Part eleven and the Vegeta/Bra scene, as promised. I'm trying to keep Geta as IC as possible, but; since it's his Bra-hime, I may have to break into slightly OOC territory.
Marlin (guest): I'll try to work in the scene with Gohan, Trunks, and Kālu; I have to see where this chapter is going, first.
V-ChanUzumakiLSSJ: The point of that line was to incite laughter, crazy girl. Don't worry, though; Vegeta will continue to spout hilarious one-liners as the story rolls on, lol.
Bra yanked her chin away from his grip and made to move away, "what do you care?" she scowled at the dusty wooden floor beneath her socked feet, "all that matters is that the precious angel you remember me as is long gone, and I really don't need your pity… Dad." Why can't they just leave me alone? I highly doubt Dad actually wanted anything to do with the plan; I bet mom manipulated him into helping.
Vegeta rolled his eyes, "girl, I asked a simple question; just answer it. I didn't ask for this detrimental drivel you just spouted, and how can you assume whether or not I care?"
"Because no one should," the Princess muttered absently, "no one cares. In the past five years, no one's ever bothered to take care of me or anything; I've had to do it all on my own, and it's what I'm used to, so you could excuse me for being close-minded."
"Really?" The Prince crossed his arms, "eighteen years of being surrounded by people who loved and cared for you; all of that time was eradicated by five years of being strung out of this… poison?" Vegeta nudged the bag with his foot, frowning when his daughter's gaze followed his movement closely, like she was worried he'd destroy the drugs or something, "this crap must be powerful if it can affect you so strongly, Princess—"
"I'm not your 'Princess'," Bra mumbled, "I stopped being your Princess five years ago, so don't call me that. That girl is long gone and; as far as I'm concerned, she's never coming back," the daughter of Bulma looked down at her feet, "too much has changed; I've changed too much…" her body trembled violently, and she felt hot tears pricking at her eye lids as she looked desperately at the bag of drugs. What she would give for just one drop of heroin…
"You're better than the urges you feel, Bra," Vegeta said somewhat hesitantly, seeing the wild desperation in her blue eyes, "you could resist them if you wanted to."
"I…" a wave of crippling, craving hunger and tremors rocked through Bra, and she whimpered, "I don't want to… It hurts too badly…" she reached down for the bag, but it wasn't there anymore, and she turned to face her father, who held the bag aloft in his hand.
"Dad," the heiress moved shakily across the room, "give me that bag."
"The others are trying their damn-near best to help you, you know," the Prince remarked nonchalantly, "if you wanted to free of these enslaving urges, all you have to do is accept the help," he phased out and appeared behind his daughter, "you don't want this bag, girl; if you take this bag from me then you'll just be fucking your life up even more than it clearly already is—"
"What the hell do you know about my life?!" Bra demanded, fed up, "You don't know me, Dad; I'm not Bra anymore! Okay?! I am not Bra Vegeta Briefs!" her chest heaved as she trembled violently, "you all claim you want to help me, but you fucking drag me back to this place against my will and try to force me to see things your way; my life was fine—"
"Fine?" Vegeta laughed derisively, "You would've died if the spawn and the other brats hadn't found you when they did; how is that 'fine'?"
"I don't want your help, okay?" the saiyan Princess demanded coolly, "I just want to go back to—back home and just… just forget any of this ever happened. You guys can go back to living your picture-perfect little lives and leave me out of it," a pained glaze glossed over her eyes, "because we both know I don't belong anymore."
"Bra—"
"I'm the fuck up that you don't want anyone to see, right?" the heiress tried miserably to fight her tears, "the high school dropout drug addict who was once the heiress of the largest manufacturing company in the world. How Capsule Corp's Angel has fallen, right?" she bit her lip as tears began to flood over her cheeks, "look; I said my life was fine, but that doesn't mean it's happy or perfect… my happiness is in that bag, and I… I'm in desperate need of some happiness right now."
Bewildered by her emotional rant, Vegeta still had the decency of mind to move the bag out of her range when she came close to him, and the Princess scowled, "Dad, you're the Prince of 'not giving a shit', so why the fuck do you care whether or not I screw up my life? You never cared when Trunks had his fuck ups, so why should I be any different?"
