Disclaimer: *just sits there all cute like and huggles Jack* (Jack:) Help...me... *squeezes him 'cause she loves him so much*
A/N: Wow, two chapters in one day! Yay! *waves a little flag in the air; Jack tries to get away; grabs his tail and pulls him back into her lap* And it's a long one! I won't keep you; read on, and review if you like. Just make sure you enjoy yourself.
Gagh! Apparently ff.net was being sucky last night and didn't upload the entire chapter....thanks for those who let me know...let's try this again....
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Petrified Tears
chapter 77
Setting the stack of papers safely in his briefcase, Trunks capsulized the case and shoved the capsule into his pocket, turning slowly around to face Pan, who looked about ready to kill.
"I swear to Dende, I forgot. Mom installed them after Goten and I nearly blew up the office." He swallowed thickly and gently grasped the sides of her face, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I swear, Pan."
Her eye twitched, she bared her teeth in a snarl.
"Why the hell should I believe you."
He nervously licked his lips, before biting the inside of the lower, dropping his hands, and responding.
"Because I let you see just as deeply into me as you let me see into you."
She glared up at him for another moment before she sighed, the fire leaving her eyes as she fell forward, her forehead landing square in the middle of his chest. Nose pressed against his shirt, eyes closed and body tired, she gave a quiet laugh at the irony of it all.
"'It'll only be between you, me, and the wall'," she mimicked.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned back against the desk, Pan moving forward, all of her weight supported by his chest and her forehead.
"I didn't know the walls had eyes and ears," he mumbled.
She laughed quietly again into his tee shirt; her breath tickled his skin through the fabric.
"We are so fucked."
"You're father's going to kill me."
They escaped through the window after destroying the cameras in a fit of righteousness and revenge for the betrayal of the walls. On the ground, Trunks led her to an empty parking space and uncapsulized the blue and orange bike.
"I'm driving," Pan declared, striding purposefully towards it, her eyes afire with the prospect.
"Like hell you are," Trunks retaliated, jingling the keys. She turned as if responding to a bell, and stared at him with puppy eyes that Goten had perfected and taught her. For Goten, they had stopped working on Trunks when the boys were six. For Pan, they had never stopped working. But he had learned to overcome them.
"Please?" she whimpered, looking up at him with the puppy eyes and letting her lip quiver.
That was a new weapon in this tactic; he hadn't seen that one before.
But still, he would overcome.
He jingled the keys again, hoisting one leg over the bike, and sitting down, pushing them into the ignition, revving the bike and looking back at her.
"Tru-unks," she whined, jumping up and down and stomping her feet, her fists balled, as if she were a child. His laughter quieted her and she shut up, getting onto the bike and punching him in the back, crossing her arms over her chest and feigning a pout. "I hate you."
He snickered and smirked, knocking back the kickstand and supporting the weight of the bike with his foot. "You may want to hold on," he told her, heartbeats before letting the throttle go and almost literally flying out of the parking lot, a small squeak escaping Pan's lips as she hurried to get her arms around him.
He smiled, taking a hard right, the bike coming dangerously close to the ground for Pan's liking. With another squeak, she tightened her arms around him, hiding her face in the back of his shirt.
"Ever heard of a speed limit?" she cried, teeth clenched, as the bike righted itself coming out of the turn.
He laughed. "Come on, Panny, don't tell me you're scared. Where's that sense of adventure you used to have?"
"Oh, I still have it. I just don't feel comfortable with the way you're driving considering you haven't slept in three days."
"Good point," he allowed, slowing the bike to the designated maximum speed.
The ride home was peaceful and serene, but as they came into the valley that Pan's family lived in, she came awake, sitting up, her hands sliding across his belly and onto his sides as she pulled herself off of his back. He shivered as she did, the movement blinding his senses.
"Trunks? You cold or something?"
"Huh?" He blinked rapidly, coming awake just in time to take the turn onto the road that led to her house. "Oh…yeah. All of a sudden my living blanket moved."
She punched him in the back again, then laughed, singing aloud to herself for all the valley to hear.
"This is the week that wouldn't end, I miss you Sleep my dearest friend! She made me, be-gin working for her crazy-psycho son, but now I'm just so happy 'cause this cursed week is done, this is the week that wouldn't end, I miss you Sleep my dearest friend! She made me…"
Trunks laughed, knowing the shock of freedom all too well to even bother asking where the song was coming from. The words had flowed so effortlessly and without a hitch out of her mouth the first time that he almost thought that either she really deserved to be the daughter of Gohan-who had supposedly once composed an entire song when he was drunk at the age of 5 or 6, or she'd been writing it from day 1.
