~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Bulma checked herself once more in the full-length mirror before turning to her companion with a self-conscious look on her face.

"Whaddya think?"

Goku sighed and fell back onto her bed. "I think this whole idea is amazingly dumb."

Bulma looked up at the ceiling and gave a sigh of her own.

"And this coming from you... I must be doing something wrong."

Goku shook his head. "I’m serious Bulma. I don’t like this."

She went over to the bed and lied down on her back beside him.

"What? Do you think I can’t handle the situation myself?"

Goku shook his head again. "Bulma, you’re not even taking your gun."

"Right. There’s a way for a guy to tell me all his and his friends’ secrets. Bring a weapon."

"No, it’s just that... look Bulma, I know you want to get more info from this guy, but if we’re right and Yamcha and the others are involved in all this, then he’s more dangerous than you think."

They lay there for a few moments in silence. Bulma placed a hand on his knee. "I’ll have my cell in my purse if I need back up. Everything will be fine, Goku," she reassured him.

"I hope so," he answered reluctantly.

"So where are you going tonight?" Bulma inquired.

"I’m gonna head over to Chi’s place. To help her baby-sit," he added quickly at her raise of the eyebrows. "And I’ll try to see what I can find out through her about this whole case deal."

"Does that mean you’ll need back up too?" she mocked playfully. "After all, Chichi can be a little spitfire when she wants to be." Goku rolled his eyes.

"And anyway, who’re you guys babysitting?"

"Vegeta’s brother. His mother and her boyfriend are going out tonight and I think he’s got plans."

Bulma left the bed. "Oh?" she asked nonchalantly. "What kind of plans?"

Goku shrugged. "I dunno. A date maybe? I mean, it is Friday. Maybe he’s dragging the streets."

Bulma shook her head. "No, not tonight. Everyone decided to stay in this Friday and forgo that scene tonight." She shook her head. "Geez, you’d think the friggin’ agency would have someone tailing him. I mean, the guy’s out all Friday night and we have no idea where the hell he is. That’s just bad policing if you ask me."

Goku glanced at her, wondering why she sounded so concerned. "What happened with you two? I know you guys disliked each other, but now, it seems as if every time you two are in the same room, the hate barometer goes up a few notches. What’s up with that?"

Bulma swiped her hand through the air. "You’re just imagining things, Goku."

Goku got off the bed, not satisfied with her answer but not wanting to pry.

"Hey, you got anything to eat?" he asked, going into the kitchen.

"What do I look like? Burger King?"

"Oh, a burger sounds nice actually, thanks."

There was a knock at the front door.

Goku answered it. He needed to make sure Yamcha wasn’t up to any funny business.

"Hey Goku," Yamcha greeted when the other man opened the door. "Bulma ready yet?"

Goku responded by pushing him against the door face first and searching him.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing, Goku?" Yamcha demanded, voice muffled by the door.

"You got a gun?" Goku inquired patting down the guy’s pockets.

"No! Why would I have a--"

"Any drugs?"

"Goku, you’re being ridi--"

"Weapons of mass destruction?"

Yamcha turned around and slapped Goku’s hands off of him.

"No!" Yamcha exclaimed in an annoyed tone. "Shit. What are you? A fucking cop?"

"Actually--"

"What’s going on here?" Bulma asked lightly when she came into the room.

Yamcha smiled and went to her. "Wow, Bulma. You look pretty nice."

In her head, Bulma laughed. ‘Not that I went all out for this date or anything, but all he can come up with is ‘pretty nice’? Thank the high heavens this isn’t going to last!’

She smiled at him. "Thanks Yamcha. You don’t look to bad yourself."

He smiled back at her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I’m ready," she replied. "And, Goku? Don’t forget to lock up when you leave. Last time, this place was fully exposed to the best of L.A.’s burglars."

Goku waved her off in a ‘don’t even worry about it’ gesture.

She nodded then the two of the left the house and a hungry Goku behind.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Vegeta pulled the helmet off Speedway’s head once they stopped in front of Chichi’s house.

"We’re there already?" The kid whined while Vegeta lifted him off the motorbike. Vegeta gave him a small smile.

"It’s not that bad. I’ll pick you up in the morning."

Speed pouted. "That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one that has to help Chichi cook smelly food and listen to Uncle Ox’s fake stories about when he was a kid."

"Sure. You know you love every minute of it."

"That’s not the point. And it’s still easy for you to say."

"Damn right."

