Disclaimer: Well…Uhmm…Yeah… I'm sure it's a shock to many of you, but I don't actually own DBZ.

Author Notes: Well - Chapter Six. *pokes it* Do something useful this time. Also, I know some of you were interested in what I was going to write for Vegeta-sei's history, but personally I detest 'making it up as I go along' so anything I do mention will be things that I've gotten from DBZ, the DBZ movies, or the DBZ OVA's.

Oh, and for anyone who's wondering what happened to my characterizations, no, I haven't started writing them OOC, it's just that I've been watching the Japanese DBZ and each char is slightly different in Japanese than they are in English so my take on them is bound to change. Most noticeable is Gokou. …or they're acting OOC cause I've also been on a Naruto binge and have been keeping up with the manga ^_^. I keep accidentally making Vegeta call Gokou 'Dobe' -_-;

And for all you people who requested and/or asked when the action was going to start ^_^ this chapter is when things begin to heat up. It's basically gonna be all go from here on.

Thank you for all the reviews! They're helping me keep on track as well as giving me a reader's perspective of the story. The one problem all authors have is that we know everything that is going on so we tend to miss things that seem obvious to a person who's reading the story but hasn't got a clue what is happening. All the people who review with their points of view on the story I think are the best because they help me write this story the most!

Misc Knowledge:

Kisama means 'you' in Japanese but in a bad way so it's sort of the same as saying 'You BASTARD'.

// "Blah, blah." // = Phone calls

Bound

Chapter Six:

Gohan was beginning to get worried.

Since the man, Domino, had shown up things in his life had steadily begun to change.

He and Goten were being run ragged with training. His Dad, and Vegeta were barely around, always off doing some sort of intense training, and his mother was being insufferable, complaining about everything and nothing. She complained when her husband wasn't home, then she complained when he was. She complained that her son's were going to become brainless thugs and then claimed all of their free time to drill them with nearly impossible schoolwork. And she complained, and complained, about Vegeta.

All these things, these changes, were normal. Gohan had come to expect it because it was simply the way his family worked.

There were other changes though.

Like how Gokou no longer seemed to have time for his son's, not even in training. Or how, on the off chance that they hadn't disappeared somewhere at first light, Gokou and Vegeta would sit for hours on end, heads together, earnestly discussing Kami-sama knew what.

Also, Krillin and Yamucha had been spending a lot of their time around the house as well. Their excuse was that they wanted to see Gokou, to make sure he wasn't being overwhelmed into insanity by having to spend so much time around Vegeta. And to see how everyone's training was going… All they seemed to be doing, though, was spend all their time chatting with his mother's new friend, Deejay.

She was another thing that had Gohan worried. She was always around now, whether it was helping his mother with the chores, or chatting with Yamucha and Krillin, she was always there. Normally with her eyes glued to his Father and Vegeta if they happened to be close by. Gohan was sure that she still half believed that her ludicrous idea about the two full-Saiyan's relationship was correct; she watched the two men as if she were trying to catch them out somehow.

The problem was that Gohan had begun to watch the two men as well. Not for the same reasons as Deejay he hoped - probably for the same reasons as Yamucha and Krillin.

His Dad had been steadily changing from his close association with the Saiyan Prince - and Gohan didn't like the changes at all.

Sure, it was great that they were getting along better, and that Vegeta didn't seem to feel the need anymore to constantly challenge the other man in futile attempts to beat him… But did they really have to look like they were enjoying each other's company so much?

Gohan was supposed to be studying as he had these thoughts, but he'd given up on that nearly an hour ago. Now he simply sat at his desk, his pencil pressed against his cheek as he stared out the window at the perfect view he had of where his father and Vegeta sat, once again immersed in discussion.

Not quite out of his sight, Yamucha, Krillin and Deejay were sitting in the sunshine quietly talking, their own gazes also on the Saiyan pair.

He was fairly sure he could guess the conversation topic of the three…but of the other two he hadn't a clue. It was probably none of his business, whatever it was that the two men had been talking about so intently for the passed few weeks, maybe it was strategies for defeating Domino. He mulled the thought over and lowered his pencil to tap it against his workbook. If it was strategies for defeating Domino, then why weren't they talking about it with the others - after all, Yamucha, Krillin, and himself were all close by and would probably be of help to the discussion.

