Sorry for the wait, folks! Finals came up and I had to put everything
on hold until after the last day of school.
Disclaimer: What do you get when you cross DBZ and Burenda? A wish come true? Or just a lawsuit? Eh... I'll have to go with answer number two, 'cause I don't own DBZ and I don't want a lawsuit.
Called Into Question
Taking a deep breath, the raven haired quarter-Saiyan emerged from the storage room a step behind her uncle. The two checked to make sure their energy signatures were too low for a Saiyan scouter to pick up, then quickly and silently jogged down the hall and toward their mutual destination.
-o-
"He had to go to the bathroom," Vegeta repeated dubiously. He gave the blond haired woman a look that begged the question 'how stupid do you think I am?' though he chose not to say it out loud. He knew she was lying. She knew he knew she was lying. Son Goten's disappearance had nothing to do with plumbing and everything to do with the young Saiyan female who shared his surname. Hn... siblings, perhaps? A slight smirk quirked the corner of his lips. He was beginning to think too much like Bardock.
Marron nodded carefully. "That's what Goten told me, your majesty." As neutral as she was keeping her face and her voice, Vegeta still got the impression that she was distinctly annoyed, which only made the smirk on his face grow broader.
"I see," he nodded sagely. He paused, allowing the silence to hang heavy in the air for a moment while he stared piercingly at the human. Marron looked to be doing her best not to squirm under his intense gaze, which he'd been told had the effect of making people feel as though they'd been stripped naked. Pleasant thought. Pleasant enough that he decided to let Marron off the hook by looking away, pretending to glance cursorily around the near empty banquet hall. Besides, there was really only one female's naked flesh that could hold his attention for longer than a moment. His eyes briefly caressed the blue hair and curves of his mate standing across the room with their daughter, the two apparently engrossed in hushed conversation. "Diplomat Marron, perhaps you do not yet realize the seriousness of the situation," he mused. "There is a woman loose in my palace whose intentions are unknown, who has incapacitated a third of my first class warriors, and who happens to bear the same name as your... companion. I might also add that the onna was clearly a Saiyan and that your fellow diplomat's lineage in that regard has recently been brought into question. Now, the moment this Son Pan makes her escape, Son Goten also disappears... to go to the bathroom." The tone of his voice left no doubt about what he thought of that excuse. "Coincidence? I doubt it." Casting a sly glance at Marron, it was all he could do to keep any cheshire qualities out of his grin. Kami, he loved it when unwanted dignitaries gave him an opportunity like this! "Frankly, onna, I don't see how Earth can expect me to proceed with our diplomatic discussions when half of the team they sent has such a questionable character."
"What exactly are you insinuating, King Vegeta?" Ice blue eyes flashing coldly, Marron drew herself up to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest. "Goten has never been anything but an upstanding citizen on my world. Just because he happens to bear a resemblance to some of your people doesn't automatically make him a Saiyan! And I have no idea why you think Pan is a Saiyan, either. Except for being strong and having black hair, she doesn't share any of your race's characteristics."
"Oh, but she does," Vegeta purred silkily. "Or didn't you notice her tail?"
-o-
Bubbles floated through the blue-tinted fluid of the regen tank, teasing their way through the mass of hair that belonged to Bardock's eldest and only living son. A long moment passed in silence before Bardock finally sighed and turned away. "How long until he's healed?"
The alien med tech who had been busily noting down the statistics on Radditz's readouts looked up and shrugged. "His skull nearly cracked open, Bardock, not to mention the broken nose. I'd give him two, maybe three hours. More if there was any damage done to his brain. You know brain injuries take the longest to heal."
A frown of concern crossed the Saiyan's scarred face. "There isn't going to be any permanent damage, though, right?"
Shaking his head, the doctor replied, "There shouldn't be. Radditz probably would have recovered on his own, though there's a chance he might have suffered amnesia if the injury was left untreated. Your son's got a pretty hard head, even for a Saiyan... no offense."
