A/N: I find myself still using Bulma a lot throughout this story, although it's almost impossible not to. I will try to incorporate other characters as I can. Chapters may also be shorter from here on out since the first two helped set the scene. For those who watch Dragonball Z Abridged on YouTube, look out for a TeamFourStar reference in this one. As always please favorite and review. And don't forget to check out my other works. Enjoy!

Day 03: Exploring All Avenues

"Damnit woman!" Vegeta screamed into the small, portable video device that served as his only connection to the world outside the cramped room he was in. "Why am I still in here?!"

Last night he, along with his son, had been hastily ordered into a spare bedroom in the basement of Capsule Corp. After his initial noncompliance with the robots that had been sent to escort him to said room, Bulma approached him in a white suit that covered her entire body, making her look like she was on a space mission. She informed him that the virus Gohan was infected with targeted Saiyans. Thus, for safety reasons, he and Trunks were to be quarantined until it was determined that not a single trace of the virus existed outside of the infirmary. With great reluctance, both he and his son were stripped naked and washed as they entered their new residence. New clothes were supplied and blood was drawn from each of them to check for the virus. Throughout the entire ordeal Trunks cried, resulting in neither of them getting much sleep. Needless to say he was in a very agitated state and all he could do was wait.

"Vegeta, you have to calm down." Bulma tried her best to get him to relax, although she knew there was nothing relaxing about any of this. "The virus seems to be triggered by stress. We didn't find any trace of it in either of your blood samples but we want to be extra cautious. You have to be patient with us and remain calm."

"And what about him?" Vegeta motioned toward his son who was on the bed crying.

"I told you to pick him up. Make him feel comforted."

The Saiyan grimaced. "That's your job woman."

"VEGETA!" Bulma screamed before settling herself down. "Just try and be… fatherly… for once."

"Hmph." He sneered, crossing his arms.

Bulma decided to take a different approach. "He might quiet down if you hold him."

He glared at her while contemplating his options. Eventually he gave in and picked up his son, trying his best to be soothing. Almost immediately, Trunks started to settle down.

"See." Bulma pointed out. "That wasn't so hard."

"So, how much longer do we have to be in here?" Vegeta asked through clenched teeth.

"It should only be another hour. Our machine is still scanning all of Capsule Corp in order to guarantee that there is no trace of the virus. Fortunately, nothing has showed up yet, which is a good sign. We've already moved Gohan to a more bio-secure room and sterilized the room he was in. As soon as we get confirmation that the virus doesn't exist anywhere else in the building, we will run more elaborate tests on you and Trunks to make sure that neither one of you has contracted the virus. After that you will be free to do as you please."

"Fine." Vegeta commented as he shut off the device. Cradling his son, he continued to feel uneasy about the situation. His previous concerns about the virus having the potential to infect others had proven to be legitimate.

What was next?

"Dende, are you sure you don't want to wear one of these suits." Bulma asked, as she finished up with some tasks in Gohan's new room. The Namekian had opted out of any personal protective equipment because of the interference with his healing abilities. Instead, he agreed to be washed down and scanned every time he left the room, which was almost never.

"I'm fine." He replied, although his voice held strain. It was obvious he was starting to get tired.

Without anything else she could do, Bulma stepped out of the room into a small, sealed space between the infirmary and the hallway. A light scanned her body.

"No virus detected." An automated voice announced as the door to the hallway opened. Bulma disrobed from her suit and stepped out, the door closing behind her. She then made her way to the nearby lab to join her father.

"Any updates?" She asked.

Dr. Briefs was handling some test tubes in a large airtight container with arm sleeves. "Well, as you know, last night I was able to confirm that this virus is resilient outside the body but normal disinfectant techniques work well against it, so even if we did find any it would be easy to destroy."

"Yup, and…"

"And, … that's pretty much all we have so far." He said apologetically.

"What about the analysis on the medicine?" Bulma inquired.

"It's still processing. It seems to be a rather complex mixture of chemicals. Last I checked it was about 80% complete."

