Chapter 19

Vegeta was 100, no 1000%, sure that he was going to regret this, but there was no other way. Even if he had tried to hide this last desperate solution, eventually, over the years, Kakarot would have found out that there had been something he could have done, and he would have hated him for hiding it. The only way to keep his mate from making their lives hell in the future, was to make them both miserable now. Gohan did not have his father's spirit and drive, would need a LOT of 'comforting' to recover from all this, and he was only a half-breed to top it all off – Kami this was going to suck... He pushed open the door to Gohan's room, disdain for what he was about to do already covering his face. He was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder pulling him back.

"This doesn't seem right" Goten said with an accusing tone.

"Of course it's not right – this whole situation is FUCKED" Vegeta swore. Gohan lifted himself from crying on the bed to sit on it's edge.

"What do you want now? I just want to be left alone for a little while, ok?" Gohan's voice cracked.

"It's not right to just force it on him" Trunks' voice of protest joined Gotens'. Gohan's eyes became wary.

"Force what on me?" he said.

"Bakas!" Vegeta turned on them, "Do you want him to die?"

"No, but there has to be some other way." Vegeta ignored them and turned to Gohan.

"Do you want to die?" he asked him, giving him an out.

"Die?! No! Why? What's wrong?" Gohan sputtered. Vegeta didn't answer him, but turned back to the younger half-Saiyans, and pushed them out of the room. They started to protest, or rather Trunks did, as Goten was a little very pregnant for that, but a stern look from Goku sent them out the rest of the way without resistance. If Goku was on board with this, they couldn't really argue. Goku went and sat on the edge of the bed next to his son. He wasn't really sure how much they should explain to him, or if he was mentally capable of dealing with any line of reasoning right now. He settled for wrapping him in a hug while he thought, but the longer he held him, the more tension built in his son's frame. Gohan, the happy, whole Gohan he had once been, never liked to get into something without having all the facts. He got that over-zealous planning urge from his mother, he was sure... They would have to tell him what they were going to do to him ahead of time, even if it made it more difficult to get done. The Gohan who eventually healed from this would resent it if they didn't...

"Gohan, if we don't stop this, eventually, it will kill you" he spoke gently as he released his son from the hug. Gohan's eyes went wide, but he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Vegeta knows of a way to fix it..." he continued, leaving his hand on Gohan's shoulder, "it isn't something to be done lightly, but it's the only way – I can't just sit here and watch you die." Gohan looked at him nervously, shifting in his seat.

"Why haven't you said what it is yet?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because you're not going to like it boy" Vegeta huffed with his arms crossed.

"Well, spit it out then Vegeta, if Dad can't say it, then you tell me" Gohan fired back. Vegeta glared at him, but looked over to his father, almost like he was checking his permission, apparently took his 'sigh' as an acquiescence, and said bluntly,

"I have to bond you." He was pretty sure he wouldn't survive the impact from this height with his ki suppressed, but he made a dive for the only window in the room anyway. His father's hand on his shoulder stopped him, pulling him back as he screamed.

Never.

Never never never never.

Echoed in his head as he fought and struggled. He screamed again – rage boiling in him with no release. How dare they put their hands on him! They were going to steal him from his mate! Another screamed erupted from him. Panic. His father was holding him down. Scream. Vegeta's face was in front of him. Rage poured out of his lungs until his throat bled. No release. As Vegeta's teeth sank into his neck, the mix of pain and pleasure made him want to hurl all over his Prince, but consciousness was slipping as he whimpered, defeated.

"Bite me." A command. Spoken from his Princes' lips he could do nothing but obey. As his teeth sank into that royal flesh, he gave out completely; the last thing he saw was the red glow of the bedside clock flicking from 7:59 to 8.

The next morning, he woke nestled between his father and his new master. He wondered if the blast from a shot gun would be enough to end him with these suppressors on. Maybe he would go put on his old Saiyaman costume and see how much havoc he could cause before they took him out... His fathers' hand was pulling his chin up out of his chest to look into his eyes. Concern and a little bit of horror marked his face.