Bardock smirked. "None taken. Thick skulls run in the family." He allowed himself one last glance at his son, then gave the med tech a short nod and headed for the door to the med lab. "I have a few things to take care of. I'll be back in a few hours. If he wakes up before I get here, don't let him leave." Not bothering to wait for the alien to acknowledge his words, the Saiyan warrior strode purposefully through the door and turned left. He had the better part of three hours to kill and he intended to put them to good use.
-o-
The trek to Goten's room was one of the most stressful experiences Goten had ever had. With their ki senses extended, they'd managed to avoid running into anyone so far, but they still had to walk past countless rooms with people inside... people who sometimes drifted perilously close to their doors. Often times not knowing an alternate route to take, the two of them were left with no choice but to take a deep breath and hurry past each door, hoping and praying that no one would come out at that crucial moment. While it had been very nerve wracking, their luck had held up to now. It only had to last a little longer, then Goten and his niece would be safely concealed inside his room. If memory served him right, his and Marron's quarters should be just down this hall, turn left, through the double doors, third room on the right....
Shhht.
Goten's head jerked up at the sound of a door sliding open. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the man who'd just walked into the hall and he quickly reached out to grabbed Pan by the arm. The other man, one of those two who looked uncannily like his father, hadn't noticed them yet, and he was turning to go down the hall in the opposite direction from where he and Pan stood. There wasn't anywhere to hide in the long corridor, but if they held still and didn't make any sound, they might yet-
"Bardock, wait! You forgot the readout on your son's condition!"
It was at moments like these that Goten really wished he'd spent more time with Piccolo. He could really do with a few good curses to hurl right about now. As it was, time suddenly seemed to have been turned to molasses as he and Pan stood stopped in their tracks, unable to do anything but watch as Bardock turned around to address the alien doctor who'd rushed out after him... and caught sight of them. For a moment, the slow crawl of time froze completely while the three of them stared at each other, the scaly green med tech standing forgotten and confused with a sheet of paper clutched in one hand.
Then Bardock blinked, and the moment was broken. An expression of grim determination settled onto the Saiyan's features as he swiftly raised one hand into the air, already glowing with intense blue energy. "Make any sudden moves, and I'll blast you," he declared flatly. "Both of you are coming with me." The energy from his aura was racing into his open hand and collecting itself into a steadily growing ball of ki the likes of which Goten hadn't felt since the last time he'd sparred with his father. A shiver ran down his spine. This guy meant business, and he had the power to back it up...
...unless he could go...
He quickly shook the thought off. While it would give him the power he'd need to easily defeat this guy, it was too dangerous to perform inside a building or near innocents like the doctor... or Pan. But then again, Pan seemed to have gained a lot of strength recently. She might be strong enough to withstand the initial effects of the strange technique only he, his brother, and his father could perform, but he didn't want to risk it. He'd have to come up with another plan.
"Pan, go find Marron," Goten murmured, stepping directly between his niece and the man who could almost pass as his father's twin.
"Now wait just a minute!" Pan protested furiously. "I can fight my own battles!"
Ah, there was the Pan Goten knew and loved and could get so frustrated with. "Now's not the time for this, Pan," he hissed in a flash of annoyance. Maybe Pan had forgotten to gauge Bardock's energy, or maybe she had purposely chosen to ignore it, but from what Goten was feeling right now, there was no way she could fight this man and expect to win. Not even with that newfound strength of hers. "Just do as I say and go! I'll meet up with you later."
