Deeper Than Blood

Bulma stood to the side and watched Vegeta and Nappa sparring. It was obvious Vegeta had the upper hand, but Nappa was still able to hold his own for quite a while. He seemed to have an endless array of techniques that Vegeta didn't seem to know how to block or dodge. Unfortunately for him, he lacked the speed and brute strength he needed to keep Vegeta down. Bulma couldn't help but cheer for Vegeta; she didn't particularly like Nappa, but more importantly, she felt practically obligated to root for Vegeta in anything he did.

She stepped to the side when Nappa flew past her after being thrown aside by Vegeta. She whirled around and gasped when he landed on the ground and slid a few more yards, dredging up a deep rut in the grass. She knew her mother wouldn't be happy about that. Luckily he missed her rose gardens. Mrs. Brief would never stand for those being marred by their training games. Nappa dragged himself to his feet and charged back at Vegeta, flying so close as he went past Bulma that she was knocked over. She shrieked as she fell, barely able to catch herself before her face met dirt.

'He did that on purpose!' she thought furiously as she stood up, wiping the dirt from her hands off on her jeans. She mentally counted to ten to calm down before she started another shouting match with the overgrown monkey.

She was supposed to be watching their spar, not thinking of ways to get back at Nappa. Vegeta wanted her to observe how a real fight might go without breaks, warnings, and fair play. Honestly, it kind of scared her. She didn't think she would be able to keep up in a fight like that. Not when there was ki involved, as well as super speed and strength. She still hadn't gotten the hang of using her ki very well, which she knew was frustrating Vegeta to no end. He was trying his best to teach her, but she didn't have a knack for it. She had shown him how she could use her ki with a sword, which he had been mildly impressed with; actually, after he saw what she could do he tersely told her she should make sure to keep a weapon on her at all times because it was the only thing that might give her an advantage in a fight. Well, she already knew that. Still, she could see that he was starting to lose interest in training her. She hadn't made much progress and he felt like he was wasting his time. She couldn't blame him; she was frustrated too.

She tried to shrug it off, concluding that she simply didn't have endless potential growth like he did. Even so, it was disheartening. She spent three days a week training with Chi-Chi, which had helped her speed and strength to some degree, but then she came up against another wall in her power that she couldn't seem to breach. No matter what she did – meditate, train alone, train with Vegeta – she just couldn't figure out how to use her ki to help her in fights. She had even considered going to Master Roshi for help, but she doubted he could do anything for her. He was the one that taught her ki manipulation in the first place, and he hadn't been able to get her to the point of proficiency.

Sighing, she sat down in the grass and hugged her knees to her chest. 'Maybe I should just give up. He keeps growing and I'm stuck in a rut. I don't want to hold him back.' She wondered if what she was feeling was anything like sibling rivalry. There he was, her big brother, and she had no chance of ever catching up to him. She was just the pathetic little sister trying to copy him. But he would always be better. No matter how hard she tried, he would always be better. Always one step ahead. Or a thousand. She couldn't even train with him in his new gravity chamber because she couldn't withstand even 5Gs. That was pathetic. Now Vegeta spent all his time training in there instead of the indoor garden, so she saw him even less than before.

She realized she wasn't paying attention to the spar anymore, but she didn't care. She was too busy pitying herself. 'I wonder how he learned everything he knows. He wasn't born knowing it. Someone had to have taught him.'

"You're getting sloppy, Vegeta! Come on, that's one of the first moves you learned!"

Bulma's head shot up when she heard that. Vegeta looked positively furious while Nappa had a smug smirk on his face. He successfully caught Vegeta in a chokehold, lifting the smaller saiyan off the ground and squeezing tighter the more he struggled. Had her question just been answered? Was Nappa the one who taught Vegeta how to fight? It didn't seem possible. Nappa didn't have a brain in his head. He couldn't possibly have anything to teach Vegeta. Bulma pushed that thought aside. 'He knows fighting. I've seen what he can do. He had Vegeta backed into a corner a few times. They seem to have a stronger relationship than Raditz has with either of them. Maybe there's more to him than I thought.'

'It doesn't matter. He hates me anyway. He'd never teach me anything he taught Vegeta.' Bulma sighed and rested her chin on her knees. She was giving up on herself, Vegeta was to the point of giving up on her, and she was still weak. She could keep training with Chi-Chi to stay at the top of her game, but she was ready to quit her sessions with Vegeta. It wasn't worth it. She was wasting his time. He was the one who really needed to get stronger anyway. He was the one who was going to take on the creature reputed to be the most powerful being in the universe.

Their spar lasted another few minutes before Vegeta finally managed to knock Nappa out. Bulma stood up and walked over to him, her decision made. "That was a good fight. So I've been thinking. I don't think you should train me anymore."

Vegeta's eyebrow rose. "Why?"

She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not like I'm getting anywhere. You're wasting your time. I'll keep training with Chi-Chi, but I don't think it's worth the bother."

Vegeta couldn't disagree. For the past two months she had been stuck at the same power level. Her reflexes had improved over time, but her speed and strength had stagnated. Practice with the harpy would be enough to sharpen her reflexes further. Besides, what frustrated him more than anything in their training was his own inability to hold back enough. Since Dr. Brief gave him the gravity room to train in, his strength had doubled. He kept inadvertently hurting her in their training; the bruises covering her arms and legs were proof of that. He was afraid he might accidentally injure her more severely, causing hemorrhaging or breaking bones. She was too fragile to train with him any longer.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She nodded slightly and looked down at the ground. "Yeah."