Vegeta knocked on the door. They heard footsteps come down the hall before the door opened.

"You guys are late," Chichi greeted matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, ten minutes," Vegeta replied. "And even then, so what?"

Chichi sighed and rolled her eyes. "Come on Speed," she said, grabbing his overnight bag and leading the way into the house. "It looks like your brother is in his non-social mood."

Speed giggled despite his previous depression.

"And where are you going tonight anyway?" she continued.

"None of your business," Vegeta answered simply.

"I bet you’re going out with Bulma," she prodded.

"As if."

Chichi raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I’m going to pretend that Vegeta Spencer didn’t just use those two words side by side in the same sentence. And this just confirms the fact that you are going out with someone tonight. Who is it?"

He’d never been able to keep things from Chichi. Mainly because she’d bug him about it for the remainder of his life. He sighed. "Well, if you simply must know, woman, I’m going out with Ray."

Chichi shook her head as if she’d heard wrong. "I could have sworn that ‘thing’ you guys had, went stale a long time ago."

"Don’t worry about it. I gotta go; I’m already late. Where’s Ox?"

"He’s in his room, sleeping," she answered, still stuck on the whole him and Ray thing.

He turned to Speed. "Be good. And say hi to Ox for me."

The child nodded as they walked Vegeta out the door. When he’d left on the motorcycle, Chichi and Speed were left standing at the door.

Speedway scratched his head. "I’m confused."

"Why?"

"I thought he was in love with Bulma."

Chichi’s eyebrows raised once again. "How do you figure?"

"He can’t sleep."

"Huh?"

Speed shook his head and walked back into the house. "Forget it. Grown-ups never understand."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh, shit, Jay," Zaria gasped in awe at the restaurant before them. "Do you know how hard it is to reserve a spot at this place?"

‘Hell yeah I do!’ he thought, but instead said, "Hey, it was worth it."

He held out his arm so she could take it. "You know you didn’t have to do all this, right?" she informed as she took the outstretched limb and they walked into the restaurant.

He smiled. "Yeah, well I am da man."

"Yeah, with da big ego."

They were directed to their seats after a short while and soon after, given their menus.

"What are you getting?" he asked.

Her face scrunched up as she tried to read the menu. "Something not in Spanish would be great, actually."

"Yeah, that would help, wouldn’t it?" Jay agreed, as he too struggled to read the menu. "Makes me wish I’d paid attention in Spanish class."

Zaria looked up at him. "Why doesn’t it surprise me that you were a bad student?"

He gave a look of mock indignation. "I’m offended. I was a good boy," he said, raising his eyebrows up and down.

"I bet," she said, believingly.

"So, whatever happened when your brother got to your house that day?" Jay wanted to know.

Zaria looked back down at the unreadable menu. "Nothing."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Nothing? So he didn’t even ask you about the car in front of your house?"

She kept her eyes on the menu. "Nope."

He narrowed his eyes almost suspiciously. "What’s this guy’s name, anyway? It gets tiring calling him ‘your brother.’ "

Zaria’s eyes shifted nervously. "Um...his name? Oh, uh...."

"What can I get for you two this evening?" a voice asked politely. The pair looked up at the waiter who’d interrupted the conversation. Zaria almost breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked the man for bailing her out.

They said their orders as best they could and they gave the menus back.

"So," Zaria diverted. "Race Wars is coming up soon. Are you ready?"

Jay shrugged. "I’m a procrastinator. For me, the Wars are ages away."

"Yeah, from what I hear from Yajirobe, the Wars equals the most important event of the year."

"Especially between Vegeta and the Ginyus."

"Ginyus?" Zaria asked, as if she didn’t already know. Of course she did, since it was her last name.

"Long story," Jay answered. "But to make it short, everyone turns up to see Vegeta go against this one asshole. Name’s Zarbon."

Zaria kept from flinching at his name. "Is this guy any good?" she asked.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yeah."

‘This is the part where I tread lightly,’ Zaria thought. "This guy, Zarbon? He’s pretty good right? So Vegeta must have something big lined up for Race Wars." she finally asked, fingering a napkin.

"Maybe," Jay answered.

She kept her eyes trained on the napkin. "Care to share?"

Jay smirked and leaned forward so no one could hear him.

She waited in anticipation.

"Top secret," he whispered in her ear.

He laughed as the expectation fell from her face.

"Thanks a lot, Jay," she said, sarcastically.

