Jaded

Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. I am not making any profit from this.


Rating –NC 17
Warnings – For the whole story: Language, whips, chains, knife play, character death (of a main character), torture, non-con, yaoi, M/M. OCs. Lemons, limes. OC/Goku, Goku/Vegeta, Goku/OCs, Kakarott/Vegeta, Vegeta/Goku.


A/N - well, this is it folks. Last chapter of Jaded. Thank you, everyone who has stuck with reading this story. Not an easy one to struggle through, so, I appreciate your efforts, AND your comments greatly!


Exceedingly long chapter. Get comfortable.

Jaded 10 - Kidnapped


Bulma rubbed her eyes for the umpteenth time. She had taken more time than she thought she had at the building, and her emotions were wearing her awareness to null. She yawned and turned up the air conditioner despite her still wet clothing, hoping to bring some semblance of wakefulness.

She reached for the radio, hoping to find something other than country music out here in the hills. She quietly berated herself for her poor planning for this trip, despite the fact it had been an emergency.

She never saw the vehicle she collided with. The other driver hadn’t had their lights on.


~o0o~


Vegeta snorted and sat up, taking in his surroundings. He untwisted his tail from Kakarott’s wrist as he brushed leaves and twigs from his shoulders. Sleeping on the ground hadn’t been such a good idea. He rolled a shoulder while he closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose….

…And that’s when he noticed it. Or the lack of it, “Bulma…” he whispered.

Goku woke as he felt Vegeta become alarmed, “What’s wrong?” he asked sleepily.

“Bulma…I can’t feel her,” Vegeta said as he stood.

Goku did a ki scan for himself, and stood. “Shit,” he blurted, before scanning for others he knew of. That was strange…the kids were all in one place.

“The brats are all at Capsule Corporation, including your eldest,” Vegeta said, looking around quickly for his clothes. He hopped on one foot as he put on his pants. Kakarott disappeared, only to return moments later.

“Ready?”

“Yeah,” Vegeta confirmed as he pulled as sleeves down over his arms, and then they were in his living room.

“Gohan,” Goku whispered, shaking his oldest awake.

As Gohan rubbed the sleep out of his eyes Vegeta noticed the younger ones sleeping in a pile. The clock on the wall said it was 11:36, p.m., by the way there was no outside light coming through the windows.

“Where’s Bulma?” Goku asked his eldest quietly, hoping not to wake the others.

Gohan stifled a yawn, barely aware it was his father he was talking to, “She went looking for you…or more like Vegeta.”

Goku looked to Vegeta, “Would the ceilings hide her ki?”

“Not by this much. I would still feel something,” Vegeta responded, suppressing the urge to pace.

Gohan was finally rousing enough to realize something was wrong, “Trunks and Bra felt Vegeta’s ki disappear. Bulma went to go and check on you guys where she knew you were most likely at,” he glanced up at the same clock Vegeta had, “She said she would be gone most of the day. I expected her back with some word on you two by now or at least a phone call. Something’s happened then…” he trailed off.

“You said she went looking for us?” Vegeta said.

“Yeah, she told Trunks she knew where you guys were when you pulled your monthly disappearing act,” Gohan confirmed, “Bra and Trunks told her they felt your ki disappear,” he said looking directly at Vegeta.

Goku blushed, and tried to hide it by turning to face only Vegeta, “I can get us to the room. I think we should start looking from there.”

And then it finally hit Vegeta. Bulma had gone to the building, and neither of them had cleaned up, “No,” he whispered, shaken. This…this was not how he had planned for her to find out.

“She wouldn’t take her own life, Vegeta,” Goku said, trying to comfort the other, “If anything, she’d try to take yours.” He received a weak, knowing chuckle from the other.

“True, but…that still doesn’t tell us what has happened,” Vegeta said, raising his eyes to the other’s.

“So we have to go…” Goku said, turning to face his eldest. “Gohan…I am sorry. I-I don’t have any right to ask, but…”

Gohan interrupted his father’s faltering words, “Dad, they are all family. I wouldn’t leave them,” he raised his hand in apology as his father flinched away from his words, “No, Dad. I understand that you do what you think is best. I’ll do what I think is best.”

