So as I was happily typing out this chapter, I suddenly look at number of words and I'm like IT'S OVER 9000!
lol, sorry I just wanted to say that… type that. Did you hear Vegeta's voice inside of your head…?

No, seriously, the chapter that I had originally planned ended up being waaay longer than I thought and so I decided to split it up…into three chapters (talk about underestimating…). So that chapter I was looking forward to… is getting a little postponed…but in a good way!

Also… Over 300 reviews! Hooray! Balloons, confetti, pie, cake all of that good stuff, I send it all to you. But most of all: THANK YOU! I mean it, really, thank you! I LOVE YOU, yes I do… I'm not kidding I really love you guys! Your reviews, people following this story, favoring it and simply all of my readers, thank you all so much for simply liking this story! Now enough with the melodramatic stuff and onto the first part of my original very long chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z

Chapter 21: An Imminent Storm

Not ever did she think she would walk here again, actually it felt a little awkward and she felt most of all out of place. But that could be because of the look Sok had given her, his eyes had shot fire when he'd seen her and she still could feel the burning heat on her back. He had been obviously perplexed when he first heard the news of having to share his headquarters with someone and when seeing who that someone was, his façade of calmness had fell down and a look of pure contempt and hate had taken form on his face. Bulma had wisely decided to ignore him and simply proceeded to follow, why him?, Radditz towards her new working space. He didn't seem to be very fond of her either, he was rather reluctant to speak with her and found the task he was given rather embarrassing and annoying.

When they entered a large, actually massive was the right word, empty room and they simply stood still, an awkward silence followed.
'There.' He said, 'Every available man; engineers, assistants, they are waiting for you to call. I told them they could come when you were here.'
'Every available person?' Bulma echoed surprised. She had still been gaping at the large space she had been given, one all to herself!, that she could hardly believe what she was hearing now.
'Yes.' Radditz answered agitated, he rolled his eyes at the slow Earthling woman, which everybody seemed to be talking about.
'Explains why Sok is probably mad.' Bulma thought out loud, she couldn't suppress the feeling of victory. Of course, she had succeeded. And not only was she working on a project that King Vegeta himself took interest in, it had a deadline given by him. Meaning everyone would be working on it, everyone would be working for her. That probably stung but it serves the bastard right!
Hearing him snicker in response, he simply nodded at her comment. 'Probably… I'll be leaving.'
'Right…. Bye.' Feeling suddenly awkward, Radditz and small talk wasn't something that went well together. Now that she thought about it, she and Radditz had rarely communicated at all. Neither seemed to like the other much.
Turning around to leave, he looked over his shoulder at her with smug smirk, 'Good luck.'
'Thanks.' She hesitantly answered, wondering what he found so amusing about all this.
When the door closed and she stood all by herself, Bulma actually started to laugh. Uncontrollably, happy laughter erupted from her throat. She couldn't believe this! Less than twenty four hours ago she had thought about how she envied Sok, how she would never want such a space and how far the solution to all her problems had been. Now, here she was. It was almost surreal!

But soon laughter faded away. Making her aware that the large space would have to be filled with her project. How on Earth was she supposed to do this? The little nap she had taken this afternoon had made her feel better but it would take a miracle to take away her mood swings. 'Argh!' She growled in frustration, 'Damn you, Vegeta!'

Okay, when she had thought about every available person she had thought twenty, maybe thirty people. Over a hundred was actually bit of a problem, too many people, too little space. But it sure got the job done. It was only the beginning, they had only worked half a day and the progress was immense. Working with the right people made the difference, people that would usually be scattered all over the world but were now all limited now to one place and one place only, Planet Vegeta, where they would all live, breath, eat and think in the same building or area. So it was a pure blessing to work with people she had admired, never heard of or simply unknown raw talents. Her horrible mood swings had ceased over the day, though now it was late at night and it was the adrenaline that kept her and her workers going. She couldn't help but grin the entire time, proud of her hard work and how many of them willed to work with her and make this a success. The only person who had only grown fouler and fouler by the hour was Professor Sok, who had disappeared a few hours ago. He had regularly checked on her and the team, just to see "how she was doing". It didn't seem to please him much that she was succeeding. But she could care less about him or how she was ruining his plans. It was every man and woman for themselves, or so he believed. So why should she show him mercy when he gave her none?
Speaking of merciful, the great King Vegeta had yet to show his ugly face. Something told her he was waiting for the right moment. Like when she was more by herself.

