----Chapter Twelve---

---Traitor---

Doujima giggled contentedly while Sakaki slouched over with his hands stuffed smugly into his jacket pockets. He seemed as if this stroll through the park was a complete waste of time, especially when Miho forced him to do so during his intimate quality time with his video games.

He pouted even more as Doujima jabbed him hard on the side with her finger. "What's the big idea?" He huffed in pure annoyance.

"Jeez, Haruto, how could you be so down when you're given the special privilege to spend the whole morning with me?" Doujima piped mischievously, and deflated at Sakaki's flat expression.

"Sorry to crush your dreams, I'm doing this 'cause Ms. Karasuma made me. Besides, it's just so that you know what's going on in the outside world besides staring at you magazines all day." Sakaki answered matter-of-factly. "Trust me, if I were to choose between a minute with you and an hour with a drunken old lady, I'd---" Sakaki realized that he was the only one talking. Err….did I go a little too far?

He turned to apologize. "Hey, I'm sorry---"

Doujima wasn't there. Instead, he heard her giddy singsong voice that rang through the whole silent park. "Hey, Haruto!" He saw her kneeling in front of a crying girl, and motioned him to come over. Haruto couldn't help but want to turn back around and run. Instead, he slowly walked over and let out a sigh.

"What happened?" He asked warily. He did not want to get involved into anything that had to do with Doujima and little kids…definitely not little kids.

Doujima glared briefly up at him, scolding of his un-enthusiasm. "I think she lost her mom, by the looks of it," her expression wore genuine sympathy. She once again had switched her gears to something Sakaki never really understood.

"Err…should we look for her then?" He suggested tentatively, glancing at the girl whose eyes were puffy and nose was red. Besides, this would help some time fly by, since he was not in favor of spending the whole morning with a ditzy Doujima.

Doujima blinked. "Wow, Sakaki, I'm impressed," She giggled in a teasing fit. She stood up with the girl's hand in hers, and skipped like a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl ahead of him. Sakaki wore a small scoffing grin, and started after them.

Robin woke at the soft rustle of fabric and saw Amon standing on the other side of the bed, tugging his leather gloves on. Robin let out a sigh cause by pain on almost every part of her body as she strained her back to rise.

"The inn-keeper told me that you should be staying in bed for a while with a wound like that," She suggested sheepishly as she brushed strands of hair out of her eyes.

"The bullet only grazed me. Besides, I wouldn't listen to what a stranger says. They don't exactly want to tell you what you want." The older man replied to the wall.

"Really...I don't think you should--" Robin frowned abruptly. "Amon, you were shot?" She didn't mind how stupid this sounded even to her ears, but she felt as if an ice cube had slipped down her throat. Even if it was minor, what if I had come too late?

Amon checked the ammo of his small black gun, and slipped it into his jacket in a smooth fashion. "Yeah," he answered thinly. "And that man, apparently, tried to kill you, in my knowledge."

Robin plunged into a deep thought. So, that man was Kariya. But then…is there such ability as shape-shifting? She even wondered if it was just an illusion she had kissed so vividly, if not an effect of thinking about Amon too much lately. But whatever it was, the kiss had been real. Robin couldn't believe herself…this wasn't the time for such daydreaming. She refocused onto the strange happening. "So, this man you're mentioning is Kariya, if I'm guessing right?" She asked. Apparently Amon was hiding something from her, and he wasn't going to keep it that way.

"I suppose so," Amon paused slightly, "what else has he told you?"

"Something about a pursuit and…deaths of Touko and Nagira," Robin recalled. Her voice trembled slightly at the second part. "Amon, it's just a hoax, right?" She asked almost in desperation. Wasn't he the one who told her not to listen to strangers? Wasn't he?

She noticed that Amon's wide back had turned noticeably rigid. It gave away the answer.

A heavy silence settled in. Amon's back stood like a barrier, blocking himself out from Robin. She deftly stood up and pushed the chair aside, boldly breaking the silence with the scraping noise on the sagging wooden floor. She walked around the bed to face Amon, whose back almost towered above her eye level. She saw that he was concentrated into starting deep into the wall, with the same frozen expression he wore when he appeared in Robin's doorstep with a gun pointed at her chest for the first time. It was a mixture of sadness and fear.

