A.N: I know it has been a long time since I have posted a chapter. And I apologize for that, unfortunately my grandmother has Alzheimer's. Between trying to help with her care and dealing with my job, it's been really hard and stressful. Unfortunately story writing has taken a bit of a backseat because of all of that. Anyway I appreciate your patience and understanding. Please keep reading and reviewing.

"Where in Tarro's name did he go? Kakarot knows this part of the palace so he can't be lost." Raditz grumbled to himself. The beta wasn't anywhere near the garden. That wasn't like his little brother, not when Vegeta had asked him to stay put. It was kind of sickening how much his brother loved the prince, but he was glad Kakarot found someone who loved him for more than his ability to carry children.

Turning a corner to the opposite courtyard the alpha paused seeing a discarded pile of rahi flowers. The same golden yellow color Kakarot liked for the house because he liked the smell. Kakarot and Vegeta had been in the garden where those were planted. Panic clawed at Raditz when his little brother was nowhere in sight. Sniffing he found his brother's scent and followed it. If they lost Kakarot again….he didn't want to think about what that might do.

Kakarot's scent ended up leading him to an older wing of the palace mostly used for storage and servant quarters for those who chose to live here. Entering a room he came to a dead end.

"Kakarot, where are you, little brother?"

Soft whimpers reached his ears then and he followed them fearing the worst. Kakarot had wedged himself behind a large piece of furniture and was curled into a small ball cradling his head. The alpha felt his heart sink. His brother was having a relapse, something Paragus warned them might happen if something triggered him. Kakarot had been doing so well, so what happened?

"Kakarot?" Cautiously he sat close to his little brother, not sure if he was dealing with Toa or Kakarot. Tear filled eyes looked up at Raditz.

"…Radi?" The alpha's heart clenched. His brother hadn't used that name for him in a few months, not since he started his therapy with Paragus.

"I'm here, Kakarot, its ok."

"He's here." Kakarot whimpered as he shook his head. "Radi, he's…..he'll send me back!" He curled tighter as he clenched his eyes shut. Grabbing the heavy piece of furniture, Raditz pulled it out enough he could get behind it to his little brother. Kakarot whimpered and shifted closer to the corner as his protection was pulled away but Raditz made soft shushing sounds and swept his tail to try helping his brother calm down. They didn't need him having an episode where his power went out of control if it could be avoided.

"No one will send you anywhere, little brother, I promise. You're safe here. Vegeta and Father won't let anyone send you anywhere. Yasi and his majesty either. I swear nothing will happen as long as we're here for you." His brother shook his head.

"But he's here…" Kakarot said shaking.

"Kaka, Frieza isn't here. He can't get to you here; you're safe. You can't go back to that planet. It'll be alright so try to calm down for me, little brother." The beta shook his head again.

"He did before. Radi, I don't want to go back. It was a secret, but he knows. Radi, please. He'll make me go back again. Have to do my duty…'" Suddenly Raditz had the feeling his brother was talking about someone else.

"Kakarot, what are you talking about? What secret?"

"Special job…." The beta wasn't focusing on the real world as he answered and Raditz was afraid Toa might wake back up. "It's a secret, can't tell. Can't tell Teti. Can't tell anyone. Can't fail….special mission" Raditz's eyes widened.

"Kaka, look at me little brother." He coaxed and he fought not to flinch when glazed eyes looked up at him. "Do you remember who gave you your last mission assignment?" The beta nodded whimpering as his hand closed around the fabric of his shirt.

"Can you tell me?" Kakarot shook his head crying. "Why not, Kaka?"

"Not supposed to….no one can know. Secret. He'll know. He'll make me go back again, Radi. Make me fight….He…He'll make me f-finish. T-th…c-cold one will….."

"Shhh. It's going to be ok, Kaka." He soothed trying to keep the little beta from hyperventilating. "Father and Vegeta will fix this I swear."

"Geta…."