"Because your brother didn't cause himself to nearly perish because of his fuck ups," Vegeta drawled, "and you can try to do whatever fucking drugs you want, but I won't be the one handing them over to you," with that, the Prince dissolved the bag of poison with a small burst of ki, "and I certainly won't be making it easy for you."
As the ashes settled on the floor, the small tremors rocking through Bra's frame became more obvious, and her blue eyes looked through the small attic, searching for another bag like the first. There were none. Hopelessness settled in the pit of her stomach, and a hoarse whimper left her as her knees trembled and gave out, leaving her to slump on the floor like a forgotten ragdoll. Vegeta approached her, only to reel back as she pierced him with a fiery glare.
"Don't fucking touch me," she snapped, avoiding his advance, "do you have any fucking idea what you've just done?" her breathing became shallow and reedy as she looked around the room, "that was the only bag… I needed… I need…" her mind began to fuzz, and her vision began to dim, and Vegeta barely managed to catch her before her head collided with the wooden floor.
"Foolish girl," he mumbled, brushing his thumb against her cheek in a rare show of affection, "don't you know that you'll always be my Princess? Even when you fall short, you're still my beautiful Hime," the Prince shook his head at himself, scoffing derisively, "I'm starting to sound just like that damned Kakarot." He didn't seem to really regret his words though, and a small smile formed at the corner of his lips as Bra relaxed into him and cuddled into his chest. Once he was certain that she was well under, the saiyan Prince left the attic and headed back to the hospital.
*meanwhile* (A/N: Warning: extremely kawaii mental picture of the Son Ladies coming below. Technically, this is first, second, and third generation Z-Senshi all together in one room.)
Videl brushed a hand through Pan's hair as she slept in her hospital bed, humming a soft tune under her breath. Chisana was also curled up in the bed; her smaller stature allowed her to curl up next to her big sister, with her head tucked under Pan's chin. Chichi was sitting on the other side of the bed, rubbing slow circles on Chi's back; also humming a quiet tune that vaguely resembled the one Videl was humming.
The four women were relaxing, waiting for any word on Bra's whereabouts. Pan was finally taking a nap; at her mother's repeated urgency, after all the throwing up she'd been doing, and welcomed her little sister to the remaining space left on the bed. Goku had come by to drop off Chichi and the rest of the chibis before going to lend a hand with the search for Bra. Marron and Bulma had ushered the younger children to the private waiting room and; miraculously, got them to take naps as well.
Chichi and Videl looked up as Gohan entered, and then smiled as his gaze softened at the sight of his little girls in the bed. Videl spoke up, "any news?" the oldest son of Goku shrugged, "so far, nothing yet, but I can feel Vegeta coming back this way. His ki was stationary for a while; I wonder if he found her," he walked over to his mother and kissed her on the cheek, "hey, mom."
"Hi, sweetie," Chichi kissed his cheek in return, "how's my Panny doing?"
"Not so well," Gohan moved to the other side of the bed to give his wife a kiss, "she has very frequent morning sickness; so much to the point that she's intensely dehydrated, but," he paused to check her charts, "she's doing much better and everything looks to be getting back to normal. She'll be in here for a while though; until the morning sickness settles at least," he dropped a kiss on both of his girls' foreheads, brushing their hair out of their faces, "Chisana's handling her pregnancy very well, though."
Chi mewled softly as she stirred, peeking out of the mass of Pan's hair lying over her face. She brushed the hair away and peeked over her sister's body, "Mama? Papa?" a yawn escaped her and she rubbed at her eyes with fist like she used to when she was a child. Her parents shared a laugh at the action and her mother spoke, "you've been conked out for about two and a half hours, baby."
"Well, I was sleepy," Chi admitted groggily, sitting up and disentangling herself from her sister's arms. Pan groaned at the movement and opened one eye, "could you be still, Chi? I'm trying to sleep." The younger sister smacked her older sister in the arm; gently, and got out of the bed to hug her grandmother before going to her Papa and wrapping her arms around him; laying her head on his chest with a sigh. Videl rolled her eyes, "Daddy's girls; both of them are."
