Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Obsession ❯ Fragile Trust. ( Chapter 2 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: HeartlessChild 
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.29.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.9K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.29.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 7.9K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
~*~
Bulma had returned to stirring the sizzling herbs in the large pot as Vegeta slowly approached her from behind. She shook her head in frustration, fervently mixing the tomato sauce into the steel pot. Unable to brush away her thoughts, she whirled around, forming the first few words of the question that was poised at her lips, "Hey Ve-" She stopped, catching the Saiyan Prince mid-stride. Her heart seemed to stop its steady beat.
Vegeta froze just as he drew closer to the woman before him. He unconsciously took a step back, scowling all the while as Bulma peered at him with wide eyes.
"D-did you want something V-Vegeta?" She stuttered incoherently, apparently affected by the stern glare he was sending in her direction. What baffled her even more, was the reason he was striding towards her with that strange and unfamiliar look on his face.
Vegeta glowered at her, "Stop looking at me like that! I'm not going to pounce on you, fool." He snapped in an unbelievably convincing manner, since he had been seriously contemplating on pouncing upon her.
Bulma looked at him in uncertainty. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, trying to meet his burning glare, "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked quietly, confused by the strange expression the flew across his face for the briefest moment. If she had blinked, she would have definitely missed it.
He growled in false anger, rolling his eyes. "Why would I ever contemplate looking at something as hideous as you?" He griped, making a point to walk over to her and then swiftly turn in the direction of the large fridge that stood prominently in the corner of the abnormally large kitchen. He quickly extracted a large pitcher of iced water and gave her a smug look before he downed it in one go.
Bulma frowned at the comment and his unnatural behavior but felt oddly relieved as he walked to the direction of the fridge and take the pitcher of water out. She had been afraid he was about to come towards her before.
His behavior of late seemed to have a fearful effect on her. Breathing a sigh of relief she sent him a shaky smile before letting out a harmonious quip in relief, "Honestly Vegeta, there is such a thing as a glass!" She rolled her eyes as he smirked.
"A glass is not adequate enough." He retorted, slowly turning away from her and almost slammed the empty pitcher into the sink, an expression of pain etched its way onto his face for a fleeting moment before it vanished into a realm unknown to any other being.
He turned back with the ever-present scowl plastered across his face. "I will not be eating woman," he strode over to the exit of the kitchen when Bulma's tender voice stopped him.
"Why not?" She asked softly.
Vegeta stiffened as he turned to face her, narrowing his eyes in a dangerous manner. "Are you questioning my actions, woman?" He held himself back with all his strength the moment he saw a thoughtful expression cross her face. Somehow, he always seemed to become enflamed with desire whenever that expression took seniority over her other flamboyant emotions.
"No," Bulma replied after a while, contemplating on several reasons why Vegeta's left eye was twitching rhythmically. "But I went to all this trouble to make food for you, in the early hours of the morning might I add, and I think you should at least eat some of it before you storm out of here," she reasoned with him calmly, which was beyond reason for her spiteful temper. Had this conversation been in a different situation, Bulma was sure she would had started ranting by now.
Her tone was too cool for the Prince's liking, he sent her a suspicious glare. "I do not care for the swill you feed me, woman. You're cooking is enough to drive any sane man running and screaming from the house. Leave me be!" he snarled in contempt.
Bulma wanted to chuckle at his enraged face. She didn't know why, but she was feeling extremely playful at that moment and teasing the Saiyan Prince was just what she needed to overcome her morbid thoughts, "I didn't see you complain about my food a few days ago!" She argued, "In fact, you seemed to be inhaling it like it was the air you breathe! I wonder why you wouldn't like my cooking now?" Bulma asked innocently, her eyes round and glossy.
Vegeta sputtered to get the next sentence out of his mouth. He grunted, not even bothering to attempt any barbs at the expense of his dignity. Vegeta made a hasty yet dignified exit from the kitchen, wondering what the hell had gotten into him to make him so enraged... Of course, it was that fact that Bulma was right on every accusation she made and the Saiyan Prince hated to be wrong of anything.
If he had been completely honest with himself, he would admit that the woman's cooking was far superior to her ditzy mother's. Which was saying quite a bit, since both women could cook superbly. Of course it would be a cold day in hell before Vegeta admitted that thought out loud to anyone, he still had trouble accepting the thought himself.
As he thundered down the wide hallway, he heard the woman burst out into a gleeful and victorious laughter. He paused for a moment as the tinkering laughter continued for several minutes, a small smirk was tugging at the corner of his lips but he refused to allow it to form into a full blown smirk.
He would not let her have another victory by making him feel amused by the situation. It had been ridiculous that he, a Saiyan Prince, could not even think of one meager insult to retort to the woman's true accusation.
He growled, pushing away the churning of his stomach.
Just as he was walking away from the kitchen, a softly spoken comment by the blue-haired woman froze Vegeta not only physically, but mentally as well.
Bulma stared at the empty doorway, giggling insanely. It was the first time she had ever gained an upper hand on the proud prince and it was safe to say that she was incredibly enamored by it.
She sighed as the giggling faded to a soft chuckle, before she found herself speaking quietly out to the room, totally unaware that a certain prince was listening to her every word;
"I wish I had met you first Vegeta," she whispered, "Before your Saiyan pride was drummed into your head, and before Freiza corrupted your mind... Maybe then you would have become a better man, maybe even better than Son- Kun... A man that I could have-"
She stopped halfway through the sentence before letting out another dire chuckle, "Bulma, you're becoming obsessed. This is Vegeta for the love of Kami!" She scolded herself, before she began to put everything away and clear the kitchen.
He stood rooted to the spot, letting every single syllable and monosyllabic word drum into his head. He found that he couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
It seemed as though a lifetime had passed when his senses finally came to and he was just in time to see Bulma leave the kitchen, clapping her hand as she turned off the lights.
He sunk back further into the shadows, pressing his back against the walls as she slowly walked down the wide hallway towards him. His sensitive Saiyan vision allowed him to see her petite form to every minuscule detail as she slowly made her way down the hallway, uncaring of the enveloping darkness that shrouded her, unaware of the danger that could have been lurking in the shadows. He sneered at her obvious carelessness.
Holding his breath, he began to respire internally as she passed by him at a snail's pace. A Saiyan trait such as that would not be waited upon the prince.
In that moment Vegeta could not find the great strength to hold himself back as he raised his hand in the dark and softly grazed his fingertips over her left cheek. He was surprised to find that it was strangely cool, which he found somewhat odd for the rosy coloring of her perfectly rounded cheeks.
He had never touched a female in such a gentle manner before. His thoughts wandered back to the many years he was in Frieza's servitude and he felt the color drain from his cheeks as he remembered exactly when he had touched a female... And usually it had not been willing on the woman's part.
The thought of doing such things to the woman standing a few feet from him, made the bile rise in his throat. He reeled from the shock as he realized he was about to force himself upon her in the kitchen. Had she not turned, Vegeta was certain he would not have been able to hold himself back.
He drew his hand back sharply as he heard her gasp.
Bulma inhaled sharply and shrunk back away from whatever grazed her cheek. She looked around wildly in the inky dark, desperately searching for any signs of an intruder. Her heart thundered in her chest like a thousand stampeding elephants.
Her eyes snapped to the right and then to the left, continuing the same movements in repetition as she tried to determine the origin of the soft touch. Her entire cheek felt enflamed as the soft and smooth touch grazed her cheek, something akin to the velvety texture of skin.
Vegeta's amusement grew at her ever-growing frustration. He almost chuckled cruelly before he clamped his mouth shut, wary of becoming caught red handed. Vegeta knew that if he stayed a moment longer, his iron will would leave him and he would do something inappropriate. Something he did not want to do...
In flurry of light and speed, he phased from his position blurring with the speed of light. He was gone from her side in a matter of seconds. Instead, he found himself floating above her in the hallway, his Saiyan vision allowing him to see anything and everything in the dark. It was from this position that he continued to watch her, even though his inner conscience was screaming at him to leave her.
