Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Against All Odds ❯ Eat! ( Chapter 8 )

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Chapter Eight

Eat!

Vegeta opened his onyx eyes to glare at the blue-haired woman as she worked at her desk. She wore a white lab coat that hung to her mid calves, over a navy business type suit. At the moment she had her long legs crossed so that it fell to the floor leaving them bared to his burning gaze. His eyes latched onto the bouncing foot that she had slung over her knee and followed it up to her creamy thighs revealed by her short navy skirt.

His eyes trailed up to her profile and he snarled inwardly as she parted her red lips to chew on the tip of the pencil she was holding. She picked up a clipboard and stood to walk over to him. He snapped his eyes closed and he felt her ki approach the regen tank, where he was floating. He lifted his lids slightly to peer at her under lowered lashes. She wrote some information down on her board, scowling deeply and muttering under her breath. She checked her figures once more against the data from the tank, before stalking back to her workstation.

He observed her stealthily for the next few hours, while the murky fluid worked its healing magic. Her movements were graceful and elegant, solidifying the notion that she was an untouchable goddess in his mind. In fact, he was so engrossed in watching her that he was surprised when the tank dinged and the fluid began to drain away.

Bulma tensed but did not turn to face him, her disapproval radiated out from her in waves. Vegeta scowled, the woman was angry with him and he did not feel like squabbling with her. He pulled off his mask and stepped naked from the tank.

"There is a towel and some clothes on the chair." Her words were controlled, brimming with unvoiced anger and he felt his tail wind tighter around his waist in response to her tone. He dried himself quickly and dressed in a fresh uniform. He glanced at the door, briefly thinking of making a hasty exit, but the Prince of All Saiyans did not run from a fight. Besides he had a suspicious feeling that she would hunt him down through the corridors like an animal anyways.

He picked up the straight back chair that his clothes had rested on and set it down with a loud clank next to the onna. He sat down facing her and crossed his arms across his chest, looking at her expectantly. She picked up a chart with a picture and handed it to him.

"This is a microcellular scan of your body before you began training." He glanced at the chart not really understanding what he was looking at.

She handed him a second chart. "This is a scan after a week of training. As you can see the numbers have increased exponentially. As your ki increases your cells have to break themselves down and then rebuild themselves to be stronger and more resilient in order to contain your greater power." He looked at the chart and he could see the numbers were three times larger than the first chart. This looked correct since he had felt his strength triple after the first week of training.

"How did you get these scans woman?"

"The machine outside not only scans for bugs, but your bio's as well. The data is then transferred to only my computer for analysis." She explained calmly.

He snarled. "I didn't agree to that, Bulma."

She sighed and handed him a third chart, ignoring his outburst. "This is your status from the regeneration tank read out." He glared at her a moment before glancing down at the numbers. His head shot back up and he growled gutturally at the woman.

"What is this crap?"

"Apparently you have suffered a backslide." She sniffed.

"I can see that, you bitch. Why?" He spat as his anger simmering violently below the surface.

At his words Bulma's face hardened and her voice became icy. "As far as I can see, the lack of food deprived your cells, forcing them to cannibalize your ki in order to satisfy your demands on your body. In short, you starved yourself."

The chart crumpled in Vegeta's hand as anger bloomed inside of him. All that time wasted. All that training for nothing. He stood with a roar and Bulma shrank back into her seat, inching away from the deadly man who towered over her. He grabbed the back of his chair and flung it violently against the wall causing it to shatter on impact. He glared down at the pale woman, his hands clenched at his sides, before he turned to stalk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" She asked shakily.

"To eat." He said as he disappeared through the doorway. She released a shaky breath, hopelessly attempting to calm herself. After a few moments, she finished up her work and returned to the lab, trying her best to appear as if nothing was wrong. It was only midday so she had plenty of time to relax before that unpredictable male came back.

"Delia would you get me a sandwich from the Mess Hall?" Bulma asked the girl who seemed to be staring off into space. Delia jumped and looked at her boss.

"Oh, sure." She said softly before hopping off her stool. She scurried out of the lab and past Nappa who was standing guard outside. She briefly wondered where the dark haired man was. She had to admit he was handsome. His thick, black knee-length hair begged to be touched, but he was so intimidating. Whenever they were in the same room together he stared at her, his black eyes piercing her very soul and extracting all of her secrets. As she entered the lift she shuddered at the thought.

