The sun was high in a clear, cloudless blue sky. The heat of late summer beat down upon him as a tall black haired teen made his way down a frequently traveled sidewalk. Before long his final destination loomed in his view, and he hiked a smile up onto his face. Finally he arrived at the door of capsule corp., and he rapped his knuckles against the dense steel door.

It was barely a moment before the door swung open and a familiar face below a fringe of blue hair greeted him.

"Gohan!" She squealed, "Trunks has been asking about you all day. He just cant sit still, he is so excited"

Bulma motioned for him to come in, and Gohan stepped carefully into the room, looking around. His smile widened, and just as Gohan's mouth opened to speak, a small lavender haired boy came speeding into the room.

"Gohan! You're here!"

The youngster came to a halt in front of Gohan, his bright blue eyes sparkling with an excited glow. Gohan matched the chibi's grin with one of his own and nodded.

"Yep! Let the sleep over begin!"

Taking after his father, Gohan flashed a genuine smile. His naturally playful nature meant that he would not only be a good babysitter for Trunks, but he would have fun while doing it.

Bulma smiled with glee. For the first time in forever she was getting out of the house to spend time with her husband and her friends. She was looking forward to actual adult conversation. Grabbing her handbag off the kitchen counter, she glanced at her watch. With a sigh, she turned towards the confines of the house, searching with darting eyes.

"Vegeta!" she called, snatching her keys off the gleaming black counter top.

From the shadows of the house a voice rang out, sending a shiver up Gohans spine.
"Yes, woman, I'm coming"

Though he knew it was behind them and Vegeta had seemingly changed, Gohan couldn't help but think back to their first meeting every time he heard his voice. Footsteps sounded throughout the room, and Gohan shuffled nervously, looking pointedly around the room. Anywhere but at the man walking in.

He could feel the princes dark stare even without acknowledging it.

"Are you ready, Vegeta?"

Gohan glanced up at the sound of Bulma's voice. His breath caught in his throat when he found Vegeta staring at him.

"Yes, let's get this over with"

Bulma sighed, her hands falling to her hips "now come on, It'll be fun Vegeta."

With his attention still fully squared on Gohan, he ignored his wife's comment and began making his way to the door.
As the royal saiyan passed him, Gohan felt his blood run cold.

Vegeta shot Gohan a backwards glance, locking eyes with the young half-saiyan. "Remember, " he started, his stare intensifying. "Don't have too much fun while we're out."

Moving his glare to Trunks his voice became slightly less sinister. "Don't forget well be training tomorrow son."

Turning, Vegeta exited Capsule Corp with a cool, confident strut muttering under his breath about time away from training.

Bulma quickly hurried after her husband, turning to flash the boys a quick smile. "Don't worry about him Gohan! All he needs is a few drinks in him!" Looking at her son, she gleamed, "Remember your bedtime! You know how your father gets. Love you!" She shouted as she began chasing after Vegeta.

Blushing from embarrassment, Trunks turned to Gohan excitedly

Gulping thickly, Gohan turned towards the young demi-saiyan, his heart hammering against his rib cage. Ever since his first fateful meeting with Vegeta all those years ago, he had a deep fear for the saiyan prince. He would never admit it to Vegeta, but it was there, and it smouldered in his gullet with a white hot intensity that he just couldn't shake.

Pushing the thought away, he smiled down at Trunks, "so...What do you want to do first?"

Practically vibrating with pent up excitement, Trunks beamed with joy. "I wanna play Mario kart!" With a giggle, the hyacinth-haired tot bounded into the living room.

Gohan sighed, "but you always beat me at Mario Kart..."

XXXXXXXXX

ChiChi turned towards the table, a bottle of Chardonnay clasped in one hand, with wine glasses dangling from the fingers of her free hand.

"Bulma...think we can teach a couple of old saiyans to play canasta?"

Bulma scoffed at chichi. "Yeah right! Teach Goku to do math! You must be joking!"

Bulma moved toward chichi, reaching for the glasses.

"Let's get this party started! I've been looking forward to this all week!" Bulma explained as she took the wine from chichi pouring four full glasses.

Goku raised an eyebrow, looking from Bulma to Vegeta, "Whats math, Vegeta?"

