Ok, so I lied. I did post the chapter this morning. I had this chapter typed out, and when re-reading it, I decided to toss it and start anew.

This is a transitional chapter… just so you know… you know, setting up the plot and all that jazz.

Thank you to my reviewers! Many of you have voiced your concern/surprise for my choice of Bulma's protector/father figure. Don't worry, I'll make it work =)

Questions? Comments? Review me!

I do hope you all like this chapter…

Vegeta: 22 years old

Bulma: 20 years old.

Song played while writing this: Marilyn Manson; Sweet dreams (are made of these)

Disclaimer: I own A LOT of Jack Skellington stuff. I do not own DBZ.

"Mother!" the young boy yelped as he flew into her arms. "Don't let him take me!" His mother held onto him tightly and ran full speed down the palace halls, keeping a firm hold of her precious son. She entered her bedroom that she shared with the King and put him down on his be. She started to frantically going through her closet, making clothes and other items fly over her head as she dug. She found what she was looking for and went to her son.

"Vegeta, this is yours. Keep it with you at all times." The Queen placed a beautiful silver chain necklace on his neck that had a pendent that had the royal crest upon it. She stuffed it underneath his chest plate of his armor so it wasn't visible. "Keep this as a reminder of who you are." She placed her palm on his cheek and gave him a small smile. Her warm smile faded and her face twisted into panic as she grabbed him up in her arms and moved to the furthest corner of the bedroom.

As she did so, the double doors of the bedroom burst open, leaving one off of it's hinges. The King's eyes were murderous as he scanned the room and rested his eyes on the two of them cowering in the corner.

"Give him to me." He said as he slowly approached them, his hand outward.

"NO! Vegeta, please no!" The queen gripped the little boy tightly and moved him away from his father. "You can't do this!"

"What's done it done, Woman, now hand the boy over or I will hand you over along with him." He was now if front of them now. Young Vegeta peeked out to him. He had never seen his father like this. The look in his eye was beyond crazed.

The Queen did not budge, and King was done waiting. His hand shot out and grabbed her by her long black hair, and yanked. Her grip loosened on the boy and he snatched him away from herr. He pulled his wife close to his face by the hair.

"Do not disobey me again." He then threw her on the bed and tucked his son under his arm and left the room. All the while, little Vegeta screamed for his mother…

Vegeta bolted upright in bed, his body soaked with sweat. He pushed himself backwards and leaned up against the headboard of the bed. He had the dream again… he had it almost nightly.

He scrubbed his hands on his face a few times and looked at the digital clock next to him. 11:30pm. He sighed and leaned his head back and stiffened when an arm snaked its way onto his lap. He quietly let out a growl and tossed the arm back to it's owner.

"Mm… what was that for?" a muffled female voice asked.

Vegeta got out of bed and fumbled around, looking for his discarded clothes.

"Where are you going? I'm in the mood for another round." She said, not bothering to cover her naked body up as she sat upright.

Vegeta looked at her as she shook her chest at him playfully. "Go back to bed." He grumbled as he put his pants on and grabbed his armor and boot and headed towards the door.

"Vegeta! I rarely get to see you. You never come to my planet anymore, and we only did it twice since you've been here." The woman flipped her bright red hair over her shoulder and stuck her lower lip out.

"You'll get over it." He said as he exited, slamming the door behind him. He quickly put his boots and armor on and walked down the hall of the brothel, ignoring the women that he passed as they offered their services to him.

He opened the door at the end of the hallway that led into the all too familiar tavern. The loud noises of drunken locals and soldiers flooded his ears as he scanned the area for his men. He barked at the bar tender for a pint of ale and took it to the far corner where two large men were sitting. His second in command, Radditz had a very voluptuous woman sitting on his lap. She was practically shoving her tits in his face, but Radditz didn't seem to mind.

"Vegeta!" Radditz hollered, raising his glass up. Vegeta made his way over and sat down at the table across from his friends. "I thought you were turning in for the night."

Vegeta took a large chug of his ale and shook his head. "I thought better of it. Drinking sounded better than sleeping." Radditz nodded and turned his attention back to the female who was nibbling on his ear. He gave Nappa, the older of his men, a side ways glance, feeling him stare at him. He knew Vegeta was lying, he knew the dreams of his youth haunted his sleep, only giving him two to three hours at a given time.

