Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, nor do I make any profit from this fictional story.

Then There Were Two

By Vegeta Goddess

~*~

Sky blue eyes glistened with crystalline tears as the coffin was slowly lowered into the gaping ground, forever laying to rest one the of the greatest warriors the earth had ever known.

There were varying sobs from the small crowd gathered – some were openly weeping while others stood silently with blank faces and dry eyes, but all who were present felt the terrible loss. There was something unreal in the air. It was as if there should have been emotional background music or perhaps a thunderstorm to emphasize the sorrow that hung over the survivors. They had thought they had a cure but they had been wrong – they had merely delayed the inevitable and now they were all doomed. Most had less then an hour, some had only minutes but they would all pay the terrible price that came with life: death.

The virus killed faster now.

Marron lowered her face, allowing her golden locks to fall in front of her eyes, hiding her tears from the mourners. She had never felt grief like this before, never imagined that such a horrible pain could come from death. It was not that she had never experienced death before; it was just that it had never been so painful or so personal to her before.

The funeral wound to an end quicker then usual and Marron realised that she hadn’t heard a word of what had been said, hadn’t heard the comforting words of the priest as he’d laid her father to rest. She had just stared sightlessly ahead, concentrating on not falling apart. She felt so fragile that had she fallen she was sure she would have shattered into a million pieces.

The others, her friends, drifted past in a wave of familiar faces, muttering condolences, each and every one of them uncomfortable in her presence. Even with her mother standing in front of her, a comforting presence in all the confusion and fear that surrounded her, she could read the uncertainty in their eyes about what to say to her. Of all the people who passed by her only one of them said nothing, he simply met her eyes with an understanding look that wasn’t pity or condescension. It was acceptance and understanding with perhaps just a hint of disgust for the tears she so openly wept.

It was not a look that Marron would have thought ever to see in the eyes of Vegeta. It was true that she hadn’t spent much time with the prince, but everyone knew that since Bulma’s death he hadn’t been the most normal of people. He trained odd hours, he spent even less time with his family then he had before. In fact since Bulma’s sudden illness and death the saiyan prince had reverted back into some semblance of the man who he had once been.

…Or so her father had often told her. Her father used to watch Vegeta with a worried glint in his eyes, muttering about how he didn’t trust the saiyan now that Bulma was gone. Perhaps he had been right not to trust Vegeta, but her father was gone now too and all Marron could do was swallow as Vegeta looked at her with a cold fire in his eyes. This time her father wasn’t here to whisper about how dangerous Vegeta was, about how she should stay far, far away from him.

Vegeta had gone through this very same process with Bulma not two years ago. He’d had to put up with the condolences of people who he couldn’t call friends but couldn’t call enemies, people who he spent time with but didn’t really know. She could remember the barely contained rage in his eyes as they’d nervously muttered condolences and then scattered away - frightened and confused.

What had been the worst for Vegeta, and now for her mother and herself, was that he hadn’t aged at all. For this the others distrusted him. He was as youthful looking now as he had been when the Z gang had first met him. The only sign of his true age was in his endless obsidian eyes – they showed the age that his body could not. When Bulma had passed on the other members of the Z gang hadn’t known quite what to say to Vegeta. What did you say to a man who had watched his wife age and then suddenly die while he remained youthful and healthy?

Now it was her turn to face the stares of the others. The looks of suspicion and distrust ate into Marron like acid, burning at her masked outer exterior. It wasn’t her fault that her mother had been made into a machine and that her mother’s artificial genes had been passed on in part. It wasn’t her fault that she was going to remain the same age she was now until the day she died. Her mother and herself alone understood how Vegeta felt, how alone and isolated he felt amongst the looks and the stares of the others.

Marron blinked away tears and focused on Vegeta. He’d come to stop in front of her and was gazing at her with an intensity that she had rarely seen on any mans face. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame Marron stepped forwards knowing she had nothing to lose. She didn’t have much time left…

~*~

Vegeta walked past Android Eighteen, not bothering to stop and speak false words of comfort. He’d never liked her husband and wasn’t about to comfort her for losing someone who he’d never really had a chance to get to know.

