To the Depths of Hell, and Back

“Systems Alert!”

Bulma’s eyes shot up from her newest invention. “Scan all systems and report.” she barked, her attention now riveted on the computer that ran the security system.

“System malfunction in building four, zone seven.”

Bulma’s eyes widened as her heart began to race. Building four was in the compound’s resident space, where she lived, where she was. Zone seven was two floors up from her basement lab.

“Malfunction spec. report.” she ordered. Zone seven was comprised of a gravity room and several other training rooms. One of which was occupied by Pan. Vegita and Goku, who were usually there too, had taken off with Trunks and Goten. Apparently, they thought the boys were slacking in their training. Chi-chi had gone to visit her father, who was ill. So when Gohan and Videl had needed to go out of town

on business, they had asked if Bulma could watch their daughter, Pan. Now this, Gohan was going to kill her if anything happened to Pan.

“Vid-com malfunction. Structural damage detected.”

Not waiting to hear if there was more, Bulma raced to the elevator. Cursing the slowness of the machine, she wished (and not for the first time) that she had the power to fly like her friends, or at least had their speed. Impatiently, she slipped out of the lift before the door finished opening. Running towards the room she had left Pan in, Bulma prayed to Dende that the demi-Sayjin girl was alright. She never was good at baby-sitting. It was a sheer miracle that Trunks had made it through childhood. Skidding to a stop, she had to blink back tears as thick smoke billowed out of the room, stinging her eyes.

“Pan!” she called out, coughing as she made her way to the control panel just inside the door. Punching in a series of codes by memory, she turned on the fire extinguishing system. The smoke cleared in a matter of minutes, and the extent of the damage was revealed.

“Oh my Dende.” Bulma gasped, scanning the mess for any sign of the seven year old. Fearing the girl had been thrown out of the window by whatever had caused the fire, Bulma carefully leaned out. Most people would have first and only looked down, but Bulma had been around Sayjins for too long. The first place she looked was up. The only thing she saw was a ship flying overhead. Dismissing it, she

looked down. What she saw didn't relieve her fears, instead it increased them. There were scorch marks on her lawn, like the type a ship would make when taking off. She quickly looked up, trying to find the ship she had seen, but it was long gone. Whipping out her cell phone, she quickly dialed her son’s number. He always carried it with him, no matter what.

“What’s that?” Goku stopped mid-fight, his brow wrinkled in confusion at the sudden sound of musical beeping.

“I told you not to bring that piece of crap!” Vegita snarled in his son’s direction.

“It’s mom.” Trunks frowned, ignoring his father’s surliness, he answered the call. “What’s up?” There was a pause. “Oh, shit!” Another pause. “Gohan’s gonna hit the roof.” A shorter pause. “We'll be right there.” Trunks promised, before sliding the phone back into his C.C. jacket.

“Right where, brat?” Vegita demanded, glaring.

“In short,” Trunks explained quickly, “a training room got destroyed, Pan’s missing and a ship took off on our lawn.”

“Grab hold.” Goku directed, his usually smiling face unreadable. “I'll I.T. us there.”

“Aaahhhaaa!” Bulma shrieked as the four Sayjins suddenly appeared in front of her. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Oh, man.” Goten whistled. “Someone sure had a fight in here.”

“Yeah. Trunks sighed in frustration. “And I don't sense Pan’s chi anywhere.” He had hoped that his mother was overreacting and Pan was hiding, but it didn't look like that was the case.

“You wouldn't.” Goku shook his head. “Someone came in and took her.”

“How can you be sure?” Bulma asked, not wanting it to be true.

Goku smiled to himself. Bulma was a certified genius, but she tended to over look the simple answers.

“If the windows were broken by a blast Pan threw or her powering up too much, the glass would be outside.” he began to explain. He moved to the window and glanced down at the lawn. “There was more than one person though, because the burn marks on the grass have no landing gear marks around them. Someone piloted the ship while at least one grabbed Pan.”

Vegita smirked to hide a smile. It was times like this that made him wonder why Goku insisted on playing the idiot.

“She did a fair amount of damage.” Goten commented, looking around. “It looks like the blast that took out this window also hit the vid-com.”

“She put up a pretty good fight against whoever it was.” Trunks shook his head sadly. “What do we do now?”

“Poor Panny.” Goten frowned. “She’s probably scared silly.”

“I guess I should call Gohan.” Bulma bit her lip. “I just don't know how to tell them. I never was a good babysitter.”

“Maybe it would be better if I went and got them.” Goku offered. “I don't think this is something they should hear over the phone.”

