A/N This is not yet beta-ed. I was just to eager to get this out to wait. I might replace it with a properly beta-ed version later. I hope you'll enjoy.
For the warmth in your eyes...
Part I
Bulma looked up, as she heard it again. The sound was quite soft, almost unnoticeable. She had actually not heard it at first, but became aware of it by the strange vibrations going through the room she was working in. The sound was very low, just like a...
She frowned. What could it be that made such a peculiar sound? Made such strong vibrations? She walked towards the security system attached to the wall. Every single room and space had at least one security computer, all computers connected to one mainframe. Each little device had a fast array of sensors, picking up the slightest of traces of dangerous liquids and gasses. Also, it served as the communication system, and, of course, the alarm. In the space station in which research was the main activity, it was only necessary.
Nothing. Her frown became even more pronounced on her face. That was strange. The system didn't respond! That had never happened before. Whatever happened, the security system worked!! One would have to deliberately seek out the mainframe and blew it up. It was highly protected, and the exact location was only known to a small group of people, and the information was highly classified. Even she did not known the exact location.
The vibrations, and the noise were getting stronger, until the whole room was shaking and the loud rumbling noises made her flinch. She was starting to get a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Those sounds reminded her very much of... explosions. She took a deep breath when she remembered what her father was working on lately; a new kind of fuel... Fuel; many highly inflammable and explosive components... Oh Kami.
But that possibility still didn't explain why the security system didn't work! It should have given off a warning! Even if the sensors were destroyed in the explosion before they could get off, sensors in the surrounding area should have picked up the heat and smoke. So why? Bulma didn't know, but was determined to find out what exactly was going on, and what she could do! Maybe there really had been an accident...
She run for the door, just as a another sound wave hit her and the whole room seemed to be turned up side down by the violent shaking. Bulma lost her balance, stumbled and then fell. Her head collided violently with the edge of her desk, and then it went all black.
Not a minute later, the door hissed open. Obsidian eyes scanned the room quickly and fell on the form of the unconscious girl.
In less than a blink of an eye, he was kneeling beside the still figure, and urgently checked her body and head. He ensured himself that she had only knocked herself out, and would soon wake up. He gathered her limp form and cradled her in his muscled arms.
His head bent down, and came in touch with her forehead. His breathing ruffled the strands of hair that had escaped from the bun on her head. He shifted her somewhat, until their noses touched. The dark eyes took in every feature of her face, and were glittering with many emotions, which didn't show at all on his proud face.
"Finally."
****
Her eyelids fluttered, and her breathing pattern changed slightly. She moved somewhat, and he knew she was waking up. He watched her closely, eyes focused on every movement she made. He took her whole appearance in hungrily, eagerly. His eyes travelled up and down, not wanting to miss a sigh, a tremor, a breath.
His dreams and memories had never measured up to the real thing.
The glimpses he could get of her never enough.
The thought that he would once have her again, his only consolation and his greatest motivation to succeed.
She mumbled something, as she was on the verge of the waking world. She brought one delicate hand up to touch her head, and a grimace appeared on her face.
"Wh... Ygh," Her eyes flew open when she touched the blood that matted her hair together.
He didn't take notice of her shocked expression; he was solely focused on her eyes.
Warmth.
It hadn't been the most striking colour of blue that had captivated him when he first saw her. No, it was the warmth that lay deep in those lively blue orbs.
It was the fist thing he had noticed, and he had revelled in the amount and the feel of it. So much, in somebody yet so young...
It had thrilled him, lured him. Still did. Obsession and possession had been born in a blink of an eye. He had been told, as only a young brat, that he would know immediately. And he did.
Obsession and possession of her. They burnt, and still did. Only becoming more intense, more ferocious with the passing of time. The Call, it was named. It drove him nearly insane, and at the same time it drove him faster to his goals.