"That's right, little brother," Raditz soothed quietly, finally able to ease his brother into his arms and let him cling in hopes of calming him down, "Geta won't let anyone hurt you. You aren't going anywhere I promise."

Raditz knew one thing as he held his little brother while he cried himself to sleep, someone was going to be meeting the gods soon. Kakarot could remember how he got his assignment. He remembered who was responsible; they could finally get the bastard.

Reaching up he activated his scouter.

"Raditz? What's-"

"I need you to get Vegeta and go back to the house." Raditz said cutting off his father. Vegeta was in a meeting with the council and Raditz couldn't interrupt but his father could. "It's Kakarot."

"What happened!?"

"Something made him relapse. I'll explain more at the house."

++break++

"Kakarot!" Vegeta was immediately there when he saw Raditz carry his unconscious brother into the house. "What happened? He was fine when I left him to wait for you."

"He had an episode and cried himself to sleep. I don't think he's hurt or anything." He said pensively as he handed his little brother to his mate. "Kakarot remembered his assignment…..and who gave it to him."

"He did?" Bardock wondered as he glanced down at the beta. His heart twisted in his chest at the sight of tear tracks on Kakarot's face. "Did he say anything about it, Raditz? Any clues at all?"

"No." The long haired alpha shook his head. "The only thing he said was that it was a secret assignment. Whatever he saw, made him terrified that he'd get sent back to finish the job."

"Like hell that's going to happen." Vegeta growled as he tightened his hold on Kakarot. His tail lashed behind him as fangs glinted in the light. "I'll rip throats out before I allow that."

"I know that, but Kakarot…I was afraid that Toa was going to come out." Raditz shuddered at the thought of the feral half of his brother. He wasn't sure that he would have escaped from that encounter unscathed with how worked up the small beta was.

"Shit…" Vegeta cursed. He shifted his mate so that the submissive's face was tucked in the crook of his neck. "I'm going to take Kakarot to bed and stay with him until he wakes up. Call Turles and let him know what's happened. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon."

++break++

The following morning, Turles had shown up at the house. Kakarot had finally woke up in the early hours. That was the only positive that morning. Yasi had to take the cubs to the palace with how distressed Kakarot was. The beta was anxious and afraid. They ultimately called Paragus thinking he might be able to calm Kakarot down.

Paragus gestured to them to come in the sitting area where Kakarot had surrounded himself with a blanket and some pillows. The beta was almost catatonic in appearance as he sat lethargically on the couch.

"How is he?" Vegeta asked concerned.

"He's almost completely non responsive with certain topics." Paragus said softly. "I can ask him various questions but the second I bring up his mission orders he shuts down. Here watch. Kakarot?" The little beta tilted his head slightly.

"How old is Seba?"

"Six."

"I hear you spent time in the garden yesterday. Did you like it?" Kakarot nodded.

"Geta gave me flowers."

"That was nice of him. What kinda were they?"

"Rahi flowers...they smelled nice." Paragus gave the others a look to warn them in case the little beta lashed out.

"Kakarot, can you tell me who gave you your mission orders?" The scarred alpha asked gently. Kakarot immediately whined and shut his eyes while curling tighter into a ball.

"Kakarot, please answer me." He asked again. Kakarot just shook his head without opening his eyes and whimpered again. Paragus sat back and let Kakarot be.

"Whatever upset him is forming a mental block." He explained. "I can't get him to tell me and I'm afraid of what might happen if we push him."

"We need to know Paragus." Bardock said softly. "This is dangerous. We don't know who sent him off, if he was forced, or if that bastard will come after him because he remembered."

"Bardock I understand you're worried but right now I advise waiting for Kakarot to calm down." He said packing his bag. "Either way i have other appointments today and Kakarot isn't going to talk to me right now. I will try to check in on him this evening. Please let me know if there are other problems and I'll get here as soon as I can."

"Thanks Paragus. We'll let you know what happens." Bardock said seeing him out.

