Chapter Text

Chapter One

It was finally the first day of the spring semester at Central City University.

Amongst the casually loitering clusters of students scattered across the campus, one figure stood out in its liveliness. A young woman, swerving through the crowds with an unapologetic sense of purpose.

She was petite, only about 5ft 3, with vibrant teal hair that hung just below her shoulders. Her eyes - also a vibrant shade of blue - were sharp, one of the only outward signs of her intelligence. To anyone who didn’t know her, she could have easily been just another pretty undergrad on her way to class.

But this wasn’t an undergrad. This was Bulma Briefs.

Although only 22, Bulma was already studying for her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, following firmly in her father's footsteps with a great love of both mathematics and psychics.

Just like her father, Bulma loved a challenge. She had left for the winter break with one of her biggest research headaches hanging over her head, unsolved, mocking her.  

Whilst she was home in West City, she had brainstormed possible solutions with her father and was now desperate to get back to her lab to start putting some of her new ideas into motion. If it was a problem that could be solved, it would be. She would not let it beat her.

And so it was with a spring in her step, that she scurried through the campus, avoiding the groups of undergraduates huddled together discussing their Christmas, Kwanzaa, and other winter break celebrations.

It wasn’t that she didn’t have friends, but for Bulma, school was about learning, not socializing. Growing up the daughter of one of the world’s most prominent inventors, she had always had a… distance from other children. The combination of her wealth and intellect made her unattainable. Different. Someone people wanted to be rather than be with.

And then there were the people who only wanted to be with her BECAUSE she was different; that wanted to be seen with her in public, that wanted to try and take advantage of her status and connections. In Bulma's opinion, these people were far worse.

Over the years, she had developed a skepticism akin to a sort of friendship shield. A barrier that stopped her from falling victim to the wannabes or bullies. Not many people made it through the barrier, but when they did, Bulma loved them fiercely.

She was internally celebrating at having finally reached the steps to her lab building when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling off a glove with her teeth, she fumbled with the phone as she took the steps 2 at a time, keen to be out of the snow.

The name on the screen showed the text was from her roommate - and one of the few people who didn’t seem to notice or care about Bulma’s family - a biology student named Korinne. Korinne wasn’t due back on campus for another day, so Bulma was surprised when she read the short message:

“Big news! Can you meet me for coffee at 4 pm?”

4:15 pm and this was a disaster.

Bulma had known from the moment she had walked into the coffee shop that Korinne's news was going to mean trouble. Her friend was on a call when she arrived but had immediately apologized to the person on the other end of the phone and hung up as she saw Bulma approaching.

She stood and the two embraced quickly.

“Sorry, there’s just so much to organize!”

“It’s good to see you Kor.”

Bulma pulled off her coat and hat, unwrapped her scarf and took a seat in the chair opposite her friend.

“Do you want a coffee or are you going to explain what is going on first?”

Korinne looked like she had already had her fair share of caffeine. Her eyes darted around the café, and she fidgeted in her seat. Under the table, her foot jiggled. 

“I think I had better explain… remember that project in the sacred lands that I missed out on last year? The one to study the genetics of those rare bean plants they found? They’ve just had someone drop out and have asked me to join last-minute!”

“Oh my god, that’s amazing!”

The smile that spread across Korinne's face was infectious, and Bulma found herself grinning along with her.

“I know!!! But the thing is Bul, it’s already kicking off so I need to join them ASAP or else I’ll get left behind.”

In her head, a red flag was starting to wave.

“So I have to go, right? I mean it would be crazy not to! This program is being led by THE best minds this side of the Fukurou Forest”

Bulma's mind whirled as Korinne talked on and on. There were serious implications of Korrine leaving. She would need to find a replacement roommate or come up with a way to cover the additional rent cost herself somehow…

She snapped out of her thoughts as Korinne finally paused her stream of nervous chatter.

“Kor, I am really pleased for you, and there is no question that you should go. But, when are you leaving?”

“This weekend.”

Whatever Bulma had expected this new semester to have in store for her, this was not it.

3 days later Bulma sat at her kitchen table with her head in her hands. The interest in their apartment had been plentiful, but there was not a single decent prospect among them.

First, there had been a student from the cooking club, Yajirobe, who had smelled of grease and BBQ'd meat.

Then, a cheerleader called Maron, who had been kicked out of her rich boyfriend's condo after he discovered she had been cheating on him with half the college soccer team.

After that was a round, piggy-looking boy who she had thrown out on his ass when he had asked her where she kept her panties.

A gruff Buddhist student called Tien had been her closest contender, but he had later decided to move into a nearby apartment with a small boy who studied at the same temple.

Bulma sighed deeply, and massaged her temples.

It was at times like this that she wished she wasn’t THE Bulma Briefs.

Many of the respondents to her advert had withdrawn their interest as soon as they found out who the other tenant was. Younger than many of her peers because of her accelerated academic career, Bulma was intimidating.

Normally, she accepted that without a care, but at times like this is was dammed inconvenient.

She needed a drink.

Besides Korinne, who she had met in her undergrad, Bulma spent most of her free time with a childhood friend called Goku.

Goku was almost Bulmas polar opposite. Friendly and endearing, he attracted people to him with ease. Tall and lithe, he was effortlessly athletic and had gotten into the prestigious school on a high-profile sports scholarship.

His girlfriend, Chi-Chi, was an exotic beauty from the East with long, silky straight black hair and flawless skin that was the envy of everyone. Goku was almost perpetually followed by Krillin, an equally athletic but chronically overlooked (metaphorically AND physically because of his much shorter stature) business student.

Bulma pulled her phone out of her pocket and fired off a quick text to Goku. If she couldn’t solve her problems, she would at least try forgetting about them.

Half an hour later, Bulma was sat on a tall bar stall opposite Goku and Chi-Chi, sipping at a bottle of beer. In front of her, the table was laden with Goku's favorite bar snacks: nachos, loaded fries, fried chicken, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks. How he managed to eat SO much and maintain his slim physique was a mystery Bulma perpetually wondered over.

“So… What do I do about the room situation?”

“Why don’t you ask your parents? You know your dad would lend you whatever you need.”

Chi-Chi and Bulma both shot daggers at Goku, who had stuffed his face so full of fried food that he looked like a chipmunk.

“Absolutely not. I can’t just go crawling back to ask for help at the first sign of trouble! This is something I have to at least try and solve myself.”

“Good for you,” Chi-Chi took a swig of her beer. “There must be someone decent out there looking for a place closer to campus. Location is major pro for your apartment.”

“Good point. Maybe I should make more of that on the bulletin I posted.”

“I’ll ask around too,” Goku chimed in before continuing to shovel food into his mouth. “Don’t worry Bulma, it will work out ok in the end!”

Bulma sighed, and downed her beer, offering Kami a silent prayer that he was right.

The days flew by, and before she knew it, Korinne was waving goodbye one final time as she climbed into the taxi, leaving Bulma standing alone in the doorway to the apartment.

As the cab pulled away, Bulma sighed and headed back inside, the smile that she'd plastered across her face in an attempt to show enthusiasm for her friend, falling as she took in the space ahead of her.

The apartment was comprised of one main rectangular room with a kitchen diner at one end and lounge area at the other. A long 3-seater sofa sat against one wall, opposite a large TV that Bulma had re-engineered herself to pick up every channel and streaming service in existence.

A narrow hallway ran from the front door to the main living area and offered space for a handful of coat hooks and a small shoe rack. Without any of Korinnes jackets or boots, it looked bare. In fact, the whole apartment suddenly felt too big and too quiet.

Pulling on her own jacket, Bulma decided her best course of action would be to go to her lab and work on her research. Her supervisor, Dr Gero, allowed them access practically 24/7, although unless she was in the middle of a particularly important piece of work, she tried to maintain a routine of no more than 12 hours a day, 1 weekend a month.

Gero is also supervisor to 2 other cybernetics students, Lapis and his twin sister Lazuli. Both were in the lab common room when she arrived, bickering over the benefits of pain receptors in cybernetic limbs.

“Pain is necessary for the brain to register danger.”

“From a purely biological perspective I agree, but if we apply transhumanist thinking, should we not be aiming to reduce human suffering where possible?”

“S’up guys,” Bulma offered them a small wave, untangling herself from layers of coat and scarf once again.

“Do you know anyone looking for a new apartment? My roommate has been accepted to a new program last minute.”

They both looked at her with piercing, azure eyes that were eerily similar.

“We don’t really have acquaintances outside of this lab,” Lazuli says before they both turn away and continue their conversation without another word to her.

Well, Bulma thought, it was worth a shot. She grabbed a packet of chips from the vending machine, and made her way to her desk.

She had been working for just over an hour when her phone pings with a message - this time from Goku.

I’ve solved your roommate issue! He’ll be round about 10am tomorrow to get the key and start moving in his stuff.

She stared at the phone, dumbfounded. HE!? Moving in!? Tomorrow!? What was Goku talking about!?

Flustered, she hit the call symbol next to his number and lifted the phone to her ear, pacing as it rang and rang and rang.

“It’s me, Goku!”

The cheerful tone did nothing to assuage her anger.

“I can’t pick up the phone right now so please leave your message after the beep!

Seething with rage, it took all her self-control not to throw her phone across the room. Bulma took a deep breath, closed her eyes and counted to 10. Slowly. Just like her childhood therapist had taught her.

9:55 am the following day.

Bulma paced in front of the front window. She had been up almost all night tossing and turning.

Goku had eventually replied to her frantic texts and voicemails, saying she had nothing to worry about. The guy was a friend from the football team who was always complaining about the tiny apartment he was stuck sharing with 2 of the other players.

To say that Bulma was not thrilled about the prospect of a meathead jock sharing her meticulously clean and tidy apartment, was an understatement.

She planned to tell him, very politely, that whatever Goku had said to him had been misleading, and she was already committed to someone else for the room. So what if it was a lie? She WOULD find someone else. Sooner or later…

At 10am on the dot, a brisk rap at the door made her jump from where she stood, lost in thought. Steeling herself, she stalked to the door and opened it with a little more force than was strictly necessary.

The door swung open, revealing the most handsome man she had ever seen. Where she had been expecting a great lumbering footballer, the guy in front of her was muscular but lean, not overly tall, with a slim face and pointed chin. He also looked like he would rather be anywhere but here.

His eyes swept up and down, and Bulma suddenly felt herself flushing under his gaze. She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure.

“You’re Goku’s friend?”

He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“His teammate, yes.”

They stared at each other in silence.

“Well… aren’t you going to let me in?”

Squaring her shoulders, she opened her mouth to let out her premeditated excuse, when he barged past her into the small hallway, and down towards the kitchen.

Cursing under her breath Bulma closed the door and followed him.

“Hey… excuse me… er…”

“Vegeta.”

“Pardon?”

“My name is Vegeta.”

“Oh, great, well listen, Vegeta, I’m not sure what Goku told you, but there seems to be a misunderstanding here.”

He had been looking around the apartment, assessing, but at the mention of a misunderstanding, he focused his attention solely on her. His eyes were so dark they might as well be black, framed by equally dark lashes and a stern brow.

She fidgeted.

“So, there is no room?”

“Well, there is, but you see I…”

“Good. Then I will get my things.”

“Hey, wait, you can’t just...”

“How much?”

“I beg your pardon?”

He looked at her like she was slow.

“Rent. How much?”

Well duh, she mentally chastised herself, what else could he have meant. She had to get back on her game if she was going to get this guy out of here. Something about him had her seriously flustered. The lack of composure wasn’t something Bulma had a lot of experience with, and she didn’t like it.

An idea flashed through her mind. Perhaps he had inadvertently given her an opportunity…

“1500 Zeni. A week.”

Smug, she crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking his earlier action, and leaned back against the doorframe. The price was far more than the apartment was worth. She knew it. He knew it.

Take it or leave it, pal, she thought to herself.

“I’ll give you 2000.”

Bulma’s poker face slipped. In fact, she struggled to keep her jaw off the floor. He couldn’t be serious. He had seen straight through her and called her bluff. He must REALLY want to move out of wherever he was living now.

A thousand questions ran around her mind – who was this guy, why was he so desperate to move, how could he afford the extortionate rent he had just offered her - but she couldn’t seem to vocalize any of them.

A small smirk played on his lips, the glint in his eyes not something that Bulma welcomed. He took his hands out his pockets and stepped towards her.

“We both know you would be stupid not to accept.”

And with that, he strode out the front door, returning moments later with a duffel bag in hand and a laptop bag thrown over his shoulder.

“Well? Are you going to show me to my room or should I just go check it out for myself?”

Still stunned but horrified at the thought of this strange man in her bedroom, Bulma straightened her back and turned, striding out of the kitchen, and down to the small corridor at the back of the apartment.

She gestured to the door on the right.

“This is your room. The bathroom is through the door in the middle. It’s shared so you can keep your things on the right side and I’ll use the left.”

Her tone was authoritative, giving him no room for argument. Instead of looking aggrieved, as she had hoped, he wasn’t even paying attention. He had already opened the door to Korinne's room (it was going to take a while to stop thinking of it as hers) and dumped his duffel on the bed.

“Okay then. I guess I’ll get going and leave you to unpack…”

Although given the size of the bag unpacking would take no more than 2 and a half minutes.

“I’ll put the key on the kitchen table for you.”

He merely grunted in acknowledgment as she gathered her backpack, unthreaded the spare key from her chain, tossed it on the table, and practically sprinted from the apartment.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two

Bulma sat at her desk chewing her pen in thought.

Checking the time, she was frustrated to see it had barely been 20 minutes since she last looked. The day had dragged on slowly since she had left Vegeta in her home - their home - and she was struggling to focus on her work, something that had never happened to her before.

She had been making steady advancements across all her lines of research since returning from the winter break, and would usually be riding high on the wave of progress, but today, despite having a clear plan of attack, her thoughts kept drifting back to her unreadable new roommate.

Would he have left for class yet? Would he snoop whilst she was out? What did he think of the living room decor? Her mother had purchased the throw blanket and matching rug and cushions as a housewarming gift, but the pastel pink shade was pretty far from Bulma's usual style.

He didn’t seem the type to care, but just knowing there was a stranger in her home had her on edge.

The sounds of Lapis and Lazuli's latest disagreement roused her from her thoughts.

“Get a grip!” She muttered to herself angrily, shaking her head with renewed determination.

Who cared what he thought. He was a necessary evil. Some richboy jock who was paying her an extortionate amount of Zeni to have somewhere quiet to crash when he wasn’t running around fields, assaulting people. By the end of the year, Korinne would be back and she would likely never see Vegeta again.

She resolved not to waste another second thinking about her new roommate. Not when she had important research to do.

Tentatively, Bulma slid the key into the lock and pushed open the door to her apartment.

She was expecting to see Vegeta, or perhaps an entire gaggle of sweaty men cavorting around her kitchen, but the rooms were dark and quiet.

She switched on the hallway light as she toed off her shoes and hung her jacket on her usual peg by the door.

“Hello…? Anyone home?”

Silence.

Shrugging, she navigated the rest of the apartment in the dark, still half expecting to come face-to-face with Vegeta any second.

Once she reached her room still without any signs of life, she let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

Relieved, she dumped her backpack in her room and decided to make the most of the privacy by taking a long, hot shower before cooking dinner.

Towel in hand, and armed with some of her baggiest and most unflattering pajamas, she padded to the bathroom, flicked the switch by the door, and was surprised to see that Vegeta did, in fact, bring more than a handful of clothes in his duffel bag…

After closing the door and twisting the lock, she couldn’t help but inspect his toiletries, all neatly arranged on the right side of the room.

“So he WAS listening...” she muttered to herself, carefully lifting one of the bottles from its place.

The brand on the bottle was one that she knew well. It was the men’s version of a set that her sister, Tights, had given her for her birthday the year before.

“I hope you appreciate this sis,” Tights had said. “This stuff is all the rage in the Eastern cities right now, I practically had to take out another mortgage to get my hands on it!”

How odd, she thought. Vegeta either cared about the latest trends, hds friends who like him enough to get him expensive gifts, or had expensive taste himself.

From their admittedly brief first encounter, he just didn’t seem like the kind of man who would bother with what was fashionable, seeming more of the function over style type. He clearly had money though, the rent was proof enough of that.

Filing the information away in her mind for later, she placed the bottle back in place, adjusting it until it was just as she found it.

Deciding she had already spent too long pondering her new roommate today, she undressed quickly, hopped under the shower spray, and sighed as the steaming water hit her cool skin.

Sometime later, Bulma was curled up on the sofa, eating a bowl of noodles, as Vegeta returned to the apartment. Duffel bag in hand, he strolled through the open plan kitchen/living space in sweatpants and a hoodie, hair damp and with a small towel slung around his neck.

He glanced over at her as he passed, and she gave a small wave with her chopsticks. He ignored her, carried on walking straight into his room, and closed the door.

“Well hello to you too.” Bulma murmured, stuffing another bite of noodles into her mouth, and pushing her glasses up her nose. She liked to wear them in the evenings when her eyes were tired from staring at screens all day.

Her evening ritual was one of her favorite parts of the day: she'd come home, take a hot shower to relax her tired muscles after a day being cramped over either a computer or experiment of some kind, put on big, comfortable pajamas and curl up in front of the TV with her dinner on her lap.

Today, she was watching the latest episode of a k-drama series about a superstar teacher who falls for the single mother of one of his students. It was one of her favorites.

Stuffing the final bite of noodles in her mouth, she checked the time - already 9pm - and went to clear up the kitchen.

Eyeing the leftover noodles, she couldn’t help thinking about Vegeta AGAIN. Should she offer him the leftovers? If it had been Korinne, she wouldn’t have thought twice about sharing her dinner. But this is not Korinne. She and Vegeta were hardly on speaking terms, let alone breaking metaphorical bread together.

Frustrated with herself again, she made her decision. She plated up her leftovers and put them in the refrigerator with a small note attached - I made too much dinner. Feel free to help yourself. - before slamming the fridge door shut and scampering back to the safety of her room.

It was not long after that she heard Vegeta head to the kitchen. She didn’t dare listen to whether or not he discovered her note, or chose to eat the dinner she made.

She threw her hands over her face and put on her headphones. Whether her roommate thought she was generous, or overstepping the boundaries, was a problem for another time.

As the days came and went, Bulma hardly saw Vegeta. They settled into a rhythm: he was usually already gone for the day when she left for her lab, then would come in around 9pm, and head straight to his room.

And so on Friday morning, when she left her room to find him already sat at the kitchen table, legs stretched out in front of him, staring at his phone, it took her by surprise.

“Oh”

Her voice came out as more of a squeak than actual words. She cleared her throat and tried again.

“Hey, haven’t seen you around much.”

He looked up from his phone briefly, acknowledging her presence with a small nod, and then went right back to whatever he was reading.

Irritation flared in her chest, and she straightened her spine and plastered a wide, sunny smile on her face. She would not be deterred.

“There’s a game tonight, right? Goku told me that it's even more important because it’s the first game of the semester.”

The silence was deafening.

“I guess I don’t know much about football and sports and stuff, but I hope you win!”

She was pleased by how cheerful she sounded, but she was rambling and she knew it.

He finally looked up at her and she smiled wider, cradling a mug of coffee between both palms, pleased to have something to do with her hands.

As the silence continued, she noticed his eyes sweep over her, and couldn’t help but wonder what he thought when he looked at her… in jeans and a cozy sweater, she wasn’t exactly dressed to impress, but at the same time, she knew she wasn’t a monster.

In fact, she thought the tight denim accentuated the curve of her legs, and the cream jumper complimented her complexion, emphasizing the warm tones of her hair and eyes.

She stood a little taller and met his gaze straight on. If he thought he could intimidate her with this whole stoic silence routine then he had another thing coming. She was just about to head back to her room in a huff when he finally spoke.

“You don’t go to watch?”

His tone held a hint of incredulity as if he couldn’t believe such a concept was possible.

“Football? No. Not really my scene. I usually work late in my lab on Friday anyway.”

He seemed to consider this before nodding slowly and then looking back down at his phone. It would appear the conversation was over.

Bulma rolled her eyes. Men.

“So… good luck then!”

And with that, she scurried back to her room, and hoped he wouldn’t be in the kitchen when it was time for her to leave.

“Bulma, you should come cheer us on!"

Goku was extra energetic today, clearly pumped for the game that evening.

As quarterback, he was always the star of the show, and had legions of fangirls turn out in support at every game. Bulma wasn’t sure how Chi-Chi was so calm about it. If HER boyfriend was constantly being clamored over by other women, she would go mad, but Chi-Chi always had this calm confidence about her, like she knew that no other woman could be a threat.

That self-assuredness was something Bulma had in spades when it came to her work, but not so much when it came to anything regarding humans or her relationships with them.

They were standing in the queue at the coffee shop, waiting for the harassed-looking baristas to make their orders. Outside the snow that had fallen earlier in the week had finally melted away, and the sun shone, offering a cheerful glow but precious little heat.

“To watch a bunch of idiot jocks, who frankly can’t afford to lose brain cells, get concussed. No, thank you.”

She scoffed, then realized what she had said and quickly added,

“No offence by the way…”

As much as Goku was her opposite, he was her oldest and best friend, and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, especially where his precious game was concerned.

But she should have known better than to think he would take her comments personally. HE certainly knew HER better than that.

“Aw come on Bulma, don’t be like that. You should try it just once. Who knows, you might even like it!”

He stared at her with all the energy and hopefulness of a puppy. Bulma supposed it must be nice to have such a simplistic outlook on life. Goku was barely ever troubled, or angry, or stressed. In some ways, she envied his careless approach. They were wired very differently in that sense.

Chi-Chi laid her hand on his arm, and he turned his attention to her immediately. It really was sickening how smitten these two were with each other.

“I’m sure Bulma has a lot of work to do. We shouldn’t forget that it’s almost conference season.”

At the mention of the conferences, Goku trained his attention back on Bulma. The barista called their names and they stepped forward to collect their drinks.

“Oh yeah, Chi-Chi said that you were going to be presenting at some super important conference thingy!”

A conference thingy... she'd let it slide. Some battles weren't worth fighting.

“Yeah, I get a few days paid leave down in Papaya City. I’m presenting on a Saturday but thinking I should make a long weekend out of it… go Friday, stay until Monday…”

“That sounds awesome! I can’t wait until we have our next away game, I love getting to see other cities!”

“We just got back from break! Can’t you stay still for even a few weeks?”

He laughed, his head tipped back, wholly submitting to the motion, in the same way he threw himself fully into everything he did.

“Nope! Chi-Chi says I have too much energy to stay in one place very long.”

Bulma looked over at Chi-Chi, who looked back at her with an expression of such suffering that Bulma actually snorted with laughter. Goku feigned great offence, and soon all three of them were animatedly laughing and joking as, coffees in hand, they crossed the campus before going their own separate ways.

Unseen by any of them, Vegeta watched his new housemate as she pulled her coat around her and hurried up a set of steps, the whisper of a smile still on her lips.

It was late. Far later than she had intended to be at the lab. She had lost track of time, her mind buried in her research.

The one positive of this situation was that she would have missed all the fallout from the football game by now. Most of the students would have already headed off campus to the local bars and clubs.

The walk from her lab to her apartment was only 10 minutes, but she really hated it when she was accosted by drunken idiots the whole way.

On this occasion, and as she had suspected, the streets were quiet. There was still the occasional group, staggering along the sidewalk or in the road (at this time of night, the campus roads were deserted anyway), but no one took any notice of her as she sped along, hood pulled up to cover her hair.

The teal blue locks, which she loved during the day, were still vibrant enough at night to grab the attention of many a brazen drunk. She had soon learned that it was far less effort entirely, to keep it hidden.

Taking the steps to her apartment 2 at a time, Bulma was surprised to see the hallway light on. She quickly unlocked the door and stepped inside, crashing straight into something hard and hot.

Vegeta. In her haste to get in from the cold, and with her hood still partially obstructing her view, she hadn’t seen him until it was far, far too late.

Jumping back, she practically tore the covering from her head.

“Oh God, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

She unwrapped her scarf, gaze still fixed on his back. Had he even heard her? He certainly didn’t seem like it.

Then, slowly, he started to turn.

“Well, if it isn’t the genius woman.”

His words slurred slightly, as he looked at her with a somewhat unfocused gaze. The smell of something sweetly sour tickled at her nose.

Fantastic. He had been drinking.

“Hmm, very funny.”

Her tone was flat. The same one she used when idiotic undergraduates tried to mansplain physics to her. It was intended to make it clear that she did not, in fact, think anything was funny.

Coat now hanging on its usual hook, she tried to push past him, but the hallway (cramped at the best of times) seemed to have shrunk. In his semi-stupor, Vegeta was managing to take up all the space.

She shoved again to no avail. An immovable object, he watched her with more than a little humor creeping into his gaze.

“Been working hard?”

Bulma sighed. Just her luck that the only time he has any interest in speaking with her is when she wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for the next 10 hours. She gave up trying to squeeze past and settled for leaning against the wall.

“Yes actually. I assume you won?”

She is close enough that his scent is all around her now, an assault on her senses. Liquor and soap… a clean, fresh aroma with a hint of something dark, musky and wholly-masculine.

“Of course. Those second-class “Dragon Warriors” didn’t stand a chance against the mighty “Saiyan Army”!”

Vegeta's chest was practically puffed out with pride and Bulma thought, not for the first time, how ridiculous these team names were. If someone had told her that she would be friends with, to the point of even LIVING with, multiple members of the “Saiyan Army” she would have laughed in their face. Now look at her.

“That’s great Vegeta. Really. Now if I could just get to bed…”

She was sure that her renewed attempt to slide past him was finally going to succeed, but as the last word left her lips, his arm shot out and pressed against the wall in front of her, halting her progress.

She froze, body stiff with shock.

Back still against the wall, she is pinned in place, with no choice but to look up at him. Her eyes meet his and she realizes just how close he is standing. They are almost nose to nose, breathing the same air.

This is the first time she has seen him without his trademark scowl, and he really is very handsome… chiseled and brooding like a classic anti-hero archetype.

Her breathing shallowed, chest rising and falling as heat blooms low in her stomach, her cheeks flushing.

His gaze roams her face before settling on her mouth. If one of them moved forward an inch, their lips would touch.

He seemed to realize this at the same time she did, and he suddenly reddened, pulling his arm swiftly away and turning towards the kitchen.

“Goodnight” he said gruffly, his body rigid.

Without bothering to reply, she clutched her bag to her chest and practically sprinted to her room.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three

Despite the late night, Bulma woke early on Saturday.

She hadn’t known him long, but already, she could tell that what had happened last night was out of character for Vegeta. She wondered what had come over him… but more importantly, she hoped it wasn’t going to be a regular occurrence.

After she had killed a few hours reading, checking her social media, and doing a short yoga session, she decided it would be safe to leave the sanctuary of her bedroom. Reluctantly, she pulled a large sweatshirt over her sports bra and leggings, before quietly opening the door and heading to the kitchen.

As she’d hoped, there were no signs of Vegeta in the apartment. She relaxed and switched on the radio, wiped down the kitchen counters, and then began to vacuum.

The radio began to play one of her favorite songs.

Turning the volume up, she swayed her hips in time to the music; shimmying and flicking her hair as she pushed the machine towards her bedroom.

The door to Vegeta’s room was torn open so suddenly that she almost jumped out of her skin. Her heart raced in her chest, as she took in the sight of the man himself, standing in the doorway, scowling.

The return of the scowl didn’t surprise her half as much as his appearance.

Having clearly just rolled out of bed, he was wearing baggy sweatpants that rode low on his hips. His feet and chest were both bare and the sight of so much skin caused Bulma’s brain to temporarily short-circuit.

Holy crap, the boy was jacked.

She quickly regained her senses and switched off the vacuum.

“Woman, must you make such an incessant racket, and on a Saturday!?”

His angry statement stunned her into silence. After their late-night encounter, she thought he might be awkward towards her, apologetic maybe, but definitely not… aggressive. This was NOT how she thought their next meeting was going to go.

Having recovered from her initial fright, she now thrust her hands on her hips. Bulma was not one to back down from a fight at the best of times, but especially not when she did nothing wrong.

“Well, it sure seems like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.”

His scowl deepened, although it looked like there was a faint pink flush around the top of his ears. Maybe he was a little embarrassed after all.

“I wouldn’t have woken at all if I could have helped it!”

“Excuse you! It is a perfectly reasonable time of day to vacuum! Not MY fault YOU can’t handle your drink.”

His hands fell from where he had been pressing his palms against his eyes, and he leveled an icy stare at her.

“I can handle anything.”

His voice was low, and he spoke slowly, clearly intending to end the argument.

A wiser woman would take the hint. That woman was not Bulma Briefs.

“Anything except vacuuming it would seem.”

His eyebrows twitched, a tiny sign of shock that he quickly masked.

“You are insufferable.”

“And you are an asshole.”

He stared at her for one more, long moment, then turned and slammed the door of his room, emerging only moments later wearing a charcoal grey hoodie, duffel bag in hand.

Unsurprisingly, he ignored her as he passed, and it was only when the front door slammed shut that Bulma realized she had been holding her breath again.

“What the hell is wrong with this guy!?”

Saturday passed without further drama. Bulma headed to the store to restock the fridge, did some work in her room, and then settled in on the sofa with her dinner like usual. She saw hide nor hair of Vegeta, and was perfectly content with that.

Content, that was, until she was woken, after midnight, by the shower running.

Given his reaction to her morning cleaning, to say she was annoyed at the intrusion was an understatement. She whirled out of bed, foregoing slippers even as the cold floor stung her feet.

“Fucking hypocrite!”

Propelled by her anger, she yanked open her door, briefly noting that his was also open, the bedside lamp illuminating the room and casting a warm glow across the hall.

Coming to a halt outside the bathroom door, she took a steadying breath and raised her hand to knock. But at that exact moment, the shower clicked off and she heard rustling, followed by… a growl? What was he doing in there?

He had better not have someone in there with him - that shower was a shared space! NO hanky-panky, thank you very much.

Shamelessly, she pressed her ear to the door, and heard the snap of plastic clips, the tear of a packet opening, and more rustling.

Beyond intrigued, her anger is now all but forgotten.

On the other side of the door, the plastic clips snapped shut again, signaling the end of whatever he was doing, and Bulma had a flash of self-awareness. She was standing in a strappy T-shirt and tiny shorts, in the middle of the night, spying on her roommate IN THE BATHROOM!!!

If he opened the door now, how on earth would she explain getting caught like this!?

Panicking, she started to back away slowly.

Her eyes darted around the hallway. If she was fast, she could get back to her room in time to not be spotted… but what if she was too slow. Not to mention, the sound of the door closing could give her away.

Footsteps. She was out of time.

Moving as fast as she could, she scurried around the corner to the kitchen just as the bathroom door opened.

As he flicked off the bathroom light, Vegeta’s gaze caught on Bulma's bedroom, the door standing open. He paused. He hadn’t seen her room before… hadn’t cared to, honestly. The dim light only penetrated far enough for him to make out the rough shape of her bed, blankets mussed.

Bulma turned the corner, a hastily poured glass of water in hand.

She jerked in surprise as she saw him standing in the hallway, backlit by the gentle glow emanating from his bedroom. She had expected him to be safely locked away by now, not standing in the dark!

Her eyes couldn’t help but run over him, towel slung carelessly around his neck, white T-shirt clinging to his still-damp skin, those familiar grey sweatpants low his hips. In his hands he held a first aid box… so that was what she heard.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed her gaze, and he quickly turned away and stalked into his room, nudging the door closed with his elbow.

Bulma, mind whirling, padded back to bed.

“Honestly Goku. The man is unbearable.”

It had been weeks since the vacuuming incident, and Bulma and Vegeta’s relationship had gone from bad to worse. She wasn’t sure which she preferred, the passive-aggressive comments, or when they simply ignored each other.

“I don’t know Bulma, he is so great at knowing what we have to do to get stronger and win games!”

“That doesn’t make him a good person! All he cares about is training. Honestly, you should see the state of him, bandages and ointments everywhere. What does he even study here anyway? Dumbassery?”

Goku looked at her curiously…

“Vegeta is a law major Bulma. Don't you know who he is?”

“Should I?”

“Well yeah, I thought you would know of Prince’s Law Firm.”

Bulma's eyebrows furrowed. Prince’s was a major powerhouse of the legal world. The HQ was out East, but she knew they had a regional office in her hometown of West City.

Until a few years ago, the firms CEO had been the head of the prestigious Prince family, but he had died suddenly, leaving the company in the hands of the Board of Directors. He had been a terrifying great hulk of a man whose face had stared down from billboards all over the country… a face with, now she thought of it, an eerily familiar scowl.

Her brain was working a mile a minute.

Already suspecting the answer, she looked at Goku seriously as she asked her next question.

“Goku, what is Vegeta's full name?”

“Vegeta Prince.”

Bulma swallowed.

“So, that means, his father was…”

“Yep.”

Wow. Poor Vegeta. It had been reported that his father had died of a surprise heart attack a few years back, but from what Bulma could remember, there seemed to be something shady about the whole thing. There had been rumors across the city that even went so far as to suggest foul play.

“From what Nappa and some of the other guys on the team say, his dad's death was real hard on Vegeta, but it was even worse when he lost control of the company. Apparently, he was eventually meant to inherit everything, but…”

Goku shrugged and ran a hand through his unruly black mane of hair.

“That’s why he came here. Ever since I’ve known him, he has only ever cared about two things: training and studying.”

Bulma thought back to all the times he had traipsed home late, hauling his gym bag behind him and immediately falling into bed. Or when she had caught him applying ointment to his battered and bruised body…

“Well still. He doesn’t have to be so mean.”

She crossed her arms and slumped in her seat, determined to be grumpy.

“I have an idea for something to cheer you up!”

She looked at Goku skeptically but had to admit she could do with something to get her mind off everything.

“Go on…”

“You know my friend Krillin studies business? He moved into a new apartment this semester and is sharing with a guy from his course… Who is newly single.”

Oh good grief. Goku waggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed and opened her mouth to protest but he got in first.

“His name is Yamcha, and he is free Saturday night.”

“You aren’t going to let me get away with saying no are you?”

“Nope!” Goku beams. “He will pick you up at 7.”

Over the next few days, Bulma found herself watching Vegeta carefully. He had caught her eyeing him more than once but each time she quickly looked away, and to his credit, he hadn’t called her out on it.

She was starting to realize that her assumptions about him were… wrong. Whereas she had thought him to be a stereotypical jock, she sees the intellect behind his eyes. Instead of just bulky muscle, she sees how he has honed his lithe body to be a powerful tool.

Instead of a grumpy asshole, she sees a man driven by pride, desperate to regain what he has lost.

“Woman! I swear…”

Bulma is startled out of deep thought by his shout. She blinked at him, wondering what she had done this time.

“What?”

“You are stood in the middle of the room like some kind of imbecile.”

Bulma furrowed her brow, attempting to scowl like he always did. The effect is undermined by her fringe falling across her eyes.

Irritated, she swept her hair back out of her face with a huff.

“You’re lucky I’m feeling generous, Prince.”

He seemed taken aback by her use of his surname, and this pleased her. She had the upper hand now.

“Well, it seems like someone has a taken special interest in me.”

He smirked.

“You wish. I just wanted to make sure that, despite the way you have acted so far, you weren’t actually a psycho who would try to kill me in my sleep.”

She smiled sweetly.

