Rewrite: A Half-breed's Life 1

by Xj9

New Version: At age four, Gohan is taken by Raditz and brought to a camp where Gohan is taught how to fight. Five years later, Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa are back to take Gohan away again, and they expect the half-saiyan to help them purge planets. Gohan resists from the beginning, but as time progresses he finds out that playing by his comrades' rules is the only way to survive.

19. Chapter 19: How To Be Selfish

Hey everyone!

Time for a new chapter of A Half-breed's Life 1!

Previously on A Half-breed's Life:

His father's screams rang through his head. Raditz's laugh as he tortured his father. Vegeta's last words before he left…

"If he can't survive, he's not worth our time."

Fine. They wanted him to toughen up? He would toughen up. Those specialists wanted him to work and train? Fine. He would do just that and he would become the strongest warrior in this camp and once those three saiyans returned…

Gohan narrowed his eyes at the wall in front of him as he leaned on the sink.

"I'm going to kill them."

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

Vegeta raised his hand and pulled back a fist. Gohan widened his eyes and he briefly powered up in order to catch Vegeta's punch. The young warrior frowned at the smirking man. Vegeta's scouter beeped and the man pulled back, taking off he scouter. "How did you know the exact amount of power you needed to block my punch?"

"I didn't. I guessed." Gohan responded, frowning. "You tend the punch on the same level."

Vegeta shook his head. "No. No. No. I was on a very low level. You powered up just enough to match my level in order to block my attack properly."

"You're reaching."

"You see, I've been paying attention to you lately. A while ago you slipped up. You weren't wearing a scouter but you could still prevent Raditz from sneaking up on you. You knew he was there." Vegeta stated. "I noticed that you always power up just enough to match our powers. Remember the times I told you not to wear a scouter during the training sessions? Even then you managed to know exactly what my power level was. I tried it out on several levels and you adjusted easily."

"Aside from the annoying note that you tend not to go all-out when you don't have to, I cannot help but think you are keeping something from us."

Gohan lowered his gaze down to his lap. The half-saiyan nervously fumbled with his tail, silent. The three saiyans exchanged glances. Vegeta leaned forwards so he could look at the half-saiyan. "What? No comment?"

Gohan swallowed but the feeling of a lump in his throat wouldn't disappear. "I know I'm in trouble. There's no way I can talk myself out of this." He responded.

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

The saiyan prince thought for a moment. "Alright." He stated. The man waved Nappa away and the man released Gohan's tail. The half-saiyan opened his eyes when the pain stopped. "I know. We have only been treating you like an adult but maybe it's time we started treating you like a child."

Vegeta grabbed Gohan by the back of his neck and pulled him closer, forcing the half-saiyan to turn and lean on Vegeta's legs with his torso. Vegeta powered up when Gohan resisted but despite Gohan's struggles, the man managed to push the young warrior down across his lap. "I'll spank you like the baby that you are."

Gohan shook his head. "No! Stop!" He tried to place his hands on Vegeta's upper leg and push up but his hands slipped off the man's leg when Vegeta pushed him down. "I'll do it!"

Vegeta grabbed Gohan by the back of his head and pulled the boy's head back, forcing the young warrior to awkwardly arch his back. "What was that, sweetheart?"

Gohan clenched his fists. "I'll teach you how to read power levels." He responded, frowning.

"Do you promise?" Vegeta didn't care for promises but after spending a couple of months with the half-saiyan he came to realize that once Gohan promised something, he kept his promise.

"I promise." Gohan responded.

**** DBZ **** DBZ ***

The man ignored the sounds coming from the young warrior and walked back to his comrades. Raditz was giving the young warrior worried glances. "What is going on?" The man asked.

"He says he didn't drink any alcohol. I don't think its food poisoning. We haven't eaten anything unusual." Vegeta stated. "Did he sleep at all last night?"

Raditz shrugged. "I don't know. I was asleep. Wait a minute…" The man walked closer to the young warrior and placed a hand on Gohan's forehead. "He's burning up. He's been coughing all day, hasn't he? I think he's sick. The doctor said there was a virus going around, didn't he?"

"He can't be sick." Vegeta snarled in response. "Saiyans don't get sick. Our bodies are genetically programmed to defeat any virus or sickness thrown at us, no matter how vigorous. Saiyans cannot get sick."

"Humans can." Raditz said quietly.

Vegeta held Raditz's gaze for a moment before he groaned. "Humans." He muttered.

