Disclaimer: I own nothing more than my cutie cow pajamas. AND YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM! I'LL DIE FIRST! AHHH!!!

Author's Note: To the reviewer Princess Pippi, to me, it doesn't really matter how "I'm sorry" is spelled in Japanese. In fact, everywhere you look there's a different spelling for everything. I'm going to stop using Japanese words altogether pretty soon and stick to the language I know best. As for Saiyajins' hair, it indeed doesn't really grow. The fact is, however, that it doesn't grow out of a certain style. So if it is cut, it will grow back to the way it had been before (like Goku's hair did pretty much instantly in what I believe was the first DBZ movie). At least that's how I've read it and pretty much interpreted from what I've seen. Alas, we do all know how unreliable the internet can be. =P And no one can explain the plot hole of Saiyajin facial hair. O_o We all love Vejjie with his fire-like hair and without a mustache anyways, right? GT Vejjie is just… wrong. I couldn't just leave him like that. lol Damn, this AN is long. o_O;

Chapter Seven: The Risk of Trust

Bulma blew a stray clump of hair out of her face as she reviewed her plans for Serive's ship. Actually, they were alterations, as her company had already been working on spacecraft and she only had to make some changes to an existing model.

Capsule Corporations had been developing transportation for space travel for the government for many years, giving federal scientists the opportunity to further study nearby planets. Currently the company was developing a better ship to satisfy the scientists' demands in exchange for massive quantities of money. Little did anyone but she, her family, and her friends know, however, that Bulma already knew how to build a spaceship that could very likely journey to the far corners of the universe. Going above and beyond the government's demands, however, would raise questions that, if answered, would cause great aggravation to her family and friends. Not to mention that the inventor didn't think the human race was quite ready for universal travel.

As for this non-human voyager, the Wycanian's demands would mostly be easy to fill, but others would take some time. The adaptable fuel container was one of the most problematic. Serive didn't know too much about fuel compounds, and asking Vejita had brought up just the same results. Bulma knew a bit from the samples she'd taken from the ship she'd taken to Namek, but she wasn't sure if fuel preference had changed since then.

Well, most fuels worked the same way. She could create some gadgets that would convert how the fuel was used, or maybe even the fuel itself. Or perhaps a number of fuel tanks for different types to create less chance of error. Maybe she could even make it solar powered, although some planets had no sun-

There was a sudden clattering that was punctuated with a crash. Bulma looked up from her notes to see Vejita standing perfectly straight and still next to a fallen pile of gears, bolts, and circuits that used to be one of her latest innovations.

Bulma groaned and glared at her slightly blushing husband. "Vejita, if you insist on watching me like a hawk, would you mind not touching anything?!"

Vejita had not left her side since Serive had arrived, obviously concerned for her safety. Bulma couldn't really blame him, but the man could be hazardous when he was bored. Every five minutes one thing or another would catch his eye, and while she was caught up in her thoughts about how to alter this or replace that, he would stare and prod at it until it wound up broken or damaged.

"Vejita, if you want, you can go take a break and get Trunks or Gohan to watch me."

Vejita snorted. "No."

Bulma rolled her eyes and sipped her tea. She did appreciate his protectiveness; it was kind of nice to be able to see that he cared for her. But he was going to drive her insane!

Well, back to the ship. If she recallibrated-

*THUD*

*CRASH*

*CLATTER-CLATTER-CLATTER*

"DAMN IT, VEJITA-"

The door clapped open and Bra was standing in the doorway.

"Okaasan!" she chirped. "Pan-chan is here with Videl! So is Eighteen!" Then she vanished as quickly as she arrived to greet the guests.

Bulma chuckled as she got up. "As usual, when there's trouble, everybody turns up." She turned to Vejita. "Are you coming, or are you going to blow up my whole lab to save yourself time?"

"Ha. Ha."

"I can't believe you didn't tell us, Gohan!" Videl exclaimed with a frown.

"Hey, it's no big deal!" Gohan replied defensively. "No one's even died yet."

