Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Attachments Detached ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

Vegeta's eyes opened and he gazed tiredly around at his surroundings, noting that coming out of a regen tank after getting injured was much more refreshing than just waking up from a not-complete normal healing. He shifted slightly to get into a more comfortable position, as he seemed to have slid down in the seat he was buckled in and had to bite back whatever pained sound he was going to make. Definitely not complete.

He must have made some sound, because a blue-haired head turned from the seat just to the right and in front of him. "Oh. You're up."

Vegeta scowled at the obvious statement, looking out the front to try and ascertain where they were. He didn't recognize any of the stars or their patterns. "Where are we?"

"Um, well-"

"Oh! You're going to tell what happened now?" Kakarott suddenly piped up from Bulma's left, turning his whole chair to face her like a child eager for dessert.

Bulma spared him a smile, "Yes, Kakarott."

Kakarott rubbed his hands together gamely and received a groan from Vegeta. He looked over to see the older Saiyan scowling at him fiercely. "I just woke up, Kakarott! Can you leave off your idiocy long enough for the woman to tell her story?"

Kakarott's brow furrowed in confusion, but he nodded, leaning toward Bulma at the same time, "Look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

As Bulma giggled, Vegeta hissed out Kakarott's name in a threatening manner that had the other Saiyan straightening in his seat despite the fact that Vegeta probably couldn't reach him in his present state. The threat of future pain was enough.

Bulma shifted in her seat, humor stilled by the somber events she had to tell, "After you guys left things went back to what they had been before I met you. I woke up, worked on the projects, and went to sleep. Basically I kept out of everyone's way and they disregarded me so when something happened, no one blamed me."

She looked down at her lap, twiddling her fingers, "You were right. It was the database that got me into trouble. I was looking through there to see if there was any word from you guys. There wasn't. But I did find out a lot more about you and Kakarott," Vegeta scowled at this, "Strangely, there wasn't much about you, Vegeta.

"About a week ago, give or take a few days, I accidentally stumbled onto Frieza's personal files."

There was an audible gasp from Vegeta and she looked up to stare wide-eyed into Vegeta's glare, "You little fool! You cracked into it, didn't you? Don't you know he watches those like a hawk? He caught you…."

Bulma shook her head, "Not at first. I knew about those little programs he'd set up to make you think you'd broken the code when all you'd done was alert him. I managed to work around them by making them think no one was trying to crack the code." She waved a hand at the confused stares she was receiving, "It's kinda like a mirror, an illusion. Anyways, I did break into it. That's where I found your file."

Vegeta frowned, "Why would my file be in his personal ones?"

Bulma bit her lower lip and reached into her pocket, holding out a folded piece of paper to the Saiyan, who merely grunted in irritation at her. She blushed slightly, "Sorry." She rose from her seat and handed him the paper and sat back down while he looked it over.

She didn't like the way his facial expression did not change or the way he merely looked at her blandly as he lowered the paper. "Anything else?"

She blinked and allowed her face to show the confusion she felt, "Yes, but it didn't have to do with you. I also found a file about Earth and-me."

He nodded, as if he had expected no less, "You said you needed to go to Earth. What is he planning?"

"What you thought he was planning. As I was going to Earth, he was going to send the Ginyu Force ahead of me in pods faster than mine and purge Earth, selling it to the highest bidder. He was then going to 'take me in'. You can guess the rest."

Kakarott spoke up then, speaking to Vegeta, "How did you know he was planning that?"

Vegeta shrugged, grimacing with a curled lip. "I know the lizard better than I want to."

Kakarott turned to Bulma then, "Was there a file there on me?"

Bulma stole a glance at Vegeta that Kakarott didn't see, acknowledging his headshake. "No, there wasn't a file there on you." She wasn't lying. There hadn't been a file in Frieza's personal files on Kakarott.

Before Kakarott could ask more, Vegeta broke in, "So the answer to my earlier question is, we are heading for Earth."

Bulma nodded and rose from her seat, moving past Vegeta. He craned his head around to follow her movements, wincing as it pulled on certain painful areas, "Where are you going? I'm not done talking to you!"

Bulma's voice reached him from the back of the ship, and its volume was enough that he was glad she wasn't standing right next to him. "Jeez, Vegeta! I'm just getting some stuff to clean you up! You want to sit with a broken leg for three weeks?"

Vegeta spoke again when she came back around to his side, mostly so he wouldn't have to hear her yell, "It'll take three weeks?"

She grunted as a way of replying and knelt down by his leg. Grimacing, she looked over her shoulder at Kakarott. "I'm going to need your help. It set crooked. It has to be broken again to be set correctly."

