Chapter Twenty-Two

The homecoming was met with varied reactions.

Surprise and welcome from family, though a little confusion on Vegeta's part since he hadn't realized Trunks was gone. The secretaries were ecstatic and decided to show it as a whole until Ava appeared and they went screaming for cover.

The show of family, however welcome, brought up questions from the newly freed men. What exactly had been going on when they were forced to leave?

Trunks was horrified to learn his mother had taken over his office and disappeared screaming, "My files!"

Goten, after a massive bear hug from his father and making a quick call to his mother so she wouldn't commit suicide, had slipped away to find Bra.

Zarah was amused to discover his mother had been put in charge of the women who used to terrorize him on a daily basis. The horror appeared when he was told his father had become an inventor. He took off screaming, "My inventions!"

Sasoli sighed as she felt all the pressure of keeping the company together fall off her shoulders. No longer would everyone come running to her, not knowing what to do, they could talk to Trunks or Zarah, and leave her alone.

Uub watched the entire production with the amused detachment of an outsider with a touch of regret. Everything was not going to by okay, not with a murderer or two on the loose.

"Isn't it wonderful," Sasoli turned to him with the brightest smile he had ever seen.

Not with her in danger from both of them.

"It's not over," he intoned gravely, "Not yet."

She sobered, "I know, but now I'm all yours."

The smile returned with a fierce determination.

"So what happened with the stab victim?"

"We have a problem," Uub silenced her questions with a look, "I can't tell you here."

Sasoli nodded and noticed for the first time how everyone was trying not to look at them.

"Why don't we talk in my office," Sasoli ushered him away from prying ears.

Ava, Vegeta, and Goku shared a smile.

"Does 17 know?" Vegeta glanced at his twin.

"He's in denial," Ava crossed her arms, "Besides, nothing's happened. Not yet, but soon."

"Very soon," Goku agreed, shocking the Vegeta twins. "What? He's interested."

"Really," Ava was very pleased.

"Hn," was all Vegeta had to say.

"They threw you off the case!" Sasoli was outraged, "You're the best detective they have!"

Uub just watched her stalk around the room with a small smile. It was nice to know she supported him enough to get mad for him.

"Not the best detective," he shrugged.

"No, believe me, you're the best they have," Sasoli assured him, "I did my homework."

His eyebrows went up.

"Don't be so surprised," Sasoli planted a hand on her hip, "We only hire the best at Capsule Corp. We also allow them the freedom to do their job."

He was touched, truly, and curious about how she had researched him.

Guilt snuck up as he remembered his hellish morning and the rumors circulating about them.

"Sasoli."

She stopped her rant at the sad sound of his voice.

"I'm sorry."

She gave a little shake of her head to show she didn't understand.

"This morning . . . with your mom. I didn't know what I was saying."

Comprehension reared it's head accompanied by wariness, "What do you think you said? Who've you been talking to?"

"That . . ." Uub made a frustrated gesture, "My master, Vegeta-"

"You told my Uncle Vegeta about . . . last night?" Panic entered her eyes, how much did he really know?

"No," he was quick to correct, "They knew-"

"What?"

"Everybody knows," Uub cringed a bit, "You didn't know?"

Sasoli was speechless. Everybody knew? But how? She was the spy! How did-

"What did they tell you?" She pinned him in place with her eyes.

"Just a bunch of knowing looks an fantasies," he answered truthfully. He owed her at least that much.

"So they didn't say anything . . . specific?" She crept closer to him, never loosing eye contact.

"No," his curiosity started to pique and colored his tone. What was it that she didn't want him to know? "About last night-"

She placed a finger on his lips.

He eyes went wide.

Her eyes flicked away uncertainly before returning with forced confidence as she lowered her hand.

"I think we both agree that last night shouldn't have happened. At least, not yet. I find you a very attractive male and when this is over . . . I hope we can have this conversation again.

Uub' lips curved gently as he caught her hand, "You took the words from my mouth and the breath from my lungs. You are an amazing woman and I would love to have this conversation again."

And for the first time in her life Sasoli smiled bashfully with a small blush.

"It's a date then."

He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"I'm looking forward to it," he spoke against her mouth.

Chocolate eyes met sky blue.

Uub stepped back suddenly and swore as he checked his vibrating phone. His mind already a million miles away, he picked answered it with a simple, "Uub."

Sasoli touched her lips and glanced at his defined back bemused. He was going to ruin all her good intentions if he kept that up.

