Disclaimer; No, I do not own DBZ and I most certainly not own the pitiful excuse for a show GT! Man, I feel sorry for who ever owns that…
A/N; Well I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. It is quite intense, and has some strong language. So just to be on the safe side I have raised the rating of this fic to R. I want to dedicate this chapter to Sailor J-chan/2xH 4Ever/Psyco (what a long pen name you have) because you are a great K.18 author and one of my longest reviewers, thanks, and this one's for you.
Everyone else, I hope you all enjoy this chapter – and don't get to mad at me because there is some swearing… and I'll try to get the next chapter up in a week or two!
-Deadly Beauty
Chapter Five
18 rolled onto her side and slowly blinked. It was almost 3 in the morning, but she wasn't in the least bit sleepy. She had napped late in the afternoon, on Krillens orders. But she was quite sure that even if she hadn't of slept, that she would still be awake right now.
A smile touched her lips as she watched Krillen sleep beside her. He looked so peaceful. 18 wondered what he was dreaming about, if he was even dreaming at all, and she sighed. 18 didn't dream often, and if she did, her dreams were usually bad.
Sighing, 18 pushed herself up into a sitting position and rested her head on her knees. She wasn't tired, but she didn't want to go down stairs. 17 was down there. She didn't want to be down their with him, or did she? Groaning, she raked her hands back through her sleep-tousled hair, she didn't know what she wanted any more. In only 2 short days, her life had been turned completely upside down.
Turning, she picked up a photo, it was of herself and 17 on her wedding day. She was beaming from ear to ear – never had she felt as happy as she did on that day, he however, was forcing the small smile on his face, 18 could tell. Why had he even bothered to come if he was only pretending to be happy for her?
"Why 17?" she whispered to the photo. "Why'd you do this to me? Why? I was happy, we were all happy. Why can't you just let me be?" a tear slipped down her cheeks and splashed onto the glass of the frame, followed by another and another.
"Dammit" she muttered as she wiped at her face – it didn't help though. Reaching over, she flicked on the bedside lamp and grabbed a handful of tissues. Beside her, Krillen stirred and sat up.
"Is it morning already?" he asked through a yawn as he stretched his arms skywards.
"No. Go to sleep. It's the middle of the night" 18 replied as she dabbed the tissues at the corners of her eyes.
Mumbling something, Krillen rested his head on the pillow, only to be sitting up again with his eyes wide open, seconds later. "Why are you crying?" he asked, "What's happened?" He was fully awake now.
"Nothing. Nothing happened. I'm fine," she looked at him, flashing him a smile which looked as fake as it felt. "Go back to sleep"
"I'll go back to sleep, when you go back to sleep. Why don't you tell me what's keeping you up"
18 looked at him, "isn't it obvious?" she asked, clutching the frame tighter in her small hands.
"Let me have that" Krillen said with a sigh as he took the photo from 18 and placed it in the draws on his side of the bed. "We're not thinking about him anymore tonight. Understood?"
Sighing, 18 shuffled across the bed and rested her head on Krillens shoulder. "Fine" she agreed with him. "How do you always manage to make me feel good?" she asked.
"It's all I want" Krillen replied, "and when you want something as badly as I want for you to be happy, you'll stop at nothing to achieve it. How do you make me feel good?"
"Why don't you tell me how I do it" 18 replied
"You make me feel good by just being here everyday"
"That's it?" 18 asked raising an eyebrow
"Well, that and when you kiss me of course"
"Like this?" 18 asked as her lips met with Krillens in a passion filled kiss.
"Exactly like that" replied Krillen once the kiss finally ended, "Now why don't we go back to sleep"
---------------
"Dada" Marron stood up in her crib and smiled when her father entered the room.
"Good morning firefly." Krillen lifted Marron out of the crib, kissed her on the cheek then changed her diaper and headed down stairs for some breakfast.
"Who dat?" Marron asked as they passed through the lounge room. Krillen shook his head and sighed, Marron had asked that same question at least 5 times now. "That's 17, firefly. Stay away from him, he's bad news" he replied as he clutched Marron tighter and walked into the kitchen.
