Chapter Eighteen

Trunks closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the cool glass.

She couldn't be the one. She wasn't a fighter, never had been, and was never going to be.

He continued his walk and glanced absently at Bra as they flew home together. She seemed as miserable as he was. They landed in front of their home. They parted and he made his way to his room.

He plopped onto his bed and crossed his arms under his head.

His only thoughts of were Maron.

She was a good-looking woman with an exotic blond-haired blued-look. Her trade-mark ponytails were replaced with a French braid that showcased her features. She was as slim as many of the women in the building were but it was not a fighter's build.

If he had been human, she would have been perfect but then , his mother wasn't a fighter. . . Physically, anyway.

He had a problem, he was unsure.

When his dad had decided to be with his mother, he hadn't hesitated. His Aunt Ava had known after two meetings who she wanted. Zarah had realized within three meetings that Pan was the one. Wouldn't he have known by now?

Then again, the situations were different.

He had grown up with Maron just as surely as Goten had grown up with Bra. When had Goten's feelings changed for her? What had triggered it?

It was a difficult situation.

He couldn't just ask Goten about it since he wasn't really supposed to know what was going on and, there was also the fact, that it wasn't a reliable source since the relationship hasn't proven true yet.

When this was all over, two things were going to happen: One, he was going to start firing secretaries that didn't comply and, two, he was going to have a long talk with Goten.

The next day was strange for everyone. Goten had once again been dragged away by a ninja Sasoli and they spent the day scaring people as the secretaries caught glimpses of them from the corners of their eyes. Rumors about shadow people were spread. Trunks was a bit more tight-lipped than usual and Maron a bit more reserved. Bra had barricaded herself in her lab and refused to come out. It was probably a miracle that she had come to work at all.

Zarah was the only one in a light mood. His escapade with Pan the day before had been extremely satisfying and he had spent the night soothing her injured ego. The day became strange as he was threatened by Goten of all people to leave Bra alone.

"It is my job to look out for her welfare," his voice was pure steel, "I will allow no one to hurt her."

Zarah glared as he was held in the same manner as he had held Goten last night.

"I'm not going to hurt her," Goten's voice was just as hard.

"You'll fight for her?" Disbelief colored Zarah's voice, "You didn't even fight me and you'll fight Trunks?"

"If it comes to that," Goten didn't flinch, "It goes that far than I will."

Zarah coughed as he was released but recovered quickly. He's gotten stronger.

"What are your feelings for her?" Zarah couldn't help the curious note in his voice.

"It's none of your business," Goten reiterated softly.

"I think it is," Zarah crossed his arms, "I could easily tell Trunks and Uncle Vegeta what you were up to."

Goten gave him a glare worthy of his saiyan heritage.

"I don't know. I care as I have always cared but this . . .is just more. Zarah, I can't have you telling them. She is skittish enough as it is."

Zarah held his gaze for a long moment when he grinned.

"I agree."

"What?" Goten blinked, his clueless expression in full effect.

"Nothing, just know that you will find no opposition from me." Zarah shoved Goten out his door, "Tell Bra I said that."

The door was slammed shut when it was opened again.

"Oh, and nice outfit."

The slammed shut again.

Goten scratched the back of his head when he became aware of the women in the hallway starring.

He quickly slipped his mask back on and tried to melt into the shadows as Sasoli had showed him. He was only half successful and so he broke rule number one. He used his power to speed away. Sasoli had warned him not to use his powers under any circumstance while undercover, for while, not many could read energy signatures like they could, their were others who were just sensitive and could pick them up.

Checking the time, Goten swore, Sasoli had only given him a fifteen minute break and the scuffle with Zarah had swallowed up all his time. He only had about roughly five minutes left. If he used his power to get into the lab then that would only take about a minute but then everyone would know where he went.

Goten ran down the hallway and ducked past all the personal. Running would take longer but at least his visit would be anonymous.

He hoped on the stair railing and skidded all the way down, his ninja outfit was really resilient. He knocked firmly and waited.

No answer.

He frowned and knocked again.

"Bra?"

"Goten?"

He heard her voice faintly through the door.

"Yeah, it's me. I talked to Zarah about what happened the other day," Goten placed his palm flat on the door. "Let me in."

Bra closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the metal.

"I can't."

"He told me to tell you to expect 'no opposition' from him, whatever that means." Goten's eyes searched the door for any crevice or crack that would allow him to see Bra, "Let me in."