Apparently not satisfied with this response, Pan opened her mouth to further argue the point. "But-"
"Pan, GO!" Goten snapped. He didn't dare take his eyes off Bardock, who was watching the exchange through narrowed eyes, evidently waiting for them to make a move. He didn't know how he'd measure up to this Saiyan in an all out fight, and he wasn't keen on finding out with Pan anywhere nearby, especially not in such a confined area. Abruptly shifting tactics to something he felt was more likely to convince his niece to cooperate, he added a hint of pleading to his voice, still speaking softly. "Please, Pan. This isn't a situation you can resolve with your fists. I'm a diplomat, remember? I have to handle this a certain way, or it'll result in a huge mess for Earth." With any luck, he could still get out of this without resorting to blows... but then, this was Vegeta-sei. The Saiyan words for 'argument' and 'brawl' were practically synonymous.
Something about what he said seemed to surprise Pan. She blinked and gave him an odd look, almost as though she had never seen him before, then reluctantly nodded. "All right," she grumbled. Without another word, she spun abruptly on her heels and stalked back down the hall the way they came from.
In completely the opposite direction of Marron and Goten's rooms.
Because, a wide-eyed Goten realized at the last moment, he'd forgotten to tell her where his and Marron's rooms were. He opened his mouth to call Pan back, but the words never had a chance to leave his lips before Bardock's ki blast slammed into his chest.
-o-
I am not running from a fight, Pan told herself repeatedly as she retraced her steps. She knew that if she'd tried to go past Bardock (My great grandfather, she weakly realized) it would have only resulted in the fight her uncle was trying to avoid. Uncle Goten's right. He's a diplomat, so he has to do things... diplomatically. She had to shake her head at that. Goten, a diplomat. Who would've thought it? Still, it irked her that he'd sent her away as though dismissing a child from adult conversation. Granted, she wasn't exactly the most diplomatic of people, but she knew how to keep control of herself!
If it was important, anyway.
"I'm not a fucking child," she muttered to herself, letting her feet guide her around a corner into branching corridor. It wasn't until she felt the arms around her waist, pulling her back against a rather masculine chest, that she realized - too late - that she'd allowed her guard to drop and had failed to notice the approaching ki signature. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips as well muscled arms effectively trapped her arms against her sides.
"No, you're not," a smooth, amused voice chuckled into her ear. The sound of that familiar voice sent thrills up and down Pan's spine. Heart beating wildly inside her chest, she twisted her head around to meet the sparkling blue eyes of her captor. "If anything, I'd say you're a fucking woman," Prince Trunks murmured, punctuating the statement by taking advantage of her open mouth with a deep, lip-locking kiss.
-o-
Unprepared for the strength of Bardock's attack, Goten was nearly knocked off his feet, saved only at the last minute by his father's training. The Earth-born diplomat quickly dropped into a defensive stance, feeling somewhat singed, but he made no move to retaliate. Instead he watched Bardock warily for any sign of a follow-up to that first attack. The alien doctor had long since scuttled back into the med lab, apparently knowing better than to stick around when two Saiyans (to his eyes, Goten looked to be Saiyan) are about to fight.
"That was a warning shot," Bardock growled, as though reading Goten's mind. "You don't want to fight me, Son Goten."
"You're right, I don't," Goten agreed levelly. Inwardly he was having a hard time trying to ignore the little ball of fear that was forming in his gut. Warning shot? If that was just a warning shot, I really, really don't want to see how strong his blasts are when he means business! He was the son of Son Goku, the strongest man that Goten knew, and even though he knew he was no weakling, he'd never enjoyed getting the crap beat out of him the way his father seemed to. It was one of the many reasons he'd chosen not to follow in his father's footsteps and become a warrior, choosing instead to be a diplomat. A peace maker. It didn't help that he'd never had anyone his own age to share his fighting talent with. Fighting probably would have been a lot more appealing if he'd has a 'comrade in arms', so to speak. But there had been no one on the planet anywhere near his age who could keep up with him, so it wasn't long before his attention shifted to other things. Speaking of attention... Goten scolded himself soundly for allowing his mind to wander in such a potentially volatile situation. "I don't want to fight you, Bardock," he repeated. "But I will if you don't leave my niece alone."
