Never Lose Hope
By: Saiyan Serpent
Disclaimer: I don't own db, dbz, dbgt, or any of its characters, so please don't sue me.
Last time:
Caleb was not one to cover up her mistakes and yet, his behavior at dinner had done just that. She wasn't sure why he had done it at all. Everything about the situation baffled her. She could always predict how Caleb would react to her disobedience and therefore, prepare herself for the consequences that followed any of her usual actions. This time was different though. This time she was in the dark. She couldn't see what was coming and that's exactly why she was so worried.
'What are you up to Caleb?'
Her eyes narrowed in frustration as the question continued to bounce around haplessly in her muddled thoughts and that ever-elusive answer lay just out of reach.
Chapter Eleven: Mistakes Made
She was surrounded by unbelievable warmth that seemed to fill her very soul. It was soothing and all encompassing, not allowing anything to harm her. It felt so easy to let go of everything and give in to such a wonderful feeling but something told her not to.
She didn't know why part of her mind was fighting this warmth but her fears were soon realized when she was harshly pulled from that incredible warmth. She tried with all her might to cling to that feeling, to hold on to it just a bit longer, but the unseen force was stronger, so much stronger. The last of her strength gave out as the force violently ripped her away from the safe haven and dragged her deep into the recesses of infinite darkness.
The warmth that had so safely surrounded her before was replaced by a stabbing splash of coldness that seemed to penetrate to her very core. She struggled to return to the warmth but found that her body was weighted heavily in the black abyss. She flailed helplessly against the biting cold as it pulled her further down into its icy clutches. Her open eyes revealed nothing except the feeling of wet pressure against unseeing orbs. She felt her lungs burn with the need for oxygen but she dared not breathe. The longer she fought, the more her lungs burned and the harder it was to fight off the urge to give up and let the darkness consume her. Her body was losing its will to fight and finally her mind gave in to her body's demands.
She gasped in the colorless void but her lungs were not rewarded with what they so desperately desired. Instead, they were flooded with the very essence of what she was fighting against, what she had not wanted to give in to but had succumbed to nonetheless. The cold infinite darkness clawed its way through her body ruthlessly and she could feel the unimaginable pain from such an invading and unwelcome presence. Her body spasmed as it tried to reject the foreign substance but it all seemed to be in vain, for the end was inevitable.
Just when she lost all hope, something extraordinary happened. A blinding light pierced the dismal abyss, stretching towards her struggling body. The light was beautiful and it captivated her instantly. The light radiated that same warmth that she had lost so long ago, and she wanted nothing more than to return to it once again. Suddenly, a hand emerged from the blinding light. It was reaching for her, offering her an escape from her watery torture and though it was so close, it seemed so far away. All she needed to do was reach out and grasp that which was offered to her, but she hesitated.
Against all logic and reason, she held back from the light and the hand that lingered within it. She wanted to go to it, she wanted to take the hand and let the light embrace her, but she was afraid. The light began to fade and she watched helplessly as the darkness surrounded her once again. The bitter feeling of cold returned but this time she did not fight it. She was tired of fighting, so she stopped. Her body twitched several times before stilling completely. Fluttering eyelids captured a speck of fading light as it glimmered briefly against the darkness before flickering out altogether.
Pan awoke in a terrified frenzy as she struggled against tangled bed sheets, desperately trying to escape some invisible presence while gasping in large amounts of precious air. Her chest heaved forcefully with each breath and her heart seemed as if it would flutter right out of her chest. As the lingering effects of the dream faded, she ceased her fruitless struggle with the sheets and focused on steadying her breathing. She swallowed harshly and blinked away the blurriness of her fitful sleep. From the darkness of the room alone, she could tell that the sun had not yet risen. She felt a chill run down her spine at the memory of the harsh darkness of her dream and willed away any further thoughts on the matter. They were just stupid dreams and she felt there was no point in trying to decipher their elusive meanings.
Trunks sat hunched over the side of his bed with his hands pressed tightly against his eyes. His body ached with fatigue and yet his mind refused to allow him the time needed to recover from his previous day's exertion. Sleep had never been an easy thing to come by but lately it seemed an impossible task. Over the last few weeks, his nightmares had grown in intensity. He often woke in fits of terror, clutching at his pillows and bed sheets as if his very life depended on it. The nights seemed far too long and any moments of rest were far too short.
He sighed wearily and opened his bloodshot eyes to gaze into the darkness of his room. His sleep-deprived mind decided who was to blame for his current state. It was her fault. She was the reason for his sleepless nights; she just had to be. It had been about three weeks since the incident. He remembered it all so clearly.
