Old Feelings Die Hard

He looked out the window and frowned. Things were not going according to his plan. What was he supposed to do now? His tail lashed behind him, a sign to anyone close by to stay away. He needed space. He needed to kill someone. His hands clenched into fists so tight he drew blood from his palms. This wasn't right! He had the perfect plan, and it was all going to ruin. How could he possibly get it back on track? He hadn't paid much attention when the first one left, but when the other two followed, he started to become concerned. Now they were all gone to the one place they should never have gone without his direct orders to do so.

Perhaps they were there for no reason related to his plan. Perhaps they went on their own accord for some entirely different goal. After all, the idiots didn't know the planet's coordinates and the prince didn't remember the planet at all. He thought he was in a coma for a year. No, they had definitely gone there for some reason all their own. He just had no idea what it was, and that was what angered him the most. He didn't like for his soldiers to leave his service and travel to a distant planet with their own purposes in mind. They weren't to go anywhere he didn't command them to go. Yet the idiot saiyans had done just that. They were on planet 1076XR. The weakest saiyan, the third-class monkey was dead. He received that information when his technicians managed to hack into the saiyans' scouter connections. Raditz was dead. Nappa and Vegeta followed him to the miserable planet where he died, presumably to get revenge. Fools.

His lips curled in a smirk. Let them exact their revenge. He would let their disobedience slip this one time, so long as they followed his orders to purge the planet and destroy it once they were done playing around. Yes, that would have to do. It wasn't as if they would know any better. Vegeta couldn't remember being there and Nappa was probably too stupid to realize it was the same planet Vegeta was stranded on as a boy. His mood improved greatly when he thought of this.

"Zarbon!"

"Yes, Lord Frieza?" Zarbon bowed, still keeping a safe distance from his master.

"Have orders sent to Vegeta that he is to purge the planet he is on. I also want the complete transmission between Raditz and the others before he died."

"As you wish, my lord." Zarbon straightened and strode out of the throne room to deliver Frieza's orders to the technicians.

…

Vegeta stretched out and sighed. His arms and legs spread to take up as much of the bed as he could. He hadn't ever paid much attention to how large the bed was in his guestroom when he was a boy. Any bed would have seemed large enough for him, but when he hit his growth spurt he was made painfully aware of how small his cot was in his quarters on Frieza's ship. The pallets he slept on at the base planets weren't much better. Not only were they small, but they were horribly uncomfortable. Hard, lumpy, scratchy. It was amazing he was ever able to sleep in them, but he was usually so exhausted by the time he returned to his quarters to rest that he hardly noticed the way the lumps jabbed into his body and the way the flat cot failed to support the curve of his spine. He slept well that night. He knew he was in a safe territory, he was with his pack, his comrades were there – all alive, and his belly was full of Mrs. Brief's cooking. He couldn't ask for more, yet the Briefs had given him his old guestroom with all the toiletries he could ever need already stocked in the bathroom. It was easy to slip into the life of decadent luxury after so many years of hardship.

He sat up in bed and threw the covers – the soft, non-scratchy covers – off. He could smell breakfast cooking already despite the fact that the sun wasn't up yet. He checked the clock on his nightstand and saw that it was 5:45AM. Later than his usual time, but he felt perfectly energized and ready to get the day started. He stood up and stretched again, his tail uncoiling from his waist and twisting through the air as it also stretched. He walked over to the desk where his bodysuit was laid out over the back of the chair and pulled it on. He stepped into his boots and put his gloves on. It was long past time for his early morning training. He left his room and went downstairs to the indoor garden to begin his training.

He went into the garden and breathed in the scent of animals, flowers, and water. It was a pleasant smell, not entirely wild, but fresh nonetheless. He sat down in the grass and stretched before starting his usual routine of anaerobic exercises without ki. He rolled onto his stomach and started his push-ups, first with two hands, then a few sets of one-handed push-ups. Eventually he pushed himself into a handstand and did several sets of two-handed push-ups, then a few sets one-handed. He was not at all surprised when Dr. Brief came into the garden a few minutes after 6:00 and started riding his bicycle around the garden while humming to himself. The only thing that had changed was that he now had the constant passenger Scratch on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Vegeta," Dr. Brief said as he rode by.