Bulma choked back a cry as the faint whisper of wind that blew in her direction, caused the delicate tendrils of her hair to flutter. Something had been there... But whatever it was, it was gone now. She groped around in the dark, purposely touching the smooth and immaculate walls of her home.
Upon finding nothing incriminating, she sighed and shook her head. "Dammit Bulma, get a grip. This isn't some psycho horror movie!" She muttered to herself quietly, unable to shake the feeling of being watched as the hairs on the back of her neck pricked upwards.
Vegeta raised a thick eyebrow in reply to the comment she made to herself. He growled quietly and flew away in the opposite direction of his bedroom. He had decided that the only way to rid her from his thoughts, was to train away the strange feelings she was causing him to incur. He had to extract every bit of desire from his body and the only way to do it, was to beat himself to a bloody pulp.
Bulma broke into a light jog as she made her way to the spiral staircase. The anxiety she felt, would not dissipate and she swallowed down the fear that threatened to choke her as she made her way quickly to her room.
It was then that she realized, she could have taken the elevator to her room. But the thought of trudging halfway around the dome mansion was less than appealing to the genius and so in her laziness, she had been the only one to blame her anxiety for.
It was at times like these that Bulma wished she lived in a cozy and small house. Shaking her head, she quickly entered her room and slammed the door shut, taking deep breaths as she slid to the floor.
She was going to have to remind her father to upgrade the security in the house.
~*~
Rays of blinding sunshine filtered through the thin venetian gauze curtains of her tall window.
Bulma winced as the first few rays of dawn shone gently upon her face, seeping into her tightly shut eyelids. Yawning quietly to herself, she ran her tongue lightly over her dry and cracked lips. A small smile blossomed on her lips as she envisioned the final scene of her dream, slowly fluttering her long and thick eyelashes as she opened her eyes to the new dawning day.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Bulma stared at the pale lavender walls of her room and frowned. She had the same colored room for... She couldn't remember how long! A tiny smirk brightened her eyes as she knew it was time for a change. A big change. After all, she was an adult and her room needed a complete conversion.
Jumping out of bed, she stood on the tips of her toes and raised her arms high above her head. From this position, she stretched as if she were reaching to touch the sun itself. It was a ritual she had done from a very young age, and she had no inkling to change that tradition. After extracting the largest yawn she could, she pulled down the powdered blue silk strappy gown she wore, as it rode up her thighs.
Bulma strode over to her full length mirror and scrutinized her appearance as she placed her hands on her hips. The tiny powder blue gown she wore rested timidly against the mid-section of her thigh.
She flashed her reflection a smirk. It was true, and everyone knew that she was extremely vain. But who wouldn't be if they were as beautiful as she was?! She chuckled, knowing she would never openly admit these thoughts, but they were there nonetheless... Well, maybe she would if the circumstances proved she could.
Sighing, she turned her head to the antique clock resting against the far side of the wall, above the door. She frowned, noting that the clock had strangely stopped working during the night.
She shrugged and padded softly to the large double windows of her room that could be called doors had there been a balcony on the other side. But she knew very well that if she ever did step on the other side of her windows, gravity would play a heady part in her death as nothing would break her fall.
Her father had insisted that no balconies be put up on the C.C mansion because their home was at the heart of the city. Of course, her father was right and there was no telling what kind of psychotic stalker would end up climbing upon the balcony and breaking into a room with ease.
Even though their security was one of the best in the entire city, Bulma couldn't help but feel more secure knowing that there was no way for a criminal to enter the house other than the doors... Unless they could fly.
She broke herself away from the strange thoughts she was having. She had always been a morning person, even if she had only slept for a few hours, the type of female that enjoyed mornings and smiled brightly when the sunlight danced its way through her bedroom window, and today was no exception. Albeit she had been jarred by the events of the previous day, she had never been one to let anything upset her for too long.
Stepping closer to the windows, she reached out and spread the thin curtains apart in one swift movement, wincing as the entire window became flooded in the glow of the suns dawning rays. It was at that startling moment she realized it was a Sunday.
She suddenly found herself thanking her father for making her take the room where the sun rose in the morning, it seemed to make her day so much more easier.
It was a glorious Sunday morning for her.
That only meant one thing for Bulma. No work. Her face broke into a new smile, one as bright as the burning sun in the crystal blue sky that was in a perfect match with her eyes. As the glare of the rays faded, she blinked away the sun spots on her eyes and stared up into the heavenly clear sky, noting the swallows and sparrows float and dive in the sky above in their own dance that they had created to perfection.
They looked simply beautiful... Simply free, without a care in the world.
Her gaze tapered down to the back garden of the C.C mansion. Her eyes roved over the large outback which seemed oddly misplaced in the heart of the city as she could see hover cars in the far distance.
It had been an ingenious idea to block the city from the C.C mansion, otherwise there would have been no privacy to be had. The invisible force field around the mansion was one of her most world renowned inventions, and she had used her genius to structure the force field around the mansion, only allowing people with recognizable genetic code in and out of the building.
She had abhorred her father for making them move to the city, on a day that seemed too far back to recall. But she now realized that things had turned out for the best and she actually enjoyed living here in the city, amongst the boisterous people and bustling noise that generated interest from every known conglomerate business around the world.
Satan City was thriving with life, money and people. Three things that Bulma cherished with all her heart. Had it not been for C.C the entire city would have dwindled to nothing but an outback, country town and no businesses would have taken an interest in the city. Satan City was one of the wealthiest in the world and it had all been thanks to the trade that C.C brought to the society.
Not particularly focusing on anything specific, her gaze wandered to the large, round metallic structure that stood proudly north-east on the mansion's grounds. She shook her head in disgust, taking into account that it was the only sore spot of the entire garden her mother tended to day and night.
Her large eyes swooped over the dome structure, instantly catching something very odd smeared across the side of the glinting metal structure. She gasped as she saw a red hand print on the side of the large dome that was placed on a higher level to the ground below.
Her stomach churned as the red hand print smeared its way down, almost as if someone was trying to cling on to the outside of the machine for dear life. She followed the trail with her eyes, praying to Kami that it would be nothing horrendous.
Of course, Kami didn't hear her prayer.
The morning dew on the freshly cut grass below the GR was tainted with small rivulets of crimson blood. Bulma followed the crimson drops, to its owner and gaped at the sight before her.
Vegeta lay partly under the shining structure of the GR, blood pooling from the back of his head and staining the sparkling grass beneath him, his eyes wide open as he stared up at the dawning sky. Small hiccups were coming from his mouth as it opened and closed like a gaping fish. Even due to the heart wrenching spectacle, for once in his life, Vegeta looked at peace...
Bulma watched on in horror, rooted to the spot at the sight that had been imprinted on her photographic memory. A shudder jolted her from the daze and she cried out in frustration and pain for the man lying so still, "VEGETA!" Whirling around, she raced down the winding hallway to the nearest elevator which would efficiently take her down to what seemed the dying Saiyan in her mother's back garden.
Racing out into the garden, a cry of anguish departed from her throat as she ran bare-foot across the wet grass, feeling the moisture sink into the balls of her feet. Another moment later, she was kneeling beside the Saiyan Prince, who was hiccuping as he inhaled.
She lightly placed her hand on his surprisingly warm cheek and brought her face to hover above his, blocking out the blaring rays of sun that was blinding him.
Bulma stared into a pair of hollow ebony eyes. "Vegeta?" She whispered fearfully, stroking his cheek, trying to awaken him from his stupor.
Vegeta grunted as the blinding light grew dim, absorbed by the strange being that hovered above his face, acting as a shadow and blanket from the harsh sun. He stirred as he heard his name being uttered from the crimson lips of the woman with the enticing blue eyes.
Vegeta blinked slowly and looked up into the two pools of cerulean eyes, simmering with concern. He bared his teeth meekly, "Leave me!" He rasped, barely brushing away the soft hand upon his cheek that was causing ripples of shock down his spine. He never knew her touch would have affected him so much.