"I can't," Bra smiled wryly, "I barricaded the door so it won't open until closing time."

"What?" He blinked.

"My mom invented it so my dad wouldn't bother her when she was working on something," a small laugh, "You're lucky you can hear me through this."

"I want to see you, Bra."

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow at the tournament."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

Goten huffed and shook his head. "Avoiding the problem isn't going to make it go away."

"I know."

"I'll talk to your father and face anything he can throw at me." Goten stated with determination.

"No," her voice was hard, "Don't you dare, Goten."

"Why not?" He demanded, "I'll have to face him eventually. Why not now?"

Bra felt the tips of her lips turn up, "I'm not ready."

Goten ran his hands over the door, helpless against the need to do something, anything to get through to her. His hands stilled as her words hit him.

"Bra . . . Do you want . . .to see me?"

Her eyes widened at the uncertainty in his voice and her mouth moved to answer but there was no sound. She had labeled him forbidden and never even considered being with him but now. . . He was willing and. . . Trunks would have Maron if her plans worked . . . and Goten was the only person her father might approve of and . . .

The light left Goten's eyes when no answer was forthcoming and he lowered his head.

"I . . .Goten . . . I'm making arrangements," Bra's voice came finally, "Ask me again when I'm done."

"How long?" Goten was jubilant.

"I'm not sure," Bra silently cursed the blockade, "I'll ask you when I'm done."

"Really?"

She exhaled lightly before answering, "Really."

She laughed when she heard him whoop with joy.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Bra!"

"Bye Goten," she couldn't have taken the smile off her face if she tried.

Sasoli tapped her foot annoyingly on the floor as she waited for her pupil to reappear. She had taken a calculated risk letting him run around on his own. She had tracked him to Zarah's office, felt him zip away, and then, he was gone. He had vanished without a trace. She couldn't find him anywhere.

She had trained him well. If only he would take to the personality switches as well as he did to sneaking around.

She huffed lightly to herself. Honestly, these people were going to be the end of her. This whole situation was doomed to failure. Goten and Bra were never going to be together, she had hated him for too long and he didn't have what it took to stand up to Uncle Vegeta. In fact-

"Sorry, I'm late Sasoli," Goten interrupted her thoughts with a cheery grin, "I had to use the bathroom."

He's a horrible liar, Sasoli noted in her mental checklist to change about Goten though she paid special attention to the new light in his eyes.

"Have you seen Bra today?" She inquired seriously, "I didn't see her in the break room."

"Um," Goten flushed and tried to hide it, "I haven't seen her."

"I was just curious," Sasoli shrugged and smiled on the inside. Of course, this was going to succeed. She always accomplished her goals and her sights were set on them. "Come on, Goten, I have more to teach you."

He sighed and followed dutifully.

"This spy business is more complicated than I thought it would be," he mumbled.

Sasoli smiled teasingly over her shoulder, "If it wasn't then everyone would do it."

Maron bit her lip nervously as she regarded the phone in front of her. On one hand, she could call Bra and discuss the mildly confusing events involving Trunks or she could page Sasoli and talk about the same thing. The only problem with calling either of them was the fact that they were both closely related to him.

She drummed her fingers and enjoyed the hard clicking of her nails on the desk when Zarah dumped a bunch of papers in her inbox on the way to his main office. Muttering the whole time about 'plans' and 'Pan.'

Maron absently took a paper from the stack and started to fill out the request form.

Pan . . . Now there was a person with possibilities. Pan was the one who had gotten stuck in space with Trunks and Goku for a year, she was the one who sway Trunks' decisions if she tried, and, most importantly, she wasn't related to Trunks.

She picked up the phone and spent five minutes sorting through emergency phone numbers for Pan's cell. Maron frowned when she noticed there were two. Why would Pan have two cell phones?

With a shrug, Maron dialed the first one and waited for her to answer.

"This is a benefit for our company and every company," Trunks paused in his speech when the phone rang. It wasn't just any phone but the red phone. The 'oh shit, the company's going to explode any minute' phone. "Excuse me."

The council members shifted in their seats nervously. The last time that phone had rung, a person had been abducting Bulma Briefs and no one could stop him.

Trunks went into his open office and shut the door.

"What's happening?" He demanded as soon as he lifted the handle to his mouth.

Silence.

"Hello?" Trunks glared into the phone, this had better not be a prank call-

"Trunks?"

