Hi there!

Here is the next chapter! I hope you would enjoy!

Of course I want to thank my whole 'crew' of beta-readers again
- you guys are amazing! -
But especially to RobynX_x: Thanks to her sacrifice of her night's sleep, you are able to read this chapter so quickly!
_You are an angle!_

PS: Somehow the italics of some words didn't come through, I'll fix this later...

Chapter 7: Interrogation

He looked around the small fluorescent-lit room. There stood a table and two empty chairs across from him, and a huge mirror hung on the wall. Other than that, the room was empty. His left arm was handcuffed to the chair as a standard procedure and he was stripped of all his belongings, including his watch. At this point, he had been waiting for over half an hour for someone to interrogate him and he began to get impatient. He was tapping his foot nervously on the ground and gritting his teeth, cursing to himself that this was such a waste of time. He should be looking for her, not sitting on a chair being accused of something he didn't do. How did they come to suspect him anyway?

Finally, the door opened and two police officers came in. The duo took their seats across from Gohan, causing him to wince from the intense scraping sound their chairs made over the linoleum floor. When he came to, he dared to look at them, only to see that they stared back at him intently. The short moment of silence that followed was excruciating enough to immediately turn Gohan's impatience into nervousness. It didn't help that the male officer reeked of cigarettes, making him feel a bit nauseous as well. But when the female police officer with thick eyebrows decided to speak up with a friendly tone as if nothing serious was going on, some of the tension left his body.

"Alright, Mr. Son, my name is Kaori, and this here is my partner Walter." The man with a flaxy mustache and prominent sideburns let out a gruff sound, making the half-Saiyan's uneasy feeling return in an instant, as Kaori continued, "Before we begin, let me first read you the Miranda rights:

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time.

Understood?"

Gohan nodded in acknowledgment, but said nothing.

The officer addressed as Walter cleared his throat, breaking the silence, "Do you have any idea why you are here?"

Gohan sat straight, trying to come across as confident, "Well, they told me they suspected me to be involved with Videl's disappearance. But I can assure you, I'm not."

"That's what they all say," Walter mockingly joked to his colleague. "We've looked into your background a bit. Tell me, what ties does a straight-A student - that is the subject of bullying quite regularly - have with Videl Satan, the most popular kid in school?"

"If you'd looked closely, you would've known that we're friends," Gohan replied, not able to conceal his annoyance. He didn't like Walter's attitude one bit.

After the female police officer finished writing something down in her notepad, she looked at Gohan, "Where were you Tuesday afternoon?"

"In the park."

"Be more specific, what were you doing? Walk us through your day after you left school."

"Well, me, Videl and my two other friends, Erasa and Sharpener, went for some ice-cream at the park. I left early because I needed to grab my mail before going home and Videl walked with me. Our ways separated halfway and well… I went home."

"And your home is…?"

"Mount Paozu…" Gohan said with a heavy heart, knowing this would sound unbelievable to an outsider.

"To our information you live at Tenno-55 Asahi, here in Satan City."

"That's true, but I refer to that as my apartment. The place where I grew up - the place where my mother and brother live - I still call that my home. I had to see them that evening; they live at Mount Paozu." Gohan corrected them.

"Understood," Koari answered friendly, "And how did you travel there?"

"I -" Gohan paused, feeling nervous about his answer already, "I flew."

"In which vehicle?"

And there it was… Gohan swallowed and cursed internally for letting himself be cornered so soon in the interrogation. He reminded himself that he couldn't lie as he was under oath - not that he was good at lying anyway - but he couldn't possibly tell them the truth either. He felt that he had no other option and after a long consideration he said, "I choose not to answer that question." This was bad…

The short female raised one of her thick eyebrows; no one had refused such a basic question so soon into the interrogation before. Again, she noted something down in her notebook and chose not to push on about that subject at the moment. "Alright, the two friends you mentioned told me you left the park around 4:20 PM with Videl, yet you got to your building a bit past 5 PM. It's only a seven minute walk. Care to explain what happened for the remaining thirty-five minutes?"

