Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Life Happens ❯ Where Were You? ( Chapter 3 )

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

Chapter prompt used: "Comfort".
Disclaimer: I do NOT own DBZ or any of the characters. They belong to Akira Toriyama.


It had been almost a month since they’d last spoken, well, unless you count Vegeta yelling orders at her and her father speaking. Then after almost destroying the gravity room yet again, he took off without giving himself time to heal. So, Bulma had become quite worried for his physical being as of late, especially since he’d been gone for two weeks. Of course with him not being here, there had been no set backs on their other projects.

She could almost get used this. If only it weren’t for her constant worry of the stubborn Saiyan. She hadn’t been sleeping well as of late due to stress induced nightmares of what Vegeta was doing out there or that he would come back and be more feral than ever. She shook her head. “I don’t know why I let him get so deep in my mind. He’s a grown man, a survivor, and hopefully not out there killing civilians.” She took a heavy breath. “I’m sure if he was causing harm, I would’ve heard something by now, seeing as he’s supposed to be my responsibility.”

She looked over at the clock. “Close enough to five to call it a day,” she told herself. It’s not like they were backed up like usual, so there wasn’t a lot that needed to be done these days. She walked upstairs, stretching. “Get some dinner, take a nice long hot bath, maybe read a book before hitting the sheets,” she listed off all the things she’d been wanting to do for months.

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It was going on two in the morning and she still couldn’t sleep. She’d manage to have a nice dinner with her mother. Then, after relaxing a bit and talking to her mother about all she’d been able to get down in the past month, she headed to her private quarters. She found a book she’d meaning to read all those months ago when Vegeta had first started officially living with them. She ran herself a steaming bath and climbed in, book in hand. Letting her body soak in the warm water for half an hour before climbing into bed and finishing off her book.

That had been three hours ago, and yet here she was staring at the clock like it had something important to tell her. She ground her teeth in frustration before sitting upright and pushing the covers off her body. ’Maybe if I do something, it’ll help me fall asleep.’ She nodded before heading out of her room and towards the living room. ’A little white noise is a good way to get some sleep…hopefully.’ She lay down on the couch, turning the TV to an infomercial and closing her eyes.

She was just about asleep when she heard the backdoor open. She lay motionless, hoping it wasn’t a robber or some crazy person.

“Fucking stupid son of a bitch!”

She blinked, she knew that voice, didn’t she? She sat up and slid off the couch to give the Saiyan a piece of her mind. Perhaps that’s what she needed to get some sleep, somebody to yell at. She stalked to the door, ready to give him hell yet again for leaving without notice. Once she saw him, though, she stopped in her tracks and covered her mouth.

He was standing just inside the door, an arm wrapped around his torso while the other lay limply at his side. His battle suit was torn and chipped in several places, and she could see the blood that covered his body. ‘God, I hope that’s his blood,’ was all she could think as she took him in. “What have you been doing?” she finally asked, although she was afraid of the answer. However, this was her home, and, damn it, she deserved answers.

“What the fuck does it look like I’ve been doing?” he questioned back. He was already pissed as hell, and having to deal with her was the last thing he needed. He needed to get himself up to his room, get cleaned up, and get some sleep.

She put a hand to her temple and massaged gently. Okay, so he wasn’t going to answer her, but she could tell just by looking at him that he needed medical attention. “Well, will at least let me help get your wounds cleaned? Or at the very least let me look at that broken arm.” She moved a step toward him, but he removed his arm from around his chest to stop her. The hand he held up was covered in blood, and she looked at the spot he’d been holding to see a deep gash in his armor. ‘How the hell did he even make it here?!’ She didn’t think that any of the Z warriors could manage that.

“I can take care of myself, woman.” He used his good arm to fix his other. He grimaced as he popped the bone back into place, but never made a sound.

Bulma quickly turned her head at the sickening wet pop. He was definitely a lot tougher than the other so-called warriors she was used to dealing with. She turned her head back around after clearing it, and looked at him. He had wrapped his arm to hold his side again, and she finally noticed the blood dripping from his fingers. “Okay, mister tough guy, what are you gonna do about that hole in your side?”

He grunted as he looked at her. “Let it heal, what else,” he said as if she were stupid. “Now move, I need to clean and get some sleep.”

She put her hands on her hips and stood in front of him. Sure he could’ve easily side stepped her, but she was sure he wasn’t up to usual speed and strength to put in the effort…she hoped. “Let me clean you up….”

“What?! No way in hell, woman!”

“Shh,” she berated, “don’t wake my parents. Now, if you let me clean you up you’ll heal faster. Do you usually put any ointment on your cuts and burns?”

“No.”

“Okay, well, I have stuff in the lab that can help heal you faster than just running soap and water over those injuries. I guess the big question is: do you trust me enough?”

He finally gave her a once over, noticing her choice of clothing. “If you put some fucking clothes on over your underwear, I’ll think about it.”

She looked down. She was wearing a pair of booty shorts that stopped high on her thighs and a spaghetti strap tank top. “These are my pajamas, and like you’re one to complain about lack of clothing. You don’t seem to know what a shirt is half the time,” she chastised. “Besides, you’re already bleeding all over the rug. Good thing it can just be thrown out! Now, will you come down to the lab or not?” She was tired of playing this game with him. He needed to be checked and cleaned quickly since his Saiyan anatomy was faster at healing than humans, and she didn’t need him getting some sort of infection and dying from it.

“Why do you care so much about healing me faster?” He couldn’t help his suspicious nature when it came towards humans. Especially when it came towards healing. The only time he’d been “healed” here was when he’d blown the GR up three months ago. The only good thing about passing out after pulling himself out of the rubble was that he didn’t have to sit through the torture of “healing hands” or their medicine.