“I’m still not convinced though, so I’ll be keeping my eye on you… Prince.”

Batting her eyelashes, she blew him a kiss and sashayed into her room.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

“You are looking particularly vile today.”

“You just keep trying to convince yourself of that.”

They had been verbally sparring all week, but she still wasn’t used to the way he made her feel like she was on the back foot. Like he was a challenge that even she couldn’t solve.

From his position leaning against the kitchen table, Vegeta slowly ran his eyes up and down her, an unreadable look on his face.

Bulma, who had just emerged from her bedroom, tugged at the hem of her shorts, smoothing the soft white cotton. She was wearing a strapless blue corset top, tucked into neatly tailored, high-waisted shorts, with silver high-heeled sandals. A matching white blazer was folded in the crook of her elbow, her silver handbag was slung over one shoulder.

“Special occasion?”

She walked to the sofa, settled herself delicately on one end, and crossed one long, smooth leg over the other.

“If you MUST know, I have a date.”

Vegeta raised his eyebrows.

“Well, aren’t you lucky. Who is your unfortunate victim?”

She glared at him.

“The only unfortunate one is you, sitting at home eating…” she looked pointedly at the kitchen counter, “…instant ramen on a Saturday night.”

He glared right back at her, and she rolled her eyes and looked away. There was something about those dark eyes, something that she didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about.

“He’s an MBA student who lives with Krillin. Goku introduced us.”

Vegeta huffed but before he could say anything else, there was a series of swift knocks at the front door. Leaping up, Bulma practically flew past him, pulling on her jacket as she went.

Yamcha was nice. He was really, really nice.

He had reserved them a booth at a local bar known for their extensive selection of cocktails. Sitting opposite each other, sipping their drinks, the conversation flowed easily.

Being the daughter of one of the world's most successful tech entrepreneurs, Bulma had a strong grounding of business concepts, and could easily keep up as he explained his masters thesis. For his own part, he made a valiant attempt at understanding her explanations of her own experiments. “So by combining biological energy signatures with some fairly simple engineering, I should be able to create a biomass tracker, not dissimilar to radar technology. The real challenge is figuring out how to distinguish unique energy frequencies on a sub-atomic level.”

He grinned at her, a small dimple appearing on his left side.

“Your work sounds really amazing.”

She blushed. She wasn’t used to anyone other than her professors, or father on the rare occasions she got to speak with him, showing any real interest in her work.

“Sorry, I don’t often get to speak about it, so I get a little passionate.”

“Don’t apologize! It’s cute.”

She beamed at him and took a long swig of her cocktail.

Yamcha was tall, with dark hair that was long enough that it started to curl around his ears and neck, adding to his laid-back demeanor. He wore light trousers and a white polo that showed off the well-defined muscles on his arms.

He had kind eyes, and an easy smile. A far cry from Vegeta she thought, then immediately chastised herself. She HAD to stop thinking about him at the worst times. It was that stupid argument before she left, she was still riled up about it.

“You know,” Yamcha’s voice interrupted her internal dialogue, “when Krillin told me he wanted to set me up with one of Goku’s friends, I really wasn’t sure what to expect… you aren’t the type of girl that usually hangs around Goku.”

“I will choose to take that as a compliment!” she laughed.

“Goku and I are friends from childhood. We used to spend our entire summers out exploring around West City.”

She smiled down at her drink before launching into the story of how, one summer, Goku had made friends with a pig he had found in the wild. Oolong, as he had named it, had stolen her underwear when they were camping, and by the time they had rounded up the animal, her panties were no more.

They ordered more drinks and discussed everything from their favorite desserts (hers a strawberry tart, his a simple vanilla pudding) to their career goals, and everything in between. It was nice to have a conversation that flowed so easily, and before she knew it the bartender was calling for last orders.

As they stepped out into the night, Bulma let out an involuntary shiver. Halting in his tracks, Yamcha removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

“Thank you”

They smiled at each other and began the walk back to her apartment.

Yamcha had his hands thrust in his pockets, keeping a respectful distance from her, as he had all evening. She wondered what his expectations were and if he would make a move… things had been going well, but this part was always kind of awkward. It was only their first-date and she wasn’t the type of girl who slept around or had one-night stands.

It wasn’t like she was inexperienced. She’d had plenty of boyfriends in her time, but they had been perfunctory and soon outlived their appeal. No matter how many times her mother had set her up with the sons, nephews, and godsons of her posse of socialites, Bulma had no desire to commit long-term to anything other than her work.

As they reached the apartment, she shrugged his jacket off her shoulders and handed it back to him. He folded it across his arm and stepped closer to her.

“I had a great time tonight, I’d love to see you again.”

His eyes twinkled with hope, and she returned his easy smile.

“I’d like that.”

He beamed and leaned forward, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.

“Goodnight Bulma.”

“Goodnight Yamcha.”

And with those final words, she turned and let herself into the apartment.

Bulma’s warm, fuzzy feeling was cut abruptly short when she saw the kitchen light was still on. “Goodie”, she muttered to herself as she pulled off her shoes. It was highly unlikely, she thought, that would get away with avoiding another super fun Vegeta encounter. Might as well face it head on. She pulled her shoulders back and, with the kind of casualness that she didn’t feel, slunk into the kitchen. “Aw, cute of you to wait up just for lil’ old me.” His back was to her as he stood at the sink, drying one of his many protein shakers. “Please. It’s barely midnight.”

Something in his tone was… different to what she had expected from her usually gloomy roommate. Cocky. Smug even. Had she missed something? She bristled.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugged, but she could see the hint of a smirk as he turned to put the container back in its usual cupboard.

“What is your point Vegeta? I’d appreciate it if you just got on and said it so I can get to bed, I am tired.”

She was tired of him and tired of this stupid feud between them.

He was quiet for so long that she thought he just wasn’t going to reply at all. Then, as she was about to just go to bed, he leaned forward and spoke slowly as if he were addressing a child.

“If you’re already home, then either he didn’t offer to continue your date somewhere else, or you didn’t want to. Either way, someone didn’t seal the deal.”

She saw red. Boldened by the alcohol, she slapped him, and was satisfied to see shock flash across his face, as well as something alarmingly like… pride?

“You prick. This was a first date, I am NOT that kind of girl.”

She whirled around and stomped away from him, furious.

Leaning against the bedroom door she had just slammed, she realized she was shaking. What had come over her!?

Had he been goading her on purpose? Was this what he wanted to happen? Why was he so difficult to figure out!?

She took a few deep, calming breaths, and pulled her phone out of her purse. She scrolled down to the number Yamcha had programmed into her phone earlier that evening and started typing.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Bulma glanced at the clock again, still only 2:33pm. It was the Wednesday after her first date with Yamcha and she had arranged to meet him for a coffee break at 3pm.

Even if she walked slowly, it would take no more than 10 minutes to get across campus, plus she wouldn’t want to get there too early and be seen as too keen. A woman had to keep a man guessing just a little bit after all.

2:45pm would be the earliest that she would leave, which meant she had a solid 10 minutes of working time left. She should concentrate, and… Lapis and Lazuli entered the lab, already mid-argument… Give up. She should give up and just take a break now. She could go for a walk around campus to kill time before meeting Yamcha.

Grabbing her things, she switched off her computer, and signed out of the lab. Once she was outside, the spring sunshine was a welcome sight, and without hesitation she started walking in the opposite direction to the coffee house.

Torn between wanting to look cute, but not overdressing for a casual date, she had eventually decided on her favorite oversized fluffy jumper, black leggings, and high-top sneakers. She pulled her sunglasses from the small handbag bag that was now bouncing against her hip as she walked, thankful that winter finally seemed to be behind them.

Groups of students milled about, sitting at benches and tables scattered around the campus, some laughing, some quietly enjoying the fresh air before their next class. The grounds was exceptionally well maintained. It was necessary, she supposed, if you wanted to retain the reputation as the best college in the country.

She was so lost in thought as she walked, remembering the college admissions process and her own experience visiting and applying for different institutions, that she didn’t notice she was strolling right past the football training field until she heard someone shouting her name.

“Hey, Bulma!”

Roused from her thoughts, she looked over to see Goku waving cheerily as he ran towards her.

“Oh, Goku, hi,”

She smiled. It had been ages since she had seen her friend, and his joy really was infectious.

“I wanted to ask how your date with Yamcha went?”

“Oh, it was good! I’m actually just on my way to meet him for coffee.”

From behind Goku, a familiar snort made her shoulders tense. Vegeta. If Goku noticed him, he didn’t show it.

“Hey, that’s awesome! Chi-Chi will be really glad too. She will want to hear all about it though. How about we grab lunch tomorrow?”

“Sure, sounds good!”

“Hurry it up idiot, this is practice, not time for socializing.”

Of course Vegeta would try to rain on her parade. She scowled at him. Luckily Goku seemed completely unfazed by the scolding. He was clearly well used to it.

“Aw come on Vegeta!” Goku complained, causing him to scowl harder. “Okay Bulma, I’d better go, I’ll text you about lunch.”

Before she had a chance to reply, he had already turned and started jogging away from her.

From the distance a gruff voice shouted “Oh Goku man, incoming!” and Bulma looked up to see a pigskin hurtling towards the place that Goku had been stood only moments before. Towards where she still stood.

Bulma was perfectly capable of doing many things, even sports. But as she stood there, the ball flying through the air towards her, her mind went totally, completely blank.

It was going to hit her. She needed to do something. She needed to move!

But there wasn’t time.

As she was about to accept her fate, a tanned hand reached out and snatched the ball out of the air, still feet from her.

“What kind of moron are you” Vegeta growled.

Bulma, eyes wide, balked. His words snapped her back to her usual self far better than a ball to the face would have done.

“Excuse me!?”

“You mean you wouldn’t describe just standing there whilst a ball flies at your face as moronic.”

“I…” she trailed off. He might have a point. “Thanks.”

Vegeta grunted, launching the ball back in the direction of the knucklehead who had thrown it in the first place.

“Now get off my pitch.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. By the time he turned back to where she had been standing, she was already well on her way to meet Yamcha.

“Iced caramel macchiato for Bulma.”

Bulma walked up to where the barista stood, coffee in hand, calling her name.

“Thanks.”

She smiled at the cheery young woman and slid a few spare Zeni into the tip jar. Whilst they were waiting for their drinks, she hadn’t missed the way the eyes of the female baristas kept flitting to Yamcha.

As she had arrived at the coffee house (only a few minutes early after her football encounter), Bulma had seen him chatting with a pretty blonde girl, but he had quickly said his goodbyes when he noticed Bulma was here.

With his boyish good looks and easy conversation, she wondered if he was popular with the female college population. Based on the blonde girl and the attention the barista was paying him, it would certainly appear so.

He seemed almost oblivious to it though. Without the confidence alcohol encouraged, he was shy and happy to let her take the lead.

They took their coffees to a nearby bench, that was far enough away from the tall buildings to still offer plenty of late afternoon sun. Sitting side by side, there was quiet between them for the first time.

“I’m really glad you agreed to see me again.”

His admission surprised her, but the honesty was refreshing! She smiled.

“I’m glad you asked! I had a lot of fun on Saturday.”

“Good. Do you already have plans for this Saturday?”

She pretended to think it over. She had nothing planned but was certainly not going to let him know that.

“Nothing I can’t move with the right excuse.”

His relief was palpable... did he really think she would turn him down?

“How about a picnic?”

This was not what she was expecting. Yamcha was far more wholesome than she had expected and she felt a little guilty about thinking he might have a reputation just because a few girls had smiled at him.

“A picnic sounds like a great idea! The weather is already getting nice, and it’s meant to be warm at the weekend I think.”

“Yeah!” He nodded enthusiastically now that he knew she was onboard with the idea. “I know a really nice spot with amazing views of the ocean, if you don’t mind a bit of a hike?”

She laughed. Only she would get roped into a hike as a second date.

“I am in no way an experienced hiker, but I’m willing to give it a go”

He looked genuinely thrilled, and her chest swelled with pride at being responsible for that happiness.

“I’ll pick you up at your apartment at 10am.”

“It’s a date!”

She raised her plastic coffee cup and bumped his cup with it in cheers.

What had she gotten herself into.

The next day she was sat at the same bench with Goku, Chi-Chi, Krillin and their friend Launch. Chi-Chi had been desperate for every detail of her date, asking when she was going to go out again. Bulma patiently answered all her questions, taking any opportunity to shoot Goku silent pleading looks to change the subject. Goku seemed blissfully unaware, deep in discussion with Krillin about some new play they were trying to perfect.

Finally, an opportunity for her to change the subject!

“Hey, so now I think of it guys, how come you were having football practice in the middle of the day… and without your coach?”

“Well, Coach Roshi is great and all, but he’s kind of old school, so we like to get some extra practice in for new stuff when we can.”

“Don’t you need a coach to tell you what to do?”

“Oh no, that’s what we have Vegeta for!”

“Vegeta? Vegeta coaches you?”

Her incredulity was obvious to everyone except Goku, who, as usual, steamed ahead with enthusiasm.

“Yeah! He is way better at all the strategic stuff. I could never think of plays the way that he does. He’s always coming up with something cool. And making sure that everyone does it right.”

“I see…”

“And we are training extra hard now because we have a game against the Frieza Force next week.”

At the mention of the rival team name, Goku and Krillin both scowled. Then almost immediately Goku brightened again.

“Hey, you should come watch!”

Bulma grimaced, and prepared her usual response, but before she could answer, Yamcha appeared.

“Hey guys, I saw you from across the quad. How’s it going?”

He greeted the group, then turned and smiled directly at Bulma, whose stomach did a little lurch. He was handsome and she was pleased to see him.

Today, he was wearing another pair of light chinos, a white polo shirt, and matching light jumper. The lighter color suited him, a contrast to his dark hair and sunglasses.

She shuffled along the bench to make room, and gestured for him to take a seat next to her.

He squeezed on the end, but there was only just enough room, and his left thigh was pressed tight against hers. Casually, he draped his left arm behind her, resting his palm on her hip. It was the most physical contact they had had so far, and she felt herself blushing a little.

Given the fact Chi-Chi looked like a cat who had gotten ALL the cream, his actions hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“So, what’s going on?”, Yamcha asked no one in particular.

“Actually," Chi-Chi piped up, “Goku was just telling us how we all HAD to come to the game next week.”

“Aw yeah man that would be awesome!”

Bulma’s smile tightened, and Chi-Chi grinned pointedly at her.

“Yes!” Goku practically fist bumped the air. “It’s super important and we need all the home crowd support we can get. No one has beaten the Frieza Force in almost 2 seasons!!”

“Hey, you’d better not lose the first time I come see you play.”

At her words, Yamcha looked down at her in surprise.

“You’ve never been to a game before?”

“Nah, Bulma is such a meanie wh- OW Chi-Chi what did you do that for?”

“Goku, quiet down.”

As Goku and Chi-Chi bickered good-naturedly, Yamcha turned to look her in the eyes as best he could. When he spoke, he had lowered his voice so only she could hear him.

“Sorry if I’ve put you in an awkward situation. I just assumed that you’d be a regular at the games seeing as how you’re such close friends with the star player and all that.”

His tone was gentle, his eyes were pleading with her not to be mad. And she really couldn’t be. He was only trying to make a good impression with her and her friends.

She could see the relief in his face as she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure it will be fun if we go together.”

Underneath the table, she slipped her fingers between his and they sat holding hands for the rest of their lunch break.

9:30am Saturday morning, Bulma stood in front of her full-length mirror and inspected her outfit critically. The walking boots had been stuffed at the back of her closet so long she’d practically had to chisel them out. But paired with thick socks, cargo shorts and a white tee and jacket, she thought she at least looked the part.

She turned this way and that, then shoved a matching cap on her head. Better. The sun was already high in the sky and although the morning had been chilly, she knew that she would soon heat up in the direct sunlight.

Grabbing her sunglasses, and swiping a tinted balm across her lips, she flung her backpack over one shoulder and went to go grab her water bottle from the fridge.

Luckily there was no sign of Vegeta this morning. God only knows what the bastard would say about her picnic date.

Alongside the water, she stuffed her backpack with of a selection of crackers, cheeses and a cooler box of grapes and apple that she had sliced earlier that morning.

At first Yamcha had been adamant that he would bring everything, but had quickly backed down when she had given him her signature scowl.

And so she was bringing cheese and crackers, and he was in charge of sandwiches, and snacks. Checking the clock - 9:45 - she decided to use the bathroom one last time while she had the chance. Did they have restrooms on hikes? Bulma shuddered and decided not to think about it.

As she washed up and gave her makeup a final once over in the bathroom mirror (minimalist in case she ended up sweating it all off), her phone vibrated in her pocket. Yamcha was early.

Excitedly she bounded out the bathroom, and almost smacked straight into Vegeta. Just her luck.

He reached a hand out to steady her, and she didn’t miss the way his gaze swept her up and down.

“And here I thought you never left the comfort of your lab. Could it be that you are going… outdoors!?”

His mockery would not get her down. Not today.

“Always a pleasure Vegeta. Goodbye.”

She danced out from under his hand, through the kitchen, and out the front door, pulling her rucksack on as she bounced down the front stairs to where Yamcha stood at the passenger side door of a small red car.

“Hey” He grinned at her excitedly and she launched herself straight into his arms. “You look amazing!”

“Thanks! I hope it will be ok.”

He stepped away and pulled the door open for her, gesturing for her to get into the car. She obliged, plopping her rucksack into the footwell as Yamcha shut the door after her, made his way around the other side and slid into the drivers seat.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded and he pulled out into the quiet street.

“So… where are we off to?”

“Not far, only about a 20 minute drive from here.”

“Awesome - I will be in charge of the tunes, I have excellent taste in… well everything actually.”

She winked and he laughed at her cockiness. There was something about the way that it made her feel when he laughed because of her… it was addictive.

Finally, they reached the place that Yamcha had told her was perfect for their picnic.

They had parked up and then hiked for a few hours, stopping more and more regularly for Yamcha to point out landmarks. The sun was beating down and Bulma had only managed to get about halfway up before shedding her jacket.

As they walked, they had continued to talk about anything and everything: her family, school, the stray cat that he had rescued a couple of years ago and who now secretly lived with him and Krillin.

Every time he laughed at one of her ridiculous stories or helped her navigate a tricky part of the trail, she would get that same feeling in her chest.

As Yamcha spread their picnic blanket, and unpacked his rucksack, Bulma gaped at the view. To the left, the city sprawled below them, a mix of high-rises and residential areas. Just out of view was the university campus and both of their apartments.

To the right was the long, winding coastal road that connected nearby towns to the main city.

But ahead of them… ahead was the most glorious view of the ocean. Sparkling blue in the sunlight, she could make out the vague shapes of small fishing boats along the shoreline.

As engrossed as she was in the serenity of the scene before her, she didn’t notice Yamcha was right behind her. Gently he slipped his arms around her waist, pulling her back to rest against him.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It really is.”

They both spoke in hushed times. The only people for miles around, but neither wanting to disturb the peacefulness around them.

“Worth the effort of the hike?”

“Definitely. Thank you for bringing me here.”

Tearing her eyes away from the view in front of her, she loosened his arms from her wait just enough to be able to turn to face him. Wrapping her own arms around his waist, she lifted her face to his.

“Really, Yamcha, thank you.”

He swallowed and moistened his lips. A small smile crept across her face as she closed the final inch of space between them, pressing her lips against his gently.

They paused for a brief second, looking at each other to make sure this was ok. When neither protested, they both moved in unison to meet in the middle.

His arms tightened around her, pulling her harder against him, and her fingers grasped at the back of his shirt. As the kiss deepened, he tilted his head to have a better angle, a hand coming up to cradle the back of her head.

She sighed and his tongue slid along her open lips. He tasted like mint and the combined smell of pine and fresh air assaulted her senses.

It had been a long time since Bulma had been kissed like this, like there were no expectations of anything other than this kiss, in this moment.

Too soon, she felt her calves starting to burn with the strain of standing on tip toes for so long, and reluctantly she broke the kiss to lower herself back to the ground. Yamcha looked briefly disappointed, but it almost immediately turned into the widest, brightest smile she had ever seen from him.

Grabbing her hand, he tugged her towards the blanket.

“Come on, we both earned a rest and some lunch.” The rest of the afternoon sped by in a mix of good food, good conversation, and even better kisses.

Bulma was sure she had never felt so light and carefree before. When Yamcha looked at his watch and said they should head back before it started to get dark, she practically floated down the trail back to the car.

She slid into the passenger seat and immediately unlaced her boots.

“Damn these things are hot.”

Yamcha laughed.

“Yeah, I definitely need to shower.”

Bulma rested her head back against the headrest, eyes closed.

“Mmmm a hot shower sounds like heaven right now.”

There was a brief pause, and when Yamcha next spoke, his voice was nervous.

“Actually, Krillin is away for the weekend so my apartment is empty. Want to come back for dinner with me and Puar?”

She opened her eyes and looked over at him in surprise. She could tell he was anxious about her reaction, his posture was rigid and his eyes were staring at the road ahead of them.

“I would LOVE to meet Puar.”

He chuckled, and relaxed. They spent the rest of the drive in companionable silence.

“Oh my god that was delicious. Where did you learn to cook like that?”

Bulma leant back in her chair, arms resting on her stomach. Her hair was still damp from her shower, and she was wearing her cargo shorts under a giant oversized sweatshirt that Yamcha had pulled from his closet. It was hard to remember this was only their second date… she knew things were moving fast but it just felt so natural between them.

Yamcha chuckled and took her plate.

“This is actually something I taught myself to make a couple of years ago. When I first moved out for college I tried to learn at least 1 new dish each week. I didn’t want to be one of those morons who can’t cook or clean for themselves.”

“How are you single? You are literally the perfect man!”

Too late, she realized what she had said… single. He was probably thinking this was some heavy-handed attempt at getting him to DTR. Cringe.

“Well I try my best. Seems like it’s working with you so far!”

Wow. Not what she had expected. Luckily, he didn’t wait for her to answer before carrying on.

“Do you want to watch a film?”

“Sure, what kind of thing do you like?”

“I'm pretty easy to be honest, Krillin likes anything with 2 hour action sequences and trust me, nothing can be worse than his Mr Satan Box Set!”

Laughing, Bulma followed him to the sofa, and plopped down next to him.

“I never had Krillin pegged for a Satanist…”

“Oh he is the BIGGEST closet Satan fan. You must never let on that I told you or he will have my guts for garters!”

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

They smile at each other and the room feels too small, the space between them on the sofa too big, the air too hot.

She swallows but doesn’t break eye contact.

“Krillin is away for the whole weekend…?”

“Back tomorrow evening, so…” His voice was breathless. “You are welcome to stay.”

A blush flushes his cheeks pink and he can barely meet her eyes as he waits for her answer. Leaning forward, she took his face in her hands.

“I would like that” she says, eyes twinkling with mischief as she kissed him.

This kiss is different from the mountaintop kisses. Those were lazy and innocent, whereas this kiss is hot and passionate. Bulma is on his lap without knowing how she really got there. His hands dig into her hips and when he pulls her against him, she can feel the hardness of his erection between her thighs.

Her fingers tangle in his hair, angling his head for better access as their tongues dance together.

The sweatshirt is too hot. She claws at the fabric, and he senses her urgency, pulling it over her head in one smooth motion, exposing her overheated skin to the the cool air.

Behind the thin material of her bra, her nipples harden. Heat pools between her legs and she rocks her hips against his as she grasps his shoulders.

His lips leave hers and kiss down her neck until his face is buried in her chest. She arches her back, pushing her breasts towards his mouth. Even through the fabric she feels the heat of his breath caress her taut skin, and shivers.

Slipping his thumbs under the sides of her panties, Yamcha moans as she continues to grind against his erection. She slides her hands under the hem of his shirt, along the waistband of his sweatpants, palms skimming the solid muscles of his stomach.

He tugs his hands away from where they have been cupping her ass and yanks his own shirt over his head, before reaching behind her to fumble with the hooks of her bra. The clasps spring open, leaving them both naked from the waist up.

“God Bulma..”

Yamcha trails off as he tears his eyes away from her breasts, returning his mouth to hers in a series of hot, wet kisses.

They are both panting. With one arm wrapped around her waist, he presses her backwards into the cushions, and she immediately adapts her position, shimmying out of her shorts before wrapping her bare legs around his waist.

As he moves his head back to look down at her mostly-naked body sprawled under him, an image suddenly flashes through her mind. An image of another face mere inches from hers, with coal black eyes that she hated but couldn’t look away from.

A face twisted in anger and disgust as he argued with her about something pointless. A face with a long chiseled nose, sharp cheekbones, and soft pink lips. Lips that she wished were on her now.

Holy shit. She was picturing Vegeta. Yamcha was dry humping her on his sofa, and she was picturing Vegeta!?

Sensing that something was off, Yamcha leaned his weight on his right arm, freeing her body, and brushing hair off her forehead with his left hand.

“Hey… is everything ok?”

Shit. She needed to get a grip. And fast.

“Yes. Everything is great. More than great actually.”

He looked unconvinced by her babbling.

“Maybe we should slow things down a bit.”

He ran his fingers through his hair sheepishly, and she couldn’t help but admire how muscular his arms are.

“Right… sure.”

He was right, this was all moving too quickly and it was messing with her head.

Yamcha grabbed their clothes from the floor. Ignoring the bra he handed her, she plucked his T-shirt from him and slipped it on.

“Do you want some water or anything? I can make popcorn? I really don’t mind if we just watch a movie.”

Even as he is trying to make her feel more comfortable, she can still see the physical evidence of his arousal, an unmistakable bulge in his pants.

This is unbelievable, here she was, making out with the nicest, most genuinely kind man she had possibly ever met, thinking about her total asshat of a roommate!

She feels turned on, and disappointed, and furious. Furious at Vegeta, at the universe, and most importantly, furious at herself. Vegeta absolutely would not ruin her evening.

“Actually,” she stood from the sofa slowly, making sure his eyes followed her every movement.

“I might have a better idea than watching a movie.”

Tucking her thighs under the straps of her panties, she bent down and with slow, deliberate movements, removed one leg, and then the other. Straightening, she swung the damp material of her underwear around on one finger.

“Which way is your bedroom?”

Chapter Text

Chapter Six

It was mid-afternoon when Bulma peeked through her front door, prepared to run at the first sign of Vegeta.

She was certainly not used to returning home over 24 hours after she had left, wearing no underwear, and a man's sweatshirt that came down almost to her knees.

At least she had shorts on underneath (even if you couldn’t really tell).

Grabbing the strap of her rucksack, she crept as quietly as she could through the hallway, and stopped in her tracks. He was in the kitchen, cooking something on the stovetop with his back to her.

Bulma silently cursed every omnipotent being she could think of. Why was this man suddenly ALWAYS at home!?

Faced with the reality of him, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sneak past, and she didn’t want to. So what if he knew she had had sex. She wasn’t ashamed. Why shouldn't she stroll leisurely into her own apartment on a Sunday afternoon.

“Bit late for lunch isn’t it?”

His shoulders squared at the sound of her voice and he turned, mouth already opening to let out his latest insult. But the words didn’t come, he paused, looked her up and down and scowled.

Bulma stood even straighter, she refused to show any sign of embarrassment. She simply raised an eyebrow and waited. Vegeta, sensibly, went back to his cooking, stirring a pot of pasta as it boiled on the hob.

“We had practice this morning. I stayed late.”

Well, well, well. Son he COULD be civil.

“Smells good.”

She gestured to the bowl of homemade pasta sauce sitting to one side. His gaze followed her motion and he huffed out a grunt in reply.

It wasn’t exactly friendly conversation, but this was the longest they had gone without an argument for weeks.

She sidled over to peer at the sauce.

“What is it?”

He scowled but didn’t ignore her like she thought he might.

“Broccoli pesto sauce. It's high in protein and…”

As he spoke, she reached behind him, getting as close as she dared, and dipped her finger into the pot of sauce. Slowly, she brought the finger to her mouth and sucked. In her peripheral vision, she could see his eyes followings her every movement.

Vegeta continued to scowl, but she noticed, with satisfaction, that he seemed to be breathing a little harder than before. So, he wasn’t entirely immune to her. Good.

“Mmm, salty.”

Without waiting for his response, she whirled out of the kitchen and hurried to the sanctuary of her bedroom. Since when had her relationship with Vegeta become so… flirtatious?

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiiit”

Bulma didn’t know how to feel. Her emotions were a mess; first because of everything that had happened with Yamcha, and then on top of that there was the strange encounter with Vegeta. She was by no means inexperienced when it came to men, but that didn’t mean she was used to spending the night with someone she had only known a week. But then to come home and immediately flirt with another man! It was so unlike her to be so… sexual.

Sprawled on her bed, guilt rushed through her and she pressed her palms to her eyes and let out a deep sigh of frustration. She was a terrible girlfriend (they hadn’t talked about it, but she supposed she probably was Yamcha's girlfriend… right?).

A series of buzzing distracts her from her self-admonishment. She rolls over and fishes her phone out of her rucksack. 4 unread messages: 3 from Yamcha, 1 from Chi-Chi.

Quickly, she scans the message from Chi-Chi - as expected, she’s fishing for gossip from Saturday's date. It doesn’t feel right to reply to that now, so she navigates away, vowing to reply later, and focuses on the messages from Yamcha.

Did you get home ok?

I had a great time yesterday, hoping we can do it again soon?

And finally, a picture of a blue-black cat lazing in the sun, accompanied by the caption: Puar enjoyed your company too.

Bulma smiled, he was really too sweet. She quickly typed and sent her reply:

The weekend was amazing - can you cook again next time? 😉

Almost immediately her phone buzzed with his reply: Of course - you’re welcome for dinner anytime!

At the mention of dinner, her stomach rumbled. It was time to brave the kitchen and rustle herself up something quick to eat.

Fortunately, Vegeta’s bedroom door was closed, the soft glow of his desk lamp visible around the edges.

She continued to text Yamcha as she cooked… and as she ate… and as she tidied the kitchen… and as she settled in for an episode of her favorite drama before bed.

But as she snuggled down, the last person she thought of before she went to sleep was not Yamcha. The person her mind drifted to was Vegeta.

Throughout the week, Yamcha was the first person she spoke with every morning, and the last person she spoke with at night. They met at least once a day, either for coffee, lunch, or just to sneak a few kisses.

On Thursday evening, she was sat in his kitchen as he cooked, Puar curled up on her lap. Krillin had offered to give them privacy for the evening, but Bulma had insisted he stay. She didn’t want to make him feel unwelcome in his own home.

As they ate, the conversation shifted to the plans for the following evening - the “big game”. Their little group of spectators (Chi-Chi, Launch, Yamcha, and a few of their other friends) had agreed to all just meet there. Chi-Chi was going early with Goku, so would save them seats, then after the game they had all been invited to a party being hosted by one of the other players, Broly.

Despite herself, Bulma was actually kind of looking forward to getting out and spending Friday night with her friends. Their excitement was infectious.

“I still can’t believe you’ve never seen a game before!”

“She’s a stubborn one for sure,” Krillin winked at her. “No wonder Vegeta likes you!”

At the mention of Vegeta, she stiffened. Krillin continued shoveling rice into his mouth, oblivious to her discomfort.

“Vegeta barely tolerates me. It’s a miracle we’ve not murdered each other yet.”

Krillin looked up, surprised.

“That’s not how it sounds.”

How it sounds? Had Vegeta been talking about her? In a POSITIVE way!? It was a good job she was already sat down. Yamcha seemed to notice her shock.

“Who’s Vegeta?”

“No one.” She replied at the same time Krillin said:

“Vegeta is the best player on the team after Goku, and even then he gives him a damn good run for his money. And he’s Bulma’s roommate.”

Yamcha froze.

“Your roommate.”

“Only temporarily. I was in a tight spot for rent and Goku offered him the second room at my apartment without my knowing.”

“Oh… right.”

“Hey, don’t worry Buddy, Vegeta isn’t interested in getting a girlfriend. I mean… he gets plenty of interest from girls, but he only cares about training and studying. He’s a bit of a stick in the mud.”

“Amen to that,” Bulma muttered.

But still, Yamcha looked uneasy. As they changed topics, Bulma had a feeling this wouldn’t be the end of this conversation.

And she was right. Later that evening, as Yamcha walked her home, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop.

“Bulma, I want to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.”

“Of course!”

He took a deep breath and then spoke so fast it took a few seconds for her brain to process what he had just said.

“Is there anything going on with you and Vegeta?”

Frankly, she didn’t know whether to be angrier at him for thinking it, or herself for letting there be some truth to that statement.

“Absolutely not. I don’t know where Krillin got the idea from that Vegeta even mildly likes me because I can assure you, he certainly does not.”

Yamcha sighed and carried on walking, his hand still holding hers.

“I’m relieved to hear you say that, but it’s still kind of weird that you’re living with another guy. I mean, look at you!”

“Erm… excuse me?”

“You’re gorgeous! And funny, and smart… how could any guy spend all that time with you and not get ideas.”

For once in her life, Bulma wasn’t sure what to say. How could she tell him that she and Vegeta were basically at war!

Then her mind flashed back to the kitchen on Sunday, his eyes boring into her as she sucked the sauce from her finger. That was not the kind of relationship two housemates who hated each other should have. Guilt riled her stomach again.

“Yamcha, I know we haven’t really spoken about it… but I want you to know that I’m not dating anyone else, and I’m not interested in dating anyone besides you. I’m not saying this because I expect anything of you, I just want you to know.”

They carried on in silence for a few more steps.

“That’s good because I don’t want to see anyone else either. I don’t want you to see anyone else. I… I want to be the only person you are interested in.”

He set his jaw and looked at her with determination.

“Will you be my girlfriend? Officially.”

She laughed softly, he was such a dork sometimes.

“Yes Yamcha, I will be your girlfriend. Officially.”

He smiled, stepped forward and kissed her softly.

“Good, then I will pick you up tomorrow at 6:30pm. Wear something nice for me.”

She chuckled and gave him a slow, lingering kiss.

“When do I ever not?”

And then she slipped away from him and ran up the steps to her apartment.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Pulling her hoodie around her, Bulma was perfectly happy to let Yamcha lead her through the crowd. Chi-Chi stood in the middle of a row of seats near the front, gesturing for them to hurry.

Everything was so loud, with people everywhere, and the tension between the home crowd and the opposition fans - many of whom were wearing strange headpieces that looked like one-lensed sunglasses (Bulma made a mental note to ask Chi-Chi about those later) - was already verging on frightening.

Yamcha ushered her in ahead of him, then took the aisle seat next to her so she was sandwiched between him and Chi-Chi.

The chatter of the crowd, combined with the music played by the school band, was overwhelming, and she was starting to regret the decision to come after all.
This was a game. Just a stupid game…

A few people stopped and chatted to Yamcha on their way to find seats, others clapped him on the back or high-fived him as they passed. He didn’t introduce any of them to her as his girlfriend, but then again, she thought to herself, this was hardly the best situation for that. Maybe he was just a private person.

She shrugged it off.

The seats continued to fill, and just as she was wondering why this god-forsaken game hadn’t started yet, Bulma's attention was caught by one of the girls who had paused on the stairs to ask Yamcha if he was going to the party tonight.

It was the same pretty blonde she had seen him speaking with at the coffee shop.

Bulma watched out the corner of her eye as the girl flipped her hair and chatted animatedly. She was laughing with, in Bulma's mind, totally unnecessary levels of enthusiasm at something Yamcha had just said.

