A/N: Hello all! As promised, this chapter was already in the works when I posted the last one. So now it's all ready :)
I must take a moment to thank everyone who reviewed. I can't even express how giddy I get when I see that I have a new review. I also wanted to address Bulma's behaviour in the last chapter - I agree, it was very intense. However, I was basing it off of DragonBall Bulma, when she decides it would be totally appropriate to shoot a child that she hit with her car, yeah pretty intense.
On another note, a bit of a warning, as Vegeta is a bit OOC in the latter part of this chapter. He's rather frazzled, so work with me okay? Something will happen soon enough that he will snap back into place, I promise! Also, though this is (and will be) a darker story, this chapter has a few drips of humour in it, I hope you don't mind.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z ... Though I wish I did...
Chapter 3 - Memories and Mayhem
Vegeta returned the following morning, having decided to train overnight to make up for so much lost time. Training in the woods proved to be a good exercise, much to his surprise and satisfaction. He was bruised and bloody, with ripped clothing and a fair amount of twigs stuck in his hair (stupid sap), but he had gotten a good amount of work done. He entered his room through his still open balcony window, and rushed to the shower. Once he managed to get cleaned up, he quickly dressed in comfy sweatpants and a loose t-shirt. He was desperately hoping that a large breakfast would be hot and ready as soon as he got downstairs. When he left his bedroom, he was shocked to find a small group of people huddled around Bulma's bedroom door. Most of them he didn't recognize, but he couldn't hide his surprise when he saw that Dr. Briefs had returned.
"Oh Vegeta!" Mrs. Briefs ran over to him and grabbed his arm. Why are Earthlings so obsessed with touching others?! "It's just awful Vegeta! My baby... She doesn't... I can't even..."
Vegeta was stunned to see Mrs. Briefs so emotional and sounding so utterly terrified. He had only been gone for eighteen hours, certainly Bulma couldn't have done anything too terrible. The compound was still standing, he noted. Mrs. Briefs pulled the reluctant Saiyan over to the rest of the group. Dr. Briefs looked at him, worry and stress were clear on the older man's face.
"Ah, Vegeta, you're back." Dr. Briefs turned to a small woman dressed in a black suit. "What do you think, Dr. Kennedy? She converses with this young man on a daily basis, do you think we should give it a try?"
"It's unlikely he'll accomplish anything. The most we can do it wait it out, and be here when she's ready." she replied. Vegeta's left eye twitched, he was not a fan of this unknown woman, and who was she to say he couldn't accomplish something?
"It couldn't hurt to try. Please, let's just try." Bunny begged. She looked over to Vegeta. He didn't know what was going on, and it was starting to piss him off. A lot.
"Well alright. Just please be aware that if it doesn't work, she could become even more agitated." the woman called Kennedy answered. Vegeta was tired of people talking about him like he wasn't standing right next to them.
"Is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on here?" he barked at the small crowd. Everyone but the Briefs sank away from the intimidating man. Dr. Briefs cleared his throat.
"Well, as you know, Bulma was rather upset yesterday. She did calm down after a couple hours, and Bunny found out that Bulma..." he coughed a bit, his brows creased and he frowned "Bulma saw Yamcha having sex with another woman. When she was telling her mother, the tantrum started all over again, and then all of sudden, she doesn't remember anything about her life. I got here as fast as I could. She's been like this for hours."
Vegeta took the time to filter through this information. Yamcha had betrayed Bulma. And she had seen him in the act. How despicable. Vegeta felt a rage boiling up inside of him, even Saiyans knew the worth of a good mate and remained faithful until the end. How could that idiot even think about doing something with another woman. His skin was crawling at the thought of that loser even touching Bulma when he had been touching someone else in the same day. Damn disgusting weakling.
'I should rip the limbs off of the bastard. How dare he even think of betraying Bulma!' Vegeta raged to himself.
And what was this nonsense about Bulma not remembering anything? Surely she was acting, trying to get pity and attention. But then he doubted that Bulma would want to cause her parents this much distress, and Dr. Briefs had even come back from his trip. How could this be real?
"It's called dissociative amnesia. It's extraordinarily rare, but it does occur, usually when someone experiences a severe trauma." Dr. Kennedy interjected, as if reading his thoughts.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" he asked, glaring at the small woman.
"Just go talk to her. Please Vegeta, maybe she remembers you." Mrs. Briefs asked him. Her face was red and blotchy, and she clung to a handkerchief. Vegeta mentally sighed. The last time Mrs. Briefs had asked him to talk to Bulma, things hadn't gone well for him. He figured that if Bulma couldn't even remember her own mother, then she would not remember him. He shrugged and walked over to the door of Bulma's room and burst in, in the same manner he had done the previous day.
