Chapter 8

A firm hand pressed against Videl's mouth caused her to wake in a start. Eyes wide-opened, she instinctively started to struggle the grip but the weight of another body over hers prevented her every move.

Despite the dim light in the room, she soon recognized Gohan pinning her down to her mattress, and panic flared up in her mind. Even though he had treated well so far, she kept in mind that she was a prisoner meant to be tortured and hurt in the first place. Had this time come for some reasons?

"Hush, someone's out there," he whispered in obvious concern.

Hearing him word no intention to harm her, Videl cooled down a notch. She turned her eyes to the locked door of the silent hut. She didn't perceive anything except for the wind shaking the branches outside.

Without loosening his clutch on her mouth, Gohan forced her to sit up and dragged her to a dark corner of the room where he got her to crouch down. "It might be Vegeta. He mustn't find you," he murmured in a tense voice.

Vegeta's name kindled her instant fear and as she flinched, Gohan smirked behind her. He knew for sure that the intruder wasn't Vegeta. Vegeta wasn't the stealth type. He wouldn't quietly lurk around his sleeping prey to take them by surprise. He would rather fling the door open and jump upon them with a feral roar.

However, Videl didn't know any of that while Gohan knew that she had noted the ki-jamming bracelets and that, being the smart girl she was, she had understood that he was hiding her. Now, he let her process the idea that he was hiding her from the relentless Prince of all Saiyans.

Gohan waited for worry to grow in her mind until she totally stopped resisting his grip. She was on the watch, trying to figure out what was happening, and as expected by Gohan, she eventually kept completely still.

He needed her to stay quiet until he pinpointed who their visitor was, but in the rush, he hadn't found a better way than scaring her at the prospect of Vegeta coming for her.

As he slowly withdrew his hand from her mouth, she didn't make a sound.

Still, Gohan was aware that she would try to run away as soon as she would realize Vegeta was nowhere around. He had to act fast.

He motioned her to remain silent and ascended quietly to the framework where a small dormer was built in. He sneaked out through it and found himself on the roof.

Scanning the clearing below, he noticed a figure standing quietly a few steps from the house. It was a grown-up male with long hair, nothing like the local poachers that would sometimes roam the woods at night. No ki was coming out from him either and the detail suggested that the stranger had a ki-jammer.

Gohan could hardly make out his face in the half-light, but his guts twisted as he ended up recognizing him. He had no ki-jammer. He just had no ki at all. It was the male Android.

Gohan cursed under his breath. The rebellion had definitely an outstanding snitches network to find them so quickly in such an unexpected hideout. He had always been well aware that many undercover rebels were lurking in Saiyajinn City but considering no one, save his father and him, knew where Videl was, being discovered so fast was incredible.

Unless…

Gohan suddenly realized that Videl might carry a bug and he scowled at the thought.

In other circumstances, he would have been more than glad to fight the Android, but right now, the timing was awfully ill-chosen. He had to make it quick and quiet.

In the blink of an eye, he jumped on Seventeen and punched him straight in the head. He was caught off guard by the speed of his opponent though.

Seventeen managed to dodge a part of his blow. Gohan's fist still made contact with his shoulder and the Android was shoved backward. He swiftly restored his balance and faced Gohan with a challenging smirk. "Gohan. Attacking on the sly? Dad wouldn't be happy. She's in there, isn't she?" he greeted in a calm voice, motioning to the house.

Gohan launched a series of quick blows but none of them hit his target anymore. Since Bulma had deactivated most of their skills, he hadn't thought that androids were so fast.

Seventeen didn't even bother attacking. "Videl! Are you inside? Can you hear me?" he called instead.

Gohan gritted his teeth. By drawing Videl's attention, the damn Android made it hard for him to keep control of the situation as he would soon have to deal with her too.

He was proved right when a loud crash broke the silence of the night. Turning to the hut, Gohan saw that the window had been blown to pieces by a chair thrown at it. Videl poked her head through the empty frame. "Seventeen? Kami be blessed," she exclaimed.

She crawled through the opening, oblivious of the glass shards scratching her skin.

"Run. I take care of him. Are you alone?" Seventeen asked, his eyes still locked on Gohan.

"Yeah, no one else here."

Panic overwhelmed Gohan as he realized that Videl was on the verge of clearing off. He tried again to take the Android down but once again he failed at touching him. Meanwhile, from the corner of his eyes, he could see that Videl was already flying off.

A voice in his mind was screaming at the sight. With her ki-jammer, she would have no problem leaving him behind. He couldn't afford to lose her. If he did, he would also lose any hope to see Goten again. The thought caused his energy to skyrocket suddenly and he turned super.

For the first time, the Androids seemed taken aback by the turn of events and Gohan managed a mighty uppercut. Seventeen's body was knocked off his feet and he landed meters away.

Taking advantage of the situation, Gohan took off in Videl's wake. However, Seventeen was surprisingly quick to show up in his way and both fighters found themselves floating in the air face to face. The Android's jaw was damaged but he looked utterly determined nevertheless.

"Don't force me to kill you," Gohan hissed in exasperation as Videl was almost out of sight.

"Don't worry about that," C-17 replied calmly, whipping the blood away from his chin.

