Bardock could remember every single moment, every single minuscule moment on the battlefield perfectly. The messy-haired Saiyan could remember what worked, and what didn't. He could remember the faces; none victorious, but nevertheless always stayed in Bardock's mind. All these picture-perfect memories of all the fights made the Saiyan the brilliant tactician he was today.

Yup.

A third class warrior far deserving of being an elite.

That was the goal, at least.

But something very odd has happened to the young soldier.

All these years of memorizing fights alongside his crew, making his claim of being leader through his countless victories, and one damn woman made him forget his name.

His fucking name!

"Uh," the tiny female with hair that spiked downwards was still holding out a hand to introduce herself to her nameless leader who was just blinking at her. "I said my name is Gine. What's yours?"

Mr. No Name continued to blink a third time before clearing his throat, questioning himself as to why the hell he was acting so foolish. She was a damn woman, for crying out loud! A regular, ordinary Saiyan female that was probably as mouthy and ruthless as the rest. But those eyes... And that face... The male cleared his throat once again, standing up as straight as possible to show his authority with a sneer to match. "Bardock."

Gine smiled politely despite the grumpy male's persona, and her hand remained extended towards him. When he slapped it away, she pouted. "Well, you're not very nice, Mr. Bardock! It's just a handshake!"

"I don't do handshakes," he snapped and turned his back to her, beginning to walk towards the space pods where his other crew members were waiting to start their new mission and expecting her to follow. He cursed under his breath, still pissed off that the dainty thing left him speechless. "What kind of warrior does, anyway? Pathetic."

The little lady tip-toed behind him, literally on her tip toes so she could be closer in height to his rather tall body, and winked at the back of his messy head. "Maybe I'm not a warrior."

Bardock immediately stopped in his tracks, whipping around to snarl at Gine who wasn't even phased by his angry demeanor. He was slightly caught off guard by just how closely she was following behind him in the first place, but managed to keep his tough composure despite how much little space was between them. "Listen Gine," his fangs were showing now, hoping to scare the woman into a decent partner. "I don't know what hole the Planet Trade Organization members pulled you out of, but as long as you're assigned to my crew, you don't say stupid shit like that. Got it?"

The two stared at each other; one with hardened orbs and the other with inquisitive ones. The inquisitive ones widened in a bit of shock, realizing something she had noticed before but was now positive of it. "Hey!" Gine reached out and placed a finger on Bardock's nose, causing her leader to freeze up again. "Whaddya know, you are cute!"

"...Cute!?" Bardock was snarling once more, but was unable to hide the slightly glowing crimson color on his cheeks. "Cute!?"

Gine took a step back, noticing how his muscles were beginning to tense up a bit. "Take it easy, take it easy!" she winked for the second time at him, and raised her hands in front of her for defense. "What would you like to be called? Handsome? Gorgeous?"

"BARDOCK!" The Saiyan accidentally shouted out, quickly and noticeably embarrassed by losing his composure and letting his frustration get the best of him. He shook his head at his mistake and turned his back once more to the woman. "Come on, pain in my ass. Let's go."

Gine raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but decided to keep her mouth shut and follow. She honestly felt a bit guilty and sad for her leader; not being able to have a little fun now and then. Deciding not to bother with making friends with him anymore, she glanced up at the brightening sky and wondered what it would look like on the planet they were sent to conquer next. She fiddled with her thumbs, wanting to ask Bardock so many questions but knew better not to. She wondered just how much the Saiyan male knew about her; what others might have said or what he overheard. She'd been switched around crews so many times, the woman herself couldn't believe she was still alive. A weakling like her didn't deserve to be a Saiyan...

The woman sighed quietly, thinking about what so many have told her over and over again yet someone was always willing to give her a chance. Somehow and for some reason, Bardock had taken her in without even meeting her. "You must be so disappointed..."

"Hn?"

Gine blushed, looking hard down at her pink and gold plated boots. "Nothing, nothing! Just talking to myself." She glanced up when she thought she heard him chuckling to himself. .

"What a freak."

The woman fumed, immediately ceasing to walk any further behind her leader. Sensing her movement ending, Bardock glared over his shoulder at her until she crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "I am not a freak, you bully."

The male raised an eyebrow, looking Gine up and down. He could see every detail of her profile; from the way her bangs were placed in the same direction as his to the way her cheek bones seemed to be carved perfectly. She wore armor extremely similar to his, but were gold and pink like Fasha's. Bardock didn't really care much for the hideous colors on his teammate, but for some reason found them very... flattering to this Gine woman. He instantly glared when he took notice of something. "Why the hell is your tail not wrapped around you!?"

