My sincere apologies for the delay. I've been having one hellava month. I've been sick, my kids have been sick, I had to go in for a few MRI's (which, I might add, are no fun) and am meeting with a surgeon tomorrow to see what they can do for my knee, cuz it has no functionality anymore. SOOOO that is why it is taking FOREVER for me to update anything right now.
But I want to tell all of my readers that I have no intention of ditching any of my stories. For those of you reading and patiently waiting for me to update DL Book 2, it's coming along and I will hopefully have a nice long chapter for you all soon.
Thank you for all of the fantastic reviews, I love you all. Reviewers and ghost readers alike.
Not beta'd.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Bulma woke up some hours later. The cabin was dark, save for a few overhead lamps and the only noise heard were the random mumblings and snores from the other passengers.
She was relaxed, even though the alcohol had long since burned out of her system. Her eyes slowly opened and found that she was hugging Vegeta's muscle encased arm and her cheek was pressed up against is shoulder.
She started to move her head away, but felt, rather than saw, Vegeta's head resting on top of her and heard the low rumbles of snores coming from him.
Bulma smiled. She relaxed and snuggled into Vegeta, relishing the close contact with him, knowing full well that if he were awake, this would not be happening right now. Glancing down at her watch, she saw it was midnight. They'd be landing in a couple of hours.
Instead of waking him, especially since she was sure he needed all the rest he could get, Bulma stretched her arm over to the pouch in front of her seat and fetched her brand new ipod and earbuds, complements of Vegeta.
Unlocking it, she shifted through the screens. There weren't many apps on there, just a few games and the applications the iPod came with. She slipped the earbuds on without moving her head, making sure to keep as still as possible, and started to go through the music library... which was extensive.
Curious, she flipped to the lists of play-lists and saw that those too had been copied to her library as well from Vegeta's. He had a lot. Her eyes scanned down the list; Work Out play-list, Sleep Play-list, Kill play-list -she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear what was on that one- and one titled 'Drive'. But the play-list at the very bottom titled 'Bulma' made her gasp.
The sound of the sharp intake of air made Vegeta shift , but he remained asleep.
When she knew he wasn't going to wake, she tapped the screen and the titles of the list popped up.
Amber by 311
Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve
Cosmic Love by Florence + the machine
Crash into Me by The Dave Mathews Band
Down by Blink 182
The list went on and on and each song had some meaning or another. Some of them were songs that both of them listened to back when they were together. The more recent one's were sweet and were about love, frustration, hardships and mending broken hearts.
It was a simple and sweet gesture that spoke volumes.
Her inner fears of him not feeling the way he before he left all of those years ago melted away. She knew how complicated Vegeta was, and even more so now since they've reunited. There was hope for the two of them... maybe after this situation blew over, just maybe the future held something for the both of them.
But the question was, was this meant to be seen by her? Or did he purposefully add it to her iPod?
Either way, she'd be patient... or at least try to be.
XxXxXxX
Vegeta tugged at her arm, pulling her to his side. She looked at him, annoyed, but knew better and kept her mouth shut, and tried to keep up with his fast stride as he continued to drag her to baggage claim.
He scanned his surroundings carefully. He and Bulma's disguises would buy them some time, but not much. They needed to grab their luggage and get to the bank before he was noticed.
Luckily their bags where one of the first to be offloaded and were swiftly yanked from the carousel by Vegeta. Thankful that his hands were full and not able to nearly rip her arm out of it's socket again, she followed him outside while rubbing her soar hand. It was late afternoon, and the weather was pleasant. Not too hot and not too cold... although, Vegeta had warned her that it would get a little chilly when night fell.
A cab screeched to a halt in front of them and Vegeta tossed their luggage into the trunk and they both piled into the car. He barked out their destination in Swiss-German. The driver nodded at him through the rear view mirror and took off, dodging traffic and pedestrians coming in and out of the airport.
Bulma followed Vegeta's instructions before they exited the plane.
"Try hard not to speak while we are out in highly public places. Not until I find out if we are wanted here too. If someone asks you a question, ignore them."
