Morning came and Amon didn't even bother telling Robin he was going out. Robin came out and fixed a bowl of cereal while he was gone. Amon was running around in town trying to find an iPod for her, but he had come across a sterling silver charm bracelet. He grabbed it and had it wrapped, he then left to find the iPod he wanted to get her.
That afternoon Amon went ahead and dropped the wrapped iPod at Harry's for that night, he would keep the bracelet on him. Karasuma had called Robin to tell her that she was coming to Harry's tonight to eat, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Robin sighed and agreed to it, she said she would pick her up at 7. Amon had called Karasuma while he was out,
"Look, Robin is still pissed at me from last night so I'm not coming to the party tonight. The gift I got her is already at Harry's." Amon gruffly explained.
"She is already pissed that you forgot her birthday, she is going to be even more pissed if her partner doesn't show up for a party to make up for forgetting her birthday. You better show up, in something nice and not all black and don't be your brooding self to her for one night. The party is at 7:30." Karasuma hanging up. Amon sighed as he pulled into the apartment, he had the bracelet box hidden in his trench coat pocket already.
When he got in the apartment Robin wasn't in the living room and her door was shut so he assumed she wasn't coming out, he just went to his bedroom and laid his coat on the bed. Something caught his eye and stared at the bathroom door, through the bottom of the door he could tell there was a light on, but he didn't hear any splashing.
"Robin? Are you in there?" Amon knocking, there still wasn't a sound,
"Look, you can be pissed all you want but at least answer me or I'm going to bust the door down." Amon shouted, still no sound, he tried the doorknob, it was locked for once. Amon kicked the door in with his big, booted foot, the sound of wood splintering away from the doorframe echoed in the bathroom. He looked straight into the tub, Robin was asleep with her head lulled to the side and her nose and mouth underwater. Amon quickly grabbed her out and laid her down on the tiled floor, her lips were taking on a blue tint to them already, he checked for a pulse in her neck, nothing.
"Come on Robin, come back to me." Amon pumping her chest,
"Not today." Amon holding her nose and placing his mouth over hers to give her his breath. He pumped her chest again, harder this time,
"Come on Robin, breathe, don't you dare leave me." Amon whispered as he gave her breath again, he had no idea how long she had stopped breathing but since her lips were turning bluer by the second it wasn't good. Amon kept giving her CPR, he had done it for so long his arms were tiring,
"Please, I'm begging you Robin, come back to me." Amon practically pounding on her chest at this point. He glanced at his watch six minutes had already passed since he had been working on her. He started to give her mouth to mouth again when she choked up her bath water, Amon turned her to her side to let her get all the water out. He grabbed one of the bigger fluffier towels and wrapped her in it.
"Robin, hey, look at me." Amon holding her in one arm as the rest of her body laid on the floor, he gently turned her chin toward him, she slowly opened her weary eyes, he saw color coming back to her lips.
"Amon… I guess… I fell asleep." Robin croaked out as she choked more, she studied Amon's face,
"Are you… crying?" Robin asked,
"Its just wet from pulling your ass out of the tub!" Amon pissed that she had spotted the tear.
"Hmm." Robin holding her head, he brushed her hair from her face,
"You were gone too long." Amon stated, she could hear the panic in his voice still. Robin felt of her lips,
"Yeah, they were blue. Come on, gotta get you dressed…" Amon standing up with her towel covered body in his arms, Robin had cut him off,
"No hospital." Robin locking eyes with him.
"Robin, you're my partner, I have to take you to get checked out, if I didn't take you, well… I don't want to find out if something happened to you because you drown in the tub." Amon almost shouting.
"I mean it Amon, no fuckin' hospital! If you think I'm mad now, wait and see what happens if you take me in. I will never let you live it down." Robin seethed as he sat her on the bed in her towel. Amon bent down in the floor by her side as he ran his fingers through his damp hair,
"Fuck Robin, fine no hospitals, but if I hear anything in your chest that doesn't sound, I will have no choice but take you." Amon explained as he locked eyes with her.
