Author's Note:

I think Touko injected me with something. I have a fever. Of course I have all the other symptoms of an annoying summer cold as well, but I want somebody to blame! Needless to say, I hope my writing doesn't sound fever-induced. But I don't think it's too bad since I wrote most of it before the fever hit.

A couple things . . . This chapter includes a brief reference to the namesake for my screen name--Yellow Dancer--a character from the third Robotech series. If you've only watched the Macross series, Yellow Dancer, or Lancer, is voiced by the same actor who played Max in the first series. Bad English voice acting but somehow really funny and strangely addictive. It's so cheesy its good. Anyway, not sure exactly what inspired me to choose the name except that it was different from what I usually use and the character is, well, quirky. Just wanted to explain that up front so people won't infer things about me because of the character's, ah, oddities. Wow, for a brief reference, I sure wrote a long explanation. But, hey, that's me . . .

I got a bit plot heavy in this one, but it has occurred to me that I am on chapter eighteen, after all, and it's about time I move the plot along a bit more. Next chapter will actually have some action! Can you believe it? Strangely, I've had the next chapter mostly planned out for a while now, but I just got carried away with the in between stuff. Like I'm getting carried away now. hits self on head a la Touru from Fruits Basket See ya at the bottom of the page!

Chapter 18

Strategery

"Robin," Michael said quietly, interrupting Robin's thoughts despite the softness of his voice. "Don't you think you should be getting to Harry's?"

Eyes glazed from reading so many reports, Robin blinked up at the clock in surprise to find she was already ten minutes late for the lunch meeting. Panic swept over her at the realization Amon would be annoyed with her tardiness, but the panic was quickly followed by satisfaction due to the very same thought; she was annoyed with him at the moment, after all. She might as well return the favor. Rubbing her strained eyes, she rose from her chair and stretched the knots out of her cramped muscles leisurely. "Here are those reports, Michael," she said, handing the stack of papers back to him.

"Did you find anything?"

"Not really. Something keeps tugging at the back of my mind, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. The symbols all make sense in context, but there is something strange about their arrangement."

Michael smiled up at her encouragingly, though she sensed the smile was meant to hide the emotions lurking in his eyes as much as it was meant to reassure her. "Maybe taking a break will help." She caught the hint of bitterness in his voice and realized the source of Michael's concealed emotions; Michael desperately wanted to be able to come with her to Harry's and participate in the meeting, but leaving the building was not an option for him. Guilt accompanied the revelation as she thought about how she had been indulging in self-pity all morning long because Amon had left her behind when Michael was forced to endure the same feeling every time one of them so much as walked out of the office.

"I wish you could come with us," she murmured, not entirely sure if he would appreciate the comment.

He shrugged and quickly returned his attention to his computer. "It's no big deal."

Nodding reluctantly, Robin started heading for the door, only to be stopped by Hattori as he wandered into the room with an armful of mail. "Miss Robin, it looks like there's a package for you."

"A package?" Chief Kosaka asked, peeking out of his office curiously. "For our little Robin? Could it be from a secret admirer?"

Taking the small parcel with a frown, Robin examined it cautiously. There was no return address, nor could she find any postage, suggesting it had been hand delivered. But who would hand deliver a package for her? With only a few moments of hesitation, she tore open the brown packing paper to reveal a small wooden box and a folded note. Unfolding the paper, she was surprised to find it was completely blank on both sides. How odd. She knew she should have been more cautious, but the lack of explanation was fueling her curiosity, and she soon found herself turning her attention to the box and snapping it open eagerly. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood red crystal nestled inside, watching in awe as glimmers of light reflected off of it in brilliant flashes.

"Oh my," Hattori cried. "It's beautiful."

"What is it?" Michael inquired with a strange mixture of emotions in his voice--as if he were taking Chief Kosaka's offhand remark about a secret admirer a little too seriously.

Robin lifted the crystal gingerly out of its velvet prison and almost dropped it when she felt a sudden jolt of energy surge up her arm. Opening her hand, she looked down at the stone again, mesmerized by the way light danced over its angled surfaces. "It's a crystal," she breathed finally in response to Michael's question.

