Part 3 - Another day 'Goku!' Trunks knocked on the door several times before he could make out a vague stumbling inside the Son's house. 'Come on... Open up!' 'Hold your horses already.. Be right there.' More stumbling was heard as someone obviously tripped over something inside. A few Japanese forbidden words were muttered behind the door. Then the door flew open. 'What is it..' Goku said annoyed, shielding his eyes against the sunlight. He was dressed in nothing but a towel, his hair and skin still damp from the shower he was taking. A small trail of wet feet appeared to be walking back to the shower, with a large puddle of water in the middle of the room. Numerous footsteps were chaotic strewn around the wet spot. 'What is it Trunks.' 'Sorry to disturb you from taking your shower..' 'Yeah, alright.. Now tell me what is wrong or I'll return to my warm shower instead of catching a cold in this chilly wind.' ~as if he would ever catch a cold~ trunks thought. Saiyans were hard to beat on that point. 'Its Vegeta. I lost him last night in the nightclub again, just as the day before. Goten and I thought it would take his mind of the problems that seemed to be bothering him a lot.' 'So?' 'Well.. He was complaining lately that he woke up with huge headaches, a sore spine and he seems to be getting new bruises every morning! He doesnt know where he got them, how he got them.. In fact, he doesn't remember anything that happened the night before. Not even that I was with him, and Goten. And somewhere during the night I loose track of him. He is at home now, still sleeping and..well.. I think you should take a look.' Slightly alarmed Goku frowned, thinking what could have caused this smart saiyan prince to loose his memory. Ages ago he had visited a nightclub with Chi-Chi for Gohans graduation party. The huge crowd of dancing people and the bright lights were still clearly engraved in his mind. Also that Chi-Chi discovered an almost naked male in a cage dancing, a signal for them to leave the place immediately. 'Wait right here. I'll get dressed in we'll go take a look okay? There is probably nothing wrong, he just has a hangover or something.' Calmed by the thought that it might indeed be just a hangover, Trunks waited for Goku to return. It took him only a minute to get dressed in a casual white shirt and a pair of jeans. Nodding to Trunks that he was ready, they flew off to the Capsule Corporation house. When they arrived at the place everything seems as quiet as a nice morning should be. Birds chirping in the trees beside the house, leafs lightly swaying at the crisp wind. Trunks opened the door to find no sign of life, or awake life. Both men softly padded up the stairs to Vegeta's bedroom and opened the heavy door. Peeking around the corner, in case a furious prince stood there ready to blast their heads off. The coast seemed clear and they walked inside. In a corner was a large bed with loose sheets wrapping up a figure. Cloths were strewn around carelessly, together with a few tossed away pillows. A shallow breathing could be heard coming from the bed, Vegeta was still fast asleep. Goku padded without a sound to the sleeping prince, Trunks following right behind him. Vegeta lay on his stomach, his well formed back showing. His chest rose with steady moves, eyes closed in a forced matter. Even though he still seemed to be asleep he wasn't sleeping very well. Upon closer examination Goku could make out a few small red stripes running across Vegeta's body. Some of them looked as if they were starting on his chest and were cut all the way down his back to his bottom. Goku slowly pulled away the sheet to have a better look at the slashes. The prince was sleeping completely naked, the slashes stopping at his hips. Worried he turned to Trunks who was staring with his mouth wide open in amazement. He had seen the small wounds on his father's upper arms, but not in such a large quantity and especially not this long. Some of the stripes looked as if they were almost healed and some seemed to be no older than a few hours, small beads of dark red blood still sticking at some places. 'This looks absolutely awful.. You think he did this to himself?' 'I don't know Trunks. I really don't know.. Damn, what did you get yourself into this time Vegeta..' Goku said with a painful face, looking closer at the wounds. The wounds seemed to be quite shallow but rather painful none the less. Strange enough, the prince didn't notice the two men at all. He showed no sign of knowing that they were there, while he normally he was more alert than a watchdog. Leaning over the smaller man, Goku picked up a strange scent. Sniffing in the air, he could make out a faint hint of cinnamon and something else. Something completely wrong. He couldn't find any source for the smell, it couldn't possibly be the prince himself. He would recognize it instantly. It was present, but hardly as strong as he was used to. Putting a hand on the mans forehead to feel if he had a fever, the saiyan moved under the pressure of it. Opening his eyes a bit he gave out a large groan as he was stung again by a huge headache. Trunks quickly ran to the bathroom to get his father some water. Grabbing his head in pain he quickly finished drinking the water, doing it a little bit too fast, he almost choked in it, coughing badly. 'Take it easy Vegeta, slow sips at a time…' 'Fuck off Kakarot! What the hell are you doing here, in my house and even in my bedroom!? And take that hand off me! Damn..' Slapping the hand away from his shoulder, he hissed as his head responded to the too sudden movement. 'And why the hell does my head hurt so much again.. Trunks, go get me an aspirin or something.' Trunks ran off the bathroom, looking in the small medicine locker. Shocked he sifted through various empty metal strips. Vegeta must have been taking them for ages. 