Seventeen: The Gem of West City

- 17 -

The Gem of West City

"Okay, everyone buckled in?" Bulma asked, glancing in her rearview mirror, looking at Vegeta specifically.

The rather pissed Saiyan Prince growled lowly so only the old fool next to him could hear, "I can't believe you dragged me into this, old man."

Bardock chuckled at Vegeta as he replied to Bulma, "Yes, everyone is." Then leaned sideways, muttering softly, "Take this as a new experience, boy. I need to know more about their business if we are going to be working with them and you are the prince, you need to show some prerogative in this when the elites question it."

The tip of Vegeta's tail tapped against his hip, irritated. This was only made worse by the fact that his mentor was right. He really did have to know about Capsule Corporation and how it was managed, which meant he did need to go on this little outing with him, the clown, his spawn and the blue-haired woman. And though he didn't particularly enjoy the middle twos' company, it was the woman that was actually the worst just then. He could hardly take his eyes off her; she really was far too attractive for her own good. Yet, if that had been the only problem then he would have been much more... agreeable. When he would look at her, sometimes all he could do was remember the dream. It was upsetting and unsettling. Never knowing when he looked at her if he would just see the blood covered Bulma with hollow eyes... Perhaps he was finally going mad?

Bulma, after getting over the initial annoyance that the four of them would be accompanying her without much warning, was rather giddy. Taking a tour of the Headquarters was a rather big thing and she really wanted to astonish them with the company. She had been planning on taking her hover car like normal, but why not take her baby and enjoy herself first (and hopefully impress the two Saiyans in the back seat a little with her driving skills) in the remake sports car from the lost world? Being a mechanic it was a no brainer that she loved cars or any sort of machine that at least made her half as fast as Goku when he flied. Just because he had use of ki shouldn't mean he should have all the fun...

She smirked to herself, putting her sunglasses on before pushing the button that made her garage door open. Shifting the gear out of park and shaking it slightly, she then put it into first and took off, tires screeching. Her smile grew seeing Goku grab onto something, startled as she easily and quickly went through all the gears, gaining speed. It was such a nice day, not to hot, not to cold. You could tell fall was approaching, and quickly. She would have had the convertible top down, but then it would ruin her hair... true, she could always fix it at work, but there was the chance some damn paparazzi person would see her and snap a picture of her that would end up on the cover of millions of magazines. She could not have that! Not being perfect at home was one thing, but in public? No way.

She did have the window rolled down though, elbow resting on the door as she steered. The air brushed the side of her face and on the other side of her head, her ponytail stirred a little. Unfortunately for Vegeta it blew her scent right back to him. He risked a glance sideways at her from where he sat behind Kakarot, arms crossed. The sun poured in through the open window, lighting her blue hair. Her happy eased smile stirred something and his gut clenched. What the hell was this woman doing to him? The memory of that morning when she hugged him from behind came to his mind. Momentarily replacing the horrific dream once again as he mused over what she said.

Bulma reached to the dash again, pushing a button that linked her to the guards at the main gate. "Hey boys, you know the drill."

Could he really be something else? Vegeta had dismissed the notion before after watching that one movie... But she had stated so passionately about it. She really believed he wasn't a monster. No one, not even Bardock or Tash could say the same. They were loyal to him and for some strange reason cared for him, though he had given them enough reason not to. But both were on some level afraid of him. Feared that he would finally snap and kill them. Bulma didn't. She wasn't stupid. She knew he could kill her, but she didn't think it was because he was a monster. She thought it was just because he did it out of some misguided view of himself and that it was something he had to do. Was expected to do. Was she right?

"Damn, B... I forgot how crazy of a driver you were..." Goku muttered in the front seat, bringing Vegeta out of his thoughts. The younger Saiyan had his hand braced against the dashboard in front of him. "Can I just get out and fly there?"

"Nope." The woman shook her head, her ponytail swinging back and forth. "Consider this pay back for that time I used the shrink ray and rode in your shirt on the flying Nimbus and you kept doing barrel rolls." Her smile grew as they neared the gate. "Besides, I'm not going near as fast as you can fly so stop being a chicken-shit." She looked at her friend, eyes narrowing. "Unless you're saying you don't trust my driving skills..."

He held up his hands. "No, no..." Chuckling, he scratched behind his head. "I'm just thinking about the three behind us who don't know-"

Passing the gate, she pulled the e-break that was between the two front seats up without warning and turned the wheel; the rear wheels locked and the car turned ninety degrees. Vegeta's eyes widened as the force pressed him against the door, but he didn't uncross his arms. He looked out the window, finding the side of the road just a foot from his door, then back at the woman as she let the e-break go and went through the gears again speeding back up, driving down the curvy road towards the city.

She glanced in the rearview mirror at them. "You guys scared?"

Bardock chuckled with a smile on his lips, his tail twitching with amusement. "Not in the least, but I know if you crash it won't kill me."

"Gee... thanks for the vote of confidence." Vegeta met her gaze in the rearview mirror. "How about you, Vegeta?"

He snorted, looking out the window again, watching the trees pass in a blur. Considering he was so weak he really wasn't so at ease with the woman's radical driving as Bardock, but he was not about to admit that. Then there was also the fact that the woman was always this weak and was in just as much danger of dying in a wreck as he was and she didn't in the least seem concerned. He wasn't about to let her show him up.

"Really, woman?" he sneered, "Your cars are pathetic."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "How about you, Gohan?" He stared wide-eyed out the window next to him, un-answering.

Goku turned to look at him, worried. "You okay, bud?"

The boy blinked, then gave his father a huge smile. "Can we do that again?"

Bulma laughed, "So you liked that, huh?" He nodded excitedly. "You're just like your father kid... there's a straight away ahead, I'll do something cooler than a hand-break turn if there's no one on it. Sound good?"

"Yeah!"

There were a few minutes of silence before she sighed, "Now I need music to do this..." She pushed the stereo on and fiddled with the volume so it was not too loud as to hurt any of their sensitive ears. The rock music flowed out filling the car with electric guitar and drums. "I think driving in a remake of an old world car deserves some good old world music."

"Old world?" Bardock asked, curious.

Bulma nodded and stated casually, "More than seven thousand years ago humans over-populated the Earth and destroyed the natural balance of nature." Both Bardock and Vegeta looked to her, breathless. Neither had realized how long humans had been on Earth. Not to mention the feat of actually knowing even part of their history. The Saiyans could barely track their history back four thousand years, let alone ten and whatever was before that.

