Author Notes: Just checking in to remind you all that I've loved your reaction to this story so far. I hope you keep coming back. GoChi smut next chapter. The question is...will it be Goku or Kakarot? Eh heh.

Silhouette

Part 1 - Control

Chapter 11 - Searching

Gohan sighed in frustration as he banged the door closed behind him. It caused a loud rumble to go through the walls of the house, but he ignored it for now. His mind was on other matters.

"Gohan, I'm going to search for the dragon balls with Krillin and Vegeta. Could you look after Goten and your mother for me? They'd be safer at your house."

He had agreed of course. His father's eyes when he'd made that request had been practically begging him to go along with him. So he had. He'd told Videl, then convinced Goten (rather easily) and gone on to try to persuade his mom to come over for a few days at the very least.

Tried. And failed.

His mother was too stubborn. No matter how many times Gohan pleaded with her to leave home and come live at his house for a while, that Dad was unstable and unpredictable, and that she would be in danger if she didn't… No matter how Goten almost cried in fear when she refused… His mom wouldn't budge.

"I love your father too much to leave him right now, Gohan. Whatever he says, he needs me. He needs all of us, but I understand if you don't want to risk it. Don't worry. I trust him."

Gohan grumbled, running a hand through his short hair. "Yeah, well, I don't. Not after what I saw."

"You don't what, Gohan?"

Jerking his head up at the voice, he released a tight smile. "Videl. I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Not with you out," Videl said, stepping onto the wood floor of the entryway. "Not with your dad being -"

She waved her arms about in the air, no doubt because the words evaded her, and Gohan sighed for the second time. Putting his hand behind his head, he rubbed at his neck. So much he wanted to say and so much he couldn't find words for. He'd barely managed to explain what had happened days ago with Krillin's city and the whole incident surrounding it.

He still worried that Krillin was in danger, but a quick, high focused search with his senses assured him that the human fighter was doing fine. Krillin and Goku and Vegeta were still out hunting dragon balls. Not that Videl would be able to know all that. He'd taught her how to fly and how to use her energy. He hadn't gone over the basics of sensing others by locking onto the presence of different ki forces in the world. Maybe he should.

"Gohan?"

Videl stepped up to set hands on his arms, dark eyes staring up at him as she frowned. "You're still tense. I guess because your mother still refuses to come over here?"

"Yeah," he mumbled. "She trusts him. I don't know how she does it, but -"

Videl hummed and put a finger to his lips to silence him. "I think I understand."

"What? You do?"

"I was thinking," she said. "What if something similar happened to you? What would I do?"

"Videl, you wouldn't -"

"Of course I would stay with you, Gohan." Her voice was stern, her grip on his arms tightening. "That's what love means."

He took a deep breath, then let it out in a rush. She had a point. Love could make you do crazy things. Didn't he know that all too well? If such a similar situation were to happen, how would he feel if Videl stayed by his side, though?

How would his dad feel about his mom staying?

A groan escaped him and he shook his head. His father needed her, just like she said, didn't he? His father needed all of them right now. Whatever was happening, it wasn't Dad's fault. It just -

He just -

It's terrifying how unpredictable that mood switch is.

"Gohan," Videl said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Come. Sit down with me. I've got some drinks set out. You need something to relax you after all this."

He blinked and then smiled, finally noticing what Videl was wearing. She'd dressed for bed. A red silk nightgown covered her from head to toe, though her breasts teased at the low neckline and the silk really didn't hide her -

"Gohan!" She called. "Stop staring like that and come on."

"Hah, uh, sorry, Videl," he said with a gulp. "You're wearing something distracting, sorry."

Her eyes turned on him, a small smirk tilting her lips. "I know."

Face heating because of the sultry way she had to say that, Gohan gulped again and made his way across the wooden floor to the living area. One charcoal colored sectional couch stretched on two sides with a matching ottoman in front. Two armchairs filled out the rest of the room to create somewhat of a circle with the focus being the large flat screen television set hanging on the wall. (Most of this furniture - TV included - came from Mr. Satan after they were married. Gohan didn't even really watch TV but he couldn't turn down his father-in-law.)

