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

Bulma held onto him tighter as he sped up.

"Slow down," she whispered, wanting the ride to last. He complied, but not before running another stop light.

She leaned back a bit, allowing the hot LA wind to blow through her hair.

She loved this feeling. The feeling of reckless abandon. The moon was full, the street bare, and she had no clue where they were going. The feeling of having him right at her fingertips was more appetizing than any meal she’d ever eaten.

She looked up at the illuminating orb in the sky. As a child, she thought it followed her everywhere. As if whoever had made it, had made it just for her. She laughed at her past naivety.

Vegeta let a grin cross his lips when he heard her soft laughter float to his ears. He knew she’d like this. She’d struck him as the type of woman with the need for spontaneity.

He began to speed up again when he felt her lean back and press her heat into him.

A cold shower was definitely needed.

"Be careful, woman, before you fall."

But she’d already fallen. Not that either of them knew it.

She answered him by holding his midriff tighter and molding her body against his back. Vegeta uttered an unheard curse when he felt her breasts push up against him.

This woman was, without a doubt, trying to torture him.

"Where are we going?" she inquired curiously.

"Somewhere," he answered shortly.

Bulma accepted his answer and closed her eyes, letting the hot breeze play across her features.

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

"Next time you’re wearing the helmet," Vegeta informed after he stopped the motor.

"And what about you?" Bulma wanted to know.

"I’m too cool for the helmet." She shook her head and then looked at her surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"Where does it look like we’re at?" he answered smartly, getting off the bike.

She made a face at his affronting tone. "The beach."

"And what do we have for her Johnny?" he muttered, sarcastically.

She shook her head again. This guy had a knack for turning sugar into salt.

Bulma got off the bike and pulled her sandals off. She stepped onto the sand, savoring the way the grains felt against her feet.

"You find pleasure in the most little things," Vegeta observed, after watching her for a moment.

"Maybe you could learn a few things from me," she said sagely as they began to walk in the direction of the water.

"Yeah?" Vegeta questioned unbelievingly. "Like what?"

"Like how to not be such a major prick."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "I’m hardly a prick."

Bulma kept a small smile on her face that said, ‘yeah, sure, whatever.’

She sat down when they’d gotten close enough to the ocean and he followed suit. Bulma didn’t speak. She wanted to take in her surroundings to the fullest.

A smile settled over her lips and she turned to him. "Never thought it would feel good to get out of the city. Sometimes I think there’s just a shit load of stimulation."

He looked across the water and blatantly didn’t answer her. Her smile turned into a frown. "Wow, you really do know how to kill a mood." She sighed in mild frustration when he didn’t respond. Did he just bring her here just to ignore her?

They sat together for a while in silence, sedately admiring their surroundings.

Bulma began to laugh lightly. "Can you believe the stunt Jay and Zaria pulled tonight?"

Vegeta chuckled reluctantly. "That woman hates me."

Bulma looked up at the sky. "You think everyone hates you Vegeta."

"No. Just jealous."

Bulma bit her lip. Why did his cockiness always serve to turn her on?

"What makes you say that?" she wanted to know.

"What? That they’re jealous?"

"No, that Zaria ‘hates’ you."

"She gave me a look tonight," he answered simply.

"Well, maybe it’s the exact opposite," Bulma answered after a whole minute of silent pondering. "Maybe she likes you." She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from smiling at the look on his face.

"No. It was more of an ‘I’m going to chop your dick off and hand it to you on a platter’ look."

She flicked away a few grains of sand from her wet dress. "You’re just paranoid."

He gave her his own look that stated clearly, ‘think what you want to think.’

"Besides, I’m sure the only real enemies you’ve got are the Ginyus," she added, her inquisitive nature getting the best of her.

There was a small pause before he added, "And cops."

Bulma almost flinched but called on her nerves of steel. ‘So what? He hates the law. I knew that already. No big deal.’

Then why did it suck so much?

"So," she continued after taking a breath. "Why do you guys loath each others’ presence so much? I don’t think I believe the story you fed me about you sleeping with Zarbon’s sister."

Vegeta grabbed a handful of sand and let it slip through his enclosed fist, watching as it floated into the sea. "Believe it."

She looked away from the dark sky to look at him. "Care to share the story?"

He looked back at her. "Long story."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and lay her arms across them. "I’m not going anywhere."

