She quickened her pace, hastening down the dark street. Her steps echoed loudly in her ears and she ran through a list of suitable curses in her mind. She had been waiting at the cinema for over an hour. Her green hair fluttered in the breeze and she bit her lip to keep tears from forming in her eyes. 'Stood up.' The words bounced around in her head, unpleasant. She hadn't thought to bring her usual supply of capsules. Of all the times for her parents to be out of town! And her brother, she didn't even want to think about him. She could call him. But knowing Trunks, he was probably spending what he deemed 'quality time' with the pick of the month. 'Kami forbid I interrupt that.' she thought sarcastically.

Blue eyes nervously searched the shadows. She wished she had paid more attention when her father had tried to teach her to use her powers and sense ki. She was almost positive that she was being watched...no. She would not allow her fear to get to her in that way. After all, she was saiya-jin and saiya-jin were afraid of no one. They were a proud warrior race. She continued walking down the darkened street, ignoring the foreboding growing in the pit of her stomach.

He was flying aimlessly. No destination in mind. But the fact hadn't quite registered yet. He had been out here for almost an hour. 'A whole hour...' he mused. An hour since the phone call from his girlfr-no, his ex-girlfriend. He sighed. He had really thought that he loved her. Obviously she hadn't felt the same way. Pointlessly he ran the last conversation over in his head again.

"So, we're celebrating nii-chan's birthday on Saturday, you up for it?" Instead of a response, there was only silence on the other end of the line. "Paris?"

"Oh! Gomen ne Go-chan!" Her sweet voice apologized. "I was just checking my schedule for next week...what did you say?" she explained.

Goten sighed, "Saturday, are you free on Saturday?" he asked again.

"Hmm..." Through the phone line he could hear the sound of paper rustling. "Gomen Go-chan. They want me to fly out to London this Friday. I won't be back until Sunday." Paris laughed excitedly.

Goten didn't bother to ask who 'they' were. It seemed that recently 'they' were more important to Paris than he was. "I can fly out to get you on Saturday night and bring you back Sunday morning." Goten suggested.

"I don't know...do you think my employers will think it's kinda weird? I mean you being able to fly and all...it's not normal Go-chan."

That hurt. He could take the not listening and the 'job before boyfriend' business. But weird? Abnormal? Granted, he was half-alien, but wasn't she supposed to love him for who he was? He didn't bother listening to what she was saying, he could hear her voice but it seemed to be coming from a million miles away. With a sinking sensation Goten realised that it was over. It had taken him awhile to realise this. Paris didn't see him as a boyfriend but as a boy friend.

He had ended it then and there. 'Weird...' Paris' voice echoed eerily in his mind. He wasn't weird...just different.

She turned sharply, hearing something. Yellow eyes glared at her from the dark, gaping mouth of an alleyway. A small gasp escaped her lips. The same lips that curled into a minute smile when she realised that her fearsome stalker was a battered, grey moggy. 'Just my imagination again' She thought with relief. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, never once noticing the shadows that closed in around her.

"Such a pretty little girl." A cold voice drawled. "Bra Briefs isn't it?"

Bra let out a small 'eep' and looked around wildly, once again alert. "Over here." A tall man stepped into the puddle of light the lone streetlamp made. He had blonde, almost white spiky hair, which deified gravity just as well as her father's. His sea green eyes were cold under the dim light. He smiled.

"W-who are you?"

He waved his hand in a dismissive motion. "That is unimportant. Don't worry your pretty little head over such trivial matters." Again, that cold smile. He walked over to her and stroked her cheek gently. Angrily she jerked her head away. "My, my." He laughed chillingly. "Feisty aren't we?"

"What do you want?" Bra spat out, more in fear than defiance. "I don't have any money with me." she lied.

"Oh no, no, no...Bra, may I call you Bra? I don't want your money." Faster than she could see, he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back. Bra cried out in pain. "You see, dear, sweet Bra. I have no need for money." He whispered softly in her ear. "What I want is revenge!" He hissed dangerously as he tightened his grip, causing her to cry out more.

He should probably head home. It was pointless to float out here; it was making him depressed, and when he got depressed it made him feel like a loser. Son Goten did not like feeling like a loser. He altered his direction so he could head back home. It was a coincidence when he sensed the formidable rise in Bra's ki. He halted in midair. Just as quickly as he sensed it, it began to fade, as though her life was slipping away. Goten's eyes narrowed. Bra was in trouble and if he didn't help, she would die.

