Ok, ok, since no one threw things at me, or told me to roll over and die, I'll assume that the first chap wasn't too bad, huh? Hope not, at least. Like I said before, Vegeta is not a nice person in this fic, although, to tell you the truth, I'm really not sure if Vegeta's ever really a NICE person, but that's beside the point. In case you didn't figure it out in the first chapter, this is an a/u. And no, there is no Trunks...YET. There will be...later...much later. I promise. (hides from the trunks fanatics) Oh, and I realized that I had Vegeta fly off with no clothes on in the last chap, I decided to leave it, cuz after all, even a depressing fic needs a bit of humor, right? Ok, now that I've run my mouth about everything, let's get on with it, shall we?


Disclaimer: Not mine, dont own it, never will, don't sue. There, that just about covers it, huh?


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Heroes
Chapter 2: my time has come
Pairings: it's a supwise!!! :)
Warnings: some mention of rape, suicide, angst, but not as much as there was in the last chap, this has lots of happy stuff in it, not to mention a touch of lime, just a touch, mind you.


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~*It's too far*~



Bulma stepped out of the scalding hot stream of water and into the spacious bathroom. She wiped the fog from the mirror and examined herself there, gasping at what she saw. The black eye was clear now, an ugly mixture of black and blue. And her "necklace" of bruises covered her neck, making it swollen, and nearly impossible to swallow. The side of her stomach was swollen and tender, and she winced when she accidentally hit it with her arm. A knock from outside shook her from her thoughts, and she turned to the door, her eyes wide with fear.

"H..hello?" She called out, her fear apparent in her voice.

"Bulma? How ya doin in there?" Goku's cheery voice came back to her. Making it nearly impossible for her to hold in her sigh of relief.

"Yeah Goku, I'm ok. I just..I can't believe this is happening, you know? I really don't know what I did to piss him off like I did. I mean..Hell, I don't know what I mean."

"Hey, get dressed, and we'll go for a walk, and you can talk to me about it, ok? Have you got your clothes in there? Or do you need me to get ya something?" He asked her, his concern apparent.

"No, I've got it. I'll be out in just a minute, ok?" She called as she turned back around to face herself in the mirror. She dried her hair, and left it down to cascade around her shoulders. She tried her best to cover her bruises with her makeup, but the black eye still shined through brightly.


~*It's too fast*~


She pulled on a pair of zana-di jeans, and a baggy gray sweatshirt before putting on her blue adidas running shoes. A pair of sunglasses completed her outfit, not to mention the fact that they covered her black eye nicely.

When she walked out, she kept her head bowed down, strictly out of habit, causing her to nearly run over Goku.

"Hey, you look great! Seriously, you do." He complimented her.

"You don't think it's too much? I mean, I can change if you want me to. I dont' mind." She said back, keeping her head down all the while.

"Huh? Why would I want you to change? I just told you that you looked great, and I meant it. As a matter of fact, you're not dressed up enough if you ask me." He told her jokingly,

"OH! Sorry, I'll go change! Really, I'm sorry. Just gimme a minute." She turned to walk back into the bathroom.

"Woah! Wait wait wait! I was joking Bulma. You don't need to change. Now, how about that walk? I know a great place, if you don't mind a little bit of a hike, that is. It's really gorgeous."

"Ok, I could use a change of scenery. To tell you the truth, I can't really stand to be here right now. And walking might help me out a bit." She told him, lifting her head slightly to look at his face.


~*It's to quick*~


"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving or we'll never make it before sunset." Goku shooed her out the door, before taking one more look around the room that had been her dungeon for so long. He shook his head and sighed before shutting the door and walking outside to find Bulma.

"Um, I know this is going to sound strange, but what day is it? I haven't seen the sun in what seems like forever. As crazy as that might sound." Bulma glanced around the large yard in front of her, before settling her eyes on the tall Saiyan next to her.

