Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Lab Monkey ❯ The Redemptions ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, if I did I would have gagged Goku and kept in my basement while I let Vegeta run amuck. That is if I left him with enough energy to do so.

Many, many wonderful thanks to LisaB for editing for me. I'm thrilled to have her. Hasn't she done a wonderful job?

Chapter Fifteen

The Redemptions

"Going somewhere Prince Vegeta?" Gen-Seng's voice drifted out of the darkness, winding sinuously around Bulma and Vegeta, binding them to the spot.

Vegeta spun around to face the newest threat to their safety. His thick fingers encircled Bulma's thin wrist as he yanked her behind him protectively. He dropped down into a defensive crouch, his warning growl echoing in the night.

Satan stepped out of the shadows, his thin lips stretched into a sardonic smile. Pestilence and Vanity flanked him and Bulma noticed with alarm that all three were wearing their scouters. The pair split away from Satan, circling around them in opposite directions while leaving Gen-Seng to distract Vegeta.

The purge leader tapped the lens of his scouter with one black nailed finger while clucking disappointedly at Vegeta.

"There seems to be something wrong with our communicators. We can't get a signal."

Vegeta snorted in derision knowing perfectly well why they couldn't call out. Although he had used intimidation earlier to keep them away from their scouters, the real reason he didn't want them to pick up the communicators was because he had programmed the onboard computer to emit a jamming signal before leaving the ship. However, it was only temporary and eventually they would figure that out.

"I can't help it if you are a technological idiot, Gen-Seng." The leader's red skin became even darker from the insult and his black lips peeled back from his fangs.

"You still haven't answered the question, Prince." Satan spat Vegeta's title like it was a curse.

Bulma edged closer to Vegeta's protective shadow barely resisting the urge to press her body up against his back. From the corner of her eye she saw Vanity sneer in her direction.

"Maybe he doesn't want to share the female with you, Gen-Seng. The prince is greedy and Saiyan appetites are legendary." Nol's forked tongue darted out to taste the air.

Gen-Seng's eyes narrowed as he looked speculatively at Vegeta's wide body that was completely shielding the blue haired beauty.

"Is that it, Vegeta? Are you taking her back to your ship for a good and proper fuck before you kill her?" Satan shifted to the side, and Vegeta's arm shot out, curling back to guide Bulma as he moved to match his enemy's stance.

Vanity's eyes narrowed as she watched the display, her upper lip curling back to revel perfectly white teeth.

"No. Something is different. He's different."

Satan's cocked his head to the side like an inquisitive puppy, and Pestilence's second set of eyelids blinked.

"Different?" both males echoed as if they had never heard of the word. Vegeta growled and he shot a death-filled glare at Vanity.

"Yah. Look how's he's acting, how he behaved back at camp," Tamin confirmed, her beautiful features darkening in confusion.

"Well, Prince Vegeta has never been sociable. Have you?" Gen-Seng joked, but there was a slightly uneasy air to him.

"But have you ever seen him turn down food?" she whispered and all of them thought back to how Vegeta had rejected the blackened limb that Tamin had offered while they sat in front of the fire.

"I wasn't hungry," Vegeta shot back. His shoulders were tense as he listened to them discuss his actions like he wasn't even there.

Nol's eyes were the first to widen with realization, and he quickly stepped back from the prince like he was a carrier of a deadly disease. Gen-Seng's and Tamin's eyes shot to the yellowish-green man, silently questioning him.

"He's infected," Nol gasped and his two companions instantly darted startled looks towards Vegeta. They too stepped away from the prince, eyeing him in horrified awe.

Vegeta bristled and his entire body seemed to double in size as his wrath exploded. His tail lashed out angrily, barely missing Bulma's thigh.

"I am not!" he bellowed in his defense, his hands fisted at his sides.

Bulma jumped at his sudden outburst, her scared eyes jumping back and forth between the combatants, utterly confused as to what they were talking about. As Vegeta's "doctor" up until now, she could say with a great deal of conviction that he was the healthiest male she had ever met, next to Goku. He definitely wasn't infected with anything.

"Is it true Prince Vegeta?" Gen-Seng's tone was pleading, his black eyes wide with disbelief. To be infected was worse than death, it was an unforgivable disgrace. Vanity was stunned into silence, and Bulma watched as the woman wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as if she was trying to clean a foul taste away.

"No, it is not. I am the Prince of All Saiyan's. I would never allow myself to indulge in such a weakness," Vegeta spat with increasing venom. Bulma felt the tension in his body as well as his overwhelming need to suddenly convince his enemies that he was healthy.

