Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Idomu ❯ Chapter 15 ( Chapter 16 )

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

By: Macha

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. I am not making any profit from this.

Rating - NC-17

Warnings - INCEST. And although I don't know that it is so much a warning for this group as it is an encouragement…Yaoi (M/M, M/M/M). Followed by, ice, fire, voyeurism, body modification, bonding, tails, S & M, slave/master, character death, lemons, limes, random Japanese terms, A/U, wishes. (And I apologize for any other warnings I have forgotten!)

Pairings - (stepping out on a limb here folks) Lemons: Prince Vegeta/Kakarott/Gohan, K/Gh, PV/K, Radditz/Gh, V/Gh, V/G.

A/N: THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME HOSHI!

Idomu - Chapter 15

~o0o~

Gohan hugged his father tighter as they both tried to sleep in his often-unused bed. He would just about be asleep when Goku would jerk awake, and the process would start all over.

Goku hadn't put up much in the way of objections to the situation. They wouldn't let him sleep alone, but when Vegeta had grudgingly offered Goku found he just couldn't.

Goten wasn't in any shape to be offering emotional assistance to anyone; he'd been practically clinging to Trunks all day.

Gohan had sighed, taken Goku's lethargic hand, and led him down the hallway. Not that his mother's death hadn't affected him, but he felt guilty that he wasn't behaving as torn apart by this tragedy as his brother and father were.

“She was my best friend,” Gohan snorted awake as his father spoke rationally to him for the first time in hours. He didn't say anything, not knowing how to respond, really, and there was silence in the darkened room for quite sometime afterward.

“Chi-chi,” a little shake from his father's shoulders told Gohan he was crying again, but nothing as terrible as he'd walked in on in the labs.

“Y-you want t-to know why s-she hit me with the frying pan?” his father asked him.

Weird, “Um…sure,” Gohan murmured tiredly.

“She told me she hurt her hand when she punched or slapped me when I was being particularly dense,” Goku's shoulders jerked again, but this time Gohan couldn't tell if it were more tears, or actual laughter: maybe a combination of both.

“I handed it to her,” oh, there was definite humor found there, “Do you know what she did?”

“Hmm, no,” Gohan responded, slightly amused, despite the topic of the story.

“She held it out, inspected it in her hand, and then hit me on the head with it,” Goku actually chuckled, and Gohan couldn't help but do the same, “It never hurt, but it certainly got my attention!”

Gohan shook his head against the pillow at the silliness of the memory, “I bet it did,” he agreed.

“You know that marble rolling pin?” his father switched topics fast.

“The one on top of the fridge that never got used?” Gohan asked. He'd wondered about that. His mom wasn't known for frivolous kitchen decorations, but she had a wooden one she used for piecrusts.

“Yeah, that one. She gave the best back massages with that thing,” Goku sighed a content sound, and then shook a little again.

“With a rolling pin?” Gohan had trouble imagining it.

“Yeah…I know,” Goku shrugged.

A tired sigh, followed by a gentle snore.

~o0o~

The day of Chichi's funeral came. A sullen affair, where friends of the family filtered through uncomfortably wishing them their condolences, and then left just as uncomfortably with well meant promises they'd come and visit soon. Lip service, for most of them, Gohan guessed, even Krillan and Yamcha.

Two days later Goten and Trunks went to their parents' house in order to grab some of Goku's clothes, which the sayian insisted needed to be washed before he'd wear them. Goten handed the capsulized home to Gohan, who in turn handed it over to Vegeta, “I don't know when, but he may want to visit it some day,” Gohan told the older sayian.

Vegeta gave Gohan a funny look as the demi turned back to go to his lab. If Kakarott would want to visit the home of his marriage, why didn't the eldest son keep it?

Gohan wasn't expecting Bulma to be in his lab when he got there. “Hi,” he mumbled, a little startled.

Bulma frowned, and shifted a bit, “I…I have something I need to give to you.”

Gohan looked up at that. Why did Bulma seem so uncomfortable?

“With your mother passing away,” she gulped, saying it without looking up, “I realized how much older I am than her…”

Gohan shrugged, and wished Bulma would just say what she wanted to say: this skirting around the topic shit was like dancing on his mother's grave.

Bulma sighed at the awkwardness of the situation and just handed the padded envelope she held in her hand over to Gohan before leaving.

A short note fell out as he opened it and tipped it up to reveal the contents inside, I hope you can forgive me, and possibly even understand why I didn't tell you sooner. It read.

Gohan shook his head, wondering what it was as he opened up the regular envelope that had been inside as well.

He pulled out a thin piece of plastic with one fingerprint on it, and had a piece of tape carefully folded over it to keep the dust used to lift it in place.

Gohan stared at it. What was it? Well, he knew what it was, just not why she was giving it to him.

Words came unbidden from past conversation as he sat and stared at it: “Someone came and smashed the radars. We weren't able to find out whom. Bulma's security team found one fingerprint that wasn't Bulma's, but she didn't have the identity of the person in her database.”

Gohan looked at the note: Why I didn't tell you sooner.

Bulma knew.

Bulma knew?

Well, if she did know, then that meant she had lied…been lying for close to eight years…Which would certainly be something the President of Capsule Corporation would be uncomfortable about.

And now she was willing to let him know who as well?

Gohan didn't know if he had all the right connections to get into the database required, but he slipped the plastic onto his scanner, looking through his options….

…And low and behold, he did.

He sat back, watching as the computer compared and discarded fingerprints faster than he could punch, running through the files in alphabetical order. He contemplated how he would react when he found out the answer the mystery. Would he be angry? Would he be upset?

He didn't really know, and wouldn't, until he was able to ask this person questions, of their reasons and motives for fucking with his life.

The computer stopped.

He read the name at the top of the profile, stared, and then slowly read it again.