"Hn."

Dr. Brief chuckled as he rode on. Nothing had changed about that boy that he could tell. He still had an obsession with training and he still wasn't much of a conversationalist. He didn't openly stare, but he watched Vegeta exercise as he rode around the garden. He was impressed with his strength and balance as he finished his one-handed handstand push-ups. He flipped to his feet and started lunges back and forth across the length of the garden. Dr. Brief was careful to give him space as he rode around, not wanting to throw off his routine. He didn't mind going around the saiyan.

When Vegeta finished his lunges, he sat on the ground again and started doing sit-ups, then crunches, then bicycles. When he finished those, he jumped to his feet and started a series of punches, alternating between straight punches, hooks, and uppercuts. He was still doing punches when he started calf raises. He didn't waste time, instead choosing to do multiple exercises at once when possible to get as much out of his workout time as possible. Even his tail seemed to be exercising as it lashed through the air, twitched, flicked around, curled around his waist, straightened, and twisted through the air. Even as it moved around Vegeta managed to keep his balance as he pushed himself to the balls of his feet and down again.

Vegeta finished his anaerobic exercises an hour later. It was still too early for breakfast, but close enough that he didn't want to meditate or start a kata, so he decided he would run around the perimeter of the garden until it was breakfast time. He started with an easy jog, then sped up until he was running. He maintained the same speed, much faster than any human could run even when sprinting, for several minutes before he started to sprint. Soon he was going too fast for Dr. Brief to be able to see. The only way he knew the saiyan was still in the room was the soft thumping of his feet on the grass and the wind moving around the room.

Dr. Brief stopped trying to spot him and instead turned to his own thoughts. He was having trouble figuring out how to make the fuel consumption on a new air bus more efficient. It was still much more efficient than any other air bus on the market, but he wanted it to be even better. He knew there was a way, he just hadn't found it yet. He hummed to himself as he rode around the garden, careful to stay a safe distance away from the walls where Vegeta could be at any moment. He chuckled when he thought about how Vegeta was like an electron, somewhere around the room, but it was anyone's guess where he was at any given time.

It was after 8:00 when Mrs. Brief opened the door to the garden. Vegeta rushed past her, but she never saw him. She squealed when her dress flew up in the wind that nearly blew her off her feet. She stumbled back a couple steps before catching herself. "Oh my, what was that?"

"Are you alright, dear?" Dr. Brief called from inside the garden.

"I'm fine, honey. Is Vegeta in there with you? He didn't answer when I knocked on his door." Mrs. Brief cautiously approached the door again. There was another gust of wind. This time she held onto the door frame for support.

"Yes, he's in here. Was there something you needed?"

"I just wanted to let him know breakfast is almost ready. I didn't know if I should disturb the others so I thought I would leave it up to him to get them up."

Vegeta jumped into the air and kicked off the wall, back-flipped, and landed in front of the doors. Mrs. Brief nearly fell over again when he seemed to appear out of thin air. He nodded his greeting to her and stalked past her. "I'll get them up."

"Thank you, dear. Would you mind making sure Bulma comes down as well? She's been sleeping in through breakfast a lot lately. You know that's not good for her."

"Hn." Vegeta disappeared down the hall. She heard him going upstairs a minute later.

Mrs. Brief grinned and clasped her hands together. "Oh, isn't it wonderful to have him back, dear?"

Dr. Brief smiled as he dismounted his bicycle and walked to the door where his wife was waiting for him. He kissed her cheek and linked arms with her as they walked toward the kitchen. "Yes, dear, wonderful. The only thing that's changed about him is his height. He's the same as he always was."