Nappa turned his attention else where, and barked for a server to bring more ale at once. He knew better to mention the dreams to him.

VVVVVVVVVVV

"Stop tugging at it."

"It's uncomfortable!" Goku whined as he tugged at the tie that was holding his hair back.

Bulma rolled her eyes at her best friend. "It took me forever to get all that wild hair in a pony tail, don't you dare undo it! Here," she handed him a red bandana. "Put this on."

Goku snatched it from her and tied it on top of his head, he then shrugged on a jacket that covered his tail that was wrapped around his waist. He knew the cover up was necessary, but it still urked him. Being Saiyan and not in the Saiyan or Cold army meant immediate capture and death, because if you weren't in either armies, you were a rebel… Which is what Goku was… a rebel.

Goku grumbled under his breath as he itched his head.

"UGH! Quit your bitching! Now lets go." The two of them left the ally way and headed towards the tavern.

It was packed to the brim with people. There was a mix of locals and alien soldiers of the Cold Empire along with scantily clad women, all of them being loud and crass, most of them drunk. The music was blaring and the joint smelled like a mix of stale alcohol, sweat and cheap perfume.

Bulma tried not to look too disgusted as she and Goku made their way to the bar area, as she noticed some men eyeing her and giving her sloppy smiles. Some even grabbed their crotches and whistled cat calls at her as she passed. Goku put a possessive arm around her, telling the other's to not even think about approaching her. She was thankful that her friend was a tall intimidating man… when he wanted to be. He managed to clear out a couple of drunk locals from the packed bar and squeezed the two in.

"I think I saw a couple having sex over there." Goku said disgusted. Bulma shook her head and scrunched her nose. This was the fifth tavern they had been to in three days. She was tired of the scene and prayed to the gods above that this tavern was the last one in their search.

"What can I get you, pretty lady?" The old bar tender asked as he slid a mug of ale down the bar to a soldier.

"I would like two ales." She yelled so he could hear her over the noise. He nodded and filled up two glasses and placed it in front of her. She tossed a few coins on the bar and handed a mug over to Goku. "Sir, I was wondering if you could help me out."

The bar tender gave her a nod and leaned over the bar so he could hear her better.

She continued. "I'm looking for three Saiyans. They are in the Cold army… one has very long hair, one is bald and is very large, and the other has hair that stands up on end and has a bit of a temper. Are they here?"

The bar tender arched an eyebrow and lifted his chin, pointing behind her to the corner of the tavern. Bulma turned around, but was unable to see through the sea of people. "Lady, those three are trouble… I'd be careful."

Bulma gave him a smile and handed him a couple extra coins and picked up her ale. "This way, Goku."

They pushed and elbowed their way towards the back corner and stopped a few feet when they found the men sitting at a large rounded table. They watched as the one with long hair threw a half naked, and clearly drunk women over his shoulder and left the table, leaving the other two Saiyans in question behind.

"There goes your brother." Bulma said as she watched him slap the woman's ass and went through a door connected to the tavern.

"Hmph, he looks just like mom with that long hair…"

She looked back to the younger of the two at the table. She had to admit, she had never ever seen anyone as handsome as he. It was true, his hair did resemble an uncontrollable flame. You could tell he was royalty, just the way he carried himself. He looked rugged, deadly and handsome, everything a future king should look like. And holy wow… she took a gulp… he was wearing standard issue armor that Frieza's men and the Saiyan army wore, but had nothing underneath it. His bare arms were so hulking and muscular, she just wanted to reach out and squeeze one of his muscles.

Bulma chugged her ale and slammed it down on the table next to them. "It's now or never, Goku. Let's go."

"That girl over there, she keeps staring at you." Nappa said, lazily pointing to the right of Vegeta.

He barely lifted his head and followed the direction in which his friend was pointing. He lifted his head all the way up when he caught site of her. She looked to be about his age, and she gorgeous. Her eyes alone were a shade of blue that was bright that almost seemed to glow, they were almost as beautiful as her hair that was left down and framed her face. She was exotic and down right beautiful.

"The man she is with is staring over here too… did you piss someone off again, Vegeta?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the table. "Not yet."

