Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
Chapter 11: Daddy Issues
After Bulma pulled on her 10th outfit that morning she went to the mirror once again to check herself out. She was wearing a snug black tank top that had a V neck that showed just enough cleavage that she wouldn't be called a slut if she wore it on Earth. She also had on a pair of white shorts that were short enough to show her legs, hug her butt, and still hide her goodies.
"Perfect." She said as she smiled to herself. She then turned and went to her bed and pulled on her lab coat that covered her completely. She put her hair in a ponytail, slipped on some shoes and walked out of her apartment.
Raditz was leaning against the wall waiting for her and just turned and started walking with her to the lab without saying a word.
Which was normal for him.
But what wasn't normal for him was that Bulma wasn't saying a word either. Usually Bulma would strike up a conversation about any and everything, but today she seemed occupied.
And Bulma was occupied. She was consumed with thinking about something, or rather, someone.
'Vegeta.'
It had been a week since she had last seen him and a week since she started her plan to get closer to him. She had been working on some training bots that she could give to him, but of course she had to approve them first by giving it to the King which he loved them.
So now she was able to give them to the next person in line, which was Vegeta.
She could tell that her father wasn't happy when she made the bots, but he will just have to get over it. So now she was ready to give Vegeta the second batch that was made, but she was having second thoughts on the whole thing.
'Should I go along with this? Am I really that desperate for a companion that I'll end up running back to Vegeta?...But if I do this to anyone else then I'll feel bad for using them…won't I? I mean my goal is to use Vegeta, not fall for him. As if I could fall for him. I mean not after…That can never happen after…'
"What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?"
Raditz was looking at her out of the corner of his eye very suspiciously. Over the years he learned that a quiet Bulma is never a good one. "You usually can't shut up in the morning. You're quiet. Something is not right."
Bulma tried to hide her shock by giving him a dazzling smile. "No everything is fine. I was just thinking of a new project." That wasn't a lie; he just didn't need to know everything.
Raditz observed her and could still tell that she was hiding something. "I'm going to find out whatever it is you're up to Bulma."
Bulma just nodded and hurried to the lab doors that they had finally reached. "You have nothing to worry about. Well, off to work, Bye!" She said over her shoulder as she quickly walked inside. She saw that her father and Bardock were already working when she came in. "And how are my two favorite men this morning?"
Bardock rolled his eyes, which Bulma always took as his own way of saying hello. Dr. Brief sadly looked up at his daughter. Bulma had to look away from him She knew that he missed her and part of her wants to run to him and say, "I'm sorry Daddy, I'll come back home" while another is saying, "No! I have to prove to him that I can take care of myself."
"Hello Dear. Your Mother says hi. She wants you to have dinner with us tonight."
Bulma gave him a small sad smile. He was looking at her so hopeful. She could tell that he was saying that he and her mother wanted her to have dinner with them and she decided to give in a little. "Sure I'll be over later."
The Doctor was very happy and Bulma could see that he was about to get emotional so she decided to lighten the mood by teasing Bardock. "So Bardock, you never invited me over for dinner."
"That's because you eat so slow you might be mistaken for a dish and get eaten. I'm trying to save your life really." He said without missing a beat while looking over some circuitry.
"Oh you just don't want me to meet Colleen. I'm going to meet her one day Bardock and you won't be able to stop me."
Bardock just shrugged his shoulders. "Well seeing as you can't go anywhere without an escort and my sons are your escort, and they both have strict orders to keep you away from her, I don't see that happening."
"You are just so silly." He looked up at her and frowned at the word she used as she continued. "I don't see why I can't see her anyways." Bulma said as she put on some gloves and went over to her own station to tweak her bots.
Bardock smirked at her. "Because you want to see her."
Bulma was so surprised that she almost let a bot crash onto the floor. Usually Bardock would just ignore her and go back to work. He never said that before. "So let me get this straight, this whole time that I've been messing with you, you have actually been messing with me? And there really is no reason of why I can't see Colleen other than I want to?"
Bardock only chuckled and went back to work.
Bulma just laughed out loud. "Bardock you're smarter than I thought."
Bardock glanced at her and said, "Well there is a reason why I'm the head scientist. Perhaps when they day comes that you can outsmart me, you can take my job."
