This chapter is brought to you by Shadowmajin.

…

In all the years she had worked the beat, Videl had developed very little patience when it came to her interactions with the NAIE. They were rude, arrogant, and typically made a situation worse before it got better—at least, that had been her experience with them. That same patience, or lack thereof, was rearing its head once more.

The dark-haired woman found herself sitting in a hotel room, this one heads and shoulders above the motel she and Gohan had just been hauled out of. A low standard to be sure, but she was beginning to see how much she missed the luxuries a basic hotel provided. Because this was on the government's dime, this room was, of course, going to be one of the better rooms.

Not that you could tell with the hustle and bustle as agents dashed about the room, entering and exiting at will. There were boxes of documents and files everywhere, men in suits rummaging in them before hurrying off somewhere. Oddly enough, the beds were made and nothing had been placed on them. An insignificant detail, but it was a strange sight in a place where every square inch was being taken advantage of.

Before Videl was a desk, the bald Agent Shinhan seated in a chair in front of it. A younger man with shoulder-length blond hair stood behind the agent, leaning up against the desk's side with his arms crossed over his chest. He had been introduced as Agent Sharpner, and he was cooly looking at the dark-haired couple. As of yet, he hadn't uttered a peep, though Videl got the feeling that would be changing fairly soon.

As for her, Videl also had her arms crossed over her chest, one leg crossed over the other as she calmly waited in her chair. How long she could keep that facade up was anyone's guess, considering each passing second where none of the agents addressed her or Gohan was another second that annoyed her.

And speaking of Gohan, he was perhaps the only person in the room that bothered showing an emotion, the poor guy. He was fidgeting in his own chair, eyes darting this way and that as he took in the busy scene. It was pretty obvious he'd never been in this situation before, and he'd break down the moment any sort of pressure was put on him. That wouldn't bode well for either of them, so Videl knew she was going to have to direct this conversation until Gohan retreated back into his shell of paranoia and clammed up.

Finally, an agent approached Shinhan, handing him a couple of files. The bald man accepted the folders and opened the top one, reading what was inside for a few moments before he addressed the couple. "You're Son Gohan of Ginger Town, correct?"

Surprisingly, Gohan didn't answer, though that didn't seem to trouble Shinhan all that much. "You work for a company in the same town, cubicle work mostly. For the most part you've lead a pretty quiet life. So, mind telling me why you started causing collateral damage all across this fair city of ours?"

And it was time for Videl to step in. Before Gohan could reply, the young woman reached a hand out and grabbed the dark-haired youth's forearm as she interjected, "Don't answer that. As a lawyer, I highly suggest you retain legal representation before answering any incriminating questions."

That earned her a look from Shinhan, one of his eyebrows raising up. "You're a lawyer?" he inquired.

Videl tilted her head up defiantly. "That's right."

"Well, that's one answer I needed," the bald man said, startling the dark-haired woman. Out of everything she could've thought the agent would've said, that hadn't even crossed her mind. Pulling out the bottom folder, Agent Shinhan opened it. "From our search, we came up with nothing on you, not even a name," he explained, holding the folder up so that she and Gohan could see the nearly empty file. Shinhan then added, "As far as we're concerned, you don't even exist."

Kami...damnit! Already, Videl could feel Gohan's astonished eyes on her. Here she was, expecting Gohan to be the weak link, and what does she do? She blows her cover spectacularly. While not as...exotic as that judge, Gohan was very well alive, and he wasn't nearly as dumb not to come to the conclusion that she was not who she claimed to be. Father was going to have her head for this.

To make matters worse, Agent Shinhan caught the dark-haired man's incredulous stare-not that it was all that hard, considering the youth was practically announcing it to anyone who had the mind to look at him. "So Mr. Son here doesn't even know," the bald man said, leaning back into his chair as he gave them both an analyzing look. "Very interesting."

That was when the blond agent spoke up. "Actually, Mr. Son there is actually going under an alias, one of a man wanted in connection to an assassination attempt. Put that with a woman that doesn't exist, and we don't have to give into their legal requests."

Oh, that guy was on her shit-list now. Glowering at him, Videl began to plot all sorts of devilish things she'd do to the punk once she was out of this room and had him cornered. To add further insult to injury, Shinhan turned his chair to regard the blond man with an approving look on his face. "Right you are, Sharpner." Turning back around, Shinhan leaned forward in his seat, giving the dark-haired couple a serious look. "To be frank, you have no rights here. Any requests you make can and will be ignored so we can get to the bottom of our case."