"Hmph." Nappa shook his head. "Yes, well, I guess the night is still young."

Vegeta took a sip out of his mug and watched the woman and her partner approach.

"Excuse me?" Bulma asked as she grasped the back of Radditz empty chair. "Are you Vegeta and Nappa?"

The one she assumed was Vegeta raised an eyebrow at her as he took another sip of ale. She glanced over to the one she thought was Nappa He just sat there, looking as if he were bored with her already. Bulma looked back to Vegeta, but did not get an answer.

She narrowed her eyes at him, patience was not one of her strong points.

"Hellooo?"

"What is it you want woman? Are you here to offer us a roll in the sack, because if you are, I've already been serviced."

"Do I look like a hooker?" How dare he insinuate that she was a whore.

Vegeta merely shrugged.

"Well, I'm not…I've been sent here to collect you and your team."

He bent his head back and laughed. "Are you now? Frieza sending a human woman to retrieve his men, is he?"

"I wasn't sent here by Frieza. I was sent here by Bardock."

Vegeta slowly took his feet off of the table and leaned forward against the table towards Bulma. "What did you just say?" His voice was low… and kinda scary.

"I-I said that I was sent here by Bardock." She repeated. She wasn't sure by his reaction that she should have. He looked as if he was going to come at her and tear her head off.

"You have some nerve coming to two soldiers of the Cold Empire, telling them that you were sent by the very man who is causing major problems for Frieza himself. What makes you think I won't kill you and your bodyguard and dump your bodies in the ally way?" Vegeta smirked as he watched Goku physically tense and then protectively hovered even closer to the woman.

Bulma held her hand up to him, silently telling him to stand down. "I don't think you will. We know a lot about you. There has been intel collected on you for the passed ten years."

Vegeta leaned back in his chair, an arrogant look on his face. "Oh? Well, Woman, please enlighten me."

Bulma smiled at him. "Very well… We know that you were taken from your planet and handed over willingly to Frieza himself, non other than by your father. For this trade, he gained ownership of half of the Universe. You've spent more time in the brig than you have in your own living quarters on Frieza's flag ship due to you constantly disrespecting Frieza and goading his men into fights. You rarely follow orders to Frieza's liking, but he keeps you and your men on because you are powerful and much stronger than the average soldier and always gets the job done. We know that he has beaten and tortured you since the day he took possession of you… Now tell me, Prince Vegeta, why would you kill us if we are offering you the chance to destroy your tormentor and regain order and piece throughout the galaxy?" She noticed that he flinched slightly when she called him 'Prince Vegeta'.

He looked away in deep thought. They surly did know a lot about him, and was thankful she didn't go into detail about some of the facts. Although he wasn't sure if they even knew the finer details of his torture sessions with Frieza. The woman cleared her throat which broke his train of thought. "If you people were interested in me ten years ago, then why did you wait until now to recruit me?"

Bulma shook her head. "I honestly don't know. This is something you will have to ask Bardock."

"Hmph" Vegeta furrowed his eyes and looked at Bulma's bodyguard. "Ha." He chuckled in amusement and turned to Nappa. "He looks familiar, doesn't he?" he pointed with his thumb at Goku.

Nappa squinted at him for a moment and a small knowing smile started to spread across his lips. "He's a spitting image of him."

Vegeta turned back to Goku. "You're Kakarot, Bardocks youngest son."

Goku balked and then glared down at Bulma. "I told you this disguise was stupid!" Bulma just rolled her eyes at him but didn't say anything.

"You look just like your father." Nappa said as he motioned for him to sit. "How is the old man?"

Bulma turned her attention back to Vegeta who was now back to glaring at her, and left the two other men to their conversation.

"How do I know this isn't a ruse? How do I know you weren't sent here by Frieza himself to test my loyalty?"

"You're just going to have to trust me."

Vegeta huffed out a dry chuckle. "I trust no one."

"You're not the only one that wants to see the lizard die a thousand deaths. He and his men deserve to die, along with your father." Her tone was venomous and her eyes darkened as she spoke her words. "We think you are the one to take him down."

"I vowed that I would kill him with my bare hands, and I intend on doing so." he looked over Bulma's head, his black eyebrow arched and then looked back to Bulma.

