Witch Hunter Robin
Fire and Rain
Chapter IV - Lonely Days I Could Not Find A Friend
Disclaimer: I do not own
Witch Hunter Robin® or any characters. They are registered Trade Mark™ of
Sunrise® and now apparently Sci-Fi™. If I owned WHR it wouldn't have just been
26 episodes.
Nor do I own the song Fire and Rain; I just borrowed its title.
Storyline, Plot, Joe Saunders©, and David Rica© are all my property.
----------------
Robin did not speak.
All of the STN-J agents were sad and angry at what had happened. None of them,
except David Rica, seamed to believe Michael was dead. Doujima insisted that he
was fine, and he'd turn up very soon, but it was clear she didn't know if she
truly believed her own words.
Karasuma, who had used her powers at once all over the place, was horrorstruck.
After touching the keyboard she could feel Michael's fear and anger, and after
touching the Zaizen's gun (which had been found near an emergency exit of the
Flat) she confirmed what Robin had already guessed.
As for Robin herself, she just sat in Michael's computer chair, not saying a
word to anyone or looking at them for several minutes. Naught but one single
tear that fell from her eyes and stained her cheeks.
Zaizen and Saunders, who had been at the Factory, arrived soon and Zaizen was
beyond any anger Amon had ever seen him at before. Cleary Zaizen no longer
cared about the Solomon Review Agents and he had taken charge again, instantly
ordering Amon to find Michael.
"Naw, naw." Rica said suddenly. "The boy is obviously
dead; he would have bled out all of his life by now."
"Shut up."
Amon and Zaizen both had been ready to say something to Rica, and Doujima
looked as if she may go for her gun, but all of them froze when they heard
Robin's quiet voice command the Solomon Agent to silence himself.
"Did you say something lil' puppy?""
Robin didn't turn her head to look at him, she didn't move at all. She only
repeated herself, her voice full of a tone that was a mixture of fear, sadness
and terrifying anger. "Shut up."
Never before had Robin been so rude, directly or indirectly to anyone since she
arrived at Raven's Flat and started her job at the
STN-J. Most were at a loss for words when she suddenly spoke, but Rica's smug
smile only appeared.
"I'd watch what you say to me lil puppy or--"
"David." Saunders said quietly, holding up a fat hand. Rica shut up.
"Amon." Robin said, standing up. It seamed that Rica's now usual rudeness had
shaken her from her trance. She didn't wait for Amon to ask her what she wanted;
instead she just grabbed his hand and began pulling him towards the elevator.
Amon didn't have to ask. He knew where they were going.
To find Michael.
----
Michael was unsure as to what had happened or where he had gone. The last
memories that really stuck out were of him, Michael, taking the life of the
strange attacker.
Michael grunted. His right shoulder was still burning and bleeding and he knew
he had to find a doctor soon or he'd wind up dead. He looked around and
realized at once where he was. How could he not? He had lived there for years,
the many years before the STN-J.
Delaney
Street. The street his life had started on in a small apartment with a cheep
rent. This is where he had taken his first breath and opened his eyes for the
first time.
Would Delaney
Street be where he took his final breath and closed his eyes for the last
time?
No. Michael wouldn't let himself die. He wouldn't let himself die here. Not
like this. Because he was the only one who knew the truth. He was the only one
who knew that if not stopped, David Rica would kill the entire STN-J, like he
tried to kill Michael.
Of course, the man who shot Michael and had in return been shot by Michael was
not David Rica, but Michael had a sneaky suspicion that the man was working for
Rica. A hired assassin.
With a groan he felt himself become dizzy from the blood loss, and he felt his
body become slack and weak. His face was pale and he could hardly support his
body weight, despite the fact he was naturally slender.
Michael's feet seamed to know the way however. He had already arrived at the
apartment building and climbed up to the third floor, apartment B7. Before he realized it Michael was knocking
on the door, praying that he would see his mother's loving face staring back at
him.
Yes, part of Michael knew that wouldn't happen since part of him remembered
that the mother was dead and she would not be coming back, but still, a man on
the verge of life and death will pray for the impossible.
When the door opened it was opened bye a young woman with dark hair and
friendly eyes. Michael stared in disbelief.
"Ma . . . "
And then he fainted.
----
Rica was now back in his hotel room. He was supposed
to be looking for Michael, but he didn't care about Michael Lee.
No, not true. He cared about killing Michael Lee, but he didn't care
much for saving him. Besides, he had a phone call to make. Walking over to the
bed stand he grabbed the phone and dialed the international operator, and was
connected in a matter of minutes to a Louisiana phone number, in New Orleans.
"Yes?" Said a cold drawing voice on the line.
