Chapter 53 – Surprise, Surprise

Once the bright light and loud noise had settled down, the headless body of Burter fell to ground with a muted thud, the sight making Jeice's eyes widen with shock and horror as he wondered how the hell somebody like Raditz could defeat Burter. Once the shock and horror had subsided, a vengeful look settled over his features, making the hairs on the back of Gohan's neck stand once he saw it.

"Uncle Raditz, look out!"

It was like one of those dreams. You know where you're running to either get away from someone or to catch someone and you can't move fast enough? Like it feels as though you're moving in slow motion, like nothing you do is good enough? Gohan could only watch with wide eyes as Jeice smashed his fist into Turles's face, causing the Saiyan to crash into the ground, before darting forward and heading straight for Raditz, who was looking more than a little exhausted and beat up.

At the sound of his name being screamed so hysterically, Raditz's head shot up, just in time to see Jeice coming at him with a homicidal look in his eyes. The Ginyu Force member's ki had all but exploded and the feeling of his sudden power up made it feel as though Raditz was suffocating, like he was frozen in place and couldn't move. What the hell was happening? Had Jeice been closer to Burter than he had originally thought? No! They hadn't, for Raditz had seen Jeice with many different women over the years on Frieza's ship. As for Burter… well, he couldn't really say that he had seen Burter with any women, but that wasn't all too surprising considering how he had looked.

"You'll pay for that ya filthy monkey!"

Before he could reach Raditz, however, a foot slammed into Jeice's back, causing him to smash down into the ground with the force of the blow. In the place Jeice had once been floated Bardock, who was keeping his eye on the red skinned man even as he spoke to Raditz. "Take Bulma and yourself to either the tanks or the healers." He ordered before shifting into a fighting stance as Jeice pulled himself to his feet. "Bulma's injured and though I'm not sure how much blood she has lost, I know she needs to be seen as soon as possible. Take Gohan with you and keep him there. Do not let him or Bulma back out here, do you understand?"

Nodding once, Raditz made his way over to Gohan and Bulma, only to stop abruptly at the sight of the human woman. Almost instantly he was by her side, turning her head so that he could see her features clearly before assessing her wounds and when he did, Raditz couldn't help the angered growl that escaped him. He had always known that Frieza's men were ruthless bastards and Raditz couldn't even say that he hadn't been expecting something such as this to happen, but to actually see it was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Back when he had been a part of Frieza's army, he had seen many women attacked, taken advantage of and raped, but never had it affected him the way it was right now. Seeing Bulma in such a state, having heard her screams and being unable to help her, it made his blood boil. By now the bruises on her arms and thighs were turning dark purple, some parts of the bruises looking much redder than the rest of it. They were the size of large hands, but the ones that angered him the most were the ones on the inside of her thighs, the ones moving upwards towards the apex of her thighs.

Just as Raditz placed his hand under her head to help sit her up, he paused as something warm and wet covered his fingers. Unlike her and Vegeta, Raditz didn't wear gloves. He didn't really see the point in wearing them if they were just going to get covered in blood. Pulling his hand back, Raditz's eyes widened as he saw that it was blood covering his fingers.

"Gohan," he called for the boy and immediately, Gohan was by his side, "did you see what happened to Bulma's head?"

Gohan looked thoughtful for a moment before slowly and unsurely nodding. "I–I think one of the soldiers holding her down hit her head on the ground."

"Damn it." Raditz cursed as he lowered himself even further and placed Bulma's arm over his shoulder whilst his arm wrapped around her waist. He would have lifted her bridal style, but Raditz needed to be able to use at least one of his hands in case of a surprise attack. He barely even noticed that her feet were over an entire foot off of the ground. "Gohan, follow me. We're going to the shelter."

If Bulma had a head injury, she would need to be seen to as soon as possible, not to mention she seemed to be losing quite a lot of blood on her hip. Raditz couldn't see what the wound was, but he knew that whatever it was, it was clearly painful as just the simple movement of bringing her to her feet jostled it and brought her out of unconsciousness. It was obvious from the look in her eyes that Bulma wasn't completely with it yet as she buried her face into his hair, trying to muffle her whimpers of pain and noticing that, he nodded once to Gohan before they both started to move away from the battle that had resumed. Now, it was no longer Turles against Jeice, but instead Bardock.

