The Deception--Chapter 13
By Elbereth in April
Kakkarot climbed out of his space pod and joined Murdin and Lishing in front of the Capital Building on Planet Bedin. It was an enormous, stone gothic-looking structure.
Murdin ran a hand through the short stubble of his hair, a nervous habit. He and Lishing kept exchanging glances and then staring at Kakkarot as if he was a speciment in an experiment. It was getting on Kakkarot's nerves.
"Well," Kakkarot said, deciding to speak before they could. "Would you two like to do the honors?" He motioned to the building, trying to imitate Sekot's attitude of offering them a favor.
Lishing grinned. "Sure!" He began forming a ball of energy in his hands.
"OK," Murdin agreed, following suit.
When they'd gathered enough energy, they both let forth with large ki blasts, totally demolishing the building. The people walking along the streets all began screaming and running away. Murdin and Lishing let out whoops of glee and began chasing after them, blasting away. Frowning inwardly, Kakkarot did the same.
He was getting used to killing. Every time made it easier. This disturbed him more than he let on to anyone. He was afraid that eventually he'd come to enjoy it, just like so many of the others did.
Vegeta didn't enjoy it. He did it. He could be utterly ruthless and he didn't hesitate to consider death as an option, but he didn't enjoy it. And he didn't believe in whole-scale purging. He'd never actually come out and said so, but Kakkarot knew.
Murdin and Lishing clearly were enjoying themselves.
After they'd done with the capital city, they moved on. Kakkarot made sure to keep pace with the other two Saiyans and not to show his distaste. Again, it was easier than he'd thought it would be.
Suddenly they were confronted by half-a-dozen Bedians, standing facing them with drawn swords.
"Who are you?" one of them cried. "Why are you doing this?"
"We're Saiyans!" Murdin shouted back. "We are the ultimate warrior race! And this planet is now ours!"
"Never!" another man yelled. "We will stop you!"
Murdin and Lishing laughed. Kakkarot felt his chest constrict. These men were merely defending their home. They were willing to lay down their lives for it, just as he would be. How could murdering them be considered honorable? With his whole heart, he wished they could be spared. But they would have to die now, so that Frieza could die later. The ultimate orderer of these massacres must be stopped before he destroyed the whole universe.
"Kill them," he said in an emotionless voice, and attacked. Murdin and Lishing laughed again and threw themselves into the fight.
The Saiyans took two men each. The Bedians were tougher than they looked. Their swords drained ki when they touched the Saiyans. Kakkarot, of course, could not be touched, but he heard Lishing gasp and curse as he was cut across the chest.
Kakkarot dispatched his two with no problems, then turned to watch. Lishing had fallen to his knees. Murdin evaded his opponents and ran to stand in front of Lishing until he got back up. All four of the Bedians aimed their swords at him. He jumped straight up, but one man managed to cut him across the foot. He yelped and fell back down. Lishing stood up. The four warriors were on him at once.
"Help us!" Murdin screamed at Kakkarot.
Kakkarot stared back and forth between them. His emotions went curiously numb. The events happening around him seemed unreal, and as if they involved a stranger and not himself. Very slowly, he said, "Why should I?"
Murdin snarled but couldn't spare him any more attention. Lishing sent ki blasts at two of the warriors, but they just caught them on their swords, which absorbed the energy. Murdin picked himself up off the ground and grabbed one man around the shoulders, but another managed to strike Lishing again, in the arm this time. Murdin bashed in the head of the one he was holding, while the other three attacked Lishing all at once. He fell to the ground again.
Murdin struck one in the back with his ki, sending a smoking hole all the way through his body. He crumpled just as Lishing screamed, as a sword pierced him through the stomach.
Kakkarot powered up again. He held one hand out before him and aimed. A ball of ki streaked from his hand, through Murdin and the remaining two Bedians, all in a line. They all fell dead.
Kakkarot walked over to Lishing and looked at him. There was no way he would survive that sword thrust, Kakkarot realized. Lishing would be dead very shortly. Kakkarot wasn't at all sure what he had just done. But it had seemed like justice, or at least justified. He shook his head. He had a feeling he was going to be in trouble. But first thing's first. He had to purge the rest of the planet by himself. 'Tangerine, how has Vegeta managed to stay sane all these years? I don't think I can take living under Frieza too much longer.'
______________ ________________
When Kakkarot arrived back at Frieza's base, Dodoria greeted him with, "Where are the others?"
