A/N: Mirrorsdeath17, Apollo's Twin and Goku's Child, Vynous, koolkat44, Sidthe, angelvoice15, Gracey Lily: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your feedback was great, those of you who reviewed. I really appreciated it.

Remember guys, this is a fan fiction, which means it's for the fans. If you make a request, I will try my best to make it happen. It's your story too. :)

"What are you saying 'I need more time,' huh?"

Trunks slammed the man he was addressing into the wall behind him. He was too astonished to struggle and looked at the Saiyan prince with wide, nervous eyes. Trunks felt his lip curl in disgust. This man was a fourth-class Saiyan, the lowest of the low. His purpose was solely to gather information dug up on the streets, as he was too weak for what the Saiyan armies demanded of their soldiers. He spent his time instead in back alleyways and lurked behind the sleaziest hovels on Greydon Station, soaking up all the rumors whispered in the night. He was a conniving, silver-tongued piece of trash.

"Please, milord, I implore you to give me but a few more hours and I will have the knowledge you seek!" He struggled to speak through the fingers wrapped around his throat. Angered by his answer, Trunks tightened his grip and the rumor monger clawed at his hand.

"My father specifically instructed you to gather what he asked and report to him as soon as the royal ship landed. He has been more than generous by allowing you an hour more, don't you agree?"

"Ce-Certainly, my prince," the man squeaked.

He was beginning to turn a nasty shade of red, so Trunks released his hold. He stood over the man as he crumpled to the floor, clutching his throat as he took shuddering gulps of air. Trunks decided to give the man a moment to catch his breath and let his eyes roll over the dark, smoke-filled bar he was currently standing in the back of. How he tired of these dank places he found himself in regularly. Usually, however, he visited those places only on planet Vegeta. It was rare when his father asked him to go on these errands outside of his home.

He had a reputation amongst the Saiyan underground for being as ruthless as his father for these errands. It was always the same: Make contact, use whatever force necessary, and get results. It took awhile for the filth of the empire to respect him as a fierce prince and not laugh in his face as a Halfling heir, but he eventually got through to them. He now had an entire network of fourth-class Saiyans under his thumb, gathering whatever information he or his father had need of.

Another thought flitted across Trunks's mind. A flash of red, a smear of green, and a brilliant smile almost had him reeling. What would she think if she saw this side of him? He could still see the fear in her eyes as she passed the Saiyan guards in the halls of the ship, the way she flinched when one of them simply shifted from one foot to the other. She was still terrified of the universe's most feared race, though she had never admitted it to him. He admired her for her strength, for the way she held her head high and kept going despite all the inner turmoil he knew she had.

She had told him once that she knew the memories she had lost were probably terrible, but she wanted them anyway. At the time, Trunks had simply whispered some soothing words and put her mind at ease, but he had been the opposite of calm. Even now, he felt his blood begin to heat up at the thought. Gohan was in those memories, the guard she had obviously been close to. If she wanted to remember him so much, that meant he, Trunks, was not enough for her. He wasn't who she really wanted. After going his entire lifetime not being enough of a Saiyan for his own people, he was now not enough of a man for his own concubine. It was an infuriating thought.

"Now, are you ready to tell me what you know?" Trunks kicked the man just below his ribcage, making him grunt and flinch in pain.

"Cooler's men," he spat. "They were seen on the east end of the station last night."

Trunks grabbed a fistful of the man's hair and forced his head up. "Is that all you know?" His tone was dangerous, letting the weaker Saiyan know what a mistake it would be to lie.

"N-no, there's more. The men, they're a group of Cooler's elite forces. I overheard them talking about a blitz on the royal ship this evening."

The prince slammed the man's head into the stone floor, easily breaking his nose and possibly a cheekbone. "And you were withholding this information the entire time!?"

"My apologies, milord," he garbled through a mouthful of blood.

Trunks raised his hand to strike the man again, but paused suddenly. A red flag shot up in his mind. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, calming his ki so he could sense those around him. There, just off the main road of the station, Avelyn's energy spiked erratically. She was afraid. He sensed a group of other ki's, all blazing brightly against his senses. His eyelids split open in surprise. These other energies, they had to be the elites the man was talking about. No other people on this ship besides his father and himself had that kind of power.

