Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Happy Birthday Vegeta ❯ Gohan Goes A Little Mad ( Chapter 20 )

Authors Notes: Surprise! :::::Jada preps life support equipment for her readers:::: Everybody grab on!! Long time no see. I never meant to be gone so long, I am sorry (and I don't own DBZ or anything related.)

Last Time on HBV :::: "Trust you?" Hysteria edged her laughter. "I trusted Gohan and look where it got me!" Vegeta scowled at the inference. "Gohan is entirely worthy of your trust and you KNOW it. So stop sniveling and lean closer if you'd like your explanation."

Chapter Twenty

Happy Birthday Vegeta

"What are you doing?" Videl eyed the placement of Vegeta's hand suspiciously.

His black stare was vacant, hollow as the sound of the air rifle the tall green guy still held. "I am prepared to be a…link. To let you see what motivates him, hopefully, to encourage you to complete the bond he has started. Soon." Those empty eyes flicked to the still motionless form of Gohan, and back to Videl. She shivered at the chill vacancy in the Prince's demeanor.

"What bond? What kind of link? Will it hurt? Us or..you?" She asked warily as Vegeta repositioned himself and reached for her, exasperation bleeding through his mask.

"Shut UP, woman. You, all ask too many questions!" Soft fingertips pressed against her forehead firmly, there was a disorienting mental twist, and then Videl went slack under Vegeta's touch. "Oh…" Her eyes slid closed and her mouth dropped open, as Gohan's life pooled around her like liquid mercury. Distorted images morphing one into the next, images of a dark-haired child with people she didn't recognize. Then the flow of information clarified, faces cleared, places sharpened, and she felt, an inexplicable happiness as she took in the scenes before her.

'Whoa! Gohan obviously got his looks from his dad, right down to the last spiky hair on his head.' she thought warmly. 'Hey! He had a tail when he was younger!' She scarcely had a chance to wonder about it, when the images shifted bringing someone else into focus. 'That's the tall, green guy that came in with Vegeta tonight…There's Gohan! Oh my God. HE cut off Gohan's tail!' An unusually strong wave of irritation swept through Videl, aimed at the green guy that cut off his beloved tail. Her hands fisted uselessly at her side as the images continued to sweep by unstoppable.

There were few other familiar faces, mostly a much younger Bulma Briefs and the short, bald monk. "Krillin." the monk's name appeared in her mind with as much familiarity as her own.

Lines creased Videl's brow as the happiness that buoyed her feelings slowly leaked away like day old helium, leaving an unfamiliar, muddy anxiety that she could not sort out. Vegeta featured prominently in these memories, though she couldn't place the location. There was one picture of Vegeta standing, with a shining orange globe the size of a basketball balanced on his hip, a cruelly triumphant look on his face. Quite suddenly, she found herself surrounded by life-size images of a very young Gohan fighting things…that were not people, things that she could hardly believe existed.

"Just because you are ignorant of a thing, does not mean it doesn't exist, Videl." She whirled around, eyes narrowed, looking for the source of Gohan's voice. She could see nothing but the flickering, ever-moving images. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She didn't know what she was here for, but she couldn't escape the impression that this was a test of some sort…and that she was failing…miserably. Tears blurred her vision, and she blinked them aside, angry that she hadn't been given more information, determined to get the most out of this situation. She was after all, the daughter of the World Martial Arts Champion, quitting was not in her vocabulary.

The images surrounding her folded out until they were in a flat line, merging into one huge screen. It was like watching a science fiction movie at her fav theater, the one with the screen so large that it made you dizzy just sitting in front of it. Only this movie involved Son Gohan. Time and again she saw Gohan doing things, that ordinary people simply could not. Like flying and befriending dinosaurs and throwing lights from his hands. She shook her head in disbelief, "How? How can these things be possible?" The giant screen blinked and she saw brutal training sessions with his father, whose goal, apparently, was to kill his son. Videl's eyes bugged and her jaw dropped, as in one suspended heartbeat, he flared all golden, with teal eyes and flaming hair, just as Gohan had. "A family trait other than that unruly hair…" she laughed and Gohan's own nervous laughter echoed with hers.

"There are others, I look forward to sharing with you…" his tone was wry.

"Gohan? Are you…okay?" she felt foolish talking to him when he so obviously was not there.

"Watch." his tone cooled and her sense of him thinned as though he were very far away.

She saw another face that she'd seen on the big screen before today. Cell. She watched, shocked and afraid, as a boy, hardly a teen, reached his highest high, and lowest low in the same day. Destroying the monster known as Cell, and failing his father, losing his father, in the same battle. Tears rained from her eyes, was it her imagination, or did she feel his as well? Scalding his cheeks as he grieved and raged…impotent for all his power. The sheer strength of his loss forced her to her knees.

