"Gohan why did he ask if I was your girlfriend?" Videl questioned, raising an eyebrow at the suddenly quiet, blushing and frozen tall teen as her blond friend lay on the ground, tears in her eyes.
"Uh, what?" Gohan said, somewhat dumbfounded. "Ignore him, I've never even mentioned having a girlfriend."
"But Gohan, you said there was a-" Goten started before Gohan slapped his hand over his little brothers mouth.
"Excuse us a second, it would appear that Goten has forgotten some of the manners my mother taught me as well."
Goten's eyes widened and he shook his head viciously as Gohan picked him up and carried him away from the two girls.
"Goten..." Gohan said with authority. At least he tried. "It's time for you to speak only when spoken too. Or else I'll tell mom your being rude and how you have that lizard in your room."
Goten stared at Gohan. "Gohan?"
"What."
"I'll be quiet."
"Good."
"But you suck at being bossy." Goten stated. "Your not made for it." He said before skipping over to where Erasa and Videl were standing, leaving Gohan thinking about it.
Well, he is right. I'm certainly not very good at lecturing. Gohan thought before nodding his head to the side in agreement with his younger brother before getting back up and walking over to the three.
"Videl, sorry, he gets that kind of idea from my mom." Gohan tried to explain.
"What do you mean by that?" Videl asked, curious what Gohan's mom could have to do with Goten asking if she was Gohan's...girlfriend. Being a normal teen, her mind drifted to that possibility...
"What I mean is," Gohan started, sighing, snapping Videl from her train of thought. "my mom, for some unknown reason, is obsessed with the idea of me having a family ASAP. Now. Pronto."
"So where do I become affiliated with that?"
"Well, when I came home after the first day at school, I got the typical 'did you meet anybody nice' questions."
"Oh." Videl said, "I see."
"Gohan, I wanna play." Goten said, tugging on his older brothers pant leg.
"Ok, bud. What do you wanna play?" Gohan asked bending his knees and resting his forearms on his legs making him at the same level as his younger brother.
"Tag!"
"Ok but..." Gohan leaned in to whisper. "You have to slow down a lot and don't tag hard. They aren't...as good as us." Gohan said trying to make the little boy understand.
"Oh, ok!"
"You two wanna play?" Gohan asked turning to look at Videl and Erasa.
"Its your chance to touch Gohan..." Erasa whispered to Videl causing a little bit of warmth to flow to her friends cheeks.
Giving her friend a somewhat light elbow, Videl looked at Gohan and declined. "Sorry, not today Gohan." Gold Fighter. "Maybe another day, I'm on call today."
"Isn't that like every day?" Gohan asked, getting Erasa to roll her eyes and nod.
"Well, it's already been a busy day..." Videl started.
"Discussing theories about the Gol-gphr" Erasa started to say before Videl slammed a hand over her mouth.
"Anyway we best be off." Videl said grabbing her friend and walking away, "Bye Gohan, nice to meet you Goten."
"Bye Goten!" Erasa shouted excitedly at the little boy, waving.
"Bye Erasa and Vigel!" Gohan responded. "Nice to meet you too!"
"It's Videl."
"Sorry Vibel!" Goten shouted before running off to play tag with Gohan.
"Catch you two later." Gohan said before following his brother.
A month and a half later.
During the last month nothing major happened. Videl responded to a small number of crimes, the bigger ones, which was around 7 crimes. Each one the Gold Fighter would appear outside the crime scene or the showdown with whoever the crime involved, and would literally sit in the air as he waited in case he needed to give Videl help. Each time Videl noticed and hoped a little that his help would be needed but her Satan pride wouldn't let her admit it to herself.
In class Gohan exceeded as normal and Videl did very good as well. The odd project being done here and there, with finals just a few months away, well, there was no pressure yet. Just for the hell of it, a party was thrown. By who you ask? Well in the cafeteria...
"Sharpener," Erasa started, "did you invite Gohan to the party?"
"What?" Sharpener sputtered out his water, choking slightly. "Now why in the hell would I do that?"
He asked not fazed that Gohan sat three feet away.
Ouch. Gohan thought.
Erasa was quick to come to the rescue. "Don't be like that!" She said whacking Sharpener behind the head with a text book. "Thats mean!"
"Its ok, I really don't need to go to the party." Gohan said.
"There! He doesn't want to go." Sharpener said, throwing his hands up in Gohans direction while facing Erasa. "Would you look at that, SuperNerd doesn't want to party."
"Stuff it Sharpener." Videl said getting tired of hearing about this party. Why the hell is this party such a big deal? It's all that the other kids seem to talk about in the hallways!
"Videl, help me out here." Erasa insisted on her friend to support her.
