Please be advised, this chapter might contain some triggers.
Kome was slowly stretching under the blankets in Tama's nest as the room slowly got brighter. His movements had his brother whimpering in protest at his side, and he chuffed at the cub to calm him when he noticed that Tama was not in the nest. The heat that came from the older saiyan's body was missing meaning he had been gone a while. He scrambled to his hands and knees ignoring his brother for the moment. He fought with the blankets until he managed to get his head free, and he looked around the cell with fear in his heart. Images of Bad One or Cold One hurting Tama ran through Kome's mind until he spotted Tama by the clear wall next to the New One.
Kome sagged in relief at seeing the beta, but he glared at the spot a moment later. Why was Tama by the new male? He growled a little in anger, and his tail bushed up behind him as it lashed in the bedding. The male was taking all of Tama's attention away from them! Tama was under a blanket too! He spent the night by New One!
"Kome?" Seba's voice held fear at the sound of his older brother's rumbling, and the larger boy moved to gather him in his arms. Kome rubbed a hand up and down the other's back as he purred to reassure the smaller cub. He eyes kept flicking over to where Tama and the male were by the wall.
"Tama?" Seba softly asked as he followed his brother's gaze to the clear wall. He tilted his head as he looked at the scene. "Tama sleep by Nice One?"
"Shhh!" Kome hushed Seba as he detected others close to the cells. He looked up in alarm as the sound of footsteps paused a moment before moving on. He let out a relieved breath when the footsteps were out of range. He gave his brother a sharp look which had the boy shrinking back a little.
The older cub let out another sigh and pulled the younger one in a hug. He didn't mean to be mean, but Tama told him when he was younger to never let the others know that they could talk. He said that bad things would happen, and he wouldn't be able to stop them. Kome pulled back and brought up hands.
I'm sorry, but you can't talk with them around. He signed to Seba. Tama taught him when he was smaller, and he taught his brother as soon as he was old enough. Tama said that it was used when warriors needed to be silent.
I forgot. It's no fun being quiet. Seba huffed as he moved his hands as well. The expression on the smaller cub's face had Kome smiling. He glanced back around, and his eyes lingered on Tama and the male. He didn't like that they were so close to each other. A gentle tugging on his sleeve had him looking down. Why are you mad?
Kome's eyebrow lifted at the question. He didn't even realize his small fangs were showing until just then. He shook his head not wanting to talk about it, but his brother was looking at him with those cute, wide eyes.
New One. I don't like him. Kome finally admitted. He glared at the still sleeping alpha. He hurt Tama and now Tama spends more time with him than us. He had to try very hard to keep from growling again.
Tama must be worried. Nice One was hurt by Cold One. I could smell it. Cold One used a bad thing.
Seba was right of course. New One was hurt. He made Cold One stop watching Tama and Seba. Stop calling him that.
But he's nice.
You don't know that.
He smells nice. Seba fired back.
You think Cat Lady smells nice. Kome signed rolling his eyes at his little brother.
She is nice. She gave us that toy, remember? Cat lady lets us see Tama.
Just because someone smells nice doesn't mean they are nice, Seba.
He played with me.
He is not nice! Kome snapped in irritation his gestures sharp and forceful. He hurt Tama. That means he's not nice!
Then why is he locked up like we are? The little cub questioned. He looks like us, Kome. You think...maybe they made him hurt Tama?
That had the older boy faltering for a moment looking unsure as he thought about the question. Kome looked over at the male with a frown. He was still sleeping, but now he had turned so that he was closer to the beta.
That was something he hadn't thought of happening. Most males that had been here with Tama were soldiers for Cold One. This male was a prisoner like them so maybe…he wasn't like the others. He did protect Seba and Tama from Cold One and get hurt.
"Kome?" His little brother whispered getting his attention and Kome didn't chide him for it.
I don't know, Seba. The older cub admitted bitterly. Even if he was forced, he still hurt Tama. I still don't like him. Seba let out a questioning mewl, but the older boy didn't respond. Kome was thankful that he finally just let it drop and let his brother lean against him as his mind processed what Seba said.
Seba didn't understand why Kome was being stubborn; Tama liked Nice One. The small tail swayed contently while he cuddled against his brother feeling safe. His eyes landed on the beta that was still sleeping. The smaller boy frowned as he watched the sleeping saiyan before looking up at the lights.
Tama was usually awake when it was this bright. Seba squirmed in Kome's arms until he was on the floor. The larger boy made a sound in the back of his throat as he watched his brother scamper over to their Tama. He narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the lights as well.
"Tama?" Seba whimpered giving the beta a nudge with his head.
++VK++
The prince woke feeling sore everywhere before he rolled onto his side, and his eyes widened in surprise. Toa…Kakarot was curled on his side breathing softly right beside him. The beta was sleeping deeply in the same place he remembered the beta sitting the previous day. It was touching that Kakarot was worried enough to sleep by him even before the events in the illusion world.