It was quite hard for her to bite her tongue, but she did. She distracted herself and looked out the window and watched the sites as they whizzed by taking in the beauty and the pureness of the city.
Zurich was beautiful and if it weren't their situation, she'd be begging Vegeta to take her out site seeing... which reminded her... When they got to Paris, she was going to go to the Eiffel Tower. She didn't care if she was wanted by the CIA, FBI and whoever else dammit!
Bulma rubbed her eyes gingerly. Her eyes were itchy from the contacts. She was on her second set, but her virgin eyes were rebelling against them... that and her wig was itching her like crazy. She couldn't wait to take it off. She shifted to glance at Vegeta, who was staring intently at his Iphone screen that was displaying blue prints... the same blue prints he had studied from the time he woke up on the plane to when they landed.
When she asked him about it, he simply said it was recon, nothing to worry about. But, she knew better. Bulma watched as he memorized each and every exit, air duct and room in the very large building and, in doing so, she too memorized the prints. Although, she wasn't too sure what or where this building was.
The cab ride took them deep into Zurich. The deeper they went, the more posh the surroundings got and the traffic got a little more thick as well. She spied Louie Vuitton, Chanel and Tiffany & co shops and had to suppress the squeal of delight that almost escaped her lips.
Vegeta gave her a sideways look and rolled his eyes at her. He knew very well what she was looking at and was thankful they were in a hurry and that their lives were in danger, otherwise he'd be trapped in shopping hell.
They stopped in front of a very large and very beautiful building. It was at least twenty stories high and every third floor, large white marble gargoyles were perched at the corners. In large blue lettering 'BANK of ZURICH' was splayed at the entrance.
Vegeta tossed a few bills at the driver and got out of the cab. Bulma followed suit and helped him get their luggage out of the trunk and wheeled them into the bank.
They were immediately met at the door by a tall, blonde man in a very expensive three piece suite. He said something in Swedish-German to the two of them.
Bulma smiled back at him, not understanding a thing the man said while Vegeta nodded at him and said something back to him in the same language.
The man perked up at whatever Vegeta said and smiled brightly at him. "Welcome back, Mr. Pickett." His English was very broken, but understandable. "Please, follow me, I will gladly take you to the where you need to be."
Vegeta nodded curtly at him and then looked to Bulma, motioning with his chin to follow.
The man led the way into the lavish building and entered an even more lavish elevator that had a very plush looking bench seat. Why anyone thought you needed to sit down in an elevator was beyond her. Tall and blonde hit a succession of buttons making the elevator go down... way down.
When the doors opened, Tall and Blonde ushered the two of them into a small lobby and then through a thick metal door that then led to a very, very large corridor. If she wasn't sure then, she was very sure now that they were deep underground. The walls were rock, giving it a modern bat-cave feel to it. It was well lit and had comfy looking chairs lining the walls every few feet or so. They then went through another door, which looked to be a sturdy circular safe door and inside sat a bank of hundreds and hundreds of safe deposit boxes in various shapes and sizes.
"Which box will you want to open to day, Mr. Pickett."
"Box number 501."
"One moment, I will get it for you."
Tall and Blonde scurried away and returned just a few moments later with a small key.
"I will be outside the room, shall you need anything." He bowed his head slightly at Vegeta and smiled at Bulma. "Madam."
Vegeta waited until the overly nice banker left the area and went straight to his box. He quickly removed it from the bank and took it to a large cubby that held a desk and two chairs, complete with a curtain for privacy.
The two of them entered and closed the curtain.
"Open my suit case, Woman." Vegeta said as he slid the key into the hole, turned and opened the box.
Bulma did as she was told and then looked at the box. Her eyes nearly bugged out their sockets. The box was at least 20 inches long and 15 inches wide. The depth, Bulma assumed was about 10 inches deep and was filled the brim with money.
"Give me your ID." He ordered.
She gave him an annoyed look. "Please?"
Vegeta glared at her and set his jaw.
"Okay, okay, jeesh." She reached into her bag and retrieved her ID and handed it to him. He then grabbed the manila folder that held Cap's documents and a small leather satchel out of his backpack. "Start unloading the money into my suit case. I've got some business to take care of."