She might not have known what she was thinking, but Robin pulled Amon into her arms by his shoulder. She gently patted his broad back like a mother to her child. It's alright, Amon. I'll always be here. She mouthed silently into his chest, since she didn't find the need to say anything. But while she did so, she realized that she wasn't entirely sure herself.

Amon was taken back. He's never been so close to another human being before, and it was so new that his body tensed sharply as if he was electrified. He knew he had to resist, but instead, he slowly closed his eyes and let his guards down in Robin's slender yet suppressing arms that wrapped awkwardly around his torso.

Now, Robin realized what that "thing" she had been feeling was all about; something she believed never truly existed. She also realized, ironically, that she had fallen for it.

"Well, I think you guys had a little too muchfun, there," Ms. Karasuma pointed out playfully at the two younger colleagues dragging themselves onto their chairs.

Sakaki briefly glared at her. "You have no idea." He replied sarcastically.

Doujima leaned against her chair, comfortably propping her legs up on her desk. "Actually, we had to take this little girl to her mother which---"

"Turned out to be a tour around a third of the city," Sakaki answered instead. Ms. Karasuma raised her brows bemusedly, while Doujima limply shrugged one shoulder.

"So, Michael, found anything interesting enough this time?" She asked with total uninterest. The reports now came so seldom, that no one anticipated any craft-related cases now.

Michael pointlessly pressed random keys on his beloved keyboard. "Not really. I'm assuming that the H.Q finally cut off most of the connections with us, since they figured out what's been going on behind their back, with the Orbo and all." He said pitifully. But why did they even bother to send us another replacement, if they've labeled us traitors? He'd been thinking this over for a while, but he couldn't come up with a reasonable answer. He sulkily scratched his head.

"No catches on Amon or Robin, either?" Miho asked hopefully, even though the answer would be the same.

The hacker shook his head. "Nope. If they're alive, I doubt they're still here in Japan." He thought for a brief moment. "But…I think I have a good idea of where they might be if they did leave."

Nadia leaned against a tree among the bushed in the park. She felt her bare legs scrape against thorns and branches under the long skirt of her dress, but she didn't mind.

It wasn't hard to sneak out with her colleagues noticing. She let out a small menacing laugh. Why do I even bother to call them colleagues? We have different goals, don't we? It made her laugh at how clueless they were, slacking out when they could prepare themselves for the end. She still wondered why the H.Q had sent her here for such an easy mission, knowing that she was worth something much more. Who knows…I might as well be just a decoy. But who cares? Wait until the wolves strike, little rabbits.

Nadia's extraordinary violet eyes scanned the quiet park pointlessly. Her partner could be anyone out there. She changed her gaze to abruptly face him behind her, breathing loudly.

"I told you, they've left," He said, while his body was nervously supported by a tree.

The younger girl made a face in disgust. "What's wrong, Kariya? Has your power backfired again? I liked it better when you were that young Sakamoto guy." She remarked without any fear. She knew for the fact that he couldn't dare to lay a finger on her. She heard a rasping cough of a grunt.

"You better start watching that mouth of yours, Nadia." He replied rather dangerously, keeping a safe distance all the while.

Nadia shrugged one shoulder and crossed her arms across her chest. "Well, what should we do about the Robin girl, then?"

"First, we hit the STN-J," Kariya said, "before they start meddling in our way again. I managed to clear out most files from STN Europe headed for Japan, so they should be at bay for a while."

A grin spread across Nadia's thin lips. "Alright then. I better go and make a schedule with the guys, then." She said breezily. "It's a farewell to the traitors."

A/N Aww sorry for the delay AGAIN! My laptop was taken away by my dad so I was banned from it for a while. Hopefully (again) this won't happen so much. During my little "break" I've been drawing/coloring this beautiful picture of Amon and Robin, and if only I had a working scanner, would post it for you guys to see. Chapter 13 will be on its way.

Keep the reviews coming! -Lola