I

  Eyelids. Eyelids getting brighter. Lashes. Light. A musical jingle, "Good morning!" and the jingle continues "Good morning!" A raven-haired girl sat straight up in bed with her hand to her face, ready to run through her mangled hair.
            "All right, all right! Killjoy. Must you ruin all my mornings?" The young lady reached for her alarm clock, formed in the shape of a silly cartoon character. She pressed a red button on its back, silencing her annoyingly cute, loud friend. She swung her feet over the side of her bed and hopped to the floor. Soon a voice filtered through her door.
          "Pan-chan! Breakfast in 15 minutes! You better be up!"
           "I'm awake Mom!" Videl peaked he head through the door and playfully shook a finger at her daughter.
         "I didn't ask if you were awake, I asked if you were up! You will not waste another Saturday sleeping!"
            "Of course not, Mom. Everyone's going to the carnival tonight remember!" Pan explained while in her closet, throwing out her over-large shirt of a nighty, and she ran out with a towel wrapped around her. She kissed her Mom on the cheek as she ran out her door and to the shower room. She opened the door to the shower room and hung her towel on the door. She turned on the hot water first then slightly turned the cold handle, as to not scold her skin. Pan stepped into the shower and immediately felt refreshed. While shampooing her silken hair, Pan thought about her 'plan.'
             'Tonight, Trunks has promised me a Ferris wheel ride at night! So all I have to do is keep scooting closer and closer. Trunks is a guy, which means he obviously won't take the hint. So then I'll just lean in and say 'I love you.' And then, and then...well I'll just have to see how it goes from there.'
            Suddenly a voice broke through Pan's girlish fantasies. "Pan! You get out of the shower this instant! I really, really have to go!" Pan turned off the shower and shouted back "Okay daddy!" Pan wrapped herself in a towel and, grabbing the hair dryer fled to her room. The very second she was past the bathroom door, Gohan Son charged in and slammed the door behind him. Pan stifled a giggle as she shouted through the door "That's what you get for drinking so much water before bed!"
            The young demi-sayian plugged the hair dryer into the wall beside her vanity upon entering her room. The smell of blueberry pancakes wafted through her door, as she turned on the hair dryer. Pan's wet, somewhat pruny fingers ran through her equally wet hair while she blasted it with hot air. Not to long from that moment a 17 year old Pan would run down the stairs with damp, but not wet mind you, hair. Videl Son stared sternly at her from across the table.
            "You, little missy, are a little late for breakfast." Pans cheery face dropped. "But," Videl added, "I expected this! I kept your breakfast warm on the hot plate."
            Videl made an amazing transformation during the last sentence from positively surly to just as cheery as Pan looked as Videl set a huge stack of blueberry hotcakes in front of her. Pan, of course, wolfed it down and was out the door.
             "Kids." Videl sighed.

             Later that night, behind the elephant ear stand. A girl was crying her eyes out. She looked up and pushed her raven hair out of her face. Her watery vision just got a little smokier. A guy, older than her entered her sight smoking a cigarette.
             "Hey Hun. How's it goin' tonight?"
             Pan wiped her eyes with her sleeves. She stifled a gasp when she realized what she previously thought to be a cigarette was actually a joint. The yet unidentified boy sat next to her.
             "Just another sob story huh? He said as he took a short hit off of his joint. "I'd bet that some guy broke your heart." Pan looked at him.
            "How did you know?"
            "Same thing happened to me, only with a chick, ya know." He tool another short hit off of his joint. "But then a guy I met introduced me to my new best friend. Blunts." He smiled seeing that he had Pan's attention. He put the joint in front of her and said "Take a hit of this then tell me all about it." Pan hesitantly took the joint.
            "I promise this will solve all you problems" Pan put the joint to her lips and inhaled. Pan then proceeded to cough. A lot. The boy laughed.
        "You'll get used to it" He smiled. "Now, what's your story? And how can I help?" Pan nervously took another hit, coughing considerably less this time.
            "Trunk.... This guy promised me a Ferris wheel ride. He and I and his sister and my uncle, who is his age, Also another girl got here in the afternoon. He even won me a teddy bear by knocking down milk cans!" For the first time the boy noticed that she was clutching a carnival teddy bear.
             "We all had so much fun. Then the time came to ride the Ferris wheel and...and" Pans eyes started watering. "And he bought my ticket and got on the Ferris wheel with Marron, the other girl with us. So I ran back here, so they wouldn't see me cry. Then I met you and..."

