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

IF YOU HAVE NOT HEEDED THE WARNINGS DO SO NOW!

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: Thank you for beta’ing this very difficult chapter Pixelgoddess!

Jaded 7 – Train Wreck


“We’ll miss you,” Vinh said as Goku finished packing. The sayian’s hands shook. This was it…three years. He had yet to see all the changes in Vegeta and the man’s family life that he had hoped would happen; but a promise was a promise, and he couldn’t deny that this was something he wanted any more.

“I’ll probably be in very bad shape when I get back,” he warned Vinh. Trung had done his usual disappearing act once he knew Goku was leaving.

Vinh nodded, “Do you want us to prep the cabin?”

Goku stopped gathering the bags over his shoulders to yank Vinh into a bear hug, “I don’t deserve you, or your brother.”

Vinh hugged the taller man back, “It’s not a matter of ‘deserve’, Goku. We enjoyed your company while we had it.”

Goku pushed the other away from him, holding him at arms length. “Had?”

Vinh looked down. “We both knew this wasn’t a permanent thing…Trung and I. We have each other, and that is something very few people could contend with, or be willing too. You needed us, and still might, for a little while, but…we know we aren’t him.”

Goku dropped his head. “That obvious, huh?”

Vinh chuckled and took the opportunity of Goku having his head bent down to kiss him lightly. “Yeah…”

“You’re taking this awfully well. And Trung?” Goku had to ask.

“He’s always been the jealous kind. He knows better, and he’ll get over it. After all, he has me,” Vinh smiled deviously.

Goku smiled in return, cupped the back of Vinh’s neck and pulled the shorter man forward to kiss him on the forehead. “Thank you.”

“No…it is us who thank you. We wouldn’t have each other, if it weren’t for you,” Vinh said, gently moving away.

Goku nodded. “Tell Trung I said good-bye.”

“Will do,” Vinh said, raising his hand to wave, but Goku had already IT’d away.


~o0o~


Goku set his bags down in the room before he focused enough ki to light one of the torches near the entry. He opened the door from the inside and exited, flying to the top of the mountain the building was recessed into to uncover the solar panels. Then he sent out one burst of ki: just enough to let Vegeta know where he was.

That accomplished, he went back inside to set up the things he had brought with him. It didn’t take long to uncapsule the largest object, a golden oak table; Goku hoped it wouldn’t get crushed in the fight he was anticipating. Then he placed the rest of the things he had made at the forge on its surface.

Or…maybe there wouldn’t be a fight. He didn’t know. Vegeta had been waiting for this for three years. Maybe things would go easier than usual. Goku lit some incense and found a corner to get comfortable in while he waited for Vegeta to show. It would be at least a couple of hours, since the prince did not have the advantage of IT, and Goku planned on using that time to mentally gear up for what was about to happen. His ex-wife had accused him of this…and now he was actually going through with it.

Thinking of Chichi was just the thing to start pissing him off. He growled and slammed his back into the granite wall. It was a terrible mix, toggling his thoughts between his ex-wife and Vegeta writhing underneath him. Gods, how he wished it would be in pleasure…but that one episode had taught him Vegeta did have a safety word…and wasn’t afraid to use it if things got too comfortable. Why couldn’t Vegeta just relax and go with it?

It didn’t matter. Goku would do whatever seemed necessary. The last couple of times the two of them had been here together, it had been very difficult for the younger sayian to keep his promise, to himself. He had hoped that by giving himself three years, he would grow beyond this need, maybe prove his ex-wife wrong, but he hadn’t. The troubled sayian propped his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands, images of Vegeta bleeding and vulnerable threading through his mind, causing mixed reactions inside Goku. Yes, he wanted Vegeta…but he wasn’t particularly happy about how events were dictating he would have him.

He growled and let himself ascend slowly. It was creepy, feeling the changes come over him. He never noticed how his perception of simple things changed when he was in the middle of a fight or spar, being distracted by outside forces. The granite surface was no longer ‘just gray’ but held specks of both black and white. An adrenaline increase that caused both his heart rate and breathing to become faster. The scariest part was how his emotions shut down: nothing but the basics that would allow one to survive. He kicked his boots off, stood and started pacing the hardwood floors. A few moments later he took his shirt off and tossed it into a corner.

The lights finally flickered on when the generator kicked in, having enough power to sustain the building. A few more hours of full sunlight, and they would run the building for days. Goku dowsed the torch with a thought.