"A crystal?" Michael obviously had not been expecting that answer, and was unimpressed. "Why would someone send you something like that?"

"I don't know." A thought occurred to her and she opened the note again, gazing down at the blank paper. Focusing her craft, she reached out with a tendril of power and gasped when a strange sensation washed over her--almost as if a key had been turned in a lock. Tiny flames burnt a path across the paper in the shape of glowing letters, spelling out four words: "You belong to me." With a cry, she dropped the paper involuntarily and it burnt to ashes at her feet.

"What was that?" Michael demanded, and she heard him stand up anxiously.

Slightly dazed, she replied faintly, "I--I didn't mean to do that."

"What did it say?" Hattori asked curiously.

What did it say? I read it just a second ago. Why can't I remember? "Nothing. The card was blank."

"And you don't know who it was from?" Michael persisted.

"No." Suddenly Robin remembered what she had been doing before the interruption. "But solving the mystery will have to wait until later. I need to get to Harry's." Putting the crystal back in its case and sliding it into her pocket, she headed for the elevator quickly, half-turning back to thank Hattori on the way out. She saw Michael's eyes following her as she left, a wary expression on his face.

------

By the time Amon arrived at Harry's, almost everyone was gathered in the private room Master Harry had set aside for their meeting at Amon's request. Sunshine flooded the small space, spilling in through a wall consisting almost entirely of windows and casting gossamer shadows against the opposite wall. As he entered, Amon swept his gaze over the room quickly to assess who was still missing, a frown darkening his features when he accounted for everyone but Robin.

"Hi. You must be Amon," a sultry feminine voice said from behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. He turned to see a tall, slender blonde standing near the door with her hand offered in greeting. Her clothing clung to her lithe body in a way that reminded him vaguely of Touko, and her pale hair framed her shoulders like a golden halo--though the mischievous glint in her eyes made it clear she was far from angelic. "I'm Trish, Dante's partner. Nice to meet you." He nodded, but did not respond verbally. Her lips turned up at the corners slightly as she shook his hand, and he had the distinct impression she was laughing inwardly at some private joke. She caught him by the sleeve when he started to turn away, murmuring in his ear, "I hear you're the one who put Dante in his place so efficiently this morning. I have to admit I'm impressed. Not everyone can do that and survive the experience."

Uncertain how to respond, Amon was grateful when she pulled away and found a seat at the table, still smiling faintly. As he approached the table himself, Amon noticed Dante regarding him skeptically, the half-demon's pale blue eyes darting back and forth between Amon and the lissome blonde. Suddenly Amon realized why Trish had been smirking; she had likely been intending to create just such a reaction in Dante by whispering in Amon's ear. He kept his expression carefully impassive, not wanting to get involved in any jealousy games between the two, even if they were only in jest. Heading toward the empty seat between Sakaki and Karasuma, Amon scanned his other companions' expressions before sitting down slowly and gathering his thoughts.

"So . . . what's the plan, oh fearless leader?" Dante prompted dryly as he slouched even further in his chair, one ankle resting on top of his opposite knee.

"Shouldn't we wait for Robin?" Karasuma reminded, but her statement was hardly necessary since at that moment Harry ushered the craft user into the room.

Amon did not acknowledge Robin's entrance, though he had no choice but to look at her when she sat down in the empty chair at the opposite end of the table--directly in his line of sight. He noted her wheat colored hair falling loose around her shoulders and wondered at it. Remembering her meeting with Zaizen, a possible reason for her change in hairstyle occurred to him and he found himself clenching the arms of his chair in dread, his knuckles turning white as his grip tightened. But Zaizen wouldn't go so far as to hit Robin, would he? No. Zaizen was too afraid of her powers to risk her retaliation. Nevertheless, Amon couldn't shake his fear that Robin was hiding something behind those loose strands of hair.

Ruthlessly shoving his worries aside, he focused on the duty at hand. Objectively, he stated, "Now that everyone's here, we can get started." He felt Robin's eyes glaring at him but avoided meeting her gaze. Turning to Karasuma, he inquired, "Miho, did the three of you make it through the list of locations Michael gave us?"