"Very well."

Bulma dug her toe into the dirt, not wanting to look up and make eye contact with him. She was ashamed and embarrassed for giving up. She figured he was probably thinking what a coward she was. "So should we take Nappa to the infirmary?"

"He'll be fine." Vegeta nudged him with his toe. He groaned. Considering that proof enough, Vegeta turned around and headed for the gravity room. "I have training to do."

"Like always," Bulma muttered. She watched as he crossed the lawn and disappeared inside the gravity room. It wasn't much, just a domed building with one large room. There was a gravity console inside that could go up to 75Gs by increments of five, which was why she couldn't use it. It jumped from 1G to 5Gs. The room had no windows except on the door, so watching Vegeta train wasn't fun or easy. All she knew was that he was in there more often than not; the low hum of the gravity simulator lulled her to sleep and it was still going when she woke up. Whether or not he slept was anybody's guess. She frowned and went inside to work in her lab.

…

Krillin stopped at the door and knocked three times. He stepped back and waited for someone to open the door. A minute went by before it flew open and a very angry woman stood on the threshold, brandishing a frying pan at him. He held up his hands defensively. "Hey, Chi-Chi, how are you?"

Chi-Chi looked down at the short man and immediately relaxed, much to his relief. "Oh, it's you, Krillin. Come in."

He followed her inside and closed the door behind him. "Where's Goku and Gohan?"

Scowling, Chi-Chi beat her frying pan against the palm of her hand. "Training," she spat. "Goku's sparring with that – that brother of his, and Gohan is out with that Piccolo creep."

Krillin rubbed his head and whistled. "Wow, never thought they'd get along so well, huh?" He frowned as he sat down at the kitchen table. He nervously looked around the small room. There was a large pot of rice on the stove and so much sushi on the counter it made him lose any appetite he may have had. "I don't understand how Goku can forgive that guy after what he did."

"Oh, he insists he's not so bad," Chi-Chi said snidely. "I think he's a monster! He's the reason my poor Goku died and he kidnapped Gohan and – and – now I never see either my son or my husband because they're always training!" She broke down in a fit of sobs and collapsed in the chair across the table from Krillin.

"He probably feels obligated to give him a chance because they're brothers," Krillin reasoned. "But what kind of brother kidnaps your kid, kills you and your friend, and tries to take you away to kill people? I'm not a saiyan, but I'm more of a brother to Goku than he'll ever be. I grew up with him! And now when I come to visit he's not even around."

"But what about my Gohan?" Chi-Chi moaned. "He's getting behind in his studies and Goku keeps letting him go with Piccolo to train. He's just a little boy, he doesn't need to be a hero!"

Krillin shuddered, thinking about Piccolo. They were supposedly on the same side now, but it was hard to forget the past. Back before Raditz came, Piccolo was the big bad guy, Goku's rival, the guy who wanted to take over the world and kill everyone. Now, he was an ally. He spent a whole year training Gohan in the wilderness, and all of a sudden he's a good guy? It didn't seem likely. But he did genuinely seem to care about Gohan, and through that relationship he tolerated Goku and the rest of their gang.

"I guess Gohan thinks of him as a big, green uncle, huh?" Krillin sighed and started wringing his hands in his lap. His friendly visit was turning out to be an utter failure. He could at least try to cheer Chi-Chi up, but he was sitting there wallowing in misery along with her.

Chi-Chi sniffled and shook her head. "I always wanted Gohan to be a scholar, not a brainless muscle-head like his father. And now I can't even get him to stay inside long enough to do his homework."

Her guest shrugged. He didn't care much about Gohan's studies, but he did feel a little hurt that Gohan had grown so close to Piccolo. He still didn't trust the Namekian, and he doubted he would ever really learn to like him. As Goku's best friend, he should be the man Gohan looked up to as a sort of uncle. Granted, he didn't come around too often to visit and Goku was notoriously bad at keeping in contact with any of his friends, but it was the principle of the matter. Krillin hadn't gotten to know Gohan very well, but he wanted to. It had been a shock when he found out Goku was a father, but the shock had worn off and now he wanted to spend time with his best friend and his son. Instead, they were both out training with two of the people that were supposed to be their sworn enemies. It just didn't make any sense.

Chi-Chi stood up and went to the stove to finish preparing the meal. "Why don't you stay for lunch, Krillin? Goku and Gohan should be coming in soon."

"Sure, if it's not too much trouble."

"I insist." She opened a cupboard and pulled out a tall stack of dishes to start setting the table. "It'll be nice to have some human company."

Krillin laughed nervously and got up to help her wish the dishes. "Is it really that bad?"

She sneered as she slammed a bowl down on the table. "Goku keeps inviting Raditz for lunch. He knows we can't afford to feed two and a half saiyans, but he doesn't care! I spend all day cooking and I never even get a thank you! At least Piccolo doesn't eat anything. He just sits in the corner meditating or something while the rest of us eat."

"Gosh, Chi-Chi, I'm sorry," Krillin said.

"It's not your fault." Chi-Chi sighed and leaned against the counter. "I just don't trust him, Krillin."

"Which one?" he joked.

She glowered at the floor. "Both of them. They're not a good influence on Gohan."

