"Alright. Let's try something different then." A middle-aged man with dark hair that was beginning to gray in odd places rubbed his temples. His glasses sat down low on his nose as he looked exasperatedly at the stubborn teenager across from him. "Tell me about a happy time in your life. Any time at all really."

She thought for a moment before responding. "I found some money on the sidewalk once when I was like… 6 or 7. Does that count?"

He shook his head tiredly, "Maybe we need to try a different approach…"

Today was day twelve of Videl's required 14 days of therapy, ordered directly from General Gray himself. And to say that Videl hadn't been cooperating wouldn't simply be an understatement, it would be a flat-out lie.

It had been twelve days. For the man, Dr. Sweeney, it had been twelve long, hard, frustrating days of trying to work with an unwilling patient. For Videl, it had been twelve boring, ridiculous days of tolerating these sessions, which she thought were completely unnecessary and to be honest, stupid.

Most of the time Videl either just replied with a half-assed answer or an overly-sarcastic one. She could tell that the man was beginning to become unhinged with her frustrating demeanor. To be honest she had even begun to feel a little guilty. But that guilt was soon washed away once she realized how amusing the man would act once he grew impatient with her.

She thought it was only something she'd see in her childhood cartoons, but she soon learned that people really did pull their hair out and turn bright red when they were extremely aggravated. One day, she swore she even saw steam coming out of his ears.

After the two weeks were up, she told herself she'd stop by the shops and buy him something nice, as a "sorry I almost drove you to madness, but hey at least it was really funny for me" sort of gift.

She had to hand it to him though, no one she had ever met her entire life had tried so hard to keep a level head when dealing with her biting sarcasm like he had. Not once did he ever raise his voice or say anything that could be interpreted as rude or mean

As he let out a breath and loosened his tie from it's hold on his neck, Videl couldn't help but grin.

Oh, this was so much better than any other sort of therapy.

"Miss Satan, please. You have to at least try and work with me here. We have made virtually no progress and we only have two more sessions after this." His hands picked up a clipboard and flipped a few papers back.

"I know."

Videl wasn't his normal every day patient. Surprisingly, the two psychologists on base were always rather busy. There was always someone around the base that was on the verge of some sort of meltdown.

Family members still grieving over lost loved ones. People who were plagued with nightmares and flashbacks due to the things they'd seen. The depressed young person, looking for help to try and cure them of their hopelessness.

Hardly anyone arrived at the base unscathed. Either you held physical wounds that could be treated and healed simply with time, or the mental and emotional wounds, which were impossible to fully cure sometimes. Every person held their own marks and scars. Not all of them were always visible though.

So, to Videl, she figured they'd soon realize that these sessions were a waste of not only her time, but of the doctor's time as well. He has other patients to tend to, and she knew that they all needed his services more than she did.

They were probably just expecting her to blow up in a big chaotic breakdown, she mused. Over the course of the past two weeks she had become somewhat of a living legend around the base. Her outright defiance toward the androids and then the impossible yet unexplainable escape, made her the topic of discussion for days on end. Before the incident she'd been pretty well known, as both Hercule Satan's daughter, and as the generous girl who helped out with donations where they were needed. Now, her name had been spoken by the tongues of just about everyone on base.

Dr. Sweeney sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time that day, "Look, I'm really not supposed to be telling you this," he paused for a moment, looking out the open door or his office, "but you need to cooperate."

"I am cooperating though," she said with a smile that was just a bit too sweet to be serious.

"No, I don't think you understand," he lowered his voice, "you need to cooperate here." His words came out slower, stressing each syllable.

"I… don't think… I get what you're trying to say…" she spoke just as slowly, the smile slipping off her face, looking at him strangely at his sudden change in tone and cadence.

"You're not participating. Listen, Miss Satan…" he hesitated, taking another look out the door, as if waiting for someone to come walking into the room at any moment, "I am obligated by my contract to keep this confidential but I feel as if it's only fair that you know," he lowered his voice so low Videl had to lean towards him to hear him better, "I was told that if you remained uncooperative and if you didn't meet the standards that I've been given, then your suspension would continue indefinitely."