"Oh I plan too." Bulma said while giving her own smirk.
Dr. Brief was completely upset of the whole exchange. 1, he didn't like how Bulma was aiming to take over Bardock's job. She should try to find a way off this planet. And 2, he hated to admit it, but he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the interaction with Bulma and Bardock. He did like Bardock, at least more so than any of the other Saiyans, but he couldn't help but feel like he was being replaced.
"Well I'm going to go test these bad boys out." Bulma said as she was capsulizing her bots.
The Doctor was brought out of his thought by that. "I thought you gave them to the King and they were fine?"
Bulma fidgeted a little and then composed herself. "I did and they are great with him, but I need to test them with someone that is not as powerful as the King."
The Doctor was about to chime in but Bardock beat him to it. "That makes sense. Do you have a test subject already?"
"Yes I do. Raditz is going to take me to him and I will observe the results and will tell you guys what I came up with." She said while walking towards the door. She needed to get out of there before they asked exactly who she was going to see.
And that would have been the Doctor's next question but Bulma was already out the door. "See you later tonight Bulma?"
"Yea. Bye Dad. Bye Bardock." Bulma said right before the door closed behind her.
The whole way down to the training area Bulma's stomach was tied up into knots. 'Why am I so nervous? He's just another boy.'
Raditz was informed by Bulma what she was planning to do right after they left the lab, but he didn't know exactly what she was planning until they reached not just the training area, but the Royal Training area. "Bulma why are we here?" He snapped warily. He was not in the mood to be summoned before the King again because he couldn't protect Bulma from Vegeta.
Bulma saw how upset he was and put her hand on his arm to calm him down. He roughly jerked away from her. He always did that. He never liked her to touch him at all. She was sure that if she tripped and fell, he wouldn't catch her at all. All that did was assure her even the more of how much she needed to go through with this. She needed interaction with someone. She wanted an adventure. She wanted to explore something she had only read about and watched on her home made DVD player. She just wanted some type of intimacy and no one on the planet could give it to her, but Vegeta. She had no other choice really. At least that's what she told herself.
"Relax Raditz. I gave the new training bots to the King, and the Prince gets them next. You know this. The Prince is always second." She hoped he would buy it.
Even though with everything that had happened, that actually did make sense. Besides he was aware of the fact that her father and his allowed her to go with him to see the Prince. So he assumed it was ok. "Fine."
Bulma just smiled at him relieved. She briefly wondered if telling these half truths to people would ever catch up with her as she walked up to the Gravity room Door. She knocked once and then felt her heart hammer in her chest as she heard the gravity shut down. She tried telling herself to brace herself for the onslaught of insults that were probably about to come her way for disturbing his 'Majesty" training but her brain kind of stopped working when the door slid open revealing a very sweaty and very shirtless Vegeta. 'He is so…hot!'
Vegeta was completely surprised to see Bulma standing in the doorway of his Gravity room. He had expected Nappa to be the one to interrupt him, not her. He was not prepared, and really not in the mood. "What are you doing here?" He demanded roughly.
His attitude brought her back to reality and with a huff she slid past him into the room. "I come bearing gifts. Perhaps if you are nice to me, I will give them to you."
'She did not just walk in here like she owned the place!'
"Woman, for the last time you will respect me." She rolled her eyes at him and he was about to insult her when he remembered exactly what she said. "What kind of gifts?"
Bulma looked over his shoulder as the door, that had an automated timer, slid shut again. She now felt more comfortable knowing that Raditz wasn't listening in on their conversation. "Training bots."
Vegeta just crossed his arms in annoyance. "Woman, I doubt you could create anything that could possibly be strong enough to fight with me."
"The name is Bulma, and you'd be surprised with what I can do." She said suggestively.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her tone. "And what is that suppose to mean."
She walked closer to him and placed her hands on her hips. "It means, don't underestimate me."
"So what can they do?" Vegeta said uncrossing his arms, and not as defensive as he was before.
Bulma looked him over a second then continued. "They can reflect your energy back at you. So you are fighting yourself, not my robots. Geez you keep it so hot in here." Bulma said as she uncapsulized her bots and then took off her coat.
