Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ❯ a less than warm welcoming ( Chapter 5 )

 

 

Dr Briefs and his wife were sat by themselves at the kitchen table with their empty dinner plates sat in front of them as they lazily finished the glasses of wine they were holding. The rest of the chairs around the table remained unoccupied. Bulma wasn't home yet and hadn't been since the day before. Not that her parents were worried. The enthusiastic young business woman would always go off on a whim after some new idea. Being late for dinner was nothing new. Tonight, however there was definitely something in the air, even the birds had stopped singing. A shiver ran down Dr Briefs' spine and he was sure the air around him had dropped a few degrees. He looked around as if he could sense that there was someone stood just over his shoulder but the rest of the kitchen was empty. It was impossible to see out of the windows into the darkness outside so he just shrugged the feeling off as his wife got up to clear the plates. The baby monitor on the countertop blurted out the sound of the baby's gurgle as he slept up in his room. Dr briefs stared at the small white speaker as if it would somehow show him what the noise that had come from the baby's mouth was in aid of. No more noise came from the speaker save for the slight rustling of the thin sheet covering the little boy.

Mrs briefs left the room humming happily as she made her way into the living room and turned on the TV to her favourite soaps. Dr Briefs retrieved the baby monitor and went towards the stairs that lead down to his basement laboratory. He placed the speaker on the table and turned to his latest invention. Within 10 minuets he was so engrossed in his work that the house above his head could have exploded and he wouldn't have heard a peep.

 

 

 

 

The figure silently moved into the room from the balcony windows which were previously shut tight. He skirted the walls and ran his hand across soft sheets still tangled from its occupants previous night of failed sleep. He frowned slightly as the last lingering scent of salt on the pillow that lay at an odd angle on the disturbed side of the bed. Her scent was everywhere in the room, on every piece of furniture. He moved towards the door when another scent caught his attention. The wardrobe door was left open and a shirt was laying in a crumpled heap on the ground next to it. He slowly retrieved the item of clothing from its resting place and his frown deepened. The garish pink shirt she had given him upon his return from the dead was all but soaked in salt water; the woman's tears.

A thin wail from the next room called his attention away from the track his thoughts were travelling. He carefully walked out of the room and down the hall, avoiding the creaky floorboards, and entered the room filled with every baby's toy money could buy. As the door softly clicked shut behind him he took a deep breath. His eyes could easily pick out the shape of the cot in the dark room and his sensitive ears could pick out the tiny breaths its occupant was taking in his peaceful sleep. Slowly, as if he had to force his own feet to move even the tiniest step, he moved towards the centre of the room where the baby's cot lay. His hands, which he had washed clean of his own blood earlier, griped the rail of the pale blue cot as he came to a stop next to it. He took another deep breath and leaned over the rail of the cot to look for the first time in a year at the face of his infant son.

As if the child could feel the presence of another in his room he stirred in his sleep before waking up completely and blinked owlishly up into the darkness. He pulled himself into a sitting position and reached his chubby little arms up towards the man that leaned over him with a poorly hid look of wonder upon his face. The boy frowned as his efforts gained no response from the shadowy figure and so increased his efforts by hauling himself up onto his feet by the bars of his cot. Vegeta stood and watched as the boy fell back into the sitting position he started from. His frown tuned into a frustrated scowl as he glared at his own legs as if he blamed them. He then tried again and again and again, each time standing for a little longer until he succeeded in his task. The boy blinked as he looked down at his feet with before his gaze rose once again to the face of his father who wore a small smirk on his stony face. The large hand which was gripping the rails moved round to scoop him up out of the cot and brought him up to eye level.

The baby blinked twice before frowning again and reaching out his chubby little hands to pat his father on the forehead.