Her father had been her right hand the entire time and when they had finally had a moment for themselves again, he too pointed out that King Vegeta hadn't shown up yet and how he suspected he wasn't going to show up until she was either by herself or perhaps was not even going come at all, simply to agitate her. She could only nod in agreement, glad to see her father was beginning to understand Vegeta's little games.
Not that she completely understood them but it was good to know she wasn't the only one beginning to see the pattern.

'You reckon he'll show up?' He father asked, wiping the sweat of his forehead. He then took off his glassed to clean them, patiently waiting for his daughter to answer.
'You bet. I just know he will.' Looking up from her blueprints to her father, 'I can feel it.'
She was, she was beginning to have some sort of radar on it. She didn't know why but she was convinced he'd show up. And he would the minute she'd tell them, all of the people still working, to go rest for the night. Speaking of, 'What time is it?'
'Almost midnight…' He father muttered, looking at the working place, 'You should let them rest, Bulma.'
'I know.' She nodded in agreement, 'just a little longer.'
'They're getting tired, just like we. It's better to call it a day and start fresh tomorrow. You'll end up making mistakes that will be hard to fix.'
'Dad!' She rolled her eyes at his preaching, furthermore ignoring him but when she looked at people, she knew she really did have to call it a day. But she just knew by saying stop, he'd appear but then again she couldn't do this to them just so she could postpone Vegeta longer. He wasn't worth sacrificing other peoples sanity.
'You think I'm wrong?' Her father cut in sharply, raising an eyebrow at her.
'I know, I know!' She sighed, yawning and stretching herself out on her desk.
'You should call it a day too.' He pointed out, strict but with a slight concerned tone in his voice.
'Dad!' She wined, annoyed by his lectures.
'You should!' He pointed at her blueprint, when she took a better look at what he was referring, she had to conclude that the mistake on it was a rather fatal one and that she too wasn't functioning properly anymore. 'Ok.' She flatly answered, 'Everyone!' She yelled, getting up, 'Hey, you!' talking to one of the assistants.

Her father grinned, though the situation was anything to be happy about, he was proud of her and loved working together with his daughter. They always had had a great relationship, especially on the field. He longed for his own bed, where he could lie next to his wife and both could boast about how great their little girl was.

'Goodnight, Bulma.' When he kissed her on the cheek, he pressed on one more time that she too should be going. 'I will but I want to fix this first.' She answered, 'I want everything ready for what is to happen tomorrow. If I do it tomorrow morning there might be a time shortage and I don't want a setback, not when we are so nicely ahead of schedule.'
'Alright.' He muttered, disagreeing on the matter. It was almost as if she was now waiting for Vegeta to show up but it was like she said, she couldn't avoid him no matter how hard she would try. He could show up anytime, anywhere. Looking around, she couldn't help but smile, she was actually going to make it! Well, if they could keep up this pace and there would be no further complications.