"Gohan!" he said in a soft exclamation. Gohan sighed, and dropped his gaze, realizing they could read his thoughts through the bond. Vegeta spoke from behind him.

"If you do that now, it will kill myself and your father." Gohan just nodded his head and lay there limply. His father tried rubbing his arm in a consoling fashion, but when he didn't respond, he stopped. Gohan let his mind fill with the white buzz of emptiness that had replaced the pain of his unfinished bond. He wondered if this was what people on antidepressants felt like – no longer in pain but still just wanting to die.

Goku had warned Vegeta that just because he had had to go along with holding him down for Vegeta to mark him, he was not going to let Vegeta push him to 'hurry up and heal already' once it was done. Invading his memories to uncover this 'unfinished bond' business would definitely be a violation of that.

"Now that he's not in danger, you will let him tell us when he's ready" his Dad said firmly to Vegeta. Vegeta nodded solemnly, but Gohan could tell that his curiosity was piqued. Nothingness echoed inside him. His Dad stretched and sat up – apparently they were all completely naked, and he hadn't realized it until this moment...

"So, who gets the shower first?" he started to say, trying to be cheerful as usual – the cheer died in his throat at the look in his son's eyes. There was no anger, no pain, no nothing in Gohan's eyes as he turned and looked at Vegeta.

"Did you rape me while I was passed out?" That degree of shock did not pass normally over the Princes' face.

"No" came out curt and almost rudely. Gohan didn't respond, he just rolled back over to face his father.

"Did you?" Seeing those blank eyes ask that question reached deep inside him, made him brand his own soul with self-loathing and disgust. He had done this – he was just as responsible as Vegeta for destroying his son. He cried. Gohan ignored his tears, got out of bed and went into the bathroom without a word.

Vegeta hated this. He couldn't leave Gohan alone like that, and Kakarot was obviously in no condition to go with him since his own need of comforting was what tore at Vegeta's sense of responsibility. He heard Gohan's insane laughter softly emanating from the bathroom. He knew now, knew that Vegeta hadn't really wanted this either, had only done it for his Dad. Fuck him. He would have rather died. His Dad could rot. He laughed at his fathers' soul-wrenching pain as he tried to stab a pair of scissors in his eye and through his brain. He wasn't fast enough with his ki suppressed, and Vegeta had bolted from the bed, smashing through the door, stopping the damaged man's arm before it could swing halfway up. Vegeta took the scissors from him and then released his arm. Gohan leaned down and licked some of the dried blood from his master's neck – then hit him in the face as hard as he could. Vegeta fell on his ass out of surprise, back into the bedroom since he had just broken the door off a moment ago. Gohan made no other move after that, just stood and stared at him blankly.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Trunks was practically shouting as he and Goten entered the room. When Gohan saw them, the blank, languid insanity stopped, snapped. Fuck.

"Get him out of here and don't fucking come back!" Vegeta yelled at Trunks as he and Goku held him down and dragged him back to the bed. Gohan was screaming and thrashing again. Trunks backed up with his arm out protectively behind him to coral Goten out of the room. His eyes were wide as he listen to Gohan scream his name and beg him for help.

Trunks collapsed to his knees. A fear not his own spiked through him – followed by a rage he knew well. Something was terribly wrong. An even worse wrong than what he had felt last time... Helplessness. Rage battled the helplessness, but couldn't win. He flashed SSJ at the intensity of it. He could feel their hands on him, They were going to steal his mate! He screamed to the tapestry covered wall. SSJ2 lifted him off the ground; he was floating in the hall now, eyes closed, head thrown back, warring with some unseen foe. The servants in the vicinity scattered, fearing some cosmic battle. SSJ3 began to crack the columns and walls around him – and still the rage egged him on, pleading, pleading with him to help, to intervene... To save the only man he had ever loved... But he was just as helpless as Gohan, still trapped in his time for another 18 hours. Helpless. He watched his father's face lean over him, and screamed a pain and frustration that obliterated what was left of the cracked masonry around him, a sphere of destruction blasting out of him like a shock wave. He fell from the air and vomited on the wreckage beneath him, feeling the bond begin to disintegrate. One last image flashed weakly through him, a command given, and then, blackness.