The girls’ friends called to her, and she finally left for her own seat, settling down a few rows behind theirs.

With a huff, Bulma turned to ask Yamcha about the girl but was cut off as the voice of the announcer blasted through the speakers, and the crowd started to roar.

The music was, impossibly, even louder now. Around her, everyone was on their feet, shouting and cheering - including Chi-Chi, who seemed to have been possessed by the spirit of some crazed fangirl.

Bulma looked down at the field. The teams were charging onto the pitch, doing some last-minute stretches, and lining up against each other. She could see Goku, tall and lean, standing proudly in the center, black hair already mussed. He seemed to practically vibrate with energy, and there was already a large portion of the home crowd chanting his name.

For the first time, Bulma really, truly understood what a big deal her friend was… she felt bizarrely proud of him. Maybe she should have been more willing to come out and support him before now.

A group of girls in the front row pulled off their shirts to reveal the slogan “Go Goku” painted, a letter each, over their bikini-clad chests. Then again, maybe he had enough support…

Alongside Goku, a slightly shorter figure caught her attention. Vegeta. He stood with his arms crossed, back rigid, and even though she couldn’t possibly see for sure from this distance, she was certain that his face was set in his usual scowl.

“Wow this crowd is crazy - you just know this game is gonna be intense!”

Yamcha's voice startled her. Although he was only next to her, he was practically shouting to be heard over the cheers and whoops of the crowd around them.

“I can’t believe this atmosphere! This is insane!”

Below her, Goku, Vegeta, and Broly walked into the middle of the field to shake hands with 3 players from the opposing team.

“That’s the big 3 of the Frieza Force: Zarbon, Dodoria, and Ginyu.”

Yamcha continued to reel off some information about the other team’s players, but she was barely listening. She couldn’t seem to tear her attention from the 6 men in the middle of the field. Vegeta was by far the smallest of them, but even Goku seemed dwarfed by the 3 gigantic Frieza Force players.

A twinge of uneasiness settled in her gut. She didn’t like the way they were looking at Vegeta… Goku seemed to be trying to say something to them, but they were steadfastly ignoring him, focusing on her roommate.

Finally, the referee blew his whistle and the players all turned away, pulling their helmets into place as they ran to their positions.

The game was about to begin.

From the moment the first whistle blew, the match was brutal. Using their size to their advantage, the Frieza Force seemed to know right where to strike in order to block the Saiyans attacks. But once Goku got possession of the ball, his speed and agility scored them some much needed points.

It wasn’t only Goku, although it was clear to see why he was the star of the show. Every play, Vegeta was right in the thick of it, a key support for every position. He can’t match up to other players in bulk, but he was surprisingly graceful in the way his body moved across the field, turning nimbly between the attacking players, and throwing with incredible accuracy.

Bulma couldn’t take her eyes off him.

At halftime, the scores were tied and her nerves were frayed. Chi-Chi wasn’t faring any better, and Bulma was relieved when she dragged her from her seat to go get refreshments. Beer would definitely help.

“So, what do you think of it all?”

Chi-Chi threw out an arm in an attempt to try and encompass the entirety of the stadium, game, and atmosphere in one swoop.

“Is every game like this? It is exhausting.”

“You’re telling me! But no, this is an intense one… although I always thought it was more intense for me just because I’m dating one of the players. That’s hardly an excuse for you…”

There was a hint of something in her tone that Bulma didn’t quite understand. She kept quiet.

“… speaking of which, things seem to be going well with Yamcha.”

“Stop fishing, you know that it is still early days.”

“I know, but it's been so long since you’ve dated someone. And it’s gotten so serious, so fast! It’s only natural that I worry.”

Bulma's eyebrows jumped up. This was not what she had expected from her friend.

“Worry? Why would you worry? I am a grown woman Chi-Chi, I have dated plenty before.”

“I know! But Yamcha is… well, you know how it is with guys. Us girls have to look out for each other.”

Bulma could safely say she had no idea what Chi-Chi was on about. She stared blankly back at her.

Chi-Chi just laughed and shook her head.

“Oh, forget it, let’s get back to our seats.”

They settled back in, and as the second half kicked off, Bulma's gaze was once again drawn to Vegeta.

The team all looked to him as he directed them into position. The whistle blew and Vegeta had the ball. The player she recognized as Dodoria started charging towards him.

Vegeta threw to Goku, who broke away and sprinted like hell was on his heels, but the Frieza player didn’t stop, and Dodoria slammed into Vegeta with frightening force.

Bulma was on her feet before she knew what she was doing, the rest of the crowd already booing and shouting. Through the bob of heads in front of her, she saw Goku and 2 of his teammates, Raditz and Nappa, facing off with Dodoria and one of the other giant Frieza players - Zarbon.

Vegeta… where was Vegeta. Her eyes scanned the field as something alarmingly like panic rose in her chest.

It wasn’t until people started to take their seats again, that she spotted him. He was still on the ground. As she watched, a medic reached him and started inspecting him, gently moving his limbs and shining a light into his eyes. Vegeta swatted the medic away, before sitting up cautiously, clutching his side.

Bulma let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. He was ok.

The referee was still working on breaking up the scuffle, and Bulma briefly wondered if Goku was ok. Chi-Chi was still on her feet, shouting obscenities at the opposing players. She didn’t seem overly concerned by the turn of events. That was reassuring.

Tentatively getting to his feet, Vegeta was escorted off the pitch. She could tell from his body language that he was absolutely livid. Knowing him, he would rather have been sent off for foul play than injury. This would hurt his pride as much as his body.

At last, there seemed to be some order restored, and once Vegeta’s replacement was in place, the game continued. Without him, the Saiyans seemed to lack structure in their plays, and soon found themselves on the back foot.

Bulma couldn’t concentrate on the action on the pitch. As much as she wanted to support her friend, she couldn’t just sit here. Not right now.

As the Frieza Force touched down again, Bulma turned to Yamcha.

“I’m going to go find snacks. Do you want anything?”

“Nah babe, I’m good.”

His attention was glued to the game, even as he stood to let her squeeze past him. The ball was turned over just as she reached the aisle stairs next to him, and Yamcha caught her arm, yanking her gently back and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Don’t be long.”

Someone nearby whistled at them, and she blushed and hurried off towards the vendor stalls.

Wandering through the stadium, Bulma soon found her way to the locker rooms. Even if it’s just a quick peek, she needed to make sure he was ok. She knew the risk of concussion, brain injury, ongoing trauma… she was a scientist, she understood the impact of, well, impact on the body, and Vegeta had just taken one hell of a hit.

Hesitantly she pushed the door open and peered inside.

Through some miracle, there were no coaches, medics, or other players in sight - the room was deserted. She stepped through and followed the corridor to the home team benches.

Vegeta sat alone, hands clasped in front of him, staring at the floor. The medical team must have finished checking him out and left him to stew on his own.

She made a mental note to look into filing a complaint - head injuries should be monitored closely. In fact, maybe she should just take him to get him checked out properly.

He looked up, and seemed startled to see her. Understandable, she supposed, this was the men's locker room after all.

She took a deep breath.

“You should go to a hospital. I know that the medics have probably looked you over and everything, but let me tell you, head injuries can develop complications well after the initial impact, so a CAT scan or MRI might be needed to properly assess the damage or -”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

His voice was steady as he interrupted her. He didn’t sound anywhere near as angry as she was expecting him to be… more like resigned to his fate.

“The hospital. You should go there. I can take you if you like, but it’s important to get head injuries checked out properly.”

“I don’t have a head injury.”

“You… you don’t?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Oh…”

Silence. He continued to stare at her. She started to fidget. She should go. This was stupid.

“What are you doing here?”

His question stopped her in her tracks. The tone was different to any she had heard him use before… he sounded gentle, tired, and just a tiny bit hopeful.

He must be on some pretty strong meds, she thought, because she literally just explained this.

“I saw you get hit and wanted to make sure yo-”

“Not in here, at this game. I thought you hated this.”

Oh. Right…

“I kind of got dragged into it by my… my boyfriend.”

Vegeta stiffened and he looked at the floor again. When he looked back up at her, his whole demeanor was different, darker…

“You should get out of here. I don't need you interfering, and besides, I’d hate to interrupt your date.”

On the word date, he sneered.

She didn’t know why she had been expecting anything different. Arrogant asshole. No wonder those Frieza Force players had targeted him. He’d probably been asking for it!

"Fine then. No need to thank me for my concern or anything!"

She balled her hands into fists before turning on her heels and stomping out of the room. 

She was almost back to her seat before she remembered that she had told Yamcha she was getting snacks.

Quickly, she bought a giant soda before making her way back to him. The game was still neck and neck, and although she had been gone far longer than she should have been, he didn’t seem to have noticed.

Determined not to let Vegeta's comments get to her, she focused on Goku, Krillin and the rest of the Saiyan team, and by the end of the game, she had almost forgotten about him entirely.

The final whistle blew and the game ended… they lost by 2 points. The sense of frustration among both the fans and players was palpable. The stadium slowly started to empty but their group lingered in their seats, waiting for the players to debrief, shower, and head up to meet them.

“They should be proud of that performance.”

Chi-Chi looked determined not to let her disappointment show.

Bulma shivered and Yamcha slipped his arm around her, tugging her against him and tucking her into his side for warmth.

“I don’t know…” Launch sounded skeptical. “Seems to me like they could have won if Vegeta had stayed in the game. He choreographs them so well.”

“Hmm you might be right.” Chi-Chi agreed. “Goku raves about him. The guys really stepped it up in the second half but still couldn’t close the gap.”

“The damn Force played dirty to take him out of the game.” A short-haired girl, Cheelai, who was sat to Launch's left, scowled as she spoke. “They knew he was a threat and they used that Dodoria guy instead of trying to beat us fair and square!”

They continued to discuss the events of the game, but Bulma had stopped paying attention and was lost in her thoughts. Yamcha must have noticed, as he leaned in to speak to her privately.

“We don’t have to wait around here. If you don't fancy going to the party, we could always just go back to mine? Krillin won’t be back for hours.”

He nuzzled her ear and tightened his grip on her.

Suddenly, this was all too much. Bulma pulled away from him and got to her feet, zipping her jacket as high as it would go.

“Actually guys, I’ll have to skip out. I’ve got a headache, so I think it’s best if I just head home.”

Chi-Chi looked at her strangely but smiled and said she understood. The others called out their goodbyes and were back to their conversation before she'd even turned away.

Yamcha stood too as she prepared to squeeze past him, his face a mixture of disappointment and concern.

“Want me to come with?”

She did her best to muster a gentle smile. She was exhausted from the events of the evening and wanted peace, quiet, and her bed. Alone.

“No, you go to the party. I’m just going to go home and sleep, honestly. Enjoy yourself!”

Stepping up on her toes, she kissed his cheek and then slid past him without a backward glance.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

The apartment lights were on. At least Vegeta had made it home in one piece.

Bulma dropped her bag in the hallway and checked the kitchen and living room, no sign of him in either area. As she headed toward her bed, she saw that the bathroom light was on, the door slightly ajar.

She hesitated outside her room. Maybe she should just check he was ok before going to bed. There wouldn’t be any harm in it. If the door wasn’t shut, he couldn’t be naked… although if he thought she was on a date, he might not expect her home at all tonight.

Well, if he couldn't even be bothered to protect his modesty, that was his problem. She would sleep a lot better knowing that he wasn’t passed out in her bathroom.

Before she could second-guess herself, she crossed the hall and pushed the door open. He was standing in the middle of the room with his back to the door, wearing only boxer shorts (black, of course) and fumbling with a roll of bandages. A plastic box of medical supplies lay open on the floor.

But… dear god, his back.

From his left side bloomed a giant purple bruise, and the bandages he had already wrapped around his ribs and across one shoulder barely covered the swollen and bruised skin.
She inhaled sharply and he froze, then slowly looked up and met her gaze in the mirror.

“I didn’t mean to barge in! The door was open and I wanted to make sure you weren’t… hurt.”

She trailed off. Her gaze darted back to the bandages in his hands, and she felt like an idiot.

“I mean, I can see you ARE hurt, but I meant… from… now.”

He was unnaturally quiet. Not exactly a good sign, but at least he didn’t seem angry… in fact, as he turned to look at her face on, she saw his pupils were dilated to the point where his eyes looked almost entirely black.

He took a small step toward her, seemingly focused entirely on staying upright, and then pitched forward. She barely had time to wonder what on earth he was doing before he toppled, and she had to lunge to catch him.

Thankfully he regained his footing quickly, as she was almost certain that there was no way she would be able to hold his weight up by herself.

With one arm around his waist, her other hand pressed against his chest, she was acutely aware of how much of him was hard muscle.

His head lolled forward, eyes closed.

“Okay then, guess it’s past someone’s bedtime.”

Slowly, still propping him up as best she could whilst avoiding his injured torso, Bulma hauled him out of the bathroom and into his room.

It was only a short walk but their progress was slow.

“No wonder you were struggling with bandaging yourself,” she mutters, “you must be on enough painkillers to knock out a freaking horse!”

If Vegeta heard her, he didn’t acknowledge her comment.

Eventually, and with less care than she probably could have managed, she dropped him onto bed, and he rolled onto his back with a groan.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she looked down at him as she tried to catch her breath. Stretched out on the comforter, still only wearing bandages and his underwear, she tried and failed not to stare. He might be an ass but she’d bet there wasn’t a woman alive who wouldn’t appreciate a physique like that.

Reluctantly, she grabbed a blanket and threw it over him (best to not let him freeze to death), and bent down to turn off the bedside lamp. As she flicked the switch, his hand grabbed her wrist, halting her in her tracks.

She hadn’t seen him move.

“Thank you” he murmured, before dropping her arm and promptly passing out.

Bulma was stunned. If all it took for him to be a decent human was a literal ton of drugs, she’d have socked him in the ribs weeks ago!

Shaking her head in disbelief, she closed the door and went to tidy the bathroom before heading off to her own bed.

It sure had been a long night.

Vegeta couldn’t reach the top shelf with his shoulder bandaged as it was.

As she entered the kitchen, he was grumbling to himself whilst he struggled. Bulma rolled her eyes at his stubbornness and reached forward to pick up whatever it was that was just out of his reach.

“I don’t need your help.”

“Well, someone is grumpy this morning…”

She started to back off, then changed her mind.

“You know, it isn’t a sign of weakness to accept help from someone who offers it. Especially when that someone is a beautiful young woman.”

She turned to leave.

“Fine” he sighed. “I need the blue bottle.”

“Say please.”

“Are you kidding?”

She hummed to herself and looked around, arms behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels. He gritted his teeth.

“Please.”

She flashed him a shit-eating grin.

“Well as you asked so nicely.”

She patted his cheek as she passed, reaching up to the cupboard, pulling out the plastic bottle, and handing it out to him.

“See that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

If looks could kill, Bulma briefs would be a dead woman.

“Bulma, have you spoken to Yamcha today?”

When Goku and Chi-Chi had stopped by to see how Vegeta was doing, Bulma had happily taken Chi-Chi up on her offer to walk to campus and grab coffees for them all. Anything to get out of the apartment and away from grumpy pants.

Drinks in hand, the two women walked side-by-side back towards Bulma’s apartment. The late afternoon sun hung low, making sunglasses a necessity, but Bulma wished she could look her friend in the eyes… something in her tone didn’t seem right.

“No actually.”

She hadn’t thought about it, but now she did, it seemed a little strange he hadn’t even messaged her.

“Hmm.”

“Chi-Chi, what’s going on? I can tell that you want to tell me something so you might as well just do it.”

Chi-Chi paused, then took a deep breath.

“Last night, we were at Broly’s house party… literally everyone was there, it was crazy. And… well… there was a lot of alcohol. You know what these things are like. So, it was probably nothing but…”

“Chi-Chi, my god, spit it out.”

“Well, Goku and I needed to get away from everyone for a bit of fresh air…”

“Translation - to make out.”

“Yes. But hush. The thing is, as we were looking for some… privacy… we saw Yamcha. With his ex. You know Opal? Petite, blonde. But anyway, they were looking… cosy.”

Well, shit. She supposed it could have been nothing. But if this Opal was the same tiny blonde that had been giving him bedroom eyes at the game, she was pretty sure that this was definitely not nothing.

“He was pretty drunk. I thought he might have told you about it by now, but if he hasn’t mentioned it, maybe it was no big deal? Are you guys even exclusive? Perhaps he didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“Don’t try and justify his behavior! It’s only been 3 days since he asked me out officially” she made air quotes as she said the last word, “and he’s already off flirting with another woman.”

Chi-Chi made a noise of discomfort.

“Oh god Chi-Chi it wasn’t just flirting was it?”

Chi-Chi’s silence said it all.

“That bastard!”

Her anger turned to embarrassment, and she cringed, leaning her head back to look at the sky.

She sighed before looking back at her friend.

“Am I an idiot?”

“No! God Bulma, no. He clearly has unresolved feelings for Opal, but you couldn’t have known that! If anything, it’s Krillin's fault for getting you involved with someone who isn’t over his ex.”

They walked along in silence for a few moments.

“What are you going to do now?”

“End things with him of course. What else CAN I do. There’s no way I am going to be some rebound or distraction whilst this Opal works out what she wants.”

Chi-Chi nodded enthusiastically.

“Good call. And I AM sorry that it’s turned out this way, but I wasn’t sure he was right for you anyway.”

“Oh, now you say that.”

“I’m not just saying it because of last night, he didn’t seem… tough enough for you. He's just a bit too nice.”

“Ironic.”

“Hey, he can be confused about women and still be a nice guy. But you would have gotten bored. Besides, I bet his sex life is very vanilla.”

Bulma practically choked with laughter.

“You’re not wrong.”

By now they were back at the apartment steps, and Bulma paused.

“I think I’ll head over to his now actually. It’s probably better to speak with him in person.”

Chi-Chi made a face and Bulma laughed. She handed Chi-Chi the coffee for Vegeta (black, extra shot, extra hot).

“Honestly, it’s fine. It sounds like it’s the best thing for both of us.”

“Alright, but you’d better text me ALL the details later. And Bulma, I hope he cries.”

Chuckling, she waved goodbye and set off in the direction of Yamcha's apartment.

Behind her, Goku opened the door to let Chi-Chi back inside and raised an eyebrow as he noticed that she was alone.

“Where’s Bulma?”

Chi-Chi replied in hushed tones.

“She’s gone to speak with Yamcha.”

They shared a look. Goku might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even he knew what that meant.

Unwrapping the bandages from his chest, she gently examined the bruising along his ribs. It had been 3 days and they were healing nicely but still looked painful.

“Hmm… good.”

She sat back on her heels, pleased that he at least seemed to be on the mend. From where he sat on the sofa in front of her, Vegeta was looking at her awkwardly. Like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t quite find the right words.

The last few days had been a truce in the war between them. Since she’d returned home after her conversation with Yamcha on Saturday, she’d been keeping herself busy with nursing him back to health. It had been a welcome distraction, stopping her from fixating on how things had gone so wrong, so fast.

“You haven’t been out in a while. Isn’t your boyfriend concerned about how much time you are spending home alone with another man?”

The question surprised her.

“Oh, well… erm… you see, Yamcha and I… well, we broke up actually.”

She busied herself wrapping the new set of bandages around him, refusing to meet his gaze.

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

He didn’t sound it.

“Don’t be.”

She looked up and flashed him a smile, then went back to concentrating on her work. She could feel his gaze still boring into her as she worked. Sighing, she resigned herself to the conversation.

“He… er… actually he kind of cheated on me.”

Vegeta snapped his head to look at her, body immediately rigid. The action caused him to wince in pain and he clutched at his side. Bulma raised one eyebrow and he settled down, breathing deeply once more.

“He did what?” he growled slowly.

He was angry, she realized. Truly angry. And this anger was far different to what she had assumed “angry Vegeta” had been during their fights. This was “I am mere seconds away from grievous bodily violence” angry. And dear lord she was mighty pleased not the be on the receiving end of it.

A brief thought flashed through her mind of Vegeta being let loose at Yamcha, but she quickly tamped it. She couldn’t stop a small smile though.

“It’s no big deal, he just got drunk and fell back into old habits with a girl he used to date. It was kind of a relief actually.”

She carried on adjusting his bandages, her voice gentle and calm, diffusing his anger. His body was still stiff under her touch, but she could tell he was less likely to explode like a coiled spring now.

“Things had been moving way too fast and at least this way I had an easy out.”

She wrapped the last of the bandages around him. Her hands stilled as he pressed his palm over them, flattening her hand to his abs.

“Say the word, and I will cause him a world of pain.”

She was taken aback by the genuine aggression in his eyes, and suddenly felt a bubble of laughter welling up. No one had ever threatened someone on her behalf, but especially not her quasi-enemy, who was currently in a sorry state himself.

“You are in no state to do any such thing.”

He huffed and leaned back, Bulma’s eyes catching on ripping muscle as he did so.

“You’d be wise not to underestimate me, woman.”

Bulma stood and moved to plop herself down beside him on the sofa.

“Sure.”

She leaned back too, and the two sat together, shoulder to shoulder, in companionable silence.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9

As Bulma arrived in her lab the following day, she saw 2 very surprising things.

The first was that Krillin was in the lab, speaking with Lazuli. And the second was that Lazuli was laughing.

Bulma didn’t think she had ever seen Lazuli crack a smile, let alone actually laugh. It was a little disconcerting.

They were standing by the vending machines holding tiny takeout cups of steaming hot drinks and were both so wrapped up in their conversation that neither of them had noticed her.

“Well hey, you two.”

At the sound of her voice, they sprang apart, both looking sheepish.

“I didn’t expect to see you here Krillin”

“Ahaha, hey there Bulma. I came by looking for you but you… ah… you weren’t here.”

Krillin stretched an arm behind his head and chuckled nervously.

“I had a few things to take care of at home this morning, but looks like you were in good company whilst you waited.”

Her eyes flitted to Lazuli, who, under Bulma's gaze, stood ramrod straight and cleared her throat.

“I should get back to work. Goodbye.”

Without waiting for a reply, she scurried away down the hall. Krillin watched her go with obvious interest, his eyes lingering on the spot where she’d disappeared long after she had turned the corner.

Bulma waited, but he seemed lost in his thoughts.

“So… can I help you with something, or…”

He laughed awkwardly before becoming uncharacteristically serious.

“I… er… well, I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize? What for?”

“I was the one who encouraged Yamcha to get back out and start dating again. I knew it was too soon, but I never thought things would turn out the way they did!”

He fiddled awkwardly with his coffee cup and Bulma sighed. She was tired of talking about Yamcha.

“Honestly Krillin, you shouldn’t be the one apologizing. Yamcha is a grown man. He makes his own decisions.”

“So… you’re not mad?”

“Oh no I am furious,” she paused for dramatic effect, “but not with you.”

Krillin smiled his usual cheeky grin.

“Chi-Chi gave me such a telling off you would have thought I’d personally cursed her firstborn child or something. So, if you’re not mad… what are the chances that you would put in a good word for me with Lazuli?”

“Goodbye Krillin. Nice of you to stop by.”

She ushered him out of the lab.

“Oh come on Bulma!”

She closed the door on his joking protests. Perhaps she would stop by Lazuli’s desk later on…

Traipsing home on Friday night, Bulma let herself into the apartment and was surprised to see Vegeta was nowhere in sight. They had eaten dinner together ever since his injury, and so she busied herself chopping vegetables and steaming rice as she waited for him to return.

When, by 8:30 pm, there was still no sign of him, she gave in, plated up her portion, and slunk off to eat in front of the TV. It had been ages since she had spent an evening alone, but even her favorite drama wasn’t holding her attention tonight.

Switching it off, she cleared the kitchen, threw the leftovers into the fridge, and trudged to her room, but her mind couldn’t focus on her work either, and she kept checking the clock. Where was he?

It was almost 11pm by the time the front door banged shut. Bulma jumped from her seat and was out of her room and stomping into the hallway before he’d had time to toe off his sneakers.

“Where have you been?”

She sounded clingy and anxious even to her own ears, but she couldn’t help it. She had been worried about him, dammit!

“It’s Friday night. I’ve been at the game of course.”

She gaped at him.

“The game!? Are you insane!? You are INJURED! You could have hurt yourself more, or at minimum undone all the healing so far!”

He scowled at her.

“I am fine. I am more than fine, and certainly more than capable of sitting on the sidelines for a couple of hours.”

“Sure, big man. You look TOTALLY fine.”

Sarcasm dripped from her tone as she looked him up and down. He was disheveled, with dark bags under his eyes from lack of proper sleep, and he was still limping thanks to the bruising around his hip.

He took a step forward.

“It has been a week. I refuse to stay cooped up whilst my teammates are out there without me.”

She took a step forward.

“I am sure they can survive ONE GAME without your incredible strategic mind,” she scoffed, hands on her hips.

He took another step and was firmly within her personal space. She knew his tactic was to intimidate her, and she would not back down.

She lifted her chin and stared up into his face.

He leaned in even closer as he spoke.

“Maybe… But can YOU survive one evening without me?”

His voice was low, and he leered at her with a mocking gaze that had a hint of heat simmering under the surface.

“I don’t need you, I just feel sorry for you.”

She knew that would hit him where it hurt - his ego. But he saw right through her attack and countered swiftly.

“You’re right. You don’t need me... You want me.”

His voice was even lower now, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Inadvertently, she licked her lips, and his eyes tracked the small movement of her tongue.

They were both frozen in position and Bulma's mind whirled, trying desperately to think of a retort, but unable to concentrate on anything but his mouth, painfully close to hers.

She wasn’t sure who moved first, but the next thing she knew, they were pressed together, and the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

Vegeta's lips were soft and warm as he pushed against her, trapping her between his hard body, and the wall. Her hands gripped his shirt, pulling him against her before she ran her hands up his chest, fingers digging into his shoulders.

The kiss deepened as his hands threaded through her hair, angling her head so that they fit together perfectly.

Bulma couldn’t think. She could only feel, and what she felt was need, burning hot throughout her body.

His hands slipped down her sides to grasp her ass, hoisting her against him. She tilted her head back and let out a moan, her hands in his hair as he trailed kisses down her neck.

She lifted her leg to wrap it around his hip and grunted in pain.

They both froze.

Bulma opened her eyes in time to see the pain still evident on his face. His knuckles whitened as he pressed his fists to the wall on either side of her, his body stiff and controlled once more.

“Shit, I’m sorry” she rasped, guilt racking her at the memory of his injuries.

He leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. With their eyes locked, he spoke slowly.

“We can’t do this.”

Embarrassment flushed her. She had done it again, she had rushed into things without thinking, just like how she had rushed with Yamcha.

Tearing her gaze from him, she tried to wriggle free but he pushed against her shoulders, trapping her between his body and the wall once more, and cutting off any means of escape.

“I mean not like this. I need to be in a much better physical condition for what I plan to do to you.”

Oh. OH.

Boy, was it just her or was it suddenly very hot in here...

“And you need to stop looking at me like that, or I will have no choice but to fuck you right here in this hallway.”

Bulma nearly melted into a puddle where she stood.

Taking a deep breath, Vegeta pushed himself off the wall and stepped back from her. She followed suit, pressing her fingers to lips that still tingled from his kisses. For once in her life, she was speechless. In fact, she didn’t think she COULD speak, even if she could think of something to say (which she couldn’t).

As they reached the hall outside their bedrooms, Vegeta halted. Keeping his back to her he murmured the words that would keep her tossing and turning all night.

"Bulma, think carefully before we start this. Because once I set my mind on something I want, there is no stopping me until I get it.”

She left the apartment early the next morning – even though it was Saturday, the deadline for her project was looming and frankly she needed all the lab time she could get.

Spending so much time with Yamcha had put her behind schedule. The Papaya City conference was only a few weeks away, and her radar was still far from perfect.
Finishing the last line of code on her computer, she hit run on the update and sat back, watching the installation tracker spring to life.

Perhaps more importantly though, spending the day in the lab would get her a bit of space from Vegeta.

His final words to her the night before still ran through her mind… DID she want to start something with him? She was very sure that her body wanted to. When they were in each other's personal space, her body wanted to very, very much.

But she had jumped into bed with Yamcha and look where that had gotten her!

Not to mention the fact that this was her roommate, for at least another few months, and given their explosive tempers, adding sex to the mix could end very badly.

Speaking of things ending badly… her phone lit up with a message. From Yamcha.

Can you meet for coffee today?

So much for catching up, let alone getting a head start on work for the week…

She sighed. Their last conversation had not been pleasant, but they had both agreed that they should try and stay friends.

Sure, I am on campus already. Meet in 30 mins?

The update installation will take at least an hour anyway, she thought, so she wouldn’t be losing too much work time.

He replied with a simple thumbs-up emoji.

“You were working today?”

She sipped at her smoothie and nodded.

“I have to present my bio-radar at a conference in a few weeks. The biggest names in bioengineering will be there… It needs to be perfect.”

Yamcha nodded.

“I remember… Papaya City right?”

“Yep.”

An awkward silence stretched between them. Yamcha cleared his throat.

“Listen, I really appreciate you coming here. I know I don’t deserve it, but I want to explain. It’s been on my mind all week, and I need you to know that I’m honestly not that type of guy.”

He met her eyes with a look of such sincerity.

“I want you to know how bad I feel about everything that happened!”

Bulma shrugged.

“You weren’t over your ex. I get it, that happens. But in the future, just don’t get into something exclusive with someone else unless you are genuinely ready to commit to them.”

She was surprised by how calm and mature she sounded. Chi-Chi would be proud.

He smiled sadly at her, his gaze dropping to the steaming mug of coffee that he cradled in both hands.

“You are one hell of a girl Bulma. If the timing was different… well, I think maybe we could have been good together.”

She studied him critically. The boyish good looks that she had once found so endearing, now made him look so… immature.

“Maybe.”

Bulma was tired and grumpy when she finally made it home hours later. Her latest update had encountered a fatal error at the final stage of installation, short-circuiting her radar and setting her back at least 3 days.

The last thing she needed was an equally grumpy Vegeta, yet that was exactly what she found waiting for her.

To her great credit, she made it through dinner before she finally cracked.

“Christ Vegeta, what crawled up your butt and died.”

He scowled even harder at her, saying nothing.

“Fine. Whatever, I’m going to my room.”

“I went out to grab coffee today.”

She paused on her way out the kitchen.

“Well good for you.”

He huffed, the scowl remaining firmly in place.

“On campus.”

She continued to look at him blankly, which only seemed to make him angrier.

“What do you want, a gold star or something!? Oh wow Vegeta, you got coffee all by yourself. Way to go.”

This was the final straw.

“I thought you said things were over with that moron, Yamcha.”

Oh… coffee. On Campus. It all clicked into place.

“They are!”

“That’s not how it looked.”

“Oh my god, he just wanted to apologize and explain what happened! We didn’t exactly leave on the best terms last week.”

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

Arms folded across his chest, he turned his back on her and started walking away to his room.

“Hey, will you wait a minute!”

Launching herself after him, she grabbed his arm just as he rounded the corner, stopping him in his tracks.

“Vegeta, for god’s sake, it was nothing. What does it matter to you anyway, not like we are anything serious, we only had one kiss last night!”

He ripped his arm free from her grip.

“So you’ve made your decision then. Whatever. As if I care.”

What the hell was wrong with him!? Bulma, anger flaring, pushed at his shoulders, forcing him back towards the wall in the same way he had done to her the night before.

“Actually, Prince, I HAVE made my decision.”

She prodded a finger into his chest.

“You don’t scare me, and you’re not going intimidate me with all your warnings. Not that you deserve it, but I do want this. I want you! Scowls and all.”

She had barely finished speaking before his lips crashed against hers.

As it had been the night before, his mouth was demanding against hers. She matched him, taking his face between her hands so their kiss deepened, tongues dancing.

It felt so right to be this way, with him.

He leaned back against the wall, pulled her against him, and kept his hands locked firmly around her waist.

Heat spread through her body, a familiar ache blossoming between her legs. Pressing herself even closer, she could feel him hard and straining against his pants.

“Vegeta…”

She barely recognized her voice, husky and breathless as it was. At the sound of his name, he spun her round so her back was pressed to his front, then pushed her forward.

Gripping her wrists, he brought her hands up in front of her, pressing her palms against the opposite wall as his hard body pressed into her from behind. The surface was cold and she gasped.

From behind her, Vegeta ran his hands down her curves, skimming the sides of her breasts and across her stomach to settle on the waist of her jeans. Bulma’s protests died in her throat.

With deft fingers, he pulled open the button and yanked down her zipper. Whilst his left arm wrapped around her waist, holding her steady against him, his right hand slipped under the tight denim, and he pressed his palm against her.

A wave of pleasure tore through her and she arched her back, her head falling back against his shoulder. She would never have expected such a strong response to such a simple motion. She would have to get a hold of herself before she ended up having an orgasm right here in the hallway. How embarrassing.

A knock had them both freezing in place. They were both breathing hard and Bulma’s mind was finding it very hard to function.

“Dammit!”

Vegeta had pulled his hand free and buttoned her jeans before she had even comprehended that the noise had come from their front door.

“There’s someone at the door.” She stated idiotically, as a second round of knocks began, and a voice called out to Vegeta.

“It is Nappa.”

She looked over at him as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“The old man wanted him to bring me the video footage from the game yesterday. I’ll get rid of him quickly.”

“No, that’s ok. I’ll just go to my room. It has been a long day, I could do with an early night.”

His eyes flashed in the direction of her bedroom with heat in his gaze, but he damped it quickly. He nodded, took a deep breath, and started in the direction of the now continuous knocking.

“Goodnight then.”

“Night.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 10

She was a coward. She was hiding.

If she left her room and saw him again, she didn’t know what she would do but she knew she couldn’t trust herself.

No, it was far safer to keep her distance and a very solid wall between them.

She wanted him, plain and simple. If their latest encounter had shown her anything it was that sex with Vegeta would be… well, best not to think of that if she wanted to keep her sanity.

But hours later, Bulma still tossed and turned, and, much as she had tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

She had tried thinking about biology, but her mind drifted back to the way his lips could be hard and demanding one minute, yet so soft and gentle the next.

She had tried thinking about engineering, but her mind drifted to the feeling of his hands in her hair, on her hips, his groin pressing into her…
It was no use. It had been hours, and she was still turned on. Ignoring it was not going to make it go away.

Decisively, she leaned over her bed and grabbed the box stashed underneath.

Settling back into the cushions, she switched her favorite vibrator to its lowest setting and sighed as she gently rested the tip at the juncture of her thighs. She might not be able to control herself with Vegeta, but at least with this, she could take it slow.

Increasing the speed, a moan escaped her as images flashed through her mind… sinful abs, eyes dark with desire, lips curled into a lustful smirk. She pictured rough hands roaming over her, a contrast to soft lips being pressed against hers.

Her phone lit up on the nightstand next to her and she ignored it. Then it flashed again. Then a third time and Bulma cursed under her breath before reaching over to turn the damned thing off.

That was until she noticed the name on the screen.

Quickly shutting the vibrator off, she opened the messages from Vegeta.

I hear you.
I don’t like being left out.
Show me.

Heat flushed her cheeks as she considered what to do next… she could ignore him, she supposed, or she could do what he wanted. She could give him a show.

Quickly, she texted back:

Didn’t know you were into watching.

His reply was almost instantaneous:

I have a feeling you would be worth looking at.

Oh, I definitely am, but you’d better not be peeping through my keyhole right now.

