GROUNDED, that's right, the wonderful, angelic BlackWingy, got herself grounded so she couldn't use the internet in forever. I'm able now though. I'm sorry but I won't get to update as much as before. I think the only time available to write will be on weekends. I have to make up for all those times I slacked off last semester. Gone are the days I could 'accidentally' be late in the mornings to school and get locked out of class to get send to morning detention just to catch a few Zs…oh well. I don't even know why they were so pisst, it's not like I would do it every day, whatever.

Anyhow, here is another chapter with more stuff and endless sex scenes…yeah…right…ha ha. Ooh, you naughty people, you! Why do things seem more interesting when zug-zug is involved?

When the gunshot was sound in the late hours of the night no one in the apartment building thought much of it. To them it was another petty mugger, their only appealing emotions to the event was relief it hadn't happened on their own floor. Law-abiding citizen wasn't part of their vocabulary, why care if it happened once every few days?

Yosaku of the fifth floor saw the injured party stumble out of the emergency stairs but he didn't react. He was used to it and stoned so when questioned later it was rather pointless. No he hadn't gotten a good look; no he hadn't offered to help. All he knew was that the person was wearing something black and limped like that mean lady from the third floor that had five cats in her fire escape. The cops had given up the investigation after that, not because Yosaku had begun to snore in the spot but because no one cared much for the lady with the cats.

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The waiting area was empty with the exception of two figures clad in black. They said nothing and ignored each other's presence while drowning in their own thoughts. Whenever a doctor or nurse would pass by they would jump up a fraction of an inch, like musical chairs.

"I'm tired of waiting," Sakaki finally blurted after half an hour had passed by. He turned to look at Amon who seemed to not have heard a single word. To Sakaki, the ominous hunter looked strangely withdrawn with wide blank eyes that seemed to stare into space. The past events were obviously taking their toll.

"There is nothing we can do but wait," Amon reminded suddenly waking from his stupor.

"That's all we have been doing for the past weeks! Karasuma is dying and now Doujima too!" Sakaki snapped loudly earning himself dirty looks from passing nurses. "Wait and wait, can't we really do something?"

"No"

Amon's tone of frosty resolve made Sakaki blink, there was nothing, nothing at all?

They resumed their waiting in silence once more but not before Sakaki gave the man a look of disdain and turned to stare at the tiled floor.

Amon sighed and shook his head, he didn't have time to patch up Sakaki's bruised up feelings. There were more imperative things in mind like… His hand went unconsciously to his lips and he groaned silently. Why had he done it? It still burned deep in his mind, that one moment.

It seemed their kiss had lasted a life time…it had been all that he had ever imagined but if that was the case then why had he reached for his gun?

In the deep part of his brain that wasn't wrapped around the kiss he was pouring his whole self into, there was a spark of reason. It was the hunter reasoning in him that screamed in protest. Karasuma had been right; you couldn't be emotional and reasonable, not at the same time. A choice had to be made, and Amon picked in a seconds' time, not giving himself the chance to pay attention to the other bigger part of his brain that claimed ecstatically he was kissing, embracing Robin for the first time. The choice took everything out of him.

Amon could still remember her bright eyes widen in disbelieve as he had pulled the trigger while holding her close. He wondered if the hurt in them would haunt him forever. Amon looked down at his right hand and saw green Orbo etched on his skin. It had gotten on him for shooting the target too close…it refused to wash off.

He had done it, he had shot Robin and it had been incredibly easy, no hesitation, no remorse. The undemanding way he pulled the trigger troubled him. Did he not care for her? No—he did, that had not been Robin. Or at least that was what he tried to convince himself to make it all right. It hadn't been Robin, he had known this, so he had tried to kill her without a second thought...not to mention kiss her.

He felt like laughing, a first one for him. He had kissed and shot her all within a minute's time. Two very different things, one of which he would've never dared to do to her in his entire life. The world was tilting and he along with it.