This was good news. "So odds are it will be close to done by the end of today. That's great! Have we already prepared th-" She was cut off as Dr. Briefs finished her sentence.

"Prepared the solutions for what we know the medicine contains? Yes. And we have plenty of chemicals and equipment to make anything we don't have."

"I guess that's one of the benefits of having your own laboratory at your disposal." She became contemplative as she tried to think of the next course of action. "So right now all we can do is wait for the scanning of Capsule Corp to be done... That is unless you need any help in here. What are you doing exactly?"

"Oh no I'm fine. This is just an experiment I'm trying out. I didn't mention it because it's still in an early stage and the odds of success are low. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up about anything." Dr. Briefs tried to distract his daughter with something else. "Why don't you go prepare the electro-magnetic resonance machine for Vegeta and Trunks? As soon as the scanning process is complete we will need to analyze them for the virus."

Bulma gave him a perturbed look. She knew he was shooing her off.

Sighing Dr. Briefs did his best to reassure her. "If anything comes from this I will let you know. Now go." He gently motioned.

Despite her curiosity, Bulma knew there was no use arguing. She obliged and left him to continue his work.

By the time she had gotten the electro-magnetic resonance machine set up with the correct parameters, a floating device had entered the room. "Scanning complete." It said in a slow robotic voice.

"Results?" Bulma prompted.

A few lights flickered while the scanner collected its data. "Virus detected on clothing of Son Goku before being incinerated. No virus detected anywhere else. Capsule Corp is clean."

"Was the virus found on Goku's clothing surrounded by any type of fluid, such as blood?"

After a few more seconds of processing, the machine answered. "Virus was surrounded by dried saliva."

"Thank you. Standby."

The device remained floating by her side.

"Hmmm." Bulma reflected on the news she just heard. "That's to be expected I guess. When he first came here, Goku was holding Gohan close to his chest. Some saliva most likely found it's way onto Goku's shirt while Gohan was screaming in pain." Leaning back in her chair, she expanded on this thought. "That could also be how Gohan got the virus in the first place. Perhaps Goku coughed on something and then two weeks later Gohan happened to touch that surface, followed by touching his face, where it could gain entry through the mouth or nasal passage. While the virus would have a hard time making it to the salivary glands because of the body's immune system, it's not impossible. This could also mean that there are more traces of it within their house."

In order to prevent any reinfection, she would have to find a way to get the scanner and some cleaning units out there. However, first thing was first.

Bulma quickly got to her feet and gathered a few items from a nearby cabinet. "This should be good." She told herself as she walked out the door, the floating scanner following her. Making her way down some stairs and through some more corridors she finally reached her destination. After putting on a surgical mask she knocked on the door. Although, she immediately regretted the decision as she heard her son cry in response.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Vegeta screamed.

"Why didn't I just walk in?" Bulma asked herself, grabbing her head. Vegeta swung open the door. Before he could say anything she admitted her wrongdoing. "That was my mistake. I will get him. Just please put this on." She forced a surgical mask into his hands as she made her way into the room toward her infant son.

"And how long do I have to wear this?!" Vegeta continued to shout.

Bulma placed a smaller mask on Trunks while she tried her best to sooth him. "Vegeta, I promise this is almost over. We just have to go up to the machine I was talking to you about and scan the two of you. It's the only way we can be 100% positive that neither of you have the virus. After that you are free to go."

The Saiyan Prince grumbled as he did what he was told and put the mask on his face. As they left, the floating scanner quickly examined the father in son pair to confirm no traces of the virus were on their clothing. After determining they were clean, the scanner then entered the room and began scanning every surface just as an extra precaution.

By the time the family had gotten back up the infirmary, Bulma had been able to calm her son back down to a peaceful slumber. "Lay on the platform there." She motioned as she softly laid Trunks on the bed that had recently held Gohan. Vegeta grumbled again as he obeyed. He hated taking orders, but if this meant he could finally be free then so be it.

