Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Stormy Bond ❯ Act III ( Chapter 4 )

I don't own DBZ.

 

 

Act III

"What is't? A spirit? Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir, it carries a brave form, but is a spirit." Miranda (1.2)

Whizzzzz, bang! Shhwooosh, bam!

Radditz finished taking out the last of the Yardratin in the streets before joining Nappa in the small singed building on his right.

"This is getting rather tedious," he snarled, knocking over a table and chairs not big enough for his Saiyan stature. "We're no where near finding out where we are, and why we're here, or where the king is."

"Shut up, Radditz," Nappa said, sniffing the air. The room was dimly lit, and a few of their blasts had destroyed half the lamps in the room anyway. "Do you smell that?" He sniffed some more and jumped over the long table on his left. "It smells like… " he stopped. He'd found what he'd been looking for. He pulled a large cask made of unknown material up and set it on the table, a faint grin on his face.

"This must have been a temple of some kind," Radditz observed, looking around at the plain decorations and simple arrangement. Then back at Nappa, "That's what I think it is, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. Lamrasta Wine. Some of the best in the universe. A keg this big would cost more then a small fortune." Nappa said with awe in his voice. Any one on the elite force could have told you that Nappa liked his liquor. He pulled open the cork and took a big whiff before letting out an extremely satisfied sigh, complete with stupid grin. "Can't let it go to waste on these rotting pigs now, can we?"

"We really shouldn't, Nappa. We need to find the King an the others and make sure they're alive so we can get off this despicable rock. This vacant blue faces are starting to give me the creeps." Radditz stated stoically. Truth be told, he wouldn't mind a little taste himself. He wanted to be drunk at this point. Walking up with your face in control panel of your pod and stepping out to find your self in the midst of little blue men with sickeningly curious and admiring expressions can have that effect on a Saiyan.

"Lighten up, Radditz. For all we know the others are dead and we're stranded on this dead beat planet. Let's make the most of it, or the least of it, by drowning our worries in this gloriously tasty wine." Nappa's eyes never left the hole form which he could see the "glorious" liquid. The deep crimson reflected in his pupils and made him appear a little moon crazed.

"Well, I said my peace. Don't make me say I told you so. Now, where's a cup?" Radditz sat down on the table and stretched out his achy legs. Nappa just laughed and looked for something to served the wine in.

***

It appeared to Bulma that she was dreaming. Most the world was a hazy "almost-there" that she associated with dreams, but the door in front of her seemed very real. She put her hand against its rough would grain surface and gasped. If she slid her hand downwards, she was sure to get a splinter, but this couldn't be real. She'd never seen this place before, never been anywhere like it, and hope she would never have to be in a place like this in real life.

Everything was creepy and foreboding, all shadows and cobwebs, flying buttresses and long haunting hallways with columns. All the scene was missing was a few suit of armor. She pushed on the door, feeling a sense of urgency and morbid curiosity to see what was on the other side.

At first, all that greeted her was darkness, and cold, but after her eyes adjusted she could see the shape of a person against the far wall. She took a step towards then, and noted with inane detail that her feet made no sound. She walked slowly until she stood a few feet from the strange figure that appeared to be chained to the wall.

"Hello?" she whispered softly. She wasn't afraid, per say, just shivering from the cold and damp of the large room. The person lifted their head. Hair fell from their face and they connected eyes.

'Blue eyes,' she thought absently, 'just like me…' The light in the room increased, for no apparent reason, and she saw that it was, indeed, her.

She looked at herself with less then shock but more then indifference and moved to speak, just as she was addressed by the woman chained to the wall.

"Why did you do this to me?" the other she asked, pleading and hiding anger. "I'm so weak. I can't move and I can't get away. Why? This is killing me, can't you see. I can't stay like this, I need to be free, need to be strong…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…" Bulma tried to explain to herself, but she couldn't find words, explanation or otherwise. Things were fading and she was starting to lose touch with her surroundings.

"Sorry," she whispered one last time as the world disappeared.