Instead of a message, a picture flashed up: still bruised but deliciously well-defined abs, a cut v at the hips, and more taught, tanned skin leading down to… nothing, that’s where the picture cut off.

She was pretty sure that she was drooling. God help her.

We don’t have keyholes. You’ll have to show me another way.

Very well. If that’s how he wanted to play it…

Putting the toy aside, she positioned her hand between her legs and snapped a few pictures of her own flat but decidedly less muscular stomach, T-shirt pulled up to show only a few inches of creamy skin above the top of her panties.

After she pressed send on the best shot, she sat back, suddenly not sure what to do next. His intrusion, whilst not unwelcome, was unexpected, and she still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.

He had given her fair warning, she supposed, and she had unequivocally told him she was on board with this just a few hours ago. Why shouldn’t she have a bit of fun?

Her phone flashed and she was surprised that instead of another message, Vegeta was calling her. Her heart raced, and she quickly answered.

“Is everything ok?”

“No. You’re still wearing your underwear. Take them off.”

She didn’t think twice before wriggling out of her panties. Her voice was breathless as she replied.

“Okay, now what?”

“Now take that same picture again, and if you haven't sent it to me in 30 seconds, I will come over there and take it myself.”

Bulma's heart was about to burst out of her chest. This was uncharted territory, but it already felt natural. God, he was sexy when he was demanding, and she was almost embarrassed at how wet she was from just the sound of his voice.

Her nerves were like live wires, and when her hand brushed against her inner thigh, she whimpered as a shiver of anticipation spread over her.

“You’d better hurry with that picture woman, I’m not a patient man.”

“I’m not usually so obedient, don't get used to it.”

She heard the exact moment the image arrived in his messages; he swallowed hard and was very quiet on the other end of the line.

She felt giddy. Adrenaline pumped through her, and every last inhibition seemed to burn away with the heat that flushed her body.

“Talk to me. Tell me how it feels between your legs.”

Oh yes, she could have some fun with this.

“Fuck, I’m so hot Vegeta... so wet. I’m only using one finger and I'm so tight.”

“Were you just using one finger before?”

“You know I wasn’t. I thought you could hear my vibrator.”

“Use it now. Put the phone on the pillow next to you, then keep your left hand inside you and use the vibrator in your right hand. Turn it right up. And Bulma..?”

“Yes?”

“I want to hear you when you cum.”

The next morning Bulma yawned as she made herself finally clamber out of bed.

Last night, they had stayed on the call talking dirty to each other until they had both found their own release; his moans gruff, hers sharp and breathy. She had fallen asleep immediately after and snoozed her alarm 3 times. Even now she still wasn’t ready to face the day. It had been one hell of a way to start their… well, whatever this thing was that they were doing.

Roommates with benefits, maybe?

Pulling on a fresh t-shirt and shorts, she remembered the topless picture still lingering in her messages and her breathing quickened at just the thought of all those hard muscles. It was going to be difficult going about her normal day as if she hadn’t just spent the last 8 hours fantasizing about having crazy sex with her roommate.

At least now she was sure that it was reciprocated. She took a deep breath, threw open the door, and headed to the kitchen.

By now it was not a surprise to see him on the floor of the living room, doing his usual morning workout. Insane man, how did he ever expect to heal if he carried on like this?

Pouring a mug of coffee, she leaned against the wall and decided the best course of action was just to watch him shamelessly.

“Woman, stop objectifying me.”

“No thank you. I’m fine.”

He paused and looked over at her in exasperation. She grinned at him and waggled her eyebrows.

He rolled his eyes and sighed, giving up on his workout. He was acting tough, but Bulma was pretty sure she could see a blush tinging his ears pink as he wiped his face with his towel. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and took it over to him as a peace offering.

“So… sleep well?”

He almost choked on his mouthful of water and glared at her. She couldn’t help but laugh.

“Oh, you think it’s funny do you?”

Her laughter cut off as he stepped closer, looking down at her with eyes that heated her insides.

“And tell me, Miss Briefs, how did you sleep last night?”

She swallowed hard, eyes darting to his lips involuntarily. She knew he noticed, his smirk a sure sign that he was confident he'd now gained the upper hand in this game.

He lowered his head and his voice dropped low and seductive.

“Any excitements?”

The feeling of his hot breath against her ear made her shiver. God damn him, she needed to get a hold of herself or else there was a very real danger that she would tear her clothes off and beg him to take her right here on the hardwood floor.

“Actually, there was one thing…”

“Hmm? Go on”

“You see, there’s this guy. He’s kind of a pain in the ass, but recently, he’s kind of grown on me. I keep seeing him around wearing only these tiny gym shorts. You know the kind, the ones that make it really hard to hide an erection.”

She grinned and he scowled at her.

“Why would I try and hide it, I know you love to look.”

“You know what else I love to do?”

Now it was her turn to stand on her toes, so her mouth was against his ear.

“Touch,” she paused. “Taste.”

His nostrils flared and he swallowed hard.

“I need to shower.”

“Is that an invitation?”

He was standing very still, and the silence stretched out as he stared down at her. Maybe she had pushed him too far with this one.

“Yes.”

She blinked. Okay then.

As ridiculously hot as the idea of Vegeta wet and naked was, she remembered his pain when she had pressed on his injured ribs.

Being naked and wet together would only end one way, and the part of her brain that was still capable of rational thought was telling her not to rush this.

With another grin, she patted his chest with one hand.

“Thanks, but I’ll pass. Some of us have things to get done today, we can’t all just laze around the house 24/7.”

He rolled his eyes, turned, and walked off to the bathroom. She watched him go with eyes glued to his backside.

“Stop staring at my ass”

She laughed outright at that one. Maybe she should have taken him up on the shower offer after all.

There was no denying that their relationship had changed, but neither of them seemed any keener than the other to put any kind of label on it. They had, however, agreed that they would hold off of doing anything overly physical until Vegeta was healed.

The arguments hadn’t stopped, but now every interaction was steeped with sexual undertones and usually ended up with their tongues down each other’s throats.

As the bruising dissipated and he was able to do more and more of his normal activities, Bulma wondered how much longer this cycle would have to go on. They argued, made out, stopped short of anything majorly physical (just a bit of heavy petting really), and then went back to being flirty, frustrated, and argumentative.

On top of that, her text history would rival any porn script. She’d never expected someone so outwardly reserved to have such a filthy imagination.

Frankly, she’d never gotten so much use out of the box under her bed… although, since that first time, she was being careful not to draw unnecessary attention to her nighttime antics.

The saving grace was that they weren’t home alone together overly often. She spent most of her days in her lab, whilst Vegeta would have classes or study in the law library.

In the evenings, Goku would often stop by to update him on football practice and discuss new strategies. Thankfully, her friend seemed utterly oblivious to the shift in the dynamic between her and his teammate.

Today was an away game, and although she knew it frustrated the shit out of him, Vegeta had at least acknowledged that he still wasn’t able to sit comfortably through a journey that long, so was staying behind.

Watching TV, Bulma was curled up on one end of the sofa when Vegeta appeared from his room and walked aimlessly to the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she watched him go from the fridge to the table, then put away some glasses from the counter, before moving back to the table again.

“Will you stop pacing; you are ruining my show.”

He huffed but came and sat on the sofa, arms crossed grumpily.

“No witty comeback? Something really must be wrong.”

Still nothing.

Well fine. She shrugged it off. At least she could carry on watching her show in peace.

But barely 2 minutes later, he was up again, straightening a picture on the opposite wall.

“Holy Christ Vegeta. This is ridiculous.”

She paused the TV and uncoiled herself, sitting forward with a pointed look at him.

“They are fine. It is just a normal game. You yourself said that there should be no trouble winning against the Cyber-thingy team.”

“Saibamen. And I know. But still.”

“Still nothing, sit your butt down or go find someone else to annoy.”

She expected an argument, but he did sit back down.

Curling back into her comfy corner, Bulma searched for the remote, which had fallen between the cushions.

“What are you watching?”

She fished the remote out with a flourish.

“It’s a romance drama. You will probably hate it.”

“I don’t hate everything you know.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“You’re impossible.”

“I can assure you, not only am I possible, I do, in fact, exist.”

“That isn’t what I meant and you know it.”

She carried on as if he hadn’t spoken.

“Although the knowledge that you think of me as the woman of your dreams is quite nice.”

“Give me that remote, this romantic nonsense has clearly made you insane.”

He reached over to try and grab the remote from her hand, but she snatched it away, hiding it behind her back.

Clearing her throat, she lowered her voice in a terrible impression of him.

“Oh Bulma, how is it that I, Vegeta, have been so lucky as to find a woman as beautiful, funny, smart…”

“Smart ass, maybe.”

“Stop ruining the moment. Where was I…”

“You were giving me that remote!”

He was right on top of her now as, again, he grabbed at it, and Bulma squealed with laughter as he prodded at her sides.

“Stop it! No, I am ticklish. Stop!”

As she squirmed, her foot connected with his ribs and he grunted.

“Oops. That was totally your fault though.”

He prodded her once more, then sat back with his arms folded behind his head.

Bulma studied him quietly for a moment, thinking back to the match against the Frieza Force.

“Why did they target you?”

He looked at her with one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Why are you only just asking that now?”

She shrugged.

“I always wondered about it, I just didn’t think you’d tell me.”

He considered her for so long that she didn’t think he was going to answer her now either.

“I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess it has something to do with my father's company.”

Bulma’s brows furrowed as she tried to make the connection. She was clearly missing something.

“The company? What has that got to do with football?”

Vegeta’s body language was stiff, and he wasn’t meeting her eyes anymore.

“The Frieza Force is named that because they are sponsored by Frieza – the same Frieza who was behind the takeover of my father's firm.”

“And you think that a bunch of footballers know this, and took it upon themselves to give you shit for it?”

She was more than a little skeptical.

“Don’t be ridiculous. They were obviously told to target me.”

“By Frieza.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s assume for a minute that that was the case. Why would he do that? He already has control of the company.”

“Because as long as I am in the picture, I am a threat to him. That company is rightfully mine and he knows it. The board knows it too. The closer I am to finishing my studies, the more of a threat I become.”

“So, this was... what, some kind of warning?”

“Something like that.”

Bulma ran her hand through her hair. The mood was somber. It was hard to believe that only minutes ago they had been playfully jibing each other.

“What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“Frieza of course!”

This time it was Vegeta’s turn to shrug.

“The only thing I can do – finish my studies, ace the bar exam, and go get my company back.”

The following week, Bulma flipped through the pages of the magazine as the computer hummed. It was chilly in the lab and she pulled her flannel shirt tighter around her, crossed one leg over the other, and bounced her foot in the air.

The radar was back on track but she had needed to make some adjustments to a second piece of tech – a separate scanner that could isolate and store information about the energy signatures that made everything different on a sub-atomic level. With the scanner, she could easily reprogram the radar on the fly, making it far more versatile.

The scanner technology was a complex piece of kit in its own right but paired with the radar, she was positive that she would cause a major stir at the Papaya City conference in a few weeks.

“Hello. Bulma?”

The voice startled her, she hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.

“Oh, hi.”

Bulma smiled at Lazuli, then looked around for Lapis. Where one went, the other was sure to follow, and it was unusual to see them separated for long.

Lazuli seemed to know what she was thinking.

“Lapis isn’t here. He volunteers on Mondays.”

“Oh… I did not know that.”

“Yes, he is very fond of animals. The animal shelter is his favorite place to be… apart from here of course.”

“Well, that’s great.”

A pause stretched out awkwardly until Lazuli cleared her throat.

“I wanted to talk to you about that boy who came to see you the other day.”

Bulma’s eyebrows rose. Well, this was getting interesting.

“You mean Krillin?”

“Yes, him. Do you know him well?”

“Pretty well yeah, he is friends with my best friend… you know how it is.”

Lazuli looked blankly at her.

“I don’t really. Lapis doesn’t exactly like people, so we don’t go out much.”

Jeez, this was starting to get depressing. Although to be honest, Bulma could relate, apart from her handful of friends, she didn’t much like people either.

“So… did you want me to pass a message onto Krillin or something?”

“Well, I was thinking maybe you could… give me his phone number. If you don’t think he would mind that.”

“Oh trust me, he would love that.”

“You think so?”

She fished her phone from her bag and opened her contact info.

“Uh-huh, here you go.”

She held the small device out to Lazuli, who took it and copied the number onto her own phone.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Lazuli scurried back to her area of the lab, leaving Bulma to wonder if hell had frozen over.

She worked the rest of the day without any interruptions. Hours later, Bulma packed up her tools and tidied her desk, ready for a long, hot shower, a warm meal, and her comfiest pajamas. She made quick work of the walk home and was relieved when the door finally shut behind her, and she could relax.

“I’m home. Hope you’re not dead.”

She called to Vegeta callously as she yanked off her jacket.

She stepped into the living room and was pleasantly surprised to see him lazing on the sofa reading a hefty, dull-looking textbook, and naked apart from his favorite baggy sweatpants.

“That’s one hell of a view for a woman to come home to.”

He lowered the book and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Control yourself. I am just hot from my workout.”

“Another workout! Honestly Vegeta have you already forgotten why you need to be healed ASAP?”

She gestured to herself, and then headed into the kitchen, putting a little extra sway in her hips as she went.

“Pfft, you wouldn’t like me if I were flabby.”

“Bold of you to assume I like you. Any thoughts on what you want for dinner?”

As she reached up to put a few pans back into the top of one of the cupboards, Vegeta appeared behind her. He pressed her to the counter and ran his hands up her sides, hands cupping her breasts, causing her nipples to peak immediately.

“There is something I’d like to eat.”

The whispering of his breath against her ear sent a shiver down her spine. He turned her around, and lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“What about your ribs?”

“Don’t worry, they’re fine.”

She pulled back from him.

“Wait… really?”

Their gazes locked. Bulma’s chest rose and fell in anticipation.

“I have been cleared to start training again tomorrow. I am most definitely healed enough for this.”

Her nostrils flared.

“Your room or mine?”

“Yours is closer.”

Unwinding her legs from his waist, she dropped to the floor and practically sprinted to her room; Vegeta hot on her heels.

Finally. After all these weeks - although if she was being honest with herself it had started before his injury - of pent-up frustration and sexual tension...

She opened the top drawer and fished out a condom, which she tossed to him.

He immediately threw it behind her onto the comforter.

“I think you’ve got the wrong idea here.”

Her heart skipped a beat, and she froze, the disappointment almost overwhelming.

“But… you said…”

He cut her off before she could complain further.

“This is not just going to be some quick fuck. I’ve waited too long to rush now.”

Bulma’s legs might as well be made of jelly. Never had she been so turned on. Everything about him, from the depths of his dark eyes to the way his sweatpants hung low on his hips, promised one hell of a good time.

It was going to be impossible to take it slow. No one in their right mind could see him standing by their bed, a wall of sculpted muscle, and not want to jump him then and there.

Pressing her lips together, she started to unbutton her shirt with deliberate slowness. His eyes were watching every move her fingers made, every button that opened, every tantalizing glimpse of skin.

As the material fell open to reveal the swells of her breasts encased in a red satin bra, Vegeta inhaled sharply, his gaze transfixed. In an almost primal way, he stepped forward and hooked his fingers into the belt loops at the front of her jeans. He tugged her into him with such force that she instinctively threw her hands up to steady herself, palms splaying against his chest.

“I’ll give you one last chance to change your mind. If you don’t want this, say it now.”

“I have waited WEEKS for this. You are crazy if you think I would back out now… I  need this. Please Vegeta.”

At her whispered plea, all his self-restraint evaporated.

Holding one leg behind her knee and wrapping it around his waist, he speared his fingers through her hair and angled her head to give him full access to her mouth. Their tongues clashed, his mouth an assault on hers.

Grabbing at his bare shoulders, she dug her fingers into his skin as he lifted her onto the bed. She ground against him, his erection evident through the thin material of his pants.

Her body fit perfectly against his, and she arched her back, desperate for more. She wasn’t sure what exactly she wanted more of… just that it wasn’t enough.

Pulling her hair to one side, Vegeta’s mouth moved from her lips to her neck. The hand that had been gripping her thigh slid up to palm at one breast.

He massaged her through her bra, nipping small kisses and licks along her collarbone before reaching behind her and deftly undoing the clasp. She groaned in complaint as he pulled away to yank the stupid thing off of her and threw it to the floor.

Material safely discarded, she grabbed at Vegeta again, pulling him back down to her and licking along his jaw to capture his earlobe between her teeth.

He propped himself up on one arm, his free hand returning to her now bare breasts, fingers stroking across her heated skin. Again and again, he circled painfully close to her taut nipples but never touched them. He was teasing her, and frankly, she had had enough of it.

When she broke their kisses to tell him exactly what she wanted him to do with those fingers, he seized his opportunity and lowered his head until his mouth closed around her breast.

The only sound that escaped her was another moan – this time of relief at finally being touched the way she wanted.

That relief was short-lived.

As his tongue swiped across one nipple, and then the other, her body grew taut, muscles clenching in anticipation. She squirmed and clawed at her leggings, desperate to reduce the layers of clothing that still separated them.

They were a tangle of limbs, clothing, and rumpled sheets.

As she finally pulled her legs free, he gently swiped his thumb across the crotch of her matching red panties, causing her to nearly jump off the bed.

“God, you’re already so wet.”

His voice held a kind of soft reverence as he took in the sight of her, flushed and panting, lips swollen from his kisses, naked apart from the red satin at her waist.

Using one hand to hold her hips steady, he lowered his head to press his mouth between her legs, each kiss hot and slow.

Bulma fisted the bed covers and whimpered. The need for more of him was so strong she could barely contain it. They weren’t even naked yet, but he was already driving her crazy; this gentleness was far from what she had expected, yet it seemed to be even more erotic than the frenzied shedding of clothes she was used to.

He must have sensed her impatience, or perhaps just that he had succeeded in lulling her into a false sense of security, as he suddenly changed pace and tugged her underwear to the side, burying his tongue inside her in one swift movement. Sensation rippled through her, both satisfying and still not enough - as much as he was giving her, she still wanted more.

When he slid his first finger inside, her hips bucked involuntarily, and she grabbed at his hair. Finger stroking her, he matched the rhythm of his tongue against her clit and her moans turned to incoherent babbling.

“God… yes… don’t st… more.”

He groaned and the vibration sent another wave of pleasure through her. She was desperate now, writhing under his touch, thinking of nothing but his fingers and his wicked, sinful tongue.

She needed to touch him. She pushed at his shoulders, and he reluctantly lifted his head to look at her questioningly.

“Condom. Now.”

“Impatient woman,” he murmured as he lowered his head again.

Bulma was about to protest once more, but he gave her one final, long lick, before standing, shoving his pants to the floor and stepping out of them.

She could do nothing but gape as his cock, finally free, stood ramrod straight, already glistening at the tip. She licked her lips and sat up with one purpose in mind.

That idea was not one that Vegeta was on board with, it seemed, as he quickly intercepted her and pushed her backward onto the comforter.

“Vegeta,” she protested as he extricated her legs from her underwear, “this isn’t fair, I want to know what you taste like too.”

Settling over her again, he rolled the condom down the thick length of his shaft. His jaw clenched and she felt the head of him poised at her entrance.

“You’d better stop that because I won’t last 5 seconds otherwise.”

They were both silent now, neither one moving. They were perched on a precipice and knew that there would be no coming back from what was about to happen next.

Bulma didn’t think twice. She opened her legs wider, and he nudged inside, stretching her until she was comfortable taking the full length of him. She forced her body to relax, reveling in the fullness, the completeness of it all.

Above her Vegeta was breathing deeply, trembling slightly with the effort of holding himself still inside of her. She adjusted her position and they both moaned at the slight friction between their bodies. Every nerve was a live wire of sensation.

Slowly, he started to move, pulling back before sliding inside again, still almost painfully gentle. With every motion, pressure started to build low in her stomach, and her brain seemed to be chanting to her… More. More. More.

But something was wrong. Vegeta was still tense, his body rigid and controlled even as his pupils dilated and her inner muscles tightened around him. She wanted to see him lose that control for once.

She grabbed at his ass, urging him into her.

“Stop holding back. I want you to fuck me. Hard and fast.”

The noise that her words elicited from him was almost animalistic, raw with need. Her words seemed to do the trick though, as his thrusts sped up, and Bulma saw stars.

“Harder.”

He growled and yanked her hands off his hips, pinning them over her head and arching her back.

“Fuck, yes. Harder.”

He hammered into her so hard they were both being forced further up the bed. A handful of thrusts later he was forced to let go of her wrists and rest his palm against the headboard instead.

Hands freed, she also braced herself against the headboard, as each thrust hit deeper than the last.

“Yes, God, yes. Don’t stop.”

His movements were getting jerky and wild.

“Bulma…”

He groaned and shuddered, his dick pulsing. At the feel of him reaching his release, Bulma's body tightened and her muscles spasmed around him, not quite reaching her own climax but not caring. She was more than satisfied.

Eventually, their breathing calmed and their bodies relaxed. Vegeta rolled off her and they lay, sweaty and disheveled, watching each other.

He couldn’t keep the look of self-satisfaction from his face.

“Worth the wait?”

“I know this will just stroke your ego, but yes. You’d better not make me wait that long for the next time.”

“Impatient woman.”

He nipped at her ear and her heart lurched a little in her chest.

“Once I set my mind to something, I tend to get what I want.”

She echoed his own words back at him as she took his face between her hands so she could look him in the eye.

“And I’ve got to tell you, I think I will want PLENTY more of that.”

And then she pulled his face down for a long, slow kiss.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

It was like a dam had burst. Bulma had never felt such a consistent need to touch, and to be touched by someone. Luckily it didn’t seem like Vegeta could keep his hands off her any more than she could keep hers off him.

They easily fell into a new routine, each spending their days focused on their separate studies, Vegeta eased himself back into training, and then they fell into bed and spent every night curled around each other.

Bulma had always been a light sleeper but she was so thoroughly tired by the time Vegeta would pull out of her and tuck her into his side, she had no trouble dozing off almost immediately.

Occasionally though she would wake before the alarm, and on those days she had discovered her favorite way to rouse him.

Today was one of those days. He was lying on his back, one arm tucked under his head, the other snaked around her.

Carefully, she slipped out of his grip and slid down the bed. They almost always slept naked, granting her easy access to her goal.

Gently pushing the sheet off of him, she settled between his legs. With an almost painful slowness, she licked her tongue up his shaft in one long smooth motion. He groaned and shifted in his sleep, already hardening.

Continuing her slow series of licks, he jerked awake as she finally took his head between her lips and swiped her tongue across the drop of moisture beaded at the tip. His hips bucked, and once his initial surprise had passed, he laced his hands into her hair and relaxed.

When the alarm started chiming, and Bulma groaned around his dick, Vegeta threw the clock into the hallway.

Shortly after, he moaned her name as came in her mouth.

“I knew it!”

Chi-Chi fist-bumped the air. As it was just the two of them sat at their favorite bar whilst the men were finishing up at football practice, they had opted for fruity cocktails instead of beer. The drinks were going down far too easily, and Bulma already felt a light-headed carelessness spreading through her.

“You did not “know it”. Even I didn’t know it until it was happening.”

“Pfft. You might have been determined to hide it, but no one who saw you at the game that night would think you hated him as much as you insisted you did.”

“Yeah well… whatever.”

Chi-Chi cackled, clapping her hands together and doing a little dance of excitement.

“Go on girl, spill it.”

“Spill what?”

“You know what I mean. I don’t know him as well as the rest of the team but he always seems so intense… not my style but I imagine he puts that confidence to good use in the bedroom.”

“Oh trust me, you have no idea… the bedroom, and the kitchen, the sofa, the shower…”

“Bulma!!”

The two women collapsed into uncontrollable laughter just as Goku and Krillin appeared. Practice must be over. Goku waved animatedly as they crossed the bar.

“Chi-Chi, do NOT tell Goku. Or anyone. I mean it.”

“Relax, your “secret” is safe with me.”

Chi-Chi winked.

“Oh and would you look at that...”

Chi-Chi subtly indicated the door, and Bulma was surprised to see Vegeta trailing his two teammates, hands in his pockets. His eyes met hers and a thrill shot up her spine. Flushed and damp from showering, he looked adorably disheveled… She bet he smelled amazing.

Goku grabbed a 5th chair from a nearby table of girls, all of whom giggled and stared at him flirtatiously. If only they knew how futile that was.

He shoved the chair in between Chi-Chi and Krillin, leaving the empty seat next to Bulma for Vegeta.

She flashed a small smile at him as he took the seat. This was the first time they had ever been together in public and she wasn’t sure where the boundaries of their relationship were.

Best to let him take the lead on this.

“Good practice?” Chi-Chi asked, Goku’s arm now slung around the back of her chair.

“Yeah fine. Then Raditz and Nappa had a scuffle, and Roshi made us all stay late to run extra drills. You should have seen them trying to outdo each other though, it was hilarious.”

“What were they fighting about?” Bulma asked, finishing the last of her drink.

“Some girl they were both interested in, what else.”

Krillin scoffed. It seemed that he didn’t like the other two Saiyans much, despite being teammates.

“Raditz and Nappa are idiots.” Vegeta chimed in.

Their favorite bartender appeared with 3 beers for the men and another round of cocktails for Bulma and Chi-Chi.

Bulma raised her glass, signaling for the others to follow.

“To men being idiots” she toasted.

Chi-Chi and Goku laughed, Krillin snorted, but she was most interested in Vegeta. She watched him out the corner of her eye as he lifted the bottle to his lips, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth.

Satisfied, Bulma turned her attention back to the others.

“So, Krillin… spoken with Lazuli anymore lately?”

Krillin blushed, and Chi-Chi jumped on the chance to interrogate him.

The next couple of hours passed quickly, the group growing more animated as the empty glasses piled up.

They argued, laughed, and schemed, discussing everything from rival schools to people they knew, to current affairs… although Goku tapped out as Krillin and Bulma argued over some proposed regulations for limiting further development on Artificial Intelligence.

As Krillin staggered across the bar to the bathrooms, Bulma noticed Vegeta watching her. Goku and Chi-Chi were hovering at a table nearby, talking to some people that Goku knew (of course). It was the first time she and Vegeta had been alone together since they crawled out of bed that morning.

Bulma met his gaze, saying nothing. As they stared, the din of the crowded bar disappeared. Visions flashed through her mind…

Her breathing quickened and she slid a hand to her thighs and crossed her legs, squeezing her legs together. A flush rose in her cheeks.

He quickly stood from his chair.

“We are leaving.”

She nodded quickly. Slung her bag over her shoulder and caught Chi-Chi’s attention to gesture that they were heading out. Chi-Chi smiled back knowingly.

Bulma hurried across the bar and out the doors, wondering how Vegeta had managed to escape the crowds so quickly.

Looking around, she couldn’t see him ahead of her and was about to turn around to go back into the bar when a hand gripped her upper arm and tugged her into a narrow dark alley that separated a few residential buildings.

Vegeta pushed her backward, his mouth coming down on hers hot and hard. The cold brick shocked her as her back was pressed to the wall. She arched, thrusting her chest into his hands as he trailed kisses down her neck.

His hips pressed against hers, and instinctively she lifted one leg to grant him better access. Her fingers grasped at his shoulders and he slid a hand under her skirt, rubbing his fingers along the seam of her underwear.

She moaned at the friction. It wasn’t enough, she needed to feel more of him.

Fumbling with his belt, she got it undone just as he pulled her hand away, pinning both her hands above her head. He was panting and flushed as he rested his forehead against hers, not breaking their eye contact.

“Vegeta…”, she whined.

“Not here. Home. Can you do that?”

She pursed her lips and took a deep, calming breath. She knew he was right but at this moment she couldn’t say she cared too much about right.

“Fine.”

He let her go and pulled his belt closed as she straightened her jacket.

“But Vegeta…” he paused. “Hurry.”

Hot water cascaded down her tense muscles. Bulma ran her hands across her face, pushing her hair out of her eyes as she tipped her head backward, eyes closed. She moaned.

“Bulma?”

The voice drifted from the kitchen. Ignore him. She could just ignore him and he would go away.

“Hey… Bulma!?”

Eyes snapping open, she scowled, looked heavenward, and vowed to murder him.

“Goku, I am in the shower.”

“Oh, sorry Bulma, no need to shout.”

He paused and for a blissful moment, she thought he genuinely might have taken the hint and left.

“Have you seen Vegeta though? I was meant to meet him to get some extra training in but it doesn’t look like he’s here and I don’t want to be late.”

“Goku. I am in the SHOWER. I have not seen Vegeta. Now, GO AWAY.”

She heard muffled grumbling and footsteps outside the bathroom before she felt the familiar vibration of the front door slamming shut.

She sighed deeply, relaxing under the hot spray again.

“Thank god for that.”

“I told you, you should keep the door locked.”

She looked down and met Vegeta’s gaze as he looked up at her from where he knelt on the shower floor. Her left leg was still hiked over his shoulder, and his hands grasped her thighs.

“I wasn’t the one inviting people to drop by.” She scowled at him. “Besides, don’t you have better things to be using that mouth of yours for right now? Or do I have to do everything myself?”

He grinned wickedly and her body clenched involuntarily. Leaning back, she sighed as his tongue pressed against her once more, starting with long, gentle strokes that simultaneously relaxed and tensed her muscles.

“Are you coming to the game on Friday?”

Chi-Chi and Bulma strolled along the path to the football practice field to meet Goku and Krillin. The sun was shining; the warm evening was a sure sign that summer was almost upon them.

“Strong no.”

“Not even to see a certain someone back in action?”

Bulma rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses.

“Honestly Chi-Chi, we don’t have that kind of relationship. He doesn’t want me to be his cheerleader.”

Chi-Chi hummed and sipped at her smoothie. They had swapped out their usual iced lattes for something less caffeinated at this time of day.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Goku is always happy to see me at the games.”

“Goku is not Vegeta. He couldn’t care less about whether I was there. All he cares about is winning.”

In the distance, the training field was coming into view, and they could hear shouts and the blowing of a whistle.

“Well forget about him and think about yourself for a minute. Let’s face it, seeing the boys running around in those tight pants, being all macho… it’s hot.”

Bulma laughed.

“Admittedly, you aren’t wrong… but still not really my scene. Especially after what happened last time.”

They stopped a safe distance away from the field. She had learned from her previous mistake.

“You mean when you got all concerned about the guy that you definitely don’t have any feelings for, and who definitely isn’t staring at you right now.”

She looked up, and sure enough, met the gaze of Vegeta. He was standing with his arms folded over his chest, and Bulma couldn’t help but appreciate how his biceps stretched the fabric of his shirt.

The whistle blew again, and half the team sprang into action, practicing a set of choreographed movements whilst their teammates attempted to block their progress. Goku and Krillin were on the attacking team, and Bulma whooped and cheered alongside Chi-Chi as they managed to bypass the massive Broly, and touched down.

Vegeta, one of the defenders, scowled.

“Well hello, ladies!”

Roshi, the Saiyan’s coach, approached with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

“Come to enjoy the show have we?”

Roshi was short and stooped. His eyes were hidden behind large red-rimmed sunglasses, and as he pulled off his cap in a mock bow to them, Bulma noted that his white beard and mustache were the only hairs on his head.

Something about the old man put Bulma on edge, and she was glad when Chi-Chi snapped back at him.

“Oh no you don’t, old timer. You just do your job coaching those boys and leave us in peace.”

“Aw Chi-Chi no need to be like that. I was just coming to say hello.”

He turned to Bulma.

“Speaking of which,” he offered his hand to her, “hello there!”

Bulma took it tentatively, and was surprised when the old man, with a grip far stronger than she had anticipated, didn’t shake it, but instead raised it to his lips. Bulma grabbed her hand back just before he could make contact.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”

Roshi cackled and Chi-Chi immediately leaped to her friend’s defense.

“Get lost you old perv!”

Roshi waved a hand to them as he shuffled back to the team, still chuckling.

“That guy… honestly,” Chi-Chi shook her head, “I don’t know how he still has a job. Goku thinks he is great, but it seems to me that Vegeta does more work than Roshi.”

“What a gross old man.”

Buma huffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder just as Krillin approached them.

“I guess we should have warned you huh.”

He laughed awkwardly.

“Oh hey Krillin, practice over yet?”

“Yep, Roshi’s just told us to finish up.”

Sure enough, the majority of the players were cooling down, gathering their things, or just chatting among themselves. Bulma looked around for Goku and Vegeta, and saw they were still on the field, speaking intently about something.

“Hey you guys, hurry up already!” Chi-Chi shouted.

Goku looked over and waved. He clapped Vegeta on the shoulder and then jogged over to them.

“Hey!”

Upon reaching their little group, he slipped an arm around Chi-Chi’s waist and pulled her against him.

“How’s it going?”

“Ew, Goku get off me, you're all sweaty.”

Chi-Chi pushed at him, and he pulled back from her with a laugh.

“I guess I am huh? Come on Krillin, let’s hit the showers.”

Krillin nodded.

“Alright guys, we will meet you back here in a few minutes.”

They jogged away and Bulma noticed that Chi-Chi watched Goku with a particularly heated gaze.

“Oh God will you two get a room.”

“I hate to see him go but I love to see him jog away.”

Chi-Chi sighed lustfully, and Bulma grimaced. The field was slowly emptying of players, but she was acutely aware that Vegeta was one of the few remaining. As she looked over, he pulled his water bottle from his duffel bag and took a few long gulps. She watched transfixed as his throat bobbed.

“Hmm yeah sure, WE should be the ones getting a room… And you are sure that you don’t want to come watch on Friday? It's another smaller team so will be a way more chilled game than when they played the Frieza Force.”

“Trust me. 1 - I get a better view at home, and 2- Vegeta would care about me being there just about as much as you care about clustering high-dimensional data.”

“Well, I don’t know what that means but I do know that the boy is into you more than you think. In fact, I’ll prove it.”

Before Bulma could stop her, Chi-Chi stomped forward towards where Vegeta still stood.

“Chi-Chi! Come back here.”

She scurried after her, for the first time thinking that telling Chi-Chi about her fling with Vegeta might have been a mistake.

“Hey, Vegeta!”

Vegeta, upon being descended on by the exuberant Chi-Chi, looked mildly taken aback. Chi-Chi, however, would not be deterred.

“So, Bulma is adamant that she won’t come to the game on Friday. Help me convince her that she should.”

Vegeta didn’t even look her way as he stared Chi-Chi down. As the seconds ticked on, and Chi-Chi still didn’t back down, Bulma was impressed. She knew better than anyone that it was not easy to stand your ground where Vegeta was concerned.

Eventually, he sighed.

“She can do what she wants.”

“But wouldn’t it be nice for her to come and see you play?”

Vegeta hauled his bag onto his shoulder.

“Why would it make any difference to me?”

And then he simply walked away. He hadn’t looked at her once during the exchange.

Chi-Chi scowled, and Bulma sighed before patting her baffled friend on the shoulder.

“See. Could not care less.”

“You didn’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“Oh, shut up Vegeta.”

She was bent over the kitchen table whilst he pounded into her from behind. She couldn’t even remember what they were arguing about.

One hand wrapped around her hair, tugging with just enough force that her muscles clenched and spasmed around him, eliciting a groan from both of them.

“You’re hardly in a position to make demands right now.”

“Arrogant asshole.”

“You can do better than that.”

