Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bulma briefs was the smartest, craziest, most determined woman on planet Earth.

And then she was the most determined frog in the galaxy.

After trying to find anyone who could help, she’d actually found her body sitting amongst the frogs, but another frog had shown up and smashed into her, stealing the speech collar and then taking her body again. After that it had been a blur

She had managed to scramble into one of the Ginyu forces battle pods before the planet blew up. After several minutes trying to figure out the eyesight of the Damned creature she was stuck as she had managed to bash enough buttons to close it and send her off into space. Well it didn't send her off into space, the cliff face she was on collapsed and she was sent hurtling through a collapsing planet into space.

From then on life was a damned.

She had ended up on board a small ship that honestly wasn't the best that the cold Empire had. But it was enough to do what Bulma needed. She gathered enough water and protein bars to keep herself alive before she began carefully stealing tech and tools in order to build herself something that would help her off the damn ship and onto another planet. Preferably a friendly Planet that had decent tech and maybe some decent communications system.

But she didn't wind up on a planet like that. She wound up on a grubby little planet that was basically a glorified motel. But what it did have was a marketplace. And there she was able to squirrel away everything she needed to build a basic but usable bipedal body. People thought it was a standard drone designed to go out and do chores for someone who wasn't able to leave their home. Or someone who was super lazy.

It had taken an earth year to get a big enough reputation that people would hire her for work. And then it took another year for her to gather enough money for a ship that would get her off-world and closer to home. But then life seemed to decide it was going to throw another curve ball at her. Despite the fact she had all of the proper paperwork she came across the one brain dead Galactic Officer who insisted on meeting the Organic who owned the drone.

Bulma had been forced to thwack the officer on the head and then go on the run.

She didn't know how long she'd been on the run for but she did know that during that time she had made many friends and enemies. She had improved her ship and even had a crew that was willing to die for her but mostly because she had the money and the notoriety to scare them into loyalty. She didn't really like that but she had no other choice. The closer she got to home the more Bulma began to realize that she wasn't sure she wanted to stay there.

She missed her friends and family. She missed her nice comfy bed and she missed her lab and she missed strawberries and scratch and -

But she wouldn't miss the monotony. Sure she could head out and have adventures when she wanted but the older she got the more life reminded her that she had obligations. She had the obligation to take over the capsule corp from her father. She had the obligation to keep creating and designing incredible technology. The obligation to settle down and live a regular ordinary life.

Bulma briefs didn't want that anymore.

She wanted the excitement of space travel. She wanted the incredible feeling of being on a new planet every other day. Sure she wanted to return home but she didn't want to be stuck there.

But finally she forced herself back to earth. She discovered that she'd been gone over two decades. She hadn’t even noticed. It was hard to notice time passing when you were running police and pirates and bounty hunters and a myriad of others.

Once she had reached the Earth she'd settled her ship into orbit, activated the cloaking device and sent out drones to see what her friends and family had been doing in all the time she had been gone. The child she had last seen on Namek now had a child of his own.

Krillin now lived with an amazingly beautiful blonde woman who seemed to be just as in love with him as he was with her. An adorable noseless blonde little girl toddled with them as they walked along the street doing their shopping.

Yamcha had grown more handsome as the years had gone by. He'd also grown as a person. He had a good job, he had a nice home but no wife. Bulma was happy with this as it meant that maybe just maybe there was a chance she could get him back. But she also knew that to do that would be to show she was still alive and kicking. And she wasn't sure she was ready to do that just yet.

Piccolo still seemed to be doing his own thing and the Lookout seemed to have a new Guardian. Dende had grown since she had last seen him and he seemed to enjoy his life as the Earth's Guardian.

She had seen Goku with a grown-up Gohan. Another boy had been with them who looked alarmingly like Goku laughing and training with the two. She'd watch them return home where ChiChi was waiting with lunch and another young woman who had cuddled up to Gohan before a small child had come out of the house and laughed at Gohan. She'd called him daddy and Bulma's heart had clenched. The child she had last seen on Namek now had a child of his own.

Then she'd seen her mother in the garden chatting with her father as a small child with blue hair wobbled about in a little dress. Then a boy probably in his middle teens showed up and swept the child up in his arms. The little girl had giggled riotously and then much to her surprise Vegeta had walked out of the door and settled into one of the chairs besides her father.

And then Bulma watched as her own body came walking out of the building. She'd started in complete shock as she watched herself lean down and press a quick kiss so the cheek up Vegeta before settling it into a chair.

Beauma turned off all the probes and immediately began pacing her room. There was no way her body should still exist. Maybe they discovered genuine her form and wished him away and maybe her memories had awoken in the body but her spirit had not

But Bulma knew that is not what had happened. She knew that Ginyu had taken over her life and was now playing Happy Families. She was pissed off and angry. She wanted to take her shuttle fly down there and punched the bastard right in the face. She wanted to demand justice for everything that had happened over the past two decades and for the life she hadn't been able to have.

Only she couldn't.

If Bulma showed up down there in a robotic form claiming to be the real Bulma briefs they'd accuse her of being a liar. Or worse, they just blast her into Oblivion. But she could use this.

So she had spent the next month watching them. At first she thought it was some long con Vegeta and Ginyu had cooked up, but quickly discovered that Vegeta had no idea who was inside her body.

It made her feel a little bad for him. He genuinely loved the ‘Bulma’ he was with. He loved his children, and seemed to have come to at least tolerate the other Fighters.

And then there were the kids.

Trunks was the eldest, and he was just like her. Intelligent, strong willed and handsome. He trained with his father and helped save the world. Genetics proved he was her son. Or Ginyu’s

The girl was still young, and all she knew was that she was adorable, as stubborn as her father and everything Bulma could have wanted from a baby girl.

Bulma’s plans had to be adjusted somewhat. As much as she would love to see Ginyu’ life ripped apart, she couldn’t hurt them.

Vegeta had been a monster, but it seemed as though he had made real change. He was a loving husband, and pretty decent father and honestly, Bulma was a little worried she might send him off the deep end. And with how strong he had become, she sure as hell didn’t want to see that shit show.

So instead she sent Ginyu a message.

Chapter Text

Captain Ginyu was a powerhouse. He had Talent he had intelligence and he was strong.

And all of those things meant nothing when you were trapped in the body of a frog.

Stealing the female's body hadn't been all that difficult. She’d actually helped him for HFILs sake! And then he had a body again. He had been incredibly impressed by the technology the woman had bought with her and the knowledge that this belonged to not only herself but her father, reverse engineered from a Namekien ship, and tech was incredible.

Then the skies had gone dark and a boy had shown up with a half dead in Namekian and A wish it had been made. Then he was on a beautifully green planet called Earth. Thanks to the information he had gathered on the ship he was able to use the Watch on his wrist as a communicator and get Bulma’s father to come with enough ship space to move the Namekians back to Bulma’s home and, despite the fact he desperately wanted to see the man dead, he'd invited Vegeta. Keep your enemies closer and all that.

He had no power in this body. Bulma was pretty for whatever she was. And it appeared she was well known for her intelligence and bravery. She also appeared to be bat shit insane. Pretending to be her wasn't as difficult as he'd fought it was. Once back home her mother grabbed Vegeta by the arm and guided him towards the kitchen whilst he had moved off to his lab and spent the next several hours researching the woman he'd become as best he could. The woman kept Diaries and scientific logs that were peppered with personal information and it really didn't take long for him to get a handle on her personality. Captain Ginyu had planned to spend a few days pretending to be Bulma before stealing the ship and heading off into space to find himself a more suitable body.

Vegeta had beaten him to it and he found himself without a decent ship.

So he had secluded himself away and spent time learning how to be Bulma. He'd managed to convince her family and friends that most of his oddities were due to the fact that he was traumatized from being in space. Thanks to Krillin and the boy they were able to prove that some pretty awful things had happened and therefore Bulma was able to get away with some of her weird behavior.

When the Namekian Dragon Balls had recharged themselves he had hoped to secretly steal one of the Namekians away and use them to get his wishes. But he hadn't been able to and was forced to watch as each of the wishes were used up by the aliens. He also discovered he had a boyfriend. Yamcha was not terrible. A little spineless but he was well spoken and to be honest he was not ugly to look at. Ginyu had been forced to entertain many different people over the years in order to complete missions or keep others sweet in order to keep Lord freezer happy and he could honestly say that out of all of them Yamcha was certainly the most pleasant.

But as time went on he also realized that Yamcha and Bulma just weren't well suited. And as much as he enjoyed their trysts he needed to be concentrating on leaving the planet. Or at the very least finding a better body. So he broke up with Yamcha doing his best to make it seem as natural as possible for the two of them and then went on with his life. And then Vegeta showed back up.

He didn't want to be found out so he was incredibly careful about his behavior while the man was there and then of course they'd felt it. The ability to sense ki was one that Ginyu hadn't been able to master because he had no ki manipulation in this form. He had thought about trying to learn but he didn't wish to cause anyone to grow suspicious of him. So instead he was reliant on those around.

Lord Frieza and King Cold had arrived. Ginyu had felt a swell of elation upon learning this but had also been incredibly worried. In order to get a body that was going to be useful to him he had to get close enough to the ship in order to find one of his Men and take over. But he also knew there was a darn good chance that one of these humans might see him so the only thing he could do was follow along with the excuse to see Frieza. That Bulma would love a chance to see the enemy this time.

That was not what happened.

What had happened was an admittedly handsome young man with lavender hair had shown up and completely slaughtered the two.

It was incredibly impressive to watch. It had also been incredibly annoying. Captain Ginyu had a healthy respect for Lord Frieza and his father and that wasn't just because they were capable of killing him. They had good leadership skills and for years had maintained an empire that had the Galaxy quaking in its boots. He joined what he'd believed to be the winning side in order to ensure long term Survival and prosperity. Turns out he chose the wrong team.

Unbeknownst to the others in his group, in his ear was a small bug which when properly used would allow him to listen in on conversations that were far away from him. It's why he was able to hear quite clearly the conversation between the lavender Head Boy and lord Frieza. And it allows him to listen in on the conversation that Goku and the boy had had.

He kept his features calm and collected, whilst inside his mind was screaming.

The boy was the child of Bulma briefs and Vegeta.

Once home Ginyu allowed himself to panic. Because in order to have a child with Vegeta he wouldn't be able to use a gestation tank or hire a surrogate. No no, it was quite obvious how that child had come to be and captain Ginyu did not know if he had the strength to go through with that particular act. But he also understood that if he didn't they might be dead due to lack of a time loop. God how he hated time travel. When he'd been young one of his school friends had been obsessed with the idea constantly going on and on about how it could be done and the kinds of scientific discoveries that would need to be made in order for it to happen and-

God he hated it. It bored him. But obviously at some point in the future he must learn and just enough about it to make one of those machines work. Or maybe he had a great deal of Help from Bulma's Father. That's likely what happened. Ginyu had a great deal of intelligence and thanks to the basic engineering knowledge he had from the ships in Lord Frieza’s command he was able to continue making Bournemouth roofs look like a genius. Granted the Tech he used didn't look alien and he was capable of making the upgrades look natural and organic to a planet such as this. But none of that was helpful to him right now.

Ginyu had time. From what he could tell the boy was about 16 or 17 which meant in order for him to be his child he had at least two years before he had to… create him. And that was plenty of time to figure out an alternate plan.

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Ginyu spent that time researching, building and desperately trying to hide who he was. He did a damn good job as well. Too good a job. He found himself enjoying his time on Earth.

And why wouldn’t he. He had a life of Luxury that didn’t come with death and destruction. He had a ‘family’ that loved him, And he’d discovered aerobics! Such an amazing and interesting way to stay fit. And he found his arguments with Vegeta rather enjoyable. Away from the sniping and fake comradery on Frieza’s ships, he began to see an actual personality in the man.

The final year before the Androids arrived, and Ginyu had a hell of a decision to make.

He’d had many bodies over the years. Men,women, non-binary and intersex. Old and young, strong and weak.

He stared at his body in the mirror and tilted his head.

He could have gotten a new body . Goku was on earth and with a simple lie and a quiet place he could have the strength and ability to leave. But he didn’t.

He was comfortable.

His team was dead and gone. Lord Frieza was dead and gone. The empire was likely falling apart and Ginyu wanted no part in rebuilding. On Earth he had fame, money and ‘friends’ He had an enjoyable life, and why should he give it up?

But to stay was to live Bulma Briefs life, and that meant he had to….

He would.

The next day Ginyu had gone to the Gravity chamber and broken it, and then when Vegeta had shown up demanding to know what was wrong, he’d smiled, winked and hoped for the best.

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It was harder to coax the Saiyan into his bed than Ginyu thought it would be.

Vegeta was skittish. The arguments they had ranged from truely nasty to amusing, and Ginyu did his best to encourage the latter. He wore lighter clothes and threw more smiles Vegeta’s way. The Saiyan…had no idea how to respond. Before it could be said they had a friendly antagonism between each other. Now he didn’t seem to know what he was-

Goinyu’s brain stalled as he realized something rather important.

Vegeta had been in service to Lord Frieza since he was 6. He had grown in an environment where relationships were transactional and dangerous. And most had gone out of their way to make life difficult for anyone under a certain level of influence on the ship. The Saiyans had been amongst those. Not to mention being a royal lineage many wouldn’t approach anyway. And he had never known Vegeta to go searching for a partner so…

There was a high chance that Vegeta was a virgin.

The idea had Ginyu fighting laughter, but also a little worried. Could he seduce the man into his bed? Or was this a lost cause? Maybe the pregnancy had come from other means, maybe he was wrong?

He wasn’t.

For several days Vegeta had avoided him, until one evening whilst he was sitting on the balcony he had landed beside her. Normally he’d keep a few feet between them, but this time he was close enough for the arms to touch. He blushed terribly and Ginyu had fought the urge to laugh, instead he’d leaned his head to the side and rested it against Vegeta’s shoulder.

They hadn’t lain together that night, but it was a start.

It was slow going, and worry began to seep in again, but Ginyu eventually gave up on subtlety and one night when Vegeta had been on his way back to his room, he’d followed him, stating he needed to check a fault in his shower.

He had pretended to check the faucets and then told the Saiyan to get cleaned up and say if it worked fine, and whilst he did that, Ginyu had stripped down to his underwear and sat on the bed.

The look on Vegeta’s face when he’d stepped through the door had been hilarious. He smiled and tiled his head, standing up as Vegeta tried to remember what words were. He’d stopped centimeters from him and finally Vegeta spoke.

“What, what do you want from me?” The words were soft and strained, and as much as Ginyu would have loved to tease, he felt generous.

“I’ll show you.”

The kiss was soft but insistent, and Vegeta's hands were slow and careful. It was downright precious.

He ended the kiss and trailed his fingers down Vegeta arms until he reached his hands. He took them and pulled him towards the bed. Vegeta moved like he had no will, he had to follow. Ginyu saw his eyes move over his body, and a pang hit him.

Vegeta saw only Bulma Briefs. It's all he would ever see, and Ginyu knew that. He could live with that.

He could live with the nervous, hungry look in Vegeta's eyes as he pressed against his body. Ginyu guided his hands over his body, showed him how to work the clasp on his bra, pressed her lips to his neck and showed him how lightly bites and soft nips could be pleasant and not painful. He was a quick learner, and his hands and mouth had Ginyu whimpering. He didn't lie idle, and tugged off his underwear. Ginyu couldn't see much of a difference between a Saiyan body and Human.

The noise Vegeta made when he wrapped his hand around Vegeta's dick was gratifying, and the Saiyan shoved his face into Ginyu's necks and panted, eyes scrunched up and body trembling.

"It's okay. I know this is new to you."

Vegeta had frozen, and Ginyu pressed a kiss to his temple, "I...I-"

"Shh sweetie. Just relax."

Surprisingly he did, and Ginyu took his hand and guided it between his thighs, and Vegeta showed again that he was a quick learner. It wasn't long before Ginyu arched his back and groaned long and low, body trembling as Vegeta's fingers made him climax. The female human body was a remarkable thing.

Vegeta had watched his face through it all, eyes inquisitive. As her breath slowed, so did his fingered, and he then rested his hand low on Ginyu’s stomach.

Sated, Ginyu grinned, and kissed Vegeta again, pushing him backwards until he was flat on his back, and he straddled his hips.

“You can still back out.”Ginyu said, and giggled at the annoyed glint in Vegeta’s eyes as his hands gripped her thighs.

For a split second Ginyu wondered if he could do this. Not just because of the life he could be creating, but the man beneath him.

Vegeta was arrogant, brutal and generally unpleasant. But over the past few years, he’d seen him change. Seen glimpses of the man he could have been if not for fate. He was generally respectful to Bulma’s parents. When they asked him to do something, he usually said yes. Mostly it was heavy lifting questions about space. But with Ginyu, or Bulma, he was antagonistic. Challenging. Interesting enough that Ginyu was doing this.

He slipped his hand beneath him and then lowered himself, enjoying the stretch as his body accommodated Vegeta.

“Oh, oh god.” Vegeta whimpered, and his fingers nearly squeezed too hard on her thighs. “Oh god.”

Ginyu leaned forward and braced her hands either side of his head, pressing their foreheads together. “You feel good baby?”

He blinked rapidly at her, barely able to catch his breath, “Its, I, I never thought.”

Ginyu moved his hips and was suddenly crushed against Vegeta, arms wrapping around him as the Saiyan groaned loudly in his ear.

“Bulma.”

The name was said with a soft reverence that made Ginyu feel a little jealous, but he stamped that down. Bulma’s life was his life now, he would just have to get used to it.

“Come on Vegeta, either move, or let me.”

He loosened his grip and his hands twisted in the bedsheets. Bulma moved, her hips setting a steady rhythm. Vegeta squirmed and trembled before he came, eyes fluttering and biting the left edge of his lip. It was embarrassingly quick, but Ginyu said nothing.

Bulma’s body didn’t fall pregnant that time. Nor the next, Where Vegeta had been above her, moving slowly and trying not to finish so quickly, failing and then using his fingers until Ginyu had come several times, giggling and overstimulated and peppered kisses over Vegeta’s face.

Ginyu thought maybe there next night would lead to impregnation, where they hadn’t left her bed for nearly a whole day.

But after checking dates and times, Ginyu was certain that he’d gotten pregnant when Vegeta had pinned him against the wall off the Gravity Chamber.

Ginyu had heard that human pregnancy could be a little rough, but he’d been hit like a tonne of bricks. Morning sickness, food aversions, moodswings that had everyone, even the cat, avoiding her for days.

Vegeta’s reaction to her pregnancy had been confusing. He’d spent the night gently tracing his fingers over her stomach, and after a lot of silence and stilted stares, he had been honest with Him.

“I don’t know how to be a father. Saiyans were never all that close to their children. I don't know if that was normal or something that happened after the gestation tanks were implemented, but we aren't as soft with our children. This child will be half human. You need to understand that I-”

“I’m not expecting you to settle down and become the perfect parent. Heck, I don’t even expect you to acknowledge the kid. I slept with an alien without protection. I’d be a moron to expect human behavior from you.” Ginyu crossed her arms over her chest. “But I reserve the right to yell at you. Like, alot.”

This comment had gotten him a kiss and a smile and three weeks later Vegate had left the planet with the promise to return before the android arrived.

Everything had been a blur after that. The pregnancy was hell on Ginyu mental health. Though the Ginyu Force had birth and childcare options for its members. Ginyu had never thought he would use them. Not that he could. And even if the idea of children had crossed his mind before, he hadn’t planned on being the one who would carry them.

And yet he did. He went through 8 months of pregnancy, and then a hellish and traumatizing birth, he had held the child in his arms. Tiny and grouchy and screaming and tailed and just perfect. Ginyu hadn’t wanted to mutilate the boy, but living on a planet that had a full moon every month was a risk he couldn't take.

The androids and Cell and the death of Goku had left Ginyu exhausted and confused.

And Vegeta had left him flummoxed.

For a year the Saiyan hadn’t been himself, had been listless and barely left his room except to train and disappear for days at a time.

Eventually Ginyu had had enough and asked his-Bulma’s mother to babysit whilst he followed the Saiyan out into the Wastelands.

Only he wasn’t in the Wastelands. He was on a Mountain, on the edge of a desert.

She’d sat down next to him and said nothing. Ginyu sat with him and wondered why the hell he was there. He shouldn’t care about this moron of a monkey, but the past year left a dull ache in him. As much of a jackass Vegeta was, he had become a Jackass Ginyu cared for.

He said nothing. Not a word until the Half moon emerged from behind the clouds.

“I can’t get used to this planet's sky.”

Ginyu looked up at the sky in question. Glittering stars, a half moon shone and the inky blackness of space. If he looked to the east, he could point out the vague area of his home world.

“It's too blue. I’ve been to so many planets, and blue isn’t a color I’ve seen often. It's always yellows and purples and greens and, and reds.” Vegeta explained, “Vegetasei had a red sky. Mostly desert with forests in the Poles. I never visited those forests, there was never time. I was expected to be learning and training and readying myself for my future.”

“Ruling as king?” Ginyu asked.

“I wish. I was taught how to placate and constrain myself. I was taught the history of the Kold Empired and told what I could and couldn’t get away with. I spent the first six years of my life being called a savior, a hostage or a pet. I don’t really know which one I was.” he lay back on the ground, “My whole life I’ve had two many goals. Stay alive and Get strong enough to Kill Frieza. Then it was stronger than Kakarot. And now….”

“Is it stronger than Gohan? You can try but I think ChiChi would have something to say about you fighting her kid.”

“Ha. I’m not going after Gohan. That boy is a pressurized bottle of repression and anger that I am not touching with a 100 foot pole.” He looked at Giny-at Bulma and sighed. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now. I’m the last pure blood Saiyan. Even if I could bring them back, who would I start with? Raditz was broken. He came to earth hoping for a connection to his family, his home, and instead found a stranger who wanted him dead for suggesting something that all Saiyans are supposed to do. Nappa was…a good second. But he liked his job too much. He got his back broken making dumb decisions. Dumber than Kakarot’s. Plus he wanted to rebuild our people. Do you know what he said upon discovering how strong Kakarot’s brat was? He wanted to come here and ‘spawn a flock of children’ . I told him that it wouldn’t be a good idea to have a bunch of brats running around that could overpower us.”

“Well, technically you did just that.” Ginyu leaned back on his hands. The soil was damp under his palms, “Your worried Trunks will grow stronger than you.”

“I would hope he does. It wouldn’t do for my Heir to be weak.”

“Do you think he would have done it? If you hadn’t said no?”

“Maybe. Nappa had been planning on settling down after we returned to Vegeta-sei, but it was destroyed before he could. I have no clue if he would have been a good father, but I know that the idea of reviving the Saiyan race, even with half breeds, would have been something he was interested in.”

“Why didn’t Raditz do that?”

“He was broken. He was strong by Saiyan standards, but one of the weakest in Frieza’s employ. Getting stronger wasn’t something he was allowed to do without permission, and he got sent on a lot of solo missions. The last time I saw him we were on a planet with four moons and a strong species. He convinced me to allow him to go find his brother and bring him back. Said it would be good to have an extra great ape around. I agreed. Then he died.” There was something in Vegeta’s eyes then.

“You're not saying everything.”

“Raditz should have been able to kill Kakarot and Piccolo easily. I sometimes think he let himself be killed.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. If that's what he wanted then so be it.”

Ginyu stared up at the sky, “Do you remember where your home was?”

“No.”

Ginyu remembered the day Vegeta-sei had been destroyed. He had thought it a waste, but if Frieza believed it important, then it must have been. Even if King Cold had called in premature.

Ginyu saw now that it was. But Frieza had proven that he didn’t think long term. For all his power, the man had been…impulsive.

Ginyu saw a lot of things at that moment. The future ahead of him was set. He had a life, a child, and turning to look at Vegeta he had a possible partner. He just needed to make a real choice.

“This could be your home. I know you said you couldn’t be the perfect human father, or even partner, but I think you could do a good job just being you.”

Vegeta looked at him a moment, and then he burst out laughing. “You are ridiculous.”

“Think you can live with that.”

Vegeta sat up and pressed his forehead to hers, “I think I can.”

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Vegeta was not the perfect father or lover by human standards, but by alien? He did pretty good. He stopped moping, and as Trunks grew began training the boy. He was affectionate in his own way, and it was strange to see.

Goku’s second child came into the world, and once big enough Trunks had found his best friend. Krillin ended up marrying the android, who was technically a cyborg, who had come to her scared and nervous after learning she was pregnant. What followed was nine months of nerve wracking fear as they worried about whether her half cybernetic body could bring the child to term. She could, and a sweet little blonde girl had been born.

Life moved one.

The Gohan had come to him for help with his Saiyaman costume, and he’d watched the boy pose and prance and joy had sprung in Ginyu’s heart. Obviously his team had inspired the boy when he had been young. Oh it had warmed his heart to see.

Until Vegeta had seen it and said, “That boy needs help. Copying that Ginyu Force crap has to be some kind of Trauma response.”

“What do you know about trauma responses?” Ginyu had sniffed, covering his anger.

“I had to watch them do that every time they showed up. Do you have any idea how annoying it got to have to wait 20 minutes to start a meeting because they had to do a routine? Cold found it fun, but I certainly didn’t.”

“Oh, Old King Cold Like that kind of stuff huh. Must have been a man of taste.”

Vegeta snorted, thinking she was joking, “He was a man of something. I think he just liked watching muscled men in varying degrees of skimpy clothes flouncing and bending.”

Ginyu was about to say something, but it made sense. All of it suddenly made sense. When he’d first started the routines it had been a team and confidence building exercise. Mostly done before missions. Then Cold had shown up one day and seen it and, and….

Ginyu went to his lab and didn’t come out for several hours.

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The return of Goku and the Marjin Buu chaos, and Ginyu never, ever wanted to let his family out of his sight again. But life didn’t care what he wanted. For a few years things were quiet, but more craziness came. He’d thought he’d be screwed once he got to the afterlife, but it turned out no one cared if a oils belonged in the right body, just so long as it got processed. And in the chaos of a whole planet dying no one was looking too closely anyway.

Gods of destruction, the return of Frieza not once, but twice.

And Bulla, small and precious Bulla, whose middle name was Escalot because Vegeta threatened to divorce her if she didn’t allow it. Ginyu had to admit, it had been a little bit selfish to name her the way he had, but dammit he didn’t want his little girl named after a vegetable.

And now, he sat and stared at the message on his computer screen, ice filling his veins.

Bulma Briefs was alive and well and waiting for him.

Chapter Text

The shuttle was a simple model, but had been given up grades. Ginyu would love a chance to examine the ship, but he had bigger problems on his mind

Like the reptilian humanoid stood waiting for him.

"Come with me." He said and stepped into the ship.

Ginyu followed, taking a seat and strapping himself in. It was strange traveling by a standard galactic ship again.

"How far are we traveling?"

"Not far Captain Ginyu."

It was strange being addressed by his real name. He'd been Bulma for so long it felt wrong. But it might be something he would have to get used to again.

They traveled for less than 20 minutes, and then met a ship that seemed both brand new and 100 years old at once. They docked and disembarked, and Ginyu was led down a corridor to an office with a viewing port.

"Here is the guest Miss Briefs."

"Thank you Plinka."

He left, and Ginyu saw that the room was half tank. Inside sat a frog, a lighter green than it had been and slow moving, but still a Frog..

"I know, I'm old looking. But I'm not quite ready to give up the organic for the cybernetic just yet. And I think with your help I won't have to." The voice came from an unseen speaker, and sounded similar enough to Young Bulma that it must have been tweaked and personalized over the years.

"I don't think taking back your own body would be as easy as you'd think Miss Briefs." Ginyu said, "I have-"

"You have usurped my life and built your own. I'm not gonna lie, it's a nice life. Strong, handsome trophy husband, gorgeous kids and you've done pretty damn good enhancing the Capsule Corporation. But it's still not yours."

Ginyu could feel panic rising in him.

"But lucky for you, it's not mine either."

"I'm sorry, can you explain that a little." Ginyu asked.

The frog wiggled and got more comfortable. "You've built a nice life. But it's not mine. As much as I would love to see you destroyed, I can't hurt my family like that. My parents think you’re their daughter. How would they react to knowing that for 20 years they'd been tricked? And poor Vegeta." The frog rested its head on its front feet. "All that hard work to be a better person, to be a good parent and good husband and it's all lies. How do you think he would react to Ginyu? Would he kill you? Would he leave? Just take the kids and vanish into space. Or, maybe he'd go off the deep end. Finally become the tyrant and monster so many believe him to be.”

“So why are you here?” Ginyu asked, “To taught me? For money?“

“Neither. I want a DNA sample and a wish.”

“The wish I get, but why would you need DNA?“

“To clone myself. You give me a few eggs and some DNA, and I'll create myself a new body. Then we use a wish to put me into it.”

“You can do that? “

“Yes. I can give you a drug that will have you producing extra eggs. Then we'll harvest them using your own DNA and I will have a new form.”

Ginyu had to admit it was a smart move. “The dragon balls are going to need another four months to reactivate, how long will it take you to grow that body?”

“With my equipment for about 3 months. Plenty of time to ensure it's healthy. Bearing in mind it will take a few weeks for the drugs I give you to work.”

“How do I know this isn't some lie? “

“You don't really have a choice here. There's a big chance those morons I called friends will blast you into dust if they discovered your secret. Though it isn't just as likely they call me a liar and turn me into atoms.”

Ginyu thought about it for a moment. “You’ll leave after? You won’t come back?”

“I can’t make promises, but I’ll keep my mouth shut about your little invasion of the body snatchers game.”

Ginyu stared at the frog and nodded, "Okay then. When do we start?"

"I can give you the injections to take with you. It won't be pleasant but you can play it off as 'womanly issues. You old enough for the menopause, so-"

"I am not. I'm very much young enough to have another child if I wish to." Ginyu snapped, folding his arms over his chest.

Bulma laughed. "Okay, okay, think of something else."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu hid the problem. Cramps and mood swings were easy to hide as normal behavior. The injections were for a vitamin deficiency that was temporary until his diet could be made better. Panchy took this as a challenge and started ensuring she got what she needed. Vegeta also took time out of his training to make sure she sat down for dinner, which made Ginyu's heart flutter a little.

Which brought the awful, tight feeling in his gut that had nothing to do with the injections, and everything to do with guilt and fear.

Everytime Vegeta looked at him, the man saw Bulma Briefs, not Ginyu. His children saw their mother, and Panchy and Boxer saw their daughter. No one suspected, and Ginyu didn’t want them to.

A month later he went for a 'check up' where Bulma sedated her to harvest the eggs, then took a DNA sample before disappearing to a lab to frankenstein herself a body.

Bulma had made a few genetic changes to her genomes. Better eyesight and senses. She slowed her aging and increased her stamina. And then all she had to do was put the embryo into a gestation tank and watched it grow.

She was excited, but refused to allow herself to become obsessed. She checked the clone once a day, and then buried herself in work. She kept contact with Ginyu and updated him on the progress.

One month came, then three, and then the 'birth' happened.

The clone had to be kept unconscious. The risk of the body becoming a person with any kind of life experience was worrisome. So they kept the thing 'dead' and told Ginyu to get ready.

And get ready he did. He began carrying a capsule pack on him at all times, containing an escape kit should Bulma decide to go back on her word. Money, a ship and several trade items were all waiting and ready should he need them.

He started hiding away in his lab, pretending to work on a problem as he felt the anxiety build. By the time the Dragon balls activated, he was a mess.

He spent days collecting the dragon balls, and once he had them he contacted Bulma, who came down and met him in a secluded valley.

Ginyu had ensured no one would know what was happening. The Kids were at school, Vegeta was helping her father collect rock samples on the other side of the globe. Goke was busy helping ChiChi build a wardrobe after the door broke on the last one (thanks to a tiny robot that Ginyu had sent to break it).

Everyone else had jobs and important work. Even Dende was distracted.

So when Ginyu called the Dragon, no one but PoPo noticed, and he didn't pay attention beyond the fact that the wish was benign.

And it was. Ginyu made the wish, and the frog body Bulma had been using fell still. With no mind it could do nothing. Ginyu felt a little bad for the creature, but before he could do anything the frog died, and Bulma Briefs stood up in her body, taking deep breaths and stretching her limbs out.

"Oh wow, wow. This is amazing. Oh god real toes!" Bulma cried, "I have real toes again!" she ran her hands over her body, "Human. I'm human, I'm me!"

"Congratulations. Now what?" Ginyu asked.

"Now? I will eat something that isn't bug based and then go and…who knows, there's so many options. Maybe I’ll finally try Space Dennys.”

Ginyu knew these were her favorite foods. His body had craved them, so he understood the appeal. "Oh, try the space Sausage special. It is amazing.”

"I’ll keep that in mind for when my body can handle complex food.." Bulma explained, "Right. I have a health check and a hot shower waiting for me, so I am gonna head off. Are you gonna use the other wish?"

""Why, do you have another?"

"Yep. Wish it so no one can take this body without my permission."

"Clever." Ginyu said and asked for it. The dragon vanished, and He turned to Bulma, who had called for her drop ship. "Should I expect you again."

"Oh don't worry, I'll call ahead if I need anything else."

Bulma left with her new body, and Bulma went home, and Neither knew of the eyes watching them.

Ginyu had indeed made sure that everyone was off doing something else. Krillin was working as a cop. Yamcha commentating on a sports game. Tien was farming and Gohan was studying bugs.

Studying one particular bug. It is a secluded Valley.

Where moments before a dragon had appeared.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Gohan had seen a lot of weird stuff over the years. He had seen bug men and androids and time travel. His daughter could fly at 6 months and his dad was an alien. His wife liked tuna and ice cream.

But the weirdest thing he had seen was his family's lifelong friend bringing life to a clone of herself before said clone flew off after strawberries and a shower, whilst she had headed home.

His head spun and he decided he could only do one thing.

He would catch a bug.

He did, and then took it home where he said hi to Piccolo and kissed his wife and played with Pan before he meditated and then settled into his office to do some reading.

Which was when he started to freak out.

Bulma Briefs was a smart woman. She was always ten steps ahead of everyone. And sometimes those steps looked batshit insane. This whole thing could be some hairbrained scheme to trick some bad guy. Or she could be testing some cool new tech that allows you to relive your youth. Or...Oh god. Several of her past wishes had been about her aging. Maybe the body she had created was a test run to-

But that didn't explain the frog. The frog that looks oddly familiar.

So Gohan left his house and traveled to the spot where Bulma had been, and searched around. The frog was gone, but there were tracks. And tracks led to a half eaten body of a frog.

“Any reason you are poking a dead frog?”

Goghan yelped and jumped a mile, “Piccolo, Kami you scared the crap out of me.”

“You left the house in a rush and didn’t even glance at me as I followed, I figured something was up. Didn’t realize it was a dead animal.”

=Oh, I used to have one of those as a pet.= Nail thought

-Not now Nail.-

“Ur, It might be more than that to be honest. But I did bring my specimen kit. Do you have a handkerchief or something?”

“No.” Piccolo said, but pointed at the dead thing and a scarf appeared, way too big for the animals size and for one confusing second Gohan wondered why Piccolo wanted to dress a dead frog, then realized it was so he could carry the damn thing.

“Thank you piccolo.”

“So why are you out here looking at a frog?”

“Bulma was out here and, look I’ll explain as we fly okay?”

The flight home was quick and confusing, both of them now curious, and a little worried, about what Bulma had planned.

Gohan took samples and used his slides. The frog tissue was strange, but familiar somehow. His computer searched for anything similar in their catalog, and after what seemed like an eternity, found a match.

Piccolo stared at the computer screen and tilted his head, confused. “Why is there a namekian frog on Earth?”

“I don’t know. But the last time I saw one was when Dad was trying to get his body back from Ginyu.”

“You don’t think it was him do you.”

“Piccolo, I could say it's a coincidence but when is this stuff ever a coincidence?”

Thinking about it, the green man frowned, “Crap baskets.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“What had gotten into you?” Vegeta asked and ran his hand along his wife’s back. He’d been about to go change for training when Bulma had asked for a moment of his time, and the next thing he’d known he was flat on his back and the buttons of his shirt were flying in every direction.

She had then given them both carpet burns by screwing on the floor.

“Pretty certain it was you.” After all this time, after just finished making love, Vegeta still got flustered over a little innuendo. “I just, really really needed you.”

A soft look came to Vegeta’s face and he shook his head, “You know you’ve completely wasted a day of training.”

Ginyu tried to stop the smile that tried to form on his lips, “Oh I haven't. There's still plenty of hours in the day.”

“Nope, No there isn’t.” Vegeta leaned over and planted a kiss on her shoulder, “No point in getting back up with it being so late in the day.” Another kiss, and Vegeta’s got an embarrassed look on his face, as though the act of being playful was something shockingly vulgar.

God Ginyu loved this awful, wonderful, annoyingly complicated man.

Chapter Text

“Why would Bulma give him a body that looks like her though?”

“I don’t know. Bulma does all kinds of weird stuff. Remember when she spent three months wearing that ridiculous crinkle jacket and it turned out to be research for a new insulating material? Or that barbeque we went to wear everything was spheres? I mean, they were delicious spheres but it looked crazy, but it turned out to be a ration pack idea.” Gohan said. “Maybe it wasn’t even Ginyu. Maybe a few Namekian frogs got teleported to earth during the evacuation and managed to reproduce here. Maybe a bird of prey nabbed it and took it to that particular spot to eat?”

“But that wouldn’t explain the flashing lights you said it emitted when the swap happened.” Piccolo pointed out.”

Nail piped up, =That must have looked so cool=

~Oh, it probably was. The dragon can make some really cool effects when granting wishes~ Kami said and Piccolo ignored them both.

Gohan deflated and sat down heavily next to his friend, “No, no it wouldn’t. God what is she doing? I don’t want to go snooping, but this could be dangerous. Not all of her tests have been well thought out. Krillin nearly lost an eye when she decided to test those IntelliSpecs.”

“Weren’t those just low tech scouters?”

“Yeah, but don’t say that to her. She said they were the next step from Cell phone and Corp watches.”

Piccolo thought hard, trying to figure out what the heck the woman could be doing. There had been a lot of jokes about her vanity of late, and her trying to remain young looking. Maybe this was part of it. Maybe she was testing out new bodies to replace her own. If she did and it worked, she may have unlocked the key to immortality. But you couldn’t make the same wish twice, so switching bodies via dragon was a short term solution. Unless the plan was to create a body that didn’t age, and then transfer into it.

“Whatever she's doing, I really hope she’s being careful. I don’t think she has any more chances at revival.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The warm water had felt amazing, and the first meal (thought bland) had nearly made her cry. The medical tests stated she was healthy and stable, and now all she had to do was rest and get used to being a human again.

Plinka had laughed when he’d seen her, jokingly asking why she'd want such an ugly mug, whilst the rest of her crew staired in surprise. But there were problems. She nearly had an accident because her body didn’t quite understand certain signals yet, which was embarrassing but was quickly fixed. Her stomach would get used to complex food, and she would be allowed her first, real strawberry by the end of the week.

She stared at herself in the mirror and smiled. Her face. Not a frog or a robot, but her’s. God she was so happy.

But now she saw it she began to think on what she would do next.

Bulma had spent decades planning what she would do when she got her body back, but now she did, she wasn’t sure. Going home was not possible, not without ruining lives. Then Again, was it fair to let them live in ignorance? Or was she just thinking that as an excuse to go back on her word.

When she had been stuck a a frog she had forced herself not to fantasize about what she would do when she was human again. But now she was human, and she had the universe ahead of her.

She had meant it when she'd said she didn't want to be stuck on Earth, but she wanted to see her family. She wanted to meet Gohan' child and see how he had grown. She wanted to find out what kind of a guy Piccolo was. Was Tien still as standoffish and Roshi still a perv? Was Puar still the weird little sweetheart she remembered? Was Goku still that wild, kind boy she remembered?

She even wanted to get to know her 'kids'. She couldn't be their Mom, Ginyu was that, but she could be the cool Aunt that took them on adventures and snuck them candy before dinner.

Now that she really thought about it, she regretted saying she wouldn’t tell anyone.

But...

But if they figured it out for themselves, well, she wouldn't be telling them, would she. And she did this the right way, no one would get hurt. Well, not much anyway.

Oh yes. Bulma knew she could have everything she wanted and then some.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

There were no longer any ships in orbit. Ginyu had been scanning for them, but the original Bulma had gone. He relaxed a little, sipping at his coffee and relaxing for the first time in months.

He finished up his current project. If he worked hard and didn’t get distracted, he could have them finished within a few months, and then reveal them over the next year or two so that the investors and board would be happy whilst he concentrated on other things.

Ginyu needed a plan for if everything fell apart. A better plan than just taking an emergency capsule and running.

He wasn't going to lose what he had. He wasn't going to lose his family.

Ginyu knew exactly what he needed to do.

For a few years he had toyed with the idea of Ki suppressing tech. It was supposed to be used for emergencies and enemies, but he'd never actually gotten around to making it. And even if he did, who would he test it on without arousing suspicion? He also had several prototype aerosoles designed to get people out without the use of needles or darts.

All would be needed should his life in this world be disrupted.

"Hey Mom?"

Ginyu jolted from his thoughts and turned to the doorway, where Trunks was standing. He'd grown so much in the past few years. Nearly taller than her, and constantly pushing boundaries. Growing up.

"What's up honey?"

"Grandma said it's lunchtime, and Dad ordered me to come and get you."

Ginyu laughed and shook his head. "I'm glad I don't have to take those vitamins anymore. You guys are getting militant about it."

Tunks snorted. "Yeah, because eating a good healthy meal once a day is such a chore."

"Cheek." Ginyu said and stood, shutting down his computer and walking with his son. "How has your day been?"

"Pretty good. Dad's glad I can do regular training instead of the restricted schedule."

Ginyu had hated having to level that punishment against her son, but ChiChi had been insistent and others had agreed that was what the human parent should want, so he had agreed. Honestly he would have preferred sending them off to do community service. With all the threats the earth had faced, banning them from real training was such a dumb thing. Vegeta had given him the silent treatment for nearly a week, and after several months, even ChiChi regretted the decision. Ginyu thought that the woman had thought that denying Goten training would make him more human and start behaving like his brother. Instead he'd become clumsy with his power, tetchy for no reason and so bored he became a nuisance. So the restricted training was allowed once a week for one morning. Alone, no powering up beyond basic levels and it had taken the edge off.

No one outwardly criticized them (except piccolo) and ChiChi certainly wasn't going to admit she was wrong, so the past six months had been a trial Ginyu was not going to repeat.

Ginyu felt bad for her. ChiChi had married a man who had turned out to be an alien that loved to fight. She’d hoped for a hero and family man, and got an adventurer with a bad brain. But it was hard to keep feeling sorry when the woman could be her own worst enemy.

“I never should have agreed with ChiChi. Looking back we let our anger get the better of us.”

“We were dumb though.” Trunks said, not looking her in the eyes.

“Oh, you're very much were, kiddo, but a parent has to know how far to take things when their kids screw up. Though I think next time you screw up your Dad will likely step in before I make a dumb choice.”

“Yeah, but Goten doesn’t have Dad. He has Goku.” Trunks suddenly panicked. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but he’s…he does whatever ChiChi says when she’s mad. And I don’t think that’s good when it comes to Goten.”

Ginyu shook her head. “I think you're old enough to know that most of us agree with you there Trunks. And god knows someone needs to step in.” Ginyu crossed his arms over his chest. “In fact, next time I will step in. The boy is getting old enough that he could start rebelling. And I don’t want to see what ChiChi would do with a normal teenage rebellion.”

Trunks laughed, “What would Goten do? Cut his hair differently? Or…Actualy, she did throw a hell of a tantrum when he cut his hair. And when he took Modern Music theory instead of Classical. An-”

“We could go all day, honey. And I am hungry, so let's eat.”

Lunch was steamed veggies and Fish, and it was as delightful as ever.

“So what are we doing this weekend?” Panchy asked. “The weather says we have storms coming.”

“Aw, I was gonna see if Mai wanted to go out to the park.” Trunks complained.

“Well, you could invite her to watch a movie. All comfortable and cozy as the weather rages outside.” Ginyu said, and Trunks flushed and said nothing.

Bulla just stuffed her face with tomatoes before she pointed to the bowl, “More tomtoes please.”

“Here you go- oh may god did she just use a full sentence.” Ginyu said and stared wide eyed at his daughter.

Trunks laughed and put his fork down, “I mean, sort of? It at least told us what she wanted. Does that count as a full sentence?”

“Yes.” All three of the adults at the table said, and Bula screwed up her little face and repeated. “More Tomtoes pwease.” and she stressed the pwease.

“Oh and so polite. Here you go honey.” Panchy said and put more Tomatoes on her plate.

“Oh god, she is growing up so fast.” Trunks said. “I swear, she will be demanding to train with dad soon. Or heading off to nursery.” his eyes got a little misty then, “Oh god, I'm acting like you guys.”

“Ha, get used to it. You’ll be crying just as hard as me when she heads off for her first day of school, mark my words.”

Vegeta said nothing, just watched his daughter with gentle eyes and Gimyu took the moment to enjoy it. His family was here and safe, and Bulma was gone. He couldn’t be happier.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Four months, a ridiculous amount of money and a lot of backtracking and double, Bulma Briefs was ready to put the plan into action.

She stood beside the bored looking Nemakian, a man who had split from Nemak back before Frieza had destroyed it, and nodded.

He raised his hands and spoke, drawing forth a dragon that wasn’t as strong nor powerful as Earth’s or New Nameks, but good enough to get her what he wanted. And it had better be good for the amount of money she had spent.

The first step of her plan had been completed.

Chapter Text

Dende awoke with a start breathing heavily and staring ahead of himself.

A wish had been made. Not one on earth, but the effects were felt here.

For the first few minutes after waking from his sleep/meditation Dende just lay there and breathed. After several moments he gathered his senses and took a deep breath allowing his mind to settle and-

There was something wrong on the lookout. He got up and he raised out of his quarters and into the main Courtyard to see piccolo collapsed. Mr Popo stood beside him looking slightly confused as the older Namekian withered on the ground.

=What is happening!?!?! = Nail cried, the voice in Piccolo's mind twisting and splitting.

Kami said nothing but his presence was fading and panic gripped Piccolo.

“What happened?“

“I think we're about to have company.” Mr Popo said and took several steps back.

Dende didn't want to, but followed suit silently.

Mr Popo liked that about Dende. Fast learner, kept his mouth closed when needed and kept his mind far more open than the old Kami did. He would teach the old dog some new tricks.

Piccolo’s body seemed to vibrate then, and then blinding light enveloped him before Dende had to shut his eyes to protect them.

When he opened them again, he stared.

Piccolo lay unconscious, body seemingly smaller than it had been. Skinnier.

But what shocked him most were the two very confused looking Namekians.

"Oh, okay, didn't know this could happen."

"NAIL!"

"Oof." Nail found himself with a lapful of happy Dende, whose arms wrapped tightly around him. He returned the hug, and looked over at what should have been an old man. "So, I guess you Kami?"

"For simplicity, I guess." the old guy stared at his hand, then touched his face. "What on earth is going on?"

Dended pulled away from the hug. "I don't know. This was a wish. I Felt iut. But not our Dragon Balls. I will contact Moori and see if who made a wish." Dende Turned to Mr Popo. "Could you please keep an eye on them until I am done."

