Disclaimer I don't own Witch Hunter Robin.

A/N Sorry for such a delay (hey, I didn't update for2 weeks.;) I was on an awesome vacation at Wisconsin….skiing. I fell a couple times, but hey, I got on the highest hill there! And while staying in the hotel room, I was able to get most of this chapter done, after going through SIX painful rough drafts. SIX! So you better enjoyXD thanks!

P.S I'm thinking about extending the length of the chapters cause I think they're too short... or too long? please tell me what you think.

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Beginning of an End

Chapter Ten- Crimine Due-affrontato (Two-Faced Crime)

Amon's labored breathing wisped into the grimy air smelling thickly of gasoline and freshly applied cement. Even through his heavy, hazy mind and the dusty darkness, Amon could sense a presence nearby.

"Well, Amon. How ironic to find you in a position like that?" Kariya's raspy, labored voice bounced off the cement walls.

Amon tried agonizingly to move his hands only to realize with despair that they were tied together painfully tight behind his back. His dark eyes ignited as they followed the silhouette nearing him from behind stacks of containers.

"I heard that you committed treason on the hunt? No need to worry. We're on the same boat, although I doubt it was for the benefit." The man chuckled, rather sounding as if he was coughing dryly. "Why does it have to be an ordered thing to hunt witches when we are ones? We don't have to wait till the SOLOMON tells us what to do, agree?"

"I'm not… a witch." Amon growled, although it couldn't be proven, nor did he want to admit.

Kariya laughed hoarsely as if he'd just heard a joke. "Then why not kill that girl? Have you two formed sort of a…alliance? If you aren't going to do it yourself, I have no choice but to do it my way. You've served very useful bait, although no one asked."

"Robin!" Amon mouthed inaudibly, froze in shock and bewilderment. All this time he'd been keeping a close eye on all the actions of the SOLOMON, but never occurred to him that they'd be out on the hunt for the girl again. Robin might as well been standing out in the open waiting for blood-thirsty predators, with absolutely no knowledge of the situation.

If only I had come sooner…I've led Robin straight to the H.Q. Amon agonized silently. But it might not be too late…not just yet. Kariya had betrayed the H.Q. as well, so there's no way he'll report anything over to the hunters.

"What are you going to do with Robin?" He breathed rather than actually asked, pressured by his aching ribs.

"No need to worry. You just sit here and relax while I enjoy the fun…" Kariya burst into a strange crackling laughter and raised his hands in front of him. "Ms. Isuzu and I have a work to do."

"Don't you dare," Amon growled, frustrated and enraged by his immobilized body. He knew perfectly well that there was nothing he could do to stop Kariya's calamitous scheme, although he did not admit it. All he could do for now was to hope that somehow, Robin will be able to realize what kind of a hunt she was being lured into.

Amon, with a painful effort, tried to drag his body toward the mirthless man. The effort failed him and instead, he felt a strange feeling of a part of his being dissolving away, leaving an empty hollow sensation somewhere.

He stared in immense shock as once-Kariya stood over him as Amon himself.

A smirk stretched across the identical dark chiseled face, which looked oddly unnatural. The newly made Amon aimed a small black gun at his originator's heaving chest.

"Time for a nap, Amon." whispered the imperturbable voice.

The real Amon clenched his fist so tight that he could've sworn his nails dug into his palms through the leather gloves. It was a strange thing to watch himself about to be shot by his identical self, and Amon almost could've thought it funny.

There was a small click of the trigger, and the new Amon placed his gun back into the inner pocket of his black overcoat. He glared briefly at the limp body on the ground and left the scene.

"Don't worry, Robin Sena, Amon is here." He chuckled.

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Robin sat on her bed with her knees pulled snuggly up to her chin. She stared thoughtfully at her cell phone, which was lying open on the other side of the bed.

"Should I get rid of it? If I'm a fugitive, it probably won't be a safe thing to keep with me," she wondered out loud.

