Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Catch of the Day ❯ Chapter 8

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

CATCH OF THE DAY: Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except for Kage-chan and the babies.


"This doesn't make sense," Gohan said, looking at the readings on the high tech medical device he held in his hand. "For some reason the process for Trunks is accelerated. If he survives, this phase should be over by tomorrow evening."
It had been an hour since Trunks had come back and Gohan and Goku had been spared wifely anger until he was better. Trunks was quiet now, the pain having gotten to the point where screaming wasn't even possible, just harsh breathing and whimpers.
Vegeta was curled up in a chair next to Trunks's bed with Kage snuggled next to him and Goten hovering behind the chair. Goku had disappeared a few minutes before, muttering something about senzu beans.
Goku chose that moment to reappear in the room, using instant transmission. He kept his head down, carefully not looking at Vegeta. "I got a senzu bean from Corrin. For Trunks. I was going to get one for Vegeta too, but Corrin only had one."
"Trunks is going to need it," Gohan said, taking it from Goku's hand.
"I'm gonna go make sandwiches if anyone's interested," Goku mumbled, still staring at the floor.
"I am," Gohan said.
"'Kay. I'll go make some," Goku said, leaving the room.
//Why couldn't you just leave him alone?// Gohan thought, glaring at Vegeta. //You knew he was having problems with control. Why did you have to provoke him?//
He didn't know what had happened, but he was positive Vegeta must have said or done something to deliberately anger his father. It had apparently pushed him over the edge, causing him to hit someone who couldn't defend against it.
...
Vegeta left Trunks's room a few minutes after Goku, annoyed by the hostile looks Gohan kept giving him. Goten had tried to follow him, but he had convinced the boy to stay with Trunks.
He wandered into the kitchen to get something to drink, then froze when he saw Goku. //Oh shit. I forgot about Kakarot being in here. Damn it. I've probably got Goten's scent all over me from earlier. If he smells it on me, it will set him off worse than Kage did.//
Goku turned, seeing him in the doorway. He immediately looked back at the floor, shame and guilt flooding through him. "Ve...Vegeta, I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me. I keep doing and thinking things that I shouldn't. I can't help it," he said miserably, tears starting to slowly trickle down his face.
He took a few steps towards Vegeta, his demeanor suddenly changing as he caught Goten's scent. He snarled incoherently and grabbed Vegeta, smacking him across the right side of his face, giving him an almost instant black eye.
"You little slut, his scent is all over you," Goku hissed. "He has no claim on you. You're carrying my child, that makes you mine."
He shoved Vegeta away from him, the smaller Saiyan losing his balance and ending up on his side on the floor.
Goku drew back his leg for a vicious kick aimed at Vegeta's abdomen. He was too angry and out of it to realize what would happen once his foot connected.
Vegeta's parental instincts took over, his arm shifting so his wrist intercepted the kick that probably would have killed his unborn daughter. He gave a short scream of pain as the bones shattered, then passed out.
Goku blinked a couple of times in confusion, then he paled as he realized exactly what he had just done. "Oh, Kami no," he sobbed. "I'm turning into a monster."
He ran from the house. He needed to get out and think.
...
Goten carried Vegeta's limp body into the med lab, seething with rage. When the Saiyan prince hadn't returned, he had gone looking for him. Goten was now seriously considering patricide.
He gently laid Vegeta down on one of the beds and carefully set the bones in his wrist. Then he put a small, fiberglass cast on it. He wanted to find Goku and punish him, but he knew Vegeta wouldn't want that. He didn't want or need someone fighting his battles for him.
...
Trunks regained consciousness late the next evening. The only one in the room was his father, who had fallen asleep curled up in a chair.
"Mew."
Trunks blinked and looked at the black kitten sprawled across his thighs. He slowly sat up, wondering why he didn't hurt. His father had been sore for several days after the hibernation phase.
Trunks swallowed hard and slid his hand down to his lower belly. There was already a slight swelling there. A small whimper escaped him. //Oh, Kami, this can't be happening. I'm half human and he's a big green alien. How the hell did I end up pregnant? What am I going to do? Dad's going to kill me when I tell him who the father is.//
"I see you're awake," Vegeta said quietly. "Gohan gave you a senzu bean about an hour ago."
"It looks like they should have given you one too," Trunks said, looking at his father's new injuries. "Damn it, Dad, you have to stop provoking Goku. He's in a weird mental state right now. He doesn't need you making him mad. Just leave him alone."
