Survival of the Fittest

Update November 14, 2010: Sorry for my day late update. I am utterly swamped at school right now. Two papers and an exam this week. And all I've done this weekend is work. I'm not sure how people will react to this chapter. I feel like I have a tough crowd considering the response to the last chapter. But who knows. Hope you all enjoy.

At this point I'm going to move updates to Sundays, we'll see if that works better. Next one should be on Nov. 28. I'll update my profile if that changes. School is busy and I find less and less time to write and beta my work. For now though, TTFN.

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Chapter Five – “Chaos and Logic”
WC: 3,631

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Vegeta grumbled as he stalked through the forest, following the debris his mate had left in his wake. He wished there was someway to make Goku understand, to make him see reason, but the man was more stubborn than he was. It almost felt like a lost cause when Goku got into a rage like this…but he had to try, for the sake of his family. Vegeta would not stand for their family being torn apart if there was something he could do about it.

He scoffed at an uprooted tree along the path, rolling his eyes at his mate’s inability to handle his emotions. Sometimes it was a good thing, like when they made love, Goku was incredibly passionate and loving, making Vegeta feel like the Prince he was. Or like with their family, Goku’s feelings of love, friendship and devotion were so strong Vegeta knew nothing would stand in his mate’s way from protecting those he cared about. But there was the flip side, and Goku’s intense emotions could backfire. Like right now, his feelings of possession were overwhelming his reason and he was treating his own brother like a villain. It was unacceptable.

His mate could be more Saiyan than the rest of them when he got worked up like this…and that made him dangerous, because no one, not even Vegeta, had the power to stop Goku. But he was bonded to the man, so he would have to use that instead of raw force.

Vegeta finally came upon his mate in a clearing. Goku stood in the middle covered in blood, a dead dinosaur at his feet ripped to shreds. If Vegeta wasn’t so mad at him right now, he would have been very turned on by the sight of his mate’s animalistic side. As it was he was just pissed off, his lover really needed to get better control over himself.

“Kakarot,” he called, growling when his mate turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. “This stops right now. You either get a hold of yourself or so help me I will throw you out of our home.”

In an instant Goku was in front of him, shoving Vegeta up against a tree, a hand around his throat, the other against his belly. He gasped in shock, eyes wide and disbelieving as he stared into the dark eyes of the man he loved. Fear began to fester inside of him and Vegeta swallowed. His mate’s eyes were glazed, almost unseeing, and he worried if this time Goku had been pushed too far. He had seen his mate when he lost control of his emotions, usually in battle when a friend got hurt. He was always volatile and unstoppable, almost frightening in his intensity…but he had always had a shred of control.

Now…he looked completely out of it.

Goku’s teeth were barred in a snarl, a deep rumbling growl in his chest. When he spoke his voice was deep and animal like, and it frightened Vegeta on a level he had never felt before. “I don’t believe you are the one in charge Vegeta. I’m the Dom, and what I say goes. He either leaves peacefully or violently, I don’t care which. But he leaves.”

“You’re wrong Kakarot,” Vegeta said, though albeit reluctantly, he feared angering the man even more than he was. “Just because you are the strongest doesn’t mean you’re in charge. I carried our children, as such I am in charge of our household…you just…protect us…”

His mate’s eyes became narrowed as he spoke and Vegeta gulped, sweat beading on his forehead as Goku’s eyes became even blacker than they already were. “Maybe I should remind you, who is really in charge, Sub,” his lover growled out, all semblance of the happy-go-lucky mask gone, and left in its wake was a Saiyan unlike any Vegeta had ever known.

Goku snarled, the hand on his belly bunching in the fabric of his shirt before ripping it off of his body. The hand around his throat tightened as Goku then disposed of his pants in the same manner, leaving him in just his boots and nothing more. The bandage on his throat was gone in a breath only to be replaced by his mate’s mouth. Vegeta shouted into the air, hands digging into Goku’s shoulders as his mark of claim was opened once more that day. Tears sprang to his eyes, not so much in pain of the wound, but pain from the way his mate was acting.

Vegeta was suddenly lifted up and he felt fumbling near his groin, his eyes releasing their tears at the feel of his mate’s impatient hands on his body. He couldn’t let this happen…it could ruin their bond. He had to stop this…he had to…

He shivered when his neck was released and Goku pulled back to look him in the face, his hard cock poised to take Vegeta’s body unwillingly, his mouth covered in Vegeta’s blood. His body sagged in his mate’s hold…he wasn’t strong enough to stop him when he was like this. All Vegeta could do was hope things turned out alright. He clenched his eyes shut, swallowing thickly as he waited for the inevitable.

