Disclaimer: I own the OCs and the plot. That is all.

Author's note: This is a Vegeta-sei AU and focuses on an OC of mine; a Saiyan named Jirae who is, regrettably, wheel-chair bound after an attack. He faces a great amount of obstacles as he struggles to find himself despite this most from the squad he was from. As an Elite, he's held to a higher standard and having such a disability is seen as a weakness and a mark of shame which just makes things all sorts of complicated. Warnings will be given as they arise. For the prologue they include; angst, abuse, and a hinted at non-con scene at the end. As always, I'm hard on my characters...Anyway...

Defining Strength

Prologue: Because Things Haven't Gone Badly Enough Apparently

It was humiliating...but then everything about this was. Closing his eyes, he takes a slow breath and tells himself that it came with the territory, that he could go through this without having what amounted to an epic meltdown. His fingers clench tightly and he gives a scowl worthy of the race he was a part of at the distance he'd have to cross. Of course, that was the whole point behind this endeavor; how humiliating it was going to be to crawl to where he needed to be. Brown eyes narrow as he struggles with the commentary in the back of his mind that sounded, no surprise, like his idiot father about how he shouldn't put himself through such a humiliating ordeal. Unfortunately, Jirae was a little more stubborn than that.

It was slow, tedious, and he loathes the sarcastic commentary called to him as he does this. Honestly, did they have nothing better to do than belittle others? That he was wondering this made him think more than his back had been damaged. 'Just a little bit fur...' The thought isn't even completed before a hand tangles in his mid-back length dark red hair before he finds himself bodily jerked from the ground. "L-Let go of me," he grits out, "You sadistic FUCK, let GO of me!"

"Sure thing," comes the snide response before he finds himself carted to a centralized set of fountains and dropped into the water. Gritting his teeth, Jirae feels the onset of pure rage flood him though retaliating in his present condition was rather suicidal at best. The hooting laughter just doesn't make things any better to his already bruised pride. Not to mention it meant a longer distance to have to manage to cross before he could get to that damned chair. Gripping the sides of the fountain, he's hit with yet another internal question of why he was putting himself through this and part of him just didn't have a good answer at the moment. Dripping wet, it takes him a few minutes to even get to sitting on the edge of the fountain and he glowers at the snickering group before him.

"Do you have NOTHING better to do with your time and energy?" he snaps feeling his tail bristle, "I mean SERIOUSLY?! Go train or do something constructive that isn't harass me!" How in the world had he stood being in a squad with these guys? Oh, wait, he knew; he wasn't considered useless...weak...lesser. And the response he gets? A KI ball exploding close enough to send him BACK into the fountain and more laughter. Kais he was so damn sick of this.

Realizing that he just needed to keep still and they'd tired eventually, he merely stares up at the red sky and tries to ignore the fact that he was floating in the damn fountains because his former squad-mates were raving lunatics. It wasn't exactly a thrilling thought. He hated more the thought of having to get out of the fountain only to have to crawl for the damn chair he was saddled with. That was just not something he was looking forward to...not at all. "They're gone." A voice interrupts his internal musing and he gazes at the Saiyan by the side of the fountain looking back at him.

"Well, that's a relief," he mutters as he slowly moves to the side. Managing to get back up, he's a little surprised to realize that the chair is right next to it by the Saiyan standing there.

"They really have no right to be such a bunch of assholes."

"Oh, they think they do," he replies quietly.

"You know I do believe there is a law against swimming in the fountains, Jirae."

He inwardly sighs hearing the voice from the direction of the stairs behind the fountain in question that lead straight into the palace. "Majesty, I wasn't swimming," he says quietly, "I got flung in the first time and knocked in the second. Honestly, you should screen your guards a little more carefully."

"Considering you used to be on their squad, does it really surprise you?"

Jirae sighs and shakes his head. "No, my king." Honestly, could he get a break without having to be reminded that he knew what he was getting into with this?

"Then please refrain from entertaining them in such a way if you would be so kind."