"Sir, I have some, unpleasant news." Rica said all sarcasm and smugness gone
from his voice and replaced by fear. There was a pause and then the cold draw
spoke again.
"What is it Peter?"
"Naw sir." Rica said quietly. "It wasn't my fault, but one of the STN-J
operatives knows."
A second pause, and then: "Knows? Knows how much?"
"He doesn't know about you, but he knows I'm a walking cadaver." Rica said
bitterly.
A third pause, this time a long one, before: "Kill him."
"I tried." Rica pleaded. "But he killed Edmunds and escaped. He was wounded,
and we have no record of him at any Hospital. He'll bled
to death."
"No." This time there was no need for a pause. "Peter, you will kill him. If
you don't then I shall return you to as you were before I came to you."
Jackson David Rica shuddered at the thought. "I will kill him sir."
"Good Peter." The cold draw spoke. "Do not call again until he is dead."
"Yes sir." Rica said,
"And Peter?"
"Sir?"
"Bring me his eyes."
"Yes sir." Rica said as he took off his sunglasses and stared into the mirrored
reflection of his own dead eyes.
----
Robin looked out of the window of Amon's car with worried eyes. And Amon
silently had to admit to himself that he had never seen the girl beside him
before. He had met Robin Sena the Witch Hunter, and Robin Sena the Teenager,
but he'd never seen Robin Sena the Lover.
Amon, while he didn't look it, knew a great deal about love. He had been in
love before, once, and while that was personal (to Amon "Personal" means just
that, never share it with anyone) he could relate to Robin. He knew that she
loved Michael. It became clear to everyone the second Robin had heard the
gunshot followed by silence.
Robin's eyes did not cry, they did not shed tears.
Tears were foreign to her and she did not need them. She had been raised in a
Convent and she had been taught for as long as she could remember that
everything happens for a reason.
She had also been taught that prayer was a power greater than any. (A point
Father Juliano tried to make when she was six and began setting things on fire
out of anger), and right now Robin was praying that Michael was alive.
She knew perfectly well that a month ago, while she lay beneath the covers of
her bed, that he had kissed her forehead, no, before that, she remembered while
looking for Kurata the Mummy-Man and how he had
confided in her about his past. She knew that he loved her.
And she knew that she loved him.
Robin had never had a boyfriend, nor had she ever "kissed" someone (unless you
counted the peck on the check she'd given Michael a month ago), she had never
had sex, she had never dated, and she had never even had a crush.
Then she met Michael. And that changed. Now she was in love. She wasn't dating
him she hadn't "kissed" him and she had skipped the crush stage completely. She
was just in love with him.
And now he was gone, maybe forever.
Normal people her age worried about breaking up with their boyfriends, not
whether the person they secretly loved would die of a gunshot wound. Then
again, normal people her age couldn't create fire with their minds and didn't
hunt witches for a living.
"He's fine."
Robin was broken from her thoughts as she turned around to the dark haired
driver of the car. Amon's words may not sound like the kind of things that
would calm her down or help her forget her worries, but somehow they did.
----
Michael opened his eyes to see a familiar roof. It was the roof he awoke to
every day of his pre-STN life. It was the roof of his bedroom. His bedroom.
Michael sat up awake; suddenly the memories of David Rica, the shooting, Robin,
wandering to his old neighborhood, and fainting on his mother's doorstep all
came rushing back. He looked around for her, but he was disappointed.
It wasn't he mother sitting in the chair next to his bed. It was a woman, a
young one, around his age, with the same dark, silky hair that his mother had
had. It was a woman who had dragged the tired hacker into her house and removed
the bullet from his arm.
It wasn't his mother but he knew her. He smiled; he hadn't seen Jeri in years,
obviously because he was now confined to STN-J headquarters. Jeri Lee,
Michael's favorite cousin smiled back at him.
"Hey." Michael said offhanded.
"You don't write." Jeri said upset. "You don't call, you worry your entire
family to death and then one day out of the blue you show up on my doorstep
bleeding like a dog that got into a fight."
"I love you too." Michael's sarcastic reply came and he laughed. Jeri would
have leaned over and hugged him, but his arm was now in bandages. Michael
noticed these bandages and he became curious.
"I'm a nurse, remember?" Jeri said noting the expression on his face. "Good
thing too."
Michael sighed and laid his head back. "Can I use your phone?" His eyes were
closed as he spoke.
"Sure, I'd love for you to stay for dinner, we haven't talked in years and I'd
love to catch up with you." Jeri was just as sarcastic as her cousin. Michael sighed
and looked at her with eyes full of worry and she knew he was busy.
"Sure Mike." She reached down and picked up her black leather purse, digging
around for a moment she found her cell phone and then tossed it to Michael, who
he bested to bow without moving and began to dial Touko's number.
