Raditz ducked under a punch that was thrown his way by his sparing opponent and quickly followed it up with an elbow jab that sent the other skidding back a few feet. The long haired alpha rushed after the faceless man as he tried to push the turmoil out of his head by fighting something with his fists.
"Hey! Ease up, Rad!" His current partner shouted as he blocked a kick. The force he had put in the blow was almost enough to shatter bone, and Raditz blinked as he came back to himself.
"Damn it." They hissed checking the damage "This is only training not out in the CZ! Whatever your problem is, go take it out on someone else. "
The other saiyan snapped as he left the training arena, and the long haired saiyan was once again without a partner. Raditz growled as he stalked over to his stuff to grab a quick drink before he tried to convince someone else to be his punching bag. Atarau didn't move from where she lay by the wall passively watching the other occupants of the arena.
Muscles trembling with adrenaline, the alpha sat down to at least try dialing his aggression back. He wanted to lose himself in the rush of battle, but his father and the king had ordered that any saiyans involved with the rescue team had to remain planet side until the whole ordeal was over. Raditz both hated and understood why the order was given, but it didn't help with venting his frustration.
He was almost desperate enough for a fight to challenge his father, but Bardock was in worse shape than he was. The alpha glanced over at the other side of the arena to see the older saiyan work his way through a group of brash 1st class warriors that had thought the general had only gotten his title because he was friends with the king. Surprisingly even after nearly 25 years people still made that stupid assumption.
Bardock roared hitting one of his victims hard enough to drop him to the ground out cold before catching a kick aimed at his head and swinging them into another of their little group. The biggest of the first class group, a brute almost the size of Nappa, got close enough to land a hit on his father's cheek, but all it did was piss him off. As he watched his sire retaliate with an especially brutal beating, Raditz thought better of going over there. He wanted to remain out of the tanks at the moment.
It had been a few weeks since Turles had become part of the rescue operation to save the prince, and he brought more information that made Raditz's head and heart ache. He couldn't believe that that video the space pirate had shown had his little brother as the victim. Once the shock had worked it's way through, rage had quickly taken its place.
"How long has he been at it?" Nappa asked off to the side. The longer haired warrior snorted.
"You know she won't bite, you can sit down." He teased. "Unless you're afraid you'll break the bench."
"Stop trying to provoke me and answer the question, hairball." Nappa growled. He glanced at the puma, giving her a wide berth before joining his teammate. "Seriously, how long?"
"Not sure. Before I got here a few hours ago?"
"This isn't just about Vegeta, is it?" The glad man asked. "Your dad isn't quite all there if you catch my drift, but it's been worse since the pirate showed up. Kakarot still bothering him?"
Raditz just nodded remembering that morning.
Flashback
He wasn't sure what woke him up, whether it was the smell of liquor or the cursing from the kitchen. He didn't see his father anywhere, or his uncle for that matter.
"Finally awake?" Raditz snarled and jumped off the couch. "Please, I figured you'd have learned your lesson last night."
"Where is my father!?" The younger growled, but he remained where he was.
"Passed out in his nest." Turles said dropping into the recliner allowing Raditz to see the pirate was literally only in his pants revealing a myriad of scars that crisscrossed his chest. "Woke up a few hours after you got here and tried to hop a pod to 228 again. I managed to talk him out of it before he broke down and drank himself into a stupor. Honestly surprised he handled that much alcohol. He's not a light weight, but most of my crew can't handle that much Serenity in one shot."
With a wary look the younger alpha moved into the hallway to check on his father. Sure enough his sire was in the nest out cold. Atarau was curled around him and looked up as he kneeled in the furs for a better look. Turles had striped his boots and armor off at least. Bardock stank of alcohol, enough to make the son press his wrist to his nose to block the stink.
It was the tear tracks that were dried on his father's face that worried him. Bardock was many things, but he wasn't someone that often cried. Raditz only remembered seeing his father shed tears twice, their mother's death and the day Kakarot was officially declared MIA. His father wasn't going to be up anytime soon and certainly not in any shape to do anything.
Checking to make sure the furs were covering him how his father liked and giving Atarau a scratch or two, he returned to the living room and sat on the couch rubbing the stiff muscles in his neck.
"Satisfied?"
"What did you tell him?" He asked the pirate. "I know he asked you for help with Vegeta and about Kakarot. You told him something bad if it made him get drunk enough to cry." Turles sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"It has to do with your brother." The pirate said. "If I show you, you can not tell anyone. If they know they'll pull Bar off the assignment, and we both know that will get someone killed."
That made Raditz pause. His brother...
"Kakarot is dead." He couldn't afford to believe otherwise.
"You sound rather certain."
