Author's Note: Another shorter chapter. It's another long chapter snipped in two so that it doesn't get to wearying to scroll down while you're reading. Maybe I'll post the second half later today if people scream loud enough. I love getting your reviews by the way! What's the point of writing fan fiction if no-one reads it huh?

It was nearly dinnertime before Oolong and Korin left. The endless hashing over of facts that Oolong, Korin and Eighteen wanted was immensely wearying. All she wanted to do was think in peace, but peace was a way off coming. Korin only left in the end because there was not enough food in the house to cook dinner. Vegeta used his instant transmission to take him, his hoverbike and Bulma back to his tower. When they got back Oolong had gone, unwilling to be alone with Eighteen and Sixteen, and the two androids were hanging out together in the hangar. Eighteen was painting her nails and speculating on what would happen when the usual Trunks returned.

Bulma turned around and went back to the house to lay down on the bed. Wordlessly Vegeta followed, and they lay side by side without speaking until it was time to go to Korin's. They didn't stick about at the tower, but came right back to the lab, and Bulma threw herself into her work for the evening. Every time she glanced up Vegeta was just an arm's length away, watching her. She wanted to be alone, desperately, but at least Vegeta seemed as withdrawn as she. She could be alone inside her head.

She worked until one and then decided it was past time to turn in. Vegeta was haunting her like her shadow again, a silent double team brushing their teeth, going to the bathroom. Once in the bedroom again the spectre of last night loomed up to meet her. She changed quickly, angrily, blushing at the memory and knowing that he regretted it greatly, and yet was as trapped in here as she was.

'I'm sorry for all this,' she said as he got in bed beside her. She made sure to give him plenty of room – a good two feet separated them tonight.

'You should be,' he grumbled.

'About last night specifically.'

He sighed. 'And what do you have to be sorry about?'

She shrugged.

'Don't worry, you will be sorry,' he muttered.

'What do you mean?'

He paused for a long time. 'You seem to be getting overly attached.'

Bulma was glad the dim green dragon radar wouldn't allow him to see the ugly flush of shame that washed over her when he said that. It was true though, and she was already worried about it herself.

'I didn't want to cause you more pain just by being here,' he went on. 'Looks like I didn't manage to avoid that. Maybe I'm the one that should be sorry.'

The hole inside Bulma yawned open again, mournful and unquellable. This was one of those moments when the Vegeta she was with was so much more than the one who had died. She missed that one, had started to come to love that one, but he would never have said something like that. He wouldn't even have been able to feel that. This Vegeta was what the other might have evolved into if he'd been given the chance. It made her even sadder.

'I don't care,' she said. 'It's worth it. You were dead, and I got you back - even for just a short time - it was worth whatever pain it costs.'

Vegeta covered his face with his hands as if the words were hurting him, but Bulma had more to say.

'Forget her being jealous of me, I'm jealous of your Bulma. She gets you back. She's already had you for years and years, and she gets to keep her son and her daughter and her family and friends and house, and you.'

'Do not say such things Woman!'

Bulma rolled onto her stomach, buried her face in her pillow and wished like hell for the privacy that she wouldn't get. Not until he was gone.

The bloody Woman had him wallowing in shame. His chest hurt like he'd been kicked in the sternum by at least a super-Saiyan level two, and it was hard to breathe. He'd not sleep tonight either at this rate.

What was that sound she was making? Perfect! She was crying into her pillow. Her crying made him feel even worse – Bulma almost never resorted to tears. He wanted to shred something, smash something, level an innocent mountain or two in frustration, but he was trapped by her side.

No, what he really wanted to do was take her into his arms and tell her to stop that pathetic sound, but that wasn't allowed. He couldn't follow that impulse or he'd just be digging this hole deeper.

He tried to bring to mind his mate – her hair style, the make up she liked to wear, the clothes, the shoes, the way she spoke to him, but now the memories slipped away from him like smoke. In her place he saw this Bulma; younger, sadder and still sexy as hell. It made him angrier with her – she was invading everything.

'You could stay here with her,' said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Kibito-Kai's. The Kai had planted that seed of an idea in his head, damn the purple-skinned pansy! No, now he felt even worse for having that thought.