             Pan was asleep in her bed. In her drawer, hid her newest, biggest secret. but it wouldn't be for long.
        As soon as school started it was clear to all her friends that pan was different. Pan was still hurt by Trunks and had her own way of dealing with it. Drugs. and it was starting to take its toll.
             "Miss Son, you are an hour late! You do realize this is detention don't you!" Pan shrugged and sat down at a desk. Pans world History teacher faced her.
             "I must say. I had you last year for American studies, and your behavior and grades are far worse than I thought possible from my former prize student." Pan rolled her eyes.
            "I'm fine." Pan said sweetly. "Just under a lot of pressure that's all." The teacher sighed.
             "Fine. You can leave Miss Son. I have a meeting to attend to. You can make up your detention on Monday. Be early!" Pan smirked and said
             "No problem." And she left the room. As soon as Pan got to her car she jumped into it. She tried starting her car to no avail. The battery was dead. She popped the hood fully expecting to charge up her battery with a ki blast. Only one problem. The battery wasn't dead, it was gone.
             "Dammit! what else could go wrong today?" She grabbed her cell phone and thought of who to dial. Definatly not her parents. Pan wholeheartedly believed they were starting to catch on to her habit. So Pan did the 'logical' thing. She stopped most forms of communication with her parents. She dialed Bras number.
             "Hello. Briefs residence. Trunks speaking." Pan grimaced. She still held a small grudge against Trunks.
            "Trunks." Pan sighed "Put your sister on the phone."
            "Not here." Trunks responded "on a date."
            "A date? With who?" Pan asked shocked. True she had been spending most of her time with some of her new friends. (See also: Junkies) Still though, Pan thought she would have gotten a call the minute Bra got a new boyfriend. Trunks responded with his best Sean Connery voice,
            "I'm not at liberty to say." Pan couldn't help but to laugh.
            "What?" she asked, still giggling. Trunks replied in all seriousness
            "Ya know, I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you."
            "I'd like to see you try!" Pan said jokingly. "Anyways, Trunks, I need a ride. Someone stole my car battery. Think you could help?" Pan pleaded. Trunks smirked on the other side of the line.
            "Orange Star High School's main parking lot, right? I'll be there in 10 minutes."
             "I'll be waiting!" Pan closed her cell phone.

