A/N: About a year since my last update. I'm trying to draw my inspiration from different sources. This is pretty bland but I hope it is somewhat enjoyable. Thank you all.

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

DEEP-SIX

13 - How To Fall Apart

"Miss Hayworth?"

All I could think of was Goku telling me that I couldn't call the police. My palms were sweaty, my heart was racing; I was terrified. I chewed my pen to offset my nerves but I didn't know where to go or what to do. Where the hell was Owen? Why hadn't I just called mom and dad and told them everything? What was keeping me from doing what was right?

Owen was my goddamn brother and I was just sitting in math class while he was god knows where having god knows what done to him. My pulse pounded in my ears and everything came to my ears through a vacuum. It was so loud and yet so quiet at the same time.

And they were all still in math—Chi-Chi, Yamcha, Tien. I'd only looked at them all as I entered class but they had stony faces and I could especially feel Chi-Chi's eyes on me. My paranoia shifted into overdrive. Holy fuck, were they going to kill me? Were they getting rid of witnesses?

"Miss Hayworth!"

I glanced up to find my professor glaring at me and all the other students watching me curiously. A look to my left yielded Tien's mildly interested face with Yamcha turned in his seat to watch me with the same look. Trembling, I looked to my right to find Chi-Chi's narrowed eyes waiting for me to answer the professor. Christ. I was going to be taken away like Owen was.

Before I could formulate a response I had my books in my arms and bolted out the door. The professor didn't follow, nor did anyone else.

My dorm room wasn't an option—Goku would probably be waiting there. I slipped around the corner and into a janitor's closet and felt around my clothes for my cell phone. Everything was getting out of hand. I'd call mom and dad and they'd fix everything. I'd go home and study at a different school and get out of the mess Owen had created.

Though I frantically triple-checked myself and my bag, I realized that my cell phone was missing. I pulled on the light overhead and poured out the contents of my backpack on the floor. I knew I'd left my room with it before class, so where was it?!

"The girl knows too much."

My heart leaped into my throat and lodged there when I heard a familiar cruel voice outside the door. I immediately covered my mouth with my hand to keep my breathing quiet. Raditz.

There was an annoyed snort. "She is of no consequence. Our plans will carry on as intended, and the human boy will be dealt with until he learns his place."

Vegeta. Why were they wandering the halls together? Bulma said they were rarely on campus. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed they didn't hear me breathing. Human boy? What was that supposed to mean, anyway? We were all... human.

My thoughts trailed back to Goku mentioning he, Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and Tarble were part of the Saiyan something-or-other. I wondered...

The door abruptly opened, spilling fluorescent light into the tiny closet, and thick fingers were wound into my hair. I yelped as I was dragged out and thrown on the floor, sliding into the opposing wall in the process and bashing my head off it. Dazed, I watched blankly as Vegeta approached with his arms folded, Raditz trailing beside him.

"It isn't polite to listen to private conversations," Vegeta said. He stepped back. "Perhaps my friend Raditz can teach you some manners."

"VEGETA! RADITZ!"

The clicking on Bulma's heels preceded her. Raditz stepped away like Vegeta had and the three of them were quickly involved in an argument. I groggily tried to sit up, clutching my head and wincing. My hair was warm and wet. It had to be blood.

"Are you crazy?!" Bulma kept hissing. "Goku is going to have a goddamn heart attack—and now what are we supposed to do with her?!"

"I don't care," Vegeta spat.

"If you cared more we'd have less problems!" Bulma turned to look down at me. I could only see her black heels—not something most people wore to class. "And this is becoming a serious problem."

Raditz snorted. "Kakarot is nothing. She'll be gone before he realizes it."

"She can't disappear, you troglodyte!" Bulma snarled. "The entire plan goes to shit without her!" She looked around, frantic for the first time since I had met her. "We need to move her, now."

Vegeta seemed inconvenienced, but snapped his fingers and pointed to me. The pain was so intense that it blunted my ability to resist, or even protest, as Raditz scooped me from the floor. He flung me over his shoulder like an animal pelt.

Bulma was on her phone. "You two brutes figure something out. I have to find Goku and medicate him before we have a complete and utter disaster on our hands."

