As if you weren't dead.

Chapter 1

Warming: Dark themes, lemons, mentioning of infant death
Disclaimer: I do not own.

***

If he just had taken a ship fifteen years ago and left this stinking mud ball for eternity and let everybody just deal with their own rotten problems...

Why did he have to stay to use that stupid gravity machine to get stronger than that imbecilic clown kakarrot and mate with that depraved woman? How truly foolish it had been…Oh how it had stabbed him in the back when he hadn't seen it coming.

Vegeta, the prince of two fallen worlds, stared into oblivion through a window in Capsule corp. The glass had been shattered a long time ago. He kicked the shards in front of him with his half torn boots. He remembered that most of the Capsule Corp. buildings had been blown at that moment, incinerating the inhabitants along with it. There was nothing left except for broken buildings, remains of corpses and circular shaped smoke clouds, as far as he could see.

His golden ki reflected faintly on the mist and dirt clinging to the air. He had been in Super Saiyan mode for the past year now. He pondered over his hell on earth for one last moment before he left.

He had been living on a steep edge, ever since they had destroyed every other z-fighter. They would come at him again and again, beating him to a bloody heap every time. Each time leaving him on the last string of his life and stepping on his head as a reminder that they were going to visit him again, as soon as he was able to launch a sloppy punch. He had been getting stronger with each beating, but not strong enough to take them both at the same time. They didn't give him time to heal, a sick courtesy that Frieza had given him when he served under his malicious reign.

The androids had let him live…he had been their last source of twisted entertainment.

With every torture and beating, a small voice in the back of his head had been getting louder, screaming for it to be over. At the end it pleaded for his death, so he could finally rest. His pride had taken over again, as soon as he had woken up in a pool of his own blood from the last beating. The androids had left him alone so far as he could hear. He couldn't locate those annoying buzzing sounds they were emitting from afar.

With one bloodshot eye, he had watched the blood creep around him. It mingled with the pools of water, as it had just begun to rain. He scolded at himself for being too weak to beat them, for feeling utterly alone, for letting it get to him and for letting his mate and his newborn son get murdered a long time ago. He imagined them being gobbled up in the heat of the explosion, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

After his stormy affair with the woman he hadn't given her, including the brat in her body, a lot of thought. He had single mindedly focused on his strength compared to Kakarrot's. He hadn't even witnessed the birth of his son, because he was trying to turn into a super Saiyan in outer space. He wasn't ready to fully admit it to himself, but he felt a vague feeling of regret every time he had thought about it.

How lonely he had been, after the androids had destroyed almost all visible life forms on the planet.

He rolled on his back slowly and grunted as every muscle ached. He tried to stand up, but he landed on hands and knees. He couldn't hold himself steady yet. His stomach contracted and he puked out a mixture of blood and slime. Why the hell wasn't there a working space ship on this Kami forsaken planet?! If he could locate one he could outrun them in space perhaps. But then the androids had an unlimited supply of energy…and he didn't. Shit, shit, shit shit! The veteran punched the filthy ground under him. His thoughts floated back to the past, trying to remember every detail of what the woman had been doing when she was still alive. Why hadn't he paid more attention? He summoned every image of her in his mind he could muster. He had done it lots of times, trying to crack the code of getting out of this suffocating life that this planet harbored.

Vegeta heard himself scream in his head at her for not finding time to repair his gravity machine. And then suddenly an epiphany sprung from his mind. His eyes widened.

She had been tinkering on a time machine…

***

There was no buzzing sound to be heard. Vegeta turned around and walked up to the time machine. He didn´t look back at the apocalyptic wasteland he was going to leave behind. Maybe forever. He stepped inside tiredly and strapped himself in. He grabbed the sloppy handwritten manual within one hand and started pushing buttons with the other. Finally, he hit the big green button in the middle of the control panel. He waited impatiently, the damn scrap of metal better work! As on cue the machine started to tremble. He closed his eyes, hoping those damn androids wouldn't pick up on the vibration the machine was emitting. To distract himself, he mentally walked along the path of his future course of action. According to his calculations he would go back in time approximately fifteen years. He needed to bury a spaceship, so he could find it when he returned to his own timeline. He hadn't thought of what to wish for exactly. Maybe he just needed to find the dragon balls and wish himself stronger than the two rotten pieces of scum combined-

His train of thought was cut off in a bright flash. De dark prince opened his eyes, but closed them again immediately. The sunlight stung his eyes through the window above the control panel. It took him a couple of seconds to get used to it. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the sun in his own timeline. The accumulated smoke had been gathering in the ozone layer en blocked out a lot of daylight in the process.