FLASHBACK
Trunks wiped the sweat from his brow as he concentrated on the project before him. He had been helping the citizens of a small market district on the East side of town. A recent storm had torn through the area and left chaos in its wake. The small community housed mostly elderly citizens and it was difficult for them to bear the burden of cleaning up the terrible mess alone. The rebuilding process was difficult enough without having to deal with unpredictable forces like the weather, so Trunks decided to help the citizens as much as possible. He was working on restoring electricity to the area when a disturbance behind him caught his attention.
An elderly man and woman were yelling at a group of young teens that passed by their shop. Trunks wasn't sure what the problem was, but his sensitive hearing easily picked up the numerous curses thrown at the teens by the old woman. The group didn't seem bothered by it at all. In fact, they seemed rather accustomed to the verbal insults.
Trunks returned to his work when he was satisfied that there wasn't anything to worry about but an enraged scream caused his head to turn again. One of the boys in the group, it seemed, was about to attack the elderly woman for screaming such insults at him and his fellow counterparts. Trunks felt his muscles tense in reaction to the threat the teen represented and before he had a chance to intervene, he saw the boy stop dead in his tracks. Curiously, Trunks looked over at the boy, only to see his raised fist held back by a girl. He couldn't make out her face due to the shroud of her dark hair but her small height and build revealed none of the power she seemed to exude over the large teenage boy. The girl growled something low at the boy and then tightened her hand around his fist. The boy winced in pain and whimpered an apology to the old couple before the girl relinquished her hold on him. The boy sulked back towards his group, carefully cradling his injured hand.
As the girl turned to walk away, she looked over in Trunks direction and their eyes connected. He was shocked by her familiar appearance and yet he couldn't place the reason for such shock or familiarity. She tilted her head to the side slightly, as if trying to remember something, and just as quickly shook her head and walked away. Trunks found himself staring at her retreating figure and wondered what had just happened. He was startled from his thoughts as the smell of burning wires drifted to his senses. Cursing himself mentally for being so distracted, Trunks returned to his work determined to finish before the day's end.
Trunks sighed as he recounted the events of that day. He later found out that the group of teens was a source of constant stress for the market district as they loitered in the area constantly and often chased off potential customers. There had also been a few break-ins in the area, and though there was no proof, the citizens suspected the teens were responsible.
Since that day, Trunks had been haunted by the face of the beautiful girl. No, he corrected himself, it wasn't her face that haunted him. It was something else, something deeper. Her eyes. That's what kept him awake at night. The brief moment of blind recognition that flickered in her eyes drew his interest that day. He could have shrugged off the encounter if he had been the only one having a sense of déjà vu, but he wasn't, or so it had seemed. And why couldn't he place her face in his memory? He had a sense of knowing her, and yet, not. 'Argh! This is so frustrating!', he thought as his hands fisted in his hair. He whimpered in defeat as he collapsed against the mess of sheets atop his bed. Tired eyes drifted shut as he contemplated the reason for his increasing fatigue. He didn't care who the girl was, he decided, he just wanted some sleep, 'and a lot of it' echoed in his thoughts as his body relaxed for slumber once again.
Rena stared in wonder as the small girl in front of her inhaled several plates of food, all within a few minutes time.
"Pan?" she questioned.
"Yeah Ré?" was all that could be heard over the loud chewing and crunching noises the small girl was making.
"Dear, why are you in such a hurry?"
The girl finished the last bit of food on her plate before washing it all down with a tall glass of water. She wiped her face and quickly gathered her dirty dishes as she walked off towards the kitchen. Glancing back, Pan shouted "Sorry 'bout that Ré. Breakfast was great but I gotta beat it outta here to check out some promising hits on the scouting scene. Later!"
The confused woman turned to the man beside her as she raised an eyebrow. "Translation sweetheart?"
Jasper chuckled faintly as he replied. "She said she was in a hurry because she might have a few leads on potential jobs for us."
"Oh, well why in the world didn't she just say so?"
Jasper stifled his laughter as he leaned over and placed a kiss on his wife's temple. "She did honey, just in her own way."
Rena smiled as a few choking sounds were heard from the remaining occupants at the table.
Seth looked up with a sour face as he pleaded, "Could you guys please not do the mushy stuff at the table. It's gross!"
Caleb found the whole situation quite humorous. Darien looked just as disgusted as Seth and Caleb couldn't help but laugh at the scene those two made. They were teenagers but apparently they still didn't understand the finer points of love or the opposite sex just yet. "Don't worry you two. Someday you'll experience that mushy stuff first hand. Who knows you might even like it." Caleb smirked as both boys made gagging sounds.
"Ewww! There's no way I'm ever gonna do that with some stupid girl!" shouted Seth.
"Yeah! Me either!" chorused Darien.
"Hey, I've seen the way you two look at those Trenton girls every time you're out playing with your friends. I bet you're already thinking of ways you can kiss them."