She continued, not seeing their amazed expressions. "Lack of food, disease, wars and cataclysmic disasters killed more than seventy percent of us and another twenty was killed with the hardships after as the planet tried to find a normal balance." She gestured to the city rising above the trees. "Most of the technology you see here was what survived and kept us alive for the most part, carried down through the generations from those who endured the harsh environment. It wasn't until a hundred and seventy years ago when we found the huge city in the north ice cap that there was a huge boost in science."

Vegeta got over his surprise and met Bardock's eyes, both wondering how the humans survived, even with their technology... The Truffles hadn't been able to survive when they accidently changed the planet's climate when fighting the Saiyans. Sure a lot of it had been because of them turning into their Oozaru forms, but for those Truffles that hid... they had been done in by their own technology, unable to survive the drastic temperature rise that Saiyans flourished in.

"How many humans did it take to overpopulate this planet?" Bardock looked back at Bulma. "It's not really that small of a planet..."

Bulma shook her hand getting herself ready and thought about it. "Hmm... We didn't find any record of the exact amount when everything really started crashing around them, but we did find a number a few hundred years before that had the world population at twelve billion..." Their eyes widened. That was a lot of people. It was hard to even imagine that number. "If I had to guess I would say they were close to fifteen..."

She glanced at her mirrors to see if anyone was behind her. "Okay, the straight away is coming up guys. Damn, now I'm wishing I wasn't wearing these boots..."

As they rounded a corner and came out of it, she sped up, shifting through the gears and watching as the speedometer climbed. Reaching the speed she wanted to keep momentum, she threw the car into neutral, jerked up the e-break and turned the wheel. They did a one-eighty before she let the e-break go. Since she built the car herself, she had added a few gears on top of the one reverse gear that was normal just so she could do this. She started shifting the gears back to continue the speed, keeping an eye on her mirrors until she reached the last one then put her hand on Goku's seat and turned to look as they drove backwards to see where they were going.

She was smiling as she glanced at Gohan's awe filled expression as he sat behind her. "Pretty nifty, huh kid?" He nodded excitedly.

She looked to Vegeta and Bardock sitting on his other side; the latter was amused and somewhat surprised while the former looked indifferent... But she could see his tail twitch nervously. When he glanced at her, she winked at him as the song broke into a guitar riff. He scowled more, looking back out his window.

"Okay, time to go back. Can't drive into the city like this... the cops don't like me as it is due to my habit of speeding, but they can't really do anything considering who I am and the fact that my parents help fund them. Driving backwards though, can't be overlooked. Hold on."

Putting the car into neutral again she pulled the e-break and turned the car around, looking back out the windshield as she shifted the gears normally. "Anyway... This band... the group I had playing yesterday and..." She looked at Vegeta in the rearview mirror. "...then the radio station playing when Vegeta caught me singing when rebuilding the pod with my father are all from the old world that was dug up from the ice along with the scientific discoveries. I wish I could say what we had before was interesting or even creative music, but we just hadn't rediscovered how to do it again until finding that city. Since then it's really boomed, as has the movie business among other things. They're making remakes of everything with digital graphics and audio."

She slowed down a little as they neared the city and the sight of the skyscrapers reaching high into the air greeted them. The streets were bustling with people heading to their jobs. The air was relatively clean except for the stench that only came with people living together. No, what Vegeta found most disgusting, as he did with any city on any planet, was the sounds. Loud, noisy, earsplitting noise that left him with headaches and more irritated than he had been before entering the city. He loathed sound pollution more than anything else. Even people insulting him or irritating him. He gritted his teeth, trying to tune it all out.

"Hey Goku," Bulma's voice seemed to cut through the noise as she closed her window, "Roll up your window." The young Saiyan did as she asked, but gave her a questioning look.

Vegeta was relieved when the sound seemed to be muted almost completely and what little remained was drowned out by the music still playing. He glanced to the woman and their eyes met. She winked at his reflection before looking back ahead, turning down one of the blocks. Vegeta could feel Bardock's gaze on him. He managed to keep himself from blushing, but he was still embarrassed. Damn woman... He didn't understand why she had to keep doing that.

"Oh wow... What is that?" Goku said suddenly, and they all looked at a huge extravagant building made out of light blue material that almost seemed to glow in the sunlight.

Bulma sighed, rolling her eyes. "Really, Goku? Do try to use that brain of yours... what do you think it is?"

He sputtered, actually surprised, "T-That is... that's the Headquarters?" He laughed at himself. "I knew it would be huge and all, but gee, Bulma... that's really big and... sparkly..."

Her brow rose at his word choice, glancing at him as she turned down the street it was on. "We just rebuilt it a few years ago with this substance Dad and I made that makes it nearly indestructible. Unfortunately it also blinds people..." She chuckled. "We were going to paint it, but then the people of the city decided they liked it." She shrugged.

"I like it," Gohan said, hands on the window. "It's like a glowing gem."

"Hmm, yeah, kind of."

Vegeta stared at the building that really did look like some sort of gem in the middle of the city. It was a strange shape too, far different then the rectangular or rounded buildings around it. There were even what looked like to be gardens on some levels. Closer to the ground level images flashed; actually all the building around it looked like it had huge TVs now that he was really looking. Most were advertisements for objects or some place, but the Capsule building, which had its big logo displayed proudly high above, appeared to be showing the news or some sort of new invention. There were hover cars far in the air that seemed to enter the building at midlevel while normal cars still entered at the bottom. She got into the middle lane after turning onto the huge incline that went below the other street. There were no other cars and she went straight underneath instead of waiting in line. She did however, have to stop at the security check point.

She rolled down her window, greeting the guard, "Hey, Paul."

With a square device in his hands he leaned down and held it out for her to put her hand on. "Good morning Miss. Briefs." A red light scanned her hand, then Vegeta could smell the slightest hint of blood before she pulled her hand away.

"How are the twins?" she asked pulling her hand away and shaking out the discomfort of being poked.

He beamed, "They just started walking."

"Oh? They must be a handful, getting into everything."

"Yes, but I wouldn't have it any other way." Patting the hood, he pulled back. "You're all clear, Miss Briefs."

"Thanks, Paul," she said as she rolled up the window. The door in front of them dropped down into the ground and she drove forward up the ramp.

"How many people work here?" Bardock asked suddenly, so far his curiosity piqued with all that he had seen.

