Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Danger in the horizon ❯ Minds unlocked ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter 22 - Minds unlocked

Note: I don't own DBZ

Vegeta managed to get Bulma to his own quarters on the 14th level without her awakening from her unconscious state. He figured that his room would be a good place to wait until things died down. Vegeta cursed himself inwardly as her carried her in and placed her on his bed. He knew that he had acted in an incredibly stupid and weak manner in the bar, but he had felt there was no other option.

His feelings, which had been successfully buried within through years of training, were now beginning to surface. All because of a woman. Jealously and rage had boiled to the surface when Radditz had approached Bulma, intending to make her his mate, willingly or unwillingly. Now Vegeta had to contend with the fact that Radditz was now likely never going to follow orders again and that he himself had begun bonding to Bulma, the urge to take her as his mate overriding everything else.

His body stiffened as he sensed Bulma beginning to rouse from her unconsciousness. She sat up slowly, her eyes opening and gradually getting accustomed to the dim lighting in the room. Upon realising that she was not in her own room, she panicked, bringing her legs up to her chin in a defensive manner, her back against the wall. Her voice quavered as she cried out plaintively, "Who, who's there?"

"Calm down woman." Vegeta replied, as softly as he possibly could, seating himself on the edge of the bed, close to her shaking body. "Oh god, she half sobbed, I thought you were………." Bulma's voice broke off, deciding at the last minute to keep that little fear to herself.

Vegeta for his part, ignored what Bulma had just said, preferring to say nothing. Now realising that Vegeta was with her, Bulma relaxed slightly, easing her legs away from her body and tentatively moved closer to Vegeta. Slowly, the events up in the bar came back to her, causing her natural curiousness to bubble to the surface.

"Will Radditz live?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Growled Vegeta, a note of possessiveness in his reply, his emotions getting the better of him for a few seconds.

Deciding to press the point further, Bulma asked, "Why did you…" but she was interrupted by Vegeta's harsh voice. "To teach him a lesson. He had been warned. I have no need for infatuated soldiers, so therefore removing the object of his desire from his grasp was necessary, nothing more."

"But…"

Vegeta snapped at Bulma, causing her to retreat and press herself against the wall again. "But nothing, woman. No more questions. I have told you all you need to know. Keep your focus on the work ahead. Remember, your own life depends on it."

Bulma gulped, remembering that it was her boundless curiosity that had put her directly into danger. Regardless of the strange energy that seemed to engulf them both, Bulma could still see the violent, feral side of Vegeta, cruelly taunting Radditz, goading him into a fight that the weaker man could not win. Reluctantly, she bit back a sharp-tongued tirade and kept her mouth shut. She glared back at Vegeta wishing that she could get into his mind and find out what was really happening.

Vegeta sensed her desire to know more and lightly placed his hands on her face, gently stroking her jaw, secretly revelling in the heat that sprang forth from her soft skin. "Don't even try it, woman. I'm not a weak-minded fool like Radditz. Go to sleep." He whispered, his tone dangerous. The position now made clear to Bulma, he withdrew his hands and moved from the bed, assuming a cross-legged position on the floor. He waited until he could hear her breath become deep and steady before allowing his own eyes to close, drifting into sleep.

The bar meanwhile had been cleared and closed up for the night, the security detail ejecting the last few drunken stragglers with brute force and threats. Medical technicians then started to patch Radditz up where his prone body lay, his blood still pooling around him. After staunching the wounds on his torso, the med techs started on the tricky business of resetting his jaw careful not to cause any further injury.

If Radditz was feeling any physical pain he did not show it outwardly. His pain was not purely physical. Radditz had been beaten and injured worse, many times before. No, this time the pain he felt most was the searing agony of loss. He had taken the gamble and lost the one person he desired most to the stronger warrior, Prince Vegeta. In those few brief moments of pain, Radditz had seen everything clearly, realising too late that what he wanted he could not have. It was obvious that Vegeta wanted Bulma for himself, to take her as his life mate, to mark her as his own. When this thought entered his mind, Radditz's eyes began to water, the tears threatening to overflow and spill unchecked down his face. Only by a supreme effort did he manage not to further shame himself. Radditz knew that he should have been given a honourable death at the hands of Vegeta, but it seemed fate was laughing at him, instead of being given honour; fate was intent on tearing his soul apart.

The med techs gently raised his battered body onto the hovering gurney, careful not to jolt him on his short journey up to the med wing. As they had been the last two times Radditz had required medical care, they were amazed at the amount of punishment a body could take. They took him up to med wing so that he could rest and recover quicker, once again settling him in the same room and leaving him in darkness, alone with his pain.