Gohan stared at the table for a moment as a blush formed on his face. "We, uh-" again he swallowed dryly and his blush intensified; he knew these people were Videl's colleagues in a way and answering this question truthfully might put her in a wrong light. But again, he had no choice but to cooperate, "We made out."

Walter let out a mocking snicker, receiving a glare from his partner before she continued, "And where did you make out?"

"In an abandoned alley somewhere along the way…"

A smirk formed on Walter's face; so the guy wasn't denying going into that alley, "And was this 'making out' voluntary on either side?"

Gohan frowned, "Of course it was! What kind of question is that?!"

"Just making sure," he replied, crossing his arms, "I find it quite an unbelievable scenario to be honest."

Gohan frowned even more at the man, feeling highly offended, "What's so unlikely about a guy making out with his girlfriend?"

Walter opened his mouth again, but was interrupted by Kaori, "If she is your girlfriend, why didn't you mention it when we asked you about your ties with Videl? Minutes ago she was categorized as 'friend' by you."

Gohan looked at her with wide eyes. He really had to be careful with his words, this lady missed nothing. "We haven't been together very long and her father made us promise not to tell a soul because of the tabloids; she's already got enough publicity on her plate as it is."

"I see," she replied, writing something down once more, "But I do want to remind you that you are here in an interrogation room, questioned by the police. Withholding such important information may put you in a suspicious light."

Gohan nodded, taking the warning to heart, while her colleague continued, "So how long have you been in this relationship ?"

"For about a week and a half or so," Gohan answered while looking at the ground. It went against his nature to talk about this subject, as he has kept it a secret all this time to any outsider. It felt odd to talk about it.

"And is your relationship with Videl of a sexual nature?"

Gohan flared up, "What has that got to do with this?"

The man looked at him intently, "We need to build a profile of you, these bits of information are crucial even if you think it's not. So I ask you again, did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with her."

His eyes darted with uncertainty to the friendly officer for reassurance, almost with a pleading look on his face, "This information stays in this room right?"

"Depends," the woman answered him honestly, "If you turn out to be innocent, it will. If it goes to court, it might not."

Gohan remained silent for a moment, thinking his confession could damage Videl's reputation. He didn't want her relationship with the police force to be influenced by something so private. After all, private matters should be kept separate from your profession; at least, that's how he looked at it. It felt wrong to make such a decision for her; to share this information with her colleagues. But even though he didn't want to, he still felt obligated to cooperate with the investigation, so he answered truthfully but reluctantly, "We did…"

"When was the last time you had sexual intercourse with her?"

Now blushing even more and looking back to the ground, he replied almost inaudibly, "Saturday a week ago."

"Is this the same Saturday as - to our information - she held a party at her house?"

Gohan nodded, still avoiding eye-contact.

"What time did it happen?" she continued.

"Sometime late at night. I don't know the exact time."

"And was this the first time you two were intimate?"

"Yes."

Walter snorted, "So let me get this straight, you tell us that you and Videl have a relationship for almost two weeks and you had intercourse once at the start of that relationship? You are a teenager; you understand this sounds a bit odd right. Once you cross that line, most of you are like rabbits. Why haven't you two done it since?

"Because I was under house arrest; we didn't really have the time to be together afterwards."

"But you had time to make out with her for thirty-five minutes in an abandoned alley?"

"I had an hour after school every day, but that's it." Gohan didn't like being the underdog of this conversation, so he looked up again, hoping to look more confident, as he met Walter's piercing gaze.

"So you did have time?" Walter belittled, "An hour is quite some time, right? What did you do with your hour on other days?"

"Spent it with Videl most of the time."

"Yet not intimate?"

"No," Gohan sighed as his annoyance resurfaced; this was going nowhere, "Again, why is this important?"

"To understand your personal ties with her," Kaori answered, "So, what did you do then?"

"I choose not to answer that question," Gohan said reluctantly. How could he explain that he was training her? The Videl Satan, the daughter of the ' World Champion ', trained by a school nerd who acted like he was bad at sports? Keeping his mouth shut wouldn't be as suspicious as telling the truth. At least, this way he wasn't revealing their secret identities as Saiyaman and Saiyawoman.