Videl sat down on the longer side of the sectional couch so Gohan followed her. Leaning over, she grabbed a glass of what looked like orange juice and held it out to him. So he took it as he sat down, brought it to his mouth, and frowned at the subtle smell of alcohol.

"Videl…"

"Tch, you weren't supposed to notice," she huffed, taking a quick gulp of her own spiked orange juice. "It's not a lot, Gohan. You just have an over sensitive nose."

His frown deepened. "Does yours have alcohol too? Isn't that supposed to be bad for the baby's milk?"

Videl rolled her eyes. "Don't lecture me, Gohan. It's been a rough few days. And it's such a miniscule amount, I'm sure it won't matter."

"Videl…"

"You spoil sport," she huffed, sticking her tongue out. "I pumped well before I drank anything so Pan can have bottles tomorrow and I'll throw away anything I make tomorrow. Happy?"

Feeling relief that his wife would think ahead before doing something normally frowned upon, Gohan smiled and chugged the glass of spiked orange juice. His taste buds said there wasn't that much alcohol to dull his senses. His nose still said it was enough to be obvious. But the tension in his shoulders did ease a little.

Videl took the empty glass from him and set it down next to her own. Then she put hands on his shoulders and climbed into his lap. While his mind dazed its way through the situation, Videl unbuttoned his dark gray shirt, sliding fingers across his exposed chest and pulling a shiver from his body.

"Wait, Videl," he whispered. "What about Go-"

She swallowed his complaint with a kiss, leaving him stunned before she pulled back enough to breathe over his lips. "Goten went to bed a few hours ago. He's asleep. And will be for some time."

"And Pan?"

Her eyes rolled. "Also asleep, but who knows for how much longer. So relax. You need it."

He closed his mouth around another kiss, accepting the pushy tongue of his wife. Her hands continued to roam under his shirt, tracing the lines of his muscles up to his collarbone and shoulder. In turn, he ran his hands down her side and tugged at the nightgown so her breasts popped out of the absurdly low neckline.

Breaking the kiss, he lowered his mouth to her neck, getting a light moan of encouragement. "I like it when you give into your more feral side, Gohan. Don't hold back."

He gulped, feeling heat rush across his face. Videl could say some of the - well, embarrassing but also hottest things sometimes. It made him groan as he nipped at her neck. Made him lose himself in a haze for a moment as he reached down to her ass to pull her closer to him.

Then a thought struck him. Feral side, huh? Could that be a Saiyan thing? Did his dad… okay, no, not going there. He shook his head of the thought, but then frowned.

Vegeta had mentioned how his dad acted more like a Saiyan when he lost control. And his dad said he couldn't remember anything. Like a darker personality taking control, like the Saiyan side from his past rising up. Like some kind of weird personality disorder maybe?

"Oh," he hissed out as Videl reached into his pants and his mind tried to catch up. "I think - Videl wait."

Grabbing her hands, he pried her away from him. She huffed and glared in return. "What now, Gohan? I thought you were letting go and giving in."

"I was but -" With an apologetic kiss to her chin, Gohan picked Videl up from his lap and gently set her down on the couch cushions. "We'll get back to this, I promise. I just need to look something up real quick."

As he got to his feet, Videl huffed again. "Look something up?"

"Yeah. It's -" He turned to her with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's about my dad."

Videl rolled her eyes, but he could see her trying not to smile. "Go on then. I know how you get."

~!~

Thirty minutes went by before Videl sighed and stood up to go check on her husband. Tying the nightgown around for a more modest look, she stood up and made her way down the hall to the room Gohan used as his study. Pan's bedroom was further down and a guest room for Goten further then that, but the walls were thankfully not thin enough for his shuffling around to cause them any problems. The longer Pan could stay asleep at one time, the better.

When she walked into his study, she sighed again. Gohan had more than one book open on his desk, as well as his laptop out. He didn't sit. He paced. From one end of bookshelves to the next, Gohan walked back and forth as he read, a pencil already conveniently placed behind his ear.

"Maybe…" he drifted off in a murmur, paused his steps, then shook his head. "No, that doesn't sound right."

Chalk drawings had already made an appearance on his chalkboard, too. Videl pressed her lips together, then found a seat in the black leather loveseat of his little office. She watched her husband pace for a while before she turned to the drawings, tilting her head as she tried to make out what he could be thinking with scribbled portraits of what looked like his dad's face. Or at least his wild hair.

