Short note, since I'm watching the Browns game. Yes, we're losing, no fucking surprise. Anyways, I had this idea and had to get it down, it's a short one shot, and it'll lead to the other one I'm working on, which will be longer. Enjoy! I hope the Browns actually win this game… And please REVIEW!

"You alright, Stranger?"

Trunks blinked and looked up at his golden-haired mate, who was glancing back and forth between him and the tape she was wrapping around her wrists and hands. "Huh?"

"I asked if you were alright," Usagi chuckled, shaking her head. "You've been really out of it lately, and I'm starting to worry."

"I…" Should he tell her? All week long, he'd been trying his damnedest to keep from going ballistic for no reason whatsoever, to keep that glint of worry out of her eyes. It was there now, but he was at a total loss as to how to get rid of it. Telling her what had been going on inside of him was only going to worry her further. "I'm fine," he lied.

Moon ground her teeth when she could feel the dishonesty of the statement through their bond. "The least you could do is block me out when you lie to me," she spat, biting off the end of the tape. "I'll be sparring with Goten and Piccolo if you need me, Stranger," she added before he could reply, unable to keep the nasty tone out of her voice.

Trunks sighed and thunked the back of his head against the wall he was sitting at. One month together, and he was already pissing her off. Great. Just great. And now the Saiyan in him was coming out of his hidey-hole for the millionth time that day, demanding that he follow her, that he not let her out of his sight for a moment, screaming at him protect, protect, PROTECT.

He squashed it back down, just as he had while he'd watched her tape up her hands, and decided to get some training of his own in. Maybe it would help him regain a sense of control.

The youngest prince of Vegeta-sai was on his way to find Gohan when he felt his mate's pain through their bond, and he immediately erupted into flames of gold and crackling lightning in reaction to the instant rage and bloodlust running through him. Woman!

I'm fine, Stranger, just a broken nose. I should have remembered to keep my left up. There was a pause when Usagi felt the turmoil he was going through, and she signaled for Piccolo to stop. Trunks, are you alright? Do you need me?

Yes, he barely managed, I do.

I'll be there in a moment, honey, hang on. "Boys, I'm so sorry to cut this short, but something is seriously wrong with Stranger."

"What's up with him?" Goten asked in concern.

"He's been acting strange. Quiet. A lot more aggressive than usual. He's been trying to mask it, but I can still feel it through the bond, and right now he's on the verge of freaking out. You can't feel how high his energy is right now?"

"She's right," Piccolo grunted. "Go to him."

Usagi rocketed to his side, where he was still hovering in the air, his ki crackling around him dangerously. "Stranger?" She wasn't ready when he practically tackled her in a hug, but she wrapped her arms around him comfortingly while he buried his nose in her hair to breathe in her scent, something he only did when he was extremely distressed. Unless they were in bed, which they weren't at the moment.

"Mine. You belong to me, woman."

She nodded slowly, smoothing her hands gently up and down his back. "Of course I'm yours, Trunks. Shh… whatever this is, you need to calm down, beloved. You're really worrying me."

Eventually, Trunks managed to power down and slowly released her, but only erupted into golden ki flames once more when he saw her swollen nose, and fought against the driving rage, demanding that he seek out whomever hurt her and destroy them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Stranger," Usagi whispered, tugging him back into her arms. "Chill out. It's just a broken nose, you know as well as I that Tousan given me way worse than that during training. Besides, Piccolo already set it for me and it's healing fast."

"Which one of them hit you?" He snarled.

"Breathe," she urged him, refusing to even think of who had broken her nose; she felt fairly sure that to tell him would be to sentence one of her sparring partners to death. "I'm fine, Stranger. Just fine."

Trunks began to tremble with the sheer effort it was taking not to fly off and kill Piccolo or Goten. "Usagi, what the fuck is wrong with me?" He ground through his teeth.

"I don't know, sweetheart, but we'll figure it out, ok? Is there anything that I can do that will help it? Anything at all, just name it, Stranger. I'm all yours." Usagi purred with pleasure when he immediately claimed her mouth for his own, crushing her tightly to his chest possessively. Her head was spinning when he finally broke away and bit down lightly on her mark. "Well, if you need more of that, I'm more than happy to provide it," she chuckled, nipping his mark in return.