"Sure." Mr Popo said, "It's more entertaining than watching the flowers grow."

On the floor Piccolo groaned and woke up. "Ow."

"Hello Piccolo." Kami said.

Piccolo froze up and then slowly opened his eyes. "Who are you?"

"You know already."

"KAMI!" Piccolo sat up, "How, what the hell is happening!"

"We have no clue." Nail said, and smiled as Piccolo snapped his head around to look at him. "

He stopped and thought for a minute. "Who the crap made a wish?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Son Chichi screamed a lot. Sometimes she screamed in anger, sometimes she screamed in frustration. She screamed when annoyed and when she wanted to be heard.

Goku and his children knew all of them. He knew which ones were serious and which were not.

This one had Goku and Goten out of bed and rushing to her side so fast you'd think it was instant transmission.

She stood in the bathroom and pointed at the mirror.

Goku worried it was another of those stupidly big spiders that sometimes got into the house. He would take it outside, but he still found them real gross.

There was no spider. What there was was a reflection of himself and his wife. Goten was there too, but it was their reflections that had him frozen.

"Erm....what the hell is wrong with the mirror." he asked, then turned to his wife. "Oh, it's not the mirror."

"Oh wow." Goten siad. "You guys look really young."

They did. Looking down at himself Goku noticed he'd lost muscle mass, and when he looked back at the mirror saw his face was round and softer. He looked at ChiChi and saw her skin flawless, her hair blacker and longer. Slightly skinnier.

"Oh god, what happened!" ChiChi cried, "What are we going to do!" she slid to the ground.

"Goten, go call Bulma and tell her we're coming over. It's an emergency."

Goten nodded and vanished out of the room, andGoku went to his wife and knelt.

"Hey ChiChi, breath. You're gonna turn funny colors."

"How can I? If the neighbors see us there, they're gonna think we're squatters. Or burglars! Or-"

"Or we just say we're family keeping an eye on the farm while there away visiting your Dad. I'm Goku's distant Cousin. Your ChiChi's naive. Gotten is staying with us whilst his folks are away.`` Goku explained, "Who's gonna question it when we look like them?"

ChiChi sniffed and nodded. "Okay, okay that could work."

Goku nodded, then smiled and checked the door before saying, "You know this is a good reminder for me." Goku said, and ChiChi looked confused.

"What?"

"How lucky. I can barely tell the difference from when you went to bed to now. Such a pretty wife."

ChiChi flushed and giggled. "Oh, shush you."

Hisd wife calmed, Goku stood and helped her stand.

They went back to their room and dressed, before heading down to the kitchen where ChiChi whipped up eggs and left overs whilst Goten continued talking on the phone.

Eventually he hung up and said, "Bulma’s in the same boat. She said her and Vegeta woke up missing a couple of years."

"Oh no. This isn't good." ChiChi said and sat down, "But what did this do? The Dragon Balls are inactive, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Unless they used the ones on New Namek." Goku said and shoveled more eggs in his mouth. "Only why..." he put his fork down and paled a little. "I'm gonna need to power up."

"ChiChi scowled, folding her arms, "Training, at a time like this?"

"Chi, they may not have just made us young, They might have sent our power levels back as well."

"And why would that be...oh god." ChiChi suddenly realized what he meant. "Go check. I'll pack extra food and we'll head over once you know."

Goten looked confused as his Dad went outside and then helped her pack the food away.

"Why was Dad worried?" Goten asked,

ChiChi answered curtly. "Because if he looks that young, then he only has the powers he had then. And that could be very bad."

Goten gulped and focused on his Dad. After several minutes he felt relief as his power skyrocketed. It wavered, then increased before it settled. Then it lowered until it vanished before his Dad appeared behind them.

"Okay,so we still have our Ki levels." he said, panting, though we're gonna need to rest more after using them. My body feels like jello."

"You bodies are not used to the higher levels. Maybe wait to try again until we know what's happening." ChiChi said and shoved a plate at Goku, "Eat, then we'll go."

Goku nodded and sat back down.

Goten then perked up, "Oh, I nearly forgot, Bulma said we needed to do something when we get there."

"And what's that?" ChiChi asked.

"Don't laugh at Mr Vegeta."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu laughed at Vegeta. He couldn't help himself.

Vegeta was tiny.

When he had first come to Earth he had been small. Between his less than stellar life under Frieza and genetics, he'd had a slower growth cycle than most Saiyans. Even now he wasn't the tallest. His boots had lifts in order to make him taller than Bulma's body, because he'd gotten sick of the tabloids calling him tiny and short. In space no one cared about height, but being on earth had given him a complex.

Ginyu had to spend several minutes apologizing to him, and making several promises to get him to agree to leave their room.

Honestly thought, the laugh had been good.

Waking up missing a few decades was not good. Ginyu had a business to run, the paparazzi were everywhere and she had a child who didn't understand what secrets were yet. No one took Bulla's babbling about giant cats and angels seriously, but telling her teachers that Mommy and Daddy can't come to the PTA meeting because they looked wrong was going to turn heads.

He wondered if this could be the real Bulma, but why would she want him and Vegeta younger? What purpose was there to have Boxer and Panchy younger again?

And as she made arrangements to have her meetings re-arranged she got panicked messages and phone calls from her friends. Goten called first and explained that his parents were looking weird.

Several text messages arrived from Yamcha and Krillin,along with a stupidly adorable picture of Puar who now looked far more kittenish.

The doorbell rang and a panicked looking Tien stood there with an unchanged Chioatzu.

What the heck happened. Is this Beeerus or-"

"Dunno yet Tien. I'm gonna have Goku take me to The Lookout when he gets here." she said and let the guy in, "Heads up, Vegeta looking a little...different."

Tien shrugged. "Honestly, I do not care. He was a short angry guy when he arrived, and I doubt being a short angry guy again is gonna be much of an issue."

"You know your's is the only planet I've come across over the years that has such an obsession with height?" Vegeta said and came into the room. "Then again this Planet is obsessed with all kinds of weird crap."

"Woke up in a bad mood, huh?"

"Among other things."

Before the two could get into a verbal sparring match, Goku and his family appeared from nowhere.

Ginyu had to spend a second just staring.

"Oh wow." he said.

"Yeah, wow." Goku said. "So Do I take us to the Lookout or do we wait for Dende to come here?"

Bulma thought about it. "You know what, go fetch him here. It'll be easier considering everyone is on their way here."

Goku nodded and vanished and they waited. Goten went off to find Trunks, and the adults went in search of coffee. ChiChi made the concerted effort not to giggle at Vegeta, who was far shorter than her now.

Her biggest shock was in the kitchen, where a handsome, mustachioed man was drinking coffee besides Panchy. It took her a Moment to realize who it was.

"Dr Briefs!" she gasped, “It got you too?"

"I want to say I'm afraid so, but who's gonna complain about this." he gestured to himself and grinned, and Bulma could see where she got her smile from.

Panchy handed out coffee, and they had nearly finished by the time Goku arrived With Dende and Piccolo. And Kami and a Nemakian they didn’t know.

“What the crap!!!!” Ginyu cried, staring at the three. “Kami, you’re here. And you are not wrinkly!”

He laughed and shook his head. “It would appear so.”

“It is good to see you again, Kami.” Tien said. He was happy to see him, but he was also a little unnerved. Young Kaim looked alarmingly like King Piccolo had. Which made sense but didn’t make it any less strange.

"Don't I know you?" Vegete said, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. You threatened to kill me on Nemak before Frieza got me first." Nail said and leaned against the kitchen island. "Don't worry, I don't hold a grudge against the reformed."

Dende then interrupted, "Sorry to push this along, but I spoke to Moori and he said no one used the Dragon balls there."

"So this wasn't a wish?" ChiChi asked.

"Oh, it was. Just not from anyone we know." Dende looked over at Nail, we'll explain once everyone is here. I have much to look into and I would rather not waste time repeating myself to everyone."

"I go get everyone." Goku said, "Krillin and 18 will be here soon, So I'll go get Roshi and Yamcha."

He vanished again, and this time wasn't gone very long. Yamcha arrived with Paur in his arms, and whilst Goku was gone getting Roshi, Krillin and 18 arrived.

18 spotted Vegeta and Ginyu hoped he wouldn't have to talk his husband down from a fight, but luckily Goku returned with a rejuvenated pig man and a young brunette she didn't recognize for a moment.

"Before we start looking for a solution, I just wanna say I am voting to stay like this." Roshi said and pushed a hand through his hair and grinned in a way that could be called charming. "Cos this face is gonna be a hit at the night clubs."

Chapter Text

The three Namekians stood and tried not to watch Bulma.

It was easy for Piccolo. Standing there with his eyes closed thinking was just something Piccolo did. But Kaim was chattier, and Nail was just damned Curious. He’d been stuck as a mental projection for over a decade now, and being in his own body felt great. He could sate his curiosity about things without having to beg Piccolo to do it.

The humans he had lived amongst for so long were happy to answer his questions.

Kami sat on the couch petting Scratch, why was more than happy with the attention.

All three felt like this had something to do with Bulma. They could feel her shock and surprise, but that could just mean she hadn't expected the effect of her plans. They said nothing though. None of them wanted to cause drama unless it was warranted.

On the edge of their senses they picked up three known energies speeding towards them. Reaching out Piccolo sensed his student, and then gently prodded his mind to let him know he was about to speak to him.

-Telepathy? Is something wrong.-Gohan thought to himself.

-No. Well, no one's hurt. Don't say anything about Bulma when you get here. She was shocked enough that this may not be her doing.-

-You think this could be someone else?-

-Possibly. We'll corner her and ask. Hell maybe we'll get answers about her other projects.-

Gohan's carefully schooled mind seemed to shiver, and a swell of anger came and went. Piccolo really needed to have a word with the guy about his anger issues, but now was not the time.

Instead he pulled away from the connection and felt...odd. It was weird just having himself in his head.

He'd had a power downgrade, which was annoying, but he knew he would be able to get it back if he trained. It would be a climb, but he had already attained it, so getting there again should be possible. Not easy, but possible.

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Gohan was pissed.

He looked 20 again. His daughter stared at him with wide confused eyes and he'd had to take a personal day from work to deal with this bull.

Piccolo was right of course, blaming Bulma outright would cause more harm than good, so they would have to get her alone for a moment and ask her if this was her fault. And if it was then Gohan was gonna have a hard time keeping his temper. Though he had to admit, it was kind of nice to think that the big weird thing happening in his life wasn't being caused by his father for once.

"It's so strange." Videl said. "It's like I never carried Pan. This isn't just age regression, this is like a total reset."

She wasn't wrong. Several scars he had gotten in the past few years had vanished. The on on his leg that he'd gotten battling Cell Max. The one on his shoulder that she received whilst fighting Broly. The burn on his hand forms trying to save a pancake from hitting the floor. All gone.

Capsule Corp came into the view and they pulled into the driveway and they got out, quickly getting into the house before anyone could see them.

The main room was full of young, fresh faces that Gohan had only ever seen in pictures. Yamcha still had his scars, but they looked redder. Puar was absolutely adorable. Tien had a rounder face and was not as wide chested. There was a man in red sunglasses he didn’t recognise at first, but the look he gave Videl told him exactly who that lech was.

“Master Roshi!!” Gohan gasped.

“Yep. As spritely and handsome as I ever was.” he said, voice barely recognisable. “Gonna head out later and see if I can’t take advantage of my good looks.”

That got a chuckle from a few people.

It was then that Gohan noticed someone he sort of recognized, but not quite.

“Holy HFIL, is that Kami?” he said and stared. “How!”

“Well, whatever this wants us as we were decades past. And Piccolo and I were not fused then, so here I am.”

Looking about, Gohan spotted Piccolo in the Kitchen, and he had to bite the inside of his lip. He had diminished in size and Gohan managed not to say anything. His daughter on the other hand.

“Why is Mr Piccolo so skinny?”

“I’m not skinny. Just young.”

“Nope, you are definitely skinny.” A voice Gohan didn’t know said, and he followed it to see a Namekian he barely remembered.

“Nail?” he shook his head, “What is going on here.”

“Dende is about to tell us.” Bulma said, and settled onto the arm of a couch.

Dende stood from his seat and took a breath. “I contacted Moori, and he says that Porunga has not been summoned. But someone did use Dragon balls. They just didn’t come from Earth or New Namek.”

“Then where did they come from?”

“It would seem that a few of our Brethren chose to Leave Namek and strike out into the universe. Some of them appear to have the capability to make dragon balls. Moori is going to try and find out who, but it will be difficult considering how big space is.”

“But why? Why go out of your way to do this? It's not done much to make us weaker, and apart from being a nuisance it does not hurt us.” Tien frowned.

Oolong brightened for a second, “Maybe it's someone who wants to fight you in your ‘prime’.”

“Oolong, that stu…actually that sounds like something someone might actually do.” Bulma pondered it for a moment. “But anyone who did that would have to think everyone here was human. And a human wouldn't have access to space Balls.”

“Oh, I think I know!” Yamcha said and Tien was about to tell him to be quiet, but he kept talking. “Maybe they want to make people think we used time travel or something. Beerus said it's pretty much a crime and if someone wants to get us in trouble, they could make us seem like we were messing with time.”

“That might actually be right.” Krillin said, “Or partially. I mean, I’ve seen people try and frame others before. Someone could be doing this to make us look guilty of something. We do have a lot of enemies out there.”

Vegeta came and stood closer to Ginyu, who watched the room with growing anxiety.

Though they didn’t intrude in people's minds, Namekians were capable of telepathy. Piccolo was too shy and closed off to intrude in others minds unless he had too, but Kami and Nail? He didn’t know. He didn’t know and it scarfed him.

“Well, Whis and Beerus will be visiting in a few days, we can ask them if they have any ideas. Or atthe very least, explain that we don’t know what did this.”

“But what about our work and lives? I can’t show up at the station like this!” Krillin said,

Yamcha agreed, “Yeah, I have a commentators gig on thursday. If I’m not there then I could lose my contact.”

Ginyu thought about it for a moment. “I have a project sitting in my lab that I was gonna put into storage, but this is an emergency.”

“What?”

“A wearable holoprojector. I thought it could be useful for actors and such, but Dad pointed out it had too many worrisome applications to go on sale to the public.”

“I know a few government agencies that would love it.” Dr Briefs muttered, but was politely ignored.

“If I program it without older appearances we could use them to go about our normal lives. BUt we’ll have to be really careful.”

ChiChi crossed her arms over herself, “How long do you think we could be like this for?”

“Who knows. I could ask Moori to wish us back.” Dende asked, “But I have a feeling that won’t work.”

The room went silent and Ginyu stood, “Right, I’ll send the order for the bots to start cooking, you guys do whatever whilst I go deal with the holo projectors.”

She left and Vegeta followed.

“So why haven’t you put those projectorson the market? What did your father mean by ‘government agencies’ being interested?”

“Oh, they’d be really interested in a device that would let them gather intel without being seen. Imagine being able to sneak into a meeting because you look like one of the people who is supposed to be there. Or if you wanted to rob a bank, you could pretend to be the security guard or the president of a country or something.” Ginyu stopped in the corridor, “What do you actually wanty Vegeta. You don’t normal follow me like this. And I know your probably desperate to fight Goku in his current form.”

He flushed and looked behind the, “Your far more woorreid than you are letting on Bulma. And that..that worries me.” he said.

Ginyu’s heart melted a little. “Aw, honey. Of course I’m worried. It’s not everyday you wake up like this. And with no idea why, I’m gonna need a few hours to get my bearings.” He wrapped his arms around his husband, “You big softy.”

“Shut up.” he said, but it was muffled into her collar bone. Having him be so much shorter was amusing as hell, and Ginyu certainly planned on taking advantage. Especially the hidden tail beneath his clothes.

Vegeta hid it because he didn't want it being yanked off. He’d missed the damned thing, and he had control of his great ape form so there was no reason he couldn’t keep it beyond the other Z fighters getting antsy.

“Go beat Goku up and I’ll get this stuff sorted out. Then we can really start figuring out what is going on.” Ginyu told him before sending him off. Then he continued to the lab where he dragged the prototypes and began making sure they worked well.

“Hey Bulma, you got a second?”

Ginyu turned around to look at Gohan and Piccolo, and it was so damned weird to see. Piccolo was indeed skinnier than he was the last time he saw him. He wondered if it was youth or something else, and instead pushed thought away in favor of a polite, “Sure, what can I help you with?”

Gohan entered the room with Piccolo, and they shut the door.

“Would you mind telling us why you made a clone?”

Chapter Text

Ginyu felt his blood run cold in his veins. His brain went into overdrive and the panicked words that came out of his mouth were thoughtless and panicked.

“We can't talk about that here. Let me get these hollow projectors fixed up my promise I will give you answers but not here.”

Gohan was taken aback by the dourness in her words and looked over at piccolo. They seem to have a silent conversation before Piccolo looked over with a distrustful look and said “We want An explanation by the end of the day Bulma. Because if this has something to do with you then I really want answers.

“And I'll give them to you guys, I promise.” Ginyu could feel the distrust coming off of them In Waves. He knew that if he didn't have good answers by the time he was done with the holo projectors he was going to be in major trouble. But he also had no fucking clue what he was supposed to say to them.

They didn't leave the room. Instead they picked the corner and watched as he tinkered with the devices until they were working again. He then went into his computer and found the files necessary to give his friends the disguises they needed. He didn't explain to either of them why she had 3D models of them in her computer. Ginyu honestly thought that they might notice the extra key Strokes he was typing that were sending emergency protocols into action.

He prayed to whatever gods could be listening that they gave him just a little bit more luck. He knew he'd had far more than he deserved but he was going to need more if he was going to come out of this situation with his life intact.

Across the room Gohan had a bad feeling. Something felt off about this situation. Something he couldn't put his finger on. Piccolo was standing and staring at Bulma, his face impassive and unreadable to most people but an open book to Gohan. He was obviously trying incredibly hard not to invade bombs privacy by reading her thoughts but wondered if maybe, just maybe this time, they should forgo politeness in order to get answers. But he also knew if this turned out to be something as simple as a pet project gone out of control Bulma would never trust them with her mental privacy again. It was a sort of unwritten rule amongst them that they didn't use their abilities on each other without good cause. And he did not want to break that rule for no good reason.

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18 couldn’t stop looking at her husband.

After he had ‘retired’ for a short period of time, he’d lost muscle mass, and she hadn’t minded. She loved him, not his body. But when he had taken up training again, the muscle hadn’t come back as thick or strong as it had. Maybe it was age, or the fact he was far stronger now.

But looking at him now reminded her of when they met. Thick, strong and defined muscles. What few wrinkles he’d had were gone, and the grey that had been creeping into his hair vanished.

“18 dear, maybe you find something else to stare at for a while.” ChiChi said, a soft smile on her face.

“Huh? What?” 18 gathered herself and schooled her feature, “What are you on about.”

ChiChi shook her head and stifled a laugh, “You were about to start drooling, get it together.”

She managed to hide her blush. “I have no idea what you mean.”

“Oh come on, don’t lie. You think I haven’t been distracted by Goku. I’d forgotten how handsome he was as a young man. Not that he isn’t handsome as a middle aged man but…” she trailed off and looked at her own husband, who was laughing with Yamcha, “Well, they all happen to be quite good looking.”

18 had to admit, the men in their lives were pretty to look at. Even Piccolo, with his reduced size and ganglyness, had an odd cuteness to him. She wondered how long it would last.

A smirk came to her lips as she saw Vegeta show up, his diminished size just hysterical. He was so damn tiny. She was about to say something to CHiChi, but noticed a sadness in her eyes.

“What's wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I just hate being reminded of what a bad state Vegeta came to this planet in.”

“What?” she looked over at him, head tilting, “Didn’t he show up the biggest threat this planet had ever seen. Barely defeatable? Handed everyone their asses?”

ChiChi suddenly balked, “Oh, I wasn’t supposed to let that slip.” she said, and turned from the men to go back to her seat, “Ignore me.”

18 didn’t, “Oh no. I smell something juicy. Spill.”

ChiChi looked over at the men and then sighed in defeat, “This goes no further 18. I’m serious.”

“Have I ever broken the gossip trust?”

She hadn’t, and ChiChi knew this. They loved gossip, who didn’t but when 18 was told to stay quiet, she did.

“Cross the weird pump thing that replaced my heart.”

ChiChi lowered her voice and explained, “He had a lot wrong with him when he finally settled on earth. Regular battle injuries and such, but he also had a lot of scarring and bone breaks that hadn’t healed right. Freeza wouldn’t allow his men to ‘lounge’ in the healing pods, so they were pulled out when they were healed enough. It’s why Vegeta has that shoulder Problem. Apparently the limb was nearly ripped off, but never fully healed right. Not to mention his weird nutritional health.”

“Weird? How so?”

“Well, according to Bulma’s father’s tests, his body had everything it needed to survive. All the right nutrients, all the right acids and such, but he was still undernourished. HFIL, it was the same when they autopsied Raditz. His body had everything it needed to keep fighting, but not enough to thrive. Not to mention their weird biology when it comes to power. Raditz had a lower power level, so his body didn’t have to funnel nutrients from his muscle and body growth to power it. Vegeta’s did. Once they got him on a good diet, Vegeta shot right up. He’s not the tallest of men at full height but at least it's better than that.”

18 looked over at the man and suddenly felt a little guilty. She’d known that life under Freeza wasn’t good, but she had thought that he’d at least kept his men fed. Well, technically he had but-

An uncomfortable memory tried to resurface then, of a rumbling belly and a small bowl, and a woman whose eyes were full of pity as a man said that ‘they only need one ladle full. Don’t spoil them’

She shook her head and looked over at her husband, who was grinning up at his friends and thought of the home they had and calmed herself.

“You know, I might try and take advantage of this. Drag Goku on a real Date or something.”

18 smiled, “You guys didn’t date?”

“You know we didn’t.” ChiChi said.

“No I don’t In Fact besides the fact you showed up at the tournament demanding he keep some promise I don’t think I ever heard how you guys met.”

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Bulma Brief may have made a small mistake. Maybe.

The plan had been simple.
1 - De age her friends and let them figure out the wish wasn’t from Earth or New Namek.
2 - Leave breadcrumbs of knowledge until they find her.
3 - Convince them not to kill Ginyu and embrace the weird and wonderful little life they had.
4 - Bask in the attention and regain the affections of her loved ones.

What she hadn’t realized was that leaving those breadcrumbs would be harder than she thought.

The Nemakian she had employed for her wish was trying to go back on his word about giving a message to Moori. Apparently he was worried that they would come for him and drag him back home, and he very much did not want that.

She couldn’t blame him. Much like herself he had come to appreciate the delights of the galaxy and didn’t wish to give them up.

“What can I give you? Protection? Money? Come On Zella, give me an idea here.”

He shook his head, “Most of your ment are mid powered. Our warriors could easily take them out.”

“I don’t suppose I can point out that this contract is binding, and you are risking a lot by saying no.”

“I know. But I can’t take the risk, not with-” he sighed, and touched his chest, “I’m with egg right now. I’m going to spit it up soon and I cannot risk my child being taken from me. I thought I was willing to risk it but I’m not. ”

Bulma was taken aback by that. “Oh, well first of all, congrats. Second, why don’t you move to earth? Strong defenders, there's another Namekian who doesn’t follow the rules and plenty of fresh water and green spaces to raise a kid. I’ll even take you there.”

Zella looked at her with distrust. “Earth? Really?”

“Hey, I was raised there.”

“I need to think about it.”

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The Holoprojecters were done and Ginyu had no more excuses. Her handed them out to be tested and gave his friend these rules before taking them into the public.

And then he had to answer to Gohan and Piccolo.

They let her grab a coffee before they demanded the promised answers, and Ginyu began to lie.

“I want to try and give us more warning of threats out there.”

“And you made a clone because?”

“Because I wanted to make sure that we had the best out there. And who is the best we have when it comes to intelligence?” he puffed out his chest and hoped the false bravado would help.

“So why did you need a frog?”

“Because the Dragon can’t create life from nothing.” Ginyu thought hard, “So I figured if animals could evolve into human-like hybrids then the Animal souls have the potential to hold human intelligence. So I had the frog soul migrate to give the clone its own life.”

“I don’t have any idea how that is supposed to work. Kami Bulma, what exactly did you wish for?”

“Weren’t you there?” Ginyu asked.

Gohan rubbed the back of his head, suddenly looking far more like Goku, “Ur, I saw you whilst I was researching a bug. I wasn’t paying much attention to the wishes because I was confused as to what you were doing.”

Piccolo rolled his eyes, “Just tell us what you wished for.”

“I wished to combine the soul of the frog safely with my Mind in order to create an intelligent being. Then I wished it into the body.”

“And when did you successfully manage human cloning?” Gohan asked.

“When I realized that if I threw in a few extra genes and chromosomes I could safely bypass some of the problems we’ve been having.”

“And will it live? Or are you playing god?”

“She will live.” Ginyu pretended to be offended. “I’m no Dr Gero, I am not going to hurt an innocent being for an experiment. Even the frog I used was on its last legs, so I extended its life.”

Piccolo shook his head, “This is a dangerous game you're playing Bulma. We don’t exactly have a good history with artificial life forms.”

“Ones other people made. Once she gets back here, I’ll absorb the memories and she can go about her life however she wants to.” Ginyu sighed, “Look, just keep this quiet for a few days. She’ll be sending me a report and we can go over it ourselves. If what she’s sending us is useless then we’ll recall her.”

“What did you send her out there to do, exactly.”

“Well, we can’t just take Jacos word for everything, especially since his loyalty is to the patrol. And we can’t really trust what Whis and Beerus tell us.”

“Why not?” Gohan asked.

Ginyu didn’t know how to answer but luckily Piccolo did.

“Obviously they have their own agendas, Gohan. I mean, how many times have we had to find out crap they already knew second hand? They cannot tell us some stuff, so we have to try and learn it ourselves,and as annoyed as I am at Bulma, she has a good point.”

“Just trust me, okay. I promise you, everything will be okay.”

“Okay. But I mean it when I say that if this is related to our current conditions, we are going to be forming some kind of review system for your future plans. We can't have these kinds of weird things happening all the time. I’ve nearly used up all my personal days at work.” Gohan said.

Ginyu nodded, “I can agree with that.”

He sat down and sighed, the weight of the day hitting him. Then Ginyu looked up as Gihan giggled.

“What's so funny?”

“Oh, we were going crazy trying to figure out what was going on. At one point we actually thought that weirdo Captain Ginyu was involved.”

Ginyu sat and managed to smile normally, then shake his head and said, “Seriously? I envy your imagination Gohan.”

Inside he was screaming.

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Krillin and once told 18 that he had a hard time liking ChiChi at times. 18 had always shrugged it off as being the fact she was loud and kind of crazy at times, but considering her life she couldn’t blame the woman.

After hearing how she and Goku had wound up Married, she got it.

Holy HFIL did she get it now.

“Why did no one contact social services!” she hissed under her breath at her husband.

“She wasn’t hurting Gohan and-”

“Not for him, I mean for Goku!”

Krillin looked at her and then at the floor, “I wanted to. But we figured that ChiChi would leave once she realized what she was getting into. Goku would vanish for years at a time, so I assumed that when we didn’t see him it was because he was off training. The first I knew that they were still wed was when he showed up with Gohan before Raditz rocked up."He looked over at his friend, “Shit hit the fan and it was kind of too late. Trying to convince them both that its time to call it quits won’t work.”

“You’ve tried?”

Krillin nodded. “I’ll explain later. Right now we should go and see what the plan is.”

The plan turned out to be to go home and just get on with things. The holo projectors would let them go to work and not be seen any differently and They would all do their part to find out what the crap happened.

Chapter Text

“Somethings going to happen. “Baba said, sipping at her tea as she tried to get comfortable on the sand.

She hadn’t wanted to come and visit her brother, but she needed someone to listen to her. No one else would take ‘a really bad feeling’ as proper fortune telling. Even though every time Baba had had those really bad feelings something really bad had happened. Okay, so there had been a few incidents where she’d caused panic for something small. But it was still bad! Just because it had been small scale and not huge didn’t mean it didn’t deserve attention. It wasn’t Baba's fault that she’d called in all of the Z warriors for a kitchen fire.

Only Roshi wasn’t i. But she had a phone and Turtle for company.

“Well, maybe you can try and focus on a small detail, and see if it gives you a clue to what the big problem is.” The sea reptile asked, “Maybe then people will listen.”

“They should be listening anyway. If it turns out to be something the humans can deal with then great, but I’d rather that we had people ready for hell that were caught off guard!”

“Quit you fear mongering Sis. We’re always in danger, just enjoy life.”

Baba frowned at the phone as her brother was off doing God knew what. Turtle had been asleep when he’d left so she only knew he was out, and she wasn't going to waste her time using her ball to see where he was.

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Dr Briefs was many things.

An idiot he was not.

It hadn’t taken very long for him to realize Bulma wasn’t Bulma. And once he’d verified that his daughter was alive and well he had done the only thing a man in his position could.

Nothing. Bulma was learning some valuable life experience whilst the imposter was building Cap Corp up to new heights. Dr Briefs loved his daughter, but what kind of Scientist would he be if he let this experiment end. His real daughter would gain valuable insight and knowledge out in space, and should the worst happen, they had the dragon balls to bring her back.

Here on Earth he had a daughter who stayed home and did her job running the business rather than going off to have adventures every five minutes. She'd settled down and, though she'd married an alien, had given him two amazing grandbabies. The genetic information from them would give Cap Corps bludgeoning genetics wing a hell of an advancement. And when real Bulma returned, they'd have all of the information she'd gather from space!

It was win-win for them!

Or it would be so long as whoever was using his Daughter's body as a meat suit didn't take the family down with them.

Vegeta was a wild card, and should he decide wipe them all out. But he'd grown to love his kids, so he may not nuke the planet upon discovering his lady love was someone else. And having someone who once knew how the big bads of the universe worked as a family member was a very big plus. Not to mention his power had saved their asses on more than one occasion. But just in case, it was imperative to give the imposter a little help.

He made a few design adjustments to the Ki suppressors, and streamlined the ships a little better. and he fixed the problem that was naming the ship cloaks flicker out intermittently. If the Imposter went through with his last resort plans, they'd have a lot less to worry about.

He would have to worry about Panchy throwing a tantrum when she found out, and that had a tendency to destabilize her.

But for right now Dr Brief was enjoying his new lease of youth. He ate his favorite breakfast without worrying about heartburn, and spent the morning playing with his grandkids without becoming winded after five minutes. And once Panchy was done with dinner, he had other plans he was looking forward to.

If only people would go home.

The goodbyes had been happening for 10 minutes, and it seemed as though they had finally all left. The Sons had left first as Goku had to deal with farming issues and ChiChi wanted to get a head start on dinner,then Tien had flown off with the odd little doll creature whose name Briefs could never remember. The pervert had left soon after so he could go get ready to party and Cyborg and her husband disappeared shortly after along with Namekians.

The only ones left were Yamcha and Puar because the hologram projector was having trouble with his long hair, as Yamcha decided he was just tying it all back to avoid it causing an issue. He looked odd with his pressed tightly to his scalp, but it solved the problem they could fix later.

Panchy came to him with a smile and told him Dinner was ready, and he nodded and followed her.

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Videl couldn’t help but snigger as she watched Pan animatedly ask all three of the Nemekiens questions, eyes wide as she went from one to another asking questions and being adorable.

“This is so cute.” she said to her husband, who nodded and sipped his tea. “I know right?”

“Piccolo looks so young as well. I never used to believe it when you said he wasn't that much older than us, but now….” Videl suddenly looked a little nervous, “Suddenly encouraging him and Janet doesn’t seem appropriate any more.”

“What? Oh.” Gohan suddenly understood. Janet was nice, but she had ten years on them. It had always seem pretty appropriate

Suddenly all of the aliens present looked up, and then confused, and then Kami picked up Pan and held her close, worried about etching his features.

“What’s happening, what's wrong?” Gohan asked.

“I…I didn't sense him before. Why didn’t we sense him before?”

“Forget sense, why didn’t we see him?”

“He must have run the second he re-emerged.”

Gohan closed his eyes and stretched out his own senses, trying to find what they were panicking about. He felt the neighbors and the people in the city. Brighter sparks of Ki users occasionally flickered as and the beacons that were his fellow Z Fighter blazed.

And finally he found it, flickering and almost beckoning him.

It felt familiar but wrong. It felt…

“Holy HFIL. Is that-”

“My Father.” Piccolo said.

Gohan focused on the Kings of Demons energy and after several moments realized something.

“He’s…kind of weak feeling.”

Nail snickered, “Is he trying to intimidate us? Because if he is…”

Kami bit his lip. “Oh he is gonna be in for a most unwelcome surprise.”

Gohan nearly laughed, but stifled it, “Look, it’s a little low, but he could still cause a lot of damage if we aren’t careful with him. And I don’t feel like having to revive another city or two because he wants to prove his power.”

“Okay, I think I should pay Dad a visit.” Piccolo said and stood. Nail did as well.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The ship had everything Ginyu needed.

A gravity chamber. Enough food supplies to last them 5 years. Decoy ki drones and education material for his kids. Mobile lab supplies and cloning tanks. The bedrooms and medical center were top of the range. And backup packs to ensure they didn’t have to worry about losing any of it.

Ginyu had given himself a week to find out what the hell was going on. One week, and he would leave this planet with his family.

Gohan and Piccolo were too close. Ginyu couldn’t wait for the rug to be pulled from under him, he had to roll it up himself to avoid tripping.

He hadn’t realized how hard he would find leaving. He’d grown fond of the planet and people. He’d grown fond of Bulma’s friends, of her family. He liked the work he did and loved the way the culture. Earth was a surprisingly peaceful world compared to most. It was nice.

Leaving would be hardship, but hopefully he would be able to return one day. And if he couldn’t then he had good memories.

“Momma, up.” Bulla said and Ginyu looked down at his daughter. She picked the girl up and huffed a little.

“And what do you want, you little menace.”

“Momma looks different.”

“Well, I will for a little while.”

“Chubby.” Bulla said and squished her face, giggling.

Ginyu frowned, “Cheeky little thing.” he said and pressed a kiss to his daughters forehead. “You're just as chubby. Chubby chubby chubby.” he said and gently bounced her.

That was something Ginyu hadn’t expected. Young Bulma had had a roundness of face and limb that had been surprising. Not unpleasant, but it had given him a mild worry that Vegeta may find it off putting.

She carried hert daughter through to the living room, where Trunks was doing homework and Vegeta was-

“Why are you wearing that?” Ginyu asked, shocked at what he saw.

“I’m seeing if I can’t get into the old database. My codes don’t work, but the security on these older models was awful.” Vegeta said as his finger deftly manipulated the Scouter on his face. Trunks kept looking over at it with a look of mild curiosity.

“Are you sure you won’t get caught?” Ginyu asked, already knowing that he wouldn’t. He put Bulla down and went to sit next to his Husband,

“The old network is defunct for a reason, Bulma. The only people who use it are searching for information that one can get if. I just don’t want to travel off planet to find a public console.”

It was so strange seeing him like this. It also caused a little tightening within Ginyu that would need to be explored later.

“Anything useful?”

“Nothing. It does talk about rejuvenation serums, but they're all illegal and hard to get hold of. Not to mention they don’t actually do much more than reduce wrinkles. You can do that with a good moisturizer.”

That got him a look off his spouse and son.

“What? I have to listen to you complain about your skin routine every night. You pick stuff up.”

Trunks looked down at his homework and checked it, before closing the book. “That the bio work is done. Science homework complete.”

“You have more to do?”

“None. My art homework was to sketch a living animal so I drew the cat. I finished the math yesterday and the Bio is finally done."He stood and stretched, “Next year I’m doing a basic Science course. They won’t let me take engineering a second time and Biology isn’t interesting to me all that much.”

Ginyu smiled. “Alright. Though maybe you can talk to your teacher about joining the Robotics squad.”

“God no. The teacher is a major Gero fanboy. Honestly I’m a little worried he might have Red Ribbon sympathies.”

Ginyu frowned, “Should I talk to someone.”

“Oh, he’s already been talked to before. But he doesn’t actually say anything that could be classed as dangerous so they can’t do much.”

“I still don’t like it.” Ginyu said. And he didn’t. After coming to earth and carefully convincing everyone of his identity, he had researched the planet's history with great detail. The Red Ribbon army was your standard ‘we can do better’ group that made the mistake of filling its ranks with thugs instead of real recruits. He couldn’t understand why so many feared their return.

“Well, I’m not worried about it. No one would be dumb enough to try and resurrect it, especially after the Cell Max incident.” Trunks said. “Hey, can I see that?”

Vegeta took off the Scouter and handed it to Trunks. The boy looked it over and lifted it up, sliding it onto his face for a moment before trying to get it to work.

And Ginyu’s heart stopped for a moment. Vegeta tensed beside him as they looked at their son wearing the Scouter, and a hundred awful possibilities reared their heads.

“Man these things are clunky. I could make something way more streamlined and functional than this.” Trunks said and took it off, and suddenly the weight that had fallen was lifted. “How did you manage such terrible technology?”

“They only really needed to help us scan planets and deliver information. They were better for communication.” Vegeta explained and put the thing aside.

He was itching to destroy it now, but didn’t. It was useful to him and Bulma would be pissed if he destroyed important tech.

Chapter Text

The flight to the old castle was short, Piccolo landed at the entrance.

“Ugly place isn’t it.” Nail said.

“And….are there more than one person here?”

“Likely. My Father has either made another couple of minions or his old followers were living here.”

“He had followers?”

“Well, he was the demon King.” Gohan said. “History books say he had al;most as many in his army as the Red Ribbon ranks did.”

Nail paused, and nervous look coming to his face, “When you say ‘made minions’ you don’t mean he-”

“Spit up some eggs? Yeah, he did that a couple of times.”

“Oh god.” Nail looked up at the castle, “he truly is demonic.”

They entered the castle and a panicked looking teenager greeted them. “Welcome Junior to your Father's house. I beg forgiveness for the current condition but-”

“There is no way you are one of his followers.” Gohan said. “You're younger than I am.”

“Oh, um. My grandpa was a follower and my parents took the roll because the tourists will pay For tours.” the kid said, oversized robe swamping them.” Then he actually, shit you guys are-”

“Go to whatever home you have and wait for your parents.” Piccolo said, and the kid wasted no time in racing off.

“Let's go.” Piccolo said and led the way. The place had been hastily cleaned, but the years of neglect still showed.

"Did you ever live here?" Gohan asked.

"For a while. But the Servents scattered after my fathers death as the authorities swarmed it. After that I came for a little while but it felt too-"

"Empty?" Nail said."

"Yeah. The animals and birds wouldn't come near here, and after a while it got ...boring."

"Both Gohan and Nail knew he meant lonely, but they said nothing."

"How many years ago was that?"

"Oh, about 30 I think." Gohan said. It wasn't long after you fought my Dad at the 23rd tournament that that Garlic guy tried to take over this place."

Piccolos laughed, "You know that was the first Time I saw you? I started my plan then and there to turn you into the perfect minion."

Gohan snorted. "Yaeh, how's that coming along?"

"Not good. But I think I got a better shot with Pan."

Nail shuddered. "God, I hate being reminded that you were force matured."

"Huh?"

"Forced to grow too quickly. It's not really something we do unl;ess there's an absolute emergency."

A ki alerted them to a presence before them.

"Hello Brother."

Nail gasped and swore. The being before them was human shaped, but seemed almost unfinished.

"Oh god. You poor thing."

The 'demon' before them balked at that. "Hey, who are you pitying? I am the first of the new brood. I am Harmon."

"No you are not, you're a child!" Nail said and Piccolo suddenly wished he'd put his foot down about bringing him along."

"How about my brother taking us to Father and we get this all straightened out." Piccolo said, and Harmon turned away to show them the path.

Waiting for Nail to walk beside him Piccolo talked out of the corner of his mouth, "Save your mothering for later you jackass."

"I can't help it!" Nail gestured to the guy in front of them, “Eggs are supposed to be treasured and loved and nurtured. Not. This.”

As they followed, shadows of other beings began to converge around them. They finally reached the throne room where he sat.

King Piccolo was impressive to look at. He oozed confidence and the smirk on his face was full of dark Joy.

“My Son!” He said and stood, “I see you have your own Minions to follow you now. And one of your own from the looks of it. Must say I didn’t expect to become a grandfather.”

Piccolo looked confused for a second, and then it clicked. “Nail’s not my kid, he’s another of our species.”

Daimao tilted his head for a moment, “No matter, another of our kind in our ranks is a boon. To us. Tell me, where is Son Goku? Did you manage to kill him?”

“No.”

“A shame. But a fixable mistake.”

“Not really.”

Daimao froze and then his eyes narrowed. “How so, my son?”

“Yeah. Goku died, but then came back. And then died again. And then came back-you know it’s gonna be easier to just say he’s alive and kicking and way, way beyond you now.” Piccolo explained.

The distance between father and son was suddenly non-existent and Daimao seemed to appear from nowhere before him.

“Explain what you mean, boy.”

The air seemed to leave the room then.

“I mean to say that the world isn’t the one you left behind. Nail here is of our kind, but he is no demon. We come from the planet known as Namek and trust me, our people are as far from demonic as they come.”

“Another…another planet?!” Daimao said and took a step back. Then he recovered. “No matter, it’s just another world for us to conquer.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“It’s later.”

“What?”

“Krilin.”

Krillin looked at his wife and sighed. “Okay okay. Sit down.”

18 did and Krillin sat across from her, not at all happy to be talking about this.

“Before I say anything else, I’m telling you now that we tried. We really did. Goku loves his kids, and he does love ChiChi. It’s what makes convincing him they’re a bad pair so difficult. And ChiChi…ChiChi is in love with the concept of him.”

18 crossed her arms and leaned back on the couch. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“It means that she has a certain idea of what Goku is in her head, and she isn’t happy they match. But she truly believes she can change him. Even now she thinks she can. And she’s stubborn about it. Goku did construction work but that was too low brow. He tried city stuff and he kept getting fired. ChiChi has the idea that eventually she will get him into respectable work and make him the salary man she’s always wanted. Gohan likes being a scholar, but I spent a lot of time afraid that he’d grow out of it and one day want to do something non scholarly and let me tell you 18, we had plans in place to save the kid if we had to.”

“And you didn’t?”

“No. Gohan is a nerd to the bone. A happy nerd though. And when Goku came back ChiChi had calmed down. Being apart had given her time to mellow, to see what she wanted in life.”

“And she’s happy with Goku now.”

“Oh god no. She's still nuts, but I think that time apart let her figure out what it was about Goku that drove her nuts. Don’t get me wrong, I still thinks she’ss needs a major reality check, but at least she’s not beating the crap out of everyone when she’s mad at them.”

18 pondered on this for a moment then asked, “And Goku loves her?”

“Goku loves that she's strong and passionate and always challenging him. She can’t hurt him, and if he really wanted he could just take the kids and go. But he doesn’t. And though we have tried to convince him there are less crazy fish in the sea, he loves her.”

“It's still creepy Krillin. Switch the genders and she’d be in jail.”

“Honestly if there’s ever a real investigation into their marriage she is going to jail. But Goku would likely break her out again.”

Letting her head fall back on the couch, 18 groaned, “Why are we friends with crazy people?”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“Right, we’ll be in Earth’s orbit in 34 days.” Bulma said and strapped in. “How long until your Eggs arrive?”

“Before we land.” Zella said. “I hope you're not lying about Earth. I want my kid to have a good life, Human.”

“And they will. Have you thought of a name yet?”

“Maybe Vou?

“That's cute!”

Bulma made small talk to help calm the guy. He had sent a message to Moori, the first contact he’d had with his homeworld in nearly six years. It had been nerve wracking for him, and Bulma had felt another wobble in her plan.

“Blue sky, green grass and both fresh and saltwater.”

“Salt water? Like, naturally occurring?”

“Yep. Earth is a pretty wet world.”

“Sounds….fertile.”

“Very. We have massive biodiversity.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Dende was glad of the phone Bulma had given him, as telling 10 plus people the same thing telepathically was both annoying and taxing. So when Moori got in touch he just sent a message to group chat.

Good news, Dragon balls were used!
Bad news, the Namekian involved left Namek after it was revived. Seems he made his own dragon and had been granting wishes for trade of money.
We have a vague location. Convene at the next convenient time to discuss a plan?

He got a myriad of thumbs ups and acknowledgements. And for some bizarre reason an eggplant.

Chapter Text

Daimao couldn't believe it. Any of it.

He was no demon, but an alien. A lost soul set adrift in the universe. His own son had abandoned the mission he'd left him with and even re-merged with Kami.

It made him feel sick. His legacy was gone, the power he'd amassed ment nothing compared to the DEMO-Nemakian before him.

And what power his son had. Enough to take this planet a dozen times over, and what has he done instead? He became a teacher to Son Goku's brat. Ge became a friend of the enemies that had killed his father. He had failed him.

"No."Daimao said, "No, I refuse to believe you have given up on our plan. This planet is supposed to be yours!"

"Yeah, no thanks. Not really the leader type." Piccolo said. "Look, whatever has happened may be temporary, so don't get comfortable. And unless you want to end up back in the rice cooker I suggest you keep a low profile."

The threat of that terrible place shut Daimao up.

Daimao's gaze fell to Nail.

"So, you come from our supposed homeworld?"

"Yes."

"What is it like? Our world."

"Honestly? Kind of boring. There's a lot to do rebuilding our civilization after the great drought and...other business. But overall, boring. We farm, we train, we meditate and chat."

"Good grief, that does sound Boring." Daimao said, "I wish to speak further with you on this."

"Under one condition." Nail said, and Piccolo groaned, already knowing what he wanted.

"And what would that be?"

"STOP MAKING BABIES!"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The ship was ready to go. Fully stocked and all Ginyu had to do was load up his family and go.

He didn't want to. He kept praying that Buylma would call, or someone would tell him this was all some mistake or big joke. Anything to stop what came next.

"Mrs Briefs, there's a call on line 2."

"Thank you Missy."

Ginyu took the call, "This is Bulma Briefs, what up?"

"Hey mom."

"Trunks? Why are you calling this line?"

"Because I tried your cell and you didn't pick up."

Ginyu fished his phone from his skirt pocket and saw that he had indeed set it to silent by mistake. Three missed calls."I'm sorry honey. What is it you need?"

"Dad dragged me to the wholesalers for Grandma and they've got those weird candies you like. Dad wants to know if he should get at or four packs."

"Four. I'm nearly out. Tell him thanks."

"Will do, Mom."

"Hey, can you guys come to the new ship site on your way home? I need your help stress testing the struts."

"Sure. See you in an hour. Love you."

"Love you kiddo."

Ginyu stared at the phone before getting up and heading to the main office, where Bulla was going through her work and play books. Barely 3 and she was already on the 6th grade books.

"Hey momma." she said without turning around, " Wanna grape?" she asked and held out the bag.

"No thank you Bulla. Mommy just needs to sit for a minute."

"I'll sit too."

Ginyu couldn't believe how quickly Bulla was developing. Just like Trunks, once speech came she went from babbling to full sentences in so little time. The little girl joined her mother on the couch and curled up, and Bulma knew it was now or never.

"Mommy has a gift for you. A pretty little bracelet."

Bulla's eyes widened and she watched as Ginyu pulled the small thing from his bag. The purple band had a latch that she opened and put around her wrist.

