Once again, much love and special sauce to BluEydMnstr for beta-ing for me!

Chapter Five

For the first time in years, Bulma Brief was speechless. She wasn't sure what shocked her more: the information in front of her, or the man that stood by her side with a watchful gaze. He didn't look surprised in the least, and that fact alone irritated her. Since when did Son-kun figure something out before she did? So what if this guy wasn't actually Goku... it was the principle of the thing! She was the genius! She was the one who should have been nodding in quiet understanding while he chuckled and scratched the back of his head like he always did when he had no clue what was going on. It just wasn't right!

It didn't help that she had absolutely no idea how the whole situation was even possible to begin with.

"So I assume that answers our first question," Kakarotto commented softly from his place at her side.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded impatiently as she spun to face him. "This doesn't answer anything, Go- damn it! Whatever the hell your name is..."

"Kakarotto."

Bulma glared daggers at the Saiyajin, mumbling a sarcastic 'I knew that' under her breath before turning back to the blasphemous monitor. "There is absolutely no way this can be right!" she snapped. "It's... it's..."

"Impossible," Kakarotto supplied flatly as he ran one hand over his face in quiet exasperation. The woman was as thick-headed as she ever was, that was for damned sure! And just as loud...

"Yes! Yes, it's completely and totally impossible. There is just no way!"

Kakarotto made sure to keep his mouth straight and his voice as neutral as possible. "Perhaps you've forgotten how to read a Saiyajin calendar, eh? Should I pull up the Earth program instead?"

Bulma eyes widened as her face turned the loveliest rose hue Kakarotto had ever seen. "Of course I can read a Saiyajin calendar, you jerk! How dare you-" she screamed indignantly.

"Then you see the same thing I do," he responded calmly, effectively cutting her rant short with the soft, yet unmistakably commanding tone he was known for in his time. He leaned his shoulder against the stone wall, crossing his arms over his armor-clad chest and held the fuming woman before him silent with a penetrating stare. "You told me the date of your 'accident'," he drawled the last word for effect, earning him an evil scowl from Bulma before he continued, "and it matches that on the printout from your ship. Both correspond exactly with the date my guards found you in the ruins of the old Capsule Corporation building."

"But-" Bulma froze. The building... the room she had been in. She hadn't thought of it since she was found, that the room she had been in had seemed familiar to her. She turned to face the look-alike once again, this time in shock. "The old Capsule Corporation building?"

"Correct. If memory serves, you were in what was, at one time, the second floor laboratory of the main residence," Kakarotto informed her evenly as he noted the surprise and fear that danced over her features before he realized that this Bulma would have no idea what had happened to the place. It also hit him that he hadn't considered before saying those words that her father's brainchild might still be going strong in her version of the present. "I'm sorry, Bulma. I should not have said anything. I wasn't aware of how it would affect you," he explained after a moment's consideration.

Bulma swallowed nervously. "What happened to it?"

Kakarotto regarded the azure-eyed woman for several tense seconds before answering. "There was a large battle several years ago, and much of the city was destroyed before I was able to stop the ones responsible," he answered as vaguely, yet as honestly as possible. "Instead of rebuilding it, I moved the surviving personnel and equipment here."

"Oh."

"It is not important," Kakarotto stated, snapping Bulma out of her trance. "I believe returning you to where you belong takes priority over a history lesson on a world you are not part of."

Bulma closed her eyes with a soft sigh. Kakarotto was right. Facts were facts, and those facts pointed conclusively to the unlikely scenario that she had somehow managed to land herself in an alternate version of her own time.

And now she had to find a way to get home.

"Damn it," she cursed softly. "I don't even know where to begin," she admitted after another moment.

Kakarotto, to her slight annoyance, seemed completely unworried. He shrugged once lightly. "It should not be difficult for you to find out how you were transported here. I will take you to the bay where the ship is being held so that you can assess any damage and make the necessary repairs..."

Bulma shook her head, soft blue tresses swaying gently with the movement. "You don't understand! See, I made that thing off of a blueprint that was stored in my father's computer. I just made a replica, basically. I... I didn't even totally understand how the thing worked."

"You mean that it's not your original design?" Kakarotto questioned sharply, disbelief written deeply into his stern features. "You were going to use something you didn't even understand the mechanics of?"

Bulma's anger began to build once again at his indignant expression. "Yes, it's my design!" she shouted, making Kakarotto wince slightly, "but I was a lot older and had more experience with the technology when I made it the first time! Hell, I'd been working on the thing for years!"

Kakarotto blinked several times. "What do you mean, you were older when you made it the first time? You're not making any sense. How could you have been older-" Then it hit him. "A version of yourself from the future created this thing and successfully traveled back in time."