When all the sand in his hand drifted away, he leaned back on his elbows and looked up at the moon. He sighed, as if thinking for a while, and Bulma didn’t know if he was going to speak.

"It was one of those times where me and the crew had gone to the drags on a Saturday night. ‘Cause most shit happens on Saturdays," he explained. "Before the race, I had the usual flock of chicks hangin’ off my nuts."

Bulma winced at his use of language. "I remember one woman with pretty long green hair who was particularly clingy.  But I didn’t complain. She was gorgeous. And her body was bangin’. So, no, I didn’t mind."

Bulma discreetly rolled her eyes. "Typical male," she muttered under her breath.

He must have heard her because he looked up at her with a smug smirk on his face. "Jealous yet?"

She wasn’t ready for that one so she ended up blushing and sputtering. "Yeah, like jealousy is becoming of me. Jealous of some clingy floozie, yeah right. You, Vegeta, may think you’re God’s gift to women but--"

The smirk on Vegeta’s face grew. "If it’s any consolation, woman," he began, interrupting her oration which was soon to become a lecture, "She wasn’t nearly as pretty as you. And your body. . ." he let the sentence hang, giving her a look equivalent to licking his lips.

Bulma felt her face grow reluctantly hotter. When was Vegeta ever looking at her body? If he ever did, she never noticed. Okay, so maybe she did but that wasn‘t the point. And, wait. . . was he telling her this straight to her face?

"Anyway," he proceeded looking back up at the moon as if he hadn’t just said what he did, "I’d won the race as usual. Of course, this only made the chick even hotter for me. Practically grabbing me right there in public."

"And I bet you let her."

"Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Can we leave out the sordid details?"

"No. As I was saying, she was practically grabbing me right there in public. So I’m thinking this girl really wants to smash."

"How about we use words that I didn’t use when I was fifteen?"

"I take her back to her place," he continued as if she hadn’t spoken, " ‘cause my place is always full on drag nights."

"Uh-huh," Bulma followed, indicating that she was listening intently.

"We’re making out from the car to the house and I guess we forget to close the front door. Not that it really mattered at the time. I don’t know about her, but I know I wasn’t thinkin’ right ‘cause she was ripping off my shirt like she wanted me bad."

Bulma tried to ignore the pang of jealousy she felt jump in the pit of her stomach.

"When we finally make it to her room, she throws me onto the bed and pounces. We were about to go at it when someone barges in."

Bulma’s eyes widened. "Don’t tell me--"

Vegeta nodded. "Her brother, Zarbon. He’d passed by and seen the front door wide open and thought she was in danger. I went home with a busted lip, and him, a bloody nose."

"End of story?"

"No. About a month later, she’s standing on my mother’s doorstep talking about how she’s pregnant and the kid’s mine. When I look around her, I see Zarbon in the car waiting. I slam the door in her face. She knew damn well we hadn’t slept together."

"I don’t think Zarbon knows that," Bulma put in, processing the information for later so she could relate it to Kami. She wasn’t really sure she believed Vegeta’s story. Why would a woman blatantly lie about being pregnant with a man’s child if she never slept with him? It sounded kind of shady if you asked her.

"Fuck Zarbon," Vegeta replied, answering Bulma’s previous statement.

She raised both her eyebrows in disbelief. "So, basically, Zarbon hates you because he thinks you’ve got a bunny in his sister’s oven, and your pride won’t let you tell him otherwise?" she clarified.

Vegeta nodded, still looking upwards.

She shook her head. "Very smart, Vegeta."

He chuckled. "You’re one to talk about smart."

She raised her own eyebrow even though he didn’t see her. "Meaning?"

"Not very smart to go out at night by yourself in a part of the city you don’t even know. . . twice," he said, referring to the times she’d left the Silver Dragon to get some ‘fresh air.’

"I guess you do care."

He shrugged. "I guess I do."

Bulma was surprised by his admission. "Do you?" she asked quietly.

He didn’t respond for a while. He sighed to himself. Since he was spilling all his  little secrets, he might as well go the whole nine.

"I remember once a few years back," he started, "me and Chi had gotten into an argument. I don’t even remember what it was about. She’d left my house that night in a huge fit. Not that I blame her. It was probably my fault anyway. She’d left and I hadn’t even stopped her. I guess I was too mad or something. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.

"A few hours later, I get a call from Juu telling me that Chi’s in the hospital. Turns out she’d gotten attacked by a junkie. Fucked up off Booze and E. Don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t had the pepper spray. She always tells me it wasn’t my fault but that’s some shit you just can’t shake off," he finished, wondering when the hell he’d turned into a heart-spilling-sissy-bitch.