"Okay, seriously then," Jay conceded, still laughing. "Vegeta’s gonna be pushing a..." he trailed off as he caught a streak of blue out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, is that Bulma?"

Zaria looked to her left. Across the room was Bulma alongside

"Yamcha?" she asked Jay, surprised. "I didn’t know they were and item."

Jay shook his head. "I’m just as clueless as you," he said.

Soon after, their food came, and Zaria was relieved that they’d been interrupted. At least now, Zarbon couldn’t say she didn’t try.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Wow, Yamcha. This place is beautiful," Bulma declared as they entered the Flamingo Cantina.

"Yeah, it’s my favorite," Yamcha replied, smiling.

They waited to be seated, and within a few minutes, they were at a table, which seated four people.

"Well, would you look at that," Yamcha stated. "Looks like that means more room for us."

"That wasn’t real smart," Bulma said. "They should have had us seated at a two-seat table."

"I don’t know. I kinda like how this table is dim and isolated. I’ll get to know you better."

And in truth, their table was set up in a secluded corner so he had a point. "I’m really glad you asked me to dinner tonight, Yamcha," Bulma said after they sat down, turning on her charm. The quicker she charmed him, the quicker she could get information from him, and the quicker she could feign sick and go home.

"I’m glad I did too," he replied sincerely. Bulma smiled almost feeling bad for duping him. Almost.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Is that Rayven?" Zaria asked, squinting.

Jay looked to his right. "Yeah, it is," he said, a little surprised. "What’s she doing here?" His eyes widened. "With Vegeta?"

Zaria raised an eyebrow. "What’s going on here?"

"I don’t know. Maybe they’re having a celebration that we weren’t invited to. Bastards."

"I smell something funny," Zaria said.

"Maybe it’s the tortillas. I knew I--"

"No, Jay. I mean, something’s up."

"And if it involves Ray, it’s definitely not good."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hey Chi," Goku greeted when she finally opened the door. She was wearing an apron and a big puffy cooking glove. He caught the smell of smoke in the air.

"Chichi!" he heard a small voice yell in the background. "It’s burning!!"

Chichi ran into the house followed by Goku. She moved the child out from in front of the oven and opened it. Smoke billowed out, setting off the smoke detector.

"Goku! Get a pillow and fan under the detector," she instructed over the beeping. "Speed, open the windows." They boy nodded and proceeded to do what she said.

Chichi cautiously took out the burnt food and set it on the counter. After a while, the beeping had stopped and the smoke had wafted out the open windows. Goku fell onto the couch, exhausted from the fanning.

"Well. As much fun as that was, anyone wanna tell me why we were all almost burnt to a crisp?"

"That’s what I get for letting myself to Speed’s begging me to let him make the pizza," Chichi said, plopping down right next to Goku. "I don’t care if it is Digorno, Speed. Next time I’m making it," she called to the young boy.

Goku looked at Speed, who was staring at him with a look of fascination.

"Do I know you?" the child asked, scrunching his eyebrows. Goku glanced at Chichi nervously and then looked back at the boy.

"No, why would you say that?"

Speed squinted his eyes even more. "I could swear..."

Goku laughed nervously. "So, uh....anyone up for some burnt pizza?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, are we just going to act like you weren’t late tonight, Vegeta?" Rayven asked, after getting off the motor bike.

"Yes," he answered gruffly.

She latched onto his arm as they headed into the restaurant. "I assume that you’re not going to be anal all night?" she inquired.

He didn’t answer her as they entered the place. Vegeta looked around. It wasn’t too formal, dimly lit with soft Mexican music playing in the background.

"This place is packed," Vegeta commented to himself.

"Yeah, well it is Friday night. And besides; love is in the air," she said, close to his ear.

If you asked him, he’d say that he’d rather be at an all you can eat, without all the mannerisms and bullshit. Or at home, watching a basketball game with the guys. Not that he hated Rayven. It was just that there was a million other things that he’d rather be doing. And people he’d rather be with.

Finally, one of the restaurant workers zig-zagged them through the tables towards their seats.

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed when he spotted a flash of blue at one of the tables.

He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him when he saw Bulma sitting across from Yamcha, seemingly in deep conversation.

"Here you go," said the worker. "A table for four."

Vegeta saw Bulma look up in shock. But fuck her shock! What about his?

"Oh, hell no," they said in unison.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Zaria laughed as Jay threw a grape into the air and tried to catch it into his mouth. He missed again, of course.

"Are you trying to get us kicked out?" she asked between laughs.