"Whatever, 'Tousan," Pan said, refusing to look at him. "You and all the guys just wanted all the action to yourselves!" She gestured to Eighteen, who sat on the couch, with Krillin beside her. "Even Marron's okaasan didn't know!"

Eighteen raised an eyebrow. "I knew."

Pan nearly fell over. "What?"

"I told Krillin that if it got bad enough I'd help deal with it." Eighteen cocked her head to the side. "You two didn't sense her?"

Pan huffed. "Otousan and Okaasan aren't so big on fighting anymore. There's no one around to help me refine my skills."

"Psh. What skills?"

"What?" Pan snapped, whirling around to see who had spoken.

Trunks was came down the stairs and approached the new arrivals. "Hey, guys. I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Oh!" Pan tried to hide her blush. "Hi, Trunks. How are you?"

"Okaasan!" another voice cried out, and Marron came bounding downstairs. She sat on the couch and gave her mother a hug. "I've missed you!"

Eighteen smiled. "How is life in the city?"

"Great!" Marron answered, then blanched. "Well, until now."

The cyborg fingered the marks on her daughter's throat. "So I've heard…" She hmphed. "So, where is this charming woman?"

Gohan shrugged. "We've tried to keep tabs on her, but she always manages to evade us."

"She likes to explore," Bra replied as she walked into the room. "Hey, everybody!"

Pan smiled at the girl, then frowned, "Yeah, well, we should just kick her ass and be done with it."

"What we should do is just build her a ship and let her go home," Bulma said, appearing behind Bra. She strode across the room- with Vejita right behind her- over to Videl, Pan, and Eighteen.

"She did only come here looking for help," Bra added.

Vejita snorted, but said nothing.

"That's what they all say," Pan said jokingly.

"What do they all say?" a voice asked from the stairs.

Everyone jumped, but they calmed when they saw it was only Paresu.

"Nothing," Bulma quickly covered. "No one says anything."

Paresu stared at them blankly, then looked around with surprise. "Oh! More guests." She descended the stairs and walked over to Pan. "Nice to see you again, Pan, Videl, Eighteen."

"You too." Pan nodded. "So, how have you been?"

"Fine, but…" Paresu glanced around the room. "Goten and I have kept to ourselves lately. I mean, it's nice and all, but I thought we came to visit you." She looked to Bulma as she finished. "I just feel quite rude. No one has even told me who that woman is."

"Serive?" Bra asked.

Paresu nodded. "Is that her name? Gosh, I didn't even know that much. I don't want her to think I'm avoiding her because of… well, because of her skin condition." She finished quite shyly, not sure if she was supposed to mention it.

Everyone stared at her blankly.

Gohan blinked. "Oh! Yeah, her condition."

"It's nothing really. Nothing at all," Bulma assured the model.

Marron nodded. "And she wouldn't just assume that you were avoiding her."

"Yeah, she probably didn't even consider it, seeing as how everyone has been so busy with her arrival," Krillin jumped in.

Paresu looked to the short man. "Busy? Who is she?"

"A Capsule Corporations client," Bulma replied.

"One of Goten's old girlfriends," Pan said at the same time as Bulma.

Paresu looked between them. "What?"

Bulma resisted the urge to give Pan a dirty look. "Well, she and Goten went out for a short while a few years ago. You remember, right, Trunks?" she said pointedly.

Trunks looked a bit surprised, but got the hint. "Oh, yeah! When Goten came with me and 'Kaasan on a business trip to… to…"

"Greenland," Bra blurted out.

"Greenland?" Trunks exclaimed.

"Yes, Trunks. Greenland," Bulma said through her teeth and elbowing Bra.

Trunks nodded enthusiastically. "Right, Greenland. For some reason I thought it was Iceland."

"Yeah, Serive is the daughter of one of our overseas clients," Bulma said. "Her parents passed away recently, so we have to… um… go over their file since everything is in her name now."

"Was their relationship serious?" Paresu asked curiously.

"Oh, no," Bulma answered.