On to the chapter!

Chapter 19. How To Be Selfish

"Swallow." Vegeta ordered, staring at the half-saiyan intently. Gohan obediently sipped from the glass of water and swallowed. "Next one."

Gohan glanced sideways to the row of pills, all different sizes. The amount of pills Vegeta was making him take was steadily growing every day. Gohan grabbed the next one and swallowed it too. Vegeta continued to stare at him while Gohan swallowed the rest of the pills. Once Gohan was done, Vegeta approached him and forced Gohan to open his mouth.

"If you bite me I'm going to castrate you on the spot." Vegeta hissed before he roughly pushed his fingers under Gohan's tongue and ran his fingers along the space between Gohan's cheeks and his teeth. Once he was satisfied that Gohan wasn't hiding any pills somewhere in his mouth, he pulled away. The half-saiyan leaned back to get as far away from Vegeta as he could in this situation.

Vegeta pulled on his white gloves again. "Good boy." He stated as he tugged on his glove.

"I hope you washed your hands." Gohan snarled at him.

The full-blooded saiyan sent the young warrior a smirk. "You brought this on yourself. I am only trying to make sure you swallow all your medicine and don't try to get out of that by hiding them everywhere in your mouth like you did two days ago."

"I don't understand why I need to take all these pills. They can't all be for this virus."

"They're different kinds of antibiotics, vitamins and a mild form of the antidote." Vegeta explained as he placed his hands on his hips. "I want you to get better as soon as possible. We wouldn't want our favourite little hybrid to suffer." The man showed a smug glance before he turned around and left the room.

Gohan blew out a sigh before he lied down again and pulled the sheets up to his chin. The young warrior shivered though he was feeling hot. It was the strangest feeling. The virus was making him feel horrible. His vision was hazy and his tongue was now a strange green colour. Apparently, that meant the virus had complete control of his body and he was definitely sick.

Raditz fell down on his own bed and lazily stretched his body. Gohan made a sad face at his uncle. "I hate being sick." The half-saiyan muttered.

The full-blooded saiyan glanced sideways. "I wouldn't know. Saiyans usually don't get sick." He responded. "You're an exception."

"I'm not a saiyan. Just ask Vegeta." Gohan muttered sourly.

Raditz chuckled. "I'd say different when considering your murderous attitude during our latest training sessions. Besides, you long to kill us slowly and painfully. Revenge is very saiyan-like if you ask me."

Gohan felt offended by how casual Raditz acted when it came to Gohan's wish to kill them all. It wasn't the first time one of the adults belittled his murderous desires. To them he was nothing more than a child. Nothing to be afraid of...

Gohan wasn't entirely sure why he refused to take the pills several days ago. He felt like he needed to show Vegeta that he wasn't going to be obedient just because he was ill. If Vegeta wanted Gohan to get better soon, Gohan would do everything it took to remain ill for as long as possible. He didn't care how horrible it felt. However, when Gohan hid the pills under his tongue and nodded obediently when Vegeta asked if he swallowed everything properly, Vegeta only gave him a close look before telling the young warrior to open his mouth. The pills were hidden properly behind his green tongue so Vegeta didn't see anything when Gohan opened his mouth. Still, the man frowned and told Gohan to raise his tongue. When Gohan refused and complained that Vegeta didn't trust him enough because why would Gohan not want to get better, Vegeta only backhanded the young warrior across his face. Gohan still remembered how the pills flew across the room, launched from under his tongue by the force of the blow. He also still remembered vividly how Vegeta grabbed him by his hair, dragged him to the bathroom, filled the sink with water and proceeded to torture the young warrior by pushing his face into the water and holding him there for minutes at a time until the half-saiyan sputtered out an apology.

"I'm sick and tired of your disobedience." Vegeta snarled as he tightened his grip on Gohan's hair and threw the boy against the wall. The half-saiyan was still weakened by the sickness and his knees buckled under him, forcing him to slide to down the ground. "If you don't want to hear my warnings, you'll have to feel them. I can make your worthless life so miserable you'll flinch every time I look in your direction." The man kicked at the boy's feet and Gohan quickly pulled them up, closer to his body. "Get back in bed." Vegeta snarled before he left the room. Gohan waited until Vegeta was gone before he pulled up his legs, wrapped his arms around his knees and hid his face in the dark world created between his legs, torso and arms.

Since that day, the young warrior was playing it safe, obeying Vegeta's order and biding his time until he was better and could actually put up a fight. "Why does he always see right through me…?" Gohan muttered to himself.