Master Roshi was already sitting there, sipping a coffee when Krillen and Marron entered. "Morning Master" Krillen greeted, placing Marron on his lap.
"Morning boy. Sleep well?"
Krillen rolled his eyes, as he poured himself some coffee, "no"
"No?" Roshi asked
"It's all 17's fault. He's gotten 18 all worked up, this whole mess is really upsetting her. She won't admit it of course, but she doesn't know what to do. I want to help her, but I can't, I'll be the first to admit I don't know how"
"I don't think I'm the one you need to be talking to boy"
Krillen sighed, "I know," he raked his hands back through his raven hair "I've tried talking to her Master but it does nothing. She needs to come to her own conclusion. All I can do is support her, be the best husband I can to her right now"
---
18 rolled over onto her side and sighed. Outside the sky was a glorious blue – how dare the weather be so perfect when she was anything but. Her head was a mess. Was it right to help 17 at the risk of her family? Was her family even at risk? There were so many questions she didn't have answers to and she hated it. She hated not knowing what to do.
Out of all the confusion, she was however, able to come to one conclusion. This was her own fault, she had been at the centre of this whether she realised it or not. If she had not rejected her brother, then he would be all right. But still, did that justify putting her baby girl in potential danger. If anything ever happened to Marron, 18 would never forgive herself. She loved her daughter with every last fibre in her body, she was everything to her and 18 would stop at nothing to keep her baby safe.
She was taken from her musings by a knocking at the door, "yeah" she called, and then watched as the door swung open and Krillen walked in carrying a cup of coffee for her.
"Thanks" she said as she took the warm mug from her husband's hands.
"It's alright" he replied turning to leave the room.
"Hey, where are you going?" 18 called from behind him.
"Oh, I," Krillen turned to face 18, "I thought you might of wanted to be alone"
"I hate being alone. You know that" 18 flashed him somewhat of a smile. She patted the bed beside her and Krillen gladly came and sat down. "It's a nice day" he commented, breaking the silence that loomed over the couple.
"Yeah," 18 replied as she sipped her morning coffee, "a little to nice if you ask me"
"There is no such thing as a day that is too nice sweetheart" Krillen disagreed with her, "and we're not going to waste this glorious day inside. We're going to have fun. So come on, get up, get dressed. We'll meet you outside in ten"
18 rolled her eyes, how was it that Krillen was so eternally optimistic? Always saw the bright side of life. She envied her husband for that. Envied him, but she couldn't argue with him. "Fine"
---------------
The first thing that gave away to 17 the fact that he was still alive was the faint sound of music. It filled his ears, gradually getting louder and louder until he was able to make out the words. Forcing his heavy eyelids open, all 17 was greeted with was a blur of dull colours, his eyes focused in and out, but after only a few minutes he felt he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.
"What the fuck?" he mumbled to himself as he inhaled deeply. He tried to sit up, but his body felt like it weighed ten tons. "What's going on?"
Why was he awake? Was he in hell? No he couldn't be. He was alive. This wasn't supposed to have happened. He was supposed to be dead. That lead to another question, where the heck was he? This couldn't possibly be his cabin, he didn't possess a radio, and he couldn't smell the horrid stench he lived with. In fact, he could smell salt, it was as if he were by the….
'Oh shit' 17 cursed to himself as it all clicked. He knew where he was. On the wretched Kame Island. Which meant his sister and her family were here as well. This was not how his plan was meant to work at all. This was wrong, all very very wrong.
Opening his eyes again, 17 realised he could see properly now, and he had to smirk at what greeted him.
A small child, sitting in the corner of the room, playing with a pile of blocks, totally and utterly oblivious as to the danger her small life was in. It was then that an idea popped into 17's head. Maybe it wasn't all bad that he had been brought here. If his attempt to kill himself hadn't crushed 18, then surly he would be able to destroy her in person.
"Marron" he called out to the small girl. Dropping the block she was holding, Marron lifted her small head and turned to look at the man on the couch.