A flicker of movement from the two men outside made Gohan refocus his attention and his eyes narrowed as his father leaned in closer to Vegeta, resting a hand on the other man's arm. That was another thing that had changed. The two touched now; a lot. He wasn't quite sure when he'd first noticed it happening, but over the last few weeks he'd noted that the frequency of the touches had increased. Since when had Vegeta begun to allow people to act so casually with him? Especially when it was his most loathed rival?

Gohan's attention was now fully on the hand his father had resting on Vegeta's arm and when, after a while, he still hadn't removed it, Gohan stood up. It had been nearly three weeks since these 'mysterious' conversations had started and Gohan had finally had enough of it. I wanted to, needed to find out if it was something he should be worrying about.

Making his decision, Gohan dropped his pencil onto his desk and left his room, heading to where the two older Saiyans were.

----

"I don't understand." Gokou tilted his head to the side slightly as he thought, catching his lower lip between his teeth and worrying at it.

"Of course you don't understand." Vegeta's voice was irritated, "You weren't there."

"Neither were you." Gokou challenged, leaning forwards and putting his hand on the other mans arm. The muscles flexed slightly under his touch but he didn't really notice, focusing instead on the man's reply.

"I lived in the aftermath so I understand it just as well as those who lived through it. You didn't." He added with a slight growl.

Gokou grinned and, pulling his leg up against his chest, rested the elbow of his free arm on his knee and leaned his head in his hand, "I suppose you're right. I only saw the end of everything, I guess."

Vegeta growled slightly and glared off into the forest, "Freeza manipulated our people for nearly 20 years, you couldn't possibly comprehend what that does to a race if you only show up at the end."

Gokou immediately lost his smile at Vegeta's tone and tightened his grip on the man's arm and leaning towards him, "Vegeta…"

"Dad."

Gokou jumped and pulling away from Vegeta quickly, twisted on the spot.

"Gohan?!" Gokou breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, his hand going behind his head to run through his hair, "Make some noise next time, son. I nearly had a heart attack."

"Sorry." Gohan didn't even look at his father; instead his gaze was burning into the back of Vegeta's head.

"Did Chichi want something?" Gokou asked after a moment, trying to figure out Gohan's behaviour.

"No." Gohan finally looked away from Vegeta and stared at his father, "I just wanted to ask something."

Gokou looked perplexed, "Sure. What?"

"What were…?"

"Gokou! There's trouble!" Gohan's voice was over ridden as Yamucha, followed by Krillin, came flying over in a sudden burst of speed.

"Huh?" Gokou asked intelligently and suddenly Vegeta was on his feet.

"Domino!" Vegeta growled and Gokou looked at him closely before extending his senses searching for whatever it was he'd missed.

A second later he was also on his feet. Vegeta was right; it was Domino. And he was in the forest; no… he was in a township just beyond the forest.

"Gohan, tell Chichi we've gone." Gokou threw the words over his shoulder distractedly as, in one clean movement, both he and Vegeta threw themselves into the air and raced towards where they could sense the evil 'Ki'.

Gohan simply stood where he was, slightly open-mouthed. "Shouldn't…we go with them?"

"I reckon they can handle it." Yamucha said staring up at the sky.

"Sure they can." Krillin agreed and nodded his head.

"That never ceases to amaze me." Deejay said, coming up behind them, "I still can't believe you people can do things like that. My brain is still telling me it's impossible."

Gohan turned and looked at the three others, then let his gaze focus directly on Yamucha. "How did you know there was trouble before Dad and Vegeta did?"

Yamucha's expression went slightly wooden.

"Well…" Yamucha began.

"It was on the news." Deejay piped up over top of him and gestured back at the house. "Complete devastation. Apparently at the hands of the same person that destroyed most of…of…" her face screwed up slightly in thought, "I forget the name of the city. He was blond I think."

Gohan nodded after a moment, then sighed and went to tell his mother that his father had left.

----

Smoke.

It was the first thing Gokou could see when they began to get close to the town. It was everywhere and made it nearly impossible to see, much less breathe.

Gokou held his breath as they got closer, his eyes and his senses darting every which way in search of their prey.

"Over there!" Vegeta warned sharply, and Gokou immediately spun in time to dodge a blazing red Ki-blast.

His eyes followed the pathway back to where it had come from and then narrowed as he caught sight of the man they sought standing in plain sight at the edge of the town, away from the continuous billows of smoke.

