CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Author's Note; As you can already see, the story has undergone a name-change. I just felt this new title fitted the story much better, I was never really a fan of it's original name. I also have some good news for all you loyal readers out there – updates will now be more regular!

So enjoy, and remember that reviews are very much loved. :)

It had been three days since the androids had arrived, three days since a bigger threat had made himself known, three days since Bulma had seen Vegeta and the older incarnation of her young son. Luckily for the aqua-haired genius she had plenty of distractions to keep her busy, since Krillin had come to her laboratory with the late Dr. Gero's plans of the android named simply 'Seventeen'. Now she worked day and night to decipher the plans, in hopes of finding a weakness or something that would give them the upper hand.

In her right hand Bulma held a small remote control, possibly one of her best inventions yet. She was hoping that once she had browsed through the thousands of circuits that were in the android's plans, she would be able to use the remote control to shut them down, and render them useless. It would disable their circuits once the large red button on the control was pushed, and they would no longer be a threat to the world, and the new enemy that was named Cell would not be able to absorb them and achieve his perfect form.

Bulma rubbed her eyes, the last forty-eight hours of going without sleep beginning to affect her. In truth, she was too scared to close her eyes, worried about the nightmares that would most certainly plague her, visions of her friends dying horribly, of Vegeta being destroyed. So all she could do was focus on the remote control, and hope to Kami that she hadn't missed anything vital in the plans.

Just then, her father entered the room, carrying an abnormally upset Trunks in his arm. The look on Dr. Briefs' face said it all. "Bulma, could you please take him for a bit? He's driving us all up the wall." he told her bluntly, holding the baby out to her. Bulma sighed, rolling away from her computer and taking Trunks in her arms. "Alright, I'll calm him down, but I really have to get back to this soon. I'm so close to completing it, I can almost taste it."

Dr. Briefs gave Bulma a grateful smile before another person walked in the door, this one making Bulma slightly annoyed. Since he had been dropped off at her house a few days previous, Yajirobe had made a habit of visiting every day, mostly to eat the food that her mother always graciously prepared for him. It made Bulma quite angry, that he would take advantage of Bunny, especially as the blond-haired woman had a big, kind heart.

"Hey." Yajirobe greeted father and daughter, his mouth in it's usual disappointed frown. "Where's Bunny?" he asked, looking around the room. Dr. Briefs glanced at Bulma, her own feelings reflected in his face. "Come on, I'll take you to her." he told the chubby man, and they left Bulma alone to tend to the now settled Trunks, who was watching his mother carefully.

She looked down at him, blue gazing into blue as she tapped his nose softly. "Now you, I certainly hope you're not just going to keep crying all day. Your mom has a lot to do, and it's very important. This could very well save you, and your daddy." Bulma told Trunks, rocking him gently in her arms. He gurgled at her happily, and was obviously glad to be spending time with her. Bulma felt slightly guilty, over the last three days she had been so busy working that she had not been able to spend with her son.

But Trunks seemed content in her arms, and as she sat back in her chair, she couldn't help but think about what Vegeta was missing out on. Since returning to the Earth, Vegeta had only seen his son one time, and that had been the night he had come back, and she had found the stoic warrior in Trunks' room, 'inspecting' him as Vegeta had put it. But as Bulma looked down at the lavender-haired child, she could see his father in him, in both features and personality.

With a pang of sadness, she felt that the future Trunks had been better off – at least Vegeta had an excuse of not being with his son, he was dead in that timeline, destroyed by the androids. She knew that it was a horrible thing to think, and would never speak of these feelings out loud. But the Trunks of this timeline had a perfectly alive father, who had simply chosen to ignore his family of his own choosing. Bulma couldn't seem to understand why, she had never met such a heartless, cold man.

And yet she had been so convinced that there had been more to the Saiyan Prince, much more that lay under his cold, hard exterior. She was aware of some of his background, Goku had been more than happy to fill her in on what he knew. Being ruled over by such a creature like Frieza was sure to make a permanent scar on anyone, especially as Vegeta had only been a young boy when he had begun working for Frieza. He had been ordered to kill whole civilisations and planets in the blink of an eye, without remorse or guilt.