Hearing the door open, she felt heart stop for brief second, dreading to look at the man, she turned around as slow as she could. To her surprise it wasn't Vegeta. 'Professor Sok!' She gasped. 'I thought you were—'
'In my own working space? Yes. I have better things to do then to watch people work all day. I have project of my own, though I admit the King doesn't take near as much interest in them as he does in yours.' He voice was cold and the answer was a little too snippy for her liking. Filling the room instantly with a hostile air, ominous and threatening.
'Right.' She simply answered, feeling wary around him. He was inspecting her work, looking around, shaking his head here and there disapprovingly. 'Sloppy how they simply left everything and went to bed. They should've finished some things first before going.' Pointing at certain part.
Bulma got up, annoyed by the man, 'They need sleep. That thing takes hours to finish.' She pointed out, 'I rather have them work efficiently in the morning, then clumsily all night which will take twice as long than normal.'
'I guess. It's all about how you treat people. If they know they have to be successful because that is what you expect then they will. You can't treat them too kindly, they have to know the consequences.' He replied, not paying much attention to her standing up and walking towards him, as a matter a fact, he seemed keen on ignoring her.
'They're people, not dogs.' She harshly commented, getting angry at how he was behaving and what type of man he was for having such a point of view.
'Of course they aren't.' He agreed but not heartily, more as in just agreeing with her for the sake of agreeing. Whatever made her happy, she assumed.
'What are you doing here?' She asked annoyed by his persona and presence.
'Simply admiring the work of another scientist.' He flashed a false smile at her but this time kept looking at her, his eyes boring into hers.
'Right.' Squinting her eyes at him, 'And? What do you think?'
'I like how you twisted my idea into your own.' He smiled again, his voice full of bitterness and hate.
'I didn't steal your idea! You didn't invent gravity!' She yelled angered by what he was implicating.
'No, of course not!' He laughed, amused by her, 'I merely observed that I did, perhaps, somewhat, inspired you?'
'Not likely.' She snapped back, feeling as if steam was now coming out of her ears.
'No.' He echoed, turning serious again, 'However, you do seem to get the right type of attention around here.'
'And what exactly do you mean by that?' She hissed, not taking one step back when he walked towards her. She might feel intimidated by Saiyan but not by old, stuffy professors like him.
'This is merely an observation, Miss Briefs.' He started, 'But you perhaps have noticed that the King firmly believed you had the key to make him stronger, which you are giving him right now. He takes so much interest in you…and only you.' He paused for a moment, looking at her from under his large round glasses that always seemed to find the tip of his nose, 'I find it a bit… odd.'
'Are you insinuating something?' She defiantly rose her chin, looking straight back into his cold dark eyes, that held even littler emotion than those of Vegeta.
'That most don't get this opportunity nor do they get so much co-operation from the King.'
'Meaning?' She pressed on, wanting to hear the words come out of his mouth. She would slap him if he dared to say what thought he was talking about.
'Meaning a woman like you,' Looking at her from head to toe and back up, 'Probably has other ways to secure the safety of their family and themselves.'
'You pig!' She hissed, losing her self-control, 'You think every woman is some sort of tool? I have a brain and I worked hard to get to this point and if you're fragile ego can't take a blow, then maybe, Professor Sok, this simply isn't for you.'
'King Vegeta's interest won't last forever, then what will you do? You think your brain will get you anywhere? I think you're forgetting the breeding-program—'
'I'd rather die than carry some half-Saiyan! So I guess If Vegeta's interest is gone, then so will I! Because there is nothing that would make me want to be a part of the culture you've created! I would still rather die!'
'Vegeta?' He echoed, intrigued, 'Perhaps there is something that secures you so much that you think you are not going to be like every other woman on this planet.'
Feeling her face flush, out of anger and out of slight embarrassment she had called him simply by his name instead of his title, she remained silent for a moment, not really knowing how to hold herself.
'I see.' He snickered, as if she had just confirmed it.
'I'm not sleeping with him!' She screamed, 'It already told you, we have a history.'
'Ah, yes. I am curious about that.' He answered, looking at her with his eyes widened and full of interest to what she was going to say.
'You didn't want to help me, so why bother telling you about trivial matters?' She bit out, resenting to even tell him one thing about what had happened thus far.
'Our history is not something I find very "trivial", Miss Briefs. It concerns all of us, all of the Earthlings. Especially since you seem to find yourself somewhat responsible for it.'
That hurt, she admit but she kept her face straight and bit away the pain and anger, 'I want you to leave.'
'I will.' He nodded politely, 'Until next time, Miss Briefs.'
'Please, be so kind there won't be a next time.' Nodding back at him in pretense of mutual respect.
'I can't guarantee such a thing.' He grinned. For moment it actually looked as if he was about to leave but he stayed put and started talking again, 'I don't believe I've congratulated you, yet.'
'There is no need. Now leave.' Feeling uncomfortable with him in the room and aggravated by the fact he was still here but it was obvious he wasn't ready yet to leave and let her be.
'But I must! Congratulations.' Sok adjusted his glasses again, for the third time since he had entered, the false tone he spoke in made her even angrier, 'I hope everything works out well and that there will be no unfortunate events during the progress.'
'Unfortunate events?' She echoed, picking up on what he was saying.
'Yes, those can happen. You are well aware of that, are you not?' He calmly answered, looking through the room again.
'Is this a threat?' Bulma asked straight forward, having enough of his antics.
'No, Miss Briefs. Simply me advising you to be careful. Perhaps I've not expressed myself correctly, I've heard I'm quite the complicated man to communicate with.'
'Get out.' She simply repeated, 'I don't need your advice or your threats.'
He nodded and bowed deeply, mocking her request he said nothing more and walked out of the room.

