In the last chapter...
Fearing the worst for her parents, Bulma has an emotional breakdown after Vegeta leaves her alone in her plane to evaluate an interesting power level he traces during their travels. The ki he feels turns out to be Piccolo, who Vegeta immediately feels insulted by when he's told that Gohan has strong potential. Despite this, the Saiyan agrees to take Gohan to Bulma, knowing that it will brighten her mood.
Bulma is cheered up after being reunited with Gohan, but her happiness doesn't last after she learns that Chi-Chi has been killed, and the boy is now receiving training from Piccolo. Despite her fears, she knows that they have to work together to stand a chance against the teenagers that are causing destruction all across the world. She offers the gravity room to Piccolo - much to Vegeta's vexation. Piccolo hints that he is considering her offer, but still wants to train with Gohan for another week before taking her up on it.
Feeling as if his authority and knowledge of combat is being belittled, Vegeta vows to spend the next week training harder than ever so he can take them by surprise when they finally return.
Still recovering from everything she has gone through emotionally, Bulma tells Vegeta that she is too stir crazy to stay in the house while he trains. Even though he tells her not to, she takes off to the nearest town as soon as he locks himself into the gravity room...
"What's with these damned things?"
Vegeta had been in the gravity room for about twenty minutes, and he was getting fed up. The training bots that he had grown accustomed to using weren't running anywhere near the capacity he'd come to expect. Despite the fact that the saiyan was maneuvering at 50 levels higher than ever before, he was still able to dodge and outrun the robots with far too much ease.
But why?!
With how hard it was to swiftly move in this new gravity level, those robots should be beating his ass!
Why were they working with such sluggish speed?!
Growing increasingly frustrated, Vegeta opened his palm and fired a shot at one of the robots. It was typical that the bot would swiftly fly out of the way to dodge the attack, before bolting at top speed for the saiyan in retaliation. However, this time no such thing happened. Instead, the machine didn't even attempt to shield itself before taking the blast head on. A low groan rumbled from the mechanisms inside its shell, and the robot consequentially slid down to the floor.
"What are you doing?!" Vegeta snapped. Clad in only his training pants, sweat was dripping down his chest as he marched to the robot. He prodded the chunk of metal with his foot, but the bot just groaned even more loudly. It was then that the saiyan turned to look around the room, and he noted that all four robots were laying limply on the tile as they painfully buzzed in protest.
Overwhelmed with the need to hit something, the saiyan marched for the control panel and slammed his hand down on the power button. In an instant the resistance ceased, and all of the robots immediately fell silent.
As Vegeta considered this, he suddenly remembered something that Bulma had told him after she'd presented the gravity room to the saiyan in the first place.
"You can even use the bots in here if you'd like, but I'll have to reinforce their bodies if you want to set the gravity level fairly high!" She had squealed as she'd jumped up and down in celebration of the project's success.
"That's it!" The saiyan snapped. Evidently, these robots could not withstand 150x Earth's gravity. They needed to be upgraded in order to work under such strain! Exasperated with this setback, yet pleased that there was already a known solution, Vegeta began to storm out towards the house so he could inform Bulma of her newest task.
But when he walked inside the house, calling out her name and receiving no response, the saiyan's mood soured even more.
"Woman!" He shouted, receiving utter silence in return. There wasn't a scoff, nor a shuffling of feet in his direction. Not even an irritated "my name is not Woman!", as Bulma was so quick to snap when he called her such a thing.
"Are you kidding me?" Vegeta growled. "She actually left!"
He hadn't been tracing her ki at this point, not wanting any distractions while he focused on sparring with the battle bots. But he was reaching out now, and he could feel her. Just as he'd suspected, she was steadily moving farther away with each passing second. She didn't seem to be in any distress – she actually seemed to be quite the opposite of upset... Yet this was no comfort to Vegeta.
The town she was heading towards seemed to be safe at the moment. There were no fearful auras or implications of terror. But that didn't mean that it wouldn't start at any moment. Those teenagers were untraceable, and there was no telling where they would strike next…
"Is she mad?!" He barked, his voice echoing through the empty halls. "It's as if she's trying to piss me off!"
The saiyan ran to the bedroom to fish through the duffle bag. In it he found what he recognized as the small hand-purse that contained the senzu beans. He then found himself a shirt to quickly throw over his head. Then, with another growl of irritation, the saiyan was shooting off into the sky …
.
The entire time he was flying, the saiyan kept himself locked in on Bulma's ki. Cursing her and the world they were residing on for how idiotic and dangerous it all was, Vegeta was beside himself. Chewing on his lip as he flew as fast as he could, Vegeta was anxious that at any given moment he might suddenly feel her life aura spike - just as all of the other victims had...
"Stupid!" He spat, wind slapping his face as he pushed himself as fast as he could. "That damned stupid woman is trying to get herself killed!"
