Disclaimer: I don't own WHR.

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VI

Michael

Michael heard a creak and stirred awake. He opened his eyes slowly and raised his head. The glare of his computer made it hard for him to see, but he could see that someone was approaching his desk. Blinking a few times, he sat up all the way and rubbed his face. He was tired, but he hadn't meant to fall asleep. The figure stopped in front of his desk. Even through his blurred vision, Michael could see that it was Amon.

Amon

"Amon?" Michael asked, surprised.

"I didn't expect you to be asleep," Amon said. Michael sighed and rubbed his face again.

"I was tired," he said. He picked up his glasses from the desk and yawned as he slipped them on. "What is it?" he asked.

"Didn't you want to talk to me?" Amon asked. Michael gave him a confused look. Surely he remembered. Amon didn't come all that way for nothing.

"Well, yeah," he said.

"What's with the look?" Amon asked. He didn't think that Michael knew what he was talking about.

"I wasn't expecting you, that's all. I'll tell you one thing, you're one surprising guy." He yawned again and scratched his neck. "Give me a moment to wake up, will ya? I have to go the bathroom real quick."

"Do what you have to," Amon said. Michael got up and headed towards the elevators. Amon went around and sat in the chair to the right of Michael's. The desktop was on the computer screen. It was only midnight and he really hadn't expected Michael to be asleep. He'd gone home a little earlier than usual and realized he couldn't sleep. After a little urging, he convinced himself to go back to the office. He wasn't sure why he wanted to, but when he first walked in and saw Michael asleep at his desk, he figured he knew why.

Michael returned about seven minutes later looking awake and alert. He flipped on the set of lights that hung above his work station and sat down at his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a bag of cookies, then he opened a different drawer a little lower than the first and took out two colas. He handed one to Amon and sat the other down on the desk. He closed the drawer and popped the can open loudly, then opened the bag of cookies. He popped a cookie in his mouth, then flicked the crumbs away. He kept his eyes on Amon as he took a gulp of his pop. Amon watched him.

"So what's going on?" Michael asked.

"What do you want to know?" Amon asked.

"A bunch of things." Michael ate another cookie, then held the bag out to Amon. Amon shook his head. Michael kept the bag pointed at him.

"No, thank you." Michael pulled away slowly.

"Fine," he said. He sounded a little bitter. Amon found it amusing.

"Are you insulted that I don't want one of your cookies?" he asked. Michael shrugged slightly.

"You know you want one," he said. "You're the type that says no even though you really want one, just to be weird. You're stubborn, so if you're asked again, you don't want to look indecisive, so you stick with no." Michael handed the bag to Amon. "Just take a cookie. Two if you're through playing around." Somehow, Amon felt challenged. He lowered his brows and took three cookies from the big. Michael smiled genuinely and drank more of his cola. "So what happened on Tuesday?" he asked.

"Tuesday?" Amon asked. Michael's eyes widened.

"Yeah. Like the day before Wednesday."

"What makes you think something worth mentioning happened on Tuesday?"

"The call," Michael said. Amon took a small bite out of one of the cookies.

"I broke up with Touko." Michael's mouth popped into an 'o' shape.

"Wow. Must have been tough. So what did Robin have to do with it?"

"Touko preferred to not be alone that night. She and Robin had a talk. Then Robin and I had a talk. Then I left."

"Why'd Zaizen give you the lip? He's mad that you dumped Touko?" Amon looked at the computer screen. "What a pig dog. So…how did Touko take it?"

"She was angry," Amon said. "But I think she's gotten over it already." Michael shook his head.

"She hasn't. They never do. They always dwell on it, sometimes for months. How about you? How are you holding up?"

"I got over it once Zaizen threw the last punch."

"He hit you often?"

"Often enough. Never when anyone's around, like he did yesterday."

"What an ass," Michael said. "He likes to scare people…"

"He's nothing special," Amon said. He looked at Michael.

"Some of the things he does makes me want to hit him," Michael said. "But I wouldn't jeopardize what I have here."

"You don't have much." Michael gave Amon a blank look. "What?"

"Thanks, that's very nice of you to say." Amon finished his first cookie and leaned back in his chair again.

"What do you have, Michael?"