Innocence and natural curiosity. Mirth and intelligence. Softness and determination. Strength and compassion. Those were the feelings that always came next, washing over him, engulfing him. He closed his eyes briefly, to savour the feelings more. She was a myriad of feelings, and how she harboured them all in her small body, he had no clue of. Her heart was open, as he had already experienced. Justice and mercy came to his mind. She had shown him those, and only when she had, he could for the first time in his life tell what they meant. How they felt. And until now, she had been the only person to show him all those things she held so high.
He watched as she looked at her hand in confusion, then at the ceiling above of her. Her eyes widened when she realised she wasn't in her small lab anymore.
From where he was sitting, he had an excellent view on her face, without her spotting him right away. She had to sit up to notice him sitting here, but she was quite dazed and disorientated, and didn't seem to make a move soon, but...
A muffled sound came from behind him and he cursed in his head. Everything had been properly silenced, as he wanted to give her some peace and quiet as she woke up, and something still had to make a sound. He grumbled something under his breath, as he saw her jump slightly, and tried to work herself up to a sitting position...
Her blue eyes met his, and her mouth fell open. She gasped, as she saw the figure sitting at her feet. He had laid her down on a surgery table, and he wondered if she would remember, would see the similarities of their first meeting.
Her mouth was open, but she didn't made a sound.
Neither said a word.
His eyes hold hers, hypnotising her. He was moving closer, until he filled her whole field of vision, making her much aware of his intimidating form.
"V-Ve... Vegeta?" She said it very softly, and he felt his name like a caress. He made sure her eyes stayed on him as he leaned over her, planting his hands on either side of her waist. Her soothing scent got stronger, and he took deep breaths, trying to take it all in.
"Yes," he finally purred at her.
She blinked at him, like she couldn't quite believe her eyes. Vegeta? How could that be? He was different, but then... also not. However, he was certainly not the boy anymore she had first seen in those hated labs.
She had hidden herself behind a very large piece of medical equipment. Oh, she knew her father had forbidden her to come here today, but she was curious, very curious! Her father had been talking for weeks about this new project and assignment he had got. Some friend of her father had sent it to him, and today it would finally arrive. Bulma didn't have a clue to what it was, exactly. Some kind of technology? A certain kind of germ or virus? A new program? She didn't knew anything, except for the things she had caught when she overheard her father talking about how important it was for him and for his friend, and that it was very important for her not to disrupt him when he would be working on it. Then he had told her that she could not enter the main lab. The whole space station was excited about it, though none of the workers wanted to tell her, what exactly it was.
If her father would ever find out she knew a secret entrance to the main lab (one she had found herself while exploring)... And that she used it frequently... He would be very angry. She shuddered, not wanting to think about her father's punishments; her father could be very strict sometimes. But her curiosity was stronger than her fear this time. She had picked out her hiding spot very carefully, and knew that if she didn't do anything stupid, she wouldn't be found. She wasn't smart for nothing!
She heard a loud shouting down the hall, and it was swiftly coming closer. She made herself even smaller, and hid herself away. Her heart was beating wildly, while she waited anxiously for the doors to open. What would it be?
The doors flew open, and a whole bunch of people filled the room. Bulma was momentarily taken back by the shouting of the group of people. And she saw people among them which she had never seen at all! Races she had never seen before! But what were they doing? What were they-
Bulma eyes grew wide with shock. Five of them were carrying a... a boy!
Bulma watched with horror as the boy, screaming, shouting, kicking, and twisting in the grip those weird aliens had on him.
She didn't understood what he was saying.
She felt herself grew angry at seeing how much the boy protested and yelled and fought. Why were they doing this? Why did they came to her father's lab? Maybe... maybe he was sick, or something?
She frowned as she watched on. The boy made such angry noises, but also... She couldn't tell exactly what she felt, but he made her want to jump up and run to him, to help him. He sounded... alone.
Yes, alone. Alone and hurt. He was hurt very much.
Was her father going to help him?