How dare she specifically disobey a direct order? How dare she so blatantly disregard any concept of personal safety?! If he managed to catch up to her before something happened, he'd make sure she knew just how unacceptable her actions really were!
His aggravations only heightened when he found her and saw that she was okay. Standing in the middle of a busy street and looking up at the sky as if she'd been expecting his arrival. Men and women were walking past her as they bustled towards their daily routine, but Bulma paid no attention to any of them. She simply looked up at the saiyan with a knowing grin on her face as she batted her eyelashes innocently.
It wasn't until Vegeta's feet touched the ground that the civilians seemed to pay any notice to him. All at once the road filled with screams as the bystanders scattered for cover, yet the smile never left the Bluehead's face.
"Witch!" One man was shouting.
"Demon!" Another civilian cried.
"Hi, Vegeta!" Bulma beamed. She threw her hands up in the air and shrugged at him, a look on her face that said 'well, you found me. Oh well!'
"What are you doing here?!" He barked, immediately marching for her and grabbing her by the arm.
"I'm going shopping!" Bulma replied, jerking herself out of his grip and back to her side. "Just like I told you I was!"
"You are not!" Vegeta hissed, grabbing her again. This time he made sure to hold her tightly, and when she attempted to pull away again his fingertips dug into her skin. "Stop it..." She gasped. "You're starting to hurt me."
"You think this hurts?" He hissed. "How do you think it will it feel if a hole is blown into your rib by one of those fiends!?"
"They aren't here, are they?" She shot back. She was starting to wince as she struggled against his grip. As Vegeta watched her, the Bluehead's eyes tensing with her dropping mood, he considered her expression. She had looked so pleased when he'd first arrived - so carelessly and wholeheartedly happy... It was a mood that was rare for her – for even when she was content, there was always a woe weighing in the back of her mind. Especially in the recent days, such a carefree face had been seemingly nonexistent on this Bluehead…
Before he even knew it, Vegeta's fingers were loosening around her arm.
Even her ki had been happy. She had felt so peaceful just a few seconds ago! In the moments before Vegeta's arrival, she had been even happier than she was when she had been doting over Gohan... And now it was all quickly dissipating – fleeting - and it was all because of the saiyan's griping words...
"I want to buy a coat!" Bulma was huffing, though she had stopped resisting against Vegeta's hold. There was an ache that was forming in her eyes now, but this was not from his grip on her arm. It was a look of defeat. The sign that she knew her retorts would only be in vain. "And if you aren't going to do it with me, then just let me go by myself!" She scowled, though she looked as if there was no point to arguing. "I make my own decisions, you know!"
"You may dictate your actions, but I'll be damned if I'm letting you waltz into your own death trap!" Vegeta hissed. Still, he let go of her and stepped back. Even as he mentally yelled that taking such risks was beyond idiotic, the saiyan crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a slight nod.
"That's what I thought!" Bulma huffed triumphantly, but she seemed taken aback that he had so quickly changed his tone. Yet the sparkle was already starting to return to her face, and she quickly seemed to forget about the power struggle that had only occurred a few seconds earlier. "Hey! You know, I bet you'd look great in a leather jacket."
"No!" Vegeta scowled. "I don't know what leather is, and I don't care."
"Come inside, and I'll show you!"
"I will do no such thing, Woman! I'm staying right here!"
"But it would go so well with your hair-" Bulma started, but she paused. "Wait, why aren't you coming inside?"
"Because somebody needs to keep watch." The saiyan folded his arms over his chest. "Someone needs to stand guard and offer defense in case the place falls under attack!"
"Oh! That's right!" Bulma clapped Vegeta on the back, which had the saiyan gurgling under his breath. "Okay! I'll make it real quick!" And, with that, she went scurrying into the shop. "Thanks, Vegeta!"
Hissing an incomprehensible response, Vegeta glowered down at his feet as he listened to the shop's door slamming shut.
Feeling confused, the townfolk around him had slowly started to resume with their daily activities. They had been watching the event unfold, but they had all seemed to come to the conclusion that they were merely witnessing some strange type of lover's quarrel.
"So, is he a witch?" One man asked another as he stepped towards the bucket he'd dropped.
"I think so." The other man replied. "But as long as we don't offer him leather, I think we're probably safe..."
.
"I'll make it real quick, she said!" Vegeta spat, looking down at his shadow on the sidewalk. "It's been nearly an hour! What is that woman doing in there?!"
The villagers, who had initially been petrified of Vegeta, had seemed to have forgotten about him completely by this point. None of them paid him any mind as he stood in front of the coat shop, looking up and down both sides of the street and listening intently for any indication that the area might be suddenly falling under attack.