The bracelet closed, and then shrank before activating, and Bulla cried out.

"Momma, feels weird!"

"I know sweety, but you'll have to get used to it for now." Ginyu pulled his daughter close, "There's a lot you'll have to get used to Bulla. But Mommy promises that she loves you very, very much."

Bulla still pouted but snuggled into her hug.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Trunks whistled at the ship before him in appreciation. It was an amazing piece of tech. The most advanced model his mother had ever built. The schematics showed it was designed as a long term home once it landed. Just pick a location and land, and the ship's automated systems did the rest.

It could be a great money maker if his Mom ever did decide to reveal space travel.

“So what exactly is wrong with the struts?” He asked, and his Mom pointed up to the connection points, “Some kind of weakening. I think the inner welding isn’t holding. I want you and your Dad to watch as I power it up and tell me if anything looks bad.”

“Can't you use the drone camera?”

“I have but It still doesn't feel right.”

Trunks grinned, “Is this about Baba’s prediction?”

Ginyu folded his arms, “Better safe than sorry.”

Trunks nodded and he and his Dad entered the ship and went their separate ways, signaling to Ginyu when they reached their check points. Doors shut as the engines activated, and Trunks saw nothing wrong with the struts in front of him. But he did hear an odd little hiss.

He followed the sound, and his eyes grew wide as he looked at the source of the sound.

Before he could call out and warn his Mom, a wave of dizziness washed over him. His body felt weak and he desperately tried to power up, but he couldn't focus enough to actually susptain it.

Nearby he could feel his father struggling, and he lost consciousness just as he felt a super saiyan.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Something had happened. Goku always sensed when Vegeta powered up. But after doing so he almost immediately powered down, but it felt off. Almost forced.

Goku wondered what was happening, so went into the house to use the phone. He wasn't going to risk ChiChi's temper by running off, not while she was acting so weird.

Her youthfulness had her swinging between cheerfully exuberant and dangerously tetchy. Goten was off helping Gohan but it was really an excuse to get out of the house.

He dialed Bulma's place and she answered after 6 rings, sounding tired. "Hey Bulma, just calling to check in on you guys. I felt something really weird a few minutes later."

"Oh don't worry. I'm testing a new module on a ship and things went a little wonky. We're good."

"You sure?"

"Yeah Goku. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"Well, okay then. Take care."

He hung up and turned back to the living room, noticing the clock, "Huh, I better get the equipment back in the house."

"Oh, that can wait."

Goku jolted and turned to see ChiChi in the hall, wearing her bathrobe and fresh from a shower. Her skin was flushed red and the scent of soft soap wafted through the room.

"Do you need help with something?"

"I do actually, can you help me in the bedroom?"

"Oh is there a-oh." Goku blushed as he recognized the twinkle in ChiChi's eyes at that moment. "Oh, yes, definitely able to help" He said and rushed off to follow his wife into their room.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Dr Briefs heard his computer beeping, telling him something had happened. He unlocked the file and smiled to himself. "Well well, looks like I have to get our business in order."

"Should I pack a suitcase?"

"Oh yes. Best be prepared and all that."

She toddled off to do so and Dr Briefs accessed his satellites, and quickly searched for the signal he wanted.

He straightened his back and took a ship of water before readying himself to speak with his daughter for the first time in 2 decades whilst across the globe the Z Fighters felt one of their several of their own leave the planet.

Chapter Text

Bulma wanted to be mad. She wanted to scream and shout and rage at the man on the screen in front of her. But she also knew her father. He loved her but the man was a scientist and his mind would allow him to do things that most parents would think irresponsible and cruel.

Like allowing a usurper to steal her life away from her and not saying a word about it for decades.

“So what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call Dad.”

“Your replacement has gone off world with the grandkids. I haven't told your mother yet but she's bound to be fussy about it.”

“Gee dad, ya think.”

“I know you peeved at me honey, but look at it this way, if all goes well, we’re about to hit the real big time.”

“What do you-you know I don’t care what you mean. Just tell me why you think I should care about Ginyu? I have what I-”

“Honey, I am not an idiot. I know you're behind our current sprightliness.”

Bulma tried to look clueless but couldn’t. “You got me. Do the others know yet?”

“No. But it won’t be long until they do. Gohan and Piccolo are closest to figuring it out.Well, figuring out who Ginyu is. Now idea who made them all young again.”

“Well, either way they’ll have figured it out on their own without my input, so I haven’t broken any agreements.” Bulma said and leaned back in her chair.

“Clever girl. Want to keep your reputation intact.”

“Hey, I wanna keep doing business now I am human again. And gouging back on my word is the number one way to screw myself over.”

Dr Brief titled his head a little.” You said human but the data I found on your hard drives says you’ve given yourself a bit of an upgrade.”

“Just a bit of one. I don’t have a robot forma anymore and I don't want the fact I come from a low power species getting killed.” Bulma sighed, “Frieza dying and coming bad has everyone scrambling to ensure their best chances of survival. It can be real good for business though.”
“
And what business have you been practicimng?”

Bulma smiled and was happy to brag. “Freelance engineering,-not capsule tech- and problem management. Plus a little Couria work on the side.”

Dr Briefs was already plotting how to use his daughter's knowledge to his advantage, “Bulma dear, tell me everything.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“Shit.” Piccolo hissed and flew towards Gohan’s. Kami had remained on the Lookout to help Dende and Nail was beside him.

“This isn’t good. We should have told everyone about the stupid frog and clone. Damnit.”

A dot appeared ahead of them and at first they thought it was Gohan, but stretching out their senses told them it was Yamcha.

Nail smiled, "Yamcha's here!"

Piccolo said nothing. When they were one instead of two, Nail often commented that he found Yamcha tolerable. Piccolo didn't hate the guy, but he wasn't number one on his aquat-friend.

"You felt them leave as well?" Yamcha asked, "Because I got a real bad feeling."

"Your's or Baba?"

"I go with my own gut after the last 'emergency' she had us at."
Yamcha was still annoyed at the fact he'd been dragged from bed at 2 am because of a washing machine flooding.

"Have you noticed anything weird about Bulma lately?" Piccolo asked, and the human thought about it. "Not really. Just stressed. I figured it was to do with work, they've had a few issues with fake Cap Corp gear hurting people."

"Anything else?"

He shook his head. "Nah, why are you asking?"

"Because...me and Gohan saw something, and Bulma convinced us not to say anything until she'd checked it was safe to. Only I think we may have been fooled."

"By who?"

"A deadman."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu looked through the glass at his sleeping husband and felt guilty. After several moments he sighed and left the room to check on their trajectory. They would reach their new home in a few days, and from then....gods Ginyu was dreading it. He'd spent years dreading this.

The planet they were heading to wasn’t even a true planet, but a planetoid. Not big enough to require a status but ignored by almost anyone who traded in planets. It was far enough away from anywhere useful that many wouldn’t bother settling there. Which was why Ginyu chose it. Their whole area was full of similar worlds that only housed those who didn’t want to be found or bothered.

And he didn’t want to be bothered until he’d either convinced Vegeta not to kill him, or he could escape without danger.

They were three days out from their new home. Teo if they gunned it, but Giniyu wasn't going to risk being picked up by any authorities. You couldn't be arrested for speeding in space, but heading anywhere in a hurry was suspicious.

Especially in a new design ship. There might be galactic patrolmen looking for an easy arrest, or pirates or raiders trying to find an easy target. Or just a bunch of tech collectors wanting a new shiny thing.

So he took things slowly, and Ginyu was reminded of just how boring space travel was. Gods, besides piloting there was nothing to do whilst he flew.

In the end he went to watch tv, and found himself watching the news. Latest info on 'planet acquisitions'. A couple of royals getting married. Several wars starting and ending and celebrity gossip. When he'd last been in space everyone had been obsessed with some scantily clad female from Grvel 7 who kept doing outrageous things. Now It was some overly dramatic princess who was on her third wedding.

He ended up thinking about what he would do if this went wrong. He'd need a new body, and that was easy. Head to a funtime planet and wait for the right body to appear. Lure the owner in and then make the swap. He'd likely have to destroy this form, which was a shame. He had grown to like it.

Ginyu wondered if he should choose another female form, or choose something else. A male form maybe? Or perhaps something genderless? Or multi gendered? So many choices to choose from.

When he got bored of the news he decided to see how many of his old contacts still existed.

The first was a chef who worked for another of Frieza’s race. Ginyu didn’t outright state who he was, instead asking to speak to Baaly about possible work. Then he looked up a black market salesman who specializes in exotic companions. He’d always been useful when Ginyu needed a new body. The last one was simply the owner of a bar he’d liked to frequent many years before. Ginyu smiled to himself as he remembered the fun he and his men had had over the years. The first successful assasination Guldo had performed. Racoom’s finally getting his solo pilots license after 8 tries and -

No. No way in HFIL.

The bar's owner had died. Been dead for over a decade. And in front of him was the new owner. A very familiar face.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Gohan felt like such a fool. He should have insisted on taking Bulma- or whoever was pretending to be her- too Dende the moment they had been suspicious. He should have told the group what was going on. He should have done more than just take their word for it .

“What are we going to do? Go after them?”

Dr Briefs shook his head. “We only have one ship available to go and it will only take 2 people. And even if we do send you up, the only lead we have is the Namekian."

"Maybe Goku can track them?" Yamcha asked.

"I already tried. It's like they vanished. King Kai can't feel them either." Goku said and looked up at the sky. "Why take Vegeta and the kids though?"

"Collateral. Or maybe blackmail. Keep Bulla and Trunks in danger unless Vegeta does as he's told." Piccolo suggested.

Gohan felt his gut churn. "I want to go. We need Dad on Earth, and if I find anything then Dad can always Instant transmission to us."

"Your Mom won't like that." Goku said.

"Its our best course of action though." Piccolo agreed. "If Vegeta is sent back to attack her, then Goku is our best chance of stopping him.

Yamcha then asked the question no one wanted to ask. "Where's Bulma?If someone else is in her body, then where is she?"

Gohan looked at the ground, remembering the dead frog he'd buried in the yard. Had that been her? His family's oldest friends, his aunt in everything but blood?

Piccolo spoke then, "Dende spoke to Yemna, Bulma's spirit is not in the otherworld. If she was, she'd have sent us a message."

This gave him hope, and Yamcha gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, She would have stormed to his desk and made such a scene."

"We go after the clone. That's currently our strongest lead after the Nemakien that granted the wish. We'll teach her, and then go from there." Piccolo said."

"We'll?" Gohan asked,

Piccolo nodded. "I'm not sending you out there alone."

Chapter Text

HFIL was a mess. Everyone knew that. For years souls were shuffled around, attempts at making them just redeemable enough to send them up to Purgatory and gain more space. Or find a way to cloud the souls that were still humanoid.

It wasn't working. The 'cul-de-sac' project was going well, but it wasn't moving fast enough. So Some Demons decided to take a short cut.

They left a few gates unguarded. Let some paperwork slip. Allowed a few souls to get sent through the cleansers more than once in an effort to force the evil out.

It worked. A little. The idea was to keep everything shuffling around so no one noticed a few hundred souls missing. It was just to give Hell a chance to catch up. They'd end up in hell again eventually.

One such group to end up shuffled around and confused was that little hell looked after by Goz and Mez. They are doing a damn good job, especially since Frieza had been placed on special measures. (If the Tyrant didn't want to be surrounded by pixies for 100 years, then he shouldn't have tried to kill his father).

And then the shuffle happened, and Everyone was scattered.

And Jeice found a way out.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Holy hell Cap'n it's great to know you alive. When I got word I was ecstatic!"

Crap. Crap Crap.

"Well, I've got my brother looking after the bar, and I'm just waiting for you to tell me where to go."

This was the last thing Ginyu needed.

Oh he was happy to see one of his men again, but this was the worst timing.

Ginyu took several deep breaths. He could deal with this. He would deal with it. He sent a message back with his co-ordinates and was surprised to find that Jeice was less than four hours away.

There were many things he needed to do before then, but Ginyu decided he should take a nap.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Piccolo hadn't really been to space often. He'd been transported to Namek and back, and that was it. He'd never really wanted to leave the earth. He liked his home.

But seeing the look on Gohan's face made him think a little travel out in the cosmos couldn't be a bad thing. His long time friend was watching the stars fly past with a look of pure awe on his face and it was a wonderful thing to see.

Their departure from Earth had been quick out of necessity. Not just because of the worry for their friends, but the fear of ChiChi. She'd always been dangerous, but with the added bonus of returning youth, she was down right formidable.

And did not want her son in space. Not again, not after last time. And Piccolo understood why she was so scared, But Gohan was their best bet for this. Intelligent and powerful, he knew how to deal with people. The only other person they could ask was Yamcha, and he had refused. Too little strength compared to the threats they may face. Yamcha was a lot of things, but stupid (most of the time) he was not.

"God I wish we were able to come out here more." Gohan said and sighed, eyes full of ideas. "There's so much out there."

"Lot of bad."

"But so much good too."

That was arguable but Piccolo didn't say this. Let Gohan enjoy his current mood, because it was likely not to last.

They were heading to a small farming world where the namek Zella was supposedly on his way. Moori had asked that they try to get him to New Namek, but Piccolo had a feeling they wouldn't be going there. So far everything he'd been told made it pretty obvious that the lost namekian was lost on purpose. Piccolo wasn't interested in 'convincing ' the guy to go back.

Gohan moved away from the window, "You're right though. Vegeta didn't come back out here. And everytime we come up, something awful is happening."

They left to room after checking the ship was still on target and then went down to the sleeping quarters.

Gohan was still shocked at how different this ship was. There were real rooms to sleep in and an actual bathroom that didn't scream at them in German. Each room had two beds, and OPiccolo sat on the one across from his, removing his Turban and cape to lean back against the wall.

"You know its real weird seeing you so...different." Gohan said and he began changing for bed. "I mean, I always knew you'd been young once, but seeing you like this is so weird."

"Hey, I don't look that different!"

"Piccolo, you are missing a foot in height and a few dozen pounds in muscles. You look different." Gohan turned and grinned after putting on his sleep pants, "Not in a bad way. Just pretty cool knowing you went through an awkward phase as well."

Piccolo gaped at him. "You little-"

Gohan laughed and sat on his own bed facing his long time friend, "You know you act a little different? I think it's because you're unfused."

"How different?"

"A little unsure of yourself. You take more time to come to a decision. And your more impulsive." Gohan laced his fingers behind his head. "You're not the only one. Goten complained that Mom's acting was stricter and pusher. Not to mention her tempers are far worse. 18 said that Krillin nearly got in trouble at work because he keeps letting his mouth run when he shouldn't."

It was Piccolo's turn to laugh then, "I forgot what a little shit he could be. Funny though."

"Really."

"Oh yeah. He had a wicked tongue on him. He grew out of it though. We all grew up."

""Did you know them that well when they were younger?"

"No, but I still remember some of the stuff Daimon left up here. Just because we're unfused doesn't mean I lost everything we shared."

Their conversation stayed in the past for a while, until Gohan began to nod off.

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His nap had helped a little, but Ginyu was still terrified. Jeice had arrived, and Ginyu was grateful that he had followed Code Fridge. Named for the first Cold to Rise the Empire, it meant that no one was to know of a mission except those involved.

Jeice was the same as he was the last time Ginyu had seen him. A little scruffy around the edges, but overall he looked good.

He stood to attention upon seeing him.

"Oh knock it off you dummy." Ginyu said. "It's so good to see you. And now I must ask, how the fuck are you alive?"

"We found a way out."

"We?"

From behind a corner, the large form of Burter appeared and Ginyu was doubly confused.

"Okay, are you hiding?"

Jeice laughed, "Nah, just us. Couldn't get Gildo out, he was moved to a different HFIL before we found an unguarded door."

"It was that easy?"

"Hell no. Took nearly a year of hiding and dodging patrols to get out. And even then we only had a tiny amount of time to figure out how to get rid of the halos before we were found. Turns out if you're willing to pay, there are a couple of mystics who'll help replace spirit with flesh."

"How much that set you back?"

"All our savings and almost all our favours called in."

Ginyu winced, "Ouch."

Burter grinned, "Hey, it'sbetter than death sir."

"Don't call me sir. I'm not your superior anymore."

Jeice relaxed a little, "Want to explain how you ended up such a pretty thing?"

Ginyu shook his head, "Come. I think we'll need a seat and some coffee."

"Coffee?" Burter asked.

"Like those Space Denny's breakfast drinks."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma rushed to the medical wing and as she arrived heard Plinka panicking and Zella laughing.

"Whats wrong, what happened?"

"He started heaving, then went a weird color and-"

"He and the other crew men completely over reacted and carried/dragged me here." Zella explained, "It was very sweet and I appreciate the worry. But for dragons sake stop worrying. It's just-" ZElla was interrupted by his body heaving again. Bulma rushed to him, but it was over quickly.

"Are you close?"

"Yes. Maybe another few hours and the egg will be here.

Bulma grinned, "That's great news Zella. Though I think you should stay here until its done. Stop my crew from freaking out."

Zella nodded and shook his head. "You'de think they'd never been around a gravid person before."

"Well, I haven't, so try not to freak us newbies out."

She bid him goodbye and went back to the bridge, where they were waiting for the signal that anyone was asking questions about them. Their contacts were on the lookout and Bulma could only hope that they would arrive soon. She was itching for someone to figure out what was going on so she could go home, but none of it was going to happen unless someone followed the clues.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"I mean, Vegeta was always nice to look at, but love?" Burter asked, still in shock. "Seriously."

Ginyu sighed, "I know it's hard to believe, but he is far more than some annoying underling. He has a lot of good qualities once you get to know him. If you get to know him."

Burter folded his arms over his chest, "Well, it's gonna take a lot of convincing. And praying. Might want to do a lot of that as well."

Jeice smiled, “Well, we’re here to help. We all had training in convincement. Maybe a few of those techniques could work.”

“Maybe. But I don’t wish to use them on my son.”

Burter shook his head,”I can’t believe you have kids. Are they strong?”

“Very. Human and Saiyan DNA are incredibly compatible. Humans have such versatile DNA that I think they could reproduce with anyone. Plus Trinks is smart as his mother.The boy is going to leave other engineers in the dust.And Bulla, oh she is such a sweetheart. She’s-”

Burter and Jeice glanced at each other as they let Ginyu gush about his kids, the utter pride in his voice evident.

Eventually he snapped himself out of it. “Listen to me, I sound so silly. Please, tell me how things have been for you two?”
“
Oh, well you know how we got out of hell. I found out that the Bar was for sale and Managed to scrape the funds up to buy it, we’ve been there ever since. Took up a few side jobs to rebuild our savings and just enjoyed life outside the force.” Jeice explained.

“And how was…down there?”

Burter laughed, “Oh, boring. No hunger or anything like that. Just endless waiting. We got their and Raditz was trying to build a place to live that wasn’t a tent, so we all chipped in and helped start some new ‘redemption’ scheme that was supposed to clean us up enough to go through the sole cleanser.”

“It didn’t take it, did it?”

“It did once Frieza was kicked out. Got some real soul searching done before I found an exit.” Burter said. “Oh, and you won’t believe this, but Dodoria and Raditz were skewing!”

Ginyu actually gasped, “You're kidding!”

“Nope. Got caught sneaking around after curfew. Turns out that fraternization of the romantic sort is considered a great way to build interpersonal relaltionships and speed up the redemption project.”

Ginyu just sat in shock. “You know out of all the people I thought Dodoria would choose he was not on the list.”

Jeice gave him a look. “You thought about Dodoria?”

“Well, she was considered the most beautiful and fertile woman on her planet.”

Chapter Text

Ginyu sent Jeice and Burter to get supplies.

They didn’t need supplies, but Ginyu didn’t want them on the planet when he told his husband the truth. If Vegeta was able to sense them then he may get the wrong idea, which would make convincing him of the truth so much harder.

Getting Vegeta to his room was easy enough. The capsule he was in was brought to the room, and the bots helped to carefully tip him out and onto the bed. After that Ginyu ensured that the bands were in place and the device was in working order.

All he had to do now was wake him.

And Ginyu wasn't ready.

He wasn't ready to lose everything he had. He wasn't ready to see the betrayal in his husband's eyes, the pain and hate that would come. He wasn't ready for his children's mistrust and his friends' betrayal.

But it didn't matter what he wanted anymore. The fact was there was no pretending anymore and Ginyu had to do this.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The trade planet was bustling and Piccolo was overwhelmed by it. He wasn’t good with crowds at the best of times, and Gohan had to take the lead as they asked their questions.

It didn’t take long to find someone who knew what they were after. For a price of course.

They ended up trading two small gems for the location of Zella's last known location,which took them out of the city (something Piccolo was grateful for) and a small set of homes. The people there were curious but polite, and they found the address they were looking for.

And they didn't find Zello. Instead they found a data disk addressed to 'those who seek me'.

"Well that's Cryptic." Piccolo said as they searched for a private place to pop their shuttle capsule.

"Can you blame him? I think if Moori could get here he'd likely drag the guy home." Gohan said, "It makes me wonder why he allowed Dende to stay."

It was something that Piccolo had wondered as well. But then again, there was a lot he didn't understand about his own people. But the fact Zella was granting wishes for money was probably something they should deal with befor-well, it had already bit them in the ass.

They found a private place and took off from the planet back towards their ship, which was waiting for them. Once back aboard they went to the small lab and Gohan began the safety measures to open the data disk without risking their ships systems.

Eventually the computer said it was safe to play, and the screen was filled with a Namekian who was closer to Dende than Piccolo, and wore simple clothing.

"Hello. If you have this tape then it means you are looking for me because I either granted a wish that affected you, or you want to make a wish. If it is the latter, then You can find my contacts at the Parade Store on the corner of Zita and Kime street. If you've been affected by a wish I granted then I am telling you now that I don't give up my clients. Cheap."

"No wonder Moori wants this guy home. He could be a real danger to people." Gohan said as he paused the screen.

"Depends on the kind of wishes his dragon can grant. Youth may be the extent of his power."

Gohan glaNced up from the screen, "A small wish now can lead to chaos later. Just look at Pilaf and his gang." he pressed play again.

"And to my Young friend who is seeking answers, you already have an answer. Find a wayward friend and you'll have the truth."

The video stopped there, and Piccolo looked down at Gohan. "We need to contact Dr Briefs."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta had seen Bulma’s sense of humor.

She could be childish, giggling as she switched the sugar for salt. She could be vulgar, making rude little jokes as they watched a movie or were in the lab. It could be naughty, like when she stole his towel whilst he showered.

But this? This wasn’t funny.

Waking up in a room he didn’t recognise, barely able to move and his wife sitting on the edge of the bed, looking nervous.

And then she decided to claim she was Ginyu.

“That body changing bastard is dead. I crushed that frog myself.”

She gave him a soft smile. “You didn’t. I don’t know what frog you killed, but it wasn’t the one that held Ginyu. Nor was it the one that held the real Bulma.”

He attempted to stand, but he didn’t have the strength to move. “Shut up and stop playing.”

“Frieza 592.” Bulma said. “There was a little bar on the outskirts of the second city. You and Raditz stumbled out in the early hours and bumped into Recoome, and proceeded to cause a ruckus involving a patrolman's car, two SpaceGoats and-”

“No.” Vegeta snapped. He remembered that night. He also remembered that Ginyu had gotten all three of them out of trouble and ensured no one found out in order to secure his team mates reputation. It saved Vegeta a lot of trouble.

And the only people who knew were himself, Raditz, Recoome and Ginyu. Three of those were dead. They should still be dead.

“It was you who made us young. You did that and….took My Bulma’s body!”

“No Vegeta. I’ve had this body for a very long time. I had it when I invited you to stay at Capsule Corp. I had it when I nursed you back to health when the gravity chamber exploded. When Trunks came from the future and when I took you to my bed.” Ginyu said, he reached out and cupped Vegeta’s cheek. “Only it was your bed. You were so nervous, but so gentle.”

“Shut up. Stop lying.”

“I’m not.” Ginyu let Vget pull away, “You told me about Raditz giving up. Of Nappa’s madness.” Ginyu let his voice drop, as though telling a secret. “Of how you missed home so badly. How you prayed your father would come for you, after the purging of Papeyeya.”

Vegeta’s heart was seizing. This couldn’t be possible. This bastard was trying to trick him. He managed to get his legs to the edge of the bed, and threw back the covers. He still wore the same clothes as when he’d been on earth.

“So you are Ginyu. I refuse to Believe you’ve been Bulma all that time, Captain.” he said the word with such venom it hurt. “Why not take a new body. Why remain weak and small. “Vegeta tried to get up, and managed a step before his legs gave way. “Why do it!”

Ginyu looked at him, and sighed heavily, “Get back on the bed and I’ll explain Vegeta.”

“Screw that !” Vegeta snapped and tried to stand, legs wobbling the whole time. “Where is she? Where is MY Bulma? My chi-WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN!”

Ginyu moved forward, trying to guide Vegeta back onto the bed, but was grabbed, arm twisted in a grip that should be ripping his arm from his socket. Instead it was a pain, but no worse than a human might do. And even this feeble body had enough power to it to allow Ginyu to pull free.

Which shocked Vegeta, who tried to power up. He hadn’t tried yet because it hadn’t seemed necessary, not until his wife-or the thing that looked like her- had shrugged him off like he was Yamcha.

He couldn’t access his power. Couldn’t pull the strength he needed into his body and force this liar to explain themselves.

“Trunks and Bulla are fine, they are safe. I will take you to them once we’ve talked this through.”

“We are talking nothing through because this is ridiculous. What proof do you have other than a few anecdotes!” Vegeta sat heavily on the edge of the mattress. “You may really be Ginyu, but you Couldn’t have been Bulma that long. Someone would have noticed.”

"Oh please. Goku hadn't seen Bulma for 5 years when Raditz showed up, and then spent mere hours together before she had to deal with the spaceship. From Namek on I was there, and between the android and training no one noticed. Well, Krillin got worried that I was suffering from stress." Ginyu managed to Get Vegeta back on the bed. "My parents believed the same thing. Dear Bulma had left behind enough information for me to be able to actually pass as here."

"Guesses and conjectures." Vegeta said. He began to look about the room.

Ginyu thought for a moment, scoring his memory for things only he would know.

1"You wore you gloves non stop for a week after you let Bulla paint your nail, and it wouldn't come off. I know you were driven mad with guilt and annoyance after Marjin Buu because Trunks wouldn't let you out of his sight for weeks. I know you and my mother gossip about the neighbors when you think no one can hear you."

"You could have gotten that information from Bulma."

"Would Bulma tell me about the tiny scar on you wrist. Small and tiny and barely there." Ginyu watched as Vegeta's face drained of color. He continued. "Would she tell me how you like you morning coffee, disgustingly sweet, but take it black when you have it iced? Would she bother telling me your mildly tickling at the back on you ankles. Or that you can't stand the smell of cinnamon syrup, but love cinnamon rolls. Which is still really weird by the way."

Vegeta's entire face bloomed red and he shoved her away. Or at least tried to. "No. No. You are not My Wife. You are Not Ginyu."

"I'm both Vegeta. I know you don't want to believe me, but I am."

Chapter Text

Bulma smiled as she watched Piccolo and Gohan’s progress. They were well on their way to finding her, and she just had to hope they drew the right conclusions.

If they didn’t, then she would have to be a bit more blatant with her clues.

Excitement bubbled in her as the moment of truth got closer. Soon she would be back with her friends and family, regailing them with tales of her adventures and enjoying her life to the fullest. Find out what Krillin’s wife was like, find out what Yamcha had been up to and how Gohan had changed.

And then there was Vegeta.

She’d done a lot of research on him. A tragic story really. Born on a planet already under the yoke of tyranny to a species of proud and skilled warriors, only to watch them be exterminated due to a tyrant who was barely into adulthood. Years of oppression and servitude. The loss of his final men and the awful realization of being the last of his kind.

She had been going over his file again when she got the message from Plinko that someone was asking for them on Erb 44. She thanked him and then shut down her console.

The ship was idling for now, allowing their hunters to catch up and it gave the crew a chance to catch up on important maintenance and work. And fawn over the egg.

Zella had spat it up and it now sat in medical, swaddled in blankets and being kept watch by an unofficial guard duty. It was downright cute to watch. She had even gone down for a couple of hours.

Bulma left her quarters and headed for the bridge, where she would decide if they would remain on their course or begin moving towards the earth.

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Ginyu went to fetch a meal for his husband, but it was unlikely Vegeta would eat it.

For what felt like hours he'd sat trying to convince the man that what he was saying was true but Vegeta was in denial. Ginyu couldn't blame him. He just had his entire life turned upside down and discovered that the person he believed he'd fallen in love with wasn't that person. It was someone who'd played a major role in hurting him in his life. Who'd actively stood by and watched as his home was destroyed. Who took part in the torment that Frieza had visited upon him more than once. Ginyu had told the saying on more than one occasion that it wasn't personal, that it was just order, but the years spent on Earth had taught Ginyu that was a “crappy excuse.

But it was the only one he had. Ginyu truly wished there was something else he could say to try and ingratiate himself to Vegeta at this moment but there wasn't any.

He had the robot bring several trays of light foods in the hopes of tempting Vegeta into eating but when he got to the bedroom he saw the door was open and the room empty. Luckily Vegeta hadn't gotten far. He was leaning heavily against one of the walls, his body shaking with exertion and dripping sweat.

“Vegeta, You're not going to get anywhere, not right now” Ginyu stood and shook his head as he ordered the machines into the room as he went to his husband and tried to help him back to the bedroom. But he was shaken off with a gruff ‘fuck off’.

“What exactly are you trying to do?“ he asked

Vegeta's body finally gave out and sank to the ground and Ginyu could tell from The Silence that Vegeta didn't have an answer.

Run.

Find his children.

Try and find out something to either corroborate or dismiss Ginyu’s story.

It could be any one of a dozen things that will go through the same mind at that moment. And Ginyu really had no idea what he was thinking.

“Please Vegeta, come and eat something and then I’ll take you to Bulla and Trunks.”

He didn’t move, but didn’t fight when Ginyu got a wheelchair and got him into it.

Vegeta picked at the food, eating just enough to quell hunger and not a bite more. Then he looked at Ginyu and said, “Take me to my children.”

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Krillin was glad to be out of work. The day had crawled, but that was mostly because he was waiting for the first report Gohan was supposed to be sending.

He darted out the building when he clocked out and raced home, where 18 was already waiting to head out.

"Any news yet?" he asked.

"None. Dr Brief has been sitting at the console all afternoon waiting."

"Poor guy must be worried sick."

18 wasn't so sure, but she kept her mouth closed. Something about the whole situation felt strange to her.

They drove out, wanting to avoid drawing attention to themselves and arrived just as Yamcha did. He looked tired but happy, and he waved at them.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Nope." Krillin said and locked the car, then encapsulated it. "Hopefully we won't be stuck here all night."

"I kind of hope we are. Roshi had conscripted me as his wingman and you have no idea how tiring it is. The guy is insatiable."

18 Laughed, "Guys finally got a face and body that women will actually like. He must be using every moment to-"

"Hey guys." Goten said as he opened the door, "We're down in lab 3. I hope Gohan got something, because I'm really beginning to worry."

"You miss Trunks already huh."

Goten laughed, but there was something in his eyes that didn't ring true, "Hey, I'm worried about my grade. Trunks is a great tutor."

Yamcha grabbed the kids shoulder and squeezed, "The whole group is trying to find him, and you know that Bulma's probably already had a plan to get home."

Goten gave a weak smile and Krillin really hoped Gohan had found something for them, even if it was just a reassurance.

Lab 3 was full, and both ChiChi and Videl were closest to Dr Briefs, who seemed almost bored as he puffed away on his cigarette. Lab 3 was his, and so he was allowed to smoke in there. The ceilings were stained with nicotine and the smell was strong, but almost comforting.

Before they could even speak a greeting, the screening began to beep and Dr Briefs pressed a few buttons. It took several minutes for the image to solidify.

And then Gohan was on screen. Younger than he should be but looking happy.

"Hello? Can You hear me?"
"Yes lad. There'll be a mild delay, but we can hear and see you.”

About ten seconds later they got a reply. ”That’s fine. I’m just glad we can talk. We found Zella’s apartment, or at least a base. He left us a message. Pretty much expected us to show up and said we have to find a wayward friend.”

“Well duh.” Oolong said and scowled, “We’re looking for a whole family.”

Oolong got a shove but he didn’t apologize.

“Not that one. The…the other one. The clone we mentioned. And the frog.”

Krillin felt his veins freeze up. “Please, please tell me you're joking.”

Ten agonizing seconds later, Gohan shook his head.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“Why are they frozen?” Vegeta asked as he looked at his children.

“Just for another day or so. I need you to understand what is going on before I explain it to them.”

He stared at their children, fear and worry in his eyes. "Why? Why did you lie with me?"

Ginyu hid his release of breath. "Come sit down with me. I want you to listen and understand me."

Vegeta nodded and allowed himself to be guided to a chair nearby. Ginyu took his and moved so he was across from Vegeta, able to look at him directly.

"Why am I so weak?"

"A temporary state until I can be certain you won't harm me."

"I wouldn't be dumb enough to harm my wife's body. If this is all some lie, then she will need her body back."

"The real Bulma has a body she is quite happy with."

"She is alive?" Vegeta's eyes brightened.

"And not the woman you know." Ginyu said.

"How?"

"I tricked her into saying the words. For someone who is supposed to be a genius, that girl is dumb at times." Ginyu shook his head, "After everything she went through you would think she'd know not to trust random intelligent animals."

“And then?”

“I planned on taking a ship and finding a new body, but we were wished to earth before that could happen. Every plan was foiled by circumstance before I could implement them and in the end, I grew used to this life. “ Ginyu explained. “It's a good life. More money that I could ever spend, nice loving parents and a nice friend group. Why give that up if I didn’t have to.”

Vegeta looked at him before he swallowed hard, “Why me? You didn’t seem all that interested before.”

“I wasn’t. I won’t lie, you’re handsome. Well built and nice to look at. But you’re a dangerous, vicious man, and you were selfish to the point of ridiculous.”

“So why come to my bed as you did?”

“Because I took one look at Trunks and knew who his parents were. I’ve been in a lot of bodies, and seen many faces and body types. It didn’t take more than a few minutes to figure out who his parents were.”

Vegeta hated how it made sense. Ginyu came to him at the right time, almost suspiciously right. “And after? When you found me on the desert's edge?”

“By that point you had become interesting to me. And since then I have, I have grown to love you. You were happy, our children were happy. We could be happy again.”

Vegeta shook his head. “No. No how could I be, knowing this. You beat nappa half to death after a false allegation. I have scars on my back from the ‘training’ Frieza tried to force us through when I was 12. You helped that monster do so many evil things, and you did it whilst dancing. Fucking Dancing.” Vegeta leaned back and rubbed his face, “HFILs sake you were a one of the most feared members of his inner circle.”

“I grew up in a free world. But I saw the number of innocent planets and people were killed for Friza’s work. Survival became all I cared for, especially after seeing what happened to YellaGord. Wiped clean of nearly all life to make way for vineyards. What was left of the population went from freemen to indentured servants. I had discovered my gift not long after, and it was easy enough to go from body to body and gaining more power. The Frieza force was safe and powerful, and I took it. Your own Father agreed to join because he thought it would save your race. A lot of Kings and Queens and leaders did the same. And all submitted or died. Some died anyway. What use was it to fight when none were strong enough to kill him?”

Vegeta said nothing, “I can’t believe this. I can’t Bul-” he leaned forward and pressed the heel of his hands to his eyes. “I can’t call you her name. I can’t call you Ginyu either I can’t.”

Ginyu felt a pain in his chest and he reached out to try and comfort his husband, but Vegeta pulled away. The confusion and pain in his eyes was so raw that Ginyu had no words. There were none.

Chapter Text

Yamcha stared at the picture on the wall and wondered when it could have happened. The picture was of the group from a few years before, just after Goku revived.

Had she been replaced in the chaos after the Buu situation. Or in the quiet months that came after? Was it in the middle of one of their long gaps in communication or when they were together as a group, either strategising or celebrating.

How long had their friend been a different being?

"You shouldn't feel bad." Nail said, and stood next to him.

Yamcha huffed, "I'm one of her oldests friends. How could I not have noticed she'd been body snatched."

"Body snatched?"

"Term from a film. Remind me to show you it some time."

"Careful, I'm taking up every offer of new experiences I can. Piccolo's a good guy, but by the Dragon he is boring."

Yamcha laughed and shook his head, "What makes you think I shouldn't feel bad?"

"Because from what I've seen Bulma is a changeable person. One moment sunshine and smiles, the next anger and lightning. How many times have you witnessed her mood swings? Piccolo only comes when asked or in emergencies, And even he knows how fickle her moods are." Nail leaned on the railing, "Not too mention some of the things Kami told me about your shenanigans."

Yamcha sniggered, “I bet he had some stories.”

“Yeah. Did you really used to be a bandit?”

Yamcha shook his head. “A long time ago.”

“Can you two get over here and help? We're trying to come up with a plan.”

Yamcha and Nail looked behind them and saw Tien, who looked annoyed.

“Yeah, we're coming.” Yamcha said and headed back to the group.

“I’m holding you to that movie thing.”

Krillin moved his chair to let Yamcha get closer. “Any idea of when it could have happened.”

"I have no idea." Yamcha said. "I've been racking my brain for an idea of when it could have happened, but I haven't a clue." he glanced down at Krillin and saw his eyes flicker away for a moment. "Have you got an idea?"

"Maybe." Krillin looked about his friends and swallowed, "Maybe Bulma got some plan of her own we're not privy too. It's no secret she's obsessed with her looks and we all heard what Gohan said."

"But why include us?" Tien asked, "Why restore our youth if she didn't have too."

18 looked between them then, and then down at her husband, "What's the point of being young forever if you are alone."

Yamcha wanted to argue, But it was something Bulma would do. Enjoy the fruits of her labor a few decades more, and enjoy with her loved ones. Honestly it made Yamcha feel loved, knowing she may actually have chosen to keep him around.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

~Eavesdropping on people's thoughts isn't polite Nail."~

=Screw polite. I want to know why all this is happening. The power behind that wish may not have been massive, but it was widespread. Do you think that the wisher expected this to happen? The separation of us? The resurrections of a 'demon lord'?=

~Nail, we both know that's not what you’re doing.”

Nail schooled his features so none knew he was speaking with Kami.

=I can't help it if Yamcha's thoughts are loud. No one here knows about shielding.= There was silence from Kami, a vague feeling of disbelief. =Oh knock it off. I'm not god kami, I don't not have to abide the same constraints as you.=

~And what about you own cultures rules on it?~

It was Nail's turn to be silent. Kami's presence left him and he contracted back on the conversation.

Until a new voice popped into his head and nearly made him jolt.

*Get anything useful?*

=The hell?=

*Calm down Nail. It's me, Dende*

Nail felt his nerves calm, =Thanks for the heart attack kind. Where was the nudge?=

Dende chuckled, *Not gonna lie, completely forgot. Manners kinda get lost after a while.*

=I take it you don't mind poking around in people's heads?=

*Oh, Kami has a lot of self imposed rules. And if he keeps offering up advice He may be taking the quick way down to the ground.*

Nail tried not to laugh. =Try sharing a head with him for a couple of decades kids.= He felt a mental shudder come from Dende. =Seriously, he isn't that bad once you get used to him.=

*Sure Nail You found anything?*

=Possibly.=

*What?*

=Bulma's father is hiding something.=

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta was strong enough to walk now, and it annoyed him no end that he couldn't use his abilities. It made him want to punch something, but without his strength he would most likely injure himself.

God, he was no stronger than a human now. So many years of hard work and training and it was all for naught.

It also scared him, because now? Now there was tech that could render those as strong as god harmless. With enough work, maybe even kwell the gods themselves. Was that Bulma's tech, or was Ginyu smarter than Vegeta ever knew.

He shuddered again.

Ginyu.

Goddamn Ginyu.

The prancing powerhouse who had spent years following Frieza like a loyal dog. Who'd done just as many awful things as Vegeta had. Who'd lied for decades.

Vegeta had thought the idea of his longtime lover being Ginyu would be the thing that made him squirm. But no, it was that it was a lie. Two decades worth of them. Not just to him, but their friends and family. Their children had never known Ginyu beyond a few stories.

Friends. God, how could they have been fooled for so long?

No, Vegeta couldn't blame them. The Bulma he knew was complicated and emotional. According to her (and begrudgingly his) friends that had been how she had always been. Ginyu taking control would have been noticeable in the chaos following Namek, and Vegeta had spoken to her on that planet, and that had been to threaten her.

It was ridiculous.

He found a window and saw the planet they were one. Bulma was creating a long term home here, and it was a good choice. Isolated, life sustaining but capable of sustaining multiple lifeforms. Hell of a lot better than vampa.

"If you want to exercise there's a gym. There isn't much of a challenge to you but its something to do." Ginyu said and leaned against the doorframe. "And there's a room. You're still welcome in mine if you wi-"

Vegeta laughed, "Oh my god, you're thinking sex will happen after this?"

Ginyu rolled his eyes, "No. I meant that I," Ginyu looked down, "I'm used to having you beside me."

Vegeta said nothing and felt his face heat up. He mentally took back what he'd thought easier about having been Ginyu's lover for 10+ years not being an issue.

Vegeta had never had partners like that before Bulma. The danger was too high. Nappa had attempted a couple of relationships, and ended up a drunken sobbing mess at the end of them. Raditz had a couple of flings, but always none Frieza force people. One night stands on far off worlds. Occasionally Vegeta got a little jealous, but in the end it was better to remain single.

And then Earth.

Vegeta had found his eye wandering to Bulma often, and eventually they had become closer.

"You said you knew who Future Trunks was, Is that what made you come to me."

Ginyu looked at him, and folded her-his arms crossed, "I won't lie. You're attractive. But until then, I had not planned on it."

"So was I means to an end to begin with?"

"A little. But You won me over." Ginyu grinned, "And you certainly didn't make it a chore, Vegeta."

Flustered, Vegeta turned away and felt like he wanted the earth to swallow him up.

"I'll be in a different room."

Ginyu lost the grin and turned away. "Come one. The other two will be back."

Vegeta sneered, "I cannot believe that those two escaped hell." he really didn't believe it, and it made him wonder if Ginyu was lying about it all. But he knew too much for all of this to be a lie.

Ginyu could have killed him. Could have handed him over to Fireza. Could have done a million other things. Why would pretending to be married to him be of any use?

"Yea, well before yesterday I didn't believe it either. But we've seen god fighting over pudding so I don't put anything past the universe anymore." Ginyu stopped and turned to him, "Hey, did you know Radtiz and Dodoria are hooking up down there?"

Veget froze, then a full body shudder ran through him. "You are joking."

"No. You think they were screwing before-"

"No. Just no. I-" a wave of nausea came over him as memories tried to resurface. "Repressing right now."

"Oh come on, it's nice. He's finding love and affection."

"Are we remembering the same Dodoria?"

Chapter Text

Daimao Had spent the day amongst his followers, what few remained loyal, and learned all he could of this new world.

Not a lot has changed beyond tech. Politics and people were still the same. Aliens were a shock, but when you lived on the edge of reality it wasn't that big of an issue.

Finding out he came from a species of farming, pacifist plant/slug hybrid creatures was a disappointment, but it made sense. No demon he had ever met knew what species he was. Many just assumed he was a multi hybrid. Everyone of his ancestors had to have been different species in order to make him. And then his own offspring had come forth looking like earth demons, he had assumed it was his parents coming through in his young. Now he knows it was some kind of internal psychological need to conform to the planet's expectation of demons.

He hated it. but he would not allow it to make him feel inferior. None would make him feel that way.

He settled into his room and looked past the window, out over the vastness of his kingdom. He saw the lights of cars on the mountain road and scowled. He wanted to obliterate it, but he couldn't risk his son coming for him. Though as far as he knew, the boy was off-world. (In space. His son, IN SPACE)

He may be able to get away with it by making it look like an accident, but he knew that wouldn't fly. So instead he contemplated and plotted.

He needed to increase his power without being noticed. The dragon balls were an option, but he didn't know where they were. If he could get ahold of one of those radars the Blue haired girl had but a better idea came to mind.

The balls streaked across the sky upon use, light trails and if any of this modern tech could track those lights, then maybe....

Oh, Daimao had a plan now.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Come on, it's his daughter, if anyone was going to notice she was different, it would be him."

Goku didn't like this. Not one bit. He felt awful enough as it was, he didn't want to compound it by accusing her Dad.

So he went home, claiming he needed to speak to ChiChi.

"Now that I think about it, there were tons of weird moments. But I figured it was just her being her."

ChiChi leaned against the sink, "You know, it's not a bad thing to not have noticed. I mean, you know you're not the ..."

"You can say I'm a moron, I already know that."

ChiChi gave an odd look before continuing, "Out of everyone, you're the last person who should have noticed something. Bulma goes from mood to mood like a bee in a flowerbed. Out of all of us, she is the easiest to replace."

Goku thought about it for a moment, "Do you think anyone else could have been replaced?"

ChiChi nearly laughed, but stopped herself, worrying, filling her eyes, "Oh, I do not like that idea."

Goku didn't like the idea either.

"Ginyu is the only being I have ever met who could body swap. Unless another foe is hiding that skill."

"No one else could have learned it?"

"From what Vegeta said, it was natural talent. I suppose Ginyu could have been lying."

ChiChi sighed, "Well, we won't know until Gohan and Piccolo find something."

"She looked outside then, up at the stars, "Our baby boy, off in space again."

"Hey, he's majorly smart. The guys were right in sending him. I'm here to be the muscle, But Gohan? He's our brains."

This seemed to placant ChiChi a little. "You are right. Our baby boy is very intelligent. Even with all the terrible influences around him."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta awoke to the sun on his face. He sighed and rolled over, and saw his wife beside him.

"Morning." she said, and her eyes were bright and cheerful. Odd, because Bulma was not a morning person.

"Anything important on the books for today?" he asked her, sitting up and stretching out his back."

"No, Got the whole day ahead of us." she sat up as well, hair falling to show her pale, long neck. "Why not stay in bed for a bit."

Vegeta caught the glint in her eye and smiled, "I don't know. There's a lot we could get done on a spare day."

She clambered into his lap, pushing him backwards. He let her, her pleasant weight rousing him. "Oh no honey, I have plans for you."

"Outside a cloud must have passed over the sun, because it became dark. But Vegeta didn't care. His hands were busy moving up his wife's thighs, and she leaned over him to press their lips together.

As they kissed, she seemed to grow heavier. As her hands roamed his chest, they grew larger, The delicate brush of her hair seemed to vanish as the thighs in his grip grew.

"Oh, my darling." Bulma said, voice huskier than it had ever been.

She pressed close, her tongue in his mouth larger and more demanding and they wither against each other. Bulma' far larger leg is between his, and the grind together.

Vegete pulled away from the kiss and he looked up at his wife, her hair short, body bulkier and muscled, "What's wrong Vegeta?"

His brow furrowed and he knew something was wrong, but he couldn't think of it.

He didn't want to think of it.

Instead he kissed her again, and stroked along her body.

Excitement grew but he knew something was wrong. Her grasp was too strong, her body different. The dick grinding against his hip certainly wasn't supposed to be there.