She parked the car in the small secluded parking lot in the center of the building. "Hm... I haven't seen the last figures, but last I knew it was a little under ten thousand... in this building alone." They all started to get out. "Most are part of the underground labs and the medical center. I wouldn't know worldwide, my dad handles that..."

She didn't bother locking the car as she walked towards a guarded elevator. Goku, Gohan, and Bardock were walking close to her sides while Vegeta was a little behind. The guards greeted her respectfully, but the second she was past them their looks became somewhat lustful. Vegeta realized that the woman was right; it wasn't so much the citizens... considering they hadn't really been around any, but the guards themselves she had to keep an eye on. Most wouldn't even think about ruining their plush jobs, but all it took was one who did not care about the job to put her in real danger. He fought his urge to growl at them as he passed by, the see-through door closing behind him, and he instead pondered why he even had the urge to do that.

Bulma was across from him, leaning against the clear side of the elevator. She tapped a panel next to her and without warning the elevator shot up, startling the four other members. The metal around them gave way to the inside of the building above. For fifty floors, the middle was open with five tube elevators surrounding the personal one. Along the sides were rooms mostly made of glass, letting them see the workers settle down at their desks for the work day. There were TVs everywhere, showing news and market reports. For how many people were there, there were not many dense crowds, the huge space giving a sense of openness not found in most buildings. Then they passed through a metal section again, most likely where the hover cars came in, before another forty floors that were open in the middle. Seeing all the equipment and rooms actually closed off Vegeta guessed that some of it was the medical part she spoke of and the rest labs for the public sector. Then it passed through ten floors of metal before coming to a stop. The elevator door opened behind him and Bulma started to walk past him into the high ceiling lobby that was rich and spacious.

"Welcome to the top floor." Bulma smirked to herself, seeing the awe on Goku and Gohan's faces. "To the right is my father's office and personal work lab. Behind the two reception desks are some suites for guests to stay in, a ballroom and a conference room." She turned left, greeting the guards and receptionists by the door that led to her office and work lab.

One of the guards opened the door for her. "Good morning, Miss Briefs. Giving a tour today?"

"Thanks, Frank." Bulma glanced at the three and a half Saiyans. "Yes, you could say that."

She walked into the small room that belonged to her main secretary. The little brunette looked up from her computer and stood upon seeing who it was. "Bulma..." She grabbed a stack of papers and walked over to her. "All these need either your signature or approval."

Bulma sighed, "Right... of course they do." She walked toward another door and put her palm on a panel. "Anything else I need to know, Beth?"

The woman was curiously eyeing the three handsome men that had accompanied her boss. They weren't wearing what Bulma's normal guests would wear, but damn if they didn't look better. "Other than the board members not liking that you knocked back the meeting by two hours... no, not really."

The door clicked open and Bulma pushed the door open into a lavish office with a full window overlooking the city. "Okay, just put those on my desk. Tell the lower labs that I'm going to be down there after the meeting with some guests."

The brown-haired woman did as she was told. "Who are your guests? Normally the ones you show are wearing business or military suits."

Bulma chuckled, "Just friends of the family visiting. You should know the Ox King's daughter, Chi Chi... well the lug-head in the orange gi is her husband Goku. Then that cute little boy there is their son Gohan. Bardock is Goku's father and that grumpy looking one is..." She paused briefly, "He's their cousin, Vegeta." The prince's scowl grew, not at all liking her saying that.

Beth smiled, reaching out to shake their hands. "Nice to meet you." Vegeta ignored her hand and she merely shrugged it off, giving him a shy smile. "Bulma hasn't ever brought family friends... or even family here now that I think about it. I've only seen of course Mr. and Mrs. Briefs." Vegeta felt the woman's eyes still on him and did his best to ignore her.

Goku paled a little. "Be thankful..."

Bulma threw a paper weight from her huge desk at her friend, who easily caught it. "Hey, they aren't that... bad..." With his amused look, she sighed, "Okay fine... they are. It's the reason why we hardly ever see them and have never brought them here." Bulma walked over to her desk and glanced at Beth, noticing how she was eyeing Vegeta who obviously knew given the way his tail twitched anxiously. Bulma smiled to herself as she sat down. "Can you get one of the private lunch rooms ready?"

"Of course." Beth bowed her head a little, eyes flicking to Vegeta. "It was nice meeting all of you."

Vegeta finally met her gaze, only for her to blush and turn quickly, walking from the room. The door closed behind her and he glared at it before walking over to the window and scowled at his reflection. What the hell was wrong with that woman? Out of all of them she had been looking at him the most and he just couldn't figure out why. Especially just now when he looked at her and she blushed. Vegeta never really understood the opposite sex, even from his own race. So whatever was wrong with her didn't matter to him. The only woman he ever wanted to figure out was the blue-haired woman. This other one was some insignificant earthling woman he could care less about.

He frowned, looking down at the huge concreted area down below that had a few planted trees and sitting benches. Humans came from a building on the other side of the huge area towards the Capsule building, looking more like little ants scampering about to him. He shouldn't even want to figure out the blue-haired woman. She was just as weak and insignificant as the rest of them... He shouldn't care what she thought or even what she said to him this morning. If she really was so insignificant. But that fact was, he did care. He had to, if he was still thinking about it and unable to get her words from his head. Vegeta wasn't one to think on another's words he didn't respect, which made him wonder... Did he really respect the woman that much for her opinion to mean so much? Yes. Yes, he did. But then what did that mean?

Goku shifted in his stance a yard or so from Vegeta, looking out the window at the city. He was still worried about his best friend and the prince next to him, but there wasn't really anything he could do. He knew his friend, saw the signs written on the wall. She always had a thing for troubled bad boys and no one fit that bill as perfectly as the Saiyan Prince. Goku was actually surprised she hadn't jumped him already. At first he thought nothing of it, but the whole fight between them and then Vegeta trying to use her insecurities got him really thinking about it, and he had been watching their interactions ever since, keeping tabs on both of them. He couldn't shake the fear her words had brought him. That she wasn't always going to be there. So what if he took up the mantle of leader or not, he wasn't going to lose her. Not his best friend... Not the only woman besides ChiChi that actually mattered to him. And yet he couldn't really stop her from trying to help Vegeta either. Protecting someone only went so far before it, too, hurt the person you were trying to protect. Helping people was a part of her now- because of him, Goku couldn't help but see the irony in that- and he couldn't change who she was. So the only thing he could do was be there, watch. Make sure the views he had helped instill in her didn't get her killed by helping this lost Saiyan Prince.

