Piccolo's heart hammered in his chest as he stood there his anger and
rapidly rising hatred for her threatening to take over any senses, he
watched Kihann try to nurse her broken and bleeding hand; the soldier
offering a small medical kit to the female namek. She accepted the kit,
opening it with her good hand and picking out a pair of tweezers started
pulling shards of glass out of her hand.
"You plan on explaining yourself today, or do I have to persuade you?" Piccolos deep voice hissed coldly, his hands flexing. Kihann flinched slightly.
"It wasn't my intention to deceive you Piccolo; please you have to believe me. There's a circumstance surrounding this situation that you cannot possibly understand! Please you have to trust me on this." Kihann's breath came in short gasps, it was obvious she was in pain; Piccolo had done a fair job in crushing the fingers and the delicate bones in her hands and wrist. He ignored the small jab of guilt he felt for hurting her so badly, reminding himself that he was in this situation because of her and that she could easily heal herself in a matter of days.
"So explain already god dammit, how long do you have to drag this out?" Piccolo surprised himself by responding in such a way; what he really wanted to do was hold her down and tear her apart piece by piece. The feeling of being used didn't sit well with the Namek and it was all he could do to contain the fury he felt. "You put my friends in a very shitty situation, and I don't like being used."
Kihann bit her lip and murmured a dismissal to the guards; to which they frowned but obeyed; watching them exit both of the namek's faced off with each other once more. Kihann's eyes locked with Piccolo's, and for a long tense moment they stared into each others eyes, neither one willing to back down in the battle of wills. Finally it was Kihann who averted her gaze with a bitter sigh. "You have to understand Piccolo that I didn't want to use you. I wanted away from this place, I wanted to get away so badly, but there are things here, things that they're keeping from me and I had no other choice than to come back and do as they asked. I know I tricked you, you and your friends, but I had to Piccolo! You don't realize that you're a fair exchange for what I came back to them for!"
Piccolo snarled, his temper snapping past the breaking point. He launched himself at her, and she screamed in terror and panic as he landed on top of her, knocking her out of the chair. They both tumbled head over heels arms locked against each other, only to break away and begin to pummel at one another. Those watching on the surveillance cameras were amazed by the two's speed and accuracy as they exchanged blows. Both snarling and swearing at one another in their native language. They were rather amazed at how well Kihann held her own, despite the other namek's size, weight and speed; as well as the fact that she was fighting with one broken hand and wrist, and he had both of his hands in play. It only ended when they saw Kihann's fists double up into Piccolos exposed belly during a roll, and fire off a ki blast into the soft area. Without his own ki to protect him the bigger namek doubled over and off of Kihann gasping for air, and unable to continue the fight. She had packed a powerful punch into one small ki shot.
Kihann dragged herself to a corner, bruised badly but no worse for the wear. She had quietly noted (as had those watching) that Piccolo hadn't hit anything vital. No blows had come close to breaking bones or doing internal damage. Coughing and fighting to regain her breath, she gasped; "I could have had the soldiers come in and take care of you Piccolo. I could have had them come in and shoot you, but I didn't. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Piccolo growled deep in his throat, leaning against the wall, wishing for the world that looks really could kill. "The only thing I understand now is that your loyal to only one thing; yourself. So what is it they promised you Kihann, A trip home, a place in their ranks? What was it they promised in exchange for me; did you promise them my friends as well? I know they're listening, waiting with baited breath to see what it is that I may reveal to you Kihann, but you screwed up. You screwed up more than you can possibly understand."
Piccolo felt a sting across his face before he'd even realized Kihann was there at his side, her own clawed hand aimed for his throat. He wondered just exactly what kind of skills she had, how much she had hidden from him, and from Dende. He briefly wondered if she was possibly more powerful than him. But her words shoved away any wondering he may have had. "You understand nothing Piccolo. Not a blessed thing, like I told you, you egotistical idiot, that there is a situation that you cannot even begin to comprehend! You wouldn't understand it because you've never experienced it."
Piccolo felt pressure on his ribs, grunting softly as she pressed her knee into his chest, snapping one rib, then a second, then finally a third. He couldn't draw in a proper breath to respond.
"Kihann darling, leave him be now." Trask's voice drawled from the doorway, causing them both to jump, neither one having an idea he'd been standing there. Kihann stood up slowly relieving the pressure on Piccolo's chest and somewhat limped to Trask's side. Trask chuckled faintly and tweaked one of Kihann's ears as she walked by. "You play too rough Kihann. You didn't even give him a chance to get in a decent blow before you had him down."
Kihann jerked her head away from the man snarling softly. "Keep your filthy human hands off of me Trask."
Trask again chuckled as she departed, then turned to look at Piccolo over, lighting a cigarette. "I trained her myself when I was younger. Although she doesn't recall the sessions; chances are I doubt she recalls much of what happened between her and me. Cryo-stasis can do that to a person, make them forget things. But that's alright by me; I can always remind her later."
Piccolo warily watched Trask, not liking the implications of Trask's words and he knew he was in no condition to fight, and he knew that Trask was aware of it as well. His chest hurt like blazes and the rake marks Kihann left across his cheek felt hot and prickly. He wasn't even going to consider the damage done to his pride on this round. "You come to gloat over Kihann's betrayal or just stand there looking like a moron? Because you know, I'm not really in the mood to socialize."
"No of course not. I'm here to let you know that the real fun begins tomorrow. I suggest taking a long nap, because tomorrow is when you and Doctor Murashi become real close and personal." Trask shrugged and stepped into the hallway, the door hissing shut behind him.
Piccolo picked himself up slowly, not giving any outward sign that he was injured; not allowing those watching to see any emotion on his features. Finding a clean corner of the room, free of any glass and blood, he took the humans advice; as he lay down, Piccolo considered the options he was presented with now. Kihann had betrayed him. But betray for what purpose? She had claimed that he couldn't possibly understand that he'd never experienced it; experience what? What was it that she had gone through that he hadn't? What was it that had brought her back to this place, and she had risked everything for? The past few weeks had been a good time for him, he'd thought he'd finally found someone he could not only relate to, but possibly open up and become close with. She'd talked a few times about knowing that things would never be the same for her, and he had hinted at the fact that he wouldn't have minded taking her on as a student and as a friend, she had grinned at him and had teasingly asked about being more than friends, to which he'd vehemently denied..but still.. Looking back now, he'd wondered if he'd even gone as far as to starting to develop feelings for her, and now after all this he wondered just how much she had been leading him on, not just on a personal level, but on any level. These questions and thoughts gnawed at him until pain and exhaustion forced him to succumb to sleep.
