Bulma found Vegeta tossing restlessly in bed when she returned to the estate. At first she considered rousing him but feared he wouldn't awaken clearheaded. Then, to her surprise, Tama dashed out of his room. She was furious. He had intentionally chosen to expose himself, but this was Vegeta, and she accepted how being taken down by an illness so simple would have enraged him. Luckily he seemed to be fine...physically.

Maybe there would never be an "in-between" for him. So much of his personality centered on being all-or-nothing player, but yet he also expressed longing something more with her. It wasn't just loneliness. They had a chance, but right then Bulma finally chose not to be caught between Vegeta's morass and her father's pressure: neither mattered more than her own self-respect and peace of mind. Vegeta had to fight for her - and for him. Those were her conditions if their relationship were to continue.

She could tell he was awake now by his breathing, but he didn't move. She could sense his fatigue, but she was exhausted too.

"Please don't leave yet."

Bulma let out a small sigh but kept her hand firmly planted on the door knob. The man rarely said please. Maybe this was the first time he said it to her?

He's testing whether he can physically approach me.

"Vegeta, you can test how the custom gravity unit works in the spaceship once I finish installing it. My concern is making sure the engine and fuel are powerful enough to maintain the ship's thrust. The unit makes this vessel much heavier than the other Capsule Corp rocket you used for interstellar travel."

Vegeta recognized Bulma's "scientist speak." She was putting emotional distance between them once again. What could he expect? She was following his lead this time.

"Is that all you have to say?"

Bulma ignored the impatient coldness in his voice. He was merely toughening himself for their oncoming discussion. So was she.

"Treat this ship like another home," she continued. "If you're injured, it's now fully equipped with tools to help you return for emergency treatment and healing, much like the space pods you used before coming to Earth. Be careful where you land."

"You are repeating many facts of which I am well aware." Vegeta pulled an exercise shirt over his head and stood. "I watched your work, remember?"

Bulma's grip tightened on the door knob. "It's entirely up to you to decide the location to complete your training either inside or outside of the ship."

Vegeta couldn't stand hearing her flat, emotionless voice anymore. He couldn't help but think she was trying to punish him, and that angered him. No one would ever bully the prince of all Saiyans into apologizing for anything - no one. Worse, he was still shaken mentally by the flashback.

"Bulma! Stop it right now."

"Don't you dare snap at me, Vegeta. You left me on that mountain today as if I had done something wrong. That can't happen anymore. That won't happen anymore."

"I told you I had to think! You would not leave me alone. I just needed time."

Bulma thrust her finger into his chest. "It's amazing to watch you act like a first-class jerk and still make it seem like you're the victim. I will not tolerate it."

Vegeta's eyes slowly scanned the length of her arm until his gaze locked with hers. "You will not tell me what to do."

"So why did you ask me to stay here, Vegeta? Perhaps you didn't hear me correctly. I'm thinking about my needs."

"So this is all about you." Vegeta smiled. Her words proved his earlier suspicions that she had hidden intentions. He wanted to believe that theory, at least. "You could not wait two days after we slept together before attempting to control me. I asked you to stay here so we could agree that what happened between us must end now."

For a minute Bulma thought this was a bad joke. Was this man listening to himself?

Of course he wasn't.

"How am I trying to control you, exactly? You really are delusional. No - you truly are a legend in your own mind."

There was a long silence until Vegeta felt a small gust of wind blow through the window.

"I may be many things, Bulma, but I am not delusional. As much as I want to make your father pay for humiliating me, he is right - and guess what, I will not apologize for it. What we did together was a mistake. Then, when I heard him threaten your position at Capsule Corp…"

Bulma raised her hand to stop him. "So what you're saying is my tiny father has finally scared you away from being with me. And let me guess, you also assumed I would accept his terms about running Capsule Corp. over being with you - because that's what you would do, right?"

"Yes! Yes, I would - and that's the difference between us. That will always be the difference."

Bulma lifted her chin defiantly. "Don't be so sure about that."

Vegeta reached backward to rub his neck. How could this woman be so naïve? Her behavior almost seemed like willful ignorance. Had she always been like this? He couldn't understand how people with blind spots for others didn't get themselves or anyone else killed. He had proved repeatedly he was unworthy of her "blind spot" for him. He was abandoning his affectionate connection with her after only a couple days. What more proof did she need?

"Oh, I am sure, Bulma. While you stand and judge me, consider the intensity of your own work. You live and breathe it as much as I do with fighting - and despite your failure to admit it, that passion can lead to ruthless decision-making. You have the ability to create and destroy with your brilliant mind and raw talent. That, my dear, is power. Perhaps you should focus on the benefits."

"And you have an opportunity to be more than what you think you are, Vegeta. I'm not the enemy. You're the one standing in your way - not Goku, not me or my father, not being on Earth, and not even your past."

"I am fine with who I am!" Vegeta shut his eyes as if doing so would block the sting of her words in his mind. "I am… fine with who I am. Now get out."

"You have a choice right here." Bulma stepped forward and placed her hand on his cheek. "When you return to Earth, don't expect that I'll be waiting for you with tears and longing. I have done my job and supported you. Now you have a job to do. That's all I expect now because as I said earlier, I must care for myself."