"Revenge..." she choked out. "I haven't d-done anything to you!" she gasped in pain.

"Oh I know that." Her assailant chuckled evilly. "Foolish girl! Do you think I want to hurt you? No, you're just an innocent bystander." An old pain shone in his eyes. "Just like I was. You see Bra, my father worked for Capsule Corporation. Your family's company. I believe your brother has taken over from your mother?" he asked calmly, as though he was making conversation or just asking her what the time was. "My father was a good man, a hard worker. Note the 'was' Bra, my father never made a mistake in the ten years he worked there. One day there was an accident in one of the lower labs. My father was sick that day. But because he was so damn loyal to the company, he went to work. That was the day he died!" Bra winced at the hoarse shout. "Do you know what those damn investigators said? They blamed my father! A sick man! They said he had mixed the wrong chemicals. Your mother made a statement the next day at a press conference. I remember watching it on TV. She offered her "sincere apologies to the widow and family of the deceased." My mother died a month later. She couldn't live without my father." He leaned closer to her ear, making it seem like he wanted to share a secret. "Your mother killed my family." he whispered in icy tones.

"Iie!" Bra struggled in her captor's grip. "No! My mother would never do something like that! It was an accident!" She protested, her temper flaring. She managed to wrench her arm free and turned to face him, fire in her eyes. "It was not my mother's fault!" she screamed. An aura surrounded her and she landed a powerful punch to his ribs, sending the man flying into a wall.

Surprisingly, he was able to get to his feet after the blow. "Well, it appears that you have some spirit." he coughed up blood and smiled, showing pink smeared teeth. "Too bad I have to kill you. We would have made a wonderful couple."

Before Bra knew what was happening, she found herself slammed against a lamppost. She slumped to the floor in great pain. Lack of training meant that she was unable to hold on to the raw power that she had summoned up to escape the first time. He laughed evilly. "Funny how Daddy dearest never taught you how to fight. Didn't he teach your brother?" he asked mockingly as he pulled her to her feet, lifting her by her neck. Bra groaned. When she opened her eyes, the world spun crazily. Almost unconsciously, she shut them again. "Poor little rich girl." he whispered, as he prepared to deal the killing blow.

"Put her down."

The man turned, his hair spiked in crazy angles, a blinding white from the lamplight. Bra managed to open her eyes a crack. In her darkened vision she could dimly see a man bathed in gold, his teal eyes were alight with righteous anger. "Goten..." she whispered with relief, allowing the world to fade to black again.

"I said, put her down."

Bra's attacker pulled his lips into a sneer. "You going to make me, pretty boy?"

Goten cracked his knuckles ominously. "Yes. So put her down right now...unless you're brave enough to take me on." he taunted as the aura around him flared.

There was a 'thud' as Bra's limp body was dropped to the ground. "Try it golden boy, just try it."

Goten dropped into a fighting stance and rushed forward, only to be stopped by a roundhouse kick. The kick was followed by fast punches, punches that Goten, in Super Saiya-jin state, blocked easily. Frustrated, his opponent fell back, breathing heavily. Goten smirked and began powering up for a powerful ki blast. "KA...ME...KA...ME...HA!" He watched the man fly off at the end of the beam of light. 'Too easy.' He dropped out of Super Saiya-jin and his eyes fell on the crumpled form on the ground. "B-chan!"

He flew straight for Capsule Corp with her in his arms. She didn't move, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing. "Kami-sama...just hang in there, B-chan." Goten commanded softly, even though he was sure she couldn't hear him. All thoughts of Paris and his recent break-up had fled from his mind. Even the man that attacked her only received a secondary thought. Enough for Goten to direct blinding anger towards him. If Bra died and he found that jerk still alive, not even the Dragonballs would be able to revive him. He would make that idiot wish he had never been born. Goten pushed his body into flying at speeds that had, until now, been unaccomplished by him.

'Don't die B-chan...you can't die...please Dende...'

If there was one feeling Trunks hated in this world, it was being awakened from a deep sleep. Half conscious, he rolled over in bed and groaned softly, hoping that the incessant tapping he was hearing would go away.

No such luck. Instead, his window broke, glass shards scattering and falling on his bedroom floor with a musical ring. Trunks bolted into an upright position, muttering a few choice words under his breath. A shadowed figure entered the room and Trunks leaned over and flipped the light switch.

"Goten!" Trunks yelped in exasperation. "Don't you sleep?" he asked irritably. Then he noticed the unconscious form of his sister. "Dende! What happened?"