Piccolo was awake long before anyone came to see him the next day. He sat against the wall farthest from the door and attempted to meditate, mull over what had happened yesterday. After about an hour he'd come to the conclusion that Kihann hadn't really betrayed him, that if she had wanted to, and had consciously wanted to, she could have trapped him in the Cyscal Gene Labs, the military could have been laying in wait the whole time.
None of this makes sense. Everything seems too jagged to fit together. I do believe that the military had been watching me, and the other fighters, but I don't think Kihann had anything to do with it. And as for what she said about not understanding what she'd been through, she's right. I have no clue, but if she had told me, if they were keeping something from her that was important to her, all she'd have had to do was ask and I'd have gone and gotten it for her. But what could they possibly have that she couldn't have again?
Piccolo would have pondered on it further if the door hadn't of drawn his attention away from his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes as Murashi entered followed by Trask, the General and finally Kihann; Piccolos eyes lingering on Kihann as the door closed. He silently noted that she kept herself as far away from Trask and the General as possible. Preferring to either stand off by herself, or closer to Murashi.
Trask grimaced at the mess that had been left, and commented on how it should have been picked up. The General snapped back with "If the damn thing wants to act like an animal, let it live in its own filth like one."
Murashi approached Piccolo murmuring a good morning before starting another exam, this time checking the wounds that had been received from the fight the night before. He allowed the doctor to approach, his eyes staying on Kihann, Piccolo murmured softly in their language; ~Ei outan bosoatar~ (I wanted to apologize.)
Kihann shrugged a slender shoulder keeping her eyes on the floor. ~Ei lamante et~ (I deserved it.) ~eokc, ei lema etaozz yiroth aigreo neit orln. ~ (Besides, I wasn't very honest with you either.)
The General glowered menacingly at the two as they talked. "We do have people to translate, so talking in your language isn't going to help."
Piccolo snorted and smirked at the General but said nothing. Murashi finished up his examination, deemed Piccolo fine enough to get some general blood work and possibly to test his physical limits. Motioning him to stand, Murashi stepped off to one side as Trask moved in and placed cuffs on Piccolo's wrists. Piccolo gave the cuffs a look and shook his head, flexing his muscles he snapped the cuffs and waited as Trask and the General grew flustered over the incident. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to fight anyone; there's no need for you to even bother with cuffs, chains, manacles, or whatever you have in mind for restraining me, I already agreed to stay on Kihann's behalf, and despite what happened yesterday, I will remain true to my agreement. You have me, what more do you guys need to do to prove to yourselves that I'm not going anywhere?"
Kihann hid a grin behind her hand as she turned away; the General gave Piccolo an evil look before snapping to Trask that if the damn thing tried anything funny to shoot it in the head. Murashi gave a slight smile as he caught Kihann's look and exited.
Trask nudged Piccolo with an elbow and motioned for the door. "C'mon, out with you, and try not to piss off the general, okay? I really don't want to have to deal with him in a pissed off mood all day."
Piccolo shrugged. "If I have to suffer Trask, well then so do you."
And suffer they made him. By the end of the day, Piccolo felt as if he'd been tortured in every possible way, Murashi subjected him to every test imaginable from simple blood work to even going as far as drawing spinal fluid. The spinal tap was the worst, being forced to lie still while they jammed a needle in his back. Murashi did his best to be careful, and had warned the Namek that yes some of the blood and fluid draw could or would be painful.
Once he'd been escorted back to his room, he'd been informed that tomorrow he'd have to go through exploratory surgery. He passed out, barely hearing them as they explained what would happen.
That experience left Piccolo in agony, he recalled Murashi apologizing, asking for forgiveness for hurting him. Murashi tried hard to keep Piccolo under, but every anesthetic wore off after an hour or so, the pain killers were nothing more than water dripping through the namek's veins. The surgery lasted for four hours, but to Piccolo it lasted an eternity. Piccolo dimly recalled the gleaming smirk on the Generals face as he watched from the observation booth above.
Day after day he was tested, operated on, even had various diseases injected to see what they would do. After a while, the days blurred into one long endless test; one thing blurring into another until he didn't know what they were doing, why and after a while he stopped recalling who they were.
The days passed into weeks, weeks passed into a month, then two. Piccolo soon forgot all about the outside world; his world was here, with Trask, the General, Doctor Murashi and Kihann. His world consisted of a tiny room, sometimes a different room depending on what they were doing, he couldn't recall the outside, couldn't remember the clearing he'd called home for so long, Gohan, and the others seemed like a rapidly fading dream.
He lived in a world of drug induced sleep, pain and sensory deprivation. Piccolo lived in a black blanket, where only dim light came through, muffled sound, and pain. He'd stopped questioning them, stopped questioning himself; and worst of all, he'd stopped caring.
Almost stopped caring; Kihann had become the center of the universe, the small sun that kept the rest of the universe together. The planets that were named Pain, Confusion, and Hatred circled around her, never touching her never being a part of her, but in this universe she was the center and everything else floated around in a dizzying pattern. She'd done her best to reconcile with Piccolo and he'd done his best to give her the benefit of the doubt. Particularly after one grueling day, as Piccolo laid half conscious in his room, listening to a conversation between Trask and Kihann. He assumed that they thought him unconscious, or they'd have not talked the way they have, or so he'd thought.
"You guys are killing him. That wasn't part of the deal Trask." Kihann's voice was a harsh whisper to Piccolo's ears; she sat with Piccolo's head in her lap, washing his forehead with a damp cloth. It felt good, and the coolness helped calm his nerves, they'd subjected him to a battery of tests, injecting him with some disease, a name he couldn't recall, all he knew was that it made his joints ache, and left him feeling far to weak to move. He knew he'd recover, diseases didn't affect Nameks in general; not the diseases humans often carried with them.
"He agreed to it for your sake, love. What did you expect?" Trask responded not as softly as Kihann had. "The stupid thing seems quite taken up with you, considering most wouldn't allow themselves to be guinea pigs for the military in place of someone else."
"Don't call me that!" She hissed at him.
"Call you what, love?" Trask's tone became slightly mocking. Piccolo heard the soft rustle of cloth as Trask approached Kihann. "You never seemed to mind it before, that is until you met him."
"I minded it before. I minded it a lot and told you not to call me that. I'm not your partner, mate, whatever. I've only done what I've had to tolerate to keep those I care about safe." Kihann's tone was acidic. Piccolo wondered just what she'd had to do to keep him safe, and who else she had to think about.
Trask must have responded with a gesture, since Piccolo didn't hear any response. The only sound he heard was the door hissing open and shut; he took that as a sign that Trask had left.
