"A police officer?" Eighteen gazed skeptically across the kitchen table at her small husband, his new uniform in hand.

The silence was deafening, and certainly not the reaction he'd expected. Somewhere, he swore he hear a lone cricket chirp and cleared his throat."W-well yeah," Krillin chuckled nervously. "I mean we have this new apartment to pay for since moving out from Master Roshi's, and the money you managed to get out of Mr. Satan isn't gonna last us long on its own, to say nothing of paying for Marron's schooling..."

Eighteen smirked slightly at the recollection. She was eternally proud of that achievement. Her eyes fell on the almost comically large gold star badge atop the dress shirt. "So you're doing this for money then? Seems there are other jobs that pay better with significantly less..." she wrinkled her nose a bit. "...unpleasantness."

Krillin sighed. "Look babe, I know you and the police have a bit of, well, history. And I know you're not super fond of them. But that was a long time ago." He put on his best smile. "Besides, best way to change the system is from within and all that, right? Heh..." Her expression never changed. He sighed. "You... really don't like this much, do you."

"Well I would have appreciated being asked first, at least." She lightly drummed her fingers on the table. "But hey, you already said yes, not a whole lot I can do now, is there?"

Krillin's shoulders slumped. "Aww c'mon Eighteen, don't be like that. I thought you'd be happy to see I have steady work now..."

"Ecstatic."

He opened his mouth to protest when a faint, tiny voice echoed down the hall. "Can I have a glass of water?" He sighed and headed toward the bathroom, not noticing as the badge fell to the floor with a small clank. "I'll get it. Need to put this thing away anyways..."

Eighteen placed her forehead in her hand and sighed. 'There I go again,' she thought to herself. Nearly seven years of marriage, even longer in a relationship, and she still couldn't help but be harsh with him over some small offense.

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried, and she'd gotten far better at it than when she'd first agreed to stay with him. Back then something as minor as socks laying around or a forgotten grocery item would irk her to no end. But even now, sometimes that same attitude could come creeping back.

She stood and picked up the fallen badge, examining her reflection in it. 'He does mean well," she thought to herself. 'And I was the one pressuring him to find work last week..." She sighed, and started down the hall after him.

'I'll talk to him, straighten this ou-' she suddenly stopped, hearing her daughter excitedly conversing with her father. The little girl was chattering away, asking the questions one would expect of a little girl. "How big is the police station?" "When do you start?" "Did they give you your own car yet?"

She smiled a bit and peeked in through the crack in the door, hovering gently to avoid detection via creaky floorboard. Her small husband had their tiny daughter on his lap as she stared up, absolutely awestruck.

"Not yet, sweetheart. I have to start out small before getting my own patrol car." He poked her belly, and she giggled. "But once I do get it, you and me are goin' for a ride, okay?"

"'Kay!" the little girl beamed. "I bet mommy was super happy when you told her, huh?"

Krillin's smile faded and Marron's grin soon followed. "Mommy... wasn't terribly happy, no." Eighteen felt her emotions rise a bit, but knew Krillin could never lie to the girl, neither could she.

Marron cocked her head a bit, confused. "Why not?"

Krillin set his daughter down on her bed and covered her lap with her blanket. "Well hon, you gotta understand something about your mom. When she was younger, she-" he paused, searching for the proper phrase. "Well, remember how mommy explained she doesn't remember a whole lot from when she was younger?"

Marron nodded. "Mhm. That mean doctor made her forget everything."

"Almost everything, yeah. Well some of the fainter memories your mom has involve some-ah, 'run-ins' with the police. And that's why they sometimes make her uncomfortable, even in public. They remind her of both unpleasant memories and that she can't recall many of them."

"But then, why would you want to be a police man, dad?" the little girl seemed more confused than ever, though Eighteen felt slight relief that she hadn't been the only one to see the issue at hand.

Krillin gently patted the top of their daughter's head. "I guess I thought that maybe... if your mommy knew I was an officer and could see that things aren't like that anymore, maybe she'd be able to get better and not have to be so upset whenever she sees them."

Eighteen's eyes softened a bit. He'd actually done this to, in his own way, try to help her, and she'd snipped at him for being dismissive of her.