"Hello?" Touko's voice answered on the third ring.
"Is Robin there?"
"Michael!" The sound of Touko dropping and breaking whatever she had been
holding was heard as she gasped out his name. "No, she called; she's with Amon,
out looking for you!"
Michael sighed and cussed quietly. Touko spoke. "Michael, are you okay? What
happened?"
"Touko, I can't say over the phone. Just . . . tell Robin I'm okay, next you
see her, okay?"
It was Touko's turn to cuss, before saying: "Michael you need to call her."
"She --"
"Michael." Touko said quietly. "Trust me about this, I know women, I am one,
and I know the way Robin talks about you. She loves you."
Michael sighed. "I know. And I love her but if I come back she'll be in
danger." Jeri raised a brow but he ignored her. This conversation was too
painful and he had lost too much blood.
Michael simply hung up.
----
It was raining now, as if the God was responding to the many questions in
Robin's prayers by showing her this bad omen. Robin sighed. She loved the rain,
but today it only served to make her feel worse than she had before.
She knew it was impossible to find Michael when the rain washed away any trail
of blood they could have once followed, and especially when she couldn't even
see more than three feet, but still, she had to try. She
couldn't not try.
Suddenly the ringing of Amon's cell phone broke her thoughts. She turned around
and looked at him for a moment, but he said nothing as he brought the phone to
his ear.
"Yes?"
"Amon." Touko's voice said. "Michael just called me."
Amon's eyes became wide. "What?" He said as he parked the car on the
side of the rainy rode. Robin looked at him with questioning eyes.
"He wanted to talk to Robin, but I told him she wasn't here and he hung up."
Amon swore. He was very good at swearing when he wanted to be. He looked over
at Robin and his eyes said everything. He spoke a goodbye to Touko and hung up.
"Michael is alive."
Robin closed her eyes and a feeling of relief spread over her. The knot in her
stomach loosened and she felt herself almost smile. The next words that Amon
spoke, however, erased her smile.
"He called for you, but he didn't say where he was."
Robin felt the knot reform inside her. "Why would he--"
"Rica." Amon said. She turned to him. "I'm sure he has something to do with
this. Michael knows it. Don't tell Rica he's alive."
Robin nodded. She understood. She wouldn't allow Rica to get away with whatever
it was he was up to. That was a promise. A promise to a friend. No, a promise
to a lover.
A promise to Michael.
----
Michael had spent the last few minutes explaining as much as he could to Jeri,
who had so far learned that Michael was involved with the STN-J (she had no
clue what the STN-J was, however) and that he had been shot doing "Government
Work."
She had been interested in this, but she had been much more interested in who
"Robin" was. She had heard Michael's phone call to Touko, and as soon as
Michael had said that he "Loved her", Jeri had become very curious. The second
Michael was off the phone she bombarded her cousin with questions.
"Look." Michael said at last, growing angry. "I'll call you next week."
"The hell you will." Jeri was standing with on hand on her hip and a expression that reminded him of the night Doujima had
pried into their lives. Then his biggest problem had been trying to deny to
Doujima that he liked Robin. Now his biggest problem was trying to stay alive
long enough to warn Amon that David Rica was going to kill them all and then
murder hundreds of thousands of more innocent people in just a week.
His eyes loomed out the window at the rainy street. His cousin had fixed him up
with her first aid kit and her nurse's knowledge, but he still felt miserable.
His arm was still in bandages and he was still sad.
But he had no time to waste.
He grabbed the phone once more and dialed a number. It wasn't Amon's. He
couldn't remember the exact number of Amon's cell phone, but he would have to
keep trying. And so he did. He dialed wrong four more times before he heard a
familiar voice answer, but it wasn't Amon.
It was Robin.
----
After Touko's call, Amon had sped off again. He had driven down the rainy
streets and muddy roads until he reached Harry's Place. Master Yuji knew quite
a bit and could more-than-likely help them. He had given Robin his cell phone,
just in case Touko called again.
Robin had simply sat there, while Amon went inside. Her emerald eyes stared out
of the watery-window, her entire body filled with a sadness that would not go
away. She needed to focus.
She now knew Michael was alive, but he was still missing, and obviously he was
still in danger. She wanted no more than to see him, to hold him, to know that
he'd be alright.
She remembered all their midnight rendezvous. She remembered the sound of his
fingers typing as they sat drinking coffee and eating donuts by the dim buzzing
light of the computer's monitor.
She felt herself begin to cry. She hadn't cried once in years. She hadn't cried
when Sakaki shot her, or when she say goodbye to the Convent in Italy, she hadn't cried since she was a child.
And yet now, realizing that Michael was out there somewhere, hurt and alone,
she wanted to cry.