One of Bardock's eyebrows rose to meet his hairline. "Niece?" he challenged, a strange glint of triumph in his eyes. "Son Pan is your niece?" At the younger man's confused nod, Bardock raised another, deadlier ball of ki. "Son Goten," he declared, voice ringing with grim authority, "I hereby place you under arrest on the charge of being of Saiyan blood and living on a planet where Saiyan habitation is prohibited, endangering species purity and threatening the safety of the planet's weaker native people. You will accompany me to have the evidence documented, or I will subdue you." His mouth twisted into a dark, humorless smirk. "Your choice."
Goten stared. And stared. And stared some more. "What?!"
"And diplomats are supposed to be intelligent," Bardock snorted. "Very well, I'll repeat myself. You're under arrest because-"
"I heard all that!" Goten cut him off angrily. "What I want to know is what in Kami's name makes you so sure I'm a Saiyan! It's purely coincidence that we look alike! I am not a Saiyan, I'm a human! And I am not a danger to my world!" The very idea was an affront to everything he and his family stood for.
"You claim kinship with Son Pan, a known demi-Saiyan," Bardock stated, the ki blast in his hand still blazing steadily. The Earth-raised diplomat's eyes widened in shock and he opened his mouth to protest that accusation against his niece, but the older man cut him off impatiently. "Look, if you're so certain that you're a human, there's a very simple way to prove it."
"How's that?" Goten asked warily.
The head of the science wing and strategical commands used his free hand to point at the door he'd recently walked through. "Go get your blood tested," he said with a wicked grin.
The suspected Saiyan eyed his opponent suspiciously for a moment, as though expecting some kind of trick, then stubbornly raised his chin. "All right, I'll do it." Ignoring the potential attack merrily humming in Bardock's hand, Son Goten strode through the doors to the med lab with a look of grim determination. I'll prove to you I'm not a Saiyan, Bardock.
--oo--
I bet you all thought I'd never get around to the romance. -cheeky grin- I haven't forgotten what genre this fic is filed under... I just have a tendency to get caught up in the plot of a story. Next chapter WILL have romance (or at least an attempt at romance). Promise. But since I've never done serious romance before, I can't promise it'll be any good. I'll try my best, though!
And, yes, I know that, theoretically, Goten wouldn't necessarily have to have Saiyan blood just because he's Pan's uncle (after all, it could have come from the other side of Pan's family... in some strange, alternate universe...), but in Bardock's mind, there was enough evidence to make an arrest.
Until next time.
Disclaimer: What do you get when you cross DBZ and Burenda? A wish come true? Or just a lawsuit? Eh... I'll have to go with answer number two, 'cause I don't own DBZ and I don't want a lawsuit.
The embrace between uncle and niece lasted a few more moments before Goten finally let Pan go and sat back on his heels. "Pan, what are you doing here?" he asked, seemingly unable to suppress his curiosity any longer. "I thought you were helping the Satan City police solve those murders! How did you even get here in the first place? The ship Marron and I took was the only one leaving from Earth for the next several days. How did you manage to stow away on it and remain hidden that long? Pan-"
"Uncle Goten," Pan swiftly cut him off, wanting to avoid the flood of questions she could see in her uncle's eyes. "It... it's a long story," she hedged. Part of her wanted to spill out everything, to tell this man, one of the most trusted men in her life, everything that had befallen her and all the she had been through these past few days, and then do nothing more than simply curl up in his arms and bask in the peaceful assurance of his presence. But there was another, more suspicious part of her that told her that was a bad idea. How did she know that this Goten was the same as her Goten? What if he just thought she was crazy? What if he couldn't be trusted? The idea was completely foreign to her - after all, who couldn't trust the members of the Son family? - but after all the differences she'd seen in this timeline, in the people of this timeline, she just couldn't be sure. It would be taking a big risk to confide in Goten, and that was a risk she wasn't willing to take just yet.