Gohan felt overwhelming energy rushing through him again and before he knew it, his whole body unleashed a sudden wave of ki straight to his opponent. The blast crushed the whole left side of the android and dragged him away back to the ground.

Gohan froze for a brief moment, dumbfounded by the force of his own attack. Meters below, Seventeen's form was lying motionless in the steaming grass.

"Leave him!" a voice roared behind the young half-Saiyan.

As he turned around in disbelief, he found Videl floating in the distance. Against all odds, she had come back for the Android. Gohan hadn't expected her to care that much for her companions' lives. She sounded so uncompromising most of the time. However, it seemed that Gohan's transformation had scared her and she had come back, certainly realizing that Seventeen wouldn't be able to stand up to him.

Rather ironically, Gohan hadn't meant to hurt the android so badly and if it hadn't been for his fear to lose Videl and miss his chance to find Goten, he wouldn't have used such a powerful blast. Now, Videl's reaction happened to be interesting.

Instead of trying to discuss with her, he landed quietly and walked to Seventeen's body spread in the mud. The Android was battered and burnt but still conscious. Gohan roughly pressed his foot on his chest to keep him pinned down.

"Stop it!" Videl ordered her voice filled with anger as her feet touched the ground a few meters from Gohan.

He glared at her. "Where are the children?"

Seventeen flinched at the question. "The children?" he murmured in disbelief.

"Goten and Bulla. Where are they?" Gohan repeated threateningly.

The Android glanced at Videl in puzzlement.

She raised her chin in a stubborn stance. "I don't know anything," she claimed.

Gohan increased the pressure of his foot over the android's chest and a disturbing snap echoed from his rib cage. Videl couldn't help but look away with a wince of disgust. "Stop it, for fuck sake, I told you we don't know anything. You're a monster," she yelled.

Gohan sighed in irritation and sent a forceful kick in Seventeen's head, knocking him out for good and shoving him away.

"I'll spare him if you follow me and do what I tell you," Gohan growled.

She gave him a deadly glare but she ended up nodding nevertheless.

He was still reluctant to trust her though. "Take off your jacket and sweater," he commanded.

"What?" she hissed in shock.

"Do what I ask, or I end what I've started."

She undid her jacket warily and dropped it to the floor.

Gohan picked up the garment. He thoroughly scrutinized the hems and the stitching and rummaged through the pockets but he found nothing suspicious. "The sweater too," he eventually resumed.

"Are you looking for something? Or is it just some perverted game of yours?" she questioned defiantly.

"Just do it," Gohan grunted in annoyance.

She shrugged and took off her sweater. He pried it away from her hands to study it the same way he had done with the jacket. Then, he turned to her with a frown of disappointment. She only had her T-shirt and pants left and she was trying to repress her chills in the freshness of the night.

"I hope we're done," she muttered in annoyance.

He stared at her hesitantly. He was conflicted, both embarrassed and irritated at the situation. "You got a bug on you, don't you?" he grunted.

Her eyes widened at the suggestion. "What? No!" she exclaimed.

He snatched her wrist and lifted her arm to take a closer look at the inside of her forearm. He ran his fingertips over her skin to check for any bumps indicating she had a chip inside but once again, he didn't detect anything.

"I told you I have no bug. What's your plan? You want me fully naked, is that it?" She fumed with gritted teeth and blushed cheeks.

He stopped his search and let go of her arm with a heavy sigh. He was worried about how quickly the android had found them, but she was right. For all he knew, if she were carrying a bug, it could be in any part of her body and he wasn't willing to go down that road. "We'll see that later. Dress up," he concluded halfheartedly.

When she was done, he forced her to whirl around and tied her hands behind her back again. He was angry. The possibility of a bug was making him very nervous, yet he couldn't fully search her as he should. He was well aware that it was a weak move. He couldn't afford to lose her. "You, rebels can't be trusted. You have no honor," he grumbled while tightening the rope more than needed.

"While you Saiyans do, is that it?" she spat sarcastically in return.

"I'm not exactly a Saiyan," he corrected.

"You behave like one. You kill people," she objected.

"Do I? And what about you, Videl Satan? Haven't you ever killed anyone?" he huffed impatiently as he gave the knot a last harsh tug.

"Indeed, I never killed anybody."

He yanked the rope to finish his work and leaned toward her to whisper in her ear. "Are you sure of that? Think hard about all the haphazard sabotages you've carried out in recent years."

She jumped and turned her head to glare at him.

He smirked at her. "By the way, you should know that I had no intention to kill your friend over there. Even if you hadn't returned, that is," he added.

She gaped in disbelief and he could read the questions in her eyes. She was wondering if he was telling the truth or if he was just playing her.

His smirk dropped as he resumed. "If I were the bloodthirsty murderer you claim me to be, you would already be dead, believe me."

Losing her nerves, she kicked him out of frustration. Yet, with her arms imprisoned, she missed him and lost her balance in the process. He caught her shoulder in flight to pull her back to her feet.

"Stop fooling around and calm down from now on, because I swear I won't go soft on you next time to try to escape," he growled.

With that, he loaded her over his shoulder like a bag and took off to the sky, heading for a more reliable hiding place.