A/N: Ok, so I've finally managed to write another chapter. I'm aware that I have taken forever to do so, and I really have no other apology than the truth, which would be this: I had to fight hard with myself to make some time and write this, because med school is very time consuming and one exam comes right after another. But here I am, willing to finish what I have started. There will be at least two more chapters until this story is finished, but I have no way of telling when I will be able to post. Though, I can tell you that the next update will have to wait until September. I hope you can find it in youself to bear with me here.

Thank you to rosechick, ashz20, otaku4lyfe and Tina for reviewing! It means a lot to me to see someone reads this.

Special Thanks go to Vegamarie for reminding me that I still have this story to finish and to Nicole who gave me the final butt-kicking for this update!

Disclaimer: Me no own.

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Chapter 18

It just couldn't be. She had thought that she'd been running towards a river or lake- not a waterfall. Now, however she found herself staring at a least 1000ft. long waterfall. Thankfully she didn't suffer from vertigo. The sight before her was beautiful and enchanting, but she could still feel a certain sting in her stomach that told her something was seriously amiss. It also told her that now would be a good time turn around and head back to Vegeta, who could protect her if the need arose.

No, she would not leave this place now. She desperately needed to clean up and there was water right in front of her. If she just found a way to get in without being dragged down the fall! Besides, she was curious as to why her alarms where going off. She was still standing in the shade of the trees. 3 ft. from her was the river and another ten ft. down from her was the fall. As she scanned the tress and the grass on the other side of the river and the blue wild water pooling at the bottom of the deep drop. It was breathtaking and yet eerie. If she could only place what was wrong.

She tried to concentrate with all her might. The sun was shining brightly, the water was clear and running noisily. And she could hear…not much more than that. Back in the forest she had heard birds chirping. Now when she was focusing on them all she heard was…buzzing. Confused, she wrinkled her forehead and tried to recognize that sound more clearly. It was a sound that she was familiar with, but it clearly didn't belong here- into the forest. It was a rhythmic, humming, repetitive sound. It was clearly rotating. Of course! How could she not have noticed it right away! It was the sound of a generator-right in the middle of nowhere.

The bad feeling in her stomach lessened at first, but then multiplied a thousand times when she tried to place the spot where sound came from. It seemed she must be losing her mind, because it sounded as if the generator was just beneath the waterfalls surface. It might just be a regular thing in Italy to produce energy through water, but this place didn't look like that's what it was used for. This was making her mad. It was just too much for her to take. Taking deep breaths Bulma tried to calm herself.

She really wanted to walk along the waterfall and search for an entrance , which simply had to be there. But now it was safer to head back and get Vegeta.

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Eighteen's eyes went wide at the sight in front of her. There, next to the toilet was Vegeta's cell phone!

If that was good or bad she wasn't sure of. On one hand, he wouldn't be able to call them. Then again they wouldn't be traced down by Gero, on the other hand it could help them figure out why and where her two friends went.

Vegeta surely had never been good at staying calm or anything of that kind. Had her thinking that he would lean towards going totally nuts and overboard, should he find anything concerning Gero.

Not wanting to waste any more precious time Eighteen went to pick up the phone and then turned to leave, so that she could have the cops have a look at it.

As she walked down the stairs and the hallway she took a glance out of one of windows and frowned. Even though the view might have been spectacular, she still couldn't help but damn Gero to hell and back for making her go to Italy while it was raining.

Being lost in her own selfish thoughts, she hardly noticed that she was already in the lobby and didn't even acknowledge the man walking up to her until she bumped into him.

"Hey, watch where you're going, girl! We're not here for dreaming!" Nappa snapped at, being in an equally sour mood as Eighteen- especially since the couple escaped their safety zone.

Feeling a little embarrassed, but not willing to let it show she simply handed him the phone.

"That is Vegeta's. I was merely thinking about what you could find in it. And don't dare 'girl' me another time. Got it? With that she readjusted her stance , crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly.

Nappa couldn't care less about what she was rambling about after the 'this is Vegeta's', and called for Raditz and the rest of the gang to join him. It surprisingly only took them seconds to meet up. They all gathered around the phone as Nappa checked the caller's list.

"Does anyone of guys go by the name Jay?" He looked up only to be met with more confused faces telling that there was no Jay amongst them.

"I know who Jay is." All eyes turned on Goku, some amazed, confused, curious, and Chichi looked somewhat hurt for being left out by her boyfriend.

"He was close friends with Vegeta in middle school. When he was a punk, you remember? And he called me to tell that Gero found the hide out and asked me to call Vegeta and tell him. I told him I would bring it up to the police, but then he flipped and told me he would then do it his own way." After disclosing this information he simply shrugged with his shoulders as if he had just stated that the weather sucked.

Meanwhile everyone elses heads were turning very red and it was ChiChi of course who exploded first.

" AND YOU MENTION THIS ONLY NOW??? WE COULD HAVE USED THE INFORMATION THIS JAY-GUY HAS, AND YOU JUST LET IT SLIP???" And taking another deep breath she added, "AND WHY ARE YOU KEEPING SECRETS FROM ME ANYWAY????"