As though to confirm her fears, a wise, calculating expression glinted in the depths of Goten's black eyes. "You're right. We should find someplace safer to discuss this." Taking hold of Pan's hands, the spiky haired young man rose to his feet while pulling his niece up to hers. "Come on, I'll take you to my quarters. Marron's room is next to mine, so if she's not already waiting for us, we can wait for her there. If we suppress our energy and use our ki senses to avoid people, we should be able to make it there without anyone noticing us." Goten cast an amused expression at Pan and quipped, "There are a lot of people looking for you, you know. Getting to be pretty popular, aren't you, Pan?"
"So I noticed," Pan grumbled. Inwardly, she was somewhat flustered by the way Goten was acting. Her kind but naive uncle had just issued a calm, logical course of action in the blink of an eye, one that would probably work, and he hadn't had any input from Trunks at all! Well, duh, Pan! This isn't the same Goten you know. He never grew up with Trunks, so he probably never learned to rely on Trunks's intellect to get him out of trouble. He probably never got into as much trouble in the first place! Maybe he learned to think for himself.... Shaking away the comparisons between her timeline and this one, Pan hesitated for only a moment before nodding her assent with Goten's plan. No matter how different this Goten might be to her own uncle, he was still probably the most trustworthy person on this planet. Besides, it wasn't like she had a plan of her own or someplace safe to stay where she could have time to calm down and sort out her thoughts, to figure out what she was going to do next. Yeah, sure, Sereri might offer to take her in, but with Radditz as her son, it wouldn't be long before he discovered her.
Goten stepped over to the door and cautiously poked his head. It wasn't really necessary, considering that he could simply check for any nearby ki signatures with his senses, but obviously he didn't want to take any chances. Yet another point where he differed from his alternate self. "All right, coast is clear," he said, gesturing at Pan to follow him.Taking a deep breath, the raven haired quarter-Saiyan emerged from the storage room a step behind her uncle. The two checked to make sure their energy signatures were too low for a Saiyan scouter to pick up, then quickly and silently jogged down the hall and toward their mutual destination.
"He had to go to the bathroom," Vegeta repeated dubiously. He gave the blond haired woman a look that begged the question 'how stupid do you think I am?' though he chose not to say it out loud. He knew she was lying. She knew he knew she was lying. Son Goten's disappearance had nothing to do with plumbing and everything to do with the young Saiyan female who shared his surname. Hn... siblings, perhaps? A slight smirk quirked the corner of his lips. He was beginning to think too much like Bardock.
Marron nodded carefully. "That's what Goten told me, your majesty." As neutral as she was keeping her face and her voice, Vegeta still got the impression that she was distinctly annoyed, which only made the smirk on his face grow broader.
"I see," he nodded sagely. He paused, allowing the silence to hang heavy in the air for a moment while he stared piercingly at the human. Marron looked to be doing her best not to squirm under his intense gaze, which he'd been told had the effect of making people feel as though they'd been stripped naked. Pleasant thought. Pleasant enough that he decided to let Marron off the hook by looking away, pretending to glance cursorily around the near empty banquet hall. Besides, there was really only one female's naked flesh that could hold his attention for longer than a moment. His eyes briefly caressed the blue hair and curves of his mate standing across the room with their daughter, the two apparently engrossed in hushed conversation. "Diplomat Marron, perhaps you do not yet realize the seriousness of the situation," he mused. "There is a woman loose in my palace whose intentions are unknown, who has incapacitated a third of my first class warriors, and who happens to bear the same name as your... companion. I might also add that the onna was clearly a Saiyan and that your fellow diplomat's lineage in that regard has recently been brought into question. Now, the moment this Son Pan makes her escape, Son Goten also disappears... to go to the bathroom." The tone of his voice left no doubt about what he thought of that excuse. "Coincidence? I doubt it." Casting a sly glance at Marron, it was all he could do to keep any cheshire qualities out of his grin. Kami, he loved it when unwanted dignitaries gave him an opportunity like this! "Frankly, onna, I don't see how Earth can expect me to proceed with our diplomatic discussions when half of the team they sent has such a questionable character."