Vegeta stared at him, a look of shocked hurt on his face before his features shifted to anger. "Don't tell me what to do, brat," he snarled.
The door opened at that point and Chi-Chi came in with two plates stacked with sandwiches. "Good, you're both awake," she said, handing one plate to Trunks and shoving the other one at Vegeta.
"Go away, woman," Vegeta growled.
"No."
Vegeta opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped when Chi-Chi shoved a sandwich in it. "Now, hold still a minute."
Vegeta took the sandwich out of his mouth and glared at her. She unwrapped the bandage from around his head and pulled a fresh one from her pocket, efficiently replacing the old one.
Vegeta growled low in his throat, wishing she would go away. She finally did, leaving him alone with his son, who was scarfing down sandwiches like a pig. //At least his eating habits haven't gotten as bad as Kakarot's,// he thought, eating one of his own sandwiches quickly but neatly.
"Who's child is it?" he asked.
Trunks froze, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. "No," he said. "I can't talk about it now."
"Trunks-"
"Not now, Dad, please."
"Fine!" Vegeta snapped, standing up stalking out of the room. Kage jumped from Trunks's lap to follow him out. He stomped to his room, both angry and worried.
//Did he have a choice in it?// he wondered. //Or did the same thing that happened to me happen to him?//
...
Gohan stared out the window, extremely worried. Goku had left the house some time the day before and had yet to return. He knew it had something to do with Vegeta's new injuries.
"Damn it, why won't Vegeta just leave Dad alone?" he muttered angrily.
"What are you talking about?" Goten spat from the living room couch, equally angry. "Dad's the one who needs to leave Vegeta alone."
Gohan looked over at him. "It's obvious that Vegeta has been doing or saying stuff to piss Dad off. He does that a lot, but Dad can't handle it in his current state."
"No, it's not obvious," Goten said, his eyes flashing. "In case you haven't noticed, Dad's been going insane. It's possible, and likely, that Vegeta hasn't done anything."
Gohan whirled to face him. "How can you say something like that? He's our father. You have to have some faith in him."
"Why?"
"I don't believe this!" Gohan yelled. "You seem to be having some mental problems too because of Vegeta. You need to get your act together."
"Gohan-"
"No! I don't want to hear it," he shouted, leaving the room.
...
Vegeta stared out his window. He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to get worried about Goku. He had formed a friendship years ago with the man, though he had a hard time showing it. He should have been back by now.
He was angry at Goku about earlier, but knew it wasn't really his fault. The other Saiyan was being hit hard by instincts he didn't know to cope with. His human upbringing was making him fight those instincts, which just made them harder to control.
He closed his eyes and reached for the mental link between them, opening it. He gasped as a wave of emotions flooded his mind. Anger, self-hatred, disgust, guilt, confusion, and intense suicidalness. Then he got an image of Goku standing near the edge of a cliff, holding a knife in one hand.
"Oh shit!" he spat. //The moron is going to kill himself. Damn. There's two ways for me to stop this. I can give some sappy speech about it not really being his fault and that I've forgiven him. Or I can hit him over the head with something and drag him back here by his hair.//
Vegeta grinned ferally and went to find something heavy that he could use with one hand.
...
Vegeta landed quietly a few feet behind Goku, glad flying was something he could still do. Goku had lowered his power level, but he had been able to track him through the bond.
He briefly wondered where Goku had gotten the knife. It looked like one from the kitchen at Capsule Corp. //He probably used instant transmission to get it. Damn. I've got to learn how to do that some time.//
He crept toward the larger man, holding the power pole he'd taken from the guestroom Goku was using. //This is going to be fun,// he thought as he slammed the pole into the back of Goku's head with all of the strength he had left. The other Saiyan fell to the ground with a thud.
He had been right. Hitting the other Saiyan over the head had been strangely satisfying.
//No one smacks me around like a punching bag. And no threatens my family,// he thought, kicking Goku in the ribs. He was mainly pissed about Goku nearly killing his daughter. //Got that, Kakarot? My daughter, not yours. Mine. And I don't fucking belong to anyone, least of all you.//
Vegeta tucked the pole under his right arm and grabbed Goku's hair with his left hand. Then he flew back towards Capsule Corp.
...
Vegeta literally dragged Goku into the living room, where Trunks and Gohan were sitting and talking.
"What the-" Gohan said, jumping to his feet and staring slack jawed.
"I just had to stop your idiot father from killing himself," Vegeta snapped. "Take him to his room. He's going to have a nasty headache when he wakes up."
...