Bulma listened to him in silence and when he finished, felt the guilt radiating off of him. This was the most he’d ever told her since she’d met him and she didn’t know what to think now that he had. She wasn’t even aware that the man even had a strand of guilt DNA.

She now understood why he got edgy when she went off by herself. "Look at it this way. At least she’ll think twice about disagreeing with you," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Vegeta chuckled weakly at her feeble attempt.

They let the silence envelop them once again. Bulma hesitated, then moved closer to him. Minutes steadily ticked by as the two sat together in an unusual peace.

The moon was glaring radiantly off the water. She could hear the ocean clearly as it crashed into the rocks in the distance, like grains being sprayed against a wall. She licked her lips, practically tasting the salty flavoring lingering in the warm air.

Bulma grabbed onto the moist sand when the ocean hit the shore, feeling her surroundings melt as it covered her hot body with water from the waist down.

Vegeta watched the woman sitting right beside him. Her eyes were closed, face displaying a series of expressions. He never thought a person could get such a high from looking out into the ocean. Or maybe it was more than that.

She was leaning back, full lips slightly parted, and breathing heavily as if she were going to come. As if she didn’t even know he was there.

One of the thin straps on her even thinner blue summer dress slid halfway down her shoulders exposing the spray of almost invisible freckles that settled there.

When the waves washed over him, drenching him from the waist down, he didn’t feel it. All he could see was her face.

If she’d looked like she was going to come before, then, when the waves washed over her, she was definitely coming now. Vegeta watched in awe as she licked the salt from her lips and then opened her eyes.

He fought hard to tear his gaze from her. The water hit them again, this time covering them from belly down.

"I think we should go," he said. "The tide is rising."

She didn’t answer, her eyes focused straight ahead. When she didn’t move, he took it as a signal of her wanting to stay a while longer. To be truthful, he wasn’t all too eager to leave either. He sighed and moved closer, her bare leg just grazing his own.

Bulma wanted to draw the night out. It was liberating to sit there and talk with Vegeta freely while the waves hit in sporadic bursts. Liberating to not have to worry about the undercover work she had to continue when they got back to the city. To get caught up in  the ambiance and the man beside her.

"I wish I could just grab the night and embrace it," she revealed unconsciously.

She realized too late that she’d said it out loud and felt blood rush to her cheeks. She glanced in Vegeta’s direction, hoping he didn’t hear, and then back to the water.

Vegeta looked at her reddening profile. It awed him every time the rouge tinge played across her cheeks. It was so unlike her. . . yet so befitting.

He felt a smirk settle across his lips. What would she do if he kissed her right now?

He didn’t allow his mind to think through it as he leaned over and covered her lips with his own. Bulma’s eyes widened and she gasped in surprise at his spontaneous audacity.

She lifted two hands to his shoulders as if to push him away, but felt her brain lull into a sweet stupor by his infuriatingly skillful lips. 

Inwardly, Vegeta smirked, delighted that she hadn’t pushed him into the water and bruised his ego with a firm ‘go to hell.’ On the contrary, she returned the kiss with the same, if not more, enthusiasm that he was bestowing.

The hands on his shoulders tentatively descended to his chest and lingered there a second longer than normal as Bulma stopped to appreciate his impressively hard abs.

She moaned in protest when he broke away, only to lift her up and set her on his lap. She wrapped her legs around his torso tightly as if doing  so prevented his leaving until she was fully sated.

One thing that drove Vegeta crazy about kissing this woman was that he always caught himself struggling to keep up with her. So much so, that he forgot where he was and what he’d been doing.

He began to shower kisses on her neck and she leaned her head back willingly to give him infinite access. It was funny how, now, she would willingly give him that kind of access to every inch of her body.

Bulma’s sighs turned into a moan when she felt Vegeta’s wet, hot tongue graze the side of her neck.

He chuckled softly into her skin. "Miss me?"

She didn’t answer, not wanting to admit to him (or herself for that matter) how much she’d missed him. How much she’d missed his touch. His kiss. Didn’t want him to know that for the past few nights, she’d been awakened by his fingers scorching her damp body, his lips searing through her own, and his voice running hot shivers up her spine.

He probably already knew what he was doing to her, cocky bastard.