"Well, that's part of it, at least. The other reason," he booped the area Marron's nose would normally be, "is to protect you. And mommy too."

Marron giggled. "But you're already super strong, daddy." She held her arms out and flexed her tiny arms. "And mommy's super duper strong! You already protect me from bad people, and mommy protects you."

Krillin chuckled. "Yes, but not... not quite strong enough, sweetie." He sighed. "Sometimes some really, really bad people come, and they're stronger than mommy and daddy could ever imagine. Sometimes we're just not enough. That's something really only Uncle Goku can handle these days.

"But there are other kinds of bad people, Marron. Some of them don't have any powers, but they can still hurt other people really bad. Sometimes with weapons, sometimes by stealing their money or things." He allowed a tiny ball of light to glow in his hand. "Your daddy might not be as strong as Uncle Goku, or Vegeta, or even mommy or Mr. Piccolo. But daddy's got these gifts for a reason, Marron."
He heard the door slowly creak open as his wife walked in. "And that reason is to keep people safe, little one." She leaned down and pecked their daughter on the cheek.

"Now you get some sleep," she looked over and eyed her husband as he stood from the bed. "Daddy and I need to have a small talk.

The little girl yawned and laid down. "Mmkay. Night mom, night daddy."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Eighteen gently shut the door and gracefully twirled to face her husband, already seated on their bed across the hall. "So," she began, entering their room and shutting the door. "You've decided to appoint yourself my therapist, it seems."

Krillin looked down rather sheepishly as his wife sat down beside him. "I-I didn't mean it like that at all, hon. I just thought that..." He stopped short and rested his head in his hands. "I just wanted to try to help you, is all."

Eighteen placed a hand on his shoulder. "Krillin, I'm not mad at you. Well, not anymore at least. But you could have talked it over with me first, you know?"

He picked his head up to look her in the eye. "I just hate seeing you have to live with that is all."

"Well," she said, fingers toying with his hair. "It's certainly very sweet of you to want to help me. Just... please talk things like this through with me and don't spring them on me, okay? Gives me time to adjust." She ran her hand back through his hair as he nodded. A small smrik graced her features. "So, about this 'big strong man' needing to protect his women folk..."

Krillin groaned and fell back on the bed, his face turning beet red. "Eighteen, I didn't even mean it like that..."

She fell back next to him and giggled. "I know what you meant, silly. It's very sweet of you. And honestly, it's very responsible of you to not waste your talent as well." She snuggled close to him. "In fact, I'm proud of you." She pecked him on the cheek and smiled as he turned bright red and squirmed.

"Now let's get some sleep."

"C'mon Marron, we're gonna be late. Dad's dropping you at school on the way to work!"

"Coming daddy!" Marron bounded down the stairs, bookbag in tow, one shoe in hand. She was halfway out the door when she stopped to look at her dad in his new uniform. "Oh WOW, you look super cool!"

Krillin smiled and patted her head. "Thanks sweetheart. You go hop in the car, I'll be there in a second." He turned to his wife. "Well babe, we're off. Wish me lu-hey, are you feeling okay?" He noticed a faint tint of red in her face. "You seem flushed."

"I'm... fine." Eighteen replied. She lowered her gaze. "Aren't you supposed to give your wife a kiss before going to work?"

Krillin smacked his forehead. "Oh right. Forgot. Still not used to the whole work routine thing." He trotted over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Love you ba-MMF!" He promptly found his wife's lips pressed against his in a slow, lingering kiss. When she finally released him, they were matching shades of red. "Wow. Where'd that come from?"

Eighteen bit her lip. "Let's just say... that uniform didn't take as long to get used to as I thought it might. Looks good on you." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "And maybe, if you're lucky, we'll let Marron stay at a friend's house tonight and find an 'alternate use' for those handcuffs."

Krillin turned an even brighter shade of red and giggled like a fool as he made his way out the door, their daughter giggling about daddy "looking like the big red doggie".

Eighteen smiled. Her husband always seemed to feel the need to be the hero, was always a dopey romantic, ever easily flustered... but despite that, she couldn't help but find him...

"...So cool."