Kakarott nodded and moved to Vegeta's side, grabbing the leg lightly in both hands. He met Vegeta's eyes and waited till the man gave him a nod before snapping the leg up, re-breaking it with a crunching sound. Bulma winced in empathy as Vegeta only grunted loudly and clenched the arms of the chair, crushing one of them under his grip.

Bulma still felt like she was wincing as she secured the leg with a couple of straight pieces of board and gauze. "Give this six weeks and it'll be healed enough to walk on, but I don't want you putting any weight on it before that!" She turned her best glare at him, blinking when he chuckled.

"It'll only take half that time, maybe longer since it was re-broken." His voice sounded a little out-of-breath. He frowned at the concerned gaze she gave him, "Leave off, woman. I'm fine!"

Bulma huffed, "And what about your hand?"

Vegeta gave said hand a mocking grin, holding up the crooked and rheumatic appendage. "Oh, I don't think I'll be able to use that."

Bulma took the hand in her own, trying to find out the extent of the damage. The hand had been completely pulverized. Unfortunately, Vegeta was quite right. There was no way to heal this and he would be without one hand. She met his eyes questioningly, wondering what it meant. Would he be like Nappa, unable to fight?

He frowned at her again, and carefully extracted his hand from her grip. "I don't know."

She wasn't shocked to find he knew what she was silently asking. Kakarott did not, but the solemnity of the two before him kept him silent. He sighed and took his seat again.

Bulma stayed where she was, making herself comfortable on the floor by crossing her legs, "So, what happened on the purge?"

Kakarott spun around in his seat again, shocking them both by glaring at Vegeta, "Yeah, what did happen? I don't know. I was asleep!"

Bulma pointedly looked away and Kakarott shifted his gaze from the tight-lipped Prince to her, "Bulma? What do you know about it?"

Bulma met his gaze with slightly widened eyes, "Me?" The way she squeaked the word made it quite evident that she knew why he was asking her. "Um, yeah…. I do know some stuff…." She looked up at Vegeta to see him glaring a hole right through her. "But-I'm not at liberty to discuss it."

Kakarott sighed and suddenly growled, causing Vegeta to look wide-eyed at him, more shocked than he had ever been. The younger man was suddenly before him, bending over to stare him right in the eye.

Vegeta could not help but curl his lip at such an obvious challenge, but Kakarott did not back down.

"Vegeta, what would you do if you were fighting someone and I decided to jump in because I thought you needed help, even if I was right and you were about to die?"

Vegeta's eyes narrowed, "What do you think I'd do, idiot? I'd pound you into next year for daring to steal my kill…." He trailed off and his eyes narrowed further, understanding what Kakarott was getting at.

Bulma suddenly broke in; rising to stand as if she wanted to, but didn't dare, get in between the two. "You don't understand the situation, Kakarott."

Both men transferred their glares to her but she stood her ground, spine straightening, "Listen here, you hormone-driven dimwits! Why don't you both get off your horses of honor cause their full of shi-"

Vegeta tried to rise out his chair in rage but ended up almost doubled-up in pain. Bulma immediately stopped her tirade to kneel beside him. He waved her off, composing himself, "I'm fine! I'm a warrior, not a child! Don't coddle me! I swear-"

Bulma rose, once again confronting both 'warriors', "Right now all you two are acting like are children and that's exactly how I'm going to treat the both of you." She glared ice daggers at Kakarott and raised a finger at his chair, "You. Sit." He complied; seeming astonished he did so.

She turned and faced him, "If you want to blame anyone for making you miss that purge, you blame me. I was the one that sabotaged it." He started to open his mouth but she forestalled him, "And there are reasons I can't tell you why. One of them sitting right there."

As soon as she mentioned him, she turned on him, giving him an icier look than she had Kakarott, "And you almost died, so I don't want to hear 'girl, you shouldn't worry, I'm impervious to all injury' out of your mouth during the rest of this trip. We are going to Earth, we are warning them, and we'll figure out what to do from there."

Vegeta glowered, not about to be as ashamedly cowed as Kakarott had been, "Who said we were going with you? I told you that Earth was the first place Frieza would look. I wouldn't even get the chance to become stronger than him before he was there in the flesh. Besides, what can your paltry, backwater planet do against Frieza? He's more powerful than you can imagine."

Bulma's lips opened but no sound came out as she thought of at least three arguments she could present that would easily counter his statements. Instead, she gave him a tired look, mouth set in a determined line, "Fine. Kakarott, find the nearest planet that suits His Majesty and drop yourselves off. Take whatever you need." He caught a flicker of hurt in her blue eyes as she turned, not even having looked at Kakarott as she addressed him, and went to the back of the ship.

Vegeta did not call her back, deciding he could be as set as she was. When Bulma moved out of the way, however, it was Kakarott who was glaring at him. "Good job, Vegeta. You did happen to notice that she hadn't even cleaned and checked her own wounds, didn't you?"