***

He couldn't move. His legs and arms felt impossibly heavy and there was weight pressing on his chest. It was even difficult to breath. "Where…" he said hoarsely, trying to see through the blaring lights. The white light was blinding, and he struggled to even crack one eye, until a shadow moved over him, between his sensitive eyes and the bulb above. When he finally opened his eyes he could see himself leaning over his self.

"Why do you keep struggling? Just lie still and let me help you." Vegeta watched his other tell himself. It was like talking to yourself in a mirror, only with out moving your lips.

"Why am I restrained?" he growled, trying to sit up once more.

The other Vegeta seemed sad, remorseful and apologetic. Not like himself. "I'm sorry, but its for our protection. We can't very well let you go around killing us all, now, can we?" Vegeta 2 said, touching Vegeta 1's shoulder. "Just let us do this, and they you can go and you'll get your strength back."

"I promise, not to… hurt… anyone…" he said hesitantly. He was desperate to have the weight lifted.

"I wish I could trust you not to go on a killing spree, but till then… sedatives for you, buddy."

Vegeta never called anyone "buddy". Something was wrong here. Something worse then even his incapacitation and the lights. Something in his head. And something in his chest.

About the time he noticed the other him had no tale, the lights were growing so bright again, he had to close his eyes and just let the red glow overwhelm him…

***

The red glow of light through the blood in his eyes lids stayed with him until he was able to focus on the rest of his body. He was slowly becoming aware of the pain that pulsed weakly through most of his body, and the fact that he was lying on his back. He opened his eyes and found himself staring at a white, tiled ceiling. He could sense the presence of several others in the room and turned his head to the side.

In the back ground he could see several small bluish figures moving around, but more immediately he was faced with the sleeping face of the beautiful girl that had… accosted him… in the desert.

As she opened her eyes slowly, he fought the urge to smile at seeing her awake. She was so gorgeous. Not just her features, there was something in the depth of her eyes. Something he'd never seen in the eyes of any other woman before. What was it…? Intelligence…? Innocence…? Kindness…? A little of all of those, mixed with a passionate spirit he'd be hard pressed to find a rival for.

He was torn between raging anger at being so weak because of what she'd done, and the urge to go to her and promise his eternal loyalty. Something about her…

When she held out one half-limp hand he reached out with his own, as if on instinct, and laced his fingers with hers.

'What's wrong with me…?' he wondered. 'Besides the fact that I have no strength and I'm stranded on and unknown planet amongst strangers.' He had always been a man of short temper and quick reflexes, but at the moment he felt all the anger dissipate and was content to just lie looking into her face. 'And why do her eyes enchant me so…?'

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"I promise not to hurt anyone…" he heard himself say, although later he would hardly believe it.

"Ok," she said and closed her eyes once more.

He watched for a second more, and then welcomed the invading sleep that fell over him in waves. For now, the feel of her fingers in his was enough.

***

"Human Briefs, you have broken your promises to us and we require explanation." One of the tallest Headrma Yardrat said from his place in the half-circle.

"I don't understand great ones," Dr. Briefs said, his hands folded respectfully in front of him. "What have I done to break our agreement?"

"The weapons, Duk Briefs. The one surrounding our planet that incapacitated the Saiyan ship and the ones we just discovered your daughter has used against the Saiyan Prince," a Yardrat next to the first answered.

"These are only weapons of defense, good council. They are only used to minimize casualties on our side…" the doctor explained quickly. It was true he had rationalized putting up the disrupter field, and Bulma's newest project had pushed the bounds of defense weaponry, but he had never thought that they would have to use them. They were precautionary only, but trying to explain precaution to the naïve Yardrats was like explaining nuclear physics to his wife.

"Never the less, they are weapons… and we may have let these pass, had you not the two abominations you sent out to meet the other survivors…"

Trunks Briefs felt his heart drop. He'd know he was crossing the line on that one, but in his mind, he'd seen no other choice. He told the Yardrat council this, but they only shook their heads sadly.

"There is always another choice. We are prepared to face the wrath of the Saiyans, but you have brought death and war to our planet, and we must ask that you remove you and your family from our culture."

