Giving Up
by icypinkpop
Pairing: Raditz/Vegeta
Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be lots less dragons and many more balls.
Warnings: Slash (Male/Male YAOI GAYNESS :O!1oneone), swearing, rape, blood, crying, sap, irony, extreme angst, Jeice (because I love him), rather sick subjects, despair, grief...not a happy story. It is suggested that the reader keep their tissue box at hand and their mouse on the back button.
Author's note: Wellp, now that it's beginning to pick up just a tad, some of the grimness will really start. Not much in this chapter, but there's more angst to come, so beware.
"Text" – Speech.
'Text' – Thoughts.
--
Chapter 4- Unexpected
Dealing relentless punches and kicks into the surrounding air, Vegeta continued to exhaust himself in the corner of the training facility, silently pleased with the way the flex of muscle and burn of stretched sinew was affecting his traitorous body. Ever since the night before last, when he had been caught by Raditz in the midst of utter, un-Princely confusion and distress, his unsettled embarrassment had continued to plague him, as well as the odd…symptoms of his unknown affliction. He didn't understand what had happened, and that disturbed him; the world had always been simple shades of easily readable black and white. He ate, he killed, he kneeled before Frieza, and he slept with what little time he had left. Nothing in that previous schedule, however, had included the unprompted hardening of an organ he had never paid much attention to before.
Snarling, the Prince continued his sheer destruction of the invisible enemy, mind wandering back to what Raditz had asked him during his humiliating episode. What did the larger Saiyan think Frieza had done to him? Why was he so concerned? Was what had happened bad, or dangerous, maybe? Was it bad that it had continued to go on since that occurrence two days ago?
Vegeta shivered, trying not to think about the way his body had gone from pale to pink, the odd, uncomfortable pooling of heat that had risen up in his gut. His tail puffed behind him, inviting stares from a few other warriors about. He growled at them, watching most return to their business. Except one.
"Aww, look at the little Princey," Jeice stalked up, laying a gloved hand on the sweating Vegeta's shoulder. Green eyes glimmered, coaxing the Saiyan's quelled anger back out of hiding. "You look a bit miffed, Vegeta. Anything I could do to help?"
This question was followed by a suspicious batting of eyes Vegeta was rather sure he didn't like.
"Get away from me," Vegeta snarled, tearing out of the grip. "Go find your idiot friends and prance off. You're late for your dancing lessons."
Despite the insult, Jeice was still acting odd, which the Prince was disturbed by. Usually a simple insult or growl would get even the stronger minions to leave him alone, if after a bit of Vegeta-involved humiliation, but Jeice didn't seem to be doing anything of the like. Vegeta puffed his tail up in warning.
"Harsh words," Jeice tossed his hair effeminately over his shoulder, sidling up as close as the Prince would allow him to. The same hand that had been on Vegeta's shoulder promptly reappeared on the Prince's thigh and slowly slid upwards, eliciting a shocked squeak. "What ever happened between us, mate? Why can't we be…friends?"
An unexpected squeeze of his nether regions followed, leaving Vegeta's vision hazy with anger and something else he couldn't identify. Heat shot through his abdomen, leaving him half sick and half livid.
"G-go away," he spat, feet glued to the spot when a second hand slid around to the small of his back. He began to pant, unused to this particular sensation, suddenly over come with the desire to fall to the ground and drag Jeice along with him. Vegeta choked, wrenching out of the teasing hold. What was wrong with him?!
"Leave me alone!"
Not minding at the moment that a retreat would deal severe wounds to his pride, Vegeta turned tail and ran.
--
"You are aware of your upcoming mission to Harlock Eight?"
"I am, my lord." Raditz kept his voice cool as possible, intentionally withholding who exactly he had obtained this information from. It was never a good idea to mingle with Frieza's personal staff, especially not Zarbon, who was rather the highest in this particular food chain save for the Changeling overlord himself. He cleared his throat. "I believe we are set to depart in three hours or so?"
Frieza turned around, facing the kneeling Saiyan in a rare display of recognition. "You will speak when spoken to," he replied icily, once again shifting away from view. "Yes, about three hours. However…" Black nails clinked slowly against the glass surface of the desk, signaling pondering. "I was thinking that perhaps two Saiyans would be a sufficient lot for this job. The planet is tiny, you see. It won't require much effort on your part."
Raditz froze, breath stopping in his chest. Frieza couldn't mean-
"My first instinct is to keep Vegeta here with me." Raditz couldn't see Freiza's face, but could hear the slight smirk in his voice all too well. "And to send you and Nappa to take care of it. You, you see, are still undergoing punishment for that little meltdown you had. If you knew how much you cost me, you would be grateful I have even decided to let you live." Again, Frieza turned around to make eye contact, something that disturbed Raditz immensely. "Tell me. What exactly angered you so much that you felt you needed to destroy the entire medical room?"
Lip bit, Raditz quickly tried to think up an excuse, well aware that any explanation implying anything but his own flaws and Frieza's unwavering 'greatness' was completely invalid.
"I…believe I may have contracted something while on our previous mission, Lord Frieza," he eventually got out, voice straining to keep smooth. "I felt ill once I set foot on Tre-Frieza Seventeen. Perhaps the natives we destroyed infected me with some kind of momentary hysteria." A dreadful pause. "I assure you, I am cured."
Apparently, this sort of obvious untruthfulness was exactly what Frieza wanted to hear.
"Well, I suppose. Primitive beasts do tend to infect other primitive beasts." The Changeling gave a sneer that made it incredibly difficult for Raditz to keep from unleashing his wrath on his smaller superior. "Now that I think, perhaps it would be best to send Vegeta along. The poor monkey Prince has seemed restless. Another mission may serve to cool his little nerves."
