Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Nightmares and Redemptions ❯ Part 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Warnings and Disclaimers: NC17 for violence, explicit references to the molestation of a child and language.

Dedicated of course to my most wonderfulest koishii tsuin. *nuzzlekiss*

Gohan clearly owns Sage, so I'm not even claiming ownership in this fic…*grins*

Mega thanks to bakayaro onna for the beta of this!!! And proof positive I don't abandon fics. *smirks*

I'm very pleased with this fic, I set out with a specific goal in mind, and achieved it…and I'm very happy with how it's turned out. Please…do enjoy!!!

Nightmares and Redemptions

A BOAP Chibi Tail

By Talon

Part 2

I come back to myself from the unbidden memory, still holding the shivering figure of Sage close to me. Five years makes a huge difference, I think, kissing the tear tracks down my mate's beautiful face, coming to rest on his lips I kiss them, tasting the flavor which evokes responses only Sage can draw from me. It isn't a chaste kiss, but also not one that would lead to sex. Not tonight. Sage needed reassurance, and for tonight, sex wasn't it.

"Do you want to tell me about it, koi?"

He shakes his head, burying his face into my neck, still shaking slightly. His hot breath teases his claim mark and my arms tighten around him instinctively. "Are you sure, Vegeta?" I question quietly. "It might help to talk about it."

His voice is muffled, but the words distinct. "Damnit, Gohan, I don't want to talk about it, I thought I said that. What are you doing here anyhow? Don't you have to be with your wife?" The last word is spoken with disdain and another emotion I can't name just now. I open my mouth to speak, but he continues. "I don't see a full moon, Gohan, why are you here?"

Hn. Despite all his tough words, he's not once moved away from my embrace, asked me to let him go, or refused my comfort. It's his scent and his attitude, more so than his words relaying to me his fear I WILL leave, go back to the room where my wife and daughter slumber undisturbed. Go back to my "normal" life and forget my underage mate. Not a chance in hell. Not tonight. It will cause a fight with my wife, who didn't really want to spend the night tonight, but was persuaded by the rest of the family. But I don't care. He needs me, and I vowed to protect and love him...always. And I always will.

Since I claimed Sage, our family sleepovers, once a frequent occurrence, had dwindled drastically due to Sage's outright hostility and Videl's reluctance to accept Sage's position in my life. But they both were getting better, thanks to some direct interference by Dad and Vegeta-san. They had appealed to both Sage's and Videl's love of the family and erected a sort of truce which held up well enough, except during full moons and heats when everything went to hell in a flying hand basket. But I usually didn't care.

"I'm here, Sage, because you had a nightmare. I'm here because I am your mate. I'm here fulfilling my vows, so lose the attitude. I'm not going to leave you. Not tonight."

Sage snorted, still never moving from my embrace. "What makes tonight different from any other night, Gohan?"

I ignore his attitude, countering his question with one of my own. "What makes that particular nightmare different from any of the others?"

He shivers again, and I wrap my tail around his waist, knowing the sensation of hot, plush fur on clammy skin to be incredibly soothing and comforting. "That's about what I thought," I murmur. "It's ok, baby, I won't leave you. And he can't hurt you, you know that. He wouldn't even get near you, brat-koi."

"You wouldn't let him?" he breathes.

"Never." I growl possessively. Sage's body fits into mine as though it were made for that specific purpose. It never fails to amaze me. When I sleep with Videl, invariably some limb just doesn't fit quite right and one of us ends up uncomfortable after a few hours, or even less. But with Sage, maybe it's because I've slept with him since he was a baby, but snuggling with him is always perfect, always…ideal. Flawlessly matched. I gently kiss the claim mark I made and hold him to me.

"Sleep now, Sage," I whisper. "If you don't want to talk about it, you need to sleep."