"I think it's commendable the way he works so hard." Mrs. Brief giggled and pushed the kitchen door open. "He's such a fine young man."

Dr. Brief continued down the hall to the front door to get the morning newspaper off the front step. He picked it up and went to the kitchen to sit down at the table. He unfolded his paper and the first thing he saw was a picture of Vegeta and the big saiyan. He skimmed through the article, already knowing what to expect. He knew that Vegeta hadn't made a great impression on Earth when he first arrived, but he wasn't going to hold it against him. His daughter would use the dragon balls to bring everyone back to life in a year. It was sad that they were killed, and he certainly didn't approve of it, but now that he knew more about Vegeta's background, he was less inclined to condemn him for his behavior. It would take time to teach him a better way to live, but he and his family were willing to help him. The main thing he was concerned about was people recognizing Vegeta when he left the compound. He flipped to the next page and started reading the news he hadn't already heard.

A few minutes later, the kitchen door opened and Raditz walked in, rubbing the grains of sleep from his eyes. Next came Nappa, who was grumbling about wanting more sleep, followed by Vegeta who was carrying Bulma over his shoulder. She was still wearing her pajamas and she was beating her fists against his back and screeching about wanting to go back to bed. The elder Briefs turned when they heard the commotion and laughed at the sight of their grown daughter being treated like a child. Vegeta dropped her in her chair and sat down next to her in his old seat. Nappa and Raditz looked around the kitchen uncomfortably. They were still uncertain about making themselves feel at home in the compound.

Mrs. Brief carried a platter over and set it on the table. She smiled at the two tall saiyans. "Well what are you waiting for? Come sit down and have some breakfast! Friends of Vegeta are friends of the Briefs." She crossed the kitchen to grab another platter of food.

Bulma glanced over her should at Nappa and Raditz and giggled when she saw their unease. "Don't tell me you're afraid of my mother."

"No!" Raditz blushed. "We're not afraid."

Nappa sneered at her and took one of the empty seats at the table. He gestured to Raditz to sit down as well. Vegeta snorted and slapped their hands away when they reached for food. He knew they didn't have to wait for Mrs. Brief to be seated, but he wanted to respect her by waiting. She brought a large bowl of cut up fruit and sat down.

"Oh, Vegeta, I forgot to bring drinks. What would you like?" Mrs. Brief asked.

"Orange juice."

Mrs. Brief stood up and went to the refrigerator to get the orange juice out. She brought it back to the table and poured a glass for Vegeta. She set the pitcher on the table in case he needed more later. She sat down again and started serving food onto everyone's plates.

Bulma leaned over to Vegeta to whisper, "I think she forgot about Raditz and the other guy. What's his name, anyway?"

Vegeta snickered when he realized they hadn't been given anything to drink. Apparently Mrs. Brief thought they were perfectly capable of pouring their own drinks. "The bald one is Nappa. He's an elite saiyan warrior. Still much weaker than me."

"Of course, you are the prince, after all," Bulma teased as she playfully punched his shoulder. "You never told us before you were a prince."

He shrugged. "If I had told you that, then you'd have wanted to know what nation I was a prince of. I didn't want you snooping in my past. Besides, I'm only a prince over those idiots."

"What do you mean?"

Vegeta snarled. "Stop asking questions, girl." He started eating, thereby cutting off their conversation before Bulma could ask anything else or make a comment about how he never told her anything about himself. Well, she could make the comment, but he at least wouldn't be expected to respond. They knew he never talked while he was eating.

"I'm not a girl anymore," she grumbled. "I'm a grown woman."