Raditz almost puked at the fake sentiment, but was immensely relieved at the fact that Frieza was allowing Vegeta to go along. His relief turned to fear, however, when the Changeling stalked up and kneeled down to his level, a cold, white fingertip sliding underneath his chin. Red eyes glimmered suspiciously. "It may be best to let him loosen up a bit before I feel his tightness for myself."
Horrified, the Saiyan could only watch as Frieza turned back around and strode to the other end of the room, three-toed feet padding against the glimmering plum floors. "You may leave, Raditz," the voice said, a high, effervescent chuckle slipping out alongside the few words. From the angle at which he was watching, Raditz watched a mauve tongue lick daintily at thin black lips.
Shivering with terror, Raditz quickly darted out of the chamber, never having been happier to do as Frieza ordered.
--
Vegeta read the assignment screen with silent relief, glad that this mission had been chosen for himself and his two subjects. He needed to get off of this damn ship, to go crunch some bones and let his frustrations out on the natives of some unsuspecting planet. If anything could distract him from what he was feeling, killing was at the top of the list.
Licking his lips instinctively at the thought of blood, Vegeta walked quickly down the main corridor and into the boarding room, glancing about for the ship labeled with his name. He sighed, remembering how it had been destroyed during the last mission. Nappa took up too much space in his capsule for Vegeta to fit in as well, so it looked like he was going to have to share with Raditz again.
"Raditz," he called out, not at all enjoying how his voice sounded at the moment. His condition had been both exhausting his energy and leaving him on pins and needles at the same time. He was constantly itchy, agitated, too warm or too cold. Scents were stronger than ever before, and often left his head fuzzy. Put simply, whatever was going on inside his body was incredibly disorienting. Perhaps he could once again sacrifice his pride and ask Raditz if he knew what was going on.
He spotted both his comrades over by their respective ships and walked up, watching as both turned around to face their Prince. Suddenly overwhelmed by that reoccurring urge to fall forwards and grip onto the slightly smaller of the two, Vegeta kept his footing and flushed, eyes narrowed.
"I-I will be sharing ships with you, Raditz." He folded his arms, voice coming out as more of a question than the intended command. He intentionally avoided Raditz' gaze, trying not to recall the uncomfortable incident of three nights ago. Hell, where had his confidence gone? Wasn't he the Prince of all Saiyans? He certainly didn't feel like it at the moment.
To his slight comfort, however, Raditz didn't seem much in the mood for chatting either.
Vegeta allowed Raditz to get in first before sliding in himself, doing his best to ignore the look of confusion from Nappa on his other side. Shivering, he sat down on the larger lap and pressed the green button next to the capsule's sliding door, eyes going wide as he felt Raditz' warm breath on the side of his neck. That same heated feeling rocketed through his gut, leaving him breathless.
Vegeta let out a surprised whimper, clapping a gloved hand over his mouth before he could stop himself. Sticky heat rose up in his stomach, causing his eyes to lid and tail to puff out behind him. God, he wanted…he wanted contact. He wanted to be…touched.
"Mmph." All control gone, the Prince allowed his eyes to fall shut, already half asleep and fully exhausted from the week or so of quelling the mysterious urges. Letting out a low, almost inaudible groan, he shifted around from his previous position as he heard the hatch open, head falling to the side. His head spun as his surroundings did the same, dark space alit with bright stars appearing blurrily through the capsule single crimson window. Vegeta resisted the urge to be sick, breath hurried as he tried in vain to dispel the sickening warmth that continued to tingle through his muscles.
Tail trembling with the effort it took to remain physically stable, Vegeta bowed his head and went limp against Raditz' chest, pale face sliding against the cold, armored exterior.
--
"God damn it," Raditz cursed, dark eyes narrowed as he eyed his smaller Prince. It was obvious that Vegeta was struggling against his heat, and was probably as uncomfortable as he was confused by it. And Frieza knew. He knew he did.
Hissing between his teeth when he felt the little body tremble against his own, Raditz had to try, for the millionth time, to keep from enveloping the other in his arms. It made him so incredibly angry, the fact that his still growing, still maturing, still child of a Prince had been forced by circumstance to put up a wall of pride that prevented him from experiencing any trust or good. It was only natural, or course, and perhaps a good thing in some respects (Raditz hated to see Vegeta in pain), but he was well aware that the Prince's ability to experience emotion was growing smaller by the day. Every time Vegeta was mocked by Frieza, or beaten by the latter's underlings, a tender part of him died inside. And now there was this new issue: the heat. He wasn't sure Vegeta would be able to take it.
Raditz clenched his fist as Frieza once again slinked out of the corners of his mind. He had thought for awhile that Vegeta was in danger of being raped, but that last threat had verified his suspicions like nothing else. A single tear formed in Raditz' eye. He couldn't let it happen. He just couldn't.
If the last bit of Vegeta's innocence was to be ripped away, he needed to make sure it happened at his own hands.
Following the commands of his heart without stopping to heed the concerns of his head, Raditz allowed his arms to encircle the smaller Saiyan, feeling slightly erratic breaths calm slightly at the movement. He shut his own eyes and shook his head in denial, hating the fact that Vegeta couldn't escape this hellhole, that that torturous bastard Frieza was planning to take the Prince's virginity for the sake of amusement. Most of all, he hated that he couldn't do anything to stop the pain.
All he could do was try to stop Frieza from getting there first.
Forcing a quiet purr to rumble in his chest for the sake of his unconscious Prince, Raditz simply continued to hold on.
--
TBC