Vegeta cared little about the clown and paid him no attention, missing the serious look on his normally cheerful face or the way he kept glancing over at him. He did, however, notice little Gohan between them, who had his face pressed against the glass as he stared in awe at the sight of the city from so high up, the sight so cute that it sickened him and only darkened Vegeta's mood more. He kept part of his attention on Bardock and Bulma talking about the papers she had to sign, the only sound in the room other than Gohan's oh-ing and ah-ing.

The minutes ticked by while Bulma finished her papers, all the while talking to Bardock and explaining something or asking his opinion after explaining a few things. Both Vegeta and Goku were lost in their thoughts, the latter's only interrupted when Gohan asked something and Goku would answer. Roughly thirty minutes passed like this until Gohan and Goku got antsy and started playing with things they shouldn't have been. Two broken vases and an earful of screeching later, Bulma decided to start testing Gohan to keep up with the schedule she had planned (and to at least keep one of the children occupied). She gave Gohan an equation verbally then had him use some scratch paper to figure it out, making them increasingly harder after each correct one he answered.

They were on the twenty-third question, and close to the meeting's start time when Gohan hesitantly gave the answer for it, "Forty-seven?"

Bulma finished signing the last document and put it in the 'done' pile with a sigh of relief, "Not quite, Gohan." She leaned back in her chair, folding her hands behind her head as she ran through the equation in her head, trying to figure out where he went wrong. "Damn, I'm not sure what you did, kid." Rising from her chair, she started to walk over to him so she could check out his work.

She had just picked up the piece of paper, looking at his work when Vegeta spoke suddenly, "The brat forgot to divide by three after multiplying by ten and before adding seventeen."

They all looked at his back amazed as he continued to stare out the window. Bulma looked over the work and smiled. "You're right..." She put it down and showed Gohan. "See right here."

"Ohhh!" He went back to that step and recalculated everything.

"Good job, kid." Bulma nodded, seeing the correct answer, then looked to Vegeta. "So what did you get, mister? If you're such a smarty pants."

He snorted, "I fail to see how that is hard, it's simply arithmetic that anyone could get if they followed the rules of order."

"Okay fine." Bulma walked over to her desk and from her drawer pulled out a dry erase marker, then walked over next to him and wrote a huge mess of an equation that applied those 'simple' rules. "Figure that out..." she said coyly as she finished writing it, "If it's soooo easy."

His glanced at it, then rolled his eyes. "Woman, when you come up with an equation off the top of your head you use the same pattern. Come up with something else or you're only testing my ability to see this."

She frowned, huffing, "I do not have the same pattern."

He held out his hand for the marker. Her brow rose as she handed it to him and he then wrote down the last two equations she had given Gohan by memory and marked the pattern. Her eyes widened as he finished, realizing that he was right, she had been using a pattern to come up with the equations and never even realized it.

"How... how the hell did you see that?" Bulma crossed her arms, looking at the three equations.

Bardock chuckled, "That's how he always was. He looks for the pattern in things, no matter how complex and then goes from there."

She huffed again, taking the marker from him, sticking her tongue out as he smirked to himself. "Fine..."

Going to his other side, she looked at the window, not really seeing as she tried to come up with one that had no pattern. She bit her lip as she started to write another one, then stepped back, smiling to herself and at her handy work. Let's see him figure this one out. She had been careful when writing it, bouncing back and forth between the equal sign, not allowing herself to write the same numbers on each side or the same amount of numbers before switching.

"There, solve that one." She looked at him pointedly as she held out the marker for him, daring him to find a pattern in it.

His brow creased in concentration, but he didn't take the marker from her. Bardock stepped closer to look at it, his brow rising a little. It was... exceedingly complex. With parentheses in parentheses that were within brackets, exponents with more exponents and within this mess was the value x that had to be found. He tried to do it in his head but found that he lost track of everything. Curious, he looked at Vegeta, and he could see by the look in his eyes that he was indeed trying to figure it out. He gave a small half grin. Bardock knew his potential, had seen it when he was just a small child younger than Gohan. Had been so impressed with him so many times and held so much promise...

(Flashback)

"What's the answer, Vegeta?" his voice filled the small sun room of the northern part of the palace as he lay on his back on the open window ledge.

The window overlooked the grand capital city of Sa'vae below the sharp cliffs the palace rested on. His eyes were closed to this view however, looking all the more like a content, lazy cat sunning himself in the sun as his tail lightly tapped the cool black-red surface beneath him. Below the window ledge, sitting against the wall on the mosaic red, dark green, dark blue and black tiled floor was the prince whose brows were furrowed in concentration as he stared at the equation Bardock had given him. A soft breeze drifted through the open room, stirring their black hair and the collection of plants in the room, causing them to release their spicy aroma around the two of them and reminding Bardock of food. His thoughts suddenly drifted to the topic, knowing mid-meal was soon approaching. He cracked open one eye, and the ancient carved black-red walls and ceiling of the palace greeted him before he glanced down at the flame-haired prince.

Bardock still found it hard to believe he was there... at the palace... teaching the young prince. Not even a year ago he only came here to rarely spar with the king when missions would allow him to. It had been an honor bestowed on him for jumping not just one major rank but two in power, the first third-class to do so since the beginning of what remained of their written records. If someone had told him that he would be there now as a mentor instead he would have laughed at them before beating the crap out of them. He had been a warrior and a brilliant tactician, not one of those learned men. Sure, he knew math and science... but that had only been to further his fighting capabilities. To help him create the blutz wave powerball that allowed his race to change anytime at will into their Oozaru forms. He only learned the shit to further his strength and power... and now...

It was amazing what could change in little under a year's time. First was the curse he gained on Kannassa. The one that woke him up every night in a cold sweat or even during the day in the middle of something, he would be thrown into another place and time. It had been disorientating at first, seeing these visions and hearing others' thoughts when the mental links weren't open. He had walled himself off for the first couple of weeks, just trying to make sense of it all... He had kept seeing his crew getting slaughtered by some unseen fiend. His crew... He opened both of his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling as he willed the emotions away.

