Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Crossroads ❯ Unexpected ( Chapter 7 )

"How long are you going to stay here?"
Bulma almost hit her forehead on the panel in front of her, jerking at Vegeta's voice. She hadn't even heard him entering the room, so engrossed had she been in her work. "Until I'm finished," she answered belatedly and blinked up to her lover tiredly.
Vegeta frowned. "What's there to finish? You've been here the whole week."
It had been ten days since the last disastrous attempt with the machine Bulma still hasn't given a name to, and the rest of the staff simply called it 'Portal' for lack of anything else. Since then the device had been dismantled, checked, re-checked, tested and been assembled again, with no answers to what had gone wrong. The only thing Bulma found in the files monitoring the energy output was a minor power fluctuation, not even enough to trigger the safety shutdown.
And for the last two days he'd seen close to nothing of her, when she came to bed early in the mornings she was already half-asleep, and as soon as she woke up she headed back to the lab.

"Get up!" He said curtly, hauling her up to her feet and ignoring her feeble struggling. "Stop it!" he snapped, glaring at her. "You've gone through each part and function how many times now? Six? Seven? It's enough! If you haven't found anything yet, you won't now."
Bulma glared at him but had to admit he was right. She almost couldn't look straight anymore from trying to concentrate for hours without taking a break, and she felt leaden with exhaustion. Still, the uncertainty nagged at her, she hated it when she didn't get definite answers to a problem. She slumped against his chest and closed her eyes, feeling the frustration seeping out of her to be replaced by the warmth and sense of security she always felt when with Vegeta.

"Look," he said quietly, wrapping her in his arms and stroking her back softly. "There's nothing more you can do right now. You were the one insisting to have a new test-run as soon as possible. And that's in seven hours, so you'd better be awake then."

Bulma nodded against his chest, inhaling his scent and enjoying his rare display of affection when they were in a place someone else could barge into at any moment. Though that wasn't likely at this time of the night. Sharing an increasingly heated kiss with Vegeta that made her blood rush to some lower parts of her body, she decided she still had some energy left. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do with it.

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"C-cold . . ." Svenja shivered and pulled her legs closer to her, exposing as little of her to the biting wind as possible.

"Stop it!" Zura grunted when she tried futilely but persistently to shift further backwards into the corner. "And take your elbow out of my stomach," he wheezed after another jerking movement of her arm robbed him of air, threatening the digestion of the recently consumed rations.

"Well, sorry!" she snapped, the impact of her anger lessened by her voice quivering with cold, but did as he had asked.

The temperature had decreased rapidly over the last few days and the wind had taken up speed. It was bitingly cold and not even the corner of the ruins they sat huddled against provided more than a slight lessening of the wind's force.

Twice each day he went to check the transmitter, and he'd taken to dragging her along by force if necessary.

He hadn't liked the glazed sheen her eyes had taken on two or three days ago, gazing out of a pale face with irregular spots of red, and when he had placed a hand on the side of her neck he had found her temperature above the normal level and her pulse beating faster. He knew a fever when he saw one, and in lack of any medication he could provide he tried to keep her circulation up and running as best as he could.
He snorted inwardly. He had medical equipment for a lot of diseases, numerous antidotes and other things to help cure actual injuries, but nothing against a simple fever. It'd be useless anyway, since his Saiyan immune system could battle and defeat almost any virus like that. And if that wasn't enough he had the H.E. to give it an additional boost.

Her response to him hauling her through the howling and freezing wind twice each day hadn't been enthusiastic, to say the least, but he hadn't budged. He had no idea if it really helped her -after all he didn't really know her species- but he knew from experience that people sharing similar traits like blood colour, number of limbs or breathing of oxygen usually had a matching physiology. And this way he could at least keep an eye on her. The thought of returning from one of his trips to maybe find her slipped into a coma or worse had been an chilling one. He once had to watch a comrade slowly bleeding to death with no way to help him, and he had no intention of experiencing that again.
Apart from the aversion to repeat the feeling of complete helplessness, he found he'd miss her somehow. Zura snorted quietly and shook his head at the thought. He had never been a social person, only rarely partaking in the diversions the space stations he'd stopped offered, keeping mostly to himself and not forming any closer bonds with people. And he had been content with it, still was. Considering that, it felt strange admitting to himself he'd miss someone he had known for only a few days.
Maybe it was because she was the only other person in this place, or the fact that he had no definite idea when help would arrive worried him more than he wanted to admit.
Or it was simply the instinct-induced old 'male protects female' routine, he thought with a dry chuckle. Yeah, right. Instincts were a powerful force, but he thought it highly unlikely that this was the reason he enjoyed Svenja's company.

"You know what?" Her voice brought him back to the present. Her head craned up and sideways, she looked at him quizzically and grinned. "Watching your face when you're thinking has a certain entertainment factor."