"Because I saw what the planet he was sent to was like afterwards. I saw the number of bodies they found, and the only way for Kakarot to have killed that many, regardless of his skill and tactics, means it was a trap to begin with. I know the odds of survival in that situation. I have to believe he died because the alternative is worse if that video you showed us is any indication..." Turles could see how much the beta's disappearance hurt the young alpha.
"It nearly destroyed Father. Kakarot was a miracle, a real blessing from the goddess. Mother...wasn't supposed to have any more cubs. She was hurt on an assignment, and the medics said it wasn't possible for her to have anymore cubs. Four years later she got pregnant." Raditz fell silent and Turles knew what his nephew wasn't saying. Gine hadn't survived the birth.
"Kakarot was born a month early. He was so small and weak they didn't think he'd make it through the night. His power level was 2, but he proved them all wrong. He screamed louder than any of the other cubs in the nursery the next morning."
"Father was always overprotective of both of us, but the fact Kakarot was a beta only made it more obvious in his case...to be honest I'm just as guilty. We both trained him every chance we got because he wanted to fight so badly, to prove was strong enough. He never said, but I know he worried about finding a decent mate. With Kakarot being a "third class", I was afraid he'd wind up forced into a poor match when he started his heats."
"I asked your father a question." Turles said after a few moments. "One that I'm going to ask you." Raditz stared in confusion as his uncle pulled up the last image of the video he showed the council. The blood drained from the younger males face as he watched the image clarify and freeze as the saiyan turned.
"Oh Kalious..." It hurt seeing his little brother like that. He wanted it to be anyone else, but the scar on his chest, his eyes...
"I swear by Leeke I will knock your ass back out if you have a hissy fit like your father." Turles snapped flexing his ki. Raditz forced himself to calm down despite wanting break things and make some one bleed.
End Flashback
Raditz still wanted to make something pay. He wasn't satisfied with sparing and training. He wanted to break the ones that hurt his baby brother. He wanted an adrenaline rush to block out everything and make him forget.
His hands twitched as they attempted to curl into fists, and Raditz had to keep from just stalking out of the arena and hopping a pod to the zone. Unfortunately, Turles had been keeping a close eye on both Bardock and himself, and he'd probably be knocked back out before he made it out if the building.
"Do you think he'll stop any time soon? You know…preferably before we don't have any warriors for the combat zone?" Nappa's voice broke through his thoughts, and he had to clench his jaw to keep from snapping at his partner. "I don't think I've ever seen Bardock like this before."
"Who knows…he's tried to hunt after any of the big beasts out in the Wastes, but apparently they aren't enough of a challenge anymore." Raditz watched his father take out the last of his challengers before he started to look around for another opponent. "He's been like this ever since the morning after Turles showed up." He glared at Nappa out of the corner of his eye.
The larger saiyan winced at the reminder of that day, but it didn't improve the long haired alpha's mood. That morning had been rough on all of them.
Flashback
"Raditz? What are you doing here?" Nappa asked confused as the long haired warrior answered the door. "Where is your father? He didn't show up for work in the lab." Raditz cursed knowing what he'd forgotten to do. His father was in no shape to work today.
"I came to check on him last night after the meeting. Father….isn't well right now, he won't be working today, at least not until later." He said carefully, mindful of his father's long history of never lying when it came to his career. Nappa snorted and crossed his arms over his chest while fixing Raditz with a glare.
"You are full of it. Bardock has never been sick. Why are you covering for him?" Raditz bristled angrily and stepped out of the house before shutting the door behind him.
"Did it ever occur to you that the video my uncle showed us could have hurt my father on top of whatever 'loving' treatment my deranged uncle gave him? Do you think my father 'let' himself be a hostage?" Raditz snarled at his senior. "My father had to watch something that pointedly showed a saiyan being tortured to death and realize my little brother, the person he has been looking for over fifteen years, had a real chance of being put through that hell before he was killed!"
"You think Kakarot-why!"
"There wasn't a body Nappa. If Kakarot did kill all those people on the planet he went missing don't you think they'd have made an example of him after they killed him, that Zarbon would have strung up his mutilated body like the sick bastard he is?"
"That's still no excuse for missing work, Raditz. That video made all of us upset, hell Yasi was nearly in tears." The bald man crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, move before I knock you on your ass so I can drag that lazy bastard out of bed."
"Like hell you will!" The younger growled as his tail flared. "He went without sleep for nearly 3 days before my crazy ass uncle showed up and just had a major breakdown last night. I swear to Tarro if you set one foot in that house, I'll put you back in a healing tank old man. And if I don't, good luck getting passed Atarau."
"We don't have time for this." Nappa growled as he paled. Everyone knew about the night puma Bardock kept in his house, and it wasn't very hard to figure out what Bardock would do to anyone that hurt the large cat.