"OK, now what?" He asked, agitation still in his voice.

"Just hold still." Bulma replied as she sat in front of the computer. "This should only take a minute." After pressing a few buttons the platform slowly slid into the cylindrical machine and Vegeta was illuminated with green light. Toggling with a few settings, it wasn't long before Bulma was able to get a clear picture of what she needed. "OK, now for this last bit." She muttered to herself as she typed away. A program took a 3-D scan of Vegeta's heart while she zoomed in to look at his cells on a molecular level. Within a few seconds a message appeared on the screen that confirmed what she was seeing with his cells. "No foreign agents found."

She sighed again, relieved. "OK Vegeta, you're done." She announced as she ejected the platform and went over to grab her son. Vegeta sat up and gave her a suspicious look. "That's it?" He questioned.

"That's it." Bulma confirmed as she placed a still sleeping Trunks on the platform. If he could stay asleep it would make her job a lot easier. "You have no trace of the virus. Go and get some rest. Oh, and you don't need to wear this mask anymore." She said, taking it off for him.

Vegeta gave her a long stare before eventually leaving without a word. He was still uncomfortable about the whole thing situation and she knew it.

Bulma went back to her computer and once again prompted the platform to slide into the machine. The same procedure was followed for Trunks that had been followed for Vegeta. And, just like his father, Trunks was found to be virus-free.

"Thank goodness." She breathed an air of relief.

With her son still asleep, she carried him all the way back to his nursery and gently laid him down in his crib. "That was scary Trunks." She whispered as she kissed him on the forehead.

Chi-Chi was right; you can't take anything for granted.

By the time Bulma made her way back to the laboratory her floating scanner device was waiting for her. "No trace of the virus detected." It stated referring to the scan it just completed in the room Vegeta and Trunks has been quarantined in.

"Thank you. Power down." Bulma ordered, prompting the device to return to it's docking station a few rooms away. At least she was able to find comfort in the fact that the virus had not spread and that it was localized solely to the room Gohan was now it. She turned to her father. "Neither Vegeta nor Trunks have the virus and the rest of Capsule Corp is clean."

"That's good." Dr. Briefs replied, half listening and half focusing on his work.

She gave him a perturbed look. "Are you still not going to tell me what you are working on?"

"Nope." He replied quickly. Although he could tell this only frustrated his daughter further. He followed up with a more detailed response. "Even if I did tell you, there is nothing you could do at the moment. This stage is a one-man job and simply takes time."

"What do you want me to do then?" She asked, a bit annoyed.

"Actually, if you could get me some more of Goku's blood, that would be helpful."

"Eh? Goku's blood?"

"Yes, a pint if it's possible."

"A whole pint!?" Bulma exclaimed. What on earth did her father need with a pint of Goku's blood?

"Yes." Dr. Brief said as-matter-of-factly.

"But why do-" She stopped herself. Her father had already decided not to share with her what his experiment was about so there was no point in pressing further. "OK, fine." She sighed. Hopefully Goku would still be receptive to the idea of being stuck with a needle.

"B-Bleugghhh." Chi-Chi vomited into the toilet.

"Chi-Chi!" Goku rushed into the bathroom. "Chi-Chi are you OK?" He knelt beside his wife as she reached a hand up and pressed the flusher.

"I think so, I'm just not feeling well this morning." She replied, wiping her mouth with a tissue.

Goku looked concern. "You barely got any sleep last night and you haven't been eating that well. Perhaps you're putting too much stress on your body. Why don't you lay down and relax?"

"NO. I have to be there for Gohan."

"But right now there is nothing we can do." Goku said as he helped his wife to her feet with the intention of getting her back to the bed for rest. "Besides, it's not going to help if you're sick."

"I'm not sick Goku I jus-… oh no." She fell back in front of the toilet and emptied the contents of her stomach once again. "Bleuughhhh."

Goku sighed. The stress his wife was putting herself through was making her physically ill. "At least let me get you something to drink to help settle your stomach."

