So, this is my first DBZ Fic.. Well, my first fic I actually intend to finish.. So go easy on me. XD

I only have a rough storyboard for each chapter written out and haven't completely decided on everything that's going to happen in the story, but we'll see how things go. Let me know what you think!

I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.

Chapter One

"Sir, we've got the results of the tests.."

It had been seventeen hours since it was found, a complete medical anomaly. The dust still hadn't settled in the area where the impact had occurred and miles away, and within the confines of a private medical center outside west city, doctors were still reeling from the discovery that had been made.

Never before had anything like this been found, and a controversy had sprung from it.. Doctors of all fields of bio-science, Orthopedic doctors, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons of all kinds buzzed about the small structure, arguing amongst one another about what might have caused the anomaly, and more importantly, what should be done about it.

A single scientists sat at the head of the table, a smoldering cigarette stuck at the very edge of his lips, bouncing dangerously as he mumbled quietly to himself about the childlike bickering these supposed medical and scientific professionals displayed before him. The base of his right eye twitched in mild irritation as a free hand stifled through a stack of papers that had been presented to him.

The sound in the room was deafening, a few of the men and women pointed fingers at one another, faces flushed and brows furrowed. Never before had this kind of a controversy occurred within this compound, and not a single one of those scientists seemed to take into consideration the moral implications of what they were suggesting. Dissection, keeping the subject under strict quarantine to be studied. Some of the more extreme suggestions had thrown a couple of the scientists into fury, one or two storming out of the board room.

The quiet doctor plucked the cigarette from his mouth, smashing it into the ash tray, before rising. His free hand rose, and fell swiftly onto the surface of the table, palm down, causing a resounding slam. The sound caused every figure in the room to jump, quickly quieting down. The doctors and scientists stared at the source of the sound, bewildered like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Enough squabbling!" The once quiet doctor said sharply, his expression still as calm as it had been when he first sat down. Every figure in the room sat quickly with not so much as a mumble. It was rare that the figure at the head of the table spoke amidst the usual squabbling, and even more rare that he lashed out. When he did, his followers were sure to listen.

"Have none of you considered the moral implications of these plans? This is a living being who deserves every last bit of a chance at a fair life than each and every one of you. We will be doing none of these things, but we WILL be taking care of what makes it an anomoly."

He cleared his throat, before beginning his proposal.. Not that it could be called a proposal, since his word was as good as law.

Years later...

"So let me get this straight, oh high-and-mighty Prince.." Manicured nails rapped one after another on the surface of a metal desk in a rhythmic manner. Blue strands that had fallen out of a very loosely kept pony tail fell into her face, as she tried in vain to blow them out of her face through the corner of her mouth, before continuing.. "You broke into the gravity chamber BEFORE my father and I were finished with the upgrade, attempted to use the aforementioned UNFINISHED upgrade settings, caused the circuitry to short, BREAKING the chamber, and now you're asking; no TELLING me to fix it, and you have the GALL to give me a TIME LIMIT?"

Dr. Briefs sat quietly nearby, watching as their houseguests' expression twisted in irritation at the blue firecrackers' response to his demand, idly scratching the head of the small kitten that was ever present on his shoulder.

"Feh. It's not my fault you're incapable of performing your duties in a timely manner in the first place, Onna." His white gloved hand rose, waving at her in a dismissive manner. "And that doesn't change the fact that I want the machine done before that blonde woman serves lunch."

It was almost like a game at this point. He would insult her, she'd retort, and it would go on until someone managed to get the last word. It happened so often that the other scientists that were under Capsule Corps' employ did not even bat an eyelash as they argued.

"Listen, you little jerk, I'm not your servant, and I'll be damned if I allow you to push me around like one! I'll finish the upgrade to the gravity chamber when I damn well please, and there's NOTHING you can do about it!" She spouted as she rose from her seat, the chair rolling away violently in her wake.