The squad looked at him unconvinced, the tangible silence broken by Vanity's whispered despair.

"The Redemptions."

All three men recoiled at her words, and the furrows in Bulma's brow deepened. What the hell were they talking about?

Suddenly Satan broke out into a choked laughter that put Bulma on edge. "Did you find God while you were on your little hiatus, Prince Vegeta?"

"Shut the fuck up, Gen-Seng. You don't know what you are talking about," Vegeta growled, his dark eyes glittering with the promise of painful punishments.

Satan ignored him as he continued to taunt his old battle comrade. "Did the Big Bad finally find his redemption in the form of an Almighty Being? Are you saved now, Vegeta?"

"Remember Dallas?" Nol broke in, not to be out done by Satan. "He found God. A deity in the Fect Quadrant. What was that religion called again? Pactify, patrotism…"

"Pacifism," Tamin supplied, her wide eyes still watching Vegeta with the intensity of a wounded cat.

"Ah yes, I remember now. He wouldn't raise a hand in violence. He refused to enter into combat, and he even went so far as not to defend himself. All he would do was sit on his little mat and pray." Nol clucked to himself as he recalled the distant memory.

Satan narrowed his black eyes at Vegeta. "Yah, that was well and good until Frieza threw him into the slave pens. They tore him apart limb from limb, and he didn't even raise a fist to stop them. Pathetic."

"What the fuck is your point, assholes? I already told you, I'm not infected. I am going to have no problem putting my fist through your idiotic faces."

"The point, Prince Vegeta, is if you have started praying. Do you suddenly think you have a soul worth saving?"

Vegeta slashed Satan a look of pure contempt, his lip curling away from his fangs.

"What utter bullshit. I have murdered billions, destroyed worlds and conquered galaxies. I have no soul." The last was said with such darkness that Bulma felt her heart breaking. How could he possibly think that he had no soul, but after such a confession, how could he have one?

Vanity shook herself out of her self induced trance and she continued to circle around, trying stealthily to reach Bulma. Vegeta always aware, felt her movement more than saw it and instantly compensated. He maneuvered Bulma closer to a wall, placing her back to it while using his body to shield her from attack.

Vanity stopped in her tracks, her mouth popping open in awe. She blinked before finally finding her voice.

"No, not God. A woman."

At her words, Vegeta's swaying tail straightened out until it was stiff as a board. His whole body stilled as he gapped incredulously at Vanity. He looked like had just gotten punched in the gut by an unseen opponent, and for the first time in his life he was without words.

The men stared at Vegeta as if he had grown two heads. Gen-Seng leaned his body to the side trying to peer over the prince's shoulder to see if he had missed something. Did the blue-haired woman have dove's wings? What kind of creature could conquer one of the most feared warriors in the universe? Unable to see her, he spat his derision instead.

"Love---the most pathetic affliction of them all. There are only two ways to get the redemptions, either through faith or love. Both are meaningless, empty lies." He paused his eyes narrowing, directing his thoughts inward. His next words seemed to be aimed at himself, but everyone heard his condemnation.

"There is no God in the nine galaxies that will forgive you for your sins, and there is no woman who will forget them."

"Truly you are to be pitied," Nol drawled with mock sympathy.

"Let's put him out of his misery." Tamin's spiteful gaze centered on Bulma, her hate sharpening to a fine point of killing rage.

Tamin's words triggered a flurry of action that Bulma could barely follow. Vegeta sprinted forward unexpectedly, meeting Gen-Seng's oncoming rush with a shoulder to his gut. Vegeta's lower center of gravity allowed him to push the larger warrior back away from Bulma. As they passed Tamin, Vegeta's tailed whipped out, lashing itself around her wrist and dragged her with them as they crashed through an unstable brick wall.

Masonry exploded inward and the threesome disappeared into the dark underbelly of an abandoned building, leaving a wake of dust and falling debris. Nol instinctively started for the hole, leaving Bulma to hunch herself next the far wall that Vegeta had herded her against.

The reptilian man rested one foot on a pile of bricks peering into the darkness, his eyelids blinking rapidly. His body weight shifted forward as if he were going to join the battle, when suddenly he changed his mind. Slowly, he turned his head to look at her, and Bulma felt her heart sink.

"Prince Vegeta thinks I will join the battle and defend my commander. He dragged Tamin with him because he knew she would opt to stay behind rather than go up against him. Unfortunately for you, Vegeta has overestimated my loyalty."