Despite the fact that he and Krillen had worked together, gathering survivors from around the world, they had never become friends. Besides, he’d come to this funeral to see someone else. Marron stood behind her mother. Her blue eyes were identical to the woman’s in front of her. The same shadow of grief haunted them, the same fear of what was to come. Yet, while he felt contempt for Eighteens fear – the damned android should have known better then to have become attached to a human, especially given the present state of the world - he felt some semblance of emotion for the android’s daughter. There was something so fragile in her stance…in the way her arms were wrapped protectively around her body, the way in which she hunched as though trying to protect herself from the weight of the world.

He’d never bothered to deny his attraction to the android’s daughter since Bulma’s death. She was an indisputably attractive woman, and everything her mother was – but so much softer and warmer. Now, as he stood by her, he wanted nothing but to take her into his arms and hold her. The feeling was strong and he had to cross his arms across his chest to prevent himself from reaching out to her. Living on earth had made him weak. It had made him softer and, since Bulma’s death, had made him crave the company of the female sex.

It wasn’t that he loved the blonde creature in front of him – it was just that he wanted a woman, and Marron happened to fit his profile for the perfect woman. It was crude but true. He wanted a woman and she was exactly what he needed. He wanted someone – anyone – to pay attention to him.

But he especially wanted it to be her that realised he was still alive.

His ebony orbs caught her gaze and held it, communicating his need effortlessly. He watched as she stared mesmerized, frightened yet drawn by the fire in his eyes. His effect on women was something that he had been aware of for some time and something that he planned to put to good use. Human females were enchanted by strength, power and danger, and he positively oozed all three.

The blonde needed someone to belong to now that her father was gone; in this fading world women were a rare commodity. She needed someone to take care of her and protect her from the cold hard world that had stolen Krillen away – and he intended it to be him – if only for an hour. She would be his; an obsession this strong could not possibly be one sided.

It didn’t matter that she was engaged to his son; even the blindest of people had known that Marron had been marrying Trunks for money and prestige. Vegeta couldn’t fault her for that, it was hard to get ahead in this world, and marrying Trunks would have given the voluptuous blonde an edge in upper-class society.

Trunks would have been content with her hanging on his arm like an ornament, just as she would have been content to use him for his money. While they would have appeared together in public their personal life would have been a very different story. Wether Marron knew it or not Trunks had been having an affair with Kakarot’s son Goten for quite some time and would have continued the affair even after his marriage to Marron.

But of course Goten was gone now too. So many people were gone. Too many.

Since Trunks had been planning on embroiling her in a sham marriage to cover up his homosexuality, it was fitting for Marron to indulge herself in her own pleasure. Trunks would never have to know that his future wife and his father had spent her final minutes together. Even if he did somehow manage to overcome his giant ego and discover their betrayal, he had his own skeletons jiggling away in the closet…and it wasn’t as if Trunks had much time left either.

He concentrated and felt Trunks faint ki signal. His son was still alive, but not by much.

Vegeta waited until Marron stood beside him before he turned and gestured that they should walk together. He had imagined her protesting at first, determined not to leave the safety of the crowd to walk with him, but to his surprise she accompanied him willingly, apparently unafraid of being along with him.

He wondered how long she had left.

~*~

Marron swallowed hastily. Her heart was fluttering in her chest like a caged bird and her stomach was churning as though she were on a roller coaster ride. She could almost feel heat emanating off Vegeta as he walked beside her. Her mind was working a mile a minute as she ran through all the reasons that Vegeta could possibly have for talking to her alone. Had he been anyone else, the most obvious reason would be that he wanted to give his condolences in private…but this was Vegeta, and she was sure that whatever his reason was, it was not to give her pity and sympathy.

She didn’t think Vegeta could even feel sympathy and pity. Her father had told her horror stories about him when she was a child – frightening her and intriguing her about the dark prince who had come to earth seeking immortality. Had he really been able to transform himself into a giant beast under the full moon? Had her mother really beaten him in a fight long ago on a freeway?

When she was small, she could remember seeing Vegeta and her mother training and being terrified that he would kill her. He had been so fast, so powerful…there had been a lust for battle in his eyes so strong that even as a child she had recognised the danger. That day he had come close to seriously injuring her mother and from that day forth, despite the stories her father had told her, she couldn’t imagine anyone beating Vegeta in a fight.