The Prince did little more than let out a snide little chuckle, which rocked the woman right to her very core. It was like the unstoppable force meeting the immoveable object.. Neither were going anywhere in their retorts. Vegetas' brow furrowed at her as she fumed, her delicate frame trying it's best to look intimidating. "What's this?" He chortled; "Are you trying to look threatening, woman?" The Prince mused, before continuing. "I've seen more intimidating children on Namek! Now how about you stop wasting my time with your harping and get to work on the gravity chamber YOU failed to finish!"

Vegeta scoffed, turning about and swiftly heading towards the door, not even giving her the chance to try and get the last word. This was how many of their arguments ended.

"You are unbelievable!" Bulma's shrill voice resonated off of the metal walls of the lab, shouting after the Saiya-jin prince's retreating form, her hand reaching out for the first object she could find, which just so happened to be a small screwdriver, and chucking it with all her might at the door that shut behind the prince as he left.. All she could hear afterward was his haughty cackle as he mused about her supposed feeble attempt at retaliation. Hell, the screwdriver had hit the plexiglass portion of the door point-first, and had not even left a mark.

Bulma never claimed to be strong, but it didn't mean that it didn't feel at least a little satisfying to throw random metal objects to let out some steam, even if it didn't actually damage the object of her fury. She always seemed to have a short fuse, so much shorter than anyone else in her family. It dumbfounded the people around her, and even her parents never fully explained why. Bulma had always been an enigma to outsiders.

Her chest heaved repeatedly as she seethed, reeling in anger from the little argument she'd had with the Prince. If it were possible, steam would be pouring out of her ears. Their arguments were common, and one of them was always left in the dust feeling bewildered and enraged, but don't get the idea that Vegeta always came out the victor. To be fair, they were just about even, and it was possible that Bulma had a head on Vegeta due to the fact that the culture and customs of earth were so different than what Vegeta was accustomed to that he was often taken offguard.

As mentioned, these arguments were common occurrences within the Compound ever since the surly saiya-jin came to visit. Everything about him made her angry, right down to the disgusting armor he wore around, waiting until it got completely covered in grime before he let anyone clean it. It was sickening! Weren't princes supposed to be the epitome of royalty? As in, NOT covered in filth? It was completely the opposite of the ideal prince she'd seen and read about all her life.

It was then that Dr. Briefs interjected, having waited until Bulma had finished seething before making himself known.

"Well, I doubt the damage is that bad, dear. We very likely could get the repairs done before your mother finishes with lunch." Her father reasoned, setting his pencil down and grasping hold of a small toolkit that was made especially for repairing the chamber. He stood, and began to head towards the door, stopping only a moment beside his daughter to continue his little speech.. "So we might as well get to work. Besides, wasn't it you who decided to go out with that young man of yours and turn in before we finished the upgrade last night?"

Bulma turned her nose up in the air stubbornly, raising a finger and waving it.. "That's not the point. He doesn't need to know that!" Her free hand grabbed her own toolkit as she followed behind her father, heading out of the lab towards the awaiting gravity chamber. "And besides, we left signs up saying not to touch it. I know he can't read, but isn't a big red line crossing over a picture of the machine the international symbol for do not touch?! I wasn't about to miss out on a date with Yamcha just because Vegeta wanted to train at five o-clock in the morning!" She reasoned as they stepped into the chamber, observing what damage had been done.

As her father predicted, it wasn't as bad as they had thought. While there was a few fried boards, it wasn't anything they didn't keep on backup, and it wouldn't set them back a considerable amount of time. As much as Bulma mused that the idea of purposely not getting this finished before his allotted time limit may be funny, the confrontation that would follow would probably cause more harm to the chamber in the long run, and thus more work.... Not that Vegeta wouldn't break it anyway, but at least it would prolong the inevitable.

Bulma and her father worked on the repairs and the upgrades to the chamber for a good portion of the morning. As her father predicted, the work was done well before Lunch was to be served, which meant that the two of them could retreat back to the confines of the sub-level laboratory and work on more important projects; like the ones that actually brought profit to the company, and thus their family.