"Huh?" Gine blinked, and glanced over her shoulder to see her tail swaying around happily. When she turned her attention back to the scowling Bardock, she grinned brighter than the suns on Planet Pentium. "It likes to roam free!"

"Roam-... God dammit," Bardock slapped himself in the forehead, causing Gine to laugh until she realized her leader was standing just an inch before her. He pulled her into him by placed his large hand on the small of her back, and then used his free hand to grab her tail gently. The woman's eyes widened while he began wrapping her tail around her waist, looking into her eyes while doing so. "Our tails do not have a mind of their own. You better train it better, or else you're going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. And you better fucking believe I'm not getting you out of it."

"But I don't like it," Gine pouted, looking down at the furry brown tail around her waist and then back up at Bardock's dark orbs. "It looks weird."

Bardock clenched his teeth tightly, speaking through them while tightening his hold on Gine. She could feel his grip beginning to hurt, but was unable to do anything about it but just look uncomfortable. "You're going to look a lot more weirder if you let some alien bastard take advantage of your weakness," he searched her pained eyes for a moment, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and pride for finally getting her where it hurt. "One of your many weaknesses, I should add."

He loosened his hold when he noticed she was beginning to have shorter breaths, only to realize it was because she was beginning to cry. Gine swallowed, trying to keep the tears in her eyes at bay while she raised her chin up at Bardock. With a new look of determination taking over the hurt in her expression, Bardock couldn't help but smirk. At least she wasn't the kind to be broken. "I don't think having a heart is a weakness, Bardock."

"Oh, is that so?" he replied sarcastically and then snorted. "Please. Give me break."

Feeling any hint of tears leaving her, Gine continued to stare up at the male with inquisitive and challenging eyes. And he was always willing to accept a challenge. "Don't you think this life is already depressing enough without laughing at yourself or enjoying the small things like how the stars look on another planet? Or what about love? Don't you want to find a mate willing to give you their heart?"

Bardock couldn't help but roll his eyes in disgust at the trash she was speaking. He looked down at her for the last time, at least hoping to the gods it would be the last time, and spoke harshly. "I could never mate with someone who is weak."

"What about love?"

"Nonexistent," but he still added for good measure. "But I could still never love someone who is weak. And that's final."

As quickly as he had held her, he pushed her away and the two walked in silence to the launching area where the rest of the crew were impatiently waiting inside their pods. Gine noticed that they were staring at her through the glass of the pods, some looking at least nicer than Bardock. There was one in particular who flashed a thumbs up at their leader, a Saiyan who looked rather cramped from his enormous height with a small ponytail on the back of his head, and then proceeded to wink at Gine.

The woman scratched the back of her head and looked over at Bardock who was flipping him off while there were faint sounds of laughter emerging from the other pods. "What's that all about, boss?"

Bardock smirked at the term, but he hid it to the best of his ability as he motioned over to an empty pod that was in the very back of the others. "That one is yours, pain in my ass."

Gine frowned, taking notice of the empty one in the front next to the Saiyan who winked at her earlier and pointed at it. "I want that one."

The male scowled, picking her up like a wounded animal and began walking towards the pod in the back while there were catcalls coming from the others. For some strange reason, Bardock knew this wouldn't be the last time he would be holding her like this. "..What the fuck!?" He nearly dropped Gine when he saw his right hand man, Tora, sitting comfortable in the backseat pod and grinning wildly. Once more, he gave the grumbling leader a thumbs up and wink while chuckling to himself.

Bardock continued to curse under his breath while he marched back to the front with his pain in the ass, whom he dropped on the ass when they came to the two now empty pods in the front. Gine rubbed the back of her head and winced, and the male rolled his eyes at the fact she landed nowhere near her head. "Get in," he ordered, pulling out a remote to press some buttons as the door opened. He motioned at the remote Tora had left on the ground near her feet. "Hurry!"

"Hurry!" Gine mocked, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. She bent down to pick up the remote and crawled into the pod. Before securing herself inside the ball for however many days, weeks, or months this was going to take, she smiled over at Bardock who was already looking at her. "Boss, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!" She giggled to herself when she noticed his eye was twitching right before she was closed in.

The leader of the strong crew, minus a nuisance, stared at the woman inside the closed pod for one more minute before doing the same. He reclined back in the perfect seat, pressing the buttons and listening to the robotic voice fill the ship as it counted down the seconds to lift off. He glanced over one last time at the pod beside him, noticing that the woman was leaning against the side and daydreaming about something.

Probably stars.

Or laughter.

Or hearts.

He shook his head as the ships took off one by one into the sky.

A/N: So many projects lmao. I just needed a Gine and Bardock fix before I go out this weekend for Comic Con :-) Let me know your thoughts; I have a lot planned for this! Just need to get more Gine and Bardock stories out there.