Vegeta struggled desperately to fight off the lethargic feeling that had engulfed him. Using every ounce of his strength, he willed his limbs to move, rolled onto his back and threw the naked Leeka off of him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he roared, still a little woozy as he sat up.

"It is a wife's duty to pleasure her husband, and you seemed to be responding well."

"NO! That wasn't . . . that wasn't you. I . . . what in the world did you do to me? Why is it so hard to control my body?"

"You had no trouble controlling it earlier."

"No," Vegeta said confused. "I thought . . ."

"You thought what? Thought that I was Bulma?" Leeka hissed, grabbing a sheet to wrap around herself. "You think I didn't know about your little play toy? I'm not stupid Vegeta. But I also know you gave up your precious bed warmer to mate with me and that's binding, that's all that matters."

"No, that's not all that matters. You violated my bed you little whore. What did you do, drug me?"

"Of course not! How dare you insinuate such a thing. This was our wedding night Vegeta, and like it or not, I am your wife."

The Saiyan Prince could no longer stomach the woman in front of him. He couldn't believe that this was happening. "Get out," he said quietly.

"W-what?!"

"GET OUT! There is a reason why you have your own quarters, and as of tomorrow I'm making sure it's as far away from mine as possible!"

"Of course Your Highness," Leeka hissed as she angrily bowed, gathered her clothes and exited the room still wrapped in a sheet.

Vegeta was no longer able to stand being in that bed, and knew he wouldn't be getting to sleep any time soon. After a quick shower, he donned a training suit and went to take a walk to clear his head.

He ended up in the outer Palace Gardens - quiet and hauntingly serene in the dark of night. Sitting on the terrace railing with his back resting against the wall of the palace, Vegeta heard the sound of footsteps on the marble, bringing his attention to the other garden visitor.

~*~*~

Bulma had been unsure as to whether or not she should approach him. After all, he had been the reason for her late night stroll in the garden.

After awaking from such a terrible nightmare, there was no possibility of her getting back to sleep. The dream itself had started out well enough. Actually, it was more than that, bordering on wonderful really. It had been a game of seduction that led to her and Vegeta making passionate love in bed. But then it got ugly as she was replaced by a writhing Leeka, and an unseen force made her watch the two lovers, with Vegeta professing his love to the other woman. It had been unbearable as she woke up soaked in sweat and gasping for air.

She had quietly left Linna's apartment, wanting to be alone and going to the gravity controlled gardens for some fresh air. All this led up to her current predicament: to confront or not confront the Saiyan Prince. His hateful words from their last meeting sprung to mind, so she thought it best to leave. Of course, the Fates were not so kind as to let her leave unnoticed, for in the dead of night, the smallest noise seemed magnified tenfold.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, Bulma froze, knowing very well he had heard her, and looked up, meeting Vegeta's eyes. Not one to back down, Bulma regained her composure and glared coolly towards him, hiding any emotion that might be coursing through her veins.

Nodding curtly to him, Bulma walked to the edge of the terrace to gaze at the garden ahead. Moments later she felt him standing next to her, doing the same thing, but she didn't dare look at him, not even out of the corner of her eye.

In agonizing silence, they stood for countless minutes, neither one willing to be the first to run away. She would not give him the satisfaction, and he did not want to appear weak.

It was Vegeta who was the first to speak, wanting to pretend she no longer had an effect on him. "Woman, how is the training equipment coming along?"

Bulma couldn't believe the words that came out of his mouth. How could he pretend like nothing happened between us? How could he be such a bastard?!

"These things take time, My Prince," she replied icily. "These past few days especially have been quite trying . . ."

"That's no excuse," he barked. "You came to Vegitasei to do a job, it's about time you started doing it! You should not let anything interfere with your duty to Vegitasei."

"Oh of course Great Prince," Bulma said sarcastically. "Please forgive my actions. I can guarantee I will no longer be having any distractions. Now if you excuse me, I am quite tired and I don't want to have to exert myself anymore than I have to because of my baby. Good night!"

Vegeta seethed as he watched her figure walk away. He could not believe she'd throw her baby in his fact like that. How dare she insult and mock him, he was her better. She was nothing but a petty female, upset that she could not bend him to her will. No one controlled the Saiyan Prince - he was the strongest of them all. And he would prove it.