"Alright, let's see," Kaori looked over her notes and flipped some of the pages, "Let's go back to that party you say you two ended up together." Hearing these words, Gohan frowned and looked away with a deep sigh; why was his love life so important to them? Couldn't they just drop it and go to the main problem here? Searching for Videl for instance…

A silence fell, making the young half-Saiyan look back at them confused. The female officer cleared her throat, repeating her question, "I said, what kind of party was it?"

Startled that he had missed her question while in thought. "It was a surprise party," he replied, reminding himself that he really needed to get his emotions under control.

"Okay," Kaori continued, acting if she hadn't noticed his frustration, "For whom?"

"Me…"

"And why did they organize a surprise party for you?"

"Because I went abroad for a while and it was the first weekend I came back to Satan City."

Walter readjusted his posture, releasing a waft of cigarette stench that caused Gohan to lean away from him as he became nauseous again - his empty stomach couldn't take it. "We've talked to some of your teachers, and they claim you've been on an exchange program with Senior High in West City, is that correct?"

Gohan defied Walter's piercing eyes, but decided not to answer his question.

"The thing is, Son," he continued, still looking straight at his suspect, "You never enrolled in any course in Senior High. So tell me, what did you do during that time period?"

"Why is this relevant?" Gohan's voice was cold, beginning to have enough of this interrogation.

"Answer the question," Walter demanded with a firm voice.

"I was going through a tough time and took time off to recover from it. That's all I'm going to say on that matter."

Kaori clearly sensed Gohan's resistance with her colleague, and not wanting to upset him much more, she held Walter - who wanted to push this issue further - back into his chair, "Please Walt, I first have a couple more questions," she whispered. When he relaxed again, she turned her attention back to Gohan, "You told us you were under house arrest. Why was that?"

"Because I missed my curfew when I went to that party - for obvious reasons," Gohan sighed, not wanting to dive into that subject once more, but as Kaori had taken over the questions again, he was able to pick himself up and managed to relax a bit.

"And why did you have a curfew?" Kaori asked curiously.

"Because…" Gohan paused, realizing how stupid his answer would sound, "Because I was under house arrest already."

Walter smirked, "Not such an innocent nerd, are you Son?" Gohan scowled at him, this Walter really was getting under his skin. "Care to explain why you were under house arrest this time?"

Gohan looked away in shame, not fond of the memory of that exact conversation with his mother. He still felt guilty to have made her so worried. "When I went abroad for that month, I didn't inform my mother. She didn't take it lightly."

Walter snorted, "So you actually ran away from home?"

"In my defense, I don't live there, so I didn't think of asking for permission… But I understand that it made her worry, and I accepted her punishment out of respect for her," the half-Saiyan answered reluctantly.

"You almost seem to forget you are still a teenager, she is still your guardian until you're eighteen," Kaori lectured him. This made him slump his shoulders even more. He was eighteen - biologically speaking - but he would never be able to explain that to them. "Have you run away from home before?"

Unwillingly, Gohan snorted sarcastically, thinking back at all the months - or even years - he'd been away from home without his mothers consent - his involuntary training with Piccolo or his journey to Namek being one of the many examples - but he couldn't explain that to the officers either. He began to question why his life had to be so complicated to outsiders and him not being able to answer their questions was beginning to frustrate him. He knew he was innocent, but that alone didn't mean shit to them. Gohan frowned, unable to hide his frustration and impatience, "Look, as I said, I didn't see it as running away from home. That said, I don't see why it's relevant to why we are here - which is Videl - so I'm sorry, I won't answer any more questions which are related to me and my past before I went to Orange Star High, unless I think it's important. We have wasted enough time."

"As you wish," Kaori replied, writing again something in her note book, "Okay, let's go back to that party then. Some say you and Videl had an argument, later joined by Mr. Satan. What was that about?"