The rest of the meal passed in relative peace. The saiyans were too busy eating to say anything, Dr. Brief was preoccupied reading his paper, and Mrs. Brief and Bulma only talked a little from time to time. Bulma watched the saiyans eating and noticed they all ate voraciously. She knew now why Vegeta and Goku had such huge appetites. They were aliens with a crazy fast metabolism. She picked at her food, more interested in them than her meal. Raditz ate faster than the other two and kept his arms around his plate as if blocking wandering hands. Nappa ate faster than Vegeta, but he was sloppier, though not as bad as Goku. He ate as much with his hands as with his utensils. And then there was Vegeta, who somehow managed to eat an incredible amount of food without spilling or slopping. Always neat and tidy so if he wasn't watched, it was hard to even notice how much food he packed away. Now that she knew he was a prince, she thought it was probably his royal upbringing that made him so clean.

The saiyans finally finished long after the Briefs had had their fill. Bulma took that as her opportunity to strike up another conversation with Vegeta before he could get away. "So what did you do this morning?" she asked.

"Trained." He pushed his chair back from the table and stood up.

Bulma frowned. "Vegeta! You shouldn't be training! Give yourself time to heal from the surgery."

"I'm already healed," he said as he crossed the room to leave.

Bulma got up and chased after him. "Oh really? Why don't you let me see to make sure?"

Vegeta stopped at the door and spun around on his heel. Bulma bumped into his chest. "There's no need. I know when I'm healed."

"I won't leave you alone until I know for sure." She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

He knew better than to call her bluff. She was relentless when she wanted something from him. She would have no qualms about following him around all day pestering him just to make sure he was healed. He sighed. "So check. You won't find anything."

"We'll see about that." Bulma reached up and pushed his hair aside where the incision was made. She felt around on his scalp, but there was nothing to feel. Nothing but a tiny scar where his skin had been cut. Her eyes widened. She knew he was a quick healer, but that was ridiculous.

"Find anything?" he asked patronizingly.

She scowled. "No."

"That's what I thought." He turned around and pushed the door open.

Bulma grabbed his arm. "Wait! Where are you going?"

Vegeta kept walking, dragging her along with him. "To train."

"But you spent all morning training already! Don't you want to do something else?"

He finally pulled his arm free from her grip. "We are not children anymore. I am not going to spend the day playing ridiculous games with you or wasting time watching your stupid human entertainment programs. Don't expect me to stay here on this mudball with you, girl. I am going to stay long enough to use the dragon balls to make a wish and then I'm leaving."

"The dragon balls?" Bulma ran after him when he disappeared around a corner. "You're going to be here a long time then."

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "And why is that?"

"We used them to wish Goku back the day you came. They take a whole year to recharge."

"Recharge? What do you mean recharge?"

Bulma shrugged nonchalantly. "It means they're inert for a year. During that time they're just stones scattered all over the planet. You can't find them, and even if you could, you wouldn't be able to use them."

He grabbed her shoulders and snarled at her. "That's not possible!"

"Sorry, but it's how they work. Besides, who says you get to make a wish? I intend to use them to revive everyone you and Nappa killed, in particular my fiancé." She pushed him away and turned around to stalk away dramatically, but he caught her arm and whirled her around to face him again.

"You would waste a wish on those weaklings?"

"Like it or not, Vegeta, you can't always get your way."

"I could say the same to you. I need to use the dragon balls."

"For what? What could you possibly need, oh prince?" She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and shoved past him to go to her laboratory.

Hearing the heated debate out in the hall, Nappa and Raditz ran out of the kitchen to see what was going on. The last thing they needed was for Vegeta to lose his cool and blow up half the planet with them on it. They heard Bulma's last comment and groaned. Shoving his royal status in his face in mockery was not the best way to build trust with him. Not that they cared much about the blue-haired woman, but they didn't want him to kill her before he broke his attachment to her. Doing so might end badly for him.

"Prince?" Vegeta spat. How could she betray him like that? She would deny him the dragon balls for her own selfish wish when he needed them to gain enough power to defeat Frieza. He needed to be immortal to ever kill him. "You think that because I'm a prince I have everything I need? You're dead wrong, you stupid girl. I have nothing. I have no kingdom, no people, no throne. I am a prince of absolutely nothing. The creature I serve destroyed my planet when I was a boy. He turned me into his fucking pet! Don't tell me I don't need the dragon balls. I will have my wish. Get in my way and I'll kill you."

