A/N: So I put up a survey about another story at the top of my profile. I want to do the second half of Half Agony as Half Hope but I don't know which format I want to use.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or anything affiliated with it.

-MalRev

DEEP - SIX

17 - How To Push Buttons

"YOU DIDN'T START A FIRE!" I shouted at the empty space where Goku had just been.

Okay, it was sort of terrifying seeing him disappear right in front of me. I moved from my spot, wandering around the tiny cabin to find a trap door. Maybe it wasn't impossible. He was an alien with super strength, apparently—vanishing into thin air was probably another weird trick. I crossed my arms and shivered in the cold. He still didn't start a damn fire.

How hard could it be? I found matches on top of the fireplace and knelt down before it with the box. He left me with no heat, no food, and most importantly, no toilet. I scowled as I struck a match and flames sizzled to life at the end of it.

"I can solve my own problems," I said, smiling smugly to myself.

I tossed the match into the fireplace, where some old burnt wood was, and it choked out. Annoyed, I struck another and tried to set it down more carefully, but the flame didn't catch and also practically died on impact. Great. Why didn't my dad teach me any outdoorsy shit?

"Bet he showed precious Owen," I said snidely. I figured the burnt stuff wouldn't catch, so I rolled it out onto the floor and grabbed fresh wood stacked a few feet away.

The fire still refused to start. It wasn't dark yet, but I didn't want to risk sitting alone with no light. I grabbed a lamp stashed next to the wood and that immediately cast a glow across the floor. No plumbing, no electricity, no heat. What was this? Hell?

Another match crackled to life. "My… boyfriend is an alien. His friends are aliens. They all deliberately made my brother their drug mule." The fire gnawed on the edge of a log but puttered out. I lit another match. "I'm now in the middle of fucking nowhere. I have no cell phone. Said alien boyfriend politely tore my pants in half. I am cold, hungry, and quickly losing my patience."

The wood wasn't cooperating. I tossed the book of matches away and laid on my back to shimmy out of my jeans since there were destroyed anyway. There was a pile of orange at the foot of Goku's pathetic excuse for a bed and I sourly picked through them, trying to find a clean pair of pants.

Yeah, he was in love with me alright. Locking me up in a shack in East Jesus Nowhere, dragging me around by my hair like I was a servant. Next he'd propose and we'd ride off into wedded bliss in our cabin fit for a squirrel to inhabit.

I found the cleanest pair of pants I could and knotted the sash over and over again to keep them up. The legs were swimming on me but it was better than wearing jeans that showed off my panties.

"I don't know what'll happen to me if something happens to you!" I mocked in a deep voice. I broke twigs off the extra logs and cast them into the fireplace. "Let me send you mixed signals for a few months before I turn into a regular Casanova and grab at you in the middle of some field!"

This time the fire caught on the twigs and quickly chewed its way to the logs. I sighed in relief and leaned back on my palms to watch the flames dancing, with an occasional ember pirouetting off into the encroaching darkness. At least I was inside—and reasonably safe. Super-powered alien boyfriend probably wouldn't let anything happened to me.

I rose after a while and shut all the windows Goku had opened, turning the blinds down as well. Night was creeping in and I didn't want anyone creeping on me. The eerie silence outside was replaced by choruses of crickets and other critters competing with one another to be the loudest.

A cast iron pot fit right over the fire and I poured some water inside. It came to a boil faster than I expected and I took it off to set on an iron plate. I could take care of myself. I stoked the fire with some small pieces of wood and nudged it with the poker. I hadn't even burned the cabin down yet, so that was a plus. Maybe I'd get really adventurous and try to cook something.

Eh, that was probably too far. The water cooled off and I guzzled more than I probably should've. I didn't want to go outside for a bathroom break in the middle of the night. I crawled onto the mattress and drew the flimsy sheet over myself. The fire could keep going. Nothing near it could catch fire, and I'd freeze if I put it out.

I sighed, gazing off into the darkness. It would be morning soon. I could worry about Owen and Goku and myself when the sun was back up in the sky.

It was odd that I fell asleep fast but it had been a really long day. I slept for a few blissful hours before I was woken up by the sound of shoes on the floor. My eyes popped open in terror and I stared at the wall in front of me. Oh no. I was about to become the inspiration for a new horror movie.

The person yawned and I realized it was Goku. Relieved, I closed my eyes again and pretended not to notice him. There were scuffing sounds as he pulled off his boots and the rustling of clothes and the swish of the sash he used to keep his pants up. I cracked an eye open suspiciously even though I was turned away from him.

The mattress curved from added weight and my blanket lifted briefly, letting a bite of cold air inside. I stiffened as Goku sidled close behind me and his arm slithered across my waist. The other rooted under the pillow and he yawned again, nuzzling his nose into the crook of my neck. He was seriously hot. It was like having a radiator pressing against me.

I squinted, still not satisfied that he wasn't going to try anything. That hand was a little too close to my chest. And my pants. Maybe I could wiggle away before he—

"I know you're awake, Ellie," he mumbled into my hair.