"Vegeta?" Raditz asked. Gohan nodded slowly and Raditz shrugged. "Wouldn't worry too much about that. Vegeta's difficult to deceive. However, you are a very bad liar. It's funny actually that after all the time you spent in this world you still cannot lie with a straight face. How did you survive all these years, I don't know."

Gohan made a worried face as he stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't the first time someone told him he was a bad liar. The specialists could often see right through him too. Something about the look in his eyes apparently told everyone what he was really thinking. How could he change the way his eyes looked to others? He didn't know.

"You want to go on a mission, don't you?" Gohan asked, looking to Raditz again. The man was lying on his bed with closed eyes. He often took a nap whenever he could because he enjoyed sleeping.

"Should have left today." Raditz responded, still closing his eyes. "Vegeta had to give a mission away because you were ill."

"You could go without me." Gohan suggested.

Raditz laughed. "Good one. "

The half-saiyan blew out a sigh and turned away from his uncle. Raditz opened his eyes when he heard the sheets on the other bed shifting as Gohan positioned his body so he was facing the wall. It was a clear sign that Gohan was fed up with Raditz. The man briefly wondered what he'd done or said wrong now but he mentally shrugged it off and returned to his nap. The kid was more trouble than he was worth.

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

Gohan leaned his head back against the wall. Chained to the ground in the training room. That's a new one. The half-saiyan was slowly getting better which is why Vegeta decided they could not leave him alone in their apartment. The first few days of his sickness Gohan could hardly take a step without throwing up but now he could walk around without feeling nauseous. His tongue was now a strange yellow colour, which meant he was getting better.

"Good morning, kiddo."

Gohan glanced sideways and showed a surprised expression when he recognized Zarbon. The man knelt down so he could talk to Gohan easier. "Whatcha doing down there?"

The half-saiyan crossed his arms over each other to hide the black leather bonds around his wrists. However, he could do nothing to hide the thin silver lines that ran from his bonds to the wall, successfully locking the saiyan there. The materials that imprisoned him were tough but he would be able to break them. However, he would have to power up in order to do that and Vegeta would immediately notice that.

"Why are you hanging out with the peasants?" Gohan asked as he looked up at the battling saiyans.

Zarbon lowered his body to the ground until he was sitting down. "Lord Frieza was curious why the saiyan team declined a mission so he sent me out here to find out why." The man's green eyes studied the young warrior. "Now that I'm here it's easy to see. You've been caught by the teenage virus. That's why your team can't go on a mission." The man tilted his head sideways as his eyes ran down Gohan's appearance. The young warrior was sweating but Zarbon could see goose bumps on his skin. Dark circles were seen around Gohan's eyes and Zarbon realized they were not beaten on there but caused by lack of sleep. Aside from that the young warrior was even paler than usual. "The real question is; why are you out and about and not in a hospital, or at least in a bed?"

Gohan's dark orbs glanced in Zarbon direction and his expression said it all. The half-saiyan was not granted the privilege of proper care by his comrades. The man placed his light-green hands on the ground behind him so he could lean his body back. "It doesn't matter anyway. You're getting better."

"Slowly but surely." Gohan leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. His headache was becoming worse and he definitely wasn't in the mood to talk to Zarbon.

"Let's go." Zarbon got up.

Gohan opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm kidnapping you. They'll be training for a while so you might as well go have some fun." Zarbon extended his hands to the half-saiyan. Gohan accepted his hand and was helped up.

"But I'm not allowed to…" Gohan stopped talking and gave a self-conscious look to the ground. He wasn't sure how much Zarbon, Dodoria and Frieza knew about his real position in Vegeta's squad.

Zarbon placed his hands on his hips. "Hey Vegeta!" He called.

Vegeta froze in his place and turned away from the other two saiyans. The three warriors seemed surprised that Zarbon was even here and Gohan once again realized that they were not able to feel powerlevels. Vegeta was breathing heavily and sweat was dripping down his face but he stood up straight and glared at the higher-ranking soldier. "What do you want, Zarbon?"

"I'm taking your kid for a walk." Zarbon called back, smirking when the three saiyans showed negative responses to this message. "You can't use him now anyway. Might as well let me babysit him."

Vegeta let his body drop to the ground and landed gracefully on two feet. "The boy will stay here. He's not feeling well and we have to keep an eye on him." The man explained as he approached the two.

