Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lab Monkey ❯ Sonofa... ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

Chapter Six

Son-of-a-…

Vegeta watched with callous disregard as an intruder prowled unnoticed into the lab. As soon as the door had opened he had been aware of the man's unfamiliar ki. The scientists continued to scurry back and forth, their precious research far more important than an uninvited guest in their midst.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he observed the man's controlled demeanor and unconscious command of his area. His close cropped gray hair and uniform marked him as military, igniting Vegeta's interest immediately. The man's steely gaze swept over the scientists with disdain, before finally settling with cold intensity on Vegeta, who stood motionless in the center of his cell.

The man's eyes flared and his lip curled as he marched forward, ignoring all who crossed his path and finally gaining the attention of Bulma's employee's. The man stopped in front of Vegeta's cage, his lip furling back into a full fledged snarl of anger as recognition took hold.

"You." The man hissed with barely repressed fury. Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at the enraged man, uncaring of what he had done to draw the man's hatred. This was the look that he was used to seeing in the eyes of those who stood before him. Hatred and fear were emotions he knew well.

"You are one of those monsters that came down and annihilated half of our military. You are the bastard that ordered the deaths of my men." The man's fists clenched into hard rocks at his side and he spat the words out between clenched teeth.

Vegeta's cruel lips curled into a smirk, enjoying the sense of power the man's words brought him. Only he was capable of bringing such vehemence to the surface of the most rigid of men. He struck terror into the hearts of the masses. He was a destroyer of worlds, not a captive to a weak witch of a woman.

"Well if your men weren't such piss poor, wanna-be, miserable excuses for males, they wouldn't be rotting in their graves now. I was just doing your world a favor by cleaning up the gene pool." Vegeta sneered, his pleasure at taunting the man visible in every nuance of his body.

"You son-of-a-bitch! How dare you insult the sacrifice those men made to protect their planet." The man shook his fist at Vegeta, rage seeping out of every pore.

"Hn. You're right. If you had any sense of honor you would kill yourself for failing so horribly. Let someone else get the chance to be even more pathetic than you." Vegeta snickered, enjoying every passing minute.

The man's eyes narrowed, hate brewing inside of him with malicious force. "What are you doing here? How is that you are still alive?" The man's head whipped back and forth, taking in Vegeta's plush surroundings and his relaxed demeanor.

Vegeta shrugged nonchalantly at the man's questions, his agile mind already forming a plan of escape. "The woman says it's a prison," Vegeta motion to the room around him, a wolfish smile gracing his hard features, "but this is the nicest prison I have ever been in." He walked over to his lazy boy, snatching up the remote to reveal his fifty-two inch flat screen television that would cost the man half a year's salary. "I mean, I could leave at anytime, but why would I want to. The woman sees to my every need." Vegeta's black eyes glittered with an insinuating light and the man choked on his rage.

"The woman? Do you mean Bulma Briefs?" The man rasped out with scorn and Vegeta's white teeth flashed in response.

"Of course. She's a tasty piece of ass and she knows how to keep a man happy while he's under her fine care." Vegeta stretched, turning his back on the infuriated man. "Yep, life's good. I don't have to worry about anyone finding me or trying to punishing me for my crimes and when I'm done I can just kill the woman and get back to doing what I was doing before." Vegeta turned back around, his hellish eyes locking with the man's, an evil grin shadowing his face. "Destroying the world."

The man's eyes widened before narrowing with determination. "You bastard! You won't succeed. I will stop you." He hissed confidently.

Vegeta threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Oh, like you stopped me last time. That will be the day. You and your men are nothing but dogs at my feet, cringing in terror while I beat you mercilessly. I would have more of a challenge from a battalion of shrieking women."

The man's eyes bled red at the sight of Vegeta's amusement and his teeth cracked as he grated them together in frustration. The man reached for the control panel on the side of the wall, intending of disengaging the force field so he could reach the murderer who stood protected inside of the shield. Vegeta's lips peeled back into a genuine smile at the sight and he braced himself to leap on the freedom that was about to present itself.

"What the hell, do you think you are doing?" Bulma screamed, while rushing across the room. Vegeta hissed angrily as she pushed the man away from the panel, while spitting profanities.

"I'm going to fucking kill him!" The man roared with ferocious intensity, his veins protruding from his forehead and his face nearly purple with rage as he jabbed a finger in Vegeta's direction. Bulma took a step back almost colliding with the force field and Vegeta responded to her fear with an audible snarl. The intruder's gray eyes pierced Bulma through and she stiffened, hardening her resolve. She was Bulma Briefs, she cowered to no one.