Pestilence's hissing tones slid over her, freezing her heart solid until it ceased to beat, and it fell into a hard lump into her stomach. Bulma's eyes darted to and fro, desperately seeking an escape route.

"You see, I know that even combined all three of us are no match for the Prince. That said, I think that it's my duty to report this situation back to Frieza."

Nol advanced slowly on her, the echo of the battle clamoring behind him. The building shook and for a moment Bulma prayed that the whole thing would just come tumbling down, crushing the reptile under a ton of bricks. Of course, the way her luck was going it would probably kill her as well.

To her left she spotted a rubble heap of twisted steel beams and broken concrete. Her weak eye sight was able to make out a bolt hole under the pile, small enough for her to wiggle under, but she didn't know how much room there was once she squeezed underneath.

"That sounds like a fabulous idea. Why don't you go report in and I will stay here to wait for the others?" Bulma flashed a glorious smile meant to confuse the soldier, and he blinked in response. As soon as he was distracted she dived to her left, hitting the dirt with at thud as she tried to slither under the steel without shredding her back on the razor sharp beam that was poised over her.

Pestilence darted after her, his elongated fingers wrapping around her ankle. "Oh no, you don't. I think you will make a nice snack on the way to the nearest star base. I so rarely get the time to eat my food slowly."

Bulma stomach did flip flops at his words, and she had to swallow her bile. She dug her nails into the earth beneath her, uncaring for the first time in her life about her manicure. She felt dirt lodging itself under her nail bed as he yanked hard on her ankle, twisting it painfully. She raked hollows in the ground as he dragged her back, inch by terrifying inch.

She flipped on her back, her fingers grapping for anything that could give her purchase. She kicked out with her other foot, trying to dislodge his strong fingers from her ankle. Her hand slipped against cold steel and she felt warm blood pour over her wrist, but she kept her grip, ignoring the hot burn of pain in her palm.

Her shirt rode up, baring her pale midriff, and Bulma shuddered when she saw Nol lick his lips. He inhaled deeply, nearly pulling her all the way from her bolt hole, her strength no match for his.

"You smell so delicious. I can't wait to taste you." His voice slithered in the darkness and Bulma couldn't stop the terrified scream that welled out of her throat.

Her panicked eyes searched for anything that could help her as her bloody fingertips slipped away from the metal beam she was gripping. He yanked her hard, pulling her body out of her hole and into the night. In one last desperate bid, she flipped back onto her stomach, reaching into the hole, grasping for anything. Her injured fingers wrapped around a shard of pointed steel and she dragged it close, hiding it under her body as she was hauled into a standing position.

She fell heavily against Pestilence's front and his arms wrapped around her waist, effectively trapping her. Her scream bubbled up again and this time an actual word formed.

"Vegeta!" she yelled with all her might, desperately calling for him to save her. She heard the crash of bodies hitting cement and muttered curses, but no savior appeared out of the darkness.

Pestilence grabbed her by the arm to spin her around so he could hoist her up over his shoulder. He didn't want to kill her; after all, he preferred his food alive and kicking.

The world seemed to fade into slow motion, and Bulma recognized the sensation as a response to panic and shock. He spun her around, his large eyes eager with excitement. He licked his lips, his mind already on the feast to come and not on the ridiculously fragile woman in his arms---a creature so weak that he didn't even have to raise his ki to wrestle with her.

Bulma stepped into the spin, turning around faster than Nol anticipated. His enormous eyes grew larger and his mouth sagged in surprise. With vindictive accuracy born from the need to survive, she plunged the sharpened steel into the man's eye, feeling a certain amount of sickening satisfaction at the squish that could be heard.

He dropped her like a hot rock, his hands instantly going to his face as he screeched in outraged agony. Instead of running, Bulma stood paralyzed as she watched his black blood run between his fingertips and down his face. He made no effort to remove the twisted shard from his eye, and all Bulma could do was stare. She shouldn't feel regret, but she did. She felt sick to her stomach.

His screams pierced the night and just as suddenly they stopped. His face was frozen in pain, his mouth wrenched open, but nothing came out, just resounding silence. He dropped to his knees and Bulma's eyes followed his descent, stepping awkwardly back as he fell forward into the dirt, a small trickle of blood sliding down the base of his skull.

Bulma's blue gaze darted back up, meeting hatred that radiated out of violet eyes. Tamin stood casually before Bulma, her clothes tattered and a trail of blood dribbling down her chin. Bulma glanced back at the hole into the building, looking for Vegeta, but she was to be disappointed.