He had been in his transformed state for almost an hour when he felt Vegeta’s ki approaching. He would have felt it long ago, but Goku had learned, through brief conversations, that the obsidian making up the ceiling had natural ki cloaking abilities: a necessity for the things that went on in the room. It wouldn’t do the have the children showing up because their fathers’ kis were out of control. Or, possibly even worse, one of the Z sensei to show up. He couldn’t imagine trying to explain this to any of them.

Goku turned to face the entrance when he heard the door opening from the outside. He was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. The arrogant prince in regular fighting attire wasn’t it though. Vegeta hadn’t worn such clothing to this place in a long time.

Vegeta dropped the pack he had brought with him to the floor next to the entry, and took in his surroundings, noticing the furnishings Goku had added. He grunted as his tail swung in agitation. Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t a bed. “You think you are getting those things on me again, you have another think coming,” he said, staring pointedly at the chains.

Goku smirked. “I guess we can always fight about it. Kind of what I had planned.”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed and his tail wrapped tightly around his waist. The idea Kakarott had actually planned something for this was disconcerting. He turned to close the door and heard the faint clank of metal behind him.

Goku was waiting for an opening, but he wanted to growl. Vegeta wasn’t prone to being so careless; the prince had turned his back intentionally. He grabbed the short chain up and advanced without hesitation.

Vegeta sighed as he felt the other come up behind him. He really had no intention of duking it out until he was to the brink of exhaustion, wanting at least some of his awareness intact when Kakarott finally took him. At the first sight of the chains, he realized he might have a rational justification to not fight until he was a bloody, broken mess...

“Mmmmm” Goku purred, as Vegeta did not turn to face him. He ran one hand holding a cuff down Vegeta’s arm, and the snapped it closed around the prince’s wrist, “So easily willing?”

Vegeta growled, feeling his ki ciphering off, even with only one cuff attached. He reached for Kakarott’s hand, and placed it over the evidence of his next statement. “I’ve been waiting for a long, long time, Kakarott. I want you…badly,” Vegeta panted as Kakarott touched him.

Goku’s gut ached at Vegeta’s wording as he stroked the other through the smooth fabric. The pronoun was both a reminder of what could occur if things didn’t meet Vegeta’s expectations, and a subtle hint that what had happened, hadn’t been intended. “Hn. Well, your clothes will have a chance to survive then. Sort of disappointing, I was expecting to have to rip them off,” Goku whispered in Vegeta’s ear as he squeezed his hand.

“You still can,” Vegeta said back quietly, growling and rocking into the other’s demanding touch.

“Mmmmm, no,” Goku said shaking his head as another idea cropped up. “Strip for me.” The chain he was holding clanked faintly as Vegeta started removing his top with deliberate slowness. Goku ran his hand up Vegeta’s skin as it became exposed. He passed the chain through the armhole as Vegeta held the stripped garment out.

Vegeta bent over to take his boots off, hard-pressed to focus on the simple task when Kakarott ground into his backside, the younger sayian’s lust evident. Once his boots were off, he pressed back before slowly standing.

Goku hissed and ran a hand possessively down Vegeta’s curved spine. He would have never expected Vegeta to be so…well, slutty. This was certainly different from anything he had let his mind entertain. He reached a hand around Vegeta’s front, running his fingers down toned muscle. Goku kissed Vegeta’s neck with eager lips, reluctantly letting his hold go when Vegeta bent forward again.

Vegeta closed his eyes, willing the gentle touch away from his consciousness, using stripping off his pants as a distraction. After all, Kakarott couldn’t fault him for doing as he was told.

Goku waited until the task was done, and then used his hold on the chain and a grip at the base of Vegeta’s tail to pull the other close to him again. He purred, as Vegeta trembled, “Nothing to fear.”

“It’s not fear…just anticipation,” Vegeta said, leaning his head back into Kakarott’s vibrating chest.

Goku closed his eyes as he tilted his head just enough to be able to grace Vegeta’s neck with his lips possessively. He barely kept from biting down; he wanted Vegeta to learn that a mouth didn’t always have to be a weapon. One of these days, he was going to get a willing kiss out of the other. He growled as Vegeta rolled his head to the side, and drew air shallowly through parted lips. Goku wrapped his arm over Vegeta’s chest, holding him tight as he kissed his fill and pressed against the other, running his other hand down the length of Vegeta’s tail, feeling the other buckle slightly at the sensation. Goku chuckled quietly to himself. “Sooo good,” he said out loud.

