Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wherever You Will Go ❯ Ch 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13

The attacker was obviously no amateur to the game, for he waited at the exact moment that she was bent over and, because of her positioning, off balance, before charging her and using his bulk, not to mention the basic laws of physics, to tackle her to the ground.

If he thought he had her though, he was wrong. The wife and mother of the world's strongest fighters didn't go down without inflicting some damage. Instead of curling up and whimpering in defeat, or even acting the least bit surprised by the assault, she attacked.

The attacker was shocked, not only by the lack of fear; yes, she was scared to death, but she wasn't about to let it immobilize her; but by the presence of her knee in his groin. He mentally cursed himself for being so cocky as to not protect his vital area, a man's first priority, as Bulma skittered out from under him. He recovered in enough time to grab her leg and pull her back down.

Bulma's chin smacked into the ground and she tasted the metallic bite of blood as she bit her tongue. She managed to look behind her and wished she hadn't at the promise of a very painful experience for her in the slate-gray eyes of her attacker. She kicked out with her foot and again heard him curse; he hadn't realized he'd done it aloud the first time, as her high heel connected with his mouth. The grip on her leg loosened and she crawled herself free to the ankle before he clamped down again, yanking back her gained ground.

The chuckle behind her reminded her all to well of a certain man she had dated some centuries ago and a more recent recollection she had all but blocked from her memory. Now, the memory came back with a vengeance: black hair, blue eyes, slight smile that chilled her to the core. The horror hadn't faded with time; then again, the anger hadn't either.

That same anger shifted in her now and the training that Trunks had given her kicked into full gear. With a grunt she flipped herself over and the attacker soon found that getting out of his grasp wasn't what she intended as she came at him and pinched the hand that held her. He gasped in shock as his hand went numb up to his elbow and only returned to reality when a heel again caught him in the face, this time making him reel back in pain.

Bulma and the attacker both rose; one steady with a glare, the other tense with uncertainty. The attacker's eyes suddenly widened as he took in the woman before him fully. Blue hair, blue eyes, Capsule Corporation logo on the jacket she wore…all this meant only one thing to him; he who had seen Bulma Briefs this young before.

Scalthus mentally shrugged as he suddenly took off in the opposite direction of the woman. This information would be worth much more than a couple hundred dollars in credit cards and a good, if unwilling, lay.

Bulma stared at the retreating figure with bewilderment and continued to stare long after the man was gone until a voice behind made her whirl around.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Trunks reached out with his senses and quickly scanned the fleeing man's ki before he was too far away. He would've given chase, but his mother's welfare held more importance at the moment.

She smiled at her son and included the just-landing Vegeta in it as she moved to pick up the items that had fallen out of the packages in the struggle. "Sure." The slight shaking of her hands belied her words and she cursed her inability to control even the simplest of-

She started when a tanned hand reached down and efficiently picked up all the items before she had the second one in the bag. She looked up into Vegeta's eyes, this giving him the opportunity to study her. Her eyes looked-empty. He recognized that look. "What happened?" His eyes were flashing with a need to kill something; or more aptly, someone.

She flashed a tremulous smile at him and he frowned in response, "Some idiot decided to tangle with the wrong person. I took care of it."

Vegeta stared at her for a moment longer before grunting and rising to his feet. "And just where did you learn to defend yourself? You've done it before."

Bulma nodded as she too rose, only too glad to escape from what had almost happened; again. She knew what other time he spoke of, with that first-level demon. "Well, Trunks decided it would best if he taught me some Aikido and pressure points what with the androids and all," she shrugged, "So I learned it."

Vegeta nodded giving his son a sideways glance that Trunks, who had been studying his mother, interpreted correctly. He took the packages from the ground and rose into the air, heading toward CC and leaving Bulma and Vegeta in the parking garage.

Bulma looked uncomfortable as Vegeta made no move toward her, let alone dropped his intent look. The memories were becoming too strong. "Um, Vegeta? I'd like to go home."

Vegeta huffed softly, "We aren't leaving until you tell me what's wrong."

Bulma shifted and suddenly strode off to her car, "Fine. I'll take the car." She made it all the way to the door, before a thorough search in her purse had her turning around to see Vegeta dangling the keys from his fingers. She strode toward him now, disconcerted by his serious look, and reached for the keys to have them pulled back from her. She flushed in anger, "Vegeta-"

"You will tell me what's wrong or we will stay here until you do." His calm voice made her flinch. It was worse than if he had yelled at her.

She stared at him. She'd forgotten it for all these years- She looked around furtively. As long as he took her away from here…. "Okay, but not here, Vegeta…"

Before she could finish he had lifted her up and taken off. She couldn't stop a small shriek at the sudden loss of solid ground and felt Vegeta cringe, "I swear, you'd think you'd be used to it by now."

She closed her eyes to the blurred scenery passing by, "Well, excuse me, Vegeta! If you'd give me a little warning, I wouldn't be putting your hearing in jeopardy!"

"Hush, woman. We're here."

As he put her down on sandy ground, Bulma looked around to see where 'here' was. They stood on a sandy finger of land that was just wide enough for both of them to stand on. On all sides of the strip was a river, with the forested shore a good swim away. Bulma grimaced and glared at Vegeta, who was waiting for her to speak. She had nowhere to go, after all.