Sage grumps slightly, but obligingly curls into me, lifting his face for a kiss, which I give readily. Kami, his mouth is so hot, and the flavor...the sweet, sagey flavor of my mate...I could live on it, forever. I begin to purr, knowing Sage is still very tired, and the nightmare exhausted him further. Sleep, I think to him, projecting drowsy thoughts along our bond. Sleep, I'll watch over you, Vegeta, always.

And I plan to.

He drifts off, feeling safe and loved in my arms. I wait. He needs to be deeper asleep before I can carry out my hastily made plan.

I won't stand for him to be upset like this. I won't tolerate it.

It's been a long time since I've paid a visit to Stanley Burns...I wonder if he remembers me.

As I watch Sage slumber, I can barely contain myself. I remember the fury I felt when he had first been attacked, I remember, the satisfaction I felt beating Burns when Sage was ten. I remember that meeting with the bitch counselor, Aycock, and the rage I felt at her accusations Sage was lying about what had happened. None of them even come close to what I feel now.

Rage is too mild a word. Fury hasn't enough depth. Wrath...oh, he will feel my wrath. Anger? Heh. The human language is so limited.

Som tsu'dah.

The righteous passion of a dominant male whose mate has been wronged.

I understand it now.

I used to wonder why Otousama used the word passion in his translation of the Saiyjin phrase. I thought, anger, rage, fury, wrath...all better words to describe what it meant. I was wrong. This...feeling transcends anger.

Sage's arms are going slack around me, his breathing even and light. I unwind my tail from his waist, and he doesn't even flinch. Easing myself out of his grasp, I give him a pillow to snuggle and crawl from the bed. I hope Burns is ready for a beating tonight, because that is what he's going to get.

As I take off into the night, I hope Sage will stay asleep and not come after me. I said I wouldn't leave him, but I also promised to protect him. Sometimes protecting my koibito means I have to leave him behind. This is my duty, and my pleasure.

Burns is a ways away, but I locate him with no trouble. He's sleeping soundly with that…woman. I spit, trying to rid my mouth of the foul taste just thinking of her leaves me with. Eight years of healing and that woman had nearly undone all of it with her meddling. Of course, it was partially our fault, for not seeing. We had dealt with the everyday business of Sage, occasional nightmares, withdrawing, sullenness, but never thought his pain was still so fresh. But then again, none of us save Vegeta-san have ever had to deal with such an experience.

I wonder suddenly if Otousama and Dad have carried through on their promise to let him watch. It seems unreasonable to me for him to be left at home now. Yes, he is still young, but he's also for most intents and purposes an adult. Though, and I cringe at the thought, I hardly treat him like an adult, barring heats and full moons. I suppose in my mind if I still treat him like my baby brother, I can convince myself I don't need to re-examine my motives for putting off my decision. Two years ago, when I claimed him, I told him and Videl my reason for not deciding just then was Sage's age. It wouldn't be fair, I said, to make a decision because that factor would taint whatever decision I made.

It was true.

But Sage is fifteen now, and showing it. He's grown an inch and a half in two years, and...ahem...more so in other places. His tail has thickened. His voice has settled down, and his very demeanor is...more mature, more like the elder Vegeta than anyone else in our family.

Enough. I shake my head slightly and remind myself of my obligations. Of my responsibilities. Of my love. Stanley Burns will suffer at my hands tonight.

I follow the weak ki-signature absently, my mind running over the lessons I've learned from my bond-father these past few years in the art of torture. I had asked him to teach me, after everyone had calmed down somewhat over the incident of the photo album. I clench my teeth hard against the memory, successfully, I had no desire to revisit THAT...however another memory raised its ugly head, and I could not squash it quickly enough.