Videl looked at him confused, not speaking for a long moment, letting the information sink in. She replayed the statement over and over in her head.

She had just figured that she was being required to attend these sessions as just a part of the normal protocol. She had spoken out in an official meeting, so now she had to be "punished" in a way.

That's all this had been to her, a punishment to put up with. Suddenly, she wanted to kick herself for being so stupid to assume such a thing…

"But… but why would they… why…" she couldn't figure her thoughts out and she couldn't get her words to form correctly, "wait, what 'standards'?"

"I just have a form that I have that I have been trying to fill out all week long," he said with a pointed glare, "It documents your responses and reactions to certain questions. Along with that I need to fill out a personal statement, declaring you 'sane' and that you were cooperative and will be able to continue your duty without further cause for concern."

Videl felt her stomach drop and her throat tighten, "Why would Gray call for that? And why wouldn't he - or at least someone - tell me?"

"No one specifically 'called' for anything, Miss Satan. This is just the way things have always been. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I know you're not crazy; although I will give you this: you are extremely aggravating. But if I were to fill this form out right now and write an honest statement, they wouldn't hesitate to remove you from the military without a second thought."

"Well how - what am I supposed to - ugh!" Videl held her head in her hands, trying to regain her composure. But she couldn't help but panic. She couldn't get removed from Squad 12 she just couldn't! No no no! It was all that she had left!

"Hey now," he said softly, trying to keep her from having a full blown anxiety attack, "it's alright, you hear? We still have two days left. We still have time to get this all taken care of, okay?" he said, trying hard to be reassuring, but Videl couldn't get her mind to stop running circles.

She felt betrayed, which was utterly ridiculous since she hadn't really been betrayed by anyone. But information had been withheld from her and, to Videl, that was just as bad as lying. The sting she felt was as sharp as a slap in the face.

She looked at the man, her eyes narrowed, "Why are you telling me this?" she asked, slightly suspicious about this sudden revelation.

He had no obligation to give her this confidential information. In fact, she was sure that if anyone found out he had told her about it, he would get in deep trouble. But why would he help her? If anything, she figured she had made him so unbelievably frustrated and annoyed this week that he would probably see her removal from the military as something of a positive thing. As some sort of karma for Videl in return for being such a pain in the ass to the him.

Dr. Sweeney smiled, "I was friends with your father. And I think you should be given a fair chance here."

Her father. Videl was shocked. It seemed as if her father's presence was every where recently…

Once again, she found herself unable to form words, so when she finally found her voice, she gave him a soft, genuine, "Thank you."

Dr. Sweeney smiled in return. He then dismissed her from their session, gave her instructions to get some rest and take it easy, and told her that she could come back tomorrow and they'd start again. From the beginning.

With only two sessions left, Videl knew she had to be completely cooperative and honest. Well… as honest as she could manage. It was imperative.

A few hours later, she found herself in one of the lounges above the cafeteria. There were a few large, spacey rooms on the base, designated just for members of the base to sit around and converse. The rooms themselves were pretty empty. There were tables and chairs, couches, and there were even a couple ping pong tables. There was also a wall stocked with old, worn board games that people could play, but most of the games were missing pieces and the card decks were missing cards.

"I'm so royally fucked," she said, laying down on a navy blue couch, arm flung over her eyes. Erasa sat beside her, legs crossed, expression thoughtful.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have been so stubborn with the guy," Erasa offered.

"Why, thank you Captain Obvious, anything else you'd like to point out?" Erasa frowned at the response and flicked Videl on the top of the head. "Hey, quit it!" Videl sat up and scowled, folding her arms before her.

"I'm trying to help here! It's not my fault that you are just being so negative!" Erasa threw her hands up in exasperation. "I'm just being honest! You shouldn't have been acting like such a… such a…"

"Such a what?"

"Such a brat!"

Videl laughed brusquely. "I was more than a brat. I was being a flat-out asshole to the guy."

