CHAPTER TWO: Fifth Found
Father and son sat silently (accidental alliteration again) in the room, having nothing to say despite their thought-provoking situation.
Finally Krillin stirred. He sat up without hesitation, completely unhurt but for a minor abrasion on his forehead. Immediately aware, he scrambled over to Goku and Gohan, asking the same questions Goku had asked.
The Sons answered as well as they could, and then they all continued sitting in silence.
Shade came in a while later with two large trays balanced precariously on his outstretched arms. Goku wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Shade using his foot to hit the button on the keypad.
"Dinnertime," he said, setting the trays down carefully in the center of the room. "Feelin' alright?" he asked Krillin. After receiving a nod, he went over to Vegeta. After plucking the dart out, he pressed a device against Vegeta's neck – the same one he'd used to wake Gohan up.
"Hey," he said when the Saiyan woke up. "Go eat." Without another word he left and began typing on the large control panel outside.
"Insolent child," Vegeta muttered, sitting up.
"Try not to attack him again, okay?" Goku said. "He's been tortured enough as it is. And besides, he's pretty nice."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow, then chuckled a little and moved to the trays.
You're hurt, aren't you?
A little.
I don't believe you.
It might bruise. More than a little, I suppose.
One of the prisoners?
Yeah.
Don't hurt them back, remember.
I didn't. And I won't. I know how it feels, remember.
Of course. And don't forget… we need them alive.
Yes, sir.
Shade put the phone down and went back to the control panel. He pressed several buttons, and then crossed his arms and stared at the screen for a long moment. Finally he opened the door to the cell and said, "Hey, Goku. What's your race called?"
"Shrrrnns," Goku replied around a mouthful of food.
"I'll wait." Amusement tinged Shade's voice.
"Saiyan," Vegeta said for Goku. "We're Saiyans."
"Spell it for me?"
Vegeta did. Shade thanked him and ran back to the control panel. He hastily typed in the word before he forgot how to spell it.
The phone rang. Shade sighed exasperatedly and ripped the phone off the hook.
"Talk!" he commanded. "I'm in the middle of someth – " He cut himself off and listened to the voice on the other end for a while. "A what?" he said after a moment. "You sure you can't – " He was cut off again. "Yeah, okay. I'm coming." He hung the phone up, grabbed his rifle, and dashed out the other door.
"Wonder what that was about," Krillin mused.
"Didn't sound good," Gohan said. "Hope everything's okay."
"He's just a kid, isn't he?"
Vegeta snorted. The others ignored him.
"Running off into something that sounded like an emergency – and he brought his rifle!" Krillin crossed his arms. Meanwhile, Vegeta had clapped his hand over his nose and mouth, trying not to let his food go flying as a result of his cracking up.
"What do you find so funny?" Goku demanded.
Vegeta lost it. He fell over backward, screaming with laughter. He tried to say something, but he couldn't manage.
"He lost it," Krillin whispered, leaning closer to Gohan.
"Maybe it was that dart Shade shot him with," Gohan replied.
"Shade shot him? Wow. I wonder if his mother knows he's dealing with guns and stuff."
Vegeta laughed even louder.
"Would you shut up!!"
Shade returned nearly an hour later. He was with a large group of similarly uniformed men, all of them taller than him. In fact, it was difficult to locate Shade among the others.
They were all trying to lead an even taller figure to the door. A metal mask hid his – her – its face, and shredded bits of what might have been a straightjacket hung from its arms as it was prodded with the rifles of the many guards. They finally got it into the room, and as it threw itself at the door they locked it tightly.
"He's all yours," one guard said to Shade. They all left in a hurry.
Gohan was the first to recognize their new roommate. "Piccolo…?"
The Namek turned. "Gohan!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised. He went over. "How long have you been here?"
"Not long… what did they do to you?" Gohan looked closer. The mask was locked electronically, and many of the small white tranquilizer darts were sticking randomly out of him. There were even a few bullet wounds.
The door reopened before Piccolo could reply. Shade stumbled in, looking dazed. He nearly collapsed beside Piccolo, but managed to keep his balance as he slid a card along a seam of the mask. It fell in two halves, revealing Piccolo's badly bruised face. The boy began plucking the darts out, completely silent.
"Um, Shade…" Krillin got a little closer. "Are you bleeding?"
Shade grunted and kept pulling the darts out of Piccolo.