Goku nodded weakly, not able to forgive himself as quickly as it seemed Gohan was. “Ready?” he asked, turning to Vegeta.

Vegeta nodded, reaching a hand for Goku’s shoulder. They disappeared as quickly as they had come, but not before Gohan wondered about the prince reaching for his father.


~o0o~


Bulma woke and groaned. Her face felt as though it had been smashed in, and she had the migraine from hell. Her eyes fluttered open as air was forcefully pushed into her lungs. Her eyes crossed as she looked to see a respirator covering her mouth and nose.

“A hospital?” she meant to ask out loud, but her mouth didn’t move. Only mumbled words were heard.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” she heard come through the door way to her room, “He wanted her kidnapped, not killed.

“She’s here, ain’t she?” someone mumbled in response to the tirade.

Someone sighed and poked their head around the door, and took a double take when they noticed she was awake, “Hey, go get the Boss. She’s awake.” Footsteps echoed down the hallway as someone obeyed, even as the yuppie looking young man stepped into the room. “You in any pain?” he asked nervously.

Bulma tried to nod her head, but something was keeping her neck immobile. She settled for blinking her eyes hard.

“Yes?” again she blinked hard. “No?” she blinked twice.

“Okay. I am really sorry. You’ve been terribly injured. You’re jaw had to be wired shut, your neck is fractured and both your arms have multiple breaks,” the guy sat as he finished and mumbled under his breath, “Fucking idiots.”

Bulma did the best equivalent of a disgusting sigh as she could manage. She tried moving her fingers, but that didn’t work. Keyboards and monitors were out for communication.

She moved her toes, and smiled briefly before her face hurt enough she stopped. She looked at the young man and wiggled her toes.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

Bulma looked around the room. There was nothing she could stare at hard enough for her to get the message across…except the T.V. screen. She glared at it.

“You want to watch T.V.?” he asked.

She rolled her eyes before blinking them twice. “Monitor?” Bulma blinked once.

“What good is a monitor going to do if you don’t have a key…oh!” the young man got up and left the room quickly. He returned almost as quickly as he had left with a backpack. He took a laptop out, and the some wires. Soon he had the laptop wired into the T.V. screen.

Bulma tried to focus on the keys at her toes. Damn, she really needed to think about getting glasses, “W…h…o….”

“I don’t think I am at liberty to say,” the young man blushed.

“Good decision…I’ll take it from here,” someone in the hallway said. The man who had set up the laptop cleared his throat before setting the laptop flat on the bed and leaving the room.

“Ms. Briefs…or should I say Mrs.?” The older gentleman who came in asked.

Bulma rolled her eyes. She didn’t care about titles.

“Before we go through the painful process of you typing out your questions, let me answer some for you. Who won’t be answered,” Bulma glared. “We know who you are, and believe me, it was no one’s intention that you were hurt as badly as you were.”

‘Shit load of good that’s going to do you when my husband finds you,’ Bulma thought to herself.


“What, is a kidnapping attempt gone wrong. Well, we have you, but like he said before, you weren’t supposed to be hurt,” Bulma grunted.

“How, well, that’s sort of complicated, but let me tell you, the planning took years. Years my employers think well spent, despite how things turned out.”

“Where is another question that won’t be answered. You are too smart for us to think you won’t find a way of communicating with someone before the job is finished,” the man cleared his throat and sat in the only chair in the room.

“And lastly why…is your husband,” the man said quietly.

Bulma quirked an eyebrow at that. What did Vegeta have to do with her being kidnapped…unless someone in Frieza’s army still had it out for her husband.

“A little over three years ago, your husband began doing business with my employers. Six months later, he suddenly stopped,” the man began the real story. “When asked to return to work, he physically brutalized the messenger,” Bulma groaned. That was so like her husband. “My employers had suggested that he threaten Vegeta’s family. We didn’t know how badly that would turn out, but we did learn that his family could be used as leverage against him.”

‘So, not Frieza’s lackeys. Oh, these people are in so much trouble, and they can’t even begin to imagine. Wait…my children!’ she gestured with her toes at the keyboard that was laying flat on the bed. The man got up and tilted the keyboard for her, “C..h…i…l…d…”

“Your children are to be left alone, Mrs. Briefs. We understand now they are capable of some very interesting abilities. Some of the same abilities Vegeta was using while in our employ.”

