Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Crossed Paths ❯ Conversations ( Chapter 8 )

PAIRING: Hints of Bulma/Vegeta, and....  ???
RATING: G so far. But that will change.
WARNINGS: None yet
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters, but we both wish we owned Vegeta. (We do own Vegeta action figures. Does that count?) These characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation, even though the last one is a crying shame. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball itself. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic.
SUMMARY: What might have happened if Nappa had been the one sent to Chikyuu to destroy it, rather than Radditz? What might have changed? And how might Vegeta and Radditz have reacted afterwards?
CHAPTER SUMMARY: Goku learns something about his father and Vegeta accepts a challenge from Bulma.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I have to thank Selenity Jade, Zabjade (VegetaPet), Lady Macbeth, and W-chan for their betas. I hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as we're enjoying writing it.
NOTES: When I wrote this over three years ago I hadn't yet seen the Bardock Special, so I didn't know much about the continuity of it. I apologize in advance for the fact that this is NOT accurate; I wouldn't make the same mistake had I written this now.

Vegeta glanced around the room that Bulma had so graciously assigned to him and then glared furiously at the door for several minutes. The prince gave a low sound as he turned away, heading for the shower. Caught up in his thoughts, he was unaware of the sound that had subconsciously escaped him.

The specific pitch and timbre of the growl he had uttered had only two meanings for a Saiyajin. Toward a rival it was a challenge. Toward a potential mate, it was an invitation for a sexual encounter that could be ignored or accepted. And Vegeta's subconscious didn't consider the human female a rival.

But Bulma wasn't a Saiyajin, nor was she even there, and so a very tense Saiyajin male stripped off his armour and bodysuit and let the warm water of the shower relax him. The slight human was an enigma he could not figure out. She was bossy and loud, but underneath that Vegeta sensed something else. Below her self-assured exterior she was afraid of something. What that was Vegeta could not hazard a guess, but he was determined to figure it out.

He frowned suddenly at the turn his thoughts had taken. ::This is NOT acceptable,:: he growled to himself, turning off the water and using his ki to dry off. ::I will not give in to this.:: Vegeta dressed swiftly, annoyed that one tiny human female had seemed to invade his thoughts so thoroughly. He was the Prince of the Saiyajin after all. He had much more grandiose plans for his future, and they certainly did not include a female.

He scowled to himself as his mind wandered back to a subject with which he wanted no part, and stalked out of the room. He had no real destination in mind as he descended the stairs, but drawn by the smells of the food, Vegeta found himself in the kitchen. To his dismay he wasn't alone; Bulma's apparently dim-witted mother was there as well, supervising the cooking. As before at Roshi's place, the room was filled with numerous robots, which were doing much of the work. Unlike the other kitchen, this one was considerably larger and the robots weren't getting in each other's way quite as often.

Once Vegeta realized who was there he tried to sneak out unnoticed, but to his annoyance Mrs. Briefs noticed him almost immediately.

"Oh dear!" Her hands fluttered about her face, making her appear even more distracted than usual. "Oh my! I wasn't expecting you to visit me! Oh, such a handsome young man, but you're a prince, so of course you're handsome! Oh my!" She blushed slightly, raising her hands to her cheeks.

Vegeta had just been considering blasting the woman into oblivion when Goku's cheerful voice caught his attention.

"Hello!" the younger warrior greeted Bulma's mother. "Something smells good! Is it ready yet?" he asked hopefully, his eyes trailing to the robots that were still bustling about the kitchen.

"Oh, Goku!" Mrs. Briefs blushed and giggled at the handsome Saiyajin's attention. It didn't seem to matter to her that he was more interested in the food than in the people in the room. Although this afternoon had been the first time she had seen him in almost five years, she still remembered his enormous appetite. And as usual when she was cooking for guests, she had made more than sufficient for everyone... which in this case might just be enough for three Saiyajin and a demi-Saiyajin.

Radditz, unlike Vegeta, didn't spend a lot of time on introspection before stripping and stepping into the shower he was supplied. He closed his eyes and reveled as the warm water washed over him, gradually increasing the temperature until it was at a level that would have made a human more than uncomfortable. Radditz, however, found it soothing, and he let it wash over him for a long while before finally washing off and stepping out of the shower.

Even after he had dried off, he didn't dress for a while, but instead walked out on the balcony, allowing the final rays of the sun to drift over him before setting in the distance. He didn't realize how his face showed his longing as the sun turned from yellow to red right before it set; it reminded him of the red sun of Vegeta-sei and the wave of homesickness that washed over him was almost uncontrollable.

As the last tendril of sunlight faded in the distance, Radditz sighed and stepped back into the room, dressing swiftly in his armour. He wished briefly that he had worn his bodysuit under it, but he had chosen not to wear it this morning - or the morning over a year ago - and now he was forced to wear the armour again. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable outfit when one was sitting for long periods of time, and he generally preferred to wear something else when sitting at a formal meal. He would have to ask the humans if they had anything of sufficient size for him to wear so he wouldn't be forced to continue to wear only his armour and nothing else.

As he was about to leave the room he hesitated slightly, then almost furtively placed his scouter on his face and turned it on. It only took a few seconds to determine where Vegeta was located and he immediately turned the scouter off and tucked it back into its protective pocket under his armour. It only took minutes for him to join the others, just as Mrs. Briefs was speaking to his brother.