He waved it off. "They don’t care. I practically own this place."

"Right. And in which dream was that again?"

"Hey, look," Jay said, pointing. "They’re sitting down."

"I wonder when all hell’ll break loose."

"Shouldn’t be too long. 15 minutes tops."

"No way! That’s way too early. I say 20."

"5 bucks says."

She held out her hand to shake his. "You’re on."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta wasn’t dumb enough to think that this was all some coincident. If the smirk on Yamcha’s face was any indication.

"Hey Vegeta!" Yamcha said in a friendly tone. "Fancy seeing you two here. Isn’t it, Bulma?" he asked, facing her. She didn’t answer, instead she asked the worker, "Aren’t there any other seats for them to sit?"

She knew she was being rude. But she was finally about to get inside info on Vegeta and his crew and if getting it meant that she’d have to be a little bitchy, then so be it.

The man shook his head nervously. "N-no ma’am," he stuttered. "A-as you can see, it’s really crowded tonight. A-and besides, these seats were specifically reserved for--"

"Okay, we get it," Rayven cut him off, sitting down. "No room, yadda, yadda, go make yourself useful."

He gave them their menus and scurried away from the table.

Bulma bit her tongue when Vegeta finally sat down. She didn’t know what was going on in his mind, but she knew it wasn’t real pleasant.

"Wow, this is just...such a coincidence," Yamcha repeated. "I mean, out of all the joints in LA, you guys come to the Flamingo Cantina. What a coincidence."

Rayven gave him a look that clearly said, ‘shut up now.’

"So," Yamcha began again. "You see something you like, Bulma?"

Vegeta chuckled to himself.

She didn’t look up from the menu. "No. Hopefully I haven’t lost my appetite."

Vegeta snorted. "That’d be the day," he commented under his breath.

Bulma didn’t miss a beat. "And this coming from the guy who consumes food faster than a hoover." She didn’t look up.

"Not when it comes to your mother’s cooking," he said, referring to the day after the sleepover when her mother had cooked breakfast. He kept his eyes on his menu also.

"So I assume that you didn’t enjoy the 3rd and 4th helpings you took?"

She smirked to herself when he didn’t answer back.

‘Shot down!’ she thought, triumphantly, and a bit childishly. But so what?

"So, Vegeta," Rayven began, stroking his arm. "When are you going to fix my bedroom lock? You know how much I hate people barging in uninvited."

Bulma froze noticeably. How did she know that someone would bring that up tonight?

"What do I look like?" Vegeta asked. "A locksmith? And how the hell am I supposed to read this menu?"

"Yeah, the language is pretty hard," Yamcha commented. "Especially since you did fail Spanish in high school."

Vegeta looked up at him. "And, at which point were you invited into the conversation? As far as this whole ‘date’ thing is concerned, you can worry about that one, and I’ll worry about this one," he said, pointing to Bulma and Rayven respectively. "Don’t trip on what’s going on over here."

Yamcha grinned, proud to have gotten Vegeta so easily riled up.

"As you wish."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Your 15 minutes are up buster."

"No way. I get a 2 minute leeway."

"I hope you don’t seriously believe that, Jay Andry."

"Of course I do."

"I’m getting fretty."

"Yeah, me too. I think it was the beans. I don’t know about you, but--"

"No, I mean, that right there," Zaria started, pointing at Vegeta’s table, "it’s way too easy."

"Huh?"

"What I mean is-- okay, do you ever feel the sexual tension?"

Jay dropped his fork. "Y-you mean, between us?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I mean between Bulma and Vegeta."

He picked up his fork again. "Oh, yeah. Bulma and Vegeta. That UST is practically oozing off them."

"Good," Zaria continued. "Because I’ve barely even known them for a while and even I can feel those oozies."

"Thanks for the image."

"Uh-huh."

"So what’s ‘easy’? Jay asked.

She smiled and got up from her seat. "Follow me. And play along."

Jay raised and eyebrow, but did just as she said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bulma took a sip of her drink as Yamcha continued to talk her ear off. In all fairness, it was kind of her fault. He’d been trying to engage her into conversation but she’d only responded in one syllable words. How could she concentrate when Vegeta was sitting directly across from her? And Rayven was laughing loudly every five seconds as if Vegeta was someone hilarious

Bulma knew Vegeta was not that funny.

Vegeta turned to Bulma and caught her staring at him. She quickly turned back and pretended to listen to Yamcha. Vegeta smirked and continued to play with his straw and listen to Ray’s one sided conversation. If she laughed at one of her own jokes one more time, he might just throw his drink at her.