Judging by Bulma's ki, she was back to her earlier state of absolute bliss as she remained locked away in that shop. It didn't seem she was being held against her will, nor did it seem that she was caught in some type of altercation that might be preventing her from leaving. She was just mindlessly shopping, with no regard to the time or how long she was making Vegeta wait!
Perhaps it was the mere serenity of her presence that kept the saiyan from losing his temper and barging into the store to demand that they leave. For, rather than doing just that, Vegeta simply folded his arms over his chest and bit the inside of his cheek. "What is she doing - buying the entire store?!" He growled, and it was in that precise moment that the shop's door finally opened. A bell attached to the door rang as the Bluehead stepped out, and Vegeta whirled around at the sound of it.
There he saw Bulma, her blue eyes sparkling at him as they seemed to glow an even deeper hue than he was used to. Her arms were filled with paper bags, which audibly crinkled as she stepped towards him.
"You really did purchase the entire store!" The saiyan groaned, and Bulma simply shrugged at his observation.
"It turns out they were having a great sale!" She explained, nodding giddily as she looked down to admire her haul of items. "I got a bunch of new clothes, which is great because I was worried I'd eventually run out. Oh! And I went ahead and got you the leather jacket I was talking about!"
"Mrrrrrrmmm..." Vegeta slapped a palm over his face, shaking his head into his hand.
"Yeah, yeah. You say that now, but just wait 'til we get back home and you try it on!"
"Speaking of." Vegeta pulled his hand down. "Let's go. We need to get back. I have something I need you to address."
"Not yet!" Bulma chimed. She sounded so incredibly bubbly as she said this, despite the firmness of her retort. "Let's look at some more stuff while we're out!"
"Woman, we need to-" Vegeta began, but his words were cut off at the sensation of her warm figure leaning into his side. She wrapped her arms around one of his own, breathing happily as she pressed her cheek into her bicep. "Vegeta…" She said slowly. "We aren't too far from the house, and we don't know how long it will be before I get to do something like this again... So let's just stay a little longer, okay?"
Damnit!
He'd been trying to remain stern, but suddenly all the saiyan could think of was the state of morose that Bulma had been in as of late. How she had been so beside herself the night before that she'd gone to bed without even wanting to talk to him. How distressed she'd been over her parents, how melancholy she looked when Vegeta saw her in the plane after returning from his meeting with Gohan and Piccolo… She most likely would immediately revert to that state upon retreating back to the house... And Bulma didn't even know just how right she was about this being a rare course of events… There might never be another chance for her to shop in this town again… If he denied her of this now, she might never let him live it down…
"Fine!" The saiyan cracked. "But next time I say we need to go, you will listen. And stop holding me like that! People might see!"
"You mean it?" Bulma breathed, her smile widening across her cheeks. She pulled away from him so she could look into his face. "Oh, Vegeta! I'm so excited! Let's go explore!"
She skipped a few meters ahead, setting her bags down on the sidewalk. She then stepped back from the bags, fishing about in her pocket now. If Vegeta hadn't already been spending so much time with this Woman, he might have asked her what she was doing leaving all of her newly acquired possessions on the dusty concrete like that.
But he knew what was coming. So, instead, a smug grin spread on his face as he watched.
In just a few seconds Bulma was throwing an empty capsule at the bags, causing them all to quickly dissipate from sight. "Now I won't have my arms full the whole time we walk." She smiled, tucking the capsule into her pocket carefully.
"Of course," Vegeta replied. "We wouldn't want your muscles to get any strain, now would we?"
"You're trying to tease me, and it isn't going to work." Bulma scoffed back. "Come on, Vegeta! Let's go see what's on the next street!"
She ran ahead of him, so enthused that he thought she might click her feet together at any given moment. "Wait, Woman!" He called, not bothering to quicken his pace. "Don't go so far ahead. I need to be-"
"-Okay, okay, I get it." Her feet came to an abrupt skid on the concrete, locking in place. The Bluehead spun around to face the saiyan, sliding a strand of hair behind her ear. "You want to be nearby so you can protect me if anything happens."
"Just don't stay so far away." The saiyan muttered back. What she said was true, but the way she worded it made him sound so fretful...
"Well then maybe you should hurry up." Bulma replied now, raising a cocky brow. "I'm not going to drag my weight around all day, you know! Now come on!"
Vegeta's mouth dropped open at this. Visibly stunned, his left eyelid twitched as he registered all that was unfolding. Even though he had already decided to humor Bulma for the day, he still couldn't believe just what he was actively getting himself into. This Woman's tone seemed to change with the wind. One moment she could be shaking with fear at the prospect of potential danger, and the next she was scoffing at the idea of destruction and talking down to the warrior prince himself. It seemed that there were two sides of her personality that were constantly in conflict, and for Vegeta this was frustratingly endearing.