Videl didn't bother to hide her rage, her face twisting into a snarl. Her inner-constitutional lawyer was rearing its head, and it was pissed. "You can't do that!" she shouted, causing many of the agents to stop what they were doing to stare. "We're legal citizens, and we can and will retain our civil rights!"

And damn that bald-headed bastard, he had to gall to return her outrage with a confident smirk. "But there are no records of you, not even when we lifted your fingerprints from Mr. Son's abandoned car. So in that case, you can disappear, and no one would go looking for you. If someone does, they won't be able to track you down. Then there's Mr. Son, who is currently on paid vacation. I'm willing to bet that he's in a position that he would rather not be in. If he were to retain the services of a lawyer, that would alert everyone he knows of his involvement in some very nefarious matters. For the sake of him keeping his employment and future career options, he sure as hell isn't going to make much noise. So, that brings us back to where we are now, your only option being to cooperate with us."

Oh...crud. Videl opened her mouth to say something, anything, but her lawyer side had retreated just as quickly as it had appeared, cowled like a law graduate that had failed the bar exam. And the sad part was, there was nothing she could say.

As part of her joining Father's agency, every record of her had been expunged, removed from circulation, as if she had never existed. As comforting as that was if someone ever had the mind to try and track her down, it was biting the dark-haired woman in the ass with a vengeance.

However, she was quite aware that she had an audience. Weakness could not be shown, regardless of how bleak her situation was. So, to save face, Videl crossed her arms once more and shot out her most devastating scowl.

Just like her argument, it was useless against this scumbag agent. "That's what I thought," Shinhan spoke, sounding smug about the whole thing. "Now back to Mr. Son. You've been through quite a bit these last couple of weeks."

Gohan swallowed nervously at that. "What do you mean?"

"Where do I begin? There was the Ox-King assassination; the car bombing that killed your brother, Son Goten; the bombing at the Carlton Gates; and now the shootout in downtown."

"Oh…that."

Apparently the agent found that comment humorous as he chuckled. "Yes, that. Now, if you wouldn't mind, tell me what your involvement is with all of this."

That was when Gohan turned his head back to Videl, who returned his attention. He had a questioning glint in his eyes, lost as to what he should do. Doing her best to be subtle, the dark-haired woman shook her head, an order, a plea for him not to give in.

The young man seemed to get the hint. Looking back at the agent, he asked, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because there are a lot of dead bodies and only one link between them: You," Shinhan responded sharply. "If you don't tell us what we want to know, you'll be finding your fate to be quite unfortunate."

Gohan's eyes narrowed at that, his self-preservation finally kicked in much to Videl's relief. "You're threatening me?"

The bald man also narrowed his eyes, his voice dropping an octave. "Should I be?"

"You can threaten me all you want, and I might just tell you everything you want to know. But just because I tell you doesn't mean it would be true."

That caught the agent off guard as he raised an eyebrow. "You mean you would admit to stuff you didn't do?"

Oh, Gohan, you freaking genius. It was a stroke of luck, it had to be. Videl wasn't sure where Gohan came up with that reason, but it was bloody brilliant. "Of course," she added quickly, "you'll be putting him under duress, and eventually he'll reach his breaking point. You could make him admit to a plan to assassinate all of the World Leaders, even if it wasn't true."

Shinhan looked from Gohan to her and back. "You know, I get the impression you two don't trust me," he commented. Yeah, no shit, Genius. "Yet, you should. You see, I'm the only friend you've got right now and you're both knee deep in a lot of crap. So the moment you start helping me is the moment you start helping yourselves."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Gohan replied. "For all we know, you're also out to get us."

"And why would people be out to get you?"

This time it was the dark-haired couple's turn to raise an eyebrow. Seriously, did this guy not pay attention to his own work? See why Videl had such an intense dislike of them? "Hello? We had someone shoot at us with a machine gun in the middle of the day," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the word, which in a way it was.

That seemed to break the bald man's composure, his frustration with them breaking through. "That's what I want to know: why someone would do that."

"And you think we would know why?"

"Yes, yes I do. What's going on with you two is not random, not when you have at least two murder attempts."

"Then you should stop playing dumb," Videl retorted. "You already know people are after our lives, and the shooting was an act of desperation. I mean, why do that in the middle of a busy downtown street where the shooter could easily be spotted and identified?"

Shinhan slouched into his seat, his growing irritation losing its steam. "I suppose you're right about that. I suspected you were running from someone."