"We did. But this witch is incredibly organized. She's been one step ahead of us the whole time. We found evidence of her recent presence at all the locations, but no clues to where she is now. She's covered her tracks well." She paused, considering her last statement, then added, "Almost too well. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if she's merely leading us on a wild goose chase to keep us distracted. She couldn't have possibly been hiding out in all of these locations within the last few days--but she could have planted evidence at all of them just to suggest that she had been."

Amon nodded. "That's a possibility I've been considering." He shifted his focus to Dante. "What did you find?"

"At the location Michael sent me? Nothing. But you might find this interesting." He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his coat and slid it across the table to Amon.

Eyebrows furrowing, Amon slid the paper closer and lifted the top flap after noting the broken wax seal imprinted with the image of a raven. He scanned the text quickly, feeling a frown settle on his face. "When did you receive this?" Amon asked when he was finished, glancing up at Dante.

"This morning--just after we got off the phone, actually. One of the hotel employees brought it up to my room, but no one seemed to recall seeing the person who delivered it in the first place--not even after I attempted to jog their memories."

"Threats and intimidation aren't the only ways of getting information, Dante," Trish lectured, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah? Well they didn't start talking when you fawned all over them either. In fact, I think they forgot more than they remembered."

"What does it say, already?" Doujima demanded finally, her curiosity getting the better of her. Amon slid the letter in her direction dispassionately. Sakaki and Robin leaned closer to her as she opened the letter, reading over her shoulders. Making a face, she read a line aloud, "'You are cordially invited to your funeral.' How tacky is that?"

Smirking, Trish glanced at Dante and murmured, "Apparently threats and intimidation run in the family."

"Does she really think you'd fall for this? It's a total setup," Sakaki commented.

Dante shrugged. "Doesn't look like we have a lot of other options. She doesn't want to be found unless it's on her terms. And, trap or no trap, we're running out of time."

"I don't like it," Amon said firmly. "It doesn't make sense for her to send you a message right now. All she has to do is remain hidden for one more day to put her plan into action. She has nothing to gain by making contact with you since it merely gives us more information to use in finding her."

"Does she have a personal grudge against you, Dante?" Karasuma asked.

"Hell if I know. Maybe she just wants to get rid of me so I can't possibly interfere in her little ceremony once it gets started. My guess is that she'll be most vulnerable at that moment since she'll be distracted; and an untimely interruption could probably ruin the whole thing. Maybe she doesn't realize we have no clue where she is and thinks we're more of a danger to her than we are at this point."

"Or maybe she just likes poking fun at us and taunting our hunting abilities with this little invite," Sakaki offered with a wry grin.

Sitting back in his chair and tracing an index finger over his lips thoughtfully, Amon mused, "We may not have been able to find her, but we have found several of her supporters. Between the witches we have sent to the Factory and the ones Dante has killed, she's lost quite a few followers. Without their power at her disposal, she might not have enough energy to open the gate. She is in need of replacements, and, like us, she is running out of time." He paused and his brows contracted. "Might she intend to use you?" Amon asked Dante pointedly, ignoring the curious stares his question drew.

"Maybe." Dante bit his lower lip and shook his head slowly as he continued, "My power would be useful to her, but she would have to have control over it to use it. She knows I'm too stubborn to make such a thing easy, and I could just as likely use it against her before she gets the chance. But really, I don't get the idea it's my power she's after anyway."

"Wait a minute," Karasuma interrupted. "What power are you talking about? Are you a craft user?"

"Heh, not exactly . . ." An uncomfortable smile crossed Dante's face as he met Karasuma's focused stare. Karasuma turned her gaze on Trish who looked away quickly, fidgeting in discomfort.

"Well?"

"He's a demon," Amon supplied finally in impatience.

"Half-demon," Dante corrected quickly.

Silence fell as Dante drew the astonished gaze of everyone in the room--everyone but Amon, who was staring blankly at the highly polished surface of the table, and Robin, whose troubled visage was reflected in the table's veneer as she stared fixedly at Amon. Slowly, Amon raised his eyes to meet hers, surprised when she refused to look away despite his attempt to intimidate her with his unyielding glare.