"Yeah," Trunks said in unity.

Bulma groaned in her mind. "Well, it was sort of serious, but since we were overseas it couldn't last too long."

"Sort of serious?" Paresu repeated. "How long were you there?"

"Only a couple weeks."

"Two months." Trunks contradicted.

Paresu raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it only felt like two weeks," Bulma laughed half-heartedly. "What with me being in the office with her parents doing negotiations and all. How time flies..."

"You spent two months in Greenland?"

"Yes. Yes, we did."

"Oh, well…" Paresu looked at Trunks suspiciously. "Then why did everyone seem to be in such a panic when she arrived? Why did all you guys have to go get her?"

"We… for some reason… We hadn't gotten notice that she would be arriving the other night," Bulma continued, hoping that the questions would end soon. "When no one was there to pick her up, she called. They had to hurry since she'd been waiting for about an hour. She's a very important client."

"But why all of them?"

"… She needed protection." It had a sound of logic to it, at least.

"From who?"

"The Greenland Mafia," Bra suddenly spoke.

Bulma stared at Bra with wide eyes. Paresu did not notice the disbelieving look because she herself was also staring at the girl frightenedly.

"There's a mafia in Greenland?" the brunnette asked with concern.

Vejita had an odd look on his face. "Excuse me," he said tightly before vanishing down the hallway.

Bulma recovered. "Yes. They are after her because… because… her father did some bad dealings with them."

Laughter drifted from the direction Vejita had gone in.

Paresu didn't seem to hear it. "Oh, how terrible," she whispered, covering her mouth.

"Yeah, they don't know she's here. We didn't tell you because, even though we trust you, we don't want them to get word," Trunks explained.

"Oh, I understand!" Paresu assured him. "I won't mention her to anyone."

"Won't mention who to anyone?" Goten appeared on the stairs. His hair was wet; he'd been in the shower, unable to keep Paresu from going off by herself.

"Oh, Goten-kun!" Paresu exclaimed. "I would have understood if you'd only told me!"

"Told you what?" Goten quickly said back, looking slightly panicked.

"About you protecting your ex from the Greenland Mafia when you picked her up from the airport."

Goten stared at her, then looked around the room at all the apologetic faces. "Oh…… Right."

"Why aren't you protecting her now, though?" Paresu asked.

"Tien, Yamcha, and Chaozu are with her right now," Krillin said. A half-lie; the three had been sent to look for the ivory-skinned woman, but it was likely that they'd been unable to find her.

"Oh, well, I suppose you all would have everything under control." Paresu appeared relieved.

"Control is something in the mind, dear." Serive suddenly appeared from the kitchen. She was still in clothes she had come across in storage; this time she wore black jeans and a green, long-sleeved shirt with her boots. "In reality, very few people have control over very few things."

"How philosophical," Bra commented. She was then a bit surprised, however, when the unliked guest pulled Jinja out from beneath her orange-ish hair where it had been sitting on her shoulder. That must have been the reason the small doll was so hard to spot; it couldn't help being hidden under the long locks.

Vejita reentered the room just then, and when caught sight of the Wycanian he once again appeared glued to Bulma's side.

"Shouldn't you be with Tien and Yamcha and Chaozu?" Paresu asked.

"Why would I be with them?" Serive replied, confused. She rested Jinja on a side table under the mirror on the wall then stepped away as she pulled back her hair.

"Because you're in danger!"

"What??" Serive froze with her hands holding her tresses, with the exception with the clump that curled around her face, up in a ponytail.

"Paresu!" Goten shouted, grabbing his girlfriend's arm. "Let's get back to our room!"

Paresu looked from his hand on his arm to his face. "What? Why?"

"Because… I don't know what to wear!"

"Goten, you're perfectly capable of picking out your own clothes."

"No, I'm not!" Goten persisted. "I'm actually very dependent. Especially on you. 'Cause I love you and all."

Paresu giggled. "Oh, honey, I love you too, but I've seen you dress yourself. I'll stay down here while you get dressed."