Sighing softly Kihann sat with the damp towel in her hands wringing it worriedly. It was true; she'd enjoyed Trask's attentions before. Maybe not some of the attention he insisted on giving, but even then that was forgettable. She'd enjoyed the things he'd brought for her from the outside world before, the little trinkets and baubles from this world that had seemed so foreign to her, yet commonplace to Trask. Kihann had thought she'd found a friend and someone she could confide in when she'd met Trask. After all he was so very much like her, or so he'd claimed. He'd told her that he believed that he wasn't quite human, but had never found out; and for all she knew, he could be alien like her. They'd grown quite close during the first few years she'd been in the facility. She hadn't been completely truthful when she'd sent the dream images to Piccolo. She'd shortened the time, made it seem like she'd not been in the facility long, but in truth she'd been there for over twenty five to thirty years. Had been a part of the military's program the entire time, Trask training her, teaching her to hunt, and to gather information, among other things. Staring down at Piccolo she wondered how long it would be before he discovered the truth. How long it would be before he found out what they'd done to him as well.
Piccolo's hand reached up slowly cupping her face in his warm hand. She blinked slightly startled, not having realized that he was awake. "You look worried."
Kihann exhaled slowly, dipping the towel in the water, resuming her ministrations.
"There is much to be worried about Piccolo."
"Things. are not going the way you'd been told, are they."
"No, they're not. But you shouldn't worry about that now."
"I have to. This involves more than just you and I, doesn't it." Piccolo's fevered eyes focused on Kihann's sapphire blue eyes. "There's something you're not telling me, and you're scared to tell me."
Kihann laughed faintly, eyes darting to the door. "There's a lot that I haven't told you Piccolo; a lot I want to tell you, but lack the words to say them properly. There's a lot I can't tell you right now. It's not the time or the place; I'd tell you if I could Piccolo, there's so much I want to tell you, share with you; but it could end up hurting you in the end."
It was Piccolo's turn to laugh softly. "They're killing me now. What more could they do to me Kihann?"
Kihann's eyes half closed and she murmured, "They could prolong the process, they could start hurting San-Yi, or they could hurt others, don't forget they're holding San-Yi's family here as well, his daughter."
Piccolo pushed away Kihann's hand from his forehead as he sat up, fighting the wave of dizziness that ensued. "Then when? When will you tell me the truth? Or I should say all of the truth. Can you at least give me what you can?"
Kihann closed her eyes, sighing softly as her shoulders slumped; she tugged on Piccolos arm coaxing him to lie back down, and his head in her lap once more. "I guess I owe you that much, lie down and I'll tell you what I can."
Piccolo complied, lying back down and getting comfortable; he allowed his eyes to close, he knew Kihann could sense if he was awake or asleep. He smiled faintly as she began her voice soothing his frayed nerves. "You knew the lab you found me in had been around for almost eighty years. That San- Yi had founded the lab with private funding until he'd started to get into stem cell research and into the use of aborted human fetuses for looking at cures to diseases. What wasn't known was that he also had looked into cloning; after all it was taboo to use aborted fetuses for scientific research; people protested his lab, protested his home and he'd had more than one attempt on his life by zealot right to life protestors. His wife left him after the fourth attempt on his life, of course she supported him, supported his work What could be a more noble cause than finding cures to diseases? But she couldn't hand the constant harassment, the constant phone calls and death threats. Even their children had to be privately schooled because no public learning facility would accept them; they were told that they caused a high risk in security for the rest of their students and for the faculty.
As I was saying, his wife took their youngest daughter and left the country; leaving their oldest daughter with San-Yi. San-Yi's daughter Rain, decided to stay with her father, knowing that he'd need someone to take care of him. Rain at the age of ten developed some disease, I'm not sure what kind, Murashi told me once but I never could recall it properly. It starts with an M and has an odd name. It strikes the nervous system rendering them immobile and often times to wallow in pain as the disease strikes at their muscles, nerves and organs. It robs them of their speech, motor functions; it generally makes their lives a living hell. I saw her once or twice; she's such a pretty little thing, so tiny, with the blackest hair you can imagine." Kihann's voice took on a soft tone; one Piccolo had heard Chichi use when she used to talk about Gohan as a child to other people.
"Anyways, when San-Yi's private funding providers abandoned him just short of ten years into his research, he was lost." Kihann caught the inhalation of breath, knowing what question Piccolo was about to ask; "Yes, before you ask, this is well before I came along. The vision I did send you is truthful when it implied that I had been caught well after San-Yi had joined with the military, accepting their funding. San-Yi wasn't happy that the General in charge had deemed his facility a holding place for aliens. But he had no choice, Lieutenant Yasan, the man who was over seeing all this had said that if Murashi didn't comply that he'd make sure San-Yi's family suffered."
Kihann fell silent for a moment, trying to sort out what she could and couldn't tell Piccolo. It was all so complicated, and even then some of the things she'd been told she knew were lies. "What I'm telling you Piccolo, may or may not be the truth, what I have been told, what I've learned for myself, and I'm sure as you've figured out by now, that this entire place was built up on lie after lie, occasionally truth being tossed in for foundation. But I can tell you this; the cloning I mentioned earlier? San- Yi had been successful in the cloning process. The outside world doesn't know much about it, the military has kept it a secret for the past fifty years. The San-Yi Murashi you know, the one who's been with us the whole time, isn't the real San-Yi Murashi. He's one of the first successful clones that survived the process, the first San-Yi died about five years after my capture."
Piccolo slowly opened his eyes and stared up at Kihann. "One of the first successful.." He trailed off, waiting and dreading to find out what Kihann may say next.
"I was the third." Kihann murmured softly. "My original body was damaged badly by the alien in the vision. That creature tore me apart beyond any way that I could heal myself or the doctors could repair. They took samples of my core make-up and had me rebuilt. If you go back into the vision, if you recall it you'll notice that it makes hardly any sense; that is if you search deep down, and try to piece things together. Does this all make sense now, in some way? These guys," She motioned to the room, indicating those that were watching, listening; "Are trying to fine tune the cloning process, trying to weed out any genetic defects. We Nameks, you and I are nearly perfect for their research; we heal quickly, adapt to our surroundings in ways that it could take humans a generation or two to adapt to. Our ability to not require food, only water, and our speed, endurance and general stamina is what makes us sought after. Our defiance to disease is what attracted not only the military but Murashi to use us. I've been with Murashi for almost thirty years; being a willing subject, wanting to help him save his daughter. She should be grown and with children of her own by now, but Murashi used the Cryo-capsules to put her to sleep when she was thirteen, knowing that he didn't have much time left to find a cure for her. Like me you have the core make up of the original Nameks, you have the ability to regain a gender, and the power that our new relatives lack. I know your history Piccolo, considering that was your Kami's name before you two split and then rejoined."
Piccolo blinked slowly, surprised by her words. "I'll be damned."