"Certain liberties. Call them…silent victories."

"Tell me what they are." Michael paused.

"Amon…tell me something."

"What?"

"Tell me that what I tell you will be held with confidentiality." He…doesn't trust me? Amon asked himself. He turned the chair slightly towards Michael.

"Michael," he said. "If you do not trust me, do not tell me a thing." Michael rolled in his chair a little.

"I trust you, Amon," Michael said.

"Then why the reassurance?"

"I've never told anyone about this stuff," Michael said. "A lot of what I just told you, I've told Haruto before. But…"

"Now that I know that you don't want what you tell me to be told, I won't say a word about it to anyone but you, or in front of anyone but you." Michael gave Amon a look that made him feel appreciated.

"Thanks."

Sakaki

Getting into Robins' apartment building was easy. Sakaki had no idea why he'd gotten up in the middle of the night to go see her. He was certain it was because of Michael's urgings. Alright, so it wasn't completely because of Michael. He had to admit he was interested in what was going on with Robin and Amon, if anything at all was going on. The last thing he wanted was to be left out of the happenings within his group.

He rode up to her floor and stepped off the elevator. He found it odd that the door was open a little. They were getting robbed, were they? Oooo… Maybe he'd get to see some action. He reached behind him and patted the butt of his gun for reassurance as he came closer to the door. He knocked lightly, then moved to the side of the door quickly. No answer or sound came from the apartment.

He moved closer and pushed the door open, not stepping out in front of it just in case someone was in there with a weapon. When nothing happened, he pushed the door open and slid inside. The place was dark and quiet. They were probably sleeping. He didn't want to intrude. He sighed and moved over to the kitchen.

There was a note pad on the counter. He looked around. Near a purse on the other side of the kitchen was an uncapped pen. He picked it up and scribbled a note saying that he'd stopped by and that they should check their front door before going to sleep from now on. He put the pen back and went towards the door.

Before he could reach it, he heard a phone ring. Someone picked up on the first ring. Sakaki's nosy side kicked in and he tiptoed towards the hall. He tried to be as quiet as he could be, and listened in on the conversation.

"...I'm aware of that…" It was Touko and she didn't sound pleased. "What would you have liked me to do? I kept her busy, didn't I? ...Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know what else to do. I figured taking her was good enough. I do it often, so why not take her along with me, you know? Female bonding… Well, what would you have liked me to do?" Touko was getting louder. "What…? What on earth—why would I have done that? That definitely would have raised some eyebrows... Nobody even knows what's going on, what are you getting so uptight about? ... Look, it's late... Don't yell at me, you know as well as I do that it's late and the only thing we need to be doing right now is sleeping. We should sleep on it, and we'll talk about when we're both fully awake, alright? Alright... Sounds great... Okay. Fine. Goodnight."

Touko hung up the phone. Sakaki looked down then towards the front door. He heard Touko's bed creak and decided he should make a run for it. He left the apartment quickly, and closed the door as lightly as he could.

Well, that was unexpected. Sakaki wondered who she was talking to. And who she was talking about. The night hadn't been a total bust, for all it was worth. Sakaki stuck his hands in his pockets and headed for the elevators. He was startled to hear the apartment door open. His eyes widened and he tried to hide himself. He pressed the down button rapidly and quickly slid into the car when the doors opened. He pressed for the doors to close and they did. He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall. The elevator didn't move. He shook his head, pressed for the first floor, then leaned against the wall again. 007, he was not.

Michael

"So what are these silent victories?" Amon asked. Michael looked down at his cookies. He only had two left. Amon really seemed interested in talking. Maybe he didn't really come to answer questions, but instead, to ask his own.

"The little things," Michael said. "I don't have a life outside of here, you know? So I don't really get paid. I don't have any accounts and they took my savings. I…because of this, I can order things, and the people in charge have to pay for it. So I order what I want."

"They don't supply you with what you need?" Amon asked.

"Nope. I got everything off 'line. Simple things, like all my junk. My clothes, too, and my deodorant and all. I get things for the office, too. Like coffee."

"I thought Hattori took care of that."