"I can do that just fine." Zarbon responded sweetly. "Untie him." Gohan looked down at the bonds around his wrists.

"Zarbon I…"

"Vegeta." Zarbon's voice was cold now and left no room for discussion. "Do I need to remind you of your place?"

The full-blooded saiyan sent Zarbon a poisonous glance that Gohan had never seen before. The young warrior had received his fair share of Vegeta's horrifying glares but the man had never looked at him like this. "Fine." Vegeta turned to Gohan and the half-saiyan quickly lowered his gaze to the ground. A part of him realized that he was going to get in trouble for this once he was back in Vegeta's hands.

While Vegeta roughly untied Gohan's hands, the half-saiyan looked up at the other two adult saiyans. Raditz and Nappa looked just as annoyed with this arrangement but they stayed out of it. This was not their fight.

"Good." Zarbon said once Gohan was freed. "Let's go, kiddo." The man turned and Gohan followed him. As they left the room, Gohan looked over his shoulder and realized Vegeta was still glaring at them from the centre of the training room, and suddenly he could not help himself from grinning brightly and stuck out his yellow tongue to Vegeta. It might not be his own doing but this time Gohan won and Vegeta lost and Gohan was going to enjoy it.

"Where are we going?" Gohan asked as he looked up at the older warrior. Zarbon was not wearing his official armour but a regular white one with beige shoulder guards and a beige stomach guard. The man had the tendency to wear a blue uniform but today he deviated and chose for a black one that covered his entire arms and legs.

"There's a theme park that recently opened in one of the nearest countries." Zarbon responded, looking ahead. "Have you ever been to a theme park?"

"No." Gohan chewed on his lip. "I don't know if it's a good idea to go out like this. I'm still contagious, aren't I? What if I make someone else sick?"

"What do you care?" Zarbon shrugged. "You've killed before, haven't you? I don't see the difference."

Gohan realized that Zarbon was right. There was no reason for Gohan to worry about other people. Nobody was worrying about him so why should he worry about anyone else?

Zarbon lowered his gaze to the young warrior. "Can you fly?" He asked. "I know illnesses tend to mess with a warrior's powers."

The half-saiyan realized he hadn't tried to fly since he became sick. The young warrior stopped walking and used his power to fly up. However, nothing happened. Gohan looked up at Zarbon. "I'm not sure."

Zarbon stopped to watch Gohan try to fly and he nodded once in response. "I see. No problem. We'll take a plane."

"Plane?" Gohan repeated, eyes wide.

Zarbon took Gohan all the way to the top of a tall building. There a white machine was waiting for them. The interior was all black with comfy chairs with soft purple pillows. The small plane was made for only a handful of people. Zarbon fell down in a chair and watched as Gohan ran around and studied every inch of the plane.

"Sit down, kiddo. We're going to lift off soon." Zarbon said as he nodded to one of the chairs.

Gohan was just studying the cold drinks in the purple refrigerator but now he obediently chose a chair and sat down. The plane did not need to build up speed. It just casually lifted straight up into the air. Gohan gasped as he looked out the window and watched as they flew up. He knew that he could easily fly up this high himself but there was something novel about flying in a plane.

A servant in a black suit came walking closer and offered Zarbon a glass of wine. Zarbon nodded his thanks and watched as the servant offered Gohan a soda. The half-saiyan thanked the servant gratefully and showed a grin as he sipped from the cold drink.

Zarbon rolled his eyes when Gohan licked his lips after taking a sip. The man knew that Gohan had a rough childhood and had always been treated like crap by the people around him. Therefore, even the smallest show of kindness would easily win the child over. Like taking candy from a baby.

When they were walking around in the theme park several hours later, Gohan was ecstatic. He'd already been on several rides and Zarbon had even bought him a pink fluffy kind of candy on a stick that Gohan could not pronounce but it was delicious.

The young warrior had never been to a theme park. He wasn't aware that such a happy place could exist. Everyone seemed to be smiling. Children were running around laughing, playing and eating candy. Parents looked somewhat worried but mainly concerned with keeping their children happy. Teenagers were pretending to care less but were secretly excited to be there.

All the colours of the machines, lights flashing and different types of music that changed with every few steps he took were somewhat disorienting but Gohan did not really care. Zarbon allowed Gohan to take the lead and decide what to do, which was something Gohan was not used to at all. Everyone always made the decisions for him. Everyone always told Gohan what to do. Now Gohan could do everything himself and he enjoyed every second of it.