Kihann smiled faintly, bending over to kiss Piccolo's forehead. "It's not that big of a secret, I knew that when I had left, someone else had prepared a second space ship to send another namek off into space. Odd that it happened to be the same planet? Maybe, maybe not; only the fates know."
"Piccolo hmm'd softly, closing his eyes again. "This sounds like one of those stories you'd hear about in book. I have a question though, where does Trask fit into this?"
Kihann chewed her lip a bit, she knew that Trask would be listening; he always followed her, and always listened in on everything she said. "Trask." She trailed off uncertainly. "Trask is the second successful clone created. Trask is the son of that thing that you saw in my vision."
Piccolo jerked upright and spun to face her. "He's what?!"
Kihann met Piccolos outburst head on. "He's the son of that thing, that thing that they tried to get me to couple with."
"You mean that Trask is your son?" Piccolo's look of confusion almost made Kihann laugh, and she shook her head.
"No, no Trask isn't my son. That thing that they tried to get me to be with was female as well. Except they didn't know it, what it was trying to do to me was place a symbiotic thing inside me, to take control That's what that alien was trying to do; find another host. It knew that the body it currently resided in was dying, it too had been wounded in its initial capture, and all it wanted was to survive. The scientists didn't realize this, and had thought it was trying to mate. But in order for the symbiotic creature to move onto another host it had to simulate the act of mating, it was all confusing, not only to me, but to the scientists as well. That part of the vision is true; and the symbiotic couldn't carry over to me, my body would reject it every time, so it had no choice but to stay within its current body."
Piccolo frowned recalling the corpse he'd seen in the first lab he'd come to when he'd searched for Kihann. "There was something in a cryo-capsule that I came across before I found you. Its chest cavity had been burst open; was that it?"
Kihann nodded; "Probably, yes. Trask looks human because that's what the symbiotic wanted it to look like. But in all actuality Trask is as alien as you and I, except that he accepts the alien creature living within him, using its power and strength to its full advantage; and that also would explain why he's their lead person for searching out aliens."
Piccolo considered a few things before speaking up again. "So why don't they use Trask for cloning and research?"
Kihann sighed and shook her head. "Trask doesn't have the abilities we possess. He's just a cloned body, with a creature living inside him. Trask is the genetic combination of the best attributes humans have to offer, he being one of the first successful genes splicing and recombining and cloning. He's the first among his kind;" Kihann shrugged her shoulders and shivered. She'd spent many hours with Trask, and she knew just how ugly he could get, just how powerful he was. Unconsciously she moved closer to Piccolo and only relaxed when he slipped an arm around her, leaning back against the wall, allowing her to rest her head against his chest. "Trask considers me his, if all truth be told. His mate and his partner and if you're wondering yes we have slept together, and he's severely jealous of you."
Piccolo snorted, chuckling. "What's he jealous for? He's free, I'm not. You're helping them of your own will just as he is. It's not like I'm going to call him out and challenge him for rights over you." He fell silent for a moment, his hand idly rubbing her arm. "Not that I wouldn't if I had the opportunity."
Kihann raised a brow ridge, Piccolo's words confusing her. "Meaning, you'd call him out for the sheer challenge, or if it came down to it you'd fight for rights over me?"
"Kihann you're your own person. Meaning you can make your own decisions, and pick whoever you want to like. If you like Trask, who am I to complain? It's your life; but yes I guess if you want I'll admit that I'd happily take Trask on in a fight if it meant your freedom."
Kihann sighed softly, not sure if that was the answer she'd been looking for or not. "I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the idea that you'd fight for me if it came down to it."
Piccolo grinned to himself and squeezed Kihann in a one armed hug. "You want me to admit something else, don't you?"
Kihann smirked to no one. "Maybe that is if it's the truth, and not something you expect me to hear."
"What if I don't want to admit it?" Piccolo was enjoying this particular little game, knowing that those listening would be getting frustrated and annoyed, as well as Kihann getting agitated.
"Just admit it!" Kihann poked the others' ribs, grinning evilly.
Piccolo looked around as if he was unsure of where he was at and had lost track of the conversation. "Admit what?"
"Piccolo, stop being so mean!" Kihann whined as she shoved the bigger namek back, and then straddled him to sit on his chest. "Now say it."
"Hey what happened to tending to me? You know, what we were doing before?" Piccolo grinned maliciously, letting Kihann get comfortable on his chest, and he rested his head on his arms, folding his arms behind his head. "And say what? That you're a pain in the ass?"
She nodded, starting to agree then growled; "NO! I'm not a pain in the ass!" Placing a hand on each of Piccolo's arms she pressed down, effectively trapping the bigger namek beneath her. He feigned a helpless look before he ended up breaking into helpless laughter. "Now say it."
"Okay, you're a pain in the ass."
She dug her knees into his ribs, eliciting a yelp from him. "C'mon say it."
"If I do it'll make Trask mad." Piccolo pointed out.
"I'll deal with Trask. Now I want you to say what you've wanted to say." Kihann countered.
Piccolo just helplessly shook his head, giving up. ~Ei ylantai neit~ (a/n *Smirk* I'll let you guys figure out what he said.)
Kihann grinned brightly repeating his words as she released Piccolo's arms and leaned forward kissing his lips privately pleased that he responded back before rolling off of him. "That's all I needed to hear. Mind if I stay here with you tonight?"
Piccolo remained laying on the floor as Kihann sat next to him. "Let me guess, to keep an eye on me for the night?"
"Something like that yes." Kihann shrugged and grinned as she curled up next to Piccolos side, resting her head on his arm, getting comfortable. "My room gets cold."
"Cold doesn't bother us."
"Shut up and go to sleep. You're still too ill to argue."
In the control booth General Mauston grinned as he watched the two; his grin wasn't a pleasant one and those that were there to witness it knew that the smile on his lips was one that was usually reserved for special occasions. Meaning that someone was about to die. "Trask you old bastard, I know you're watching. Sic 'em."
Trask meanwhile fumed silently as he watched from his own video surveillance in his quarters; watched as Piccolo curled his body around Kihann's, much in the way he had with Kihann hundreds of times. He had known Kihann was falling for the other Namek, had known that the bitch was getting away from him, it was inevitable. That was fine with him, he had what he needed now, he'd taken from her all he could, and it was about time to move on. Exiting his rooms he walked down the hallway to a door that two armed guards remained at watch. Waving them aside, he punched the key-code only he and two other people knew of. Entering, Trask immediately crossed over to the small bed that held his attention.
Glancing down at the contents of the bed, he grinned cruelly as the image of Piccolo and Kihann lying side by side surfaced in his head. "Oh, yes this will be fun indeed. Piccolo old fellow you're about to have your wish come true. In fact, I think I will call you out very, very soon." Picking up the items on the bed, he stepped through the door and proceeded down the hallway. "In fact here I come."