~15 Days Later~

Leeka smiled as she reclined in the doctor's chair. Her plan had worked perfectly - it was only this morning that she had been completely sure. All necessary measures had been taken, and as she watched the holographic image of her child being projected in front of her, she finally felt secure in her role as future queen.

Her husband of course was not with her. In fact, she had not seen him since their wedding night. For the past two weeks he had been training in seclusion in the Eastern Mountains, though she had heard that he'd be returning for more supplies this afternoon.

As her personal physician informed her that the heir would be male, Dr. Mertle entered the infirmary. Seeing the projected image, he came over to them.

"Well, what do you know," he said joyfully. "So who's the lucky mother this time?"

Leeka, whose stomach had nodes placed on it, glared at the doctor. "I am you idiot!"

Dr. Mertle looked at Leeka, then at the image and then back to Leeka. "B-but that child is human, there is no tail."

"Of course there isn't!" snapped Leeka's doctor. "Saiyan babies do not develop a tail until one month after conception. Any real physician would know that. Seeing as how you are on a planet full of Saiyans, you'd at least bother to learn about our physiology. At this point of development, you'd have to look at blood samples to determine what species the child is, if the mother has had relations with those not of her kind that is."

The human doctor grew red with embarrassment. How could he have been so careless as to not have studied that? Then a faint memory crossed his mind. It's funny how some events can be recalled spontaneously. It happened just over two weeks ago and he was in the same place as now, telling Bulma Briefs she was going to have a baby. Now why would he recall such a memory, after all she was human. But wait, she was with a man, a very angry man when he had learned that the child was human. He was a Saiyan.

Leeka glared in irritation at Dr. Mertle and then noted how the oddest expression overcame his face. It was mixture of embarrassment, realization, fear and "uh oh!" Her gut instinct told her something was very wrong as the doctor mumbled an excuse that he had to check on something and went to his office.

Leeka told her physician she wanted some privacy as she changed, and suggested he go outside and let her guards know she was just about ready to leave. He obliged and left her alone to check up on Dr. Mertle.

Using her ki to keep one inch off the floor, she quietly floated into the human doctor's office. Stationing herself behind him so that she could read over his shoulder, she definitely knew her hunches were right as she saw that he was looking up Bulma Briefs' file. Dr. Mertle seemed to be running a blood test of some sort and within minutes, the results showed up on the computer screen.

"Oh no!" Mertle gasped as his error was proven.

"That is such bad news," Leeka spoke, understanding what the results meant, ". . . for you." And she quickly grabbed the surprised doctor's throat, crushed his neck with her fingers and threw his lifeless body into the wall. She knew that the guards heard the commotion so she blasted away Mertle's computer and office within seconds, just before they came barging through the infirmary door.

"What happened?" demanded one as he took in the destruction behind Leeka.

"The human tried to inject me with some sort of poison. Let it be known that the future Queen is with child, and I will stop anyone who dares try to assassinate the Heir. Is that clear?"

The guard nodded and bowed before her. This was big news. Within weeks of their joining, the Princess was already expecting; there was much to be done.

"Good," Leeka brushed past the guard. "Now have this mess taken care of, I'm going to see my father."

~*~*~

News spread quickly within the Palace walls and ignited when it hit the general population. A new Heir was to be born and it was said that with each generation, the Saiyans got stronger. If Prince Vegeta was the strongest that ever lived, what awesome power would his son possess?

Luckily, Bulma was sitting down when she heard the news, later that afternoon. After the lunch break, she had noticed how incredibly gossipy the scientists were. However, she learned the truth when the infirmary called to let her know that Dr. Mertle was dead. In shock, she dropped her communicator, then quickly hung up. It was no secret that the Prince had been on a training retreat that past two weeks and as Bulma counted back, she realized that the Heir had been conceived the night she saw Vegeta. She choked back a sob, hurt that he could just move on with his life with obviously no regard for her. How could she have been so wrong about him? She really believed that at least some part of him had cared about her, she guessed she was wrong. Feeling even more miserable and no longer desiring to work, she got out her bag to eat a mid-afternoon snack. At least she had her baby.

~*~*~

"Thank you, your Highness, for granting us an audience," Lord Choy bowed.

"Well, why wouldn't I, your daughter is a member of the Royal House now, she is welcome to come to me at any time."

