Lethal Combination

-01-

Bulma shut the door to her Captain's office and took the seat opposite his desk.

"Welcome back, Briefs," Piccolo greeted, regarding her with piercing eyes. "I trust you're all healed up?"

"Yessir." She gave him a wry smile, her fingers tugging on the cuff of her sleeve. "Ready to be back catching bad guys."

He stared at her a moment longer, trying to weigh her words, before turning his gaze to a manilla folder on his desk. "Glad to hear it. Hasn't been the same without my best detective. Something just landed in my lap I want you to look at."

He handed over the folder. Bulma opened it and flipped through the papers as Piccolo summarized the report for her.

"Bank robbery. Third one in as many weeks. They're hitting small branches, probably since there's less security to worry about."

She looked up at him over the documents. "Really, Cap? Local bank heists?" This was a case for a newbie, not a seasoned detective.

Piccolo's expression didn't change. "A worker was shot at the last one."

She glanced back at the notes. "Huh. So they're escalating their violence."

"Exactly."

"Still," she shut the file. "This is rookie fodder."

"Damn straight it is. I'm not dropping you in the deep end on your first day back. In case you forgot, you nearly died and lost a partner."

Her throat went dry, knuckles turning white on the folder. "…Like I could forget."

Piccolo sighed and looked away — the only indication he regretted his words. "You know what I mean. I'm not blaming you, Briefs. I'm just concerned."

"Don't be. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"Speaking of that, I've got your new partner—"

"No," she interrupted. "I'm done with those."

"It doesn't work that way and you know it. Besides, this one's a transfer, it's out of my hands. From narcotics. A Vegeta Saiyan. Apparently former special forces and here's the pincher, on a psych probation, so maybe you'll get lucky and he'll off himself."

"Jesus Christ, Captain. You have me on babysitting duty too?" she flung up her hands up in the air.

Piccolo shrugged. "Take it or leave it."

Bulma slunk back in her seat and sulked. "Ugh. Remind me why I chose to come back."

"Beats me. You still have medical leave you could be on." He leaned forward, his voice taking on a kinder tone. "You sure you're up for this, Bulma? You've got nothing to prove, you know."

She tugged on her cuff and looked away. "Yeah. I need to do something or I'm going to go crazy."

He leaned back and smirked. "Sounds like you'll be in good company then."

~xox~


Bulma headed back to her desk. Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, seeing a message from her mom about dinner that night. She texted her confirmation and pocketed the phone. Her feet slowed when she saw an unfamiliar man leaning against her table with arms crossed and eyes narrowed. He was of average height, but built like a goddamn linebacker, his shirt barely containing the swell of his big arms and broad chest. He had dark sweeping hair above a widow's peak and sharp unfriendly features. A police badge rested at his narrow waist.

"You lost?" she asked, dropping the folder on her desk.

Dark eyes slid to look her up and down, his mouth souring. "You Briefs?"

"Yeah. Who's asking?"

"Detective Vegeta Saiyan. Your new partner." He didn't offer a hand to shake, and neither did she.

They both weighed the other in cold silence. It was obvious neither were thrilled by their new assignment. Bulma decided to be the bigger person and nodded at the folder. "That's our case. Some small-time bank jobs."

"You're shittin' me?" he scoffed.

She could sympathize. "I wish, but looks like we're both being punished."

"What the fuck did you do?"

"Got my last partner killed," she deadpanned. To his credit, Vegeta didn't balk. "You?"

He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Keep trying to die."

Wow. The universe really did have a sick sense of humor to be partnering them up.

"Briefs, Saiyan!" Piccolo shouted from his office door. "Another bank robbery in progress. Get your asses over there, now!"

"Yessir!" Bulma shouted as she holstered her weapon and grabbed her keys. "I'm driving," she announced.

Vegeta didn't protest, following after.

~xox~


Nothing was said between them the entire car-ride. When they reached the address, the street had been blocked off by patrol cars, several officers training their weapons at the bank from behind their vehicles.

"What's the situation?" Bulma demanded as she got out of her car. An officer offered them bullet-proof vests. She pulled one on. Vegeta didn't.

"Bank robbery turned hostage situation," the officer filled them in. "Someone tripped the silent alarm. We don't know how many inside."

"Anyone made contact, yet?"

"We've tried calling in but they haven't answered. SWAT should be here any minute."