After she had been wounded, her reaction had been of pure fury, throwing her craft at him. His new duster had caught on fire and by the time he had managed to put it out she was gone. There were tiny droplets of blood and Orbo in the hallway leading to the emergency stairs but he hadn't tried to follow.

Why bother? His head had been a mess, if he had caught up the only conceivable thing in his mind to do would've been to apologize.

There was repugnance at himself as well; how could he simply give in to something as simple as a kiss? It had been on the spur of the moment. The first thing he should've done was shoot the imposter, not let her get so close and confuse him in that way…

"She'll live"

Amon looked up in a jolt, would she?

The elderly doctor with the bags under his eyes was back. He looked more tired if possible but he still managed to remain alert and somewhat somber.

"The hit forced the wall to crumble and the air bag acted instantaneously so the impact wasn't as bad as it could've been," he sighed and flipped through a chart, "She will have to wear a neck brace for a few days and she broke her left arm in three places. She will also have to remain here a few more days to check the minor trauma to her head doesn't cause complications. Other than that, she's fine. You can see her now."

Sakaki bounded from his chair in a second and hurried as fast as a man with crutches could move. Amon followed, burned duster in hand.

Doujima was propped up in bleach-white pillows that matched perfectly with her already bleach-white face. She gave them a weak smile as they milled in slowly but the simple act seemed to cause fresh pain. Her chapped lips had begun to bleed to some extent because of it.

"Hey, how are you?" Sakaki dragged a chair besides her and plopped down without taking his eyes of her.

"Crappy, everything hurts," she said hoarsely turning two slightly unfocused blue eyes on them.

"Can you remember what happened?" Amon asked coming to Sakaki's side throwing his soiled duster to the couch by the window, "You haven't told how the crash happened to anyone yet, have you?"

"Can't we discuss this later, she's tired Amon!" Sakaki disputed looking outraged.

Doujima chuckled weakly, "Amon is not the waiting type Sakaki."

Sakaki burned holes to the side of Amon's face as if urging the hunter to disagree with her but Amon wouldn't relent, "Why did you crash, was someone chasing you?"

She stared at both of them with a blank look on her face, making them fear she couldn't remember.

"Someone…then nothing," she finally answered looking puzzled at her own answer. "I-I went to— I was coming here."

"To visit Karasuma," Sakaki piped in helpfully.

"Yes, but I changed my mind…someone was tailing me from there."

"What did the car look like, did you get to see a face?" Amon extracted his cell phone and seconds later Michael was with them in the room in speaker phone.

"Hey Doujima, did you get a glimpse of 'the light'?" Michael's voice crackled slightly either because of poor connection or his usual keyboard typing, "Or did your life flash before your eyes? Maybe you saw where you left those headphones I lent you and you lost…"

"I didn't notice the type of car or anything important," she fidgeted on her pillows until she was comfortable and resumed her reminiscing, "There wasn't anyone around, like cars or traffic. We were going really fast…and then he was gone and I saw the wall…"

"Gone? Did he turn on another street? What street were you on by the way?" Michael asked obviously before his computer as they spoke.

Doujima frowned giving this a thought, "No…it was like he was there one moment and then he wasn't. Like…poof."

"Did her head get rattled or did I hear incorrectly?"

"She got rattled," Sakaki answered loudly giving Doujima a worried look and taking her hand into his, "What do you mean by he was there then he wasn't?"

"That," she replied with annoyance sounding more like her original self, "he was there, and then he wasn't. He disappeared!"

"Hence 'poof'," Michael added dryly.

Amon's nostril's flared and his face tightened, "It was a witch, one of the Seekers."

"That's possible but wouldn't of they had send another calling card like last time?" Michael inquired through the line. "If it is a game like you said Amon they must've sent one."

A bucket of ice-cold water fell through Amon's insides, not because he remembered Robin's hands on him for the millionth time that night but because of where they had been. He reached for his burnt duster and searched it frantically.

