Chapter Fifteen

Trunks entered the room to see Zarah watching his sister and Goten with amusement.

"I didn't get the chance to tell her she would be training him to be a spy," Zarah confided in Trunks.

"I see," Trunks nodded and pulled Zarah to the side. "Does she know?"

"Yes," Zarah didn't flinch when Trunks glared at him. "Trunks, it was better for me to tell her right away then have her trying to guess what was going on. She is much too observant to not notice. Besides, she has pointed out a flaw in the tournament."

"Flaw?" The lavender haired president lifted a brow.

"Your dad, my mom, and Goten's dad will come to investigate as soon as the tournament begins." Zarah eyed him levelly.

"You're right," Trunks frowned, "What are we going to do?"

"You will talk to your mom, she will talk to Chichi, and I will talk to my dad. Their spouses shall distract them. Sasoli has covered every possible problem." Zarah rolled his eyes and continued to watch his sister.

"I only hire the best."

"Hn."

"So when can we start training?" Goten grinned enthusiastically.

Sasoli shot a look at Trunks and her brother full of smug satisfaction.

"ASAP Goten," Sasoli informed him and pulled on his arm. "Come on!"

"ASAP?" Goten asked over his shoulder as she pulled him from the room.

"As soon as possible," Trunks yelled after them. "Zarah, what was that look for?"

"The one that said she knew the secrets of the universe?"

"Yeah."

"She is going to use this situation to her advantage." Zarah rubbed his forehead, "You don't know how many times I've seen that look. It's not going to be pretty."

"For who?" Trunks was mildly alarmed, for though had hired her to be spy never before had she worked within their building.

"Who knows."

Zarah clapped him on the back.

"But everyone is at risk when you set her off."

"All right," Trunks could accept that, "Now about Maron."

Zarah lifted a brow.

"Maron?"

"Ok, Goten," Sasoli purposely chose a room above Bra's basement lab. "Lesson number one, blend in."

Goten just watched her curiously as she moved all the furniture to the walls so there was a large space in the middle. He became nervous, though, when she dimmed the lights and went to the computer.

"Sasoli?" Goten rubbed his arm nervously, "What are you doing?"

She sent him a very dry look over her shoulder.

"You need to learn to blend in everywhere and that includes in clubs," she pushed a button on the keyboard and dance music started pouring out.

She walked toward him with a playful smirk.

"Dance with me, Goten."

"What about Maron?" Zarah kept his expression perfectly bland.

"She had an interesting reaction to me just now and I want to know what it meant," Trunks sat down and placed his ankle on the opposite knee.

"Explain," Zarah was all ears.

"I asked her if she was sick and she said she was fine."

"That's normal," Zarah nearly rolled his eyes at his idiot cousin.

"No," Trunk was emphatic, "I tilted her face up to mine when I asked."

"You what?" Zarah frowned, "You mean like you would to kiss someone?"

He could remember doing that to Pan several times. She really liked it. The question was why was Trunks doing it to Maron?

"I guess," red tinted the president's cheekbones.

"What did she do?" Zarah tried not to look too interested.

"I told you," Trunks was irritated, "She said, 'I'm fine.' Then she stepped away."

"That's it?" Zarah was disappointed, this behavior was typical of both of them.

"Yes," Trunks looked at him expectantly. "What does it mean?"

"What do you want it to mean?" Zarah shot back and enjoyed the flustered look of his cousin. "Maron is and will always be cool and collected when in a situation she doesn't understand."

Trunks was perplexed.

"But I have seen her-"

"Trunks," Zarah was unusually patient. "The only reason you have seen her break down, faint, and cry is because she feels safe around us enough let her guard down.

"What just happened in her office was the mask she uses when she's uncomfortable."

"I made her feel uncomfortable?" Trunks was hurt.

"I'm not sure," Zarah shrugged, "I'm not as close to her as I should be. Sasoli could give you a much better reading.

"All I know was when you tilted her face up, she confused her, she didn't know how to react and she distanced herself from it. It could mean she likes you or the opposite, I don't know."

Zarah narrowed his eyes strategically.

"Why are you asking, Trunks?"

Put on the spot, he sputtered out a, "no reason."

Zarah's brows went up in an 'is that so' look.

"I can't believe I'm going to tell you this," Trunks groaned and covered his face with his hands.

Zarah leaned forward eagerly.

"She wasn't in the mob that attacked me." He said finally.

Zarah absorbed the information slowly and it's implications to Trunks became apparent. Ever since they started working there every woman, with the exception of Bra, had tried to take advantage of them in every conceivable way.

They had lived their lives with extreme caution to the point they didn't even notice it anymore but Trunks had always taken the brunt of it all. He was always flitting around the building on random tasks while Trunks remained a constant and steady target.

In many ways, that was the reason he was so attracted to Pan the first time he saw her. When he had caught her in the restricted area she hadn't thrown herself at him . . . well, she had but it was only her fist.

Trunks sank into his chair and allowed his head to rest on the backrest.