"But, you have to understand…" the professor started.

"We do understand, even better then you do, and this is our request to you. We will face our fate, but we will not ask the same of you. You are free to go."

"With all due respect, I don't think I can do that. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just fled and left you all here to be slaughtered. I've lived amongst you and loved you too much to abandon you. Now, I know I have betrayed your trust, and I will honor your request to leave, but not until after I have removed the Saiyan threat." Briefs was hurt and panicking and he was feeling the heavy pain of loss under his rib cage, but he managed to speak calmly and rationally as he argued his position. "If you'll allow me, I have a plan that will see to it that the Saiyans leave in peace, with out any of their deaths. Those "abominations" as you call them have been instructed not to kill, and they are unable to disobey that command. I just have to work through a couple more things and then I think I can get them to go with out a fight. Please, I'm begging you to give me a chance, at least, and then I'll take the Saiyans and my family and go." He finished with pleading and sadness in his voice, but his earnest expression and honest heart were what persuaded the Yardrat council to give their consent, with the condition that no lives were to be taken by his or his servants hands and that when he left, he left the planet just as it had been when he'd arrived.

"Do you realized the implications of that demand?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"We do. We will miss your family and all you have brought to this planet, but we lived with out it all before, and we will live with out it again."

"I understand," the doctor replied, bowing his head and feeling the pangs of loss increase. "I will try and accomplish my goals as soon as possible, so that we may leave you in peace."

"That will be well." The first Yardrat replied. "We will watch your progress and pray for your success."

"Thank you," the human responded and turned to go. "If you'll excuse me, I have many things to see to," and with that he left, never to see the council again.

***

The androids 17 and 18 had decided to devote most of their attention to beating the recently recovered, funny looking lizard man because he was the most aggravating with his mouth. He was constantly spouting idle threats and annoying insults that were growing tiresome.

It didn't take much to dodge the other two while they taunted Frieza with easy hits and laughter at his lousy attempts at retaliation. Occasionally, they would send the Saiyan king sprawling, but neither of them touched Bardock at all, after finding out his identity.

Gero had watched from the ground with ever growing amazement and ever growing rage. 'Those are my creations! The ones that were stolen from me the night that fool, Dr Briefs, took his family and fled. And now, here they are. If they are here, then there was a good chance that Briefs is here, as well, and if Briefs is here, then that would explain the power outage on the ship. My old partner must have put up some kind of protective shield…' the mind of the genius was suddenly at word, concocting an insidious plan.

High above, both the androids had sensed the almost non-existent ki emanating from the ground below. The tossed each other meaningful looks before 17 knocked Frieza unconscious again and held him up by the neck as they and turned to the king.

"You did know you are befriending one of the most despicable creatures of your time, don't you?" 18 asked with a snide smirk.

"And who would that be?" the king asked, a little out of breath. Truth be told he was aware that both Gero and Frieza were… despicable… and as such was not sure which on they were eluding to. If they had not both been a valuable part of his hold on the Empire he would have dispatched them long ago.

"Well, for starters, that man, Gero, that is hiding amongst the rocks down there." 17 said. "He is the one who made us, you know."

"Made you?" Bardock asked. "And what do you mean by that?"

"We are his creations," 17's voice was soft and bored sounding. "He built us out of metal and wires and made us the spectacular beings we are today."

Recognition dawned in the king's face and he drifted down and settled in front of Gero. "What is the meaning of this?"

"It's true, your majesty. These appear to be the prototypes for the army of androids I began constructing after our first alliance, but alas, they were stolen from me before I could complete them for you. Stolen from me by the man you had vowed to help me destroy, my old partner, Dr. Briefs. It seems this is the planet he's taken refuge on. He must have been the one to attack our ship and bring us here so that he could kill us all with his stolen technology."

Bardock was struggling to keep his astonishment suppressed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but held his tongue, never the less.