"You plan on explaining yourself today, or do I have to persuade you?" Piccolos deep voice hissed coldly, his hands flexing. Kihann flinched slightly.
"It wasn't my intention to deceive you Piccolo; please you have to believe me. There's a circumstance surrounding this situation that you cannot possibly understand! Please you have to trust me on this." Kihann's breath came in short gasps, it was obvious she was in pain; Piccolo had done a fair job in crushing the fingers and the delicate bones in her hands and wrist. He ignored the small jab of guilt he felt for hurting her so badly, reminding himself that he was in this situation because of her and that she could easily heal herself in a matter of days.
"So explain already god dammit, how long do you have to drag this out?" Piccolo surprised himself by responding in such a way; what he really wanted to do was hold her down and tear her apart piece by piece. The feeling of being used didn't sit well with the Namek and it was all he could do to contain the fury he felt. "You put my friends in a very shitty situation, and I don't like being used."
Kihann bit her lip and murmured a dismissal to the guards; to which they frowned but obeyed; watching them exit both of the namek's faced off with each other once more. Kihann's eyes locked with Piccolo's, and for a long tense moment they stared into each others eyes, neither one willing to back down in the battle of wills. Finally it was Kihann who averted her gaze with a bitter sigh. "You have to understand Piccolo that I didn't want to use you. I wanted away from this place, I wanted to get away so badly, but there are things here, things that they're keeping from me and I had no other choice than to come back and do as they asked. I know I tricked you, you and your friends, but I had to Piccolo! You don't realize that you're a fair exchange for what I came back to them for!"
Piccolo snarled, his temper snapping past the breaking point. He launched himself at her, and she screamed in terror and panic as he landed on top of her, knocking her out of the chair. They both tumbled head over heels arms locked against each other, only to break away and begin to pummel at one another. Those watching on the surveillance cameras were amazed by the two's speed and accuracy as they exchanged blows. Both snarling and swearing at one another in their native language. They were rather amazed at how well Kihann held her own, despite the other namek's size, weight and speed; as well as the fact that she was fighting with one broken hand and wrist, and he had both of his hands in play. It only ended when they saw Kihann's fists double up into Piccolos exposed belly during a roll, and fire off a ki blast into the soft area. Without his own ki to protect him the bigger namek doubled over and off of Kihann gasping for air, and unable to continue the fight. She had packed a powerful punch into one small ki shot.
Kihann dragged herself to a corner, bruised badly but no worse for the wear. She had quietly noted (as had those watching) that Piccolo hadn't hit anything vital. No blows had come close to breaking bones or doing internal damage. Coughing and fighting to regain her breath, she gasped; "I could have had the soldiers come in and take care of you Piccolo. I could have had them come in and shoot you, but I didn't. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Piccolo growled deep in his throat, leaning against the wall, wishing for the world that looks really could kill. "The only thing I understand now is that your loyal to only one thing; yourself. So what is it they promised you Kihann, A trip home, a place in their ranks? What was it they promised in exchange for me; did you promise them my friends as well? I know they're listening, waiting with baited breath to see what it is that I may reveal to you Kihann, but you screwed up. You screwed up more than you can possibly understand."
Piccolo felt a sting across his face before he'd even realized Kihann was there at his side, her own clawed hand aimed for his throat. He wondered just exactly what kind of skills she had, how much she had hidden from him, and from Dende. He briefly wondered if she was possibly more powerful than him. But her words shoved away any wondering he may have had. "You understand nothing Piccolo. Not a blessed thing, like I told you, you egotistical idiot, that there is a situation that you cannot even begin to comprehend! You wouldn't understand it because you've never experienced it."
Piccolo felt pressure on his ribs, grunting softly as she pressed her knee into his chest, snapping one rib, then a second, then finally a third. He couldn't draw in a proper breath to respond.
"Kihann darling, leave him be now." Trask's voice drawled from the doorway, causing them both to jump, neither one having an idea he'd been standing there. Kihann stood up slowly relieving the pressure on Piccolo's chest and somewhat limped to Trask's side. Trask chuckled faintly and tweaked one of Kihann's ears as she walked by. "You play too rough Kihann. You didn't even give him a chance to get in a decent blow before you had him down."
Kihann jerked her head away from the man snarling softly. "Keep your filthy human hands off of me Trask."
Trask again chuckled as she departed, then turned to look at Piccolo over, lighting a cigarette. "I trained her myself when I was younger. Although she doesn't recall the sessions; chances are I doubt she recalls much of what happened between her and me. Cryo-stasis can do that to a person, make them forget things. But that's alright by me; I can always remind her later."
Piccolo warily watched Trask, not liking the implications of Trask's words and he knew he was in no condition to fight, and he knew that Trask was aware of it as well. His chest hurt like blazes and the rake marks Kihann left across his cheek felt hot and prickly. He wasn't even going to consider the damage done to his pride on this round. "You come to gloat over Kihann's betrayal or just stand there looking like a moron? Because you know, I'm not really in the mood to socialize."
"No of course not. I'm here to let you know that the real fun begins tomorrow. I suggest taking a long nap, because tomorrow is when you and Doctor Murashi become real close and personal." Trask shrugged and stepped into the hallway, the door hissing shut behind him.
Piccolo picked himself up slowly, not giving any outward sign that he was injured; not allowing those watching to see any emotion on his features. Finding a clean corner of the room, free of any glass and blood, he took the humans advice; as he lay down, Piccolo considered the options he was presented with now. Kihann had betrayed him. But betray for what purpose? She had claimed that he couldn't possibly understand that he'd never experienced it; experience what? What was it that she had gone through that he hadn't? What was it that had brought her back to this place, and she had risked everything for? The past few weeks had been a good time for him, he'd thought he'd finally found someone he could not only relate to, but possibly open up and become close with. She'd talked a few times about knowing that things would never be the same for her, and he had hinted at the fact that he wouldn't have minded taking her on as a student and as a friend, she had grinned at him and had teasingly asked about being more than friends, to which he'd vehemently denied..but still.. Looking back now, he'd wondered if he'd even gone as far as to starting to develop feelings for her, and now after all this he wondered just how much she had been leading him on, not just on a personal level, but on any level. These questions and thoughts gnawed at him until pain and exhaustion forced him to succumb to sleep.
Piccolo was awake long before anyone came to see him the next day. He sat against the wall farthest from the door and attempted to meditate, mull over what had happened yesterday. After about an hour he'd come to the conclusion that Kihann hadn't really betrayed him, that if she had wanted to, and had consciously wanted to, she could have trapped him in the Cyscal Gene Labs, the military could have been laying in wait the whole time.
