Chapter Twenty-Six

Uub was confused and uneasy when both females turned to face him.

All he had gotten from the conversation between mother and daughter was something about instincts, something about giving in, and her father becoming very angry. Then they kept lapsing into a growling language he had never heard before but it was understood just fine by everyone, except him.

He'd never felt helpless before and he didn't like it.

Then her mother had done the forbidden, at least he thought it was forbidden, she had grabbed her daughter's tail.

Sasoli had frozen wide eyed and listening.

Sasoli glanced back at her mother.

"Now, Sasoli," Ava glanced at 17, "While he is still distracted."

Sasoli took a small step forward, head down as she wrung her hands.

All of his warning bells going off but he couldn't see where the danger was coming from so he stepped closer to her.

"What did she say?"

"I'm sorry," Sasoli slowly lifted her eyes before dropping them again.

Uub leaned in closer, he had barely heard her.

"For what?" He didn't understand.

Her mouth moved but he couldn't make out the words.

He leaned closer.

"I can't hear you, Saso-"

He hit the ground, unconscious and never knowing what hit him.

Sasoli's eyes burned with a wild energy as she lowered her hand.

Excitement flowed freely through her blood as she rolled him onto his back, his head lolled lifelessly. She could do anything to him right now and he could do nothing to stop her. She could even-

"That's more than enough, Sasoli," Ava pulled her daughter away from the inert detective as her hands started to wander.

Sasoli protested wordlessly when she realized her mother had pulled her back farther then she should have been able to.

"Good work," Ava complimented as she went closer to the downed male, "Breath Sasoli."

Sasoli tried to obey the order deepen her breathing rather than the short shallow breaths but she couldn't.

Her heart was beating too fast . . .

Ava shook her head, "You're going to have to kill him or mark him, now. Your body will not accept another or be able to move on until you do."

Sasoli clutched her chest as her heart refused to slow, "Mom?"

"Sasoli?" Ava placed a hand on her forehead, "You're burning up. Saiyans are warriors, they take what they want and sometimes die for the attempt."

"Ava?" 17 called from the phone.

"Oh boy," Ava glanced at her mate, "Um, not now, 17."

Sasoli's head went down as heat enveloped her, sparks of energy zapped around her.

"Ava," 17 called again.

"This is bad," Ava didn't know if she should shield the unconscious man or her husband. Then again, shielding Uub could trigger a territorial instinct in Sasoli and Ava wasn't interested in fighting for a male she didn't even want.

She tilted her head.

Maybe they should leave them alone.

"Ava."

"What!" Ava turned to her husband, "Can't you see your daughter's instincts are taking over her body?"

17 raised a brow.

"Somebody at the door is screaming to talk to the detective."

They glanced at the shirtless and very unconscious Uub.

"He's unavailable."

"They're not buying it," 17 glared at the phone, "What? Hold on. Ava, there's two of them now."

"I'll go."

Ava and 17 glanced at their daughter with some surprise. They had thought they had lost her in some alien primordial haze.

"Are you sure-"

Sasoli cut off her mother's words with a look. Energy sparked around her as she strode confidently to the door with her tail swirling behind her.

"Sasoli, baby, your tail," 17 pointed out calmly.

She paused.

She glanced over her shoulder at her parents as her tail wrapped around her waist.

Over her clothes.

Ava and 17 decided to say nothing until she left.

"This is bad, isn't it," the android hung up the phone, "She reminds me of you. You know, the time you nearly lost your mind and tried to kill me."

Ava glared at him, "This isn't the same situation at all."

"Then what is it?"

"Sasoli is fighting herself."

"Why?"

Ava glanced at the handsome, muscled male on the floor.

"You have to ask?"

17 stepped between them, "Eyes up here."

Ava pouted.

17 was mildly disgusted. Every damn time. All it took was a muscled man to turn his wife's head. Not that she'd betray him, she'd die first. She just liked to look. He's lost her once for three hours when she'd discovered wrestling.

A knock on the door caught their attention.

17 sighed and opened the door only enough for him to be seen.

"Oh, hey."

"Hi," a giggling female voice sounded, "I found the files you were looking for."

"That's great," 17 leaned against the doorframe and accepted the package. Finally, he had his blueprints.

"Was there anything else . . . you wanted me to do for you?" She was eager to please.

Too eager to please.

Ava drifted over to the door to listen.

"Yeah, can you tell me why women love muscles so much?" 17 dropped the package on the table. He'd destroy it later.

"Not all women love muscles," the secretary replied, "Some women find intelligence much more attractive."

"Hmm," 17 glanced at his wife where she stood hidden by the door, "Not my wife."

"You're married!"

"Yes, he . . . married," Ava kicked the door open, just missing the secretary.

The hapless secretary jumped and was grabbed by her arm.

17 covered his wife's hand and peeled it away from the terrified human.

Ava didn't take her eyes off the woman, "If you wanted to ask me something then you should have just asked. Muscles mean strength, just not in your case."

The saiyan let go of her reluctantly.

"That was almost sweet," 17 wrapped his other arm around Ava's waist to keep her in place, "She wasn't challenging you. She didn't know I was attached."

The human nodded frantically.

Ava went loose then tense, "Then she will be an example."

17 tightened his grip, "You almost sound jealous."

The saiyan turned in his arms.

"You are mine, 17, you determined that when you gave me a moon stone."