Vegeta’s breath hitched at the praise. “Mmmm, don’t like that word?” Goku mumbled into Vegeta’s neck. Vegeta shook his head. “Pleasing, then,” Goku compromised, licking the other’s ear lightly. “You don’t mind being pleasing, do you?” Vegeta shook his head again. “Glad to hear it.”

Goku wove fingers through Vegeta’s hair. Though it wasn’t necessary, he laced them tight and moved Vegeta’s head to the side as he kissed down his shoulder. He listened as Vegeta’s breathing changed. He noted long moments of silence, and swore they should have been moans. Vegeta shocked him by running the nails of his free hand up his thigh, tension in every finger, and his head snapped up as he hissed his approval.

He dropped the chain in order to slide his hand down Vegeta’s stomach. Goku moved both hands until they were on the other’s trim hips, and then jerked the other back to him. Vegeta made a strange choking sound in his throat as Goku kissed down his spine, forcing his upper body forward, even as Goku continued to keep them together as they bent.

Goku couldn’t help but bite at the taut skin of Vegeta’s shoulder blade before standing up again. “I could do this for hours,” he panted.

“You had better not,” Vegeta warned as he brushed his tail around the waistband of Goku’s gi pants.

Goku’s stomach trembled at the feel of fur across his skin. He stayed a deprived moan that wanted to be expressed. “No, you’re right,” he said, gathering up the chain once again, “I can’t wait that long.”

Vegeta almost purred at the words, but he wouldn’t give away how much it meant to him Kakarott could still want him. He wasn’t given much of a chance to explore his thinking as Kakarott jerked the chain around his wrist.

Goku led Vegeta slowly as he walked backwards, watching Vegeta’s form as he moved. The other’s body language screamed shame, even as Goku could read the lust filling the prince’s eyes. Would he ever understand this man? He stopped as the table brushed against the back of his legs, and then pulled Vegeta gradually to him by collecting the length of chain.

He twisted the hand holding the chain behind his back, forcing Vegeta’s arm with it. He gathered the other to him, pressing Vegeta’s cheek to his chest, fisting his hand in the other’s hair. He felt Vegeta’s other arm move, before the elite stopped. “You can touch me,” he spoke quietly, resting his chin on top of Vegeta’s head. He was surprised when Vegeta did, reaching his free arm behind Goku’s back and placing questing fingertips along his spine.

Vegeta could hear Kakarott’s heartbeat, strong but quick. A small, pleased smile went unnoticed as his gentle touch caused the other’s breathing to stall. He stilled his hand as it came to rest at the small of Kakarott’s back, and waited patiently.

Goku closed his eyes, pulling his scattered thoughts together. He sighed before he spoke, hoping he had just the right words. “Can you do this without being bound?” he inquired quietly.

Vegeta’s body tensed. The offer of a choice was unexpected…but he knew better. “No” he replied just as quietly. He felt the other nod above him, even as his chained hand was brought from behind Kakarott.

“Okay” Goku conceded, trying not to let the disappointment he felt color his response. He had been hoping, but…He forced himself to change mental gears. If Vegeta needed to be bound, shamed and hurt, he would do that. “Disrobe me,” his voice took on the cold tone of command. He almost groaned as Vegeta pulled away from him.

Vegeta stepped away from Kakarott and dropped to his knees. His chained hand was given just enough slack to perform the task designated by the other. He raised his eyes just enough to get an eye full of Kakarott’s erection before dropping his gaze again. His betraying tail trembled.

Goku chuckled, “Mmmmm,” he mused as he grabbed himself and rubbed his hard cock down Vegeta’s smooth cheek and across his throat. “I saw that look. You want this, don’t you?”

Vegeta strained away from the forced contact. He gasped as Goku gripped his hair tight and forced him to face up, the other’s erection pointing at him accusingly. Vegeta licked his lips, tail thumping the floor before he could control his body’s language. A smirk graced the standing man’s face. “That’s what I thought. I want to hear you say it. Tell me.”

Vegeta shifted his gaze away as he whimpered and wiggled, trying to pull away. His head was given a rough shake. “Yes,” he said, closing his eyes as he admitted the truth.

Goku used the grip he had in the other’s hair to pull the man far enough from the floor his knees no longer touched the ground, “Look at me when you say it.”