He scowled down at her, clearly thinking it less funny than she did.
"Watch it," he growled, "or I'll drag you out to the transmitter and tie you to it for a day."
"Yeah right." she scoffed, but a glint of doubt flickered across her eyes. His scowl deepened. Did she really think he'd do it? He wondered, feeling slightly offended with an odd pang in his stomach
"Oh, shut up." He grumbled and shifted slightly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest.

They had taken to sleeping like that, effectively using the shared warmth to maintain body temperature. It was a sensible thing to do, they both had agreed after waking up a few days ago with numb hands and fingers and feeling frozen to the bone. Zura had been relieved she didn't make a fuss about it, having no problem with the physical contact required. It was a rare thing to meet someone not interpreting things the wrong way or searching for hidden meanings behind everything. She had simply accepted things as they were and recognized the advantage in his offer, of preventing possible hypothermia and just plainly avoiding feeling like an ice-cube.

In fact, she was the one having the biggest advantage in this, he grumbled inwardly when she snuggled into the by now familiar position and closed her eyes. She was smaller than he, benefiting from the heat his larger frame and generally higher body temperature provided and balling herself up tight against him.

"Oh. great!" he groaned when a particular violent gust of wind splashed drops of moisture on his face. Had his luck run out completely? Glaring at the boring sight the natural 'window' provided he swore under his breath, cursing each and every rain cloud to hell and back. What would come next? An earthquake or lightning that made the ruins crumble? Damn, he wished his ship was habitable.

"What?" Svenja asked distractedly, the alertness in her eyes from before gone and replaced by a tired and slightly unfocused gaze. Zura frowned. That happened way too frequently for his comfort lately, her awareness slipping and her gaze taking on that glassy-eyed quality he knew was never a good sign.

"Nothing. Just fucking rain," he growled, and turned his back against the air current as much as was possible in those close quarters.
"By the way, you didn't tell me what happened after you triggered the fire alarm in your school," he prompted, wanting her to concentrate, to keep her thoughts active. It might only be his Saiyan way of seeing things, the deeply rooted principle of 'As long as you keep yourself you can survive' - which admittedly had been meant for different circumstances like the transformation triggered by the full moon - but he had adapted to almost everything nevertheless. And he also had to admit he really did want to know what had happened.
After the day she had thanked him near the transmitter things had been way more relaxed regarding their talking. Her gratitude had been something he'd never expected and her fierce reaction to his dismissive words had baffled and taken him aback even more, making him speak the words of the traditional apology, one of the few Saiyan customs and rituals he remembered.
They had started to talk to each other in a different, easier way than before. He had found her easy acceptance of opinions different to hers refreshing, along with her straight-forwardness.

Her habit of using hands and arms a lot while describing persons or happenings had taken some time to get used to, but he had learned to anticipate her sudden movements when she was excited or angered without suffering any permanent damage. Only a stinging slap in his face with the back of her hand and almost getting his nose smashed by her elbow.
She probably could defeat a lot of people by only talking to them, he thought with a grin.

"Fire alarm?? Oh, fuck!" she groaned, and Zura grinned at his success in ripping her out of her stupor as well as in anticipation of her story. Her refusal to spare herself when it came to describing embarrassing events wasn't only quite amusing but also gave him lots of details he could tease her with. On the other hand, she gave as good as she got. He coloured slightly when he remembered how he had finally relented to her bugging and told her about some incidents he'd never imagined he'd willingly share with anyone.
"Well? What happened?" he asked, shoving the memory aside and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Alright!" she grumbled and throwing her arms up in exasperation, not seeing him dodge but feeling the sudden movement at her back. Blinking confused for a moment her eyes took on a shrewd look and she shot him an evil grin. "But only if you tell me what else happened at Kaweja Station. I mean, there has to be more to it than you just…"
"Don't!" he exclaimed and slapped a hand over her mouth, feeling his cheeks burning. There weren't many things that upset him, but having a shipload of medical ingredients that turned bad, contaminating his own supplies, had been an experience he'd gladly wipe out of his memories. Especially since the result had been him waking up in the medical department of Kaweja without any knowledge what had happened the last two days. What he had been told on second hand had been enough to avoid that space station ever since. "I should have never told you," he muttered and suppressed a shudder.
"Hey! Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled and snatched his hand back, looking in disbelief at the teeth marks on his palm. She bit him!

"Serves you right," she grumbled and wiped her mouth, fixing him with a dark glare. "I don't particularly like my air supply cut off, you know?" Snatching his hand he was still staring at, she glanced at the fading teeth marks and snorted. "Oh, don't be such a baby. That couldn't have hurt that much."
Zura couldn't suppress a bark of laughter. She couldn't be more far off the point, but he had no intention explaining his incredulity had nothing to do with pain at all. Seeing her looking at him suspiciously, he forestalled any question he wasn't willing to answer with something that felt suspiciously like faint panic. "Alright! Whatever. I'll tell you about Kaweja. But you're first."
Sighing inwardly with relief, he saw her curiosity about mortifying details of his life triumphing over his reaction to her assumption, and he made himself as comfortable as possible pressed against the cold bricks, coiling his still slightly sore tail tightly next to him and focussed on the source of heat he kept closely pressed to his front.

