Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unexplainables ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9

Yamcha's head hit the control panel with a thump that jerked Bulma upward from where she was working. She glanced over at Yamcha, who was balefully glaring at the panel he had just hit, though his eyes looked to be half-open, tired state threatening to send him crashing right back into the control panel.

They had managed to move the control panel that stored the database from the Hitori's ship to Bulma's lab, giving her better access to where Vegeta was in case he took a turn for the worst.

Bulma put a hand on Yamcha's shoulder, causing him to start with surprise. "Yamcha, go ahead and go home. I'll call you if I find anything."

Yamcha blinked at her several times before her words and their meaning sunk in. "You're going to keep looking?"

Bulma smiled softly, "Yes. I have to."

Yamcha nodded his understanding, snapping his head back up as it began to sink. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze of reassurance, not complaining as she returned the squeeze with a much-needed hug. He hugged her back for a long while and Bulma leaned back to laugh. He had almost fallen asleep. "Go home, Yamcha."

Yamcha nodded again, exiting the ship and immediately taking to the sky, tilting a little before righting himself and flying toward the thought of a nice, warm bed.

Bulma watched him fly off in the direction of the fake dawn for a while before turning back to the control panel with a sigh. She brushed her fingers across the keys in a pattern her mind remembered from Vegeta's contact-She buried her head in her hands suddenly, overcome by a wave of grief and raw pain she had been feeling since the Hitori had come.

Vegeta's actions over the past events were nothing short of frustrating. He wanted answers to questions he didn't know. He'd said before that he'd gone to that 'thread room' for just that but found only her. At times she could just see the understanding glimmering in his eyes, but then it was like those silver orbs absorbed it all and dissected it, taking away all the meaning.

She at least knew one of the questions for sure. Vegeta wanted to know what the 'unexplainables' were. Well, even she was having a hard time explaining them. Perhaps they were emotions?

She recalled the first time they'd been in the 'thread room'. He'd most definitely been emotionless, until she remembered his words before he kissed her: 'Why do I feel…?' It was impossible for him to be without feelings and still feel. Was it possible that the 'unexplainables' were more than plural in the sense that there was more than one thing but more than one things?

Her head snapped back up as the computer made a tiny beeping sound, like a happy chirp. She echoed the computer's happy sound with one of her own, jumping into the air and squealing like a teenager, delving back into the computer and what it had found.

' ' '

Piccolo grumbled with unease as his sharp eyes caught the almost nonexistent trembling of Vegeta's body. He had changed the sheets the Sai-Hitori lay on several times, but they quickly became as soaked as before. Well, quicker now considering the Prince was closer to death.

He shook his head. Either Bulma had better find a cure soon or Goku had better retrieve those dragonballs. Vegeta would not last through another night. It was only will alone that was keeping him alive right then. It certainly wasn't the machines he was hooked up to.

As Piccolo again moved toward Vegeta to try to relieve him with the cool compress Bulma had been using, Bulma herself burst through the door, whirling the startled Namek around to curse at his own inattention.

"OhmyKamiIfounditIcan'tbelieveitisn'titgreatIfounditnow-"

Piccolo grabbed the bouncing human by the shoulders and physically held her down. "Calm down! Take a breath, human! You won't help Vegeta by passing out!"

Bulma stopped her incomprehensible tirade to blink at Piccolo in confusion before taking a deep breath and starting again, putting a pause in her words long enough to set Piccolo's teeth on edge. "I…said…I…found…it…. I…found…the…Virus."

Piccolo broke through before the girl could finish, "And which planet was it? What was its name?"

Bulma breezily brushed aside the question, "That doesn't matter right now. I've found out how to stabilize Vegeta's condition. Once I do that we'll have all the time in the world to not only find out what this planet has against the Hitori, but the antidote for the Virus!" She beamed up at the tall, green man and eluded his grasp to bustle around Vegeta's room. She paled at the vitals that were showing up on the screen, getting increasingly slower and weaker.

"My Kami, Piccolo! I told you to tell me if his condition worsened!" She hurried around even more, grabbing this and that tool and all the equipment she needed.

"Would you stop saying his name? It's bad enough being related to him but having to hear-"

"Would you shut up and help me?"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes and wondered how Vegeta had kept from blasting the girl. He grunted and moved to do as the human told him, quickly finding a niche in lifting some of the heavier equipment and using his speed to retrieve things in other parts of the building.

Pretty soon Bulma had everything she needed and Piccolo leaned back against the wall, out of her way, to watch the human begin to attach electrodes to Vegeta's chest and forehead. A breathing mask was placed over the Prince's face and he only moaned a little, turning his head slightly, in protest.

Bulma was frowning in concentration, "Okay, all I need to do is allow a little bit of current to enter his body, hitting only the mechanical parts, then that should pause the Virus long enough for me to introduce the serum into his biological parts to stabilize them." As she mumbled to herself, Bulma did exactly what she was saying.

