The Prince had not endured a hangover for many decades but was familiar with the symptoms and recognized them in the Onna. Her usual perky demeanor was sluggish and clumsy as she prepared for her speech later in the morning. Vegeta just wanted to be done with the place and get back to training, so her slow motion was putting him on edge.
"Women hurry up already." He growled at her, he had been standing by the door for a full five minutes while she found all of her papers. She tactfully ignored him while she sifted them all into presentation order and slid them into her black leather portfolio. Donning a rather large pair of sunglasses she straightened herself and walked out the door with her head held high.
The drive was silent for the most part until the driver tried to make small talk.
"So what are your thoughts on the recession Ma'am? Do you think it will last much longer?" The stout bald headed man asked as he navigated the busy streets of the convention center. Bulma looked up from her phone.
"I really hope not…" She muttered loud enough for him to hear.
"Well I guess it doesn't really affect the Briefs much, just us normal folk." He retorted, it seemed that he had taken a little offense to her non answer.
"I… wouldn't say that exactly…" She stuttered, her brow knit into a frown and she started to squirm a little. Coupled with her hangover, getting accosted in her own car by her own driver over her family's finances was a little overwhelming.
"Shut the hell up and drive." Vegeta barked suddenly. Regardless of how he felt about the dynamics of this employee becoming snippy with her, he was irritated at the noise. Vegeta knew that CC paid their employees handsomely, and that any job (even that of chauffeur) was highly sought after and secure. The fact this fat little man was complaining when so many others had lost all their income in the economic climate was irritating. After his reprimand the man drove in complete silence, Bulma glanced over the rim of her sunglasses at her counterpart in a look of thanks before disappearing again to the shadows.
Once they arrived and were led in, Vegeta remained silent and unnoticed. She had tried to tell him that he did not need to come with her, and that it would be incredibly boring but after the request of her father the night before he had no intention to let her out of his sight. One thing he detested more than anything was the thought of losing the only chance at becoming a SS, and without the Onna's inventions and training facilities he was not sure he could attain the change in the needed time frame… at least that's what he had told himself his reasoning was. So he followed her through the crowd as she was led to the back staging rooms to await her allotted presentation time. There were hundreds of people there, mostly men, looking forward to hearing what CC was innovating and coming up with in the combustible market.
Once the door was closed to the dressing room she finally let out a sigh and slumped a bit rubbing her temples.
"Why did you let me drink that much you Baka?" She groaned, popping a few more aspirin and swigging a glass of water that was left out on the table. She looked around to refill it but there was no pitcher or faucet in the room.
"I am not your caretaker woman." He answered sitting down on one of the couches to wait. She rolled her eyes at him and was going to say something when a woman popped into the room with a big smile and an army of bags.
"Hello Ms. Briefs, I'm here to do your hair and makeup!" She said super cheerfully. Vegeta picked up a motorsport magazine off of the coffee table and began to leaf through the pages as Bulma got made up for her talk. The two women gabbed incessantly as she went from a rather normal looking person to the jaw dropping visage of the Princess of CC that most were accustomed to seeing at these things. Vegeta caught himself having a really odd thought all of a sudden, he realized that he liked her better in workalls and covered in grease then all made up like this. He sat for a moment, trying to figure out why he had a preference. Why did he care? Before he was able to think about it much more it was show time and he was up and following her out the door.
Backstage Vegeta stood arms crossed and relaxed. Bulma was talking to the director and chatting back and forth as she waited sidestage. She looked much better and was her perky self again, or at least putting on a good act. Her name boomed over the loud speakers as they introduced her to the crowd who all clapped as she walked onstage making her way to the speakers stand. Vegeta stood patiently out of sight, looking out over the array of people and cameras all with their sights trained on the Onna. She walked with her head high and smiled wide, confident and sure of herself. She stood in front of the mic and placed her portfolio of notes on the stand, bending forward slightly to speak into the mic.
"Thank you… thank you… please have a seat, thank you so much." She began her smile genuine. She opened the leather binder and looked down as the crowd seated itself.
