A Place In Time
Chapter Five: Of Annoyance and Hangovers
By: SSJ Pan-chan
Bang-Bang-Bang
Bang-Bang-Bang
Bang-Bang-BANG-BANG
Trunks groaned and rolled over onto his back to glance slightly at the door, which was violently shaking on its hinges from his sister's pounding on it. He knew it was Bra outside only because no one in the house was so obnoxious as to try and destroy his door at such an ungodly hour of the morning…but her. Rolling over again so that his face was buried in his pillow, he decided to ignore her and see if she'd go away or something. Getting up on a weekend at this time really, really wasn't an idea he fancied. It was the weekend. He was off work. What the hell could she want from him?
Bra was just not giving up. The hammering was still persistent as ever a good minute later and though Trunks briefly considered throwing something through the door and at her, he didn't want his father bitching with him about harming his sister. Fuck, looks like I'm going to have to get up, he thought, grudgingly, as he slowly threw his legs over the edge of the king-sized bed and made his way towards the door.
Just as she was about to rap again, he swung the door open, revealing to her a very livid face. "What do you want?" he whispered venomously. It was still early and he didn't think his parents would relish being woken up so early or else he would have completely cut loose on her. Plus, to get any more yelled at by his mother couldn't quite be called his ideal way to start the day…
As he had found out the previous afternoon, Bulma Vegeta Briefs was a very, very strong and intimidating woman when she was angry. Trunks doubted he had met anyone who could make him feel more like shit than his own mother could. Especially when the thing that he was being given a guilt trip over was the decline of her precious company.
Never again did he have to wonder why his father and mother had been able to handle each other (or lack thereof) for so many years…
Suddenly, out of nowhere, shivers of pain began to reverberate through his head and down his spine. "Hell," he cursed under his breath and held his head in his hands. Ugh, how much did I drink last night? he thought miserably.
Bra's mouth, which had previously been in the shape of a beginning syllable to an infinitely interesting obscenity, closed slowly at seeing her brother's pain. Knowing he probably had a killer hangover—judging by the complete lack of booze left in the house since the night before—she decided to be a little sympathetic. She could work with being a bitch while not yelling.
When he had finally brought his head up, he saw her settle her hands on her hips and he knew instantly that it was coming to him. What did I do this time? I can't even remember…
His inquiring look was all that she needed to begin. "Do you want to explain what you were thinking?"
"Thinking…about what?" he asked stupidly.
"You don't remember? What you did last night that you better be thankful I know about?" she replied incredulously, throwing her hands up into the air.
"Bra... Listen to me. I hardly know where I am right now, much less what happened last night. But whatever it is, I don't appreciate you coming to my door at five AM and waking me up for it."
"You should," he answered mysteriously.
"Why?"
"Look behind you."
"Bra!" he bit, about to lunge at his sister and strangle her. "I am not in the mood to play your games! If you've got something to tell me, then do it and get the fuck out!"
The blue-haired girl laughed quietly, only serving to enrage him more. Then, just when he looked to be on the point of murdering her, she crossed her arms over her chest and spoke. Trunks backed down, swearing that he felt something cold against his body but not caring at the moment.
"If you would have turned around like I told you, you may have—or maybe not, given your current state—realized that you have…well, a companion in your bed, to put it as nicely as possible. A companion that wouldn't bode well with Dad…and especially not Mom."
For the longest time, Trunks stood there staring unthinkingly at his sister's pajama-clad figure. He didn't understand… and his headache felt like it was about to explode his brain. Bra scoffed at her brother in a way that would make Vegeta proud. She looked at him as if he were the biggest idiot in the galaxy.
"Duh, Trunks. Last night after you got smashed like you did, in a moment of unexplainable lack of common sense, you called Kate over…and I don't think I need to repeat what the two of you did…" she said, glancing slightly over his shoulder to motion to the brunette still sleeping soundly in the bed. He spun around in horror, finally realizing what had happened. He didn't need any further explanation.
