Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, just this story. I also don't own the song lyrics found in this chapter (they'll be italicized).

Author's note: Chapter 4 already? I'm on fire! Which is good. I've felt that the characters have been a bit OOC, but then I started thinking about it. Regular time line 18 married Krillin. So, unlikely romance isn't too OOC for her. And, if done right, OOC is character development in my opinion. But only if done gradually. I'm going to try harder to keep them as in character as I can. But remember, this is DBZ. Weird stuff's gonna happen no matter what.

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Trunks was up bright and early the next morning. He waited outside the door to 18's room. He had told her to set the alarm clock in the room for 7:30. He wanted to get as early a start as possible while also trying to get in as much necessary sleep as possible. He stood there for a few minutes, looking around. It was a nice room. This place had clearly been untouched by the troubles the world had experienced the last several years. While it was impossible for the townsfolk not to know what had been happening, it was easy to imagine that they hadn't ever seen any of the Androids themselves.

Trunks's thoughts were interrupted by sounds emitting from 18's room. He pressed his ear against the door. It was 18.

"No..." she said. "Leave me alone... go away... no... brother, help me! Ahh!" At the sound of her scream, Trunks opened the door and rushed in. 18 sat straight up in bed. Trunks blinked, and then his face turned beet-red. 18 looked at him for a second, and then scowled and blushed at the same time. She grabbed her sheets and pulled them up to cover her chest.

"Get out!" she yelled. Trunks quickly closed the door and moved away.

'That was more of Eighteen than I needed to see,' he thought. 18 came out of her room a few minutes afterwards, putting her vest on. She glared at him. "If you ever tell anyone what just happened, I swear I will-"

"Trust me," said Trunks, throwing up his hands. "I'm trying to forget it myself."

"What?" asked 18, "Do I really look that bad?" Trunks blinked again, blushing. He shook his head quickly.

"That's besides the point," he said.

"What were you doing barging into my room anyway?" asked 18.

"I heard you talking, and it sounded like there was someone in there attacking you or something," said Trunks. 18 raised an eyebrow. "I think you might have been talking in your sleep."

"So that allows you to just come in?" she asked, getting right up in his face

"No!" exclaimed Trunks. "I just went on instinct, okay? I thought you might have been in trouble, so I was obligated to protect you, seeing as how the only way you could have been in trouble is if Cell had been in your room.."

"Oh," said 18, calming down. It was surprising to hear that Trunks had been concerned in any way at all.

"Besides," said Trunks, "How was I supposed to know that you slept without any... y'know-"

"I took a shower last night," said 18. "Normally I put something on before I go to bed, but I was tired from hiking through the woods all day, okay?" There was an awkward silence. 18 broke it a moment later. "So again, if you tell anyone-"

"My lips are sealed," said Trunks. "Let's just go down and get breakfast." 18 followed Trunks downstairs, still in a foul mood.

'Trunks had better find a nice car to borrow,' she thought. 'I am not about to ride in some piece of junk.'

888

18's jaw dropped. "This was all you could find!?"

"What?" asked Trunks, patting the hood of the rusty looking old truck. He smiled. "This is a good truck, an old one. It was built to last."

"Yeah," said 18, "Built to last a hundred years ago."

"Hey," said Trunks, getting serious, "This thing is reliable, okay? If you don't wanna ride in it, you can just walk." 18 sighed. She really had no choice. "And look on the bright side."

"What bright side?" asked 18.

"We don't have to return it," explained Trunks. "I bought it from the guy cheap. He said he didn't really need a truck anymore. And he even through in a tarp to cover the back if it rains."

"Is there another bright side?" asked 18.

"Yes," said Trunks. "Do you really think anyone's going to give such an old truck a second glance? Someone like Cell, for instance?" Realization dawned on 18.

"Oh," she said placing a hand on her chin in thought, "That's actually pretty smart. You're just full of surprises, aren't you Trunks?" Trunks shrugged his shoulders.

"We should probably get going." he said. 18 nodded in agreement. They got in the truck and started off. To 18's surprise, the truck ran quite smoothly. Her surprise must have showed, because Trunks smirked. "Told you."

