The hospital was not somewhere Bulma had ever enjoyed being. The green walls and colourful upholstery on the waiting room chairs did little to cover the smells of sickness and disinfectant.

She played with the thumbnail on her right hand while she waited to be called.

Come on, Chi Chi! She thought to herself, Goku is hurt, you don't need to dress him up!

The other woman had been there fussing over Goku and Gohan all week whenever possible, she had been informed. The doctors had managed to put up with her but Bulma could tell their patience was starting to wear thin.

Krillin was recovering in the same room and Bulma could not help but wonder how he was handling it all.

"Miss Brief?" The nurse called, "You can go on in now."

Bulma bristled slightly at the incorrect title being used but went into the private room all the same.

The large windows made the room feel larger than it actually was. The light danced off the various drips and bottles which were arranged around the room and her eyes fell on the beaming face of her childhood friend.

Goku was wrapped up like a mummy in a museum and his bed seemed a little more state of the art than the two the others occupied. Chi Chi greeted her warmly while combing her son's hair.

The heiress rushed forward and carefully embraced them all in turn before taking a seat near the window.

"How're they looking?" Bulma asked Chi Chi. The dark haired woman nodded and furrowed her brow.

"That monster sure did a number on my precious Goku. He's going to take weeks to recover and I don't know if we can afford all the treatments he needs!" She confessed.

Bulma waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about that, we can cover anything," she assured.

"I'm ok," Goku protested. "Thanks for the offer, Bulma, but I think I'll be fine in no time!"

Chi Chi shot him an angry look and shook her head.

Bulma's thoughts went to her studies of the other Saiyan and his healing abilities. She suspected perhaps that Goku was right.

"I should be out of here soon!" Krillin piped up. "They say once this bone starts fusing in my head I'm free to go!"

"That's great, Krillin!" Gohan exclaimed from the middle bed.

His mother clasped his head to her chest in a protective gesture and shushed him.

"How's Vegeta doing, Bulma?" Goku asked. His concerned tone struck Bulma as odd but she waved her thoughts away and met his eyes.

"Vegeta? You mean the Saiyan who beat the hell out of you guys and killed our friends? Why do you even care?" She asked, a little more snappy than she had meant.

Chi Chi nodded in agreement and cuddled her son closer.

Goku looked suddenly very serious. "I can sense him, I know he's alive.I hope you're taking care of him…?"

He had phrased it as a question but Bulma felt it was anything but. She rolled her eyes and started fishing around in her bag.

"Look," she said, "he's alive and recovering. Taking care of him? No. But trust me, a guy like that can take care of himself."

She found the item she had been looking for and placed it onto her ear as she had seen Raditz wear it. She grinned as everyone gasped at it.

"Is that…?" Gohan started.

"...A scouter?" Krillin finished.

Bulma giggled and pressed the button on the side. The alien machine burst into life.

"It sure is!" She stated. "My dad has been looking at the Saiyan technology and together we got this one translated into English. We're hoping we can use it to get the ships to work. Then Namek, here we come!"

The warriors cheered while Chi Chi continued to look on with a mixture of confusion and concern. She shot an angry look at Gohan which he cowered under.

"You're not going, young man!" She chided. "You have missed enough school as it is! After what happened in that desert you are nuts to think I would allow you to go out of my sight ever again!"

"But mom, I really want to help!" The boy whined.

Bulma turned away from the argument and stepped closer to Krillin instead. He sat up and cocked his head to one side.

"Do we know how far Namek is yet? Has he talked?" He asked in a hushed tone.

Bulma shook her head and half grinned. "He will though, you'll see. His new thing is saying some 'big bad' is coming to get us. Pathetic really."

Krillin made it immediately clear he did not share the engineer's skepticism. His mouth hung open in shock and his eyes widened.

"Worse than the Saiyans?" He whispered back.

Bulma laughed.

"You don't believe him, do you? He just saying it to get a rise out of us, don't worry." She assured him.

The monk looked worried but stayed quiet while Bulma scanned the room with the strange device.

The display showed numbers and what she guessed were frequency readings, temperature readings, even heart beats were shown to her. She switched it into the next mode which simply honed in on what she assumed were the highest fighting levels. One more mode switch and she could hear an odd static sound with ghostly noises layered in. She mentally noted to explore that setting later on and switched the device off.

