"You what?!"

Piccolo and Gohan both winced.

"You mean to tell me you found those boys, saw that they were sleeping in the middle of goddamn nowhere, and left them there to die of hypothermia?!" Bulma's voice gradually rose in volume as she spoke, glaring at the two with a fierce gaze.

Gohan stared forlornly at his feet, digging the toes of his shoes into the floor. "Well… it's not too cold outside." he defended feebly.

"That's not the point, mister! I made it very clear to those boys that I was willing to help, and now they're living in the forest with nowhere else to go. Not to mention they probably have no idea what they're doing on this foreign planet! Shame on you both!"

Piccolo made a sound akin to a growl. "Calm down, woman, it's been one night. And I think you're forgetting the whole point of this conversation – They are not alien. They had a Capsule Corporation jacket, in case you forgot."

Bulma seethed. "Don't get sassy with me, Piccolo. As soon as tomorrow comes, I'm taking my jet copter out there and bringing those boys back. Alien or not!"

"You just want more cute guys living at your house." Gohan suggested quietly, a cheeky grin spreading across his cheeks.

"I do not!" Bulma yelled, crossing her arms over her chest with a loud harrumph. "Now, if you two are done, I'm going to bed. Good. Night."

And then she was off, storming down one of Capsule Corporation's many corridors to the sleeping quarters. Gohan and Piccolo looked at each other in confusion before simply brushing her behaviour off with a shrug.

"You better get to sleep too, kid. We might have a busy day ahead of us."

Gohan nodded in agreement, smiling warmly in agreement before heading off in the same direction as Bulma. Piccolo watched with fond eyes, gaze suddenly hardening as Gohan disappeared from view. He didn't know who these boys were, why they had lied, or what they wanted, but he had a feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as Bulma anticipated.

Goten hummed contently, nestling further into Trunks' jacket as sunlight danced across his face. Luckily for the both of them, the weather hadn't been too cold that night, and the grass beneath them was softer than anticipated. He was knocked out of his sleepy reverie by a voice calling his name.

"Goten."

Opening one eye, Goten glared at Trunks. "Hm?"

"Can you feel that? My mum's coming." Unlike Goten, Trunks was wide awake and staring into the sky with worry.

Goten sat up now, senses on alert. Trunks was right. Bulma's ki was coming their way quickly. "How did she know we were here?"

Shrugging, Trunks' gaze finally shifted to look at Goten properly. "The others probably told her. We haven't exactly been trying to hide."

"Great. Now we're gonna have to explain ourselves to her. Knowing your mum, we won't be staying here much longer."

"You bet," agreed Trunks. "You have to really watch what you say, okay?"

Goten rolled his eyes, standing up and allowing Trunks' jacket to fall to the ground. "I know, Trunks."

Trunks' gaze remained locked on Goten's bare legs for a few seconds before turning away quickly. "I know. Sorry. Here." He picked up the younger boy's jeans and threw them over to him.

"Thanks."

A few minutes passed while Goten redressed and attempted fruitlessly to tame his hair. Trunks watched on with amusement before soon getting bored with the display and leaving to go wash up. Eventually, a jetcopter sounded in the distance and Goten and Trunks watched the sky with anticipation.

The copter landed and Bulma emerged with a bounce in her step. "Hey G! Hey T! How are you guys?"

Goten laughed tightly, looking over at Trunks. "Alright, Bulma. What brings you out here?"

"Well, Piccolo and Gohan told me you were sleeping in the middle of nowhere and I just couldn't let that happen. Aren't you poor boys freezing?"

She looked genuinely concerned, but Goten and Trunks knew the easiest way to keep their secret was to remain isolated from everyone they knew back home.

"Nah," spoke Trunks, fiddling with his shirt. "The weather is way colder on Narga. We're quite comfortable here, to be honest." It wasn't a blatant lie; the grass really wasn't too bad.

Bulma frowned. "I don't care how comfortable you are, mister. I can't have you starving. Why don't you come live with me? I have plenty of room."

Goten waved his hands in front of him, speaking hurriedly. "No, no, no. We really don't want to impose. I promise we're fine here – we'd come and let you know if we weren't, Bulma."

Though Bulma looked as though she was considering it, the two boys weren't to be so lucky. "Are you kidding me? I can't just leave you here! You boys are going to come and live with me whether you like it or not. I'll at least give you a capsule house if it bothers you that much."

Feigning ignorance, Goten spoke up curiously. "Capsule house?"

"Yep!" spoke Bulma, excited at the prospect of telling a stranger about her inventions. "Here, see this?" She fished a capsule from her pocket and presented it to the boys. "These are called capsules. They can store items of any size inside. My father and I invented them. I'm sure we have some spare houses lying about."

"Oh, wow… That would be amazing, Bulma. Thank you so much!" Trunks beamed.

Pleased at her handiwork, Bulma smiled broadly. "It's no problem, kiddo. Now, I know you alien guys can fly, but would you prefer to come back in my jetcopter?"

Goten shook his head. "Er, no, I think we can manage. We'll be right behind you."

"Okay, sounds good! I'll see you back at Capsule Corp, then."