I had insisted on seeing the pictures of Sage...not then, but later, a few months after I had claimed him. I needed to know, damnit...and they showed me. It was stupid of me, I know now it was simply my biology working against me, my protective instincts thrust into overdrive by the onset of a full moon. It took both my fathers and Gotenks to restrain me. There was a pattern to the pictures, of all the boys. It started out with innocent pictures, of Sage playing at recess, working in the class room, eating lunch, getting onto the bus...and then there were the other pictures. I'll never forget the look in his eyes. That look disturbs me more than anything else. That look wakes me in the middle of the night, longing to hold him, to reassure him even as I sleep beside my wife. He looked...lost…desolate, as though he were all alone, and had no one to help him, and no hope of anyone saving him. Ever.

I'm still a few miles away from Burns' place and I give into my rage and burst into Super Saiyjin mode. I need to bleed off some of my anger before I go ahead with my plan. I alter my course slightly and end up at one of Dad and Otousama's sparring grounds. It's less frequently used than some of their others and for a little while I busy myself by crushing boulders into sand. It's…satisfying. I stretch calmly, then freeze as I feel a familiar presence behind me.

"Piccolo-san," I greet respectfully. My teacher and best and oldest friend is watching me from behind.

"Gohan." His deep voice acknowledges my greeting and I turn to face him.

"Still keeping an eye on me, Piccolo?" I question, grinning.

He folds his arms and merely looks at me. A piercing look from Piccolo is enough to make the most closed mouth person spill his guts, and I am no different, having spent a good portion of my life directly under his tutelage.

Sigh. "You already know where I'm going and what I'm going to do, Piccolo, ne? So what are you doing here?"

His eyes narrow. "How long do you think you can keep this up, Gohan?" he asks calmly.

"Keep what up, Piccolo? Beating Stanley Burns? I can keep that up for the rest of his life..."

He interrupts me. "No, Gohan. How long do you think you can keep from making a decision? You're hurting Sage, and you're hurting yourself. Not to mention Videl and the rest of the family."

I frown. "I don't see what business it is of yours," I begin, but he interrupts me again.

"When it comes to your happiness it is my business, Gohan, you know that. No one is happy with this arrangement, least of all you. I am not bound by Saiyjin law, biology or tradition, and therefore I ask you again...how long do you think you can keep this up?"

He's right, Kami-damnit. And I know he's right. But... "I will keep this up for as long as is necessary, Piccolo-sama," I say quietly.

He sighs, obviously disappointed by my answer, but pursues it no farther.

I walk over to him and grasp his forearm, looking into his eyes. "I don't want to hurt Sage, Piccolo, or Videl or the rest of my family. But I can't make a decision...not yet. Sage is still too young." I pause, then, "I'm going to go beat the unholy hell out of Burns now, Piccolo...I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He nods, and I barely hear his parting comment as I take back off into the night sky, "What is it going to take to get you to choose, Gohan?"

I think about that as I streak towards Burns' place, powering down, knowing my dark demeanor is bleeding into the night. To tell the truth, I don't know what it would take to force me into a decision, one way or the other. Videl has made it clear she is not going anywhere, and Sage can't. He has no choice but to basically wait for me. I don't want to think of that now...and I try to shake the feeling I'm having my cake and eating it too.

I try and concentrate once again on what I am going to do to that piece of shit when I get my hands on him, and focus my wavering emotions on the reality of Sage's continued tortured existence because of that fuck. Vegeta-sama had given me several lessons on how to inflict maximum pain with minimum damage….ideal for my "sessions" with Stanley. My thoughts flew back to Sage and I wonder again if he had been given permission to watch. Why had I never thought to ask him?

The question was moot as I arrive at their current residence, a small house outside of Kyoto. It was quite a ways from Capsule Corp, and I wonder suddenly what had triggered such a bad nightmare in Sage this time? I snort softly to myself. Truthfully I don't care, not this time. All that mattered was my mate had been upset (if there ever was an understatement…) and I was here to rectify the situation.