“I care because you are the best chance we have against the androids,” she told him.

“Hmph! It’s about time you admit that I’m better than that stupid Kakarot.”

She turned her back to him, rolling her eyes, but glad that her words had hit home - so to speak. “So are you coming or not? If not I’m going to go get some sleep.”

“Fine, but you will do as your told, and if I ask you to not touch, you won’t,” he told her as he followed her down the hall.

“Fine with me. I just want to make sure you’re not going to get an infection. Or that there’s internal injuries, judging from that hole you’ve been covering.”


She showed him to the lab, and had him sit down on a table. “If you could take off your armor and the top of your suit, that would be a great help. I have to get the supplies I’ll need while you do that.” She heard his grunt and was satisfied that he would do as told.

As she collected her needed items, she heard him curse in an unfamiliar language before hearing his armor hit the floor. ‘This should be fun!’ The satisfied smirk that had covered her lips was now gone. She grabbed some gauze and threw it on her tray before taking it back over to where he sat.

He didn’t like this one bit. She was loading up a tray of unknown medicines and supplies to torture him with, he was sure of it. On Frieza’s ship it had been the same way. They poked and prodded him until he was even more sore than when he’d walked in. The only good thing about serving under that crazy lizard was the regen tanks. It only took hours to recover from near death.

Finally having a good light source, she looked him over. His body was covered with deep scratches and bruises. “All right, can you raise your arms for me?” she asked politely.

“I already checked for broken ribs,” he told her. “The only thing you need to worry about is my side.” He leaned on his left arm to give her a better view.

She put on a pair of latex gloves before bending down to get a better view. “Looks like something tired to take a bite out of you, Vegeta!” She traced the “bite mark” with her gloved hand, and noticed the bruise swelling up along the edges of it.

“That’s because something did,” he replied normally. “That’s why I had to come back.”

‘Leave it to Vegeta to pick on something ten times bigger than he is.’ She sighed as she moved away to look at him. “Well, good news is nothing major seems to have got hit. You just got a huge chunk of flesh missing. The only thing we need to do is stop the bleeding and get you wrapped up.” She went over to her desk and grabbed her pillow she kept there for emergency sleepovers in the lab. “I need you to lay on your left side, and put this pillow under your side.”

He grabbed the pillow from her and did as told. “Okay, now what?”

“You just lay there and I’ll handle the rest. Can you do that?” He grunted and rested an arm under his head. “Okay.” She turned and grabbed the gauze and some paper towels to press onto the wound. She saw his jaw clench at the sudden pressure of her hands on the injury. “Sorry,” she mumbled. She pulled the paper towel away to see it soaked in blood. Taking another wad she pressed again. Pulling it away again, there was less blood. She sighed in relief at how quickly the bleeding had stopped. ‘Much faster than a human. Of course a normal human probably wouldn’t have survived this type of wound in the first place,’ she thought as she pulled the bloodied gloves from her hands.

“Are you actually doing anything to help me heal faster or just being a nuisance?” He watched as she went to one of the sinks with a bucket.

“Could you be a little more patient? I’m going to wash the wound with anti-bacterial soap. Then I’ll have to put some disinfectant on it.” She made sure to clean her hands thoroughly before filling the bucket and going back to her patient. She continued her duty of cleaning his wound, making sure that he was okay throughout the process.

“Damn it, woman, I’m fine. If you just would’ve told me what to do I could’ve done this myself!” She was now drying the throbbing piece of flesh as gently as she could, but it only seemed to irritate him further. “I’m a warrior, not a child,” he told her, stopping her hands from patting at the flesh.

“Yes, yes, I know. You’re a big tough man that doesn’t need a woman’s help in any way,” she mocked him openly. It was too damn late to be worrying about such trivial matters. She’d been worried about him since he left here! Then he shows up bleeding on her doorstep! She sighed as he jerked his hand back from hers. “The only thing that’s left to do is wrap you up. I supposed you can do that yourself, though. Since you don’t need my help.”

She handed him the roll of gauze and he snatched it from her, getting to his feet. He tried to look menacing, but his drooping eyelids ruined the effect.

“Sit back down before you pass out and hurt yourself further,” she told him gently. He growled but once again obeyed. “Is it okay if I clean your deeper cuts after wrapping you?” He didn’t seem like he had much energy left, and she was starting to wonder if he’d make it upstairs okay.

“I suppose you don’t do a horrible job at healing.”

She took that as a yes, and so after wrapping his side, she grabbed a new bucket to fill with fresh water. She cleaned his cuts in the same fashion she’d done with the bite, silent the entire time. She watched his eyelids drop further, and his head jerk up a few times. “Okay, all done. Can you make it up stairs?”

“You are just full of annoying questions tonight, you know that,” he told her as he stood on slightly shaky legs.

She couldn’t help the small giggle that passed her lips. “What’s new,” she replied as she caught his eyes.

“Hn, true.”

“So then, off to bed with you. Now I have to go clean up your mess.” She followed him up the stairs, making sure he wasn’t going to collapse. “Oh, and I’d like to look at that bite mark tomorrow to make sure you’re healing okay. And try not to train too intensely in the morning.” She knew there was no way in hell she was going to stop him from training. She’d tried before, and it’d only gotten her three steps back with him.

“I know,” his voice was a little softer than usual, most likely due to the fact that he was about to loss consciousness. Not satisfied with himself, he gathered the last bit of his energy. “And you can look at it tomorrow, that’s all,” he told her firmly before heading to his room.