Soft growls drew his eyes to the beta's nest and watched the two cubs moving their hands back and forth in sharp patterns and gestures before he realized just what they were doing. Vegeta watched the cubs in amazement. They were using an older version of combat sign, and they were flying through the signs so fast that the prince could only catch a few of the signs. Tama, nice, hurt. It seemed like the boys could communicate easier with their hands than verbal. He knew they were smarter than they let on, but he wasn't sure why they were considered "failures". They looked like full saiyans, they had most of the instincts so much as he could tell. They were timid but that was probably due to what ever treatment they had seen and their age.
Kakarot must have taught the older one before Toa became the dominant personality, and he did a very good job if these are the results. How had Kakarot taught a young cub Sign? There were adults that couldn't do what he was seeing. For that matter, how smart was Kome? Kakarot was dormant for most of the younger cubs life so Kome had to have taught the little one. He thought back over Toa's explanation. Seba was close to five years old give or take. Five and he signed more fluently than he did or even Bardock.
There were so many questions Vegeta had for Kakarot. Like why his tail being grabbed hurt him. Kakarot had trained his tail, he remembered that clearly. Another soldier during training drills had grabbed it thinking to subdue Kakarot only to have his arm broken. Bardock had insisted Kakarot train that weakness out, refusing to let him take an assignment until his tail wasn't an issue.
He watched as the little one scurried over to Kakarot and nudged him and frowned along with the older cub when the beta didn't rouse. He wasn't sure what time it was, but Kakarot didn't sleep as much with the lights on unless he was in the nest. Had the beta been awake part of the night watching over him? Inhaling he scented to beta when Seba's whine didn't make the beta respond. He didn't smell anything out of the ordinary, no sickness or drugs.
The alpha gritted his teeth as he moved to push his upper body up so he could move closer to Kakarot. He could see Kome move out of the corner of his eye to come closer as Seba's mewling started to become panicked.
"Ka-Toa?" Vegeta questioned, but he didn't get a response. He started to feel concerned the longer the smaller saiyan remained asleep. He reached out slowly so that as soon as his fingers touched the force field, small crackles of harmless energy popped in the air. The feral beta didn't even twitch.
Kome came over to chuff as his brother to calm him before pulling the blanket off their parent. He shook the slight body, but once again there wasn't a response. The only thing keeping Vegeta calm was the rise and fall of Kakarot's chest that he could see, but neither cubs took comfort in that. Both were starting to get frantic.
"Looks like now is the perfect time for 01's checkup." Sorbet's voice had both Kome and Vegeta looking over at the entrance to Kakarot's cell. The small male was standing by the purple haired feline and a few others with his hands behind him. "Get the scanners ready and, Ren, get ready to grab his tail. Who knows when he'll wake."
Kome was moving to place his body between the scientists and his family while Seba whimpered and moved closer to the sleeping beta. The prince watched as the older cub bared his fangs as he tried to make himself look larger than he already was.
Sorbet let out a sigh at the sight when Kome let out a surprisingly vicious snarl for his age, and he walked over to the wall and pulled something shiny off it. Chorri looked at the blue alien in alarm making the prince wonder what it was.
"Sir, is that really necessary? He's only a boy."
"Chorri, Gohan is getting too dangerous. He still has his juvenile fangs, but they are lethal like 01's. You can't keep coddling him." Sorbet glared up at the woman. His green scouted started to beep and from what the alpha could see, the power level was rising. "His power fluctuations are another thing. Already it's becoming a hassle for the guards! If this isn't put on soon, it'll be a security risk!"
"He's upset!" Chorri hissed back. "You know both cubs are always upset when something happens during Lord Frieza's visits. If you would stop ordering these meat heads to manhandle the boys maybe they wouldn't be so terrified and cause Gohan and 01 to lash out. Sorbet, please, reconsider. We don't need to use that, he's never hurt anyone or lashed out unprovoked." Sorbet opened the cell, and Seba keened trying to burrow under Kakarot with how tightly he pressed against the beta. Kome growled and snarled again, backing up a step as the guards entered. A soft grumble from the sleeping form drew everyone's attention.
Vegeta felt relief when the beta's dark eyes wearily opened and looked towards Seba blearily. The prince could see the beta was exhausted but otherwise ok. Kome's posture immediately relaxed as he looked back at his tama and gave a small smile of relief. Chorri gave the other scientist a look that could only mean 'I told you so', and Vegeta could see Sorbet was considering her words. Kakarot's shoulders shifted sluggishly as he moved to get up, and everything went wrong.
Battle instincts kicked in for Vegeta as he noticed one of the guards raise a gun on the beta.