"Killed. Apparently they were not adequate warriors to defeat the Bedians."
Dodoria gaped at him. "Well, you'll need to report to Frieza."
Kakkarot nodded wearily. "I know. Let me take a shower first, please? I'm exhausted."
"Um. . . OK." Dodoria wasn't sure what to do. He decided to let Kakkarot go and report to Frieza himself.
Kakkarot walked away. He knew Dodoria would be running to Frieza, but he definitely wanted Vegeta's advice about this. This hadn't been in the game plan at all.
"Vegeta, I'm back. Where are you?"
"It's 5:00. I'm eating. Something went wrong, didn't it?"
"The aliens killed Murdin and Lishing."
There was a pause. "Can't say that I'll miss them."
"Frieza will."
"Yes." Another pause while Vegeta thought. "I don't know. He may not be that upset. He can always find replacements. The problem is we don't know who."
"But we've got the throne room bugged."
"Yes." Kakkarot could hear Vegeta's satisfaction. "Where are you?"
"Quick stop to my room before Frieza."
"I'm heading to the Woman's to listen to your conversation. Just tell him what happened and see how mad he gets. I think it'll be OK."
"OK."
There was another pause. "Kakkarot. . . what is it?"
Kakkarot stopped just outside the door to his room. He took a deep breath, then went inside and leaned back against the door. "I could have saved them, you know. I just let them die." He was starting to have regrets about the whole thing.
"You mean Murdin and Lishing?"
"Yeah."
"They were weak. It's not your responsibility to defend them. They should have been able to hold their own."
Kakkarot felt a flash of some strange emotion he couldn't he couldn't quite place. "So if I'm losing a fight, you'd just let me die then? And say I deserved death because I'm weak?"
"What? No! Kakkarot. . . I was trying to make you feel better. . ."
"Never mind," Kakkarot cut him off. "I'm going to Frieza now."
And Vegeta was silent because he didn't know what to say. He just wasn't prepared for discussions about feelings and philosophy. 'And I can't tell him that I. . . that he. . . that I care. . . I just can't.' He stopped walking momentarily and closed his eyes, clenching his fists. Then he drew a deep, shaky breath and started walking again.
He knocked on Bulma's door and then went in. "Quick, Woman. We need to listen in."
_________ _____________
Frieza, Dodoria, and Zarbon were all in the throne room. Frieza was in his floating chair, looking annoyed with the universe.
"So Kakkarot," he began without preamble, "you were unable to prevent the deaths of Murdin and Lishing."
Kakkarot looked him in the eyes. "They were unable to prevent their own deaths."
Frieza frowned. "Yes. . ."
"Can't say that I'll miss them," Kakkarot tossed off casually, repeating Vegeta.
Zarbon began to laugh. After a moment, so did Frieza. "Neither will I. They were annoying and whiny. And you did finish your purge. Still. . . things have a habit of going wrong around you, Kakkarot."
He didn't know how to respond to that. He decided on a pleasing lie. "I'm loyal to you, sir."
Frieza smiled. "Yes. That's why you're still alive. You're dismissed."
Kakkarot hid a sigh of relief and left.
"Sir," said Zarbon immediately, not giving Frieza time to change his mind and get mad, "I found something you should know about."
"What?"
"This computer file, sir. I downloaded you a copy."
Frieza floated over to the computer and looked at it. "Well now," he murmured. "Isn't *this* interesting?"
"What?" Dodoria asked from across the room.
Frieza looked at him in disgust. "Go get Captain Ginyu."
Dodoria swallowed, bowed, and went.
"What will you do, my lord?"
Frieza smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I think it's time to send the Ginyu Force on a little mission."
__________ ______________
Kakkarot knew it was Vegeta before he opened his door. They looked at each other.
"I'm not going to let anybody kill you, Kakkarot."
Kakkarot threw his arms around Vegeta and hugged him. Vegeta twitched, but he didn't mind it so much the second time. Kakkarot let go and stepped back. "I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean it. I was just--upset. I caused all those deaths."
"The aliens."
"Yes. Maybe I'm not much of a warrior, Vegeta, but I just don't see how mass slaughter of people so much weaker than you makes you a warrior."
"What do you think war is? Mass slaughter."
"Wars make you a warrior, then?"
"I know what you're getting at, Kakkarot. You're talking about honor and nobility. You're talking about when your opponent drops his sword during a fight, you let him pick it up. But wars aren't noble."