"Alright, alright," said 18. "You were right about the truck." She noticed that agreeing with Trunks had become slightly less difficult. She wasn't sure wether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

They rode in silence for a while, Trunks keeping his eyes on the road and 18 just watching the landscape roll by through her open window. The desert was actually a nice change of scenery after spending an entire day in a forest. 18 had never really spent that long in any one place, as she hadn't had to walk everywhere in a long time. She eventually started looking around the inside of the truck. To her surprise, there was a radio. She wondered if it worked, and went to turn it on.

Trunks, alerted by the sudden noise, turned to look at 18. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Checking to see if the radio works, duh," said 18. "I'm bored. I wanna see if there's any good music playing."

"What kind of music do you like?" asked Trunks, not believing that he cared enough to ask.

"Rock," said 18, "Punk, alternative, stuff like that."

"How about country?" asked Trunks.

"Tsh, no," said 18. "... yes."

"Ha," laughed Trunks.

"Shut up," said 18. "Everyone likes country, they just don't want to admit it."

"Whatever you say," said Trunks, shaking his head. They were silent for a second. "Did we just have a pleasant conversation?"

"Yeah," said 18, with a degree of uncertainty in her voice.

"That's a little too weird for me," said Trunks.

"That's the one thing we can agree on without it being totally messed up," replied 18. Trunks shook his head.

"How is it that we can possibly just talk like this?" asked Trunks.

"Not sure," said 18. "Maybe it's because this is the longest amount of time we've spent in each other's presence without trying to kill each other."

"Maybe."

"It could also be because we're on the run together."

"It's a possibility."

"Or, it could be because we've spent over 24 hours working together." Trunks nodded. 18 continued, "So basically, because we've spent this much time together without violence, actual conversations are possible."

"Huh," said Trunks. "...Basically, this is all Cell's fault. Our lives have pretty much taken a turn for the weird because of him." 18 nodded.

"I'll add that to my list of things I have against him," she said. "And put it on my to-do list. Item one, kill Cell for screwing up my life."

"Is that it?" asked Trunks. 18 shook her head.

"Item 2, kill Trunks if possible," said 18.

"That's real nice," said Trunks.

"Hey," retorted 18, "You know you still wanna kill me. It's only fair that I want to kill you too."

"I guess," said Trunks. "We are enemies, after all." He was glad 18 hadn't forgotten that. He was also sure she knew that he only told her the story of his adventures in the past to help pass the time. He had no problem telling her about the time machine. After all, he'd destroyed it. And 18 wasn't really a threat to him anymore. He knew it, and was sure she knew it.

18 went back to fiddling with the radio. She was about to give up, when she suddenly found something interesting.

"The green monster that was attacking the city two days ago has somehow changed shape. However, he has not moved from his spot on top of a recently rebuilt tower in all this time. It is unknown what he wants or why he continues to- oh wait! He has just flown up into the air! He seems to be heading due north for some reason. Stay tuned for further updates as they happen." Trunks and 18 looked at each other.

"Step on it," said 18. Trunks nodded, and floored it.

"Why north?" asked Trunks. "Is that the direction we took off in?"

"I think so," said 18, her voice competing with the roar of the engine and the rushing wind. "But I think we started heading east once we hit the forest."

"We're going northeast now," said Trunks. "If he keeps heading north he'll miss us completely. But we still need to put as much distance between us and him as possible."

"Agreed," replied 18. She suddenly had a thought. "I just had an idea!"

"What?"

"If he gets close enough, you'll probably sense him right?"

"Yeah," said Trunks.

"Keep going this fast until you sense him," said 18. "If he just goes on out of range, we'll be safe. Trunks nodded. It was a good idea. He couldn't keep up this speed forever. As well-built as the truck was, it could only keep a high speed for so long before overheating.

888

Cell was flying over the mountains now. He had passed over a forest earlier, and he could sense what was probably a small town to the east. However, all he sensed were normal people. He didn't sense a Saiyan or an Android anywhere. Of course, he really couldn't sense Androids that well. A flaw in his design. He was sure that if there were other Androids around after he achieved his perfect form, he could sense them.

