Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ. Sorry everything is so short right now, just trying to get back into the swing of writing.

Chapter One: Work

A small white Ford Taurus zoomed through the small town streets of Delona, TX. It was one fifty in the afternoon, which meant that it was one fifty-five at the local grocery store. She had to be at work at two, and she was four minutes away from where she needed to be. Four minutes with a time clock that was five minutes fast. She glanced down at her clock. Which left her one minute to park her car and run across the expansive parking lot. Friday. She hated Fridays. She hated weekends, because that was when she closed at D-L's Food n' More. Albeit, she worked every day at the store, but weekends were the worst. That was when the people who hadn't bathed in three weeks and hadn't seen the dentist since they were five crawled out to buy food they didn't need. Ah well, they were her source of income. No customers, no money. And with her current situation, she couldn't be choosy. She parked her car where the rest of the workers parked: the outskirts of the lot. Jamming her cap down over her blue hair, she popped on her name badge and hurtled out of the car and across the football field of shimmering asphalt, tightening the knot on her apron behind her back as she ran.

One of the Blue Shirts looked up from inside the office window to smile at her as she punched in. She tipped her hat with a grin and made her way to the deli. Shoving the door open, she made her way into the kitchen and dropped her purse on the desk in the back alongside everyone else's purse. She looked up to see the deli manager walk in with an arm full of racks from the oven, all caked with juices and grease from the rotisserie chickens that had obviously just been cooked. Joanne smiled at her before dropping the racks into one of the sinks. "Hey, babe."

"Hey, Joanne. How is it today?"

"Slow."

"Good. I like slow."

"Your paycheck won't if I have to keep cutting hours."

She grimaced slightly and made her way back outside. Joanne had a point. She wandered over to wash her hands and the other two girls in the deli looked up and smiled. Therecia and Natalie. Therecia was a good worker when she set her mind to it, but she tended to have a habit of leaving dishes and pans behind for them to clean. Lots of dishes and pans, plus trash to take out. Natalie was a good worker, but just didn't give a damn. "Ladies."

"Hey."

"Hey, Bulma. Get ready to be bored 'cause it is slow," Therecia drawled as she rolled her eyes and looked out over the hot case where all the fried food that would clog the arteries of a small horse was kept. Bulma grinned and went over to them as she dried off her hands, tossing the paper towel in the already filled trashcan. "I guess I'll have to find other ways to entertain myself tonight then. Who's up for strip poker?" Therecia pursed her lips, trying to keep a straight face. "Tck, girl. You bad." Natalie shook her head and put her hands on her hips close to the small of her back, her most common pose that she hadn't yet dropped since she was pregnant with her last baby. "No one wants to see me naked. Too damn fat." Bulma laughed and went over to peek into the hot case. "Fine, didn't want to play with you guys anyway." They both laughed at her. This was going to be a long day.

His cell chirped and he let out a long groan. After a few seconds, it chirped again and a hand reached out, fumbled about the nightstand for the phone, and then drew it back in under the blankets. A sleepy, muffled and irritated growl answered the phone. "What?"

"Good morning, sunshine."

"You've kept me awake for thirty-six hours. Whatever it is, I'm not doing it."

"You've stayed awake longer than that doing a lot more than just sitting in a car picking your nose."

"Yeah, that was back when my life depended on me being alert and fit, not this boring ass shit you have me doing day in and day out, wasting my time. So, I'll say it again. Whatever it is, I'm not doing it."

"Charlie's dead, Vegeta."

Vegeta opened his eyes. There was a long pause. "What?"