A/N: Hi everybody! Appreciate everyone who has stuck around for this wait, I was moving states, so this got put aside and I'm glad to get back to it! Thank you to ElsaBriefs, lmamc, Kio, maxridelover (unfortunately for Trunks, the boy is headed for Future Trunks level angst…buckle up lol), Kitty in the Box (all of your questions will be answered soon, and thank you!), Anilime Ahsim, and Angel Bells.

THREE YEARS AGO

"Spar again? We've been doing this for months. Why can't we ever do anything interesting? Aren't you a scientist?!" Geta sneered at Bulma as she stood before them with a small computer pad.

"You'll do what she says, brat, or I'll rip your tongue out of your throat," Vegeta commanded. He glared at Trunks. "And that goes for you, too."

The brothers glanced at each other, feeling awkward at their joint opinion on this particular subject even in the face of the animosity that had been growing between them. Both boys were not fond of being treated as test subjects, but they had no choice under Vegeta's stern word. And as if they were both reminded of this at the same time, they quickly looked away and straightened. Trunks' mother had stuck a few receptors onto his skin, but it wouldn't affect his mobility in any way. They never put anything on Geta, even though he fought the best most of the time…but he didn't care because he didn't want to even be a part of this stupid experiment.

"Now do you finally think you can handle them, Woman?" Vegeta sounded almost aggrieved and Bulma rolled her eyes.

"I don't know how I'd live without you, my prince," Bulma said sweetly. Nappa scoffed beside her, and it was Vegeta's turn to roll his eyes.

"Hn…shut up. And bring me something useful for once. I will be with the council."

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Nappa, don't let her break anything!"

Nappa rushed to assure Vegeta that all was well under his eyes and Bulma turned back to the boys.

"So yeah, I know it's nothing special, but basically yes, I just want you two to fight until I tell you to stop, okay?"

"What's the point?" Trunks asked curiously. Bulma smiled at him, a smile she saved for only him.

"Mostly trying out the new equipment, but there's more to it. When I know, I'll tell you. Alright, once I get past the line, you go ahead."

She turned and headed off for the corner of the room and Geta wasted no time, hooking his fist at Trunks' jaw.

"Hey, we were sup—"

It didn't take Trunks long to decide not to bother with explanations and fight back. Nappa took the opportunity to instruct each of them in turn, while hulking at Bulma's side. They went like that for five minutes and weren't experienced enough to do anything really clever. It was in danger of becoming boring, in fact…

Geta flew at Trunks some more, putting all of his force into every hit and trying to remember everything Nappa yelled at them from a few yards away. He ploughed into Trunks, causing him to fall several feet and Trunks made use of the motion to try and kick out Geta's feet. He was almost successful, but Geta was having the better day.

"Alright boys, that's enough," Bulma said. Trunks obeyed, eight-years old and still unwilling to tangle with his mother, but Nappa had to grab Geta by the collar to get him to desist.

"You don't fight a Saiyan that has no intention of fighting back," Nappa instructed with some irritation. He watched as Bulma slowly started unstrapping Trunks from the apparatus she was using to track his power levels and additional physiological information. It was all part of her experimentation.

Geta was also watching the interaction between mother and son with something dark in his eyes. Nappa frowned. "He's not a Saiyan," Geta said back, coldly. "If he were, he'd be a challenge."

"You weren't saying that last week when I—"

"Trunks."

Bulma was ignoring the other boy studiously, and under her look, Trunks was coaxed into doing the same. But Nappa had been having his fill of disrespectful youths, so he felt the need to put the brat in his place. "Prince Vegeta says he is Saiyan, brat. And what the Prince says is what will be."

"But everyone knows the truth," Geta spat.

"Quiet, brat," Nappa warned.

"You know the customs, Nappa. Real Saiyans would never allow alien women to have offspring. They break their necks and—"

"Woah!" Nappa growled and he whipped around. Suddenly, Bulma was aware that Trunks had let out an angry yell, but he was gone. No, he was across the room, pummeling Geta viciously. Nappa was moving towards them. "Oy, brat! Enough!"

Bulma watched in jaw-dropping horror as her son methodically beat the other child, and she wasn't sure whether Geta wasn't moving to fight back because he was shocked or because he was unable.

"For all the is bloody…" Nappa strode over with purpose, intending to break it up, but when he laid a hand on Trunks, he was flattened with a sound that reverberated on the walls. And seeing Nappa on the floor finally snapped Bulma out of her numb shock.

"T-Trunks! Stop!"

With a deep rumble, Trunks set black eyes on his mother with a gaze so cruel and fierce that her heart skipped a beat. It was only a moment, but she could never forget it. His little muscled chest heaved up and down and up and down as he powered down and looked back at his unconscious half-brother.