Bulma glared at him angrily, "The hell I'm leaving you! Are you insane?" She found herself shrieking in relief as he spoke to her. She had almost been certain she would arrive to find his gasping body dead...
"You jerk!" She hissed in fury, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Despite her words, she grasped his arm and tried helplessly to pull him up. Much to her dismay, she could only pull the upper part of his body up, to rest in her arms. She looked down into his eyes, clearly waiting for an explanation.
Vegeta almost winced at her harsh tone. He lurched forward as she pulled him into her arms. He almost shuddered in delight. Perhaps it would be much better to try and kill himself more often if it meant lying in her arms like this.
He looked back at her pensive face, hiding the building desire that raged within him even though he could slowly feel his ki fade and flicker with each moment that passed. If he could die in her arms, he would gladly go to the realm of hell a happy and willing man.
Bulma sighed as she realized he was refusing to answer her questions. She shook her head in disgust and worry, "You really should be more careful, do you know that?" Once again, she ran her hand through the thick mane of his ebony hair, surprised to find it soft and smooth.
Vegeta closed his eyes, almost purring at her ministrations. He could slowly feel his energy drain from his body and he secretly wondered if she knew the extent of his injuries.
As she drew her hand away from his hair, she grimly looked at her blood stained hand. She frowned, reaching down to the base of his skull. Her fingers grazed the back of his head and she gasped as warm liquid drenched her fingertips. She brought her hand out from behind him and stared incredulously at the shimmering blood on her fingertips. "Shit..." She muttered, wide-eyed and fearful for his life.
The last thing that Vegeta saw before he plunged into a black abyss, were two eyes that were brimming with tears...
For him.
~*~
O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
~*~
Has found out thy bed,
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
--William Blake.
~*~
Vegeta awoke with a start, groaning as he felt his head pound from the large gash at the base of his skull. He was surprised to find it bandaged up tightly with white hospital gauze.
He stared up at the pale white ceiling, scowling as he tried to remember how he came to be in a medicinal place such as this. Grunting, he pushed himself to sit up, holding back a wince from the pain that shot up his spine. He glared down at the various tubes and wires pumping a concoction drugs into his Saiyan body. His sixth sense was telling him that something was extremely wrong with the types of drugs that infiltrated his body.
"'Morning sleepy head."
He snapped his head to the side and glared at the woman that sat a few feet away from him, legs crossed and donning a white lab coat that he had seen many of the doctors in hospitals wear. Her arms were folded and she was looking at him thoughtfully again.
He gripped the white sheets in his hands, his knuckles becoming blanched. It was more than Vegeta could do to hold back from pouncing at her with an intense desire as he remembered her tear filled eyes before he had slipped into an unconscious state..
Once again, the white lab coat caught his attention. He cocked his head, wondering why human doctors would choose white overalls to sheathe their body from the blood they dealt with on a daily basis. Surely white would stain easily from the crimson color of blood, so why not just have a crimson colored overall instead of glossy white?
He had decided a long time ago that all humans were idiots. Save for one. And she was sitting before him.
The dull ache in his head reprimanded such thoughts and he realized he did not have the capacity to be analytical at that moment. Instead, he sent her a bone-chilling glare, one that screamed he was not in the mood to converse, even with her.
Bulma had been watching him as he tossed in a fitful sleep, only to find herself surprised as he jolted out of the bizarre world that was his mind. She had been tending to his comatose state for a little over a week and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt course through her as she looked at his condition. With her hand in her coat pocket, she fingered a pill- shaped object, mindlessly.
If she hadn't agreed to intensify his training with the droids, then he wouldn't have been in this situation. She had learned that one of the training droids had gone into over drive and deflected Vegeta's ki blast at fifty time his own power.
Thus causing his current condition as a shard of metal had grazed the base of his skull, rupturing the nerves and veins, causing him to bleed profusely. He had managed to make his way out of the gravity room and had somehow ended up underneath it, clinging on for dear life as he bled to death.
Had she been more than a minute late, he would have been dead for he had been bleeding for two hours prior to the time Bulma had rushed up to him, her mind panicked and greif-stricken at the sight of his gasping body that was slowly growing lifeless.
It was a miracle that the gravity room had remained unscathed from the outside, yet the inside was completely fried and burnt to a crisp. It was lucky that he hadn't received a brain hemorrhage or worse, from the internal combustion of the gravity room. Never had she felt so guilty for a person's condition in her life and she found it unnerving to be quite honest.
He was a rude and strange man to say the least, one that didn't mind to openly stare at her but she couldn't determine why he would continuously stare at her. Could he possibly hate her that much? Or was it for another reason?
With Yamcha no longer on her mind, she had time to reflect how she felt about the prince in the week of his comatose state. She had learned many mind boggling things, one being that she was indeed physically attracted to him, and the other was that she found comfort in his overbearing presence, in the strength of his mind. Both ideals were less than appealing to the blue-haired woman.
Bulma sighed as she continued to observe his reaction. She watched in concern as he glared down at the needles that pricked his pectoral muscles and decided she should speak out. She was taken aback as he stared at her silently, giving off a set of unnerving vibes.
Standing abruptly, she made her way towards his immobile figure on the bed and lifted his arm, pressing her index and middle finger onto his pulse. Upon finding it strong and healthy, she smiled briefly before moving her nimble fingers over his chest, removing the various needles that were inserted into his chest. Perhaps he would not need the object in her pocket...
Vegeta merely watched with a guarded expression as she continued to remove the needles from his chest with such expertise and grace he had never seen before. He had no idea she specialized in healing and so, decided to voice his obvious intrigue. "I did not know you associated yourself in the medical field woman."
He almost groaned as his vocal chords sounded as though they had been ripped to shreds. It was the first sentence he had spoken to her and he was amused to find two red streaks grace her cheeks.
Bulma cleared her throat as she bent over the Saiyan prince, removing all of the wires that monitored his heart beat. It was hard to ignore the fact that she was bent closely to his bare chest, but to have him speak was even more cringe worthy. For the first time, she noticed how deep and alluring his voice could be.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Vegeta," she replied coolly, ignoring the searing heat that raced through her cheeks as her fingers grazed the muscled flesh of his chest.
Kami be damned if she ever had to do anything like this again!
Vegeta almost smirked at her obvious attraction to his physique. So the woman seemed to 'fancy' him, as earthling would say. But what did it mean? Was it just purely physical, or more? Whatever it was, he was definitely going to find out. He swiftly gripped her hand, stopping all of her movements.
Bulma felt her breath catch into her throat as she looked into his cold and calculating eagle eyes.
He almost chuckled at her fear, but at the same time felt displeased that she would believe he would harm her intentionally, "How long have I been in this foul place?" He growled out, the question had come so suddenly to him as he realized he should not have been unconscious for more than a day. But it felt more than that.
Bulma swallowed before answering. "Around a week," she whispered, afraid of his reaction.
She knew that if she had lied to him, it would have not gone down well because he was certainly not an idiot to forget the dates on a calendar. She also knew how precious his training time was, and had an inkling that his reaction would warrant some fear within her.
Vegeta blinked slowly. A week... A whole fucking week, gone down the drain!
"You dared to keep me in this tranquilized state for an entire week?" He hissed, no longer caring that he was within such a close proximation to the object of his desire... His chosen one. His training held precedence over everything, including her and he had just lost a whole week to lying in bed!!
"L-look, you were injured badly! I can't help-" She cried in pain as the grip on her wrist tightened, she could almost feel his fingers bruising her bone.
"Shut up!" He snapped back, his mind calculating how much leverage he had lost in his training. "Tell me, how long did you think you could keep pumping me with your earthling tranquilizers to ensure I didn't reach my full strength?!" He roared, sitting up completely, ignoring the creaks of his joints and pulling her roughly into his chest, breathing heavily down her neck as he glared daggers at her, waiting for an answer.