"Something private; all you need to know is that we all talked it out," answered Gohan curt, still irritated.

Looking at her expression, he realized that his attitude wasn't working in his favor and he already regretted being blunt, making a mental note to himself that he really needed to try to stay calm. Even though this was downright frustrating - knowing that they spent their time on the wrong person and thus it being a huge waste of time on both sides - he couldn't blame them. They were just doing their job and the more he showed his frustration, the more they were likely to see him as suspicious. He took a deep breath to collect himself and looked at Kaori, who was again writing something down. Her friendly eyes met Gohan's, helping him to relax a bit more.

"But you did spend the night, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Someone told us that you left the mansion barefoot somewhere between 1 and 2 AM, they noted that you were looking unusually messy and skittish. Care to explain why?"

Gohan again flared up, remembering that exact moment. It was because he'd left his satchel at the front door, which held something he desperately needed at the time: protection. When he wanted to go back to continue his private time with Videl, Punaise - a girl from his class - had entered that same hallway and had seen him. Embarrassed and not really sure what to do, he left through the front door without a word, deciding to make his way back to Videl through the window.

"I, uh-" he stammered, but to his relief he was interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Kaori stood up and walked out, leaving Gohan with Walter. The guy looked at him intently and had a frown on his face. Gohan swallowed, he had the feeling this guy wasn't on his side, and with all the answers he had to be vague about or not answered at all, he couldn't blame him; it surely didn't look good for him.

Kaori returned, apologizing to Gohan that she had something else to attend to and that Walter would continue the interrogation alone. When the door closed, a silence fell. The teen tried to avoid Walter's penetrating look; it made him nervous.

After some minutes of silence, Walter spoke up, "Did you two leave that alley together?"

Trying to set his frustrations about the man aside, Gohan replied, "No, we did not." He sighed deeply, "We didn't want to be seen leaving together, so I left before her."

"And how'd you think she left?"

Gohan shrugged, "Walking out of there a few minutes after me. It's what we'd agreed upon."

Walter stood up - making the half-Saiyan wince again from the shrill sound of the scraping chair - and placed both hands on the armrests of Gohan's chair. "You probably remember the ice-cream shop across that alley, right?" Walter's face was inches away, treating Gohan to an penetrating smell of cigarettes and old coffee breath - a scent that even made Yajirobe smell pleasant in comparison, "That shop has a camera, we have footage of you going in that alley, dragging Videl involuntarily with you. Thirty-five minutes later, you walked out, looking very suspicious while making sure nobody saw you before you left." Gohan's eyes shot wide when Walter's words sank in; so this is why they came to suspect him. Then Walter continued with a more compelling tone in his voice, "Videl never left that dead-end alley the way you did. So I ask you again: how do you think she left?"

For a moment Gohan felt numb; did he say she never left that alley? There was nothing going on when he left, so why didn't she? Then realization struck, making him curse inwardly. The frown that formed on his face during his realization was noticed by Walter, who formed a smug grin on his thick lips. "No answer, huh?"

After that moment of inner thought, Gohan mumbled more to himself than to the officer, "She probably flew off," Gohan decided to say. He was almost certain now Videl had left that alley dressed as Saiyawoman to avoid being seen and, well, she was eager to practice flying anyway. However, after those words left his lips, he let out a sigh of defeat; his answer probably didn't make any sense to the officer. He wasn't going to be able to talk himself out of this one.

"Flew off?" Walter repeated mockingly, "Her copter doesn't even come close to fitting in that alley… So tell me, what miracle vehicle did she use to fly out of there? A magic carpet? A flying cloud?"

Gohan frowned even deeper - turning away from Walter's gaze as the stench of his breath became unbearable - this guy was really getting on his nerves this time. He was done cooperating with him and his mockery, and being unable to answer the man anyway, Gohan answered firmly, "I choose not to answer that question."

"So I thought," Walter said with a smirk, standing up straight again and sat back in his chair. Even though Gohan had finally been given some space to breathe, the silence that followed was excruciating. To ease his nerves, Gohan ran his left hand through his hair.