Krillin nodded. He pulled an extra chair over to the table and sat down again. What could he say to console Chi-Chi? Her concerns were valid. But he also knew Goku well enough to know that he wouldn't hold a grudge and he would put his trust in his former enemies as if they had never done anything wrong. Goku was a great guy, but he was too quick to trust.

"I know!" Chi-Chi shouted excitedly. She ignored Krillin falling out of his chair in surprise. "You're right, Krillin. You're Goku's best friend and practically a brother. Why don't you just come to visit more often? You can train with Goku and maybe even Gohan instead of Piccolo and Raditz. Maybe they'll take the hint that they're not wanted and leave us alone."

Rubbing his head, Krillin got back up in his chair and winced in pain. He was definitely going to have a bump there. "I'd love to visit more, but I live a long way away."

Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed as she fixed an angry glare on him. "Well you can fly!" she screamed. "I might not want Gohan to be a fighter, but at least you're better than those other monsters! You are going to come around more often and be the uncle you should be!"

Krillin fell out of his chair, this time backwards when he scrambled to avoid Chi-Chi's wrath. Sometimes he was sure she was scarier than any enemy he would ever face. "Okay, Chi-Chi, okay, calm down! I'll come every few days!"

The brunette smirked, quite satisfied with herself, and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's better. But if I hear you're putting any ideas into Gohan's head about becoming a martial artist you'll be sorry."

He swallowed hard and got up, picked up his chair, and sat down again. He wondered how he always got himself into these messes. At least he would get to see Goku and Gohan more often. Guiltily, he thought he should have visited them more all along, but he made the excuse of distance and a busy schedule and never dropped by. Maybe he didn't deserve to consider himself a sort of brother to Goku. He dismissed that thought. Of course he did! He was with him through some of the craziest adventures and hardest training of their lives. He was there like a brother should be, not flying around in space blowing up planets and killing people. He smiled and nodded in agreement to his thoughts. He was going to be the best brother and uncle he could be.

…

Vegeta paced restlessly back and forth through the kitchen. His tail flicked agitatedly behind him, the only other sign of his foul mood. He was impatiently waiting for Mrs. Brief to finish what she was doing so she accompany him to the Capsule Corporation headquarters building. She didn't seem to understand the urgency of his trip to see Dr. Brief in the middle of the day. He tried explaining it, but as usual she brushed it off as if it were nothing.

Sure, he could go on with his training without the use of the gravity room, but that would be time wasted when Dr. Brief could make a quick repair and get it operating again. Vegeta raked his hand through his hair, wishing he had learned how to fix the gravity console himself so he wouldn't be stuck in these situations, depending on Dr. Brief or Bulma to come help him out. When the console broke, he automatically went to Bulma's lab to demand she get it running again within the hour, but he found that she wasn't there, having again gone to headquarters on some order of business he didn't understand or care about. So, he resorted to going to Mrs. Brief to inquire about how to find them in the headquarters building. He was further slowed down in his mission when he was told that he wouldn't have access to all the floors and wings in headquarters, and, since her husband and daughter could be anywhere, she would go with him to grant him access. Even if they were just in their office suites, he wouldn't be able to get the elevator doors to open on their floors.

Vegeta felt like kicking someone around for the inconvenience, but his sparring partner, Nappa, fled the scene as soon as the console was busted. He quickly explained as he ran out of the gravity room that he was going to go train alone in the wilderness for a few days and not to bother trying to find him. Vegeta had been so distracted by the black smoke pouring out of the console that he hadn't paid his bodyguard much mind, more concerned about the whole console being destroyed if there were a fire. Luckily, there hadn't been. But now he was without a sparring partner and he didn't have a gravity room to train in. He was spoiled by the high gravity he had been training under; to use the yard or indoor garden as a temporary training facility until Bulma or Dr. Brief got home was unacceptable.

And so he waited for Mrs. Brief. She continued puttering around the kitchen, making sure things would be ready so she could start dinner as soon as she got home from their little excursion. He couldn't care less if dinner was served right on time. What he cared about was getting his gravity room up and running. "Come on, woman!"

"Just a minute, Vegeta," she said, unperturbed, as she closed a cupboard. "I'll be ready soon."

He groaned and considered bashing his head against the wall, but he decided that wouldn't do anything to help get her moving faster, so he refrained. But true to her word, she was ready a minute later. She giggled as she left the kitchen and grabbed her purse from the hall closet. "I don't see what the big hurry is."

"Just go," he snapped. He gently pushed her out the front door and slammed it closed behind him. She went to the driveway, digging around in her purse to find her car capsule, but Vegeta was tired of wasting time and scooped her up in his arms to carry her to headquarters.

"Oh my!" she gasped. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I've never flown before!"

He rolled his eyes, and a few seconds later they were already landed on the front walk of the headquarters building. He set Mrs. Brief down and gestured for her to lead the way inside. They walked in the front door and were immediately greeted by the receptionist at the front desk. Mrs. Brief grinned and said hello to the receptionist and was about to strike up a friendly conversation when Vegeta's tail coiled around her wrist and pulled her toward the elevators.

"Oh my Kami, it's one of the aliens! The ones who attacked East City!"

"What? Where?"

"You're right! What's he doing here?"