Nodding, Bulma blinked and he was gone.

“Let’s head downstairs.” Trunks suggested, guiding his mother towards the door. “It'll take a few minutes for Goku to convince them to come with him and they shouldn't see this first thing.”

Meanwhile Vegita had been looking for any sign of who could have taken Pan. She was young and hadn't hit super yet, but she was still Sayjin. It took a lot to take down a Sayjin child.

“What happened?” Gohan demanded, as soon as he and Videl appeared with Goku. “Where’s Panny?”

“What?” Videl looked on the verge of hysterics. “What do you mean? She’s here. She has to be here. We left her here with you.”

“The training room she was in was destroyed.” Trunks tried to explain. “From what we can tell two beings, maybe more, blasted in some windows, disabled the vid-com. There was a major battle and from the lack of bodies we can only assume that Pan lost and they took her with them.”

“She’s been kidnapped?” Gohan gasped. “But who could do such a thing? She’s a Sayjin, what human could take on a Sayjin and live?”

“It wasn't a puny human.” Vegita snorted, joining the growing group. “And she’s not on Earth. Those scorch marks outside didn't come from any earth vehicle.”

“Bulma, does C.C. have any space ships?” Goku inquired softly.

She forced a laugh. “Of course, you didn't think we stopped after we built the two for the trip to Namek did you?”

“Ready one.” Gohan insisted. “We need to find Pan."

“Come on. Come on you piece of shit!” Pan urged the machine to respond properly. “I'm so close. Come on! Yes!” The ship leveled out just in time to avoid a nosedive landing.

She closed her eyes and took a moment to let the thought fully sink in. After fifteen years she had finally found her way home. But doubts invaded her thoughts every now and again. How long had they searched for her? Had they even cared that she was gone? The Gorgons, the beings that snatched her, had tried to break her. They had tried to make her forget that they had taken her from a loving family. They

had mentally and physically abused her in every way possible. While the physical abuse had only made her stronger (a fact that her captors seemed not to realize) the mental abuse had taken a toll. She couldn't remember why she had been the only one around when they had taken her. Her parents should have been there or at least someone older. Why had she been left alone? The Gorgons had taken advantage of this, trying their best to keep her from wanting to go back to her home. She was their best weapon, well trained and precise. Of course they didn't know that she could lower and raise her readable power level at will. And their ignorance had facilitated her escape and their demise. Word had started to spread that she had killed the leaders of the Gorgon scourge that was sweeping the universe. Of course the fact that she had been the one to execute their plans of conquering the universe was not forgotten. There were not many places that Pan was welcome, mostly because people were scared of her. They didn't know whether she was going to continue the Gorgon’s plans of universal domination or not. So doubts or no, she had made her way home, to Earth the home of the last of her kind.

She knew that her family would come to her. Her fragmented memories told her that new power levels were always checked for the possibility of being a threat. Though she couldn't remember very much about her family and friends, she knew that suddenly showing up at Capsule Corp. would not be a smart move on her part. As she landed, she let her power level rise, allowing it to finally escape her tight hold

on it. Exiting her ship, she smirked, ‘It won't be long now. Let them come, thinking the worst.’

She figured that after so long, they wouldn't be expecting her. She kind of hoped that at least one of them would view her as a threat at first. She had been confined in her ship for a long time without someone to fight.

They were all gathered at Capsule Corp. for Bra’s birthday, when Goku and Vegita both took off, suddenly and with no explanation.

“Now what is that about?” Bra pouted, turning to her brother, Trunks.

As he turned to reply, Gohan swore loudly. Everyone stopped to stare. The eldest demi-Sayjin almost never swore. Normally he was unfailingly polite.

“Sorry.” Gohan winced at his own outburst. “New chi, very powerful. Dad and Vegita are heading that way.”

Without another word, he took off, Trunks and Goten not far behind.

“Well?” Bulma snapped as everyone else just stood around, dumbfounded. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go check it out! We're not going to let them have all the fun are we?”

As soon as Bulma popped a capsule containing an air-bus, they all piled in.

Meanwhile, Piccolo had felt the new chi as well and was already in route.

Pan waited calmly as the two Sayjins approached. She could tell by their chi that the others were on their way.

“Who are you?” Vegita demanded, as soon as he touched down. “What is your business here?”

“We wait for the others.” Pan replied coolly.

“You'll tell me now!” Vegita scowled, powering up slightly. “The Prince of all Sayjins waits for no one!”

“Then feel free to leave.” Pan shot back, her gaze unflinching.

“Vegita.” Goku broke in calmly. “It won't hurt to wait a bit. The others will be here shortly.”