"General Lee, I am going to have to ask you to leave my lab. This is a restricted area." She stepped forward boldly, taking charge of her domain with the ease of a queen. With a subtle tilt of her head she motioned to Asuka, who picked up the phone inconspicuously.

"Leave? You dare to order me about. You are housing the most wanted criminal in the world and you think you can tell me what to do? That man is wanted in every country from the Atlantic to the Pacific. You will hand him over this instant!" He demanded, drawing himself up authoritatively.

"I will do no such thing, General. This man is quite dangerous and I can't allow some ignorant fool to try and take him away from these secured quarters." Bulma's snide clip rolled off her tongue, slapping the arrogant man across the face. As impossible as it seemed, the General's face became even redder and he sputtered brokenly.

"Are you calling the military foolish?" He hissed.

"No I am calling you foolish. You have no idea what Vegeta is capable of. You don't have the proper understanding to incarcerate him."

"You will hand him over immediately. That is an order."

"No." The word weighed ten tons, dropping on the room like a cannon ball. General Lee stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment. No one disobeyed him, especially a woman. She needed to learn her place. She was a perfect example as to why women shouldn't be allowed to do anything but cook, clean and breed children.

"You bitch! You will do as I say this instant." He stepped forward menacingly and Bulma clenched her fists by her sides, but she held her ground defiantly. He reached for the door lock panel to her left, but Bulma pushed him violently away. Anger boiled up and blood pounded behind her eyes, causing her to see a hint of red. How dare this impertinent, public servant tell her what to do. She was the richest woman on the planet and she always got what she wanted. And what she wanted was Vegeta.

"Stay away from him. He's mine. I won't allow you to have him." She hissed. At her words her anger drained away leaving behind a wave of mortifying shock. What the hell was she saying? Behind the General the lab doors slid open to reveal a security detail. Bulma quickly regained her composure, spearing the General with her icy gaze.

"You are going to have to leave now, sir." She motioned towards the detail and they moved forward. "Please see the General to the door. He's leaving."

General Lee's narrowed, slate gray eyes locked on her small form. "I will be back and you are going to regret this, Miss Briefs." His vow was laced with menace and Bulma's fists clenched in the folds of her lab coat. General Lee turned on his heel and stalked from the room, leaving behind a stunned audience.

Bulma turned her icy blue eyes onto Yamshita. "What the hell do you think you were doing, you idiot? You were supposed to be watching him." The man cringed away from her wrath and Vegeta snickered. It was nice to see her ire directed at someone else for a change. His amusement only grew, mixing with the seed of hope that had settled in his stomach. Vegeta's calculating gaze had raked over General Lee as he had argued with Bulma. He had seen men like that before. Heady with their own sense of power, they rarely gave the consequences of their actions any real thought. Vegeta had no doubt that the man would be back and his visit would not be a pleasant one. For the inhabitants of this planet at least. A sly smile formed on Vegeta's lips.

"I was just giving him a tour when he said that he needed to visit the men's room. How was I supposed to know that he was going to give me the slip?" Yamshita was getting paler by the minute, the realization of his mistake becoming clearer.

"You moron, do you know what you have done? They are going to come back and take Vegeta away." Yamshita opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by Bulma. "You're fired. Clear out your desk and get out of my sight." She turned her back on the man, dismissing him from her presence. He shot her a look of hard anger before he left the lab, but he was unnoticed by Bulma who was pacing frantically.

She began to chew her nails, a habit she had developed when she was stressed. What was she going to do? They would be back in a matter of hours, a day at the most. Could she possibly move Vegeta that quickly? Was she willing to risk everything, her corporation, her family, her life, just to save a monster? Could she do that? She dropped down into a chair, massaging her temples in despair.

Asuka walked up to her, silently handing her a glass of water and two aspirin. Bulma looked up at the sympathetic woman. "What I'm I going to do Asuka?"

"They only thing you can do. Hand him over." The woman replied quietly. Bulma looked back at her stricken.

"I-I can't do that. At best they will execute him for his crimes. At worse they will dissect him." Bulma's voice was frail and deep lines engraved themselves on her forehead. She heard a distinctive snort and she looked over at Vegeta. He was leaning up against the door frame, his arms crossed and a devilish smirk curling on his lips.

"You worry too much woman." His voice was deep with wicked promises of destruction and Bulma felt her panic multiply by hundred times. Whatever Vegeta was planning it could only mean one thing.

Armageddon.