"It's just that--there's a part of me that flinches every time I have to lie or kill an innocent person. I don't want to be a bully. I don't want to harm the innocent. I want. . ."
"Kakkarot, if we want to win *this* war, we have to fight dirty. If your enemy loses his weapon, you seize the chance to stab him through the heart. We have to *win* this. We *have* to. For all Saiyans. And everybody else Frieza tyrannizes."
Kakkarot looked down at the floor. "I know," he said softly. Then he looked back at Vegeta. "Are Saiyans noble?"
Vegeta sighed and crossed his arms. He regarded Kakkarot for a long moment. "We are. But for now--we're under Frieza. We'd like to be noble again. But until we beat Frieza, we're trapped in *this.* This miserable, murdering existence, this slavery, this travesty of a life. Do you understand? We don't have the liberty to be noble right now."
Now Kakkarot sighed. "I know." But he didn't look happy. He didn't look settled in his mind.
Vegeta had been ignoring the pounding of his heart. But now he felt it clench. 'The last thing I am is honorable,' he thought in anguish. 'When you find out--when I claim my throne--when you know--you will despise me. How will I keep from losing you?' He felt his throat close up and turned away, staring at the wall and scowling as hard as he could to keep his feelings at bay and off his face.
Kakkarot was staring at the other wall, doing his own thinking. "Maybe we won't be able to defeat Frieza until we're pure. Maybe that's the reason we can't go Super Saiyan."
Vegeta swallowed hard. "Hn. If anybody in this world is close to being pure, it's you. At heart, you're pure, little brother."
Kakkarot turned and stared at Vegeta's back. "I hate Frieza," he whispered. "I really do. How have you been able to stand it for so long?"
Vegeta gave a bitter laugh. Suddenly he moved to stand in front of Kakkarot, who tried to read the prince's eyes. There was some intense emotion in them, but Kakkarot couldn't say what it was.
"Sometimes," he said rapidly, "when you don't have any choice, you do things you wouldn't normally do. Sometimes, you do what you have to do. You may not necessarily be proud of it afterwards. You think it's for the greater good. You just hope when it's all done, you'll be forgiven."
Kakkarot frowned, then slowly nodded. "I guess I understand. For the greater good."
Vegeta's eyes were suspiciously bright. They caught Kakkarot's own eyes so he couldn't look away. They were full of dark, smoldering fire and a deeper, underlying grief that burnt through Kakkarot's heart. "Kakkarot. Do you think I'll be forgiven?"
Kakkarot felt the pain lancing through him, Vegeta's pain, slicing through his whole body. What had his brother done? What had been done to him, to make him hurt so? "I'm sure you will be."
But Vegeta just smirked, that look that said, I don't believe you and I can't trust in anything.
The pain lanced through Kakkarot again. Frieza would pay. For everything he'd done to his brother, and made his brother do. He smiled gently. "You will be."
The fire in Vegeta's eyes had died and the expressionless mask had come back. Kakkarot knew he wasn't listening anymore. He reached out and squeezed Vegeta's shoulder. "Hey. Wanna spar?"
Vegeta pushed all unwelcome emotions to the back of his mind and suppressed them. He'd gotten very good at that over the years. He drew a long breath and smirked again. This was his, You're on and prepare to meet defeat look. "I'm always ready to spar."
Kakkarot grinned. He wouldn't worry about anything right now. He was learning how to push things out of his mind, as well. "All right."
"But afterwards, it'll be time for a group meeting. Frieza is sending the Ginyu Force out. We'll need to do some planning."
Kakkarot nodded. "By the way, how's the Woman?"
"Hn." Vegeta smirked, good humor seemingly restored. "Satisfied."
That made Kakkarot laugh all the way to the training room.
______________ _______________
"I suppose you know that Murdin and Lishing are dead," Frieza said to the Saiyan standing before him in the armory.
"Yes, my lord."
"It's too bad. They were loyal."
"Yes, my lord."
"But then, you're loyal, are you not, my fine monkey?"
"Of course, my lord."
"And not overly fond of Vegeta."
"No."
"I always reward loyalty, you know."
"I'm here to serve you."
"Yes. You are." Frieza stared at him a moment longer. "Watch everything. And report back to me."
"It will be my pleasure," replied Sekot.
_____________ ________________
Advertising: "Attachments Detached" by Kahlan Nightwing. It's a very good A/U, B/V and a refreshingly original Saiyans vs. Frieza story. Just go read it.
Oh yeah, and review me.
