Maintaining
By Pixelgoddess

Summary - Vegeta's life has begun to fall apart, his control slipping away. Will Goku be able to help him hold on, or will he become another victim of Vegeta's past? Yaoi - G/V, Yuri - CC/OC

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own them. Honestly. How could you think that? I am a goddess, not an extremely wealthy Japanese man.

Pairings: Goku/Vegeta, Radditz/Vegeta, OC/Chichi. (Okay, okay, I don't like original characters either, but I think you will forgive me. Besides, she won't mess with your favorite Saiyans at all.) Maybe some other pairs if the mood strikes me.

Warnings: Yaoi, Yuri. Smut. Violence (later), rape (later), angst (right away). A cheerful Goku. A nice Chichi.

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Chapter 11 - Roommates?

"Hi hon," Rezu said, wrapping her arms around Chichi's waist and nuzzling her neck. Chichi turned her head to give a quick kiss, then turned her attention back to the pots covering the stove.

"Sorry - crucial stage - 3 minutes," she apologized, stirring two pots at once.

Rezu kept one arm around the brunette, reaching around with the other to capture one of the spoons to help.

Chichi wrinkled her nose. "You still smell like smoke. Was it a bad fire?"

"Nah. Pretty easy. I got to rescue a kitten. Might be on the news."

"Have the boys tape it," Chichi said, smiling.

"You are aware that the kids are engaged in major property destruction?"

"Gohan and Videl are supervising. I have a cunning plan," she answered, laughing.

"Oh really, Baldrick? Well - spill it," Rezu released her hold on Chichi to help with the food. "And somehow, based on the amount of food, I suspect it has something to do with pacifying Saiyans."

"You've missed a bit. Piccolo was here yesterday, filling me in. Vegeta has been spending the past few nights sleeping in the woods."

"But Goku...?"

"Goku growled at Piccolo when he was talking to Vegeta. He doesn't think Goku knows he heard him..."

"Growled?" Rezu asked, disbelieving.

"Mmmm...Saiyan thing, I think." She began methodically removing pans from the stove. "Anyway, Goku has been around Vegeta, sometimes talking to him, but usually just staying close enough to watch him, lowering his ki so he doesn't know he is there. Piccolo..."

"Why would he do that?" Rezu interrupted.

Chichi made her own growl and advanced on Rezu, pushing her back and pinning her to the wall. "If you continue to misbehave and keep interrupting me, there will be no handcuffs for you tonight."

Rezu meeped an apology.

Chichi gave an evil smirk and buried her fingers in Rezu's hair, drawing her in for a demanding, bruising kiss. Her other hand slipped under Rezu's t-shirt to lightly drag her nails down her stomach.

Rezu moaned and closed her eyes, letting her aggressive lover take the control she wanted. ::Chichi must have really pushed someone around today.:: Rezu was reaping the benefits. She wanted to gasp for breath, but Chichi continued to rape her mouth with her tongue.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz - the oven timer went off.

Chichi released her lock on Rezu, smirking and licking her lips. She couldn't wait until tonight. Her lover was barely standing, holding onto the counter for support, panting for breath.

"Now - I will talk, you will listen."

Rezu, still dazed, nodded.

"Piccolo saw Vegeta, who has been sleeping outside the past few nights. Goku has been acting strangely himself - he growled at Piccolo, maybe he was jealous - even though he has no reason to be. Now Goku has been stalking Vegeta, suppressing his ki so he doesn't know he is there. Vegeta must realize something is up because he is getting jumpy.

"I hadn't thought about it before - but I think Goku doesn't know what to do. I pursued him. Olibu approached Goku. His affair with Henoko was not about love. He doesn't know how to approach Vegeta about this - and Vegeta is not likely to encourage him. So I am going to help Goku, whether he wants it or not.

"Hence, my cunning plan. You can ask now," Chichi said, grinning.

Rezu turned one of the kitchen chairs around and straddled it, arms resting on the back. "So, my love, is this a plan so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel?"

"Yes - I have spent the past day and a half being mean and evil and threatening."

"Which always makes you horny," Rezu said with a leer.

"Watch it girl," she said, leaning over to kiss her on the tip of her nose, "Or you can forget about wearing a blindfold."