She really couldn’t, she found it incredibly hard to think coherently when he was even just in the same room as her, let alone inside her.

“Fuck… You.”

His hand tightened in her hair, tipping her over the edge.

She cried out as her body spasmed, the orgasm flooded through her. Finally, she flopped forward onto the table, groaning in tired satisfaction.

Vegeta, still buried in her, leaned forward to whisper directly in her ear.

“That’s my girl.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 12

Before she knew it, it was time to leave for Papaya City. The radar was as close to finished as she could get it for now, and although not perfect, she was happy enough with how it was performing.

Who knew, she might even get some useful advice from the other attendees.

As she packed, Vegeta lazed naked on her bed, the sheet draped across his middle leaving precious little to the imagination. Between grabbing items and shoving them haphazardly into her suitcase, she couldn’t help but sneak looks at him.

She was surprised by how difficult it felt to be leaving him behind. They still hadn’t discussed what this relationship of theirs was, but to her, it certainly felt like they were getting dangerously close to actual relationship territory, not just sex.

She’d seen enough romantic dramas to know that carrying on like this would only get them in trouble at some point. In fact, she hated when the couples ended up fighting because of a stupid misunderstanding or lack of clear communication. And yet, now it was her in this situation, it all just felt much easier to just avoid broaching the subject at all.

If all he wanted was a fling, she knew it would be better to know now rather than risk letting herself get caught up in the “what-ifs”.

Then again, what if he was open to something serious…

She had to get out of her head. She would use this weekend apart as a test; see if a bit of distance between them would change anything.

“So, what will you do whilst I am gone?”

He considered for a moment.

“Catch up on my sleep mostly.”

“Idiot.”

She threw a pair of socks at him and he caught them one-handed. Annoyingly well-coordinated idiot.

“You’ve been spending plenty of time in bed.”

“Not restful time, there’s always been this pesky woman poking at me, demanding my attention.”

“How awful for you. I would have thought that someone as big and strong as you would never let anyone make you do something you didn’t want to do.”

“This one is particularly troublesome, but don’t worry I’ll work out what to do about her one of these days.”

“Is that so?”

His only response was to lay back against the pillows and close his eyes.

She huffed a laugh and shook her head. Men.

Bulma slid the keycard into the lock and watched the light flash green. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, pulling her suitcase into the room behind her.

Her flight had been uneventful, and now here she was, safely arriving in Papaya City the day before the conference started. The hotel room was large, with a king-sized bed, a large TV, a writing desk, a chest of drawers, a mini-bar, and a large wardrobe. The bathroom had a double shower and freestanding bathtub, both equipped with whirlpool body jets.

Immediately, she thought of Vegeta. They could have had a lot of fun in a bathroom like this… not to mention in a bed that size. Perhaps she should have convinced him to come with her.

Briefly, she considered calling him but decided against it. Instead, she unpacked, grabbed her wash bag and the fluffy bathrobe from the closet, and turned on the shower.

As she was about to step under the spray, her phone flashed with a message from the man himself.

Looks like your flight didn’t get hijacked. Lucky you.

She smiled. He had to have been checking up on her, although he would never admit it.

Can confirm I have arrived in one piece.

She stepped carefully under the water, making sure her phone stayed out of the spray, and took a quick selfie, ensuring her wet cleavage was on full display.

The shower felt even more wonderful than she had expected, and an hour later she headed downstairs feeling fully refreshed.

Tonight was the early-arrivals networking event.

As she entered the bar, she saw Lapis, Lazuli, and a few other students she recognized from other conferences, all gathered around an elderly man with white mid-length hair, a white goatee, and white mustache. Dr Wheelo.

Elsewhere, other groups of awkward-looking individuals loitered around, some chatting, some just scrolling through their phones. All-in-all, pretty uninspiring.

Bulma beelined to the bar and ordered a large negroni. The bartender, a skinny guy in his mid-20s with an undercut and tattooed knuckles, seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes above the point on her chest where her shirt buttons opened.

Normally, she would have no qualms about flirting with him for a bit of fun (and better service), but she couldn’t seem to muster any enthusiasm for it tonight.

Luckily, she was saved from any form of conversation with the bartender by the arrival of a short, stocky man across the room.

Bulma stiffened. With his bright red hair, he would have stood out even if he wasn’t also flanked by a much larger man with a menacing expression. That was “Commander” Red, CEO and Founder of the Red Ribbon Corporation.

Running the company with a military level of discipline, Red had not earned the nickname “Commander” lightly. He was known far and wide as a perfectionist who had the highest standards and expected everyone who worked for him to strive for the same.

It was one of the reasons why Red Ribbon had achieved such incredible growth, but Red was also known for his fiery temper and fits of anger when he didn’t get his way. Bulma had heard plenty of stories of labs being trashed, expensive equipment destroyed, and even of employees who had ended up leaving the scientific community altogether after getting on Red’s bad side.

If Red himself was here, she had better be on her guard.

The newest attraction in the room, Red was immediately swarmed by eager young students, all keen to make an impression in the hopes of increasing their chances of securing a funded research role at RRC.

Red, whilst his assistant, Mr Black, fended off the army of students, scanned the room. When his gaze landed on her, he smiled and immediately came to greet her.

“Miss Briefs!”

“Commander,” she nodded in greeting. “I didn’t expect to see you here personally.”

“Wouldn’t miss the chance to hear about such incredible discoveries as these firsthand.”

“I didn’t know you had such an interest in science as much as the profit to be made from it.”

“Come now Miss Briefs, let’s not pretend like you and your family haven’t benefited greatly from the commoditization of certain technological breakthroughs.”

Bulma stood even straighter. In her heels, she was smug to note that she was a fair bit taller than him.

“DynoCaps might have made my father rich, but his work has always been about advancing the whole world equally. Something that can’t be said for the Red Ribbon Corporation.”

Anger flashed across Red’s face but before he could reply, Mr Black interrupted them.

“Commander, we must move on sir.”

“Right you are,” he turned back to Bulma. “Always a pleasure Miss Briefs, I do hope we will be seeing you at our keynote address tomorrow. Give my regards to your father.”

He turned away, and Bulma watched him as he schmoozed his way around the room. It made her stomach turn, seeing how much he was revered by the masses. The people in this room were supposed to be smart, how could they not see how greedy he and his stupid company were?

She had had enough for one day. She finished the negroni, dropped a few Zeni into the tip jar, and went back to her room.

The following day, Bulma’s lecture went without a hitch and her technology was, as predicted, well received. She had been passed business cards from department heads at leading institutions in both the public and private sectors. She’d accepted them graciously, even though she had no intention of ever joining any of them.

Once she had completed her PhD, she would return to Capsule Corp to work alongside her father. Capsule Corp would give her the funding and freedom to pursue any avenue of research she wanted. Why would she ever look anywhere else?

After the afternoon break, it was time for the headline event – a keynote address by Dr Flappe, Chief Researcher at Red Ribbon Corp.

Bulma entered the bustling hall alongside Lapis and Lazuli. The rows of seats were already crammed full of both students and speakers alike. Even old Dr Wheelo had managed to secure himself a seat near the front.

Lapis made a noise of derision as he took in the cramped space, but led the three of them to a row of mostly empty seats near the back. A group of much younger females approached the chairs at the same time, but quickly backed off when they caught sight of the imposing twins.

There were still a few minutes until the speech was scheduled to begin, but Bulma knew better than to try and make small talk with either sibling. She pulled her phone from her handbag and opened her conversation with Vegeta.

What are you doing right now?

He replied almost immediately.

Studying.

Of course he was.

Hot. What are you wearing?

Perverse woman.

Oh my god… are you naked?

What? No.

Then why won't you tell me what you’re wearing?

I thought you were meant to be saving all of humanity with scientific breakthroughs right now. Not sexually harassing me.

You are so totally naked.

I am NOT NAKED.

That’s what someone naked would say.

Go away.

Love you too.

Wait. Shit. No, she didn’t mean it like that, he wouldn’t think she meant it like that… would he?

Panicking, she frantically began to type another message, but a pale hand reached over and hit the button on the side of her phone, shutting the screen off. Eyes wide, Bulma looked up to meet the steely gaze of Lapis.

“It is starting,” he said, his usual monotonous tone now edged with disdain. “Pay attention.”

Bulma flushed with anger and more than a little embarrassment. She would explain to Vegeta later. If he was weird about it then that was his problem, but it was a totally normal saying and nothing more. Alternatively… well it was unlikely, but there was a chance that maybe it would spark a more positive reaction from him. A girl could hope.

On the stage, the projector switched from showing an agenda of the day to a posed photo of Dr Flappe alongside Commander Red outside the Red Ribbon HQ. The chatter amongst the crowd turned to hushed whispers. The presenter stepped onto the stage and made the introduction.

“Hey there folks, Jimmy here. I am sure everyone in this room, and the wider scientific community, knows our next speaker already, so I’ll keep this introduction brief. It is our immense pleasure to be able to welcome to the stage, Dr Flappe and Commander Red of Red Ribbon Corp. Today, the doctor will be discussing self-sustaining energy sources, and sharing an exclusive first look at their latest discovery. So without further ado, please join me in welcoming Dr Flappe and Commander Red!”

As the room broke into enthusiastic applause, Bulma scowled. What was Red doing joining the keynote address? He might be the Chief Exec of the company, but his role had always been to network and find rich and powerful buyers for his company’s exclusive products. He wasn’t on the frontlines making any of the discoveries himself.

The two men walked onto the stage with Mr Black following them, carrying a briefcase which he placed on the presentation table. He stepped back, leaving the case closed, and crossed his arms, indicating he had no intention of leaving the stage either.

Flappe spoke for 15 minutes about various laws of energy until even the most enthusiastic members of the crowd seemed to be waning. This was not exactly new science to anyone, the concepts of nuclear fission, fusion, and thermodynamics had been around for longer than anyone in this room had been alive, even old man Wheelo.

“And so that has been the problem we have faced in trying to create self-sustaining energy methods,” Flappe tailed off. “That is, until now.”

And there it was. That was the real reason he had blathered on about existing, tried and tested methods for all this time. He was building up to this point, this revelation.

Even Bulma sat forward, listening intently now.

“I am here today to reveal to everyone in this room that Red Ribbon Corporation may have found the solution to the question of renewable energy.”

He paused as the room broke into hushed exclamations.

“Mr Black, if you would please.”

Flappe gestured to the case, and Mr Black stepped forward. He fiddled with the locks, then raised the lid and turned the case around to face the audience.

A camera had been set up to the side of the table, which now streamed video of the case and its contents onto the screen above Flappe.

Nestled within the confines of the briefcase was a small, orange-yellow orb. It couldn’t have been any bigger than an orange, small enough to fit easily in the palm of your hand. There was a sparkle of red inside it; gently fizzing reactions that glowed like miniature twinkling stars.

It was unlike anything Bulma had ever seen, and despite herself, she was fascinated.

“This discovery was made by one of Red Ribbon's best teams.”

Flappe walked to the case and carefully lifted the orb.

“This ball is capable of generating enormous amounts of energy, without significant heat, light, or sound conversion. As you can see, it is safe to touch, and throughout testing the radiation levels have stayed stably within normal parameters. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Red Ribbon’s answer to the energy crisis.”

It was a mic droppable moment if there ever were such things at scientific conferences.

The room exploded into life, with questions being shouted at Flappe from all directions.

Flappe ignored them all, simply placing the orb back into the case, and then standing behind the table, watching the chaos ensue.

He had clearly achieved what he had set out to do.

Commander Red, whom Bulma had entirely forgotten was also on the stage, stepped to the podium and cleared his throat into the microphone.

“I am sure you all have a lot of questions and are no doubt as fascinated by this incredible discovery as I and the rest of Red Ribbon are. Rest assured, we will strive to find the answers to your questions and more as we continue our research.”

He paused.

“However, if you are not that patient, I am here today to make you an offer.”

He smiled and Bulma's stomach lurched. She had a bad feeling about this.

“Red Ribbon is creating a whole new research team dedicated to the advancement of this, and only this. With major funding, this team will have all the resources they could dream of to spearhead what could be the most globally significant breakthrough since the creation of DynoCaps.”

She was sure that he looked straight at her as he spoke.

“Whilst, of course, the greatest minds already at Red Ribbon will continue to be involved in the project, we are hoping that additional manpower, as well as some new perspectives, will hasten our work and add new vigor to the development of self-sustaining energy. Flappe and I are keen to get this new team - if you will excuse an old combustion joke - firing on all cylinders.”

There were chuckles of laughter from around the room but Bulma did not smile. She was staring very seriously at the orb, which still glimmered away in the case. She was dying to take a closer look…

“Applications are open now. If you believe you have something to contribute to this groundbreaking work, please submit your interest via Red Ribbon’s careers page. A member of the recruitment team will be in touch as quickly as possible, as we are all very keen to get started.”

And with that, Commander Red stepped away from the podium and walked off the stage. Mr Black and Dr Flappe closed and locked the case, and then followed him.

Bulma wasn’t listening to a word that this guy was saying. He had been talking at her for 5 whole minutes, and she had barely heard a word. They were in the bar, killing time whilst they waited for the dinner buffet to open.

She sipped at her drink and watched as student after student swarmed Red and Flappe.

“They are pretty impressive, right? The Red Ribbon guys I mean.”

She looked back at him over her drink. He was a nice enough guy, she assumed, she probably shouldn’t have ignored him so blatantly.

“Yeah, they are really something.”

“So, are you going to apply for the research team?”

“I don’t think so. You?

“Definitely. But why wouldn’t you apply? I saw your bio-radar earlier, surely there is relevance between energy signature detection and energy creation?”

Bulma’s eyebrows rose. Just who was this guy?

“I guess so… but I don’t exactly see eye to eye with the Commander, so I doubt I would get accepted anyway.”

She flashed her most brilliant smile at him and watched as he flushed under her attention.

He continued to stammer on about his research and the relevance for the Red Ribbon team, providing her ample opportunity to get back to her own thoughts.

He wasn’t wrong. Her work had real significance to Flappe’s team.

If only she could get her hands on that orb… maybe she could use her radar tech to get an understanding of how the energy was being generated - map differences to conventional energy sources, and the implications of using it as a replacement for combustion.

As fascinating as that line of research would be, it wouldn’t be worth selling her soul to Red.

The dining room doors opened and the masses started heading inside. As the smell of grilled seafood assailed her, her stomach turned over. She didn’t feel like eating right now. All she felt like doing was taking a long bath and getting into bed. And so that was exactly what she decided she would do.

Bulma excused herself from the conversation, and slipped out of the room, across the lobby, and up the stairs. Her room was only on the second floor of the hotel, and it felt good to stretch her legs after sitting for so much of the day.

As the light on her door flashed green, she pushed it open and stopped dead in her tracks.

Her room was a mess. Her clothes had been thrown everywhere, the bed sheets had been torn from the bed, and pillows were scattered haphazardly across the floor.

“What the f…”

She trailed off. The closet doors were ajar, and as she approached, she knew what she was going to see inside. The safe door was open. It was gone. The radar was gone.

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit.”

Tears welled in her eyes. Desperately, she dug through the piles of discarded clothing, hoping that whoever had been tasked with stealing her work was short-sighted enough to only be interested in the radar… the only thing she had presented on.

Sniffling, she let out a sob of relief when her fingers hit the hard plastic of her emergency repair gear. To anyone else, it would just look like a case of tools and electrical equipment, but this was the real secret to her radar tech, the scanner.

She clutched the case to her chest and took deep steadying breaths to calm herself down.

If Red Ribbon wanted to play dirty, she would too.

Bulma didn’t waste any time in getting to Red’s suite. If she wanted to try and get a peek at the orb, now would be a good time, whilst Red, Flappe and Black were all at dinner.

She had decided not to change out of her conference clothes – the entire hotel was full of conference attendees so she would look more out of place in a casual outfit than the pencil skirt and blouse. Now she was on the move, she had to admit that the heels were not exactly the best for sneaking.

The hallway was deserted when she approached. She listened carefully at the door – nothing. To be safe, she gave a brisk knock – still no signs of life.

This was it. Now or never. She pressed the keycard into the slot and held her breath.

The RFID coding on the hotel keycards had been easy to replicate, and she had made quick work of reprogramming her card to open any door on the hotel system.

The light flashed green as the lock sprang open.

She pushed the door open slowly and peeked inside, relieved to see there was no one around. With the door closed safely behind her, she took stock of her new surroundings – a massive suite with a separate bedroom and lounge area, a huge bathroom, and a patio overlooking the beach.

“Of course, he got the most expensive room. Now, if I were a secret project, where would I be…”

Unlike the intruder to her room, Bulma was careful not to leave any sign of disruption as she searched the suite, starting with the safe. Her keycard easily opened it via the hotel override, but inside there was no briefcase and certainly no orb.

“Well, that would have been too easy I suppose.”

She carefully closed and relocked the safe, and then looked around the lounge area. A large sofa, a table and chairs, a bulky coffee table… wait, Bulma recognized that coffee table. It was an emergency escape table.

Hotels often provided them in penthouses or suites for the highest paying guests. On the surface, they seemed just like any old coffee table, but they had been designed with a sleek compartment in the legs that held DynoCaps full of emergency equipment: hard hats, breathing masks, fireproof clothing, that kind of thing.

It would be easy to remove one of the emergency-issue DynoCaps and replace it with one of your own.

She hurried to the table and searched for the catch that opened the emergency compartment. Sure enough, it sprang open and revealed 3 cylindrical capsules; 2 that were the regulation fluorescent yellow, and 1 that was an ordinary personal use capsule.

Bulma hit the capsule switch and stepped back as the briefcase sprang into being.

“Gotcha. How reckless. I’ll teach you to be more careful with your possessions, Commander.”

She inspected the locking mechanism carefully. It was another electronic seal, so she pulled the scanner from her bag, isolated the relevant frequency, and hacked the lock in under 2 minutes.

The case opened to reveal the orb, glowing softly. It was magnificent. Up close, she felt the raw power that it contained and could barely take her eyes off the tiny reactions glittering within it.

She really hoped this was going to work. She hypothesized that she didn’t need the orb itself to start her research, just the energy signature.

A loud laugh roused her from her daydreams. How long had she been staring at this thing? She had better get to work. And fast.

Setting the scanner alongside the orb, she waited nervously for it to pick up all the information it could. Another booming laugh echoed through the hallway, this time sounding much closer than the first one.

“Come on, hurry up.”

Her eyes darted around the room in case she needed a place to hide. The adrenaline that had powered her courage up to this point was starting to fade, and she felt stupid and reckless. If Red found her up here, she would be in deep trouble.

Finally, the screen indicated that the energy signature had been recorded, and she quickly stuffed the scanner back into her purse and set about returning the orb to its hiding place.

She clicked the table leg back into place not a moment too soon. Footsteps approached the hallway, and Bulma started to panic in earnest as she heard Commander Red’s throaty chuckle.

“Oh fuck.”

She hurried to the suite door but it was too late; she could hear rustling immediately on the other side.

Her only chance was to hide.

She managed to slide the patio doors closed behind her just as Red, Flappe and Black all entered the suite.

Bulma’s heart raced, and she prayed that they wouldn’t want any fresh air. When, after a few moments, the doors hadn’t opened and she hadn’t been discovered, she let out a shaky breath and tried to relax. She was ok. She hadn’t been spotted. It was all going to be ok.

Hesitantly, she braved a peek through a small gap in the curtains.

Red heaved himself onto the sofa as Mr Black handed him a large glass of amber liquid – probably a whisky of some kind. His voice carried as he called to Flappe.

“A nightcap doctor? To celebrate our success!”

Flappe looked as miserable as always, despite the “success” that his boss was shouting about.

“No thank you, sir, I would like to get back to the lab as soon as possible.”

“You science-types never did know how to have any fun.”

Red drained the glass dry and held it out for Mr Black to refill.

“This has all gone just as we had hoped it would! No, better! The Briefs girl has done us an immeasurable favor by creating that radar. It won't be long until we have everything we need.”

“Yes sir.”

Her radar! Anger flared through her.

“Imagine, Flappe, not only being able to sell our limitless energy to the highest bidders but also being able to track down anyone who uses our energy supply without paying! The entire world will be reliant upon Red Ribbon for their power supply, and we control the cost!”

He threw his head back and laughed, stomping his feet as he did so.

Bulma felt sick. How could he? This was diabolical, even by Red’s standards. And he was going to use HER radar to help him do it.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

Flappe’s voice cut through Red’s laughter.

“We know the ball creates energy, but we still don’t know how to extract it.”

“Flappe…”

Red’s voice was humorless and dry now.

“… that is why we have spent the last 5 hours suffering through conversation with every Tom, Dick and Harry at this god-forsaken conference. You have all the resources possible at your disposal, you will make it work.”

“Yes sir. Now, if you will excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”

She had to get out of here too. Her hands were shaking, and she thought she might be physically sick at any moment. What was she going to do? Going back the way she came wasn’t an option.

Bulma looked around for any possible means of escape. The only door off the patio was back through Red’s suite… Cautiously, she looked over at the next room, there was a 6-foot gap between the balcony of this patio, and the adjoining suite, not to mention a drop of at least 100 feet. No, thank you.

She was starting to feel desperate now. The night air was warm but the breeze was picking up and she was getting cold. Her only hope was the other side of the patio. She squinted into the darkness. Nothing. No, wait… as her vision adjusted to the darkness, she saw something was sticking out of the wall.

Squinting harder, she made out the outline of a thin ladder. A fire escape! The ladder started a few feet above the top of the balcony and went all the way to the roof. If she could get up there, she should be able to use her access card to get back inside the building no problem!

The only thing that stood in the way of her freedom was crossing the patio without being seen. Rejuvenated by the prospect of escape, she snuck another look through the curtains. Mr Black had his back to her as he went about the task of pressing a pair of dark grey slacks, probably the Commander's outfit for tomorrow.

Red was slumped on the sofa with another, almost empty whiskey. Bulma watched carefully as his head lolled to the side. Now was her chance.

Pulling off her heels, she dashed across the gap and leaped onto the metal rungs, not wanting to overthink the prospect of climbing a rickety ladder 110 feet in the air.

Below her, the breeze rustled the leaves of the giant palms, music floated up from the beach bar, and the patio doors stayed shut.

When she was sure that she hadn’t been noticed, and therefore wasn’t about to be hauled off and thrown to her death by Red or Mr Black, she started to climb. It was no easy task with her bag thrown over one shoulder, shoes in hand, and fingers that were now numb from cold, but eventually, she made it and hauled herself over the top, sprawling on the roof flat on her back.

“I am NEVER doing that again.”

Catching her breath, she sat up. Tears welled in her eyes, and she sniffed.

“I am an inside girl.”

She stood and pulled her shoes back on. Her legs were shaking.

“I am staying in my nice warm lab.”

The entrance from the roof to the building was just ahead of her, and she could not wait to be back inside. She scanned the card and the lock opened just as she had hoped it would.

As she descended the stairs to the floor below Red’s, crossed the hallway, and then took the elevator to her level, she focused all her attention on breathing, and moving. She had to keep moving.

The door to her trashed room clicked shut and Bulma sank to her knees on the plush carpet. She couldn’t breathe, she was panting but she couldn’t catch her breath. Her hands were still shaking. And her legs. No, her whole body was trembling… and why couldn’t she breathe!?

Leaning back against the door, she pulled her knees around her and put her head in her hands. She had to calm down, and then she had get out of here.

She contemplated her options. There was still one more day of the conference, and then her flight was booked for the evening after, but there was no way she could stay here.

Money was no object, she would just pack up her things and go straight to the airport to get the first flight out of there. She just wanted to go home.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13

When she arrived at the airport, the next available flight to Central City hadn’t been until the following afternoon, and it was almost dark by the time she made it back home to her apartment.

On top of that, she’d been so distracted by everything going on with Red Ribbon, that she hadn’t noticed her phone had died until she had already checked in the bag with her charger in! She hadn’t even been able to text anyone to let them know where she was, and more importantly, she had no idea if/how Vegeta had reacted to her last message.

Those last words repeated themselves over and over in her mind.

Love you too.

He could have broken things off with her over text and she hadn’t even seen it yet.

Or, knowing him, he had probably just blocked her number, moved out, and she’d never see him again!

Never had a flight felt so long. By the time she collected her bag, she had decided to just deal with the fallout face to face. If she could sneak and spy on the Red Ribbon Corporation, she could explain her feelings to her housemate.

Finally faced with the apartment door, she took a deep breath to steady herself. She pushed it open, and was met by a shadowed, empty hallway.

Disappointment and panic stabbed at her chest. She hadn’t really thought that he would move out! Besides, she really, really wanted to see him. After the last 48 hours, she desperately needed some familiarity... some comfort.

Thinking logically, if he wasn’t here, there were only 2 other places he would be: the practice field or the library.

She dumped her suitcase in her bedroom, and after taking a few minutes to freshen up, threw on a cozy jacket and left the apartment once more.

The field was closest, so that was her first stop. Sure enough, under the bright lights, Vegeta and Goku ran drills.

It was just the two of them, and she stood on the sidelines, arms wrapped around herself, happy just to watch as they practiced move after move. She hadn’t seen him play since that first game, and it hit her all over again how powerfully graceful his body was.

After a few minutes, they finally paused long enough for Goku to notice her.

“Bulma? That you?”

She couldn’t muster the energy to smile, or even look at him. She just continued to stare at Vegeta as he looked over at her. He knew she wasn’t due back until the following night, and his brow furrowed in concern.

Throwing the ball straight into Goku’s chest, he said something to him that Bulma couldn’t hear and jogged over to her.

“You’re back early.”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t have the strength to talk about it right now. Frankly, now she was face to face with him, she just wanted a hug.

“Will you be much longer?”

Vegeta raised an eyebrow but barely hesitated before turning and shouting at Goku.

“Enough for today. I’m going home.”

“But Vegeta…”

Goku's shoulders slumped as he whined. Vegeta ignored him, turning his attention back to Bulma.

“Come on.”

He grabbed his bag, threw it over his shoulder and wiped his face with his towel as he set off back in the direction of the apartment. Bulma scurried after him, saying nothing.

She couldn’t tell if he was mad at her, or just being his normal aloof self, but it was a relief that he had called the apartment home.

They walked the whole way back in silence.

When the front door shut, he turned to her with his mouth already starting to form a question. A question that she knew she didn’t want to answer right now.

Instead, she grabbed his shirtfront and pulled his mouth to hers roughly. This seemed to catch him by surprise, but he quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling him tight against him.

Finally, she felt herself starting to relax. She was home, she was safe, she still had him.

When she pulled back from the kiss, she smiled, and saw some of the concern leave his eyes.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

She continued to stare stupidly at him, saying nothing.

When he kissed her again, it was slower, and she felt more stress uncoiling from her chest. He ran his hands up her back and she shivered in his arms.

This time, he was the one who pulled back, but only enough that their lips were a whisper apart.

“I tried to call you. Your phone was off.”

He had tried calling her? This was a turn-up for the books.

“My phone died, and I didn’t have my charger.”

“What hap...”

“Stop.”

She interrupted him before he could even say the second word of what she knew would be a question about her sudden return.

“I don’t want to talk.”

She needed to forget about the last few days.

She didn’t want to talk, she didn’t want to think. Being in his arms was the safest she had felt in days, and she could quite happily lose herself in him.

He nodded, but the question still hadn’t left his eyes, and he was wary of her as he lowered his lips to hers again.

This time their kiss was more frantic. Their hands roamed as if they had been apart for months, not mere days.

She needed to feel his skin against hers. She pushed at his shirt until he pulled it over his head and reached for her jacket. She shrugged the material off and kicked off her shoes. Back and forth they went, each undressing each other and themselves in equal measure.

When they finally fell, naked, into bed, Bulma rolled him onto his back, straddled him, and groaned as she slid down onto his dick. She needed to be the one in control this time.

Vegeta’s eyes rolled back as she sank down further, fingers digging into her hips. Hands splayed on his chest, she rocked against him.

As she moved, she felt the pressure building and focused all her attention on chasing that spark.

She pulled one of his hands up to cup her breast, throwing her head back as he lifted his hips to match her movements.

His free hand moved to her thigh and his thumb pressed against her clit as the other hand flicked her nipple. Her body clenched, the orgasm hitting her out of nowhere. She cried out and sank back on her heels, staring at the ceiling as she panted.

After she’d regained her composure, she looked down and saw he was staring at her.

“Better?”

“Much.”

“Good. Now, tell me what happened.”

She hesitated and his hands tightened around her thighs.

“As much as I enjoy getting you off, I felt more like a human dildo just now.”

She flushed and moved to climb off of him but he held her firmly in place.

“There is clearly something bothering you. Talk to me.”

And so she did.

“You are telling me, that your father’s rival, Red, had someone break into your room, steal your technology, and then instead of reporting it to anyone, you decided to break into his room, steal his technology, climb from a balcony onto a roof, and then get the first plane out of town to hide back here.”

Vegeta’s expression was unreadable. They were sitting face to face on the bed, the sheets wrapped around their still-naked bodies.

“Well technically I didn’t steal his technology, I just stole the energy signature from his technology.”

The silence stretched on and she chewed her bottom lip nervously. God, he must think she was crazy. She couldn’t blame him, it did sound insane.

But then he started to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

He laughed until he was bent over, and Bulma was more than a little alarmed.

“Hey! Seriously!?”

He simply carried on laughing.

“For God’s sake Vegeta, I know my life is insane but some compassion would be nice!”

Bulma was more than a little pissed by the time he eventually calmed down.

“I am sorry for laughing, but honestly, what are the chances that we would find each other.”

Her heart lurched and started a steady hammering in her chest. Find each other… was he saying what it sounded like he was saying?

“What do you mean?”

“Well think about it. In the whole of this city, you and I, the two people who have personal vendettas with the most powerful men in the world, end up living together!”

Bulma’s heart sank and she pulled away from him. He could have slapped her and it would have hurt less. Living together. Is that all he thought of her as, even after all this time? His roommate!?

“Yeah. Sure. Hilarious.”

She pulled the covers around herself as she swung her legs off the bed and reached for her underwear.

“Where do you think you are going?”

He reached for her but she shied away from his touch. She stood and pulled on a flannel overshirt that she kept hanging on the back of her door.

“Bulma...”

“You know what Vegeta, I realized something this weekend. I don’t just want to be your roommate fuckbuddy anymore, ok.”

Vegeta looked surprised, then his eyes narrowed.

“What are you saying?”

He was very serious now. A calm rage practically radiated from him.

“I am saying, that the sex is great and all, but there’s more between us than that. Deny it all you want.”

“I didn’t deny it.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No. I don’t.”

She sighed in frustration.

“Why do you have to be so damned difficult all the time!” she stamped her foot. “You never acknowledged that this is more than sex! You didn’t want it to be anything more than that.”

“Bulma, you never acknowledged this as anything more than sex. You acted like sex was all you wanted!”

He was standing too now, eyes still locked on hers, gloriously, defiantly naked.

She had to look away, had to think… had that been how she’d treated him?

He’d gone to the bar with Goku and Krillin, and the first second they were alone together she’d eye fucked him until they left together.

On Friday he had texted her about her flight landing safely, and she had sent him a sexy photo.

Shit. He might have a point. But still. It took two to tango.

“Well, whatever. I am telling you now that this doesn’t work for me anymore. So you have to make a choice. If you want me, you are going to have to commit to me.”

Her voice sounded a lot more confident than she felt, and she folded her arms over her chest to keep them from shaking.

“And do you want to be with me?”

He was looking her straight in the eye with an intensity that bordered on scary. Why couldn’t he just give her a straight answer!?

“That’s not the point.”

“It is very much the point. I need to know. Do. You. Want. Me?”

“Of course I do! But not if you aren’t invested in that too. I can’t just be someone you keep around because I am a convenient shag.”

This time, he finally lost his cool composure.

“God dammit woman will you listen to me!? I have never thought of you like that. Never. Do you remember what I said to you after our first kiss?”

She closed her eyes, focused on her breathing, and thought back to that night… It simultaneously felt like it had happened yesterday, and a lifetime ago. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed his hands were clenched into fists at his sides.

“That… once you set your mind on something you want, you won’t stop until you get it.”

“And I meant it.”

He opened his hands, palms towards her. A physical display of his openness.

“I wanted all of you, as much as you would give me. This isn’t some convenient fuck for me, this is what I want. You are what I want. I am trying to show you I can be what you need but… it’s not easy for me. I’ve never had someone I care about before, so I don’t… I don’t know how.”

Bulma gaped at him. This was a side of Vegeta that she had never seen before. That she didn’t know if anyone had ever seen before! He cared, he was genuine, and he was vulnerable… and it was sexy as hell.

Heart hammering, she took a small step towards him - a peace offering.

“You are doing a pretty good job right now.”

He huffed a humorless laugh.

“I mean it Vegeta. That was pretty hot.”

He shook his head in exasperation.

“Woman, did you not just try and break up with me because we spend too much time focusing on sex?”

She took another step so she was right in front of him, and let all the emotion she was feeling show in her eyes as she looked at him.

“I guess old habits are hard to break.”

A smirk played at the corner of his lips as he looked back at her.

“That’s not the only thing hard right now.”

“Vegeta!”

She cackled with laughter and he lifted her into his arms effortlessly, carrying her back to bed.

He deposited her onto the cushions and settled over her, close but barely touching. As they looked at each other, a thought occurred to her…

“So, does this mean we can go on dates?”

Vegeta looked at her like she had grown a second head.

“Hmmm. Fine. But nothing embarrassing…” he lowered his head towards her mouth, stopping just short of touching his lips to hers. “… like a picnic.”

She laughed and shoved at his shoulder jokingly.

“Stop being such a bitch and come kiss your girlfriend.”

And then he did.

The next morning, they both woke before their alarms, still curled around each other in Bulma’s bed.

“I need to get to the lab to start rebuilding my radar. And work out what the hell I am going to do about the energy orb, ball, thing.”

Vegeta rolled onto his back, stretched, and settled his arms under his head.

“Sounds simple enough to me. You just have to figure out how to use it first.”

She scoffed.

“This is the entire Red Ribbon organization, now bolstered, I might add, by even more of the brightest scientific minds in the world. I am just one girl.”

She batted her eyelashes innocently, and he raised one, unimpressed eyebrow.

“What happened to being a “genius woman”” he quoted. “You have a head start whilst they are going through all their recruitment, don’t you? And besides, you are Bulma Briefs.”

Pride puffed her chest. He was right. She was Bulma freaking Briefs, the genius daughter of the inventor of DynoCaps. If anyone could figure this out, it was her.

She rolled over, gave him one final, lingering kiss, then leaped from the bed and pulled on her bra and panties.

“I didn’t mean you had to do it right now.”

“And waste my head start? That would hardly be genius behavior would it.

He watched her as she pulled on her most comfortable lab outfit: stretchy tracksuit pants, a cropped t-shirt, and a flannel overshirt, and threw her hair up into a bun.

“You know, you should consider yourself lucky. Not everyone has a girlfriend who has to go save the world.”

She winked at him as he rolled his eyes.

“Just make sure you lock the door on your way to save the world. I’m going back to sleep.”

Red Ribbon would be a powerful rival - not one that many would be willing to make, and certainly not one that would be easy to outsmart. Red had been telling the truth when he had said Flappe had every resource at his disposal.

But Flappe did not have her scanner. Nor did he have her determination.

