Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Bound ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ/GT. But if I did Gokou and Vegeta-sama would shag all day, GT would have never existed and Yamcha wouldn't have shown such a suspicious resemblance to Gohan and Goten.

Author's notes: Here we are at the good ol' start of chapter three. W00t!

'Thank you' to all the people who killed me for the cliffhanger at the end of chapter two. ^_~. And thanks to Ian's-K for her brilliant proof/beta-ing, as ever!

Chapter Three:

Vegeta sat silently on one side of the room and watched as Piccilo, followed by Krillin and Bulma, gently put the mess that was Kakorotto on the bed.

Lost in whatever dark dreams gripped him, the earth-raised Saiyan thrashed his arms weakly and moaned; his voice raw from all the screaming he'd been doing earlier.

Vegeta shut his eyes briefly. Most of that shrieking had been done when the bigger man had still been sprawled out protectively over Vegeta and illogically the prince could still hear it. The sound echoed in his eardrums, pulsed along his nerves and throbbed in time with the phantom aches he could feel from the unconscious man.

Instinctively, Vegeta's arms came up and he hugged himself.

The fool! What business did he have taking the complete power of that blast anyway?! Did he really want to get them both killed? Kakorotto had gone too far! Vegeta wasn't some weak earthling in need of protection; he was a Saiyan! An elite! Prince of an entire race of proud Warriors!

Gokou moaned again, brokenly, and Vegeta's eyes snapped back open and fixed on him. He could barely see the man through the caked blood and seeping cuts. Anywhere actual skin was visible it was nothing but bright red blistering burns, frail flakes that split and oozed as the man tried to move.

Vegeta's hands began to rub at his arms absently as he tried to block out the pain of Kakorotto's wounds. His own injuries paled in significance to the other man's and Vegeta was finding it hard to not be guilty about it. He should have those wounds too. He, Vegeta, should be in just as bad shape, probably worse, not perched on the edge of a second bed with light scratches and insignificant area's of mildly scalded flesh.

"Ve..Vegeta…" Gokou managed to get the word out of his torn throat and the prince's eyebrow twitched. He didn't want this. Didn't want Kakorotto's protection, his concern, his pity. He didn't want the other man hurt because of him. He could have handled it; he would have survived the blast. It would have hurt, but he would have lived. Kakorotto didn't have to…

"Krillin!!" The single door to the room flew open and Kakorotto's oldest son crashed through it, breathing hard. "I've got…got the beans."

The boy had immediately left to seek out Korrin and get some of the energy giving Senzu beans as soon as the dust had settled and the state Kakorotto was in had been revealed. Now he rushed across the room, his horrified eyes pinned to his father as he handed the slim bag to Krillin.

Still rubbing his arms, Vegeta watched agitatedly and wished they'd just hurry up.

---

"Gokou! Gokou! Come on, man! Wake up a little, you need to eat this."

Red.

Everything was red. Blinding. Glaring. Couldn't think… Why couldn't he move? Where was he? What had happened?

Red.

All he could remember was red. Red and…and he had to…to protect…protect…had to protect… Vegeta!

Where was Vegeta? Was he hurt? Have to find him!

Gokou struggled to move, to sit up. "Ve…Vegeta?!" his voice was rough, his throat raw. Had he been screaming?

Hands. There were hands trying to hold him down. Off! Get off. Vegeta!

"Gokou! Gokou, he's alright - You have to eat this!" something was pushed against his lips, but he pushed it away, still struggling to sit up.

"Where's…where's Vegeta!?" Hurts… Still can't see…still red.

A second set of hands joined the first, holding him down. He struggled harder.

"Gokou, he's fine - he's right here. Vegeta, damnit! Say something, he has to eat this!"

There was a tense silence then footsteps. "Give me that!"

Gokou suddenly stopped struggling. He knew that voice.

"Kakorotto! Hurry up and eat this so we can get out of here!"

Whatever it was they were insisting he eat was shoved roughly into his mouth and then a gloved hand clamped his jaw shut.

"Vegeta! You'll choke him!"

"Shut up, woman! Do you want him to eat it or not?!"

Vegeta! He was safe.

Gokou finally complied and slowly, painfully chewed and swallowed the object in his mouth. A moment later he opened his eyes, as the healing properties of the senzu kicked in, and looked around the room.

---

The Senzu beans were wondrous things and they ever amazed Vegeta. Even more so this time as he watched Kakorotto's entire body knit itself back together in a matter of seconds. Cuts sealed themselves, red aching skin cleared and the many places where his limbs had looked like nothing but raw meat fixed themselves in good order, and soon the pains Vegeta felt were merely his own.