Pan; still half-asleep, asked, "have they found Bra, yet?" at that moment, Trunks entered the room, "Dad just brought Bra back to her room. She's unconscious." His fiancée perked up at this news, "can I go see her, then?"
Chichi laid a hand on her eldest grandchild's arm, "you need to rest a bit more, Pan-chan," she stroked her cheek with her thumb, "you still look exhausted."
Trunks walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, pinning his fiancée down; gently, with his upper body and sliding a hand under her head so she'd have to look at him, "you heard your grandmother, missy," he warned, "You need to rest a little more."
"I don't like resting," a pout formed on Pan's face, "but I'll do it for the baby… or babies… whichever one it is." Trunks smiled and kissed the back of her hand lovingly, "how's your stomach?"
"Better."
"That's good," the lavender haired Prince dropped a kiss on her lips, "I hope it stays that way," and began leaving little kisses all over her face, "for your sake and the baby's… or babies." Pan blushed at all the affection she was receiving and pushed him away gently, "stop it before I blush my face off."
"Alright, fine," Trunks mock-pouted and moved off of the bed, "I'll go check on Bra really quick and then I'll come back and give you the run down."
"Okay," the Son woman smiled, "I love you."
The saiyan Prince's cheeks flushed pink and he mumbled, "I love you, too," abashedly and left the room.
"Aww," Chisana cooed, still comfortable in her father's arms, "that was so cute, Pan-chan."
"Shut up before I puke on you," the elder Son sister retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and smirking when her sister cringed.
"That's gross, Panny," Videl popped her eldest daughter on the arm, "be nice."
*in Bra's room*
Vegeta sat stoically at his daughter's bedside, watching her chest rise and fall in comfortable silence. He ran his fingers through her hair and frowned at the disgusting maroon color they shown with. The color reminded him of his days as a rampaging marauder, working under Freiza. The Prince made a note to tell his wife or one of the other women to return her hair to its original cerulean shade and let the strands fall back to the pillow. Bulma entered the room quietly, coming to stand at her husbands' side. After a beat of silence, Vegeta wrapped an arm around her slim waist and she relaxed into his comforting touch gratefully.
"Her hair is the wrong color," the Prince broke the silence in a subdued tone, "you should fix it."
"I doubt she'll be happy if we did, Geta," Bulma murmured in reply, "it's enough that Trunks and the others brought her back home." The Prince frowned, "she wasn't too pleased when I found her, and she made sure I knew it, too. If there's one thing that hasn't changed… it's that she hardly let me get a word in; just like her mother."
"Where did she go?" Bulma perched on her mate's lap to look into his expressive ebony gaze, "when she ran off today; I mean."
"Some house in the lower Eastern sector of this city," Vegeta moved his arms to further support his wife, "she was looking for more of that dreadful poison; would've used it; too, if I hadn't been there to stop her."
Bulma didn't reply, but instead laid her head in the crook of his neck with a soft sigh. Vegeta mirrored the noise with a sigh of his own and kissed the top of her head before leaning his cheek against it. The couple remained in comfortable silence, watching over their youngest child attentively.
*outside of the room*
"They're just as lost as the rest of us," Marron observed, turning to face Trunks, "how are we supposed to help her if she doesn't want to be help." The saiyan Prince crossed his arms over his chest, watching his parents closely, "if there's one thing I know about Bra, it's that she'll say something when she's upset or hurt but she'll mean something else entirely. I think she wants us to help her get out of this mess but she just doesn't know how to ask for our help… either that or she's scared."
"I think she's scared to tell us about what's happened to her," Marron whispered, "you'd have to be blind to not to be able to see that her drug addiction is the least of her problems; that girl's been hurt a lot," she looked down at the floor, "I wish; Kami, I wish I could've seen this coming… things would be normal."
"Maz, we're comprised of androids, saiyans, namekians, genies, humans, former majins, and mixtures of all of the above… our normal is abnormal to anyone else who didn't grow up around the things that we did," The saiyan Prince told her quietly, "this is our normal; having crises to deal with every time we turn around. This one's just a little less threatening; to the planet, and hits a lot closer to home."
"You're right," Marron admitted, "but it would've been nice if we could've stopped this one."
"Yeah," Trunks shrugged, "I guess it would."