Without a parting look to the rumor monger, Trunks rose into the air and broke through the rotten wood of the bar's ceiling before shooting off in the direction of Avelyn's energy. He raced over the tops of the buildings, his back skimming the steel ceiling of the station. He spotted her bright red hair nestled between two buildings, as he had sensed. She was on the ground, uselessly trying to back up as a large man advanced on her. Trunks was still worked up from his interrogation and it took no time at all for his ki to burst and he powered up. He felt the energy crackle through him, from the tips of his toes to his now-glowing, blond split ends. He was standing in front of Avelyn in the blink of an eye, facing her attackers.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned as he pushed the man away from Avelyn.

"Ch, what d'you want, kid?"

Trunks simply turned his back to face Avelyn instead. She looked up at him with her large green eyes and the image of the rumor monger popped into his head. How similar they looked, how helpless… He shook the thought away and knelt down to make sure she was all right.

"Are you hurt?"

She hesitated a moment and simply stared at him. She had never seen his Super Saiyan form before he realized. She grimaced and he followed her gaze to Bra's broken shoe. He chuckled, partly from her concern over the heel and partly out of relief that that was all that was wrong with her.

"She has more, she won't miss it," he assured. She gave him a weak smile that weighed on his heart like a lead weight. That smile would never fully belong to him, not as long as she wanted to regain her memories or if she managed to recover them. She would remember all the terrible things the Saiyans had done to her, remember Gohan and how he died. She would hate Trunks for that. How could she not?

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, ignoring me?"

Trunks spun on his heel and blocked the man's fist with his palm. He could smell the alcohol coming off of his attacker, and yet the man seemed to be in complete control of his body. Trunks released the fist and made a swift jab to the stomach, managing to hit only air as the man hopped to the left. A smirk lifted the corner of Trunks's mouth. This was definitely an elite.

"You dare challenge the mighty Jabre?"

The prince took a moment to size this 'mighty' Jabre up. He was a tall man, at least three feet taller than Trunks himself. He was also bulky with twitching muscle that pulled his canary yellow skin tight over his body. Messy white hair hung loosely to his uncovered thighs. He wore only a chest plate and spandex shorts that barely covered his behind. He looked like an overgrown peacock strutting his brightly-colored plumage. Trunks would have never passed this man in the station and thought he would be one of Cooler's elite soldiers. But the fact that he managed to evade a hit from a super Saiyan was a testament to his amazing speed, if nothing else.

"You gonna stand there admiring me all day, Blondie? Or are we gonna get this fight started? I got places to be, people to maim. You know how it is." Jabre flicked his hair and gave a brilliant smile.

"Tell me," Trunks began, taking a quick glance at the group of men standing on the other side of the alley. "Just how many of you mongrels are there on this station?"

"Why the interest? You lookin' for some fun, Blondie?"

Trunks jumped forward and aimed for Jabre's stomach again, this time landing a hit. The larger man doubled over and coughed violently.

"Something like that," Trunks agreed smugly.

"Why you little—"

Jabre didn't get the chance to finish his insult as an explosion rocked the station. Trunks's head jerked in the direction the blast came from. The docks. The attack must be happening. Jabre's slow, satisfied laugh only confirmed his sickening realization. Another blast almost had him reeling as he ducked and dodged loose bricks falling from the surrounding buildings. Trunks narrowly avoided a rather large chunk of building when he froze.

Avelyn.

He whipped around and caught sight of her in the dim lighting. She was struggling to push a slab of concrete from her legs. He rushed to her and threw the slab off easily. It flew back and knocked several of the men flat on their backs. Trunks didn't care; he was focused on Avelyn, whose eyes were filled with terror. He lifted her carefully and cradled her against his chest. He was about to rise in the air when she began squirming, causing him to nearly drop her. She was reaching for a beaten up cardboard box lying on the ground. He sighed and kneeled so she could pick it up. She grasped it in her arms tightly and he took off.

He wasn't going to be allowed to go uncontested, however. Jabre was on his heels, shooting erratic energy blasts as he went. Trunks did his best to dodge the blasts, but it was difficult with Avelyn in his arms. It didn't help that she was focused on clinging to that stupid box instead of clinging to him. He gritted his teeth in frustration and expended more energy to double his speed. He soon left Jabre cursing and swearing somewhere in the shopping district behind and arrived at the docks.

It was chaos, absolute chaos. Swarms of Cooler's soldiers, identifiable by the ice crystal insignia on their armor, were engaged in battle with Saiyan soldiers, who were being overtaken easily. Trunks assessed the situation quickly and then shot into the royal ship, which was yet untouched by the battle. He hastily set Avelyn on her feet just inside the door and looked her in the eyes.