Silently wishing his father good luck, Raditz left the battlefield.


The moment he entered the clearing, Vegeta spotted Captain Ginyu. It was kind of hard not to see him, really. Who else had purple skin and big horns? Well, besides Frieza and King Cold, who had big horns? Shaking the unimportant thoughts from his head, Vegeta lowered himself to the ground, immediately pulling Captain Ginyu's attention away from torturing one of the rebels.

Vegeta didn't know the name of the rebel and he didn't care enough to learn it. However, he somewhat pitied the man who was trying his best to pull himself to his feet whilst glancing at Vegeta gratefully. The thought of somebody being grateful made him want to scoff. If Ginyu hadn't been the rebel's opponent, Vegeta would have never stepped in and instead just passed by without a second glance. This was the life of a warrior and if you couldn't handle it, then you had no right to call yourself one.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the little monkey Prince."

His upper lip curled as he snarled. Besides Frieza, there was nobody he hated more than he hated the Ginyu Force. They were all nothing more than posing idiots – ballerinas, even! What sort of warrior focused more on dancing and looking like a fool than actually fighting or training? How the hell were they so strong?

Whilst Vegeta wanted nothing more than to get their battle over with, he knew not to just rush in and go straight for the kill. Ginyu would be expected that and if Vegeta even attempted something as reckless as that, he would lose. As much as his pride protested, there was no 'if' about it. Ginyu would destroy him in less than a minute, maybe two, if he attacked blindly. Not only that, but Vegeta wanted to draw out this particular battle. He wanted to hear Ginyu's screams of pain as he tortured him. He wanted to beat the Captain until he wasn't even recognisable anymore. He wanted to make him regret ever disrespecting him.

He wanted revenge.

It was with that thought that Vegeta shot forward and just when Ginyu prepared himself for a punch to the face the Saiyan Prince phased behind him and slammed his foot into his back, making the Captain grunt in pain as he was thrown forward. Stopping himself from continuing, Ginyu quickly spun around and darted forward, meeting Vegeta blow for blow.

The warrior left on the ground stared with wide eyes as he tried to keep up with the battle, but they were moving much too fast for him. The only thing he could make out were the odd blows that made the planet feel as though it was shaking. Pulling himself to his feet unsteadily, the warrior gripped his upper arm as it screamed in agony. That bastard Captain Ginyu had broken it, there was no doubt about it, especially since he had gripped it a moment before it snapped. Shuddering at the memory and the pain he could still feel, he looked back up to see Prince Vegeta and Captain Ginyu breaking away from each other with their own glares.

"Get out of here." Vegeta snapped suddenly even though he wasn't looking at the rebel.

With a jerky nod, the rebel spun and disappeared through the trees, trying to move as fast as he possibly could.

At the sight before him, Ginyu let out a loud, boisterous laughter that grated on Vegeta's nerves. "Who would have thought you would care about anyone other than yourself?"

Rolling his eyes, Vegeta once again slipped into a fighting stance, the stance seeming so natural for him to find and stand in. And no matter how hard he tried, Ginyu couldn't find one weakness. "Stop talking and fight me."

With a vicious growl, Vegeta suddenly grabbed Ginyu's horns a moment before he slammed his forehead against his own, making the captain see stars. Due to him being a Saiyan, his head was much harder and he barely even felt it as he once again head–butted Ginyu. When the alien started to groan, Vegeta tightened his hold on the horns before spinning and launching him to the ground.

He had wanted to do something such as this for a long, long time. In fact, the moment he first met the Ginyu Force, he had wanted to kill them all and at the time, he had only been six years old. But Vegeta had his reasons for such murderous thoughts, for such rage and hatred. These bastards made it their own personal mission to make Vegeta's life more of a misery than what it already had been. They would stalk him, degrade him and make him look weak in front of the other soldiers, in front of – what he had believed at the time – the last of his race.