By Elbereth in April
Kakkarot climbed out of his space pod and joined Murdin and Lishing in front of the Capital Building on Planet Bedin. It was an enormous, stone gothic-looking structure.
Murdin ran a hand through the short stubble of his hair, a nervous habit. He and Lishing kept exchanging glances and then staring at Kakkarot as if he was a speciment in an experiment. It was getting on Kakkarot's nerves.
"Well," Kakkarot said, deciding to speak before they could. "Would you two like to do the honors?" He motioned to the building, trying to imitate Sekot's attitude of offering them a favor.
Lishing grinned. "Sure!" He began forming a ball of energy in his hands.
"OK," Murdin agreed, following suit.
When they'd gathered enough energy, they both let forth with large ki blasts, totally demolishing the building. The people walking along the streets all began screaming and running away. Murdin and Lishing let out whoops of glee and began chasing after them, blasting away. Frowning inwardly, Kakkarot did the same.
He was getting used to killing. Every time made it easier. This disturbed him more than he let on to anyone. He was afraid that eventually he'd come to enjoy it, just like so many of the others did.
Vegeta didn't enjoy it. He did it. He could be utterly ruthless and he didn't hesitate to consider death as an option, but he didn't enjoy it. And he didn't believe in whole-scale purging. He'd never actually come out and said so, but Kakkarot knew.
Murdin and Lishing clearly were enjoying themselves.
After they'd done with the capital city, they moved on. Kakkarot made sure to keep pace with the other two Saiyans and not to show his distaste. Again, it was easier than he'd thought it would be.
Suddenly they were confronted by half-a-dozen Bedians, standing facing them with drawn swords.
"Who are you?" one of them cried. "Why are you doing this?"
"We're Saiyans!" Murdin shouted back. "We are the ultimate warrior race! And this planet is now ours!"
"Never!" another man yelled. "We will stop you!"
Murdin and Lishing laughed. Kakkarot felt his chest constrict. These men were merely defending their home. They were willing to lay down their lives for it, just as he would be. How could murdering them be considered honorable? With his whole heart, he wished they could be spared. But they would have to die now, so that Frieza could die later. The ultimate orderer of these massacres must be stopped before he destroyed the whole universe.
"Kill them," he said in an emotionless voice, and attacked. Murdin and Lishing laughed again and threw themselves into the fight.
The Saiyans took two men each. The Bedians were tougher than they looked. Their swords drained ki when they touched the Saiyans. Kakkarot, of course, could not be touched, but he heard Lishing gasp and curse as he was cut across the chest.
Kakkarot dispatched his two with no problems, then turned to watch. Lishing had fallen to his knees. Murdin evaded his opponents and ran to stand in front of Lishing until he got back up. All four of the Bedians aimed their swords at him. He jumped straight up, but one man managed to cut him across the foot. He yelped and fell back down. Lishing stood up. The four warriors were on him at once.
"Help us!" Murdin screamed at Kakkarot.
Kakkarot stared back and forth between them. His emotions went curiously numb. The events happening around him seemed unreal, and as if they involved a stranger and not himself. Very slowly, he said, "Why should I?"
Murdin snarled but couldn't spare him any more attention. Lishing sent ki blasts at two of the warriors, but they just caught them on their swords, which absorbed the energy. Murdin picked himself up off the ground and grabbed one man around the shoulders, but another managed to strike Lishing again, in the arm this time. Murdin bashed in the head of the one he was holding, while the other three attacked Lishing all at once. He fell to the ground again.
Murdin struck one in the back with his ki, sending a smoking hole all the way through his body. He crumpled just as Lishing screamed, as a sword pierced him through the stomach.
Kakkarot powered up again. He held one hand out before him and aimed. A ball of ki streaked from his hand, through Murdin and the remaining two Bedians, all in a line. They all fell dead.
Kakkarot walked over to Lishing and looked at him. There was no way he would survive that sword thrust, Kakkarot realized. Lishing would be dead very shortly. Kakkarot wasn't at all sure what he had just done. But it had seemed like justice, or at least justified. He shook his head. He had a feeling he was going to be in trouble. But first thing's first. He had to purge the rest of the planet by himself. 'Tangerine, how has Vegeta managed to stay sane all these years? I don't think I can take living under Frieza too much longer.'
______________ ________________
When Kakkarot arrived back at Frieza's base, Dodoria greeted him with, "Where are the others?"
"Killed. Apparently they were not adequate warriors to defeat the Bedians."