That was when Agent Sharpner let out a disgusted snort. "These guys aren't going to cooperate with us."

The bald man glanced to his partner and nodded absently. "You're probably right," he agreed. "Alright then, let's do this another way." With that, he closed the files on his lap, tossing them onto the desk behind him, and then leaned forward in his chair. "Let me tell you what I do know about you two."

Unconsciously, Videl leaned in closer, Gohan doing the same out of the corner of her eye. "Mr. Son here went to see the late Senator Ox-King—we can place him there due to an eyewitness. The senator met with you where he was killed. Then for whatever reason, you took off, probably scared. At the time, Mr. Son was working with his brother Goten, and apparently the person who killed Ox-King wanted to make sure both Sons were taken care of. Thus the car bomb that killed Son Goten, but since Mr. Son was not in the car, he managed to escape."

He then paused to take a breath. "While on the run, Mr. Son ended up at the Carlton Gates. There he encountered four men in a hotel room, along with a woman." At this, the agent glanced to Videl. "Most likely you."

"We didn't meet—" Videl began.

"You didn't want talk a second ago, so keep your mouth shut," Shinhan snapped, a harsh look on his face. Faintly, the dark-haired woman admitted it was quite intimidating, though she'd never say that out loud. "Now, you two met in the hotel, managed to kill five men, left a bomb to destroy the evidence, and left. The bomb destroyed half the room, but didn't get the bodies. You then hid out until another assassin—or maybe the same one that killed Ox-King—caught up with you, tried to kill you, and you managed to escape. So, does that sound about right?"

No, it actually sounded horrible. Yet, Videl could see how the agent placed the pieces into such a convincing story. Never mind that she had been the one to shoot Ox-King, or that Gohan lacked the necessary skills or materials to make a bomb; put that way and it made the both of them look very bad.

Leaning back into his chair, Shinhan crossed his arms over his chest and looked calmly at the two of them. "So, is that the version you want the courts to hear, or would you rather fill in the blanks for us?"

Once more, Videl found herself looking back at Gohan, who returned her gaze. "I think we need to tell them," he said, much to the dark-haired woman's dismay. Yet, she couldn't think of any other way out of this. Kami, this sucked.

Reluctantly, the dark-haired woman nodded her agreement. Taking that as permission, Gohan turned back to the bald agent and began, "I did meet with Ox-King. I was there because Goten needed to interview him. He had been blacklisted by the senator due to previous confrontations, so I had to do it."

Sharpner leaned towards Shinhan's side. "He's right about the blacklisting," the blond informed his partner.

Gohan continued as if that exchange never happened. "It was there the senator told me about something wrong in a recently passed bill."

"Which one?" the bald agent asked.

"The Malone-Engvall. He seemed really ashamed of it before he…died. I then went to the law library at the university to research about it." The dark-haired youth then gestured towards her. "That's where the two of us met."

Sharpner raised an eyebrow. "So she decided to help you out?"

"Yeah, I did," Videl sneered at him.

"Anyways," Gohan spoke, "we found something about Securities that seemed strange, so we went to investigate banks, and it was during that that the shooter attacked us."

"Why banks?" Shinhan inquired. "What was so special about them?"

"We thought the bill was referring to them because banks deal with securities." The young man let out a sigh then. "But I don't know anymore. Still, whatever is in that bill is why people are trying to attack us."

"People that can get legislation enacted for them," the bald agent summarized. "Sounds weak."

"If you were going to kill someone, what would you do it for?" Gohan was quick to reply. "What if you had a lot of money riding on something and some guy out of nowhere came and tried to ruin it? Don't you think that's a good motive to kill?"

"I see what you're getting at," the agent admitted,shifting in his chair to get more comfortable. "But you're saying some unknown person or persons are responsible for an assassination and subsequent murders. That's not something that will hold up in court."

A sinking feeling appeared in Videl's stomach. It was a feeling she was sure some of her suspects had felt when they found out that she was arresting them for a crime. "So you're going to pin all this stuff on us, aren't you?"

Sharpner was the one to respond to her. "You're not giving us any alternatives. You've already acted like wanted felons by leaving multiple crime scenes, not to mention we can link you every single one of them."

"Not to mention the things we found in your motel room as well," Shinhan added.

Blood drained from Videl's face at those words. Already she could picture all of Gohan's stuff, especially that sniper rifle. This was bad, extremely so. "You…have our stuff?" she asked weakly.

"In the next room," Sharpner answered, an aggravating smirk on his face. "As far as anyone here is concerned, you two are our top suspects."

