Krillin wandered through the forest, his footsteps unsure. Instead of his fighting gi, he now wore drawstring khaki pants and a light gray tshirt. He had even traded in his fighting boots for more comfortable sneakers.
She smiled as he wandered past, not even noticing her.
Krillin had come alone in the hopes that she might show up, because it seemed that she wouldn't reveal herself to him when anyone else was around. Despite her curious habits, Krillin was willing to offer whatever help he could.
A twig snapped.
Krillin spun around and saw nothing.
He called upon his body's energy and let it rise within him, readying himself for combat. His heart rate climbed, his muscles drew more oxygen, relaxed yet standing by for that snap-fast reaction that might be needed.The wolves in these woods were often larger than normal, and more ferocious. They hunted in packs.
Krillin's senses heightened. His vision grew more acute, as did his hearing. A passing hummingbird's wings were now only an easy sway to and fro in Krillin's eyes. A tree branch groaned from high above. He felt, rather than heard, an acorn hit the ground behind him. A certain stir of the air and his muscles snapped into action.
He leapt aside, spinning out of the way, turning to face his former position. A large concussive wave caused him to transfer most of his weight to his rear foot, maintaining his balance.
Where he had been standing the damp earth was disrupted. Beside the rather sizable hole stood Eighteen, calm, cold, and casual.
"You're late," she said.
Krillin was thoroughly confused, but he didn't drop his guard. As far as he knew, there was no preordained time that they were to meet.
She sighed slightly.
"That was supposed to be a joke,"her voice was softer again, more conversational.
It took a while for this to register on Krillin. His guard dropped, but only slightly. He managed to unclench his fists.
Eighteen rolled her eyes and sighed again in exasperation.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
Krillin relaxed visibly, but was still suspicious.
"Sit down, Krillin."
He sat with his back to the trunk of a tree, and she did the same against a tree opposite him.
She looked at him for a bit, contemplating her next move.
"What makes me different from Sixteen and Seventeen?" she asked rather quietly.
Krillin looked at her with a little bit of indignance, but did not answer.
She felt her anger rise up within her, but before she could do anything he spoke. His voice was soft, and quavered a little, yet there was great resolve hidden within it.
"I'm not telling you anything until you answer some of my questions."
Eighteen's eyes widened with surprise. She certainly hadn't expected this of him. He was supposed to follow at her heels like an obedient little dog. She reconsidered her opinion of Krillin, and realized that he was not someone she could just use and discard at this point. She had never paused to consider that he might have questions eating away at him, too. Krillin deserved more from her.
She took a deep breath and chose her words carefully.
"You're right," she said seriously.
That took a lot of effort, she thought.
"I suppose I owe you some answers."
Krillin thought for a bit, trying to keep the questions that were most pressing in his mind from fighting themselves out. Those were best reserved for a more appropriate time. He found one that was acceptable.
"Why don't you want me to tell anyone else that you're around?"
She resigned herself to what was coming.
"Because I greatly dislike most of your friends."
Krillin absorbed this for a moment, then spoke again.
"Why not?"
"I have a serious problem with the way they deal with situations. It seems to them that everything can be resolved through fighting. Problem solving through agression and violence; typical male traits."
"So you're a feminist?" Krillin said.
"I guess you could say that," she said, raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly.
Krillin smiled along with her.
He thought for a second longer, then said, "All right, here's the deal: You ask me a question, I answer, then I get to ask you a question. We take turns, okay?"
She stared at him with a bit of indignation for a moment, then realized she was comfortable with this arrangement.
"Fine. It's my turn now," her voice left no room for argument.
Krillin expected this. "Go on," he said.
She put on her business face once again.
"What makes me different from Sixteen and Seventeen?"
"Well, uh… before you, um…" the memory of Eighteen giving him that kiss flashed through his mind. He forcefully pushed the thought away. It would be awhile before she would answer that question.
"Before I really knew you…" that wasn't the wording Krillin was looking for, but it would do, "You always seemed the most…human."
Krillin winced, fearing he was touching on a sensitive subject, but she only seemed to be listening intently. He kept going.
"The way you moved, and what you said. Even what you didn't say. Seventeen was always talking about his strength and what he would do with it. It always made him seem more like an android than a human. In fact, for a while I thought you were just along for the ride."
He chuckled nervously a little.
She sat in silence, taking it in. Her eyes downcast and lost in the floor.
Humanity? Is that what Gero gave me? Or rather, what he didn't take away in the first place? Had he succeeded in enhancing a human without taking away that which made them human? Perhaps that what he was working towards……It fits, kind of… I guess I'll never know.