"But I really don't know what to wear. I… I wanted to take you to the movies today, and I don't want to look like a total slob and embarrass you."

The brunette's expression contorted into anger. "We saw a movie yesterday, Goten!" she snapped. "We also went to about every single mall in the area and ate out for every meal. And then when we get home you rush me to bed, insisting that I must be tired from being out all day. I've barely seen anyone but you for the past two days!"

"It's just that I-"

"It's just that you obviously aren't ready to reveal this huge secret to me!" Paresu filled in for him. Her voice cracked at the end, and Goten felt something tug inside when her eyes became shiny. "Two whole years with you, Goten-kun, and you still haven't told me anything about that day." She gripped the railing tightly with a pale hand. "Two whole years, and you still don't trust me to accept whatever is different about you."

"I trust you!" Goten placed his hand on hers. "I do! I'm just not ready to tell you yet!"

"Then when?!" Paresu nearly shrieked through her tears.

"Soon!"

"Soon? SOON?" Paresu yanked her hand away from his and glared at him. "'Soon' isn't soon enough! I'm tired of waiting for you, Goten! I'm tired of your dishonesty! I'm tired of being taken for granted!"

Trunks took a step forward to defend his friend. "Paresu, please, you don't understand-"

"What I don't understand," the brunette interrupted, "is why I have to be lied to and avoided even though Goten and I have been together for so long." She turned back to the dark-haired boy on the stairs. "When you can give me a logical, honest answer, you can find me at the Hagashi Hotel." With that, she went up the stairs, pushing past Goten and ignoring him as he followed her.

"Well, that went well," Marron muttered.

"Greenland, Bra?" Pan snorted.

"His old girlfriend, Pan?" Bra shot back.

"A Greenland mafia??" Pan retorted.

"Shut-up."

Serive had finished putting up her hair. "A bit left out of the group, isn't she?" she commented.

"You stay out of this!" a voice snapped.

Chi-Chi, glaring at Serive, emerged from another hall. She walked right up to the pale woman so that they were face to face.

The alien princess looked back at her with a curious expression. She'd been pretty much avoiding everyone in the household the few days she'd been here, and she hadn't yet met this woman. And just by her demeanor, Serive found that it might have been better if she hadn't.

Chi-Chi snorted. "If you hadn't shown up, my son would have no reason to lie to his girlfriend anymore. If he tells her everything now, including who you are, who knows what she'll think??"

Serive snarled right back. "Oh, well, I suppose then I should have just stayed with my people and watched them turn to dust before my very eyes?!"

"Chi-chi, Serive," Bra began tentatively, "I know this isn't the best of circumstances for anyone, but-"

Chi-Chi's protectiveness of her son blocked out Bra's words. "I must agree with Vejita on this. The sooner you're gone, the better."

Serive leaned toward the human woman menacingly. "So if I refuse to leave I should expect some violent action?" she said.

Chi-Chi appeared to clasp her hands behind her back as she smirked back at the Wycanian. "Perhaps. We can all get quite defensive when our home is in danger."

"And what makes you think it's in danger?"

"Experience."

"Experience, eh?" Serive replied challengingly. "I must say that if I had a bad habit of getting into trouble, I would find a much more durable and nasty weapon than that cooking utensil you have there."

Chi-Chi blinked. She brought her arms out from behind her back and the infamous frying pan was revealed in one of her hands. "How did you know that?" she asked in amazement.

Serive just folded her arms across her chest. "Perhaps, following what that girl said, you could all benefit in learning to trust people. You have all been kind enough to give me shelter and food, not to mention giving me a ship. I have no reason to cause you any harm, yet you insist that I have some motive that I've not revealed."

Chi-Chi folded her arms, frying pan still in her grip. "And we're back to experience, which has taught many that trust can let your guard down. In your case, I'm sure you understand, we cannot afford to blindly trust some stranger who has already attempted to kill Trunks and Marron."

Serive and Chi-Chi were locked in a stare-down for a moment or two before Serive finally looked away.

