HERE IT IS, THE NEW CHAPTER. Fear the new chapter, for it is longer than the last, and it might just eat your soul! Er, or just read it. Yes, read it because I'm on a damn roll! HOT SHIT, READ IT.

……

I'll be the water wings that save you if you start drowning
In an open tab when your judgment's on the brink
I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
Albums back as your lying there drifting off to sleep...
I'll be the platform shoes and undo what heredity's done to you...
You won't have to strain to look into my eyes
I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped straight to the throat
With the collar up so you won't catch a cold

-Brand New Colony, The Postal Service

"Robin, Robin, wake up." Someone was shaking her shoulder, gently but insistently. "Robin." She groaned, and rolled over and away from the touch.

"Amon," her voice was gravelly, and her head felt like it was in a gray fog. "I thought you said you were going to let me sleep?"

"I did, you've been asleep for sixteen hours."

"What?" her voice rose, shocked. She pushed herself up, turning in the bed so her back pressed against the stained grain of the headboard. She rubbed her eyes, once again feeling like she had been asleep for far less time than she actually had been. She blinked; Amon was holding something out to her.

"Here, drink this." Robin took it warily. It was a bottle, with what looked to be a white liquid in it. "It's the Spanish equivalent of Ensure, apparently."

"Ensure? Isn't that the drink used to strengthen the elderly?"

"Yes." Amon replied, looking down on her, sounding almost annoyed.

"Amon, I'm not the elderly."

"But you're sick like one." Amon quipped, still staring down at her imperiously. "Drink it, or you're not going to get better anytime soon. You need calories, lots of them."

Robin frowned, glancing at the bottle before taking a tentative sip. It tasted of vanilla, and besides being slightly heavy in texture, wasn't all that bad. Robin was initially surprised that her stomach hadn't rejected the drink—yet.

"After you finish that we're going out. I'm taking you out to a local clinic, and you're going to get checked out."

"A clinic, for medical help? Amon, I really don't think I'm—"

"Yes, you are. And you're going."

Robin sat back some, still sipping tentatively at the Ensure. She watched as Amon fidgeted with his laptop, shuffled papers about on the small table he was now seated at. "Amon, how did you find a clinic? I thought you didn't have much knowledge of Barcelona?"

"I don't. I e-mailed Nagira, who, with his never-ending fountain of resources was able to get us a few names."

"Oh." Robin said, sipping again, thinking back to Nagira. Nagira, I miss him. It was so kind of him to continue to help her, even if she was thousands of miles away. It had been a shock to discover that Nagira was Amon's brother. He had not even bothered to tell her when he had sent her off that fateful day below the well. It had irked her that he had not told her of his family earlier, although when she had finally found out, she had quickly forgiven him.

………………….

They entered the clinic quickly, Amon swiftly walked to the receptionist. He had directed Robin to a seat, and she slowly lowered herself down onto it, watching as he and the receptionist exchanged words, the receptionist finally handed him a few papers.

Robin looked around; the room was sparse, save for the seats that lined the walls and the one snack machine that hummed in the corner. There were a few errant magazines littered on a table to her right. She picked one up and flipped through it dazedly, not really looking at what her eyes found on the pages.

After a few short minutes Amon returned to her side and motioned for her to stand. Picking her body off of the piece of blue plastic she was surprised when Amon pulled her into him, his gloved hands squeezing her arms, his dark hair brushing against her cheek as he moved his face past hers. "Robin, do not divulge anything to the doctors, nothing." His breath tickled her ear. With a somewhat shaky breath Robin nodded, ever so slightly. Amon then pulled away from her as if he had given her a simple hug, leaving Robin with a small, yet still noticeable blush.

A nurse was waiting in the doorway leading into the clinic. She was short, and slightly stocky, not that Robin could really tell though, due to her loose, blue scrubs. She glanced down at a clipboard in her hand. "Robin, if you would please follow me." Robin looked back at Amon, more for reassurance than anything she figured. She wasn't afraid of hospitals, no far from it, but she was still hesitant to leave Amon in the reception area. "Oh it's alright; your brother may come with you." The nurse looked at Robin, her eyes and mouth smiling.

Brother…? Robin looked back at Amon questioningly, saw him raise his eyebrows slightly and nod his head.

"I'll accompany you." His voice floated past her as he began to walk towards the nurse. "Come on, Robin." Glancing back one last time, Robin followed.

……

The nurse directed Robin and Amon into a small, sterile room. There was a metallic counter on which various instruments were placed, one of which, Amon noted with a small lump in his throat, was a large needle. Robin had been examined briefly by a flustered, seemingly rushed doctor, and it was quickly determined that she was fairly dehydrated. Some intravenous fluids were in order. The doctor had written out a little slip with the prescribed IV on it, and whisked them away with the same nurse that had led them from the reception area.