*a little later*
"Papa," Pan and Chisana chorused as their father tried to creep from the room, "where are you going?" the two young women were sitting cross legged on the bed; much to the dismay of their mother and grandmother, facing one another with GJ in Pan's lap and Ruma in Chi's lap. The two chibis were playing some kind of hand game while Chisana was playing with Ruma's soft hair.
"Nowhere…" Gohan said quickly, trying to cover his tracks, "I've got patients to check on."
"Mmhm," Videl made an unconvinced noise, "sure you are, honey. If your patient roster somehow comes to include a lavender haired CEO and Uub's younger brother then you're going to have two unhappy pregnant daughters on your hands, and an even unhappier wife and mother." The eldest son of Goku pouted and returned to his seat next to his wife, much to the amusement of his daughters and mother. Videl kissed him on the temple and ruffled his hair lovingly.
(A/N: Gohan's first attempt to throttle Trunks and Kālu has been thwarted… and will continue to be thwarted until he can find a plausible way to escape, hehe.)
"I've got my eye on you, young man," Chichi warned, and Gohan gulped audibly, "yes, mom."
Trunks entered his wife to-be's hospital room with a smile… that promptly deflated as his father in-law to-be started searing his face off with a glare from hell. Trying to ignore the sweat beading on his forehead, the demi saiyan made his way to Pan's bedside and kissed her on the forehead, "you're looking better."
"How is she?" Pan asked quietly, ignoring the frowns that took to her sister and Ruma's faces. The two of them still weren't pleased with the fact that Bra here, but kept silent about it. Ruma returned to her hand game with GJ, and Pan shot her little sister a warning look to keep her mouth shut or else. Chisana rolled her eyes and returned to braiding Rumi's hair.
"She's sleeping; restlessly, but she's sleeping," Trunks reported, "my parents are watching over her."
"That's good," the Son woman nodded, "how'd they take the whole thing?"
"Pretty well, actually," the lavender haired Prince smiled wearily, "mom's upset about it; more with herself than Bra, and Dad's… Dad is dad, as usual. If he feels anything he won't let it show." Pan nodded and leaned into her fiancé, "I heard Vegeta went after her when she ran."
"He caught her before she could relapse," Trunks laid a hand on her lower abdomen, feeling the very slight swell there, "and I think you are having twins, missy." The brunette haired woman in his arms jerked, "how do you figure that?"
"Well, Chi's eleven weeks along like you are, but her stomach's definitely flatter," Trunks gestured to the snugly fit t-shirt Chisana was wearing, "you were hiding quite the bump under your clothes, Panny."
(A/N: Google imaged eleven weeks for both singular and twin pregnancies and my measurements have been a bit off…)
"Don't look so smug, Chi," Pan poked her smirking sister in the stomach, "there's still a chance that you're having twins, too." At that, Chisana and Gohan blanched; the latter at the idea of becoming a grandfather of four. Videl snorted and rolled her eyes, "More grandbabies for me." Chichi was off in lala land, "great grandbabies…"
*meanwhile*
Bra opened her eyes blearily and tugged the sheets tightly around her body. She felt like she was freezing and the tremors rocking through her body did little to help. A soft hand pressed against her fevered brow, and she looked up at her mother in surprise. Bulma said nothing, but simply used the damp towel she held to wipe the sweat from Bra's forehead.
What is she doing here? Bra wondered, must be out of pity. She recalled how willing her mother was to put her on the street in favor of Ruma's safety from the drugs she'd just become addicted to and her heart ached. How callous she'd been; picking her addiction over her sister's well-being as she had.
"Mom?" Bulma looked down at her daughter, surprised, "what is it, Bra?"
"I'm glad you're here," as odd as it sounded the words were the truth, "it's been too long."
Bra was usually too prideful to admit those sort of things, but in truth… she'd missed her parents horribly. When her little fantasy life hadn't been as cracked up as she'd hoped, it was their protection she yearned for. When Zak forced himself on her, it was her father who she wished was there to save her, and it was her mother who she wanted to hold her and wipe her tears when he finished with her.
"I'm glad to hear that, sweet pea," Bulma replied softly, "I really am." She left a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead and headed for the door, leaving her husband alone with their eldest daughter.
