Summary: What would happen if Gohan and Videl never met in high school? What if Hercule's secret was finally revealed? What if that left Videl to fend for herself? Fresh out of high school, an eighteen year old Videl must find a way to make a living on her own when her father's secret is revealed to the public. Gohan, also eighteen years old, leaves home to make a difference in the world, but something goes wrong and he is forced to live in a way he never planned to. An incident brings the two together and they must fight to win their happy ending. But when the bad guys are unexpected and powerful, will they be able to win in the end?
Rating: PG13 for now, but may go up later on
Caregory: Mostly romance, plenty of angst, lots of action/adventure, drama also is included, and even some humor is added in
Warning: It has much AU in it, but not so much that it doesn't follow the main DBZ idea. Also, the characters may be OCC a little, but not so much that they seem like a different character altogether. Another warning; contains violence and some sexual content/suggestion, but not too much for now. Not much language problems if any either.
Disclaimer: Ok, I normally don't bother to put this because everyone knows that the people who write fanfics don't own the show. That's why they are called FANfics, hehe. No offense guys. So, don't sue me now cause I have a disclaimer.
As she stepped outside the small, unoriginal office building, she let a soft, frustrated sigh pass her lips. That was her fifth job rejection in the past month. It seemed as if all the employers she had interviewed with knew who she was, or, at least, who her father was.
About a year ago, the ever so famous Hercule had publicly been pronounced a fake. Apparently, the newsmen that were with him during the Cell games had been paid to keep quiet. As the years went by, Hercule had grown cocky, therefore stopping the payment of the men and replaced the money with threats. Gaining some courage, the men had come forth with this information, declaring Hercule a fake and the young delivery boy the real hero. Sadly, they were unable to identify the boy, leaving the world clueless as to the real hero.
Panic spread throughout the world at the lose of their protector. What were they suppose to do if another villain like Cell suddenly appeared? Taking what they thought the safest course of action, the world's leaders asked the young man to come forth. Then, taking the opportunity, many young teens came forth and claimed to be the boy, but all proving failure. So, still unable to find their true savior, they comforted the people with the thought that if ever the Earth was in need of his assistance, he would come out of hiding and rescue them. It seemed as if this amazing young man had become a legend for the people, one that they could depend on.
Now with his secret exposed, Hercule was forced to sell his mansion and move to a remote cabin on the outskirts of town. Wallowing in self pity, Hercule was too ashamed to show his face publicly again. He never left the house, forcing his teenage daughter to take care of him on her own.
Of course, it had came as the greatest shock to Videl, finding out that her father was not who he seemed. But what was worse was the fact that he had lied to her, his very own daughter, the only family he had left. But even so, she still loved him dearly and wanted to take care of him. She had tried her best to comfort him, but he would not have any of it, as if he enjoyed the self loathing and pity.
Quickly growing tired of it, Videl had given him the ultimatum; her or him. When he did not give her an answer, she packed and left the house in tears, wanting to never have to return again.
Forced now to take on the world as a young, inexperienced 18 year old girl, Videl managed to gain an apartment. Taking pity on the girl, the man in charge offered her a two month stay, no cost. After that, she had to pay for her stay. With a great amount of gratitude, Videl moved in and set out for a job. A month has pasts and there she was, still jobless.
Videl reached up to let her hand run through long, black locks of soft hair in frustration. She was so tired of being turned away just because of her father. It wasn't her fault that he had lied to everyone, taking the fame and fortune as only the greedy, selfish man he was would do. She felt she shouldn't have to be punished for it, too.
"Father, how could you?" She said softly to herself as she made her way toward the elevator of the office building. The place was rather boring, all the walls painted white, the carpet a tanish, off white color, the desk rooms all in a row- the first one the same as the last one. It was your typical, lower class business office of the now booming Capsule Corp. It was a dream of hers to work at a place like this with the now most famous person in the world, Bulma Briefs, as the person in charge. She had always admired the older women, even though she didn't know her personally. The only time she had ever even seen her up close was at one of her dad's business parties and that was more then most could say.
'Of course, I wouldn't want to work at a boring place like this anyway,' she thought to herself, trying to stop the tears from falling from her face. She was a tough girl, she wasn't going to cry over something as simple as this.
