visible of the ninja was the pale strip of skin exposed around his eyes in the mask, and Hunter wondered if Blake could even see that much. The person was crouched, but obviously tall.

Dustin, then. Which meant Tori was probably coming in from the– Yup. There she was on the other side of the warehouse, at the corner. If they were following their previous tactics, then Shane would make a showy entrance from above...

Blake surreptitiously tapped his arm, indicating Shane's dark form crawling across the low hanging roof of the loading bay. Hunter signed back that they should wait longer before going down.

The rogue rangers sprang into action once Shane was in place, moving in tandem to intercept Lothor's men. The gang members scattered, some running for the front of the trucks, others engaging the rangers in combat. Zurgane charged Shane, but the ranger flipped him into a stack of crates. The other shapeshifters were tag-teaming Tori and Dustin, but their untrained butts were getting thrashed. When it was obvious that the rangers might actually have the advantage, Hunter gave Blake the signal to move out.

A thrill ran across his skin, blood magic and ranger powers mixing in his veins. Black lightning crackled through his usual crimson streaks as he teleported, vision filled with blinding light and thunder echoing in his chest. He reappeared in a crouch on the tarmac of the loading dock. Blake was a shower of navy blue sparks beside him as he stood up.

His brother let loose a burst of dark blue energy, knocking the closest ranger off his feet. Hunter came forward in a defensive stance to cover him as Blake began the spell again. They held their ground as the remainders of the shifter gang jumped on the trucks and pulled away.

While the rogue rangers gathered around their rising comrade, Hunter crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. The expression was lost on their similarly hooded opponents, but the attitude was enough of a challenge.

"Who the hell are you?" Shane demanded, standing protectively in front of Dustin and Tori.

Using the charm he had prepared to mask their voices, Blake growled, "We're the ones that are going to make you pay, rangers."

"Pay for what?" Dustin asked, bewildered. "Dudes, we weren't the ones stealing this stuff. That was tall, dark, and furry over there."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "No, but you are the ones who have been going around murdering people."

"What?" Tori sounded shocked.

"We're rangers, just like you," Shane ground out, visibly trying to stay calm. "This is our city. We keep the peace here. If you think we're not doing our jobs, take it up with the Council. Right now, we need to go after those slavers, so get out of our way."

Refusing to be sidetracked, Hunter stepped in front of Shane when it looked like the other ranger was going for the unconscious Zurgane. Shane automatically lashed out at the move, going on the defensive when Hunter pressed his attack.

"You're rangers, but not like us," the elder Bradley snarled as he twisted Shane's arm into a lock. "We honor our ranger oath."

"Man, enough of this." Shane swung his elbow up, clipping Hunter under the jaw. Hunter rolled with the hit, changing his grip on Shane's arm so he could flip the other man. Shane kicked free and they faced off, exchanging a series of furious punches.

Hunter could feel the rage building inside him, dark and bloody. His blows became less focused, more savage. The discipline of his training was slowly receding, but he couldn't bring himself to care as long as Shane was staggering under his attack. The ranger's left side was weakened and he kept shifting to protect his ribs, so Hunter pressed his advantage. Finally, one of his strikes broke through Shane's block, connecting solidly with his chest to send him flying into a row of boxes. The crack of bones under Hunter's fist made him smile and under his cowl, he bared his fangs in a growl.

Before he could follow through and drag Shane from the pile of boxes, Blake stepped in front of him. The younger ninja gave the signal for the two brothers to depart, but Hunter started in Shane's direction again. Blake grabbed his arm before he could continue, and Hunter turned on him with a snarl.

"They're down," Blake said simply and gave the captive arm a tug.

Distracted, Hunter looked for the other two rangers, who were getting determinedly to their feet. The plan had just been to test their strength, wear them out if possible, and see for themselves if the rangers had any tactical weaknesses.

Relenting, Hunter gave a sharp wave of his hand and Blake released him. Standing back, the blonde looked over at Tori and Dustin, who were glaring defiantly and still ready to fight.

"This isn't over yet," Hunter said ominously and teleported before they could respond.

If there was more black around him than crimson, he didn't see the point in mentioning it.

They re-appeared in the common area of the suite, in front of the sofa. Yanking his hood off, Hunter strode over to the window and glared out at the darkened city. His reflection was a sharp contrast of shadows and pale skin. He didn't know what to think at the moment, with adrenaline and something else making his heart beat fast. He glanced at the image of his brother.

Blake stood in the middle of the room quietly, slowly removing his hood as well. His jaw was squared and he was keeping perfectly still. Hunter waited.

"I thought we were just supposed to toy with them," Blake finally said, tone carefully measured.

Returning his gaze to the starless night, Hunter didn't respond.

"We had a plan," Blake bit out angrily, voice rising. "We agreed on it. We were just going to see how they fought for ourselves. We weren't going to try to kill them!"

He could feel Blake's hurt, and his worry and his fear. And instead of being concerned that his little brother was upset, Hunter felt oddly empty. Like, intellectually, he knew he should be more emotional over this, but he just... wasn't.