"What was with that voice I heard my head? I heard you right before…."

Vegeta sighed disgustedly, "I'm really getting tired of these impasse's, woman!"

Bulma rubbed a hand over her face tiredly and sat down on the sand. Vegeta joined her crossed-legged. "The Androids liked to-play with us. They thought we were…here for their amusement. One of them-It was male…"

Vegeta's entire body went rigid. She didn't have to continue. He knew.

"Trunks was off training with Gohan. He never knew it had happened. He was barely a teenager. He would've done something stupid."

Bulma looked up tentatively, not knowing what she would see, not surprised to see anger, though Vegeta wasn't looking at her. Instead, his gaze was on the sand in between them, "You weren't going to tell me."

Bulma shook her head and looked where Vegeta was staring, finding that the tiny, sparkling grains helped her think. "I'd forgotten. I guess pretending it didn't happen made me believe it actually hadn't."

The images went through her mind, his black hair, blacker eyes; cold laugh, colder hands-his eyes…. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the burning she felt in them.

Vegeta's gaze traveled up Bulma's body, finally resting on her closed eyes and the glimmer of tears caught in the lashes. His hands followed his eyes by going up her arms firmly yet gently, meeting at her face and tilting her chin to look at him. The eyes opened. "You need to forget again."

Bulma shouldn't have been startled, but found she was. He knew what she had been through. Though if what he'd been through was worse or better who wanted to know? She just hadn't expected him to understand.

Heedless of sand, lapping water, and limited space, Vegeta took her lips in his, supporting her body and lowering her to the ground in one fluid motion, helping her to forget by remembering.

* * *

Walking briskly down the hallways, the shapely woman, little more than a girl really, led the man to the double doors at the end. She opened them briskly and professionally, giving way to the man, who more awkwardly moved around her and into the room. The girl closed the doors behind her; going back to whatever task she had been at before he had made his appearance.

The man gaped around at the rich surroundings of the office he was in, slate-gray eyes finally settling on the huge mahogany desk sitting back in the center of the room, or, more importantly, to the person sitting behind the desk.

The blonde-haired man folded his fingers on the desk and leaned into the light, soft light fitting the soft features perfectly, making the brown eyes glitter and giving the man an almost angelic aura. "We assume you've come here for an important reason, Scalthus?"

Scalthus nodded his head nervously and twisted his hands in front of him, "Yes, sir. You said to come to you if anything strange happened, sir. I know it was thirty-some years ago, sir, but I swear I saw her!"

The man held up a hand, immediately stopping the slightly hysterical man, "Start at the beginning, Scalthus."

The man nodded and seated himself in the little chair before the desk that the other motioned for him, "Yes, sir. I was doing my business, sir, just like I'm supposed to, sir. There was a blue-haired one. She was distracted, so I picked her to-steal from.

"Suddenly she had backing. I barely got away from them, sir! But before I did, I saw her face. I swear it was her! I wasn't doing no dreaming, sir!"

The man behind the desk sighed, "Who, Scalthus?"

"Why, Bulma Briefs, sir."

The man leaned back in his chair, his russet eyes narrowed to slits, "I know you, Scalthus. You don't go for people that old. Besides, need we remind you that Miss Briefs is dead?"

"No, sir! That's the strange part! She wasn't no old lady. She was young. Couldn't have been no more than her late twenties. I swear! I saw her once, I did. She looked exactly like that."

The man raised one blonde, elegant brow, "And you can prove this tale, Scalthus?"

Scalthus wiped his brow, finding sweat suddenly springing on it at the man's cool question, "She wore a Capsule Corporation jacket, blue hair, blue eyes. There were too many things that looked the same the last I seen her, sir."

The man leaned forward again, a friendly smile on his face. The smile only made Scalthus shiver; chilled. "Scalthus. It is good that you have brought us this information. However, you know the target is Trunks Briefs, not this person you claim to be his mother. Bulma Briefs was the target when she ran Capsule Corporation; her son, when he took over CC. Even if she were-somehow-walking around, alive and young, she wouldn't be the target. Trunks Briefs still is. Now, do you have any information on him, Scalthus?"

Scalthus audibly gulped, "Um, not really sir…. I mean, other than what you already know. He-"

"-hasn't been successfully assassinated yet and his sire is still an unknown. Yes, that's common knowledge."

"But, sir! Surely you could check and see if it is the real Bulma Briefs. I mean, what if you used her against Trunks? That would work, wouldn't it?"

The man sighed and looked down at his desk in obvious disappointment, "Ah, dear Scalthus. The last time we tried anything with Bulma Briefs was right before those horrid androids destroyed mother's empire. We were second to none-except for Capsule Corporation."

His voice lowered to a growl, "They stayed ahead of us at every turn. It wasn't so bad when Dr. Briefs was running it, but Bulma had a streak that didn't allowed her to stay second, or even equal, with anyone. She became a monopoly and mother saw no way to stop her.

"So, we hired someone to get inside and take care of her. We hired what was supposed to the best, but after a week, we never heard from him again, although Miss Briefs did send in a police report about an attack. She never stated exactly how she got away from her 'attacker'.