Vegeta cringed as shouts and screams of fear erupted around him. He hadn't paid attention to the humans in the lobby area, but apparently he drew their attention and they recognized him from the television broadcast of his fight with the earthling warriors before Nappa killed the news crews. Within a few seconds he was feeling nauseous from the scent of fear in the air, and his ears were ringing from the sounds of panic.

Mrs. Brief was confused for a few moments before she got her wits about her. She spun around on her heel and planted her hands on her hips, a fierce scowl on her face. "That's enough!" she yelled. Silence followed. No one had ever heard the gentle wife of Dr. Brief raise her voice before, and no one had ever seen her do anything but smile. It was terrifying, more than seeing one of the evil space aliens at her side walking casually through their workplace.

The saiyan gaped at Mrs. Brief, astonished that she was able to create order out of chaos so easily. The tiny, frail little woman must hold some sort of power over them or they would have gone on screaming their heads off. He felt pride swelling in his chest when he saw the furious expression on her face. He smirked at the people in the lobby.

"Honestly!" Mrs. Brief continued, disgusted. "You're acting like a bunch of children. I don't want any of you ever mentioning that again, do you hear me?"

Many of the people standing around nodded dumbly, but they still looked horrified. Mrs. Brief huffed and turned around to push the button next to the elevator. They only had to wait a few seconds before the door of one of the elevators slid open. There was a pair of scientists discussing notes on some project who stepped off once they reached the main floor. One of them looked up, and, recognizing Vegeta, started to panic. He pulled on his colleague's sleeve and stammered, trying to come up with the words that wouldn't form in his mouth.

"Don't say it," one of the women standing in the lobby hissed. The man turned to face her, then looked where she was pointing (at Mrs. Brief) and nodded. He and the other scientist hurried out of the way.

Mrs. Brief and Vegeta stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed behind them. She pushed the button that would take them to the floor with Dr. Brief's office suite. Her scowl melted into a cheerful smile. "I'm sorry about that, Vegeta. I didn't think people would recognize you from that old newscast."

"Hn."

The elevator stopped at Dr. Brief's floor, but the door didn't open. Mrs. Brief put her finger on a small scanner, and then the door slid open. She stepped off the elevator with Vegeta right behind her. "Sweetie? Are you here?" she asked when she didn't see her husband sitting at his desk.

"I'm over here."

Mrs. Brief walked around to the kitchenette. "Oh, there you are."

Dr. Brief turned around, holding a cup of hot tea in one hand and a cigarette in the other. "What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here, dear?"

She beckoned Vegeta over when she noticed he hadn't followed her. He was busy looking around the office suite and sniffing the air that was filled with the stale stench of cigarette smoke. He walked over to the kitchenette when he saw Mrs. Brief motioning him over.

"Vegeta wanted to see you," Mrs. Brief said once the saiyan was at her side.

Seeing his surrogate son, Dr. Brief snubbed out his cigarette and waved the lingering smoke away until it was sucked up into an air filter. "Vegeta? What did you need? Is everything all right with the gravity room?"

Vegeta's nose wrinkled when he smelled the cigarette, but he didn't comment on it. "It's broken. I need you to fix it."

"Broken?" Dr. Brief asked incredulously. "That thing was built to be darn near indestructible, and that's the third time it's busted!"

The tip of Vegeta's tail twitched. "Indestructible by human standards. It cannot withstand the power of two full-blooded saiyans." He felt a bit of pride in his ability to destroy something that wasn't supposed to be destructible, but he was too irritated by the inconvenience to think much about his 'accomplishment.'

Dr. Brief sighed and sipped his tea. "I'll take a look at it when I get back to the compound."

Vegeta's tail twitched again, more perceptibly. He crossed his arms over his chest to hide the fact that his hands were clenched into fists. "I can't wait that long," he ground out.

"I'm sorry, son," Dr. Brief said, "but I can't just leave work to fix your gravity room. I have things I need to get done here that are just as important. You can train in the yard until then. How badly broken is it?"

"Bad."

"Oh, dear." Dr. Brief took another lengthy drink of tea. "I'll try to have it done tonight, but I can't make any guarantees. I'll have to see the extent of the damage first."

"You will have it done tonight," Vegeta growled. He was out of patience. It was bad enough that he was being forced to wait until later; he was not about to wait another day to have it done. He didn't care if Dr. Brief had to stay up all night working on it, he would have it done. He needed to keep pushing himself in his training!

"We'll see." The old scientist shrugged and had another sip of tea. He was used to Vegeta's demands, impatience, and tantrums. He'd seen and heard enough not to feel threatened or offended by them. "Now then, was that all you needed to talk to me about?"

Vegeta nodded, turning away to return to the elevator. If he couldn't use the gravity room, then he was going to hurry back to the compound to train as long as he could outside. The natural conditions of the planet were not nearly as conducive to strength gains as the gravity room, so he had to use every minute he had.

"Wait!" Mrs. Brief called out after him. "Honey, don't you think you should get Vegeta some kind of identification so he can access everywhere? I don't think he'll want me to have to come along with him every time he wants to visit you at work."

"Yes, I suppose that would be a good idea. Full access is normally only granted to Capsule Corporation employees, but I do make an exception for family." Dr. Brief nodded to himself as he shuffled across his office suite to his desk and sat down. He started typing a message to his security staff. "Honey, you know where to find the corporation security office is, don't you?"

Mrs. Brief tapped her chin as she tried to remember. "It's on the main floor, isn't it? Behind the reception desk?"

