Walking on broken glass

By: Burikko / Katie.G

I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT. This is strictly a fan fiction. I do not plan on making a profit out of this story.

Chapter 2: "Surprise!"

Yamcha slowly approached the building that he dreaded just looking at. He would always avoid the sight of this particular building by taking the long way to baseball practice. Capsule Corps. He thought about turning back… Maybe he could just get a loan somewhere.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

But it was too late. He sighed and rolled his eyes. There was no turning back now. He walked past the picket fence and to the door.

"Are you deaf, human?"

Yamcha finally looked up, and acknowledged Vegeta peaking his head out the window. Normally they just despised each other behind one another's back, but believe it or not, Vegeta was a very jealous person. Nobody was going to talk to his 'woman', especially not some weakling human.

"I'm just here to ask Bulma something, chill." Yamcha said, then made his way inside without so much as a knock on the door.

"Hey! Come back here when I'm insulting you, human!" Vegeta yelled at him through the window.

Yamcha didn't listen. He knew right where to find her. He walked down the hall to a door with the word 'Lab' painted in neat handwriting. He knocked on the door, but with no responds.

"Bulma? Are you in there?"

"Yamcha?" A small voice came from the other side. "Yeah! Come in."

Yamcha pushed the door open and walked into what he found rather amusing. It was more like a fun house then a Lab. He glanced around the room and finally caught the sigh of Bulma behind a desk, writing on a paper.

"So, um," Yamcha stayed put. He didn't approach her, or even bothered to make small talk. "I'll find a way to pay you back."

"Oh there's no need." Bulma said as she stood up and approached him. "It's okay."

Yamcha casually glanced away from her and put his hands in his pockets. What was wrong with him? His legs would get weak, his face would get flushed, and his voice would get all shaky. Every time… This girl was married for crying out loud! Why couldn't he get over her!

"Yamcha, yoo hoo! Here, take it."

Yamcha looked back at her and saw her waving around an envelope in front of him. He took it from her, and checked inside. There was a check, but it wasn't enough.

"I thought you said you would have enough to help me." Yamcha said, but didn't keep eye contact with her.

"Yamcha, this is 500,000 dollars we're talking about. That's a lot. Even though my dad owns Capsule Corps doesn't mean I'm made of money. That's all I can give you. I'm sorry…"

Yamcha nodded and put the envelope in his pocket.

"Well, I'll guess I'll see you later. Say hello to Launch for me." Bulma just sort of waved him off as she returned to her desk and began writing on the same paper she was before.

"Yeah…. Bye." Yamcha mumbled. He quickly left the Lab and let out a sigh of relief. He looked at his hands. They were shaky.

"You'll be going now."

Yamcha looked up and came eye to eye with Vegeta. He gave him a look of anger, while Yamcha gave him a look of annoyance.

"My pleasure. I'll show myself out." Yamcha huffed. He walked past Vegeta, bumping into him as he made his way out.

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"Oh you're here for the bi-polar girl, eh? Just a minute, I'll buzz you in."

Yamcha watched as the over weight cop pressed his chubby finger on a red button, causing the steel door in front of him to buzz.

"You can go in now."

Yamcha swung open the door and walked in. He found himself in a room with tons of old fashion jail cells. He walked down the long row of cells, looking in each one but saw no sign of life. Until finally he reached the very last one…

He saw her huddled up in a corner with her knees to her chest. It was like she hadn't age a bit since the last time he saw her. Her beautiful purple hair gracefully sat upon her shoulders, and even in the dim jail cell, it seemed to shine. She had on a pair of baggy black pants, the bottoms of the pants tucked in to a pair of dark green army boots. She had on a black tank top, and had a pair of dog tags that dangled from her neck. Her big red bow was removed from her hair and tied to her dark brown belt.

"Hey, Launch?" Yamcha called out. But she didn't respond.

"She's sleeping." A man came up from behind Yamcha. "I'm the bail bond. I understand you have this young ladies bail money."

"Yeah." Yamcha said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some loose money, and the envelope Bulma had given him.

The bail bond took it and gave Yamcha a long glare that made him rather uncomfortable.

"What?" Yamcha finally asked.

"People like you make me sick… How could you bail out a murderer?"

Yamcha's mouth hung open slightly as soon as he heard that. Murderer? Not Launch. Not even Kushami. He knew she had a problem with stealing, but a murderer? That couldn't be. Maybe the bail bond was mistaken…

"Her? That girl in there?" He asked, pointing behind his shoulder to Launch.

"Of course. There's nobody else here, is there?" The bail bond shook his head in disgust and took a bundle of keys from his pocket and picked a random one to unlock the jail cell.

"Wake up. You're free to go."

Launch slowly opened her big blue eyes. As soon as she saw Yamcha standing there, she quickly stood up and ran into his arms. She didn't say anything, but sobbed on his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey... It's okay." Yamcha said with a smile, patting her back. "It'll be okay."

"Take it outside, would ya? We have things to do." The bail bond snapped then turned around, walking down the hall.

"We better go, before they change their minds and raise the bail or something." Yamcha said, looking down at Launch.

She eventually looked up from the comfort of his shoulder and nodded her head slightly.

"Okay…"

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As soon as Launch was out of that nasty old jail building, she let out a big sigh of relief. She kept a tight hold of Yamcha's arm, and kept looking over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Yamcha finally asked.

"Nothing!" Launch said as she quickly looked to him with a reassuring smile. "So, how ever did you get that much money?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I had some in the bank, and Bulma helped me out a bit. I went to the baseball stadium and sold a few of my things and a couple of my friends said they would sign baseballs so I could sell them." He looked at his watch, and laughed a little. "I wanted to be there this morning, but earning money obviously takes more time. Sorry."

"Oh no! You sold you things?" Launch asked, letting go of him and quickly getting in front of him. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Launch, I wanted to. You and your friendship are more important then possessions." He said with a smile.

A small smile appeared on Launch's face. She was about to say something when she suddenly heard a series of bangs, like a machine gun. Her pupils suddenly shrank as her knees locked and she fell to her side covering her ears and screaming.

"No! Don't do it! Don't do it!" She screamed.

"Launch? LAUNCH!" Yamcha quickly dropped to his knees and grabbed a hold of her shoulders, trying to look in her eyes. "Calm down! Listen! …It's only firecrackers!"

Launch opened her eyes and looked at him, breathing quickly, like she had just ran a mile. She looked over her shoulder and saw two children setting off firecrackers in the street.

"…Launch, tell me what's going on."

.:Authors Note:.

Hi everyone! It's Burikko! A huge thank you to SuperSanne, and walutahanga. Your comments are what keep me going! Any other comments and suggestions on writing would be great. Another thing, if I'm out of character, let me know.