"Well," 17 chuckled a little, "you're part right. We were "stolen", if you will, by Dr. Briefs, and this is the planet he has lived on for quite some time now, since he was betrayed and forced from his own home."

"But he is not responsible for the attack on your ship, at least not the initial attack, and he has not sent us here to kill you. Only to entertain you, as his guests," 18 said with a lazy smile.

"What kind of man entertains his guests by attacking them?" Gero asked spitefully, forgetting, perhaps, that he was probably that kind of man.

"Well, the attacking part was mostly our own idea, since we were created for the purpose of killing and destroying, in fact he told us not to hurt you too bad…" 17 laughed as he tossed Frieza to the ground. "It's probably a good thing that Briefs stole us. Don't you agree, your majesty?" he said to the king. When the king didn't answer right away he continued. "After all, never trust a man with an all powerful android army. I'm sure, given time, we would have been sent after you, had we been allowed to remain in Gero's hands."

"Yes," 18 agreed, as if the idea had just occurred to her. "So, in reality, it's Dr. Briefs you should be thanking, and this ass the one you should be turning your anger on…"

The king considered it, but then shook his head. "You won't be able to turn us on each other so easily."

"You might listen to what they have to say, your majesty," Bardock spoke up from behind. "With all due respect they do have a point. You know, as well as I, that Gero is a greedy, devious man that would turn on you in half a second, given the chance. And he has, on more then one occasion, convinced you to fall to paths deemed unworthy by Saiyan tradition."

"What are you saying, Bardock?" the king asked with not quite anger in his voice, but something close.

"Just that we need to investigate this Briefs matter further before we decide any final course of action," Bardock said, bowing his head respectfully.

The king considered this until Gero spoke up again.

"It has always been a mystery to me, your highness, just how Briefs knew of our planned attack and managed to escape unscathed even before the first alarm was sounded…" Gero glared at Bardock with blatant insinuation. He'd always had his suspicions, but now he was almost sure.

There had never been any love between Gero and Bardock, to say the least, and the king had been aware of the tension between them since the beginning. But they had never come right out and accused each other of betraying him. The king was confused to say the least. And a confused Saiyan often becomes a frustrated and irrational Saiyan that will often resort to unnecessary violence without thinking of the consequences.

They were saved any erratic displays, however, by the tilting of the android's head and a blank expression on their faces as if they were listening to something. After a few seconds they nodded and looked back to the puzzled trio.

"Well, as fun as it has been reminiscing, we must leave you for a while," 17 said as he started flying backwards slowly. "Don't do anything rash, while we're gone."

"See you soon," 18 said and blew then a kiss before turning and flying away with her counterpart. They flew at speeds so fast that the Saiyans in the group had a hard time watching them go, and Gero didn't even have a prayer.

'Well, this puts an interesting twist on things…' he thought, glancing at the unconscious Frieza lying a few feet, and wishing for the first time ever that the disgusting Icein was awake.

***

When Bulma opened her eyes the second time she was acutely aware that she had a splitting head ache, and that the cut on her finger was burning. When she moved to put the offending appendage in her mouth, however, she came to another realization. Someone was holding her hand.

She focused her eyes and they came to rest on a pair of dark, furrowed eyebrows and a firm frown. The eyes that belonged to them were searching her face seriously. The Saiyan Prince's gaze held hers steadily and she felt her blood freezing and boiling at the same time. Her face was hot and her hands were cold and her heart… was on fire.

She took a deep breath and pulled away, pulling her hand to her chest and sitting up. That caused the pain in her head to increase substantially and she put her other hand to her temple.

"Mmmmm," she groaned in pain. "Ow," she looked up again and found several Yardrats in long white coats looking at her expectantly. "How long have I been out?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

"Only a couple of hours," one of them answered timidly.

"A couple of hours!" she squeaked and turned to jump off the bed, only when her feet hit the floor another jolt of pain went through her head and she almost fell. Grabbing onto the bed she yelped in pain. "God Damn!" she yelled and slammed her had down on the table. That made her finger hurt more and so she stuck her finger in her mouth, let out another muffled curse and kicked the bed and stubbed her toe.