Vegeta's eyes ran over her bare legs and tight top that showed every single one of her curves. He then watched as she rand her fingers through her hair and undid her pony tail. Her hair fell graciously down her back. She had her eyes closed for a second; basking in the relief of no longer feeling restrained from a tight hair tie…Vegeta was mesmerized.
'She is so beautiful…'
Then he remembered what Turles said. '…and she knows she's beautiful too. She even admitted it. So she must be up to something. She's trying to tease me on purpose. Well she has another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to be her next Saiyan play thing.'
"What do you want Woman?"
"What are you talking about?" She said as she bent over and was tweaking the bots a little.
Vegeta gazed at her rear, and then stubbornly looked away. "You are trying to flatter me."
Bulma shot up and glared at him. "Ha. And how am I doing that?" 'Stay calm Bulma. Don't mess this up. Don't give it away…'
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. "Bringing me gifts and dressing like a whore? Sounds like it to me."
Bulma's eyes bucked. No one called Bulma Brief a whore. "Please, you are just flattering yourself! It's hot on this stupid planet and even hotter in the gravity room with you! And besides, everyone will be getting bots soon. Your father already has his, then you Mr. High and Mighty, have to get it second. So if you feel like I'm giving you special treatment, it's because I'm forced to and not because I want to. You already get enough as it is." She ended by crossing her arms defensively.
Vegeta thought about her words. He knew that there was a chance that she could be telling him the truth, but there was still a chance that she was up to something else as well.
"Just remember Woman, if you ever do try to outsmart me, it won't work."
Bulma just smiled at him as his words reminded her of better times. "Oh I see. You still think you're smarter than me."
"I never doubted it for a second." Vegeta said smirking.
"Oh I do believe that's a lie." Bulma said as she got closer to him.
"Woman it's a fact."
"Well you're not smart enough to remember my name so-"
"Well you have a stupid name."
"And Vegeta is great name?" Bulma was now only a foot away from him.
"The Greatest."
"Oh I beg to differ."
"Begging doesn't suit you."
"Then what does?"
Vegeta was so caught up in going back and forth that he didn't realize how close she now was. She was really only a few inches away from him.
'What is she up to?'
"Woman, the only thing that suits you…"
"Yes?" Bulma said as she leaned into him, only a hairs breath away from him now.
Vegeta leaned in as if he was about to kiss her, and just when Bulma thought he was going to, he turned his head and whispered in her ear, "…Is bowing at my feet."
Bulma reared back from him and wanted to smack the smirk of his face. "Never in your wildest dreams will I ever bow before you Vegeta."
Vegeta only chuckled as he watched her angrily go over and pick up her lab coat. "I'll come back tomorrow to check on your progress. Hopefully the bots will send a blast right up your-"
'Knock. Knock. Knock.'
"Enter." Vegeta said loud enough to the person outside the door.
Bulma had just finished buttoning up her jacket and was walking over to it and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her father there.
He looked at Bulma then over to Vegeta and bowed. "You're Highness. I am sorry to disturb you, but I needed to speak with my daughter."
Vegeta just nodded and Bulma angrily walked out with her father and Raditz walking behind her. "Why are you here Dad?"
The Doctor walked faster to keep up with his daughter. "I was curious to see who your test subject was. You'll have Vacation Day soon and it will be good to keep track of the subject while you're not here. And-"
"And whatever Dad!" She yelled as she spun on him. "You came to spy on me. That was such a lame excuse!"
The Doctor looked around. "Bulma I don't want to argue with you in the middle of the hallway. I just-"
"Fine. I'll see you tonight." Bulma seethed as she walked away.
Bulma avoided her father like the plague through out the rest of the day. She worked in other labs and ran tests all over just avoid having to go anywhere near him. She just could not believe that he was spying on her like that.
She had even debated not going to dinner that night, but realized that her mom probably really wanted to see her. Plus she still had some things she needed to get off her chest with her father.
When dinner time actually came, the only one that was talking was Bunny. Bulma was so angry at her father that she barely ate and really didn't know how to start her tirade without flipping the table over.
After Bunny finished her story on how her tomato plants have been growing so lovely, Dr. Brief finally spoke up.
"Bulma I don't know how to say this, but I think you need to talk to someone."
