Chapter 28- Interrogate

Vegeta was decidedly uncomfortable-and not just physically. At first, detective Johnson's questions had been basics: name, age, and such. The detective had even attempted to start a friendly conversation about football, most likely to get Vegeta to open up to him.

Of course Vegeta remembered the "accident", but he'd tried not to think about it. He hadn't even tried to take the bandages off of his chest to see if the mark was still there. Whether that was because he feared it would be he wouldn't admit- even to himself.

He wished the man would just leave him alone. Come to think of it, he wished everybody would just leave him alone. He just wanted to get on with his life and forget about everything.

Vegeta ceased his brooding when the detective pulled something out of his bag. "Do you recognize any of these people?" he asked showing Vegeta a paper with twelve men's pictures on it.

Vegeta looked at each picture in turn. None of the men looked particularly familiar at first glance, but one stood out from the rest. Vegeta stared at the picture for a few seconds, and then glanced up to the detective. Detective Johnson was studying Vegeta, and by the look on his face, Vegeta could clearly tell that he was not a patient man. Vegeta sighed and pointed to the picture of the man that he recognized.

"Are you sure?" The detective asked.

Vegeta nodded.

"Do you know his name?"

Vegeta thought about it for a minute.

"If you don't remember..."

"Shadow... I think."

The detective stared at him as if contemplating something. Finally, he turned and slipped the picture back into the bag and pulled out another one although he kept it turned downward. Looking back to Vegeta, he asked. "Did you ever see this man, Shadow, before the...accident."

Vegeta shook his head no.

"Alright then." He said scribbling something on his notebook. "Do you recognize any of these men?" He flipped the paper he had been holding over and handed it to Vegeta.

It was the same as the last one, except with different pictures. Vegeta looked it over, the same as he did last time, and pointed out the only man that he recognized.

"Locke." He stated before the detective could ask. "And no. I'd never seen him."

The detective just nodded and slipped that picture back into his bag, but didn't pull another one out. When he looked back to Vegeta, the boy could clearly see a look of dread plastered upon his face. The detective was silent for a moment and then sighed and started to speak. "Now...If you would, I would like you to tell me as much as you can about this whole incident."

Vegeta was a little taken aback. "Whah...what do you mean?"

"Well you can start by telling me if there is someone that may have a grudge against you."

Vegeta didn't speak. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't bring himself to say that it was his father that did it. He felt like if he did, he would be admitting that it was somehow his fault. He wanted to tell, though, to say everything. But he 't.

All this thinking was making his head hurt, and he was getting kind of sleepy. He yawned and then looked back over to the detective who had picked up the tape recorder and was currently checking that it was still running. Vegeta had thought it odd at the time that the detective needed Vegeta's permission to record their conversation, but he really didn't care either way.

The detective, satisfied with the recorder, placed it back onto the table and turned to Vegeta. Figuring that he's given Vegeta enough time to answer and seeing that the boy didn't plan to, he decided to help him along.

"Is there someone you may have offended? Have you ever bought something from a person you don't know? Did you ever sell something to someone you didn't know? Did..."

"Wait." Vegeta interrupted. "You mean like drugs. You think I'm some kind of punk that brought this on myself." They weren't questions. "I'm not some hoodlum or whatever you may call it. I said I don't know those people. I've never dealt drugs to them! I've never sold guns to them! I didn't rape their grandmothers! I said I don't know them and I don't!!"

"I can understand if you are emotionally unstable right now, and I'm sorry if I offended you. Those were routine questions that we must ask everybody."

"Everybody like me." Vegeta mumbled.

The detective heard the comment but decided to ignore it. "Well..." He started but Vegeta cut him off.

"Why are you asking me all these questions? Shouldn't you know these things? You're the detective. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"That is against policy. Any information I disclose to you may affect your side of the story."

"Huh?"

The detective thought for a moment about how best to explain. "If I were to tell you something that we thought happened, but it really didn't, and you didn't remember either way, your side of the case would be influenced, or "contaminated" as we call it."

"Well, since I'm really tired and want to get this over with, why don't you tell me what you know happened, and I'll fill in all the rest."

The detective considered this for a moment and then nodded. "You're a pretty smart kid." Vegeta just cocked an eyebrow and worked to stifle another yawn. "Okay, for starters, we've found that there were three people involved in the aggressive side of the incident..."

"Then why'd you just ask me about two of them?"

"Because it would made for a stronger case if you told us the identity of the third person."

"Hold on. Case? You mean like court?" Vegeta asked remembering his custody cases which had resulted in him being shipped around to orphanages and foster homes.

"Of course."

"I have to testify?" He whispered the last word.

"Well technically we can't force you, but the trial would go much quicker and easier if we would have a credible witness. And who could be more credible than you?"

"What if I don't want to?" Vegeta ventured.

"Well like I said: we can't make you. But if you would, the government promises to overlook your current and past living conditions and your job." This perked Vegeta's attention. "Oh yes. We know you work at a bar, and we know that you've been living on your own for some time now. You do realize that both of these things are against the law since you are technically a minor, right? Not so much the fact that you live on your own but working in a bar under the age of twenty-one. Of course there is not much that we can do to you for all that except to stain your 'permanent record' but your employers could be charged for illegal employment of a minor, and admitting a minor into their establishment." He said the last part with a smirk.

Vegeta just stared at him, his mouth moving but forming no words.

The detective held up a hand, as if to make sure that he stays silent. "But like I said earlier. We are willing to overlook that if you are willing to cooperate."

Vegeta just stared at the man in front of him for a few moments. He felt completely trapped. Finally he looked away from the man, defeated and dejected. He considered the offer over and over, trying to find a way out of it. It didn't take long for him to realize that he couldn't. Sighing and telling himself that it wouldn't be so bad, he nodded in agreement.

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He didn't dare go anywhere near Capsule Corp. That would just be suicidal. Instead, he would wait; let things cool down a bit. He had waited for years, why would a few more days make a difference.

The task would be done.

No one else was competent enough for the job he had come to realize. He would have to do it on his own. But now was too soon.

Was it?

He needn't worry, he knew.

The boy was stupid.

Weak.

That would be his downfall. Things would work out.

Most definitely.

He would just have to be alert. Be ready.

Always.

It would be over soon enough.

Soon enough.

He would rid the world of that boy and things would be right again.

Right Again.