"Thank you." Gohan said as he looked up at Zarbon. The young warrior just emerged from a roller-coaster and could still feel his heart beating in his chest. Zarbon sat this one out, saying he didn't want to mess up his hair. Gohan suspected the man just couldn't stand roller-coasters. "For today."

Zarbon shrugged. "I had nothing better to do anyway." He responded as he looked around.

"Still." Gohan said. The half-saiyan motioned to the world around him. "This day was amazing. However, I can't help but wonder… Why?" The brown eyes looked up at Zarbon and the older warrior caught the suspicion in the young warrior's eyes. The man almost felt sorry for the boy. He was way too young to show such adult expressions.

"What does it matter why I took you to this place?" Zarbon asked. "You had fun. That's all that matters, right? You need to think more about yourself and stop worrying about others so much."

"Why, Zarbon?" Gohan persisted.

Zarbon took a deep breath. "I was bored and realized you had nothing to do. That's it, kiddo. No mean motives. No dangerous plans. I used you and you used me and we enjoyed our day."

"I guess." Gohan thought the entire day over. He realized Zarbon joined in on most rides and enjoyed them as much as Gohan did. Also, the man knew nothing about the park so that must mean that is was the man's first time here. The man was probably looking for a reason to go to the theme park and Gohan was a valid reason.

"Is there anything else you want to do before we go back to reality?" Zarbon asked.

Gohan thought about this for a moment. "Can I go on the roller-coaster one more time?" He asked.

"Sure. Go ahead." Zarbon waved him away and Gohan quickly turned and ran back to stand in line again. The young warrior decided to enjoy this last ride extra much because he wasn't sure when he would get the chance to do something like this again.

The ride back to Central City went too fast in Gohan's opinion. The young warrior looked out the window of the airplane and studied the landscape. He'd never really gotten the chance to really look at the rest of the world. Gohan looked over at Zarbon. The man was studying the world outside as well. He seemed to be in deep thought. Gohan leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. How could it be that the elite soldiers could easily get things like this done? Zarbon only had to make a call with his scouter and the airplane was waiting for them several minutes later.

Would that be the same for Gohan if he became an elite? Then again, Vegeta and the others did not have any privileges and they had been working for the army for years now. The young warrior realized it would probably be way more difficult for a saiyan to get the same privileges as a warrior like Zarbon.

The half-saiyan closed his eyes. He was tired. He'd had an amazing day but his body was still recovering from the virus and he was supposed to still be in bed. It wouldn't hurt if he closed his eyes for a moment, right? Just a second.

Zarbon glanced sideways, raising an eyebrow when he realized that Gohan was asleep. The man scoffed before looking ahead again. Falling asleep like that was very irresponsible. Then again, the boy was only eleven years old. He couldn't blame the half-saiyan.

"Wake up."

Gohan started up when he heard Zarbon's voice. The man's hand was floating above Gohan's shoulder in order to wake the young warrior up but Gohan had woken up before the man could even touch him. "We're here." Zarbon added as he stood up straight.

Gohan cursed himself for falling asleep like that. The young warrior nodded quickly and got up from his seat. He took one last look at the airplane to imprint the memory in his mind before heading out to the entrance.

The half-saiyan realized that he could get rid of Zarbon now and wander around alone for a while before he was forced to return to the others. The half-saiyan blinked when he noticed certain familiar power levels close to him and he caught sight of his three comrades, waiting there for him.

"You called my comrades?" Gohan asked, looking up at Zarbon.

"Yep. Might as well deliver you to their hands personally." Zarbon said, nodding.

Gohan's expression fell and he noticed how Raditz leaned over to say something to the others, who chuckled in response to his words. The young warrior couldn't help but feel that they were talking about him.

"Delivery for my favourite monkeys." Zarbon said once they were close to the others.

"I hope you don't expect this to become a regular thing. If you want to hang out with children so badly you should buy a slave from the market." Vegeta snarled in response. "Stay away from my comrades."

A smirk appeared on Zarbon's face. "My my, Vegeta. That almost sounded protective."

Vegeta laughed in response. "Protective over a hybrid. Don't make me laugh." He said coldly. Gohan rolled his eyes. Why did these taunts still hurt after all this time? "I just don't want to lose my assets because you can't entertain yourself."

"Fine." Zarbon's gaze moved to the half-saiyan. "I had fun today, kiddo. I'm sure you had too. We'll see each other again." The man winked at him before he turned and walked away.