It wasn't until the communication screen from the main portion of the compound flickered on in the lab, Bunny's ever-immortal looking face brightening the room with that sickeningly-sweet smile.

"It's lunch time! Would you go fetch Mr. Vegeta from the gardens, Bulma dear? He's been out there all morning and I'm sure he's hungry by now! Oh and he's always working so hard!"

Before the blue-haired woman could get a word in edgewise, the screen flickered off. Her cheeks reddened with irritation, and her eyes narrowed noticeably as she set the papers she'd been brainstorming on down unceremoniously unto the desk. "The nerve! Why do I always have to be the one to get that stuck-up ungrateful jerk?! Augh!" She heaved in displeasure as she shoved one of the swinging double-doors that led out of the lab open, allowing it to swing back and forth as she stormed up the stairs and outside, her eyes squinting at the brightness of the sun during high-noon.

She lifted a hand to use as a form of shade as her eyesight adjusted, trudging through the grass towards her mothers' prized indoor garden. She quietly inched through the outside-access door, and stuck her thumbs into the pockets of her ridiculously short shorts she'd decided to wear, which was only partly due to the seasonably warm weather. She took great pride in her body, and much to her boyfriends' pleasure, she loved to show it off.

Bulma wandered quietly through the gardens in search of Vegeta, stopping only occasionally to sniff at one of her favorite flowers, or to admire a bird, or other type of animal that her mother kept contained within the gardens' confines. She never spent altogether that much time in the gardens, but the when she did enter it she always took a few minutes to admire the hard work her mother put into making it a beautiful, serene environment...

Of course it was only when she had finally found herself in a good mood that she spotted the target of her little outing. A small frown plastered unto her lips as she climbed the small hill leading up to the Princes' resting place, placing one hand on her hip as she gazed down at his still form. He's so quiet, normally he'd be scowling at me by now.. he must be sleeping.. She contemplated, tilting her head to the side as she observed in silence, ignoring the fact that the suns' rays were beating down upon her.

Vegeta had, as Bunny had professed, been meditating the majority of the morning under the shade of one of the trees within the garden, eyes closed and nose wrinkled in concentration, arms folded over his chest and back resting against the trunk of the tree. Over and over he went over his fighting routines, criticizing himself for his weaknesses, any openings he had ever provided his opponents, and any other miniscule mistake he'd ever made. He'd been tearing his mind and body apart the good part of five months now in a vain attempt to become stronger.. To ascend, to become what only one other had accomplished.. No, to become what was his birthright to become.

It wasn't that he wasn't aware the blue harpy was approaching, it was mostly that he felt his time more well spent concentrating on his technique than arguing with the insufferable woman, whose very voice caused over-sensitive saiya-jin ears to nearly bleed on a daily basis. Yet despite this, he could do nothing to silence the woman, for it was her very hospitality that brought forth his only opportunity to ascend. Vegeta despised the idea of relying on anyone, let alone a weak human for anything, but with the looming threat of the androids a little less than three years away, there was little that he could do about it. He needed food, and he definitely needed the gravity chamber.

He heard her stop in front of him, and he waited a good two minutes of her presence for him to finally break the silence. "Are you to stand there all day and gawk at me, Onna? Did you not tell me that staring was rude?" He paused, opening one eye, then the other. The first thing he noticed was the legs before him.. Pale, white and silky smooth, leading all the way up to the absurdly tiny yellow shorts that hugged her hips and upper thights.. She wore a small orange shirt that went along with it, with nothing more than a capsule corp logo on the upper left breast of it. The womans' hand was still propped on her forehead, blocking the harsh rays of the sun from her sight.

There was definitely something to be said about human women that caused the beastial side of him to stir, but not much more than the occasional glance, [or at least that's what he told himself], and he caught himself before it was noticeable that he had even spent a moment admiring her sleek, youthful form. His expression twisted into a scowl as he waited for a response. "Well? Out with it! I haven't got all day and you are disturbing my meditation!" He barked impatiently.

