:*: Breaking Point :*:
Upon wakening, you will have difficulty remembering recent events. Over the next few hours or days, you may remember bits and pieces of what occurred prior to the drug's total effect.
Bra stared aimlessly towards the wall of her dorm room as she replayed her time in the emergency room with Dr. Koa. Her dream she had just moments ago caused her heart to race more and more. Was it a dream? Or was this a fragment of her memory coming back to her?
The first trial was less than 24 hours away, had this been real, it had come just in time. She had slept through her first class once again, hitting the snooze button over and over again. She was giving up on school, she couldn't bare to focus on anything anymore. Until now.
Bra threw the blanket from her body and jumped into the shower, she had some digging to do.
Goten's architectural design class was right before the lunch hour, and she knew that he and Tundra's friend Mattis had shared the class. She waited on a nearby bench, watching the classroom door. As soon as the lunch bell rang, students fled out the doors for their hour of freedom.
It wasn't long before Bra spotted the sandy blonde female heading the opposite direction. Bra gathered her bag and paced through the crowd, trying not to lose sight of her.
"Ma-" She bit her tongue as Mattis was suddenly not alone anymore. Tundra and Valese were soon at her side, being their usual peppy selves. "Damn it." Bra cursed under her breath, frustrated that she would probably have a hard time getting Mattis alone. She didn't know her schedule or her phone number, these lunch hours were her only chance of knowing where she was. She turned on her heel to head the opposite direction, then paused.
Mattis broke away from the two females, heading Bra's way now. Tundra and Valese continued on their own.
Bra strayed to the side of the crowd, then followed Mattis until there were less people around.
"Mattis!"
The female turned at the sound of her voice being called. Her eyes looked somewhat worn, a look of surprise and uneasiness etched on her face. "Bra, hi." She waited for her to catch up.
"Mattis..." She wasn't sure how to bring this up to her. "I... Can we talk for a minute?"
Mattis gulped with a nod.
The two girls grabbed some lunch to-go from the campus cafeteria and headed to Bra's dorm room.
"Three beds? You guys are lucky." Mattis commented as she set her bag on the floor and sat where Bra offered on her bed.
"Yeah, it was almost too good to be true once we claimed it. Seemed like it was the start of a great year."
Mattis frowned at the sadness in her voice. She unwrapped the white scarf from her neck and toyed with the food in front of her.
Bra knew she had to start talking before Mattis got up and left, but something about her told Bra that she didn't want to leave. "Look... I-"
"Bra..." Mattis interrupted, eyes downcast at the burger in her hands. "How is he.." Her eyes raised to meet Bra's after not receiving a response.
"You know something, don't you." Bra's blue eyes became more narrowed, but her tone encouraging the other that it was okay to let it all out.
A tear dropped from Mattis' hazel eyes, then another, and another. "I didn't know, I swear. It seemed like everybody was having a good time... Bra, I am Tundra's best friend, well, I was. Valese just popped into the picture all of a sudden, and they've been inseperable since."
Bra was trying to come to a conclusion from her words, but needed a hell of a lot more. "Mattis, Goten is going to go to prison." Bra choked, failing to hold the tears back. "I don't know who is behind this and why, but you and I both know that he didn't do it. What the hell is going on!" She was more forceful than she had wanted to be, catching her breath again as Mattis broke down.
"I was in the house talking to Brody and Trey. Tundra grabbed my hand and led me down the hallway. You, Goten, and Valese were in front of us. The four of you went in, Tundra told me to stay by the door and to not let anybody in. I thought it was strange, of course. But I was drinking so nothing really felt strange or normal until the days that followed. The rumors spread, Valese was crying to Tundra and me, I was awestruck, I never thought of Goten that way. She said he's abusive and has assaulted her before and-"
"Mattis." Bra cut the crying girl off. "You went into the bathroom." The memory didn't strike Bra until that morning, just hours ago. She didn't know if it was real or just a dream, but Mattis' eyes made it clear that it was real. "You came in, someone told you to get out, so you went back out."
Mattis nodded her head over and over again,
"What did you see?" In her vision, Bra was slouched against the bathtub and the wall when she saw Mattis' horrified expression.
She shook her head side to side now. "I don't want to say. It was so... explicit. I can't look at them the same. I can't stand hearing their laughter, acting as if everything that they did is okay."
Bra was growing angry now. "Why didn't you report it? Why didn't you tell me? Or the police? You know what he's going through, Christ, everybody knows!"
Her breathing slowed now, her eyes raising to meet hers again. "She threatened me."
"Who? Who threatened you?" Bra could feel herself getting closer and closer to the culprit.
"I don't know. Tundra and Valese said I wasn't supposed to see anything. Had I done what I was told, I wouldn't have been involved. They said if I told anybody, it would be my last words. They said the threat wasn't from them, it was from whoever the puppetmaster is of all this. Goten was completely passed out, it was frightening to see how they were handling him so easily, he was absolutely gone."
"Mattis, you are the only one who can save him. You saw it, you were threatened that's why you didn't come forward. Please. Please save him."
xXxXxXx
Gohan Son, you have 72 hours to sign this contract, have it notarized by a legal representative, and return it in an unmarked packaged box to stand #52 in the Tokyo market district. If you fail to do so, the results of your brother's hair follicle test, as well as any other forensic test that the case will include, will not be in his favor, the analyst will be sure of that.
