Catie groaned as she practically dragged herself down the hallway from the gravity room. Her whole body ached, covered in sweat, and a bruise was beginning to blossom on her jaw. Out of the corner of her eye, she shot Trunks a scowl. "You did something to piss your dad off this morning, didn't you?" she accused. "He normally doesn't push that hard."

She stopped to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then wandered out onto the patio. She was half-tempted to throw herself into the pool and just float there for the rest of the day. Instead, she flopped into a chair next to Jenny, who had her nose stuck in a book. "Run away," she muttered. "Save yourself while you can. Go now, before Vegeta drags you into the GR for good measure."

"You didn't run."

Jennifer dragged her eyes from the book in her hands, a little something on reading tea leaves, and nearly gasped as she saw the fresh bruising on the woman's face. A lance of fear went through her as Catie's words sank in. "Would he really do that?" She shook her head the moment the words left her lips.

Watching Vegeta, she had seen he was a stern individual who didn't have much time for bullshit. She might have snuck a look at the gravity room, the near constant hum of it was almost enough to drown out the sounds from inside. It was different than the horrors of home, so despite herself, she relaxed into the chair. He taught martial arts and he wouldn't intentionally cause harm on his own child and his girlfriend.

Another thought struck her after a moment, the thought of training here and there for the entire year that she was studying. Maybe she'd learn enough to protect. Oh, if she could learn... "Do you think he would teach me some self defense moves?" She nearly stopped at the looks the two of them suddenly gave her, the way their eyes came to focus on her. "Or heck, I can follow your lead if you just show me the basics."

Catie exchanged a look with Trunks. "I could show you a few things, I guess," she answered. "It wouldn't be much, though. I've only been training for a little over a year. Trunks could… no, he's too much of a softie," she said, correcting herself mid sentence. She blinked innocently at the look he shot her. "Well, you are!" she insisted before she turned her attention to Jenny again. "If you're serious, you really want Vegeta as your teacher. He's a hard ass, but it totally pays off. This is the best shape I've ever been in. Plus it's a good way to blow off steam if you need to. And it never hurts to know how to protect yourself."

The words were more true than Catie realized. Jennifer looked back the way that they had come from as she worried the lower part of her lip with her teeth. Part of her felt stupid for hesitating. Didn't normal people jump at this kind of chance? "Yes. Yes, it is." She ducked her head. "I just…" She shook her head and waved it off. She didn't feel like sharing that particular story just yet. "It's complicated."

She pushed herself off of the deck chair, tossing the marked book into her vacated seat. "Is he still in there? No time like the present, I guess. At least if I ask him now, he can laugh me off and I'll have more time to heal my wounded soul."

Catie's eyebrows raised as Jenny headed towards the gravity room. "Oh, she's either really brave or really stupid," she snickered. She hadn't expected Jenny to just go up and ask him. Either way, this was bound to be entertaining.

The whoosh of the door opening made Vegeta roll his eyes. "What'd you forget this time, Catherine?" he asked as he turned, but stopped when he saw the new exchange student standing there. It took everything he had not to groan out loud as he mentally cursed Bulma. 'Leave it alone, she said. It won't bother you, she said. I should've known better than to listen to that woman,' he thought to himself.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Jennifer swallowed, studying the unfamiliar man in front of her for a moment longer. There was a chill to his words and she got the very distinct impression that he was not a man who enjoyed having his time wasted. "Teach me self defense."

His stoic expression didn't falter. He stared at her for a long moment, sizing her up. He could barely sense any sort of power level from her, even less than what Catherine had when she first pestered him into training her. There was nothing extraordinary that he saw, nothing promising. "No," he answered simply and turned away to grab a water bottle before he began his own training for the day.

One of the few traits Jennifer had picked up from Gramma over the years, or rather, the old woman had refined her stubbornness into an effective weapon, with the right people. She was still rather wary of him, fighting her own instincts to turn and run out the door. No meant no, right?

She thought of what to do in this situation, the best response.

She sat down.

Despite himself, Vegeta turned, his eyebrow raised at the young woman who defiantly sat in the middle of his gravity room floor, her arms crossed over her chest. Well this was a new one. "The hell are you doing?" he asked in a bored tone. "I told you no."

Jennifer felt her heart pound away in her chest, but she hadn't felt any danger since she opened the door. Power, yes, but the level of control over himself was inspiring to say the least. "I don't want to learn just for myself. This is important. I have to learn it," she said, the words tasting strange on her tongue. How many times had she told herself that she'd enroll in classes back home only to stay seated in front of the computer or at the warehouse hiding. "Please teach me."