When she speaks again, it is not her voice.

"Come one Husband, show me you love me."

Vegeta looked up at her and saw not Bulma, But Ginyu. His great hulking form trapped him against the bed. But his gaze was soft and loving.

"What's wrong?"

Vegeta shot up and gasped, eyes wide as he looked around his empty room. He looked down at his lap and saw his excitement, and groaned.
He checked the clock and got out of bed, heading to the bathroom, where he found all his usual toiletries.

Ginyu had planned this for a while. The food brought along was all to their liking, there was plenty of entertainment and their current home was being sent up for long term living. He wondered how long Ginyu planned to keep them there.

Them.

His kids were going to be woken today. Or at least Trunks was. Vegeta had been told that Ginyu would speak to him alone. Vegeta didn't like that, but he didn't really have much choice.

He thought about staying in his room, but knew he couldn't hide away.

He went to the kitchen, found the coffee maker and began to brew a pot. He looked in the fridge and found the normal stuff, along with several Horrt fruit, which surprised him.

"Those are for everyone, mate."

Vegeta stiffened as he heard the voice. He stood, turned and saw a face that he'd last seen bursting into a million pieces.

"Heya Vegeta. Long time no see."

"Jeice." was all he said. He went back to the coffee maker and poured a cup, then got the sugar and milk.

The alien seemed to be trying to think of something to say. Eventually he settled on, "That Earth coffee got a hell of a kick to it."

Vegeta didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Should he apologize for killing him? Ignore him? Question him?

He didn't know. The whole situation was ridiculous. But considering their lives, not out of the realm of the ordinary for them.

Ridiculous was the norm most days.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"So you have pinpointed Zella?" Piccolo asked as he spoke to Moori.

"Yes. On route towards earth. Why he's heading that way I don't know, but if you begin your return, you may cut them off." Moori explained. Piccolo noticed something seemed off with him.

"Is there something else we should be aware of?"

Moori didn't answer for a moment. "I sense another Nemakian on the ship. Small and underdeveloped. I think he may have an egg with him."

"Oh." Piccolo blinked, "Is that good or bad?"

"Oh, it is a great gift to have a child. But it also worries me why he would travel with an egg."

"You think he's there against his will or..."

"I do not know." Moori said, "But please be careful. The life of the child takes precedence. If you cannot return Zella, bring home the child."

Piccolo said nothing and ended the communication.

Gohan had been listening, and he frowned. "I do not like the idea of kidnapping someone's kid."

"Who said anything about kidnapping? So far all we know is he's traveling to Earth with his egg. Nothing that needs our interference."

"But Moori-"

"Isn't going to get what he wants because he tells us too."

Gohan didn't like this. They were supposed to find their missing friends, not trying to force some wayward son home.

"How far away are we?"

"If we gunned it we could be with them in less than a day."

"I'll set course, but if they look like they could blow us up we are backing off. We have speed on our side , not weapons."

"We are weapons."

Gohan rolled his eyes and went to make tea.

He was getting more worried the closer they got to their target. Their best case scenario was that Ginyu had taken Vegeta to try and trade him to Freiza, or maybe blackmail him with the safety of his children. Worst case scenario was they were all dead and- no. Dende was in regular communication with Kai, and no one had noticed their spirits entering the other realm.

He didn't want to think about it. They didn't have any return options for any of the Briefs except Bulla.

Could they bring her back without her family? Watching her grow without her mother and father and brother? Or would it be kinder to leave her with them, allowing her soul to move on?

He thought of his own child, his Pan and felt his heart clench. Oh god, he prayed that anyone would listen that didn't have to find out.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Burter was helping him get his son out of the pod. It was nice to have another set of hands he could trust. IOr at least believed he could be trusted.

“He got Vegeta’s looks.” Burter said, “Your coloration though.”

“He’s considered quite handsome for this species.” Ginyi said, “Hell, he’d be handsome by most species' standards should they see his power level.”

“You’ve still not said how high it is. Not properly.”

Ginyu laughed, “Power scaling means bull on earth. Between their ability to hide their ki and the power dampener it will be difficult to show off how strong they are until I am certain they won’t be a danger to us.”

“Is he that strong?” Burter asked, remembering the battle that killed him, “Realy”

“These Saiyans have more potential than I ever could have guessed Burter. They are a thing to behold when they are at full strength. If Frieza had been less egotistical, they could have been an army that could have taken this universe.”

They fall into companionable silence and continue to move the boy along. The bracelet that sat on his wrist was glowing slightly, and Burter had to ask something.

“Are you planning on selling those?”

"I'm not selling them. Once this ordeal is over they are all getting destroyed bare the prototype, and even that isn't a complete working bracelet. I will not allow this tech out in the universe."

"They could earn you a bundle."

I already have more money than I know what to do with and the other tech My company makes will earn me more than the entire Kold empire's planet trading."

Burter looked again at the bracelet, "So you're really not gonna go back to planet trading?"

Ginyu seemed to think about it for a moment. "I can't. I never wanted to be a purger Ginyu, but life doesn't tend to give you what you want. I got really lucky when I took this body. I could have wound up in Krillin's body."

"Krillin?"

"Short fellow with the dots on his head. Very nice guy. you'd like him."

"I'll take your word for it."

They got the boy to his room and Ginyu was careful as he tucked the boy in, gentle with his child.

Burter had never seen Ginyu as paternal, but right now he seemed like he really fit the part. It was both touching and weird.

"You can leave us now Burter."

"Good luck."

Burter left him and returned to the main room where he saw Vegeta staring into a cup and Jeice flicking through channels on the tv.

"How'd it go?"

"Kids settled." Burter said, "Ginyu ordered me out, so I guess if we hear yelling we'll know he's broken the news."

Jeice nodded and looked over at Vegeta, "How'd you take it?"

Vegeta looked up at him with a scowl and Burter half expected an insult, but instead he looked away and said, "Still taking it."

Chapter Text

His mother took his hand, explained slowly and carefully everything that had happened. She stressed how much she loved him, how she had never wanted him to find this out. How all she wanted was for her family to be safe.

When she finished explaining, Trunks just sat in silence, staring down at the comforter. His face was tight, eyes wide as he seemed to be trying to come to terms with this.

He was quiet for so long that Ginyu began to worry.

And then he laughed. A strained, awful sound.

"Trunks, I know this is hard to understand-"

"No No it's not. Why would it be?" He looked at her and there were tears pricking the corner of his eyes. "I mean it might as well happen. Dad's an alien, my mom's a body snatched heiress inhabited by the spirit of an alien. I'm now being held captive by said mother/father. Anything I need to know?"

Ginyu could tell this could go bad, and fiddled with his bracelet, which was actually an emergency beacon.

On the other side of the building, Vegeta was approached by a robot asking him to come to his son's room, and he wasted no time.

He found Ginyu standing and looking confused, as his son sat laughing hysterically as tears streamed down his face.

"Leave." He said.

"But-"

"Now Bu-Ginyu."

He stood a second longer, but then left, and Vegeta went to his son's side and with a sharp movement, slapped him across the face.

The pain stopped his laughing, but the tears remained as Vegeta sat on the bed beside him.

"Dad?"

"Breath, before you put yourself into another state."

Trunks did as he was told and Vegeta watched him. "What the hell Dad?" he asked, and looked at the door his mother had walked through.

"Ginyu told you. I wish I could say he is lying to us, but he knows too much for it to be a lie. At least not a total lie."

Trunks lay back, "Why?"

Veget shook his head and reached out to take his son's shoulder, "I don't know. Maybe this is some elaborate plan, but right now I can't think of a reason for it."

"I can think of a few." Trunks said, letting his head drop to the side and rest against the back of his father's hand, which Vegeta allowed.

"Don't think too hard on them right now. Paranoia will not help us, not whilst we are incapacitated."

"So what do we do?"

"We wait. Maybe Ginyu will trip up, make some mistakes and reveal his plan. And if he doesn't, then we have to live with this....revelation."

Vegeta wished he had anything else to say, but he didn't.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Living in a community of telepaths who were convinced that sticking to one planet and living quiet lives as Farmers made it difficult when you have a restless spirit.

Zella had roamed their world from pole to pole, and had met every other villager and creature to sate his curiosity. He had snuck into places he wasn't allowed and read the texts reserved for the elders only to try and quell the wanderlust in himself. He had thought he would spend forever trapped on that one planet.

But he had worked and trained hard, and eventually in the dead of night, had crafted his dragon.

The balls were small and almost pearl like, but they were his and they worked. And the Dragon did as he wished.

It helped him get off Nemak. Gave him the bold and the plans to escape into the galaxy and explore. But before leaving his home he had collected them again, and took to wearing them about his wrist. His next few wishes were simple. A method to sense where they were, to ensure he could always find them. A wish to protect his mind from unwanted tracking. And then he had been approached by a man who had heard of his species' wish granting ability, and he had offered Zella a lot of money for a wish for good health.

And so Zella’s business had begun. It had been hard at first, differentiating between those that were dangerous and those that weren't, but eventually he gained a system to discern those whose wishes were mostly harmless from those who could be truly dangerous. He was no idiot, he knew the kinds of wishes people could make. And though Zella had allowed some truly selfish wants to win out, he had hoped they hadn’t been evil.

But then it happened. He had awoken in the morning after spending a very enjoyable night with a being of indeterminate species and gender he had woken with an odd bubbling in his chest. Several weeks later it had still been there, and then he had gone to a local medical clinic and was told he was gravid.

He'd been shocked, and worried that his one time suiter had left him with more than a nice memory. But it had turned out his body, and secretly his subconscious, had decided it was time.

Zella had been thinking about becoming a parent for a while. He'd always wanted a family, and he had told himself that if he still wanted it in a year's time, he would begin the process.

His body had apparently decided to jumpstart the process. He'd panicked, then he'd thought about it and came to the realization that this was a good thing. A sign from the universe that it was time.

He'd started to prepare when he'd gotten a message from a very rich woman asking for a wish. So Zella had agreed to a meeting, and before he had known it he was swept up in a plan and life that had proven both lucrative and exciting and worrying.

The worry was still there, as he had been forced to reveal his location to people who could force him back to Nemak. It wasn't like he was truly in hiding, all he would have to do is send a mental message to the galactic patrol office of Interminded beings and he'd be rescued. But he didn't want to have to do that.

But what Zella wanted was a safe place, and Bulma had offered him that. Rather than finding a home on the overpopulated central worlds, he had decided to take a chance with Bulma on the Earth. He'd been researching it since he had come aboard Bulma's ship, and he was starting to think it could truly be a good home.

Earth was off the beaten track, and very few went there unless they had a good reason to. It had incredibly strong protectors, and a wide variety of waters and cultures to explore and some beautiful lands. There were two Namekians living there, one that was the offspring of a lost Dragon Clan member who had no want or intention of living like a traditional Namekian and a young man who had taken on the mantle of their guardian. Zella hoped he could find safety for himself and his child there. A place he could happily live out his life without interference.

The job with Bulma was giving him more than he ever expected.

And now Zella had decided to finish up his job.

Bulma refused to just come clean and explain the situation, so he was going to cut the crap and make the whole situation easier.

He just hoped they figured out his clue.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Hey Dumbasses, look here!"

The message had Gohan staring for several seconds before he stood up and went to the kitchen, where he ate breakfast before checking the ships systems and the quarantine drive before he went to Find Piccolo.

"We have a message."

"From who?"

"No idea."

Piccolo followed him to the computer and stared at the same message for a few seconds. "Okay, we either have a smartass ally or someones trying to fool us."

Gohan nodded, "We'll see what he sent up, and if it's good then we'll make contact. If it isn't then.....well we'll figure it out."

So Gohan downloaded the message to the safe drive, and wanted for it to be scanned and revealed.

The quarries ship was an hour away now, and they had slowed their pace to stay out of sensor range. It made Gohan itch to be so close to answers but having to hold back.

And now they might actually have them.

"It's a recording."

"A recording? Of what?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

=I knew it!=

~Knew what?~

“=The old man is hiding something.=

~What old man? What are you talking about.~

Dende ignored the thoughts of the other two and instead concentrated on the situation at hand. Instead of contacting the group through Capsule Corps tech, but a thought message from Piccolo.

They'd found evidence that the man already knew what was happening, that he knew the truth.

"We need to approach this slowly."

"Why? He's got a power level of 3." Nail said.

Mr PopPo laughed, "He's also the father of the smartest woman on earth. And richest. The man has resources that could cause us a hell of a lot of problems."

"And if he had helped, then he likely knows how Trucks and Vegeta were subdued."

"If he was subdued." Mr Popo said, but Dende ignored him.

"Whatever they may have used will likely be tech based, so we cannot let ourselves be in range of such a weapon."

"So how do we confront him?"

"We don't. We are going to be careful about this. At least until Piccolo gets back to us with more information."

"That does seem like a good way of moving forward." Kami said, "If you'll excuse me, I sense something from the East, I shall check that it isn't....him."

Kami left them, and Nail looked at Dende and leaned against a pillar, "You don't have a clue how to proceed do you?"

"No me damned idea but I'm not saying that in front of him."

Chapter Text

Vegeta and Trunks were practicing hand to hand techniques and holds.

Burter watched with interest. Vegeta moved with a confidence he had always had, and his son had inherited it. But occasionally the boy would move ins a strange, loose limbed way that almost made it look like he was swaying instead of dodging.

"That's an odd technique, you kid has Vegeta." Jeice said, watching from his chair, "You teach him that?"

"No. That was from one of my wif- Bulma's friends." Vegeta said, catching himself.

"Yamcha taught me. It's an old technique known as the drunk. The master who created it would seem drunk as he fought."

Jeice thought about it, "How do you keep your joints so loose but still manage to hit your target."

"With difficulty. I mostly use it to avoid hits. But it can make your opponents really mad if they think you're not taking them seriously." Trunks explained, and then Vegeta ducked and kickedd out, planting him on his ass.

In second Trunks was on his feet, feigned left which his Dad saw coming, but then actually going in with a left and nearly catching him in the chin.

"Oh ho, double bluff. Nice." Burter said as he continued to watch the two. It was a lazy fight, more to waste time than actually learn or train, but it was good to watch.

"Vegeta's certainly gotten more skilled, His muscle movement is more streamlined." Jeice said, "Not to mention he doesn't let as much of his land anymore."

"He doesn't need to. He did that to make his opponents think he had a chance and get them closer to him. He fights like he knows he doesn't have to rely on that anymore."

Before Burter could say anything else he got distracted by movement at the side of the room.

Bulla was here. The small girl plodded in, still looking half asleep from her nap, and wandered to the side of the room. She had a little backpack with her and when she sat she opened it before completely ending it. There was a sippy cup that she immediately shoved in her mouth and leaned against the wall to watch her father and brother. Shewas completely unimpressed by the display, but that could be because she was still in dream land and not really watching.

"She's a sweet little thing." Burter said under his breath, not actually looking at her.

"Yeah. Still can't believe Vegeta Of all people would wind up the family type."

"Same. I always thought he would end up dead." Jeice watched as the two fighters seemed to finish, "But I guess this stuff just happens sometimes."

"Papa done?"

"Yes Bulla." Vegeta said, "We're done for now."

She shoved all her stuff back in her bag and got up, toddling unsteadily to her Father before being scooped up into his arms.

"The mat is free if you want it." Trunks said as he grabbed his water bottle.

"Come on Burter, I want to try and stick that damned kick."

"Why do you keep trying? You end up screwing your ankle every time."

"I'm gonna get it if I have to break my ankle!"

"Which you likely will."

The too of them arguing was lost as he carried his daughter through the hallways towards the outer doors. They were allowed outside, and Vgeta was planning on being there as much as possible. He didn't like being cooped up with 2 dead men and a liar.

"You know we can't go far. Ginyu wants us to go to that counciling thing."

"Ginyu can keep wishing." Vegeta said, trying to keep the anger from his voice.

“Dad, I think maybe we should go.” Vegeta gave Trunks his ‘explain or pain’ look and Trunks quickly did. “The sooner she thinks we are co operating the sooner we might be able to get these things off. We won’t be able to convince her overnight, but at least trying might give us a little leeway.”

Vegeta grunted and thought about it as they walked. A few of the plants were sporting, but most would take weeks to cultivate enough to know what they were. The plans he’d manage to see said mostly grains and such, and there were wetland to the east that looked to be the beginning of rice paddies. Long term crop goals that would feed them and be good for trade.

Ginyu had been planning for this to be long term if needed. And Vegeta didn’t want to think of how long they could be stuck on this damned planet, powerless and waiting for rescue.

“What time does he want us to meet him?”

“After 11 I think. Or whatever eleven is here.” Trunks looked at his watch, "These haven’t exactly been updated for interplanetary time keeping.”Bulla lifted her bag then, "Momma gave me a watch."

Vegeta took the bag and held it whilst she rooted through it, pulling a small device that was indeed a watch. Digital numbers were big and easy to read.

"It's 10:30." Vegeta looked up at the sky, "Doesn't feel like it, does it?"

"Shouldn't you be used to weird alien time zones?" Trunks asked.

"20 years on earth screws with your time perception."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Gohan was still processing the situation. Piccolo had gone to inform Dende of what they had found, avoiding Dr Briefs.

Dr Briefs, Whos' always been iffy, but Gohan just couldn't believe he would allow such a lie to go on for so long. To allow a monster to replace his daughter just to garner some insider info on the galaxy. They had dozens of aliens who would gladly tell him what he wanted to know. Why would he allow this to happen instead?

"So what's the plan?" Piccolo asked as he came back into the room, looking a little worried.

Gohan shrugged. "I have no idea. What do we do, send her a message saying 'Hey Bulma, long time no see, wanna talk about your twenty years absence and maybe help us from your replacement cos we really want to get you biological not kids home?'"

"I think she will agree. After all, she's trying to regain her place on earth."

"She wants to be able to play house again. I get that this is her life, that she deserves to have it back but....God there were better ways to go about it."

Piccolo wanted to ask what those better ways were, but had a feeling that asking wouldn't be helpful.

Gohan stood suddenly, a determined look on his face. "Oka, no more waiting. We send them a message and ask to come aboard. We are getting to the bottom of this now."

Now this Piccolo could get behind. "I got the emergency beacon. If things go bad, we can have Goku."

"It's in the top drawer of the bedroom cabinet. "I'm going to send a meeting request."

Piccolo went to fetch the device, and wondered if they should send another message to Dende so he knew what they were planning. But he also knew that sending another message was a risk. He had no clue what kind of surveillance Dr Briefs had.

Or it could just be him being distrustful. Since diffusing, he had lost some of his confidence. He'd had the constant companionship and advice of two other beings in his head so long that he had forgotten what it was like to just be him. And it hurts. But he'd also regressed in personality.

Gohan was right, he was different. He itched for a fight, for experience. When he had first taken Gohan, his only goal had been to create a loyal minion, instead he'd made a friend. The initial excitement of it was still in him, like he hadn't spent two decades fighting and living and caring for Gohan. And seeing his father again hadn't helped.

It woke up the selfish and vicious part of him that wanted to do as he pleased. To ignore the one little voice in his head that told him to do good that had grown large over the years and just take as he saw fit.

But he knew where that led. And letting it get the better of him right now was not a good idea.

"Piccolo! We have a response!"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The room Ginyu had set up had a little table for Bulla to play at, and three chairs that faced each other. Everything was firmly affixed to the ground and there was nothing throwable available.

The silence was awkward.

Bulla was happily playing with her toys in the corner, and the rest of her family sat facing each other in chairs, quiet as church mice.

Though Ginyu was hoping to talk this through, she didn't actually know what it was they should talk about. Vegeta was happy to remain silent, but eventually Trunks was the one to speak.

"What are you hoping to get from this?"

Ginyu looked at him, then thought about it. "I think...I want us to be able to remain a family. I know the trust is likely gone, but we've lost trust before and come through."

"Ginyu, this isn't like eating the last slice of cake or drunkenly spilling secrets to your friends. You have pretended to be an entirely different person." Vegeta folded his arms and gave him a nasty look, "How exactly do we forgive and forget that?"

"I don't want you to forget! I just want you to consider that we can still have a good life together."

Trunks looked at his Dad, "Did Mom remind you of Ginyu when you met her?"

Vegeta thought on it, "I don't know. I didn't make a habit of hanging out with the Ginyu force outside of the necessary interactions. There were a few mitigating circumstances, but beyond those we weren't friends."

"That is true. Vegeta spent most of his time with the other Mid level Purgers. I think we only really interacted when Frieza needed us to."

"And you didn't know the Actual Bulma?"

Vegeta shook his head, "Not for more than a few minutes. I spoke to Krillin more than her."

Trunks swallowed, "Please don't get mad at me for saying this, But If Ginyu was the only person you had real interaction with, then she kind of was the one you ended up falling for."

The look Trunks got from his father was a nasty one, but after a moment he looked away and Trunks knew his point had gotten across.

The teen didn't know why he was doing this, but he knew if they wanted off this rock they had to play nice. And they couldn’t play nice if his Dad was kept up with the silent treatment.

But as he asked the question it did make Trunks wonder who exactly his father had fallen in love with. If Vegeta had never met the real Bulma, then that would mean that the only person he could have fallen for was Ginyu. And surely someone couldn't have spent a full 20 years pretending to be someone else. Not when he spent all of his life simply swapping bodies and living hell he pleased- then again if trunks really really thought about it the real Bulma’s reputation led him to believe that she did whatever the hell she wanted and Damned the consequences. If that was so normal for her that even her closest friends and families didn't realize she'd been replaced. Maybe it was possible that Ginyu and the woman he replaced were far more similar than anyone thought.

Chapter Text

People think that space travel must feel like submarine travel, locked up in a tank. But it's very very different, and just as terrifying if you think about it too much.

On submarines there is an up and down, and left and right. So long as you know which way is down, you know what way is up, what way lies air and light and salvation.

It's not like that in space.

Though the pod has gravity, there is no real pull beyond that small ship. One wrong pump of the smallest pressure could send them off course, either towards a planet or into the black vastness of nothing. No sound, now heat or vibration beyond what the ship's limited safety had.

"Will you quit thinking about poetic deaths in space and concentrate on the mission?"

Gohan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled nervously. "Sorry, it's just so....different. Every time I think to hard on it it feels like -"

"An empty abyss of endless night. Yeah, you're projecting like crazy." Piccolo said, "Quit it and concentrate. We have to have our wits about us."

They were 100 yards from the docking port, and they were suited in case of anything going wrong. Piccolo looked uncomfortable in the space suit, but it was important to be able to breathe in space should something bad happen.

They successfully docked, and the doors opened in succession to avoid accidental venting. They eventually his the main ship and were greeted by A Namekian and a Humanoid Lizard who both wore similar grayish jumpsuits.

"Welcome to -"

"Where's Bulma." Piccolo said, not bothering with politeness.

"Well you certainly haven't changed much Piccolo."

Behind them a woman stepped into view.

This being was huma. Her ki level was higher than the Bulma he knew, and she seemed taller, but he assumed that was a genetic change made during the cloning process.

"Hiya Gohan." she said, looking at him with a sly smile, "You've grown up kid."

"Er, hey Bulma. I guess it's...nice to see you again?"

She shook her head, "Come on, you can strip out of the space suits and we'll talk somewhere more comfortable." She walked away but stopped to look back over her shoulder, "And don't try anything dumb. I've spent years retrofitting this ship with failsafes and weaponry. You don't want to know what it can do."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"God damn that boy." Vegeta snapped to an empty room.

He'd never loved Bulma. He'd loved a being with her face and the revelation pissed him off because, because-

Because it meant that should he ever meet the real one, she would not be the person he wanted to be with. But the knowledge that the one he had fallen for, who he protected and loved and changed for was Captain Fucking Ginyu.

Ginyu. Frieza's favorite general and second biggest threat.

He couldn't blame Trunks though. The boy had had his whole world turned upside down and now all he was doing was trying to find the best way home.

If they would be welcome back on earth. Would anyone even believe that he wasn't in on this. And if they did think he was innocent, he was never gonna hear the end of it. Then again, if any of Frieza's surviving men found out it would get back to Frieza and-

Oh god. Frieza could never find out about this. Frieza had already insinuated that Vegeta had married a version of the space emperor, if he ever found out about this Vegeta would never live it down.

Plus there was the fact that Fireza might make a beeline for them. Vegeta didn't trust that this wasn't some plan to get him and his family enslaved or killed.

A shiver ran down his pine. Vegeta would not see his children work for Frieza, he did not care what he had to do. He would rather them die than that fate.

And that thought made him stop. He couldn't think like that. To get bogged down in the fear of what could be. It had been years since he had been truly afraid and he could not allow it to paralyze him, or make decisions he would regret for eternity.

He needed solid proof. Or at least information.

And there were 2 people here who may be able to help.

Vegeta found Jeice was icing his ankle and sulking when Vegeta asked him.

"What happened to you?" Vegeta asked.

"He keeps trying to pull a move only his cousin can pull off." Burter said, "Except his cousin is half Pannabeelian so he can do it without breaking an ankle."

Jeice huffed and ignored them both.

Burter rolled his eyes before turning to Vegeta, "So why are you here?"

The Saiyan looked uncomfortable, which was weird because Burter was used to 3 emotions from him. Barely concealed anger, barely concealed amusement and stoic nothing that Burter assumed hid fear. Seeing him emote beyond that was either proof of how he had changed or that he was truly out of his depth.

"I need to know about Ginyu. About how he was as a person."

Jeice stared at him a moment before he seemed to get what Vegeta was saying. "Oh I get ya. You wanna figure out if He's telling the truth by finding out if he acted like you missus."

Vegeta rubbed his eyes and nodded, "Yes Jeice. I need to know if what you say matches with what I know."

Jeice sat up straighter, "So I take it you didn't know the original body owner."

"I didn't meet her until Namek, and even then it was barely a few words. Then we got wished back to earth and apparently it was Ginyu then."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Trunks couldn't find a way into the computer systems beyond basic functions. His mom had done a real good job.

But Trunks was better. He'd spent the past few years working on the Capsule Corp systems in order to get away with some teenage shenanigans and he damn well wasn't going to be locked out of a family system. But he had to be really careful. Ginyu had done a good job with security but Trunks wasn't going to let it stop him.

The encryption system was incredible, and it was very obvious that it had been designed to make him circle between false levels. The obvious thing to do would be to start looking for a way in through a none important system. But if that was the obvious way in then Trunks should keep digging where he was.

No. No. Trunks pushed away from the computer and rubbed his eyes, "Come on Trunks. Think. Ginyu's at least as smart as Mom. Or is just plain smart as me. So maybe I just have to calm down and step away."

Trunks let himself flop onto the bed and tried to think about something other than the ridiculously well designed computer systems.

Then again, Ginyu had to keep two powerful warriors and a hyper intelligent teen from escaping. It made sense that the systems would be so complex.

Staring at the ceiling, he wondered how long they had been on ice.

A day? A week? A year? How long had they been absent from their lives on earth?

Trunks didn't like that train of thought. Goten would miss him and honestly, he missed Goten. They'd not spent more than a week apart since they'd been toddlers and the idea of being away from him for a long time made his stomach clench.

Eventually Trunks needed distraction and left his room, walking the halls and keeping his senses wide to try and avoid others. His dad was on the other side of the complex, his mother in a lab and Bulla watching tv.

He walked along the edge of the building, and eventually followed the bots that were working the fields.

It was impressive to see. His mother-Ginyu's robots were good. Maybe not the same as the one his grandfather would build, but that made sense now.

When trunks really thought about it, a lot of stuff made sense.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew his mother had been Yamcha's once, and the idea that his mother would dump him for the man who killed her friends had alway been so strange to him. But he figured when he was old enough he would be told the truth of the situation.

Her emotional response wasn't the only thing that made sense.

Ginyu's tech advancements made sense too. Slowly the Cap Corp tech had become the most used tech on the planet. Sure they had a few competitors, but Trunks wondered how many of them had been taken over by a Cap Corp subsidiary.

An awful idea came to his mind that maybe Ginyu hadn't left his planet conquering ways behind, he was just using a less abrupt and more peaceful change in leadership.

Something in the back of his brain was impressed. Conquering a planet without a single drop of blood, completely dominating a world without it even knowing?

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma watched them as they removed their space suits, leaving them in their skin tight under suit. Piccolo hadn't been pleased but Gohan had told him it was for safety and now he felt horrible exposed.

It didn't help that Bulma was watching them, not being discreet as she looked them up and down. They were simple black bodysuits but they left little to the imagination.

Piccolo raised his hands to use his clothes beam, but Bulma stopped in.

"I wouldn't do that. The security system might see it as an attack."

"Oh come one, surely your tech can tell the difference?" Gohan said.

Bulma smirked and shrugged, "Maybe, but I don't want to take the risk. And there is nothing wrong with what you're wearing now."

Gohan blushed as Bulma latched onto his arm and guided him to the door, "My office is just down here. Plinka can you get a pot of Jeerf?"

"Jeerf?" Gohan asked.

"It's space coffee. It sort of kind of tastes like earth coffee."

Piccolo followed and tried not to show how uncomfortable he was. Beside him the Nakian he assumed was Zella.

“We’ve been asked to try and get you back to Namek. You wanna do that?”

Zella looked ahead as he answered, “No. I plan to settle on Earth.”

“Okay then. Don’t blow anything up and we should be good.”

Zella glanced at him then, “Seriously? That's it? Not gonna drag me by my ear?”

“Nope. I agreed to try and bring you home. I didn’t say I would try very hard.”

Zella gave him a smile. “Okay then.”

“Be aware you’ll have to put up with several people using your balls for dumb shit.”

“It’ll be good for business.”

“Doubtful. There is another set of Dragonballs there and they're free to use.”

“Yes, I know. But also take a whole earth year to charge. Mine are ready to go again in two months. And I’m sure your world would be pleased to see a set that is more accessible to them than the current set. After all, haven’t the last dozen or so wishes been used up by the same group of people.”

Piccolo nodded, “I think the dragons are getting sick of seeing us.”

Zella laughed.

The office they went into was big and comfortable, and there was still a tank at the back. Goan figured out it must have been Bulma’s when-”

“Oh god, you were a frog.”

Bulma laughed, “Yep. I don’t recommend it. Engineering tech when you have no thumbs and need to be semi submerged most of the time isn’t easy.”

She let go of his arm and sat on the edge of her desk, “So, do we listen to my life's story and then have a question and answer section, or do you want something more direct.”

“You were trapped as a frog and Ginyu took your body. You’ve been traveling in space trying to find a safe way home whilst he’s been living your life on earth.” Gohan said, “Is there anything I left out?”

“No, you got it.” Bulma swung her legs.

“So why come back now?”Piccolo asked, “because 20 years seems like a long time for someone who can build capsule tech with the contents of a junkyard.”

“Please, Piccolo, what would have happened if I had shown up and declared myself the real Bulma? Especially considering no one would want to admit to not noticing me missing.”

“Hey, I barely knew you beyond my Dad’s memories. And Gohan was 5.”

Bulma sniffed, “My own mother didn’t notice. I hear he kept up my ‘treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen’ thing with Yamcha, but I guess Ginyu didn’t want to risk it so dumped him. So I can’t blame the guy for not real;sing something was wrong.”

Piccolo couldn’t keep his words in his mouth, “Bulma, Treat them mean doesn't drive them crazy. If Ginyu was treating him the same way you were, no wonder Yamcha found another girl.”

Bulma pouted, “Is it my fault if he doesn’t understand how women-”

“Okay, maybe keep to the important stuff like why you collaborated with Ginyu to stay hidden?”

“Because I didn’t want to give up my life here. I worked hard to build a reputation and business that I am proud of. Plus I am not giving up the galaxy to play boardroom politics. I like my life. But after leaving I kind of sort …wanted to be able to visit. I issued so much, and I realized that it wouldn’t be all that much fun to hang out with a bunch of old fogies so I tracked down Zella and made my wish.”

Gohan took a deep breath, “Bulma, did you think for one second what this could do to our lives? I have a job and a kid. Yamcha has a tv career."

"Oh come on, you figured out a way around it-"

"Piccolo de-fused from two other Nemakians Bulma." Gohand snapped, which she hadn't been expecting. "He defused Kami. He defused from Nail. And do you know who defused Kami Bulma? Do you?"

Bulma shook her head, suddenly wary.

"King Piccolo. So now we have a Demon king resurrected, 2 innocent beings who may have to give up physical form again and a lot of people on earth who would love an excuse to pull a government domain situation on Capsule Corp and its owners suddenly becoming 20 somethings again would give them a great excuse."

Bulma cringed and rubbed the back of her head, realizing that though Gohan did look like his Dad at times, when he was pissed he was all ChiChi.

Chapter Text

Plinka hadn't seen Bulma look shame-faced before, and it was a weird thing to see. Her meeting with the hybrid and that Piccolo character had been tense, and after a lot of questions and anger and promises of better plans moving forward they had ended up drinking Jeerf.

Bulma was right, it did taste enough like coffee that you could forget it wasn't. Or at least concentrate on something that wasn't how angry Gohan was about all of this. He was supposed to be a respectable professor, and he had spent his last lecture panicking that the tech Bu-Ginyu had given him would fail. His daughter found it all interesting, but poor Hercule was having kittens and Buu kept watching them like he was thinking about something very hard and Goahn didn't know what to think of it.

He wanted a solution. He wanted his life back to normal.

"Just think of it this way, you get a few more years with Your wife. I mean, you are 18 now, but you didn't look much older at 27. Think of everyone else. ChiChi is probably loving the extra pep in her step. And I know Yamcha's gotta be loving the pulling power having a young and handsome face will have."

"Not just him. Roshi got his youth back too." Piccolo said, and Bulma laughed.

"Oh I am gonna have to check my surveillance. I haven't been keeping up with it much and I really wanna see if he has the flirt to back up his looks."

“I would rather not think about it.” Gohan said and looked into his cup. “But what we need to know now is where Ginyu has taken Vegeta and the kids. And more importantly how he did it.”

“Oh, that should be easy enough honey.” Bulma said and pulled open a drawer, “You see, now you’ve figured this out yourself, I have no reason to be denying you answers. So I have no guilt giving you this." She pulled out a radar like device. “This is a bio tracker. It can only find people who have my DNA structure, and no one else. Each one takes months to make,and doesn’t always work when you build the first build model. This one will show you that I am here, and if you press the red button,” she did so, and a small purple dot appeared, “Is our wayward friend.”

“Is he a friend though?”

“He can’t afford not to be a kid.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

ChiChi was actually agreeing with Master Roshi, which was a shock.

“It’s like a new lease on life. Why be so hasty to give it up?” she said as she sipped her coffee. “Are you telling me none of you are enjoying this?”

Tien grumbled but nodded, “I get what you mean. I’ve found myself enjoying my training and teaching mre. It’s like there’s a new energy in me. Or an old one. Plus my students are saying that Tiens ‘Land back uncle’ is far easier to learn from.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” ChiChi asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m being less strict because I relate to them more. I’ve had a few complaints that I can be a little strict with them so-”

Chioatzu snorted, “Tien, four students left because you set the bar too high.”

“I do not!”

“Tien, you expected a human ten year old to master ki control. They've only been training for three years.”

“Videl managed it.”

“Videl was seventeen and trained with her father her whole life. She had a base to work from.”

Videl looked up at the mention of her name. “Oh, I was not very good at the Ki power thing. I’ve concentrated on my flying more. It’s more useful to me.”

Tien looked embarrassed, “I guess I might have had my expectations skewed after hanging around aliens and the craziest fight on the planet.”

Chioatzu giggled, “Just a little Tien.”

“Well I for one have actually thought of getting back into more specialized training. I’ve got the time now, and being 20 again is certainly helpful in learning new skills.” ChiChi said.

“Oh come on one ChiChi, there’s no reason you can’#t train more in your normal form Despite the saying you can teach an old dog new tricks.”

ChiChi smiled and looked off towards the end of the deck where Pan and Marron played, “It's not that I haven’t wanted to be more open with my training. It's just that 46 you get too darn tired for it.”

“So why are we here anyway? Dr Briefs called and said he wanted a word but he’s still not out of the lab.”

Tien shrugged, “I think he wants us close by in case anything else happens. There’s rumors abound and I think he really wants us near incase shit hits the fan.They are missing their resident powerhouse.”

“So why aren’t Yamcha and Nail here? Or the boys?”

“Trunks and Goten are in the workshop working on a school project. And Yamcha and Nail-”

“Are at his place. Come on you guys, I like Yamcha as much as the next guy but he’s not exactly our best defender. And that Nail guy has been stuck inside another Man for decades with no training. Neither are gonna be much us-”

“Now you stop that right now Tien. Ymach was useful during that prison break, and he has helped keep us alive when the more powerful have been off fighting the bigger bads. So don’t go acting like he ain’t nothing cos he can’t beat you.” ChiChi snapped.

Tien was taken aback, and cleared his throat. “Yeah. You're right, he has talents. I think he’s with Nail actually. Something about sharing human culture”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Nail had taken him up on his offer to watch a movie, and Yamcha wasn’t sure if he should be laughing or not. He’d explained that Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a horror sci fi, but Nial had waved it off like it was nothing truly scary.

“I’ve faced Fireza, I can handle a movie.”

He couldn’t.

He sat holding a pillow and leaning into Yamcha, watching the screen with wide eyes and occasionally making noises. Nails ear’s would twitch occasionally and Yamcha felt really bad for finding it funny, but it was.

When the film finished Nail was in shock.

“Holy HFIL, how was that so scary. It wasn’t even in color!”

“Yeah, the older films have got some kind of atmosphere to them, it really tells the story.” Yamcha said and stretched his back. He arched against the cushions and Nail watched as the shirt he wore rode up a little. “They remade it a few times.”

“Why?”

“Because each retelling meant a different thing. The first one was during a really paranoid time where we nearly went to war. The second was about moral collapse and how they were worried science and clinical thinking would destroy us. Then it was about military infiltration and loss of humanity. There was another one a few years back but I didn’t see that one.”

Nail leaned his face on his hand, “Your species is really paranoid about being mind controlled or replaced.”

“Isn’t everyone?”

“Considering why I’m here, I guess it's not a bad thing to be paranoid.”

Yamcha looked at the clock. “You wanna watch another, maybe something comedic? Lighten the mood a little.”

“That sounds nice Yamcha.” Nail said, “Though I might need you to explain the jokes. I learnt a little about earth humor, but Piccolo’s sense of humor is…..lacking.”

Yamcha nodded, “Yeah. You want another glass of Juice?”

Nail shook his head and Yamcha grabbed the remote and began searching for a film that would be easy to follow. He settled on a comedy about a woman who has to rush across the country so her kid can be born in the right city to get the family inheritance.

“It's a dumb rule to have.”

“It is. But most of these laws have been struck down now. We have better record keeping and our judges tend to work with more common sense. Not always, but that's what appeal courts are for.”

“We don’t have that issue on Namek/ We’re capable of telepathy and can suss out the truth pretty well. What little crime there is isd dealt with before it can get too far.”

“Has there ever been anything you couldn’t deal with?”

“A couple of situations arose in my youth amongst some of the youngest of us. Boredom and strict routine can lead to rebellion.”

“Did it get bad. “It was mostly youths being rude and vandalizing public areas. But we eventually found healthier ways to cope.”

Yamcha looked thoughtful for a moment. “What kind of graffiti would nemakian make?”

“Swears and anty Guru stuff. The occasional rude drawing.”

“Rude? How so?”

“Pictures of genitals and such.”

Yamcha went a little pink, “Why would drawing pictures of your necks be rude? Wait, is that why you guys are always wearing scarves.”

Nail threw back his head and laughed, "No, no. What would that even look like? I mean, we do cover our necks but that's because they're sensitive. It's only one part of the system."

"Piccolo must look nuts heading into battle without his scarf."

"Oh, he looks something alright."

Yamcha giggled nervously. "He's gonna kill me if you guys have to refuse. He really doesn't open up like this."

Nail lost some of his mirth, "Yeah. Not sure if I'm looking forward to that."

"What? You want to stay single?"

"Being fused wasn't bad. A little boring at times, but not bad. But I like having a body again. So I'm taking advantage of it."

"By watching movies?"

Nail nodded, "Among other things. Right now I'm thinking of finding someone to spend some quality time with."

"Oh ho, you're looking to find yourself a little fling while you have a chance huh? I might be able to help you there." Yamcha pointed his thumb to himself, "I can be a decent wingman if you need it."

"Wingman?" Nail asked, confused.

"Oh, someone who helps you find a partner."

Nail sniggered, "Sure, I'm sure you could help."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta felt like he was going to throw up.

Jeice and Burter had given him all of the information he needed, and now he regretted it. Because now he knew for certain that it wasn't Bulma Briefs that he had fallen for.

Ginyu was a strong minded, intelligent being. He was intimidating and had an iron will. He was a good parent too their children and despite his habit of driving Vegeta Crazy, was the one Vegeta was closest to outside of the clown. And it was only because he'd fused with Kakakrot.

His distress must have shown, because Jeice and Burter began talking.

"Look, its not like its a bad thing." Burter said. "If anything this makes your life easier. Not having to meet the real Bulma and worry about choosing. Not having to second guess who you're supposed to be with."

It didn't seem to be helping. Veheta still looked ill, and Jeice looked up at him with a helpless look. "Look, Whether you like this or not, Ginyu is your wife. He mothered your kids, he's proved himself a good spouse. What you've got to figure out is if you can live with it."

"And if one of you discovered a secret like this?" Vegeta asked. "Most of the Frieza force had to join because they had no choice. But Ginyu had a power that could have kept him away from that. Just body surf when things get dangerous."

Jeice grimaced, "You can't blame a guy for getting ahead of the curve."

"I can't but when I'm one of tree purebloods left. Tell me Burter, what of your own species?"

The tall man frowned, "Dead. We're told to leave or die. Some of us were able to Leave."

"A didn't you ever have a moment where you hated Ginyu? He may have joined for a safer life, but it doesn't negate the fact he didn't have to."

Jeice kept his mouth shut. He was lucky, his species and home world were still intact. But Burter had a pinched look about his eyes.

"I...I'm not gonna lie to you. I have a little resentment over it."

"I get why people joined Frieza of their own free will. There were a lot of good reasons to. But I lost a Kingdom. A home. There wasn't even lore or information left for me to learn from. Just second hand information from a moron and a depressed third class." Vegeta said.

Jeice sighed, and decided to weigh in. "Mate, is it his choice to join or his closeness to Frieza. Because we were more Colds men than Freiza's."

Vegeta gave him a serious look, "It doesn't make much of a difference. I have scars that certainly make me see him as Frieza's man."

"So have I. So does Jeice. No one escaped that fucker without them. Physical or mental."

Vegeta rubbed his face. "You could be lying.Helping your commander."

"We could. But why would we? I'm happy with the bar we have.We've got a second chance and a happy life.And now we know the Captain's alive, we have a friend back." Burter leaned back on the couch, "It's not perfect. But we're monsters, Vegeta. We killed planets. We've murdered. We don't deserve the good we have."

Chapter Text

Bulma was impressed by how quickly Gohan picked stuff up. Hevd always been good with book smarts, but right now he was showing real adaptability to new situations as he began putting together a plan.

“We can't just storm in. We don't know what kind of firepower they have and kami knows how Ginyu subdued them. We cannot allow ourselves to fall victim to the same treatment.” Gohan said as he double checked coordinates. “One of us should go in and scope the place out, whilst the other stays on the ship to give Goku a ki signature to latch onto.”

“So Goku needs an anchor to pull off his little transportation trick huh?”

“How do you-”

“As I said, I’ve been keeping an eye on you guys. Wanted to see what I’d missed.” Bulma gave a sly smile, “Gotta admit, you nabbed yourself a fine catch for a wife Gohan.”

Gohan blushed and coughed, “Yeah. I’m lucky to have Videl.”

“ChiChi must have been ecstatic that you found a rich girl to marry. God knows she wouldn’t have settled for some farming girl or receptionist.”

“How much did you spy on us?” Piccolo asked, a little nervous. He didn’t like the idea that he had been watched without knowing.

“Oh don’t get your panties in a bunch. I didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have. Don't want to consider how boring you are. If you're babysitting your training, if you're not training you meditating. You need a hobby, Piccolo.”

“I do not.”

Gohan agreed but said nothing.

“Hey Bulma, I have to ask something but it might be awkward,”

“Oh, I’m an open Book Gohan. Ask away.”

“How long has your Dad known Ginyu had replaced you?”

Bulma looked over at them and thought about lying, but didn’t, “Likely the whole time. You know my Dad, never one to miss an opportunity for advancement. And Me being out here was apparently a great fact finding mission.”

Piccolo just stared at her, before he turned away and stormed off, "I need a mintue."

They watched him go and Gohan side eyed Bulma, "You know, I get that most scientist on our world are pretty weird and....unique, but leaving your daughter stranded in outer space isn't axactly normal loving father behaviour."

"I could list the shit your parents have done that should be classed as batshit Gohaon. Lets not make t a competition."

Gohan rolled her eyes, "I got to stay on earth, who's winning."

Builma threw back her head and laughed. "Cheek. I ought to teach you a lesson, mister."

"I'm sure you've got plenty to teach." Gohan grinned and after a moment his face became serious. "But levity won't hide the fact that our little group is going to need a lot of time to heal over this. HFIL, GInyu has become a pretty good friend in your absence. I get that he is a bad guy, that he lied, but there's gonna be a lot of mistrust towards you as well. Surely the whole reason you didn’t come sooner was because you like it out here?

"Because I DO like it out here, Gohan. Ginyu took my life but I got another one. And once Pops and I get this all straightened out?" she smiled wide then, and Gohan felt an itch of fear in his brain, "We're gonna make some real waves."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"So." Jeice said and looked over at Buyrter, who was starring in his mug.

"So." he replied.

The two of them had watched Vegeta leave and now sat, quiet and thinking.

"Do you really resent the Captain?"

"A little." Burter said. There's more of my race than Vegeta, we've got a chance of coming back if we partner off. I don't even remember my home much. I was only a tyke when it was harvested and destroyed. I only have stories. But there were enough of us that we could tell stories and remember."

Jeice stared at him a moment. "I wish I could be more helpful mate."

"Not much to do, Jeice." Burter looked at him, "I joined because I needed medical care that the pods couldn't fix. I thought it would be easy, do some low level work and keep my head down, leave when my contract was up. I didn't expect my talent for speed to get me 'special interest'. "

"Yeah, fastest in the universe." Jeice said, and then felt bad.

"I beast circles around you and Ginyu. That tiff on Namek was a stress response and you know it."

"Hey, I'm just saying that power equals speed."

"And I'm reminding you of your broken wrist and Recoom’s dislocated knee."

Jeice laughed and shook her head. He knew some light ribbing would get him in a better mood.

Then he thought back on his own past. His life was pretty good. Anyone raised on a Kold Planet was given rudimentary training when they grew up, before heading off and specializing. Jeaice had scored high in his lessons, and had thought that maybe he'd become a professional Bat Ball player. But he'd been scouted by the wrong kind of person, and when he graduated school he had been allowed though they'd forgotten about him, but Ginyu had shown up and the rest was history.

You didn't say no to Frieza. And saying no to Ginyu was pretty much the same thing. So he had said goodbye to his family and tried to visit when he could, and left to become one of the most feared and dangerous men in the galaxy.

