Cleaning...cleaning that up...Kale was just very glad she was alone, because she nearly choked when she finally finished the shower. She smacked her head against the hard tile wall four or five times, then beat at it weakly with her fists, still fighting back tears. Her skin was red, scrubbed nearly raw which didn't help the pain as she changed into one of the spare underarmor suits in the storage nook by the showers-sitting down, because her legs wouldn't stop shaking.
It could've been worse. He could've killed you.
She ignored that thought, and sighed as she started to towel off her hair. As she walked back out to the main room to slip back into her armor, it flashed through her mind again. His scent, mingling with hers, the tears, the taunting, the...
...the sound of her own pleasure...
I didn't enjoy that.
You must have, or you would've fought him.
If I had...had fought him, he would've killed me for sure.
You really are turning into a Cold family lapdog...
A few hours later she was back on the station, and had nearly reached her quarters when Captain Ginyu rushed out of his team's common room across the hall. "Hey, Kale! You mind coming in here a minute?"
Every fiber of her being wanted to say no, but "Sure." came out anyway, and she headed on in.
There was a large box on the coffee-table over by the computer screen and she was about to ask questions when Ginyu pointed her over to it. "I know it's kind of sudden, but I didn't have time to plan anything out. Looks like the red tape managed to finally-"
"Captain! Don't ruin it for her!" Burter said, "We all know you regret being unable to make a party of it. You can always do that later."
"No," Kale replied, "Please. I've had enough excitement what with the movie and all. I'll just go ahead and open it." She pulled the lid off the box, and felt her stomach drop somewhere into the neighborhood of her feet. A suit of armor-of the kind worn in Frieza's army-and a blue underarmor suit to go along with it.
"They finally got around to getting you your own armor!" Ginyu said, "Now you don't have to worry about being hassled for wearing Lord Cooler's armor. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, it's...thank you. I didn't think I was going to get any of this stuff, you know, since I'm not...I'm not a permanent transfer." And thank the gods I'm not...
"Aren't you going to put it on?" Jeice piped in from the corner.
"In front of you perverts?" Kale asked, "I'd sooner shave my head." She went to the bathroom, and felt sobs threatening to erupt as she slipped on the new underarmor suit. Wasn't it enough for him to violate her? Couldn't he be satisfied with that? Was it really necessary for him to mark his territory as well? She took a brief look in the mirror and then headed back to the common room.
"You're practically family now!" Ginyu said, grinning like an idiot. "Hey-hey Burter, set us up with a timer on that datapad, I want a picture of all of us."
"I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb. It's really not necessary! I don't even have the-"
"Ginyu Force! Assemble!"
Sighing, she took a deep breath and as the rest of them posed, she took a spot in front of Recoome, behind Guldo and tried to mirror the pose Jeice was doing.
CLICK
They all crowded around the datapad a second later, and after it had been sent to all their personal folders, the comments started.
"You copied me, you bloody monkey!" Jeice barked, "What the hell was that about?"
"Symmetry!" Ginyu answered for her. You know, kind of like the other pose we do with Burter and Recoome on either side. Now, see, Kale, you're getting the hang of being one of us already!"
"Yeah," she said quietly, "Too bad I won't be staying." Too bad you won't be leaving SOONER.
"I could always talk to Lord Frieza about it."
"No! No...no, asking him for favors, it-I'd really rather not put you to that kind of trouble. Besides, he's probably getting tired of looking at a monkey every day on set as it is. I wouldn't want to...anger him. Now...now, ah, is anyone up for a trip to the bar?"
That's not going to help you forget.
"An' he just...he just...damn it all...what was I even sayin'?" Kale stumbled back down the hallway, leaning heavily on Ginyu-who was, unfortunately, the only completely sober one in the group at the moment.
"You were saying that Lord Frieza broke your femur," Ginyu replied, trying to guide her steps a bit better, "And you almost died."
"I'm shurprised she isn't dead," Recoome said. He was behind them, using a combination of leaning against the wall and, when he swayed, leaning against Burter to stand up straight. "When hesh got a mind to, Lord Frieza can...he can really...he can really mess you up, when hesh...ugh, someone turn that light off!"
"There is no light, you fruit loop...well there'sh a whole bunch of lights..." Jeice was bent almost double, and had his hands firmly on Guldo's shoulders to stop himself from falling over.
"We should...we should blow them up," Kale muttered, "Teach them to put lightsh in places like this..."
"Settle down," Ginyu said, "We can destroy things later. Guldo, how you holding up?"
"I'm seeing octuple," came the short reply, "And I have an idiot on my back. How the hell do you think I'm doing, Captain?"
"Guldo, you're no fun when you don't get completely hammered," Jeice said, patting him on top of the head, "You oughta swing a few more back."
"Unlike the rest of you, I like being able to use my feet."
"Do you really want a psychic to get thatsh stinking drunk?" Kale asked, "Smart guy there, Guldo. They should be...they should...oh, here we are..."
"Men, get on into our common room," Ginyu said, "I've got to help Kale back into her room."
"Yeahhh...help her...that's a great idea, Captain...might get shomething out of it..." Recoome said.
Ginyu sighed, and opened the doors to Kale's quarters. He helped her in and onto the small sofa on one side, and then glanced briefly down at her. "Are you going to be alright by yourself?"
"I'll be fine."
"You sure?" Ginyu stood quietly watching her. It was obvious that something was really eating at her, and the fact she'd had a few dozen too many didn't help either. Had one of the others said something to her at the bar, he wondered?
"I'm sure," Kale replied, looking back up at him. "Just got to...to sleep it off...but...but thanks. Thanks for asking."