Bulma's mouth rounded into a perfect 'o'.
She had been caught... Found out.
In the moment of abject terror, she could only think that he must be more insightful than she gave him credit for, to take notice that she had kept him drugged with tranquilizers for a week. But not for the reason he thought! A strangled shriek came from her as she found herself pinned against his chest. She wheezed as he squeezed her tightly in his arms.
Vegeta's rage blinded him from his actions as he continued to hold her in a vice-like grip.
"Answer me!" He breathed into her ear, barely containing the true extent of his rage. An entire week was lost to him! He had been cut back one hundred and fifty times Earth's gravity by this stupid, ignorant female! Now he would never be able to defeat his Saiyan enemy. Nor protect her from the Androids...
"N-NO!" She all but screamed, trying to struggle out of his iron grip that was now crushing her lungs. She gasped, hoping the oxygen was being pumped around to her organs by her red blood cells. Bulma felt herself grow dizzy.
"You lie!" Vegeta roared, crushing her further in his one-armed grip.
Bulma looked up into his eyes fearfully as she was pulled up into the high medical bed, crushed by his tight grip as she practically lay in his lap. The wheels in her head whirled incredibly as she thought of different ways she could remove herself from the situation.
She had never intended him to find out that she had been giving him tranquilizers to keep him from hurting himself farther, but somehow he had known... She only wanted to keep him in the comatose state until Korin harvested... Her eyes widened in reckoning.
As he continued to send his piercing gaze in her direction, she tried desperately to move her arm down to the pocket of her lab coat. Fumbling for the precious cargo, she pulled it out quickly as tears formed in her eyes from the intense pain of her ribs being crushed together, slowly and painstakingly.
He was completely oblivious to the pain he was causing her as various thoughts whirled in his mind. He had never felt so utterly rejected and betrayed in his life. It was the one thing that made his heart cinch up with pain, the betrayal from her.
He had been double-crossed many times in his life, but never by someone he had actually cared to respect or remotely take an interest in... And that hurt the most. To think he had almost wanted the bitch as his mate!
Lost in his thoughts, his grip had somehow loosened from around her and Bulma took the opportunity to ram the sacred bean down his throat. It was the only way to show him what her true purpose was.
Vegeta snapped awake from his reverie as Bulma's hand covered his mouth, forcing a small and round object down his throat. Was she now trying to poison him?! He couldn't help but swallow the rounded object as she shoved it in his mouth and instantly, Vegeta felt all the pain from his limbs and head... Fade away.
He grunted in surprise and released Bulma from his death grip as he felt his power return to him tenfold.
Bulma landed in an unceremonious heap on the cold floor. Tears pooled in her eyes as she wrapped her arm around her rib cage, where her lungs resided. She gasped, wincing as each breath sent a sharp wave of pain through her nervous system to her cerebral cortex.
Vegeta simply stared in shock at the gasping woman on the floor. He frowned, "What was that?" He demanded, obviously shaken by the fact that he was completely healed.
Bulma wanted to cry at that moment. Not only did the bastard try and kill her, but he had the audacity to demand an explanation from her! She drew herself onto her knees and doubled over at the intense pain that was emanating from her rib cage. "Senzu bean," she croaked.
He grew even more confused by the answer as he watched her try to stand from the cold floor. "Why?" He voiced the thought with confusion. If she had been trying to limit his power, why had she given him the bean that healed wounds and returned his strength tenfold?
Bulma was now breathing heavily, wincing as she stood on shaky legs. She glared at him in disappointment, shaking her head.
"I only tranquilized you because Korin hadn't harvested the Senzu beans. He told me it would take a week for them to ripen and grow to their full potential," she started quietly, turning her head away as she became unable to look at him without an adrenaline of fear being pumped in her veins.
"I knew that you would wake up before the week was over, and I also knew that you would continue your training regardless of your injuries, which were already on the brink of being fatal. They wouldn't have healed with your continuous training, without a month's rest. I figured you wouldn't want to wait an entire month to continue your training. That's why I tranquilized you, to keep you from training and injuring yourself further, until I could actually get a Senzu bean from Korin to heal your injuries. I got the beans today..." Her voice had tapered down to a fragile whisper as she stared at the floor sadly.
Vegeta reeled from the revelation, completely dumbstruck at her intentions and his reaction. Not only had he insulted her compassion, he insulted her offering of friendship and broken the odd foundation of trust they had built...
He had undoubtedly blown his chances with the blue-haired genius. Whatever chance he had with her, had been extinguished by his stupidity and rage. His stomach lurched as he thought of the physical harm he had caused her. He looked imploringly at her, willing her to look at him but felt his heart sink as she refused to even send a glance in his direction.
She could feel that her ribs had been bruised internally as she found it hard to inhale, her jaw clenched in pain as she continued to stare at the floor of the medical wing in the C.C mansion. "I won't interfere with your business anymore... I'm sorry." She mumbled painfully through clenched teeth.
Without another word or glance in his direction, she turned around and hobbled slowly and painfully out of the medical room, deciding it would be better to send one of her father's qualified medical assistants to attend the Saiyan Prince.
She concluded she did not need to see anyone for her injuries, they were not life-threatening but she couldn't help but feel her stomach churn with an intense fear at the fact she had almost been crushed by a man she thought she could trust.
If he could turn on her so easily, there was no telling what he might do to her family and friends. It was then that she realized she could not tell him to leave the compound, for he would just end up terrorizing poor civilians and Bulma was not so fickle to allow him to descend upon the citizens of Earth like the black plague.
She would allow the murderer to continue dwelling in her home, provide him with training necessities and food when he demanded, but Kami be damned if she was ever going to speak casually or civilly to the cretin again!
She had never been hurt by someone like this in her life, and the emotional pain was far worse than the physical she felt. She had trusted him and he had betrayed her the moment he inflicted pain upon her. Betrayed her the very moment he had stopped trusting her... And he had turned on her.
There was only so much that one person could endure, and even Bulma had her limits.
~*~
Vegeta growled at his stupidity as he watched her leave the room, head bowed and shoulders slumped. He had never seen the woman look so defeated and afraid in her life. It was the first time he had seen tears of fear streak down her cheeks. He had seen many forms of tears in her sky blue eyes, from sadness to joy... But never fear. Never in his life did he want to see that in her eyes again.
He was afraid to admit that he had been utterly wrong about her intentions. But he knew it, deep down he knew that he had betrayed her in some strange way.
It was funny how fate worked. There he had thought she had betrayed his trust and was trying to stunt the growth of his power, so in turn he had caused harm upon her. Only to find that she had in fact done him a favor by waiting for the precious Senzu beans to ripen, so that he could be fully healed.
In a sick turn of event, Vegeta had caused pain upon the one person that had actually managed to care for him. He snarled at his idiocy as the look of her fearful face drowned his thoughts and the sick twisting of his heart returned. He had always hated emotions and this was the very thing he hated about them... Feeling guilt for his actions.
It was then that he admitted he was wrong. Undeniably and pathetically wrong as his defense mechanism took over, his anger, and let it rule his actions by hurting her.
And what was the end result? She probably fucking hated his guts. But he couldn't blame her. A lot of people hated him and he hadn't given a shit, but to know that she hated him caused a dagger of guilt to spear his heart. How would he ever regain her trust? Would she even speak to him again? He highly doubted that she would.
Staring at the crisp white sheets of the medical bed and blinked slowly, wondering how he would ever repair the damage caused. The cogs in his mind turned as he thought of different, confrontational scenarios. Each one was bitter than the last, for how could she forgive him? He had betrayed everything she stood for. Kindness, compassion, trust...
And... He had hurt her.
He snarled, standing up from the bed in a flash and bringing his fist down upon the bed. He broke it into two halves. His anger was once again ruling his actions.
He sprang from the room, wanting to confront the woman that had captured his attention, wanting to demand a proper explanation. He would be damned if he didn't speak to her, but would she even bother to speak to him after all the pain he had caused her?