"Have it your way. I shall continue to avoid you all unless absolutely necessary." And with that she left the room.

"Was she expecting instant friendship?" Videl commented.

"God, Chi-Chi," Bulma muttered. "You could've provoked her into anything."

Chi-Chi turned to the inventor and waved around her pan. "I could've handled it."

"I'm sure."

"I could've! Psh, just because I haven't joined all the men in battle doesn't mean I can't defend myself."

"Okay, Chi-Chi." Bulma patronized.

"Just hush up." Chi-Chi's brow furrowed and she looked to the prince. "You didn't mention that they're psychic too, Vejita."

Vejita, if he was, didn't show that he was confused. "They're not…"

Bra swallowed hard. "Maybe… eh… Jinja told her?" She pointed to the small brown form that had sat right behind Chi-Chi during her encounter with Serive.

Everyone turned to the side table and stared at the doll, as if it would admit to its crime. But it merely sat where it had been placed, leaning against the wall under the…

Chi-Chi laughed. "The mirror!" She gestured to the mirror Jinja sat under. "She saw behind me with the mirror."

Everyone chuckled as if they should have realized too, but Bra shook her head. "I don't think so… I mean, it's not the right angle."

"What are you talking about?" Chi-Chi held the pan behind her back and looked over her shoulder. "Right there. Plain as day."

"You moved. You were over here." Bra led Chi-Chi a bit closer to the wall. "See? You can't see it at all."

Chi-Chi looked a bit disturbed. "No… I'm pretty sure it wasn't here." She looked around for confirmation, but no one had really noticed the minor detail of where she'd been standing.

After a bit of uncomfortable silence, Vejita exclaimed, "Oh, please! You don't really think that thing is alive, do you? It's just fabric and stitches!"

"And I'm just nuts and bolts and computer chips," Eighteen commented with slight offense in her voice.

"And some human body parts," Bulma pointed out, "which allowed you to give birth among other things."

Bra stared at the doll warily. "It does have that magic plant stuff in it."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this…" Vejita muttered.

Bulma yawned. "Well, as much as I'd love to contemplate the inner workings of Wycanian dolls, I'm going to make some tea and get back to work." She turned to go, but before going into the kitchen she said to Trunks, "Oh, honey, could you please show these three to their rooms?"

"Sure, 'Kaasan."

"Thanks." She then went into the kitchen, Vejita with her.

Everyone else dispersed as well, with the exception of Bra, who leaned against the back of the couch. She stared at the doll, wondering if perhaps… just maybe…

"Ugh!" Bra threw her arms into the air in frustration. "I'm just being paranoid. A doll! Alive? Really, Briefs, get a fully-functioning brain…" She turned to leave the room, when she heard a small noise.

She whirled around and stared at the doll. A chill ran down her spine.

Hadn't it just been facing a bit the other way…?

She approached the side table cautiously and reached out. Gingerly, she extended her arm… Slowly, slowly… Then she tapped it and jumped back, as if it would have tried to bite off her finger.

But the only change was the slight indent from her finger.

Bra felt some humiliation towards herself. She picked up the doll and stared at it. "Just a doll," she muttered, leaning against the table. But she contradicted herself once again, as the coolness of the wood made her realize just how warm the gingerbread-man-like figure was.

"Only from being near Serive's body heat," the girl assured herself, although her voice cracked in the process. "I mean, if you were really alive, 'Kaasan would've seen you moving around or talking or something on the videotape from Serive's room… Right?" Alive or not, it did seem rather silly to ask Jinja that. Even if it could do anything life-like, would it really tell or show her?

To avoid being frightened, even slightly, any further, Bra set the doll back down. She decided to go to her bedroom and read or listen to music. Anything to get her mind off the creepy little thing.

Later, though, the eerie feeling would return threefold when she opened her door to go downstairs for dinner.

A dismantled video camera lay on the carpet outside her room.

_______________________________________________________

Constructive criticism? Please? Puh-leh-heeeaaase? ;_;

As usual, more is on the way… whenever it gets done…