Following behind Vegeta, Gokou landed and glared at the blond.

"Domino!"

"Son Gokou. Prince Vegeta." The man nodded slightly to both of them in acknowledgment, smiling a smile that got wider as Gokou took a threatening step forward at the cordial greeting.

Vegeta's arm came up across Gokou's chest, barring his way, and glared at Domino. "Kisama…"

"Pleasant, as always, I see." Domino pushed a lock of fringe out of his eyes and smiled again.

"Why did you do this?!" Gokou demanded.

Domino lifted an eyebrow, "This? You mean why did I destroy this township?" He flicked his hand towards the merrily burning buildings, "No reason."

"Why you… All those people!" Gokou ground the words out, taking another step forwards and ignored Vegeta's arm pressing hard against his chest.

Domino laughed, "Do not be worried about the inhabitants, Son Gokou. They are all quite alive and will remain so for as long as I have use of them. You do not believe me? I will let you see for yourself."

Gokou glanced around quickly as Domino gestured again and they were suddenly surrounded, the towns people all seeming to appear out of thin air.

"There were not many of them here," Domino said languidly, "but there were enough for this little meeting. You seemed to enjoy the company of my Servants so much last time we meet that I felt obliged to provide some for you this time as well."

"Bastard!" Gokou growled the word as he tensed his muscles in case they were attacked.

Domino laughed in delight, "Such language. I believe you have been spending too much time around the Prince."

"No thanks to you!" Beside Gokou, Vegeta had also tensed, but seemed to be more focused on Domino.

Domino smiled, "There is no need to thank me. It is the least I could do for you both."

Vegeta began to growl and Domino sighed dramatically, still smiling.

"I see that neither of you are really in the mood to exchange pleasantry's. Perhaps you would prefer to get straight to the point where I defeat you."

"We'll see who defeats who, kisama!" Vegeta growled and leapt forward, on the attack.

Domino disappeared…and reappeared, his arms outstretched, in the short space between the two Saiyan's.

"My, my. I do believe your Bond has gotten smaller. Has it been an entire month since we last spoke already? My, it must be so inconvenient only being able to move within ten-feet of each other." The man 'tsk-ed' then jumped high into the air, narrowly avoiding a double attack from Gokou and Vegeta. The man's expression was still a pleasant smile as he hovered in the air, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked down on the two. "Of course, I am talking far too much. Allow me to begin the entertainment then." With that he uncrossed one arm and, lifting his hand slightly, clicked his fingers. Instantly the possessed townsmen leapt to the attack.

"Damn it!" Gokou swore, and dodged a couple of the attacks and looked around quickly for Domino. The man had disappeared.

"Kisama! Coward! Stop sending your play-things and fight us like a man!" Vegeta yelled.

Gokou dived around two Servants and lightly knocked their heads together, sending them to the ground unconscious, and moved to stand back-to-back with the enraged Vegeta.

"Did you see where he went?" Gokou asked him and sent another couple of Servants to the ground in a blanket of unconsciousness as gently as he could.

"Idiot! Do you think I'd be yelling for him if I'd seen where he went?!" Vegeta snapped and punched a Servant hard in the face, sending him flying backwards to knock out nearly seven others.

"Vegeta, be careful!"

The man growled, but his attacks on the constant flow of Servants became, if not gentle, then at least less deadly.

"We…we need to get away from them." Gokou said after a moment and Vegeta grunted noncommittally.

Pushing an entire group of the Servant's to the ground to sprawl in disarray of tangled limbs, Gokou began to look around quickly, scanning the area for somewhere they could get away from the villagers. They could knock them all out, but it would take too much time, time that Domino would be using to flee. If they were delayed too long they'd never find the man.

As Gokou glanced around, a glint of colour caught his attention and he focused on it sharply. It was a fragment of dark purple fabric, the same shade as Domino's long shirt, flapping in the breeze from some source behind a half burnt out wall on top of a building only a few metres away.

A surge of exultation flowed through Gokou and he smirked. Maybe they wouldn't have to deal with the Servants. He and Vegeta could move faster than the Servants and if the two of them knew where Domino was then they could attack him directly.

"Vegeta…"

"Yes!" came the snapped reply, "I felt you. Cut with the explanations and just tell me where you saw him!"

