Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Torn ❯ Waiting Game ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: Nope.

 

Chapter 13

 

~Love of Vegeta~

 

 

 

 

The moon hung low in the dark starlit sky, its luminous half casting its silver light above the tree-tops of the forest. Strange and inhuman moans and noises broke the silence frequently, but apart from the slight swaying of the leaves and grass, all was still.

 

Goku had been staring at the large, white semicircle for quite some time. The customary fire in his heart blazed at he was exposed to the powerful rays, and his mind was raging with secret and dark desires. But it seemed that he was only fractionally aware of it.

 

He had managed to grow immune to this reaction to the moon long ago, but after the moon was destroyed, Goku had had no need to protect himself against such reactions and had become steadily weaker in his immunity, meaning that the moon's sudden restoration now gave the hero's saiyan side a large foothold.

 

The same, he had noticed, seemed to have happened to Gohan, who he realised was spending much more time inside on nights such as this. Goku, however, knew that there should be no delay in regaining his immunity to the feeling, as in times of weakness the frightening powers and sensations could overcome him, and the prospect of that happening was almost too horrific for him to imagine.

 

But tonight the effects of the lunar rays seemed to elude him, and he had no doubt that the reason for that was the long and arduous task which had been hoarding his concentration for days. His sensing ability seemed to have been enhanced by this factor, and it now seemed he was constantly aware of even the subtlest changes in his three charges' energy patterns.

 

Goku's forehead was resting against the cold window pane and had become numb. He pulled his head from the window and continued to face the outside instead of the person who was just about to enter the room.

 

“Go back to bed, Chi-chi, it's late.”

 

“That's precisely why I'm out of bed, Goku.” She shut the door almost silently behind her and he heard the quiet slaps of her feet on the hard wooden floor. “You haven't slept for days, and before that you were almost always awake because of those nightmares−”

 

“How did you know about them?” he asked, turning his head marginally though he could still not see her. “You were asleep when I woke up.”

 

“I wasn't asleep, I didn't want you to worry that you'd woken me.” There was silence.

 

“They sounded bad,” she said. “What were they about?”

 

He turned to look at her. Her extremely pale face was lit in the moonlight beneath her black locks of hair. Her arms were folded and, even in the dimness of the room, he could make out the goose bumps that covered her bare skin. He looked into her eyes, large and as black as his own. She knows what the nightmares were about, he realised. He must have yelled in his sleep sometimes and she'd pieced it together. But she was asking him anyway, just to see whether he wanted her to know and maybe to see what his reaction would be when she told him she knew.

 

“They were about Vegeta,” he said truthfully, and he could tell by her face that she expected him to continue. He ignored this and turned back to the outside. He knew she was disappointed, but some things were best not to know, and most of Vegeta's past experiences definitely fell into that category. He doubted he was even capable of retelling such horrid tales.

 

“You should go back to bed.” He repeated, when he thought she was about to ask him to describe further.

 

“Come with me.” He felt her hand touch his shoulder, the flesh of her palm surprisingly warm. “I know you're worried, but exhausting yourself is not going to help them… you know that.”

 

He sighed, putting his hand on top of hers.

 

“I can't, Chi-chi,” he had his eyes fixed on a star in the distance. Thousands of miles away, in that precise direction was West City and it was around noon. “If Vegeta is away from both for just one moment I could save them both. I can't afford to−”

 

“And how do you expect to fight Vegeta when you can hardly stay awake? You might be able to rescue them from Capsule Corp but Vegeta isn't going to just give up, he's going to come after them and he's going to want to fight. He could kill you−”

 

“He could kill either one of them at any moment! If I miss my chance there might not be another one!” He'd raised his voice; he felt Goten's ki flutter slightly from upstairs.

 

“What am I supposed to do, Chi-chi? I can't go over there and save one, or he would just use the other against me and take them back. I have to get both or there's no point, but to do that I have to wait for him to be away from both of them…” He gave a frustrated sigh and rubbed his eyes wearily.