"Yes master." She replied under her breath.
He growled at her remark and exited the privacy of the cubby.
Bulma went straight to work. She stuffed the stacks of one hundred dollar bills into his half filled bag. From her quick calculations, he had roughly $300,000 in cash.
When she was nearly done, Vegeta came back in, this time with a piece of paper and a pen.
"Here." He slid the paper to her on the table top, along with the pen.
Bulma set the remaining two stacks of one-hundreds into the suit case and peered down a the paper. It was in Swiss-German and at the bottom had a space where it looked like a signature was needed.
"What is this?"
Vegeta sat down at the table, his hard, steely look he had on ever since they got off of the plane was now replaced with the rare, caring look he'd give her at times. "I've added you onto my account. This is a," He paused as if searching for the right words. "...just in case kind of thing."
Bulma shook her head, not grasping what he was saying.
"In case things go to shit in four weeks, I want you to come back here. I've left you money and other things to help you start a new life. You won't be able to go back home if I don't make it and clear our names. I want to make sure you are taken care of." The last sentence was just above a whisper and he was now looking at the wall to the left of him.
Bulma sat frozen, staring at him, her mouth opening and closing but her words died in her throat. What a completely morbid but absolutely sweet thought.
Vegeta grew uncomfortable at the way she looked at him and shifted in his seat when he saw the tears that were forming in the corners of her big blue eyes. She quickly walked around the small table and sunk to her knees in front of the assassin, and hugged him tightly around his waist. The tears were flowing freely now, his thin black shirt was soaked within moments.
He awkwardly looked down at her and slowly brought his arms around her shoulders, rubbing the backs of them in small comforting circles.
"Why are you crying." He asked in a whisper. 'I thought we were done with the crying.'
She shook her head and sniffled. "The gesture is completely sweet and unnecessary." She chuckled through her tears. "We will prevail. So this isn't necessary." She repeated. "You won't die, I won't allow it."
He pried her death grip of his waist and grabbed her chin, gingery, bringing it up so she was looking up at him. He didn't say anything, just smiled warmly at her.
Bulma took a deep breath and gave him one last hug and stood up, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks and eyes. Vegeta handed her the pen.
"I am the best assassin in the world." He said cockily. "No body can kill me... but I still want you to sign it."
Bulma took a shaky intake of air, ridding herself of the tears and took the pen from him and signed the paper. She was proud that she remembered to sign it in her fake name.
As she handed the paper back, she gave him a determined look. "You may be the worlds best assassin, but I know for a fact, that you are a big softy inside of that arrogant, cocky, hard headed, foul mouthed shell."
Vegeta took the document from her and smirked. "Come on." He zipped his luggage up. "We are on barrowed time. Got to get to base."
Luggage in hand, they exited the cubby and was met by Mr. Tall and Blonde. Vegeta handed the signed document to him and watched the man scan over it and looked up at the two of them iwith a please smile.
"Everything seems to be in order. All five of your boxes and accounts are now joint owned." He turned to Bulma. "Congratulations Mrs. Pickett, Mr. Pickett."
Bulma flinched with surprise and confusion, but quickly smiled back at him. Vegeta nodded at him and grabbed hold of her hand and led her to the elevator.
"Mrs. Pickett?" She questioned.
Vegeta grumbled under his breath. He knew she caught that.
"Yes, it's the only way I could at you at co-owner of my accounts and boxes... don't get any ideas."
"Me? Ideas? Never." She said, holding her hand over her heart in mock hurt.
Once out of the elevator, Vegeta led them out of the large, grand bank and onto the bustling streets of Zurich.
"This is too easy." Vegeta said under his breath as he looked up and down the streets.
"Huh?"
He shook his head at her and continued to look and ignored her. "Come."
Still gripping her hand, the two of them walked a few blocks, their destination was unknown to Bulma.
