The Worlds Smartest

This Is The Enforcer Speaking,

Thank you so much to everyone who as read to this point. Thank you my constant readers and committed reviewers. To all those who have followed and favorited this story. It really helps me keep going.

Now…On To The Story!

Hope

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

His voice brought her back. She heard him like pray, through her, within her. Her mate's soul wrapped around hers, burning, binding. Liquid fire roared in her veins. Commanding her not to leave. She wasn't allowed to go before him. Bulma opened her eyes.

Vegeta held her in his arms. His hair a wild array of golden spikes and his eyes glowing teal fires. Golden Ki burned around them.

"You saved us." She reached up and touched his face. He turned his cheek into the touch.

Her mate stood with her in his arms. "Not everyone."

"Are you going to kill me?" The plaintive question drew their attention over to Krillin. He stood off to the side, arms crossed, head down. Vegeta looked at the male, eyes narrowed, but with their connection open as it was, she could feel his decision before he made it.

"Not today." He turned his back on Krillin and made for their ship.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The meteor shower started as they flew to the ship. First small rocks and then larger ones began falling in a rapidly increasing rate. They thundered against the haul of the ship. Racing to the cockpit Vegeta dropped her lightly in the pilot's seat before climbing into the one next to her.

"Strap in," she said. The command mostly directed to Krillin as she used the controls to strap herself and Vegeta in place. No arguing came from the back this time as she began the sequence of commands to bring the ship off of its belly.

More asteroids hit the ship and it shook with the impact. Bulma yelped as the ship lurched forward, listing nose down, over the edge of the cliff. With a creak the ship began losing its battle with gravity. The fall wouldn't kill them but without the ship they wouldn't be able to get off of the moon and that giant ball of Ki would eventually break through the shields and destroy Vegetasai.

"Do something fast." Vegeta's voice was strained. His hair and eyes returned to normal as he sat, clutching the armrests of his chair, his fingers leaving deep dents.

"I'm working on it." The engines came to life.

They fell. Krillin screamed. Bulma grabbed the controls, switched to manual override, and pulled up. The ship dipped sideways as a large rock slammed into it. Scrapping against the cliff wall Bulma saw Vegeta twitch like he wanted to reach for the controls.

"Don't! You'll just break my ship." Her eyes shifted to the now fully mangled arm rests.

Growling he pulled his hands back as they spun briefly out of control before Bulma righted the ship. Once airborne dodging the largest meteorites was childs play. Well, mostly. She spun the ship through the air, flipping, rolling.

A rock slammed into the window right in front of her face making her flinch.

The window held.

They shot out of the storm and into space.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

His mate and son lived, he was the legendary Super Saiyan, and all that was left was to save his planet. Vegeta watched the Ki ball slowly wearing away the shields around their planet. Generators blew in brilliant white explosions across the surface. The purple tinged shield waivered with each loss.

"They're being overloaded," Bulma explained in a whisper. "It's a domino effect. Each compensating for the last. Failing faster and faster."

The ship tumbled through space seemingly out of control, but he knew his mate had full control of their flight. Her skills were both a surprise and impressive. She took them skimming along the surface of the shield until they were a safe distance from the attack before plummeting down. The barrier parted before their ship, allowing them to slip through unscathed, before closing behind them.

Judging by the progression of Frieza's attack the shield was not going to last much longer.

"I'm setting us down just below the attack. Vegeta, when the shields fail you're on."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

He flew into the sky, a golden blur against the sky, to meet the falling star of Frieza's final strike.

"Shields at fifteen percent," Krillin said, hand on his scouter.

Bulma's eyes were glued to her mate. In her mind she knew they were safe, Vegeta killed the monster, now was just clean up. But her heart still hammered at the site of him facing down the attack.

"Ten percent." Krillin updated.

Ki battered her as Vegeta powered up. His power was unbelievable, she felt it in her bones, felt it radiate through her in an awe-inspiring wave. The display was so distracting Bulma didn't realize his parents where there until they landed beside her.

"He did it." The former King looked mildly battle worn but no worse for wear.

Vegeta's mother turned her dark eyes on Bulma. "It is as I saw it."

"You knew? All along, you knew?"

"My dear child, why do you think I sent him, across galaxies, to you?"

Krillin interrupted softly, "Shields at five percent."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Bulma asked. Eyes going back to Vegeta's glowing form.

"Four percent."

Endeev sighed. "If I interfered any further, I risked everything. All of our future hung in the balance."

