Final Fate

The reunion

Kakarotttasted good. That was the first thing that went through Vegeta's mindwhen he realised what he was about to do. Soft lips and a mouth thatopened in surprise, which he of course immediately took advantage of.His tongue penetrated deep into the younger man's oral cavity,tasting him, tasting him, and all the while he watched the sensationsin the wide black eyes. First surprise, then incomprehension,non-comprehension, disbelief, irritation ... these now changed toanger, rage, indignation. Kakarott tried to pull his head back, butthere was the wall behind him and Vegeta went the distance. He triedto turn his head away, but Vegeta pressed himself even closer,parking his knee between his legs, bringing disgust to his eyes andan even stronger blush to his cheeks.

Finally the rigiditybegan to fall away from his birthday present, he squirmed between thewall and his king, revolted against Vegeta's grip so strongly thatthe elder saw pain flare in Goku's eyes and then, the pain came toVegeta as well. Kakarott did the only thing he could do, he bit down.Hard. So hard that Vegeta's blood spread through both their mouthsand the coppery taste added an interesting extra note. But enough wasenough. Kakarott had challenged him to get his answers in a differentway and he had just done so. The answer was clear: reproduction inhumans worked just like it did in Saiyans. It would have surprisedVegeta, too, if it had been any different given the anatomicalsameness of their bodies.

Licking his way over the bite wound,he took a step back from the body of his birthday present, letting itgo, noting the violent rise and fall of its ribcage, and arrogantlyraised his head. "Did that kiss leave you so breathless,Kakarott?" The younger man's reply came so quickly that Vegetareally hadn't noticed it. A subtle pain spread through his cheek asit caught the blow of his pet. "You bastard!" gasped Goku."Will you kindly leave your stylus with you! You're as sick asyour bodyguard!" Instantly Vegeta's expression darkened and heparried Kakarott's next attack, which was rushed and born ofanger.

In the next second, Son Goku found himself in Vegeta'sgrip, but again grabbed, this time facing the wall, and one armtwisted behind his back. "That was the second time you attackedme that day. If you make this mistake a third time, there will beconsequences, severe consequences, and this time not only for you.You seem to keep forgetting that all these lives here that you seemto value so much are solely in my hands." Vegeta felt his bodytremble under his grip as the boy's eyes stared at him over hisshoulder. "Forget yourself once more on this day and you maywatch her execution. Understood?" Goku remained silent. Vegetaincreased the pressure on his arm. "Understood?!"

Theeyes that were staring at him closed and the inner struggle of thelittle one could be felt. Vegeta was not sure how Kakarott wouldreact. The assumption was that pride would prevail and he would notaccept this disgrace ... at least this would have been the case withany free Saiyan. However, he was the king and in his presence everySaiyan had to accept what he intended to do. Kakarott, however, didnot see him as a respecter or a king, his actions would be determinedsolely by his will ... and what Goku had succeeded in doing before,he succeeded in doing again. He surprised King Vegeta the IV byletting the tension disappear from his muscles and taking a deepbreath. "I understand." he said calmly, opening his eyes."But I want your promise that nothing will really happen tothem."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed to slits. "You'remaking conditions?" "No ... I ... just want your word. Youoffered it yourself." It sounded helpless and yet determined;how the little one managed it was a mystery to the king. They staredat each other. One second, two ... Vegeta's mouth twitched, then helet go of Kakarott and stepped back. Goku slowly disengaged himselffrom the wall, moving his shoulder and twisted arm to loosen hisstrained muscles. He did not look at him. Kakarott has good control,Vegeta thought. Many another higher-ranked Saiyan would not havethought clearly with anger and rage and would have made the wrongdecision. He is able to weigh his emotions logically and put his ownconcerns aside. Besides... Vegeta remembered the moment in thetraining complex when Kakarott had accused Veran of lying and hadthus defended Nappa, an opponent who had treated him badly justbefore. But still, it had been important to him to absolve him of thefalse accusations.

Shaking his head, Vegeta dispelled thethought. The brat was full of contradictions and the more he learnedabout him, the more there seemed to be. But he could worry about thatwhen the little one was back in his cage and they weren't standing inthe middle of a mine. Perhaps the next encounters would also shedmore light on his pet's character. "Come along." he orderedgruffly, turning towards the corridor and about to start moving. Hewas held back by a hand, which grabbed his wrist in a flash. Hestopped. Turned his head. His eyes moved downwards. To Kakarott'shand, which held his forearm tightly. Up again. Their eyes crossed.Goku's hand stayed where it was. "Yours," the younger mancleared his throat, his heart beating up to his throat. He found ithard to withstand Vegeta's piercing gaze, but he HARDLY stood. "Youranswer?"