Gokou blushed lightly as he crouched back waiting for the Servants he'd previously knocked down to come at him now that they had finally regained their feet.

"He was on a building to my left, on top, behind a burnt out wall."

Vegeta punched a Servant in the gut, crumpling the man to the ground, and then kicked him roughly out of the way of his standing room, his eyes quickly darting behind him to the building the other man had mentioned. He saw nothing.

"I don't see anything."

"He was there."

"Well he's not now!"

Vegeta swung his arm around and knocked the group around him into a short backwards flight, clearing some space around him and letting him take a moment to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Gokou glance up to where Domino had been and frown, then the man's lips tightened.

"He only moved slightly, he's still there, you just can't see him from your angle." He said firmly and Vegeta ground his teeth.

"Fine. Then we attack!"

Gokou blinked as Vegeta suddenly launched himself from the ground and quickly followed suit, months of practise letting him stop what he was doing and follow behind the other man before he reached the limit of their Bond. At lightning speed they flew at the place where Gokou had spotted Domino and they crashed through the lone, burnt out wall in a shower of dust, brick, and charcoal. A startled sound was drowned out by the sound of Vegeta's fist impacting on flesh, and the person he'd hit flew in a long arc and disappeared over the side of the building.

Gokou landed, his feet skidding across rubble and kicking up dust as he slowed from the incredible speed he'd been moving at, and then rushed to the edge of the building to peer over. Smoke from the other, still burning buildings floated around, mixing with the dust of the target's landing, making it nearly impossible to see.

"Whoever it is, is still down there." Vegeta said flatly, his arms crossed over his chest, "I can still feel their 'Ki'."

Gokou nodded slightly then staggered forward suddenly, dropping to one knee as something latched onto him from behind. The Servants had made it up onto the building.

---

This was impossible. No, not impossible. Gokou and his Prince were truly great warriors, so it shouldn't have been such a surprise that they would find his hiding place. He hadn't really been hidden all that well to begin with, his desire to watch the two men struggling futilely with the possessed townsfolk had overcome his common sense and instead he had relied on the confusion caused by the servants to hide him.

As Domino pushed himself up slowly into a sitting position amongst the dust and smoke, and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth with his sleeve, he reflected that it obviously hadn't been the best of his plans. He briefly wondered if it had been a fluke accident that had allowed the two men to find him, or the result of their training that allowed them to see his hidden 'Ki', then dismissed the question from his mind. Regardless of how it had happened the two Saiyan's needed to be punished for once again daring to harm him. He'd barely only recovered from the burns of the 'Ki'-blast Vegeta had thrown at him; he did not relish the thought of another injury to heal.

Domino felt himself begin to growl. Twice now these uppity Saiyan's had taken him by surprise and inflicted damage. This time the lesson he would teach them would be a hard and painful one.

As the smoke and dust finally began to dissipate, Domino climbed to his feet, tossed his now slightly unravelled braid over his shoulder and pushed his fringe out of his eyes. This time they would know the true pain of their Bond.

---

Vegeta was pressed up against the edge of the roof, surrounded by a group of Servants, slightly off balance from the feeling of empty air behind him, and on the edges of his and Kakorotto's Bond. He growled. He couldn't fall off, he couldn't fly and he couldn't blast these fools into oblivion. Quickly he let his eyes dart over to where the other man struggled against another group of Servants and felt himself growl again. Still to far away to allow Vegeta to do anything, and to busy with his own problems to help. His eyebrow barely even twitched at the thought of requiring help from his archrival, months now of having to endure the Bond finally making him realise that within the confines of the Bond, helping each other was unavoidable.

Vegeta changed his balance slightly and flinched slightly at the sounds of small stones and ash being dislodged from beneath his feet to clatter to the ground below. This was a situation Vegeta had known would happen, the constraints of the Bond against Kakorotto's insistence not to kill the innocent's Domino had possessed.

One of the Servants before him took a step forward and smirked, hefting a sturdy looking piece of wood in his hands and Vegeta realised the problem was a moot point. Kakorotto would simply have to suffer in the knowledge that Vegeta had had to kill these people for them both to survive.

Bracing himself, Vegeta began to gather his 'Ki' into his hand, melding it into a tight ball of efficient energy and preparing to take out all the Servants on the roof at once.

And then the roof dropped out from beneath him.