Her first task was to rebuild the radar. From there, she could set about working on using it to understand exactly what that ball was made of. If she could unpick the raw ingredients, she might be able to re-engineer a version herself. Or at least start to understand how Flappes team made it in the first place.

Bulma spent the next week almost chained to her desk, leaving the lab only when Vegeta threatened to physically carry her back home. And even then, she only took a shower, napped, and was back at it less than 10 hours later.

The progress was slow but monumentally faster than the original build. It might be the knowledge of Red and his ridiculous plan, but she felt like nothing was moving quickly enough.

The moment the radar system was fully rebuilt, she focused entirely on reverse engineering the information captured by the scanner. Finally, she felt like she was making progress… could feel something was close.

And then, at 10pm the following Thursday, it happened.

Bulma was sitting on a high stool, her elbow propped on the desk, resting her head on her hand as she struggled to keep her eyes open. The computer screen was running through lines and lines of numbers as it searched through various combinations.

Just as her eyelids drooped and her head slipped from her hand, the computer beeped.

Bulma looked at the screen through drooped eyelids. The energy waves had separated and become a code of nanoparticles entirely distinct from any other known combination.

“Holy shit.”

Bulma was fully awake as she scanned the data properly this time.

This was it. This had to be it.

Deliriously, she input the code to the radar to test it… and almost fell off her stool.

“It works. It WORKS!”

Jumping from her stool, she danced around the lab laughing and cheering. Thank God no one else was here at this time of night. It would be more than mortifying to bump into Lapis right now.

Heart still racing, she pulled her phone from her pocket and called Vegeta. He picked up straight away.

“What’s up?”

“Vegeta,” her voice was rough from disuse, “it works.”

There was only a brief pause before he replied.

“I’m on my way.”

The call disconnected.

Bulma looked back at the computer screen to make sure she wasn’t just dreaming it all. Her brain could hardly even process it. Adrenaline coursed through her. She was so relieved… relieved, and excited, and nervous all at the same time.

It only took 10 minutes for Vegeta to arrive, but it might have been the longest 10 minutes of her life.

As he entered the building, Bulma paced in the lobby. She buzzed him in and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the lab and to her workstation, gesturing for him to look at the screen.

He glanced at the numbers only briefly before looking her up and down.

“Good lord woman. You look like you have been hit by a bus, then fought the bus… and lost.”

Self-consciously, she raised a hand to her hair to smooth it.

“You jerk, I have been working hard you know! It’s not like there’s time to worry about hair and makeup! Besides, you could be a little bit happier to see me. This has been tough, even for a genius like me!”

He didn’t even seem to be paying attention anymore.

“Hey, are you even listening!?”

His gaze was now transfixed on the radar, the little yellow dot beeping as it flashed on and off.

“Bulma, what are those?”

She looked over at where he was pointing and frowned.

“Shit. Maybe I made a mistake after all… the radar is saying there is more than one orb.”

“Could Red Ribbon have made more already?”

“No, the scale here is drastic. These are spread all across the country. If Red had made them, they would be all in one place, or at least in their labs. This one here,” she pointed to a dot flashing near the top of the radar, “is all the way in the mountains. There is no civilization there at all, let alone a lab.”

She sighed and rubbed at her jaw.

“There must be something else out there with a similar energy signature that I haven’t isolated properly.”

Vegeta was still staring at the radar.

“Or you are right, and there are just more.”

“But Red Ribbon wouldn’t just lose them…” She paused. “Wait, they never actually said they made the orb, just that they discovered it. Perhaps… Perhaps they didn’t make it.”

Bulma’s mind was racing, thinking back to everything Dr Flappe had said during his keynote.

“They FOUND it. They literally discovered it. Not the science, but the orb itself!”

“So then those dots could be more orbs. Orbs that Red Ribbon haven’t found yet?”

“Exactly.”

Vegeta thought for a second.

“But they have your radar, why can’t they see what we are seeing?”

“Because whoever stole my radar fucked up. They didn’t take the scanner. That means they will have to create their own before they can match the frequencies like I can.”

They both looked at the scanner, the regular beep the only sound to disturb the silence of the lab at night.

“You know what this means don’t you? This could be just what we need to stop Red’s plan. Bulma, you might actually have just saved the world.”

Her heart jumped at his use of the word we.

“Hang on, we still don’t know if this is even right, or if those markers are more of the same things, or… anything really.”

Vegeta considered her for a moment.

“No, but you know what to do when there is a viable hypothesis…”

“… prove it. But Vegeta, this is crazy. That one,” she pointed to the beeping dot at the top of the radar, “is in the mountains. I can’t climb a mountain. I am a scientist, an engineer… I am not even a field researcher. I belong in a lab, or behind a computer. I can’t do this.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you can. And besides, there are plenty out there that aren’t in mountains. We will start with one closer to home. And if things need a bit more athleticism, well that’s what you have me for.”

He looked at her with excitement, pride, and fiery determination.

“Let's go orb hunting.”

She took a deep breath and sighed. He was right. She was the only one who knew about Red and his plan to use these orbs to control the world’s energy supply. She had to do something.

“I suppose you do still owe me a first date.”

“That’s the spirit. Now let's go home. You stink.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 14

Bulma was restless.

Now she had properly thought through everything, she was confident that the radar was picking up more orbs. She was certain her technology was correct.

The possibility that she could, possibly already had, beaten Red at his own game was too exhilarating. But the rational, logical part of her told her that until she had her hands on one of those orbs, she couldn’t get carried away.

And so now she was restless, waiting to hit the road.

It had already been 16 hours… Vegeta had made her promise to rest whilst he had classes today, then they could spend the weekend making the trip inland to the nearest marker on her radar.

The radar that still beeped away every time she turned it on – which was frequently to check that 1) it was still working, and 2) it wasn’t a dream.

Bulma stood at the window and looked out. The sun shone warmly, the sky was a near-cloudless blue, and there was a gentle breeze that rustled the leaves. It was a perfect day for exploring, and it was driving her mad. How was she supposed to wait any longer!?

She had already slept for 12 hours, taken a long (and admittedly overdue) shower, and packed an overnight bag with a few clothes and a large selection of technical equipment that she thought they might need on the journey. She was ready to go.

There was one other thing they would need though. A car.

In her bedroom, Bulma sank to her knees on the floor in front of her wardrobe and dug around until she found a small lockbox. Pulling it free from the jumble of shoes, boots, sneakers, and boxes of old textbooks, she pressed her thumb to the sensor on the handle, and the box whirred open.

Inside was the most expensive thing she owned. A gift from her parents when she had left for college. Her capsule case.

The small box looked unassuming, filled with a few rows of capsules of various sizes, and a colored chart to show the layout of each numbered capsule and its contents.

Lots of people owned capsules for storage and transport of small items, but very few had capsules for vehicles. The best-selling capsule on the market could store about a closet's worth of items, with the price ranging substantially depending on the amount of mass that needed to be compressed.

Buying a capsule that would fit an entire vehicle in was a hefty expense, and Bulma had a case of 17 of them.

She opened the box to check the capsules were all still where she expected them to be (they were), and then tucked it safely into her bag. Now she really was ready to go.

No.

Bulma’s phone pinged with the disappointing reply from her boyfriend.

Oh, come on Vegeta, you can sleep while I drive. There's really no reason to wait until tomorrow morning.

No. You need to rest.

I HAVE rested. I am rested.

Not enough.

She considered throwing the phone out the window.

It is enough for now. I can’t rest properly until I know if it really is another orb. It is killing me just sitting around here not knowing.

There was a long pause before Vegeta finally replied.

Fine.

“Yessss!”

Bulma fist-pumped the air. She knew she could get him to agree, he was stubborn but apparently just as determined as her when it came to taking on massive corporations.

Thank you! 

But I will drive.

Bulma rolled her eyes. Pesky man. But she would go along with whatever it took to get him out of the house sooner.

Fine. When will you be finished?

The game doesn’t start until 7.

Which meant he likely wouldn’t be home much earlier than 11 pm - another reason to hate this stupid sport. Friday night football was starting to be a real pain in the ass.

Great. See you later 😘

Vegeta actually arrived back at the apartment at 10:37 pm. As soon as he had stepped through the door, Bulma - bag and vehicle capsule already in hand – was turning him round to chivvy him out again.

“I already packed for you. Let’s go.”

“Good lord, woman, will you let me breathe.”

“No time. Go.”

He huffed a small laugh and complied. Grabbing the bag from her, he did a quick 180 and headed back down the stairs that he had just walked up.

Bulma locked the door, skipped down the steps, and paused as she saw Vegeta looking questioningly at her.

“What?”

“So, where is the car?”

“Ah, don’t you worry my little passenger princess. We will be traveling in style.”

She gestured for him to stand back, checked to see that the road was quiet, and then pushed the button on the capsule. The tiny container beeped and Bulma tossed it into the empty street.

Seemingly from nowhere, a small hatchback had appeared. It was boxy, light blue in color, and sat low to the ground.

“This baby has enough horsepower to outrun a jet and handles like a dream. I modified her myself.”

Vegeta said nothing, just looked between her and the car.

“It’s… small.”

Bulma deflated a little.

“Well, yeah a bit, but it's comfy enough, and the faster we go, the less time you will have to worry about being comfy in the car. So,” Bulma gestured to the vehicle with a nod, “get in, let’s get going.”

She unlocked the car and quickly slid into the driver’s seat. Vegeta sighed but didn’t fight her on it as he threw the bag in the back and folded himself into the passenger seat.

He had barely closed the door and fastened his seatbelt before Bulma pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor, and they zipped off along the dark street.

3 hours later, Bulma yawned. She had propped the radar on the dashboard so she could check their progress as she drove. They were still only about halfway by the looks of things. This was much less fun than she had expected.

Vegeta sat silently next to her, arms folded over his chest, eyes staring straight ahead.

When she yawned again a few minutes later, he sighed.

“Pull over.”

“Huh?”

“Pull over. You are tired, let me drive.”

“I’m fine, we aren’t even halfway yet.”

“Pull over.”

“No honestly, just a little bit further...”

As they bickered, a flash of neon in the distance caught their attention.

“Even better. Pull over there. It’s 2 am. Let’s get some sleep.”

“Ok fine you can drive.”

He gave her one of his looks. One that clearly portrayed that she was on thin ice and had better do as he said.

Bulma sighed. She knew when to make a strategic retreat.

“Alright, let’s get a room.”

Vegeta huffed in smug approval, and Bulma pulled into the parking lot and switched off the engine. She looked around as she clambered out of the car and stretched her tired limbs.

Darkness stretched around them in all directions, only disturbed by the lights of the motel behind them. There didn’t look to be any other buildings, cars, or general signs of life for miles.

“Where the hell are we anyway?”

Vegeta pulled the overnight bag from the backseat and shrugged as he inspected the dusty parking lot.

“I have never been out this way before.”

The motel consisted of a small but tidy-looking row of rooms, with colorful doors and small lights illuminating the numbers. At the far end was a larger set of doors signposted as the reception.

Bulma stepped through the sliding door and found herself in an unexpectedly sterile-looking waiting room that smelled faintly of lavender. It reminded her of being at the dentist; not unpleasant, but not somewhere you would want to linger unnecessarily.

Behind the desk opposite the doorway, a woman was snoring lightly, her head resting on one shoulder as she slumped back in the seat.

She was probably in her late 30’s, Bulma thought. A homely-looking woman with dark hair tied in a low bun, wearing a lightweight summer dress. Not the type of person that Bulma had expected to see manning a motel desk in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.

Vegeta cleared his throat but the woman didn’t stir.

They shared a small glance and Bulma approached the desk.

“Um… excuse me? Hello?”

She was about to reach out and gently prod the woman awake, when, without even a breath of warning, the woman jerked upright, eyes flying open.

Bulma jumped and snatched back her hand with a small yelp of surprise as the woman, making a noise of shock herself, jolted forward and reached for something under the desk.

Instinctively, Bulma threw her hands up. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Vegeta start forward and then pause. No one moved.

“Hi there, sorry to disturb you. We were just passing through and hoping for a room for the night.”

Bulma flashed the woman one of her best smiles and waited.

Still, no one moved and the next few seconds seemed to pass in slow motion as the woman looked from Bulma, to Vegeta, to the bag dropped at his feet, and then back to Bulma again.

The instant the fog of sleep lifted, it was like a switch flicked in the woman’s demeanor, and she went from wary and defensive, to welcoming and friendly. She beamed back at Bulma.

“Well of course you are! My apologies for sleeping on the job like that. My husband is away so it’s only my daughter and I running this place day and night. Now, let’s see about that room.”

Bulma and Vegeta shared a look as the woman rustled through pages of an old ledger.

“Yep, room 8 is free and ready to go.” She looked up at the two of them. “It’s a twin room, will that work for you?”

Vegeta scowled but Bulma spoke before he could complain.

“That will be fine, thanks!”

“Great!” The woman beamed again. “Cash or card?”

A few minutes later, they pushed open the door to room 8 and were pleasantly surprised by the clean and homely interior. This woman, overworked as she was, clearly kept her standards high.

Vegeta let the bag drop to the floor by the nearest bed. He pulled his jacket off and threw it onto the soft pink comforter as Bulma walked further into the room, looking around.

“This is much nicer than I expected. Shame about the twin beds though.”

She turned around and found Vegeta directly behind her. Before she could say another word, he had slipped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his, his other hand resting on her cheek.

Bulma sighed and flattened her hands to his stomach, leaning into his warmth and inhaling deeply. She was unashamedly obsessed with the way he smelled.

He pulled back slightly but didn’t take his hands off her.

“Let’s go to bed.”

She grinned mischievously.

“Do you want the left or the right?”

“I want whichever one you are in.”

She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading wider. Without saying another word, she pulled away from him, took off her jacket and threw it on top of his on the bed, then pulled him back to her.

Spearing her fingers through his hair, she pressed herself hard against him as their mouths met once more. His hands clasped the back of her thighs, and he lifted her effortlessly, wrapping her legs around him.

The ease of the motion, alongside the hardness pressing against every part of her, took her breath away. All thoughts of sleep evaporated like an ice cube in a volcano.

Vegeta seemed to be on the same page. He laid her on the bed without taking his lips off her, her legs still wrapped around his waist.

As he ground his hips against hers, the friction between them was bliss.

“Too many clothes,” she murmured between kisses, her hand sliding to the waistband of his pants.

He pulled back and yanked his t-shirt over his head with one arm whilst she made quick work of unbuttoning his jeans.

Her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t take her eyes off all his bare, golden skin. It had been a long 10 days since she’d last been out of the lab for long enough to even think about sex.

She drank in the sight of him. Powerful muscles stretched across every inch of his naked chest and arms, the shadows of old scars and bruises just visible.

Damn, she had missed him.

“Well? What are you waiting for?”

His words roused her from her abs-induced coma, and she looked at him stupidly.

“Huh?”

“Clothes, Bulma. Take them off.”

“Oh yeah… right.”

She sat up and pulled her shirt off, wriggling out of her leggings as he stood, stepped out of his jeans, and then crawled back on top of her, laying her back against the pillows.

Their kisses were slower this time.

He traced his thumb along her collarbone before running his hand down her side. Her breath caught as it skimmed the side of her breast.

“So pretty...”

The words caught her off guard and made her chest tighten.

She swallowed and looked at him. Their eyes met and something passed between them. Something… electric. Something that neither one could deny, but that neither wanted to acknowledge. At least not right now.

Their next kisses were less gentle, and when Vegeta pushed inside her, Bulma felt a fullness unlike anything before. This was not just a physical fullness, but an emotional one.

Afterward, wrapped in the blankets, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning, Bulma woke as the sun rose. They had only been asleep for a few hours, but she was eager to get back on the road. She nudged Vegeta.

“Hey, Vegeta, wake up.”

He stirred under the blankets but didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he just tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer.

“Hey, Vegeta!”

She squirmed, and he snuggled closer.

“Vegeta…”

“I missed you.”

“What?”

“The last couple of weeks. You haven’t been sleeping at home much. I don’t like it.”

Bulma’s heart raced and she was glad that he still had his eyes closed so he couldn’t see the ridiculous smile on her face.

“I like sleeping with you too.”

“Good. Then go back to sleep.”

“Nice try. Get up.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her, the whisper of a smirk at the corners of his lips.

“I’m already up.”

“Oh no you don’t, not this again. Wake up. Get out of bed. Let’s go.”

He sighed and she knew she had won. She threw off the blankets and jumped out of bed. Vegeta groaned and sat up.

“Have I mentioned that you will owe me for this?”

“Pfft. Coming here was your idea.”

She rummaged in the overnight bag and pulled on her sports leggings and cropped vest, trying not to get distracted by his bare chest again.

“Getting up at the crack of dawn was most definitely not my idea.”

“Stop whining and let’s get going already!”

Less than 10 minutes later they were pulling out of the parking lot, continuing to follow the radar in the direction of the nearest orb.

Bulma fidgeted in the passenger seat. She would have much preferred to drive, but as they had approached the car, Vegeta had given her a glowering look and she’d thrown him the keys without argument.

Mile after mile of rocky, dusty landscape passed, and the day got hotter and hotter as the sun continued to beat down.

Finally, the dot they had been chasing was large and central on the radar screen.

“This looks like it’s as close as the road is going to get us. We should find somewhere nearby to park up.”

“We are in the desert, there’s hardly going to be valet parking. Let’s just pull over and be done with it.”

She knew she should bite back at his snark but truthfully she didn’t care about the car. Now they were here, she was anxious, excited, and just the tiniest bit afraid… afraid that she had been wrong, afraid that they would find nothing.

The car slowed and she was out the door before he had even killed the engine.

Bulma pulled her jacket off, tied it around her waist, and yanked her cap further down to keep the sun out of her eyes. She surveyed their surroundings…

They were in the middle of a rocky patch of desert. Clusters of boulders and a few shriveled branches were the only things that disturbed the seemingly endless sand. She started to feel uneasy. It looked like this wasn’t going to be as easy as she had thought.

Beside her, Vegeta crossed his arms as he looked around. Bulma chewed her lip as she turned the radar in all directions.

“Well, I guess this is as good as it’s going to get… we will just have to look around.”

Vegeta looked at her with a sardonic gaze and she flashed him her best and brightest smile before setting off with as much pep in her step as she could manage.

Beneath her feet, the sand shifted and slid. Above her, the sun rose steadily higher in the sky. Sweating and thirsty, Bulma’s calves began to ache, and she quickly gave up any pretense of optimism.

“This stupid radar. I can’t tell if we are ANY nearer than when we started. I am staying in the lab from now on. I really mean it this time.”

Vegeta was either too far away to hear her or had decided it was less hassle entirely to pretend he was out of earshot. Begrudgingly, she carried on walking.

Barely any time later, a bead of sweat ran down her spine and she groaned again. Wandering around in circles was getting them nowhere.

Bulma stopped and did a quick 360-degree scan of the area, eyes peeled for anything that might offer some clue as to why her radar was still confidently beeping away.

The only thing vaguely interesting was a large flat-topped rock still some way away.

She waved to Vegeta and then pointed to the rock.

“Let’s try and get a better look at things from up there.”

He nodded and started trudging in her direction.

Up close, the rock was taller than she had expected, and Bulma wasn’t entirely sure if she had the upper body strength to haul herself up. There were a few indentations in the rockface but none extruded enough to give her toes leverage as she attempted to scramble up it.

Vegeta, having caught up, gave her a helpful but none-too-gentle shove on the ass, and she let out a small yelp as she landed sprawled on the top.

Bulma took a deep breath to stop herself from snapping at him. She was hot, sweaty, dirty, and feeling less confident by the minute that she had any idea what she was doing.

She sat on the rock, resting her elbows on her knees. Vegeta hopped up next to her with an annoying amount of grace and stood looking out across the sand.

Bulma sighed.

“Maybe I got it wrong.”

“What?”

“Wrong. Maybe I got it wrong! Just look around Vegeta, there is nothing out here. Nothing. No secret labs, no magical energy balls. Not even a fucking cactus!”

“Bulma…”

“We should just go home. I’m sorry I made you come all the way out here.”

“Bulma.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have rushed the radar. Something might have been off with the calibration.”

“Bulma!” At his shout, she jerked and looked up at him. “Come here.”

He wasn’t even looking at her. He was still staring out into the distance.

“Were you even listening to me?”

“Yes. Now stop your pity party and come look at this.”

She sighed again as she clambered unceremoniously to her feet, stood beside him, and looked in the direction he was facing. There was more desert.

“What exactly am I supposed to be seeing?”

“There.” he pointed ahead. “There IS something out here. An oasis. In the middle of the desert.”

Sure enough, if she squinted, she could just about make out a patch of green foliage.

“That’s… nice.”

He looked at her with exasperation.

“I’m no scientist, but I am willing to bet that if your orb gives off energy, it could also sustain life.”

Bulma turned to him in stunned silence.

And then she grabbed his face in her hands and pressed a hard kiss to his lips.

“Vegeta you beautiful genius.”

And then she dropped down from the rock, and scurried off across the sand, not noticing the blush that had turned the tips of his ears pink.

It took a few minutes to cross the sand, and by the time Bulma approached the oasis - a small pool of water, surrounded by clusters of lush green flora – she was out of breath.

Crouching at the water's edge, she reached out and carefully dipped her hand in, raising a cupped palm and letting the clear liquid pour back into the pool.

“Incredible.”

Vegeta, who Bulma noticed was not out of breath and barely even seemed to have broken a sweat, stood at her shoulder and nudged at a large plant with his foot.

“Hmm.”

“Now, if I were an orb, where would I be…”

Her eyes darted around the water’s edge, inspecting each and every place big enough to conceal an object that size.

A glisten caught her eye. She sat back in the sand, pulled off her sneakers, stuffed one sock into each shoe, and rolled up her leggings.

Carefully, she stepped into the pool, sloshing the warm water over her knees as she waded toward the middle.

At the deepest part, she reached into the cloudy depths until her fingers closed around the object she was looking for. Slowly, she fished out the small, golden orb.

“Holy shit.”

Her voice was breathy and hushed. Her heart raced.

Vegeta stared transfixed at the ball in her hand. This one had more flickers of red inside it than the one she had scanned in Red’s hotel room. She counted the reactions… 5.

“Holy shit,” he repeated.

Chapter Text

Chapter 15

Bulma paced back and forth as Vegeta lazed on the sofa, the orb in one hand, the other behind his head. He was inspecting the glowing ball from all angles, tossing it up and down.

“What do we do next? Investigate it or try and find more of them?”

“Can’t we do both?”

She stopped pacing briefly to look at him like he was mad.

“There’s only 2 of us. It might be a bit of a stretch. And besides, what about school… don’t you have exams coming up?”

“Please, I could ace those in my sleep.”

She sighed and continued to wander from the living room to the kitchen, then back again.

“Still… I think we need some more help.”

He stopped playing with the orb and looked at her sternly.

“What do you mean help?”

She ignored him, lost in her own train of thought.

“The facts are, we have 1 orb, and Red Ribbon has 1. From what we can see on the radar, that leaves 5 more out there, 7 in total. We also have the upper hand in terms of knowledge, as we are the only people who know there are more, or have a way of tracking them down… Wait that’s not true.”

Vegeta raised an eyebrow and looked at her patiently, waiting for her to continue.

“We are assuming that they have less knowledge than us about the existence of the others. We have no way of knowing what they know. Or how their research is progressing…”

She trailed off, chewing her lip and wringing her hands nervously. Vegeta watched her for a moment before interrupting her inner turmoil.

“Bulma, what help do you need?”

“Well, for starters, I need to make that radar more accurate, but there are limits to what I can achieve in this lab. I need to go to Capsule Corp to get my dad’s equipment.”

Vegeta finally relaxed back against the sofa cushions.

“Fine, let’s go.”

“And then once we have a better radar, Goku can help.”

Vegeta sat up again.

“Oh no, not that clown.”

“But think about it Vegeta, I can’t be in two places at once. And, besides, I am far more useful in a lab trying to understand these things rather than out in the wilderness hunting them.”

“I can go alone. I would rather go alone.”

“But who knows where they will be! You might need more than one person to be able to find them. These orbs have been undiscovered for potentially thousands of years… they aren’t exactly going to be out in the open.”

“I don’t care how long it takes. I will be better on my own.”

Stubborn man. Bulma sighed and went to sit next to him. She opened her eyes wide and blinked at him sadly.

“And of course, I would feel much better knowing that you weren’t out there all by yourself… you wouldn’t want me to be too worried about you to be able to concentrate on my research, would you?”

The look Vegeta gave her showed he knew exactly what her game was, and he wasn’t falling for it for a second. But eventually, he rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat.

“Fine...”

Bulma smiled and kissed him on the nose. He scowled, but then a thought visibly crossed his mind and he smirked at her, leaning closer so their lips were only a whisper apart.

“… but you owe me.”

Heat flashed through her and she angled her face to better align with his.

“Oh really, and what exactly would you like as repayment?”

He nuzzled her nose with his, the orb in his hand all but forgotten.

“I can think of a few things.”

“So listen, my parents are a little… eccentric.”

The little car sped through the streets of West City, nearing her home with every passing second.

“I have been to Capsule Corp before you know.”

Bulma’s head whipped to the side. Vegeta was slumped in the passenger seat once again.

“What!? When? Why?”

“School. They took us on a field trip in 6th grade or something.”

Bulma thought back to all the times there had been groups of school kids milling around the main compound whilst she had been tinkering with her own inventions. Vegeta was a couple of years older than her – the idea that their very first meeting might have been when she was a grease-stained child made her nauseous.

She gaped at him, horrified.

“Oh God.”

“Relax, I didn’t pay that much attention. But I do remember thinking it was impressive that your dad had built such a massive organization single-handedly.”

She relaxed, if their paths had crossed, it didn’t seem either remembered the other.

“Unbelievably, that story doesn’t put me at ease about this visit.”

He shrugged.

“It will be fine. Tell me about your parents.”

“Well, you know about my dad… he is incredible honestly. Easily the smartest person I know. He always taught me that nature is the epitome of everything science should be: balanced, harmonious, and forever advancing. Nature never thinks it knows best or stops seeking improvements. If it did, we would never have evolved. He always works according to those principles, and if it doesn’t make the world a better place… well, let’s just say that is why he is at odds with the Red Ribbon Corporation. He fosters orphaned animals now, and both my parents do so much for charity. My mum always really leaned into the whole housewife thing; she loves cooking, and used to host these big parties for everyone who worked with my dad so that lent itself nicely to organizing charity events and galas and such.”

She trailed off, surprised by how much she had said. He probably regretted asking.

“They sound… nice.”

Bulma snuck a look at Vegeta out of the corner of her eye. He was staring out the window with a strange look on his face. She had a feeling he was reflecting on his own childhood.

“What was your dad like?”

He stiffened and she winced. Perhaps it had been the wrong decision to ask.

“Growing up… my family wasn’t like yours. Appearances matter in my world, and the reason my father had a family was because that’s what was expected. There was no love between him and my mother. Or for me.”

The city lights blurred around them.

Bulma’s heart hurt. Hurt for him and the child he had been. She couldn’t imagine growing up without a loving, caring, unconditionally supportive family. It struck her again how lucky she was.

“Vegeta, I’m sor…”

“We are here.”

She sighed. Fine, they could pick this up later.

The top of the Capsule Corp building came into view. A massive yellow dome with a cluster of smaller, similarly domed buildings sprouting off every side. Home.

Bulma turned the car into the compound and followed a long pathway through the gardens towards the residential area.

She pulled the vehicle to a stop and turned towards him.

“Sure you are ready for this?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s go.”

“Ok. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

She opened the car door and stepped out just as the doors to the main house opened and her mother practically skipped out to meet them.

“Bulmaaaaaa!”

Mrs Briefs was a slender woman with a mass of golden blonde curls that she kept pinned atop her head. Today she was wearing cropped capri pants and a strapless shirt, the slight heel on her house shoes making her marginally taller than her youngest daughter.

“Hey mom,”

Bulma wrapped her arms around her mother's tiny frame for a short hug.

“It’s so good to see you! Where’s dad?”

“Your father is in the house lab. He has been tinkering with something new all week, I have barely seen him! You know how he gets when he has one of his ideas.”

Her mother waved a hand dismissively and then turned to Vegeta.

“And who is this young man?”

“This is Vegeta. My boyfriend.”

Vegeta looked supremely uncomfortable at being the center of attention but stepped forward and offered his hand to the older woman.

“Nice to meet you Mrs Briefs.”

Bulma raised one eyebrow as her mother bypassed the attempted handshake and pulled Vegeta into a hug.

The look on his face was a picture, and Bulma could barely hold back a laugh. His shock quickly turned to mirth though as her mother spoke.

“Oh I am SO pleased Bulma has finally brought a nice boy home!”

“Mom!”

“And please, call my Panchy. Mrs Briefs makes me feel so old!”

Bulma rolled her eyes and went to the trunk of the car to retrieve their luggage. Vegeta followed.

“Hey Mom, is there anything to eat? We’ve been on the road for hours.”

“Oh of course honey, I’ll put the kettle on too. Your bedroom is all made up and ready by the way. Why don’t you two go freshen up first.”

Panchy tottered away inside, leaving them alone again. Vegeta grabbed one bag and slung it over his shoulder, the second bag dangling by his side.

“We are sharing a room?”

“Well yeah, you are my boyfriend, where else would you stay.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I like your parents more by the minute.”

She chuckled and punched him playfully in the arm.

“Come on, let’s get something to eat then I can introduce you to my dad.”

The small cat followed Vegeta everywhere he went.

“I think Scratch has taken a shine to him.”

Panchy smiled at Bulma over her cup of tea, both women watching as Vegeta listened intently to Dr Briefs whilst trying to shoo away the little black cat that was now trying to crawl onto his shoulder.

“It would seem so.”

“So, tell me everything, how did you two meet?”

“Oh Mom, really?”

“Well, last time we spoke about your love life you were dating that boy Goku set you up with. Speaking of which, how is darling Goku?”

“Goku is good. But the guy he set me up with was…”

She trailed off. It had been months since she had thought about Yamcha. She wondered how he was doing.

“… well, he wasn’t right for me.”

“But you think Vegeta is?”

She recognized that look in her mother's eye. It spelled trouble.

“Mother, honestly. We have only been together a little while. It is all new still.”

“Well, I am pleased for you honey. You’ve never brought someone home to meet us before. He must be special.”

Bulma sipped her tea and looked back over to Vegeta. Scratch the cat was now curled up contentedly in his arms, tail flicking back and forth.

It was ridiculous to be jealous of a cat. And yet she was.

“Have you heard from Tights recently?”

“Oh you know what your sister is like, always off somewhere new. She sent us a picture last week on a beach somewhere. Her tan is gorgeous but I really hope she is wearing good SPF, you know what sun damage can do to the skin…”

Bulma tuned out as her mother prattled on about the importance of a good skincare routine. It was a spiel that Bulma had heard plenty of times before. She hoped dearly that she had inherited her mother's excellent genes – even getting into her 50's, she had barely a line or wrinkle.

A few minutes later, Vegeta approached, the cat still curled in his arms. Now he was closer, she could hear Scratch purring. Lucky cat.

“Your father has gone to check on something in his lab.”

Bulma smiled, reaching her hand out to scratch the cat behind his ears.

“I guess I should head down there too and explain what’s going on.”

Vegeta looked at her, then over to her mother who was tidying away leftover cakes and biscuits (homemade, of course).

“Not tonight, get some sleep first. You can get a fresh start in the morning.”

“I look that tired huh?”

“Yep, awful.”

They grinned at each other.

“Alright you two, I’m off to try and make your father leave the lab for longer than 20 minutes. Will you be ok entertaining yourselves?”

“Yes Mom, I am sure we will find something to keep ourselves busy.”

“Glad to hear it.”

Panchy winked at them, and out of the corner of her eye, Bulma saw Vegeta straighten.

“Goodnight then!”

With a wave behind her, Panchy left them alone in the kitchen.

“Did… did your mother just wink at us?”

“Looked like it.”

“Does she think… Bulma, does she think that we are going to have sex?”

“Most probably.”

Vegeta had turned a very interesting shade of pink.

“Who knew you were such a prude. Relax, it isn’t like anyone will be listening at the door. We don’t even have to have sex if you don’t want to.”

He looked at her like he might explode if she said another word.

“It would be a real shame though, because my bed here is way bigger than the one back at the apartment. And the en suite shower has a high-pressure setting that really hits the spot, if you know what I mean.”

“You are mocking me aren’t you,” he deadpanned.

“Me? Mock? Never.”

She grinned at him.

“Seriously though, the bed and shower are both excellent. Now put Scratch down and let’s get some rest.”

Vegeta looked at the cat, who was now sleeping peacefully, and then back at Bulma with a silent plea in his eyes.

“Oh honestly Vegeta it is just a cat. Here.”

She scooped Scratch out of his arms, waking the small cat before placing it gently on the floor.

Scratch meowed grumpily at her as she shooed it away.

“Come on Snow White, let’s get you safely locked away before you make all the animals in this place fall in love with you.”

Vegeta blushed pink again and followed her from the room.

“So you need to increase the accuracy of the distance, elevation and azimuth detection without reducing the range?”

“Essentially, yes.”

“Interesting. And just how did you adjust the technology to accommodate sub-atomic particle tracking?”

“Dad, focus. I will explain all that later.”

“Oh yes, sorry dear.”

Bulma and her father sipped their coffee in unison, eyes glued to the radar on the desk in front of them.

“Actually, there is something else I could use your help with.”

“Hmm?”

Bulma put her mug down and turned to her father.

“It’s to do with the Red Ribbon Corporation.”

Her usually docile father stiffened and a steely look crossed his face.

“What has that money-grabbing scoundrel done this time?”

“Dad, I have to warn you, this could be dangerous. I could be putting you in harm's way by telling you. Do you still want to know?”

The anger on Dr Briefs’ face gave way to concern.

“Bulma, what is it? Is everything ok?”

She sighed.

“Actually, I had a run-in with Commander Red at the Papaya City conference a few weeks ago. He and Flappe did a keynote speech showcasing their new “discovery” – an orb that can generate its own energy.”

Dr Briefs’ eyebrows raised.

“I heard about this, of course. It was the talk of the town, metaphorically speaking, for days afterward. But I didn’t realize that you were there. You must have seen it – was it as magical looking as everyone has been saying?”

“Well, you can take a look for yourself actually. See, the thing is…”

And then she told him the whole story. About how her first radar had been stolen, how she had broken into Red’s suite to scan the orb, how she had worked tirelessly to rebuild it and accidentally discovered more orbs, and finally about how she and Vegeta had managed to track one down themselves.

When she was done, Dr Briefs simply stroked his mustache in thought.

“So you need to be able to better identify the location of these orbs so that you can locate them before Red and his goons can replicate your scanner and find out there are more for themselves.”

“Exactly.”

“And you want to research the composition of these orbs in order to try and create a man-made replica.”

“Also correct.”

“And you want to do all this from a tiny workshop bench in a mediocre academic institution.”

“Dad!”

“Well I am just saying honey, you’d have a much easier time of it if you did that research here.”

Bulma gave him a look.

“Yes well, alright I see you have made your mind up. Now I would love to take a look at this orb, do you have it with you?”

“Of course, I wasn’t about to leave it unattended!”

Bulma pulled a tiny capsule from her back pocket. Dr Briefs watched with wide eyes as she took the orb from its safe place, and handed it over to him.

“Fascinating… I wonder what those reactions are at its center.”

“That’s what I am hoping to find out.”

