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Soldier Boy	By : Robyn Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 6894 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A. I make no money from this. I am making no money from this work of fanfiction.

Chapter List
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- 4
- 5
Disclaimer: I don’t own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters found in this fic. They are the property of TOEI ANIMATION in Japan and FUNimation in the U.S.A.

Title: Soldier Boy (abridged) – In place of DBGT

Chapter word count: 11351

Type: Yaoi (aka slash), mentions of het

Warnings: M/M (sex, oral, kissing), incest, language, domestic violence, tails, blood, violent sex. (It’s taken me over a year to write this. I’m certain I’m forgetting some warnings. I apologize.) OCs.

Genre: Drama

Pairings: Goku/OCs, Goku/Gohan, Gohan/Goku

Past pairings: Vegeta/Goku, Gohan/OC’s

History pairings: Vegeta/Bulma, Goku/Chichi, Gohan/Videl

Rating: NC-17, not suited for minors

Beta: rdk (Thank you!) [With some handy input from Pixelgoddess! Thank you, too!] And a third to add to the list (yes, I take that much looking after) – Thank you Iuvenes!

Chapter Summary:~o0o~ A few hours after Neles’ and Nori’s discovery, Kakarott pays his CO a visit.

Chapter_3

Captain Jadus frowned at Kakarott. “This is highly irregular.” If Jadus were honest with himself, if it were anyone else he would have already told them no. However, Kakarott’s stance and the way he’d said it made this not a request. It was going to happen; Kakarott was just being nice by informing him.



Goku didn’t react to the captain’s wording even if he agreed with it. The whole situation with Gohan was irregular. He hadn’t gone into details as to why he wanted his son to move in with him, hoping if he didn’t say anything the captain would make whatever assumptions he wanted too.

“I’m guessing I don’t really have a say in this,” the tokek finally blurted as he walked the short distance way from the saiyan to the small bar in his office. There were times having a warrior as powerful as Kakarott aboard his vessel seemed as though it wasn’t worth it. As far as Jadus was concerned, the fact Kakarott was saiyan only added to the worry. If saiyans could live without air in space like the ice-jin could, they’d be a major problem – even if their numbers were so few.

“Not if you want us to stay on this ship.” Goku gave his CO the only out he could think of. If the tokek didn’t want them on the ship, then he didn’t really want to be there, either. Of course, finding a ship that would take the two of them might prove a problem. He was certain they’d be welcome aboard SSJ Vengeance, but for reasons that would compound and complicate quickly.

The captain poured himself a measure of spirits from a decanter into a glass suited for his wider facial features. “Other people are going to see this as special privileges on his part. You know that, right?” The CO asked. He waited until Kakarott nodded before he continued. “Does he know that?” he asked, meaning Kakarott’s son. “Sit down,” he motioned absently while he took a seat behind his desk, glass in hand.



“I hadn’t thought to ask if he understood,” Goku confessed as he sat. He was used to the day-to-day antagonism just being a saiyan threw his direction. Gohan was going to have to deal with that and the problems associated with unjustified status increase. Usually that set of circumstances was associated with sexual favors – even if the people involved weren’t saiyans – most people understood such rumors were generally unsubstantial. In this case, they would be true, and if Gohan couldn’t keep his cool about it – heck, whom was he kidding? If someone mentioned anything to him about it, Goku knew he would pick a fight.



Captain Jadus watched Kakarott as it seemed the saiyan was doing some quick mental calculations, even as he made calculations of his own. Most people on this ship didn’t know they were father and son – which would lead them to believe there was a relationship going on. The only two saiyans on board living together – which would once again lead to people believing they were in a relationship. Several other strains of thought lead to the same conclusion – people would begin to talk about them as a pair. “Kakarott”

Goku looked up, not realizing how long he’d been lost in thought. “Yeah?”

Jadus tried not to let the lack of formality bother him – he’d rarely received regulation from Kakarott. Not a lack of respect, just a general lack of understanding of protocol. “What is this really about?”



Goku leaned forward, sighing as he buried his forehead in his hands. “Don’t make me say it.”

“You can’t be serious,” the tokek said as he shifted forward in his seat. “What the hell are you thinking?” Jadus knew he should expect all sorts of things from Kakarott – the saiyan was unpredictable at best – like there were two entities at odds with each other, and not even Kakarott knew which one would win a decision from one moment to another. The standard joke, when this saiyan wasn’t present of course, was the exception was around meal times – then he was all of one mind; eating. Even though this situation wasn’t something Jadus would have expected when preparing for the unknown, it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it should. Maybe because it was Kakarott – after all, the saiyan had a nearly infallible record. Well, he’d just learned The Legendary Saiyan wasn’t a perfect person.



“I wasn’t thinking,” Goku mumbled from behind his hands. He wasn’t certain if he’d meant to let Jadus in on this or not. Well, he knew he wasn’t going to say anything about it, but he also knew the tokek wasn’t stupid. Maybe somewhere down deep he’d hoped his CO would figure it out. “Why didn’t you tell me he was coming here?” Goku asked out of curiosity. This could have possibly been avoided if he’d known Gohan was going to arrive.

“I couldn’t. You were in the middle of that fourteen-day mission that just ended when I learned there was a new batch of recruits coming – and even then, Gohan’s name wasn’t spelled correctly. I thought it was some ordinary saiyan recruit; the only oddities were they had gone to the academy and then coming aboard my ship rather than going straight to SSJ Vengeance. I didn’t have a clue until one of his teammates started blabbing on the deck while they were trying to rouse your son from shielding trance. I wouldn’t have jeopardized the mission to give the you news, even had I known.” Jadus leaned back in his cushioned chair, black claws of his right hand clicking on the desk’s polished, gray stone top as he thought. “Right, so, there’s a minimal of records aboard indicating you and ‘Mokawa’ might know each other from outside the fleet, and all of those are in my possession with the wrong spelling of his name. I can erase those without too much hassle.” Goku looked up in disbelief, but Jadus continued talking before he could interrupt. “However, those are only aboard this ship,” the tokek cautioned. “There may be other records I can’t gain access to elsewhere in the fleet.” There were times Jadus had to make decisions based on the fact he’d practically been ordered by the Alliance to keep Kakarott stationed on his ship. No one in the Alliance wanted Kakarott and Prince Vegeta together long of enough for them to settle their differences. Now, with Gohan in the mix, Jadus thought he stood a good chance of keeping Kakarott away from SSJ Vengeance for a long time – he just had to be accommodating.

“Okay” Goku nodded, indicating he understood where the captain was coming from. “I think, for the most part, anything about Gohan’s family history has the name ‘Goku’ in it.”

“Hmmmm,” Jadus pondered, “I don’t think there’s a lot of people out there that would realize Kakarott is the same as Goku.”

“Only a handful,” Goku agreed – really, the only ones he could think of that might know of him as both were the captain, Gohan, Neles, Nori, Vegeta and Tarble.

Jadus eased back further in his chair as he began to relax, realizing this situation wasn’t going to be as difficult as he’d thought. “Okay, one more thing.”

“Yeah?” Goku asked.

“You can’t let this interfere with day-to-day operations,” Jadus said.

“I was hoping that could be avoided as well,” Goku nodded.

With Kakarott’s concern taken care of, the CO turned to more important matters. “So, what did you find out during the mission?” The captain noted how Kakarott’s demeanor changed when he brought up the mission. More aware – less stressed?