"We can help you do that. Please join us."

"Get in my lap."

Bulma shook her head. Did I hear that right? "What?"

Vegeta looked over her head again and then back to her, his look serious. "I said, get in my lap. Now." He said through gritted teeth.

"No." Just who did he think he was?

"You have twenty seconds to get in my lap before my general comes here. And due to your coloring, he will surly strong arm you into the ally way and have his way with you. Now, come sit on my lap. Now."

Bulma, against her better judgment, did what she was told. Why getting in his lap would deter this man from taking her was beyond her. She sat down, giving him a questioning look. He said nothing as he put his arm around her waist and rested his hand on her thigh. She hated to admit it, but she liked being close to him, he was warm.

She put her arm around his neck and placed her hand on his bicep. She gave it a good squeeze, because lets face it, when would she get another opportunity to do that again.

Goku and Nappa both watched her, both wondering just what the hell she was doing.

As Bulma positioned herself, the two of them made eye contact, Bulma's heart raced as he gently squeezed her thigh. "Don't act like you don't like being this close to me, Woman. I know I'm irresistible."

"Wow, you really are full of yourself." She spat out, but never broke eye contact with him. She seemed to have lost herself in his bottomless black orbs.

She inwardly groaned as he pulled his gaze away from her. She followed his gaze to a devishly handsome greenish humanoid alien, with the most beautiful sea foam green hair that was neatly pulled back and ran down his back. If it weren't for the fact he was clad in Cold Empire armor and the overly confident grin on his face, she might have placed him as down right good looking.

"Well now Vegeta, what do you have here?" He looked to Bulma and gave her an inviting smile.

"She's mine Zorbon. Go find your own whore for the night." His grip on her thigh tightened when he felt her flinch and coil her muscles at him calling her a 'whore'.

"Oh come now, Vegeta. There isn't one woman here with the coloring she has, and you know I'm very particular. Go find another female willing to spread her legs for a monkey."

It was Bulma's turn to calm him down. She started rubbing his back with one hand and lightly ran her other hand through his, surprisingly soft black hair. She didn't need him causing trouble for any of them. She needed to get them back to base without a chase.

Bulma jumped a bit when she felt something furry wrap around her waist. She looked down, it was his tail, the tip playfully flicking her stomach.

Vegeta merely let out a growl, but opted to say nothing.

Zorbon's smile widened as he took a step forward, closer to the two of them. "Come now sweetheart. Let go of the diseased monkey, and come with me. I'll show you how my species can make you scream in ecstasy."

Bulma sneered. "I'd rather fuck the monkey, than be with your ugly, disgusting ass."

The alien's face twisted in anger. "I am not UGLY! Someone should teach you a lesson in manners, whore!" He raised his hand to hit her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to be struck… but it didn't come. She cracked her eyes open and saw that Vegeta had blocked the blow and was now gripping Zorbon's fist.

It was one thing that Vegeta would not tolerate. Men beating women. He had seen his mother fall victim to his father's hand countless times when he was a young boy, and it pained him that he was too weak to defend her.

"Let go of me, soldier or I will make you pay."

Vegeta stood up, gently setting Bulma to her feet as he did so. "Fuck you, you ugly, green, candy assed cock sucker."

"You're going to pay for that, you sorry excuse of a prince-" He was quickly silenced, as Vegeta's fist connected with his jaw.

From there it seemed as if the bar turned into one huge ball of humanity throwing punches, kicking, biting, screaming. Bulma hunkered down under a table, she wasn't in the mood to participate in the brawl, plus she was enjoying the view. Vegeta was absolutely dominating the men that came at him, but it didn't last very long. He was soon surrounded by Zorbon's men, who came out of no where. She noticed that one of them managed to launch himself onto Vegeta's back and clamp a metal collar around his neck. The second it was put on, Vegeta dropped like a stone in water. He let out a primal growl as he tried hard to get back up on his feet, but was unable to.

Bulma was just about to throw herself at Zorbon, who was now laughing over Vegeta. He continually pressed a button on a remote, with each press, Vegeta's body spasmed. She was quickly grabbed from behind by Goku. He threw her over his shoulder and punched and kicked his way out of the tavern.