A NECESSARY EVIL

CHAPTER 25: HUMAN

"Are you okay?" asked Gohan quietly. It was dinner time later that day, and Trunks hadn't said a word since he walked into the room, picking at his food for the past twenty minutes.

He'd spent the rest of the afternoon shut away in his room, staring at the knife that was used on him months ago from his bed, as if he was teaching himself not to be afraid of it. Gohan was getting concerned, especially with that horrifying nightmare Trunks had that morning about him.

"I need to tell you something, but not here," whispered Trunks.

"Sounds serious... you're not pregnant are you?" joked Gohan. Trunks managed to let out a little chuckle at least.

"Um - no," he answered with a weak smile. They both discretely left the room and went around the corner where nobody could hear them.

"Trunks, what's wrong with you?" asked Gohan, putting his hands on his arms in a comforting manner.

Trunks didn't know where to start, but caught site of some red marks poking out from under Gohan's hair on his neck. He reached out and brushed some of his dark hair aside to reveal what looked like scratch marks on and around his mark. Their redness was quite prominent next to his usually pale skin.

"Where did this come from?"

"Oh... my mark was itching like crazy a few hours back. You ever get that?" Gohan saw his eyes widen slightly, but as he went to look at the hand caressing his neck, he saw something that unnerved him. "What happened to your wrist?" he asked, a sinking feeling appearing in the put of his stomach. A part of him knew what happened; Trunks' left wrist had bruises on it.

Trunks took his hand back quite quickly; Cell kissing his mark didn't cause Gohan any pain, but it made his own mark irritate him instead - it did cause a reaction.

"Cell was in my room... " said Trunks finally. Gohan's eyes widened with worry.

"What? Did he hurt you?!" he asked frantically, pulling him closer by his arms.

"Not exactly... " he said carefully. He hadn't told him the whole story these past weeks; Cell had been bullying Trunks for a while, but it was never enough for him to risk worrying Gohan. Then Trunks realised that the android had been right all along about one thing - he was scared of Gohan. Or Gohan's mentality if he ever said a word about the situation; but then again, it was Cell that persuaded Trunks that Gohan was too fragile to handle it.

"What did he want?"

"He sort of tried to... kiss me," said Trunks slowly, not knowing how to word it right. Gohan's eyes widened further. "That was why your mark was itching, he's been trying to scare me off."

"Is that the first time he's tried anything with you?"

"No... once before that. When he drugged me."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Gohan, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I didn't want to worry you. I wanted to protect you from him. Anything else I could've taken from him to stop him getting to you, but today it was getting personal... "

"What? You mean he's been terrorizing you all this time?"

"Now and again, yeah. Like I said, he was just trying to separate us. I don't want to have to lie to you."

"What kind of things has he been doing? I haven't seen a scratch on you."

"Do you remember when I cut my hair?" said Trunks, trying not to remember it.

"Yeah... "

"It wasn't because I was tired of it. Cell jumped me in the kitchen and hacked it off."

"What?!"

Trunks was hoping to avoid the look of guilt that began to appear in Gohan's eyes. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen - for Gohan to believe that it was all his fault. He needed Gohan to start putting the blame where it belonged.

"I don't want you to blame yourself, you hear me? This is all him."

"I don't want anything to happen to you... "

"Nothing's going to happen to me. I'm staying whether he likes it or not," said Trunks, relieved that it was all out in the open. Gohan didn't react the way Cell told him he would, he seemed concerned, but otherwise perfectly stable.

"He came to me too. Early this morning," confessed Gohan. "He said that he discovered what was causing Hell to open... he didn't tell me what it was."

"He's using it's power. Whatever it is. Like how Frieza was using it, only Cell's being more controlling about it."

"Cell's using it?" Gohan ran his hand through his hair worryingly. "If he is there's no way he's not going to go back for more."

"What makes you say that?"

"Cell has an addictive personality. If he gets access to something like that then he'll get hooked, no matter how much he tries to hide it."

Trunks had no choice but to believe him, as much as he didn't like how close Gohan and Cell had got, it did become useful when trying to anticipate Cell's movements.

"He said that we have about six weeks until Hell breaks loose again. Then Frieza's going to come back and god knows what else!"

"We need to tell the others."