His lips ended their passionate plunder of her neck and ascended back to her lips. His hands dropped to the back of her smooth thighs and slowly made their way upwards. He ran them appreciatively over her shapely ass, stopping at her lace panties.

He hooked a thumb under the band and waited for her to stop him.

Vegeta groaned when the blue haired vixen began to grind her heat into his growing hardness as if urging him on.

Was she trying to kill him? He pulled back to look at her.

Fuck, what a sight.

Lips swollen from his kisses, eyes hooded, the other strap to her dress finally following its counterpart and falling halfway down her shoulder.

Tonight, it was official. Bulma was more fuckable than any other woman he’d ever known. For lack of a better word, of course.

She grinded against him again, harder. As if to tell him to rip her panties off and take her right there on the wet sand.

But Mother Nature had different plans.

Bulma screamed in surprise as a wave crashed into them none too gently. Before they could even stand up, another wave came, slightly more forceful than the one before it. The pair struggled clumsily to get on their feet and were only successful after a few tries.

When they’d gotten far away enough from the shore, Bulma shook out her hair. "Great. I’m soaked."

Vegeta rolled his eyes in annoyance at the situation and muttered, "Was willing to help you out with that problem." Thankfully she didn’t hear him.

"Well," he said, out loud this time, "that’s our cue to get the hell outta  here." He refrained from grabbing his still erect cock.

Bulma bit her lip in disappointment. How could she say ‘let’s finish what we started instead,’ without sounding utterly pathetic? Instead, she followed him back to the motorcycle.

"You know," she began after a few minutes of awkward silence, "a nice guy would let me wear his jacket." She shivered from the cold water despite the heat.

"Surprise. I’m not a nice guy."

"You almost fooled me."

He didn’t miss the sarcasm.

He cursed and took off his black button up and handed it to her, leaving him in a wife beater.

She smiled genuinely at him and slipped into it. Vegeta felt something flop ridiculously in his stomach at the beam she cast at him.

"Was that just an excuse to see my virtually perfect body?" he asked, unconsciously lifting her onto the bike and trying to ignore the way her nipples peeked through her clinging dress.

"Now, Vegeta. If it was, do you really think I’d tell you?"

He grinned, his back turned to her, and threw one leg over the bike painfully, before he revved it and turned the opposite direction, taking them home.

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

Jay walked Zaria onto his porch and led her into the house. They changed plans at the last minute, heading to his place instead of hers. Just in case her brother decided to drop in unexpectedly.

The lights were on, indicating that someone was in the house. They could hear background noise coming from the television in the living room.

"I wonder who’s home," Jay thought out loud.

They found Jin, Jay’s younger brother, sitting peace fully on the ground at the paper strewn coffee table. Apparently, he was working on another one of his major college assignments.

"Look who’s pulling an all-nighter," Jay teased, startling the red haired man from his work. "Never thought I’d see the day."

Jin grimaced, an act that Jay knew from familiarity was his own version of a playful grin.

"It’s hardly late. Only. . ." he glanced up at the clock, "10:30."

Jay nodded and repeated slowly as if he hadn’t heard the first time, "Look who’s pulling an all-nighter."

Jin knew, of course, that his brother was teasing him about his always getting assignments done early. He was really meticulous when it came to school and his older siblings never missed the chance to rile him up about it. But he also knew how proud of him they were.

Besides, they were the ones coming up with the money to put him through college.

"What about you two?" He asked. "I didn’t think you’d be back this early. In fact, I thought you wouldn’t be back ’til tomorrow morning," he finished slyly.

Jay turned to Zaria in mock offense. "On the first date? I don’t think so! There are many things Jay does, but putting out on the first date is not one of them. Now, the second. . . then maybe we can work something out." 

Zaria laughed hollowly to her own ears and swatted his arm. She was still smarting from the comments that Zarbon had forced Jay to say unknowingly about her. But Zarbon had only been looking out for her. Even as untactful as he did it, he was just reminding her that this was all business.

"Right Jay. You’re the perfect example of a virgin nun," she responded to his joking demeanor.

Jay rubbed the spot she hit playfully, acting as if it hurt. "I’m serious. Unless, of course, you want to change my mind."

Her breath hitched at his sudden change of tone.

"I think I already did," she replied, her own tone changing.

"Would you two get a room already?" Jin called from his mess of papers. "I’m trying to get a degree here."

Jay turned to him. "I was just about to do that bro." He turned back to Zaria. "Lemme just get some stuff from the kitchen. I’ll be right back."

