Chapter 9

Goku had managed to break his fall at the last minute by pushing his newly-restored energy out and around him. However, Vegeta – it appeared – was not so fortunate.

The prince lay on the hard surface of the dusty planet with his right elbow bending the wrong direction and one leg underneath him; his ankle clearly snapped. One side of his face was burnt enough that blood and fluids were slowly seeping out and down his pale neck. His clothes were torn and burn revealing dark bruises on his ribs. His eyes had remained shut far after Goku's arrival. He could smell burnt skin and dried blood.

Goku wrinkled his nose and shifted. The dry, hot earth crunched under his weight as the sun beat down on him. He rubbed absentmindedly at his face with the back of his hand where his sweat had begun to mix with the fine layer of dirt on his skin.

The taller Saiyan could feel Vegeta's energy flowing steadily underneath his skin. It was certainly much more than he could sense in their cell and he knew it was only a matter of time before Vegeta's body would repair enough of his injuries in order to wake. So far this trip had not been kind to either of them.

And there was nothing to do but sit and watch. Any senzu beans Vegeta had brought were on their ship. Hopefully, it was not gone forever. Goku wanted off this rock as soon as possible.

That had been his first thought when he had impacted slightly-more-roughly-than-preferred with the surface of the planet. He did not feel the nauseating burn of homesickness for Earth – which did surprise him – but the pull in his gut that it was time to leave.

Whatever the Race had wanted with them, he had no doubt they would be back to claim it.

Currently, Goku glanced up at the sky before turning his eyes back to his comrade, their captive ship was no where to be seen. He assumed that he and Vegeta's hasty exit had not delayed it's flight into orbit or docking. But, really, there was nothing stopping them from coming right back down again.

He pulled more of his energy back under his skin and moved closer to the other Saiyan – he could feel Vegeta's energy bubbling signaling his regain of conscience.

Vegeta was moving even before his brain caught up with his body and Goku had to push him back to the ground. The prince's mouth was open in silent scream as his back arched off the ground. His one good hand latched onto Goku's bicep while his foot scrambled for purchase on the pebbly ground. His eyes stayed closed, but Goku could see them frantically rolling around underneath their lids.

"Vegeta!" He yelled, grabbing what was left of the Saiyan's shirt. "Wake up."

The other bucked more, his injured arm raising in self defense. His broken elbow dangled uselessly.

Goku pressed a knee down on the man's chest while pushing down as hard on his shoulders as possible. "Vegeta!" He called again. He moved his knee to gain a better hold and instantly knew that prince had woken up. Vegeta's jaw clenched and his eyes opened – already flecked with teal.

Goku slammed the shoulders underneath his hands back down on the ground. "Transforming will only give us away." Vegeta's eyes closed but both his arms dropped back to the ground – his body still taunt. They held that deadlock as the prince found his bearings.

The taller Saiyan kept his hands on Vegeta's shoulders for a moment more; peering at the other through his bangs. "You alright?" He asked.

"Don't ask stupid questions." Vegeta scoffed. Goku relaxed his grip. "Of course I'm fine."

Goku smiled and sat back on his heels watching as the prince took a few short breathes as his back relaxed.

"Where is the ship?" He asked after a few moments.

"Its gone." Goku said. He reached over and placed a hand on Vegeta's hip. "But you've been out for a while. It might come back." He could feel the other's energy stirring again after his outburst. "Do you know where our ship is?"

Vegeta scoffed and tried to pull himself into a sitting position. His leg slid out under Goku's hand. He cracked open one eye. "I dropped the capsule. Right after you were hit. It should still be there."

Goku smiled at him feeling slightly relieved at the first piece of good news. "I'll get it." He said quietly.

"My arm," Vegeta implied. He pulled it closer to his body.

Goku leaned closer and reached out. "I'll reset it for you. Its hard angle to do it on your own."

The prince nodded once and lay back on the ground quietly hissing as his movements jostled his ribs. Goku moved beside him and maneuvered the broken appendage so the upper arm was flush against the ground; holding it there with his shin. "Don't move" he unnecessarily commented. Vegeta snorted but looked away, revealing the burnt side of his face.

With a deep breath, Goku ground his teeth and pulled on the arm, twisting it in an effort to get it to snap back in to place. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Vegeta's good had twist itself into the dirt as his entire body tightened in place.

Goku twisted more; his sensitive hearing picking up on Vegeta's short breaths and the scrape of his bones and cartilage. His eyes were squeezed shut. "Fuck, Kakarrot," he moaned through gritted teeth. "Just do it. I -"

His possible tirade was cut off with a loud snap – like a seat belt being clicked into place. Vegeta ripped the appendage out of Goku's hold and brought it back against his chest; sitting up immediately. "Go get the ship" He rasped.

Goku suspected he wanted to live out his pain alone. He nodded, stood and jumped into the air using as little energy as possible to skim the ground.

Surprisingly, it did not take him long to locate the area of their downfall. Vegeta had crashed only a few miles away from the Primary Hanger's surface doors. Goku did give them a wide berth as he good hear shouts and the crackling of a welder. From the hanger bay, he branched off the direction they had made their escape. The ground was cracked with the backlash of their energy from the flight; and occasionally, he would come upon a bight red scorch mark where the Race's weapons had missed.

The capsule ship was flung about a hundred yards away from the place, Goku assumed, Vegeta had been hit. He wasted no time in gathering it up, along with the tattered remains of Vegeta's back pack, and turning back to the other Saiyan.

"We should probably move somewhere else," he said as he touched down next to his partner. "Its not safe here – we are too close to the hanger bay."

Vegeta nodded. He was slumped over, but still sitting in the same place Goku had left him. What little bit of shirt had still been clinging to his torso had been used to wrap his swollen ankle. He struggled to his feet still clutching his arm to his chest. "Fools first," he dryly urged.

Goku managed a small smile as he lifted into the air.

They flew for about an hour before Goku was confident of their distance. They were far enough away from the hanger bay but not too close to any other crevasses of civilization. He dropped the bag and capsule in front of Vegeta and sank to the ground. The sun was fully on them and he was drenched with sweat.

Vegeta reached down and picked up the capsule, examining the outside with his one open eye.

"You know," Goku started, "You shouldn't keep that eye closed. You don't want it to heal shut."

Vegeta frowned at him. "Don't tell me how my body works." He snapped.

Goku sighed but his worry lightened at the typical comment. He watched as Vegeta clicked the capsule and threw it some yards away from them.

The ship that appeared in a cloud of gas appeared to be unharmed. The prince circled around the outside touching his hands to the hull. "Start her up," he ordered, "and we'll do a full diagnostic. There's no sense in getting her in the air if life support is offline."

"Ah," Goku whined, rocking back and forth on the ground. "We just did all that stuff a day ago." He pouted but stood up anyways at Vegeta's tight glare.

Their luck was still in order, though, when Bulma's voice calmly greeted them over the hum of the engine. The computer gleefully informed them that all systems were in order and the ship was currently fueled to capacity. Vegeta sank back into the flight chair at the news.

"Let's get off this bitch of a planet."

AN: Sorry for the terribly long wait. Grad school, getting married and first year teaching can do that. Thank you for all of those readers who are still here. The next two chapters will really get the overall plot going.