`Son Gohan'

Gohan stood, chair crashing to the floor, as it finally sunk in what Bulma was telling him.

He'd done this…to himself….

And he knew why: there were no doubts, maybes or hesitations now.

He was going back.

“Radditz”

~o0o~

It took two years from that final point of resolve for the time machine to be complete.

Two years Gohan debated with his logic, repeatedly, why he was doing this.

Radditz had rejected him.

It didn't matter.

Radditz was his uncle.

It didn't matter.

Radditz would never be able to accept him the way he wanted.

It DIDN'T FUCKING MATTER! His mate was going to die….

…But Raddtiz hadn't been his mate for a long time.

It didn't matter.

He narrowed down the moment between Radditz actually being killed and the planet being destroyed.

Brolli had killed Radditz before fighting Prince Vegeta or Kakarott.

Gohan took that very personally.

In trying to figure out the time before Brolli actually killed Radditz, Gohan found that Brolli had also managed to kill Prince Vegeta.

Kakarott had probably taken that personal. It was anyone's debate as to which of the two had finally destroyed the planet. Gohan thought Kakarott totally capable of doing so, if his return to Earth were any reference.

He hardly slept any more. Nights were extremely lonely now that he'd made the decision to go back. What he and Vegeta had done seemed as empty and meaningless as it really was. On those occasions Gohan did sleep, he would usually wake to his father in the bed with him.

“Gohan,” Goku whispered harshly, Gohan mumbled a nonsensical response. “Gohan, stop!” Goku squeaked.

Gohan finally woke, felt someone behind him, put one and one together, “Dad,” he sighed, “Sorry, roll over,” he said. Goku did as he asked hurriedly, and Gohan snuggled in behind him, “You probably shouldn't sleep behind me….”

“A-are you always like that?” Goku squeaked again.

“Pretty much,” Gohan felt no need to apologize further and settled in to go back to sleep.

Then, “Is it always like that?” Goku asked.

“Is what always like that?” Gohan asked.

“Well…we've been doing this for a while…and…and….” Goku couldn't make himself finish his sentence.

“And I've never tried to take advantage?” Gohan mused.

Goku nodded, realized his son might not know he had, “Yeah.”

“It's just not the way I work,” Gohan replied.

“How…how do you work?” Goku's curiosity got the better of him.

Gohan sighed, pulling back a bit, “Dad…you know I was a pleasure slave on Vegeta-sei, right?”

“Yeah,” the tone in Goku's reply indicated he didn't understand what that had to do with anything.

“I got used to a certain role, and enjoyed it very much,” Gohan explained, “I've never had the inclination to try the other.”

“Is it always like that?” Goku asked, “Having one role?”

Gohan chuckled, “No, actually, I think it may be fairly odd.”

“Oh” Goku debated about asking his next question, “Vegeta….”

Gohan hugged his dad closer again, “Vegeta has a different history.”

“Is…is he always going to want to play one role,” Goku asked: for some reason the idea bugged him…but if anyone would know, it would be Gohan: right?

Gohan knew why his dad was asking, “Are you interested in Vegeta?” he received non-committal whine in response, and decided teasing his father on the topic wasn't nice, “I don't know Dad. You'd have to ask Vegeta.”

“He seemed to like to…you know…with you…” Goku actually hand gestured in the dark room, uncomfortable with the discussion, but needing to know.

Gohan shook his head, “Vegeta expected certain things from me, and I from him. He's not going to expect the same things from you,” Gohan tried to reassure his father.

“You're sure?” Goku asked, still concerned.

“Dad, you were never a pleasure slave. I have a feeling Vegeta would expect very little in the way of knowledge of these things from you,” Gohan stated, rather confident in this.

“Oh”

“Go to sleep, Dad,” Gohan insisted, and they both did.

Twin groans as the sun peaked through the curtain, cutting across both pairs of closed eyes the next morning. Duel arms pulled covers over their heads at the same time.

Gohan's tail lashed as someone knocked on the door, “Go away,” he growled.

The knock came again, this time more persistent. Goku groaned in protest as the heat of his son left his back, but pulled the sheet back over his head. He heard the door open, and his oldest son's, “What do you want?”

“Sheesh bro, only came to tell ya Bunni had success this morning,” Goten pouted.

Goku's nose twitched. What was that smell? The sheet came down from Goku's head as he sat up, sniffing, “What is that?”

“You're still sleeping together?!” Goten asked incredulously.

“On occasion…Don't give me that look, nothing is happening,” Gohan growled.

“Sure, right now…” Goten didn't get much of his statement out before Gohan had him pressed up against the far wall of the hallway.

“Gohan!” Goku threw the covers back the rest of the way, getting up quickly to stop the scuffle he could hear in the hallway before it got out of hand. He had barely pulled Gohan back by his shoulders as Vegeta stepped out of a bedroom.

“Will you three stop clowning around? This house isn't built for that shit,” Vegeta ran a hand tiredly down his face, turned back to his bedroom, and slammed the door.

The three Sons smiled apologetically at each other.

It opened again moments later, “What is that?”

“That's what I asked,” Goku said.

“It's why I came to wake you. Bunni managed to duplicate that pastry Gohan brought the seeds back for…”

Goku could see the greedy look on Vegeta's face as he walked towards them, “You don't get them all.”

“This is my house,” Vegeta snorted, walking past the tangle of Sons, thumping Kakarott in the head with his tail on his way by, as he headed towards kitchen.

Goku growled.

“Correction,” Bulma's voice came from behind all of them, “This is my house,” she yawned, “And the four of you,” she shook her fist at them all, unable to articulate her irritation verbally so early in the morning, before turning back into her bedroom.

None of the sayians heard her irreverent, “No wonder Chichi had a heart attack,” before she got her bedroom door shut as they tried to get themselves untangled in time to catch up.