Somehow, he highly doubted that she would.
~*~
Bulma had returned to stirring the sizzling herbs in the large pot as Vegeta slowly approached her from behind. She shook her head in frustration, fervently mixing the tomato sauce into the steel pot. Unable to brush away her thoughts, she whirled around, forming the first few words of the question that was poised at her lips, "Hey Ve-" She stopped, catching the Saiyan Prince mid-stride. Her heart seemed to stop its steady beat.
Vegeta froze just as he drew closer to the woman before him. He unconsciously took a step back, scowling all the while as Bulma peered at him with wide eyes.
"D-did you want something V-Vegeta?" She stuttered incoherently, apparently affected by the stern glare he was sending in her direction. What baffled her even more, was the reason he was striding towards her with that strange and unfamiliar look on his face.
Vegeta glowered at her, "Stop looking at me like that! I'm not going to pounce on you, fool." He snapped in an unbelievably convincing manner, since he had been seriously contemplating on pouncing upon her.
Bulma looked at him in uncertainty. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, trying to meet his burning glare, "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked quietly, confused by the strange expression the flew across his face for the briefest moment. If she had blinked, she would have definitely missed it.
He growled in false anger, rolling his eyes. "Why would I ever contemplate looking at something as hideous as you?" He griped, making a point to walk over to her and then swiftly turn in the direction of the large fridge that stood prominently in the corner of the abnormally large kitchen. He quickly extracted a large pitcher of iced water and gave her a smug look before he downed it in one go.
Bulma frowned at the comment and his unnatural behavior but felt oddly relieved as he walked to the direction of the fridge and take the pitcher of water out. She had been afraid he was about to come towards her before.
His behavior of late seemed to have a fearful effect on her. Breathing a sigh of relief she sent him a shaky smile before letting out a harmonious quip in relief, "Honestly Vegeta, there is such a thing as a glass!" She rolled her eyes as he smirked.
"A glass is not adequate enough." He retorted, slowly turning away from her and almost slammed the empty pitcher into the sink, an expression of pain etched its way onto his face for a fleeting moment before it vanished into a realm unknown to any other being.
He turned back with the ever-present scowl plastered across his face. "I will not be eating woman," he strode over to the exit of the kitchen when Bulma's tender voice stopped him.
"Why not?" She asked softly.
Vegeta stiffened as he turned to face her, narrowing his eyes in a dangerous manner. "Are you questioning my actions, woman?" He held himself back with all his strength the moment he saw a thoughtful expression cross her face. Somehow, he always seemed to become enflamed with desire whenever that expression took seniority over her other flamboyant emotions.
"No," Bulma replied after a while, contemplating on several reasons why Vegeta's left eye was twitching rhythmically. "But I went to all this trouble to make food for you, in the early hours of the morning might I add, and I think you should at least eat some of it before you storm out of here," she reasoned with him calmly, which was beyond reason for her spiteful temper. Had this conversation been in a different situation, Bulma was sure she would had started ranting by now.
Her tone was too cool for the Prince's liking, he sent her a suspicious glare. "I do not care for the swill you feed me, woman. You're cooking is enough to drive any sane man running and screaming from the house. Leave me be!" he snarled in contempt.
Bulma wanted to chuckle at his enraged face. She didn't know why, but she was feeling extremely playful at that moment and teasing the Saiyan Prince was just what she needed to overcome her morbid thoughts, "I didn't see you complain about my food a few days ago!" She argued, "In fact, you seemed to be inhaling it like it was the air you breathe! I wonder why you wouldn't like my cooking now?" Bulma asked innocently, her eyes round and glossy.
Vegeta sputtered to get the next sentence out of his mouth. He grunted, not even bothering to attempt any barbs at the expense of his dignity. Vegeta made a hasty yet dignified exit from the kitchen, wondering what the hell had gotten into him to make him so enraged... Of course, it was that fact that Bulma was right on every accusation she made and the Saiyan Prince hated to be wrong of anything.
If he had been completely honest with himself, he would admit that the woman's cooking was far superior to her ditzy mother's. Which was saying quite a bit, since both women could cook superbly. Of course it would be a cold day in hell before Vegeta admitted that thought out loud to anyone, he still had trouble accepting the thought himself.
As he thundered down the wide hallway, he heard the woman burst out into a gleeful and victorious laughter. He paused for a moment as the tinkering laughter continued for several minutes, a small smirk was tugging at the corner of his lips but he refused to allow it to form into a full blown smirk.
He would not let her have another victory by making him feel amused by the situation. It had been ridiculous that he, a Saiyan Prince, could not even think of one meager insult to retort to the woman's true accusation.
He growled, pushing away the churning of his stomach.
Just as he was walking away from the kitchen, a softly spoken comment by the blue-haired woman froze Vegeta not only physically, but mentally as well.
Bulma stared at the empty doorway, giggling insanely. It was the first time she had ever gained an upper hand on the proud prince and it was safe to say that she was incredibly enamored by it.
She sighed as the giggling faded to a soft chuckle, before she found herself speaking quietly out to the room, totally unaware that a certain prince was listening to her every word;
"I wish I had met you first Vegeta," she whispered, "Before your Saiyan pride was drummed into your head, and before Freiza corrupted your mind... Maybe then you would have become a better man, maybe even better than Son- Kun... A man that I could have-"
She stopped halfway through the sentence before letting out another dire chuckle, "Bulma, you're becoming obsessed. This is Vegeta for the love of Kami!" She scolded herself, before she began to put everything away and clear the kitchen.
He stood rooted to the spot, letting every single syllable and monosyllabic word drum into his head. He found that he couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
It seemed as though a lifetime had passed when his senses finally came to and he was just in time to see Bulma leave the kitchen, clapping her hand as she turned off the lights.
He sunk back further into the shadows, pressing his back against the walls as she slowly walked down the wide hallway towards him. His sensitive Saiyan vision allowed him to see her petite form to every minuscule detail as she slowly made her way down the hallway, uncaring of the enveloping darkness that shrouded her, unaware of the danger that could have been lurking in the shadows. He sneered at her obvious carelessness.
Holding his breath, he began to respire internally as she passed by him at a snail's pace. A Saiyan trait such as that would not be waited upon the prince.
In that moment Vegeta could not find the great strength to hold himself back as he raised his hand in the dark and softly grazed his fingertips over her left cheek. He was surprised to find that it was strangely cool, which he found somewhat odd for the rosy coloring of her perfectly rounded cheeks.
He had never touched a female in such a gentle manner before. His thoughts wandered back to the many years he was in Frieza's servitude and he felt the color drain from his cheeks as he remembered exactly when he had touched a female... And usually it had not been willing on the woman's part.
The thought of doing such things to the woman standing a few feet from him, made the bile rise in his throat. He reeled from the shock as he realized he was about to force himself upon her in the kitchen. Had she not turned, Vegeta was certain he would not have been able to hold himself back.
He drew his hand back sharply as he heard her gasp.
Bulma inhaled sharply and shrunk back away from whatever grazed her cheek. She looked around wildly in the inky dark, desperately searching for any signs of an intruder. Her heart thundered in her chest like a thousand stampeding elephants.
Her eyes snapped to the right and then to the left, continuing the same movements in repetition as she tried to determine the origin of the soft touch. Her entire cheek felt enflamed as the soft and smooth touch grazed her cheek, something akin to the velvety texture of skin.
Vegeta's amusement grew at her ever-growing frustration. He almost chuckled cruelly before he clamped his mouth shut, wary of becoming caught red handed. Vegeta knew that if he stayed a moment longer, his iron will would leave him and he would do something inappropriate. Something he did not want to do...
In flurry of light and speed, he phased from his position blurring with the speed of light. He was gone from her side in a matter of seconds. Instead, he found himself floating above her in the hallway, his Saiyan vision allowing him to see anything and everything in the dark. It was from this position that he continued to watch her, even though his inner conscience was screaming at him to leave her.