She looked back at Tamin who smiled secretly at her. Inside Bulma could hear the sounds of battle and she couldn't stop the small snarl of annoyance that crept up her throat. For being one of the most feared warriors in the universe, Vegeta was certainly taking his time whipping ass and taking numbers. If he didn't get his butt in gear she was going to be worm food.

Tamin's eyes scraped down her body insinuatingly, and Bulma felt herself bristle. Vanity wasn't taking stock of her physical prowess in as much as she was checking out Bulma's feminine allure.

"I don't get it. You're nothing. You may have some unusual coloring, but you couldn't stand up to a spit storm, much less to the Prince in bed." Tamin's resentful features glared at Bulma.

"You misunderstand, I'm…" Bulma trailed off.

"You're what?" Tamin hissed and Bulma looked blankly at her. She had started to explain that she was Vegeta's…friend? Confidant? Captive? What exactly was she?

"Well, I'm certainly not his lover," Bulma spat, pushing away the image of their kiss out of her mind. "So there is no need to be so hostile. If you want him, then you can have him."

Bulma fought not to cringe at her words. Although she had no claim on Vegeta, she couldn't stop the overwhelming feeling of possessiveness she felt towards him. She especially didn't want this woman's hands on Vegeta.

Tamin stared at her a moment, her violet eyes silently assessing. "It's not fair you know." Vanity's voice was unnaturally soft and Bulma resisted the urge to step back. "Why would he choose you over me? What do you have that I don't have?"

"I---" Bulma started, uncertain of what to say.

Vanity ignored her, spreading her arms wide. "Look at me. I'm beautiful, I'm strong. I have proven time and again that I'm a clever warrior, and still he ignores me." Tamin advanced on her, and Bulma quickly retreated, despair pouring over her when her back hit the cold bricks of a wall. Tamin stalked up to her and grasped her by the shoulders.

"I would do anything for him. I would fight by his side and protect him," she spat into Bulma's face. Bulma's entire body was rigid with fear as she watched the whirlwind of emotions manifesting themselves inside of the beautiful warrior woman.

"Why won't he love me? Why won't anyone love me?" she screeched and Bulma's eyes widened in shock. Tamin's grip on her shoulders tightened, and her smaller body was hauled forward only to be slammed back into the wall. Bulma's breath huffed out of her and she groaned at the shock of pain that lanced through her from the infected bite on her back. Distantly, Bulma became aware that she was much sicker than she had realized. All the excitement of landing on this godforsaken planet had dulled the reality of her condition. Her wound would need medical attention very soon.

"It's not fair." Tamin released her, pacing away as she furrowed her fingers in her long hair.

She whirled back around to face Bulma, who was slumped against the wall, watching the woman as closely as she would a rabid dog.

"Do you know how bad he is?" she questioned subtly and Bulma swallowed. "Do you know that he's far worse than any of us?" She paced towards her and Bulma tried to press herself further into the unyielding bricks of the wall. "He doesn't deserve forgiveness. He doesn't deserve love."

"People can change," Bulma whispered. Tamin threw her head back and laughed the sound bouncing off the broken buildings around them.

She turned sharply away, pacing angry circles in front of Bulma. "How is that someone so bad, so evil gets to find love while I get nothing? Time and time again I'm tossed aside. I'm treated no better than a ship's whore."

She whipped around to face Bulma, prodding herself in the chest forcefully. "I deserve better than that. I deserve more. If Vegeta can find some little harlot to love him, why can't I find one male to do the same for me? He doesn't have to be perfect. Just…" Her voice trailed away and her eyes focused sadly on a patch of dirt at her feet.

Bulma felt her heart beating for this woman. And that was what she was. She was a cold, ruthless, monster, but she was also a woman. And like any other being in the universe, she just wanted to be loved. Bulma began to step forward to reach her hand out to the wild beast, when Tamin burst into a flurry of activity again.

"No normal male would ever want me. And do you know why?" Tamin pinned Bulma to the spot with her haunted eyes. Wordlessly Bulma shook her head, her wide eyes impossibly blue against the pallor of skin.

"Because no man wants to be mated to a woman who has killed innocent children," Tamin spat with raw pain and Bulma gulped, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Even the male soldiers under Frieza feel the same. They have done the exact same thing, but for a woman to do it is an abomination. Fuckers!" Tamin shouted the last word to the heavens before she spun away to begin her pacing.

