Surviving Together

Chapter 5 - Beaten and Pitied

When Bulma awoke the next morning she found herself alone on the couch. She wondered for a moment if last night was a dream, but she knew it could not have been. She could still smell him on her. Over the past few months Bulma grew very found of Vegeta's scent. It was this sort of manly smell that she found surprisingly appealing. She smiled as she snuck into his room, but only to find he was not there. 'He must have gotten up earlier to train,' she assumed as she headed into her-his bathroom to get cleaned up.

As Bulma stood under the warm water all she could think about was Vegeta. She wondered if she had made a mistake last night being so affectionate with him. She had noticed over the past few months that he hated subjects that had to do with emotions and feelings. The only time she had ever see genuine emotion from him was when he was in a maddened rage, but in times like those, she knew to avoid him. So she had to wonder if she should have just kept her mouth shut last night and hidden her tears so as not to reveal the truth.

However, the flip side to all of this was his reaction. He did not push her away as she expected, instead he actually allowed her fall asleep in his arms. Pity. She assumed it was the reason for that. Although, Vegeta seemed like a man who would no one pity. Of course, she did wonder if the truth was that maybe for a moment she was privileged enough to see a side of him he keeps hidden from the world. She liked the second thought better. It made her feel that she had someone there for her, admitted or not. Bulma then shut the water off and dressed. She suddenly felt ready for the day.

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"Well if it is not my favorite monkeys," the handsome green soldier chuckled as he strutted into the Saiya-jin's training facility.

"Zarbon," Vegeta grunted with disgust as he threw Nappa's beaten body next to Radditz after easily defeating both in a sparing match. "I see you have dragged your lazy ass back from Pajub."

Zarbon smirked, "Jealous?"

"Hardly," Vegeta reflected the man's arrogance. "As you recall I have my own whore, I do not need to travel two days off ship to a 'comfort' planet."

"Oh yes," Zarbon rubbed his chin in amusement. "I'm glad you brought that up."

Vegeta's smirk faltered slightly, but he maintained his strong stance. "Oh? And why would that be?"

Zarbon slowly strolled behind Vegeta to whisper in his ear. "I know your little secret Vegeta, and Freeza will soon as well."

"I have no idea what 'little secret' you are referring to," Vegeta argued with flawless innocence.

"Neither do I," Freeza remarked as he entered the room looking rather interested after hearing the end of the conversation he had just intruded upon. "Whatever are you two boys fighting over?"

Vegeta chocked back a sudden gasp, as he suddenly felt backed into a corner. "Zarbon is just venting his foolish misconceptions," Vegeta grunted as he turned to Freeza.

"I would not say that," Zarbon chuckled, as he was ready to have a little fun. "You see Master Freeza, it seems Vegeta has-" before Zarbon could say another word he was sent flying across the room, only stopping after slamming into a wall. Freeza looked back at the young prince and smirked as he could not help but be interested in whatever clouded Vegeta's judgment enough to make him do something as stupid as attack Zarbon.

"You will pay for that monkey," Zarbon stood as he began to power up.

Vegeta looked at his obviously superior opponent and knew he was going to regret his decision. However, at that moment he had more important things to worry about as Zarbon charged at him.

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After Bulma finished her normal chores she went to meet Zarra for lunch. The two were rather quiet most of the meal as both had different issues on their minds. Bulma was still stressing over her evening with Vegeta, while Zarra was debating whether or not to tell Bulma the news of her brother. "Bulma," Zarra decided to bite the bullet, "I don't mean to bring up a sore subject, but…"

"But what?" Bulma asked suddenly jolting out of her trance.

"I thought you should know. My brother returned this morning from Pajub." Zarra said slowly, knowing the reaction that was to come.

Bulma sighed as she looked down, "well things were nicer this last month without him, but I guess all good things come to an end."

"I've warmed him to leave you alone. The man just has no respect for woman!" Zarra hissed, for once glad her brother was the only male of her species she had to interact with.