"That doesn't sound crazy. It's Saturday. And what do you mean you haven't seen the sun? Your room has windows in it. What'd he do? Not let you look out?" Goku asked, genuinely stumped

"Saturday? No way! What happened to last week? Did I just sleep through it or something?" Bulma looked around her once again, before raising her hand to rub her neck slightly. "I thought that bean was supposed to heal me, if that's the case, then why does it still hurt?"

"Well, then senzu beans help you recover your energy so that your body heals faster. Any bruises you have should be gone within a day or so, as opposed to the normal week, and any pain should be gone within an hour or two. Unfortunately, they take a different of amount of time on everyone. Now, walk, or am I going to have to carry you all the way?" He bent over as if to pick her up, seemingly oblivious to the blush that stained her cheeks.



~*It wont last*~


"No, I think I'll walk." She took off at a brisk pace ahead of him, as if to show him that she could, in fact, take care of herself.

"Well then, awesome. But, just one thing, do you think you'd mind if we walked in the right direction? Cause it's gonna take a LOT longer to get there if we go that way, like we'd have to walk around the world long. And IF we have to do that, I don't think we'll make it to where I'm going before sunset, and I reallllly wanna see the sunset. So, let's go this way, k?" Goku blurted in one long breath, his face turning a slight shad eof blue before he got it all out.

"Um, ok, I suppose we can do that...Um, if I tell you something, you promise you'll listen, and you won't get mad? Please?" She practically begged him, tears welling up in her blue eyes.

"Of course I'll listen, that's something I'm good at. Yep yep yep. Soooo...start talking." He replied cheerfully

"Vegeta...Vegeta got mad at me one day, and he hit me, nothing major, you know, I just crossed the line, and so he smacked me. That was the first time he had ever hit me, and it hurt like hell, so I was really careful not to piss him off like that again. One day he came inside, and I had been really sick, so I hadn't made his dinner. He hit me again, only this time I tried to fight him back. HE said something about putting me in my place, so he shoved me into the closet, and locked me in. I guess he figured that as long as I was scared of him, then he had control over me, so he would hit me for the smallest little things, and then he would lock me in the closet without any food or water for what seemed like an eternity. It got to the point where it was like he couldn't even look at me without getting mad, so he used to beat me almost to death, then he would lock me in the closet for a day or so just so that he could do it again. I guess that was where he got his sense of power from. Kinda like you get yours from helping the people you love. Well, he gets his from hurting them. That's the best explanation I can think of at least." She turned to Goku, only to find him right behind her, a shocked expression on his face.


~*Its not right,
but it's not wrong*~


"Is that what you think? You think that's love? Bulma, you're smarter than that. Vegeta doesn't love you! Someone who loves you could never do this to you! I mean, I can hardly stand ChiChi sometimes, but I could NEVER touch her like that. Look at your face Bulma. I don't care what you did to him, I can guarantee that it wasn't anything to deserve that. That's not love Bulma, that's fucking sick." HE nearly shouted at her, before he caught himself and lowered his voice

"But, if he didn't love me, then who will? He was my last cance in this world, Goku. I don't know if I could ever stand to be around another man. Not like that anyway. It gives me chills just thinking about it. I think he probably would have killed me today if you hadn't shown up, and to tell you the truth, I was hoping he would. somethings are just too painful to have to endure for too long Goku, that was one of them, and now everytime I close my eyes I still see him. I don't think that's ever going to go away. I wish you would have just let me die. That's what I wanted. I want to die. I want to stop hurting, I want to be somewhere that it doesn't hurt anymore. And you took that away from me, you didn't mean to, but you did." Bulma replied, her tears falling freely now.


~*Theres no time, move along
But I've come much to far,
and I know whats in my heart*~


"What? You don't want to die Bulma, believe me, it isn't everything it's cracked up to be. It hurts more than anything to see the people you love sad because of you. It nearly broke my heart to see you all cry when I died. It hurt so much to know that I had caused so much pain. That's something that you don't want Bulma, believe me."