The boy's fury increased even further as they pinned him down on one of the research tables. They shackled him with strange bracelets, the likes she had never seen before. Now she also noticed he was wearing a very thick necklace.
How odd... Hadn't see seen something like that before?
Still, his howls of fury vibrated through the lab, making Bulma want to cover her ears. However, she couldn't do anything but look at the boy with fear. Fear for him.
Maybe her dad was going to make him better.
Those strange creatures had him entirely strapped to the steel table. One, big, purple, with horns on his head, reached to the strange necklace, but not before giving the boy, who tried to bite him, such a strong slap across the face, that his head jolted to the side. Bulma nearly screamed, as she saw it! That hurt! That was unfair! Bulma looked on as pure horror settled over her. She felt... helpless
Helpless. She couldn't help the boy. Or could she? She could ask her father to help him!
The purple man, for a lack of a better word, touched something on the necklace, and the shouting and screaming of the boy turned into gurgles. What were they doing?!
"Finally! I thought he would never shut up!" The smallest of the five aliens, which had four eyes!, said, while he rubbed his ears.
"Fine things, these collars," The purple alien said, while he smirked at the boy, who was still gurgling.
Bulma saw it was hurting him, and she had to keep herself from yelling at the purple bully. He was having fun while hurting him!
"Yes, they are one of my most prized inventions... I am so glad to hear you and your lord share my opinion on them." There was her father!
Bulma watched on, eagerly, sure her father would stop those strange men from hurting the boy even further. Her father knew what to do!
"Yes, Lord Frieza is very pleased with them. He does all kinds of fun things with them. Really, controlling one's power is only one of it's uses. But I think you know all about them, Professor."
Her father gave the man an amused smile. "Of course. I think that's one reason your lord sent him to me."
"I hope you're up to the job. Trying to work with this monkey boy is almost impossible, I think. And a waste of time and effort, but our Lord always had a soft spot for this monkey... He keeps saying what a fine addition to his service he would make, if he only was a bit more... docile. My Lord would have loved to teach him obedience, but he lacks the time. And he is convinced that you, professor, has much more subtle methods to... convince him of our plight, if I may say so."
Why didn't her father help him? Bulma clutched her hands, while waiting anxiously for her father to do something.
"He's in the right hands, gentlemen. I love to work on such a fine specimen. Such promise, this one."
"Well, he has quite the ki for a monkey, but nothing we should worry about. But you, Professor, should never take that collar off. He would blow this station to bits and pieces."
"I am not a fool, Ginyu." Bulma winced as she heard the tone of voice her father was using. When he did use it with her, it always promised nothing good.
Her father's tone seemed to have no effect on the purple giant, and her father was still standing there, doing nothing. The boy was still twisting on the table, trying to get away, while he still made that awful, angry gurgling sound. It cut through her heart.
"Never said that." Whatever he was, that purple alien, he was certainly not afraid of her father, the way he talked back.
"Now, gentlemen, I believe we are done here. You can go back to your lord and tell him that his charge is in safe hands. Can I offer you some lunch?"
"Some other time, professor. We have another urgent mission. And I believe you can hardly wait to test this boy's limits. You won't believe what he can take. Lord Frieza didn't break him, and he sure hopes you can. I think you'll enjoy your new project very much."
"I'm sure I will." Her father had a smile on his face, but it was not a nice one. But maybe now those evil men were gone, he would do something about the poor boy!
The aliens all chuckled, and left the room, leaving her father and his staff alone with the boy.
"So..." her father looked the boy up and down. Bulma looked on, silently, thinking everything would be all right now for the boy. Her father would do something now. He would make whatever hurt the boy go away! Her father was a genius, after all. Maybe, when he was better, her father would let her play with him. There were no other kids on the space station, and sometimes she was getting bored with her books and she wanted to play. So, maybe she would get a playmate.