"Shit…Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit!" he cursed a little too loudly for comfort. Bra shushed him, warning him briefly that their parents were still sleeping. He only had time to wonder for a split second why his sister was so intent on keeping him out of trouble (usually she'd wait and get her amusement when Vegeta was in the middle of breaking his neck) before he was thrown into a panic, trying to set things straight.
He glared back at Bra, who was leaning against the wall casually and watching the events play out with a calm smile. "What is it, oh brother-of-mine?" she asked sweetly.
"What do you think you're doing? Help me!" he whispered.
"Not until you get some clothes on," she replied smartly. This comment elicited a great blush from the young CEO's face as he looked down and realized that he was completely. Stark. Naked. Bra laughed near-wickedly, never having seen the great Trunks Briefs turn that red.
Rushing to throw on his discarded clothes from the night before, Trunks mentally cursed Bra. I can't believe she just let me run out of bed without at least a sheet or something! Where did her evil genes come from anyway?
Finally decent, Trunks looked fiercely towards the girl who was becoming the bane of his existence very quickly. "Now will you help?" he asked, warranting a nod and her removal from the wall. "Start cleaning stuff up while I take Kate home! Dad's going to be up to train in ten minutes!"
He was right. The clock read 5:50, and Vegeta always woke up at 6:00 AM on the dot.
Bra snorted at being ordered around like some servant woman, but did as she was told anyway. If their father found out about this and Trunks got in trouble, her plan would be ruined…
While she used some simple ki techniques she had picked up from Pan to destroy the multiple bottles of liquor and all evidence pertaining to such things, Trunks went over to the bed and gently tried to shake his girlfriend awake.
"Kate, honey, wake up," he whispered. She mumbled something incoherent in English—which he couldn't understand anyway—and turned over on her other side. Glancing at the clock in dread as it ticked away the seconds, he tried, more desperately this time. However, as much as he tried, she refused to awaken.
Damn, she's a deep sleeper…either that or she's really drunk, he thought.
Giving up, he supposed he'd have to opt for just taking her as is. With only five minutes left to go, Trunks picked her up, sheet and all, threw her pile of clothes over his bundle, and took off through the window towards her West City apartment.
There was one good thing about her incapacitation, though. At least this way he could save time and fly her home.
By the time he had deposited Kate in her own bed and gotten back to the Capsule Corp. compound, it was only thirty seconds before six. When he had arrived back in his own room, his head was killing him even more than before (if that was possible), but was relieved to see that his room was completely clean of liquor, the sheets replaced, and the bed made. Despite his earlier hatred for her, he could only smile at his little sister gratefully.
Moaning in pain, Trunks collapsed back into a chair and closed his eyes. Through the murder the alcohol was doing on his mind, he vaguely felt Bra approach him.
"I've got something that will help with that if you want," she offered, taking his hand and urging him up. Grudgingly, he obliged, allowing her to lead him down the first flight of stairs and into the kitchen. When they got there, she sat him down at the table and went in the kitchen, telling him not to move from his chair.
Like I'd even feel up to it in the first place, he thought as he listened to the footsteps of his father upstairs. He cursed his acute Saiya-jin hearing as the sound of the blender running in the kitchen was like the feeling of salt on a wound or someone rubbing jagged rocks against bare nerves.
Around the same time that the agitating noise ceased, Trunks spotted Vegeta walking in. Bra also walked into the dining room at this time, earning a good-morning smirk from him while all the eldest got was a disgusted snort at seeing his condition.
"Good morning, Daddy!" Bra chirped, standing on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek after setting down a large glass of something orangey in front of her brother.
"You're up early," was all Vegeta said in reply to her before he turned his gaze to Trunks. "What's the matter with you, brat?"
Bra answered for him. "Nothing, Daddy. He just woke up feeling bad so I made him this—" she motioned towards the shake on the table "—to make him feel better."
Vegeta stared at it in disgust. "What is it, exactly?"
