A/N: So... two years later, huh? I have nothing else to say about that... But really, for the last two years I've been mostly writing original fiction. Big time. Finished several long (70k+ words) stories and have reached writing about 2 million words overall. Sorry for my absence and thanks for all your support-I'm trying here, but as always there's no guarantee. I know it blows when a story you like disappears off the face of the earth.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or anything affiliated with it.

-MalRev, the magical disappearing author

DEEP-SIX

12 - How To Keep Quiet

"Are you keeping an eye on your brother, Ellie? Your father and I worry about him."

It had been a few days since my discovery of Goku's drug interventions and things were going well so far. I was in my dorm room doing math homework and chatting with my mother, trying to push all thoughts of Goku and Owen out of my head. They were both major sources of stress and I needed to focus on school.

"Pretty good, I guess," I said a bit too sourly. "He's doing his own thing. I can't babysit all the time."

"Well just try to keep an eye on him for us, okay? We want both of you to graduate."

We talked for a little longer before I told her I needed to finish my homework. She seemed disappointed that I didn't want to talk anymore but I was tired of worrying about Owen and being stuck as his guardian. He hadn't spoken to me in days, maybe because I was associating with Goku so much, and no one else had seen him around. I was concerned like a sister should be but I didn't have the energy to hunt him down.

I returned to scribbling down answers and was interrupted by a knock on the door a few minutes later. I rolled my eyes, sighing at the intrusion, but pushed away from my desk and crossed the room to answer it. A quick peek out of the peep hole showed me Bulma standing in the hallway, blowing a bubble with her gum.

My heart skipped a beat. She looked a little irritated. Had she figured out I was encouraging Goku to skip his medication? Was she coming to beat me up or scream at me? I hesitated, wringing my hands together and debating ignoring her summons. I hadn't seen my new boyfriend all day—since, according to him, we were now together. He was probably at the gym with his friends. I screwed up my courage and pulled my door open, smiling brightly.

"Hey!" I said. "What brings you here?"

The hallway was empty otherwise. Bulma offered me a cold smile but didn't step into my dorm, opting instead to stand just outside with her hands on her hips. Chi-Chi had given me the same body language.

"There's rumors floating around that you're dating Goku," Bulma said, tilting her head. Her blue locks were pulled back in a bun. "Is this true, Ellie?"

Shit. I swallowed hard and leaned on my door for support. Was she mad I was dating him? Maybe she had a crush on him or something, too. Jesus Christ, did I have to compete with Bulma and Chi-Chi?

"I guess it's sort of true," I admitted. "But—"

"Why didn't you tell me first!" she howled, throwing her hands up in the air. "I've been pushing for you two this whole time, the whole half of the semester, and you keep it a secret from me?! We're supposed to be friends, Ellie, and you didn't even tell me you're finally sleeping with Goku!"

"I'm not sleeping with him quite yet." I peeked around nervously, relieved that the source of her anger was so petty in nature. "But let's keep it down because I don't want certain people finding out."

"You mean Chi-Chi? She already knows. Don't worry, she won't do anything. She knows firsthand how protective Goku can be and... Well, you don't want to cross him when he's in that mindset." Bulma blinked and looked to her left before smiling coyly. "Speak of the devil."

I leaned out of my dorm to see the devil himself was indeed walking down the hallway toward us. My pulse pounded as Goku approached in his sweaty workout clothes; the orange and blue getup the rest of his martial arts team wore. His eyes looked darker than normal and brushed across Bulma indifferently before settling on me, hot and black like burning coal. I shrank back inside my room to avoid his intense gaze but Bulma wasn't affected by it. She started scolding him for hiding our relationship as soon as he was close enough to slap.

"That's inconsiderate, Goku Son!" she admonished, reinforcing her words with harmless slaps on his upper arm. "I was the one who pushed you two together so I think I should be privy to the details!"

"Didn't want Chi to find out," he said. "But I guess it's too late for that."

Before I could utter a word he grabbed my arm and yanked me out of my dorm and against his chest, promptly smothering me with an embrace bordering on painful. He was damp and warm. One of his hands cradled the back of my head and the other wrapped around the small of my back to hold me in place.

"I want to say you two are cute but your sweaty hug is grossing me out," Bulma said. "I'm going out for dinner with Vegeta—just wanted to drop by and congratulate the happy couple. You two kids have fun."

She snickered as she pulled my door shut and I was left alone with Goku in my room, struggling to breathe against his chest. I wriggled but it was an exercise in futility.

"Do you mind?!" I wheezed.

The embrace tightened for a minute and I worried he would crack my ribs, but he released quickly after. I shoved him away and coughed a couple of times as Goku walked past me to my window. He peeked through the blinds to the grounds and ignored me struggling to regain my breath. I sagged against my bed and the first inkling of doubt bloomed in my head. Maybe I had made a mistake telling him to stop his medication.

What if he was crazy? What if it was the only thing keeping wild mood swings or violent impulses under control? I pulled myself up onto my bed and watched my peculiar new boyfriend with mixed emotions.

"Bulma's gonna find out soon," Goku said. He let go of the blinds and faced me, stern and not at all how he usually was. "I can already feel it coming on."

"Feel what coming on?" I asked in an exasperated tone. I was readjusting myself on my bed, pulling my sheets back over my lap.

He rubbed the back of his neck, twisting it left and right. "Urges. I've been in the gym for a couple hours already trying to burn it off—but it's not always that simple."

"Then explain."