The electricity jerked Vegeta's body up momentarily and Bulma bit her bottom lip as she carefully inserted the needle into Vegeta's arm, ejecting the clear fluid into his veins.

Vegeta's trembling grew in strength and Piccolo shoved himself off the wall, halted by Bulma's upraised hand, as Vegeta's breathing hissed out of him in great gulps. Finally the trembling subsided and the breathing evened. Bulma removed the mask and watched anxiously as the machines hooked up to him told their own story. Vegeta's condition was stabilizing. The Virus was still in him and would effect his body but not in the fatal way it had been. They didn't have all the time in the world to find a cure, but they would have enough.

Bulma removed the electrodes just as Vegeta's eyelids fluttered. Vegeta half sat up, eyes wide with shock and bewilderment to be pushed back down by two hands on his chest, firmly laying him back in the bed. His eyes locked onto Bulma's face and Bulma herself did not meet their gaze, instead looking at changing the man's sheets.

"Wh-" The word came out as a croak and Vegeta swallowed dryly before trying again, "What happened?"

It was Piccolo who spoke up as it looked that Bulma was not going to, "She found a way to stabilize you." He chose to say nothing else. No telling what Vegeta might do if he found out about the dragonballs.

Bulma seemed to be thinking along the same lines, completely ignoring Vegeta to look at Piccolo, "He should be fine now, but I'll still need someone here with him while I go back to the database. I could wait for Goku-"

Piccolo shrugged, "I'm already here. Go on. I'll get you when Goku comes back." Piccolo's set face said that he had some things to say to the Prince.

Bulma nodded, her lips slightly pursed, "Thanks." She began to walk away only to find her arm being gripped by the wrist. She looked at the hand holding her, "What, Vegeta?"

Vegeta frowned, feeling faintly angered that she would not look at him, "What did you find out?"

She continued to stare at his hand, "Nothing yet. And I won't find anything unless you let me go." Her voice sounded strained, as if she was trying to contain some overwhelming emotion.

He let go of her wrist and watched with confusion as she left without once glancing at him. He turned then to the Namek, "What's wrong with her?"

Piccolo snorted, "Please. You aren't that ignorant, Vegeta, so don't pretend to be. Whatever happened in that 'thread room' is what I'd say is wrong with her." He glanced at where the human had exited, "I'm certainly glad I'm not human, to be weighed down by emotions." He looked back at Vegeta, "But I certainly wouldn't want to be Hitori either, so caught up in riddles I failed to see anything around me."

Vegeta tilted his head to one side, shifting himself up in an attempt to sit upright. "They are not riddles. And I can see quite clearly what's going on. It's the human who can't see anything."

Piccolo shrugged, "Whatever. Those new eyes are obviously blinding you. I noticed in that fight with the 'Imperfect One' you got your sight back momentarily. Have to wonder why."

Vegeta turned his head, breaking contact with the other's eyes, "I have no idea what you're talking about. All that matters right now is that the woman gets rid of this Virus so I may go back on my hunt."

"Hunt?" Piccolo's ears almost perked up at the word, "Not search?"

Vegeta looked back, his manner bland, "There is a difference?"

Piccolo nodded, "There can be. To hunt can be an outward thing, but to search can be internal."

Vegeta shifted again, pushing himself further up, "Can be a difference. There is not."

Piccolo once again shrugged, "She might as well have let you die, Vegeta. You may go out and do it anyway. You won't last long if someone else decides to take the problem the Hitori obviously were into their own hands…. I don't think you should come back if that happens."

Vegeta's silver eyes glared at the Namek's, expression made obvious with the lowered brows, "What do you mean?" His voice was as sharp as his gaze.

Piccolo straightened under the look and folded his arms across his chest almost casually, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about her. She'd take care of you no matter how many times you used her. I'd more worry about the rest of the Earthlings. I don't think anyone here who actually cares about her would allow you to-"

"Piccolo!" Goku's voice cut through Piccolo's words, causing the Namek to push himself off the wall and walk out of the room, not at all irked at being interrupted. He closed the door behind him on one shocked-looking Prince.

Piccolo met the Saiyan outside the door, motioning with one hand that they should be quiet. "He's conscious and probably not very happy right now."

Goku scratched his head with one hand, "Huh? Why not?"

Piccolo chuckled slightly, "Let's just say I stuck my hand in and riled up the hornet's nest."

Goku shrugged, not understanding, but held up a sack which clicked as the seven globes inside hit each other, "Got the-" Piccolo quickly covered Goku's mouth with one hand.

"Okay, good. Now go tell Bulma. She and I will bring Vegeta. Meet us at the Hitori's spaceship."