"We thought that assassin was just a fluke, so we sent out two others. Both were never heard of again.

"We came to the conclusion that Miss Briefs had a bodyguard. Indeed, the first assassin's report stated that there was a man staying with Miss Briefs. He was going to take care of him. From what we gleaned, there was virtually no information on him. It was like, beyond living with her, he did not exist. In fact, several years later, he disappeared. We have not had word or sight of him since. He, like Miss Briefs, is dead. Or would you like to say that he too is alive?"

Scalthus cowered, "No, sir…but…couldn't this man be the father of Trunks?"

The man casually waved a hand, "We watched the man. He disappeared and reappeared too often for us to say for sure…. It would explain Trunks Briefs' own mysterious disappearances and his-strength. But from what we gleaned of his personality, we think it unlikely that Miss Briefs would've been attracted to him like that…." He smiled wickedly, "Although you never know where a woman's taste will roam." The smile fell as if it had never been there, "Since it cannot be proved, we do not worry about it. No, we need to worry about getting Trunks Briefs. Don't we?" He stared at Scalthus hard.

Scalthus rose, taking this, quite wisely, as the signal to leave, "Yes, sir. Me and my men will get as much information as possible. But-"

The man waved a hand, urging Scalthus out the door, "Yes, yes. We will check out what you have told us. Thank you."

Scalthus almost bowed as he left, thankfully leaving the presence of the president of Paxel Corporation.

The man swiveled around in his chair to stare up at a huge picture. A blonde haired woman, her hair done up in a severe bun, was dressed in a old-styled, yet equally severe light blue dress, hands folded properly on her lap. She had a slight smile on her rosy pink lips. Her piercing green eyes stared at people no matter which way they turned.

Darren didn't mind her stare. He'd loved his mother's eyes and cursed the fact that he'd inherited his father's brown ones.

"Ah, mother. What a situation we find ourselves in. Surrounded by idiots. How can we ever hope to regain your legacy?"

He paused and stared up at the photo, lost in memories of his mother. Lost in memories of her death at the hands of the androids. "Don't worry, mother. We will gain back what we lost and then some. We will take Paxel Corporation higher than even you dreamed. Capsule will crumble beneath us." He appeared thoughtful, "We just have to figure out-" The grin that lit his face interrupted what he was going to say and changed to a radiant smile directed at the picture, "Why, mother! That's a brilliant plan!"

He chuckled deep in his throat, wicked grin revealing gleaming, white, perfect teeth. Yes, a brilliant plan indeed.

* * *

Trunks paced back in forth in the kitchen. It was midnight and they still weren't home! He would've chuckled if he weren't so worried about them. Mother had always warned him that he'd go through what he'd put her through one day. Who could've guessed that she would've been the one to put him through it?

He sighed and plopped down at the kitchen table. He shouldn't have been concerned considering his father was with her, but the look that had been on her face- It reminded him too well of another look that he'd come home to years ago.

He'd been out training with Gohan and had come home sweaty and smiling to find his mother on the couch, holding her knees to her chest and rocking herself. He hadn't been concerned until he'd seen the look in her eyes. They'd been-empty. He knew of no other way to describe them.

She'd shaken herself out of it rather quickly, smiling and saying she would fix him some food, which had gotten his mind off of it. However, today, the look in her eyes mirrored the look on that day and reminded him. That was one reason he had left without question. Whatever was going on, mom was more likely to tell his father than him; it was a mother thing, wanting to protect her only child.

He heard the sound of the front door and practically dashed into the living room. He halted awkwardly just inside the doorframe as his father entered, carrying his soundly asleep mother. Vegeta gave his son one raised eyebrow and a half smirk before continuing up the stairs.

"Get some sleep, brat. She's fine," was simply stated with no pause on Vegeta's walk.

Trunks stood there, wondering if he should be embarrassed for his unneeded concern or angry for his father's nonchalance at it. He also wondered if he should follow his father's advice, or-start on his task.

He finally heaved a sigh and decided that his father probably understood a lot more than he let on. Sleeping was exactly what Trunks needed. Too much had happened in the last few days, and he needed to save up the strength. It would be needed.

* * *

Blue light slanted into her consciousness, rousing Bulma to wakefulness almost immediately. Vegeta's eyes opened as soon as Bulma sat up. He was surprised that she seemed so alert at such an early hour; the clock beside the bed said it was only five in the morning.

"What are you doing, woman?"

She actually started at the gruff voice beside her and looked abashedly at Vegeta, "Oh. Sorry. Habit…." The last word trailed off as he pulled her back down beside her.

"A bad one. I don't even wake until five-thirty. What in the world would make you get up at five? Does Trunks usually get up this early? I would think the boy would take after you and sleep in all day." He smirked, anticipating her reaction.

Her eyes flashed blue fire, "I do not sleep all day, Vegeta! And I'll have you know that I don't have your cursed internal clock! It was the light!"

Vegeta frowned and turned himself to fully look at her, "The light?" His tone was doubtful.

Bulma also turned to face him and cuddled closer. He didn't seem to like the action, so she grinned and cuddled more. "Yes, the light. It's weird from this room."