Just thinking of those memories had his blood boiling, had his ki growing much higher than it ever had before. Those freaks hadn't cared that he had only been a child, they simply enjoyed torturing him, enjoyed mocking him and reminding him of the fact his planet was gone, that his race was gone.

Trying to calm the sudden anger washing through him, Vegeta took a deep breath before moving forward much faster than he previously had.


Many of the civilians and the warriors protecting those civilians grew silent as Bulma was brought into the room by Raditz and Gohan, the sight of the blue haired woman causing some to gasp and pale. She was barely even conscious, covered in blood and even from a distance, those in the back could see the bruises on her inner and upper thighs and seeing them caused their eyes to widen before they cursed Frieza and his men. Hadn't the girl suffered enough already?

When they passed Chi–Chi and Bulma's mother, the former's eyes widened with horror as she saw Bulma, but when Raditz shot her a dark look, she quickly caught Mrs Briefs's attention before the older woman could spot Bulma, knowing that right now, given the state she was in, Bulma would want to be alone.

"Gohan, when we reach the medical ward go straight to either a tank or one of the healers and tell them to send one to Bulma, too." Raditz kept his voice low since Chi–Chi hadn't seen the boy hiding behind his legs and they both knew that if she saw him, she would freak out.

He paused for a moment, glancing at Bulma, but when Raditz glared at him, Gohan nodded once and kept himself hidden behind Raditz's legs. The moment they were out of Chi–Chi's view, however, he gave Bulma one last look before darting off towards the healers.

With the kid gone, Raditz leaned down and grabbed Bulma's legs, lifting her bridal style as he moved through the hallways. Now that they were no longer out in the open, he didn't really need to keep his hands free. Besides, it was much quicker carrying her like he was and Raditz wanted to get out of sight as quickly as possible, since many people were staring at him and Bulma, whispering to each other about the state she was in, asking what happened to her.

When he finally found a free room, Raditz immediately walked over to the bed and settled Bulma down on it. She seemed more alert now, but her eyes were still avoiding his and she still wasn't talking. Sighing, Raditz leaned down and was about to see the wound on her hip when Bulma's hands snapped to his, her small hands barely even encircling his wrists but still restraining them. As he looked into her eyes, he scowled at her.

"I have to see how serious this is."

She shook her head, still refusing to talk.

Once again, Raditz sighed as he stood up straight. "Bulma, you need to have your wounds looked at. You're losing way too much blood."

"No I'm not." Bulma croaked before clearing her throat and reaching down to her hip to cover it from his eyes. "It's not fatal."

"And how would you know?" Raditz demanded.

He was getting annoyed that she was dismissing her health as though it wasn't a big deal. Didn't she know how much she meant to the Saiyan Prince and how much it would kill him if she died? Vegeta tried to hide his feelings for the woman and it would have worked, had he not been good at observing people. The only reason Raditz knew how much Vegeta cared for Bulma was because of the times he had seen them together and how they acted with one another.

"I just do, okay?"

Shaking his head with disbelief, Raditz walked over to the door and leaned against the wall beside it. "Fine, but don't think you're leaving this place until you've been checked out."


Out of the corner of his eye, Bardock saw Turles coming to, saw him scowling at the ground before slowly sitting up, touching his head in confusion as he tried to remember what happened. It seemed he did because a moment later, Turles blasted out of the crater he had been in and up into the sky so that he was level with Bardock and Jeice.

"This is my battle, Bardock." Turles spat to his brother, but didn't take his eyes off of the fuming Jeice for a second.

"No." Bardock argued, his voice nothing more than a deadly murmur. "Jeice will die by my hands."

There was no point in arguing, Turles noticed, but there also wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to let Bardock steal his victory. Damn it, he was just as strong as the rest of them! So, instead of replying, Turles shot forward, ignoring Bardock's angered growls and warnings for him to stop.

"Just get out of here!" Turles told Bardock as he dodged and blocked Jeice's attacks. "I can handle Jeice by myself."

Bardock's upper lip curled as he lowered himself to the ground, silently promising himself that he would beat the shit out of Turles for doing this, later.