Amon quickly tried to force the lump down his throat, eyeing the metal table warily. Averting his eyes Amon looked down at Robin, who the nurse was helping into a chair near the raised, sterile cot that was also in the room. He watched as the nurse pulled up the left sleeve of Robin's sweater. Thankfully the sleeve was loose and she wouldn't have to remove any clothing for the nurse to have access to her arm. The lump suddenly returned to his throat as the nurse asked Robin to flex her arm, and as he watched the nurse tie some opaque rubber tubing around the top of it. 'Now what would Robin say to him if she knew needles made him squeamish?' Amon swallowed, ashamed that he could barely watch Robin receiving intravenous fluids.

Robin's eyes were still glazed, as they'd remained since she had woken up. The nurse was buzzing around her, hastily preparing the needle and IV bag, positioning the latter near Robin. The nurse turned her back carefully, and Amon watched with a steadily increasing heart rate as she prepared the needle. 'Damn, when did those things get so big?' He hazarded another glance down at Robin in her seat, careful to keep his countenance neutral. She was sitting with her ankles crossed, her bare feet swinging slightly, as they did not quite touch the ground. She was staring off to the side, her eyes fixed on some unknown point; she looked almost bored. Amon's eyes narrowed. How was it that she was always so calm about damn near everything?

Amon turned around quickly, and then immediately wished he hadn't. The nurse was before him, holding the needle in her right hand nonchalantly. He sucked in a breath quickly through his nose. The nurse's eyebrow quirked and a small smile curved upward. She lifted the needle higher, closer to Amon's face, the small smirk remained.

"Why, excuse me Mr. Amon." The nurse said airily, breezing around him.

'Shit, shit, shit. Am I really being that transparent?' Amon almost panicked, turning to look at Robin, who thankfully, was still staring off into space, completely oblivious.

"You've done very well Robin, now I'm going to put the IV in. It may hurt a bit, but I don't want you to be scared."

Robin looked at the nurse then, and blinked. "Why would I be scared?" The nurse seemed taken aback at this, looking up at Robin suddenly.

"Well dear, you're fifteen, correct?"

"Yes, I am."

"Most girls your age would be crying about now, at least from my experience."

"Oh."

The nurse looked at Robin for another second, then back at Amon, brows down. He merely shrugged, adjusting the collar of his coat. The nurse turned back to Robin, looking up at her one last time, finding her staring at a point above her head. Shrugging her own shoulders the nurse inserted the needle into her elbow. She moved the needle back and forth in her arm, frowning slightly as she failed to feel the needle pierce a vein. "Sorry dear, I can't seem to hit the vein, I'm going to have to try again." With that the nurse pulled the needle out, adjusted her aim, and shoved the needle back in. A warm trickle of blood immediately began to flow from the hole in Robin's elbow.

"There we are, all set. Now let me just get something to clean this up with." Robin nodded, and the nurse turned to leave the room, casting an amused glance back at Amon.

He was going to shit a brick. He fidgeted back and forth in the center of the room, trying to stem the nausea that was threatening to overtake him. Of course, Robin then chose that particular moment to turn her gaze from the blood flowing slowly from her arm, to him. Upon seeing his flustered face Robin frowned.

"Amon, are you alright? You're sweating." She asked softly.

"Yes, yes, fine. It's rather warm in here." He replied lamely, hitting himself mentally all the while. Robin gave him one more questioning glance before turning her gaze elsewhere.

The needle safely inside Robin's arm, Amon's blood pressure slowly began to return to normal. He glanced around, noticing several chairs, one of which he choose to sit in.

"You should feel better after you've received fluids." Amon said sighing, watching Robin swing her still locked ankles.

"Mmhmm."

………..

Amon had left to get her some food from one of the vending machines in the reception area. She still didn't really feel like eating, but thankfully the thought of it didn't turn her stomach anymore. Robin watched as the nurse came in to check the IV bag.

"Where's your brother?" She asked, pressing her fingers to Robin's wrist.

"He went to get some food." Robin replied, staring at the wall, instead of the nurses probing fingers.

"What a nice brother you have, taking care of you like this. He must really love you."

Robin started, her eyes widening. "Er, yes, he's a good brother." She turned her head quickly, desperately trying to hide the blush that had assailed her cheeks.

"I can see that you two might not get along all the time, but I've seen his type before. Doesn't want to reveal any emotion, just likes to stay inside himself." Robin's blush was deepening, and she really wished that the nurse would just leave her in peace. All this talk of Amon was getting increasingly uncomfortable. "Oh but they show emotion in different ways." She turned to Robin then, a warm smile on her face. "I'm sure he cares about you a lot." Robin cleared her throat, still wishing the nurse would just leave. "You know dear, he's not so high and mighty as he might seem. To tell you the truth, I think he's a bit squeamish." Robin raised her eyebrows, blinking. The nurse winked at her and left the room.