"Bulma..?" Gohan asked, "How will we get to Namek if we can't figure out the Saiyan ships? I want Mr. Piccolo back…"

Bulma arranged her features into a confident look and shook her head.

"We'll figure it all out. I promise, kid. We'll get back Piccolo, my Yamcha, and the others in no time at all!"


"Wake up, creep. It's talking time."

Bulma kicked the side of the chamber and leaned back slightly on the desk behind her.

Most of the other scientists had gone home for the day with just a skeleton crew on the night shift. Bulma had sent them for coffee, leaving herself and her captive alone.

The Saiyan cracked his black eyes open and glared at her from his position on the cot.

"I've got the results of the samples we took here," Bulma started. She lifted the file and opened it to the relevant pages. "According to this, parts of your singular lung, three of your fingers, your tongue, two ribs and both of your eyes contain synthetic DNA strands. Are we correct in assuming they are artificial body parts which have been grown for you?"

"Tell me," he said, his voice laced with malice, "have you had any luck deciphering our technology? Would you like me to explain why you will fail or would you like the fun of finding out yourself?"

"I'm going to assume I'm right then," she stated, trying to ignore his gibes. She scanned the page to buy time to calm herself down. "So, what sicko did you fight who blasted the eyes out of your head? Who did you piss off enough to rip your tongue out?"

She smiled slightly as he shifted uncomfortably before getting up and striding over to the glass to face her.

"You'll find out real soon," he promised.

Bulma rolled her eyes and read the next section while the Saiyan paced around his cell.

"The list of old injuries is enormous! Is that what you do? Fight for a living? Or is it just fun for you and you steal from the people you kill?"

"Amongst other things."

"Like…?"

The Saiyan flashed her a toothy smile and didn't answer. This was going nowhere and Bulma was starting to get annoyed.

The man's refusal to be intimidated was astounding and the lack of pain he was showing despite extensive injuries was super-human. Bulma had assumed he would have started to crack by now but was quickly realising she was wrong. She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Is that how you know about Namek? From your travels around the galaxy? Have you been there?"

"Why don't you check my ship's logs," he asked, "Unless, of course, you're having trouble accessing them?"

"I assure you we have the brightest minds on the planet working on it -"

"You're fucked then!"

"- and we will make progress," she finished.

She screamed as he suddenly appeared at the glass in front of her and punched it hard with his fist.

"Let me explain how screwed YOU all are," he said, his voice dangerous and low. "As you have seen based on your invasive studies of me, our technology is vastly superior to yours in every respect. Do you believe our machines are 'hackable'? Do you think they are unprotected in case of tampering?"

Bulma felt her heart sink. It had been a few days since she had seen her father. Had he not made any progress at all? Was it a waste of time?

"Raditz died with his scouter still transmitting to us," the Saiyan continued. "Tell me, you idiot woman: did you destroy it or are you trying to use that as well?"

Bulma shut her mouth tight in what she hoped was a neutral expression. He grinned on seeing it.

"You have, haven't you? You've been playing with things beyond you…"

"So what if I have?" She snapped back, "maybe I've got it working in English and we can start to use it to help us get to Namek!"

He scoffed and looked triumphant. "All you have done is actively assist my master to find you. The things have homing beacons in them."

Bulma's blood froze in her veins as she fought to keep the panic off her face. She didn't believe him that anyone was coming, however the idea that a passing ship may pick up the scouter signal was a very real possibility.

She sniffed and placed the file down. "I would like to know how far away Namek is and its space coordinates. In exchange, once we have a functioning ship of our own, I will return one of the pods and you can leave.

Do we have a deal?"

"You're lying!" He accused, "and besides, you know I will just destroy you and this planet the moment I enter orbit!

Bulma scowled and crossed her arms. "I figured, as a gesture of goodwill, you would just cut your losses and run…"

"Guess again. Besides...with Kakarot helpless to stop me, what would I have to lose?"

Bulma nodded. Bribing him clearly was not an option. She decided to see how her father was getting along with the ships before she began to lose hope. Then she thought of Yamcha and frowned.

"Well, I guess our only option is to torture the information out of you." she threatened with a smirk.

The Saiyan openly laughed and lay down on the cot again.

"You don't have it in you," he observed, "and anyway, soon you and this planet will be dust, I just need to keep quiet until then…"