My room felt so much tinier with Goku's hulking form taking up most of the space. He rolled his eyes and pulled out my desk chair to sit backwards on it, leaning his arms over the back and running a hand through his thick black hair. His eyes had dark circles I hadn't noticed before.

"It won't all go away," he said after a pause. "My personality is going to change and I don't think you're going to appreciate it." He shrugged morosely, glaring at the floor. "But that's fine. Wouldn't surprise me."

"You already warned me about that. Don't sweat it; I signed on for this. I want to figure out what's really going on here and I think getting you off those pills is the first step."

"You might regret doing that."

I frowned, perturbed by the glowering threat in Goku's words, but yet another person knocked on my door before I could respond to him. He cleared my room in two strides to answer it.

Owen was standing there with his shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets. The bags under his eyes had gotten worse and he kept sniffing like he had a cold. His blonde hair was long enough to pull into a ponytail. He no longer looked like the goofy popular kid with a heart of gold I had grown up with. He was disheveled and sad, and his brow furrowed upon seeing Goku.

"Where's my sister?" Owen asked coldly.

I hopped out of bed in an instant and squeezed under Goku's arm to grab my brother in a tight embrace. He seemed relieved to see me and hugged me back for longer than normal.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Do you need me for something?"

"I need to talk to you." Owen's blue eyes flickered up to Goku. "Alone."

"Sure, sure, no problem," I said. I turned and raised my eyebrows at my boyfriend, signaling for him to leave.

But Goku wasn't going anywhere. He kept his hands in his pockets and leaned on the doorframe to glare down at my brother. My scalp prickled nervously. What the hell was going on?

"Feeling a little sick, Owen?" he murmured. "You look awfully pale. Maybe you should go see Bulma."

My brother took an angry step forward and jabbed his index finger into Goku's chest. "I'm not doing this anymore for you people! I'm going to get help and I'm going to make sure you keep your sweaty paws off of Ellie. She's going to do great things that don't involve—"

Quite suddenly, Nappa and Raditz appeared behind Owen. Tarble was with them as well but hanging off to the side with an uncomfortable expression on his face. I stepped back in surprise and it triggered Owen to turn and face them, which also made him stagger back towards my room. They both looked malevolent.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Raditz suggested with a grim smile.

He and Nappa grabbed both of Owen's arms and dragged my brother off down the hallway, Tarble trailing behind. I blinked in shock at the scene and took a couple of seconds to try to head after them.

"Hey!" I shouted. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Goku grabbed my arm before I could get very far. I froze in place and glared up at him.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"You can't follow them. Owen will be fine."

I bristled. "Excuse me? Who do you think you are?"

He looked past me, down the hallway where the thugs had just dragged my brother. I fought against his iron old to no avail. When would I find out what was going on? Maybe it was time to call the police. At the very least I had to let my parents know what was happening with Owen.

Annoyed, I kept fighting against Goku's grasp. He usually acquiesced and released but he was holding me hard and firm, probably to give his cronies enough time to slip away with my brother.

"Let GO!" I shouted. "Right this—"

Without warning, Goku flung me around and slammed me into the wall on the inside of my door, allowing it to slam shut beside us. Stunned, I stared up at him as he glared down at me with an unnatural coldness in his dark eyes. His hands were covering my shoulders and squeezed, trembling a bit.

And it was gone as quickly as it had come. His hold weakened and his hands slid off my shoulders so he could stuff them back in his pockets. He looked contrite—embarrassed like a puppy that had been caught peeing on the new carpet. I was still flattened against the wall, a little frightened by his behavior. Maybe I had been wrong about him stopping the pills. Bulma probably knew best.

"Sorry," he said. His eyes were elsewhere. "I don't want to hurt you, but they have things they need to talk about. Owen knows."

"Knows what?" I straightened but kept my guard up. "If my brother is in trouble then I have to tell my parents. I can't keep them in the dark and I'm definitely not going to let him get hurt. If you don't give me a damn good reason for what just happened then I'm going to have to call them, and they'll call the police."

Goku scratched his head, brow furrowed. "You can't call the police. Owen is fine." He brightened up. "Why don't we work on math and watch TV? I'm pretty tired so—"

"Something is wrong with my brother," I interrupted. My suspicions were getting stronger by the second. "You're all doing something to him. I don't know what, but I will find out." I opened my dorm's door and motioned for Goku to leave. "You should go."

It didn't seem to click in his head. He stood in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets, head tilted with a perplexed expression on his face. Attraction aside, I wasn't going to be with or around someone who didn't mind Owen being mistreated. They were all in on it together and were trying to hide the truth from me. I wasn't going to be played like a fiddle.

Goku looked anguished. "I... I can't go. You can't call the police."

"Why the hell not?!"

"I can't tell you." He did his usual nervous tic, rubbing the back of his head. "Ellie, you need to trust me. I don't want to hurt you. Please do what I say."

"Are you threatening me?"

We were both quiet for a minute. Goku stared back at me and vaguely nodded.

The back of my neck prickled again. Tears brimmed in my eyes. "You really need to leave."

Goku shook his head for the thousandth time, face just as sad as mine. "I can't. I'm sorry."

"So you're going to stay here forever?" I spat.

I slammed the door shut again and tried to shove him but he was planted to the ground like a boulder. That just pissed me off even more and I pounded on his chest, fighting back tears and growing fear. Owen was in very big trouble and so was I. My new boyfriend was threatening to keep me quiet.

His arms wrapped around me to pull me closer to him and he buried his face in my neck while I cried. One palm supported the back of my head to keep my face in his chest.

"Yeah," Goku whispered, "I'll stay here forever."