Robin looked down. Is that what they looked like to other people? Amon didn't love her, he was just worried because of her failing health. She knew she couldn't be a burden while on the run. He was just making sure that she was able to move properly. Yes, that was it.

……..

Quick breath, pulse thudding, and green, green water. Limbs hanging limply, floating like dead, ugly, unused things, hair drifting up, pulling the head up, up. Those eyes, God those eyes, open and blank, void of all color, all emotion, all life. They were dead, but they were alive and it was horrible.

They were dead and yet they were screaming, moaning and wailing. A voice in her head, only her head. Put into their green tombs, lungs filling with the green, formaldehyde like substance. Their cries stopped, frozen, only to unleash themselves inside her skull. All their dying screams, resonating and bouncing around her head with a pain so sharp it burned.

So much pain.

So much death.

No more.

The water boiled.

Robin opened her wet eyes, widely. Her hands were shaking, a whimper escaping her as she tried to anchor herself to something solid in the room. Looking around all she could see was the raised cot, and the silver table, littered with gleaming instruments. Too much metal. Not good.

Blankly, Robin realized there were hands on her shoulders, small, unfamiliar, but firm nonetheless.

"Robin, Robin. Are you alright dear?" Robin's mouth worked, but no sound emerged, her vocal chords working uselessly. "Oh my, now stop crying, you're going to lose all the fluid we just put into you." The nurse handed her a tissue, and she thankfully took it and dried her eyes. "You just sit there and rest. I'll go get your brother." She nodded, just then realizing that Amon's dark presence wasn't in the room, thankful that the nurse had realized her need.

Robin watched the nurse leave, the door shutting behind her with a soft clink. She glanced down at her arm, the IV was gone, a small purple band-aid with a flower on it in its place.

"Robin, Robin. Relax, sit down little one."

Her eyes were burning, hands shaking, Nagira's hands on her shoulders.

"A-Amon, he's dead."

The hand moved around to her back, pulling her into an unfamiliar hug, the soft white fuzz of his ridiculous coat brushing up against her face. "No, no he's not. I know my crazy brother. He doesn't die so easily, trust me. He's lived through a lot." Her sniffling continued for a while, Robin desperately trying to stop, burning with shame. "What happened Robin?"

"I don't know," her voice was tremulous, and she didn't quite understand why. "One moment I was reaching for my coffee mug, the next I was back at Raven's flat, back with Amon, the day he—"

Nagira's hands tightened around her even more, causing the breath to be sucked from her slightly. "He's not dead." Just as Robin was beginning to think that her circulation was being cut off Nagira pulled away. "You probably had a flashback Robin. It's not uncommon for people who have undergone something traumatizing to have them."

"But it's never happened before." Robin then turned her eyes down. "Well, it has, when I was staying at Raven's flat, after the attack on my apartment. I would see things. I saw Amon. I saw Amon, and it was frightening." She paused again, taking a quick breath. " But never anything of this magnitude!"

Nagira paused for a moment, his eyes distant. "And that's why you have to be strong, Robin."

So it was happening again, and apparently it was still getting worse.

………

Amon walked down the almost deserted hallway, passing no one, for which he was grateful. He much preferred to avoid contact with the people in the clinic, the fewer questions that were asked, the quicker he could get Robin and leave. She had started looking much better after only a short time with the IV, which had relieved Amon more than he though it would. He had hated to see her walking around like death warmed-over. He had suggested food, and hearing no rejection from his ward, (which was another relief) went to procure her some.

While on the ship Amon had spent a lot of time reflecting on his time with Robin. It had only been two short months since the collapse of factory. Two months of dragging Robin from place to place in a panicked, frightened frenzy. Amon thought perhaps he had been a bit hasty with all of it. They had never actually seen a hunter, never mind been confronted by one. Amon had kept his ears, and his resources open, and at any hint of trouble he had whisked them away. This probably wasn't the smartest of plans, looking around at his surroundings. Look where it landed you.

As usual Amon had shelved mental complications, focusing only on their relative physical safety. Relative was the key word. Looking at Robin these past few weeks had made him seriously reconsider his concept of well being.

As Amon approached the door that would lead to his little charge he saw it open, abruptly increasing his stride, holding the little bag of snacks he had bought for Robin from the vending machine in the front lobby. The nurse that had been treating her emerged, clicking the door shut quickly behind her. Oh good lord no. The nurse had been nice enough, treating Robin quite effectively, yet Amon had a sneaking suspicion that she was out to get him. Either that or she had some silly crush on him. She had immensely enjoyed making him squirm when Robin was receiving her IV, and now she probably had some other form of humiliation in store for him.

