Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters.
I have the tōgoku pic drawn posted on my DeviantArt account. The link can be found on my profile.
Special thanks to TFSrules, vegetas4evasweetheart, Princess Caramel, KimiruMai, DaniellaDBZ4ever, RaiynetheHedgehog, middlekertz, LunarSinner, blonde22, AeonWhisperer, lionheart19, rychefan, threeam inkblot, and multiple guests.
Bulma was stunned into silence looking into the eyes of the man everyone feared. He was livid. It was obvious that he discovered the tōgoku was gone. Bulma swallowed nervously and tried to speak again, but no words came out.
"Spit it out, girl," the king snarled. "I don't have all day. What did my son do with the tōgoku?"
Bulma mentally felt relieved. He didn't know she had it, but he expected her to know something about it. Well, there was one thing Bulma was good at back on Earth with all of the fake people she knew.
How to play dumb…
"What's a togaku?" Bulma asked in a feigned confusion that could only be perceived as genuine.
The king narrowed his eyes at the young girl and circled around his son's bed to get closer to her. "Do you mean to tell me that my son has told you nothing of the weapon I use?" he asked skeptically.
Bulma frowned and shook her head. "No, sir," she answered honestly. However, the king was not done with her.
Bulma was shocked when he lifted her by her neck. "Do not lie to me!" the king shouted as Bulma gasped for air. Then he noticed something. The girl's arms moved to cover her stomach protectively. He dropped her back onto the bed on top of her files, and Bulma put her hand on her neck and worked on catching her breath.
"You are pregnant." It was a statement, not a question. Bulma could only nod, and hope and pray that he would not harm her or her child. The king sighed in frustration and used his hand to attempt to wipe the frustration away from his face. "This is a mess. The boy is an idiot."
Bulma was still trying to catch her breath, but she did not want the king talking about Vegeta in such a derogatory manner. "Don't…don't call him that," she said hoarsely.
The king flashed to her his expressionless mask. That made her feel more nervous because she couldn't tell what he was thinking. Unfortunately for her, he lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder, making sure not bang her stomach around. "You are lucky," he whispered darkly in her ear. "I already made a promise to my son not to harm you if I ever found you to be pregnant. This is the one favor I will grant him."
"W-what are you going to do to me?" Bulma asked nervously. The king said nothing but started rubbing Bulma's back suggestively. She cringed and could feel him smirking without even looking at him.
"You let me worry about that," the king replied as he left the room. As he walked down the hallway, Bulma was able to see Nappa knocked unconscious and started worrying about him more than she was worrying about her predicament.
It wasn't until she was brought into a pitch-black, underground dungeon that she started to panic. She could handle dark, but this was just too dark. "I can sense you getting nervous," the king stated. "Why? I have already told you that I will not harm you."
Bulma shivered a bit and said, "How can I be sure? When I angered you before, you grabbed me by my throat, and you just repeated that just now. I don't know if I can trust you…plus…" She stopped herself from telling him that she couldn't see. That would just give him the advantage.
He didn't press her. He already knew that her senses were dulled. He threw her a little roughly to the floor of a cell and locked her in. Bulma quickly stood up and grasped the bars. The king just smirked at her. "Don't worry, scientist. I'm sure my son will come for you. I just hope I don't lose my temper before then." He then left her alone in the cold dungeon.
Bulma's eyes widened. He was going to keep her trapped here until either he found the tōgoku or he fought Vegeta. Vegeta wouldn't be able to sense her as it looked like she was surrounded by ki restraints. She knew what they were because Nappa had shown them to her when she started working in the lab. Whenever she was given the task of repairing them, she usually made it seem like she fixed them when she didn't.
Her ki was already weak as it was. Vegeta would have had difficulties sensing her to begin with. Please Vegeta…help me…find me.
Vegeta froze in the middle of his attack and received a punch to the face from Kakarot. They were both in their Super Saiyan forms, but after the hit, Kakarot went back to base form and looked shocked.
"Vegeta, are you all right?" Kakarot called out to his friend.