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the twinge of pain, "What does that have to do with anything, Kakarott?"

"Oh, I don't know. She said something about not wanting to be in comfort when you weren't or something. Something about not wanting to start on you until you were awake since you looked so-what was that word? Peaceful."

Vegeta glowered at Kakarott, "You presume much when you assume I care."

Kakarott shook his head and turned around, "Well, you know what assuming does. Just take 'me' out."

Vegeta growled audibly and sulked in the silence, hearing the sound of sobbing as soon as everything quieted. He could even feel Kakarott's piercing stare though the man was not looking at him, blaming him for the girl crying.

After only a minute Vegeta shifted in his seat, "Will you please go tell her to stop that incessant weeping? I can't hear myself think!"

Kakarott whirled back around, "For the love of-Will you stop with the 'I don't care about it, I'm a selfish jerk' routine, cause we both know it's not true. You can get there as easily as me and you know it! It's called ki." Vegeta blinked at the wholly not-Kakarott tone of voice he was using, like that of an exasperated adult chastising a child.

Kakarott had spun back around, the chair creaking as if it would break from all this maltreatment, "Do whatever, Vegeta. But I'm not staying on whatever planet you decide on. I actually care about Bulma and don't want to see her as homeless as we are."

Vegeta seemed to pause there, his mental processes short-circuiting. Homeless-like them. It wasn't often that Kakarott came off as intuitive, but when he did he literally could blow a person out of the water with his dead-on gut jumping.

So, as the silence lengthened, so did Kakarott's grin. Therefore, when he turned around to find Vegeta missing from his seat, he wasn't at all surprised. He knew his friend well, it seemed.

<~>

Bulma immediately straightened at the sound of another person entering the one room with an actual cot in it. She stared at the wall, facing away from the door, sitting on the edge of the cot. She dried her eyes, trying to make it look as if she they were itching.

The silence behind her lengthened and she sighed, "I'm sorry, Kakarott. He told me he couldn't-ah, I just expected too much of him I guess. I know you probably want to go with me, but you should stay with him. Not only is he the only one of your race left but he's your Prince-and I think he needs someone to keep-"

She let out a mocking chuckle. "He's probably scoffing at me right now, calling me weak. I bet he told you to come in here so he wouldn't have to hear me cry anymore, right?" She felt the last sentence tremble slightly and paused, closing her eyes to regain her control.

"I just thought that he cared, you know? I thought maybe, even though we only spent three days together, he would want to help me. I've spent the last few days, I don't even know how much time, running and it was horrible. I was hiding and then running and then they caught me and I didn't even recognize Vegeta or you! Now-I just want to warn Earth and-I'm just terrified that-" she felt her control again slipping.

"I'd like to be left alone right now, Kakarott. Just tell me when he's picked a planet, okay?"

She felt the cot shift under her and tried to turn only to find two masculine and very strong arms wrap around her, holding her where she was. She frowned and squirmed a little. "Kakarott…." She felt his warm breath on her neck as he pressed her back against his chest.

His chest…. But how could he be breathing on her neck if his chest-that felt so familiar! She gave a squeak and the arms flinched slightly from the pitch, "Vegeta?"

He grunted from behind her, but continued to hold her, not letting her see his face. "I did tell him to come in here…but he seems to know exactly how to manipulate me. I've figured out you have that same trait."

He laid his chin between her neck and shoulder, his breath hitting the side of her face now. "You'll have to make those things you promised when you get there. If I want to get stronger before Frieza gets there I'll really have to push it."

Bulma snuggled back into him, a smile growing on her face. The smile grew as she heard him snort, "Don't get too comfortable with this, girl. This is a one-time deal. And if you tell Kakarott-"

"Shut up, Vegeta. You're ruining the moment. If this is a one-time deal, I want to enjoy it."

Vegeta grunted again and tightened his hold on her, taking in her scent with each breath. He held her until he felt her breathing grow deep and even, gently laying her on the bed. He looked at her peaceful face and retrieved a cloth, wetting it slightly, before taking care of those wounds she had left untouched while he slept.

Of course, he purposely missed Kakarott's knowing glance when he took his seat again.

Kakarott turned back around, outlook a little brighter now that he had gotten his two best friends friends again. So Kakarott enjoyed the simpler things. It's said those who do get bigger rewards.

A/N: Sorry for the lateness! Really I am! See? No smile on this face…. All sad and stuff…. (sniff)

Hee. Well, now you all know somewhat what happened. But what happened on the purge? What isn't Vegeta telling? Why didn't it take more than three months? And what was on that paper? Are these questions even important or do I just want to fill your mind with pointlessness? Heehee. Onto cabin fever and Earth!

Heck, go onto the next chapter! Part of my apology! ^_^ Responses to reviews will be there.