Vegeta was gently running his hand through Kakarot's hair when he came back while Turles leaned pensively against the wall with something obviously on his his mind.

"Damn it." The older male growled. "It's just one problem after another."

"All we can do now is wait, I suppose." Vegeta said. "Maybe once he's calmed down in a few days Kakarot will want to tell us. Or I can try getting him to tell me in the ao tokonoga?" Turles shifted off the wall and moved closer to Kakarot then his face surprisingly cold.

"Or we can stop playing around and get at the root of the problem right now."

"Turles what are you getting at?" Bardock asked.

"We stop being gentle. It's not working and we're wasting time." The pirate snapped before grabbing Kakarot's shoulder and making the beta look up at him. "Tell me who gave you the assignment Kakarot." Whimpering the beta tried to curl away shaking his head when Turles tightened his hold and shook him slightly.

"That's not an answer Kakarot. Who was it?" Tears filled the beta's eyes then as he stared at his uncle in fear.

"Can't...secret..."

"I don't care." He snapped. "Who was it?"

"Turles that's enough." Vegeta growled reaching to pull him away from his mate when a blaster was pointed at him from the pirate's free hand.

"No, it's not. We've tried your way and my brothers way and now I'm doing this my way. Now unless you want me to shoot you back off!" Bardock snarled only for Turles to point at him with a second gun as he released Kakarot. "Don't brother, just don't. I'm not in the mood to play games anymore." Turning his eyes on Kakarot, the little beta was shaking, sharing at him with wide eyes.

"Now, answer my question Kakarot. Who gave you the damn assignment?"

"I can't...h-he'll-"

"Stop worrying about what they'll do to you and think about what I'm going to do if you don't answer me. They aren't here with guns pointed at your father and mate, I am."

"Turles!" Bardock snarled as Kakarot paled. Vegeta was seething in rage.

"You think the worst thing they'll do is send you back to finish your assignment? If you don't start talking, I'll take you and turn you back over to Frieza. I'm sure he'd take you back no problem. Is that enough to make you talk? If not I can get creative. What if I took Vegeta or my brother? I know at least ten crime lords who would pay well for them." Kakarot was crying openly now looking between his mate and father terrified. Vegeta felt the hair on his neck stand at the wild gleam in his mate's eyes.

"No? Still not motivated?" Turles spat. "Fine I'm not usually one for this but I suppose I could make an exception. I will take your cubs Kakarot." Turles hissed softly as he leaned in to look Kakarot in the eyes.

"Little Seba, I'm sure any brothel would be more than happy if I sold them such a young timid beta. Hell I could auction him off in the private sector of the black market for a fortune. Kome? He'd go to the pit fights, with that berserker streak of his-" Turles saw the change in Kakarot but was too slow as the beta lashed out and raked claws down the older alpha's face. Having no choice he dropped his guns while Kakarot leapt snarling from the couch reaching for his throat and sending the two of them rolling on the carpet. Toa ended up pinned through the pirate's pure experience and body strength but it didn't stop Toa from snapping and trying to rip out his throat with his teeth. Bardock suddenly hauled him off the feral beta while Vegeta worked to calm Kakarot as he was taken to the next room. The pirate was slammed against the wall and found himself staring into the furious eyes of his younger brother before Bardock punched his jaw hard enough to make blood blossom in his mouth.

"Are you out of you damn mind?" Bardock hissed quietly. "What the fuck was that, Turles? I swear to god if you were serious I will kill right here."

"That didn't go as planned." He said calmly wiping his mouth. "Didn't know Toa was so damn fast."

"Are you insane?" Bardock snapped shoving him into the wall again.

"It's not the first time I've needed information from someone too scared to tell me brother. I just didn't realize how violently Kakarot would lash out. The idea was to make him more afraid of me than he is of this bastard so he would answer. Obviously I miscalculated his response."

"You just...why the hell would you want to make your own family terrified of you? Do you realize you might have destroyed any relationship you had or might have with Kakarot?"