"Not that it matters anyway," she muttered and Bulma waited expectantly. When the explanation didn't come, she couldn't resist asking. She was caught up in the woman's story, in her pain. She felt a newly forged connection between them that had nothing to do with shared experiences, but with shared emotions.

"Why is that, Tamin?" Bulma questioned, her voice calm and soothing.

Tamin slowly turned to face her. Her eyes were filled with so much sadness that Bulma had to physically grasp her chest to make sure that her own heart wasn't breaking.

"Because when I was twelve, Frieza had my reproductive organs carved out of my body. He does it to all of his female soldiers. It wouldn't do to be bogged down by pregnancy when you are trying to annihilate a world."

Bulma couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her and tears ran unchecked down her cheeks. Tamin dropped her head, staring at the ground. "I will never have a baby."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tamin." Bulma reached out her hand to the sad woman, expecting her gesture to be reciprocated in some small way, but instead she found only fury. Tamin's head snapped up, and the sadness was wiped away by rage. Her violet eyes snapped and sparked, and her beautiful face was twisted into a snarl of hate.

"So you see, if I can't have love, if I can't have a family, then he can't either." Tamin reached out grasping Bulma by the shoulders and thrusting her against the wall so forcefully that her skull cracked on the bricks. She continued to pound her against the wall until it felt like every bone in Bulma's body was broken.

Over and over, Tamin screamed into her face, spittle flying onto her cheeks. "It's not fair!" she repeated madly. "Why should he be forgiven for everything that he has done? You can't be that pure, that loving. No one ever forgives us for being what we are!"

"Tamin."

The one world rumbled between them, splitting them apart. Tamin released her grip on Bulma, and she slid boneless to the ground. Bulma blinked from her place in the dirt. She could see Vegeta standing behind Tamin, his armor cracked and his face bloody. Darkness swirled just below her consciousness, and Bulma struggled to stay awake.

She watched as Tamin circled away, her features going from enraged to enticing in a blink of an eye.

"Prince Vegeta, I see that you were victorious, as expected," she purred and Vegeta regarded her stoically, turning effortlessly on his heel to follow her movements.

"How about we celebrate like we did in the old days?" She stepped forward, her body swaying seductively. Vegeta made no move as she advanced, and she smiled salaciously in response.

He allowed her to trail one hand up his chest, her fingers sliding around to curl into the hair at his nape. Bulma opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't find the strength. The darkness sucked her down, and the urge to close her eyes was smothering her.

Tamin settled herself against Vegeta's chest, looking for all the world like she belonged there. Bulma saw the satisfaction and victory flash across her eyes a moment before her lips descended on Vegeta's. Bulma choked back her tears as she watched them kiss, absently noting how Vegeta's fingers curled around Tamin's throat in a loving caress.

Vegeta's tail unwound from his waist, reaching behind the lithe woman, pulling her closer. Bulma's cracked lips parted to call out Vegeta's name, to remind him that she was there. She didn't think she could stand it if he were to fuck another woman while she lay bleeding at his feet.

The night air was unsettlingly quiet after so much noise had filled it. Even the wind was still, only deafening silence penetrating the shadows. Bulma heard a loud crack echo in the dark, and it took her a moment before she realized what happened.

Tamin's head lolled unnaturally to the side, the light in her frenzied eyes fading to black. Vegeta still held her close, supporting her now lax weight against his chest. Bulma felt pain rip through her, and for a moment she thought she was dying.

Vegeta had killed his lover. No remorse, no mercy, just cold-blooded murder. Bulma choked down her sobs, finally allowing the darkness to claim her. She hoped that she never woke up. She prayed that she would never see the burning gaze of Vegeta's black eyes ever again. She slipped into her lonely slumber, the knowledge that someday she could end up just like Tamin, her only companion in the darkness.

Vegeta looked over at Bulma, seeing that she was unconscious. He dropped Tamin's body on the ground, his tail slowly unwinding from her hand that held a ki-enforced dagger that she had intending on plunging between his ribs---the same dagger she used to kill Nol with one stab to the back of the neck, sliding the steel between the vertebrae.

He felt no regret as he looked at her cooling body on the ground, only a whisper of satisfaction that he had released her from her pain. He turned on his heel, leaving the bodies of his fallen comrades to rot where they lay as he towered over Bulma.

He reached down to shake her awake, his hand brushing across her cheek. He frowned, pressing his palm to her forehead. She was blistering hot, her face red and flushed. He shook her arm, anger curling inside of him.

"Woman, wake up," he demanded, but she did not stir. She was already lost to the fevers of infection.