A NECESSARY EVIL

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CHAPTER 14: THE WISH

"Looks like we've hit the barrier," said Trunks, feeling it as he stepped through. It was surrounding the entire stadium and its living quarters. It had took them five days to get there without being detected; the only flying they did was over water. Trunks seemed to be getting stronger everyday, but he still had to stop and rest a lot on their journey.

"Do you think they'll know it's us that's come through?"

Gohan's question was answered when two people jumped out the surrounding buildings holding ki blasts at them.

"Stop where you are!" yelled Salza.

"It's the half-breeds!" said Cooler, very surprised to see them. "How the hell did you escape from Frieza?"

"We... uh..."

"We'll explain later," said Gohan. "We just want to see our families now."

"Who was it, some of Frieza's men?" asked Piccolo, all of the gang waiting at the arena as soon as they sensed someone coming through their barriers. They were all speechless when they saw who came through the opening with Salza and Cooler.

"Gohan?!"

"Trunks!"

Both Chi Chi and Bulma outwardly exploded with happiness upon seeing their sons, running over to them and embracing them. Normally, Gohan would have disliked all the attention, but he hugged his mother back with probably the same amount of force. He was so much taller than her now. Goten soon ran over too, along with Goku who had Haru in his arms, all of them enjoying being reunited at last.

Trunks, on the other hand, was finding Bulma's hugging quite painful since his entire body was still broken and bruised, but he still managed a content smile. Even his present counterpart was happy to see him, the seven year old wrapping his arms around his hips as that was as far as he could reach; although he was literally receiving a hug from himself, the present Trunks had become like a little brother to him over the past year.

Trunks felt a strong hand place itself on his shoulder; he turned his head to find Vegeta smiling at him, well, in his own way.

"It's good to see you, son," he said in his same old gruff tone of voice.

"It's good to be back," said Trunks, smiling in return.

"How did you both escape?" asked Jeice, who had since clasped his arms around Gohan since his family backed off.

"There's time for that later, right now, we need to put this in a safe place," said Gohan, reaching into the now beaten back and pulling out the orange sphere for everyone to see.

"The last dragon ball?!" screamed Krillin.

"But how?!" yelled Goku.

The dragon ball was soon put in the case with the rest of them near Doctor Gero's makeshift lab. Speaking of the doctor, Gohan had a pressing question since Cell seemed to be absent, but he couldn't sense him either. He hated being so close yet so far away from him. Once Gohan finally got a minute to himself after he excused himself to the bathroom, he was followed.

"Gohan?"

"Yeah?" he said, turning around to find Vegeta behind him.

"We need to have a talk," he sighed.

"About what?"

"Well first, I need to check on that kid," said Vegeta, pointing at the ki he could feel radiating from Gohan's stomach. It was much brighter than it was before he was captured. "Has it been moving?"

"Yep, it's moving. And kicking. And doing various acrobatics, mostly when I'm trying to sleep," said Gohan, laughing through that last part.

"Did Frieza hurt you?"

"Well... yeah, thought smacking people around came naturally to him."

"You know what I mean," said Vegeta, not wanting to spell it out for him.

"No, he didn't. He said that he wasn't going to touch me while I'm pregnant."

"Good."

"Where's Cell?" asked Gohan abruptly, finally being able to ask without everyone having to hear him. Vegeta sighed again, which didn't reassure Gohan. Was he sighing because he was around and he wanted to see him? Or was it because he didn't know where he was?

"Let's look you over first, and then I'll tell you."

"Hey, Trunks is going to be okay, he's just left," said Bulma, Vegeta entering the room with Gohan. They were in one of the stadium's medical rooms.

"Is he going to scar?" asked Gohan quietly, partly already knowing the answer anyway.

"It shouldn't be too bad, I don't think," she replied heavily. "Mostly thanks to you, it looks like those herbs really sped up the recovery."

"Lie back on there," said Vegeta, Gohan obeying him without saying anything as Vegeta shut the door behind them and locked it.

"What on earth has gotten into you lately, Vegeta?" asked Bulma; Vegeta had been acting odd since Gohan was captured, he was definitely hiding something. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Bulma, on this one occasion I need you to promise me you'll keep that mouth shut!"

"Alright, no need to be such a jerk!"