Her tail rippled and she placed a hand over it to calm it.

That was odd.

Sasoli brow creased slightly. She had trained herself to keep her tail still when she put the sash on. It shouldn't have moved.

"It should be interesting to see what happens."

Was this what her mother meant?

A loss of control?

"That was Beasely, he said there's no new information but he's going to look at some new angles."

"All right, I made a copy of everything in the file. Why don't we compare notes."

"Sounds great."

They went to work.

Trunks burst into his office and was completely shocked to find his office spotless.

"Trunks?"

"Maron!" Trunks scooped her into his arms and squeezed.

She kissed his cheek and quickly slipped out of his arms much to his disappointment.

Trunks glanced up to see both his mom and hers smiling at them and sighed, it seemed he really wasn't going to get the reunion he wanted . . .

Still . . .

He dropped to one knee and ignored his mother's squeal.

"Maron," Trunks took out the ring, "Will you marry me?"

Her mouth dropped open as she dropped to her knees to embrace him tightly.

"Yes," she kissed him then.

18 calmly picked out the forgotten ring and approved of the quality.

Bulma just sighed dreamily, both her babies were getting married.

Goten opened the lab door slowly and came face to face with his Grandpa Bardock.

"Goten, you're back."

"Yeah," Goten ran a hand through his hair, "Is Bra here?"

"Goten!"

Bardock was knocked aside as Bra jumped on her intended to grasp him tightly.

Goten held her and just sighed with relief. She wasn't mad at him.

"I'm mad at Trunks," she assured him, "Not you."

He smiled.

"Well, isn't this touching," 17 commented dryly.

Bardock huffed to himself, he was still getting used to the android's dry humor.

"Dad!" Zarah shoved past the couple and Bardock to the surprised android.

"Zarah?"

"Have you been touching my inventions!" Zarah demanded.

17 just laughed.

"Dad, I'm serious. What have you been experimenting on?"

17 met Bardock's eyes, "I've been researching the saiyan tail. Bardock's been kind enough to let me extract his DNA in order to isolate the gene. I needed more samples so I stole your mother's and I was hoping you'd be kind enough to donate yours."

Zarah's tail curled into the small of his back to protect itself.

"You can't be serious."

"He's perfectly serious," Bardock laid a semi-threatening hand on the young demi-saiyan's shoulder. "We've discovered it's best to take it directly from the tail."

"What?" Zarah jerked away from him only to find he was trapped and the loving couple had conveniently disappeared.

17 pulled out a syringe, "Come on, son, it'll only hurt for a moment."

Zarah just squirmed as he tried to avoid his father's hands.

Bardock couldn't take it anymore, he burst into laughter and was promptly joined by 17.

The android dropped the syringe to half-glare at the saiyan.

"You broke the reality."

"I'm sorry," Bardock chuckled helplessly, "The look on his face," chuckle, "the way he was squirming. That was great."

"I'll corrupt him yet," 17 patted Zarah's shoulder, "Ah well, now that's over. No, I didn't touch your inventions."

"Hn," Zarah refused to look at him and returned to his office.

"Well, that was fun," 17 was completely unremorseful.

"It was," Bardock sounded surprised with himself, "Let's do something else."

17 grinned, "I know just the thing."

"So you think the killer is after someone specific," Sasoli glanced at all the victim profiles, "Then why so many?"

Uub glanced off into space, "Frustration. All of these women, and one man, resemble the one he's after."

"Substitutes, and he stopped because he found her," Sasoli picked up the employee profile, "Or he thought he did."

"No," Uub shook his head and watched her flip through the files, "This is someone else."

"Two killers," Sasoli nodded, "That explains why the latest attempt was so sloppy compared to the others. But why would their victims be almost identical?"

"Maybe they're after the same woman."

Sasoli dropped the victim profiles and leaned back in her chair to puzzle it out.

"For one woman to attract a sociopath and a homicidal maniac to her at the same time is nearly impossible." She mused aloud. "She'd have to be out and about to gain that sort of attention."

"A company representative perhaps?" Uub offered, curious if she could puzzle it out by herself. "One that travels from company to company."

"To attract such different killers," she nodded and scrolled through the names of the women that did just that, "She'd have to have antagonized them somehow to make them want to kill her."

"Do you have any employees who can be overly aggressive?"

Sasoli mentally eliminated the ones who didn't fit the profile. Too nice, wrong coloring, wrong body type . . .