He left, and stumbling, she went over to the computer to see if she had any messages. Junk, junk, armor cleaning service ad, junk, junk...
And then there was a sudden bing and Salza's face appeared on the screen.
Oh, hell, not now. This is the LAST THING I NEED right now...!
"Kale? What the hell is wrong with you right now?"
"I'm DRUNK, Salza, what does it look like?"
"What, by yourself?"
"No, you ass, I was out with the Ginyu Force. Why would I drink alone?"
"With them?! Why are you out with them? You're there to work, not...not..."
"Salza, I wasn't aware you cared. Going to lecture me now about how bad this is for me?"
His only response was a growl and to hang up. She huffed and rose unsteadily, grumbling about how attached he still was. Couldn't he wait until she got back to start playing possessive? It wouldn't be that long. Or not. After...Frieza...it was going to be difficult for her to even look at herself nude, much less someone else.
But the desire to clean up again hit, and she went with it, once more scrubbing her skin nearly raw.
If you even plan on letting him near you ever again.
She sat toweling off her hair on her bed, with another towel wrapped tightly around her chest. At least...at least there were no lasting marks on her skin. She'd be going back in a month or so. 45 days, tops. She could last another 45 days, right? Right. She'd withstood worse pains than this. This was completely doable.
Make a little noise for me...
She cringed, and scuttled under the covers, pulling them over her head. After a moment of silence, of listening...of waiting...she finally felt safe. Nothing was going to happen to her. No one was in here with her.
"Kale! Wake up!"
She bolted up, and froze when she realized it was morning. "Computer! TIME!"
"The time is 0800."
"PISS!" she snapped. "Damn it, damn it, damn it...hang on a minute, Ginyu! I overslept!"
"You were supposed to be in the docking bay an hour ago!"
"I know! I know!" she pulled on the new underarmor suit and her boots and headed out the door still trying to get into the armor. "Thanks for waking me, you're a lifesaver!"
Two hours later, she was an hour and a half late and after she got through makeup the director was very clear about his displeasure. "Do you have any idea how ticked this is going to make him? Don't you have any consideration for what the rest of us have to put up with? You're lucky no one's been killed!"
"He's not going to kill anyone today," she said, "Now tell me, is the scene the same?"
"Yeah, yeah. We were going to try that pre-fight scene since the light was just right, but you were late, so we can't." The director glanced around, and then motioned to every to take their places around a long table.
The scene called for various officers to sit on the sides of the table, with Frieza at one end and Kale at another. It was one of their early meetings in the movie, and involved her character coming forward as a potential planet buyer. Frieza, as, well, himself, was to hold a conversation with her to gauge her as a potential buyer. And to see if he could judge her intentions.
"Alright, places, everybody. Places, places." The director whispered a few directions to one of the cameramen, and then-on the cameras went.
Everyone at the table raised and then lowered a wine glass.
"So...Ruta, was it?" Frieza asked, looking down the table at her. "I've heard you're in the market for a world of your own. If it weren't in terrible taste I would laugh."
"Laugh if you wish. I have. A sense of humor will save the psyche more often than anything else."
"An interesting point of view, and one I fully agree with. I laugh as often as possible. For one, your reason, and for two..." here he paused, gesturing briefly with his chopsticks in an indecisive manner, "...for two, well..."
"It frightens your enemies," Kale added, finishing the sentence for him. "You are the heir to an empire. Laughter from you can only mean bad things for your enemies."
"Not just my enemies. You'd be surprised what it can do to an underling whose head is a bit swelled."
"I'm certain...now, if we may move on to matters of actual substance. I am in the market for a planet. Something with mainly warm, humid weather."
"I don't recall saiyans being the type to enjoy that sort of an environment."
The conversation went on like that for a while, with the minions on either side of the table chiming in occasionally. Frieza's job was to steer the conversation towards the Ruta character's motivations, and he did so in spades, with his final question being, "You didn't know about the meteor until after the fact, did you?"
"Yes...it was...unexpected. There were questions, of course-and, for some reason, an accusation leveled at you. You were in the neighborhood, as it were."
"But you wouldn't dream of implying it was me, would you?"
"Of course not, Lord Frieza."
"Alright, cut! Listen, that was great. Good work everyone. Food looked good on camera, the conversation went perfectly-I want you all to break for an hour while we get the set changed over to the hallway scene."
Six hours later, Kale was finally out of makeup and back in her armor, and quietly headed down the hallway, thinking she might get some training in. What with all the movie excitement, going out with the Ginyu, and...well, the incident, she hadn't gotten a lot of good solo time. She took a deep breath as she walked into the second training room and was halfway through her warmup exercises when she suddenly tripped. The impact on her hands was minimal, but the second that small pain hit, her heart started racing.
She stayed there, on her hands and knees, struggling to breathe normally as she broke out into a cold sweat. "What...what...come on, Kale...come on, you're fine..."
Got to run. Got to get out of here.
She bolted up, swaying as a wave of dizziness hit her like a ship falling from orbit. Leaning against the wall, she moved as quickly as she could out of the room in an utter panic.
Get out. GET OUT. Have to get out. Can't be in there.
She bolted down the hallway and had just turned a corner when she nearly ran into-
No. No. No no no no no no no.
Frieza stood before her, and suddenly, it all made sense. Frieza. The training room. The...
"Oh. Hello..." he said politely. "Did you want to spar again?"
"No..." she said, starting to walk past him, "No, I...I believe I've lost my taste for it. Excuse me."
He smiled, and in an admonishing tone added, "That wasn't a suggestion."
There was no reply to that except silence. Mutely, she followed him back down the hallway.