- Nine Months Ago -

Gohan's wrists seemed to be healing pretty well despite their deliberate injuries. He almost did it that time, if only Cell hadn't found him so soon. It had been a week after his sixth suicide attempt in the past five months, and he was only just on his feet again, not that he wanted to be. He'd just managed to eat for the first time in days, not really enjoying having his energy back because he felt that he just wanted to stay in bed for the rest of his life.

He was sat in his living room, flicking through an old story book, trying to make that particular day go faster so that he didn't have to think about it. He heard Cell arrive at the door and walk into the room.

"I hope you're at least feeling a little better... I'm tired of babysitting you."

"So leave. I don't want you to be here either," said Gohan blankly.

"Something's particularly bothering you today, isn't it?"

"You?" Gohan didn't care if he was making Cell angry, he just wanted him to put him out of his misery already. He'd had five months of this - Cell playing with his head.

"Come on... indulge me for once."

"Fine," he sighed, he had nothing to lose. Maybe Cell might have even been nice to him just for one day. "It's my birthday."

"Today?"

"Yeah."

"How old are you?" he asked, even though he already knew. But this was the most he'd got out of Gohan in days.

"Sixteen," he answered. "I hope my mother's at least proud of me for lasting this long."

"Technically, you didn't. Wasn't it your last birthday when you killed yourself?"

"Wow... it's been a year already?" he said flatly. To them, it hadn't been that long at all. Gohan had spent two weeks in Hell after he died on his fifteenth birthday before being wished back to life. On Earth, six months had passed in that time, and Gohan had lived out the rest of the year, most of it under Cell's thumb.

"Don't you people usually mark such an occasion with a party of some sort?" asked Cell, wondering why humans did what they did, marking birthdays and weddings with celebrations. It was just strange to him.

"Usually. But there's fuck all to celebrate today. I just want this day to be over so I don't have to feel bad about not caring," scoffed Gohan as he tossed the book aside.

"Surely you'd rather do something other than sit here?"

"Like what?"

"I have an idea... "

"Why don't I like where this is going?"

"You want to feel something other than nothing just for today? Let's make a game out of it."

Gohan found himself taking up Cell's offer.

"Okay... what kind of game?"

Cell cocked his head towards the front door, gesturing at Gohan to follow him outside. It was pitch black outside, out in the open mountains as the broken barriers between dimensions made the sky disappear. Cell lead him towards the entrance to the woods, pushing Gohan to stand in front of him.

"The only rule, is that you have to be fast," he whispered into Gohan's ear.

"Why the hell did I agree to this?" mumbled Gohan.

"You said you wanted to play."

"Fine... what do I have to do."

"It's simple. You're going to run as fast as you can into those trees. I'm going to give you two minutes. And then I'm going to come and find you."

"Seriously? Hide and seek?"

"If you like," said Cell, before coming in even closer. "But be warned, if I find you, I'm going to do something to you."

"Do something?" Gohan heard Cell chuckle against his ear. "Like what?"

"It's part of the game. It'll make you run faster if you don't know," he said dangerously. "Two minutes."

Gohan was actually afraid, yet it excited him. This was the first time in ages that he felt adrenaline rush through him that wasn't caused by him harming himself. He ran into the woods as fast as he could, not stopping for anything, not taking any particular direction. He'd explored these woods for years throughout his life, he used to know them like the back of his hand. But now, with fear and anticipation flowing through him, he didn't recognise any of the trees in the dark. He only wished that he still had his powers, which were still being suppressed by the drug that Cell was giving to him.

Gohan wondered if this game was fair if Cell had his powers when he didn't, but then snapped himself out of it; this game was never going to turn out in his favor, much like all of the other games Cell had played with him in the past. He didn't know where he was, but he was deep in the trees, sweating yet cold. It had to have been well over two minutes by now.

He was stood there for about ten seconds when he was suddenly grabbed by his arms and slammed into the nearest tree. He was startled for a second, his breathing ragged with fear. He could vaguely see Cell right in front of him, but only calmed himself down when he felt the androids lips caressing his own.

"You'll have to run faster than that. You can't stay in one place for so long."

"So what are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing. That was a test," he said, letting go of him. "Do you still want to play?"

Gohan nodded instantly, not knowing why, and having a strange feeling that he was going to regret it. At least he was going to have an eventful birthday... but for all the wrong reasons.

"Then you've got two minutes. And make sure your heart's in it this time."