The small house came into view, and she broke down into smiles and quiet dancing on the back of the bike. If he hadn't been slowing down, he would have warned her that she might tip them over. But the bike came to a stop, and she got off, Trunks getting off behind her, handing her the keys.
"Hey, you want to come in and get something to eat?" she asked, the scent of ChiChi's cooking washing over them from the open window.
He knew why she was inviting him; he and Goten had scared her the day before, and she was determined to make them sit down and face each other. He didn't want to do that. But Goten was most likely at work…and ChiChi made such excellent food…
"Hang on, let me check with Grandma," she laughed, not even needing to ask him, the answer clear on his face. Food had won out over fear of confrontation. She walked towards the open kitchen window and leaned in, smiling and waving at her grandmother, seeing her father on the phone, his look completely perplexed.
"No, she's not home yet…she probably won't be home until late tonight, if at all tonight…" Gohan watched the note pad next to the phone as if it were mutating into a butterfly, a pencil twitching slowly in his hand.
"Hi Grandma," Pan whispered to ChiChi.
"Hello, Pan. Are you home for the day?"
"Forever, hopefully. Anyways, can Trunks come in for lunch with me? Neither of us had breakfast; in fact we've only had one meal in the last 24 hours."
ChiChi nodded, and Pan turned, giving Trunks a thumbs up.
She was about to head to the door with Trunks when her curiosity got the better of her and she turned back to ChiChi.
"Grandma," she whispered, pushing herself waist-level with the window, leaning in. "Who's Daddy talking to?"
ChiChi shrugged her slim shoulders. "Some boy who called yesterday about the same time that we were having dinner. He asked for you." ChiChi looked back at Gohan, then leaned forwards. "Pan, you are home now, you should take this call."
"I have a guest."
ChiChi shook her head and smiled. "Well, he called this morning while your parents were out; he didn't leave his name, but he was very polite."
"Where is Mom?"
"She's taking Goten his lunch, he forgot it this morning."
"Ah…"
"Alright…no, she didn't come home last night…my guess is as good as yours…" Gohan smiled at the phone, and Pan had to wonder who it was who had called. She couldn't think of anybody-any boy, at least-who'd be calling her. All of the boys who had her phone number would not be easily accepted by her father, let alone her grandmother. "Well, I'm sure she'll be…yes. Do you want to leave a message this time, instead of…I see…well, we're not like that here, I assure you. Our daughter gets her messages, even if they are trivial and worth nothing by the time she finally gets home. Unless my brother answers the phone, but he's absent-minded so we always forgive him…alright…um-hmm," Gohan murmured, leaning over and writing something on phone. "And the phone number is…Ok…um-hmm…Ok. It was nice talking to you again, Jack, I'll have her call you b-"
"I'm home!" Pan cried, shoving herself into the window, flying across the room, and crashing into her father, ripping the phone from his hand and clinging to the wall, holding herself there with her ki as if she were crouching in a pounce on the floor.
"Pan!" ChiChi cried, dishwater on her face and in her hair, the front of her dress wet. "Don't use the window!"
"Welcome home, Sweetie," Gohan mumbled from the floor, voice cracking.
"Jack?"
All she heard on the other end was laughter.
"Hello?"
"What'd you do, fly in through the window?"
"Actually, I was leaning in the kitchen window wondering who was calling. I wasn't going to answer 'cause I kinda have a friend over for lunch, but seeing as how it's long distance and all…" Pan shrugged, not caring that he couldn't see her.
There was a grumble on the other line, probably Jack wondering why the hell he put up with her.
"Where the hell have you been? That wasn't funny, you know."
She watched as Trunks leaned into the window, about to ask what was going on, only to be whacked with the dreaded skillet of pain before ChiChi told him to use the damn door.
"What do you mean where have I been? And what wasn't funny?" Pan asked, picking up the actual phone and holding it in her lap as she pushed herself towards the ceiling and settled herself cross-legged on the old plaster.
"For the past 24 hours. I've been trying to call. And I'm talking about that little 'we kissed, it means nothing, I have to go' bullshit you pulled, Pan."
She groaned.
"For the sake of Dende, Jack; the last place I would explain that comment to you is in the presence of my family. Father being high on the list of reasons why."
