. O .

Vegeta quickly outlined what was going on as they stalked the empty halls. Intruders on the property. Most likely after the doctor.

"What about Bulma?" Gohan asked tentatively. "If they're after Dr. Briefs, they might be after her, too?"

Vegeta paused in his trek, took a moment to consider his words, then continued on.

"Look, Gohan, this place gets attacked every other month."

"Really? I thought Bulma was joking about that."

"No. Humans are pretty stupid when it comes to learning from their mistakes," the prince replied.

"So you don't think Bulma's in danger?"

"Have you felt anything out of the ordinary from them?"

"No."

"Me neither. Once this threat is neutralized, I'll check in on them."

"But-"

"Bulma gets pissy when she thinks I'm being overprotective," Vegeta said with a sigh. "Besides, your mother is with her."

"What does that mean?"

"You don't get all your instincts from Kakarott."

. O .

"So where did all this come from, Chi Chi?" the Briefs heiress asked as she retrieved and examined Lana's dart gun from where it had landed under the couch. Next to her, her mother cleaned up the mess from the thrown vase.

"What?" The other woman said, distracted as she took up a spot in front of Lana, maneuvering her arm and massaging her muscles with more care than she expected. It hurt like a sonofabitch, but the woman clearly knew what she was doing. Lana gritted her teeth and bit back a cry as everything slid back into place.

"That… your fighting. You, fighting."

"You do remember that I competed in a Budokai? And I met you on my own quest? And I married Goku?" She retorted.

"Yeah…?"

"I'm never going to match Gohan," Chi Chi said, retreating to one of the bedrooms and returning with a cheerful orange scarf, not quite as pastel as sherbet or creamsicle, but flattering nonetheless. Ray would have been proud. "But I have to stay in shape for when Goten gets older."

"What, to keep up with him?"

"To teach him."

"Teach him what?"

"Don't be dense, Bulma, dear," her mother replied. "Martial arts, of course."

Bewildered, the heiress stared at the other two woman. "But… you were so against it with Gohan."

"And look at how well that turned out," Chi Chi muttered. She deftly twisted the scarf into a sling, tying it up behind Lana's neck. "My philosophy has changed. I can't shelter them forever. They've got too much of their father in them to keep them out of…" she glanced uneasily at Lana, "it… at all. So if complete abstention isn't going to work, that leaves me with teaching Goten myself."

Bulma looked doubtfully at the other woman.

"I learned the Turtle style before Goku, you know," Chi Chi said a bit defensively. "My father taught me. I've not set a mastery test, but Goku said I could pass one easily enough, well, minus the energy attacks. Gohan's taught me a few things, too, though he's not entirely comfortable with sparring with me."

"Why's that?"

"Probably has something to do with the focus of all his training for… uh… the worst-case scenario? That's okay. Piccolo's been a good teacher. I can see why Gohan likes him so much."

"You train with Piccolo?"

"Yes, on occasion, when Krillin's busy."

Bulma blinked a few times, then snorted. She turned to Lana. "Lady, you never had a chance."

. O .

"Hey, listen, Archer," Ray said as they crawled further into the depths of Capsule Corp. "Since you're not going to read the dossier-"

"We've already established that-"

"You should know," Ray said louder, more insistent, "the shit this place has done. It makes your shenanigans' fallout, even just to me, look like paper cuts and stubbed toes. Whatever is in here, please take it more seriously than you usually do."

"Ray, I-"

"I know it's been different with AJ around -and it should be-"

"God, Ray, how poorly do you think this mission is going to go?"

"I just don't want AJ to have to lose her… genetic material donor-"

"Lana does acknowledge me as AJ's father-"

"Father, then, and her Uncle Ray on the same day. At least not before she's old enough to remember all the cool shit we've bought and taught her."

"That is… so… touching, Ray," Archer said, mostly sincere. A beat later he ruined the moment by asking, "How much longer?"

"Not much. There should be a connecting tunnel… just up ahead," Ray said. "Aha! Here!"

Ray straddled another grate in the floor of their vent, crawled past it, and somehow managed to turn around in their cramped accommodations so he and Archer were facing each other, the floor grate between them.

Archer had the electric screwdriver and he undid the four corners, pulling the grate up and away. In silence they checked their weapons, secured the rest of their gear. Ray nodded once to Archer.

"Okay," Archer said, "we head for the lab, find the doctor, get to his computer. You handle the info, I'll focus on the doctor."

"Will do," Ray said, grabbing the lip of the hole, readying to flip down, "I'll go first, this tunnel leads right to-"

. O .

Vegeta popped open a hidden door and passed into a space between the walls comfortably wide enough to be considered a hallway.

"Where are we?" Gohan asked uneasily, voice dropping into a whisper as he studied the dimly-lit, tunnel-like area that might have completely bisected the width of the building. He couldn't sense anything ki-wise outside of Vegeta and the boys.

"There's a lot of safety features built into the lab, including several shielded outlets that act as relief valves in case of explosions." Vegeta began. "Which makes them convenient side entrances to-"

"The doctor's personal lab," an unfamiliar voice finished as someone dropped down through an overhead vent right between them, facing Vegeta. "Oh, SHIT!"

"'Oh, shit,' what? Oh, SHIT!" another person exclaimed, dropping down behind his partner, facing Gohan.

For a split second, no one moved.

. O .

"Oh, HELL NO!" Vegeta roared, tossing Trunks over their heads to Gohan as the two intruders reached for guns.

Gohan jumped up to catch Trunks, who squealed with delight, and somehow managed to not wake Goten in the process. Gohan's eyes widened when he realized a gun was trained at him. The gunman's eyes widened when he registered that Gohan was floating a couple feet above the floor. Vegeta's eyes widened as he followed the sight's red light to the dot it made in Trunks' wispy hair, the boy tucked neatly against Gohan's chest.

"Ray!" Gohan's intruder yelled.

"God dammit!" Vegeta's intruder swore.

"Ray!" Gohan's intruder repeated louder.

"What! Archer, what?!"

"RAY!"

Vegeta's intruder snuck a glance towards his partner.

"Holy dukes! Ughn-"

Vegeta acted on the man's inattention, sweeping a hand at the gun with enough force to snap the barrel in half. His movement startled the man back into his partner, who discharged his own gun.

Vegeta saw red.

. O .