Alone with Everybody

By Butterflygirl



# Gohan, stop making calf's-eyes at Videl. People are starting to snigger, and the more you look, the more you blush. Sooner or later, she's going to look up. #

Gohan's head came up sharply as this thought came into his mind, unbidden, and it certainly wasn't his own. It almost sounded like…

Will was in the seat in front of him, and her shoulders were shaking with compressed laughter. Her head turned, and she was grinning with unhidden amusement.

Kamisama, now she's talking to me like this! Gohan thought to himself, and concentrated on keeping it to himself. # Will? #

# Yes? # Will turned around again, and those eyes were staring at him once more, deep and unreadable.

# How come I can talk to you like this? I'm not an elf! #

# I'm reading your thoughts. You're projecting them my way, so that's how. At least you stopped staring at Videl. # Will giggled softly and the laughter was reflected for an instant in her eyes, before it disappeared into the perpetually cold depths of green. # I think she would have pummelled you, and there's no way you can reveal your secret in front of the whole school! #

# What do you mean, staring at Videl? I wasn't- #

# Oh, please. Start thinking with your head- you only have one brain, and that's where it's usually placed- but you can't tell with some guys! # Will joked, and sent him an image of his own face, eyes wide and looking, as she said, at Videl.

# Ha ha, very funny. #

# I know. Isn't it? # Will asked, then cut him off, and he could feel her presence withdraw from his mind. Will?

Nothing but silence. Her pencil was scratching hurriedly over the paper as she added Kami knew what chemical to a violently coloured substance in a test-tube. It began to fizz warningly, and the teacher looked up in alarm as Will yelled from under her desk, "Take cover!"

The students ducked hastily, books over faces, as the test-tube exploded dramatically. Fragments of glass scythed across the room. Gohan stuck his head up over the desk and stared at the girl who sat down, shakily, back into her seat. A greenish froth splattered her work. "Um…sorry," Will managed, smiling uncertainly. "Too much potassium, I guess."

"Willow! Get out of the classroom!" Mr. Shakiro was covering them for chemistry, and it was obvious that explosions were not acceptable in his classes. Gohan winced at the fury in his voice, but Will simply smiled politely and walked out of the classroom.

# Don't just start staring again as soon as I'm not able to see, Gohan, # she remarked almost playfully, and left him alone in his head once again.

^^^

Will leant heavily on the wall outside the classroom and let out a huge sigh of relief. Keeping the sheer terror from her voices- both mind and physical- took a huge effort, one she'd found hard to deal with. It was time to face the truth- she was absolutely petrified of Gohan. And she knew exactly why. He was the one person in the world who she couldn't guarantee wouldn't tell her secret to somebody, and thus let her end up in some research lab, running tests and eventually being killed, all for science. Her family wouldn't inform, but it was so difficult to keep up a happy-go- lucky face while inside she gibbered with terror. If Gohan realised just how scared she was, he could use it against her, and that wasn't an option. She would kill him before she let that happen.

Would I? She wondered painfully, a dull throb in her chest coming to her attention as she thought his name. I couldn't overpower him anyway, and I'm no murderer. I have no reason to think that he'd tell on me. I'm just paranoid. The bell rang, and she dashed back into the classroom, apologising profusely to Mr. Shakiro and grabbing her green-flecked bag, then racing to the next class.

^^^

Gohan couldn't tell Will that Videl knew he was the Great Saiyaman. He'd seen the look in her eyes; she was scared of him, and with good reason. If all she'd said was true, he had the power to destroy her life without raising a finger, without a single attack other than a slip of the tongue. And if she found out Videl knew about him, what else might she suppose he had told the girl…

That morning had been hell, as he tried to work out what it was about Videl that put him so off balance. It had been embarrassing to find that people had noticed his thoughts and commented on them. Firstly, Videl had told him that she knew he was the Great Saiyaman. Then, he had been astonished to find out that the girl he thought of as one of his better friends- however conservative she was- was petrified at the thought of talking to him. And, to add insult to injury, had pointed out his 'infatuation' as it appeared to her, with Videl.

Kamisama! Gohan thought to himself in exasperation. I'll never win every battle.

^^^

"Um…excuse me?"

Will was mildly intimidated just by the look on this woman's face. She assumed it was Gohan's okasaan, but years of experience told her not to fix on any expectations. The carpet could always be yanked abruptly from beneath your feet, with you landing face-first in the mud.

"Yes?" Chichi looked the girl over. She has to be another of these girls from Gohan's class, she decided. She'd better be more polite than that girl Videl!

"I was looking for Gohan. He was off school again today, and I brought him his work," Will managed, shrinking slightly at the intense scrutiny she was placed under. "I know he likes to keep up."

"Oh! Thank you," Chichi answered, smiling widely now the topic had become that of Gohan's education. "I'll go get him."

"Will?"

The elf turned to see Gohan come out the door, bemused and followed by a small boy. Gulping slightly, she chucked her fear into the back of her mind, but it continued to nudge her at the edge of her concentration. "I brought your schoolwork," she said in a rush, the words tumbling over each other in their hurry to escape before her mouth jammed up. "My 'tousan dropped me off. I told him I'd get a cab back."