None of this makes sense. Everything seems too jagged to fit together. I do believe that the military had been watching me, and the other fighters, but I don't think Kihann had anything to do with it. And as for what she said about not understanding what she'd been through, she's right. I have no clue, but if she had told me, if they were keeping something from her that was important to her, all she'd have had to do was ask and I'd have gone and gotten it for her. But what could they possibly have that she couldn't have again?
Piccolo would have pondered on it further if the door hadn't of drawn his attention away from his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes as Murashi entered followed by Trask, the General and finally Kihann; Piccolos eyes lingering on Kihann as the door closed. He silently noted that she kept herself as far away from Trask and the General as possible. Preferring to either stand off by herself, or closer to Murashi.
Trask grimaced at the mess that had been left, and commented on how it should have been picked up. The General snapped back with "If the damn thing wants to act like an animal, let it live in its own filth like one."
Murashi approached Piccolo murmuring a good morning before starting another exam, this time checking the wounds that had been received from the fight the night before. He allowed the doctor to approach, his eyes staying on Kihann, Piccolo murmured softly in their language; ~Ei outan bosoatar~ (I wanted to apologize.)
Kihann shrugged a slender shoulder keeping her eyes on the floor. ~Ei lamante et~ (I deserved it.) ~eokc, ei lema etaozz yiroth aigreo neit orln. ~ (Besides, I wasn't very honest with you either.)
The General glowered menacingly at the two as they talked. "We do have people to translate, so talking in your language isn't going to help."
Piccolo snorted and smirked at the General but said nothing. Murashi finished up his examination, deemed Piccolo fine enough to get some general blood work and possibly to test his physical limits. Motioning him to stand, Murashi stepped off to one side as Trask moved in and placed cuffs on Piccolo's wrists. Piccolo gave the cuffs a look and shook his head, flexing his muscles he snapped the cuffs and waited as Trask and the General grew flustered over the incident. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm not going to fight anyone; there's no need for you to even bother with cuffs, chains, manacles, or whatever you have in mind for restraining me, I already agreed to stay on Kihann's behalf, and despite what happened yesterday, I will remain true to my agreement. You have me, what more do you guys need to do to prove to yourselves that I'm not going anywhere?"
Kihann hid a grin behind her hand as she turned away; the General gave Piccolo an evil look before snapping to Trask that if the damn thing tried anything funny to shoot it in the head. Murashi gave a slight smile as he caught Kihann's look and exited.
Trask nudged Piccolo with an elbow and motioned for the door. "C'mon, out with you, and try not to piss off the general, okay? I really don't want to have to deal with him in a pissed off mood all day."
Piccolo shrugged. "If I have to suffer Trask, well then so do you."
And suffer they made him. By the end of the day, Piccolo felt as if he'd been tortured in every possible way, Murashi subjected him to every test imaginable from simple blood work to even going as far as drawing spinal fluid. The spinal tap was the worst, being forced to lie still while they jammed a needle in his back. Murashi did his best to be careful, and had warned the Namek that yes some of the blood and fluid draw could or would be painful.
Once he'd been escorted back to his room, he'd been informed that tomorrow he'd have to go through exploratory surgery. He passed out, barely hearing them as they explained what would happen.
That experience left Piccolo in agony, he recalled Murashi apologizing, asking for forgiveness for hurting him. Murashi tried hard to keep Piccolo under, but every anesthetic wore off after an hour or so, the pain killers were nothing more than water dripping through the namek's veins. The surgery lasted for four hours, but to Piccolo it lasted an eternity. Piccolo dimly recalled the gleaming smirk on the Generals face as he watched from the observation booth above.
Day after day he was tested, operated on, even had various diseases injected to see what they would do. After a while, the days blurred into one long endless test; one thing blurring into another until he didn't know what they were doing, why and after a while he stopped recalling who they were.
The days passed into weeks, weeks passed into a month, then two. Piccolo soon forgot all about the outside world; his world was here, with Trask, the General, Doctor Murashi and Kihann. His world consisted of a tiny room, sometimes a different room depending on what they were doing, he couldn't recall the outside, couldn't remember the clearing he'd called home for so long, Gohan, and the others seemed like a rapidly fading dream.
He lived in a world of drug induced sleep, pain and sensory deprivation. Piccolo lived in a black blanket, where only dim light came through, muffled sound, and pain. He'd stopped questioning them, stopped questioning himself; and worst of all, he'd stopped caring.
Almost stopped caring; Kihann had become the center of the universe, the small sun that kept the rest of the universe together. The planets that were named Pain, Confusion, and Hatred circled around her, never touching her never being a part of her, but in this universe she was the center and everything else floated around in a dizzying pattern. She'd done her best to reconcile with Piccolo and he'd done his best to give her the benefit of the doubt. Particularly after one grueling day, as Piccolo laid half conscious in his room, listening to a conversation between Trask and Kihann. He assumed that they thought him unconscious, or they'd have not talked the way they have, or so he'd thought.
"You guys are killing him. That wasn't part of the deal Trask." Kihann's voice was a harsh whisper to Piccolo's ears; she sat with Piccolo's head in her lap, washing his forehead with a damp cloth. It felt good, and the coolness helped calm his nerves, they'd subjected him to a battery of tests, injecting him with some disease, a name he couldn't recall, all he knew was that it made his joints ache, and left him feeling far to weak to move. He knew he'd recover, diseases didn't affect Nameks in general; not the diseases humans often carried with them.
"He agreed to it for your sake, love. What did you expect?" Trask responded not as softly as Kihann had. "The stupid thing seems quite taken up with you, considering most wouldn't allow themselves to be guinea pigs for the military in place of someone else."
"Don't call me that!" She hissed at him.
"Call you what, love?" Trask's tone became slightly mocking. Piccolo heard the soft rustle of cloth as Trask approached Kihann. "You never seemed to mind it before, that is until you met him."
"I minded it before. I minded it a lot and told you not to call me that. I'm not your partner, mate, whatever. I've only done what I've had to tolerate to keep those I care about safe." Kihann's tone was acidic. Piccolo wondered just what she'd had to do to keep him safe, and who else she had to think about.
Trask must have responded with a gesture, since Piccolo didn't hear any response. The only sound he heard was the door hissing open and shut; he took that as a sign that Trask had left.