No dreams or nightmares plagued Bulma, although she could not stay asleep for longer than an hour at a time. She continuously woke up, the vision of Radditz and Vegeta savagely attacking each other still bothering her. It had become obvious that Radditz wanted her, but what of Vegeta? Bulma wanted to believe that he had taken such violent action to prevent Radditz from being distracted, but several things did not add up. For one thing there was the way he had held her, one half of him being protective but the other half being possessive. And the mark he spoke of. Did these men mark their women like a brand of ownership, like a rancher would do to his cattle? Or was it something deeper? A voice whispered in her mind, it's like an unspoken bond…

Bulma did not want to admit it to herself, but she was frightened and confused by the feelings rising within in her, feelings of lust and the desire to be with Vegeta and be his and his alone. She had never felt this way about Yamcha or any other man. The force drawing Bulma towards Vegeta was seemingly unstoppable. For every time she had close physical contact with him, small currents of electricity ran through her body, the desire to let him have his way with her rising unbidden in her mind and her body. It was taking all of her self-control to resist, but now she could feel her defences starting to weaken and crumble away.

Vegeta watched Bulma silently in the darkness. He could see her beautiful face; her brows knitted together in concentrated thought, the cogs of her mind working over like a clock keeping time. Every time he had touched her, Vegeta wanted to rip her clothing from her lush body and take her there and then, regardless of where they might be. Then Vegeta would let Bulma see into his mind, see his memories, his fears and his innermost desires, give himself to her and she would give herself to him. But only when the time was right. Too much had to be achieved first. Stopping in his own thoughts, Vegeta noticed that Bulma had fallen back into a deep sleep, worry still present on her face. He rose quietly and lifted her into his arms, taking her up to her own quarters so as not to arouse any suspicion from the any other refugees that may have seen him enter his quarters with her.

When morning came, Bulma found Vegeta once again ready to leave for the training facility for the day. Drowsily, she pushed herself off the bed ready to go into the bathroom for a shower, suddenly realising that she was now back in her own room. Noticing the impatient scowl present on Vegeta's face, Bulma decided not to try any conversation with him and padded silently to the bathroom for a shower.

The day went on much the same as the previous. Vegeta proceeded to the 35th level as before and Bulma had taken her personal laptop with her down to the docking bay, and feverishly worked on the shield codes. As she arrived with Nappa, a few of the other technicians whispered amongst themselves, gossiping about her pivotal role in the events of the previous evening. Regardless of the snide whispered comments Bulma knew that she had a job to do and could not dwell on what had happened to Radditz. She reasoned unconvincingly that he would be all right and not overly affected by his defeat to Vegeta. Still, it did not make her feel any better about it. She knew that she consciously and unconsciously had caused all of Radditz's problems.

With a deep sigh, Bulma immersed herself back into the job at hand, paying no attention to the glowering Nappa behind her.

Vegeta had informed Nappa earlier that day of what had transpired in the bar. To Nappa, Bulma had been considered mildly dangerous before, now she was positively lethal.

Despite all of his careful training over the years to keep Vegeta from bonding, Bulma had succeeded in breaking through Vegeta's cold exterior, causing him to begin bonding to her. Nappa had always told Vegeta, from a very young age that bonding and taking a mate was foolish and left him open to attack from anyone who could see his weakness. It was acceptable for the lower class soldiers, but not for elite and royalty. Never mind that the loss of his mate had forced him to this conclusion and clouded his judgement. Nappa was extremely loyal to his Prince and wished to spare him the same pain, which had been forced on him, all those long years ago.

Glancing over at Bulma, he clenched his massive fists and resisted the temptation to snap her neck as she worked. If it was as Nappa had deduced and Vegeta had truly begun the bonding, then killing the girl was a sure fire way of killing his own prince.

As Bulma cracked the first sequence of codes for the shield, she discovered what could be a fatal flaw in Vegeta's master plan. Sure, the shield could be cracked to allow the ship to pass through, but her boast of the ship being undetected was just that, a boast. Without some type of camouflage the ship could be shot down in a matter of minutes, even with the weapons attached. Her train of thought was interrupted however, by a call on her portable comms device from a very concerned Lisa.

"Hi Lisa."

"Bulma! Are you okay? I mean after all that shit that went down last night, I thought for sure that the guy that carried you off was going to.." Her voice broke off as Bulma interrupted her.

"Lisa, I'm fine, perfectly okay. Nothing happened to me at all. I just won't be going out for any drinks again for a while."

Lisa brightened considerably after hearing Bulma's reassurance. "Hey that I can understand. I guess no one wants to be the stations latest victim of vicious rumours. I should know, I've been there myself."

Bulma frowned as an idea came into her head. "Hey Lisa, can you do me a very big favour?"

Lisa grinned back at her. "Depends on what it is, Bulma. Ask away!"