Lights flickered at the corners of my eyes as the group split up, with Raditz, Vegeta, and I heading towards the exit. Bulma's heels clacked off down the hallway and I heard her talking in a singsong voice to someone over the phone.

Medicate Goku… She was trying to keep him dumbed down. But why? What was she gaining from keeping Goku in a haze every day? He was too sweet and gentle to hurt anyone the way Raditz and Vegeta did. Wasn't he?

"Bring her to the hideout," Vegeta said as we stepped outside. I couldn't see him, but I could hear him smiling. "Do whatever you want. Don't leave marks."

Oh fuck. Fear sent my pulse running and I finally got a grip on myself. I pulled at Raditz's shirt, trying to dislodge myself from his shoulder, and frantically looked for someone to help me. We were on a less populated side of the building, and the only people were some soccer players down the hill. I started screaming before I knew what to say and it came out as a jumbled, hysterical sound.

"H-HELP ME!" I shrieked. I clawed at Raditz, sinking my nails into his skin, but he didn't react. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!"

Quite suddenly I was dropped to the ground, mercifully landing on some soft grass. But before I could turn over on my back, Raditz had his boot on the back of my head. Cold earth enveloped my face as he pushed harder. Terrified, I panted into the soil, inadvertently inhaling dirt, and I began to splutter and cough. Nausea boiled like fire in my stomach; I was positive I was about to die.

And Raditz lifted his foot, finally allowing me to breathe. He and Vegeta stood and watched as I retched and hacked, struggling to breathe and trying not to vomit. Why was no one coming to help? Didn't anyone see what was happening or hear me screaming?

"Remember, Raditz," Vegeta said, eying me with disgust, "bring her to the hideout. As in, the hideout Kakarot is not aware of. That should slow him down somewhat."

Raditz laughed, and for the first time in my life, I felt genuine hatred towards someone. I puffed furiously on the ground, too lightheaded to get up and keep screaming. What was going to happen to me? Was Goku going to figure out I'd disappeared?

"Hey! What the hell are you two doing?!"

The voice I heard was the last I expected. I wasn't sure if I should be happy to hear it, but my savior sounded pretty pissed off. Dazed, I looked in their direction, and was surprised to see my math tutee's ex girlfriend stomping towards us with fists clenched at her sides.

Raditz sneered at Chi-Chi as she came closer. "Mind your own business, witch. Go back to your math class and leave us to our business."

Chi-Chi glared at him and tried to walk past, but he extended one long, muscled arm in her way. Her icy stare didn't waver, and I watched in amazement as she cocked back her skinny arm. The smirk on Raditz's face was wiped away as Chi-Chi landed a punch square between his eyes, resulting in a loud and sickening crack.

He staggered back a few inches and hissed in pain but didn't seem to be quite down for the count. Chi-Chi hoisted me off the ground with strength I wouldn't have guessed she had, and supported me on her shoulder. I stared at her in shock.

Vegeta squared his shoulders beside Raditz, glowering. "You're going to regret that."

"You're going to regret tormenting Ellie," Chi-Chi spat back. "Goku will be here any second now and he's going to—"

There was a screeching sound from behind us. It was like nails on a chalkboard with fifty times worse, and mingled with a foreign crunching noise I had never heard. Chi-Chi turned, still supporting me, and laughed under her breath as we watched a steel door being torn from its hinges. My eyes widened until I thought they would fall out.

Goku emerged from the destroyed door frame, grasping the edge until it buckled beneath his grasp. His black eyes blazed with rage I didn't think he was capable of and it leaked into his face, resulting in a contorted expression that held too many emotions for me to sort. Bulma was under his arm like a duffel bag, swaying limply—she must have been knocked out or passed out.

He dropped Bulma on the ground and nodded towards Chi-Chi. "Thank you."

She nodded back.

"KAKAROT!" Vegeta snarled, stepping towards him. "What have you done?!"

Goku ignored him and stepped over Bulma towards Chi-Chi and I. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes—I was petrified and so bewildered—and Goku smiled faintly at me.

"We have a lot to talk about," he said.