"Raditz…" Bulma's voice was soft and barely even audible due to how much she had overused it with her screaming. When he raised an eyebrow at her, still not moving, she sighed. "Go and visit one of the healers or use a tank." At his scowl, Bulma quickly averted her eyes, looking down at her legs, only to look somewhere else when she saw the bruises covering them. "I need… I need some time to think by myself."

He paused, noticing the dark look in Bulma's eyes, the look that told him, that was warning him not to leave her alone. Nobody but Kakarot knew that he knew of Bulma's suicide attempt, but he did. That day Vegeta had been highly stressed and could barely even focus and not only that, but Bulma's ki had gotten pretty low at one point before it started fluctuating almost dangerously. However those weren't the things that told him. It had been Kakarot. His brother had been the lowest Raditz had ever seen him and it only took a "what's wrong with your face?" for Kakarot to spill everything, asking his older brother what he should do.

Raditz had never seen his brother act so weak before, as Kakarot was always cheerful, even though sometimes it was just an act to keep others happy. To see him break down in tears, hold his head in his hands, slam his fists repeatedly into the ground until his knuckles cracked and bled, it had caused a strange feeling in his gut. It made him… it made him pity Kakarot – and Raditz wasn't usually one to pity people.

At times the Saiyan doubted that Kakarot even remembered breaking down like he did, or sharing so much with him, telling Raditz of his fears, his concerns, his heartbreak. However, there were those moments – albeit, rare moments – that Kakarot's eyes would flash with pain, where he would look utterly lost and confused, like he didn't even know who he was, where he was, or how he got there. Seeing that look in his eyes almost made Raditz angry with Bulma, wondering how a human could cause a powerful warrior such as Kakarot to breakdown and question himself like that, but the moment he looked in Bulma's eyes, he could see she felt the same.

The two had grown up together, they had always been there for one another and shared everything and then suddenly, just like that, everything exploded for them and nothing was ever the same.

Despite this, however, Raditz believed that the past was the past and there were some things that were best left there. For example, the fact that they had had sex should stay in the past and shouldn't bother them anymore, since they had both only been teenagers. An example of something that shouldn't stay in the past was their home planets being blown up, of their loved ones being slaughtered. Although Raditz couldn't deny that he had often wondered if either of them regretted falling in love with one another.

Did Raditz regret sleeping with Bulma? Well, yes and no. Yes because she had clearly been unstable at the time and now as he looked back, it felt as though he had taken advantage of that… but saying that, Bulma had started it, twice. And he didn't regret it because damn she was hot. If she wasn't with Vegeta, he probably would have claimed her himself, just so that he and only he would be able to taste her. Honestly, Raditz couldn't see himself settling down with anyone and if he did, it would probably only be because he didn't want anybody else to have that woman.

Shoving his thoughts aside with a shake of his head, Raditz looked over at Bulma again, who was still staring down at the sheets. From the moment he had approached her to bring her to the medical ward until right this moment she had barely spoken and wouldn't let him check her most serious wounds. She wouldn't give him a reason, just kept saying he couldn't.

"Bulma," he called out almost hesitantly before inwardly berating himself for sounding so weak. There was a slight shift of her head, telling him that she had heard him. "Did Frieza's soldiers…"

"Did they rape me?" She offered when he didn't continue, making Raditz wince at her words and the way she said them. With a scoff, Bulma rolled her eyes and sat back against the elevated upper half of the bed. "No. Apparently, I'm unworthy, disgusting and used."

Raditz's eyes widened. Frieza's soldiers had actually said that? They had actually called her those things? Whilst they normally would have said much worse, it surprised him immensely that they still hadn't raped her. Even though they had had the chance and Bulma couldn't fight back, they still passed on the opportunity and instead called her disgusting and used? Since when the hell did that matter to creeps like them? Back when he had been on Frieza's ship, he had seen women much less attractive than Bulma, much more 'used' than Bulma, being dragged away and viciously raped.

"Just leave me alone for a while, Raditz." Bulma's voice was soft once again as she turned her head, deciding that the wall was the most interesting thing in the universe. "Please."