"My son, actually," she corrected softly. The mention of the lavender-haired baby reminded her of how much she had begun to miss him, as well as the young man from the future who had returned to his own time only a few weeks earlier.

"Excuse me?"

Bulma pushed the wayward thoughts aside with a loud sigh. "I designed the machine in the future, but my son was the one to use it. Trunks made two successful trips, three years apart. My data came from the pod he used the second time."

Kakarotto wanted to know more about the son Bulma spoke so longingly of, as well as several other bits of information about her life in her time but forced himself to ignore the nagging questions in his mind. It did not matter. Besides, he decided silently, it appeared that there would be ample time to talk about such things. From the way the woman spoke, it might be a while before they would figure out how to return her to her proper place. He glanced at the time and realized that it was much later than he had realized, and there was still one thing he had to take care of before he could retire for the night, no matter how unpleasant it would be. "It is late," Kakarotto remarked, getting the young woman's attention. "I'll have Laresk prepare a room for you for the night. We will continue in the morning."

As if on cue, a soft knock rang through the room, causing Bulma to jump. Kakarotto smirked at her before walking to the door and opening it.

"Kakarotto-sama, I-" he stopped short when he saw the woman. "I-I beg your pardon, Bulma-san, I did not mean to intrude..."

"Have a room readied for Bulma," Kakarotto interrupted firmly.

Laresk's brow furrowed slightly. "A room? I don't understand, Kakarotto-sama. Why-"

"Show her to a spare room," he repeated in annoyance, "and once you have, you will come back here immediately. I will explain then."

"Of course, Kakarotto-sama!" Laresk bowed deeply. "Would you prefer her to sleep in the adjoining chamber?"

Kakarotto turned to see Bulma's reaction and found her staring blankly back. "Yes, I suppose that would be best," he decided at last as his attention went back to the man before him.

"As you command," Laresk replied with another bow. "I will have it readied at once." He turned and pushed a button on the small device on his belt.

Bulma shook herself out of her daze in time to hear the man Kakarotto called Laresk talk quietly into a long, thin device that had extended from the contraption he wore on his left ear.

After several moments, the man turned back to smile at the woman watching him. "Come with me," he offered as he made his way towards a door to the right.

Bulma glanced at Kakarotto one last time. He relieved her fears slightly when he gave her a small smile and a nod. "If you need anything at all, Laresk will attend to it," he assured her smoothly.

"Okay." Bulma allowed herself to relax as she followed behind the wiry man to the door and offered him a thankful grin as he opened it and motioned for her to enter. As an afterthought, Bulma looked back one last time to Kakarotto. It was the first time she had the chance to just watch him, and she felt the familiar tug in her stomach. He was so much like Son-kun... yet he was completely different at the same time. It was strange to see the man she had known since her teens stripped of the innocent air her Goku had carried throughout his life.

I wonder what happened to make him turn out like this.

Even though his back was already to her and she spoke very softly, she knew he would hear her.

"Goodnight, Kakarotto."

The powerful shoulders stiffened slightly. "Get some rest. I think tomorrow will prove to be a long day."

Bulma shrugged inwardly before she turned and left the man, deciding a long bath would be the perfect cure for the harrowing day she'd had.

He held his breath until he heard the door close with a soft click before letting it out slowly. Then he cleared his mind and dropped the mental barrier he had erected the moment his search for the blue-eyed beauty had begun.

Dad!

Kakarotto groaned softly at the excitement laced through the boy's mental call. Come here, boy. We need to talk.

"Damn it to hell," Kakarotto growled as the communication ended, unconsciously turning towards the door that led to the alternate Bulma. "Of all the places you had to end up, woman, why in God's name did it have to be here?"

Goku's search had been going on for hours, and Vegeta's already ill-achieved attempt at patience was beginning to wear very, very thin. Kaio-sama had left them alone, though only after a round of his usual jokes had earned him a ki blast an inch from his head from the irritated Saiyajin Prince, followed by a promise not to miss a second time. Goku's stomach suddenly made its own declaration, rumbling loudly into the empty space surrounding the platform. Vegeta opened his mouth to berate the man and his constant desire to stuff his face when his own appetite betrayed him and answered his fellow Saiyajin's call with a groan of its own.

Goku grinned and cracked an eye open. "Sounds like we need a lunch break, neh?"

"Fool, you are dead," Vegeta mumbled from his meditative cross-legged position several inches above the platform. "You should not need to eat."

"Yeah, Kaio-sama said that when I came to train with him the first time, but if I don't eat, then I can't concentrate."