Vegeta and Trunks were already seated at the table, a huge platter of the pastries in the center of the table. Tiny plates set out in front of each seat: one pastry on each.

Goku sat quickly, grabbing for two of the pastries, realized he didn't have room for both of them on the plate, set one down on top of the one already on his plate, and was in the process of stuffing the other into his mouth when Vegeta's hand snatched his wrist, and then pinned his hand to the table. Goku glared at him.

Vegeta snarled, “This is going to be the first taste of Vegeta-sei you can remember, Kakarott, take it slow.”

Goku looked down at the pastry he'd been about to attempt to swallow whole, thought about Vegeta's remark, and nodded.

Vegeta let go of his wrist, and demonstrated exactly what he meant: pulling one bite sized chunk of the pastry off, and popping it into his mouth, actually chewing, closing his eyes and then humming his approval as the flavor he could barely remember flooded over his taste buds.

Gohan, Trunks and Goten all took their cue from Vegeta's actions, doing the same.

Bulma walked in to the kitchen to the sound of munching, humming, moaning sayians, “Oh, dear Mom,” she laughed, “78 years old, and I think you've just found the way to bring the five most powerful beings on this planet to their knees. I hope you can keep up with the demand.”

Bunni smiled: she'd been getting quite the kick out of watching and listening to them eat, “Actually, it was fairly simple to program the cook bots to duplicate this. Cooking them isn't going to be the problem. The problem is going to be keeping enough flour on hand to make more.”

Five pairs of panicked eyes turned her direction, “This took up the last of the first batch of flour,” she smiled apologetically.

Four heads turned back in the direction of the platter, the last pastry now gone, “What?!” Goku demanded.

Vegeta smirked from the hallway, “You want this, Kakarott?” he asked, holding up his prize.

Goku glared.

“Come and get it,” Vegeta's statement was made after he was already heading towards the basement labs.

The boys scrambled to get out of their seats.

Goku waited in his for Vegeta's ki to stop moving.

And then IT'd to it.

The door was already shut and locked by the time Gohan, Goten and Trunks made it to where they could feel Vegeta's, and now Goku's kis.

“Vegeta! That's blackmail!” they all heard Goku's incensed voice through the barrier.

Gohan smiled, and held his brother and Trunks at bay, “There'll be more,” he assured them.

“Yeah…but not for a while…” Goten pouted, and Trunks nodded his agreement.

“I think we can all afford to be selfless…just this once,” Gohan told them.

“I don't think I can,” they all heard Goku's voice raise in volume.

“Come on Kakarott, for this,” Vegeta's voice was uncharacteristically cajoling, “I'll take that as a yes.”

Trunks' eyes had gone wide, “Um…I don't think I want to be here anyway.”

Goten quickly caught on, “Uh…yeah, I'll see you upstairs,” he told his brother, following Trunks quickly.

Gohan shook his head at their behavior, but followed them. Not that he wouldn't mind staying, but he thought his father might if he did.

Goku grit his teeth and clinched his eyes shut, “Oh, come on Kakarott, it's not going to be that bad.”

“You're not the one with the phobia,” Goku snarled back.

“The injury is going to hurt more,” Vegeta tried to be reasoning.

“That's not helping, ah!” he felt the needle sink into his flesh, shuddered at the creepy feeling.

Vegeta pressed the stopper down quickly and removed the needle, “See…”

“Vegeta,” Goku gasped, “Do something, this hurts!” he squirmed.

Vegeta nodded, but he hadn't had the time to find something to cut into Kakarott's flesh with. Once the idea hit him, he didn't think, he just did.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Goku screeched. Had…had Vegeta just bit him?

Vegeta spat the piece of flesh out of his mouth, realizing now that it was actually done, he was disgusted with himself….

…until a different sort of feeling came over him….

…from the taste of Kakarott, “Oh…gods, Kakarott, get out,” that had been utterly stupid. He fell back from the other quickly.

Kakarott squirmed on the table, “I-I can't,” he whined, “And you promised.”

Vegeta nodded, closing his eyes, biting his tongue, hoping to settle the affects of the other flooding through his system. It worked, a little. He was able open his eyes and watch as Kakarott screeched again, and then the other's tail sprouted.

He purred his approval, holding the pastry out, a little worn from all the action it had seen, to Kakarott.

Who snatched it greedily from his hand.

Vegeta licked bloodied lips in reaction to watching Kakarott eat it with his newly grown tail waving happily behind him.

Goku looked up just as he was about to finish it off and froze as he noted the look Vegeta was giving him.

He gulped, looking down at what was left in his hand, broke it in half, and held the second part out to Vegeta.

Goku had been expecting Vegeta to grab it with his hand.

He didn't.

Goku watched with wide eyes as Vegeta actually crawled until he reached his hand and then took the piece he held with his mouth.

Which wouldn't have been so odd…except for the sucking, licking, humming and nibbling on his fingers that followed. Goku couldn't decide if Vegeta had enjoyed the pastry or his fingers more.

Goku looked at the last bit he held in his other hand, blinked, deliberated, and held that out for Vegeta to take as well.

He thought he may have made a mistake as Vegeta snapped at these fingers, thought he may have lost a couple of finger tips, only to have Vegeta stop as his teeth brushed bone, and then suckingly pulled the pastry from his almost numb grip. Goku haltingly purred as Vegeta took his thumb and pointer fingertips back into his mouth to suck soothingly at them.

Squawked as Vegeta reached up and snagged him from the table top, pulling him down onto the floor with him.

Gasped as Vegeta crushed their mouths together, moaned as Vegeta pressed his tongue and that little bit of pastry into his mouth. Growled as Vegeta's blood eclipsed the taste of the pastry.

Swallowed on accident as Vegeta's tongue tickled the roof of his mouth.

He pulled back slowly, reluctantly, “Sorry,” looked back up as Vegeta chuckled.

