Chapter Text
Kill him.
(no)
A familiar voice whispers in the back of his head. Goku tightens his grip around warm flesh. A pulse flutters against his fingers, straining for air.
KILL HIM.
(stop)
“Ghhk...K..Kak...a - ”
Do it!
(Stop it!)
Kill him kILl hIM KiLL hiM KILL HIM KILL
(VEGETA)
The name bounces through his skull, a faint echo that allows Goku to break through Zamasu’s consciousness with a shudder. He starts back, pulling his hand away like it’s been bitten. A name escapes his numb lips in a faint whisper.
His senses come rushing back, so fast that Goku can only sit there, paralyzed. There’s blood and smoke in the air; the heat of a nearby fire presses against his skin. The landscape is made of dilapidated, leaning buildings and piles of debris. In the distance, three energies spike together through the air in a fierce battle.
Zamasu’s energy, someone else’s, and his own.
But he’s here. Zamasu’s in his head. What’s going on over there ?
A hoarse grunt jerks him from his thoughts. He watches Vegeta sit up and draw hacking lungfuls of air, his fingers rubbing the tender skin of his neck.
It’s only when Vegeta starts back and thrusts his arm forward, a handful of kii gathered in his palm, that Goku can move and speak.
And his face almost splits with a smile.
“VEGETA!”
Joy floods Goku’s blood and tingles in his fingertips as he surges forward, crushing Vegeta against him. His fingers curl against tense shoulder blades; Vegeta sputters against his neck, then growls as he extinguishes his ki. He ignores Vegeta’s attempts to push him away, because he’s warm and breathing and real in his arms.
Goku sits back, beaming at Vegeta’s face, to get a better look. His smile fades when he notices Vegeta’s confusion at his behavior.
Something’s wrong about this.
“Kakarott…”
Vegeta’s not supposed to be here. Not now.
“Your ki , it’s...normal now. How...”
He never even got to see Vegeta again after the androids -
The memories slam into the back of his skull hard enough to hurt.
(His heart disease. The Otherworld. His friends and family leaving the world, one by one.
Being pulled from the Otherworld by from a wish to the Dragon - some dragon, anyway - and seeing Zamasu standing before him with gleaming eyes and a sinister smile. Splitting pain through his skull before it all went black.
Bits and pieces, after that. Planets turning to dust. Cities laid to waste.
The Otherworld, burning, his own laughter crueler than the crackle of flames.)
“Ngh - !”
His head throbs, as though his skull is a vice squeezing his brain. The edges of his vision start to turn black again, and Zamasu’s laughter rattles through his bones.
Something sours in his gut as, for just a moment, his hands are stained with blood.
“Kakarott? What - ”
Goku reaches out and grabs one of Vegeta’s hands. He can’t tell who’s trembling as he brings Vegeta’s hand up, palm flat, to rest over his heart.
“Kill me,” he grits out, as it becomes hard to breathe, as something squeezes his chest. “P-please - ”
“ What? ” Vegeta snatches his hand away, snarling. “Kakarott, you can’t be - ”
“Th - there’s nothing - left,” Goku says, forcing himself to meet Vegeta’s eyes. There’s a pulse beating thickly in his temples. Tears sting the corners of his eyes. He can hear Zamasu’s laughter now, just as much as he can feel it. “He...made me...kill it. All of...it.”
This Vegeta’s eyes aren’t his Vegeta’s eyes. Goku has to remind himself of that, to stop from getting lost in the emotions that flicker through them.
He tells himself he’s imagining the things he sees.
“Please,” Goku breathes again, pressing Vegeta. “I want you to...while I’m still - ” something squeezes his throat, and he chokes - “me.”
He pleads with his eyes, afraid afraid that what will come out of his mouth next will be Zamasu. Please , he begs, please. I want you to do this.
He watches Vegeta’s uncertainty solidify into determination, and Goku’s mouth breaks into a soft smile as he feels Vegeta’s ki pooling in his palm again.
He only interrupts to reach up and cup Vegeta’s cheek, brushing the side of his mouth with a gentle thumb. Vegeta starts, his attack stuttering to a halt, anger in every line of his face.
Goku wonders what kind of expression he must be wearing when that anger melts into something softer. A chuckle escapes Goku’s tight throat, his smile soft on his face.
I’m so glad I got to see you once more, he thinks, and squeezes his eyes shut.
He never opens them again. Not even when Vegeta growls, the sound watery and distressed. Not even when a scowling mouth presses against his own.
Not even when the laser point-thin beam of ki finally pierces his skin, and goes right through his heart.
He falls into strong arms. Their warmth blankets Goku as he breathes his last.