Goku silently nodded as the green-skinned hand fell from his mouth, sheepishly remembering that Vegeta was awake. He quickly turned to do as the Namek said and Piccolo frowned. Call him a pessimist, but he had a nagging feeling everything would not go smoothly.

Bulma jumped, fingers slipping over the control panel's keys as Goku suddenly popped into existence beside her, "Hey, Bulma!"

She turned and gave the man a good whap to his arm, "Do you do that to ChiChi too? No wonder the woman has to use a frying pan on your head! It's too thick for anything else! Don't…do…that!"

Goku chuckled, absently rubbing his arm, "Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot."

Bulma sighed and turned back around, "You got the dragonballs?" Her temper was short and fiery, and no wonder with her sleeplessness and the confrontation with Vegeta; not even a thank you there, not that she'd expected any, but anything other than the 'nothing whatsoever has happened' attitude.

Goku grinned, oblivious of her mood, "Yeah. Piccolo said to get you to help with Vegeta and you guys will meet me at the Hitori's ship."

Bulma frowned, "Can't you just take Vegeta 'via' Piccolo's ki when he gets there? You guys don't need me to wish away the Hitori in Vegeta."

Goku chuckled a little at Bulma's mocking of his 'new' word, then suddenly turned serious. "I think you need to be there. You need to be there for Vegeta. He's not going to be happy and we need someone he can listen to."

Bulma snorted and continued working on the database and the Virus's information in search of a cure, "Good luck finding that last, Goku. You're mistaken if you think Vegeta's going to listen to me. He could care less what I think." She stopped and took a deep breath as she felt a wave of an emotion she didn't want to recognize threaten to drown her.

Goku frowned, "That's not true. You're one of the few that can talk to him and get more than a negative response. You're probably the only one. You know Vegeta can be hardheaded. Maybe you should ask ChiChi to see if you can borrow her frying pan, heh?" Goku grinned, nudging Bulma a little.

Bulma couldn't keep a grin from creeping onto her face, glancing at Goku out of the side of her eye, "Sometimes you really surprise me, Goku." She sighed, "Fine. Go to the ship and Piccolo and I will bring Vegeta."

Goku nodded and took off out of the ship with one last smile for Bulma, which he was glad to see her return. Bulma turned to the database and tapped in a few more keys, demanding it find the chemical structure of the virus while she was gone.

She met Piccolo outside Vegeta's room, an eyebrow raised in inquiry of the cursing she heard on the other side of the door.

Piccolo smirked shamelessly at her, "We had a talk and he's not happy to have his face smeared in shi-"

"NAMEK! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T GET IN HERE NOW I'M GOING TO GET OUT OF THIS BED AND COME GET YOU! IF I HAVE TO COME GET YOU, YOU WILL SERIOUSLY REGRET IT! NOW GET IN HERE NOW BEFORE I'M FORCED-"

Vegeta's tirade was brought up short as Bulma entered the door, Piccolo close behind her. She was trying to contain her laughter at the sight of Vegeta trying to swing his feet over the side of the bed. Vegeta's face was redder than she had certainly ever seen it and she turned her head as she approached Piccolo, "What'd you say to him, Piccolo? Did you belittle his heritage or something? Even I've never gotten him that mad!"

Piccolo's smirk widened as the enraged Prince's struggles to rise became more pronounced at his entrance, "Surprising what the truth will do, huh?"

Bulma shook her head and made it to Vegeta's side, pushing him easily back down. He may have been stabilized, but his mobility was seriously hindered by the amount of time he had spent under the virus's full power. "Stop it, Vegeta! Whatever he said I'm sure you deserved it! Now, we need to take you to your ship, so I want no complaints, got it? Good."

Vegeta's mouth opened and his eyes narrowed as he thought to tell the woman what exactly he thought of her rules. He paused however, as he considered the look in her eyes. Turning away slightly, he muttered something that shockingly sounded like an agreement, snarling at the chuckle that came from Piccolo's direction.

Bulma looked sincerely shocked at Piccolo, mouthing a question he shook his head to. Vegeta's voice cut through both of them, "Well? Get a move on! I don't have all day!"

Bulma rolled her eyes and moved to Vegeta's left side, grabbing him under the arm as Piccolo did the same with Vegeta's right. Vegeta let out an audible growl as they lifted him and began to carry him out. He felt like a toddler having to be carried around because his legs were too weak to move.

Surprisingly he felt a small hand rubbing his back in a soothing motion, as if trying to give him back some his injured dignity. He glanced at the female out of the corner of his eye, noting that she was looking anywhere but at him. Were it not for the Namek, he would definitely be questioning the woman's strange behavior. However, it was the Namek's presence that was reminding him of his last words and he scowled as he tried to make his legs work on their own.