"Promise me!" said Vegeta with a little more force. Bulma noticed a desperate look in Vegeta's eye, looking at a rather quiet Gohan before nodding.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"I need one of those scanner things. The one with the sound waves."

"An ultra sound?"

Bulma wheeled one over from the far corner of the room to park it next to them.

"Lift up your shirt," said Vegeta. Gohan did so, revealing his stomach. Bulma was confused at why it was slightly swollen. If anything, it looked as if Gohan had eaten too much. Gohan flinched at how cold the gel was before he felt the scanner on his belly, roaming around and making a funny sound. "Turn to your right a little."

"What exactly are you looking for, do you even know how to use this machine -" Bulma cut herself off when she saw something appear on the screen. "Is that a baby?" she stuttered, her eyes bulging out of her sockets.

"Yes, it's a baby," said Vegeta, rolling his eyes. He was used to the concept of pregnant male saiyans, though this was the first one he'd seen in decades. Bulma, on the other hand, couldn't get her head around it.

"But Gohan's a guy!"

"That's what I've been trying to say..." mumbled Gohan, who was staring at the ceiling.

"I can't tell what it is just yet," said Vegeta. "I'm not used to these blasted machines."

"It's a girl," said Gohan almost instantly. "Frieza told me."

"So she is," said Vegeta, finally finding a good enough position to tell. "You're fifteen weeks, just over half way through. Look." Gohan only looked at the screen for literally two seconds before he fell head over heels in love with what he saw, though he didn't outwardly show it.

"That went fast," said Gohan, still feeling like he'd only just found out about her. "So these things last, what, six months for saiyans?"

"Approximately, yes - " Vegeta stopped for a second after moving lower.

"What's wrong? said Gohan nervously. Vegeta's silence wasn't helping. "Tell me what's wrong! Is she okay?!"

"When she needs to come out, we'll have to remove her... surgically."

"What?" asked Gohan, stunned about what he just said, but also relieved that he wouldn't have to physically push her out. That concept was what had been scaring him the most recently. "Why?"

"There's no way for her to get out, there's no canal. I think being a half-breed means that you're missing certain parts."

"Then how the fuck did she get in there in the first place?!" yelled Gohan, not meaning to completely lose it in front of Bulma.

"It's some kind of osmosis rather than an obvious pathway. The sperm is... absorbed into where the egg is. It looks like you're missing quite a few parts, but you have what is necessary to conceive and carry a child, however, it looks as if you're missing the part that's needed for you to deliver."

"Well that's just great... how long will it take me to recover from that?"

"Just a few days since you're a saiyan. Then you're free to raise your own child as you please."

"Vegeta, he's sixteen years old, he can't do this on his own!" said Bulma, who had just about managed to take everything in.

"By saiyan standards, he is old enough to be finding a partner and breeding by now."

"He's part human as well, Vegeta, or have you forgot that?"

Vegeta huffed and turned to walk out of the room.

"Hey!" Gohan wiped the gel off his stomach and fixed his clothes before standing up. "You promised me. Where is he?"

"You'd better sit down," said Vegeta, turning around again.

"What is this?"

"Sit... down," he repeated, Gohan obeying again without taking his eyes off him. "When Cell came back here with Kakarot just after you were captured, he was unconscious. Frieza managed to shoot a clean hole through his brain."

"W-what?"

"He's been brain dead ever since. Doctor Gero's been keeping an eye on him, but there hasn't been much improvement since it happened. He's just been lying there in a coma."

Everything finally clicked into place. That was why he never tried to contact him or attempt to save him from Frieza; and now he felt even more guilty about what happened with Trunks - there he was fucking somebody else while Cell was helplessly lying in a coma all this time.

"Do you want to see him?" asked Vegeta, not wanting to ask that at all.

"No," said Gohan as he stared blankly ahead at the window.

"I had to ask, seeing as that's also his child." Vegeta noticed Bulma's eyes widening further when she heard that.

"No, it's fine. I just want to go to bed. I haven't slept properly for weeks."

"What about your mother and father, Gohan?" asked Bulma softly. "Don't they deserve to know that they're going to be grandparents in less than three months?"

"I don't want to tell anybody yet. You and Trunks are the only people who know."

"They need to know, Gohan. Sooner rather than later."

