4 Years Later…

Piccolo is flying through the air over the 348 mountain range, looking down at the land for anything unusual. He is looking for anything at all that could point to where they could be. After several long minutes of searching, he lets out a defeated sigh and finally decides to stop and head back to where the rest of the Z- fighters are waiting for his return; the Son residence.

It has been four years since the mysterious disappearance of both Gohan and Goten. Every week since then, the group would meet at the Son home and carryout a search. Even Vegeta would show up sometimes, but it has been four years and there was still no sign of the boys.

For the first year, Chichi had been a total mess. Every day, whether it was hot or cold, sunny or rainy, you could find Chichi at home, crying. Crying for her baby that she only knew for a month and who was too young to even defend himself; crying for her precious Goten. She often cried herself to sleep at night, so much so that she had to change the sheets every day due to the dampness and if you were to eat any of her food, you would notice it tasted slightly more salty than it used to due to her constant tears when she cooked.

Lost in thought, Piccolo arrives at the 439 mountain area in no time and lands just outside the door of the small house. He walks up to it, opens it and proceeds in. Upon his entrance, everyone in the house, who is all situated in the living room, raises their heads and looks at him expectantly, only to see him shake his head negatively.

At this Chichi begins to sob a little. She has come to terms with her the loss of her sons, but she still has hope that one week,one of her late husband's friends would come home with her baby in hand. But every time one of them comes back empty handed, part of that hope would die, and to be frank it is killing her inside. She honestly doesn't know how much more she can take!

"Another week and still no sign of them," Krillin sighs. He's tired of seeing the wife of his best friend in such a distraught state. It's really killing him as well.

"Well, there's always next week," Yamcha comments, trying to be the optimist.

"No," Chichi abruptly moans through her sobs. Everyone looks at her puzzled, so she elaborates. "I can't stand this every week. Every time one of you guys goes and comes back without him it tears me apart! I can't go on like this or it's going to kill me! I-I give up…" she chokes out.

Everyone is shocked at what they are hearing. Are their ears deceiving them? Did they just hear the strongest woman they know, physically and mentally, say she gives up? No, this can't be right... Can it?

"But Chichi, you can't give up now, you just have to hold on a little longer." Krillin encourages the Son matron. He knows he has to try and get her to believe that they will eventually come around. "We'll find them, you'll see."

"I sorry, but I can't Krillin. I just can't." she weakly states. She has hoped for long enough. It has been four years and they still haven't come home. Her precious baby could be dead for all she knows! He was only a month old! That thought in itself kills her, and she just doesn't have the willpower to fight any longer.

"But-" Krillin is cut off by Piccolo.

"Stop Krillin!" The Namekian orders sternly. "I know how she feels. It's how I feel every time we are unsuccessful in finding Gohan. It hurts that the person who saved me from total darkness is missing and possibly hurting, and I can't do anything about it." He explains. Everyone is taken aback by Piccolo's sudden outward show of emotion. He, next to Vegeta, is known to be the cold, stoic person of the group, but this time it's too much. You can tell that Piccolo has been emotionally drained from this whole scenario as much as Chichi has. He's finally hit his breaking point.

"Hah, so the Namek is weak after all," Vegeta snorts. "Everyone knows emotions are for weaklings."

"Yet, all the saiyans who show emotion are stronger than you." Piccolo shoots back, glaring at the saiyan prince.

"Guys, please, not in here. Take it outside." Chichi softly pleads. Everyone looks at her with sympathy, except Vegeta of course, who is seething at what Piccolo just said to him. They all know that if it were any other circumstance, that soft plea would sound closer to a commanding screech. The once fiery Son matron now has the demeanor of a completely defeated woman.

"That was a waste of my time," Vegeta finally states, agitation clear in his voice. What does he care about the kakabrats? "But I am bored and want to train. Let's go woman." By this time he is already at the door.

"I'm coming! I have a press conference anyway." Bulma states, too distracted by her friend's distraught look to argue about the way she was addressed.

"We better get going too, guys." Tien says, speaking for the first time since Piccolo's arrival.

"Yeah, let's go," Krillin sighs, dejected. With that they all left Chichi alone to mourn over her precious baby by herself.

Gohan is in his lab working on his next project. Over the past four years, he has been supporting himself and Goten through a company he started called 'Creason (Cree-ah-son) Inc.' which he is the CEO of. The company's name was derived from two words; 'Crea' came from the word create, which is what the company does mainly: it creates new inventions. The second word is 'Son', which is his family name. The company was given the name to avoid suspicion, since many other company names end with 'son'. The company specializes in everything science and to Gohan's initial and pleasant surprise, is giving Capsule Corp. a run for their money, literally.