With a newfound determination the prince unbuckled himself and stepped out into the warm rays of the sun. How long had it been since he didn't have to watch over his shoulder every second of the day? Maybe ten to fifteen revolutions around the sun? He stretched himself and felt the dried blood strain the flexibility of his torn spandex suit. The pain from his last beating still lingered in his body. Now where the hell was he? The scenery just looked so familiar…He felt human ki's standing behind him, unmoving.

He turned slowly and stared right into the very frightened faces of the former residents of his home. Mr. And Ms. Briefs and an intimately familiar blue haired young woman stared right back at him with horror.

***

With piercing steel eyes he observed the stricken humans before him. He hadn't anticipated appearing right on Capsule corp. ground. He wasn't sure if this would complicate things or he could take this development at his advantage. Vegeta quickly got distracted.

He swallowed hard when he took in the body of his mate – correction – a younger version of his mate in another timeline. She wore a tiny pink bikini and she had lubricated her voluptuous body with sun tanning oil…

"Hey you pervert! Don't you think it's rude to be drooling on someone you've just met?"

Vegeta, not used to hearing high pitched, screeching voices anymore, flinched. His aura crackled around him and tiny streaks of lightning rippled in the air. Bulma screamed and placed her hands over her mouth. Vegeta saw the silly humans before him stumble backwards in synchrony. He had a very familiar urge to curse at the creatures before him and laugh at them the same time. They were terrified, foolish little beings. Their weakness was practically written all over them. The veteran smirked inwardly, but his expression remained empty.

The mother of the weaklings had fainted and her husband was tending to her. He struggled carrying the full weight of her body in his arms. Bulma's eyes had shifted from him to the time machine. 'Damn it, she must have noticed the capsule corp. Logo on the front.' Vegeta cursed under his breath. Why hadn't he thought things through? Now the circumstances were going to get increasingly complicated.

The prince decided that this annoying staring moment had taken long enough. 'Luckily' the woman – or girl – was about to break the ice again. She had opened her mouth, but hadn't spoken yet. 'That's a first', he thought.

Vegeta watched her intently, not being used to moving life forms around him anymore. Bulma pointed a shaky finger to the time machine, which was still smoking after the exertion of time traveling.

"Look dad…"

The father of the home looked and then fainted too.' Could this get any worse?' The prince rolled his eyes and decided that enough was enough. Within a nanosecond he appeared before the young Bulma. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her calmly, but forcefully across the lawn and into the capsule corp. building. The clumsy woman almost tripped over the motionless bodies of her parents. Vegeta sighed. He was going to manage this absurd situation in the most effective way possible. Right. Now.

Vegeta had wondered when she was going to scream the blood out of his ears again. Bulma tried to struggle her way out of the burning grip of his hand. She wailed when the stinging on her skin intensified with each passing. Vegeta snapped his head back to see what the woman was whining about. Bulma's eyes started tearing when she pointed at her arm. "It hurts!" Vegeta let go immediately and took a step back. Apparently his strength had increased more than he had anticipated.

Bulma could have sworn that she had seen a flash of panic in the eyes of this strange captor for a moment. Her anger took the better of her suddenly. "Where are you taking me? You jerk! Are you going to kidnap me or something?!"

Vegeta smirked. She was still a fiery little vixen! Well…technically that meant that she had been like this before he had met her. It was strangely comforting, hearing her scream at him like that.

"Kidnap you into your own home? That's by far the most retarded thing you have ever said." Vegeta crossed his arms and realized his mistake immediately. 'Damn!' It was time to clear his head right now, before he was going to make things worse.

Bulma looked at him quizzically. She looked a lot younger to than he had expected. That little pony tail on top of her head made her look ridiculous.

"How old are you, exactly?"