About that time, Vegeta grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. "Woman, stop hurting yourself, or I'll make you stop," he growled in her ear, sending shivers up her spine. She just screamed and tried to get away, to no avail.

"Are you finished, yet?" he asked snidely after she'd stopped squirming.

"Yes?" she squeaked.

"Good. I'm going to release you, and I don't want to screaming or tumbling around like a crazed dragorat… got it?"

"Yes," she whispered, taking a couple deep breaths.

Very slowly Vegeta set Bulma back down on the floor and turned to stand himself while she straightened her clothes and got a hold of herself. She unconsciously started to suck on her finger again.

"Whers m fadr?" she asked the Yardrats that were just standing around and staring at the prince in curious fear.

"He's down in the production lab, My Lady, working on your new prototypes as we speak. He wanted you to join him as soon as you awoke," one of then replied.

"Ok, good," she turned to go. When she heard foot steps behind her she stopped and turned around, coming nose to nose with the Saiyan Prince. "You stay…" she took a step back and tried again. "You stay here."

"I will not," Vegeta said crossing his arms stubbornly. "I have nothing to do with these blue midgets. You are the one that can cure what you've done and I'm not leaving till I've got every ounce of my strength back." He sounded very resolved.

"You are going to stay here whether you like it or not, buddy. I won't have you following me around like some rabid puppy dog just begging to let him bite me." Bulma also sounded resolved. She put her hands on her hips and stood her ground in the middle of the doorway.

Something in her words struck a cord with him and he remembered the dream he'd had and gasped silently. Quickly he recovered and glared down at the girl, taking a step closer. "I will not hurt you, but I demand you free me from this physiological prison."

Something about his eyes, the way they were pleading and begging with her to give him back his strength, despite the rest of his hard features reminded her of staring into her own face with same expression on it. For a second she almost gave, feeling a bit of his helplessness and wanting to show mercy, but in the end her pride conquered all.

"I'll see what I can do about getting things sorted out, but for now you'll just have to stay the way you are, right here."

Vegeta saw the flash of guilt and felt something in his chest tug at it, but he was not going to give in to this fiery wench. In a quick movement he picked her up and swung her over his shoulder. She commenced the screaming and pounding on his back and he commenced the wincing and the irritating ordering of the Yardrats to take him to the "production lab".

Bulma was furious as they started down the hallway following one of the smaller more frightened Yardrats. Despite the fact that she'd removed his ability to manipulate energy, he was still massively strong. She was contemplating adding a muscle relaxant to the mix when the reached the lab. She was still kicking, fighting, and demanding she be put down and he was still marching forward confidently. He was evidently healed and in perfect physical condition, again.

This was the scene that was presented for Dr. Briefs and the two androids as the stood looking over the last of the newest additions to his contraband arsenal.

"What in Kami's name…?" he stuttered staring at the couple as they came forward. Vegeta set Bulma down next to him after he was with in several feet. The androids had slipped into the shadows as soon as they had seen others entering the room. The doctor had instructed them to remain out of sight as much as possible around the Yardrats, and especially his daughter. She didn't know about them and he wanted to keep it that way. They just took the new equipment that the doc had given them and left quietly.

Once Bulma's feet were on the ground she scrambled to collect her self and sent a few eyefuls of daggers at Vegeta.

"What's going on here?" Briefs asked again looking very angry at Vegeta himself.

"I should ask you the same thing," was all Vegeta said, crossing his arms over his chest again.

The professor looked at his daughter for answers but she only sneered at Vegeta and said," He wanted to come."

"Right…" the doctor said, looking back and forth between his scowling daughter and the smirking prince. "Well, Bulma I'm glad you're here. I just sent out the next stage in my plan and I need your help."

"First, things first," Vegeta interrupted. "I demand an explanation. Who are you and why have you brought me here under such… disagreeable conditions?"

Bulma snorted. "And those "disagreeable conditions" are supposed to be our fault? You're the one that snuck up on me and attacked me. Not the other way around."