"You gave your mother quite a scare," the Prince said stoically, "and your sister isn't too pleased with your presence."
"I know," Bra murmured, "I ran into her in Hunting Ville," a sheen of unshed tears coated her eyes, "she thought that I hated her and then she said that she hated me, too." Her heart ached at the memory of her sister's hurt, innocent face, and a few tears trickled down her cheeks, "I deserved it…"
"You made a mistake," Vegeta admonished, running his fingers through her auburn locks, "what is this travesty that you've ruined your hair with?"
"A mistake that cost me my friends and family," the Princess replied, "and I dyed my hair to hide from you guys, but over the past five years… I don't think I deserve to be… to be 'Bra' again. Who I am now and who I was… they're polar opposites."
"A start would be to return it to its original hue," the Prince was still annoyed, "you look someone used your head to clean up after a gutted sow."
"I guess I should thank you," Bra murmured, "you stopped me from taking the heroin and I acted like… like a wild animal…"
"Your system is condition to hunger for that poison," Vegeta murmured, "it was no fault of yours; simply a natural reaction."
"There was nothing natural about that!" Bra cried, "I almost attacked you; if I'd listened to Pan's advice then I wouldn't be in this mess! I broke that promise…"
"Panny, live a little… It's not like I'm planning on marrying the guy. I just want to date him." The shorter brunette rolled her eyes and pulled away from Bra's hand, "whatever. If you're going to do it… then… well, just be careful."
"I'm not stupid, Pan-chan, I know my limits," the bluenette murmured, "and if he does do drugs, then I'll definitely break up with him."
"I told her I was going to be careful; that I wasn't going to stay with him if he was a druggie and now look at me," she looked herself over in disgust, "I'm just as much of a druggie as he was… fuck, I really want a joint…" her body trembled violently and sweat began to bead on her forehead again, "why am I so cold?"
"You're detoxing," Goten spoke from the doorway, "basically it's withdrawal." A few more tremors ripped through the saiyan Princess, too violent for her to even speak, and her father reached up to tuck the blankets around her, "you're feverish, child."
"But I feel so cold…" Bra groaned and grasped her head, "my head hurts really bad…"
"You're gonna have to wait this out, B-chan," the Son whispered, coming to her side, "it's going to miserable, and it'll get worse before it gets better."
Bra whimpered and tears began pouring down her face. The clawing, tearing, pulling hunger for heroin began to gnaw at her gut and she felt like she was going to combust from the intense desire to use. She trembled and sobbed, clawing at her sheets miserably as her stomach started to cramp up something fierce. Vegeta saw her face turn a light shade of green and snatched the waste bin off of the floor for her to empty her gullet in as bile flooded up her throat.
When is this going to end?
*meanwhile*
Zak grimaced as he took in his damaged mouth in the mirror. His face was still swollen beyond; far beyond, recognition, but that bit paled in comparison to the damage done on his mouth. Jagged remnants of teeth protruded from his gums, and; in several spots, bloody gaps shown from where teeth had fallen completely out of his mouth. He needed to see a dentist and fast. His heart pounded with rage as he remembered that stupid Son girl and her posse storming his fucking house and messing him and his girls up before making off with his best gem. Bra was his highest paid prostitute; it was she, not the twins, who brought in the main flow of income.
"Looks like I'm making a trip back to my hometown, then," the dark haired man said with a lisp, "after all, you can't just up and quit this business… it has to quit you."
First, he was going to see someone and get his face and mouth fixed up; second, he was going to purchase a shiny piece of metal just for that fucker who demolished his face; and third, he was going to head back to Orange Star and show that whore who she belonged to… and then he was going to fuck up Pan Son, her sister, that blonde, and his little whore's big brother. Mmmm, he thought with delight, revenge will be sweet.
Marlin (guest): Next chapter; the Gohan/Trunks/Kalu scene will happen in the next chapter; this I promise you.
I wish this had been longer, but I really wanted to update it. I didn't like how the talk between Vegeta and Bra went and I tried to rectify it, but I didn't like the second part either. Aghhh, whatever, I've got plenty of time to work on their interactions in later chapters. Feel free to opinionate yourselves.
-SukiChan12^-^
