A/N: I am so sorry you guys! I just realized the other day that is has been SO LONG since i updated, and I have had THIS chapter like 90% done for over 8 months now. I am so sorry! A lot of stuff has happened, ive been hella busy, and i am super sorry! im gonna update more often so I can get this story finished! there are...maybe...5-6 chapters left? So yea. Lemme know whatcha think, and thanks for being so patient with me!

Shortly after midnight, the sky erupted in a convulsion of thunder. Seconds later a flash of lightning illuminated the kitchen where a small, hunched figure sat, nursing a cup of coffee. The house was quiet, something she had gotten used to as the years drug on, and her children grew older. Nights like this had become relatively commonplace for her in the last few months. A combination of stress and her mind working against her kept ChiChi from sleeping well.

She let out a harsh sigh, bringing the cup to her lips to take a deep sip. Her mind raced as usual, and just like every other night, it was the same wicked train of thought. The secretive side her entire family seemed to have intertwined into their daily lives. The way her husband and both of her sons seemed to be avoiding her. Possibly even more was the way it all seemed to be connected to a sinister web of deceit that she just didn't seem to understand. She tried with all of her power to push away the pain and the unshakable thoughts that seemed to weave infinitely through her troubled mind, but in the end she found it was impossible.

A frenzied knock at the front door startled her, and her hand flew to her chest. She gasped. Glancing over, she read the clock. Nearly 1 Am, who could be at the door at this hour, and in weather such as this on top of it?

Gathering her breath, ChiChi stood up from the table, leaving her steaming hot mug sitting abandoned on the table. She hurried towards the door, yanking it open just as another drum roll of thunder shook the house. To her surprise, Videl stood shivering on the door step, her head hung, hair in her eyes.

Without a second thought, or a word between them, ChiChi wrapped an arm around her daughter-in-laws shaking shoulders and steered her soaking wet frame into the house. The door snapped shut firmly behind the women as the storm raged on behind them, forgotten to both of them in the blink of an eye.

"Videl! Honey, what are you doing?! You're going to catch pneumonia! You're going to-"

"Is Gohan here?"

ChiChi stopped in her tracks, her brows coming together in confusion, "is Gohan...here? No! Hes not home?"

Videl shook her head, her hair spraying water across the floor and onto the front of ChiChi's sweater. The Matriarch paid the water no attention, her attention suddenly focused on her son and his apparent absence.

Videl drew in a shuddering breath, "I woke up and he wasn't in bed. I dont know where he went. I thought he may be here. He's been upset lately and I dont know why"

ChiChi suddenly felt the ache of anxiety grab her stomach in an unforgiving death grip. Something was wrong, she sensed in deep down inside of her gut in a feeling she just could not explain. Pushing away her worry, she directed Videl towards the couch, sighing.

"Let me get you a towel. I'll call Bulma and see if shes seen-"

As the words left her mouth, a harsh, shrill ring rang out, echoing across the room. Leaving Videl alone on the couch, ChiChi quickly made her way around the corner into the kitchen, snatching the phone off the hook in one swift movement. Her mind was racing, everything seemed so...odd.

"Hello?"

"ChiChi! Oh, thank heaven you answered!" Bulma's voice was high and panicked, and ChiChi's feeling of anxiety only deepened.

"Bulma? Oh hi! I was just about to call you, Videl is-"

"I cant find them! Bulla is in labor, Goten is here with me-"

"Shes having the baby?! Now?!" ChiChi peered around the corner, watching Videl as she spoke. Her feeling of dread only grew. Her husband and her sons, all so tied up lately, everyone seemingly pulled in another direction while she stood, puzzled and worrying, in the middle of it all.

"Yes!"

"Goten is with you?"

Bulma let out a gasping sob on the other end of the line, and ChiChi felt her heart sink lower.

"Hes here with me. We are on our way to the hospital."

"Okay, I'm coming."

"Wait! ChiChi!" Her old friends voice was panic stricken, strained and forced, and ChiChi found herself even more confused than before.

"Bulma whats wrong? Calm down!"

"Gohan was here! He was saying all these mean things to Goten about Bulla. Vegeta heard him-"

"oh god...Bulma, where is GOHAN?"

Despite her concentration on keeping herself calm, ChiChi felt herself breaking in to pieces. Everything had gone so wrong so fast, and all while she sat calm and collected, oblivious to the world around her. Blame ran rampant in her mind...the number one culprit: herself.

"Vegeta got so mad! ChiChi he was SO MAD. He just...exploded. I couldn't stop him. ChiChi I cant find them!"

"Bulma! Listen to me! Where. is. Gohan?"

"Hes GONE. ChiChi hes gone, their both gone. Gohan flew off, and Vegeta followed him."

"Oh Bulma. I have to go. We have to find him!

A sliver of silence on the other end of the phone, and then- "wait, ChiChi..."

"Yea?"

"He was saying...some things. I think you should know"

"What did he say?"

ChiChi heard her friend pull in a rattling breath on the other line before she continued. "He said Bulla's baby may be his, not Gotens."