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Zura's eyes shot open. Eyes darting in each direction and listening hard he tried to keep as still as possible. A slight frown formed on his face when he didn't notice anything unusual, only the sounds and smells that had surrounded him since he came here, but he knew he could trust his instincts. He had trained them in years of practise and experience and knew better than to just dismiss them, even or especially if there wasn't anything out of ordinary.

There was some kind of wrongness in the air, a strange kind of tension that made the hair on the nape of his neck rise. Moving for the first time since waking up he slowly lifted his head, straining with all his senses to find something, anything he could pinpoint as the source of the steadily-increasing feeling of agitation that rose in him, and finding nothing.

A faint tugging on his sleeve almost gave him a heart attack and he just barely managed to swallow an oath. Concentrating outwards he had failed to notice what happened in his immediate surroundings, and he resolved to kick himself later, hard. Looking down he met Svenja's questioning gaze, an expression of unease on her face.

"Gods, what is that?" she whispered, obviously feeling the need for silence, too, and wariness spread over her face when he shrugged his shoulders minutely. She was feeling it too?

"I don't know yet." he answered equally silent and carefully unwrapped his arms. He then nudged her, motioning for her to move forward and carefully extracted himself out of his sandwiched position. Putting a steadying hand on the wall he took a step towards the middle of the ruins when he felt a hard grip on his leg.
"What are you doing?" Svenja hissed, too loud for his comfort, and he put a finger on his lips, causing her to close her mouth and glare at him. Getting to her feet faster than he'd thought her able to she put her mouth close to his ear. "Look, I don't know why because there's no one else here, but I feel as if someone's lurking around the corner ready to jump out any moment," she breathed, not quite successfully in hiding her panic. "Don't leave me alone here!"

Zura closed his eyes briefly, smelling her unease and anxiety so alike his own and put a hand on her arm.
"I'll be right back. I promise," he said. "Wait here, I won't be long." With that he turned around, seeing in the corner of his eye her arm rising slightly and then fall limply back to her side.
He moved stealthily along the wall to the opening, pausing briefly and then darting around it.

Crouching low to the ground he skirted the perimeter of the ruins swiftly, frequently pausing to search for anything out of the ordinary. When he had rounded the former building, he still hadn't found anything and fought down a flash of frustration. Squatting down he took some deep and calming breaths and closed his eyes, concentrating only on the feeling of wrongness. Since he was unable to find anything with the usual methods, he could at least try to pinpoint the direction the feeling was coming from, he reasoned. Trying to separate his own feeling of unease from the actual source was difficult, and he was close to admitting defeat when he found something. Holding his breath he grasped it, focused on it and tried to find out where it led to.
His eyes snapped open.

"Shit!" he exploded and leaped through the opening in a flash, causing Svenja to jump and scream in fright. Reaching her in four quick strides he grabbed her around the waist and pulled them both against the wall.

"What?!" she yelled and looked around wildly after she realized it was him and not a physical embodiment of her feeling from minutes earlier. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he felt the creepy tension growing, drowning out the relief he felt to see her unharmed and the building as quiet as before.

"Dammit, talk to me!" She almost sobbed in panic, her fingers digging fiercely in his arms.

Breathing hard he looked down into her terrified eyes and spoke rapidly. "Out. We have to get out of here, quickly! It's coming from here!"
"What?"
"Later!" He cut her short and strengthened his grip around her, "don't let go!" But even as he took the first step towards the opening he knew it was too late.

Something flickered, a roughly rectangular shape appearing in the middle of the room, effectively blocking their only way to escape. He had cursed the large opening more than once during the last days since it provided almost no shelter against the brunt of the wind, but now he wished it were larger.

Svenja moaned in fear and wrapped her arms tightly around his body, burying her head in his chest.

Crushing her shaking body fiercely against him he watched the flickering shape take on substance. Already the bricks on the wall behind the rectangular outline weren't clearly visible anymore, and the shape increased rapidly in visibility and clarity. He desperately wanted to do something, anything to defend himself.

What he wasn't prepared for was the sudden bright flash that seemed to pierce his eyeballs and went straight into his brain like a barbed spear of agony. Screaming with pain he stumbled backwards and fell to his knees, waves of red throbbing anguish rolling through his mind. Half-bending, half-falling over Svenja's limp form he felt strength and consciousness leave him, and when his head touched the ground he knew nothing more.

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A/N: Well… I told you something would happen :-) Please tell me what you think of it, I really need the feedback.