"Maron?" Trunks entire demeanor changed and he fidgeted once before regaining his control, "What's going on? What did Zarah do? How long do we have until the building explodes?"

"I dialed the wrong number, Trunks," her voice was carefully controlled.

"Oh," Trunks deflated, "Who were you trying to call?"

A slight pause, "Well, not your emergency number."

He brightened, just because she wasn't the one, didn't mean he couldn't bask in her attentions.

"So . . ." He trailed off, it had been a long time since he had a casual conversation with anyone besides Goten. "What are you doing?"

"I'm slowly making my way through tons of paperwork," she laughed, "Honestly, Trunks, who did you have do this before I started to work here?"

"I did," Trunks sat in his office chair and propped his feet up, "You're saving me hours of work."

"No wonder you ordered him to have a secretary," Maron's voice was mildly surprised, "But what's the story about his past secretaries?"

"That's a long story, Maron," Trunks propped his feet on his desk.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even stop to think if you were busy. Are you? We can talk some other time."

Trunks narrowed his eyes in thought as he glanced at the boardroom. Which would he rather do? Talk to Maron or to a bunch of old men who thought they knew what was best with his company?

"No, we can talk now," Trunks smiled, grateful she had called on the red phone. He couldn't be blamed for talking for hours on it since it was for the sake of the company. Everyone else would just have to wait.

Zarah hovered in front of the building anxiously as he waited for Pan. She was supposed to come and tell him of what transpired at her school. Whether or not, they were going to have to face repercussions for the severe beating he had dealt out.

"Zarah!" Pan zoomed in on his person.

"Pan!" He snatched her up and hugged her, "What's the word?"

"Gak," Pan was the only way she could reply as the air was smashed from her lungs.

"Pan?" Zarah loosened his hold on her so he could look at her.

"Not . . .so tight," Pan regained her breath.

"But you're so squeezable," Zarah teased.

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, we're in the clear. No one can positively ID you since you don't go to our school and no one believes I am capable of doing that to him. Besides, his credibility was shot when he told the cops his assailants flew away." She became almost sad then, "Ryan was taken to get some psychiatric treatment."

"Pan," Zarah frowned and cupped her chin to make her look at him, "He was bothering you and he insulted you. On planet Vegeta I would have had the right to kill him, it was unforgivable."

"Zarah," she rolled her eyes, "We're not on planet Vegeta."

"I know," he gave her a cheeky grin, "Here, we have lawyers."

She laughed before she could stop herself.

"That's not very nice, Zarah."

His expression turned serious, "What he said wasn't very nice, Pan, I already told last night, no one insults you and gets away with it."

"How can you be so sweet and such a neanderthal at the same time." She shook her head.

"I'm special?" He offered enthusiastically.

"You would have to be." She winked at him, "So I'm her, you're here, let's do lunch."

"Is it lunch already?" Zarah glanced at his watch, "Should we invite Sasoli?"

"Sasoli?" Pan lifted a brow.

"You're right, she'll probably be teaching Goten how to eat secretly or something like that," Zarah nodded to himself.

"Why would she teach him that?" Pan inquired as they landed on the roof.

"It might be part of his training," Zarah held open the door for her.

"Training for what?"

"His training to be a spy."

"A spy?!"

"Ow," Zarah turned to his wife with huge eyes, "Why did you hit me?"

"You've spent all this time trying to get me to be a secretary and my Uncle Goten gets to be a spy!"

"Pan," Zarah glared at her, "You're not suited for the life of a spy."

"Why not?"

"Because you're as subtle as my mom."

Maron stifled a giggle.

"Trunks!" she was scandalized, "How can you say that about your parents?"

"I have no problem saying it, if it's true. You can see the security tape if you don't believe me."

"Jeez, I can't picture Aunt Bulma getting dragged down the hallway." Maron shook her head.

"Yeah, I know," Trunks' voice faded slightly, "But that's what made the secretaries leave my dad alone."

"You sound wistful," Maron leaned back into her chair.

"Why wouldn't I?" He snorted, "I can barely imagine a time when I didn't have to watch my every move."

"Hmmm."

" . . . Maron, I was wondering . . ."

Maron's brow went up as he trailed off.

"Wondering what?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would pretend to be pregnant and let me drag you through the building."

It took a couple of seconds for her brain to process his request.

"What?"