"Now you're staying with us, boy, you have to know our ground rules, and obey them of course. So, shut your mouth. I really get disgusted with that gurgling sounds you make. Like someone is trying to kill you or something." Another strange smile on her father's face.
Why was he doing nothing? He was hurting!!
The gurgling didn't stop.
"All right then. The hard way it is then." Her father approached the boy, and stood above him.
Bulma didn't understand why he was talking so... oddly to the boy, but was sure that her father was finally going to help him.
Her father reached out, to that weird looking thing around his throat.
He's going to take it off! Bulma smiled, knowing it was over now.
Her father touched something, and the gurgling stopped. Only a wheezing sound escaped the boy.
First Bulma thought the boy had calmed down.
But his struggles intensified.
"You can't breath? Shame. I told you so."
What? What was her father saying? What was he doing? The boy was even hurting more! He hurt so much! His face was almost purple, his features contorted. Bulma was watching her father with a mix of broken trust and disbelief on her face.
"Now, this request from your master has come at an ill moment. I was actually working on something else, which has my priorities, if I'm honest. Normally, I would just love the challenge of shaping you into something better... or at least in something a bit more useful. And I see you're quite the challenge. It's a pity, actually.
So, I'm going to speed up the progress. I'll have your spirit broken in no time, boy. And I will piece it back together at my leisure. To what I see fit. Doctor Norris, can I have a triple doses of TRU23, please?"
Bulma watched in horror as her father asked for the stuff that he himself had warned her not to ever touch, might she happen to find it in her plays, He said it hurt. Very much.
"Now, my boy," the professor said with nonchalance, "this fluid will bring you utmost pain, I promise. It attacks every nerve in your body, without damaging them, of course. It attacks the body as well as the mind, by travelling through your nerve system and through your brain.
I think combined with your Ki-repressor it will be pure hell, as pure as I can make it, of course. Wouldn't want to insult the devil." The professor took the injection from the doctor, and proceeded to administer it to the boy, whose struggles only got more violent, until the whole table shook.
"Careful with the equipment, you useless monkey!" Her father gave the injection back, and proceeded to tap the strange collar, making the boy freeze in what Bulma could only call pain. Hurt.
Then, even though his restraints were probably raised even further, he started to move again. No struggles, just... movements. Twitches, cramps, reflexes. Pain, hurt.
"Already taking effect, I see. I've given you a doses higher than I've ever dared to give a creature, It will take effect sooner and will last far longer. However, since you have such a remarkable regeneration system, I know it won't have any lasting effects on you."
Bulma sat in her secret corner, stunned, shocked. She couldn't take her eyes away from the boy. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she didn't emit a sound, as she cried for the boy. Cried with him.
Why, Why? Why would her father do something like this?
"I shall leave you now. Tomorrow afternoon I will come check on you. By my calculations, the drug should have worn off then. We'll see then if you should be given a second dose. I don't think so, but who knows. Maybe you'll appear to be a real hard nut to crack."
Her... father?...
Was that her father?
Bulma felt twisted inside. Broken, hurt... How could her father do that?
If she had known the word to name what she was feeling, she would have called it betrayal.
The professor walked away from him, taking his staff with him. He told them the pain was even more unbearable when suffered alone. And he didn't need watching over; such vermin like him didn't die easily.
Those words didn't register in Bulma's mind.
The boy's head had lolled to his side, and suddenly, she was staring right in the coal black eyes of the boy.
He was looking back at her. He saw her. He saw her in her hiding spot. His eyes, in which Bulma could see so many things blazing and roaring, but which she could not name, locked on hers, and hold tight.
The professor and his staff exited the labs, but neither cared nor noticed.
Black met blue. He saw the tears, the broken trust, the horror, the disbelief, the betrayal...
Like he was looking in his own eyes.
Neither moved, or made a sound for a long time. He suffered, and she cried for him, while they both found something in each other's eyes.