"Wait a minute," Doujima cried suddenly. "Beatrice called you her 'dear brother' in that letter. If she's your sister, that makes her--"

"A half demon as well," Dante finished for her. "Yes. According to her claims, we share the same father--a demon named Sparda who turned against his own kind and saved the human world from destruction. The very thought of her claim to my father's bloodline is revolting."

Recovering more quickly from the shock than the others, Karasuma asked quietly, "If she isn't after your powers, whatever those may be, then whose power is she after?"

Dante glanced at her before turning his attention to Robin who merely blinked back at him, startled by the sudden focus on her. Amon's eyes narrowed, but he did not comment on Dante's silent conjecture, listening mutely as the others debated it.

"Robin?" Sakaki cried. "Why would you think Beatrice is after her?"

"Several reasons," Dante replied quickly, leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table. "One of which being the fact that Beatrice manipulated her roommate and used her to attack Robin."

"But Touko only attacked me when I found out she was the one causing Amon's fever. I attacked her first," Robin countered quietly. "And she was after Amon, not me."

"Unless Beatrice was merely trying to get Amon out of the way," Karasuma speculated.

"Why?" Sakaki asked, dumbfounded.

"Because she knew he wouldn't let her get anywhere near Robin," Doujima stated as if the answer was obvious. "Geez, Haruto, you can be so dense sometimes." Amon threw her an annoyed glance, but she either failed to notice it or chose to ignore it.

"Oh," Sakaki replied slowly, "So what you're saying is that Robin is like a Summoner and Amon is like her Guardian." Turning his attention to Amon, he scratched his chin pensively. "But which Guardian would he be? Squall wasn't in that game. Not Tidus, obviously--or Kimahri. Maybe he's Wakka, ya?" Sakaki laughed alone at his joke since no one else had a clue what he was babbling about. "No. He'd be Auron, I suppose, though he still has both his eyes. Maybe if I found a log--"

"You said you had several reasons to think Beatrice is targeting Robin," Amon interrupted quickly, redirecting the conversation and returning the focus to Dante.

"Yeah . . ." Dante scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think Beatrice entered one of my dreams last night. I don't know how, but hell, I suppose she basically wrote the book on manipulation--what's one more form? Anyway . . . she wasted most of her time trying to persuade me to join her cause, but along the way she mentioned something about Robin's power. She doesn't seem to be worried about anyone getting in the way anymore, so I'm guessing she has some new trick up her sleeve."

Amon turned his attention to Robin, only to be puzzled by the expression on her face as she gazed down at her hands clasped on her lap. He had seen her make the expression a number of times in the past, though it usually presaged an important revelation about their target witch. Most of the time, her discovery would come spilling out of her lips almost before she had fully conceived of it, but he could tell by the determination in her eyes now that she did not intend to share this particular bit of insight with anyone. The realization worried him. Robin was not one to withhold information when it was important to a hunt. Why would she choose to do so now?

"The Director seemed to think Beatrice would go after Robin too," Doujima mused suddenly, interrupting Amon's thoughts and causing him to look at her askance, surprised by her shrewdness when she appeared to be so oblivious most of the time.

"Yes," Amon agreed reluctantly. "He did."

He felt, rather than saw, Robin's intensely green gaze look up at him suddenly, focusing on him with razor-edge sharpness. "Amon knew too. Didn't you, Amon? That's why you left me at the office this morning," she murmured. "You already suspected Beatrice was after me."

The breath in his lungs had evaporated with the intensity of her gaze, forcing him to take a deep breath to replace the missing air. "I suspected her plans, yes," he answered succinctly when he finally found his voice, ignoring all the attention focused on him. But my suspicions were only part of the reason I left you behind. Or have you realized that as well?

Sighing in frustration, Sakaki broke the charged silence. "Well, what are we going to do now? Are we going to crash Beatrice's little party? I could write a touching eulogy for a funeral."

