Ok, here's the deal folks: Once again, I've lost my beta reader. (Seems I'm having horrible luck with them, eh?) So I'm reposting this chapter after I've read it over a few time and made some corrections. Hopefully everything will flow a little better now, though I can't say for sure because I don't have a beta! But anyway, sorry about the confusion, I hope you enjoyed (or will enjoy) this somewhat short chapter.

Miracle:

Chapter 13

It was a long time before any of the STN-J members moved again. But slowly, surely, they began to drift away, each still lost in his or her own thoughts, and began to embark on the journey home. The sun slanting through the windows was barely at its apex, yet they trickled from the building like sand through a sieve.

Robin was the first to rise, her pale face set as if determined not to show tears or emotion of any sort until she was safely alone. Still in a daze, Sakaki flitted his gaze towards her, then started to rise to take her home. But for the second time that day, he was cut off by Amon, who stepped behind the youngest Hunter and seemed almost to prod her towards the door.

Instead, the rookie turned to his female partner and shook her out of her own stupor by offering to take her home. Nodding silently, Karasuma rose and drifted out behind Amon and Robin, barely glancing around her. Doujima soon followed the rest of the group, her pretty face twisted in a disconcerting scowl. Michael nearly chuckled as he watched her leave; he had never seen Doujima think so hard before.

Turning back to his computer, he clicked a few buttons, sending copies of the data to each member's computer before shutting his own down. He didn't want to have to look at the horrible data any longer; it was bad enough he had spent all morning talking about it.

Getting up from his computer chair, the hacker went to the window and stared out at the shimmering blue sky, a soft grunt escaping his lips. Somewhere, out under the huge, indigo expanse of heaven, was the man behind all of this…the man who headed Zaizen's project and carried out all of his dirty work. He was out there…

Pressing the tips of his long fingers up against the glass, Michael growled low in his throat, resting his forehead on the cool pane. Never before had he wanted to leave the STN-J building so much.

The tires slowly ground to a halt and the awkward silence now seemed even louder. Shifting uncomfortably, Robin bit down on her lip hard and continued to stare out the window.

"Your apartment," Amon said, trying to remind her that now was the part where she got out of the car. Her very presence was making him uneasy. Now that it was known to her that his brother had been her rapist, things were rapidly going from bad to worse. Even before today he had been unsettled by her every time she entered the room—ever since the rape. Just by her being in the same room as he was, he found he could no longer keep his eyes away from her; a sense of protectiveness, almost, filled him…and he wasn't quite sure why.

The blonde Hunter merely continued to sit where she was, staring at her hands now.

"Robin."

At the sound of her own name, one lone tear slipped from her eyes and traced a glimmering path down her cheek, eventually falling onto her clenched hands.

Unsure of what to do, Amon tried what he had done before, and slipped an arm lightly around her shoulders.

At the first touch of his arm against her, Robin turned and pressed her face into his strong shoulder, taking deep shuddering breaths. "Why…me?" she whispered, almost so soft as not to be heard. "Why…why…"

That one syllable seemed to contain all the grief and all the pain she had held inside of her for so long. That one tiny word, so heavily laden with anguish, somehow managed to worm its way into Amon's frozen heart. He felt a small flame kindle amidst the ice, and for some unknown reason, he reached out with his other arm and pulled her into a full embrace.

Trembling a little at the contact, but not pulling away entirely, Robin slowly, ever so slowly, brought one of her own arms up and wrapped it loosely around his neck. She kept her face pressed against the blackness of his overcoat, hoping somehow that the darkness before her eyes would somehow swallow her up and take her away from here.

It was Amon who flinched this time as he felt the weight of her hand and arm across his back. He could not remember the last time he had been touched by someone like this. It was a foreign sensation to him, as were many of the emotions trying to push their way into his walled enclosure of a mind. Frustrated with all these things he could not understand, Amon tried all the more to shove them out of his head.

And by the time his attention was brought back to the girl in his arms, she had fallen asleep, her face smooth and angelic, with faint lines on it from where she had buried it in Amon's coat.

Grunting, the dark hunter turned and wrenched open the car door, awkwardly stepping out with his precious bundle held close. Kicking the door shut behind him, he mounted the stairs that led to Touko's apartment and banged on the door lightly with one elbow, so as not to wake the sleeping Hunter.

Touko's pretty face peered out and her doe brown eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Amon? And Ro"

But a glare from the tall man quieted her as did the sleeping face of Robin as she was carried into the small front room. Without even bothering to kick off his shoes, Amon stepped into the actual apartment and took her over to the couch, setting her down as gently as if she were made of glass. He straightened and remained where he was, staring down at her as if trying to fathom what he had done.

The dark Hunter didn't even realize how long he had been standing there until a polite throat-clearing from the other woman brought him back.

"Is she…?"

The unfinished question dangled in the air between them like pure electricity, crackling and spitting. Amon blinked once, twice, his gaze now fixed on the brunette instead of the blonde.

"I want to know, Amon, is Robin your"

But she was cut off by a swirl of his black coat as he turned to leave. "What I do is none of your concern," he said flatly.

Slightly put out, Touko answered, "But it used to be."

"No, it didn't. What I do and what I don't do are strictly my own decisions. Leave Robin out of this." And with that as his parting statement, the Hunter left much as he had come, swiftly and silently.

For a long time, the slender brunette remained rooted to her living room floor, staring at the entryway as if in deep thought. 'You're right…what you did with your life was never my concern. I never knew anything about you beyond your name and your job at my father's company. You were always so seemingly cold, and yet, upon rare occasions, I would glimpse something inside of you…something that cried out for love and company. But I see now that I am not the one to give you those things…'

Her gaze now fell upon the sleeping form of Robin, whose usually immaculate blonde hair was now falling down and settling in waves around her head. 'What you see in her, I don't know. She's too young for you, Amon…she's not the person to give you the happiness you need. If I could not give it, I don't know how she can…'

With pursed lips and a furrowed brow, the older woman left the room, her heavy thoughts chasing circles in her mind, even as the dark Hunter drove further and further away.

"WHAT! WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME!"

Fighting to keep the anger off of his own face, Dr. Nakano bowed slightly to the irate man before him. "It is as I said, sir, the test subject"

"I heard you, fool! Now what is this about the project! You're going to continue!" Zaizen stared down his employee from behind his desk of steel.

"Yes sir, we've already made plans"

"PLANS FOR WHAT! Your test subject is dead!"

Tired of being cut off, Nakano paused a moment before answering, mentally willing himself not to snap back at the old man. "Yes, but that doesn't matter anymore."

Sitting back in his chair, Zaizen's glare turned deadly cold. "Oh really…is that so? You see, I was under the impression that the purpose of this project was to make me an army of Witch Exterminators! And somehow, I just can't see you doing that without the test subject!"

Gritting his teeth, the young doctor responded, "But sir, as I said, we don't need the test subject anymore. You see, my scientists have discovered another we may use. Someone…better…"

Sorry this chapter is so short, it just seems I have nothing more to add to this chapter. I specifically wanted to leave off right at this "cliffhanger", so there's really nothing else to add…I promise, the next one will be longer.

In fact, I really don't have much to say at all for this chapter, except reviews are greatly appreciated, as always! (Come on people, let's shoot for 300! )

SanoGirl