Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z (If only…); I am merely playing with the characters.

This is mainly a dark Gohan/Videl fic, but there will also be many moments of Bulma/Vegeta and some other character pairings. Even if you are not a huge fan of that pairing, I still urge you to read their interactions as they both play very large and important roles in the fic. Also, Vegeta is twenty-nine, Bulma is twenty-eight, Gohan is twenty-six and Videl is twenty. :)

Chapter One

Never had the kitchen of Capsule Hall been so silent after all the servants retired to their respective rooms for the evening. Videl sat alone in the darkness, her small, yet strong hands clasped together as she watched the moon glow brightly from the window above the sink. The large armchair dwarfed her small frame; the staff knew better than to remove it from the kitchen. It was provided for Videl by Lady Bulma Brief, after all, who believed that the comfort of her personal chef was of the utmost importance.

Never mind the fact that the chef was a female, a highly unusual circumstance. Never mind that she didn't seem to possess a surname. Never mind that her relationship with her employer was far too friendly than what was conventional, yet she maintained a careful distance from the other servants, save for Kyo, the butler's young grandson. The staff at Capsule Hall understood rank, and Videl was ruler absolute. They referred to her as Miss and kept their opinions of her to themselves. It didn't matter that she was no more than twenty years old, and looked several years younger, with her small frame and large eyes; any other female possessing such large, doe eyes would be called innocent. Yet, none of the staff could call Videl innocent. Not when only the faintest of smiles ever graced her full lips in their presence. Not when her cerulean eyes suggested tragedies that they could only guess at. Not when what little affection in her soul was reserved for the small, beige puppy that slept contently at her feet by the large armchair.

Videl knew what the staff thought of her. They were distrustful, wary and jealous of her, especially the maids. But they simply stayed away from her, and Videl was content with that, if with nothing else in her life.

"Miss Videl?"

She slowly turned her head towards the open door of the large kitchen, where a small boy clad in loose pyjamas stood, one chubby hand clutching the doorknob whilst the other rubbed a sleepy eye.

Videl's eyes softened slightly at the sight. "It's past midnight, Kyo. You should be sleeping."

Kyo yawned, blinking. "I keep waking up. May I have some warm milk, please? I would ask my daddy, but only you add cinnamon and nutmeg."

Something painful stirred in Videl at his words, and a brief memory flitted through her mind.

"Videl! Videl! I passed my piano exam!"

Videl barely had time to turn before a dark blur crashed into her. She looked down, only to meet with large, baby blue eyes that were crinkled happily. Instantly, her expression matched his and she swooped his small body up into her arms.

"See? I told you that you could do it, Lucifer!" She peppered his cherubic face with kisses. "Let's go inside and I'll bake you some vanilla cookies."

The grin on her little brother's face widened, and before she knew it, he was out of her arms and dragging her towards the kitchens. "And warm milk! With cinnamon and nutmeg, just how you always make it for me when I behave!"

Videl laughed and nodded, allowing him to pull her along.

"Miss Videl? Are you okay?"

Blinking, Videl looked down into eerily familiar baby blue eyes, only this time, instead of being filled with glee, they were filled with confusion and slight worry. She blinked once more, and Lucifer's small face vanished, only to be replaced with Kyo's. "If you're tired, Miss Videl, I can get myself some water."

"I'm fine, Kyo," she replied. She managed a small smile and the worry vanished from the little boy's blue eyes. "Go get the ingredients while I get the saucepan and grater. Don't make too much noise as Bee is sleeping." She gestured to the sleeping puppy, before standing and walking to the one of the cupboards. "We can finish quicker if we work together."

Kyo beamed, before running off to do as he was told. It was times like this that he didn't mind not being able to sleep. He loved spending time with Miss Videl.

Kyo's arrival was a welcome distraction, but as soon as the kitchen door closed behind the young boy, Videl was once again left to her own thoughts. She slipped into her maid's cloak, pulling the hood over her dark tresses. Gracefully sitting down on the armchair, she leaned her head back, feeling the iron tension in her muscles, yet helpless to break its grip.

During the past two years she'd been as close to peace as she'd ever hoped to be. Capsule Hall was a haven, the kitchens a safe kingdom where everything was ordered and preordained; sauces never curdled, roasts never burned, people were never tortured and burned and…

Videl shook her head, listening to the stillness around her. If only Fate hadn't taken a hand once more. Surely she deserved her hard-won peace? Yet, for years she had prayed for one thing, and one thing alone. Not happiness, not contentment, not love, not comfort or friendship.

She'd prayed for retribution.

So who was she to complain when Fate had finally answered her prayers?

Capsule Hall boasted fifty-six bedrooms, two ballrooms, seven drawing rooms, five offices, three undergrounds labs, fifteen powder rooms with indoor amenities, and the kitchens. In one of those fifty-six bedrooms lay the male she had vowed to kill.

It would have been simple enough to find where he slept and take a dagger to him. Videl was adept at hacking apart mutton and sides of beef; the muscles in her slender arms attested to that. Surely a living, breathing Saiyan wouldn't be that much harder. A slit throat, and her life's ambition would be complete.

But she refused to gossip with the staff, didn't join them in their hall for cards and speculation on those above stairs. And with Capsule Hall currently deserted of the gentry, all but the unwanted guest, Videl couldn't very well wander the hallways looking for him. There was always the horrible possibility that he might recognise her after all those years.

However, that was unlikely; Videl was doubtless that she was just part of a distant memory, if that. Ruined lives would have little impact on a man like her enemy. She was probably one in a long line of victims.

