Chapter Three: Secrets

Robin slept well that night, waking up before her alarm. She stretched, sighing contently as she went to her dresser, finding a note with a bag. Dear Robin, I saw there was some blood on your clothes from yesterday, so I took them! Until then, there's another outfit in there for you, and another surprise. Robin stopped reading, reaching curiously into the bag and pulling out a dark red, almost maroon shirt and a pair of dark pants and shoes. Digging deeper into the bottom of the bag, she pulled out a chain with a charm of red fire attached at the end. She just smiled to herself, resting it on the wooden table, finishing up the note. I hope you and Chris have fun today! Thanks for your help yesterday. We couldn't have done it without you! Signed, Kan."

Robin smiled slightly, happy for the praise given to her. She bunched her clothes together, looking around the room. She noticed another door, and upon opening it, discovered a bathroom. "I need a shower," she said plainly, looking at herself in the mirror while pulling the ribbons out of her hair, causing her the soft strands to fall around her face. She turned the water on, waiting in a towel for it to heat when there was a knock on her door. She listened to it for a few moments, deciding to open it. It's probably Kan. Hurrying to the door, she stopped after a deep voice called to her. "Robin! Open up!" Taki…Robin pressed her back against the door, her bare shoulders feeling the smooth wood against them. "I don't know if I can speak to him yet…Yesterday was…" She remembered her conversation with Amon and how jealous Taki reacted after he heard about it. What should she do? Quietly, she listened once he called to her again. "I'm sorry okay…about yesterday. I'm sorry!" His footsteps started down the hall slowly, and Robin felt she HAD to follow him. Forgetting what she was wearing, she flung the door open and called out to him.

Once he turned, his face immediately flushed beat red and his blue eyes hit the floor. Robin cocked her head in confusion, looking down at herself wrapped tightly in a towel, her breasts pushing together sensually. "I'm sorry," she whispered, hoping not to wake anyone else as she pulled up the towel, only making it worse. Taki covered his eyes, cracking his fingers apart slightly so he could gaze at her pale body. He watched her adjust, only pushing her lovely breasts up further. He'd never seen her body so well framed. She was breathtaking. "No…I should be the one apologizing…For yesterday I mean." He blushed, scratching the back of his dark locks. "I was out of line. I shouldn't have said the things I did." His blushed burned darker as she gave him a quiet smile. "Thank you, and it's alright. Just seeing him yesterday made me feel stronger. I know I'll be fine." "Oh. So you still…" Taki stopped in mid sentence, not wanting to say the rest. "Yes I do." Robin turned her gaze down, noticing his feet shuffling closer.

Before she knew it, he was pinning her against the wall, looking deeply into her eyes. "What are you doing?" She gasped in surprise, trying to squirm as he held fast to her wrists, keeping them against the wall. "I don't know. There's just something about you I can't resist…Maybe it's because of Amon…or maybe it's just because of me…either way…" His voice trailed off as his lips pressed into hers. She tried to speak, but his hard press muted her words. She couldn't get away from him. He was much stronger. Why is he doing this? Her eyes shut tightly as she felt his chest pressing into hers tightly. Once his lips lowered to her neck, she spoke. "Stop it!" She began to push off the wall, pushing him back as well. "How dare you!" She cried, feelings tears heating her eyes. "Robin…" He began, but never got to finish. She hurried back into her room, slamming the door and locking it.

She sat on her bed, thinking silently. The sound of the shower calmed her slightly, but she still felt terrible. Lying down, she took a deep breath. Why couldn't I stop him… "Was I betraying Amon?" She wondered aloud, feeling the warm tears falling into her sheets. "Robin." Her blue green eyes widened as the deep voice whispered to her. It was just like Taki's, sending her a fearful chill across her body. She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. "Go away." She thought she heard footsteps, but ignored them, keeping her eyes shut tightly. "That's odd. First wanting to see me, and now telling me to leave. You are strange…" Robin felt a gloved hand move her hair away from her face, uncovering her tears. Her sad eyes slid open slightly to a different surprise. "Amon…What are you…" She sat up quickly, ashamed that he'd seen her crying like that. He just watched her rub her eyes, listening to her sniffling quietly. "Why are you crying?" He asked nonchalantly. "It's just someone…I don't know."

Amon sat beside her, watching her wipe her face. "Why did you come here?" Robin asked, trying to take attention away from her tears. "Why else?" He questioned plainly, hiding any hint of emotion in his voice. "You said I was the reason you were going to continue…" Robin was glad to know he cared about her, even if it's not what he said. She felt relieved that he was around. "It was Taki, wasn't it?" Robin was surprised he knew, but didn't bother denying it. She just rested her head on his soft shoulder, nodding slightly. "He kissed me. I don't understand why he would do something like kiss me. It doesn't make sense…" "He kissed you," Amon repeated in a lower voice. Robin looked over at him out of the corner of her eye to see a dark frown on his face. Is he jealous? "That doesn't seem like the Taki I knew…He's probably vulnerable. Just another stupid way for someone to apologize." Robin thought deeply. There was something different. He seemed to know what he was doing.