"Yes, dear." Dr. Brief sent the message and picked up his mug for another sip of tea. "I've just sent them a message regarding Vegeta gaining full access to our facilities. They should receive it by the time you get there. They'll be ready to get him entered into the system."

"Thank you." Mrs. Brief went around the oversized desk and kissed her husband's cheek. "We'll see you for dinner."

"Very good." He turned to a stack of papers on his desk and started flipping through them.

Mrs. Brief grabbed Vegeta's arm on her way over to the elevator. "This is wonderful, sweetie. You'll be able to go anywhere in the building without anyone bothering you."

"Why would I want to?" he grumbled. Vegeta had no interest in wandering through headquarters. Getting back to the compound to train was a much higher priority on his list.

They heard the elevator ding and then the door slid open. It was empty, so they stepped on and Mrs. Brief pushed the button to take them down to the main floor. "Now don't be silly, honey. You have as much right to be here as anyone. You're part of the family and this is a family-owned company." That settled, Mrs. Brief folded her hands and waited for the elevator to reach the main floor.

Ding! Vegeta's lip curled at the sound. He was all too happy to get off the elevator when the door opened. He still didn't like it, even if he was with someone he trusted. He headed straight for the exit, but Mrs. Brief caught his arm and pulled him back to another office. She pushed him through the door and closed it once they were inside.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a man wearing a gray uniform said as he squeezed past her to leave the office. As he went by his hand brushed against her backside.

"Oh!" Mrs. Brief jumped and turned around, glaring at the security guard, but he was already going out the door.

Well, he was before Vegeta grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the door. The man screamed, catching the attention of all the other security guards who were milling about the office. When they heard Mrs. Brief and saw what was happening, they jumped to conclusions about the man who was assaulting a guard. Within seconds they had him surrounded and were trying to pry his hand off the man's throat.

"Oh! Oh, Vegeta, let him go!" Mrs. Brief's voice somehow managed to rise about the commotion.

Vegeta snarled as he released the man and stepped back from him. Every muscle in his body was tense, ready to pounce on him if he tried to touch Mrs. Brief again. He positioned himself between the offending man and Mrs. Brief while she tried to calm all the other guards down.

"I'm sorry, boys," Mrs. Brief said, "He didn't mean to alarm anyone. But I would like that man to submit his letter of resignation immediately."

"You have no right!" he yelled.

She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yeah, some dumb broad."

"That's Mrs. Brief to you," she snipped. She huffed and spun around to address the chief. "My husband sent you a message about entering Vegeta into the security system. He is to gain full access to every facility at Capsule Corporation."

The chief pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at the sweat on his brow as he collapsed into the chair behind his desk. "Y-you want him to – to –"

"To have full access," Mrs. Brief finished. Smiling, she sat in one of the empty chairs on the other side of his desk and crossed her ankles.

"But—but, Mrs. Brief, this—this man, he's a—"

"Member of the Briefs family so he has the right to be given full access." Her smiled widened, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Vegeta, won't you have a seat?"

Vegeta sneered at the chief as he stiffly took a seat in the chair next to Mrs. Brief. He really couldn't care less about being able to move about freely in the headquarters building, but at this point he was going to let them enter him into the system for the sake of spiting the security personnel.

The chief cleared his throat and opened the program on his computer to create an employee profile. "Ok, we'll, uh, we'll just need some basic information."

Mrs. Brief patted Vegeta's knee. "You just answer his questions, honey."

"Hn."

"Full name?"

"Vegeta."

"Brief," Mrs. Brief added.

"How do you spell that?"

"V-E-G-E-T-A," she answered.

The chief typed in Vegeta's name. "Current address?"

Vegeta looked over at Mrs. Brief for an answer. He had never paid attention to the address of the Capsule Corporation compound. Giggling, she answered, "WST 3338926 K."

"He, uh, he lives… with you? At the Capsule Corp compound?"

"Of course he does."

"Right." The chief coughed and entered the address. "I'm assuming the compound phone number?"

"Hn." Vegeta looked around the office, bored with his interview. There were guards standing around, many eyeing him warily. The majority of them were holding white Styrofoam cups filled with coffee, judging by the scent. The office was large, with desks scattered throughout, each with a computer and two chairs across from the people sitting at the desks. The walls were a drab gray with a few large framed pictures of scenery with a word and some sickeningly lame 'inspirational' quote underneath.

"And date of birth?"

Mrs. Brief lightly slapped Vegeta's arm to get his attention. He turned to look at her questioningly. "What?"

"What's your birthday, honey?"

Vegeta shrugged. "I don't know what the date was on Earth when I was born on Vegeta-sei."

"Oh." Mrs. Brief tapped her toe a few times. "What did we put down as your birthday when we filled out your paperwork at the doctor's? My, it's been such a long time."

"It was probably in January sometime," he said.

Mrs. Brief was willing to go along with that. "We'll say January 10. That's easy to remember."

"Hn."

"Whatever you say. We'll uh, we'll need to take your picture," the chief stammered. "For the ID card. So, if you'll stand right over here, please." He indicated an X on the floor in front of a plain blue backdrop.

Rolling his eyes, Vegeta stood up and walked over to stand on the X. He scowled at the camera and growled when it flashed, temporarily blinding him.

"And we'll need your fingerprint here," the chief said, pointing to a flat screen on his desk that would scan Vegeta's finger, storing it in the security system's memory.