"What is it? I hear noise," Michael drawled.

Amon extracted a calling card slightly burnt up from the bottom edge. The Seeker's insignia was printed to the side.

"Where did you get that?" Doujima tried to sit up but ended up wincing and sitting back breathing labouredly eyeing him accusingly. "A Seeker gave you a calling card or did you just happen to find it in the street?"

"Amon has a calling card? What—no, wait, what's going on?"

"Answer her question Amon," Sakaki turned his entire body on the chair to face him.

The room filled with tension and stillness in which Amon's head grinded searching for an explanation as his colleagues stared at him waiting...

"I'll read it," he said finally making Doujima gape at him, Sakaki scowl in confusion and render Michael speechless.

Amon licked his lips and avoided their eyes:

'Ding, dong, the witch is dead, you shot him, congratulations. The final stage approaches, are you ready Amon?—

A pregnant pause followed, 'Amon', it said 'Amon'…

'One by one your aid has fallen. Come now all alone, she's waiting blind and soon dead. Will her spilled blood make you feel more of a man?'

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"I thought you said he would never hurt the girl," Louis commented snidely while passing gauze to Masuo.

"Don't you patronize me, you piece of shit!" Jung hissed gritting her teeth as Masuo prodded her wound. "How was I supposed to know that the idiot would turn on me like that? One minute he was kissing me and then—then…"

"Bang?" Louis smirked, he was enjoying this a little bit too much.

"How come you aren't passing out, there is Orbo in your blood stream," Masuo commented eyeing the dry Orbo in her white blouse with distaste. "I guess there would have to be more than one bullet to knock you out, I wonder how much is in a single bullet, maybe—."

"Shut the fuck up!" Jung's blue eyes were crazed with pain and swelling with tears, "Just get it out already."

Masuo closed his mouth and worked obediently for twenty Jung-swearing minutes until the bullet was out. He managed to stop the bleeding and dress the wound. The bullet had been pretty shallow considering how closely it had been shot. It had hit her on the side almost grazing the bottom of her rib cage. He was surprised she hadn't gone into shock yet, maybe it was the witch blood in her that made her more resistant than usual, it was a possibility.

"I guess he didn't like making out with you, are you a bad kisser?" Louis came to sit by her in a rickety metal chair, "So bad you deserved to get shot?"

Jung's eyes flashed furiously and she was about to give another angry retort but Louis wasn't having any of it anymore. He reached to her side and gripped her waist pushing his thumb deep into her bandaged wound while covering her screaming mouth with his other hand.

"Did you deliver? You didn't let me down, right?"

Jung shook her head, her eyes as wide as saucers staring in horror and pain at him.

"Good… no one followed you here, right? It would be a pity for our relocation to be in vain."

Another frantic shake of head seemed to please him, Louis let her go and stepped back gazing at his thumb, it was sanguineous, "She's going to bleed to death, poor thing."

Masuo waited until Louis had walked out of their new conference room into the dark corridor to change Jung's bandages again. She was crying silently and didn't complain anymore; she was defeated.

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A faint whistle made Robin's pulse quicken. She squirmed in her chair still not used to the hardsteel feel to it yet.

Yesterday Louis had announced they were moving, or as far as 'yesterday' she could tell. The time had arrived for the 'final stage' as he called it. He had tranquilized her on the neck again and when she had woken Robin could feel a difference in it all. It wasn't cold for one and there wasn't any noise whatsoever. No calling birds, no swaying grass or tree leaves, no wind—nothing. It felt enclosed, utterly still, and even though her eyes were covered, Robin somehow sensed darkness. No light, just encompassing, thick darkness.

The whistling grew louder and a door to her left burst open sending a small breeze to her face.

"How are you doing Robin?" Louis's voice echoed in a small space. "I have news for you, guess what?"