But then, she herself wasn't a safe person to be with Amon, if he had planned on being a fugitive with her. What if he was risking something? "What if he's risking his…I don't want to think about it."

Robin buried her chestnut head deep into her arms. Things were happening too fast and complicated, making her feel stupid and obsolete. It was as if she was standing on an extremely delicate balance which tipped at the slightest mistake and threw her off into a pile of chaos.

"Maybe I did fall already," Robin sighed glumly. She perked up when she heard a knock on the door, which was a rare thing to expect at such late at night.

"Who is this?" She inquired carefully.

"It's Amon," replied the muffled voice out the door.

Robin could swear that her heart skipped a beat. "Amon? Why did you come?"

She knew extremely well from the way she was brought up that this was an extremely rude thing to ask, but this was such a strange occasion that she didn't care at all. Robin walked up to the door and quickly threw on her jacket over her over-sized black T-shirt.

"It looks like Kariya had run off, so the pursuit's extended," Amon explained. "So…I was wondering if you'd want some explanations, since there's really nothing else to do."

Kariya? Pursuit? Robin wondered what this was all about, but then, there were moments when she just didn't pay attention to what Amon was telling her. She kept quiet. Still, knowing the fact that Amon never really had "nothing else to do" being so self-sufficient, she wished she could ask some more. Instead, she hesitantly opened the door.

Amon walked in as Robin closed the door behind her back. "Do you want some coffee, Amon?" She offered warily, eyeing the darkly clad man who was looking around the small room.

"No, I'll pass. There have been too many deaths lately," He replied.

"Of whom?" She asked to keep up the conversation. Death was-- used to be-- common in the witch-hunting business.

Amon seemed to hesitate slightly. "Touko and Nagira, they were both murdered by Kariya."

Robin dropped the mug she'd been holding, causing it to collide with the floor with a crash. "…Touko? Nagira! They can't be…" She stammered in disbelief.

Amon looked as if he wanted to avoid the conversation. A streak of chilly numbness went up Robin's back, freezing up her tears. After the sensation was gone, her eyes immediately flooded with flowing tears.

"Is that why you've been acting different ever since?" She asked wetly.

To her surprise and shock, Amon pulled Robin by her delicate shoulders and encased her in his deep chest. Her emerald eyes widened in bewilderment.

"I'll never let you be hunted," Amon said in a near-whisper, his voice gentle.

"But why---" Robin began. Is this really Amon? It was a strange thing to ask, but this was too much of a change.

Before she could finish, Amon had brought her chin up to his, their lips locking into a kiss. Robin in her wildest possible thoughts could never reach to anything as undreamed of as what was happening now. Robin recalled her first kiss, a forced and unwanted one. She couldn't admit that she'd wanted a kiss with Amon, but in some strange ways, it was the same as the first.

This can't be right, Robin thought, her eyes still wide and wet. This shouldn't be happening… But something distracted her. A scratch under his left eye? The strange thing was, she had never noticed its presence before. It looked older than a few months or days, more like years.

Amon tightened his arms around Robin's waist, making her almost completely immobilized. Robin tried unnoticeably to restrain.

Suddenly it struck her…hadn't she seen, for a fleeting moment, a scar under Mr. Sakamoto's left eye? Robin's body stiffened. What in the world is going on! Is it possible for two people to have identical scars under their left eye? Whatever the scar meant, anyone with the scar was not Amon. It couldn't be.

Robin broke free from the masquerading lips, causing equally disguised face of Amon to blink in confusion. He let out a bawl as his arm suddenly ignited with a burst of flame.

"Who are you?" Robin asked shakily, jumping away from the fire. Her eyes were ready to attack once more.

The man chuckled, despite the flame crawling its way up his elbow. "Amon's in the cellar, Ms. Isuzu." The reply came with a horrid, dry voice.

Robin backed away, inching her way closer to the door. She did not care that the man knew her fake name. She didn't care that in fact, the man was Mr. Sakamoto. She had to find Amon.