Bulma’s eyes widened. Her family had been under surveillance? Her eyes narrowed…for years the man had indicated. What had Vegeta gotten mixed up in? “W…h…a…u..”

“I am sorry. Again, I am not at liberty to tell you.”

Bulma resisted the urge to kick the laptop. It was her only way of communicating at the moment, after all, “M…e….d….s..”

“You hurt a lot?” the man asked, setting the laptop down on a bedside table.

Bulma blinked her eyes once, and the man came to the side of the bed to press a button. Shortly after a man in a lab coat came into the room, “I’ll take it from here,” he said to the other as he pulled out a syringe.

Bulma sighed as what ever was injected into the I.V. took affect. They weren’t interested in killing her or her children. Vegeta would find her…what he did after that, only Vegeta could decide.


~o0o~


Vegeta shuddered as they appeared in the building. The lights were on full power, but the place was a disaster, “One of these days, you’re going to tell me how you learned to do that.”

Goku shut his eyes to the room for a moment. It was over now…they were past this…he hoped, “What, IT?”

“No, how you IT to this building with no one in it,” Vegeta said before he started hunting around. The room wasn’t as much of a mess as it should have been.

“I planted a permanent ki signal outside the door. Then I practiced locating myself into the room, rather than by the door way,” Goku answered as he moved in a separate direction from Vegeta.

Vegeta stopped, “Like the chains?”

Goku nodded, “Sort of…same concept.”

“She was here,” Vegeta said, looking at the now cut out portion of the wall.
Goku nodded, “Yeah, it’s a generator keeping the lights on; not the solar panels.”

Vegeta surveyed the room. All the contents of the panel were gone, and so were the chains Kakarott had used… “Would you be able to locate where the chains are?” Vegeta asked.

Goku turned, and gulped at the bloody mess the table was before noticing the same thing Vegeta had, “I…I think I can.”

“Try it.”

Goku sat on a clear space of the floor and concentrated on his ki. It had taken a long time to get used to searching for it outside of his own, personal aura. Finally, “Yeah, I feel them. Not far from here,” he finished and opened his eyes.

“Well, take me to them,” Vegeta stated.

Goku nodded and stood. He placed a hand on Vegeta’s shoulder before their view changed. They stood to one side of a roadway, a red hover car cleared off of the pavement. “That’s not good…” Goku started.

Vegeta grunted as he walked towards the vehicle. Bulma wasn’t in the car, and the license plates had been removed. He ripped the door off and looked inside. Her blood was on the steering wheel. He glanced in the back seat and noticed the travel bag he had packed for this hellish trip. Something in it made him hesitant to touch it, but when a beep came from the bag, he took his chance…and dropped it on his foot.

“Ouch,” Goku said in sympathy.

“The chains are in the bag, Kakarott. Mind removing it?” Vegeta asked.

“Oh,” Goku grabbed the bag from the other’s feet. “What’s beeping?”

“I don’t know, but you’re going to have to search the bag for it,” Vegeta said, stepping away.

Goku turned the bag over, dumping the contents of the main compartment to the ground. A moment later, a beep still came from the bag. He searched the side pockets and finally came up with a cell phone. “It’s got a low battery,” he stated as he passed it over to Vegeta.

The prince grunted as he took it, “Put the chains back in the bag,” he stated as he tried to see if he could get the phone operational on what little power it had left.

Goku did as instructed, grimacing at the bloody mess the objects were. He contemplated just launching the thing into space, but for some reason didn’t.

“We’re going to have to go back to Capsule Corp. to get this charged,” Vegeta sighed.

“Do we take this with us, or back to the building?” Goku asked as he held up the bag.

Vegeta growled at it, “We take it back to the building and lock the place up. When this is over, we burn the whole mess to the ground.”

Goku nodded, extremely happy with the decision. “Okay, here goes.”

Once again the road was empty.

~o0o~


Trunks woke to the smell of coffee. He didn’t think he had slept enough for it to have already been morning…he removed Goten’s foot from his throat before he remembered what had been going on before he had fallen asleep.