Did Ray really think that she and Yamcha were being discreet about their little plan. He almost laughed. He wondered if Bulma had figured it out already.

"Oh my goodness, what a coincidence!" Vegeta winced. If he heard that word one more time, someone was going to get dropped. He looked up to find Zaria and Jay standing at their table.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Vegeta asked bluntly.

"For your information, Vegeta," Zaria began, "we were here before you guys got here."

Rayven raised an eyebrow. "I’m just wondering how Jay copped reservations."

Jay smiled fakely. "And I’m just wondering how Ray copped a date with Vegeta."

Zaria elbowed him in the gut noticeably and gave him a warning look. "Well, we just came by to say hi," Zaria said. "And might I add that Bulma, you look great tonight, as always."

"Oh, don’t" Bulma said playfully. "I’ll start blushing."

Zaria laughed and turned back to Ray. "And you’re looking pretty good yourself, Ray."

Rayven looked at the other woman suspiciously. "Thanks. Where’d you get your outfit? I’ve never seen it before."

"Oh, this old thing?" Zaria asked playfully, already setting her plan into action. "From New York."

Rayven nodded. "I knew your slight accent sounded a bit....urban."

Everyone at the table held breath. Zaria raised her eyebrows. Oh, and I love that necklace. May I?" she asked, wanting to touch it.

Rayven agreed proudly.

As the other woman went for the necklace, she knocked over a glass which poured all of its red contents onto Ray’s lap.

Raven gasped and stood up.

"Oh shit!" Zaria exclaimed. "I’m so sorry. Here, Jay, hand me a napkin. And watch out for Yamcha’s cup."

Jay took the hint.

As he reached for the napkins, he "accidentally" knocked over Yamcha’s glass which spilled over onto his own lap.

"Shit Jay!" Yamcha exclaimed. By this time, they’d gained spectators. "Can’t you ever watch what you’re doing?"

"My bad, bro." Jay replied simply.

Bulma almost laughed at the quick smile she saw flit over Zaria’s lips.

Vegeta was slightly amused. The night had just gotten interesting.

Rayven scowled at the other green-haired woman. "I’ll be in the ladies room," she told the table, "trying to get this stain out of my dress. Someone better pray this comes off."

She stomped off to the restrooms followed by Yamcha who had to do the same.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Jay apologized. "We’ll be getting back to our date. You guys can continue yours," he ended with a wink at Vegeta.

Vegeta shook his head. He was really going to have to talk to Jay about winking at other guys. He felt eyes on his back and turned around. Zaria was staring at him. Her look wasn’t necessarily icy, but somewhere between cold and curious. He couldn’t explain it. Almost as if she knew him more than he did her and had a personal vendetta against him. He shrugged it off.

Of course she knew him. Everyone did! He was fucking legend! He turned back to Bulma.

And the drama ensues.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Zaria and Jay came out of the restaurant laughing arm in arm. "Did you see the look on her face?" Zaria asked between laughs.

Jay laughed some more, the joy of being with this woman consuming him like the warm night. "Like she wanted to gouge your eyes out?"

Zaria nodded. "Yep! That one! Man, I’m evil." She joked, holding onto his arm tighter when their laughter died down.

They’d gotten to the Flamingo Cantina from her house via foot. Jay’d thought it’d be more romantic that way seeing’s to how she lived close by. So he’d left his car at her place and they’d walked. He was faintly surprised that she didn’t complain about it. Most women would have harped about the walk, but she seemed to actually enjoy it.

"Why’s the street practically deserted?" Zaria asked after a while.

"It’s drag night. Everyone’s on the other side of town," Jay answered.

Zaria laughed as if she’d just thought of something. "I say we go show those guys a thing or two," she said playfully.

Jay rolled his eyes. "Right. Why don’t you just ask me to publicly humiliate myself in front of everyone."

She looked up at him. "Why? You don’t think you can race someone and beat them?"

Jay shook his head. "That’s not it, it’s just that I’m not as good as...oh, say, Vegeta."

Zaria shook her own head. "According to him, who is?"

Jay laughed.

"But I don’t want to talk about Vegeta," she continued honestly.

"Then...what do you want to do?" he inquired, putting a dangerous edge to his voice.

She batted her eyes up at him slowly. "Well, the night’s young. There’s a lot we can still do."

Jay chuckled. "Are you flirting with me?"

Zaria smiled. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all."