Dr Briefs twisted the ball every which way, held it up to the light, and finally looked back at his daughter.

“Bulma, you are such a clever girl, but please, let me help you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Once you have the radar updated, leave this orb here with me when you go back to school. Let me start investigating it with all the equipment and resources Capsule Corp has available. You can follow your own lines of research on the next orb you gather, then we can collaborate and pool our knowledge.”

Bulma blinked at her father.

“You… you want to collaborate? With me?”

“Of course! You are a brilliant scientist, why wouldn’t I?”

“You’ve never worked WITH anyone before… you’ve had people work FOR you, but… Dad, I’d love to!”

She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her father, squeezing tightly.

“Careful now Bulma, watch the orb!”

Her father chuckled as he patted her back with his free hand, the other still clutching the glowing ball tightly. Bulma untangled herself and sat back in her chair grinning widely.

“Sorry. Now, let’s get to work. We have a lot to do!”

Much like their visit, the goodbye between Bulma and her parents was short and sweet.

Panchy fussed over Vegeta, giving him armful after armful of baked treats, and making him promise to come and stay again soon.

Scratch lived up to its name as both Bulma and her mother struggled to pull the cat off of Vegeta’s jean leg.

And Dr Briefs only emerged from his lab for the briefest farewell before getting straight back to examining the orb.

Before he went, Bulma took him to one side.

“Dad, promise me that you will keep that orb safe. And hidden. I don’t want Red to hear anything about it!”

“Of course, dear, nothing will happen to it. Now safe travels, and let me know how that radar performs won’t you.”

“I will. And YOU let me know as soon as you make any progress, ok? Good luck.”

“And to you.”

She pulled him into a quick hug before slipping into the passenger seat.

She waved to her parents as Vegeta pulled the car out onto the street, and then they were on the road again.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16

“The next nearest ball looks like it is… here.”

Bulma pointed at a small forest on her world map. To the left of her, the radar beeped.

“That one is the one we left with Dad, Red Ribbon Corp is here – thankfully still only one – which leaves these 5.”

Vegeta stood to her other side with his arms folded over his chest, face like thunder.

“I just can’t believe you’ve been hunting magical balls Bulma, that’s kind of crazy, even for you!”

“They aren’t magic Goku, it’s science.”

Goku leaned forward and peered at where she pointed on the map.

“So how are we supposed to get all the way out there? I have classes on Monday you know.”

Vegeta scoffed and Bulma shot him a dirty look.

“Don’t worry. Do you remember the mini plane we used to get to the World Martial Arts Tournament that summer when we were 16? I have it in my wardrobe.”

“No way!? Awesome! In that case, when are we leaving?”

Bulma turned to look at Vegeta, who rolled his eyes and sighed.

“First thing Saturday morning. So, no partying Friday night. Even if we win.”

Goku beamed at his grumpy teammate.

“Well of course we are going to win! But no problem, want me to meet you here?”

“Hey, I know – Goku why don’t you just stay here Friday night? You can stay in my room. I’ll probably be in the lab anyway. And if not, I can just stay in Vegeta’s room.”

Goku looked at her in confusion.

“But won’t Vegeta need his room?”

Too late, she realized what she had done. She was pretty sure that Vegeta was going to murder her, but she pointedly ignored him.

“Oh, er… well, you see, the thing is… Vegeta and I are kind of… dating.”

Goku’s mouth formed a perfect O.

“No. Way. That is… AWESOME! Congrats you guys! Chi-Chi will go nuts when she finds out!”

Bulma cringed.

“Well… she might, already know.”

“How would Chi-Chi know?”

“I might have told her.”

Goku’s face fell.

“You told Chi-Chi but not me!?”

He looked genuinely hurt, and Bulma felt a twinge of guilt.

“We wanted to keep it a secret, and no offense but…”

“You are about as capable of keeping a secret as you are of doing long division in your head.”

At Vegeta’s interruption, Goku just laughed.

“You’ve got me there! Well, anyway, this is great news you guys. Hey, I know - we should double date!”

Vegeta looked like he was about to either throw up or throw a punch.

“Let’s just focus on the task at hand, shall we? It is imperative that we collect this ball before Red gets to it.”

“No problem, Bulma, just leave it to us. We won’t let you down, right Geets?”

Vegeta stepped forward with his hand fisted and Bulma lunged, grabbing hold of his fist and pressing herself against his side. Luckily, Goku didn’t seem to have noticed their strange behavior.

“I have complete faith in you both!”

At her final word, she looked pointedly at Vegeta.

In response, he mouthed “You owe me”.

“Never again.”

“Oh come on Vegeta it can’t have been that bad.”

“He sang. SANG!”

Bulma pulled a face. She knew what Goku’s singing was like.

“Hmm… well at least you found this one quicker than the first one.”

“I would have rather stumbled blindly around the desert with you for the rest of our lives than spent 18 hours with that moron.”

“Aw, if I didn’t know you better, I would take that as a compliment.”

She grinned at him and Vegeta gave her his signature scowl in return. By now, she was starting to suspect that it was to hide a smile.

“Well thank you for suffering for the greater good. Dad’s already made some headway in picking apart the way this thing works, so it will be useful to be able to have one of my own to study.”

They both stared down at the ball, 2 star-shaped reactions fizzing inside it.

“I wonder why, so far, they have had a different number of reactions inside. I’d guess it would correlate to the amount of energy being output but I’d need another one here to really test that…”

She slowly turned her head toward him.

“Oh no. No. No. No.”

“But Vegeta…”

“No, I just got back. I need time to recover from him.”

She pouted.

“What about if Goku doesn’t come this time? I can go instead!”

“What happened to staying in the lab?”

“The improvements to the radar have clearly worked and made the whole thing much easier – no more getting lost in deserts!”

“So you sent me out with that moron just to be your guinea pig and test if your radar worked!?”

“No! Well, I mean not really. You just made it sound so easy last time… and I did feel a bit left out.”

Bulma swore she physically saw Vegeta’s last thread of patience snap.

“Good God woman! You are ridiculous. You want to come, then you complain the whole time, then you want to stay here and make me take the idiot along instead, and now you want to go again!”

“Alright, fine! I will stay here then. Jeez.”

A vein throbbed in Vegeta’s forehead and he looked at her for a long time.

“Fine, come if you must.”

“Hooray!”

She sat forward with a little clap, pleased to once again be getting her way.

“It’s freezing”

“You had better not be complaining.”

“Of course not, I am just making a simple observation.”

Bulma’s breath was visible as she huffed into her gloved palms and rubbed her hands together. The tiny plane sat on a rocky outcropping below them.

The snowy clifftop was a far cry from the desert oasis of the first orb, and Bulma thanked her lucky stars that the radar was far more accurate this time. The only thing worse than clambering across the peaks would be having a broad search area.

Thanks to the upgrades, they knew within a 10m radius where the orb would be and had landed as close as they could safely manage. Now they just had to trek the rest of the way on foot.

Bulma pulled the jacket of her green snowsuit closer around her, glad that she had kept her capsule of winter clothes handy after her last ski trip.

The sun shone deceptively, making the snow and ice around them sparkle prettily. At ground level, it would have been the perfect day for a picnic or a leisurely walk, but up here any warmth offered by the sunshine was quickly negated by the wind and Bulma shivered again.

Ahead of her, Vegeta paused and considered a steep incline. He pulled the radar from where it was clipped on his belt and checked their proximity.

“Looks like it is just up ahead.”

Bulma stopped beside him and surveyed the incline.

“I don’t think we will be getting up that way.”

Vegeta hummed in agreement.

“Stay here, I’ll look for another way round.”

As he disappeared behind an icy boulder, a particularly large gust of wind whistled past Bulma, chilling her to the bone.

“Nope. I am not staying here.”

She scurried after him, rounded the corner, and slammed straight into Vegeta’s front. He reached out and immediately steadied her.

“Well, you didn’t get far.”

He looked unimpressed.

“I didn’t need to. I was just on my way back to get you. There are a few ledges over here that look climbable.”

“Oh, good job. Let’s go, I am freezing my ass off out here.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes but turned and walked back the way he came. Only slightly further ahead were a number of flat surfaces, some large, whereas others looked barely big enough to get a foot on.

As Vegeta climbed onto the first ledge, Bulma grimaced. He looked down at her smugly.

“Regretting your insistence to come yet?”

“No. This is fine. Thank you for your concern.”

His only response was to hold out his hand. Gratefully, Bulma took it and let him haul her up.

They made slow progress, Vegeta carefully testing each foothold before stepping fully forward. More than once one of them slipped, the gusts of wind not helping with either stability or visibility.

Bulma pulled her bobble hat further down.

“Next time I am wearing a full helmet. This weather is playing havoc with my hair.”

Vegeta hauled her up the final ledge before replying.

“Our number one concern for sure.”

“Did you just make a joke? Maybe this frozen hellscape actually IS hell frozen over.”

“Oh ha ha.”

“So, are we there yet?”

Vegeta handed her the radar.

“See for yourself.”

Bulma studied the beeping dot on the screen. Their progress had been minimal but they were closer.

“Hmm. Looks like we need to head a little further west.”

The winds were worse at the higher elevation, and they both shivered as they crossed the slight slope, occasionally sinking almost knee-deep into snow drifts. As the marker finally reached the middle of the radar, Bulma’s foot slipped and she stumbled sideways into a particularly deep pile of snow.

As she popped her head out of the drift, Vegeta laughed. Bulma scowled.

“Yes, I am fine thanks. Now will you come help me up?”

He stepped toward her and leaned down, wrapping his arms under hers and lifting her from the powder.

“Watch your step.”

His voice was low as she looked up at him from frosty eyelashes. The heat in his eyes was almost enough to melt her frozen body. Almost.

“Terrible advice.”

She stepped away from him in a huff and brushed herself down.

“And now I think I have snow in my underwear.”

The wind whipped around them, blowing the freshly disturbed snow up into the air.

“But even worse than that… I don’t see any orbs. Any ideas?”

Vegeta folded his arms over his chest.

“Does the snow ever melt at this altitude?”

“I don’t think so, it is already early summer and there isn’t much to suggest this stuff is going anywhere.”

“That’s good, at least there is a chance that it won't be frozen under all this ice then.”

Bulma nodded.

“True, but that is still a definite possibility, especially if it has been up here for hundreds of years.”

Vegeta crouched down and looked out across the snow.

“Hard to see if there is anything out of the ordinary under all this snow.”

“Maybe we should be looking for, like, less snow or something?”

“Well, I certainly don’t see any less snow anywhere.”

“That’s helpful, thanks so much.”

Bulma crouched down too and thrust her hand into the snow. She dug down as far as she could and then pulled her hand back out. Vegeta watched her with interest, and then mild concern as she unfastened her glove and yanked it off with her teeth.

Thrusting her hand back into the snowy hole, she closed her eyes and wiggled her hand in as many directions as she could before she felt the cold numbing her fingers.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her questioningly as she rubbed warmth back into her hand and pulled the glove back on.

“It might not have visible signs, but the energy each orb releases is a small exothermic reaction. If we can’t see the orb itself, we might be able to feel a slight warmth.”

Without another word, Vegeta dug his right hand into the snow at his feet. Bulma moved another foot forward and then did the same. One after the other, they felt deep in the snow until holes dotted the small area, and Bulma was sure she would never feel her fingers again.

She stood and stretched her aching legs and back. If they didn’t find it soon, the sun would start to set, and she did NOT want to think about the possibility of being stuck up here after dark

The possibility of returning empty-handed was hardly any more appealing.

She stepped into the hole that Vegeta’s hand had just vacated and crouched down next to him.

“Anything?”

He scowled and shook his head slowly.

“No.”

She sighed.

“Perhaps we need to call it a day.”

“Just check the radar once more.”

She pulled it from her pocket and held it in front of them both. The familiar dot flashed… to the left of them.

“It’s… moved?”

Bulma’s heart raced. She was sure that they had been right on top of it before she had tripped.

She looked up and met Vegeta’s furious gaze.

“I SWEAR it was right here when I last checked.”

“Well, where is it now?”

Radar held firmly in front of her, Bulma shuffled left, then forward, and then left again.

“Here.”

She used her boots to kick snow away until she had cleared a small circle around where she stood. Checking the radar again, she crouched and used her free hand to dig at the compacted snow and ice.

Suddenly one of her fingers broke through the ice to reveal a small hollow chamber. A rabbit warren.

“Vegeta look. Rabbits, or hares more likely…”

Vegeta chivvied her out of the way before making short work of the rest of the icy layer. He thrust his hand into the small hole and pulled out the orb.

Bulma almost collapsed into the snow in relief.

“Thank god. It must have been lodged in one of the tunnels and then rolled further in when we started digging around.”

“And you thought this was going to be easy.”

“You can berate me when we are home and warm. Quick, put it in here, and let's get off this stupid mountain.”

Vegeta carefully placed the orb into one of Bulma’s trouser pockets and zipped it securely in place.

The trek back down to the plane was even more treacherous than the way up, and as they finally clambered into the warm shelter of the vehicle, Bulma finally had to admit that as much as she loathed the danger, the adrenaline rush that accompanied these excursions was addictive.

She had always felt a similar buzz when she was making progress in her experiments, but this was different. Having someone alongside her, helping without expecting anything from her, was… nice.

No, nice was a stupid word. It was exhilarating. She and Vegeta were partners.

It gave her a sense of belonging; of connection unlike anything she had ever felt before.

As she put the plane onto autopilot and unzipped her suit, a wave of another, unexpected emotion washed over her, making her heart race.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17

“This is crazy… just look at these readings.”

Bulma sat back from her laptop and gestured at the screen. She had been working on comparing the two orbs all week. So far there didn’t seem to be any discernable differences between them, and certainly nothing that would suggest the reason for the red fizzing reactions.

It had her baffled and she was loving it.

On the other end of the video call, Dr Briefs stroked his mustache. They had both drawn similar conclusions about the orbs - that the power being generated was a genuine alternative for all forms of energy production currently in use, with the benefit of being clean, and self-sustaining.

Thanks to both their stress testing, Bulma was sure that despite their small size, the orbs' potential output was massive.

“It certainly raises more questions than it answers. Have you been able to discern any differences between the orbs you have acquired?”

Bulma shook her head.

“No, as far as I can tell, they are identical in size, output, and chemical composition… not that I have really made much progress in understanding what that is yet.”

“Hmmm. I rather suspect we will be in need of some new equipment to break these things down. Nothing I have used so far has given me any reasonable readings.”

“Is it possible that this is a new chemical element altogether?”

“An interesting hypothesis… can you explain your logic?”

“Well, I was only able to configure the radar after breaking down the scanner readings to an incredibly detailed level. Far more so than anything else I have scanned.”

“But how would the scanner have understood the composition at all if it was something entirely new?”

“Good point. I would assume it was making a best guess.”

Dr Briefs’ eyebrows rose.

“A “best guess”!? Bulma, that is not science…”

“I know, but it’s not unheard of to rationalize unknown data as a misinterpretation of something known. We should at least consider the possibility.”

“Very well. But I am far more keen on the idea that this is simply a very complex combination that no one has encountered or considered before.”

Bulma smiled at him affectionately.

“Sure thing Dad. So have you heard anything about how the Red Ribbon team are progressing with their orb?”

A steely look crossed her father’s face at the mention of Red.

“Not much, but I did hear that one of our interns from a few years ago – you won’t remember him, he ended up in a commercial lab across town – has been accepted to the program they were recruiting for at your conference. He started last week.”

Bulma frowned. If they had already finished with the recruitment, they wouldn’t be far behind her in their research. She had to get the rest of the orbs.

“Thanks, Dad. Keep me updated about any progress. I’m going to switch tracks a bit… We need to work out a way of jamming the radar signal before Red Ribbon figures out that there are more orbs, and that they can use my radar to track them.”

“Good thinking my dear. How about sending me the rest of the orbs for safekeeping whilst you do that?”

Bulma nodded.

“Good idea. I’ll bring them over this weekend.”

As the call disconnected, Bulma sat back and chewed her lip. She hadn’t noticed that she wasn’t alone in the lab.

A week later, Bulma dropped her capsule case into her overnight bag.

She had been working around the clock to get her radar disruptor fully operational and was relieved to finally spend some time out of the lab.

Vegeta had been spending a similarly extortionate amount of time in the library as he crammed for his final exams. She had barely seen him and when they had both been home at the same time, things had felt… a little off between them. Not quite awkward, but lacking the usual effortlessness of their relationship.

Perhaps she was just being silly. Bulma shook off the sense of unease and focused on her packing.

She and Vegeta were spending the weekend together acquiring the 4th orb. The other 3 were safely hidden in the depths of Capsule Corp, in her father’s most private lab, now secured by the additional protection of her radar disruptor.

It would be good for them to spend some time alone together.

Pulling her hiking boots and a pair of cargo pants out of her wardrobe, she paused. The gear was practical but hardly very aesthetically pleasing. In fact, when was the last time that Vegeta had seen her in anything better than leggings, a lab coat, or a hoodie?

Bulma rummaged in her underwear drawer until she found what she was looking for a lacy navy Basque with tiny golden clasps and white ribbons at the shoulders.

This orb was much further afield than the others so they would be spending Saturday night in another motel before heading home on Sunday. The underwear would be a nice surprise for him.

Running her fingers over the soft material, she held it up against her body and looked in the mirror. It had been years since she had bought it. She hoped it still fit.

The ATV bumped along the muddy trail.

Finding themselves in a forest, Bulma had swapped out their usual hatchback for the olive green 2-seater, and boy was she thankful for independent suspension!

The vehicle bounced over tree roots, making slow but consistent progress down a rocky path as they wound through the trees.

Bulma, in the passenger seat this time, checked the radar again.

“Keep a look out for any way of heading right.”

Vegeta nodded, then braked, shifting down a gear as they descended a small slope into a shallow stream of water.

“We can follow the bank along to the right now. Will that get us close?” “Yep, it shouldn’t be much further from here.”

As they ascended the bank, a loud bang made Vegeta slam on the brakes and Bulma almost jump out her seat.

“What the fuck was that?” she shouted.

“An explosion. Look, there's a cloud of dust to our left.”

Sure enough, as she looked past his shoulder, tendrils of smoke started to appear above the tree line.

Bulma cursed under her breath. Whoever else was out here, it would only make their job harder.

“Let’s find somewhere concealed to park and go the rest of the way on foot. I don’t know who is out here blowing shit up, but I think it’s best that we avoid them.”

Vegeta crept the ATV along the bank and around the side of the nearest rock big enough to conceal the small vehicle.

He switched off the engine and they jumped out, instinctively keeping a low profile.

They continued to follow the radar through the trees in a far more direct path than they could ever have taken with the ATV, quickly closing the gap to the marker.

It was about 2 minutes later that they found themselves in trouble.

Vegeta saw it before she did, and grabbed her arm to pull her back behind the trees before she was spotted.

Ahead of them, in a large clearing, was what looked to be an excavation site.

Tents had been erected, and wooden crates were stacked in piles throughout the space, with more loaded into the backs of massive vehicles. It was everything you would expect from an archeological dig, but this was not an attempt to find historical artifacts. This was a near-military-level operation to find an orb.

“Shit.”

“Red Ribbon?”

“Yep, see the logo on those crates?”

Vegeta nodded.

“So I guess they worked out your radar then.”

“What do we do? We can’t let them have it.”

Her heart was pounding, her brain working at a thousand miles a minute. This was bad.

Vegeta physically turned her body away from the site and looked her straight in the eyes as he spoke slowly.

“Calm down. We won’t let them get it. We have more experience than them, and your radar is better.”

Bulma took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and nodded.

“Ok. What do we do?”

“Easy. We sneak right past them. How far are we from the orb?”

Bulma looked down, furrowed her brow, checked again, then started to laugh quietly.

“Jeez, my first radar really must have been crap, they aren’t even near!”

She held the radar out to Vegeta, who took it and raised one eyebrow as he gave it a thorough inspection.

He huffed out a small laugh before handing it back to her.

“Lucky for us you weren’t smarter.”

“Hey! Rude.”

“Quiet. Someone’s coming.”

They ducked deeper into the shadows of the trees as 2 men emerged from the nearest tent. Bulma recognized Flappe immediately, but the man next to him was someone she had never seen before.

He was tall and muscular, with a chiseled jaw, white-blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes.

He should be handsome but there was a cruelness about him that put Bulma on edge. She shrank back against Vegeta’s side and was briefly distracted when he put his arm around her, pulling her closer against him.

“How much longer Doctor? We have blown up half this damned clearing already.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Blue. The orb is around here somewhere, we must keep searching.”

The blonde man sneered.

“You say it is around here, but how do you know we haven’t blown it sky-high already?”

“These balls are as near indestructible as anything on this planet. I had hoped the dynamite would have been the quickest way to unearth it, but perhaps we must adopt a different approach…”

They were out of earshot now, and Bulma sighed.

“They haven’t found it yet. Good.”

“Hmm. Still, I’d rather not hang around here. Let’s go.”

He held out his hand and Bulma took it appreciatively.

Slowly, they edged around the clearing, taking care to stay concealed by trees, crates, tents… whatever they could find to make sure they weren’t spotted by the numerous scientists and guards throughout the camp.

When they finally had enough distance from the site to feel confident that they wouldn’t be spotted, they stopped to consult the radar again.

“Much closer now. God, Red would be furious if he knew they were searching in the wrong place!”

“Save your celebrating for after WE have found it.”

“Yeah yeah. It should be just over… there.”

Bulma pointed in the direction they had been headed.

“Good. Let’s go.”

With a huff, she tucked the radar back into her pocket and followed Vegeta.

Past the clearing, the trees became rocks, and the rocks became cliffs.

“This is the place. Or as close as the radar can get us anyway.”

Bulma spun in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings.

Dust and noise from the Red Ribbon camp still floated across to them when the wind blew, but otherwise, it was peaceful.

A large bird flew overhead, casting a shadow over them as it passed. Bulma watched as it landed in a nest tucked into the side of the rock. She squinted up at it and came to an unwelcome realization.

“Hey, Vegeta…”

He turned and gave her a questioning look.

Bulma pointed to the bird's nest.

“We should follow the signs of life, right?”

Vegeta looked up at the ledge, considered it for a moment, and then sighed.

“Great.”

Carefully, they navigated a path around to the top of the cliff, just above the ledge where the nest was perched.

The cliff wasn’t massive, probably only 40 feet or so, but tall enough to give Bulma the heebie-jeebies.

She leaned forwards as much as she dared but couldn’t see the nest.

“God dammit. I’m not close enough to get a good look, and I don’t see any way to get down there. I’ll have to lean over. Here, hold my legs will you?”

She unclipped the radar from her belt and held it out to him to take – it would only get in the way now. Vegeta scowled but took the radar from her.

“You are not dangling over this cliff. I will do it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you are too heavy for me to keep ahold of. Come on, I’ll be quick.”

Bulma dropped to her knees and crawled carefully towards the cliff edge. Looking down, she swallowed nervously. Maybe this hadn’t been the best idea after all.

Then Vegeta’s hands wrapped around her calves, warm and strong.

Bulma closed her eyes, took a deep breath let herself absorb some of that strength. She was safe, he had her.

Calm now, Bulma shimmied forward… then further forward, and then even further forward. The top half of her body was over the cliff edge as she bent at the hip, stretching toward the ledge.

The bird had had the good sense to fly off as soon as it had seen them, and now it squawked at her as it watched from a nearby tree.

Bulma glared at it out of the corner of her eye and then stretched her arm out fully to reach into the nest.

Careful not to dislodge the entire thing, she patted around the mess of twigs, feeling for the familiar round object.

Sure enough, it only took a few moments for her fingers to brush against an orb, nestled securely against the rockface.

“Got it!”

Vegeta didn’t waste a second in grabbing her belt and hauling her back over the top.

She barely had time to regain her surroundings when she heard the unmistakable click of a gun being cocked.

Time stood still. Vegeta, one hand still on her leg, was frozen in place. Their eyes met.

“Miss Briefs I assume?”

The voice coming from behind them was deep and familiar. They had heard it less than a half hour before, in the Red Ribbon camp.

Fear and dread started to spread through Bulma’s chest as she made the connection, but she knew she couldn’t show it. Instead, she straightened her spine and turned to glare at the man Flappe had called Blue.

“What’s it to you?”

Her voice was cold, and she managed to keep it from shaking. Thank goodness.

Blue, however, just looked amused.

“I suggest you give me that ball if you want to get out of here whilst you’re both still breathing.”

He cocked his head and smiled at them.

That smile would haunt her nightmares. She had never seen such malice. It seemed to seep from his every pore, barely restrained by his tightly coiled muscles. The gleam in his eye seemed to be daring them to challenge him, and hoping that they would.

Bulma’s every instinct was telling her to run, but her body wouldn’t move. She was frozen in place by his icy stare.

Vegeta’s hand tightened on her leg, and she broke her gaze away from Blue to look at him.

The message in his eyes was clear: do what he says.

She gave a microscopic shake of her head. There was no way she could just hand it over, not after all the work they had put into collecting them.

She took a deep breath and got to her feet, pulling Vegeta up with her.

Blue sighed and walked towards them. The look in Vegeta’s eyes intensified, pleading with her.

Blue stopped in front of her, the gun now pointed at her chest. Instinctively she stepped backwards and was quickly reminded of the 40-foot drop mere inches behind her.

She grabbed at Vegeta’s arm before she stumbled straight off the edge, and he pulled her as far behind him as he could manage in the restricted space.

“Touching. Come on now girl. Hand it over.”

She stared daggers at him, but neither of them could do anything to resist as he leaned forward and snatched the ball from her.

Fury burned through her as Blue inspected the orb.

“So much effort for this tiny thing. I don’t get it.”

Bulma jerked forward in an attempt to snatch it back, but Vegeta held her back.

Blue looked back at them and smirked.

“Good girl, now come along. The Commander will be keen to see you.”

Bulma shrank behind Vegeta. This could not be happening. It was bad enough that the Commander was going to get another orb, but if he ever found out about what she had done, she was going to be in big trouble.

Blue’s voice was even harder as he spoke again.

“Do not make me ask again. The second time will not be so pleasant. Come.”

He grabbed Bulma by the arm and yanked her out from behind Vegeta so suddenly that neither had time to react.

The gun was still pointed at Bulma’s chest as he kept a grip on her arm tight enough to leave bruises.

Vegeta looked panicked and stunned as his eyes flickered from Blue to the gun, to the hand on Bulma’s arm. She could tell from his stance that he wanted to move, to do something, but he didn’t dare.

Blue must have seen it too. He stepped backward, pulling Bulma with him.

“Boy, stay here and count to 100. If I see you move, I will shoot you AND your little girlfriend.”

Step by step, Blue dragged her with him down the cliff and back to the Red Ribbon camp. The whole time, Vegeta never moved, and his eyes never left hers.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18

Locked in an empty break room, Bulma was furious.

After Blue had hauled her into the camp, Flappe had taken one look at her, grimaced and then ordered the men to start packing up immediately. She had been taken with Flappe and Blue to a massive truck, which in turn had taken them out to a nearby helicopter.

They had flown back to Red Ribbon HQ with barely a word spoken between them.

As soon as the helicopter had landed, Bulma was handed off to a waiting team of guards, these ones impeccably dressed in clean fatigues with polished shoes and matching buzzcuts.

The room they led her to was small and sterile, attached to the side of an empty lab. There were no windows, and only one door. Along one wall was a low sofa and coffee table, and the opposite wall had been turned into a small kitchen – a fridge freezer hummed softly, next to a sink and draining rack, with a selection of cupboards above and below.

As the door clicked closed behind her, Bulma surveyed the room, sighed and then checked the cupboards – all empty. It didn’t seem that the lab was currently in use, so it was very unlikely that anyone would be popping by to unlock the door and let her out.

Even if there was someone around, no one in the facility had spared her a second glance as she had been escorted along the winding corridors to get here. She had the distinct feeling that the scientists in Red’s employ knew better than to question the actions of their uniform-clad counterparts.

There was no chance of help from any of them, she decided. She would have to find her own way out of this mess.

She paced one last lap of the room then threw herself back on the sofa and put her head in her hands.

How had it all gone so wrong, so quickly.

There hadn’t been any signs that Flappe and his team were making progress of any kind, let alone to the extent that they could be out in the field collecting more of the orbs!

But her father had told her that they had finished recruiting. She should have known that having that amount of manpower and resources would mean Red would catch up with her quickly.

She’d been naïve to think that she could outsmart them in just a college lab, with a handful of help.

Her thoughts switched to Vegeta. She wondered if he was home safe yet.

Guilt racked her at the thought of leaving him out there alone. There wasn’t much she could have done with Blue’s gun pointed at her, but she still felt that she had let him down.

She would have to make it up to him somehow, but first she had to get out of here. She had to do something.

Her inner pep talk was interrupted by a key twisting in the lock again.

Bulma looked over just as a young man in a dark suit opened the door and stepped inside.

His gaze roved over her briefly before he smirked.

“Miss Briefs, you’ll be coming with me. The Commander is ready to see you now.”

Red’s office was more like a Whiskey bar than a place of work. Long burgundy curtains, with matching burgundy leather seats, and dark wooden paneling seemed to absorb all the light from the room.

Behind a truly gargantuan desk, Red was lazing in a high-backed chair, surrounded by men in a mix of suits and military-style uniforms. Blue, the only person that Bulma recognized, was standing behind Red’s right shoulder, arms clasped behind his back. He looked disinterested by the room and the men within it.

As she walked through the heavy wooden doors, Red puffed out a long stream of cigar smoke.

Bulma scrunched her nose.

“Miss Briefs.”

Red’s usual drawl was tinged with hostility. Bulma stood a little straighter, raised her head, and looked down her nose at him.

“Commander.”

“You have been a naughty girl.”

Red waggled his finger at her mockingly and the men in the room erupted into laugher and jeers. Bulma looked around at them as she fought every instinct in her body to not shrink into herself. Blue, she noticed, didn’t so much as crack a smile.

As the laughter died down, Red sat back in the chair and considered her. Bulma kept her expression schooled into something neutral and bored. She thought of Vegeta and how he was able to radiate distaste. She had seen him do it enough times to be able to emulate it, or so she hoped.

It must be working, as Red seemed to grow more annoyed as each second of silence passed.

“I heard that you had had some tech stolen at the conference recently. How unfortunate for you.”

Cold fury flashed through her. She already knew he was the one who had stolen it of course, but he was basically admitting it to her now; taunting her, trying to get a response.

Not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her angry was possibly the hardest thing she had ever done.

She huffed in faux-amusement.

“That old thing? Hardly an inconvenience to me. Wait… You didn’t actually think I had brought the best version to the conference did you?”

She laughed humorlessly.

Red flushed pink and his eyes sparked with anger.

He turned away from her and spoke to Blue.

“Has Flappe given you an update yet?”

Blue, who still looked bored, shook his head slightly.

“Not yet Sir. Would you like me to pay him a visit?”

“Don’t bother yourself Blue, it is only a matter of time.”

A couple of military men who were now out of Red’s line of sight were looking at her intently. One of them licked his lips and winked at her. Her stomach roiled.

Blue didn’t miss a beat. Without a second’s hesitation stepped forward and kicked the man in the back of the knee, sending him to the ground with a yelp.

“You are a soldier, not some horny teenager.”

Blue interspersed each word with a hard kick to the man’s side, and Bulma inhaled sharply, taken aback by the sudden intense violence. When he finished, Blue stood straight, pushed bits of fallen hair back from his forehead, and straightened his jacket.

The soldier was curled into a ball on the floor, clutching his side and whimpering quietly.

Everyone else in the room was silent, standing ramrod straight and looking straight ahead.

Bulma couldn’t stop herself from shaking with shock, adrenaline, and fear. She tried to calm her breathing and fisted her hands at her sides.

Red tutted.

“We will treat Miss Briefs with respect boys, she has been and will be a great help to us.”

He gestured to the man on the floor, and 2 of the nearby soldiers hauled him up by the armpits and dragged him from the room.

Bulma turned her attention back to Red. She took a deep breath.

“I think you’ve been smoking more than just cigars Commander. I will never help a monster like you.”

“Of course you will girl, this is for the good of the planet! Clean energy!”

He gesticulated passionately as he spoke, ash dropping from the cigar between his fingers.

Bulma shook her head in disbelief.

“For the good of your bank balance, you mean! I wasn’t born yesterday; I know better than to think you would do anything for the benefit of anyone other than yourself.”

The smile disappeared from Red’s face and for the first time since entering the room, Bulma was genuinely scared for herself. Her bullish façade slipped as the silence stretched on, her shoulders hunched as she began to physically shrink away from him.

When Red next spoke, his voice was almost unrecognizably slow and deep.

“You will help Flappe and his team one way or the other. If you don’t do it freely, I will find much less pleasant ways, but the end result will be the same. You will help.”

Bulma swallowed and said nothing.

Red sat back and smiled, his demeanor switching back to the charismatic CEO that he often portrayed to the world.

“I am so glad we had this meeting. I think we understand each other better now, don’t you? Blue, take her back to lab B3 on your way to see Flappe. We will give her a few hours to consider her position.”

For the next week, Bulma struggled between the urge to break something, her passion for good science, and self-preservation.

She was watched like a hawk, with one of Blue’s men hovering no more than a few feet away from her at all times.

Despite herself, the thrill of making progress with the orb research often proved too enticing and she found herself genuinely contributing to their work.

As the days passed with less resistance from her, she was given more freedom and guarded less closely, even being allowed to work in one of the bigger labs with Flappe and his team.

The whole facility was state of the art, like Capsule Corp on a much larger scale, only where there was laughter, chat, and celebration amongst the teams working with her father, here everyone worked in mostly autonomous silence. There was also a distinct lack of women in the facility, which meant there was rarely ever anyone to guard her when she used the bathrooms, and she had been using every opportunity possible to smuggle supplies from the lab into her usual cubicle.

A scalpel, various test tubes of acids… she wasn’t sure she would have the guts to attempt an escape, but it couldn’t hurt to have them hidden.

At night, she locked herself back in the break room attached to the side of Lab B3, which had hastily been converted into a small bedroom. The sofa had been replaced by a mattress, and a hanger with spare clothes had appeared when she had returned from her meeting with Red.

She was grateful for the lock on the door, and for the fact that Blue’s men seemed more afraid of him than they were interested in her. Occasionally, when she had been alone in a lab, or walking back to her room late at night, one of them would try to make a pass at her.

The first time, she had struck out and slapped a guy for having the balls to pull at the collar of her lab coat. He had only laughed, then leaned in close to her face and whispered how he liked feisty women.

The second time, when one of her guards took the key to her room from her and dangled it just out of her reach, she ignored his taunts and calmly demanded he give it back until he got bored, and threw it on the floor for her to pick up.

Now, when someone reached too close to her she would shrink away. Day after day, she felt herself being worn down. She hated it, hated how scared and weak she was. But what choice did she have – she would just have to get through it as best she could and sooner or later they would have to let her go.

Red was a hard taskmaster. As if the strict targets and timescales weren’t enough evidence of that, Bulma was given a harsh reminder on her second Thursday in one of the larger labs.

She was working alongside a few of the most senior scientists when Red himself appeared.

He sauntered into the lab unannounced, with Mr Black at his heels.

He smiled at them all as he strolled along the rows and stopped at a bench on the opposite side of the room to Bulma.

