Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wishes, Horses and Beggars ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Lisa's mother was cutting up some carrots in the kitchen that afternoon. Reading from the recipe card, she was cutting them at just the right thickness, taking a piece or two off the knife and popping them into her mouth. Behind her the other vegetables boiled in a large pot, steam rising gently and gracefully in the air, shafts of hazy afternoon light. A pan of frying meat sat on the burner next to the vegetables, sizzling pleasantly, giving off a hearty, meaty aroma.

Suddenly, there was a sharp rap at the door, followed by some faint talking. Creasing her brows a bit, she put her knife down and walked through the kitchen to the entryway, hanging her apron on the banister of the stairs. She turned the brass doorknob and opened the door. Standing there was Raven and Clutch, holding a clipboard. They smiled widely at Lisa's mother from the landing.

"I'm sorry, Lisa's not home, and she's not to have company today-" Lisa's mother started irritably. Raven shook her head.

"No, Ms. Cross, that's not while we're here. For our economics class, we have to do a survey on the relevance of cheese and condiments in the household, and their affect on the overall American economy." she explained in a very business like fashion. Ms. Cross shook her head again.

"I'm sorry, but I have things cooking in the kitchen, and I can't be bothered with-"

"This is 45% of our grade, Ms. Cross." Clutch pitched in, adjusting his Anarchy hat. Ms. Cross blinked.

"Oh dear. Well then, I guess I can spare a few minutes ... but you'll have to come inside with me in the kitchen, or my food will burn." she explained, opening the door wider for them to pass.

"That will do just fine, Ms. Cross. Thank you ahead of time." Raven smiled. They walked into the kitchen and stood in front of the stove, kicking the door closed behind them.

Outside in the neighbor's bushes, Lisa poked her head up and nodded. "Now."

Out from the bushes came Lisa, holding Piccolo's shoulders while Rory, Kirk, his brother Joe, and Rory's brother Scott grabbed Piccolo's arms, his feet and legs to get him inside the house. They rushed across the street with the large green man, Lisa pausing a moment to open the door soundlessly before coming in. Careening into the house, she immediately started up the stairs. 6 pairs of feet pounded up the staircase to Lisa's room at the end of the hallway.

"What's that?" Ms. Cross suddenly asked, going toward the door. Raven and Clutch glanced at each other nervously and started toward the door as well, standing in front of it.

"Probably just ... Lisa coming home, is all." Raven smiled. "Nothing to worry about" Ms. Cross frowned, and kept toward the door.

"I mean, what else could it be? A huge green man?" Clutch laughed, his voice lightly laced with unease. Lisa's mother cast a wary glance at the door again, then came back to them, tossing the cooking meat in the pan.

"Now, question 14: On a daily basis, what sort of condiment do you use most often?"

Lisa had stopped when she heard her mother's voice, but let out a sigh of relief after she had stopped talking, Lisa hearing her retreating footsteps. She hefted Piccolo up a little more, and starting to walk slowly up the stairs again.

"Jesus, he weighs a ton..." Rory whispered hoarsely, shoving the Namek's foot under his arm. Lisa put a free finger up to her lips and kept going, finally reaching the top step. She leaned against the banister for a moment, getting a better grip on him, then started to pull him up the stairs, and everyone else with it. Rory almost tripped, crying out a bit as he nearly fell on top of everyone. There was a loud thump where his foot hit, and everyone held their breath as they listened in on the kitchen. They didn't hear her mother, but as soon as they turned their heads back to the stairs, they caught their breath again. Standing at the top of the stairs, blocking their way, was Lisa's snotty little genius brother Andrew. The smirk on his twelve-year-old face only reflected half of the smugness he felt inside.

"What are you up to, older sibling?" he asked in a sing song voice. Andrew had just learned that word in school, and annoying her by calling her that all the time.

"None of your business, An-spew," she hissed. "Go back to your room!"

"Hmm ..." he said, ignoring her order. "It looks like you're attempting to sneak some people in. Didn't mom tell you not to bring anyone over today?"