Dread settled deep in the pit of her stomach and she felt nausea rise up to swamp her. Whatever she did, she could not allow the government to release Vegeta from his prison. The havoc he would wreck would devastate mankind. She quickly stood and turned on her heel. She had a lot of work to be done in a few short hours.

She spent the rest of the day calling in every favor she had ever held. She spoke with high ranking politicians, influential citizens, anyone she could think of that could help her in her plight, but she was met was resistance everywhere she turned. Nobody wanted to be involved with a dangerous man like Vegeta. They all agreed that the only solution was to hand him over to the military. No one seemed to understand the power that he was capable of wielding, even after seeing the way his comrade had ripped through the army only months before. They refused to believe that such strength was possible and no one believed her when she told them that only she could keep him caged.

She only had one choice left. Relocation. She had to move Vegeta to someplace no one could find him. A place that wasn't connected to Capsule Corps in any fashion and was safe from prying eyes. She needed someone to help her as well. She wouldn't be able to watch over Vegeta nor would she have the facilities or manpower needed to maintain him. She needed someone who could watch Vegeta twenty-four seven and knew how dangerous he was to society. Someone she could trust.

Bulma sank down in her seat, desperately trying to rub away the headache that was pounding behind her eyes. She only had one choice. All of her warrior friends had gone off to Namek. There was no one left on Earth who really knew what Vegeta was, besides herself and one other person.

Chi Chi.

Bulma took a shaky breath of resolve and gathered up her things.

Bulma landed her hover jet a few yards away from the cheery house, nervousness rioting in her stomach. The front door opened before Bulma could make it all the way across the yard and a dark haired woman raced out to greet her with a hug. She hugged Chi Chi back, realizing how much she had missed her friend and how long it had been since she had done anything outside of working long hours in her lab.

Chi Chi pulled back, smiling happily at the blue haired woman. She had been stuck out in the woods without anyone to talk to for so long she almost forgotten how to say hi.

"Bulma, I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit. It seems like it's been ages since I have seen anyone." She chirped happily while leading her friend into the house.

Bulma felt a stab of guilt. Even though she had been busy with her own problems she should have taken time out to at least call Chi Chi. The last few years had been even harder on the young woman, with the loss of her husband, her son being kidnapped and now they had ran off to another planet, leaving her alone yet again.

"I'm sorry Chi Chi, I should have called or stopped by sooner." Bulma allowed herself to be led into the house and sat at the kitchen table.

"Yes you should have." Chi Chi snapped, but a smile quickly softened her features. True she was a dragon, but mostly it was a game that she played with her friends. Everyone knew that she was soft inside. "No matter, you are here now. Chamomile?" She offered Bulma a cup of healing tea. Just one look at the blue haired woman told a story of stress that could not be solved with just one cup of tea, but it was a start.

Bulma accepted it gratefully, allowing the soothing taste to calm her nerves. Chi Chi sat down opposite of Bulma and sipped her own tea, while watching the other woman carefully. That sat in silence for a moment, each enjoying the company of another woman, before Chi Chi finally broke the mood.

"So are you going to tell me why you are here?" She questioned softly. Chi Chi was never a fool and she knew Bulma wasn't here for a social visit.

Bulma blushed and dropped her head. Chi Chi already knew that Bulma had Vegeta imprisoned in her lab. In fact, she had been the one friend who hadn't objected to the arrangement. She had held back, watching silently as the warriors of their group had argued that it was cruel to imprison the man and that they should let him return to space.

Slowly she revealed the occurrences of the last few hours to her attentive friend, before finally asking for the favor that she had come here seeking.

"If I built the cage and transported him here, will you watch him? Make sure he gets fed and everything. You don't have to spend time with him, just make sure that he doesn't starve or anything." Silence descended on the room and Bulma looked up to see Chi Chi's narrow black eyes piercing her through.

"No." Her single word reply devastated the silence and shocked Bulma for a minute. Her brow creased and she took a deep breath.

"But why? This is the last place anyone would look for him. I can't keep him anywhere else and we both know we can't let him loose on the world." Bulma argued effectively. This was her last hope. If Chi Chi said no, then Bulma didn't know what she was going to do.

"I said no Bulma. I am not letting that murderer anywhere near my home." Chi Chi picked up both their cups and set them in the sink, turning her back on her friend. Bulma stood up taking a step forward, reaching for her.

"But, what am I supposed to do? I thought you agreed that imprisoning him was best for everyone."

Chi Chi whirled around, anger flushing her cheeks. "No, I never agreed on any such thing!" She snapped. Bulma dropped her extended hand and took a step back from the enraged woman.