"W-wow," she breathed as she looked in his eyes, while a tiny smile appeared on her face.
Nobody but she had ever done that upon seeing him.
"What are you doing here? How did you get here? It's good to see you again, how come you-" She broke off, and frowned. "Am I dreaming this? Maybe some kind of hallucination, because you surely can't be here... much to dangerous... I did hit my head, didn't I? See, that explains it... Too bad, it would be really nice to see you again. I didn't even know if you were dead or alive, since you... since you escaped. I always hoped you would be fine someday and visit me, but that's why I'm sure I'm seeing things, because that couldn't be it. No, because my father would collar you again immediately, and do things... I really did love my father, you know, but what he when he did that... that was wrong. Very wrong. Oh my, I'm doing it again, aren't I? I'm rambling, prattling, yapping. You always had so many names for my 'insane chattering', as you called it. I just can't help it, you know, I'm always doing it when I'm nervous, or sacred, or excited!! So, uhm, I think I'll better wake up, and ask for some aspirin, because I bet my head will hurt like hell when I'll wake up, so-"
"Hush, little one!" He laid a finger on her lips, and gave her an amused smirk. "Yes, you are rambling, but you aren't imagining things. I promise you that."
"But my head... Why doesn't it hurt?"
"I've given you something for that. I've checked your head injury. I didn't want our... reunion cut short."
Again, there was that warm smile on her face. He basked in it, knowing that from now on, he would never have to miss it.
Suddenly, the smile disappeared, to be replaced by a frown. "It's dangerous, Vegeta! You being here, I mean. If my father hears you are here, he will sure try to collar you again. Even after all these years, he still wants to... he still wants to break your mind. And Frieza wasn't exactly pleased with your escape... My father would do anything to once again be in the favour of that lizard."
Vegeta was pleased to hear the hate and disgust in her voice as she spat out the name of one of his greatest foes. She was loyal to him. She had even chosen him over her father, once. He was sure she would do that again... with a certain amount of persuasion.
"Don't worry. I have nothing to fear from your father." She looked at him, questions in her eyes, but when he didn't elaborate, she frowned slightly and asked: "How come?"
"Let's just say he is... preoccupied with something else." A nasty smirk played on his lips, but she didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah, well, he really can be focused on one of his projects, but- Oh! Wait! There was something strange happening outside my lab, I... I just wanted to get out and investigate. The security computer wasn't working. That has never happened before. I'm afraid something happened. Something bad... My father was working on a new some new kind of super fuel, and what if something went wrong? I'm-"
"Don't worry!" He said forcefully, making her blink. "Nothing happened to his experiment."
"But what happened," she insisted, clearly concerned and confused.
"Sssh, everything is under control," he said softly, whispering to her, watching her watching him with her big eyes. With his hands settled firmly at both sides of her head, he leaned even closer, hiding her faces into shadows. He saw her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden lack of light. He saw her eyes trying to focus, but not quite succeeding. He smirked; it seemed that that the second drug he administered was taking effect.
They were so close now; the puffs of her breathing fell on his lips. He could almost taste her. She was now staring up at him dreamily, a gentle smiling.
"Ok, if you say so," she whispered back, and she seemed indeed convinced, her eyes growing even more unfocused.
"But where am I?" She looked at the ceiling, confused.
He chuckled softly. "I thought I would be a little nostalgic. I took you to the main lab, you know, where we first me."
"Oh..." She looked at him with a slightly dazed expression. Then she frowned. "You're strange one, Vegeta. I would have thought you would never want to set a foot in this room again. I try to avoid it as much as possible. Too many bad memories."
"Yes, bad memories. They have a purpose for me. But the bad memories are not the first thing that come to my mind when I think about this lab."
"What is, then," she asked dreamily, while she slowly lifted a hand and started to trace the sharp contours of his face.
