Chapter Thirty-One

A week had passed and Sasoli found herself unable to move on from her problem.

Her mother had mentioned that her being knocked out was the best thing, since it reset her system, and the worst thing, because it left her open and unfulfilled, that could have happened.

"You have to be careful," Ava gave her a quick embrace for comfort, "You could easily bind yourself to anyone right now."

"What?"

"You're safeguards are nonexistent," she sighed, "Just be careful."

Her mother was right of course. Sasoli had found herself starring at Tom with a little too much interest until he left the room unnerved.

It was a very sobering moment.

In her right mind she wouldn't have given him the time of day and he knew it. She couldn't work in this condition.

Zarah had to nudge her more than once during the course of the day since the new wave of secretaries included men.

Being with her dad or Zarah helped a little but even then her eyes would glaze over. She couldn't even look at males anymore, speak to yes, no eye contact.

The new male secretaries thought she was a tease. One moment she'd be flirting more shamelessly then any past secretary and then, a nudge later, she closed her eyes and her biting tongue made an appearance.

She'd even got complaints which led to her current situation.

"Sasoli," Trunks sighed, "I know you're going through a rough time but, surely, laying on the break room table doesn't help."

Sasoli ignored him as she lay on her back with one leg hanging.

"Are you still sleeping in the vents?"

She didn't answer.

"Sasoli, that's a major health code violation," Trunks whined.

She rolled her eyes, "I don't think it's in the manual, Trunks."

Trunks glared, "And what exactly happened with Justin?"

Sasoli curled up into a ball, "He saw an opportunity and he took it."

"You almost had-"

"I know!" Sasoli shot up on the table, "Believe me I know."

Silence prevailed then and he sighed, "Why don't you just call him?"

She glared into space.

"Oh, right, I forgot you inherited all the stubborn genes in the family."

The phone rang.

"Yes," Trunks snatched up the phone, "Thank god, send him to the break room."

He hung up.

"Him?" Sasoli slid off the table, "Him? Who's Him? Should I leave?"

"No, you need to stay. I need to leave," Trunks blocked Sasoli from leaving, "Where are you going?"

"It's Uub, isn't it," Sasoli accused as she tried to shove past her cousin.

"I thought you want to see him," Trunks lifted her off the ground.

Sasoli squealed and kicked the air, not used to being manhandled so effectively.

"Put me down! He can't see me like this!"

"Sasoli, would it really be so bad to see him?" Trunks released her suddenly, "You decided on him a long time ago."

"Yes, I did," she was near tears now, "but not like this! Not when I'm like an animal in heat! And anyone will do!"

She dashed down the hallway.

Trunks sighed.

"Is this a bad time?" Uub leaned against the wall.

"Uub," Trunks swallowed, "How long have you been there?"

The detective shrugged and pushed away from the wall, "Does it matter?"

"Yes, it does actually," the president of Capsule Corp. managed an impressive imitation of his father's death glare, "Where have you been?"

"Stuck in a room doing paperwork," Uub leveled a look at Trunks, "I'm sure you're familiar with the scenario. So . . . where did you send Sasoli?"

"Send her?" Trunks shook his head, "I didn't send her anywhere."

"Then where did she go?"

The demi-saiyan shrugged.

"Did she know I was coming?"

Trunks nodded.

"Then why did she run?" Uub was confused and a little hurt that she would ran away from him.

The president opened his mouth and then closed it, "It's not for me to say."

Uub glanced at him, "That means you know and refuse to tell me. Fine. I am - was - the best detective in this city. I'll find her."

Trunks lifted a brow, "Was?"

But he was already gone.

Sasoli crawled through the vents desperately trying to get away.

She'd entered the vents shortly after leaving Trunks. She couldn't just run blindly through the building. There were men there.

Uub would never think twice about her again if he caught her in the arms of another.

She didn't know if he was the jealous type but she knew he was the loyal type. And something like that would be a betrayal of the worst kind especially after everything they went through together.

She was almost safe.

All she had to do was make it to her office and then use Bra's device to barricade herself in her office. Then she would be able to talk to Uub without the distractions of his body. They could have a real conversation about what was going to happen next in their nonexistent relationship.

The vent in front of her popped open all by itself.

"Sasoli? Are you in there?"

A brown spike appeared.

Sasoli backpedaled and quickly turned a corner so she would not see or be seen.

She wasn't fast enough.