'Prick.' She hissed, having to sit down so her heart would stop racing, she sighed. Suddenly aware that he could make her life difficult should he choose to. After all, some of the people working on her project had almost always worked on his before that, so he knew quite a few to manipulate against her. Couldn't she catch a break? First Vegeta, now this guy.

Hearing the door open for the second time that evening, it was well past midnight now, she tensed up again, turning her head towards the door to this time actually see Vegeta. 'King Vegeta.' She greeted monotone. She didn't know why but she was more relaxed knowing it was him, who she had been preparing for all day to meet then Sok again, who she didn't know how to handle or what exactly she was supposed to do with the situation. Should he continue, he would become a problem and she already had enough of those!
'Woman.' He greeted, somewhat polite. He seemed relaxed and he smirked at the messy and still chaotic room. 'How is your progress?'
'Fine.' She answered, not having the energy to fight with him again, she decided to try to be polite and decent towards him to avoid conflict.
'Just fine?' He echoed, obviously agitated by her short answer.
'The circulation system isn't installed yet, we also can't find the right size of cylinder for it since it is hard to decide what would work best in a room with high gravity. The base of were the gravity has to be is yet to be decided and it also appears that we are running out of coffee and clean cups.' Making sure her tone dry and slow. His eyebrow shot up at her answer. She inwardly smirked know he didn't understood half of what she was talking about. She actually wasn't sure she was talking sense herself, since her brain was only working half. The only part that was one hundred percent correct was the coffee and cups part.
'Tired?' He snickered, seemingly finding her answer amusing.
'A little.' She answered on a fake sweet tone.
'All by yourself, I see?' Observing her and the room all at once, he couldn't help but stare at her when she didn't answer. Not that she noticed, she was actually pretending to work on her papers again, 'Yeah, it's better to start fresh in the morning then to exhaust ourselves the entire night.'
'Remember the deadline, woman.'
She rolled her eyes at the comment but nodded, acknowledging that she couldn't exactly "forget" such a detail.
'Patience is a virtue.' She replied softly.
'It indeed is, woman.' When she looked up in surprise at him, he simply smirked at her. Walking towards the table she was working at, making her a little nervous which each step he took in her direction.
'Why are you still here?' He then asked, looking at what she was doing.
'I needed to finish these.' Shuffling the papers placing them aside, she stiffened when he came to sit before her. He was stalking her with his eyes.
'I was also waiting for you. You said you'd come.' Her eyes bravely looked at his but she couldn't help but feeling a slight discomfort when being under his gaze.
'Well,' He sighed, 'Aren't you the example.'
'I don't want to anger you.' She answered in all honestly. 'But I admit I'm tired and I would very much like to go to bed.'
The corners of his mouth went up again, 'Of course.' He reached out to touch her, making her instantly push her back onto the chair she was sitting on. He quirked an eyebrow at her response but proceeded, since she could never get far enough from him to not let him touch her. Grabbing a strand of her long blue streaks of hair, he played with it. Staring at his actions, when she looked back up to him, she felt ground sweep away underneath her feet, making her thankful she was already seated. His eyes were wide and dark, they held something wild and untamed and hungry, so very hungry it took the air out of her lungs. Feeling the atmosphere thicken around them, she had to take in a sharp breath in order to snap back to reality. Making their strange trance stop, retreating his hand, 'Then I guess from now on, I better come during daytime.' His eyes lingered on her skin and when he looked back up, Bulma felt the strangest things go through her mind and body. Something far above her smarts and strengths and it frightened her.
'Nice work, woman.' He smirked, getting up. 'Off to bed.' Snickering at her. She numbly nodded, actually getting up, ignoring how that amused him even more but she suddenly felt the need to run.