Mrs. Briefs giggled again. "It won't be too much longer!" she gushed at them. "I know you men are hungry, so why don't you sit down?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes towards the ceiling. ::Just great,:: he thought as he made his way to the table. ::Now I have to put up with her brainless mother.:: He watched out of the corner of his eye as the one called Goku sat down. The Chikyuu Saiyajin was chuckling at something the blonde woman had said before he turned his attention towards his brother and the Saiyajin Prince.

"So," Goku started, putting his hand behind his head when both Saiyajin's eyes fell on him. "Are you... errr.... never mind." Goku had been about to ask the two of them if they were hungry, but it occurred to him that since they were Saiyajin they probably had the same appetite he did. The awkward silence continued for several seconds until Goku looked at his brother. "Radditz?" he asked quietly. "What was father like?"

Radditz was startled by the question, and blinked at his brother as he considered it a moment. "Father was... Father was Father. He was a great warrior." He ignored the contemptuous snort from the Saiyajin Prince next to him. "He was born a third-class warrior, but somehow managed to develop an Elite's battle power. That's something unheard of on our world. He even had Elite training, although I'm not sure how he managed that one. When I was born with a power level higher than most third-class Saiyajin, Father insisted on training me special. He even arranged for me to have an Elite's training, although my power level never got as high as his."

He studied Kakarotto for several minutes. "When you were born he didn't say anything. Even when the testers said that you had only a third-class power level he never expressed disappointment. When I asked him about it once he said that sometimes things weren't what they seemed, but he wouldn't explain it further. Now I wonder about it - I notice your power level isn't exactly third class anymore. You're probably as powerful as I am, in fact."

Goku looked puzzled for several minutes before answering his sibling. "I really don't know." He frowned down at the table as if it would give him the answer he sought. "Maybe because I was trained by Kami. I just don't know."

"Kami?" Radditz blinked at the thought. That had been mentioned earlier, but he had never had a chance to question it. "You got trained by a god?"

Goku nodded. "I trained with him once when I was a child. Then I was trained by Kaioh-sama when I was dead." He smiled sheepishly. "I guess that would give a person an edge."

Radditz blinked several times. "I guess so." He couldn't imagine how someone could arrange to be trained by a god. Gods rarely involved themselves amongst mortals. Either this kami was very different from most... or Kakarotto was indeed special. Radditz had been starting to suspect that once he had discovered that Kakarotto was still alive, but now he was suspecting his father had known about it long ago.

Bulma washed the day's grime and sweat from her skin, wishing she could wash her tension away just as easily. As the warm water drummed against her skin, her memories drifted back to when Vegeta had been holding her, his arms just as warm around her as the water was now. She shuddered when she realized what she had been thinking, and swiftly washed and dried off.

She took longer than usual deciding what to wear for dinner. Normally she wouldn't have worried what she wore or how she looked for a casual dinner, but for some reason she found herself taking extra effort to look her absolute best. It was not, she decided rather firmly, because of a certain not-so-tall Saiyajin Prince. No, absolutely not. He was arrogant, cocky, rude, obnoxious, irritating... and he looked at her with a heat and fire that she had never seen in anyone else's eyes.

She shivered again when she remembered how it had felt when he had touched her; even through his gloves she had felt the heat from his skin. She found herself wondering what his hands would feel like against her skin without the gloves on, and she hastily slapped down such naughty thoughts. It wasn't, of course, the idea of touching his skin that was so deliciously naughty, it was where she was imagining them touching her.

She blushed at the unbidden thoughts. She wished she weren't so naive about such things, but she had never seen a boy nude until she met Goku, and her relations with Yamcha had never gotten particularly intimate. She still wondered what was wrong with her that he had never wanted anything physical with her. They had been together for ten years before he had told her it was over. She knew he hadn't found anyone else; he simply hadn't had time, training with Kami for the past year. Obviously that meant there was something wrong with her. She just wished she knew what it was.

Her thoughts drifted back to the two newly arrived aliens. They were both intimidating and dangerously attractive, the smaller one particularly. She found herself strangely drawn to him even as she couldn't figure out why. She thought she felt something from him in turn, but couldn't be certain; if he felt anything, he certainly hid it well.

She sighed as she finished putting the final touches of her make-up on, and then stared at her reflection in the mirror. ::What am I doing? Why do I care whether or not he's attracted to me? Why should I care what he thinks? This morning I thought he was coming here to kill all of us. Now we've agreed to work side-by-side with him and help him overthrow some alien being we've never even heard of. Why should we trust his word that this Freeza person is as bad as he claims? Nappa boasted that Vegeta would come here to kill all of us. Yet they've never made a move to attack any of us. Well, other than when Radditz tried to strangle me, but I can understand that. He had just been told that his little brother was dead. We hadn't told them about the dragonballs yet, so for all he knew, he would never get to see Goku. That doesn't mean I think he did the right thing to attack me that way, but I know he was just grieving for his brother....::

Bulma blinked at her reflection one final time, then pushed her stool away from the vanity table and stood up. She knew she couldn't delay going downstairs to join the others any longer.