The front door is locked, however applying just a bit more strength than I normally would have to turn a knob and the lock gives way. The familiar dank, bitter scent of Stanley Burns assails my nostrils. I wrinkle my nose, sorting scents, and find the acrimonious odor of his woman, that bitch Aycock mingled in with his. I make my way silently through the house, not really paying attention to my surroundings. At the end of a short hall, a closed door stops me. Behind it I can hear the soft sounds of sleep, snorting breathing from Burns, a whistling snore from the cunt that sleeps beside him.

But I pause. In the room to my right, I can smell the faintly ozone-ish scent of a computer monitor, hear the whirr of a fan…and I slide open the door soundlessly. There is indeed a computer resting there, the monitor glowing in the darkness of the room, a screensaver flickering aimlessly for nobody. I walk over and move the mouse, causing the koi fish swimming lazily on the screen to vanish and I take a look into what he's been up to on his computer.

Well well well...I wonder what Dad and Otousama will make of this? The history is filled with site after site of young boys...some innocent…sort of. Like the school sites. Innocent...sort of. I get the feeling he's casing out hunting grounds. I doubt even he would be that stupid, and perhaps he simply likes little boys in uniforms, however, it does look bad for him. Then there are the sites that aren't innocent by any stretch of the imagination. Illegal porn sites featuring underage boys. Newsgroups. Memberships. I retch as I open one of his folders entitled merely "fun."

I've seen outside of enough, and I shut the computer down, making sure to save all the incriminating evidence. I'm no slouch with a computer, but Trunks is a damned genius. It will be interesting indeed to see what he makes of it. He and Goten have been working for a few years on that photo album I brought home, compiling a list of the boys, their whereabouts and such, for what purpose I'm not completely sure. When I ask them, they say it is a surprise, and it's not ready yet. I shrug, knowing they are simply doing their part to help Sage heal. It eats him sometimes, knowing he's not the only one who suffered at the hands of that fucking pedophile...

"But you were the last, chukra," I whisper to the dark and silent room. I take a deep breath. It's time.

I stride into the bedroom, silently. I pause for a moment, looking down at the piles of filth slumbering beneath the blankets, then grin feraly and reach out and pick Stan Burns up by the throat.

"Rise and shine, Stanley," I say in a cheerful, sunshiny sort of voice. He gurgles in my grasp, legs flailing, fingers clawing at my hand. "Aww, Stanley," I say reprovingly, "Don't be that way...after all, you're late for an appointment!"

His woman is sitting upright in bed, frozen, and I can easily scent her terror. I turn my face towards her and sneer, "You just stay right there, bitch. You know the rules as well as I do...no phone calls...it will just go worse for Stanley here, and I will have no qualms about teaching YOU a painful lesson as well. "

She found her voice. "But he hasn't done anything, I swear it!!!"

I bare my teeth, a growl starting deep in my chest. "He hurt my mate. And when it comes down to it, so did you. My fathers may have let you escape unscathed these past few years, onna, but if you make things difficult for me, provoke me just the slightest in any way, I won't hesitate to help you realize your errors." I flash her a fang-filled smile and lash my tail meaningfully. "Saiyjins aren't a chivalrous race, Ms. Aycock...you would do well to remember that. I'm only interested in protecting one person...Vegeta...my mate."

Her eyes are large and frightened as she tries to tear her eyes away from me, holding herself down, trying not to look at her lover who is slowly turning purple in my grasp. I loosen my hold a little, and he breathes in noisily, his magenta hued skin lightening until it is nearly normal.

"Stay put, bitch," I advise. "Your Stanley here has an appointment with Dr. Gohan, and he's already late." I saunter over to the window, fling it open and take off into the night, her soft sobs following me as she struggles to suppress her reactions, fearful I suppose that any demonstrative action on her part will make things worse for the whoreson I have clutched in my fist. I smirk. Well, she does have a point...

I am clear-headed as I take him to the sparring grounds I was at earlier. Landing, I fling him face first into a pile of coarse sand that just an hour or so ago was a boulder. He coughs and sputters, dragging his face up from the sand, already scratched and bleeding.