"Agreed." Robin sighed, he went and grabbed his stethoscope and returned quickly to her side,
"Lower the towel a little." Amon putting the stethoscope in his ears, Robin let the towel lower to show more cleavage, he put the tubes into his ears and put the round part onto her chest, he stared at her eyes as he listened to her chest, slowly moving the round listening device in different areas to see if there was any more water in her lungs. He moved it around a couple of times on the front and then on her back. He could hear that her lungs were clear of water,
"Good, I don't hear any more water in your lungs. I should beat you for scaring the hell out of me like that!" Amon growled,
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Robin shouted followed by a cough.
"I know you didn't but still, Robin, there are two times I have been afraid and that, what just happened was one of them." Amon grunted out harshly.
"Dry off and dress." Amon ordered,
"Also, you need to come out here when you finish, you don't need to fall asleep right now." Amon turning his head.
"Hm." Robin nodded, he left and shut the door. Robin sat there,
~Amon was crying. I'm sure of it.~ Robin thought to herself. She walked out to the living room,
"Karasuma called me earlier and wants me to come eat dinner at Harry's tonight at 7:30. She is picking up so I figured she will be here a little earlier." Robin explained, Amon was giving her a thorough look.
"Amon, I'm fine. I didn't fall or anything I just fell asleep in the tub." Robin sighed, Amon looked at her as if she had grown a second head, he walked over to her and held both sides of her neck, he looked her dead in the eye,
"Robin, you didn't just fall asleep in the tub, your lips were blue. I worked on you for six minutes, you weren't coming back! You. Fucking. Died!" Amon shouted in her face. Robin just stared at him, finally he couldn't hold back any longer and crushed her to his body. Robin was stunned,
"Amon?" Robin confused.
"Just allow this for a moment longer." Amon engulfing her body with his tall lean body. Robin wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back,
"I wasn't going to let you go." Amon clearing his throat.
"You know I'm still pissed at you, and I am not letting you off the hook for it until you start seeing me as the person I am. I'm not a little kid Amon." Robin whispered. Amon slowly pulled away,
"I'm sorry that I see you as a kid, you have been through more than any one of us has been through and you are only 16." Amon explained, Robin glared at him, she noticed he was still wet from pulling her out of the tub.
"You should change before you say anything else. Don't you dare give me that pity talk or hold pity in your eyes for me. I may be 16 but I am a craft user, do you know what that means? I am a witch. You hate witches Amon." Robin explained in a serious tone. Amon started to his bedroom, he grabbed the doorknob,
"You know just to set the record straight I wasn't giving you pity. I am astounded that you have survived that one attack at all." Amon explained as he went into his room and shut the door. Robin looked at the door, she understood that her age and because she was a girl it made her seem more innocent, but this was the only life she had. The only family she knew was Father Juliano and her teammates who looked and treated her like their kid sister.
She never knew of a kid's life, even growing up she was pushed, tested and trained daily. It was due to that fact alone that she survived that attack. Amon went and took a shower,
~How do I treat her like my partner.~ Amon confused. He hoped that once they got out in the field together, he would stop see her as a child and a useful teammate, another two weeks and she would be able to come out with them on hunts. Finally, he got out of the shower, dried off and dressed in lounge clothes, white t-shirt and black silk pajama pants, with underwear underneath. Once dressed he came out into the living room and walked into the kitchen, Robin was sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Do you want some tea?" Amon asked,
"Yes please." Robin walking over to the kitchen bar and sitting on one of the stools. He sat the bottle in front of her, he glanced in her hair and found more hair ornaments in it, Robin saw him eying them,
"Oh no, Harry gave me these for my birthday. They are not your eating utensils." Robin explained, he nodded,
~He is up to something. Did he tell everyone else about my birthday and now have a party set up for me?~ Robin asked herself as she stared at her bottle of tea.
"Here is to you coming out into the field with me in two weeks." Amon explained, he raised his bottle of tea, she raised hers and bumped bottles.