Hearing the slight tremble in her voice and remembering Vegeta's words about how proud she was, Raditz nodded once. "I'll tell one of the healers to wait a while before coming to see you."

With that, he left.

And Bulma still couldn't breakdown like she wanted to. She still couldn't cry, no matter how much she wanted to vent, to destroy, to scream and to just sob.

Instead, she continued to stare at the wall, her features emotionless yet her eyes filled with pain.


"Hey," A soft voice spoke from the door way.

As Bulma turned her head to look over at her guest, a small smile graced her lips. She was still in a bad mood, but she couldn't bring herself to take it out on them because there, stood watching her carefully with a bottle of water in her hands, was Chi–Chi and beside her stood Gohan. She was so happy to see that the young boy was okay that, despite her pain, Bulma lifted her arms a little. "Come here," She told him softly. Gohan was beside her immediately and a second later, Bulma pulled him into as tight of a hug as possible, ignoring the burning of her injuries as she did so. After a couple of moments, she pulled away and gave him another smile. "Thank you for saving me, Gohan."

The boy's cheeks turned pink, causing the two women to chuckle at his shyness. Behind him, his tail moved slowly through the air, another sign of his shyness. "You're welcome, Miss Bulma."

"So have you been seen yet?"

Bulma looked up to Chi–Chi as the woman passed her the bottle of water. "Not yet," she grabbed the bottle gratefully and took a swig before speaking again. "There are so many casualties and there are far worse injuries than mine."

Chi–Chi let out a huff of annoyance as she walked to the door, not saying a word. For a moment, the woman's exit surprised Bulma, but as she looked down when Gohan sighed, she knew she hadn't done anything wrong. Well, she hoped she hadn't. A couple of seconds later, however, Chi–Chi was stomping back into the room with a doctor's ear in her hand, dragging him behind her. The man winced against the tight hold, making Bulma giggle and Gohan flush with embarrassment.

"Miss Chi–Chi I must insist–"

"Check out her injuries!" Chi–Chi interrupted with a growl, causing the man to shrink back when his ear was released.

Giving the angered human a wide berth, the doctor stepped forward and returned Bulma's apologetic smile. When he received a slight tap on the back from the blue haired human, Gohan hopped off of the bed and stood beside his mother. But as the man held his hands over Bulma's body, she turned to Chi–Chi and Gohan. "You don't have to stay."

She didn't want them to stay. A healer would have to remove most of her clothing at one point during the examination so that he could reach all of her wounds and make sure nothing was infected. That meant they would all see the new addition to her body, what that bastard Dei had carved into her. Bulma still hadn't looked at it yet, she hadn't been able to bring herself to do so. Instead, she had replaced her spandex over it and due to the blood, it stuck. It was painful and every now and then she had to press it down harder, but it worked.

Chi–Chi rolled her eyes, "Nonsense! We're staying and that's final. Isn't that right, Gohan?"

Not meeting Bulma's eyes, Gohan nodded in agreement, making her smile softly. How could she kick them out when they were being so kind to her? "Okay fine, you can both stay, I suppose."

As the doctor assessed Bulma's body, she watched his hands carefully. It was a technique she had seen before, a technique a little bit similar to the one used by the Nameks. With just their ki, they could enter a person's body, healing it of all external and internal wounds. Since the tanks were all being used, this was how she was being healed and honestly, Bulma was grateful because even after all this time, she still hated the damn things!

When Bulma and Chi–Chi saw the doctor's eyes widen, they both visibly tensed and sensing their distress, Gohan looked up and frowned at the doctor's expression.

"What is it?" Bulma demanded with her voice low and her brows furrowed.

The doctor smiled at her as he retracted his hands and placed them back to his sides. "I don't know how to tell you this, Miss Bulma, but to put it bluntly, you are pregnant and around four months into your pregnancy, I believe."

There was the sound of crashing behind them and everyone except Bulma turned to see a shocked Dr and Mrs Briefs as well as Bardock and Raditz. Bulma however, was staring down at the bed she was sitting on. Her eyes were wide and her fists were clenched against her still bruised thighs. He hadn't gotten around to healing her yet, possibly wanting to give her the news first.