"Stanley, do you know why you're here tonight?"

He doesn't answer, his eyes terror-filled. I continue. "You see, despite the number of years it has been since you last laid hands on my mate, it seems you still affect him enough to give him nightmares. And I won't stand for Sage being upset like that." My voice hardened. "You can't imagine the fury I feel towards you, Stanley Burns...and you can't imagine the pleasure it will give me to make you scream."

He whimpers and struggles to his feet. I advance towards him slowly. "Do you understand, Stanley? Do you know what you have done? Despite everything I do, nothing can erase you from his memories. Every time he has a fucking nightmare, he is violated all over again. And that irks me, Stanley. Because I can't stand the thought of anyone touching my mate that way…EVER."

The look on his face is confused, as well it might be. The last time I beat the holy fuck out of him, a year ago, I didn't say a word to him. Just came in, grabbed him, took him off and beat him bloody. Oh, there was no danger of me killing him, I knew better, but I didn't trust myself to speak then. And it was close…he ended up in a coma for four days. Oh the fuck well. Sage's nightmare had occurred during a full moon...the influence of the rounded orb intensifying his memories, his terror, his pain, his feelings of worthlessness, self-disgust...I had left him with our fathers and left myself, coming back in under an hour, returning to hold him the rest of the night as he shook, soundlessly, and sleeplessly.

He doesn't know. I had always before referred to Sage as my brother...things were different now.

I advance towards him slowly, and he stumbles, backing up, then freezes, staring at something over my shoulder. His expression is...thunderstruck. And I know before I turn around, before that scent flicks across the olfactory centers in my brain, before I hear his soft breath...I know it is Sage.

Ignoring Burns for the moment, I turn around and take in the sight of my mate. He is standing, slightly apprehensively on one of the boulders I left intact, clad in only pajama bottoms, the cool breeze ruffling the fur on his tail, his hair bending in the light wind, his eyes shadowed, shuttered. He looks so small; Kami...was he always this tiny? His back is ramrod straight, his head held high, his face impassive. But beneath the surface, in a place only I have access too, I can feel his swirling, uncertain emotions, fear, disgust, excitement, arousal...I blink in surprise, then remember...blood plus Saiyjins equals, usually sex. And his scent...it's all over the place, confused.

His voice is quiet, but effortlessly reaches my ears.

"Gohan."

I stride towards him purposefully, and he waits, immobilized it seems, by the situation. I'm not certain how I feel about him being here, but that doesn't matter now. I reach the boulder and hold a hand up to him. He takes it gracefully, slender, elegant fingers closing around my much larger, rougher digits. I pull him down, easily into a fierce embrace, and hear words murmured into my ear.

"You left me."

I sigh, "Hai, aijin, I did. And I'm sorry."

"You said you wouldn't leave me alone." His voice is reproachful, and has regained some of its youthful timbre, he sounds younger than his fifteen years, his unease at the current situation bleeding into his tone.

I kiss his forehead softly. "Hai, I did say that. But I also said I would protect you, ne?" He stiffens, and I rub my hands soothingly over his back. "Saa, Vegeta, would you have me let him go unpunished?"

His arms are suddenly very tight around me, and I note with surprise he is trembling slightly. My eyes narrow and my heart constricts as I realize what the cause of this is. Sage, nearly ten years older than he was when Burns molested him, stronger, faster, more powerful than any fifty Burns', could not completely contain his innate fear of the bastard who had injured him so horribly all those years ago.

Gently I grasp his chin in my fingers and bring his dusk-darkened eyes up to meet my own.

"Koi, is this the first time you've seen him since..." my voice breaks off, remembering well the last time Sage actually saw Burns...that I know of at least.

His affirmation is soft, carried to my ears on the gusts of wind that rustle the leaves in the surrounding trees. Behind us I can still hear the shocked gasps and breaths of Burns. Let him wait. Or let him run...it is not as though he can escape, or knows where we even are.