He clenches his teeth stifling the sarcastic reply that craves utterance and focuses instead on getting himself suitably ensconced in his chair. The Saiyan who'd been kind enough to assist having vanished probably at the sight of the monarch because honestly, their king was an intimidating male. "Yes, Majesty," he finally manages to say without sounding like he wanted to strangle the other Saiyan with his own cape or the pendant around his neck.

The next great hurdle is rolling himself the distance to his residence which is exhausting considering that he was already tired from this whole ordeal. He'd be lucky to get halfway there by the time night fell or those morons decided on another go-round with him. 'This is your own damn fault, you know.' The unbidden thought once again sounding in his mind like his disapproving sire has him stilling a moment. "Yeah, great...I'm well aware I'm bringing this on myself," he mutters, "Because apparently, I'm masochistic in addition to everything else."

He forces his thoughts elsewhere and focuses on getting out of sight and to a safer location before he ended up in a worse position. Being tossed in the palace fountains while embarrassing and irritating was kind compared to what he could be having done to him. Soaked as he was, the suns going down meant that he was going to get cold before he got back to relative safety and that didn't make him feel much better all things considered. However, as he ends up out of sight of the palace it becomes quite clear just how much things were going downhill as he notices them lurking against a far wall obviously waiting for him. He feels his jaw clench and his tension rise. Great, he was going to have a fight on his hands that he couldn't hope to win with the situation being as it was. "What did I do to you that you feel the need to do this to me?" he demands as he approaches. These were males he'd trained with for years and it angered him to think that this is what it had come down to.

"Oh, I'm sure you can figure it out one of these days," comes the snide comment from his chief tormenter...and subsequently his old squad leader, "You're useless not an idiot, Jirae."

His lip curves into a snarl before he'd seethe, "You're a sadistic asshole so I think we're even on that aspect." It was the wrong thing to say and he knew it but his nerves were completely shot passed what he could possibly handle at the moment and he wasn't in the mood for this stupidity. However, he finds that it really wasn't helping his position to be this careless as the male easily drags him from the chair.

"You really are going to be stupid about this aren't you?"

He grits his teeth, his hands immediately gripping the others wrist tightly. "S-stop it...and leave me in peace," he forces out struggling to quell the sudden and very real fear that grips him. His KI was struggling to right itself and he'd been warned that unless he thought he was going to die not to utilize it for the next few weeks. That put him in a very precarious position because while they were threatening him he was pretty damn sure they weren't trying to kill him.

"You have yet to learn to hold that acidic tongue of yours...so I think I lesson is in order, Jirae." The tone is enough to worry the dark red-haired Saiyan who was sure that this wasn't good. Unfortunately, it wasn't like he could manage to resist and hope to win at this point. As much as surrender galled his pride, it was all he had at the moment. It probably wasn't going to be enough to keep him from getting seriously hurt but all he could do was try and minimize the damage being done to him. A part of him, however, is quick to point out that there was little that could actually be done to further damage an already half-broken vessel.

His thoughts are quickly forced back on track when he finds himself brought to the barracks by the palace and dropped in what was the communal bathroom. He hits the floor and forces himself to not tense completely. "You don't want to do this," he says quietly, "I know you don't want to do this."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong," comes the snide response, "Besides, this probably will be the only thing such a useless creature would be good for."

Jirae feels his wounded pride sink lower. Really? Did they have to keep pointing out the obvious? He KNEW what happened made him LESSER in the eyes of the race he came from. They did NOT need to remind him of the facts as they stood. It was beyond cruel and unusual. The feel of the other crouching down before he finds himself rolled onto his back is worse than he'd imagined. "Wh-why are you DOING this?" he forces out struggling to hide the growing terror filling him.

"Because we can," comes the response, "YOU of all should KNOW that, Jirae."

His fingers tighten as indignant fury fills him. "You...are unbelievable," he manages, "You would have been KILLED and this...THIS is how you repay me?"

"You say that like I'm supposed to give a damn...You're still such a naïve fool. You obviously NEED this reality check." His tone was cold, final, and told Jirae that there was nothing more that he could do but get through it as best he could. The problem was that he wasn't sure he COULD handle this. Fate just didn't seem to care what he thought about the subject.