Bulma had obviously gotten the wrong impression of him when she approached the tree... Not that she'd ever caught him sleeping prior to his incident with the previous gravity chamber exploding, and even then his dreams were haunted, and there was little distinction between his expression then and the one he had been making during his meditation. Still, he always seemed significantly less domineering when he was like that, and even in his nightmares he still appeared more serene than when he was awake.

Needless to say, she hadn't expected him to speak, and reared her head back momentarily in shock as her mind processed the less than friendly manner in which she'd been greeted. Her mouth hung open a few more moments as she squinted down at the man, brows furrowing in frustration. "Well excuse me! I was under the impression you were asleep!" She professed, pointing a finger in an accusative manner towards Vegeta. "I CAME to tell you that lunch is ready!" There was a pause, and she turned around, huffing..

"Honestly, I don't know why my mother caters to you, it's not like you do anything around here!" She continued as she began heading away, back towards the house. "And to think my father and I spent all morning fixing your oh-so-precious gravity chamber for you! Not that I expect even a lick of thanks from the likes of you. Humph!"

She continued to rant nonsense to herself as the Prince hoisted himself up from the grass, and quietly followed the blue-haired devil. "Obviously, the woman you call your mother has her priorities straight... And by the sounds of it, you follow in her example despite your prattling." He expressed, obviously indicating that she'd done as he had told her to do regardless of the fact that she had protested it so vehemently. The devious smirk that crawled upon his lips only further justified his statement. Oh how he loved to get her angry. It was one of few sources of entertainment he had on this mudball.

This of course just made the woman even more worked up. Her hands clenched into fists and she drove a heel into the dirt, spinning on it to face the Prince. She said nothing, simply pointing at him firmly before spinning back around and storming into the house. She didn't even give her mother a chance to greet her before she reached out for a couple pieces of fruit, a bottle of water, and retreated upstairs to her room, which of late had become her one and only sanctuary. She shouted something about finishing her work there for the remainder of the day as she passed.

Bunny simply canted her head to the side carelessly, and clapped her hands once or twice. "Oh she's in a lovely mood today, don't you think, dear?" She chirped to her husband, who simply nodded behind the papers he was reading, and quietly consuming his meal.

Lovely mood? Vegeta thought to himself. Since when is that harpy screaming at me considered a lovely mood? This woman is malfunctioning. He scrunched his nose up in thought for a moment, before thanklessly having at his lunch, which was piled before him at his side of the table. For some inexplicable reason, Bunny always seemed all-too happy to see him scarf down his meal without so much as a sideways glance to her. It was almost unnerving. Despite his best attempts to seem cold towards her, he never lashed out at her [in the vocal sense] like he did to Bulma. In fact, no one else at the compound ever got quite the tongue-lashing from Vegeta that Bulma got... But the blonde one was disturbing in her own right.

She is either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid, and I cannot figure out which. He pondered as he eyed the woman, whom was fiddling with a vase of unknown flowers on the other side of the kitchen... As usual, however, no words were exchanged as he hastily finished his meal, and departed from the kitchen as quickly as he had entered, leaving nothing more than a heap of dishes in his wake as he retreated to the now operational gravity chamber, likely not to be seen for the rest of the evening... At least until dinner.

"Oh my, Bulma skipped breakfast too, didn't she? Well, those fruit aren't going to be enough! I'm going to bring her some lunch!" Bunny exclaimed in a disgustingly chipper tone, as she gathered a sandwich and a couple of side dishes onto a plate, before cheerfully heading upstairs, leaving an ever-quite Dr. Briefs shaking his head at the entire situation.

"Things sure are lively around here, aren't they, kitty?" He questioned the feline on his shoulder, who did nothing but purr in response.