Gohan sprinted for about 90 seconds straight, occasionally changing directions. He had a few scratches on his arms from brushing past branches that were in his path. He slowed down once he got to a stream, searching frantically for a way across it since he couldn't fly. He managed to find some stepping stones in the dark, which only wasted more time; Cell would have seen him out in the open, he was sure of it. He continued running for another minute when he was grabbed from behind, making him yell since it frightened him so much. He found himself laughing as he calmed again, feeling oddly secure in Cell's arms... this was starting to become fun.

"Better... but still not good enough," he said in a low voice. Gohan ended up giggling, not knowing why he wasn't struggling. Cell still had him in his arms, walking him forwards and shoving him against another tree so that he was facing it. "I found you in half a minute... you shouldn't have stopped. I told you." Cell still had one arm around his waist, the other was busy untying his belt.

"What are you doing?" asked Gohan, no longer scared and enjoying the rush of it all.

Gohan felt his pants being pulled down, but with his face against a tree trunk, he couldn't see anything that was happening. He felt two lubricated fingers push all the way into him without warning, a surprised cry escaping his mouth. He held onto the tree, not knowing what else to do as his heart began pounding in his chest.

"What I promised," laughed Cell, talking against his ear as he drove his fingers in and out of him quickly. Gohan's desperate moaning was testing Cell's limits, it was taking all of his strength not to just take him outright, but there would be time for that later; he wanted Gohan to still be able to run after this. "Do you like the game so far?"

"You're hurting me... ahh... " The android wasn't being overly gentle with him at that moment, but Gohan was receiving immense pleasure from it as Cell found a fast rhythm which hit him in all the right places.

All of the adrenaline was going to his head, he became unhinged, letting himself be heard. He gasped as he felt his neck being licked, which distracted him as the hand on his waist began moving down slowly. He shook when he was grabbed on to, the android's hand moving up and down as quickly as his fingers were moving. Gohan hadn't felt this alive in weeks, begging him to go faster. Cell bit into his neck, pleasuring him into insanity. Gohan let out something between a growl and a scream as he came, tightening around Cell's fingers and quivering violently. Cell let him ride it out for a few more seconds before letting go and fixing his pants for him.

"You've no idea how much I wanted to fuck you just then," he said against his neck.

"Why didn't you?" panted Gohan. "I wanted you to."

"I know. Some things are worth waiting for." Cell let go of him, Gohan turned around revealing how breathless and red in the face he was after that. He was still visibly shaking.

"You're not asking for anything back?"

"Call it a birthday present."

"We still playing?"

"Of course. Two minutes... run for your life."

Gohan took two steps forward, his knees giving way under him for a second before he regained his balance. He sprinted through the trees again, excited for whatever Cell had in store for him next. He rather enjoyed what he'd just received. Another tense five minutes passed and he slowed down for the first time, deciding which direction to go in next without going back on himself.

He let his guard down for a mere second when he was suddenly shot in the arm.

He cried out in pain and shock, his hand going straight to his left upper arm. It was bleeding and burning. He looked behind him to see where it came from, just narrowly missing a second pink beam that would have hit his face if he hadn't moved. It went into a nearby tree instead. He recognised that beam anywhere - Cell was shooting at him.

Gohan kept moving, wondering if Cell had changed the rules if he was shooting - and from a distance. Though he supposed that he was still playing along properly. Cell did say that he'd do something to him if he was found, that didn't necessarily mean finding him up close. And then it clicked - when Cell told him to run for his life, he meant literally.

He dodged another three beams before looking behind him as they stopped. Turning back again, Cell was stood in front of him, looking quite menacing in the dark, staring at Gohan like he was wounded prey. The game didn't last much longer; Cell darted forwards, slapping him across the face and shoving him to the ground. By the end of it, Gohan could no longer run - his ribs were broken.

"Well that was disappointing, I was rather enjoying myself," said Cell, helping Gohan stand slowly. The beaten saiyan held onto his side, still in absolute agony. "Shame you didn't last through that without your powers. Next time I caught you, I would have fucked you properly."

Gohan was going to answer back, but couldn't as the pain in his ribs seemed to constrict his breathing somewhat.

"We'd better get you somewhere comfortable so you can heal," he said, not hiding his malicious smile. "And by the way... " Gohan visibly flinched as his face was caressed. "Happy birthday."

