Time Period: The "Just-after-Buu-Saga" period that most of my fics have taken place in.

Bulma finished stacking up the clean plates and put them back into the cabinet. Vegeta and Trunks had eaten an elephant's worth of food for lunch, and Bulma could only be thankful that she could afford industrial-capacity dishwashers. Bulma glanced up at the clock before she left the kitchen. There were only ten minutes left before Goku and Chi-Chi would arrive. A few weeks ago, Bulma had agreed to take Goku to the dentist for his appointment, which, of course, had been Chi-Chi's idea, not his. Goku had never been to the dentist before, and the idea of letting a doctor poke around in his mouth with sharp objects was enough to make him hysterical. He had a terrible fear of needles, which also extended to doctors and hospitals, and dentists were close enough that he grouped them in that category too. Therefore, as an incentive, Chi-Chi had promised to cook him a fantastic meal if he went and behaved himself. However, in order to cook that much food, there was no way that Chi-Chi would have any time to take Goku to his appointment, so Bulma had agreed to go with him instead. Chi-Chi arranged to drive Goku to Capsule Corp fifteen or so minutes before his appointment, drop him off, and hit the grocery store before returning home. After that, it would be up to Bulma to keep Goku under control.

Bulma ran to her bedroom, put on a pair of sneakers, and primped herself in front of the mirror before going to her lab. Once there, she rummaged through a drawer and managed to locate a box of sleeping pills right next to the caffeine pills, the latter which she used much more frequently than the former. She figured that she could coax Goku into taking one or two. With Saiyans' tolerance for medication, Goku would not fall asleep but become much calmer; something that would be good for everyone, especially the dentist.

Bulma shoved the pills in her pocket and ran to the living room to get her purse, but Dr. Briefs stopped her. "Hey, Dad," she said. "Need something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Dr. Briefs replied. "Do you remember that shipment of air cars we need to get out tomorrow?"

Bulma could sense something bad approaching. "Yeah?"

"Well, we had to shut production down. The computer encountered a hidden infinite loop in the program code and starting going haywire. We managed to locate the loop and fixed the code, but we need to start up the whole plant again."

"What?!?" Bulma said incredulously. "That'll take the rest of the day! Did you contact our distributor yet?"

Dr. Briefs nodded. "They're okay with a short delay, but we have to get everything up and running as soon as possible. I'm sorry, but you have to help me recalibrate the system with all the robots or we won't be able to get the shipment ready in enough time."

Bulma mentally cursed to herself. There was always something . . . "Fine," she said with a sigh. "I'll be there in an hour. I promised Chi-Chi I'd take Goku to the dentist."

"I'm sorry, dear," Dr. Briefs said, pausing to pet his little black cat, which had grown restless from all the tension in the room, "but we need you right now. Can't someone else take Goku?"

"I don't know," Bulma replied uncertainly. "This is Goku's first appointment and he's really nervous." She thought a bit. "What about Mom? Where is she?"

Dr. Briefs looked thoughtful. "Umm, not sure. I think she's shopping right now. If she's at the mall, she won't be back until evening."

Bulma sighed in frustration. "There has to be someone— " She stopped suddenly, eyes wide, and looked at her father, who, judging by his expression, just had the same realization.

* * *

"Vegeta! Vegeta, come out!"

Vegeta stopped his punching routine and growled in annoyance at the gravity room door, which vibrated with the poundings of an urgent Bulma. Now what did the woman want?

"Vegeta, come out or I swear I'll cut the power!"

Angry, Vegeta turned the gravity back down to 1G and opened the door, revealing his wife, who looked a bit annoyed. "I am training, woman," Vegeta said. "What do you want?"

"Vegeta, I need you to do me a big favor," Bulma said. "I'm supposed to take Goku to the dentist for a checkup in ten minutes but a big problem has come up and I have to help my dad fix computers for the rest of the day. Can you please take Goku to his appointment?"

Vegeta frowned. "That fool can teleport himself to other planets in the solar system. There's no reason why he can't just zap himself to the office right now."

Bulma frowned back at him. "First of all, if he teleports himself there, people are going to be asking a lot of questions. Second, he's never been to the dentist before and he needs someone to be there with him."

"What?!?" Vegeta shouted, half incredulous and half enraged. "I am not going to take time out of my training to babysit that stupid lump of a Saiyan! His teeth can rot out of his skull for all I care!"

"You would care," Bulma retorted, crossing her arms. "Anyone with a toothache makes a lousy sparring partner."