Chi-Chi nodded as she flushed the toilet.

Grabbing the new green shirt and denim pants provided to him after his old clothes had been incinerated for safety purposes, Goku made his way out of their room towards the kitchen.

"What am I going to do?" He thought to himself. His son was sick with a virus that had almost killed him and his wife was worrying herself to the point of literal illness. What was next?

As he walked into the kitchen he saw Krillin and Yamcha picking at some pastries on the counter and conversing.

"Yea, when I was walking back with these I ran into Vegeta. I guess Bulma cleared him but I could tell he looked tired. When I tried to ask him what happened he simply looked down at the basket I was carrying, grabbed a half a dozen muffins and walked off without saying a word." Before Yamcha could respond, Krillin noticed his old friend. "Oh, hey Goku." He greeted. "Would you like a muffin? Bulma's mom just baked them."

"No thank you." The Saiyan responded wearily. His friends gave him a suspicious look. It wasn't like him to turn down food.

"What's wrong Goku?" Yamcha asked.

As he scoured the fridge for something to get for his ailing wife he replied back. "It's Chi-Chi. She was just throwing up. I think the stress of all of this if finally getting to her and it's making her ill."

"Chi-Chi's sick!" A voice appeared from behind them.

"Hmm?" They all turned around to see Bulma in the doorway.

"Goku, you said Chi-Chi is sick?"

"Well she was throwing up just now but I think it's been all the stress. I was actually just looking for something to help ease her stomach."

"Bottom right drawer there is a soda." Bulma quickly said as she thought about what she should do.

Goku grabbed the soda and shut the fridge.

"OK. Goku, go back and tell her to stay in bed. I will be right there." She then ran back down the hall she had just come from.

The three friends gave each other a shrug wondering what the urgency was.

Goku soon returned to his room and gave Chi-Chi her drink, which helped to ease her nausea. Not a minute had gone by before Bulma rushed into the room.

"Chi-Chi, do you have any chest pain?" She asked as she started to sort out her instruments.

"N-No." Her friend stammered. "Why?"

"OK, it's probably nothing, but I just want to make sure." Bulma proceeded to draw a small sample of blood. She then utilized her other tools to conduct a quick analysis. Goku and Chi-Chi looked on without saying a word and within a minute Bulma had what she was looking for. "Whew, OK so you don't have the heart virus."

Goku was confused. "But yesterday you said it only targets Saiyans. How would Chi-Chi have it?"

"I did say that. And I also did a scan of all of Capsule Corp. However, the thing about viruses is that they can mutate to target other hosts and even develop new symptoms. It was a one in a million shot that a virus has escaped the scanner and mutated enough to infect Chi-Chi but I had to be sure. Her getting sick like this just seemed a bit too coincidental. That being said, the results show that there are no foreign bodies affecting her although she does have a high cortisol level which is indicative of stress." She focused her attention solely on Chi-Chi. "Goku's right, this is probably due to the stress you've been experiencing. You should spend the day to get some rest."

"B-But Gohan." Chi-Chi protested.

"There is still nothing you can do at the moment. Even I'm just waiting around as the analysis on the medicine is processed and my dad works on some experiment he won't tell me about." She then remembered why she had gone to the kitchen in the first place. "Speaking of which, Goku, he requested that we take some more of your blood."

"OK." Goku responded. He was still in a highly agreeable state. Anything to help his son.

"Chi-Chi, you stay here and get some rest."

Her friend decided not to put up a fight anymore. She knew it would get her nowhere.

Bulma stood up and collected her tools. "Follow me Goku."

As the two made their way down the hall they passed the kitchen where Krillin and Yamcha were still enjoying the muffins baked by Mrs. Briefs. Bulma stopped to ask them a favor. "Hey could you guys keep an eye on Chi-Chi for us? She's supposed to be resting and I don't want her to stress herself out anymore than she already is."

Krillin and Yamcha looked at each other nervously. They knew Chi-Chi could be a bit abrasive and were therefore a little bit frightened by her.