It was because of him they had been killed. Not just because of his rise to power that gained Freeza's focus and made him... them a target. But because he had seen it coming. Had seen their deaths for nearly two months before it happened. Missions had been difficult ever since gaining the curse. Hearing what their victims' last thoughts were... He tried to hide it, but sometimes he just couldn't deliver the killing blow. That was what happened on the mission before the one that took his crew's lives. He couldn't bring about the final blow on a child and an adult from their race snuck up and attacked him. His crew finished the mission and brought him back, but he had still been healing when the call came for the next mission. A set up by Freeza and his lapdog Dodoria. When Bardock woke up he had nearly been consumed by dread. He rushed to where the mission was supposed to be only to find everything he had seen proved true, which could only mean that everything else he was seeing was true as well... Burying his friends and with Tora's blood-stained armband in hand, he was about to leave when Dodoria showed up with his men. They left him for dead and Bardock took that to his advantage. Unfortunately he had been half dead, but he managed to tear the tracking device from his pod and set its course to land close to the capital. A favored distant relative of the king found him, knew who he was, and brought him back to the palace to be healed.

After informing the king of everything... his visions from a Kannassian curse and the death of his crew by Dodoria, which he proved through the mental link... the king decided it was better to be safe than sorry and confined Bardock to the palace where no one but those most loyal to him and the royal family would see him. That was how he became the prince's teacher. In less than six months he went from being a damn good soldier and an occasional sparring partner to the king, to the king's most trusted advisor working on a way to save their people and the prince's mentor in math and science. Everyone else thought he had died with his crew. His own family and even Raditz's mother whom he had off and on again relations with thought him dead. Only his son, who became part of the prince's guard because of him, knew Bardock was alive.

It all felt... surreal. He turned his head, looking out the window at the black-red buildings of the city. That was what Sa'vae had always been known for, the strange marbled rock that lay beneath the sand and vegetation near the dark golden-red oceans of the north. When he was a child he had heard so much about it from his great-grandfather who had snuck off in his youth to see it for himself. The sight still left him breathless. The sparkling black gems against the red soil, surrounded by a forest of trees and other plants that managed to survive the harsh blistering environment of the planet. A dark golden-red river flowed from the cliffs above the palace, then off the jagged cliffs to his left and down to the middle of the city before falling off another set of cliffs at the city's edge, flowing out to the main body of water a klick out. That was another thing Sa'vae was known for: its stunning three waterfalls and the beauty it held... but most tended to overlook that.

Beauty was a thing no longer deemed important in their society. Power. That was all that mattered. Not intelligence, cunning, honor, or loyalty. Just power. It would be a lie if Bardock had not thought the same as most of his brethren- other than the loyalty part... he had been very loyal to his crew. In fact, this view that power was the only important thing in life was one of the things that just recently changed for him within the past year due to everything that happened. You could say he had been forced to open his eyes... see for the very first time. Free of the taint that had infected his people. If only it hadn't cost so much for him to actually see...

A little smirk crossed Vegeta's lip as he suddenly replied confidently, "One hundred and seventy-two."

Bardock blinked as he was jarred from his thoughts. He propped himself up onto his elbow and looked down at the hard equation in the four year-old's hands. His brow rose with surprise, not really thinking his prince would get it, but then he had gotten everything else that day correct. "You are right."

The young prince snorted before he smugly stated, "Of course I'm right." He glanced up at Bardock, tail flicking happily.

Bardock kept his amusement to himself and growled, "Don't get full of yourself, boy." His own tail smacked the back of the boy's head lightly. "It's unbecoming of a prince. You were born our better, but never look down on your people."

Vegeta frowned, looking a little embarrassed as he stared down at the floor before him, but not willing to admit he had done wrong. "What of aliens, mentor Bardock?" He glanced back up at Bardock, seemingly forgetting that he just got scolded.

He eyed the prince, meeting his curious dark gaze. Bardock couldn't help but chuckle, "Depends, we should not belittle them, but I do believe they need to earn our respect." He smirked. "If they don't earn it, then by all means, my prince, treat them beneath you." Vegeta matched his smirk with a huge smile.

Such a young, malleable child. So bright and intelligent. It pained Bardock to think that his visions would come true... that the young prince would be taken by that despicable Freeza and twisted beyond recognition. Corrupt him far worse than the tyrant had the rest of them...He wanted to do something. Send him away like his younger brother Tarble or just shield him, but there wasn't anything they could do. If Freeza wanted him, he was going to have him... or they were all going to die. At least this way they could try and save as many of their people as they could before Freeza destroyed the planet anyway. The only thing he could think to do was put his own son in danger to help guard the prince, but then that was just as horrible. He was trading this young innocent boy for his people's lives...

His thoughts were interrupted by the soft snores of Tash, who had fallen asleep under one of the leafy plants in the room. Bardock glanced at the younger cub, before sighing and looking back to Vegeta. "A word of advice, however, sometimes you have to show respect for them to return it. And just because they haven't earned your respect does not give you the right to end their lives."

"Mother said life was special." Vegeta scowled, confused as he went to stare at the floor again. "But my other mentors say killing the weak is the Saiyan way."

Bardock all but growled, "Then they are fools."The prince looked at him surprised; Bardock was not one to get angry. The older Saiyan noticed his startled look and sighed again, "I'm sorry. Here, try this one out."

He grabbed the template from him and started to write another one down, Vegeta watching him. "It's because of the Cold family, right?" Bardock blinked looking at him. "I don't like them. Can I look down upon them?"

Bardock couldn't help himself as he chuckled, gaining the boy's puzzled look. "You got a very good instinct, my prince."

He tickled the boy's face with his tail, making him laugh freely, something not many were blessed with hearing. The prince knew early that any outward sign of emotion was frowned upon and only a handful close to him were okay with it and wouldn't scold him. Had that not been the reason they took his little brother away? It had taken Bardock four months to finally gain the boy's trust and become one of them. Bardock just prayed the bond he was forming now would remain when he could finally free him from Freeza's hold. However long that may be.

"Father? The king wishes to see his..." Raditz and Amarra -the king's relative who saved Bardock- walked into the room suddenly, taking in the scene and his son frowned."... son."

Amarra smiled slightly at Bardock, their eyes connecting as he sat up, pulling his tail away from the prince who was blushing a little for getting caught being so open around the younger Saiyan he did not know very well. Amarra continued to smile to herself, looking away as she walked over to Tash who was still sound asleep under one of the leafy plants and bent down, touching his back. "Little one, time to wake up." He yawned, rubbing his eyes as he sat up. "You want to go see your mother?"

"Thank you, son." Bardock stood, seeing Raditz's discomfort. "Go back to whatever you were doing, I can take him." Something flashed in the young Saiyan's eyes before he nodded and walked away, leaving them.