Leeka's mouth twitched upwards slightly, "Of course My King, thank you. There is an important matter we have to discuss."

"Oh yes, your child. Congratulations, I'm sure he'll have his father's strength."

"Oh, I'm sure . . . but there's something else that could become a problem."

"Oh?"

"Yes," interrupted Choy, wanting to get down to business. "It seems your son is expecting two sons. One of course is my daughter's but the other, the older, is in the womb of a scientist whore."

"The Briefs woman?"

"Yes. Prince Vegeta did have relations with her before the wedding and while it is a bastard child, it could pose a future problem."

"The Royal bloodline will not be contaminated with an hybrid, we'll do something immediately. I'll have Vegeta kill her, right his mistake."

"Wait!" expressed Leeka. "The mother herself may pose a bigger problem. Your son doesn't know her child is his and he would be reluctant enough to kill her now."

"Are you saying my son has feelings for this woman, that he is weak?"

"It's worse than mere feelings My King, I believe they're-"

The door to the throne room swung open and in barged Vegeta.

"You!" he said angrily, pointing to Leeka. "Is it true? Are you with child?"

"Y-yes my husband. You will have a glorious son."

"I don't care to hear about it," he turned to his father. "I'm going to do more training in the mountains, probably for a couple more months. I came to get what I needed and I wish not to be disturbed."

"And what of your wife and child?"

"I do not care to be bothered by her or her son. If you have nothing else to say, I'll be leaving now."

As soon as he was out of the door, Leeka turned to the King. "See? This is all because of the human. Look how irrational he is, she's already a threat. Bring her here and I'll prove it."

King Vegeta nodded in agreement, calling for his guards to bring him Bulma Briefs.

~*~*~

"I demand to know what's going on," growled Bulma as she was lead to the throne room doors. The guards had shown up at her lab, saying that the King wished to see her and before she knew it, she was being "escorted" down the hall.

"Quiet human. You need to know whatever the King wants you to know. Now go in there and display the proper respect," one of the guards said, gesturing to the doors.

With an impertinent sigh, she rolled her eyes and pushed open the throne room doors. She was extremely surprised to see Leeka and who she assumed to be Leeka's father, along with the Saiyan King, waiting for her. The doors behind her closed suddenly, causing her to jump.

Warily, Bulma looked back to her audience, waiting for them to make the first move. In an instant, Leeka was on her, dragging her up to the King for inspection. She yanked the hair away from Bulma's neck and pointed to the scar.

"See," she said pointedly. "This is what I'm talking about."

The King stared for a minute, then remembered seeing Vegeta have such a marking when he spoke with him weeks ago.

"How dare they claim each other," he hissed, then turned to Leeka. "How serious is it?"

"I don't think it's very deep yet, but we must stop it as soon as possible."

"Agreed. You and your father may leave now, I'll deal with this personally."

"Of course Sire," bowed Leeka and Choy, then exited a side door.

Bulma was thoroughly confused but tried to keep her cool, even though a sense of doom was washing over her. She felt a crushing sensation in her face as King Vegeta backhanded her, sending her flying back and crashing to the ground.

"Traitorous bitch!" he screamed. "How dare you carry the Prince's child."

Bulma lay shocked. Prince's child . . .

"For your many crimes against the Saiyan Empire, you will be executed."

Bulma tried to get up and run, but the King rushed forward and kicked her hard in the stomach.

~*~*~

Vegeta had been on his way to his retreat when he was overwhelmed with feelings of distress. In his confusion, he had to land, otherwise he'd fall from flying because of lost concentration. He had no idea what was going on, but something deep inside him was calling to him, warning him. It was a . . . . a child's cry? And then his Saiyan instincts took over - something was wrong . . . his mate was in trouble. In less than a second, Vegeta was back in the air, heading back to the Palace.

He immediately went to the lab, demanding the techies to tell him where Bulma was. Linna told him that some guards came to take her to see his father. Vegeta knew he was running out of time as he raced to the throne room. Why would my father wish to see Bulma?

Without hesitation, he blew open the doors and was confronted with Bulma in a heap on the floor, about to be blasted by his father. His eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists as he took in his near dead mate, and screamed an angry war cry.

The King looked over to his son, surprised and then horrified because for one brief second, Vegeta had taken on a golden aura. Before he could ponder its significance, a ki ball came barreling at him, knocking him over.