Vegeta whined when his hesitation to do as instructed caused the other to pull him up even more. He opened his eyes quickly, looking straight at the other. “Yes,” he murmured, realizing it wasn’t nearly as difficult or shameful to acknowledge he wanted this saiyan as he thought it should be.

Goku released the hold he had and Vegeta hissed as his knees made rough contact with the floor. Goku pulled on the chain, forcing Vegeta to stand. He stretched Vegeta’s bound arm out letting the elbow bend slightly, and held it in place with one hand on the cuff while he walked behind the other. Cold links of the chain were placed up Vegeta’s arm, one at a time until he was close enough to whisper in the other’s ear. “You’re going to make a nice gift, all wrapped up in chains,” he informed the prince as he drew the chain across the back of Vegeta’s neck and then looped it forward around his throat. Goku stood behind the elite, stretching the chain and raising the other’s arm at the same time. He stopped when he reached the cuff. “Bring your wrist in,” he instructed.

Vegeta shuddered as more of his ki, and by default, strength, was locked away with the addition of the second cuff and the loop around his neck. He didn’t care for this, but he couldn’t give himself away freely…he wasn’t ready to open himself up that much, he knew this...

Goku retracted their arms towards Vegeta’s chest, guiding the other’s movements. “Hold them there,” he whispered, as he used the slack in the chain to even out the lengths threading to each arm while his hands trembled. Once that was accomplished he grabbed the base of Vegeta’s tail and shepherded him forward to the table’s edge before shoving Vegeta’s back with his fingertips. The force wasn’t much, but with the chains binding Vegeta’s ki it was enough to throw him forward into the table.

Vegeta growled, but was restrained by a hand placed in the middle of his back.

Goku resisted the urge to apologize as he leaned over Vegeta; making as much skin on skin contact as he could he reach under the table.

Vegeta heard Velcro coming apart under the table and then his left arm was extended fully out. “Hold still, wouldn’t want to cut through the bone,” he heard Kakarott warn. More of the other’s weight was pressed onto his body.

Vegeta tensed, but did as instructed. “What…” he screamed as a knife was unexpectedly plunged through the back of his hand, embedding into the table beneath his palm. He was totally distracted by the pain he caused himself when trying to pull his injured hand to him.

As badly as Goku wanted to touch and reassure the other that he didn’t care for this…he knew he didn’t have time to coddle himself and that Vegeta would never stand for it. He reached under the table to their right, un-strapped a second knife, extended Vegeta’s right arm, and pinned it to the table seconds after the other.

Vegeta jerked his hands back as the chain tightened around his throat, causing damage to his hands as the blades stayed in place but his flesh yielded. He was, figuratively, fucked. Relieving his hands meant choking himself. Getting air into his lungs meant cutting himself. He knew Goku had it in him to be a creative sadist. He wrapped his tail tightly around his waist. It wasn’t helping him in the least as it tried to compensate balance between pain and air.

Goku closed his eyes to sight. Yes, his plan had worked, just as well as he had feared. Now he bent over to kiss down Vegeta’s spine, feeling Vegeta’s barely suppressed struggle through his lips. “I want you Vegeta, and I’ll take you any way I can get you,” Goku said, running his hands gently down Vegeta’s sides. He reached one last time under the table, releasing a small tube from its Velcro binding. He uncapped it, and squeezed a generous amount of what filled it onto his fingers. He tossed the tube to the floor and spread Vegeta so he could slip his fingers in, unhindered.

Vegeta drove his hands forward, jerking away from the intrusion. He pulled them back quickly as the air in his lungs needed to escape for a scream.

Goku pressed his forehead into Vegeta’s lower back as he trembled. “Baby, why do you make me do these things to you?” he asked quietly, working his fingers in deeply.

Vegeta was too busy with his dilemma to hear Kakarott’s endearment. He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter of paying attention or not as Kakarott entered him quickly. His mouth opened in shock even as he was shoved forward, blades biting further towards his wrists. He wedged himself closer to the table so there was something to brace him from Kakarott’s actions.

Goku pulled at Vegeta’s hips, his fingertips bruising the flesh beneath them. He consciously kept them from Vegeta’s tail, rocking forward, and then pressing down with the heels of his hands instead of pulling. “You have to stay still,” he said cruelly, shaking his head at his own words, even as he slid his hips back and plunged forward again.

Wood embedded under Vegeta’s nails as he scrapped at the table with them, regardless of the fact that it tightened tendons and ligaments. Blood pooling on the lacquered surface lessened the traction his skin had. Kakarott’s thrusting started causing more damage, prompting Vegeta to instinctively pull away, even as it tightened the chain around his throat. He started to panic at the lack of air he was causing himself. He lifted his head, and then slammed it back to the golden surface, fighting the asphyxiation.