“Marron?” Her mother’s voice reached her ears and she turned around with a soft sigh, waving and signalling to her mother that she would be along in her own time. She saw her mother close her eyes as though in pain and then slowly turn and walk away. Despite wanting to comfort her mother, Marron was intrigued by what Vegeta wanted with her. She turned back around and gasped when she found Vegeta staring at her again, standing closer to her then she had thought he was.

Nervously her hand moved up to play with her hair, a habit from childhood that she had never quite been able to shake. He continued to stare at her for several moments; the only sounds were that of their families leaving in the distance, and the only movement were a few tawny autumn leaves that floated down from the trees above; circling and dancing around them, caught in a gentle breeze.

Vegeta’s eyes softened. “Shall we continue?” He gestured at the artificial forest that had been planted along one side of the graveyard. The trees were alight with a hundred shades of yellow, orange and red and autumn leaves spiralled from them in an almost constant shower.

Marron nodded despite her fears, and felt her heart calm itself. Whatever happened now, she would go with the flow like those beautiful leaves – it wasn’t like she had anything planned to do with the time she had left. Besides, she’d longed for this moment since she had been a teenager; had longed for a chance alone with Vegeta to discover who he really was.

What made act the way he did? Did he alienate people deliberately? Did he like his loneliness?

Vegeta was a mystery, an unsolvable puzzle which she couldn’t stop thinking about. Part of her engagement to Trunks had come about because she wanted to learn more about the man who had sired him, but so far Trunks had been willing to tell her very little about his father. The only thing he had said was that Vegeta had loved Bulma, and that the only reason that the Earth was still around today was because Vegeta and cared enough for Bulma not to destroy it. He had said nothing about how Bulma had won Vegeta’s heart, nothing about what it was that had attracted Vegeta to her. It was as though Trunks was reluctant to discuss any of his family matters with her.

~*~

He had her now. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d turned around to find him watching her. He mystified her, so much so that it overrode her common sense and defied all reason, but then, he’d known all along that she was drawn to him. He had known that Krillen had been worried about his daughter’s safety around him. The fool had been overprotective, so much so that he’d watched Marron like a hawk whenever Vegeta was within eyesight.

No doubt Krillen had noticed the way his daughters eyes followed his every movement, and no doubt he hadn’t been happy. Indeed, Vegeta had little doubt that the small man had probably done everything in his power to dissuade Marron from her curiosity about him. Obviously though, he hadn’t done enough to get through to her, the girl seemed to be enamoured by him.

Vegeta led Marron towards the maple tree’s that had been planted in an artificial grove on one side of the cemetery, a small smirk playing on his lips. Although he would have liked a more intimate setting for his seduction, the fiery colours of the leaves did make a spectacular backdrop for what he had in mind.

He snuck a sidelong glance at the beautiful creature by his side. She was clothed in a simply black sheath dress to which she had added knee high boots, black gloves and a black hat with a small veil. She was dressed for mourning, but strangely enough her eyes were dry and her spirit seemed less then damped.

Vegeta frowned and looked ahead again, his face clearing when he realised that Krillen’s family had had time to prepare themselves for his death. Although the illness had come upon Krillen unexpectedly and although he had died within a day, they had known that the virus would find a way to finish them off. No doubt Marron was hurting, hell, he could see the pain in her eyes every time he looked at her, but the pain wasn’t as raw and fresh as it should have been.

She had more of her mother in her then he’d given her credit for.

They reached the small grove and stepped into the swirling mass of leaves that flowed like lava from the trees. The leaves surrounded them on all sides, allowing them to view only snatches of the world outside.

“What is it that you want, Vegeta?” Marron had stepped back from him, her face puzzled as the leaves half hid her from the saiyan’s penetrating gaze.

“I want many things...” Vegeta ran a hand through his short spiky hair and stepped closer to Marron, laughing softly. “But mainly I want you.” He let his words spiral into the air and follow the leaves, curios to see their affect on the android’s daughter.

“Me?” She tossed her head, her blonde hair rippling with reflected colours. “I’m dying, Vegeta. You don’t think that perhaps telling me this is inappropriate?” Her blue eyes were deadly serious, but she hadn’t laughed or panicked.

Vegeta hesitated for a second. “I’m more concerned with the inappropriateness of telling you this on the day of your father funeral, in the cemetery not even one hundred metres from his grave, no less.” He shook his head slowly. “No, I’m not concerned with death, and nor,” Vegeta caught her eyes again, “should you be.”