Immediately after his attack, Vegeta rushed over to Bulma's side. She was still unconscious as he gently held her, looking over the damage. it was pretty rough - bruises, cuts and broken bones, but if she was treated, she would be fine.

His father got up trying to channel his ki, but Vegeta was much quicker and hit him with an uppercut. As the King was in the air, Vegeta appeared above him, swinging both arms down to crush his chest and send him to the ground where Vegeta waited for him and cracked his back with his knee. Father was picked up by son and thrown against the wall where son directed a devastating blast.

Not knowing if he killed him, Vegeta walked over to check his father, but then heard Bulma mumbling.

He went back to her side, hearing her whisper "My baby," over and over again.

Vegeta looked at her abdomen and grimaced. Putting a hand there, he felt an extremely weak ki and knew that if he didn't get her to a doctor immediately, she'd lose the baby.

But what if he told her that the baby was already dead, killed by his father's beatings? He'd go make sure his father was dead and then Bulma would be all his again - no strings attached to Yaumcha.

He was just so tempted to do that, but he just couldn't. If she ever found out the truth, she'd never forgive him and he knew she would be miserable if she lost her son. He couldn't do that to her.

Delicately lifting Bulma with his arms, his decision was clear as he raced to the infirmary.

As he left, Leeka walked into the room from the side door, and sauntered over to the fallen King. He lay bloody among the rubble, and though he could barely move, he could open his eyes. Upon seeing Leeka, he smiled at her and she smiled back.

The smile turned cruel.

"I'm sorry My King, but you failed and now the plans have changed."

King Vegeta could do nothing but look in horror as Leeka charged her ki and aimed for his heart.

~*~*~

The doctors in the infirmary were doing their best to help Bulma, especially with Vegeta looming over them. They were able to treat her, stopping any infections and resetting bones, but it would be up to the regeneration tank to heal her completely. Vegeta was told it would be at least a day before she got out, so he headed back to the destroyed throne room.

The guards were already there when he arrived and they bowed before him as he entered.

"All hail our new King," they spoke.

Vegeta saw his father's body lying on the ground. With a disappointed sigh, he ordered two guards to take the body away and dispose of it in an appropriate manner. He also stated that he was not to be disturbed for the next 24 hours and went back to the infirmary to wait by Bulma's side.

~*~*~

He was very angry to find Yaumcha and Linna sitting by Bulma's tank when he got there.

"Get away from there," Vegeta barked. "You have no business here, now leave before I forcibly remove you!"

"Hey!" Yaumcha exclaimed, not backing down. "We have every right to be here - we are Bulma's friends and in case you have forgotten, that's my child she's carrying. I want to make sure he's alright."

"The brat is fine, now go, I don't want anyone near my . . ."

"Your what? Huh Vegeta? What is she to you? You're a married man, you were the one who rejected her. Do you even know how much you hurt Bulma or do you even care? You think of her as your property don't you? She belongs only to you and even when you discard her, no one else can have her. You're a selfish asshole your Highness! Bulma is a remarkable woman, so don't think you can hold her back. She may have loved you but she will get over you! I'll make sure of that."

Completely taken with rage at Yaumcha's rant and half-truths, Vegeta lunged at him, throwing a right hook and pinning him to the ground with a chokehold.

"That's right Vegeta," Yaumcha gasped. "Show Bulma how much more of a bastard you are. How do you think she'll react to find her friend, the father of her son, dead by her ex-lover's hand?"

"Please," Linna pleaded. "It's not worth it. Don't throw away Bulma's love because of a few angry words."

Reasoning entered Vegeta's head and he released Yaumcha, letting him cough it out. The Saiyan turned to Linna and ordered her to get Yaumcha out of there. She readily obeyed and helped a gasping Yaumcha back to their quarters, her heart heavy with his words about Bulma.

Vegeta turned to gaze at his human lover, floating peacefully in the thick liquid. So many emotions she evoked in him, hardly any breaking to his surface - but they were there. He was King now and he knew for sure he felt more than lust and ownership for Bulma - he guessed he always knew. It puzzled him greatly on how he knew that something was wrong with Bulma - warrior's intuition he supposed, there was no other explanation for it. He sighed as he took a seat. He had a whole day to think, there was nothing else to do but wait.

~*~*~