"Oh, just crushed-up aspirin, a few hundred grams of cysteine, some vitamin C and B, a banana, tomato juice, some strawberries, honey, orange juice, milk, salt, and a bit of nutmeg," she told him just as Trunks was taking his first sip. Upon hearing the contents of his mystery cure, the younger male Saiya-jin immediately spit it out over the table and coughed, looking at his sister in horror.
"What the hell are you making me drink? Poisoning me isn't going to help with anything!" he yelled. Bra glared.
"Just trust me on this one, shut up, and drink it," she commanded, snapping. "I'm not poisoning you—in fact, all of the things in that are too good for you and I shouldn't be wasting my time or anything in the medicine cabinet on you. All of that medicine it's loaded down with is very costly, so just be happy and drink it."
"Fine," Trunks spat back, taking another unsure sip from the shake. He stuck his tongue out to silently tell her that it was truly disgusting, but downed the glass anyway.
Vegeta was staring at the empty glass like it were some alien thing. "What in the world is that supposed to cure anyway?" he asked.
"Oh…" Bra struggled to find a good lie. "Just…ah…morning sickness!" She mentally slapped herself for her stupid falsehood. Trunks paled. Bra, can't you find anything better to come up with? he thought, mortified as the look on their father's face went a bit confused.
"Isn't morning sickness what your mother had when she was pregnant with you brats?" Vegeta asked. Both Trunks and Bra blushed simultaneously.
"Well, uh, it was what she had, but…men can get it too, like, when they're too stressed and stuff!" Bra lied again, covering up her previous.
Vegeta stared at his daughter as if she were going insane, but decided to brush it off. What did he know? He didn't care about these human ailments. "Whatever. I've wasted enough time in here. I'm going to train," he told them shortly, wasting no time in stalking off to the back yard, where the Gravity Chamber stood.
Once he was safely out of earshot, Trunks turned on his little sister.
"Morning sickness?" he exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. Bra laughed nervously.
"Hey, I couldn't say that you were hung over. I think you should be pretty damn thankful to me," she said in her defense. "So, how does your head feel?"
Trunks had been too busy fretting over Bra's lie to notice the complete diminishing of his headache from before. He looked at her in shock. "I feel…it's gone…That's amazing. You were right, it the remedy really did work."
However, his look of wonder was quickly enough replaced by one of suspicion.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" she asked uncomfortably.
"I've got two questions," he began. Now that he could think straight again, there were some things that he wanted to know.
"Uh, shoot, I guess."
"First of all," Trunks said, licking his lips, "How did you get a remedy for a hangover? And secondly, why are you all of a sudden so anxious to keep me out of trouble? What's up your sleeve?"
"To answer your first question," she said tightly, "Mom keeps a recipe for a hangover-curing milkshake in the medicine cabinet. You're not the only one that gets stressed enough over work to drink. So stop thinking what I know you're thinking—alcohol is vile and I don't ever intend on participating in such acts as consuming it.
"And to answer your other question…well, this time there were some circumstances that compelled be to believe that we could both benefit from my helping you."
He raised a lavender eyebrow at her. "How so?" he asked skeptically.
"Well, as you know, Pan-chan and I need to get out today to get the things we need for her birthday party… so I thought… a favor might repay a favor. I help you out and continue to keep your little late-night rendezvous with Kate a secret…and you drive us around today. How's that sound for a deal?" she asked, a grin crossing her features. Bra knew that there was no way he could say no to her unless he wanted to suffer a very slow and painful death.
Trunks' face dropped. Was he being conned? Was he being blackmailed by his younger sister? How did she get to be so damn devious? She knew how to get anything… from their mother, from their father, and now…from him too. For a long time, he glared hard at her.
"You little bitch," he whispered vehemently. Thoroughly dismayed, he stood up from the table, not bothering to push his chair in, and started back upstairs.
Bra smiled sweetly at his back. "So I take that as a 'Yes, Bra-chan, I would adore taking you!'?" she said more than asked. He grunted some obscenity in response and she giggled.