"Gokou, are you alright?" The blue haired woman clutched at Kakorotto's arm, staring anxiously at his face as if she could read the answer there.

The man blinked once, regaining his senses, then focused immediately on Vegeta.

Relief.

The emotion washed over Vegeta as he stared into Kakorotto's eyes and the prince glared, retrieving his tingling fingers from where they had still been resting against the man's jaw.

"Gokou?" Bulma tried again and he finally looked away from Vegeta and focused on her.

"I'm alright, Bulma. What happened? I only remember seeing the blast coming…"

There was an immediate cacophony of sound as Bulma, Krillin and Gohan tried to answer at once. Gokou laughed and held up his hand for silence and then pointed at Krillin.

The small man rubbed his hand through his short hair. "All we saw was the blast. It went straight down and made the entire area explode. When everything settled and we managed to get to you though…" Krillin hesitated and his eyes flickered to Vegeta with a strange look, "You'd thrown yourself over Vegeta and taken the entire thing yourself. You were a mess…"

Gokou laughed lightly, "I feel like I was a mess. Gohan," Gokou reached out and ruffled his son's hair, "thank you for getting the Senzu so quickly."

"How did you get yourself into that kind of situation?!" Bulma demanded, her composure back now that she knew Gokou was fine, "You both know you shouldn't be fighting in the condition you're in!"

"Bulma! We're Bonded, not dying." Gokou protested but Bulma would have none of it.

"Krillin told me what that Domino man said about your Bond. If something happens to one of you the other will die too! You shouldn't have been so foolish! You should have left and not tried to fight!"

"We didn't really have a choice, Bulma." Gokou scratched the back of his head with one hand, "And I didn't really expect him to be that powerful."

As they spoke, Vegeta retreated silently across the room again. There had been a flicker of…something in Kakorotto's eyes when Bulma had mentioned the possibility of dying. He'd glanced at Vegeta quickly then away, not even pausing with his response.

If one dies, the other does too. Had Vegeta been wrong about the man's motivation for protecting him? Vegeta clenched his hand and held it tight against his leg. Had Kakorotto only been looking out for his own continued existence? It didn't seem like a very Kakorotto thing to do…except; how would he fight Domino if he were dead?

Had Kakorotto taken the full power of the blast to make sure Vegeta didn't die, so that he would have a chance to fight the one who'd thrown it?

Of course. Why else would someone, even Kakorotto, do something so foolish for Vegeta's protection? It wasn't some misguided feeling of affection making Kakorotto care if the prince lived or died. It was simply his desire for battle.

Another simple, yet horribly obvious, realisation hit Vegeta - hard.

Kakorotto hadn't thought Vegeta would survive.

Vegeta had been worried about the man, had felt guilty that he'd allowed himself to be protected when it wasn't needed and all the while Kakorotto had deemed it necessary to risk himself in the blast because he thought Vegeta was weak.

He… I… Vegeta suddenly felt empty. Empty and cold, then the anger came. Weak! I am not weak! I am a prince! An elite! I am not weak!

A sudden splintering of wood and a stunned silence brought Vegeta out of his thoughts and made him aware that his hand was now partway lodged in the wall. And he was growling.

Damn you, Kakorotto! Vegeta yanked his hand out of the wall, pieces of wood cluttering to the floor, and turned to face the third-class fool.

"Are you finished here, Kakorotto!?"

"I…ahhh…I guess…" Gokou replied, bewildered.

"You are not going anywhere!" Bulma butted in and jumped to her feet, "What if Domino is out looking for you?!"

Vegeta didn't even listen to the woman. Simply turned to the doorway and began to leave.

"Vegeta! Shouldn't you at least take a Senzu?" Gokou queried not moving from where he still sat on the bed.

Vegeta growled, "I don't need one of those things!" he bit out then resumed his exit. Kakorotto could be damned if he wanted to stay there, Vegeta was leaving, Bond or no Bond.

The pain had barely begun in his chest however, when it eased again and Kakorotto appeared, following along silently behind him.

*=+=*

"Did anything about that seem a little odd to you guys?" Krillin asked slowly as he stared at the now empty doorway.

"Gee Krillin. Do you mean from the moment we got Gokou in here, the fact that the only one who could calm him was Vegeta, or when Vegeta put his hand through the wall?" Bulma replied, her voice thick with sarcasm.

"All of it." Krillin said seriously and looked at Gohan and Piccilo, "Even that whole conversation with Domino was strange."

Gohan shifted uncomfortably, "That was really odd."

"What? What about it was odd?" Bulma's eyes moved from Krillin to Gohan, then to Piccilo.

"The way Domino was talking to them." Krillin said slowly, speculatively, "It was like he was goading them and hinting at something going on."