All he could feel was his heartbeat thudding in his head, like white noise in his ears. He could feel the blood in his veins at each dull thud, from the tingle in his fingers to the way his legs wanted to be moving. In motion. They had to keep going and see this thing through. Any way they had to.

"We're the good guys here, bro," Blake snapped as he threw his hood at the coffee table. It landed with a sharp slap of leather. "If they're really rogue, then we gather evidence and turn them into the Council for judgement. We neutralize the threat with the least amount of force necessary. We follow the laws, Hunter. The minute we stop doing that, we're no better than they are."

"Why do you care so much about them?" Hunter finally asked with a smirk. "Are you mad because you had to beat up your girlfriend? News flash, Blake– They're killers. Murderers. And the Council didn't stop them before now, so what good is gathering evidence they'll just ignore for a few more years? How many more orphans are we going to let these guys make?"

"This isn't like you, bro. It's like I don't even know you."

Glaring balefully, Blake turned on his heel and stormed into their bedroom, slamming the door. Hunter shrugged and loosened his tunic at the neck. His expression in the window was blank.

The shrill of his cell phone broke his gaze, and he retrieved the phone from his desk. Only two people had this number, and one of them was sulking. He flipped it open.

"What?"

"Now I see what your brother meant about socializing you, Mr. Bradley." The voice on the other end was jovial, inviting Hunter to join in on the joke. Too bad for him, Hunter wasn't one to play, especially not with a man who reminded him of Colonel Sanders.

"Your boys really tore up that warehouse," he said casually. "Then they got their asses handed to them."

"Ah, yes." There was a smile in Lothor's voice. "Zurgane just returned home. I'm afraid he was, ahem, unconscious for most of your no doubt witty repartee with Watanabe's goons, so he wasn't able to fill in the blanks for me." He turned more serious. "How did it go?"

"They're weaker than I expected." Hunter started idly looking through the papers strewn across his desk. "If I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, I'd say they were exhausted from the run around your boys have been giving them these past few weeks. Their training is marginal. They know what they're doing, I just don't think they have much experience. I'd almost say it was by luck that they've managed to keep defeating your men, but then, I've seen the way your people fight.

"We thrashed them pretty good tonight, though. I doubt they'll be patrolling much the next few days."

"Good, good. Hmm." He could almost picture Lothor stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Well, that is some good news. I don't suppose you boys would be willing to step our plans up a week, then? Since you apparently have them on the run."

Hunter studied the architectural drawings in front of him, tracing a finger over all of the points of basement access.

"We should give them a few days." He finally said. "Wait until they recover enough to get confident, then strike while they're out on patrol but still too weak to be much use."

"Excellent, my boy!" Lothor chuckled and Hunter held the phone away from his ear with a grimace. "I'll have Zurgane on the alert. You just give us a call–"

"No." Hunter's voice was harsh. Lothor broke off. "We do this on our own. He's ours. We'll deliver him to you, but your people don't interfere with us."

"Of course, of course. I have all my faith in you two. Your parents raised you right, as did Sensei Omino. You have my word that my men won't interfere."

The placating tones did little to appease Hunter, but he relaxed at promise. "Good."

Blake opened the bedroom door as Lothor continued speaking. He had a bottle of aspirin in one hand and a cold washcloth in the other.

"All I ask is that you let me know when you're going to make your move. That way we can be prepared on this end."

Watching his little brother ignore him and go to the fridge, Hunter nodded. "Fine. I'll give you a call."

"Good. I'll be waiting to hear from you."

Lothor disconnected as Hunter flipped his phone shut. He kept looking at Blake, who poured himself a glass of orange juice and knocked it back with a couple of pills. The younger Bradley had his denim jacket on.

"Going somewhere?"

"Out."

Hunter gripped his phone tighter. "Care to be more specific?"

"I'm just going cruising," Blake snapped, refusing to meet his eyes. "That's all."

Taking a calming breath, Hunter suddenly felt exhausted. It wasn't worth arguing about anymore.

"All right. Just be careful."

Blake glanced up at him, noting the change in moods. At his brother's confusion, Hunter quirked a rueful half-smile.

"You're kind of irreplaceable, bro. So stay out of trouble."

It was a tentative olive branch, and he felt a little better when Blake smiled back, albeit more subdued than normal. Gathering his keys, Blake paused at the door.

"I will. Why don't you get some sleep; you look like crap." With a snicker, Blake hurried out the door.

"At least it's a new look for me! Unlike some people!" Hunter called after him.

Laughter was his answer, and he listened until Blake entered the elevator at the end of the hall. Sighing, he let the smile slip from his face and gently returned his cell phone to the charger on the desk. Yet another thing Lothor had gotten for them.

He debated going over their strategy again, but planning really wasn't his thing and his head was pounding with a killer migraine. He walked indecisively into the kitchen, eyeing the fridge. He could have another mug and stay up through the day, or he could have an aspirin and maybe get some sleep. The two of them had been training hard lately, and the excitement of the night was catching up with him, but his sleep had been uneasy since they moved to the new city. Like there was something waiting for him. He just didn't know what.

