| No Time Chapter 2: The Remembrances Of Time Always Catch You In The End |
| Author: Lisa Starr Rating: NC-17 Disclaimer: I Do not own Dragonball Z or the characters attributed to the series. Warning: There is a lemon in this chapter...no one under 18 permitted. |
| "Costa, it is official. The last remanants of Frieza's empire have been officially destroyed. There is no hope of any of them coming back to haunt us again." The Hydrian mercenary, Refallo, smiled at his leader, sure he would be pleased. He had spent several months on one of Frieza's lesser known planets, unnamed by most accounts, purging the remains of the sadistic tyrant's loyal following for his leader. Costa, his lord and master, had several reasons to want the whole of Frieza's empire wiped out completely, his own advancement to top of the line as leader not withstanding. He had just arrived back on board his ship,which hovered just outside of Maordi Prime's atmosphere, aptly named 'The Destroyer' by his master, for that was all it seemed to do of late. Destroy. Destroy anything left of Frieza so that the masses would know he was finished, completely and with no question. Costa, smuggler, pirate and mercenary, looked at his second in command and smiled. "Does that mean we have finally caught up with the illustrious Prince Vegeta? As I recall I owe him a very special debt." Refallo felt his face fall, the whiskers of his cat-like face drooping as he was forced to relay that piece of bad news to his boss. "No, sir, I am afraid there is no trace of Vegeta. He may already be dead, killed by Frieza himself. There were rumours, and none of the remains of Frieza's battle troops had any idea what had happened to him, only that he had gone after Frieza and that was the last he had been heard from. No amount of torture, or threat of death brought forth any new details." He took a shaky breath, prepared to be struck down for his failure. Costa was not a patient or tolerant man by any means and his wrath was swift. "No!" Costa roared, giant, meaty fist hitting the small table that sat in front of him, sending empty glasses and bottles cascading to the floor around him. "Vegeta is not dead. I would know. We have a blood debt, he and I, and I would know if he was dead. I must find him for there is nothing more important then a blood debt, or so my brother told me. Vegeta would not be able to walk away from it. Get out of here and find me a lead." His scarred human face set itself in a gruesome scowl, sending Refallo skittering away in fear of his life. Costa laughed uproariously at the sight of the hardened killer running away from him like a baby. Yes one could lay many galactic crimes on Prince Vegeta Of Vegittasei, he had numerous bounties that several nasty mercenaries had locked onto, determined to collect, but no one had been able to figure out what had happened to him. He had literally disappeared from existence, though one heard rumours from time to time. The most popular being of his death by Frieza's hand for his betrayal of the tyrant, but Costa knew differently. No, Vegeta was not dead, he was most assuredly not dead and he would be found. It was only a matter of time and when he was, Costa would be waiting for him, for he owed him, owed him for much, but most of all he owed him for his brother.Perhaps a visit to the planet that this brother's life had been extiguished on would be a help. He grinned and held up his glass of extremely rare Arlian ale, rare since Vegeta had blown the planet into smithereens. "Soon brother..I promise I will find him soon and he will pay for what he did to you." ******************************* Vegeta landed on the beach that served as his home away from Bulma. The small island was ideal for training, at least until she managed to make him up another gravity room, plus it provided the perfect isolation for the kind of training he needed to accomplish. He could also admit it was a beautiful place to stay, not that he really paid much attention to that kind of detail, but occasionally, when he was laying flat on his back from exhaustion, too sore to move, he would stare up at the stars and listen to the gentle lapping of the ocean and admit it was a place of calm beauty. He deposited his wayward mate on her feet, watching as she looked around in undisguised awe. He could already see she was taken with the place, he'd known that she would be when he had first found it, and how many nights had he lain,wishing she were there to share it with him. He cursed himself mentally and walked away from her, needing to put as much space between the two of them as physically possible. "Vegeta? Where are you going? " She clutched Trunks to her chest tightly, blue eyes wide and fearful, not wanting to be left alone in the middle of nowhere, no matter how beautiful it was. The beautiful places were usually the most danger filled. He snorted at her, such a weakling. "I'm hungry woman. I didn't get dinner tonight." He turned and stalked off, determined to leave her there alone for awhile. With a little luck by the time he got back, she'd