- End Flashback -

Cell could still feel it... the power was surging through him like no power he'd felt before. It still didn't fill the hole in his chest that had been steadily appearing for a few weeks now. No matter how much he'd try to shake off that feeling of emptiness it was still there. It felt as if it was in his hands more than anything else.

He could still feel Nita in his arms, so much that his body seemed to ache for her.

He didn't understand these feelings; he knew what they were, but he hated them, he denied them over and over in his head, even taking to talking himself out of it. Cell had feelings for Nita, he'd even go as far to say that he loved her. But he didn't want to. He was an android, the perfect being. A being such as himself shouldn't have such earthly ties and emotional attachment to anything.

Cell finally took on board that he had saiyan blood in him, and the genes he had contributed to Nita's conception were obviously that of a saiyan, otherwise she can't have existed in the first place. She was an miscalculated anomaly that he thought would never happen in a million years. Even when he discovered that Gohan was pregnant with their child, he was convinced from the start that she wouldn't survive long enough to even be born, he even tried to kill her by punching him in the stomach.

Cell then felt something odd when he remembered his attempt on her life. It prompted another sort of ache in his chest. He'd seen this particular feeling before in Gohan many times - he felt guilty.

Part of him just wanted to kill her... kill Gohan too. And Trunks. And the rest of them to make these feelings stop. But at the same time, he just wanted to hold her again. He was made up of so many different people and species. He figured that his saiyan instincts were much stronger than he previously thought, but mixed in there were humans - human emotions from some of the fighters and the thousands of people he absorbed before he got to the androids.

Cell sighed, still thinking about Nita. Now he was thinking about Gohan and began wondering. Did he love Gohan too? He immediately denied it as soon as he asked himself. He didn't love Gohan, those feelings definitely weren't the same ones he had for Nita. He admitted that he'd become attached to him as time passed, even obsessed with him. But he thought of Gohan as a possession, someone that belonged to him. He didn't regret anything they did together, still finding pleasure in abusing him, feeling that it was what Gohan deserved after what he did to him all those years ago.

Then he recalled his attempts at bullying Trunks and trying to take him as his own the way he did with Gohan. Trunks was definitely different to Gohan, fighting back and not taking anything from him without a fight. He wondered why he tried to claim Trunks for himself as well, coming to the conclusion that he simply wanted revenge; he wanted Trunks to suffer for taking Gohan away from him. He also hated him for raising his daughter for him.

Cell let out a frustrated sigh, not knowing what to do with himself. He was extremely tempted to take more power for himself, even start taking antranide again despite the damage that it did to his body over the years. There were a lot of things he could have done at that moment. Leave the planet and search for something entirely different? Carry out his original mission and exterminate his enemies and the Earth? Or he could have gone straight back to Capsule Corp to set up some kind of plan to help fix reality with what he knew, at least that way he'd be closer to Nita; it would help stop that feeling of emptiness that was still eating away at him.

Or maybe he could just take Gohan away from them all like he did last time... keep him isolated from everything he knew, make him belong to him again. That would also hurt Trunks too, he smirked at the thought. But Nita was also another factor to consider in that.

Cell just sat there on the cliff edge... thinking.

"You are a strange child," remarked Gohan. Nita was thriving again after almost a full day's sleep. "You owe me three days of rest, girl."

She was on the floor in the living room, kicking and wriggling around on her back, seemingly enjoying her diaper as Gohan wrapped her last one up and threw it in the bin outside. It looked as if she wasn't going back to sleep for another few hours yet at least; he wished that he'd got some sleep earlier on when he was with Trunks, but at least he squeezed three hours in before dinner.

Gohan scooped her up into his arms, getting onto his feet. Nita gave him a gummy, open-mouthed smile which made his own face light up in return.

"Gohan, hey!"

He didn't take his eyes off her when he said hello back to acknowledge Jeice and Krillin walking in.

"Wow, she's really growing," said Krillin. He and the other fighters had hardly seen Gohan for the past month, only Jeice and Goku had a look in now and again.

"Yeah, she started laughing a few days ago," said Gohan proudly.

"What the hell?"

Gohan and Krillin wondered what Jeice was looking at, but when they turned around they were startled as Cell casually walked into the room as if he hadn't been away.

"What are you doing here?" asked Krillin.