Vegeta changed back to base form and put his hand to his head. Kakarot flew over to him to help him out of the wall he just punched him into, but Vegeta smacked his hand away.
Please Vegeta…help me…find me.
"Bulma," he said.
Kakarot raised his brow at him. "What about her?"
"I heard her…I've never heard her through the bond before," Vegeta stated in amazement.
"Maybe the bond between you two is stronger than you thought," Kakarot suggested. "I mean maybe it just took longer for the connection to develop between you because she's human."
She sounded terrified, Vegeta thought to himself. He stretched out his ki to sense hers and found that he could not locate her; however, his father's ki was vibrant and located in his throne room. "No," Vegeta growled.
"What's wrong?" Kakarot asked, his expression becoming serious when he saw Vegeta's darken.
"The bastard is awake," Vegeta told him. "And he has Bulma somewhere. I can't detect her."
"Probably the dungeons," Kakarot pointed out. "I'll go get her; you go take care of the creep."
Vegeta nodded to him. He clenched his fist tightly and then sped off in the direction of the throne room. His father would pay for ever laying a finger on his mate.
Bulma was pacing in the dark room. She had no idea how to get to Vegeta, or at least warn him that his father was onto him. The good news was that the king seemed to buy that she had no knowledge of the tōgoku. With that in mind, Bulma managed to start to relax. She also knew that both Vegeta and Kakarot were Super Saiyans. They had enough strength, before the transformation, to take down the king. Now their victory was guaranteed. This also comforted Bulma greatly.
I heard you.
Bulma's head shot up and she stopped her pacing. The voice in her head sounded an awful lot like Vegeta, but that couldn't be right, could it?
Our bond is stronger now, she heard him say. Kakarot is coming for you. Sit tight.
Bulma started to feel dizzy. This mental communication was a little too much for her to handle. She leaned against the wall and slid down holding onto her head. What was she supposed to do? Respond? Wait patiently? Could she contact him again? Would she distract Vegeta if she tried to communicate with him? She didn't want to be the reason he got into more trouble.
A sound of an explosion brought her attention back to her being in the dungeon. When the dust cleared she saw Kakarot. He didn't look happy and started looking for a way to open the cell. It was clear that he wasn't too familiar with the dungeon.
He marched up to the cell she was in studying it. Bulma was still dazed from feeling Vegeta's presence in her mind. It was both comforting, yet desperate. The king getting ahold of her must have upset Vegeta more than she had could have ever imagined.
"Bulma, stand back," Kakarot said. His voice was serious and strict. It left no room for an argument.
Bulma looked at him strangely. She was completely perplexed. She was already at the back of the cell; she couldn't go any farther. Instead, she stood up and just stared at Kakarot. The Saiyan sighed and motioned for her to stand at the side of the cell, away from the bars. Bulma nodded and took cover behind the stone wall as Kakarot blasted the bars. After Bulma slowly ran out of it, Kakarot looked back and his face returned to its innocent self. He rubbed the back of his head nervously and said, "Man, I guess this is just one more thing we have to get fixed, huh?"
Bulma's expression flatted. Could he seriously be thinking about that now? Bulma then gasped as she realized that Vegeta must have been going to face his father.
"Kakarot, how do I talk to Vegeta again," Bulma asked desperately.
"Huh, what are you talking about?" Kakarot replied. "You can talk to him after he fights his father."
"I mean through the bond!" Bulma shouted.
"Oh," Kakarot said. He crossed his arms in contemplation. "Well, we really have no idea how you did it to begin with. No one expected a human to bond with a Saiyan. I mean, I'm not surprised, though, since Chi Chi bonded with me."
Bulma just stared at him in irritation. That was not going to help her. Well, if she couldn't let Vegeta know that she was out through the bond, she would instead go to him, hopefully before he faced off against his father.
Kakarot was still deep in thought as Bulma took off in a sprint to the throne room. He saw her run by him and called after her. He sighed in frustration as she rounded the corner before he shook his head and flew after her. He had to keep her away from that fight.
A/N: Well, when I originally wrote the chapter, I tried not to leave it on a cliffhanger…I don't think I succeeded…sigh :/