“Oh?” Marron raised perfectly arched eyes brows and crossed her arms over her chest. “Any why, pray tell, should I be unconcerned with my future?” She narrowed her eyes, struggling to keep up a civilised and polite front. It was hard when Vegeta was looking at her like that.

“Because I don’t think worrying will help you.” He took yet another step closer and reached up to brush a strand of her hair aside. He trailed his fingers slowly down her cheek, watching with fascination as she shivered with repressed desire. “You worried about Trunks cheating with other women and that never helped you.” His voice turned sly as he changed the topic.

Hastily, Marron cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure. “You’re referring to Trunks’ relationship with Goten? Well don’t worry, I know all about it.” She tilted her head back, out of Vegeta’s reach. “Trunks was honest with me from the start.”

“Good to know.” Vegeta’s voice came out in a purr and his eyes positively glowed. “So, let’s move on shall we? How about we talk about us?” The black overcoat that Vegeta was wearing flapped noisily in the breeze and with a careless gesture that surprised Marron he shrugged it off his shoulders and allowed it to drop to the ground.

“I don’t know what you mean, Vegeta. There is no ‘us’.” She allowed a hint of scorn to enter her voice. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to experience everything that Vegeta could offer her; it was just that she couldn’t allow him to win so easily. Theirs was a battle of wills, a battle of dominance.

“Really?” Vegeta breathed, his breath tickling her neck as he leant closer still. He pulled back enough to look into her eyes, increasing the intimacy of their conversation. “I’ve seen how you look at me, how your eyes follow my every move.” His voice dropped lower, causing Marron’s stomach to flutter nervously.

“My father used to tell me stories about you. I was curious.” For some reason it was hard to catch her breath and she was forced to speak in short gasps. Vegeta closed to gap between them, bringing his hard muscular body into contact with hers. His lips hovered over her and Marron shivered with delight. She tried to open her mouth to say more but Vegeta quickly claimed her mouth, his kiss surprisingly gentle for someone so ruthless. She whimpered softly and Vegeta pulled back, his eyes so deep and inviting that Marron couldn’t help but fall into them.

She found herself tumbling into their depths, falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. She leant forward again, pressing her mouth to Vegeta’s as her hunger overwhelmed her. She’d been running from her desire for so long it had become habit. Her father had always told her to stay away from Vegeta…now she knew why.

She wanted him. She’d wanted him for so long she’d learnt to ignore the feelings whenever he was around her, but this time she had nowhere to hide from her desire, no way to escape from the burning flame inside of her which had roared to life with that simple kiss. She’d been running from Vegeta for so long that somewhere along the line she’d lost herself, and it was only in Vegeta’s kiss that she found herself once more.

Their movements were almost frantic as the kiss deepened, until Vegeta tore his mouth away and proceeded to kiss and nip her neck, forcing small cries of delight from Marrons throat. Her knees gave way and Vegeta caught her, lowering her gently to the ground as he continued to weave his magic.

Marron wound her hands around Vegeta’s muscular arms; the sheer strength she could feel in them was thrilling. She caught his shirt in her hands and bunched the fabric into her fists, forcing Vegeta to pause and wrench off his shirt before he could continue. She gasped for breath as he removed her from her dress none too gently and tossed it somewhere over his shoulder.

She caught hold of his shoulder and pulled herself into a sitting position, easily straddling his waist as their hands explored each others body without restrictions. The autumn leaves continued to shower down around them, hiding them from the rest of the world as they both gave into the hunger that threatened to devour them both if it wasn’t sated.

With an effort Marron broke the kiss and laughed throatily. “Now I know why my father warned me about you.”

To her surprise Vegeta laughed at that. “You got lucky; I had Bra warning me not to break her brother’s heart by pursuing you.” He paused and looked at her studiously, as though he couldn’t work out why he wanted her with such ferocity. “Funny how things work out, isn’t it?”

“It’s funny how other people always think they know what’s right for you.” She ran her hands though his luxuriant black hair, enjoying the silky texture. “Everyone judges each other by what they can see on the outside, they never bother to look below the surface.” Her eyes twinkled with knowledge. “People think we’re monsters because we don’t age like they do. They’re just as shallow as the rest of the world – no matter what they say in their defence.” A tone of bitterness crept into her voice towards the end and Vegeta ran his hands down her bare back, pulling her closer to him.