"They have never let you watch then?"

"After my first heat, they said I was too emotionally unstable. I asked them, last time, but they said it wasn't a good idea. And…" he swallows, hard…"I think they were right."

My mind is working furiously, and comes to a halting stop at one conclusion. I am seme in our relationship, dominant. I have a degree of control over Sage no one else does. But I don't use it...I don't like to use it. Some of it I have no control over, such as him not being able to seek another mate. That is innate, hormonal. But if I give him a direct command, he has no choice but to obey me. I don't like to use it, I feel I don't have the right, claiming him as I have, but not staying with him. However, there have been a few times it has saved a situation, or prevented bloodshed. And there have been a few times I've used it unknowingly. But it seems wrong to shackle Sage in such a way. He is wild, untamed, and binding him with my words and will seems too much like breaking him. However, I see my fathers are right, and his emotional control is not secure. I have no choice.

My voice is low and firm as I speak to him. "Sage, chukra, wait here for me." I release him and stalk back to where Burns is waiting still, cowering in the pile of rough sand I dropped him in.

"Up, Stanley. This is not how I had tonight planned, but we'll just roll with the punches, what do you say?"

"Tha…that's…him?" His voice is wavery and fills me with an anger I have to struggle to suppress.

"What Stanley, did you think he would never grow up? Did you think he would remain the frightened six-year-old you terrified and molested? Take a good look at him, Stanley, someday that boy will be the last thing you ever see."

He turns his face towards Sage, who looks back at him, coldly. I am so proud of my ouji, I will make certain this is good for him.

I direct Stanley to walk over to where Sage stands, waiting, standing firm, trying to come to terms with his internal struggle. His desire to break the man before him is warring with my order, and I push my luck, telling Sage to climb back up on top of the boulder. He obeys, the questions in his eyes are answered almost at once as I backhand Burns into the very boulder Sage is perched upon. I am determined to involve Sage in this, though I will not allow him to join physically. He's too fragile just now, coming from the throes of a nightmare...I don't want him damaged in any way. If I do this correctly, tonight can be a healing experience, and I smile as I pick the whimpering, bleeding form of Stanley Burns up and begin his punishment.

"Vegeta," I call, not taking my eyes from Stanley who has begun pleading. "Tell me about your nightmare you had tonight...was he in it?"

Sage's voice is quiet as he answers me. My questions and my beating of Burns carry on as Sage relives his worst nightmare...the nightmare in which he doesn't tell, he doesn't get rescued, in which Burns gets what he was after all along. His voice is steady, his eyes fixed on me, and occasionally on Burns. He is leaving things out, I know, but I don't press him to elaborate. He remains perched on top of the boulder, steadfast, as I methodically reduce Burns to a sobbing, gasping pile of filth. Returning him to his roots, so to speak. Sage's voice trails off as I backhand Burns once more, again slamming him into the boulder on which Sage holds his precarious footing.

I watch the man for a few heartbeats, my brain racing. What can I do to him that hasn't already been done, a hundred times, a thousand times? Briefly, so briefly my brain toys with the thought of doing to Burns what he wanted to do to Sage. Oh, not myself of course, I considered several inanimate objects in the space between two breaths, and discarded the thought in self-disgust. For one, no matter my hatred of Burns, I...I could not do such a thing. For another, Sage already associates sex with that bastard, and probably always will. The only other person he associates with sex is me, and if I were to do something like that, it would link Burns and me in a way that could very well break my koi. He trusts me, even after I left him, he trusts me implicitly. He always has, and now, because of his biology, he can't help but trust me. If I were to do...that...how could he trust me then? And being my mate, and the submissive in our relationship, how could he not? The conflict could very well drive him insane. Truly. I shake my head sharply to rid it of those disturbing thoughts. Sage...insane...it would kill me…I know it.