"One day isn't going to make much of a difference. If you're that concerned go do something useful and pester the tech crews in charge of the beacon project. They have an entire team plus the information Turles gave us. They don't need my father to hold their hands."
End Flashback
"Thank the gods we're leaving soon. These training sessions of your father's leave people half dead. Maybe the two of you can vent whatever is eating at you on the mission."
"I hope so." Raditz said watching his father angrily stalk out of the arena towards one of the locker rooms. "I really hope so."
++KV++
Bardock snarled in the darkened corridor before lashing out and punching the wall. After a moment, he leaned his forehead against the cold stone letting the pain from his hours of sparing wash over him. He couldn't close his eyes though. Every time he did all he saw was Kakarot's face and the sheer terror in his eyes. He couldn't sleep, not without collapsing in exhaustion. Lucky for him, no one had questioned him on it assuming he was that dedicated to bringing Vegeta home.
And he was. He desperately wanted to get Vegeta out of whatever hell hole Frieza had him stashed in, but he was more worried about his son. Kakarot wasn't even close to Vegeta's strength despite being skilled in hand to hand, and that only took a fighter so far without raw power to back it up. Bardock wasn't sure if he should pray for his son to still be alive or if his kyauta would be better off in the arms of Kalious and Tarro. His heart was torn, and he felt sick at the thought of betraying his youngest.
"I can safely say you put those stuck up morons in the healing tanks." Turles said making Bardock turn around. His older brother was leaning casually against the wall eating some fruit Bardock was unfamiliar with. "You know that is a training hall, right?"
"It's not a good training session unless someone ends up in a tank. Your own words, remember?" Bardock sniped back catching the towel his brother threw him as well as one of the strange fruits. It was red and covered with spike like ridges that were oddly not sharp. "What is this thing?"
"Lakas, found it on a dessert planet. This was one of the only plants that grew there. Its packed full of energy and doesn't take much to fill you up. Makes for good ship food since it doesn't spoil fast. Don't think I haven't noticed you aren't eating or sleeping. I know you have slept in at least two days this time. I know you're dedicated, but you have to rest"
"I can't sleep, and you know why." Bardock growled as his shoulders trembled in rage. "Its all I see when I close my eyes, Tur. I can't block it out. It just makes the anger come back all over again."
The older alpha sighed as he watched his brother stand there. He had been questioning if showing Bardock the cleaned up image of the video was a good idea especially after the morning after he did. The dark skinned saiyan had to suppress a shudder as he remembered the commander's rage.
Flashback
Turles had managed to drift off to sleep on the chair despite the night puma watching him from where she laid by the couch close to his little brother, but a groan had the space pirate jerking awake and reaching for his blaster.
Seeing that it was only Bardock waking up had him relaxing enough to let the blaster go before he moved to watch the younger alpha blink his eyes open. His eyes narrowed in confusion as they roamed around the room until they landed on his brother. Bardock blinked in confusion as he stared at Turles until they widened in realization. The younger male remained still for a few minutes, and the dark skinned saiyan shifted to check on the other.
His ki suddenly spiked making Atarau whine as she darted to hide behind the chair the pirate was sitting in while Turles moved back at the suddenness of the spike. Small arcs of energy popped over the commander as he snarled and got up to stalk towards the door not even saying anything to Turles.
"Whoa!" The rebel shouted as he moved to block the path to the door. "Where the hell are you going? It's the middle of the night."
"I'm going to string Frieza up by his entrails for putting my son through that! Get out of the way!" Turles narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders.
"I'm not about to let you get yourself killed." Turles barked back. "You won't make it 2 miles into the CZ without getting blasted into stardust."
"You saw what he did!"
"Yes, and it pisses me off too, but you can't be stupid about this!" He roared back. "Kakarot might not even be alive, Bardock. That video was from years ago. I want to kill him too, but face the facts; you can touch the psychotic bastard. It's infuriating, Bardock, but it's the truth. No one is strong enough to outright kill the demon, Broly might be able to, but they'd likely kill each other and whatever world they battled on."
"I can try!"
"Do you think your son would want you to kill yourself in some rage fueled attempt at revenge!" It was a low blow, but Turles knew if he couldn't break Bardock's rage he'd have to resort to other methods; and he really didn't want to draw attention by being forced to put Bardock into a healing tank. "Tell me, Bardock, is that what Kakarot would want? Is it!"
Turles and Bardock locked eyes in a heated glare before the younger alpha looked away and trembled.
"No…." Turles couldn't believe the amount of pain and just…brokenness in the tone as he teared up. Bardock had always been a strong cub. He almost never cried even then, and after he was older he had only seen his little brother cry once. Bardock never knew but he was there when Gine had been sent on the Path to Tarro's Meadow. Only his brother's outright hate of him kept him from approaching and trying to comfort him.