He moved quietly as to not wake the other two before he went to the kitchen to see what was going on. Gohan sat in a bar stool at the counter with a steaming mug in his hand. “Where’s Mom?”

Gohan shook his head, “Our dads are looking for her.”

“They were here and you didn’t wake us?” Goten asked from the entry.

“They weren’t here that long. I thought it best to let you sleep,” Gohan told his brother.

“I’m thirsty,” Bra said as she picked up Goten’s arm to move it out of her way to get into the kitchen. She climbed up on the counter and grabbed a glass from a cupboard before walking on the counter top to the sink.

“So now it’s Mom that is in trouble?” Trunks asked the oldest.

“Yes,” everyone in the room turned at the sound of Vegeta’s voice. Before anyone could continue he hooked the phone in a charging dock.

“We found her car wrecked on the side of the road. It looked as though she had been coming back when it happened,” Goku blurted.

Vegeta crossed his arms. He hadn’t necessarily wanted his youngest to know her mother might be seriously injured. He uncrossed them to pick up a regular phone to call his wife’s personal cell phone. Everyone waited while it rang. Six rings later, “You have called Bulma Briefs. Please leave a short message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“This is Vegeta. I am wondering where you are,” Vegeta said shortly before hanging up.

“That’s all?” Trunks asked.

“Who ever took her off the road took her purse. If it were an emergency team, they would have called by now,” Vegeta said as he set the phone down.

“That’s true…there wasn’t another vehicle, was there?” Goku said, musing.

“You don’t think this was an accident?” Gohan asked.

Vegeta shrugged, “It’s my nature to be suspicious.”

The phone rang, and Vegeta answered, “Hello.”

“Ah, Vegeta. We have your wife, and we would like to make a deal,” only Vegeta was able to understand what the person on the other end was saying.

“That’s all I needed to know,” Vegeta said as he hung the phone up on the caller. He recognized the man’s voice, and was able to locate him by his weak ki easily.

“And?” Goku asked before anyone else could speak.

“We are going to get her, and it’s going to be ugly,” Vegeta said as he started climbing the stairs towards the bedrooms. Everyone followed.

“I want to help,” Trunks stated.

“Me too,” Bra said tiredly.

“It’s only going to take the two of us. These are humans we are dealing with,” Vegeta said as he came back out of his room with two black jackets. He handed one to Kakarott and then put the other on.

“But…”

“Stay here. Lock the doors. Don’t answer the phone,” Vegeta said as he headed towards the front door.

Goku glanced back as he left. Goten had disappeared almost as soon as they had shown up.

Vegeta stalled Kakarott once they were outside, “Kakarott, I need you to go to Dende’s. When you feel my signal that means I need you to bring the green runt with you. Bulma’s probably going to need healing.”

“I thought…”

“I don’t need your help Kakarott, and I don’t think you are going to like what I am about to do,” Vegeta said over his shoulder before taking off.

Goku sighed before placing two fingers to his forehead and concentrating on Dende’s ki.

~o0o~


Bulma woke to the sound of gunfire in the hall outside her room. She couldn’t do much more than stare at the backs of the men blocking her door way, and hope one of them wouldn’t get the irrational desire to hide behind her. It would only be a pain in the ass.

And then the two were forcibly removed with much yelling before they landed somewhere down the hall.

She closed her eyes in relief when she saw her husband’s golden form. “Bulma.” Vegeta said as he reached a finger to her cheek. She gave him the best smile that she could. She stiffened as she saw someone come in quietly behind her husband. It was all the warning Vegeta needed before sending a ki blast in the man’s direction, knocking out half the wall creating the doorway with it.

“I have a lot to tell you, but we have to get you out of here first,” Vegeta said as he turned back.

Bulma nodded, and watched as her husband closed his eyes.

Moments later Goku was in the room with Dende in tow. That little green alien went to her bedside and immediately started apply ki in his unique way. First the pain ebbed, and then she could feel her fingers again. She smiled, trying to say something, and then frowned at the wires that kept her mouth closed.