"I…I didn't mean—he said that… I was…"

"It's alright," Bulma said quickly, even though it wasn't… she didn't know what to do, just knew that she wanted to take her boy in her arms and comfort him. Nappa was staggering to his feet and Trunks then looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Trunks," Bulma said softly, taking two steps towards him and fully intending to pull him into her arms.

"Woman, no."

Vegeta was behind her, eyes fixed on Trunks and she searched for any hint of anger as she stared at him. "How did you…"

"I sensed someone's power level ratcheting up and I came here. Stay back from him. What happened, boy?"

Trunks was white. "I was mad," he said shakily.

"And you did this?" Vegeta looked from Geta to Nappa.

"Yes." There was resignation in that tone, as if Trunks expected to be punished. Instead, Vegeta turned away from Trunks and rested his attention on Bulma. "Did you get a reading on it?"

"Um…" She must have dropped the pad when Trunks tackled Geta. "Maybe, I don't know." She finally saw it on the floor, thankfully. She looked back at Trunks, who hadn't moved and was still looking shaken up. Geta still wasn't conscious and one instinct kicked in. "Nappa, Geta needs a regen tank. I don't need a reading to tell me that…"

Nappa of course, didn't move until Vegeta bolstered her order with an impatient and curt nod of his head. Bulma then went for the pad, bringing it back to where Vegeta stood so that he could read it over her shoulder. "Hold on, it should be...here."

She didn't even need to look for the moment Trunks attacked Geta, the enormous spike stood out so it couldn't be missed. Bulma's eyes roved over the readings in fascination. His physiological makeup had become something almost more Saiyan than Saiyan.

"Incredible," Bulma murmured, feeling Vegeta's consoling heat come nearer, looking at the data over her shoulder intently.

"What do you make of this, Woman?"

"It's what I predicted…but I don't know how—" Bulma felt partially mystified. She had her hunches, but she couldn't say for sure. She was definitely excited to plug this in and get something more in-depth.

"You know how. He got angry," Vegeta said.

"Trunks, sweetie…are you okay?" Bulma asked carefully. Trunks blinked at her voice and he seemed to realize for the first time that Geta and Nappa were gone.

"He's fine, Woman," Vegeta sneered. "In fact, if his anger is the key, then you had better stop coddling the brat and find out how to make him hold on to that power for an actual period of time. And when you're done with that, you can help me defeat Frieza."

With that, Vegeta turned on his heel and moved to leave without a word to either of them. Bulma frowned, "Are you going back to your council meeting?" she called to him. She couldn't imagine that he would since they may have just made progress with this.

"No," was all he said before he disappeared.

There was a pronounced distance between her and Vegeta that was uncomfortable, considering she slept next to him every night. Sometimes, she thought that it was noticeable to only themselves, especially since so many on this planet were appalled by her presence. They all saw what they wanted to see.

"Trunks, I need to take off that stuff. Come here, baby."

Trunks did come to her then, only glancing at the entrance where Vegeta had disappeared for a moment. She knelt in front of him and removed everything, seeing that his hands were shaking a little. She grabbed them, willing them to stop in hers.

"Trunks…"

"I'm sorry, Mom." He looked afraid, but not of her.

"Did you black out?" Bulma asked calmly, rooting for information and maybe a reason behind this. Trunks shook his head.

"I remember everything."

"Did you…did you want to hurt Geta?"

"No! I—" Trunks sighed, looking miserably at her. "I was just—Geta was talking about how you should have been killed and I just was thinking that I have to protect you. I was mad but it's because I'm scared that something is going to happen and I won't be—"

Bulma pulled him firmly to her chest, shaking her head. "Trunks. Please don't worry about me, okay? Nothing is going to happen to me."

He pushed away from her, strong enough to do it now that he had to be careful not to hurt her. The resolve in his eyes made him look twenty years old. "No. I need to make sure. You can't promise that, Mom. Not here."

He was right, not here. And whether it was Trunks' responsibility to take care of her or not, it was something that he bore in his heart and he would not be dissuaded from it. Vegeta would protect her as long as it suited Vegeta to do so, but Trunks was right. And because of that, Bulma needed to get them out of this mess.

What Bulma never told her son was that she was pretty sure that she knew the secret of the Legendary Saiyan Warrior. And that day a few years ago was what ingrained the idea in her mind. She was pretty sure, because it was something that she would never dare test to its fullest.

Why?

It was easy to say she wouldn't—well, easy for the mother, but not easy for the scientist in her.

The scientist was pleading to test the theory, to extrapolate on those implications, to help the Saiyans achieve what was considered impossible by their modern history, before anything was recorded except by word-of-mouth. She had done her job, poured over enough of those records to know.

