Chapter Thirteen

Zarah popped into Bra's office the next day. He had a second to view her without her mask before her expression closed. He had one word to describe it, dreamy.

"So how did it go?"

"Maron didn't make it to the dinner," she gazed at him steadily, "She sent a replacement."

"She couldn't make it," he made an effort to look troubled, "Who did she send?"

"Goten," Bra glanced away discreetly.

"Goten?! Jeez, Bra, I'm sorry. I know how you feel about that guy," Zarah awkwardly patted her on the back.

"It was fine. We ate and left." Her words were short and precise, giving away nothing, "So, how did your dinner go?"

His expression darkened.

"That bad, huh?" Her lips quirked.

"Can you say hell?" Zarah quipped sardonically and leaned against the edge of her desk.

"Why what happened?" Bra leaned forward and rested her head in her hands.

"My dad spent the whole evening ignoring Videl," Zarah groused, "It was like she didn't exist to him."

"That isn't too bad."

"Oh?" Zarah raised a brow at the challenge, "My mom started the evening declaring death to Pan's entire family if Gohan EVEN attempted to assassinate me. Oh wait, that was when we got there. First she wanted everyone to dress in traditional saiyan battle armor."

Bra winced, "How did Pan's parents react?"

"Gohan was actually pretty cool about the whole thing. Videl on the other hand," Zarah glared in the distance, "It was funny."

"At the time or now?" Bra smiled.

"Both," Zarah grinned, "Of course, Pan didn't appreciate it."

His smile dimmed.

"We got into an argument."

"About what?" Bra was immediately concerned.

"After my parents . . . I was upset with Pan for making everyone go through this dinner. If she had waited a couple of weeks . . . it wouldn't have been so bad."

"That's understandable," Bra consoled him.

"Apparently not to Pan," Zarah huffed and launched into a parody of his mate's voice, "What did I do?"

Bra bit her lip, her cousin was being serious and . . . oh, screw it.

Zarah growled at her half-heartedly as she started to giggle.

Pouting, he crossed his arms.

"So no bloodshed at your dinner?"

"No," she gave him a suspicious look, "It went surprisingly well."

"That's good," Zarah moved away from the desk and bowed.

"I'll see you later Princess."

"Bye Zarah," she mumbled to his back.

Bra tilted her head considering. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was up to something. He couldn't be . . . no, he was legitimately detained. It was almost suspicious though . . .

Snatching up the phone, she quickly dialed Pan's cell phone number.

"Zarah, I know your mad at me but-"

"Pan! It's Bra!"

"Oh," long pause, "I'm sorry, Bra. We just, um, how are you?"

"I'm fine but what are you fighting with Zarah about now?"

"He's mad at me because I made go to a family dinner with both of our parents." A sigh, "I don't really want to get into it right now."

"Ok, I'll let you go. Bye."

"Bye."

Bra hung up the phone thoughtfully. His story checked out. Shrugging, she dismissed the entire incident from her mind.

Pan shut her phone with a click and grinned.

Her husband was a genius!

Imagine starting an argument with her just to make sure she remembered what to say to Bra when she called. Hopefully, if all went well Bra would talk to Goten about what they could go to 'help' them get along again. If she didn't go in that direction, oh well, they tried.

She dialed Zarah's number.

Zarah stopped tapping his pen and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Bra called me, she thinks we should make up."

Zarah grinned, "Does she? You'd think she doesn't trust me at all."

Trunks dropped into Zarah's office to get a status report on Project Couple and was disappointed that it wasn't more detailed. The only thing they knew for sure was that it didn't go bad or backfire completely like Zarah's plan did.

"It would have worked if Goten had reacted like everyone else," Zarah defended, "Besides, it's not like Maron's plan was such a huge success."

Taking up the gauntlet for Maron, Trunks was quick to say that, at the moment, they couldn't say that for sure.

"So is she sick?" Trunks asked concerned, "I didn't see her at her desk."

"Maron?" Zarah was clueless.

"No, the other secretary that works for you. Of course, Maron." Trunks snapped.

"She went to get coffee," Zarah replied snidely, "Go check on her if your so worried."

"Maybe I will," Trunks adjusted his suit and left.

Zarah glared at the door, the muscle in his cheek twitching.

Ring.

He snatched the phone up.

"What?"

"Jeez, who died and made your parents rulers of the world?"

"Bra, is this important or are you just bored?" Zarah immediately relaxed.

"Zarah, I finished the pheromones!" A high pitched squeal sounded over the phone, "I can't wait to test it. Do you know where Trunks is?"