"If I'd attacked you, woman, you wouldn't be standing here now, you'd be dead, so just be thankful that I showed a little restraint and didn't blast you to hell the first time I saw you," Vegeta said, growling and leaning closer.

"Restraint? HA!" Bulma said folding her arms and not backing down a bit. "Just because you're a barbarian that didn't kill me right then doesn't mean you weren't going to do it later. I tried to warn you, but you forced me to shoot you with my ki stunner gun. It's the only way I could ensure you weren't going to freak out and start killing anything that moved!" Bulma yelled in his face. They were inches apart, hissing and scowling like two tom cats preparing to fight.

"As if you'd be worth the energy it'd take to kill you. You're so weak I could kill you all right now, but I haven't and what thanks do I get? Telling and screaming from you and suspicion on every other side. Besides the fact that you should be bowing down and worshiping at my feet. I am the Prince of the civilized part of the universe, even if you aren't under the Empire's rule, yet!" Vegeta yelled back.

"Enough!" Dr Briefs yelled, silencing them both. Neither of them moved, though. Their pride wouldn't let them back down so easily.

Vegeta just stared into her blue eyes and fought the sudden urge to grab her and kiss her till she couldn't breath anymore. Another part of him just wanted to grab her and shake her.

Bulma was fuming. She'd never been this angry about anything before in her entire life, but at the moment she was experiencing her first homicidal thoughts. She was also experiencing her first urges to be in the arms of a man other then her father.

The whole time he'd been carrying her like a sack of parts down the hallway she'd been amazingly aware of his hand on the back of her thighs and the incredible amount of muscle under her stomach. Because his shirt had been destroyed he'd been given one of the Yardratin robes that was no more then a tight shirt to him. It's flimsy fabric was nothing between them. She wanted something from this man, and she only had a vague idea of what, so until she figured it out she was on mega-defensive mode.

Dr. Briefs couldn't believe the similarities between the Saiyan man and his Human daughter. They were both standing with squared off shoulders and arms crossed, both trying to kill the other with their eyes and both really ready to… well, you know.

Bulma had always had a stubborn, determined streak, but she had never been an angry child in the least. Having grown up mostly among the peace-loving Yardrats had rubbed off on her, till now, that is. He could see the kind of passion in her face that he'd seen in his wife's before they'd fallen in love… Or maybe while they were falling in love…

Another plan was forming slowly in his mind. Something that would fill in all the missing gaps and assure a relatively happy ending for everyone. If things went well… He took a moment to pray that he was doing the right thing before speaking again.

"Children…" he growled in warning.

Slowly, and more or less in unison, they each took a step back from each other and backed off a little. It was several more seconds before they let their eyes leave each other and return to Bulma's father.

"Now," Dr. Briefs said, feigning annoyance at their argument, "In answer to your questions, Prince Vegeta, I am Dr. Trunks Briefs, and this is my daughter Bulma, although you two seemed already well aquatinted." Vegeta grunted and Bulma snorted.

"We are human refugees, fled from Chikyuu when I was betrayed by my partner Dr. Henry Gero. We've been here for more or less 13 years and now that you and your people have…landed… things have become just a bit uncomfortable for us."

"I remember my mentor, Bardock, mentioning you and your family to me several times when I was young. He seemed to think my father's actions concerning your family... inappropriate." Vegeta said, calming considerably.

"Yes, well, betrayal is never really pleasant." Briefs seemed touched by Vegeta's respectful tones when he spoke of his teacher. "Bardock, is a Saiyan that I have a profound resect for. He is honorable and has a good heart. I owe him my family's lives."

There was a moment of understanding that passed between Vegeta and the professor. Bulma had only heard her father speak Bardock's name once before. After her mother's death, her father had told Bulma the story of their flight from Chikyuu and Gero's betrayal. Before that she'd had no clue that her father had been such a powerful influence on such an advanced planet.

