Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, just this story.

Author's note: Alright! The last chapter was so much better than the first, in a lot of ways. Now, to chapter three. How will Trunks and 18 fair without using their powers? What makes Trunks so sure 18 will do what he says? And how will they go ten seconds without trying to kill each other? Read on and find out.

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"Ugh," groaned 18, "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Yes," said Trunks. "I know exactly where I'm going."

"We've been walking for hours," said 18.

"And I said we wouldn't get to a town until at least tomorrow," said Trunks. "Stop complaining." 18 shook her head. She wasn't at all confident in Trunks's navigational abilities. She could swear that they'd passed the same tree at least twice. In fact, she was completely convinced that they were walking in circles.

"Are you absolutely-"

"Yes!" Trunks cut in. "I know where I'm going! Right now, I'm trying to find a good place to camp for the night. Preferably somewhere deep inside the forest, where the trees and bushes grow the thickest." They kept walking. 18 watched as the sun slowly sank behind the trees, and the sky began turning red. It was almost sundown. 18 had never really stopped to watch a sunset before. She was watching now, and it surprised her. It actually looked really pretty. She was shaken from her thoughts by Trunks's voice. "Did you hear me?" he asked. "I said I found a place to camp."

"I heard you," answered 18. "I'm coming." She walked over to where she had heard Trunks's voice coming from. She found him, and he was... digging. "What are you doing?"

"Digging a hole," stated Trunks. 18 blinked.

"I can see that," said 18. "I meant, 'why are you digging a hole?'"

"Oh," said Trunks. "Because, I'd be a lot more comfortable in a hidden camp-site than an open one." 18 looked a little bit confused, so Trunks kept explaining. "I'm going to dig out a shallow hole, and cover it with bushes. We'll sleep under there, and be totally hidden. If by some chance Cell were to pass by the forest, he wouldn't be able to find us. Provided, of course, that we don't use any Ki."

"Oh," said 18. "I see. But, uh, what makes you think that I won't use Ki, huh?"

"Well," answered Trunks, who stopped digging and looked at 18, "This is what makes me think you won't use Ki. If you try to fly, I won't hesitate to blow you out of the sky. If you try blasting, I'll blast back. Basically, if you do anything Ki related, I will retaliate and stop you. If it comes to it, I'll just kill you." 18 thought about it for a moment.

"Oh," she said, cursing her position, "You're good. You've thought everything through, haven't you?" Trunks nodded his head, and got back to digging. 18 leaned against a tree and watched him work. Progress was going a bit too slow for her liking. After looking around for a bit, she finally swallowed her pride and asked, "Do you need any help?" The question stopped Trunks completely. He blinked several times. "What?"

"Did you just offer to help me?" asked Trunks.

"Yeah," said 18, "So what? You're making us a place to sleep, and I want it done faster so that I can sleep."

"If you really wanna help," said Trunks, "Go get some bushes and leaves and stuff to help cover this up." 18 nodded and went to go find some bushes. Trunks went back to his work. He still had his natural Saiyan strength, but he had to dig slowly and carefully. He had to be careful not to mess anything up. Their hiding place had to look like a natural part of the forest. 18 was soon back with a good amount of plant-life. "Good timing," said Trunks. "I'm just about done." He added a few finishing touches, and then started putting the bushes in place. He took a step back and looked at his handy work. It was camouflaged very well.

"Not bad," said 18. "This might actually work." It was designed in such a way that the hole Trunks had dug (about 2 feet deep and 6 feet long by 5 feet wide) was covered by the bushes. The bushes around the edge supported the ones covering the middle section of the hole. Also, 18 had managed to find very large bushes.

"Just to make sure," said Trunks, "You didn't get all of these bushes from the same spot, right?"

"No," said 18. "What kind of idiot do you think I am? I'm not the outdoor, foresty type, but even I know not to do that. That would look way too odd if there was a big patch of ground that looked like stuff had been torn out."

"Just making sure," repeated Trunks. He crawled in under the bushes. "I'll take first watch. I'll wake you in a couple of hours for your shift."

"Whatever," said 18, crawling in after him.

888

Trunks was the first one up the next morning. He blinked a few times, gathering his thoughts. He was on the run with Android 18, trying to protect her from Cell, and therefor protect the world from a Cell he couldn't stop. He shook his head. 'My life sucks,' he thought. He looked over at 18, who was still sleeping. Before last night, he hadn't actually known that she could sleep. While it had surprised him, it hadn't made her seem any more human to him at all. She was still a city-destroying, mass-murdering monster as far as he was concerned.

She suddenly started talking in her sleep. "No," she said, "No, leave me alone..." she turned over, continuing to talk. "No... go away..." she turned over again. "Get away... brother... help... No!" She sat up, wide awake. She was breathing heavily. She looked over and saw Trunks staring at her. "What are you looking at?" she asked.