My breath catches in my throat as I notice Sage's slight movement. Avoiding touching the weeping, bloody mass at the base of the boulder, Sage gracefully climbs down from his perch and walks quietly over to me. There is no trace of fear in his scent, no hesitation from him as a small hand reaches towards my face and pulls me with its feather's grip into a slow, sweet kiss. It isn't until I wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer I realize he is trembling, not only in apprehension, but with the chill of the night's breeze.

"You're cold, koi," I murmur into his fragrant blue-black mane.

"No, I'm not," he says quietly, and he looks up, his endless onyx gaze framed by his impossibly long black, fringe of lash. "It is enough," he says simply. "It is enough, for now," and his tail flicks in the direction of the man lying prone and bloody just a few yards away.

"But," I begin to protest. No, I want to say, he's not nearly beaten enough, he's not hurt enough, he's still conscious, and watching us. All this I want to convey to my mate, but he stands firm.

"It is enough," he repeats, then elaborates. "Tonight...you have driven him from here," and he places a hand on his head, then moves it to his chest, covering the spot where flesh and bone create a resting place for his heart. "Tonight, he no longer exists for me, tonight, there is only you, and there is only me. He never existed…for tonight."

I look down at him in wonder, and I feel the complex emotions, the driving forces, the divine love surging through and between us, binding us, completing us in ways I never imagined before that full moon. Before that night of musk and lust, and perfect, pristine love.

"Tonight," he whispers, "He can no longer touch me." And in a flash, I understand. Perhaps I will never be able to fully drive the taint of Burns' transgressions from Sage's mind, body and soul, but I, no, WE can overpower them. Maybe not permanently, but at least, for a time. Tonight, I am determined; he will not touch him in any way. Sage's voice mirrors my thoughts.

"Let's finish this, Gohan."

With a slow, deep kiss, I nod in agreement and stalk over to where I have left Burns lie.

"Up we go, Stanley; you're not hurt enough for a hospital I think, back home with you." Not bothering to hide my disgust at having to touch him again, I pick him up under one arm and walk back over to where Sage is still standing, waiting.

"Wait here for me?" I purposefully phrase it as a question, not wishing to impose my will upon him in any way. Not surprisingly, he shakes his head.

"No, I will go with you."

I smile, and hold out my other hand, offering it for him to take when there's a gasping laugh from the sack of shit I hold under my arm."

"Just…as...bad...just...as...perv..." His voice is cut off as Sage's growl rends the cool air.

"How DARE you speak!!! How DARE you speak that way of my MATE," and despite his earlier words, I am now holding Sage back from Burns as the scumbag's words awaken an innate, hormonal reaction from him. This is why Videl and I cannot have…disagreements in front of him, or within his hearing range, or scent range...it can get very dangerous very quickly, and I emphasize my directive mentally along the bond as I remind Sage of his statements earlier.

"Tonight, aijin, he DOES NOT EXIST."

It works, and without any further problems, we take off into the night, the both of us ignoring the ningen's pain-filled snickers. Laugh it up, I think, my brain whirring. I'll shut that mouth of yours once we get back to your damned house.

Sage is pointedly ignoring Burns, showing more control than I had thought possible, considering his close proximity to the man, and I squeeze his hand encouragingly. He really is growing up, I realize and for some reason the insight makes me somewhat sad. He is and has always been the baby in the family, despite the not so very veiled attempts Dad has made over the years, trying to convince Otousama to have another cub. Sometimes I think it is their fighting over who would carry the brat, which, of course, then begs the question, who's gonna be on top, rather than Vegeta's and surprisingly Bulma's continued responses that Sage, even before his molestation, is just too high maintenance to consider bringing another brat into the family. I know Pan's birth allowed Dad to ease off slightly, but it's obvious to everyone he wants another baby, and is slowly wearing Otousama down. And I think to myself, perhaps Sage is ready to be deposed as the baby of the family...maybe...but my thoughts are halted as Burns' residence comes into sight.