"Okay," he sighed, feeling all of his energy draining as he agreed. "But can we do it tomorrow? I just want to sleep."

They didn't stop him as he left the room on his own.

Gohan did go to bed just like he said he would, but spent hours just staring blankly at nothing, tossing and turning to try and get comfortable, but the more he thought about Cell, the more she started to kick him. It was like she knew.

He finally gave up, getting out of bed and heading straight upstairs...

Before he knew it, he was stood outside the lab, spending a good half hour contemplating going inside. He knew it was empty, he watched Doctor Gero leave for the night a while ago. The door came closer with every small step, and the closer he got, the more he had to control his breathing. Cell was in there... it was all he thought about for the past month.

His hand unconsciously found itself on the handle, turning it to finally open the door into the lab which was only lit by a lamp in the corner as well as the computer screens working away at the sides of the room. Gohan felt his stomach tense up as he finally set eyes on him - he didn't know what he was feeling. Happiness? Relief? Fear? Fear was definitely one of them. But he couldn't point out why he was feeling it. Was he just scared of Cell himself, or frightened at the prospect of being alone?

She was kicking again, Gohan willed her to stop as it only reminded him of how she got there in the first place. He walked closer to him; either Gohan had grown or Cell had shrunk. Gohan remembered him being much larger than how he looked now. And scarier. Maybe it was because he was lying on a bed in a coma rather than standing over him like a threatening storm. Gohan found himself reaching out to touch him, Cell didn't move as Gohan's fingers traced along his cheek.

Before he knew it, his hand started trembling. He snatched it back as he finally lost control of his breathing.

"Please stop!"

Gohan was starting to remember something, but he was sure it was something he'd dreamed in the past.

"You're hurting me!"

He stumbled backwards against the counter, knocking a few things over as he clutched his head to try and make sense of what he was hearing inside his head.

"You want this..."

"No!"

Gohan felt sick, he could feel how weak his body was under him. He remembered him pulling at his clothes, holding him down, hushing him and ignoring his protests. But it felt so much like a dream that he was having a hard time believing that it really happened. That he let that happen to him again. He couldn't breathe. He ran...

Gohan couldn't remember if he shut the door or not, but was wondering why that was playing on his mind as much as everything else. He was vaguely aware that he must have ran aimlessly around most of the building before he finally regained some of his senses. As soon as he stopped, his chest felt tighter than ever. He found himself wandering around again until he found the room he was looking for, knocking twice and leaning against the door frame hoping for an answer. Five seconds felt like hours in his mental cage. He felt like he was drowning.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Trunks, finding the disheveled half saiyan fighting for breath at his door.

"I c-can't breathe..."

Trunks carefully pulled him into the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Help me!" he gasped. He knew that he wasn't dying, he'd had anxiety attacks many times before, but this one was probably the worst one he'd ever experienced.

"Look at me, you're going to be okay," he said calmly. Gohan's breathing seemed to slow down now that he had someone to focus on. His feet were rooted into the floor so much that he had to hold on to Trunks to stop himself from falling over. Trunks only had to catch a glimpse of the terror in his eyes to know what was behind his panic. "Have you just been to see him?"

Gohan managed to nod as he felt his breathing begin to ease again. Trunks managed to pry Gohan's hands off his jacket and held on to them.

"I remember... I couldn't put my finger on it before but..."

"What are you talking about?" Trunks was getting worried, he could feel his hands shaking in his own.

"He did again. While I was sick..." Gohan felt nauseous, he could recall a lot of it now, all of the separate memories slowly knitting together again. "He... "

"When were you sick?"

"A couple of months ago... I couldn't move, he was on top of me," said Gohan, his voice quivering heavily. Trunks held onto his hands tighter, praying that his suspicions were wrong.

"Did he rape you?" He didn't mean to be blunt, but he needed to know, Gohan wasn't making much sense.

"I... I don't know..." he stuttered. "I can't remember, I thought I was hallucinating... I just let him."

"Did you say no?"

That was what Gohan remembered the most. He did say no... countless times. Gohan nodded his head, causing Trunks to pull him into an embrace.

"I swore to myself I wouldn't let it happen again!"