One head drawing had a distinctive angry face with an arrow pointing to a happier one. She guessed that was the personality difference he had mentioned when trying to explain the situation. What was with the rocky shapes in the center of that arrow then?

"Gohan," she murmured, hearing his feet catch a little on the luxurious rug. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"Uh, well," his eyes trained to her as he coughed, "it's kind of complicated."

"Doesn't matter," Videl said with a wave of her hand. "You do better when you can talk it out. I don't have to understand every puzzle piece you throw at me."

His smile sent a rush down to her core, but she crossed her legs and kept herself cool. This was important to him, important to all of them right now. She could sacrifice a bit of fun time with Gohan in order to ease his worries, in order to figure out the problem plaguing them all.

"Thanks, Videl," Gohan said, closing his book and setting it on his desk. "I haven't studied too much into psychology so I'm not sure if what I'm theorizing is even actually possible."

"But?"

"But, like, I remembered a story from Master Roshi about my dad as a baby. Something about him hitting his head and changing his personality. So if he hit his head again, I was wondering if it caused something that was dormant to maybe, uh, rise up again."

"Mhm."

She wasn't completely following him, but Gohan loved to talk through puzzles like this. So she watched as he went to the board and demonstrated by pointing at first one portrait, then the other, then drawing an arrow back to the first one.

His hands came away covered in chalk dust, which left a lingering mark on his chin when he put his hand there absent-mindedly. "But that's weird because if the same exact situation happened but in reverse, then why does it feel like he's completely normal at times? You'd think he would just flip back to the original Saiyan personality."

"Which he hasn't done, obviously."

"Right." Gohan scratched his head. "I think it might be something deeper than a traumatic head injury at work here. That just happens to be the catalyst or trigger that we know of but it doesn't have to be the only one."

Videl frowned. "What do you mean?"

Gohan stared at the chalkboard, crossing his arms. Silence filled the air. Her husband went into overdrive mode racking his brain for any clue. She wanted to press more, but she could tell he was busy working something out.

When he sighed and shrugged, turning to her with a lost look in his eyes, she knew this wasn't going to be an easy problem to solve. "I don't know. Some kind of personality disorder, maybe? I'm looking into it but nothing is fitting just right and I'm not qualified or even knowledgeable enough in this field to -"

Standing up, Videl walked over and grabbed his hands in hers with a smile. "You'll figure it out, Gohan. I believe that you can do this. Put your head in the books like you always do, and the answer will come eventually."

She pressed her lips to his and squeezed his hands, and Gohan smiled at her gratefully, squeezing back in turn. "Thanks. I just hope eventually is soon enough."

~!~

Krillin waved his hand in the air in order to shake off an angry mother bird. Having pulled the seven star dragon ball from the bird's nest, he could understand why she would be all worked up, but did she really have to peck his head like that?

It didn't help that Goku only stood there, floating in the air, and laughed.

He turned on his friend as he flew away from the bird's nest, putting the dragon ball with others in a sack he wore, adjusting the shoulder strap as the bird continued to show her irritation. "Goku! This is why I said you should get it. I knew this would happen. Just my luck."

Goku chuckled, arms crossed. "Yeah, sure, but I don't think we need anything hitting my head right now."

Krillin waved him off. "Whatever. The things I do for friendship. Gah! This isn't fair!"

The bird refused to give up. This was the fifth dragon ball in their collection and Krillin was seriously regretting his eager decision to go ahead and grab the ball from the nest. Now he suffered the consequences.

He wondered if his hair had been longer like back when they'd fought Buu if he would have more of a cushion against the mother bird's incessant pecking. This short growth wasn't doing much at all to ease the attack. Things had been casual and relaxed lately, but it hadn't been that long since Frieza's surprise appearance, so his hair hadn't had enough to really grow back to his preferred length.

Unlike Goku, he wasn't wearing a gi either. Just his favorite TACOS red shirt with the gold lettering. That and casual khakis. He'd thought about changing before they headed out on the dragon ball search, but he didn't suspect a fight would show up in the future anytime soon. No matter what Vegeta or the others said about Goku's strange personality switches.

Krillin trusted his friend to keep things together around him.