Bulma waited for Vegeta to pull the casts off of her arms, and remove the neck brace before she leaned over and grabbed the laptop from the side table it had been placed on while she was alone in the room. “Mouth wired shut,” she typed and pointed up at the TV.

“I can break them…” Vegeta started.

“I’d really rather do it myself…once I am at home,” Bulma typed, and then shrugged.

“Okay. Kakarott, take us to Capsule Corp,” Vegeta stated.

Goku smiled briefly at Bulma, glad to see she was okay before complying.

The kids swarmed them as soon as they arrived. Bulma hugged her two before racing to the bathroom in order to see what would need to be done in order to talk again.

Moments later she came out shaking her head. She scribbled on a piece of paper before heading to the down stairs labs, “Need my dad’s help.”

Goku shuffled his feet awkwardly as Goten stared at him. Finally, “Are you going to run away again?”

“No,” Goku said quietly.

“Do I…we get to know why you left?” he asked.

“Goten,” Gohan said, trying to get his brother to back off.

“No, Gohan. You both have the right to know,” he looked over at Vegeta. Something about the way the other stood told him now wasn’t the time, “But, I have some things that need to be done first.”

“You are running away again,” Goten stated and glared.

“I’m not. Everything that needs to be done can be done here,” Goku said sadly, lacing his fingers together. He wasn’t happy with the way things were turning out. He had wanted to save Bulma also, but the way Vegeta was behaving…yeah, he should have known. The prince had more feelings for his wife and mate than he would his third class.

Goku didn’t know where that left him…other than with a big gap of time he had to fill in for his sons…if he were going to start off on the right foot this time.

“Why don’t you kids go sleep upstairs?” Vegeta asked as he sat at the kitchen table. Then he shrugged, “Or go pile up on the living room floor again. Whichever. Nothing can be done until after I’ve talked to your mother,” he said.

Trunks sighed, and turned towards the stairwell. He picked his little sister up as he passed, Goten looking one more time at his dad before following, “Don’t go away.”

“I won’t,” Goku assured him.

Dende stepped out of the shadows he had faded into when they had first appeared; “I think I’ll go see if Bulma’s going need any help after removing the wires.”

“I’ll go with you,” Gohan quickly volunteered.

Goku fidgeted a bit before finally sitting down. “Where do we go from here, Vegeta?”

“I don’t know, Kakarott. A lot of this depends on Bulma,” Vegeta answered.

Goku’s jaw clenched. So he was the fall back plan if Bulma kicked Vegeta out?

“She’s my mate. We have children together. I need to know how much support she expects from me before I can tell you how much of myself I have to give away,” Vegeta said, before tucking his head into his arms on the table.

So he was taking second place to Vegeta’s family? Something about that idea sat better with Goku.

“You’re not talking,” Vegeta finally pointed out.

“I don’t know what to say yet. I don’t know if I should be angry or sad…” Goku answered as best he could.

“Yeah, me either,” Vegeta responded, “I need a beer,” he said, getting up from the table.

“You drink?” Goku asked, surprised. They had spent how much time together, and he didn’t know that?

“Not often,” Vegeta grunted from behind the fridge door, “You want one?”

“Uh…sure, I guess,” Goku replied. Goku took a sip from the bottle Vegeta handed him and shuddered at the taste before setting it down on the table, “Yick.”

“Yeah, I’ve had better,” Vegeta responded, taking a larger swallow than Goku.

Goku fiddled with the condensation on the bottle a bit before speaking, “Did you hurt any of those people?”

“Of course I did,” Vegeta answered, taking another drink, “They kidnapped my mate, and then tried to stop me from getting to her.”

“Oh…Did you kill any of those people?” Goku asked.

“If I did, it wasn’t on purpose, Kakarott,” Vegeta responded truthfully.

“Oh…” Goku took another drink of the bitter stuff to keep his mouth from talking.

A beer later and they both hissed as the lights came on in the kitchen, “Oh, sorry boys, I didn’t realize anyone was up this early,” Bunni said.

Vegeta grunted, “You get up this early everyday?”

“Oh, heavens yes. With three of your appetites, I have to,” Bunni said as she started the coffee maker.