“It was yours, I gave it to you,” Vegeta stated, looking him in the eyes, before his lips were descending again.

Goku lifted his head to meet him halfway. Tongues explored, hunted for secret textures, sought out different flavors.

Goku whined as Vegeta pulled away slowly, the prince biting his lower lip to express reticence of letting go. “I-I don't know what I am doing,” Goku whimpered.

Vegeta pressed his forehead to Kakarott's, nodding without opening his eyes, willing himself to slow down, “I know,” he loosened his grip on the other fractionally.

“That…that doesn't mean I didn't like it,” Goku whispered.

Vegeta chuckled and purred, “Okay,” he said, pulling his head back.

“You're not angry, are you?” Goku asked. He wasn't certain he wanted Vegeta to stop, if the sayian wouldn't do this again.

Vegeta smiled, “No,” he lifted Kakarott up until the other could sit on his own, brushed the other's frowning lip with his thumb, “I can wait…take it slow: for this.”

Goku smiled, kissing at Vegeta's thumb, “Thank you.”

“Just don't make me wait forever, Kakarott,” Vegeta growled.

Goku shook his head, “I-I won't.”

Vegeta smirked as he stood, holding his hand out to help the other up, “Is that a promise?”

Goku nodded, “Yes.”

~o0o~

“You are good to go!” Bulma's voice came over the headset Gohan was wearing. He flipped a couple of last switches, gave her a victory sign, looked at the date one last time, and hit the ignition button.

They had run a few remote tests, most into the future, where they could control the environment and area the time machine was showing up in. Each one successful, but the machine had shown some wear caused by shaking from the vibrations the crystals emitted when stimulated by the rotation of the magnets. They'd adapted Bardock's energy field to protect the interior of the ship from the actual acoustics. Whoever was making the trip wasn't going to go deaf from doing so.

This was the first test that would carry a passenger: and Gohan knew exactly when, where, he was going.

And so did Bulma.

“Good hunting,” Bulma whispered as the machine popped out of existence in her time. She sighed, taking off the headset, and pinching the bridge of her nose. Gohan was supposed to schedule his return for five minutes after he'd originally left. The time in the machine actually continued to run, despite the fact the probes or machine were going to different times. Watches placed in the cockpit during remote test indicated that trips 15 minutes to two days into the future took a full minute to happen, despite the different amount of times they were traveling to. Cameras on board didn't seem to function during the actual a trip, but had no problems performing once settled: Bulma was still uncertain what the cause was, so, when Gohan came back, he'd be able to describe the visual aspects of the trip.

She looked down at the clock on the counsel, and gulped, nervous despite all the precautions they had taken. Five seconds remained until the planned re-entry.

Four: Bulma stopped her foot from tapping.

Three: a big, full breath.

Two: put her hand back down when she noticed she was lifting it to her mouth to chew her nails.

One: what if…

The time machine came back with the familiar pop, muffled screech and crackle, and she sighed in relief, watching as it made a smooth landing directly on the touchdown area. She stood as the hatch was popped open from the inside, and Gohan came tumbling out, falling to his knees and holding his middle as he tried to control the heaving his body wanted him to go through with.

“Uh…rough ride?” Bulma asked, grabbing a bottle of water before heading over to where Gohan was.

Gohan held up a hand as he nodded. Moments later, when he was feeling fractionally better, he beckoned her over, and gratefully took the water bottle from her hand, “I don't know what was different about the machine or method used for Mirai's time machine, but unless we figure it out, I don't suggest we send anyone we care about to travel in that thing,” he managed to say, before gulping down another long swallow of water.

Bulma frowned, nodding, thinking: Mirai hadn't shown any of these sorts of after affects the two trips he'd made back to this time line and dimension. “Maybe it was the amount of time?” Gohan had traveled back almost a decade.

Gohan nodded, “Could be,” he grimaced, “To tell you the truth, I didn't manage to look at my watch when I got there: I was too busy trying not to puke in the cockpit.”

Bulma sighed, “Okay. Well, did you get your other objective accomplished?” she asked.

Gohan nodded, not certain that a grin was really appropriate, considering what he'd just done to himself, as he held out the radar schematics he'd removed before smashing the radars, “Yeah.”

Bulma took them from his hand, quickly scanning the area for any unwanted onlookers, “Careful with that.”

“Oh, sorry,” Gohan grimaced. It had slipped his mind only she and he knew what had taken place.

Bulma waded them up, and placed them in a trash bin, pointedly looking at Gohan until he caught them on fire with a quick flash of ki. “So…when will you be leaving?” she asked.

Gohan looked up from watching the paper burn, “You knew?”

Bulma shrugged, “I knew you had smashed the radars before you got back. It wasn't until after you got back I figured out why, and that it was a fairly good reason for you to want to go back.”

Gohan looked at the machine, estimating how much money and resources the company had put into it, “And you still let me work on this project?”

Bulma smiled and shook her head, “Call me a hopeless romantic…the relationships that have to be fought for the hardest are always the best ones. Besides, I'll still have the probes, and the data.”

Gohan chuckled, “Is this permission to steal the time machine?”

Bulma raised one of her eyebrows, “It's not really stealing if I've given you permission, now is it?”

Gohan shook his head, “I don't know what to say….”

“Then say `Thank you,'” Bulma coached.

“Thank you, Bulma,” Gohan grinned.

“Now…back to the `when are you leaving' part. You aren't expecting me to give everyone your good-byes, are you?” Bulma scowled.

“Actually…” Gohan smiled bashfully.

“I swear! For being the strongest beings in the universe, you sayians suck when it comes to normal emotional situations,” Bulma said in disgust, “You're father will never forgive you.”

Gohan shook his head, “Fine…fine….I'll say something.”

Bulma rolled her eyes.