Vegeta growled softly before opening his eyes. "Hn. Whatever, just hurry up."

"I know. We'll zip over to Kaio-sama's real quick, eat, and come right back." Goku's face became serious at the glare he received from Vegeta. "I won't give up, Vegeta. I promise you that. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."

"Neither will I, Kakarotto."

Goku nodded once before reaching over and placing one hand on Vegeta's shoulder and the other to his forehead. Moments later, the duo fazed out, reappearing inside the humble home of King Kai.

"Ah! Goku, don't do that to me!" the pudgy deity admonished with a frown which got even deeper upon seeing the scowling prince. He straightened himself to his full height and cleared his throat. "I knew you'd be hungry so..."

Goku had already seen the table, or more accurately, the spread that was laid out on it and was already seated. He heaped food onto a plate and dug in, small bits and pieces of meat, rice and vegetables flying every which way.

Vegeta stalked over to the chair across from the younger Saiyajin. "Even in the afterlife, you're a fucking pig, Kakarotto," he observed with a snarl before fixing his own generous helping.

"I can't help it," Goku replied with his classic Son smile after swallowing the five dumplings that had been in his mouth a second earlier. "After all that searching, I was starving!"

"Hn, you were sitting on your ass all day. How the hell can you work up an appetite like that when you never even moved, eh?"

Goku shrugged lightly. "I'd like to see you try to do it."

Vegeta huffed indignantly at the bold challenge. "Fine, when we get back, I'll search for the woman's ki. Maybe then we'll actually be able to find her."

"Whatever you say, Vegeta."

Kaio-sama listened to the bickering with a grin. "So," he cut in once he heard the apparent cease-fire, "I'm guessing you haven't had any luck yet?"

"Not yet, but I've only covered about five percent of the universe so far, so there's still a ways to go..."

Vegeta balked. "What? Did you just say that we wasted all of that time out in the middle of nowhere, doing absolutely nothing, and you didn't even scratch the surface in your search?"

"I told you, the universe is a big place," Goku replied smoothly. "When I said it could take awhile, I meant it."

"You fucking low-class, brain-damaged idiot!" Vegeta hissed as he clenched both fists and teeth painfully.

Goku blinked. "Huh?"

"Think, Kakarotto! The woman has only been gone for two days, correct?" Vegeta asked.

"Uh, yeah."

Vegeta nodded as he managed to suppress a snarl. "And if she was kidnapped, transported, whatever, into space, she could only travel so fast, right?"

Goku scratched the back of his head as his brow furrowed thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense..."

"Which means she would more than likely be limited as to how far she could have gotten out into space in the time she's been gone. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Goku answered. "You're saying that if she's out there, then she'll be relatively close to Earth and therefore I should search using that as a starting point and work my way out. Right?"

Vegeta huffed. "Yes, Kakarotto. Do you think you can handle that?"

"I think so," Goku managed out with a growl, "considering that's what I've been doing all along." The change in the normally benevolent warrior's expression coupled with the simple statement was enough to make Vegeta's eyes widen before he could plant his normally blank expression back into place. Goku smirked, startling the older Saiyajin for the second time in as many seconds. "Surprised? You shouldn't be. You said yourself that I seem smarter than I was before. Maybe if you had offered to help while we were out there instead of barking orders and bitching like an arrogant prick, you would have known what I was doing."

Before either Vegeta or King Kai could recover from the uncharacteristic display, Goku slid his chair back and walked out the front door, leaving the other two to stare at the spot where Goku had been sitting dazedly.

Vegeta was the first to come back to himself, and he shot out of his own chair. "How dare he-"

"Vegeta," Kaio-sama interjected slowly, earning him a glare from the smaller Saiyajin that would make most men shrink away in terror. Kaio-sama fought the initial instinct with a deep breath. "Perhaps there are some things I should explain to you about what happens when someone like Goku comes to Otherworld. It will help to explain what just happened, I think."

"I don't care about what happens when an idiot like Kakarotto dies." Which wasn't entirely true. In all honesty, Vegeta was, albeit grudgingly, impressed with the changes he had witnessed in his rival and couldn't help but be curious as to what would bring it about. But he wasn't about to admit that.

"Perhaps you should."

Vegeta regarded the undersized god coldly before leaning against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. "Hn. Fine, tell me what you will. You have five minutes."

The northern kai sighed. Where to begin? The rotund being thought on that for several moments before taking his normal stance, clasping his hands behind his back and lifting his dark-spectacled gaze to the Saiyajin no Ouji.

Wait, Kaio-sama!

"Huh?" King Kai frowned slightly. Goku?