He had to resist the urge to press into her soft touch and purr like a kitten. He knew that she wasn't really aware of what she was doing. Just acting on her feelings and impulses, forgetting her reasoning, barriers and inhibitions. Just the way it was supposed to work.
"Your eyes."
"My eyes?" She sounded incredulously, and gave him a bemused look. "Vegeta, I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you, and once again, you make fun of me."
"I'm completely serious."
"Oh." The laugh disappeared, and a look of wonder appeared. "You like my eyes?" She asked softly, longingly.
"Very much so. That day I was brought here, and tied down to this same table," he tabbed the massive titanium table, "I was about to loose my mind, to finally give up, and then, like one of your humans cheesy fairy tales, I saw your eyes, and you saved me. You gave me something to hold onto, to concentrate on, instead of the pain. I saw many things in these big eyes of yours, and they made me hold on, to bear the pain, to continue to defy them. And it all, your eyes, the pain, the memories, served me well. Still, I dream about your eyes, and you, hidden behind that piece of lab equipment... You were... like a deliverance..."
The pain was everywhere, just like that cowardice human had said. It ate at him. His nerves seemed to pull themselves into knots. His muscles seemed to shrink and twist, his bones to pulverise and go to ashes. His blood seemed to boil. Agony, like he had never felt before. Worse than the most vile and cruellest punishment Frieza had ever dished out to him.
It invaded his mind. The torturous pain swept through it, making him forget all reason. He couldn't think about anything else, but the pain. It drove him insane. It ate at his mental defences. It tore at his will, his determination to never break, never give in.
Now, he wanted to, so badly. Anything to escape this. Anything. Just give up his sanity, his strength of mind, his longing to freedom... Give in. Break down. Give in to the mindless blackness.
He trashed on the table, as much as the ki-restraining bonds would allow. No, never!
But he would. He had nothing to think about, but the pain. When would that doctor come back? When would they...
It hurt even more just to think. He had no energy left... Nothing left to...
Suddenly, something out in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He threw his head that way, before he would be totally incapable to move... Was this poison also paralysing?
He blinked, once, afraid he was imagining or hallucinating... Blue eyes...
Blue eyes, in the face of a small girl.
A human girl. What was one so small doing in a place like this? Sure it must be an hallucination. Nothing so... innocent... would be encased in such a place. Though she seemed to be hiding, the way she was huddled behind a large metal device.
Her eyes... he was drawn to them. They sparkled with some kind of moisture. But what he saw in her eyes. Never before had he seen such... warmth! Warmth and innocence.
He saw trails of moisture running over her cheeks. Odd...
Whatever it was that his mind was conjuring up, he felt strangely comforted by her eyes. If he had to loose his mind, maybe this was his last memory...
Suddenly, a soft, strangled sound escaped her, and another. She brought her hands to her mouth as she tried to suppress the pitiful sounds.
She trembled, and more moisture escaped her eyes.
The pain he felt was reflected in her eyes. Suddenly a name came to the feeling he saw there too, a word which meaning was totally alien to him; compassion.
Then, he knew she wasn't a hallucination, nor a dream or just an image of his crazed mind. Because how could he hallucinate something he had never seen nor experienced before?
She was real. What she felt for him, was real.
And he latched onto her and her eyes with her feelings as a salvation and a deliverance from the torture. Something even deeper shifted in him, but his mind was too tired to think about the strange vibration going through his being... He didn't know it, and didn't want to think of it right now.
Right now, he only thought about the escape from the torture she brought to him.
He could not be broken now.
"That's the sweetest thing anybody has ever said to me." A large smile lit up her entire face, and she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down, giving him a 'hug' as she called them. He let out an unnoticeable sigh as he was enveloped in her warm embrace. She was just warmth.
She didn't seem to mind his weight, and just buried her face in his neck, her breath tickling the skin. He had to suppress a shudder, and did the same to her; he placed both his arms beside her head, to somewhat support his own weight, and buried his face in her neck, taking in the softness of her skin and the structure of the soft short hairs in her neck.