"What do you mean?" Bulma said without looking up at him. She was so afraid of throwing something in his face.
The doctor cleared his throat at her tone. "What happened to you 3 years ago is not a normal situation and I think you need some help. There is a possibility that you have formed some type of Stockholm's syndrome with the Saiyans. "
Bulma put her fork down and leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Oh, so I don't want to live with you guys anymore so I have mental problems."
The Doctor frowned at that. "I didn't say you had mental problems. I just-"
"And just who would I talk to Dad? Because last time I checked there weren't any psychiatrics on Vegeta."
"I don't know. Perhaps we could set up a video chat with someone from Earth or-"
Bulma couldn't believe it. "You are actually serious? Wow." Bulma shook her head and got up from the table. "Well dinner was great Mom. Dad, I would so love to do this again, but I'm going home now." She said as she turned to walk away.
The Doctor jumped up to. "Bulma wait! I did not mean to hurt you or upset you. But your behavior lately-"
"Is fine! Do you honestly think that if I wasn't on Earth that I wouldn't be running off right now and exploring the world? It has nothing to do with my past Dad. It's just who I am." She stated as if it was the surest thing in the world.
The doctor just crossed his arms and glared. "And Vegeta?"
"What about Vegeta?" Bulma seethed.
"You went to see him today. You didn't tell me that your test subject was going to be Vegeta."
"Because I knew you would flip out…which you did to the point of spying on me! All that talk about spying on the Saiyans, because we can't trust them, and you're spying on me! Your own daughter?"
The Doctor refused to address the spying as he felt that she was deflecting from the actual problem. "You can not have a relationship with him. He will hurt you."
Bulma threw her hands up in the air with utter disbelief. Had he even listened to a word she said?
She balled her fists angrily "I don't have a relationship with Vegeta! I don't have a relationship with anyone! And I'm defiantly not going to tell that to a stranger on a computer screen halfway across the galaxy." She yelled then quickly turned and ran out of the apartment.
Raditz looked at her with an expression that Bulma was not in the mood for. "Not a word Raditz. I don't want to hear it."
He just looked away and then walked her back to her room. Once she got inside she kicked over the first chair she saw. She then angrily took off her spy earrings and threw them.
'Daddy was spying on me. And he didn't even apologize to me.' Bulma knew that she could be selfish. She knew that she had snuck behind her father's back. And perhaps he did, as her father, have some right to spy on her a little. But what really hurt her…what really upset her…was that she felt like he couldn't trust her. And with that…
…she had never felt so utterly alone in her life.
She wanted to make this right, she wanted someone to be there for her, but she didn't know how or what to do. Her father was so paranoid now, that she didn't think he ever would completely trust her.
Bulma leaned against her wall and slid to her floor crying into the palm of her hands. 'Where did I go wrong? Why is this happening to me?'
She wanted her mom so badly at that moment to come and hold her, but she couldn't go back there. She didn't know what to say. She knew her dad, he wouldn't be satisfied until she did see someone, but she didn't want to do that either. Her life wasn't anyone's business. Plus he only seems to think that her problem is with Vegeta.
'Vegeta is not my problem..." She wiped her tears and stood up. "…and I'm going to prove it.'
The next day instead of going to the lab, Bulma went straight to Vegeta's gravity chamber. She didn't have to worry about Raditz being on her case because she had Kakarot with her because she was starting her Vacation Day tomorrow and he usually was with her the day before it. Probably because she would get on Raditz's nerves about what she was going to do the following day.
She brushed it off as she knocked on the door.
A moment later, Vegeta opened the door and leaned on the side of it. "And the reason you are bothering me this early is because?"
"I wanted an update on the bots of course." She said stepping into the room.
"Hn. Those things didn't last too long."
Bulma was about to respond when she saw her beautiful bots mangled on the side of the room. "Ahhh!" She screamed.
Before Vegeta could respond with a sly remark Kakarot flew into the room almost knocking the Prince down. "What's wrong?" he yelled as he went to Bulma.
Vegeta sneered and stormed over to him and grabbed him by his collar and lifted him up. "I did not give you permission to come into my training area." He seethed.
Kakarot panicked a little. "I'm sorry your majesty, but I am sworn to protect the Briefs and I thought she was in danger."