But it never came.

Vegeta opened his eyes slowly, looking up into his mate’s face. Goku was staring at him with a look of horror on his face, his eyes were clear of the rage of before, and his hands were now soft on Vegeta’s body. A hand pressed to his cheek, and Vegeta blinked slowly as Goku wiped at his tears. His mate slowly released his body, setting Vegeta safely on the ground before he backed away. Vegeta sagged against the tree he had been pressed against, breathing in a shuddering breath as the terrifying moment faded away.

His mate fell to his knees in front of him, looking up at Vegeta with sad and apologetic eyes. Goku said nothing, just looked at him, body trembling at what he had almost done. Vegeta let himself sit down at the base of the tree, nestled in its roots as he watched the man. He was eternally thankful Goku had come to his senses at the last moment…but he was still troubled.

What if there was a next time…and Goku couldn’t stop himself…

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Goku stared at his trembling hands, eyes blurry from frightened tears. What was he doing…what had he done? He could barely breathe he was so shaken up. One moment he was so angry he could rip his brother limb from limb without a second thought and then he saw the tears on Vegeta’s face and everything he had felt all morning was gone in flash, replaced with this hollow feeling of emptiness.

What was wrong with him? He had almost…Goku closed his eyes, hands over his face. It was too horrifying to even think about, what he had almost done to his mate. In that moment, he had been no different than Frieza, and that made bile rise in his throat at the implications. He was a monster…that was the only explanation. He was uncontrollable, he could hurt people he loved…he was so scared.

A hand suddenly stroked through his hair, and Goku looked up into Vegeta’s eyes, seeing such sadness there, almost disappointment. He felt like a chastised child as Vegeta looked at him. But Vegeta then just pulled him forward, into his mate’s warm embrace and Goku collapsed, shivering and curling up against Vegeta’s body. His head was tucked beneath his mate’s chin, his body between the shorter man’s legs. In this moment Goku felt like a child who had woken from a nightmare, seeking the comfort of his parent’s embrace.

Hands stroked down his back as Goku continued to tremble, as the after affects of realizing what he had been about to do continued to course through his body. He pressed tighter to Vegeta’s body, seeking his forgiveness and warmth, wanting to erase that horrible moment from both of their memories, as well as erase the part of himself that could do such a thing.

“I’m so sorry Geta,” he whispered, pressing his nose to where his mate’s heart beat, letting that rhythm and the soft smell of the man calm him down. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Vegeta sighed, patting his back and head. “I’m not sure what’s wrong either Kakarot. You seemed fine yesterday with the idea of your brother coming to stay with us. But now…you frighten me a bit Kakarot.”

Goku tightened his hold on Vegeta, blinking back frustrated tears as the man he loved said that. That was the last thing he wanted, was for Vegeta to be afraid of him…but he couldn’t blame the prince…he was frightened himself.

“I was okay with it…at least I thought I was. Keigo was right, he’s family and the past is in the past. But then last night I remembered how you told me he had…pleasured you before. And a part of me understands how important that was for you…but I still feel so jealous. And it just kept building and building…I couldn’t stop myself, I couldn’t…”

“Shush now Kakarot…I understand. I get why you’re jealous Kakarot, I do, and I don’t blame you. And now you need to understand why you have no reason to feel as such,” his mate said softly, nudging Goku so he sat back and they could see one another face to face. “Radditz taught me about pleasure Kakarot, but he never actually had sex with me. He just taught me things, but nothing ever happened. In the end I was left to pleasure myself, all he did was tell me what to do. He was mated with Nappa Kakarot, and he’s a Sub, like me. There’s no way the two of us would ever be in a relationship like ours, not then and certainly not now. I am devoted to you Kakarot. No one and nothing will ever change that.”

Goku let out a sigh as Vegeta spoke, smiling shakily at his mate. The words sunk in though, and he felt the lingering gnawing of jealously fade away from his heart. He grabbed one of Vegeta’s hands, bringing it to his lips as he kissed the prince’s knuckles, closing his eyes. He was pulled into a kiss a moment later and Goku slowly pulled Vegeta into his lap, just holding his mate tight.