Vegeta cursed to himself. The woman had a point there. "Well, what's in this for me? After all, you did say you wanted a favor, and favors demand repayment."

Bulma thought a second. "I'll hire a gourmet chef to cook for you tonight. How about that?"

Vegeta smiled at Bulma, reveling in his position of power. "Not enough. How about you hire the chef, upgrade my gravity room, and— " he narrowed his eyes, "— give yourself up to me tonight."

Bulma narrowed her eyes back, but did so in anger. "Fine! But you're not getting the upgrade until today's mess is over and done with. Understand?"

Vegeta grinned, feeling a delicious surge of triumph. "Of course."

"Now hurry up and take a shower," Bulma said. She tossed a set of cars keys to Vegeta. "Take the convertible in the driveway. He's going to the same dentist we do. Do you remember how to get there?"

"My memory is impeccable, woman," Vegeta replied.

Bulma kept her comments about that to herself. "Okay. Chi-Chi's dropping him off soon, so I'll meet them outside. You get ready." She turned and ran off in a hurry.

Vegeta watched her leave, then looked down at the keys in his hand. So . . . Kakarot's never been to a dentist before. He smiled to himself. This has possibilities . . .

"Oh, and if you scare Goku in any way," Bulma shouted back at him, "you can forget about tonight!"

Vegeta scowled. "Dammit."

* * *

After a quick shower and a change of clothing, Vegeta went outside to find Chi-Chi waving good-bye to a very nervous Goku. Even though Goku stood well over Vegeta's height, with his current body language, he looked as small as a child. Makes sense, Vegeta thought, walking towards Goku and Bulma. After all, Kakarot has the brains of a child.

After Chi-Chi's car turned a corner and disappeared, Goku turned and saw Vegeta. "Hey Vegeta!" he called cheerfully, though there was obvious tension in his voice. "Wanna spar?"

"I would love nothing more," Vegeta replied, crossing his arms and smiling, "but the woman told me that you have somewhere to go right now."

Goku chuckled nervously. "Oh, it's nothing important. I'm sure we could take out a few minutes and— "

"Forget it, Kakarot," Vegeta interrupted. "You are going to the dentist and as a twist of fate would have it— " he held up the car keys, "— I am taking you."

Goku's eyes practically bugged out of his head. With a yelp, the taller Saiyan hid behind Bulma, who frowned at Vegeta in anger and disappointment. "Vegeta, what did I tell you?" she said.

Vegeta gave her an innocent expression— well, as innocent as he could get, anyway. "What? I can't help it if the notion upsets him."

Bulma sighed and pulled out of Goku's grasp. "Goku, it's all right, okay?" She gave his hair a ruffle like she would to a dog's fur. "Vegeta's your best friend, remember?"

Vegeta had to forcibly swallow to stop himself from gagging. Best friend, my ass . . .

"I trust him, and you trust me, right?" Bulma smiled when Goku hesitantly nodded. "Good, then trust me when I say that you'll be fine with Vegeta today. Okay?"

Goku nodded again. "Okay."

"All right," Vegeta said, exercising great control not to snort in disgust at Goku. "If you are done curling up like a coward at my mate's feet, then I suggest we get going."

"Wait a second," Bulma said, pulling the sleeping pills out of her pocket and handing two to Goku. "Why don't you take these before you go?"

Goku looked worriedly at the pills in his hand. "What are these?"

"Sleeping pills," Bulma replied, picking up a cup of water she had placed on the stoop and handing it to Goku. "Since you're a Saiyan, you won't fall asleep, but they'll help you relax."

Goku looked at the pills a bit longer, obviously debating options in his mind. When Vegeta cleared his throat impatiently, Goku tossed the pills in his mouth and drank them down. "Okay, I'm ready . . . I think . . ."

"Good," Vegeta said, walking over to the car and opening his door. Goku reluctantly got in the passenger side and put his seatbelt on. After adjusting the mirrors and fastening his own seatbelt, Vegeta pulled out a pair of sunglasses from the glove compartment and donned them with a flick of his wrist.

"Remember, Vegeta . . ." Bulma said warningly as Vegeta started the engine.

Vegeta just smiled and waved to her as he backed out of the driveway. Next to Vegeta, Goku whimpered. Vegeta's smiled widened. This was fun.

* * *

Poor Goku. At least he has Vegeta with him . . . or is that the reason he should be nervous? :) To be continued in Chapter 2: "Let the Poking and Prodding Begin"