Vegeta's eyes suddenly snapped to her. He wasn't sure why at first, but he then realized he had heard her sharp intake of breath and then nothing. He watched her and waited, but she stood stone still at the podium. She cleared her throat, and then did it again. The Prince uncrossed his arms, he sensed something was extremely wrong though he had no idea what. He could actually hear her heart pounding, his sensitive ears were ringing with it. He was almost leaning forward now. There had been a long enough pause now that the crowd began to notice and looks were being passed between people. "I… uh…" She attempted but then cleared her throat again. Vegeta could see she was beginning to sweat and her hands were gripping the podium to the point her knuckles were white. She was in distress, he knew it, but could not for the life of him figure out why.
He made his mind up and walked onstage, striding over to her with a foreboding look about him. He didn't really care if he was ruining the show or whatever the people who tried to stop him thought. Walking to her side he finally caught sight of her face, she was pale and white as a sheet. Her forehead was coated in sweat visible even through all the makeup she had on.
"Bulma?" He asked only loud enough for her to hear. Her head snapped up and she locked eyes with him, her panic was clear. She trembled and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. He glanced down at her open binder almost by chance but started suddenly when he saw what sat on top of all her papers. It was most assuredly a photo of her, totally nude. At first he was about to stipulate that in her hungover state she had accidentally tucked it into the binder somehow, but who carried around nude photos of themselves in the first place? And her reaction was not embarrassment that could have easily been hidden from notice. She was terrified. He realized that there were scribbles all over the picture now, notes and additions to it. He only had to read out a few to realize that it was covered in threatening and perverse messages. Looking up into her eyes he reached over and snapped the portfolio closed, then grabbing her hand drug her off the stage abruptly. There was a clear commotion as they departed, he did not stop to explain anything to anyone as he made his way out of the building with her in tow. He had realized what she had now, that whoever was doing this was in the building and had been in close proximity to her just moments before. Stepping outside with her he curled one arm around her and launched into the air, unconcerned about keeping a low profile anymore.
By the time they landed at CC she had gone numb and quiet. He had pretended not to notice her crying as they flew and tried to not growl when she buried her head into his shoulder to do so. Her parents were already making their way across the lawn to them when she looked over at him.
"Thank you." She whispered, squeezing his arm a little. He nodded without changing his expression, he realized on the flight over that he was angry. He was angry that someone had gotten that close to her without him knowing, angry that they had frightened her and ruined her speech. She stepped away from him expecting to be ushered away by her parents when they suddenly shouted out to her.
"No! You can't stay here!" Her father yelled. The Prince and Bulma now realized the distress both her parents were in. Out of shock or fear she wasn't sure she stepped back suddenly, accidentally pressing into Vegeta. For a moment in his head he observed this movement with curiosity. She trusted him, at this moment she was even recoiling from her own parents, but she trusted him. The thought stuck in his mind a bit longer than he intended.
"Why? What did I do?" She gasped, holding back tears. They were standing next to them now as they tried to catch their breath.
"Nothing sweet, nothing! We had a break in last night and your room was ransacked, we have no idea how they got in. They overroad all the security cameras and alarm systems and I am still trying to figure out how. You cannot stay here until I do." Her father clarified.
"Vegeta please take her somewhere else, somewhere far away." Bunny insisted.
"If they got into the house then they may be able to get into any CC property, give me all your capsules dear." Her father instructed. Bulma was stuttering out questions as she fished around in her purse for her capsule pouch.
"What did they do to my room?" She panicked as she handed it over to him.
"We have no clue, give me your cell phone dear." He told her. Bulma hesitated. "Bulma, I wrote the code for the house's security system myself, trust me when I tell you if they got in and out without me knowing how you are not safe with a scrap of technology on you." He told her as Bunny wrung her hands nervously.
"Where will I go?" She asked, starting to cry. Prof. Briefs lifted his finger to stop any other words.
"DO NOT tell us. This entire compound is rigged with surveillance measures, do not say another word." He then looked right at the Prince. "Take her somewhere no one will find her, and where no one can touch her, please?" Vegeta nodded curtly, and without another word wrapped his arm around her and shot into the air.