Vegeta put his finger on the screen and watched as an image of his fingerprint appeared on the computer screen. He was surprised they still used fingerprints for identification. Many races employed more sophisticated means of identification that were much more difficult to fake or replicate. But, humans were still a little behind and they probably hadn't come up with very good ways to fake and replicate fingerprints anyway.

"Ok, Mr. Brief," the chief sighed as he sat down. "Your information should be processed within 24 hours."

"Just Vegeta."

"Er, of course, sir."

Vegeta snorted and walked around the desk to stand at Mrs. Brief's side. She smiled and politely thanked the chief for his time before guiding Vegeta out of the office. "There, now, that wasn't so bad, was it dear? This reminds me, we need to get you some sort of identification, like a birth certificate and a driver's license. That way you won't have to worry about proper documentation if you ever need it."

"Hn." Vegeta was in too much of a hurry to get back to the compound to bother listening to her ceaseless chatter. As soon as they were outside he picked her up and flew them home. It only took a minute for him to touch down in the front yard. He set Mrs. Brief down and walked around the compound to train.

Smoothing her hair into place, Mrs. Brief went inside to start dinner. Her trip to headquarters had taken a solid hour out of her afternoon and she had two hungry saiyans to feed. She turned the radio on and started singing along, not knowing or caring how she was constantly singing sharp or flat and missing half the words.

It was this scene that Bulma walked in on when she came home from work at headquarters. Her mother was dancing around the kitchen singing along with an old rock 'n' roll song while she moved around to mix up cupcake batter, cut up meat and vegetables, and toss a spinach salad. Bulma chuckled to herself as she picked out an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter and sat at the table.

"Oh, hello, dear!" Mrs. Brief sang when she twirled around and saw her daughter.

"Hey, Mom." Bulma bit into her apple. "Why isn't Vegeta using the gravity room? I didn't hear it running when I came in."

"He had a little training accident this afternoon. Your father is going to try and fix it tonight. I think Vegeta is training out back."

"Really?" Bulma took another bit of her apple before adding sarcastically, "I didn't know he remembered he could train outside of that room."

"Now honey, I know you're lonely since all your friends are too busy training to visit with you—"

"I'm not lonely! Kami, Mother, I see Chi-Chi three times a week and Vegeta at almost every meal. It's not that big of a deal. I'm simply surprised that he's training outside. I guess there's not much else he can do if the gravity room is broken though. Maybe I should take a look at it."

"I'm sure he would appreciate it, dear."

Bulma finished her apple and threw the core away. "Too bad I won't do it. I think he should take a break from training. I know he's determined to get stronger, but his body needs rest. Maybe not as much as a human, but he can't keep pushing himself like this without hurting himself eventually."

"He's a hard-working—"

"Young man, I know." Bulma rolled her eyes, tired of hearing the same excuse every time she brought up her concern for Vegeta's well-being with her mother. "But what good is that if he blows himself up in the gravity room because he's too tired to control his power?"

"It hasn't happened yet, dear."

"Key word: yet. It's bound to happen eventually. Maybe I can convince him to take the night off from training since the gravity room's closed for repairs." The blue-haired genius got up and walked out of the kitchen. She wanted to change into more comfortable clothes before dinner. Her mind was racing with ideas of how to get Vegeta to take a break from training.

'You'd think he'd know rest is as important as training. Maybe I'll just have to remind him. He never wants to do anything with me. He doesn't like TV or movies and he isn't interested in going anywhere in the city to have some fun.' Bulma closed the door to her bedroom and leaned against it. 'Maybe if I promise him upgrades in his gravity room in exchange for a night resting he'll give in. But what kind of upgrades? I'll have to have specifics or he won't believe me. Higher gravity? Maybe I can get it up to 100Gs. And maybe some bots that can reflect his ki so he can spar with them when Nappa's not with him.'

She smirked and nodded to herself. She had a good plan. Vegeta couldn't resist when offered upgrades to help his training. The only question was whether or not he would be willing to give up a whole night of training to get those upgrades. Snorting, Bulma started pulling off her blazer and blouse on her way to her closet. If nothing else, she might be able to convince him to go to her lab with her to design his training bots. At least she could spend some quality time with him and get him to stop training for a few hours. His body might be able to recover at least a little bit from its constant strain.

Bulma put on a white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. She wasn't dressing to impress anybody, so she didn't care that she looked like a bum. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and went back downstairs to relax in the living room until dinner. Let Vegeta have his training time until then. If he didn't get that, then he likely wouldn't want to give up his few precious hours of training time before bed. She tried to start thinking of some ideas for the bots, but she couldn't concentrate on it. She was too excited about the idea of actually getting to see Vegeta when he wasn't wolfing down an inhuman amount of food.

Vegeta was wolfing down an inhuman amount of food when Bulma cleared her throat and turned to face him. She had already finished eating and had her proposal all figured out. "So, Vegeta, since the gravity console is broken, I was thinking maybe you would take tonight off from training. I know you don't like 'wasting time,' but I have a deal for you. You don't train tonight, and I make some upgrades for the gravity room."

He didn't answer since he was still eating, but she could tell by the way he was looking at her without any particular condescension that she had his interest piqued. She continued, "I could make the gravity simulator go up to 100Gs and I was thinking of designing some training bots that could deflect your ki so you could sharpen your techniques when you train alone." She crossed her arms and finished, "But I won't make any upgrades if you train more tonight."