"You didn't have to," Gohan replied, and took the work from her hands. "I was about to go out and train with my little brother, Goten."

Will knelt, more comfortable with the small boy than with talking to Gohan. She loved kids, and seemed to get on better with them than anybody her own age. "Hey, Goten," she greeted him, with a grin. The kid was adorable! "You as strong as your brother? 'Cos I'm a bit scared of the mountains, to tell you the truth."

The little boy grinned in delight and puffed his chest out. "I'm stronger'n he is!" Goten declared, grinning in return. "I'll look after you! Come meet my friends!" And Will found herself dragged along on a training expedition, hand-in-hand with the small half-saiyajin.

^^^

"I'm afraid I'm not very good at throwing," Will told Goten, a weak smile on her face. "I haven't got the knack. I can try chucking them at you, but it might be too easy." Gohan smiled at the sight of his little brother with the compassionate elf. She had a way with children, that was certain, and Goten was showing off like mad. He was getting the best workout so far, all because Will was there. The rocks flew towards his little brother, and were easily dodged. She was right; she wasn't very good at throwing. Her arm simply wasn't strong enough to throw them very fast.

They were nearing the true mountains now, with caves and rocks in abundance. Will had only kept up because she was fast; being light had made the difference. She couldn't keep up her top speed for long, but when she went, it was obvious this was no human. Besides the strange pigmentation of her outer appearance, her mind kept flickering; one minute she was free and careless, then the next she seemed to remember her fear and withdrew into her protective shell.

"Um…Gohan?" Will asked, frowning in consternation. "I think maybe we'd better get out of here."

"Why? We're just getting really warmed up," Gohan responded easily, thinking this one of her reticent moods.

"There's something not right here. I don't think it means us any good, and it's not just a dinosaur." She shivered as the feeling of evil washed over her, and her eyes were wide and haunted. One look, and Gohan could see that something wasn't right.

"Goten, run home as fast as you can, and tell 'kasaan I'm on my way," Gohan said slowly, giving Goten a little push to hurry him along. Puzzled, the little boy did as he was asked, not daring to disobey the command in his older brother's voice.

"What is it?" he asked Will, until she put a finger to his lips, effectively shutting him up.

# It's not far off, # Will told him in his mind, keeping silently, opening a thought-channel. # Silence, and it might leave us alone. #

A feral scream, and something burst from a cave further up the mountain and thumped down into the spot where Gohan had been standing just a moment before. Gohan stared in horror as the Cell Junior- not so junior any more- approached in silent menace, and began to swing hits so powerful it was all he could do to block them. I'm too rusty! He realised as he took a hit to the face, then the shoulder. It's not as powerful as Cell, but I don't have the time to power up, and if I do, I might hurt Will! Backing off, he tried to get his feet but was knocked back again.

Unknown to any of the Z-fighters, Cell had made his own preparations in the unlikely- very unlikely, to his mind- event of his destruction, and had created a practice Cell Junior in the woods. It had its orders, and now it was trying to carry them out by killing the 'murderers' of its father.

Will screamed in agony as she watched that whatever-it-was knock Gohan to the ground and begin to kick him violently. She yearned to do something; she was so helpless… A strange feeling thought drifted from the bottom of her mind and she grabbed at it mentally, willing to try anything, hoping she could do something with it. Her mind exploded with fire. Rivulets of ice trickled through her pale flesh as she felt rather than saw huge, perfect, intricate wings fashioned from blinding light unfold from her back. The Cell Junior gawked at her in horror and began to gibber. She knew that her image had shifted to that of an angel. The knowledge was in-built in her, yet she had never known it existed. An angel- a being of infinite power. She smiled without humour. She raised a slender outstretched hand and spoke a single alien word. A searing bolt of light leapt from her fingers to engulf the cowering creature. It shrieked as it's cells disintegrated and were broken into simple elements. Will's bright wings faded and she fell sharply to her knees in the shock of what had just happened, blinking rapidly to eradicate the glowing after-images. She knew without doubt that the blast had only been light; there was no way that it could have destroyed that animal thing, whatever it was. The landscape was as it had been before, and Gohan was still unconscious. The only explanation- the only logical explanation she could come up with when her mind was spinning with bewilderment and she had absolutely no idea what had just happened- was placebo. That…thing thought I was an angel, and expected to be destroyed, and so it was, she realised, with sudden anger at her own cowardice. She had had to resort to mind tricks to kill the thing; she had no real power. Her eyes roved until they glued themselves to Gohan's unconscious body, and she walked over, picking him up, aided by the adrenaline that still flowed through her veins. She slung him over her arms with his head and arm around her neck, then began the long, slow walk back to his house, a journey of miles which she wasn't going to find easy.

1 To be continued…

Well, what did you think? This fic has taken me months to complete, but I think I'll release a few chapters a day… (heehee)

Anyway, I'm always looking for new stuff to read, so even if you're logged out, please use your username and I'll check yours out (and review too!)