"Good, then! We're picking up Pan-chan in two hours exactly! Don't be late!" her voice sung, and she ran past him, up to her room, to begin getting ready.
He was almost halfway up the stairs when he stopped dead in his tracks, realizing something. Did I just agree to see Pan, he asked himself miserably, and hung his head low.
"This day just keeps getting better and better," he groaned.
Waaaaaaaa-h!
The piercing cry of a baby permeated the previous silence in the lab. Looking over, Pan sighed and put down her work, going over to calm down Kaeida. Just when she was getting somewhere, the little girl always began crying for something… She knew that this was how babies were and that she should already be used to it, but this time machine was going to take a lot longer than expected to finish if she couldn't have a free second to herself.
The young mother sighed and tried to rock the little girl back to sleep, singing a song as she went on. "Tomodachi ni de gami wakaku to kimi tei ni, sure sure kotoba ga tete kureba ii no ni. Mou sukoshi otagai wo shirina uni wa chika una ga hoshi ni," she chanted softly the age-old song. In her mind, Pan could hear the soft, warm voice of her mother singing it to her and smiled. Though her mother was nothing more than a distant memory to the now-woman, she could still hear her voice, if only she remembered that song…
Pan continued on with the song until her acute hearing picked up quiet footsteps behind her. Turning around lithely, as not to disturb the near-slumbering child in her arms, Pan saw her husband and gave him a calm smile, if not rather marred by fatigue. He returned the smile, but his was laced with worry.
Approaching her slowly, Trunks used a soft hand to brush behind her ear the raven locks that had strayed from her messy bun. Briefly, his crystalline blue eyes ventured down to their child, then went back up to her.
"Pan, why don't you get some sleep?" he asked her. "It's been more than 24 hours since you last saw a bed. Let me take over for you for a while. I'll keep going on with the machine and watch Kaeida."
She frowned. "What if she wants to eat? As confident as you sound, I'm quite sure that you can't give her that," she said wryly.
Trunks shook his head. "Don't worry. She can survive off of formula for a few hours."
"Trunks, don't worry about it. I'm fine. I've pulled longer shifts than this."
"Pan," he said, warning tones in his voice.
"Trunks," she returned in the same tone.
They stared at each other for a long time, each trying to wear the other down. Finally, it was Trunks who spoke.
"Please? Just for a few hours? You're not going to be any use to anyone if you're too tired to think, you know," he attempted to reason.
"I'm not too tired," she retorted, but it was an obvious lie. "I can think just fine."
He raised a skeptical lavender eyebrow. "Then why is it that you're no further on the time machine than you were when I came in two hours ago?"
"I've also had to look after the baby."
"That may be true, but even I could have gotten further than you did and we both know how horrible I am at calming down kids."
Although it was a joke, neither of them even so much as cracked a smile. The couple fell into silence once more. All that could be heard in the lab were the sounds of the napping infant shifting in her mother's arms and the gentle mechanical hum emanating from the large computer on the console.
"Please?" Trunks tried one last time, his voice full of beseeching tones. Pan gave off an exasperated sigh. She didn't answer him for a moment, just glared hard at him. After nearly two minutes, he was still not giving in, barely even blinking.
"Fine," she consented, resigned. As carefully as possible, she handed Kaeida over to her partner, placing her gently and securely in her father's arms. "But only for a few hours. And I'm spending some of that time taking a shower."
Her husband nodded and readily agreed with her guidelines, just happy he was getting her to sleep, even if it was only for a couple of fleeting hours. Whatever either of them could get was precious, even if Pan did not seem to acknowledge it as such.
Before she left the lab, the demi Saiya-jin gave her pervious work a quick once-over, making mental notes of where she was. She knew that Trunks would not get very far; after all, he had said it himself—he wasn't exactly a pro at playing the part of babysitter. That had been proven many, many times before.