"I see," Zarah said more to himself than Trunks and he did see. He saw and understood in a way everyone else couldn't, not even Goten who had had his first taste not too long ago.

A cynical smile graced Trunks lips as he regarded his silent cousin.

"It's funny . . . we've been at each others throats since we were very small and now . . ."

"There isn't another who could understand better," Zarah finished with a smile of his own.

"Only, now you have Pan." Trunks dusted off his pants, "And I have no one."

"You have Goten," Zarah felt compelled to point out.

This time Trunks' smile was infinitely sad.

"Not after we succeed with project couple."

"Maron has always been alone, Trunks," Zarah glanced away. "She's always been the one on the outside looking in. Sasoli would play with her when it was just us and our mother wasn't there. Mom was never one to encourage Sasoli to play with dolls."

Zarah didn't meet Trunks' eyes even though they were boring holes into his head.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you need to know," Zarah locked eyes with him then, "Get out of my office."

Trunks nodded and left silently, he had much to think about.

Bra growled as she glanced up at the ceiling for the hundred time. Who the HELL was playing that music during WORKING hours?!

Unable to concentrate, Bra slipped out of her coveralls and stomped up the stairs with a fury. Whoever it was, was going to find themselves without a job.

Don't get her wrong, she didn't mind to listen to music but not this incessant techno dance music that was designed specifically for it's mindlessness.

She spent about ten seconds locating the room and threw open the door.

She flicked on the lights and then stood there in shock.

Goten was blushing furiously as he watched Sasoli bump and grind with a chair.

Her request had been met with a blank stare so, with a shake of the head, she had made a dance partner out of a chair. She then told him to observe her movements and pretend he was the chair.

Hence, the blush.

She was currently straddling the chair with her back arched in apparent pleasure. Her hips were rolling sensuously, though if one looked closely, one might notice she never actually touched the chair. Goten, however, was desperately trying not to notice. He had never thought of his childhood playmate as female, sure he knew she was a girl, but he had never paid attention to it. Now he was being hit smack in the face with the knowledge that, yes, she was female, and, now, she was a woman who knew the affect her body had on men.

Sasoli allowed the music to fill her while simultaneously keeping track of Bra's energy signature.

With a smirk, she noted it was on the move.

"All right, Goten," she shoved the chair across the room. "Your turn."

"B-but Sas . . ." He tried to back away from her.

"Stop it," she pulled him to her and wrapped her legs around his hips. She held her weight in her arms as she gripped her shoulders and met his eyes seriously.

"Rotate your hips."

Goten flinched at the order as he held her hips, trying to keep contact at a minimal.

"Do it."

"Sasoli-"

The door swung open and Goten froze while Sasoli glared at the intruder.

"What the hell?!" Bra stepped into the room, the barest hint of betrayal in her eyes as she eyed Goten.

"It's not what it looks like," he winced at how lame he sounded.

Sasoli slipped off him without another thought and planted her hands on her hips.

"What do you think you're doing here, Bra? I don't interrupt you when you're working."

"Working?" Bra exclaimed incredulously. "How the hell-"

"I don't ask you how you invent things do I?" Sasoli interrupted her harshly, "Don't tell me how to do my job. Trunks told me to train him so I am going to and that's it. He outranks you, Princess."

"How is this your job?" Bra snapped, "You're a spy."

Sasoli's whole stance became arrogant and her attitude smug.

"All work and no play makes Sasoli a dull girl." A mocking laugh, "Honestly, Bra, how do you think I infiltrated the gang in New York? By asking to join?"

Both Goten and Bra waited for her to finish her statement.

"I went to every night club in town to find out who was the who in the city. Finally, I found them and I became one of them."

"How?" Bra whispered, she had never really thought about the ins and outs of Sasoli's job before.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sasoli turned her nose up at her. "Goten! Come here!"

Goten took a step back instead, nervousness radiated from him in waves.

"Goten," Sasoli sighed in resignation, "You need to be able to blend in any given situation. We start with the nightclubs, then a ball, then a Latin club, and so on until we can move seamlessly from one into another."

"Can't we start with . . . Something other than a club?" Goten pleaded.

Sasoli rolled her eyes.

"We'll do this tomorrow. I expect you to be ready by then, Goten."

Sasoli walked past Bra and out of the room leaving the two would-be lovebirds alone.

"Thanks Bra," Goten turned off the music, "Damn, but Sasoli can be forward."

"You have no idea," she exhaled, relieved the music finally stopped.

"Why did you come, Bra?" Goten was suddenly before her.

"The music was coming through the floor," Bra rubbed her temples. "I couldn't concentrate."

"Oh," Goten's voice was mildly disappointed.

Bra met his eyes then, "Why did you think I came?"

Goten's eyes shuttered, "No reason."

They stood there starring at each other, not quite sure whether the other was being completely truthful.

"I should get back to work," Bra turned broke the contact and left.

Goten frowned and glanced around the room.

"I guess I should put everything back the way it was."

He wasn't just referring to the room.

End of Chapter Fifteen