Sighing softly Kihann sat with the damp towel in her hands wringing it worriedly. It was true; she'd enjoyed Trask's attentions before. Maybe not some of the attention he insisted on giving, but even then that was forgettable. She'd enjoyed the things he'd brought for her from the outside world before, the little trinkets and baubles from this world that had seemed so foreign to her, yet commonplace to Trask. Kihann had thought she'd found a friend and someone she could confide in when she'd met Trask. After all he was so very much like her, or so he'd claimed. He'd told her that he believed that he wasn't quite human, but had never found out; and for all she knew, he could be alien like her. They'd grown quite close during the first few years she'd been in the facility. She hadn't been completely truthful when she'd sent the dream images to Piccolo. She'd shortened the time, made it seem like she'd not been in the facility long, but in truth she'd been there for over twenty five to thirty years. Had been a part of the military's program the entire time, Trask training her, teaching her to hunt, and to gather information, among other things. Staring down at Piccolo she wondered how long it would be before he discovered the truth. How long it would be before he found out what they'd done to him as well.
Piccolo's hand reached up slowly cupping her face in his warm hand. She blinked slightly startled, not having realized that he was awake. "You look worried."
Kihann exhaled slowly, dipping the towel in the water, resuming her ministrations.
"There is much to be worried about Piccolo."
"Things. are not going the way you'd been told, are they."
"No, they're not. But you shouldn't worry about that now."
"I have to. This involves more than just you and I, doesn't it." Piccolo's fevered eyes focused on Kihann's sapphire blue eyes. "There's something you're not telling me, and you're scared to tell me."
Kihann laughed faintly, eyes darting to the door. "There's a lot that I haven't told you Piccolo; a lot I want to tell you, but lack the words to say them properly. There's a lot I can't tell you right now. It's not the time or the place; I'd tell you if I could Piccolo, there's so much I want to tell you, share with you; but it could end up hurting you in the end."
It was Piccolo's turn to laugh softly. "They're killing me now. What more could they do to me Kihann?"
Kihann's eyes half closed and she murmured, "They could prolong the process, they could start hurting San-Yi, or they could hurt others, don't forget they're holding San-Yi's family here as well, his daughter."
Piccolo pushed away Kihann's hand from his forehead as he sat up, fighting the wave of dizziness that ensued. "Then when? When will you tell me the truth? Or I should say all of the truth. Can you at least give me what you can?"
Kihann closed her eyes, sighing softly as her shoulders slumped; she tugged on Piccolos arm coaxing him to lie back down, and his head in her lap once more. "I guess I owe you that much, lie down and I'll tell you what I can."
Piccolo complied, lying back down and getting comfortable; he allowed his eyes to close, he knew Kihann could sense if he was awake or asleep. He smiled faintly as she began her voice soothing his frayed nerves. "You knew the lab you found me in had been around for almost eighty years. That San- Yi had founded the lab with private funding until he'd started to get into stem cell research and into the use of aborted human fetuses for looking at cures to diseases. What wasn't known was that he also had looked into cloning; after all it was taboo to use aborted fetuses for scientific research; people protested his lab, protested his home and he'd had more than one attempt on his life by zealot right to life protestors. His wife left him after the fourth attempt on his life, of course she supported him, supported his work What could be a more noble cause than finding cures to diseases? But she couldn't hand the constant harassment, the constant phone calls and death threats. Even their children had to be privately schooled because no public learning facility would accept them; they were told that they caused a high risk in security for the rest of their students and for the faculty.
As I was saying, his wife took their youngest daughter and left the country; leaving their oldest daughter with San-Yi. San-Yi's daughter Rain, decided to stay with her father, knowing that he'd need someone to take care of him. Rain at the age of ten developed some disease, I'm not sure what kind, Murashi told me once but I never could recall it properly. It starts with an M and has an odd name. It strikes the nervous system rendering them immobile and often times to wallow in pain as the disease strikes at their muscles, nerves and organs. It robs them of their speech, motor functions; it generally makes their lives a living hell. I saw her once or twice; she's such a pretty little thing, so tiny, with the blackest hair you can imagine." Kihann's voice took on a soft tone; one Piccolo had heard Chichi use when she used to talk about Gohan as a child to other people.
"Anyways, when San-Yi's private funding providers abandoned him just short of ten years into his research, he was lost." Kihann caught the inhalation of breath, knowing what question Piccolo was about to ask; "Yes, before you ask, this is well before I came along. The vision I did send you is truthful when it implied that I had been caught well after San-Yi had joined with the military, accepting their funding. San-Yi wasn't happy that the General in charge had deemed his facility a holding place for aliens. But he had no choice, Lieutenant Yasan, the man who was over seeing all this had said that if Murashi didn't comply that he'd make sure San-Yi's family suffered."
Kihann fell silent for a moment, trying to sort out what she could and couldn't tell Piccolo. It was all so complicated, and even then some of the things she'd been told she knew were lies. "What I'm telling you Piccolo, may or may not be the truth, what I have been told, what I've learned for myself, and I'm sure as you've figured out by now, that this entire place was built up on lie after lie, occasionally truth being tossed in for foundation. But I can tell you this; the cloning I mentioned earlier? San- Yi had been successful in the cloning process. The outside world doesn't know much about it, the military has kept it a secret for the past fifty years. The San-Yi Murashi you know, the one who's been with us the whole time, isn't the real San-Yi Murashi. He's one of the first successful clones that survived the process, the first San-Yi died about five years after my capture."
Piccolo slowly opened his eyes and stared up at Kihann. "One of the first successful.." He trailed off, waiting and dreading to find out what Kihann may say next.
"I was the third." Kihann murmured softly. "My original body was damaged badly by the alien in the vision. That creature tore me apart beyond any way that I could heal myself or the doctors could repair. They took samples of my core make-up and had me rebuilt. If you go back into the vision, if you recall it you'll notice that it makes hardly any sense; that is if you search deep down, and try to piece things together. Does this all make sense now, in some way? These guys," She motioned to the room, indicating those that were watching, listening; "Are trying to fine tune the cloning process, trying to weed out any genetic defects. We Nameks, you and I are nearly perfect for their research; we heal quickly, adapt to our surroundings in ways that it could take humans a generation or two to adapt to. Our ability to not require food, only water, and our speed, endurance and general stamina is what makes us sought after. Our defiance to disease is what attracted not only the military but Murashi to use us. I've been with Murashi for almost thirty years; being a willing subject, wanting to help him save his daughter. She should be grown and with children of her own by now, but Murashi used the Cryo-capsules to put her to sleep when she was thirteen, knowing that he didn't have much time left to find a cure for her. Like me you have the core make up of the original Nameks, you have the ability to regain a gender, and the power that our new relatives lack. I know your history Piccolo, considering that was your Kami's name before you two split and then rejoined."
Piccolo blinked slowly, surprised by her words. "I'll be damned."
Kihann smiled faintly, bending over to kiss Piccolo's forehead. "It's not that big of a secret, I knew that when I had left, someone else had prepared a second space ship to send another namek off into space. Odd that it happened to be the same planet? Maybe, maybe not; only the fates know."
