Ahem DBZ is not mine, nor do I own any of the characters...Though I have delusions of someday buying it...But as for right now I am broke and can only afford to write about it... So don't sue me.

Cruel Games

Chapter 6

Greed rears its ugly head

At Capsule Corp, nothing you see on a daily basis could be called usual, but as for the people who live there, they would tell you things had been going as they had been for a while; As usual.

Bulma kept to her lab and her inventions, while Vegeta kept to the GR, training incessantly. No one would have thought something had transpired between the two, and of course no one would have guessed.

Bulma of late had been working on a new invention meant for use as a personal shield. She intended to use it for herself when she got too close to a battle, as well as market it to those in the world like her who were not of the fighting class, and needed protection. (The world had been threatened enough times; she didn't know why no one else had thought of something so basic)

Tinkering away, her thoughts strayed as they often did of late, to the night (well, morning, really) she had spent with Vegeta a few weeks ago. It still left her feeling warm and tingly, but as she had suspected, her life had not changed after their intimate encounter. When she had awakened alone she was not surprised, and her suspicions had been confirmed in the weeks following by Vegeta's cold demeanor. In short, life had returned to normal.

She still felt a small pang of loss about Yamcha, and wondered if he was feeling any guilt in cheating on her. She knew she could find another man, but thought she had had enough of men for a while. She would let her mind settle and hope nothing disturbing happened...

Vegeta thought of himself as a machine, strong and determined with one thing on his mind; Training. Or at least he would have liked it to be that way...

He fought to control his mind, trying to keep it in check, away from thoughts of a purple haired woman... Over and over he repeated the same schedule, rising before the sun and training until hunger and exhaustion drove him from the GR. He did allow himself time to dwell on the happenings of a few weeks ago. But nevertheless he remembered what he felt when with the woman, more than he would ever admit to. What was meant to be a game at first had become something more. He felt a possessiveness toward her that was quickly becoming a nuisance in his own head. If left to its own devices, his mind would obsess over the time he had spent with her, the scent of her hair...The feel of her skin...

Punching a training bot', he crushed metal that was soft to his hands. Maybe he should go away for a while, to let himself remember what he was training for, with no distractions. There were plenty of places on Earth that still harbored wilderness, secluded and private. The idea seemed like a novelty...When was the last time he had a vacation? Of course he'd be training, but he liked the thought of miles between him and any humans...especially female. Just a few weeks, for he had to return to the GR to keep up his conditioning, but he could bone up on tracking skills and the like...yes, this was a good idea indeed. Vegeta rather missed hunting and killing his own food.

With that, Vegeta headed off to his rooms to gather the few clothes he would need. He needed little else, as he could provide for himself.

On the way out, he paused at the door to Bulma's lab, considering telling her he was leaving, but decided against it. The sight of her would only put more disturbing thoughts in his head. He walked out the front door and flew off, searching for his private refuge.

It took the better part of a week, but when Bulma noticed Vegeta's absence, she wondered where he could have gone.

He didn't take the spaceship, so he must be somewhere on Earth...

She decided to let it be, and went about her business. It was probably a bad idea to go looking for the sayain, she could guess he wanted to be alone. She wandered into the kitchen and to her surprise, found her mother there.

"Hey mom, what have you been up to?"

Mrs. Briefs looked up from the timer on the oven and smiled

"Why hello dear, I haven't seen you in a while so I thought if I waited long enough you would show up for something to eat, so I just made some cookies, and here you are!"

Bulma smiled back at her mother. Capsule Corp. was so big she only saw her parents when she sought them out. This side of the structure was hers, and they lived in the other. Each had their own kitchens and living quarters. Occasionally her mother would come and say hello, and it made her feel not so alone.

"You could have come to my lab; I've been there all morning."

Her mother waved her hand in the air, bending down to check on the cookies.

"Oh, you know I hate to disturb you at your work. You know you're so much like your father, always working on some project or another."

"I never mind you, mom. You never need anything bigger than an alarm clock or radio fixed..."

Mrs. Briefs pulled the cookies out of the oven and placed them on a cooling rack.

"So how's that sweet boy of yours Yamcha doing?"

Bulma realized that there could have been no way for her mother to know that Yamcha had fallen out of her good graces.

"Um, we haven't been speaking much, not really at all, lately..." She was embarrassed to tell her mother the truth that he had cheated on her.

"Oh, really? Than what's that big bouquet of flowers doing in the living room?"

Bulma paused from grabbing an orange juice from the fridge.

"What??" She said, giving her mother a strange look.

"He dropped them off a little while ago, I said you were in your lab, but he didn't want to disturb you, such a sweet boy."

Bulma's mother didn't notice the bemused look on her daughter's face as Bulma drifted out into the living room to where an immense bouquet with a dazzling array of flowers sat upon one of the tables. She reached into the folds of some forget-me-nots, and pulled out a small card with her name on it.

My dearest Bulma,

We need to talk

Love Yamcha

Bulma was more shocked than anything.

To think that Yamcha had the guts to pull this off after what he..!

Bulma had mixed feelings about the whole thing; On the one hand, she was mad that he would try to get back on her good side...On the other, she was happy he still thought of her, even though she knew he had cheated...

Maybe it was only the once, and he wants to make up for it...

Bulma toyed with the possibility for a moment, and then left the bouquet where it was and went to her room. She would not call him, no; She would make him crawl all the way back if he was serious about her. He would have to call her.

It was another week before Yamcha called her, apparently giving up on the hope that she would call him first.

Bulma knew who it was when the phone finally rang.

"Hello," she said calmly.