Their playful banter was broken when they heard multiple motors in the distance, followed by the sounds of men making whooping noises. Zaria held onto Jay’s arm a bit tighter.

"What was that?" she asked fearfully.

Jay shook his head. "Probably just a few drunk guys having boy’s night out."

The noises began to get closer, and the grip on his shirt, tighter.

"Sounds like more than boy’s night out to me," she said, worriedly.

They both jumped in unison when a motorcycle revved right behind them. They turned around and saw more than five more coming towards them.

"Fucking Ginyus," Jay muttered so that only Zaria could hear him.

The men on the bikes circled around them as if they were in some kind of old gang flick.

"My, my, my, look what we have here," Captain taunted when he stopped his motor.

"What do we have here?" Guldo, the short green man, asked.

Jeice laughed. "Looks like Jay’s got himself ‘girl of the week’."

The other men roared with laughter. Jay snorted. "Let’s not even get on you Jeice. I’m still questioning your sexuality."

Jeice snorted back. "You would be."

Zarbon jumped in. "I must say, though. This one’s a pretty little thing. Looks like you and Vegeta have finally found good taste in women." Zarbon caught Zaria’s glare with ease.

"Take it as a compliment sweety," Recoome added.

Zarbon smirked. "But I do think you can do a little better, my friend."

Jay began to breathe heavily with anger and Zaria grabbed onto his arm as if preventing him from attacking.

"Better?" Burter asked with mock curiosity.

"Yes," Zarbon answered. "You see, Jay. I have this sister who’s a real knockout."

He ignored said sister’s look of pure hate.

"Which one?" Jeice called. "Zarmine?"

Zarbon shook his head. "No, cousin Jeice. The other one. I’m sure you two would be a perfect match, wouldn’t you say?"

The men all nodded in agreement.

Jay tried to keep his anger in check. He knew he was outnumbered. "Even if she was the most beautiful woman in the world, I would have nothing to do with her," he said through clenched teeth.

Zaria stiffened beside him.

"Oh?" Zarbon asked, raising his eyebrows curiously.

"Hell no," Jay continued.

"And just why not?"

"I’d rather burn in hell ten times over than have anything to do with a Ginyu. Especially a female one. Who knows how much they get around."

Zarbon smirked. Any other day, Jay wouldn’t have gotten away with those comments. But tonight, Jay had helped to get a point across to his sister that he wouldn’t have possibly been able to get across by himself. Maybe she didn’t even really like the guy. But he had to take precautions.

"Well, if that’s the way you feel," he said, sighing with a shrug. "I was just trying to hook you up.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Jay spat.

"My sister will be disappointed that you shot her down like dirt," Zarbon continued, looking at Zaria. "I’ll just let her know that Jay’s just too damn good for a Ginyu"

The men sped off on their motorcycles, leaving the two behind in their dust.

"Damn right I’m too good."

Beside him, Zaria bit her lip to keep from crying. She knew her brother had done that on purpose. To remind her that this was strictly business and not personal. Not to get her heart involved.

"Are you okay?" Jay asked sincerely.

"Yeah," she answered, trying desperately to keep the tears out of her voice. "You can tell me about it on the way to my house."

"Will your brother be there? Or is he staying at his place?"

She shook her head. "No. He’s out with friends."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Speedway laughed as Martin Lawrence’s character made another funny quip on the television. Chichi and Goku shared a look, rolling their eyes at the boy’s finding everything so funny.

They were all seated on the bigger couch watching "Big Momma’s House." Speed was lying down in between the other two, his legs on Goku’s lap, and his head on Chi’s.

"That was funny," the child said, still laughing.

"Right," Chi said, rolling her eyes again. "You also thought ‘Not Another Teen Movie’ was funny. Which, by the way, you shouldn’t have been watching."

"Can you please keep it down Chi," Speed asked, snuggling deeper into the couch. "Some of us are trying to watch the movie, you know."

Goku laughed at the look on Chichi’s face. He casually draped his arm on top of the couch, absently toying with Chi’s raven hair. She’d finally left it down tonight, too lazy to put it up in a bun.

Chichi felt his hands in her hair and turned to look at him. His eyes were glued to the television and he let out the occasional laugh when something funny happened.

Chichi felt the air change around her and her heart and breaths began to speed up.

"Why doesn’t Martin just tell her that he’s a cop?" she hear Speed ask.

"Because he’s undercover," Goku answered. "You’re not allowed to tell when you’re undercover."