"Come here Marron" 17 cooed to her.
Marron however, shook her head, she had no intensions of approaching a strange man.
"It's ok Marron," 17 smirked, "I won't hurt you"
This time, Marron stood up on her small chubby legs and slowly walked toward her estranged uncle.
She was about half way across the room when the door swung open and Krillen walked in. It took less than a second for him to snatch his daughter off the ground into the safety of his arms. His heart thudded in his chest as he thought about what could have happened. With out a word, Krillen flashed 17 a very dirty glare and walked into the kitchen.
"18, what the hell were you thinking?" he asked, sounding very unimpressed with his wife who was in the middle of preparing dinner.
Turning to look at him, 18 raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" she asked
"Marron was in the lounge, by herself. No one was watching her, and your brother is awake"
Dropping the knife she was holding to the floor, 18's face paled. Marron had been alone with 17. "He's awake?" she asked, her voice merely a whisper.
Krillen nodded. "You ok?" he asked.
"Um…I don't know?" she replied, she was quiet for a minute or two, before she continued, "I'm gonna go talk to him. I'm sorry I left Marron on there, it was foolish of me"
"Hey, it's ok, she's alright. Go talk to him".
---
"17?" 18 asked, as she walked across the small lounge room. She didn't really know what she was going to say next. As she got closer to the couch, she could see the indeed his eyes were open, but they were drab, not the crystal blue they had once been. Instead, they were a kind of greyish blue. To be quite honest, it scared 18 a little.
"What?"
18 sat down on the ground in front of her brother, her eyes welling up with tears, she refused to let 17 see her cry though. The first urge she got was to hit him. To ram her fist into his face, make him feel the pain he put her though at their last encounter. But she was bigger than that. She wasn't going to assault a seemingly helpless man.
"What happened to you 17?" she asked
17 had to look away; the stupidity behind that question overwhelmed him. "What happened to me?" he repeated her question. "What happened to me?" he pushed himself into a sitting position, "You happened to me 18"
"You can't blame me for this 17. You can't!" she raised her voice, which was full of desperation, in order to keep the tears from falling.
"Oh," 17 shook his head, "I don't blame anyone but you. I hate you. I hate you 18, and I hate Krillen and I hate Marron. But I hate you most of all" 17 sneered, his face mere inches from 18.
A single tear slipped down 18's cheek and splashed onto the floor below, she inwardly chided herself for her weakness, her human emotions, they always got her in trouble. "Don't say that 17, I'm your sister. I want to help you get better" she had lost all strength now, and it showed in her weak and pathetic tone of voice.
Reaching out, 17 slapped 18 hard across the face. "You're not my sister," he hissed into her ear, "my sister died a long time ago".
18 made no attempt to strike out at her brother. She didn't move her head, she didn't do anything. For almost a full minute, she remained motionless. Though on the inside, her mind was racing. Finally she turned back to look at her brother, she was now sporting a red hand shaped mark on her left cheek. "17, tell me. What can I do to make this better? I want to help you. I'm going to help you"
"No" 17 argued her, "You are not going to help me 18. The only thing you can do for me is burn. You read my letter, you know how I feel. I will not rest, I refuse to rest, until you feel the pain I go through every single day. I will break you 18, if it's the last fucking thing I do!" his voice grew angrier and angrier, but never rose, for fear of attracting Krillen to the room.
"No!" 18 hissed back. I'm going to help you 17. I'm going to make you see that this life is good. I love my family 17, and you will not take me away from them. I'll kill you before I let that happen. Now show me your arm!" she demanded.
"No" 17 curtly replied
"Give me your fucking arm!" her voice broke as she continued to talk.
Rolling his eyes, 17 stretched out his arm, which 18 took and roughly jerked around to show the underside. After inspecting the bruised patch of skin for a few seconds, she spoke, "I'll get Krillen to take out the stiches for you."
Snatching his arm away, 17 flashed 18 the dirtiest glare she had ever seen. "If that moron comes anywhere near me, I will blow his friggen head off" 17 threatened, no hint of any kind of joking in his voice.