Then the phone rang in her petite hands and she was brought back to her senses.
She grabbed open the phone and brought it up to her face.
"Hello?"
There was a long pause, and then she heard a voice that forced out the tears
she had been biting back.
"Robin."
"Michael."
They sat there, Michael in his bed, and Robin in the car seat, both staring
into the same rainy sky, both simply relieved to hear each other's voices, and
both of them waiting for the other to speak.
"I'm okay." He said at last.
"I'm glad." She responded.
"Robin, listen, I can't talk on the phone, I can't be sure Rica isn't
monitoring your calls, but I need to see you, and Amon."
Robin nodded, though he couldn't see it. She understood. And at the mention of
Rica's name she hated him even worse. He was involved in this and her angry passion
for his hatred only grew.
"You and Amon have to meet me, tonight, in the park by your apartment."
Robin spoke quietly. "Okay. We'll see you there."
"Good."
There was another pause, this one even longer, and then at last he spoke.
"I'll see you tonight."
And then he hung up.
Michael Lee sighed and shook his head. Why, oh why couldn't he just tell her
that he loved her? Maybe he wanted to tell her in person, when he could hold
her, and kiss her, and be with her.
Maybe . . .
----
Karasuma and Doujima knew none of them. They did not know that Michael was
alive, and they did not know that David Rica was already plotting their deaths.
They knew none of the many twist and turns in the giant jigsaw puzzle that was
life.
They were at Raven's Flat, calling hospitals and homeless shelters, the police,
looking for any sigh of Michael. Then they heard the elevator door open and
Karasuma turned in time to see Sakaki walk into the room.
"Sakaki!"
Sakaki was wearing his uniform, and he looked ready to hunt a witch. He knew
nothing about Michael getting shot, and Karasuma did not want to tell him.
"Doctors released me." He said with a smile. "Who ya hunting?"
"Michael." Doujima said, walking up from behind Sakaki and handing him a stack
of paper. "Call these shelters and see if they've seen him."
Sakaki blinked. "Michael? Our Michael?"
"No Michael Jackson." Doujima rolled her eyes. Though, Michael Jackson was
indeed a witch (how else do you explain that man's face?), she had meant it as
a joke. A joke. Doujima sighed. She needed to make jokes. It was the way she
kept her mind off the horrible truth of Michael being gone, maybe being dead .
. .
"What the hell happened?" Sakaki demanded at once.
"Doesn't matter."
All eyes turned to where David Rica stepped off the elevator. All eyes were
full of hatred, but none more than Doujima who looked ready to kill him on
sight with her bare hands.
"What do you mean 'doesn't matter'?" Karasuma spat. "Michael needs our help!"
"We." Rica explained. "Are Witch Hunters. Michael is not a Witch."
"Go to hell!" Doujima shouted, and for a moment Sakaki thought he saw her reach
for her gun, but Rica merely smirked.
"The Witch is named Yoko Juribari; she killed her
husband and his business partner, now she's going after the other one." He
spoke ignoring their glares of hate and malice. "Mr. Saunders says he is sorry
but the four of us must go after Juribari before we
look for Lee."
"Well Saunders can go straight to hell." Doujima said in a sort of
cheery-sarcasm. "Because we're looking for Michael."
Rica smirked. "Somehow I guessed you'd say that." He reached down to the
holster that contained his nine millimeter inside his jacket, but at that
moment the phone rang. No one answered it but the machine finally got it and
Amon's voice filled the room.
"Saunder's called, we can't make it on the Witch
Hunt, Karasuma you all go with Rica, we'll be along later. We think we have a
lead."
Of course, Karasuma, who knew Amon well, had realized what the message meant.
It meant they had talked to Michael and David Rica was dirty, but he couldn't
talk openly about it.
Doujima sighed. Rica smirked his smug smirk.
"Then will you be coming after all or should I tell Mr. Saunders to, what was
it, 'go straight to hell?"
Doujima growled but Karasuma held her back. She had got the message and she
knew that Rica was evil. She also knew he may have more partners like the one
who shot Michael, and she couldn't take that chance.
"We'll come on the Hunt." She said, and shot knowing glances at Doujima and
Sakaki.
Rica looked somewhat disappointed as he took his hand off the handle of his
gun. "Yeah, well then let's go mah puppies. We'll be
undercover on a yacht."
Karasuma had realized that being on a Yacht, in the Bay, in the Rain, with
Water-Craft using David Rica, who was evil, was a very bad idea, but she had no
choice.
Rica smirked. He already knew about Michael and Robin's meeting in the park at Midnight. He also knew that when they met in the
park they, and Amon, would all be murdered by his associates and around that same
time he would kill the rest of them.
In a few short hours the STN-J all be dead.
-----------------------