"Hmm... I missed you, Vegeta."
He draw back a little, so he could see her face.
"You did?" He asked, no, he pushed her for an answer, with a strength and a longing he couldn't hide.
"Yes, I did. You were the only friend I ever had. You were the only one who really talked with me. You played with me.
I love you, Vegeta."
The truth in her eyes was almost too much for him, as he felt moisture pricking in his eyes. Tears...
As another sound escaped her, he forced open his mouth and croaked out: "Whaa yourrrr aa..." he slurred the words, and didn't seem to be able to finish his sentence. Inwardly, he cursed his lack of strength.
She seemed to be startled as he started to speak. She jolted behind the large piece of equipment first, more out of reaction, then out of real fear. She carefully peaked out behind it, looking straight at him.
She rubbed her cheeks, wiping away the moisture, then, hesitantly stepped out from her hiding spot.
Small, careful steps she took, as she seemed weary of him. She looked at him, with big uncertain eyes; she was ready to flee at any moment.
He watched her as she approached. How old could she be? She was a child yes, but he didn't know the anatomy of humans well enough to make a good guess at her age.
He eyed her wearily too; though she seemed completely harmless, it could be a guise, or a trap or a sick game those humans were playing with him.
But he quickly discarded that idea. Although that doctor seemed cruel enough, he simply lacked the imagination for something like this.
Besides, what he could read in her face and eyes was just too real to be acted.
She was now standing right beside his head, tensed and nervous. She was fidgeting; pulling at the hem of her sweater.
"Whhoo rrr... Whhaa..."
That seemed to bring her attention back to him. Immediately the moisture from her eyes started to flow again, rolling down her cheeks, dripping off her chin on the metal of the table he lay upon. As she came even closer to him, probably to take a better look, the liquid fell on his skin. He flinched back and she too took a step back.
"S-sorry," she hiccuped, apparently very much upset. Why, he wondered.
"Nnnn," was all that came out his throat. The collar was really choking him when he tried to talk, so he just gave up on trying it; the effort took too much of his precious last energy.
"I am so sorry... I don't know why my father does this... Why doesn't he help you?... He even gave you-" She choked and spluttered, and her cheeks were now really wet. The confusion and betrayal he saw there mirrored his own feelings the day his father handed him to the cold lizard.
This girl's father was the same man as that doctor? Professor Briefs, was his name. He didn't see any resemblance... maybe the hair; though that of the doctor was a strange bluish grey, this girl had almost the same colour hair as the colour of her eyes; a striking blue. Maybe it was age which discoloured the hair of the professor.
But it was the only thing of the girl that remotely reminded him of that old man.
"You're obviously ill, and my father only made it worse... Why? I- I don't understand!" She looked at him like he had all her answers. He only had a one answer though; life isn't fair.
"You, you can't even talk. This thing is choking you." She had come closer again, and was once more looking more closely at him. She was only small, and only her head and neck came above the table. She reached out a hand and gingerly fingered the collar.
"I've seen these before. My father told me, that they were used on dangerous criminals... But I don't think you're dangerous, or a criminal. You're just a boy."
He frowned at her. He wasn't 'just a boy'! If he could get free, he would show them how dangerous he could be. Still, simple fate in him was so new for him, so alien. Though it made him feel... good.
She stood on the tips of her toes and brought her face very close to his. Her eyes were even bigger now, the eyelashes thick with moisture.
"I'm going to help you. I don't care why my father does this, but it is WRONG. Just wrong. I'm going to help you, ok?"
He wanted to laugh; how could someone so small achieve anything in here? What could she do?
But deep down, he felt a strange warmth. Nobody ever before had offered to help him. And she meant it... and planned to do her best too. Her determination was easy to read in her eyes.
He looked again at the moisture on her cheeks. It still came out of her eyes, though not as much as before.