~o0o~

“Hey, Dad,” Goku looked over from where he was staring off at Gohan's voice.

“Hey, Gohan,” he said, smiling.

“Want to go fishing today?” Gohan asked. He'd thought of a lot of things he could do with his father, and this seemed like one of the most important.

Goku's smile grew, “Sure son,” he agreed before getting up, “We going to do it the old fashioned way? Or the Son way?”

Gohan chuckled, “I think a bit of both,” he said. Fishing with his father wouldn't be the same if they weren't actively hunting the fish in their own environment, but he also wanted the quiet time fishing with a pole gave people.

Goku scratched the back of his head, “Well, I don't know if Bulma has any poles…or tackle,” he started.

Gohan held out his hand, which had several capsules in it, “Poles, tackle, food, coolers, camping gear…if we stay out that long,” Gohan smiled winningly.

“You knew I'd say yes?” Goku asked, not really offended his son might find him that predictable.

“Well, if you hadn't, I'd have dragged you out there anyway,” Gohan said with a wink.

Goku snorted, heading for the door, “In that case…I'll race ya.”

Gohan shook his head, “You'd beat me, with IT…”

Goku smiled, “It's a real race, I won't cheat,” he stuck his tongue out.

“Gods, Dad, you look like Goten when you do that,” Gohan commented, wondering if his dad would ever grow up.

Goku smiled, “I'll take that as a compliment!” his voice carrying back from where he'd launched himself into the sky.

Gohan followed.

~o0o~

Gohan flicked switches and turned dials on the control panel. The good-byes had, in some ways, been rather easy.

He guessed he had his father's wonderful disappearing acts to thank for that. Everyone was sort of used to someone they cared for going on journeys they may not return from.

Goten understood completely. He was the only one Gohan had ever been able to tell the full story too, and the younger brother knew more than anyone else where Gohan's heart was, and why.

Goku had been sort of sad, but understood. Said he would miss him, but couldn't keep him there, “It'd be selfish and hypocritical on my part if I tried to stop you,” he had said at the end of their long day of fishing.

Pan had been the most difficult. Between not wanting to lose a parent for good, and having to explain why she shouldn't feel guilty, Gohan had to compromise, “Look, I'll have Bulma train you with the time machine technology, and you can check up on me. Besides, it either has to be guarded, or destroyed. Can't leave that sort of technology vulnerable to theft…never know who might get their hands on it, and what they would do with it,” he had explained, “Who better than a quarter sayian to take on that job?”

Pan had nodded, “That wasn't exactly the field of science I was hoping to go into though,” she had mumbled.

“Who says it has to be your job?” Gohan had asked.

His daughter had smiled then, “True. And who knows how long I am going to live? I may have several different fields of study under my belt by the time I am old and gray.”

Gohan had laughed, and given her a big hug.

He waved at his daughter now, indicating he was ready to go, “I love you, Pan,” it still sucked though. He had wished it were only Bulma in the lab, but Pan had insisted.

“You take care of yourself!” Pan spoke more harshly over the headset she was wearing than intended. She didn't want to let her father go…but she wouldn't stop him either, “I love you, Dad. Don't make me find a reason to come through time to save your ass!”

Gohan smiled, “I won't, promise.”

~o0o~~o0o~

“Here?” Kakarott asked from behind him.

Prince Vegeta shrugged as he looked around. There didn't seem to be much in the way of significant landmarks, but these were the coordinates given to him by their enemy.

No one was here yet though, “Extremely rude: I hate waiting!”

Kakarott turned to Vegeta and nodded. He was geared up and ready to go, and there was no opponent to take it out on…he turned in disbelief as he felt his brother's ki, “Radditz?” he hissed in concern.

Vegeta turned to look in the same direction as his mate. Even though he could detect nothing visually, he could feel the same thing, “What the fuck is he doing?”

Kakarott turned to face his mate, and shook his head, “I have no idea.”

Vegeta snarled, and turned his attention back to the rest of the area. There was still nothing other than the tremendously high ki level he could feel. It was great enough, it became ambiguous: no way to detect if it were still off planet, or if the enemy had managed to land, find somewhere to hide his ship, and then scope them out from a boulder or something. Of course, with that kind of power, why would you hide behind anything? “Let's land; it's too exposed up here.”

Kakarott nodded, taking his instructions willingly from the tactician: at least for now.

~o0o~

Toma, Selypa and Bardock all looked up and blinked at each other as a craft they had never seen before appeared out of thin air: inside the protective energy barrier. The moment of uncertainty ended abruptly as they all heard hydraulics decompress, and piece of the ship…or what ever it was, moved from the rest of it. Everyone tensed, going into battle stances, wary.

They didn't attack the poor fool who spilled out of the cockpit, tumbled to the ground, and then started puking his guts out.

Gohan grit his teeth, and gain control over his body. He didn't have time to waste on this. He teeth chattered as he was able to finally open his eyes, his vision slowly returning to normal. He breathed in deeply once, before turning his visage towards the others he could detect in the area, but couldn't make out clearly yet, “Radditz: where is he?” The question held a combination of anger, worry and desperation.

Bardock blinked, and his stance relaxed fractionally. His senses were telling him something impossible, “He's….” and then his eyes widened. His eldest wasn't in the house, as he was supposed to be, “I am uncertain,” the scientist admitted.

Gohan snarled, centered his concentration, and searched for the one, the only ki that would have made him make this trip in the first place…he couldn't be too late, he refused to believe that. He stood, “Fuck!” cursing his body as it refused to cooperate enough to fly: buckled down on his weakness and started in the direction he could feel the other at a run.

“That wasn't…” Selypa started as soon as the other had left: running through the energy barrier. The barrier rippled and warped before patching itself up.

“I think it was,” Bardock said as he watched the dust cloud from the other's passing.

“You're sure? He was…older, and way too thin….” Toma scratched his head.