"Something like what?"

Krillin frowned in thought, going over the conversation again and the implications.

"He kept saying my dad liked Vegeta." Gohan said with a shrug and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Bulma was puzzled. "Liked? What's so odd about that, we all know that Gokou likes Vegeta."

"Like mum likes dad."

Bulma's mouth formed a small O, "That's impossible."

"And highly unlikely besides." Krillin added.

"That Domino is a madman." Bulma declared with a snort and then headed to the door, "Come on, guys. I'll get you something to eat."

As the others filed out of the room, Piccilo watched silently then headed for the window. It was good that Gokou's friends had such faith in him - but Piccilo wasn't so sure he shared it.

*=+=*

"Vegeta?"

Gokou was following Vegeta as the man walked through the Capsule corp. complex; Gokou knew the path and wasn't surprised when they ended up at the doorway to the Gravity Chamber.

"What?!" Vegeta snapped, not bothering to look up as he keyed in the access code to open the door.

"You're mad at me." Gokou stated.

No reply.

Vegeta was tense. Had been since half way though Gokou's conversation with Bulma - Gokou just didn't know why.

The two men entered the Gravity Chamber quickly and Gokou jumped as the door slammed shut behind him then went back to watching Vegeta. Gokou couldn't believe he was going to start training. Vegeta wasn't in any state to be doing any kind of fighting. He was covered in burn marks, cuts and bruises; he was noticeably favouring his left arm and was walking with quite a limp. He needed to take a Senzu bean, so why had he refused it?

"Vegeta?" He tried again.

"Be quiet, Kakorotto!" Vegeta spun to face him and Gokou took a half step back at the fury, and some other unidentifiable emotion, that raged in his eyes. "Just sit down, and be quiet. I don't want to hear your voice, I don't want to see your face and I don't want to know you are even here!"

Gokou's eyes went wide as Vegeta abruptly turned back to the Gravity chamber's controls then simply slumped to the floor.

What had he done? Was Vegeta mad at him because he'd taken the full Ki-blast that Domino had aimed at them? Gokou pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them, wrapping his arms around his legs. He couldn't have stopped himself from doing it. He knew Vegeta could handle it but… He'd acted instinctively. He had to protect Vegeta, especially now that he was weakened by having to stay close to his rival.

Weakened? Gokou buried his head in his knees to muffle his groan. Weakness was something that Vegeta would not tolerate and, he realised, in trying to protect him, Gokou had inadvertently brought the subject up. Now the prince had something to prove.

How was he going to fix this? Gokou looked up at where Vegeta was now pushing himself through a series of warming up exercises and did the only thing he could think of.

"Vegeta, I'm sorry."

---

Vegeta turned back to the Gravity Chamber's control panel and contemplated the dials. He shouldn't have yelled. Impotent anger is what had spurred him to it and all he's succeeded in doing was proving he really was weak. No!

Vegeta thumped his hand on the panel then set the gravity at 100. It was an insignificant number, but about all he could handle in his current state. Like Gokou, he had noticed the full extent of his injuries on the short walk across the capsule corp. complex and he grudgingly admitted that anything stronger and he would probably fall flat on his face. He couldn't allow that, not in front of Kakorotto. He had to prove his strength, not make a fool of himself.

I am not weak! Vegeta moved away from the control panel and began a series of warm-ups, using the phrase as a near mantra. I am not weak! I am the Prince of the Saiyan race and no third-class soldier will imply otherwise!

He stumbled slightly as he came down to hard on his bad leg but ignored the pain and continued.

I am strong. I have the blood of Kings in my veins. Proud warriors! Strong fighters!

"Vegeta."

I told you to be quiet!

"I'm sorry."

Vegeta, his back to the other man, stopped moving instantly, his hands dropping to hang by his sides.

The words hung in the almost deafening silence and then Vegeta let his hands curl into fists again.

"I thought I told you to be quiet, Kakorotto!"

Gokou flinched at the words but persisted. "I know. But I'm sorry. I didn't mean too…" Gokou bit his tongue suddenly. He knew better then to say it out loud; that would just make it worse. He had to try a different tact.

"I was scared, when I saw the blast coming. It was to late to get away and I didn't know if you'd seen it or not. Taking the blast was the only thing I could think of, I didn't want you to get hurt." Gokou was admitting everything to his knees. He refused to look up at Vegeta, didn't want to see his apology rebuffed as so many before it had been.

Silence.

Vegeta was feeling a rush of confusing emotions.

So Kakorotto had proved him wrong. Again. He hadn't been insinuating Vegeta was weak. Hadn't been making certain he'd stay alive to fight Domino. He'd simply been protecting a fellow fighter. Vegeta's shoulders were knotted with tension.