As she drew closer to the dining room, she could hear their voices, and guessed that they were already seated at the table. She found herself hesitating, suddenly nervous. ::Calm yourself, girl!:: she remonstrated herself. ::He's not going to kill you! He wouldn't dare - he needs you right now!::

Trying to control the trembling in her limbs, she entered the room just in time to hear Radditz' rumbling voice.

"Father was different from most Saiyajin," Radditz continued explaining to his brother. "He loved to fight - we all do - but he was a brilliant scientist and strategist as well. Science wasn't something that was ever respected very highly by our people, but Father developed methods of fighting that were positively brilliant. Even Vegeta uses them at times. So even though he may not think too much of scientists, he does sometimes use what they learn."

He grinned wolfishly at the smaller Saiyajin, and despite the apparent insolence of his remarks, Vegeta merely snorted his disgust but didn't bother admonishing his underling.

"Isn't that always the case?" Bulma commented dryly from the doorway, where she paused to study the men. She was aware of all of their eyes abruptly on her and suddenly felt very self-conscious. She knew they were staring at her, but couldn't make out why. Her eyes unconsciously drifted to Vegeta and their gazes locked; she could see the fierce light in his stare and although she didn't understand it, something about it made her stomach flutter and her knees weak and sent hot flames shooting through her body.

Somehow she managed to focus her concentration back on what she was saying despite Vegeta's distraction, and continued her comment to Radditz.

"Scientists are always underestimated and scorned by those not intelligent enough to understand what we offer, yet those same people are always only too willing to abuse the fruits of our intelligence for their own ends, no matter how little they think of us."

She somehow managed to pull her gaze away from Vegeta's, and looked at Radditz. "Your father sounds like a man I would have liked."

Radditz snorted in disbelief. No matter what this Bulma woman might think, Bardock had been just as ruthless and bloodthirsty as any other Saiyajin. That he had been cleverer and more intelligent than most had helped him in battle, but those traits were not the ones Bardock had respected most even in himself. No, he had always preferred his own power to his intelligence, and had striven to increase his strength past the point any other third-class warrior had ever managed to ascend. That he had managed to do so was to his credit; he was not, however, the naive intellectual the human female imagined.

Vegeta snorted. "I doubt that very much." He gave her a smirk as she met his gaze. "Bardock liked to tear his opponents apart piece by piece." He watched as her face went still, and assumed he had succeeded in shocking her. "You look surprised. I can't imagine why. Our entire race has been nothing but warriors for millennia. We live to fight, to kill."

He leaned back in the chair, awaiting her response. ::Humans are so easy to upset,:: he mused to himself as she quickly gathered her wits. He wanted to see how much of a backbone she had, to see if she would run at the first sign of trouble. Vegeta reasoned that if she could not stand to hear this, then she wouldn't be able to handle what Freeza and his people were capable of.

Bulma stared at him without expression for several minutes. She was trying to determine if Vegeta was telling the truth. She didn't think he had any reason to lie to her, but there was something about what he said - and the way he said it - that didn't fit. He was too smug, with an expression almost like he was... testing her.

Radditz shot Vegeta a sharp glance. His father had never been the way Vegeta was claiming. He had been a fierce warrior, true, but he had never been as savagely bloodthirsty as Vegeta was pretending. His eyes narrowed as the rest of what the Saiyajin Prince sank in. Yes, the Saiyajin had been a warrior race, but Vegeta was implying that they were brutal savages, scarcely more than animals. Although some had been like that - and a few had even degenerated to that state later in life, like Nappa had - most fought for the joy and thrill of the challenge, not to revel in bloodshed and horror. There were races like that, he knew, and individuals such as Freeza, but very few were as strong as the Saiyajin, despite any tendencies like that.

Then he noted the challenge in Vegeta's eyes and followed his gaze back to Bulma. The woman was returning his stare unflinchingly, apparently either unconcerned or weighing things herself. For the first time since encountering these humans Radditz felt a measure of respect for the woman, and realized that despite what Vegeta was pretending the woman seemed unafraid.

Yamcha had no idea what to make of Vegeta's claims that Goku's father had been nothing more than a brilliant savage. It just didn't seem likely that someone as mild-tempered as Goku could have had a father that could have ripped someone to shreds and enjoyed it. Kuririn, on the other hand, had no problem believing that Bardock had been like Nappa. After all, if anyone could be that brutal, then why not Goku's father?

"No, I don't believe that." Goku frowned at the smaller Saiyajin, earning surprised looks from the other warriors.

"Calling me a liar, are you?" Vegeta quirked an eyebrow at Goku, wondering how he had come to that conclusion.

"No. Not really." Goku met the other man's gaze unflinchingly. "I don't think that my father could have been like Nappa. I think he was more like my brother."

Radditz gave a small smile, unable to hide his relief at his little brother's reaction. He hadn't wanted to say anything and verbally dispute Vegeta's statements, but he couldn't help feeling glad that Kakarotto hadn't believed Vegeta's claims.

Bulma looked curiously at Vegeta. "Why would you lie about something like that?" she asked without malice or judgment but simply curious. "Why would you want Goku to believe that his father was a barbarian?"