"Listen, Saiyan, we need to—" Bulma cut herself off when she looked over her shoulder and found Vegeta gone. "What the… Where the hell did he go?"

The nearby officer raised a shaky hand to point towards the road. Bulma followed his finger and saw, to her horror, that Vegeta walked right up to to the bank and let himself inside.

"What the hell…" she swore. She looked back at the officer. "How far out did you say SWAT was?"

~xox~


Vegeta counted 4 ski-masked gunmen, three uniformed bank staff, and two customers. The moment he was noticed the gunmen started shouting and pointing weapons, mostly asking who the fuck he was and to get down on the ground.

He came to a stop in the middle of the bank, hands shoved casually in his pockets. "I'm here to negotiate."

"We didn't ask for no negotiator!" the nearest gunman shouted, storming over to point a shotgun in his face.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes. "Exactly. You morons haven't asked for anything. Is this your first hostage situation?"

"What the fuck did he call us?" one of the gunmen asked.

"Listen pal, we ain't no amateurs," the nearest gunmen said, jabbing his shotgun threateningly. "Watch your mouth unless you wanna end up dead."

"Ah yes, brilliant," Vegeta mocked. "Shoot the negotiator. That won't bring SWAT in here and blow you all away."

The four gunmen exchanged uneasy glances, all of them deferring back to the one nearest Vegeta. Bingo. The leader.

"…We want a getaway vehicle," said leader began.

Vegeta made a disapproving sound.

"…What?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he drawled.

"The fuck not?"

"Because they'll put a tracking device on the car, genius." Vegeta stared the leader dead in the eyes. "Were you born this stupid or was it something you had to practice at?"

"Man, who the fuck is this guy?" another gunman shouted.

"Shut up, I'm handling this," the leader snapped.

"Yeah, he's handling this," Vegeta repeated.

"SHUT. UP!" The barrel of the shotgun butted up to Vegeta's temple. "Shut. The fuck. UP, or I'll—"

"You'll what?" Vegeta stepped forward, turning his head into the gun. "Shoot me? Go ahead."

"The fuck?" The leader's eyes widened.

Vegeta snatched the barrel of the weapon and held it to his brow, staring down it at the shooter. A dark unhinged smile spread across his face. "Do it. Isn't that why you're here? Isn't that what you've been building up to all these weeks? You're just dying to know what it feels like to take a man's life, aren't you? Do it. Squeeze the trigger. One little pull, that's all it'll take."

"You're crazy!" the leader stuttered, backing up, but Vegeta wouldn't let him, advancing with him. The other gunmen were shouting: SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT! Hostages began to scream.

"What are you waiting for?" Vegeta goaded. "Shoot me. Shoot me. I'm right here. I'm RIGHT FUCKING HERE!"

The gunman took one more step back, and Vegeta came perfectly into line of sight of all four men. He sighed, disappointment burning the back of his tongue.

In one swift movement, he yanked the shotgun out of the leader's hands and slammed the stock into his face. The leader's nose crunched and he collapsed. Vegeta flung the shotgun across the room, knocking the next gunman's weapon from his hands before anyone realized what had happened.. He pulled out his firearm (that the idiot hostage-takers hadn't made him give up), and shot the two remaining robbers in quick succession.

SWAT burst into the bank screaming commands. Soon the place swarmed with law enforcement. The gunmen still alive were cuffed and hauled off, while the terrified hostages were safely escorted out. Vegeta holstered his weapon and met the hard steel gaze of his new partner. The blue-haired detective was giving him the look. The you're fucking crazy and a danger to everyone around you look. He headed for the exit.

"What the fuck was that?" she demanded, grabbing his arm.

He glanced at her hand then at her. "Getting the job done. You got a problem with that?"

"You bet I do. Do you have any idea how NOT by the book what you did just was? We're supposed to be partners," she snapped. "We're supposed to have each other's backs."

"Like you had your last partner's?"

Her face went pale. Then her eyes burned with blue fire and she punched him. Hard.

The girl had a mean right hook.

He cupped his cheek and stretched his jaw to fight off the sting as she stormed out of the bank. He waited a few seconds, ignoring the judging glares of the other officers before he slowly followed in her tracks.

~xoXox~


AN: based on Lethal Weapon and DragonBall. What can I say, I love 80s action movies, and I saw there was a TV remake series and got excited.