He landed in the mountains, trying to decide where to go next. Trunks and 18 had very well given him the slip. He grimaced. Those two. He would catch them eventually. But where to go next?

'They obviously wanted to put distance between themselves and me,' thought Cell. 'They're obviously so far away that I can't feel them. I doubt they stopped for anything, so I'll have to keep going north. They can't run forever!' With that thought in mind, Cell took off full speed towards the north.

888

Trunks felt a huge surge of power behind them, but it soon passed. He breathed a sigh of relief. "We're safe," he said, slowing down to a normal speed.

"Good," said 18. She started with the radio again. "There's gotta be some decent music on here somewhere," she grumbled. Suddenly, she found something and stopped on it.

"Why give up, why give in? It's not enough, it never is. But I will go on until the end! We've become, desolate. It's not enough, it never is. But I will go on until the end!"

"Awesome!" exclaimed 18. "I love this song!" Trunks looked at her.

"You do?" he asked, clearly confused.

"What?" asked 18. "This song is cool, okay? Why is it that every time I do something remotely human, you act so surprised?"

"You honestly don't know?" asked Trunks, anger detectable in his voice. "You're an Android who's been on a killing spree for my entire life! You aren't human at all! You're a mechanical monster!"

"You don't know the first thing about me!" shot back 18, offended. "For your information, my brother and I weren't always like this. We were sompletely human once, you know."

"You... you were?" asked Trunks.

"Yes," said 18, "What are you, stupid? Have you noticed that all of the androids that were purely mechanical had something about them that made them really stand out from other people? You told me about Sixteen and Nineteen. Nineteen had paper-white skin acording to you, and Sixteen was a giant with a red Mohawk. I'm willing to bet both of them had mechanical sounding voices, too. If you didn't know we were Androids, wouldn't Seventeen and I look like normal people? Don't you think we'd blend into a crowd?" Trunks was silent for a moment. He hadn't known any of that, and he hadn't really cared to think about it.

"I... I guess so," said Trunks. "I didn't know you used to be a normal human."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," said 18, looking out her window again. "And knowing you, you're not going to even try to find out." They were silent for a long time.

888

It was snowing, hard. Cell looked around. 'Where would they hide?' He sensed energy coming from somewhere and headed towards it. As he came closer, he saw that it was a small town. 'They're bound to be there,' thought Cell. 'Where else is there to go up here?' He landed on the outskirts and felt around. He couldn't sense them, but they had to be here somewhere. He walked into town. Almost immediately, he saw a large man standing outside. He walked up to him.

"Who are you?" asked the square-headed man.

"My name is Cell," answered Cell. "Who are you?"

"Android 8," answered the man. "But I go by Eighter."

"Android?" asked Cell, surprised. "So, you too were created by Dr. Gero?" Eighter nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Now, what do you want?"

"I am looking for someone," said Cell. "A young man with purple hair, and a young blonde woman. The woman is an Android like ourselves."

"I haven't seen them," said Eighter, instinctively knowing Cell was evil. However, he had an idea. "But, I did see something fly by earlier."

"You did?" asked Cell, becoming excited. Eighter nodded.

"Yes," he replied. "Whoever or whatever it was, flew further north. They- er, it, might still be up there somewhere."

"You're not a good liar," said Cell. "I can see what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me think it could have been just anything, but I know for certain it was them. You can't hide that from me."

"Sorry," said Eighter, "But they made me promise not to tell. But, since there's no hiding it now, you might as well hurry and see if you can catch them."

"You've been most helpful," said Cell. "As a reward, I've decided not to destroy this village. Hahahaha!" Cell flew off, laughing evilly. Eighter slowly smiled as Cell left. Whoever he was after was safer now. Still, he wondered what kind of Android Cell had been. Dr. Gero hadn't had anything like that back when he had been built. It looked like no other Android he'd ever seen. Eighter just hoped that Cell wouldn't be back. He went back to he and Snow's home, knowing that he'd done the right thing.