"I'm going regardless," Dante answered quickly. "And you'd better be writing Beatrice's eulogy, not mine."

"I'll have Michael find out all he can about the location in that letter this afternoon," Amon said in agreement. "We'll meet this evening beforehand to discuss strategy. In the meantime, I suggest we all get some rest."

"And how about some lunch?" Sakaki grumbled. "I'm starving."

"What a whiner," Doujima complained.

"I'll go find Harry," Karasuma said in exasperation, likely only making the offer so she could avoid more bickering between the two hunters; Amon pitied her the hours she had already spent working with them today.

"Hey, Robin," Doujima said slyly when Karasuma was gone. "Why made you decide to let your hair down?" Amon tried to appear as if he was not paying attention though he was actually watching the girl's reaction carefully from behind the cover of a few well-placed tendrils of dark hair. Robin shrugged noncommittally, but it was obvious Doujima's question made her uncomfortable. "Do you want me to fix it for you?" Digging around in her purse, she pulled out a couple narrow black ribbons and a brush. "These should do the trick."

"That's not necessary, Doujima," Robin replied a little too quickly and Amon risked a less obscure look at her, brushing the hair out of his face. Robin seemed to be full of secrets this afternoon.

"I insist!" Doujima turned Robin in her chair to face her and then started brushing through her loose hair, dividing it down the middle. Amon almost sighed in relief when he saw Robin's pale skin was unblemished by bruises. Worries alleviated, he should have been able to turn his attention away, yet he found himself continuing to watch as Doujima pulled one half of her hair, and then the other, into pigtails, wrapping the ribbons around the gathered hair in a crisscross pattern just above Robin's shoulders.

"It's rude to stare, you know." Amon jumped ever so slightly when he heard the soft voice chuckle in his ear. He glanced over his shoulder to see Trish leaning against the back of his chair, looking down at him with a knowing smile. "Isn't she a little young for you?" she murmured raising an eyebrow, utterly oblivious to the hazardous nature of her question.

Temper flaring, Amon started counting to ten very slowly. To his surprise, Dante came to his rescue before he could say a word, flicking Trish on the back of the head. "Leave him alone."

"What's your problem, Dante? Jealous?"

"Now, if I got jealous every time you advertised your wares to another man, I wouldn't have time left over to do anything else. And personally, I think there are more important things to do in life."

"Right. Like flirting with every cute female who crosses your path." She grinned suddenly. "Of course, I suppose they don't all have to female, just feminine. Remember that lounge singer we ran into that one time?"

"Hey, that person had absolutely no business being a man. And I figured out exactly what he was long before any damage had been done."

"What was his stage name again? 'Yellow' something . . ."

"Dancer. His name was Yellow Dancer."

Unable to stand the casual bantering any longer and feeling an intense need to be alone so he could think, Amon rose from his seat and reached across the table to grab the letter from Beatrice. "Do you mind if I take this with me?" he asked Dante who merely shrugged in response. "I'm going back to the office so Michael can get started researching."

"You should at least eat something before you leave," Karasuma mothered, returning just in time with Harry to interrupt his escape.

Nevertheless, Master Harry, with the perceptiveness of an experienced bartender, sensed Amon's need to leave. "I have some food already prepared if you would like to take it back with you. There's enough for you to take some for Michael as well."

"Thank you," Amon replied gratefully.

Nodding, Harry smiled in understanding. "If you'll wait at the bar, I'll just get their orders and then be right out with the food for you."

Amon was on his way out the door almost before the man had finished speaking, avoiding the curious stares watching him as he made his exit. So relieved to be escaping the room, Amon neglected to pay as much attention to his surroundings as he should have. As a result, he was almost to the bar before he noticed the soft footsteps treading along behind him.

"Amon?"

He nearly groaned in frustration at the sound of Robin's quiet voice. Only half turning back to her, he snapped, "What is it, Robin?"

She paused, frowning at his gruff tone. Then, visibly gathering her courage, she asked, "You aren't going to let me go on the hunt tonight, are you?"