Vegeta smirked at Goku. "Clever. Very clever of you to have figured that out." He leaned back in his chair, but didn't answer her question. "You are the genius, woman," he replied after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence. "Can't you figure it out?"

Bulma cocked her head to one side and continued to study him. The other warriors had fallen silent and were looking back and forth between the Saiyajin Prince and the human heiress. There was something going on between the two of them that even Kuririn - the densest of the warriors - could sense, but they weren't sure what it was. Only Radditz was beginning to have an inkling of it and it didn't make him particularly happy.

"I'm not sure," she said, sounding puzzled. "If you're trying to scare us off by making us believe that you're as bad as those you wanted to convince us to help you fight, I'm not sure I understand your reasoning. It doesn't make sense to turn us against you. If you were successful at convincing us that you are as bad as you claim this Freeza to be, then we wouldn't have any reason to help you. Yet without our help there's no way you could succeed; you'll never get to Namek before Freeza does, and you know it."

Radditz' smile widened further. Not only was this woman gutsy, she was intelligent; she had in so many words told Vegeta that he was being irrational and foolish, something that the smaller Saiyajin wouldn't take well. Yet she had done it in such a manner that it was difficult to take offense at her words and Vegeta would realize this. She was also obviously highly intelligent, and Radditz' opinion of her increased even further.

::Perhaps her intelligence makes up for her lack of strength. If all humans are this brave, then even without our strength they may be worthy allies. This one would stand up to Freeza, and I'm not sure he would win in that contest.::

Vegeta's eyes narrowed briefly on her. "Not bad logic," he remarked, "for a human." He snickered when he watched her draw herself up to snap back a reply, but he held up one hand to stall her. "Freeza is such a man. He loves to hear his opponents scream for mercy, usually right before he rips their throats out. That's what he will do to us if we fail. You on the other hand...." He tilted his head a bit and let his gaze travel meaningfully over Bulma's body, lingering on one or two places before he brought his eyes to meet hers. "I think you would do well to remember that he craves the exotic."

Bulma sucked in a breath at his words and the meaningful look that accompanied them. She knew what he was implying, but wasn't sure why he was making those comments. Did Vegeta really think an alien would find her attractive? Or was it simply that he found her so, and was projecting his own desires on their enemy?

Bulma's brow furrowed in confusion. She wasn't entirely certain why it mattered to her so much. Why would she care if this alien prince found her attractive? She could see the obvious contempt with which he held her and her friends, and knew that whatever he might be feeling for her at the moment, he had no intentions of it becoming permanent. And somehow she knew she would never accept anything else.

"I don't see why," she replied simply. "Is he human-looking like you are?"

Radditz frowned at her question, and replied before Vegeta had the chance. "No. Freeza's an Ice-jin. He's more akin to those big creatures on your planet. What are they called?"

The various humans shared glances, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "You mean the dinosaurs?" Bulma asked tentatively.

Radditz shrugged. "I don't know what they're called. But Freeza is like them. He's cold-blooded, like all his people. But he likes the... exotic." Radditz shot Vegeta a glance, but didn't elaborate. He knew that often Freeza even took those that were too young to defend themselves, as Vegeta had been as a child. "And he doesn't care whether or not those he wants are willing." The intense glare that Vegeta fixed on Radditz made him wince, and he knew if he said anything further he was dead.

Vegeta turned his attention back to the others with a disdainful snort. "I take it that the ship is ready then? We can't afford any more delays."

Bulma blinked at the sudden change in conversation. "For the most part. My father and the other technicians are going to do a final systems once-over tonight, to make sure nothing is wrong. I think he'll also oversee the rest of the supplies. I would do it, but since I'm the one that will be piloting the ship first thing in the morning, it's probably not a good idea if I do that while I'm tired." She shrugged and then glared at him. "Don't be in such a hurry. You might as well enjoy the food and fresh air here one last time before we're locked in a ship for months together. I know I'm going to!" And with that she helped herself to some of the food, not waiting to see if any of the others were going to take some as well.

Yamcha did not hesitate as he sat down and started helping himself to the food. It did something to relieve the tension in the room, for once he moved to serve himself, Kuririn and the Goku followed suit.

Vegeta exchanged another look with Radditz before serving himself a generous portion. Though he did not join the conversation, the Saiyajin warrior listened carefully to it. He made very little sense of the general topics of conversation. Yamcha and Goku did most of the talking. Yamcha seemed quite taken with something called 'baseball'. To Vegeta's surprise the stories were quite entertaining, even if he did not know half the things they made reference to.

This friendly banter went on for some time until Gohan yawned, signaling that it was time to turn in for the night. Vegeta watched as the group disappeared one by one from the table until it was just Radditz, himself, and Bulma.

Bulma watched as Goku carried little Gohan up to the room that they were sleeping in for the night. They had taken the room she had originally set aside for Roshi, when she had assumed he would come with the others. Bulma thought cynically that if she were in Chi-Chi's shoes, and her husband had just come back after being dead for a year, she would have been very upset that he hadn't even bothered to go see her. She thought about it a moment, then giggled when she realized that Chi-Chi would be upset, and Goku was going to feel his wife's wrath when they returned.

