Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z

Chapter 23

Intervention

*CLUNK*

Vegeta sat bolt upright at the sound of the power going out, a decision he instantly regretted as he felt light-headed. "Son of a bitch," he muttered as he flopped back down.

"What's going on?" he wasn't sure if it was Kakarot, Tarble or one of the guards outside the door.

"Powers gone out," he grunted, "Back-up generators haven't kicked in." These rolling black outs were becoming more and more frequent. Rumours amongst the soldiers were that Appura and Gohan were behind them. Something about tearing military outposts and government buildings apart. Vegeta grimaced. Finally, action on their part, but only because the humans had foolishly taken prisoner the one thing that was holding them back. Now they no longer had an infant to worry about, nothing was going to stand in their way. Even Kakarot knew that, he'd said as much the day Gohan and Appura had tried to get Kabu off the planet. And if Vegeta had to guess, they were getting closer to defeating at least the humans. Rolling black-outs, decreased rations. Vegeta grinned a little. He loved war even if he was a prisoner at the moment. The lights suddenly came back on and Vegeta had to blink his eyes to adjust to the sudden light. He slowly began to sit up, feeling stiff, a good indicator that it was nearly time for the infernal shot. He rubbed his sore neck. They were finding it harder and harder to find veins to inject the Saiyans with. Tarble's had deteriorated so badly they had moved on to his arms. As he rubbed his neck, Vegeta felt a chill run down his spine. The entire building seemed quiet…too quiet. Suddenly klaxons and alarms began blaring all over the building and the door to the cell flew open. Armed guards burst in, aiming their weapons directly at the half-asleep Saiyans. A Captain walked in, one they had never met before.

"Take them to General Greed's office immediately," he barked, "Their dose will be administered there." Vegeta glanced at Kakarot. They'd never been taken to Greed's office before.

"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Greed spluttered, his face going red. Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at the tiny General.

"I mean, I haven't seen my wife in a year," said Vegeta, "I don't know how she got out, how she got the boy or where she has gone." He grinned. He knew why he loved that brilliant human. It had taken a year, but she had escaped, taking Kakarot's wife and their grandson with her, all without leaving a hint at how they'd done it or where they'd gone. He glanced over the General's shoulder. Videl was stood behind him, biting her lip to suppress a laugh. Laughing didn't help, as Kakarot had discovered when he had burst into a fit of giggles upon learning what had happened. He was still scowling and nursing the bump on his head. Greed sighed audibly and slumped in his seat.

"Doesn't matter," he said in a falsely optimistic voice, "Kuda has already ordered his men to find them and the Hybrids…they're going to rip this world apart to find them." Vegeta smirked.

"Do I look worried?" he asked, fighting a chuckle.

Gohan dropped the unconscious body of a soldier. "Appura!" he yelled as he began to pick his way through the wreckage. This building had been a military prison. They had hoped they would find their fathers here. Sadly, no luck, once again. "Appura! Trunks!" Gohan called again, "Goten!" He'd lost track of them during the attack but they needed to move quickly before more soldiers arrived. His Saiyan hearing picked up a clicking noise down the hallway.

As he looked around the door frame, he smiled. Trunks had his mother's brilliance. He was sat at the Commanding Officer's computer, hacking into the military system, looking for clues. His brow was furrowed but he had a small smile on his face. "Found something, kiddo?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah," Trunks replied quietly, "Mom's escaped, and so has yours. Took them long enough." Gohan smiled to himself. Two more allies on the outside to help.

"That's great," he said, looking into a couple of files on the desk, "If we can meet up with them, they can tell us where they're hiding my dad and…" he trailed off when he turned his head to find the chair empty.

"Trunks?" he called, "Trunks!" There was a clattering outside the room and Appura appeared in the doorway.

"Have you seen Trunks?" Gohan asked, "He was here a second ago and then…"

"He vanished?" Appura cut him off, "Yeah, Goten vanished right before my eyes."

"Humans don't have that technology, or they would have taken all four of us," said Gohan, "This was someone off-world."

"Saiyans?"

"No, or they would have taken us too," Gohan said, "I think I know who it was."

Trunks blinked in the unfamiliar sun light, his legs unsteady in the unusual gravity. He looked up at the pink sky and wondered where the hell he was. He staggered slightly and nearly fell but was caught by Goten.

"Where are we?" Goten asked. Trunks looked around. It felt like he'd seen this place somewhere before but couldn't put his finger on it until…

"Goten, I think we're on Planet Vegeta, the Saiyan homeworld!" Trunks said excitedly, "I remember Dad telling me about it!"

"Close, Trunks, very close!" Trunks and Goten looked around but couldn't see anyone.

"Who was that?" Goten said, clinging to Trunks' arm.

"It's me, King Kai! I've got a very important mission for you, boys." Trunks glanced at Goten before replying.

"Oh, yeah? What is it? And where are we?" said Trunks.

"You're on Planet Plant, the neighbour of Planet Vegeta!"

"Seriously?!" said Trunks, "But, why are we here?"

"There's a Saiyan who's been in hiding on this planet for forty years. I tried to offer him transport to Earth some years back but he refused. I lost track of him a long time ago. But now, I think if you two find him, you may be able to convince him to help. Especially you, Goten."

"Huh? Me?" asked Goten, "Why me? Who is this guy you want us to find?"

"I'm sorry boys, I have to go. Oh, and Trunks, your mother's Dragonball radar is in your pocket. It may come in handy." And with that, King Kai was gone. Trunks shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out the radar. He looked up at Goten.

"Guess we better find this guy," he said quietly.