Gohan was restrained by his wrists and ankles, in addition to the ki ones, when he woke up again. His throat hurt from screaming, his body hurt from thrashing, but none of it mattered. He didn't try to move, didn't try to speak. Just stared at the ceiling until his eyes closed again on their own.

Trunks and Goten watched him through a monitor in a different room. Watched blank eyes flutter open, recognize restraints, then give up without a fight.

"It makes me want to strangle him, both of them – for what they did to him" Goten choked out angrily.

"It makes me afraid for our son" Trunks replied, not taking his gaze off the monitor. Goten paled, placing both hands on his ready-to-pop-at-any-moment stomach.

"We'll warn him" he said quietly, "he won't have to suffer Gohan's fate." He turned and punched a hole in the wall, startling Trunks.

"I can't believe they reduced the boy who killed Cell, who fearlessly came to rescue us from Majin-Buu – to, to this! A cautionary tale!" Goten was furious, he practically glowed. His hair was starting to stand up straight, when he doubled over and grabbed his stomach, losing the transformation.

"Goten! Why'd you go and do that?" Trunks growled as he rushed over to him. Goten feinted in his arms. He briefly regained consciousness as he was carrying him to the med bay, and placing a hand on Trunks chest, he whispered to him.

"I want to name our baby Gohan, after my brother – and then leave – you told me once we could just leave if we wanted to, find a place among the stars..." Trunks stopped and looked him in the eye, nodding his assent as he flew over the gaping whole in the stairs. The blasts from the battle had taken out most of this wall, several guest bedrooms, all of the living room, and several adjacent structures outside when Piccolo had found out what happened; saw Gohan's condition. Hell, Piccolo had been more of a father to Gohan than his Dad-no, he reminded himself as another contraction rippled through him, more of a father than Goku, ever was... He would never call that man father again.

Trunks awoke to his mothers' soft crying. He was still laying in the rubble of what Gohan's power had made him do. He sat up slowly, and his mother reached out a tentative hand to brush the tears from his own face – not saying anything yet. She had been holding his head in her lap and stroking the side of his face, unable to wake him. The first thing he noticed was that he didn't feel hollow anymore – and that hurt like hell. He managed to ask her what time it was through the fog in his head. She looked taken aback, and scowled at him without answering. He jumped to his feet.

"Damn it woman, what time is it?" he growled at her. Real fear was beginning to blossom on her face as she checked her watch and gave him the time. It had only been 4 hours since he passed out. Fuck. He still had 14 to go. Would going back even make a difference now? The shadow of their bond had followed him through to his time, would the lack of it follow him back? When he got there, even if he went back far enough, would Gohan's tie to him still be broken? He supposed that didn't matter, he could re-claim him, so long as he could stop Vegeta and Goku – he knew Goku had been the one holding him down. Fuck. His own father... They couldn't have felt what he experienced as it was happening though, they hadn't known... He remembered that they thought Gohan was insane. He also tried to remind himself that he didn't know the whole story behind their actions, that Goku would never harm his own son, they must have thought that it was necessary for some reason...

He realized his mother was trying to talk to him.

"What?"

"Trunks! Haven't you heard a word I've said?" she was pale. He took a deep breath, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Listen mom, I know you have a lot of questions – I can't answer them right now. Just suffice it to say that there's trouble, ok? I already have a plan in place to deal with it, so don't lecture me. Also, I've discovered that my life expectancy is close to 500 years, so stop bringing up anything related to marriage, children, heirs or succession – I'll deal with that on my time, not yours." She was shocked into silence, probably for the first time ever. He was actually kind of amused by it. He offered her his hand, carrying her out of the rubble field, and placing her on an unruined section of hallway as servants stared with wide eyes. He left them to her, and headed back to his rooms. This would be the longest 14 hours of his life.