"Andrew, I'm warning you..."

"Oh! Who's that?" he asked suddenly, pointing past Lisa to the insentient Namek. Lisa glared and positioned herself in front of him.

"No one you'd be interested in! Go back to your room!" she whispered hoarsely. Andrew merely took a few steps toward them and craned his head around Lisa to get a better look.

"Au contraire, older sibling! I think it's that green man mom and I witnessed on the news last night! The one that the police say could be highly dangerous?" Andrew continued. "And you're bringing him in the house! Woo! Mom's gonna have a heyday chewing you out when she finds out-!"

"But she's not going to find out, see," Lisa hissed through clenched teeth. "Because you're going to keep your weasley mouth shut!"

Andrew's smirk grew wider. "And what are you going to offer me to keep quiet about this one, hm?"

Lisa growled, hefting Piccolo up again. "Andrew, come on, we don't have time for this! He's hurt and he's really heavy-"

"Well, I guess you'll understand, then, when I inform mom of your recent escapades. She'll be more than happy to call the police when she finds him here-"

"Alright, alright fine! What do you want?"

"A five-percent cut from your allowance. And you have to wash the dishes every other day until I think that the debt's been fulfilled." he announced smugly. Lisa sighed.

"Fine, fine, now let me get through!" she snapped crossly. Andrew smiled wider and stepped out of their way, waving his arms to let them through.

"After you, older sibling. I'll be in my room if you need any assistance." he told her, then turned on his heel and walked back to his room, whistling happily. Lisa rolled her eyes and started toward her room again.

In the kitchen, Clutch and Raven were running out of questions. They began to sweat a little bit as they prattled off inquiries about ketchup, mustard, cheddar, the weekly expenses for those items, ect. And as a result, Lisa's mother had began to get annoyed with them. Finally, she took them both by the shoulders and began to show them out.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have a big dinner to cook tonight, so if you'll excuse me," Ms. Cross said politely, opening the kitchen door just as Lisa eased hers shut upstairs. Raven and Clutch let out a breath of relief as they noticed, then nodded to Ms. Cross.

"Thank you, I think this will do us nicely. Have a nice day, Ms. Cross." Raven said politely, then walked down the stairs with Clutch as the door shut behind them.

As soon as the latch clicked on the door, then hightailed it around Lisa's house to her window, tossing in a stone or two to get her attention. At that point there was a bit of a rustling in the window, then a long knotted rope lowered down to them. Raven and Clutch quickly climbed up it and into the window.

"What's the situation?" they asked in a whisper as soon as they got into the room. Joe looked up from the Namek on Lisa's bed.

"His shoulder's been dislocated, his ribs are bruised, and they might be cracked." he sighed and continued. "It looks like someone had grabbed his arm and just kicked the crap out of his side, dislocating it in the process. Those cuts will need stitches, more than likely, on top of the concussion he might have as a result of getting those cuts on his head.. His ankle is definitely broken. But those are obvious, and that's all I can tell without getting him to a hospital." Joe stated. Lisa shook her head.

"No, we can't do that. He'll regenerate on his own. Besides, the government here has been wanting to take him in for testing for a long time, I read it in a paper Kirk gave me." She motioned toward Kirk, who was typing away on his laptop like it was going out of style. "We can't risk that."

"How - Regenerate?" Joe asked skeptically.

Lisa nodded. "He's not human, right?"

"Well, no-"

"And in my history book, he said that he could heal quickly, even regenerate limbs."

"Then why hasn't he done it yet?"

"... that I haven't figured out, but we can't take him to the hospital, either. We'll just have to hope that his powers kick in soon."

Joe nodded reluctantly. "I can understand that. But at least let me dress his wounds."