"I... " Cell forgot what he was going to day when Nita turned her head to look at him, her large brown eyes and innocent stare made his mind go completely blank. She suddenly did something that stunned them all... she smiled at him, her hands climbing and gripping Gohan's shirt with the excitement of seeing him. You really are a strange child...

"What do you want?" said Jeice, jumping to Gohan's defense, and also fearing for Nita's safety; Gohan was the only one who knew that they had nothing to fear - Cell wasn't going to lay a finger on her, he couldn't. Cell snapped out of it nonetheless.

"I think I can help you," said Cell, forcing himself not to look at her.

"Help us?"

"I've found the power source. We have six weeks until those barriers come down again completely. They're beginning to crumble even now," he said, seriously enough for Jeice and Krillin to take him on.

"Why are you telling us this? What's in it for you?" asked Krillin.

"I could have either taken that power for myself or come here to help. Consider yourself lucky it was the latter."

"You okay?" Jeice was concerned about Gohan, who'd remained silent since Cell walked in the room; while Nita looked overly happy, Gohan looked angry.

"What's wrong? You usually have a lot to say to me, Gohan," said Cell, almost arrogantly.

"Oh I do, believe me." Gohan put Nita back in her basket that was on the sofa beside him.

"Something bothering you?"

"You've been threatening him all this time," blurted Gohan, not caring who was listening. Cell caught on, rolling his eyes.

"Finally cracked, did he? I thought he would have held on at least a little longer."

"You sneaked up on him and cut his hair off! You've been terrorizing him, I only wish he'd told me sooner," cried Gohan angrily.

"Terrorizing who?!" yelled Krillin.

"Trunks?" said Jeice, realising what they were talking about.

"What can I say? How could I not want revenge on you?" said Cell, feeling no remorse at all.

"Why is this such a big deal to you?"

"Honestly, I've no idea," replied Cell. "But seeing him with his hands on you angered me."

"What are you talking about?" asked Krillin. Cell understood his reaction, letting out a small laugh.

"I see you haven't learned your lesson regarding secrecy, Gohan."

"That's because it isn't anybody's business," he answered. He turned to Krillin and Jeice, the two of them not liking the look on his face. "Take Nita and go."

"What? We're not leaving you here!" yelled Jeice.

"Just go!" growled Gohan firmly. Krillin grabbed Nita and dragged Jeice out of the room with him anxiously. Gohan wasn't sure whether he was strong enough to deal with Cell on his own yet, but his anger was fueling his confidence.

"Throwing your friends out and isolating yourself... not very smart," remarked Cell as they found themselves alone.

"You said you wouldn't go near him... "

"To be honest, I was expecting him to discard you after what we did. He obviously didn't learn his lesson."

"Whatever your problem is, it's not with Trunks. So deal with me and not the people that I love."

"You love him, do you?"

Gohan silently cursed himself for walking right into that, but his fury was still spurring him on.

"Yes, I do. And I'm going to protect him from you."

"You think he's the answer to all of your problems?"

"I'm not in the mood for your fucking mind games anymore, Cell!" shouted Gohan.

"You'd rather I stop messing around?!" Cell had no idea why he felt so angry and lost... he felt that he shouldn't be caring that he was losing Gohan to someone else.

"Finally, a glimpse into what's really going on in your head! So tell me... what the fuck is your problem?!"

"You are my problem... you have always been my problem... "

"So stay away from me!"

"I can't!" cried Cell, showing actual emotion for the very first time. Gohan's expression softened when his suspicions were confirmed.

"It's Nita, isn't it?" said Gohan, his voice a lot quieter again, but still shaking out of anger. Cell looked away from him, clenching his fists - he wanted to deny it, but he couldn't. "You care about her, don't you?"

"Don't you dare... " said Cell just as quietly, but a dangerous look appeared in his eyes.

"You care for something other than yourself, and you can't stand it."

"Stop it... "

"You love her... "

"SHUT UP!"

Cell retaliated after holding back his confusion for so long, hitting Gohan so hard in the face that the force of it knocked him to the ground. Gohan couldn't feel the left side of his face when he put his quivering hand on it; when he brought his hand back, it was covered in blood. Cell's claws had almost sliced his face in half in an uncoordinated punch. The android was breathing heavily, staring down at him. Gohan scrambled backwards as far as he could, backed into the corner of the room.

He had nowhere to run when Cell went for him again.

What happens when you give someone emotions that they aren't supposed to have? Well... that. I'm guessing.

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