He snorted at her before he could stop himself. Begging would get the girl nowhere. He'd said no and he meant no. And he shouldn't have to repeat himself. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down his nose at her with the most intimidating sneer he could muster. Which usually was enough to scare off just about anyone who knew him. And yet, she still sat there, staring back at him. His eyes narrowed slightly and he finished off the bottle of water, tossed it aside, and marched straight over to her. Without a word, he picked her up easily and carried her to the door, tossing her out of his gravity room, and shut the door behind him.

Jennifer blinked, surprised at herself for holding Vegeta's gaze. He wasn't going to hurt her. She had seen the look of someone who meant harm, and that was far from it. She scrabbled to her feet and punched the button to open the door again. It was a strange move for her, she knew better than to poke at a hornet's nest, but there she was with a stick.

She reasoned it was the unique energy, aura around him that had her feeling more daring than usual.

Vegeta swore he felt his eye twitch when she opened the door again. "You're a determined little pest, aren't you?" he growled. And though it annoyed him, it almost amused him at the same time. He had to give her this much - she was a brave little thing. He crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight back on one leg as he surveyed her again. "Why should I waste my time?"

"Hardly a waste when the teacher has a willing student." She studied him, seeing the calculating look he watched her with. "I don't start things that I don't intend to commit to. Once I do, I don't half ass them. If you don't want another student, fine. I get that. Just give me a few basics that I can work on."

"A few basics would get you nowhere, except to give you a false confidence and probably get you hurt," he said. He'd said no. He should keep saying no. But something was starting to nag at him that maybe he should consider it. Shouldn't he?

No! What would it benefit him to take time out of his training to work with her? Starting Catherine into martial arts had been hard enough a year ago. Now here he was even toying with the idea of starting all over again? No.

"You'd just slow us all down. Catherine shouldn't have to suffer because you don't know what you're doing." He couldn't really throw Trunks in there, Trunks didn't need much training. But if she wanted to enter the tournament, Catie couldn't fall behind.

Jennifer blinked at that. "Slow you down?" It hurt a bit more than she was expecting. "Slow you down from what? I just want to know how to fucking defend myself from people who want to hurt me! From people who want to hurt others!" She snorted, the hurt turning into annoyance and determination. "I'm not going to slow you down. Let me prove it to you."

He told himself over and over that he should keep saying no. But somehow, the words just wouldn't seem to form in his mouth. There was a determination there that struck a nerve, a longing to prove herself that impressed him.

'You idiot,' he mentally scolded himself.

"I don't teach self defense," he finally stated. "My way is much more offensive, and a lot more effective than just learning how to block a hit. You want to stop an attacker? You put them down." He looked her up and down one more time before he gave a huge sigh through his nose. "Fine. You better be here first thing tomorrow when Catherine and Trunks are. Don't be late. And don't whine when you're hurting. I can't stand that," he growled.

She gave him a look and raised her hand to wave off his words. "Oh, I have no doubt you won't hesitate to remind me that I asked for it."

"Now get out of here before I come to my senses."

The door slammed shut behind her a moment later and the hum of the gravity started up. She felt a little like jello as she started walking back outside towards the patio. She felt like she was a different person almost. Jennifer from the states didn't have much of a backbone, but somehow, she had found it.

Catie and Trunks were still in the same spots she had left them in. She took in the fresh bruises and the stiffness in their muscles. Maybe she had lost her mind.

"Well, I'm in," she said, picking up her book and sliding back into the lounge chair before she opened the pages, "What time do you cats start in the morning? Four? Five?"

"Don't take it too hard. I didn't think Vegeta would - wait, what?" Catie said, tilting her head in confusion as Jenny's words registered in her brain. A look of pure confusion crossed her face as she stared at the other woman. "This doesn't make any sense. I had to bother the hell out of him to get him to teach me anything. It took me three weeks to convince him to train me! What sort of witchcraft is this?!"

Jennifer shrugged, looking over to the two of them. A grin spread over her lips as she saw their equally confused looks. "Well, I sat down in the middle of the room after the first no and I wandered back inside after he tossed me out."

Trunks exchanged a look with his girlfriend before he met Jennifer's eyes again. "I have to back Catie on this. I did not see my father agreeing to train you. He, ah, probably won't make this easy for you." He bumped Catie with his shoulder, "Looks like I owe you five."

"Oh, he is probably going to throw a lot of shit at me to make me regret this, but," Jennifer lowered her eyes to the grass, trying not to think too hard on past events, "Whatever he can come up with will be welcome compared to what I've gone through."

It was tempting to ask Jenny what she meant by that, but Catie decided to let it go. It sounded personal and they didn't know each other well enough for those kinds of conversations. Instead, a big smile spread across her face and she clapped her hands together. "Well, come on then!" she said happily and got to her feet, looking expectantly between Trunks and Jenny. "We still haven't shown you around the city yet. We'd better do that now because by this time tomorrow, you won't be able to move."