Taken by surprise, Vegeta released his hold on the 'Ki'-blast and instead tried to focus his 'Ki' enough to fly. And that's when the pain hit him. Instantly his concentration shattered and he was barely aware of slamming into the ground amongst the other debris from the burnt out building. All he was aware of was the burning agony that began in his chest and immediately began to spread throughout his limbs. Dimly he thought he might have heard his name but it was blocked out instantly; the pain coursing through every part of his body blinding him, deafening him, and trapping him in it's intensity.

--

"Vegeta!!"

Gokou had felt the roof tremble, heard the sound of it breaking, an instant to late. Spinning quickly, he'd had enough time to see Vegeta topple off the edge of the building before he was suddenly on one knee, clutching at his chest. Vegeta had fallen out of the limits of the Bond. How far? Gokou couldn't think straight, the pain was blinding. Vegeta, he had to get to Vegeta.

Clutching his chest harder, Gokou tried to pull himself to his feet but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder pushing him back down. He tried to resist the hand, but he felt weaker than a day old kitten, the pain seeming to sap him of his strength.

"So you can still move?" A gentle voice above him inquired, then there was a soft chuckle, "Interesting. Prince Vegeta can barely even twitch a finger at present; I guess this means your threshold for pain is higher. That is good. It will make what is to come much more fun…for me."

Gokou grit his teeth and struggled to lift his head, fighting the waves of pain that crashed into him and looked upwards into Domino's pleasantly smiling face.

"K…kisama… Where…where's…Vegeta?"

"You would like to see him? As you wish."

Gokou let out a sound of surprise as Domino lifted him suddenly by the back of his shirt and hurled him from the side of the building; briefly he felt wind flying passed him, then he let out a grunt as he crashed into a pile of loose debris. Behind him he heard Domino land, then there was a sudden explosion.

Gokou struggled to sit up as more debris began to slam into the ground around him and a fine sifting of dust filtered down over him. Before him, Domino stood, one hand pushing his fringe out of his eyes, the other resting on his hip as he watched remains of what had been the building they'd been fighting on covering the ground.

Domino turned to smile at Gokou over his shoulder, "It was in the way." He offered simply and then pointed off to the side where a group of Servants stood. "Your Prince lays amongst them."

Gokou flickered his eyes in the direction quickly, long enough to confirm that he could see Vegeta, curled in on himself, his breathing laboured, then looked back at Domino. The man was still smiling that infuriatingly congenial smile.

Gokou tried to force his brain to work through the pain. They had to defeat Domino, but he couldn't do much while he was incapacitated like he was. Somehow he had to get to Vegeta. He had to get to Vegeta and get him back on his feet so they could fight.

Pain suddenly smashed Gokou in the face, along with Domino's foot, and he found himself falling backwards to lie on his back, blood dripping down into his eyes as he stared up at Domino's pleasant expression.

"Trying to figure out how to defeat me? Attempting to think of a plan through your pain to save your friend so that you can fight me unhindered?" Domino crouched down and grabbed Gokou by the front of his top and pulled him to his feet, "I apologise, but that will not be possible."

Gokou suddenly doubled over in pain as Domino's knee connected with his stomach. The blonde man released his hold on Gokou, letting him stumble backwards a few steps, then lashed out, slamming his fist into the other man's jaw and once again hurling him backwards to land in a puff of dust and stones.

Gokou lost all thought after that. The blows came fast and strong, knocking him around the small area as if he were a helpless kickball. All he was really aware of was the pain, the pain in his chest that let him know of his connection to Vegeta. Sometimes the pain was unbearable, and he thought he would, knew he would black out. Then it would ease, almost to nothing, enough so that he could almost drag his thoughts back from where ever it was they were hiding. Then it would begin again. He tried to stay focused, but all he could focus on was Vegeta. He knew the man was hurting and, after what seemed like an eternity, he knew the precise moment the Saiyan Prince lost consciousness.

The pain fell to an ache then, if you could call the screaming agony that ran through his limbs an ache. He knew though, that he was hurting less than he had been. He didn't know how long it took him to finally get his thoughts in order again, but when he finally managed to peel his eyelids open, it was dark and he was alone. He lay, his breathing laboured, staring up at the night's sky, the smell of smoke still thick in his nostrils and pain still shuddering through his limbs.