He dashed through the swing doors to the kitchen, and Zaria made her way to the couch. When she sat down, Jin flipped her the remote without looking up from his papers.

"Thanks," she said.

He answered with a "hmm" and went back to work.

Zaria nearly laughed at the man’s stoic-ness. Of all the times she’d seen him, he’d never said as much as he had tonight.

She flipped absently through the channels faintly missing the multiple bracelets she usually wore but decided to forgo for the night. Zarmine had once told her that guys would find the jingling sounds they made every time she moved her wrist irritating.

She landed on one of the networks and became queasy at what was on.

‘Romeo and Juliet,’ she thought with disgust. ‘And not the good one. The crappy one with Leonardo Dicaprio.’ Not to say the guy couldn’t act. The movie just sucked. She was about to change it when she heard footsteps come down the stairs.

"I just put Pops to bed, Jin," a voice called. "Remind me to go back up there before Krillin gets here--" Juu stopped when she saw the other woman sitting on the couch.

"Well. Look at what the cat dragged in."

Zaria raised an eyebrow. "I believe that that was a direct insult this time."

Juu took a seat on the cushioned rocking chair and curled her feet under her bottom. "How could you tell?"

"Well, seeing’s to how the only thing you like about me is when I’m gone. . . let’s just say I don’t have to be a rocket scientist."

"What the hell are you watching?" Juu asked with obvious distaste.

Zaria hadn’t even remembered the movie. "Romeo and Juliet."

"I hate this movie."

"More reason for me to keep it on," Zaria countered, setting more comfortably into the couch. What the hell was taking Jay so long? "Why do you hate it so much? Think Claire Danes is prettier than you?"

Jin chuckled from his spot on the ground.

Juu snorted at Zaria’s obvious attempt to annoy her. "No. Bad acting. Stupid concept. Dumb movie. ‘Nuff said."

"Actually, this is a classic," Zaria informed as if the other woman didn’t already know.

Juu rolled her eyes. "If you ask me, these two ‘star crossed lovers’ should have stayed away from each other. Two families that hate each other? That could have only end in death."

"Said like a true cynic," Zaria retorted. But inside her head was spinning. Why did this story so suddenly sound so familiar?

She didn’t contemplate any longer as Jay finally emerged from the kitchen, drinks and snacks in his hands. "Hello ladies. I trust you’ve been getting along as usual."

"Right," Juu began, "and I trust that you’ll be sharing some of those Doritos."

Jay shook his head and wagged his index finger in front of his face. "Nope."

She pouted. "If you were my real twin, you’d be able to sense just how hungry I am."

"Then one of us must be adopted."

He kissed her on the cheek, dropping a soda and bag of chips onto her lap. With his free hand he grabbed Zaria’s own and lead her upstairs.

Juu shook her head and popped open the soda can. She almost didn’t feel the tiny smile that crept across her lips.

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

Vegeta pulled the bike to a stop in front of Bulma’s two story apartment and waited as she climbed off. She stood on the sidewalk, shyly facing the ground.

"Thanks for the ride," she told him awkwardly.

He nodded, not sure what to say himself.

"Yamcha’s going to hate me. And Rayven even more," she said, a hint of a smile in her voice.

"Yamcha doesn’t deserve a woman like you."

Bulma looked up at him and bit her lip. "You’re just full with the compliments tonight, aren’t you?"

He shrugged. "Just tellin’ you the truth."

She looked down again, feeling her stomach flutter at his words. "Thanks."

She felt his index finger lift her chin up to face him. To Bulma’s surprise, he placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"Don’t be late for work tomorrow, woman," he said before leaving a baffled Bulma alone on the sidewalk in front of her home.

She shook her head and laughed out loud. He was the most confusing man she’d ever known.

And she loved it.

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

Early the next morning, Goku and Bulma pulled up to Kami’s private residence.

"What do you think he’s going to do when he finds out we’ve gotten about as little amount of info as possible?" Goku asked his partner as they both stepped out of the car and walked toward the house.

Bulma shook her head and opened the practically invisible glass door to the huge place. "What can he do?"

Goku looked at her. "Well, let’s see. . . maybe pull us off the case for starters," he answered, as if that was the obvious outcome.

Bulma shook her head again. "I don’t think he’d pull us out this far into it."

He shrugged. "We’ll see."

