Two more agonizing minutes passed before there was a clearly audible gasp. Bulma turned around and picked up her bag from the living room floor. "Krillen, can you still hear me?" she called out.

"Yeah…"

"Great." She pulled out her hairbrush and immediately began running through her hair. "You keep yourself and Chi-Chi in the room. Don't let the old guy in. Goku, Raditz and I will be there in just a few minutes. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything." Before she allowed any of the boys to answer, she used her free hand to disconnect the line.

Goku stared at the former heiress. "What are you…"

"Later," she commanded, reaching once more into her bag. "Let me grab just one more thing and then we need to fly."

Behind her, Raditz frowned. "Not that I'm here to rain on your parade," he brought up, "but aren't you forgetting about something?"

Bulma pulled the lone tube of lip gloss she had been holding on to out and tucked in in her pocket. "I know, I know, Vegeta's comatose on the couch. But he's not going to wake up for a long time, and if we move right now, I can at least get the two of us back here in an hour. Trust me, there's no way he'll get up before then."

Kneeling down, Goku asked, "Shouldn't we at least untie him first?"

"No time!" the girl shouted. "We need to move, now!"

Still not happy with the situation, both Son boys hopped after her out the apartment and down the stairs. They still had no good ideas how to stop the situation, and if she happened to have one, then she was the boss. Even Raditz, long independent and never particularly good at following orders, understood that it was time to keep quiet and fall in line. After all, it was his own family that was at risk.

It only took a few minutes for Raditz to drive them to the hospital, but none of them spoke on the way. They knew that they should have been discussing a plan, any strategy possible to help them, but each one of them was far too tense to manage to begin the conversation.

When they pulled in to the parking lot, Bulma finally opened her mouth. "When we get in there," she firmly commanded, "you let me do the talking. The only time you are allowed to talk is if he asks you a question directly, and if he does that, you do anything you can to keep your answer vague and send him back to me. You boys got that?"

The Son brothers nodded. "You sure you're up for this?" Raditz quietly asked.

"I'm ready to fight and I play to win," the former heiress bit out, her stride getting firmer and firmer with each step toward the hospital entrance. "Goku, you're going to straight into the room to comfort Chi-Chi. Tell her and Krillen that I've got everything under control."

Goku nodded. "I can do that, but what do I do if they ask about Vegeta?"

"Tell them he's resting at the apartment," she quickly answered. "It's not a lie, and getting into a fight about tying him down is not going to help anything."

"Got it," the eighteen year old agreed. Though he was never thrilled with the idea of manipulating the truth, he was willing to do anything and everything to protect his son. Not another word was spoken as they entered the hospital, all of them far too aware of just how many sets of ears were around them. The moment was critical, and there was no room for even the slightest error. With confidence and determination, Bulma made her way up to the maternity ward, the two Son boys close at her heels.

She quickly spotted the old man, and with her chin held firm and level, she approached. "Hello, sir," she confidently greeted, shaking his hand. "It's nice to see you again. I understand that you are here with some questions for my friends, and I would be happy to answer any and all concerns. Now, what seems to be the issue?"

The old man was surprised by the aggressive approach, but he could not help the smile that came. "Yes, I remember you, young lady. Bulma, right?"

"Right."

He chuckled as he let go of the hand shake. "If I didn't know you were still just a kid, I'd take you for a lawyer."

Bulma returned his smile with her own self-confident smirk. She was quivering with fear on the inside, but she managed to keep it totally hidden on the outside. "I assure you, I am not a child. I am a full and legal adult." To prove her point, she reached in to her pocket and pulled out her wallet, producing photo identification. "I have not had the opportunity as of late to change my place of residence yet, but the date of birth does prove me to be of adult age."

"So it does," he agreed, studying it carefully. "Pardon me for asking, but are you the Bulma Briefs? Of the Capsule empire?"

"I was," she firmly told him. "As I am sure you gathered from the news, there has been unpleasantness surrounding my parents and their choices. Since they left, I have been staying with Raditz," she gestured to the young man, "my fiancé."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're not a little young to be taking a trip down the aisle, young lady?" he sincerely asked.

Bulma shook her head, not wavering for an instant. "He and I have known each other for many years. We began dating over two years ago, and even when it became apparent that I was no longer an heiress poised to inherit the largest fortune on the planet, his love and affection did not waver. We are one hundred percent committed to each other, sir. He has more than proven that he will be a fine and loyal husband."

"Certainly seems that way," he agreed, giving her a smile. "Well, congratulations to you both."

"Thank you, sir."

Nodding again, the old man took a seat on one of the waiting room chairs. "Now, you said you'd be willing to answer some questions for me."

"Of course," the former heiress agreed, taking the seat across from him.

"First and foremost," the man asked, "I would like to know why you young folks have been working so hard to keep all of this such a secret from me."

Bulma nodded. "Yes, I understand your concerns. Goku, Raditz' younger brother, and his girlfriend Chi-Chi were expecting their first child when you first met us. While the boys were with you, Chi-Chi was with me and not feeling well. She began going into premature labor, which was when I brought her here. Due to the limited forms of communication available to all of us, all I could use to inform them was a note as I came here to make sure that mother and child were well. The secrecy had more to do with the fact that it was a large shock to all of us and that we had no time to process it than anything else. We did not want to let you, a comparative stranger, to become involved."

The man considered for a moment. "I suppose that does make some sense," he agreed, "but I still do not believe I understand exactly how your, shall we say, social circle works. I am confused just who goes where with who, and I am trying to make sense of it."

"That is understandable," Bulma responded in a no nonsense tone. "To try to clarify, I live with Raditz, and Goku, Chi-Chi, Krillen, and Vegeta live together."