Speed snorted. "That’s a dumb rule. Then no one ever knows who you really are. No wonder Vegeta hates cops."

Goku was going to reply but he felt her eyes on him. He could always feel her eyes on him.

She quickly turned her head back to the movie when he looked at her. "What’s wrong, Chi?" he wanted to know.

She shook her head, her heart still beating quickly. "Nothing, she answered. She gently pushed Speed’s head off of her lap and got off the couch.

"I’m gonna go check on the pizza," she informed distractedly.

"You’re lucky it’s going to commercial," Speed said, positioning his head on a pillow. "I expect you’ll be back in time for the movie so I can get my spot back?"

She didn’t answer, just went to the kitchen.

"What’s eating her?" Speedway asked.

Goku shrugged, leaving the couch also. "I’ll be right back," he said, following the woman into the kitchen. She was standing next to the oven, tapping her fingers on the counter while she waited for the ringer to go off.

Goku silently slipped his arms around her waist, bringing her rigid back to his chest.

"What’s the matter Chi?" he asked close to her ear.

Chichi didn’t know whether or not she liked the way his voice reverberating into her, turned her previously stiff body into liquid.

She decided that she liked it, leaning her head onto his chest and wrapping her arms around his own which were down at her waist.

"I’m just tired is all," she lied. Truth was, she’d just felt something out there that she’d never felt before. She decided not to put a name to it, instead choosing to let it flow.

Goku didn’t believe her, but, as he did with Bulma, chose not to pry.

"It’s back on!" they heard Speed’s voice call from the living room.

"We’ll be right there!" Goku called back.

He spun her around in his arms so he could see her face. "If you’re tired, I could leave and come back tomorrow."

Chi shook her head, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him closer. "No. Stay a while."

Goku sighed in relief that she didn’t want him gone. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, content to just stay there the whole night.

She gasped in surprise when she felt his lips brush against the side of her neck. He pulled back to look at her. Grabbing her by the hips, he lifted her onto the countertop and set himself between her legs.

Goku was never that great with words. So he let his eyes do the talking.

He guessed that she’d understood what he wanted to say because she leaned up, kissing him passionately. His arms wrapped more tightly around her waist by their own doing.

"Are you guys coming already? They’re about to find out that Martin’s a cop."

The angry voice came from the young boy who was standing at the kitchen entrance with his hands at his hips.

The other two pulled away blushing. Chichi licked her lips quickly and practically jumped off of the counter.

"We were just getting the pizza," Chichi tried to explain. The alarm beeped as if proving her statement.

Speed rolled his eyes. "Right. Like I don’t know what you guys were just doing. I’m young. Not dumb."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Chi kept trying.

"I have been seeing you guys make with the googly eyes at each other all night," he continued. He turned to go back into the living room.

"Geez," they heard him mutter. "First Juu and Krillin, then Vegeta, and now Chichi? What’s this world coming to? All I need now is for Jay to find a girl. Then I’ll totally give up!"

The pair in the kitchen just laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I bet you planned all this," Bulma said spitefully.

Vegeta snorted. "Right. Just as hard as I’d plan my own death."

"I’m pretty sure other people are doing that job for you," she said with a mock smile.

"And I’m guessing you’re one of them?" he inquired sarcastically.

"Would you blame me if I was?"

He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "To each his own, right?"

She sighed and shook her head. As pathetic as it was, she couldn’t wait until Yamcha came back. She swirled the contents in her cup without looking up at him.

Vegeta watched her face. She looked defeated.

"Why do you look like that?" he asked without thinking.

"Like what?" she asked defensively.

"Like someone just murdered your dog."

She finally looked up at him with a bitter smile on her face. "Do you really have to ask?"

Vegeta became angry at her words. Was he supposed to feel guilty or something? "Don’t act as if you didn’t walk out the Dragon with him that night."

Bulma’s eyes widened slightly. "You’re not serious."

"When have I not been serious?"

"What did you expect me to do?"

"Meet me at the door after you’d come out the restroom like you said."

"It’s pretty hard to meet up with someone who isn’t there."

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed. "I waited for you, woman. And when Ray told me you’d left with Yamcha I--"

"Well that’s funny because Yamcha’d informed me that you’d left with Ray and..." she trailed off. How the hell did she miss it? She’d been too pissed to think through the situation.

"I guess that was just as planned as this sham of a date?" Bulma figured out.

Vegeta nodded. "So you at least figured that part out?"