Uub stuck his head in and saw her feet scooting away. He reached in and grabbed her foot, words already falling from his lips.

"Sasoli, why are you-"

She screamed.

He was so startled he let go of her and her feet disappeared.

"What the hell . . ." Uub was perplexed but realized he needed to make a quick decision.

He could either climb into the vents and follow her or track her somehow while pursuing her on the ground beneath her.

He locked onto her ki signature, as low as it was at the moment to avoid detection, and ran from her office.

"Oh shit!" Sasoli could feel his energy rapidly gaining on hers. The only advantage she had was she knew the building by heart and he didn't. If he got too close she could make a turn which would run him into a wall.

It didn't stop him.

Her bracelet buzzed and the stones turned black.

"Damn it! Not now Zarah . . ." she blinked, "Zarah . . ."

He could help her keep control long enough for -

A hand wrapped around her ankle.

She screamed again, genuine fear coloring her voice. In her epiphany she had stopped moving, allowing her pursuer to catch up.

But this time he didn't let go of her in surprise, instead he pulled her toward him.

"Sasoli, what -"

She stuck out blindly with her other foot, satisfied when that did the trick and scrambled toward her brother.

Uub wiped the blood from his mouth.

He was probably lucky she hadn't broken his nose.

He didn't feel lucky.

He was becoming angry.

The week before she had knocked him out, reasons unknown, gone back on her word to stay safe, gotten kidnapped, planted evidence, and left him to clean up the whole mess.

Now she was running from him after she had told him to make a choice.

Ok, he hadn't made one but she didn't know that!

So why was she running? Was there something else she wasn't telling him?

His phone rang.

He was very tempted to ignore it and rip the vents apart so she would have no where to run.

However, sanity prevailed.

"Uub," he answered.

"Hello detective, this is Zarah. Sasoli's twin."

Uub lowered himself to the floor, "How did you get this number?"

"Do you really want to talk to Sasoli?"

"How did you get this number?"

"Fine," Zarah's voice was annoyed, "I guess you don't want to talk to her."

"Wait," Uub conceded, he would have to get that certain piece of information later.

"Ok, follow these directions and I guarantee she'll stay in one place long enough to talk."

Sasoli popped out of her vent and slid into her brother's arms.

"Zarah, I need your help," Sasoli swallowed and glanced around nervously. She fully expected Uub to pop out of nowhere. She needed to explain.

"Yes, I know," Zarah carried her to a door where Trunks stood.

"Trunks," Sasoli brightened, the more related males the better.

She dimmed when he opened the door Zarah was walked to with her.

"Wait," she became alarmed and her brother tightened his grip. Panic clawed at her throat, "What are you doing!"

She started to struggle.

"You can't work like this Sasoli," Trunks grabbed her arms before she could do any real damage.

"No! You can't do this!" Sasoli screamed and thrashed.

"It's for your own good, Sasoli," Zarah kept a firm grip on her lower body.

"NO!"

They tossed her into the room and shut the door.

It clicked shut ominously.

The two demi-saiyans waited for the screams and pounding but there was only silence.

"I didn't know it was sound proof," Trunks was impressed.

"I added the feature," Zarah stuck out his chest proud that his invention was working so well.

The room had originally been built to house Bra and Goten, without their knowledge, of course. It was Trunks' original plan when he started a group dedicated to get his sister with his best friend.

The group members had included himself, Zarah, Pan and Maron.

The room was saiyan proof. The walls were made out of a special steel, ten inches thick, that was invented by Bardock.

It also had an interesting feature of a spray that dissolved inorganic material, invented by Zarah. It would essentially instantly evaporate their clothes within seconds.

It was very effective.

Trunks had been on the wrong end of that spray a while back.

It had been installed to keep Bra and Goten from killing each other before they could talk.

Now, it just might come in handy for a different reason.

"Where is she?"

Zarah and Trunks turned to find a very determined looking Uub.

Trunks immediately stepped to the side, cell phone in hand.

Zarah smiled and motioned for the former detective to come closer.

"She's in there," he gestured to the door.

Uub nodded and reached for the handle.

Zarah smacked his hand, "Not yet."

"Now," Trunks ordered.

Zarah yanked open the door and stored the clueless man in.

The door clicked shut and the lock instantly engaged.

An extra feature, they only could be opened from the outside.

Sasoli pounded on the door.

She had realized too late what their plan had been. Had she been in her usual state of mind, she would have known exactly what room that was and what they had in mind.