She shot up suddenly as she realized what Uub already knew. The only one left on her mental check list was her.

He watched her eyes change and knew the exact moment she realized they were after her.

Her blue eyes darkened with rage. So trouble had followed her home, huh? Well, she would have to do take care of it.

She locked eyes with Uub and acknowledged he knew all along.

"How long did you know?"

"We won't know anything for sure until we catch them," he evaded smoothly, "So . . . in case, we're right. . . do you have any enemies who want to see you dead?"

She smiled slowly, "None that know where I live."

"That isn't funny."

"It wasn't meant to be," her body language immediately closed.

"There are two men out there who want you dead," Uub planted his hands on her desk.

"I thought we didn't know that for sure," she snipped.

"Who might want to kill you Sasoli?" He demanded.

"There is too many to count," Sasoli was on her feet and in his face, "My job is cut off any weak links. I am not supposed to be nice."

"Anyone with green eyes?" Uub changed tactics, being aggressive was only going to make her defensive.

She relaxed as suddenly as she had become angry.

"The only man I've run into lately with green eyes is Valjean. He didn't have a cast last time I saw him, though."

"Valjean?" Uub's eyes widened, "Victor Valjean!"

"You've heard of him?" Sasoli was mildly surprised.

"Yes, he's wanted for murder, theft-"

"Illegal sale of Capsule Corp. goods.," Sasoli finished absently, "I know, I got him arrested."

"What!"

Sasoli gestured impatiently, "The cops couldn't find him."

"So you became bait?" Uub was starting to notice a disturbing trend.

"No, I didn't," she decided not to tell him the whole truth, "I found him and let the police know where he was hiding."

"And he saw you do this?" He demanded.

"He might have," she shrugged determined not to say anymore.

"He knew who you were and you let him see you call the cops."

"No," insulted not at his tone, "He couldn't possibly have known who I was. I am not a famous Briefs and I am not in the habit of giving out my name.

"The only reason I told his name is because he is the only I've come across with green eyes.

"Honestly, it's not like I flash my image across TV. all the time like some . . . people . . ."

Uub narrowed his eyes at the sudden uncertainly of her tone.

"What?"

She flinched, "The other day a reporter caught me off guard-"

"A reporter?"

"I was only on for a second," she defended weakly.

Uub started pacing.

Okay, the situation might not be as bad as it sounded. They, at least, had the name of one of the killers.

"And we know why he showed up now."

"We don't know it's him," Sasoli crossed her arms self-consciously, "He should be in jail right now."

Uub pulled out his phone, "Beasely, I need a favor."

Sasoli harrumphed as she was once again ignored. This was her problem and if it was Valjean, she would have no trouble handling him.

"I see," Uub clicked his phone shut, "Valjean escaped the police and has dropped out of public eye. Beasely is going to show a picture of him to the victim."

"Oh," Sasoli glanced away and then looked him straight in the eye, "That's one killer down."

Uub just shook his head. She was right and wrong.

"We still have to find him."

"We know who he is, that's most of the battle. He won't be hard to find," Sasoli returned to her seat and leaned back. "He thinks he's god's gift to woman. We'll probably find him in a seedy bar drooling all over a big-breasted woman."

"And how would you know that?"

Sasoli stiffened at the suspicion in his voice, "I told you. I do my homework."

"How?"

She didn't like his tone.

"We don't share company secrets with non-company members."

Uub stopped his pacing to met her eyes incredulously.

She met them unflinchingly.

"Apparently, you don't trust me either."

He glanced away.

"I guess I don't," Uub was disturbed by the simple truth of his words, "Not with work."

Sasoli laughed at the irony.

"We're in the same boat, detective."

To put it simply, they didn't trust enough professionally to even complete a full conversation without becoming angry and/or suspicious of the other's methods. On the other hand, with the affairs of the heart, there was no one they trusted more.

A narrow and slippery slope that they both chosen to take..

"This is a problem."

"Then we fix it," she stated firmly.

"How?"

"I let you do your job and you let me do mine. No questions asked."

"I've already told you," Sasoli smiled though there was nothing sweet about it, "I protect this company from forces without as well as within. Can you accept that, detective?"

If he couldn't accept those terms, then they would self destruct before ever completing the case.

"I can, if you promise not to purposely endanger yourself during the course of this case." Uub wasn't going to budge on that one.