After what had seemed an eternity, the elevator pulled to a stop. As she stood there impatiently, the door opened and out walked a tall, black haired man. He was dressed in black slacks and a clingy, dark blue t-shirt with nice, black dress shoes to boot. From the way the shirt clung to his body, she could tell he was very well muscled. It was a simple outfit, but one that fit the man so well. With his spiky, thick black locks of hair, he was any girls dream man.
She stood frozen in place, unable to move out of the way with her breath unknowingly held as he walked toward her with his eyes upon the floor. Before they crashed completely though, he looked up just in time to side step the frozen girl, then entered the room next to the one she had just left from.
Videl stood there for another few seconds, trying to regain herself. The mysterious and incredibly handsome man had left as quickly as he had came, just like that. 'Just like everything else good in my life,' she thought solemnly to herself as she managed to pull out of her trance and enter the elevator before someone else could take it.
Pushing the G button, she waited calmly, trying to sort through her thoughts, as the elevator slowly made it's way back down to the garage. The annoying elevator music was playing in the back round, causing the already peeved young women to forget her attempt at being calm and become even more frustrated.
"Stupid music. I don't see the point of it," she softly muttered to herself. With all the changes she had been going through lately, she just couldn't relax anymore. Nothing seemed to calm her down enough.
The elevator slowed to a stop as it reached it's destination. The doors slid open to reveal the C section of the relatively large parking lot. With cars parked everywhere, it would be difficult to find her car. Thankfully though, Videl had parked specifically under the sign for section C, that way, she wouldn't spend the rest of the afternoon searching for her car.
After a quick search for the C sign, Videl made her way across the garage. Not more than a minute later, she had found the spot. The car parked there was a small car; a light blue honda with chipped paint, beat up seats, and a small dent in the passenger's door.
She then realized it; this wasn't her car. Embarrassed at her mistake, she blushed and scurried to the other side of the sign to find her actual car. It was a black eclipse with a leather interior, a CD player built in along with a navigational system, and all in perfect shape. Smiling, she pulled out her keys from the bag she kept all her job application papers in. She unlocked the driver's door and threw her bag on the passenger's seat as she sat down behind the wheel.
Before she pulled out of the parking lot, she put in her favorite CD and cranked up the volume. Satisfied, she pulled out of the garage and unto the road back home. As she made her way back to her new home in the apartments, she thought back to how she got her expensive car.
It had been her first week in her new apartment room and she was still without means of transportation. No busses passed through this part of town and the taxis generally avoided the area too, knowing that business was rare there.
It the first of many snowy days to come and with the lack of warmth, her room was an uncomfortable place to be in. So, in hope of finding a warmer place to stay, she wandered the halls of the apartments, hugging her coat closer to keep the cold out. She had reached the third floor and still with no luck, when a sudden gush of warm air reached her chilled cheeks. She looked up from the floor to see a man stepping out of his room. As soon as the door was closed though, the warm air was replaced with the same chilliness as before.
Frowning in disappointment, Videl hadn't noticed the man was looking at her with interest. Apparently, this girl was in need of a little warming. Smiling kindly, the man stepped forward out of the shadows.
She looked up at his face, but was surprised to find he had on slick sunglasses and the hood to his black coat up. He also had on a nice pair of dark blue jeans with black vans to top it off. She couldn't see anything else of him though, as if he was attempting to keep his identity hidden. When she thought about it though, it wasn't all that surprising. Most people who were occupying the building were the people in need of help; whether it was just for the sake of needing a place to live or if they were in some trouble for whatever reason. Ether way, a man in hiding was not uncommon there.
"Er, you look cold. Care to come in? I have a nice heating system set up," the man offered. He opened the door and stepped to the side to offer her entrance. Startled, Videl hesitated as she thought of the many possibilities it would present the man with. All was forgotten though when the heat met her face again.
Nodding her head in an usually shy manner, she followed him into the small apartment room. It was plain like her's with the white walls and gray carpet. As they moved further into his apartment, she also noticed he had slightly larger kitchen and living space. 'He probably has a larger bedroom, too. Wait, what am I thinking?! Keep your mind away from that,' she thought to herself as her cheeks began to redden slightly.