Growing impatient with his wife, Trunks went over and physically pushed her out the door with his free hand. "Go!" he commanded, ignoring her indignant look. With one final huff, Pan stalked out and into the hallway in search of a bathroom that hopefully wasn't totally decimated.
"Panny, wake up!" Videl called up the stairs in the direction of her daughter's room. For a second, she heard some rustling around, then soft footsteps against wood flooring and finally, a figure appeared at the top of the stairs. It held a face full of weary irritation.
"Mom, do you know what time it is?" Pan asked, exasperated. It's 8:30 AM! What does she want from me?
"Don't you talk to me like that, young lady, and yes, I am well aware of what time it is," Videl responded, putting her hands on her hips. "It's about time you woke up."
"Why?" she shot back, trying harder this time to keep the smart tone out of her voice but failing miserably. Videl gave her a glare that could kill and she noted that she would probably be better off silent.
"Well, for one, you're going shopping with Bra and Trunks today…" she reminded her. "Bra-chan just called a few minutes ago to make sure that you were up and to say that they were on their way."
When did she say we were going shopping? Pan thought, trying to recall the previous day. Her sleepiness was keeping her from remembering well. Doesn't she ever—
A voice abruptly interrupted her thoughts. "G'morning Pan!"
"Huh?" The teenager focused back on her surroundings and found her uncle at the bottom of the stairs, beside her mother, chewing on a piece of toast. He always seemed to drop by around breakfast time anymore. From what they could gather, there was something having to do with a piece of the house wall, flower gardens, a toaster, and an energy blast. Pan really didn't care to know the exact details, but what she did know was that ChiChi had put her son on probation from her cooking for a while, so now he ate Videl's instead.
"Good morning, Goten," she replied unenthusiastically.
"You don't sound very lively," came her father, who had drawn closer to the noise of the conversation. Gohan adjusted his glasses, surveying his daughter. "You don't look like it either."
Pan started down the stairs, ignoring her father's comment. "It's too damn early to go shopping," she complained, forgetting to watch her mouth. Gohan, instead of placing blame on his 'little girl', immediately glared at his brother instead. Goten laughed nervously, turning to his niece.
"Heh heh… woah now, Panny… I didn't teach you to talk like that!" He said, loud and emphatic. Pan rolled her eyes and walked past them, into the kitchen, obviously not really caring at the moment. She wasn't a morning person. Seeing her departure, Goten ran and caught up to her.
"I thought I told you not to say that around them!" he whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry about it," was her somnolent reply. "He'll forget about it in about ten minutes just because it was me who said it."
Goten sighed, knowing it was true. Pan was the epitome of Daddy's girl's, only second-bested by Bra and her marvelous show of power over Vegeta. Gohan was a piece of cake compared to the Prince of Saiya-jin. But, that aside, his niece's title made it quite easy for her to be seen in her father's eyes as the innocent, sweet little 'Panny-chan' that probably hadn't been seen for nearly ten years or so.
The two sat down at the wooden kitchen table and were soon joined by Gohan and Videl. Pan looked at the plate of steaming hot breakfast in front of her and began to pick at it. Goten cocked his head in confusion. Never had he seen a Saiya-jin pick at food. It was just unheard of.
"What's the matter, Pan?" he asked, concerned. She looked up and blinked.
"What? Oh, nothing. Just not hungry," she said.
Gohan, overhearing, frowned. "Not hungry? That's not possible," he said. Although in normal conversation such a remark would have been taken as an insult, when you were as… different… as they were, it was taken as worry instead.
"I'm just not hungry, alright?" Pan said, absentmindedly stirring around her eggs with her fork. The room went into silence for an excruciatingly long moment before the demi-Saiya-jin decided to get up.
"I'm going to go get ready… Uh, Uncle Goten, would you mind helping me pick out something to wear?" she asked indicatively.
"Huh? But you never worry about what cloth—" He was cut off immediately by the urging look in her onyx eyes. She was trying to tell him something. "But…I guess if you want, I can," he quickly fixed his mistake.