The barely two years-old cub woke fully, continuing to rub his eyes before realizing what she said and shook his head, pushing her hand away."No, I want... Vegeta." He rose, pouting as he eyed everyone wearily before his stubby legs took him to his cousin and he grabbed a hold of his arm.

The prince didn't try to push him away, nor look irritated that he was there... if anything he looked worried. "Stop being weak, Tash, they are not going to take you away like Tarble."

Tash looked up at him. "You promise?" Vegeta simply nodded as he wrapped his tail around his little cousin's waist protectively.

Bardock and Amarra looked at each other, neither one happy to hear the exchange or to see the prince glare at them, daring them to take away his cousin like they did his little brother. All three boys had been close, Tash and Tarble looking and acting almost like twins. It had been horrible to watch as the king and queen tore Tarble away from them to send him away to safety under the guise that he was too weak and an embarrassment. Bardock was actually starting to think that was one of the reasons why Vegeta even let Bardock in. Everyone else had betrayed Vegeta by taking his little brother, but he didn't know Bardock was involved behind the real reason why.

Bardock sighed, "No one will take you, Tashaen." He crossed his arms and started walking to the door. "Now, let's go. Best not to keep your father waiting"

Vegeta spoke suddenly, boldly, "When I am king, being weak will not be a crime." Bardock stopped, surprised, glancing back at the prince who was looking at his little cousin. "Then Tarble can come back."

(End Flashback)

Bardock came back to reality, eyes focusing on the back of his prince, who was so different than he had been all those years ago. Unfortunately that very meeting was to inform the prince and those King Vegeta trusted beyond any shadow of doubt that a little after Vegeta turned five -six months later- Freeza was going to take him for 'training'. This was just as Bardock predicted from his visions. He worked harder than ever to fill the boy with as much information as he could, trying to build a foundation on the impressionable cub that would survive the evil tyrant. Then they all just stood there and let that psychopath take him. Killing innocent people and destroying worlds was one thing, but giving a little innocent child to Freeza to torment had to be his greatest sin. They had all failed him so...

The door to the office opened suddenly and everyone but Vegeta and Bulma turned to look as Beth poked her head in. "Bulma, the board members are r-"

Bulma waved her off, watching Vegeta as he continued to figure out the problem. "Yeah, yeah... I'll be there in a sec."

Beth looking at them questioningly, wondering what was going on when she saw the equations written on the window and that the handsome man she had been eyeing earlier was looking at them. She paused at the door, wanting to know if he could solve it.

A few minutes later Vegeta gave a smug smirk as he looked to Bulma. "The answer's twenty-five, woman."

Her brow rose, impressed. "Not bad." Seeing the way his eyes glinted, practically saying 'of course I got it, I'm the Prince of all Saiyans', she rolled her eyes. "Don't get full of yourself, mister."

Bardock saw something flash in his eyes; the phrase hit a nerve with both of them, but the older Saiyan knew the prince didn't remember why as their eyes met briefly. Bulma went to her desk as she continued to talk, "If you think you're so smart..." She grabbed a folder that had been on her desk before they got there and walked back to him, shoving the folder into his chest. "Then find the issue I have with this and solve it for me."

He glared at her. "I'm not your worker, do it yourself, wo-"

Smirking, she cut him off swiftly. "So you're admitting defeat and you haven't even looked at it yet? Fine," she drawled as she reached to take the folder back. "Then I'll have someone more capable-"

He held it away from her, his eyes narrowing more. "You have already tried this ploy on me the other day, woman, but I'll do it this time just to shut you up and prove once and for all I'm not a mindless idiot like that clown." He gestured to Goku.

"Hey!" Goku pouted. "I'm not that stupid."

Vegeta snorted, but said nothing else. Bulma chuckled, coming to her friend's defense. "I can vouch that he isn't as mindless as you think, Vegeta. Considering I at least taught him the basics." She winked at Goku. "What's four plus two, bud?"

The two stared at each other when Goku gained a mischievous look before scratching the side of his head, giving a clueless look. "Um... wait I know this... is it s... seven?"

She wrinkled her nose. "You little shit, stop playing around."

He chuckled with his hand behind his head and feigned innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bulma huffed, walking toward Beth and the door. "Whatever. Beth can you show them to the side room?"

Stepping out of Bulma's way, she nodded. "Will do, Bulma." Vegeta frowned when Bulma disappeared out the door and the Beth-woman looked at him with a small smile. "This way, please." He really hoped she wasn't going to stay with them the whole time.

.~-~.

"Be quiet!" Bulma snapped, seriously at her wits end with these morons before her who had been arguing with her for the past two hours.

This was so not how she pictured this going down... She pinched her nose, beyond frustration or even exasperation with all of them. It seemed her outfit didn't work out as well as she hoped it would. Frankly, she didn't like having to use her body or her beauty like this in the first place. She wanted to be respected by them for her intelligence, not her beauty. But when she brought up cutting part of their pay to help fund a program to help the needy... something her parents fully supported... they exploded with rage. Then to bring up the other changes she wanted on top of that... they would have none of it, despite her sexy attire. What a waste. Getting dolled up for these selfish old perverted pigs. Not to mention the embarrassment of Bardock and Vegeta seeing this...

She had been self-conscious going into this thing, and now that it had spiraled out of control she had to constantly bat down that little voice. That buzzing gnat that made her want to just stare at them wide-eyed and afraid, mouth dry with nothing to say and flee the room, a crying, quaking mess. No! She was Bulma Briefs. She refused to let them boss her around. They may have once been her father's friends and once had the company's interests at heart, but obviously no more. All they cared about was lining their already bulging pocket books all the while forgetting that it was her family that ultimately paid them. They had once only been advisors for ideas and what projects to take on... now they hardly ever offered any ideas and when they did it was on the backs of the real thinkers.

Maybe that was why her father put her in charge of them not even a year ago. He was afraid to fire all these people who had once been his friends, and some still were... leaving her to do the dirty work. She loved her father, but sometimes he could be such a coward. He hated confrontations. Whatever. She was fed up with this. If they could not see reason then as far as she was concerned it was time to cut them off the Briefs bank. Resting her hand down on the chair, she looked at them, pleased they had finally listened and decided to not open their idiotic mouths. Or maybe it was them sensing their upcoming doom? It didn't matter. Her decision was made. Besides two of them, they were all going to be fired by the end of the meeting, which was not going to go on any longer than ten minutes. She had shit she had to do and still had to show the Saiyans the labs... and lunch was approaching all too quickly.