'Why are you still here Kakarot.. Can't you see I need a little time for myself? Especially now that I'm quite..um.. undressed?' Goku blushed bright red at that comment and quickly stood up to walk off. 'Oh.. right.' He said scraping his throat. 'I'll be outside if you need me. Sorry bout that..' 'Dad! There is nothing left.' Trunks returned holding quite an amount of empty strips. 'Nonsense. Check again. I must have at least one pill left somewhere.' 'Vegeta, tell me. For how long have you been swallowing these pills?' 'I don't know. I just wake up every damn day with a huge headache. End of the story. I don't why I get it, I just wake up with it.' 'But these amounts are enormous! Haven't you been drinking a bit too much lately?' Goku asked with a frown. 'Drinking? Me? You don't get drunk from watching tv Kakarot.' He replied nodding his head to the television set in a corner of the room. 'I just fell asleep with tv on. And unless they mysterious snow screens give me a headache, I would have no idea where I get this from.' 'But you didn't watch tv last night! Look, it isn't even plugged in.' Trunks fumbled behind the tv, holding up a loose plug. 'Don't you remember? You went to that night club with Goten and me last night, and the night before too! We couldn't find you after we last saw you around 3 am, so we went home an hour later.' 'Don't give me such bullshit brat! I've never been to one of those places you and Kakarots' son go to.' 'But you did! We were there!' 'No way! I would have remembered and I don't! Now if you two would mind bugging me I'm going to take a shower!' Vegeta got up wrapping the sheet around, storming to the bathroom. Slamming the door shut behind him he hissed at his insolent son and that busy body Kakarot. How cold they ever doubt his words? Visit a nightclub, yeah right as if.. They shouldn't come barging in on him like this, disturbing his privacy. Lathering up under the shower he noticed a few fresh slashes on his shoulders. ~How did those get there?~ he wondered. He could vaguely remember seeing them the day before. But how could he get any new ones so quickly without sparring with somebody? He would have noticed, he would have remembered that. Worried he thought over what Trunks had said. Pondering over these strange facts he stayed in the shower for a long time, thinking, brooding over the situation. 'What if we take him out again, to the same place, to see if anything strange happens.' Trunks said, pouring himself and Goku a cup of coffee. 'You think that would work? He says he hates night clubs so it'll be a pain to convince him to come along. Besides something is bugging me.. How did Vegeta ever get so many pills stowed away in such a short time? I mean, you said he went with you for the past two nights. I don't get it.' 'Yeah, that's strange indeed…hmm…' Silence fell between the two men as they pondered about the possibilities. Finally the gave up with a sigh and decided to get some breakfast. Trunks opened the fridge, noticing nothing had been opened or even moved for days. Come to think of it, the fridge was exactly the same as when he left it when.. 'That's it! I know why!' 'Well, spill it out!' 'I've been away for almost two weeks on a business trip. I remember hearing the guard recognize Vegeta, bartenders knowing him and giving drinks on the house. Even some people welcomed him that he didn't know at all. I filled the fridge for him when I left the house the day before. Vegeta hates shopping you know.. He has taken absolutely nothing out of it. Only I have taken out a few sandwiches and a drink, but nothing elaborate. He must have been going out to that same place every night, forgetting everything in the morning, going out again and so forth. What do you think?' 'Um…' Goku mumbled, processing the train of words that had just passed him. ~What did he say? What do you think… Oh yes!~ 'It's the only way he could have swallowed all those pills every day. Finding new scratches when he wakes up, some looked really old and almost healed, others brand new, as if he has gotten them this night.' 'You're right Trunks..it looks very much like that. Man! What the hell did he get himself into.. He didn't even notice us coming in too. Normally he would be very alert but he is slow..too slow.' 'Hm hm.' Trunks nodded in agreement. 'We'll go to that club tonight. I'll keep an eye on him.' 'Whatever.. As long as one of you two stops babbling and get me an aspirin!' Both men turned around to see a damp Vegeta stand in the door, eyes shut a bit since he was still tortured in his head. He had pulled on a huge shirt, covering the wounds on his shoulders and upper arms. 'Sure Vegeta, I'll go. I'll be back in a sec so take it easy till then okay?' Vegeta snorted in agreement. When Goku walked past him he sniffed the air around the ouji, he smelled of disinfection lotion mixed with his own masculine scent again. The familiar scent made Goku feel slightly at ease again, the other smell having alarmed him. Vegeta covered his arms with his strong hands in embarrassment over the wounds. Goku noticed that the prince was highly uncomfortable with him being so close, obviously checking him out. He quickly made his way to the door, flying out to get some aspirin from his own house and a few senzu beans. He planned on watching Vegeta all day in case something happened. He would especially look after him during the night, making him nervous by the thought of spending an evening out with older saiyan. Not only his presence in such an atmosphere, but also the whole experience of a night club. That time with Chi-Chi had left a heavy impression on him. Still, he was looking forward to it, eager to see the prince move that exquisite body of his. To be continued Back