already be asleep and he'd not have to deal with her anymore. "Well, maybe if you'd said something, I'd have fixed you some dinner, idiot." The words were spoken low and irritably, meant for her ears only, but his sharp Saiyajin ears picked it up. "Why would I want to eat anything you prepared, woman? So I could die?" He smirked at her angry expression and strutted off, leaving her alone on the beach. "Damn asshole." She sighed and looked around. Nothing but a starlit night and the gentle sounds of calm ocean waves breaking at the shore. How absolutely perfect. It's a shame I don't have anyone to share it with. The thought passed unbidden and unwelcome into her mind. No she did not want to go there. Vegeta was lost to her. She smiled sadly down at her son, who had fallen asleep at some point, and laid him down gently on the sandy beach. She slipped off her tee shirt and laid it down, carefully smoothing it so that it was stretched to its fullest length, moving the baby's limp, exhausted body on it. "Not much of a bed, Trunks, but better then some I suppose. She looked down at herself, clad in only her bra and shorts. Well, what now? A swim. A midnight swim would be a wonderful way to end the taxing, horrible day. It would relax her and how often did she really get to relax. Tomorrow she would be right back in the thick of things, attempting to find a new locale for their shelter, and seeing everything needed got moved and moved covertly. That was the real trick now wasn't it. The artificial humans were out come day or night, the nighttime just proved a more terrifying backdrop to their destruction, a better time to wreak fear and havoc. The nighttime was always the time people feared most,it was the time the monstrs came out. She put her hands up to her forehead and moaned. What was she going to do? Anyway you looked at, she was doing the impossible. There was no way to set up a new base of operations without someone taking notice. She slumped down to the sandy beach, fisting her hands, bringing them down to pound uselessly at the beach. Why? Why had this all had to happen. Gero and those stupid artificial humans had changed her life and not for the better. She doubled over and lay there quietly, listening to the sounds of the beach, the ocean, the distant sounds of jungle life from the island itself, and somewhere out there the gentle sounds of a whale. It was so peaceful, so wonderfully lulling. She could always worry about the problems of today, tomorrow. Nothing was going to get solved tonight. She should take that swim, it might help clear her mind. She scrambled to her feet and yanked off her shoes and shorts, leaving her clad in only her underwear and bra. She thought of skinny dipping, but thought again. She didn't want Vegeta to think she was coming on to him and freak out on her. Tonight they had formed a somewhat casual truce and she had no desire to see that broken. She slipped into the water and swam out as far as she dared, letting the surprisingly warm water wash away her anxieties and troubles even if only temporarily. Vegeta walked soundlessly out of the jungle, coming onto the beach like a cat stalking his prey. He'd thought maybe she would be asleep, but she was no where to be found. Where had the little fool gone? He saw his son asleep on the ground, laying on what must be his mother's shirt. He swallowed hard, picturing her shirtless, and almost flew off, yet something held him there, his eyes shot over a few feet more and saw the rest of her clothes laying in a heap on the beach. She'd gone swimming. If he looked hard he could see her form, floating gently on the ocean waves, not too far from shore. He sighed and sat down, trying to beat down the desire to go and join her. What genetic defect did he have that allowed him to have feelings of desire for a weak female such as this one? She wasn't even Saiyajin, not that he particularly minded that. He had never encountered a Saiyajin female that would have been his equal in mind or strength, and while the woman out there couldn't beat him physically, mentally she was every bit his equal and he had no doubt that if she had to, she would figure out a way to take him out with some invention, a thought that left him oddly thrilled and surprisingly turned on. He would have to keep on his toes around this little one. One could not deny the brilliance of her designs or her intelligence. He, himself, had benefitted from them several times, which reminded him, she was long overdue to build him a new gravity machine. His brows furrowed. He would need to remind her of that, he had waited far too long and he had his limits of tolerance, even with her, though she usually stretched them as far as she could, seeming to know exactly how much he could tolerate. He laid back and closed his eyes, trying not to imagine what she would look like,dripping wet, and wearing nothing, as far as he could tell. He would just keep his eyes shut, that way he would not have to see it, but no if he did that, it would show more then he wanted her to see, his overwhelming