She entered the cafeteria and darted up to the food counter, being sure to keep her head down and trying not to make any eye contact. Halfway across the room she felt a familiar tingle at the back of her neck, causing her to look up to locate the source. Her wide lavender eyes met vast darkness. It was him. He was sitting at a table with his Prince, who was bolting down food.

The tables around them were conspicuously empty, which gave Raditz a clear view of the counter and her. She almost stumbled at being caught in the web of his intense gaze, but she righted herself quickly and wrenched her eyes away from his.

She scuttled up to the counter, snatching up a sandwich before practically racing out of the room. In her haste, she didn't notice a blue-skinned man stand up to follow her from the room, but Raditz did. A dark shadow settled on his handsome features.

"Excuse me, My Prince." Vegeta grunted at him while continuing to eat. Years of experience had taught Raditz how to decipher Vegeta's differing responses. Once he had received permission to leave the table, he rose and strode out of the room after the blonde woman.

Delia hurried down the hall, unaware that she was being stalked. She was almost to the lift when she felt a strong arm encircle her waist and a hand clamp over her mouth. The sandwich fell from her numb fingers, her heart pounded loudly. It's him, she thought as she was hauled into a dark inlet. She was slammed against the wall with enough force to cause her to loose her breath. Her eyes popped open and instead of the coal black orbs she was expecting she met a pair of cloudy blue eyes filled with malicious intent.

Instantly, her paralysis unlocked and she began to kick, scream and bite with an intensity that would have shocked those who knew her. Before her attacker could retaliate he was jerked off of her and thrown violently into the opposite wall. There was a bright flash of light and the man became a dark stain on the paneling.

She blinked and looked up to see him. She began to snarl like a feral animal and Raditz cocked an eyebrow before taking a step back.

"I am not going to hurt you." He stooped down to pick up her wrapped sandwich and held it out to her. She made no move to reach for it and an approving smirk curled up at the corner of his mouth. He gently tossed it to her and she deftly caught it.

Before turning away he made one last comment. "You are too beautiful to be walking around by yourself, Onna."

Once Raditz was gone, Delia darted from the inlet and ran the rest of the way back to the lab, giving the sandwich to Bulma before retreating back to her desk. She tried to work the rest of the afternoon, but the image of the handsome black-eyed man haunted her.

Vegeta made his way back to their quarters around six that evening and without a word to Bulma he walked into the GR to train. Bulma sighed deeply before turning the opposite direction to exit the outter lab. She looked at the two warriors who stood guard.

"Did he eat today?" She asked in a neutral tone. They looked at her blankly for a moment before Raditz answered.

"Yes, My Princess."

"When?"

"Midday." She nodded and turned to go back to her room. Once in her living room she turned on her vid phone and dialed the mess hall. Uri, the head chef answered the line.

"I would like to order take out." Bulma said coolly.

The chef curled his lips slightly. "We do not deliver ma'am."

Bulma stared at him impassively, a look she had learned from Vegeta. The man broke into a sweat and thirty seconds later he was writing down her order. She also placed a standing order for food to be delivered at six every night for now on.

When the food arrived, she arranged it on the table, being sure to make a small plate for herself. She walked into the foyer and typed in a code at her computer, before going back to the table. A few seconds later a furious Saiyan stormed into the room.

"Oh Vegeta I was just coming to get you. I thought you would like some food." Bulma smiled at him sweetly.

"Woman, that damn machine is broke. Fix it." He snarled at her, but she didn't miss his quick glance at the table.

"Oh, well I'm sure I can fix it in no time, why don't you sit down to eat and I will take a look at it after dinner." His narrowed gaze rested on her face before he stalked over to her and began sniffing her like some sort of dog.

"You are lying to me woman." He hissed.

"Of course I am lying to you Vegeta. You already know that. We both are lying to each other, deceit is the name of the game after all. What has got your spandex in a bunch is that you don't know what I am lying to you about." Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she leaned over to pull off the lid to a steaming tray.

