Chapter Twenty-One: Hope Is Just A Stranger Wondering How It Got So Bad

'And I've lost who I am,

And I can't understand,

Why my heart is so broken,

Rejecting your love.'

Trading Yesterday: Shattered

The next days at Capsule Corp were uneventful, peaceful even- something that Dr and Mrs Briefs, and Yamcha all found eery and worrisome. The first day of Vegeta's stay has been full of rows, and arguing, and most sorts of confrontation imaginable between the Saiyan and Bulma had occurred. But the last few days had followed in silence. The two of them barely looked at each other, and Yamcha knew that something must have happened. He had sensed Bulma's anxious delight as soon as Vegeta had landed, and he could see the emotion in Vegeta's face when he caught sight of her again. As much as he hated to admit, Yamcha was beginning to realise there was some real connection between the two of them. But apparently that's fraying…and this is where I come in.

Bulma stared at her laptop screen, attempting to focus her mind intently, but inevitably her throughts drifted. Since she had given birth to Trunks she had barely been able to focus on any work- she felt such a constant love for him that all she wanted to do was be with him. But it wasn't Trunks who was keeping her mind off her work for once: it was his father.

Bulma had barely seen Vegeta since the first night in her room, and whenever they passed each other in the house, she would avert her eyes and try to ignore him. Although, it wasn't really him she was ignoring- it was the gaping hole in her heart that swelled and ached when she saw him that she ignored. She had spent the remaining hours of that night trying to desperately find a way to bring Vegeta back to her, to make him into the man he had been when he had left; she wanted him to love her and his son so badly.

"Eugh! Get. A. Grip." She told herself sternly, before beginning to flip through her files again, trying to refresh her memory on what she had been working on before Trunks' birth. After a while, realisation dawned, and she almost fell off her seat,

"Gero!" she called out loud, in surprise, Oh my god, I was working on Gero's Red Ribbon Army formula… I was developing the codes to see how they could be modified- bettered… oh my god, she sat completely still in shock, I know how he's going to make the androids. And I know how to defeat them.

Bulma – for the brief moments it took her to run over to the Gravity Chamber and knock on the door- totally forgot how much she had wanted to avoid Vegeta. It was only when she had to unlock the door herslef and barge in - finding Vegeta topless and doing pull ups- that she felt all the familiar and painful emotions rush back at her. She considered running back out, and her feet were turning when his head snapped to hers suddenly and he dropped to the ground.

Bulma's throat constricted, and she couldn't find her voice, and when he began to advance towards her, his face becoming more twisted as he did so, she felt a trickle of fear down her spine. She was horrified- she hadn't been scared of him for two years, and now… she shook herself and blinked owlishly when Vegeta stopped a foot or two away and sneered coldly.

"Iknowhowtodestroytheandroids." It all fell off her tongue in one long smush of a word, and she felt her cheeks heat up.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, "Get out, idiot." His voice was flint-sharp, and Bulma flinched, but she did not move, and Vegeta snarled and leapt towards her, grabbing hold of her arms and shoving her viciously towards the door.

"I know how to defeat the androids!" she finally found her voice- her sensible, intelligent, yes-I-can-string-a-sentence-together voice, just as he was forcing her back to the door.

He stopped then, but he did not release his painfully tight grip on her arms. "What?" he snapped, staring down at her with black eyes.

Bulma almost whimpered, and she wasn't sure if it was fear or desire coiling in her stomach as he shook her violently and pressed her against the wall, his face mere inches from hers as he growled "What?" furiously.

"I have 's old work- it has the codes on for the Red Ribbon Army, and the codes," she stuttered over her words slightly as Vegeta kept his face close to hers, "they can be decifered…I can work out how he'll use the same stats to make the androids, and how they could be destroyed." Her voice had become a whisper by the time she had finished. She could feel Vegeta's breath on her face and it was making her incredibly nervous.

There was a moments silence, when all of a sudden Vegeta slammed her back into the wall again, pressing himself tightly against, and his face twisted menacingly. He pulled her hair and she let out a pained gasp as he exposed her neck to him, and he bent his head, his lips just ghosting her earlobe. "You are a fool. Nothing you do could ever defeat the androids. You're pathetic." He grinded himself into her and Bulma, despite the fear and fury coiling in her gut, began to tremble slightly with desire, "I am the only person who can destroy them. You haven't seen what I have seen, you can't kill like I can…I've destroyed whole worlds before, and I'll do it again." he paused then and yanked her head up to his. "If you get in my way," he whispered, his voice low and threatening, and his lips founds his way to hers, resting on them lightly as he finished, "I'll kill you."

Bulma shut her eyes and her chest thumped painfully. She was terrified…no, she was heart-broken. He had never threatened to kill her before…not like that, not in such a sense that she genuinely thought he would. She kept perfectly still, willing her tears not to fall, and hoping he wouldn't notice how fast her heart was hammering.

He did not move though, but after a few moments he released his grip from her arms. Bulma was about to shake them- to relieve some of the tense pain- but at her slight movement, he gripped them and forced them above her head with one hand.