Shit. I considered faking it for a bit longer but figured the jig was up. I shifted awkwardly. "How?"

The hand over my waist turned up briefly in a lazy expression of ignorance. "I dunno. Dumb little human stuff. Breathing faster, heart pumping faster."

"Oh." I paused, wondering if it was a bad time to ask about my brother. "So… how'd it go?"

"Fine. Everyone's up to date. They all knew I wasn't human, anyway—only you were in the dark. I'm gonna meet with Bulma at the end of the week so we can make a deal to get Owen back. After that, I'm gonna move on. I don't need to stay around here any more."

Goku sounded kind of sad. I pinched the mattress between my fingertips and traced the lines in the wood with my eyes. He'd known Bulma a long time. What was he leaving behind?

"I have to stay here," I said.

He laughed and his hand curled up across my stomach. "And do what?"

"Finish school? Go back to my normal life?"

"None of that's happening. You're coming with me."

I bristled. "I'm not sacrificing my education for you. Go ahead and leave if you want but I'm staying here and I'm going to become a pharmacist."

Goku yawned again, surprisingly not getting angry. He patted my stomach and pulled me closer. "Sure. Whatever you say. I'm going to sleep."

I ground my teeth together as he rapidly slipped off to sleep. What did he expect me to do? Give up my entire life because he decided he was in love with me? Amelia Hayworth wasn't going to be some roadie for Goku Son. I needed an education.

My gaze left the siding of the cabin, flickering down to where Goku's hand was resting on my belly. I glared at the spot, trying to be angry, but my heart was doing little somersaults. It was a relief having him back with me. But having feelings for him was always going to be inconvenient—especially as events were starting to unfold and life was getting truly complicated.

Mom had put off school after having my brother and I, and she never went back. She loved both of us but I could tell it wasn't easy for her giving up her dreams. I refused to take her sacrifice for granted by following Goku wherever the wind took him.

But it made me quiver with curiosity and excitement. Where would we go? We could see so much. I'd always wanted to visit New Zealand to see the gorgeous landscapes. And France—what did the Eiffel Tower look like in person? Was Stonehenge as foreboding as it looked in pictures?

Did I want to live the rest of my life counting pills behind a counter?

Goku shifted and groaned in his sleep and squeezed my tight against him. I squirmed because I couldn't really breathe, but slowly came to a realization that made me tear away from him.

He woke up, watching blearily as I turned to face him and pushed on his bare chest. I couldn't sit up thanks to his arm still wrapped around me. He rubbed his face and gave me an exasperated look.

"What?" he mumbled. "Hear something?"

I pressed my lips together in an angry line. "Are you seriously naked?!"

"Uh, yes?"

"Why the HELL are you naked, Goku?!"

"...Because I'm sleeping?" he ventured like he didn't understand the problem. His eyes roamed down to my shirt. "Why are you sleeping with clothes on?"

Suddenly, I was missing being alone in the cabin. I rolled my eyes. Goku smirked at me through the darkness, black irises almost indistinguishable from the darkness around us. The fire flickered behind him, casting light on the ceiling, but he blocked any of it from reaching me.

My hands were still on his chest; I could feel his slow and steady heartbeats. His skin was hot and hard like the cast iron pot I used to boil my water. I pressed down with my fingertips and it didn't give way.

"What are you?" I asked after a lapse of silence.

"Very tired." His eyes were closed but he cracked one open to look down at me. "Go to sleep."

"You tell me you're an alien and refuse to explain anything about it. How am I supposed to sleep if you might be leaking radiation on me or something?"

Goku sighed irately and turned on his back, slinging the arm that was around me over his eyes. "There's nothing to explain. I can do some things you can't."

"Like disappear into thin air," I said.

"Well, none of the other Saiyans can do that, either." He reached up to scratch his chest, yawning. "Go to bed, Ellie."

The fire was dying and darkness had almost taken over the cabin. The temperature had dropped but around Goku it felt comfortable and warm. I shivered, too proud to move closer to him.

"Not until you tell me something," I insisted. "What was your planet like? Why are you hot all the time? What happened to—"

In a flash he was on top of me and had my hands pinned next to my head. He was hovering over me, legs pushing mine apart, face contorted in rage. My pulse fluttered at the sight of him—a monster.

"I hate what I am!" he snarled. He pressed his forehead to mine, trapping me in his angry eyes. "I would give anything to be a human and I hate being reminded that I never will be! I hate the pills for turning me into a moron but I hate what I become without them!" His fingers tightened over mine and all I could see was black. "Stop asking me, Ellie."

The light from the fire was completely out. Moonlight cast a glow across Goku but I could hardly see it. He didn't move but his eyes flickered back and forth like he was trying to read mine. I was holding my breath, praying he wouldn't break my hands. My heart thundered in my ears.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I wish you didn't have to feel that way."

Then he was off of me. He covered his eyes with his arm again, lying on his back. "Me too."