"...Nothing," answered Trunks. That had been strange. He didn't think she could dream either. She was an Android, right? Trunks shook his head and got up. He put his jacket on and exited the hiding spot. 18 got out as well, putting her denim vest back on.

"Where to now?" asked 18.

"This way," said Trunks, starting to walk. They went a good distance before 18 started complaining again. Only this time, it was about something Trunks added to his list of things he hadn't known about her.

They were walking along, when all of a sudden 18 said, "I'm hungry." Trunks stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm hungry," she repeated. "I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."

"You eat?" asked Trunks.

"I have a stomach you know," said 18, angrily. "You've kicked it before, remember?"

"Well yeah, It's just..."

"Just what?"

"...I didn't realize you could eat." 18 looked at him, narrowing her eyes.

"You really don't know anything about me, do you?" she asked.

"Sure I do," said Trunks. "You're an Android, you like to kill people, you like to destroy cities for fun, you killed my father and my mentor... What's not to know?" 18 gritted her teeth.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" she said. "Just shut up." Trunks looked at her for a second, then sighed.

"Fine," said Trunks, "Sorry I said anything. We're not gonna get anywhere if we keep going for each other's throats. I won't mention that stuff anymore, alright?"

"Good," said 18, crossing her arms. They were silent for a moment. The silence was broken by a strange sound. It was 18's stomach growling. She blushed. Trunks raised an eyebrow.

"I'll go get us some food then," he said. He went into the trees, looking for something to eat. He found several bushes with berries, as well as some herbs and mushrooms he knew to be edible. 'Good thing Gohan gave me some survival training,' he thought. 'If he hadn't, I probably would have picked something poisonous by accident.' As it was, everything he had found was safe to eat. He took off his jacket and tied it into a sack. He put everything he had gathered into it and walked back to where he'd left 18.

18 had sat down, and was just waiting for him to get back. 'Not being able to fly sucks,' she thought. 'And being stuck with Trunks is no better. He keeps bringing up everything I've ever done wrong. He needs to just-' Trunks's arrival cut into her thoughts.

"Here's breakfast," said Trunks, setting his jacket down. 18 frowned when she saw what was inside.

"That's it?" she asked.

"That's all I could find," said Trunks, grabbing a handful of berries. "Come lunch time, I should be able to find something better. We'll be in more heavily populated animal territory at that point. I might be able to catch something good. Like a deer, or-"

"A deer!" exclaimed 18. "You're joking right?" Trunks didn't answer (due to his shock at her reaction) which prompted 18 to keep going. "No. No way. I am not going to let you kill a deer, Trunks, no way." Trunks tried to hold his laughter. "Go out and kill a bear or something, but I'm not eating deer meat." She noticed Trunks's face. "What?"

"You," said Trunks, trying not to laugh. "Somehow, I hadn't seen you as the type who loves deer."

"They're cute," grumbled 18. "Sure, I've done a lot of bad stuff. But I never added animal cruelty to the list." Trunks just shook his head in disbelief and kept eating. They saved some of the berries for lunch, in case Trunks couldn't find anything else. They also saved the mushrooms. However, the herbs brought up a question. "Why do you have those?" 18 asked.

"Just in case," said Trunks. "If I catch anything to eat-" 18 glared at him "-that isn't a deer, I can use the herbs to give it some flavor." 18 smirked. "What?"

"Somehow," said 18, mimicking what Trunks had said earlier, "I hadn't seen you as the type who knew how to cook."

"Well," said Trunks, defensively, "I can."

"Calm down," said 18. "No need to get all offended." They continued walking in silence. Having agreed not to bring up his list of grievances against 18 and her brother, Trunks had nothing else to talk about to help pass the time. Luckily, 18 came up with something. "Hey, Trunks?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"How did you know all of that stuff about Cell?" asked 18. "It sounded like you knew everything about him."

"Well," said Trunks, "I pretty much do. It's a long story though."

"Well," said 18, "It's a long walk through the forest too, and anything is better than this little awkward silence we've got going on."

"True," said Trunks. "Alright then, I'll tell you. It started when I went back to the past."

"Huh?"

"My mom built a time machine so that I could go back in time to give him a cure," said Trunks. "He was going to die of a heart disease before you and your brother showed up."

"Who's 'him'?" asked 18.

"Goku," answered Trunks.

"Goku?" asked 18. "That's why he wasn't around? He died of a heart disease?" Trunks nodded. "Wow," she said. "My brother and I were supposed to kill Goku. That's why we were made like this."

"And when he wasn't around," said Trunks, "You decided to take out everyone else. And then, you kept having your 'fun' by destroying cities. Am I right?" 18 glared at him.