"Now," the bald agent said as he leaned towards them again, entwining his fingers together in front of him. "Do you still want to continue stonewalling us, or would you rather let the courts handle your fate?"

Flabbergasted did not begin to describe what Videl felt. These agents were something else, that was for sure. These guys really wanted to blame them for everything, and probably didn't care if the charges were legit. Already the dark-haired woman could see the years of trial and appeals sapping her of her life. She'd basically be off the reservation with her agency, completely and utterly alone. Well...except for Gohan. He seemed willing enough to stick around her.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when a very familiar sound reached her ears. Eyes widening, Videl whipped her head around to look for the source of the unmistakable sound of a muffled gunshot. She found it at the door to the room, the body of an NAIE agent lying on the floor, a bullet hole in his forehead. Standing in the open doorway was a tall man dressed from head to toe in black combat fatigues, a gun with a silencer on it held in his hands and aimed right at the room's occupants.

There had always been rumors and hushed whispers of Agent Demon. The number of people alive that had seen him were extremely few, if not a number that could be counted on two hands. He had a reputation for always getting his target, no matter how wily they were, no matter how capable they were in evasion. Like his name sake, he was relentless until blood was spilt.

Videl had only let out one single, solitary breath when something rammed into her, knocking her out of her chair and onto the floor. An instant later, Demon fired his guns, sharp twacks! echoing through the room as NAIE agents were struck with flying bullets. Screams came from the wounded men as they dropped to the ground.

A hand grabbed onto Videl's arm and nearly wrenched it out of her socket, dragging her across the carpeted floor. Head shooting up, the dark-haired woman found Gohan leading them into the space between the beds, providing them with some cover. Videl hadn't realized it, but she was breathing rapidly, the same as Gohan. The young man hovered over her as she laid on the floor, his wild eyes looking behind them at the rest of the agents. Faintly, Videl felt a strange sense of protection with Gohan holding himself over her.

It was when a roar of gunfire deafened her that Videl was drawn back to the firefight around her. Agents Shinhan and Sharpner, along with their friends, had finally drawn their own guns and were returning fire. The hotel door and wall were riddled with bullets, splintered pieces of sheetrock thrown the air.

Suddenly, Shinhan was right next to them, a hand grabbing onto Gohan's shoulder as the bald man pulled the youth to his feet. "We've got to get you out of here," he spoke, eyes and gun trained on the door.

Oh sure, go where? It wasn't as if a top assassin wasn't gunning everyone down. Seriously, this guy was so late to the party, it was beyond funny anymore.

As if things couldn't get worse, Demon started firing again. However, it wasn't from the front door this time, but a door that connected to the next room. Two agents went down in the span of a second, leaving Agent Sharpner the only man left to face the assassin. The blond man turned and leveled his gun at the black-clad man, but that was all he was able to do as a bullet bit into his shoulder, jerking his body back and leaving him wide open for the second bullet to rip through his chest. The agent dropped to the floor after that, never to move again.

By the time Shinhan had turned his gun to the connecting door, Demon was gone. Videl was still pressed into the floor, doing her best to keep low as she looked out of the small bed space for any sight of the assassin. A dreadful silence fell on the three as each one searched painstakingly for Agent Demon.

And then he was there. It was as if Demon had appeared out of thin air as he stood calmly next to Shinhan. With his gun-free hand, he crossed it over his chest and then swung it out, backhanding the bald man across the face. Surprisingly, the blow sent Shinhan flying from his feet and across the room. Even more astonishing was that Demon then raised his silencer-tipped gun and fired two quick shots, one tearing through the chest of the helpless NAIE agent and the other through the lower left side of his abdomen. A moment later, Shinhan crashed into a wall and collapsed into a bloody heap on the floor.

Suddenly, Gohan was on his feet, rushing Demon like a madman. Videl felt her heart leap into her throat as she watched horrified. The young man attempted to tackle the assassin, his shoulder ramming into the man's abdomen and arms wrapping around the waist. Demon dropped his gun from the surprise attack, the force of the hit pushing the two across the room.
"Videl! Run!" Gohan screamed at her.

Even if she wanted to, Videl didn't have the time to escape as Demon merely raised an arm up, bent it at the elbow, and slammed it down on Gohan's back. The young man cried out in pain before Demon ripped the youth's arms off of him, twisted his torso to a side, and swung Gohan off the ground, throwing him into the wall. The dark-haired man hit it head-first with a loud bang, then dropped to the floor unconscious, or so Videl hoped. A blow like that could've easily snapped his neck.