She sobered as she wondered about that. If they returned. What if they didn't? What if they died fighting this monster Freeza? What if he was as powerful as the two Saiyajin claimed, and they stood no chance against him? For a brief moment she was tempted to flee, to try to hide behind someone else as she used to do when she was younger, but she knew it was pointless this time. If the two Saiyajin were telling the truth, and Freeza really was determined to destroy all intelligent life on Earth, then she didn't have much choice. She could hide her face in the sand and die in a few years, or she could go with them and try to fight Freeza, and maybe die a little earlier... and maybe not. In that moment, she grew up a tiny bit more without realizing it. She was unaware of how her emotions flitted over her expressive features as various thoughts passed through her mind, as she glanced over at the fascinating Saiyajin prince.

Radditz was leaning back in his chair, studying both his monarch and the human female carefully, and watching the expressions on both of their faces. He wasn't about to leave for his room until Vegeta had dismissed him, and he was also hesitant to leave his prince alone with this human female. Somehow, he sensed, she was very dangerous to them, far more dangerous in some ways than Freeza himself. She was specifically dangerous to Vegeta, and he was not about to let the other Saiyajin step into anything so perilous.

Aware that staying in the room with Bulma was not a good idea, the Saiyajin Prince stood and walked away from the table. He could feel Bulma's gaze on him as he made his way to the doorway. There he paused and tossed a mumbled "Thank you" over his shoulder, before he made his way up the stairs to the room that had been given to him.

Once his prince was out of the room, Radditz studied the small human woman with an unabashed scrutiny. Bulma was surprised by his gaze, but said nothing, simply studying him in turn. After several minutes she smiled archly at him.

"Well? Anything interesting? Did I grow a third arm or a second head in the past few minutes?"

Radditz frowned, not embarrassed by his actions. "I was wondering what my prince found so fascinating about you. You are beautiful, it is true, but you are weak and hardly worthy of him. And he should not be distracted from his goal. If he allows himself an attachment to you, you would be a weakness to him. You are not strong enough to defend yourself, so you would be forever a liability to him. It would be better for you both if you don't allow a relationship to develop between the two of you."

Bulma flushed in both anger and humiliation. The large Saiyajin had told her that she was beautiful, which she found flattering coming from someone like him, but he had said it in such clinical terms, as though it were something that was of hardly any import. It seemed more critical to him that she was 'weak'. She knew she wasn't a warrior, but she was certainly no invalid!

"I have no interest in your prince!" she snarled at him. "I don't know where you get off dictating anything to me, but I certainly don't want a 'relationship' with that arrogant chikoushome!"

Radditz looked at her in surprise. "But he is a prince," he stated, as though that explained everything. "Men and women have desired him all his life - for his power, his looks, his title, his position, his prestige. Yet although he has bedded women before, you are the first he has shown interest in outside the bedroom. You have attracted his interest, and that is not a good thing."

Bulma wasn't sure whether to feel insulted or flattered. She didn't really believe that Vegeta found her all that interesting, but this Saiyajin seemed convinced of it. She couldn't help finding it intriguing that Vegeta might find her attractive. She still stung over Yamcha's rejection of her this past year, feeling that somehow she must not be as pretty as she had always believed, if he could leave her so easily without having found someone else first. It had done much to demolish her self-esteem, and she had buried herself in her work, somehow believing that the only things left to her were her research and her intelligence.

She also couldn't help but find the compact Saiyajin intensely attractive. She couldn't even explain what it was that drew her to him. She considered the points that Radditz had listed, but none of them had any meaning to her. None, at least, other than his looks. That she could certainly agree on; she had been hard-pressed on several occasions to keep herself from touching him.

But then Vegeta's words on more than one occasion drifted back to her and her face stiffened. "Your prince has no interest in me, I can assure you," she said, her voice as harsh as her words. "And I have no interest in him. I wouldn't care if he were king of the universe or a homeless beggar. It doesn't matter in the slightest to me. And as for whether or not I am worthy...."

She drew herself up to her full height, which was unimpressive to the enormous Saiyajin, yet he could see the regal bearing in every line of her body. "My family is the richest in the world, and that's largely in part because my father and I invented capsule technology when I was only a child. My father had to take sole credit for the theory and the invention because no one would believe that a twelve-year-old girl could have discovered something like that."

Radditz briefly saw the pain flicker over her features, and he frowned when it vanished again. She was, he suddenly suspected, hiding a great deal of pain, and he didn't think he would get to the bottom of any of it tonight.

"I am the richest, most intelligent, most powerful woman in the world. If this world had royalty, I would be it."

With that she turned and strode out of the room, her stance stiff and dignified, not giving him the slightest amount of deference. The Saiyajin warrior sat at the table for a long while, ignoring the robots that cleaned up around him as he considered everything she had said. He couldn't help the grudging admiration that made its way through him at the way she had stood up to him. She had been neither the slightest bit afraid of him, nor the least bit intimidated. She was fearless, she was intelligent, she was beautiful, she was brave... and Radditz was beginning to believe that she might - just might - be worthy of his prince after all.

"Oh, you don't know, little Chikyuu-jin princess," he murmured to himself, as the room darkened around him. "You don't believe that he is attracted to you, but I know he is. And despite your words you are attracted to him as well. I just hope it doesn't lead to both of your downfalls."