“You can make it confirmed – if the ice-jin know there’s even one saiyan in the vicinity they’ll break off whatever attacks, battle engagement or internal fight they’re currently in the middle of, to hunt them down.” Goku shuddered – he knew the ice-jin hated saiyans, but he’d thought the other specie’s hate stemmed from fear – not that he would blame them. Instead, what he’d found of that single-minded hate, after being face to face with it, was – “Almost as though they’re possessed.”

“You’re certain it wasn’t that they recognized you?” Jadus asked.

“None of them had ever seen me in my third transformation before,” Goku responded. “They may have been responding to the fact I’d transformed, but my instincts tell me that’s not the case.”

~o0o~   While Goku was finishing his conversation with the captain, Gohan was having a uncomfortable conversation of his own.



“Only a day aboard and you’ve already been given other quarters?” Jake asked as Gohan shoved the few belongings he’d managed to unpack. Jake knew he had new quarters coming as well, but he wondered why all of them weren’t being moved at the same time. He wondered why Gohan was rating such special privileges.

“I wouldn’t say that…just moving in with my fa-friend,” Gohan changed his wording, realizing Jake didn’t know that Kakarott was his father. Then he wondered how many people on this ship did know. Could it be a small group besides the captain? It was definitely something to talk with his father about.

“Hmmmmm,” Jake hummed as he mused. “I’m guessing more than just a friend,” he winked as Gohan quickly looked at him and then shrugged. “Not that the capsule labeled ‘lube’ gave it away,” he said, pointing towards the object he was referring to. The capsule was an example of how privileged Gohan already was – junior officers didn’t make enough credit to pack their belongings in capsules. He laughed as Gohan blushed before picking it up and tossing it hastily into his bag. “No worries, Gohan. I’m just surprised – I wouldn’t have ever guessed you had those kinds of connections out here.”

Gohan chuckled to cover his paranoia Jake would make more out of this situation than it seemed on the surface. “Yeah, you know me, full of surprises.”

“So, do I get to meet this person?” Jake asked. As of this moment he didn’t have a schedule. That would change soon enough, but he figured he had at least an hour to kill before the fleet scheduled the rest of his life for him. Not long enough to start a game and too early to start drinking. Not to mention he didn’t have enough credits for either. He knew there would be enough physical training to want to go work out.

“Um...actually, he’s not going to be at his quarters for a while,” Gohan replied truthfully, relieved his father had gone to speak with the captain.

The answer wasn’t quite a ‘no’ and yet Jake understood he wasn’t going to be invited over for dinner any time soon. Jake didn’t know why he was surprised Gohan’s new roommate was going to be male. He knew his friend swayed more that direction – it made sense with a significant female waiting for him on his home world, even if Gohan had tried to explain that his relationship with the female hadn’t been formalized. “I guess I’ll go see what Ruel is up to then. I’ll see you around.” Jake had to wonder about the status of the person Gohan had hooked up with. On this ship, most people didn’t have enough room in their quarters to want someone to move in with them.

A knock at the door startled Gohan and Jake shrugged before answering it since he was headed that direction anyway. It took him a moment to look down after he’d slid the door back, not having expected the person at the door to be so short – or furry. “Sub-Lt. Mokawa?” the person addressed him in a squeaky voice.

“Naw – that’d be him – and the name is pronounced Gohan,” Jake said, pointing over his shoulder while assuming this wasn’t the ‘he’ Gohan had been talking about.

“Yes?” Gohan asked as he edged around Jake. He stooped over to take the scouter that was handed to him.

“Can you sign here?” The furry courier produced a data board and stylus seemingly out of nowhere. He’d learned over the years that not everyone could sign a data board with a stylus – he had other equipment stowed away for those occasions.

The trick reminded Gohan of his mother – the way she was able to materialize heavy objects to bat Master Roshi’s grabby hands away. “Uh – sure.” Gohan scribbled his signature and handed the electronic version of a clipboard back – it disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.

“Have a nice day,” the furry person waved a paw at him before turning away from the door. It walked next-door and knocked and Jake excused himself.

“That’s probably my scouter,” he grinned over his shoulder at Gohan. “I’ll see you around, buddy!”

Gohan sighed as Jake left before picking up his bag and slinging it over it his shoulder to leave the quarters he’d never slept in. Soon enough he was at his dad’s door, taking a big breath before entering. He fumbled for a light switch after he’d closed the door behind him, finding an incremental one few moments later. After he turned it to its brightest setting he looked around the apartment – the dark red walls continued to surprise him, never having associated his father with the carmine color. The rumpled, white sheets on the bed to his far left flustered him and made him blush. Straight ahead was a closet cleverly designed to also serve as dividing wall, red like the rest, between sleeping and awake areas of the apartment. The couch to his right in the living room with its silver metal frame and black leather cushions didn’t look very comfortable. Closer than the bed on the left side were black slate countertops in the kitchen which matched the black floor in the area. The rest of the flooring, straight ahead, was of some sort of rich amber-colored wood; it was covered in places with area rugs. The metal cupboard door on his immediate right still had the dent he’d made with his head. It turned out the solid object next to it was the refrigerator; not where he would have put the fridge in conjunction with the rest of the kitchen. “Welcome home, Gohan,” he whispered to himself.



He didn’t have a lot to unpack; spare uniforms went into the wall closet that divided the bedroom from the living room. Spare capsules went into the dresser inside the closet – top drawer. He slipped the lube capsule into the drawer of the nightstand next to the healing gel after hanging uniforms up – capsules were great for packing things, but they were crappy for storing clothing, usually wrinkling material – or at least the older models he had did.

After unpacking he sat on the sofa – absently noting the black leather cushions were as hard and uncomfortable as they looked – before placing the scouter over his ear and eye and clicking it on. Much as he’d expected it contained a schedule for him. He scrolled through the daily calendar – quite a bit of his time was scheduled for shielding practice, which he’d totally expected; three-hour blocks of time weren’t what he had been expecting. There was a message attached, which he clicked. Roma’s picture came on screen with words typed out. This attachment would normally be a voice message, but since Roma was a telepath, text was the medium for communication – Gohan hadn’t heard of anyone discovering how to record thoughts in real time, yet.

Wear something comfortable. There will be food and water provided to help you stay focused. Look forward to training you.

Gohan blinked in surprise. He hadn’t expected the main shielder on board to be the one training him.

Just a prior day, Gohan wouldn’t have had a problem with it, but after the events with his father, working with a telepath made him uncomfortable.

~o0o~ While Gohan contemplated working with a telepath, Goku was busy tying up loose ends.

Goku pulled a capsule out of his pocket as he knocked on the door to Neles’ quarters before taking a step back. If he didn’t owe her, he wouldn’t have bothered coming down to her and Nori’s living space. Unfortunately – or fortunately, it was difficult to sort out which – he hadn’t paid her the day before.

The door slid back. “Hello, Kakarott,” Neles answered. “Come to play in your spare time?” she asked, hoping he would be easily swayed from his new distraction. Her hopes fell when the saiyan shook his head.

“No. I - ” Goku thought calling off their business relationship shouldn’t be this stressful. “I won’t be requiring your services any more,” he said, holding out the capsule for her to take. He wondered why he hadn’t hired a page to do this.

