Author's Note: Wow I haven't posted something in so long… For the few people that have my other story Metal Heart on watch, don't worry. I've been inspired to write more of it and have been working on it periodically. I just couldn't get this little number out of my head though so I wanted to write it down! :) Also, I know the dialog is different that what the show portrayed but this is just my own take on it.

Let me know what you think!

Summary: Android 17's thoughts on Piccolo as the Namekian tries and fails to defend the androids against Cell. After being wish back, he's got questions and a new outlook on life.

A SECOND CHANCE

What…is this thing?

This disgusting insect looking thing has more power than both myself and Piccolo? You've got to be joking. I was built to be the ultimate fighter! There is supposed to be no one on the planet with a power level as high as mine! But yet here we are, struggling to keep up with this monster and his stupid pointy tail.

I raise myself up off the ground shakily after being hit to the ground yet again only to watch Piccolo get hit so hard, I watch him spit up blood. That's another thing.

Piccolo.

Just moments before, we were enjoying the fight of our lives.

Well… I was.

I was confident that Piccolo wouldn't actually beat me but it was definitely the most challenging fight I could have ever imagined. The only other person who I could think would fight as well would have been 18 though we've never actually tested that out. She is my sister after all.

What I don't get though is Piccolo's determination to help me beat this…gross bug thing. He seemed so intent on beating me in our fight that this doesn't make any sense. I'm shaken out of my thoughts by Piccolo yelling over in my direction. He's barely standing at this point.

"17! You need to get out of here now!"

I scoff at the notion of running away. Is he serious? At the same time I'm also baffled. Why does he care so much? I don't get a chance to even say anything back because before I can open my mouth, Cell appears right in front of me and hits me in the stomach so hard I'm pretty sure my system almost restarts itself. He then follows it up with a back handed hit to my head which sends me straight to the ground again. I begin to raise myself up only to get push back down with a giant foot to the back of my head.

"Get…off of me you…freak!" I grunt through the pain. I never imagined I would ever feel pain like this. Didn't even think I could. The monster above me just laughs and presses down further.

"Oh 17… stop resisting. Just accept the fact that you were made to be a part of something perfect." He purred. His pointed tail stops above my head and I see it out of the corner of my eye. I remember it being the first moment I have ever truly felt fear. "Welcome home!"

"…No! You can't do this." I struggle to say. My arms are pushing against the ground as I try to push his foot off but to no avail. The creatures tail opens up with a weird noise and I panic.

Then in the next moment, the pressure on the back of my head is gone and cell is flying back thanks to a nice kick from Piccolo. It takes a second for me to get back on my feet but when I do, I can already see Cell advancing on us once more. The attack didn't even phase him! Piccolo turns to me.

"Listen 17, you and 18 have to get out of here now! If Cell manages to absorb the two of you, this planet is doomed!" he yells over at me. I'm about to take his advice to heart when Cell once again surprises us and knocks Piccolo out with one punch. I hear his neck snap from the blow and he's down on the ground in an instant.

"Piccolo!" I yell out in shock as the green man is picked up by his shirt. Cell has this awful smile on his face as he starts talking to the unconscious figure.

"I could absorb you Piccolo but I already have enough of you in my cell structure already. You are useless to me now. Goodbye…" and in an instant, he gathers energy in his palm and it blasts straight through Piccolo. It's a terrible sight, one that I won't ever forget.

And then when 16 stepped in to fight Cell, I thought we were okay. We would come out of this on top and the world would be our playground once again.

I was wrong.

Cell survived 16's Hell's Flash and snuck around in one of the tunnels that was created. He came up behind me and that's the moment I knew it was over. All I heard was the human on the cliff yell that something was behind me and then all I saw was black. The suction was so intense and no matter how much I struggled, I couldn't get free.

It was over.

Funny how the last thing I thought about as I was absorbed into Cell's being was how much I wish I could have thanked Piccolo for standing up for us.

A SECOND CHANCE

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the dirt on the same island we were on when we were fighting Cell. I sat up slowly, confused as to how I was alive. The island was eerily quite. No birds, no life. Just the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks. There was a giant square shaped hole in the ground that definitely wasn't there before I was absorbed.

I stood up and flexed my hands experimentally. Huh… everything appeared to be in working order. Then what the hell?

"What is going on…?" I mused out loud. No sign of 16 or 18 around either. My scanners showed that 18 was at least alive but I was unable to pin point where she was at. I took to the skies with no particular destination in mind.

It had been almost a year since I woke up on the island. I gave up looking for 18 a long time ago. She was still alive and that's all that really mattered. Since then, wandering around the planet had become a bit of a hobby of mine. My one true mission was to find and kill Goku but even then, something had beaten me to it. It had to of been Cell. Just the thought of that monster gave me chills even to this day.

That meant that I had no true purpose in life anymore which kinda sucked to be honest.

Sometimes I found myself wasting the days away in opens fields, in forests or by a lake. Anywhere that no humans occupied. No matter how soft I had gotten over the past year, I still couldn't stomach being around them for long. I often thought about the Z fighters though as I lay in the grass staring up at the clouds. Piccolo in particular. The one person who's power ever truly rivaled my own minus my sister.

Had he gotten stronger? That would be frustrating to say the least.

It would be another six months before I actually got the chance to interact with one of the Z fighters again. Oddly enough it was Piccolo.

I had been roaming the forest floor for a little while with no particular destination in mind when I came to a small pond with a water fall. It was truly beautiful if you were into those sort of things. What I did not expect to see what a man floating above the pond with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He appeared to be in a deep sort of meditation. I placed my arms across my chest and smirked.

"Well well. I never thought I'd see you again."

Piccolo's eyes shot open and could only blink at me in shock. "Android 17?" he asked.

I placed my arms out wide for him to get a good look. "The one and only." I watched Piccolo uncross his legs and float over to solid ground. He had his guard up. Of course he did. He probably still thought of me as an enemy.

"I thought you were dead." He replied back. I snorted and placed my hands on my hips.

"That makes two of us big guy."

There was a silence that stretched between us. I didn't know what to say and it clearly looked like he didn't either. He broke the silence with an awkward cough.

"So what are you doing here?"

I shook my head with my hands in the air. "No reason in particular. Just enjoying nature for a bit." I couldn't help throwing in some sarcasm at the end. Piccolo nodded but otherwise didn't say anything else. I walked past him after a bit and stared down at my reflection in the water. It was weird to think that I would always look this way. Forever a young adult.

"I never thanked you." I spit out before I could even stop myself. I heard the confused intake of breath and turned around to once again look at the namekian.

"For what?" he asked hesitantly. It was weird to see him so off balance. Nothing like the determined fighter I remember.

"You weren't successful, but you tried to help me get away from Cell. To be honest, I still don't know why I'm here and not still inside of that disgusting creature but I really don't care to know." I replied back. "Just…thanks."

Piccolo stood silent for a little bit and right before I almost aborted the entire situation, he nodded slowly. "Your welcome."

I nodded back and slowly lifted off the ground, about ready to fly off when Piccolo called back after me.

"Hey Android!"

I stopped in mid air and turned back around with a confused look.

"I haven't had a decent sparring partner in ages." I watched a small smile take over the green man's face and felt one just like it on my own.

Maybe I could find a new hobby.

"Fine. Just try not to bore me."

END.