She placed her palms flat on the table and rose, keeping them there as she glared at them. "I think all of you but Mori and John have forgotten just who pays those lavish lives you live." They noticeably paled. Good.

The one who had been more of a thorn in her side since taking over this part of her father's job made the foolish mistake of speaking up, "With all due respect, Bulma. We have earned our rig-"

"Please, Yen, address me as Miss Briefs. You have not earned the privilege of using my first name." she kept her voice steady, not letting it rise, "And maybe twenty years ago you had earned your place here at my family's company, but since I have been Vice President I have not heard of one idea come from you or the others on this board that were actually your own and not some unknown scientist you have paid on the hush." His eyes narrowed, about to open his mouth. "Don't. Just don't. Yes, you have a contract... or rather had a contract with this company, but I think you failed to notice the clause that clearly states that if you are hindering this company or are dead weight we can and will remove you. Not only are you both, but you are hurting the company my father built from the ground up. He has given me full executive choice pertaining to this board and now I'm going to exercise it. Everyone but Mori and John are fired from this moment on. Please gather your things by the end of the day or it will be donated, and give your badges to Security on your way out." And don't let the door hit you in the ass, she added mentally. She sighed, "Now I wish I could say I enjoyed our time together, but I think the pleasure was all yours. Please excuse me, but I now have to find competent people who will move this company forward."

Yen stood up, furious as he yelled at her, "You can't do this!"

She looked at him calmly and tilted her head a little, letting an amused smirk cross her lips. "Yes... I believe I just did." Her gaze went to the others. "Good day, gentlemen."

Gathering the folders before her, she turned, about to leave when she heard him advancing behind her. It only made her angrier. If he laid a hand on her, she was going to ruin him. She was tired of being nice. Without faulting in her steps, she withdrew the device from between her breasts, pretending to simply scratch. Holding it in the hand that was reaching for the handle, he suddenly grabbed her arm, turning her and roughly shoving her against the wall next to the door. His grip on her arm actually kind of hurt, but she refused to show this as her brow rose in fake surprise.

She didn't even bat an eye when Yen glared at her, a pathetic attempt at looking murderous, but she actually was housing one and had been on the receiving end of Vegeta's glare many times. "You won't get away with this, Bulma."

"Is that a threat, Yen?" she asked neutrally.

His grip tightened on her arm further and she couldn't help but grimace from the pain, knowing it was going to leave a bruise. "Yes," he replied snidely, using almost the same words she had just told him. "I believe that it is."

Without warning she kneed him in the crotch, and when he let go, groaning as he went to hold himself, she zapped him. He fell to the floor, the electrical current rendering him immobile as pain far worse than the blow she delivered to his manhood went through him. Turning the device off, she brushed a stray hair from her face and looked down at him without the slightest pity. Honestly, he deserved far worse. How her father had ever been friends with this man was beyond her. Suddenly the door opened behind her and she turned a little, brow rising as she found Goku standing there with a rather scary look on his face. She rolled her eyes, putting her hand on his chest to keep him from hurting the already hurting man withering on the floor and looked past him at the guards.

"Rieth, Vern. Can you please remove this trash from the building and take him down to the police station? I will be filing charges against him." Grabbing her friend's orange gi and blue shirt beneath and tugging him off to the side so the men could do as she asked, she leaned in close, whispering to him, "Calm down, Goku. Or you'll blow your naive cover."

His scary face had fallen not long after seeing the man on the floor, but he was still angry. She could see it in his eyes and his threatened stance. If he had a tail she would bet all her money it would be lashing. Perhaps it was a good thing Goku never accompanied her before, this wasn't the first time she had been threatened... nor would it be the last. What could she say? She just had that effect on people. It only took one time for her to learn to always keep protection around. Dispassionately she watched at the two guards dragged the man from the room, her mind thinking of how she was going to make sure he lost almost every penny he ever earned from her father and the company. Oh... Bulma was nice and forgiving... to an extent. Yen should be happy she had gotten to him before Goku had.

The other men left quickly without a word, only Mori and John stopping to ask if she was alright. She shrugged it off. Considering she had been through worse during her adventures with Goku, being threatened by an old man who didn't know when to let go was nothing. Bulma may be beautiful... gorgeous even... but she wasn't a delicate flower. With the two board members leaving, she walked from the room as well and stormed over to her office, uncaring if Goku or the others followed. She was angry that things had to come to this, especially with the Saiyans watching. She wanted to show unity and strength, but only showed how fail the company's board members had been. Tossing the files and the device onto her desk, she kept her back to the door as she rolled up her sleeve to look at her arm, ignoring the sound of the others or the closing of her door. Damn it.She could already see the bruise forming on her pale skin. She was about to roll the sleeve back down when Goku grabbed her forearm gently, looking at it with a frown.

Bulma glanced at him. "I'm fine, bud. You better than anyone should know I've gotten far worse scrapes... Hell, I had part of a tower land on me, remember?"

He sighed as he let go, "Yeah, I guess... sorry."

She rolled her eyes again, seeing him pout. She slugged him in the arm, chuckling. "You're such a knucklehead sometimes. I swear." Smiling, she turned, leaning against the desk. "But I know you can't help it..." Her eyes then went to Bardock and Vegeta, seeing them watching Goku intently. "Sorry about that, guys, I knew they were going to be bad, not that bad..."

Bardock let his amusement color his voice. "I found it rather entertaining actually, reminds me of the elites... except tame." He looked over at Vegeta. "Huh, boy?"

Vegeta snorted, "Tame? Within the first ten minutes a brawl would have already broken out... unless they have learned restraint?" He gave Bardock a mock questioning glance and the older Saiyan shook his head. "Didn't think so."

Vegeta pretended to look out the window, but kept sneaking looks at her as Gohan walked up to her, his small voice drawing all their attention. "You okay? That guy sounded really angry."

She smiled at him, leaning forward to rub his head. "You're just like your father, kid. Yes, I'm good. Yen was lucky I kept my own anger in check or I probably would have done to him what I did to Roshi the other day... and that wouldn't have turned out so well." Gaze going back to Bardock, she sighed, "If you don't want to work with us anymore I wo-"

Bardock walked over, grabbing her arm to look at the bruise that was painfully visible. "I would be making a deal with your father and you, Bulma. Not these men. If anything, you proved you're capable of holding your own, something Saiyans respect." He shrugged, letting go. "You did good."