"But if you agreed with the boys, why didn't you say anything then?" Bulma queried, a pounding headache reforming between her eyes.

"I never said I agreed with Goku and the boys." Chi Chi turned away, crossing her arms over her chest and stared absently out the window at the mountain peaks in the distance. Bulma frowned at her back, now thoroughly confused.

"Well you didn't want to let him go and you didn't want to incarcerate him. What did you want us to do with him?"

Chi Chi was quiet for long minutes before answering. She took a deep breath, sighing sadly. "You should have killed him." Her words echoed through the room and Bulma's stunned gaze never left her back.

"What? I could never do that." Bulma gasped, her breath strangled in her throat.

Chi Chi whirled towards her in a fury, her eyes sparkling with hate. "Why not? He's a killer, a murderer. Because of him our friends are dead. Tien, Chi-otsu." She paused a heartbeat before driving her point home. "Yamcha." Bulma dropped her eyes away from the penetrating gaze of her friend. The old pain awoke, hand and hand with the hate that she once felt for Vegeta. Did she still feel that way? Or had it just been stowed away, waiting for the appropriate time to raise its ugly head.

"Because of him, so much pain has been put on us." Chi Chi dropped her head, her straight black hair, covering her face. "Put on me." She said the last words softly and for the first time, Bulma could see strands of gray gleaming in the younger woman's mass of black hair.

Bulma felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes and she stepped forward to gather her friend up in a comforting hug. Chi Chi had been through so much, it was selfish of Bulma to ask her to care for the very man who had caused her such hardship. They stayed for that for a long while, each drawing strength from the other. They spoke a few more words before finally saying their goodbyes. Bulma promised to visit more often, but the words were empty. They both knew that they had chosen different paths. Bulma harbored the one creature in the universe that Chi Chi abhorred and their friendship cracked under the strain.

Later that evening Bulma wondered back into her darkened lab that was illuminated only by a flickering light emanating from Vegeta's cell. She was weary and disillusioned by her fellow human's ability to reason. How could they turn a blind eye to someone as dangerous as Vegeta? How could they ignore her when she pleaded with them to understand the hazard he presented to the world. She eyed his room curiously finding him ensconced on the comfortable lazy boy staring fixedly at the television screen.

"You know you will wreck your eyes if you watch TV in the dark." She chided tiredly.

He turned his head towards her, the voices from the television drifting through the room.

"…and Psalms 25:8 says that good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way."

Bulma's eyes widened and her head whipped towards the television, catching sight of a man wearing a three piece suit and sweating profusely as he gestured animatedly at the cameras. Next to him stood a big haired woman who clutched what Bulma could only surmise as being a mixture between a small dog and a rat in her skinny arms.

"What the hell are you watching?"

"Whatever your backwater planet passes off as religion." He eyed her haughtily, taking note of her haggard appearance.

"I don't thinking watching a TV evangelist is the proper way to learn about religion on Earth." She muttered distastefully.

"Why? Are they untruthful?"

"No." Bulma answered unconvincingly. "Though that much hairspray and blue eye shadow should be illegal." She eyed the woman on the screen again, shaking her head in shame.

"There are a lot of different religions here. They just represent one aspect of it."

"What sort of religions?"

"Oh. I don't know. A bunch." Bulma sighed wearily as she slumped down in her chair, leaning her head heavily on her hand. She didn't notice as Vegeta pushed the mute button on the television and sauntered up to the force field.

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth." The softly spoken words, crawled down her spine, setting her teeth on edge.

"What?" Bulma looked up at Vegeta in shock. "What did you say Vegeta?" His cold dark eyes pinned her in place, his impassive features freezing her soul cold.

"The wicked and corrupt will reap the whirlwind." His icy voice washed over her, scarring her. They held each others gazes for long minutes, Bulma's mind racing furiously for a solution to Vegeta's eerie behavior.

Suddenly he threw his head back, baying with unabashed amusement. Bulma watched him, wide-eyed, uncertain of what to do. Finally, he regained his composure and he shot her an evil look, a cruel smirk gracing his firm lips.

"What utter bullshit. When I get free from here, I will show you fury from the heavens. The only ones who will be inheriting this mud ball will be the race with enough credits to buy it on the open market." He snickered at her horrified expression. Bulma swallowed convulsively, unable to trust her ability to speak. She backed away from her desk, her eyes never leaving the dangerous predator that grinned at her like she was a five course meal.

Her blood turned to ice at his words and her heart ceased to beat. He was an animal. Kami save them if he ever got free. She turned and fled through the lab doors, his wicked laughter chasing her down the empty corridors.