"He respects you," Bulma remarked rather jealousy as she placed her elbow on the table and sunk her cheek into her palm.

"I'm his kin, he has to," Zarra brushed off her friends flattery.

"Well that's one more person than I have," Bulma frowned as she began to mindlessly play with her food.

"Oh I wouldn't say that," Zarra objected playfully, "I think I could come up with one man in particular who holds you a higher respect then most."

"Who?" Bulma looked up wondering what she had missed.

Zarra just chuckled at the girl's ignorance. "Please, you sleep with the guy every night! Like you haven't noticed!"

Bulma blushed, though she did not mean to. She found whenever the two were mentioned together some red would come to her cheeks. "That's not respect. It's lust." Bulma clarified so as not to let her think there was anything else there.

"Believe what you want," Zarra smiled, "but if I had a man looking at me the way the young prince looks at you-I mean think about it Bulma. You say the guy has never physically abused you. That is a huge statement about that selfish SOB of a prince. I think there might be something more there then you think."

'Honor,' Bulma though as she realized her friend made that wrong assumption because she did not know the whole truth. Zarra did not know the real reason Vegeta did not hurt her was because of his pride. It was never about concern for her. It was never about anything real. Bulma shook her head. "I think I'd better be going," Bulma forced a smile before she slowly turned and headed back to her-their room.

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It was a bit later that afternoon when Bulma decided to turn in. She was a little surprised though that Vegeta, Nappa and Radditz had not returned yet. Of course it was not as though they had not been known to be out late doing whatever it is they do, but Vegeta usually kept her informed. She decided to get some rest anyway and lay down on the ever so uncomfortable floor to drift of to sleep, but before she could she heard the bedroom door swing open, causing her to jump to her feet.

The light was quickly turned on and Bulma watched in horror as a rather beat up Radditz and Nappa dragged a dead looking Vegeta into the room. She covered her mouth to keep from being sick at the sight as she stepped back.

Radditz and Nappa dumped Vegeta, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, on his bed and then turned to leave. "What happened?" Bulma asked, desperate for an answer.

Nappa continued out of the room, but Radditz turned his head to briskly answer, "It's none of your concern wench, so I'd shut that obnoxious mouth of yours and hope he doesn't want to kill the first thing he sees when he wakes up!" Radditz bellowed before slamming the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone Bulma hesitantly went over and sat on the edge of the bed next to Vegeta. His eyes were closed and he looked as though he was not breathing. She fought back the urge to cry as she gently placed her hand on is cheek. "Vegeta," she said his name slow and softly, hoping he would say anything to let her know he was alive. After a few seconds, she saw his eyes twitch and then open. She sighed a breath of relief, but if was short lived as he frowned at her. "Get… Out," he barely said, as he found speaking more difficult then not.

Bulma shook her head defiantly. "No, you need help. I'm not leaving you alone."

Vegeta just barely grabbed her arm. "I said… get out!" he argued with more anger than the first time.

"No!" Bulma repeated as she pulled his hand away. "First of all, getting out means facing your two pissed off companions, and with you half dead I really do not feel like doing that. And second, you need medical attention."

Vegeta moaned, whether it was in pain or offense Bulma could not tell. "If you do not leave woman, I'l-"

"Yell at me, threaten me, beat me, kill me… bla… bla… bla… I know Vegeta. You can do all that once you are healed," she offered simply as she rose and left him a moment to go into the bathroom to get some supplies. Once she returned, Vegeta looked extremely angered by her defiance, but she ignored the look as she placed everything on the table next to him.

Ignoring his protests she pulled down what was left of his ripped spandex suit to his waist and then tried to hold back her sickness as she saw his chest. It was covered in blood and bruises, with one particularly long slash across his upper chest. She then took a damp cloth and dipped it into the water and slowly began washing the blood away. She moved as gently as possible so not to hurt him any further, though she imagined even in this state, she never could.