“People are shallow, eventually you get used to it. I stopped paying attention to the rest of the world a long time ago.” His voice, for all its seriousness, had a type of lightness to it that Marron interpreted as favourable.

His wintry façade was fading; the cold and haughty prince was melting.

“We shouldn’t be doing this here.” His obsidian eyes twinkled as he spoke, but Marron had the sneaking suspicion that he was testing the water – checking to see if what they were about to do and where they were going to do it was bothering her. It was sweet but very unnecessary. She may have appeared an innocent creature on the outside, but on the inside she was every inch her mothers daughter.

“Why not?” She let her hair fall in front of her face and stared at him through the strands of hair with hungry eyes. Vegeta looked so astounded by the sexy growl in her voice and by her flirtatious look that Marron almost laughed. It was yet another look that she hadn’t expected to ever see on his face.

She let her hands drift slowly down his chest; her polished red nails reflecting the maple tree’s above them as they traced his muscles with gentle precision. Despite being dressed only in sexy black undergarments her confidence was unshaken. She’d been dreaming of doing this for more nights then she could remember, imagining what it would feel like to have such a powerful man so completely under her spell.

Now here she was – living her dream.

Vegeta grunted as her feather light touches moved with torturous slowness down his chest. It was strange but he felt detached from his body, almost as if he wasn’t in control of what he was doing; numbness was spreading through him, yet he could move and talk at will. He opened eyes that had drifted shut without him noticing and stared into Marron’s stormy blue eyes, seeing nothing but the shimmering colours that tossed within their depths.

Storm clouds tossed in the sky, mirroring the silvery eyes of the woman who watched him with fascination. Something wasn’t right; it was as though his dreams were melting into reality, moulding into one. He raised his hands and trailed them through her silky hair, savouring the feel of it slipping through his hands like water. He pulled her close kissed her, biting her lower lip when she didn’t immediately kiss him back, surprised when she gasped in pleasure at this and raked her nails down his chest.

In the distance a gunshot echoed and Marron didn’t even flinch, although Vegeta hesitated for the briefest of seconds. The blonde tilted her head to the side and unbuttoned his pants, reaching inside as though she didn’t care about what was happened on the other side of the molten wall of leaves.

Vegeta released his breath in a stark hiss as she caressed his hardened member with her long delicate fingers. He felt her tugging at the waistband of his pants and shifted his weight enough for her to pull them off, leaving him naked to her roving gaze.

He met her eyes with a heated stare, lowering his eyes and watching as she peeled off her lacy black bra and underwear with grace and finesse. There was a moment’s pause before he moved, reaching forward to pull her into his arms and kiss her once more, this time with more eagerness then before. Marron pushed against him, eager for the pleasure that she knew would come from his touch.

In a swift movement he rolled her over so that she lay with her back on the grass. Their eyes met with a clash and they shared a moment of understanding before Vegeta positioned himself and thrust into her, sliding into her fully before pausing to make sure she was comfortable.

“Is this what you want?” His voice was a harsh whisper, and though Marron knew that he didn’t really care about the answer she was grateful that he had asked. It at least gave the illusion of a normal reality. She arched her back ever so slightly, urging him to go deeper into her warmth.

“It’s the last thing I want…and it’s the only thing I want” Although her words would have confused any other man, Marron’s eyes clashed with his and a frizzle of knowledge passed between them. Vegeta could see that her eyes weren’t as clear as they had been, and he resisted the urge to scream his rage at the world for allowing him to share this moment with her.

This should have been the start of a their relationship – not the end.

He felt her wrap her legs around his waist, urging him to continue what they had started, and with a growl of satisfaction he began thrusting into her. The leaves crackled under their bodies and wind began to gust around them strongly, generated by the prince’s rising ki. Marron threw her head back, her eyes closed tightly as she savoured every touch of his body against hers – if this was to be the beginning of the end, then she wanted to remember it perfectly.

Vegeta’s pace quickened and his breathing became harsher; his arms were wrapped around her tightly, hugging her to his chest as moved over her and within her in a wild and primitive mating. Sweat trickled off his body and fell onto hers as Marron felt the first twinges of pleasure beginning to build within her belly. She caught hold of the emotion and felt her own breathing deepen.