"Yes I do."

Zarah grinned evilly.

Trunks stood outside the break room anxiously. He had hoped Maron would come out and save him the trouble of actually going in but . . . it had been ten minutes already and he really wanted to talk to her.

"Trunks!"

He glanced up to see his sister running towards him from one direction, Zarah from another, and Goten walking down another.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"I wanted to see if you would actually go in," Zarah remarked smartly, "Besides, Bra wanted to show me her invention."

"Yeah, Trunks," Bra rolled her eyes, "This is the half-way point."

"Is this a new invention?" Trunks interest was peaked.

"Yeah, but I don't think you'll like it," Bra pouted cutely.

"Why not?" Trunks frowned.

"Well, we all saw how you reacted to her soda," Zarah motioned for her to come to him. "Come on, Bra, we'll go to my office."

Trunks put a restraining hand on his sister's shoulder.

"I want to see it."

"See what?" Goten finally made it to them.

"Bra's invention," Trunks nudged his sister. "What is it?"

"A cologne for men," Bra glanced nervously at Goten and slipped the vial from her pocket.

"A cologne?" Goten reached for the vial.

Bra gave it to him hesitantly and watched him open it and sniff it.

Bra and Zarah exchanged worried glances.

"Bra, what is it supposed to smell like?" Goten glanced up.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Trunks took the bottle.

"It doesn't smell like anything," Goten shrugged nervously, he didn't want to make Bra mad at him.

"It doesn't?" Bra frowned, puzzled.

"He's right," Trunks confirmed, "There's no scent to this."

Bra's lips twisted.

"If you don't like the idea then just say so," Bra tried to snatch the bottle back.

Trunks pulled it back out of her reach.

"I didn't say that Bra."

"Give it back!"

Zarah and Goten just watched Trunks play keep away with the tiny vial when Bra's hand hit it and accidentally dumped it on his head.

"Trunks!" Bra was horrified, "What have you done?"

Trunks blinked and tried to wipe the liquid from his hair. He only managed to spread it even more deeply and into the skin of his neck.

"Trunks, you go to far," Zarah growled at him. "You didn't have to ruin her invention."

"Calm down you guys," Goten stepped between them and his best friend. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Bra's lower lip trembled and she ducked into the break room.

"See what you've done," Zarah grumbled and followed her.

Goten glanced at his friend sympathetically as Trunks sighed and rubbed his forehead. Unknowingly rubbing the liquid into his face.

"Come on, Goten."

They went into the break room.

Maron glanced up and was surprised to see Bra enter with Zarah on her heels. What concerned her was the fact that Bra looked upset.

"If you will excuse me," she left the woman who had been lecturing her over the do's and don'ts concerning Zarah and Trunks for an hour.

She only made it halfway across the room when the door opened again.

The room went absolutely silent.

Maron found herself turning against her will to the door where her eyes locked onto Trunks. She took a single step toward him before she came to her senses. A quick glance around the room confirmed that all the females where in the same condition except Bra but unlike Maron they didn't stop at one step.

Trunks almost panicked when he entered the room and most of the female staff was inside. He became unnerved when their eyes glazed over and they started toward en masse. He was so set to talk his way around them when the first wave reached him that he didn't notice they didn't stop.

He did notice when Goten was shoved out of the way and he was suddenly pinned to the wall by eager hands.

Zarah and Bra watched with great interest the effect Trunks was having on the female population when, simultaneously, they realized the flaws in their plan. One, the pheromones was not made especially to effect Maron and just Maron, and two, they should have tested the pheromones before dumping a concentrated version on Trunks.

They winced as the screams began and Trunks was lost from sight under a dog pile of women.

"Trunks!" Goten screamed as he desperately tried to pull the women off his best friend only for them to climb back on.

Properly horrified, Bra, Maron, and Zarah joined Goten in a futile effort to rescue Trunks.

One by one the women would scream as they were plucked away and one by one they would shove, kick, and bite their way back in.

The second generation of Z warriors became painfully aware that they would never be able to reach Trunks at this rate.

"Zarah," Bra bit her lip as guilt ate at her.

He shot her helpless glance before turning to Goten who returned his look. Maron kept pulling off women.

A huge power level skyrocketed outside the building and that was their only warning before a huge crash sounded, and the far wall exploded. The warriors cover their heads and drop into defense positions. However, as soon as they adopted their stances they dropped them as they recognized the ki signature.

"Daddy!" Bra wasted no time running to her father who was taking in the scene before him. "Trunks!"