Vegeta kept silent, obviously in deep thought and kept his surveillent eye open for any trouble. He had to get out of Zurich and to base where he'd feel more comfortable and out of the public eye. It set his teeth on edge when the remaining men of the Ginyu Force wasn't there to greet he and the woman at the airport. If they did, at least then, he'd know they were there and he could either kill them or know where they were. But this whole being-in-the-dark thing was not his thing. But then again, maybe he and the woman lucked out and they were still under the radar with Frieza and his dumb ass men, along with the CIA.
Soon, they found themselves in a very large parking garage, that housed a mess of vehicles. Vegeta led Bulma through the maze of cars, until he halted next to a black Range Rover. It was sleek and expensive looking.
He dug keys out of his pockets and hit the unlock button on the FOB. The door unlocked with a soft 'pop'. Vegeta took Bulma's luggage from her and tossed his and hers into the back and hopped into the drivers seat, where Bulma was waiting for him in the passenger bench seat.
"So... are we barrowing this car or is it actually yours?"
Vegeta started the engine and took off, heading towards the exit of the garage.
"It's mine."
Bulma nodded her head thoughtfully. "Do you own other cars in various parts of the world?"
He shook his head as he turned onto the busy streets of Zurich, heading north towards the mountains. "No. This is where I go when I want to relax... which isn't that often. I have a cottage in the outskirts of town. The only person that know of this place is Eighteen, although," He paused, not sure if he should tell her his assumptions of them running into trouble, but shrugged and continued. "I was expecting the Ginyu Force to find out and intercept us." He glanced at her, making sure she wasn't about to flip out again.
She was seemingly calm and looked at him expectantly to continue.
He sighed. "But I assume this location is still safe, for now. The faster we get out of town and into the country the better. It's off the grid and very hidden." He smirked. "And we can finally get these damned wigs off too."
She smiled at that. The damn thing was driving her to the brink of insanity with the itching.
XxXxXxX
After stopping off at a small market to purchase food and other minor supplies, they were off again.
Vegeta wasn't kidding when he said it was well hidden and off the grid. The drive reminded her of the drive into Caps'... except the scenery was much more beautiful then the dusty farm country he lived in.
Wild flowers of different colors were everywhere on the side of the road as well as overgrown greenage that lined the road that eventually turned into a one lane, dirt road, just as their journey to Cap's did. They climbed a mountain in the beefy Range Rover, which Vegeta eventually had to put into 4x4 to get up it.
They rode for about an hour until the road flattened and was greeted by a stone wall that seemed to be as old as Methuselah. It was crumbling in some spots, but it added to the charm of the medium cobble stone courtyard behind it and a rather cute looking cottage it surrounded. The cottage was old, but well kept. Outside the short stone wall that surrounded the small home was a large meadow that the home was smack in the middle of. Off in the distance there was a brook that ran the length of the cottage and even more wild flowers that were everywhere.
It was beautiful... and so not what she had thought Vegeta would come to, to relax. When he kept calling this place 'base' she inwardly cringed as she envisioned a small shack in the middle of the woods with no working plumbing and a tarp roof. Not some breath taking home that was the essence of serene.
They both exited the car, and she diligently waited outside so Vegeta could make sure there weren't any un-welcome quests inside.
When he gave her the all clear, she entered with her suit case and explored what would be her home for the next two weeks.
Once entering the cottage, to her immediate right there was the kitchen. It was a decent size... an old fashion gas powered stove and a modern fridge took up most of the space. A kitchen table that sat two was off to the side next to two large windows that overlooked the brook.
Straight ahead was a sitting area, with furniture. Although she wasn't sure what kind, as it was covered with large white sheets to keep the dust and whatnot off of it. Through the sitting area was a hallway, which she started to go down, as did Vegeta. A quaint bathroom was to the left. In it was an old fashioned toilet with a pull chain flusher, a porcelain sink and a matching bathtub, no shower.
She looked to Vegeta, raising her eyebrow at the tub and then continued down the hallway to the only other door there was.
Peeking in, there was a queen sized bed, also covered with a white sheet, as was a chest dresser and a bench seat that sat under a large bay window that overlooked the mountain.
"Wow." She breathed and turned to Vegeta. "This is," She looked around and out the window. "for lack of a better word, beautiful."
