Author's Note: AH!!! I'm terribly sorry about the whole wait thing… Fan fiction was on the fritz with my computer and wouldn't let me sign on, even after it was fixed. …So I kinda got fed up with it and didn't go back… Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me! It let me know fanfiction was working… it wasn't working for ME though… stupid thing… *kicks fanfiction* Ow! *walks away hopping*

Chapter 23

Son Pan-Innocent?

            Vegeta woke with a start, not realizing that he had fallen asleep until he awoke. He hastily checked the monitors, and sighed with relief, knowing that nothing had happened while he had slept. He then glanced to his son, and forced himself to be patient. When he was injured, they were forced to be patient with himself, the least he could do was be patient with his son.

            As he thought, the sickening feeling in his stomach grew. If the assassin was not Son Pan then-

            -then who was it?

            Did he just want someone to blame when his son was attacked? If so, Son Pan was certainly the most logical person to blame…  She put herself in the right places at the right times… or the wrong places at the wrong times.

            He looked up suddenly when he heard the slight noise of the sheets moving on the bed, and realized with shock that his son was awaking. His odd, strange eyes looked at his own, then blinked a few times.

            "Father?"

            "Trunks," he said slowly, then stood up, walking over to him.

            "How long?"

            "How long 'what' boy?" Vegeta asked.

            "How long have I been out of it?"

            "Weeks. A month, I suppose. Who did this to you?"

            Trunks blinked a few times at his father. He was expected something more along the lines of 'Are you ok?' or 'You need anything?' but then he remembered that it was Vegeta he was talking to, the king.

            Not his father.

            "Wha..?"

            "We had Son Pan relocated to the dungeons-"

            "What?! Why?" Trunks asked, cutting off his father.

            It was now Vegeta's turn to blink, astonished. "You mean you don't know?!"

            "Know what?"

            "She attacked you twice, and me as well…" Vegeta paused for a long, soundless moment. "…Right?"

            Trunks blinked at his father, then forced his voice to sound level. "What did you do to her."

            "You mean she didn't attack you?"

            "What did you do to her," Trunks retorted more insistently.

            Vegeta's eyes were wide with surprise. "But why did she have the knife?"

            "What did you do to her."

            "We had her tortured," Vegeta replied in the same, even tone.

            "For how long."

            "Almost the entire time you were unconscious."

            Trunks blinked, shocked, then adverted his eyes. In a soft voice he said, "What did you do with her body."

            "She's still alive-but only just."

            "Dear Kami, the guards went soft on her? I thought I'd never see the-"

            "They didn't."

            "And she's still alive?!" Trunks tried to sit himself up, but Vegeta pushed him back onto the bed.

            "Yes. Now rest."

            "But-" Trunks said, but did not have the strength to keep himself awake, falling back into a deep sleep, if so reluctantly.

*******

            Vegeta strode to the other side of the hospital, noticing with a mental wince that it was heavily guarded. "Guards!" He barked, and they stood in rapt attention. "Clear out of this area now!" The guards almost tripped over their own two feet as they tried to get out quick enough.

            Vegeta then walked into the room the guards were guarding- Son Pan's room. He almost chuckled-here the guards were guarding this place like Son Pan was some kind of lethal weapon, when in reality she was only a girl, and not the assassin they were looking for. Well, in that matter, it wasn't funny. Not really.

            He was surprised to see Son Gohan sitting; leaning against the wall-he hadn't expected anyone to be in here. He shrugged it off and walked up to him, his steel-tipped boots making faint clicks on the floor. He raised a brow when he stopped right next to him and Son Gohan said nothing, as if he didn't even notice he was there.

            Vegeta cleared his throat, then said, "Son Gohan."

            With the slightest incline of his head, he looked to see who it was, startled, then stood up and hastily bowed. "My King, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you where here, and I've been so wrapped up with-"

            "I don't want to hear it," Vegeta cut him off curtly. Son Gohan said nothing more, though he looked a little offended.

            "W-… what brings you here, my lord, if I may ask?"

            "Go home, Son."

            At this comment, Son Gohan burst out into quiet but insistent protest. "What?! Why? Don't I have a right to see my daughter? I-"

            "She's innocent." Vegeta glanced once at Son Pan, lying almost lifeless on the bed, the spun, walking out of the room, not glancing once to see the astonished, blissful look on Son Gohan's face.

*******

            Vegeta strode through the hallways, heading towards the meeting room. He wanted to talk to the council about a few things, and now that his anger had cooled over Frieza's comment, they could converse over that as well. They conversed, he realized, over just about anything. This would just be a new hot topic of theirs.

            Or would it?

            Usually it was, but this time the tables were turned. The topics now were on a much bigger scale then usual, and they had to do with all of Planet Vegeta, not just a portion of it. Maybe it wouldn't just be a subject to talk about to them. Maybe they would genuinely care.

            But what troubled him the most was the fact that Pan didn't do anything. She had just been in the wrong places at the wrong times. But how was he supposed to prove that to the other saiyans? They were truly set on the idea that Son Pan had tried to assassinate himself and the brat. How was he supposed to convince them that she wasn't the assassin? If he said that she wasn't, and the saiyans of his planet had no proof but his word, they would probably kill Son Pan their selves. Not because they wanted to go against his word, but to protect him if they though he was wrong.

            He promised to himself to keep his lips shut until he could think of proof that Son Pan was innocent. Keeping the brat silent would prove to be difficult, but he could manage.

            Suddenly, he felt a ki make its way towards the room he had just left no more then a few minutes ago-Son Pan's room. Angry, but not strong. Instantly he knew who it was, and he knew that keeping this saiyan away from Son Pan would prove much harder then anyone would have originally thought.

            Author's Note: Ah-ha! A cliffy. ^-^ Don't worry though, the next chapter should be out by tomorrow at the latest. ^-^ Thank you, everyone!!! *ducks flying chairs and wooden spoons thrown by angry fans* Aw, thank you! I know you guys loved it! *grins*

            Reviewer spotlight-

            Hey Z thanks a lot! You've been here since the beginning almost, and I appreciate the reviews! Love 'em! Thanks a whole bunch!!

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!

Quote: "The best way out is always through."

~Robert Frost