The company's headquarters are located in Orange Star City… or at least that's what the city's name was when the company opened. It now goes by the name of Hercule City; a tribute to Hercule Satan for saving the world from the evil android Cell. Inside the building, the CEO office could be found, and behind the desk in a tall-back chair, one would see the "CEO", Android 17.

A month after Gohan moved, said android appeared at his door looking very beat up, although he never really found out why. Gohan took him in to his lab and began working on his wounds and even gave him some additional perks.

It was so convenient because the day before he had gone to Dr. Gero's ruined lab. He had found a level below the one the Cell of the present was developing in. That is, before Trunks and Krillin destroyed it. They didn't find the room because its entrance was hidden under Cell's chamber. In the room, there was backup information on all of Gero's androids, Cell included. So when Seventeen showed up the next day, Gohan was thrilled to put the theories he was working on the whole night before, after putting Goten to bed, to the test.

One of the first things he did was remove Seventeen's control switch; the device used to shut him down and turn him on. He did this in case Bulma made another remote to deactivate him, but also so he could be free. He then incorporated Gero's method of making Cell into Seventeen's structure, so that when he awoke, the metallic cells in him would mutate and become organic. This meant that Seventeen would become a bio-mechanical android, therefore giving him the ability to age. Also, before he added this method, he included the technology androids 19 and 20 had that allowed them to absorb energy, but made it so that it was only absorbed through his skin since he wanted Seventeen to look human as much as possible. He didn't think having a red ball in your hand would cut it.

When Seventeen finally awoke, the changes began to happen gradually. The most noticeable one was his hair; in a matter of minutes, it grew from shoulder length to mid-back. Over the following few days, Seventeen's changes were becoming more prominent. Gohan however had already explained everything to him so he didn't panic. When Gohan told him that he was practically human again, Seventeen was so happy that he did something no one would expect him to do; he jumped Gohan and caught him in a bone crushing hug. Luckily, Gohan was stronger than him or the android probably would have crushed him.

At the end of the change, Seventeen looked like a twenty year old man instead of an eighteen year old. His hair was still down to his mid-back, his shoulders broadened, and he looked more built. Because of his changes, his old clothing wouldn't fit him anymore, so they went out one day to get Seventeen a new look. Since Gohan's business was already up and running on a small scale, money was no problem. In the end, 17's main look for home was a tank top of every color bar pink, ripped blue jeans and a Creason souvenir belt with the letters CI engraved in it. For business (since Gohan had offered him the job of faking CEO) he had an arsenal of blue, grey and black suits. And so that's why you find Android 17 at the CEO desk looking two years older than he did four years ago because of the inevitable fact that he was still an android and so was forced to age slower than normal. Of course, the humans in the building, being the naive race they are, just figured that he was one of those people who were blessed with youthful looks and never questioned how a 20 year old could be the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world.

The company was thriving because of Gohan's ingenious mind. Over the past four years, he had created things thought to be impossible. One such thing was a roller coaster that did not have any rails whatsoever. It basically is a flat electromagnetic panel at the bottom of the ride which is used as the track, with cars that are also electromagnetic at the bottom. These magnets were always set to repel each other while in motion and would become stronger or weaker wherever there is a lift, fall or turn and it would do it in the most precise of ways, keeping the cars on the panels without the risk of them flying off course. Another advantage of this coaster is that it can change into many different 'tracks'. But of course, these tracks have to be bought and only Creason has the authority to sell them.

Currently, Gohan is getting to work on another one of his revolutionary inventions. As he's about to start, the TV turns itself on and Bulma's face comes onto the screen. Gohan had set the TV with a limited artificial intelligence in order for it to turn itself on when told to, or when his competitors were on. Gohan growls a little at the interruption, and a little more loudly when he sees who it is, but then he realizes that if it wasn't for Bulma, he wouldn't be where he is today.

-Flashback-

Gohan was trying to figure out a way to get out of the hell he lived in, with Goten tagging along. He decided that stealing from his godmother, no matter how much he resented her right now, would not be good, so he came up with a strategy that would allow him to gain the materials he needed for his house and would bite his neglector in the behind later.

With the plan in mind, Gohan went up to Bulma. "Bulma?" he asked innocently.

*Sigh* "Yes, Gohan?" she asked irritated that he would interrupt her when she's working.