He was fucked…

###

Kaori walked out of the room after excusing herself to the suspect, leaving the so-called 'bad cop' to take over the interrogation. It was one of their many practiced strategies to put pressure on the suspect; to make them talk more quickly.

She stretched her muscles and entered the door next to the interrogation room, meeting the chief who had been listening on the other side of the mirror. She looked at how Walter invaded the suspect's personal space while making him clear they had more information than they first let on. Again, the suspect refused to answer the same basic question, and this time he showed signs of nervousness by running his hand through his hair.

Kaori turned her attention to the chief, who had a very puzzled expression on his face, "Sir, do you want me to order a search for that vehicle?"

The chief blinked his eyes a couple of times, snapping back into reality and turning his attention to his female officer, "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said, do you want me to order a search party to find that vehicle he doesn't want to talk about?"

The chief's eyes darted back to the suspect and he growled briefly, "I don't think there is a vehicle, Kaori."

She looked at her boss, raising an eyebrow, "Wait, what?"

"Never mind," he mumbled. "What I wanted to say is that I don't think it's our guy. We have searched that alley for clues. There is no sign of a struggle; no blood and no body. Besides, he told us straight from the beginning they went into that alley, although a little hesitant as he probably was embarrassed to tell us they made out. But who can blame him? He is still a teenager after all. And the fingerprints we found of both him and Videl could easily fit within his alibi. Also, it seems to me that the questions he did answer, he answered truthfully."

"Sorry, I'm not following you." Kaori looked back at the suspect through the see-through mirror. "The kid clearly is hiding something."

"I agree. B-" A knock on their door interrupted their conversation.

"Sir, sorry it took me a while - the system was malfunctioning again - but I have his criminal background check here." A passionate young officer with a squeaky voice entered their room, "It seems like he has a clean slate, but there are some things that stand out. He has been heard as an eye-witness to some crimes this year, and oddly enough, he has been the only one to all of them." The chief accepted the document the officer gave him as the man continued, "Furthermore, there was a missing person report filed in the name of the suspect three months ago. That one was withdrawn two weeks later. Also, he bailed out a criminal two months ago: Habas Erpeto, the herpetologist who was involved with the state bank robbery."

"Thank you, Keisatsu," the chief said without looking up from the document that he was given. Habas Erpeto … this couldn't be a coincidence.

"When I asked Uket Suke to print this document out," the young man continued without interruption, almost forgetting to breathe between his sentences, "She recognized the suspect from his photo. She was there when he bailed out Mr. Erpeto, and told me the suspect was a very lovely and polite boy, though he looked quite sick at the time." Keisatsu shrugged, "Don't know if it's of value, though, so do with that information what you want. Anyway, I need to go! Good luck with the interrogation."

"Sick huh?" The chief mumbled to himself, then he finally looked up from the document and nodded, "Again, thank you."

"You're welcome!" Keisatsu squeaked, and with a salute he left the room and quickly closed the door behind him.

###

"Here's what I think," Walter continued with his accusations after he sat back in his chair, trying to push the suspect's buttons. "I think that the neat straight-A student you let everyone believe you are is a cover. You come late to class quite often without a good reason, disappear from class daily, sometimes for days, and then you return with black eyes and scars. Also, based on some statements from your classmates, you're not a stranger to drugs either."

Recalling the statement he made to his class on Bulma's advice when he returned from the time he was missing - that he had been abducted and drugged and thus not knowing what had happened so he didn't had to answer any questions - he replied, "I'd been drugged a while ago, yes, but I don't use drugs. There is a big difference." Gohan frowned in disbelief, not liking the profile he was sketching of him, causing his Ki to rise slightly.

Without interruption and unable to hide a grin, Walter continued, "Also, there have been statements that claim you're in trouble with some criminals; allegedly they broke into your apartment, robbed you on the streets and even kidnapped you? And yet, you never reported anything to the police? Why is that?"

"Because they didn't steal anything, and I didn't feel like going through the trouble," Gohan replied, annoyed, already feeling where this conversation was heading.