However, that just left her and Demon as the only people still awake. For the first time in quite some time, Videl felt a ripple of fear race up and down her spine as the dark-clad assassin regarded her. It was clear he wasn't the least bit concerned with her, but he wasn't about to let her leave this room alive. No witnesses, only bodies. So this was what it was like to stare death in the face.

Demon turned his head away from her and Videl immediately knew he was looking for his gun. He found it quickly and took a step towards the fallen weapon, bending down to grab it. Instinct kicked in for Videl and she immediately began scrambling for the small cabinet between the beds. She was completely helpless here, considering she didn't have her gun on her, and the nearest one was too damn far for her to reach. However, the cabinet had an alarm clock and lamp on top of it that she could use for a makeshift weapon. Perhaps if she landed a hit on Demon's head, it'd stun him long enough for her to grab a gun.

And if that were to happen, pigs could fly out of her ass, Father would learn that gender equality did in fact exist, and someone, somewhere on this planet would finally learn how to set a VCR. You know, since such things could happen.

Reaching the cabinet, Videl was on her knees, her hand shooting out for the lamp. The moment she grabbed it, she heard a cry of pain, stopping her cold. Head spinning around, her eyes widened as she saw Gohan of all people standing next to Demon, his hand on the assassin's wrist and extending the arm out and away from Videl. With his other hand, Gohan shot it up and slammed his palm above Demon's elbow, hyperextending the arm as another cry tore from the black-clad man's mouth.

As Demon's gun slipped out of his grasp and fell to the floor, Videl watched stunned as Gohan seemed to hold the assassin at bay. He was completely stoic, a look she'd never seen on his face before, which unnerved her greatly. Hell, how was he even standing up?! She had been sure he'd been rendered unconscious the moment he hit that wall.

Suddenly, Demon shot a hand up. Videl's eyes must've been playing with her as she thought she saw a faint glow coming from the hand. Yet, Gohan jerked his head to a side for some reason, even as a light beam flashed between the two men. Oh yeah, the dark-haired woman was seeing things, that was for sure.

Unfortunately, due to his sudden move, Gohan lost his grip on Demon's wrist, which the assassin immediately bent back, then sent his elbow plowing into the young man's face. The blow caused the dark-haired youth to jerk backwards, which allowed Demon to fully turn and face him. Closing the distance between them, Demon unleashed a flurry of punches at Gohan's midsection, each hit being driven with increasing ferocity.

And yet, miraculously, Gohan recovered so fast that he began blocking-blocking!-Demon's punches. Had Videl been anyone else, she would've continued gaping at the spectacle, but a rather brilliant thought entered her head. She had no clue how Gohan was standing up to Demon, but there was no way he could keep this up. She needed to turn things into their favor, which meant she needed a gun.

Before she could make a move though, a bright light filled her sight then, rushing by the side of her head as heat caressed her face. Turning her head to a side, Videl felt her eyes widen as she saw a hole in the cabinet right next to her face, the edges of the hole singed black as if it were burned. The dark-haired woman felt her stomach drop like a stone as she realized just how close she was to having that hole be right where her skull was.

Keeping her head still, Videl turned her eyes back to the fight, finding Gohan and Demon seemingly dancing around each other. One would duck a thrown fist and raise their arm up, a bright beam of light firing from their palm. The other would dodge to a side to avoid the beam, only to throw up their own hand and fire their own light beam, which was evaded and returned with another.

Oh dear Kami, what the fuck is all of this?

Somehow, none of the beams were fired at her, not that Videl noticed that fact; she was completely consumed by this freaky turn in the fight that she had stop breathing. This was some sort of nightmare, it had to be. There was no way people could do...these...things…

And then, Demon's body suddenly blurred, just as Gohan blasted him with another wave of light. The black blur dodged to Gohan's left and seemed to race about the room. The young man jerked his glowing-glowing!-hand after the blur, trying to get a lock on it as he fired one missed beam after another at it.

Suddenly, Demon was crouched right in front of Gohan. In an incredible display of strength, the assassin slammed a fist into the youth's chest, sending him flying through the air. Awe-filled eyes followed the dark-haired man as he collided with the wall and fell to the floor, somehow landing on his feet. The young woman could hear him gasp loudly as he sucked in as much air as he could as he recovered.