It took her almost fifteen minutes, but she finally managed to wash all of the blood away from his chest and then dry his skin clean. She looked lower down his body and wondered if he would be terribly insulted if she finished stripping him completely. She briefly glanced back up at his face and noticed his eyes were once again shut. She sighed in relief and then decided to continue. She first pulled off his boots and then stripped him of the rest of his suit. She looked his legs up and down and noticed they were just as badly bruised. 'What did he do to deserve this?' she asked herself as she grabbed her cloth and began washing his feet and then slowly working his way up to his knees and thighs. She slowly moved the cloth in circular motions and around every blood covered spot, which unfortunately, was almost every inch of his body. She managed to exercise full self-control as she cleaned the gorgeous naked man below her. But, as she moved her way up to his hips she found it almost impossible to continue. She suddenly noticed that he was enjoying her cleaning more than she anticipated.

Bulma tried to ignore the one muscle that was still clearly fully functional as she finished cleansing him. She then placed her bloodstained cloth back in the bowl of water and returned it to the bathroom. She then brought with her a small vile of ointment that Zarra had given her many months back to help heal her bruises and lessen the appearance of scares from her 'activities.' However, since Bulma never actually did any of those 'activities' the vile was completely full, and deciding he needed it more than she ever would, she decided to administer the treatment. Looking back at Vegeta, who still seemed to be unconscious, she then opened the vile and poured some of the ointment into her hands. With very gentle strokes, she began messaging the lotion into his body, coving all of his bruises. He grimaced a few times as she pressed a little too hard, but as the pain subsided a genuinely pleasant look came over his face. Bulma smiled as she continued down his body, one again trying to avoid paying attention to his still throbbing erection.

Once Bulma finished with the ointment, she took one more trip into the bathroom to wash her hands and put away the vile. After, she went to one of his drawers and pulled a pair of his sweatpants. Returning to his side, she then, with some minor difficulty, pulled them over his bruised legs. She felt much more secure after his clothing was back on, and had a momentary sigh of relief. She was then going to pull his blanket over him and hit the sheets herself, but Vegeta suddenly shot his eyes opened and tried to sit up in a defensive manner as if he was being attacked. Bulma quickly put her hands on his chest and pushed him back on the bed as she whispered for him to relax.

Vegeta fell back onto his bed and saw the visibly concerned girl over him. He looked down at his body and was surprised to realize he was not bleeding anymore, and had a clean pair of pants on. He then looked back at Bulma and frowned. He could feel his arousal and he knew she must have seen it if she changed him. His weakness would now be known. "I told you to leave," Vegeta started again with yet another reason he wanted her not to see him like this.

Bulma huffed with insult, "You know most men would be grateful to have a gorgeous female such as myself catering to their serious injuries." Bulma smirked as she fluffed his pillow a little.

"Enough!" he hissed, not wanting to be treated like an infant, "I do not need this! I don't want your pity!"

Bulma frowned as she listened to his assumption. "Pity? You think I pity you?" The Saiya-jin no Ouji did not answer as he averted his eyes in distaste. "Vegeta," Bulma said softly as she pulled his face back to meet hers. "I do not pity you, I just do not believe you deserved this, and I do not believe you should have to go through this alone."

Vegeta looked into her eyes and saw the truth. He knew she had a genuine feeling of concern for him, but anything more than that he was blind to. "Leave me," he once again as he closed his eyes to lay back.

Bulma shook her head as she then crawled into bed next to him and laid down. Vegeta opened his eyes again and watched as she pulled the covers over both of them and then rested her head next to his. "I'm not leaving you," she promised as she slowly slid her hand under the blanket and began gently stroking his chest in hopes of getting him to sleep.

Vegeta knew he should try and salvage some of his pride and push her away, but his body would not comply. He again closed his eyes and decided just for tonight to allow her to invade his space, after all, she offered the only hope of a decent night sleep he could wish for.

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Author's Note: Bad Zarbon! Well if you think that was cruel, just wait and see what happens when Zarbon comes back for round two! Until the next chapter…