The saiyan prince grunted, then swallowed his mouthful of food. He turned back to his plate and resumed eating as if she had never said anything, which frustrated her. She didn't know if he was thinking it over or if that was his way of saying 'You're crazy. As if I would ever relinquish four hours of training, you stupid girl.'

He actually was thinking about it. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but for the past three weeks he had been unable to get rid of the feeling of exhaustion weighing him down. He even started going to bed earlier at night, but it didn't seem to be enough to help. Perhaps a night off from training would be beneficial, and now he even had an excuse to do it without looking weak. At the same time, he wanted to continue training. Not having his gravity room for half a day, maybe longer, was maddening. He could be making so much more progress under high gravity than he was able to make without it. If he was missing out on quality, could he also miss out on quantity? He didn't have time for any foolishness. On the other hand, if the girl could make the upgrades she mentioned, it might be worth losing a little training time. Higher gravity and bots would likely speed his progress even further. In the end, it was his need for good training that won out. He decided he would accept her offer so long as she didn't want to make him do something stupid all night.

When he was finished with his meal, he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at his empty plate. "I will accept your proposal, girl. I will not train tonight if you can have those upgrades finished by the end of the week."

Bulma's jaw dropped. "By the end of the week? Vegeta, it's Thursday! I can't do that!"

"Then I will train tonight."

"But Vegeta!"

Vegeta stood up, his tail dropping from his waist and twitching behind him. He knew he was asking a lot of her. She was busy with her own obligations and the upgrades would take time to design, build, and test. But he didn't think his demand was unreasonable. She was perfectly capable of meeting his deadline if she put her mind to it. "Final offer, girl."

Bulma slammed her hand down on the table as she stood up. She stepped closer to him until their noses were almost touching. Poking him in the chest, she growled, "I'll do it, Veggie, because you think I can't. I'll prove I can. So take your ass to the recreation room and we'll have a nice, relaxing evening without even a single word about training. Got it?"

"Hn." Vegeta pushed past her, nearly knocking her back into her chair, and left the kitchen.

Bulma ran after him, catching up to him at the stairs. "So what do you want to do? I know you don't really like movies very much. Ok, actually, you don't really like doing much of anything if I remember correctly."

"I don't have time for your—"

"Foolish human entertainment. I know, I got it." Bulma sighed and led the way upstairs to the recreation room. "But there's lots to do. We have books to read, games to play, we got a pool table and video games. Or we could sit and talk about our feelings."

Vegeta stared at her, appalled that she would even suggest such a thing. He wasn't going that soft. Luckily, she wasn't looking at him or she might have laughed at the incredulous expression on his face before he was able to mask it. "Idiot girl."

"Alright, then I guess it'll be up to me to pick." Bulma went into the rec. room and looked around at all the options. "Checkers is easy enough to explain. Go sit at that table."

Not particularly thrilled about the night ahead of him, Vegeta stalked over to the table near the balcony and sat down with his arms across his chest. He watched Bulma go over to a shelf and pick up a box that she carried over to the table. She set it on the table, sat down, and opened the box.

Inside was a game board with red and black squares and a bunch of red and black plastic discs that resembled oversized coins. He picked one up and bit it. His teeth easily sank into the material. He didn't like it. He tossed it back in the pile, ignoring the fact that Bulma was laughing at his antics.

"Hungry again already, Veggie?" she teased. "These aren't food. Here, you be black and I'll be red. You put them on the board like this." She started showing him how to set up the game, with the checkers being placed on all the black squares in the three rows on each side of the board. "So then one of us makes the first move. You have to move the checkers diagonally and always forward, one square at a time. You capture my checkers by jumping over them, and you can jump more than one in a single move. Once you get to the opposite side of the board, I have to crown your checker, and then you can move backwards or forwards. Okay?"

"What a stupid game."

"You go first," she said, ignoring his comment.

Vegeta pushed one of his checkers forward. Already convinced that it was going to be a terribly boring game, he was surprised when, a few moves into the game, he was actually strategizing how to move to keep Bulma from being able to jump over his checkers while making it so she had no choice but to move her checkers in such a way that he was able to jump over two or three at a time. Soon, every one of his checkers was crowned and she only had three left with only one king.

Bulma groaned as he jumped over her king. "You sure you never played this before?"

"Hn."

"I never liked checkers anyway." She moved one of her checkers forward, knowing he would jump it and leave her with only two.

He jumped over it and added it to the pile of red checkers at the side of the board. "Then why choose it to play?"

She shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time." She jumped over one of his checkers and added it to the small pile of black checkers not in play. "But I was obviously mistaken."

"Only because you lost," he said as he jumped over her last two checkers.

"You don't have to rub it in."

"What? The fact that you're a failure?" Vegeta snorted and dumped the checkers back in their box. One game was enough. Another one would be exceedingly boring.

"You're a jerk."

"Hn."

"What does that even mean?" Bulma growled. She held up her hand when he was about to answer. "No, wait. I think I remember how it goes. Yes, no, I don't know, I don't care, or shut up, right?"

Vegeta smirked at the direct quote. Even after many years had passed she still remembered him telling her that. "Hn."

She shook her head, disgusted with his less than adequate reply, and stood up to take the checkers box back to the game shelf. "I don't even want to play any of these other games with you. You always beat me when we were kids. I doubt I'd have a chance now."