"Oh, Gohan, I'm so sorry." she choked out through her tears. Videl shrieked when a hand landed on her shoulder, and another tilted her face upwards.

"It's okay, Videl. You'd be surprised how often he comes back." His eyes gleamed at her, shining with emotions, not all of them friendly.

"Gohan! What the hell is going on?" She scrambled away from him, confusion and pain darkened her eyes, her mouth was a crimson slash in a pale face.

"These are my thoughts, my experiences you are blundering so compassionately through." There was a thread of annoyance in him and he loomed over her threateningly. She tried to stand her ground, but Gohan seemed, larger, more real, his barely restrained hostility was tangible between them.

"Vegeta thought, I needed to see your, um, motivations, for…bonding…with me?" she stuttered nervously as those lupine eyes raked over her proprietarily. He advanced on her until they were face to face, his tail waving irritably behind him before curling tightly around his waist.

"My motivations are my own." he snarled hotly in her face. "Vegeta knows them, you could have as well. If you had trusted me."

"Gohan! Don't you think blind faith is a bit much to ask, under the circumstances?"

"Not really. Have I ever given you reason to doubt me?" That beautifully sculpted mouth was a bare fraction of an inch away from hers, his breath mingling with hers, she trembled, but refused to step back.

"What about today?!" Her blue eyes flashed sparks as she responded, throwing her hands out in exasperation. "Hello? You're not just acting strange, Gohan. It's like you're, another person! Your eyes have changed color, not once, but twice. And what about your tail? You have an additional appendage that I've yet to be introduced to! And, twice, you've kissed me, like you meant it," her breath came in short angry pants, "then couldn't get rid of me fast enough! That's not even considering this whole transformation thing of yours?! When the hell were you gonna let me in on that little ability? You don't think I deserve some sort of explanation?! Because I sure as hell do." She crossed her arms over her chest in a cutely stubborn imitation of the Saiyan Prince, although nothing else in her demeanor could be called cute at that moment. She was one very pissed girl.

"As you wish." he hissed, and disappeared.

"Damn it, Gohan! This is not finished!" she glanced around, already knowing she would not see him again.

There were no images this time, just knowledge. She knew things about him, everywhere her mind turned, she knew him. His feelings pounded into her ruthlessly. They were clear and sharp, like jagged glass, painful in their clarity, exacerbated by her blindness. The breath was driven from her lungs by the chaos within him, and she, was at the heart of it all.

She knew the heat of the rut that burned unbearably, continually, a clawing, demon-blaze waiting to consume them both. She felt, the depth, the scope of his feelings for her, and they rivaled the physical power of his body in their intensity. No, more…they fueled his every action. The raw power of his physical body, the agility of his mind, and the endless compassion that was his spirit. As strong as he was, she'd made him a thousand times stronger. …and she thought it was about sex. His bitter words rang in her ears and she was thrust, rudely out, out where she did not belong. Her lungs throbbed and she gasped for air as tears poured down her cheeks.

Her eyes blinked wide and she found Vegeta, black eyes sharp once again, a frown wrinkling his brow. He didn't need to have been 'listening,' to know things had not progressed as he had hoped. "How was I supposed to know?" she shook her head rapidly, "I couldn't have known." she rasped, and then collapsed against the Saiyan Prince.

"No, you couldn't have." he spoke so softly he wasn't sure she'd hear him, "but I did." He considered a moment, then let Videl slide down, laying her comfortably against Son Gohan. His features were carved blankly from alabaster, only, his eyes burned momentarily with the frustration and guilt he felt for not preventing this completely predictable mess. He pinched his eyes closed on his 'feelings' and felt for his link with the woman. She was still resting….but her need wasn't critical anymore.

"Woman!" he nudged with his mind, until she was awake, blinking confused into the empty room.

"Geta?" even her mindspeak sounded fuzzy, as though she weren't quite awake.

"Bring the dragonballs to the west wing, now." He instilled a touch of urgency to his request.

"Geta, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing that can't be fixed. Today, Bulma." he shoved his defenses back into place and wondered again why he bothered after what had happened between them today. He stood, shook his head clearing it, and turned to greet his advisor with an arched brow.

"Your timing, Sorceress, is either impeccable or suspect. Regardless, I, think I am glad you are here." A small smile lit her eyes as she acknowledged his familiarity. Sirabi scanned the room's ki-scorched contents, and the nervous cast of players with amusement. "He does have a temper, ne?" she laughed in soft amazement. Her warm amber gaze landed on the unconscious couple before going back to the No Ouiji questioningly. He crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged bare shoulders before answering her unspoken inquiry with a sigh.