Of course, Vegeta flew with them on the search for precaution sake, but Krillin wasn't worried. Even with the news that Goku had been the one to destroy his city and cause all that pain, Krillin found it hard to picture his best friend going off the handle that badly. There had to be something more to it, and though he wasn't the best to figure out what, he would continue to have faith in Goku no matter what else happened.

If only this dumb bird would leave him alone…

"That screeching is annoying."

At the tone of voice coming from Goku, Krillin spun to face his friend in the air. The usual high and happy eyebrows had lowered, reminding Krillin of when Goku got into a serious fight or when he transformed. His hair and aura didn't change in the least, but the look…

Goku lifted a hand, pointing toward the bird with a disgusted frown. "I'll shut it up."

As Krillin stared in shock, his friend gathered energy in that pointer finger. "Wait! Goku, you can't hurt them!"

"Why not?" Goku tilted his head. "It's just a bird."

"But -!"

You always protect the animals…

"Tch!" Vegeta growled, closing the distance he had built to shove Krillin rather harshly to the side. "Move, idiot."

As Krillin went flying back, the wind rushing past his ears, he felt the energy near Goku release. A flash of dark purple light darted through the air, right between Vegeta and Krillin, missing them both by hairs, and hitting the bird.

Krillin's vision shook as he observed the mother bird falling from the sky. Without thinking, he dove for it and caught her in his hands, noticing the blood on one wing. A pierce through the wing kept the bird from flying, but otherwise she seemed fine. He breathed a quick sigh of relief.

"Man," he murmured, "that was close. Goku, what's gotten into y-"

He cut off the question when he gazed up and saw the fight between the Saiyans. Neither of them had transformed, but they moved quickly enough to make it hard to keep track. He could see Vegeta knocking Goku in the jaw with a mean right hook. Then Goku came back aggressively with a slash to the side and a roundhouse kick that Vegeta barely dodged.

They disappeared, then reappeared elsewhere, their blows leaving shocking impacts throughout the sky. Stray energy blasts came flying toward him and Krillin yelped as he had to dodge around them. All the while, he held the mother bird in his hands, eventually determining to leave the bird near her own nest and shift the nearby rocky outcropping to act as a barrier wall for the bird and her eggs.

He'd have to worry about the animal later. First, he wanted to see what he could do to force Goku out of this insanity. So what the others said was true. If Goku could snap and try to kill a helpless animal just because it annoyed him, then maybe he could destroy an entire city and threaten his sons.

But he sure as hell wouldn't be happy with himself when he snapped back to normal. That much Krillin knew. So, gritting his teeth, Krillin jumped away and followed the match of the two Saiyan warriors. For a short while he could follow their movements by tracking their ki, even if he wasn't able to see every flurry of punches or kicks individually.

When they transformed to their blue super saiyan states and Vegeta screamed insults about Goku's family, mostly Chi-Chi, Krillin scowled. That asshole. What was the point of doing that? Energy flashed through the sky, the ground shook as he jumped from mountain edge to mountain top. Sweat beaded on the back of his neck and he grimaced as he paused and took a breath, watching from high up and hoping he could find something useful to do.

Goku and Vegeta came together in the sky, hands grappling, trying to outmatch the other with pure strength. Krillin heard more shouting. More insults from Vegeta. A frustrated scream from Goku and then -

Krillin bounced back and forth on his feet because Goku had been kicked away and was now coming right toward him. At the last second, Krillin ground his teeth together and clenched his jaw. He opened his arms and prepared to catch the missile of a falling Saiyan warrior.

His friend crashed into him hard and Krillin did his best to keep his footing, but it didn't end as well as he'd hoped. They went sliding backwards, the force of the hit making spit fly up from Krillin's gut as he lost his breath and fought to keep his hold on Goku.

As the force of the impact died away, they ended on the edge of the rocky mountain top, and Krillin released a breath of relief. Good. He didn't have to worry about -

Except the rocky earth under his feet gave way and suddenly they were falling to the ground. The second harsh impact of the day thankfully wasn't as rough as the first, but Krillin still groaned. Landing on the grassy ground wasn't enough of a soft spot to keep his bones from aching at the fall, especially with Goku's weight falling on top of him.

"Ow…" he groaned. "Damn it, Goku."