He pulled back to look at her face and to get away from her-cuddling. His thoughts even grimaced at the word. "It's the same light that's hit this room for almost forty years, woman. What could be-weird about it?"

Bulma smiled up at him, almost wistful. He didn't like that look on her face, "After you-Well I took to sleeping in my room."

Vegeta grunted at her answer, then grunted again, a bit higher in pitch, as if wondering something. He put his wondering into words, "Why do you find that so hard to say? I died. It's okay to say it. I died."

Bulma frowned and hit him on the chest, "Vegeta! You could be a little sensitive, you know. You're dying is exactly the point! What? I was supposed to jump in the air and throw a huge party? You're not dead now, so I don't want to mention it. I like you alive! I can't cuddle when you're dead." So saying, she again proceeded to cuddle with him.

He sighed disgustedly, "You know I hate 'cuddling', woman." He actually found the idea of her celebrating his death quite humorous, in a disturbing sort of way.

He tried to disentangle himself from her closeness, but she managed to scoot closer no matter how far he slid away from her. Finally he could only scowl down at the top of her head, which was at the moment, lying on his shoulder. He was at the edge of the bed. Any further and he'd fall right off. That had happened once. It had not been amusing.

Bulma felt his scowl, but was not only giggling at that. She remembered that little incident too but had an opposite reaction than him. It had taken two hours, and a lot of coaxing of a nature Bulma was used to using with him, to get him out of the sulk her laughter had put him in. When it came to his dignity, one just couldn't joke around.

"You need to help me with the regeneration tank today, Vegeta." She rubbed her cheek up against his neck.

He responded by suddenly flipping over so that he was on top of her, "Not now, woman." His tone was an irked one. He began to nuzzle and nip her jaw line and neck.

Bulma arched her head back for better access, "Of course not now. But according to your clock, we only have half an hour."

Vegeta stopped and rose slightly to look incredulously at her, "Woman, what in the world makes you think we can finish in half an hour if we couldn't in an hour?"

Bulma appeared to seriously consider this, "Hmm, good point." She grabbed his face and pulled him back down, lips demanding access to his own, which he freely gave. His roaming hands soon had him back in control.

Shortly their contest of wills turned more serious. Luckily Trunks was sound asleep, so he wouldn't have to 'imagine' anything. Who wants to know, or even consider, what their parents are doing behind closed doors? And what Vegeta and Bulma were doing now would have made Master Roshi blush.

Eight o'clock rolled around and Trunks was downstairs, pacing in the kitchen, feeling as if he was reliving the previous night. His Saiyan attributes included the ability to go without sleep for longer than a human, but his father was right in that he liked to sleep in. He was up early because he wanted at least a hint of what had happened plus the fact that-well, he couldn't fix food so he'd sort of skipped dinner. Breakfast sounded very good to his stomach.

In fact, it was to the sound of his stomach growling that Bulma entered the room to. She raised a brow at Trunks and giggled lightly as she danced around him to prepare a breakfast that would feed a small country.

Trunks smiled at his mother and took his seat at the table. He'd not seen her this happy in, well, forever. She'd never skipped like that before or smiled that widely. Of course, the reason for her happy mood strolled in not a minute later, looking quite pleased with himself, like a preening cat.

Trunks smirked at him and received a raised eyebrow in answer. He rolled his eyes. His mother and father were so alike he didn't know who had gleaned what from whom.

Vegeta sat down and stared intently at Bulma's back. As he opened his mouth, Bulma beat him to the punch, "Food's coming along as fast as it comes, Vegeta. Your stomach has waited this long, it can wait longer. Here, gnaw on this while you wait."

Vegeta deftly caught the plastic wrapped yellow tube and shot a warning glance at Trunks, who was looking out the window as if he didn't notice his father tearing into the package and stuffing the whole Twinkie in his mouth. The tiny smile on his face said otherwise. His father liked Twinkies. It sounded so-not Vegeta.

Of course, with Vegeta eating the concoction so fast, he had to resort to glaring at Bulma's back. Bulma was so high on-well everyone knew what she was high on-she didn't even care. Thirty minutes later, she had the first course served. As she sat down to eat, Vegeta was handing her his plate for seconds. Trunks, knowing his mother better than that when she was in this mood, got up and served himself.

Bulma didn't even glance at Vegeta, "Follow your son's lead, Vegeta. It's my day off. You know that."

Vegeta scowled at her, "If it's your day off then why didn't you start it that way? You seemed very 'on' to me this morning."

Bulma merely rolled her eyes and continued to eat, "Don't be crude! If you want to change our schedule, just say so."

There was a telling pause from Vegeta's end of the table and Bulma's grinned victoriously until she remembered who was sharing the table with them. Trunks sat down and stared at first Vegeta, then his mother. "You have a-schedule?" He seemed on the verge of laughter.

Bulma glared angrily at her eggs, blaming them for her current predicament and looked at neither Trunks nor Vegeta, saying absolutely nothing.

Trunks was unable to stop a guffaw. Of all the things he'd imagined, a schedule wasn't one of them. "Well, can I know it so I don't-interrupt?"

This time Bulma did glare at him, while Vegeta gave his son a smirk as if to say 'touché'. Bulma gave the glare to Vegeta.