The half-saiyan watched Zarbon walk away while feeling empty. He knew Zarbon was a jerk and he was pretty sure the man would kill him anytime without remorse… But Zarbon was actually nice to him today… Nicer than his comrades were to him.

A hand roughly grabbed Gohan's chin and forced him to look up at Vegeta. The man was glaring at him. "Are you listening to me, brat?" He hissed. Gohan realized Vegeta must have been talking to him while the boy was thinking about Zarbon.

The half-saiyan narrowed his eyes and pushed Vegeta away. "It's impossible to ignore your annoying voice." He snarled in response.

Before Gohan could react Vegeta pulled back his hand and smacked Gohan across his face. The young warrior could feel the familiar burning in his cheek as he glared up at the full-blooded saiyan. "I'm getting sick and tired of your rebellious responses. Next time I will make sure to break a few bones as well, got it?"

"Yes Vegeta." Gohan responded, lowering his angry gaze to the ground.

"We're leaving." Vegeta stated as he turned away from the half-saiyan. The man started walking and the others followed him so Gohan decided to do the same.

"Where are we going?" Gohan asked curiously.

"Space Pod Centre." Vegeta responded. "We're leaving for Frieza's ship. You're getting better. I'm pretty sure that if we give you some extra antidote and some vitamins and let you sleep for the entire duration of the trip, which is about a week, then you'll be all healed when we arrive."

The half-saiyan ran to catch up with Vegeta. "But what if I'm not better yet at that time?" He asked.

"Then you'll more than likely recover during the trip to the planet." Vegeta responded. "No worries, kiddo. I've got it all figured out."

Gohan made a face but he did not respond. The young warrior was somewhat annoyed when he had to run to keep up with the others. How were they walking so fast? They always walked incredibly fast and he felt denigrated every time he had to run to keep up with them.

The saiyan squad was already on their way not even half an hour later. Gohan hated being put to sleep by the space pod. The idea that he was surrounded by some sort of chemical that easily put him to sleep made him uncomfortable.

A week later the four saiyans were searching for a communal shower room that was unoccupied. After sleeping in a space pod for a week they were all eager to freshen up before they went to meet Frieza and would probably leave on yet another long trip in the space pod.

The four saiyans found one room where two regular soldiers were just removing their clothing. Vegeta placed his hands on his hips. "I'll give you five seconds to leave this room before I kill you." He stated.

"This is a communal shower room." One of the soldiers snarled in response. The man was about as tall as Raditz and therefore was not impressed by Vegeta's posture.

However, the other soldier eyed Vegeta and made a scared face. "Man, those are the saiyans." He hissed to his comrade before grabbing his clothes. "I'm out of here."

"The saiyans?" The first soldier gave Vegeta a disdainful glance. "He looks hardly strong enough to be a saiyan from those stories. He's tiny."

Gohan made a face. Did someone just insult Vegeta? Nobody insulted Vegeta and got away with it. Vegeta showed a smirk as he studied the first soldier. "Why don't I show you?"

Before anyone could respond Vegeta was standing right in front of the ignorant soldier. The man extended a hand and pushed his fist right through the soldier's chest. They were all silent as the soldier stared at the arm that was penetrating his chest as if he could not comprehend what was happening. Vegeta's eyes sparkled as he opened his hand in the man's body and created a blast. Gohan widened his eyes when he realized what the man was going to do right before the blast exploded in the middle of the man's body.

Blood, organs and pieces of flesh made disgusting wet noises as they landed everywhere across the room. Vegeta made a face as he looked at his now bright purple glove and part of his uniform. The man raised an eyebrow at the soldier that was left and the weaker soldier immediately ran out the room.

Vegeta looked over at his comrades and noticed that Nappa and Raditz were already removing their clothes but Gohan was still eying the disgusting display of the late soldier's innards. A hint of a smile appeared on Vegeta's face as he reached down and grabbed a handful of long and slimy organs. The man made sure Gohan was not looking at him and threw the organs right at the young warrior. The organs landed flat against Gohan's throat, wrapping around his body easily.

Gohan let out a horrified gasp and struggled to get the slimy organs off his chest and neck. The three adults laughed loudly while Gohan made disgusted noises and rubbed his hands over his neck and uniform to get rid of the blood and slime.

"This is not funny!" Gohan snarled at them. The young warrior ignored how they all laughed even harder at his response and instead chose to quickly take off his now bloodied clothing.

