Breaking Point

Gohan put the last of the fire wood on the fire, and looked up with a faint frown. What was taking Goten so long with the rest of the wood? He thought. he's probably been distracted by a rabbit or something, he smiled. That would be just like Goten, he's so innocent. Everyone always says he's so like Goku when he was a kid. Gohan envied him a little for that, after all, his own childhood had been less than innocent, with all that fighting.

Gohan pushed that thought away, it was stupid to envy his little brother. After all Goten is only the same age he was when his life changed for ever. He was like Goten before that. Gohan frowned again, where is he? Even when he got distracted Goten always manages to get back to camp in good time for dinner, which had been ready for quite awhile now. Gohan glanced at his watch and gasped, it had been way too long. He quickly got to his feet and headed for the woods, in direction he'd seen his brother go. As he got nearer, he felt that something was wrong, and you don't get though as many battles as Gohan had without trusting those feelings.

"Goten!" Gohan yelled as he crashed though the woods. He straightened every sense he had, to hear him, see him, sense him. Gohan nearly stopped dead at that one, he hadn't noticed earlier, but now he realised he couldn't feel his brother's ki anywhere.

"GOTEN!!" He screamed as he ran, he tripped and landed heavily. He turned to see what he tripped over and his heart seemed to stop. He was staring right into his brothers face, twisted in pain, confusion and terror. His throat had been ripped out and there was absolutely no life there.

Gohan's eyes snapped open, and it took a few seconds for his brain to catch up to the fact that he was staring at a ceiling, his bedroom ceiling to be precise. A sigh escaped Gohan's lips.

"A dream, just a dream." He whispered to reassure himself. He sat up, he was drenched his sweat, he ran a hand though his hair and realised that he'd some how managed to go super saiyan in his sleep. He powered down and swung his legs out of bed and stood up. He was still shaking from the nightmare, it had seemed so real. He walked across the room to the bed which his brother slept in, and again sighed. Goten was there, fast asleep, and peaceful.

Gohan turned, and spluttered as water hit his face. He took a step back and wiped a hand over his face. He was in the shower. But there was no surprise in Gohans face.

"Not again!" He muttered to him self, as he turned the shower off. At least I'm at home this time, he thought. He totally failed to notice the pink water as the last of it flowed down the drain. He left the shower and began drying him self.

Ever since he'd defeated Cell, five years ago, Gohan had suffered from what he called episodes, but they were really blackouts. The first one had been right after Cell had stepped on Android 16's head, the next thing Gohan knew, Cell was about to explode and his father was dying for them. He had gathered all the information he needed to bluff remembering from the excited babbling after the fight. Sometimes the episodes would last a few minutes, but usually a couple of hours, the longest had been six hours. There were weeks sometimes months between them.

Apparently they never happened when he was with friends or family, as they never commented on him forgetting things or such, so Gohan had never said anything, it's not like it was hurting him or anyone else. He'd just learnt to live with them and deal with things, such as missed appointments, as they happened.

Gohan could hear his mother getting ready for the day in her bedroom. That must mean that it's still quite early. Gohan started dressing him self.

Gohan had once been to the doctors to find out if there was any physical reason for the blackouts. It was a down side of having a mother like his, it meant he knew some of the reasons for having blackouts were not at all nice. They said his scans were normal and suggested that he went to see a psychologist. Like he'd have done that! Hey doc, my dad's an alien and I have superhuman powers. That would have been a one way ticket to a mental hospital.

He headed for the door, but before he got there, a scream pierced the house, Gohan eyes widened in shock.

Then he blinked, the change in him would have broken the hearts of anyone that knew him, it was like Frieza had suddenly taken control of him. Ah, he thought, mothers found the present I left for her on the kitchen table. He smirked, and continued out the door. But instead of heading down stairs where his mother was still screaming he headed for the bedroom he shared with his brother.

He stepped inside and glanced round the room, his expression not changing when he looked at his brothers now empty bed. Maybe I'd been a bit messy, he thought. Goten's bed, the floor around it, the wall behind it and even the ceiling were completely covered in blood. Who'd have thought such a small body would have had so much blood, he thought, as he turned away. He went to his own bed and retrieved the caving knife he'd discarded earlier. He turned and his foot hit something small. He picked it up, it was a finger. How had he missed that, he wondered, never mind, he closed his fingers over it. I'll just have to return it to where it belongs, his smirk deepened. Now the real fun starts, he thought and left the room.

"Oh Kami, OH KAMI!!" He heard his mother wail as he walked slowly down the hall, there was no need to rush anything. "GOHAN!! I NEED YOU!!" She screamed. He'd reached the stairs, and was starting down.

"Gohan can't help you right now, mother." He snarled under his breath. Somewhere deep inside his own mind Gohan was screaming.