Robin's lips remained stubbornly closed even though she had an overwhelming urge to bite her lower lip. He sounded happy, that was never a good sign, was it?

"Your boss will be here soon enough, your other little friends won't be able to make it but maybe next time…"

"Amon," she gasped unable to hold it back.

"Yes, that man," Louis's voice went easily. His shoes tapped hard on a ground that wasn't soil like in the warehouse, maybe tiles, or concrete. He began to walk closer, closer…

"Listen Robin, this little event is almost over. You will be fine and alive—if and only 'if' you do as I say.

"I like you Robin, I really do," his voice was soft and had a hissing sound to it, like a talking snake. "You may not believe me but it's true."

Robin almost yelled as his ice-cold hand gripped her burned one gently. His other one had found its way to her face and caressed her smoothly. She shivered at the coldness and repugnance of it all. He would go away soon, it would be okay, he would leave, and then she would be warm again.

"You are a powerful witch Robin—."

"I'm not a witch, I'm not like you," Robin rejoined twisting her face away from his touch. It was disgusting, it would make her retch, he had to go away—he had to or else she would scream and find out she would never be able to stop.

"That's not true," he continued, "You and I…we are very alike. Solitary blues…"

Robin's throat tightened as his seething breath came in contact with her face, he was too close.

"But you can join me."

The simple five words struck her like a mallet against a gong. Even her ears were ringing at it. Join him? Her?

"It's not like they want you, you know," he had sat down to her side and placed his head on her lap. She could feel the weight of it but kept herself from shivering or kicking out, she couldn't show weakness, not now. "Your friends are all injured and they are blaming you…even that man: Amon. He isn't coming here to save you Robin; he is coming here to kill you. He thinks you are one of us."

"That's not true," she snapped pulling her hands towards his head wanting to pull, or injure. New handcuffs didn't allow this, only made her graze her burned wrists mercilessly. "You are lying, they would never think that!"

Louis's finger traced the outlines of her face laughing under his breath, "Yeah, he would never think that, he likes you after all, or making out with you at least."

'Making out'?

Robin had heard the term before, mostly from Doujima. But if he meant what Doujima had meant back then…

Robin's mind went to overdrive and even in the dank hole they had her in, blinded and bounded, Robin had the decency to blush. He was definitely lying, Amon and her had never…

"Jung really enjoyed it."

She let the comment settle on her like a towel soaking water gradually. That made more sense of course. Robin's blush altered in a nanosecond with pale rage. Jung enjoyed 'making out'?

'I would love to be you for a day, you have such wonderful skin…say, would you mind if I went to him as you? Maybe we could have a little fun, him and me…'

Yes, that definitely made more sense. Robin remembered the Asian woman with the light blue eyes. How she had shape-shifted before her, taking Amon's memory away leaving only confusion and disappointment.

Robin had been taught not to hate all her life, only forgive. Every day she would pray and try to be a better person. How could she accomplish this now? Would that so-called God allow her to remain serene and lenient like himself? Could she have the strength to not blow Jung into smithereens?

"She kissed Amon?"

If this was not hate blistering her insides then what was? Robin had never felt it before, it was smothering and ugly, she didn't like it but couldn't help but feel it consume her. There was anger, but what else?

"No need to be so jealous little girl," Louis cooed beginning to twist locks or hair in his fingers. "If it makes you feel any better he pushed her away—after he shot her of course…well, not her: you."

The door he had come in from had remained open. It let the ticking of a clock somewhere drift to the room. It was slow and sharp, the sound of every second. Like a knife chopping on a cutting board, one after the other.

Tick…Jung kissed Amon…tick…

She was me…tick…Amon shot her…

Tick…Amon shot…tick...me…

Tick…tick…tick…

Okay good bye and I apologize for not being able to update in a while and stuff. This chapter was kinda short but I promise to make it up next time. Now press that little purple button to the left and tell me what's on your minds.