Opening the fridge, he frowned as his hand hovered over the unlabelled glass bottle. After a moment, he slumped against the fridge door and grabbed a bottle of water instead.

Blake didn't get home until after dawn.

Hunter had managed to drift off, but the slide of the suite's lock made him bolt upright in bed. He was still groggy, though. Unreasonably so, in his opinion. Laying back down, he listened to Blake putter around in the living room, then the bathroom. He didn't feel like talking this early, so he feigned sleep when Blake came into the bedroom and crawled into the other double bed.

Going through his nightly ritual of laying on his back, then his side, then his stomach, Blake slowly drifted off. Hunter waited until his brother's breathing evened out in sleep before he kicked back his covers and quietly went out to his desk.

Sitting quietly in the computer chair, he stared at the pages in front of him until they swam together. He didn't like this feeling churning in his gut. Always, he knew who he was and what he was doing, but now. Now, when he should be the most sure of what he needed to do, he was beginning to doubt it all. Something just wasn't right.

It's like I don't even know you.

Was he changing? Last night seemed fuzzy now. Everything felt blurry and muddled.

Maybe his little brother was right. Maybe Hunter was losing his direction. Rangers were supposed to be impartial representatives of justice, maintaining the peace between hunter and human, and ensuring that the edicts of the Council were observed by the members of their world. Preserving the sanctity of life for all beings was their primary goal.

But now...

People were dying. Pure and simple. Several members of the ranger community had been assassinated over the past three years, the Bradleys one of the first teams targeted, and then, less than a year ago, Sensei Omino had also disappeared. He wasn't dead. The Council's oracle was able to tell them that much, but no one knew where he was. Hunter had noticed the report that Sensei Watanabe was also missing around the same time and had intended to speak with Cameron Watanabe on his own, but luckily he'd run into Lothor before then. What the half-
witch half-vampire had told them had left Hunter reeling.

Kanoi Watanabe, warlock and ranger, had been systematically killing supporters of the peace efforts between witches and vampires for the past three years. Lothor had been tracking down those victimized by the ranger, offering to help in any way he could, and that's how he knew about Hunter and Blake, because Watanabe had visited their dojo shortly before Sensei Omino disappeared. Lothor was working hard to reinvigorate the peace efforts between vampires and witches, but realized the necessity of removing Watanabe from the equation.

Their path was clear from that day forth, and the murderer of their parents would be brought to justice.

Hunter took a calming breath, trying to clear his head. He needed to think rationally. Blake was depending on him. He just needed to stay focused on their plan.

He started jotting down notes on their previous night, as Lothor had requested when they started patrolling the city. Blake would need to tell him what happened with Tori and Dustin, because Hunter honestly couldn't recall anything about them. He had been so focused on Shane and...

A muffled noise escaped his throat. He didn't want to think about what had gone down between him and Shane, because he had actually thought about killing the other ranger. He'd come close. If Blake hadn't stopped him...

He tried reviewing the events of the evening objectively, but he paused when he thought about what Shane had said.

The other man had seemed so earnest when he called the gang "slavers." As a ranger, Hunter's first reaction was to investigate the claim, see if there was anything behind the accusation. But that would mean sniffing around the person who was footing their bills and, since Hunter was sure the claim was false, unnecessarily offending someone who had been very generous to them.

Maybe Blake was right and Watanabe did have them under some sort of spell or binding. It would explain why Hunter didn't feel very threatened by Dustin when they met on the track, or by Cam in Storm Chargers. Usually he'd go with his gut reaction on first meeting someone, but.

There were a lot of dead vampires out there. The shapeshifters had been laying low, but for some reason Blue Bay Harbor had seen an increase in vampire activity lately. Maybe because they thought Watanabe had "abandoned" his post? But that didn't make much sense because Cam seemed to have the situation under control. The nonhumans Hunter had spoken with since arriving– Well, those not in Lothor's employ– hadn't seemed overly concerned by the rogue rangers' presence. He hadn't had the opportunity to do much ground work before Lothor began setting up these "chance" meetings for them, but the impression he'd gotten from the locals was that the Watanabes were a respected family in the area. If anything, Hunter would have expected the vampire gangs to at least act more terrorized...

But no. Lothor was right. They were rangers who had betrayed their own code, killing the innocents they were sworn to protect. Hunter had seen it with his own eyes.

He sat back in his chair and yawned, scrubbing at his face. He'd only slept a few hours. Normally that would be enough, but today he just felt drained. He knew himself, though, and now that he was up, he wouldn't be going back to bed.

Staring at his moto jacket on the wall rack, he decided to see if their new buddy was down at the track. At least that way he could see how the rogue rangers had fared.

Quietly changing into his riding gear, he paused next to his jacket. There was the smell of perfume around it, too faint for human senses to detect. He looked suspiciously at Blake's denim jacket.

Looks like he'd have to have that talk with his bro when he got back...

TBC...