She would have been instantly suspicious of his choice of location.

She placed herself in the middle of the room. There were two doors to this room.

They messed up.

They would have to open to get Uub in and she would be ready.

The door clicked, the opposite one of the one she'd entered.

Clever.

If she hadn't calmed down to assess the situation she might have missed it.

She shot over, instantly air born. She was fully prepared to see Uub, and barrel through Trunks and Zarah.

She wasn't prepared for Bra and Pan.

Pan grabbed Sasoli and swung her around, using her momentum against her to toss her right back into the room.

Sasoli landed on her feet and pushed off the floor, already heading for the closing door.

They weren't going to stop her this time.

Bra threw a rather large energy blast at her head.

Sasoli blocked it with a yelp and was thrown back as the door clicked shut.

"Bra!" She screamed at the door, "You BITCH!"

They would pay . . ! There was no way they would get away with this . . . betrayal . . .

"Sasoli?"

She stiffened, a distraction. It was all a distraction to get Uub into the room.

She swallowed, as long as she kept her back to him.

"What's going on?"

"We're trapped. We can't leave this room until they decide to let us out," she had to stay calm.

"What?" Uub glared at his surroundings, "They can't do that."

"They just did," she snapped, she kicked the door, "Ow."

Uub stalked up to a wall and punched it, "Ow."

The metal hadn't dented at all. They were well and truly stuck.

Sasoli gasped and shouted, "You better not push that button, Zarah Briefs! Or I'll rip off your tail and choke you with it!"

Uub just gave her an odd look as she shouted at a wall.

Zarah pulled his finger away from the button.

Bra laughed, "I'm sure she doesn't mean it."

"I wouldn't risk it," Pan put her arm around his waist, "I've never seen her so mad."

"Me either," Trunks scrutinized the screen, "He's getting mad, too."

"Maybe, this wasn't such a good idea," Zarah flinched as the picture turned to snow.

"What happened?" Trunks glanced at the control panel.

"She broke the camera," Bra checked the controls, "Everything else is working fine. She can't get out . . . right?"

Zarah shook his head, "All the vents are ten inches in diameter, that's why there's so many."

A growl sounded unnaturally loud and then a scream pierced the air to die softly.

"That shouldn't have been so close," Zarah, Bra, and Pan glanced at each other spooked.

"Hmm," Trunks glanced up, "I'm sorry. I was playing with the volume."

"Volume?" Pan glanced down and nodded.

"Turn it up," Bra reached for the dial.

"No, let's not," Zarah stopped her, "I think we've meddled enough."

Sasoli screamed in frustration, the vents were all too small to squeeze through and she could feel Uub staring at her expectantly.

"Why are you running from me?"

Sasoli closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cool metal wall.

"I wasn't running from you. I just didn't want to see you. I wanted to talk to you."

Uub arched a brow, "Is that supposed to make sense?"

"Yes, it is," Sasoli opened her eyes to glare at her reflection.

"Well, I'm sorry but it doesn't," his tone turned nasty.

He was tired of doing this with her. Tired of the double meanings he didn't understand, the secret language, the way everyone seemed to know what was going on except him, and, above all else, he was tired of playing around with her.

Either they were going to be a couple or they weren't.

Bottom line.

"Is this a saiyan thing!"

Sasoli nearly turned just to glare at him, "Yes, it's a saiyan thing."

He caught the motion, "Why won't you look at me?"

She cringed.

"What? Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"I knew you would, eventually."

"Then what? Why won't you look at him?"

"Because I can't!"

Uub exhaled sharply, his hand literally pulling on his hair with frustration.

When a thought occurred to him that was so painful it made his eyes burn.

"You're disgusted by me," he concluded, "Turning a table into a sandwich was acceptable but to turn a human into a cookie, that's downright freakish."

"No," she shook her head, desperately wishing she could look at him. "That's not it at all. It's not you, it's me."

He barked out a laugh, "A classic break up line."

She hit the wall in frustration, "Damn it, Uub, you're not listening."

"You're not talking!" He shot back.

"You're amazing, all right! Perfection! There's nothing I would change!" Sasoli tilted her head, well, that wasn't entirely true.

"Then look at me . . ." Came the desperate plea. He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder, "Sasoli . . ."

Her eyes drifted to meet his in the reflection of the metal wall. They instantly clouded over as instinct prevailed.