Vegeta had the blood of thousands, possibly even millions on his hands, and yet all Bulma wanted to do was hold him in her arms, protect him. She could sense that there was a fragility about him, a side that he would never reveal to anyone, or even acknowledge it himself. But it had to be there, surely. Goku was the only being alive who had witnessed another side to Vegeta, the one who had watched the Saiyan Prince cry as he revealed his life in the last few moments of his death on Namek, after being ruthlessly killed by his own master.

Breaking away from her thoughts, she returned her focus to her son, who had thankfully fallen asleep in her arms. Her face breaking into a soft smile, Bulma got up from her chair and quickly placed Trunks in the small cot she kept in her laboratory, pleased that he did not stir, and continued to snore softly. This was good, it would give her a chance to continue her work, and to give her parents a break. She knew that they loved their grandson, but even Bulma had to admit that the half-Saiyan child could be a bit of a handful at times.

Bulma sunk back down into her chair, her blue eyes returning to the computer screen once more. She was so close to finishing the remote control, she just knew it. All she had to do was continue to browse through the circuits, double checking everything before she could give it to one of her friends – whoever was trusted with such a feat.

+-+

Meanwhile, Vegeta stood on the highest peak of rocks that he had found, staring out into the wasteland that surrounded him. His defeat by the female android earlier still played continually in his mind, never had he been so ashamed of losing a fight before. The last three years of his life, the intense training that he forced himself through, the achievement of ascending to a Super Saiyan at last had meant nothing. He had still been beaten to the ground easily, his pride and reputation torn to shreds.

He tried his best to ignore the presence that accompanied him, the lavender-haired fighter who had been watching him relentlessly for the past few days, the boy that was a constant reminder of the woman that determined to haunt his every thought. Even after Vegeta had made it clear that he did not want the boy to be anywhere near him, he had persisted. Vegeta had to give him some credit, after all, it was pure proof that he was indeed his son, the boy's stubbornness was indeed his own.

Although he fought against it, Vegeta's mind went to the woman once more. He blamed her for his defeat, she was the reason that he had been so weak, or at least that's how he justified in his mind. All of the time he wasted being with her and not being able to keep her from his thoughts, he could have been training. She had been an unnecessary distraction, and one that had persisted throughout his time staying with her. And yet, there was still a small part of him that couldn't help but wonder what she was doing, how she was, but he quickly squashed that thought.

Another event that plagued his mind was the day of the androids arrival, when the robotic Dr. Gero had seen Bulma's plane arriving, and swiftly blown it up to cover his own escape. Vegeta had failed to even try and save them, his thoughts solely on the enemy. Of course, he was thankful that she and the child had been saved by the boy that sat on the rocks below him, not that he would ever admit it. But he continued to think about what would have happened if they had not been so lucky.

If the woman had died, than he would no longer have the distraction that was her blue eyed and perfect face. He would be free to kill Kakarott as soon as he was well again, and feel no remorse afterwards. Then he would be able to destroy the Earth, without anything hindering his thought, and no connection to the pathetic planet. But if the woman had died, would he truly have been able to cope with the loss, or would it merely have been a small blip on his radar?

His thoughts were interrupted as he sensed the boy approaching once more, and although he was annoyed by this, he was thankful that his mind had stopped going to places he had tried his best to prevent. "Father." the boy exclaimed, but Vegeta did not turn to face him. He had mixed feelings about the boy referring to him as such, but for the moment he just simply did not have the energy to care. "Father," the boy repeated, before continuing, "I wish to train with you. Surely having a sparring partner will do us both some good, rather than bad. We're missing out on valuable training time here."

Vegeta grunted. "I don't know what you're doing boy, but I am currently in training. And I do not wish to be disturbed. If you want to find someone to train with so greatly, I'm sure you can pester one of Kakarott's bunch to help you out." he replied simply, crossing his arms. "Now leave me, and do not annoy me again if you value your life."

He could hear the boy's sigh of defeat before he flew away, but only back to his seat on the large rocks below, much to Vegeta's annoyance. Surely he wasn't stupid, and Vegeta's threat against his life had not been an empty one. Sure, the boy was the future incarnation of his son, but even that would not hinder Vegeta's thoughts if he were to get very angry. He would be able to kill just about anyone if they infuriated him enough.

Which was why Kakarott was the first on his list to die.