Neles sighed and took the capsule from Kakarott’s outstretched hand. “Well, you know where we are if you change your mind.” Who knew if this thing with the other saiyan would work out – Neles wasn’t going to burn bridges that quickly.

Goku almost called Neles out on the fact she didn’t seem surprised, but doing so would only drag this parting out that much longer. “Probably not, but you never know. Thanks,” he said, waving once before he turned away.

Neles stepped back into her quarters and closed the door.

“You should have morphed into that other saiyan,” Nori coached from the kitchen.

Neles grimaced – she could have tried the tactic Nori suggested, but she didn’t think Kakarott would be that easily manipulated. After all, she couldn’t produce the pheromones it would take to complete the affect. She could purchase those, if she really wanted to keep Kakarott as a client so badly. “I don’t think he would have appreciated that at all,” she finally called back to her quartermate.

Nori shrugged as she came out of the kitchen with a plate of food in hand. “Never know – maybe he could have been convinced to go for a threesome?”

Neles laughed, “Aw, Nori. I think it’s time we let the saiyan go.”

Nori sighed and sat on the pillowed cushions covering the floor. “Yeah. Too bad – not going to find another client like him any time soon – not stationed on this ship.”

Neles nodded – at least she’d been saving the profits. She hoped Nori had been as well.

~o0o~

The first night Gohan was officially in ‘Kakarott’s’ quarters was a little awkward when it came to bedtime. Trying to figure out who slept on what side of the bed. Lying still, with their backs to each other before Goku finally spoke up, “Do you want me to…touch you?”

Gohan swallowed in the dark. “I-I don’t know.” He didn’t know where the boundaries were any more. Did touching mean more than that?

“Can I hold you?” Goku asked.

Gohan felt himself relax at the suggestion. “Yeah.” The two of them shifted in bed until they got comfortable.

“This okay?” Goku asked as he slid his arm over Gohan’s side, his hand resting on his son’s hip.

“Yeah – I mean, yes,” and there was a tiny bit of Gohan that was surprised his answer was honest.

“Goo-awww-uud,” Goku yawned in the middle of his response before tucking his forehead against the back of Gohan’s neck. “Because, if you’d been expecting more, I may have been disappointing tonight.”

Gohan smiled in the dark and scooted back, clutching at Goku’s hand and pulling up to his chest. “Good to know.” There had been a part of him that had wondered if this relationship with his father was only about the sex – now there was glimmer of an answer in the direction indicating ‘no’ – it might be more.

~o0o~ In some ways three weeks slipped by quickly. In others, agonizingly slow. Patterns in daily life were difficult to pin down when Goku’s and Gohan’s schedules weren’t on the same shifts – and sometimes not even on the same ship. There were still awkward moments, but most of those were ironed out with a little communication – embarrassing as it may be – of what each expected.

Gohan’s fears of working with a telepath were alleviated when Roma explained he didn’t normally pick up thoughts from those that weren’t telepathic.

When Goku’s and Gohan’s schedules allowed them to be together, they tried to make the most of it.



“Morning,” Goku said as he slipped under the covers next to Gohan.

“mmmmm, what time is it?” Gohan asked as he rolled over, tucking his head under Goku’s chin.

Goku’s arm automatically slipped over Gohan’s bared shoulder. “About 0700,” he said. He still had his scouter on, the time constantly ticking by in the bottom corner of the green-glassed eyepiece.

“Mmmmm,” Gohan mumbled again before taking a deep breath. “You smell good.”

Goku laughed, “I hardly think so…” he’d barely convinced himself to slip off his boots before he slid into bed – let alone take a shower.

A sleepy smirk slipped over Gohan’s lips, although with his face tucked against Goku as it was, he was certain his father couldn’t see it. “I like it,” he insisted as he brought his arm up between their bodies and began toying absentmindedly at the neckline of Goku’s gi.

Goku closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle brush of Gohan’s fingers against his bare skin at random moments. The teasing tingling jolts were fun – as long as they didn’t continue for too long or he knew there’d be more to come.

“I have a couple hours before I have to be anywhere,” Gohan mentioned, as though reading Goku’s mind.

“Yeah?” Goku asked, his response cut off as Gohan raised his head and kissed him; slow. He removed his shirt after Gohan untied the knot in his belt, disrupting their kiss briefly. He reached to remove his scouter…

“Leave it on,” Gohan smirked as he wiggled further down the bed, dragging Goku’s pants with him.

“Okay,” Goku complied. “Kinky”

Gohan was slowly making his way back up the bed when the scouter came on. “Kakarott!”

Which didn’t turn Goku on. “Fuck! Vegeta?”

Gohan sighed as he sat back from his crawling pose. Goku growled as he clicked the button that would allow for two-way communication on the scouter. “Vegeta?” he asked as he sat up in the bed.

“Hn. There’s a rumor floating around about you right now,” Vegeta sat in his personal office staring at rows of items that were nothing more than decorations. Decorations he wasn’t even certain he cared about, but didn’t annoy him enough to make him want to toss them in the recyclers.

“Rumors?” Goku asked, before he pressed a finger to his lips in order to indicate to Gohan that he should stay quiet.

Vegeta’s frown increased at the puzzled sound in the other’s voice. “Just one, Kakarott.”

“You called me about a rumor?” Vegeta thought the unpleased sound in Kakarott’s voice was slightly out of character.

“Rumors that you and a tailless saiyan are walking around the Gandlan as though a bonded pair,” Vegeta elaborated – the prince didn’t care for the silent response he received – it only confirmed the rumor. “I thought we’d agreed any new saiyans were supposed to report directly to me…”

“Vegeta – this is different…” Goku knew that Vegeta’s concern was more about the fact he was seeing someone else than whether or not this person was a saiyan without an evaluation.

“Don’t give me that crap, Kakarott. I expect this saiyan to be on my ship within 48 hours for assessment,” Vegeta practically ordered. It bothered him, the way he had to pussy foot around when dealing with Kakarott. Anything he actually said as an order was bound to have the opposite reaction from the other.

“He’s got a schedule, and he’s training to be a shielder so he’s not really going to fight…”

“I’ve already taken care of the scheduling with your CO,” Vegeta smirked, imagining how irritated Kakarott was by this news. The prince was a little disappointed this unknown saiyan had decided on something as weak as shielding for his or her profession in this war. The CO of the Gandlan was being very tight lipped about who exactly this person was and by the time Vegeta had decided be more interested in the reports he was receiving about Kakarott’s personal business the data of this person had mysteriously disappeared.

“Fine, we’ll be there in 48 hours. I assume you’ve sent coordinates.”

“I have,” Vegeta confirmed.

“Goodbye.” Vegeta didn’t find Kakarott’s abrupt end to their conversation very satisfactory.

“I thought he’d be a happier person out here,” Gohan commented after his father had turned the scouter off. He had been able to overhear most of Vegeta’s responses. He could tell who it was, but the prince seemed even gruffer than what Gohan remembered of him on Earth. For that matter, so was his father. Maybe being in this war wasn’t what either of them had expected it to be.

With a sigh Goku swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He took his scouter off and placed it on the nightstand. “Yeah, apparently leading saiyans isn’t as much fun as he thought it’d be.”

Gohan snorted. “Somehow I don’t think Vegeta ever thought it would be ‘fun’.”