They zigzagged through the hall until Bulma came to a sudden stop in the middle of it. Goku looked back at her.

"What’s up with you?"

She was looking at one of Kami’s many pictures of his family, this one situated in a gold frame on the vast wall. Kami and two young boys, no older than five, surrounded a mother, holding a small infant. Bulma guessed the newborn was Dende and the other two were Kami’s twins. Not identical by the looks of it.

"You know Kami had three kids?" she asked Goku curiously.

He nodded. "Yeah. The middle child died, right?"

Bulma nodded slowly. "Yeah, Nail’s twin. Died in the same shooting incident that killed the mother."

Goku checked his watch impatiently. "We kinda gotta hurry Bulma. We’ll catch hell if we’re late."

"It just makes me wonder why we’ve never seen any pictures of him. Except for this one, of course. Like they just took a pair of scissors and cut him out of everything."

Goku shook his head and kept walking. "You think too much, Bulma."

She followed him until they reached Kami’s office. "Yeah, well, you don’t."

They were greeted by a room full of serious men when they opened the door. Bulma glimpsed around, surprised to see that Nail, Kami’s older son, would be accompanying them.

Roshi and Popo were sitting by the computers quietly discussing one thing or another while Dende took a stand behind his father’s seat.

"What do you have for us?" Dende demanded as the pair of undercover cops came in.

Bulma hopped onto one of the counters and smiled at him. "What? No ‘hi’? Or a ‘hey, how’s it goin’? I’m beginning to think you guys are only using us for this whole case thing."

Dende sighed, glancing at Kami as if that would give him patience. "I’m serious."

Bulma rolled her eyes and gave a sigh of her own. ‘Looks like D isn’t up for a good one today. Now all I gotta do is figure a way to tell them we’ve got a basic nothing on the info tip.’

But Goku spoke up before she could. "I don’t think Vegeta and his guys are up to the jackings."

Kami raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"No motive," Goku replied simply.

Nail snorted from his spot by the giant scenic window. "I’m pretty sure we all know that money is motive enough. For anybody."

"Which means that anybody could be up to it," Goku countered logically.

"Which is why we have you two on the case. And besides, let’s not kid ourselves, Son. We all know what kind of person Vegeta was," Nail countered back.

The room’s occupants looked back and forth between the two men as they began to exchange heated words.

"So we’re going to base this whole thing on the kind of person Vegeta is? Or, rather, was in the past?"

Nail shook his head. "I should have known you’d be defending this guy. It really shouldn’t surprise me that you’re getting involved with this shady criminal again."

Both Bulma and Goku’s eyes widened. Bulma’s because of the unknown revelation, and Goku’s because of Nail’s impudence to bring up the past. Bulma knew about Goku and Vegeta’s past, taking part in a gang years ago. But the way Nail had said it made her wonder what she didn’t know.

She grabbed Goku’s arm, feeling his urge to slug the man in his face. Apparently, Nail had seen this action, saying, "I never thought you’d attack a man in a wheelchair, Son." He expertly wheeled said contraption next to Kami’s side. "Now, the man who killed Vegeta’s father. . . well that’s another story."

Bulma raised an eyebrow in confusion. What did he mean by that? Although she wanted to know what he meant, she quickly rummaged through her brain to find something that would ease the tightening of Goku’s angry muscles and would change the topic. She would ask him about it later.

"Ginyus!" she exclaimed.

Everyone looked at her, the previous dispute temporarily forgotten.

"Ginyus?" Roshi asked, wanting her to clarify.

Bulma nodded. "Yeah. I think that maybe they had something to do with this."

Dende shrugged. "Do you have some kind of substantial evidence?"

"Well, it’s no secret that the Ginyus and Vegeta don’t get along."

"That’s an understatement," Roshi acknowledged.

"And, of course," Bulma continued, "the whole hatred is based on the rivalry between Vegeta and the Ginyu leader, Zarbon. A kind of battle for the king of the streets type thing."

"Are you suggesting that the Ginyus are behind it?" Dende questioned.

"Let me finish," Bulma slowed, as if she were telling a joke and the men were waiting for the punch line. "A few months ago, Vegeta had a run in with a female Ginyu."

"Figures," Nail said from the sidelines.

"Supposedly he doesn’t know she’s a Ginyu and they end up going back to her place. But before they can do anything, Zarbon barges in on them. Turns out she’s Zarbon’s sister. A month later she tells Vegeta that she’s pregnant with his child. But according to Vegeta, he never slept with her."

