A/N: Thanks to 'A New Witch' over at the MuseBunny for the naming of this story. I forgot to mention it before :/

Disclaimer: I do not own WHR or it's characters, nor do I make any money from them. I simply like their world and enjoy playing in it.

Chapter 10:

"Doujima!" he practically barked, causing the woman to jump and nearly fall out of her chair. Michael snickered until Amon's death glare turned his way, immediately scattering all amusing thoughts.

It was 19.00. Amon had come back far later than he had intended to. The brooding man hadn't come up with any solutions. Seeing the blond woman dozing and no sign of Robin had pushed his nerves too far.

Blinking dumbly, Doujima glanced around the room, pointedly ignoring the ominous man before her.

"Hey, Michael. Hasn't Robin come back yet?" she asked in her sing-song bubbly voice.

Without so much as a pause, Michael responded, "Nope, not yet."

"What do you mean 'back yet'?" Amon growled.

Doujima visibly shrunk into her chair under the older hunter's withering gaze. "Well, she went to Harry's shortly after you left. I'm only here because she asked me if she could stay at my place tonight. Since you were the one who decided she couldn't go home, and you're back, you can take her. I'm tired of waiting."

Doujima started gathering her things, paying little attention when Amon told Michael to call Harry's. Just as she was about to hit the button to call the elevator, she was stopped by a loud "Kuso!" followed by Amon bellowing her name to get back to the office. Sulkily, the ditzy blond trudged back, fully expecting Amon to yell at her about something. Almost anything would have been more expected than what she saw.

Both men were looking at Amon's computer. Michael was slowly rocking back and forth in his chair, hands covering his mouth and tears threatening to escape his shocked eyes. Amon was standing, his chair halfway across the room behind him. His fists were clenched tight and he was visibly shaking with anger. Hesitantly the younger hunter crept over to the foreboding man to see what was on his computer screen.

In one corner of the computer screen was what looked to be a live feed of Robin. Her wrists were bound together and held above her head by what looked like a meat hook. She was ankle deep in water and looked to be absolutely terrified.

"Amon...?" Doujima began, concern leaking into her voice.

"He's got her." With those three words, Amon felt the world tilt slightly as various emotions flew through his system. The three co-workers stood in stunned silence, each attempting to cope with their own emotions.

A shrill 'ding', followed by an IM window popping up onto the computer elicited a terrified yelp from the young woman and pulled all three out of their shock.

I'm surprised, friend, that you didn't keep a closer eye on the little one once you knew the game. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time that you let your 'job' prevent you from seeing the big picture. How many witches have you killed? How many children have you left with no one to care for them? How many ways have you or your teammates tortured them?

There was a long pause before the window disappeared and then slowly faded back to view with a new message.

How many of them can she handle before she breaks?

After a few more seconds, the entire monitor went black.

"Oh God..." Doujima whispered, her facing having gone ashen. Small, choked sobs could be heard from Michael's direction.

"Michael," Amon snapped, heedless of the teen's current trauma. "Find out where that message came from. Doujima, call Karasuma and Sakaki and get them in here – now."

&&&

Dazedly, Robin took in her surroundings. She had no idea where she was or even how she got there. The last thing she remembered was walking to Harry's. The next moment she was here, wrists and ankles bound. The room she was in was small and humid. Moss looked to be growing in places on the walls, likely fed by the seemingly constant sheen of water that flowed down them. The water at her feet was uncomfortably cold.

Cautiously, the young fire witch tried to burn away her restraints. After several attempts, each successively stronger that the last, she gave up, noticing that the bindings didn't look like her fire even touched them. She tried the wall, only to find that her powers were blocked there as well. Each failed attempt caused the young blond to feel more panicky.

"Your flame won't work here," came a soft, disembodied voice. "The area is warded against you." Quickly, Robin looked around, trying to find the source. After several moments, she noticed a flicker off to one side. Looking in that direction, she saw a young man slowly fade into focus.

The short, lanky man chuckled at her wide eyed look of amazement. "The invisibility craft," he explained.

"What do you want with me?" she tentatively asked, desperately trying not to sound as afraid as she felt.

"What do I want with you?" he playfully mocked as he pretended to think about the question. "Explicitly, nothing. I have no qualms with you.

"Now, what I want is different. I want to torture Amon in the same way he has tortured me and countless others. To do that, I need you. I am sorry. You seem like such a nice girl." His jovial smile turned mockingly apologetic.

"But... Amon doesn't torture people. I don't understand," Robin whispered, confusion creeping into her eyes.

"Yes he does. You haven't seen it. Whether by luck or design, you haven't seen it." He stepped up to the obviously befuddled girl and caressed her cheek lightly with the back of his hand. "I am truly sorry. You don't deserve this, but then again, none of his victims do." With that, the young man walked behind her and left.

&&&

To say Amon was pissed was an understatement. He sat at his computer glaring at the screen. The dark, brooding man blamed himself for this situation. The stalker was after him, so that alone made her capture his fault. Add to that, though, he knew Robin was the target and he still let her out of his sight. If only he had stayed, or even taken her with him...

'You were starting to crack,' his conscious reminded him. 'You needed to get out of there to regain your control.'

Abruptly the hunter stood and headed toward the elevator.

"Michael, call me if you get anything. I'm heading out."