She needed to get out.

'Do you have any more questions?' She hesitantly asked, trying to swallow the slowly suffocating lump in her throat.
He gave her a long look before answering, noticing her change in demeanor. He looked a little disappointed but it soon evaporated into thin air and he changed his face into his usual frowning, 'No. That will be all.'
'Goodnight.' She softly said, feeling her heart rate slowing down simply because soon she'd be out and safely in her bed. He didn't say anything back but gave her a small, hesitant, nod in return.

Leaving the room, without looking back, she quickly walked towards the elevator. Noticing how her steps echoed in the long halls and how abandoned and empty the entire floor was, she noted that from now on she shouldn't be staying here till last. It was dangerous and above all stupid of her. Vegeta had behaved civilized and the meeting had been shorter then she had expected, yet the feeling she felt made her tremble. The doors of the elevator opened with a ding, startling her, which made her aware just how anxious she was.
'Woman.'
She halted immediately, feeling afraid, she for moment thought of pretending to have not heard him but her mind told her that was plain stupid and she was better off behaving appropriately then acting as her usual self. Not that she really was feeling as if she was being herself, the world seemed to twirl around her. When she turned around to listen to him, she stumbled and had to hold on to the wall to not fall over.
'Are you alright?' He gruffly asked, walking towards her. Trying to be kind was something foreign for him, and it he was having a hard time to actual conceal that fact.
'Yes, I'm fine.' She quickly answered, backing away from him and the wall. 'What is it?'
'Nothing.' Passing her by, though he gave her another look before stepping into the elevator. 'I'm not exactly planning to stay here all night.'
The explanation slowly went to her brain, making her not say anything back, noting how dumb she was being and how slow her reactions were. Now she was all nervous again about having to be in an elevator with him.
'Woman.' He growled again, she wanted to roll her eyes but she felt too lightheaded to do so and she was afraid it would make her more disoriented.
'You were told to rest.'
'I did.' She answered, great now he was being her father. 'I did rest.'
He remained quiet the entire ride up, which was nice since it gave her room to focus on other things but him, such as not falling over or fainting. When had she last eaten? This afternoon? Well, it had been practically a banquet but still… Filling your stomach with coffee isn't exactly considered healthy, and definitely not smart either. Glad to hear another "ding" when the door opened she hastily tried to get out, wanting to go to her room as quickly as possible.
'Woman.' He repeated watching her stroll out of the small room.
'I need to lay down—' As the words left her mouth, she saw the room turn and twirl in front of her eyes, making her fall down and if it weren't for the strong arms around her she would've met the ground. 'Idiot.'
Understanding the situation, panic took over, making her drastically get up and leave, finding it hard suddenly to stand on two feet, she tumbled back meeting the hard solid body of Vegeta, who swept her up, 'You are completely useless.'
'I…' Muttering, she tried to save herself from falling over but all her attempts were in vain, her body would simply not respond to her commands and she felt herself slipping further and further away.

'King Vegeta.'

