I'm quick, eh?

Here's the next chapter.

I own nothing, of course.

Chapter One.

Rash. He had been rash. He was being rash.

Vegeta glowered at the crumpled, beaten, broken Gravity Room with a look of disgust. His arms were folded neatly across his chest and his legs were spread apart in his usual stance of contempt. And while he stared at the machine that could no longer provide any use to him, he wondered who he was angrier with; Himself or Her.

And when he said her, he meant the blue haired wench of a genius who was responsible for this.

Or who was partially responsible. After all, if she had fixed the damn thing last night then this wouldn't have happened.

Yet, he thought in disdain, it was he who had continued to train in it, knowing full well that it needed to be repaired. No matter how angry the woman's action from last night had made him, he should have retreated and waited for her to fix it today. But of course, he had lost control. If only for a split second. He just couldn't fathom the idea that he had been defied. And by some weakling, female, earthling!

His scowl deepened. His eyes narrowed and he growled deep in his throat. He needed a new place to train, he thought finally.

With that, the spiky haired male turned on his heel and stalked back into the large compound.

-----------

Bulma slouched into the kitchen tiredly, a yawn escaping from her mouth as she opened the refrigerator and contemplated whether to drink Orange juice or have a shot of vodka.

Oh Bulma, it's too early to drink! Her mother would have scolded. Ten thirty sweetie? Really?

Yes, really, she angrily thought, she had been up most of the night due to a certain stocky flamed haired Saiyan. If he hadn't completely destroyed the GR last night, she guessed it was on its last leg. What exactly had he expected to get from that? Satisfaction at her not getting sleep? Or the knowledge that she'd have to either rebuild another one or fix what remained of the present one?

Well tough nails to him, she thought while grabbing a cup from the cabinet, I'm not going to fix or rebuild anything until I feel in tip top shape.

Bulma began to prepare coffee and sat down at the table. At least he was quiet now, the blue haired woman smiled lightly, he probably finally got some rest.

What happened next confirmed that her prediction was wrong.

Vegeta stormed into the kitchen and although he looked to be stomping, his footsteps were almost silent. Cat-like abilities, Bulma thought absently. He came to a halt across from her, the table separating them from reach and stood there for a beat, glaring down at her with flashing eyes.

He apparently held grudges.

"Would you like some coffee, Vegeta?" Bulma asked quite cheerily with a slight smile. As much as she wanted to ignore the bastard (or at least, tell him off) she decided to simply let the past go. Maybe the look in his rage filled eyes had persuaded her to come to that conclusion but she wanted to think it was the smell of coffee brewing that had instantly put her at ease.

'The world's liquid therapy.' she had once heard someone call it. Nevertheless, it always put a calm over her.

Evidently however, it didn't posses enough skill to put the same tranquility over the Prince. His eyebrow rose questionably, as if the offer was ridiculous and obscene. "What I would like, woman is a place to continue my training."

Of course. She rolled her eyes. "I'll get right on it, your majesty. Right after I get my coffee." She stood up and retrieved the finished cup, pouring it into a glass. "You sure you don't want any?"

Vegeta, who was obviously taken aback by her carefree attitude, squinted at her suspiciously. Why just last night she made him look like a complete fool and now she was offering him...substances? Unusual. He stood straight and uttered a curt, "No, I don't want any."

"Suit yourself." Bulma shrugged and sat back down, relishing in the taste of the scalding coffee as she gulped it down. As she continued to drink it, aware that her energy was returning, she looked up and was surprised to see that he hadn't moved from his previous location; the same frown on his face, same apprehensive stance, and same piercing eyes. He was waiting until she was done. She blinked up at him, an uneasy smile on her lips. "You should really relax, you know."

Her words made his eyebrows furrow. "What makes you think I'm not relaxed?" He spat out.

"You're tense." She said simply, putting her empty cup down. "I can tell by the way your standing. You're always so...tense."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you finished?" It took her a moment to realize he was talking about her cup. "I believe you said you'd fix that wretched machine after you're done drinking that...concoction."