Bulma blushed a little bit as she rolled down the sleeve, having always been a little embarrassed accepting such honest compliments. Sure, she boasted herself and when most people said she was beautiful or smart she swiftly told them of course she was. But compliments like this... "Um... Thanks." She brushed an invisible strand of hair from her face nervously, which made his brow rise somewhat surprised. "Well, let's get down to the labs and finish this morning... everything else can just wait until tomorrow. I'm tired of this place and its headaches."

Vegeta watched her closely as she headed for the door, wondering why she was suddenly so awkward with the praise Bardock gave her. It wasn't like the woman... Perhaps it had something to do with her insecurities from the day before? He mentally shrugged, storing it along with everything else he had learned about her. Right then he was a little too busy trying to figure out why he had gotten angry over the weak human man trying to harm the blue-haired heiress. If he had his strength would he have reacted like the clown Kakarot? That was preposterous and yet... Her being threatened only brought the dream to the forefront of his mind again. Even if he could have reacted like the clown it still didn't hide the fact that he had been frozen in his chair, startled, as he saw the image of the metal room and her dangling from the ceiling. He was glad Bardock's focus had been on his son and not him at that time; he didn't want any of the old man's questions.

Realizing they were leaving without him, he followed after them, all the while trying to forget the dream that was plaguing him once more. He had to be losing it. There was no other explanation...

.~-~.

Fortunately for Bulma, the tour through the labs went perfectly. Seeing Bardock's awe and Vegeta's carefully hid admiration, hinted only by the flicks of his tail had made the day well worth it. Even Goku and Gohan were wide-eyed with wonder at the maze of football field sized labs beneath the building, seeing all the inventions and scientific wonders they were trying to harness. It all certainly took the edge off of what happened earlier. She was going to find replacements tomorrow, get her father's approval for those replacements, and then get cracking on all that she had fallen behind on today. She was going to get ready for the C-tech Expo and finish the scouter. More importantly, finally come up with something that would help Earth... actually she might have something for that already.

Bulma shifted the salad on her plate, deep in thought as the three and a half Saiyans ate their fill. She had gotten the idea from one of the projects from the underground lab. The bending of light to make someone or something look invisible. If she could apply that to the planet... a near impossible feat... it would look like they weren't even there, throwing off whoever came to harm them and hopefully think someone had destroyed the planet. Of course anyone with a brain would wonder where the rocks left over from a destroyed planet would be, but it was a start. Something she would have to look into tomorrow.

"What are you thinking about, B?" Goku asked, leaning back in his chair after he finished eating and rubbed his stomach happily.

"Oh..." She shrugged as she forked some of the salad. "Just one of the projects I'm working on, nothing really big."

"That place was cool!" Gohan said, thoughts of maybe being a scientist running through his head.

Bulma smiled. "You really liked that hover board, huh bud?" He nodded and she chuckled at his enthusiasm. "You do realize you can fly on your own, right?"

"Yeah, but it still looks cool."

After a couple of seconds of silence, she glanced at Bardock and Vegeta, seeing that they were done as well. "Let's get out of here shall we?"

Bulma stood, putting her napkin next to her plate. They stood up with her and as she turned to leave the private room into the common lunch room, she noticed that Vegeta still had that folder. In fact, he had had it with him the whole time she had shown him the labs. She smirked to herself as she opened the door and walked through. She doubted he could figure out the issue she had been having with one of the scouter components, but she'd give him a chance. It wasn't often she found someone above normal intelligence. Sure, Bardock was obviously intelligent, but for some reason that didn't excite her as much as knowing Vegeta was. Most guys she knew, especially those she had dated, were so far below her intellect level that holding any real conversation with them would be so far over their heads it wasn't even funny, which meant she had to dumb down what she said. That got old fast. It was one of the reasons she and Yamcha had broken up so many times... She would get so tired of lowering her thoughts and speech to his level that she would just stop trying completely and then he never understood her. He would complain that she was being too intelligent, like it was a choice she had consciously made and that she was showing off.

Then there were the few that were just slightly below her level, only all the ones she had known were jerks who thought just because she was a girl that they were better than her. Oh yeah, she sure knew how to pick them... If they weren't bad boys with issues, then they were semi-intelligent men with superiority complexes. Sure, Vegeta had treated her beneath him, but he treated everyone- not just girls- like that. Not to mention it had lessened considerably since he first woke up. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she wasn't going to complain any. She paused, waiting for the elevator when the realization hit her. Oh no... Not only was Vegeta clearly a 'bad boy', but he was also intelligent? She glanced at him and found that he was looking over the folder she had given him with Bardock. Why had it taken so long for her to reach this conclusion? Sure she knew the first one, but her two weaknesses? She really needed to nip this excitement in the bud before it grew. She was so not going there.

Bardock cleared his throat, "What is this?" He looked up, curiosity ebbing from him.

She tapped her fingers on her arm, glancing at the elevator. "It's to my version of the scouter; it's the last component I need to figure out before I can start actually building the damn thing."

"You're making a scouter?" he sounded surprised as he looked back at the huge equation.

"Yuppers." She beamed proudly, looking back at them. "It will be able to do what my cell phone and the old scouter can do, plus some." The ding of the elevator sounded and she sighed, one step closer to home, and then it was an afternoon on the town with ChiChi and her mother. Stepping onto the elevator, she waited for them to join her before pushing the button. "I was going to have you and my father look at it, Bardock. But if Vegeta thinks he's able..." She let her word trail off as he looked up glaring at her, but said nothing.

Swiftly, she crushed the small thrill she got thinking about the 'what if'. So what if he did find the problem and solve it- a problem that she couldn't solve, her brain added. Why should she care that the Saiyan Prince actually had a brain in that thick egotistical head of his and wasn't just brawn? But then, he wasn't really brawn just then, was he? She could easily picture him with muscles, especially after seeing Bardock that morning... she pushed that thought from her head quickly... But that fact was, she really didn't see him as the all-powerful Saiyan Prince that he claimed to be. Without his ki he was, well, weak. She could have killed him the other day even...

The door opened to the private garage and they all stepped out. She snickered when Vegeta seemed to hesitate before getting into the car. "I promise, no more stunts, Vegeta."

He snorted as he got in, "As if I'm worried about that, woman." Her brow rose as she glanced at Bardock in the rearview mirror, his amusement matching hers.

She sighed as she pulled out of the building and turned onto the main street, "And that, my friends, was the gem of West City."

~~~~.~-~.~~~~