"Wwaatterrrr," he tried.
"What? I can't... Wait a minute." With both hands, she trailed over the collar, and he felt Goosebumps go over his entire body. Her touch was feather light, gentle... It was an alien sensation, but it felt strangely good.
"Aha, let's see..." her face was scrunched up in an expression of concentration. Then, she smiled.
"Bingo," she said and he immediately felt some relief in the pressure on his throat and jugular.
"I didn't let it go much, otherwise they'll find out, but if you keep silent, they won't notice a thing.
He could swallow without pain now, and breathe more easily.
"Water," he said clearly, and nudged his head at her face.
"Water?" she asked, puzzled. She touched her face, then began to wipe her face with the sleeve of her sweater.
"That's no water, well... they're tears. I was crying. But you're thirsty, sorry. I'll get you some water. Wait here... Uhm, sorry, You can't get- Sorry... I'll get you some water."
He didn't even hear her chattering. Tears... He had never seen them before. He had never seen somebody cry... Maybe most races couldn't. But he remembered something vaguely; he was still very small, but he remembered the voice of his father, shouting against someone, who made the same noises as the girl just made... His mother... Why had she been crying?
The girl came back and she carried a cup. "So, how are we gonna do this? Wait, can you get your head up somewhat? Then you'll swallow easier and won't choke so soon..." She carefully put the cup at his lips and tipped it slightly.
Delicious, cool liquid run down his parched mouth and throat. It even seemed to soothe the fire in the rest of his body... The pain... Now he was reminded of it. It was still there, and just as fierce, but the girl was an excellent diversion... That combined with his high tolerance of pain, made it bearable.
He greedily swallowed everything she gave, until the cup was empty.
"That went well; you didn't choke. Want more?" Without waiting for an answer, she went to get another cup.
He drank three cups before he had enough. She quickly hid the cup away in her hiding place. When she caught him looking at her, she explained: "My father seems to see everything, or at least everything that is out of order. I don't know how he does that. If he finds out I'm in here... Or that I've talked to you..." She looked up at different places in the ceiling, then at the wall.
"I don't know why the security cams aren't on. Usually when he has a project in her, they are. But they can't see me when I'm hiding behind that," she pointed at the metal equipment, a cabinet or something, "and behind that thing is a ventilation shaft, closed by a grid, but it's easy to open and close, without being heard. I can crawl easily through the ventilation system. That's how I get in here, without anyone knowing. Good, huh?" She gave him a small, shy smile.
"I'm Bulma. What's your name?" While she had been talking she had been looking at his body, almost examining it. He had just listened to her bantering, oddly comforted by her voice.
"Vegeta."
"Oh... That's a strange name-"
"Not anymore than Bulma is," he said shortly.
"Sorry. But you aren't... human, are you."
"No, I'm a Saiyan." Prince of the Saiyans, he thought bitterly, but he didn't say it. He didn't value anything in that title anymore. Look where it had got him. Look where his father had got him. The king had sold off his own son. No, being a Prince meant nothing to him.
"Saiyan," she pronounced it carefully. "I've never heard of your race before."
"Hmm, you're still young." He was looking at her, with a quiet intensity in his stare, and it was making her uncomfortable; being under such scrutiny.
"I don't dare to loosen up your restraints... If my father finds out... he's very strict and he-" She cut off her own words.
It seemed that his way of treating his... specimen had also some comparison in the way he treated his daughter. Still, it didn't explain to why she was crying.
So he asked, in spite of himself curious to know why: "Why were you... crying?"
She gave him an embarrassed smile. So easy she smiled, and so sincere those smiles felt.
"I must have looked like a baby, but... I couldn't help it. You were in so much pain, and they treat you so unfair... Then my father only made it worse."
Though the truth about her father was no doubt a heavy blow to her, she seemed far more upset by how they were treating him. That he was in pain and held here against his will.
She had been crying for him.
****
End Part I