Bardock shook his head, “It was him…just not as we are used to seeing him. His ki was still the same,” his attention turned back to the machine the other had arrived in.

“I wonder what it is?” Selypa contemplated.

“I'd guess it was a ship,” Toma poked at it.

“But what kind of ship?” Selypa asked again.

Bardock grinned, “Well, I know one way to find out.”

The curious, calculating gleam in his eyes was quickly caught by the other two scientists.

~o0o~

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kakarott hissed at his brother as Radditz landed beside them.

Radditz snarled, “What we've been training to do.”

Prince Vegeta frowned, “You need to stand down, Commander,” he stated, noticing Radditz' eyes were still slightly dilated. Maybe he had hit him too hard and given him a concussion?

Radditz spit at the ground, “Like hell I will.”

Kakarott gripped his brother's arm, “Can you not feel what we are going up against?”

Radditz shook his arm loose, “Fuck you, Kakarott,” he could feel it: he didn't care to admit how even MORE useless it made him feel.

“Well, well, well, dissention amongst the ranks, I see,” Brolli watched as the trio all turned in the direction of his voice. He peered at them from where he levitated, and sneered down at them with some humor, “Someone wishes to die first? Yes?” his father may have been training him for this moment, but he'd killed the fool long ago: as easily as he was going to kill the fools below him now.

There came a time in his life he realized his father had been controlling him, not for their benefit, but for his father's benefit alone. Brolli had reasoned, if he were going to be used as a weapon, then only he would be the one to reap the rewards: not some hypocritical, power-hungry bastard. It had been the best decision in his life so far. Besides, they couldn't have both sat on the throne.

Vegeta opened his mouth to comment on the other's readiness to die, but it became another command instead, “Radditz! Get back here!” as the Commander decided to take their enemy up on his most generous offer.

Brolli stared at the sayian before him, assessing him as they both floated with in arms reach of each other, “You're attractive, but weak,” Brolli said before waving his hand, not even bothering to add ki to the wind shock that tumbled the other away from him.

Radditz shook his head, trying to reorient himself, found his opponent and went after him again.

Brolli sighed as he blocked one of the weaklings hits, “Look, Gorgeous, don't make me feel the desire to kill you. I came here to take the throne, and destroy one annoying pest,” he said, pointing down to Kakarott, “I'd love to have a pretty thing like you at my side…”

“That `annoying pest', happens to be my brother,” Radditz snarled, then yelped as his fist was caught and crushed, not to the point of useless, but with enough force he could hear fractures forming, “And I am already taken.”

One of Brolli's brows rose at that statement, and he pulled the other to him, cracking the armor plating around the other's chest and throwing the pieces to the ground, “I don't see any marks,” he commented as the weakling struggled in his hold. Anything less than a bond…Brolli was pretty certain he could change this one's mind.

Radditz couldn't breathe in enough air to form a response; the arm constricting around his torso was doing so with enough force he couldn't expand his rib cage. He felt like a rag doll in a careless, overly possessive child's hold.

Brolli shook his head, “A lesson then,” he said, adding more force to his hold, hearing ribs crack, watching avidly as the other blinked in shock and pain, before letting his hold go, and letting the other drop to the ground, unconscious.

“One down. Who's next?” Brolli said, turning his attention back to the others who had shown up to greet him.

Vegeta snarled up at the other as Kakarott raced to his brother's side: a senzu syringe in hand. The movement had gained his enemy's attention, and Vegeta shot up from the ground as Brolli leveled a ki glowing hand at his distracted mate.

Brolli blinked as a fist connected with his cheek. The hit was strong enough to have thrown his aim off, and he missed his target. He didn't know if he should be angry or happy to have an opponent that might actually make him work a little bit.

So the look he turned to Vegeta was a mixture of both, which only made him look insane to the prince, “Not going to go down so easily as your friend, I see, your Highness,” Brolli mocked, and then kneed the other in the gut.

Vegeta coughed up blood, but had enough presence of mind to form a ki attack as he doubled over, forcing his hand up and into Brolli's torso, before letting the energy go.

Brolli grunted as a ki blast threw him away from his opponent. He raised his ki, when he realized the attack had actually made him feel a bit of pain. This one wasn't to be taken lightly, after all.

Kakarott pressed two fingers to his brother's neck, feeling a pulse, and then sighing in relief and uncertainty. With his brother down, unconscious, but alive, did he really want to give him a senzu shot? Right now, he was out of the way. Kakarott's attention was drawn away from his brother as he heard his mate snarl. He dropped the syringe and rose into the air, ready to give aid to his mate in the fight.

Vegeta grunted as his arms were wrenched behind him, the knee in his back holding him steady as he could feel the force increasing…the other meant to make his arms useless. He struggled to pull his arms forward, roaring when one came out of socket, but able to twist his body so the other was still intact.

Brolli let go of the prince, as he was momentarily stunned when doubled fists slammed into the top of his head. He blinked his sight clear, just in time to collide with the ground. He growled as he stood, blinking again, snarled at the second opponent that had attacked when his attention had been trained on the other, and shot up from the ground, using his fist as a ramming rod, right into Kakarott's gut.

Kakarott was forced to a higher altitude, gagging and coughing, trying to gain his breath back. He managed it just as gravity snared him, and was able to correct his flight path. Gritting his teeth and snarling, he watched their enemy slam his fist into Vegeta's face, and headed back into the foray.

Raddtiz groaned as his senses returned, coughing, and then trying to still his body's movements as the jerking caused him intense pain. He tried to sit up; hand coming into contact with the syringe his brother had left behind. He used his teeth to take the protective barrier off of the needle and then sunk it into his thigh before depressing the stopper. He lay back to the ground, panting as the formula took effect.