"What are you doing!?" He snarled both in worry and anger. The gun fired, and a small dart hit the beta's shoulder making him cry out it pain before slumping to the floor out cold. Kome's eyes narrowed. and any sense of calm the cub had was gone. He was fast, like Toa, and used his hands to rend not punch. The little cub hit the now shocked guard in the legs with another snarl as he went berserk. What shocked Vegeta was the man's scouter beeped alarmingly and exploded.
The boy managed to wrestle Gan down to the floor, knocking the dart gun away from him. The guard was unable to subdue the cub, and Kome raked his claws over the guard's face. Two shallow slashes split the skin, but they were enough to cause the orange male to let out a shout of pain. The noise only spurred Kome on, and he let out another fearsome growl as tried to go for the larger being's throat. Gan had to work hard to keep those fingers from tearing or choking him.
Kome yelped as Sorbet and the other guard quickly worked to subdue the cub. The older boy was pinned snarling with one of the guards kneeling to pin his arms and the other gripping his tail and pinning the struggling legs while they wondered why his tail wasn't subduing him. The cub was in a full blown battle rage.
"This is why we have to do this, Chorri."
"Gan provoked him, Sorbet! He didn't need to shoot 01." Chorri pleaded. "He was calming down, please, don't do this."
"I'm not about to take that risk." The blue man said sliding the object around the cub's neck and locked it in place. Vegeta felt a sinking suspicion settle in his gut followed by horror when the blue alien pulled a remote from his pocket. The alpha's fists slammed into the force field with a bloodthirsty snarl.
"Don't you dare use that on him!" There was a yelping shriek from the cub as he went still. Seba was crying and nudging Toa trying to wake him up.
"He'll be fine. It's on the lowest setting." Sorbet explained looking at Chorri. "I only used it to snap him out of his fit. He's just stunned right now." He gestured to the two guards. "Put him in the cell with Vegeta. We'll let him back with 01 when he wakes up."
The two orange men from before grabbed the older cub under his arms and dragged him over to the force field. There was a beeping sound coming from the ceiling, and Kome was pushed through the field before sealing back up.
Vegeta forced his body to crouch close to the dazed boy and assess his condition rather than attack the two guards for hurting a cub. Black eyes blinked up at him in confusion, and Kome let out a groan as one of his arms twitched. The prince looked over what skin he could see under the color only to see it slightly red. Not seeing any real damage to the cub had Vegeta relaxing before crying had him jerking his head to the other cell.
The guards were picking up Toa and turning him around while Seba was trying to cling to him. Chorri moved in before Sorbet could order either of the guards to do anything to the small cub. She placed him on the floor and covered him with the blanket the beta had covered himself with overnight. She was about to say something, but Sorbet snapped out her name.
"Chorri!" The feline woman winced with her ears lowering and looked at the crying boy with sadness before placing him in the corner and moving to help the rest with Toa. They managed to move him a little bit away from the barrier to start their exam while Sorbet snapped and threatened if they damaged the beta in any way.
"Kome!" Seba cried out with a whimper as he pawed at the force field trying to find a way through to his brother. "Kome!" The tiny cub had tears streaming down his cheeks, and Vegeta felt his heart twist at the sight. He moved to try and somehow comfort the distraught boy when the body beside him jerked.
Kome growled as he slowly turned over. He gritted his teeth as he crawled over to the barrier. He shook his head to push away the after effects of his shock, and he managed to get to the clear wall beside the crying cub.
Vegeta could only watch as the older of the two placed his hands on the force field and started to search for a way through. Seeing how the boys were acting, it made the alpha wonder if they had ever been separated before now. It vaguely dawned on him that Kome was the one to raise Seba since Toa was so feral.
After seeing that it was useless and Seba started to cry more, Kome snarled and started to hit the wall with his fists. Energy crackled around the cub making Seba flinch and cry harder. The loud sound had Chorri and the others glancing over at the sight, but they quickly went back to what they were doing.
"Seba!" Kome just started to beat his hands harder on the wall making the energy that was sparking up burn his hands. Vegeta could see the desperation in his eyes over not being able to get through the wall. Seeing that the larger cub was scaring and making it worse for Seba had the alpha moving to him.
"Stop!" He whispered in Kome's ear as he pulled him out of reach of the wall. All Vegeta got was a snarl as the boy struggled in his hold to go back to futilely trying to break through the wall. He winced as sharp claws raked over his arms. "You're going to hurt yourself! Stop!" Kome snarled again and from the corner of his eye Vegeta noticed the Sorbet watching, his hand going for the remote again.
"If you don't stop, they'll shock you again." Vegeta growled lowly. "You have to calm down. Do you want Seba to see them hurt you?"