"Remember the guy from last night? The one that lost. Could you check on him for me? I just want to make sure he's okay. Can you do that for me?"

Lisa paused for moment before replying with a lustful grin on her face. "Oh him. Absolutely I can. Maybe I can use my own special technique of cheering him up!"

Bulma laughed at her friend's expression. "You are disgusting, Lisa. Did I ask you to use sexual healing on him?"

"Nope. But it works every time. Oh, almost forgot. Just thought you should know that security will not be questioning you. I've sort of thrown them off the trail, just told them the fight was between two drunks."

Bulma was visibly relieved. "Thanks. Anyway got to go. Got some important work to finish. Catch you later!"

The screen cut out leaving static. Bulma switched it off, doubly relieved. Firstly, Lisa would check on Radditz for her, secondly, the security detail would not be tracking her down for an explanation. She leaned back in her chair her joints popping as she stretched, ready to launch back into cracking the codes. Then once the codes were laid bare, the Saiyans would be able to connect at the right moment to the central computer on Earth via the network and stop it's program long enough for a portal in the shield to open. She sighed heavily, drawing a glare from Nappa. Trying to ignore the feeling of evil wash over her, which she assumed came from Nappa, Bulma hunched over her keyboard once again and starting on the second set of codes.

While Bulma continued her work on the codes, Vegeta had finally persuaded the technicians on level 35 to increase the gravity by 25, raising the level to 125g's above Earth's gravity. As he only had a matter of days before departing Station Delta, Vegeta knew that he should attempt to get the most out of the technology available. Every time he entered the chamber and started his training regime, Vegeta felt that he was getting closer to his goal and it pleased him greatly. Freezer was going to get the shock of his life when the battle finally arrived. His mouth curving into a sinister smile at the thought of killing Freeza, Vegeta launched himself at the attack bots, ready to blast them into oblivion.

Up in the med wing, Radditz, although swiftly recovering physically was still aching with his mental and emotional pain. His loyalty to Vegeta he knew would have to override everything. It was just going to be painful seeing Bulma mated to anyone else but him. Heavily, he rolled over onto his side, welcoming the twinge of pain come from his still tender ribs, distracting him from thoughts of Bulma.

Lisa entered the med wing with some trepidation. She had promised Bulma that she would check on Radditz, but considering the events of the evening before maybe he would not want a visitor. It was obvious to her at least that Radditz was infatuated with Bulma. She stood at the door of his room and drew in a deep restorative breath and smoothed her hair. "Oh well, here goes nothing!" she said with false brightness in her voice as the door slid open allowing her access to the room.

Radditz sensed someone enter his room and assumed that it was another one of the idiot med techs come to check on him again. He had definitely had enough of their prodding and poking for one day. "Go away." He growled.

What he did not expect was a feminine voice replying. "Well, if you feel that way about visitors, I'll leave you alone."

His hopes rose. "Bulma?"

"Nope, sorry big guy, you're getting a consolation prize, me." Lisa stepped over to the side of his bed, grabbed a chair and sat down.

"Who the hell are you?"

Lisa smiled despite the bad start. "I'm a friend of Bulma's. She asked me to check up on you, make sure you are okay. Quite a performance you put on last night."

Radditz merely grunted back at her. "I don't need pity."

Lisa gave him a hard look before replying. "It's not pity. Bulma wanted to make sure you were okay, and I had my own motives for coming here."

Radditz didn't answer as his mind was ticking over. Bulma was lost to him forever; he could do nothing to change that. Fate was cruel, it was true, but as he looked over Lisa maybe fate had given him a consolation prize. A very attractive one at that. He smirked as he answered smoothly, "And they are?"

Lisa raised an eyebrow and replied with a matching smirk on her face. "Oh, you're good. I do believe you are catching on, Radditz."

Bulma barely noticed that Vegeta had arrived and relieved Nappa of his baby-sitting duty for the day. She was so intent on the getting through the third set of codes that she jumped when he spoke to her.

"So woman, have you achieved anything today?" He drawled as his warm breath whispered against her exposed neck, sending little jolts through her body.

"Shit!" she exclaimed as she almost erased her day's work. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

He stepped back, running an interested eye over Bulma's laptop. "That didn't answer my question. Have you made progress or not?"

Bulma did not answer immediately, instead focussing her energy on cracking the third sequence before replying. "I'm a third of the way there. I should be able to complete this in two days." She paused briefly. Then the problem of the camouflage came back to her. "I need to know what ship you are intending to take."

Vegeta raised a quizzical eyebrow at her question. "Why would you need to know that?"

Bulma allowed herself brief smirk of triumph. It was so obvious that Vegeta had not thought of it himself. "The ship you take will need to be cloaked or camouflaged to avoid detection. Even with the weapons and the portal being open, your ship can still be attacked and destroyed."

