Sorry for the delay, but I haven't had time to write. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. Hope this chapter won't be too much of a disappointment. I kinda rushed it. Warning: Lots of OOC for everybody. Promise to get it back on track. May be a little longer between chapters until my work life straitens out!
Chapter
7: Reluctant Friends
Bulma opened her eyes slowly. She laid perfectly still, taking an inventory of herself. 'Ok. I can feel my legs and arms, so I'm still in one piece.' She thought shakily. It took a minute for her mind to remember exactly what had happened. The laser had overloaded. A shiver ran down her spine. She was lucky to be alive.
"She's awake Dr. Briefs." A masculine voice said from somewhere in the room, then her fathers face was there.
"Bulma? Honey, can you hear me?"
She smiled weakly, "Yeah, daddy. Are you ok?"
He nodded, absently petting the little black cat that hung on his shoulder. "Yes, just a few stitches."
"What about the others?" she bit her lip nervously.
"You got the worst of it dear." He looked at something out of her field of vision, then back to her. "The doctor says we can take you home in the morning. You'll be pretty sore for awhile, but you'll be fine."
She could hear her mother sobbing in the background and raised her head. It felt, different. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and felt the singed edges.
"Ohh, my baby. Don't worry, we'll get it cut. Its not that short." Mrs. Briefs sniffed reassuringly.
She sighed. Well, she had no one to blame but herself. If she had just let the damn thing work at the power level her father had designated, none of this would have happened. She knew he wouldn't say anything about it though. Not until she was feeling better anyway.
"How much damage?"
"The whole area we had for the laser will have to be rebuilt. But most of the structural damage was the collapsed wall." He stated in a thoughtful voice.
She groaned. "Oh boy. I'll bet Vegeta laughed his ass off."
Her mother wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "My no, dear. He was very upset. If he hadn't used his power to find you and then fly you here to the hospital, the doctor said you might not have made it."
"Yes, he was angry at the doctors for not getting to you as promptly as he thought they should. By the time your mother and I arrived, he had most of the medical staff cowering in the corner." Her father chuckled.
Bulma stared at her parents in utter confusion. "Vegeta? Saved me?"
"Yes. Why, I've never seen him so scared. Of coarse he tried to hide it, but not even he has that good a poker face. He stayed until the doctors said you would be alright, then he told the poor man if anything happened to you that he would be back to deal with him. Isn't that right kitty?"
'That man is so confusing. First he kisses me, then practically throws me out of his room, then ignores me for weeks, insults me, and now he saves me and then leaves!' she sighed.
"See, I told you he had feelings just like everyone else." Her mother patted her hand. "I'll go see if I can get a hairdresser up here. We can't have you go home without a proper hairdo now can we?" her mother left.
Vegeta sat on the balcony rail outside the living room, watching the construction crew mill about the wreckage of the lab. He took a slow sip of his ice water, noting the cubes were clinking noisily. Then he realized it was because his hand was shaking.
He gritted his teeth. 'Damn that woman. She did this on purpose! Just to annoy me, probably.' He thought angrily. When he had seen her battered body under the ruins of the wall, he thought his heart had stopped it hurt so bad in his chest. 'And now what will she do when those baka parents of hers tell her how I acted? Well, it's to late for that now. You really made an ass of yourself this time. You just had to go and let everyone see that you have feelings for that woman.'
He almost choked on his water. "No." he coughed out loud. 'I feel for no one! I refuse too.' Then he sighed. 'I can't let anyone know this. They'll never respect me if they know I've succumbed to such a weak, human emotion.'
"Hey, Vegeta!"
"Damn you Kakarot! Why don't you warn someone before you appear like that!" he shouted angrily. The broken glass lying on the deck.
Goku grinned sheepishly, "Oh, sorry 'bout that."
"What do you want?" he growled.
"Uh, Chichi saw what happened on the news. I just came over to see if everybody was alright." He looked through the sliding glass door. "Where is everybody?"
"At the hospital."
"Hospital? Who got hurt?"
"That stupid woman."
"Bulma?! Is she alright?"
"She'll be fine. They're bringing her home in the morning."
Goku sighed, relieved. "How come your not there?"
Vegeta crossed his arms and stared back down at the mess. "I have better things to do than waste my time hovering around that place. Besides, the doctor said she would be fine."
"So you were there?"
"I took her." His voice was edged with annoyance.
"Wow, really?"
"That's what I said wasn't it!"
"What happened, anyway?"
"How the hell should I know! Some stupid weapon they were testing blew up and the wall fell on her. I searched out her ki and dug her out!" he shot the other Saiyan an irritated glance.
"Gosh, Vegeta. I thought you said you didn't like Bulma."
"I don't!"
Goku smiled. "Then why'd you save her?"
Vegeta's eyes widened. "Damnit Kakarot. Don't you have anything better to do than stand around here and annoy me!" he shouted.
He laughed. "Oh, alright. Tell Bulma I'll drop by to check on her tomorrow. Bye." And he was gone.
"Hmmph. What do I look like? An answering machine!"
Bulma flipped through the channels until she finally found a program halfway interesting. She stretched a little until the pain in her leg intensified, and cursed for the hundredth time that Korin hadn't had any Senzu beans ready. She had made up her mind that next time she got hold of one of those things she was going to synthesize it.
"I've gotta get up and move around or I'm gonna grow roots!" she heaved herself up off the couch and limped to the kitchen. "A nice hot cup of tea sounds good."
Vegeta walked into the kitchen, his mind bent on a late evening snack. He saw her leaned up against the counter. "What are you doing up, woman?"
