This chapter is brought to you by ShadowMajin.

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In order to satisfy their desire for security and the opportunity to keep leaving, Videl and Gohan had switched motels. It had been a mutually agreed decision, and after packing up all of Gohan's stuff, they were on their way to the other side of town. Finding another place equally rundown as their last place, they pulled in and went into the front office.

Videl had to say it: she was going to get pretty sick of motels before this was all over. She understood the reasoning behind it, and it was solid thinking, but did every single one of these places have to look seedy, if not a government inspection away from being condemned? Would it kill someone to at least put on a fresh coat of paint every once in awhile, if only to maintain the image of being livable?

Entering the front office, Videl strode up to the desk, where some guy with long, greasy hair sat. Clearly the guy hadn't gotten the memo that grudge was definitely out of style. "Hello, we'd like a room, please," she said, drawing the man's attention.

Almost immediately, the guy rolled his eyes in irritation—how charming. "Of course you do," he snarked. "Why else would you be here?"

Think calm, pleasant thoughts. Think calm, pleasant thoughts, Videl chanted in her head. As nicely as she could, she asked, "How much will it cost?"

"It's four thousand zenni a night per room," the man drawled lazily. "Eight thousand for two." And then he looked up at the dark-haired woman, his eyes suddenly sharpening as he took in her appearance. While Videl wasn't by any means presentable, considering she was still in her sweaty blouse from earlier in the day, the guy probably didn't see too many pretty women come in. He'd probably think a blow-up sex doll was attractive if it walked in. "But I can drop that price if you're willing to…negotiate," he suggested slyly.

Uh, no, not gonna happen. While Videl had been the one to walk up to the desk, Gohan was still within grabbing distance as he carelessly looked about the room. Reaching out, the dark-haired woman wrapped her arm around Gohan's, pulling him closer as he nearly stumbled towards her. The moment he caught his balance, she leaned into him, doing everything she could to make them look like a couple. "What do you think, Honey?" she asked brightly, looking up to him like what she thought was a lovestruck fool. "Think we can negotiate with this guy?"

Gohan looked bewildered at this action. "Well, I guess we could…"

That had the desired effect she wanted; the clerk soured at the sight of them and begrudgingly slapped down a clipboard on the desk. "Never mind. Fill this out and be ready to pay up front."

"Whatever you say," the dark-haired woman replied, dropping the arm and picking up a pen as she began filling in the form on the clipboard. Sometimes it was just too easy.

For a time, the only things she heard was the sound of pen scratching against paper and some program on the television behind her. Videl hardly paid it any mind as she finished the paperwork, signing it with a flourish before handing it back to the clerk. The grungy-looking guy took the clipboard and glanced at it before typing the information into a computer. It took awhile before he finished inputting and turned around, reaching to a wall where several keys hung from little hooks. "You're room 104," he grunted out as he tossed the set of keys onto the counter.

"Thank you," Videl said as she snatched up the keys. Turning around, she was about to speak to Gohan when she noticed something off about him. He was staring off into space, his skin pale and shining with sweat. It was a bit surprising to see him like that. "Gohan?" she called out to him.

The dark-haired man didn't respond, merely continuing to stare. Taking a step towards him, the young woman reached up and nudged his shoulder with her hand. That seemed to snap Gohan out of whatever trance he was in, his head jerking up as he suddenly looked towards her.

Geez, his face looked worse from this angle. Not only was he pale and sweaty, but he had bags under his eyes that she was sure hadn't been there earlier. In fact, Gohan looked as if he were about to keel over. With genuine concern, Videl asked, "Are you okay?"

Shaking his head, Gohan attempted to regain his composure. It obviously didn't work as he answered her with a tired groan, "Yeah, I'm okay. I just have a headache."

"You sure, Dude?" the clerk spoke up from behind the dark-haired woman. "You're sweating something awful."

"Yeah, yeah," Gohan brushed her off as he began to retreat towards the door. "I just need to get some air, that's all." A second later, he was out of the office, the door swinging shut behind him. Bewildered, Videl looked to the clerk at the same time as he looked at her. The dark-haired woman smiled weakly at the guy as he shrugged his shoulders and sat back down in his seat. Not wanting to stay there any longer, Videl quickly left the office, walking out into the parking lot.

Gohan hadn't gone far. He was standing a few feet away, staring into his hand. "You know, you really don't look too good," Videl said as she took a couple steps up to stand behind him. Turning around, the dark-haired man looked at her tiredly, even more so than when he had been in the front office.

What the heck was going on?

Ignoring her concern, Gohan instead asked, "Did he give us a room?"

Going along with him for the time being, Videl answered, "Yeah, 104." With a nod, the two of them began walking towards the room. All the while, Videl couldn't help but notice how wobbly Gohan was on his feet. His balance was really off, yet she didn't offer him any support. He obviously wanted to pretend to be some tough guy at the moment, and right now wasn't the time to get an answer out of him, not when they were outside.

Reaching the door, Videl immediately put herself in front of it. Shoving the key into the lock, she unlocked the door and pushed it open, turning around to grab Gohan by his arm. She then led him into the room, the young man letting her until they reached the bed. There, the youth plopped down on it, holding a hand to his forehead in an attempt to soothe his headache.

Now that they were alone and out of sight, it was time to start the interrogation. "Okay, tell me what's wrong," the dark-haired woman ordered. "One moment you're fine, the next you look like you just finished a marathon. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Gohan waved off. "Just a headache, that's all."

