Disclaimer: I do not own Witch Hunter Robin. This is being written only for pleasure, not for profit. Thank you.
Chapter One: Sometimes, Michael forgot that he could leave.
Sometimes, Michael forgot that he could leave. He'd wake up in the morning over his keyboard at the office to Hatori frowning down at him disapprovingly. He'd say something like 'What time is it?' and Hatori would scold him for sleeping in the office.
Michael got in trouble now for sleeping in the office. It was really very strange.
And though most of the time he did it on accident, once in a while Michael would ride the elevator down at the end of the day, say good-bye to the door guard, and head to the gate.
And then, once in a while, Michael would open the gate and stop on the threshold. He would look out at the street and realize that he was one step from being outside, in the real world, and he would freeze.
His eyes would take in every detail about the street outside Raven's Flat through amber tinted glasses, and it would be too much.
Slowly, painfully slowly, as if he was trying not to startle himself, Michael would back away from the door. He would inform the guard that he had just realized there was something more to do in the office, casually and without panic, and retreat back to the fifth floor.
There, he'd break down. Hyperventilate and hide in a corner, until the panic attack was over. After, he'd immerse himself in the digital world where he was safe and comfortable. He'd wake up in the morning over his keyboard to Hatori frowning down at him disapprovingly.
In truth, it happened more often than he'd like to admit.
It wasn't that he didn't like his new freedom, Michael had tried to convince himself one day, it was just that he was so unused to it. He had spent three years getting accustom to imprisonment, and now he was free. Michael found that the phenomenon was called institutionalization. It was common in inmates released from prison. And really, Michael mused, that's exactly what he was.
But sometimes he could force himself to leave. On days when he stopped at the door and panicked, he could force himself to take a step, and then another, and then a third, until he was walking to his apartment. And when he'd finally get there, he would collapse into a sobbing mess at the terror he had felt making that journey.
Other days, he'd step outside in exhilaration. Michael would smile and bask in the open air, finding himself laughing at the oddest things during his trek home. It was fantastic. Those days, he loved to be free.
When the others saw him on those days, they would smile and plot to take him on weekend trips. He was always so grateful, and with each trip his view of the world once more expanded.
Once, on a weekend trip to the museum, Michael stopped at the exit.
When he closed his apartment door after the ride home he stumbled into his bathroom and splashed water on his face. Then he sunk to the ground next to it and curled up into a ball of tears. Ten minutes later, there was a knock at his door.
[Later, Michael found out that he'd forgotten to give Dojima her phone back, and Karasuma had driven her back to pick it up.]
He had tried to pull himself together to answer the door, but he hadn't been able to get these episodes to end in less than thirty minutes. Forcing himself to go outside had always been worse than giving in and staying where he was. Unfortunately, that day, staying hadn't been an option.
Karasuma had, thankfully, waited in the car. Michael didn't think he could handle being seen like that by her. Then again, Dojima wasn't all that better. Michael had never really liked Dojima, and they were just beginning to become friends. He felt bad dumping it all on her when they weren't really that close. To her credit, Dojima took it all in stride.
After a couple minutes of terrified sobbing in her arms, Michael calmed down. He stayed there for a few minutes more, silent, feeling that if he spoke he would be breaking some sort of taboo. And then she asked him, without pulling away, what was wrong.
[Eventually, Michael would thank her, but he didn't work up the courage for quite some time.]
The next day, Dojima was waiting for him after work to walk him home. Michael had learned how to not show any dramatic outward signs, but Dojima always picked up on when she should follow him into his apartment. She never let him go back into the office.
Once, at the end of a hunt, Dojima had to escort Karasuma home, due to a slight concussion. When Michael had packed his bag for the day and made to leave, he stopped at the door.
Could he really do it alone? He'd gotten a lot better now that Dojima was walking him home, it happened less, and his reaction was decreasing in severity, but could he make the trek on his own again without relapsing?
After several long, agonizing minutes, Michael prepared to pull away from the door. But with a suddenness that startled him, Sakaki roared up on his motorcycle. Flipping up his visor, the hunter called out to him.
"Need a ride?" Michael smiled in relief and joined Sakaki on the bike.
[Michael would never know that it had been the doorman who had called Sakaki to pick him up. He had observed the computer genius standing at the door, and the absence of Miss Dojima to pick him up as had become a habit after the boy had begun to leave the building. And while he didn't know the details of exactly what had happened, he knew the boy had gone up in handcuffs and not come down again for three years. He had his suspicions about what exactly the kid was going through, and resolved to do something. When Michael started leaving on his own, he treated Miss Dojima to dinner at Harry's.]
Preview, Chapter Two: When Tomoe asked about using a gun, they were understandably surprised. Both Robin and Kate before her had relied entirely on their Craft.