Entering the living room area, he made a gesture to the couch, indicating she should sit there. In an unsure manner, she took her seat on the slightly beat up black couch as he entered the kitchen. Not long later though, he returned with two steaming cups, one in each hand.
Offering her one of the cups, he asked, "Care for some hot chocolate?" She only nodded her head in reply and took the cup, sipping carefully on the hot drink.
He took a seat next to her on the couch, also sipping at the cup of hot chocolate. An uncomfortable silence took place after this. Videl fidgeted with the zipper of her coat as the man next to her would occasionally bring one hand up to fiddle with his sunglasses then bring it back down to check his watch.
After a while of silence, curiosity got the best of her and she forced herself to turn to him. "Why do you hid behind the sunglasses?" She asked.
Smiling kindly, he replied simply, "If I told you that, I would have to kill you." That had gained a small giggle from the women beside him. Satisfied, he continued, "To be honest, I have to keep my identity secret because of what I do. I've gained a lot of enemies from it so it's a way to protect myself and others."
Obviously interested by this, she continued her inspection of the man. "What do you do that forces you to hid just to protect yourself?"
Sighing, he set his cup down on the small table in front of them. Turning back to her, he answered, "It's not only to protect me, but others, too. If these men knew who I was, they would use the people I care for against me. As for what I do, well, I much rather you didn't know."
Videl looked at him oddly, but decided not to press him any further. Turning back to her cup of hot chocolate, the silence from before continued. Both the young adults seemed to be uncomfortable, but it wasn't all together an unpleasant sit.
Feeling he should play the part of host better, the man took that opportunity to ask Videl a few questions. "So, Videl, how are you liking are your stay here?" It seemed polite enough, a simple conversation starter.
"It's not so bad, just really cold. I like it fine," she answered unsurely. She paused, then looked to him and asked, "how do you know my name?"
He smiled and answered, "Roberts likes to brag about his 'generosity to the young Satan girl.'" They both chuckled at this, knowing how the manager of the apartment was. Finally, it seemed the ice between the two was broken with their share in an inside joke. They talked for 20 more minutes about little things, not going much into depth.
When the kitchen's clock went off, showing the time to be 7:00, the man suddenly jumped up in surprise. He cursed lightly under his breath, then turned to the raven haired women looking up at him questioningly.
"I've had a wonderful time talking to you, Videl. It's really nice to have some company over for once. We should do this real soon again, but as for right now, I've got to go," the man said as politely as he could. He took both cups and quickly put them in the kitchen sink before hurrying back out to the living room to help show Videl to the door.
He opened the door for Videl first before exiting right after her. The young adult then turned around and used his keys to lock the door behind him. Finally turning around to face her, he reached into his pocket and took a small object out. Gently, he stuffed it into her hands and walked past her to leave down the stairs.
Over coming her shock at last, Videl cried out after him, "Wait! I don't even know your name!" She was glad to see him stop before going down the stairs.
Turning to her, he yelled back, "I can't tell you now, but if you are meant to know, I look forward to that day!" With that said, the mysterious man ran down the stairs, the echo of his footsteps loud in her ears.
For some reason, she felt the urge to smile, so she did just that. The man confused her, yet intrigued her at the same time. His secretive ways drew her to him for some unknown reason. The fact that he had invited her into his home so readily and had talked to her so kindly, he even took care to make her hot chocolate and give her warmth, it all drew her to him. All this had given her more of a cause to feel a bond of sorts to him.
Still smiling, Videl walked back up the stairs to her apartment, the whole time never noticing the cold that she had been seeking to escape from before the encounter of her mystery man. Then suddenly, she realized she had something in her hand. Looking down, she found two one hundred dollar bills with a note. Too shocked to react, she simply opened the note and read:
Videl,
I know this isn't much, but I hope you'll find it of some use. I wish you well with your new apartment. Feel free to stop by my place anytime.
Sincerely,
someone who cares
Tears in her eyes, she smiled with such gratitude you would have thought he saved her life or something. 'That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,' she thought, still with a large smile gracing her face. She put the note and money into her pocket before pulling out her keys and unlocking the door.
Right before she stepped in though, a thought hit as hard as a bag of bricks, 'when did he have the time to write the note?'