Videl wondered what Bulma would think when she found out that her debauched guest had been slaughtered and her personal chef was being held accountable. Most troublesome and untidy, Videl thought with cold amusement, shaking her head. Perhaps she should find a neater way to handle the issue. If only she knew how long he was planning to stay. She didn't want to rush into something that was better savoured.

Lady Bulma Brief had left Capsule Hall the day he arrived, prey to those misogynistic conventions that society put such great store by. Even with the protection of her sharp companion, Miss Eighteen, Bulma couldn't reside in a manor like Capsule Hall with an unmarried male, who bore no blood relation to her. Not when he had such a scandalous reputation as Gohan Son possessed. So she'd departed, grumbling as she went, and Videl had been prepared to accompany her. That is, until she heard the man's name.

"Damn that man!" Bulma had fumed, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Why damn that man?" Videl had inquired evenly moments before her illusion of safety shattered. "If you don't want him here, simply tell him he can't come."

"He's already arrived. Besides, an unmarried female like myself doesn't have any right to an opinion in such matters. Capsule Hall may be my residence, but it does, in fact, belong to my father, up until the time I choose to marry. If I marry, my husband will own it. In the meantime I'm lucky I'm allowed to reside here and make use of my father's advanced labs. If the price I have to pay for that luxury is decamping every time some unrelated guest shows up, then I'll pay that price willingly."

"Not willingly," Videl lightly pointed out.

"No, not willingly," Bulma admitted. "If only it were someone other than Gohan Son! Why the blackest of all the black sheep, the one person likely to compromise every healthy female between sixteen and sixty who happens to be within the same county as he is! A decadent, debauched and positively cynical creauture, and he's driving me from my – Are you all right, Videl?" Bulma's incensed tone changed to one of immediate concern.

Videl had sunk abruptly into a chair. "I'm fine," she said faintly. "Tell me about your guest."

"Goodness, most of his reputation is so shocking that I don't know the half of it. He's the last of the Son family, and a nasty bit of good he is. Conceited and unbearably wicked. If only I never met him."

Videl managed to rouse herself to a semblance of polite conversation. "You deem him repulsive?"

"Of course! I admit he is sinfully good-looking, but he's a notorious flirt. It's all very well to say rakes are irresistible," Bulma announced, "but I don't really think they'd be quite comfortable to live with. Certainly Gohan wouldn't. For all his handsome face, there's something quite… unnerving and sinister about his eyes. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I've never seen him," Videl answered quietly, her small hands clenched beneath her white cloak. Bulma would have no reason not to believe her.

"Of course you haven't. And you won't this time. He arrived a few hours ago, thoroughly inebriated, and is sleeping in one of the bedrooms. We'll simply decamp and wait until word comes that he's left for Fire Mountain."

"Why is he going to Fire Mountain?"

"I gather he's been involved in some wretched scandal once again. Krillen's note mentioned a duel, and another male's wife. If the man lives, Gohan can go back to Fire Mountain, without any conflict. If he dies, Gohan's off to Satan City."

"Satan City." Videl's hands shook slightly.

"Gohan's always had a real affinity for Satan City. Don't look like that, Videl. I know you're sensitive, but you needn't look depressed every time someone simply mentions that place." Bulma's eyes hardened, before she continued, "You'll never have to go back, I promise you. Let Gohan go, and maybe he'll come to the bad end he so richly deserves. They're still using Dr Gero's guillotine, aren't they?"

In her mind's eye, Videl could see the flash of the blade; hear the sudden roar of the crowd. She could feel her own faintness, as she fought, always fought, the terror. "As far as I know," she replied, wishing in her heart that Gohan Son's head would end in the same blood stained basket that had held so many others.

"Thankfully I haven't had much experience with drunkards. I have no idea when he'll come to and start demanding things. It'd be best if we left immediately. That irritating manservant of his can tend to him." Bulma rose, dusting her canary yellow skirts, and Videl watched her with emotionless abstraction, suddenly aware that this was the last time she would see her benefactress.

She dressed poorly, ignoring Videl's occasional tasteful suggestions. Her form was voluptuous and her taste ran toward the extreme in ornamentation. Two ribbons were always better than one, three ruffles better than two, bright colours better than the pastels that would suit her rosy complexion. It had been Videl's unspoken goal to pass on her inborn sense of style. For the past two years, however, her efforts had been in vain. And now it would be too late.

"I'm not coming," she said.

Bulma blinked her blue eyes. "Don't be ludicrous. Of course you are. I know you usually refuse to accompany me to house parties, but this is different. We're simply going to take refuge in an inn near the building where my presentation for the Saiyan Army is taking place, while Gohan rearranges his life. A little rustication will do us both good. Besides, you promised to teach me how to cook."

"Not this time," Videl replied. Neither female thought it the slightest bit unusual that the chef would refuse an order from her employer.

"But why, Videl?" Bulma wailed. "I'll be so lonely up there!"

"You'll have Miss Eighteen for company."

"Eighteen's is not exactly the best company. Why would you want to stay here? Gohan will probably spend all his time carousing, and your cooking will be wasted." Bulma's eyes filled with tears.

"You promised me when I agreed to accompany you here that you would accept my terms," Videl said softly. "I told you I couldn't be your friend, your sister, your confidante. If I accepted your offer to reside to Capsule Hall, it would be as your servant or I wouldn't come."

"But Videl…"

"I'm staying here, in the kitchen." Videl rose and took Bulma's soft hands in her smaller ones. "I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something suitable for Gohan Son."

Things will be a lot clearer in the next chapter.

-Rhen-chan