Nodding, Pan started back up the stairs. Goten gave one last, longing look at his cooling breakfast and sighed, getting up. "I'll be right back," he told his brother and sister-in-law briefly, before following his niece up the stairs.
Goten came into her room to find Pan inattentively sorting through her small variety of clothing, more than half of which were training gi. She's really out of it today. I thought it was just that she was still sleepy, but this has gone on too long. By now she'd usually be bounding with energy. Groaning, he sat down in her messy bed. If she wanted to talk to him, which she obviously did, she would make the first move. Although it definitely eluded him as to why she had chosen him to talk to, he didn't stand still at the chance to help his niece. They had grown to have more of a friend/friend relationship than an uncle/niece one in the past two years, but she had never chosen him to play secrets with. That was what Bra was for, wasn't it?
"I don't understand him sometimes." Her voice shook him from his thoughts and he looked up, attentive to her.
"Wh—" He had been about to say something before she cut him off and began rambling.
"He was all buddy-buddy with me just two days ago and now suddenly it's like I'm the plague that I'm impossible to be with for more than five minutes! He won't even look at me, Goten, and I don't know why! What happened? We were such good friends and out of the blue he has a hard time even speaking a word to me! The most we talked was for thirty seconds yesterday about his meeting, then he left—just got up and left—without even responding to my goodbye! What a jerk! He hasn't been this…I don't know…stupid since…forever! What is his problem with me?"
"Woah, Pan, calm down…" Goten tried to pacify her, not having been prepared for her sudden rant. "I'm not getting half of what you're talking about…First off, who are you talking about?"
"Trunks, of course, who else?" she spat, still annoyed, and even more so by his name. "You should know—you're his best friend! Doesn't he tell you anything?"
It swiftly dawned upon him. So that's why she came to talk to him. Because it was Trunks she was having a problem with. She probably thought he'd know why he had been ignoring her. But he was still confused about something.
"Don't get offended, but aren't you acting a little too distraught over just Trunks? He's annoyed you before and you usually just go over and beat him up or something."
"What? I—" Pan had been caught off guard by his question and blushed a little, wondering herself why she was acting like she was. "I don't know, honestly. It's just… I guess because we've been good friends for quite a while now or something..? Please don't ask me those kinds of things. It's just how I feel about it and sometimes I can't explain that."
Goten nodded, understanding, but had to grin a little at the red tint that painted her cheeks. So that's what's going on… he mentally chuckled. Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
"Look, Pan, if you want, I can try to talk to him," he said, hoping she'd feel a little better if he'd offer help. "They're coming over soon, right? I'll go with you guys. I don't think they—"
Goten was abruptly cut off by a fifteen-year-old girl jumping on him and enveloping him in a large hug. She muttered many rushed thank-you's in his ear and all he could do was smile and hug back. "You're welcome," he said with a short laugh. "Now," he pushed her gently back from him, "Don't you think you should try and get ready? You've got a total of about ten minutes before they get here and…well, you don't really want to go out in that, do you?"
Pan looked down and had to laugh at her current attire. Red and black striped pajama pants and a black top that had "FIGHT" in large letters over the front, all of which also looked about three sizes too small for the growing girl. She had refused to give this set of sleepwear up, though, having too much of a love for it even after nearly five years of owning it. "Yeah," she admitted. "I guess you're right."
"Well, then, I'll leave you to that," Goten said, hoisting himself up off the bed. He headed for the door, but was stopped mid-threshold by a pair of petite yet strong arms encircling his waist from behind. He felt a head rest against his back and smiled fondly.
"Thank you, really," Pan said.
"Any time. If you ever need me again, don't be afraid to call, you hear?" He felt her nod in response to this and, taking that as the end of the conversation, removed her arms from around him and left the room.
Uncle Goten, you'll never know how good you are to me, Pan thought with a little smile, and with that, began to prepare for the long day ahead…