Without waiting for a reply, Vegeta went upstairs to his guestroom, leaving Bulma behind to contemplate what he told her. She felt like she really shoved her foot in her mouth that time. She had no idea he had lost so much. Sure, she knew he had been abused and all, she even had suspicion that he was a mass murderer, but she had no idea why. She figured it would be safer never to make any assumptions about him. "Nice one, Bulma."

"Stupid human," Nappa growled as he passed her on his way to the stairs. Raditz followed him. They wanted to check on their prince to make sure he wasn't going to lose his mind.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Bulma whispered. She kicked the wall.

Bulma was visibly upset when she opened the front door when someone rang the doorbell. She frowned when she saw a troop of warriors standing on her front step. Goku, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Krillin were all there. She knew why they had come, and it did nothing to lift her spirits. It wasn't a social call. They came because they were afraid the saiyans were going to hurt her and her family. Honestly, she wanted them to go away, but she wouldn't kick her friends out when they were just doing what they thought was best. She would let them in, let them see that the saiyans were not bothering anyone, and show them out the door, bidding them farewell and happy training.

She forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Come in, guys. What brings you here?"

"I think you know why we're here, Bulma," Tien said. He surveyed his surroundings as he stepped across the threshold. He could sense three enormous power levels somewhere deeper in the compound.

Bulma closed the door behind them and pushed her hair behind her ears. "Yeah, I know. You're here to make sure the saiyans are staying in line. Really, you have nothing to worry about."

"Where were you yesterday?" Krillin asked. "We stopped by in the morning, but your mom said you and your dad were gone."

The blue-haired scientist snorted. "We do have jobs. You know, those things you do to earn money? We were at the headquarters building."

Tien frowned. "We went there too. Neither you nor your father were in your offices."

"That's because we were on the medical floor," Bulma retorted.

"The medical floor?" Goku exclaimed. "Why were you there? What did they do to you?"

"Nothing!" Bulma snapped. "They didn't do anything to hurt anyone! We were there to help Vegeta if you must know. I'm not going into any details about it. Patient confidentiality. It's not important to you anyway."

"Bulma, you know I believe in second chances, but you can't let these guys live with you!" Goku insisted. He held Bulma's shoulders as he tried to reason with her. "These guys are dangerous. You know what they did to all those innocent people in East City! How can you tell us to trust them after they did that? And what about Raditz? You remember what he did!"

She slapped his hands off her and shoved past him. "Fine, Goku. Go keep an eye on them if you want, but they're not doing anything wrong. Vegeta told the others not to hurt anyone, so they won't. And he won't hurt anyone because he doesn't want to. I suggest you leave him alone before you make him want to."

"Doesn't want to kill anyone?" Tien hissed. "Then why'd he kill all of East City and all the news crews at the battlefield?"

Bulma rested her hands on her hips and glared at her three-eyed friend. "He was a different person then. I know it's hard to believe, but he's changed a lot the past couple days. He remembers us now and he would never hurt us in a million years."

Tien rolled his three eyes. "Bulma, a person can't change that drastically in two days!"

"He did!" She stomped her foot and grit her teeth. She felt like crying. First Vegeta told her he couldn't stay on Earth and now her friends wouldn't believe her when she told them Vegeta wasn't a bad person. She was so frustrated she could hurt somebody.

Krillin rubbed his head. "Look, we just want to make sure they don't try anything out of line, ok? We won't bother anyone."

Bulma glared at him, causing him to back behind Goku for safety. "Just say it! You don't like them and you're hoping you catch them doing something 'out of line' so you have reason to pick a fight with them. I wouldn't recommend it. They could mop the floor with you guys."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence," Krillin grumbled.

"I'm telling it like it is. These guys are insanely strong. You should know that from your fight with them the other day. There were like four of you taking on Nappa and you still couldn't beat him. And Goku, you weren't doing too well against Vegeta. Admit it! You're outmatched!"