As Goku finished speaking, Piccolo and Gohan arrived from separate directions. Having heard him, they greeted each other with nods and prepared to wait. It wasn't long before the others joined them.

Trunks and Goten were only minutes before Bulma and the rest. This of course was due to Bulma’s insanely fast driving.

“Now we're all here.” Goku prompted, as soon as everyone was gathered around. “Who are you?”

Hiding her anxiousness and nervousness, Pan answered bluntly. “I am Pan.”

Chaos reigned as the group took in her claim. Over the multitude of voices, Vegita shouted, “Impossible!” Goku was the quietest and the calmest. He simply cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes as he examined her chi. Gohan, on the other hand, reached level two for the first time in many years.

Silence descended when Gohan suddenly leaped forward, on the attack. “Imposter!” he screamed. Deftly avoiding the attack, Pan turned her attention to the impassioned warrior-turned-scholar. The fight was pathetically short. Gohan hadn't trained in over ten years, while Pan had been doing nothing but. After knocking the demi-Sayjin out, Pan dropped him in front of Vegita.

“Control that one.” she snarled at the Sayjin prince. “He attacks without thinking.”

“How do we know you are who you say you are?” Trunks questioned, trying to be diplomatic.

“Will this do?” Pan asked, allowing her tail to snake out from around her waist. “You can see I am Sayjin.”

“Yes.” Vegita scowled, watching in envy as Pan wrapped her tail securely back around her waist. “You may be Sayjin, but that doesn't mean you're the brat.”

“I'd love to be able to shock you with information that only ‘Pan’ would know,” her voice dripped with scorn, “but I only have flashes of half-forgotten memories left.” She paused and only Vegita saw the flicker of haunted memories in her eyes before she blinked and continued. “I've been gone a long time.”

"We could run a DNA test.” Bulma suggested as she walked closer, trying to see any traces of the seven year old girl she once knew.

Nodding her acceptance, Pan turned to Goku and Vegita. “Will that appease you?”

Goku smiled. “Sure, let’s go.”

The trip to Capsule Corp. didn't take long. Bulma led them straight to the Biology lab and quickly introduced the staff’s DNA specialist. After Gohan, Videl and Pan had submitted to having blood drawn (Gohan having regained consciousness at the prick of the needle), Bulma offered a meal and a tour of the compound to Pan.

The tour was going fine until they reached the second floor.

“I know this place.” Pan murmured quietly.

Bulma turned left, continuing to ramble on about what was where, not noticing. Pan wandered right, following her instincts even as she wondered why here of all places felt so familiar. Closing her eyes, she let her feet follow what seemed to be an often traveled path. It led her to an old unused room. Though it was empty, Pan saw a flash of what it used to look like. Trance-like, she entered the room and began

the warm-up kata Goku had taught her when she was an innocent little girl.

Bulma returned to the living room where everyone else had gathered. “Has anyone seen our visitor?” she asked, hopefully.

“No.” Gohan frowned. “What did she do?”

“Nothing.” Bulma tried to reassure him. “At least not that I know of. I lost her.”

“She was chasing you?” Goten asked, perplexed. “Why?”

“No.” Bulma sighed, exasperated. “I was showing her around and she disappeared.”

“She’s still in the building.” Goku shrugged. “But I can't tell where, her chi is suppressed.”

Vegita slipped from the room unnoticed as Bulma replied, “I guess we should just wait for her here.”

Meanwhile, Pan was continuing the workout routine she had followed as a child. Suddenly, she stopped and stared out of the window. She didn't even blink when the Sayjin prince entered the room.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“This is where it all started.” Pan said flatly, without turning around.

“What?” Vegita scowled.

She turned and went to walk past him. “My descent into hell.” Pan replied in the Sayjin tongue, before brushing past him.

Stunned at the sound of his native language, Vegita just stood there a moment before following the Sayjin girl.

“How do you know that language?” he demanded as the elevator doors closed.

“It’s amazing what you can learn while waiting for every bone in your body to heal.” she smiled ruefully, exiting the elevator a head of him.

“Oh!” Bulma smiled brightly. “You found her. The lab results are in.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Vegita snarled. “Let’s find out what they say.”

Bulma’s smile disappeared, “The others will meet us there. Follow me.”

“The results are conclusive.” Toki, the DNA specialist, nodded. “She is the daughter of Gohan and Videl. So unless they had another daughter around the same time, she is Pan.”