"I'm a saiyan. What you might consider dangerous for a woman, I might consider a walk in the park."

Humor twisted his lips as he realized he might have to budge a little.

"You know, a walk in the park can be really dangerous."

"Then I'll be sure to bring a strong male escort," she quipped.

He relaxed then, the terms had been set and he was going to follow them. He was just going to have to trust her.

Sasoli was pleased. He was going to stop his incessant questioning of her methods.

Good thing, too, it was starting to get on her nerves.

Trunks trusted her implicitly and never once questioned her. His concern laid with results and speed, not on technique.

Still, it was nice to know he had a temper somewhere beneath his mild demeanor.

Her tail twitched, hard.

She frowned as she put a hand to her waist. That almost hurt.

"Something wrong?"

She glanced at him then at her waist.

"I'm not sure."

His detective eyes that never missed a detail took in the position of her hand.

"Your tail?"

"It's acting weird," she admitted, talking more to herself than him. "Moving on it's own."

He frowned and went to her.

She almost jumped when he placed his hand next to hers, his fingers moving . . . trying to feel her tail through the layer of clothes and the thick, padded cloth.

She went very still.

"Not that I know anything about tails" he probed gently, "But doesn't it . . . hurt to keep it tied up all day?"

"Sometimes," she tried to keep her voice casual but failed.

"I'm sorry," he moved away, "Did I hurt you?"

She shook her head.

He was skeptical and it showed on his face.

She opened her mouth to reassure him when the door swung open.

"Sasoli," Trunks leaned into the room, "Zarah said you got my package?"

She stared at him blankly before she nodded and pulled out her capsule case.

Uub frowned as the safe that appeared in the cloud of smoke matched the description of the stolen safe.

The Sasoli had mention she was going to 'steal back.'

Trunks immediately moved back the secret panel and typed in the password.

A series of clicks later and the safe hissed open.

"A book!" Sasoli was livid.

Offended, Trunks plucked the book from the safe and held it to his chest.

"It's not just a book. It's a first edition, signed by the author, and Maron's favorite."

Sasoli threw up her hands in defeat.

"I'm sure she'll like it," Uub tried to glance at the title.

"Of course, she will," Trunks tucked the book into his jacket pocket, "It's her wedding gift."

"You proposed?" Sasoli's mood turned, "Did she like the ring?"

"Yes, and yes," Trunks picked her up and swung her around, "We'll get married as soon as her mom can arrange it."

The ring, it clicked into place for Uub, the reason Goten went to jail for . . . it made sense. A simplistic loyalty kind of sense on both their parts. Though only Goten was by loyal enough to go to jail for it and Sasoli enough to let him stay there.

"Aunt 18 is going to arrange it?" Sasoli laughed, "You're going to pay through the nose, you know that, right?"

Trunks shrugged, "It's worth it to see Maron happy."

The president noticed how Uub was subtly eyeing the way he was holding her. He adjusted his grip and leaned into her space.

"Of course, that doesn't mean we have to stop our little flings." He kissed her on the corner of her mouth while watching Uub from the corner of his eye.

The detective was disappointing calm.

Sasoli giggled and placed a hand in his jacket, "What are you up to, Trunks?"

"Making your boyfriend jealous."

"I see," she punched him in the gut, "Honestly, won't you ever grow up?"

Sasoli tossed the book to a confused Uub, "He was trying to make you jealous."

"Of a man who is about to be married, and with his cousin," Uub grimaced. "He's more likely to make me sick."

Trunks rolled his eyes and took his book back.

"Well, excuse me for trying to help."

Sasoli shrugged, "I don't need help, Trunks, you do."

He sniffed and made a less than graceful exit.

"That was odd," Uub announced, still slightly perturbed.

"Tell me about it," Sasoli shook her head, "Grow up with a guy and suddenly he's you matchmaker."

Uub arched a brow, "Well, according to those security tapes you showed me, you all play matchmaker."

"The situation was a bit different. They grew up together, they couldn't see what was right in front of their faces."

Uub just hummed to himself.

"So what do we do now?"

"We find Valjean," Sasoli pulled out a capsule and clicked it.

Beasely exited the victims room, clutching the picture of Valjean excitedly. The woman had positively identified the man. Uub was a genius.

"What's that?"

Beasely saw his partner at the last moment and was too slow to prevent Himbon from taking the picture.

"Who is this?"

Beasely frowned, Himbon should know who Valjean was. Valjean's picture had been sent to every detective in every town in hopes of catching the cop killer.