The young warrior unclasped the bands of his armour and took it off. He made a face while realizing that he would have to get an entirely new outfit. He was not going to walk around with blood splattered all over his uniform.

"How was your day with Zarbon?" Raditz asked curiously.

Gohan looked over his shoulder and noticed his older comrade was looking at him. The young warrior hesitated momentarily. He was aware that his comrades did not approve of the day he spent with Zarbon so what was a good answer to give here? "It was okay." Gohan said slowly.

"What did you do?" Raditz pushed.

"We ehh… We went to a theme park." Gohan sat down on the white bench.

"You didn't train?" Vegeta was the one who asked the question now. Gohan shook his head in response. "Interesting." Vegeta frowned momentarily before turning away from them again and heading for the showers.

"Why is that interesting?" Gohan asked as he looked up at Raditz.

His uncle shrugged. "We assumed he would try to train with you. Like the Ginyu Goons."

"I was sick. At least he realized that." Gohan didn't mean to sound accusing but after stating this sentence he realized that he indeed sounded like that. Raditz seemed to notice it as well because his lips curled into a smirk briefly before he made a neutral face again and headed for the showers as well.

Gohan blew out a sigh. He felt a lot better now. He was gaining strength and his tongue had turned back to the normal colour. He wasn't shivering anymore and the temperature around him felt comfortable. He was all better. And he couldn't feel any worse about it. This meant he would have to go on a mission again. He would rather be sick for the rest of his life than go on another mission.

After their shower they were getting ready to head for the mess hall. Vegeta would go to Frieza alone and the others would wait in the mess hall for their leader to come back with the details of their upcoming mission.

Gohan looked in the mirror and opened his mouth. He focused on one of his teeth and pushed against his upper right canine tooth with his tongue, surprised when the tooth casually moved. The young warrior debated whether to knock it out now or wait for it to be knocked out during a fight. There was always that possibility.

"Whatcha looking at?" Nappa asked curiously as he appeared behind the half-saiyan.

"My tooth. I think it's going to fall out soon." Gohan responded before moving up his hand and moving the tooth with his finger.

"Want me to knock it out for you?" Nappa offered as he showed his fist.

"No thanks." Gohan muttered as he stepped away from the older saiyan. "I'll let it run its course."

Nappa shrugged. "Fair enough."

Vegeta headed straight for Frieza's office so Gohan and the others left for the mess hall. Nappa and Raditz pigged out but Gohan only took one plate. Every time they ate at the mess hall Gohan was happy they had their own apartment and kitchen on the base planet. The hall was always filled with soldiers of every kind. Different colours and sizes but all loud and obnoxious. Half of them didn't seem to know how to eat because half of the food they put in their mouths fell back on the table while they chewed with open mouths. Many shouted and laughed, spraying the table with chunks of food or beverages.

Gohan was pleased to find out his own comrades were not half as bad, probably because Vegeta enforced some form of manners on them. Gohan pushed against his food with his fork.

Raditz looked up at his nephew. The man noticed what his nephew was doing and a small smile appeared on his face. Poor guy could never eat properly whenever they were leaving for a mission.

The man reached out to grab Gohan's plate. The young warrior frowned when Raditz tried to pull his plate away from him. Gohan grabbed his plate back before taking a huge bite from his food. "Mine." He grumbled while chewing his mouthful of food.

"It will only be wasted if eaten by someone who is obviously not hungry." Raditz said in a dismissive tone.

Gohan looked down at his plate. "Maybe I can sit this one out?" He suggested as he looked up.

Raditz slowly shook his head. "You know that's not an option." He responded.

"I know." Gohan muttered, lowering his gaze again. "I just wish it was."

Vegeta returned not too long later and sat down with a couple of plates as well. He casually started eating and the others waited for him to find the time to explain the details of the upcoming mission to them.

Gohan wasn't very interested in the upcoming mission. He could care less who he was going to kill and how he was supposed to do it. The fact that he had to murder people yet again was occupying his thoughts. Nappa always told him it was supposed to get easier. However, Gohan still felt horrible.

"Not hungry?"

Gohan looked up right into Vegeta's piercing eyes. "I'll finish it." The half-saiyan responded moodily.

Vegeta looked back down to his own food. "You'll be doing this job for the rest of your life, kiddo. Better get used to it right away." He said before taking a bite from his food.

The half-saiyan lowered his gaze, feeling oddly empty inside. When Raditz attempted to steal his plate again, Gohan decided to quickly eat the rest of the food. He wasn't hungry but he was not going to give Raditz the satisfaction of stealing his food either.