"No one would cry for me Goku, I'm just another woman that was too weak to protect herself from her husband. I don't even deserve to be here. And stop giving me that look, name one person that would be truly sad that I was gone, Goku, just one." She shouted to him, her bottled up emotions from the past week overwhelming her.

"Are you that blind Bulma? I would be sad, hell, I'd be downright crushed. And you'd have to be blind or stupid not to see that. You're my best friend Bulma. You always have been, and you actually think that I wouldn't be sad that you were gone? Jeez, what do you take me for? A monster? I'd miss you so much that ChiChi would probably leave me because of it." He added thelast part with a grin.


~*And I know, what I feel
I can tell when it is real*~


"Yeah, you'd be sad, but you'd have ChiChi to take care of you, and soon you'd forget all about me. I'm not important Goku, I can't fight, all I can do is sit back and watch you guys risk your lives to save us. Let's just face it Goku, I'm just one of those people who's expendable in this world." She turned away from him for a split second, before feeling herself being lifted into the air. "Ack! Put me down! You know I'm terrified of heights! Besides, I thought we were walking to some secret spot or something." Bulma pointed out as she buried her head into his muscled chest.

"No, no more walking today. You need to see this now. It'll show you what I mean. Just hold on tight, and don't look down, ok?" He told her before unconciously pulling her body closer to his.

"ACK! What'd you have to bring me so high up for? There's gotta be a better way to get there than this." she screamed to him, her cries sounding slightly muffled from where her head laid against his shirt.

"Jeez Bulma, I told you not to look down...And nope, sorry, there's no other way to get there that I know of, we have to fly." He let a small smile cross his face as he felt her tiny muscles relax against him.


~*It's ok, be afraid
Its alright*~


They landed a few moments later inside of what looked to be a small canyon with a large waterfall cascading down the side. The waterfall dumped into a aprkling clear lagoon, and it was all Bulma could do to keep from jumping in head first at the sight of it.

"So, you like?" Goku asked her upon seeing the childlike wonder on her face when they landed.

"Gee, how'd you guess?" She shot back at him. "ChiChi must love this place. I mean, the water's so clear, and...it's just plain beautiful!"

"ChiChi's never been here. As a matter of fact, you're the first person I've ever shown this to. And don't laugh at me, but I've got something to show you, keep in mind that it's been there since I was like 12 though, ok? He took her by the hand and led her to a small clearing where a lone tree stood. Engraved into the trunk of the tree were the letters S.G. -N- B.B. inside of a large heart.

"AWW...That's so sweet. Did little Goku have a crush on me?" she teased and pinched him on the cheek, only causing Goku to turn even redder

"I..um..well...um..yeah, I did..heh." Was all he could manage to stutter out from his embarassment.


~*You just take that fear, turn it in to your strength
It's called life, and thats why we're here*~


"Ok, you're right, I do feel better now, I just wish you would have told me that then Goku, who knows, maybe we would have ended up together instead, wouldn't that have been something?" She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of his red face, that seemed to grow brighter every minute.

"Yeah, we could've saved ourselves a whole lotta trouble, huh? Heh heh. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go for a swim, care to join me?" He asked her, changing the subject from him as fast as he could.

"Actually, that does sound good, but there's only one problem, you forgot to tell me to bring anything with me to swim in, so I guess I'm outta luck, you go ahead though, I'll just watch you." She answered rather sadly.

"Bah! Clothes are over-rated anyway. Strip down and hop in! I promise not to peek." Goku said kindly.

"Um, Goku, I don't know if I should. I mean..um..I" She stuttered back at him, once again averting her eyes to the ground when she talked.

"Hey, what was that whole conversation about just now? You're supposed to trust me Bulma, I won't hurt you, I promise, I just want you to swim with me, ok?" Goku appeared hurt by her sudden withdrawl from him, and then he shamed himself for it. *you're in this for her, not you. She needs your help, remember?* He reprimanded himself. "Aww jeez, sorry, I shouldn't try to force you into swimming Bulma, I'm just worried about you is all."