Bulma choked back a cry as the faint whisper of wind that blew in her direction, caused the delicate tendrils of her hair to flutter. Something had been there... But whatever it was, it was gone now. She groped around in the dark, purposely touching the smooth and immaculate walls of her home.
Upon finding nothing incriminating, she sighed and shook her head. "Dammit Bulma, get a grip. This isn't some psycho horror movie!" She muttered to herself quietly, unable to shake the feeling of being watched as the hairs on the back of her neck pricked upwards.
Vegeta raised a thick eyebrow in reply to the comment she made to herself. He growled quietly and flew away in the opposite direction of his bedroom. He had decided that the only way to rid her from his thoughts, was to train away the strange feelings she was causing him to incur. He had to extract every bit of desire from his body and the only way to do it, was to beat himself to a bloody pulp.
Bulma broke into a light jog as she made her way to the spiral staircase. The anxiety she felt, would not dissipate and she swallowed down the fear that threatened to choke her as she made her way quickly to her room.
It was then that she realized, she could have taken the elevator to her room. But the thought of trudging halfway around the dome mansion was less than appealing to the genius and so in her laziness, she had been the only one to blame her anxiety for.
It was at times like these that Bulma wished she lived in a cozy and small house. Shaking her head, she quickly entered her room and slammed the door shut, taking deep breaths as she slid to the floor.
She was going to have to remind her father to upgrade the security in the house.
~*~
Rays of blinding sunshine filtered through the thin venetian gauze curtains of her tall window.
Bulma winced as the first few rays of dawn shone gently upon her face, seeping into her tightly shut eyelids. Yawning quietly to herself, she ran her tongue lightly over her dry and cracked lips. A small smile blossomed on her lips as she envisioned the final scene of her dream, slowly fluttering her long and thick eyelashes as she opened her eyes to the new dawning day.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Bulma stared at the pale lavender walls of her room and frowned. She had the same colored room for... She couldn't remember how long! A tiny smirk brightened her eyes as she knew it was time for a change. A big change. After all, she was an adult and her room needed a complete conversion.
Jumping out of bed, she stood on the tips of her toes and raised her arms high above her head. From this position, she stretched as if she were reaching to touch the sun itself. It was a ritual she had done from a very young age, and she had no inkling to change that tradition. After extracting the largest yawn she could, she pulled down the powdered blue silk strappy gown she wore, as it rode up her thighs.
Bulma strode over to her full length mirror and scrutinized her appearance as she placed her hands on her hips. The tiny powder blue gown she wore rested timidly against the mid-section of her thigh.
She flashed her reflection a smirk. It was true, and everyone knew that she was extremely vain. But who wouldn't be if they were as beautiful as she was?! She chuckled, knowing she would never openly admit these thoughts, but they were there nonetheless... Well, maybe she would if the circumstances proved she could.
Sighing, she turned her head to the antique clock resting against the far side of the wall, above the door. She frowned, noting that the clock had strangely stopped working during the night.
She shrugged and padded softly to the large double windows of her room that could be called doors had there been a balcony on the other side. But she knew very well that if she ever did step on the other side of her windows, gravity would play a heady part in her death as nothing would break her fall.
Her father had insisted that no balconies be put up on the C.C mansion because their home was at the heart of the city. Of course, her father was right and there was no telling what kind of psychotic stalker would end up climbing upon the balcony and breaking into a room with ease.
Even though their security was one of the best in the entire city, Bulma couldn't help but feel more secure knowing that there was no way for a criminal to enter the house other than the doors... Unless they could fly.
She broke herself away from the strange thoughts she was having. She had always been a morning person, even if she had only slept for a few hours, the type of female that enjoyed mornings and smiled brightly when the sunlight danced its way through her bedroom window, and today was no exception. Albeit she had been jarred by the events of the previous day, she had never been one to let anything upset her for too long.
Stepping closer to the windows, she reached out and spread the thin curtains apart in one swift movement, wincing as the entire window became flooded in the glow of the suns dawning rays. It was at that startling moment she realized it was a Sunday.
She suddenly found herself thanking her father for making her take the room where the sun rose in the morning, it seemed to make her day so much more easier.
It was a glorious Sunday morning for her.
That only meant one thing for Bulma. No work. Her face broke into a new smile, one as bright as the burning sun in the crystal blue sky that was in a perfect match with her eyes. As the glare of the rays faded, she blinked away the sun spots on her eyes and stared up into the heavenly clear sky, noting the swallows and sparrows float and dive in the sky above in their own dance that they had created to perfection.
They looked simply beautiful... Simply free, without a care in the world.
Her gaze tapered down to the back garden of the C.C mansion. Her eyes roved over the large outback which seemed oddly misplaced in the heart of the city as she could see hover cars in the far distance.
It had been an ingenious idea to block the city from the C.C mansion, otherwise there would have been no privacy to be had. The invisible force field around the mansion was one of her most world renowned inventions, and she had used her genius to structure the force field around the mansion, only allowing people with recognizable genetic code in and out of the building.
She had abhorred her father for making them move to the city, on a day that seemed too far back to recall. But she now realized that things had turned out for the best and she actually enjoyed living here in the city, amongst the boisterous people and bustling noise that generated interest from every known conglomerate business around the world.
Satan City was thriving with life, money and people. Three things that Bulma cherished with all her heart. Had it not been for C.C the entire city would have dwindled to nothing but an outback, country town and no businesses would have taken an interest in the city. Satan City was one of the wealthiest in the world and it had all been thanks to the trade that C.C brought to the society.
Not particularly focusing on anything specific, her gaze wandered to the large, round metallic structure that stood proudly north-east on the mansion's grounds. She shook her head in disgust, taking into account that it was the only sore spot of the entire garden her mother tended to day and night.
Her large eyes swooped over the dome structure, instantly catching something very odd smeared across the side of the glinting metal structure. She gasped as she saw a red hand print on the side of the large dome that was placed on a higher level to the ground below.
Her stomach churned as the red hand print smeared its way down, almost as if someone was trying to cling on to the outside of the machine for dear life. She followed the trail with her eyes, praying to Kami that it would be nothing horrendous.
Of course, Kami didn't hear her prayer.
The morning dew on the freshly cut grass below the GR was tainted with small rivulets of crimson blood. Bulma followed the crimson drops, to its owner and gaped at the sight before her.
Vegeta lay partly under the shining structure of the GR, blood pooling from the back of his head and staining the sparkling grass beneath him, his eyes wide open as he stared up at the dawning sky. Small hiccups were coming from his mouth as it opened and closed like a gaping fish. Even due to the heart wrenching spectacle, for once in his life, Vegeta looked at peace...
Bulma watched on in horror, rooted to the spot at the sight that had been imprinted on her photographic memory. A shudder jolted her from the daze and she cried out in frustration and pain for the man lying so still, "VEGETA!" Whirling around, she raced down the winding hallway to the nearest elevator which would efficiently take her down to what seemed the dying Saiyan in her mother's back garden.
Racing out into the garden, a cry of anguish departed from her throat as she ran bare-foot across the wet grass, feeling the moisture sink into the balls of her feet. Another moment later, she was kneeling beside the Saiyan Prince, who was hiccuping as he inhaled.
She lightly placed her hand on his surprisingly warm cheek and brought her face to hover above his, blocking out the blaring rays of sun that was blinding him.
Bulma stared into a pair of hollow ebony eyes. "Vegeta?" She whispered fearfully, stroking his cheek, trying to awaken him from his stupor.
Vegeta grunted as the blinding light grew dim, absorbed by the strange being that hovered above his face, acting as a shadow and blanket from the harsh sun. He stirred as he heard his name being uttered from the crimson lips of the woman with the enticing blue eyes.
Vegeta blinked slowly and looked up into the two pools of cerulean eyes, simmering with concern. He bared his teeth meekly, "Leave me!" He rasped, barely brushing away the soft hand upon his cheek that was causing ripples of shock down his spine. He never knew her touch would have affected him so much.