Those stories were not of a vicious, bloodthirsty race bent upon the destruction of anything unlike them. It was the story of a brilliantly powerful race with the ability to grow in power at an unlimited rate. If Frieza feared the Saiyans at all, it was over that fact. Their Legendary Warrior was not an exterminator, but a hero. Unlike Trunks, Saiyans didn't need to protect anything beyond themselves. The weak were routed out and it was considered better for it.

Saiyans were no heroes. Not anymore, at least.

"Usually I'm not the one waiting up for you at night," Bulma said, entering her latest addition of the gravity room: terrain adaption. Vegeta sat meditating in a sweltering, black-sand desert, the gravity disabled and the bots powered off.

"So you thought you'd entice me to murder you here?" Vegeta asked without cracking an eye open. "Leave, Woman and go to bed."

"But it's so much fun sweating it out here with you!" Bulma said sarcastically as she plopped down beside him, purposely jostling the space around him. "Why sleep in a huge, comfortable bed when you can spend all night getting sand in unmentionable places?"

"Disgusting woman," he grumbled.

"What are you doing?" Bulma asked softly before Vegeta could order her out again. He was too calm, especially for being pulled out of meditation. The fact that he hadn't jumped up at her deliberate goading was a warning sign. And she hoped that this wouldn't be the same argument they always had…

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he said. It was a colorless question, one not intended to provoke any interest in her.

"I mean why are you down here doing this when you could be in bed? You get up early…you don't usually stay up too late."

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Vegeta said with a dangerous quiet that set her teeth on edge. Something was up. "I'm a prince, and there are many things I deal with that do not concern you."

And that confirmed for her that whatever was going on…it did concern her, in some way. She knew he wouldn't be acting like this otherwise. And worse yet, he wasn't going to tell her what it was.

But it had been like this from the beginning, she reflected. Secret upon secret, every day a battle where you either won or lost…until there was no fun in just playing. Had they ever had fun doing just that?

And because there were things that she could not tell him, also were there things that she couldn't stop him from keeping from her. And this is how it would be until one of them broke, and neither of them would…

"Just don't wake me up when you get back then," Bulma said halfheartedly before brushing to her feet. If he were surprised at her acquiescence, she didn't know because she didn't look back.

She knew if Vegeta were a hero, if her strong, violent, beautiful prince were a hero…she might even be brave enough to test out her theory. But a hero, he wasn't.

Goku was. And she feared Trunks was too. Well—maybe feared was the wrong word…she was proud of her son, prouder than she ever thought she could be about anything. He definitely was the best of her and Vegeta.

And he could become a Super Saiyan because of it. Too bad she would never know. Exploiting Trunks' love was something she would not do. She had no objectivity and she didn't care. Her boy would not suffer what it may take, not for the whole universe.

Maybe it was selfish, but Bulma had tried making an unselfish choice and look where it got her…

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The Woman, as his father called her, was gone rather quickly. Geta had heard them talking nonsense—well, the woman talked. His father just sat there and probably willed himself not to disembowel her out of sheer annoyance.

Trunks' mother was an odd, fearless, dainty alien that had an astounding amount of influence over the Crown Prince of Vegeta-sei. At least, that was what was said and Geta had never been given reason to think otherwise. He did know, from vague things that Trunks had said before, that she was likely providing sexual favors to him even after she'd had a child with him. It was a disgusting thing that only the low-class tended to do: relationships just between two people, procreating in such a way.

Geta shouldn't have cared, but he hated it. He hated everything about the Woman and he hated Trunks too. His grandfather always said that his father would lose interest in them, that the Woman would disappoint Vegeta long enough that he wouldn't care what happened to her, that Vegeta would take pride in his fully Saiyan son and not that pathetic floppy-haired half-breed.

But it had been such a long time that Geta now doubted that it would ever happen. Even when Vegeta was mad at them, he never got rid of them…and Geta was beginning to think that his grandfather was right: Prince Vegeta shouldn't be the King.

It was treason for anyone but the King to say that, but Geta never said anything when his grandfather voiced that opinion. He kept it in his head. And it wasn't like he was able to do anything about it…Vegeta was far stronger than any other being on the planet. And the only way to take the crown was a challenge to the death.

"Brat! I can hear you breathing from over here. Pathetic," Vegeta called to him quite suddenly. Geta cursed himself for not expecting Vegeta to notice him…he shouldn't have dared come so close. "Unless you want me to beat you to a pulp, you'll get out of here and leave me in peace and learn not to spy on your superiors."

Geta came out of the shadows and glared at his father. "I wasn't spying. The Woman came in and I was just waiting until she was gone."

"Hn." Vegeta finally opened his eyes. "Where's Trunks? Did you two decide on a late-night spar?"

"He isn't here," Geta said sullenly. "He's too weak for me now and it would be better for me to spar you."