"Don't" 18 grabbed hold of 17's collar and hauled him up off the couch, "you dare threaten my family. I will not tolerate it 17, not from you, not from anybody. I love Krillen and I love Marron and I will kill you with my cold bare hands before I let you touch either one of them" she stared fiercely into her twins eyes, nothing but rage inside her.
17 only smirked, "you can't be watching them all the time 18, and I'm not going anywhere. One day you'll slip, and then I'll strike. And you wont be able to do a damn thing about it". 17 began to chuckle at his evil self.
Growling out of pure frustration, 18 slammed 17 back against the couch, stood up and stormed up the stairs. Only seconds later, a door was heard slamming shut on the second floor of the small pink house.
---
Krillen jumped at the sound of the door slamming; there was no doubt in his mind as to whom had slammed it. It would be a miracle if that poor door was still even attached to the wall.
"C'mon Marron" he picked up the small girl and left the kitchen. He briefly stopped to glare at 17.
"If you've done anything to hurt her, I'll kill you" he stated firmly, not a hint of fear in his voice.
"I'd like to see you try"
Shaking his head Krillen walked up the stairs, he had nothing to say to that man, he wasn't going to waste his breath.
He left Marron with Roshi, and then knocked on his bedroom door, "18, sweetheart, can I come in?"
There was no response. So Krillen pushed the door open and walked into the room. Inside it was dark, 18 had pulled the curtains shut. She sat on the edge of the bed, her back facing him, shoulders shaking; it was obvious she was crying, and crying hard.
"18," Krillen slowly walked around the bed, "baby. It's me, Krillen"
"Leave me alone Krillen. I don't want to talk to you right now"
"Here," Krillen took a hand full of tissues from the box, handed them to his wife and sat down beside her.
"I don't wanna talk about it" she repeated herself.
"I didn't say anything about talking" Krillen replied as he wrapped his arms around and began to rock back and fourth. Something he knew she found comforting. "It's alright," he cooed to her. "It's ok"
They sat there, in perfect silence for almost 15 full minutes. During that time, the sun set behind the ocean, leaving the room not dark, but black. Reaching over, Krillen flicked on the lamp on the bedside table, filling the room with a golden warm glow.
"You feeling ok now?" Krillen asked, kissing the top of 18's head as he did
"I just," 18 sniffed back more tears, 17 had really hurt her with his words "I wasn't expecting him to be so cruel"
"18. Tell me what he said to you" Krillen asked her
Shaking her head, 18 mumbled, "no"
"18" Krillen got off the bed and kneeled down in front of his wife. Taking her hands he looked up into her crystal blue eyes, pleading with her to open up to him, "18, please" he begged, "please."
"He threatened us. You, me, Marron," she dabbed at her eyes with the tissues, "I told him I only wanted to help, he said he hated me more than anything, anyone. He slapped me"
"He what?" Krillen stood up, rage suddenly gripping his entire being. No one laid a hand on his wife without consequences. No one, and that included 17. Normally Krillen was a very docile guy, who would rather make peace than cause pain. But when his family was involved, Krillen would go to any lengths and stop at nothing to keep them safe.
Turning to leave the room, he was stopped by 18 grabbing hold of his arm, "Where are you going?" she asked
"To set 17 straight. Someone needs to teach him not to touch my girls"
"Krillen don't!" 18 sounded alarmed, "He'll hurt you. Don't go down there"
"18, I'm not going let him get away with hitting you. I can't let him. You know that"
Shutting her eyes, 18 hung her head and let go of Krillens arm, "be careful" she whispered.
"Hey," Krillen bent down and kissed her, "since when am I not?"
Krillen took a deep breath at the top of the stairs and made his was slowly down. Walking into the lounge room, his eyes locked onto 17's.
17 sighed inwardly, he had been waiting for this, he knew it was coming. He wasn't at all scared of the bald ex monk though. Honestly, even in his weakened state, Krillen wouldn't be able to scratch him.
"What do you want?" 17 sneered at the older man who was approaching him.