“Ah, Ve-geta…” Goku hissed as he placed his forehead between Vegeta’s shoulder blades. He closed his eyes, picking up the rhythm, his body winning out over his mental distress. He buried himself, deeper, harder, running from his own emotions: chiefly self-loathing. Hate and Want clashed, warred and bled leaving devastation so thick it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.

Vegeta clawed deeper at the table, pushed his mental barriers and overcoming his emotional ones, and pulled…just a fraction of an inch was all it took. “S-st-top,” his swelling tongue stuttered on the word.

Goku froze, stunned. Not stopping could have disturbing affects, as proven months ago. His body may have responded to the command, but his mind was still riotous and seething. It took a full minute for him to comprehend what had occurred, and it made him angry…very, very angry. He placed his hands at Vegeta’s sides, growling as he tore himself away. Hate resurged, fueled by Want’s broken treaty.

Vegeta whimpered as Kakarott withdrew. Disappointment filled him; he had meant it, but part of him wish the third class had not listened. The lizard would not have. He could feel the anger seeping from the other, and knew he had no reason to ask for anything else for the other…ever. He stayed still as he heard the other walk away from him. He clawed at the table more, slicing his hands just enough he could lay his head down without choking too much.

Goku threw the shower curtain back and turned the water on. Part of him said he should free Vegeta before he bathed, but most of him screamed the bastard should rot, right were he was, as much as the majority of him cared.

Vegeta jerked in reaction to Goku’s frustrated yell from the shower. The links pinched his neck as he twisted his head to the side looking the opposite direction.

Goku jerked the curtain closed as he glanced up and saw a portion of the table. He didn’t want to even look at him right now. He pounded white tiles with his fists until the alabaster crumbled, sharp edges finally embedding into his hands. He head-butted another portion of the shower wall in frustration.

He couldn’t do it, stay here another minute. He shut the water off, dried himself with ki as he walked to his locker, took out a change of clothes, grabbed the senzu pouch and walked back to the table where Vegeta still lay. He took one bean out, and slammed it onto the table’s surface in Vegeta’s line of sight. “You want to badly enough, you’ll free yourself this time.” He walked away from the other, jerked his clothes on hurriedly and opened the door.

“Where are you going?” Vegeta asked. Goku wouldn’t really make him split one of his own hands in half…would he?

“Away from you,” Goku said, slamming the door shut behind him. The sky above was now heavy with cloud cover, and a north wind brought cold air with it through the valley. He roared, and the weather agreed with him, or was subjected to his power, dumping its horde in the form of fat, heavy raindrops.

Vegeta steeled himself and pulled his right hand towards himself. He stopped and panted at the pain. He grit his teeth and jerked it hard. Flesh, tendons and ligaments ripped wide as he drew against the blade. He screamed, stomping a foot and forced himself to continue.

His hand flew back as it split, almost sliding from the table. Vegeta shook his head, pulling it too him by will alone. With effort he managed to loop the arm over his head so the chain became loose; blood splattered onto his cheek. Lifting his head off the table, he pulled it from the noose the chain had formed. The stinking metal knocked the senzu from the table, sending it into southeast grate of the floor. He growled in frustration then panted more as he gazed at his still trapped hand. He needed it to get the cuffs off. Gritting his teeth, he lifted his split hand, wrapping the chain around the handle of the obstructing knife until there was no slack left, and pulled with leverage from his wrist.

Unfortunately, he was too close as it came loose; chain and knife handle connecting with his head, knocking him back from the table. He shook his head, gazing from the floor to the ceiling. He sat up when the dizziness faded, and worked the clasp on the back of the cuff entrapping his torn hand. One cuff off, one to go…Vegeta stared at the clasp, and then his injured hand. “FUCK!!!” he swore, looking around. He returned to the table, using the blade still embedded to scrape the clasp open. Ki flooded his body immediately as the cuff fell loose.

He dropped to the floor, picking up Goku’s gi pants and tearing strips out of the material with his teeth and less injured hand. The Velcro straps on the bottom of the table caught his attention. He wrapped his split hand quickly, and then pulled a strap off and bound his hand. He took the other two straps off and did the same, hoping to secure his hand just long enough. He wasn’t letting the third class go.