Vegeta suddenly glowered at her and reached underneath the table to catch the offending foot that had just kicked him in the shin, giving a good tug and causing Bulma to jerk in her chair, "If you want to keep that foot I suggest you refrain from kicking me, woman."

Bulma smiled sweetly at him, "Ahh, poor Veggie. Do you bruise easily?"

Vegeta's eyes widened slightly before narrowing, "What did you just call me?" His voice was laced with warning.

Which Bulma, of course, did not heed, "Get the stuffing out your ears. I called you Veg-gie."

Vegeta looked at her for a second before getting up to get his food as if she had said nothing. Bulma rolled her eyes, "Great! Now he thinks his pride has been damaged." She gave Trunks a wink, tone not changing, "It'll take him weeks to get over that! Big baby!"

She heard a snort from the direction of the stove and grinned, "Yep, he'll dive into the Twinkie box in his depressed state. Stuff himself with all that bad food and then make me go get more. I swear, that man can never get enough of those little things. Imagine, the Prince of the Saiyans, eating Twinkies!" She stressed the last word just enough that when Vegeta sat back down, he glanced at her before turning his attention to his food.

"Of course, he'll also start watching that show-what was it called, Vegeta?" She blinked a couple times at his now scowling face, watching in amusement as his scowl turned to puzzlement at what her foot was now doing underneath the table.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, turning to Trunks, "Brat, never try to understand women. They're an enigma, the whole lot of them."

Trunks stopped eating to nod at his father, although he had no idea what he had missed that made his father state that. His mother was obviously okay after what had happened the night before. He certainly could safely assume that he wouldn't be learning anything about it.

Hours later, Vegeta sat back and watched the woman finish the last of her decidedly meager fare. He had always been amazed at how little these humans ate. Luckily his son seemed to have inherited the Saiyan appetite.

Bulma folded her arms in front of her on the table and leaned in toward Vegeta just as he was rising to go training, "Uh-uh, Vegeta. You can spare a few minutes out of your busy day to check the regeneration tank."

Vegeta stood up the rest of the way and folded his arms across his chest, "It can wait till this evening. My training is more important than any silly invention you've concocted."

Bulma reflected that for all his years in Hell, his arrogance hadn't gone down one bit. "Trunks, I think me and your father need to have a little talk." She did not even glance over at Trunks.

Trunks looked from one parent to the other, seeing the stubborn couple shooting sparks from their eyes. He didn't need to be told twice. "Yeah, I did have some stuff to do. I'll meet you in the gravity room later, dad."

Vegeta grunted an acknowledgement, not breaking contact with Bulma's eyes, as Trunks quickly left the room. He wasn't lying after all; he did have something to do. He was looking forward to it actually.

As their son exited the room, the glare held between the two intensified. If it had been a ki blast, one could have compared it to a Big Bang.

Bulma finally spoke, as that was what Vegeta was waiting for her to do, "I'll have you know, buster, that I've been working hard on all these 'silly inventions' which include, I might add, your precious gravity room. Now, if training really is more important than my 'silly inventions' I guess I'll just dismantle the gravity room and give you more room to train!"

Vegeta's face darkened, "You dare to threaten me, woman?! I am the Pri-"

"Prince of all Saiyans. Yes, Vegeta, we've all heard that a million times! Doesn't it ever get old for you cause it's sure old to me!"

Vegeta rose and Bulma followed suit, not about to be intimidated height-wise. Vegeta couldn't do that if they both stood. Well, he could intimidate, but not with his non-height.

Vegeta quickly advanced on her, stopping when her finger came up to poke him in the chest, "It won't kill you to 'waste' ten minutes of your precious training time to look at the tank! And believe me, if you don't, more than just your precious gravity room will be at stake."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and grabbed the prodding finger, "Like what, woman? Are you going to stop cooking me your atrocious food? Perhaps practice abstinence?" He threw back his head and barked a laugh, bringing his head back down to sneer at her, "You don't have that much control."

Her face livid, Bulma didn't try to fight the grip on her finger, knowing it would be useless. "How about your tail?"

Vegeta went stock still, back rigid, eyes slightly widened. The grip on her finger tightened and she winced slightly, looking at the now purple end of it. Noticing where her look went, he released her finger, "What are you talking about?" It was supposed to come out snappish, but was too quietly spoken.

Bulma cradled her finger and fought a grin, knowing now wasn't the time to flaunt her victory, "I added something to the regeneration tank that should give you back your tail. But I won't know if it'll work unless you check it out, now will I?"

Vegeta scowled, "My tail will grow back, woman. They always do."

"As far as you know it will. However, I've only heard of it doing so when the Saiyan is young, I've yet to see yours grow back. Why is that, Vegeta?"

He growled and looked out the window in frustration, "I don't know."

Bulma inwardly sighed. So, he'd never heard that all Saiyans got back their tails, only seen Saiyans losing their tails and getting them back and assumed it was true for all Saiyans. Maybe some Saiyans never regained their tails. Maybe turning Super Saiyan negated the tail-regeneration. Bulma rested her hand on his arm, making him look at her, "It's not your fault you don't know. You never got the chance to find out."

He still scowled fiercely at her, shrugging away her sympathy, "If I check out the tank, will you leave me alone?"