Caleb smirked as he saw both boys stare at him wide-eyed. "You take that back Cal!" shouted Seth. "Yeah, take it back!" echoed Darien.
Caleb refused to do any such thing and only added fuel to the fire by continuing his relentless teasing of the two boys. Suddenly, all three scrambled away from the table, shouting and tumbling as the two younger boys gave chase to their older sibling.
"Well that's one way to clear the table in a hurry," remarked Jasper as he smiled at his wife. Both broke out into a fit of laughter as the boys continued to yell and chase each other through the house.
"So, is this the place?" Night had fallen quickly and Pan taken the opportunity to survey the surrounding area without fear of being seen. She was with Kirja and two other teens from the gang. Kirja had decided that he didn't need a lot of people and discreetness was always a necessity when pulling off jobs like this one.
"Yeah, that's it" answered Kirja as he glanced at the tall building across the street. "The guy lives in the penthouse suite. His security is tight and we need your help to get inside. The old man is away on business this week and it's our best shot at getting to the goods."
"Are there any people we need to look out for, like a wife, kids, security personnel?"
"Nah, from what we can tell he's a loner, business type and all that. His security system is entirely automated and that's what makes entry so difficult. There is a flaw in his system though."
"Oh really? And what exactly is that flaw?"
"Well, the windows aren't wired. I guess the old man doesn't think he has anything to worry about being so high up."
Pan considered their options before speaking. "So, basically you want me to fly up there, break open the window, and gain access to the security system so that I can disable it for you three?" The question was more of a statement but Kirja answered her anyway.
"Exactly. We don't have anyone else with your special abilities and the job is too promising to simply ignore." Kirja looked smug as he waited for Pan's response to his baiting tactic and was not disappointed when she took the bait and ran with it.
"How much?"
"How much what?" replied Kirja.
"Stop playing me Kirja. How much has the old man got in there and what can we get out of it?"
Kirja seemed to ponder the question for a moment before a smirk lit his face. "Well, if we play our cards right and don't get caught, I'd say there's about five to ten mil we can walk away with."
Pan nearly choked when she heard his reply. "Are you telling me that guy's got at least five to ten million credits worth of stuff laying around his place?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," answered a smug looking Kirja.
"Alright, I'm in."
"Good. Let's get this show on the road then. Kel and Wes will keep watch from the ground until you make it through the window. Once you're in, we'll head up to the penthouse and meet you outside the front door. If anything goes wrong, you're on your own. Got it? "
"Yeah. Got it," replied Pan sourly.
A few minutes later, Pan was inside the penthouse accessing the security system's mainframe. She knew Kirja and the guy's would be there any second and she didn't want to take the chance that they'd set off the alarms and ruin the entire plan.
'Almost on.yes! Got it!' Once the security system was disabled, she slowly made her way to the front door. As soon as the door was opened, three young men scrambled inside. Kirja flicked on the lights as soon as he located the switches on a nearby wall.
Pan blinked rapidly as her eyes struggled to focus in the intense light. She whispered harshly as she glared at Kirja. "Are you out of your mind! What if someone sees us you idiot!" Kirja merely smirked as he began to grab various items from the room. "Relax babe. You disarmed the security system and that's all we were worried about in the first place. Nobody's here, so just chill and grab some stuff." Pan narrowed her eyes in anger but chose not to start an argument with Kirja until after the job was done.
Kel and Wes were giggling as they continued to bag various treasures around the vast open space of the penthouse. Their sacks were nearly full when they heard a noise down one of the hallways. Curious, they called out for Pan and Kirja to see if they were the source of the disturbance. Kirja was the first to respond as he walked out of an adjacent room. "What are you two hollering about now?" he asked, clearly irritated.
The two pointed down the hallway where a light flickered on from behind a closed door. Kirja smacked the two on the back of the head. "You idiots! It's just Vi. Now get back to work!" The three stared at the door as it slowly opened and a woman emerged; only it wasn't Pan.
Suddenly, a scream pierced the relative silence of the penthouse. Pan rushed to its source, only to find a trembling woman huddled in a corner with Kirja waiving a gun in the woman's direction.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!"
"We've got to get rid of her! She saw our faces!"
The poor woman was on the floor begging Kirja to spare her life, but the woman's pleas only seemed to further unhinge the man. Pan could see there was no point in trying to rationalize with Kirja because he was clearly beyond reason. She had to find a way to diffuse the situation before someone got hurt. With her decision made, Pan made a grab for the gun in an effort to disarm Kirja, but he would not give up so easily. Soon the two were wrestling on the floor and the terrified woman scrambled towards the front door. Wes and Kel stood frozen in place as the scene played out in its entirety. Without warning, a gunshot echoed throughout the penthouse and everyone stared in shock as a body slumped lifelessly to the floor.