There was a loud bang and a stinging on his shoulder. Everyone who was in the hallway hit the deck and covered their heads. A small piece of lead fell to the floor next to Vegeta's foot.
"Dammit woman. I swear I'll be deaf if you don't stop making so much damn noise." he shouted, slightly wincing due to his still bruised eardrums. He focused on Bulma and noticed she was holding a handgun, and it was pointed on him. Great. First stabbing, now shooting. She was getting more violent towards him every day.
Bulma blinked and lowered the gun.
"Vegeta! Oh thank Kami! I knew you'd come! I just knew it! Quick, close the door before they get in here!" Bulma replied, looking extremely elated. Vegeta, on the other hand, was totally stunned. She remembered him.
The group on the floor all gasped simultaneously. Vegeta turned his head to look at them, and swiftly closed and locked the door. He heard the gun clunk on the floor and he barely had time to turn his head back towards Bulma before she was wrapping her arms around his neck and buried her face into his chest. She began to bawl.
"I was s-s-s-so s-scared. But I knew you'd be here. I knew I just had to wait." she sputtered to him. Vegeta was almost too shocked to speak. He quickly shook it off and regained his composure. He pried Bulma from him. She resisted, but eventually let go. She stared at his boots and sniffled.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked sternly. Bulma nodded. He growled. "Okay, who am I?"
"You're Vegeta." she replied simply, still not looking up. Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her extremely vague description of him, expecting something with colorful language and ridiculous nicknames.
"Don't play games, woman. What do you know about me?" he pressed. Bulma clenched her hands into fists.
"That's it! That's all I know! Your face, your name and that I trust you!" she shouted angrily, tears once again forming.
'She trusts me? How can she...? I mean I've done nothing too...' Vegeta's thoughts went off on a tangent. He reeled them back in, deciding to keep this tidbit of information locked in the deepest part of his mind.
So she didn't really remember him, he was just a face to her. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't slightly disappointed.
"What do they want?" Bulma asked, glaring at the door and concurrently drawing Vegeta out of his reverie.
"They are making sure you are safe." he replied, not really knowing what else to say. Bulma didn't look convinced. She walked back over to what Vegeta could only described as a bedroom furniture fort.
She had turned over both of her dressers, her vanity and nightstand to create a small barrier between herself and the other half of the room. She had piled her many pillows on top of the furniture and, when sitting, she was perfectly hidden. Vegeta chuckled, knowing that in her regular state of mind, Bulma could have made something that would actually protect her, and not look like it was built by a six year old.
"Are you coming or what? Don't stand too close to the door, they might try to blow it up." Bulma urged him. He decided to play along, and followed her to her "fort". He found that she had thrown a few blankets on the floor, next to a pillow.
"Have you slept?" he asked her. She lowered her head.
"No, I've been keeping watch. I don't want them to take me away when I'm not looking."
This is when Vegeta decided to really look at her. Her eyes were red and swollen, her hair was matted and her clothes were tattered. She didn't even look like Bulma. He frowned. That bastard was going to pay.
"Okay. Get some sleep then. I'll take first watch." he volunteered, though he had not slept for nearly a day himself. But he had done this multiple times in his life, it would not be difficult to do it again.
Bulma crawled over to her designated sleeping area, and as soon as her head it the pillow, she was gone. Vegeta took sat in the spot where she had been, but instead of watching the door, he watched her. He had seen her sleep before. Usually he would need a repair done for the GR and he would dramatically intrude into her bedroom, demanding she do it immediately. However, he was known on occasion to go into her room quietly, only to flip over her mattress and dump her on the floor and then demand she do what he asked immediately.
And even though he had only seen her completely asleep those few times, he could still tell her sleep was greatly disturbed. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were drawn into a straight line. She was also curled into a tight ball, as if trying to keep herself from falling apart. It made his blood boil. Sure, Bulma was a flirt. She had even made a few advances on the prince himself, but it was never taken seriously. It was part of her persona, she was vain. It was no secret she liked attention. However, she was fiercely loyal, to her friends and her boyfriend. Vegeta's face contorted at the word. Boys had no place in Bulma's bed, she deserved a man. Yamcha was far from it. Vegeta's thoughts were starting to make him angry, so he turned away from her to watch the door, even though he knew it would not open.
Nearly nine hours passed until Bulma woke up. Vegeta had not moved from where she had left him, and for that she was grateful. She sat up, dusted herself off and looked around the room. Everything seemed right, so she walked across the room to go use the bathroom.
When she came back, she sat next to Vegeta, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. He didn't spare her a look. She frowned and wondered why she trusted him so much.
"What do you remember?" he asked, surprising her. She knitted her brow.