"I know exactly what I've done." Turles bit back pushing Bardock away. "The same thing I've been doing since you were a child, taking care of our family. So what if Kakarot hates me now? Someone has to play the bad guy Bardock, and it can't be you or Vegeta. Kaka needs the two of you more than he does me. I am not going to let some son of a bitch hurt this family again and if I have to be a villain to ensure that so be it. It worked with you and mother so if I have to do it again-" Bardock snarled enraged before punching Turles and sending him to the floor before Bardock hauled him up, slamming him into wall.

"You doing get to make that decision on your own damn it! You're the head of our family Turles. We need YOU! Not someone we can all hate. Did it ever occur to you I didn't want the reputation you were so determined I should have? I wanted my BROTHER. I wanted the man that taught me to fight, who took care of me when our mother was gone on missions and our father was an asshole that he walked out. You didn't have to protect me, damn it."

Turles turned his head off to the side, unable to look at the younger alpha in the eye. There was a flash of something that Bardock couldn't identify before the pirate turned back to his brother, and all of a sudden, the brothers were not talking about Kakarot anymore.

"You were too young to know what you needed." The tone of his voice was almost dead, and that made Bardock's hackles rise. "You have no idea what it took to make sure you and mother were taken care of at that time. I did want I had to, to make sure that both of you were well off."

"I could have helped!" The general snapped. "You didn't have to do everything by yourself!"

"I was head of the family!" Turles bared his teeth. "It's my duty to ensure that everyone has food, shelter, a path for a better life even if I can't have one of my own no matter what my dreams were!"

"What?" Bardock pulled back some to give the other man some room. He felt his anger drain away at the sudden tiredness that washed over Turles.

"Mom had battle mind just like Kakarot." Turles shifted to collapse on a chair. "That's why she was discharged from the army."

"What…?" Bardock looked confused.

"Yeah. The last mission really got to her, and her commanding officer thought that she would be a liability. At the time, the care for things like that was almost nonexistent for the lower classes."

"That's why you started to…" Things were clicking into place for the younger alpha.

"Yeah…" Turles put his head in his hands. "What money they gave Mom for all those years of service wasn't even close enough to take care of all of us, so I went out to get any job I could to make sure you and her were taken care of."

He looked back up at his brother with pride in his eyes.

"And look at what happened. You made a family. You became a general. A general! That's so far beyond what I could accomplish. You worked so hard for everything you earned, and you couldn't have done that if I were still here."

Bardock shifted uncomfortably under the older alpha's gaze before he lightly punched Turles' arm.

"You idiotic bastard." His words were gruff, but there was a small smirk on the general's face. "You aren't doing that anymore, understand? I'm not a child anymore, besides you're getting up there old man. I think you could use some help."

++break++

Vegeta managed to get Toa back in their room with little issue despite the feral half of his mate struggling in his arms. It took some interesting maneuvering, but the alpha managed to shut and lock the door.

"Toa!" Vegeta growled out as he held the fighting beta to his chest while stepping further back from the door. "Enough! Turles won't do anything to the cubs!"

"Let go!" The smaller saiyan snarled out as he tried to twist out of Vegeta's arms. "Threat!"

"He's not a threat! Turles is your uncle! He won't harm the cubs!"

The younger man ignored him as he heard his teti's and Turles' voices rise from the living room. He started to fight harder so he could help Teti.

"Toa! Stop!"

Toa just snapped his teeth close to the prince's shoulder so that he could get loose to deal with the threat to his family before he went limp with a defiant snarl.

Vegeta growled out dominantly from where his teeth bit into his mark. He pressed his teeth in harder until the beta whined out in submission, and even then, he held on for a few more seconds before letting go.

"Now," Vegeta said as he sat down on the bed, keeping Toa in front of him. "Calm down. Turles was bluffing. He won't touch the cubs. I won't let him."