Without warning, he then swept the entire lab table to the floor. Glass shattered, equipment broke apart, and electronics sparked as they clattered to the floor. Bulma jumped to her feet, adrenaline spiking. The scientist at the bench was frozen in terror as Red, without pause, grabbed him by the lapel of his coat and pulled him so they were face to face.

Shaking with anger, he spat words in the man’s face.

“You thought I wouldn’t find out?”

The man shrank back, desperately trying to put space between himself and the enraged Commander.

“I... I don’t know what you mean.”

Bulma couldn’t bring herself to look away as the man stammered and shook, eyes wide and panicked.

Red roared and threw the man away. He staggered, then fell to the floor, scattering the broken glass around him.

“Black.”

At the sound of his name, Mr Black opened the door and a pair of uniformed guards entered. The man on the floor started to sob as he scurried backwards, cutting his palms on the broken glass in the process.

“Please!” he screamed, “Please, no, this isn’t right! You have to believe me! I never… I would never…”

But his pleas fell on deaf ears. The guards hauled him up by his arms and dragged him from the room.

Red, arms behind his back turned to the others, frozen in place at their benches. The calm smile was back on his face. It was one of the most disturbing things Bulma had ever witnessed.

“One of you, tidy this up,” he gestured to the remnants of the man's bench before walking out, still smiling.

As he left the room, the others sprang into life, clearing away the mess in silence, with their heads bowed low.

Bulma sat at her station and watched, her eyes continuing to be drawn to the smears of blood where the glass had sliced into the man's hands. What the hell had just happened?

“Is anyone going to say anything about that?”

Her voice, tone sharp, cut through the room. She was steadfastly ignored.

“Hey, anyone? What the fuck was that?”

They continued to pretend that she hadn’t spoken.

Bulma sighed and shook her head.

“I guess not then…”

Workbench righted, and mess cleared away, the other men quickly resumed their work, acting for all the world as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. For all Bulma knew, it hadn’t. This could be totally normal practice here. It was a horrifying thought.

Later, when 2 of the scientists left for a dinner break, the man next to her shuffled closer and spoke under his breath.

“I don’t know what he did, but we won’t be seeing him again.”

He left without another word.

Bulma often forgot where she was. The labs felt like a dungeon, and she a princess locked far away from civilization, held captive by an evil lord or wizard.

But in reality, Red Ribbon Corporation was a scientific institute, and, just like Capsule Corp, it was open to the public.

During the week they would often host school visits, and on weekends there were public tours.

Obviously, the tours would only ever touch the surface of RRC – the shiniest labs with staged experiments and fancy-looking equipment. The tours definitely never went anywhere near where she and the teams were working on the orbs.

Which was why Bulma was so surprised when she looked up from her slow trudge to one of the bigger storage rooms and saw a tour guide.

The woman was wearing the traditional Red skirt suit and pumps that acted as her uniform, and her hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a red ribbon.

The woman had her back to Bulma and appeared to be berating a tall, muscular man with long, jet-black hair that was tied in a loose ponytail at the nape of his neck. The man looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite place him. As Bulma watched, he raised an arm and shifted his body to rest against the wall, then leaned down towards the woman with a heated gaze.

She was close enough now to be able to hear the conversation.

“Where is your friend?” The guide's voice was much softer than Bulma had expected.

“What do you care about him for? Aren’t I enough?”

The woman blushed at the man's undeniably flirty tone.

“You… you shouldn’t be here, the tour doesn’t go this way.”

Bulma smiled. It was nice to know that some things never changed. This man was in for a rude awakening if the woman called the guards on him, but something about their body language made Bulma think that was quite unlikely to happen.

As she turned the corner, she almost slammed straight into someone coming the other way.

She cried out in surprise, then opened her mouth to either apologize or yell for this man to watch where he was going (she would decide which when she had seen who she had run into), but the words died in her throat.

In front of her stood the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was muscular but lean, not overly tall, with a slim face and pointed chin. And today he was wearing glasses.

Vegeta, eyes wide, raised a finger to his lips to shush her, then looked around.

Bulma grabbed his hand and pulled him into the nearest store room. It was small and rarely used, they would be safe here, at least for a few minutes.

As soon as the door closed, she launched herself into his open arms. He crushed her to him and she felt tears stinging her eyes.

He was here. He was really here. It wasn’t a dream. Not this time.

“Vegeta…”

His mouth crashed down onto hers, silencing her sob. Their tongues danced, hands grabbed at each other desperately. It had been so long, and she was so desperate for comfort, for connection, for him.

Overwhelmed, she eventually pulled away.

She looked him up and down as he did the same. His gaze was assessing, looking for visible signs of how she was, whereas she simply wanted to burn his image into her brain.

“You’ve lost weight.”

His voice was icy calm, but something about his words, or maybe just his presence here snapped her out of her bubble, and she panicked.

Vegeta watched as her breathing quickened and fear lit her eyes.

“What are you doing here!? You can’t be here, Vegeta, you can’t. It isn’t safe, these people are dangerous.”

Her voice wobbled and tears welled in her eyes.

“It’s okay. They won’t find me.”

He pulled her in close for another bone-crushing hug and felt her shaking.

“Thank god you are okay.”

“Vegeta… please.” It took all her strength but she pulled out of his arms again. The tears were falling in earnest now. “You don’t understand! Go. Please.”

“We are going to get you out of here, do you hear me?”

“No, you can’t be here. They know who you are. They have the radar working better now too. They will find the orbs, you have to get rid of them, tell my dad he has to. You have to warn him. He will be safer at Capsule Corp, Red can’t just barge in, but it is only a matter of time, you don’t understand what Red is like.”

Vegeta leaned his forehead against hers and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Calm down, it is all under control. Your dad was the first person I called when Red took you. We have a plan. I just need you to hang on a little bit longer. Be strong. You can do this.”

She pulled him in for a kiss, desperate. She had to tell him. Had to make sure he knew.

“Vegeta… I…”

The bang of a door being slammed close by made them both jump. Vegeta slapped a hand over her mouth and positioned himself in between her and the door, poised and ready.

Ready to do what, she didn’t know.

Footsteps approached, then disappeared as whoever had been outside carried on down the corridor.

Bulma let out a shuddering breath as Vegeta relaxed.

“Please…” she took his hand between hers and squeezed it hard. “Go. Whilst you still can.”

He looked at her; at her tears, the shadows under her eyes, the gauntness of her cheeks, and the way her body seemed to be shrinking before his very eyes, and fury burned hot and violent inside him.

“He will suffer for what he has done to you. I don’t care who he is. He will pay.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 19

It was almost midnight. Bulma stretched her arms over her head and wiggled her toes. She was at a good stopping point, time to call it a day.

Above her, the lights flickered. She looked up, but it already seemed like they were back to normal. Strange, but perhaps she had just imagined it. It had been a long day after all.

Stifling a yawn, she stood from her bench, and patted her coat pocket to check her bedroom key was still where it should be. She made sure to keep it close at hand whenever she returned to her room late at night.

From down the hall she heard a crash followed by a door slamming.

Her head jerked toward the door, and she was immediately on high alert. Bulma knew better than to ignore such signs in a place like this.

Quickly and quietly, she slunk to the lab door and turned off the lights, twisting the inner knob until the lock clicked into place.

Bulma pressed herself against the wall and peered through the glass to watch for any signs of the disturbance getting closer.

In the distance, she heard footsteps. Too many for just one person, it sounded like a group.

Bulma’s eyes darted around the lab, looking for anything she could use as a weapon. She would much rather hide until any trouble had passed, but she wouldn’t hesitate to defend herself. Not this time.

The footsteps were slowly getting louder, accompanied by the sound of doors opening and closing. Whoever it was, it seemed like they were looking for something in the labs.

This wasn’t good. They couldn’t be more than a few doors down from her now.

Desperately, she opened the nearest cupboard and grabbed an intravenous syringe from a rack. The element of surprise and a well-timed stab might just buy her enough time to run. It was a long shot, but it would have to do.

The footsteps were much closer now, and she could hear muffled voices.

She didn’t dare stay out in the open anymore, even with the door locked. The only place to hide where she could escape quickly would be under one of the workbenches near the entrance.

Quickly, she slipped under the table just as a shadow passed in front of the door.

The handle rattled.

“Shit. This one’s locked.”

The voice belonged to a man. He whispered but she could still hear the urgency in his voice.

The door rattled again.

“Just move on to the next one.”

A second voice, male again, and deeper this time.

“No. We check every one.”

The third voice had her freeze in place under the desk. This voice was not a whisper like the others, it was loud and commanding, and without a second thought she scurried out from her hiding place, unlocked the door, and pulled it open.

“Bulma!”

Krillin’s cheerful voice greeted her from where the door had been mere seconds ago. Next to him, the deeper voice had come from the long-haired man who she had seen flirting with the tour guide. A tanned arm pushed them both aside and Vegeta, the owner of the third voice, shoved his way through, Goku quick on his heels.

A sob of relief burst from her.

They were here. Vegeta had said that they would come for her, and they had.

Her knees felt weak, and she was sure that she would have gone down if Vegeta hadn’t immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hallway.

“Come on, we have to move.”

Confusion washed over her; her brain was not entirely sure it could comprehend this turn of events. But then again, wasn’t it just like Vegeta to forego any kind of emotional reunion, especially in front of others.

He led her down one hallway after another, navigating the maze of laboratories almost better than she could, and eventually came to a stop in front of a security office.

Krillin knocked on the door 3 times, then stopped, then gave it another couple of taps with his knuckles. The door unlocked and out peeked another familiar pair of blue eyes.

“Hurry up and get in here.”

Following the voice's instructions, they all crammed into the small room, and once the security door was firmly locked behind them, they finally relaxed.

Goku teared up as he locked his arms around Bulma and squeezed her for all he was worth.

“Goku…” she gasped as he babbled about never seeing her again. “Goku, get off me. I can’t breathe.”

He let her go with a sniff and then chuckled.

“Guess I don’t know my own strength, huh?”

Bulma caught a quick glimpse of Vegeta. She noticed that a vein in his forehead was thrumming a steady beat. When they got home, she would look for remedies for high blood pressure. She had a feeling they could both benefit from that.

“God, am I glad to see you guys, but can someone please explain this all to me? How did you get here? And how did you get past the security systems? And what about the guards? And what on earth is Lazuli doing with you?”

She gestured to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl sitting in the security office’s command chair. Of all the people she had imagined coming to her rescue, Lazuli had never, and Bulma expected that even if she had been captive for a full year still never would have, even crossed her mind.

Goku was the first to answer.

“That was a bit of a team effort… we owe Papa Briefs and the rest of Capsule Corp for lending us some crazy tech that they had built, not to mention the help of the best Saiyan talent we have to offer.”

He puffed his chest out with pride, and grinned, looking like he was having the time of his life.

“They are making a distraction on the other side of the building. And once Lazuli disabled the security systems, the rest was easy!”

“Right… and just how did you rope Lazuli into this?”

Lazuli was looking steadfastly at the floor, her hands balled into fists at her sides. She had always been quiet, but this was the first time that Bulma had seen her look uncomfortable. No way that could be a good sign.

Bulma furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Krillin accusatorially.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that!” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “It’s a long story ok. But Lazuli really…”

“It’s because of my brother.”

Lazuli practically shouted, cutting Krillin off and making half the inhabitants of the room jump.

Bulma blinked in confusion.

“Lapis?”

When Lazuli next spoke, it was as if she was trying to get all the words out as quickly as possible.

“Yes, he overheard you in the lab discussing the orbs with your father one night and sold the information to Red in exchange for a funded role in their best lab.”

Bulma gawked at her. She hadn’t thought Lapis and Lazuli were her friends exactly, but the apparent ease with which Lapis had sold her out… hurt. It hurt more than she would have thought.

“He never imagined that his actions would have had such disastrous consequences for you! You have to believe me, it wasn’t malicious!”

Vegeta scoffed.

“He was just trying to get ahead. As soon as I found out what he had done, and that you were missing, I knew I had to help.”

Krillin took Lazuli’s hand and squeezed it.

“And it was a good job she came to us. Without Lazuli and your father, we would never have been able to get this far this fast.”

Bulma was speechless. The best she could manage was to stutter “Well… ok then.”

A few moments passed in silence before finally being broken by Vegeta; pragmatic as always.

“What are you all waiting for, let’s get out of here.”

He took hold of Bulma’s wrist to lead her out of the room, but she pulled against him.

“Wait a minute, we can’t just leave all the other orbs here… and the radar, their research! It’s too dangerous for Red to have this kind of power.”

The vein in Vegeta’s forehead throbbed again, and he looked like he might punch something. She just hoped it wouldn’t be her.

“Bulma…” he began. His tone was icy, but the warning wouldn’t sway her.

“No, Vegeta you have to trust me. I have seen things whilst I have been here. I have seen what he is capable of. He cannot be allowed to harness the power of these orbs. It would be catastrophically bad.”

He met her gaze, and she desperately tried to convey the seriousness of the situation.

“Vegeta,” her voice was lower this time, speaking only to him, “if we leave those orbs behind, Red will win.”

He sighed.

“Fine. Let’s split up. The distraction will only last so long.”

He turned to Lazuli, who Bulma noticed was still holding hands with Krillin.

“Can you clear us a safe path further in?”

Lazuli nodded slowly.

“I believe so. And I guess you will be wanting this,” she pulled the radar out of a backpack on the desk and handed it to Vegeta. “I will follow your path on the security cameras and clear the way as much as possible.”

“Very well, I’ll meet the rest of you outside.”

There was a cry of outrage from the rest of the group.

“You aren’t going alone.”

“I am coming too.”

“You’ll need backup.”

Vegeta opened his mouth, no doubt to argue with them all, but Bulma quickly interrupted.

“Krillin, you stay with Lazuli to watch for any trouble nearby. Make sure that whatever happens, you both get out safely. Together.”

Krillin nodded solemnly and Lazuli looked at him with, if Bulma wasn’t mistaken, the slightest hint of adoration in her eyes.

Bulma turned to Goku.

“Goku, you and… I’m sorry, who are you?”

The long-haired man bent down, took her hand, and kissed it flamboyantly.

“Raditz, at your service.”

“Sure, great. Goku and Raditz, you guys should head up this hallway here,” she pointed to one of the monitor screens showing footage from the security cameras, “and then go left. You will find Flappe’s office and personal lab. We need to get or destroy all the documents there. I suggest using an EMP to make sure everything is corrupted.”

Goku looked at her blankly.

“You want us to use music to do what?”

“What? Oh, no, not an MP3 you moron, an EMP - an electro-magnetic pulse. It works like a giant solar flare and can cause damage to technology. We will use it to wipe his hard drive. There are plenty of parts in these labs that we can use to make one, and then all you have to do is get into Flappe’s lab, grab any paper copies, then start the timer that will activate the EMP. Think you can do that?”

Goku and Raditz looked at each other and Goku shrugged.

“Sure, doesn’t sound so hard.”

Bulma sincerely wished there was another choice for this.

“You fill me with such confidence. Anyway, Vegeta, you and I will go get those orbs.”

“Absolutely not. You will stay here until I return.”

“But Vegeta…”

“No. No “but”. I mean it. You can trust me with this Bulma. I can do it by myself.”

“But you don’t have to do it by yourself. No one has had more practice with the radar than me, I can help.”

“You have been through enough.”

“Yeah Bulma,” Goku chimed in. “How about I go with Vegeta and you do the imp thing?”

Bulma had had enough. She stamped her foot tempestuously.

“Listen up! You,” she pointed to Goku, “will come with me to make the EMP, then you will go to Flappe’s office. You,” she pointed to Raditz, “will go with him to keep an eye on him and make sure that nothing gets missed.”

Raditz raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing.

“And you,” she pointed to Vegeta, “you will come with me to get those orbs because we are better as a team, and you will not argue about it. Am I clear?”

Vegeta scowled, blushed, and looked away from her. The very faintest ghost of a smile played over his lips.

“Erm, you guys…”

Lazuli pointed to one of the screens which showed an image of a meeting room. Before, it had been only static.

“They are getting parts of the security system back online. We are going to have to hurry if you want to get the orbs, destroy the research and make it out of here in one piece.”

Raditz cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders a few times.

“Let’s do this. Science girl, we need that EMP ASAP.”

Bulma nodded her head once, decidedly.

“Okay. Lazuli, Krillin, good luck. We will see you outside. Everyone else, come with me. The lab I need to build the EMP is on the way to Flappe and Red’s offices. I’m willing to bet that is where he has their orbs.”

Vegeta, to his credit, didn’t argue with her this time.

Bulma was wrong.

The orbs weren’t in Red’s office.

After she’d finished quickly building the EMP, and they waved Goku and Raditz on their separate way, Bulma and Vegeta sped along corridor after corridor towards the cluster of dots on the radar screen.

Several times they needed to duck into storerooms, bathrooms, or empty labs in order to hide from passing guards. As they found themselves heading deeper and deeper into the facility, Bulma grew more and more uneasy. Her friends had risked so much to come here, and now she was putting them all at even greater risk by staying.

At the sound of rushed footsteps up ahead, Vegeta pulled open the nearest door and ushered her inside.

This supply closet was different from the others. Instead of chemicals and lab equipment, it was full of military gear.

“We must be in the guard’s stations now.”

Bulma squatted to take a closer look at a large box on the bottom row.

“Holy shit, this is a box of grenades!”

Vegeta shushed her, one ear still pressed to the door, listening as the footsteps hurried past them.

Bulma pulled one grenade from the box and examined it carefully.

“Bulma! Put that back!”

“Shh, it isn’t an explosive. This is a smoke bomb of some kind.”

“I do not care. It is dangerous.”

“It is, and that is why I think we should take them.”

“Are you mad?”

“Probably. But think about it, we are unarmed and completely at the mercy of any guards we happen to stumble into. At least with these we can cause a distraction that might let us get away.”

The muscles in his jaw clenched and he grumbled.

“I see your logic. But I do not like this idea.”

“My excellent idea. Now come here and put on one of these uniforms. If we do get spotted we might be able to convince them that you are just my guard. I’ll look for anything else we can use.”

Vegeta pulled on one of the dark jackets over his t-shirt, and Bulma pretended not to notice how nicely it fit him. The effect was quickly ruined by the Red Ribbon logo plastered around the top of his bicep.

She exhaled deeply and continued to investigate the rest of the storeroom.

“Here these tasers will be mighty handy in case we get in any sticky situations.”

She tucked one into her pocket, and handed another to Vegeta, who tucked it into the waistband of his pants.

“Alright, can we go now?”

“Yep, all done!”

“Good. Let me check the coast is clear. We move quickly and silently.”

“I know.”

Vegeta cracked open the door and peered around before slipping through. Bulma followed, the door clicking shut softly behind her.

The radar showed that they were close… painfully close. It couldn’t be much further to the room they were looking for.

They turned one last corner and came face to face with a large metal security door. This one was far sturdier looking than every other door they had seen and seemed to be controlled by a fingerprint scanner on one side.

The most unusual thing about the giant door though, was the fact that it was open.

“What are the chances that Lazuli was the one who opened this?”

“It is better than the other option.”

“A trap? No, Red must have known that whoever broke in here would be after these... there’s no way he would have left this door open willingly.”

“Not unguarded. I will go first; you will stay behind me.”

“Fine. Let’s do this.”

Slowly, they crept forward along a narrow corridor.

The room they stepped into was large and round. They found themselves standing on a metal platform which ran around the outside of the room and dropped away below them.

In the middle of the floor was a raised platform, above which floated 3 orbs.

The lights overhead were dimmed. All the light seemed to come from a huge screen that took up almost the entirety of the opposite side of the room. The screen showed camera angles from all over the building, as well as what looked like shots of similar, smaller facilities.

In front of the screen, with his back to them, was Commander Red.

The second Vegeta noticed him, he yanked Bulma to a stop, keeping a firm grasp of her hand.

Bulma dared not breathe, she stood frozen in place whilst she tried to think of what to do. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for any guards, traps, or other concealed threats. But to her surprise, Red appeared to be alone.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t be able to leave these behind. That was not very smart of you Miss Briefs.”

Without turning away from the screen, Red spoke in his usual commanding tone.

Bulma let go of Vegeta’s hand and stood up straight, running her hands down her lab coat as if to brush out the wrinkles.

She took a deep breath. There was no point beating around the bush now.

“That is Doctor Briefs to you.”

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her, and she had the distinct sensation that he was amused by her sass. Confidence flushed in her chest, and she realized that she was feeling remarkably calm for someone who had no plan, and very limited options.

Red turned to face them.

“It was a brave showing, girl. I might almost have been impressed by it… if you hadn’t been so stupid as to come here.”

Bulma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She had to think of something, had to buy them some time while she thought of a way out of this situation.

“Oh please. You think I am scared of you?”

Red laughed.

“If you aren’t scared then you are even stupider than I thought, girl.”

He emphasized the “girl” harder this time.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bulma saw Vegeta jerk almost imperceptibly. She followed his line of vision and saw a familiar head of messy black hair on one of the screens. Goku was strolling casually down a corridor, the hastily built EMP device still in one hand.

Not good. This was definitely not good. Bulma had expected him to have found Flappe's lab by now, but even worse, if Red turned around and saw him on the screen, he would no doubt send the guards to him immediately.

She had to keep Red’s attention on her.

“I wasn’t scared when I broke into your hotel room, and I am not scared now.”

Red exploded with anger so suddenly that even Vegeta was startled by the outburst.

“You bitch!”

He spat the words at her.

“I knew there had been someone in my room. Knew it! I suppose you were looking for the ball, weren’t you? Or perhaps your precious little radar.”

He threw his head back and laughed.

“But you didn’t find it, did you? Not that smart after all.”

He sneered.

Bulma smirked. Despite the desperation of the situation, she was going to enjoy this.

“You mean the emergency capsule hidden in the table leg?”

If this had been a cartoon, she was sure that steam would be coming out of the Commander's ears.

“Yeah… not quite so clever a hiding place after all, was it?”

Red took one step forward and grabbed the railing. He seemed to take a second to gather himself, took a deep breath, and then stood straight again. “You should have taken it when you had the chance. You will not get another.”

Behind him, Goku had disappeared from the camera's view. Assuming he was now in the office, he would still need time to check for files and deploy the EMP. She just hoped they could buy him enough time.

“And your radar really was a great help to us,” Red continued. “It was a shame that you couldn’t see the bigger picture. That’s the problem with you women, always letting emotions get in the way of good business.”

Before she had time to react, Vegeta strode along the platform, grabbed Red by the scruff of his shirt, and then punched him square in the face.

Red didn’t even see it coming. He had been so focused on Bulma, and Vegeta had been so fast, that he simply hadn’t noticed.

Red looked stunned as he doubled over, clutching his face.

“What the hell…”

But Vegeta wasn’t finished. He hauled Red up by his lapels and shook him.

“Apologize”

Red looked confused, and Vegeta seemed to get even angrier.

“Apologize. To her. Now.”

Red started to laugh.

Vegeta tipped his head back and then slammed it forward, right into the Commanders nose. Red screamed in pain as blood started to gush from his nostrils.

“Let go of me you brute. You don’t know what you’ve done.”

“Let me tell you what you don’t know. This attempt at a trap was pointless. No one is coming to save you. We have control of your security systems, and your “army” is responding to an urgent request from their Commander far, far away from here.”

This was news to Bulma, but she could barely concentrate on anything other than Vegeta. Anger seemed to radiate off him in intense waves. It was oppressive, intimidating... and hot as hell. Bulma was impressed that Red was keeping it together honestly.

“Your men are gone, Commander,” Vegeta sneered at the word. “You have been beaten by this girl like the pathetic, detestable scum that you are. And now you will apologize, and if your apology is good enough, I might just consider letting you out of here with the rest of your bones intact.”

Finally, Red had the good sense to look afraid. He did not, however, have the good sense to apologize.

Vegeta threw him to the floor and stomped on his leg with such violent force that Bulma was sure she would hear the cracking sound in her nightmares.

She flinched and looked away as Red screamed.

Vegeta looked down at him, arms folded over his chest.

“Apologize.”

“You… you won’t get away with this,” Red hissed. “You have no idea… No. Idea.”

Sensing that this wasn’t going to get them anywhere, Bulma turned her attention to the orbs.

“Yeah, yeah. How about you tell me how to get these out of here instead?”

She peered over the railed edge, and judging the distance to be safe enough, hopped down.

It turned out that the central podium was not dissimilar to the anti-gravity chamber that her father had developed a few years ago. The orbs floated in stasis, surrounded by a gently glowing field of static electricity.

“As if I would ever tell you that.”

Tears and blood and snot ran down the Commander's face and he clutched his leg. It was a truly pathetic sight, but Bulma was surprised that she felt nothing as she looked at him. No hatred, no pity, just… nothing.

After everything that she had been through, it was perhaps no great surprise that she was numb to it all.

She shrugged to herself. Now was hardly the time to psychoanalyze.

“Whatever. I am sure that I can work it out myself, I just thought you might be interested in taking advantage of the opportunity to have us out of your hair a teensy little bit sooner.”

Vegeta helpfully supported her statement by giving Red a swift kick in the leg.

Red howled in pain but said nothing.

“Suit yourself.”

It had been a long shot but worth a try. She gave the column a full, 360 inspection, and then stepped back.

“Vegeta, is there a control panel up there?”

“Looks like it, yes.”

“And is there a section with a numbered keypad?”

“Yes.”

Vegeta sounded exasperated. She had better get on with it.

“The thing is,” she bent down to locate a small panel on the base of the column. “It looks like this tech was created based on some work that my father did a few years ago.”

She pulled the panel open and jimmied the entire electronic module out of its casing.

“But what seems to have stayed the same is the fact that the whole unit runs on a single circuit.”

She took the empty syringe from her coat pocket and used the needle to carefully poke at parts of the module.

“The original unit was built as an anti-gravity chamber, for lifting heavy items off the ground when they needed to be worked on by engineers, or as a novel way of displaying precious items perhaps, much like it has been here.”

Something inside the module clicked and the field fell away, the orbs dropping harmlessly to the ground and rolling to a halt at various points on the floor.

Bulma stood up triumphantly.

“What it was never designed as, however, was a security system.”

She turned to Red, who was eyeing her with utter fury.

“Adding a passcode function was a way of limiting use by untrained operators who could potentially injure themselves or others. Not to keep the contents of the field safe. I would have expected you to have made more modifications than this,” she held up the remains of the module, “to house something so important to you.”

She threw the module on the floor and pocketed the 3 orbs.

As she stood again, the room was rocked by an almighty bang. Vegeta had to grab hold of the railing to stop from falling, and Bulma flailed as she attempted to stay upright.

“What the fuck was that?”

Vegeta turned to the screen, and Bulma quickly scanned the various views.

The cameras nearest to where Goku had been seen were all completely dark. The next nearest view showed a cloud of dust surrounding scattered lab equipment and chunks of debris. It was clearly the aftermath of a sizeable explosion.

A bad feeling coiled in Bulma’s stomach. She had been so busy with Red and the orbs she hadn’t seen if Goku had come back out again.

Had the EMP gone wrong? Had she accidentally sent her friend to his death by building him an explosive?

Bile rose in her throat and her breathing grew fast and shallow.

Another bang shook the room, and in the distance, she heard alarms start blaring.

Suddenly, Vegeta was by her side, taking her by the arm and dragging her towards the door.

“We have to get out of here. Come on.”

They clambered back over the railing and along the path to the door. As they reached the doorway, the alarms shrieked louder, and security lights started to flash red.

“Goku… Do you think he…?”

She looked up at Vegeta, her vision blurred by tears.

“Don’t think about that now. Keep moving, we have to go.”

“You can’t just leave me here!”

Red screamed at them as another explosion roared through the facility.

To Bulma’s surprise, Vegeta stopped and turned back towards him.

“Rot in hell you miserable bastard.”

Then he grabbed Bulma’s hand and started to run.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20

The news was filled with the same story: Red Ribbon laboratory destroyed after experimental machinery malfunctioned.

There had been no confirmed fatalities but some of the researchers closest to the initial explosion had suffered minor injuries. None of the key players had been available for comment, and the speculation was that they were too worried about potential litigation to speak to any press.

The real question though was where was Red Ribbon’s CEO? In their greatest time of need, the infamous Commander Red was AWOL.

Amongst news outlets, reports varied from rumors he was in hiding after being the target of a malicious attack, to being the person who had caused the meltdown in one of his infamous rages.

Curled up on the sofa at Capsule Corp, Bulma wrapped her arms around herself and stared blankly at the TV screen. She was barely conscious of the news coverage, lost in her own thoughts about Red Ribbon and everything that had happened.

As Vegeta had pulled her along corridor after corridor away from Red, alarms blaring around them, the magnitude of the situation had finally hit her. It hadn’t been her intention to create such a wave of destruction, but she couldn’t say she felt sorry about it.

They ran and ran until they’d eventually made it back to the security room. It had already been empty, and she was glad that at least Krillin and Lazuli had gotten out safely.

As they’d turned the next corner to head to the main entrance, they’d almost slammed straight into Goku and Raditz, the latter of whom was looking supremely annoyed.

“Goku!? You are alive!” Bulma had thrown herself at him, and he’d caught her easily, reciprocating her bone-crushing hug with a laugh.

“Well yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Before she could say a single word, as if to illustrate her intended point another explosion had shaken the entire corridor, sending a cloud of dust down around them.

“Oh yeah… right.”

Bulma had pushed back out of his arms and punched him in the shoulder.

“Goku, what did you DO!?”

He’d looked sheepish.

“Well in the office there was this machine, and that Dr guy said it was going to hurt people, so I broke it.”

“You… broke it?”

“Well, yeah, it was going to hurt people Bulma.”

Bulma had stared at him dumbfounded, Vegeta had looked like he might have an aneurysm, and Raditz had looked grumpy - apparently because Goku had run off ahead and had all this destructive fun without him.

“Ok, well… Good job, I guess. Just do me a favor and don’t touch anything else until we are out of here.”

“Okey dokey!”

The exit hadn’t been far off now, and as they’d finally turned the corner to the lobby, they were hit by a wave of heat. All around them scientists were still desperately trying to flee as flames licked up the walls furthest from them.

Guards in Red Ribbon uniforms were torn between trying to tackle the flames themselves or getting out before it was too late.

In the distance, Bulma had spotted a head of familiar blonde hair. As if he sensed her gaze on him, Blue had turned and looked straight in their direction. Their eyes had locked and Bulma steeled herself. But after one long, emotionless look, Blue had turned back to his men and started barking more orders.

The message had been clear: he was done with her, and they should get out of there quickly before he changed his mind. And so, get out of there they had.

It was over, but there was no sense of closure. She still had so many questions – what had happened to Red? What was the machine that Goku had destroyed? Why had Red Ribbon been developing something that could, if Goku had understood correctly, injure people?

Right now, she wasn’t sure how to feel or what to do next. But there was one thing she was sure of. She owed everything to Vegeta. He was the one constant in her life, giving her comfort and her own space in equal measure.

It must have been hard on him too. It was hard on all of them, Goku, her father, and even Lazuli, who was staying with Krillin whilst she worked on reconciling with her brother.

The TV flicked off and Bulma jumped. She looked over to see Vegeta, remote in hand.

“There’s never anything good on TV these days.”

She smiled at him.

“If you say so.”

He looked at her seriously before holding out his hand.

“Come on, your mother has made tea.”

She took his hand and pulled herself up.

“With strawberry shortcake?”

“With strawberry shortcake.”

“Well then, why are we still in here!”

He tugged at her arm as she went to pass him, and she looked back at him questioningly.

“Bulma… I won’t ask if you are ok because that is ridiculous right now, but when you are ok, I think we should go somewhere.”

“Go somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Like, a holiday?”

“Like a holiday.”

She smiled again.

“I’d like that.”

He was quiet then, and when it was clear he wasn’t going to elaborate, she should have carried on to the kitchen. But she didn’t. Instead, she stood and looked at him. Really looked.

His hair was longer and had started to curl around the nape of his neck. He had lost some of the golden tan he had gained over the summer and from their time in the desert, but there was still a hint of color across his nose and the top of his cheeks, highlighting the sharp angles of his face. His dark eyebrows were still straight and stern, but something about his face seemed more open than when they had first met.

It was only after she had been staring at him for what felt like entire minutes, that she noticed he was staring right back at her.

Slowly, he lifted a hand and ran his fingers through her hair.

“It’s so long.”

His voice was quiet, and she could sense the tumult of emotions that were hidden behind his words.

She smiled at him.

“There wasn’t exactly an in-house stylist for captive scientists.”

He leaned down and kissed her gently, muttering as his lips were still pressed against hers. “Smart mouth.”

She nipped at his bottom lip playfully and pulled back from him.

“Do you like it longer?”

He looked at her and considered.

“I think… I prefer it shorter.”

She loved that about him. He always said what he thought, how he felt... Others saw that bluntness as rudeness, but she knew it wasn’t. He was straightforward. And in a world of politics and hidden agendas, she appreciated how easy it was to be with him.

It was, she realized, one of the many things she loved about him.

He had started to head to the kitchen again and was almost at the doorway when she called out to him.

“Vegeta…”

He turned and looked back at her questioningly.

“I love you.”

For a split second, she saw the shock that crossed his face, before he quickly masked all his emotions.

She stalked forward until she was right in front of him and looked at him earnestly.

Up close she could see the emotions swirling in his eyes; wary, uncertain, and a little bit hopeful.

“Bulma, I…”

She put a finger to his lips, hushing him, and then looked down at his chest.

“No, don’t say anything, I just want you to know. I love you, have been in love with you for months now.”

She huffed out a breathy laugh, still not daring to look at his face.

“Bulma…”

“I really don’t need you to say anything, or do anything, I just… I just need you to know, I think.”

Warm hands closed around her face and he lifted it to his.

“Will you look at me for a god damned second?

She raised her eyes to meet his. The uncertainty was gone, replaced with determination.

“When you were taken, I was… afraid.”

His voice was hesitant, and he paused to clear his throat a little before he continued.

“I was afraid for so many reasons, for what might be happening to you, what they might want from you… but my biggest fear was that I would lose you without ever being able to tell you how I felt. For being too weak and afraid to say those damned words to you.”

Bulma's heart was racing. She was aching to reassure him, to tell him she was here, and they were together, and things were fine now, but she didn’t dare interrupt.

“So I was determined. When we first went to scope out the facility, I was going to tell you the first chance I had. But when I saw you, saw how thin and tired you were, saw how much I had failed you… I just couldn’t.”

He took both of her hands in his and squeezed them. Tears welled in her eyes and she couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

“You never failed me. I am reckless and headstrong, and I make mistakes. I get into trouble and it is no one but my own damned fault.”

She sniffed as the tears began to fall. It really was getting silly the amount she was crying lately. Since when had she turned into such a big emotional mess?

“That’s why I need you. I need you to hold me back, to tell me when it is a stupid idea, and to save me when I don’t listen and get into trouble anyway!”

She laughed tearfully, and Vegeta raised a hand to wipe the tears away with his thumb.

“I will always save you. I am yours. For as long as you will have me, and even after that, I will still be yours. I will stay with you and keep you safe, and never let anyone hurt you ever again.”

He rested his forehead against hers and whispered so she was the only person in the world who ever heard him say those next 3 words.

Outside the door, Dr Briefs took his wife by the arm and led her away back to the kitchen.

“Come on dear, you will just have to make a new pot of tea later. Let’s give them their privacy.”

The End.