Kakorotto had only been acting like his true simple, idiot self. And true to form he was snivelling for forgiveness the instant he realised his error.

But Vegeta felt better. Perhaps Kakorotto had been…worried for him?

Vegeta suddenly let his muscles relax.

"Kakorotto."

Behind the prince, Gokou's head jerked up hopefully.

"I no longer feel like training. Get up so we can leave."

A delighted grin spread across Gokou's face and he was on his feet in seconds, "Right! Ahhh… Vegeta?"

Vegeta finished switching off the gravity machine and turned to glare at Gokou, "What?"

"Do you want a Senzu now?" Gokou asked hopefully.

Vegeta glared, but Gokou grabbed at the sash around his waist and presented a small bean for Vegeta's inspection.

"Since I have it here?"

"Fine!" Vegeta snapped finally and grabbed the thing out of Gokou's hand as he passed him, a brief bolt of feeling shooting up his arm at the contact, and swallowed it as he headed out the door, "Anything to make you shut up."

*=+=*

"Eleven feet." Bulma turned from her computer and confirmed her earlier declaration to one Saiyan Prince's complete dismay.

"So what Domino said is true?! The distance is getting smaller?" Vegeta demanded and Bulma nodded firmly.

"You saw it as well as I did, that was eleven feet."

"And the pain was more intense then it was before too." Gokou cut in quietly.

Vegeta growled, "Have you come up with any idea's about how to get rid of this infernal Bond yet, woman?!"

Bulma's hackles lifted and she glared at the Saiyan prince, "No I haven't, but certainly not for lack of trying! It's not like I can simply pull a solution out of thin air you know! I still don't even know what level the Bond is on!"

"It's bound our Ki together you stupid woman! That's quite obvious!"

"Oh, obvious is it?! Then maybe you'd like to pinpoint where exactly in your aura's the connection is so I can see it!"

Vegeta glared at Bulma furiously.

"I thought so." Bulma crossed her arms over her chest superiorly. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to do." The woman glared at the two Saiyan's till Gokou finally, with a tired look at Vegeta, left the room; forcing the angry prince to follow.

Damned woman. Presuming to act superior around him, a Prince! If she spent less time arguing with her superiors and more time actually working on their problem it might have been solved by now. But of course the woman wouldn't, she probably had no concept of how important her job was anyway. Did she even understand how dangerous this entire situation was?

"Be quiet."

Vegeta blinked and stared at Gokou as if the man had gone insane, "What?"

Gokou stopped walking and turned to look at Vegeta, rubbing his temple in an attempt to ease the tension there, "You're giving me a headache." Gokou said just as quietly as he'd told the prince to be quiet.

What the hell was this third-class moron on about? "I haven't said anything since we left that woman, Kakorotto." Vegeta said levelly.

Gokou stared at Vegeta blankly, still rubbing his temple, "You've been complaining about Bulma since we left. Could you just give it a rest for once?"

Vegeta was suddenly speechless. Kakorotto had heard what Vegeta had been thinking as they walked? How? How long had he been able to do that? Since the Bond? Like Vegeta had been able to feel Kakorotto's pain, or even his presence? It hadn't occurred to Vegeta that Kakorotto would be able to do that too. What had he heard? "I haven't said anything." Vegeta growled and Gokou's expression turned uncharacteristically irritated.

"Fine, you haven't said anything. Just do me a favour and not say it more quietly."

Vegeta wasn't sure how to react. Normally he'd address the fact that Kakorotto was picking his thoughts out of his head, and probably had been for the past month, except that there was something wrong. Kakorotto never acted like this. Vegeta had never heard him tell anyone to be quiet much less grow irritated with them.

"Could we just go somewhere quiet?" Gokou said finally into the tense silence and Vegeta simply nodded, his eyes pinned to the other man assessively.

He wasn't really surprised when Kakorotto led him out of the city to the place by the river that he favoured; it just confirmed to Vegeta that the man had something on his mind.

Settling himself on his rock, Vegeta wondered why he should even care. It was Kakorotto after all, not anybody important. …Except that it was Kakorotto. The man didn't have an irritable bone in his body so why was he acting so…well…bad tempered?

The two men sat in complete silence, Vegeta studying Gokou silently and Gokou, his knees loosely drawn up to his chest, frowning at the grass between his feet.

The air was tense and, unsurprisingly, it was Vegeta who finally snapped, his hackles up from the complete wrongness of the situation.

"What is it!?" Vegeta glared at Gokou, startling the man out of his thoughts.