For about the next 3 weeks, she received $200 everyday and a sweet note of encouragement from the same mystery man of hers. She felt guilty taking the money, but every time she would try to give it back, she wound up finding the money at her doorstep all over again. She had then tried to give it back personally, but he was never home to talk to. Roberts said the man's job always kept him out all day and sometimes all night.
Finally, at the end of the 3 weeks, she had enough money to buy a car. Growing up with one car in mind, her dream car, she had taken only two days to find it at the cheapest price she thought possible. A black eclipse. Yes, life was good.
Turning into the parking lot, she had glimpsed her mystery man pulling out of the parking lot with a trailer full of his stuff attached to the back of his black ford. She felt her heart flutter when she saw him, then suddenly sink when she realized what the trailer meant; he was moving out.
Videl quickly parked her car, locked it, then ran into the main office of the building. She rushed into Roberts office and found him leaning back in his chair, starring at the pile of papers on his desk.
"Roberts, is it true that he's moving out?" startled, he fell back on the chair, barely recovering enough to prevent hitting his head on the cabinet behind him. Scrambling back up into a sitting position, the short, tubby old man looked up at the young women.
"Aw, Videl dear! How are you enjoying your stay? I hope all is satisfactory?" He questioned in a business like manner.
Impatiently, she answered, "It's fine. Thank you again for your kindness." When she received a nod from the man, she continued, "Is the man from room 78 really moving out?"
He looked at her questioningly, then sighed before saying, "Yes, I'm afraid so, Videl. He seemed in a big hurry to get out and on his way. A shame, too. He was such a nice young man. Did I tell you about how he saved my wife's life once?" When her mouth opened in surprise, he continued, "Oh yes, my wife had been terribly sick with a rare condition. No doctors seemed able to find a cure, when all of a sudden, he comes along. He took care of her while I was out looking for any doctor who could help us at all. When I came back empty handed, my wife and I were ready to give up, but he wouldn't have that. No, he told us to be patient while he was out looking for a doctor to help. What surprised us the most though was he returned with none other the Bulma Briefs herself. It seemed they were old friends by the way they acted. Anyway, Mrs. Briefs was able to find a cure after only an hour of examinations. She returned the next day with an antidote that worked perfectly. We tried to pay her, but she wouldn't take it. She said she was only repaying a favor for an old friend, then left. We were so amazed and grateful to her and the man that we gave him the best room we have; room 1. He refused it though, saying he much preferred his room, which I must say is a lot more comfortable then room 1. So there you have it, he saved my wife's life and yet I don't even know his name."
Videl was altogether too shocked to react to his story. She did the only thing she could; nodded her head and turned around to leave the room. Before she exited though, Roberts called her back so she turned to face him.
He reached across the table to hand her a folded up piece of paper before replying, "that man asked me to give you this."
Unfolding the paper, she was able to decipher the familiar hand writing of her favorite mystery man. On the piece of paper was written:
My dear Videl,
I regret telling you that I must leave this place now for reasons I can't say. I wish you well in life and hope you find happiness. Good luck with everything! Oh, by the way, Roberts and I have arranged a special present for you. Take it as a good bye present. I hope you like it. I'll miss you.
Sincerely,
someone who cares
'All these notes! Why didn't he just come and say good bye to me in person!' she thought angrily with tears in her eyes. 'Gosh darn it Videl! You cry for no one! You don't even know him!' Looking up from the paper and at Roberts, he smiled kindly as he got up from his chair and moved toward her.
"He's always leaving notes for everyone. You know, he hardly talks to anyone. Consider yourself lucky to have him welcome you like he did. He must really like you," Roberts said, the last part with a wink. Videl blushed furiously and denied it, but Roberts just chuckled before saying, "Come on now, let me show you the surprise he has arranged for you."
So, Videl followed him up the stairs and down the hallway until they reached the familiar room 78. He took a key from his pocket and opened the door, the whole time Videl keeping silent. Pushing the door open, he stepped to the side to reveal the not so empty apartment building. 'Why wouldn't he take all his stuff with him?' she thought to herself, until she looked closer. Her eyes widened as she realized that all of it wasn't just his stuff, but her stuff, too!