Vegeta stepped forward, away from the door jam and stood next to her by the window and peered out of it as well. The sun was setting, and the rays were bouncing off of the clouds making beautiful pink and orange hues reflect off of the sky. It truly was peaceful up here.
"Hn." He grunted, agreeing with her and looked to her as she looked out at the view. He felt guilty but a little piece of him was happy she was stuck with him for the next few weeks. The assassin watched as she took her wig off, tossing it onto the covered bed and scratched her scalp vigorously. The wretched brown contacts were long gone, as she took them off during the trek to the cottage, which pleased him. He loved her large blue eyes, it complimented her beautiful face and added to her natural beauty.
Bulma turned to him and cocked her head to the side, giving him a small but playful smile. "Let's get that off of you, goldilocks." She closed the gap between them and reached for his hair. Their eyes locked with one another and she proceeded to tug lightly on the blonde wig. On the second tug, the wig popped off and his black hair sprang out. She tossed the wig onto the bed next to hers.
She giggled at him.
"What?" He asked throatily.
"You look funny with your natural hair and blonde eyebrows.
He hrmphed at her and proceeded to let her carefully peel them off of him one at a time. He nearly shuttered each time her hands came into contact with his face, they were soft and gentle, unlike his, that were calloused and had many peoples figurative blood on them.
After the last eyebrow was peeled, Bulma looked into his steely black eyes and couldn't help the mooshy, tingly feeling that radiated all over her body with the look she was receiving from him. He was drop dead sexy, and she had to admit, once you got over the killings and black ops shit, him being an assassin was actually quite a turn on. She bit her lip and continued to hold his gaze.
The urge to kiss him was overpowering and she couldn't help it any longer. She needed to feel his lips on hers, his hands, his arms... and maybe another appendage or two.
She slowly started to lean forward into his chest and lifted her chin up. Her pouty lips slightly puckered as she went in for a kiss.
Vegeta's eyes widened as he watched her come in for the kill.
He leaned back and held her at arms length. "Uhm." He cleared his throat and backed away from her even more, letting go of her shoulders. "We have groceries we need to bring in, and I need to get the generator going so we'll have power." He quickly turned on his heel and exited the room, leaving Bulma wide eyed.
She watched him leave and shook her head, as she listened to his angry growls that sounded down the hall.
XxXxXxX
Vegeta stomped outside and over to the shed next to the cottage. He tore the wooden door open, nearly ripping it off of it's hinges in his self induced rage.
Why did he back away from her?
"Because your a panzy ass fool." He muttered to himself.
Tearing off the old drop cloth that covered the small but powerful generator and checked the gas. Seeing it was nearly empty he stomped outside to the car, muttering under his breath.
Bulma, who was unloading the food from the Range Rover, cocked an eyebrow at him but said nothing. She was too embarrassed to ask if he was OK. The near kiss and rejection of said 'almost' kiss made it awkward.
Vegeta snatched a gas can from the back of the SUV, avoiding all eye contact with her and headed back to the shed.
She watched him stalk off. Her shoulders slumped as did her heart. If her hands weren't full of grocery bags, she would have done a face palm.
'What happened to being patient, Bulma?' She asked herself. 'Great job, jerk. You scared him off!'
With a heavy sigh, she proceeded to the kitchen to put the food away and to make dinner.
XxXxXxX
It took a good few tugs, but the generator roared to life after the fifth pull on the cord. Vegeta sat in the shed and calmed himself. At first he was angry at the Woman... but knew he was being illogical in being angry with her. She was acting on emotion, something he hadn't done in quite a while, he couldn't blame her for that.
The root problem, he knew, was that he was afraid. Something that he didn't want to admit to himself. But he was. He was afraid of what would happen in the next few weeks. Afraid for both he and Bulma's lives, and afraid of the future. It was unknown, and Vegeta wasn't a huge fan of the unknown.
Cap's words suddenly popped into his mind.
"No regrets, eh, Ouji?"
Well, this was his chance. Especially if he might die trying to keep the two of them alive and clear their name, he wanted to die with a clear conscience, with no regrets.