"Just your face, and a calm feeling when I think about it. As if I knew if I could find you, I would be safe. But instead you found me. Thanks for that, by the way. I'm glad you're here." she said while tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
Vegeta felt a slight blush appear on his cheeks. How could she possibly see him in such high regards when she knew what he was. Then he realized that in her current state, she didn't know him at all. He wondered what he could tell her about himself. If he lied, would she believe? Could he recreate an image of himself for her, without all the terrible things he had done? Then he wondered why he cared if she knew he was a monster. It was reality, it had to be accepted, not ignored.
He was suddenly overwhelmed with the power he now possessed over Bulma. He could tell her absolutely anything, and she would believe him. There wasn't anyone else in the universe she could trust. Part of him wanted to tell her a bunch of lies, just for kicks, but he quickly dismissed the thought. There were too many ways he could manipulate her, and if he understood the doctor correctly, this memory loss would wear off in a couple days. She would realize what he had done and she probably would never forgive him. Then who would fix his training equipment?
"Hn."
"You can sleep if you want. I'll be alright." she said, picking at her nails. Vegeta nodded walked over to her sleeping area.
"Give me about three hours. That should be plenty." he said. A look of confusion flitted across her face, but she shrugged and nodded. She picked up her discarded gun and settled into the watch spot. Vegeta laid down on his side, facing the bedroom door, closed his eyes and went right to sleep.
Vegeta felt two small hands pushing on his arm and his eyes instantly shot open. They immediately found their way to Bulma's eyes, and he had to hold his breath. Her eyes were clear, innocent and so mesmerizing. He felt like each time he looked, really looked, he could find a new level of blue in those pools.
"It's been three hours." she said. Vegeta blinked twice and sat up quickly, nearly knocking over Bulma. Damn distracting woman. He was about to tell her to back off, but his stomach interrupted him with a loud growl.
"You hungry?" she asked while laughing at the obnoxiously loud sound.
"For a genius, you're an idiot." he replied coldly, but it didn't have the desired effect, instead Bulma's face lit up and she broke into a large smile.
"I'm a genius?!" she exclaimed excitedly, her tone indicating she was expecting more information.
Vegeta did not indulge her. Instead, he glared menacingly at her. But as usual, she was not even remotely fazed by his scare-tactics.
"Oh come on! Just answer!" she pressed. Vegeta huffed.
"Yes. By this planet's standards, you're considered above average in terms of intelligence."
"Cool! Is this my house?"
"Yes."
"Do you live here?"
"Yes."
"Are we lovers?"
Vegeta instinctively recoiled from her, and tried to convince his body not to let any blood go to his face. To his great dismay, his body did as it pleased – which seemed to be a growing trend around Bulma – and his face was soon covered in a pretty shade of crimson.
"NO! Absolutely not." he spurted, "You're my servant. Nothing more." he added for good measure.
"Huh. So I'm a genius, but I'm your servant. Well that doesn't seem right." Her face changed into a pensive state. "Why do I trust you, if you mean nothing to me, and I mean nothing to you?"
Vegeta was so taken aback by the question, cursing silently in all the languages he knew, that he simply looked away from her.
"Well?" she prodded once more.
"Stop talking, woman."
"I'm just trying to make sense of all this. It's pretty frightening you know. I'm here all by myself, I don't know anything useful, and all I know is I gotta find this one guy..." she rambled to him.
"I said shut up!" he hollered at her. Her mouth snapped shut instantly. He was so surprised that she actually listened to him that a small victory smirk danced across his mouth. That is until he looked over at her and noticed easily recognizable emotion of fear painted on her face. He had scared her. He realized that he truly did not enjoy the fact that he had legitimately caused her to be frightened, and that was puzzling to him. He sighed, his victory over the woman was short-lived.
"You are my servant because I am a prince. You create and then fix the things I need to get strong enough to stop your planet from being destroyed." he answered, leaving out as much detail as possible.
The fear slid from her face, and she was once again pensive. Bulma sat silently for a moment, and when he thought she had finally decided to stop pestering him with questions, she opened her mouth again.
"So you're my protector." It wasn't a question.
"No."
"But you just said..." she replied, confused.
"All I want is to fight the androids and then beat the living hell out of Kakarot. You're a stepping stone in both of these goals. The fact that I'm helping the planet is irrelevant." he said while avoiding looking at her and instead staring at a stray diamond on the floor.
"What's a Kakarot?" she answered, trying to capture his gaze by playing with a stray strand of hair.
"I believe you affectionately refer to him as your best friend." He answered, disgust dripping off each word.
"Oh. Well why do you want to beat him up?" Her questions were starting to make Vegeta want to snap her neck.
"He stole my honour." he replied simply, again avoiding all details. She knew all these things already, she just didn't know that she knew, and the prince didn't particularly feel like retelling her the contents of her entire life.
"Ah, well, I'm all for it then. Make sure you get in one for me." she said, smiling largely at him.
