The bullet whizzed by inches from his ear. It struck the centuries-old pillar behind him, puffing up a small explosion of dust and particles. Vegeta snarled and dashed behind the pillar, taking shelter as a slew of bullets followed the first. He pulled out his Makarov PM, holding it at the ready against his chest. He didn't need to check the cartridge to know how many bullets were left; he'd been counting.

Three. A whole whopping three bullets.

By the sounds of the gunfire and shouting there was a fuck-lot more than three mercenaries standing between him and his escape. Fucking Frieza. Always hiring quantity over quality when it came to muscle.

"Make this count, Vegeta," he grumbled to himself. Steeling his nerve, he leaned out from the pillar when there was a pause in the gunfire. Took aim. Pulled.

Bang bang!

One man dropped. He ducked back undercover right as the pillar's edge exploded with more bullets.

He ran, ducking low and lurched over some fallen ruins for cover. He fell hard on his ass, feeling the kiss of death as more bullets rushed by, clipped the tips of his hair. He could hear them moving in, surrounding him. This was getting uncomfortably dire. He looked around, hoping to spy something, any kind of weapon he might be able to use to swing the tide of the firefight. What he wouldn't give for a couple of grenades right n—

KA-BOOM!

He ducked as the ground shook with a deafening explosion, soil showering down from above. What the fuck was that?! The mercenaries — those left alive — were screaming and finding new shelter.

"Miss me?"

Vegeta looked up, wide-eyed, as Bulma appeared at his side as if by black magic. She was grinning at him with a maniacal light in her baby-blue eyes, soot on her pretty cheeks and button nose. He sat upright as panic struck him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Saving your sorry ass. You can thank me later." She offered him her Beretta 92FS, but he had already spied something far better in her other hand. The source of the earth-shattering explosion: an M79.

"I don't think so," he drawled as he leaned over her and took the grenade launcher. She wrinkled her nose unhappily but let him take it. "Is it safe?" he asked.

Bulma dug in her shirt and pulled out the antique ring threaded by the leather necklace. "Safe and sound."

"Good. I didn't come all this way not to get the treasure."

"Let's focus on not dying first," she grinned.

He grinned back, a nasty thing, feeling a spike of adrenalin and excitement flood through him. He fought back the irrational urge to kiss her. "Stay behind me."

"Don't tell me what to do."

She stood and fired, taking out two men one after the other with her handgun. He joined her, firing the M79 at the nearest mercenary. As bullets rained down on them they parted, each taking a different direction to duck for cover. He had learned quickly that she could hold her own in a fight. Still, his eyes strayed to her, admiring her resilience under pressure and the alluring manner in which she filled out her clothes.

A bullet nearly clipped his face. He ducked away, shaking his head. "Focus, Vegeta, you idiot," he scolded himself. "You can't ask her out if you've got a hole in the head."

Gathering his focus, he readied his weapon and let out a long breath before throwing himself back into the fray.

~xoXox~

AN: written for Rutbisbe's novAUmber Uncharted-inspired piece http: DASH DASH rutbisbe DOT tumblr DOT com DASH post DASH 180103400316 DASH 14th-of-novaumber-uncharted-au-genius-inventor