Bulma beamed at him; hand still on his arm, "Sure! I'll leave you alone for the rest of the week!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes, scowl softening softly, "Woman, I may be an alien, but I do know that the end of the week is today."

Bulma laughed, not answering, and proceeded out the door, glancing back when he didn't follow, "Coming?"

Vegeta huffed and folded his arms across his chest, answering her by-following.

Bulma led the way to the lab and graciously allowed Vegeta to enter before him. Which he thought right and proper since he was a Prince. She slipped in behind him and let the door close, punching in a series of numbers and letters. After hearing the door click she turned around, almost smacking into Vegeta, who was staring at her suspiciously.

"Why did you lock the door?"

Bulma couldn't look him in the eyes, so she gazed at the tank behind him, "To make sure no one interrupted us."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you taking lessons in lying from me now, woman?"

She turned her eyes back to him, piercing him with their stare, "Speaking of the way you lie, that's exactly why I locked the door. I want answers and I want them now!"

Vegeta raised a brow and looked amused, "Now? And what, praytell, are the questions to these answers?"

Bulma straightened her back and folded her arms across her chest, daring to raise her nose in the air despite the fact that Vegeta's closeness had her on edge, considering the topic she was going to pursue. "Just what did you think you were doing back there, with that demon? Why was it, all of a sudden, I'm not deserving enough to save? Yet this morning, you seemed quite pleased to have me."

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "Woman…" He furrowed his brow suddenly and shut his mouth. She wasn't tricking him this time, "That's not the question you want answered."

Bulma sighed and made her way past Vegeta, thankful that he let her. Now she was facing away from him. On to plan B. "No. The question I want answered is why you don't to want be here. And what you meant by all you said a few days ago about the-MakiGari and stuff. You still haven't told me why you wanted it done. In fact, you haven't talked about it since you and Trunks discussed it." She turned around to face him. The look in his eyes almost halted her voice. They had darkened. He didn't seem to be looking at her though.

He noticed her brow drawn down in concern and forced a smirk onto his face, "How do you know what we were or weren't discussing? Spying on us?"

Bulma let him slide momentarily, "Oh come on! Trunks tells half a story and you two take off and you expect me to believe you didn't discuss it? Besides, I talked to Trunks."

Vegeta cursed the boy under his breath, assuming she meant that Trunks had already told her everything and that she had gleaned what he didn't want known from that alone; it seemed she was improving already in her storytelling.

He was moving past her then, to the regeneration tank, "The MakiGari is unimportant now, woman. What is important is that you open this thing up." He was pushing the big, square button on the control panel, but the machine was merely making a low-pitched beep. It was not opening.

Bulma shook her head and joined him at the control panel. She stared at it for so long, Vegeta looked up to see what was wrong. She was smirking at the panel, "Well jeez, Vegeta! I know I put a password on this thing, but I can't seem to remember it. Maybe, if you told me what I wanted to know it might jog my memory."

Vegeta almost shouted in frustration, "Woman, I told you it was unimportant! I'm not performing the MakiGari."

Bulma whirled him around, such was his shock at her forcefulness she had him halfway turned before he angrily jerked away from her grasp. "Unimportant? Vegeta, I've never heard you say anything unimportant! What about this-hunt has gotten you so upset? You wanted me to set up a program to your specifications," she rooted in her pocket, pulling out a much wrinkled piece of paper, "Who knows how long you've had this on you," she waved it underneath his angry scowl, "And now you're saying it's unimportant? Well, I'm not buying it, Vegeta! I'm going to do everything this paper says and then I'll find out on my own."

With a smirk, he grabbed the paper with one hand and allowed his ki to flare up, incinerating the paper to crumble as so much ash onto the floor between them. Bulma merely looked down at the pile and Vegeta looked confused. She wasn't exploding; she was just staring at the ashes. When she did look up at him, he almost took a step back. She looked-wounded.

"Well, that wasn't entirely unexpected. But I hoped you trusted me more than that." She looked back down at the pile and smiled softly, "I wasn't stupid enough to let that be the only copy. I'm still going to do it." Her blue eyes stared right into his confused black ones with a confidence he found unnerving, "I'm going to find out why you don't want to be here no matter what it takes."

With that she moved around Vegeta and quickly tapped in the code. The door slid upwards with a hiss as Bulma continued to press buttons, setting the tank to put in the additional component she had added.

Vegeta grabbed her arm and turned her toward him, "Woman, I don't want you-"

Bulma hushed him with a finger on his lips, getting out of his grip and nudging him to step into the tank, "It doesn't matter what you want, Vegeta. I need to know. But first, you get back your tail. You can't tell me that doesn't matter."

Vegeta glared at her, "No, woman, you don't understand…."

Bulma's eyes flashed, "That's just it, Vegeta! I don't understand! And you seem to think that I wouldn't even if you told me! Well, you told your son something because you two seem to be close enough now. Me, I don't get that privilege."

Vegeta grabbed her again, his own suddenly enraged eyes locking into her own. They suddenly relaxed as he didn't find what he was looking for, "You didn't talk to Trunks."

"I didn't…. You mean, you didn't tell him anything?"