Gohan looked strangely at her, but only greeted Trunks.
"Let me guess, Mr. Wonderful is there right now, right?" Jack sighed, his voice quiet as always and seeming more depressed.
"Jack?"
"Just answer the question, Pan. It's not often I call anybody. Humor me here."
She shrugged, her hair pointing towards the ground. Trunks and her father were giving her odd looks.
"Yes, he is. He was dropping me off from work and I invited him in for lunch. Big deal. Look, Jack. I really don't want to-"
"And that's why you were simply going to call me back, right?" Pan closed her eyes, growling at the receiver.
"I was raised by upright parents who taught me that while I can always call back, I can't always put the person in front of me on hold."
Jack snorted into the phone. "So, you work nights?"
"What are you getting at?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, just something your dad said when I called."
Pan turned her eyes to her father, glaring at him.
"What'd he say," she growled quietly.
"That you usually don't get home until odd hours of the morning, 'he' stays the 'night', and the day starts again."
"What the hell are you getting at, Jack," she growled, spitting out his name as if tearing a hunk out of a piece of meat with her teeth, glaring down at the receiver.
"Just that you're probably having some really wild nights with your boss."
"Dammit, Jack!" she cried, leaping to her feet, still on the ceiling, her hair flickering gold. Trunks and Gohan looked back and forth from each other to her, each wondering if it was safe to let her stay on the phone. ChiChi eyed the skillet she still wielded and the distance between Pan's head and the floor, wondering if she could smack her so she'd get her shoes off the ceiling. "You of all people should know I'm not like-like-like…that!"
Jack was laughing again. She heard a creak of springs, as if he were laying down on his bed or on a couch.
"Pan, first thing, calm down. Second thing, get off the ceiling."
"I'm not on the ceiling," she grumbled angrily, face red as she tried to decide if she was embarrassed that he knew her that well or if she was still furious. "And I have every right to be pissed at you-you just called me a two-bit whore."
"I did not call you a two-bit whore."
"Really?" she spat. She crossed her eyes and mimicked him, doing quite well with the sarcastic self-hate that his voice carried. "'Just that you're probably having some really wild nights with your boss.' Oh, yeah Jack. I just misinterpreted that. I'm sorry."
He laughed again. "You should be sorry for misinterpreting that, I didn't call you a two-bit whore. Remember? I'm the two-bit whore, Pan."
"Yeah, I remember Mr. Twenty-Five Cents."
He laughed. "Actually, what I called you was a straight-up whore."
Her hair flashed gold and stayed gold, her eyes blitzed into green and seemed to stared beyond the walls of her house as a smirk grew across her face. A moment later, Jack gave a scream and a cry of shock that even Trunks and Gohan heard from across the room.
"No fair! No fair!"
"Ha ha! Take that, Jack!" she cried, throwing her fisting into the air.
"Holy shit, Pan, put the damn tv down-gently! Gently!" came his voice, panicked and high from the other side of the line. Exchanging glances, Trunks and Gohan laughed and moved to the table. "Not on me!"
A moment later, Pan's hair faded back into black, her eyes sparkling blue again.
"What do you say?" she teased, holding the phone behind her back, leaning forward and speaking into the receiver.
"I say you're completely insane," he grumbled a moment before she heard the creak of springs again as he lay back down. "Now get off the ceiling."
"I am not on the ceiling, Jack."
He laughed, almost as if to assure himself that he was still alive and that his television hadn't just flown off of the dresser of its own doing and tried to attack him.
"Yes you are. Now get off the ceiling before your grandmother goes after you; she seemed nice enough when she answered the phone about 6 hours ago, but she had this edge in her voice that made it clear that punks would be punished."
Pan laughed. "Ok, so I'm on the ceiling. And I'm actually a little afraid to come down now, because she has her skillet and is eyeing my head."
"Like it'll hurt."
She rolled her eyes.
"Trust me, somehow, she makes it hurt." Her eyes grew wide as ChiChi shrugged and walked across the kitchen, holding the skillet above the plate designated for her granddaughter. "Great, now she's holding my food for ransom."
Jack laughed again.
"Hey, I just realized something. You're not long distance."
There was a pause, then a quiet and drawn out, "Ye-eah…I'm not."
"You're in Japan."
"Yeah. I am."
With a squeal she came off the ceiling, immediately getting her ear boxed by her grandmother's hand.