fear and terror. His fear of her and what she did to him and all the feelings he wasn't supposed to have, but somehow had popped out of him anyway. Best to look straight on and rely on his control to hold him back. Could he rely on his control? He jerked upright, growling in fury at his indecision, pounding a fist into the sand. He had been doing fine until this afternoon, now all of a sudden, he was like an untried schoolboy getting his first taste of a woman. What was with him? He was a damn Saiyajin warrior, not a weak loser like Kakkarot. Maybe he should just let it happen and purge her out of his system that way. If he fucked her enough, eventually the wonder of it would pass away and fade. Whatever love he felt for her, he could kill one way or the other. He was the master of killing things, wasn't he? He looked out again and slowly stood, pulling off his armor, discarding it on the ground. Was this a good idea? Was he just giving himself an excuse to do what he had wanted to do since he had first seen her this afternoon? His boots flew off next. He had long ago discarded his gloves, somewhere back in the confines of Bulma's shelter, lost in his haste to care for her. He hadn't even realized he had taken them off. He froze as he saw her swim back towards the shore, unable to move. Did she even know he was there? Most likely not. Her ability to know when she was not alone, was frighteningly lacking. He had bullied her about it repeatedly, most especially when she had gotten herself into some trouble he'd had to extricate her from, even gone as far to show her how to read ki, but she had never picked it up, finding it boring and useless. He had stopped trying, figuring if she didn't care, why should he.The thought, though, that she was so openly vulnerable, ate at him more then it should. Another reason to not care about this woman. He whirled and stormed off the beach before she saw him, he would just spend the night somewhere else. She and the brat would be fine here until morning. Bulma came out of the water, shivering at the cool breeze that hit her wet body. That had been nice, but now she had no fire, no blanket, no nothing to keep herself warm. She walked further up the beach and stopped, taking notice of Vegeta's armor and boots laying askew over the ground. Where was he? Had he gone into the water too? No, she doubted Vegeta would go with his suit on if he could avoid it and she didn't see it anywhere.Who knew where he was. Probably up some tree getting ready to leap down and scare the hell out of her. His idea of a funny joke. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of jumping. She shivered again. She'd have liked to start a fire, but had no idea how to without a match. A skill she obviously should have learned. Well maybe when she dried off, she would be warmer. She laid down next to Trunks,curling into a ball around the child. How nice it would be to have Vegeta warming her up right now. She fell asleep to that thought, dreaming of the warm body that had pressed itself to her before once in a different time and place,and warming herself up in her dreams if not in her reality. ********************************* Doctor Gero sat in the moonlight, observing the man who had battled him so, but now was just a fading memory of the man he'd been before. Another brilliant creation of his. He remembered this one, from the past. A friend of Goku's, a friend from long ago and one that Goku would be happy to take in, believing it a miracle he had survived. A brilliant creation to finally capture his long time rival and hated foe and capture the woman who had so held his fascination since he'd first beheld her some six months ago. Any other benefit would just be extra icing on the cake. He wouldn't mind having Vegeta. There was an excellent specimen with a mind of a true Saiyajin, not like Goku who had the mind of a simplistic human. Vegeta held such promise, a killing machine, born and bred to conquer and purge. He would be an excellent tool for his designs. Ahh, well, one must be happy with small steps. Right now, the breaking and rewiring of this man's mind had been his second small step that night. Slowly he would attain everything he wanted. Gero had at first thought Vegeta could have cared less about the Brief's girl, but he had since changed his mind. He may not love her, but it would be a matter of pride to him, allowing someone else to take what he saw as his. He might still be able to get Vegeta yet and all by using the girl to do so. He turned his attention back to the warrior that sat in front of him. Still human, yet not. He had first broken his mind and he had found that not easily accomplished, taking the man's mind to the brink of death,several times, letting him feel it, taste it, experience it first hand, over and over again until the man had begged for release. Another brilliant creation of his. A technological wonder, allowing the human mind to feel and experience the greatest mystery known to man and perhaps his greatest fear.... death. It could be such a terrifying ord |