Once he felt everything had been mended back together, the Commander stood, watching the fight from the ground, looking for an opening…there! He flew at their attacker when both Kakarott and Vegeta were thrown back from their opponent with twin ki blasts.

Brolli blinked as the good-looking one faced off with him again, “Have to give it to you, you recover fast,” he complimented, “But I don't have time for you right now, sweet heart,” he said as he noted both of his other opponents had now recovered, and were circling, “Sorry,” he said, striking at the other's unprotected torso with a fist.

It never hit. Radditz wasn't certain why it was his head hurt rather than his chest as he was pulled back…wait, pulled? Not pushed? He grit his teeth, levering himself up from the ground with one arm. He was really starting to hate the planet's surface. He first trained his vision up, expecting the fight to still be in the air….

…He only saw Vegeta and Kakarott up there, looking at something on the ground, way out of range from where he sat. He found it odd neither of them was going after the bastard. They shouldn't be giving that monster a moment to recover. They should have been hounding him without remorse! Fools! He stood, and then went to where they were.

“What are you doing?! Go after him while he is…oh,” and then Radditz understood why they weren't getting involved.

Someone was already going after their enemy without mercy…but…Radditz began to shake as his ki sense told him who…it couldn't be. He wanted it to be, but….

He blanched at the brutality he was witnessing. He…Gohan, the man he knew…that couldn't be him: could it?

The one sided violence was astounding…no, terrifying. The Gohan he knew had always seemed so calm: complacent even. Radditz had a memory flash of the first time he'd witnessed this alien ascend, and the emotions that had accompanied the moment: uncertainty, awe, alarm. Those feelings had returned and were threatening to…what? Undo him? Overwhelm him? Radditz wasn't certain.

An audible boom was heard before the effects of a ki wave reached them. Followed by, “FIGHT ME!”

~o0o~

Gohan shook his head as his vision finally cleared: the dizziness and nausea had persisted, until this moment. It had been pure luck he'd noticed Radditz hair enough to pull him out of the way of fist coming at the commander, and take the blow to the chest himself. Although there had been no ki glow, the strike had been ki enhanced all the same. His ma…Radditz wouldn't have survived.

Everything immediately after had been to keep Brolli away from the others while Gohan tried to get his bearings. He'd taken a few good hits, but they had eventually slowed, and Gohan's thoughts had consumed him.

He hadn't come back to this planet for Radditz to die. That thought had kept him on fire for a quite some time. Flesh impacting flesh had hardly seemed enough retaliation. Especially when the other's hits became feeble, and then non-existent.

“FIGHT ME!”

This would be the fourth time he or his kin had to deal with this monster. The fucker kept coming back! Gohan was going to make sure it wasn't a possibility this time.

Gohan pulled his hand back for another blow, and finally realized his arm was covered in gore up to his elbow. He turned back to the opponent he straddled. Brolli had lost his ascension, somewhere along the way.

He seemed so…innocent…ki gone, hair back to brunette…eyes closed…blood ebbing slowly from his mouth.

Gohan reached two shaky fingers to his opponent's throat.

He was already dead.

Something in Gohan raged. That hadn't been nearly enough of a fight to make up for the last ten years. He snarled down at the corpse.

Then something in Gohan crumbled.

He'd killed enemies before…but certainly never this one sided.

If he'd had anything left in his stomach from his trip here, it would have been coming back up, he was certain, but there wasn't anything.

Except the tears that came. What had he done?

The blood covering him suddenly felt as though it were tainting him. He quickly burned it off with a flash of ki: instantly cleansing his skin.

However, the evidence of what he'd done still lay below him, hollow, dead eyes staring to the side, along the plain of the ground.

It creeped him out! Another flash of ki, and the body was gone also.

But it was still in his head….

…And Gohan could feel the uncertainty rolling off of the others.

He turned enough to see the three approaching cautiously, and he realized…they might actually fear him, “No,” he shook his head. He hadn't meant to do this! Well, he had, and he wouldn't change it. Radditz was alive…and that's really why he had returned, wasn't it?

Wasn't it?

Gohan snarled at himself: he'd fooled himself into believing that. It had never been `only' about Radditz being alive….

…But if Radditz hadn't been able to accept `them' when he finally found out that they were related…how would he be able to accept such a monster as he'd just proven himself to be?

The answer, though simple, still hurt.

He wouldn't.

Gohan came to decision then. He stood unsteadily, wanting to beg them to understand as they all halted in their approach at his movement….

…Instead he left for Bardock's. He'd get his ass back in the time machine, and hope to whatever gods were watching over him, if any still were, the ship would hold together long enough he'd make it back to his correct time line in one piece.

~o0o~

“Can't you reach him?” Kakarott asked his brother.

Radditz tried again, ~Gohan!~. “No…it's like…the bond is not there,” Radditz said as they continued to walk towards the downed pair.

They all stilled as they saw a ki flash, and then another, all of them close enough to see after the second one, the body was no longer on the ground, ash particles floating away on the after shock.

Radditz stepped forward, ~“Gohan”~, he tried to reach the other both verbally and mentally.

He concluded it had been unsuccessful when Gohan leapt into the air, and headed away from them.

“Where is he going?” Vegeta asked, curious and concerned.

“Back to our father's place,” Kakarott said quietly.

Radditz snarled and pursued.

~o0o~

Gohan growled once he had made it back to Bardock's holding. He wasn't finding it as easy to enter through the barrier as it had been exiting, “BARDOCK!” he pounded his fists against the energy, shaking his hands from the slight sting he received for his troubles, “BARDOCK! LET ME IN DAMN YOU!” his panic escalated as he could feel the others that had been witnesses to his gruesome deed catching up to him.

He went to strike again, his hands coming into contact with nothing as the energy disbursed, and he fell forward, barely catching himself before he went down.

They were even closer now! “CRAP”

“What's the matter boy?” Gohan heard Bardock's voice, but didn't have the time to explain if he were to make his escape.