"Of course, Joe." Lisa smiled. "I was counting on it" Lisa looked down at her watch. "Oh man, I should have been home 15 minutes ago. I'll see you guys later, climb out through the window, and be careful!" With that, she climbed down the rope ladder and went around the house, coming to the front door. She stopped and messed her hair up a bit, then grabbed her backpack and her things out of the bush next to the house. Taking a breath, she opened the door and walked in breathlessly.

"Mmm ... Smells good, mom!" she smiled falsely as she walked into the kitchen. Ms. Cross whirled around, a wooden spoon in her hand.

"You're late, young lady." she said almost offhandedly, turning back to her skillet full of meat. Lisa shrugged a bit, running her hand through her shoulder length dark blonde hair.

"I forgot something at school. I had to run and get it." she lied glibly. Her mother, satisfied, shrugged as well, her back turned to her.

"Did you drop off those letters?"

"Yes mom, of course I did."

"Don't get smart, I was just asking."

"Sorry mom." Lisa sat down at the table, inwardly itching to get back upstairs, but she knew she had to play it cool, so she forced herself to stay downstairs a bit longer. A few seconds later Andrew came through the doors, smirking subtly at Lisa as he sat opposite of her.

"That smells exquisite, mom! How do you do it?" he said amiably, flashing his mother a winning smile. Lisa fumed inwardly at the little snot, but lowered her head to her arms.

"Why, thank you Andrew, dear." she smiled back at him. "I'm making this for dinner tonight, because tonight is special."

"Why?" Lisa asked skeptically.

"Because it's Daryl's and my 3 month anniversary!" she said, sounding insulted that Lisa didn't know. "Tonight, we'll have a big dinner, and we'll all be a family."

Lisa grumbled. "We were a family when dad was here."

"What did you say, young lady?" her mom snapped, whirling around again. Lisa shrugged. "Why do you always have to bring that up? You always have to spoil it for me, don't you?"

"Well, you don't have to be out looking for a boyfriend six months after dad died..."

"Elisabeth enough!"

"Why? Because you don't want to hear it?"

"No, because I'm tired of you criticizing me for trying to be happy again!" her mother retorted angrily, planting her hands on her hips. Lisa jumped up out of her chair.

"Well, it's not my fault that you go on like this, like Dad never meant anything to you!" she shouted back. "Maybe it hurts other people!"

"That's enough of that! Go to your room, now!"

"Fine!"

"And put some nicer clothes on when you come back out for dinner! I want you to look nice, not like some street kid!" With that, her mom turned back and started to scrape the meat into the boiling vegetables.

"Fine!" Lisa shouted again, and then started to storm up the stairs. She flung open her door and was about to slam it when she remembered what was in it. Calming down a bit, she closed the door gently and came over beside Joe, who was just finishing bandaging up the cut on Piccolo's forehead.

"Here Lisa, help me keep him sat up. I need to bandage his chest." he said. Lisa nodded and came forward, sitting behind Piccolo on her pillow and hooking her arms under his. Joe had removed his cape and his turban, and now he seemed much lighter in comparison, though he was still a heavy man. Joe had pulled his gi down over his chest as well while she was out, and was now applying a quick bandage to the cut across his chest. She held him tight around the arms, careful of his bad shoulder, as Joe began to tightly and securely wrap a bandage around his chest, carefully avoiding his bad arm, finally pinning it closed as the bandage ran out.

"Alright, now lie him back down, gently," he said in a near whisper, trying to keep it down so her mother wouldn't hear. Lisa nodded and complied, backing up and lying him on her pillow gingerly. She then went and sat in her beanbag chair and watched Joe reach in his bag for more bandages and such, splinting his ankle, popping his shoulder back into place and putting his arm in a sling (with only a minor wince from the green one), cleaning and bandaging the scrapes and cuts he had. After a few more minutes of that Joe sat up and gathered his things into his bag, and stood up, making for the window.

"Thanks Joe, I really appreciate this," she said gratefully. Joe waved it off.

"Naw, thank you. I got to help a figure in history. I can't say that every day" he smiled, then he began to climb out of the window.