Had this been anyone else – anyone else - he would have been quick to grab them by the throat and slam them against the nearby light pole for trying to order him to do anything. Yet this was Bulma… and if anything, he was actually somewhat amused by her demeanor. She was constantly proving to be a challenge for him, and she was one that he was smugly willing to accept.
And to add to all of this, the mere fact that she was getting so mouthy just showed how much better she really was starting to feel...
"Well?!" Bulma barked, but the smile was still on her face as she put an impatient hand to her hip.
Growling what sounded like a hate drabble about "mortals", Vegeta stepped a heavy boot forward. His foot hit the ground with enough force to kick pebbles of concrete up from the sidewalk, but Bulma didn't even flinch. "That's what I thought." She shrugged instead, turning to continue with her eager stroll through the town…
.
An entire hour had passed since Vegeta had begrudgingly agreed to Bulma's request to explore this meager town. She had been weaving in and out of shops to admire small trinkets that were on display in the windows, oggling over jewelry that the saiyan simply turned his nose at, and even stopping to engage in light-hearted chit-chat with the random townsfolk who would let her.
After chatting with one person in particular, Bulma had excitedly announced that they had told her that there was a hardware store a few streets away. "We should go!" She exclaimed to Vegeta, pulling him by the arm to gesture them towards the right direction. "I can pick up some extra supplies!"
"Right." The saiyan replied, obediently following her lead. "Speaking of which, I need you to repair those robots when we get back. They aren't working anymore."
"Did you blow them up or something?" The Bluehead jested, not bothering to look at him as she continued her stroll.
"I almost did!" He grunted with a smirk. "I have the gravity machine set to 150, and they can't seem to handle it. You need to fix them."
"Oh!" Was all Bulma replied. Vegeta watched the back of her head as she nodded. "I'll make sure to get supplies for that while we're out. I can also pick up what I need to make three new robots, too!"
"Very well." The saiyan grinned. The tone of his voice was so pleased that Bulma stopped walking so she could turn and shoot a smile at him. "See, Vegeta?" She said. "It is a good thing we stayed out to explore a little more, isn't it?!"
"No." He grunted, quickly wiping the smirk from his cheeks.
"Isn't it?" She repeated, dragging her words out slowly as she gave him a hard look.
"Whatever." He growled. "Just make sure you pick up everything you need. We need to head back afterwards."
"Fine." She said defiantly, turning to continue on her path. "I was actually about to suggest going back home, just so you know. I'm starting to get tired, anyway."
And with that they continued to the hardware shop, with Vegeta taking on his assumed duty as a guard while Bulma gathered everything she needed inside. The saiyan was ready to grab her and start flying her back to the house at the precise moment she returned outside… But as time passed, his focus began to fade.
It was actually an odor that happened to bring his mind to distraction, causing his stomach to stubbornly growl and leave Vegeta unable to think clearly. Suddenly he was being hit with an excruciating realization that he hadn't eaten all day, and no longer was he so fixated on the need to leave as quickly as possible.
When the door to the hardware store swung open and Bulma stepped out, she was already fishing in her pocket for the capsule to her car. "Well," She began. "I guess we can head back now-"
"Wait." Vegeta replied. He grabbed her arm and pulled her in, her body slapping against his own. The Bluehead's eyes widened in marked curiosity, but the saiyan wasn't looking at her as he gazed ahead. She held her breath, thinking that perhaps something serious was about to unfold.
Were the teenagers here? Had he been right in his grim assumptions? Should they have left earlier, when he had first urged them to?
Not wanting to speak and risk giving off their location, Bulma simply stared into the saiyan's dark eyes for any indication on what might be about to happen. Just when goosebumps began to form across her forearms, the saiyan finally spoke. "Hold on." He growled, his arms tightening around her waist.
"Wha-?" She breathed, but Vegeta was already taking off straight into the sky. Bulma gasped, her hair flying out with the wind that was suddenly clapping her in the face. "Veggie! What's going on?!" She shouted, but the saiyan didn't reply.
It seemed that just as soon as they had made it into the air, they were already landing. The saiyan's feet clapped down on the firm Earth before settling Bulma on her own. Feeling stunned, the Bluehead licked her dry lips and turned away from Vegeta so she could gain her bearings. "What?" She breathed, glancing around.
She thought that perhaps the saiyan was taking her back to the capsule house – that he had seen an opportunity to evade the danger of those barbaric kids. But they weren't at the house at all! In fact, they hadn't even left town. It appeared as if he'd simply flown them to another street!
"What is going on?!" Bulma hissed, turning back to Vegeta now. She was still pressed into his figure, though he was no longer holding her close. Clearly they weren't in imminent danger if he hadn't even bothered to leave the city limits. Yet his stiff posture indicated that he was in a "no-nonsense" mood, leaving the Bluehead to believe that there was a reason she should feel on edge.