"Heh. Sorry, Krillin."

Good. That's his normal voice.

Still, the world felt like it was on fire as his friend sat up and Krillin was able to grunt and grumble while getting to his feet. "You had me worried there, buddy."

Goku grimaced, a hand going to his head. "Sorry. The headache got worse out of nowhere. I tried to hold it down, but -"

"Is that what happens? You get a headache and then lose control?"

"Y-yeah," Goku winced. "I don't even remember anything. What happened?"

This time, Krillin winced. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Goku what had happened. Goku loved all the creatures of this planet, even going so far as to save dinosaur eggs and babies from rough weather all the time. To tell him that he'd tried to slaughter one because of a small annoyance…

Well, he didn't want to hurt his friend anymore. Krillin had a feeling that Goku had quite enough to be upset over.

"Krillin?" Goku's eyes turned on him, looking up from where he continued to sit on the ground. "What did I do this time?"

"Oh, hah, nothing serious," Krillin said with a smile, waving his hand in the air. "Don't worry about it, buddy."

Goku frowned. "Krillin…"

Before he could reassure him further, Vegeta showed up, hair back to being black as night, though his attitude hadn't changed much. "Tch. You almost shot Krillin here."

"Shot?" Goku's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. "Krillin? Why would I - ?"

"It wasn't like you were aiming for me, Goku," Krillin mumbled, sending a glare to Vegeta. "Just the bird."

"The bird? Is it okay?"

Krillin waved his hand in the air. "Fine. Fine. A little hurt but nothing serious. We'll take care of that in a minute. First, I-"

"Krillin, I can't do this," Goku groaned, interrupting him. "I - I don't know why this is happening and I don't want to accidentally hurt you or - or anyone else. Maybe I should go away somewhere that I can't hurt anyone else."

Krillin frowned. "Now I know that's not right."

"But, Krillin, what if I -"

"Stop it. This isn't like you."

"None of this is like me."

"You're right but giving up isn't going to solve anything."

"But I-"

"Oh would you both shut up?" Vegeta interrupted. "Look. We have a plan already in motion and I was able to stop things from getting messy. Let's finish what we started and then you can have this mopey conversation if you're so inclined."

Krillin glared at the Saiyan Prince. Sometimes Vegeta could be such an asshole. To his surprise, Goku seemed to appreciate the harsh words, laughing and rubbing the back of his head. Krillin rolled his eyes.

Saiyans…

Well, Vegeta did have a point. They were so close to finishing their collection of dragon balls. So close to making a wish. Krillin knew he would ask about fixing Goku's weird mental state. The dragon had to be able to do something.

And if he couldn't?

Well, they'd cross that bridge when they got to it.

~!~

Goten woke up with a start. Blinking his eyes through the haze of sleepiness, he stared around at the room that wasn't his. At first, confusion set in, but then he remembered all that had happened to bring him away from home and he shuddered.

Sitting up in the queen sized bed (too big for him to be comfortable in it alone), Goten pulled his knees up under the covers and wrapped his arms around his legs. He didn't feel good. Nothing felt good. His dad had lost his mind. How could he feel good after all that had happened?

He loved his dad so much but he couldn't forget the feeling of that heated gaze and the burnt rubber smell of energy so close to his face. That guy wasn't his dad. No matter what he looked like or how he tried to assure them all that he could be normal, or what Gohan or his mom said, there was no way his dad would do that stuff.

So the only conclusion was that that guy wasn't his dad and he shouldn't feel sad for turning away from him. He shouldn't feel bad for not trusting him. For wanting to protect Marron and Pan and his mom from that guy.

But! His mom wouldn't come here. Gohan had brought Goten here and promised he would do everything possible to convince his mom to come, too. How many days had it been though? How many mornings had he woken up without his mother's breakfast gently wafting through the house?

He missed her. He wanted her here. But he was too scared to go back home and stay with her. Too scared to face that guy again.

Tears threatened to break from his eyes and he reached up with his arm, wiping his face to get them to stop. He wouldn't cry. He had to be strong. Gohan would fix everything. Gohan always said their dad could do anything, but if his dad had gotten taken over by a bad guy then - then - well Gohan had to step in, right? He had faith in Gohan more than that guy for sure.