Toa just whined further and weakly struggled to move. After a moment, he was moved to sit sideways on Vegeta's lap. He could still hear yelling, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He didn't want anything to happen to his family.

"Toa, I promise that everything is fine. Turles was just trying to help, but he went about it the wrong way." Vegeta ran his fingers through the soft spikes on Toa's head to help calm him. "He would never hurt you or the cubs. He cares too much to do that."

"Not hurt family?" The words were almost whined out.

"No, he won't hurt anyone. I'll make sure of it. Now please calm down for me."

Toa finally relaxed in his mate's embrace and rested his head against Vegeta's chest. Alpha was right. He won't let anything hurt their family.

"Toa?" The alpha tilted the beta's head up to meet his gaze. "Can you tell me about the person that sent you on the mission? Anything at all would help."

Toa furrowed his brow in thought, but Vegeta could see confusion in his eyes. He could feel his heart sink a bit at that expression.

"Can't." Toa finally whispered, and the prince fought a growl of frustration. He didn't want his mate to think he was upset at him.

"Why not?"

"It was before." The feral beta hesitated as he tried to find the right words. "Happened before me. Not Me knows. I can't see in Safe Place."

Vegeta ran a hand through his flame shaped hair before rubbing the back of his neck making his tags clink together. It sounded like Kakarot's mind was still disorganized from everything. He had seen an improvement the last time he was in the illusion world with his mate, but Kakarot still had a ways to go apparently.

At the sound of the tags clinking, Toa's eyes landed on them, and a thought suddenly came to his mind. Those looked familiar, and his other half had reacted at whenever Bad One came and held those things up at him. Kakarot always felt relieved to know that they were still there but scared that Bad One still had them.

Toa shifted back in his mental space and abruptly pushed Kakarot back to the front of their mind. The more timid of the two blinked sleepily and confused. This wasn't where he'd been before.

"Geta?"

"Are you alright Aiyo?" The prince asked softly. He was slightly worried at the confusion in the beta's eyes. "I promise Turles isn't going to hurt anyone. He was bluffing." The prince said running a hand through Kakarot's hair some more.

"Teti?" He asked as panic started to come back noticing they were alone.

"Shhh, he's fine." Vegeta soothed. "He's talking with your Uncle. Turles was trying to help, Kakarot. He just did the wrong thing. It's ok." It took a few moments but Kakarot relaxed slightly.

"Kakarot, are you sure you can't tell me who it was?" The beta flinched and nodded while burying his face in his mate's shoulder. He couldn't tell. Bad things would happen. It was a secret.

"Shhh, it's alright. I won't ask anymore questions about that right now." Vegeta nuzzled his hair. "Please calm down Aiyo, I don't want you getting sick. Can you please do that for me?"

With a soft whine the beta nodded and at least tried. Vegeta could feel how stressed and tense Kakarot was and kept gently running his fingers through his hair and purring softly.

"Kakarot I need to go speak with your father and uncle. Will you be ok here for a little while?" The prince asked once the little beta seemed more relaxed. The immediate tightening of Kakarot's hold gave him his answer. "Can I take you back to the couch?" He seemed to think about it for a moment but nodded.

"Ok wait here for a minute. I'm just going to see if Bardock and Turles are done. I'm not leaving alright?" He said cupping the beta's cheek.

"Kay." The alpha kissed Kakarot's forehead before opening the bedroom door and stepping out. He went no further so Kakarot could still see him.

"Are you done getting your brother's head out of his ass, Bardock?"

"Shut up, you little brat!" Turles shouted back as he and Bardock calmly sat in a few chairs in the living room.

Without another word Vegeta carried Kakarot to the couch he was on earlier and settled him comfortably. That done the prince punched the pirate in the back of the head with a growl.

"Don't you ever pull that shit again." He snapped with a feral gleam. Turles raised his hands in surrender and nodded in understanding.

With that the older alphas sat discussing their next steps while they allowed the beta to clear his head. Vegeta sat on the arm of the couch both to be closer to his mate and let him have a little space from the conversation at hand.