"Do you understand?" he sneered, nudging his knee between her thighs at the same time, and pinning her completely to the wall.

She began to realise what he was planning on doing – despite his threats and fury- and she opened her eyes, her fear now replaced with fury and she hissed, "Yes Vegetable Head, I understand. I understand perfectly that you're a cold-hearted, arrogant bastard."

His eyes flashed, and for a second she thought he was going to hit her, but he merely slammed her into the wall again and kissed her ferociously. She thought briefly about resisting, but as his free hand worked its way under her top, she could not prevent herself from kissing him back and arching into his touch.

Yamcha had just exited Bulma's lab, determined to find her, and talk to her- he wanted her to order Vegeta out, and he wanted her to realise that whatever feelings she had for the Saiyan, they would never be enough to keep him with her.

He was just walking into the garden, when he noticed door the Gravity Chamber was slightly ajar. He paused- he had no desire to walk in on Vegeta training- but the Saiyan did always shut the door- why would it be open? Yamcha snorted, Bulma's probably in there, fixing it or something stupid like that. He sauntered over, and his ears pricked suddenly as a strange, moaning sort of sound came from the chamber's direction. He paused for a moment when the sound came again, and he strained his ears, suddenly catching the low tilt of Vegeta's voice and another moan- a female moan.

He didn't stop to properly think; his only worry was Bulma's safety, and he burst through the door, prepared to fight Vegeta if need be, when his eyes fell on something he definitely did not want to see.

Vegeta had Bulma pinned to the wall, her arms locked above her head with one of his hands, whilst the other was tangled in her hair, pulling her face to his as he kissed her fiercely. Yamcha, for another horrified moment, thought that it was rape- until Bulma's bare leg suddenly tangled itself around Vegeta's hips and she let out another low moan as the Saiyan thrust into her. Her head fell away from his, and Yamcha's gut lurched. As Vegeta bit down on her neck, her face became a picture of ecstasy; and he knew she had never looked like that with him, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her, from them; their bodies seemed to fit together perfectly, and they clearly knew exactly how to please one another… Bulma let out another moan, as Vegeta growled low in his throat, and Yamcha finally began to backpeddle away.

But his foot caught on something and he tripped slightly- enough to catch the attention of both Bulma and Vegeta. He barely had time to register Bulma's look of sheer horror and embarrassment when Vegeta turned on him with a furious growl and blasted him.

Bulma left the hospital ward and sucked in a deep, long breath as soon as she reached fresh air. She leant against the wall and closed her eyes.

She wished she hadn't immediately when images of Yamcha's face- as he watched her and Vegeta… oh kami, he looked mortified. And then terrified. She let out a breath, I thought he'd killed him. She had frozen at the time, still too embarassed to really move…but then the blood started to trickle out of Yamcha's chest and she had screamed so loud that Vegeta had flung her away from him and simply stalked off.

She realised then that Vegeta had changed. He would never have hurt Yamcha before, he would have threatened it, maybe punched him- but never, he would have never have tried to kill him, and Bulma knew that that was because of her- however he felt about Yamcha he would never have hurt him- because he knew it would hurt her. She closed her eyes again and shook her head as the tears began to fall, But he doesn't care anymore. He's gone, it's over.

"Get a grip on yourself woman, the weakling is still alive, unfortunately."

Bulma's eyes snapped open as Vegeta's cold voice came suddenly from her left.

She glanced over and saw him, leaning against the pillar and scowling.

"You bastard!" she shouted, "You tried to kill him!" she clenched her fists at her side as her fury- the fury not for Yamcha, but for her own hurt, her own bitter disappointment- boiled up.

Vegeta sneered, "So?"

Bulma pushed herself off the wall and strode over to him, "Get out of here."

Vegeta stared at her, "What?" he scoffed.

"Get. Out. Of. Here." She stated firmly, "Go on, fuck off! We don't want you here anymore Vegeta, you don't belong here- you're a fucking murderer!" she shouted, poking him viciously in the chest as her tears bubbled over.

He didn't move, but his face changed. He was staring at her, questioning, with his black eyes.

"Get out!" she sobbed, "I should have known you would never…" she let out another sob, "Get out!" she hit his chest then, and he still did not move, " I hate you. Kami, I HATE YOU!" she screamed, crying uncontrollably now, she flung herself away from him and hit her fist against the wall.

He finally moved then, silently, without a word, or even a look, he simply strode away, as Bulma slumped to the floor and cried into her hands.

She didn't know how long she was there, but at some point she heard the Space Shuttle power up and she knew he had left her. Forever.

I'm sorry, I know this was just a short update, but it's to try and get more swiftly onto the 'part 2' of the story really.

There will be more Vegeta POV coming up for those of you who like that!!

Thanks so much for the reviews- Nintendocat i'm so glad you are still reviewing!! :D

and thanks to all of you too (it made me giggle to know you laughed so much btw Ominpotent porunga! so thanks)

Please keep reviewing guys!! XX