Somewhere out there, where he'd left them, a Bulma was in mourning for her pig-headed mate who had never come home. He couldn't change that. And he couldn't change that his children would never see him again. Trunks was already a grown man when he'd left. He'd have liked to see him settled down, but if it were only Trunks whose life he was missing out on, he wouldn't have moved these mountains. The boy would get over it. Even Bulma would get over it. What tore him up, what made Vegeta really writhe with pain was the thought that his little girl was growing up without him. He hated the thought of her even going to the mall without him, and now she would have boyfriends, get into trouble, decide on a career, go to college, all without him to look after her, all the while wondering what had happened to her father. He couldn't change that either, but if he could complete his plan he could be the father to a Bra so similar he'd never notice a difference, and see her grow up.

If he'd been roaming the timelines for fifteen years, then back in his timeline after fifteen years Bra would be thirty one years old. She'd already have a career, probably be married, and possibly even have kids already. Perhaps he was a grandfather like Goku. The thought left him feeling empty. He chuckled grimly in the dark. He'd once thought that a family was making him weak, holding him back. Now he was a man with no purpose without a family. He simply must get it back.

Bulma and Trunks had taught him how to love, slowly, by inches. They'd given him something to live for beyond the prideful pursuit of eminence, and then he'd finally learnt to value life – a painful lesson. Kakarott and Buu had humbled him and taught him his place in that life, an even more painful lesson. But not till Bra had arrived had he learnt to enjoy the life he lived. He, the great Saiyan warrior prince, had been recast as a sentimental human. And now that he was remade, all he wanted was to get back those things that had given him his humanity.

The woman rolled over, sniffing away her tears discretely. He curled his fists, fighting the urge to run his hands over her. She wouldn't say no. She'd want it. She'd give him anything he wanted. It made it hard not to take it from her. This Bulma needed him, probably more than his own did.

'You seem to be getting overly attached,' he'd said to her. He should give himself the same advice.

For once Bulma woke up first. She turned on the bedside lamp and wished that she had believed Vegeta when he'd told her it was pointless to bury the capsule house underground. That would be her first task after she got Trunks back – they would relocate the house above ground and she could finally wake up to sunshine instead of darkness after all these years.

Vegeta slept on. She watched him for a while, unsure whether to wake him, or even how to wake him without alarming him. God, he was handsome. The now-familiar ache was back. She wanted to wake him just to hear his low, growling voice.

But one mustn't get too attached! she reminded herself with a snort of derision.

'Hey,' she said. 'Wake up.'

He didn't move.

'Wake up! Wake up Vegeta!'

She tried bouncing on the bed, rocking him in his sleep. He still didn't stir.

She poked him in the shoulder. No response. She was getting concerned now. She grabbed his shoulders and shook and shook.

'Vegeta! Wake up!'

He opened his eyes slowly, saw her and groaned, then closed his eyes again.

'Hey, no! Don't go back to sleep! We have work to do.'

'Aahhh!' he croaked. 'When will this nightmare end?'

'Thanks a bunch,' she said, getting up and choosing clothes to wear with a lot of unnecessarily forceful movements. She had her hand on the doorknob when he shouted out 'Where do you think you're going?' Good question; she'd been heading to the shower, but she'd forgotten all about the need to stick close to him. When would the nightmare end indeed?

'Get up already! I want a shower and to make up for yesterday's write-off! Why are you lazing in bed still?'

'Lazing? You should try sharing a bed with another Bulma sometime, see how good a night's sleep YOU get!'

They argued for the rest of the morning. On the whole it was far more enjoyable than the silence and tension of the evening before. Eighteen had left in the night, but now returned with Seventeen. It seemed like boredom and curiosity had gotten the better of his rage at Bulma. He didn't say anything to her or Vegeta, just ignored them and talked only to Sixteen and Eighteen. Bulma was having a hard time ignoring him in return though. She didn't want him there at all, and was annoyed that Vegeta seemed okay with it.

She took stock of what was left to do on the machine. After lunch she began to fit out the lower compartment. Vegeta watched her with mounting suspicion. She knew he wasn't stupid, and so she was expecting it when he finally said 'So when are you going to tell me why your time machine apparently takes two people?'

'Three, at a push,' she said. 'Better safe than sorry.'