Her body felt as though it was going to burst and she groaned in gratification as the pleasure building within her reached breaking point. It was like a pot bubbling over – her pleasure washed over her in a boiling wave, submerging her beneath it as her body trembled and she cried aloud in pleasure. Distantly she heard an answering groan from Vegeta, quieter though, more restrained.

The wind dropped back to a pleasant breeze and the flurry of leaves slowed to a stead of rain as it had before. Vegeta stilled in her body and slowly pulled away, meeting her eyes with a gaze that had all the friendliness of a raging storm inside of it.

“Damn you, Marron. Damn you for making me feeling like this when you’re…” His voice trailed off and he swallowed hard. There wasn’t a hint of tenderness in his eyes; indeed the look was barely human. Vegeta stood with a small grunt and dressed quickly and efficiently, barely even glancing at her. For the briefest of moments Marron was frightened that what had passed between had meant nothing to him, then he turned back to her with a small smirk on his face and she knew it wasn’t so.

“What would you’re mother say?” He sounded amused, and his words were condescending, but they were said with a degree of affection – it was almost as though he hadn’t spoken a moment ago. It may have been out of context for what had happened, but it made Marron laugh. Something that felt wrong on the day that her father had died.

A red-hot spear of pain shot through her chest and Marron struggled to hide the pain from the saiyan. She concentrated on her breathing, hardly daring to look up at the prince.

Not yet! I’m not ready to die yet!

She turned her thoughts to her father; he’d been one of the few humans to survive through the initial infection only to die trying to save a woman and her two children. The woman had been so desperate to save her family that she’d lied to her father and told him that she wasn’t infected – but of course she had been.

Krillen had died within a day – three times as fast as the usual incubation time for the virus. Every night since her father’s death Marron went to bed frightened that went she woke up, she would be alone. Or even worse – frightened that she would wake up coughing blood, the first sign of infection. The small group of people who had survived the past two years was growing ever smaller as the days wore on; it was only lately that some semblance of stability had been achieved, but that wasn’t going to last long. They were all doomed now.

The fact was that the human race was all but extinct. Only a small sect remained, a select few who had been lucky enough to hide from the devastating effects of the virus. Perhaps it was fate that Vegeta’s saiyan DNA protected him against the earth-based virus while Marron was one of those lucky few to escape infection. Perhaps they had been destined to share these final moments together.

The virus was as much a mystery now as it had been two years ago when a prominent geneticist had suddenly taken ill in the middle of a science conference, coughing and vomiting blood for no apparent reason. That scientist had died hours later. Within three days all the scientists who had been at that conference with the geneticist had also taken ill – including Bulma Briefs.

Within hours they too had died, but that had been only the beginning.

There had been no stopping the virus once it had gotten a foothold. It had spread rapidly, so rapidly that containing all of the infected was impossible. Hundreds, thousands and millions of people fled their homes, their states and even their countries. It didn’t take long for the virus to leave its country of origin and spread – and there was nothing that anyone could do about it.

What was left of the science community scrambled to find the cause of the virus, but it was to no avail. The virus was air based and highly infectious, tracing its origins was nigh impossible, especially with such panic running rampant through the capital cities. Once they realised that they weren’t going to be able to trace it they focused on finding a cure.

But a cure was just as elusive.

The only way of halting the process of the virus was to prevent people from getting it, and the only way of doing this appeared to be to force a mutation in a certain gene that was suspected of rendering the human immune system resistant to the virus. It took almost a year for the scientists work out a safe way of forcing the gene to mutate and by that time it was virtually too late. The human race had been decimated and entire countries were devoid of people. The only survivors gathered in West City, brought there by what remained of the Z gang.

A year had past and they had thought they were safe, but now and Krillen was gone, destroyed by the same virus that had claimed so many of his friends. It was with the death of Krillen that it had become clear to everyone that preventing the virus was impossible – for Krillen had had the treatment designed to immune him to the disease and he had still been able to catch it.

Marron dressed again, her thoughts as scattered as the autumn leaves continuing to spiral down. She paused to watch them, aware that her life was just as unstable as the leaves feeble ties to the branches above. As they continued to float around her she felt as though she too were falling – everything that had happened seemed so unreal. How could her dreams have become a reality?