How much of the pain was from the Bond with Vegeta, and how much from his injuries? He could feel the other man in the back of his mind when he thought about it; he was still unconscious, seeking refuge from the pain in a world of darkness. Gokou couldn't blame him; he wished he could do the same but… Gritting his teeth, Gokou twitched his arm, then rolled over; getting the limb beneath him so he could push himself up into a sitting position. Agony flared over his body, but he ignored it, a trail of fresh blood dripping down his chin telling him he had bit through his lower lip.

He could feel where Vegeta was, and he was determined to get to him. Inch, by slow inch, he pulled himself to his knees then began to drag himself across ground and rubble, closing the distance slowly but surely. He wanted to simply lie down and die, he was so sore, so tired, but he knew he couldn't. He knew he had to keep going, had to get to Vegeta to see if the man were injured. Had too. …Have too…

He almost wept with relief when he realised some of the pain was draining out of him. He had reached the ten-foot limit; the pain could only disappear now. A few moments later he felt flesh under his hand and the pain that had been constricting his chest disappeared completely, leaving behind only ghost pains, and a few sharp aches from his wounds. Later he would probably be in as much pain as he had been earlier, but for now he felt as if he'd been completely healed.

Breathing deeply, Gokou gathered Vegeta up in his arms and then staggered to his feet and looked around, peering through the moonlit darkness until he finally saw a building, or what was left of one, that would provide enough shelter until morning.

Staggering, Gokou somehow managed to drag himself and Vegeta to what turned out to be little more than the burnt out corner of a room, with a small overhang for a roof, and slumped to the ground, finally letting himself fall into blessed, black oblivion.

----

When Vegeta woke up he was unaccountably warm.

Not physically warm, but emotionally. Sleepily, he contemplated the thought and decided that it was unusual. He was sure he never woke up feeling like that, and in fact the feeling was so alien to him that he probably never had woken up with it. Rousing himself slightly Vegeta let his mind float closer to actually being awake and attempted to remember what had happened to him before he went to sleep. His memory was broken, fragmented and blurry - he could barely remember anything. The last thing he remembered clearly was sitting outside of the Son family household, discussing Freeza's domination of the Saiyan race with Kakorotto.

He floated further towards consciousness and forced himself to remember. They had been talking and then Kakorotto's eldest son had interrupted, and then had been joined by the man's bumbling friends. Then…then…

Domino!

Vegeta's mind launched straight from half-asleep, to full wakefulness in an instant. His eyes flew open and he moved to sit up, every nerve afire with tension.

He encountered one problem. He couldn't sit up; something was holding him down. Vegeta froze and let his sense's try to explain to him what was going on. All he could see was a dirty, blackened stonewall, surrounded by ashes. That answered the question of 'Where was he'. He was still at the township Domino had burnt down.

Slowly he tried to move the arm he wasn't laying on and found it was bound to his side. Ropes…? He looked down. An arm?!

A suspiciously familiar arm. Kakorotto?

After a moment of shock, Vegeta began to work at trying to pry the arm off of him enough so he could sit up. It got him nowhere and by the time he gave up he was glaring at nothing in particular and swearing, loudly, at the slumbering man behind him. Finally, Vegeta growled and tried something more drastic to wake the man up. He rammed his elbow backwards, hard, smacking Kakorotto in the chest.

Pain!

Groaning, Vegeta suddenly doubled up, clutching at his chest, he barely noticed that the arm around him had loosened its grip slightly, which would have allowed him to break free if he chose.

There was a long moment of silence as Vegeta waited for the mysterious pain to disappear, which was eventually broken by a pained voice behind him.

"There are… gentler ways…to wake someone…up…Vegeta." The other man's voice sounded laboured.

Vegeta stayed silent for a moment, contemplating all the reason's Kakorotto would be sounding like he did. He must be injured.

"Let me up." He demanded.

"…No."

Vegeta's expression went from a fixed glare, to startlement. "Kakorotto! I said, let me up!"

"And I…said no."

What the hell? Why's he…?

"Don't want too…let go…yet." Kakorotto explained, perhaps hearing Vegeta's unvoiced question, perhaps not. For once Vegeta wasn't about to mention it either. "You weren't…close…enough…yesterday. It hurt. Don't want…to let…go."

Kakorotto's breathing was becoming more laboured with every word and Vegeta was beginning to feel the telltale 'phantom' pains he got whenever the other man was injured. It was clear however, that Kakorotto was attempting to block the pain from Vegeta.