"I'd just consider yourself lucky that the guy was friends with your dad," Sharpner chimed in from his place on the floor. He sat, leaning back on his arms, facing the two girls who sat in somewhat of a standoff, on the couch.

Over the course of the week, the three had formed a bit routine with each other, eating meals, hanging out, and doing every day tasks together. Wordlessly, the two girls automatically accepted Sharpner into their friendship and the duo that they had maintained for years simply turned into a trio.

"Yeah," Erasa agreed, "I mean it doesn't surprise me. Your dad was friends with just about everyone here."

Erasa was right. Before the androids attacked, her dad had always been a loud and boisterous man, but he had always been friendly. After the death of her mother and even more so after the androids emerged, she began to notice subtle changes in the man every so often. During their stay on the base, he became very involved in helping out here and there, always around to provide a laugh and to keep a positive air around the place.

So to learn that Dr. Sweeney, a seemingly random man on the base, was friends with her father, didn't shock her one bit.

"Just go in tomorrow, and be honest with the guy. As long as you behave yourself I'm sure things will go well," Sharpener said.

"Ugh! Why do I screw everything up?" Videl flopped back onto the couch, face first this time. She buried her face into the cushion, her hands covering the back of her head as she let out a long, low groan.

"You do not," Erasa pushed Videl's hands off her head and rolled the sulking girl over. Videl glared at the wall across the room, now leaning on her side, arms crossed once more. "You're just having a… a shitty month," she whispered the second part.

Erasa then quickly glanced across the room, locating her brother Michael standing at one of the ping pong tables, holding a red paddle, giggling. Across from her on the other end was a girl with blonde pigtails and dark eyes.

Sharpner laughed, "They didn't hear you," he assured her.

Erasa hardly ever swore, not wanting to be a bad example on her younger sibling. Something that the other two teenagers found hilarious, although they did respect the fact that she wanted her brother to retain his innocence as long as he could.

Such a feat was difficult to achieve in a world like this.

"Well if next month isn't any better than this, I'm going to be so pissed."

"It will," Erasa said in a soft voice, "just be patient."

"I am not patient," Videl grumbled.

"It shows," Erasa said, smiling.

"Incoming!"

The two girls lifted their heads up at Sharpner's call just in time to see the two kids running over. Squealing, they both launched themselves at Sharpner just as he stood up. The tall blonde laughed as he grabbed them both each with an arm, swinging them around in the air once before releasing them on the ground. The two children landed unsteadily on their feet, still giggling as they stumbled around.

"Mom's here!" the blonde girl with the pigtails said excitedly as she grabbed onto her brother's arm.

The three teenagers looked up and noticed the brunette woman walking over, a girl with light brown hair who looked at least 15, was trailing close behind.

"Hello there girls," the woman greeted with a small smile. Videl had only met the woman once, but she seemed extremely kind. She even reminded Videl vaguely of her own mother. This though, was the first time she'd ever seen Sharpner's other sister.

"Hi Ms. Collins!" Michael greeted with a bright grin. "I taught Jessica how to play ping pong!"

"I noticed," she smiled at the boy, "maybe once day you can teach Melissa. What do you think about that?" she asked, turning toward her elder daughter.

The girl turned toward the table, and gave a slight, almost imperceptible, shake of her head. She then took another step toward her mother, picking at her fingernails and looking down at her feet.

"Well, maybe some other time," the woman said, smiling softly at Michael. The boy returned the smile and then sat himself down on the couch next to his sister. She then turned toward her son, "We're going to get some dinner. I came to see if you wanted to join us."

"Yeah, sure," he smiled at the occupants of the couch, "I'll catch you guys later."

"See ya!" Erasa said with a bright smile, Videl merely waved.

As the family departed, she couldn't help but watch Sharpner's brown-haired sister. How she kept her eyes downcast, never straying a few feet from her mother, hands always fidgeting.

She waited for them to leave the room before speaking, "Is she okay? Sharpner's sister."