'Three? Are you actually proposing that you come along on this rescue mission?'

'Yes I damn well am! Negative outcome universes Vegeta! I'll be damned if I sit back here wondering if I'm the Bulma that gets her son back or the one that never sees either of you again!' Her voice trembled with determination.

He looked at her narrowly, calculating, coming to a decision. 'Very well. You could be useful even. Let us talk strategy.'

There were three philosophies on how to retrieve Trunks, and they discussed their merits and drawbacks. The easiest way involved barrelling in there, not caring whether Trunks and everyone else knew that they were there and what they were doing. Vegeta was adamantly against this option. It would fundamentally change the timeline, unpredictably so.

'We might lose him again. There's no point spiralling out more problems by cutting corners.'

The second option involved concealing themselves from everyone except Trunks. It would be trickier, but doable. But Vegeta was still wary of this option. 'It might not change anything important, and then again, it might. Just the tiniest thing can sometimes wreck everything.'

The last option was to conceal their interference from everyone including Trunks, and that would be next to impossible without a cloaking device. Bulma hadn't built it yet, and had been hoping she wouldn't have to bother. If she didn't build it they could save days. They went this way and that on it, trying to figure out a way that didn't require the stealth that the cloaking device provided. Bulma was torn in her own mind. On the one hand, she'd get her boy back faster, and have less chance to be attacked by angry Kaioshin before then. On the other, there was a higher chance something unpredictable would happen and push her son further out of reach, and they didn't know how long it would be until the Kai came for them anyhow.

She chewed her lip, examining the notes and diagrams of the cloaking device on her laptop. Two days probably. And they would need some extra parts. She looked up at Vegeta. He was watching her with his arms folded, frowning, waiting for her to come to a decision. She knew which way he preferred. She had a sudden, ignoble thought – the long way meant she had him here two days longer.

And much good that will do you Bulma, she thought to herself.

Aloud she said to him 'Okay then. We'll do it once, and do it right.'

He smiled with satisfaction. 'Good girl.'

'Patronizing prick,' she traded back.

So now they needed yet more parts. They were just figuring out the best places to look for them, and entered the hangar again when Seventeen announced loudly that he was bored.

'Let's go looking for motorbikes Eighteen. It's really dull here.'

'No. I think I'm going to stay here in case the god shows up. I think fighting a god would be worth the wait.'

This seemed to piss Seventeen off. 'Well, that's nice for you, isn't it? I can't fight a god any more, so I guess I'll just be hanging out by myself again.'

Eighteen shrugged. 'Suit yourself.'

As Seventeen passed Vegeta and Bulma he turned a snarling face on Bulma and said 'Thanks a lot for crippling me, bitch!'

He'd hardly got the words out before Vegeta had him by his shirt-front, pulling Seventeen off his feet and looking down his nose at the boy. His eyes gleamed dangerously.

'Don't talk to her like that,' he said. 'It was my idea to clip your wings. Would you like to call me a bitch?'

Seventeen stared back, silently outraged, but too scared to reply.

'We could open you back up right now. How about that? You're at 7.5 percent right now, how would you like to find out what 2 percent feels like?'

'His systems start to fail at one percent,' added Bulma.

'Oh, well we could try one and a half percent! Would you like that, you ungrateful little snot?'

Seventeen looked like he might cry with rage, but he breathed through it and tried for something like humility. 'No sir.'

Vegeta let go of him.

'You fixed me,' said Seventeen to Bulma, but without raising his eyes to look her in the face. 'You didn't have to. Thank you.' And then he left, quickly.

Eighteen watched him go unhappily. 'I don't know why you did that to him, and not to me. Did you think I wasn't dangerous enough by myself?'

'Are you volunteering for a neutering? I'll gladly do it as soon as I have the time,' said Bulma.

'No,' said Vegeta. 'Eighteen stays at full strength.'

'But why?'

'A little mystery for you to ponder for the rest of your days,' said Vegeta.

Sixteen narrowed his eyes at Vegeta. 'A time traveller must know much about what is coming. But this is just teasing us.'

'Hopefully it doesn't drive you mad,' he chuckled evilly. 'For the record Eighteen, I always rated you as the better warrior between you and your brother.'