Goten just shook his head, he was still short of breath. "Tank..." he managed to gasp. Trunks understood instantly. He gently removed his sister's form from Goten's arms and carried her into the infirmary.

"Goten?"

"Hmm?"

Trunks stared at his friend, wondering when he would snap out of it. "We have rooms you can stay in, you know. You need to sleep."

"Okay, sure."

Trunks snorted under his breath. "Goten, the sky is falling and Bebi has come back to enslave us all."

"That's nice Trunks."

"I give up." Trunks muttered, walking out of the infirmary. All he needed right now was sleep.

Goten stared unerringly at the tank where Bra floated in the green-blue liquid. 'B-chan, who was that guy and why would he want to hurt you?' Goten couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to hurt Bra. She was smart, popular and pretty. 'Whoa, where did that come from Goten? This is B-chan remember?' Although the reasons he had just listed were enough to make a girl jealous, that didn't explain the attacker, who was male. Many guys wanted to date Bra, but not many wanted to beat her to a pulp. Goten readily admitted that he was overprotective of Bra. He had always looked out for her in a brotherly way. Guys who wanted to date her were given the third degree. Usually with Trunks and Vegeta by his side. But his protectiveness had gone on long before that. When she was younger he had never been as mean to her as Trunks was. It was always Trunks who suggested pranks to pull on his younger sibling. Looking out for Bra came as naturally as breathing.

'She looks so vulnerable in there.' he mused silently. Her eyes were tightly shut. Goten wondered what his life would be like if those bright blue orbs never opened again. She couldn't die just for the selfish reason that he wanted her to live, he needed her to live. In his own way, Goten was dependant on Bra. She was the person he turned to for help in his relationship with Paris. She was a part of his life he couldn't do without. 'I used to think that I couldn't live without Paris...' Goten's eyes widened when he realised the turn his thoughts were taking. 'Love? No...this is B-chan. Trunks' sister, Vegeta's daughter for Kami's sake!' He winced slightly at the thought of what Vegeta would do to him if he found out. 'Nothing...'cause I don't love her, right?' Goten shut his eyes tiredly. He wasn't so sure and he didn't think he could admit it to himself if he did love her. 'I've just broken up with Paris, even if I do love Bra...which I don't...she'll probably just think I'm on the rebound...which I am...aren't I?' His thoughts were too confusing, too real. 'I just need to sleep...' He yawned, allowing himself to drift.

The machine beeped loudly in the silence. Slowly the fluid drained from the tank and Bra opened her eyes. She painfully pulled herself into a standing position, dripping liquid all over the floor. Her eyes fell on the figure sleeping in the chair and unconsciously she smiled softly. 'Goten-kun...'

"Goten." The voice was barely above a whisper and yet it pulled him from the depths of sleep.

"Mmm?" Ebony met blue and for a moment it seemed the world stopped.

Then a gentle laugh. "Come on Goten-kun...wake up, you can't sleep here."

"Unh..." Again that laugh. He allowed himself to be pulled from the chair and led away.

Trunks peered into his sister's room, trying not to wake her up. He had panicked when he first realised that the infirmary was empty, then he noticed the wet footprints leading away from the tank. Trunks thanked Dende that no one had been present to see him freak out. "Nii-chan?"

"Bra!" Trunks sighed with relief. "You okay? What happened last night? Who attacked you? Why didn't you call home? Where's Goten?"

"Are you done with the inquisition?" Bra asked teasingly. "I'll tell you about it later. I'm okay, right? Goten's in one of the guestrooms."

Trunks just shook his head. It seemed that his sister was back to normal. "Get some more sleep." he ordered, leaving the room.

Bra stared out the window. It was the perfect day. Sunshine, blue skies. 'A nice day for a picnic...' A picnic. She smiled at the memories of the numerous picnics that her family had shared with the Sons and the rest of the Z Senshi.

"Trunks, give it back!" A seven-year old Bra demanded. She attempted to grab the doll that her older brother held teasingly over her head. "Trunks!!" she wailed.

"BRAT!"

"Oops." Trunks cringed at the sound of his father's voice. He looked around frantically for someone who could take the blame. "Hey Goten! Catch!" He tossed the doll over just as Pan tackled him from behind.

Trunks hit the ground with a thud. "PAN! OW!" He glared at the younger girl.