Bulma had quickly found her tongue again. "How rude! Who do you think you are, mister I-stick-my-nose-into-anyone's-business? And you can address me by my name Bulma, you filthy man!" She crossed her arms en stuck her nose in the air. She hadn't changed a drop, Vegeta concluded. He didn't know if he liked it or not. By the way, what did she mean with filthy man? He looked down and realized what she was talking about. His spandex was all torn and colored with blood and grime.

Vegeta had lost his patience. He pulled the girl closer to his face and snarled through his teeth that he didn't have time for this nonsense. Bulma, who found herself terrified again, nodded silently.

"I..I'm…I'mseventeenandahalf.", she blurted out. She watched as the scary man before her zoned out again. Who was he? En why did he look so freakishly...she couldn't find the right word…alien? With this crazy wild blonde hair and yellow stuff around him….It was potentially damaging to her skin. She tried to get away from it by taking a step back.

Vegeta mentally cursed himself. Why did the time machine send him back twenty years back instead of fifteen? Hm…time to fix this damn problem as quickly as possible. He was afraid to hurt her again, so he decided to direct the blue haired teen with persuasive speech.

"Well kid, you and I should take a look in this house. I need something and you are going to help me find it. Is that clear?" He threw a warning glare in her direction. It did the trick, because she gulped and followed him.

"Now, where is it? The dragon radar, I mean." Vegeta flared his ki to emphasize his dominance. It had the intended effect. Bulma recoiled and didn't question him. She began looking for it in all sorts of cabinets and storages, until they had ended up in her room. It was sickly pink, Vegeta noted. He looked at her behind longingly. Oh how he had missed some female company, specifically hers. Vegeta mentally slapped himself. This wasn't the same Bulma! Hell, she was still a kid technically. Except…her body looked fully developed. He had difficulty restraining his urges when she walked right past him nervously.

Vegeta sighed and felt an uncomfortable feeling run along his chest. He had changed in the time of this stinking mud ball.

"Put on some cloths, brat. And pull your hair out of that ridiculous ponytail while you're at it. "

Bulma, who had been feverishly looking in every corner of the house the past ten minutes, looked up surprised. Well, at least he wasn't going to take advantage of her…

Vegeta felt three faint ki's approaching slowly. Oh great…His power level had probably signaled his presence. He saw Bulma disappear into the bathroom with a pile of cloths.

Vegeta's inner beast gnawed at his insides in anticipation of a fight. The numbing blanket, resulting from constant trauma that covered his clarity, dissipated little by little. An epiphany struck him. He was the strongest of the universe right this moment! It had been his living dream, his obsession to reach this goal. Maybe I could just take what's coming to me and kill all my former enemy's and rule the universe with an iron fist, he thought. Just like it was supposed to be, promised to me a whole lifetime ago. He waited for the rush that he had expected to come when he had become the ultimate strongest. But he didn't feel it. Somehow the anticipation of conquering and enslaving the whole universe didn't excite like he used to be. Was it true what Bulma had said to him a long time ago? That the struggling on the path towards a goal added more to the satisfaction than reaching the goal itself? Or something like that… He had become a super Saiyan and he could slay Frieza's ass with a flick of his wrist. There were no trashed cans here…yet. But he could wish himself stronger, if he could find those damned dragon balls. Vegeta sighed…And then what? All he yearned for this moment, was a warm shower and a week of sleep.

"Brat, why are you taking so long? Hurry up and go back to finding my dragon radar!"

The door blocked out most of the sound, but he could still hear her mutter that it was technically not his dragon radar. She appeared from the bathroom and walked hesitantly towards his direction.

"What did you say, brat?! Are you smart mouthing me?" Vegeta flared his ki again and tried his best to look as evil as possible. He scorched the wooden floor in the process. Bulma backed away and trembled.

"N…No! Of course not!"

Nice, he still had it. "Good girl…" She was a lot more obedient than he could remember. It sure made things a lot easier. Vegeta looked approvingly at her new hair. He was less pleased about her cloths. They were still sort of revealing unfortunately…or fortunately?`

He felt three familiar ki's descent in the garden. Great, now he had to take care of that teenage clown, the bald weak monk and the even weaker ex of his mate. They were probably still together in this timeline! Vegeta pretended that he didn't find that upsetting at all. Because…because that would be…that would be truly absurd!

Author's note: I'm Dutch and therefore English is not my mother language. I've actually learned most of my English from reading fanfiction. Feel free to correct me if you notice a mistake.