Bulma glared at him angrily, "The hell I'm leaving you! Are you insane?" She found herself shrieking in relief as he spoke to her. She had almost been certain she would arrive to find his gasping body dead...
"You jerk!" She hissed in fury, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Despite her words, she grasped his arm and tried helplessly to pull him up. Much to her dismay, she could only pull the upper part of his body up, to rest in her arms. She looked down into his eyes, clearly waiting for an explanation.
Vegeta almost winced at her harsh tone. He lurched forward as she pulled him into her arms. He almost shuddered in delight. Perhaps it would be much better to try and kill himself more often if it meant lying in her arms like this.
He looked back at her pensive face, hiding the building desire that raged within him even though he could slowly feel his ki fade and flicker with each moment that passed. If he could die in her arms, he would gladly go to the realm of hell a happy and willing man.
Bulma sighed as she realized he was refusing to answer her questions. She shook her head in disgust and worry, "You really should be more careful, do you know that?" Once again, she ran her hand through the thick mane of his ebony hair, surprised to find it soft and smooth.
Vegeta closed his eyes, almost purring at her ministrations. He could slowly feel his energy drain from his body and he secretly wondered if she knew the extent of his injuries.
As she drew her hand away from his hair, she grimly looked at her blood stained hand. She frowned, reaching down to the base of his skull. Her fingers grazed the back of his head and she gasped as warm liquid drenched her fingertips. She brought her hand out from behind him and stared incredulously at the shimmering blood on her fingertips. "Shit..." She muttered, wide-eyed and fearful for his life.
The last thing that Vegeta saw before he plunged into a black abyss, were two eyes that were brimming with tears...
For him.
~*~
O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,
~*~
Has found out thy bed,
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
--William Blake.
~*~
Vegeta awoke with a start, groaning as he felt his head pound from the large gash at the base of his skull. He was surprised to find it bandaged up tightly with white hospital gauze.
He stared up at the pale white ceiling, scowling as he tried to remember how he came to be in a medicinal place such as this. Grunting, he pushed himself to sit up, holding back a wince from the pain that shot up his spine. He glared down at the various tubes and wires pumping a concoction drugs into his Saiyan body. His sixth sense was telling him that something was extremely wrong with the types of drugs that infiltrated his body.
"'Morning sleepy head."
He snapped his head to the side and glared at the woman that sat a few feet away from him, legs crossed and donning a white lab coat that he had seen many of the doctors in hospitals wear. Her arms were folded and she was looking at him thoughtfully again.
He gripped the white sheets in his hands, his knuckles becoming blanched. It was more than Vegeta could do to hold back from pouncing at her with an intense desire as he remembered her tear filled eyes before he had slipped into an unconscious state..
Once again, the white lab coat caught his attention. He cocked his head, wondering why human doctors would choose white overalls to sheathe their body from the blood they dealt with on a daily basis. Surely white would stain easily from the crimson color of blood, so why not just have a crimson colored overall instead of glossy white?
He had decided a long time ago that all humans were idiots. Save for one. And she was sitting before him.
The dull ache in his head reprimanded such thoughts and he realized he did not have the capacity to be analytical at that moment. Instead, he sent her a bone-chilling glare, one that screamed he was not in the mood to converse, even with her.
Bulma had been watching him as he tossed in a fitful sleep, only to find herself surprised as he jolted out of the bizarre world that was his mind. She had been tending to his comatose state for a little over a week and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt course through her as she looked at his condition. With her hand in her coat pocket, she fingered a pill- shaped object, mindlessly.
If she hadn't agreed to intensify his training with the droids, then he wouldn't have been in this situation. She had learned that one of the training droids had gone into over drive and deflected Vegeta's ki blast at fifty time his own power.
Thus causing his current condition as a shard of metal had grazed the base of his skull, rupturing the nerves and veins, causing him to bleed profusely. He had managed to make his way out of the gravity room and had somehow ended up underneath it, clinging on for dear life as he bled to death.
Had she been more than a minute late, he would have been dead for he had been bleeding for two hours prior to the time Bulma had rushed up to him, her mind panicked and greif-stricken at the sight of his gasping body that was slowly growing lifeless.
It was a miracle that the gravity room had remained unscathed from the outside, yet the inside was completely fried and burnt to a crisp. It was lucky that he hadn't received a brain hemorrhage or worse, from the internal combustion of the gravity room. Never had she felt so guilty for a person's condition in her life and she found it unnerving to be quite honest.
He was a rude and strange man to say the least, one that didn't mind to openly stare at her but she couldn't determine why he would continuously stare at her. Could he possibly hate her that much? Or was it for another reason?
With Yamcha no longer on her mind, she had time to reflect how she felt about the prince in the week of his comatose state. She had learned many mind boggling things, one being that she was indeed physically attracted to him, and the other was that she found comfort in his overbearing presence, in the strength of his mind. Both ideals were less than appealing to the blue-haired woman.
Bulma sighed as she continued to observe his reaction. She watched in concern as he glared down at the needles that pricked his pectoral muscles and decided she should speak out. She was taken aback as he stared at her silently, giving off a set of unnerving vibes.
Standing abruptly, she made her way towards his immobile figure on the bed and lifted his arm, pressing her index and middle finger onto his pulse. Upon finding it strong and healthy, she smiled briefly before moving her nimble fingers over his chest, removing the various needles that were inserted into his chest. Perhaps he would not need the object in her pocket...
Vegeta merely watched with a guarded expression as she continued to remove the needles from his chest with such expertise and grace he had never seen before. He had no idea she specialized in healing and so, decided to voice his obvious intrigue. "I did not know you associated yourself in the medical field woman."
He almost groaned as his vocal chords sounded as though they had been ripped to shreds. It was the first sentence he had spoken to her and he was amused to find two red streaks grace her cheeks.
Bulma cleared her throat as she bent over the Saiyan prince, removing all of the wires that monitored his heart beat. It was hard to ignore the fact that she was bent closely to his bare chest, but to have him speak was even more cringe worthy. For the first time, she noticed how deep and alluring his voice could be.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Vegeta," she replied coolly, ignoring the searing heat that raced through her cheeks as her fingers grazed the muscled flesh of his chest.
Kami be damned if she ever had to do anything like this again!
Vegeta almost smirked at her obvious attraction to his physique. So the woman seemed to 'fancy' him, as earthling would say. But what did it mean? Was it just purely physical, or more? Whatever it was, he was definitely going to find out. He swiftly gripped her hand, stopping all of her movements.
Bulma felt her breath catch into her throat as she looked into his cold and calculating eagle eyes.
He almost chuckled at her fear, but at the same time felt displeased that she would believe he would harm her intentionally, "How long have I been in this foul place?" He growled out, the question had come so suddenly to him as he realized he should not have been unconscious for more than a day. But it felt more than that.
Bulma swallowed before answering. "Around a week," she whispered, afraid of his reaction.
She knew that if she had lied to him, it would have not gone down well because he was certainly not an idiot to forget the dates on a calendar. She also knew how precious his training time was, and had an inkling that his reaction would warrant some fear within her.
Vegeta blinked slowly. A week... A whole fucking week, gone down the drain!
"You dared to keep me in this tranquilized state for an entire week?" He hissed, no longer caring that he was within such a close proximation to the object of his desire... His chosen one. His training held precedence over everything, including her and he had just lost a whole week to lying in bed!!
"L-look, you were injured badly! I can't help-" She cried in pain as the grip on her wrist tightened, she could almost feel his fingers bruising her bone.
"Shut up!" He snapped back, his mind calculating how much leverage he had lost in his training. "Tell me, how long did you think you could keep pumping me with your earthling tranquilizers to ensure I didn't reach my full strength?!" He roared, sitting up completely, ignoring the creaks of his joints and pulling her roughly into his chest, breathing heavily down her neck as he glared daggers at her, waiting for an answer.
Bulma's mouth rounded into a perfect 'o'.