He'd never cursed Ginyu for it. He'd cursed the scout who'd showed up at his training and games. He cursed the little league captain for not warning them. Sometimes he blamed himself for not holding back. For not seeming smaller than he was. But between the scouters and the constant tattling for good favor JEice was gonna get found eventually.

"Would you go back? If Freiza showed up tomorrow and ordered it, would you?"

Burter thought about it. "I think I fake a yes and look for a way out. Frieza isn't the biggest bad anymore. Vegeta and that Goku guy give him a real run for his money now. Maybe if we promise to help protect his world he'll give us refuge."

"You think he would?"

"He gave it to Vegeta. Why not us?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

The bar was quiet and thought Nail got some looks, Yamcha vouching for him got them left alone. They looked about the bar and sipped at drinks whilst Nail listened to Yamcha's mindless chatter.

It was nice. He wondered why Guru and Moori were so against their people coming out here and enjoying the universe.

Kami, He knew it could be nasty but he didn't think that it was something they needed to be shielded from like children. Then he looked over at Yamcha, smiled and Nail nearly giggled, and he realized that maybe the alcohol could be a real problem.

Nail had drunk before, but earth stuff was potent. He'd had one drink and already his head felt light.

"I should probably have water next. This stuff hits harder than I expected."

Yamcha laughed, "Didn't know you were a light weight man."

"Hey, our alcohol is based on a watermelon type thing with limited sugars. It's weak compared to this."

"From what Vegeta said, he's surprised our species isn't perpetually plastered."

Nail laughed and looked out over the bar. "This is nice. Do you come here often?"

"Couple of times a month. I try to keep out of the public Eye and this is a nice place." Yamcha said and eyed the people at the main bar, "Now, let's see who's here. Do you have a type?"

"Tall. Broad shoulders. Nice muscles but not too much."

Yamcha glanced at him, "Eh?"

"Yamcha, I come from a race that most refer to as male because we all look male. What kind of person did you think I would go for?"

Yamcha stared for a moment, then gave put down his drink. "I am an idiot. I should have seen that coming why wouldn't I-gah I am so sorry. I...I think there's a casual club down the road if you wanna try there maybe?"

"Casual club?"

"Like here, but mostly gay guys."

"Gay?"

"Those who like their own gender, or in your case....actually I'm not sure how your case would work. Is your orientation considered straight on your world?"

Nail let Yamcha prattle on, his confused questions endearing. To be honest Nail wasn't entirely sure himself. He stretched an arm so it rested behind Yamcha but didn't touch him, and hoped the fool would get the idea soon.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Goten had been meditating all day. He sat in a lotus position and tried to focus, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe would sense his friend.

Goku had been watching him most of the day, heading off to do chores every now and then but returning to watch his son cope as best he could. Eventually he stepped in.

"Come on kiddo, you need a break. You are no good as a rescuer if you forget to eat and pass out."

Goten sighed and opened his eyes, "Its weird. I've never been able to not sense him before Dad. Trunks is like my biggest constant. Not that you and Mom and Gohan aren't important, its just...Trunks gets me. He understands being a hybrid and having a difficult family and I really can't believe that he's just gone."

Goku wrapped an arm around his son's shoulder, "We'll find him. Gohan is the smartest guy we know, if anyone can find him Gohan can."

"You sure?"

"As sure as I can be. And the worst case scenario? I can ask the Nemakiens to use the dragon balls."

This seemed to cheer Goten up, "I just hope he's okay. He plays all tough, but he's a softy on the inside. Who knows how he's coping?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Trunks was not coping.

He was drawing with Bulla and nibbling on weird looking alien fruit, as he silently had a crisis.

Because he was trying to wrap his head around the fact that you could know someone your whole life, love them and trust them and then it turns out that they are just...not the person you thought they were.

His Dad had told him not to let it get into his head, but how was he supposed to do that? This was his entire life turned upside down. Like, was he even a real Briefs? He had their genetics, and had been raised in their home, but was he really one of them? Would his grandparents still love them? Or would they be cast aside in favor of the real Bulma?

His chest became tight. He knew their father wouldn't let them be destitute, but what if they decided that they should take legal action? They could make it so Trunks could never work in the tech industry in order to protect their assets. They would use their science or the dragonballs to try and dampen the intelligence they got from their mothers side of the family. They could -

"Trunks, you're breathing bad." Bulla said and looked over at him, her little face full of concern. "Do you need Momma?"

"No, no I'm good, I'm...." his chest became too tight. "Go, go fetch Dad."

She didn't have too though as his wrist band began to glow red and suddenly there were bots with a medical symbol on it.

"Vitals indicate a panic attack in progress, help is on its way." it said, as it calculated the best way to treat the situation. Before it could Vegeta appeared, and he frowned at Trunks. But his eyes were full of Worry.

"Bulla, go to your mother. Tell her I am here."

Bulla rushed off, and then bashed the bots off button. Then he knelt before his son and took his hand. "Stupid boy. I told you not to let this rule your head." he said, but there was no bite in his voice. He took his son's hand, and then pulled him by the nap of his neck so their foreheads touched.

"Come on brat, next breath in, try to hold it."

Trunks tried, but the first failed. The second caught and he sealed his mouth. A shudder ran through him and he had to release it but the next inhale stuck, and he held it. Vegeta pulled his head away, "Slowly release it. All the way until your lungs are empty."

Again trunks managed it, his breath hitched a little, but he managed it.

"In and hold." Vegeta said and Trunks did it without a problem, and then kept on like that for several minutes, Warm hand on Trunks's neck and a calloused hand on his own, keeping him grounded.

Once his breathing was back to normal, he didn't let go of his hand.

"Sorry Dad."

"Don't be. This was something I was expecting. You're like your mother, you think too much."

Chapter Text

Dinner was a quiet affair, and Trunks felt almost normal. Ginyu helped feed Bulla, who was making her way through her favorite orange mush of mash and carrots. Truthfully she was old enough for Normal food but no one was in the mood for a battle tonight.

Eventually Ginyu got tired of the quiet and asked, “So when are you heading back to your bar?“

Burter glanced up and said, “End of the week. Any longer than that and people will start to ask questions.”

Ginyu was surprisingly sad about that. Though their arrival had been Worrisome to begin with but in the end had been helpful. Ginyu had been watching the interactions through the cameras, and it had been eye opening. Not just knowing that Vegetawas coming to terms with his identity, but also the emotional state of his men.

“Hopefully we will get a chance to see you again.” Ginyu said, “It would be pleasant to keep in touch.”

“Oh you ain't getting rid of us that easily. As much as I enjoy Burter’s company it’s nice to have more than one friend.” Jeice said and drank his beer before looking at the can, “Also definitely gonna need to know where you got this stuff cos this is good.”

“And strong. Go easy on it, earth alcohol is no joke.” Ginyu said, “I was lucky this body came with a tolerance.”

“He isn't wrong. It will knock you on your ass if you're not careful.” Vegeta warned. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with a drunk Ginyu force.

“The more I hear about earth the more curious I am. Supposedly great food, strong beer and strong protectors. Songs like a perfect holiday planet.” Jeice said.

“It’s also my home now, and I don't particularly wish to share it with a bunch of tourists.”

A little relief flooded Trunks and he looked over at his Father, who was watching the other three adults with careful eyes.

"Well, it certainly seems like a nice place to retire too." Burter said, "Are you planning on going back."

"If it's safe too." Ginyu said, "I don't want to have to re-enroll my kids in different schools. There aren't many that aren't residential that are any good."

Trunks didn't like where this conversation was going.

In fact he very much wanted to change the subject but didn't know how. Thankfully a beeping sound from Ginyu's wrist distracted them from him.

"Oh, I have a message coming through. If you'll excuse me." Gitnyu said and left. Dinner wrapped up quickly after that and Trunks was happy to take Bulla to get ready for bed.

He'd just put her into her pajamas when he felt a weird sensation in his head. He ignored it and tucked her in, and it got worse until eventually he was fighting a mild headache as he finished her story. Thankfully Bulla fell asleep quickly and he was able to head to his own room where he drank a tall glass of water and a few aspirin before heading to bed. It was early, but he was tired.

He was just nodding off when the ache stopped but the throb was still there, a strange sensation that nearly caused Trunks to go to Ginyu for help.

But then something else happened.

-Hello? Kid, can you hear me?-

Trunks jolted and looked around, then mentally chastised himself. He'd had Kig Kai and Goku in his head enough to know when someone was using Telepathy.

>Piccolo?!>

-"Finally, I've been trying to bypass the limiters around you for a while. You okay?"_

>Yeah. I'm fine. Where are you?!>

-Following you. Or trying to. has Ginyu done anything to hurt you?-

>No. Just put these Ki limiters on us. And no,I haven't been able to find a way to get them off. Ginyu did real good job hiding the schematics of these things.>

-How'd he get them on you?-

>Knocked us out with gas.! Trunks turned on his side and closed his eyes, "Really hoping he doesn't have any monitors for telepathy. Otherwise he might move us on again.>

Piccolo was silent for a moment. -We should be at your location in 5 hours. Anything important we should know?-

>There are a couple of guys who used to be a Ginyu force here, but they're weak. Like, really weak. And they don't seem to be able to control there ki levels to hide them.>

There was a moment's silence, -What do they look like?-

>One is orange and called Jeice, the other is Burter and is a big lizard Dude. Dad warned me not to get to comfortable around them.>

More silence, then -Gohan says be careful. There were loyal to Ginyu and pretty nasty. Follow Vegeta's instructions and keep a close eye on them.-

>Gohans with you? Is Goten there?>

-No. We left him on Earth.-

>Is h okay?>

-Worried. I have to go, this connection is difficult to keep up.-

That was all he got, and Trunks had to wonder if it was real. Excitement bubbled in him at the thought of rescue and-

Beeoop. Beeoop.

The noise made him sit up and look over at the bedside table, where a light was on.He touched it, and hisMom's voice came through.

"Are you okay Honey, Your heart beat was a little elevated and after earlier I-"

"Oh god-Fine, I'm fine,.perfectly okay" He said in a panic, then realized Ginyu may get suspicious, and made a choice to embarrass himself, "Er, you mean you can tell whenever my heart rate goes up, like whenever I may be...alone or something-"

There was silence. Ginyu spoke in a flat voice. " ..I just realized why that could be a bad idea with a teenage boy."

He whined, burying his face in his hands and hoping any cameras that picked it up weren't noticing the lack of evidence beyond the embarrassment. "Please, please pretend you didn't see that."

"Saw WHat? I saw mild panic, that's all you okay so burbye._

The beep sound to show the call was over, and Trunks really helped Piccolo's voice hadn't been a hallucination.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu felt his face burn up and he buried his own face in his hands.

He'd thought Trunks had gone to bed early because he was tired, not-oh god he should have ignored it.His heart rate hadn't been that high.

He shuddered and wished he'd been less curious, but he was worried damnit. Trunks was a teenage boy now. He should have known there needed to be a level of privacy.

"Ughhh. Why couldn't he stay twelve."

Ginyu shook himself and decided that he had to indulge ina glass or two of wine, because he needed something after that embarrassment. So he stood and shut down his work station before heading to his room.

In there was his bed and some seats, and several screens. He went to the fridge and pulled a bottle of white from it, not bothering to grab a glass and just refilling his water glass.

He turned on the screens and it showed several rooms in the house and news feeds. He kept the one for Trunks off, but let the one with Bull and Vegeta play. It was a live stream, so Bulla was sleeping and Vegeta was flicking through an info pad. He looked nice, laid out on the bed. Firm strong muscle, cute face and his tail flicking as he scanned the pad.

He hadn't gotten his chance to try out his younger form before being forced to leave, which was annoying. The chance of him getting him into bed for a while was a long shot.

So instead Ginyu drank his Wine and watched the news reel.

News of a new Ruler on Quazar 3 was the big story. Several murders of Mubdall and a massive market shift had a lot of planet traders worried. Apparently there had been chaos since Frieza had returned. In his absence thePTO had fallen apart since many decided that they didn't actually want to let their homes be sold off. And considering there was no one powerful enough to actually enforce the trade anymore, many were happy to let it fall to the wayside. But with Frieza back, the industry was trying to restart. But it was hard to do that when the powers that be had changed in that time. Fighters with actual ability and skill were putting up fights that the Frieza Force couldn't cope with as well.

A part of Ginyu found it hilarious. Another part was worried. There were dragon balls and wishes that could help Frieza, but the monstrous emperor had been concentrating on finding ways to destroy Goku to properly deal with his empire. But eventually he would get his shit together and gods help them when he did. The man had finally learned what training could do so now they all had to worry.

But they would find some way to deal with it. If hanging around Goku and his Ilk had taught him one thing it was that anything was possible.

Vegeta got up from the bed then, and Ginyu followed his progress to the bathroom, where he shut the door and he changed the camera. Vegeta stripped off his shirt, then his pants and Ginyu bit his lip and refilled his drink before turning off the camera’ to his kids room and big screening the feed of her husband.

He turned on the shower and Ginyu made sure his door was locked before leaning back and enjoying the show.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

“So this is goodbye for now then?” Zella said and as he watched Bulma get ready to go. He’d been surprised when she’d agreed to go with the newcomers.

“Yeah. Plinko and the rest of the crew will see you to earth, I’ve given orders to keep you protected. I’ve also sent a message ahead so you should have a safe place to land.” She explained as she packed her bag, “I’ve got my beacon and my single ship. I’ll see you in a few days to a week.”

“You better not be lying Bulma. I want my child to be born free.”

Bulma turned to him, “Zella, I promise that if you are not on earth when I get there, I’ll rescue you myself. Besides, this crew has gotten really attached to eggy.”

“Ha. Tell me about it.” Zella said and smiled, “Good look Bulma.”

Bulma grinned and thanked him before heading to the docking bay. The small ship waited for her, fully stocked and ready. Gohan and Piccolo had already left for their own ship to get a head start, and Bulma would be able to catch up easily. She wasn't entirely sure how she could be helpful, but she wanted to build as much good will as possible. The more she could show she was a game player the more of a chance she had of getting back into the fold with minimal problems.

But it was going to cause a major problem. Would Yamcha be willing to give her another chance? Would Krillin still trust her or Oolong still….well she hoped he’d grown out of his pervertedness, but would he still see her as a friend?

She would have to earn their trust back.

Chapter Text

"It'll be around morning for them, so we won't have the cover of 'night' to help us." Piccolo said. "God I hate all these different time zones."

"They’re behind us, so we'll be rested enough for this. My question is should we be doing this in secret. We could approach each other openly and see if Ginyu would be willing to talk."

"And risk getting caught up in whatever trap Vegeta did. No thanks. I say that I go in and see what kind of defenses they have. Trunks says that the 2 force members aren't that strong, but if they have learned to hide their ability then we shouldn’t take it at face value. We only have 2 senzu with us and I don’t want to have to use them in the first fight."

"How about I go in?" Bulma said. She was speaking to them over the radio, as they'd decided that allowing her on the ship may be a bad idea, so she followed along behind them. “I'll say I'm there to visit, see if I can't get some insider info? After all, so far as he knows I’ve got no pony in this race anymore.”

Piccolo thought about it. "Could be a good idea. But how do we know you won't warn him? Just because you don’t have a pony here doesn’t mean you haven’t placed a bet."

Bulma put an end to the conversation before they got confused by the metaphor. "You'll be listening in and you have Goku on Speed dial. I'd be dumb to try anything."

Gohan gave Piccolo a look, and muted the radio for a moment, "Should we risk it?"

"It's a better plan than sneaking in, call Goku, and then run."

Gohan nodded. That was the base of every plan they had and honestly? Gohan didn’t trust it to work. So he unmuted the radio, "Okay Bulma, we play it your way. We need to know the lay of the land and what security she has. Are there any hidden fighters or dead man switches in place?"

"Can do Captain. "Bulma said. She left out the fact that she already knew those things thanks to her father, but this whole exercise was about trust. How could she build that trust if she didn't lie to them?

Piccolo hoped they wouldn't regret this.

He looked out the window, and off in the distance he could see the planet they were aiming for. They didn't get any closer, as to do so would risk discovery. Bulma would head there and hopefully gain the information they needed. From there...honestly Piccolo didn't know. He hoped that Gohan could build a good enough plan that they could save their friends without having to fight anyone.

Then again Piccolo couldn't remember the last time one of their problems wasn't solved by punching. It would be novel to fix a problem with diplomacy instead of a fight.

Oh god, even thinking that felt wrong.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Yamcha had enjoyed their night out. Nail was a cool guy, and honestly going to the Casual bar had been a fun change. Drinking beer in a normal bar versus a gay bar had no difference, and seeing the other casually flirt with a few patrons had been funny. Mostly because by the 5th beer Yamcha had been imagining Piccolo glowering in the corner the whole time and that had amused the heck out of him.

Now it was morning, and he'd been smart enough to down 2 pints of water and a big bowl of noodles to help his hangover and now he was pretty much recovered. Okay, so he'd needed an aspirin, but at least he had gotten up to do his katas and basic training that morning. Now he was going through his schedule to see what he had on the books that week. Work would need him Thursday and Friday, but he was still free for another few days. The holo watch Bulma had given him had been useful as heck, and he had a full weekend free.

"So how was your date?" Puar asked as she handed him a plate with lunch on it.

He laughed and pulled his meal towards him, "Hanging out with Nail was good. I might try and drag him out again at some point. Before he and Piccolo remerge. If they do.”

“Do you think they will?”

“Honestly? No. Nail seems to be enjoying his life a lot and I don’t think he’d choose to be re-merged if he didn’t have to.”

“So you want to see him again?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Puar smiled, "That's good. It's nice to see you getting out there again. You haven't had a date in a while."

"You know you can knock it off with that joke Puar. It was just a friendly hang out."

Paur gave him a confused look. "I...thought it was a date. The way Nail acts around you-"

"Oh come on Puar. Nail doesn't see me like that." Yamcha said and went back to his schedule.

And found he couldn't read.

Instead he was thinking about watching movies, and how close Nail had been. The smile that he'd had and only seemed to have when he caught Yamcha's gaze, even the way he put an arm over the back of the chair, that migrated to his shoulders through the night....

"Oh god. I am a moron."

"Yamcha, I love you man, but you are."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Daimao had managed to wash away the road without raising much suspicion. Everyone believed it to be a storm that did it.

His human followers had returned, and though they were glad at his return they also seem to be a little bit confused. He'd asked one of them to speak truthfully and she had explained that she had been gone so long that they had begun to worry he would never return at all. That some of the younger members of his following had come to doubt that he existed. But now he was here and would be able to prove both his power.

And he would.

He would prove to them that he was still the greatest villain on this planet. He might have constraints on his actions now but he would find a way to rip them away. After all he was the demon king piccolo he would prove his worth and he would take this world as his own again. And if he decided to pay a visit to the planet that he supposedly came from, he would make that part of his Kingdom as well.

He grinned. The idea of being a king with multiple planets within his reign was something that made his ego swell. He could become a true evil force that could spread across the cosmos and coarse chaos and cruelty. Oh yes, he could see The Terror in the eyes of the aliens and humans alike.

But first to deal with the power imbalance that had become very apparent. Despite his fall from the dark side, Daimao was proud of his son. Piccolo junior had proven that their species had the capability of gaining god-like power.

Now all he had to do was learn how to seize it for himself.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"So they figured it out." Ginyu said, standing with his arms crossed. "I wonder what convinced them to start searching?"

"Hey, I made a wish, I didn't know it would be so far reaching. Zella ain't all that powerful compared to the other Namekians that make dragons. I figure my wish would be safe. Turns out when I said close friends it meant all of them."

Ginyu glowered, not believing a word of it. "Tell me Bulma, are you alone? Or have you got your crew with you, hiding in the asteroid belts and deep space clouds?"

"Hey, would I be dumb enough to not have a back up plan?"

That was true. Ginyu sneered and turned away, "You will not leave the labs. You will not touch anything. You will not speak to anyone until I am certain you will not screw things up."

"Okay Okay!". Bulma said, butting her hands up, "I'll behave, I promise."

"This wasn't supposed to happen. You were supposed to leave once I gave you that body. Trunks is having panic attacks and Vegeta is having an identity crisis."

Bulma felt a little guilty then. She had known that the kids would likely have to deal with problems as well, but it had seemed like something fixable.

But what if it wasn't? Had she just ruined some innocent kid's life?

She pushed the thoughts from her head and followed Ginyu to the lab entrance.

“I'm guessing it was because of our DNA or the fact that this body is a clone. I can't think of another reason to do this.”

Ginyu didn't believe a word of it,, but he had no proof of any other explanation. So he led her to the lab and began turning on computers and equipment.

“Nice setup you have here.”

“Thank you. But. This lab is a replica of my sons. Not as fancy as mine but he loves it.”

The kid was smart if he was working with this kind of tech.

“How do you know that he won't come down here?”

“He doesn't know it exists yet. Once I can trust him I'll tell him.”

“Don't you mean he trusts you?“

The vicious look Bulma got made her shut up, and in his anger Ginyu didn't notice that Bulma was scratching the back of her neck an awful lot.

If Ginyu was paying attention then he may have checked why. Ran a scan or 2. But Ginyu was stressed and instead left Bulma to carefully manipulate the specialist device hidden snuggly against the edge of her scalp was delicate and tricky to use, but was able to use to to piggyback the signals on the base, allowing her to access to certain low level files. And up on his ship, Gohan set about trying to break the encryption.

Chapter Text

The bug had sent them info that had a map layout of the facility and even the bracelet gps's to allow them to track where trunks Vegeta and below were. Their key sensing ability would allow them to track Ginyu, Juice and Burter.

“Should I contact my dad?” Gohan asked.

“Not yet. I'll speak with Dende and see what he says.” Piccolo answered.

“Do you think he learned anything?”

“No idea. But at least he'll have a heads up on what we are doing.”

Piccolo didn't want to make a move without someone on earth knowing their plan. Once Goku was with them they would have very limited options if any of them were caught. He wanted Goku to be bought in to be a last Resort if they couldn't fix this peacefully. And despite the urge to go into battle piccolo did want to and this piecefully. Guinea had proven to be just as smart as Bulma and it could be incredibly difficult for them should they make an enemy of him.

To be perfectly honest Piccolo wasn't sure what the best outcome of this situation would be. Could they really go back to earth pretending that Ginyu had never lied to them. Could they live their lives knowing that for nearly two decades they had been fighting alongside someone who had been an enemy. Then Piccolo nearly laughed realizing what he just thought. Considering how they'd all tried to kill one another at some point, it really didn't matter.

But lying?

Piccolo didn't know how they were going to deal with that kind of misplaced Trust. This wasn't like the Times Goku had lied to them because he'd wanted to go into battle or he was trying to save the universe from some stupid convoluted problem. It wasn't the lies Bulma or Ginyu had maybe told them in order to get what she wanted for her scientific experiments or just to hang out and party when everyone was too busy. These were true heart deep lies that had stretched into every part of their lives.

When everything was set and done could they really accept Ginyu into the fold.

That would have to be a long difficult conversation they had as a group. But they needed to know if Dende had learned anything.

He hadn't.

Dende had asked a few leading questions of Panchy and Dr Briefs, but he hadn't discovered much. Reading their thoughts had done nothing but traumatise him considering they were either thinking of their grandkids or thinking of…. Well they were certainly taking advantage of their return to youth.

So he had nothing to do except ask Korin if there were more beans ready.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Trunks was beginning to wonder if he had imagined Piccolo the night before.

At breakfast he didn't make eye contact with Ginyu, the embarrassment of his lie made them both uncomfortable. Vegeta had already eaten and was training, as he would not allow this to set back his training schedule.

Eventually Ginyu spoke, “I want you to take one of the education packets I bought with us. I'm gonna do reading exercises with Bulla this morning.”

Trunks nodded, then asked, cWill we be having a nothing family meeting?”

“After lunch. I'll send Vegeta a message.”

The packet was in a box full of Educational packets. He picked One at random and looked over the title and content before putting it back. He wasn't in the mood to do anything too heavy so he searched out one he knew would only take him an hour to do. Ginyu said he had to do a packet. He never said how long it had to take him.

It took less than that. That meant he had a whole morning to -

He didn't actually know what he was supposed to do.

That decision was made for him when he was contacted mentally.

-Trunks, can you hear me.-

Trunks did his best to not outwardly react. >Yes, I'm here!>

-Good. It’s getting easier to contact you now.-

>Do you have any news?>

—Bulma, the realmone, is on the planet. Ginyu is keeping it quiet until he is certain iit won't cause any problems.-

>The real Bulma? As in her real spirit or real real body?>

-Clone body with the real mind.- Piccolo paused for a moment, -Are you gonna be okay with this?-

>I think I will be.>

-With any luck Ginyu will come clean next time you speak. Play along.-

>I already am. Or trying to.> Trunks said,
>I'm in way over my head here Piccolo.>

-Give a chance, we'll save you. Talk later.-

The connection cut and Trunks left alone again, and he stared down at his school work and ended up grabbing another. Maybe something with some depth would take his mind off of things for a while.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma was bored.

The lab was cool but didn't really provide much entertainment until she found minesweeper on one of the computers. It was a fun 30 minutes until the boredom started again.

She was then offered access to a comfy chair and realized she might be stuck for a while.

At least until the door opened and Ginyu came in with Bulla in his arms.

“Erm, hey.” Bulma said, “What's with the kid?”

“I wanted Bulla to meet you. She’s going to be the easiest one to convince, right honey?”

Bulla looked up at Ginyu and smiled. “Yes Momma.”

Bulma started.

She had seen plenty of videos of the kids. But those were all through a screen. Not face to face like this. Not within touching distance. Up close was far more real. Sweet little girl that had her face and her hair and tiny little changes that showed off their father's influence. Chubby hands clutching at her father's clothing as she was held securely and the loving arms of her parents.

The kids had seemed like simple things when she had just been looking at them as an add-on to the Ginyu situation. But being so close to the child, Something Inside Bulma clenched hard. Those first thoughts she'd had upon seeing Ginyu in her life seeing the husband and children he'd created suddenly whirled up again. The anger that Ginyu had was what she should have had.

But then she reminded herself that she had not been ready for a family at that point. Even now the idea of having children of her own seemed like a far-off dream.

She put Buylla down and she toddled off to explore..

"Bulma smiled, but her voice came out low and quiet, "I want my kids to accept the new normal, and you are going to help by not being me. They need to understand we are separate people."

"I'm surprised you're not keeping mer a secret."

"I can't. I've told enough lies, if I keep them up I'll never regain their trust."

Bulma watched Bulla toddle back to them and Ginyu knelt, "Hey sweety. This is Bulma."

"Like Momma's name?"

"Yes. Like Momma's name. Only this Nulma isn't me, even if she looks like me."

"Like twins?"

"Exactly like twins." Ginyu said with a smile, picking up his daughter and bringing her closer to Bulma. "Bulma, say hello to Bulla."

The girl was hoisted at her, and Bulma had to take her or the girl would drop.

She'd held kids before, she was comfortable with it. Or she should have been. Once again the knowledge that this girl was gentical her's was still insane.

"Heya kiddo. It's nice to meet you."

"Hello."

The awkward silence that followed would have been amusing in any other situation. But it left the atmosphere of the room stunted, so Ginyu had to do something, "Why don't we have coffee and talk about our situation, work out the kinks and such. I think that we should be able to come up with a plan to move forward that's going to be best for all of us."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

It seemed his decrease in power hadn't affected his ability to train. His muscles still burned as he moved, lactic acid building up as he moved. Sweat came to his brow and his body worked out his frustration.

Only it wasn't working.

Vegeta couldn't calm his mind. Between worrying for his kid, worrying about their current predicament and the worry over his marriage, he felt like he was going to choke on it all.

"Mind if I join you?"

Vegeta turned and saw Trunks, who had changed into different clothes and stood barefoot.

"I think I've had you agree to train more here than you have in the past month on earth." Vegeta said, and his son smiled.

"I've got other stuff to do on Earth. Not much else to do here but do home education. And there's pretty much a breeze."

"So you come here out of boredom. How flattering."

Trunks snorted a laugh at his Dad's attempt at lightening the mood. The man wasn't built for humor, outside of sarcasm and the occasional humorous jibe. But they could pretend in order to keep themselves sane here.

Like their previous fight, this wasn't anything strenuous. It stretched their limbs and got their blood pumping. The feel of flesh striking flesh and bruised blooming under strikes was cathartic in its own way. Steady mindless movements that were simple and easy and soon the two of them were more relaxed.

Trunks had to stop himself laughing over the fact that a fight most would consider vicious and back breaking could be considered a relaxing way to unwind, but most weren't Saiyans.

As they fought, Vegeta began using his tail more, and Trunks asked permission, "Did I ever have a tail? Or did Mom lie when she said I didn't have one?"

"You have a scar. I assume she said you hadn't had one because she feared I would find a way to regrow it. But on a planet with a monthly full moon, it would have been a stupid choice. Why?"

"Dunno,just curious. Is it hard having it back?"

Vgeeta turned and blocked a punch, "Not really. I spent 30 years with it before that fat Cat lover took it off. But I guess my renewed youth has given me my instincts for it's use back as well."

"Makes sense." Trunks ducked under a kick and caught his dad behind the knee, using the leverage to throw him.

Vegetea rolled and was on his feet again, "I will say the height difference is annoying, but I have dealt with bigger opponents more than once, I won't let it stop me now."

"Not gonna lie, When Mom said you were short I...really didn't realise just how tiny you were." Trunks smirked, knowing he was gonna get his ass kicked if he kept up the cheekiness. "It's impressive how well you managed."

"Ha. Making me mad won't get me to slip up boy."

"Eh, can;'t blame a guy for trying." Trunks said and launched himself at his Dad, grappling with him. He went with a move he knew his Dad wouldn't expect and, rolled them over and rather than trying to strike, latched onto his back and held on tight.head pressed to the back of his fathers.

"You little, get off!" Vegeta said, amusement hidden in his voice, "Damned brat."

>Listen.> something whispered in his head. >Please please listen.>

Vegeta hadn't felt the odd sensation of a Saiyan in his head in years. Occasionally Kakarot flouted the idea of using it more to make battle easier, but Vegeta didn't like it beyond shooting off quick messages. He didn't like others being in his head. He hadn't been aware that Trunks could even do this.

There's a plan. Be ready for next comunication.> Trunks rolled off of him, >I can't tell you more yet.>

Vegeta went at him, tackling him to the ground,

Chapter Text

Vegeta was antsy.

He wanted to interrogate Trunks, but the fact the kid had tried using what limited telepathy there proved that this had to be kept close to the chest to avoid discovery.

It had obviously taken a lot out of him, as he now lay on his back with a pillow on his face, trying to make his headache go away. Vegeta had given the boy an isotonic drink and a packet of Saiyan grade aspirin and let him rest a while.

And he thought about what had been said.

There was a plan in place to rescue them. Obviously they were believed kidnapped, which made sense considering the way they had vanished from the planet. He wondered if they knew the full extent of the situation.

His thinking was interrupted by a reminder that they had another family talk scheduled.

He got up and poked Trunks, who groaned and got up, “What?“

“Your mother is expecting us.”

“Nmnrrg.”

“The sooner we go the sooner its over with.” Vegeta said, “Besides, we may get more information or a chance to convince Ginyu to give us a few freedoms that could be helpful.”

Trunks followed him and they met Ginyu in the same room as the day before. Vegeta grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl before sitting down and waiting for whatever conversation was supposed to come next.

“So have you two had a chance to think about what we talked about yesterday.” Ginyu asked.

“I… Have thought on it.” Vegeta said, “Alot.”

“And has it been helpful.”

Vegeta took a bite out of his apple before answering, “I don't know.”

Ginyu looked over at Trunks, “You had a bit of a panic yesterday, do you want to talk about it.*

Trunks blinked at his mother before he gripped his hands together, “Erm, yeah. I guess I was overthinking things.”

Ginyu tilted his head, “How?”

“I got thinking about the legalities of all of this. Grandpa could disown us. We could get banned from working in any field involving science in order to protect his business. I know Dad would never let us go without ,but life could get bad l Anyone blamed us for your…decisions.”

Ginyuj laughed, "Nope. Before I officially became CEO I made sure to put aside trusts for you and Bulla. The System in pla is designed so that Gramps can't take a damned thing if he tries."

"How?"

"I made more than just cosmetic wishes. Some I wanted to make were outside of the dragon's power, but overall I managed to protect you from some of the legal ramifications."

"Are you sure it's foolproof? Because Grandpa has proven he's pretty good at getting around laws he doesn't like."

Ginyu laughed, "Oh, I know. But I've got experience in keeping tyrants happy. And Boxer really isn't much different."

"Hey, GrandPa isn't that bad."

"Remind me to show the the under lab sometime."

Trunks got confused and was about to ask what Ginyu meant but his Dad interrupted.

"Don't go poking that nest boy, you won't like what crawls out."

Trunks silenced his questions and instead asked, "What are we gonna do long term? I finished the education packets this morning. They were okay, but eventually I'm gonna get bored, and so is Bulla."

"I thought of that. I have a lot of connections, finding suitable Tutors shouldn't be a problem." GInyu explained.

As he spoke, Vegeta noticed something. Ginyu's speech pattern was...less Bulma like. And when he thought about it, he remembered other times when her voice had changed. When angry, or when she was being particularly devious.

He suppressed a shudder and for a split second Bulma's face became Ginyu's and he realized that he had seen glimpses of the man over their marriage, he just hadn't known what he was seeing. And this compounds the confusion over the fact that the Bulma/Ginyu he loved were one and the same.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Mr PoPo was actually amused.

Having Kami back was...nice. Dende was nice, and a hell of a lot more fun, but occasionally he had missed the ridiculousness of the old fuddy duddy.

And right now it was even funnier. Dende was trying so hard to be polite and respectful, whilst Kami tried to pass on wisdom that was very much unwanted.

And Nail! Oh, that man was giving him more entertainment than he'd had in decades. Terrible taste in partners, but funny and not willing to put up with crap. Mr PoPo would have to think about convincing Piccolo to remain unfused. Or maybe just refuse with Kami.

Speaking of which, the old/young Namek was sitting on the edge of the Lookout alone, watching the earth.

"Anything interesting happening?"

"Not really. Daimao isn't doing much beyond catching up on the state of the world. His followers are not as formidable as they once were. and the child he created is wandering the area frightening off anyone foolish enough to get too close."

"Another demon huh?"

"Harmon. Nail was not too pleased to discover his birth." Kami said, "Knowing the truth, I feel bad for the child. They deserved a better father than the one they got."

Mr PoPo stood beside him and looked over the edge, "You know, You're gonna get kicked outta here if you keep annoying Dende."

"I know. Which is why I'm keeping my advice just the right side of annoying."

Mr PoPo glanced at him, at the twinkle in his eye and then laughed, "Oh, you learned to be fun. That is good."

"Call it youthful exuberance."

They settled into quiet contemplation for a while, watching the earth go by.

"I have missed this old friend. Fusing with Piccolo was not the end, but it was not the same."

"True. He's so uptight."

Mr PoPo smiled again, "I have some just harvested plants if you want to really relax with some...tea."

Kami leaned back on his arms, "That actually sounds lovely. We can enjoy our....tea and contemplate the intricacies of our situation. "

"You mean gossip over Nail and Yamcha?"

"I did not see that coming, did you?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

18 stretched and sighed happily, enjoying the afterglow as her husband sang in the shower. The man had a truly awful voice, but it made her smile to hear his squawking.

She looked over at the calendar and saw that they had another meeting with Cap Corp soon, and she frowned. Another reminder that they might lose this new lease of life her husband had. She could understand if Bulma had done this for more time with her loved ones, 18 didn't age, or at least not as far as she could tell.

But now aliens were involved which made everything even more complicated.

But maybe they could keep this. Sure life was tricky with a man who looked 20 but should be nearing 50, but it was nice. They could have a whole 30 extra years together. But she also knew that there was a good chance the choice wouldn't be theirs to make either. God she hated that. She hated that so much happened they couldn't do a damned thing about.

Marron was at school and 18 was set to pick her up soon, so she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. Her husband was coming out of the shower, skin glistening and she just watched him for a moment.

"A little late to join me hon." he said, a teasing tone to his voice.

"You know we can't get distracted. We've been doing that far too often lately."

"Is that a complaint? Because I could avoid them if you like."

"Don't you dare, mister."

He passed by her and tied the towel about him, "I'll put the coffee on. There should be plenty of hot water left."

He left her and 18 turned on the shower. It was still warm, and she washed quickly. She liked her showers, but today was not a day for long showers. Before picking up Marron she had to finish up the laundry and put the meat for dinner in the marinade. Krillin had a late shift today and he really didn't want to give his bosses any reason to be pissed off. His mouthiness was funny, but his superiors hadn't been happy with with, so now he was on his best behaviour.

18 wasn't sure how to feel about it. Krillin was still the sweetheart she married, he was just standing up for himself a little more.

The phone was ringing as she entered the bedroom, and Krillin answered it. Several minutes later he laughed out loud and then apologised, before laughing again.

"No, no, don't hang up. Meet me at my place and you can walk with me to work. Should be enough time to chat about this."

He'd hung up by the time she joined him.

"What's up?"

"Oh, Yamcha needs to talk. He may have ended up in an...interesting romantic situation."

18 Smiled, "Oooh, Yamcha got his heart broken in some weird way?"

"No, no heart break yet." Krillin shook his head, "In fact, this might be the best or worst thing he has ever done."

"I want the gossip once you have it." 18 said as she leaned down and kissed her husband's forehead.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu told them about Bulma. He spun it to sound like this was always a part of the plan, and hoped they bought it. Now his husband was on the roof contemplating what he should do next and Trunks was in his room, refusing to come out.

Ginyu kept a close eye on them, whilst he dealt with the bots that had finished their work. The rice paddies were finished and ready for sowing, and the grain was finished. The aromatics garden was already showing signs of life, but Ginyu had known they would grow quickly.

The livestock were coming out of hibernation as well. The insects on this world were perfectly edible to the chicken he had brought along, and they were already scratching at the earth about the garden. Bulla was having the time of her life flinging seeds at them and checking the coop hourly for eggs.

And he watched his daughter frolic, he tried to avoid thinking about what was about to happen.

Vegeta had asked to speak with Bulma.

Ginyu had wanted to say no. He'd wanted to send Bulma away and wished he'd never said anything. But he also knew that if he wanted Vegeta to realise who he had fallen far, he would have to meet the original.

So Ginyu sat worried, whilst his daughter was oblivious to the drama going on around her. Burter had tried to speak with him, but he had been tetchy.

Everything could change because of the conversation Vegeta would have with that woman. God, he should have crushed that damned frog before escaping Namek, then he would still be on earth, happy and safe and living his best life.

But would his ‘father’ have let him stay and live? Boxer knew, and Ginyu had realized that if he had killed the original, Boxer would likely tell everyone once he knew. Or just killed him in a way that stopped the dragon balls from bringing him back. History would be very different.

Ginyu could only hope that Bulma didn’t do or say anything that would screw him over.

Chapter Text

Krillin had heard all of Yamcha’s relationship woes. From the disaster that was Bulma to the myriad of hot women he had charmed onto his arm. Some. Had been long relationships that had ended in heartbreak when either Yamcha's training got in the way or they found out his ex was the richest woman in the world and decided they couldn't compete with a memory of Bulma Briefs. There were quick and passionate and slow burn chases that ended when boredom set in.

Not once in that time he accidentally landed himself in a similar situation.

“So, you think he's into you? “

“Maybe, I dunno. We're seeing each other tomorrow so I'll ask them.”

Krillin looked up at his friend. “Are you interested?”

Yaamcha turned crimson, “He's a nice guy. And I dunno, the attention is nice. But I don’t want to lead him on. Plus there's the piccolo problem.”

Krillin raised an eyebrow,” Piccolo Problem.”

“If they have to refuse, I lose him. ANd Piccolo will know everything that we may do.” I fear the guy, he could swat me like a fly, but I’m more upset about the fact he’ll have intimate knowledge. Not just stories but…..he knows man. And you know how he can be, he might start saying I was awful at giving away embarrassing information to get even.”

Krillin wasn’t sure what he could say to help. He wasn’t the best at romance (though 18 would argue against that assessment) and romance between two guys? Well, one guy and a guy shaped like aliens? He was at a loss.

But he could at least try.

“Look, be honest with him. If he does want something more, it's better to be honest. That way you may be able to salvage any friendship you may have”

Yamcha sighed, “You're right. Man, I didn't think I’d ever have to worry about something like this, not at my age.”

Krillin snorted, “Dude, you look 20.”

“And I feel 50. Besides, you look twelve.”

Krillin kicked out and Yamcha dodged. “I’m gonna think about this man, it's a big decision. It’s not like deciding between a blonde and a brunette.”

“I wouldn’t know. Biggest decision I had to make at 20 when it came to girls was do I risk rejection in front of her friends or in private.”

They reached the street where Krillin’s office was and stopped, “I’ll call you later. And please keep this between the three of us if you can.” Yamcha said.

“Krillin looked confused for a moment. “Threet.”

“Oh, like you aren’t telling 18 the second you get a chance.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Hey."

"Hello."

They stood in awkward silence.

Vegeta had no clue what to say. The woman before him looked like his wife, but also not like his wife. There were subtle differences in the way she held herself, in the height and even ki. She felt wrong.

"So....your Bulma?"

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest, "Yeah, this is weird huh?"

He nodded, and then looked off to the side. "When, when did I actually last speak with you. Before.....Ginyu."

She thought about it for a few moments. "Before you flew off to try and escape the Ginyu force. After that It was him."

He stopped to look at the floor then. "So that's true."Okay." he rubbed his face and looked back at her, "This, this is difficult. You look like my wife. Sounds like her. I really, really want to believe you are her."

"I'm not. I wish I could say I was, because you sir-" Bulma looked him up and down, "Are cute. A little shorter than I normally like my guys, but honestly? I could get past that."

Vegeta gave her a flat look. "Okay, so the vulgarness is normal for both of you."

Bulma gave a shocked laugh, “Hey, I am a perfect lady mr. I don’t have an ounce of vulgarness in me.”

He raised a brow and she sniggered. “Okay, so that bull. But forgive a girl for wanting to have the illusion of innocence.”

Vegeta didn't like this. The flirtatiousness was normal, recognisable. But there was something not quite right. There was fear in this woman. An edge of distrust. The flirting seemed more of a defense than a genuine attempt at seduction.

"I had a lot of questions but I don't think any of them will be useful."

Bulmna nodded and tilted her head, giving him a surprisingly soft look, "I figured as much. After all, I've got no real knowledge of what you guys got up to beyond the surface stuff. I know when you last got together with friends, but not what you were celebrating. I know your train everyday, but not why." She walked away and sat down, "You're in a hell of a situation Vegeta. And I wish I could give you more help than just saying...saying....Actually I have no clue what to say. I'm the smartest woman in the galaxy, and I have no clue how to help."

"Your ego is certainly the same as Ginyu's."

"We're both smart, both egotistical and both stubborn. We get what we want, and do what we must to get it. I built myself a robot body and found a way to be made human again. And then I got the wishes I needed to get me the other things I wanted."

"So I take it that our lovely new lease on life is thanks to you?"

"Guilty. I wanted to relive the glory days, but you can't do that when most of our friends are middle aged."

Vegeta wanted to say that he was selfish, but what could he expect? Ginyu was just as bad, but years of experience haad curtailed some of his worst habits. This Bulma had never had to do that, being able to be as selfish as she pleased while under the guise of regaining what she had lost. This actually made Vegeta worry a little. He'd always been worried that his wife could be a real danger she could be if she ever decided to go rogue.

Ginyu hadn't shown any signs of that. He'd settled into the role of scientist and business woman and parent and had seemed content with their life.

After all, Frieza had come back three times and he had not rushed off to rejoin his ruler. He had cheered on Kakarot and himself in order to see the tyrant dead. He could have done a dozen awful things over the years but Vegeta had trusted him not to be evil.

Trusted him. Good lord, Vegeta actually had more trust in Ginyu than he did the woman in front of him.

He turned heel and left, not sure where he should go, but knowing he needed to be alone. He left the building and kept walking, walking until he was miles from the building and the wrist watch/ki suppressor beeped. He ignored it.

He needed to think.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Oh boy, that might not be good. "Ginyu said as he watched his husbands signal to leave the area. He couldn't fly or destroy anything, so he wondered what the heck had happened.

He could look at the camera feed from the room BHulma was in, but he wouldn't. He was better off giving Vgeeta time and going to find him later.

Right now he has bigger worries.

There were very few teachers he could higher that wouldn't go running to Frieza once they knew who he was. So that meant his kids would have to rely on him for education for a while. This wasn't a bad thing, but Ginyu would eventually have to concentrate on business and making a good living.

Education was the least of their worries. Ginyu had a lot of money squirreled away, but it was always smart to ensure you had more incase of an emergency. There were many kinds of currency in the galaxy, and each could get you many different things. Standard credits bought everything, but were traceable. Untraceable credits were a thing, but only in certain sectors. There was standard trade of service for items and even a jewel/treasure based economy for scavengers. Ginyu remembered trading quartz shards found at riversides for ice sweets as a kid. four quartz chips for a treat, or 2 standard credits. It was certainly more complicated. So long as everyone involved was happy with what was being exchanged and equivalent taxes were paid, no one cared a jot.

Ginyu had many avenues he could use. For a start the earth had crops that were incredibly versatile. But he could only sell to the outer system for now, giving it a slow introduction because, as with the teachers, he had to avoid detection from Frieza.

Frieza didn't take desertion well, and the last thing he wanted was for him to be attacked by a pissed off Frieza coming for them. Especially considering he would be forced to release the ki restraints in order to keep them safe.

"Okay Ginyu, first we check on Bulla, Then we go check on our husband." he said and stood.

He shut everything down and went to find Bulla, who was watching tv and explaining the plot of Jelly Bears to Burter, who was amused at the very serious child explaining why the jeely bears jumped about the place and needed the magic Jelly tea to do so.

Knowing his daughter was okay, Ginyu wondered about checking in on Trunks, and then remembered the embarrassment of the night before and let the teen be.

He found himself in a car and headed towards the signal his husband had left, but didn't approach him just yet. He watched from afar as the man seemed to stew in his own emotions, then sat on a rock and buried his face in his hands. His tail lay limp next to him and he just sat there, looking said and confused.

Ginyu hated it. He stayed in the care for far longer than he meant to, until Vegeta eventually titled his head back and looked up at the sky, and Ginyu couldn't sit there and watch anymore.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Quit sneaking around. I can hear you. I'm not deaf."

Ginyu smiled at his gruff snark, but there was something in his voice that felt off.

"Thought I better come make sure you weren't trying something."

"Like what, starting a rock garden?" Vegeta kicked a random rock near his foot. "I needed some space."

"I figured. Did your conversation go....well?"

"Oh, just dandy."

Ginyu came and sat beside him, and looked down at the dirt

"Do you ever plan on telling me?" Vegeta asked, "If she hadn't returned, would you have said anything?"

Ginyu didn't look up. "No. Never. If nothing else had shown up that could have been a danger to our lives together, I never would have done a thing."

Vegeta thought about that. "So we would have just continued on as though you were Bulma."

He nodded.

Vegeta stood suddenly. "Only you're not. She isn't you. She's some random earth Woman who shares similarities, but she isn't you."

Ginyu didn't dare look at him then, heart pounding harder.