"Why? I'm not going."
"Cause if you get Gohan to go then you can go and we both know you're into him." Erasa whispered in her ear. Not well enough because Gohan choked on the glass of water he was drinking.
"You OK there BigBrain?" Sharpener asked, not really caring at all.
After gasping a couple times Gohan faced Sharpener. "Dandy." He managed between breaths.
Whipping her head around to her friend Videl glared at Erasa. "Stop saying that." She said before getting up to leave.
"I only say it because it's true!"
"Whats true?" Gohan inquires.
"That you're stupid as shi-" Sharpener started only to get slapped on the back of his head by Erasa.
"Shut the hell up, you're almost flunking Chemistry!" Erasa said.
Wrapping up his lunch, Gohan gets up to leave. "Well I'm gonna go. Don't hit him to hard Erasa!"
"Can't guarantee anything, Gohan!" She giggled as Sharpener rubbed the back of his head lightly.
It had been a while since there had been any major crimes in the city. But for safe keeping and not being as suspicious as to leave whenever Videl got a call from the chief, he asked Bulma to put together a earpiece that was connected to his city's police radio. Any crime, big or small, he knew of it before Videl would.
*We have a man charged with several attempted assaults attacking a family. Emergency backup is needed, we believe he is holding one member hostage with a firearm. Over. *
That's all that Gohan needed. He made his way to the doors of the school and walked out after signing out of the school for lunch hour. A block away he made a sharp turn into an alley and hit the button on his watch, turning into his Gold Fighter outfit and quickly going Super he ran and blast off into the sky.
In seconds he was at the location. There he floated, waiting for Videl to take action and show up.
He was not disappointed. She arrived in a couple minutes after he did.
Sighing she walked over to where she could speak with him best. "What do you advise?"
Cocking an eyebrow he glanced down at her. "What makes you think I'm here to give advice?"
"Thats all you seem to do when ever there is a crime worthy enough for either one of us to show up."
"I'm not here to give advise. But I do have some if you want it." He offered before looking back at the apartment building where it was going down.
"Well then, I'll ignore it this time and show you how resourceful I truly am." Videl said, wanting to prove to Gold Fighter she didn't need him to take care of her city.
"By all means." He said before floating upwards, to the third level of the building, looking into a specific room.
Must be where they are. Videl thought. Damn that bastard, still giving me info before I start the mission.
Running into the building she heard a gunshot ring out, two floors up. Third floor! Now! She sprinted as fast as she could, preparing to see the worse case scenario, a dead body. The agressive bastard responsible for this call, a nervous family member, or even the Gold Fighter as a corpse would be hazardous for her.
Knowing negotiations were out the window at this point due to the gunshot, she broke through the door from where the gunshot came from. A quick scan sprung her into action as she saw a man with a firearm standing in a living room where he still had his arm raised. He saw Videl and swung his arm to her direction.
Bolting to the left to the cover of a room, she closed the door behind her. Only to be attacked from behind and punched in the kidney causing the pain to immobilize her for a moment allowing the attack to sneak behind into a full nelson followup hold. Gasping she clenched her hands into fists, she brought them behind her head and smashed he knuckles into the back of the attackers hands, causing them to release and let go, she spun and kicked behind the knee, buckling the legs. She spun counter-clockwise and arc handed (a strike in between the index finger and the thumb, making an arc with the inside of the hand) her opponent in the throat, effectively decking her opponent. The person choked and coughed on the ground before she realized that this was NOT the man with the gun. Nor the person that was described as the trouble maker in the first place.
"Sorry, but it would be best for you to stay down for the moment, sir." She whispered. "I'm Videl Satan, I'll get this fixed don't worry."
As realization dawned on the man of who he attacked, the relief the entered his eyes was evident. But there was something else that was in them. What, Videl couldn't tell.
She whipped open the door and sprinted for more cover, running past the armed man. She slid behind the cover of the couch as a bullet entered the wall just behind her.
"Whoever you are, you are too late!" The man shouted. "I've done what I've come to do and I'm not going down without a fight!"
"What was it you came to do?" Videl asked, shifting position behind the couch to try to avoid being hit should another round be fired.
"Cause pain for this family."
Thats when Videl saw it while lying down, she saw through to the other side underneath the couch. A body. Long hair. Blood pooled.
"You bastard." She whispered, frozen by the horror before her eyes.
By now the man had circled the couch at a safe distance with a clear shot at Videl. "Well, I'll be damned. A dangerous enough situation that the mighty Videl Satan was sent to mop it up? Well then, by all means. I'll end you too. You're fast but not fast enough to out run a bullet. Especially when you're lying down." He said, taking aim with his pistol.