~*Now I've come much to far, and I know whats in my heart
And I know what I feel, and this time I know its real*~


"No, actually, you're right. I shouldn't be taking this out on you. Besides, the water looks really good, just no peeking, ok?" Bulma sat still until he turned around and she quickly undressed and ran to the water's edge. She tested the water with her foot, and finding it suprisingly warm, she ran in. "Ok, I'm in, you can come in now. Goku was about to come in with his shorts on, but Bulma caught him before he could reach the water. "Uh uh buster, if i don't have the privelage of clothes, then neither do you. Now STRIP!" She laughed good naturedly before turning around to give him his privacy. She waited for a minute and still there was no sound of him coming into the water, but afraid that he was still undressing, she didn't turn around. Suddenly, something yanked her under the water, barely giving her enough time to suck in a quick breath before pulling her down. When she emerged, she glanced around a bit frightened, only to see Goku come up a few feet away.

"Oh, sorry Bulma, didn't see you standing there." He laughed at her, before noticing that the water had washed away her makeup revealing the bruises underneath. He swam toward her slowly, and reached a hand up to touch her neck, suprised that she didn't flinch at his touch like she had earlier. "Oh..damn." Was all he could mutter
as he ran his fingers gently over the bruised skin. He reached his hand up and touched her face, wiping a wet strand of hair away from her eye. The black and blue had been replaced with green and yellow, a sign that it was healing, but that didn't help his anger any. He had to fight with himself to keep from going super saiyan, but his eyes flickered teal once before he managed to get it under control.


~*My time has come
And like the road below me*~


Bulma noticed the change in him, and when she saw his eyes flicker, she was about to turn and run, but for some reason, she didn't. There was no trace of hate in his eyes, only hurt. She turned her head to look away, but he gently pulled her face up to look at him.

"Don't you dare be ashamed of it, you understand me? It's not your fault, if anything, you should be proud that you were strong enough to last through it, ok? Hey, let's get off this depressing subject, shall we? I wonder how deep the water is here?" Goku tried desperately to change the subject, but to no avail.

"Goku...Do you think I'm pretty? I used to think I was, but since I met Vegeta, I don't really know anymore. I guess he just has a tendency to bring out the worst in me." She looked him dead in the eyes this time, suprised at the emotions that played across his face at that questions.

"Do you actually have to ask me that? Surely even Vegeta told you that... Bulma, if I told you that you were pretty, I'd be lying." He nearly laughed when he watched her eyes fall from his, but he held it in for the grand finale. "Nope, you're not pretty at all. You're just plain ol gorgeous. Guess that'll have to do, huh?" He did laugh when he saw the happiness flash across her face, and he grinned from ear to ear when she jumped up to hug him. That was, until he realized that his best friend was naked, beautiful, and pressing herself against him in a VERY enjoyable fashion. It was then that he decided that it was time to change the subject, and fast, before he lost all control, and decided to "rise" to the occasion.


~*I know I'll touch the sky above
A million footprints surround me*~

"Um, Goku, are you ok? You look kinda pale. Did I do something wrong? If I did, then I'm really sorry. Goku? Earth to Goku, come in Goku." Bulma said as she waved her hand in front of her eyes. She used his shoulders to pull herself up eye level to him, and planted a kiss on his cheek, startling him back to reality. "Jeez, there you are, I was beginning to wonder if you had zoned out on me permanently." She said, not realizing that she was still almost completely out of the water.

"Ok, you know what? I'm trying really hard not to peek here, but sticking your boobies in my face isn't exactly what I would call helping the matter." He managed to choke out, trying as hard as possible not to tilt his head down to take a look.

"Huh? You mean you'd actually WANT to look? That's good to know, I suppose.
I mean, I guess it's a little weird that my best friend wants to oogle my tits, but I suppose it's reassuring none the less. Ok, ready, you've got 3 seconds. ready, set, oogle." Bulma laughed.

"W...what? You mean, you WANT me to look? I don't know if that's such a good idea, I mean, wouldn't you feel kinda...I dunno weird later?" Goku asked her back, wanting to look, but then again, almost forcing himself not to.