"Bulma? It's Yamcha... Listen, I need to talk to you about a few things...Can I take you out to dinner tonight?

Bulma thought for a moment. So does he want her back? Or is he just trying to apologize for mistreating her? She thought it would be interesting to find out, if nothing else...

"Alright, why don't you pick me up at 8:00?" She let no emotion into her voice, kept him guessing.

"Great! I'll see you then, bye sweetie."

She made a little rude sound while hanging up the phone.

He's calling me sweetie already? Looks like he has something more in mind than just an apology. She felt just a tad unsure, but decided to go along with the date. She would see where this led...

Vegeta had found his refuge, a dense gully in the middle of a lush jungle. Using controlled chi blasts, he had fashioned a cave for himself in a rock wall and had already made a few furs for sleeping on. He had fallen back into his old ways easily, hunting and stalking; he never knew how much he had missed it. A small fast flowing stream provided water, as well as a natural dam provided a bathing pool. He spent his days in the wilds, tracking the biggest animals and dinosaurs he could find, honing the skills he used back in his service of Frieza.

Only occasionally his thoughts would wander back to Capsule Corp., to the blue-haired woman... And occasionally was better than he had hoped for.

Yamcha was at Capsule Corp. at 8:00, it was the first time in a long time he was not late. His car was clean and shiny, the red paint glowing in the twilight. He was confident in his strategy, having let Bulma settle for a few weeks after finding out he was cheating on her...He figured she was done being mad at him and beginning to feeling sorry for herself. The perfect time to make up with her.

Striding to the big front door, he rang the bell and waited for a response.

Bulma opened the door to reveal she was wearing a light blue dress, sexy yet conservative, with just enough bust showing. She had dressed that way on purpose, to keep him off guard, and to give him the impression that she wasn't going to accept him with open arms.

He smiled down at her, and handed her a single red rose.

"Shall we?" He asked.

They got into his car and drove to a nice restaurant, one that overlooked a small expanse of water. Their table was on the balcony, under dim stars in the fading sunset.

Yamcha pulled her chair out for Bulma, making sure she was comfortable. He then sat down and reached across the table, taking her hand.

"Bulma, sweetie..." He looked into her luminous blue eyes, "Can you ever forgive me?"

Bulma looked to the sunset, breaking eye contact. She suspected this would happen, but now she didn't know what to think.

"I don't know, Yamcha... You hurt me very badly. What assurance would I have that you wouldn't do it again?"

"Bulma, it was a moment of weakness, a mistake, I promise on my love for you that I will never hurt you again!" Yamcha's eyes shone with determination, but Bulma didn't know what it meant. Determination to keep to his promise, or to make her his again?

"I will have to think about it, Yamcha. I don't know what to say yet."

This was what he was expecting, because Yamcha sighed in relief. He smiled warmly and squeezed her hand.

"That's better than I hoped."

They finished their dinner talking about other things, about the upcoming battle with the androids and Bulma's new inventions. Yamcha was intrigued by the personal shield idea she was working on, and expressed an interest to see it.

The sun had fully set by the time Yamcha brought her home. Standing on the front entrance, he took her hand, bringing it to his lips. Bulma allowed this, but felt undecided about it.

"Good night, sweetie,..." He said, and turned to go.

Bulma watched him get in his car and drive away, her head a swirling whirlpool of emotion.

Later, getting ready for bed, Bulma was still churning over the night's implications. Could she go back to Yamcha? Even after what he had done to her? Would she feel resentment for as long as they were together? She had expected to marry him, planned to spend the rest of her life with him... But that had changed now. Even if she went back to him she didn't think she would marry him...Even though he was the first of only two people she'd been with...

And what about Vegeta? She didn't know what to think of that either. She hadn't expected anything to come of their game, though it had ended a little more serious than she thought it would. Should I hold out in the hope that he feels something for me, something more than animal lust? If only he would show some affection toward her, like Yamcha...She hadn't even seen him in almost two weeks, and what made her think he was coming back at all? The GR room sure, but other than that, all that seemed to keep him here was the promise of a good fight with the androids, and even then he might turn on Goku afterwards.

Bulma knew Yamcha's offer wouldn't last forever, she would have to decide soon.

Bulma had strange dreams that night...

Vegeta had been gone almost two weeks now, and was enjoying his respite. His cave was now furnished nicely, even included a fireplace. He had been keeping himself busy with hunting and small battles with large prey. On this night, he was roasting his latest kill over a nice fire outside of his cave. He looked up at the stars, and out of habit scanned the section of sky that planet Vegeta would have been in. He knew it wasn't there any more, but he could still look at the star that was once his home planet's sun. Vegeta mused over the loss of his race, the death of his fathers' Empire...The Empire he had been heir to. Vegeta's thoughts went back once again to the blue haired woman, and this time he didn't fight it. He knew he would have to return soon, the GR training had to kept up, or else he might lose his edge. He wondered what she thought about him being gone, did she miss his presence? Maybe that weakling Yamcha had come sniffing around again, but he knew he shouldn't worry about that- Or did he? The suddenly disturbing thought invaded his calm. The idea of Bulma with another made him extremely uncomfortable, and he miles away! He wanted to leave, right then, and fly back to Capsule Corp., but managed to keep his cool. He would return tomorrow, maybe just for a day, and calm himself over what he thought was a fool's worry.

What could possible happen in this triangle of love and lust??????

Don't miss the exciting continuation, next time, on Cruel Games!!!!!!

don't despair, fair readers! For those of you with a similar obsession with Vegeta, you won't be disappointed! -Sylex