Gokou's eyes snapped to Vegeta then widened, his expression turning regretful, "I'm sorry, Vegeta. I didn't mean to snap at you earlier."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed, "I could care less, Kakorotto. Now explain yourself."

Gokou shook his head slowly and then shrugged, his entire demeanour seeming to change in an instant. "It's nothing at all, Vegeta. Hey, do you think Chichi will let us grab something to eat?" As he spoke, the earth raised Saiyan rose to his feet and grinned, "I'm starved!!"

Vegeta growled faintly but also rose to his feet. Nothing could stop Gokou on a quest for food and Vegeta had learnt to not even try.

*=+=*

Yamcha glared at his watch briefly then flicked his eyes back to the road before him in time to narrowly avoid careening into the side of a braking truck.

A lucky miss. He had no idea what he'd do if he crashed this car; he hadn't even finished paying it off yet and his bank manager had started refusing to see him.

His quick glance at his watch had managed to do only one thing, other than nearly cause a crash; it had proved, without a doubt, that Yamcha was very, very late.

Hopefully his date, Celli, wasn't too mad. He was only running a little behind, only about…45 minutes.

Maybe he should have picked up some flowers - and chocolates. Chocolates always went down well…

It was too late now though.

By the time Yamcha had brought his car around the final corner of his journey, in a death defying spin that almost made him collect a Van, a Mailbox and two pedestrians, and hurriedly parked, he was bordering on an hour late. Celli was going to be furious.

And she was.

Celli, a small, blonde girl dressed in a pink and yellow mini-dress and matching shoes, was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, one high-heel clad foot was tapping the footpath impatiently and if looks could kill, Yamcha didn't really trust his chances for survival.

"You're late!" Celli growled in greeting as Yamcha stepped out of his car.

He laughed nervously, "I know, Celli. I'm sorry, I couldn't get away faster and then all this traffic got in my way."

"Get away from where?"

"Oh. I was just…ahhh…visiting some friends. Their house is quite far…uhmm…out of town." In truth, Yamcha had been out at the tiny island that held Kame house, catching up on events from Krillin. He'd ended up staying so long that he'd barely had enough time to fly back to his house, get changed and begin the drive across town.

Celli glared at Yamcha for a little while longer then relaxed, latching onto Yamcha's arm and snuggling close to him. "So should we get going? You promised me dinner, right?"

"Ahhh…" Celli's sudden change in attitude caught Yamcha off balance, "Ahhh…yeah. I did."

"Well let's go then! We're going to Mardukes."

"M…Mardukes?" Yamcha yelled the word, catching the attention of a few passers-by, "I… But… That's…"

Celli's grip on his arm tightened slightly and her expression turned slightly icy, "Are you saying 'No'? After you left me standing here for an hour?"

Yamcha groaned internally and gave in, "No, of course not. Let's go." And with a sinking heart and wondering how he was going to explain this to his credit card company, he escorted his girlfriend to the most expensive restaurant in the area.

---

In the end, Yamcha had ended up buying Celli flowers. After the marginally filling and outrageously expensive meal at Mardukes, Celli had insisted on taking a walk through town and, after spotting the beautiful bouquet, had insisted Yamucha buy them for her. With a regretful glance at his slim wallet, Yamucha had given in easily and bought the flowers and given them to the girl himself complete with a smile and gallant kiss on the cheek. Celli had blushed rosily and, to Yamucha's relief, he realised he was finally off the hook for being late. Afterwards they had continued their walk and were now strolling quietly through a peaceful and delightfully private park, only dimly lit with sporadic street lamps.

"Yamucha. I had a great time tonight." Celli's voice floated up from where she was snuggled securely against her date's side with his arm around her shoulders.

"Yea…yeah. Me too." Yamucha said and tightened his grip on her.

"I'm sorry I made you spend so much money on dinner." Celli offered after a moment.

Yamucha laughed quietly, "It was my own fault for being late."

"Well then, I hope you learnt your lesson." Celli glanced up at Yamucha so he could see her eyes sparkling with amusement.

Her eyes were really quite beautiful. Normally they were a deep blue but tonight, with the thin light from the street lamps and the brighter light of the moon they seemed to glow violet. Before he quite knew what he was doing, Yamucha stopped walking and pulled the girl around to face him, bringing his head down and pressing his lips gently against hers. It was delightful. Her lips were soft and, with barely a hesitation, they responded to his gentle enquiry and parted giving him permission to make the kiss deeper. Encircling her completely in his arms, Yamucha did just that and suddenly he didn't mind so much about the expensive dinner or even the flowers. All that really mattered was the girl in his arms and the feelings that coursed through him.