"I just hope my eyes can still handle it." Robin mumbled,
"The doctor said that they have healed well. Have you ever tried to channel your craft through your hands? It would save your eyes from any strain." Amon explained. Robin drank some of her tea and sat the glass down,
"I think I tried when I first woke, but Father Juliano said I had such a traumatic time with it that I never tried to again and he didn't force me to. He wanted me to trust my craft and build the confidence and the stamina to use my craft for longer period of time, he didn't want me to fear it. He said if he had pushed me to keep trying to channel my craft through my hands at the age 6, I would have been nothing but a crumbled-up creature in the darkness corner of the monastery, catching fire to anyone brave enough to approach me." Robin's jaw muscle tensing as she raised her head to look at him.
Amon's eyebrows knitted together as his own jaw muscles tensed. He didn't know why he was trying to help her all this time, she was a witch and a craft user,
"When did you awaken?" Amon asked almost in a whisper, afraid of his own reaction to the answer she would give him.
"I was five years old." Robin whispered as she locked eyes with him. He turned his eyes toward his own glass, not giving her time to see the pity in his eyes, he felt as if he needed to share his own hardships,
"My father was a seed, and my mother was a witch." Amon finally letting her know some of his background.
~Maybe that's why he is cold and hates witches.~ Robin nodding to him, she was curious and wanted to ask questions about his early childhood but she figured she would leave well enough alone,
"I'm sure you already know but I will tell you anyway, the only person I know of who has raised and fed me is Father Juliano. I had been given one of my mother's journals for my 15th birthday, but I never got to read the whole thing, it was destroyed in the attack. I have no idea what happened to my biological parents. I think Father Juliano knows but every time I ask him, he gives me this look that says it all, that its best not to know, I eventually stopped asking because he looked as if he was in great pain every time I brought the subject up." Robin shrugged.
"Don't you want to know? Don't you miss having a mother or a father?" Amon astounded by her simple shrug,
"Can't really miss someone who you have never known, besides I don't think I want to know if its as bad as Father Juliano seems to make it out to be. Also, I had my guys, they treated me like their little sister who could pull her own weight. If I was having trouble doing something, they would band together and show me how they did it.
They taught me how to aim and fire different guns, Damen taught me about knives and his favorite blades were throwing stars and his ulaks. He trained me in each and I became pretty good with them. I think he used them both in the attack, so they are probably lost." Robin mumbled.
"Or broken." Amon blurted out, Robin shook her head,
"No, these things were forged by monks, they had given us some newer stuff, but those blades would have survived." Robin spacing out.
~That's the perfect gift for her for Christmas.~ Amon thinking about the ulaks,
"Those blades had their own powers to protect Damen with. The monks had prayed over them and engraved runes in them. The runes would allow the user to channel their power through those blades and their prayers had created some sort of shield to protect the user against attacks against them, but I guess it wasn't enough to stop a brain manipulator witch." Robin explained softly as she drank her tea.
"Monks who are witches?" Amon confused, Robin looked up,
"Yeah, they are rare but when they became monks, they found enlightenment helped them control their powers, it didn't tame their powers they just found ways of controlling their powers like making weapons like Damen's ulaks, they placed some of their power into the blades while they were making them." Robin explained. Amon was quiet for a moment,
"My mother, she didn't even know who I was anymore in the end. My half brother let me stay with him until I hit 16, which was only a year later, and I started working for STN-J, my mother gave herself over to her power when I was 15." Amon seeming lost in thought as he told the story.
"I don't think anyone gives themselves over to their power, I think how it happens is that their power just grows, and they don't understand how to control it, so when it gets too much for them it's when they break. I don't think your mother went willing into her loss of control, she had you, and I'm sure she loved you enough to fight to hold onto her sanity as long as she could." Robin placing a hand over his own. Amon couldn't help but place his other hand on top of hers,
"There were times I saw her suffering because of her powers. I used to hope that her powers would kill her instead of having to see her suffer." Amon whispered harshly. They were quiet for at least five minutes, with just awkward silence,
"So, you mentioned a half-brother? What's his name, how much older is he than you?" Robin asked, Amon raised a brow,
"Sorry, its interesting that you have a half-brother. I want to meet him. I thought you were like me with no biological family." Robin explained.