He couldn't think of anything to say to help Bardock through this, and his eyes met Atarau's purple orbs at a loss of what to do as the younger alpha remained where he was with silent tears on his cheeks.
"Hey, Bar." The space pirate softly spoke as he came to awkwardly wrap an arm around the other's shoulders to guide him back to the couch. "It's gonna be alright. We'll get that bastard, but you have to be patient."
The commander didn't respond from where he was looking at the floor between his feet. He didn't even move to look at the silver furred cat as she came over to nudge his side, but he did move a hand to rest on her head.
"It's all my fault." The words were spoken so quietly that Turles had to strain his ears to hear them. He moved to see Bardock's face, but it looked alarmingly blank. "If I hadn't fought with him that night, Kakarot would still be here. I'm the one that put him there. It's my fault. I might as well have hurt-!"
"No!" The pirate snapped as he grabbed the other's shoulders to shake him. He glared at his brother as soon as their eyes locked, and he had to bury the pain and sympathy for Bardock once he caught that broken expression. "Don't you dare finish that!"
"But-"
"Don't!" He snarled at the pale skinned saiyan. Atarau gave a growl from beside them, but Turles ignored her. "Ok, yeah, you had a fight with him that made him go seek out a mission. I get that, but it wasn't your fault he was taken. Someone else gave him a solo assignment, not you." He paused for a second as he processed what he just said.
"Think about it, little brother. Use that big brain I know you have." He guided. "Someone gave him the solo assignment. Someone gave an under aged beta a solo assignment. Why in all the hell's would anyone do that?"
"You think there's a traitor?" Bardock said slowly.
"Maybe." Turles admit. "There's something weird going on with this whole situation, and I don't like it."
"Just wait a few more days, brother." Turles said quietly. "A few more days, and you can rip apart any of Frieza's men we run into."
"Do you think he's alive?" Bardock quietly asked back.
"I know if he's anything like you and the little spit fire you told me about he didn't go down without a fight, Bar."
End Flashback
"I still have a hard time believing you drank that much Serenity and still managed to halfway walk to your nest that night." The pirate muttered, and Bardock snorted over the words. "Anyway, eat that. If you insist on pushing yourself like this, it'll make me feel slightly less liable if I see you put something in your stomach."
"Hn," the younger alpha huffed as he took a bite of the red fruit feeling slightly surprised over the sweet taste. "Can't have that now can we." Bardock quickly devoured the lakas as he realized just how hungry he really was, and made a noise in the back of his throat as he almost immediately felt full after swallowing the last bite of the large fruit.
"See?" Turles smirked at his brother and started to follow Bardock as he walked to the locker room. "Told you it was a good ship food, but I do get burnt out of it after awhile. It's hard to get regular supplies sometimes."
"I wonder why you have so much trouble." The commander just sarcastically huffed as he stripped off his sweaty pants not even caring that Turles was watching him. He stepped into a shower stall and hurried to clean off the last several hours of intense workout. He let out a yawn as he scrubbed his fingers through his thick mane.
Bardock shook his head to get most of the water out of his hair and to fight off the sudden fatigue that washed over him. After he gave himself one last quick rinse, he stepped out of the stall with another yawn. He bypassed a towel and just dried himself with a quick burst of ki.
The space pirate watched him with a close eye as he pulled on his bodysuit pants before sinking down on a bench. His fingers held onto one of his boots loosely, but he couldn't muster the energy to put it on. He rested his head against the wall and blinked owlishly in slight confusion.
"Looks like you're worn out more than usual, little brother." Those words had something almost like concern in the tone; and that had something in him scream out a warning, but his mind was becoming to fuzzy to think straight. Bardock groaned as he slumped further in the wall, and he saw the dark skinned saiyan move to crouch next to him. "It shouldn't have kick in that fast. Maybe I gave you too much."
"Di-did you…drug me?" The younger man slurred out as he fought to stay awake. In the back of his mind, he was shocked that he wasn't surprised over this. He let out a weak growl as Turles moved him to lay on the bench as he gathered his brother's stuff.
"I'm doing this for your own good." The pirate rolled his eyes as he pulled the strings to shut the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "We leave tomorrow, and you need to sleep. You'll only get someone killed if you charge into battle like this."
"But-…" He didn't want to sleep. He'd just see what happened to his cub over and over again.
"Don't worry about dreaming. I gave you a sedative that will keep them away for now, so you can actually rest." The older alpha knelt so that he was next to Bardock's head. "You can take out your anger on the Cold's men when you wake up."
As Bardock's world darkened, he resolved to beat his brother as soon as he woke up again.