"If Bardock was your mentor, then maybe there's hope for you yet…" Briefs said under his breath. "Now, since your ship decided to crash on our humble planet, my daughter and I have been trying to protect the peaceful people that live on this planet, the people we've grown to love during our stay here. That is why I sent Bulma out to get you and bring you back here, so that I could judge what your intentions were and go from there."

"The rest of the ship did crash, then?" Vegeta sounded just a bit anxious. For a Saiyan. He'd been wondering in his Father and ship mates were still alive.

"Yes, but the survivors are being cared for and your ship repaired. I hope to get you and your companions out of here as soon as possible. Hopefully, with the planet still intact."

"I have no fight with your planet, or it's people. I do, however, have some personal business that I need to see to as soon as I'm reunited with my… companions." Vegeta growled and clenched his fists. He grinned as he imagined the look of Frieza's face when he ripped his head from his body.

"I had hoped so. I just have a few more things that I need done and then you can be on your way." The doctor looked at Bulma. "I'm going to need your help."

"Ok, what's going on? What did you have in mind?" she asked, suddenly very focused in helping her father.

"Well," Dr. Briefs glanced at Vegeta before saying, "I have someone setting up the other half of your project in the desert, just as a precaution." His voice hinted that there were more to it then that, but he didn't want to say anything in front of Vegeta. There were still some sensitive issues that he didn't want the young prince taking the wrong way.

"Right," Bulma said, indicating that she understood. Her father had completed the ki sphere and was activating it around the King and the others. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to undo the damage we've done to this planet during our stay here," came the cryptic response.

"What?" Bulma asked, wishing Vegeta weren't there so that her father could just tell her his plan.

"Now, listen to me carefully. The council has asked that we leave and take with us everything we brought. We have to leave things as we found them, so you have to remove some of the factories and mines as well as a few other things before we leave."

Bulma was both shocked and hurt. "What? No! Why?" she stuttered for words, shaking he head and fighting tears. She understood now, what her father meant. He'd always told her how bad he felt for changing the Yardrat's way of living, no matter how much they'd welcomed it, and wished things had been different. But this was her home, her people, her family and leaving was not going to be easy.

Dr. Briefs placed his hands on his daughter's shoulders and let her adjust to the idea. After a minute of quiet rejection, and even quieter acceptance Bulma nodded her head and looked up at her father with bright eyes from the unshed tears.

"All right. What do you want me to do, exactly? This is a pretty big job." She tried to sound strong and confident, and there was only a little quiver in her voice.

"Take my cruiser. It's the fastest transport. Move east, taking out all the biggest settlements, Evacuate the occupants and then…" The doctor's words faded off and he looked at Vegeta, who was still standing, arms over chest, looking at them with a blank expression. If his guess was right, the doctor thought he was probably smart enough to have a good idea what they were talking about.

"Take Prince Vegeta. Give him the anit-suppressant and he can help you with the rest. That is, if it's all right with you, Saiyan no Ouji?"

Vegeta considered it. The idea of spending several hours with the woman was both terrifying and enticing, but if it would get them to undo what they'd done… "All right."

"But, dad!" Bulma burst out. "I don't need his help! And besides, how do you know that he won't just kill us all once he has his powers back?"

"No buts, Bulma. He'll speed things up considerably. You'll just have to trust me on this one. I think we can trust him. Besides, he was right. Powers or no, he could have killed us all by now, anyway. If he'd really wanted to."

Vegeta smirked at Bulma and she glared at him, putting and humphing. "Fine, he can come, but this is my job. He doesn't even know what he's doing." She turned on Vegeta then and pointed a finger squarely at his chest. "You listen to what I say, or else. The first sign of you screwing around and I shoot you full of ki-suppressant again, got it?"

"You're welcome to try…" Vegeta bated her.

"That won't be necessary, I'm sure." Briefs said, trying to stop the fighting before it got out of hand again. "Now hurry and get on your way. We don't want to detain the Prince for too long."

Vegeta growled his approval as the doc left with a wave of his hand.

When her father had gone Bulma glared at Vegeta some more and then started to leave. "Come on!" she growled, in a very Saiyan way. Vegeta just followed her, a confident smirk on his face.