This was the male she had been searching for . . . not the weak ones in the building. No, this one was strong . . . this one would be hers.

Uub frowned as her eyes darkened until they were almost black, "Sasoli . . ."

She twirled under his hand, her open palm collided with his chest.

Knocked backwards, he pin wheeled his arms to regain balance.

She dropped to a crouch and swept his legs out from under him.

He landed with a loud thump on his back.

Sasoli pounced and was amused to see his first reaction was to protect his face.

Uub was relying on his years of martial arts training that told him she was out for blood. So he didn't know what to think when she ripped off his shirt instead and smiled into it's folds.

"Sasoli?"

Sasoli gasped as sanity returned. She focused on the ripped shirt in her hand and got off of him.

Her eyes closed and she resolved not to open her eyes again until the matter was over.

"That's why I can't look at you."

Uub sat up slowly and could only watch as she curled into a ball clutching his shirt to her chest.

"I don't understand."

She laughed then, a harsh grating laugh that was devoid of humor.

"Neither do I."

He moved to touch her shoulder.

"Don't touch me!"

He backed off.

"Sasoli . . . you're freaking me out. What's going on?"

She was silent for a long time but he was nothing if not patient.

"I guess . . . we should have that conversation now."

He looked at her incredulously, "Now?"

"Why do you think they locked us in here for?" Sasoli snorted.

"A joke gone horribly wrong?" His lip curled wryly.

She chuckled darkly.

"I'll show them a joke gone horribly wrong. To all of them. They'll regret this-"

"You know, as much as I hate to interrupt," Uub leaned back onto his hands, "You're making me uncomfortable."

"You do realize they could dissolve our clothes with a push of a button, don't you?"

"What?" Uub's voice was sharp enough to cut to the bone.

"This room was designed to hold Bra and Goten," Sasoli remembered out loud, "The button was to ensure Bra didn't kill him and so Goten would get angry. He was a backbone when he gets angry."

"You helped design this room?"

Sasoli snapped up at the disgust in his voice, only remembering at the last moment to keep her eyes closed.

"No, I had nothing to do with it. It was Trunks' brilliant idea, executed by my idiot brother," Sasoli sneered.

"I knew it would have been a disaster. Uncle Vegeta would have sensed Bra's distressed energy and demanded her to be released."

She made a derisive sound in her throat.

"Then he would have killed Goten. Not very conducive to starting a relationship, wouldn't you agree."

Uub snorted, she was right, of course. That's when he noticed her playing with his shirt, idly turning it over in her hands.

"Can I have my shirt back?"

Her expression darkened, "No."

"Ok," he could accept that, "Let's talk."

"There," Zarah crawled out from the panel, "It should be working now."

Against his better judgment he had fixed the camera.

"They're just talking," Bra pouted, they had agreed listening to them was too big a breech of privacy.

"Where did his shirt go?" Pan inquired amused.

"Sasoli has it," Trunks pointed out.

"She's reconnected to him," Ava startled the hell out of them, "Good."

"What are you doing here, mom?" Zarah asked nervously.

"Wondering why everyone has decided to lock up Sasoli in a room with Uub," Ava glanced at them, "Care to enlighten me."

They avoided eye contact.

"Hmm, I see," Ava studied the image on the screen, "Can they hear us?"

"Not unless we want them to," Zarah answered.

"I want them to," Ava glanced at her son, "I have something to say to Sasoli."

"Ok, hold on," Zarah rushed to comply.

"I don't want to talk about it," Sasoli lay down on the floor.

Uub glared, "I thought you want to talk."

"Well, I changed my mind," she snapped.

"You can't just change your mind."

"Watch me."

"You're being unreasonable," his ears pricked when he heard something that suspiciously sounded like a sob, "Sasoli?"

"I can't control myself," he could hear the tears in her voice, "I'm no better than an animal. Look what I did. . ."

She held out his shirt.

"I didn't want you to see me like this," she hid her face in his shirt, "There you happy?"

A feminine chuckle echoed in the room.

Sasoli sat up sniffling, "Mom?"

"I told you not to deny your instincts, Sasoli," Ava's voice was lightly scolding, "Don't mind her, she just reconnected to you."

"Reconnected?"

Sasoli opened her eyes with horror, "You can't . . ."

She inadvertently locked eyes with Uub and was surprised to find him so close.

He didn't flinch away from her and, if she hadn't loved him before, she would have fallen for him in that moment.