“Well, I guess I should warn you, there seems to have been a sleep over last night,” Vegeta said as he stood.

“How many?” Bunni asked, pulling things out of the fridge.

“All of ‘em,” Vegeta answered tiredly.

“Oh, my…that makes six…count it seven with Goku here,” Bunni smiled fondly after her teasing.

Goku grinned back, “Yeah. I haven’t had any of your food for quite some time. May want to make even more.”

Bunnie blushed and giggled. Then she opened up a drawer and pulled out a capsule case, releasing a couple of the cooking bots. “Breakfast for twelve,” she told them cheerily.

Goku stood when Vegeta beckoned him to follow. They quietly made their escape to the down stairs labs. Vegeta led them unerringly to a room where Gohan leaned on a wall next to a closed door.

“You may not want to go in there,” he told them a little shakily.

“That bad?” Vegeta asked, taking up a similar stance on the opposite side.

“Yeah. I thought I could handle it…but it’s teeth,” he explained quickly. He laughed shakily, “Good thing I haven’t been studying to be a dentist.”

Goku leaned against the opposite wall, and then slid down to sit on the floor. He really had missed out on quite a bit of his children’s lives.

Moments later Dr. Briefs walked out, with Dende running after him, and shutting the door quickly. “Everything in there okay?” Vegeta asked the two of them.

“Yeah, I just…can you IT me to the tower now?” Dende spoke to Goku.

“She’s healed?” Goku asked as he stood.

“Yeah, she’s healed. I just don’t want to be here when she’s done counting to 100,” Dende said, looking nervously at the door he had shut behind him.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Goku said to Vegeta before bringing his fingers to his head.

“I think I’ll go see if there is something to eat,” Gohan said, quickly vacating the area also.

Dr. Briefs had managed an amazing disappearing act. Vegeta shrugged, and counted to fifty before tapping his knuckles lightly on the door, “Okay to come in?”

Something hard landed against the door, and he took that as a no. So he counted to 100…and waited. Became a little concerned that Kakarott may have abandoned him…

Only to have the other make an appearance pressed up against him. Goku backed off quickly, “Glad I wasn’t in there when you decided to do that,” Vegeta smirked at him.

“Yeah,” Goku said.

Vegeta knocked again, “Good yet?” they both heard slightly mumbled words through the door, so Vegeta opened it a crack, “Yeah?”

“Yes, come in,” Bulma said. Vegeta entered, and was about to shut the door when Bulma stopped him, “Might as well have Goku in here, too.” Vegeta raised an eyebrow, but opened the door for Kakarott to follow. “Find a seat. We may be in here for a while,” Bulma said as she shifted in the chair. She grimaced in disgust as she noticed the bloody wires were still visible, and covered them with a wad of paper towels.

There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Vegeta cleared his throat. Bulma brought her hand up before he could speak, “I know,” both of the men shifted uncertainly in their seats. “I’ve known for a long time. Chichi came and told me, because she was afraid you two were huge perverts, and might try to molest one of the children,” Bulma admitted.

Vegeta stood, tail almost knocking the chair to the floor, incensed someone would dare accuse him of such a thing, “I am going to…”

“That fucking bitch,” Goku interrupted, slamming a fist into the cinderblock wall. He had stayed away from his sons for what purpose? The lying snake hadn’t kept her part of the bargain to begin with!

Bulma’s eyes widened at Goku’s reaction, not knowing the true root of his ire. “I didn’t tell you guys that I knew, hoping…one day, you may have been comfortable enough to tell me on your own.”

Vegeta sat back down, tucking his forehead into his open palms. He sighed and nodded into his hands.

Goku wouldn’t look her in the eye, “It’s okay, Goku. I’ve gotten used to the idea.”

Goku shook his head, “She used it as a threat, and then did it anyway,” he ground out.

“Used what as a threat?” Bulma asked.

“She said she would tell you if I tried to see Goten. She also threatened to take the divorce to court,” there would be no way he could convince a human judge that ‘sparring’ did not equal ‘child abuse’; Chichi had used those exact words, but she had left the threat hanging. “I…” he closed his mouth. There had been a time or two when he had seen his son…he just didn’t think it was possible for Chichi to have known about it. “When did she tell you?” he asked. Maybe it was because he hadn’t kept his part of the deal.