"Three." Krillin counted down.

"Your love for each other had to be true. Earned through blood and tears," she whispered.

Generators exploded around them.

"Two."

"Vegeta needed to find something in this universe to be more important to him than his own life."

All eyes turned to the sky.

"One."

"You saved him."

The shields fell.

"You saved us all."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Frustration, anger, everything that'd forced his transition in the first place poured forth once more as he watched the shield fall; the shield gave one final shudder and was gone. Frieza's final attack still held enough force to destroy their planet if he failed to stop it.

Throwing his hands in front of him Vegeta braced himself. His power came when called, flowing from his core and filling his palms. The Ki ball shot forward as soon as it was free from its impediment. Rocketing down in a deadly blaze.

Glowing energy filled his vision. Blinding him. The golden blaze of his power mingling with that of Frieza's. He could not see. But he could feel. The heat from the blast, the power of its energy radiated off of him.

It was time.

Throwing his hands up Vegeta roar.

He caught it.

Muscles bunching, power exploding from within him. His own strength still a surprise he held the deadly attack at bay with little effort. A wicked grin stretched across his face as he realized the power that allowed him to kill the lizard was not temporary. It was permeant. It was a part of him now and forever. His lingering fear that his success against Frieza had been a one-off fluke faded and he laughed. The sound maniacal even to his own ears.

"I am Vegeta. King of All Saiyan's, and I the most powerful being in the universe!" The words were for him, for Frieza's damned soul, for all who listened to hear.

And, with that, he threw Frieza's now useless final attack, back out into space.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

In a rush her strength left her and Bulma's knees collapsed. Strong hands held her, kept her from the ground. Looking up she met the eyes of Vegeta's father. In a sweeping motion the large male picked her up into his arms. The former queen lay a hand gently on her arm.

Vegeta came back to them in a golden streak, landing before them. In a gentle wash of power he shifted forms back to his normal state. Hair and eyes fading back to black. Wordlessly his father handed her over. She settled into his arms, comforted by his strength, his presence. Pure joy radiated through her, his joy, hers now too.

A joy that quickly dissolved in the face of reality. In war all sides had casualties. Even the victors. This one was no different.

"We need to find Chi Chi and Gine." She turned her face in against his chest. "They were a bonded pairs."

Closing her eyes Bulma felt the weight of exhaustion settle around her shoulders despite the booster of Vegeta's Ki. A reminder of both her condition and the overwhelming events of the day. He nodded against her before giving the commands to find mates of the fallen first before beginning the offical accounting of casualties and prisoners.

"The castle still stands for the most part. The east wings been damaged enough that the occupants will need to move into our wing for now. We have the room." Endeev updated them as they took to the sky.

Under normal circumstances she would have argued with being carted around but in that moment Bulma preferred being cradled in her mate's arms. Closing her eyes, she relaxed into him. Trusting him as always to keep her safe. She drifted off to sleep.

Her eyes flew open. Heart hammering. The room was lit with gentle blue lights, the glass on the nightstand sat, unmoved, half full. Their rooms. She was home. Warmth clung to her back. Rolling over Bulma met Vegeta's steady gaze.

"How long have I been out?"

"Only an hour." He reached out and brushed the fallen strands of her hair out of her face. "I thought I lost you."

"Never."

He gifted her with a rare smile. "So stubborn. So proud."

"Always." She ran her thumb along his lower lip. "Say it again."

"Which part?" he asked.

Bulma shook her head. "You know what I'm talking about."

Even in the low light Bulma could see the red burn across his cheeks. Felt his flash of embarrassment. His struggles were evident as he fought with his pride and his desire to please her. To both avoid the words and to say them freely.

It only took him two tries to get the words out. "I love you."

Warmth filled her. He meant it. As surely as she'd known he meant them in the heat of battle she knew he meant them in the quite aftermath. This truth laid bare not only by his words but by the connection they shared. To know what love felt like not just in herself but in him. It was a blessing and a curse bestowed upon them by this bond they shared.

"I love you too." Her lips met his briefly. "With all of my heart."

"We have much to do but I would have you rest if you would actually do as told." At her look he continued, "But we both know you will not do so."

"That we do. First, a shower and then back to buisness."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

He watched his mate's ass as she walked to the bathing chamber. All he wanted to do was strip her of her suit and bury himself inside her warmth. By right's he could, maybe should, take her. To reaffirm their connection. Yet the exhaustion he felt from her stayed his hand, his body. His woman was strong for a human and filled with his energy, but his young sapped her strength. Between that and the events of the day it was a testament to her stubbornness that she was even on her feet. No. It was best to allow her rest. At least that is what he told himself.