"He can't hurt you anymore," said Trunks, still feeling him shaking. But Gohan was now shaking out of anger rather than shock. He pulled back out of Trunks' arms, not knowing what was going through his head when he suddenly crashed their lips together. At any other time, Trunks would have welcomed it, but not while he was this vulnerable.

"Gohan... " Trunks just about managed to pry him off again, holding him by his hands like he did before. "Not like this... this isn't you."

"I-I'm sorry, I - " The words seemed to disappear from his mouth. "I don't know what I'm doing." Gohan felt better that he was stopped, but it felt foreign to him. Whenever he went to Cell like this, the android would just relent without much argument; then he realised that he always did it to make sure he felt worse about it afterwards. Trunks held him again, Gohan burst into tears instantly and buried his face into his shoulder.

Gohan was thankful that he wasn't alone when he woke up, but his eyes felt heavy; he was crying for a good hour or so before he finally fell asleep. He looked up to see that Trunks was sound asleep next to him. Gohan was still in his arms, not remembering the last time he felt this safe and secure. He smiled, Trunks was right; Cell couldn't hurt him right now. He was partly thankful that he sneaked upstairs to see his condition for himself, it was reassuring knowing that he wasn't going anywhere, not like that.

But then he remembered that he had more pressing matters to take care of later that day...

"What's going on?" asked Goku as he and Chi Chi walked into one of the bedrooms in the stadium's living quarters. Vegeta had ordered him and his 'woman' in there, leaving Goten and Haru with the other fighters to look after. Gohan had requested that he didn't want everybody knowing, not yet anyway.

"Has something happened?" asked Chi Chi, wondering what was going on.

"You'd better um... " Gohan gestured to one of the beds in the twin room they were in, feeling more anxious than ever as his parents sat down.

"Is someone going to tell us what this is all about?!" pressed Chi Chi again.

"Um... I have something to tell you," said Gohan nervously, fidgeting with his hands and staring at the floor.

"What is it?" said Goku, worried that Gohan couldn't seem to look at them. Luckily Bulma and Vegeta were there.

"I'm... uh... " How the hell am I meant to tell them without sounding stupid?!

"Gohan is pregnant," said Vegeta, finally noticing Gohan's reluctance to say it himself. Gohan held his breath as he took in their parent's reactions.

"Don't be silly, he can't get pregnant, he's a boy!" laughed Chi Chi. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"Chi Chi... " Goku's eyes widened. Gohan could tell that his father believed him; he was staring straight at his stomach.

"Don't tell me you believe this Goku! Goku?"

"I can sense it, I can't believe I didn't sense it before," said Goku, still not believing it himself.

"You're really... how?!"

Gohan expected his mother to react this way, he wondered beforehand whether this would finally destroy their relationship altogether. He took into account the many bombshells he'd dropped on her in the past few years.

"You can't be pregnant, Gohan, it's physically impossible!" she yelled.

"Male saiyans are able to bear children," said Vegeta. "With the lack of females in our race, we've evolved to be able to do so."

"Wait, does that me I can too?!" exclaimed Goku.

"Yes, Kakarot," sighed Vegeta. "But that's not the point. The fact is that he's pregnant. And it's about time you knew."

The five of them sat their in silence, Bulma moved over to Chi Chi to console her as she was having a hard time taking it in, as Goku continued to take in what he was sensing. It was a pure, innocent energy which seemed to radiate from Gohan.

"How far along are you?" asked Goku, who was steadily becoming happier the more he thought about it.

"About four months," said Gohan, finally looking at him and speaking for the first time since they found out. He was trying not to let on how much she was kicking him at that moment.

"These pregnancies last for about six months, and since Gohan is only half saiyan, he won't be able to deliver. So we're going to have to remove her when the time comes."

"But where is it?! You're not even showing!"

"You can a little, it just looks like I've eaten a lot to be honest. It's so it doesn't get in the way and I'm still able to fight."

"Chi Chi, are you okay?"

Gohan finally looked at his mother, who seemed to snap out of her trance.

"It's his, isn't it? It's Cell's," she said, looking at his intently. The last thing Gohan needed was to hear his name after what occurred the night before, but, again, the child seemed to kick him out of his despair.

"Yeah," he answered, looking his hands again.

"But you're sixteen, you can't have your own child at that age!"

"It's perfectly normal by saiyan standards," said Vegeta.