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, but remained silent as he watched the shorter of them with veiled interest.

You're right, Kaio-sama. Vegeta needs to know what's happened to me since I've come here, but I should be the one to talk to him. King Kai was aware of Goku's knowing grin through the telepathic call, even though he couldn't actually see it. I'm not sure how he's gonna take it, so I think it'll be safer that way.

Oh! Right! King Kai sweatdropped nervously at the thought of the Saiyajin Prince's reaction. I'll send him to you then.

Goku chuckled softly. Thanks, Kaio-sama. Don't worry, I'll keep him in check.

Alright, Goku. Just remember, as long as you keep him here, he's in your charge.

I understand. Thank you for allowing him to stay. I know he's a pain in the ass, but I have a feeling I'm going to need his help.

The little man snorted in quiet amusement. Are you sure it's not just because you've missed having a decent sparring partner?

A pause. Is it that obvious?

Laresk was staring slack-jawed while Isaka stood frozen, his normally inquisitive blue eyes downcast at his father's side. Kakarotto sighed softly as he ruffled the boy's spiky ebony mane that was identical to his own. He knew the revelation would be a surprise to them both, but he had not dared to speculate how his son would react to the news that the woman they had both hoped was his beloved mother turned out not to be her after all.

"I am truly sorry, Isaka." I wanted it to be her, as well, he added privately to his son.

The half-Saiyajin nodded and sniffled once before raising his glittering gaze to his father. "I know, Dad, and I promise I will be strong," he stated firmly before he ran the back of his hand across his eyes roughly. "Mom wouldn't want me to cry for her, would she?"

"No," Kakarotto agreed, his pride in his son's attitude evident in his tone. "She would not."

Laresk's own shock had worn off, and he shifted from one foot to another, hesitant to interrupt the conversation between the two. Kakarotto sensed it and brought his attention back to him, silently giving the nervous scientist permission to speak. "How do you wish to proceed, Kakarotto-sama? You said that the woman is not even sure herself of the mechanics of the ship that brought her here, so how can we fix it and send her back?"

"Even though she is unfamiliar with it, the Bulma of the other time is a clever woman. As a matter of fact, she seems to be just as intelligent as the woman we all knew, so I'm sure that she will be able to figure it out if given the time and resources necessary to do so," Kakarotto reasoned. "That is why I need the secondary engineering facility cleared out and ready for her first thing tomorrow. You will need to transport her ship there, and make sure you have any and all available equipment at her disposal. I am also putting you in charge of assisting her. She will be understandably unsure of some of our devices, so you will need to be with her to explain what she does not know."

"Yes sir," Laresk agreed readily before stopping short. "But..."

Kakarotto quirked an eyebrow. "Speak freely, Laresk. You know I expect nothing less from you."

Laresk took a long, steadying breath. "I am sure she will indeed be able to do as you have said under those circumstances. I simply wonder, my lord, if... well..." Laresk shrugged. "I can't help but fear that time is one thing we don't have right now. We have only one week before Frieza's henchmen will arrive."

The Saiyajin forced down the initial rage associated with the icejin's name so that he could think clearly; he had to focus on the immediate threat rather than revenge. The time for that would come soon enough. "I know, Laresk. The tyrant is sending his best this time. Zarbon and Dedoria are both stronger than Vegeta and Nappa were," he admitted nonchalantly as he continued to move around the room, "and I doubt they will hold back."

"You don't sound very concerned," Laresk observed cautiously.

"I'm not."

Laresk fidgeted at the man's flat tone. "Then you are sure you can kill them?"

"Yes, Laresk, I am sure," Kakarotto replied as he threw a shit-eating smirk over his shoulder. "Those two don't have a chance in hell of defeating me." Then his mouth fell. "I am much more concerned with Frieza himself."

"What? Why?" Laresk shouted, for the name alone sent chills down the man's spine.

Kakarotto turned around to regard his confidant. "Because this time, the bastard isn't so presumptuous as to expect his elites to come back with an easy victory as he has in the past."

Laresk balked. "You - you mean he's coming with them?"

"It appears so," Kakarotto confirmed with a nod. "I began feeling his ki following theirs just last night."

"But we haven't prepared for this!" Laresk cried out in alarm. "He could simply destroy the planet, and we would be unable to stop him!"

"Relax, Laresk," Kakarotto commanded sharply. "Frieza wishes to face me personally, and I have every intention of giving him exactly what he wants." The air stirred as Kakarotto's power spiked, though the glowering man seemed to not even realize he was doing it as his need for revenge burned through his consciousness.