Erasa shifted slightly in her spot on the couch, glancing at Michael out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey," she said addressing the boy, "why don't you go get a deck or cards and we'll play a few games?" She motioned toward the shelf at the far wall and smiled.

The boy nodded and hopped up, eagerly making his way over toward the games.

Erasa then turned back toward Videl and spoke quietly, "I don't know details or specifics but there was some sort of accident about six or so months ago. I don't know what happened but apparently it left her in some sort of… state."

"She doesn't look as young as I'd expected." Whenever Sharpner had mentioned his other sister, by the way he spoke of her Videl had assumed that she was very young, maybe 4 or 5 years old. Even last night, Sharpner had told them that he needed to turn in early to "help put Melissa to bed".

"She's less than a year younger than us. She turns sixteen soon… I think. Either that or she just turned it recently. But whatever happened really did a number on her. I've never heard her say a single word."

"Wait, how old is Sharpner?"

"He turns 18 next February."

Videl nodded, storing all this new information away in her brain.

A minute later, Michael returned with a worn deck of playing cards. It was missing a few cards, but the three players worked around it and began a game of 'Go Fish'.

Videl kept catching her mind wandering toward Sharpner's sister, her fidgeting hands, and what could have possibly happened to her to reduce her to such a state.

Throughout the rest of their time in the lounge, throughout dinner, and all the way until Videl climbed into bed for the night, Videl found it hard to shut off her mind. Too many things were running through her head.

Her two therapy sessions left, in which she had to fully participate in if she wanted to keep her job. Her father, and how, as they got closer and closer to the anniversary of his death, his name began to keep popping up more and more. And Sharpner's sister, Melissa, and her catatonic, child-like demeanor.

Drifting off to sleep, her dreams were filled with nothing but a variation of different terrors and nightmares. Watching the innocent die before her, their blood spilling on the cool pavement before them. Running towards the screams of those she loved; Erasa, Captain, even the screams of her father, yet never reaching them. Even the icy blue eyes of the androids came to infest her dreams that night.

It was her own imagination's way of trying to fill in the blanks. Trying to provide her with an answer; a reason. As to why the mute girl was how she was, and what she had witnessed to make her finally break.

Videl awoke the next morning, far more exhausted than she had been the night before. Although she had gotten almost ten hours of sleep, she hardly felt rested at all.

The entire morning was a blur to Videl. All she could concentrate on was the thought of her session today, how she had to be completely and utterly perfect. Although just the thought of her talking about herself, and her life to anyone at all, made her stomach churn.

She was a private person, and she never openly talked about her emotions. And damn it that was the way she liked it!

By the time lunch rolled around she found that she was too worked up and nervous to eat, so by noon, Videl was already waiting for Dr. Sweeney outside his office.

The man didn't show up until almost a half hour later, a bread roll in his mouth, a cup of coffee in one hand, a stack of papers in the other. Upon seeing her, pacing in front of his door, he raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't expecting you this early," he commented after he maneuvered his bread to rest on the plastic top of his coffee cup.

"Sorry. I'm just kind of… eager, about today?" The statement came out more of a question than Videl would have liked. She shook her head, frustrated that she could never seem to think of the right words when she needed them.

"Eager huh? Well that's a first." He unlocked the door to his tiny office and led Videl in. "Any other feelings about today?"

Honest, Videl reminded herself, Be honest.

"Um, nervous. Anxious. I'm kind of freaking out, too. Is that even a feeling?" she shook her head once more.

He smirked, arranging some papers and then tucking them under the clamp of his clipboard. "I think that emotion would be called 'panic'."

"Yeah, that," Videl agreed, "definitely that."

"Why are you so panicked?" he asked, settling himself down into his chair, his expression now pensive.

Narrowing her eyes at the way he asked the question, Videl knew that this was the beginning. The first test. He would be expecting a real answer if there was any hope for her to keep her job.

And as she took in a deep breath and willed herself to calm down, she knew she was ready.

She refused to disappoint.

A/N: Expect another chapter later this week. Remember, stay patient, keep reading, and please review.