"You know that it's a crime itself not to report those things, right?" Walter looked at him with piercing eyes, "What's the real reason? Are you protecting them? It almost seems like the troubles you have with them are quite personal. Certainly more personal than you're letting on." Walter began to shift tack slightly, " Or are the fears you have for them greater than what they've already done to you? Is that why you decided not to betray them?" Walter looked at him inquiringly.

Gohan's Ki raised even more while his frown deepened, "Look, I have the feeling you're putting me in a corner here. I am not involved in any criminal organization or doing anything for them - on the contrary."

Walter only snorted at Gohan's protest and kept going with his accusation-spree, "But then we have Videl; the popular girl every guy wants to be with. I guess it's hard for someone like you to have feelings for her. Unreachable. People have noticed you watching, especially at that surprise party; drinking from a corner, alone, eyes only set on her… Sounds more like you were obsessed with her. Or were you preying on her?" Walter leaned forward, looking intently at his suspect's stony expression as he continued, "I was told she noticed you constantly staring, focused on only her and then quit the game that she was playing; dragging you out into the hallway. You two had that fight then, which was later joined by Mr. Satan. I don't know how you managed to do it, probably your natural charisma helped you out, but at some point you managed to defuse the argument and people saw you leave with Videl."

Gohan began to grit his teeth again as he tried to contain his anger, but when he wanted to say something, Walter waltzed over him once more, "Something happened between you two, I believe that. You are teenagers after all and there was a lot of alcohol consumed at the party. But I believe that what happened wasn't all in your favor. You left, barefoot. Someone clearly saw you leave and there were rumors that Videl was crying somewhere in her room."

"That's not true, sh-" Gohan tried to intervene, having heard enough of it, but Walter pushed on.

"Then, back at school, you realized nothing really had changed between the two of you. And after that magazine appeared, pairing your love interest with the city's hero Saiyaman - yeah I know you still have that photo in your wallet - you two had another fight before class. Witness reports say you two didn't talk that much after that, but that changed after there was clear evidence she wasn't Saiyawoman. And not long after, you dragged her into that alley for an alleged ' make out ' session. Do you now understand why I asked if it was voluntary on either side? Don't tell me you didn't have any involvement in her disappearance, boy. She never left that alley! You are the last person who has seen her alive for that matter. You, my friend, need to tell us what you did to her!"

When Walter was finished with his accusation spree, yelling almost the last part, Gohan's anger was really beginning to show. He had gripped his pants tight with his fists and gritted his teeth even more. It felt so unfair. The supposed ' facts ' he threw at him were mostly based on rumors or circumstantial evidence and the detective wasn't even prepared to consider the things that Gohan had told him to be true. If this was how the rest of the interrogation would go, then he was going to blast out of here; looking for Videl on his own if they refused to do it themselves. Though, restraining himself to stay a little longer, trying to still respect the law system, he replied with a slightly raised voice, "I didn't do anything to her and I don't like what you are saying about me. I've done nothing wrong here, Videl is my girlfriend, whether you believe it or not, and I do not have any ties with criminals!"

Walter smirked, "And who can vouch for you that you are indeed in a relationship with Videl?"

"My friends Erasa and Sharpener can," Gohan said, giving the officer's smirk a glare.

"The thing is, Son, we, of course, asked them. And both - separate from each other - claim you aren't."

Gohan was taken aback, forgetting his frustration for a moment as confusion took over. Why would they…

Then he closed his eyes in defeat. Of course… his outburst. He told them - and especially Sharpener - that his relationship with Videl had to be kept a secret, risking his secret identity if it didn't. For all the times they decide not to slip up, they choose now. He sighed; he admired and respected their loyalty, but now it caused him more problems than if they hadn't held the information from the police.

"Mr. Satan," Gohan mumbled as a slight panic arose, "He knows too." He didn't like to have this man as his life-line, but he was out of options. "He even yelled it across class today, so you can ask any of my classmates too. Also, a couple of the girls in class have heard Sharpener say it out loud and I admitted my relationship to them afterward. So that should be enough." Right?