 

“I'm helpless, Chi-chi, and he knows it. All I can do is sit here and wait for him to be gone from both long enough for me to transport there and get them…” He turned to look at her again, she was standing just behind him in her thin nightgown. “But he's helpless too.”

 

She gave him a quizzical look and he continued. “He's helpless because he has to do exactly what I'm doing. He has to wait there, he's waiting for me to loose concentration. He can't do anything while he's with them, he's restless.”

 

“So.. what? He's going to just wait there until you both die of exhaustion?” she said ludicrously.

 

“No, he knows he's going to have to face me, he's biding his time−”

 

“But why? It doesn't make sense Goku, he isn't getting any stronger just sitting there, waiting for you to loose concentration so he can let loose some energy!”

 

“But he is, Chi-chi,” he said sadly. “He's been getting stronger and stronger, and I have no idea how…” Her mouth closed, it seemed she was unable to think of an argument, but he had returned his face to the outside, glaring in the direction of West City, as though he could see Capsule Corp in the distance.

 

“All I can hope is that he blows it.” He said. “He's a saiyan, he can't just sit and do nothing forever. He needs to fight, to get rid of some of his energy. I only have to wait until he can no longer take it, until he takes a chance and separates from them for just one moment… and then I'll have them.” He continued to stare distantly into the night sky.

 

“It's a waiting game… if I fail to stop him before he gets stronger than me… Then we are all done for.”

 

The room filled with silence, Goku could hear his son's quiet snores from the bedroom above. He turned to Chi-chi as she moved her body against his, and he fell into her embrace.

 

“Goku…” she was crying. He felt a sudden stab of guilt.

 

“Chi-chi, it's okay I−” He stopped suddenly. Chi-chi must have felt him tense, for she pulled her head back and he saw the alarmed expression on her face. He gave her a look which told her to be quiet, and closed his eyes.

 

His mind registered the abrupt change in Vegeta's ki which had startled him. He noted the distinct waves of power his aura was emitting, and made the conclusion. His mind had made the link automatically and in a matter of seconds. He heard the voice in his head state the word monotonously.

 

`Angry'

 

That was the main category of course, but he bothered to analyse the patterns more thoroughly and noted the very obvious− in fact, he wondered why he did not realise instantly− frustration. He had been right; the prince was not so much the composed and level headed warrior he had seemed. He was definitely becoming very restless, he sensed it clearly… perhaps he would−

 

Then he felt Bulma's ki begin to fluctuate… she was no longer unconscious.

 

The creases of his face became more pronounced, and Goku distantly realised how the contours of his face seemed to stretch into a frown almost too easily.

 

“What now?” Chi-chi asked, and Goku was wondering the same thing. He concentrated on Vegeta's aura, wondering if it would somehow portray the Prince's undoubtedly sinister intentions.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The cold darkness which had filled her body was beginning to dissipate, replaced by liquid warmth that began at her abdomen and flowed soothingly through to the rest of her body. The odd sensation brought her anxiety as well as comfort as she felt the skin around her cuts stretch and mend, closing the wounds. Muscles twitched and contracted. Bones mended and bruises healed. She felt the pain from the cut in her cheek dull as the torn blood vessels were repaired. Finally, the thick warm liquid reached out to her head, swirling and clearing her mind of the thick black mist which had enveloped her. The pain was flushed away and a sense of foreboding settled in as the effect of consciousness finally reached her mind, and reality came flooding back.

 

“WAKE UP WOMAN!”

 

She was shook, her head flapping back and fourth. Dizziness seized her as she was viciously shaken. Her eyes snapped open involuntary as she was fully healed.

 

It took Vegeta only a second to register her alertness, and Bulma twice as long to realise she was no longer stationary.

 

At first she thought her vision was blurring, but in fact it was her surroundings. Vegeta had his arm tightly around her waist, holding her parallel to the floor. Neither of them were touching the ground. Walls and doors whizzed by as they flew at a terribly disorienting speed, when suddenly they stopped, although she felt as though her stomach had been left behind.