He was still worried about how out of control his emotions could get. It had always been like that, for as long as Goku could remember. But recently, every time he thought about something happening to Vegeta he just went a little nuts. He had had to send himself out into the woods to let off some steam one night after waking up from a nightmare of Vegeta dying two weeks ago. Goku had to figure out some way to get a hold of himself, to calm his emotions. While he did depend on his emotions when he battled (and he had no problem unleashing his rage against an enemy) it was dangerous to not have a reign on his feelings in everyday life. He was thinking about meditating more…maybe that would help him quell the raging beast that lurked inside of him.

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“Piccolo you have to promise me you won’t overreact.”

“Gohan I can’t do that if I don’t even know what this whole thing is about. But even so, I don’t over-react about things, not like your father.”

“Which one?”

“Both of them.”

“…well I guess that’s true…but still Piccolo, just promise me.”

“Gohan you know I can’t.”

“Please.”

Piccolo sighed, clutching the phone in his hand tighter, stopping when he heard the tell tale sound of the plastic cracking. He rubbed a hand over his forehead, worry and frustration warring inside of him as he talked to his mate over the phone.

He had been meditating in their living room ever since Gohan had left a little over an hour ago to go to his parent’s home. It was strange when Vegeta had explicitly said that Piccolo couldn’t come that morning. There was no logical explanation in his head for why that would happen. Gohan had just shrugged it off and kissed his cheek, promising to call Piccolo when it was okay for him to come over.

And now that he finally got the call from his mate, the phone conversation took another turn for the unusual and illogical. But in the end Piccolo could never deny his mate anything. “Alright. I promise Gohan that I won’t overreact. Now can I come over?” he asked after a moment. There was something in Gohan’s voice that made Piccolo not want to be away from his mate for much longer.

“Thank you Piccolo,” Gohan said, relief in his tone. “And yes you can come over.”

“Are your parents there?”

“No. Dad left in a pretty pissed off mood a few minutes ago. And Pops just now left to go calm him down.”

“Hmm.”

Gohan hung up soon after that, telling Piccolo he loved him and couldn’t wait for him to come over. Piccolo passed a hand over his brow as he left their home, taking to the air and flying off toward the Saiyan abode. He wondered what could piss Goku off enough for him to storm off. If any of the Saiyan’s had a temper tantrum then it was usually Vegeta. Then Piccolo started to wonder if the reason Goku was so pissed off was because of whatever Gohan was keeping secret from him. And that thought made Piccolo start to worry that maybe he wouldn’t be able to keep his own cool.

Piccolo worried about this throughout his flight and by the time he touched down in the backyard of the Saiyan abode, his usual Namekian cool was starting to wear off. Before he started up the back porch to the house Piccolo felt a deep serge of power, coming from the forest behind him. He froze, looking off in the direction the energy came from. He recognized the power as Goku’s, but it felt different. There was a tingle of darkness in it that made Piccolo’s gut clench in worry.

“Piccolo,” a worried voice called.

Piccolo turned around and found his mate standing in the doorway to the house, a troubled look on his face. He must have felt the power too. Piccolo was about to suggest they investigate when the energy disappeared in an instant, Goku’s power back to its normal calm but powerful state.

Piccolo relaxed and turned to his mate, going up and leaning down to kiss Gohan’s cheek. Gohan sighed and pressed their lips together for a moment, seeming to take comfort from the contact. “Do you think everything’s okay?” Gohan asked, pressing himself against Piccolo’s side.

“I think now things are fine. I’ll talk to Vegeta when he gets back,” he replied, hugging Gohan’s body to his own.

“That sounds like a good idea.”

Piccolo pressed his cheek against the top of Gohan’s head. He hoped nothing serious would happen, because his young sensitive mate had been through too much already in his life. As he held his lover he felt the presence of the three other people in the hallway behind where he stood with Gohan. He recognized the twins, Keigo and Takeo, while the other chi he didn’t know. Piccolo looked up, and was hit with a blast from his past.

Goku’s older brother Radditz stood in the hallway holding hands with the twins.

Now he understood why Goku was upset. This man had taken Gohan when he was a child, and threatened his safety. There were old grudges there not easily gotten rid of. Piccolo could also understand why Gohan was so worried that he would react badly to this situation. But in reality Piccolo felt nothing more than shock. There was probably a little worry there as well, considering Radditz had a history of kidnapping children and there were two children beside him now. But he could easily reason away that emotion.

For one, the twins were both calm and comfortable in the man’s presence, and Piccolo knew both of the boys, especially Keigo, were sensitive to the auras of others. They could spot a bad guy miles away. For another, Piccolo could tell that Radditz’ power was well below all of theirs, so he was no threat whatsoever. And finally he and Vegeta had had many a talk over the years about their pasts and through those he had learned that Radditz wasn’t evil, he just had a complicated history, just like the rest of them.

