Chapter 1

I watched as he lay there, helpless to the androids attack, his power slowly fading into nothingness. All of the earthlings stood there in shock as their hero was defeated by someone who initially appeared to be no match for his super saiyan strength. Vegeta watched from a comfortable distance away as Goku's power continued to fade. Piccolo attempted to storm the battlefield, but was quickly shot down by Dr. Gero, Gohan speeding to his aid. None of this was going how it was supposed to be going. Everything that could have gone wrong did. If only their fight that morning had never happened, then Vegeta might have been able to prevent this from happening in the first place. But now it was too late, and he was forced to fly in to save the younger saiyan.

Before the doctor could even react, Vegeta had severed the hands of Android 19 and shot an energy blast straight in the robot's face, effectively turning him to dust. The earthlings looked on hesitantly as Vegeta approached Goku, completely ignoring the other enemy just a short distance away from him. Nothing in the world mattered to him more than Goku. The fate of the planet Earth was irrelevant to him. He only had a small amount of care to what happened to this rock, and that was only because Goku cared.

While Vegeta was checking on Goku, the doctor managed to escape into the mountains, leaving the earthlings to beg Vegeta to finish the job. He completely ignored their pleas, softly lifting Goku into his arms.

"Whatever you all decide to do about the doctor is irrelevant to me. I am going to take Goku to my place to give him the medication to stop this heart disease from killing him. You are all free to do as you wish, but following me is a death sentence. Choose wisely." And with that, he took off into the sky, speeding away from the mountains that Dr. Gero fled to. Without a moment to spare, Trunks quickly rallied the Z-Fighters into chasing after the mad scientist before he unleashed more of his creations.

Kakarot, you are an idiot! We have planned this fight for a month and you throw away the entire strategy over one argument? I thought you were smarter than this.

Vegeta quickened his pace as he felt Goku's heart begin to beat out of rhythm. He slowly brought his hand to the younger saiyan's wrist, feeling the hard metal band below his wrist wraps. It sent a wave of energy through his entire body that fueled him just enough to push his limits in super saiyan form.

I will be damned if you are defeated by some virus and not by me!

xXx

After Trunks had warned the Z-Fighters about the upcoming threat, everyone dispersed to begin their training regimens to prepare for the fight. Before Goku could even remotely think about what he needed to do to prepare, he was left alone with Vegeta. The group had broken off into groups or left on their own, leaving the two saiyans the last ones left.

"Do you believe this Trunks kid about the androids?" Vegeta broke the silence, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I do not think he would lie about something as serious as this. If he came all the way back in time to try to warn us, I am going to take him seriously. Even if no threat actually occurs, I still have a great excuse for Chi-Chi about leaving to train for a few years."

Vegeta was shocked by this revelation, but quickly hid it under his unbothered facade. It appeared that he would also have to determine his own training regime. And with Raditz and Nappa no longer around, there was not much he would be able to realistically accomplish on his own. It appeared that Goku was thinking the same thing, and offered to train with Vegeta. The proud saiyan prince laughed at the man before taking off for Capsule Corp., leaving Goku alone.

Damn, I was hoping he would have liked to train together. I have gotten too strong to train with anyone else on this planet given my super saiyan powers. It would be dangerous to tag along with Piccolo and Gohan, but what other choice do I have?

Without a moment's delay, Goku took off in the direction his son and the namekian did. After a long, and loud, conversation with Chi-Chi about the situation, she reluctantly agreed to allow Gohan to train with them, so long as he continued his studies while he was training. Gohan quickly agreed and began to pack his bags for a training trip. Before leaving, Goku went to talk to Chi-Chi alone in their bedroom.

"I do not like this at all, Goku. I blame you for making him lose focus on his studies and putting his life in danger. You almost killed him on Namek!" she screamed at him, aggressively rummaging through the drawers, slamming them shut in her wake.

"He is half-saiyan, Chi-Chi. Fighting is in his blood." Goku pleaded with his wife, trying to think of a way to calm her down before she broke their dresser.