Geta was trained enough that he was able to trace the movement, but still had no time to react to the hammer blow of his father's fist stealing his breath straight out of his abdomen. He crumpled to the ground, stunned, as his father crossed his arms. "Why would I bother sparring someone so useless? At least the boy has his moments, few and far between though they are…" Geta raised his head hatefully towards the prince, who was frowning as though he was wondering why Geta was still on the ground. "There's nothing for me to learn from you."

And with that, his father left him in the gravity room with some hateful thing burning in his veins.

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No matter how Vegeta tried to empty his mind of the King's words, they echoed back with their persistent truth. The time of reckoning was near and he didn't want to bide his time…he was expecting to have come into the Legendary Warrior by now. But no, he had been waiting for years and nothing!

And that wasn't the only problem. If Frieza came to Vegeta-sei and sensed his power level, Vegeta wondered what the Lord of the Cold Empire would do… he had always had a particular disdain for Saiyans. The Cold Army had whispered it was because the Ice people had an enormous, but stagnant power level…so it despised those races with greater potential. Of course, no power had yet come close to Frieza…but that didn't stop the tyrant from being paranoid.

Had Vegeta been a lesser being, he would have been sweating by now.

And the Woman…

"What did you find?"

She was tapping on keys, her features thrown in relief from the darkness and the red light emanating from the screen. "Everything. But nothing that would be of interest to you, unfortunately. Trunks told me how he felt when he attacked Geta."

"I told you already, I don't want to hear about the boy's feelings. I want you to tell me the reason he has the ability to magnify his ability like that!"

"I know that's what you want, Vegeta," Bulma said testily, looking up at him with those clear pools of eyes, glinting with annoyance. "But I'm afraid that the results of my research is not moving in the direction you'd like it to go. I can't help that."

"You've provided me no explanation!" he snapped. "Telling me that he can compound his strength because he has FEELINGS is not a reason at all!"

"Only because you barely believe it exists, and if you do, as nothing more than a weakness," Bulma countered uncompromisingly. She stood from her chair and walked to him. "I'm trying to help you. But you are fighting me to the bitter end and I don't know what you expect."

"You have all the technology in the universe," Vegeta griped. "Everything at those pale little fingertips and you say to me that it tells you nothing. And you don't understand why that is hard to believe."

"I'm saying that I have studied Trunks' physiology, along with yours, even what I know of Geta's makeup…and there is NOTHING that will point to a physical reason that he powers up so rapidly. Nothing. There's a lot that we don't know about half-Saiyans, but nothing that we do know explains the shift, and it should, Vegeta! This isn't about body temperature, or muscle mass, or brain activity. It's something that can't be pinned down by a computer or by running a thousand tests!"

"Then what is the point of you?" Vegeta sneered. "Don't you remember anything you promised, Woman?"

"Oh, I remember," Bulma cried. "I remember you forcing me to come here with you and saying that I would help you. And why? Because maybe I miss my friends and family, maybe I hate the way Saiyans look at me and the way your father would happily murder me just to see me gone. I want to leave! I want you to let me go! And yes, maybe I don't want Frieza hanging over the universe…but I can't do anything for you if you won't listen to me."

Her hands, those useless little hands, touched his cheeks and he realized that she had started to weep. He hated that, he could smell her tears, seeing them start to fall, but he was frozen in place by her hands. "You never needed a scientist, Vegeta. You thought you did…but that isn't what you got, really."

She dropped his face and took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself and looking quite crushable. He didn't want to crush her, though. "Trunks…I'm beginning to think he didn't need me. I'm something he thinks he has to protect." She looked at him. "Did you hear me? Trunks says that he needs to protect me. He would—he would kill…if it meant protecting me."

It was on the tip of Vegeta's tongue to say "I can protect you" but he didn't. And she stared at him with those big, glinting eyes with no anger in them any more. She was just sad. She was always sad.

"We created Trunks…it was an accident. But I know the reason we did, now. I get it. But you don't…you don't."

Her kiss was gentle, the gentlest kiss she had ever given him, wanting and expecting nothing. And his stomach turned so tightly that he grabbed her and made it something more.

The Woman couldn't help him. That was Vegeta's secret. No one knew that he had resigned himself to this, not even she did. Bulma made endless inventions for him and he did indeed get stronger. But it would never be strong enough.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to let her go. He couldn't bring himself to free her or dispose of her though he knew it would please his father. And he could certainly never let go of Trunks…not with whatever it was that the boy did possess.

And that was what drove him to the boy's room, ripping him out of his bed. It was what drove him back to the Gravity Chamber to begin again.

A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've realized (a hard realization, since I've always preferred slower-moving arcs) that slowing this story down is probably not going to happen. Lots of plot coming your way. Leave a review and tell me what you think!