With an abrupt nod the Saiyan Prince dove head first into the pile and disappeared.

All conspirators and Goten glanced at each other, worry and apprehension in their eyes.

The pile of women rippled and, suddenly, they were being pushed back by a force field.

They only had a moment to glimpse Trunks thrown over his father's shoulders before Vegeta phased from sight.

The women wailed in despair and fright from the sight.

"He's back!"

"Now he's taking men!"

The three demi-saiyans and demi-android were perplexed at the women's words. Who was back? They slowly made their way from the break room and out where they followed Vegeta's ki to Trunks' office.

Vegeta sighed as he eyed his son. Trunks' clothes were literally torn from his body, the only surviving item was the crotch area of his pants.

His entire torso was covered in red lines from manicured nails on eager hands. Some of the cuts were even bleeding slightly though they were not life-endangering.

As for Trunks' mental state, Vegeta mused, it seemed he was steeped in despair and deeply ashamed.

"Trunks," Vegeta didn't stop when his son flinched, "What did you do? To make them attack you like that?"

"I just walked into the room," Trunks was curled miserably in his chair.

"Hn," Vegeta crossed his arms and leaned against a wall.

When there were no more forthcoming words Trunks wearily glanced at his father.

"What? No lecture on being weak?"

Vegeta lifted an eyebrow at his son's tone of voice but let it pass.

"Trunks."

Trunks reluctantly met his father's eyes, expecting to see condemnation, or worse, disgust. He was met with neither of these thing and, instead, found understanding.

"You have no reason to be ashamed. Embarrassed, maybe, but not ashamed."

"How did you do it, Dad?"

"Do what?"

"How did you get them to leave you alone?" Trunks begged pitifully.

Vegeta's eyes became clouded with memory.

"It was a long time ago."

"Please, Dad, I need to know. I can't do this anymore," Trunks hung his head morosely.

Vegeta's expression, once thoughtful, sharpened into a glare.

"Giving up is weak, Trunks. Our family has always been cursed with good looks, your mother's side as well. It is not surprising you would be doubly cursed, you have always been a perfect mixture of your mother and myself."

Trunks closed his eyes and straightened his spine, much to the approval of Vegeta. When he reopened his eyes, they were filled with determination and resolve. He was going to find a way to stop these women not because he was afraid of them but because they were annoying.

"How did you do it?"

Vegeta smirked at the strength in his son's voice.

"It was the day I found out your mother was pregnant . . ."

He trailed off and left the room.

Trunks' eyes narrowed in consideration. His father had just given him an approximate date to look up in Capsule Corp. records.

Turning to the computer, he pulled up all records for the corresponding year and started a search for destruction, insurance reports, lawsuits, police reports, and anything else he could think of that he could associate with his father.

And though he knew what criteria and what type of search he was conducting, he never expected to find what he did.

Vegeta closed the door and was met by four concerned demi-people.

"Is he ok?" Maron wrung her hands worriedly.

"He is a saiyan," the Saiyan Prince raised an eyebrow at the show of concern.

"How bad is it?" Zarah inquired.

"Damage is minimal," Vegeta glanced at his daughter, "He's fine."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed at the close proximity of Goten to his daughter.

Goten took a quick step away and received a nod of approval.

Bra's eyes turned sad as she noticed the interaction. Her father didn't even like the idea of Goten standing too close to her. He was never going to . . . She had already decided that this relationship was going nowhere so why was she sad?

"Come Bra," Vegeta motioned her to come to him, "Your mother wants to speak to you."

Bra glanced at her friends apprehensively and reluctantly followed her father. She didn't look back.

Zarah's jaw was clenched as new factors came into the equation. Bra would not go against her father and Goten did not seemed inclined to face him.

"Goten."

"Hmm?" Goten was not really paying attention to Zarah as he watched Bra walk away.

"We need to talk," Zarah eyes were small slits of blue.

"Now?" Goten swallowed as he saw the look directed at him.

"Later," Zarah put a hand on Maron's arm, "Come."

"But Trunks-"

"Goten will to see to him."

Goten sighed as Zarah escorted his cousin down the hallway and out of sight.

He knocked on the door.

"Trunks, it's me." Goten called when he didn't get an answer.

"Come in."

"So where's Mom?" Bra smiled innocently at her father.

"She's not here," Vegeta glanced at her shrewdly, "You are going to tell me what's going on."

"What do you mean?" Bra couldn't help but cringe at his next words.

"You know exactly what I mean."

End of Chapter Thirteen

AN: I was flamed! ::Sigh:: And I thought I was doing so well. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Michelle