She looked up at him.
"Your turn."
Out of nowhere, a very interesting question popped into Krillin's head.
"Where are you living?"
For the first time, he saw Android Eighteen caught off-guard. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked down with…was it…shame?
She's homeless!
It made perfect sense to Krillin. She had nowhere to go after the defeat of Cell, but her pride kept her from asking for help. Other small things clicked into place. She had always worn the same clothes every time he had seen her. A tiny tear on the sleeve of her shirt, the grass stain on the side of her jeans that hadn't quite washed away. Obviously she was making an attempt to conceal it from Krillin.
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to," he said softly.
Once again he was under the gaze of her angry glare. To even suggest that she might be in the slightest way weak was to incur her wrath.
She sprang to her feet.
"I don't need your help!" she yelled.
Krillin stood up slowly, and calmly walked over to her, taking out his wallet as he did so. He took all of the bills out of his billfold and pressed them into her hand.
"Yes you do."
The bills crumpled into her tightly clenched fist. She was shaking with rage.
How dare he!
And yet, she could not deny the truth of his statement. The bills she held in her hand could buy her any number of things that she had been dearly desiring for the past couple of weeks. New clothes. A decent meal. A hot shower! As much as she had searched for answers, she had also searched for a source of income, and here came Krillin, and had just pressed a rather sizable wad of zenni into her hand. She had almost lashed out and struck him, but he was just standing there with that dearly sympathetic smile on his face; she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
After a short while of watching her internal conflict, Krillin turned and walked slowly out of the grove.
"See you next time," was all he said.
This, too, caught her off-guard. Had he just walked out on her? She almost demanded that he return immediately, but he was already out of sight. Only after standing there for a few minutes longer, staring at the bills in her hand, did it occur to her that she was sad to see him go. With difficulty she came to the realization that she enjoyed having him around.
Stupid human, she thought, although the thought didn't have all the vehemence she wanted it to.
She stuffed the bills into her pocket and flew off.
***********************
"So nice to see you, Eighteen."
The voice twisted her heart with fear.
A whisper of voices, many and unintelligible. She thought she heard her own scream of terror in there somewhere.
Even though the day was warm, she was frozen. Sixteen stepped up in her defense. The immediacy of the thudding of his body against the floor made her queasy.
Trunks blasts Vegeta into orbit…
And then He is walking toward her. The fear in her eyes equals the sadistic pleasure in His. She tried to cleanse the panic from her mind and managed to fire an energy blast at him, doing little or no damage, just buying herself a little time.
The funnel-like tip opened, its gaping blackness sucking the breath out of her.
Trunks's foot connected with the side of Cell's face. More time.
She and Krillin are carrying a barely-conscious Sixteen. Those final moments.
"What? What do you want?" she demanded, to which he didn't reply.
Then came those final words she had heard so many times before.
"My destiny awaits! Your time has expired, Android Eighteen!"
A white starburst and her eyes welded themselves shut.
She tried to ignore the searing pain in her eyes and focus on her other senses.
She heard Krillin move around to the other side of her. Foolish, she thought. He probably couldn't see anything, either.
Gravel crunched under someone heavy somewhere off to her right and behind her.
She heard Cell fire an energy blast, followed shortly by Krillin's scream of pain as he sailed over her head and landed a few yards downfield. She turned to face Cell, not sure of what she could do to defend herself.
Cold, sadistic laughter. He was thoroughly enjoying this.
She was not going down without a fight.
And then she could not fight anymore. Her world became quiet and dark, and it took her a moment to realize what had happened. Her legs were still free. She kicked frantically. She couldn't breathe. She was being pulled deeper into the wet, claustrophobic recesses. Panic took her. Thinking was no longer an option. Thrashing did little, because her arms were pinned to her sides.
No air. No Air!
She couldn't breathe.
Couldn't breathe… couldn't…
Eighteen's eyes shot open, sucking in a deep breath of air. Her heart was racing, her skin beaded with sweat. She looked around. Tree trunks and a small creek constituted her surroundings.
That stupid dream again…
She sat up and hugged her knees in the cool night breeze. The great desire to talk to someone rose in her again.
I can't go on like this…I haven't had a decent night's rest in over a month. Android or not, my body needs time to recover.
Her thoughts strayed to Krillin. He had said that she could count on him if she needed to. She didn't want to lead him on, but she did need his help. Thinking on this she decided that Krillin was probably smart enough to know the difference between flirtation and a serious need for help.