I Cannot Offer You Freedom
Chapter 8
~*~
The sun shone down warm and carefree, spilling through the window of the STN-J and setting the hair of the sleeping girl on fire. It tinted the room gold, giving even inanimate objects a glow that gave them life. Warm breezes swirled through the skies, tickling clouds and playing with the birds, their breath welcome to all. But, inside the sun-warmed building, the breezes had no say; this was not their territory, it was a foreign place to them, so they stayed content to dance among the clouds.
Stirring as the bright light painted the insides of her eyelids with fire, Robin sighed softly and leaned into the warmth she knew would be right next to her, ready to protect her with comforting arms and soothing words. But it was not there; only the cool morning air met her body.
Sitting up suddenly, the fire girl gave the room a frantic look-over, searching for Michael. She stood up, muscles protesting and called out his name. No answer came. A flash of white in the corner of her eye caught her panicked gaze, and she turned, seeing a small piece of paper lying on the gray floor. Curious now, she picked it up and her heart turned over at what she saw.
"I love you."
With a strangled sob, she whipped around to the computer, hoping for something, for some other sign of her hacker lover. The screen was dark and the only other sign of the 16-year-old, besides a few empty wrappers, was his chain necklace. Sadly, Robin picked up the links, fingering the cold metal listlessly. Up until now, the dog-tags and chain has been a symbol of his captivity, a mark of possession by the STN-J. Up until now these pieces of metal had held the warmth of life that was Michael Lee; cold now, the symbolized nothing more then a broken promise.
Setting the necklace back down, Robin collapsed into the hacker's chair and cried as she hadn't cried in years.
***
Scratching his arm through its cushion of bandages, Sakaki stepped off the elevator with a tired moan. Rubbing his face blearily with his one good arm, he brought the other one up, running his fingers through messy brown locks and ignoring the little needles of pain that stabbed him. Dropping both hands once more, he was greeted by a very grim STN-J team.
"Something I missed?" he asked, arching one eyebrow.
"Michael's gone," Karasuma answered him tersely, her mouth tight and her eyes worried.
"He left this," Doujima chimed in, dangling Michael's "collar" off of one finger. When the injured hunter met her eyes, she quickly turned away, cheeks tinged a delicate pink.
Smirking slightly, Sakaki turned to Robin, only to have the smirk wiped clean away. The look in her eyes alone was enough to nearly knock him off his feet, let alone the way she was just sitting there, helplessly clutching a crumpled piece of paper in her hands. "Robin?" His normally indifferent tone was absent now as he took in her vacant air.
Zaizen entered the room, looking severe and slightly forbidding. His eyes were dark as he stood before the remaining members of the STN-J team and he clasped his hands behind his back. His lecturing stance was met with blank stares from all, the lack of emotion meant to hide their worry and fear at what their boss would do.
"I want you all to go on a hunt." His words surprised them all.
"A-a hunt?" Doujima asked, obviously confused.
"A hunt, but not for a witch. I want you to go on a hunt for Michael. You need to track him down and bring him back here; at any cost! I will not take failure as an option." He tossed two pairs of handcuffs down on the desk, along with a tranquilizer gun.
Horrified, the team stared at him, their eyes wide.
Robin stood up, her eyes dry now, and took the necklace from Doujima. She walked over to Zaizen and, standing on tiptoes, hooked it around his neck.
Too surprised to even try and stop her, Zaizen just gaped as the short, blonde girl stepped back. "Now you know . . . what it feels like," she said quietly, turning to leave the room.
But a strong hand on her arm stopped her. "Robin." Zaizen's voice was hard, and left no room for argument. "You will go on the hunt, and you will help Karasuma, Doujima, and Sakaki find Michael. Personal feelings have no place in a job such as this, so this will be treated as another ordinary mission, and you are expected to act accordingly."
I can't hunt Michael!
She tried to pull her arm away, but the taller man would not let go. "Let's go." He tossed his head to Karasuma, indicating for her to take the handcuffs and gun. "Unfortunately for him, Michael left us with a pretty good idea of where he was going." Dark eyes flickered towards the computer and Robin scowled a little, annoyed with her boss's attitude.
Uncertainly, Karasuma took the objects the STN-J leader had given them and went to stand by the elevator, avoiding Robin's eyes at all costs. Bewildered, Sakaki stood there, eyes going from Zaizen, to Karasuma, to Robin, and back. Doujima stood slightly apart from him, a horrified expression still fixed on her face.
"I want you to go find him, NOW." It was not a request. Their boss could be very convincing when he wished, and no one dared to cross him when he gave such a direct order. Not even Amon could escape the wrath of Zaizen.
Said person tightened his grip on the youngest member of the STN-J and steered her forcefully from the room. The others followed, indecision marring their steps so that they fell unevenly and raggedly; they did not want to hunt one of their own.
***
Well, Chapter 8 is done and I'm still getting tons and tons of great comments from you guys! So here's my chapterly THANK YOU! ^_^ This is my most successful fic so far!
Once again, part of this chapter was written in school. T.T This time though, I paid a little more attention; most was done in boring Study Hall after I finished writing a note to my friend.
More action next chappie, when Michael meets up with Miro and the hunt for him is underway! ^.^
~Dreamwalker
Chapter 9