"Would you tell me what's going on?!" She griped, her cheeks reddening now. She hated to be left without answers when she was asking for them. She hated when he knew something that she didn't! "Vegeta, tell me! What's the matter?"
"Before we leave, I will feast." The saiyan finally replied, his stoneface refusing to crack.
"What?" Bulma's eyebrows rose, but Vegeta was already stepping away. It was then that the Bluehead turned to examine the street again, and she finally noticed exactly where they were. All around her the road was lined with various food vendors, selling different cooked goods from tents that they had set up. The saiyan was making a straight path for the nearest tent, his head held high as he marched.
"He and Goku really are so much alike…" Bulma found herself whispering. Nearly overwhelmed with the relief that everything was okay, the Bluehead went running after him. She caught up to him just a few seconds after he arrived at the first vendor, and he was already yelling his orders at the poor man behind the counter.
"Listen here, you little pest!" Vegeta was barking. "You WILL give me all of your prepared goods, or I'll blow this entire place to oblivion!"
"Hey, hey…" Bulma interjected, making her presence known. She put a hand on the saiyan's bicep, trying to calm his mood. With a knowing smile, she shook her head before offering an apologetic shrug to the vendor – whom was wearing a nametag that said Oshi. "You'll have to excuse him, he gets cranky when he's hungry…" She explained, digging into her pocket for her wallet. "We'll take everything you have. I'll pay."
After seeing the cash that the Bluehead cheerfully handed him, Oshi seemed far less perturbed by Vegeta's harsh attitude. He had been one of the witnesses to believe that Vegeta might be a witch after seeing his arrival earlier that day. If, as the Bluehead had explained, witches get hostile without food, then Oshi was certainly eager to feed him. It seemed that it would be good luck to offer resources to a moody witch, didn't it? And it was especially enlightening to be receiving as much money that he made in a week with only one transaction.
After watching the witch scarf down his entire meal in only a few minutes' time, Oshi waved goodbye to the bizarre couple as they trailed away from the tent.
"Bye!" The Bluehead called as they stalked away.
"Goodbye!" Oshi called back, thinking he must be the luckiest man to have had such a fortune bestowed upon him. The witch had chosen his tent to eat at – and the business he'd received had been tremendous! "How luckyI am!" Oshi thought outloud, grabbing a wet rag. His shop had only been open for an hour, and already he was out of inventory and ready to close for the day. "Everyone else will be so jealous!"
Little did Oshi know, though, that Vegeta's feast did not simply end at his shop. In fact, as Bulma tagged behind, the saiyan trailed to each and every food stall that was set up on that street. Demanding meals that the Bluehead was quick to pay for, Vegeta's stomach was much fuller than it had been in quite some time. He hadn't eaten this well since even arriving on Earth!
"You sure seem happy, Vegeta!" Bulma commented as the saiyan popped his last kebab into his mouth.
"Whatever." The saiyan replied after gulping down his meat. He'd never admit it, but he certainly wasn't feeling bad in that moment. His binge-eating fest had completely freed his mind of any aggravating thoughts, which had resulted in a rather calming effect for the saiyan. And his stomach felt so heavy and perfectly warm after chomping down on so much freshly cooked meat, too! It only added to his mood that Bulma's mindlessly pleasant aura had been wafting across his senses for hours, leaving him with a rather satisfying mindset as he felt her body sinking into his own.
"Are we ready to head back, then?" She was asking now, leaning into his side. She'd put her hand up to his bicep, her soft fingertips clapping into his rigid skin.
"Soon enough." He replied, reaching an arm out to wrap around her waist once more. "Hold on."
"Where are we going now?" She replied. But she wrapped her arms around his form regardless, readying herself for another trip into the air. Just as she'd predicted, Vegeta took off without a word of explanation, this time actually flying the two away from the town. He didn't go too far, though, landing in the middle of the forest that was located just outside the city limits.
"What are we?" Bulma began, but her question trailed off as she began to examine their surroundings. Her far-vision was distorted by the trees that the two were surrounded by, with no trace of the village in sight.
"Where is your car?" Vegeta asked, not bothering to acknowledge her question.
"In its capsule - of course." The Bluehead said, reaching into her pocket to fish it out before looking up at the saiyan with a cocked eyebrow.
"Give it here." He said stiffly, holding his hand out.
Without a word, Bulma obliged. As soon as the capsule touched the palm of his hand, Vegeta was already throwing it out ahead. The car formed snugly between two trees, which nearly made Bulma cringe to see. But Vegeta had his fingers wrapped around her wrist and was pulling her to it, seeming to be unbothered by his own aim. "Come on."
As soon as they reached the vehicle Vegeta had already slung the backdoor open and was pushing Bulma inside.