888

They had been quiet for over an hour. 18 had turned off the radio too. She was still brooding over Trunks's ignorance.

'Stupid Trunks,' she thought. 'He really didn't know anything about me. He has no idea who I am or what I've been through. He's fine just assuming the worst of me. Well guess what? I'm going to see if I can't change his opinion. Or, at least, get him to treat me like a person for once.' Trunks too had a lot on his mind.

'Wow,' said Trunks. 'I really can't believe I didn't know she was human. She's not really an Android, she's a cyborg. Doesn't change anything, though. She's still Android Eighteen, and still a monster. We've managed to have some actual conversations, but it changes nothing. She is what she is, and she's done too much evil to be forgiven.' What Trunks didn't realize, was that he was thinking less and less about the bad things 18 had done in the past. Certainly, he still thought about it fairly often. But, he never actually thought too much about it when he was talking to her. Perhaps she had been right earlier. Maybe all of the time they were spending together was changing something between them, if only slightly.

Trunks didn't realize this, of course, but some small part of him realized it on a subconscious level. All Trunks knew was that he had a strange feeling about the whole situation, and that it bugged him. They rode on until sunset, and then Trunks started looking for a place to park and hide the truck.

"We aren't going to hit another town or city until tomorrow," said Trunks, "So keep your eyes peeled for a place to camp. 18 didn't respond. He looked over at her. She was still looking out the window, resting her cheek on her hand. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you," said 18, irritably. Trunks was slightly taken aback by her tone. She sounded hostile for the first time in days. The incident that morning hadn't counted, as that had been justified. She sounded like she was really irritated with him. "There," she said, pointing. Trunks looked. There had been large rock formations all over the desert. 18 had spotted one that also had a cave at the bottom. Trunks drove over and pulled the truck into the cave. 18 got out and went to sit in the back of the truck.

"What are you doing?" asked Trunks.

"I'm sleeping back here," said 18. "I'll use the tarp as a blanket. Just leave me alone until morning, alright?" Trunks nodded. He tried to make himself comfortable in the cab. He decided that keeping watch tonight wouldn't be necessary, especially since Cell had completely missed them earlier. He got into a comfortable position, and tried getting to sleep.

18 watched the stars slowly appearing in the sky. She hoped that tomorrow would go better than today had gone. Trunks wasn't awful to be around when he wasn't acting totally disgusted about being in her presence. She'd felt it off and on all day. She'd never really realized before how awful it was to be hated that much. She'd always been in a position where it didn't matter. But now, she was stuck with someone who hated everything about her, and it was really discomforting.

She turned over, looking at the interior of the truck bed. She started thinking about what Trunks had said that morning. 'I think you might have been talking in your sleep,' he had said. What had she been saying? Was it during the dream she'd had twice now? She hoped not. It made her feel vulnerable, knowing that Trunks could hear her saying the things she said in that dream. As much as she hoped it wasn't that dream, she knew it had to be. She'd woken up to Trunks looking at her two mornings in a row, and that was the last dream she'd had both times.

She sighed. She really, really hoped tomorrow would be better.

888

Cell stood in the snow. 8 couldn't have lied to him, he was sure. He knew that Trunks and 18 had gone north, and 8 had said he'd seen something fly up here. Well, if they'd been here they were certainly gone now.

"Where?" Cell asked himself. "Where could they have gone?" He decided he would stay there for the night and collect his thoughts. Tomorrow, he would try and pick up the trail again. They couldn't hide forever.

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Chapter 4, complete. I know, it was kinda short. The next one will be longer though, for sure.

Well, 18 and Trunks have survived another day with each other. But Trunks's hatred and 18's contempt are still there, even if they don't always show it. And now Cell has been thrown off the scent by good old Eighter (you all remember him, right?). Thankfully, Cell is so sure of his own conclusion about where Trunks and 18 ran off to that he didn't see through Eighter's trick.

There was probably stuff in this chapter that seemed a little random, but believe me: it all has a purpose. Just, not yet. In later chapters, certain events in this one will be more important. Ha! Now you have to read on and see what the heck I'm talking about! Stay tuned for the next chapter!