"Mr. Satan is currently not available for questioning," Walter replied, "The man is busy as you can probably guess. We did had a short conversation with him when he filed her missing report, but he hadn't mentioned you. Also, who says that you didn't make your friend say such things to some girls? He was questioned by the police - under oath - that's quite a difference than to some girls from your class. So, tell me, which statement do you think we value more?"

Gohan's breath now became heavy, frowning deep at the officer across him. That Walter really was trying - and succeeding - to get under his skin by pointing the guilty finger at him without even really looking at the evidence, and if he wasn't careful, he knew he would snap soon. He really couldn't handle how unfair this interrogation was going and their complete disregard for his innocence in the matter, how much more could he present to them? What was it going to take?

"Do not blame me for something I didn't do!" Gohan now warned him.

Walter's grin faded away, beginning to notice the heavy tension coming from the suspect's body. His ear-piece now only received white noise, cutting him off from the outside world, and oddly enough he noticed the air moving in the small space they were in. The hairs in his neck started to stand on end as fear suddenly crept over him; what was going on?

Before it escalated, the door opened.

"Walter, out now!" the chief commanded him with urgency in his voice. Walter stood up abruptly and rushed out of the room; he never had felt such an oppressive and ominous feeling; it utterly terrified him.

"Chief?" Gohan asked surprised, snapping back into reality. Seeing his familiar face cooled him off immediately; he knew the chief was a reliable person to talk to and it allowed him to unconsciously let the built up tension in the room finally subside. The chief looked at him with a mixture of confusion and determination as he closed the door behind him. For a moment he waited until he was sure no one was listening at the other side, then he sat across from the half-Saiyan, deliberately away from the view from the mirror.

"I don't know how, but you managed to destroy the camera, so this will not be recorded and-" Gohan watched him take out his microphone and snapped the cord, "no one is listening either, so this is between you and me right now. I want to make it clear to you that I'm here on my own accord, so not as the chief, and everything that is said right here, right now, will not leave this room. Understand?"

Still confused, Gohan nodded in understanding, having no way of knowing whether to believe this or not, even though he knew the man was trustworthy.

"I want you to be completely honest with me," the chief urged him, "You are Saiyaman, aren't you?"

Gohan's eyes shooting wide in shock was all the chief needed as a confirmation and, afraid for his colleagues to pick up on his facial expressions, he warned again, "Try to act as normal as possible, even though this conversation isn't recorded or no one can overhear us, but they still can see us through the mirror."

Again, Gohan nodded in understanding, and after a short silence he asked in defeat, "How?"

The chief folded up his arms, "You snapping your handcuffs without even noticing, only to run your hand through your hair, was a dead giveaway." Gohan's eyes shot directly at his left hand and he would've given himself a facepalm for being that stupid, though reminded himself they were being watched. The chief continued, "Besides, I have some inside information no one else here knows. A while back, Videl came to me to make a request to talk to herpetologist Habas Epetro. She claimed that he had some knowledge about a poison and that someone she knew was shot with it and may even die from it. Not much later you bailed out Habas, looking very sick yourself. That person Videl was talking about was you, wasn't it?"

Staring now at the table, Gohan nodded hesitantly.

"She told me that it was Saiyaman that was poisoned, claiming that the Saiyaman that was running around that time was a substitute. Is this correct?"

"Yeah," was the only thing Gohan could say; denying it wasn't an option anymore. His secret identity was busted again and he could only hope the chief would hold his word by keeping this information for himself. He then decided to add, "If it weren't for both the actions of Videl and the cooperation from Habas, I would be dead."

"I thought so," the chief said with sympathy. "From the first haiku I was able to overhear, I could make out it was a serious mixture of poison. I hope you're doing better now?"

"Yes, I'm doing much better, thanks for asking," the half-Saiyan replied, now daring to look at the man. The longer the conversation lasted, the more confident he felt to open up with the chief. He knew he was an honest man and since Gohan had wrecked his own interrogation, opening up to the chief might be in his favor.