Videl gazed at him with disapproval. Did he really think he could dismiss her just like that? Crossing her arms over her chest, she then said, "Okay, cut the tough guy act. We're both in a bit of trouble, and we need to be absolutely honest with each other. Otherwise, something bad will happen, and neither of us will like it. Now tell me exactly what's wrong."

That seemed to cut through all the bull Gohan had been throwing up between them. "I was staring at the television," he began, "and just out of the blue, I had this pounding headache pop up. And there was this…I don't know, some voice."

"A voice?"

The young man shrugged his shoulders. "That's the best I can describe it. It was telling me to do something, but I really don't remember what. It…it felt familiar."

Suddenly, Gohan let out a groan and fell backwards, landing on his back on the bed mattress. Immediately, Videl shot to the bed, leaning onto it as she placed her hand on his forehead. She was taken back by how hot he felt; Kami, this wasn't a headache! Gohan was really sick!

"You're burning up," she blurted out then and immediately felt stupid. Man, what did people do in this situation, anyways? She needed to cool him down somehow...wait, that was it! Getting up from the bed, Videl hurried into the bathroom, turning on the light as she did so. She quickly located a washcloth hanging on the towel rack and snatched it up. Turning to the sink, she turned on the cold water and soaked the washcloth in the spray.

Once she felt it was ready, Videl twisted the water knob shut and went back to Gohan. He was still lying on the bed, right where she had left him, not that she expected him to be doing the can-can or something equally absurd. Sitting down on the mattress next to him, she placed the wet washcloth on his forehead, to which she was rewarded with an approving moan.

"I…shouldn't have had…that hot dog earlier…" Gohan said.

"Are you having a stomachache too?" Videl frowned at him as her eyes flickered towards the youth's stomach.

"Well…now that you mention it…"

Oh, he was joking. That had to be good, right? Smiling warily, Videl told him, "Just close your eyes and get some rest. Hopefully this will go away while your sleep."

She received a grunt in response but not in protest. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to relish in the coolness of the towel on his head. Soon, his body seemed to relax, releasing the tension it had been in.

Videl let out a sigh. He was sleeping now. Hopefully this...whatever this was, was gone by the time he woke up. Watching him, the dark-haired woman looked him over and soon found herself having other thoughts.

For one, that guarded nature of his was gone. Gohan looked at ease for the first time since she had met him, and she found she rathered liked the sight of it. It was as if he had reverted to some serene innocence he had locked up somewhere. It was...nice to see.

In fact, the longer she admired it, the more she found herself noticing that Gohan wasn't that bad looking of a guy. He wasn't some model, but he wasn't ugly either. Faintly, Videl wondered what it would've been like to meet him before this quest of his, or even if she hadn't been sent out to track him down. But then, there was no way she'd be at that library when she saw him, nor would she have approached him otherwise.

Sometimes life was fickle.

It was a long while before Videl roused herself out of her thoughts and tore her eyes away from her companion. She had a few hours at the least with Gohan out of commission, and it would be wrong of her not to take advantage of them. Standing up from the bed as the mattress groaned from the loss of her weight, the dark-haired woman walked towards the room door and exited. Heading to the car, she kept her eyes peeled for any suspicious behavior in the off-chance someone had followed them here and was spying on them. She didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

Reaching the car, she opened the driver's door and climbed in, slamming the door shut behind her. Pulling out her phone, she went into her contacts and found Maid's number once more, hitting the call button and raising the phone up to her ear. It wasn't until the third ring she heard the blonde answer.

"This is Maid."

"Are you still in Blue Star?" Videl asked.

"No, I just got back to Orange Star," Maid replied. "Need something?"

"Yeah, I do. Is there any way you can go to First Credit Securities?"

"Uhh, I guess so. What is it you need there?"

"I need you to check out of that bank has any connection to the Malone-Engvall bill. I don't care what you do, just get me the info."

There was a moment of silence before Maid said, "Mind telling me why I have to do this?"

"Because Kay is down." Videl paused as she briefly considered whether she should say this or not, but ultimately gave in. "I don't know what happened. One moment he was fine, the next he was falling apart. We were planning on going to check this bank out later, but things came up. So I need you to do it."

She heard the blonde blow out an aggrieved sigh, then, "Fine, I'll do it. Is there anything else?"

For a moment, Videl was about to say no when a thought popped into her head. "Actually, yeah. You know the Traveler's Motel in the southwest part of the city?"

"No, but I get the feeling I will."

"That's where Kay and I are at right now. I need you to come here to pick up something for me."

"PIck up what?"

"A CD. Found it in Kay's stuff. I don't want to risk him seeing me watching it or finding it missing. That's why I need you to come here, watch it, and tell me what's on it."

"I'll bring a blank copy," Maid added. "I'll let you know what I find out and when."

"Thanks." Ending the call, Videl dropped her hand from her head and gazed into the rearview mirror. She could make out the top half of her head with odds and ends of her hair pointing in all different directions. For a moment she wondered if she couldn't add some fresh clothes to that list, but thought better of it. Gohan was operating on keeping a low profile, and the sudden appearance of her in different clothes would raise red flags for him. No matter how much she wanted a new set, she was pretty much stuck in the ones she had, no matter how smelly they got.

For what felt like the tenth time that day, Videl let out a deep sigh. The things she did for her job. Though at the rate things were going, there was no telling how long she'd be able to keep this cover up. Eventually, she would slip up and reveal herself to Gohan, and there was no telling how things would end up with that. The possibilities were endless, ranging from the guy freaking out to potentially trying to kill her-not that he could. The thought of it was almost painful to her, since it most assuredly meant that this collaboration of theirs would end just as abruptly as it began.

And for some reason, she didn't really want that.

…

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