"The Brat will not be tranquilized for much longer. The girl, is just, overwhelmed, not unlike the Woman earlier." he shook his princely head at Piccolo and Sirabi. "Their bond is incomplete. She still knows next to nothing, and it appears, the Brat is being difficult about the situation." he ran a bare hand through the widow's peak atop his head. "Our options are extremely limited. Convince them to complete the bond…" he paused, unable to believe he was about to voice this as an option. "or wish that it never happened."

"Sounds like familiar territory hhhmm, Vegeta No Ouiji?" Bulma breezed into the room, still wearing the blue and chrome outfit from dinner, her hair tousled from sleep, but her eyes keenly assessed the damage to the suite. She placed a black attaché case at her feet, and handed Vegeta a shirt. She was careful not to touch him, she did not smile. He nodded, a grateful, if bemused glint in his dark eyes, and slipped into the shirt, buttoning the silk silently.

Sirabi actually looked surprised. "Oh, I think, that would be jumping the gun so-to-speak. They are after all, meant for one another, this is just a bit premature."

"You have a better suggestion, you'd better make it soon." Piccolo said as he felt the first stirring of his pupil's ki.

"I can block the bond, at least until his rut is over. It's admittedly a temporary fix, but I don't believe things happen just so they can be undone the moment they present us with a challenge."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed dangerously on the sorceress. The double meaning of her words had clearly hit their mark. "So be it. Block now, lecture later?" his mouth wore that cruel smirk.

Sirabi smiled slyly.

"How can you block a bond, Sirabi?" Bulma asked, her voice curiously devoid of curiosity.

"Ask the No Ouiji. Excuse me, I need to do this quickly." Bulma snared Vegeta's gaze before he could move away. He stood proudly, back straight, shoulders back, that regal head held high, the picture of Saiyan royalty if not for the conflicting emotions in his eyes. Irritation, guilt, and maybe even regret flashed in the darkness of his eyes for a moment. Bulma's smile was small and sad.

"You needn't say, anything, Vegeta. How stupid do you think I am? How could I not have known?" She had the satisfaction of seeing surprise on his usually guarded features before she walked away.

Bulma went to where Sirabi knelt beside Son Gohan, one palm wavered just above his chest, tendrils of energy clinging to her slender fingers. "I just have to find the right place…to put the energy." Sirabi's voice was hushed with concentration, her eyes closed. "Ah!" Sirabi gasped at the sheer force being generated by the boy's emotions. 'Shield, shield, shield…' she mentally chanted as she sought to avoid being sucked into the howling chasm that was Son Gohan's incomplete soul. He was indeed spiraling crazily, without his lifemate there to balance him. She had thought she would have to place the energy just so, but the emptiness sucked the power from her with the intensity of a black hole. She trembled, sweat beading on her forehead, hand shaking as though blown by an invisible wind, until finally she was able to cap it, and crumble to the floor genuinely drained.

"Sirabi?" Bulma leaned down concerned for the woman who was stripped of all color, and breathing shallowly. Sirabi sent her a grateful glance and managed to whisper. "I'm fine, Bulmasan…Took far more energy than I'd thought it would, that's all. Not where, but how much…" she muttered to herself, taking a deep breath, trying to restore her own balance by drawing energy from the planet beneath them. Several minutes later, color restored to her cheeks, she looked pointedly at Bulma. "In light of what I have seen, it might be better if she, is not here, when he wakes."

"Oh, of course." Bulma rolled Videl over and lightly tapped her face. "Videl? Videl, honey? Can you hear me?" Her eyelids fluttered heavily, before opening, and focusing blearily on Bulma.

"Mrs Briefs? What-?"

"Come on hon. You've look like you've been through a meat grinder. Let's get you to the infirmary and clean those cuts."

Videl sat slowly up, wincing as the muscles in her body protested. She realized with a start, that she'd been laying on Son Gohan, that her hand in fact, was still on his back, very close to where his tail hugged his waist. Her fingers flexed of their own cognizance, bringing her skin in contact with what had to be the softest fur she'd ever experienced. "Ooh." she moaned and dropped her head to her knees, giving her pleasured fingers free reign to stroke, gently. Gohan jerked as though an electric current had shocked through his body and groaned his pleasure through the haze of the drug still lingering persistently in his system. Videl and Bulma looked wide-eyed at one another, at Videl's hand and the still quivering demi-Saiyan beneath it. "Holy shit!" Bulma whispered. Her eyes were lit through with excitement and that insatiable curiosity that defined the Woman. She reached a tentative hand out to see if her touch elicited the same response in the subject, and nearly had a heart attack when Vegeta stopped her rather abruptly.