“A few months after the regeneration tank was built,” Bulma answered, “You shouldn’t have let her use me as leverage to keep you away from Goten. I have a whole army of lawyers at my disposal, Goku. I would have made sure Goten was able to see you, despite what Chichi told me. You’re my friend.”

No, the fucking bitch had done it without knowing then. Goku growled. He was angry at himself, angry at his ex…he sighed. He certainly hadn’t been thinking clearly when Chichi had kicked him out…and apparently not since either, “I am sorry, Bulma.”

Bulma nodded acknowledgement of the apology before continuing, “She seemed genuinely concerned molestation was a possibility, Goku. I didn’t believe her for a moment…but some people just aren’t as open minded as I am,” Bulma said quietly. “But what I am not so open minded about...” they both looked up when she paused, “was what I found in the room yesterday,” Bulma finished quietly.

Goku blanched at her words, and Vegeta sighed.

“What do you need to know,” Vegeta asked.

“How could you do that to Goku?” Bulma asked her husband, already having fixed the roles in her mind.

“I didn’t…”

“He didn’t,” Goku interrupted Vegeta. “It was me, doing that to Vegeta,” he finished, looking down at the floor. There was quite a bit of silence following his statement, but he couldn’t motivate himself to look up. “It wasn’t always like that though,” he said, hoping to soften the impact, “This only happened once,” he amended. Why did every addendum just make matters seem worse?

Bulma was shocked at the confession. It just didn’t seem like something her friend would do, despite circumstances; any circumstances. “And, if Vegeta decided to go with you, after tonight, how would I know it wasn’t because he didn’t want you to hurt him worse? Or hurt his family?” Bulma asked, having already accepted the men would stay together, but the room had left a horrid impression on her.

“He did it because I asked him too,” Vegeta stated.

“You what?!” Bulma lost her composure at the admission.

“More like, I made him do it,” Vegeta continued, “Bulma…before you, I didn’t know there was such a thing as plain as acceptance,” Vegeta said, trying to get an explanation in before Bulma regained control over her mouth, “Everyone wanted something,” Bulma nodded, she had heard at least this portion from him before, “My people wanted a prince, my father wanted The Legendary…and Frieza…” he stopped…he had never gone into this with her, although he knew she was clever enough to have seen some of it for herself.

“Frieza wanted a…” he stopped again; disgusted that he couldn’t find the words.

“A pet?” Bulma asked…but people didn’t treat their pets as badly as what she had seen in the room, “A victim?”

Vegeta shook his head, “No, it was more twisted than that,” there just wasn’t a word or a thing he could think of how the bastard at twisted and distorted him in any manner possible, trying to design him. He sighed, giving up on it for the moment, “I needed that sort of…attention again. Or at least, I thought I did,” he said, looking up at Goku.

“And you agreed to do this, Goku?” Bulma was hurt and shocked at her best friend.

“I…I didn’t know what else to do, Bulma,” Goku said, looking back down at the floor. “It wasn’t until two days ago I finally understood that what I was agreeing to wasn’t helping. I was going to stop…”

“You did stop,” Vegeta interrupted him.

“I didn’t stop soon enough, Vegeta,” Goku blinked back tears. Neither Bulma nor Vegeta noticed.

“You knew Vegeta needed help, but you didn’t know how?” Bulma asked. Goku nodded. “And you didn’t think asking for advice would have been well received if Vegeta found out?” Goku nodded again.

Vegeta sighed, “It would not have. I would have seen it as breaking trust.”

“I really don’t know who has been hurt more here,” Bulma finally said. Both of the men looked up, “But I think Goten is probably the worst off.”

Goku nodded, and, not being able to hide it any more, wiped his eyes with the back of his hands.

“No more secrets guys. Tomorrow, we tell the children,” Bulma said in a manner that meant all business, “that you two are an item,” she smiled at them.

“Okay,” the two sayians said at the same time.

“So, now on to other things. Who were your friends, Vegeta?”

“Zonarc Drilling,” Vegeta said, “Why?”

“I have a detailed restraining order to file,” Bulma grinned evilly.