Settling with his back against the headboard he crossed his arms and listened to the sound of the shower running. Everything still held the faint shinning edge of fantasy. Leaving him with the feeling that if he thought too hard, he would wake up to find it had all been just a dream.

Just to prove to himself he could, Vegeta called his new form into being. Standing he made his way over to the large mirror over their dresser and saw himself as a Super Saiyan for the first time.

It was striking, the changes, nothing like he would have imagined. Eyes a rich green the color of the ocean and hair as gold as a yellow star. His muscles were marginally larger but not extraordinarily so and he could feel the difference in his power. What an odd transformation and one not easily missed. To think of what he had nearly lost to achieve this… Of what would have been lost had he not obtained this…

Meeting his new eyes again he released his Super Saiyan form. The effort of maintaining it could be felt. He would need to train in it as to maintain it for greater periods of time with less effort.

"Vegeta?" His mate called to him. "What are you doing out there?"

Of course, she had felt the shift's in his Ki. "Experimenting. You should be able to appreciate that."

He could all but feel her eye roll. It made him smile. She did that to him more often than he would like.

"Why don't you join me in here?"

Padding over to the bath chamber he looked inside, he could see her silhouette against the frosted class of the shower. "Perhaps you should conserve your energy?"

It felt a bit like he would be taking advantage of her. Even if his cock screamed at him to do as asked.

"Perhaps," she mocked. "You should do as you're told for once."

Smirking he slid aside the shower door. Revealing his mate. She was as beautiful as the first time he laid eyes upon her. Body strong and lithe except now there was the gentle swell of his young inside her and that made her all the more appealing.

"Are you not tired?"

She smiled at him, blue eyes twinkling, and ran the soap laden wash cloth across her firm breasts. They were larger, fuller, than before. Her rosy pink nipples budded beneath the soapy bubbles. His eyes followed the running trail of soapy water down to the short curls at the juncture of her thighs.

He was the only male she had ever taken and now she carried his young. The thoughts hardened him to the point of pain. Growling he stepped into the shower. Hot water beat against him. Steam rose around them.

"You are mine." His voice dropped to a growl.

Her own beast flashed behind her eyes. The briefest glimmer of red.

"Then take what's yours."

Clothes hit the shower floor. Hiking her legs up around his waist he sunk into her wet warmth. A groan slipped passed his lips as he pressed her against the shower wall. So tight, she was always so tight. He pulled out of her and thrust into her again. Gently, carefully, he moved inside her. Fear held him back, fear at his new strength, fear at hurting her.

"Show me," she gasped against him. "Show me."

A shudder ran up his spine. Little teeth found their way to his throat. Bulma gently bit his neck in a silent plea. To his shame his knees went weak and he had to throw out an arm to brace himself against the wall. Tiles cracked easily under his hand. Fear pricked at him. Fear of hurting her with all his new strength.

Their eyes met. "I am much stronger now."

Gentle fingers cupped his cheek, held his jaw, as she brought her lips to his. "You won't hurt me."

His soul ached at her faith in him. Her trust moved him in a way nothing else could and he submitted to the one soul in the universe he would. His power washed over him, his Super Saiyan form sliding into place even easier than before. Pouring his power into her she accepted. Their life energies melding. Strengthening her.

"Strong, you're so strong." Her voice dropped; her beast rising to the surface.

Growling he carried her from the shower and laid them out on the bed. He thrust into her not trusting his strength with her even as she held so much of his energy. Arms shaken from the effort to hold himself back and wracked by frustration he rolled them over, settling his mate atop him.

"Move for me," he commanded.

Bracing herself against his chest she rolled her hips. Sliding herself along his length. Throwing his hands to the side he fisted sheets and blankets. Riding him harder, faster, than she usually would he sensed her urgency. Her desperation to reconnection with him. Movements nearly frantic, Bulma drove them to release. Bedding tore as he came, pleasure roared through him, as she too found her release. Her body clamping around, milking him.

She collapsed, panting, to his chest. Untangling his hands from the mangled bedding Vegeta held her in his arms, glided his hands along her sweat slicked body. Her pale flesh soft and unbruised under his hands.

"I was so scared," she whispered.

"I thought I lost you," he said at the same time.

They lay there in silence for a moment with feathers floating down around them like snow.