Gohan and Videl turned to stare at their long-lost ‘child’. Goku laughed and welcomed her home. Trunks and Goten shrugged. It didn't really matter to them, she had been gone so long she could have turned into an enemy. Bulma thanked Toki, while Chi-chi embraced her only grandchild. Pan rolled her eyes, and dislodged the weeping woman.

“We spar later.” Vegita announced before leaving.

“Where will you stay?” Bulma asked as the group returned to the residential sector.

“My ship.” Pan informed her shortly. “Where else would I stay?”

“With us?” Gohan blinked, slowly coming to terms with the fact that his daughter was back, and all grown up.

“No.” Pan declined, lifting her brow. “I don't know you.”

“We're your parents.” Videl protested.

Shaking her head at their inability to understand, Pan left.

“What’s her problem?” Bra asked, pouting.

“That’s right.” Trunks laughed. “You don't know about Pan.”

Bulma frowned, had they never mentioned the bright, adventurous child to Bra?

Videl sighed. “We gave up hope of ever finding her so long ago, Bra wouldn't remember."

“Why did she leave?” Bra questioned. “What’s so special about her?”

“She didn't leave.” Goku explained. “She was taken.”

“Why?” Bra wanted to know, frowning.

“We don't know.” Gohan replied. “Maybe Pan does.”

“Your father, Goku and the boys took ships into space looking for her for years.” Bulma continued the explanation. “They never found her. We gave up, figuring she had died.”

“Obviously she hadn't.” Trunks piped up. “But we still don't know where she’s been.”

“Or what she’s been doing.” Goten added.

“Well I suggest we all try to make her feel welcome.” Chi-chi decided. “For now we should all go home.”

“Are you ready?” Vegita demanded, eager to see how Pan had improved in her absence.

“More than.” Pan nodded following him into the air. Since Pan would need her ship intact, they agreed to spar elsewhere.

“Have they always been that emotional?” she asked, referring to the others.

“Hn.” Vegita snorted. “You used to be the worst.”

“Ugh.“ Pan groaned. “How do you stand it?”

“I don't socialize.” he grunted in return. “I train.”

The rest of the trip was in silence. Vegita contemplated what he knew about Pan. Pan tried to figure out why she thought coming back here was a good idea. There of course was the biggest reason: Here was the only place she wouldn't be hunted down and killed for what she had done over the last thirteen years.

She promised herself that she wouldn't ever let anyone know what had gone on during the first two years she had been gone. Being confined to a small chamber in which she was continuously abused and tortured and ‘trained’ to do her new job. The details of that would remain her secret.

By the time they halted their spar, Vegita had declared them evenly matched, and Pan figured that the opportunity to fight Vegita was worth coming back for.

“So this is where you went off to.” Goku smiled broadly. “Sorry I missed the fight.”

Vegita ignored the Earth-raised Sayjin. “Dawn, here, tomorrow.” he commanded in the Sayjin tongue.

“Dawn, gravity room, tomorrow.” Pan countered, slipping into the foreign tongue easily.

The Sayjin Prince gave a short nod before taking off, to signal his agreement.

“What was that?” Goku wrinkled his brow in confusion.

Pan raised an eyebrow. “You don't know your own language?”

Goku shook his head. “Vegita never taught me. He’s not really the teaching type. Anyway, Chi-chi asked me to invite you to dinner.”

“No.” Pan replied, leaving without further explanation.

“Why wouldn't she come?” Chi-chi complained when Goku returned. “I would think she would want to get to know us again.”

“She didn't say.” Goku said sadly, looking out of the window in the direction of Pan’s ship. “She had just finished sparring with Vegita. Maybe she was tired.”

“What could have happened to her?” Chi-chi whined. “She used to be such a sweet, happy child. Now she’s challenging Vegita and pushing everyone else away.”

“It’s only been one day, Chi-chi.” Goku reminded her. “Give it sometime.”

Gohan and Videl were having a similar conversation.

“How can she say she doesn't know us?” Videl cried. “We are her parents!”

“I know.” Gohan smiled sadly. “But she’s been gone a long time. I didn't even recognize her.”

“She’s changed so much.” Videl agreed. “She used to be very outgoing and pleasant. I haven't seen her smile once since she’s been here.”

The next morning Vegita arrived in the gravity room to find Pan waiting impatiently.

“Ready?’ Pan asked, reminding Vegita of their last match.

“More than.” he smirked, before attacking.

The fight was intense. Both were very strong warriors with many years of battle experience. The fight was so enjoyable for both of them that they ignored all demands for entrance and took no breaks. As last time they'd sparred, neither went super-Sayjin. Vegita because he didn't know Pan could and was content to challenge his natural state. Pan didn't because she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to start showing her secrets.

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