Vegeta shook his head and released her to step into the tank, "We'll finish this discussion afterwards."

Bulma agreed. She needed time to sort all this out. "It'll take twenty minutes. It might feel a bit uncomfortable, but I don't know. I don't have a tail…." She shrugged as he pulled the mask over his face. He eyed her curiously, and with the mask over his face, it made him look more sinister than before. It was quite the turn-on for her. She winked at him, "See you in twenty."

He nodded, looking quite serious. She punched the big, square button and watched the door slide shut, the tank filling with a red liquid. Vegeta looked a little disconcerted at the liquid's color. His voice resonated over the intercom she had installed in the mask, "It's supposed to be blue."

He obviously didn't know she could hear him, for his eyes jumped even if he had enough control to keep his body from doing so. "I had a senzu bean. I added the chemical structure of it into the liquid." She knew she would get no more than that out. The liquid had reached his chin and his eyes were lowering as the sleeping gas entered the mask. He was out by the time it covered the mask.

Bulma sighed once and looked again at the pile on the floor. She moved over to the computer to retrieve the file of the piece of paper Vegeta had given her that morning-two days ago?

He had just handed it to her silently. She had looked at him with one eyebrow raised and then back down to the paper, unfolding it. It was a whole page of programming. When she had questioned him about it, he had been evasive. That had led to the argument that they had entered the kitchen with.

Now, she looked again at the more legible program tags before her. Most of it was familiar to her, and what wasn't she could figure out pretty easily. She just wondered how long Vegeta had this on him. When had he made it? Why had he made it? And why was he suddenly so eager to put it all behind him?

She shook her head and began typing the commands into the computer; sending them to the Gravity Room's computer under a name only she could open it with. After all, there seemed only one way for her to find out what she needed. She just didn't know if she was ready for what the program would reveal.

* * *

Trunks scanned the city below him, finding what he was looking for in a dirty alley. He dropped down silently onto the roof overlooking the alley and crouched down. He almost had to turn his head for the stench, but his ears caught the pleasant sound of a worm squirming.

He narrowed his eyes and thanked his Saiyan sight that was able to pierce the gloom and view his prey. The man was pacing the alley, back and forth, back and forth. Finally the man straightened and looked toward the street. Another man entered the alley, baseball cap hiding his face as he walked casually to meet the other, who immediately started the conversation, "So, find out anything about Trunks?"

Trunks's ears perked up at his name. What was this?

The man with the hat shushed the other furiously and glanced behind him, "Yes. But you don't have to tell the whole world, Scalthus!"

Scalthus waved away his concern with one hand, "What'd you find out?"

The man sighed, "You were right. It does look like Bulma Briefs. Trunks even called her mother. But that's not the best part!" He paused for effect, "He called the man with them father!"

Scalthus drew in a shocked breath, "You mean, his father is there? Alive? But-where was he all this time?"

The man shrugged, "I have no idea…. But you were right; it was that Vehida, or whatever, character. And man is he ever bulked-up! I think he's bigger than Trunks! But he is shorter."

Scalthus wagged a finger at the man, "Short people will rule the world some day, you know." He put the finger under his chin, rubbing it in thought. "We'll have to tell the boss all this. You go tell the gang the situation; I'll go tell the boss. See you in an hour."

The man nodded and exited back into the street, blending in with the natural pedestrian traffic. The other man, Scalthus, stood in the alley and mumbled to himself, back to the dark behind him. He did not notice the silent shadow drop down behind him; did not even sense its presence until it had him by the throat and pinned, face first, into the wall of the building.

Scalthus was sweating bullets and actually had to consciously keep himself from urinating. The person behind him, immensely strong and radiating a fatal aura, leaned in and whispered harshly in the man's ear, "What do you want with Bulma Briefs?"

Scalthus managed to get enough of his guts solidified to snap back, "That's none of your business! How dare you do this to me! No one touches Scalthus the Assaulter! It will cost your life-whoever you are!"

Trunks let out a low laugh, causing the man beneath him to shudder, "You're name means nothing to me." He tightened the hold he had on the man's neck, causing him to gasp, before he loosened it again, "I believe you should worry about your own life, not mine…. What do you want with the Briefs?"

Scalthus barked out a laugh, showing a lot of nerve-or was that stupidity-for a worm, "Trunks Briefs has many enemies. No telling who I'm working for. Maybe I'm not working for none! But I have no idea why you think I want anything with Bulma. She died a year ago!"

Trunks grinned and lifted the man from the wall to slam him back into it. The man let out a yelp, his nose broken and bloody. The people in the street didn't even look into the alley. The alley was dark and deserted for a reason. "Oh, there's telling all right. I'll just beat it out of you." He leaned in even further, the smirk evident in his voice, "I've learned a lot from my father in torture techniques."

The blood smeared across Scalthus's face made the paling of it that much more evident. Trunks's voice was loud enough now that Scalthus knew who held him. His voice came out in a squeak, "Trunks? T-Trunks Briefs?"

Trunks pulled the man out of the wall and spun him around to face him, eyes flashing with a sadistic humor, "The one and only. I seem to be so popular nowadays. Perhaps you can tell me why." The sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a butter knife.

Scalthus gulped and smiled weakly, "Why, Trunks! You didn't seriously think I was-after you, did you?"