"I can't take this anymore!" Chi-Chi yelled out, throwing a thick book at Goku's head. It landed right on target and Goku quickly doubled over, grabbing his head. The attack did not stop there, with Chi-Chi punching and kicking at her husband. Goku curled into a ball as tight as he could, refusing to even attempt to stop her barrage of attacks. He knew better than to try to fight back. The one time he did she threatened to tell all the Z-Fighters about how horrible of a husband he was and how he always used and abused her. None of those things were even remotely true, other than his frequent absence. But given how the earthlings looked at him differently once they found out who his brother was and what his race truly did, it was better not to risk alienating himself further from his friends.

When Chi-Chi finally wore herself out and left the room, Goku made his way slowly to the bathroom to assess the damage. He slowly stripped his gi off, staring at himself in the floor length mirror. Bruises and cuts adorned his chest from her feet and nails. There were places on his shirt where the fabric had torn from the aggression she put behind her attacks. He let out a long sigh and began to bandage what he could to try to make them less noticeable when he was fighting. It was clear that Gohan expected to return home every few days in order to complete his schooling, but Goku was hoping Piccolo would be down to train just the two of them on those days. He had no intention of ever returning to this place he once called home. Once the threat of the androids was neutralized, he planned on filing for divorce from Chi-Chi and fighting for custody of their son. Unfortunately, he needed to prove to the courts that he was able to take care of a child, and that required a few years of planning on his part.

"Dad! Are you ready?!" Gohan yelled from downstairs.

"I'm on my way!" he responded quickly, grabbing the last of his things before meeting with his son downstairs. Chi-Chi laid out the ground rules that Piccolo listened to carefully. Once everything was cleared up and arranged, the three of them headed off into the afternoon sky, talk of training being the only words spoken the entire journey to the desserted island they intended to make their training grounds for the next few years.

Piccolo had heard the fight between Chi-Chi and Goku from outside and quickly urged Gohan to pack up his things and join him in the backyard. While it was none of his business what those two discussed in private, he could hear the blows landing due to his supernatural hearing. Thank god Gohan remained unaware of what was going on, other than the raised voice of his mother. It was easy to tune it out, as his mother was always a very loud talker. He made a mental note to see how Goku was once Gohan was out of earshot. This was something the kid should remain unaware of as much as possible, though it was easy to tell something was up in the way Goku tried to mask the pain of moving.

Since it was already late in the afternoon when they landed on the island, Piccolo sent Gohan on a hunting mission as his first training exercise while the two adults did some light sparring before dinner. Once Gohan was far away in the woods, Piccolo told Goku they were not going to train, but talk instead.

"Piccolo, we only have a limited amount of time to prepare for the androids. Shouldn't we use this time to train?"

"There's something I need to talk to you about first." Goku looked at the man, confused. While they had become closer in the months after the battle with Freiza, he never took Piccolo to be the talking type. The man typically reserved words for only when he deemed necessary.

"I heard you and Chi-Chi upstairs in your bedroom…" Piccolo said slowly, gauging Goku's reaction.

"What do you mean by that? She was just upset about Gohan missing out on studying."

"You know that is not what I mean, Goku, I have better hearing than you think I do."

Goku froze in shock, his mouth agape. He had no idea how to respond to the Namekian. The fact that anyone knew what happened at his house made him fearful of his life. Chi-Chi had threatened him so many times with telling everyone what a horrible husband he was that he felt unable to tell even his closest friends about his home life.

"You do not have to go into details if you do not want to, but I wanted to let you know that you can talk to me about those sorts of things. I might understand it better than you think I will."

"Thanks, Piccolo, but I think that my home life needs to remain my personal business for the time being. Plus, I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to…"

The Namekian nodded in understanding. He had noticed how Goku's so-called-friends had begun to look at him the same way they looked at the saiyan prince and himself. Despite proving himself to be a protector of the earth time and time again, the new information on his lineage had clearly made them more wary of the young saiyan. It was not fair how easily their opinions swayed just because of someone's blood line.

Before they could begin to spar one another, a loud voice sounded from above them.

"Hey! This island is where I am going to be training!"