Normally Trunks would have taken her right to the ground and claimed her at the sound of her blatant offer, but the Saiyan in him flatly refused the idea. What the fuck was up with that? His inner beast never turned down sex from his mate!

Sensing his conflict, Usagi actually read his mind, something she rarely did, since she wanted to give him what privacy she could. "Well then, what does your beastie want, Stranger?"

"It keeps hammering at me to protect you, to keep you safe, and the bastard won't let up about it," he growled.

Her hand caressed his face and gently ran through his golden spikes. "I am safe, Stranger. I'm with you, right?"

"Yes," he allowed. "That doesn't change the need to protect you."

"Would it help if we just went home and holed up in front of the TV for the rest of the day?" She cooed, her hands still roaming him in her goal to calm him down. Trunks seemed to visibly relax at her suggestion, and she felt his anxiety level drop. "Come on, then, beloved. Let's go home and cater to the beastie, ok?"

Giving her a slow nod, he swung her into his arms and took off towards Capsule Corp, snarling at her when she insisted that she could fly herself. Usagi sighed and relaxed at that, resting her head against his chest, trying to remain as submissive as possible. Hopefully whatever this was would blow over, and fast; Usagi didn't mind him going all He-Man on her occasionally, but something told her that this wasn't going to be done with in one day.

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Trunks seemed to relax the moment they were back in the building, and had no trouble powering down, his long hair falling onto his shoulders as he breathed a sigh of relief. The nagging urge in the back of his mind was still present, but it was merely a whisper compared to the violent roar it had been only minutes before. "I'll get you something to drink."

"I'm alright, Stranger. Come on and snuggle up with me, ok?"

"No," he said flatly, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You need to eat and drink. Sit down and rest, woman."

"Ugh," Usagi huffed, sinking onto the couch, "this had better be some sort of strange Saiyan phase he's going through." When he returned, set the food and mug on the coffee table, and refused to leave her alone until he'd bundled her up in a soft blanket—only because he thought she looked cold—she really started to worry. "I'm calling Tousan, Stranger. Maybe he'll have some answers."

Trunks momentarily growled at the idea, but finally nodded. His father didn't like to be bothered on his retreats into the wilderness, even during dire emergencies, but he knew that if he went another day like this, something was going to suffer from it.

And then the rage was surfacing all over again when she rose to find the phone, and he was forcing her to lie back down and eat something while he went in search of the phone.

"God, Trunks, what the hell are you going to do when I need to take a piss?" She teased.

He thought about that for a long moment, eyeing her carefully. It was his beast that finally spoke, his voice low and etched with a permanent growl. "You can get up to use the bathroom. That is it."

"Why thank you, your Highness, you're too kind."

"You are lucky that I am allowing that much, woman," he growled right back, not amused by her sarcasm.

"Ugh, just find the damned phone so I can call Tousan," she snapped, taking a bite of her sandwich when he pointed at it and glared at her. "I know, I know, it's rude to refuse food from your mate. I know the damned etiquette, and I'm not refusing. I'm just getting pissed."

The Saiyan formerly known as Trunks placed the cell phone in her lap when he returned, pleased at the sight of her eating his offering and drinking the cocoa he'd brought her, and visibly relaxed. "Sorry about that," Trunks sighed, once he was in control again. "You really got it riled when you decided to be a smartass. It was ready to cart you off to bed and make you stay put for the rest of the day."

"We would have fought, Trunks," she replied simply, scrolling through her contact list for Vegeta's emergency phone number.

"Which is why it didn't do that… I think. Fucker has a mind of his own sometimes."

"So I noticed," she answered dryly, just as she located the number and dialed it. Usagi wasn't surprised to get his voicemail.

"If you're calling me, you already know who the fuck I am," Vegeta's voice said on the answering service. "If it's not important, piss off. If it is, speak at the beep thing and I'll call you back after I decide if it's important or not."

Usagi chuckled and rolled her eyes, waiting for the "beep thing." "Tousan, it's me. You know I wouldn't call if it wasn't important, so please call me back fast. I'm really starting to worry about Trunks, he's acting awfully… aggressive. Love you, bye."