Rezu reached out to grab Chichi, groaning a complaint when she stepped back out of reach.

"I went to visit Bulma today - it was wonderfully productive," she said with a sinister laugh. "I now have a capsule house to put on the lot the kids are clearing, a useful assortment of capsules, some cleaning robots, food, money, and an agreement she'll try to get out of later - but I won't let her."

"She's still alive...?"

"I scared the crap out of Yamcha, but she stood her ground pretty well. It was fun."

Rezu raised her eyebrow, amused.

"I am going to make Vegeta move into the new house - with Goku."

"Oh...I wouldn't miss this for the world."

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Vegeta was surprised when Trunks and Goten showed up, insisting he come to dinner. He was too worn out to resist, and let them drag him off without protest.

Kakarott's whole family was there, the boys chattering excitedly about some destruction they had engaged in that day. Gohan and Videl were talking with Rezu about a fire they had put out. Chichi was busy serving them. And Kakarott...Kakarott sat silently at the table, trying to avoid his gaze, his tail swaying behind him.

Vegeta hadn't said a word since he had arrived. For the first time, he actually paid attention to how Chichi and Rezu were interacting. Now he noticed how often the two women were close, frequently touching each other. They sat next to each other as they ate. How could he have missed it? It was so obvious, now that he knew what he was looking for.

He had asked Kakarott about the divorce earlier.

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"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the divorce, Vegeta," Goku said, sheepishly, hand behind his head. "You were kind of distracted when it all happened. I just didn't think you would care."

Vegeta felt a dull ache inside - yet another person he had failed. "You should have told me. I - ." What? What would he have done? He was still with Bulma then. Would he have sympathized or even cared? He wasn't sure.

"But it's okay now. We are good friends - which we weren't when we were married. I see the boys all the time."

"You still live there..." Vegeta really didn't understand. If Kakarott could deal with it, then he could - but how?

"Yeah, I sleep in Gohan's old room. It's okay - our family is just bigger - different. The kids are fine with it." Goku sat down next to Vegeta.

"What about you, Kakarott? Are you fine with it?" Vegeta turned to look at the younger Saiyan, noticing his tail twitching beside him. He didn't understand why, but he wanted to capture that dark tail and stroke the smooth fur.

"Chichi is much happier and easier to get along with. It's easier for three of us to take care of everything," Goku said evasively, staring at the ground.

"That is not what I asked. What about you?"

Goku raised his head to stare at the prince with dark, shimmering eyes. "I...I... it doesn't matter..." he stammered, lowering his head

Vegeta's tail slashed through the air with annoyance. "Damn it, Kakarott! Can't you answer one simple question?"

"You really want to know?" Goku snapped, barely in control of his voice. "I get lonely. I get so lonely I can hardly speak. And I can't tell anyone because they wouldn't understand. After all, I'm 'good, reliable, cheerful Goku'. I have all these wonderful, understanding friends, don't I?" His tail swung behind him in agitation.

Vegeta was stunned by his response. He had expected anger at his ex-wife - not this. "Kakarott, I...."

"But they can't help me, can they? It would have been better if I hadn't come back. At least in Otherworld I had lovers and friends that actually gave a shit about me. Here, it's worse - and I have to pretend it is okay. Here, I see the person I really want to be with all the time, and they don't even..." Goku's mouth snapped shut as he realized what he had just said. He put two fingers to his forehead and vanished.


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Kakarott? Lovers? How could he ever be lonely? He was worshiped, adored... How could anyone discard Kakarott? Didn't she have eyes? He felt himself starting to growl and quickly silenced it. He must have made some sound, because Gohan glanced at him before quickly turning back to his plate. Kakarott finally returned his look to stare at him wide-eyed.

Goku was shocked to hear that sound emitting from his prince. Why was he angry? Somehow he knew it involved him, but he didn't know what he could have done to upset Vegeta. He had run away. Could Vegeta have figured out that he was the one that he wanted - and was offended?

He had started to approach Vegeta so many times after he told him about his divorce, but stopped as he realized he didn't know what to say. This had never been a problem before - but he hadn't realized before how much he wanted the prince. He didn't know what he would do if Vegeta rejected him.