Robin bit her lip to think, only to cause tears to drop as she stopped immediately, pain shooting through her lip. Reaching up, she discovered a bruise on her lip from the hard press of Taki's. Amon must have noticed because he turned her head towards him, taking off one of his gloves before studying the bruise with his fingertips. "No one who was unsure would be so overpowering. You need to watch out for him. He's very different then what you expect him to be." The two sat in silence for a few moments before Robin smiled slightly, her eyes shining. "Why are you telling me all of this?" Amon kept his quiet, clenching his teeth tightly. "Amon?" "Don't make me say it…" Robin was surprised to find a small blush tracing his face as his dark hair covered his cheeks once again. Robin needed to press him further. What won't he say? Why? She quietly moved off the bed, turning to face him. "Why not?" She questioned innocently as she moved closer, her hands resting on his shoulders, playing with the fabric as she hoped for an answer. "Because…" Their weight shifted, and Amon was pinned.

Robin glanced into his dark eyes before speaking. "You can't tell me just that…please…" Their lips drew closer; Amon's brushing against Robin's as he explained. "Don't make me say I care about you…" "Why?" Robin repeated her question, shutting her eyes, sighing as she felt Amon's gentle hand swimming through her wavy locks as he switched their positions. "Because then I have to keep coming back," he murmured as their lips came together slowly. Robin winced slightly as the bruise was pressed upon, but relaxed as Amon's kisses became lighter. He knew of her pain. He always did. Amon broke the kiss as his lips ran across the spots on her neck, finding a spot he liked and paying extra attention to it. "Why don't you want to come back?" Robin moaned quietly as he bit her flesh gently, his tongue tracing the spot after he'd done so. "If I come back, then things will change. Things between us will change…" Squirming out of her tight grip, Amon stood silently. "So you aren't coming back?" Robin questioned in confusion as she stood before him. All he did to answer was put two fingers to the spot on her neck that he had kissed. "Keep this," he ordered before turning his back to her and walking towards the window.

Robin watched him as she rubbed her neck to feel a small bump on her soft skin. i A love bite? /i "I don't understand. What does that mean? You haven't answered the question Amon!" Amon stopped right as he was about to jump out the window. "I told you to keep that bite. I'll have to come back if you want to keep it, won't I?" His eyes locked with hers and she swallowed deeply as his gaze pierced hers. "You will," she agreed, dropping her hand. "Take care Robin, and watch out for Taki…He's not who you think he is." Robin watched as he jumped from the window, his black jacket flying against the wind until he was out of sight. She hurriedly closed the window, thinking. Taki isn't who I think he is? Is he up to something? Is this about his connection with Amon? After a few more moments of thought, Robin decided to stop worrying about it for now and enjoy her shower.

"Ah! Here she comes!" Chris stood as he saw Robin coming up in the elevator, hair still wet and at her shoulders. Kan who was also in the room smiled and waved to Robin who walked over to her. "How are you feeling Robin? Any better?" Robin smiled reassuringly and nodded. "Yes. Thank you very much for the change of clothes and the keychain." "No problem. I just hope you got enough sleep," Kan said as she offered Robin a cup of steamy coffee, which she gladly accepted. She needed the boost. "I did…" Robin stopped talking once she noticed Taki sitting at his usual station. She swallowed quietly and turned away, her hair twirling with her. "Wait…" Kan caught a strand of Robin's red hair, lifting it higher. "Oh my. Who is this from?" Robin pulled back quickly, combing her hair back into place with her fingers. "It's…" Before she could respond, Kan had put her fingers on her lip, gasping in surprise. "And this!" Robin hurried Kan away from the others before talking to her. "The bruise is from Taki and the love bite is from Amon!"

Kan scratched her head in confusion. "Sorry, but that doesn't sound like Taki. He's never taken interest in a woman before." Robin brushed her hand along her forehead nervously. "Maybe he's different. I don't know but he was trying things with me." "Alright. Don't worry about it. He's probably anxious about things. I'm sure you'll be fine. You're spending today with Chris, and he'll be out by himself for awhile." "By himself?" "Yeah. You're his partner, but you aren't going to be with him on the mission. I always work with Suzu." Kan noticed the worried expression in Robin's eyes, and she tried to turn her mind on other things. "At least you got something from Amon." This made the young girl giggle slightly, bowing. "Thank you Kan." "No problem! And I won't tell anyone. It's one female to another." The two continued to talk until Chris called everyone over. "Alright guys. Ready for your mission?" As he explained, Robin had lost herself in thoughts of what was being said of Taki. First she was told to watch out for him, and now she was being told he was a harmless guy. She had seen both sides…but which one should she believe?