"No," he stated, his tone brutally decisive. "It would be better if you stayed at the office this afternoon as well. You'll be safer there." Glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, he saw the downcast look on her features and instantly regretted giving in to the desire to observe her reaction. He leaned one elbow against the bar, turning his attention to the rows of bottles and glasses lined up neatly on the shelves behind the bar as he desperately tried to distract himself.

"This makes things convenient for you, doesn't it?"

He had to turn to look at her to verify she had been the one speaking--for a moment, she hadn't even sounded like herself. Eyebrows drawing together, he inquired softly, "What are you talking about?"

Shrugging, she replied, "You can avoid being around me this way." He opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He honestly did not know how to respond to her statement. "It's okay," she whispered faintly after several long moments, reaching out and touching his arm lightly. "I understand." She turned to leave, her expression unreadable

"Robin." What am I doing? he wondered, mentally kicking himself. Am I just a glutton for punishment? Taking a deep breath, he pushed away from the bar and turned to face her again. Surveying the room quickly, he decided to step closer to avoid being overheard. Now close enough to easily touch her, he bowed his head slightly, hiding his lips from anyone watching with his hair; he doubted Zaizen had spies here, but he couldn't be too careful. "Is there anything you know about Beatrice that you haven't shared with the rest of us?" (A/N: Haha! Fooled you! What did you think he was going to do? Actually, I didn't realize how strongly I had implied clears throat something else until I was rereading this)

He didn't like the mixture of hurt and disgust his words evoked in her response. "No. Of course not. I've been at the office all morning going through miscellaneous reports, remember? I haven't really had the chance to learn anything more about her. But even if I had learned something, I would have told you. I don't hold back information like that." She was clearly implying his own failure to share information, but at the moment he was more concerned with the fact that she still hadn't told him whatever it was she had figured out during the meeting.

"You're certain?" he insisted.

"Yes," she almost growled in response, surprising him with her ferocity. He had never her seen her this temperamental before, though he had to admit he was pushing her rather hard. "If that's all--"

Catching her arm lightly as she tried to pull away from him, he whispered, "One more thing." He could feel his expression softening despite his attempts to keep his emotions at bay. "Promise me that if Zaizen ever tries to hurt you, you won't hesitate to use your craft against him and protect yourself." He wasn't sure why he was making an issue of this right now, but her reactions were worrying him, and the worry was spurring him to gain some kind of assurance from her that she would look after her own safety. After all, he may have been protecting her from Beatrice by forcing her to stay at the office, but Zaizen was a possible danger as well, and leaving her at the office would give the Director access to her.

Her eyes were wide with confusion as she looked up at him. "Amon . . ."

"Promise me!" he repeated urgently, knowing Harry would return any moment and needing to hear her say the words before they were interrupted.

"I-I promise," she stuttered uncertainly still gazing up at him in wonderment.

He nodded, releasing the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Backing a few steps away from her to stop himself from doing something foolish, he stopped cold when she mirrored his movements and followed him. To his dismay, she leaned toward him and pushed herself up on her toes, stabilizing her balance with a hand on his shoulder. No! He almost allowed his instincts to shove her away roughly, but he couldn't quite bring himself to be so cruel. Luckily, she did not intend the level of intimacy he had been fearing. Instead, she merely placed a delicate kiss against his cheek before dropping back down on her heels and walking away without another word, a sad smile curving her lips.

Taking a breath again, Amon found that he had to lean against the bar now simply to simply remain standing. What is wrong with me? I just about had a coronary over what turned out to be nothing more than a peck on the cheek. But she can be so unpredictable at times . . .

"Here are the lunches for you and Michael." Amon glanced up to see Harry standing behind the bar next to the carry case his words had indicated. The bartender was smiling quietly and Amon wondered suddenly how long the man had been standing there. Dismissing the thought as irrelevant, he grabbed the handle of the case and dug out money for the lunches. "No need," Harry stopped him. "They're on me."

"Thank you," Amon murmured. "In more ways than one," he felt obligated to add before turning and heading for the door. He felt Harry's eyes watching him until he turned the corner of the hallway.