She felt Vegeta’s hand come down on her shoulder and she turned slowly, meeting his eyes with a sad smile. The leaves fell with almost silent whispers and in the distant a scream was heard and ignored by both of them. Krillen had spread the disease and now other people who had thought they were safe were contracting the virus. They too would be dead soon…even she would be dead soon.

Marron felt a tickling in her throat and resisted the urge to laugh. Turning away from Vegeta, she coughed, not surprised to see specks of blood glistening on her palm like rubies. She stared at them with dull eyes until another cough racked her body and she doubled over, coughing almost a teaspoon of blood onto the ground. She took a deep breath and stood up again, watching as the autumn leaves turned a violent shade of red.

“Thank you, Vegeta.” Her voice was so soft that without saiyan hearing Vegeta wouldn’t have heard her. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a teenager. It’s most fitting that you’re here with me at the end.” Although her voice was emotionless Marron felt as though she were falling apart inside. Before she had felt fragile, now she was cracking and losing herself piece by piece. It hardly seemed fair for her to achieve her dreams only to die.

But perhaps dying would not be so bad – at least she had no regrets about her life.

~*~

Vegeta watched as Marron turned away and vomited blood – blood that was the same colour as the autumn leaves which it splattered upon. He clenched his fists, wishing that there were something – anything – that he could do to help the woman who he had just shared everything with. But what could he do? Marron wasn’t just infected. She was dying. In fact she was almost dead, her ki was dangerously low and was fading away even as he sensed it.

Closing his eyes Vegeta took in a deep breath. He didn’t want to go through all this again – losing the female he cared about. It was bad enough that his children were in the communal hospital dying, he didn’t want to lose everyone. Letting out the breath he’d been holding Vegeta crossed the distance between them just as Marron’s legs gave way and she fell into his arms; her beautiful white skin streaked with blood as she continued to cough.

“I don’t want to die…” Her voice was so weak it was painful, but it was her eyes that were causing him the most hurt – her eyes, once as blue as a spring sky were blooming a violent red. Her body shook as she coughed again, vomiting blood all over him.

“Shhhh.” Vegeta soothed her, closing his eyes and holding Marron against his chest, a suspicious prickling behind his eyelids as he rocked her gently even as he felt her life slip away. The leaves that had spun from the trees ceased to move and stillness descended upon the saiyan prince as he opened his eyes, continuing to rock Marron’s lifeless body.

A lone figure was unveiled as the flow of leaves ceased, and Vegeta found himself staring up into the cold eyes of Android Eighteen. She was looking not at him but at her daughter. There was a distance in her eyes that Vegeta knew and recognised. She raised her gaze ever so slightly and looked straight at him, her eyes unfocused though Vegeta knew she could see him.

He stood up, setting Marron’s body down on a ready-made bed of fiery autumn leaves. Her face was strangely peaceful despite her cruel ending and he found a sort of harmony knowing that he had softened the pain of her ending. Eighteen stepped towards them and knelt on the ground, kissing her daughters forehead and then standing up once more.

“They’re dead. All of them. We’re all that’s left.” Eighteen looked Vegeta square in the eyes and a small icy smile formed on her lips. Vegeta sensed the old Android Eighteen seeping out of the cracks, taking the place that the warmer and more family orientated Eighteen had vacated with the death of her daughter.

Vegeta nodded and felt his own emotions seep away; he didn’t dare to try to feel anything. He was better off feeling nothing then something. They stared into each other’s eyes for an eternity before turning in one motion and walking away together, the only sound was Vegeta’s voice, which echoed eerily through the graveyard.

“Then there were two.”

THE END

~*~

Author Note: Depressing I know, but I got inspired to write a M/V fic. It wasn’t until the very end that I decided to add in the twist of having only two people survive…and not having Marron be one of them. I’d love to hear what people think of this fic - apart from the usual ‘they aren’t in character’ complaints because believe me – I know they aren’t in character! It’s an A/U! Please also remember that I’m an Aussie girl and spell things the Aussie way!

NOTE: This fic was written and inspired by the tracks ‘Then There Were 2’ ‘In the House – In a Heartbeat’ and ‘Season Song’ from the 28 Days Later soundtrack. Highly recommended that you listen to these songs if you can – especially ‘In the House – In a Heartbeat’.