Shocked, she looked over to Roberts with the unspoken question in her eyes. Chuckling in delight, he grinned and said, "We just knew you'd like it. You see, he wanted to make sure you were comfortable and noticed that your room was a bit, er, drafty as he put's it. I disagree though! It's in top shape! Couldn't be better! Why, if I hadn't liked him so much, I would have given him a........" he trailed off as he noticed the glare on Videl's face. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Ah, right, so you see, he came up with the idea of giving you his this room. The finest room in the whole building if you ask me. Well, next to mine that is."
Overjoyed and grateful, she smiled an unreplaceable smile. She stepped inside her new apartment and was immediately greeted by the warmth of his heated room. Her cheeks regained their color as she walked further into the apartment, trailing her hand along all the furniture. She did a double take when she saw his old couch and table in it's same place. 'How did he know I needed them?' She thought to herself as she finished her inspection to find that not only was all the few possessions she had were there, but so were many of his things.
She walked back to Roberts and asked, "When did you find the time to do all this?" His smile widened when she asked, always enjoying his every chance to brag.
"Well, while you were out, he told me of his idea and I agreed readily. I gave him the spare key to your apartment and followed him to lend my hand. We moved all your things into his apartment and took the few things he wanted to bring with him to load them in his car," he explained.
"Wow, I, I don't know what to say. Thank you!" She exclaimed as she pulled the old man into a rarely given hug. Roberts patted her back, then pulled away, still smiling kindly.
"It was no problem at all, Videl. Besides, it was the other guy's idea and, being so young and strong, he did most of the work. If you ever get the chance again, thank him! I need to get back to my office now though, but I hope you enjoy the room!" He said as he left her room and made his way down the stairs.
Ever since then, Videl has enjoyed the apartment room thoroughly. It was always a warm, welcoming haven after a long day of searching for a job in the cold winter weather.
Smiling at the memory, she pulled into a parking space in the parking lot across the street from her apartment building. She gathered all her things in her arms, then pushed open the door. Carefully, she put her high heel shoe down on the icy ground, only to slip and fall back on her seat.
Grumbling, she reached down and slid them off her feet and threw them into the backseat. She then reached back to get her coat and shoes she had brought along just in case. 'A good thing, too. I mean, it hasn't snowed this much since I don't know when. And it's almost spring, too!' she thought to herself as she tied her snow boots and buttoned up her thick, black snow coat.
Satisfied, she gathered up all her things again and attempted to get out of the car safely. She sighed gratefully when she didn't slip this time. Before closing the door, she locked the car and put the keys into her coat pocket. Too busy thinking about her limited stay in her apartment room, she turned without realizing her coat had gotten stuck in the car door. She was jerked back and fell onto the icy floor.
Quickly, she jumped up and looked from side to side to make sure that no one had seen her embarrassing display of clumsiness. She sighed in relieve when she discovered that indeed not a single person in view had seen her. She reached back and pulled her coat out of the car door, then made her way across the large parking lot.
Finally, she had made it across the parking lot and was preparing to cross the hardly used side road when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a mysterious figure cloaked in black. He seemed average sized with very long, spiky hair and dressed all in black. Panicking slightly, she rushed to the other side of the road and into a back alleyway. Videl grew further afraid when she spotted the man following her into the same alley. Breaking into a full on sprint, she turned a corner, only to be grabbed around the neck by another man dressed all in black. This man though was a gigantic man with spiky red-orange hair and bulging muscles.
Terrified, she fought back as hard as she could, but it was no use; the man was too strong. 'What's wrong with me?! I've fought off millions of criminals before, so why I can't I now?! But, but, he's so strong! He's not like any other criminal I've fought before,' she managed to think to herself as she continued to struggle against the man's tight grip. When strength seemed to get her no where, she resorted to other means of escape. With one of his arms around her neck, it wasn't very hard for Videl to bite down on it.
Surprised, she looked up at the man as he laughed out loud. "You think that could harm me?! Ha, don't make me laugh! You have no idea who you are dealing with, do you? Let me introduce myself then. I am the ever famous Jok, assistant to........" the man, now known as Jok, was interrupted before he could finish.
"That's enough, Jok! The boss would not be pleased to hear you giving away such information to our victims," the man, who had been chasing Videl before, said. He had rounded the corner now and was leaning up against the wall, watching Jok hold Videl close to himself.