"Are you ok, now?" He was pure concern.

"I think so," Sasoli wiped away the last of her tears and smiled.

Curiously, he reached for his shirt.

She scratched his cheek on reflex.

They glanced at each other with surprise.

Ava hummed approvingly over the intercom, "Good, you've set boundaries. Now fight."

"Fight?" Uub asked the air, "All we've been doing is fighting."

"Now, Sasoli, we don't want you to disconnect again. 17, what are you doing -"

The intercom cut off.

"Sasoli why do we have to fight?"

"I am a saiyan," Sasoli got to her feet, "Every major event in our life involves a fight."

He got to his feet and backed off a little.

"Saiyans don't date," she announced as her tail unwound and she stuck his shirt into the waistband on her pants.

"They don't?" He glanced around taking in the dimensions of the room. It was large enough for day to day purposes but on the small side for a fight. "Then how do they find out if they like each other?"

"After," Sasoli met his eyes, "Strength matters to saiyans."

"But I'm human," Uub put his guard up.

"So am I," her head tilted, "and, as you've seen, I cannot deny my saiyan instincts."

"Sasoli . . ." His hands went up as she slid smoothly into a stance, "We don't have to do this . . ."

"We do, if we want to leave this room," Sasoli took a quick step back, "Unless . . ."

His heart pounded in his chest, "Unless what?"

"Unless you turn the wall into chocolate," Sasoli went to the far wall, "This one leads to the hallway and the control panel is about here."

She outlined a section of the wall.

She turned to him expectantly.

"Why chocolate? I can turn the wall into any manner of foodstuffs. Why chocolate?"

"We're going to have to eat a hole big enough to get through, and frankly, I like chocolate." Sasoli remarked lightly.

"I can't," Uub became panicked, if he did what she said . . .

"Why?" Sasoli frowned.

. . . then they would be married.

He clamped his mouth shut. He couldn't tell her they were secretly engaged now . . .

He was being a hypocrite, and worse, he knew it.

Clicks sounded all over the room.

"What was that?" Uub jumped at the opportunity to change the subject.

Sasoli tried to door, still locked.

"I don't know, there isn't anything . . ." she trailed off and ran to a vent, "They didn't . . . "

"What? They didn't what?" Uub joined her at the vent.

Sasoli ran to another vent and then another.

"They cut off our air supply," she turned to him panicked, "We need to get out of here, now."

"Why would they cut off our air supply?" He checked the vents himself.

They were closed.

"Saiyans are psychotic," Sasoli grabbed his arm, "Uub, we could die."

"Why chocolate?" Uub pleaded as his mind blanked as he tried to think of something else.

"Uub, no one will think you're a freak and if they do I'll kill them. You have a wonderful power, you could solve world hunger," Sasoli hugged him, "Please, I don't want to die here."

Uub held her close and looked at the wall miserably.

"Uub, please," her tail went around his waist.

"Fine, but you can't eat it."

"What?"

"Was that our daughter on the screen?" 17 glared suspiciously at his wife and the now blank screen.

Ava glanced at the screen nonchalantly, "I don't see anybody."

Trunks, Bra, Pan, and Zarah slunk away to a safe distance.

"Ava?" 17's voice was icy, always a good indicator of his temper.

She leaned back onto the cancel, accidentally flicking a switch.

"17, there are cameras everywhere in this building," Ava didn't see the problem.

Zarah gasped.

"What's wrong?" Pan leaned into her husband.

"I think she just turned off the air supply or the lights. I'm not really sure-"

"Air supply? Why would you have a button like that?" Bra hissed, beating Pan to the punch.

"I had him build it," Trunks intoned using his boss voice.

"Why?" Pan demanded, she didn't give a damn if Trunks was the boss here. He didn't have any power over her.

"Think of it as a jail of sorts," Trunks smiled darkly, "In case anyone goes rogue."

This statement chilled the group.

"What the hell . . ." 17's statement brought everyone's attention to the control council.

Ava moved away from the wall warily, it had turned brown.

A huge crack appeared startling everyone into raising their power levels.

The wall shifted out and crumbled, "Wow, the wall was thicker than I thought."

The six fighters relaxed their guard as Uub and Sasoli finished pushing through the brown substance.

Uub helped Sasoli through, making sure she didn't touch the chocolate, and glared at everybody in the vicinity.

"Sas?" 17 was concerned and confused.

End Of Chapter