ChiChi immediately felt a chill race up her spine and slam into her brain with enough force to make her shiver. Gohan and Bulla? No, it couldn't be so.

"Are you sure you-?"

"There's more, ChiChi..."

ChiChi stood still, watching Videl's strained expression from the couch. Videl had always been the best thing for Gohan. She had held him together when he was not himself. He always seemed to be completely infatuated with her...but that had changed lately. He had pulled inward, forming a shell to keep everyone out. ChiChi was yanked back to reality when her friend spoke again.

"He was talking about Goku"

ChiChi immediately felt a twitch of rage, "what about Goku?"

"ChiChi...Gohan said he...was there too"

"What are you talking about?"

"With...Bulla"

ChiChi felt her heart pound harder, her brain a whirlwind of thoughts and unexplained emotions. Everything had changed so quickly with just a few words, and she didn't know how to respond.

"He...slept with her?"

Videl was on her feet at once, pacing towards ChiChi like a lioness on the attack. "WHO? Who slept with her?"

The reality of Bulma's words cut ChiChi like a white hot blade. Everything seemed to fall into place at that moment. Goku's silence, Gohans negativity. Everything suddenly made sense. ChiChi felt a jerk and the phone fell from her hands. She looked around, and suddenly Videl had the receiver, shakily holding it to her ear.

"Bulma? What's going on?!"

Before ChiChi could breathe a single word, she heard the metallic rattle of the door handle. As she turned, the door swung open slowly, a gust of wind driving it farther. It smacked against the wall, rattling it in its frame.

Pushing herself to move forward, ChiChi peered into the open doorway, her curiosity blocking out any fear that may have attempted to rear its ugly head. A flash of lightning lit the sky, and what she saw standing before her caused a scream to rip from her throat and echo around the room.

Her eldest son stood swaying in the rain, his face a mask of blood. Clutching his shoulder, he took a step forward into the dimly lit room. As he passed her, ChiChi was able to see the extent of his injuries. His face was covered in cuts and scrapes, blood seeping from every inch of his skin. A blossom of purple showed across the bridge of his nose, extending down beneath one eye. His jawline was a roadmap of pain, showing a rainbow of color beneath the flesh.

Even in the shadows, ChiChi could see the distinct outlines of hand prints standing out on his throat, and his right arm was useless, possibly broken.

"Gohan?" Her voice was barely a whisper, falling clumsily from her quivering lips. Her emotions run amok beneath the surface, and it was a fight to simply keep her composure.

As she watched, Gohan released a groan of pain, and finally, his shaking legs collapsed. He fell to his knees, barely able to stay upright. From behind her, ChiChi heard a small, shattered voice call her sons name.

"Gohan?"

Glancing over her shoulder, ChiChi saw Videl advancing on Gohan. She expected her to scream, cry, throw things, even hit Gohan. None of that happened. Videl came forward to stand before Gohans broken form. Finally, seconds stretched to moments, and the moment came when Videl had seemingly pulled herself together enough to speak.

"Gohan...What did you do?"

Without a word, Gohan looked away, and it was obvious, at least to ChiChi, that he was ashamed.

"Tell me its not true, Gohan. Tell me she's lying. Tell me you...didn't deserve this. Tell. Me."

Still, Gohan looked away. ChiChi watched as Videl swiped a hand across the wetness sliding down her cheeks, and stepped around Gohan towards the door. When she reached it, she laid a hand, shaking slightly, on the door frame and peered out into the blackness.

"Videl..." Gohans voice was gurgled, as if his throat was closing. He choked on another word, and ChiChi could hear him gulp harshly.

"No, Gohan. There is nothing you can say" Tears broke Videls voice. ChiChi felt her own heart grow heavy with sadness when her daughter in law continued.

"Saying nothing told me everything I needed to know. I cant believe you, Gohan. I wont cry, or yell, or cause a scene..." She sighed, "You aren't worth that. I'm taking Pan and going to my fathers. I dont want to see you anymore"

Hanging her head, ChiChi felt a battle raging within her. She didn't know what to do at that moment, and the uncertainty nagged at her. Gohan was broken, bloodied and bruised. Videl was shattered, hurt and sobbing. Who needed her more at that moment?

As if to answer for her, she heard a creak as someone descended the staircase towards her. Looking over Gohans head, she saw a figure in the shadows, and without even asking she knew who it was. Turning away, she paced towards the kitchen counter and snatched her car keys. A flood of emotions slammed into her like a wrecking ball, but she refused to let him see it.

"I'm leaving. Bulla is in labor."

She practically ran towards the doorway before she could get an answer.

From the stairs, his reply came too late. "ChiChi...whats going on?"

Goku looked from his broken son to the front door as it closed with a bang.

But on the wind and rain
A strange new perfume blows
And the lightnin' flashes in her eyes
And he knows that she knows

The thunder rolls
And the lightnin' strikes
Another love grows cold
On a sleepless night
As the storm blows on
Out of control
Deep in her heart
The thunder rolls

-"the thunder rolls"- Garth Brooks