It was a pity then that, as Yamucha lost himself in the kiss, someone was creeping up behind him and before he even realised there was someone else nearby he was slumping to the ground unconscious; a sharp, burning feeling at the back of his neck plunging him painfully into darkness.

*=+=*

Chichi staggered slightly under the weight of the two overflowing grocery bags she carried precariously in each arm and paused for a moment in her hike home to regain her balance. After all she had gone through four years ago to get Gokou his drivers licence so she wouldn't have to tramp into town once a week to replenish supplies she was doing it once again. All thanks to that annoying wish and the bond to Vegeta it had created. Why the two men couldn't help with the shopping was beyond her, it was only a short trip and between the two of them, Chichi was sure they could figure out what they were doing.

Chichi entertained herself briefly with a fantasy of being able to stay at home while Gokou and Vegeta did the shopping. The fantasy was abruptly halted however when she realised that asking the two men to do something, even as simple as shopping, together would probably result in the destruction of half the city. Chichi sighed and, hefting the bags a little higher for a better grip, began her journey once again.

"Uhmm… Excuse me?"

Surprised, Chichi turned and regarded the teenage girl who was addressing her. The girl looked like she was out for a run, dressed in a loose blue and yellow tracksuit and removing a set of headphones from her ears.

"Are you alright there?" the girl asked, "Would you like some help?"

Chichi glared at the girl suspiciously then sighed, "I'm going to far. I live nearly an hour's walk from here. But thank you."

"An hour?! You must live quiet far up in the mountains. Are you sure you don't want some help? I don't mind, an hour's walk is just as much exercise as an hours jogging."

"Well…."

"Don't worry," The girl stepped forward and took one of the bags from Chichi and smiled brightly, "I won't steal it. I have all the food I could possible want at home, even a whole supermarket if I wanted one."

Chichi stared, "A whole supermarket!?"

"Sure!" The girl began walking along the road, "Papa always buys me what I want and a supermarket would barely cost anything."

"So your family's rich?" Chichi demanded and hurried to catch up to the girl.

"Oh, I wouldn't say rich." The girl grinned back at Chichi, "Just…comfortable."

"Comfortable?" Chichi looked the girl up and down. The clothing was certainly of good make and she talked like she came from good breeding. "How many rooms does your house have?"

"Rooms?" The girl looked slightly perplexed, "Well I don't know. Which house? We're staying at our holiday home in West city at the moment and I think that has about twenty rooms, but our main house on Ferule Island has so many I've never been able to count them. I used to go exploring when I was little but I still don't think I've seen all of them."

Chichi felt her mouth go wide as the girl spoke then smiled and held out a hand to her, "My name's Chichi."

The girl blushed rosily, "I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Deejay."

The two women shook hands as they proceeded up into the mountains and Chichi decided that maybe it wasn't so bad that Gokou hadn't been able to drive her into town. This time.

---

Vegeta was lazing with his back against a rock and his feet crossed before him. Eleven feet away to the left and slightly in front of him, Gokou sat cross-legged and watching alertly.

What he was watching was a three-year-old Goten and a four-year-old Trunks circling each other in mid-air, Super Saiyan energy crackling around them as they waited for an opportunity to attack.

Further still to the left, and also floating in mid-air, was Gohan. He was watching the two smaller Super Saiyans and waiting for his own opportunity to attack. At the most inconvenient time he could manage with as much surprise as possible.

Vegeta was so bored he was nearly asleep and indeed, the only thing keeping him awake was the short bursts of excitement he was feeling from Kakorotto every few moments as the battle between their children progressed.

Another, intense, burst of said mentioned emotion finally made Vegeta give in and open his eyes, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the light and glanced upwards. It wasn't a very exciting fight in Vegeta's eyes, but he was pleased to note that Trunks was winning.

"Kakorotto! How much longer are we going to sit around wasting our time? We should be training ourselves, not watching those brats play!"

Gokou pulled his eyes away from the battle above for a moment and glanced back at Vegeta, "But this is important too. We'll probably need everyone we can get when things heat up and I don't think we're going to be much help."

"Nonsense! If you want to give them real training then they should be sparring against us, not each other!"

"I want to see how well they do fighting against Gohan first." Gokou said firmly and turned back to his study of the battle, which now had Gohan deeply involved.

Vegeta swore and slumped back against the rock behind him. Here they were watching children fight play battles while somewhere out in the world, Domino was gathering his forces, getting stronger and who knew what else. It was true that in a couple more months Vegeta and Kakorotto would be unable to help much, but that was why they should be searching for Domino now. Not wasting time.

"I know how you feel, Vegeta." Gokou said over his shoulder, startling Vegeta. "But this is more important. Domino won't let us find him till he wants to be found so we have no choice but to prepare for it the only way we can."

