Summary:
Vegeta survived the Cyborgs instead of Bulma, and is left to raise Trunks on his own in a world devastated by the cyborgs 18 and 19.

Warning:

While condemning it, this fic does feature depictions of child mistreatment that some may find disturbing in later chapters.

Piccolo was the first to die after Goku. The Cyborgs learned of the dragon balls and quickly took him out, leaving Kami dead, and no way to revive Goku, or any of the other Z fighters. One by one they dropped, each dieing in ways more painful than the last.

Vegeta didn't bat an eye as they fell. Bulma cried, but he could hardly see how their deaths mattered when he was still around to fight. He was easily the strongest warrior in this galaxy now that kakarot was dead. No, Vegeta couldn't force himself to care who the androids killed. Not really.

Until they killed Bulma.

As she lay dying in Vegeta's arms, she took a handful of his hair and tugged him down to look at her. He could easily resist the pull, but he he didn't. She was dying, the least he could do was listen to her last words.

"Look at me you son of a bitch." She choked as blood pooled in her mouth. " Stay the fuck away from those goddamn Cyborgs." Every word she said sounded wet. Vegeta lifted her head a little. "Protect Trunks." She reached for the screaming baby nestled in the crook of Vegeta's left arm. "You stay away from them until he's grown. He needs you- He needs you alive and that means you can't go chasing after them- not now that I'm-" She trailed off- and for a moment, the horror at facing her own mortality flickered across her face. She took a deep breath and pushed it down.

"You can't win alone- don't argue! You know you can't. But maybe you can with... two super saiyans." She tore her eyes away from Vegeta and looked down at Trunks again and reached for him. He passed her the crying baby, who calmed against his mother's breast. "Just stay alive long enough to train him, and make him strong like you. I know he will be. Take the ship- it should be fine in the basement. You can live in it. It's got enough fuel to last decades. Park it away from the cities… You- you know how to fly it-" She said- sounding sure but worried.

"Woman, of course I do." He said, the usual gruffness in his voice gone. "I spent my entire life living in ships, I know how to pilot one."

"Good. Than, after Trunks is an adult and a super saiyan like you; go kill them. Then go to namek and wish all this away. You can still save the world if you're just patient." Her eyes welled with tears as she looked down at her infant son. "I'm so sorry I'm going to miss your childhood." She hugged him close, her shoulder shaking with sobs that she could fend off no longer.

Alone, with no one but a dying woman and an infant to see him, Vegeta pulled Bulma's upper body into his arms and held her while she bled out. "I promise you, I will avenge-" He paused and looked down at the baby. He looked back up at his father's eyes, so like his, even at this age. "We, will avenge you." He assured her. There were no words of love exchanged. He just held her, comforting her as best he could while she sobbed in her sorrow and pain until the air left her body completely, and she went limp in his arms.

Keeping his temper at the moment was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. But he was Vegeta. He could do anything, and he wasn't going to get over emotional over the death of some woman.

He lifted Trunks off her chest, and tucked him safely back in the crook of his elbow. He'd gone to sleep. He probably thought his mother had gone to sleep too. The Cyborgs had destroyed this whole city and moved on to the next, so if he kept low to the ground and didn't go running after them, he should be able to slip past them.

A scream for help echoed from below the rubble as Vegeta started to drift away from the scene, Bulma's dead body over his shoulder. He couldn't leave here there. He paused, a little surprised by the sound- he'd thought everyone was dead. He turned back and looked around- it had to be one of Bulma's parents. He couldn't just blast around to move the rubble out of the way, or they'd die, and his arms were full. He didn't dare leave trunks anywhere without someone holding him. The baby could barely hold his head up on his own. Another scream. It sounded high- Was it Panchii?

He set Bulma's corpse down just out of the way of the rubble around her old home, though it was hard to tell with the entire ground covered in rubble, where her home ended and the street started. With Trunks still tucked into his left elbow, he began looking through the wreckage, lifting huge pieces of roofing and steel framing, listening for more sound.