"You know damn well why I'm here 17. Where the hell do think you get off abusing my wife like that? You really hurt her" Krillen accused 17, his voice quivering with anger as he spoke.
"Well guess what midget man?" 17 threw his legs off the couch and looked Krillen right in the eyes, "I don't care."
"How can you be this way 17? 18 wants nothing but to help you, and not only to you turn her away, but you physically abuse her. You are a sick, evil twisted man," sneered Krillen, anger bubbling up more and more inside him with every word he spoke.
"And what are you going to do about it? Touch me?" 17 raised an eyebrow, just daring Krillen to try something.
Krillen took several deep breaths and clinched his fists by his sides. It did little to calm him down though, and he very foolishly tried to take a powerful swing at 17's head. 17 though, merely caught Krillen's hand with his own and applied a little pressure, effectively crushing Krillens hand.
Never letting go of his hand, 17 leaned in closer to Krillen, he spoke softly to be sure that 18 would not be able to hear. He knew damn well she was standing at the top of the staircase, just waiting for either one of the men to try something. "You see Krillen, it goes a little something like this," 17 stopped to let Krillen dangle for a few seconds, "If you do anything, and I mean anything at all right now to hurt me, I'm not going to have to kill you because 18 will do it for me. I am in total and utter control of this family until I decide to leave, and I don't plan on going anywhere for a long time"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Krillen asked slowly. 17 was well and truly insane, of that he was sure.
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you, fool?" he released Krillens fist and he stumbled backward, clutching the injured extremity close to his torso, though it did little to reduce the pain.
"You are sick! Sick!" Krillen cried, "Get the hell out of my house" he pointed toward the door, but 17 only laughed at him.
"I'm not going anywhere" he replied as he stood up and glared daggers at Krillen
"I'll kill you" Krillen powered up a bright blue Ki ball in his good hand and prepared to hurl it at 17.
17 only rolled his eyes, "Yeah right," he sighed, "Kill this" with that, he lunged at Krillen and clothes lined him to the floor, where he lay without moving.
"17, why the hell did you do that?" 18 burst into the room, tears streaking her cheeks.
"Oh come on!" 17 yelled, turning away from his sister in rage. "Give me a fucking break. Don't tell me you're crying!"
"17, what the hell do you expect from me? I took you into my home, and I am trying my best to help you, and what do you do to say thanks? You floor my fucking husband! What did I do to deserve this from you 17? Tell me please, because I'd really like to know!" as she spoke, her voice transformed from upset and distraught to well and truly pissed off.
"You know what you did to deserve this" 17 crossed his arms over his chest and watched on as 18 fell to her knees and helped Krillen to sit up, "are you ok?" she asked as she tenderly ran her hand down Krillens cheek.
"Yeah, I'll be fine"
"I'll bandage your hand for you, go take some aspirin, I'll be there in a minute" said 18, smiling warmly at her husband.
"Will you be ok?" he asked
"Yeah, she replied softly the looked up at 17, "I'll be fine"
"Why do you act like this?" she asked once Krillen was upstairs, "Are you jealous of what I have here? Is that it?" her voice weak, she had no strength left after the goings on of this day.
17 snorted with laughter. "Me, jealous? Of this?"
"Yeah." 18 saw the logic behind her theory. It was one of the only plausible ideas she could come up with in her current state of mind.
"Can't you see that this is all your fault? Look!" he thrust his arms out to show the stitched up skin. "That! Was your fault. I slit my wrists because you turned me away 18. Don't you dare try and tell me that I brought this on myself, because it's a load of shit. You did this to me," he stopped, lowed his voice and smirked sadistically at his sister. 18 gulped, dreading what he was going to say next. "And I'm not going anywhere until I put you through every last bit of pain you put me through 18. Brace yourself, because you are in for one hell of a ride…sister"
---
A/N; Oooh, are you all wondering what is going to happen now that 17 has woken up and is clearly not impressed? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out, but I'll try to get it up soon for you. I hope you all enjoyed this chappie; let me know what you thought in a review ok!
-D.B