"And of course, we all believe Vegeta," Roshi added, with sarcasm.

"Look Roshi," Bulma said defensively. "I’m only telling you what he told me. And personally, I believe him." She added the last part, as if doing so would redeem herself from the guilt she felt in betraying Vegeta’s trust. At least she was doing it to protect him.

"So what is it you’re implying?" Kami asked wanting her to get straight to the point.

"What I’m implying," Bulma explained, "is that Zarbon and co. might be trying to pin  this whole thing on Vegeta and the others." She waited for someone to respond.

"Well it does make sense," Goku agreed. "Not only would Zarbon get back at Vegeta for not accepting the unborn child as his own, but he’d get mad street cred-- officially labeling him king of the streets. Not to mention he’d be able to laugh in Vegeta’s face."

Bulma nodded. ‘Couldn’t have said it better myself.’

"Popo, pull up a profile on Zarbon Ginyu," Dende ordered.

Popo swiveled his seat around to face the computer. In a few seconds Zarbon’s profile popped up with a picture of him on the edge.

"What’s it read?" Dende wanted to know.

"Ginyu, Zarbon," Popo read aloud. "Born in New York City in ‘78. Mama and Papa Ginyu moved to the west coast for business purposes. Dad’s eventual riches, of course, brought the rest of the Ginyu family to west. Cousins and all. Zarbon’s got a few minor blemishes on his record. A couple of misdemeanors. Nothing Mom and Dad couldn’t get him out of."

"Is that it?" Dende asked.

"Pretty much," answered Popo.

"What’s the sibling count?" Bulma asked, wanting to get anything she could on this guy.

"Two sisters. Both younger."

"Names?"

Popo paused, as he scanned the profile. "Zarmine’s the name of the older sister. But the younger one’s isn’t mentioned."

Bulma’s eyes furrowed. "Why not?"

"Younger sis stayed in the east coast unlike the rest of a family."

Something flickered in the back of Bulma’s head, but then flickered off. She shook her head and dismissed the nagging feeling.

"So Bulma," Nail started to ask, "did you say Vegeta actually told you all of this?"

Bulma nodded cautiously, knowing that the man in the wheelchair was going somewhere with his question.

"Yeah, he did."

"What the hell’d you have to do to get him to do that?"

She shrugged, wanting the conversation to be over. "I guess I’m just good."

He snorted. "Yeah, at something."

Bulma stilled. "What the hell does that mean, Nail?"

"You know damn well what I mean."

"Wow," Bulma awed. "If you weren’t already crippled, I’d break your legs myself."

Nail chuckled. "It’s just that you’d have to be pretty close to Vegeta Spencer to get any kind of info out of him. Hope you’re not getting too close."

Bulma jumped off the counter and straightened out her clothes. "Just doin’ my job."

He held up his hands in a defensive stance. "Just checkin’."

"Well, are we done here? Gotta get to work."

Kami nodded. "Unless you’ve got anything else?"

She shook her head and walked out the door, followed closely by Goku.

"So what do you think, Father?" Dende asked unsurely.

Kami rubbed his temples. "I think this whole case has more to it than meets the eye. And we’d better figure out this puzzle before something bad happens."

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

Okay.....done. Wow, it’s been so long and I really suck at apologies. I’m good at excuses though! Um, okay not really excuses, but real stuff that’s been happening. Lots on my mind including this fic. I actually had this chapter done about maybe 2 months ago which doesn’t help matters, but I just felt, I dunno, like I forgot something and it would fuck up the whole storyline and I thought it would really, really suck. But I read it yesterday and it wasn’t even half as sucky as I thought it would be. And at the risk of sounding like a whiny bitch, I’m really busy too, I’m doing track and since it’s the end of the year I’m doing hella tests and essays and my classes are so hard that I want to just forget them all and write fanfic all day. But....I can’t. I know my explanation sucks but....oh well. If it’s any consolation, the next chapter is practically finished....I just need to find time to type it all up.

Anyway, we find some interesting things in this chapter....What they are, I do not know! If you have some questions or if I wrote something that made you say "What the fuck was ST thinking when she wrote that?" just give me a buzz. My internet is still not up yet because of a number of things that we won’t go into but I can still get to it at school. Anyway, please review this chapter. Circle of life? Still rollin? Simba still runnin? Only if you REVIEW! Please.

-Scrambled Thoughts