Vegeta scowled. Kakorotto was picking his brain again! "Stay out of my head, Kakorotto!"

Gokou shot Vegeta a frown over his shoulder before looking upwards again, "What are you talking about?"

"Stop picking the thoughts out of my head, idiot."

"I'm not."

Vegeta growled. The imbecile didn't even realise he was doing it. What did he think? That Vegeta had suddenly decided to open up and share his thoughts with the world? Actually, he probably did, and Vegeta had no idea how he was supposed to explain what Kakorotto was doing and get him to stop.

Scowling deeply again, Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and then resolutely shut his eyes again, blocking out everything around him.

----

"Thank you for the help." Chichi said with a rare smile and put the last tin from the groceries into the cupboard.

"It was no trouble at all, Chichi." Deejay leaned on the counter and grinned, looking around. "This is a really nice place. Cosy."

"Thank you." Chichi said, not sure if she should be proud or not.

"I mean it!" Deejay said with a laugh at the uncertain look on Chichi's face. "I expected that small houses would be pokey and annoying, but this is really nice!" Her tone turned musing, "I should get Papa to buy me one."

"Oh… Would you like some tea?" Chichi asked after a moment of silence and Deejay nodded enthusiastically then jumped slightly in surprise as the door behind her flew open.

"Nah-aahh!! I wasso winning until Gohan started helping you!"

"But Gohan wasn't anywhere near you when I knocked you down…"

"…Because I was trying to get my hair out of my eyes. I think it's time for another haircut."

As Deejay watched, three young boys raced into the house and threw themselves onto various pieces of furniture around the small lounge and were followed inside by two older men. A split second later Chichi had marched passed Deejay and had he hands on her hips, glaring at the group.

"I just cleaned in here this morning! Out! I don't want any of you in here until you've bathed and changed! NOW!"

"Sorry, Chichi." One of the men, with spiky hair, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and the herd of children chased each other back out of the house followed by one of the men who paused in the doorway and looked back at the spiky-haired man.

"Hurry up, Kakorotto."

"In a minute. Hi!" the one called 'Kakorotto' presented his hand to Deejay and shook hers when she took it. She stared at his hand in amazement - it felt like he as being horribly gentle with her except that the grip was already tight. "I'm Gokou. That's Vegeta," he gestured back over his shoulder with his chin at the other man, who'd moved closer as the first man had moved, "And the kids were Gohan, Trunks and Goten; Oldest to youngest. Are you a friend of Chichi's?"

"Ahhh… I… We just met an hour or so ago…" Vegeta had called the man Kakorotto, but he'd introduced himself as Gokou. Maybe 'Kakorotto' was a nickname?

"She helped me carry the groceries home." Chichi said in irritation and moved back into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"Oh! Thanks for that." Gokou grinned and peered over Deejay's head, into the kitchen. "What did you get?"

"Kakorotto!"

"I was just… Oh alright. We should get the kids some clean clothes before we go back out though, so they're not running naked through the house with a guest here."

Deejay blinked as the two men disappeared through another doorway and then turned around and watched Chichi bustle around the kitchen. That had been quite strange, certainly an odd family. Three kids, two men and a woman, it didn't really add up quite right. And why was Vegeta following Gokou so closely? Certainly both of them weren't needed to get the kids some clean clothes. Deejay suddenly grinned. Two of them weren't needed unless of course, they wanted to be alone.

So that was why Chichi had been sent off to town to get groceries without help. Obviously she was the family's maid. Amazing! The three boys shared both the men's features so they must have had some sort of third party implantation done so that the children were both of theirs. So romantic! "Wow!"

Chichi paused as she took the kettle carefully off of the stove and set it on the bench, "Wow?"

"Yes! It's great what's going on here! What an amazing family! So romantic! You must be so proud!"

"I… Proud of them? I suppose so…" Chichi looked uncertain again and Deejay laughed.

"I guess that's why you all live so far away from the city then, most people wouldn't be very tolerant in the city and you get to be yourselves out here."

"Well, yes we do. Err… How many sugars?"

Deejay grinned again, "Two, please. I'm so happy I met you today! It's not often you come across this kind of thing. It's so romantic when couples are that devoted to each other. Wow. Three kids!"

Chichi wasn't exactly sure what Deejay was talking about, but she did catch the misapprehension at the end. "Oh no. Trunks is Vegeta's son."

"Oh! But he's only a little older than Goten, isn't he?" Deejay asked as Chichi handed her a cup of tea and they sat down at the table.

"Yes. Just a little over a year."

Deejay frowned, "So Vegeta was playing around then?"