"What exactly are you insinuating, King Vegeta?" Ice blue eyes flashing coldly, Marron drew herself up to her full height and crossed her arms over her chest. "Goten has never been anything but an upstanding citizen on my world. Just because he happens to bear a resemblance to some of your people doesn't automatically make him a Saiyan! And I have no idea why you think Pan is a Saiyan, either. Except for being strong and having black hair, she doesn't share any of your race's characteristics."
"Oh, but she does," Vegeta purred silkily. "Or didn't you notice her tail?"
Bubbles floated through the blue-tinted fluid of the regen tank, teasing their way through the mass of hair that belonged to Bardock's eldest and only living son. A long moment passed in silence before Bardock finally sighed and turned away. "How long until he's healed?"
The alien med tech who had been busily noting down the statistics on Radditz's readouts looked up and shrugged. "His skull nearly cracked open, Bardock, not to mention the broken nose. I'd give him two, maybe three hours. More if there was any damage done to his brain. You know brain injuries take the longest to heal."
A frown of concern crossed the Saiyan's scarred face. "There isn't going to be any permanent damage, though, right?"
Shaking his head, the doctor replied, "There shouldn't be. Radditz probably would have recovered on his own, though there's a chance he might have suffered amnesia if the injury was left untreated. Your son's got a pretty hard head, even for a Saiyan... no offense."
Bardock smirked. "None taken. Thick skulls run in the family." He allowed himself one last glance at his son, then gave the med tech a short nod and headed for the door to the med lab. "I have a few things to take care of. I'll be back in a few hours. If he wakes up before I get here, don't let him leave." Not bothering to wait for the alien to acknowledge his words, the Saiyan warrior strode purposefully through the door and turned left. He had the better part of three hours to kill and he intended to put them to good use.
The trek to Goten's room was one of the most stressful experiences Goten had ever had. With their ki senses extended, they'd managed to avoid running into anyone so far, but they still had to walk past countless rooms with people inside... people who sometimes drifted perilously close to their doors. Often times not knowing an alternate route to take, the two of them were left with no choice but to take a deep breath and hurry past each door, hoping and praying that no one would come out at that crucial moment. While it had been very nerve wracking, their luck had held up to now. It only had to last a little longer, then Goten and his niece would be safely concealed inside his room. If memory served him right, his and Marron's quarters should be just down this hall, turn left, through the double doors, third room on the right....
Shhht.
Goten's head jerked up at the sound of a door sliding open. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the man who'd just walked into the hall and he quickly reached out to grabbed Pan by the arm. The other man, one of those two who looked uncannily like his father, hadn't noticed them yet, and he was turning to go down the hall in the opposite direction from where he and Pan stood. There wasn't anywhere to hide in the long corridor, but if they held still and didn't make any sound, they might yet-
"Bardock, wait! You forgot the readout on your son's condition!"
It was at moments like these that Goten really wished he'd spent more time with Piccolo. He could really do with a few good curses to hurl right about now. As it was, time suddenly seemed to have been turned to molasses as he and Pan stood stopped in their tracks, unable to do anything but watch as Bardock turned around to address the alien doctor who'd rushed out after him... and caught sight of them. For a moment, the slow crawl of time froze completely while the three of them stared at each other, the scaly green med tech standing forgotten and confused with a sheet of paper clutched in one hand.
Then Bardock blinked, and the moment was broken. An expression of grim determination settled onto the Saiyan's features as he swiftly raised one hand into the air, already glowing with intense blue energy. "Make any sudden moves, and I'll blast you," he declared flatly. "Both of you are coming with me." The energy from his aura was racing into his open hand and collecting itself into a steadily growing ball of ki the likes of which Goten hadn't felt since the last time he'd sparred with his father. A shiver ran down his spine. This guy meant business, and he had the power to back it up...