"Right," she said slowly. "Now keep going with your story."

"Anyway," continued Trunks, "I went back in time and gave Goku the cure, and then warned him about you Androids, to try and stop you two from destroying the world in the present. When I came back, it had been three years, and two different Androids appeared. Androids Nineteen and Twenty, or, rather, Nineteen and Dr. Gero."

"Dr. Gero?" asked 18. "But, he activated Seventeen and I, and then we-"

"Killed him, yeah," interrupted Trunks. "Same thing happened to the one in the past. Somehow, my coming back to the past had triggered some kind of chain reaction that changed certain events." Trunks continued telling 18 the story, not sparing many details.

They stopped to have lunch after a while. However, as soon as Trunks put his jacket on the ground, a duck rushed over, ate their remaining berries, and took off. Both Trunks and 18 stared after the duck in disbelief. Trunks turned to look at 18.

"I'm thinking duck for lunch," he said. "Any objections?"

"None at all," said 18.

888

As it was, Trunks had a few capsules with him. One was empty, and one had some cooking supplies in it. It had been Trunks's turn to make lunch for the workers, so he had brought cooking supplies with him. He found some water in a nearby stream, which is where he decided to have lunch.

"Smells good," said 18, looking at the cooking pot.

"It'll taste good too," said Trunks, "And then you'll see why I saved those herbs."

"You're not worried that a fire would attract attention?" asked 18.

"Nope," said Trunks. "It's high noon, and it hasn't rained recently. The wood is perfectly dry, and isn't giving off any smoke, and the light from the fire shouldn't be noticeable."

"Sounds like you really know what you're doing," said 18. Trunks nodded.

"Gohan taught me some survival techniques, same as his master taught him."

"Who was his master?" asked 18.

"Piccolo," said Trunks.

"The Namekian?" asked 18. Trunks nodded. He decided, as part of his earlier agreement, not to bring up the fact that she and 17 had killed Piccolo too. He concentrated on making lunch.

"It's just about done," said Trunks. He gave 18 a bowl. They each dished up a bowl of duck soup and started eating. 18 was pleasantly surprised by the taste.

"You really can cook," she said, her tone denoting that she enjoyed the food.

"It's really nothing," said Trunks. "It's just some duck, with the herbs and mushrooms I found."

"It's really good though," said 18. "Especially since you made it with almost no ingredients. You're a really good chef." Trunks felt his face heating up.

"Uh, thanks," said Trunks. He'd just had a pleasant conversation with 18. How did that happen? 18 seemed to notice something was wrong too, as she stopped eating. "This conversation never happened," said Trunks.

"Agreed," said 18. As totally messed up as complimenting Trunks had been, 18 had meant it. Trunks was a good cook. Trunks had his own thoughts on the matter.

'She's only being nice to me because I'm feeding her,' said Trunks. 'I can't let myself forget that. And what was that anyway? Did I actually blush when she commented me? Disgusting.' They continued eating in silence. When they were done, Trunks packed his stuff back into the capsule and they started moving again.

"We should make it into town by nightfall," said Trunks. "We'll be able to get a real dinner, and hopefully a place to stay for the night. Tomorrow, we can probably find a car or something."

"Where are we headed, anyway?" asked 18. "After this town you keep talking about, that is."

"Home," said Trunks. "I need to get back to Capsule Corp. My mom will have some stuff that I'll need to use to get ready to fight Cell." 18 left it at that. She wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting Trunks's mother. She'd killed the woman's husband after all. She put it in the back of her mind.

"Well," said 18, "Keep going with your story. You were at the part where Dr. Gero was about to activate my brother and I." Trunks nodded and started telling the story.

"Well," he said, "He activated you two, only to have you turn on him. Which, in hindsight, can be counted as a good deed. You two then activated another Android. Android Sixteen."

"Sixteen?" asked 18. "I don't remember that one."

"You don't?" asked Trunks. "You guys must not have seen him when you killed Gero." He went on to describe 16. 18 was shocked to hear of his nature.

"So you're saying that while 16 was gigantic and apparently more powerful than my brother and I, he was nonviolent?" Trunks nodded.

"He would rather go bird-watching than throw a punch," said Trunks. "He had a real connection with animals. Kinda like you, come to think of it."

"What do you mean?"

"The deer thing," explained Trunks.

"Of," said 18. Trunks continued his story. It wasn't long before they reached the town Trunks had been talking about. 18 was surprised. They had come out of the forest, and reached a desert. The town they had come to was small. There were only a few buildings. Thankfully, one of them was an Inn.

"We'll be staying there tonight," said Trunks. "Oh, and let me do the talking, alright?"