Goku moaned and slowly opened his eyes. Trunks and Gohan were sitting on the edge of his bed, looking worried. "Why does my head hurt so much?" he mumbled.
"Vegeta said he stopped you from killing yourself by knocking you out," Gohan said.
"Why'd he stop me?" he asked. "It would have been better if he hadn't. I'm turning into a monster."
Trunks sighed. "Don't worry about it, Goku. I've already yelled at him a little bit. I'll have a talk with him and get him to stop provoking you."
Goku went pale at that. "You shouldn't have yelled at him, Trunks. He didn't do anything."
"Oh, come on, Dad, Vegeta insults you all the time. He must have been doing it when you hit him. You're just having some problems and you reacted badly to it."
"Gohan, he didn't do anything. The first time I hit him was because that cat bit me on the rear when I had Vegeta pinned to the bed. I was going to kill it and he stopped me. It made me mad, so I hit him and threw him against the wall."
Gohan and Trunks stared at him in shock. They couldn't believe what he was telling him.
"And...and what I did yesterday, that was even worse. He had Goten's scent on him. It enraged me. I called him a slut and hit him. He fell down and I...and I kicked him. If...if he hadn't blocked it with his wrist, I would've ended up killing the baby with that kick."
Trunks stared at the ground, miserable as he thought back on the look of shocked hurt his earlier comment had caused to briefly cross his father's face. //I'm so sorry, Dad.// he thought. //I should have had more faith in you. You're pride can get you trouble sometimes, but you're not stupid.//
Goku flipped over and buried his head against the pillow, sobbing. "L-leave me alone for now."
"Okay, Dad," Gohan said softly. "Okay."
...
Trunks hesitantly went into his father's room, feeling miserable for what he had said earlier. Vegeta was once again standing in front of the window, looking out. His right arm was cradled protectively against his chest.
"Dad," Trunks said softly.
"What do you want, boy?" Vegeta asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
Trunks took a deep breath and strode over to him, turning him to face him. Then he gently pulled him into a hug, careful of his injured wrist.
Vegeta jerked back a little at the unexpected move, but Trunks held him a little tighter, keeping him close.
"What-" he started to ask, confused. He grew even more confused when he realized Trunks was crying.
"Goku told us about what happened," Trunks breathed softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have yelled at you."
He rubbed his head against his hair, careful not to touch any of his injuries. He felt sick as he thought of all his father had been through in the last month.
"It...it's okay, Trunks," Vegeta said softly, not really sure what he was supposed to do.
Even after all the time he had spent on Earth, he still didn't know how to react to physical contact that didn't involve violence. He shifted his good arm slightly, awkwardly patting Trunks on the back.
Trunks sniffled a bit. He and his father were going through the same thing now. They would need each others help.
...
A few minutes later, after Trunks had left, Vegeta went into the bathroom connected to his room, idly wondering where Goten was. Kage-chan came with him, trotting at his heels.
He stripped out of his clothes and used a few rubber bands to wrap some plastic around his cast. Then he got into the shower, turning the water as hot as he could stand it.
...
Kage followed her pet as she went into the water room. The Little One took off her artificial fur, revealing the bruises that streaked her side from when the Big Tom had made her fall.
Cat's usually landed on their feet, but her Little One was carrying a kitten and only walked on two legs. The thought of the kitten made her think of her pets other kitten. It was carrying a kitten as well. A kitten with an odd, pleasant smell. She liked the kitten and would probably like the kitten's kitten as well.
She gazed at her pet again, idly wondering why she had male bits when she was clearly female. Only females had kittens after all.
...
Vegeta left the bathroom wearing boxers and a large t-shirt that hung down to mid-thigh.
"Where've you been?" he asked as Goten came in.
"Gohan had to apologize to me about something," he said quietly. "He told me about what Dad did. I knew you didn't provoke him, but I had no idea he was this dangerous."
Vegeta shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said gruffly. "I've come up with a way to keep him away from me."
"How?" Goten demanded.
Vegeta grinned. "I'm going to sic your mother on him."
...
Kage was snuggled up on the pillow next to her pet's head when she sensed the Big Tom's presence. She opened her eyes just as he quietly opened the door and peered in. A low growl started deep in her throat.
The Big Tom gazed at her a pet, a mixture of longing and sorrow in his dark eyes. Then he left as silently as he had come.
Kage started to groom herself, then paused and began licking at the strands of Vegeta hair. Her pet doused herself with hot rain to get clean, and Kage figured it was time for her fur to get a decent wash.