"Smart little bitch aren't you? He replied without malice. Vegeta pointed towards the

Batalhaian ship, now completely repaired. "That is the transport we will be taking."

"Yes, I am." Bulma said with pride. "I'll have to get the dimensions so that the device I rig up will cloak it completely."

Vegeta stifled a grin at Bulma's proud expression. "Excellent. Time to leave."

Once they had reached Bulma's quarters, Vegeta entered the bathroom for a shower. As he washed up, Bulma realised that she had not made any entries into her personal log for three days. So, taking what little private time that was available while Vegeta showered, she started relaying the events of the past three days into her log.

Vegeta tensed as he heard Bulma record her personal log; assuming that another person was in the room by the way she spoke so familiarly to the device. He stepped out of the shower leaving it running, wrapped a towel around himself and slowly eased the bathroom door open. He relaxed as he saw Bulma, chatting to a device on her desk. "So, my dear personal log, this has been the strangest three days of my life so far. I can't quite explain why, but….I have this overwhelming urge to ……….man this is so hard." She paused before continuing, listening to make sure Vegeta was still in the shower. "That man has lit something inside of me, a fire that won't go out. We seem to share a connection, an unspoken bond. I don't know if he cares for me, how can he after only being around me for 4 days? The urge to be near him tugs at me constantly, making me feel like I'm missing a part of myself when he isn't around." Bulma then started to close her log down, before stopping to add more to her entry. "It frightens me." She stretched in her chair, arms above her head, arching backwards to relieve the tension in her limbs.

Vegeta listened intently to her every word.

Vegeta crept silently back into the bedroom, careful not to alert her. Bulma slid off the chair and turned, intending to eject Vegeta from the shower so that she could have one herself. As Bulma turned she found her chest pressed firmly against Vegeta's muscular one, still damp from his shower. The feeling of his bare heated skin filtered through her overalls, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. Bulma struggled to regain her composure and opened her mouth to launch into a verbal tirade, only to find that she could not say a word. Vegeta placed one of his fingers on her lips to silence her, his dark eyes holding her captive with his intense gaze.

"No words, woman. Don't say a word." He whispered softly. As he did so he removed his finger from her lips. Bulma let out a deep breath, unaware that she had been holding it. "So you want to know more?"

Bulma nodded slowly, her eyes never leaving his. "Then I will show you what is in my mind and I will see into yours. Although I guarantee woman, you won't like what you see."

Vegeta then placed his hands on her face and captured her lips in a passionate kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth urgently, drinking in the sweetness Bulma willingly offered.

As they kissed, Vegeta's mental barrier dissipated, allowing Bulma to see into his memories, his thoughts, his dreams and ambitions as he was allowed access to hers.

Bulma saw his childhood, fraught with pain and anger, the loss of his people devastating him. She saw his ambitions, his overwhelming desire to become stronger and avenge his people, the countless deaths at his hands, innocent people dieing in droves.

No, no! I don't want to see anymore! Her mind screamed out, desperate to escape.

Vegeta's mind called back to her, trying to draw her back in. Bulma, you must see everything.

With a supreme effort she broke free from his lips, slowly lowering herself to her floor, sweat beading on her face, bile rising unbidden into her mouth. Before she could make any move to the bathroom, Bulma vomited violently on the floor. Vegeta knelt down beside her, lifting her up and carrying Bulma into the bathroom. She remained in a semi catatonic state, unseeing and mute for some minutes as Vegeta carefully cleaned away the sweat and vomit from her face, gently brushing her hair from her pale face.

Vegeta fixed his dark eyes on Bulma's. "I told you that it wouldn't be pleasant." He whispered. "I have never allowed anyone into my mind as deeply as that."

"Then why? Why do it? To frighten and sicken me? Why Vegeta, why?" Bulma spoke, her voice cracking with emotion. It was true that what was hidden in his mind had frightened her, but it did not lessen the connection she felt towards him.

Vegeta paused before answering, to make sure that the right words came out of his mouth for once. "I listened to every word you spoke to that device before I came in." Bulma opened her mouth to interrupt, only to be silenced by the look in Vegeta's eyes. "The things you spoke of….they are the same for me. Look at me, the mighty Saiyan Prince brought down by a woman!" He growled angrily, turning his face away from Bulma's confused one.

"Vegeta." Bulma's voice was soft and plaintive, questioning. She stretched out her hands placing them softly on his face, turning him back towards her own. "This is what you and Radditz spoke of last night, isn't it? You didn't want to teach him a lesson at all, did you? You wanted to show him that I belong with you and no one else." She took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know why, but I'm drawn to you more than I have been to any other man before. And…whatever it takes ….. I'm willing."