Chapter 1 - Awoken

Disclaimer: Witch Hunter Robin belongs soley to it original creator. No materials, characters, or publicity reguarding Witch Hunter Robin is owned or made by me. Also, any views expressed by the characters of Witch Hunter Robin in this fan fiction are not necessarily the views of the original series or the creaters and/or owners of Witch Hunter Robin. Thank you. Enjoy!

Amon and Robin dodged behind a wall as a strand of earth flew past them. Amon fired off a round, and Robin's fiery craft hit the witch that had been chasing them. A series of blood-curdling screams ensued before silence finally came and all was still. It had been four years since the Factory had imploded and had almost taken them along with it. Many things had changed since then. If the lack of an Orbo vile hanging around Amon's neck was any indication, he had changed the most.

Amon sunk down to the concrete, closing his eyes and clinching his teeth in pain. Robin took one last look at the burn mark on the pavement a few meters away before turning away and kneeling down beside Amon.

"How bad is it?" he asked, no daring to open his eyes.

"Do you want the truth?"

"Don't coddle me, Robin," he winced.

"All right, let me get a better look then," she said, pulling his coat away and lifting his shirt. As her fingers brushed a wound at his torso with the base of a rock protruding from it, she felt him wince again. Letting off a low groan, he turned his head away.

"Well?" he growled.

"I don't think it struck any vital organs," she said at last.

Pulling several bandages out of a pocket on the inside of his coat, she put a hand to the base of the rock.

"Are you ready, Amon?"

He nodded. Robin gave the rock a swift pull and like a knife, it seemed to slide right out, leaving a deep gash behind. She poured something on the wound to cleanse it. Burning the wound carefully shut, Robin could hear Amon swallow down a scream. After wrapping his torso with bandages, she looked up at his face. It was unusual to see him so unguarded, but ever since they had left the Factory those four years ago, he had begun to open up to her more. It wasn't until very recently, however, that he had started to let his guard down around her.

"Are you done?" Amon asked at last.

"Yes," she replied.

"We should get moving then. We can't stay here," he said, attempting to get to his feet, but failing miserably.

"But your wound…"

"isn't life threatening. If we stay here with a dead witch around and me almost unable to move, not to mention fight, there's no telling what may happen to us. Help me up, Robin."

Eyeing him with sympathy, she gently dragged one of his arms around her neck and rose to her feet. Wincing, Amon leaned heavily on Robin. He was having difficulty regaining his balance.

"Can you walk?" Robin asked timidly.

"Yes," Amon said, not giving himself time to think about it.

Slowly and steadily, the two made their way through back alleyways and a deserted railway station, all the while, remaining in complete silence. Robin knew that Amon was focusing all his energy in keeping his feet moving, one in front of the other, but somewhere deep down she hated the silence. After almost an hour of Robin half walking, half dragging Amon, she stopped. They were inside a deserted shack now, several blocks from the railway station that they had passed.

As she untangled his arm from around her neck and carefully lowered her companion to the floor of the dusty, dark shack, a lock of chestnut brown hair fell defiantly from its perfect arrangement atop her head. Before she even had a chance to reach up and brush it away from her face it began to gently float back into place. She looked around behind her in shock, but deep down she knew that no one would be there. It wasn't her, yet she remembered this kind of power from once before. It had occurred only two weeks before when she and Amon were running from the scene of another witch's hunt that they had just managed to almost get caught up in. It had been dark and Robin tripped over something, falling. Just before she hit the ground, though, something swept her up forcefully. Before she knew it, Amon's hand was behind her shoulder and he was asking if she was all right.

"Why do you always wear your hair that way?" Amon asked.

Robin stared at him for a moment, not entirely knowing what to say, but somehow she knew what was behind his words. He was inviting her to ask the question she had been burning to ask ever since she had first met him.

"Amon…what was the real reason you became a hunter? STN-J always said that they had made Orbo as a way to make hunters human instead of relying on those with the craft. You, you're a SEED aren't you?"

Amon said nothing for a long time, then as if resigned to the truth, he finally answered, "It is the only thing that I have ever really been terrified of."

"You've awakened, haven't you?"

A single tear ran down his cheek. Amon could not remember the last time he had cried, and he wasn't about to let Robin see him bawl in front of her now. Raising a gloved hand to his face, he grabbed at his bangs.Robin watched, knowing the embarrassment, fear, and hurt he was feeling. She knew it all to well. Silently, she ran her fingers up his arms until they were encircling his back. He didn't move to accept her action, and she did not let him out of her embrace for a long time.

Perhaps it was his injury or the awakening of his new found powers that had sparked his inability to stop a mental breakdown, but whatever it was, by morning all was again calm. Amon awoke to dawn creeping in through the windows and a large space which had once been covered by a door. Robin's head, with its beautiful chestnut hair now down and free from its usual perfection, was settled on Amon's shoulder. She was still fast asleep. It was rare that Amon ever got to see her this close up. They had been at each other's side constantly for just over four years now, but it wasn't until recently that he had finally let her get to him. Perhaps it was because she was finally an adult, or maybe it was because after all this time, whatever he had expected to happen never did.

Taking a hand out of its glove, he put an arm around Robin's shoulders. Turning his head, he closed his eyes and kissed her hair. After a moment, he straightened back up. Opening his eyes again, he looked at her face for another moment before looking forward and watching the sunrise.

It was almost an hour before Robin finally woke up, but when she finally did, she began to fuss over Amon's wound like a mother hen. Finally unable to take it anymore, Amon agreed to go to the hospital. They would have to crash at his old place again to avoid getting the wound infected, but it was all okay in his eyes. He hadn't been home in several days, and besides, it wasn't as if anyone were looking for him anymore.

"Ow!" Amon snarled, glaring at the doctor in front of him as he sat on a hospital bed shirtless. He looked up at Robin for help, but she merely looked back at him with a serene smile on her face.

"All done," the doctor said at last. Getting up, he crossed the room, gave a chart to the nurse, directed them to check out with the front desk, and left for his next patient.

As Amon pulled his clothes back on, Robin watched him. A kind of sadness had found its way into her expression.

"What is it?" Amon asked after he had put his shirt back on.

"What will you do, now?"

"Now that I'm a witch? I suppose I could throw myself off a cliff, or wait until they hunt me. But then again, we are supposedly already dead."

"Amon…" Robin pleaded.

"No, Robin. I wouldn't do that. I have to be around just in case you ever go bad. No one except me could ever pull the trigger if it came down to it. Still, I fear that I may no longer be able to either. No, I may have stopped being able to turn my gun towards you a long time ago."

There was a long awkward silence before Amon spoke again, "Just tell me one thing. Does it change how you view me?"

"How could it not?"

Amon looked up at her half shocked, half hurt. Frowning moodily, he hung his head and looked at the floor, his elbows on his knees.

"Your craft is a whole new world and I get to be your guide through the best and your anchor through the worst of it. That is, if you'll have me. Of course that would change how I view you."

Amon slowly got to his feet and walked past her only stopping when he got to the door, "I would have no one else but you."