"Seba…" The name was whimpered out as tears filled the young alpha's eyes. Vegeta could smell the fear the young cub had and let a deep rumble come from his chest. The long brown tail latched around the prince's leg as he shivered and let out a distressed keen. Seba whimpered in response and curled himself into a ball, tail tucked between his legs and gripped tightly between his little hands. The little one whined before the tip of his tail ended up in his mouth, his small teeth nervously chewing the furry appendage while hiccups and soft cries escaped him. Kome about lost it again, and Vegeta found himself holding the older cub tighter once he felt the boy's breathing speed up.
"Shh. Breathe with me, cub." Vegeta softly growled in saiyan. He needed Kome to calm down if he was going to get anywhere with calming Seba or convincing them to put Seba in here. "Calm down. They aren't hurting your tama, they're checking the cubs. The cat won't let them hurt Seba."
Kome whimpered but the cub's breathing started to slow down and match his own. The boy was still shaking, his eyes refusing to look away from his little brother as the tears fell. Seba was still crying softly, but Vegeta could see the cub was beyond distressed, soft whines coming from his throat with every exhale. Kome whined but slowly started to relax his body as the stress eased.
"That's it, cub. In and out." Vegeta soothed as he continued to let the soft growl rumble in his chest. He slowly relaxed his hold on the boy, but was ready to restrain him if needed. He glanced over at the smaller cub to see him start to calm down too. "Relax. If you relax, Seba will too."
The alpha wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually Kome was limp in his arms. His eyes never left his brother no matter which way the larger male shifted them. Vegeta let out a small relieved breath as he moved to set the cub in his bedding by Seba.
The young alpha crawled so that he was as close to the force field as he could get without touching it. He laid down on the thin mattress and blanket until he was about even with Seba. Now that he wasn't frantic in reaching the smaller boy, Kome slowly reached out with his hand to touch the barrier.
The wall only sparked once before settling down so that he could rest his palm flat on the wall. The sound had Seba whimpering with tears falling down his cheeks again, and Kome let out a chuff to try and calm the smaller of the pair. Seba whimpered again as he shifted closer to the barrier.
The prince watched the two for a few minutes before he let out a sigh. He moved to run a hand through his mane only to grimace at the flare of pain in his muscles. Seems like the pain from his shocking was still in his body, and now his head was starting to hurt over all the drama.
"Hey," Vegeta called out to the group still around the beta. He could see that they were close to being done and were now moving him back to his nest. "If you're done, could you either put the smaller one in here too or let the other one go back?"
"Why, Vegeta…" Sorbet muttered as he came closer to the wall as the guards hurried to leave the cell. "I didn't think you'd care."
"No more than I would for any saiyan cub. I might be a bastard some the time, but even I won't let a child hurt themselves. You call us brutes, we might do plenty of cruel things to our enemies, but even we would never put a shock collar on a child, certainly not one who is scared and upset." Vegeta spat back with a sneer. "But no, right now I just want a nap to deal with the headache your pet morons left me with, and the cubs will be quieter if they are together. Plus, I doubt Toa will be happy to see that one of his cubs is with me instead of his side of the cell while the other is worked up to the point of being catatonic. You don't want to upset him, do you?"
"And what if you decide to hurt them?" Sorbet questioned getting a snort of amusement from the alpha.
"Please, spare me your paranoia. I'm not going to do anything to the cubs. For that matter, like the older one I'm still in pain from your master's tender mercies. I just want to sleep this off like a bad hangover."
Surprisingly it was the cat who acted, doing something with her bracelet and kneeling in the corner before gently scooting the tiny cub and the blanket into the cell with his brother. Kome quickly pulled the small cub to his chest and wrapped his body around his brother in a frantic attempt to hide and shield him.
"Chorri!"
"You made it my job to look after the children. You ignored me earlier, and we saw how that ended up. 01 will be hostile for days or weeks if he feels the children are threatened, especially after yesterday. If they are calmer with Vegeta, then that is where they will stay right now until 01 wakes up." She snapped on the verge of hissing. Sorbet looked like he obviously wanted to argue, but seeing the two cubs were calmer and not bothering 01's rest he decided against it.
"Well, at least one you had intelligence." Vegeta mumbled as he moved closer to the cubs so he could rest his head on the edge of the bedding. Sorbet just gritted his teeth and started to storm out, and the prince smirked as he yelled out. "Oh! Be a dear and dim the lights please."
Chorri covered her mouth to keep from laughing as the small male glared over his shoulder before walking out of sight. Her yellow eyes flashed brilliantly against her purple hair with mirth before they flickered back to the prince.
"It was a kind thing you did, prince." Her soft voice had Vegeta cracking one eye open to look up at her. He frowned and opened his mouth so say something when she cut him off. "I'll deliver the boys' meal in an hour. I'll try and get something for you as well."
The alpha could only watch as the feline woman walked out of Toa's cell with that damnable smile on her face. He growled as he settled back down with his hands behind his head thinking over her words.
"Humph. I am not kind."
"Liar."