There was a pregnant silence as they thought it through. Bulma played with her drink again.

"That still doesn’t explain why you were practically ramming Rayven in her own house."

Vegeta stiffened. And not in the good way. "She was just there."

Bulma almost scoffed. "So you’d make suck-face with any girl that’s ‘just there’?"

Vegeta looked her straight in the eye. "Basically," he blurted without thinking.

Bulma’s eyes widened. She shook her head with disbelief and got up from the table.

Vegeta cursed as he watched her grab her purse and walk out the door. She always seemed to leave him watching her retreating figure.

Not this time.

He got up from his seat and made his way towards the exit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bulma took a deep breath and let the hot LA air sweep across her body. Why did she always let that guy get to her?

Fuck.

Now she was going to have to go back in there and wait for Yamcha. How else was she going to get home? She could call Goku. But he was with Chichi. Just because her night was crap didn’t mean she should ruin it for her partner.

She hadn’t even had enough time to get any info out of Yamcha. She was so fucked! The night had been useless, she’d accomplished nothing which meant Kami was going to ream her, and Vegeta had basically told her she meant nothing to him.

Fucking asshole!

Bulma held in tears of frustration and took another deep breath. Time to go back in.

Before she could take a step, a motor revved in the distance. It was getting louder each second.

Bulma refused to show any emotion when Vegeta’s motorcycle pulled up beside her. He stopped the engine and stared straight ahead, not looking at her. Bulma watched him for a moment in silence.

"What do you want?" she asked with as much emotion as a stone.

There was more silence as she waited for his answer.

"I’m about to head out," he finally answered, still looking straight ahead.

Bulma let a few moments pass before asking, "Where are you going?"

He slid his fingers over the handle a few times with uncertainty. "I don’t know."

She waited for him to continue speaking.

‘Why is he telling me this?’ she asked herself, waiting for the silence to end. When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to continue, she turned to go back into the restaurant.

"You comin’?"

She stopped but didn’t turn around.

"Is it because I’m ’just here’?" she asked, tossing his words back at him.

"It was a yes or no question," he replied, finally looking at her. Bulma turned away from him and looked through the glass doors of the Flamingo Cantina.

Yamcha and Rayven were just coming back from the restrooms. She watched them look around for her and Vegeta and then begin to argue.

Bulma bit her lip. She had to get this case rolling. And to do this, she needed Yamcha’s information. She was on a deadline.

She looked back at the shadowed man on the motorcycle. His eyes were hooded, giving him the perfect image of dark temptation. She turned once more to look through the glass doors.

Yamcha was staring back at her. Rayven was too caught up in arguing to notice. Bulma felt a pang of guilt when Yamcha looked down at the table in defeat and rejection. She knew that Kami would be shaking his head in disappointment if he knew.

Bulma took her last deep breath and half ran to the bike. She slipped onto the back of it, wrapping her arms around his waist and molding herself to his back.

"Go," she whispered into his ear before they took off into the night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wow.....so little action. Some of my reviewers keep asking me for more racing action. Guess what? I suck at action. In fact, my middle name should be Suckataction. So, with that out of the way....

Alright, I really need to know how you guys felt about this chapter. Be honest. I don’t know how I felt about it. What was boring? What wasn’t? Are you guys feeling the Jay/Zaria parallel? Was the Rayven/ Yamcha plot a bit cheesy? Did I miss something? Anyone got any questions for me? I put a little bit of G/CC in here, only because a few of my reviewers asked for it. So if you hated it....just tell me.

By the way....if you’ve e-mailed me....I haven’t been able to get to my e-mail cuz our internet is down again and has been for about a month now. The school library (bastards) won’t let me access hotmail. But thank you so so so so much if you’ve reviewed. Every time I see a new review on the board, I get a big happy. It makes my fucking day!! I e-mailed everybody who reviewed (even if you left only a small note) except for the last few people because I don’t have e-mail access right now. But I will get to you guys. Just know that you ARE appreciated.

Um...anything else....oh, sorry again for the lateness...I know you guys have been keeping up the circle of life or whatever, but for me, Simba’s just been running rampant in the backyard. Sorry for that. Next chapter you will get more B/V...this chapter definitely didn’t have enough. Next chapter is already in the making....Oh, and when I do put a lemon up...I’m going to need somewhere to put it. Adultfanfiction.net is a real bitch to navigate through so if anyone has any suggestions....

Luv, peace, and chicken grease!!

(I know I forgot something.)

~Scrambled Thoughts~