He nodded again. "I take it that the other four do not live in an apartment like you and your intended do."

"They get by," she defended. "And Raditz and I are there to help as we can. But due to circumstances, yes, they are getting by on limited means. That is why the three boys would try to find work like the kind they do for you. When Chi-Chi went in to labor, we wanted to make sure Goku was available to be there for her. That's why you have been seeing us come in through rotation. It was not necessarily our job, but we are there to help one another."

"Tell me," the man seriously went on, "what the plan is for the child."

But Bulma did not so much as flinch at the question. "Raditz and I are in the process of assuming legal guardianship of the boy," she informed the man. "We are not currently moving to fully adopt, as we hope that Goku and Chi-Chi will be able to be capable of moving in to the position of being able to fully take care of their child. They love that boy dearly. It's why they're willing to let us take care of him until they can handle it."

The man smiled softly at the teenaged girl. "It sounds to me like you young ones have things all figured out pretty well."

"We do our best," Bulma responded.

"If you don't mind," he responded, slowly getting to his feet, "would it be alright if I saw the child?"

For the first time since the conversation started, Bulma felt her confidence truly falter. It was a snap decision that she was not prepared to make. However, as she raced through the scenario in her mind, she could find no harm in him being able to see the child. The man knew who they were and why they were there. If he could find them, it would not be difficult to find the boy. And if she tried to hide him, it would probably make his suspicions worse. "Very well," she finally spoke. "Please, follow me."

/

A low groan escaped Vegeta's throat as he slowly began to regain consciousness. He was vaguely aware of the sounds of the city outside the window, but everything seemed somehow muted. Every part of his body seemed so much heavier than it normally did, particularly his chest. Just breathing seemed difficult at that moment. Of course, his still broken nose was certainly not helping that.

He tried to sit up, but everything felt so heavy that he could not manage it. His head swayed to the side slightly, and he had to fight the urge to give right back in to his exhaustion and fall back asleep. There was work to be done, though, and he knew that he could not afford to rest. Forcing himself to stay awake, he cracked his eyes open.

It was with a slight start that he realized he was in Raditz' dark apartment. "How the hell did I get here?" he muttered. Shaking it off, he tried once again to sit up, only to once again find it impossible. However, unlike his earlier attempt, Vegeta was acutely aware that what was keeping him down was not his own fatigue. His eyes grew wide as he looked down at the restraints, and he was just barely able to keep himself from bellowing with pure rage.

"Son of a bitch!" he hissed, fighting the restraints. "Those damn cowards!" In spite of his exhaustion he thrashed against the belts, desperately trying to break free from them. But no matter how hard he fought, they would not give way. "I'll kill them!" Wilder and wilder he jerked against them, but all he managed to accomplish was severely bruising his wrists, legs, and chest.

"Damn it!" he bit out. The sense of betrayal he felt was almost enough to suffocate him. After everything that he had done, after everything he had sacrificed for those miserable little bastards, and this is how they treat him? Tying him down like a wild animal and abandoning him? How could they?

It took several minutes for him to calm down enough to truly gather his wits about him, but when he did, he eased his way back against the couch. Fighting was clearly getting him nowhere, and he flat out refused to remain tied down like a dog. After getting his adrenaline flowing and his heart rate up, he no longer felt the effects of his exhaustion. However, he knew that state was only temporary. He had been there before, and he knew he only had a few minutes before he ran the risk of blacking out again. Forcing his body to relax, he slowly began wringing one wrist around underneath the leather belt. It burned with every movement, his skin rubbing raw and cracking open as he worked, but he could feel himself making progress.

After several minutes of working away, Vegeta finally managed to free his right wrist, and with it gained the ability to free himself from the rest of the restraints. Keeping his cursing under his breath, he scanned the dark apartment and contemplated his next move. He could only guess that the others were all at the hospital, meaning something had probably gone wrong while he had been out. It was tempting to get over there as quickly as he could to assess the situation. However, one glance down at his well battered body kept him in his place. His face was still swollen from breaking his nose, he knew perfectly well that his color was off, and he had managed to wear a fairly impressive hole in his right wrist in his attempt to free himself. If he walked in to the hospital looking like that, it would only make things worse.

He contemplated returning to his own place to rest and regroup, but that would leave him out of communication range with the others. If something had gone wrong, as he suspected, then staying near Raditz' phone was a must. As much as he hated the idea, he resigned himself to waiting for the others right where he was.

Angrily, he made his way to the kitchen and began to make coffee. If he was going to be up for anything, he was definitely going to need more energy. As he waited for the drink to brew, he noticed the state the kitchen was in. Raditz was by no means a neat freak, but he was tidy enough and by no means a slob. There was no way he would have left a half gallon of milk sitting out on the stove unless he had been in a serious hurry. The unused pots and pans, maybe. But the milk? They must have left fast.

There were only a few things that could have made them leave like that. Either someone found out that their entire act was just that, an act, or something had happened with the boy. And from Vegeta's viewpoint, it was far more likely that the unbelievably premature child would have a complication than having anyone figure out what they were up to. And if everyone was gone, it had to be very, very bad. It was not lost on him that there was a very real chance that the boy might have passed away.

And if that was the case, he honestly did not know if the group could fully recover. He may have been a schemer, but Goku's strength and boy-next-door charm carried them farther than he cared to admit. And Chi-Chi was the only person on the planet that could take the meager offerings of food and make them taste edible. If the two of them fell apart, just surviving was going to be downright impossible.

His temper was slightly cooler than it had been, but Vegeta had hardly forgotten the anger at being tied down. He would ensure that everything possible was alright. After that, there was going to be hell to pay.