             The ten minutes passed and no sign of Trunks. Pan looked out from her car window and saw Trunks' car approaching from down the road. She grabbed her bag, then almost as an afterthought grabbed her 'stash' from her glove compartment and put it into her bag. She got out of her car and locked the door. As she rode towards her house in the passenger seat of Trunks' car she had a sudden urge.
            "Trunks, do you mind if I smoke?" Pan asked nonchalantly.
            "Panny! I didn't know you smoked! That's an awful habit you know." Trunks looked shocked.
            "Spare me the lecture!" Pan laughed, "Can I or can't I?" Trunks sighed.
            "No, I don't mind"
            "Great! Thanks Trunks." Pan reached into her backpack and took out a small bag of weed, her history book and some cigarette rolling papers. Trunks had his eyes on the road but as soon as she opened that bag, the smell hit his nose. He looked up and sure enough...
            "Holy shit! Pan!" He pulled over his car to the side of the pretty deserted road.
            "What?" Pan asked innocently.
            "That's weed!" Trunks pointed out.
            "No shit Sherlock." Pan sighed. "I don't need you to lecture me. Besides, Its not like you've never gotten high before. Don't be such a hypocrite. In fact..." Pan had a wickedly devilish thought as she finished rolling her joint. "you probably wouldn't mind sharing this with me." She put the joint to her lips. "Gotta light?"
            "Pan! I mean, sure I've been high before, but that was a long time ago! I was in college for goodness sake!" Pan scoffed as she searched her book bag for a lighter. She soon found one and lit her joint. She took a hit and held it out to Trunks.
            "Come on, you know how good it feels." Trunks hesitated. "Go on! Take it!" Pan smiled as Trunks took the joint and took a hit off of it. Trunks knew he had weak willpower. This would prove to be a problem. "You just need to relax more, Trunks. Go on." Trunks took another, longer hit and laid back in his seat as he exhaled. And all the stress from his job and life comined got the better of him. Trunks gave in.
             "You're probably right, Pan." I do have a lot of stress in my life, but..." Pan cut off Trunks.
             "Don't you worry about that, I can relieve all your stress."
             "JAYSUS!" Trunks shouted as he heard and felt Pan unzip his zipper. He quickly recovered and, his face totally flushed, pulled his zipper back up.
            "Don't be so uptight!" Pan scolded. She took a long drag on the joint and pretty much shoved it into Trunks' mouth. She waited. He inhaled.
            "Pan, I just know I'm going to regret this in the morning." Pan giggled. Minutes later they were both pretty much high as Trunks pulled into a Motel 6 parking lot.
            "I never did believe that being high made you a bad driver. If anything it makes you better!" Trunks explained as he parked. Trunks and Pan then preceded to walk into the motel, arm in arm.
             After that night, Trunks was hooked as well. Not as much an actual addiction as he was hooked on the endless parties, highs and sex he got while hanging with Pan. He never thought he could be ruining his life. Things were perfect. He and Pan had gotten more serious. Not in a relationship, Trunks and Pans relationship was strictly physical. But they had started experimenting with other drugs. Heroin. And no one was the wiser. Until one day.
      Pan was in Trunks' arms, the ever present joint there as well. Today was the day. Today was the day when everyone would go from melodrama to serious. Today was the day all hell would break loose, and It would start with Vejiita.
      The second Vejiita walked in the room he knew what was going on. Pan had her left hand in a bag of Funyuns, and there were several more on the floor. She was half on Trunks' lap and the marijuana joint was laying on the table.
      "What the HELL is going on here" Vejiita fumed. Trunks just laughed.
      "Dad, grab a seat."
      "When I found that bag, it really was weed wasn't it! You told me it was pencil shavings!" Vejiita shouted.
      "Well, then dad, you probably should have watched Big Daddy." Trunks stated. Pan was examining somthing particuallry intresting on her hand.
      "WHAT the HELL does that have to do with anything?" Vejiita was still fuming. Pan and Trunks laughed harder. Vejiita stalked out to the telephone. He quickly dialed Bulmas' work number.
      "Hello, Bulma Briefs speaking."
      "Do you know what your son is doing right now?"
      "Vejiita? What's wrong? What's happened to Trunks." Vejiita looked into the living room, Vejiita saw hat Pan had fled and Trunks had passed out on the couch.
      "Right now, Trunks is passed out on the couch, after an afternoon of getting HIGH all day!" He heard an audible gasp omitted from Bulma.
      "I'll be right home..." and she hung up.

      Meanwhile, in Pan's bedroom, Pan was snorting lines of cocaine tearfully. There was a knock at the door and her mother spoke.
      "Pan, I just got this strange call from Bulma..." Videl opened the door, "and...oh my God." Videl dropped the phone she had in her hand and Pan looked up. Pan rubbed her nose, and could feel her wet face.
      "Please help me I can't stop." Videl fell to her knees, and Pan took the opportunity to snort the last line. Videls sob's increased. Suddenly a thud echoed through the room. Videl looked up.
      "Pan? Pan? ...PAN!" Pan had fallen over and it didn't look as if she was breathing. "GOHAN! CALL 911!" Videl screamed as she, having dropped to her knees earlier, crawled over to her fallen, 17 year old daughter. Videl clasped her fingers around her daughters nose, covered in a fine white powder and breathed into her mouth, trying to revive her breathing. Her husband, and father to Pan charged into the room.
      "Oh my goodness! What happened?" Gohan looked on in complete shock. Videl explained through her sobs.
      "She...she...She! Oh my God!" Videl pointed to the drug pharaphenalia scattered on the table and floor. "We have to get her to the hospital!" Gohan looked shaken up, as if someone had placed his entire world in a bottle and shook up vigorously until it landed upside down. He closed his eyes forcefully as he picked up his daughter and in a rage blasted off towards the hospital.