Vegeta lowered his eyes to the plate in front of him. He knew he had missed something in their conversation - something about it was off. He intended to make Kakarott explain. Kakarott was uncomfortable around him, and he wanted to know why.

Chichi watched the two Saiyans, amused and confused. It was like watching two school kids. Vegeta was hardly eating. He was barely started on his third helping, compared to his normal 4 or 5. Goku was actually playing with his food - his appetite hadn't decreased, but his dedication to her cooking apparently had.

She noticed Gohan look up and sniff the air. He glanced at his father in confusion, noticing his constantly moving tail. Chichi interrupted him as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Gohan." She waited until he looked at her, and shook her head no. "Please pass me the rolls." She had noticed an unusual scent herself, but she would ask her son about it in private.

Chichi felt Rezu's hand on her leg. She looked at the blonde, only to realize she was looking at Vegeta. Well, this was turning into an interesting, if uncomfortable, gathering. Vegeta normally kept his tail close, usually wrapped around his waist. Now it was swaying behind him. Sometimes it came near enough she could have reached out and touched it.

Goten, Trunks, and Videl seemed oblivious of the interplay. The boys kept up a non-stop commentary of their day, telling Vegeta about a new ki technique Gohan had taught them. Videl talked shop with Rezu, trying to get Goku involved. Gohan kept wrinkling his nose, distractedly answering Videl when she asked a question.

Chichi was glad when the meal was over - now she could put her plan in action. After much moaning, groaning, whining, and complaining, Goten and Trunks allowed themselves to be ushered away by Gohan and Videl - leaving just the adults.

Vegeta began to get ready to leave.

"Wait Vegeta," Rezu said, stopping him. "Chichi has something for you," she said with a grin.

"Beer and beef jerky?" he asked, confused.

Goku and Rezu burst out laughing.

Chichi returned in time to hear his question. "Poor Vegeta. Don't tell me these two got you hooked on that too? They tried to feed it to me. I can't stand the smell of it." She handed a coat to Rezu, already wearing hers.

"We have to take a walk." She put her hand on Vegeta's arm. "Come on, this way," she said, escorting him out the door.

Goku looked down at Rezu, unsure. "What's going on?"

She laughed and locked elbows with Goku, making him her escort. "Chichi has a cunning plan. It will be good - just go with it."

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Now he stood behind Vegeta in the living area of their new home. 'Cunning plan' - he wondered what his ex had threatened Bulma with. Then again, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Goku didn't understand how she had convinced the prince to go along with it. Maybe he was just tired of sleeping outside. He knew that the idea of returning to Capsule Corporation bothered Vegeta - this was probably an acceptable solution.

Whatever the reason, she had managed to give him a reason to be close to Vegeta. He silently thanked Chichi for this gift - if only he could figure out a way to use it.

Vegeta looked around the room, hyper-aware of Kakarott's presence behind him. He had never realized how much the younger Saiyan smelled like his brother. It kept triggering memory cascades - pleasant memories.

But he had to keep reminding himself that Kakarott wasn't Radditz. As much as he wanted to trust him like he trusted his brother, he knew it wasn't possible. Kakarott would end up being like the others, using his strength to take advantage of him.

Goku fought with his urge to move closer to his prince and hold him close. His fingers itched to stroke the auburn tail, to cup that beautiful firm ass...oh GodS, what was wrong with him? How did he go from denial to love so quickly? And Vegeta was thinking, feeling...safety, warmth, care...want?

Vegeta turned around to catch Goku staring at his tail. He quickly wrapped it safely around his waist, annoyed with himself for not maintaining control over the traitorous appendage.

"I will have questions for you in the morning. Now I'm going to sleep," he snapped, walking out of the room.

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Notes:
First off - all the cunning plan references come from Black Adder. And if you haven't seen it, why in the hell not?

Second - I wasn't really planning on writing a chapter about Chichi and the handcuffs, although Chichi is the cuffer, not the cuffee. (And my logic for not seeing Rezu through the whole Buu series is this - she is a fire fighter/rescue - so she was working. The carnage would have kept her busy until she died.)

Third - Someone asked about the timeline. Basically, this is happening about a year after Buu. Ignore every stupid episode after he was destroyed. (I really hate those cutesy episodes.)