The saiyan prince rolled his dark eyes, "Far behind your low-class comprehension Kakarot"

Goku grabbed the glass offered to him and swallowed the contents in one fell swoop.

Bulma sighed, "ChiChi...I don't know if one bottle is gonna be enough"

ChiChi let out a bark of laughter, flipping a hand in Bulma's direction, "I've got 4 more in the fridge."

Goku sighed, looking around the room. Bulma could tell that she was already losing his attention.

Turning to Chichi, Bulma sighed. "Well we both know how this is going to end." She rolled her eyes and focused her gaze on her husband. "All I wanted was a night of drinking with my husband and this is what I'm going to get...sparring." she whispered to chichi, shifting her gaze back at her companion

Vegeta smirked, having heard every word of his wife's conversation. He glanced over at the taller Saiyan, he snatched his glass off the table, downing its contents in one huge gulp.

XXXXXXXXX

Gohan dropped the controller to the ground with a deep sigh, his brow furrowed in frustration. "Okay Trunks. I think beating me fair and square seven times in a row is enough..."

Trunks giggled, "Well...Goten always beats me." He shrugged.

Gohan chuckled, "Well in that case...I wish Goten was here, show you what for"

Tossing his controller onto the sofa beside him, Trunks stole a glance in Gohans direction, "Where is Goten anyways?"

"Grandpa's..." He muttered, his mind miles away. All he could think about was the purposefully menacing looks Vegeta had shot his way before his departure. Almost like a challenge...and almost like he had a secret.

"Gohan?"

Gohan spaced out contemplating what Vegeta could possibly be getting at with those glares. What was he challenging?

"Gohan?" Trunks tugged at the older sayians shirt. "Gohan?!"

Snapping out of his trance like thoughts Gohan physically shook his head in an attempt to come back to earth. "what, huh?" He chuckled, placing his hand up to mess with his hair much like his father as he smiled down at Trunks.

"What're you doing?" Trunks inquired with a nosy chuckle. "Thinking about your girlfriend?" Trunks chuckled under his breath.

Gohan chuckled, his cheeks glowing scarlet. "No..."

Trunks' grin widened, "Gohans got a girlfriend!"

XXXXXX

Vegeta glared across the table at his fellow Saiyan, his eyes narrowed dangerously. The alcohol had caused a fog to close into the corners of his brain, and he didn't quite like how slow it made him feel.

He shook his head. "Not now, Kakarot..."

"Why not Vegeta?! You never turn down a chance to spar!"

Slamming his hand down on the table, Vegeta stood, leaning across the table towards the oversized drunken idiot. "Because! Anyone with a brain knows that alcohol dulls your reflexes! I have had far too much to drink and-"

"And you're afraid I'll beat ya."

Vegeta felt a surge of intense anger. Balling his hand into a fist, his eyes narrowed even farther, "First of all, clown, nothing about you scares me! Second of-"

"I don't need to be sober to beat you, Vegeta..."

Chichi's eyes grew to the size of small saucers, "Goku..."

Bulma sighed, her palm pressed to her forehead, "Vegeta...just cool it..."

"I know what you're trying to do Kakarot..."

Goku stood, leaning in towards his rival. It was almost as if alcohol brought out the true, savage Saiyan in him, "oh yea? What am I trying to do?"

"You're trying to piss me off!"

Goku stood swiftly, striding quickly towards the refrigerator. Chichi looked on with sudden realization. "Goku, don't!" She yelled angrily as Goku threw the fridge open, grabbing two bottles of wine from within. "Don't worry, chichi." Goku reassured. "I'll be fine." He said before slamming back both bottles of wine back-to-back. After finishing, Goku let out a long, deep, drawn-out belch before turning on his heels and eyeing Vegeta coyly. "There!" He exclaimed "Now we're even Vegeta!" He looked on at the Sayain prince with adventurous eyes.

"Great!" Bulma shouted shrilly. "Now not only do we not have our husbands," she turned to chichi. "But now we don't even have anymore to drink!"

Chichi laughed patting Burma on the back. "Don't worry, I made a pitcher of margaritas and hid it in the freezer earlier!"

"C'mon vegeta, lets spar! It'll be fun!" Goku chuckled ignorantly.

"You're on kakarot!" Vegeta growled under his breath.