"We don't hang out, his name is Nagira, he's a lawyer and three years older than I am. I am 25 years old if you didn't know already." Amon seeming a little jealous of her asking about his brother.
"You forget, I know the date of your birthday, I knew how old you were when you let me see your medical report." Robin drinking more of her tea, that was like a punch to the gut to Amon, she was throwing it in his face, he nodded,
"I guess I deserved that. Nagira comes over once a month or I meet him somewhere." Amon shrugged as he finished his tea.
"Thank you for sharing a little about your family life, you didn't have to tell me." Robin locking eyes with him,
"I wanted you to know that you aren't the only one with a crappy childhood. Perhaps me sharing my family life with you is a form of me trying to make up for treating you as a little kid." Amon locking eyes with her. She nodded,
"It wasn't all that bad, I just didn't have a normal childhood, I had brothers that looked out for me." Robin laughing a little as she looked down at her half drank tea.
"Robin, you are first and foremost my partner. Us sleeping together would be bad for several reasons. We would not be able to hunt properly and the biggest thing, your age. I am not a pervert or a rapist. Do you realize that if we were to sleep together that you would be making me both? I would go to jail because of your age even if you consented to it. Robin, you don't want to be with a guy like me." Amon trying to turn her away from him romantically.
"I don't understand, why wouldn't I want to be with you?" Robin confused,
"I use women and discard them, I have not felt love in a long time, so I stay as I am, no messy relationships." Amon holding her shoulders, Robin nodded,
~Is that why he is so cold? He hasn't felt love since his mother was around?~ Robin thought.
"Amon, you are apart of my family now. When I make a team member apart of my family, I protect them from any and all harm that could come their way. I love my teammates unconditionally whether you like me or not since you have a hatred for witches. I hope I get the chance to show you the unconditional love that I have for you and my new family." Robin hugging him and kissing his cheek.
The doorbell rang, Robin knew it was Karasuma, but she wasn't in any kind of a rush, she hugged him for a moment more. Amon put one hand to the back of her head and the other around her waist to press her to him in a tighter hug.
"I hope you get the chance to prove it to me as well." Amon closing his eyes, he could already feel the warmth she had for him and the others, even if he was always growling at her like a beat, but it was because of the feelings she stirred in him. He couldn't feel love again and do the job he was supposed to do.
"Go, Karasuma is waiting." Amon pulling away, Robin slowly pulled away and started for the door,
"Have a good night, Amon." Robin turning around. Amon gave her a simple nod as he watched her walk to the door and leave. Did he want to feel love again? The love his mother gave him left him so hurt that he turned away any and all forms of love. Its why he didn't have relationships, he didn't want to feel that unbearable pain again, so he had built the fortress around his heart to keep everything out and to keep everything in. he didn't want to become that lost and scared little boy again. He picked up his phone and got in touch with Zaizen.
"In the attack in the church did they find a pair of ulaks?" Amon asked his boss,
"What is it you want with them?" Zaizen asked,
"I want to give them to Robin for Christmas. She said they belonged to her fallen teammate, and she wants them to remember him by. Is it possible Father Juliano still has them?" Amon asked.
"I will check around for them, but are you getting too cozy with her? You will still be able to do the job when the time comes, hm? Can I count on you Amon?" Zaizen asked
"Of course, sir. There won't be a problem when the time comes." Amon explained in his indifferent tone.
"Good, I'll see what I can do and let you know. By the way her guns came in from Italy, you can have her come by today and pick them up." Zaizen explained.
"Thank you, sir." Amon hanging up, he threw the phone to the couch and went to his room to get ready for the party.