The comment received a weak smile from Goku as he stood. “Where you going?” Gohan asked.

“Thought I’d take a shower,” Goku commented, “You may think I smell nice, but a couple more days without one I’m certain even you will be turned off.”

“You’re going with me?” Gohan asked, making his way off the bed.

“Of course,” Goku smirked, “Vegeta may think he’s getting a saiyan for assessment, but I’m going to make sure you get your tail back.”

“Oh” Gohan felt his eyes widen. His dad had mentioned getting his tail back a couple of times, but he hadn’t taken the idea seriously – until now. Goku refused to let him have the procedure done on the Gandlan – something about hormone treatment verses inhumane surgery.



“Want to shower with me?” Goku asked. Vegeta’s interruption may have killed his libido a moment ago, but the idea of Gohan with a tail was exciting.

“You sure you’re going to get any showering done with me in there?” Gohan teased, there wasn’t much room in the tiny shower. Standing room only when there were two people in it, but Gohan had learned his father was rather inventive with the limited space.

“Probably not,” Goku agreed before grabbing Gohan’s hand and dragging him to the bathroom.

~o0o~ Other saiyans had heard the rumors as well, some via the same spy Vegeta had hired to keep tabs on Kakarott. Most didn’t care about Kakarott’s new fling, but some weren’t thrilled at all.



“Relax, Kale. It’s not like he’s heard of you anyway. No reason to be jealous,” Chard lounged in the leather seat across from his friend’s desk.

“Yeah…but have you seen the info on this Mokawa? I mean…dicey at best. Young…who were his parents? There’s no information on them. And a shielder? Seriously? I’m stronger than a shielder…” Kale rambled. There were times his obsession with Kakarott seemed like a fantasy that could never happen, but if Kakarott’s attention could be turned by someone as weak as this, Kale thought he might just have a shot…if he got Kakarott to notice him.



“If he were only interested in strength he would have stuck with Prince Vegeta,” Chard pointed out.

Kale’s opinion of the advice was that it was less than helpful; so he kept it to himself. “King Vegeta,” he disputed absentmindedly. “There’s got to be some way of getting him to notice me,” he tried to change the direction of the subject.

“Invite Kakarott to spar,” Chard suggested, and then couldn’t keep a straight face as he thought how badly Kale would get his ass kicked, finally breaking into a chuckle.

“Whatever.” Kale threw an empty bottle at his ‘friend’.

~o0o~ Somewhere further into space….

“We would have had him if we hadn’t of had to wait for his Eminence!” one ice-jin hissed at another. Natural hatred was stronger in this one than most.

Most had lost their own sense of purpose ever since allying with that mad scientist and his freak science experiment.

“Whoever was shielding the ship he escaped to was strong enough for help to arrive for our enemy,” the ice-jin being yelled at replied calmly. “Besides – it was only one saiyan.”

The placidity of his fellow ice-jin enraged him – there were some that had gone so far as to forsake their own names in midst of the madness. “The one who destroyed Cooler,” he said, trying to rouse some of the old, normal hatred. Their people hadn’t been so bad off with the Kold Empire in control. Now that the trinity shield was gone they’d been left exposed to the rest of the universe. Desperation had led them to seek alliances they should have never made.

“Your want-to-be lover,” the other ice-jin added.

He’d managed to convince someone higher up that keeping a watch on this one monkey would possibly lead them to more. “Piss off.” He wanted that saiyan’s head on a dinner platter – raw and succulent.

His computer screen bleeped at him and he settled down long enough to look at the new information. He didn’t need to run a DNA scan to know who – or at least ‘what’ – was aboard the space cruiser they were monitoring when his shipmate started practically frothing at the mouth.

~o0o~Back among Alliance occupied space…

The trip to Vegeta’s ship seemed like 48 hours and more to Gohan. Cramped into the small area of the ship they were on with his father and no fooling around. He felt as though he needed fresh air – or something.

When they finally got there his first impression upon seeing Vegeta’s ship was ‘immense’. It was difficult to contemplate. He’d spent some time with Bulma designing the navigation system before he’d gone off to the closest Ally academy – which had been thousands of light years from Earth. To see the ship now in its blue and black splendor and realize that it could be operated by one person via remote was hard to imagine, and yet he knew it was true, even if the ship had been altered from Bulma’s original sleek design.

“This is Kakarotto to SSJ Vengeance. Acknowledge.” Goku’s voice interrupted Gohan’s amazement of the ship before him. In reality it couldn’t be much bigger than the Gandlan, but only seemed that way. Perhaps it was the colors – which Gohan thought was weird, because he thought dark colors against the blackness of space should actually make the ship seem smaller.

“Vengenace to Kakarotto – acknowledged.”

“ETA eight minutes.” Gohan watched as Goku flipped some switches and marveled at how well Goku had adjusted to the technology – going from crashing into Yardrat to docking with a moving ship – he thought the difference was impressive.

“Confirm. Please proceed to bay J,” was the response from the person they’d communicated with so far.

Goku turned a quick grin towards his son. “Nervous?” he asked.

Gohan blinked in response. “Not really. Should I be?”

Goku shrugged as he turned his attention back to the control panel. “Don’t know. First large group of saiyans you’ve come into contact with. The only others you’ve ever known besides Vegeta and Tarble all seemed bent on destroying us.”

“And even Vegeta was bent on destroying us at one point.” Gohan didn’t know a lot about saiyans outside of his father, Vegeta and Tarble. In some ways it was amazing the amount of time and effort Tarble had put in and made in order to find his brother. Finding and gathering other saiyans in the process had only been an added benefit to the younger prince’s quest. In other ways, it was sad to know Tarble had only found so few of their species alive. “Is Vegeta generally addressed as Prince Vegeta?” he asked.



“There’s some controversy about that. Vegeta’s title is prince, but he hardly insists on everyone addressing him as such, any more. When we were first out here he used to, but for some reason he’s stopped. Probably more hassle than what it’s worth. Since there was no crowning ceremony, most saiyans are going with him as their leader based strictly on his power level. I’ve heard him addressed as admiral, but he never was formally given that title of command by the Alliance forces. Tarble is considered ‘prince’ as well, but there’s some unrest about that. If his older brother weren’t as strong as he is, Tarble would be hard pressed to be considered royalty – and only recently. He managed to obtain Legendary status a few months back.”



That was news to Gohan, who was happy to hear Vegeta’s younger brother had made the ascension. “That logic is weird – by those standards, since your power level is higher than either, you should be in charge.”

Goku turned his attention to look at Gohan. “Do you really think I want to be in charge of a bunch of people I know nothing about?” It was more than that, for Goku. A lot of things socially he didn’t understand about his own people had made it abundantly clear to him in the first few weeks out here that Vegeta was the person for the job. Now that Vegeta had reached the third level there were times Goku wasn’t certain which of them were stronger. Not that it mattered any more; Vegeta had lost the urge to kill him – in favor of other ‘urges’.

“Oh.” That made sense to Gohan…in a weird sort of way. “What if mine were higher?” Gohan asked.

It wasn’t until then that Goku realized he hadn’t told Gohan about Vegeta’s newest level. The mystic training session his son had gone through made him capable of power equal to that of level three, and possibly a bit more. “Do you want to be in charge of 400 saiyans?” Goku asked without turning his attention away from the control panel this time.