By then, Demon was on him, throwing a punch at him. Gohan immediately shot his arms up, blocking the blow, then doing the same when the assassin threw a second punch. The way he blocked though… Tt wasn't some novice form, the way he used one arm to take the brunt of the hit while the other arm supported the first. That came from training and discipline, something Videl had no clue that Gohan knew. Even as he shot both hands down as Demon tried to ram his knee into him, the dark-haired man's moves screamed of experience.

And then, Gohan suddenly twisted his body, angling around Demon's raised leg and bringing one arm across his chest. Just as quickly, Gohan send the arm up, his elbow slamming into Demon's chin and causing his head to snap back. Balling his other hand into a fist, Gohan then sent it flying up, just as the black-clad assassin brought his head back down. Landing the uppercut, it was Demon's turn to go flying off his feet and through the air, alarmingly towards Videl.

Scrambling towards the side of one of the beds, she cringed as Demon fell on the other, causing the frame to splinter and shatter, metal groaning in protest. Eyes open, Videl glanced to Gohan, who was calmly striding towards her and Demon, looking unperturbed that she was even there. Head jerking to the sight of a groaning assassin and back to the approaching young man, Videl felt it was in her best interest to get the hell out of the way.

In an instant, the dark-haired woman was on her hands and feet, scrambling out from between the beds, and keeping as low as she possibly could. In front her, she saw the fallen form of a NAIE agent, blood pooling around his body. Making a beeline for the fallen agent, Videl quickly reached the body and stuck her hand into the man's suit jacket, locating his gun in its holster.

A loud crash caught Videl's attention then, causing her to jerk her head around to see Demon back on his feet, Gohan crouched on the floor, and the ruined pieces of what looked like a bed in the corner of the room. A glance to the beds revealed one of them was clearly missing. Kami, they can throw beds at each other?

Hand tightening on the gun handle, Videl yanked the weapon out, the young women feeling a hell of a lot better with the familiar feel of a gun grip in her hand. Not pausing any further, the dark-haired woman then made for the nearby wall, turning around at it and using it to brace herself as she held her weapon up and at Gohan and Demon, not too sure which one she was aiming for.

Not that it mattered; Demon had vanished once more, causing Videl to frantically search for him throughout the room. It wasn't until she heard a blunt collision that she found Demon standing behind Gohan, who had an arm up blocking a kick sent by the former. Though she had missed the first blow, the dark-haired woman didn't miss the second as Gohan swung a fist up and into the side of Demon's knee, a loud snap being heard that made Videl wince and hiss and the black-clad assassin to scream in pain.

Demon stumbled backwards as he dropped his injured leg to the floor. Instantly, Gohan was on his feet and had closed the distance between them, slamming a fist to the assassin's face once, twice. The black-clad man vainly tried to throw his own punch, only for Gohan to simply step to a side and dodge it. However, the young man shot a hand out and grabbed Demon by his wrist, another hand going to the assassin's shirt. Twisting around, Gohan lifted Demon off the floor with a loud cry and swung him through the air, releasing and throwing him at the ruined bed in the corner. With a loud crash, Demon slammed into the mess, the room seeming to shake for a moment.

And then nothing. Videl held her breath as she waited for Demon to get back up, yet he didn't. She held it as Gohan stood still, eyes trained on the heap of broken metal, wood, and cloth, all but ignoring the dark-haired woman. She could hear him breathing heavily, waiting and waiting for his foe to continue their fight.

It was then Videl became aware of her hands. They were trembling, shaking uncontrollably. Her arms had grown slack during the fight and lowered her gun to her lap, but now she could feel the weapon jiggling against her thighs. To say she was shaken was a bit of an understatement.

She had no idea what to think of Gohan. Whenever she thought she was dealing with an expert agent, she was confronted with a friendlier, if not helpless caricature. But when she thought he was a...well, a sweet, innocent guy, he'd do something to shake her world, just like this brawl. How was he even able to sucker her like this over and over? There was no mistaking it, Gohan was not some nice, kind guy in over his head; he was a cold-blooded killer and it was only a matter of time until he turned his sights onto her.

Slowly, Videl raised her gun, pointing it at Gohan's back. She had an open shot at him. One squeeze of the trigger would end this tormenting rollercoaster for good and she could go back to being Agent Devil again. The gun rattled in her trembling hands, throwing the sights of the gun off of her target.

Squeeze the trigger, c'mon, c'mon, you can do it. You can do this. Do it, do it already! C'mon, squeeze it!

Videl sucked in some air and steadied her hands. The gun stilled as the sights lined up on Gohan. Now. Pull the trigger now!

And then Gohan turned his head towards her.

…

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