Vegeta growled at him as Bulma stood up and put her hand on Vegeta's arm. "Kakarot you're so sweet. Now put him down and don't be mean to him Vegeta, he's just doing his job."
Vegeta unceremoniously dumped him on the ground, ignoring the 'Ouch' that came from him. "Well he is annoying me."
Bulma ruffled Kakarot's hair as he stood up. "Oh you're just annoyed because he's cuter than you."
Vegeta glared at her. "Don't start Woman!" He then looked at Kakarot who was grinning like an idiot at Bulma. "And stop smiling and act like a Saiyan!"
Kakarot quickly bowed. "Sorry you're Majesty."
"You can leave now." Vegeta said annoyed even more. Kakarot just bowed again and then left. Vegeta then turned to Bulma. "Woman, stop tainting my soldiers with your human sensibilities."
"I am doing nothing of the sort. Besides, you Saiyans could use some more human interaction."
"I've had enough to last a life time." Vegeta said crossing his arms and looking away.
"Have you now?" Bulma said running a finger up the side of his bicep.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. "Woman what are you doing? I am not some lowly soldier that you can tease."
"Can't handle it huh?" Bulma smirked as she leaned in a little closer.
Vegeta couldn't help but look down at her very inviting mouth. Resisting her was getting harder and harder each moment. "Ha. Don't want to, is more like it."
Bulma could see that his resolve was shattering bit by bit and decided to take another approach. "Oh I see." She said looking away.
"See what?" Vegeta asked curious.
"Well, just like everyone else you're afraid."
"I am afraid of nothing." He said defensively.
She turned back to him, and in a comforting way, placed her hands on his shoulder. "It's ok Vegeta. I understand that you are deathly afraid of your father and you don't want to get into trouble for being around me."
"That is not true." Vegeta shook his head in disbelief.
"Which part?" Bulma said blinking up at him.
"I am not afraid of my father." He seethed.
"I don't believe you."
Vegeta didn't say anything for a moment and then smirked. "You're trying to challenge me. Woman you are so…"
"So what?"
"Desperate."
"Excuse me?" She said insulted.
Vegeta began walking around her, as if observing her. He was enjoying how with every step he took, she got angrier and angrier.
"It's almost darn right pathetic. No one else will play with you, so now you come to me."
Bulma was fuming. Partly because she had been discovered, and partly because she still wanted it to work. "If I wanted any man on this stupid planet I could have them."
"But you can't have me." He said stopping right in front of her.
Bulma placed her hands on her hips and glared at his stupid smug face. "Please, you probably are just trying to play that card because you're too afraid of what Daddy might think! The most feared and 'SOMEWHAT' respected Prince of All Saiyans, running around with his tail in between his legs not knowing-"
Before Bulma could blink, Vegeta had her pushed up against the wall. They both were trying to stare down the other, trying to put as much hate, anger, and frustration into the stares. Then Vegeta broke first with his words, and the battle began.
"Woman there is only so much of your disrespect that I can actually ta-"
"Ha! Respect? You don't even know the meaning of the wor-"
"I should blast you into oblivion for your insolen-"
"I'd kill you before you even got the chan-"
"Ha. What could you possibly do to me?"
They both were angry and breathing hard. And without another moment of hesitation, Bulma grabbed his face and pulled him to her in a passionate kiss that would make them both forget what they were just arguing about…
Authors note:
Ok, so someone said that they don't like Bulma because she's acting stupid. And in case someone else is thinking the same thing let me explain something. Well, her actions on the show were crazy. I mean just the fact of her inviting Vegeta into her house especially after he bragged about killing some of the Namekians is not a common sense move. But everyone on DBZ has always been overly forgiving, especially Goku, when it came to villains or people just doing the wrong thing. Another thing, If you haven't noticed, I've been trying to incorporate as much of the show into my fic as I can. That's why I was concentrating on the lonely aspect. We all know that one of the reasons Bulma went for Vegeta was because she thought he was lonely. The only person that is really different from the show is Dr. Briefs. But I felt like I had to, because he doesn't have a comfortable life like he did on Earth. But anyways, next chapter starts off where this one left off. Please Review!