Was he really serious? Vegeta asked himself inhis mind as he stared Kakarott down. He was just reaching for himlike that? Grabbed hold of him? Held him down? Dared to treat him sounseemly again ... and the reason he did that was because he reallywanted a commitment from him? A commitment from him, Vegeta, King ofthe Saiyans to his birthday present? His subject? His pet?! He wasall the more surprised at the firmness of the grip and thedetermination in the young, black eyes. For all his strength, hewould have pulverised anyone else by now ... but Kakarott really just... didn't seem to have any idea what he was capable of. Or else ...Vegeta narrowed his eyes to slits, glaring even more darkly at theyounger man ... Kakarott was aware of this, but thought less of hisown well-being than he did of these people.

Vegeta turned toface him fully and snatched his wrist out of the motion. Gokuimmediately raised his arms to counter a possible attack from theking ... if only symbolically. But Vegeta didn't go for him, he justcontinued to eye him and seemed to be waiting for, or looking for,something very specific. "So you want me to promise you thatnothing will happen to these people?" Kakarott nodded, barelyperceptibly, but he nodded. Within the blink of an eye, Vegeta waswith him, standing in front of him. Close. Looked up at him. "Andwhat," he said quietly, in a tone that made Goku break out in acold sweat. "Do I get from you in return?"

SonGoku's mind immediately flashed with memories of Veran and hisquestions ... and Vegeta's kiss, his question ... how ... how people... he couldn't even finish the sentence in his mind, damn it! Hisheart began to beat faster, his cheeks to blush, his hands to tremble... but this, this ... he could not mean! "I...I...", Gokustuttered, flustered, and without realising it, took a step back.Vegeta wouldn't let him, now grabbing Kakarott's arm in his turn andholding him tight. "So?" They stared at each other. SonGoku's face so absolutely stunned and Vegeta's expressionless exceptfor the piercing eyes and the subtle, knowing pull around hismouth.

Once again the younger man found himself with his backto the wall, but this time it seemed as if he wanted to crawl intothe rock, hide in it, be swallowed by it. "Since you'respeechless Kakarott, I'll make it easy for you." Vegeta's tonewas pure authority. "As long as you obey, nothing will happen tothem. However, should you act against my instructions ..." Thesentence hung in the air threateningly for a moment. "... youwill surely remember the traìll in my dining room." Kakarott'sface, which had seemed uncertain a moment ago, closed up and theirritated expression in his eyes turned to anger. His fists clenched,his muscles tensed, Vegeta turned away unimpressed. "Come now,Kakarott. I still want to look at this Namekian they found on yourplanet. After all, he may be the last living specimen of his people."With that, he simply left the younger man standing against the walland marched back down the corridor, his cloak billowing. After only afew moments he heard the hurried footsteps stumbling dutifully behindhim. Briefly, the corner of his mouth twitched, then his mine wasback like the black stone around them.

Silently they walkedback down the corridor. The slaves dodged respectfully and Vegeta'ssteps quickened, his cloak billowing behind him. The king's mind wason his own actions, which he found ... unusual. These Shenaniganswith Kakarott had to stop, now. The banter in the hallway, theresulting staring, the time they had spent ... he really had moreimportant things to do than waste his time with this subclassaiyan,even if he was different. Fortunately, he had already arrangedeverything for just that and when they were back, he wouldn't be hisproblem anymore. Before that, he would now get the rest of theinformation he needed and then the subject of Kakarott was historyfor him. They reached the entrance of the tunnel and he put on aneven more closed mine than he already had, nodded to the mine guardsand stepped into the emptiness of the cylinder to let himself sinkslowly into the depths. His bodyguards grabbed Goku and followed.

Itwent quite a while into the depths. Again and again these tunnelentrances of different sizes were found in the walls. Son Gokucounted at least twenty of them, but he was sure he had missed one ortwo. Saiyans were constantly flying past them, criss-crossing in alldirections. It was like a beehive, while below them the black roundnever ended. His eyes darted left and right, to the stone faces ofhis bearers, then back to the red fluttering cloak that blew not farin front of and below him. He had been an idiot, a huge idiot! And hereally had Vegeta to be grateful to! Grateful that he had remindedhim of what he was capable of by mentioning the poor creature he hadso cold-bloodedly killed. Maybe it was because of this isolation inthe cage, maybe it was because Vegeta had just been normal with him... if you could call it normal, or maybe it was just because of this... dangerous charisma he radiated ... damn it! In the end, Gokucouldn't say what it was exactly, but there had been moments when hewasn't sure anymore if Vegeta was who he thought he was. Now he wasagain! The King of the Saiyans was a tyrannical asshole that he hadto get out of the way. A murderer, a monster! The end! And it was hisjob to rid the world, no the universe, of him.

They landed andSon Goku looked around in surprise. He had not noticed how they hadapproached the ground. They were standing on a close-meshed grid thatspanned the entire surface of the cylinder, just like at the top ofthe mine. Through the grating he could see movement, people workingbelow them. They had probably really reached the end of the shafthere. In the middle of the grating there was a round hole, whichcould be closed, but was currently open. There was no danger of theprisoners coming up underneath, for the hole, and thus the floor gridon which they stood, was ten metres above their heads.