"Right," said 18, fairly sure that the locals wouldn't take kindly to her asking for a place to stay. That was the only benefit to being with Trunks at the moment. They walked into town and then entered the Inn. It was almost dark, so there weren't many people out.

"Welcome," said the man behind the counter in the lobby. His thin mustache and black suit made him look somewhat like a butler. "How may I help you two this evening."

"We need a place to stay," said Trunks, "And something to eat if it's not to much trouble."

"Of course sir," said the man, in a refined manner. "Will you be sharing a room, or-"

"No!" exclaimed Trunks and 18 at once, catching the man off guard.

"Terribly sorry," said the man. "You looked like such a lovely couple, I thought you two were together." Trunks shook his head vigorously, and 18 shuddered at the thought.

"That's alright," said Trunks, "We all make mistakes. But, if you don't mind, I kind of need a room setup where I can still, you know, keep tabs on her." The man raised an eyebrow in confusion. "It's a complex situation," said Trunks. The man seemed to accept this.

"Well," he said, "We do have a room reserved for large parties. It has two rooms in it, as well as a shower."

"A shower!" exclaimed 18. "Finally!" Both Trunks and the man looked at her. She blinked and looked back at them. "What? We've been hiking through the woods all day. I want a shower." She wrinkled her nose. "And you could use one too Trunks."

"I'm inclined to agree with the lady," said the man, as politely as he could. Trunks sighed.

"Whatever," he said. "How much is the room going to cost?"

"For one night?" asked the man. Trunks nodded his head. "1,000 zenie."

"Not bad," said Trunks. "I figured it'd be a lot more." He started digging in his pocket for his money.

"We usually charge extra for more people for that room," said the man, "But seeing as there are only two of you, there's really no point." Trunks nodded in agreement and paid the man.

"You had money with you too?" asked 18.

"Yeah," said Trunks. "I always have some just in case." He turned back to the man. "And does that cover dinner and breakfast."

"Yes."

"Good," said Trunks. "You know, you seem awfully calm considering everything."

"What do you mean?" asked the man.

"Have you been watching the news?" asked Trunks. The man shook his head no.

"Not really," said the man. We don't get much news here. This is a very small town. No one bothers to come here except travelers like yourselves."

"Oh," said Trunks. "Never mind then." The man pointed them in the direction of the dining area.

"It's true you know," said 18. "This is a small town. My brother and I never even saw this place. We pretty much flew right past it."

"That would explain the lack of shock at seeing you here," said Trunks. "But it's not going to be this easy all the time. We're eventually going to pass through some larger cities, and someone is bound to recognize you."

"We'll get to that when we get to it," said 18. Trunks nodded, and they went off to get dinner.

888

Trunks was laying down in bed. After eating a good meal and taking a shower, he was ready to sleep. Something was bugging him though. The entire day, 18 had been doing things that were completely human. She was an Android, right? If she were a real Android like 16 or 19, she shouldn't need to eat, bathe, sleep or anything like that. Did that mean she wasn't a completely mechanized Android? Was she actually human with robotic parts? Trunks shook his head. It didn't matter, did it? 18 was still an Android, and still a monster. While there had been times during the day where he'd ignored or forgot that, it changed nothing. He turned over and went to sleep.

18, meanwhile, had just finished showering. She dried her hair and wrapped the towel around herself. 'Stupid Trunks,' she thought, stepping out of the bathroom. 'He doesn't know the first thing about me. He took the title Android way to literally. Whatever. His ignorance isn't my problem. At least now he knows that I have to eat just like he does.' She sighed. Tomorrow would be another day. Another day with Trunks, sure, but still another day. A fresh start.

She got ready for bed. Tomorrow, they'd hopefully be able to get a car or a truck or something. Not being able to fly really sucked, but she knew it was for her own good. She got into bed and pulled the sheets over herself. Yes. Tomorrow would be a new day.

888

Cell looked at the moon. He would find 18 and Trunks. Unfortunately, without being able to sense their Ki, he had no idea where to start. He didn't know anything about Trunks. He didn't know where he lived, who his friends were, nothing. He had no leads. The only thing he had to go on was the certainty that they'd been heading north. What was the furthest thing away from this city to the north? He'd work on it tomorrow. Today, he had to prepare. He would get them soon enough.

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Ta-da! Chapter 3, done. It's a bit shorter than the last one, but that's probably do to the fact that there was no fight scene. Anyway, tell me what you think about it.

I had to be careful with the Zenie. It took a good deal of guess-work, but i think i was accurate. 1,000 Zenie should be like 100 dollars or something, if I'm right.

So, Trunks and 18 managed to survive an entire day without fighting each other. They still clearly hate each other, but at least they're smart enough to work together when necessary. And, oh no, Cell is plotting away. Where will he go next? Stay tuned for the next chapter to find out!