"Shut the heck up, Trajeta! I don't give a crap what the boss thinks! He has stupid rules anyway! I mean, if we find the girls, we should have a chance at them too, right?! Oh, but no, he wants to be the first for every single girl, then gives them to us when he's done! Like we don't deserve any better! To heck with him! I'm gonna have my way with this girl first for once!" Jok yelled in frustration. He spun Videl around so that she was pushed up against the wall. He used one arm to pin both her arms to the wall while he used his own body to keep hers in place. Jok sneered at her as he used his free hand to run up and down her body.
Trajeta turned his back at the sight and slowly started to make his way back down the alley. As he walked away, he called back over his shoulder, "ok, do as you like. Just remember how the boss gets about these kinds of things. Don't come crawling back to me if you end up in worlds of trouble."
Jok just grunted in reply and continued to use his large hands to travel across the young women's body. He didn't even bother to notice when the tears started to run down her face.
'Help! Someone help! Please........please, help me........someone, anyone! Please.......just help me............' she thought to herself since she seemed unable to find her voice to say it out loud. She felt the tears run down her cheeks as her heart was filled with horror and despair. 'No, no, this can't be it! I can't just give up and let it end like this! I've always been a fighter and I'm not gonna change that now,' she thought to herself, then shuddered in disgust when she felt Jok trail his tongue down her neck.
She waited until his guard was down enough for her to attempt her new plan of escape. He had pulled back from her slightly, as to remove her shirt, when she decided to put the plan in play. She stepped off to the side, causing her shirt to tear in the process, then brought her knee up as hard as she could mange, right into his crotch. She was so relieved to see him cry out and fall to the floor holding the damaged body part, that she almost forgot what to do next.
Taking off down a different alleyway, she ran at full speed. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get away, and fast. She reached another turn in the confusing alleyway system and took the new alleyway to her left, only to find that she had ended up across the street from the parking lot again. She sighed in relieve when she realized she had her car to get away in. She picked up speed and ran to it, never even bothering to look over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.
She had finally reached the automobile and was pulling at the handle when she remembered she had locked the car earlier. Reaching down in her pocket, she was about to pull out her keys when she finally realized, not only was the coat with her keys in it missing, but so was her shirt.
As if on cue, an icy cold breeze passed by, making Videl shiver. She wrapped her arms around her chest the best she could and took off running again. Tears ran down her cheeks constantly as she kept sprinting and the sense of urgency and despair grew overwhelming. The constant conflict of emotions caused her to lose concentration and fall several times while she ran.
Finally reaching the other side of the large parking lot, she was met with a children's playground. Being so late at night, there was no one there, so she was able to stumble her way through without any questions asked. As she ran past the swings though, she stumbled again on the ice and fell into the freezing snow. Now soaked from head to toe and shivering uncontrollably, she was as miserable as it could get. Exhausted, she attempted to get up again. She managed to slowly make it to her knees before she collapsed back into the snow. She could no longer find the will to keep going so she just curled up into a ball and let out heart wrenching sobs.
When the tears would no longer come, she slowly closed her eyes to rest. They suddenly snapped open when she heard a crunching in the snow behind her. Her heart pounded in terror when she remembered the men from before. Carefully, she turned to her other side to find the source of the noise.
Sighing in more relief then she thought she should feel at the time, she saw a small boy standing in the snow looking at her. He looked to be not much older then nine, maybe ten years old. He had black, spiky hair that stuck up everywhere in an impossible way and a kind face that held a sense of innocents. She met his coal black eyes with her own blue ones and saw compassion and love, even an unexplainable strength. 'If his eyes are the last thing I see in this world, I can die in peace,' she thought to herself as she continued to stare into his eyes.
He knelt down beside her in the snow and held out a hand. "Are you ok, lady?" He asked sweetly in a caring tone of voice.
She tried to answer him, but nothing would come out. She opened her mouth and tried again, but still nothing came out. A fresh tear ran down her cheek and she was surprised to find that young boy had taken his outstretched hand to wipe it away.
"Don't cry, pretty lady, I'm here. I'll help you, don't worry. Here, take this," he said as he took the coat from around him and put it across her exposed flesh. Of course, it didn't cover all of her, but it immediately took affect and began to warm her up. She managed to smile at him as another tear of gratitude ran down her cheek.