"Whatever." Vegeta looked out the balcony doors. It was still light outside. The next day would be the longest day of the year. Then it would be back to every day shortening until eventually there were more hours of dark than light. He had to admit he was looking forward to that time, even if it meant cold weather. He preferred night to day.

Bulma rested her hands on her hips as she considered which game to play next. She figured the only way she was going to have any fun with Vegeta was if she pushed aside her competitiveness and pick a game where they could work on something together instead of playing as opponents. She knew he was just as competitive as her, maybe more, and he had was a master strategist that left her feeling stupid and incompetent. Until she found something that she could strategize better in, she would be stuck losing to him, and she was already frustrated after one round of checkers with him. She picked out another box that rattled whenever she turned it as she carried it over to the table. She opened it and dumped the contents out.

Vegeta quirked an eyebrow when he saw what she brought over. He recognized the game as one she made him play with her a few times when they were younger. There were 144 tiles that could be arranged in a variety of ways and the goal was to match the tiles and remove them until there were none left. Mahjong solitaire, he thought was the correct name for it. "Why this?" he muttered.

"It's fun," she answered, perhaps too quickly. He looked at her suspiciously before he started helping her arrange the tiles into the turtle formation.

They spent the next two hours playing the game. It went slower since they weren't playing against each other. They spent more time talking than paying attention to the game. Well, Bulma talked more, anyway. She had a lot to say. Even though Vegeta had now been living at Capsule Corporation for over eight months, she hadn't had much time to catch up with him. She didn't mind too much that he didn't talk a whole lot. She knew by the way he looked at her and occasionally grunted that he was listening to what she said. She told him about how she had taken martial arts lessons at a dojo in the city, about how she met Goku and her adventures in finding the dragon balls, how their little gang came together, and how she trained with Master Roshi to learn how to use her ki. She told him about her rocky relationship with Yamcha, which he didn't seem as interested in hearing, and she told him about Goku's wedding, Gohan, and her engagement to Yamcha. When she reached the point where he and Nappa came, she went back and told him more about her time in school and college and her work at Capsule Corporation.

Vegeta felt some resentment as she babbled on about her life. She was pampered her whole life, always given everything she needed or wanted. Her biggest complaints were boredom and loneliness. He couldn't very well empathize. His life was in stark contrast to her own. He was rarely given anything besides the basic necessities of life, and many times even those were withheld from him. He spent the years traveling between planets, enduring beatings, killing billions of innocents, and fighting to survive. He believed he had every right to be resentful. But, at the same time, he was upset that he hadn't been on Earth with her. He abandoned her when she needed him most, when the only thing in the world she wanted was a friend. He hadn't been there to protect her when she went on her foolish adventures; if it hadn't been for Kakarrot, she might not even be alive. The guilt clawed at the back of his mind. He should have been there to protect her, to accompany her on her stupid travels to keep her out of trouble. He should have been there to beat up Yamcha when he hurt her, to kill Roshi when he took advantage of her, and to train her in martial arts better than the humans. More than resentment, he felt jealousy and remorse. He wished he could have been there for her. He wished he could have taken care of her, protected her. He knew he left with little choice, but it hurt nonetheless.

Bulma was still chattering away about her accomplishments at Capsule Corporation when he cleared his throat and stood up, leaving their game unfinished. He didn't want to listen to her tales anymore and he didn't want to face her for a while. He hated the way his emotions and instincts took control when he was with her. The pack instincts, driving him to lay his life down for her, were irritating him when he couldn't have done anything different in the past. Yes, he admitted to himself, he should have been there to oversee his pack all those years, but it just wasn't possible. Even now he had endangered them, which was why he was unwilling to let up in his training.

"Vegeta?" Bulma stood up and laid her hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You expect me to believe that?" she asked. "You're almost never fine when you say you are. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

He shrugged off her hand and crossed the room, ready to make his exit. He turned the doorknob and paused. Closing his eyes, he whispered, "I wasn't there."

Quickly, he opened the door and strode out. Before Bulma could catch him he disappeared into his guestroom and locked the door behind him. She didn't know if he was going to bed or if he was just trying to get away from her, but either way she had no hope of getting him to open the door, so she went to her own room. She sighed as she sat down at her desk and opened a notebook to begin jotting notes and ideas for the gravity room upgrades.

'No, Vegeta, you weren't there,' she agreed. 'At least, not physically. But I don't know how I would have gotten through everything that I did if it weren't for you. You changed my life. You were like the brother I never had. I remembered everything you taught me. I've already forgiven you for leaving when you had to, why don't you forgive yourself?'

A/N: Sheesh, everyone hates Nappa. Give the guy a break, he's just doing what he thinks is best for Vegeta. He's really not that bad, especially later. You'll love him. I know the chapters have been a bit fluffy lately, but does that explain the lack of reviews? Okay, I know I'm spoiled. You were giving me so many for a while that now, less than 25 seems like too few... I sincerely appreciate each review, but I do hope for more because, well, they just make me happy.

Anyway, I wrote chapters 58 and 59 and now I'm ready to start 60. What else do I have to do besides write? I'm still jobless and now that I'm sore and sunburned from kayaking I have no desire to ever go outside again. And just for the record, I only fell in the river three times! Pretty hilarious, I admit.

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

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