"Screw your saiyan standards! Gohan is an earthling!" she shouted angrily at the saiyan prince. Vegeta simply huffed at her. "You can't possibly do this on your own!"

"That's why I'm telling you!" said Gohan. "I know I've been a complete disaster lately, but this is my chance to finally do something right. And I can't do it without you!"

"We're going to be grandparents..." said Goku, his signature grin spreading across his face as he started to get excited.

"Do you know what it is?" asked Chi Chi, suddenly waving her arms and going over to Gohan to put her arm around him. "I didn't mean that to sound... it's just with - "

"I know, it's okay," said Gohan, smiling back her. "It's mostly saiyan, about a quarter human."

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to stock up on food," she laughed.

"And I know that you always wanted another girl in the family."

"It's a girl?!" she chirped. Chi Chi was still getting used to the idea, but at the end of the day, this was an innocent, tiny child; none of this was her fault.

Gohan smiled and nodded at her before being dragged into another choking yet loving hug. He was relieved that it was finally out in the open, or at least knowledge to two of the most important people that needed to know. He didn't dare tell them about Trunks, he didn't know whether there was anything to tell yet, anyway.

That afternoon, they all gathered in the arena. Everyone except for Cell, that is, who was still locked in the lab. All of the gang were there, including the Ginyu's, Cooler, Salza, Android 16 and Doctor Gero. They made sure that they got the wish right in their heads first before making it. Bulma put all of the dragon balls in place at the center of the arena before turning the the others.

"We'd better make this quick. We don't want to attract Frieza or any of his soldiers," she said. Bulma held her hands out over the flashing orange spheres before saying the words to summon the dragon.

Before they knew it, the sky began to go even darker than it already was; a bright light shot out of the dragon balls and Shenron appeared before them, as menacing and majestic as ever. They never got tired of witnessing it, and everyone there that hadn't witnessed it before stood there in awe.

"Why have you summoned me again? The world is already severely unbalanced," he bellowed. They already knew that it was overuse of the dragon balls that had caused reality's barriers to collapse, but they had no other option.

"Shenron! Is there any chance you can fix reality and put everyone back in the worlds they should be in, apart from those who are in this stadium?" she asked.

"I can!"

Everyone cheered, not giving the dragon a chance to finish.

"However, I'm afraid that it cannot be permanent when I do so!"

"What?! What do you mean?!" cried Yamcha.

"I can restore reality as you wish it, but there is a power beyond my control which will eventually tear them back down again!"

"How long will we have before they collapse again?"

"I couldn't say, it could be a month, it could be four! Do you want me to grant this wish for you?"

They all looked at each other.

"If it'll buy us some time, it's worth a shot," said Piccolo.

"Yes, Shenron!" said Bulma.

"Very well!"

The saw the familiar glow in Shenron's eyes, followed by relief that it was over for the time being.

"What is you second wish?"

"Um... we don't have one," she said, looking at the others who all shook their heads.

"If you re-gather the dragon balls again within four months, I can grant your second wish should you want to!"

"Okay, we'll do that!"

"So be it, farewell!"

Another bright light took them over, the dragon balls then floated up into the sky and darting off in seven different directions. They all managed a cheer when daylight returned, feeling sunlight on themselves for the first time in the best part of a year.

"So we have a few months to find out what this power source is that's causing reality to shift like it has been," said Piccolo.

"I'm guessing it's the same power source that Frieza's been getting his new strength from," said Vegeta.

"I can't sense Frieza anymore, you guys!" shouted Krillin happily. "Or any soldiers!"

"Maybe we should have used the second wish to bring back any people that his soldiers destroyed," said Jeice.

"There wouldn't be any point if it's all going to go to crap again soon. It would have been a wasted wish," said Yamcha.

"At least if it happens again we can put reality back again with the second wish," said Cooler.

Doctor Gero managed to sneak away into the building again. He sneaked into Bulma's room, rummaging through her cupboards and drawers until he found what he was looking for; the dragon radar - he had less than four months to find them and make his wish. He smiled wickedly, knowing that it wouldn't be a problem now that Frieza was temporarily out of the picture.

"Soon, Cell, I'll be able to bring you back."

UH OH! They should have know not to trust the good doctor ;)

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