“Papa!” the boy squawked suddenly in his high pitched baby voice as he pointed at the space between Vegeta's eyes. That had caught Vegeta by surprise, he hadn't expected the woman to teach him that word at all. He supposed that the boy had just heard Bulma talking to her father and just picked up the word. “papa! Papa! Papa!” the boy crowed happily as he kept on pointing at the frown lines between his fathers eyes. When he didn't get any response the small boy scowled at his father and made a small `sniff' noise to express his frustration.

“That's right brat” Vegeta whispered as he allowed his little finger to be grasped in the small fist of the little boy in his arms. The child gurgled happily and clung on to the finger in a death grip that would have broken the bars of his crib. Vegeta raised an eyebrow at the boy's tiny fist. He was strong for his age. Definatly many times stronger than any human baby. It was nothing too impressive but there was great potential hidden behind those inquisitive blue eyes. After all, if the boy from the future was anything to go by then this trunks must be even stronger. Especially if he had more than just the half breed Gohan to train him.

A noise from down the hall caught Vegeta's attention and he quickly replaced the baby in his crib and moved into the shadows by the window curtains on the opposite side of the room to the door. The corner where he stood was completely in shadow and he seemed to melt into the darkness until only a feint outline could be seen.

The door opened quietly and the image of the person who entered almost made Vegeta's breath stick in his throat. The woman looked terrible! The dark lines around her eyes told of countless sleepless nights and her hair had dulled from its usual shiny aqua colour to a dull, dusty blue. She reached out to her baby with shaking hands and her wrists looked thinner than they had ever been before. She stroked her baby's purple bangs, seemingly without even wondering what had woken him from his sleep. The baby looked up at its mother with wide eyes as she smiled a thin smile back at him. With a deep, shaky sigh she looked up towards the window. Her blue eyes, which were normally so full of life and undying imagination were sunken and dull. Like her soul had died and left just a shell in its place.

Vegeta found himself wondering what on earth could have changed so much in one year to cause her to turn into this miserable creature which seemed to be barely clinging to any form of natural life at all. Could his long absence have affected her in such a drastic way? He had thought that she was too emotionally strong to allow herself to be pulled down in this way.

“Papa?” the baby said with a slightly saddened tone as he twisted round to look towards his father who was still hidden in the corner, as yet unnoticed by the woman he had left to train in the run up towards the cell games and then had not returned except to see his future son leave for his own timeline. Vegeta froze, he was sure the boy knew he was still there but had the woman noticed yet? He was sure she hadn't but the baby may have given his position away. He held his breath as the woman looked up sadly and gazed out of the window.

“I know, trunks, you miss you daddy don't you?” she whispered, her voice shaky and on the verge of tears, “so do I. I miss your daddy so much baby, if he was here none of his awful mess would ever have happened. I'm so sorry baby, I haven't seen you much recently have I? Mommy's just been a little confused at the moment. But everything's better now isn't it? Everything's all better.” The tears began to slide down her cheeks as she hugged the baby close to her, “It would never have worked would it, eh Trunks? I couldn't do that to him, to either of them. I wouldn't have been able to stand your daddy hating me. And Yamcha is too much of a friend, isn't he?” the baby gurgled happily, “and what sort of life would that have been for a little one? Having a mother who could barley even look at it.” by the look on her face she wasn't even talking to the baby anymore as she shut her eyes tightly as two more tears fell down her cheeks.

Vegeta frowned deeply in confusion and released the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He blinked in shock as her head suddenly flew round and searched the area he was standing in with wide eyes filled with the irrational fear that was coursing thru her veins.

“Who's there?” she asked into the darkness with a shaky voice as she backed slowly towards the door. She wanted to turn the light on to reveal what the darkness of the room kept hidden but one worried glance to her right told her she was steadily backing away from the pull string near the baby's cot which would have illuminated the room in the electric glow that would have shown her fears to be unjust. The security of the capsule corporation residential compound was some of the best in the world, there was no way an intruder could have made it all the way up to this room without been detected. She searched the darkness, straining her eyes to identify every patch of darker shadow her eyes could see.