The Bluehead landed on her back, her body bouncing into the bench seat with an "oomf". But before she could even open her eyes, the saiyan was already climbing on top of her. Pulling the door shut behind him in the same swift motion, the saiyan tried to maneuver himself into a position that didn't feel quite as claustrophobic in the narrow seat.
Without a word Vegeta was already pressing his lips into Bulma's, though he did not open his mouth to deepen the kiss. Feeling that she might not appreciate the taste of freshly chewed meat on his breath, he simply nipped at her lower lip before pulling away to address lower parts of her body.
The two didn't even exchange words as he moved his face down to the crook of her neck, an air of urgency suddenly doing all of the communicating for them. The Bluehead's pale fingers were running up his back to find his shoulder blades, her nails dragging across his shirt as if searching for a way to break through the fabric.
The saiyan, who was already fighting with the button of Bulma's pants, let out a hiss in response to her enthusiasm. Pulling his hand away from her pants so he could cup one of her breasts, Vegeta groaned as he nudged himself against her lap.
This caused a shallow gasp to escape the Bluehead's lips, her fingers pressing deeper into his shoulders, as she bucked against his hips. She could feel his excitement pressing against her through the fabric of their pants, teasing her as her moved.
Palming her shirt up to expose her bosom, Vegeta was slowly continuing to thrust against Bulma's lap as she panted. Her fingers were underneath his shirt now, her nails dragging along his spine as she closed her eyes and threw her head back. He was nipping at her collar bone now, fidgeting with the button of her pants again before finally sliding them down her thighs…
… The windows were quickly becoming foggy from the heat of their bodies and the humidity of their breaths. One who was walking by wouldn't have necessarily needed to see through the windows to know what was going on inside, though. For the rocking of the car, steadily increasing in pace as the two became utterly consumed with passion, was a telling sign…
… Vegeta was cupping Bulma's face in his hands, his eyes clamped shut when he came to his release. The Bluehead, who had already reached her peak, had been panting to catch her breath when the saiyan sank into her sweaty form with one last thrust. He was breathing heavily, nearly choking on the shallow air of the enclosed car, his body growing steadily more limp as the seconds passed.
Feeling as if fresh air might benefit the both of them, Bulma managed to reach up and click the button on the side of the door. The window let out a low humming sound as the glass slid down, a gust of cool wind blowing inside the steamy car.
"That was a surprise." She finally gulped, running her tongue across her dry lips. "I... I wasn't expecting that."
"Was it." Vegeta replied, his response coming out more as a statement that a question. "I wasn't planning that, either."
"So the urge just blindsided you, then?" She replied, but a smile was lacing her cheeks. She was teasing him, but Bulma wasn't complaining. "You should let me have more control sometimes, you know."
"What?" The saiyan groggily asked. He was pulling himself out of her now, raising himself carefully above her body as he did so.
"I like being under you, but you're so bulky. I can hardly move at times." Bulma continued, her eyes drifting shut as she reveled in the gust of air that was still wafting in through the opened window.
"I see…" Vegeta muttered. He lifted a hand to wipe some of the sweat from his eyes, looking down at the Bluehead who was now serenely drifting to sleep in the afterglow of their encounter. Without hesitation he wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled the both of them over, so that he was now on his back while she lay on top of him. "Like this?" He breathed, noting how deeply her cheek was pressing into his right pectoral.
Bulma, who was on her stomach as she lay on the saiyan, simply nodded her head against his skin. "Yeah… Like that…" Her arms were lightly clasping his sides…
Vegeta knew she was already asleep. It was amazing that she was capable of such a thing in a situation like this, where their hot skin was sticking to the feaux leather seats, and the air was still so shallow. The car had sufficed for their random throw of passion, but it was certainly anything but comfortable…
The saiyan closed his eyes, listening to Bulma's steady breathing as her body sank deeper into his form. His hand went to the back of her head, where he ran a few fingers through her silky blue strands…
He decided that, even if it was only for a few minutes, Vegeta would let Bulma sleep…
.
The sound of leaves blowing in the wind stirred Vegeta, and he opened his eyes to see that night must have fallen some time ago. Inside the car it was completely dark, with only a faint light illuminating his view. Looking down, the saiyan saw that Bulma was still laying against his form, absolutely oblivious to the world around her and she continued to dozed.
His spine was aching from laying in such a compromising position for so long, and Vegeta arched his back to release some of the tension. There was no telling what time it was, but from how dehydrated and groggy he felt, the saiyan thought that they could have been asleep for five hours.
It went without saying that they should return to the house as soon as possible, though the saiyan knew that they'd probably just go straight to bed once they got there. "Hey…" He muttered, pressing his palm into the Bluehead's shoulder. "Bulma… Wake up…"
The Bluehead groaned softly. Evidently, she wasn't as inclined to open her eyes as the saiyan had been. Her body stiffening on top of him, she rolled her head to its opposite side as she swallowed in a breath of air.