Our touchdown is silent, and Burns is also, mercifully silent as we enter the house, me and my bloody burden first, Sage following, sedately a few steps behind. I can hear his nose wrinkle at the stench permeating the place. The light is on in the bedroom, though the door is closed, and I can hear sobs and pacing feet as we approach. I plaster a grin on my face as I fling the door open and yell cheerfully, "Honey, we're home!!!"

Sage stops directly behind me, and I can feel his breath just slightly below my shoulder blades, ghosting warm, sweetly scented air over the skin in the middle of my back. I smirk as I toss Burns onto the bed. "Here he is, home delivered and everything, mostly in one piece from his appointment."

The bitch's gasps and cries of concern almost, but not quite cover Burn's laughing. The asshole MUST be insane, I think, and I realize he is gasping out words to Aycock. It doesn't take a genius to piece together his disjointed dialogue, he's trying to tell her how ironic our relationship is, how I am no better than he, how the little brat wanted it the whole time...

A few quick steps is all it takes and I slap Burns' face, not as hard as I could, but hard enough to just not knock him unconscious. My voice is cold, and part of me is amazed at how like Otousama I sound. "I believe you are forgetting something, Stanley, are you forgetting the rules I KNOW my father's laid down for you to follow?" At the mention of my fathers, his eyes go wide, and his mouth closes. His fear scent, which had been somewhat muted due to his amusement at mine and Sage's relationship, skyrockets.

"That's right, you had forgotten about them, ne? Rest assured, they have not forgotten about you. See you around, Stanley," I say as I turn to collect my mate and the computer so we can leave this disgusting place. But our departure is delayed as a sneering voice cuts through the room.

"I see you are still whoring around, aren't you, you little slut."

As fast as I react, Sage is faster, and before I can blink, a resounding smack is heard and Susan Aycock is lying across the bed, unconscious with a fresh, hand print shaped bruise adorning her cheek.

Sage turns back to me, his color up a bit, his eyes twinkling, not in amusement, but in anger. "I've wanted to do that for SO long," he says.

I put my arm around him and lead him from the room, bidding him to wait a moment while I gather the computer up, and in less time than it takes to tell it, we are landing on the balcony outside our father's bedroom.

Naturally, they are awake, and waiting up for us. Two of their children leaving in the middle of the night? As if they would sleep through something like that, let alone Sage's earlier nightmare. Few words are spoken as we deposit the computer in their room, but glances and feelings along our bonds are frequent. Worry, pride, anger, there's worry again, all flow freely, making words almost useless, though Sage is quick to reassure them, both verbally and telepathically he is fine, though he steps back from both their touches. It is in his scent and his very body language...he wants nobody's touches tonight, save mine. And they respect that. Tomorrow, we all know Dad will find a reason or ten to fuss over Sage, hugging him, petting him, sneaking in a fatherly kiss here and there, and Otousan will watch him like a hawk until Sage finally sees fit to set his mind completely at ease, but tonight is mine.

We walk slowly back to the shared sleep room, and pause by the doorway. I know there are questions in my eyes, and I leave this decision open to Sage. We have a rule about the shared bed...no sex. If he goes in, I know it will be just holding and sleeping. The pause lengthens, and I try not to fidget. I don't mind if he just wants to snuggle, but the suspense is killing me…and I start as he looks up at me, mischief clear in his face. Smirking, he tugs my hand, his strong, plush tail wrapping around my wrist as he leads me to one of the spare bedrooms. I just know I have the trademark, stupid-Son-grin all over my face, but I can't help it.

As we tumble to the bed, our mouths hungry and clothing vanishing at a remarkable rate, I find my mind isn't on my wife, and the inevitable fight that will come in the morning, nor is it on Sage's words in the clearing, his repeated statements that tonight Burns no longer exists for him. No, it is simply on my mate, my lover, my beloved, and how I want this moment here, with him, never to end.

*~*~*~*~*

Owari