"I-"

"You want me to what?" She was flabbergasted.

"I- Maron- Please, just to get them off my back until I can go through proper channels."

"No." Her voice was firm.

"Please."

"Trunks, I am not going to let you drag me through the building," Maron tried to gather her thoughts, "If you want them off your back then pretend you have a girlfriend."

"Maron, I tried that years ago." He whined over the phone, "The was so harassed that she left crying after an hour."

Maron frowned, "Have you tried just saying you had one?"

"Yes, didn't work. Hell, Sasoli even posed as my girlfriend but it didn't work since they had access to company records and found out we were related."

"Whose idea was that?"

"Hers. She thought it was part of her job as head of security but gave up after a month. She said it was impossible."

"There had to be a way."

"I don't know . . ."

"What if I did it."

". . . they just won't stop- What?"

"What if I posed as your girlfriend?"

"Maron . . . Do you know what you're saying? You would be constantly hunted until you broke up with me."

"Trunks, I work with Zarah and I eat my lunch with Bra. I am always with one of you guys and I can handle myself."

" . . .You would do this for me?"

"You helped me out by giving me this job, Trunks, the least I could do is pose as your girlfriend. Besides, think of the bragging rights."

A startled laugh escaped his lips.

"It's not that easy . . . But if you're willing-"

"I am."

He blew out a breath, "Ok, we'll discuss the details tomorrow at the tournament."

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

"Ok, bye."

"Bye," she hung up the phone and raised a shaky hand to cover her pounding heart.

What had she just agreed to? Sure, Trunks was one of the most attractive men on the face of the earth but was he worth being tortured over? The short and simple answer was yes, if it was real.

Dear kami, this was the man she had known for her whole life, and yet, knew nothing. All she really knew was that he had been a sweet little boy . . .

Maron wondered down the hallway when she heard sounds of fighting. Curious, she headed in the direction of the noise and opened the door to the backyard.

Trunks, Goten, and Zarah were sitting on the grass resting after a vigorous spar.

"What are you doing outside Maron?" Zarah glanced at her over his shoulder.

"I thought I heard fighting," she fidgeted nervously as her cousin by blood sighed.

"We just finished up, Maron, why don't you go back inside," Zarah dismissed her as he turned to Goten.

Maron blinked before sadly turning back to the house when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

She lifted her eyes hesitantly to meet Trunks'.

"You can stay out here with us if you want to," Trunks smiled.

"Really?" She smiled in return.

"Yeah, it's no big deal."

Zarah and Goten were surprised at Trunks' actions.

"She doesn't fight," Zarah said as if to explain why she should go back into the house.

Goten just looked sad at the possibility, "Why?"

"You don't fight?" Trunks frowned at the girl.

Maron looked down, "No, not really. Mom says I don't have to if I don't want to."

"Hmm," Trunks pondered, "Do you want to?"

She shook her head sending her pigtails swinging.

Trunks nodded, "Well, if you ever change your mind we can teach you, right guys?"

Goten grinned, "Yeah!"

Zarah shrugged.

"Really, Trunks?" Maron looked at him hopefully.

"Yeah, sure. No big deal," Trunks shrugged.

Maron's lips twisted at the memory, she had been five? Older? She didn't remember but she remembered him. The problem was she didn't know what kind of man he had become.

He was caring. He had been her getaway car when Zarah had thrown her to the wolves, let her cry on him over Zarah's 'missing' hand, and he had tried to rescue her when she had choked on her coffee.

He was probably one of the most successful men on the planet and not because of his mother's past success. So he had to be extremely responsible to keep everything afloat and moving smoothly.

He seemed lonely.

Maron started working on the papers she had forgone in her conversation. She could read the signs all too well after being the recipient for longer than she could remember. His role had switched from carefree friend to boss and the others had fallen in line, it was lonely at the top.

Maron's face jerked up at the sound of the door.

"Sasoli," she smiled pleasantly, "Zarah isn't in."

"He's not?" Sasoli pouted and turned to go.

"Wait, I need to know what time you are going to come over so I can do your hair."

"Oh yeah," Sasoli cringed, "I forgot."

"You said you wouldn't complain," Maron crossed her arms, "Are you going back on your word?"

"Eight o'clock, the tournament starts at nine." Sasoli answered shortly and left.

Maron smiled again and went back to work.

"No use worrying about something that can be resolved tomorrow."

End of Chapter Eighteen