"Umm, I would like to know if I could have some of those wires over there." he said, pointing to the corner where a bunch of wires were piled up.

"Sure, Gohan," Bulma said waving her hand as if dismissing him. Couldn't he see that she was working?

Gohan smirked. 'So far, so good' he thought. He had chosen to ask for small things at first. Things like wires, remotes, chips etc.; small things, and then go increasingly higher. His plan was to have the person after a while to completely ignore him, like they had been doing and say yes to him without even listening to his questions.

One day, he went back to Bulma with the thought of asking her for a few televisions, 10 tons of metal and 100 computer chips. As he entered her lab he began. "Hey, Bulma, I was wondering-" but he was cut off.

"Go on, Gohan, I'm working here," Bulma said, exasperatedly. Would he just leave already?

His plan worked; in no time he had all the materials needed to build the house and its appliances, without any suspicion from anyone else.

-End Flashback-

By the time Gohan came back from his day dreaming,Bulma's press conference was over.

"Damn, missed it." He says, snapping his fingers in frustration.

Just then the only thing Gohan feels deep love for anymore, comes rushing through the lab door. It appears to be a little boy of no more than four years of age with unruly spiky black hair and shining onyx eyes that match that of Gohan's. He appears to be excited and is holding in one of his hands a creature of some sort.

"Daddy, daddy! Look what I caught!" the little boy exclaims, extending out his hand in front of Gohan. He's rocking back and forth on his heels. Apparently the little tyke can't stand still for more than a second.

"What is it Goten?" Gohan asks with a genuine smile, deciding to catch the conference on the recap he set up for whenever his rivals were on TV.

"It's a lizard! I can finally complete my reptile collection!" He shouts excitedly.

Goten is really smart and the studies his daddy puts him through only make him smarter. He doesn't mind the studies as Gohan makes sure to make each one of them fun for him. This animal group collection was actually one of the assignments Gohan had set for him; to collect an animal from each of the five groups he had taught Goten about before. Of course, Goten is not all brains as Gohan had been at his age. Gohan has been training him since the age of three and being a fast learner, he was able to catch on very quickly.

"That's great Goten! Why don't we go put it in the cage?" Gohan suggests, grinning at the excited expression on Goten's face.

"Okay daddy!" He says with a smile. He then goes running out the room through the door with his tail wagging excitedly behind him. Gohan snickers in amusement at his 'son's' excitement before moving to follow him.

As Gohan enters Goten's wonder room, he sees Goten is already there, bouncing up and down with the lizard still in hand.

"Daddy, hurry up." Goten whines.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, squirt." Gohan said as he walked up to Goten, chuckling at Goten's impatience.

Gohan takes to lizard from Goten and walks over to the cage labeled 'reptiles' in one corner of the room. He places the reptile into the box and as soon he closes the box, a 'bing' is heard and a small door in the corner of the room opens. Inside the door is a box with the new CI 400 console's picture on it. Upon seeing it, Goten gasps, then runs up to embrace Gohan in a crushing hug.

"Thank you, daddy! Thank you! It's just what I wanted too!" He exclaims in pure joy. He had been asking Gohan for one for a while now and now he finally has one.

"Aw, it was nothing, Goten; you know I would do anything for you, right?" Gohan asks while running his hand through Goten's thick black hair. He's happy he was able to make the little tyke happy.

"Yeah, I know, daddy. I love you. You're the best daddy ever." Goten genuinely states, truly believing it.

"I love you too, son." Gohan replies, the smile on his face widening as he holds Goten tighter.

"You know what, daddy?" Goten suddenly inquires, causing Gohan to loosen his grip a little so he can look the boy in the eye.

"No, what Goten?" Gohan asks.

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like you." he states with a huge smile, eliciting a reciprocal smile from the older demi-saiyan, who pulls the child back into his arms securely once more. After a while of staying in his daddy's embrace, whether it was out of exhaustion or the calmness in the atmosphere, Goten falls asleep. Gohan gets up with Goten in his arms, walks to his room, and gently sets him in bed, tucking him in.

"Goodnight, son." He whispers, before kissing him on the forehead. "Sweet dreams."

He watches Goten sleep a little bit with a content smile on his face. He thinks about everything that has happened in the past four years and realizes that without Goten, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep on living. With everyone else neglecting him, including his own mother, he would have been very hard pressed to find the motivation to keep going in life. Now he lives to protect and raise Goten the way he deserves, making sure that he never undergoes to the same fate he had to go through.

Shaking off these musings, Gohan exits the room to go and finally get started on his new project.