Not now, not ever. He rose and went to his pack, dressing himself as quickly as possible with one hand. He opened the door, grimacing at the rain, but feeling Kakarott’s ki close. Why hadn’t the other deserted the area yet? Never mind, he wouldn’t have to chase the bastard far then.

Goku felt it when Vegeta’s ki flared back to life. He turned back from his hike in the rain, thinking to destroy the building as soon as the other had vacated it. He was shocked when he felt the other coming directly towards him, and growled. “That’s not a good idea right now, Vegeta,” he said, trying to will the other to just…go away!

He stood his ground and waited. He wouldn’t run any more than he already had. If the asshole wasn’t smart enough to give him a wide berth…well, it was his own damned fault.

It didn’t take long for Vegeta to find the other. He landed with in a few feet of the third class, words of apology stuck in his heart and throat. “What do you want from me!” Goku yelled and then swung wildly at Vegeta’s disabled side before the prince could speak. He missed as his footing slid in the mud and Vegeta ducked, also slipping.

Vegeta wiped the hair out of his eyes the rain had plastered down. “I don’t know,” he admitted quietly. His hand throbbed and bled freely through the makeshift bandages.

“What?! Now is not exactly a good time to be harassing me, Vegeta!” Goku grabbed the other by the shirtfront. “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!!!”

“I don’t know! I just don’t want…”

“Do want. Don’t want. It’s always about you, Vegeta. What about what I want? GAH!” Goku dropped Vegeta and turned away in impatient disgust.

Vegeta growled and lunged at Kakarott spinning him around with a hold on the other’s wet gi top, pressing his forearm into his chest and backing him into a tree. “Don’t turn your back on me, third class. This isn’t finished,” he hissed in Goku’s face.

Goku sneered at Vegeta, not in the least cowed by the other’s actions, as he would have portrayed three years ago. “Get out of my face. This was finished when you said ‘stop’,” he said as he brought a broad palm up and shoved it into Vegeta’s cheek, knocking the other side ways. His shirt was torn more as Vegeta’s grip didn’t loosen as he was thrown back.

Vegeta came back swinging an upper cut into Kakarott’s side with enough force he guaranteed the idiot would be pissing blood for a week. His gloating gave Kakarott just the time needed to snap out a hand and grab him by the throat. Vegeta’s good hand clawed at the other’s instinctively.

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh!” Goku yelled as he swung Vegeta around and into the oak he had been previously pressed against.

Vegeta’s head met bark and then wood as he collided with the behemoth. Water dislodged from the canopy above them fell in a rush. He was too dazed to struggle, eyes open, but unseeing.

“I don’t know which is going to get through your thick skull,” Goku said into Vegeta’s chest, too angry and trying to suppress it to notice Vegeta was in no condition to respond. “Do I tear your clothes off, or just tear you apart?” Vegeta’s groan couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Goku fisted his other hand in Vegeta’s shirt, drew him away from the tree and then drove him back into it. The wind left Vegeta’s lungs as more water fell. “Tell me…” Goku repeated the action, frustration overcoming his judgment. The trunk cracked under the pressure, but did not break. “Say anything, DAMN YOU!” a leaf fell from its siblings’ company into the void between earth and sky.

It wasn’t natural, the way Vegeta’s head lolled to the side. Goku dropped Vegeta, and the prince’s body slid down the tree trunk to the ground, no resistance to gravity offered.
“Vegeta?” Goku questioned, as the body toppled sideways, one shoulder and neck rolling listlessly, tail uncurling from its hold around the trim waist. Goku froze in shock. His hands trembled. His knees buckled. There was no ki. No spark of anger. No fight. Nothing.

“No” Goku whispered as he crawled forward. “No…you don’t get to take the easy way out, Vegeta.” He grabbed Vegeta’s coat and pulled so the sayian was lying on his back. Eyes still open gazed up. Fat drops of water from the leaves above fell heavily around them.

“You don’t get to leave me to clean this one up!” Goku propped the neck up to open the airway, leaned over as he pinched the nose closed and breathed into Vegeta’s mouth. Ribs cracked when he tried to press a heartbeat into the other, and he knew there was too much damage for him to continue with normal first aid.

He breathed another lung full of air into the other. “No,” tears streamed down his face. “Not like this,” he repeated, shaking in denial and pawing at the other’s face.

No ki…the thought ran bizarrely through his head.

No ki…no ki…no ki…no ki….

…here.

The sole leaf hit the ground.