...unless he could go...
He quickly shook the thought off. While it would give him the power he'd need to easily defeat this guy, it was too dangerous to perform inside a building or near innocents like the doctor... or Pan. But then again, Pan seemed to have gained a lot of strength recently. She might be strong enough to withstand the initial effects of the strange technique only he, his brother, and his father could perform, but he didn't want to risk it. He'd have to come up with another plan.
"Pan, go find Marron," Goten murmured, stepping directly between his niece and the man who could almost pass as his father's twin.
"Now wait just a minute!" Pan protested furiously. "I can fight my own battles!"
Ah, there was the Pan Goten knew and loved and could get so frustrated with. "Now's not the time for this, Pan," he hissed in a flash of annoyance. Maybe Pan had forgotten to gauge Bardock's energy, or maybe she had purposely chosen to ignore it, but from what Goten was feeling right now, there was no way she could fight this man and expect to win. Not even with that newfound strength of hers. "Just do as I say and go! I'll meet up with you later."
Apparently not satisfied with this response, Pan opened her mouth to further argue the point. "But-"
"Pan, GO!" Goten snapped. He didn't dare take his eyes off Bardock, who was watching the exchange through narrowed eyes, evidently waiting for them to make a move. He didn't know how he'd measure up to this Saiyan in an all out fight, and he wasn't keen on finding out with Pan anywhere nearby, especially not in such a confined area. Abruptly shifting tactics to something he felt was more likely to convince his niece to cooperate, he added a hint of pleading to his voice, still speaking softly. "Please, Pan. This isn't a situation you can resolve with your fists. I'm a diplomat, remember? I have to handle this a certain way, or it'll result in a huge mess for Earth." With any luck, he could still get out of this without resorting to blows... but then, this was Vegeta-sei. The Saiyan words for 'argument' and 'brawl' were practically synonymous.
Something about what he said seemed to surprise Pan. She blinked and gave him an odd look, almost as though she had never seen him before, then reluctantly nodded. "All right," she grumbled. Without another word, she spun abruptly on her heels and stalked back down the hall the way they came from.
In completely the opposite direction of Marron and Goten's rooms.
Because, a wide-eyed Goten realized at the last moment, he'd forgotten to tell her where his and Marron's rooms were. He opened his mouth to call Pan back, but the words never had a chance to leave his lips before Bardock's ki blast slammed into his chest.
I am not running from a fight, Pan told herself repeatedly as she retraced her steps. She knew that if she'd tried to go past Bardock (My great grandfather, she weakly realized) it would have only resulted in the fight her uncle was trying to avoid. Uncle Goten's right. He's a diplomat, so he has to do things... diplomatically. She had to shake her head at that. Goten, a diplomat. Who would've thought it? Still, it irked her that he'd sent her away as though dismissing a child from adult conversation. Granted, she wasn't exactly the most diplomatic of people, but she knew how to keep control of herself!
If it was important, anyway.
"I'm not a fucking child," she muttered to herself, letting her feet guide her around a corner into branching corridor. It wasn't until she felt the arms around her waist, pulling her back against a rather masculine chest, that she realized - too late - that she'd allowed her guard to drop and had failed to notice the approaching ki signature. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips as well muscled arms effectively trapped her arms against her sides.
"No, you're not," a smooth, amused voice chuckled into her ear. The sound of that familiar voice sent thrills up and down Pan's spine. Heart beating wildly inside her chest, she twisted her head around to meet the sparkling blue eyes of her captor. "If anything, I'd say you're a fucking woman," Prince Trunks murmured, punctuating the statement by taking advantage of her open mouth with a deep, lip-locking kiss.