“I think I'm going mad.” Vegeta said, “The woman in that room isn’t my wife, but I can’t get my head around the fact that you are…you.”

Ginyu stood then, "Well, I am. I've been your wife's eleven years. Your Lover and hopefully friend longer. Our lives have not ended up the way either one of us expected, but we are here."

Vegeta advanced, stopping inches away, "I know. And that's what's making me crazy. If Bulma Briefs had gotten off Namek with her body, would any of this have happened? If you had survived as Captain Ginyu, would we have wound up here, or would we have battled to the death over the remnants of Frieza's empire?"

"I don't know. Maybe we would have gone our separate ways, maybe I would have come after you for revenge. Or maybe I would have tried to recruit you. For all I know we could have ended up together anyway with a couple of tank kids. Or maybe we would have ended up alone and bitter." Gibyu ranted, voice getting loud and hands on his hips, "None of it matters because we wound up here! And we have to figure out where we are supposed to go now."

"How! We can talk for hours, days, hell years and we may never reach a conclusion."

"Then we'll part." Ginyu said, and his throat suddenly felt tight. "If that's really how it ends then fine. We-ll ge-"

He was wrapped in strong arms then. The familiar scent of his husband enveloping him.

"Stop talking." Vegeta said, voice rough. "Just, just stop."

They stood there like that for several minutes, and Ginyu lifted his own arms to wrap around Vegeta.

"You're an absolute scoundrel Ginyu. A liar and a thief and a threat on so many levels. And none of it means anything because you're still the person I married. Even if I didn't mean to."

A small kernel of hope filled him then.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this." Vegeta said, his voice small and tight against Ginyu's neck.

"Neither do I."

Chapter Text

"So who are we fighting?" Goku asked after appearing on the ship, and Gohan rolled his eyes.

"Hopefully no one Dad."

Goku looked disappointed and pouted, and Gohan could see Goten there. It made him shake his head and grin before beckoning him over, "Come take a look at these. I want you to try and memorise the escape routes if teleporting becomes impossible."

"Erm, I'll try."

"I'll write it on your wrist if you need it."

Goku brightened then and looked at the layout. It seems very complicated, and Goku knew he would need the notes if he was gonna find his way around.

"So what have you seen so far?"

"Not much.Piccolo managed to speak to Trunks to let him know he might see us, but not to react. Ginyu's got this place well locked down. Cameras are everywhere, as are monitors and robots."

"Why haven't they tried getting away?"

"Because they have ki restraints, and If we want to avoid them, we need to be careful. They've got guests, and though they aren't as strong as us, I'd rather not have to engage."

Goku titled his head. "Who?"

"Burter And Jeice."

"Who?"

Gohan sighed, “A couple of members of the Ginyu force. Not entirely sure how they are alive, but between dragon balls, magic and tournament day passes I wouldn't be surprised who came back."

Goku nodded, still confused but understanding that when magic got involved you couldn't rule anything out.

Piccolo stood and joined them, "It looks as though Vegeta is having issues."

"Since when is that new?" Gohan asked, and Piccolo chuckled.

"Yeah, well he just had a heart to heart with Ginyu that ended in a hug, so I'm wondering if He's trying to lul Ginyu into a false sense of security."

"Do you think he is? "

"Kami knows. Speaking of which, how are my ...family doing?"

Goku laughed, "Kamis' annoying Dende and Nail's been spending time with Yamcha. They're getting on really well."

Piccolo fought the urge to roll his eyes and sigh. Great, when they merged, Nail was gonna try and annoy him into hanging out with him more.

That made Piccolo wonder about the fact that Nail may not want to rejoin, and Piccolo didn't want to delve into the old feelings of sadness that thought bought him. So instead he thought about their current situation.

"Has Dende told you anything we told him?"

"No. Should he have,"

Gohan looked up from the schematics, "We don't know. We aren't entirely sure how people would react. But Dr Briefs knew Ginyu had replaced Bulma from the start."

Goku looked at them, tilted his head and thought about it. "Huh. You know that makes sense. He is a scientist after all. He probably thought it was an experiment or something."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

They rode back in silence, and Vegeta was exhausted. The past few days were emotionally taxing. He'd felt more varied emotions in the past week than he had in the past year.

Ginyu knew this, and knew he had to tread carefully. One false move and he could flee.

"So I'm going to send out ads for tutors tomorrow. I'll need you to go over the applicants when they get here. You've been in space more than me over the past few years, so you have a better angle for names to watch out for."

"Why not run it by the galactic wanted lists and petty criminals catalogue."

Ginyu glanced over at him, "The what?"

Vegeta's eyes widened, "You Can use them to make sure you're not accidently hiring someone who may be a danger to your organization. Didn't you ever use it as part of the force?"

"Did you?"

"Yes. We had to make sure we didn't have contractors trying to screw us over. If stock or treasure went missing, whoever was in charge of the lot number got it in the neck." Vegeta thought about it for a moment, "Normally via a hand through it."

Ginyu grimaced, "We didn't have to worry about that kind of thing. We were usually charged with more important stuff. The mundane day-to -day stuff was for the min-lower ranks."

Vegeta laughed, "Were you about to call me a minion?"

".....no."

This got him a tired huff and they went back to silence.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma had only managed to create a false loop in the room she was in, and that would last long without more of her equipment. So she sent a message to Gohan and told him to grab one box from he ship, and hoped he grabbed the right one. A few moments later there was a pop, and three people were with her.

She stared. In front of her was Goku. Her oldest friend and biggest hero, the man she had seen grow from a child to an adult.

"Okay, how long do we-Why are you crying? Has something happened? Has-" Piccolo was shushed when Bulma rushed past him and flung her arms around Goku.

She sobbed hard, trembling and clinging like Goku was a life line. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close, pressing his cheek to her head and smiled softly, his own eyes a little wet.

Piccolo glanced at Gohan, who shrugged and they waited for the tears to stop. After a few moments they did, and Bulma tried to pull away to look up at Goku, who cupped her cheek.

"Been a while, huh?"

"Way, way too long." Bulma said as she finally pulled away and just looked at him, "God, I didn't mean to react like that."

"Goku grinned, "Don't worry about it. When this is squared away we're gonna need a heck of a catch up session."

Gohan cleared his throat, "Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but we are in a time crunch here."

"Right. Okay." Bulma got herself calmed and then said, "Well, outright killing Ginyu might be a bad idea. Vegeta came to visit me earlier. Stayed all of ten real awkward minutes before realizing that I am really not his wife."

“Figured something like that happened." Piccolo said, "The two of them had a conversation that ended in a pretty intense embrace, so I'm thinking Vegeta's gonna be a bit conflicted."

Gohan sighed heavily, “We should have expected this. Vegeta isn’t the same hot head he was when we first met. His connection to Ginyu is just as strong as…well a husband and wife.”

"We're gonna have to speak with him before we do anything else. If we try and just drag them away he might refuse." Piccolo said.

"Like Stockport syndrome." Goku said.

"Stockholm. And yeah, we may have to deal with that. "Trucks doesn't seem like he's been mentally messed with, but just in case we should tread carefully."

Bulma nodded and held out her hand. "You had back up, and I'll see what I can do about making us a bigger blindspot. Piccolo, try to make contact with Vegeta. Gohan, Jeice and Burter are leaving tomorrow, so keep an eye out. We don't want them spotting your ship and then reporting back."

"What should I do?"Goku asked.

"You are gonna try and sense them through the barrier." Gohan said, "You're the best at ki sensing and have the best chance at breaking through.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta vanished the second they got home, and Ginyu shook his head and headed for his office, where a dozen messages were waiting for him. Including one he'd been dreading.

He sat and dialed into the communication key before he could lose his

"Hello Da-Dr Briefs."

The man on screen was younger than he'd ever seen hom. This Boxer Briefs was the man from photos and news reports.

"Oh, I think you can keep calling me Dad. After 20 years it seems dumb to break a habit. Especially if you come back. The public will find it weird if you start calling me doctor."

Ginyu got nervous. "Come back?"

"Oh come now. Did you really think I'd be dumb enough to put my company at risk by losing my heir? Especially one who proved themselves as a good engineer and business woman. Or man." Boxer sat back and crossed his arms, "Which should I call you now?"

"He is fine for now. To avoid confusion." Ginyu said. "I am surprised you are not more angry."

"Oh, once I realised you weren't her I had a private source verify that Bulma's wasn't in the otherworld. After that I just let history happen. Bulma proved herself a competent survivor before, and certainly has now. Plus she has a great deal of valuable information about the working of the galaxy's economy. And as much As Vegeta was willing to share, he was just a minion of a despot. I couldn't trust he'd have everything I might need information wise."

Ginyu just stared for a moment before realizing that this actually made a lot of sense. Bulma's Mother was a ditzy (amongst other things) and not noticing her daughters' exchange kind of man sense. But her father would know, without a damned doubt.

"You still want me and the grandkids back?"

"Well, If you want to. But I will be insisting on having the grand kids back. They are biologically and mentally my family, and I won't have my only genetic heirs vanishing into deep space."

Ginyu didn't believe it. Couldn't believe it. "You'll have to excuse my disbelief. But under the circumstances I don't wish to put my children nor myself at risk."

Dr Briefs nodded, "I guess we'll have to come to an agreement of some sort then."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Piccolo sat meditating, readying himself. Contacting trunks became easy once he had a connection, but Vegeta was gonna be an issue. The stubborn, private man didn't like any kind of connection outside of his head, so a mental one was gonna be tricky.

Which was why slipping behind the barriers of the saiyans mind was such a surprise. Because he slipped into his head as easily as a sword through water.

Chapter Text

Piccolo was supposed to slip into Vegeta's mind. Instead his connection usurped.

&Did you find him?&

-The fu- Moori, We are in the middle of an important job. You can't just sneak in like that!-

&I am sorry." Moori said, but didn't hear it. "But we are worried for our wayward child.&

-You wayward child is fine. Healthy and not in any danger. He was also pretty helpful.-

&When will he be home?&

-I don't know, when he decides where he wants home to be? He's a little preoccupied right now.-

&Is the egg-&

-The egg is fine. Zella is fine. And we are very close to a dangerous situation and need to keep our minds clear. Or do you want to explain to Bulma or Goku why they have to mount a rescue mission.-

Moori went quiet. &I am sorry. But Zella's absence and behaviour has stirred up a lot of....trouble.&

Piccolo managed to keep the smile from his voice. -Why would heading out and making a life for himself be such a problem? I thought you guys embraced other differences and duties.-

&Zella's duty is to his people, not himself.&

=And what was his duty?-

Moori wouldn't say, and Piccolo wondered if it was because the answer would make Piccolo question his need to force Zella home.

-Look, we are in real trouble if we get caught and we don't know the full capabilities of our opponent. This is gonna have to wait.-

Moori gave a sign which is an impressive thing to do telepathicaly. &I understand. I will give you 24 hours, but then we must talk about this.&

His presence left his mind, and Piccolo was unable to be calm enough to reconnect to Vegeta.

He pulled from meditation and went to the kitchen, where he grabbed himself a bottle of water, then swapped it out for sparkling.

"Are you okay?"

He looked up and saw Gohan at the table, eating several sandwiches.

"No. Moori threw off my mental connection. He's getting antsy about Zella."

Gohan looked down at his food, "Yeah. Dende said that things had been getting weird on Namek."

"Weird how?"

Gohan didn't look up as he spoke. "Compared to Moori, Dende is a literal baby. He's the same age as me, and considered Guru's last child."

"I thought he was Moori's?"

"He doesn't know. Many of Guru's children were raised by the older children. And now a lot of the younger are being told they are the children of random Nemakians, especially after.-"

"Why is this a problem for Zella and us?"

"Because Moori and the other Elders don't want change, but some of the younger guys are getting restless. They want off the planet, they want to go out and explore. They were promised safety in an evil galaxy. It doesn't exist. So Dende thinks they want to find it elsewhere."

"And the freedom Zella talks about."

"Hey, no one wants their future planned out for them." Gohan said, and Piccolo could feel the edge to his voice. “And let's face it, their home world is nice, but no one wants to be stuck on a farm when they know the city exists.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Jeice and Burter left in the morning, promising to return in a few months.

Ginyu was both sad to see them go and relieved the added stress was gone. He could concentrate on his family now.

Things were starting to go well with Vegeta. Not brilliant, but there was a dialogue now. They could speak without Ginyu having to worry he would start yelling.

Now he had to deal with the logistics of living out here long term. He'd sent Vegeta several teacher CVs and hoped that he'd find one useful.

Meanwhile Ginyu had another person to speak to

"Trunks, would you mind coming for a walk with me?"

"Yeah sure Mom." he sounded unsure, but came with him.

They walked in silence for a while, until they hit the outside.

"Why'd you choose this place?" Trucks asked.

"Good and steady weather patterns, easily manipulate the environment. Out of the way." Guinyu answered, "Haven't I told you this."

Trunks shrugged, "I've been distracted the past few days. I...I'm just trying to get things straight in my head."

"I get it. Everyone is still adjusting." Ginyu folded his arms under his bust, "I wish it hadn't been like this, but circumstances were not on my side."

"Mom, they were never going to be on your side with this." Trunks said, then stopped a moment. "Should I even be calling you Mom? Shouldn't it be Dad?"

"Just stick with Mom. I birthed you, so it works for now."

"Will it work forever? Or are you gonna try and get your old body back?"

Ginyu thought about it. "I don't know. I like this form, I've gotten comfortable with it. Plus any new body will reduce your father's ability to see me as well, me."

"What do you mean?"

"Just because he knows I was Ginyu doesn't mean he'll be able to love me in that form. I was tall, muscular and purple. I don't know if that would be his type physically."

"I don't think I wanna ask more questions about this." Trunks said, his face burning, "He dated mostly girls huh?"

"He dated no one. Frieza didn't have rules about fraternisation. but many avoided real connection to avoid getting hurt. And considering your father's position on that hierarchy, he chose not to risk dating."

Trunks realized what his mother was saying. "So....you are his only partner. Ever?"

Ginyu nodded, "There's nothing to be ashamed about with that. Some people choose to wait and that's perfectly okay."

"Did you love him? Before all this."

"No. We are workmates at best. We did not seek out each other's company in any way beyond work. There were a few occasions where socialization happened, but there was no real bonding.”

Trunks swallowed, and asked, "You were a planet killer too, weren't you."

Ginyu nodded. "I was. I was one of Frieza's best. I was not a good person. I am sure many would say my lies prove I am still a bad person. But in taking on the role of Bulma, I have tried to be better. I have not always succeeded, but "Maybe" Trunks looked ahead,"Does it count if you're doing it to pass as someone else?"

"That...is gonna keep me up at night." Ginyu said and sighed, "Trunks, I'm not going to keep you trapped here forever. I just want the chance to prove I'm worth keeping in your life."

"Trunks stopped walking and turned to his mother, "I've never known anyone other than you. You're my mother, and that's always going to be true. But this is a tough situation. The other Trunks's Ginyu either never took Bulma's body, or did and ended up in bed with Dad at some point. Maybe it was love or a mistake or something else, but the fact is I existed there. And you admitted that the only reason you had me was to keep a time paradox. I want to believe you really love me, but it's difficult."

Ginyu didn't know what to say, " know that. I know that there is no way to prove that I love you as a normal mother should. But I do Trunks. I love you and Bulla and Vegeta with all my heart. "

"I want to believe that. I really do but-"Trunks felt his throat grow a lump. "I can't."

"I could have left any time. I could have stolen a dozen different bodies and run off, I could have rejoined Freiza. But I didn’t.”

Trunks looked at him and tilted his head, “Or maybe you swapped out purging take overs for business ones.”

Ginyu started at his son. “What?”

2You’ve spent the past decade taking over and creating shell companies. Earth's entire corporate world is our families.The military uses our tech, or hard and software, our weapons.”

"You...know about our weapons division?"

"Yes Mom. I get you to keep some stuff secret. but it's hard to miss when the tech in our military looks way too familiar. Even without knowing you are Ginyu, it influences the design of the ships and tech we have there."

"That's different!"

"Is it?"

Ginyu said nothing.

"I love you. You're my Mom, you raised me. You've shown time and again that you love me, but...but people lie. They can make wishes."Trunks said, and his eyes widened in a way that made Ginyu realize that that thought had only just occurred to him. "People can do awful things, even when they love others."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Do you like like me?"

Nail looked up from his tea and over at Yamcha, who was staring down at his drink and blushing.

"Finally figured it out huh?" he said, with humour in his voice.

"Gimme a break, you think I normally get guys after me?"

"You're a smoking hot guy with a huge fan following, I wouldn't be surprised."

Yamcha thought about that and flushed even darker. "Do you?"

"Yeah. I do. Is that an issue?"

Yamcha shook her head. "No, no. I just...need to know that this won't end up weird."

“Weird how?”

“Well, have you figured out if you’ll end up fused again? Because if you do. I have to deal with Piccolo and everything he may learn from you. I know you won’t share on purpose, but he could be a real jerk about this. Then again he could be a real jerk if you don’t refuse.”

Nail shrugged, “Honestly? If we do, I may ask him to see about wishing us unfused. Having independence is something I really missed. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret fusing, I'd be dead now if I hadn't. But its bee.-" Nail thought for the right word, "a trip."

Yamcha didn't get it, but he supposed he didn't need to to. He just needed to understand the sentiment behind it. He cleared his throat. "Look, I've never been with a non-human. Or a guy. And I don't want to make you feel like this is just an experiment or a fling to pass time. You seem like a good guy, and a great friend and I don't want to insult you by saying yes to something that may not work out."

Nail shuffled closer to him. Not touching, but closer. "I'm not expecting some grand romance Yamcha. If it ends that way, great. but like I said before, I'm looking for fun and companionship."

Yamcha smiled, then he cleared his throat, "So how does this work? We just keep hanging out together or, or do we go to dinner? Or coffee?"

Nail smiled and leaned in, "I think we can keep going as we are. I mean, technically we've had three dates already."

Yamcha felt his heart rate skyrocket, " I g-guess so. Why is that important."

"Well, don't humans have rules about third dates?"

Yamcha couldn't speak, fae a lame as he just nodded.

"You can say no."

Yamcha managed to squeak, "We're good." And let his head tilt, and Nail closed the gap.

Yamcha had been worried that it would be weird kissing another guy, but it was no different than kissing a girl. Well, it was a little different. Nail's skin was cooler than a humans, his lips firmer. His arms wrapped around Yamcha and the human practically melted against him.

'Oh, how cute,' Nail thought.

Chapter Text

Trunks watched Bulla play and felt a kernal of jealousy begin to rear its ugly head.

Bulla was planned. Wanted to have a happy, loving marriage.

Him? A necessity for survival.

His father did his best, but it was obvious who his favourite child was. Hell, sometimes it felt like both his parents preferred his sister. He'd heard the term 'practice kid' before and had never understood what it truly meant until now.

Bulla turned to him with a smile, and his heart melted a little. He couldn't blame her.

"Wanna colour?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, let's colour." he said and slid from the couch to join her on the floor. She pushed a book to him, one filled with flowers and he sat next to her, colouring and thinking.

As stupid as it was, he hadn't thought about the prospect of his love for his mother coming from himself, or a wish. She admitted to using those wishes to ensure their futures, could she have forced this on him?

The dragon couldn't force love. It could force lust, and obsession, but not love. But maybe that was only romantic love. Or maybe he could mess with just enough memories to convince someone of love.

He'd need to talk to Dende. He had reshaped the dragon, he would have the best information. Or Piccolo. Maybe he could ask Piccolo the next time he made contact.

Trunks picked up a purple crayon and started on a new flower. He thought of the plants outside. Some were just barely sprouting, and others had obviously been planted a few weeks ago. He estimated 2 weeks of growth, so long as these weren't some kind of GMO his mother had created.

He went through each colour, thinking about how he was supposed to feel. There was anger, and confusion. Fear. God, there was so much fear. But he forced that down, as he didn't want to have another panic attack. That had been embarrassing, but luckily his father was being lenient with his emotional outbursts. Considering the situation at hand, there would likely be a lot of leniency in the coming months.

Or maybe not. His Dad's moods could be unpredictable when he was upset, and this was probably the biggest upset since Frieza came back from the dead.

Frieza was another problem. And he could be a big one if Ginyu tried to switch sides. He knew everything about them. There, training regiments, their techniques and skills. Their weaknesses. His mother knew what his favourite food was and what foot his birthmark was on. He knew he wasn't keen on big dogs or his mild allergy to Kiwis.

Ginyu knew so much about the Z Warriors that they would be crippled if he gave that info to the enemy.

An awful thought came to Trunks, one that made his heart stutter.

What if they had to get rid of him. What if, in order to save the earth and themselves, they had to-

No. No, he couldn't think about that. He refused to think about that.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Goku was frowning.

Gohan had seen his Dad frown before, but it was normally confused frowning or angry frowning. This frown was more.....sad? But not completely sad.

"Is he okay?" Piccolo asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen him...brood before. It's weird."

"Go speak with him."

"Why don't you?"

"He's your Dad."

Gohan sighed and nodded, "Fine. I'll go and check."

Gohan approached his Dad, not sure what he should do. Eventually he decided to take the bull by the horns and just ask.

"You're not doing okay, are you?"

Goku looked up at him, eyes surprised that he was there. "Huh? Oh, no. I don't think I am."

Gohan didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. "You wanna talk about it?"

"I'm not sure how to. I'm not good with the touchy feely stuff." Goku looked out of the viewport. "I should have come home after Namek. I should have ignored the offer of training and just come home. I would have noticed something was wrong."

"Dad, Ginyu tricked everyone. He even Tricked Yamcha, and he was sleeping with Bulma."

Goku looked at his son. “The second I was in the room with Bulma, the real one, it was obvious who she was. Despite the new body, her soul was hers. I've seen how trauma and fear and pain change people, and I figured Bulma had been through that kind of thing. But she hadn't. Bulma has spent decades going through that kind of stuff, and I knew it was her the moment my ki touched hers. It's like being around your Mom or Krillin, or you. I have known Bulma since I was...12. And she was the first being human I knew after my grandfather. My first real friend. The first in my kin."

Gohan felt his heart twinge and he pitied his dad. "If you hadn't stayed out there you would never have learned instant transmission. And without that we'd have been dead several times over."

"We have been dead several times over."

Gohan snorted at the dark humor, but the half hearted smile his Dad felt was wrong. "Seriously Dad, I know I haven't always understood or agreed with your decisions, but most of them worked out in our favour."

"I still failed Bulma."

"If you did, then so did me and Krillin. We were on that ship with her for over a week, we should have been able to sense some kind of change, especially after Ginyu took your body."

Goku gave a little huff, and wrapped his arm around Gohan, "We'll get through this. We've gotten through worse."

Gohan didn't like how his Dad's voice sounded so unsure, but he was willing to give his Dad time. He'd had a hell of a shock, and it was obviously weighing on his mind.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"I made out with an alien."

Roshi stopped watching the pretty girls go by and looked over at his student, "There were aliens chicks here and you didn't tell me?"

"I don't think you'd be interested in this particular alien Roshi."

"Who says? I can overlook a tail or blue skin or-"

"It's Nail."

Roshi blinked at him., then took off his glasses. Yamcha felt anxiety roil in his stomach. He’d know that there might be some kind of disapproval, or yelling or-”

“I owe Oolong 20 zeni.”

Yamcha blinked back. “I’m sorry, what..”

“Oh come on. You spent half your life too shy to talk to chicks, and then you couldn’t hold a relationship for longer than a month. Oolong seemed to think you were compensating for something.” Roshi took his coffee cup and took a sip, “Guess he was right.”

“Wha-I-I was never-I”

“Yamcha, how difficult was it for you to actually say yes?”

Yamcha thought on it, and realized he never actually thought about turning Nail down for any other reason than it could make life awkward. Maybe he should have put more thought into this. He'd never had a man come on to him before,maybe he should have had more trepidation. But it was nice to be in a situation where the person knew who and what he was, who didn't judge him for being too weak or rich or-

"You're over thinking things boy. Calm your nerves and enjoy yourself. You've got your youth, the big boys are dealing with the bad guy and the day is young. So relax and help me bag tonight's lady."

Yamcha smiled, the acceptance feeling good. And then he grimaced and said, "Kami's sake Roshi, where the hell do you get the energy."

"I ain't stopping till I ticker goes out."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma was allowed out of the lab, and she wandered around the complex. It was nice. Nostalgia hit her in the heart and she thought of home. The kitchen her mother cooked in, the labs she shared with her father. God she missed them. She was still pissed at her dad, but she got it. She'd made her own share of questionable scientific decisions.

As she went through the complex she spotted photos, and knew she was getting close to the living area. A picture of Vegeta with baby trunks on his back. Her father and mother played with Bulla. Trunks and Goten looked handsome in little suits. Vegeta looked bored at a business event and one of them at the beach, looking tanned and content as Trunks helped Bulla build sandcastles. A table had a photo of a party, where Ginyu and ChiChi were laughing, wine in hand and cheer in their eyes.

Bulma had never properly met ChiChi. She remembered her being screechy and loud, and then worried for her baby boy before Namek. It looked as though Ginyu was friends with her. The main room looked lived in, so Bulma knew she had reached the main room. A shirt was left on the couch, there were toys on the floor, and magazines on the table. A picture was up on the far wall, a group shot of everyone chilling on a boat. She stared for a few minutes, shocked at seeing Krillin with hair and Oolong with wrinkles. Yamcha had grown his hair out again and Piccolo was sitting with baby Pan in his arms.

Bulma wondered if Gohan had chosen that name as a tribute to piccolo, like the pan pipes. Or maybe it was an old family name of the Satans.

"Oh kami."

Bulma turned, and saw Trunks standing there, looking at her with wide eyes.

"You're not my Mom." he said, just staring. "I..I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I was let out of my room. Ginyu thinks it will be a good idea for me to mingle."

He nodded, his eyes looking over his face, eyes confused. "Right. Do you need something."

"No. I'm just exploring. The pictures are interesting. I can't believe how much some of them have changed."

He came up to her, "That picture is from a barbecue last year. Mom has been insisting we get together more because she was sick of only seeing people during emergencies. I can't blame her. I hang out with Goten all the time, but it's still ridiculous that we don't get to see Roshi or Piccolo unless we're about to die."

"Yikes."

He nodded and smiled. "Well, Roshi hasn't changed all that much, so maybe its a good thing he isn't around much. Dad would have killed him."

Bulma laughed, "He's still a perv huh?"

"Oh, the worst." Trunks folded his arms over his chest, nervous, "Do you remember much from then?"

"Hey, I might be old but my memory ain't that bad." Bulma said, and held her wrist behind her back, trying to appear casual. "So, you're doing okay."

Trunks didn't look at her. "Honestly? No. My has...oh god, this is so weird. Your mom. But you're not. You are just some stranger I share DNA with. No offense."

"None taken kid. It's gotta be more than a little weird."

He turned away from her and sat down, arms rested on his knees and stared at his own clasped hands. "Why did you make everyone young?"

Bulma sat down next to him. "I didn't mean to." she lied, "I made a wish, it had wider consequences than I expected. Honestly though, do you think anyones complaining?"

"No. People seem to be enjoying it."

"Being made a kid again isn't fun. But getting your 20s back? No one's gonna complain." she smiled and tilted her head, "There could be some good from this. More kids. The Earth will have its Heroes longer."

That was true. Trunks and Goten needed more time to get stronger and better in battle. But he had more important questions.

"Are you coming back to earth? Ginyu said you didn't want to-"

“And I have a life out here and I don't plan on ditching it. If my plan goes well, then I won't have to. Your Grandpa already has plans to extend our products into space."

"Grandpa knows?" Trunks said, "Is he okay? Is he mad or angry?"

"Hasn't Ginyu said anything?"

"I don't really trust him right now."

Bulma couldn't blame him. "I don't want that life. I want to visit, see my friends again and enjoy myself. I spent 20 years as a frog, I have a lot of catching up to do."

"And what about us?"

"That's a hell of a lot more complicated, Kid. I know you are mine, but not mine. Didn't birth you. I didn't raise you. I look at you and see a handsome kid, but not my kid. You definitely gonna be a part of my life, but I am gonna be the fun aunt rather than mother."

"Realy?"

"Yeah. I don't want to be your Mommy."

In his head, Trunks could only think ‘thank god.’

Chapter Text

Dende found it so strange to see Nail act like a grown up.

That Was stupid, , of course Nail was an adult, but he was the adult that Dende had known as a child, one he had looked up to. But he had not been a real adult. He was a guardian, friend and teacher. He was not someone who hummed as he helped in a garden as teased snippets of his dating life. Honestly Dende was a little Jealous. He saw what he wanted, he'd taken the steps to have it.

"But why Yamcha?" Mr Popo asked. "I mean, he's got a pretty face but he's not the best the earth has to offer."

"He's funny, and smart. And honestly, I like that he keeps trying. Even if he knows he might end up losing or dead, he still shows up and tries."

Kami nodded, "I suppose having that determination to help his friends is a very good trait."

"It could show someone who doesn't learn from his mistakes."

"Oh, he has. We both know he has." Nail stood and wiped the mess from his knees, "Speaking of mistake, are we going to pay Daimon another visit."

Kami sighed, "Must we?"

"Yes. We must try and convince him to either be a better being, or at the very least remind him he has no power anymore." Nail said, "And remind him to quit having kids."

"You really are fixated on that aren't you."

"You're not supposed to fast track aging. It causes so many developmental Problems."

"Piccolo seemed to do okay." Kami said, but the look he got off of Nail made him cringe, "Okay, maybe not the best example."

"It's not just development problems, but also emotional. I take it that many of these beings had a tendency to be crueler than most? Simple minded but very loyal to their master?"

Kami said nothing, and Nail took that as his answer.

“No matter the reason, I want to keep an eye on him and make sure he knows we are watching him.”

“I suppose you are right. At the very least, we may be able to convince Harmon to try and find a better life beyond being an evil minion."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"So you really got turned into a carrot?" Trunks asked, "I always wondered if that was true or just Oolong and Goku messing with me."

"Oh no, I was. Don't remember much beyond the vague sensation of being carried about, but I was definitely a vegetable for a couple of hours."

"Wow. Suddenly I'm really worried about some of the other stories I've been told."

"Oh yeah, things got fucked up at times."

"Sounds like it was."

"We had a lot of fun though. THose are some fond memories." she sighed, "I can't wait to see them all again. Krillin, Mom and Dad. Yamcha."

The wistful way she said his name made Trunks hide a gag. "Yeah, Uncle Yamcha might not be the same guy anymore. According to most of our friends he kind of got over you about a decade ago."

"He got over old me. This me is gonna remind him why he loves me."

Trunks wisely kept his mouth closed. Yamcha was a lot of things, but hung up on his Mom wasn't one of them. So he decided to change the subject. “You said you watched us. What was the weirdest thing that's changed?”

“Honestly? Krilin. I thought he’d end up married to a sweet little fighter like Goku did, and he’d have a dozen noseless kids he trained up. A police officer and married to a bombshell of a babe? Not what I was expecting.”

“Anything happen as you expected it to?”

Bulma thought about that for a moment. “Yamcha. All joking aside, I knew that we were never gonna get married. Maybe have a kid, and do the will on and off thing for a while, but not end up together. Neither one of us has it in us to settle down.”

“Why?”

“Because We are both too independent. We need partners who understand that. Problem is younger me didn’t understand that then.” she sighed, “I’m probably gonna owe him an apology.”

"Do you think he'll be interested?" Trunks was a little afraid to ask , but needed to know if he should give Yamcha a warning. If he could get the message out.

"Probably not. We both have different priorities now.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Dende didn't know what he should do.

He was an adult (barely) and the Offical Guardian of the Earth. He spoke with true gods and combined with deities. He made the Galaxies more powerful as his Allies and their enemies were true threats. Dende had standing and influence.

And yet he was scared of Moori. A man who was millions of light years away and had no authority over him, and he was afraid that he'd get in trouble if he disobeyed.

"He can't do anything to you. Not even demand you come home." Mr Popo said, sipping from his cup. "He asked you to try and get him home. And even if he ordered you to do it, you cannot comply with an unjust order. Not as a Guardian. Moori knows this."

"But he raised me and-"

"Allowed you to be dragged across space without much of a fight because Goku needed Dragon Balls. You were 10 Dende, Shipping your kid off to become God is an extreme thing to do. Even with Goku being Nameks Saviour, there should have been more discussion."

Dende stared up at the Sky. "You are right. I cannot concede this to him and remain unbiased."

Mr Popo's lips curled slightly, and Dende gave him an amused huff, "Shush with that. Do we know they'll arrive?"

Mr Popo laughed at Dendes brash comment and shook his head as he gazed up at the sky. "Not long. Maybe within the hour. They don't feel like they had evil intent."

"Good. We'll prepare for their arrival."

It was at that point that Point Kami appeared, and Dende's ears twitched. "Something I can help you with, Kami?"

"No. Just come to see if you'll be offering a place to this Zella fellow and his egg."

"There's a place if he needs it."

"Oh, that is nice. It would be nice to see a child of our kind. I have not seen a true child since Piccolo's birth. And that wasn't exactly...normal."

Dende thought about it, then smiled, "It will be nice to have a little one near again. "

Mr Popo laughed, "Oh, that'll be fun. Kids bring a little chaos to any event."

Kami and Dende looked at each other and wondered, with a little worry, what kind of Chaos Mr Popo meant.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"What kind of safety measure did you put in place?"

Ginyu knew there was no risk in giving Vegeta that information.

"First I made a wish to ensure you and the kids' powers,memories and intelligence. I also had several magic users to give you protections that will protect you from harm should anyone think you were in on this."

Vegeta scowled. "What kind of magic?"

"A calming aura to hopefully get people to listen to you. And a mild, temporary shielding." Ginyu sighed, "Nothing permanent for you, but It would have been enough to give you time to explain.”

“How can you be sure?”

“I had messages and letters ready to explain.” Ginyu got up from his chair and. Stretched, his shirt riding up and showing his stomach. Vegeta glanced at the bare skin and looked away. He didn’t like the attraction he felt and it made him uncomfortable.

Ginyu looked over at him. “You want a drink?”

He nodded, and Ginyu went and pulled a couple of beers from the mini fridge hidden under a desk. "The rest of the stuff was all smart banking and finances. I made sure there were some very public and legally binding contracts and orders in place to ensure you would be looked after. Several safe houses and emergency accounts. Even a few spare podships in case of real emergencies."

"Podshiops? Where did you get those?"

"Oh, Recreating the parts wasn't difficult. Frieza's engineers weren't as secretive as you'd think." Vegeta huffed in a way that told. Ginyu wanted to laugh, "What's so funny."

"I am not surprised you found it easy to reverse engineer. Those engineers were awful. The planet sent Frieza barely qualified morons and claimed they were their best. Since Freiza and his Science team didn't know a wrench from a rock, they were happy with glorified mechanics."

"How do you know that?"

Vegeta laughed then, "When I was trying to find Kakarot in space I found a lot of parties. celebrating Frieza's first death. I spoke to a few of them and alcohol certainly loosened a few secrets.”

“Wow.” Giunyu sniggeredand handed over the can. “Iknew there was some minor rebellion, but that's pretty risky. What species is that?”

“Not saying.” Vegeta said, cracking open the can and taking a sip. “I’m not giving you a list of traitors, Ginyu.”

“Fair enough.”

“What other measures did you have?”

“I have other safe houses on earth and in space. Not as nice as this one, but certainly usable.”

“Did you have a plan for if Frieza found you?”

“Grab you and the kids, body Swap with Broly and head to the deepest parts of space in hopes of outrunning him.”

Vegeta stared at him. “Broly? Seriously?”

“I am willing to go to extremes for my family Vegeta.” Ginyu smirked, “In fact, We could get a few casts of forms and I could get you inside of him.” Vegeta gave him an odd look and then Ginyu realized how that sounded, “Not in that way!”

“Well be more specific and maybe I won’t think you're a pervert!” Vegeta said, then actually laughed for real. “Were you really going to try for another child with me?”

“Yes. I want more children. I’m annoyed that this body couldn’t do that with magical and medical help. Honestly I was trying to come up with more ways to ensure a longer youth and life, but it’s becoming more and more difficult because of human limitations. Their brains have a limit to how long their brains will function. It could conk out on me any time after 100 with outside help or extreme training methods.”

“I had always wondered why ‘Bulma didn’t train. Even giving herself a little strike resistance would be a good thing. I’m even more curious as to why you didn’t try and train.”

“Bulma was lazy, and I had to continue that. And as time went on, I rather enjoyed the laziness.” Ginyu stretched his legs out in front of him, “You and your species' insatiable need to advance your strength and training is both a marvel and alarming. A day off won’t kill you.”

“A day off won’t but spending too much time without purpose will. You should know this by now.”

“I do. Once things are settled I can let youtube go back to your normal training schedule.”

Vegeta took a big swig of his drink, “And what exactly is it we’ll be doing when things get back to normal. What is the time frame for you plan to play happy families?”

“I have a real therapist coming in. If that works out and our friend on earth doesn't kill us, maybe make tentative contact. Keeping Bulla happy will be easy, but Trunks is gonna go stir crazy if he has to stay trapped here for too long. He may not be as social as me, but he isn’t the loner you are.”

“So why not let the kids go back to earth?”

“I’m unsure how safe it is to do that.” Ginyu said. “I mean,. There's a chance, but there’s a lot of factors in place. I can't take the risk that our friends can’t protect the kids from outside forces. Gopku has the strength, but not the smarts. And I am not letting ChiChi raise my kids for any length of time.”

“She’s a good mother.”

“She’s a princess with a chip on her shoulder and control issues.” Ginyu said, “I’m surprised Gohan isn’t in therapy.”

“Give it time.” Vegeta said. “But if you could go back, what exactly would you do? I mean, just continue as normal? Run the business, do research?”

“Well, I can start convincing D-Dr Briefs to extend out into the galactic market. Not by much, just a few private supply contracts. After all, the earth isn’t standardized yet. We’d need to begin the process of real first contact and the galactic patrol will try and stake a claim to tax rights if I don’t ensure soveignty.”

“You can’t do that. Bulma briefs is just a business woman, and you’d need to declare yourself the leader of the planet.”

“I couldn’t. But my Husband or son, heirs to the Saiyan Thrones and protectors of the planet, could. A Planet under the protection of real royalty would mean you get final say in taxation.” Vegeta stared a moment and then laughed, “Oh, that is clever. Even If I divorce you, Trunks and Bulla heritage assures you control until Trunks reaches adult age on earth or performs a deed like conquering a planet.”

“And since he won’t do that..” Ginyu trailed off.

Vegeta was impressed. This way Ginyu kept control and had a say in major planetary decisions without actually taking over and once Jaco learns that Bulma is a body swapped Ginyu, he won’t have actually broken any law that would get him arrested.

Jaco couldn’t touch Vegeta, as technically (and it was a huge technically) Vegeta was doing a job for his employer during those years under Freiza, who was considered as close to legitimate as a planet pirate could be. A lot of Freiza men had been allowed to go free because of it. He hoped Ginyu would fall under the same protection. Though when it came to body swapping the laws weren’t exactly clear.

“What do you think Dr Briefs will do?”

Chapter Text

The ship was definitely designed by a Briefs and Yamcha watched as its occupants set about exploring the area he watched,keeping an eye on them. Their power levels ranged from unimpressive to worrisome.

“Do you think we can take them?” Krillin asked,

“We may have to call in help from Goten, but I think we can manage.”

"We're not gonna need anyone dealing with us."

Both men jolted and turned, powering up and ready for a fight.

"Calm, Calm. I'm not here to cause trouble. Just figured you would be more comfortable doing your spying from a comfy chair rather than a bush."

They lowered their defenses, but not by much.

"I'm Plinka, Bulma's second in command and current captain until she returns." The reptilian said, smiled and hoped he seemed harmless.

“We’re not boarding your ship.”

“I’m not asking you too. But we all know you have questions, and we can answer them.”

Yamcha glanced at Krillin, who seemed to think the same thing as him.

“Are you planning on heading into the cities?” Krillin asked.

“Only those of us who fit the common description of this race. Orders are not to make waves useless, we have no other option.”

“What constitutes no other problem?”

“Anyone attacks us first or anyone tries to take Zella and his egg.”

“Why are you so fixated on keeping Zella and the kid here?”

“Zella agreed to help Bulma in exchange for safety on earth. We’re here to ensure that happens Until he can put down some roots.”

Yamcha looked towards the ship. “There are other Nemakians on Earth. Would he be open to speaking with them? On his terms, of course.”

Plink shrugged. “Dunno, I would have to ask him,”

"So go ask him." Krillin said, voice clipped.

Plinka nodded and flew off, and Yamcha gave his friend a look. "Dude, what's with the attitude?"

"We have aliens on earth and no back up. If one of these guys turns out to be a danger, it could be hours before Goku and the others get back. I am not interested in seeing my family hurt again"

Yamcha raised his hands, "Understood, understood."

They waited, and eventually Krillin started smiling before he asked. "So, How's Nail?"

Yasmch blushed and looked away. "He's good."

"How good?"

"Krillin!?!"

"Kidding, kidding man. Seriously though, are things going okay with you two?"

"Yes. We've come to an understanding."

"Good for you man."

"Oh, and I was meaning to ask you something."

"What?"

"How much did you have on me?"

Krillin looked at him a moment and then shook his head, smiling, "About 20 zeni you swung both ways."

"You’re buying me a beer out of that man."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Daimao was in over his head. Androids, aliens and space travel, all of it was far beyond what he knew. It could take him decades to catch up on this information. He wondered about knowledge absorption but he had no clue where to start. Harmon was strolling through the 'internet' but kept getting distracted by funny pictures and videos of idiots hurting themselves. As amusing as it was, Daimao needed better. And better may have walked through the door.

Kami stood tall, and he had a mildly amused look on his face.

"What brings you here?" Daimao asked.

"I came to see what you may be up to."

"Alone?"

"We both know you don't have the power to hurt me without consequence."

"Maybe I'm willing to suffer it to wipe that smirk from your face."

Kami felt fear inside him, but didn't show it. "Then go ahead, have a tantrum."

Daimao laughed and shook his head, "My dear brother, you've grown a backbone if your calling my bluff like this." He stood and walked to his other half, stopping a few feet away, "Why are you here."

"To check in. And extend the hand of....well not friendship, but perhaps mutual understanding."

Harmon came in then, walking with one of the followers.

"Sire, there have been intruders spotted on the outer edge of the territory. Shall we try and capture them?"

"No. But watch them closely and report back if they become a danger."

The follower bowed and left but Harmon remained.

"Sire, there appears to be a problem to the east. One of the rivers is blocked."

"Then unblock it."

"I cannot. Not without disobeying..>>"he looked over at Kami, "Certain rules we have been given."

Daimao Scowled. "I see." he looked over at Kami, "I don't suppose you have an answer to that problem?"

Kami knew what it was. A dam had been built beyond the border, diverting the flow of a river. Where it had once run, a town had popped up with a small stream running through it, the only evidence there had ever been a waterway. The Dam provided clean power to most of the province. “I’m afraid not. You will have to divert one of the rivers running from your northern territory edge.”

“That water tastes like fowl. Ugh.” Daimao stared at his brother, “Are you sure there is no way?”

“Though I am loath to help you, I would not lie about this. Anything that keeps you from returning to your old ways is an important task despite my misgivings.”

“If you don’t wish to help, then why are you here?”

“Because despite your powerlessness you are not helpless nor harmless. You are still a danger to many.”

Daimao got a nasty little idea. He might not be able to do much, but he could make Kami think he could do things.

Oh, this could be fun.

Chapter Text

Dende vaguely remembered the Nemakian before him.

Zella was young, good looking and vibrant of spirit. He walked with the confidence of a man who was happy with his choices.

"It's good to meet you, Kami of Earth." The man said, bowing.

Dende felt a little embarrassed by the honorifics, but accepted them. "It is an honor to have you here on the lookout. Thank you for coming to speak with me."

On the edge of the Lookout Yamcha and Krillin stood, silent and watching. Mr Popo was pretending not to watch.

"I'm told I'll have safety on this planet, is that true."

"It is. I may have been raised on New Namek, but I am the Earth's guardian. to allow another world's politics to influence my decisions here would be a disservice and insult to those who have come before me."

"I am glad to here that. But I do worry about one other I've been told is here."

"Nail?" Dende said.

"He was Guru's second, and I do not know if I can trust him."

"Believe me when I say Nail is not the same as he once was. He's been through some....unique experiences."

"What kind? Beaten to near death, absorbed and then killed again, then bought back and then separated."

Zella stared at him a moment. "That's....thats a lot."

"You've got no idea." They both turned to see Nail emerge from within the temple. "Heya. You must be Zella."

"And you aren't dead. Good for you." Zella said, suddenly nervous."

"Calm down, I'm not shipping you back to New Namek. Or anywhere else."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"What not to ship me off?"

Nail thought on it for a minute, "Because I get how boring home was. And restrictive. And boring."

"You said it was boring twice."

"Because it's twice as boring as you'd think. I mean come on, even Dende has never asked to go back beyond a visit."

Dende Nodded. "I have great love for our home, and respect for our leaders. But life in a farming world is not one I believe I can bind myself to." He looked over at Yamcha and Krillin, there is far more on earth than I could ever ask for on Namek. And speaking of more, how is the soon to be new arrival?”

Zella smiled, “I delivered easily and safely. My Egg is back on the ship, under guard.”

“I am glad it went well. And should you decide too visit more, we have rooms here that would be safe as well. Those who live here are under the protection of myself and Mr PoPo.”

“That’s good to know, but I wish for my child to hatch on the ground.”

“Well, the offer is there,” Nail said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with my friend over there.”

He left them, nodding at Zella in passing and heading towards Yamcha and Krillin, though his true attention was only on one.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Vegeta had awaken in Ginyu's room with the other cuddled into his side, and he had spent several minutes panicking before carefully pulling himself from the other embrace and left the room. His face had burned with embarrassment and he had snuck off the the kitchen where Bulma waited. She looked half asleep as she drank her coffee and smiled contently.

"Good morning. Sleep well?" she asked.

"Decently." Vegeta said and went to the cupboard to find bread. He slipped slices into the 6 slot toaster and depressed the spring to start it cooking.

"So, are you training today?" Bula asked.

"Nothing else to do. I might head out, walk the area. I haven't seen much of it yet."

"It's a nice planet. But tis mostly farmland at the moment."

"Its still something to do that not a reminder that I am stuck here." Vegeta said and got spreads from the fridge. Bulma sighed and nodded,

"Well, with any luck, you won't be for long." she said and stood up, refilling her cup. "God, I missed real coffee. Space coffee is nice, but its not real coffee."

"You know, calling everything space this and space that is kind of ridiculous." Vegeta said. "Why not Jucien Coffee, or Dairius Coffee? After its planet. Why just 'space coffee."

"Porbably just easier." They lapsed into silence as Vegeta made seemingly endless rounds of toasts as people began wandering in. Trunks came through and downed a bottle of juice before Bulla toddled in, sleep mussed and adorable. But no Ginyu. Bulma made the assumption he was either asleep or working on something, so Bulma decided to go and find her.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Chapter Text

Piccolo was on edge as he watched the clock. He’d been trying to reach Vegeta, but he had been asleep, and speaking to an unconscious mind was a surefire way to ensure the message got lost.So he silently waited for the man to wake up.