Concoction? Bulma blinked again and for the first time, it occurred to her that the reason for his rigid attitude had to do with her. The way he sneered at the end of sentence made Bulma think that he suspected some sort of foul play with her. Like poison, or possibly, drugs. It was a weird thought to pop into her head but all the same, it made her want to question him about it. "You don't trust me." It came out more of a statement than a question.

Vegeta watched her stare at him with curiosity and was silent. "What exactly have you done to deserve my trust?"

"Well, what have I done to receive none of it?" She countered, suddenly feeling hurt. "I've taken you in, given you a bed to sleep in, facilities to use, food to eat and what you give me in return is a selfish attitude and wariness?"

There was a slight change of posture in the man as if he were about to jump forward. "Fair enough." He finally said harshly. "Until you give me reason to, I shall not distrust you. But, for the record, I'd like to say that I haven't asked for your help and I don't need it. You gave on your own accord but do not expect me to behave the same. You don't want to feel distrusted? Fine. But as far as I know, you're a weakling earthling with intellectual abilities that far surpass many of the other wealking earthlings I've seen here." He snorted. "Your physical attributes are lacking without a doubt but you're smart and because of that, I don't feel inclined to drop my guard around you."

Bulma was unsure of what to be; Happy that he thought of her as smart enough to actually pose a threat to him or angry and sad that he didn't intend to let down whatever barricade he had built.

"I won't hurt you if that's-"

His chuckles made her stop short. His frown turned into a smirk. "Hurt me? Woman, I have no doubt that you won't hurt me. Not because you say so but because you can't."

Confusion masked her face and she asked, more angrily then she intended at first, "Well then what the hell is it? Why are you so damn uptight?"

"Experience has taught me to leave no opening for betrayal."

The sentence both baffled and startled Bulma. It came to her mind that this was the first conversation she was having with him, since his arrival weeks ago, that contained a topic disregarding the GR. It was....odd to see him in this light. And although she guessed that he hadn't meant to appear as such, Bulma witnessed him not as an arrogant, stuck up alien but a man who was either hiding something or who was trying to bury something from his past. Maybe even both. Maybe more. There was no doubt in her mind that a bigger and more in depth story revolved around Vegeta. One that now had her intrigued enough to figure out exactly what it was.

As she opened her mouth to say something about it however, he cut in viciously.

"I've listened to you squabble for long enough." She didn't bring it to his attention that he had spoken most of the time. She simply watched him turn on his heel and command over his shoulder. "Fix the contraption. Now." Then he walked out.

------------

"IT'S BULMA!"

The loud exclamation from her long time friend nearly made the blue haired woman burst out in laughter. Along with the goofy grin on his face, Goku was in a good mood. But then again, when wasn't he?

"How ya been? Me and Chichi have been meaning-"

"Bulma!?" The spiky haired man was thrown to the side as his onyx eyed wife stumbled to gain entrance to the door. "Bulma!" She squealed enthusiastically, taking her into her arms for a big bear hug. "Oh it's so nice to see you!"

Bulma smiled at her friends' happy-go-lucky attitudes and let them usher her into their home. It made her realize at times how similar their moods were and how well they seemed to get along (most of the time anyway). Whenever they fought, she was quite sure they made up shortly afterwards.

Chichi sat beside her on their small couch and Goku was left standing, hands on hips with a smile on his face for no reason at all. "So what's the scoop? How have you been?"

"Fine." Bulma smiled tightly, feeling a bit subconscious under their gaze. "Well...uh...Yamcha and I broke up." It was a confession she had wanted to keep secret for a little bit but, suddenly, it had came out. Like their perfect relationship had demanded she spit it out so they could scrutinize it. She hadn't even told her own parents about it yet. And now that she had stated it aloud, she realized it hurt much more then she wanted it to.

The reaction she got from them though was completely different then what she expected.

"That's great!" He exclaimed.

While she said simultaneously, "Oh Bulma, I'm so sorry."

Both women turned to give the tall, goofy man an incredulous look. Chichi's look was angrier. You could almost see her saying; "HOW CAN YOU BE SO INSENSITIVE, GOKU?"

And his response would have been, "But Chichi, you wanted them to break up too! You said Yamcha was a dirty, low-"

Then Chichi would have covered his mouth, hit him with a frying pan and the man would have kept his lips zipped.