Dodoria gaped at him. "Well, you'll need to report to Frieza."
Kakkarot nodded wearily. "I know. Let me take a shower first, please? I'm exhausted."
"Um. . . OK." Dodoria wasn't sure what to do. He decided to let Kakkarot go and report to Frieza himself.
Kakkarot walked away. He knew Dodoria would be running to Frieza, but he definitely wanted Vegeta's advice about this. This hadn't been in the game plan at all.
"Vegeta, I'm back. Where are you?"
"It's 5:00. I'm eating. Something went wrong, didn't it?"
"The aliens killed Murdin and Lishing."
There was a pause. "Can't say that I'll miss them."
"Frieza will."
"Yes." Another pause while Vegeta thought. "I don't know. He may not be that upset. He can always find replacements. The problem is we don't know who."
"But we've got the throne room bugged."
"Yes." Kakkarot could hear Vegeta's satisfaction. "Where are you?"
"Quick stop to my room before Frieza."
"I'm heading to the Woman's to listen to your conversation. Just tell him what happened and see how mad he gets. I think it'll be OK."
"OK."
There was another pause. "Kakkarot. . . what is it?"
Kakkarot stopped just outside the door to his room. He took a deep breath, then went inside and leaned back against the door. "I could have saved them, you know. I just let them die." He was starting to have regrets about the whole thing.
"You mean Murdin and Lishing?"
"Yeah."
"They were weak. It's not your responsibility to defend them. They should have been able to hold their own."
Kakkarot felt a flash of some strange emotion he couldn't he couldn't quite place. "So if I'm losing a fight, you'd just let me die then? And say I deserved death because I'm weak?"
"What? No! Kakkarot. . . I was trying to make you feel better. . ."
"Never mind," Kakkarot cut him off. "I'm going to Frieza now."
And Vegeta was silent because he didn't know what to say. He just wasn't prepared for discussions about feelings and philosophy. 'And I can't tell him that I. . . that he. . . that I care. . . I just can't.' He stopped walking momentarily and closed his eyes, clenching his fists. Then he drew a deep, shaky breath and started walking again.
He knocked on Bulma's door and then went in. "Quick, Woman. We need to listen in."
_________ _____________
Frieza, Dodoria, and Zarbon were all in the throne room. Frieza was in his floating chair, looking annoyed with the universe.
"So Kakkarot," he began without preamble, "you were unable to prevent the deaths of Murdin and Lishing."
Kakkarot looked him in the eyes. "They were unable to prevent their own deaths."
Frieza frowned. "Yes. . ."
"Can't say that I'll miss them," Kakkarot tossed off casually, repeating Vegeta.
Zarbon began to laugh. After a moment, so did Frieza. "Neither will I. They were annoying and whiny. And you did finish your purge. Still. . . things have a habit of going wrong around you, Kakkarot."
He didn't know how to respond to that. He decided on a pleasing lie. "I'm loyal to you, sir."
Frieza smiled. "Yes. That's why you're still alive. You're dismissed."
Kakkarot hid a sigh of relief and left.
"Sir," said Zarbon immediately, not giving Frieza time to change his mind and get mad, "I found something you should know about."
"What?"
"This computer file, sir. I downloaded you a copy."
Frieza floated over to the computer and looked at it. "Well now," he murmured. "Isn't *this* interesting?"
"What?" Dodoria asked from across the room.
Frieza looked at him in disgust. "Go get Captain Ginyu."
Dodoria swallowed, bowed, and went.
"What will you do, my lord?"
Frieza smiled. It was not a nice smile. "I think it's time to send the Ginyu Force on a little mission."
__________ ______________
Kakkarot knew it was Vegeta before he opened his door. They looked at each other.
"I'm not going to let anybody kill you, Kakkarot."
Kakkarot threw his arms around Vegeta and hugged him. Vegeta twitched, but he didn't mind it so much the second time. Kakkarot let go and stepped back. "I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't mean it. I was just--upset. I caused all those deaths."
"The aliens."
"Yes. Maybe I'm not much of a warrior, Vegeta, but I just don't see how mass slaughter of people so much weaker than you makes you a warrior."
"What do you think war is? Mass slaughter."
"Wars make you a warrior, then?"
"I know what you're getting at, Kakkarot. You're talking about honor and nobility. You're talking about when your opponent drops his sword during a fight, you let him pick it up. But wars aren't noble."