He had no idea if he had inherited his father's gift of premonition, and as he made his way up to his room and prepared himself for sleep he hoped desperately that he had not.

When Radditz awoke the next morning and went downstairs to forage for breakfast, he wasn't surprised to see that Vegeta had been awake for almost an hour. He was surprised, however, to learn that the human woman - Bulma - had been awake for several hours. It seemed that her parents didn't share her early morning enthusiasm; he didn't see any sign of her mother, at least, and suspected that his prince would be relieved. The two Saiyajin both found the woman extremely annoying, and Radditz knew it had taken all of Vegeta's patience to keep from obliterating the yellow-haired woman.

Radditz himself was feeling mellower that morning than he had been the night before. His brother Kakarotto was alive, despite everything that had happened before. He didn't feel grief over Nappa's loss; such mourning for a comrade in arms had been beaten out of him long ago. He would have mourned Vegeta's loss as the loss of the last of the royal line, and his brother's death as the last of his family, but although he had once felt friendship for Nappa, the giant Saiyajin's death didn't penetrate the shields he had erected around his heart.

Radditz shared a smirk with Vegeta as he helped himself to several large servings of the exotic and delicious Chikyuu-jin food and listened to the woman barking orders at people outside. It was obvious that she knew how to command large groups of people and once again Radditz couldn't help admiring her. He wasn't going to tell Vegeta about the conversation he'd had with her the previous night, at least not yet, although he suspected he might tell him about it later. But for right now he would just see how things developed between the two of them. He wasn't even entirely sure if he should interfere or not at this point. He decided that he would make his decision later.

He paused briefly as a particularly loud curse erupted from the woman, and once again shared an amused glance with Vegeta. "Sounds like she has things under control out there, doesn't it?" he commented blandly to his prince.

"Hn," was the response that Vegeta gave his companion. He smirked as Bulma let loose a long string of curses that had him wondering where she had picked up some of them. "She is quite efficient at what she does," he agreed, a small chuckle escaping him as her voice grew in volume and pitch. Curious, Vegeta got up and looked out the window to see many humans scurrying about as she continued to bark out instructions.

"Enjoying yourself?" Vegeta asked as exited the house to join her. "Because it certainly sounds like it."

"Well, so look who finally decided to grace the world with his presence!" Bulma replied scathingly, ignoring his question. "I thought you wanted to get off to an early start, and here you are sleeping in!"

She knew her comment wasn't really fair. She had only managed to get a few hours of sleep before she got up to oversee the final outfitting of the ship herself. She knew that if she was going to be trapped in a ship for who knows how long, with aliens she didn't entirely trust, she wasn't about to leave before she made sure that every possible contingency was planned for. She also didn't want to admit to herself that part of her worry was the fact that neither the ship - nor the armaments on the ship - had ever been tested. If they encountered any hostile beings while in space, she had no idea how well everything would stand up.

"I suppose you can go wake up those lazy friends of mine and get them to get their butts down here as well," she said, a little more calmly than before. "As soon as everyone's eaten we should be ready to go. As long as these incompetents get their jobs done." She glared around indiscriminately at the harassed looking workers, who continued to work regardless of her obvious irritation.

Vegeta's smirk quickly turned to a scowl at her command, and immediately put the Saiyajin in a temper. "Wake your friends." His eyes narrowed on her dangerously. "I am not one of your workers to order about. If want them up, get them yourself."

Bulma scowled right back at him, her arms crossed over her chest in an unconscious imitation of his own signature stance. "If you want to leave at a reasonable hour, you'll go wake them. Otherwise all of them - particularly Son-kun - could sleep all day. Or do you want to stay here that long? I have work to do, so unless you do it, we won't be leaving!"

"I am not taking orders from a loud-mouthed, skinny, obnoxious human female!" Vegeta snapped back her. He was furious to think that she would dare order him, the Prince of the Saiyajin, around like a servant. Who did she think she was, anyway? "Send one of your lackeys to do your dirty work."

Radditz had moved next to his prince, and sweatdropped even as he scowled at the two of them. He could see the clash of wills between them and realized that it was not only futile, it was pointless. Neither of them was going to bend and their stubbornness was completely irrational.

"I'll go," he growled, angry with both of them. "You two can just stand here and argue with each other all day, for all I care. I'll go wake up Kakarotto and the others."

He turned and strode away from Vegeta, his tail unwrapping from his waist and flicking agitatedly behind him, showing his displeasure at the behavior of the two stubborn beings he had just left.

"Dirty work?" Bulma continued to scowl at the Saiyajin prince. "Waking up a few warriors who are willing to help you out is 'dirty work'? I suppose you've never done an honest day's work in your life, if you think waking someone up is 'work'! But of course not! You've even admitted that all you've ever done with your life is murder, rape, and destroy. You wouldn't know real work if it walked up and slapped you in the face!"

She was tempted to do exactly that herself. There was something about him that seemed to rile her, which rubbed her in exactly the wrong way. She didn't want to admit to herself that his insults - calling her loud-mouthed and skinny - hurt more than they should have. She had tried so hard the previous night to look attractive to him, and it had obviously had no effect at all.