"Piccolo hmm'd softly, closing his eyes again. "This sounds like one of those stories you'd hear about in book. I have a question though, where does Trask fit into this?"
Kihann chewed her lip a bit, she knew that Trask would be listening; he always followed her, and always listened in on everything she said. "Trask." She trailed off uncertainly. "Trask is the second successful clone created. Trask is the son of that thing that you saw in my vision."
Piccolo jerked upright and spun to face her. "He's what?!"
Kihann met Piccolos outburst head on. "He's the son of that thing, that thing that they tried to get me to couple with."
"You mean that Trask is your son?" Piccolo's look of confusion almost made Kihann laugh, and she shook her head.
"No, no Trask isn't my son. That thing that they tried to get me to be with was female as well. Except they didn't know it, what it was trying to do to me was place a symbiotic thing inside me, to take control That's what that alien was trying to do; find another host. It knew that the body it currently resided in was dying, it too had been wounded in its initial capture, and all it wanted was to survive. The scientists didn't realize this, and had thought it was trying to mate. But in order for the symbiotic creature to move onto another host it had to simulate the act of mating, it was all confusing, not only to me, but to the scientists as well. That part of the vision is true; and the symbiotic couldn't carry over to me, my body would reject it every time, so it had no choice but to stay within its current body."
Piccolo frowned recalling the corpse he'd seen in the first lab he'd come to when he'd searched for Kihann. "There was something in a cryo-capsule that I came across before I found you. Its chest cavity had been burst open; was that it?"
Kihann nodded; "Probably, yes. Trask looks human because that's what the symbiotic wanted it to look like. But in all actuality Trask is as alien as you and I, except that he accepts the alien creature living within him, using its power and strength to its full advantage; and that also would explain why he's their lead person for searching out aliens."
Piccolo considered a few things before speaking up again. "So why don't they use Trask for cloning and research?"
Kihann sighed and shook her head. "Trask doesn't have the abilities we possess. He's just a cloned body, with a creature living inside him. Trask is the genetic combination of the best attributes humans have to offer, he being one of the first successful genes splicing and recombining and cloning. He's the first among his kind;" Kihann shrugged her shoulders and shivered. She'd spent many hours with Trask, and she knew just how ugly he could get, just how powerful he was. Unconsciously she moved closer to Piccolo and only relaxed when he slipped an arm around her, leaning back against the wall, allowing her to rest her head against his chest. "Trask considers me his, if all truth be told. His mate and his partner and if you're wondering yes we have slept together, and he's severely jealous of you."
Piccolo snorted, chuckling. "What's he jealous for? He's free, I'm not. You're helping them of your own will just as he is. It's not like I'm going to call him out and challenge him for rights over you." He fell silent for a moment, his hand idly rubbing her arm. "Not that I wouldn't if I had the opportunity."
Kihann raised a brow ridge, Piccolo's words confusing her. "Meaning, you'd call him out for the sheer challenge, or if it came down to it you'd fight for rights over me?"
"Kihann you're your own person. Meaning you can make your own decisions, and pick whoever you want to like. If you like Trask, who am I to complain? It's your life; but yes I guess if you want I'll admit that I'd happily take Trask on in a fight if it meant your freedom."
Kihann sighed softly, not sure if that was the answer she'd been looking for or not. "I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the idea that you'd fight for me if it came down to it."
Piccolo grinned to himself and squeezed Kihann in a one armed hug. "You want me to admit something else, don't you?"
Kihann smirked to no one. "Maybe that is if it's the truth, and not something you expect me to hear."
"What if I don't want to admit it?" Piccolo was enjoying this particular little game, knowing that those listening would be getting frustrated and annoyed, as well as Kihann getting agitated.
"Just admit it!" Kihann poked the others' ribs, grinning evilly.
Piccolo looked around as if he was unsure of where he was at and had lost track of the conversation. "Admit what?"
"Piccolo, stop being so mean!" Kihann whined as she shoved the bigger namek back, and then straddled him to sit on his chest. "Now say it."
"Hey what happened to tending to me? You know, what we were doing before?" Piccolo grinned maliciously, letting Kihann get comfortable on his chest, and he rested his head on his arms, folding his arms behind his head. "And say what? That you're a pain in the ass?"
She nodded, starting to agree then growled; "NO! I'm not a pain in the ass!" Placing a hand on each of Piccolo's arms she pressed down, effectively trapping the bigger namek beneath her. He feigned a helpless look before he ended up breaking into helpless laughter. "Now say it."
"Okay, you're a pain in the ass."
She dug her knees into his ribs, eliciting a yelp from him. "C'mon say it."
"If I do it'll make Trask mad." Piccolo pointed out.
"I'll deal with Trask. Now I want you to say what you've wanted to say." Kihann countered.
Piccolo just helplessly shook his head, giving up. ~Ei ylantai neit~ (a/n *Smirk* I'll let you guys figure out what he said.)
Kihann grinned brightly repeating his words as she released Piccolo's arms and leaned forward kissing his lips privately pleased that he responded back before rolling off of him. "That's all I needed to hear. Mind if I stay here with you tonight?"
Piccolo remained laying on the floor as Kihann sat next to him. "Let me guess, to keep an eye on me for the night?"
"Something like that yes." Kihann shrugged and grinned as she curled up next to Piccolos side, resting her head on his arm, getting comfortable. "My room gets cold."
"Cold doesn't bother us."
"Shut up and go to sleep. You're still too ill to argue."
In the control booth General Mauston grinned as he watched the two; his grin wasn't a pleasant one and those that were there to witness it knew that the smile on his lips was one that was usually reserved for special occasions. Meaning that someone was about to die. "Trask you old bastard, I know you're watching. Sic 'em."
Trask meanwhile fumed silently as he watched from his own video surveillance in his quarters; watched as Piccolo curled his body around Kihann's, much in the way he had with Kihann hundreds of times. He had known Kihann was falling for the other Namek, had known that the bitch was getting away from him, it was inevitable. That was fine with him, he had what he needed now, he'd taken from her all he could, and it was about time to move on. Exiting his rooms he walked down the hallway to a door that two armed guards remained at watch. Waving them aside, he punched the key-code only he and two other people knew of. Entering, Trask immediately crossed over to the small bed that held his attention.
Glancing down at the contents of the bed, he grinned cruelly as the image of Piccolo and Kihann lying side by side surfaced in his head. "Oh, yes this will be fun indeed. Piccolo old fellow you're about to have your wish come true. In fact, I think I will call you out very, very soon." Picking up the items on the bed, he stepped through the door and proceeded down the hallway. "In fact here I come."