"We're going to need new blankets," she laughed.

"And another shower."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Chi Chi lay unresponsive in the hospital bed. Her face gaunt and body pale. No one sat next to her, not even Bardock's mate Gine, who was holed up in her home refusing to speak to anyone. Determined to fade away herself.

Machines monitored her vital signs. They were already fading.

"Chi Chi, this isn't just about you." Sadness laced her words. "This is about the baby too."

There was no response. No blip in the monitors to show anything registered. Frustrated Bulma stalked away. Chi Chi's child was all that remained of the Saiyan line who'd cared so much for her. They were good people and she didn't want to see that last of them die.

Vegeta stood quietly off to the side. Would she have done the same had he died? Her hand landed on her abdomen. No. No way. Maybe after the baby came but she wouldn't have let her child die with her. She was strong enough to sustain their young on her own. At least that's what she believe and she couldn't thank the Gods enough for not having to find out.

"Are you sure this is the only way?" Bulma asked the doctor. The tall, thin, male was Bardock's second. Bulma couldn't remember his name at the moment.

"Yes, the fetus' Ki is unusually high for its developmental stage. It has a high likely hood of survive upon extraction and implantation in one of our biochambers. Her vital signs are failing fast."

The biochambers, Bulma had been informed, were similar to regeneration tanks and would act as an artificial womb allowing a fetus to finish it gestation outside of the mother's body. The only caveat being the young had to be strong enough to survive the surgery to remove it and place it in the tanks. Most Saiyan females refused to use them unless the situation was extraordinarily despite. Viewing the act of carrying and bearing their children as a matter of pride and honor.

"Will she fade faster or slower after it's done?"

"If she survives the surgery, I suspect it will slow her death due to the decreased physical strain on her body of supporting the young."

"How long does she have like this?"

The doctor paused and reviewed the notes in his tablet before responding. "Judging by these read outs she could pass in the night. The operation is risky but the odds are better with it than without."

Bulma paced. "If we can get her into a tank right after the surgery maybe we can get her to wake up and see him? Maybe seeing her son will help?"

The male frowned. "It's possible but we can't know for sure if she will ever wake up."

"What should we do?" Bulma met Vegeta's dark stare.

The King made his way over to her and in a rare showing of public affection took her into his arms. Bulma turned into his embrace. They were both still feeling the aftereffects of believing the other lost and now to have to deal with this?

"You know," he said. "You know what has to be done."

The surgery was a risk. Not having the surgery, we certain death.

"Do it." She turned to look the doctor in the face. "Do it now."

"I will call the team in immediately. Do you wish to stay your majesty?"

"Yes."

And so, they stayed. They stayed through the blood, and the organs being laid across Chi Chi's chest. They stayed through the long moments of bated breath waiting on a cry they feared may never come and yet did. They stayed when mother and son were placed in tanks and only left once all that could be done had been.

"They're both alive," Bulma said. "For now."

Vegeta held her against his chest. "That brat of Kakarot's is strong. Even I have to admit. His mates' fate is in her hands now. Either she lives for the young or she does not."

"I know." Looking out across the sea, glowing golden in the setting sun, she raised the bloodstained letter she clutched in her hand. "Piccolo left me this."

Part of her didn't want to open it, didn't want to read it. His last words. The last thing her friend had to say in this universe and once said that would be it, no more. Strange how it seemed this one last act would really be the death of him. Bulma actually debated not reading it. Of leaving some part of him alive in her mind. Yet, that seemed to be a disservice to the male who'd entrusted her with his last words.

Vegeta held his silence as Bulma broke the seal. She unfolded the wrinkled cream stationary and paused.

"What language is that?" Vegeta asked.

"His." She smiled. Of course, he'd make her have to put all those lessons to work. "One last test I see."

"Can you read it?"

"Yes."

Her eyes drifted across the page and as she slowly deciphered the words her hands began to shake. The first tear fell, hitting the page, blurring the ink and Bulma quickly brushed away the next.

"What does it say?" Vegeta's voice rumbled against her.

"It says there's hope. It says that if we travel to his home world and speak with his elder, we can retrieve something that will let us wish everyone back from the dead. He calls them…" Bulma rescanned the words again to make sure she had the translation right. "Dragon Balls."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

A/N: Well, some of us knew this was coming. Maybe some didn't? But what would this universe be without the Dragon Balls? Hope you like the plot in this chapter. Until next time…

~The Enforcer