~*Tell me it can be done, my time has come
Now I've come much to far, and I know whats in my heart*~


"No, I want you to. I wanna know if they look good too, or if they're droopy and stuff I guess..Heh, nevermind, I guess it's just nice to know that guys can still look at my body and like what they see, that's something I haven't had in awhile, ya know? Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have said anything, cause now you're all weirded out, and that's going to make everything weird now. I'm really sorry." She went to lower herself back into the water, only to be lifted up by the strong saiyan.

"No no no, I sure as hell don't mind, just um, don't tell ChiChi, ok?" He looked down slightly, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. *Ok, keep control here Goku, they're just tits, BIG tits, BIG perky tits. Ugh. I hate my life I hate it, hate it, hate it!* He screamed to himself. For some strange reason, unknown to him, he brushed his hand across he hard nipple, nearly jumping when he heard her moan slightly. "Ok, ok, ok, this is bad, I should stop now, yeah, stop.....hmmm." He cast one more look downward, before looking up into her face again.

"SO? Are they good? Bad? Ugly? What? Don't just sit there, tell me." Bulma whined the suspense nearly killing her."

Goku lowered her back into the water slowly, making sure to take his time and let her stomach rub against his hardened member. "Tell me, does that tell you? Or should I try to put it into words?" He asked as he looked away from her.

"N..no..I think that does it pretty well. Um, you're not mad at me, are you? Cause I'm sorry if I made you look when you didn't want to. I really didn't know you were gonna react like that. God, you must think I'm such a whore now, huh?" Bulma rattled, panicked that Goku would look at her as trash.

"Bulma, you didn't make me do anything, I just did it. But tell me, do you have to have such a fucking good body? I don't think this damn thing's ever going to go down now. You make my life hell, you realize that, right? I'm going to be walking around with a perma-stiffie for the rest of my life!" He laughed good-naturedly to her.


~*And I know, what I feel
And this time I know its real...
I know that I just gotta keep movin on*~


"Seriously? You're not mad at me? You don't think I'm a whore? Oh Goku! I love you, you know that?!" She cried as she jumped back up into his arms, this time wrapping her legs around his back.

"See what I mean, you're not going to be happy until I fuck the hell outta you, are you?" His voice said it as a joke, but his eyes told otherwise. They had a mischievious glint to them, and they sparkled with a fire that Bulma had never seen before.

"Ok, I'll leave you alone, ChiChi's probably worried sick about you, and I need to get home. Oh jeez Goku, what if he comes back tonight? I hadn't even thought about that. He's gonna come kill me in my sleep, and no one will even know until they come to check on me weeks later....." Bulma talked more to herself than she did Goku, working herself into a panic.

"Ok then, what would you rather have happen? You can stay at my house, or I can stay at yours, it's your call. Personally, I'm rooting for your house, I need a break from my loving wife...." Goku let his voice trail off at the end.

"Ok then, Capsule corp it is, but um, would you help me get rid of the bed that's in my room? I don't think I could ever sleep on that thing again...Please?" She asked him, her voice cracking at the end, as if she was about to cry.

"Hey, no problem, it should only take a minute to get your bed switched, you look like you could use some rest, anyway. Now, let's get outta this water, you're starting to turn into a prune."

"Hey. Goku, one more thing..." Bulma called after him

"Yeah?" He asked as he turned around to face her

"Made ya look." She taunted as she walked from the water, exposing her backside to him, which in turn caused his mouth to fall open a full 2 feet.


~*I know whats in my heart
I can feel it
My time has come*~



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Boy, that was a long sucker, wasn't it. I hope I didn't make Bulma sound like a slut too much there, I just wanted to show the obvious chemistry between the two, along with the fact that Bulma's not just going to roll over and die, not matter what, see, there's a method to my madness, come on people! review my story! The more reviews I get, the more it inspires me to write! Hint hint!!! Till next time...Buh bye!!