In the elevator, Gohan glanced at his own reflection. He was once again surprised at how easily he fit in with the others. Gohan leaned back against the wall of the elevator. When was the last time he tried to escape? He realized it was a long time ago. The half-saiyan glanced up at his comrades. Vegeta was repeating his meeting with Frieza to Raditz and Nappa. None of them were looking in his direction. They probably assumed he was listening as well.

What would happen if he quietly slipped away? Would they notice or would they assume he would come with them quietly? Were they actually still paying attention to his whereabouts? Did he still want to leave them?

Gohan's gaze lowered to the ground. A part of him was not so sure whether he wanted to leave or not. He hated them, yes, but at least now he knew what to expect. He knew Vegeta would only call him names and show hostile behaviour. He knew Nappa was the one to go to when he wanted to have fun and he realized that he trusted Raditz to be there for him whenever he needed his uncle.

While the elevator doors opened Gohan kept a close eye on his comrades. However, none of them even looked in his direction while they walked out. Since when did they stop guarding him? Gohan followed his comrades but even in the hallway they did not pay any attention to him.

They thought he'd given up. They considered him a weakling, sniffling and scared because of their earlier punishments. He would show them just how much he'd given up. The young warrior quickly went over the options. What could he do right now? Maybe he should make some sort of plan…

"Half-breed, keep up with us will you?" Vegeta snarled over his shoulder.

Gohan snapped out of his thoughts, realized he was walking a considerable distance behind them and ran to catch up to them. "Sorry." He muttered once he was close enough. So much for them not paying attention to him.

He would try to escape again, just not right now. First he had another mission to get through.

**** DBZ ***** DBZ ****

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think.

Next time on AHL 1:

"How's this for a party!" Nappa pulled the still beating heart from an alien's chest and tossed it aside before blasting the body into oblivion. The man whirled around in the air and attacked the next alien, thirsting for blood.

Gohan floated backwards as he avoided the slimy tentacles that tried to grab him. These aliens were horrifying. Entirely purple humanoid beings with bright green eyes and eight tentacles that protruded from their sides. Aside from that they could also hand out nasty kicks with their actually normal looking legs. However, Gohan wasn't entirely sure what was normal any more.

**** DBZ ****

Raditz knew his end was near and he forced himself to look straight into the eyes of his death. However, a fleeting movement was caught by his eyes and Raditz widened them when a small figure appeared in front of him. The young half-saiyan warrior crossed his arms in front of him and took the blast head on. He screamed when the blast encountered his skin, burning at his flesh and tearing at his skin. The young warrior was forced back at first, almost bumping into Raditz, but he bit his lip until his skin teared and powered up.

Vegeta's scouter exploded and the man turned sideways, his mouth opening when he noticed what exactly was going on.

**** DBZ ****

"He destroyed our scouters." Nappa stated softly.

"Yes, he did." Vegeta looked down and took off his boot so he could wash the insides as well. This blubber got everywhere.

"Worried?"

"He's a cub."

**** DBZ ****

"Wait a second." Gohan looked around. "We're on the pleasure ship." He exclaimed. "Oh no. No. No." He turned to the space pod but Raditz got in his way, turning the boy around and pushing him back.

"It won't be that bad." Raditz said, smirking.

"Won't be that bad? They hate me!" Gohan responded.

"No, they adore you." Vegeta made a face. "I have no idea why. You're just a pain in the ass and you're not hansom either." The man ignored the glare he was getting from the half-saiyan. "Maybe ugly is what they find adorable."

**** DBZ ****

Gohan placed his hands on the soft fabric of the sheets and leaned back on them. "What do I want? That's easy." He said as he studied his white boots. "The answer, that is. I don't think you can help me with actually achieving it. That just seems impossible right now."

"Let me guess, you want freedom, right?" Shania guessed, smiling when Gohan gave her a surprised glance. "It takes only a minute of studying your relationship with your comrades to know that you guys aren't exactly friends. So the whole concept that you joined them in order to help your family or that they took to you because you had nowhere else to go is not probable. They're holding you against your will."

Gohan was silent for a moment. "So, do you have the solution to my problem?"

Shania chuckled. "If you find one, you can tell me." She responded. "Let me tell you, kiddo. Everyone in this ship are here against their will. I definitely never got to choose anything."

**** DBZ **** DBZ ****

Until next time!