Trunks smiled back and shook his head, "Oh no! I don't believe you're that stupid." He paused and cocked his head to one side; smile dropping, "But I do believe you're stupid to go after my mother. That means crossing my father and me. Even I don't cross my father." He smiled again, a dead grin, "But it's your funeral. I'll just deliver you to Vegeta. He'll be happy to listen to what you did to his wife in the parking lot. And I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear you're working for someone who wants to kill her! He'll show his happiness again…and again…and again…and again…"

Scalthus remembered seeing this Vegeta. He'd had a look on his face that could freeze Hell for all eternity. He had sudden visions of Vegeta showing his 'appreciation' in the form of pulling fingernails with pliers, not sharpening various tools for dissection, or just plain staring at him with those black eyes. That in and of itself would be torture to anyone. "Okay! Okay! I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just don't take me to your father! I can do without his-appreciation."

Trunks smiled grimly, "I'm glad you see it my way." He heaved him up by the shirt collar so that his face was inches from his own. Scalthus found to his horror that the son had the same eyes as the father, except they were wintry expanses of ice, whereas Vegeta's were endless black abysses. "Now, tell me everything that has anything to do with you and my family."

Scalthus gulped and immediately nodded, vowing never to mess with this family again. "Lilith of Paxel Corps wants to overtake Capsule Corporation. To do so, she had to-off your mother." He hurriedly continued as Trunks's eyes darkened and the grip on the shirt twisted, almost choking him, "All three assassins failed. Then the androids came and she died. Her son took over. Darren has the same goal as his mother, except once Bulma died it transferred to you. Now he'll find out that both Bulma and your father are alive." Trunks's eyes narrowed dangerously and Scalthus hurriedly squealed out, "But he doesn't know Vegeta is your father! He doesn't believe it! Only I do!"

Trunks smiled and held the man away from himself, pressing his back into the wall, "And he'd never believe a worm such as yourself, huh? Not that he'd need to. He might just figure it out anyways."

Scalthus, braver now that he wasn't so close to the man, shrugged, "Won't matter either way. The first time Bulma was targeted, the assassin immediately tried to do away with that Vegeta guy. He was never heard from again."

Trunks chuckled, "Which should tell you something." He brought him back in to meet his eyes, "I am my father's son."

Scalthus again had to resist the urge to release his bowels, "Hey! I'm only an informant! I'm no assassin!"

"No, you're just a mugger. That's worse than an assassin I believe. Or, at least, it gets a worse punishment." Trunks showed all his teeth in a grin that had Scalthus's own teeth chattering. "Vegeta would be quite pleased to have you in his hands."

Scalthus closed his eyes and looked to be muttering a prayer. What god would listen to him at the moment is up for conjecture. He opened his eyes to see a truly delighted grin. "Y-you're not human!" For all his years watching Vegeta, he realized that he had just now come to that conclusion.

Trunks raised a brow, "Half human, in fact."

"Y-your father is- You promised you wouldn't give me to him if I told you!"

Trunks's eyes widened in mock-shock, "Did I? I don't remember that." His smile fell as the man he held sagged, realizing that he had not said that. "Besides, I can't quite give you what you deserve for what you did to my mother." Things had fallen into place. Bulma's reaction afterwards, what this man had tried to do her-If this had been a simple robbery Trunks would have let him go with a harsh warning. But rape? Even attempted. To his mother?

"And I can't just let you go. You'd tell your employer, now wouldn't you?" He didn't wait for an answer as he continued, "Of course, I could always give you a mercy killing…" He allowed the man's hopes to rise, then pronounced his next statement, "But my alien side seems to be prominent today. Sorry." Was he supposed to show mercy?

With that, Trunks lifted the man, shrieking, into the air and headed toward Capsule Corporation. The people on the ground ignored the screaming man when they noticed who was carrying him. If the man was stupid enough to make the President of Capsule Corporation angry, he probably deserved what he was going to get.

* * *

Darren leaned back in his executive chair after the informant had left and swiveled his chair around to face his mother's picture, confiding in her as he always did.

"Well, mother, it seems Bulma is alive. I don't know how or why and I don't care. Now I have to kill not only her son but her and the man with her." He did not, of course, believe the informant that Vegeta was Trunks's father. He just didn't see the warm, bouncy woman getting with the cold, aloof man.

He shrugged, "Change of plans. Instead of killing Trunks with your plan, we'll have to kill that man with it. Then Bulma, then Trunks." He beamed up at the picture, "Your original plan, mother!"

With that, he swiveled back around and pressed the call button on his phone.

The young, feminine voice of the secretary sounded on the intercom, "Yes, sir?"

"Patti, begin operation CC-Override. I want it finished by morning."

"Yes, sir. Would you like the results sent to your office?"

Darren ran a hand through his blonde hair, smiling in triumph, "Yes, send all three heads to me on a silver-no, gold platter!"

There was a pause, "Y-yes, sir." He wondered if the girl looked as green as she sounded and frowned. He'd have to get a new secretary after the takeover.

Darren leaned back in his seat as he cut off the intercom, thinking of nothing more than how he was going to get the empty position filled. The victory was already in the bag after all.