"Wake up." Vegeta repeated, clapping her shoulder now. "We need to get back…"
"Mm-hmm…" Bulma replied, though her voice was raspy as she came to from her dreams. "Just give me a minute…"
She'd been saying this to him all day.
No matter how many times Vegeta had mentioned that they needed to return to the capsule house, Bulma always had a retort. Rolling his eyes, the saiyan made to sit up. Whether she was ready or not, this time they really were going to go back.
Vegeta was about to tell Bulma this, but a sudden loud rustling sound outside the car left his mouth silent. His senses flared to life as he furrowed his brows, listening carefully to what it might be.
It was the sound of footsteps approaching the car, branches crunching under the feet of whoever was coming towards them. Suddenly on edge, Vegeta's fingers tightened around the Bluehead to warn her that she should stop making so much noise. Bulma, who had been stretching against the saiyan as she woke, seemed to get the message. She immediately fell into a hush as well, her body falling limp and still as the two listened to what was going on outside.
Cursing himself for not making them return as soon as he'd found her, Vegeta grit his teeth. He could hear the voices outside, and he knew too well that it was the exact two people he'd been trying to keep the Bluehead away from...
"What's a piece of crap doing here in the woods, Eighteen?" The first one said. "Seems like a random place for someone to just dump a car."
"Who cares." Eighteen's bored tone replied. It sounded as if they were standing just outside the vehicle. The crunching of their footsteps had come to a pause, and Vegeta silently turned to see their silhouettes hovering in front of the dashboard. The saiyan tightened his grip around Bulma, trying to communicate to her how serious the situation was.
"So, you think we should wait, or do it now?" Eighteen was asking. The vehicle dipped slightly towards the front, as one of them sat down on the hood of the car.
"We'll wait until sunrise." Seventeen was replying. "More people will be awake then. It'll be more fun."
"Yeah, but if we attack that town now, it'll only add to the element of surprise." Eighteen responded thoughtfully. "They'll all be asleep. Nobody will be expecting it."
"True…" Seventeen commented. "But they'll put up more of a fight if we wait. They'll all be too stupid to do anything now. They probably won't even try to run. It'll be too easy. Where's the fun in that?"
"God, you're so boring!" Eighteen snapped, irritation lining her typically cool voice. The car lifted as she stood from its hood. "I'm tired of you being so strategic all the time! I don't feel like waiting, Seventeen! I want to do it now!"
Shit!
Vegeta wasn't yet ready to confront those two kids again. Not with the Bluehead around! She was too much of a target to those teenagers!
The saiyan's hand had found the back of Bulma's head again, and his fingers were curling against her scalp as he held her firmly against him. Evidently, Seventeen and Eighteen hadn't noticed that they were inside this car yet. If Vegeta and Bulma played it carefully, then they might be able to get out of this without an altercation. They just needed to remain silent and wait for the kids to leave…
"What are we supposed to do until sunrise, anyway!" Eighteen was griping now. "I'm bored, Seventeen. I don't want to wait!"
"Fine." Seventeen replied. "We're still going to wait, but we'll find something to do to keep us occupied. How does that sound?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Well, we can play with this ugly hunk of metal, can't we?"
"Hey, you're right!" Eighteen replied. "Okay. This time, you'll be the one who blasts it, and I'll punch. I wonder how many times I can land a hit on this car before it explodes. What was my record, again? Twelve?"
Vegeta's eyes widened. Without even thinking his hand clamped into Bulma's hair so hard that she let out a squeal, jolting from the force of it.
"What was that?" Eighteen's voice was now ringing. "Sounded like somebody's in there."
"Yeah, you're right. See, what did I say? We really can find things to keep us occupied until sunrise."
Shit.
Vegeta sat up quickly, holding Bulma against him with one arm. They'd been discovered. There was no way out of this now!
"Look, there's even two of them in there!" One of the teenagers was shouting now, though the saiyan was too distracted to distinguish which one it had been. He kicked open the door to the car, pulling the Bluehead out with him as he charged from the metal frame.
"Hey!" Seventeen was shouting. "It's that guy again!"
The Bluehead was clutching Vegeta frame as he flew. She was too stunned to say anything, her body shivering as the wind hit her naked skin. The saiyan was racing through the air as quickly as he could, but he knew too well that those teenagers would easily catch up to him. But he needed to try – he needed to get Bulma to a place where they wouldn't find her…
"Come back!" Seventeen was calling now. "We want to play!"
A snarl on his face, Vegeta opened his palm to fire a blast out behind him, though he knew it would easily be dodged. He heard the consequential explosion as the blast went directly into the car. The heat of the blast was warming his skin as he continued to race away, but the saiyan refused to look behind to see if he had gotten one of the kids.
