Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own WHR in any form other than my copy of the DVDs.

He was being followed. He could feel the presence of the man and had glimpsed him stalking in the shadows a few times. Amon pretended not to notice the dark figure following, knowing that Maki was now on the hunt and he was the prey. He knew he could change the tables at any point, but so far the shadow didn't have a gun out. Instinct told him that the man wasn't interested in an execution, but in a fight.

Amon turned down an alley, then slipped into the shadows before his stalker was able to follow. Maki stood in the narrow corridor for a few moments, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. Before he could react, he felt the barrel of a gun at his temple. Taking a deep breath, he quickly moved to knock the gun from Amon's hand, not knowing that the witch hunter didn't have the gun loaded and had no intention of shooting him – at least not yet.

The two men glared at each other, both knowing that the fight was going to take place right there. The spiky haired man grew tired of waiting and struck first, or at least tried to. The longer haired man easily blocked the punch, then the ensuing kick. The two were relatively evenly matched, though Amon had strength and breadth of fighting styles going for him, allowing him to slip into several different fighting modes as they suited his needs. It took moments for the two dark men to realize that this was going to be a long fight.

———

Amon knocked on the door. He had watched the apartment from the roof of the building across the street, waiting until Touko had left. He hadn't wanted to have to deal with her this morning. The dark hunter likely looked like hell and he knew that she would try to mother him.

"Who is it?" came the tentative voice of his partner, though she sounded more confident than she had in some time.

"Me," was the gruff reply.

Presently, the door opened slightly to show Robin peering around it. She gasped when she saw Amon standing there and threw the door open.

"What happened?" The young woman could barely contain her worry as she looked upon her partner and dragged him into her home.

The man before her was rather scuffed up. He had a few scrapes on his face, one particularly nasty looking one was still trying to bleed. His shirt was torn, as were his pants. He was covered in dirt and didn't look like he had slept. Without waiting for his response, she pushed him onto the couch and rushed to get the first aid kit and a clean rag.

Robin kneeled on the floor in front of her tattered partner and started cleaning the cut along his cheek, repeating her question.

"It's over."

Robin cocked her to one side, looking up at him in confusion. The normally impassive man's features softened as he watched her. Almost affectionately, he leaned towards her to gently push a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"It's over," he repeated. He didn't want to have to say more than that, but he could tell by the continued confusion in her eyes that he would have to. "The people who hurt you have been taken care of. They'll never bother you again."

Amon leaned back on the couch to watch her reaction as it moved from confusion to worry to something akin to relief. Then her look changed again as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"You didn't..." She paused in her accusation, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. Amon could see the question in her eyes, but he wasn't going to respond. He wasn't sure he would even if she did verbalize it.

Deciding she didn't want to know what exactly her partner had done, Robin jumped at him, embracing him in a fierce hug. He was surprised at first, then started becoming concerned when he felt her start to cry as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you, Amon. Thank you," she breathed into his ear, the relief evident in her voice.

———

"Hey Robin. Amon," Michael greeted the pair while stifling a yawn. He glanced up briefly before he resumed his typing. "Amon, the boss wants to see you," he added as an afterthought, having almost forgotten the boss's demand.

The eldest hunter merely turned on his heel, changing direction to head up to Zaizen's office. The administrator had been gone all week, so it wasn't surprising that the man wanted to speak to him immediately.

The lead hunter strode purposefully into the office. Zaizen was looking out the window and smoking a cigar, giving no indication that he was aware of Amon's presence. Silently the younger man took his position in front of the graying man's overly large desk. With his hands loosely grasped behind his back, he stood tall and stared at the back of his boss's chair, waiting patiently. It was obvious that Zaizen was unhappy about something. He took several minutes to finish his cigar before he turned and acknowledged his best hunter.

"So, what have you been up to while I was away?" The administrator's voice was tinged with anger. It was obvious to Amon that he was attempting to hide it but without much success.

"We captured two witches. One required a brief stake-out, which was handled by Karasuma and Sakaki. The other was a relatively easy capture. Full reports have been filed, sir," the hunter dispassionately reported.

Zaizen nodded slightly. "What else? It looks like there was a lot of activity going on while I was away. Kosaka especially seems to have been busy. I would presume that he was running interference between the police and ourselves?"

The reserved man merely shrugged. Considering the administrator's obvious disapproval of the team becoming involved in the search for Robin's attackers, Amon hadn't been able to employ the normal means of removing bodies. Kosaka, however, seemed to be on the side of the rest of the STN-J and was more than happy to handle the aftermath of his hunts the past week. He didn't envy the man the strings he likely had to pull to convince the police that the deaths of the five men weren't worth following up on. He waited for his boss to continue. He wasn't going to give away information without a more specific request.

Zaizen narrowed his eyes briefly before changing topics slightly. "And how's Robin doing?"

"Much better."

"That's good to hear. It would be a shame to loose her because of something so trivial."

There it was. Amon had wondered how long it would take Zaizen to get around to bringing up his partner. The hunter was sure it was more to see his reaction since the administrator had, on several occasions, lectured him on letting the his emotions get involved with the girl. Amon could feel his anger rise at hearing the other man call Robin's rape 'trivial', but he knew nothing in his face or stance would give the emotion away.

"Do you know where the police are regarding her case?" Zaizen was getting impatient with Amon's terse answers and it showed clearly in his eyes if not his voice. Amon was being even more succinct than usual with his replies. Normally he would tell the administrator full details regarding whatever was asked. After talking to Kato earlier in the week, though, dark man knew he could no longer trust his boss.

"I believe they are closing her case."

Zaizen nodded his head, a small menacing smirk touched his lips. He dismissed the stoic man and turned to look out the window again, his thoughts turning to the young witch downstairs.

———

Michael looked up when he heard Amon coming down the stairs, noting that the hunter's mood didn't seem to have changed while talking to their boss. He turned back to his computer to resume working. A sudden look of interest crossed the young geek's face as he started opening more windows and typing faster. Finally after several minutes, he let out a low whistle.

"Hmm?" The sound came from Amon, who was now at his workstation. It was difficult to determine if he was actually interested, or if he was just responding.

"Take a look at this," the teen stated, his words tinged with something between surprise and awe.

"What? What what are we looking at?" Doujima exclaimed as she walked into the office and headed straight for Michael's workstation.

"There are a few articles in the paper today about Maki and Matsouka. It seems that both men were found dead near the Walled City. Since they were both found with a picture of a dragon, the police believe that it's part of the rise in gang activity over there and aren't planning on investigating."

"Wow. Looks like everyone who's had something to do with Robin's case has had some bad luck lately," Sakaki stated, pointedly looking at Amon.

The lead hunter took a quick look at his partner to find her shyly gazing back at him, wondering what he would say. "Looks like it. Guess that means the case is closed," he said with a small smirk that only Robin might have noticed before turning back to his work.

A/N: Wow! 14 Chapters. I can't believe it's done! I'm kind of sad, actually, but I'm excited too. Thanks to all of you who have read this. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks especially to those who provided useful comments that helped to make this a better story. Please, R&R. I plan on writing more and the feedback is always helpful in making other stories as well as this one.