Bulma had not even been in her room five minutes when there was a knock at the door.. She had been quietly peeling the orange in her hand, discarding the rinds into the small trash bin next to her desk, and stifling through a small stack of papers, mostly containing rough blueprints for inventions yet to be made. She hadn't even been given a chance to reply before the intrusion occurred, her mother trotting in with a plate full of food and setting it down on the desk, ignoring the fact that she'd covered the very papers that Bulma had been reading.

"I thought you might like a little more than some fruit, dear. Here you go! You shouldn't be skipping meals dear, it's not healthy!" She chirped, watching her daughter as she grumbled and set the half-peeled orange on the desk. It was impossible to be angry at her mother. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if she craps rainbows. She mused to herself, before shaking her head, dismissing the thought.

"Mother, I eat plenty, I don't know why you always insist on shoving food on me that you know I won't ever be able to eat." She insisted, allowing her hand to bend backwards at the wrist as she argued with what seemed to be a brick wall... Her mother never really listened. No one really seemed to pinpoint the difference between being an airhead and being a complete genius, at least not when Bunny is concerned.

"Bulma dear, you used to eat much more than this when you were younger! You had such a healthy appetite, I don't need you wasting away or anything!" Bunny replied, before observing the rather flustered expression on her daughters face. She caught on immediately what was the cause.

"Oh did you and Mr. Vegeta talk again?" Bunny inquired, clapping once or twice.. "He's always working so hard! And he's so strapping and handsome!" Bulma's eyes rolled at her mothers insistence of their houseguests' presence being pleasant.

"Mother, no part of that jerk is at ALL pleasant. All he does is march around and order us around as if we should be kissing the very ground he walks on! I mean honestly! He hasn't thanked us ONCE for anything we've done since the day he landed on this rock!" she argued, her cheeks flushing as they normally did when she was flustered or angry. It escaped her how her mother could think so highly of the ungrateful saiya-jin, but she had no right to complain. It was by her own will that she allowed the surly Prince to stay with them, and she hadn't yet decided whether or not she regretted the decision. The Prince was a mystery to all of them, including Bulma, who struggled between hating him and wanting desperately to figure him out.

Her mother, however, was quick to interject. "Oh! And how was your evening with Yamcha last night, sweetie? Did you two have fun?" Leave it to Bunny to be blissfully unaware of everything going on, or was she skillfully changing the subject? Whichever it was, it did not seem as if Bulma had caught onto it, and simply switched gears.

Yamcha always tended to change the direction of a conversation no matter what subject they were on previously. Bulma leaned her head back, eyes fluttering shut and a smile crossing her lips as she recounted the previous nights' events. "Aaah, he took me to this really nice restaurant out on the other side of West City, it was so romantic!" She cooed, clasping her hands together. "It's been nice since he was brought back to life, don't you think, mom?" She paused, bringing a finger to her lips in thought for a moment. "Wait a second... Where is Yamcha, mother? Wasn't he supposed to be here already? I don't remember seeing him at lunch... I thought he was going to be here?"

Bunny nodded excitedly as her daughter described the evening she'd had with her current love interest.. "Oooh that sounds lovely, it's been nice since he started with baseball, now he can treat you to dinner!" She paused however at her daughters' inquiry. "Oh no sweetheart, he hasn't been around at all today. I wasn't aware you were expecting him. He left so fast last night after he took you home!" She pondered with one finger to her lips.

"Huh.. Well that jerk could have at least left me a note or something if he wasn't going to come! How inconsiderate can a guy get? He didn't even call!" She huffed, slumping somewhat in her seat as she fiddled with the food on her plate, fork in-hand.

"I wouldn't worry so much about it, sweetie, that man is very busy now!" She patted her daughters' shoulder and scooted quietly out of the room.. Dinner wasn't going to make itself, after all, and when cooking for a saiya-jin, it definitely took time.

Bulma stared at the open door of her room before the audible sound of her stomach protesting its' lack of nutrients pulled her from her thoughts. "Alright, fine, I'll feed you!" She said under her breath, before turning towards her desk to eat.