He didn't know who these people were, what they were capable of, and why they were doing this. What did his little brother do for someone to go to such extreme lengths to lock him away? The thought infuriated Gohan. He felt so helpless, he wanted so much to make his brother smile again and kill whomever was behind this. The next few weeks went as fast as they came. Gohan felt suffocated, drowning in the stress and misery of his wife's approaching surgery, his brother's trial, his daughter being only weeks away from her due date; it was all too much to take at one time. He spent as much time as he could with Videl, Pan and Trunks joined them more frequently as well, as did Goku, Chichi, and Goten. He tried to enjoy the moments they shared, but everyday he woke up, he became more and more withdrawn from reality, his mind beginning to guard him from the repercussions and outcomes everything could take.
It didn't help that Goten's trial was set for the same day as Videl's surgery. The entire family was struck by this, even more guilt piled onto Goten's plate.
The family dinner the night before the surgery and trial held a heavy atmosphere. The point was to enjoy everybody's company, as it may be their last with Goten or Videl, or both. Few words were spoken at the table as forks clinked against plates. Bra wasn't even able to be around with the restraining order in place, but Vegeta had come to join them. He was the first to leave once dinner was finished. He didn't feel it was his place to be a part of the final farewell before the events that followed. Gohan and Videl saw him off at the door.
"Thank you for coming, Vegeta. It means a lot." Videl spoke softly, her hands smoothing against each other nervously as she too was terrified.
For the first time in her life, her eyes shot up in surprise as Vegeta gently pulled her towards him and embraced her firmly. Videl quietly cried against his chest, she felt his head rest against hers as the moisture on his shirt triggered a pulling sensation at his heart. "You're going to be fine. Everybody's going to be fine. I'll see you and your brother in-law in two days, don't milk that recovery time for too long."
He patted Gohan on the shoulder, holding his gaze for a moment as if to say hang in there.
As 8pm approached, the atmosphere grew more solemn as the family embraced Videl farewell while Gohan brought a pre-packed bag of hers for her hospital stay. She was to be admitted before 9pm to prepare her for her surgery in the morning.
Goku watched his son with great concern. The life was sucked out from his eyes, his face was growing more pale as the minutes dwindled down. He juststood by the stairwell, waiting as everybody took every second they had with her, his mind elsewhere.
Everybody watched in silence as mother and daughter sobbed against each other. Neither of them able to speak words. Goku motioned everybody from the livingroom to give them their privacy. He watched from the kitchen as Gohan embraced his little family.
It was the hardest thing he had ever witnessed in his life.
Later that night, Videl was settled into her private room with Gohan sitting at her bedside. He watched her, took in every detail of her tired face, held her hand firmly, even long after she had fallen asleep.
Trunks knew he couldn't stop Pan's devestation. He wanted so much to make this all go away. After sleep had silenced her tears, he found himself leaning on the doorframe of his best friend's bedroom. Their final goodbye of the night consisted of an emotional embrace as well.
"I love you man. You're my best friend, always will be."
Goten closed his eyes tighter, refusing to cry. "You act like I'm actually getting locked up." He grinned to humor the situation, but it dropped immediately as Trunks' sad eyes were not phased.
"I love you too Trunks. Thick and thin."
Gohan felt his world falling apart. His little brother could be going to prison, his financial mean's of living was signed away, and he had a seventy percent chance that he would never come home to his wife's musical voice ever again.
He peered over as the door to the room opened. It was nearly one in the morning, he suspected it was probably a nurse checking in.
A glimpse of surprise washed over his features as the visitor stepped in. "Dad..."
Goku motioned him out the door, the two walked to a nearby balcony used by smokers.
"How'd you get in?" Visitors were cut off at ten pm, then again it was his father. The man never failed to surprise him.
"I have my ways. I know you have a lot on your mind, son. I hate seeing you like this. Hell, I hate seeing everybody like this. But it's unlike you. I just want you to know that-" He stopped as his son burst into tears, he could tell he was trying his hardest to hold them back. Goku threw his arms around him, and his son broke down into audible sobs into his father's shoulder.
"We love you so much, Gohan."
"I'm so scared, dad." He choked out, giving up on trying to regain his composure. "I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose my brother. I've lost my money, everything's falling apart... I want my wife to be here... I want Videl to be here forever, dad." It was minutes before Gohan's ragged breathing slowed, he was finally able to regain his composure enough to speak without sobbing.
"No matter what, you're not alone. We're going to get you through this." The two leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking over the city lights from the fifth floor of the hospital. "Gohan, you mentioned something about losing your money, I... may I ask you to give me more details on that?" He gave him all the time he needed before he answered.
He was tired of hiding everything, his dad was his rock. He finally broke the news. "I was forced to sign everything over... I was threatened. If I didn't, somebody was going to turn all of the evidence against Goten. Money or family, of course I had to sign it."
Goku took a minute to absorb everything. "It didn't say who the recipient was?"
Gohan sneered. "Capsul Corp. The CEO of Capsule Corporation."
Bulma. Goku felt his hands gripping the rail with great force. "Go get some rest, I'll see you in the morning. Call if you need anything."
Once Goku finally reached the parking lot, his anger had boiled to the brim. He had one stop to make before he returned home. It was approximately two in the morning now. Somebody was in for a rude awakening.