"Big brother always tells me that if I can make a difference, then I should try my best to do so. He also told me to never, ever give up," he said as he finished covering her with his jacket. "Do you feel warm now, pretty lady?" The young boy asked as he smiled down at the young women.
Videl tried to tell him yes, but only managed to nod her head in agreement. The boy's smile brightened, then slowly became a frown. "But, lady, you're still shivering and you're all blue. What happened? Come on, we should get you out of here, ok lady?" he asked again as he reached his small arms around her and lifted her up into a sitting position with surprising strength. He let her lean up against him since she was too weak to support herself.
Suddenly, the picture of the two men flashed across her mind as she remembered why she was in the snow in the first place. Somehow regaining some strength from the memory, she pushed the boy away from her and managed to croak out, "no, what are you doing here?! You must get away! Now! Hurry!" She attempted to climb to her feet, but only managed to fall back into the snow.
The little boy looked confused and helped her up into a sitting position again before saying, "What do you mean? I came here to see big brother, but he moved again. He moves all the time and never comes to visit anymore. He promised he wouldn't leave me and that he would always take care of me. Especially after........." he trailed off as a few tears managed to make there way down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt and gave her a watery smile. "I think you need to get to a warmer place, lady."
She smiled back at him and was about to let him help her to her feet when she saw the two figures behind him. "Look out!" she cried in horror, but it was too late; Jok had already kicked the boy to the side. She cried out for the boy as she watched his small body skim across the snow and crash into a nearby tree.
She looked back to the men in time to see Jok bring his arm down to smack her across her face. "You worthless wench! How dare you! I ought to finish you off right here, right now!" Jok yelled at Videl, who was now lying face first in the snow with the boys jacket still around her.
She coughed up some blood and watched in a daze as it colored the snow red. She then reached up and touched her cheek where he had hit her and felt blood oozing from a gash just under her left eye. She winced in pain and turned around to look at Jok and Trajeta, but gasped in surprised when she saw Jok fall to the ground, followed by Trajeta.
It seemed the young boy had somehow not only survived, but had knocked both men down with two swift kicks. He landed next to the men and crouched in a fighting position as he waited for the two men to get back up. Trajeta was the first one up, but Jok was not far behind.
Jok wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and let out a chuckle as he studied the boy. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? You know, you're quite strong, little boy, but not nearly strong enough to defeat me!" Jok cried out as he charged at the young boy.
Videl watched in awe as the boy easily side stepped the charge and landed a punch in the man's stomach. Jok didn't seem harmed at all, which, for some reason, seemed to surprise the boy. This time though, the boy was the first one to charge. Just before he punched Jok in the face though, he fazed out and showed up behind Jok. He then did a roundhouse kick that landed on Jok's head and sent him into the snow, head first.
Before Videl could see what happened next though, Trajeta showed up behind her and grabbed, one hand on her mouth. He turned to his partner and yelled, "I've got the girl, go ahead and do as you please with the boy," then threw Videl over his shoulder.
Jok sprung back up from the snow in a fighting position of his own, then answered with a grunt and a nod. Trajeta nodded back and began to run faster then thought possible in the other direction. Videl cried out for the young boy as she watched Jok land a kick to the boys stomach, only to be punched in the face by the boy.
Before long, the fighting pair were out of sight and she was being thrown into the back of a black van. She bounced off of the back wall and fell to the freezing, metal floor. Trajeta slammed the doors shut then rushed to the driver's seat and started the vehicle. As he pulled onto the road, Videl was thrown against the van's doors, causing her to gain a large bump on her forehead.
'Is this it? Is this the end?' she thought to herself. Suddenly, the image of the young boy popped into her head as he said, "Big brother always tells me that if I can make a difference, then I should try my best to do so. He also told me to never, ever give up." He then smiled at her and gave her his jacket, the only thing keeping him warm. 'I can't give up now. No, never, ever,' she thought to herself one last time as she snuggled into the boy's jacket, which had somehow managed to stay on her the whole time, before darkness surrounded her completely.
A/N: So, what'd ya think? Please review and tell me! I really want to know what people think of it and I would really appreciate some advice. I know I need to improve, but I need you to tell me what it is that needs the most improving. Please review though guys! I'll love ya forever! Lol
I'd like to give a special thanks to amerowolf for all your help! Thank you so much! I appreciate it tons! Hehe