Vegeta's expression grew even more thunderous as Bulma's accusations hit too close to home - all but one, to which he took immediate offense. "Woman, I have NEVER raped in my life. I have more dignity than that." He took several steps towards her, until he was almost nose-to-nose with her. "Any female I have ever lain with has been most willing." He was so close to her that he could feel her body heat. It was playing havoc on his senses, but she had insulted his pride. "And I have never had any of them walk away unsatisfied."

Somehow Bulma believed him. She couldn't imagine any woman turning down this man; his aura of power and danger was so compelling that she could almost feel herself drowning. She found herself wondering what it would be like to be seduced by him, and shuddered at the thought. How could her thoughts take such a direction?

She was suddenly terrified. It was obvious that he had no interest in her, yet if she showed her attraction towards him she knew he would have no qualms about taking advantage of it - of using her, discarding her, and controlling her with that knowledge.

Her eyes widened as she stared at him, realizing she was going to have to hide everything she felt from this man or she would be nothing more than a plaything for him. Worse, he might use her and even abuse her, and how would she be able to fight him? He had made it very clear to her how inferior he thought her and her friends, and she knew he would have no compunction about killing all of them.

She was unaware of how her sudden fear showed on her face, or how it would be interpreted by the Saiyajin in front of her. Without any explanation she backed away from him, taking several steps before suddenly turning around and practically running away from him and towards the lab, instinctively moving to a place where she felt the most comfortable.

::What the hell???:: Vegeta frowned as he watched her take off towards the ship's hangar, wondering what had spooked her like that. He knew that being alone with her for any period of time was not wise, yet against his better judgment he followed her anyway.

He caught up to Bulma in the hanger a few minutes after she had run off. The Saiyajin warrior found her, face flushed in anger, leaning over a desk trying to calm herself. "You look out of breath. Perhaps you need to train more," he told her with deceptive mildness.

She glared at him but didn't reply. Instead she studied the ship carefully and walked towards her father. "Daddy, is everything on the ship? Is it ready?"

"Hmm...?" The old man looked somewhat distracted, but when he noticed her he smiled. "Oh, yes, my dear. Everything is loaded. Here."

He shuffled around some papers in a clipboard and handed it to her. She glanced over it, sifting through the papers, then nodded. It looked like everything was in order. She hoped desperately that they weren't forgetting anything, but knew that even if there were something missing there wouldn't be anything they could do about it.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said with a smile, kissing him lightly on the cheek. He looked surprised but simply smiled at her tiredly in return. It was obvious that he - along with most of the workers - had been up all night. Bulma couldn't help feeling guilty about that. It had been her insistence that everything be ready by morning that had forced them into overtime, pre-empting any plans any of them might have had.

"Tell everyone that they get double-pay for the overtime, Daddy. And tell them they get the next five days off with pay, okay?"

Dr. Briefs beamed at her, happy despite his exhaustion. "Just be careful, Bulma," he admonished her. "I know you like to go on these adventures, but just don't get yourself killed."

Bulma smiled at him, gratified that for once he was showing concern about her well-being. He had never expressed worry about her in the past, and it surprised her that he was showing it this time. "I will be, Daddy. I have all these protectors after all!"

Dr. Briefs glanced at the Saiyajin hovering behind her. "Yes, I can see that." He didn't express his reservations, but he wasn't entirely sure he trusted these two strangers yet. He didn't know who they were or where they had come from, but there was something about them that just didn't ring true. "You be careful, Bulma."

Bulma nodded, following his gaze towards Vegeta. "Yes, Daddy. I will be." ::In more than one way, Daddy. And maybe against my 'protectors', as well.::

She turned then, heading towards the ship, walking up the open ramp. Then, as though nothing had happened earlier, she turned and waved at Vegeta, smiling happily at him.

"You might as well come on board!" she told him cheerily. "The others should be here soon, but you might as well pick out which room you want! You can take any of them other than the one that's already marked as mine!"

::That is interesting. Only a few minutes ago she wanted to get away from me and now....:: He studied her face intently for a moment or two, knowing full well she was hiding behind that cheerful expression, before his mouth settled into his trademark smirk.

"What if I would rather share your room with you?" he asked, his voice dropping below his normal octave, making him sound huskier and just a bit seductive. "I can make it worth your time."

Vegeta knew only too well how she would react to that particular inquiry. He wasn't even sure why he had made it; he really didn't care if she turned down his offer - at least that was what he was trying to convince himself - but it was intriguing to watch how the expressions played across her features. Her cheeks flushed an appealing soft pink at his suggestion that they become lovers. It could have been anger that caused her eyes to flash or it could have been simply embarrassment that he, a virtual stranger, would make such bold advances.

"Well?" he prodded after a time when it seemed that she couldn't immediately answer him. "What is it you humans say..." He tilted his head to the side considering. "Ah, does a cat have your tongue?"

Bulma couldn't stop the images that flooded through her mind at his suggestion, and her body flushed with heat at the thought that he would touch her - all of her - intimately if they slept together. But his smirk told her he wasn't serious, that he was saying this just to fluster her and embarrass her. And she was determined that he would not be successful, or at least he would not know he was successful. She quickly hid her embarrassment with anger as she had often done since she had been very young, and began yelling at him.

"How dare you make such a suggestion! I thought you were a prince, not a barbarian! Obviously I was wrong! You have no manners at all; you're just an uncouth savage! Maybe if you were more civilized I might consider it!"