Instead, the dark haired woman laughed nervously and patted Bulma on the shoulder, completely ignoring her husband. "There's always other fish in the sea, you know." Perfect, comforting friend. That was Chichi. Then, she stood up and said happily, "Speaking of fish, I'll go cook us some food."

Bulma watched her disappear into the kitchen in amusement. She wondered vaguely if that was how she cheered up Goku. Oh don't worry Goku sweetie, you'll get that bad guy next time! Do you want chicken or steak? But of course, there would be no need to do that because Goku always got the bad guy.

"Uh...sorry for that." He laughed nervously and Bulma tried to shoot him a reassuring smile but it turned into a grimace."You okay?"

The blue eyed woman looked up to see her friend giving her a much more sympathetic look then she cared to receive. "Yeah, I'm okay." No, she wasn't.

"It'll be alright." Goku smiled. How did you know, she wanted to ask bitterly, How could you possibly know that it'll be okay? "Trust me." It was like he was reading her mind. It occurred to her then that he hadn't said anything that implied her and Yamcha would get back together like every other time. Strange, considering his positive attitude about everything and anything. Giving the man a curious look, Bulma narrowed her eyes and Goku smiled nervously.

Just then Chichi waltz back in, announcing that the fish was cooking and it shouldn't be too long. Goku gave her a look of appreciation, for either interfering on the awkward situation or making food, and Bulma saw the loving look of exchange between them. Instantly, she felt jealous and wronged. They had each other and she had no one. How fucked was that?

About as fucked as her feeling bitter towards her best friends. Damn that Yamcha.

"How's Vegeta?" The question caught her off guard so much she nearly fell off the couch. And of course, the strange inquiry had come from Goku.

"Good? He's an egotistical, annoying, arrogant, spoiled little brat of a man who thinks he rules over everything and that every one in the compound should do as he says exactly when he says it." She griped with a roll of her eyes. "Why just before I came here, I had to spend three and a half hours fixing the GR machine because PRINCE, yes he never lets me forgets he's a PRINCE, Vegeta nearly destroyed it last night due to a temper tantrum. And I try, I really do try to be hospitable and kind to the bastard but he takes all my polite consideration and throws it back into my face." After her rant, she breathed out and said with a feign fondness. "Yes, so the little twerp is just great!"

Chichi and Goku blinked, exchanging surprised looks.

"So," Goku whistled. "I take it you two aren't getting along?"

The women sweat dropped.

---------

Yamcha tried to shake off all his nervousness and marched across the lawn to the back of the Capsule Corporation Compound. He had flowers in his left hand and his other hand was clenched into a fist, the palm seating profusely.

Get it together; he told himself with a deep breath, she's not going to want you back if you're acting like a wuss.

And he believed that to be true. Furthermore, he believed that Bulma would indeed take him back. After all, it wasn't as if their fight had been that bad. He was sure that they could get past this as they had done so many times before.

So, with newfound determination, Yamcha strolled on, chest puffed out, a smile on his tanned face. Yes, everything would be okay.

Thirty seconds later, Yamcha found himself face down in the grass, stinging throbs pulsating through his jaw, flowers forced from his grip from the fall. He blinked, while white flashes of pain stroke before his eyes and slowly sat up, groaning loudly.

As he glanced about to determine what had crashed into his jaw, he heard laughter. Low at first and then louder, booming and deep. Definitely a male.

His eyes landed on the short frame of none other then Vegeta, a smirk on his face, arms crossed, feet apart. Yamcha moved around his jaw carefully and heard it crack. Anger began to simmer from the injured man as he considered that the widow peaked male was somehow responsible for this.

Then, Yamcha spotted the medium sized piece of metal laying a little ways from him and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"You should really watch where you're going." Came Vegeta's taunting voice.

Yamcha shot him a death glare that didn't seem to phase his amusement. "What the hell happened?" He grumbled out, more to himself.

Vegeta chose to reply any way. "I seem to have blasted a hole in this ridiculous piece of machinery yet again. That useless woman needs to reinforce stronger steel."

Although he was speaking more to himself as well, Yamcha knew that the man was explaining that, indirectly, he had knocked him out. And he found it amusing, no doubt.