Chichi coughed as she took a sip of her tea and stared over at Deejay, "Well… Yes, I guess he was."

"And after you all had obviously been together for so long too! Well I guess everything turned out alright, but still!"

Chichi was now completely lost and was about to get Deejay to explain herself when Gokou and Vegeta came back into the room. To Deejay, Vegeta looked highly irritated and cast Deejay a contemptuous look. Looks like someone didn't get any cause they have a guest. Deejay smirked and then turned her back on them. Serves him right for not being loyal.

"We're going out now Chichi. Bye… uhhh?"

"Deejay." Deejay turned back around to cast Gokou a smile and ignored Vegeta. "Is it alright if I come around again some time? To see Chichi?"

Gokou blinked then shrugged. "That's up to Chichi. Come on, Vegeta."

Deejay grinned and turned back to Chichi, "Can I?"

"Of…of course. It would be nice to have someone else to talk too."

"Great!" Deejay grinned and contentedly began to drink her tea.

*=+=*

Yamucha woke up slowly, blinking to get the grit out of his eyes and then groaning as the pain in the back of his head made itself known.

Carefully he tried to move his shoulders to relieve the tension and a blinding pain shot down his arms to rest in his shoulders.

Ignoring the pain, Yamucha snapped his head upwards in shock. He was hanging from a wall by his wrists - why?

Slowly he looked around. A dungeon? No way! What was a dungeon doing even existing in this day-and-age?

Groaning, he put his feet under him and was relieved to note that he wasn't being forced to simply hang from his wrists. He sucked in a pained breath as his hands began to sting from the renewal of blood flow.

Where was he? Where was Celli? And what had happened? The last thing he remembered was being in the park with Celli, then a sharp pain in the back of his neck.

Yamucha pulled on is chains to test their strength, then gave it up. He neglected his training too much in the past few years to break from the chains easily and he had a feeling they were designed so that he couldn't break them anyway.

Back to square one. Where was he? The dungeon was completely uninteresting. Four stonewalls, one with a door, the rest with chains. The chains in the wall directly across from the door were holding Yamucha.

His eyes moved back from their search of the room to stare at the door as, from the other side, there was a crash as if something heavy was being moved out of the way, and then the door swung open.

"Ahhh, I see that you have finally awoken." A tall man in loose purple and black clothing walked lightly into the room and the door closed itself behind him.

Yamucha narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man. He had a long blonde braid that he flipped absently over his shoulder as he stopped walking. His eyes were dark and in the dim dungeon's light seemed to flick from cold silver to violet. Most importantly though, was that the entire left side of the man's face was red, as if he'd spent to much time out in the sun… Or as if he'd been caught by surprise by a Ki blast and it was only half healed.

"Domino." Yamucha growled before he could even think to stop himself and the blonde smiled faintly.

"I see that introductions are not required then. Either you are much more perceptive than you first appear or your friends managed to describe my appearance quite accurately. I imagine it is the latter rather than the former."

"Bastard!" Yamucha ignored the mans condescending tone and pushed himself away from the wall, "What do you want? Where's Celli!?"

Domino lifted an amused eyebrow, "Celli is quite safe - her mission was a success after all so I have no reason to harm her. And as to why you are here… I have need of a contact close to the Saiyan's therefore I have decided to recruit you."

Yamucha fell back against the wall. Celli…was a Servant? That was… That was impossible! He'd known her longer than Domino had been around. And the fool wanted Yamucha to work for him? Never! He'd never betray Gokou!

"I'd never do anything for you!"

Domino looked mildly surprised. "I am sorry. I seem to have given you the impression that you have a choice in the matter." He stepped forward, closing the gap between Yamucha and himself, and slipped his right hand up under Yamucha's shirt, splaying his fingers across the mans lower back, "You do not."

Yamucha tried to jerk away from the touch but he was trapped against the wall. Domino's final words were drowned out as Yamucha's head filled with a deafening roaring. He felt as if he were being crushed. His breathing quickly became short gasps as he tried to control the pain and he closed his eyes to concentrate. Then the world suddenly dropped out from beneath him and he was falling…

Domino's lips twitched into a small smile of satisfaction and he stepped away from his victim, removing his hand.

"Stand up and name yourself." He demanded quietly.

Yamucha hung limply in his bounds for a moment and then stood up and opened his eyes. In the dim light they seemed to flicker to violet for a moment and then they returned to normal. "My…name?"

Domino waited, pushing his long fringe out of his eyes.

"I am…Yamucha. Servant of Domino."

---

End Chapter Three!

*Bounces around with bright eyes* Oh! This is fun!! Don't forget to Review!!