Climbing out of the bed, bare feet touching the blue carpet, Goten looked around the room. His figures and posters weren't here. The walls were empty, the dresser bare. His desk wasn't here, even if there was one over in the corner. These windows or curtains weren't the same, either, too fancy to belong to his house.

Sure, he felt safe in Gohan's house, but it had been almost a week, and he had never stayed over at someone else's house for this long. Not even with Trunks. He hadn't even spent this long camping, which he'd only gotten to experience with his dad three times since he came back to life.

He wanted his dad back. Not that guy. He wanted to experience all the fun stuff Gohan talked about for years. This wasn't fair. He didn't want to be here, feeling alone and scared.

A baby cry broke through the house and Goten lifted his head. Pan was probably hungry. Videl and Gohan would get her in time, but…

But that crying sounded so sad.

Picking up his feet, wiping his face with the collar of his shirt, and squaring his shoulders, Goten rushed out of the big guest room. He stayed in his pajamas because there wasn't time to worry about changing clothes if Pan was sad. He ran too far, missing Pan's room, but he got a look into Gohan's study room on accident. He saw Gohan asleep with his head on his desk amid a bunch of open books and peering in closer revealed Videl asleep on the small couch. Shouldn't they wake up if Pan was crying?

With a huff, he turned away from his brother and Videl. He could make Pan happy. He knew how to feed her, too! So long as Videl had left some baby bottles in the fridge, Goten could take care of everything.

Running back to Pan's room, he almost slipped on the edge of the carpet. Almost. He wouldn't do something so stupid. No, he walked into Pan's room full of confidence, and he reached into her crib to pick her up and hold her like Gohan had shown him.

"Hey, Pan," he said softly. "You hungry?"

Since his baby niece kept wailing, Goten took that as a yes. Talking to her the whole time, he made his way to the kitchen all the way on the other side of the house. Thankfully, plenty of full baby bottles rested in the fridge so he grinned and put one in the microwave like he'd seen Videl do once. This should be right.

The whole time, Pan continued to cry and scream, so he talked to her to try to calm her. "Don't worry, Panny. I'll take care of you. You don't have to worry. I'm a good uncle! Your mommy and daddy are asleep but I'll be good and give you whatever you want, okay?"

To his delight, the baby quieted her tears even before he was able to put a bottle to her lips. She must like him. Good. Everyone should like him. She was right to trust him, too. He was much better than that guy.

Eventually, Goten ended up feeding Pan on the big couch in the living room, and Videl walked in with a yawn. "Oh, good. Thanks, Goten. You're such a dear."

Goten pouted up at her, especially when she came around behind the couch and ruffled his hair. "I'm not a deer. I'm a person."

Videl chuckled. "Right, sorry. And a sweet person at that. You like feeding Pan?"

As his sister-in-law sat on the couch next to him, Goten preened at the positive attention. Pan continued to eat from the baby bottle and Videl smiled down at them both. He kicked his feet against the floor, which he could reach because he sat on the edge of the couch cushion (it still kind of bothered him that Trunks was growing taller and he still looked like a kid).

"Yeah," he said with a grin at Videl. "I'm a good uncle."

Videl yawned again. "You sure are. You can stay here as long as you want, okay? Gohan might be close to a solution for your dad soon, but I still like having your help with Pan."

While it felt good to be appreciated, he also didn't like the talk about a certain someone else. "That guy's not my dad. Gohan shouldn't bother helping him. My dad must be lost somewhere else."

"Oh, Goten…"

"But I don't care," Goten said, looking down at the baby in his arms. "Gohan told me I could be Pan's special protector so I'll do that. I'm even going to memorize her ki. Watch!"

Videl sighed and sank back against the couch but she eventually gave him a nod. "I'll be watching. You take good care of my baby girl, all right?"

"I will!" Goten grinned. "Forever and ever! Even if that guy scares me, I won't let him hurt Pan. I promise!"

Videl gave him a smile in response, and Goten turned his attention back to the baby in his arms. Pan was almost finished with this bottle, after all. Then he'd have to burp her and, well, okay, Videl could change her if she needed it. He didn't want to do that part.

Because of his change in focus, he missed the sad look in Videl's eyes, as well as the upset frown on Gohan's face where his brother stood in the dark of the hallway behind them.