"Yeah well, you should watch where you blow things." Yamcha found himself complaining as he slowly got to his feet. He could already feel a bump forming where the object had struck at. Shit, that'd leave a bruise.

Vegeta's smile faded slowly. "If you weren't such a puny man then maybe it wouldn't have dealt so much damage."

The scar faced man turned to glare at the shorter male and was only mildly surprised to find that he was already glaring back at him. Tension filled the air, crackling in the air that separated the two males.

Vegeta cocked his head to the side, a smirk returning back to his features, obviously amused that the other man looked to be considering fighting him. Well fine, it wasn't as if he could train in the GR yet. Besides, he was itching to beat the living daylights out of something that breathed.

Yamcha knew full well he wouldn't win if he fought Vegeta but at the moment, he wanted to fight him anyway. Suicide mission? The hell with it, he could care less right now. The short little troll's arrogance was taking him to his breaking point. He wanted to put him in his place which, to Yamcha, was somewhere far, far, far away from here.

Vegeta raised one eyebrow and Yamcha knew it was an invitation; Make the first move.

Yamcha lowered and Vegeta tensed for a split second, thinking he was getting into a fighting stance but then he saw that the man was just stooping to pick up the flowers that had been knocked from his hand.

Vegeta snorted and muttered something about weakling humans. He then sat down on the ground, crossed his arms, leaned back on the GR and closed his eyes.

Yamcha blinked at that. What was he doing? Waiting? And if so, for whom? Then, because his bravado had dwindled down, Yamcha called out, almost nervously, "Hey Vegeta, have you saw Bulma?"

"No."

Yamcha glanced at CC. "Do you know if she's inside?"

"No."

"Do you know if she left?"

"No." Vegeta spat out angrily, finally opening his eyes to glare at the other man across the lawn. "I've told you I haven't seen her so why do you continue asking me questions, human? Does it look like I know where that woman is? I could care less about her whereabouts. Now get out of my sight and stop bothering me with such trivial matters." His eyes twinkled. "Unless, of course, you'd like to replace my punching bag."

Yamcha gulped and scratched his head nervously. "No thanks." He muttered loud enough for him to hear. "I was just wondering because well...you're always over here.....or whatever." He waved it off and then started to walk away, wondering why he had even tried to enlist the Saiyan in help.

Vegeta's words made him pause, however. "I may not know where the wench is but I can easily guess that you're the last person on the list of people she wants to see." Either he is or I am, he thought absently afterwards.

Yamcha narrowed his eyebrows and turned to stare at him. "What does that mean?" He asked angrily.

"It means she wants nothing to do with you." Vegeta yawned indifferently. His statement was fueled simply from hearing him and Bulma bicker endlessly a few nights ago. Why not make the scrawny man mad by embellishing the truth or, in his case, sprouting out what he assumed was true? He had nothing else to do and this could prove entertaining until someone fixed the fucking GR.

And it was making Yamcha angry, he could see. The man growled. "Wh-She said that!?"

The smaller man smirked. "Word for word."

Then Yamcha's expression turned into one that Vegeta hadn't expected but enjoyed all the more: Sadness. "Why would she tell you that?" He asked, biting his lip, talking to himself. "Why would she tell you, of all people?"

Although he hadn't liked his tone, Vegeta couldn't help chuckling. Dumb humans and their emotions. It felt good to manipulate them and make them do as he wished. "I think she's grown quite fond of me." He nearly burst out in more laughter from his own statement.

"Bullshit."

Both men turned to see a rather angry looking Bulma standing a few feet from them, hands on hips, face in a scowl. Leave it to her to ruin the fun, Vegeta thought dryly.

She walked over to Yamcha and shot the male laying in the grass a disapproving look. "Grown fond of you? Hah, dream on squirt."

"I must have received mixed messages." Vegeta said mockingly.

She smiled in spite of herself but still rolled her eyes. Turning to Yamcha, she began to speak, to explain to him that Vegeta was an 'arrogant asshole' and never to listen to him and then to ask him why in the hell he was here but her mouth froze and terror came onto her face.

And Vegeta couldn't help but burst into laughter, his deep voice booming in the clear day air as she screamed,

"Oh my god Yamcha, what happened to your face!?"

Hope you enjoyed the second installement. More will be coming soon.