“You think Ginyu will make himself a new body, like his old one?” Goku asked, staring up at the ceiling as he waited for Gohan to finish in the ship's engine area.

“Why is this relevant?”

“Cos it’d be weird if he came back all purple and stuff. Can you imagine him and Bulma being all married?”

Piccolo rolled his eyes. He’d seen images of Ginyu in memories and pictures, but had never seen the man himself. The idea was more weird than anything else.

"Why do you care anyway?"

"Dunno. Guess I'm just curious as to how it will work. Will we have to call him Ginyu all the time, Or will we call Her Bulma or Bulma 2 or something?"

Piccolo stared at Goku. "We'll probably have to call them what they tell us to call them." he stopped for a moment, and realised he was waiting for something, but he wasn't sure what he was waiting for. That had been happening a lot lately. Just waiting for....something.

And then it hit him. A response. He was waiting for Nial or Kami to speak. God, he hadn't realized how quiet it really was until he thought about it. He didn't like this, not at all.

So he decided to distract himself by encouraging Goku to fill the silence. "Why would Ginyu be Ginyu 2 if the body he has is the original?"

"Because Bulma was Bulma first. She should get the Bulma 1 title."

Goku filled the silence with his idle prattling until Vegeta finally woke up, but by that point Piccolo was fully interested in the logistics of who got what name, so when Gohan returned.

“So what did Vegeta and Trunks say?”

“Haven’t been able to make a connection yet.” Piccolo said and got back to sensung the saiyans they were there to rescue.

Trunks was first and understood the situation. Vegeta seemed bothered beyond being able to go home, but Piccolo got a vibe that this could go wrong, and it would be with him.

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Trunks decided to spend the morning in his replica lab. He couldn't risk doing or saying something dumb as they wanted for the afternoon to arrive. It was already hard enough pretending he was giving info to Piccolo.

So he sat in a lab that looked just like the one on earth, tinkering with an old engine and trying not to think of how wrong everything could go.

So, so much could go wrong.

A knock on his door jolts him from his thoughts, and his fathers voice comes through. "Open up boy."

Trunks did, and his father looked like always did. His poker face was so good Trunks wished he could look that cool under pressure.

"Hey Dad, is something wrong?"

"Me and your mother have been discussing tutors. I figured I should give you a warning as to how education works out here."

"Really? Is it that different?"

"In some ways. You'll be in the classroom a lot, but most planets choose practicality over testing. No point being able to tell someone how to fix something if you've never actually done it. Practice and theory mean different things when you repair ship parts or high value tech." Vegeta sat on the edge of a desk, "Humans have the term, 'Man of all trades' . Your education will be like that. By the end you should be competent at most skills required to live on a high functioning planet. You can specialize, but I expect you to complete your basic courses. Which even Kakarot could do with help, so don't worry too hard about it being difficult."

"Did you do it?"

"Of course I did. You think Frieza was going to pay to have a specialist for every team?" Vegeta huffed, "Not that he paid for much. For the so-called 'emperor of space' he was a cheapskate."

"Did you specialize?"

Vegeta actually smiled then, "Don't tell anyone, but I did a short course in demolition safety. Certified for 16 separate higher destruction tools and machines."

Trunks had to keep his mouth closed, just nodding and trying not to crack up at the fact his Dad was space forklift certified.

"Did you ever think you'd wind up in space again?"

Trunks watched his Dad's face go through several twitches before he finally said, "I had hoped I never would. There's some enjoyable stuff out there, but Earth is.....well, you'll find out soon enough how rare a planet like earth is."

"Seriously? Whis said there's only 22 life giving worlds, surely most of them are-"

"Barely livable rocks. There used to be more, but between Beerus and Frieza...."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Dr Briefs has had his space program on the back burner for a few years, but now he is prepared to reveal it to the world. Simple ships that could take people on joyride to the moon and back, and allow for the first steps in asteroid mining.

Oh, it was going to be quite lucrative. Already he had plans to employ Vegeta as security and Bulma would front their space facing business. And Ginyu, hopefully, would continue running things on earth. So long as people didn’t get to uppity, the future was looking bright.

He could see it now, the first established off world complex, his family's name emblazoned upon it. Maybe see if a couple of the warrior minded of their friends would take a job as security for the off world site. Robots were all well and good, but sometimes you needed a real person. To get stuff done.

“Honey, time for coffee.” Panchy called, and he got up from his desk to enjoy a short break. After all, future interplanetary business men needed a pick me up every now and then.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma found Ginyu sending messages to businesses and beginning the government processes that came with living in space.

Ginyu looked up and motioned for her to come in, "Is it weird to say I missed this?" Ginyu said. "The earth's red tape is monstrous. Here it's so simple. So long as I back up my documents, everything is fine."

Bulma smiled, "Got to admit, the simplicity of the bureaucracy is nice. I suppose it has to be, considering how far people have to go to get paperwork. Except working with the Patrol. God they have it as bad as earth when it comes to paperwork."

"I understand they want to spread influence and justice, but people aren't going to submit acquisition forms in triplicate."

"They did on earth."

"Bulma dear, Earth is weird." Ginyu said. "Don't get me wrong. I love the odd little planet, but it's still weird."
That made Bulma curious, "How so."

Before Ginyu speaks, his computer beeped. "I have to take this. Could you-"

"Sure, tell me when you have time to chat.”

‘Damn it’ Bulma thought. She needed to get through to dad without anyone noticing, and she couldn’t do that from the other ship, nor could she get through the shielding here. She needed to talk to her Dad, and finalize everything that they were going to do once they were back on earth.

Bulma had been seeding their business for years, carefully proving she was an amazing engineer and business woman. But her father wrote the book, and she knew if she didn’t try to keep him in the loop, he may take it the wrong way., Not enough to hurt their chances of a business in space, but enough to make life difficult.

God, maybe she should have stayed gone. Just he built her own little empire and lived a good life on her own little rock.

Now she was walking a VERY thin line and she hoped her balance held.

Chapter Text

Piccolo caught Trunks and Vegeta together, which made everything a hell of a lot easier.

They would confront Ginyu at 2pm local time. The plan was to come up with some kid of compromise that everyone could walk away from happily. And if they couldn't then...well, they would do what they had to.

Goku wasn't happy about it, but he agreed to keep Vegeta busy should he try to stop them from harming his wife. Or Husband.

"So, what exactly is the plan if we take them back to Earth?

"I say we take him to the lookout until we have a full safety net for keeping him on earth." Gohan said. "Dende and Mr Popo should be more than enough to keep him under control and without being able to fly he won't be able to leave without help."

“What do they think of the plan?” Goku asked.

“Dende would like to try and find out how Ginyu managed to keep this secret for so long. After all, he is supposed to be able to sense when there are dangers to the earth, and he felt nothing in regards to Ginyu all these years. So either Ginyu truly meant no harm, or he was hiding it somehow.”

“Maybe he just likes it on earth.” Goku said, I mean, he’s got it pretty sweet. Money, security and a family. Magical dragons are easy to access. Why would he risk losing all that?”

"Obviously he never planned on it Goku. We know he never would have come clean without Bulma showing back up. We could have gone the rest of our lives, or his, not knowing they were anyone other than Bulma Briefs." Piccolo said, arms folded over his chest. "Now, You going to drop us in, and then come back here until we call you. If we aren't back by 4, then you go back to earth and report us captured."

Goku nodded, "What's the plan if that happens?"

"We call in Dr Briefs and hope that he will help us, or we beg the Nemakians for use of the dragon balls."Gohan said, "ThougH I don't think they'll be happy with us asking if we don't hand over ella."

Piccolo rolled his eyes, "Or you could ask Zella to use his."

Gohan blinked a few times. "Or you can do that."

"Should I go back and tell people then? Just to be safe?" Goku asked and Gohan nodded. "That would be smart. You can let Mom and my wife know we're okay whilst you are there."

"Kay. Back soon." Goku said and put his fingers to his forehead, and with a pop he was gone.

Gohan sighed and shook his head, “You think we’re gonna have to ask King Kai to give him a reminder to come back after lunch?”

Piccolo huffed a laugh, “You doubt that?”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"Why are you sitting on Nail?"

"YAAAAGGGGH!"

Yamcha threw the nearest object at Goku. Nail laughed, but he did feel embarrassed as Goku stared at the two of them with mild confusion, before he blushed and gave a nervous laugh.

"Ooooh. Haha, sorry Yamcha. I just needed a Ki signal and yours was closest. I didn't know you had....company."

“Well I do!” he said, face beet red, “Now can you leave.”

“Oh, yeah. I need to go see Tien. He owes me 5 zeni.”

With a Pop he vanished and Yanch just stared at the spot where he had been.

“Kami damnit did everyone but me know?”

"Seems they did." Nail said, and cupped Yamcha's face to pull his attention back. Now where were we?"

Yamcha smiled and leaned back in, but he was more tentative now. The interruption had rattled humans slightly, but within a few minutes his attention was back on the man before him.

Nail had soft skin, and hard muscle. There wasn't much contrast between the muscles that were pink or green, but the distinct sections were unique and Yamch was happy to spend hours exploring.

Nail was just as curious about him as well. Humans were so smooth, but the fine, near invisible hair on their bodies was so unique. Skin that tasted of salt and hair thick he could stroke his finger through. It was nice. Nail hadn't slept with many aliens in his time, but he could certainly see the draw to primate based lifeforms.

Yamcha pulled away from the kiss and lightly nipped at his chin, and touched his scarf. "Can this get taken off?"

Nail nodded, and Yamcha moved back enough for him to get it over his head. He stroked his fingertips up Nail's neck, and the alien tilted his head back at the light pressure.

"You're so handsome." Yamcha said, leaning in and kissing Nail's neck, then lightly grazed his teeth near his ear. Nail shuddered and breathed hard. Yamcha's soft laugh in his ear was the only warning he got as that mouth bit, kissed and sucked at his throat, experimenting with pressure and teeth and Nail was more than happy to let him.

But eventually he realized that this experience was a little one-sided and noticed that Yamcha was grinding against his leg, and the hardness there told Nail where he should put his attention.

It was messy and new, and neither were complaining as they fumbled through this encounter. When Nail began pushing at his jeans, Yamch gave a final nip to his neck.

"I think we need to move this to the bedroom. It'll be more comfortable."

Nail just nodded and let himself be led away.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

ChiChi hated seeing Goten so lifeless. It was like there was a spark missing from his eyes. Then again, his best friend was missing, she could hardly blame the poor boy for it.

There was a recognisable noise nearby and ChiChi looked up to see her husband, his boyish face smiling, but not his usual carefree smile. This smile was his 'shits about to go down and I might not get to punch someone' smile. Not a common one for her to see, but a welcome one. Any danger that could be fought without violence was a good one.

"Goku, is Gohan okay?"

"He's fine ChiChi. I have to be back by 2 o'clock, which is....he looked up at the clock and his brow furrowed hard, erm, about 12 pm here."

"You sure."

"Yeah. It was six hours away on the ship, so if I get back before those 6 hours here, I should be on time, right?"

ChiChi nodded, "Sounds good. Are you staying here?"

"No, I have to go speak with Dende before I come back here. Just wanted to let Goten know how things were going."

"Are they going well?" Goten asked, appearing at the door.

Gopku nodded. "Yeah. By this evening we will have a real idea of what we are doing."

"SoTrunks will be home soon?"

"Goku went to his kid and gave his shoulder a squeeze, "We'll know by tonight Goten. I'll tell you as soon as I know. "

Goten nodded and smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, and ChiChi was again worried.

"Goten honey, can you go grab the fish from the smoker please? I'll get started on lunch so it'll be ready when your Father gets home from his errands."

"Yes Mom."

Goten left, and ChiChi looked up at her husband. "Are things really okay up ther-" Goku pulled her into a hug and pressed his face into her hair, and she immediately returned the embrace. "Honey? What's wrong."

"I saw Bulma." he said, voice muffled. "The real one. It was her Chi. Actually her. The second I was in the same room I knew and I....."

ChiChi Pulled away and saw his face, his eyes and the pain there was awful. She pulled him back in and squeezed as tight as she could.

“None of us knew Goku. None of us. Not even her own mother noticed a difference. How was anyone else going to stand a chance if she couldn’t tell? Yamcha couldn’t even tell!”

Goku didn’t seem to listen, just held on and ChiChi hated it. Goku didn’t handle this kind of stress well, and she should have seen something like this coming.

When he finally pulled back he had watery eyes and her heart ached at the sight of it.

"How could I not tell it wasn't Her, ChiChi?" he asked. "Am I really that dumb?"

"Goku, you are an idiot, but you are not that much of one. Ginyu tricked everyone. He tricked her parents, her friends and lovers. He even convinced that boy from the future. If he could live that long and never let it slip, what chance do the rest of us have?"

He sniffled and nodded. "I hate this stuff."

"Everyone does honey. Everyone does."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma had walked the base a dozen times, and she was impressed. This whole automated development could make millions. Never waste money on touchdown workers again, use the patented Briefs Auto Builder. The base model could just be a farm start set they already had on earth, just adding oxygen tanks and atmospheric safety features.

On earth she would have to worry about job reduction, but out here? The job was so dangerous, underpaid and disliked that they'd be clamouring for an alternative.

Ginyu really was just as smart as she was. Sneakier and more devious, which could be dangerous, but they had enough control measures to deal with that. She smiled to herself, thinking of the empire she was about to build when a beep at the wall.

"Hello?" she asked after pressing the speech button.

"Hey, if you still want to talk, I'm available now." Ginyu said. "I'm in the secondary kitchen , following the lights."

On que several lights came on, guiding her way and again Bulma was impressed.

"This guy thought of everything." she muttered as she found the secondary kitchen.

It was tiny, but had everything a person might need in a pinch.

Ginyu sat at the table, an empty plate beside him and a full mug of coffee. "Sorry Bulma, I got real busy earlier. I was having a really deep conversation with Dad."

Bulma didn't let herself freeze up, instead grabbing her own coffee and sitting down. "How did that go?"

Ginyu smiled, "Oh, quite well. I see that my abilities have been seen as more than useful. And it would seem that I am also going to have to start keeping a much closer eye on people. So I am going to ask, what else is going to happen?”

Bulma had a choice before her.

She looked at her coffee, her earth coffee and took a sip, the flavour reminding her why she was doing all of this.

"I wanted to have my family back, Ginyu. I don't want to have to choose between my space life and my earth one."

"I understand that Bulma. But you must understand what you risk losing if you keep on playing more than one side. I'm not asking you to betray anyone. I'm asking you to be smart."

Chapter Text

The river had been diverted. No one was hurt, which was good, but the town it had once flowed through was now in a panic, as they had lost both a water source and a tourist pull.

“Why would Daimao do this?” Dende asked.

“Because he doesn’t like the taste of the other river.” Kami rubbed his face and sighed, “I had hoped he would behave.”

“Well, he hasn’t killed anyone, so that’s good. Right?”

“I suppose. But this is going to attract attention.”

That was true. Already news trucks and tourists were lined up to see the dry river bed, and many were quite shocked at the amount of trash in the river. Bikes, bottles, and even a car. The city council were already arranging to clear the mess, but it was being overshadowed by the fact that someone had moved a whole river.

There were going to be investigations, and someone was going to find out the rumours of the return of Daimao were true. Chaos was about to break out.

At his shoulder, Dende let out a tiny snigger.

“And what are you finding so funny young man?”

Dende did laugh then, full throated and genuinely amused. “Oh me, hearing you say that is so funny. You look younger than Nail right now. I’m laughing at the idea of them calling up the Earth's great saviour.” Dende said, looking over the edge, “You think we should give Satan a heads up?”

“I think you must.” Kami suddenly grinned, “If only to give everyone else a word of warning that Daimao is playing games.”

“Hi guys!”

Kami jolted, “You damnit I hate it when he does that.”

Dended shook his head and smiled, “Hello there Goku. Any news?”

“We’re gonna make a move today. Gohan wanted me to make sure everything was ready at this end.”

“It is. A room is ready, Mr Popohas begun preparations for a deep sleep mind search.”

“Great. Hopefully you’ll see us all later.”

“I hope that's how it works out.”

“Are there any messages you want me to take with me?”

“None that I can think of.”

“Okay, then I’m gonna go make sure everyone knows the plan. Though you guys might have to tel;l Nail and Yamcha.”

“Why us?”

“Because I think they’d be too embarrassed to see me after I popped in on them.”2

Dende blushed and giggled, “Oh dear. That must have been a surprise.”

“It being Nail, yeah. Didn’t know Yamcha liked Namekians. But I won a bet, so that's good.”

Goku popped away, and Kami tilted his head, "You know, thinking back on it, Nail did always have a few kind words about Yamcha. Always so excited to see him. Guess I should have realized it was more than friendship."

"Nail always kept that stuff close to the chest. Guru would have teased him otherwise."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Bulma explained she knew her father's plan. She admitted that they were to be business partners, if Ginyu agreed. That this new home would become their base of operations, and Ginyu would be allowed to return home and be allowed to continue as the face of Capsule Corporation. When it came to his marriage there was nothing either of them could do but find a good marital therapist, but otherwise it would be safe to return to the earth.

To go home.

And really, what other choice did he have? He couldn't escape into space, not without a body. Though....he could take Gohan's. Great power, trusting enough to maybe get close enough to him. No, both he and Piccolo were likely going to be on high alert. He could play along and try for Goku's form. He knew of most of his abilities now, so he should be able to utilize them better than the last time they had been forced to swap with the Saiyan. Or maybe he should go after one of the earthlings. Tien spent the most time on the outside, he could swap with him and be off the planet before anyo-no, Choatzu would know he wasn't the real Tien in a second. Those two were weirdly close to each other.

No, if he wanted to escape he would need to find a low level fighter with enough ki to use but not enough to track, and find one of his bolt holes. Though if he truly wanted to go to ground he could just body hop until he could access his accounts. That could work.

"Trunks, I want you and your sister with me now please." he said to his communicator, and headed towards the main lounge. Bulma had gone off to do whatever it was she had planned, and Ginyu had spent another hour verifying information with his dad before deciding to take matters into his own hands.

Vegeta was already there, drinking coffee and scrolling on a padd.

"There's a fresh pot," he said.

"Good. I'll need the caffeine for when Your rescuers get here."

Vegeta didn't notice the coffee spilling down his shirt as he looked up at him, eyes wide.

"How!?!?!"

"You don't need to know. WHat I need to know is who and how."

Vegeta looked like he was going to refuse, but deflated and sai. "Piccolo and Gohan. Goku too. The plan is to force you back to earth."

"And?"

"Imprisonment until they know what to do with you."

Ginyu folded his arms. "When?"

"This afternoon."

Ginyu thought about it. "Well, it's not the worst thing that could happen. I can deal with this."

"How?"

Ginyu smiled at his husband. "Nothing awful I assure you. I'll have the robots prepare a good meal. I want you and the kids with me for the rest of the day, understood."

"Ginyu-"

"No Vegeta. We are going to have a good, long talk and then we are going to invite our friends in for a little chat."

Ginyu left to pour coffee and Vget felt his stomahc tie iun knots as he tried to think of what Ginyu may do now.This could go hiorribly wrong.

Trunks arrived with Bulla in tow, and stopped at the door. He could sense something had happned.

"He knows." Vegeta said and Trunks stared at him a moment.

"What do you-"

"I know that Gohan, Goku and Piccolo are here." Ginyu said. "I must say, I had thought my set up has accoutned fro everything. I thought I had made us untraceable.But it seems as though direct contact through telepathy was still possible."

Trunks stared and felt panic start to well up in him. "Oh Crapbaskets."

"So, I know they got here a few days ago, and that they've been working on a way to breach defences. They seem to have done it considering we're getting a visit this afternoon." Ginyu said. He negelcted to mention he knew of Bulma's involvement. No, he wanted to keep some things to himself.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Goku arrived early, which was a pleasent surprise.

"Did Mom have to remind you?" Gohan asked.

"No, Goten is getting real impatient to have his friend back."

Gohan gave a soft smile. "Well he should have him back soon enough. Is everyone ready on Earth?"

"They are. Dende has his plan ready, Tien and Krillin are gonna take the first guard shift and I won 5 zeni."

Gohan gave his Dad a look. "How'd you win 5 zeni?"

"Yamcha's got a boyfriend."

"Bout damn time." Piccolo said as he entered the room, "How'd you find out."

"I latched onto his energy to get home and caught him and Nail together."

"You need to start giving people warning before you po-" Piccolo froze and turned back to Goku. "I'm sorry, with who?"

Gohan knew this was bad. They didn't need this kind of distraction when they were an hour away from a possible conflict. "Erm, maybe you saw wrong Dad."

"Yes." Piccolo said, "You must have. You can't have seen Nail with him. Maybe they were wrestling?" his eyes were desperate, "Please, please say they were wrestling."

Gokuy rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, "What the big deal. Yamcha's a good guy."

"Not a big deal!" Piccolo began pacing, "If we refuse, I Know what they did. I remember it like I....oh kami no."

"Calm down Piccolo. This isn't a big deal. It's not like you have to see those memories if you refuse. You can just lock them up or something." Goku said, and Gohan wished his Dad knew when to shut up.

"Look, we have to put this aside for now and concentrate on the situation at hand."

"I need to talk to Nail." Piccolo said and rushed off, face burning purple.

Gohan watched him go and looked at his Dad. "You couldn't wait till after the rescue."

"I didn't think he'd freak out so much. What's wrong with Yamcha and Nail?"

Gohan shook his head. "Goddamnit Dad."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

-NAAAIIILLLL-

=Ow, you don't have to yell. I can hear you fine.-

-Don't have to yell? You making bad decisions with Yamcha, I can yell all I want.-

=Oh. So Goku told you then.=

-Yes Goku told me. What do you think you are doing? Do you think I want those memories if I have to refuse you. Or have him trailing after me like some lovesick puppy. I've seen Yamcha lovesick and dating, I don't want him doing that to me!-

=He won't. He gets that this could be a fling.=

-And if I inherit those feelings?- Piccolo shuddered and Nail felt it, -Oh Kami, I don't want Yamcha.-

=Okay, firstly-Yamcha's a great guy. Secondly, I've no plans to refuse unless we have no choice. And right now we have one, so quit freaking out do bad.=

-I hate you right now. I have more important things to think of than what your doing with Yamcha.-

Nail sighed, =Seriously what is wrong with him. He's kind, he's handsome, he's a little goody but I like that.=

-He's a cheat.-

=Bulma once broke up with him four times in one day. At this point I think the woman wanted him to cheat.=

-Look, just....if we have to reform, I don't want to -

=I get it Piccolo, your not good with this stuff. I promise you, you won't have to deal with any fallout. But I'm not wasting what little time I might have as an individual.=

Piccolo was silent for a moment. -Don't catch anything.-

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

It was 13:55 and the room was silent and tense. Vgeta and Trunks had been told to go for Ginyu in the warehouse area, and Bulma sat on a crate looking nonchalant. Bulla had been given lunch early and was being put down to nap whilst the grown ups spoke.

It was time to negotiate.

Chapter Text

Gohan was confused.

The last thing he remembered was his father teleporting them into the base, and then....dizziness. The face of Bulma/Ginyu smiling but still looking annoyed. Now he was lying on a couch, in a room he didn't recognise.

"Hey Gohan." Trunks said. "Welcome to the crazyhouse."

"Trunk? What happened."

"Ginyu found out. We couldn't really do much about it."

Gohan sat up and looked down at himself, and saw the wristband. He felt panic rise and he tried accessing his ki, only for it to just...not be there.

“Feels weird doesn't it? Like missing a limb or something.”

Gohan stood, looking about the room. It was a standard room, no thrills but comfortable. “Where are Dad and Piccolo?”

“Already awake.” Trunks walked to the door, “Come on, I'll take you.”

“What happened? Who told?”

“No clue,but Mom said he'll explain it.”

Gohan tried to reach Piccolo, but there was a fuzziness there now, and it felt weird. “How did he catch us?”

“Airtight shield, the room already filled with an oxygen/salphiddine mix.”

“Salphiddine?”

“Alien sedative.”

“How did he get you to help?”

“He didn't. These bands can make us weak as kittens. He just dialed down our strength and then walked up to you guys once you were asleep to put the things on.” Trunks sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be a kid. None of us knew.”

The two of them reached the room everyone else was in, and Goha saw that they were scattered about a curved couch, a table between tem and a large screen on the wall. Ginyu smiled and put on his cup.

“Glad you are awake. Help yourself to a drink, the gas can leave you a little de-hydrated.” He said and watched as Gohan sat down. “I am sorry for this situation, but I was forced to ensure my safety.”

"I suppose we should be grateful you didn't just run whilst we were out." Gohan said, grabbing a bottle of water. "Why talk to us?"

"Well, that's what I can explain now, everyone is here." Ginyu said. " You see, I've been talking with people who have agreed to a truce. One that will be beneficial to everyone involved."

Everyone stiffened the obvious question hanging in the air.

"It's not Frieza, you can relax."

No one did and Ginyu rolled his eyes. "It would appear that Dr Briefs knew who I was."

There was silence, "I take it you already had suspicions?"

Piccolo huffed, "So what if we did. It's not like it matters now."

Ginyu nodded, "True. And honestly, it's actually going to make this whole process easier. You see, Dr Briefs is happy to keep me as part of the family."

Trunks stared at his mother with wide eyes. "What?"

"He sees me as an asset instead of a liability. I have made my own safety nets in case this is some elaborate hoax to lure me back to earth, but I wanted to talk with you guys before making my final decision.I know that there are going to be a few trust issues now that you're now the truth of my identity."

"Trust issues are, to put it mildly, Ginyu." Piccolo said. "You spent nearly 20 years pretending to be someone else. You've infiltrated our home and lives so deeply you are the biggest threat to our security. This is no longer a simple decision of do we let you live or do we end the threat."

Vegeta glared at him then, but said nothing. He knew speaking his mind would be of no help, and the only thing he had to say would make him sound like some lovesick idiot who wasn't understanding the situation. But he did. Vegeta understood the situation all too well. The fact he couldn't bring himself to harm the one he considered his wife was impossibly aggravating.

"I have made plans for that scenario as well. You would regret that decision very quickly." Ginyu said and turned to Bulma. "Why don't you explain the details here."

Bulma had arranged herself to look harmless but cute. It might have worked on any other group, but they all knew her too well, even though they'd only really known her a short while.

"Well, I've been playing multiplayer angles. A girl needs options after all." This joke fell flat, but she continued." I figured that having you guys find Ginyu would mean I didn't break my word, which I technically didn't. "

"That'#s real debatable." Ginyu muttered.

"My Dad saw me being gone as a way to get a real idea of how the business world of the galaxy works, and Ginyu was doing a good enough job as me that he was making a good profit on earth so Dad-"

"Let an enemy live among us. Let an enemy Trick someone into marriage and kids" Gohan said. "I'm sorry Trunks, You and your sister are loved, but it doesn't hide the fact that what Ginyu did is aberrant."

"No one is saying it isn't. But let's face it, most of the people we know have done awful things." Bulma said. "I mean, I was willing to shoot a kid to get the dragon balls. That's how I met your Dad. Yamcha was a thief, Piccolo and the androids were born to murder your dad and These two-" Bulma pointed at Vegeta and Ginyu, "Had to work for a tyrant to survive." Bulma nearly mentioned ChiChi's insistence that a moron marry her on a promise made when they were twelve, but didn't. That little titbit was better used at a later date. "I'm not saying he's innocent, but no one we know is. And we've given all of them a real chance to change over the years."

"Consider Ginyu has the intelligence and resources to do all this-" Piccolo gestured to the room they were in, "I think we have the right to be worried. This scam has been going on for a long time, we have everyone's right to be worried about this."

“I am willing to capitulate to any safeguards you think are necessary.” Ginyu said. “After all, I want this to end with me home with my family. I like my current life. And if Briefs is willing to have me, Bulma is willing to share her name and My family is willing to let me try and fix this, I will gladly submit to whatever you need to feel safe.”

“Whatever we want? Even if we demand you go back to your old body?” Piccolo said.

“If you can find it. Though you’ll have to fight Dr Briefs on that.” Ginyu said, “Most of our future plans involve me looking like this.”

“Plus Vegeta may not wanna be married to a big purple due.” Goku said, then tilted his head, “Unless he doesn't care about that.”

“I think we can ignore my taste in partner's right now. WEe have more important things to discuss.” Vegeta said.

“Yes we do.” Piccolo said and lifted his hand to show the band on his wrist. “Like these things.”

“Yeah, I gotta admit these things worry me.” Goku said and touched the band. “It makes me feel itchy.”

“It's a temporary measure. And once we have all of this sorted, I will be destroying them.”

Gohan was surprised. “Why destroy them?”

“So no one else can use them. Something like this absolutely cannot get into the wrong hands, so it's better to get rid of it once I am done with them.”

“And we should believe that because…”

“Because hobbling those I rely on for protection is short sighted and stupid. I am only using them now as a safety device.” Ginyu explained.

Piccolo glanced at Gohan, trying to mentally connect to him and being incredibly perturbed when he couldn’t . He wasn’t used to being cut off like this.

“So how exactly will this work?” Goku asked. “Do you just come home and then we pretend nothing happened?”

Ginyu and Bulma shook their heads.

“Kami no.” Ginyu said, “You will go ahead and speak with everyone so they know what is happening. Once everyone is informed and on the same page, then I’ll return with you.”

“To do that, these need to come off.” Piccolo said.

“I know. I am giving Goku access to more power so he can Instant transmit back to earth. Any sign of any other ki use will result in unconsciousness.”

“It's not gonna involve a need-”

“There’s no needles Goku.” Ginyu siad, and felt a small flutter of annoyance and affection.

"So when do we do this?"

"Now" Bulma Said. "My Dad is already prepping on Earth, all you have to do is show and and get people to meet up."

"Why not do it together?"

"Do I look like I want to widen in a cell?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"My Baby's been kidnapped!" ChiChi cried and broke down, clutching Goten and sobbing.

"He's not kidnapped. We'll get him back by tomorrow at the least." Goku said. "Come on, I'm gonna get you to the neutral point And we can get all of this over with."

ChiChi Sniffled and nodded, Letting Goku grab her shoulder. "My poor baby, stuck in space with a monster!"

"There's no monster ChiChi. It's just Bulma a Ginyu."

"A space harlot and a liar. Those are worse."

Goku managed not to roll his eyes as Goten touched his shoulder. A moment later they were in an open field, a large table awaiting for them.

Tien was already there, having gotten the message from Dende to make his way there. So Tien had flown over, and both Yamcha and Puar were on their way. Goku dropped his wife and son off before vanishing to fetch those who were still far away. He arrived back with Roshi and Oolong.

The next time he left was to go and fetch Dende and Popo and Nail. Dr Briefs and his wife arrived, and Yamcha landed, Puar latched to his jacket.

ChiChi kept glancing at him, and Roshi grinned, “Something up ChiChi?”

“Oh no, it's just….really weird seeing you like this. I’ve always known you as the pervy old man. Seeing you as a degenerate young man is disconcerting.”

“Well get used to it. Cos I ain’t giving up this mug.”

“I’m pretty certain no one here wants to do that.” Tien said. “I won't lie, being this young again has its problems, but I am enjoying it.”

Yamcha smiled, “I gotta say, getting to do it over is kind of cool. I’ve already started changing up my workouts and diet to give myself a chance this time around.”

“Oh, me and Briefs have been thinking that ourselves, right honey?”

Dr Briefs nodded. “True. I’ve been thinking that I can really get back into the groove of research now. I've got a lot of ideas now that I have my daughter and step daughter back.”

The people present froze, and it was Puar who eventually asked. “What do you mean by that? what step daughter.”

“Well, since Ginyu’s been a part of the family so long, I can hardly go around claiming he’s not a daughter of some kind.”

“I’m sorry, but surely-”

Goku appeared again with Krillin and 18 just as Pop, Dende and Nail arrived.

"Well, now everyone is here, I can get started and not have to repeat myself." Briefs said and smiled. "Now, before everyone gets mad, let me say that in the long run everyone has come out of this ordeal better off. My company, my family and our lives weren't at risk or truely harmed due to Ginyu lying about his identity. Yes the distrust is expected, but-"

"You knew." Tien said. "You knew your daughter wasn't your daughter and you never said anything."

"Well, there really isn't any need too. The pros of keeping Ginyu around far outweigh the cons." Briefs explained. "I also knew Bulma was alive and -"

Yamcha flew off, power fluctuating and burning. Nail flew off after him, and everyone else was in shock.

"Panchy sat in silence. She stared ahead as though what had just been said had been a declaration of a picnic, and no one liked it. Even Dr Briefs looked a little surprised at the lack of response.

He ignored it. Anything she said would be easily soothed later. Or he'd find another way to keep her-

"How the hell could you keep something like that a secret!" Tien asked. "Ginyu could have handed us over to Frieza. He could have taken over the planet or killed all of us. The fact that he didn't is a miracle!"

ChiChi nodded. "How could you just sit by and let him use your Daughter's body like that!"

"Well, Bulma was still alive. I figured that it would be a great experience for her to find a way to get home to us. And if she had died, well, we would have had the dragon balls ready in a jiffy."

"That is besides the point!"

Panchy stood then, her face a little tense. "I need a moment. There's a food capsule in the blue box. " she wandered off and Dr Briefs sighed, "Oh, she's gonna be miffed at me for sure."

Ya think?" 18 Said. "Then again, considering your past actions, I wouldn't be surprised if your own wife's fare wasn't an issue to you. Abandoning your own daughter seems easy enough."

"I didn't abandon her. Bulma has always been an independent girl and -"

"Dr Briefs. Nothing you can say is going to make your decision seem rational or logical to anyone but yourself." Tien said, "So we are going to stick to the current issue, and decide how we are going to move forward with Ginyu and the kids."

Dr Briefs was silently thankful, as this wasn't going as well as he had hoped. Then again, they were people of average intelligence, they were never going to understand his logic.

“Alright then. Bulma and Ginyu have agreed to share the role of heir of the company. Bulma will be fronting our new interplanetary branch, and Ginyu will return to run the earth side of things. There will be safety measures in place for everyone to ensure that no one can double cross or cause harm, but as of now the idea is that Ginyu will be a sort of willing prisoner. He gets to try and fix his family life. He gets to keep his current lifestyle whilst also being able to shred the fake persona. Though to be honest, he and my Daughter are similar enough that you won’t really notice a difference.”

“And we’re supposed to pretend nothing happened?” Roshi asked.

“No. In fact I think we will need a lot of group therapy to get this new alliance to work. In fact I won’t be allowing anyone but family alone with Ginyu until we can be certain people's emotions won’t get the better of them, like Yamcha’s have.”

“Of course they have! He’s just found out that you didn’t tell him his girlfriend had been repla-” Krillin paused, “Oh god. He was gonna ask her to marry him. You could have ruined his chance at a wife, a family!”

“Well, sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the-”

“You don’t seem to have sacrificed anything here, Briefs!”

Chapter Text

Nail found Yamcha sitting in the sand near ruins, face buried in his knees. He didn't speak, just sat.

"You don't wanna be here. I'm gonna rant about my ex, and you may not wanna hear it."

Nail shrugged. "I'm a good listener."

Yamcha went quiet and Nail waited. Eventually the human spoke.

"I melted the ring," he said. "Did it 9 years ago. Once I realized that Bulma wasn't gonna walk away from Vegeta. It was thin banded, large flat diamond with leaf like engravings. Had it been made special."

Nail leaned back in the sand, and felt the warmth of it.

"We started couples therapy. We made real progress. Bulma was working on Her insecurities and jealousy. I was working on my own stuff. We made so much progress. We hadn't had any real arguments in a year. We were having conversations and working through things. Bulma was dropping hints abouts rings, pointing out pretty white dresses and I-"

He choked on his word.

"They should have been mine Nail. Trunks should have my hair and nose. Bulla should have my smile and eyes. It should have been me who walked her down the aisle, who helped her raise her kids. Fuck, I was willing to raise Trunks if Vegete hadn't had stepped up. I wanted to. I was with Bulma since I was 17, she was everything. I thought being dead had lead to some distance, but never could I have believed that My girl was gone."

Nail felt his heart ache for the poor guy. Yamcha had his faults, but he didn't deserve this.

"I forced myself to move on. I gave up on us and started looking for others. I thought that I was over her. That I could move on, but learning this? Knowing that her father was the one who destroyed my future, her future?"

he fell to his side, and his face was facing Nail now. Eyes read and swollen, looking like he'd aged a hundred years. Nail rolled over too. Sand began getting under the folds on his clothes but he didn't care.

"I was always willing to die for them, to protect them. I love them like they could have been my own. Should have been my own." He pressed his hand to his face. "I feel like a jerk, but I'm mad enough to kill him. He took my chance from me. What woman could want a man whose only love had been Bulma Briefs, richest, most powerful girl in the world? Who'd want to live up to that memory? Or have to see it all the time? I tried staying away, but when I did I found myself excluded from my friends. They got awkward, worried about picking sides. They didn't ignore me, but I saw them less. Tien still made time for me, but he's not exactly the kindest with his words. Or up to date with the modern world. I love the guy, but he's hard to connect to. Krillin always tried, but he's got his family. I won't make him lose time with them for me. And Goku's Goku. He tries, but he's not good at remembering stuff. He barely remembers his family, let alone his friends."

Nail knew that. Goku loved them, but the man was kind of crap at interpersonal relationships. But he tried.

“I don’t love bulma anymore. But the idea of her, the family I could have had?” Yamcha choked on his Words. “How the hell do I get past this?”

Nail thought for a moment. “You grieve. You hurt and you cry and you try to figure out how to move forward.”

Yamcha just lay there, and Nail reached out and took his hand. “You survived losing Bulma once. You worked through it then, and you’ll get through it now. I can never say that I understand your pain, but I can be here to help.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Briefs was not enjoying this.

Everyone was listening to him, they understood the plan, but every single one of them was quite obviously pissed off. Every set of eyes is accusing and angry. He’d looked at him in anger and fear and annoyance. But this was something else. This made him wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had truly gone too far this time.

"So when do they come back?" Tien asked.

"Tomorrow, Ginyu has to set up a few automated systems and we have to arrange for some work here to get finished before he arrives. In public he'll still be Bulma Briefs, but he doesn't mind being called he/him or ginyu in private.”

“And if we don’t want to?” ChiChi asked.

“What?”

“Maybe I don't want my family around a liar. Maybe I hate the idea that my kid has spent his whole life interacting with a lying monster.” ChiChi stood, palm flat on the table.”We watched as Vegeta earned his place here, and saw the effort he’s put in. This Ginyu person just sat there and lived a life that wasn’t his to begin with. We’ve no idea what his motives are, what he had planned. He did all the same things Veegta did, probably worse, and yet we don’t know if he ever truly changed. We don’t know if this is some elaborate plan to use our resources to become another Frieza.”

“To be fair, he could have done that at any point. But he was comfortable here.”

“So what are we supposed to trust? That he's too comfortable to stab us in the back?”Tien asked. “We do this, we’re gonna have to have everyone move off his underwatch. Everyo conversation, every trip and movement is monitored.”

“Which I am capable of doing.” Briefs said.

“And that doesn’t make us trust it considering the secrets you've been keeping.” ChiChi said.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be allowed to have final say on this.” Goku said. It was the first thing he’d said since sitting down. “Right now we don’t know where any of us stand, Not you, or Ginyu or Bulma. We can’t be certain that Vegeta won't get up and leave with his kids, or if Ginyu won’t run again the moment we don’t watch him. But what we do know is that we can’t trust anyone involved in this situation.”

Everyone was silent, and a little shocked. Goku didn't normaly butt into conversation like this. If it wasn't battle, he knew he wasn't gonna be useful. But today was different.

He looked Breifs dead in the eye, "We can't trust someone who essential sold us out to an enemy."

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Ginyu stared at the screen and at Goku.

They weren't spying, Dr Briefs had asked them to listen in. But now Ginyu was regretting it.

"This may not go as planned." He said.

"Gee, did you think you were gonna have it easy, just waltz back home and continue as normal?" Piccolo said.

"I knew this wouldn't be easy. I just....I suppose reality is settling in now." Ginyu sighed. "It's going to be a battle regaining their trust."

"If you can."

Ginyu smiled and shook his head, "I got Freiza to trust me again after the Chill 14 incident."

"What was that?"

Ginyu looked at Vegeta confused for a moment. Then he smiled, "Oh right, you weren't there for that mission."

"Which one was that?"

"When We Initiated Recoome."

Vegeta nodded, "Yeah, I was monitoring a trade exchange. I was there for Guildo's though."

Ginyu shuddered, "Please don't remind me of that."

Piccolo tilted his head, curious, "WHat happened."

"The jockstrap incident." Vegeta said, miled smirk on his face.

Gohan looked between them, "Okay, I've always been curious, what the hell was the jockstrap incident?"

Trunks looked between his parents. "The what?"

"When I was auditioning new members of the Ginyu Force, there were several tests. Some were simple tasks to ensure you could follow orders. Well, I made the small mistake of asking Guildo to wash the new uniforms before they handed out. Except I made a slight mistake."

"What kind of mistake?" Gohan asked.

Ginyu sighed, "It was more of a couple of little ones. I set up the final weeks of testing on a hostile planet. Not dangerous, but not pleasant. We landed and I set the Ship to Auto camouflage to make it harder to get back to and...well-"

"You forgot where it was?" Piccolo asked.

"Yes. Then I made a minor mistake with some boxes."

"The moron gave Guildo a crate of the old uniform Undergarments. The ones that had to be dry cleaned or they lost their ability to stretch." Vegeta said. "So during a training session where the new recruits had to show off their skills against automated drones. All of them had to transform into bigger shapes to do some except Guildo."

Gohan winced. "Oh no."

"Yeah. The drones were setting loose exploding sticky balls. Massive red things that exploded on impact. You had to avoid and destroy the target points with accuracy and 'flair'." Veget rolled his eyes, " They all began transforming, and though the jockstrap tore apart, they got absolutely floored by the agony of the underwear suddenly being far too small."

Trunks and Gohan winced.

"Well, they were stunned enough none of them could escape the explosions, so we were all a little stunned at the mess. Frieza insisted I bury them as punishment for the whole debacle. Only for us to end up lost and searching for a ship they couldn't find for three days."

"Oh god, death by ultimate wedgie." Trunks said, grimacing at the idea.

"Why was Vegeta there?"

"Because we needed extra hands for the seek and capture test. And in a jungle of desert environment the saiyans were damned hard to catch." Ginyu explained. "In the end we needed them as helpers to find the damned ship."

"No one was happy by the end of it." Vegeta said.

"How did you find the ship?" Trunks asked.

"Raditz asked if Ginyu had activated the corrosion shields, and pointed out he could use his special attack to find the ship if Ginyu had. It took three days, but we found it. Freiza actually gave him a commendation for it."

"And I spent the next few months proving I wasn't some moron."

"Wait, the double sunday thing? How was that helpful."

Vegeta sighed, "Raditz was able to create multiple ki blasts at once, and guide them to his enemy, like a heat seeking missile. He'd use it to sneak attack. Now that I think about it, that's actually pretty smart for someone who was so weak." Vgete shook his head, "Anyway, he could mirco size the blasts, making them small. Not as powerful, but a hell of a distraction when needed. He knew they would react to the corrosion protection shield if he used them over a wide area. So he went up into the air, released a blast and we waited to see where a reaction happened."

"And it took three days?

"He could only reach so far, and despite trying to copy the technique, none of us got the hang of it."

"Certainly scared the wildlife though. Didn't have to worry about going hungry."

“Its all in the past now. Lessons learned and all that.”

"Year, Always read the cleaning label.”

Chapter Text

The Capsule corp building was given a security update. A prison, should it need to be one. Panchy had moved into a guest room and had yet to speak to her husband, and Briefs was too busy with updates to say anything.

And he couldn't get a moment alone. Tien, Chioatzu and Oolong were taking it in turns to keep an eye on him as he worked through the afternoon and night to get things ready.

Even the Pig was mad at him.

"My daughter wasn't exactly kind to you at the time, Oolong."

"We got past it. Bulma could be a raging sow, but she was our raging sow. You don't get to just replace her because it's good for science or business or whatever you were trying to accomplish." Oolong said as he kept a close eye on his current work, eyes not letting anything get past him. "Not to mention how you hurt Yamcha. Good Kami, that man was gonna be your son in law."

"Maybe. Bulma could have picked Vegeta anyway."

"Well we'll never know, will we?"

Briefs ignored the beastman after that, but his thought did latch onto Yamcha. He won't lie, he did feel a little bad for the guy. He was a damned good friend to the family and despite his annoying tendencies, he would have made a good trophy husband. Handsome, knew how to deal with press, could protect them well. Not that Vegeta wasn't a good husband (for an alien mercenary) but it would have been nice to have someone with fewer secrets to keep.

Well, they had a hell of alot more of them now!

He'd need to do something to try and calm the frayed nerves he had caused, but first he needed to convince people he didn't need a babysitter. Which he doubted he would be able to do soon considering Goku for all people had spoken out against him.

It was near `1 am when he finally finished his work, and went to grab a midnight snack before going to get rest. He found that all that was in the fridge were left overs and cheese sandwiches, which was disappointing, but he supposed he would have to get used to it for a few weeks. At least Panchy had actually made him the bare minimum. He could be facing an empty house.

The house had felt weird with the family gone. Not like when they went on vacation, because he knew they were coming back. No, this had felt wrong. A true emptiness that wouldn't have ended soon. He supposed this was how empty nesters felt, when the young ones left. Briefs hadn't realized just how much he actually dreaded the idea.

But they will be home soon.

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"You're sure he isn't trying to drown himself in there?" Nail asked and looked at the bathroom door. "He's been in there an hour."

"I'll give him ten more minutes and the-"

There was a flash of ki and Nail got worried for a moment.

"Don't freak out, That was Yamcha drying off. He probably can't be bothered to use the hair dryer."

Nail nodded, but didn't really understand. Then again,he didn't need a hair dryer.

Yamcha looked better than he had when they'd returned from the desert. His face had returned to its normal colour and though eyes looked a little red, they weren't painful to look at.

"Thanks for coming to talk me down, Nail. I owe you."

"No problem Yamcha. Puar had us throw something in the oven, it should be done soon."

"Cool, cool."

Puar flew off to her room and left the two alone.

"I'm sorry you gotta deal with this. I swear, I don't expect you to hang around for the drama that's coming." Yamcha said.

Nail smiled, "You know, I spent so much time on Namek wishing something interesting would happen, bored out of my skull. Then Freiza happened. Then I was fused and got to watch interesting stuff happen,but didn't get to participate. Now I'm me again, I think a little drama is a good exchange for some new experiences."

"I/m an experience, huh?" Yamcha asked, a shy little smile coming to his face. "A good one I hope."

"Well, it seems to be working out to be." Nail said and stepped in close, grabbing Yamcha by the waist.

DING

The oven timer went off, and Ymacha's stomach growled.

He laughed and apologized, and Puar came floating back in.

"Dinner time! You wanna get the cutlery out?"

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

"So we're leaving for home in a few hours?" Trunks asked as he lifted another box into a capsule storage unit.

"We want to be on earth in the morning. The jet lag will be bad but we should be fine after a couple of days." Ginyu said. "Now, the bracelts will come off in four days, once I've got my earth based securities in order. I know that's longer than you want, but I promise the moment I can do it they will be gone."