 

The world was still spinning when she became suddenly aware that she was lying on her back, the back of her head aching. The floor was unbearably hard.

 

She blinked rapidly to restore her vision. The thick silver, grey and blue blobs shrank back into shape, and she realised where she was.

 

It was dim in the windowless laboratory. The walls either side of her were covered in papers and sticky-notes. Blue prints, old design ideas, lists of materials, prices of chemicals, times of appointments, all ensuring that not an inch of the walls were uncovered. Tables and desks of varying shapes and sizes lined the walls, pieces of machinery and tools splayed across the surfaces. Behind her, there would be a door leading to her chemical labs, another leading to her capsule store, and one leading to her storage room, where all unsuccessful, private or unfinished experiments were kept.

 

In front of her stood Vegeta, blocking the doorway. His eyes were scanning the desks behind her, he was scowling as usual, his sharp features locked into a cutting scowl. When he spoke next she noticed the now customary malice etched into every one of his words so that she was sure that even a `good day, how are you?' would sound like a deep threat.

 

“I want that finished,” he said, pointing at several pages of blueprints splayed across the desk on her left. She blinked and turned her head to squint at the addressed sheets, a thousand questions attacking her at once as she realised what it was.

 

“You have three days.”

 

“What?” she gasped. “I can't finish it so soon, why−”

 

“You have been working on it for weeks,” he cut through. “And you will finish it in three days. You need not know why.”

 

The words were spoken so simply but the look in his animus eyes, and the threat under lacing every word ensured that, if she valued her health, she would finish within three days, no questions.

 

But Bulma could not help but stare in disbelief, as she recalled the particular invention she had drawn up the plans for, and imagined all the work she had yet to do on it.

 

Vegeta narrowed his eyes in silent threat before turning to leave. “Oh, and don't try anything stupid,” he said, stopping momentarily at the door. “I will be testing it on the boy first.”

 

Bulma winced as the heavy metal door was slammed shut, the sound reverberating in her ears for seconds afterwards.

 

 

“Okay, think..” she told herself a few minutes later. Her hands were a blur as they flew over the keyboard, the rapid banging of the keys like applause. She had activated all security on the building and had locked the door to her lab. She had now called up all information she had saved of the experiment planned out on the sheets in front of her and began to skim-read through her notes, reintroducing herself to her ideas.

 

She had some idea of what Vegeta was intending to accomplish by this, but she had decided she would worry about his motives later. First she needed to find a way to create her invention and finish it in such a short period. She didn't want to think of what Vegeta would do to her if she failed to meet his deadline…

 

Thoughts of the last time she had disobeyed Vegeta began to surface in her mind, and it was with quite some difficulty that she tore her attention from the frightening thoughts and to the task at hand.

 

“Okay…” she said again, taking a deep intake of breath and getting to work.

 

It took her hours to familiarise herself with her work, trying to get herself in the right frame of mind, deciding over which tools would be best suited for which jobs, calculating an estimate of how long it would take to find all necessary materials, and then the time to assemble her invention.

 

After estimating all times she added them up in her head. Her body collapsed in her chair at the result she received.

 

Two weeks.

 

She pinched the bridge of her nose and thumped her desk, the cups and pens on her desk rattled. She couldn't possibly…

 

Bulma cursed and reprimanded herself mentally. She began to re-read through her notes again, cutting corners and stretching the amount of work scheduled per day so extremely, that by the time she had finished she worked out that she would be working twenty hours a day, with only four hours remaining in which to wash, sleep and eat…

 

She stared again at the blue-prints, wondering how she was going to cope… wondering even she even wanted to try, when a flashing on her computer screen caught her attention.

 

 

`SECURITY FOOTAGE AVAILABLE FOR VIEWING

 

Do you wish to view footage?'