Krillin reached over and put a hand against Shade's right side, where his jacket was soaked with blood. The boy slapped his hand away and took a few breaths before continuing his task.
When all the darts were in a little pile on the floor, Shade took out yet another device. He pulled away what was left of the straightjacket and lifted Piccolo's shirt.
"This might… no, probably will hurt." He put the little machine on one of the bullet wounds and pressed a button. Piccolo roared and dug his nails into the floor – they left marks even on the metal. But the worst of the pain was over nearly as soon as it had started. Shade pulled the device away; it had managed to remove the bullet completely.
"One more." Moving around to Piccolo's back, Shade repeated the process. Piccolo knew what to expect and didn't seem to be affected as badly as the first time.
"I don't have any bandages," the boy said after searching through his many pockets. His voice seemed fainter, almost weak. "I'll be… right… back…" Slowly getting to his feet, he made his way back to the door.
But halfway there, he cried out and fell over, clinging to the wall for support. Goku, Gohan and Krillin rushed over. Vegeta seemed concerned, but didn't move; Piccolo didn't seem to notice.
"G… get… away… from me…" Shade tried feebly to push them away, but he just ended up losing his balance and falling completely.
"You were shot?" Gohan asked.
"Yeah. The morons were just firing wildly, trying to get the… Namek… to calm down. I wasn't the only one hit… a few men are probably dead."
"How do you work this thing?" Goku asked, holding up the thing Shade had used to get the bullets out. The boy had dropped it when he fell.
"Don't touch that!" Shade yelled. "Put it down!"
Goku complied, letting it fall to the floor.
"I… I'll be… right… back." Shade got to his feet, using Gohan's shoulder as a support. He bent to pick up the device, and got to the door without a problem.
"I really don't think he should be moving around like that," Gohan said.
"He's nearing shock," Vegeta muttered, adding the tiniest bit of emphasis on the pronoun. No one noticed.
Shade returned moments later with a white box in his arms. Before he could get a meter into the room a wave of dizziness overcame him and he passed out, the box clattering to the floor.
Everyone stared. No one moved.
"Oh, boy," Krillin whispered. "This… this is bad."
"He's not dead, is he?" Gohan asked.
"No, he's breathing."
Vegeta went over to Shade first. Everyone else stayed back, watching.
Though no one else could see, Vegeta carefully removed Shade's balaclava. The left side of Shade's face was darkened where Vegeta's fist had connected earlier.
"I knew it," Vegeta whispered before he remembered that Piccolo would be able to hear him. He'd known since the moment Shade had put the device up to him.
He was surprised nobody else had figured it out yet. But, Shade wasn't letting them know – Vegeta would keep the boy's secret for the time being.
After replacing the balaclava, careful not to touch the bruise, Vegeta loosened Shade's belt and opened his jacket. Pulling up one side of the shirt Shade wore underneath, Vegeta revealed the two bullet holes in the boy's side.
"Huh. One minute he's beating the kid up," Goku said, watching as Vegeta reached for the discarded device, "and the next, he's helping him. Wonder what's up?"
"He knows something we don't," Piccolo said.
"Like what?"
The Namek shrugged.
"Ah – " Shade tensed as Vegeta pressed the device to his side. "Aaaaaaagghh!!" he screamed, writhing in pain.
Holding the boy down with his free hand, Vegeta whispered, "Don't move too much."
Shade glanced down and saw that his jacket was open. "You…" He clenched his teeth mid-sentence as Vegeta removed the second bullet, still holding Shade down. "Hey, watch where you put your hands, buddy."
Vegeta moved his hand to Shade's shoulder, grunting an apology. He reached for the box that Shade had dropped and took out some bandages, then slid the rest to Piccolo.
A few moments later, Shade got to his feet, zipping his jacket back up. "Thanks," he muttered to Vegeta. He sighed a little, and then stood above Piccolo.
"Do you need anything?" he asked. "I hope they treated you at least a little better than what I saw."
Piccolo grunted and shrugged.
"Thirsty?"
"Hn."
"Tired?"
"Hn."
"Pissed at the world?" Shade chuckled a little. "Kami knows I am. Anyways… if any of you need anything, I'll be out there. I'll see what I can do about some painkillers, but I can't make any promises." As he moved to the door, he stopped next to Vegeta and muttered something under his breath. Only Piccolo heard: "Keep your mouth shut or I'll have your head."