Goku bent down to pick up a picture frame from the floor, the glass was cracked and blood splattered the front. The picture inside was of a once happy family, Bulma holding her young son Trunks and Vegeta with his arm around her shoulders. They were all smiling brightly, so different from now...
          Goku gently put the picture back on the end table, which had dry blood staining down from the top into an open drawer. Inside the drawer was a small handheld gun, loaded. A few bullets lay adjacent to the pistol, along with an old drying puddle of blood.
          Goku sighed, he looked over at Vegeta who lay sleeping quietly. He had bandaged up the prince's wrists and cleaned the flurry of cuts on his shoulder, picking out all the little shards of porcelain from each gash.   He pulled the old wooden chair out from it's place next to the matching desk and carefully sat down with a groan, his ribs were still sore from the many times Vegeta had rammed his elbows into the taller saiyan. He sat with his head in his hands, thinking.  
          He slowly shifted his gaze back to the prince, looking at the sadness on Vegeta's face. Even when he was asleep, Vegeta looked so sad; like he was a husk of what he used to be. That once so proud, arrogant warrior seemed to just disappear before Goku's eyes.

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          Vegeta woke from another night terror with a loud, fearful shout. Tears freely flowing from his eyes once again, his breathing becoming heavy and quick. His thoughts raced, memories flooding his senses as he shook violently.
          His eyes darted around the room, as if he was searching for something - or someone - to make sure that it was just a dream, and he was actually safe. He jumped back as he felt someone sit next to him, shutting his eyes and putting up his arms as if trying to protect himself from an attack, still fearful that he might be in danger.
          "Hey, hey, it's okay! I'm not here to hurt you Vegeta." A familiar voice reassured, trying to calm the shaken up prince. It sounded worried, like it was concerned about the smaller man.
          Vegeta slowly opened his eyes, still a little frightened. He moved his hands so he could see the speaker, relaxing a bit at the reassurance from the voice; it had a sort of comfort to it, and it was obvious that it spoke truthfully.
          "K-Kakarot..?" The prince asked with a shakey tone, his voice breaking slightly; which he again mentally cursed himself for. His eyes quickly trailed down to his wrists, feeling a painful stinging sensation spread though his arms the moment his wrists touched the blanket he was covered with. "W-what... h-happened..?"
           Of course he had remembered getting into a fight with Bulma, but anything after that was all just a blur of pain. It was almost as if he had blacked out, though he could remember hearing screams of fear and pain; some even his own.
          "Well...you and Bulma got into a pretty bad fight, ending with you going Super Saiyan - after she hit you - and attacking her." Goku stated, waiting a moment to let Vegeta take in the information, then continued. "I had to step in to get you to calm down, and even then it took passing out to really make you stop..."
          Vegeta looked back up at Goku, frowning sadly. "I...I didn't hurt her, did I..?" He asked in a hushed tone, already knowing the answer. He turned away, tears welling in his eyes again, as Goku sat quietly staring at the shorter saiyan with a saddened expression as if to say 'we both know the answer to that'. He sat for a moment, glaring down at his bandaged up wrists. He balled his hands into fists, trying to keep himself from breaking down in tears once again, though his attempts were ultimately useless.

          Goku watched Vegeta carefully, seeing the prince struggle to hold back tears. He reached his hand out to gently rub the smaller man's back in comforting motions, trying to calm him. It hurt to see the prince like this, it was strange and even a little concerning; he was so used to seeing Vegeta with that arrogant smirk acting all cocky like usual, but now he was sat watching as that once so proud warrior shook violently as sobs erupted through his body with tears pouring from his eyes. It felt like he was sat next to a completely different person than the one he knew.
          "It's...I-it's all my fault..." Vegeta said quietly between sobs, repeating those same words in a hushed tone that eventually turned into him blurting out the saying along with numerous other lines that consisted essentially of self hate and suicidal wants.
          Goku moved closer to the smaller man with a concerned look, . "Vegeta no, this isn't your fault. You're working yourself up too much, you need to calm down: just breath and try to rela-"
          "I-It's all my fault! I'm the problem, the cause of everything terrible that's ever happened t-to me! How am I supposed to stay c-calm? Everyone w-would be b-better off if I just..." Vegeta interrupted, trailing off as his voice became quite once again. It hurt him to admit, but he didn't know how to stop this whole process: he would always end up hurting himself in some way, and he hated that. "I need to c-continue this, Kakarot. It's the only thing I-I'm good at, the only thing th-that makes me feel...alive..!"
           The prince yelped as he was pulled into Goku's arms, writhing and shouting as he tried to get away from the tight grasp; even going as far as to actually hit the larger saiyan to try to get him to let go, only to be held closer.

          "L-let me go!" The prince shouted again, weakly pushing the taller saiyan away. He had been struggling to get free for some time now, and he was already tired without having to use his energy to try and break free from Goku's grasp; and the fact he was still sobbing uncontrollably wasn't helping in the slightest.

          Goku sat quietly for a moment as he continued to hold the prince close, even if the smaller saiyan was fighting to get free he refused to let go. He knew that this wasn't something Vegeta was used to, but it was the only way he knew how to comfort people. Like whenever Goten, or even Gohan when he was younger, was upset he or ChiChi would always sit with their arms around their child and it would usually make everything better. So, he figured this would work with Vegeta too.
          It had only been like this for about sixteen minutes before Vegeta eventually gave up, sinking forward into the taller man as he let out a short whine before starting to sob again; burying his head in Goku's chest as his hands gripped tightly onto the larger saiyan's shirt.
          "It's okay, you're gonna be okay." Goku reassured as he held the prince close, his hands gently rubbing the smaller saiyan's back in comforting motions. "It's all gonna be okay..."
          Vegeta stayed quiet as tears continued to fall from his eyes, relaxing a little as he was carefully cradled in the taller man's arms. For the first time in what felt like years, he felt like he could trust someone; like someone actually cared about him and his safety. He even wanted to believe what Goku was saying: that everything would be fine, but he knew that it wasn't true. There was only a small chance that this would end up okay, and it was more likely that the prince would perish by his own hand before then.
          The prince let his thoughts of all the pain he caused fade to something new, something better, as he sat still crying into the larger saiyan's chest.     Though those dark thoughts still haunted him in the back of his mind, they seemed almost farfetched with Goku there with him.

          Eventually, his thoughts along with everything else disappeared as it all faded to black; relaxing as he was held close, the sound of the taller man's heartbeat soothing him into a long awaited dream-filled sleep.