Trunks looked away from him a moment before he asked. "Are you really gonna destroy these?"

"If the others allow it, I'll be wishing to forget about the knowledge as well."

"You're going pretty far to get rid of something that could be useful."

"The cons outweigh the pros, kid."

"How so."

Ginyu looked at her son for a moment, "This is a bracelet. It can come off, or you can remove the hand and be free of it. But it wouldn't take a massive leap to make it into something you couldn't remove, something that would give another total control over a person's strength and ki. How many people do you think would love something like this?"

Trunks that have to think, names came to his head in a millisecond. As useful as it could be to nullify threats, this could be a device used for far more bad than good.

"Okay, understandable." he said, and then he lifted the lid on a box and saved paperwork. "Are these -"

"Patent applications. You father's been helping me pick a few items to begin selling to non earth based companies. Your grandfather has already been making headway with the earth government, letting them know that we are indeed in limited contact with space faring beings. They pretty much knew already, but they are really happy we are taking the lead on this. They don't want to be left holding the ball if things go wrong."

"You think they will?"

"No way of knowing. I've been careful so that Frieza and his ilk can't steal from us, but overall it's a risk that every business takes when they expand."

"Could it hurt our Earth company?"

"No. I've sent aside a fund so that we don't have to leverage anything on earth. If anything goes wrong, the family is going to be looked after."

Trunks noddeded, but there was something in his eyes that said he was hiding something.

"Okay, tell me."

Trunks turned away, and said, "I was only doing what you have done, and all of it is legal!"

Ginyu stopped and turned to his son, "Tell. Me."

Trunks turned back to him. "I....I kind of set up a couple of bolt holes as well. Just in case."

Ginyu staread. "Why?"

"Well, with everything that's ever happened to us, I figured having a safety net that Just I know about could give us an out should anything bad happen to your plans."

Ginyu laughed, "Well, I suppose that's a good thing. Can I ask what they are?"

"I..." Trunks shook his head, "No. The whole point was so we'd have something no one could get the location of besides me."

"Or Goten." Ginyu said, leaning against the capsule wall.

"He doesn't know. I needed to be certain it was safe from anyone finding it, and everyone knows I tell Goten everything thing so if he was telling the truth about not knowing-"

"Then no one can use him against you. Smart."

"I thought so. Are these the last boxes?"

"Yes. Stand clear." Bulma said and pressed the compression button, stepping away and letting the storage unit become palm sized.

“Have you got plans for when we get home?” Trunks asked, “Besides trying to reconnect with people?”

“Business as usual. I will be planning on 1 on 1 counseling with people, as I want to try and get over the mistrust before the next major event happens. Last thing we need is the earth getting hurt because someone won’t trust me”

You think they'll agree?”

“Oh gods no, but I have ways of convincing people.”

Trunks gave him a look, and Ginyu placated him by saying, “Nothing bad. I swear. You can even supervise if you want.”

“I may do that.”

DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ DZ

Daimao couldn't help the laugh that escaped him as dozens of soldiers went scattering in fear. He hasn't harmed them, but he had certainly sent a few away needing new underwear.

The soldiers that had come by had been young, unbelieving of his might. To them he was a myth, an unknown being that had frightened their parents. He delighted in showing them he was more than a story.

`Father, I have news from our people in the city."

"And what is Harmon?"

"Your gold reserves are safe and ready for use, and the archive of spell scrolls is being returned to the castle as we speak."

"Any news of our allies at the demon Gates?!

"None yet."

Daimao sighed, "I suppose it will take them a while. I was the only one in regular contact with them, so they likely don't have a watcheman there anymore."

He stood and stretched his back, "I’m heading out for a few hours. Keep things in order here.”

Daimao left the room and wandered towards the back entrance of his castle.

This area had been well maintained because it had been used for entertainment. Daimao's followers had used his home as a tourist spot, which was annoying. But at least it is still standing. He had known so many fortresses and strongholds were destroyed and any sign of someone living there had been eliminated.

The fact it had fallen into any kind of disrepair whilst his own child existed was infuriating. His child should have been his champion, forging a new world in his name. Junior had not jsut failed, but had become one of the enemies. He called Son Goku a friend, of all things.. Friend!

It sickened him. But he would get past this. He had overcome worse setbacks.

As he approached the small, unkempt garden he felt something nearby. He smiled to himself.

"Another visit so soon?"

Kami landed and gave him a tired look. "You attacked a battalion."

"No. I drove them off my land. No one was hurt."

Kami scowled and looked out over the area, the land baron and cold. The sky itself seemed to be changing, becoming dark and clouded despite the forecast.

"Tell me, is this weather normal, or are you trying to be dramatic?"

"Oh please brother, are you telling me that the look out doesn't get perfectly suny but breezy weather, and just the right amount of rain to keep the gardens pretty?"

"That is maintenance of the look out."

"Right." Daimao continued walking, and Kami joined him. "It is strange, to speak with you with no violence imminent."

Kami said nothing.

"I must ask, what was it like to merge again?"

Kami didn't miss a step, but his heartbeat quickened.

"Does your silence mean it was awful or wonderful? Which would cause you more horror."

"It was...an interesting experience. When you and I were still one, we were simply that. One mind, one being. But Junior wears his own being, and he had merged with Nail, so when my mind and his joined again, we were one and three at once."

“That sounds crowded.”

“I suppose it was, but I enjoyed the company. And I got to learn a lot in that time.”

Daimao stopped and looked at his other half. “There is a lot to talk about, and I think that this stalemate we are in may be useful to both of us. If you are willing to talk.”

Kami wasn’t. He wanted to leave. He’d meant what he had said to Piccolo before they had fused, he had never wanted to be a part of Daimao again. But Piccolo was not Daimao, and Kami had found that being one rather than two was not the worst fate. So maybe a conversation could be good for himself and his evil half.

Chapter Text

The first thing to happen when they got home was that Trunks vanished.

One second he was there, the next gone. There was a moment of panic until they looked behind them and saw that Goten had tackled him the second he was in the room. Ginyu felt a wave of affection for the boy, and then guilt for putting him and Trunks through this. Trunks was trying to act cool, but the kids' eyes were shiny and full of emotion.

"Missed you too Ten."

“Gammar” Blla yelled and beelined for her Grandmother, who knelt to pull her into a hug. Bulla squeaked and Panchy pulled back a little to look at her, her eyes full of tears.

“Hey sweety. Did you enjoy your little trip?”

“Yuhuh. Was on 'nother panet. I met uncles!" she said, smiling as though everything was normal with the world.

"That's so nice dear. How about you tell me all about it while we get snacks ready." Panchy said, and took Bulla away. Ginyu noticed she didn't once look his way.

The group stood and watched her with a myriad of expressions. Anger. Sadness. Fear.

Yamcha stood at the back, beside Nail. His face was unreadable. Beside him Puar glared daggers, and that actually hurt more than Yamcha's perceived indifference.

“Captain Ginyu.” Krillin said, his face hard and angry. “I guess this is ‘welcome back’.”

"I am happy to be back. I wasn' looking forward to re-establishing myself in space."

"We're heading in. Briefs said he's already explained the situation to you?"

"He has. I'll be under 24 hour monitoring and will have to wear a tracking device for the next....however long it takes to regain trust."

"Gonna be a while then." Krillin asked and turned away. Ginyu followed and hated the looks that were shot his way. He kept his high though. In situations like this, confidence was key.

Ginyu noticed the difference in the house immediately. The doors had been reinforced, the windows refitted. there were more cameras and sensors. In the back of Ginyu's head he thought of how Vegeta would be pleased that they had had a security upgrade. He fought the urge to giggle over the ridiculousness of it all. His home of 20 years was now a jail. A nice jail, but as jail nonetheless.

They went into the conference room, and settled into seats. Vegeta sat beside him, but closer to Trunks and Goten.

She sat beside her father at the head of the table, and once everyone was seated there was strained silence.

Eventually Tien broke it. "Where's the real Bulma?"

"She's holding back for now. She doesn't want to overwhelm everyone here."

Tuien looked over at Gohan. "Is she telling the truth?"

Gohan Nodded. "She is. Bulma wanted time to let emotions settle before she came back to earth, so She's taking the long way home."

"Does her crew know this?"

"Yes, and their orders are to keep a low profile and not to cause trouble."

"Yeah. They seem like good guys." Krillin said, "So what now. You slide back into the role as CEO of Capsule Corp."

"My emergency leave will come to an end in a few days, and I'll be back in office then."

"Should we be expecting any...visits from old friends?" Nail asked.

"Frieza is nowhere near here, and those who know I am alive have just as much to lose by Frieza learning of our survival as I do. The only visitors will be tutors and specialized Therapists." Ginyu explained. "All of whom will submit to your questions and rules when They arrive."

"What tutors are coming?"

"Now my identity is known, there is no reason to make excuses about introducing my children to off-planet business. Trunks and Bulla will one day take over this company, and this planet cannot stay hidden forever. I want them to have a competent understanding of how things work out there. Not to mention having the basic qualifications." Ginyu explained. “I’ll be offering this tutoring to anyone in the group as well, should they wish to take advantage of it.”

Ginyu already knew some of them would. 18 would like the idea of earning money with her abilities in a place where she didn’t have to hide her skills. ChiChi would want Goten to have the advantage over others, and being the first qualified in interplanetary knowledge was a HFIL of an advantage.

Plus the money they could make selling the produce off world was insane. And Roshi, well...he certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to work with a few alien beauties.

"That brings me to the next issue. What exactly are you going to be doing out there?" Tien asked, "Considering your previous employment, there's a worry you and your husband could be going back to your old ways."

Vegeta stiffened, "I turned down Frieza you monumental moron, and proven-"

"You still hate him. Everyone knows you'd rather be dead than work for him again. But we aren't talking about him now. We're talking about Ginyu. About a liar who conquered, enslaved and destroyed worlds. And you took the body of the most politically powerful person on this planet. Are you really expecting me not to think that this isn't a long game plan to start your own empire. Hell, how can we be certain we can trust any of your family-"

Ginyu felt his face become hard. He could handle the accusations against himself, and even those against Dr Briefs and Vegeta. But not his kids. That was not something he would sit there and take. He stood and he got rid of any attempt at being civil. "I lived my whole life with the knowledge I was either going to spend my life on the run, at risk of death or enslavement or conscription. Choosing the easy option might not be something you can understand, but I did what I had to to survive and attempt to thrive. Do you know what happens to body swappers under Frieza’s rule? They worked for him or they died. It was that simple. And I didn't want to die. I knew with the right lies and hard work I could be safer than 95% of the galaxy. So I did.“ The room went silent. "Vegeta was a hostage from the age of 6, and then a ward until he was old enough to 'voluntarily' conscript. The moment he was able to stop purging he did. And since then what has he done but prove himself to you?”

He stood, and there was suddenly nothing left of the Bulma facade. Vegeta had a moment of fear as he remembered all the time that glare and voice had been directed at him. He worried that something might happen, that his marriage to the body of Bulma might end and he would be bound to another in this room.

“In all the timeI have been on Earth I could have done a hundred different things. Do you have any idea how easy it would have been to just watch and learn before taking one of you? Especially during a time of peace when you scattered to the winds and played hermit Tien. Or maybe I could have been 18 before she dated Krillin? No one knew her, and it would have been easy. Or if I really wanted power, I could have taken Vegeta?"

More silence. Fear in some faces. Gunyu sat back down. "My Husband and Children have nothing to do with this. They Are innocent in the deception, victims of it themselves. And if I think for a moment you are going to hurt them or put them at risk, I have just as many safety measures as you do."

DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ DBZ

Well that did not go well, Bulma thought.

She'd been listening in on the first meeting gauging reactions so she could properly prep herself for her return to Earth and it had left her with a sour taste in her mouth. She had known that some of her old friends might be angry but she hadn't expected the full out of hostility coming from Tien and the looks of pure disdain and mistrust.

And sitting in silence watching everything had been Yamcha.

Her Yamcha. Young and handsome and not hers. His eyes were different. Still the same gorgeous shade they'd always been but now they had an age to them. His youthful exterior could not hide the fact that the soul within had seen countless battles, heartaches and years gone by. She supposed her eyes look the same.

Old Souls and young bodies. She had heard the news from Gohan and Piccolo that Yamcha had taken up with the namakian who'd been sitting next to him. That had been a shock to her. Apparently it wasn't a shock to anybody else. But then again there was the old adage that the girlfriend was always the last to know about this kind of thing.

Anxiety began to build inside herself. She had been so sure this was the right idea but now?

Gods She was afraid. She had no clue what she would do if her old friends decided she was now an enemy instead of a friend. And why wouldn't they think that since she had been playing three sides of this game?

Was she the villain here? Was she just as guilty as Ginyu in lying about whose side she was on and who she was willing to lie to?

Bulma didn't want the answer to that.

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"So does this mean you have two dads now or is it still hetoronomathingy?"

Trunks stopped drinking his cup and looked over at his friend, "Heteromathingy Goten I-what the heck goes on in your head?"

"What?I'm curious how it works. Does this make your dad gay now, or Aromatic or something?"

The two of them lounged on Trunks's bed, nibbling snacks that Panchy had been stress baking and watching mindless TV.

Trunks had to take a moment before explaining. "Honestly, I don't know what this makes my Dad. I'm guessing that 'Mom' must be Pan or something like that, considering-Why are we talking about this?"

Goten shrugged, "I figured you would be confused and need to talk about it, but couldn't think of a segway."

"So you choose this?" Trunks couldn't help the giggles that came out of him. "Man, I missed you so much."

Goten moved and flopped onto Trunks, happy to hear his laughter. "I am so glad to have you back. You've no idea how much I missed you man."

Trunks gave Goten a fond look, and wrapped an arm around him, "Miss you too Ten."

They lay like that a moment, both too happy to be embarrassed, but eventually they had to pull apart.

"Serious talk man, What comes next?" Goten asked.

"No clue. Therapy. Lots and lots of therapy. And I think I'm gonna have to get used to being under surveillance for a while."

"Gonna make shenanigans harder to get up to." Gone said. "But I'm sure we can find ourselves some fun to get into."

Trunks had no doubt of that. He knew the next few months were gonna be tough, but having Goten at his side was gonna make life a hell of a lot easier.

Chapter Text

Yamcha said he'd help on the first day of guard duty. There was a moment of hesitation from the group, but there was an unnervingly determined look in his eyes that stopped that saying anything. So it was decided he and Tien would be the guards.

He asked Puar and Nail to leave him be for the right so he could gather his thoughts and he showed up on the Briefs doorstep bright and early.

Ginyu went through his morning expecting an argument at some point. Instead he got curious silence. It put him on edge.

Eventually the testion got too much and in a moment between paperwork and data analysing Ginyo asked, “What do you need to know?”

Yamcha looked at him, tilted his head and said, “When did you decide I wasn't worth staying with?”

Ginyu closed his laptop and took a breath. "I thought the two of you were badly matched. I get you had gone through therapy and such, but needing that much work for a relationship to not be toxic as you and her's had been isn't normal. Love can take a lot of work, but not that much. And to be honest, I needed space to plan. At that point I still wanted to leave the planet."

"And Vegeta"?

"At first that was purely survival. After all, we didn't know if Trunks existing would change our timeline. We now know it wouldn't have mattered, but at the time I couldn't take the risk." Ginyu explained, "And I had Known Vegeta for a long time. Though not friends, I had an understanding of his personality and ticks. And the more time I spent with him the more surprisingly attractive he was. Personality and looks wise.I was as surprised as you when it became something more. Something real.” Ginyu got a soft look in his eyes then. “I Couldn't leave this world without him, or our children.”

Yamcha scowled. “I'm not gonna ask a dozen questions. You've likely explained yourself so many times it's a practiced Script by now. I’m trying to figure out what it is we're supposed to do now? Are we gonna have therapy until we just accept you into the fold? Or are we gonna spend the rest of our lives pretending to be okay?”

Ginyu shrugged. “That I cannot answer. But hopefully we’ll get through this as we have every other storm.”

Yamcha just looked at Ginyu and then said. "You know you sound different."

Ginyu gave him an off look, but Yamcha continued talking. "The way you speak is different. Like you're developing an accent. Not in public or when we're anywhere others can hear you, but in private. Like you are not trying to hide your real voice anymore."

Ginyu thought about it and realized that it was true. His Dialect was changing. He was surprised his kids or Vegeta hadn't pointed it out. She would have to ask him later.

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Ginyu needed a nap, so Yamcha used this as a chance to grab lunch and came across Vegeta in the kitchen. They both froze for a moment, and Vgeeta said nothing to him. This was weird, because over the years it had become a weird sort of greeting to be insulted by the Saiyan. There hadn't been a bite in his words for years.

He grabbed some food and sat down, and the silence continued for a while.

After Yamcha's 4th sandwich and Vegeta's 12th the two of them seemed to decide to speak at the same time.

"So-"

They paused and froze for a second.

Vegeta broke it. "Have you talked to Ginyu about....your relationship?"

"Yeah. It didn't help much."

"Don't think it would.” Vegeta sighed, “Did you really have no clue?”

“I was dead and she had just been through hell on Namek. I figured she needed a little time. I guess now I know why she never came back.”

“I could never figure out why she suddenly wanted me. we went from arguing and exchanging information to arguing and-” Vegeta suddenly blushed. “You get what I'm saying.”

Yamcha nodded.

Vegeta ate another sandwich. “I hear you've moved on.”

“Yeah. Is It gonna be a problem?”

Vegeta huffed, “I joke, but I genuinely don't care who you bed. The universe is a big place and with the sheer Variety out there I am not surprised nor judgey about it.”

“Then why do you make those jokes?”

“Because it aggravates some Of you earthlings so much.”

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Some therapists would only take in office patients. Other therapists would gladly go to their patients' homes. And some would travel wherever the work was in hopes of building a good reputation to become one of the other two kinds of therapists.

That was why Cayk had taken this job. She had her own little ship she could live on on a planet that was apparently quite pleasant and a client who was stupidly rich and willing to pay premiums for her services. She had graduated top of her class and had proven herself working as a Underling at several very well known psychiatric facilities and private practices. She'd had to sign seven different NDAs and agree to an extensive privacy package but she knew that if this worked out she would be beating clients with a stick.

The planet she landed on was indeed very pretty.

She was greeted by A tall 3-eyed man who escorted her to another flying vehicle which took her over several cities to the Complex where her new clients were living. Cayk would be debriefed on the situation and given a final chance to walk away.

Cayk knew that this was probably gonna be too good to be true. But the one thing that drove her right now wasn't the potential clients or The Prestige she could get. It was purely the money. Her scholarship had fallen through a few months before she was set to graduate and she'd been told she could walk away with none of the Debt but she could not work as a therapist without their documentation. She didn't have the money to start over and she certainly couldn't waste another six years training. So she took on the Debt with a repayment plan that was reasonable but would have her paying it off for the next 60 years. If she was lucky she might earn enough money to pay it off early but she highly doubted that. She was indeed the best in her class and she had a myriad of extra accolades to her name but none of them meant anything if she couldn't get an actual paying client that she hadn't gotten through a clinic or a supervisor.

So when she'd seen the price tag on this job and the caveat that everything would be completely secret she had agreed. And this was not the normal kind of secret. The patient doctor's confidentiality is kind of secret. No this was something entirely different. This was something that could make a career.

She was worried she would get screwed over before money by discovering that she had to pay rent or some weird local tax that would eat up most of her wages. She wouldn't be the first person to get stung by one of those tricks.

As she walked through the corridor she got a few glances from the people who lived there. Two young men watched her walk by one of whom gave her a flirty smile at the wing. The purple head boy elbowed him in the chest and they left through a set of double doors.

Cayk was led into a nicely decorative office and offered a seat. The 3 eyed man went and sat at the back of the room. In front of Cayk was a middle-aged woman with soft blue hair and a tight look about her eyes.

This had to be the client.

“It’s nice to meet you, Cayk. My name is Bulma briefs. For the foreseeable future if we are ever outside of this office or the office I will be giving to you for the duration of this business relationship you will call me Bulma or Mrs briefs. You will not use any other name for me. Do you understand this?”

“Completely. Now I believe you're going to explain to me the situation that I will be helping to mediate within your family.”

The woman smiled, and Cayk suddenly got a strange feeling in her gut.

“How much do you know about the name Ginyu?”

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Piccolo was avoiding him. Nail couldn't blame him, he was embarrassed. He didn't have muc-well ANY Experience with this stuff. He was innocent.

“You know you're gonna have to corner him to get him to talk to you, right?” Dende said, leaning against the pillar beside him. “You of all people should know how resistant to awkward conversation He is.”

Nail smiled. “I'll give him another day. Let him have a chance to come to me.”

“Always so patient with the young ones, Nail.” Dende said with soft eyes. “I missed it.”

Nail walked to him and lay a hand on his shoulder. “I was just grateful to be alive in some way. I got to see you grow, and now I have the chance to grow myself again. But I have actual choices now.”

Footsteps alerted them to the arrival of Piccolo, who was trying very hard to look intimidating, but with such a young face and diminished size it wasn't working as well as it used to.

“We’re going to talk.” Piccolo said and turned away, and Nail nodded a goodbye before following Piccolo. He took off flying and Nail followed.

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They don't fly long, landing in a small valley. Piccolo sat on a rock and stared at the floor before he finally looked at Nail.

"It's still weird, to see you out here instead of hearing you-" Piccolo tapped the side of his head, "In here. It's...lonely."

"Feels weird for me too." Nail said and sat beside him. "Having people so close, it feels nice. Frustrating at times, but the companionship was pleasant."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I have friends, family, but you and Kami were constant. I felt completed. Now I just feel oddly hollow."

Nail knew what he meant. It was strange and he kept asking questions or starting conversations in his mind, only to realise there was no one to answer. There was still telepathy, but that was a shadow of what they'd had.

“This isn’t like when you were growing up Piccolo. You've people that care for you, a real support system. And a chance to mature in a way you didn’t get before. That hollow feeling will leave you soon.”

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we'll figure something out."

Chapter Text

Cayk was insane to agree to this, but the benefits were huge.

Food and Board on a luxury graded planet, freedom to date and medical cover. The wage was ridiculous and the work both interesting and possibly career making.

And Crazy. Absolutely batshit crazy.

Cayk was there to not only provide family therapy, but group and one on one stuff for the whole family and friend group involved. Nearly a dozen people in her care and all to ensure the safe reintegration of a body hopper whose identity had been revealed.

She sat in a cafe in a quiet part of the city and was charmed by the primitiveness of it. Oh, it wasn't some backwater but it was certainly behind most of the universe. But it was kind of nice. The sky had terrestrial airships that left vapour trails, the vehicles were a mix of road and flight. The capsule tech was downright amazing and the people were decent enough. Their laws were naive and downright old fashioned, but Cayk would gladly spend a few years here.

Though she would have to get used to being followed everywhere.

"You wanna join me for coffee"? She said, glancing over at the 3 eyed man.

Tien came and sat with her. He was handsome, and he had the prettiest eyes Cayk had seen in a while. He looked uncomfortable but determined.

"I don't trust you." he said.

"Is this a species thing or a general mistrust thing?" Cayk asked.

Tien flushed a moment, "It's not a species thing. It's not wanting my friends to be killed by aliens again."

Cayk nodded, "I can understand that. From what I've heard the history of aliens on this planet hasn't exactly been good."

"That's an understatement." Tien said. "Ginyu wants to go back to normal. To act like all this hasn't happened. You're apparently gonna help. I think that's bullshit."

Cayk took a sip of her coffee. "Well, I can see building trust is going to be the first thing I have to do here."

"Some of my friends like to see things through rose tinted glasses. It's been both a gift and a curse to us. But this time one of us has to look at the situation with realism."

Especially after Goku's outburst at the meeting. RTien thought back on that moment where Goku had openly stated they could not trust Doctor Briefs and still found it hard to believe. This man was someone who gave the benefit of the doubt to a warlord. At planet killers and demons. And he'd lost trust in one of his oldest allies and friend's father. Tien had always wanted Gokuy to be less trusting, but to actually see it happen?

Kami scared him.

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Bulma knew that someone was in her room before the intruder alert system went off.

"Hey Goku." she said as she turned to her old friend, and scolded herself for not thinking he may come and visit. "What a surprise."

"Is it?" Goku asked. "Cos it feels like every Briefs I've seen lately knows more than their saying."

Bulma felt a pit of guilt. "Come on, I have some real nice drinks. We can relax and talk."

Goku said nothing and followed her through the small shop to the kitchen/living area. It was messy, and Goku gave a soft laugh.

"What?"

"Some things never change huh?" Goku said, "Still messy as ever."

"Hey, I got bots to do the cleaning."

"Do you ever actually activate them?"

"Hey!" Bulma laughed and went to the cupboard, pulling out a bottle of red liquid. "Sit down."

Goku did and watched her grab some glasses before sitting down across from him. She poured out two measures and handed him the glass, which he took.

He sniffed it, "I have people keeping an eye on my ki right now, just so you know not to mess with this." he shooked lifted the glass.

Bulma nodded, "I'm surprised you have the ii to get here."

"Ginyu is being pretty lenient."

"You're not worried about him knowing you're here."

"I think it doesn't matter anymore." Goku took a sip and pulled a face, "This tastes like sour apples. And not the candy kind."

Bulma smiled. "Yeah, but it's also one of the few alien drinks that packs as much of a punch as the stuff on earth. Aliens are freaking lightweights, man."

"Think this is why Vegeta didn't drink much when he first came to ear- Oh, I guess you wouldn't know." Goku looked her in the eye then. "This is so weird. It feels like we have done this a million times, but I know we haven't. When was the last time we sat down for a drink together?"

Bulma thought about it. She felt a lump start to form in her throat and took a swallow to force it down.

"We never did. You went off to marry your ChiChi, and then there were aliens and space travel and then..." Bulma finished the drink. "I need more alcohol before I face these revelations."

Goku laughed, "Now there is something about you I recognise!" he downed his own, wincing. "Man, beer tastes better."

Bulma nodded. "I cannot wait to sit down with a good earth beer. Or He-tap. Man, I missed He-tap."

"You know we have like six flavours now?"

"No shit? They any good?"

Goku shrugged, "They're okay."

"I saw Gohan has a kid now. You're a grandpa."

Goku smiled, "Yeah. Pan is amazing. So smart and growing so fast. Well, fast for a Saiyan Hybrid."

Bulma pulled another and topped up Goku's drink. "And your wife?"

"If amazing. She's a real fire cracker. A little hung up on the whole picket fence thing, but she's the best I could ask for."

Bulma wondered if that was true, but she would have plenty of time to learn. Was ChiChi a great match? She guessed she was going to learn.

She was going to have to learn a lot of things.

"So Gohan grew up good?"

"Gohan grew up amazing. He's a scholar, specializing in insects and how they can help people. And there's Videl. She's a great girl, fits in with our weirdness great."

Bulma laughed at that. "I saw Krillin found himself a bombshell. How the crap did that happen?"

Gok shook his head, "You know I don't get why everyone is so surprised about him getting married. Krillins' nice."

Bulma smiled, thinking back on the sarcastic jackass that she adored like her own kin. "Yeah. He is. He grew up good. They all did. They've all changed."

The glass was empty again, and she refilled it, downing it all in one as she looked up at Goku, who was looking at her with eyes so full of emotion she didn't know what to think.

"You all grew up. Had families and lives. And I was a frog. I was a frog and some freak stole my life and my own Father let it happen and now-"

His voice seized up and suddenly days, weeks, months, YEARS of emotions welled up inside her and spilled over.

Goku was in front of her then, kneeling on the floor. She flung her arms around his broad shoulders and collapsed into him, tears streaming down her face. He held her, arms capable of crushing steel gentler than gossamer as they comforted her through the pain.

Goku stroked her hair and waited for her to calm down. She eventually did, and her face was red and puffy. He went in search of tissues and found some in the kitchen.

"Here."

"Thanks. God I must look a state."

"I've seen you worse."

Bulma snorted and gave a watery smile. "Actually, me or Ginyu."

"Oh definitely you. Some of those makeup looks you tried were silly."

She laughed and he smiled, reaching out to touch her face. "The moment I laid eyes on you again, I knew it was you. And I've been kicking myself ever since. Because Ginyu was a freaking cutout. A stand in that said the right stuff and acted the right way. And I figured anything different was normal, cos people change. They get more serious or more laid back or kinder or meaner. I figured that was what was going on."

"Yeah, people do." Bulma sniffled and reached for the bottle again. Goku stopped her.

"We need to talk and drinking isn't going to help."

"God, when did you become such a grown up?"

"You really did grow up whilst I was gone didn't you."

"Its what people do. Even the perpetually immature."

"Do you even know what that word means?"

"Hey, I can do more than two syllables." Goku sat on the seat properly again, this time beside Bulma. "I had to come and see you though. I needed to get my head on straight about this because the guilt and confusion are killing me."

"What are you confused about?"

"I can't hate Ginyu. I want to. I want to hate Bulma. But my brain see's two people. It sees you and him. It seems that Ginyu has lived peacefully and helped save lives for decades. But I also know that at any moment he could have hurt us. But he didn't. And I don't know how I'm supposed to deal with this.”

“That’s a hell of a problem. One I can understand. You've seen that Ginyu is capable of good, but the lies are outweighing that right now.”

“Yeah. How do I make it make sense?”

“Time kiddo. You gotta give yourself time to process. I know it's not a fun answer but it's the only one I have for you.”

Chapter Text

“I didn’t expect to see you.”

Vegeta shuffled his feet in the doorway. “Well, there’s more we have to talk about now. And I think after that meeting we really need to hash some things out.”

Ginyu nodded. "Then come in. Do you want anyone here?"

Veget shook his head. "No, no it's fine." He came in and came in, shutting the door behind him.

“You seem to have a lot of plans in place. Are you going to share any of them?”

“Not yet. Maybe in a few months, but not yet.”

“Figured as much.” Vegeta took a seat at one of the chairs and watched Ginyu with an odd look in his eyes. “I have no idea what we are supposed to do now. I know you’d hired a therapist. I take you checked her back of-”

“On the criminal and background systems, I did. I even had a Burger double check for me.”

“Smart move. Will we be seeing them again soon?”

“Probably.”” Ginyu sat down, “To be honest I’m surprised they haven’t been found yet. Frieza has information networks that are vast.”

“And yet he thinks his scientists are the best.”

Ginyu smiled. He supposed that he would have to spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what was true and what was false. There was no doubt that Frieza's Empire was an incredibly efficient and deadly army. But now he knew that there were those who were willing to stand up and risk their lives to tell lies and make it just that tiny bit harder for the emperor to do his job. It gave Ginyu a sense of hope to know that there were those out there working to fight the emperor.

Will either way they won't be able to remain hidden forever. Frieza has been looking for strong Fighters since he returned. He has an army to rebuild and many have scattered to the winds since his death. Those that were killed off in Revenge attacks have built lives for themselves.”

"But why bother with an army though.” Vegeta asked. “He has more power than most planets combined. Hell, most solar systems. Me and Kakarot have a hard time dealing with him. Why have an army at all if you are more powerful than everyone in it.”

“Can you imagine freezer clearing and purging a planet himself? Or having to evacuate and relocate new servants and soldiers. Granted he was willing to do more than his father ever was in that regard but he was not someone who was going to waste his time dirty his hands on the little jobs.”

Vegeta thought about that for a moment. "You think the fact he learned to drive the ship was some kind of rebellion, because every time his father complained he'd get this weird little smile on his face that Gohan gets when he does something his mother hates but she can't punish him for."

Ginyu threw back his head and laughed. "Oh god he did. Rebellion is such a universal thing."

"You say that now, but wait until Trunks finally hits his rebellious phase."

"Oh please, he'll listen to bad music and maybe cut his hair weird."

"And if he takes after Bulma?"

"That....actualy that could be an issue."

Vegeta knew they could likely talk about trivial matters all night, but they needed to start talking about this important stuff. "Ginyu, I need to know what decisions were yours and what decisions 'Bulma' would have made."

Ginyu blinked. "What?"

"You made choices that you probably disagreed with in order to pass as Bulma. And you likely made your own decisions and managed to convince people they were a good idea. I need to know which."

"Why start with those?"

"Becuase we share a lot of them. It's a starting point where we can both try to relate."

Ginyu thought about what Vegeta might mean, and it was obvious very quickly. But he didn't like thinking about it because over the years those responses had melded. He had become far more human than he ever expected too and it showed in his decisions and actions. But Vegeta was right, it was a good jumping off point.

"Can we talk about this tomorrow? Anything else now, but this needs time for me to actually think on."

"I can give you that." Vegeta said. "If you mean it about talking about anything else."

Ginyu nodded.

"Did you ever seriously pick someone to switch with? Was there a moment where you decided to screw it, I'm leaving."

Ginyu went silent long enough that Vegeta felt his stomach swirl.

"Twice. When you l the planet to search for Goku I spent several weeks trying to figure out what to do next. The plan was to take a Nemakian body and a handful of Capsules to trade. I had gotten a hold of a potion that would have forced the namakien who had my body to say bye bye and act teary around his beloved Yamcha. Break down crying and say he needed some privacy for a little while after we were gone. By the time the potion wore off I would be long gone from New Namek. The second time was during Cells games. I had a ship ready, and the plan was to take the form of whoever survived and run. If none of you had, then I was going to steal ChiChi's form."

Vegeta looked surprised. "ChiChi? Why here?"

"She's strong due to training and ox king blood. Though not perfect it would have given me a better chance than any of the other humans on this planet. Unless I decided to take Roshi's form. And to be blunt, No."

Vegete smiled at that, and then frowned because the next comment nearly stuck in his throat.
“We're married.”

Ginyu looked at his husband and tilted his head. “I know. You got grumpy about wearing a tux and got embarrassed about the kiss.”

Vegeta gave him an annoyed look and then a tiny smile twitched his lips. “Trying to be serious here.”

Ginyu curled his legs under himself, “Sorry. Continue.”

“We're married. And as much as I would love to say that this has to end now I can't. Because the feelings I have for you won't go away simply because I want them to. You are still the person who I raised a family with. You're still the person who knows my deepest secrets. I've shared things with you that no other knows.” Vegeta looked him.in the eye. “I…i am not ready to say the words we both know are there. I can’t. It could be a long time before I do. But we’re starting again, and I need to be honest about how I-”

Ginyu felt his heart speed up. Talking about his feeling eas never easy for Vegeta, and it was likely torture now.

“If this is going to work there’s gonna be baby steps. And probably a lot of shouting. Without the usual outcome.”

Ginyu couldn’t help himself. “Oh come now. Nerve herd of keeping the enemy closer?”

“You! I am trying to be serious!”

“So am I Vegeta.” Ginyu took a risk and reached out, and touched Vegeta’s wrist. “There’s nothing wrong with comfort. I would think that's one thing I taught you.”

He flushed harder, neck and ears vibrant red and he looked down at the ground, but didn’t break their contact.

“We are different now, but the same. The hard work is just starting and I don’t know if it will work out for everyone.”

Another bold move and Ginyu got up, crouching beside Vegeta’s seat.

“On the other planet I mentioned separating, and you told me to shut up.” Vegeta looked back at him then, and Ginyu kept eye contact. “That there shows that you have some hope for us, even if it's small. And we’ve proven more than once that the odds are never too small for us to squeeze out a win.”

“This isn’t a tournament or normal battle. This is our entire life.” Vegeta turned himself so he could comfortably take a hold of Ginyu’s wrists. “There’s no longer a doubt I fell in love with you. But how do we know this relationship will work if you're gonna change.”

“WHat makes you think I’ll change?”

“You said so yourself. No reason to hide yourself anymore, or pretend to be ignorant of things. Knowledge and freedom will change you. And how can you be sure those changes won’t be something I can see past.”

“We won’t know until we try.” Ginyu reached out and touched the side of Vegeta’s face. He stiffened, but didn’t move. Ginyu’s hand cupped his cheek.

Vegeta’s heart was pounding. He knew this was a huge mistakes, that he was going to get his heart broken, that he -

He couldn’t be alone again.

Since coming back to earth and seeing their friends(as much as he hated to admit it) and home and life, everything had begun to build in his mind and his heart. He didn’t want to have the universe with nothing but the heavy weight of responsibility. It was bad enough with just Nappa and Raditz. But with his kids? The stress would grey his hair before he reached old age, and he highly doubted he could pull that look off.

He relaxed, let his cheek rest on Ginyu’s palm and Ginyu felt his heart melt. .

“We can get through this Vegeta. I promise, everything’s going to be okay.”

Vegete desperately wanted to believe him.

Chapter Text

She couldn't stay.

Panchy had thought that she could handle it. Just stay out of the way of anybody but her grandchildren and try to get on with the day. But it wasn't possible every time she passed by her husband's lab or saw him out of the corner of her eye her stomach was roil and her heart beat and her eyes hurt from the anger that pulsed through her. Every time she saw the sight of Ginyu wearing her daughter's face she felt like she was going to be sick. She fought about speaking to that therapist who had shown up but knowing that they would be there at the behest of their daughter's Usurper made Panchy want to scream.

She couldn't stay. She needed to get away for a few days to clear her head. She just needed to be able to walk into the kitchen and not worry about being struck by dread and guilt.

How could she not have noticed her baby girl had been replaced. She knew that she could be a little fluff headed at times but she had never thought that she was so ignorant that she could miss something like this. Panchy had believed that she paid enough attention to her family to see when something was wrong. Being the wife to the most intelligent and richest man on the planet had its distractions. It wasn't just baking pies and making sure his clothes were clean. No it was ensuring their home was free of problems that could make their day-to-day lives difficult. Keeping the paparazzi and press out. Ensuring that their families' lives are run efficiently. Making sure that people don't find out that they have an alien living under their god Damned roof. They had a menagerie of pets that required looking after and Licensing and kept healthy. Her husband was a great scientist but he didn't deal with the day-to-day Runnings of the lab such as ensuring deliveries came on time and he didn't run out of experimental material or equipment. He didn't Trust any of the loudest assistance with that stuff so it fell to pansy. She was the woman of the house and she kept the house well. She took pride in that. Her relationship with her husband was a weird one and had many people raising an eyebrow but it worked for them to stop except now it didn't. When she had married him and signed the endless paperwork that would ensure that both of them got what they wanted out of this relationship he had agreed to certain rules and caveats. Those included the safety of their children.

He had failed miserably there. Completely ignored all of the rules Pantry had placed in order to ensure her daughters long-term happiness and survival. And what does he do instead? He let an alien take over their daughter's life and pretend like nothing is wrong.

Now she just had to tell people.

Her husband wouldn’t take it well, but she had their contracts and law on her side, and despite his infamy and money, he couldn’t beat this paperwork. Panchy would go and stay with Tights for a few weeks, and visit her grandbabies often, but she could not stay in the same house as those who betrayed her.

But first she needed to speak with Trunks.

She found her Grandson catching up on studies, brows furrowed in a way that made him look like his father.

"Trunks honey? Can I have a word please."

He looked up at her and smiled, "Sure Grandma."

She shut the door behind her and came to sit on the edge of his bed. She tapped the edge of it and he joined her, a small glint of worry in his eyes.

"Before I say anything else, I want you to know I love you very much, and nothing will ever change that. You're my GrandBaby, and that will never change." Trunks gave her a mildly panicked look. She took his face in her hands, "You do not need to worry about me. But I'm going to be staying with your aunt Tights for a couple of weeks. You are welcome to visit whenever you need or want to. But I have to get away for a little while."

Trunks thought about it a moment, then nodded. He hugged her. “I don’t blame you. I could never imagine having to learn-”

“Now you shush. This isn’t a game of who hurts more. It's just people hurting. And we gotta do what we can to make it hurt less.”

Trunks understood what she meant, but he didn’t have to like it.

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

Nail was really starting to like naps. Granted he didn't sleep like a normal human, but he enjoyed it. Just lying there on a comfortable surface and letting your mind drift off. Kind of like meditation, but more relaxed, less focused.

Plus he got to wake up to a very cute human dozing on his chest, and the tickle of a cat tail because Puar was passed out on the back of the couch next to them. They'd fallen asleep watching tv and it was pleasant to wake up next to them.

He moved, and Yamcha's eyes fluttered open. "Hey." he murmured, voice rough.

"Hey."

"What time is it?"

"Ur...near 2."

"Crap. I didn't mean to sleep like that."

"Not like you've got to be anywhere." Nail said and Yamcha sat up, scratching the back of his head.

"True. Though I do need to head to the gym at some point. Weekly check-ins gotta be done."

“Want me to come along?”

“Sure. But be aware you may get looks. King Piccolo’s rep still haunts a lot of people. Especially now he’s back.” Yamcha thought for a moment, "Actually, maybe for your safety you should hang back. I don’t want some wannabe hero taking a potshot at you.”

“Aww, you worried for me?” Nail said, tilting his head.

“I know you can hold your own, but I’d rather you didn’t have to.”

Nail felt warm inside, and pressed a quick kiss to Yamcha’s cheek. “You know I should actually visit Daimon again. Check on Harmon.Poor thing needs someone keeping an eye on him.”

Yamcha nodded, and felt a pang of guilt. The more he learned about Namekians, the more guilt he felt about King Piccolo’s off spring. None of them had been adults, just innocents born into servitude.

He went to the bathroom, and on the way out grabbed his phone. There were three messages. One from his local restaurant manager about the new hires, one from a very obvious scam and another from Goku.

Goku’s message simply read ‘call please’ and Yamcha was mildly concerned. Goku wasn’t good with tech, but he was getting better than random emojis as answers and the occasional accidental video of his back pocket.

Yamcha dialed and waited a few moments.

"Heloo?"

"HHey Goku, you wanted me to call?"

"Yamcha! Great to hear from you. Yeah, I needed to talk to you about something. And it's important."

Yamch rolled his eyes. "Is it now?"

"The real Bulma might come back earlier than expected, but she wants to talk to you first. Says she wants to clear the air and avoid any problem by trying to speak to everyone at once."

The air in his lungs froze. Yamcha took several seconds to speak. "She,, erem, she does?"

"Yeah. I went to speak with her the other day. I...Yamcha I had to talk to her. With everything thats been happening I-"

"Don't-you don't gotta explain Goku. I get it. I do. Can you give me an hour? I gotta think about this."

"Yeah buddy. I'll keep an ear out for the call."

"Thanks. Bye."

Yamcha hung up and then felt the strength leave him. Puar spotted him kneeling and rushed over. "Yamcha? What's wrong."

"Bulma wants to talk. The real one."

Puar stiffened but quickly got over it. She pressed herself to Yamcha, hugging as tight as her little limbs could manage. "It's gonna be okay, Yamcha."

Yamcha hugged her back and then stood up. "Yeah. I'm gonna tell Nail, and then I'm-shit I need to calm down."

"Is something wrong?" Nail asked, and peaked around the door.

"Yes. No. Bulma wants to talk with me in private."

Nail kept his face neutral. "Is that good or bad?"

"I've got no idea. But it's likely gonna be bad."

Puar floated up beside him. "You think she's gonna try and yel at you?"

Nail looked incredulous. "She can't possibly try and blame him for this?"

"Nail, she once blamed Yamcha for her being late to a meeting, and he was halfway across the globe training when it happened."

"How?"

Yamcha shrugged, "She said she was missing me so much she lost track of time."

"And you wanted to marry this woman?"

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

Ginyu had known there was a chance someone in the family would be mad enough to leave. Somehow he hadn't expected it to be Panchy. Maybe Trunks is going to stay with the Sons for a few weeks, or Dr Briefs is avoiding him.

But not Panchy.

It was always a chance, but Ginyu was blindsided by it.

Panchy sat at the table with him, hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.

"I kind of hate you right now." she said, and the words hurt more than Ginyu expected.

"You allowed it. I broke your trust."

"There's no trust here." Panchy said. You're not my daughter. You did a good job playing the part, but you aren't. My baby girl has been suffering in space for heaven knows how long."

His throat felt tight but Ginyu kept his emotions under control.

"You gave me two beautiful grandbabies and a son in law whose...well, he would die for us, even if he is a grouchy guy sometimes. He loves his kids. He seems to have grown to love this planet and its food. And he'd proven to me time and again he's trying to be better. But you." Pancy put down her mug. "You took a future from my real daughter. Destroyed a relationship and broke so many hearts. Lied to everyone and put our world at risk. You're a dangerous person Ginyu. Far more dangerous than any other threat we have, because I believe you when you say you love our family."

"I do Panchy. I'd do anything for them."

"And that's why you're dangerous. And I need time to come to terms with that. With everything."

Ginyu nodded, and knew it was useless to argue.

"I just ask that you keep an eye on my husband. We both know he has certain expectations, and despite the fact he has broken so many rules of our marriage, he'll still be mad."

"Are you going to tell him before you go."

Panchy shook her head. "No. He'll cause a fuss, and neither of us want that."

Gods knew that was true.

“There are plenty of us keeping an eye on him.”

“Don’t under estimate that man Ginyu, he-”

“I know he is Panchy. I’ve known too many men like him.”

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

Yamcha didn't know what he should do.

He knew that speaking to Bulma was inevitable. But he also knew that he didn't have the strength. He was no coward, but when it came to Bulma, his bravery evaporated. Especially now.

"You can practise with me if you want." Puar said, settling beside him.

He blinked and looked down at her. "What?"

"I can be Bulma for a little while, let you practice what you wanna say."

Yamcha couldn't help but smile, and shook his head. "I'l know its you. But thanks for the offer Puar."

Puar leaned against him and Yamcha took comfort in that. He had another ten minutes before he needed to call Goku and give him an answer. The man had a bad memory, but the current situation seemed to have lit a fire in him that was both impressive and worrisome. Goku only took a handful of situations seriously. Battle, Food and Love. Yamcha guessed this fell into the love category.

"I have to do this Puar. It's not gonna be easy, but I gotta do it."

"Well, I'll be here for you. And so will Nail and our friends."

Yamcha tried to figure out how he'd gotten so lucky in getting a friend like Puar.

"I better go call Goku."

Yamch went and got his phone, still sitting on the side table where'd he'd left it when Goku called.

"Hello?"

Yamcha wasn't expecting to hear ChiChi'a voice.

"Um, hey. I'm trying to reach Go-"

"Oh, he's in the bathroom, he told me to keep an eye on the phone for him."

Yamcha couldn't help the chuckle that left him. "Will he be long or-"

There was the sound of movement in the background, and then Goku's voice.

"I'm here,I'm here I-crap my hands are still wet. Where's the towel I-"

There was the sound of rustling as Goku found a towel, knocked over what Yamcha assumed was a chair and then he was on the phone.

"Hey Yamcha."

"Hi. When does Bulma want to meet?"

"She said when it's good for you. I can take you too here, or I can bring her to you or-"

"Bring her to earth. I don't want to be off-world for this conversation."

"Okay!" Goku said, and then there was more rustling, "I'll let her know."

Giggling sounded, and ChiChi said, "Goku, can you let me go please?"

"Oops, sorry."

More rustling, and then Goku was back. "Sorry about that. When I grabbed the phone I put Chi in a headlock."

Yamcha couldn't help the laugh as he imagined his friend trying to grab the phone and dragging his wife in with it. "No issue man."

"I'll message when I have time. Bye Yamcha."

Goku hung up before Yamcha could say anything else, and left Yamcha to silently regret his decision.

"I am so not ready for this." he said to no one.