      "Female, Seventeen and ten months old, Drug overdose."
      "Doctor Victors to emergency. Code 3. Doctor Victors to emergency." These were several of the things heard by terrified parents Gohan and Videl Son. Gohan was on the phone.
      "Yes, mother! An overdose! I don't have time for this!" For the first time in his entire life, Gohan hung up on his mother. Gohan turned to face Videl. "Do you think she will be okay?"
      "No." Videl said truthfully. "Before all this happened she said to me 'please help me I can't stop.' Gohan, our daughters sick, she..." Videl cut herself short upon the arrival of Chichi and Goten who had apparently met up with the Briefs family at the entrance. Trunks looked positively sick. Videl couldn't even look at him, believing he had gotten her daughter into this mess. Gohan was shaking in anger. Almost everyone sat closest to Pans family. Gohan, Goten, Chi-chi, and Videl. Trunks sat alone. Suddenly a woman entered the room.
      "Hello, I'm Doctor Victors." She introduced herself. Videl burst out
      "Is Pan okay doctor? Is she?" New tears were shed from Videl's eyes. The doctor smiled sadly.
      "We have stabilized her. She is conscious now, but sleeping. Her brain, thank goodness, was not significantly damaged by some miracle. Now, the baby seems to have escaped unharmed. Pan is very strong, but she has been weakened." Trunks stood up in disbelief. But he wasn't the only one standing. Gohan's fists were clenched.
      "Can I see her?" Trunks asked.
      "Are you immediate family?" The doctor responded.
      "I'm the father, the baby's that is. Well, I think I am." At this Trunks was thrown to the ground by a sucker punch to the face by Gohan.
      "You bastard. You ruined my daughter's life." Trunks looked up at him with sunken tearful eyes. He then looked at the floor.
     "It wasn't me, It's not my fault" Trunks managed to speak.
             "Not your fault, huh? Your father told me everything he saw this afternoon. So I suppose that my seventeen year old daughter one day up and decided to do drugs, huh? Well, I'll tell you something, I RAISED MY DAUGHTER BETTER THAN THAT! Listen, I know you were some big Party animal in college, but there is NO REASON to take Pan down with you!" Gohan had to silence his wife's screaming. Videls face was now red and tear streaked. A new voice spoke up once again.
      "Ahem, sorry to interrupt, but like I was saying, Pan was very lucky to survive at all, much less with no brain damage and her baby's life still intact." Doctor Victors started. "But this very incident has weakened Pan. We will keep her here for detoxification and watch her for withdrawal symptoms. After that It is up to you to send her to rehab or not, but I don't think it will be necessary with the ordeal she has just been through. You remember me saying Pan was weakened. She will be very frail now, sickly even. Sometimes she should be able to walk, and sometimes not. I know this is a big shock for you all, If you need any help, you can talk to me anytime." The weight of the situation was on everybody. They all felt it.
      "Can we see her now?" Gohan asked.
      Doctor Victors thought for a moment and said, "Immediate family only, go ahead, and you," She gestured at Trunks, "can go concidering her pregnancy and your involvment in it." And with that, Dr. Victors left the room.
      "You'll stay here if you value your life." Gohan spat at Trunks as he escorted his Mother and Wife to see Pan.

      Pan opened her eyes, slowly. She felt like several teams of horses were attached to each eyelid, urging her to go back to sleep. And then she saw her. She was glowing. It was her mother.

      "Mama?" Pan gasped out weakly. Videl shot to the side of her daughters bed.
      "I'm right here baby."
      "I finally didi it, huh. I finally ended up hurting myself."
      Tears came to Videls eyes and she smiled a sad smile. "You did, Honey, real bad."
      Pans voice was weak, like her body.
      "Did I kill my baby?"
      Videl gasped. "You knew?"
      Pan smiled weakly and she coughed. "Of course I knew. I'm not an idiot, just stupid." Already you could tell a certain amount of life had been sucked out of Pan, she was breathing harder than usual and there was dull in her eyes instead of its usual shine. "So, is my baby dead?"
      "No Pan, its still alive. I can't say i'm not dissapointed in you. You could have done alot better things with your life."
      For the first time, Gohan spoke up "Yes Pan, I have no clue why you threw away your judgment and blindly followed Trunks's"
      Pan tried to sit up in shock, but couldnt. She looked at her dad with shock in her eyes. "Is that what he said dad."
      "No...but..."
      "It's my fault. I got him to start doing drugs again."
      Videl fell back into her chair "...no...Thats not possible...Pan?"
      Gohan started shaking. "Is he the father of your baby?"
      "Yes."
      "Are you sure?"
      "Positive."
      Gohan sighed. "I'll go get him."