"Hello?! Panchii?" He yelled- hoping beyond hope that she was alive, somehow. That he'd have someone to help him with Trunks- If Panchii was alive he could do this- he could do it if she was alive to and could help with Trunks-

He moved a large section of rubble by kicking it out of the way, when he heard a metallic clanging. He kept looking, getting closer and closer to the sound when spotted it, a large bent out of shape hunk of metal was being banged on from underneath. "Panchii!" He shouted and flung the warped metal door aside like it was nothing. His heart sank as he looked down at the old, mustached face of Mr Brief, who was crouching in a steep staircase that had lead to the basement.
"Was Panchii with you, down there?!" He asked right away.
"She was in the kitchen-" Dr Breifs said, those words hang in the air for a moment.

Panchii was dead.

The old man dragged himself to the surface, stumbling over the rubble. "Gah- damnit my arm is broken- the blast sent me flying, but- Panchii- My wife where's my wife- where's Bulma, where's-" He spotted Trunks in Vegeta's arm and his face lit up with relief that was replaced too quickly by greif. He knew there was only one reason Vegeta was holding Trunks.
"Bulma is-"
"Yes." Vegeta cut him off and looked him over. "If Panchii was in the kitchen, she's likely.." He looked out over the wreckage.
"I can hold Trunks, you look for Panchii." Dr Brief reached out and took the Baby into his one good arm. The boy recognized his grandpa, and the smell of his mustache oil. He giggled and reached for it.

Vegeta was all too happy to be free of Trunks even for a moment, and tore through the rubble with gusto, calling for Panchii, hoping beyond hope that she was somehow alive- but the more he looked, the more he realized the kitchen was in the part of the house closest to where the blast originated. There would be no way.

After another long few minutes of searching, he found her left foot. It wasn't long before he found what had to be a shoulder, and he knew she was gone.
"Did you find her?" Dr Brief yelled when he saw Vegeta stop looking. Vegeta put the rubble back over the parts of her so that Dr Brief wouldn't see and flew over to him.
"She's gone."

That meant Dr Brief, and Vegeta, were all Trunks had left.

He looked down at his his son, happily tugging on the mustache of a sobbing Dr Brief. What was wrong with him- men were supposed to be stronger than this.
"Is the basement intact?" Vegeta asked.
"Yes, mostly. I was- I was preparing the ship to go to namek and get the dragonballs to wish away those cyborgs. Bulma was going to have Gohan and Krillin go- but when they- well she was going to go, but-" Dr Brief let out a wail and cried. He couldn't wipe his face with Trunks in one arm, and his other broken. "Why didn't Bulma have a senzu bean on her?" He sobbed.

"Good question. Take Trunks to the basement and stay put. I'm going to Korins."
"What? But Vegeta- if you fly up there right now you'll just-"

He didn't wait around for the end of the sentence.

Korin's tower and the lookout seemed intact when it first came into view. Vegeta was so filled with rage though that he couldn't be bothered to slow down before crashing into the side of Korin's tower. He was prepared to kill.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU GIVE BULMA SENZU BEANS?!" He roared as he stalked around the tower looking for the cat man.

Korin appeared out of the downstairs entrance and leered at Vegeta.
"Vegeta- if you're here for-"
"WHY DIDN'T YOU GIVE BULMA SENZU BEANS? I KNOW YOU SENT THAT FAT ASSHOLE DOWN TO GIVE SOME TO THE OTHER Z FIGHTERS, WHY COULDN'T YOU SPARE SOME FOR-"
"If you'll just-" Korin started.
"BULMA IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!" He shouted, his power crackling around him in his fury. It sent Korin sliding back across the smooth floor.
"I sent down a whole bag just last week! It takes them longer than a week to grow, I'm out! Yajirobe had them when he DIED so it's not my fault if he didn't manage to get some to Bulma." Vegeta took a menacing step towards him.

"Bulma is dead because of you." Vegeta growled the words, his fists clenched at his sides as he moved towards the soon to be dead Korin.
"What do you care! Yajirobe told me you left her alone all the time! That's how she died, isn't it? You ran off to fight the cyborgs and- "

Korin dropped off as Vegeta had now gone full super saiyan, his fist reared back to punch him. "And if you kill me you'll never get a senzu bean again. I'm the only one who knows how to grow them!" He shouted, making Vegeta freeze. "And without the senzu beans you've got no hope of getting Bulma back! You need to get stronger and kill the Cyborgs. When you do eventually face off against them, I'm sure you'll need some of my senzu beans!"