So Piccolo wasn’t worried or mad about Radditz standing in front of him, not like Goku apparently was. Piccolo tended to use his head more than his old friend did, no offence to the Saiyan but it’s true. This didn’t mean Piccolo felt nothing at the sight of the man he had killed over 20 years ago. In fact he felt pretty shocked.

“How the hell are you alive,” he asked sharply.

Gohan jumped in his arms, startled by his sudden question. Radditz tensed, looking at Piccolo a little worriedly but he kept his head held high and stood his ground. Damn Saiyan pride must be a species thing. Gohan looked up at him with worried eyes and Piccolo just stared calmly back, hoping to convey that he wasn’t reacting to the situation, at least no more than expected to seeing someone alive who you had killed. Gohan relaxed after a moment, lifting a hand to stroke his cheek. “You’re not freaking out,” his mate asked hesitantly, glancing at Radditz before looking at him again.

“What do you take me for, a Saiyan. No I’m not freaking out. I’d admit I’m shocked that he’s alive. But I won’t be stomping off in a huff like others I know.”

“I thought you might be…I don’t know…angry?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well because. He kidnapped me back then and I’m your mate now…”

“True. But back then Gohan I wasn’t in love with you. I was still kind of a bad guy too. I didn’t have the feelings against Radditz to the extent that you and your father did. I did feel anger towards him, just because he was a rival, but nothing more. I didn’t start to change until after I started training you.”

“Oh…huh…”

“I was a different man then. But you changed me, lover.”

Gohan blushed and smiled at his answer, looking up at Piccolo with adoring eyes. At that look he couldn’t resist leaning down for a moment and kissing Gohan, gently pressing their lips together. A giggle coming from Takeo and Keigo broke their lip lock and Piccolo smirked down at the two juveniles. He looked up to Radditz, to see the man smiling softly down at the two boys, a tender but lonely look on his face.

The Saiyan was no threat.

“You still haven’t answered my question. How come you’re alive,” Piccolo asked Radditz.

The Saiyan looked up, lonely eyes taking on a more curious look as he cocked his head in a way that was eerily familiar to Goku. “Honestly I’m not sure. I didn’t have my memories initially after I came back to life. It’s only recently that have I remembered my past. I imagine something supernatural must have happened for me to come back like that,” the man explained, stepping aside as Gohan lead Piccolo and the twins back inside.

The five of them went into the living room, where Piccolo took up a spot standing next to the fireplace while Radditz sat down in a chair beside him. The twins went and started to play while Gohan watched over them with soft eyes.

“Strange. I don’t remember a wish made with the Dragonballs that could have brought you back to life. Yet they are the only thing I know of with the power to raise the dead,” Piccolo explained, watching his lover with a touch of longing in his heart. Gohan looked so happy looking after the two children.

“I’m sorry about your loss,” Radditz suddenly said, bringing Piccolo’s attention back to him and away from his mate.

“How’s that?”

“Gohan explained about his miscarriage. I had one as well, before arriving here. I was incredibly upset and it caused me to do those things I did. I’m sorry.”

Piccolo felt his heart clench a bit at the mention of the loss of their first child, and a wave of sympathy washed over him for Radditz. Piccolo had learned after all of these years that Saiyans were very emotional, even the littlest things could evoke powerful feelings in the beings. He could only imagine what Radditz had had to go through, having no support after his loss. It also explained why Gohan seemed so accepting of the man right now. It was probably why Vegeta had asked for Gohan to come over alone, so he could dispel any negative energies before bringing Piccolo over. Because Piccolo knew that if he had shown up and Gohan was upset, he wouldn’t have reacted as calmly to Radditz presence. If fact he probably would have wanted to hit him for upsetting his mate.

He let himself grin and glance at a picture of Vegeta with the twins on the mantle beside him, thinking about how incredible the Saiyan was. Piccolo never stopped being amazed by his friend, who could raise two Saiyan boys at once, who could provide for his family and love them equally, and who knew exactly what to do in every situation. A man like that didn’t come along very often and Piccolo was proud to call Vegeta his friend.

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Review, review, review please, if'n y'all can spare the time.

Hope you enjoyed this, my boys were not acting the way I had anticipated but now I'm running with it. I hope all of you are enjoying it and plan to stick around for more...because there's more, much more.

TTFN