Things had changed so drastically since she returned from Namek.. Not that she didnt enjoy the domestic life of burying herself in her work, she loved the labs, discovering new inventions, and all that came with it... It was exciting in it's own right, but it was safe to say that she had begun to feel...

Restless.. She thought to herself. She could feel her stomach twist at the thought of her current life. As much as she hated to admit it, her spats with Vegeta was one of the few things that allowed her to exert the energy she felt building up inside of her from the lack of scenery.. She had spent so much of her youth exploring the world with Goku and the rest of her friends, but the world that she lived in then was so different than the one she had now made it feel like it had been someone else's life, anyone's but hers.........

The sound of a glass falling from her desk jolted her from her thoughts, the steaming hot liquid of the coffee spilling onto her bare legs, and causing her to yelp in pain, immediately leaping from her seat and bounding into her private bathroom, where she hurriedly wet a washcloth with cool water and dabbed her legs. Thankfully there was not any damage to her skin, but it was a shock to her system nonetheless.. She was grateful that none of the liquid found its way onto her shorts, which were light in color and easily stained, but the stain that was sure to seep into the carpet of her bedroom was going to be a pain to clean... Eventually at least. Safe to say she wasn't the most tidy person in the family.

She did wring out the washcloth, however, and move over to where it had spilled on the floor and dabbed it as best she could so the smell would hopefully not seep permanently into her carpet... She had been so wrapped up in her task that she hadn't noticed the spectator that stood quietly nearby, leaning nonchalantly against the frame of the open doorway to the bedroom..

"Felled by a peasant's beverage now?" The onlooker mused, a brow rising at the steam that rose from the liquid that had pooled on part of her desk, and had yet to fall onto the floor. Despite his remark, not even he would enjoy getting a lap full of that liquid. Even in the open the beverage was still steaming, a testament to the insane degree the woman drank her beverage at...

"I'm FINE, Vegeta, not that you care." She huffed, dabbing up the liquid that remained on the desk before tossing the cloth into the waste basket, and brushing her legs in the places that had been hit.. There was little more than a bit of a pink mark, which quickly faded as she sat back into her seat. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't tell me you broke the chamber already!" She hissed, eyes narrowing as she stared daggers at the prince.

"Pah. I merely came to see what the racket was, woman. The noise you made sounded like someone had throttled you. I was hoping to come up here and see a good show!" A grin twisted his features as he finished his little speech, the implications of someone strangling Bulma now having been placed out in the open, leaving the blue-haired beauty gaping in disbelief..

She quickly gained her ground, however, and stood upright, placing a hand on each of her hips and leaned forward with a devious little smile. "Oh yes? Because from where I'm standing it looks like you were worried about me!" She retorted, winking in a victorious manner, before standing upright again. "Oh how kind of you, Vegeta! I didn't know you cared!"

Vegeta had been taken completely off guard. His eyes went wide a moment and he grit his teeth in shock, rearing his head back and letting out a defensive grunt of disbelief at her brash accusation. He was dumbstruck, and couldn't even form an appropriate response before the harpy began to talk again.

"Now as much as I'd LOVE to continue this intellectually stimulating conversation with you, I've more important matters to attend to..." She then shut the door, right in the Princes' face, chuckling inwardly as she did so. Score one for Bulma! That'll teach him to treat me like a servant!

Vegeta let out an exasperated "Gaah!" before storming back downstairs and out of the house towards his gravity chamber, a slight shade of pink brushed over his cheeks as he did so. The nerve of that woman! He spouted inwardly, before throwing himself into his training.

And there it was that the remainder of the afternoon was spent this way, an exemplary day in the Briefs household, which Bulma holed up in her room, and her father in the labs, both working feverishly on their projects, occasionally using the overhead displays to communicate when needed, Bunny cooking up enough food for fifteen people, and the grumpy Saiya-jin pushing himself to reach the extreme limits of his body.