Was he using her? And if this happened again, would he use her again and then leave? He could no longer deny that the female had feelings for him, cared for him even, though he could not see why. He'd done nothing to make her care about him. His leaving had pained her and he felt himself in pain because of that, reminding him of when the automaton had come down with the virus, every Hitori had felt it.

He felt the hand on his back hit a particularly sensitive spot in just the right way and had to stop the purring that had started. He shrugged his shoulders and frowned minutely and the rubbing stopped, the hand almost vanishing from his back completely. His frown deepened, this time at himself. Unfortunately, it was his nature to push people away. He wondered if he should change that.

Bulma's eyes widened as she felt Vegeta's hand start circling on her shoulder much as hers had been on his before he had shrugged it off. She had to keep her eyes on the path ahead to keep them from straying over to Vegeta, knowing with Piccolo there he would not want attention called to himself. She couldn't stop the small smile from forming though, and was distinctly displeased when they arrived at the ship.

Piccolo frowned, stopped all movement and hushing the questions that had started from the two beside him. He carefully extracted himself from around the Prince and crept forward. The place was deserted and much too quiet considering Goku was supposed to be there.

Bulma and Vegeta stood in silence, both stilled as Vegeta sniffed the stiff air for any hint of what had the Namek on edge. Finding nothing he snorted and looked around, taking in the apparently deserted surroundings. He was about to question the Namek despite his warning to stay silent when he and Bulma both heard a noise originate from Piccolo that had one curious and the other clenching her teeth in dread.

Piccolo's pointed boot hit the ground with a crackle and snap that the ground underneath him shouldn't have made. He carefully lifted his foot and stared in horror at the broken orange jagged piece of glass his foot had crushed. There was no other evidence of the rest of the broken globe, but what Piccolo bent down to shift through his fingers was definitely the remains of a dragonball.

His backward look at Bulma confirmed her own fears and her eyes darted around as she unconsciously clung tighter to Vegeta. Her curses and sudden squeeze had Vegeta looking at her strangely. He leaned in close to her ear so that his voice was merely a hiss, "What's going on?"

Bulma shook her head, "Someone's here. Goku was supposed to meet us here. He should be here by now. And-" She bit her lip and watched as Vegeta's eyes narrowed.

"I sense nothing. What is the Namek doing? Why did he look so worried about what he stepped on? What was it?"

Bulma looked over to Piccolo again, who was slowly and cautiously making his way back over to them. Well, sink or swim, here it goes. "I asked Goku to get the dragonballs. What he stepped in was-"

Vegeta cut through her with a hiss, pushing her away; heedless of the fact that this left him with no support, falling to land harshly on his knees as Bulma stumbled backwards. "I told you I didn't want that! Why can't you understand that I am Hitori, wholly and completely! I am nothing else but Hitori and I will die Hitori!"

"As you wish." The feminine form that stepped suddenly from the shadows at the side of the ship fit the lilting voice to perfection. Vegeta could only stare, wide-eyed as the female alien raised a green pyramid-like device big enough to fit in her palm in front of her, green glow from the thing throwing back her shadow and giving her features an even crueler and harder appearance than they already had.

Vegeta's arm went up in an instinctive shield as a beam of that same green light flew from the object, heat and light from it causing him to turn his head away.

A/N: Was that a good cliffie? Or did it stink…. Well, this is interesting. Who is this new character? Whatever shall we do with such a stubborn Veggie? Hmm, more angst…. Yes, more angst. Let's go. Oh, that's right. You have to wait for me to update. BTW, I'm glad I said SHOULD, this story just took one of those twists! In fact…. Oh, you'll find out. You will so-o want to kill me! ^_^ BTW, we're done at chapter 11.

Susan: Interesting…. Didn't notice that when I did it…. Thanks! Hitori? Gone? But Vegeta is Hitori…. Aw, nevermind…. Heehee, sorry, I'm glad you liked the Piccolo/Bulma scene (not like that! UGH!). For some reason, the piggy pill is not used very often…. I thought this the funniest part of DB! Well, that and Yamcha getting his butt kicked again and again and again…. (clears throat) Well, here's some more….

JadedBest: O_o; Selfless? I was thinking more along the lines of Poor Vegeta that you're taking care of him! You'll chain him up and make sure he never leaves! Oh, he's a tough bugger-I think…. Heehee Yes, yet another bit of comedy right smack dab in the middle of sad stuff…. Oh, good luck on your date…. I may have a blind one tomorrow. Probably not though…. (shrug) Such is my life…. Although Wednesday was fun. All day with my purely platonic guy friend…. You have to reread Ch 6 of WYWG? O_o; Okay…. Have fun, but-um…. Yeah….

Two reviewers? What happened? I thought this was everybody's favorite? Did I slip up? Tell me! ^_^ Come on, you'll want to review this chapter…cause you won't want to next chapter…or maybe you will…. Nevermind. Come back in a week? Depends on the reviews…. I wanna know you're reading.