"Now, that wasn't very nice." A voice suddenly quipped, and it was so loud that the saiyan came to an abrupt stop. Less than a meter in front of him, Eighteen was floating at eye-level as she looked him over.
"Get away from me, you harpy!" The saiyan snarled, his grip tightening around Bulma. But the blonde simply placed her hands to her hips. "Harpy? Me?" She shrugged. "Well, maybe. But at least I'm actually wearing clothes…"
"What did he call you?" Seventeen's voice rang from behind. Vegeta whirled around to see that the boy was directly behind him now, the two teenagers having closed in on him from both directions.
This was too familiar… This was exactly what had happened last time…
"I don't know how you're still alive after our last match." Seventeen continued. "But it was pretty fun. I don't mind killing you again."
"But first…" Eighteen chimed in, and that's when Vegeta felt a hot surge of air hitting him in the side.
His vision seeming to fade into black and white, all color leaving his pupils.
He felt as the weight of the Bluehead's body evaporated, his eyes widening at the sound of the blast.
Where he had been holding Bulma to his body, there was now a burning sensation instead. The saiyan didn't even need to turn in order to see what had just happened.
She had been hit.
That fucking blonde bitch had taken Bulma out…
His mouth dropped open as he turned to see the bloody mess of human remains that were melting into his arms, and Vegeta felt his lungs starting to quiver.
"There. Now we can really have fun." Eighteen was saying now. "You'll be more fun to play with if you aren't carrying a naked whore…"
"No…" Vegeta breathed. Looking down at his hands, which were dripping with blood, the saiyan was too stunned to move. "No…"
"Aw, look. You already broke him." Seventeen was commenting. "Eighteen, you shouldn't have killed that girl yet. We could have used her to torture this guy."
"No…" The saiyan was repeating. There was a warm sensation quivering in his chest, his biceps trembling at the thought that the Woman was actually gone. He should have left her in the car. He should have jumped out and taken these two on, tried to steer them away from the vehicle!
But would it have been any use? She was easily a sitting target in that car. One failed punch, and one of those kids could have thrown a blast at the vehicle that would have instantly killed her.
She'd been doomed either way.
"Whatever. Let's finish this creep off." Eighteen was saying now. "He's so boring…"
"NO!" Vegeta snarled, closing his hands into fists. His skin felt as if it was on fire. The color was coming back to his vision, but now he was only seeing red. "NO!"
"What the?" Seventeen said, wincing at the bright light that was hitting him in the face.
The saiyan's screams had morphed into a loud, incoherent growl. Flashes of yellow were blinding him, his muscles feeling as if they were being ripped apart. All he could focus on was releasing this energy that was coursing through his veins, his yells continuing as they echoed across the night sky.
.
"NO!"
Vegeta sat up so abruptly that Bulma went rolling onto the car's floor. "Ow!" She groaned, still only half awake despite the violent outburst.
The saiyan, still a sweaty mess, was panting as he looked around. He was still laying on the backseat of the car, and the light shining in through the windows was nearly blinding.
"What's wrong?" The Bluehead groaned, trying to pull herself out from the awkward position she was laying in. Her foot was curled underneath one of the car's front seats, her head pressing into floor. "What was that for?"
"A dream…" The saiyan gasped, turning to take a look at Bulma. Feeling clammy, he pulled himself up and immediately opened the car door. After finding his footing on the grass, he took Bulma's arm and helped her up. "It was only a dream…"
"What dream?" She snapped, her cheeks turning red now. "What the hell could you have possibly dreamed of that would make you shove me like that?!"
But Vegeta didn't reply. The Bluehead was standing before him naked, and she was glaring at the saiyan with marked exasperation. Rubbing an ache from her side, Bulma was scowling at Vegeta as if he'd hurt her on purpose.
Her eyes were looking so deeply blue as she glared at him, her hair so amazingly knotted and worn.
"Well?!" She barked, but Vegeta didn't care to elaborate on his strikingly realistic dream.
"We need to go back." Was all he said. "We need to go back right now."
"I get that, but why-"
"Bulma." He put a hand to her face, still staring into her blue orbs. His touch was so gentle, and it was enough to make her cease in her attempt at interrogation. "Trust me." He said, leaning closer to her. "We will not procrastinate anymore. You are my responsibility, and I am saying that we need to leave."
AN:
Sorry for the long wait in publishing this one. It's a little bit of a filler, but I felt that Bulma needed a break from her woes for a bit. I read the reviews, and I know most of you thought it would be the Androids who were coming for her. Trust me, this girl will not have it easy in future chapters, but it isn't time for that yet. ;)
Despite the long wait, I hope you enjoyed the little impromptu-date that Vegeta and Bulma had in this chapter. I'll try not to let as much time pass before I post the next one. And it won't be a filler, either!