Pan wasn't intimidated in the slightest. She stuck her tongue out at the offending demi Saiya-jin. "You deserved it, we were playing!" She gestured at the remains of the younger girl's tea party behind them. She began to punch him irritably.

"Hey! Pan! OW!!" The lavender haired teen yelped when he was kneed in a particularly painful place. "You little brat!"

"Here you go B-chan."

"Thanks Goten." Bra sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "But our tea party's all messed up anyway." The little girl cast a rueful glance at the sky where Trunks and Pan were now fighting. "Besides, I don't think Pan was all that interested."

Goten crouched down next to her. "Hey, don't cry. C'mon, I'll help you set it up again." He offered her his hand.

"Really? You'll play tea party with me Goten-kun?" she asked, amazed. Her brother would never do something like that.

"Of course B-chan."

She closed her eyes and she could see the golden warrior again. The man who had saved her life last night. The picture overlapped the never forgotten image of a teenaged Goten playing tea party with a little girl, before fading into the half asleep man she had seen last night. 'Goten-kun...maybe?...no. I'm just like his little sister, right?' All those guys she had dated and not one of them would have done what Goten had done last night. He was there when her father and brother couldn't be, he had no obligations to her and yet he protected her. Goten was her other nii-chan and although she had developed a crush on him as a little girl, those feelings had faded. And even if they hadn't, he had Paris now. 'So it's nothing, right?' "Nothing." she repeated out loud. "Nothing at all." Even to herself it sounded like she was trying to convince someone.

"Do you really like this guy B-chan?"

Bra smiled, "Yes, yes I do. He's so sweet. Last night..."

Goten held up a hand. "No, don't tell me. There are some details that even I don't want to know."

"Goten!" She laughed and hit him, knowing that it wouldn't hurt him. "Just promise you'll stop the interrogations?"

"If it makes you happy B-chan."

Goten was her confidant. When she'd told her family that she wanted to do business studies in college, Trunks had laughed, her mother had looked sceptical and her father had just muttered under his breath about being in over her head. Goten was the only one who had supported her. When she was swamped with work and felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Goten would talk to her or take her out. It didn't matter where, just as long as she could relieve some of the stress. He had even been there to comfort her when she had broken up with Danny, the first guy she'd really been serious about.

Sometimes she felt that he was the only one who understood her. He understood why she felt she had to prove herself, to make herself something different from the spoiled teenager she had been. Her mother was great, but she didn't understand. Bulma had never had to prove anything, she was a genius and everyone knew it. Her father was...well, she couldn't exactly talk to him. Vegeta's solutions were simple. If someone dared to bother his daughter, he'd hurt, maim or kill them. How would he understand Bra's situation? Trunks was the warrior of the family. The heir to the company and Vegetasei's no longer existent throne. She bickered with Trunks all the time. He wouldn't hesitate to protect her if anything happened, but did he understand what was going on in her head? No. Goten did. Goten knew what it felt like to always be trying to reach the same level as the rest of his family. He had Gohan to look up to. Where Chi Chi had pushed Gohan into studying and not fighting, she had allowed Goten to do as he pleased. More as an understanding of the need of a Saiya-jin to fight than because she didn't love her younger son as much. But it made Goten feel second best. In that way, Goten and Bra were alike.

"Good morning!" Trunks said cheerfully.

"Hmm? Oh hey, Trunks." Goten mumbled. He had had the weirdest dream last night. He couldn't remember it though. Just when he would think he had remembered it, it would slip away. A soft laugh echoed in his head.

"Come on Goten-kun..."

"Goten? Hello?" Goten refocused his attention on his best friend. "Breakfast?" Trunks gestured to the two Saiya-jin sized meals laid out on the table.

Goten just gave the meal a cursory glance. "Nah...I should get home." Trunks gave his friend a weird look. Never in his life had he heard Goten refuse food. "Is B-chan okay?" Goten asked abruptly, stopping at the door.

Trunks paused from shovelling the food in his mouth. "Yeah. She's still sleeping." Goten shrugged, never once turning around.

'Come on Goten-kun...'

He flew into the air, still thinking about his half-remembered dream.

Elsewhere in the vast house, a green haired, blue-eyed young woman was staring starry eyed out a window. The sight of the retreating figure elicited a sigh from her. 'Do I love you Goten-kun?' Although the answer was obvious to her heart, her head wouldn't allow it. A sliver tear slid from her eye, down the smooth cheek to fall on the windowsill. She brushed at the trail it left, discarding what her heart felt as she brushed it away.