She snapped to attention as the thump of sneakers hit the ground. "We'd better be off then," Suzu said cheerfully as he waved to Robin and Chris. "Good luck!" She called out to them in encouragement. After they left, she turned to Chris. "Will they be alright?" "Of course. This mission is pretty easy. I don't need to contact them so we can look up the stuff you were after." Robin had almost forgotten about that! "So what do you want to know?" Chris asked as he spun around in his chair. "I want to know about Taki and Amon…" Chris put his foot down to stop himself. "You do?" "Yes. Is that bad?" "Well…It's very complex…Not even I know about that kind of stuff. We're going to have to do a lot of hacking. That's all I can tell you." Robin anxiously pulled up a chair as Chris typed away, his eyes catching every detail on the page. "Hm. We do have files on Amon and Taki, but it seems that they weren't around during the same time. Amon was here much earlier…but Taki came around after Amon had left."

The two sat, trying to think of why. "It is possible that they are related…" "No," Robin retorted with a shake of the head. "I've met Amon's brother. Even if Amon wouldn't have said anything, his brother would have." "Guess that's ruled out," Chris thought aloud as he twirled a pen between his fingers. "There has to be something we're missing then…" Robin ran her fingers through her hair in frustration as she dug deep into her mind, trying to find anything. Chris had gone back to the computer, looking through the files. "Hm…Taki was sent here by Zaizen…It was his request to have Taki here…" "Zaizen." Robin cringed at the very thought of the evil man. "Does it go into anymore detail?" "Sadly, no. It doesn't, but I bet we'll have a lead from here." As Chris continued to occupy himself with research, Robin slid over to another computer to do some checking herself. She came upon a page that seemed to contain Zaizen's research, but the only way to get in was a password. Password…

Robin typed in several names and dates but came up with nothing. Come on…there has to be something After staring at the keys for a moment, she smiled to herself and typed in the word "witch" and the screen clicked into a new file. Robin read for a long time. The research was endless, but she was only interested in one thing. Amon and Taki… The search seemed hopeless, and after awhile, Chris just gave up. "I'm getting hungry. I'm gonna go make something. You want anything?" "No. I'm fine," she answered, still deep in research. Chris just smiled to himself as he walked towards the elevator, stretched as it went down. I bet she'll find something.

Robin eventually pulled he eyes away from the screen, rubbing them from the pain they felt. "There's so much to read, but I can't find anything about either of the two…" She jumped as she heard Chris reentering quickly. "Heads up! They're coming!" He flew into his chair, saving any important files he had discovered before exiting them. Robin did the same just in time, for moments later, the three exhausted recruits came up. "How did it go?" Robin asked coolly. "It was pretty easy," Suzu replied with a smile as he put down some of his gear on a desk. "I'm gonna get some rest!" As he journeyed off, Taki came closer to Robin, sitting beside her desk. "Did you do anything interesting today? Look up anything good while we were gone?" Robin straightened up, uncomfortable from his eyes on her. "Nothing really. Just resting my ankle." "I see," Taki said, dragging on the sentence as though he still wasn't convinced of her story. "Well then I'm sure you're tired. How about I escort you to your room?" Kan and Chris looked up at each other in a certain alarm. Taki was never like this towards any of his allies. What made Robin so different?

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Robin protested as she rose, ignoring the shooting pain in her ankle. "Come on! Don't be so headstrong!" Taki replied as he lifted her off her feet, causing a stir among the others. "Be careful with her Taki, she's a woman, not a rag doll," Kan scolded as Taki carried the helpless girl towards the elevator. "I told you not to worry about it! She's fine!" Before Kan could argue, Taki had pressed a button and they were gone. "Are you suspicious of his motives now?" Chris questioned with a smug look on his face as he rested his hand on his cheek. "I don't know. This is all messed up. I just can't think about it right now," she grumbled back as she put her head down. I just hope Robin isn't in any danger...

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded as Taki walked down the familiar hallway. "Just shut up and enjoy the ride." Robin frowned, trying with all her might to squeeze out of his arms, but as before, she couldn't. He was too strong. Soon enough, her room was reached and he tossed her on the bed, shutting the door behind him. "As long as you're here, can I ask you something?" Robin huffed as she sat upright, brushing herself off. "What is your relationship with Amon? No one will tell me and I have barely found anything. I am tired of this! Give me a straight answer!" She became uneasy as the smiling man joined her on the bed. "All I can say is this dear Robin," he began, his fingers beginning to touch her light locks. "Amon and I are very different, yet without him, I would not be here." What does that mean? "Even though we aren't as similar as many would think, we do share something…" Robin gasped as his weight moved over hers, stopping her protests by twisting her injured ankle between his.

All she could do was gaze up into his dark blue eyes, hating them more each time she saw them. "We share…" Taki's smile changed as his hand brushed her hair back, revealing the love bite on her neck. "What do you share!" Robin yelled angrily as his right hand trapped hers together while the other played with the bruise on her lower lip. "We share the desire for you dear Robin." Desire for me? Before she could demand anymore answers, his lips crashed upon hers, muffling any sound she made. Robin's strength was gone. The constant pain in her ankle had drawn all her energy away, and Taki was in complete control. She relentlessly tried moving away, wishing each moment that Amon would come through the window to assist her at her vulnerable time. Her head was throbbing, thoughts rushing through her head, but the one thing that stuck the most was what he said to her. We share the desire for you. Desire for me? They both desire me? These secrets…there are so many…How can I find the answer? How?