The scent of roast kusoack filled the air and Vegeta's stomach growled loudly. Kusoack was something like roast pig from Earth and it was very tasty. He gave her one last glare before seating himself and heaping food onto his plate. Bulma followed suit, daintily eating her food while watching Vegeta wolf down his. To her surprise he displaying impeccable table manners, but his stomach seemed bottomless. She thought wistfully back to the days when she and her parents sat around the table after their day, laughing at the outrageous stories that her dad would tell about the lab, and how her mom would coo at her when Bulma told them about yet another A she got in school.

"So, how was your day today?" She wanted to recapture the feeling of happiness she had felt then and she figured that they were something like a family now, besides it only seemed right to have a dinner conversation with the person you were living with. He growled something unintelligible and continued to eat.

"Did you go to the gym today?" He shrugged in a manner that seemed to indicate yes.

"Did you do anything else today?" He paused to glare at her.

"Woman, why are you being so nosey?" He growled at her.

"I am not being nosey." She replied indignantly. "I just thought we could talk about our day. You know, catch up." He stared at her in astonishment. There is that word again. Talk. She wants to talk to me. Why does she keep doing that? What does she think to accomplish? He growled inwardly.

"I did nothing of importance today, onna." He dropped his head and continued to eat.

Bulma took a deep breath and reminded herself that sometimes you have to lead by example. She began to relate her day cheerily to Vegeta, trying to make it as humorous as possible. He made no response, but he would occasionally lift his head to look at her before snatching up more food. He did not participate in the conversation, but on a positive note, he didn't tell her to shut up either, so she prattled on.

And that's how it went for several weeks. She made sure that dinner was waiting for him by the time he came home each evening. She always waylaid him before he reached the GR, and made sure he had more than enough to eat. She would tell him about her day and after a while he began to respond to her. They never discussed their plans for the future or their shattered past, they concentrated only on their present. Their time in the here and now.

Bulma was examining some papers in front of her, humming happily. Vegeta was becoming stronger every day. At the rate he was increasing he would be able to defeat Frieza within the year. The only problem was that even though they had the power stats on Ginyu Force, they only had the power ratings for Frieza in his first form. Every one knew Frieza had a total of three forms, but unfortunately no one had ever scanned him while he was in those forms. More than likely, because no one had ever lived after he transformed. She sighed, she would try to calculate his approximate strength but what it really boiled down to was her best guess at how strong he was.

She put away her papers, frowning as her stomach rumbled with hunger. She exited the lab and smiled at Nappa as he fell in step behind her. Every afternoon Vegeta took off for the base gym taking one of his guards with him to train. He always left either Nappa or Raditz to escort her around the base if she needed to leave the lab. He had explained to her, that since she was now mated to him, that she was a possible target. A lot of people hated Vegeta and they would hate her by association.

She walked into the cafeteria smirking as she saw the soldiers sidle away from her. Even though it had been relatively quiet for the last couple of weeks, the men of the base were still wary of her, even more so, since she was always in the company of a Saiyan. She noticed a lot of new faces, and she heard a smattering of conversation as she passed through the room. Men who had been stationed there for the last few months were filling in the new recruits on who she was and exactly why they should stay away from her. She might as well have a sign on her back that said man killer.

She was at the lunch counter when she felt someone slide into place next to her. This in itself was a surprise. No one came near her, much less touched her. She looked up to see a dark skinned, dark haired man that looked vaguely familiar. She heard Nappa's warning growl in the background, but she was still stunned at the man's sudden appearance to respond.

"Are you Bulma Briefs?" His voice was low with a sultry accent. The familiar feeling was getting stronger.

"That is none of your business runt. Move away from her." Nappa inserted himself between her and the stranger. From the corner of her eye she could see the tables closest to her being vacated.

The man's face twisted into a snarl of hate. "You are the only blue haired slut on the base so you must be her." He tried to lunge for her, but Nappa blocked his attack. The man simply knocked Nappa away like he was a gnat and grabbed Bulma around the throat.

"You killed my brother, bitch." He snarled into her face.

He grabbed her arm, twisting it until the bone snapped. She let out a screech of pain and she heard Nappa growl behind her. Before she knew what was happening she was being tossed across the room only to hit the far wall with a thud. She fell to the ground and heard the sickening crack of her leg bone as she fell on it awkwardly. Pain lanced through her body squeezing her lungs until she began to black out. With a conscious effort she looked over to see the man belt Nappa across the face sending him flying. Her last thought before darkness took her was one name.

Vegeta.