"Kakorotto..." Vegeta growled warningly, "I don't care what your reason's are, just let me go!"

Instead of loosening his grip, Kakorotto simply tightened it.

"I'm sorry."

And then Vegeta could feel it. Excruciating pain. Distress. Anxiety. Hurts. Hurts, want to pass out. Blessed darkness - away from pain. Want too; want too. Can't. Vegeta, Where's Vegeta? Have to protect him… Can't let him get hurt. To far away, can't feel him. Only feel his pain. He hurts. Hurts. I want him to stop hurting. Stop hurting. Have to stop the hurting. Have to get to him to stop the hurting. Can't reach him; want to hold him. Vegeta. Vegeta. It hurts!

Vegeta's eyes were wide and unseeing as he came out of the wave of emotion Kakorotto had accidentally swept him up in. His free hand was clutching the ground in a death grip, his body shaking and his breath's coming in short, laboured pants from the intense feelings.

Kakorotto had been worried. No, Kakorotto had been that worried. Vegeta wouldn't have thought…would never have guessed that Kakorotto would feel that intensely about his rival's safety. No matter how scatter brained the man was, or how caring for his companions, Vegeta would never have guessed that he was thought of along with them. Vegeta was all the other man had thought about while he was being beaten by Domino. Vegeta and his safety. Vegeta and his pain. Vegeta. Vegeta. Vegeta.

And it wasn't just this time. Vegeta had felt as if the feeling wasn't a new one to the other man. As if he always worried, always wanted to be there to protect him. He almost couldn't accept it. Almost couldn't…but he knew Kakorotto's emotions couldn't lie to him, not when it was as if it were his own emotions he was feeling; and not when the other man was so injured.

Vegeta blinked suddenly as he realised that when the emotions had stopped invading his senses, his awareness of the other man in the back of his mind had dulled as well. Kakorotto was unconscious.

-----

"What do you mean you don't know where they are!?"

Bulma had had a bad day. It had begun with an overly long, overly boring, overly annoying board meeting with the executives of Capsule Corp. about the year's prospective earnings and new design schedule; and had moved on to a series of potential inventions that only succeeded in exploding, imploding, and in one case making her a cappuccino. The cappuccino had been a welcome relief from the day and she had sat drinking it as she contemplated the machine that had made it. The cappuccino was well made and quite delicious; she just couldn't figure out how a machine designed to direct air traffic had made it.

After finishing her cappuccino, Bulma had given up on the machine and instead prepared for Gokou and Vegeta's scheduled 'check up'. An hour of fruitless waiting later she had finally phoned their house on Mt Paozu to see where they were - and had gotten Yamucha.

// "I'm really sorry, Bulma, but I really don't know. They got up and left yesterday and we haven't seen them since. Chichi is ropeable." //

"Well where did they go?!" Bulma demanded, tapping her foot in annoyance.

// "Oh, well there was this attack on a nearby Town and they went to check it out." //

Bulma's foot instantly stopped tapping. "They went to look at an attack, they haven't come back and you're acting this calm?!"

// "Come on, Bulma. It's Gokou and Vegeta. If they can't take care of themselves then worrying about them isn't going to help much. Look, I have to go. Chichi is looking murderous about me using her phone line. Bye~!" //

Bulma glared at the phone herself as it clicked then she heard the dial tone. What a moron. Anything could have happened to the two men!

Slamming the phone onto her desk, Bulma stalked quickly out of her 'lab' and into the gardens around the Capsule Corp. building then, pulling a small case of Capsule Corp. instant transportation capsules from her pocket, she selected one and released it, leaping in as soon as it was ready and flying up into the air, her fingers automatically clicking on the inbuilt computer to check the latest headlines as she flew.

-----

End Chapter Six.

End Author Notes: So that's Chapter Six. I know I was aiming for a month, but I guess two months isn't as bad as last time, ne? ^_^. As per request I'm gonna do some advertising for my sisters fik since a lot of people haven't realised our two fik's have anything in common. Her ID is Justice-hime and her fik is called 'A Simple Wish'. Also I finally managed ot prod her into working on it the last couple of days so, while it still has a bit of writing to go on it, the next chapter is under way.

So! I hoped everyone enjoyed this chapter~ Remember to READ and REVIEW!!