Lisa leaned over the windowsill and waved, then came back in and closed the window to reduce the chill. She settled in the beanbag chair again and rested her head on the bed next to his wounded shoulder, staring at him, hardly believing that any of this was happening. She watched him rest calmly, his chest rising and falling gently under the white bandage that contrasted so brilliantly with his green skin.

She almost fell asleep herself if it hadn't been for hearing her mother's voice downstairs. It shook her awake and reminded her that she was expected to dinner in a few minutes. She grudgingly got up, pulling on a slightly nicer t-shirt just to spite her mother. She made for the door, but just as she reached the doorknob she turned and cast one last glance at the insentient fighter, then went out the door.

Upon reaching the bottom step she turned into the kitchen, pushing back the swinging door. Her mother had lit candles on the table, and some sort of stroganoff was sitting in a large, decorative pot on the tablecloth. Andrew was dressed in a nice, pressed white dress shirt with his best dark blue slacks. Ms. Cross was in a floral sundress, while her boyfriend, Daryl, was dressed similarly to Andrew. Lisa looked sorely underdressed in her jeans, tennis shoes and plain white, tucked in t-shirt.

Ms. Cross glared at her, but decided it wasn't worth it. "Lisa, come sit down."

"Like I have a choice," she grumbled as she pulled up a chair on the opposite side of Andrew. Ms. Cross shot her a withering look, and Lisa shrunk into her seat.

"This is a wonderful meal you've made for us, Andrea, dear. Thank you." Daryl smiled and raised his wine glass to her. Ms. Cross blushed faintly in the candle light and nodded.

"Thank you, sweetheart." she replied happily.

"No, I'm serious! Isn't this nice, kids?" he asked in a fatherly tone. While Andrew nodded heartily, Lisa merely shrugged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daryl eyed her.

"Well, I've already told her that today." she said, stuffing her mouth full of stroganoff.

"...Oh." he replied. "I see."

"Yes, Lisa can be a sweetheart when she's not being a snot." her mother laughed, then flicked her a warning glare out of the side of her eyes. Lisa pretended not to pay attention to it, her food more interesting than her mother's looks.

"Hm. Well, I remember your mother telling me that stroganoff was your favorite, Lisa. That's why I asked her to make it. So we can all eat and be a family." Daryl smiled after a few uncomfortable minutes, wiping a bit of sauce from his black mustache. Lisa shrugged again.

"It used to be my favorite. I used to eat it with dad when he came home late at night. But not anymore." she said quietly on purpose. Daryl's face fell as he looked away from her and cleared his throat, looking at Ms. Cross.

"Again, this is a lovely meal, Andrea."

"Thanks again, dear, you're flattering me," she blushed again, kicking Lisa a bit under the table. Lisa yelped.

"God mom, why do you have to kick me like that?" she said, a plan springing in her head. "Last time you did that it left a huge bruise!"

"Lisa! I'll not have you telling such stories!" she exclaimed. Daryl gave Lisa's mother a look.

"Is that true?"

"Of course it's not!"

"Well, it was a long time ago, so you know," Lisa shrugged and ate more stroganoff. "She forgets that she does it sometimes."

Lisa's mother slammed her fork on the table. "That's it young lady! To your room! Now! You can come eat later, when the rest of us are done!"

Lisa calmly slid out of her chair and shrugged her shoulders again. "Alright, it's no problem. Just like every other night." With that, she turned and walked maddeningly calm out of the kitchen door. Lisa's mother was fuming.

"God, the gall of that girl, sometimes!"

Lisa did her homework late into the night, the pile of books beside her slowly diminishing as she completed it all. Finally she was able to put them all away. She changed into her pajamas and grabbed a blanket from the end of her bed, and settled in her beanbag chair. She watched Piccolo for a moment, then sighed. She got up again and pulled another blanket over him, up to his shoulders, then went to the window and opened it a crack, then settled back down again. She closed her eyes slowly, and as soon as she did she felt herself drifting into the reaches of sleep.