Her mouth snapped shut at her last comment. Where had that come from? She was essentially offering herself to him if he fulfilled certain criteria; that was not the message she had intended to convey! She had wanted him to know she was off-limits, not that she would be interested in him if he could improve his manners. She quickly regrouped herself and continued.

"And I would appreciate it if you did not treat me like some servant or peasant to wait upon you and serve your whims! You and I are allies, and as I told you before, if you cannot treat us as equals I will not have anything to do with you! You can just stay here and rot like the kusotarre you are, and the rest of us will go and find those dragonballs and defeat Freeza!"

She turned and stormed angrily up the ramp of the ship, fuming furiously at the presumption of that arrogant Saiyajin. She wanted to smack him, but knew there was probably no way anything she could do to him would have the slightest effect. And if she were honest with herself, the real reason she was so angry was that she had wanted to accept his offer, not reject it. She was angry with herself for wanting him and angry with him for reminding her of her traitorous body's desires.

"I hate him," she muttered to herself darkly, wishing she truly felt that way but knowing she didn't. "Why can't he just leave me alone?"

"Curious," Vegeta murmured softly to himself. Then he found himself following her yet again, making his way quickly up the ramp in order to catch up with her. He was somewhat disappointed in her heated response that he was uncivilized, but there was an opening Vegeta could use to his advantage. He caught up to Bulma in one of the hallways, his feet silent on the floor. Bulma wasn't even aware of him until his arm snaked around her waist from behind and he pulled her firmly against his chest.

"Are you sure about that?" he whispered, his lips dangerously close to her ear as he spoke. "I can assure you I am quite civilized in some things."

Bulma shuddered in his grasp, a reaction that could be interpreted multiple ways. "Don't touch me!" she hissed at him. Yet she didn't try to struggle in his grasp or break free from him. Whether it was because she didn't really want him to let go, or if it was because she knew it would be futile, even she didn't know the answer. "I am not some wench for your amusement! Until you can respect me, you will not touch me!"

Vegeta chuckled, his breath tickling the skin behind her ear. "So then if I can respect you as you request, I can have you? Is that how it works here?" He leaned forward, unable to resist the urge to give the outside shell of her ear a light lick. "Then I will do my best to comply." His voice adopted the same quality it had earlier, the same seductive drawl that he was not even aware he was using.

"I...." Bulma broke off in confusion, his tongue on her ear making her moan as she shuddered in his arms, before her scattered wits gathered themselves together again. "That is not what I meant and you know it! You will not touch me at all unless I say so, and I will never say so as long as you don't respect me! It is obvious from your words that you do not and that you cannot, which means you will never be allowed to touch me!"

Bulma had no idea why the thought of that made her heart hurt so much, almost as much as it had hurt when Yamcha had told her he couldn't be with her anymore. But that didn't make sense. She had known Yamcha for over ten years; this man she had known only a few hours. Surely he couldn't mean that much to her yet, could he? That was impossible, completely impossible.

"Well then," Vegeta replied thoughtfully, as he tilted his head and rubbed his nose along her jaw. "It sounds like you just challenged me, woman, to a contest, one for your favor. How very Saiyajin of you." Vegeta chuckled as he felt her take in a breath, and he brought his mouth back to her ear, this time blowing on the spot he had licked earlier. "I accept your challenge."

"WHAT?!?" Bulma screeched, suddenly panicked. She had challenged him? How? Kami, would she never figure out these Saiyajin? "No! I don't want you to touch me! That wasn't a challenge! That wasn't...."

She shivered again as he blew against her ear. Kami! She couldn't really be attracted to this alien, could she? He was an alien! Nothing like a human! Except... except that Goku was a Saiyajin as well, and he had a half-Saiyajin son. Admittedly, Chi-Chi was only half-human herself and half-demon, but it still indicated that genetically they had to be at least somewhat similar if they could have a child together.

Oh, Kami! What was she thinking? Children? She didn't want children with this man; she didn't want any sort of relationship at all! She suspected that if she tried to have one with him, it would, as far as he would be concerned, merely be something convenient and temporary for him. She didn't want to have the child of someone who only wanted her on a temporary basis, who would discard her when he was done.

"Don't touch me!" she cried out once again, and when she wrenched free of him, was surprised when he let her go. She fled down the hall to the stateroom she had already claimed as her own - the largest, of course, on the ship, and what would normally have been reserved for the captain - and locked the door with an audible click before she sank with a relieved sigh to the bed.

A pleased smirk curved Vegeta's lips as he let Bulma go and watched her retreat down the hallway. ::Always running away from me, aren't you, little one? We will change that, won't we?::

He turned and headed down the opposite corridor, feeling quite pleased with the result of their most recent encounter. He had known from the first that she had not been challenging him; he had simply twisted her words to his advantage. The thought of having all that soft skin bared to his touch was simply too great of a temptation to resist.

He made his way to what Bulma referred to as the 'bridge' of the ship and sat down in the pilot's chair, deciding that she would have to come up here and face him eventually. Patience was something that the Saiyajin Prince had in abundance. After all, one didn't plan the Ice-jin's demise without a surplus of it, he thought to himself, as he waited for Bulma to appear.