"I need to ask: you didn't answer the question about that vehicle because there wasn't one, right?" The chief looked at him with curiosity, and to assure him he was safe to answer, he added, "Again, this information will stay between us."

"No, there is no vehicle. I taught Videl how to fly by herself; she probably left that alley flying," Gohan answered, staring at the table again. It didn't feel right to talk about her newly gained ability to someone Videl knew, but he also wanted to help the investigation move forward; they needed to know that the alley wasn't the place they should stop looking.

The chief nodded, "Have you any idea where she went?"

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have been at school when you arrested me. I really have no idea," Gohan said dejectedly, beginning to release his emotions a little. With a crack in his voice he asked, "Do you have any leads?"

"Besides you? No, we don't have any," the chief admitted downhearted, "Though I have a personal view on it." This made Gohan look up, revealing his teary eyes to the chief, who continued, "I think the whole thing is related to your alter ego. Criminals hate you; they want you gone. That's all they can talk about in prison, especially since most of them are locked up after that city mall looting and having tasted what they could do if you weren't there anymore. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty certain Videl is Saiyawoman and therefore being unfortunately caught up in a revenge plan against you."

"I see," Gohan's voice cracked again as a heavy feeling washed over him; he was afraid it would turn that way.

The chief looked at him with sympathy, "The criminals you had problems with personally, were they by any chance that biker gang that plagued Orange Star High students?"

"Yeah, why you'd ask?" Gohan asked, confused.

"This is purely a gut feeling," the chief continued, "But maybe you should look into the organization that tried to kill you last time. Those bikers have ties with someone called 'Boss' , a criminal who has a lead role in the drugs-industry here in Satan City. We don't know who he is or where we can find them, but the people that were involved in the State Bank Robbery - which Mr. Epetro was part of - were instructed by that man as well. And since you may be able to speak to Mr. Epetro himself, you should try to ask him. That's all I can help you with on that matter."

"Why are you telling me this?" Gohan asked, while processing the information he received; it made quite a bit of sense what the chief shared with him.

"Videl has helped the police many, many times. We are in her debt. Besides, I consider her as a personal friend at this point. I just want her to be found, hopefully safe and well."

"So do I, but where do we go from here?" Gohan asked hesitantly.

"Sadly, you made yourself quite suspicious during your interrogation," the chief sighed, "So at this point there are three possible scenarios. One, Videl will be found shortly or we will find evidence that rules you out as a suspect, which I don't think will happen soon. Two, they have the right to lock you away for a couple of days until they receive information from you that they can work with. Three, since you are still a minor and therefore in compulsory education, we can let you go with an electronic tag. You'll have to report to the police at given times and you need to follow some other strict rules." Then the chief looked at him straight in the eye, "I need you to help us find Videl, so I'll try my best to put you under the last option and give you the code to unlock the electronic tag, so you can move freely. You only need to find someone to wear it to follow your normal pattern." The chief sat upright, trying to ease the tension in his back, "You understand that I'm risking my job doing this, right?"

"Yes Sir, I won't let you down," Gohan felt a huge wave of relief and, with the chief's sacrifice, he had hope again that was able to look for Videl. He would be forever grateful if the chief would manage him to be released. Though, he had to ask, "But why take such risks?"

"I've seen Saiyaman work upclose for quite some time now. You are capable of so much more than we are, and all I have to know is that you have a good heart. Also, I can see that you care about Videl and how offended you were when Walter accused you for making up your relationship with her." Then the chief paused, picking a piece of paper out of his pocket. "And I'm afraid we need to find her quickly," he added with a worried tone, giving Gohan the piece of paper. "This just came in before I interrupted your interrogation."

Gohan took the piece of paper out of the chief's hand and, with a heavy feeling in his stomach, he looked at it: it was a picture featuring a box and its contents was presented next to it. One of the items was a typed-out note, reading:

'Saiyaman: The next time you interfere with the underworld again, we will send real body parts.'

The other items accompanying the message: two pig-tails held together with golden hair-bands.