"Kakarot what's wrong?" Vegeta asked noticing his mate's hand kept trailing up to his neck and then down.

"Not here...Can't find them..." He said not really lucid yet. "Not here...need to find them..."

"What do you need to find, Kakarot?" Bardock asked leaving his conversation with Turles.

"Tags...supposed to keep them close." He said with a whimper. "Important...can't...can't remember where..." his hands fisted his hair as he tried to think in his upset state. "Can't remember, need to remember-"

"Shh." Vegeta coaxed untangling his hands. "I can get your tags, Karo. It's alright. I have them somewhere safe."

"You have them?" There was relief and fear mixed in his dark eyes.

"I found them in the bad place. I kept them for you because of the cubs." Kakarot nodded at that calming down some. The prince didn't know why his mate was so worried about those tags but he could at least calm him down by letting him have them.

Vegeta quickly retrieved them from their bedside table drawer and stared at them for a moment while going back to the den.

"What is it?" Bardock asked seeing the contemplation on the royal's face.

"I thought I imagined it, but they don't feel right. Like they're too heavy or something." Bardock's eyes widened. "What?"

"We might have finally caught a break." He moved and knelt in front of the beta. "Kakarot, will you show us what is important? We need to know. You don't have to hide it anymore. It's time to show us okay. " Vegeta handed the tags to Kakarot who stared at them and pulled them close to either hide or protect them.

"It's something I taught Kakarot and Raditz. Always keep mission orders to cover themselves. I found Kakarot's stash, mostly training drills and practice assignments, but his last mission wasn't there. I always assumed he might not have had time to back them up before leaving. If Kakarot couldn't do that he would have hid the orders somewhere. I didn't think much about it at first but he keeps fixating on his tags and where they are." Turles' eyes widened.

"You think they're in his tags."

"Aiyo" Vegeta softly coaxed his mate into looking at him. "I need you to show me what is important. Please, I need to know so I can keep you safe."

"He'll be mad..." the beta said with tears gathering in his eyes. His hands had a death grip on the scorched pieces of metal. "I don't want to go back-"

"He won't touch you Karo, I promise." Vegeta soothed cupping his cheek. "You will never go anywhere like that horrible place again. He can't send you back. I destroyed the bad place , it will never hurt anyone again."

"Promise?" Kakarot asked softly. He was shivering with fear and exhaustion.

"I promise. Who ever it was that sent you off will never touch you again. But I can't protect you if I don't know who they are."

"Kay..." Slowly the beta relaxed his hold on the metal tags before running his nail along the long edge of the tag with a near absent look on his face. The alphas watched with held breath as the beta opened a small slit in one of the tags and a small disk dropped into his hand. "Supposed to be secret, not supposed to show anyone….said bad things would happen..." He whispered letting Vegeta take the disk from him. "Supposed to break it but Teti said not to. Hid it."

"You did a good job, Koa." Bardock said smiling at his cub softly before ruffling his hair.

"I did?" They could see the fatigue in Kakarot's eyes from his emotional upset. Vegeta gave a quick glance at their bedroom before Bardock nodded subtly.

"Yes, you did." Bardock pressed his forehead against Kakarot's as he took the disk from the prince's hand. "Now go get some rest."

The beta allowed himself to be guided back to the bedroom Vegeta and he shared while his father and uncle looked at the disk.

"All that fuss over something so small." Turles huffed. "Can't believe the answer is finally here."

"I know." Bardock muttered as he started to head to his room for a handheld device before he paused. "Something tells me that this won't be enough…"

"What do you mean?" The older saiyan tilted his head in confusion. "That's the orders, right?"

"Yes, but…" The general trailed off with a thoughtful expression before looking back up at the pirate. "Do you still have that data disk drive we got from the raid?"

Turles looked confused before nodding. He had it stashed in a safe place for the time being.

"It might take every shred of evidence we have to nail this bastard. We need everything."