She jumped at the sound of his gruff voice, sending a wave of pain through her bruised body. "Augh!" She grabbed at the counter for support.
After a moment of whimpering, she regained her voice. "Damnit Vegeta!" she yelled, but the brief concern that flashed across his face stopped her tirade. Sighing she turned back to her cup. "I was making some tea."
"Hmmph. Stupid woman. Don't you have enough sense to stay off your feet? Or do you just enjoy ordering other people to rest after being blown up?" he challenged.
"Well, you never listened to me, so why should I listen to myself? Besides, I thought it might help some of the soreness if I moved around. Of course, I didn't know you would be lurking around in the shadows waiting to scare me to death." She sniffed.
He smirked at her. "I like scaring you. And I don't lurk in shadows."
"Oh? So is that why you rescued me? So you could give me a heart attach later?" she flashed him a smile. She had tried to thank him when she had returned home from the hospital, but he had dismissed her as though it hadn't mattered.
He turned to the refrigerator. "Well, we all make mistakes now, don't we."
"Ass!" she hissed. "Can't you do anything for someone without acting like it was an accident? Why don't you just admit you have a major crush on me and be done with it?"
He stopped rummaging and arched an eyebrow at her. "What is this "crush" your mumbling about over there? Explain yourself woman!"
She blew on the hot liquid and walked stiffly back to the living room. "It means you like me you big moron." She ignored the "humph!" she heard from the kitchen. "Oh, don't try to deny it. Threaten and insult all you want, but I know it's true. You haven't been able to take your eyes off me since the day we met!" she smiled at her own wit.
Vegeta stared after her, his appetite forgotten. 'How did she find out?' he wondered. 'And now what do I do? And who else knows!' He shut the refrigerator door and walked into the living room. Sitting down in a chair opposite the couch, he stared at her. She looked just like the day he had first seen her on Namek, now that she had cut her hair.
Bulma tried to ignore him, but she finally looked over at him. He had the most confused look on his face, and it made her smile. "I like you too." She giggled. 'Why did you just say that? Must be the painkillers! Your not thinking straight.'
His eyes widened in surprise, then his usual frown took its place. "You would be wise not to."
"And why's that? Is it not permitted for the great Saiyan Prince to have a friend? Or heaven forbid, a girlfriend?" 'Stop!!' her mind screamed. 'You're going to regret this.'
He folded his arms and looked away. "I have no need for either of those."
"Why?" 'ok, just ignore me! Keep on asking stupid questions!'
"I don't have to explain myself to you, woman." He growled.
She sipped at her tea, absently massaging her knee, taking note of a new tender spot. "Big surprise there. Just thought I'd ask." 'see, you knew he wouldn't answer you!'
"Why is it so important for you humans to surround yourselves with each other?"
She thought for a moment. "It is a source of comfort for us. To know someone is there when you need them. Or that you can help someone when they need you."
"Hmmph. I need no one." 'And I don't want anyone to need me.'
"No man is an island, Vegeta. Not even you. When you decide to admit to yourself that having someone wouldn't be so bad, you know where to find me." She fluffed the couch pillows up and resumed watching the television, aware he sat there for a long time. Silently observing her.
The doorbell broke into their awkward brooding. She looked expectantly at him and he scowled, but went to open it anyway.
He looked at the man on the other side. "What the hell do you want?"
Yamcha looked haughtily at the prince. He was deathly afraid of the Saiyan, but he also knew it would be like signing his own death warrant if he showed it. "I'm here to see Bulma. Is she in?"
"What makes you think she wants to see you, baka." He sneered. For some reason he had liked this human even less than any of the others he had met. He had no logical explanation for this, other than the man bragged about his pathetic fighting skills, and continually hurt that woman.
"Yamcha?" Bulma asked.
"Yeah, Bulma. Tell this goon to get out of the way so I can come in."
Vegeta sniffed, a deadly smirk on his face, but stepped out of the way as the woman asked him too. He went back to his seat, for some reason, unwilling to leave them alone.
Yamcha sat gently on the end of the couch and looked her over. "I just heard what happened. Are you going to be alright?"
She nodded. It had been a few months since she had last seen him, and it surprised her that she felt no hard feelings towards him now. It was actually nice to just have him there again. "How have you been?"
He fidgeted, wishing the evil little man would leave them alone. "Good." He took a deep breath and laughed nervously. "Uh, Bulma. I wanted to apologize for that last fight we had. I said some things that were cruel and, well… I was hoping that maybe we could be friends? I know we'll never be a couple again, but I sure do miss having you to talk to."
"Of course we can. I kinda miss you, too." She could feel Vegeta's eyes boring into her. "I think we could manage that sibling kind of relationship we'd perfected before all hell broke loose."
He hugged her, not missing the growl he heard from the seated prince, and somehow felt better about him. "So, how've you been? Found anybody yet?" he raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"I haven't had time. Work and all. How 'bout you?"
"Well, actually. I have. She's really sweet, and I think she's good for Me." He blushed.
Bulma ignored the little pang of jealousy and smiled. "I'm very happy for you. I hope I get the chance to be good for somebody someday."
"You will. I have no doubt. You just needed a little more of a lost cause than an old dessert bandit like me." He laughed.
Vegeta got up and walked out onto the balcony. He listened to their conversation for quite sometime before heading back to the gravity room.
Ok. I warned you it was way OOC. The next chapter will
have Bulma and Vegeta's first "date" I'll try to make it as humorous and
lightly lemony as possible. R&R.