"He used to, before the chief started going nuts on us," Michael said. "Actually, I shouldn't take too much credit for the coffee. Karasuma buys it sometimes. She doesn't like the type I buy. I usually order all the stuff for the office when I order my stuff."

"What did you have, when you first came in here?" Michael chewed on the inside of his lips.

"Just some stuff," he answered.

"Just…some stuff?" Amon asked. "What kind of stuff?"

"You know, the basic stuff." Michael looked away from Amon and sighed. He ate both of the cookies at the same time.

"What is it about that question that made you become quiet?" Amon asked. Michael shrugged.

"Just don't want to say it, that's all. It's no big deal."

"So…Zaizen doesn't buy you your things?"

"Where do you think I get my latest CD's and things from? From him?"

"He just lets you do it?"

"Sometimes I lie and say that Haruto gets them for me, and he backs me up. Sometimes I just tell him." Michael chuckled. He didn't know why he chuckled.

"Does he mind?"

"Well, yeah. But it's not like I waste any of it. I just spend it like I'm getting paid, and I need things to live, you know? You guys need toilet paper, don't you?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Yeah." Michael finished the last of his pop and sat the can aside. He leaned forward on the desk and rested his chin in his hand.

"Are you alright?" Amon asked.

"I'm fine."

"Are…you sure?"

"What the hell, Amon, I said I'm fine!" Michael slapped himself on the inside. He lowered his head and balled the cookie bag up slowly. Amon finished his last cookie and stared at Michael. "Sorry for getting loud…" Michael said.

"Don't be," Amon said. "What is it that you're not telling me?"

"There isn't anything."

"I never knew it was like this," Amon said. Michael shook his head.

"You're reading into it too much." Amon ignored him.

"I thought they at least took care of you. I thought they were obligated to."

"They'd let me rot if I wasn't so valuable," Michael said. "That's what they say. That I'm a valuable member of the team. An indispensable asset. I figure that just as long as they're talking like that, I'm all good. Once they start acting like they don't need me anymore…that's when I'll start worrying."

"You…want to get out?" Amon asked. It sounded like he was offering. Michael scoffed.

"I'd kill to get out," he said. "But I know what leaving means, and I'm not willing to risk that. At least not yet."

"What are you waiting for?"

"For…when…things change," Michael said. "For if…things get unbearable. If you guys left and I was alone. If Robin stopped bringing me donuts. If Haruto stopped snooping around with me. If you…" Michael sighed and didn't continue.

"If I what?" Amon asked.

"If you…turned your back on us." Amon turned to Michael very slowly and looked at him carefully.

"Michael…" Michael looked up at him.

"That's my greatest fear, Amon," he said. "I trust all of you, and my greatest fear is for any of you to betray that."

"Why do you think I would betray you?" Amon asked. "Any of you?"

"Because…" Michael said. He sighed. He didn't want to say it.

"Michael…I understand if you don't want to tell me…" Michael lowered his head, shaking it slightly. Amon was always like that. Don't do anything you don't want to do. Michael looked at him.

"Why…were you with Touko, then, Amon?" Amon looked confused.

"Touko?" he asked. "What does she…?" Michael opened his drawer and pulled out a candy bar. "Why did you ask that?"

"I'm just curious," Michael said.

"Pressure," Amon said.

"You're a hypocrite." Amon was silent for a short while. Michael ate half his candy in one bite.

"What's the matter?" Amon asked. Michael closed his eyes.

"I'm tired," he said, feeling tears stinging the back of his eyes. "I'm lonely. And…I need a vacation from him."

"Zaizen?"

"Yes." Michael looked at the computer. "I'd be so much happier if he didn't exist. I don't mind living here. I don't mind having to buy things myself. I like it here. I like being around you guys and being able to use the computers when I want. It's just him. I'm tired of him. And I'm…I'm lonely, Amon." Amon nodded slowly.

"It's not easy, Michael. I know it's not. It's not enough that you're stuck here, but there's something else making it harder for you as well." Michael nodded slowly.

"Same thing that makes it hard for you and Haruto."

"Yes," Amon agreed. Michael looked at Amon and sighed.

"At least…now I know I'm not as alone as I thought."

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Thanks for reading, and I hope to get the next chapter out soon. Please review! Latah!

kaj