With a strangled yelp she turned and bolted towards the door as a sudden movement in the shadows caught her eye. She clutched her baby close to her chest with one arm as she reached out for the door handle with a shaking hand.

A strong arm wound its way round her waist halting her frightened dash towards the relative safety of the hallway. Her scream was muffled as a hand clamped down over her mouth and she was pulled backwards into what felt like a steel wall. A warm steel wall.

“Woman! Its me!” Vegeta whispered, his lips slightly brushing her ear. Bulma calmed down noticeably but was still far from relaxed as she suddenly froze in his arms. He slowly removed the hand from over her mouth and traced her jaw line lightly with his finger tips. He felt her tremble under his touch and he bit back a cringe at her response. “woman…. Bulma….” He began.

“What are you doing here Vegeta?” she whispered as she pulled out of his grasp and placed Trunks back in his cot. The boy just sat there and blinked up at his parents as Bulma turned and pushed past Vegeta to leave the room. He followed her into the master bedroom and thru to the en-suite bathroom. He leant casually on the doorframe and watched her closely as she leaned on the vanity and hung her head with a sigh. “you didn't answer my question, why are you here?”

“Where else would I go?” he answered after a pause as he stared into the hollow eyes of her reflection in the mirror.

“How about the place you've been hiding in for a year? How about some god-forsaken planet somewhere, I don't know, you tell me!” she yelled angrily. Vegeta's frown deepened as he realised that the anger she showed in her voice did not touch her eyes. Those beautiful eyes that would snap fire as her mouth spat poison were… lifeless, they showed nothing, and it scared him silly. When he made it clear that he had nothing to say she continued. “your timing really sucks Vegeta.” All of the anger had drained from her voice, now she sounded… broken.

“Woman…”

“Oh gods, why wouldn't you have come back a few months ago?” she wailed as she cupped her face in her hands. She seemed to sag to the floor but Vegeta caught her and knelt down next to her, his arms wrapped protectively around her as she cried into his chest, “none of this would ever have happened.”

“Woman…” Vegeta whispered, “what happened?” nothing seemed to make sense at all. Everything was different, the way she looked, acted, talked, even the way she smelled. He frowned as he concentrated on her scent, there was only one other time he could remember her smelling like that and that was when she was pregnant with Trunks. The realisation hit him harder than and physical attack ever had and ever would. What had he, in his absence, allowed to happen?

“Oh Vegeta!” she wailed as she clutched at his shirt, “I'm so sorry, really I am! I truly didn't mean for anything like this to happen ever!” she gasped and looked up into his face as she felt him pull way from her. The look on his face shocked her into silence. She had seen that mask on him once before. When he had first come to live with them after his resurrection. The mask that prevented anyone from seeing his true feelings, like he trusted no one.

“Who is it?” he asked, his voice cold and strained with barely contained rage.

“Vegeta…I was drunk! We both were, I didn't know what I was doing! I cant even remember it!”

“But you know who it was you took to your bed! Now tell me! who?!” he bellowed as he grabbed her by the arms and lifted her up to eye level.

“Vegeta! I cant be sure! Ow! Your hurting me!!” she squeaked as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her arms. He let go of her immediately with a brief flash of self disgust crossing his face before it was covered again by the mask of contained anger.

“Well, lets see, who could it be? Not the baldy, he has his little wind-up toy now doesn't he. How about the three-eyed one? Has he had enough with his little doll companion thing?” when he got no response he carried on with an idea which had just struck him, “or how about that old flame of yours? I'm sure the scarred weakling would jump at the chance to get you into bed wouldn't he?” her cheeks flushed an embarrassed red and her eyes fell to the floor with shame. He had his answer.

“I see.” He said with deadly coolness as he turned and left the room, exiting by the window and powering up into the sky.

“Oh no.” Bulma whispered as she picked herself up from the bathroom floor and ran out of the room with shaking steps.