17 relinquished her arm an shooed the secretary away before touching her face.

"So you love me, huh?"

The secretary ran for her life.

Ava narrowed her eyes, "Again. We have to have this conversation again."

17 smirked, "No, just distracting you so the poor girl could get away."

"What!" She turned again.

17 dropped his arms from his wife, "She was just flirting."

Ava glared at him.

"No one is to flirt with you."

"Not even you?"

"Only me."

17 smiled, "That's the way I like it."

She hadn't expected that reply, he could read it on her face.

"Good."

A groan sounded from the other room. The couple rushed in and observed with some concern that the detective was moving steadily back to consciousness.

"Should I hit him again?" 17 got into position.

"No, we shouldn't touch him," Ava glanced over her shoulder, "Sasoli wouldn't like it."

"Sasoli won't know," 17 remarked dryly.

"Yes, she will," Ava planted her hands on her hips, "This is a very delicate situation. If we touch him, she might think we're challenging her claim."

"We're her parents."

"She's not in her right mind."

"Right."

"My head . . . the detective sat up as he held his head, "What happened?"

Ava and 17 gestured to each other frantically before the android decided to just flat out tell him the truth.

"My daughter wants to marry you . . . in saiyan fashion," 17 squatted in front of him, "Which, I can tell you, is a bloody, violent process. In fact, if I were you, I'd run for the hills. Knocking you out is just the beginning. She's lost her mind and is stomping around like a wild animal-"

17 crumpled to the ground in pain as his wife lowered her hand in disgust.

"Pay him no attention. He exaggerates," Ava smiled, "You recovered quickly."

Uub got to his feet, he had gotten only half of what 17 had said.

"Sasoli is in danger?"

"No, she wants you to submit to her."

"What?" Uub looked around, "Where is she?"

"She went to the door."

"What happened?"

"To release you, she had to knock you out," 17 glared at his wife, "To trick her instincts."

"Into what?" Uub demanded, fed up completely with the course of his day.

"Tricking them into backing off," 17 glanced at his wife, "Right?"

She nodded, "They were trying to force her hand, so to speak, so she made them think she was going to do it. They backed off, her tail let go, and I stopped her from doing anything else."

"Like what?" 17 demanded.

"Not now, 17," Ava snapped.

Uub left the couple bickering couple to find Sasoli. Her parents weren't making any sense and, truthfully, he didn't appreciate getting knocked out.

He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

His head snapped up.

An energy flared slightly before disappearing completely.

Another flared up, this one distinctly Vegeta, and moved only to also vanish.

Uub didn't even bother to run and flew straight to the entrance where he was joined by everyone who felt the change or was alerted by them.

Goku was running in place when he saw them and took off down the street.

Uub was right behind them, followed by the demi-saiyans, saiyans, androids, and, on foot, Maron and Bulma.

Uub turned the corner and was instantly perplexed to see both Goku and Vegeta passed out on the concrete.

Ava went down next in a dead faint and was caught by 17.

Bardock didn't have anyone to catch him.

"Ava?" 17 took her pulse and found it beating weakly.

"What's going on?" Bra's words were slurred.

Zarah went down. He had tried to continue past the full-blooded saiyans and only made it five feet farther than they did.

Goten snagged Bra and Trunks' arms and pulled them back where they seemed to breath easier as their visions cleared.

Uub's mind worked frantically. Obviously, the saiyans and those with saiyan blood were being affected by something strongly.

Bulma and Maron stumbled in with a gasp, "What happened?"

"They just collapsed," 17 held Ava to his chest.

"There must be a chemical in the air," 18 glanced at Zarah then at the other fully aware demi-saiyans, "It has to be around here somewhere."

"It has a perimeter," 17 agreed, "the saiyans must be affected more due to their heightened senses."

"All right," Bulma took charge, "Take them to the lab. We'll do blood work and see exactly what is affecting them."

Trunks nodded, "You'll have to bring them to us. We can't get too close."

Bra and Goten nodded uneasily.

"I'll go prepare the lab," Maron took off with Bulma not too far behind.

17 reluctantly handed Ava over to Trunks carefully.

18 tossed Goku to Goten and Vegeta to Bra.

"You could be a little more gentle," 17 admonished.

18 shrugged, "They're saiyan."

17 rolled his eyes and reached for his son while 18 reached for Bardock.

"Stop."

The androids froze as Uub stalked past Zarah.

"We need to get them to the lab," 17 glared.

Uub glared right back, "Didn't you notice somebody missing? Like your daughter?"

17 and 18 lost what little color they had as they absorbed his words. It was true, Sasoli would have been the first one out there if there was a problem.

She was nowhere to be seen.

She was gone.

"You said there was a perimeter. Can we assume that it spread out evenly on all sides?"

"It's possible," 18 thought it over, "If there wasn't a wind factor."

"You want to find the chemical agent," 17 concluded, "for what purpose?"

"I need to know exactly where she was taken," Uub intoned darkly, "Bardock represents the outer ring and Zarah the inner."

17 and 18 glanced at each other. The detective was asking them to triangulate using the two unconscious men as markers. He was asking for help.

17 nodded at the young detective with respect, "All right. Then according to their positions, it should be this way."

18 stood guard over the downed men as her brother and the detective started their search.

End of Chapter

AN: Sorry about the wait. Bit stressed out this week so I hope you enjoyed this. . . Thanks again for your reviews. Michelle