 

 

She clicked on `View'. It had been a long time since she'd used the external cameras, but, as a precautionary measure, the system automatically recorded 24 hours, and if not saved, would delete the old footage and begin recording the next 24 hours.

 

She clicked on the latest 24 hour recording of the grounds and turned her attention to the screens.

 

She fast-forwarded the tape, checking all screens for movement. She saw Vegeta and Trunks land in the back, and watched as her son followed Vegeta in through the back door, his face happy and unsuspecting…

 

Then she saw herself, a while later, landing in her hover craft, tiptoeing across the lawn and into the building…

 

Not too long after that Vegeta and Trunks came out, both wearing armour and heading for the gravity room.

 

What happened next Bulma had already witnessed. She had heard her son's screams and had peaked in through the small windows into the GR, muffling her scream with her fist as she saw what he did to her son…

 

She hastily fast-forwarded the tape, until she saw Vegeta lowering from the air to land before the GR, Trunks slung over his shoulders and a strange man dangling by his shirt in Vegeta's grip.

 

She watched him open the door to the GR, flinging her child and the strange man inside, both were already unconscious. And then… then he left, coming back only a few minutes later with… handcuffs.

 

She saw him re-enter the building, and realised that this was when Vegeta must have handcuffed her to the bed. She fast forwarded the tape again but it was just a few minutes later when Vegeta came out again, and walked to the GR…

 

She switched the view to inside the GR as Vegeta entered. Her lavender haired son was sprawled on the steel floor, still unconscious and badly hurt from the night before. Vegeta still hadn't healed him…

 

Next to her son was a strange and foul looking man. His clothes were black with filth and his hair was so matted in grime that it stuck to the sides of the man's face. His clothing was tattered and he was in obvious need of a shower and a shave.

 

An odd mixture of fright and relief seized her when Vegeta leant down and pushed a senzu bean into her son's mouth. He would be healed, but only because Vegeta wanted him for something…

 

And soon, Bulma saw what.

 

 

 

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Oh my god, VERY long time no see people! But no, no excuses, I'm so sorry for leaving you waiting for so long. You all have permission to throw something at me in your review, if there is anyone out there still reading lol.

 

Oh, and thanks as ever to all the wondrous reviewers who reviewed last time,

 

Raine123: HERE, HERE, HERE, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY! ^_^' lol Thanks for the rating!

 

JASON E: Thanks for the great ratings, sorry this update was so slow!

 

Autumn: “his first instinct is still to protect his wife and son (though he doesn't want to acknowledge it)” Yep, you got it in one! I really love your reviews, thanks! And, again, sorry about the lateness.

 

PrincessCrakALakin: Hahahah, your review really made me laugh, though you probably don't remember what you said now lol. Yeh, I didn't think about the bathroom thing lol, but I suppose you're right, she would need to go some time. ^_^ Oh, and thanks for the nice and kind ratings!

 

Mely: Thanks, glad you're interested by my story. And thanks for the great rating!

 

Trisha: Thanks, yeh I'm sort of torn with this story (no pun intended), because I have reviewers on ff.net saying less darkness, and people here saying more! Anyway, sorry about the late post, thanks for reading and reviewing!

 

Yugiohchick: Wow, thanks for the fabulous ratings! I'm really glad you're still enjoying the story, sorry about the late post!

 

Aiyana: Thanks a lot, Letti, and for the emails too! I hope you are still enjoying my fic, and for being patient with me! And a lot of thanks for the great ratings!

 

PurrfectMissM: Wow, thanks a lot! I don't know what else to say except apologise for the lateness of this chapter.

 

NSB: Don't worry I do intend to finish this fic, a thousand flames and exams couldn't stop me! Thanks for understanding and being patient, and to tell you a little secret… I don't think everything will be all `happily ever after', I mean, how could it? But I'm still undecided about whether to do a happy or sad ending. Hmm…

 

 

Well, until next time folks, hopefully not such a long while away!

 

 

~Love of Vegeta