She finished her sandwich, and when she tried to readjust herself on the couch and Trunks snarled at her, she held her hands up in a placating motion. "Hang on there, big boy. Relax and trust me."

It wasn't until Usagi had moved over to lay her head in his lap that Trunks sagged in relief, completely and totally at ease for the first time in days. She'd even thought to pull the blanket over with her, so the beast inside was happy to know he'd won. For now, at least.

The moon princess sighed happily when she felt his hands running through her hair, and she felt and heard her mate's chest begin to vibrate in a gentle purr. "That's more like it."

"Take a nap if you're tired, my moon goddess." For once it was a suggestion and not an order.

They both wound up dozing off, since they were mentally and emotionally worn out from the strain of the day. Usagi woke when she felt a finger poking her in the shoulder, and was surprised to see Vegeta sitting on the coffee table, staring at her intently.

Not that she was surprised to see him after the message she'd left, she was surprised that he'd been so quiet about rousing her. Normally he came in yelling and throwing cold water if she needed to get her ass up. "Hey, Tousan," she mumbled sleepily.

"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

Usagi smiled gently and shook her head a little. "No, it's quite the opposite," she whispered, not wanting to wake her sleeping mate, whose head was pillowed on the armrest. "He's being aggressively protective, to the point that it's fucking scary."

She quietly told him about the events of that morning and afternoon before sighing. "I'm really worried about him, Tousan. It was only when I laid down like this that he finally calmed."

"You did well, girl," Vegeta rumbled. "Not many women would be able to submit like you did, with little complaint. Even a Saiyan woman would have had a problem doing it."

"It chafes me, having to do it, but I could sense that it was starting to hurt his head a lot, fighting himself like he was. And when that beast completely came out and started ordering me around, I just kind of gave in. I didn't want him flying into some sort of rage and blowing the place up."

"I don't think it would have come to that, with what you described. You would have likely wound up in the bed, forced to rest for a week, whether you liked it or not. And he would have insisted on carrying you to the bathroom, rather than letting you walk."

"Sweet Selene," she snorted, "I would have fought him tooth and nail for doing that."

"You would have lost," Vegeta replied smugly.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut the fuck up, Tousan," she grumbled, slowly sitting up. "God, I have to pee. If he wakes up and goes batshit, make sure he remembers that I have permission from the high and mighty prince to go and take a piss."

"I remember, woman," Trunks mumbled, shifting to let her by. "Go pee, then lay the fuck back down. I'll go get you something to eat." He rubbed his eyes and popped the kink out of his neck before looking at Vegeta. "Father."

"Brat." He handed his son his own cup of coffee; it looked like he needed it more than he did at the moment. "What's going on? I want your side of it."

"Dunno," he grumbled, gratefully taking the mug and taking several swallows of what could have substituted as rocket fuel. "Ugh, you still take it like your women, I see."

"Ground up and in the freezer," Vegeta deadpanned. No matter how many times he made that joke, it never got old for him.

"Oh, thank the goddess. Coffee," Usagi sighed happily, reaching out for the cup so she could have a sip. She jumped when her mate snarled at her, however, and held it just out of her reach. "Trunks?"

"Lay down," he snapped, handing the mug back to his father. "If you let her drink that, I will rip your throat out," he growled, stomping off to the kitchen.

"See what I mean?" Usagi whispered, trembling a little at her mate's reaction. "I don't get it, Tousan."

Vegeta nearly hugged her, and actually would have if he wasn't concerned about how Trunks would react to the gesture, to another male touching his mate. He certainly didn't want to fight his son, so he settled for patting her shoulder. "It'll be alright, Usa. We'll figure this out."

Trunks returned with a plate of leftover spaghetti from the night before, and a glass of milk, and relaxed at the sight of his mate obeying his order. "Sorry, Moon. I honestly don't know what came over me." He let her sit up so she could eat, and took a seat next to her. "Has this ever happened to you, Father?"

Vegeta shook his head. "No, it hasn't."

"What about Goku?" Usagi asked with her mouth full. "I can call him if you want?" She waited for her mate to nod, followed a moment later by his father, before dialing the only other full-blooded Saiyan on the planet and handing the phone to Trunks. "You talk to him, since you're hell-bent on making me eat."