"Woman. NO." There was an outraged tremor in the No Ouiji's voice, but none in the familiar fingers that wrapped around her wrist like a vice. He drew her to her feet and moved her away from Gohan before loosening his hold on her hand. For a naked moment, Vegeta was unable to mask the explosion of feelings brought about by his mate trying to touch the tail of another male. Absolute rage, in a dazzling array of colors crushed him unsuspecting in it's grip, and absolute betrayal frosted his obsidian eyes with quicksilver. 'How dare she!? Goddamn her for not knowing better, Goddamn the bastard that cut mine off and Goddamn the Brat for regenerating his! Damn It! Damn It! Damn It!' With an angry snarl he whirled on Videl and barked, "You! Do not touch his tail." his voice was gruff, breathless. "Have you forgotten you are the cause of this!? Your touch above all else will push him over, the edge." Videl started guiltily, confusion plain on her features.

"My touch? Why?" Vegeta growled lowly, his usual store of patience entirely gone, furious with the situation and it's continuing drift out of his control. "Listen good, girl. Because I will not repeat myself." His eyes were blazing. "He has bound his soul to yours…and for whatever reason, You. Rejected. Him. He is being driven insane by the lack of your presence! So unless you plan to bite him and make it all better…I suggest you leave. NOW." His words were a vicious vent for the repressed sympathy he felt for the Brat. They tore through Videl's already tremulous hold on things and she burst into hysterical tears. "You are all, CRAZY! Maybe I'm crazy too! Maybe this is a horrible nightmare! Maybe…I'm very sick and you all are just hallucinations. Figments of my fevered mind…." she shivered uncontrollably adding credence to her thoughts.

"At the very least, you're in shock. Let's go, Videl. West Wing Infirmary." Bulma slid easily into the medical role and glanced at Vegeta to make sure he understood where she was heading. "It's closest." She took Videl by the elbow and headed for the smoking doorway. Sirabi stood in their way. She was waiting for Videl, amber eyes compassionate. "Impetuous girl." she said with a strained smile. The rest of the words bloomed in her foremind like roses with thorns. 'This is what you wanted. Now deal with it, because it's not going away. Ever.' She touched Videl's cheek with gentle fingers, and Gohan's tortured voice echoed in her tired mind. 'Kami 'Del. I never meant for it to happen like this…' and again, '..You do not know--pain. You do not know me. GET OUT..' Frantically she looked back over her shoulder at the still form of Son Gohan, and realized that whatever was going on in this madhouse, Gohan had tried, to the best of his current ability, to prevent her from being involved. Something inside Videl snapped, sobs wrenched themselves physically from her slender form, her navy eyes magnified with grief and tears, seemed to dominate her angular face.

"Rest, child." Sirabi's fingers touched again, and Videl quieted. "This can be dealt with, later, when everything is not so, urgent." Videl focused on Sirabi's face for a long moment, and then she nodded. Bulma chose then to nudge the poor girl towards the door once more. Finally, they made their way out into the hall and slowly, they disappeared from sight. The prince and Sirabi drew simultaneous breaths of relief. Sirabi grinned rather broadly, and exasperated amusement warmed Vegeta's eyes briefly.

"Vegeta." The Namek's tone said everything. The jig was about to be up.

Gohan woke the same way he'd fallen unconscious, enraged. But his mother hadn't groomed him his entire fucking life to be a scholar for no reason. He was in fact, very, very, smart. He sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, easing the kinks out of his arms, pulling the tranquilizer dart from his thigh, wondering how the hell it had managed to penetrate in the first place. Then with a terrible, black, smirk curving his mouth and shining in his dual colored eyes, he rose from the floor in form so perfect it looked fluid. His gaze sought the Namek, and found him, still clutching the smoking gun in one taloned hand. His bark of laughter would have fooled anyone. "A true warrior has no use for guns…" He mocked the hypocritical teachings of his Sensei, and laughed again. The Namek and the No Ouiji exchanged ill glances. Something was not quite right… Gohan's laughter abruptly ceased. "NEVER AGAIN, WILL YOU POISON, ME." There was no detecting and hardly any deflecting the ki blast that disintegrated the air rifle and a substantial portion of Piccolo's torso. Satisfaction glinted in Gohan. As his prince stood, mouth agape at the dying Namek, he slid into ascendancy with only the faintest of shivers, and a beautifully, cruel smile. Power the likes of which he had used to destroy Cell washed through him, he contained it effortlessly, though it was undeniably a head rush.