The gunshot rang out, Videl still frozen in place as she watched a pair of arms wrap around the man's stomach and lift him up throwing him over his shoulder as well as throwing off the bullet, skinning Videl's ear. The adrenaline cancelling out the burn of the gunshot.
She continued to watch as the gunman was lifted off the ground and as both figures fell back, the gunman at a 90 degree angle difference, making him on the shoulder of the other. She watched as the gunman's neck and skull made contact with the hard floor first, breaking his neck instantly. Videl frozen, heard a crash in the glass window nearby as Gold Fighter broke in to see the final result. He looked at Videl in a corner and saw the two bodies nearby.
Realizing that her rescuer was not the Gold Fighter she did a double take on the two men before her. It was the man from the room. He had killed the gunman and saved her life.
"Are you alright?" Gold Fighter asked, offering his hand.
Videl responded by leaning the otherway and vomiting on the floor. The blood, the neck, the sound of a life being snapped to an end...
Gohan knew exactly what she was experiencing. Seeing a life end in such a horrid manner and the mess of the womans body would be overwhelming.
The man now pushed the gunmans body off him and crawled over to the body, weeping. "Charlie. I'm sorry Charlie. I'll take care of her, don't worry..." He repeated, tears falling from his eyes.
Videl curled up in the corner her hand over her mouth with her own few tears spilling.
They watched as the man pushed his hand through the woman's hair, kissing her forehead and her lips before getting up again. He stumbled into the room once more, only to stay in there.
"Stay here Videl." The Gold Fighter said. Gohan walked towards the room, only to see the man sitting on the bed, facing away from him. He saw something over top the shoulder of the man. A girl, no more than two.
"It's OK Jaclyn, it's over. Don't worry."
The child responded in a mumbled and slurred child tone, something related to "ma."
"Mommy is safe now, safer than before. Don't worry." The dad sobbed into his daughter.
"I'm sorry." Gohan said from the door way. "I know how it is to lose a parent."
The man faced him, his eyes red from crying. "How hard will it be? For her? Her mothers gone, how can I help her now?"
"Become both the mother and the father. That is until you meet someone new who will love her like their own daughter."
"Is that what happened with you? Your parent was replaced?" The man asked, clearly unable of imagining a different love.
"No. It's been the same for years."
The man sat in silence. "At least he won't hurt us again."
"Indeed, but you will be pressured by the police you know this."
"To keep her safe and to avenge Charlie, it was worth it. A parent will die for their child."
Gohan looked at the man. "I hope you never have to make that sacrifice." Then he walked out of the room as the police burst in guns drawn. Assessing the situation took seconds and they quickly holstered their guns.
Gohan walked over to Videl and picked her up, she automatically curled up to his chest, letting out more tears before going silent.
Outside Gohan told the chief the description of what happened inside. Videl was declared traumatized by medics.
No shit. Gohan thought.
He wrote a letter. He folded it up and placed it on Videl's bed at her household then he left for his own house to explain to his mother his absence from school for the day. She understood entirely the situation especially when he told her of how two people died and Videl traumatized causing her motherly instincts to kick in and for her to start fretting about Videl.
The next few days the case was in the court since it was such a high level crime. A deceased man had committed first degree murder, killing a woman, the man with several brutality charges had been released from parole. The father who had killed said deceased man in third degree murder. He never intended to kill him, it just happened, he saw the gun aimed at someone and got the strength to bear hug him, the lethal take down wasn't a plan.
The court released the man. No charges. He was reunited with his daughter.
Days later when Videl had been home a while she finally opened the mysterious letter she had just found on her bed. She hadn't slept in days. So she had never found it till now. And she agreed with everything in that note.
Videl. You needed my help then. But I never came. I had detected the other man making a move so I didn't interfere. If it had cost a life I would have but... I failed. So, I will tell you. One secret. But not now. Certainly not now. You're not emotionally stable enough to handle the truth about which secret you will chose to hear. In a couple months time, I will reveal to you the truth, once you're out of trauma. PTSD will be tough, but you have friends, let them help you.
Take care Videl.
~Gold Fighter
A.N. OK holy fuck. Sorry for the longest wait for the next chapter. I fell out of DBZ entirely almost. I got into Bleach and then fucking Fairy Tail, both of which are AMAZING especially Fairy Tail, one I am considering writing a fan fic for but I'm not sure what it would be about yet. This isn't my normal length but it's close to 3000 words. Again, terribly sorry for the wait. Forgive me about that. I'll try to update again soon. I understand if you're annoyed, I get annoyed to when authors take a long ass time to update.
By the way, this chapter brought tears to my eyes, but that might be just because it's late here.
~NightLocker.