He closed his eyes as the memories that fueled his continued existence played through his mind. It was the only thing that had kept him sane since her death. Frieza had not known that Bulma was part of the group that he had targeted that fateful day just over a year earlier. The sadistic tyrant had only meant to send Kakarotto a message by destroying the group of Earth's scientists that were stationed on his newest conquest. Frieza had no inkling that he was inadvertently assuring his own death when he shot the blast into the power core of the large building, blowing it into thousands of miniscule chunks of insignificant space junk. Of course, everyone had held onto the unrealistic hope that there were survivors, despite the evidence to the contrary. Kakarotto himself had tried to believe it. Even as her spirit was ripped from his mind, he wanted to believe. But he had known. He had denied it, but both in his heart and through his bond, he had known the truth.

In one decisive moment in time, the galaxy's most feared dictator had taken the most precious thing in Kakarotto's life and replaced it - with raw agony, with maddening regret, with unfathomable hate -

With indescribable power.

While Kakarotto had been lost in his inner musings and Laresk preoccupied with the newly divulged information about Frieza, neither noticed that Isaka had turned away from them both several minutes earlier. He stood transfixed in a combination of surprise and grief at the doorway that led to the visitor from another reality who, at that very moment, just happened to stare back at him, mirror-image eyes wide in wonder. The young man did not have to ask how long she had been standing there or how much she had heard. Isaka was a youth wise beyond his meager ten years, so he knew what the look on her face meant.

She had heard everything.

Isaka didn't have time to consider anything else before the entire room exploded in a golden glow, pulses of uncontrolled energy sending shockwaves through the area and forcing anything not attached to the floor or walls to go flying through the air. Instinct begat reason, and Isaka moved with lightening speed to Bulma, throwing her to the floor as he shielded her with his own ki-enhanced body. He turned his head to see Laresk dive behind an overturned table and cover himself as best he could, though it meant little against the power that buffeted mercilessly against everything in its path. In the middle of the madness was Kakarotto, mouth open wide in a ferocious cry, upswept blonde locks dancing and bright teal eyes burning sightlessly.

Fear clutched painfully at Isaka's chest. Oh no, not again!

He cleared his mind and forced his consciousness out to his father frantically, though it almost knocked the breath out of him when the tide of crushing emotions hit him. The youth gritted his teeth against both the inner and outer assaults.

Otousan!

"Hey, what's going on?" Bulma squeaked from beneath the boy. "Why did he transform into a Super Saiyajin?"

Isaka fought through his father's boiling emotions even as Bulma gave up on getting an answer out of her human shelter, opting to scream at the man who threatened their collective welfare instead. Two pleas to cease rang out simultaneously through the out-of-control Saiyajin's mind, one through the bond with his son, and one from the mouth of the carbon-copy of his dead mate.

Dad, stop! You're going to destroy us all!

"Kakarotto! Stop it before you kill everyone in this room!"

Where Isaka alone had failed, the combination of the two familiar voices did the trick. Almost immediately the power disappeared and debris fell to the floor all around the chamber as the cause of the disturbance regained his senses. Hair and eyes both bled back to their normal midnight black, and Kakarotto fell to his hands and knees after the tremendous exertion, his sudden weight causing cracks to thread in spider web patterns across the stone beneath him. Corded arms trembled as he strained to hold himself up, a sheen of sweat shone over every inch of his exposed skin and beaded heavily on his brow until it ran down to the tip of his nose and fell to the ground below. His back heaved up and down as he gasped repeatedly to fill his burning lungs. He screwed his eyes shut and bared his razor-sharp teeth in an animalistic fashion as he fought to regain enough strength to drag himself off of the floor, though after several minutes it became quite obvious he would not be able to stand on his own.

Finally sure that everything was under control, Isaka lifted himself off of Bulma and went to his father's side. He knelt down and wrapped his arm around Kakarotto's waist to support the elder Saiyajin's considerable weight while he took one of his father's arms and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on, Dad," the boy stated softly. "You need a regen tank to restore your energy."

The man grunted in an attempt to respond, but gave up and nodded weakly instead. It was apparent to everyone in the room that the minute action took all he had left when Kakarotto lost consciousness, his chin falling against his chest.

Bulma watched in silent fascination as the boy suddenly took on the commanding air of his father as though he were slipping into an invisible suit. The boy scowled towards the table where the wiry man was hunched down. "Laresk-san!"

The man peeked his head out from his hiding place. Green eyes widened, and the man jumped to his feet. "Right!" Laresk broke into a run, throwing the double-doors wide while barking commands into his communicator, Isaka flying close behind with his father hanging limply at his side.

Bulma looked back and forth several times before muttering a curse under her breath and sprinting after the group.

End Chapter Five