Goku grinned and rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, he wasn't so tough. He just caught me off guard, that's all. I could defeat him with the techniques King Kai taught me."

"Yeah, right." Bulma shook her head and went upstairs to shower and change. "If you guys get beat up don't come crying to me. I warned you."

Krillin watched her receding back and sighed. Honestly he wasn't thrilled about the idea of taking on the saiyans again. Nearly dying at Nappa's hands once was more than enough. "Hey, maybe she's right. Maybe it was all just a big misunderstanding."

Tien shook his head. "Maybe in your dream world, Krillin."

Goku shrugged and walked to the kitchen. "Well, it doesn't seem like they're doing anything right now. Why don't we grab a snack?"

Krillin smacked his forehead. "Goku, sometimes I don't know what's more important to you. Protecting the world or stuffing your face."

The tailless saiyan laughed as he disappeared into the kitchen to beg for food from Mrs. Brief. Tien, Chiaotzu and Krillin were left standing in the hall with nothing to do. They each sighed and shrugged. Krillin didn't like standing around, so he decided to make a suggestion. "Want to go upstairs and play pool in the recreation room?"

Chiaotzu smiled. "It beats doing nothing. You coming, Tien?"

Tien was again astounded at how laid back his friends could be in the face of danger. There were three incredibly powerful killer aliens in the house and all they wanted to do was eat and play games. He couldn't help cracking a smile. Maybe relaxing a little would be good for all of them. "Sure, why not?"

Vegeta growled and punched the wall. His fist flew through the drywall. He ripped his hand out, bringing with it a cloud of dust. He became even angrier when he saw the damage he caused. Just great. "That girl is so fucking infuriating!" He wished he could hurt her. That might make him feel better, but he knew in the long run he would regret it. If Bulma were anyone else he would have killed her on the spot for mocking him. But as it was, he couldn't kill her. The damn woman was part of his pack. He raked his hand through his mane. "What the hell does she know? She acts like she knows me, but she doesn't know a damn thing!"

Raditz leaned against the wall farthest away from his raging prince and chuckled. He had never seen another person get under Vegeta's skin in quite the same way. He stopped laughing when Nappa elbowed him in the gut as he walked past him to find his own spot of wall to lean against.

"This is why I never wanted to form attachments," Vegeta ranted. "They're nothing but trouble. I want to hurt the bitch, but I can't because then I would feel what? Guilt? It's deplorable! I'm the fucking Prince of all Saiyans! I can do what I want to who I want when I want, damnit!"

He picked up a pillow from the bed and hurled it at the balcony doors. The grass cracked. He felt like ripping his hair out. "She always pissed me off. She is the most annoying, whining, self-centered, distracting brat in the galaxy! How the hell I ever started caring about her I'll never know."

Nappa and Raditz looked at each other and shrugged. There wasn't much they could say that would help. They didn't know any more than Vegeta did about why he cared about the Briefs. They decided between themselves that it would be safer to keep their mouths shut and wait for Vegeta to blow off some steam before they tried talking to him.

"I should have killed her when I had the chance!" Vegeta kicked his bed. It flipped over and crashed to the floor. "Her and her idiot parents and everyone on this disgusting mudball!"

Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu felt one of the energy signals down the hall rising and falling erratically, as if he were trying to keep his power in check and failing miserably. It put them on edge, so when they heard the crash in his room they were instantly running out of the rec. room to see what was going on. They threw the door to the guestroom open and stormed inside. There were just the three saiyans inside, and the only victims of the flame-haired saiyan's anger appeared to be the wall, the bed, the balcony door, and a pillow.

Vegeta whirled around when he heard them. "What the hell are you doing here?" he roared.

Raditz and Nappa snapped to attention when they saw the earthling warriors. They looked ready to fight. If it was a fight they wanted, they would be happy to oblige. Maybe they weren't supposed to hurt anyone, but they were sure they could claim self defense and get off the hook. They glanced over at Vegeta. If he wasn't furious before, he was now.

