Important note: I was hoping that I would get critiqued by readers a little bit more than what I have without having to ask. So please let me know of the good and the bad comments that my story may bring to your minds, and thanks to those who have already put in their input. Here's chapter trois:

Chapter 3: Down With The Sickness

The next morning, Vegeta barely woke from his land of slumber early enough to go to school. Since his foster parents had already left for work, he decided not to go until he felt he was fully awake, maybe about 3 or 4 hours later. After 2 or so hours of his prolonged sleep, a bang at the door caused him to jump back to consciousness. He was planning to let them believe no one was home, but the consistency caused him to get out of the warmth of the covers with a few curses.

The opened door revealed Chester standing on the doorstep with a little grin on his face. "Hey, I didn't see you today so I wanted to know if you're okay," he replied to Vegeta's stare. Vegeta continued to gape at him for a few seconds then shut the door in Chester's face.

Vegeta started to ascend the stairs when Chester re-opened the door. As he stepped in, he said, "I guess I woke you, but still that was pretty rude, Veg. Hell, you may have been dead or something."

Chester moved around on the living room couch to find a comfortable position when Vegeta turned to watch him. "What do you think you're doing?" he muttered groggily.

"I don't really feel like going to math or bio, so I've decided to hang out with you for a bit." He looked over the couch and gave Vegeta a smirk. "But since you're still sleepy, I'll entertain myself with the TV and PS2."

"And you plan on getting away with this how?"

"Well, it's very easy to fake sick," replied Chester with a snicker.

"That's the spirit," Vegeta said half-heartily.

The blonde turned back to the TV and started to flip through the channels, knowing Vegeta wouldn't really care if he was there or not. Vegeta continued his journey up the stairs to get some much needed sleep. "What's your plan?"

As he ascended, Vegeta answered, "It's an infectious virus."

A few more hours later, Vegeta finally woke without any interruptions. Still very reluctant to get up, he only rose when his growling stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since last night's dinner. Downstairs, Chester was still lounging on the couch, very caught up in the racing game he was playing. He barely noticed Vegeta enter the room, and only acknowledged his presence when Vegeta slammed the cabinet door.

"Have a nice sleep?" he said without glancing from the screen. Vegeta only grunted and sat on the chair across from Chester with a box of cereal in his hands. He began eating from the box and watched his friend lose horribly. Chester finally became frustrated enough to turn off the game and find some food of his own.

Vegeta took over the TV and paused momentarily on an afternoon news program. He paused on his munching when he heard the top story for the day "...Police discovered the body early this morning after a fire was put out on a back-alley dumpster. A wallet found nearby and the school logo on his sweater determined that the victim was Yamcha Mortiz, but cause of death and a suspect are still to be found…" During the announcement, Chester had made his way back to the couch but paused when Yamcha's name was said. "Whoa, I knew that guy in like, elementary school," he muttered mostly to himself.

When Chester glanced at him, Vegeta had to quickly wipe the devious smirk forming on his lips. Chester, oblivious to Vegeta's actions last night, asked, "Do you know him?"

After a few seconds to think, Vegeta replied, "Vaguely."

Chester nodded slightly and said, "He was Bulma's boyfriend. Heh, you'd probably remember that."

With a small smirk Vegeta mumbled, "So she's free now," though already knowing hours before anyone else that she was. Chester's jaw went slightly slack when he overheard the other man. "Dude, he just died! Give it some time at least."

"Sucks to be him," Vegeta said in a low tone as he changed the channel, signaling the end of the discussion.

-----

Vegeta had neglected a weeks worth of night walks as the police had been investigating the entire time, but he couldn't take staying indoors any longer. Before leaving, he checked his reflection and noticed the scratch on his cheek had healed very nicely, without a mark left. A few nights worth of sleep was shown as he didn't look so gauntly anymore, but there was something different in the mirror. He couldn't pinpoint why he looked different, maybe the moonlight gave his eyes a different gleam. Vegeta shrugged it off and took his usual route out the window and through the gates of his sub-division.

Happy to be outside and not paying attention to anything besides the fresh night air, Vegeta didn't realize that his feet had lead him to Chester's street instead of downtown. Even though Chester had never told him where it was or invited him over, he remembered the house from the night he met Chester.