XxXxXxX
The food was put away and Bulma was now preparing a simple pasta dish for the two of them.
It wasn't going too well for the heiress. She was having the damndest time trying to light the gas stove... She had gone through at least seven lit matches and burnt herself four times trying to light the pilot.
"Son of a bitch" She said through gritted teeth as she lit the eighth match.
Two strong arms encircled her, making her yelp and drop the match, making the flame go out.
"Woman, you are wasting all of my matches." Vegeta's deep throaty voice chuckled and tugged the match box from her hand and lit another one, all the while keeping Bulma encircled between his arms, his hard chest pressed up against her back.
She was blushing furiously and watched as he lit the pilot light on the stove on his first try.
"Wasteful wench."
She heard his smirk in his comment and rolled her eyes at him.
"It's not my fault you have an ancient stove." She grumbled.
"Hmph."
The warmth from his hold vanished as he backed away from her and sat down at the small kitchen table.
Bulma turned around and dipped her head, trying to hide her deep blush from him and knotted her fingers together. She was still embarrassed about the almost kiss and that she had caused awkwardness between them. She peeked up and saw that he was watching her intently and flushed even more.
She quickly filled a large pot up with water and placed it on the burner that was lit, compliments of Vegeta. Not able to keep it in any longer, she turned and asked; "Why did you back away from me when I was about to kiss you?"
His stare turned stone like and he crossed his arms. "Woman, come and sit." He commanded.
She did as she was asked and sat across from him, preparing herself for rejection.
"I think it's time I tell you." He kept his eye on her as her head popped up and looked at him with surprise.
Vegeta proceeded to tell her about the day of prom and what had happened with he and his father and how he nearly killed him with a broken beer bottle. How he then knew that he had to get out West City and more importantly, away from her to keep her safe from himself. He told her how he joined the army in the next town over and excelled in being a soldier that he caught the eye of the CIA.
He told her about his first missions, skimming over the more gory details and now he had lost his love for the job and wants to get out of the business.
Vegeta finished with the story of he and Cap and how he nearly died. He told her how he gave Cap a letter addressed to her and what he instructed Cap' to tell her if he died.
Her eyes were shimmering with fresh tears. He had most certainly gone through a lot... But something was bothering her.
"You could have told me, Vegeta." She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "I would have been there for you."
"No." He growled and quickly took a deep breath. "Our lives were going in completely different paths. If I would have told you, you have talked me out of it. I do not regret leaving. I needed to. Joining the army and becoming an assassin was something that I needed to do." He sighed again, and uncrossed his arms. "The only thing that I regret was leaving you the way I did. I saw your face the night of prom when I didn't show up... I broke your heart. You were the last person that I wanted to hurt. But it was the only way."
Bulma nodded her head slowly. She understood what he was saying, she didn't like it, but she understood.
"Do you still love me?"
Ah, yes the million dollar question. He ran a hand through his thick black spikes, trying to hide the panic that was threatening to make itself known.
"Because, I still love you." She continued. "I don't think I ever stopped loving you Vegeta." She watched him as he stared blankly back at her.
He remained silent.
Her sadness turned into anger. He had spent the better half of an hour explaining his life journeys to her and in not so many words, pretty much told her he still cared for her. Why was he claming up now?
"God Vegeta!" She stood up suddenly, almost knocking over her chair. "Just answer the damned question! Yes you love me or no you don't!" She waived her hands in the air, showing her frustrations and when he continued to stare at her in that stupid, passive stare she stamped her foot on the ground, growled and twirled around, exiting the kitchen.
She didn't get too far, as she was seized by the hips, turned around and was greeted by Vegeta's lips crashing onto hers. She immediately granted him access to her mouth, letting him give her the most passionate kiss in the history of kisses.
When they both had to break away for oxygen, Vegeta smirked down at her.
"Does that answer your question?"
Bulma, still dazed, nodded her head and squealed as she felt him lift her up off the ground and took her to the bedroom.
Yes! They are finally together! Which you know will pose a problem for Vegeta, as the protectiveness will surely make both their livese difficult.
Next chapter shall be a lemon. bow chika wow wow.