She had been caught... Found out.
In the moment of abject terror, she could only think that he must be more insightful than she gave him credit for, to take notice that she had kept him drugged with tranquilizers for a week. But not for the reason he thought! A strangled shriek came from her as she found herself pinned against his chest. She wheezed as he squeezed her tightly in his arms.
Vegeta's rage blinded him from his actions as he continued to hold her in a vice-like grip.
"Answer me!" He breathed into her ear, barely containing the true extent of his rage. An entire week was lost to him! He had been cut back one hundred and fifty times Earth's gravity by this stupid, ignorant female! Now he would never be able to defeat his Saiyan enemy. Nor protect her from the Androids...
"N-NO!" She all but screamed, trying to struggle out of his iron grip that was now crushing her lungs. She gasped, hoping the oxygen was being pumped around to her organs by her red blood cells. Bulma felt herself grow dizzy.
"You lie!" Vegeta roared, crushing her further in his one-armed grip.
Bulma looked up into his eyes fearfully as she was pulled up into the high medical bed, crushed by his tight grip as she practically lay in his lap. The wheels in her head whirled incredibly as she thought of different ways she could remove herself from the situation.
She had never intended him to find out that she had been giving him tranquilizers to keep him from hurting himself farther, but somehow he had known... She only wanted to keep him in the comatose state until Korin harvested... Her eyes widened in reckoning.
As he continued to send his piercing gaze in her direction, she tried desperately to move her arm down to the pocket of her lab coat. Fumbling for the precious cargo, she pulled it out quickly as tears formed in her eyes from the intense pain of her ribs being crushed together, slowly and painstakingly.
He was completely oblivious to the pain he was causing her as various thoughts whirled in his mind. He had never felt so utterly rejected and betrayed in his life. It was the one thing that made his heart cinch up with pain, the betrayal from her.
He had been double-crossed many times in his life, but never by someone he had actually cared to respect or remotely take an interest in... And that hurt the most. To think he had almost wanted the bitch as his mate!
Lost in his thoughts, his grip had somehow loosened from around her and Bulma took the opportunity to ram the sacred bean down his throat. It was the only way to show him what her true purpose was.
Vegeta snapped awake from his reverie as Bulma's hand covered his mouth, forcing a small and round object down his throat. Was she now trying to poison him?! He couldn't help but swallow the rounded object as she shoved it in his mouth and instantly, Vegeta felt all the pain from his limbs and head... Fade away.
He grunted in surprise and released Bulma from his death grip as he felt his power return to him tenfold.
Bulma landed in an unceremonious heap on the cold floor. Tears pooled in her eyes as she wrapped her arm around her rib cage, where her lungs resided. She gasped, wincing as each breath sent a sharp wave of pain through her nervous system to her cerebral cortex.
Vegeta simply stared in shock at the gasping woman on the floor. He frowned, "What was that?" He demanded, obviously shaken by the fact that he was completely healed.
Bulma wanted to cry at that moment. Not only did the bastard try and kill her, but he had the audacity to demand an explanation from her! She drew herself onto her knees and doubled over at the intense pain that was emanating from her rib cage. "Senzu bean," she croaked.
He grew even more confused by the answer as he watched her try to stand from the cold floor. "Why?" He voiced the thought with confusion. If she had been trying to limit his power, why had she given him the bean that healed wounds and returned his strength tenfold?
Bulma was now breathing heavily, wincing as she stood on shaky legs. She glared at him in disappointment, shaking her head.
"I only tranquilized you because Korin hadn't harvested the Senzu beans. He told me it would take a week for them to ripen and grow to their full potential," she started quietly, turning her head away as she became unable to look at him without an adrenaline of fear being pumped in her veins.
"I knew that you would wake up before the week was over, and I also knew that you would continue your training regardless of your injuries, which were already on the brink of being fatal. They wouldn't have healed with your continuous training, without a month's rest. I figured you wouldn't want to wait an entire month to continue your training. That's why I tranquilized you, to keep you from training and injuring yourself further, until I could actually get a Senzu bean from Korin to heal your injuries. I got the beans today..." Her voice had tapered down to a fragile whisper as she stared at the floor sadly.
Vegeta reeled from the revelation, completely dumbstruck at her intentions and his reaction. Not only had he insulted her compassion, he insulted her offering of friendship and broken the odd foundation of trust they had built...
He had undoubtedly blown his chances with the blue-haired genius. Whatever chance he had with her, had been extinguished by his stupidity and rage. His stomach lurched as he thought of the physical harm he had caused her. He looked imploringly at her, willing her to look at him but felt his heart sink as she refused to even send a glance in his direction.
She could feel that her ribs had been bruised internally as she found it hard to inhale, her jaw clenched in pain as she continued to stare at the floor of the medical wing in the C.C mansion. "I won't interfere with your business anymore... I'm sorry." She mumbled painfully through clenched teeth.
Without another word or glance in his direction, she turned around and hobbled slowly and painfully out of the medical room, deciding it would be better to send one of her father's qualified medical assistants to attend the Saiyan Prince.
She concluded she did not need to see anyone for her injuries, they were not life-threatening but she couldn't help but feel her stomach churn with an intense fear at the fact she had almost been crushed by a man she thought she could trust.
If he could turn on her so easily, there was no telling what he might do to her family and friends. It was then that she realized she could not tell him to leave the compound, for he would just end up terrorizing poor civilians and Bulma was not so fickle to allow him to descend upon the citizens of Earth like the black plague.
She would allow the murderer to continue dwelling in her home, provide him with training necessities and food when he demanded, but Kami be damned if she was ever going to speak casually or civilly to the cretin again!
She had never been hurt by someone like this in her life, and the emotional pain was far worse than the physical she felt. She had trusted him and he had betrayed her the moment he inflicted pain upon her. Betrayed her the very moment he had stopped trusting her... And he had turned on her.
There was only so much that one person could endure, and even Bulma had her limits.
~*~
Vegeta growled at his stupidity as he watched her leave the room, head bowed and shoulders slumped. He had never seen the woman look so defeated and afraid in her life. It was the first time he had seen tears of fear streak down her cheeks. He had seen many forms of tears in her sky blue eyes, from sadness to joy... But never fear. Never in his life did he want to see that in her eyes again.
He was afraid to admit that he had been utterly wrong about her intentions. But he knew it, deep down he knew that he had betrayed her in some strange way.
It was funny how fate worked. There he had thought she had betrayed his trust and was trying to stunt the growth of his power, so in turn he had caused harm upon her. Only to find that she had in fact done him a favor by waiting for the precious Senzu beans to ripen, so that he could be fully healed.
In a sick turn of event, Vegeta had caused pain upon the one person that had actually managed to care for him. He snarled at his idiocy as the look of her fearful face drowned his thoughts and the sick twisting of his heart returned. He had always hated emotions and this was the very thing he hated about them... Feeling guilt for his actions.
It was then that he admitted he was wrong. Undeniably and pathetically wrong as his defense mechanism took over, his anger, and let it rule his actions by hurting her.
And what was the end result? She probably fucking hated his guts. But he couldn't blame her. A lot of people hated him and he hadn't given a shit, but to know that she hated him caused a dagger of guilt to spear his heart. How would he ever regain her trust? Would she even speak to him again? He highly doubted that she would.
Staring at the crisp white sheets of the medical bed and blinked slowly, wondering how he would ever repair the damage caused. The cogs in his mind turned as he thought of different, confrontational scenarios. Each one was bitter than the last, for how could she forgive him? He had betrayed everything she stood for. Kindness, compassion, trust...
And... He had hurt her.
He snarled, standing up from the bed in a flash and bringing his fist down upon the bed. He broke it into two halves. His anger was once again ruling his actions.
He sprang from the room, wanting to confront the woman that had captured his attention, wanting to demand a proper explanation. He would be damned if he didn't speak to her, but would she even bother to speak to him after all the pain he had caused her?
Somehow, he highly doubted that she would.
~*~