Since the house was a bungalow, Vegeta was able to creep up to it quite easily, but not too close to it. Using the trees as his shadows, he glanced into the windows to try and find his friend. After hearing a door slam, he quickly made his way to the source of the sound and found Chester storming around his room, cursing to the walls. He noticed for once that Chester didn't have a shirt with sleeves on (even through the summer he wore long sleeves or just stayed inside) and was finally able to get a look at what Chester had been trying to hide.

Trailing up and around his left arm, from mid forearm to the underside of his bicep was an indentation about an inch thick at the biggest part, like a scar of a blade mark. There were a few little indents around his hands as well, but with the blonde freaking out, Vegeta couldn't really get a good look at them. Chester finally decided to calm down a bit and took a seat of his bed, back to Vegeta. He propped his arms on his knees and ran his hands through his hair. Vegeta caught little glimpses of more marks on his back from the movement of his tank top. He noticed from Chester's heavy breathing that he was most likely furious beyond reason, and Vegeta took this as the time to walk silently up to the window and give the glass a small knock.

Chester jumped as he spun around, meeting Vegeta's gaze with one of fright. Almost immediately he leaped up and opened the window. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.

Vegeta shrugged. "I was in the neighbourhood," he said carelessly, "So those are what you've been hiding from me, eh?"

He had to suppress a grin as he watched the blonde pale in front of him. Chester looked away and slowly put on a nearby sweater and mumbled, "Its nothing." He took a glance at the clock hanging on the wall. "Vegeta, its 12:40! Why are you taking a walk so late?"

Again, the man in question shrugged and asked, "Want to join me?"

Chester seemed to think about his offer for a minute, then replied, "Sure, why not." He locked his door and shut off the lights before hopping out of the window to join Vegeta. The duo started to wander down the street.

After a few minutes of listening to the city at night, Vegeta glanced at his friend to notice he was still looking at the ground, and seemed to be in a trance. He decided to break the trance and the silence, "You know, you don't have to hide anything from me, Chester. Hey, maybe I could help you somehow."

Chester let out a small laugh. "Maybe you could. I've heard of stranger things happening." He looked around to notice that they had walked into an abandoned warehouse district. "Wow, in all my years of living here, I never knew that we had warehouses, let alone abandoned ones," he pondered.

" Chester..."

"Right, sorry." He took a seat on a huge cinder block and pulled his sweater jacket closer to his body. Chester began his little story almost immediately after Vegeta tentatively sat next to him. "One of my many step-fathers was a complete psycho. He… he's been in and out of relationships with my mom since I was about 7 years old. She trusted him enough to be left alone with me, and at the time I-I trusted him too. He had a totally different front around her that what he really was. If the television wasn't working, o-or he was generally pissed off at something, he'd take it out on me. Heh, why not take it out on the kid that you probably don't want around anyways." Near the end of his recollection, Chester shot out of his seat and started to pace in front of his friend.

Vegeta watched the older boy, but his mind was on something different. In all of his 14, nearly 15, years of life, his parents, both biological and foster, had treated him very well. Hell, his father had taken time out of his already busy work schedule to spend time with Vegeta and teach him to control his strength. He had been punched a few times, but that was sparring and not actual abuse. Vegeta knew from the last few months of spending time with Chester that he was a good kid, and an amazing friend to have. How could something like this be presented on an innocent soul?

The dark-haired boy was broken out of his thoughts by an almost inaudible sob from Chester. It seemed he had a bit more to say. "The prick had the audacity to call my house tonight, and tried to talk my mom into a relationship again. I've had enough of him, so I tore the phone from her and hung it up. I mean, I know she doesn't know anything about these... scars, but..." Whispering the last few words, he collapsed beside Vegeta and released a sigh. Vegeta chose to speak up, knowing Chester would only get angrier if he continued his rant.

"Is that why you were mad when I found you?"

Chester nodded his head and placed it in his hands.

The pair sat in silence for a few moments, Chester trying to compose himself and Vegeta deep in thought. He wanted to make the older boy feel a little bit better, like he had pretty much promised before Chester began to speak. An idea popped to mind, one that he couldn't bear to pass up. "What if," he said quietly, "what if I could help you take your vengeance out on him?" He turned to face the blonde. "Would you do it?"

Chester raised his head and stared at Vegeta. He questioned, "What do you mean 'take it out on him?'"

"I mean, take him down. For good." A couple seconds passed before Vegeta asked again, a slight gleam reappearing in his eyes, "Would you do it?"