Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Why Us? :The CampOut ❯ Search and Rescue ( Chapter 12 )

Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will own Dragon Ball Z, or any of it's characters. Jen and Christine are based on the author of this FanFic and her best friend.

"Goten! Trunks!" Christine cried out, floating above the tree tops, cupping her hands around her mouth and screaming out as loud as possible. She then paused, listening carefully, praying for some sort of reply. Not far from here, Krillen did the same. They made eye contact and shrugged their shoulders helplessly before returning to their job and thoroughly looking over the area assigned to them. It was an all out search, and the longer the two were missing, the more frantic they became. Sure, it wasn't a big thing for them to go missing, but it had been a little over 2 hours since they had gone missing after last seeing Goku and Vegeta. Lunch had already passed in that small time, and when neither showed up, panic became evident.

They weren't lost, that's for sure. Goten knew his way through the forest as much as Gohan or Goku, having grown up in the very woods themselves. His first playmates were the animals and prehistoric dinosaurs found in the area. But were they playing a prank? No. They would have pulled out the punch line by now. It wasn't like them to drag something out this long. Their attention spans weren't long enough for that. Christine bit her lower lip and whined to herself for a second, worry seizing her. The two were like dear little siblings to her, annoying but still dear.

A small crackling beep came to her and she looked down to the small walky talky strapped to her hip. Jen had handed one to her, one to Goku and kept another for her and Gohan, so they could communicate easier instead of raising Ki levels. Taking it in her hand, she pressed the side black button and spoke into it. "Yea?"

"Anything yet?" It was Jen. Goku suddenly came on the system as well. It was a three way communication signal, all set to the same channel so they could each hear the others conversations.

"Nothing with me and Vegeta, but he split off to search by himself a while ago. I can still sense him though. How about you Christine?"

"Nope. Nothing. Me and Krillen have all but looked everywhere. I think we might start a ground search in a second."

"That's where me and Gohan are now," Jen answered, the ruffle of leaves could be heard over the machine but then, from, obviously, Goku's end a hoarse, almost desperate shout rang out, far off but still caught on the radio.

"KAKARROT!"

The all stopped, Krillen flying over to Christine as she signaled for him to. "Goku?!" she asked desperately. "Was that Vegeta? Have you found them?" A long silence, before Goku came on, obviously shaken by something.

"We…we've got them, but hurry! Someone go back to my place, tell Chi and Bulma we've got them and get some sort of first aid! Their out cold and really bashed up!"

"Alright, me and Krillen'll go ahead, Jen and Gohan go meet up with them!"

"Gotcha! We're comin' guys!" And then the radio went dead. Christine looked at her companion who nodded sharply and both fled at top speed toward the Son household, anxiety seizing them both into an urgent silence while they flew.

Vegeta and Goku stood, staring blankly at their sons. Bruised, bleeding, battered, laying unconscious on the floor with leaves tangled in their hair and clothes, tree limbs laying flat over them and pinning them to the ground. Vegeta was first to move as he quickly seized the logs and threw them off the children before kneeling beside his own, tentatively checking for breathing. Goku stood, stunned, unable to move, the sight of his son a heavy impact to him.

"Are…are they…?" he asked softly, voice choked as he fell to his knees next to Goten. Vegeta looked to his rival, before carefully placing his fingers in front of the black haired boy's mouth, feeling the lightest exhale against his flesh.

"They are alive. Snap out of it Kakarrot," he half whispered before very carefully, as if scared of breaking his fragile heir, lifted Trunks up in his arms, staring down at the blood and mud stained face of his and Bulma's boy. Goku followed suit, tears almost in his eyes. It was emotional, to see his son so weak, when he had thought that nothing would ever harm Goten. Yet here he was, injured and limp in his arms when he had assured ChiChi nothing would become of him. He had lied. Unintentionally, but he never should have let his eyes stray from him. Vegeta had similar thoughts for a moment before shaking his head and levitating slowly.

"Kakarrot," he said softly, catching Goku's attention before nodding his head upward to show they should leave. The large Saiyan nodded and followed suit as the two flew off, cradling their silent son's.

"Vegeta?"

"Hmm."

"We let this happen didn't we…"

Silence. Vegeta kept his eyes away from Trunks and Goku, simply staring forward, but he held his arm protectively around the small form, feeling guilt at Goku's words. They had. Of course, the kids would be fine after a bit. They would emerge even more powerful, as all Saiyan's do. But…it was another failure on his growing list. Not only had he failed most of his life, he was failing in something as seemingly simple as protecting his family. His wife was in great turmoil, his son was injured, he was a failure.

"Vegeta?"

"What now Kakarrot?!"

"We couldn't have known," Goku tried lightly. He had watched Vegeta expression, no longer hiding emotions as he closed his eyes momentarily and looked at him.

"Simplest task Kakarrot. Watch the boy. I can destroy galaxies, but keep my own family safe? No…Life bites," Vegeta finished bitterly, finally looking down to Trunks. "What am I doing wrong? The woman hates me. The boy is unconscious because I wasn't watching. Is there anything that is meant to go freakin' right?!"

"Bulma doesn't hate you. She just wants… you to act like you don't hate her either. Vegeta…It's not hard, it just should be natural to love someone," Goku muttered, looking at Goten, who he could easily cradle in one arm. Using the other to tilt his head up and examine a bash to his head, Goku swallowed slowly, a hard movement, forcing down anymore sadness and grief over his son's pain before brushing blood from his parted lips.

"DAD?!" Gohan cried out, appearing in front of them, Jen behind him and as they looked at the babes held by the two Saiyans, they gasped, Jen almost crying out with shock and pain. Goku simply nodded but continued to fly. "What happened to them?" Gohan demanded, enraged to see his young brother in such a way.

"I don't know Gohan. We'll figure that out once we get them healed and better. But we better hurry," Goku said, leaving it at that, as the rest of his family fell in line with them and they all rocketed toward the small home, small white blemishes on the green backdrop of the forest. Bulma, ChiChi, Christine and Krillen, simple specks, stood waiting for the arrivals. The anxious mothers looked up quickly as they came close, Christine clutching the medical equipment to her, Krillen holding onto her elbow comfortingly while watching as the four beings landed and raced toward them.

"GOTEN!" ChiChi cried in despair, rushing toward Goku as he held out the small child to her, sadly and she delicately took him in her arms, hugging him tightly before moving toward the First Aid. Christine immediately began to put her Red Cross training to use, laying down the boy on the ground and instantly setting to work, cleaning and dressing wounds, wiping away blood and dirt from his skin.

Vegeta walked slowly toward his tearful wife, almost afraid to look at her injured son. She looked to the Saiyan, expecting to see nothing but a scowl, but found grief as he held her gaze a second before moving past toward a place to get Trunks help. Under Christine's guidance, Krillen, Jen and everyone else assisted to bandage and mend the boys wounds, for now. It was agreed they should go to a Regen tank for at least a few hours. Then there would be talk of what happened.

~SIGH~ nothing is harder for a proud Saiyan to find his boy injured. But maybe everything'll be ok? Tune in next time!