A/N: WHR isn't mine. I'm too broke.

Chap has been edited.

HEARTS DESIRE

Chapter Thirteen: "Friendly" Fire

A Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fic

By Yuriko Tsukino

There was a clicking noise from Amon's direction, the sound of a gun being leveled and cocked.

"Robin, please, you have to get out of here! I put it all together—the weird stuff at school, they way you disappeared, everything! If you don't get out of here he's going to kill you—"

"Amon! No!"

BANG!

Robin tried to push Michael out of the way, knocking him to the floor, and in the process got in the way of the shot herself.

"Robin!"

Michael crawled over to her. She was on her knees, clutching her arm near the shoulder, blood dripping from between her fingers.

"Are you okay?" he asked, trying to peel her fingers away in order to get a better look.

"I'm fine," Robin hissed. "It's only a scratch."

Michael was unceremoniously shoved out of the way as Amon knelt beside the wounded girl. He pulled away her hand, gently tugging at the tear in her sleeve so as to see the injury better.

She was indeed correct in naming it a scratch, however; though it was deep, it wasn't deep enough to require stitches, as the bullet itself was lodged in the wall behind her. He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket, tying it tightly around the wound to stem the bleeding.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly. He could have fallen over and died right there if he had actually hurt her. As it was, he wanted to beat his head into a brick wall for being so stupid.

It was all that dumb brats fault. If he hadn't started running his mouth about things he knew nothing about, this never would have happened.

Michael watched this exchanged rigidly. Amon was faking, he knew it. He wasn't concerned about Robin's welfare at all. He was just out to hunt her. If he was worried about her, there was no way he would have fired his gun for no good reason.

Robin looked over at her friend, taking in the worried expression on his face. "I'm fine, really," she said. "Amon wouldn't hurt me."

"How do you know that? He just shot you for crying out loud!"

"I was aiming for you."

"I know he wouldn't," Robin said. She slipped her hand into Amon's. "He's been protecting me all this time."

Michael stared at their joined hands. Amon was still quietly fussing over Robin, pretending the Michael didn't exist.

"No way…" Michael whispered. "The rumors were true…"

Already pissed by Michael's previous accusations, Amon was not about to listen to anything else the boy had to say. Grabbing him by the back of his shirt, Amon opened the front door and tossed him unceremoniously on the front walk.

"You can come back when you're not jumping to conclusions," he said, slamming the door.

Outside, Michael was trying not to have an aneurism at the thought of Robin, alone with that monster, doing who-knew-what. Though the part of his brain that was hyped on fan fiction and Mountain Dew had plenty of ideas to throw out.

00000

"You still didn't need to shoot him!"

"He was being a moron. It was pissing me off." Amon stalked into the kitchen. He could really use some coffee.

"Amon—" She tried to grab his sleeve, but he jerked his arm away. She grabbed on again, tighter this time, forcing him to turn.

"I don't want to argue with you," she said, green eyes wide and doe like as they stared into his.

Again, Amon pulled away.

"Did I do something wrong?" Robin asked. "Why are you being so cold now?"

Don't look at me like that, Amon thought. She was so sweet, so plaintive; he almost could bring himself to break her heart.

Almost.

"I'm not being cold, I'm treating you like I always do," Amon replied. He forced his expression into perfect neutrality, and coated his words in a layer of ice. "If you think that we are suddenly friends, you are mistaken."

"What…?"

"The only reason I'm here is because I disagree with Zaizen on this one matter. I acted rashly, and now I can't return to my position at the school. Once you are cleared, things will return to the way they were."

Robin's eyes grew wide as she took in his meaning. "Then last night…"

"Was a mistake."

Deciding coffee was no longer the matter of greatest importance, Amon reached for a coat and swept out the door, slamming it behind him before Robin had a chance to protest.

00000

Robin found a secluded place in the park in which to sit and think. She could feel tears building up behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had known this would happen, after all. No one would want a freak of nature like her. She had been crazy to think Amon would be anything more than a protector. Even that seemed a stretch now.

His cold words were still ringing in her ears. She rubbed her arms to try to warm herself from an inner chill, but her efforts were fruitless. Not even the fire could warm her.

All it did was destroy.

All she did was destroy.

Robin tucked her knees up to her chin and tried to find a more comfortable position on the hard ground. She hadn't even realized it at first, but this was the same place where Amon had found out her secret. She still flushed a little in embarrassment at what she had done to him.

But that didn't really matter now, did it? Their relationship was strictly platonic; they weren't even friends, according to him.

It was so strange. She had wanted friends when she was in Italy, of course, but it also hadn't really bothered her to be alone. Books kept her company, and a monastery wasn't really the best place to form close friendships. Most of the monks ignored her, just as her classmates had.

But now she knew what friendship was. And she had a taste of what it might be like to have something more.

And for the first time, Robin acutely felt how alone she was.

And for the first time, she was really, truly, lonely.

00000

When Amon returned to the house in the early evening, he found it empty. None of the lights were on, and it looked as though the building had been empty for several hours at least—Robin's breakfast dish was still on the kitchen counter; if she had been home for any length of time, she would have washed it, meaning she must have left directly after he did.

That had been several hours ago, however, and it was now after dark. Quite late, actually.

Amon was trying to focus on the part of himself that was annoyed. That stupid little girl was being oversensitive and had run away because he had been mean to her.

It was awfully hard to ignore the other part of himself, however, that blamed him for Robin's disappearance, and was worried sick.

Actually, the worry was quickly drowning out both annoyance and blame.

Amon realized he was pacing again, and that he was quickly wearing a path through the kitchen and living room.

Disgusted with himself, Amon reached once more for his coat and practically ran out the door.

00000

Robin wasn't sure what time it was. She had never really been one to wear a watch, as the time had been signaled by the bell tower in the monastery.

She didn't remember dozing off. In fact, she really didn't remember closing her eyes, though she supposed that after crying she must have. What she did know was that it was completely dark out now, and she was stiff and cold from sleeping in a sitting position on a rather hard tree root.

I need to get back, she thought, and pulled her protesting body into a standing position.

It was then that she realized how quiet it was.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she held perfectly still, waiting. Something wasn't right.

The ground around her began to glow, the symbols of the craft illuminating the area. The character "raido" appeared at the center of the wheel of Ogram, then, as she watched, the runes around it changed, morphed, and became the character for death.

Suddenly, the quiet forest exploded in gunshots. Robin blocked many of them the best she could, but for some reason her fire wasn't stopping the bullets. They blew through her defenses, one of them hitting her in the shoulder and knocking her off her feet.

Robin hit the ground, unable to move. It was like her entire right side was paralyzed. When a stray shell landed near her, she realized why—the runes engraved on the casings were locking her powers and her body. She was completely helpless.

Panic quickly turned to terror, and Robin covered her face with her good arm as a bright light she knew spelled her doom illuminated the forest.

0000

A/N: sorry if Amon seems a little ooc in this chapter; I've been watching/reading a lot of Saiyuki, and Sanzo's personality keeps leaking into Amon's character.

In case you are wondering, the wheel of ogram is the name of the magic circles used in the series. Raido is the name of the R shaped character, which shows up in some of them, especially the ones that threatened Robin, around episode 13 or 14.

Arigato for reading!!

Thanks to Sparky16, Jasmine3883, mZk0rEA, young wiccan, In True Meanings, and Ayjah for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you guys don't hate me too much for that cliffhanger! (or for this one for that matter.)

Please review!!!