“Not really,” Gohan admitted. Being in charge of a group of four people was more than he ever wanted to maintain, let alone 400 saiyans.

“Exactly.” Goku nodded, thinking he had made his point. There were nuances he didn’t really care to get into – he’d have to tell Gohan of the relationship he’d had with Vegeta in order to explain it thoroughly. There were times he was embarrassed he’d let such behavior go on for as long as he did before tiring of it. Goku really didn’t want to drag history out into the light and examine it that closely – or at least, he didn’t think doing so on a space cruiser was the place for it.



“How does one go about being in charge of that many saiyans?” Gohan asked as he thought about 400 saiyans with varying personalities, attitudes and backgrounds – all stuck on one spaceship.

“An iron fist and discipline.” Gohan noticed the way his father’s demeanor changed as he responded. Again he wondered what had happened to make Goku decide to be a part of the Gandlan crew rather than stay with Vegeta and the saiyans.

‘Iron fist and discipline’ were certainly things his father wouldn’t be willing to enforce on anyone. “Are they rowdy?” Gohan asked out of curiosity.

A chuckle escaped Goku. “They do have their moments. Look – we haven’t taken a whole lot of time to talk about these things.” Goku paused – in hindsight he supposed he should have been telling Gohan these things over the last couple of days. He’d been so focused on not doing anything to encourage either of them that he’d almost cut off all communication until now. “First thing – do not tell anyone aboard that you’re a mixed breed.”

Gohan nodded, “I thought we’d already gone over that…”

Goku sighed. “Most of the rest of the universe thinks the idea of mixed species is impossible. Saiyans know better…and not all the results turned out like you, your brother or Trunks.”

Although the topic was unexpected, Gohan found it interesting. “You mean there’s other demis?”

Goku shook his head at Gohan’s mislead excitement. “Think about all the species you’ve interacted with since you began in the Academy,” Goku asked of his son. “Now think ‘how would some of those mixed breeds turn out?’” Goku smiled sadly at Gohan’s involuntary shiver. “Seems that you don’t necessarily have to be mammalian to breed with a saiyan.”

“Oh…how’s that even possible?” Gohan couldn’t help but ask.

Goku scratched his head. “Something about the were-changing genes we have, but that’s all I understand about it.”

“Were-changing…what?”

Goku chuckled. “DNA. Got the phrase from Vegeta – who probably got it from Bulma.” Goku smiled as he imagined Bulma’s surprise Vegeta would use any terminology he heard her use first, but Goku thought a lot of things Vegeta did out here would surprise Bulma. “Most documented cases were considered abnormal,” Goku saw Gohan nod in his peripheral vision. “Not just mutant, but also insane.”

“How the heck…do saiyans just fuck anything that’s available?” Gohan asked before giving his phrasing much thought.

“Sometimes, yes,” Goku sighed.

“I’m sorry, Dad…”

“No, it’s true. I guess you don’t really know everything you need to know about half of your heritage…it’s going to take some adjusting to, I can assure you. I’m just thankful you spent most of your life on Earth.”

“As much as I find this interesting…what story are we going to tell Vegeta?” Gohan knew both of them had been putting off this discussion, but now, only a few minutes before they landed aboard the only Saiyan ship in the fleet, there wasn’t any more time to procrastinate.

“I’m hoping he’ll see you, think the rumors were totally unjustified and not feel the need to look any deeper. Or think the ‘bond’ everyone is referring to is nothing more than parent and offspring. As you can imagine, there aren’t a whole lot of saiyans younger than I am out here. Hardly anyone knows what to expect from a father/son dynamic. Most of them were shipped off to conquer planets like I was – a baby never having known either biological parent – and Vegeta’s relationship with Trunks has always been different than what we have.”

“You really think that’s going to work?” Gohan could only hope it would be that simple, but somehow he couldn’t convince himself to believe it.

“As long as we don’t do anything to jeopardize the pretty picture.” Goku responded.

“Oi!” The fact his father would consider such a thing surprised Gohan. It wasn’t the most horrible plan he’d ever heard of, but it was more devious than he knew his father to be. It also meant they couldn’t do anything that would destroy the fragile ‘plan’ – Gohan hoped it was worth getting his tail back! “But that means we can’t – you know…how long are we going to be here?” Gohan’s voice nearly squeaked with desperation. These past two days without his father’s touch was driving Gohan crazy, another couple of days like that and he’d be climbing the walls.

“At least two days.” The worst part was, and Goku didn’t really know how to bring this up, was the relationship he’d had with Vegeta in the past – after Earth, but starting years prior to Gohan’s arrival on the Gandlan. He wondered what Gohan would think if he found out. “Also, don’t take this the wrong way, but in the evaluation I think you shouldn’t go full out.”

“Yeah?” Gohan wanted to know his dad’s reasoning.



“Just remember that part where neither of us wants to be in charge,” Goku reminded Gohan of that part of the conversation from moments ago. “Probably best to seem as though you’re in the top ten, but not going to be in contention for any leadership roles.”

“Not a problem.” Being in charge of any group of saiyans didn’t appeal to Gohan. He liked the freedom of being unknown – even if that meant he had to take orders from others.

“Kakarotto to bay J. We’re ready to board.” Goku announced over the communication system.

“We’ll have the initial barrier down in five seconds.” Gohan heard the ship’s crew respond. He watched as the faint glow of energy covering the bay’s entrance disbursed. His dad maneuvered the ship they were in to float in the space between where the energy had disappeared and a second field that was still up. They were forced to wait a few minutes while the initial barrier was raised again and the space they occupied was stabilized by the crew. “Please proceed,” they both heard as the second barrier was dropped.

The view of the inside of the ship was limited by the front window of the tiny cruiser they had used to make their trip. Mostly the color scheme was silver and black. A couple of stations where Gohan assumed someone was working because sparks were flying all over the place brought the place to life. Still, Gohan couldn’t get over the fact it seemed much bigger than any other docking bay he’d seen on any other ship – until a saiyan in oorazu form walked by them before turning to take a seat on the floor of the bay. “Oh…I thought the windows were tinted,” Gohan had learned Goku’s room on the Gandlan had a special layer to block out bruit rays. He’d understood when he first saw Vengeance that the reason the windows looked black was because of the same material. He’d also learned someone had managed to coble together a few hundred ‘moonglasses’ out of the leftovers of the tinting material from building Vegeta’s ship.

Goku looked over in time to see Gohan’s surprise. He’d gotten used to such things and hadn’t even thought to explain to his son. “There are instances where a mission ends with saiyans in their oorazu form when they rendezvous with the ship.” Now that Gohan had seen it and Goku had explained the younger understood why the design of the ship had been altered from Bulma’s original specs. “They have to wait in one of the larger bays until it wears off.”



There’d been a moment when Gohan wondered if he were going to have to dodge were-apes the whole time he was aboard. Hearing they waited in the bays until they reverted form made him feel relieved. Becoming oorazu was a major concern he had about getting his tail back, but his father seemed certain there was a way to train him to be rational once he was in oorazu form.

There was a slight jolt as Goku touched the ship down in a designated area and then he turned and smiled at Gohan while he undid his seatbelt. “Ready?”

“I guess I might be a bit nervous, after all,” Gohan confessed as he rubbed the palms of his hands on the material of his pants before he put his scouter on and then undid his seatbelt. He couldn’t tell if it were meeting saiyans, lack of sex or getting his tail back, which was the cause of his anxiety. Or the poor plan to try and fool Vegeta….