She was pregnant? Her? It can't be true! It couldn't be. It just couldn't.

But as a hesitant hand slowly touched her stomach, a soft smile graced her lips as tears filled her eyes. Somewhere behind her, there was a sob of happiness and it was only a second later that her own echoed.

She was going to be a mother!

A smile brightened her face as her tears fell down her cheeks. Her free hand pressed against her lips, trying to muffle her sobs whilst her other held her stomach softly, protectively. At the feeling of someone placing their hand on her shoulder, Bulma looked up to find her mother looking down at her with joyful and proud eyes. The hand against her mouth started to shake as well as her shoulders and a second later, Mrs Briefs wrapped her arms tightly around Bulma, telling her how happy she was.

At the door, the usually proud and stoic men couldn't help it as their eyes softened at the sight of a truly happy Bulma.

"It's been so long since she has smiled like that." Bardock commented as he tilted his head to the side, trying to remember the last time the woman had looked so happy.

Dr Briefs nodded quickly and tried to hold back his tears. He was going to be a grandfather! But more importantly, Bulma was happy. "It has been years." He agreed. As he continued, Dr Briefs's eyes never left his family's features as they were embraced by Chi–Chi and Gohan, who were both smiling brightly. "I never thought I would see her this way again." He quickly wiped at the tear that fell before removing his glasses and cleaning the lenses. "She seemed better when Vegeta arrived; it seemed like there was more life in her–"

"Shit!" Raditz cursed as his hand went up to run through his hair. Everybody stiffened at his obvious unhappiness, before frowning. "Congratulations and everything, but aren't you forgetting something?"

Bulma's frown deepened as her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. Her earlier mood was still present and she was scared just the littlest of bad news was going to bring it back, was going to make her unhappy again. "What are you talking about, Raditz?"

"Aren't you happy for her?" Chi–Chi demanded with a fierce glare.

Raditz rolled his eyes. "Yes, ecstatic." He retorted sarcastically before growing serious. "Bulma, has Vegeta found out? If he hasn't, put walls up in your bond!"

"What?" Chi–Chi growled threateningly as her glare intensified.

"But Vegeta and I never put walls up…" Bulma mumbled softly, seeming completely stunned and entirely uncomfortable with the thought of blocking him out.

"He's fighting Captain Ginyu!" Raditz stressed and it was at that moment that everyone seemed to realise the seriousness of the situation. "If he hears the news that he's going to be a father, he'll get distracted! Ginyu has a technique… Vegeta knows all about it, but if he's caught unaware…"

It was silent for a couple of moments before Bulma's sharp intake of breath gained their attention. Her wide eyes were unfocused, making it more than obvious she was looking through Vegeta's eyes via their bond. When she spoke, her voice was shaking and filled with emotion as she placed a hand to her mouth, "Oh my God."


A/N - What a surprise! Like, seriously, I don't think any of you saw it coming! ;-)

I was trying to make her being pregnant obvious, by the way! Well, not as obvious as it seemed, but still a little bit.

Can any of you guess what Bulma saw through Vegeta's eyes that made her react like that?


Preview To The Next Chapter: 'The Need To Protect'

Kakarot's body felt like it was trembling as he exchanged blow for blow with Recoome, but it wasn't out of exhaustion or fear. No, it was out of excitement. The Saiyan in him was coming to life, causing his blood to boil as the feeling of a challenge filled his entire body. It had been so long since his last serious battle and whilst Kakarot despised killing, he was really enjoying himself as he fought with Recoome.

The giant was extremely strong; Kakarot had found that out the hard way. The moment he had touched down in the clearing, Recoome had attacked, not even giving him a chance to prepare himself. Was that how all of Frieza's men fought? Possibly, considering that when they had first met Raditz, he hadn't waited, he had simply attacked, going for the weaker of the two first.

Recoome really was a strange creature, Kakarot decided. When their battle had paused for a couple of moments and words were exchanged, the giant had started… posing.


HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! :-)