In a flash, Vegeta flew forward, appearing inches in front of Goku's face in a fraction of a second. With a deafening roar, he slammed his fist into Goku's nose as hard as he could possibly manage. Beneath his knuckles he felt a satisfying snap of bones and cartilage.

"How dare you imply that the prince of all saiyans is weak?!" He screamed, swinging the same fist before Goku could react, connecting squarely to the side of a head seemingly made of cinder block.

"That's the spirit Vegeta!"

With a growl, Vegeta lunged forward, shoving him away with all of his strength. Goku stumbled and nearly fell, but somehow managed to stand upright.

"You ignorant low-class!" He lunged forward again, but Goku dodged him easily.

"What's wrong, Vegeta? You getting tired?"

A growl, deep in his throat, "shut your mouth!" Vegeta's intensity was matched with a telling smile, which did nothing more than anger him. The truth was...Vegeta was tired, and stumbling, and his thoughts were a jumbled mess that he couldn't keep straight. The truth was, he was too drunk to fight, and that thought terrified and angered him all at once.

Vegeta grumbled under his breath before wiping his brow. "I didn't even want to come to this stupid party!" Vegeta growled. "Bulma drug me out against my wishes to continue training!" He exclaimed in fury. "I don't see the point in these childish earthling distractions anyways." Vegeta muttered, his temple vein twitching in anger and irritation.

"I'm leaving" he said as he turned to Bulma.

Bulma shot up, placing her hands on her hips to begin ranting to her husband, but he flew off before she ever got a word in.

"Ughhhh!" Bulma screeched shrilly. "I don't know why he has to be like that. Why can't he just let loose once in awhile?!" Bulma complained to Chichi.

Chichi turned to her companion, sighing. "I don't know Bulma. I wish I understood them and their priorities." She looked on at her own husband who had now began training on his own in the absence of Vegeta. "I wish I knew..." she said through another sigh, pouring two very tall margaritas for the two of them.

XXXXXXXX

Gohan slowly crept out of the room, slowly pulling the door shut behind him in an effort to make the least amount of noise possible. It had taken close to 45 minutes...but Trunks was asleep.

With a deep sigh of relief, he turned from the room to make his way towards the living room. As he passed the front door, he heard footsteps coming up to the door. He gave a frown of puzzlement. He had been under the impression that they would be gone for a long time. Out late. What were they doing back already?

Still pondering, Gohan was taken by surprise when the door flung open just a second later. Swaying in the doorway, Vegeta looked livid, his power level spiking to out on control proportions.

"O-oh! Vegeta! You're back...where's Bulma?" Stumbling through the door, Vegeta kicked it shut behind him before he rounded on Gohan.

Vegeta glared down at Goku's oldest boy menacingly.

"You're just like Kakarot!" He snarled, stumbling up to Gohan.

Within inches of Gohans face, Vegeta whispered, "Nosy and incredibly vocal..." the sayain prince hiccuped before quickly breaking the harsh glare he held on Gohan.

Turning towards the hall Vegeta slowly moved towards his bedroom. As he walked along the hall walls for support, Vegeta continued, "Except of course your brain functions in overdrive."

Vegeta turned on his heels, almost losing his balance before catching himself in the doorframe of his bedroom. Turning back towards the living room and the younger sayain, Vegeta chuckled. "Whereas I'm not sure Kakarot has a brain to function!"

Vegeta then stumbled into his room closing the door behind him. After having his laugh Vegeta couldn't help but brood on Kakarot's arrogance. It infuriated him. With every passing moment Vegetas anger boiled to new heights. Brooding, Vegeta began stumbling from one end of the room to the other, pacing. He couldn't let Kakarot get away with making him a fool. He was saiyan royalty! This was preposterous.

'I must find a way to put Goku in his place once and for all,' Vegeta thought. 'Something that he can never forget...' the saiyan prince threw himself on his bed, racking his brain for inspiration.

Standing in the living room, Gohan stared absentmindedly at the floor, his mind whirling.

What in the world was even happening?

With a sigh, he turned to glance at the couch.

Even though he was originally supposed to be babysitting, he supposed that now he could technically go home. Staying in the house with Vegeta was downright terrifying, but he couldn't leave little Trunks alone with a drunk father.

He made his way towards the couch, his mind a jumbled mess.