"It's just that--there's a part of me that flinches every time I have to lie or kill an innocent person. I don't want to be a bully. I don't want to harm the innocent. I want. . ."
"Kakkarot, if we want to win *this* war, we have to fight dirty. If your enemy loses his weapon, you seize the chance to stab him through the heart. We have to *win* this. We *have* to. For all Saiyans. And everybody else Frieza tyrannizes."
Kakkarot looked down at the floor. "I know," he said softly. Then he looked back at Vegeta. "Are Saiyans noble?"
Vegeta sighed and crossed his arms. He regarded Kakkarot for a long moment. "We are. But for now--we're under Frieza. We'd like to be noble again. But until we beat Frieza, we're trapped in *this.* This miserable, murdering existence, this slavery, this travesty of a life. Do you understand? We don't have the liberty to be noble right now."
Now Kakkarot sighed. "I know." But he didn't look happy. He didn't look settled in his mind.
Vegeta had been ignoring the pounding of his heart. But now he felt it clench. 'The last thing I am is honorable,' he thought in anguish. 'When you find out--when I claim my throne--when you know--you will despise me. How will I keep from losing you?' He felt his throat close up and turned away, staring at the wall and scowling as hard as he could to keep his feelings at bay and off his face.
Kakkarot was staring at the other wall, doing his own thinking. "Maybe we won't be able to defeat Frieza until we're pure. Maybe that's the reason we can't go Super Saiyan."
Vegeta swallowed hard. "Hn. If anybody in this world is close to being pure, it's you. At heart, you're pure, little brother."
Kakkarot turned and stared at Vegeta's back. "I hate Frieza," he whispered. "I really do. How have you been able to stand it for so long?"
Vegeta gave a bitter laugh. Suddenly he moved to stand in front of Kakkarot, who tried to read the prince's eyes. There was some intense emotion in them, but Kakkarot couldn't say what it was.
"Sometimes," he said rapidly, "when you don't have any choice, you do things you wouldn't normally do. Sometimes, you do what you have to do. You may not necessarily be proud of it afterwards. You think it's for the greater good. You just hope when it's all done, you'll be forgiven."
Kakkarot frowned, then slowly nodded. "I guess I understand. For the greater good."
Vegeta's eyes were suspiciously bright. They caught Kakkarot's own eyes so he couldn't look away. They were full of dark, smoldering fire and a deeper, underlying grief that burnt through Kakkarot's heart. "Kakkarot. Do you think I'll be forgiven?"
Kakkarot felt the pain lancing through him, Vegeta's pain, slicing through his whole body. What had his brother done? What had been done to him, to make him hurt so? "I'm sure you will be."
But Vegeta just smirked, that look that said, I don't believe you and I can't trust in anything.
The pain lanced through Kakkarot again. Frieza would pay. For everything he'd done to his brother, and made his brother do. He smiled gently. "You will be."
The fire in Vegeta's eyes had died and the expressionless mask had come back. Kakkarot knew he wasn't listening anymore. He reached out and squeezed Vegeta's shoulder. "Hey. Wanna spar?"
Vegeta pushed all unwelcome emotions to the back of his mind and suppressed them. He'd gotten very good at that over the years. He drew a long breath and smirked again. This was his, You're on and prepare to meet defeat look. "I'm always ready to spar."
Kakkarot grinned. He wouldn't worry about anything right now. He was learning how to push things out of his mind, as well. "All right."
"But afterwards, it'll be time for a group meeting. Frieza is sending the Ginyu Force out. We'll need to do some planning."
Kakkarot nodded. "By the way, how's the Woman?"
"Hn." Vegeta smirked, good humor seemingly restored. "Satisfied."
That made Kakkarot laugh all the way to the training room.
______________ _______________
"I suppose you know that Murdin and Lishing are dead," Frieza said to the Saiyan standing before him in the armory.
"Yes, my lord."
"It's too bad. They were loyal."
"Yes, my lord."
"But then, you're loyal, are you not, my fine monkey?"
"Of course, my lord."
"And not overly fond of Vegeta."
"No."
"I always reward loyalty, you know."
"I'm here to serve you."
"Yes. You are." Frieza stared at him a moment longer. "Watch everything. And report back to me."
"It will be my pleasure," replied Sekot.
_____________ ________________
Advertising: "Attachments Detached" by Kahlan Nightwing. It's a very good A/U, B/V and a refreshingly original Saiyans vs. Frieza story. Just go read it.
Oh yeah, and review me.