--------

Dude, is Robin PMSing or what? Hee, hee, hee. JK. It's fun to see her toying with him a little bit though, isn't it? Even if there are some--well, I don't want to spoil anything, though it's probably pretty obvious . . .

Oh, one other quick note: when Sakaki was talking about Amon still having both his eyes and looking for a log, I was referencing something Lizalou42 will likely kill me for. For some reason, ever since that log took out Chichiri's eye in Fushigi Yuugi, logs have become the instrument of choice for eye removal.

Cartagia: I do not like the way he is looking at me. I know! Pluck out his eye!

Author: Did I address you, oh crazy Centauri emperor man?

Cartagia: Soon to be crazy Centauri god man when I am elevated to godhood! It will be marvelous.

Author: Oh, just eat your sniks and talk to the decapitated heads on your table.

Sorry if I disturbed anyone with that little interruption. It's a Babylon 5 thing that you just have to see to understand. Anyway, let's get to the reviews . . .

To Tiger of the Wind1: I bet you'll be shaming some more people (well, probably the same ones all over again) after this chapter. Everyone's just acting so shamefully. But just wait until the next chapter! Here's another Farscape quote for you: "It feels like it's melting my brain . . . it couldn't actually be melting my brain could it?" Oh, and thank you for the compliment, but you shouldn't doubt your own writing abilities. Besides, I think I have a few years experience on you. Let's just say I'm closer to Amon's age than I am to Robin's. :)

To Jewel of Tasuki: Thank you! I love Michael too. He'll be all right. And I have to comment on your screen name now and say that Tasuki kicks ass.

To Chibi Tenshi: Dante is fun, isn't he? And I'm glad you enjoyed the Michael/Robin stuff. It wasn't something I'd had much of a chance to write so far. The Dante/Amon conversation was oh so much fun to write as well. I had just refreshed myself on Amon dorkness by rewatching a few episodes not too long before I wrote it and I guess his personality came through. Sorry I didn't mention what the "scoobies" ordered at Harry's. But it would be kind of interesting to know, wouldn't it?

To Amon's Angel of the Darkness: I try to avoid spoilers unless I know I'm going to have to wait for frickin' ever to find out what's going to happen. Then, to hell with spoiling myself. I have seen the new Dante. Mm-hmm. Evil Robin? Hmm. You'll just have to see, won't you? grins evilly Hee hee hee. Was that obvious enough? No Nagira unfortunately, but I do miss him a lot. The next fic I write is definitely going to include him.

To Kim "Shadow Fox" Klein: Good question. How does Amon do it? How does he make us love him despite the fact that we want to beat him to a pulp half the time because he's being such a "dork" as Chibi Tenshi puts it? Maybe we're the gluttons for punishment.

To bec: I'm very flattered to be grouped with "The Burning Time" since it's one of my favorite stories. I'm just as amazed as you are by how well Dante fits despite the fact he's totally unconnected, but I don't think I would have kept him in if he hadn't since I don't like crossovers just for the sake of putting all one's favorite characters in one story. He does make things interesting though . . . And Farscape rocks! I am SO pumped for the mini-series. What a bummer that you won't be able to see it until '06. But I understand. There's a novel that comes out this November that I've been waiting on for almost three years.

To lizalou42: Was it fun reading a chapter for the first time on the website instead of having to read it while I sit and stare at you? The Dante and Amon conversation scene went differently than I had at first imagined it, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. The power play thing was totally going on and it allowed me to use the Stark quote as the chapter title which was something I'd been wanting to do for awhile. :) I'm happy with getting the chance to describe Trish more too. And I worked in "Bootygram" after all! The Michael/Robin cuteness was the last minute addition I made. I had been wanting to write the scene but hadn't been inspired until around midnight! Then it just sorta happened. Dunno if liking Birkof influenced me at all since Michael doesn't really act that much like Birkof. But you never know.

To Inuki: It sounds like you've really got that parody figured out. I was cracking up like a crazy person here in the office when I read it. Oh well, I guess they're used to my weirdness by now. But I think you should write it because I don't know if I could do it justice. Then you need to send it to me, because I want to read it!