Walking up to her briskly Amon reached for the door handle, finding it abruptly stopped as it neared the blue of her uniform, rather than the metal of the handle. Amon glanced up curiously; the glint in her eye was gone, replaced only with a cold seriousness. The Hunter gears turning in his mind. 'Was she a spy, had she found out something, had Robin told her something?'

"Mr. Amon, you came here asking for help, and as is our policy we provided it to you without asking more than the necessary questions." She paused, her brows knitting together firmly, and her small, strong arms folded in front of her. "However, certain occurrences have led me to believe that you are not telling me something that is pertinent to your sister's health." She sighed, suddenly looking weary and haggard, a million cases similar to theirs flashed across her eyes briefly. "Amon, given the nature of my work I do not trust easily, nor do I take the word of patients as the entire truth, but in this case I need to know a few things."

Amon stood firm, spreading his stance a bit. "What sort of things?"

"You and your sister," the last word said with a suspicious conviction, "aren't merely here to enjoy the sights and sounds of Barcelona, are you?"

"How can you be so certain? My sister and I are merely taking a vacation." Amon's jaw was set, even if he didn't really sound too convincing, even to himself.

"Vacationers don't come to the health clinic dragging a half-starved, dehydrated girl, with mental complications behind them."

"Mental complications?" Amon's heart rose in his chest, constricting.

"She has not told you?" Upon Amon's look of bewilderment, the nurse put one hand to her forehead, sighing heavily for the second time. "Men can be so clueless sometimes—Amon, Robin just had a flashback, a particularly violent one."

"She had a—"

"A flashback, a recurrence of a trauma that the victim sustains while in a conscious state. Robin was thrashing, but thankfully I was able to take the IV out before she caused any harm to herself."

Amon's teeth ground together. "I know what a flashback is, and to my knowledge, Robin has never experienced one." A victim? Robin was not a victim, how dare this woman degrade her!

"Are you so sure? Robin was calmer than most patients I've seen who experience those types of flashbacks, and even though Robin seems like a very reserved girl, her reaction told me that this wasn't a foreign occurrence to her." The nurse drew a long breath into her nose. She had obviously seen many of these types of cases, and his reactions weren't surprising to her. "Amon, I know that you're not going to tell me anything of your life, but please tell me this. Has Robin been through any serious trauma as of late?"

Trauma.

Shoving her small form down into the unused well, hearing the Hunters approaching fast, watching as the tears that had been gathering in her eyes spilled. From the bottom floor of Raven's flat, with his ear to the ground, his senses keened, listening to Robin quietly sob, calling out his name, thinking him dead. Hearing Robin's true nature, her omission to Father Juliano that she would rather be destroyed than live as Sin. Watching Robin's look of pain as she heard the witches screaming and crying inside her head. The factory falling down around her, shards of everything slicing at her skin. Watching her flinch from the sight of his gun.

"Yes, she has." Amon answered, suddenly assailed by a sudden gust of guilt, gripping him, and shaking him. Asshole.

"As I suspected, Robin is most likely suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I can't diagnose her officially, of course, but I've seen many such cases, and Robin's is all too familiar." The nurse paused for a moment, trying to gauge his reaction. Seeing no change in his features, she continued. "It can manifest at any time after the initial trauma, and can last for a very long time if left untreated."

Amon frowned further, if that was even possible at this point. "I can't—"

"I know. As much as I'd like to have her stay here, be properly diagnosed, and receive some psychological help, I understand that you are in a rush to leave." The nurse looked up at him then, her eyes sad. "Amon, her brother or not, do you care for her?"

Amon's mouth replied before he had even really a proper chance to think through the weighted question. "I do."

"Then I entrust her to you, as her strength. She seems like such a nice girl, do take care of her." With that her eyes suddenly regained their mirth, her hands unfolding as she stepped away from the door. "I'll get you some literature, Robin's waiting for you. I'll return shortly. The nurse left, striding down the deserted hallway.

Amon blinked, staring after her for a few moments before again reaching for the door handle. He opened the heavy door, revealing Robin perched in her chair, fidgeting with her sweater.

"Amon." Her eyes brightened.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, I'm actually hungry, for once." She said eyeing the bag of snacks in his hand.

"Good, I brought you something. It's small, but we'll eat more once we get back to the hotel." He handed her the bag of snacks, watching as her small hands delicately tore open the bag, reached in and popped a piece of food into her mouth, chewing quietly.

"Thank you, Amon. I do feel much better now, and I apologize for being such a burden before."

Amon's throat was dry.

Do take care of her.

"No, there's no need to apologize."

………

DEATH, DEATH AND MORE DEATH. Agggh. Life is eating my brain, slowly but surely. Sorry I didn't have this up sooner like I promised, but I spent the past weekend in New Jersey. (Ugh.) Now I shall sleep for a large amount of time.

Kbye.