“You’ll be fine,” Goku assured his son automatically as he put his scouter on before he followed Gohan to the door. He had some lingering doubts of his own concerning this trip, but he wasn’t going to burden Gohan with them.

“Thanks, Dad,” Gohan said as he pressed the button to open the door. He waved his father through. “Show me the way!” The open door allowed new sounds and scents to welcome them aboard.

~o0o~ Mean while back on Earth…

It took her a moment to realize the heat she was feeling was actual sunshine. Opening her eyes confirmed it as she quickly closed them again while trying to puzzle out where in the fucking universe she was, because the last thing she remembered was going to bed on SSJ Vengeance.

“Welcome to Earth, Rhoda.” A voice accompanied a shadow that sheltered her eyes from the sunlight and she opened them once again to see, of all things, a namek.

“Earth?” she asked. Her question was more of a croak, as it seemed she was in desperate need of a drink. She’d heard of Earth. Vegeta and Kakarott had supposedly made the planet their home. That didn’t explainhow she’d gotten here. She was fairly certain her gender was part of the reason why – at least if the rumors were to be trusted. The percentage of females to have survived in the universe until Tarble’s research had led him to them was significantly lower than the male population. The serious lack of females on Prince Vegeta’s ship lead to rumors he was doing something with them. Rhoda had never heard of this scenario though.

Dende smiled; Rhoda was certainly reacting better than some of the other saiyans who had come through the portal before her. “I hope it’s a new planet you’ll call home.”

Rhoda forced herself to sit up and look around. She frowned at all the white she saw – she hoped it wasn’t one of those planets that was all peace and no fun. “Got anything to drink?” she asked.

“Ah, well, up here we have water,” Dende confirmed. He continued at her frown, “Although, once you’re up and about, there’re many other things to drink on this planet.”

That brought a weird sort of comfort to the female saiyan’s outlook. “So, do you have a name?” she asked.

“My name is Dende – I’m the current Guardian of Earth.”

“A namek?” Rhoda couldn’t contain her laughter.

Dende was used to this reaction from the many saiyans who had come through the portal. It didn’t mean he wasn’t slightly offended, but he knew better now that what a saiyan thought of as a Guardian and what his job actually was were two different things. “Shall I get you water? Or would you rather get up and about?” he asked. He didn’t bother to point out that if/when there ever had been a Guardian of Vegeta-sei that Guardian had failed spectacularly – even if he/she were a saiyan.

Rhoda shifted her legs off the edge of the mattress and stood. Her left foot felt tingly, like the circulation was starting to flow back into it, but other than that, she thought she could manage on her own. “Lead the way, Guardian.”

“My pleasure.” Dende bowed politely before leaving the one of dozen recovery rooms, which had been opened on the Lookout. The newest saiyan to Earth followed him out of the room.

~o0o~ We now return to Gohan’s experience upon SSJ Vengeance.

It seemed to Gohan as though his dad had the saiyan equivalent of celebrity status among the saiyans. Saiyans weren’t snapping pictures of him like they would if they were paparazzi on Earth, and they certainly didn’t surround him asking for autographs, but there wasn’t an eye that didn’t turn his direction as he walked past. He had to stop himself from smirking challengingly or growling at them – Kakarott was his.

He couldn’t be certain he hadn’t done something possessive when their gazes to fell on him next. Some of the gazes turned curious, some bored, some interested and a couple were outright hostile. He had forgotten how big saiyans actually were – even when they weren’t in oorazu form. The fact most of them still wore armor reminiscent of when they were under ice-jin treaty didn’t help. Hostile gazes or not he found the natural reaction to such size differential was intimidation, even if rationally he understood he was stronger than anyone on Vengeance with the exception of his father and possibly Vegeta (depending on how much the prince had trained in the last few years).



Sounds would quiet as they walked passed, as though whatever task someone was working on was momentarily stopped as Kakarott went by. Then the sounds would resume once they had moved on – welding, wrenches turning, scouters beeping and conversations. Scents were a constant, although Gohan could detect subtle changes – which made him very glad his father had thwarted his attempts to engage in something while traveling. If it were that obvious to him when someone found Kakarott more than attractive, then anyone of these people would have known what they had been up to. He began to have serious concerns about how different things were in regards to sex to this group of people – it wasn’t like it could be kept a secret, or at least not easily.

It was a surprise to see other species on the ship besides saiyans, some of them Gohan knew he’d never interacted with before. For some reason he’d had the notion there’d be only saiyans on this ship. He found it puzzling that of the species he had interacted with before, they were asexual. Which led him to wonder if the other species he wasn’t familiar with were as well, and if so, then had Vegeta decided to mingle them with saiyans on the possibility there’d be less complications?

They’d almost made it to the end of the bay when they were stopped by a saiyan who handed a text board to Goku. Goku read through what was on the screen before passing it back. “Thanks,” he said with a nod of his head before he lead the way out of the huge area into a smaller hallway. Then he turned to Gohan. “Looks as though Vegeta wants to make some sort of production out of this,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?” Gohan asked. He stepped even with his father as Goku started to transverse the hallways in the ship so he could hear Goku’s whispering better.

“We’re actually meeting at his court instead of his apartment.” Goku kept track of where he was headed by the saiyan symbols over the intersections. Even with the amount of time he’d spent on this ship it was difficult for him to navigate through: mostly because he had used instant transmission a lot. He was only walking so Gohan would have some idea of how to get around. Other wise he’d have made their entrance a production all in itself.

“Court?” Gohan asked. The inflection in his father’s voice indicated Goku disapproved of this ‘court’ for some reason. Gohan tried to keep track of the symbols above the intersections, but knew he would be hopefully lost by the dozen or so turns they’d taken.



“I guess most outsiders would consider it a throne room,” Goku shrugged. “It wasn’t originally in Vegeta’s plans to have something like that here, but apparently the saiyans since of propriety was affronted by the fact he didn’t have one.”

“Vegeta let someone push him around?” Gohan was surprised.

Goku laughed as he stopped in front of a lift and pressed the up directional button. “Not really. Vegeta actually liked the idea when it was brought up.”

The doors slid open and both of them boarded. “He’s kind of a different guy when he’s out here, isn’t he?” Gohan pointed out as the doors closed.

“I don’t know, Gohan. I think some of the things I’ve learned about him never had an outlet when he was on Earth,” Goku admitted.

Gohan didn’t know what to say to that so he was left to fidget – thoughts of finding the emergency button and stopping the lift so he could convince Goku for a quickie ran through his mind. He didn’t know why he suddenly wanted that – he had already figured out it wouldn’t be a secret – especially if there weren’t a shower handy. Nervousness had never brought on that sort of reaction from him. Of course, he’d never had a partner like his father either.



Before he could put thoughts into actions the lift stopped and the doors slid open. Two hulking saiyans on either side of a set of gold-colored double doors faced them. They came smartly to attention when they recognized who was exiting the lift. “Welcome aboard, Kakarott,” one of them said with a smile.

The facial expression seemed out of place to Gohan, and yet he knew he didn’t really know enough about saiyans to make that sort of call.

“Thank you. Is he ready?” Goku asked.

The saiyan that hadn’t spoken yet nodded. “His attendant said he was ready a few minutes ago.”