Gohan hurried to where he remembered having landed the time machine…but it wasn't there. He turned quickly then, having to take the time to address Radditz' father, “Where is it!?”

“The machine you showed up in?” Bardock asked with a frown.

“YES!” Gohan barely stopped himself from screaming: it came out as a loud growl instead.

“Well it's in the warehouse…” Bardock started.

Gohan didn't wait for more words from the other. He hurried into the warehouse…and then came to a complete halt, “No” he whined as he observed what was going on.

Bits and pieces of the machine lay in neat rows on the concrete floor, each outlined in chalk with numbers written in each occupied square of the grid, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!!!”

Selypa looked up from where she was inventorying the next piece Toma had just laid out on the floor, “Um…” she didn't really know how to answer. Well, she knew the answer, but it was obvious it wasn't going to be acceptable.

“You -” Gohan shook with rage, “You can't just go around tearing people's things apart!” he shouted as he stepped forward.

“We wanted to know what it was,” Selypa finally found her voice. “HEY! We are cataloging that!”

Gohan snarled as he started hording as many pieces of the time machine he could hold into his arms, “I need to get it back together now!”

“Why?”

Gohan froze at the question…more pointedly, who had asked it, “I-I thought I could stay…but I know better now…”

“Why can't you stay?” Radditz stepped past the last row of workbenches. He shook his head at the controlled mess on the flooring, but quickly turned his attention back to Gohan.

Gohan's hold on pieces of machinery loosened just a bit, a few parts falling from his arms, “I seem to remember being told to go back to my home planet once these confrontations were finished,” he worded his response carefully, still conscious of the others in the room listening to this conversation. He closed his eyes at the memory, “So, I will,” he shrugged his shoulders before bending down to pick up the pieces that had dropped. No use in being in a rush now, he was already caught.

Radditz' tail whipped at the same memory, from a different perspective, “I seem to recall it being worded a bit more harshly than that.”

Gohan nodded, “Deservedly so…”

“Can I change my mind?” Radditz asked boldly, “If I did, would it change yours?” he stepped a bit closer when Gohan didn't move.

“Don't…don't tease me, Radditz,” Gohan shook his head: ten years and high strung emotions making it difficult for him to tell if what he was hearing was really what he was hearing…or just what he wanted to hear.

~Gohan, I want you.~ Radditz sent a mental response, hoping that would at least show where he really stood on this issue. He shifted when Gohan didn't respond, “Can you hear me?”

“Sure,” Gohan nodded, not understanding the question.

“No,” Radditz shook his head, “I meant through the bond…”

That was the last straw. Gohan's knees hit concrete, “I…it's been 10 years, Radditz,” he shook his head, “No, I can't hear you. I can't feel anything but your ki….”

“A time mach….” Selypa's excited comment was interrupted by Bardock placing a hand over her mouth.

“10…what do you mean? You disappeared this morning!” Radditz interjected.

Gohan let what remained in his arms fall to the floor, and pointed at the machine, “I had to find a way back…it took me 10 years to do so,” he said.

“10 years?” Radditz finally looked at Gohan. The kid's hair was short again, but haircuts could happen in less than a day. However, the thin frame indicating a lot of weight lost didn't happen in just hours…at least, not to a sayian. “10 years? The way I rejected you…The bond is gone, and you still came back?”

Gohan blushed, Radditz' wording making it even more obvious how obsessed he had been…still was for that matter, “This is unnatural, Radditz, and we both know it,” Gohan shook his head, beginning to gather pieces of the time machine back to him.

Radditz growled, “I don't care,” he stepped forward, using his tail to stop Gohan's hand from reaching for another piece of the machine, “It doesn't bother me, any more,” he repeated when Gohan didn't immediately give him his full attention, “I had a taste of what it was like when you were gone…I didn't like it. I've changed my mind, and I want you to stay…with me.”

Gohan shook his head, beginning to chuckle hysterically, “It won't work…” it was a nice fantasy…but he couldn't imagine a way around it.

“Why?” Radditz asked. Then shook his head, determination flooding his features, “We can make it work.”

Gohan finally gathered enough courage to look up, “We both know why…” his eyes widened as Radditz reached down and hauled him up with one hand under an arm pit, turning him physically until he faced the rest of the group in the warehouse.

“Dad,” Radditz started.

“Radditz, what are you doing?” Gohan whispered harshly at the commander.

Bardock cleared his throat, “Yes?” he really wasn't certain what was going on, and was slightly uncomfortable with the situation. Still, he hadn't found an opportune moment to leave them to this discussion yet.

“I'd like you to meet Gohan…Your gran…” Radditz began to say before Gohan slapped a hand over his mouth.

“NO! Radditz, we can discuss this, but…but…” Gohan stated while panicking: his eyes having gone wide. Had Radditz really been about to just blurt out what he had thought he was going to? Was the sayian insane?

Radditz reached up and gently took Gohan's wrist into his hand, pulling the other away from his mouth, “Does that mean you are going to stay?”

Gohan nodded, looking down, “Yeah…”

“I need you to be more certain,” Radditz said, gripping Gohan's chin between a forefinger and thumb and gently turning the other's face up.

“Can we discuss this somewhere else, please?” Gohan begged in a whisper.

Radditz pulled him close to whisper back, “Are you staying?”

“Yes” Gohan gained immense liberation in affirming his decision.

~o0o~

The End

Beta's Notes: I swear to GOD you cannot end it there. I will reach through this computer and hurt you. Make us an Epilogue, where they're together, we have a nice, steamy little sex scene, Vegeta and Kakarott are together in the Palace with Vegeta on the throne. It doesn't really have to be long. Just… Please don't end it there. You would be stealing Pix's title as the queen of evil cliffhangers.

Author's second note: Yes Ma'am!