~o0o~


Bra snuck into the nursery sometime the next afternoon. She didn’t understand why the boys were acting so strangely that their fathers were together. If her mom was fine with it, then she was too. Besides, she had become used to her father smelling faintly of Goten’s dad. It only made sense!

She climbed up on the worktable, and pulled her tree to the edge where she could reach it from the floor. She was going to do a lot of things the hard way from now on, so she could grow stronger faster.

She jumped down from the tabletop before reaching for her cedar tree. She made a quick look around for her grandmother before she slipped out the glass door and into the garden.

Bra searched for the perfect spot for some time. Spots were too shady, or too close to the house….finally.

She set the pot down, and began digging into the ground with her bare hands. She pulled at the ceramic once the hole was dug, and pulled the pot apart. She noticed how the roots were already binding inside the pot, and shook her head, “I am so sorry,” she whispered as she placed her tree in the hole. She looked around for a watering can, and went to fill it. Once she was back she watered the ground, and then moved dirt back into the hole, before watering some more.

“You’re going to grow up big…like those legendary redwoods. And I am going to be here to make sure you do.”


~o0o~


“You know, Vegeta…despite how supportive Bulma is, this isn’t going to be easy,” Goku said as they watched Bra digging from an upstairs window. “It’s practically like…starting over.”

Vegeta crossed his arms, “No, it’s nothing like starting over, Kakarott. We’ve both been through too much to want to start over,” Vegeta understood there were connections between them now that wouldn’t have been there years before. Despite the pain they both had gone through, he knew there probably had been no other way.

Goku sighed, leaning his elbows on the windowsill, “It’s going to take a lot of work, isn’t it…understanding each other?” Goku knew the gap was becoming smaller, even if it was difficult to see the goal on the other end at times…but at least there was a goal now; something had shifted, and he was able to see an overview of the maze, rather than being stuck in it.

Vegeta snorted, “Of course it is,” Goku growled at the mockery, until Vegeta explained himself, “You’ve known me for how long? Certainly you’ve noticed to what extremes I am willing to go, if it is something I desire badly enough.”

Goku’s heart pounded, “Is…is this one of those things, Vegeta?”

He received a welcome answer in an unexpected way. ~“Yes, Kakarott, it is.”~.


~o0o~


The End


A/N: I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, and kept up with this story. Also those who took a chance with a story type they don't usually read.

In no particular order, other than when I saw your review.

Pixlegoddess
Vegetachick7
Katiefoolery
YuehKitsune
SonSofia
Xero Sky
Chibi Hoshi
Camaro
Noel
Irol
Webtester01
Chloe
TheMistressMystery
DetoxAngle
VeggieSlave
Dragon
Trisa ML
Darkserapha
Pie
starlight_dragon
LaRieaux
KnightSun

Many, Many Thank yous!


A/N Play List:

Sting – A Thousand Years (Chapter 8)
Peter Gabriel – The Feeling Begins (chapter 8)
Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth
Peter Gabriel – Troubled
Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
Cibo Matto – Apple
Gerard McMann – Cry Little Sister
Seal – Crazy
Muse – Knights of Cydonia (chapter 10)
Moody Blues – Knights in White Satin
Depeche Mode – Halo
Dave Matthews – Proudest Monkey
Rob D. – Clubbed to Death (Kurayamino mix)
U2 – Love Is Blindness
Farhat Bouallagui/Sting – Desert Rose (chapter 8)
Peter Gabriel – Open
Go Home Productions – Three Steps to a Bittersweet Goodbye
Evanescence – Bring Me Back to Life
Peter Gabriel – Red Rain
Gorillaz – El Manana
Toni Childs – Stop Your Fussin’
Depeche Mode – Sweetest Perfection (chapter 1)
Depeche Mode – Clean
U2 – Cruel (chapter 7)
Sinead O’Connor – I Want Your (Hands On Me)
Toni Childs – Zimbabwe
Cibo Matto – The Candy Man
Sting – Ghost Story (Chapter 9)
U2 – Acrobat (Chapter 8)
Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes
Cibo Matto – Sugar Water
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
Toni Childs – Lay Down Your Pain
Enya – Only Time