"Wh-why are you here? I mean, Jack! You're in Japan!"
"Yeah, I am. Don't wet yourself or anything over it."
"No! I mean, now you can actually meet the people I've been telling you about for the last four years!"
"Great. I can't wait." There was a pause, and a voice in the background.
"Say good-bye, Jack, we need to go."
Then Jack's voice.
"Good-bye Jack."
"Jack, say good-bye."
"Good-bye Jack."
"Jack…"
There was a sigh, then Jack turned back to the phone. "I gotta go."
She laughed, leaning back against the little table the phone usually sat on, holding the phone against her legs.
"Alright."
"Hey, I really don't know my way around, and I feel really lucky because your dad and grandmother know English. So, maybe…why I was actually calling was to find out if you wanted to meet up with me sometime this weekend while I'm still here and, well, maybe…"
"And make you feel like less of a tourist?"
There was a sheepish pause, then a quiet, "Yeah."
She laughed. "Sure. Just let me know when."
"Tonight?"
Pan shook her head sadly. "I have 8 hours of sleep for the last…well, since Wednesday. I plan on sleeping tonight. As soon as lunch is over, actually."
"Well…tomorrow then?"
"Can't do," Pan told him. "I have my friend Bra's birthday party tomorrow night, and I promised her we'd do that 'girl-thing' all day."
"Aren't you all 'girly' now anyways?"
"Yeah, I am. But Bra's all thrilled about the fact that she can get me into a dress without me putting up a fight."
"She can?"
Pan glared at the other three in the room.
"Aw, poor Pan. Are they making fun of you?"
"Shut up. What day are you leaving?"
"I leave Monday evening."
"Cali time or here time?"
"I'm still on California time. I'm still not sure about the time difference. All I know is the clock says it's noon right now. But my ticket says Monday, at around 4 in the afternoon is departure."
"Well…actually, I can't remember the time difference."
"You flew here 8 days ago and you don't even remember the time difference anymore?"
"It's been a long 8 days."
"Alright, well…are you free Sunday?"
"Sunday…unless evil monsters try to take over the world, I should be."
"From what you've told me about your family, I should expect you to be late?"
"I'll at most be exhausted. Anyways, where do you want to meet. I can guarantee you you won't be picking me up at my house."
"Um…well, I'm staying…actually, I have no clue how to pronounce anything here. I know your name because it means Bread in Españish, and I know how to say sushi. That's about it outside of swear words. The only building I know that I can pronounce and that I can easily find is the Capsule Corps building."
Pan groaned and dropped her head.
"Are you sure that's the only building you can identify?"
"I learned Españish. Not Japani-whatever-the-fuck-you-call-it."
Pan laughed, smiling. "Japanese."
"Yeah, that."
"Baka Onna," she laughed, shaking her head.
"I know that word! You just called me stupid! Don't call me that!"
"Actually, I just called you a stupid woman, but then, oh well," Pan smirked, watching as Gohan and Trunks tried to cover their laughter. "So, alright. I'll meet you at Hell around nine on Sunday morning, ok?"
"Hell? And nine where?"
"Nine here in Japan. You'll have the time figured out by then. And hell is that damn building."
"Capsule Corps," Trunks sniggered at the same time Jack said the name of the building.
"Yeah. That place. So we ok with that, Jack?"
"Sure. See you Sunday."
"'Bye Jack."
She hung up the phone and slowly set it on the little table, moving towards Trunks and her father so that she might be able to eat something.
"Young love, Panny?" Gohan asked, smiling at his daughter.
She raised an eyebrow at her father as Trunks began to choke on his chopsticks.
"Not hardly. College friend. He's in Orange City for some reason, and he wants me to show him around so he doesn't feel like a tourist."
"Sounds like a date," Gohan continued.
Pan shook her head and leaned over, patting Trunks on the back so that he'd cough up whatever was lodged in his throat.
"I should…" he paused to cough. "I should probably get home. I want to get some sleep before I have to meet Mr. Summers tonight. Thanks for your help this week and especially last night, Pan."
She nodded, waving good-bye, totally engrossed by the prospect of food.
He moved to the door, nodding good-bye to ChiChi and Gohan, but paused, suddenly not liking the malicious glint that was horribly out of place in the older half-saiyan's eye.
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A/N: Remember, Jack be mine. But now you gotta ask yourselves: why is Jack here? And could this mean more plot twists?
-Panabelle ;P
Shrine of the Saiyan Squirt