The unexpected voice startled both of them, and with hazy eyes she looked up to the intruder, or rather her savior. Kakarot face spoke louder than words, flabbergasted at what he had found, he seemed to only had the sense to make his presence known but other than that had no idea how to react towards the situation. An awkward silence followed, and Bulma was only half aware of what was going on, so she forced her eyes to stay open and somewhat focus.

'Kakarot.' Vegeta growled angrily at him, probably annoyed he was being caught in such a position and above all, with her. To top it off, he was being somewhat "nice" towards someone. 'What are you doing here?'

'I…' His eyes darted from the King's back to her, 'I needed to speak to Sok. Is he still in his lab?'
'Yes.' He hissed, 'Now move.' He stalked pass the soldier, turning his head, he spoke on a more lower and threatening voice now, 'Not a word.'

Kakarot bowed deeply and mumbled a 'Yes, sir.' From under his breath. Gawking at the pair but knowing fully well he would have to erase the scene his eyes had witnessed but yet looked intrigued and it was obvious he had to fight a part of him to not dare to ask questions. But to anger the King, would simply be inviting Death to come. Tearing his eyes off the pair, he disappeared into the elevator.

For Bulma it was all becoming a blur, vaguely remembering why she found it peculiar that Kakarot had to speak with Sok again. 'Vegeta, I'm fine.' She muttered, trying to move out of his grip. He didn't seem to reject the idea, putting her back on her feet but keeping an arm around her. 'Idiotic woman, don't you know you are far too weak—'
'I know what I am, Vegeta. I strained myself because of you.' She snippily answered, 'I just need sleep.'
'I'll walk with you.' He muttered under his breath, avoiding all eye-contact at all cost.
'Oh.' Now she was flabbergasted. 'Okay.'

Slowly walking towards her door, feeling it strange that he was again being so lenient and mild towards her. Hesitating, she halted before entering, 'I'm fine now.'
Vegeta didn't say anything but simply stared at her, as if she was some type of foreign creature for him. Leaning against the door for support, she held her breath a little, waiting for him to go.
'Thank you.' Hoping that was what he was waiting for but she could feel the thick atmosphere from before closing in on her, surrounding her and captivating them both again. His breath tickled her face, as she was only half aware now he was closer to her. She had to fight to keep her eyes open.
Feeling the electricity tingle on her skin, she realized what type of position she was in. Her mind blurred and told her she had been stupid for staying alone in that basement and that she should have gone with her father. A childish part of her, was screaming out for him.
Hearing him take a sharp breath before his nose touched her cheek, Bulma opened her eyes again after losing the battle, 'Please, don't…'
She didn't think the words would ever give her any protection or even save her but it did make him halt. Staying still for moment, which felt for Bulma as if the world had stopped turning and time for the moment stood still. What he was contemplating about was something that would take a lot of willpower from his side and a lot of power from hers. Which she didn't have nor would she ever have even if she wasn't feeling how she was feeling right now.
Not speaking a word, he did hit his fist against the wall, startling her. However relieve filled her when he abruptly left her and walked back to wherever he came from. Quickly getting into her room before he changed his mind. Breathing hard, she placed her hand on her heart, as if trying to calm it.
Whatever had made him decide to walk away, she was forever grateful. Imaging how this could've ended, she knew that if he did that, she wouldn't ever found the willpower to live life further, however she also knew that it had taken a lot of self-control on his side to simply walk away.

Once inside her room she stumbled towards her bed, letting herself fall on the matrass and when her eyes fell shut, every thought and feeling fled from her. Welcoming the darkness, drifting to a place far away from all her troubles, she let her mind and body rest.

And if now you are like, I could've read more like you didn't need to stop. Yes I did, I know when you read too long the letters on the screen go blurry and your eyes go dry and when you closed them they stick together and you suddenly remember you have contacts on and you need to blink more often… I saved you…!
Man, I'm in a bit of a crazy mood today… No, I just didn't want such a humongous chapter since it wouldn't be very fitting… also your brain might explode with what is to come… I need to shut up.

Next chapter will be up very soon!

Comment/review!