Vegeta clenched his fists so hard he broke the fabric of his gloves. His power exploded out of him- even managing to dent the floor of Korin Tower.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" He screamed.
"Yeah, it's not his fault." A cool voice said from behind him.
"Yeah, I think I was the one who leveled that city, wasn't I, Bro?" The cool female voice replied. "Honestly, he's trying to take credit for our work now. Would you just look at that."

Vegeta spun and attacked them before he could think. His fist colliding with the bitch's face. She smirked and knocked him off with a lazy kick to his shoulder. It crunched. He kept going- throwing as many punches and kicks as he could, fainting left once to get her to block left and then kicking right- it worked, she went flying.

"Stop! You'll destroy the tower!" Korin yelled behind him. That was right- Vegeta, even in his rage recognized the need for the tower, or more over, Korin's life.

"Ohhh is this tower important to you, Mr Widow's peak?" The boy, 17 said. Vegeta glared at him, and while the bitch was drifting lazily towards them, He turned and took off, grabbing Korin around the middle and zipping up to Kami's lookout at top speed. He barely made it there before 18 was kicking him in the back. He dropped Korin on the look out's marble floor and shoot off, 18 on his heels. He circled back and punched 17 in the face, his dark hair flying to the side as he go. He needed to protect the tower- get them away from it. He tried flying away, hoping they'd chase but they wouldn't. He'd look back and find them hovering about the lookout, smirking.

He jumped back in the fight- his broken shoulder slowing him down significantly. With one perfect kick, the bitch sent Vegeta crashing into the lookout. He looked up through the rubble just in time to see Mr Popo pulling Korin onto a flying carpet, and vanishing on the spot.

"Hey- where'd they go? You see that, sis? The racist portrayal and the cat vanished."
"Ah, man really? Well, it's not important. It's the lookout and that tower that matter right? Can't get the bean's without the tower."

"Too right you are, sis" He agreed in a casual, friendly sort of way- and they began blasting the tower. Vegeta pushed himself out of the rubble and flew at them as a massive dust cloud engulfed him. He knew he had been going in the right direction, though effectively blind now when he saw nothing but inky black and felt arms closing around his leg when suddenly he was crashing into a mountaintop.

Mr Popo had dragged him away in the dust cloud while the Cyborgs destroyed the lookout, and Kami's tower. Mr Popo looked quietly distraught.
"You fools! What have you done!?"
"I don't need the tower to grow more senzu beans." Korin said right away. "I grew them there because of my father- but I can grow them any place with the right climate.
"Why did you drag me out of there- I had her right were I -"
"Please, Vegeta- your shoulder. It's-" Mr Popo pleaded.
"I HAD THEM!"
"No you didn't." Korin said cooly. "I'm tempted not to give you a senzu now." He leered at Vegeta.
"You have- "
"Yes, I have them! Not many, just three that i can spare." He growled.
"I need two." Vegeta said right away, clutching his broken arm. Korin held one out for him.
"Only because you saved my life back there. After you lead the cyborgs right to me, that is. But you could have let it level me and you didn't so.. There." He waited for Vegeta to eat the bean and twist his arm back into place so it could heal. When he was recovered after a short moment, He held out the other.
"For Bulma, I assume?" Mr Popo asked.
"Bulma's dead. It's for her father."
"Dr Brief lived? Well that's a relief." Korin sighed. "How's your son?"
"He's fine. He's with Bulma's father. I need to go get him- I need to get Trunks." He turned away from the two.
"Wait, Vegeta- Let me take you." Mr Popo said, and stepped on his carpet. Vegeta scoffed.
"Stay with Korin, he needs your protection and help more than I do." He stepped off the ground and hovered above them.
"Go find a safe place to hide and rebuild your senzu farm or whatever." He told them.
"We'll find you when we're done." Korin said. "IF we're going to survive this, and wish our friends back, we'll need to work together."

Vegeta stared at the cat man, and Mr Popo for a long moment before nodding once.
"Which way is Bulma's-" Mr Popo pointed, and Vegeta left.