It didn't take long; Goku picked up the phone almost immediately when he saw it was Usagi's number calling him, and since his son and Piccolo had already informed him about her abrupt departure during the sparring match, he knew it was important. Trunks quickly explained what was going on, which served as an explanation for his father as well, so he was relieved that he didn't have to recount the story twice.

Appearing in front of them, Goku grinned and hung up his cell phone. "So…"

"So?" Usagi asked. "Has this ever happened to you before?"

"Once," he chuckled, his hand going to the back of his head in the typical Son gesture.

"Which was?" Vegeta growled. Kami, he hated it when Kakarot did shit like this. "Just spit it out already."

"When Chi-Chi was pregnant with Gohan!" He laughed, shaking his head. "There are moments I don't even remember from the first few months, but she says to this day that I was unbearably aggressive with her, especially if she was training or sparring. She used to be a warrior, Usagi, like you. Still is, honestly, since she helped train Goten while I was dead."

"But if she's…?" Vegeta immediately leaned forward, holding up a hand in a gesture of peace when Trunks immediately when rigid and snarled a warning at him. "Hang on, brat." He pressed his nose to her neck and sniffed delicately at first before taking a good long whiff of her scent. "Fuck me running, Kakarot's actually right for once in his miserable life."

"And Mom isn't a warrior, so you never really had a reason to get like this with her while she was carrying Bra… right, Father?"

"It would make sense," he allowed. "Bulma just makes shit in the lab all day; she never really puts herself in danger of actually getting hurt… at least not while she's pregnant."

"I'll also bet that you've never smelled a pregnant woman's hormones since you've hit puberty, either," Goku added. "So you didn't know what you were smelling."

"His inner Saiyan sure as hell did," Vegeta snorted. "And it reacted accordingly." He looked to Usagi, who'd been silent through all of this, and was only holding her hands lightly over her stomach. "You alright, girl?"

She nodded, shocked into silence. "B—baby?" She finally managed, fighting the urge to cry.

"Yup," Goku answered brightly. "And if you want, I'm really good at figuring out how far along a woman is. I was accurate to within a few days with Chi-Chi, Bulma, Juuhachigou, and Ami. Oh shit, I forgot, I wasn't supposed to tell about Ami," he groaned, smacking himself in the forehead. "Don't say anything to her or Gohan, and act surprised when they tell you, ok?" Goku only grinned again when Usagi nodded numbly, still reeling from the news.

"So, how far along is my mate?" Trunks asked curiously. "I'll bet a dollar that it's about a week."

"Well, since there's no ki signature yet, she's less than six weeks; that's usually how long it takes to feel the ki, anyway." Goku leaned forward and sniffed her. "I'm guessing two weeks or so, the scent wouldn't have been strong enough for you to smell right away, Trunks."

Usagi was still awfully quiet, and it was starting to worry Trunks. "Moon? You ok?"

She swallowed a little and nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she replied softly. "I can't believe my birth control failed."

"The pill is no match for Saiyan swimmers, girl. And if you forgot so much as one of those pills…" Vegeta stopped when she blanched. "You did, didn't you?" He asked smugly.

"Two," she squeaked. "Not in a row, though."

"One would have been enough," Goku said with a shrug. "That's how Gohan happened, after all."

Trunks sighed and ran his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "It'll be ok, Moon. Honestly, I'd thought you be more happy about all of this, we did want kids. Not right away, but hey, we can't pick and choose those things sometimes."

"Not worried about that," she mumbled, burying her face in her hands.

"What are you worried about then?" For the life of him, he couldn't get through their bond, she was blocking him out like crazy while she thought.

"My parents," she whined, trying not to cry. "You think Haruka's reaction to the whole getting caught having sex thing was bad? Imagine my father finding out that his baby girl is pregnant. By someone he didn't even know she was dating, let alone married to."

Vegeta barking laughter rang throughout the room at that. "Boy, I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that meeting."

"We'd better call them," Usagi sighed.

Yeah, I'm sure you can guess what the next one shot will be about! Please REVIEW, yall!

MK