"He's Valjean," the detective waited for recognition that never came, "The witness identified him as her attacker."

"Really," Himbon smiled, "This is perfect. How did you know it was him?"

"I didn't," Beasely fidgeted uncomfortably, there was something about that smile. "Uub asked me to show it to her."

A dark cloud covered Himbon's face, "Uub. How? He only had two clues, green eyes and a cast!"

Beasely swallowed, "He isn't the best for nothing. He once located a killer hiding at a crime scene. There was no trail, clues, or anything but he still knew where the guy was . . . it's like he's psychic or something. He knows things."

"He's no psychic," Himbon declared darkly and walked away.

Beasely exhaled sharply through his mouth. Man, he had never seen Himbon act like that before . . . it was almost scary. There was another thing. . .

What did he have against Uub? They were all on the same team. He should be happy instead of being so resentful.

Beasely shook off the weird encounter, never noticing that Himbon had never returned the photograph.

"Sasoli," Ava paused in the doorway of her daughter's office and just stared at Uub pinning her daughter to the desk.

"Yes," Sasoli shoved him away from her. "What is it?"

"The list," Ava held up a piece of paper.

"Oh," Sasoli glanced at the paper. "Let's see, three raises, twenty pay cuts, and thirty fired."

She glanced up in question about why her mother was firing so many secretaries at the same time.

"They tried to kill me," the saiyan shrugged.

"Oh, ok," Sasoli nodded and went to her computer to fill out the forms electronically.

Uub moved hesitantly to the saiyan after ignoring the attempted homicide.

"Hi, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Uub and I just wanted to apologize for this morning."

Ava watched him warily, "Sasoli informed me of your ignorance."

He twitched at her wording.

"Yeah," he put his hands behind his head, "I guess I was. Ignorant, I mean."

He smiled sheepishly.

Completely intrigued by him, Ava faced him, "Why did you have my daughter pinned to the desk?"

"So she wouldn't take off her clothes," he turned red, "I mean, she wanted to change into something to catch someone and-"

Ava took his face into her hands to stop his babbling making his eyes go wide with question.

"You're soft where you're not hard, aren't you."

He found himself trapped within her black eyes.

"You will be good for her," Ava commented softly for him alone, "I needed someone to teach me to laugh after a lifetime of isolation and oppression. What is your path?"

"To protect," he answered automatically, "or die trying."

"To fight for what you know is right," Ava nodded and released him. "A difficult path, one only a true warrior would take."

He blinked dazed, as if coming out from under a spell.

"You may call me Ava," the saiyan touched her right shoulder with her left hand in what could only be described as a regal gesture. "It is an honor to know a saiyan's name. We don't like to give them out."

Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she informed him.

"Oh," he became panicked, unsure of how to respond.

"Leave him alone," Sasoli slipped out of her chair.

"He's different," Ava retreated gracefully, "I like that. Until the next battle ground, Uub, may you bask in the blood of your enemies."

She shut the door behind her.

"You must have made an impression," Sasoli tilted her head, "She called you by name and gave you a saiyan farewell. She hasn't done that since I was young. What were you talking about?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he was mystified by the entire encounter.

"Sounds about right," Sasoli sighed, "It'll come with time."

Her eyes narrowed, "Still determined to stop me from going after Valjean?"

"Yes," he didn't miss a beat.

"Fine," Sasoli capsulated her wardrobe closet, "because I have another plan. A stakeout!"

"A stakeout?" He turned the thought over, "Could work."

"Let's go then," she grabbed his hand, "We already missed a couple secretaries."

Beasely peeked into Himbon's office.

Not there, hmm . . .

"Problem?"

Beasely jumped as he turned to find Himbon looking very annoyed with a bunch of files, envelopes, and miscellaneous papers.

"Nah, just turning in for the night," Beasely shrugged, "What's all that?"

"I found the mail room," Himbon carefully shoved past the other detective, "finally."

"Oh," Beasely brightened, that's why Himbon didn't know who Valjean was, he hadn't gotten the memo yet. "Ok, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Why so early?" Himbon frowned.

"It's been a long day," Beasely shrugged.

"Beasely," Himbon held out a photo, "I forgot to give this back to you."

"Oh, right," Beasely flushed, "I forgot all about it. I better go give this back to Louis then."

He ran, leaving Himbon alone.

End of Chapter Twenty-Two