"Well I don't think Chi-Chi would like us telling her what to do and she can be a bit frightening at times…" Yamcha's voice trailed off a Bulma gave him a cold stare. She wasn't asking him to take care of Chi-Chi, she was telling him. He quickly changed his tone. "I mean, sure. Haha. It's no problem."

Satisfied with that response, Bulma turned around ready to leave. But before she could, Krillin stopped her. "Oh hey Bulma. Could you also get us some more muffins?"

She glared at him. "What do you think there is just some magic muffin button that makes muffins appear? I don't have time to deal with your silly requests. Come on Goku." Then hastily left, her old friend trailing behind her.

Krillin turned to Yamcha. "And here I thought Chi-Chi was rather harsh."

Back in the lab, Bulma tied a latex band around Goku's arm. "Now my dad has asked that I draw a large amount of blood from you."

"O-OK." Goku replied, not really knowing what to expect.

"So just lean back and squeeze on this ball every few seconds. If you start to feel dizzy just let me know."

Goku did as instructed and leaned back in the reclining chair. Bulma inserted the needle and began to draw blood.

Some time passed before Goku eventually broke the silence. "Is it still going?"

"Yup. You're about halfway through."

"What does your dad need with all of my blood anyway?" He was genuinely curious.

Bulma crossed her arms in frustration. "He actually won't tell me yet. He said he's working on something but doesn't want to get our hopes up."

"What does that mean?"

"Heck if I know."

More time passed and the bag of blood was reaching its full point. At the same time Goku began to feel like the room was spinning. Bulma saw him having trouble keeping his head up. "Hey. Are you feeling all right?" She asked.

"Yea, I'm… fine." He replied, not wanted to admit his dizzy state. If Dr. Briefs needed his blood then he was going to give him everything he could. "I'm just… a little… sleepy."

"Well the bag just finished filling up." Bulma extracted the needle and applied a bandage to Goku's arm. "Hold that there." She then turned around to detach the tube from the bag of blood. As she finished up she heard a thunk sound behind her. Spinning around to face Goku she saw him passed out, his arm hanging off the side.

"Oh Goku." She sighed as she applied a more secure bandage to his arm and placed him in a comfortable position. He was supposed to tell her if he was feeling dizzy to prevent him from passing out. Knowing him, however, he pushed through any resistance his body had in order to get the job done, just like always.

Leaving him to rest, she took the blood to her father in the nearby lab. "Here it is."

"Great, that will come in handy. Place it in the bio-fridge for me." Dr. Briefs thanked her.

Bulma placed the bag in the fridge nearby and turned back toward her father. "So are you going to tell me what all this is about?"

"I guess that's only fair. I am trying to isolate the antibodies produced by Goku in response to the virus. If I'm successful, then I may be able to use them to develop a vaccine. However, it's a very tricky science, especially with the timeframe we have. But if I can do it, and it's looking promising so far, then we will have two potential cures for the virus."

"So, that's why you asked me to take more blood, so we could get more antibodies."

"Mmhmmm." Dr. Briefs nodded.

"And you said things are looking promising?"

"Yup." He replied as he took his hands out of the container. "But now all we can do is wait because this test I've just finished prepping for needs several hours to incubate." Taking off his jacket and washing his hands he left the lab with his daughter. "Why don't we grab a late lunch?"

Several hours past before Dr. Briefs was able to return to his work and conduct more tests. During this time Goku and Chi-Chi both got the rest they deserved. Dende, however, continued to power though at his own request.

Throughout the evening Dr. Briefs and Bulma were able to work on isolating the anti-bodies needed to help produce the vaccine. Against her father's wishes, Bulma had informed everyone what they were attempting to do but told them there was no guarantee.

It wasn't until 9pm when they had their answer.

"We were able to isolate the antibodies! We can now work on a vaccine in conjuncture with the medicine." Bulma announced to everyone as they all cheered for the happy news. Things were finally looking up.

Chemical analysis on the medicine: 95% complete.

One step forward.