"Ave, go back to the room and stay there until I come for you."

Her expression changed from one of fear to worry. She shook her head and clutched his arm. He placed his hands on her shoulders and held her firm.

"Avelyn, please," he pleaded. "I swear, I'll come back to you."

She took a deep breath, kissed his lips lightly, then turned and raced deeper into the ship, gripping her mysterious box the entire time. He watched her go until he couldn't see her anymore and, taking a page from her book, swiftly turned to enter the battle. He scanned the battlefield quickly and amongst the fleeing station patrons and soldiers engaged in combat, he couldn't see his father anywhere. He could, however, sense the king's energy somewhere in the middle of the field, the thickest part of it all. Trunks could also sense that Vegeta was handling himself well. Content that his father didn't need his help, he dove headlong into the fighting himself.

Trunks had managed to dispatch several enemy soldiers and was going to land the finishing blow on yet another until a bright crimson energy blast flashed before his face and crashed into the ground at his feet, knocking him back several yards. He looked up into the sky to see where the blast had come from and let out a comical grunt. He rose to his feet and dusted himself off before climbing into the air to meet Jabre.

Avelyn was panting heavily as she pounded the code into Trunks's room, praying that the door opened quickly. When it did, she rushed inside and took three giant leaps to the window on the opposite side of the room. She looked out and instantly the sights of battle flooded her vision. Just as she thought, his room was on the outer side of the ship. She looked over the fighting, trying to catch a glimpse of his glowing form. Finally, she caught sight of him rising into the sky. She followed where his head was turned to and the breath caught in her throat. She clutched the box that contained the sword tightly to her chest.

She watched as Trunks and Jabre exchanged a few words. Then, without warning, the two engaged each other. Their fight was fast and heated. Avelyn could barely follow their movements as they flashed from place to place. She couldn't even tell who had the upper hand because she couldn't see the hits that were being landed at supersonic speeds. She could only look on with a stomach-turning apprehension as she waited for a winner to be decided.

Suddenly, the fighters paused. Trunks's back was to Avelyn and he had a hand on Jabre's chest. A brilliant flash filled the artificial sky and Jabre was rocketing backwards, crashing through buildings as he went. Trunks stood there and watched him plummet. He wasn't paying attention to anyone but Jabre, which is why he didn't see the soldier who had snuck up behind him. Avelyn beat her hands on the window in desperation, cutting her hand on the glass as it shattered against her fists. The soldier had a strange looking gun in his hands and was raising it, finger on the trigger. Avelyn's entire being was screaming with all its might. Her mouth was open in a silent shout. He was going to die. He was going to die and she was helpless to do anything about it. It was her fault.

She saw the tip of the gun glow red hot as it powered up. The soldier had a smug smirk on his face. Avelyn continued to pound on the sides of the window, further splitting open her wounds. This wasn't fair. He couldn't die. He couldn't. It wasn't fair!

"Gohan!"

She saw him turn suddenly, surprise etched into his features, but it was too late. The blast from the gun hit him square in the stomach. He flew back a few feet and then dropped straight down. The golden aura that had surrounded him faded as he fell. His hair returned to its usual violet color and whipped around his face. He was completely limp, unresponsive. Like Jabre before him, Trunks crashed into the floor of the station with a sickening bang. A dust cloud billowed up around the small crater his body had formed in the ground and Avelyn turned from the scene. She slid down the wall and gaped, mouth open in horror, at the floor. She clutched at her face with her hands, digging her fingers into her temple. Blood trickled down her forearm and tears trickled down her cheeks.

She tried to register what had just happened, but her mind could only repeat three thoughts over and over without truly understanding the implications of them. One, she had just screamed out loud. Two, Trunks had just been killed in front of her vary eyes. And three, the last thing he had heard before he died was her shouting out the name of another man—one she didn't recognize a couldn't, try as she might.

A/N: Oh gee, what an update. I know it took forever, so I tried to make it worth your while.

And hey, here's some interesting news: I've been talking to the original author of this story about maybe taking over another one of her stories. It's one she had on another account, her official account that she made after losing her login information for the other one. It's a DBZ fic featuring Trunks of course. It's called Merging Worlds. Maybe you've heard of it?

But yeah, she's thinking it over and if she agrees, I'll have another story to write! I'm excited.