Dr Briefs was right where Vegeta left him. He was in the basement under Capsule corp, the entrance covered in rubble. Vegeta moved the warped metal door out of the way and trudged down into the basement to look for the old man. He was sitting at the side of a little crib, looking down at this grandson.
"Bulma kept this crib down here so Trunks could be with her when she worked." He said when he saw Vegeta walking towards him.
"Good. I'm going to need it. Here." He held out the senzu bean for Dr Breifs, who seemed on the verge of breaking down to the pain. He took it gratefully and ate it. While it worked, he sat back and let Vegeta see to Trunks.
"He needs milk. I think Bulma kept some down here." He gestured towards a small fridge under the desk Bulma had always used. Vegeta checked it and found a few plain bottles with dates written on them.
"What are these dates?" Vegeta asked Dr Breifs.
"When she pumped that milk." He said tiredly, and slumped over Trunk's crib. Vegeta nodded, Bulma always was very organized. He took the oldest one and held it out to Dr Brief's.
"You do it. You'll need to get used to feeding him. I should- get some formula since that's all of Bulma's milk we have left." He got up and wandered to the far side of the lab on shaking feet. There was no way out in that direction. Vegeta wondered what he was doing over there until he heard the muffled, distant sobs.

He scooped Trunks into his arms and shook the bottle. He didn't know why he did that. It just felt like the thing to do, before handing it to the Baby, who took it eagerly and shoved it right into his mouth and began sucking away at it.

He watched the slightly bobbing edge of the beige fluid dropping down as it was drained away by the hungry baby. Each time Trunks took a drink it dropped a little, and Vegeta found himself staring intently on at that line of where the milk met the empty end of the bottle.

Now, the panic started settling in. He would lose his mind right now if not for the knowledge that he at least had Dr Briefs to help. He watched his son eagerly drinking the milk of his dead mother.
"Even in death, your mother is still taking care of you, boy." He whispered, and locked eyes with the infant. The infant with her blue eyes.

After nearly an hour, Dr Breifs returned.
"Can you clear out this ruble above the basement, Vegeta?"
"I can, but why?"
"Bulma had built a ship to go to new namek. We were working on it together. It's nearly done and- I'm going to take it to go look for new namek. We can't undo any of this without the Dragon Balls. We need to wish everyone back to life. Undo all of this." Vegeta stared at Dr brief. Panic raced through him like a shock.
"I should go with you."
"No. We need you here, just incase i can't find new Namek you're the last hope. And Trunks needs you. Space is no place for a baby."
"I was in space as a baby."
"Exactly." He said firmly. "How will you kill the cyborgs from space? Besides, I need you to make sure they don't blow me out of the sky when i take off." He turned away.
"I can't do this alone! Old man!" Vegeta snarled, panic now filling him, cold as ice.

"Sure you can. You have too." He said, and turned away. "It'll take me a few months to finish the ship for me, and the one for you two. You'll need a place to live away from the cities after all. You're much more of a target to them than I am."

"A few months…?" Vegeta said, looking down at his son, who'd finished the bottle and was now tugging at Vegeta's ripped t-shirt, pulling the torn arm hole down. He looked back up at Dr Briefs, and felt himself deflate a little. A few months. He'd have some help for a few months at least. Maybe he could adjust to being Trunk's guardian in that time.
"Yes, I think that should do it. There's another ship, it's bigger and Bulma was working on it before the Cyborgs came- but it's too big to have enough speed. I can finish it so it'll be a decent home for you two, for decades. It even has a gravity room so you can train. I think she built it especially for you."

"That should- Hey! Brat!" Vegeta growled. Trunks had found his nipple and latched on. "I'm not your mother, that's a dry well!" He pulled Trunks off of his chest roughly, making the baby wail loudly.
"Good lord, Vegeta you'll need to be more kindly with him." Dr Breifs turned and scooped Trunks up into his arms. "Get another bottle. This kid can really put it away."

"Well of course he can! He's half Saiyan! He'll be wanting red meat soon. God knows, Tarble did, and he was a runt."
"Tarble?"
"My little brother." Vegeta said dismissively.
"You had a- never mind. Look, see? He needs bonding time." Dr Breifs nodded towards Trunks as he pawed around, looking for a boob. Vegeta handed him another bottle of the milk.

As Dr Breifs fed Trunks, Vegeta managed to put a lid on his panic, though it still boiled fiercely.

END

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Notes: This fic will update every week on Sunday night until the 10th and final chapter!

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