The two waved Bulma goodbye but paused as she turned back towards them. "By the way," she added with an apologetic smile. "I think Piccolo is getting a bit suspicious of you guys, so be prepared for some questioning. See ya!"

And with that she was gone, leaving Goten and Trunks to stare with wide eyes. "You can never underestimate Piccolo, can you?"

"Don't stress, 'Ten. We can handle him."

Goten merely sighed before grabbing all his belongings off the ground. "I guess we better be going, then. C'mon."

After grabbing everything they needed, the two lifted into the air before taking off behind Bulma. The trip elapsed in silence, the both of them fretting over what was to come.

Bulma was waiting for them outside Capsule Corporation when they touched down, a capsule in hand.

"After a bit of rummaging, I found this in storage. It's a bit of an old model and it's pretty small, but I think it'll do for the time being. I'd give you guys one of the prototypes, but a few have been playing up and I don't want to risk that." She offered the capsule to Trunks. "Here, test it out. Just push the button on top and throw it into the clearing."

Trunks, familiar with the process, did so without hesitation. Bulma was right; the house looked quite dated in comparison to what they were familiar with, and the inside was barely large enough for two people. Upon opening the door and peeking in, there were two single beds with a bedside table between them, a wardrobe for their clothes, a small television in the corner of the room, and a door leading into what they assumed was the bathroom.

"This is perfect, Bulma! It'll do just fine," grinned Goten. "We can't thank you enough."

"It's nothing, really. Now, feel free to come into Capsule Corp anytime you need anything. Food, clothes, video games, the gym, a swimming pool. Be a bit cautious, though. Vegeta, the Namekians and a few others are staying with me while everything is sorted out, so it's going to be fairly busy around here. Just… ignore everything Vegeta says, okay?"

Trunks looked slightly amused at the mention of his father. "Uh, yeah, sure."

Bulma sighed in relief. "Perfect. Now, I've got a few things I need to be doing, but don't be surprised if you get a few visitors later on. I know Gohan really wants to hang out with you boys, so don't be too harsh on him. There aren't many young people around here for him to be friends with besides Dende, and you're the next best thing."

"Oh, don't worry about that! We'd be glad to play with him every now and then." Goten assured with a grin, earning him a pointed glare from Trunks.

Glowing, Bulma thanked them immensely before glancing down at her watch. "Oh gosh, I really better be going. I guess I'll see you boys around!" With a wave, she then headed back into Capsule Corporation's main building, leaving Goten and Trunks to their own devices.

"As much as it relieves me to see her go, I'm gonna go crazy with boredom here." Goten spoke, heading into their capsule house and collapsing onto the bed furthest from the bathroom.

"Fucking hell," cursed Trunks in agreement. "How are we going to get out of this mess?"

Goten simply grunted, shrugging his shoulders in resignation.

Trunks sighed. "Whatever. I'm having a shower."

Goten watched Trunks go silently until the door closed behind him. Once the spray of water sounded from the bathroom, Goten finally allowed his face to scrunch up in desolation, a quiet sob tearing from his throat. He didn't know exactly why he was crying; whether it was his guilt from the awry wish or the fear of what was to come. They could be trapped in this timeline for months – years, even – and nobody back home would ever know what had happened to them.

A whole day had already passed. It didn't seem like that long, but in Goten's mind, it was an eternity. He wondered how his mother was faring. Ever since he had graduated (with dismal exam results), she had been unusually dismissive towards him. Gohan had always been the golden child, yes, but it had never been this bad. Goten had considered coming out to her before school finished, but now he was glad he hadn't. Was she even worried for him? Had she realised he was missing?

To soak up some of the tears, Goten threw an arm across his face, but his thoughts only served to make him cry harder.

"'Ten?" came Trunks' voice softly from the bathroom. "Alright?"

"Yeah," choked back Goten.

The conjoining door opened gently and Trunks peered out. He sighed softly. "God, Goten. No, you're not."

Dressed in his same clothes but hair damp, Trunks came out and sat on the edge of Goten's bed. "Come here, bud." He pulled Goten up and into a hug, allowing the younger boy's head to fall against his shoulder.

"'m sorry."

"Don't apologize, 'Ten. None of this is your fault. I know I blamed you before but I didn't mean it, I swear. I'm just lost and scared and I don't know what we're gonna do."

"Me neither, Trunks." Goten pulled away slightly, eyes red. "But we need to ask someone for help."

Trunks stared at Goten for a few minutes before diverting his gaze. "Who?"

"I don't know… Bulma? Piccolo? Anyone."

A few moments passed while Trunks considered it. What Goten was suggesting was dangerous: not only to them, but to everyone they knew here. "But… what if we drastically alter the timeline? I don't want to risk not being born. Or someone not coming back to life."

"But we know it won't affect us back home," assured Goten. "Look at Future Trunks. He came to our timeline before we were born, but it didn't change his own time at all."

Trunks looked up, uncertain. "But we can't ruin these people's lives. They're still our friends."

Goten's eyes softened and he lifted his hand to cup Trunks' neck. "I'm not saying we scream to everyone who we are and reveal the future to them. I'm just saying we ask for help where needed and try to make some allies through all of this."

Trunks exhaled shakily, hope simmering in his eyes.

"Alright," he nodded eventually with a smile. "Let's ask for some help."