A small smirk formed on Vegeta's lips and he even allowed a low chuckle to escape from his mouth, for he knew that she would never again approve of his bloodlust towards the self-appointed saviour of the Earth. Bulma found that she was once again confused, and she was about to inquire about her mysterious protector's behaviour when she was in interrupted by another loud grumble from his stomach. She tried to suppress a giggle, but failed. It sounded like he'd never had a bite to eat in his life. Vegeta instinctively crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her for her incessant mocking.
"Ahem. Sorry." she said, looking at him sheepishly once her giggle fit was over. She was shocked when he abruptly stood up.
"I'm going to get us food." he said as he turned to open her balcony window. He didn't even get the chance to take one step away from the so-called fort when Bulma's hands grabbed onto his pant leg.
"Don't. Don't leave me. Please." The tone of her voice changed so quickly, that Vegeta's head whipped around. Her eyes were wide, pleading, the blood had drained from her face giving her a corpse-like appearance and her arms were shaking. She was consumed by terror.
"I'm hungry and I didn't get to eat more than one plate today because of you. If you don't let go, you'll regret it." The threat was clear in his voice, though he didn't intend it to come out as harsh as it had, but he was hungry and that made him edgy.
"You're leaving me?" she squeaked out, and her hands quickly let go of Vegeta's pants and then wrapped around herself.
Vegeta was stupefied when Bulma's ki suddenly jumped and then began to fluctuate wildly. Her face had started to contort as if she was in some sort of intense physical pain, but he could neither see nor smell anything that could cause her to react so strongly. Panic flitted across the delicate features of her face.
"Bulma?" he questioned, forcing himself to keep his voice as soft as it could be.
She did not look up at him. She started breathing very heavily, each breath sounding laboured and painful. Vegeta's eyes darted around the room and he searched for an assailant. Then her breaths quickened, rapidly becoming erratic, as if she simply could not get any relief from breathing.
"Bulma!" He couldn't hide the slight undertone of fright that was buried in his voice.
He kneeled down next to her to look for whatever could be stopping her lungs from functioning, but she looked fine. He looked to her face. It was becoming red and he could see a layer of thick sweat forming. Her breathing changed from struggles to wheezing, and Vegeta felt panic brewing in the deepest part of a heart he was certain had long gone cold. The only person in the universe who actually trusted him was dying right in front of him, he didn't know why and he couldn't stop it. His eyes prickled.
Vegeta grabbed Bulma's shoulders and shouted at her. "Breathe woman!"
He could hear the panicked voices of the group in the hallway when he had shouted, but he took no actions to let them into the room. Bulma continued to wheeze and tears had started sliding down her cheeks.
"Come on, breathe." he tried to say as soothingly as possible, though it still sounded like an order. She wasn't responding at all.
He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. The unfiltered terror that her eyes shot at him caused a tugging feeling in his chest. When he was sure he had her attention, he took in a large breath through his nose and exhaled loudly through his mouth.
"Breathe." he commanded and repeated the breathing motions.
He could see sanity flitter in Bulma's eyes as she began to imitate him. After about a minute of breathing in sync, Bulma's body relaxed and she was able to return to a mostly normal state. The relief that momentarily took over Vegeta's mind was quickly replaced.
"What the hell was that?!" he demanded, angry at her for almost dying for no apparent reason.
"I... I don't know. I felt like I was going to die. There was a pressure on my chest, it hurt so bad Vegeta." she leaned onto his chest and began to cry freely onto his shirt. His mind screamed at him to push her off, but his heart had been awoken by all the commotion and ultimately won. Vegeta wrapped his arms around her shaking frame, to comfort her, but also to convince himself that she was alright.
"Please don't leave." she whispered through her tears.
Vegeta didn't answer. He simply sat Indian style and pulled Bulma into his lap. She stopped crying and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. She might not know why she couldn't remember her life, but she knew that being left caused pain. The amount of distress that Bulma was in told Vegeta how disturbed she was by her encounter with her lover. Reduced from a beautiful spit-fire genius to a dishevelled snivelling wreck clinging to an evil mass murdered. He unconsciously drew Bulma closer to him when his fire took to his blood as he realized the only woman he had actually bothered to respect was being treated like a common whore by her mate.
No more. If he had his way, the disgustingly weak Earthling would be dead before morning. Bulma curled into him, and he looked down to her. He wanted to torture that man until he begged for death, and then torture him some more. But tonight, Bulma needed him to stay. She needed to be protected. She needed a protector. So he would stay.
His Saiyan pride cried out in horror and called him weak and every synonym of the word.
A/N: There it is. Things are starting to get pretty overwhelming for Vegeta, and it's going to get worst before it gets better, my friends.
Please leave a review, it really helps me focus on my writing!
Until next time.