Unprepared for the strength of Bardock's attack, Goten was nearly knocked off his feet, saved only at the last minute by his father's training. The Earth-born diplomat quickly dropped into a defensive stance, feeling somewhat singed, but he made no move to retaliate. Instead he watched Bardock warily for any sign of a follow-up to that first attack. The alien doctor had long since scuttled back into the med lab, apparently knowing better than to stick around when two Saiyans (to his eyes, Goten looked to be Saiyan) are about to fight.
"That was a warning shot," Bardock growled, as though reading Goten's mind. "You don't want to fight me, Son Goten."
"You're right, I don't," Goten agreed levelly. Inwardly he was having a hard time trying to ignore the little ball of fear that was forming in his gut. Warning shot? If that was just a warning shot, I really, really don't want to see how strong his blasts are when he means business! He was the son of Son Goku, the strongest man that Goten knew, and even though he knew he was no weakling, he'd never enjoyed getting the crap beat out of him the way his father seemed to. It was one of the many reasons he'd chosen not to follow in his father's footsteps and become a warrior, choosing instead to be a diplomat. A peace maker. It didn't help that he'd never had anyone his own age to share his fighting talent with. Fighting probably would have been a lot more appealing if he'd has a 'comrade in arms', so to speak. But there had been no one on the planet anywhere near his age who could keep up with him, so it wasn't long before his attention shifted to other things. Speaking of attention... Goten scolded himself soundly for allowing his mind to wander in such a potentially volatile situation. "I don't want to fight you, Bardock," he repeated. "But I will if you don't leave my niece alone."
One of Bardock's eyebrows rose to meet his hairline. "Niece?" he challenged, a strange glint of triumph in his eyes. "Son Pan is your niece?" At the younger man's confused nod, Bardock raised another, deadlier ball of ki. "Son Goten," he declared, voice ringing with grim authority, "I hereby place you under arrest on the charge of being of Saiyan blood and living on a planet where Saiyan habitation is prohibited, endangering species purity and threatening the safety of the planet's weaker native people. You will accompany me to have the evidence documented, or I will subdue you." His mouth twisted into a dark, humorless smirk. "Your choice."
Goten stared. And stared. And stared some more. "What?!"
"And diplomats are supposed to be intelligent," Bardock snorted. "Very well, I'll repeat myself. You're under arrest because-"
"I heard all that!" Goten cut him off angrily. "What I want to know is what in Kami's name makes you so sure I'm a Saiyan! It's purely coincidence that we look alike! I am not a Saiyan, I'm a human! And I am not a danger to my world!" The very idea was an affront to everything he and his family stood for.
"You claim kinship with Son Pan, a known demi-Saiyan," Bardock stated, the ki blast in his hand still blazing steadily. The Earth-raised diplomat's eyes widened in shock and he opened his mouth to protest that accusation against his niece, but the older man cut him off impatiently. "Look, if you're so certain that you're a human, there's a very simple way to prove it."
"How's that?" Goten asked warily.
The head of the science wing and strategical commands used his free hand to point at the door he'd recently walked through. "Go get your blood tested," he said with a wicked grin.
The suspected Saiyan eyed his opponent suspiciously for a moment, as though expecting some kind of trick, then stubbornly raised his chin. "All right, I'll do it." Ignoring the potential attack merrily humming in Bardock's hand, Son Goten strode through the doors to the med lab with a look of grim determination. I'll prove to you I'm not a Saiyan, Bardock.
I bet you all thought I'd never get around to the romance. -cheeky grin- I haven't forgotten what genre this fic is filed under... I just have a tendency to get caught up in the plot of a story. Next chapter WILL have romance (or at least an attempt at romance). Promise. But since I've never done serious romance before, I can't promise it'll be any good. I'll try my best, though!
And, yes, I know that, theoretically, Goten wouldn't necessarily have to have Saiyan blood just because he's Pan's uncle (after all, it could have come from the other side of Pan's family... in some strange, alternate universe...), but in Bardock's mind, there was enough evidence to make an arrest.
Until next time.