Krillin looked over at Nappa, who smirked at him. He could only imagine what he was thinking about doing. He started trembling, unable to contain his fear."Wha-what are you doing? We heard something crash in here. We came to see what was – what was going on."

"I'm rearranging my room, as you can see," Vegeta said icily. "Get the fuck out so I can finish."

"Y-y-yes, sir," Krillin squeaked. He backed out of the room, pulling Tien and Chiaotzu along with him. As soon as they were through the doorway, he took off down the hall to put as much distance between himself and the saiyans as possible.

Nappa scoffed. "Morons."

Vegeta slammed his door shut and paced back and forth. He stopped in his tracks when he heard his scouter beeping. "Oh, hell no." Vegeta picked up his scouter from his nightstand and put it on. He pushed the button accept the incoming transmission. "This is Vegeta."

"Vegeta, I have direct orders from Frieza that you are to purge and destroy the planet you are on. He is aware of your current location and commands you to return to base 108 as soon as you have completed your mission. Do you copy?"

Vegeta cursed under his breath. So the lizard knew where he was, did he? Then he probably figured he could bring his plan to fruition when he returned to base by restoring his lost memories. His tail unwrapped from his waist and twitched behind him. How was he going to get out of this one? Frieza would know if he followed through with orders or not. "Copy. Do I have a deadline?"

"No deadline set. But I would advise you to finish promptly. Frieza isn't happy with you for leaving without orders."

He snorted. "Whatever. Out." Vegeta pushed the button to cut the transmission. He took his scouter off and glared at it as if blaming it for his poor fortune. He wanted to slam it against the wall and break it, but he might still need it. Grudgingly, he laid it on his nightstand and sat on his bed.

"Who were you talking to?" Nappa asked.

"One of Frieza's techs. We're supposed to kill everyone and destroy this planet and then report back to base 108."

"Kill everyone," Raditz repeated. He looked over at Nappa nervously.

"Everyone," Vegeta affirmed.

"But these people. Vegeta, you've got to break your attachments to them. You can't kill them if you're, you know…" Nappa trailed off, not wanting to finish his thought. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. "We could get them off the planet. Send them somewhere else where they'd be safe. Who cares about the rest of these weaklings?"

Vegeta shook his head. "They do. They would never forgive me. Besides, where would they go? There's not a habitable planet in the vicinity that isn't under Frieza's rule. He would find out about them and kill them anyway. He'd probably kill us too. Maybe something worse."

Raditz sat in the chair at the desk. They were in trouble now. "Do they know I'm alive?"

The others shrugged. "What's it matter if they do or don't?" Vegeta asked.

"I don't know. I was just wondering."

"Hn."

"Don't worry, Vegeta. We'll figure something out," Nappa said. He wasn't sure they actually could, but he didn't think it would help anyone to be pessimistic. As usual, Frieza was breathing down their necks galaxies away. He always knew their whereabouts and now he was trying to see his plan come full circle. He thought he had Vegeta in his grasp now. Unfortunately, it seemed like he did. Vegeta could kill everyone or not, but either way he was a goner.

Vegeta stood up. "In the meantime, we are going to keep training. I don't want you two getting lazy just because we're not on a mission."

"Yes, sir," the others grumbled.

The small saiyan left the room and nearly knocked Bulma over when she walked into him. He rolled his eyes. "You still haven't learn to watch where you're going?"

"Sorry, Veggie," she said distractedly. She pushed past him and went downstairs. He wondered why she was wearing a white lab coat like her father. He shrugged one shoulder and went downstairs to go to the indoor garden to continue his training. There was a lot he needed to think about. The sooner he decided what to do, the better.

A/N: And they revert to acting exactly like they did as kids. Aw. And what's going to happen with Frieza's orders? Geta's got more problems than he can handle, it seems.

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

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