Goku seemed to shrink an inch with every word she yelled at him, looking utterly confused, not seeing what he did wrong.

The cops had better things to do than listen to Goku being bashed. They had to process this information as fast as possible. Both cops radioed the others around and set on trying to figure out where this Jay guy was at the moment and how to get his information.

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Vegeta was just about to head into the forest when he saw Bulma running towards him. Her face was flushed and she looked somewhat shaken. Being worried, but not willing to show her just how concerned he had been when she was gone he took a step towards her and allowed her to hug him, without saying anything. Instead he let her catch her breath and listened to her rambling about what had occurred in the forest.

"I found a stream and a waterfall a short walk into the woods, Vegeta. And I think it's some form of power plant as well. We could check it out. Maybe we can use it as our temporary hide-out if it proves safe. Admittedly, it does give me the creeps, but can we please check it out? The car's wrecked anyway and now, it's also started raining." Taking another deep breath after her short plea she looked up into Vegeta's eyes. The stream had truly sparked her curiosity and she still needed to clean up somewhat. And it was true, the car was broken to what seemed beyond repair to her, even though Vegeta refused to believe that when she headed for the woods the first time.

As she observed his stoic face she could tell that he was worried about the situation, even when he didn't want to show it. She had been able to read his stoic expression for some time now, but she would never tell him. Where was the fun in that?

Vegeta's thoughts circled about the things his smart girlfriend had just told him. It worried him that they would be stuck with a car for escape if Gero found them, but it also seemed logical that he wouldn't go looking for them inside of an water power plant. But would the police find them there? Maybe they did have working telephones inside the power plant. Bulma was right, they should at least check if there was a way to get inside the plant and try to find cover. It was raining, the humidity was unbearable and he would kill for a quick swim in the water a sip of water to drink. Yes, Bulma was as always right.

"Ok, let's go check it out" And added with a smirk. " Now that you are already wet I might to finally get to see you in your undies."

Emitting a high screech Bulma went to slap her boyfriend whom she had been hugging all the while.

"You wish you perv. We'll see what you can get tonight, mister. And now let's move the car from the street into the bushes over there. No need to leave hints out in the open."

With that she pushed the sleeves of her sweather up, went to the trunk, put her hand on it and started pushing with all her might. She was hardly successful though until a very upset Vegeta came up next to her and help her push the car of the shoulder of the street into the bushses twenty feet away from them. It certainly was no fun task to do since it had been ranining for some time now and the ground beneath them was muddy and slippery. Bulma almost fell a couple of times, but always caught her balance before she landed in the gross mud. As soon as they had the car far enough into the woods, they did not wait to catch their breath, but instead went looking for some branches to cover the car, since it's bright red color set was still somewhat visible from the street. As soon as they figured the car was hidden enough, Vegeta got their bags out of the car and grabbed a map of the area, which he had found while looking for tools to repairs their ride.

"Hey where'd you get that, Veggie?" Bulma was always curious and wanted to know exactly what was happening around her, and it unnerved her that Vegeta had not told her that he was now obviously to figure out where they were and where they should go. And with some luck, they would even be able to figure out if the stream really had a power plant underneath.

As if he had been reading her thoughts he opened the map and went looking for the page that displayed their location.

"It was in the trunk where the tools should have been. Leave it to Raditz to place a map in the trunk instead of leaving it on the passenger seat. Look, I think I found the right page. This must be the street we were on the entire time. And this must be the power plant you meant. It is my understanding though, that it should be out of order." He showed her what he had identified as their location.

"Yes, this looks somewhat like what I've seen. The plant was running though. Maybe they're simply not supervising it from here anymore. Can we please go there and try to find a way inside? We can have a closer look at the map once we're somewhere dry." Vegeta nodded, closed that map and out it into his bag.

"Alright, let's go there then. You lead the way." He then took her hand and followed her to where she led him. All the while he kept scanning the area for any possible dangers or anything the could use, like fruit to eat. When he noticed Bulma's steps slowing down he looked ahead to see the stream coming near, and he already could hear the humming of the generator.

When they finally come to a full stop he quickly scanned of the bench for an entrance, but didn't find an obvious way in.

"Bulma, you're the scientific genius here. Where would you place an entrance for a plant as such?" He hugged her from behind and waited while that smart brain of hers worked through the scenery and all the equations she had in that cute little head of hers. After a minute or so she finally spoke up.

"I would place an entrance somewhere along the fall. At the top. I think I got it!" Taking certain steps towards the edge they were astounded when they truly found what looked like a pair of steps craved into the ground. As the carefully took the steps the found a way that led behind the waterfall. When they were, what they assumed to be halfway into the hallway behind the stream they finally found the door they had been looking for.

Bulma and Vegeta took one look at each other, readying themselves for what they would find behind the entrance.

"Well, Bulma, what are we waiting for. I'm soaked. Let's go inside."

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That's it for now! Thank you for reading! If you made it this far, I'd appreciate it if you took a moment to leave a review.

Until next time!!