Goku nodded and looked back at Gohan, but didn’t belittle him in front of the two men by asking if he was ready again. He pressed the doors open and entered.

Gohan followed Goku into the spacious room, which was apparently Vegeta’s ‘court’. The area seemed to be half the size of the bay, but certainly not practical for anything on a spaceship. He half expected torches and stone pillars and slate flooring. In reality it was more like a Roman amphitheater with a few dozen saiyans watching from tiered benches, though there was certainly enough seating for a quarter of the population of the ship. The exception to the stadium type seating was the lone chair at the opposite end of the stage where Goku and he had entered. Gohan recognized the person sitting in the chair as Vegeta – not so difficult to do with the ki signature and stature. It took him a moment to figure out the small saiyan standing next to him was Tarble. The little person he’d met on Earth had managed to grow some.



“Kakarott,” Vegeta said as he stood.

“Vegeta. I’ve brought the saiyan for evaluation as you requested,” Goku said, although he absolutely refused to bow. He did step to the side so Vegeta could get a clear view of the person who had followed him. It gave him a small sense of pleasure to see Vegeta do a double take.

Vegeta had been expecting someone bigger, so when Kakarott stepped aside to reveal someone standing behind him it took him a moment to realize the person he was seeing was someone he already knew – Gohan. He mentally kicked himself for not doing more research on the subject sooner - by the time he had become concerned with Kakarott’s new conquest, data had mysteriously been erased. “I see.” He’d been so angry with Kakarott for finding someone else and not telling him about the saiyan that he hadn’t let Kakarott explain the ‘this is different’ comment. Well, now he knew what was different. Gohan certainly didn’t need to test, but that didn’t mean other saiyans would understand if he bypassed the formality. Quick calculations brought him up to a couple of conclusions – Kakarott wouldn’t want people to know this was his son which could lead to him having to explain in some fashion that Gohan was a mixed breed. Secondly, everyone was mistaking the ‘bond’ they were obviously sensing as mates instead of parent/offspring.



“Gohan?” Tarble peered down the stage and broke the silence once he figured out who was behind his brother’s off again/on again-lover. It’d taken him a moment to recognize the younger man in the uniform and the haircut. He’d been all set to hate the person Kakarott brought with him on his brother’s behalf, only to have that burden fall away when he realized what he was seeing.

“Hi Tarble,” Gohan waved, genuinely happy to see Vegeta’s younger brother.

Vegeta’s frown deepened as he gestured to a saiyan who came over and then whispered something to him. The saiyan bowed and exited the arena in a hurry before Vegeta explained. “I’d planned on the testing happening immediately upon your arrival. I’ve changed my mind. We’ll eat first.”

Goku grinned. “Awesome!” The thought of real food momentarily eclipsed any other thoughts or concerns he may have had. Vegeta’s ship was always stocked with fresh provisions – especially things he was familiar with from Earth.

Vegeta’s sigh after Kakarott’s exclamation could be heard clearly over the din of conversation that had begun at his announcement. He refused to voice his lament in front of everyone – maybe the way to Kakarott’s heart was through his stomach. Instead he led the way from the court through one of the smaller doors that dotted the perimeter of the arena. Tarble and Goku immediately followed and Gohan kept up as they entered a narrower hallway than what ran through the rest of the ship Gohan had seen so far.

Less than thirty paces into the tunnel Gohan’s nose picked up the scent of food – real meat, or at least something close enough it fooled his senses. Suddenly he wished the people in front of him would hurry up.

~o0o~ Kale’s point of view of the meeting in the Prince’s court.

Kale didn’t know what to make of the too brief meeting at court. It seemed as though Prince Vegeta and Prince Tarble were both familiar with Kakarott’s saiyan. That was unexpected. Kale had been looking forward to watching Prince Vegeta decimate Kakarott’s new lover. Not that would aid him in his quest to get Kakarott’s attention, but it would have been very satisfactory to know nothing could separate the two powers who kept what remained of the saiyan race in check.

The lowly saiyan also found himself in some shock – and a bit confused. Granted, what little information he’d managed to glean from records before they’d mysteriously been erased hadn’t been much. (He still kicked himself for not saving the data to his own archives.) What he hadn’t been expecting was that he’d find the saiyan with Kakarott almost as attractive as Kakarott. He couldn’t help himself – small and compact and…just friggin’ hot. The only thing keeping the new saiyan from being perfect, in Kale’s opinion, was the unknown power level.



Just thinking of Kakarott and Mokawa – or rather ‘Gohan’, if Prince Vegeta and Tarble were correct and the records were wrong – together was something he’d be willing to pay to witness. Regardless of the similarities that indicated they were at least from the same class and possibly the same house.



Yet there was a part of him that didn’t like how this outsider had come in and broken up what many saiyans recognized as a stabilizing factor in recent saiyan society – Prince Vegeta and Kakarott. If anyone should have been bonded it should have been those two. Never mind his double standards – he never thought he’d be enough for Kakarott to stay, he’d only ever dreamed of a one timer with the Legendary. That would be incredible.



His scouter beeped and Kale snapped out of his reverie to read the message. Then he grinned. With the delay in the evaluation peoples’ schedules had changed and he’d managed to get a seat to witness the test. He’d get to watch the upcoming action in person.

~o0o~ The food on Vegeta’s ship was beyond Gohan’s expectations.

The meal was everything Gohan’s nose told him it would be, and more. The dirty plates and dishes were slowly being removed from the room by help staff while he and the other three sat back with full stomachs – Gohan couldn’t remember when the last time his stomach had felt this satisfied.

A discrete signal from his brother caused Tarble to sit up. “I think I should show you to your room, Gohan. So you can get ready.”

Gohan patted his full stomach as he nodded. “Sure.” He stood to follow Tarble as the younger prince left the dinning room. He resisted the urge to slide a hand over Goku’s shoulders as he left – something he’d gotten used to doing while on the Gandlan, but knew would cause unwanted attention here.

Vegeta watched Kakarott as Gohan left – the other saiyan’s gaze fully turned towards his son. “Are you coming back when Gohan is stationed on this ship?” Vegeta asked in order to get Kakarott’s attention focused where he wanted it – on himself.

The question – or rather, the timing of it took Goku by surprise. “Who said he’s going to be stationed on this ship?” Goku asked as he turned his awareness back to Vegeta, not realizing until that moment how long his attention had been on the door Gohan had gone through.

“Come now, a shielder of that magnitude and a saiyan? You didn’t think I’d let an opportunity like that slip by, did you?” Vegeta chided. “I thought you knew me better than that, Kakarott.”



The way Vegeta said his name – Goku understood what Vegeta was trying to accomplish and it had nothing to do with Gohan. It had to do with the fact he’d never completely severed all ties with Vegeta. It had been easier to let the physical aspects of their relationship linger. However, circumstances had changed. It wasn’t totally unexpected of the prince to try to get him to play – later in the visit had been when Goku expected Vegeta to make some sort of comment about wanting him to stay – accepting Vegeta’s terms, of course. Goku understood the prince was trying to find out if using his son would get him to come back permanently.

In the past Goku had taken advantage of their estranged relationship – now he had to be quick to think of plausible excuses not to fall into the same habits. “Gohan wouldn’t understand…” he blurted out.