    Gohan burst into the waiting room, which was in disarray. Trunks was receiving quite the tongue lashing from, not suprisingly, his father. He entered just in time to hear Trunks.

    "Father! You know you were FAR from proposing when you and mom concieved me!"
    "Yeah, but i wasnt a freakin crack addict!" Vej retorted.
    "Vejiita!"
    "Stay out of this, mom!"
    "Dont tell your mother to stay out of it! Youre the one who messed up here!"
    "Trunks, let me tel you all the things wrong with this situtatuion right now!" Her voice esclated untill she was shouting. "Pan OVERDOSED on cocaine!! She should be DEAD! Or brain damaged! Lets not forget that she is seventeen, and apperentally pregnant at the time of her overdose! The baby should be dead, or brain damaged as well, yet it is alive and well too! This is probably due to the fact that she was 1/4 sayia-jin. Now, You heard what that doctor said! Shes been weakened, she'll be sickly, probably in a wheelchair for the rest of her life!! lets not forget the reason she is in this situation is my THIRTYONE year old son! Lets not forget that the baby is probably yours, indicating that Gohan and Videl could sue you for statitory rape, and I for one would not blame them! Is there any more crap we can pile on top of this mess?"
    "Ahem."
    The last voice was Gohan. Chi-chi stood up, her face looking care worn and old. This was the first time Gohan had noticed. When had his mothers face grown so old, faded, and tear-stained.
    "Gohan, hows Pan."
    "You heard the doctor. She's alive, will need a wheelchair for 80% of the time, she will be sickly and weak. Her baby's alive and shes addicted to crack/cocaine. Did I miss anything?" Gohan sounded the saddest he had since his dad had died, the second time.
    "oh"
    "Trunks, come with me." It wasn't a question. In shock, Vejiita dropped the shirt collar by which he held Trunks up by. Trunks shook his head and backed up, scared.
      "Oh no! Youre not gettin me alone with you! What so when the headlines pop up "President of Capsule Co's lifeless corpse found in a dumpster outside of hospital" you can chuckle your insane chuckle. Ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha. ha?"
      Gohan's eyebrow rose. "Trunks, I say this with as much respect I can muster for a 31 year old man who impregnated my 17 year old daughter, possibly while high. Please, for my grandchild, and my daughters sake, stop. Just get some help, lay off of the drugs. Now, Trunks. We need to discuss some things with you and Pan. She tells me that she is the one that got YOU started on drugs."
      Gasps all around. If Chichi hadnt been sobbing so hard, she would have fainted.
      "I'm so sorry, Gohan. I should have known better." Trunks apologized.
      "You're damn right you should have known better! But theres nothing you can do about it now! So come on! Move your ass!" Trunks sulked down the hall, to room 16-11-4. Gohan entered, but Trunks stopped at the doorway. Gohan turned around, grabbed Trunks by the arm and whipped him into the room. Trunks stumbled, trying to regain his balance. His eyes were at the floor, and as soon as Pan saw him, her eyes were at the window. There was a long silnce, untill Gohan sat down, and started talking.
      "Okay you two, start talking." There was scilence. "Come on, you two have some stuff to work out, so go ahead!" Gohan waited with that annoying 'father knows best' look on his face. Pan spoke first.
      "Trunks...I'm...I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I started you back on this track. Now youre going to be a father, under circumstances neither of us can probably remember. This might even ruin your carrer!" She stopped to catch her breath.
      "Please forgive me..." Trunks didnt need to hear more, he ran to her bedside and hugged her with all the strength she could take, and whispered to her everything she had said to him only in reverse. And despite the happenings for today, Gohan smiled.

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Sorry 4 the short chappy!
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