Vegeta grasped her wrist. "I said leave me." He flinched as he stared into steely, gorgeous blue eyes, and then he looked down. "You…do not understand."

"Oh, but I do understand," Bulma said quietly. "Vegeta, I haven't asked you to give up the core of who you are. You have already convinced yourself that I would."

Shaking his head, he pulled her body against his. They both breathed in heavily as their foreheads touched once more, until they drew each other in for a kiss. He seized her hair to expose the entirety of her neck, moving his tongue down along the contours to her collarbone. Her soft cry had him wet and throbbing instantly. He was sick for this woman - sick - and he had to feel her inside of him again. Just once more.

Bulma tore off his cotton shirt like it was fragile parchment paper. Her mouth dived for his nipples, biting them until his head jolted from the light pinch of her teeth. She needed to taste his body just once more, but this time in a different way.

They stripped naked feverishly and dropped on their knees. Before Vegeta could move any further, Bulma already had his cock in her mouth, her tongue and lips dancing lightly along the tip. A rush of heat ran through his body from the sensation. His eyes widened.

"What the hell?"

He certainly didn't expect this. Clenching his fists, he pulled up his legs and leaned back on the carpet. Bulma's soft, plush lips wrapped around the tip tightening their hold, and with that he leaned back and groaned. His mind blurred further each time her mouth went deeper, until she almost reached the end of his length. He had lost track of time. They both did.

Bulma laid her hand across Vegeta's leg to soothe him. His head moved to the side while he panted. He was holding back. Then he felt Bulma's finger press the back of his length. That one movement pushed him closer to climax. Bulma released his cock from her mouth after feeling that unmistakable hardness of his erection and hearing his strong exhalations. Her hand stroked him until he shivered and came all over her. He didn't speak.

The warm stickiness of Vegeta's come on her chest and arms aroused Bulma, but she was content with the feeling alone. She didn't need more. She only wanted to be in the moment with him before walking away. She wasn't trying to manipulate and weaken him into being with her.

She picked up her clothing and stood. "You have three days left, so I suggest you prepare for them accordingly. My father will handle your lift-off from the launch pad. I won't be there. It's for the best."

She turned the door knob to walk out. He reached over her head to close it.

Later that week, Bulma found Tama yowling mournfully at the site where Vegeta took off into space. The cat continued pacing around until she picked her up. "It's amazing how you became so attached to him. Oh, yes. I knew you did, Tama, but he and I are done for good. Get used to it, babe." She gazed at the sky briefly and then left for her lab. "Back to work."

###

For her protection, Tama had a microchip implanted under her skin that notified Dr. Brief whenever she approached one of his labs. He was deep in thought when the sensor went off. It was late, and his cat's arrival helped him feel better, especially when she promptly climbed onto his shoulder.

"Tama, you always show up at the right time, especially when I have to be unpleasant." He lit his pipe and continued monitoring Vegeta's flight path and communications signals. It had already been a few months since the prince left Earth. Dr. Brief opened a chat signal to reach him.

Vegeta had been thinking about Bulma's final words to him. The thoughts nagged him more each day on the long, silent trip. Dr. Brief's summons was yet another intrusive disturbance, but he had no choice about answering it. If the ship had a problem, he had to know. However, he didn't look at the screen while working the ship's controls. Only when the cat meowed loud enough to wake the dead did Bulma's father get his full attention. Tama's response to seeing Vegeta onscreen surprised her master.

"What do you want, Brief?"

"Well, you do have my ship, Vegeta."

"I will bring it back."

"Yes, you will, because I have provided an incentive," Dr. Brief said with an impish grin, which gradually transformed into a frown. "If your ass isn't back here within six months, the ship will lock you out and leave you stranded wherever you've landed. If you try to get in, the ship will detonate, and, if I planned correctly, blow you up into tiny Saiyan bits."

Dr. Brief had given the prince yet another reason to respect him. No doubt the man was serious. Vegeta suspected that he wouldn't even tell his daughter if something happened to him. His justifiable anger didn't stop him from being darkly amused by the irony. Here he was, an expert destroyer and tactician, outdone once again by this old bastard.

"Why, you evil old…"

Dr. Brief relit his pipe and leaned into the screen. "You're calling me evil? Look, son, I may not know everything, but come on. Give me a break."

"There is no need for you to continue," Vegeta said, "and stop calling me 'son'. You humans may not be as strong as others I have encountered, but my god, you can be devious. I would think leaving me to prepare would be your highest priority."

"Indeed it still is, Vegeta. That's why I'm contacting you. You have another important reason to return, though, beyond fulfilling your seemingly endless desire to demolish things."

"Oh, do I?" Vegeta cut his eyes at him. He didn't like where this was going. "And what would that be?"

Dr. Brief resisted the urge to shake his head. "My daughter is pregnant with your child."

"That cannot be right." Vegeta closed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"I am," Dr. Brief replied. "You are having a son - an heir."

Vegeta switched the screen off. He leaned against the control system with his hand on the side of his head. An heir? He had nothing for this child to inherit from him. The weight on his mind was too severe. It was time to pick a side.

"They… are not my concern now."

Bulma's eyes opened in the darkness of her bedroom. She thought she heard his voice.