Vegeta gave an unprincely snort. “Clever little rouse you have going on, by the way – you and Gohan as lovers. A good way to insure folks won’t go delving deeper into your son’s history.”



“Thanks.” Goku could feel the blush heating his face and tried to suppress it.

“I suppose it would make it awfully difficult for us to do anything without making folks talk, wouldn’t it?” Vegeta had to guess Kakarott would not want to jeopardize his son’s well-being for something as untimely as a fling. “You know, of course, I have to play the jilted lover?” Vegeta pointed out.

Goku swallowed hard. “I guess I hadn’t thought of that,” he admitted. If all parties involved did not play this to the hilt…the results could be bad. Even if it meant he had to accept what Vegeta meant by ‘jilted’ was that he was going to be an asshole to Gohan. Goku was regretting more and more he’d never told Gohan of his digression with Vegeta. Then he corrected himself – there had been a time when Goku had thought it was more than just a digression. If Vegeta had seen him halfway….

“It’s expected of me. I have to make this dinner seem as though I was trying to get you alone in the first place. Which isn’t a lie and I did manage to do just that,” Vegeta slid his hand along the table until it covered Kakarott’s.

Goku had to restrain himself from jerking his hand away. “Look, Vegeta – I can’t.”

Vegeta drew his hand away, frowning – Kakarott was usually more amiable after a meal. “You can’t honestly think your son believes you’ve been faithful to that banshee of a wife all these years you’ve been out here. If he does, he’s more naïve than you were….” He stopped when he saw the anger his words incited in Kakarott.

“That doesn’t mean I have to rub his face in it.” Goku could not only hear, but feel the tense quality in his response.

“Damn it Kakarott! When will you stop being so stubborn?” Vegeta exclaimed as he stood. It usually took at least a couple of days for them to come to this point during any visit – but Kakarott’s absolute refusal to play along left him more frustrated earlier than usual. The prince didn’t wish to admit it – but he could to himself – he’d hoped that he could stomp all over Kakarott’s new lover and get the third-class back on his ship and rightfully in his bed. It was looking more and more as though that wouldn’t happen.

Goku stood to face Vegeta – pure posturing – the complete message wouldn’t come across if he said it while sitting. “When you do.” It was an old argument between them. The parameters of the argument had changed, but Goku knew he couldn’t let Vegeta guess there wasn’t ever going to be any hope of reconcile between them – other than that of just friends.

Vegeta forced himself to regain the semblance of calm. “You think you’re protecting him, but in the end, you’re just coddling your son,” he hissed. “Gohan’s a grown man, Kakarott,” it wasn’t until then that a glimmer of an idea started whirring in the back of Vegeta’s mind, but he suppressed it quickly. If Kakarott sensed an inkling of what he was thinking….

“Look, Vegeta – the reason for this trip has me more rattled than usual. Can we not have another argument about this right now?” Goku asked, knowing no matter how much discussion they had about it, Vegeta hadn’t ever seen it from Goku’s perspective before. He didn’t think another conversation with the prince on the topic would bring sudden understanding this time, either.

Forcing himself to act cool, Vegeta sat back in his chair. “Fine. Your son’s evaluation should start soon anyway. We can discuss this later. I guess this means you’ll be wanting your own room…”

“Actually, if I’m supposed to be with Gohan I should probably stay in whatever room you’ve given him,” Goku pointed out.

Vegeta’s frown deepened more, but he couldn’t argue with Kakarott’s logic. “Fine. I’ll see you at the arena,” Vegeta said before he stood and exited through a door Goku knew would eventually lead to the prince’s rooms by a series of hallways. He sat a moment longer before he stood and exited to make his way to the evaluation arena.

~o0o~ Tarble showed Gohan to his room to get ready for the evaluation.

“Vegeta allowed me to change the room you were to stay in as soon as he realized who you were,” Tarble mentioned as he opened the door and led Gohan into the room.

Gohan blinked at the room – it was more like an apartment. The door let them onto a short walkway, which led to a staircase down into the actual living space. The living room/dining room and bedroom were all exposed to the view from the walkway; cream-colored walls, dark carpeting and black furniture. The exception was the gray, brick wall with a larger-than-life flat panel screen hanging from it. The kitchen was partially concealed by a dividing wall, but otherwise it was open to the rest of the apartment. If he had to guess, then Gohan thought the one of the two dark, wood doors he could see probably led to a bathroom. “Wow – makes me wonder where I was going to stay when he thought I was someone else.” It wasn’t a bigger floor plan than their room on the Gandlan, but the vaulted ceiling made it seem as though it was.

“When he thought you were Kakarott’s lover he was going to give you a regular soldier’s accommodations,” Tarble said as he began his way down the staircase – he didn’t say that he’d expected Kakarott’s new lover to be less than one night aboard – some things were best kept from the Sons.

Gohan supposed the stairs were really just for decoration. If he wanted to he could jump down or levitate up. Then again, maybe some of the species on the ship didn’t have enough ki to fly. “Why would your brother care if I had been Kakarott’s lover?” Gohan asked as he followed Tarble down. The dubious look Tarble gave him made him realize Tarble thought the question was too stupid to answer. He felt incredibly moronic for not having figured Vegeta and his father had some sort of history on his own – and a bit angry his father hadn’t mentioned anything about it.

Tarble didn’t feel the need to explain further as he saw perturbed understanding dawn on Gohan face. “I suppose you’re not going to fight in your Alliance uniform,” he changed the subject while indicating the outfit Gohan was wearing.

“Uh – yeah,” Gohan said as he opened his jacket and took out the flat pack of capsules from the inside pocket. He tossed his jacket on the black comforter covering the bed and then took a moment before he found the capsule he was looking for, depressed the button and then threw it towards the bed as well. A puff of steam and a duffle bag appeared from which he took out a few of outfits. He folded the two he wasn’t going to use and set them on top of the black dresser before he began taking the rest of his uniform off in order to put on the fighting gi still laying over the top of the bed.

Tarble didn’t think much about the fact he was watching Gohan undress. A few years ago it may have flustered him – when he and his wife still had a private place – but since he’d been stationed on his brother’s ship he’d gotten use to saiyans dressing and undressing in the locker rooms around the sparring arena. It wasn’t until he started making comparisons to what he was seeing now and how Gohan was so much smaller than the rest of the saiyans he was used to showering with that he became conscientious of the fact he was staring – and liking what he was seeing. Which hadn’t ever been a factor before. Maybe it was the size difference between him and his sparring buddies, but the idea of being with any of them had only ever crossed his mind once or twice – and flinched in horror.



On the other hand, Gohan was more of a size he could see being compatible with. There were very few saiyans Tarble could think that about. Combined with the fact he knew Gohan to be extremely powerful – he realized he was actually becoming aroused while watching the younger man. “I think I’ll wait for you over here…” Tarble said as he walked over to the living room area. The stairwell provided enough of a barrier that he wasn’t staring any more as he tried to cool off.

Gohan didn’t think too much about Tarble’s hasty retreat to the other side of the stairwell as he finished dressing, cinching the black gi belt tight over the black gi shirt. His thoughts were more about why his father hadn’t ever told him about Vegeta and then he’d try to get his focus back on the evaluation to somehow have them circle back around to Vegeta and his dad. He finally settled on the idea that maybe being angry when he went to the evaluation wasn’t a bad thing.

~o0o~
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Soldier Boy