From the moment his consciousness had begun to surface, he knew that something felt 'off.' Like some dead, rotting thing in his chest, he was certain that someone, had done something. He just hadn't been able to finger it until, now. His resultant rage was a glacial entity, like liquid nitrogen, innocuously, frigidly, lethal.

"Why can I not sense…Videl?" he beckoned in silken tones.

Alarm flared in Vegeta as he looked and saw Sirabi about to speak. 'NO!' he thought forcefully into the Sorceress' mind. 'Do not say any-' "thing." he finished aloud as Sirabi approached Son Gohan cautiously. Physical memories of Gohan's recent pain colored her vision, blinding her to the open danger in his face.

"Son Gohan, I am only trying to help you through a very difficult time…the block is not permanent."

Shock, was followed closely by a dawn of understanding. "YOU BITCH!" He launched himself at Sirabi, snarling and growling like a mad dog. He drove into her, slamming her forcibly into the wall which groaned and strained but did not fall. The muscles of his forearm flexed against her throat, crushing her windpipe, depriving her of oxygen.

"Listen, witch." he panted angrily in her paling face, "The pain--that concerns you so, is rightfully MINE! And anything, that is not, Videl, is just…wrong." his voice rasped achingly. "So REMOVE your magic, Sorceress, before I kill you." He pressed a little harder, making sure she got the non-verbal message. Sirabi tried to swallow, she couldn't, couldn't breath, couldn't believe this assignment was meant to end like, this. She struggled to raise a trembling hand and place it palm up against Son Gohan, she tried, to gather coherent thought, some sort of energy, to do the thing she needed to, but her brain was fuzzing from oxygen deprivation.

"Let her breath, Brat. Else she can not do what you ask." The No Ouiji's voice of reason stole up from behind him. Gohan didn't even spare the prince a glance. No threat was as great as the one he dealt with now. He did however, acknowledge that the Sorceress might need to breath to function. Not that he gave a good goddamn as long as she undid whatever she had done. He relaxed his arm, just enough for her to take several, harsh, breaths. "A show of my good faith, if you will." he smiled ruthlessly, looking very like his sire before a mortal battle. Sirabi eventually nodded her ability, and touched her palm to Gohan's ribcage, uncapping the well of his soul, and withdrawing her energy from his. He jerked as the Novocain feeling in his heart wore off, leaving red-hot pins and needles in its wake. His body shook as the imbalanced vortex stole his breath in a single, hurt gasp. He swallowed thickly, forcing, forcing, the unbearable ache into submission. He released Sirabi, and carefully schooled his face along normal lines. No one else need see, the mangle of his innards.

"Thank you." his words were nearly inaudible, his relief palpable.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry Son Gohan for causing you further discomfort. I…misjudged this matter." Sirabi's voice was scratchy, but sincere. Vegeta's eyes bugged as he heard the Sorceress apologize! She'd nearly died, but she was the one who owed an apology? Right.

He shook his head. This whole, bizarre day, was completely, totally, fucked-up.

Gohan glanced sideways at the Sorceress. His anger was rapidly thawing, and with it, his SuperSaiyan state. He dismissed her sentiment and began to pace, restlessly around his suite. He made his way over to Piccolo, and stood looking at the grisly remains of his closest friend and lifetime mentor. His face was expressionless, but his tail swayed behind him in annoyance.

"Bastard. You deserved it. For cutting off my tail." He pushed the Namek's body with his toes. Piccolo opened one eye and grimaced. "Do you have any idea how bad this hurts? How fucking long it's gonna take me to regen an injury like this?" That twisted smirk lit Gohan's mouth again. "Just be glad I didn't aim for your fucking head. You wouldn't be able to regen that at all." His chuckle, was vile, evil, and desperately contagious. The three warriors exchanged pointed glances before succumbing to snide snickers, and then blatant laughter. Piccolo arched in agony as the action caused his already healing wound to scream. Gohan hooted and dissolved into laughter again.

Wiping tears from his eyes, he squatted down by Piccolo, using his tail for balance.

"You got my point though right?"

"Kinda…touchy aren't we? About the whole, drugging thing?" The Namek replied blithely.

"Good." Gohan's eyes were serious. "I'll just leave you here then, to get better."

Vegeta's keen ears picked up on the soft exchange. "Where do you think you're going, Brat?"

Gohan rose slowly, and turned to face his prince, his arms crossed over his chest, tail wrapped securely around his waist, death flickering flatly in his eyes.

"To find my mate of course."

:::::Jada laughs wildly with the Saiyans::::: I'm not even gonna bother telling you all when the next chapter will be ready…stay tooned! DBZ ROCKS!!