A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, I have some free time on my hands now so I'll be updating a little more frequently. Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows so far. Also I don't currently have a beta-er so there might be some errors just pretend they are not there ^_^;;

Chichi didn't know how long she had been out for as the room finally came into focus. Her head was still pounding steadily as if the drums of war were sounding.

"Princess Chichi, you're awake, how are you feeling?" Andrea reached her hand out and placed it against her temple. "I told you your body wasn't ready." Her voice held a disapproving tone to it as she stood up.

"I'm fine." Chichi muttered back, but truthfully she felt like she had just spent an hour running through her father's massive turnip fields.

"Don't give me that bull." Andrea answered coming back to her with a glass of water. Launch's eyes widened at her boldness speaking to the Princess that way, but she kept quiet.

She had looked everywhere before a big meaty guard had stopped her and ushered her back to the med ward. After fruitlessly trying to explain to him in Chikuyin that she was searching for Prince Kakarot he unceremoniously pushed her back into the room then sauntered away.

Chichi sighed taking a few large gulps of water realizing it was futile to keep arguing with her. Instead she changed the subject, "Did you find Goku?" She vaguely remembered walking down the large hall and coming to the open area of the gallery. She froze the glass poised just inches from her lips.

Suddenly her recollection became clear and the large family photo came to her mind. She had passed out after seeing the man who she had momentarily caught a frantic glance at as he had plunged the syringe into her chest.

"What's wrong your Highness?" Launch was at her side instantly taking the cup from her quivering fingers.

Chichi couldn't speak her words were caught in her throat as she realized exactly what that meant. If he was part of Kakarot's family certainly Kakarot was in on it. But what would he gain by poisoning her? And where was Bulma and her father? He had said they were safe on Vegetseii but only vaguely as if he was hiding something.

"Princess?" Launch asked shaking her gently.

"Maybe she is in shock." Andrea quickly reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a syringe.

"We have to leave now." Chichi said snapping out of her stupor. Whatever was going on she would get to the bottom of it, but not here.

"I'm not sure if you have noticed but we can't just walk out of here your Highness." Launch said softly, breathing a slight sigh of relief.

"Nonsense, I'm soon to be queen of Earth's western kingdom, I can do as I please. If you two want to stay then that is fine by me." She sat up wincing at the sudden thundering in her ears.

Both women stared at her incredulously as she got off the bed and steadied herself on her feet. Andrea was the first to speak, although she knew it was ridiculous to ask, "Where are you going to go Princess?"

"Where?" Chichi asked with an indignant grunt. It was her turn to stare blankly at the two women. "Back to Earth, to my kingdom, my people."

Both girls shared a look between them, then Launch sighed trying to find an easy way to tell her that there was no earth to go back to. "Well you see your Highness, when you were in a coma... well..." She rung her hands nervously in front of her having a hard time getting the rest out.

Andrea gave a short chuckle but then her lips curved into a smirk, "What she is trying to say is there is no earth to go back to, the Saiyan-jins destroyed it."

Freiza stared down at the bloody and bruised body of the Saiyan Prince his lips curling into a devilish grin.

"Lord Freiza, what should we do with him?" One of his men asked just a little ways behind him.

After that stunt he had pulled he had his strongest men teach the prince a little lesson. It was a wonder how he survived such a brutal beating. He supposed what they say about royalty was true.

"Should we leave him here to die?"

Freiza turned to the impatient little wretch, "no I don't think I will, I have plans for this one." He tapped his foot against Vegeta's unconscious body. "Put him in the cargo bay and make sure he's bound and gagged."

"And the woman?"

"Hm," the woman, he wasn't sure what he was going to do with her. He had planned on using her as leverage against Vegeta but then a more sinister plan came to mind. He wouldn't need her at all. He might just end up selling her, she was young and fairly attractive. There was bound to be someone that would like to add her to their collection. "I suppose you can put her back there too." He replied with an annoyed shake of his head.

"Yes lord Freiza." The guard bowed low behind him then left the room.

Freiza turned his attention back to the barely breathing prince, another smile coming to his lips.

He bent close to Vegeta's body carefully lifting his robe so as not to get any of his blood on them. "With power such as yours, I'd be foolish to let it go to waste, don't you think little prince?" He rose gracefully to his feet and walked out.

Bulma stumbled forward as her feet hit the hard soil of earth. She was still unsteady from the long turbulent flight and no doubt the lingering effects of the drugs she had been given.

Her mouth opened wide in a gasp as her aqua eyes finally took in her surroundings. It was all dirt and hard barren plains with primitive buildings lining a wide street. There were no signs of the beautiful lush planet that she had once called home. From what little she had seen of frecool she instantly saw the similarities and realized what had taken place.

"Now now, don't be so melodramatic." Her captor said with a hint of scorn lacing his light tone. "I myself consider this to be a vast improvement, from the disgusting dump it was before." His cold fingers wrapped around her slim wrist and pushed her forward.

Bulma didn't get a chance to reply as one of his men appeared next to him and whispered something to him. His thin lips curved into a smug smile, "delightful! This is happening a lot faster than expected, I'm very pleased."

The guard nodded then disappeared as easily and swiftly as he had appeared. "Don't you just love when a plan starts to come together?" He let out a peel of laughter that turned her stomach.

When she said nothing he just laughed more, "Of course you do. Who could have guess that I would be the undoing of two of the most powerful civilizations in the universe?" He beamed infinitely pleased with himself.

His mirth subsided and he frowned, "I suppose you are just as idiotic as those monkeys, you wouldn't be able to appreciate the novelty of it. Come along girl, we have much to do."

He pushed her again and she started a slow pace towards the largest building on the street. Her mind was still contemplating how they could have built so much in such a short time. It was almost impossible.

"Lord Freiza." The guard at the door bowed before them as he pulled open the large doors when he straightened his eyes landed on her curiously. "The booths have already been filled."

His features were familiar but she couldn't place his face, his wild hair was reminiscent of a Saiyan's but his eyes were not as deep or cold. "Perfect, where is that other one? I have a feeling that imbecile is up to something."

"He remained on Frecool, Lord Frieza. He said something about unfinished business."

"I knew it was high time I got rid of that idiot, his stupidity will undoubtedly ruin my little plan." He frowned his eyes narrowing as he stared off into the distance, "Yanach, get rid of him."

"Its Yamcha, your Highness." The guard muttered.

Freiza turned sharply and glared at the guard, "whatever, you are just another witless monkey like him. Ah that reminds me, what accommodations have you offered our honored guest?"

Yamcha's head turned in disgust, "As you commanded he is secured in the prison below."

"Perfect, the sooner we begin the procedure, the faster I'll have some one actually worth their salt." He laughed at the confused look on Yamcha's face. "Why am I surrounded by mindless cretins?"

If he was offended his rigid features didn't show any of that emotion. "I'll head back to Frecool and deal with-"

"With me?" Bulma turned her head enough to catch a glimpse of the man who had stolen her away from Vegeta's little prison.

At first his human appearance had given her hope of a rescue, but when he began to speak in the Saiyan-Jin's rough language she realized something was wrong.

Yamcha took a slight step back and immediately the air in the room crackled with the tension between the two.

Although the man was twice the size of her diminutive captor he showed no fear as he approached him, "It's about time you showed up." His voice hadn't wavered in its tone but she could feel the hatred in each word. "Why do I ever put any faith in you tiny brained animals? Has your will to live dried up?"

The much bigger man fell to his knees groaning in agony, he clawed at the band around his head as he withered on the ground in pain. His eyes bulged as blood began to leak from his nostrils and lips.

Yamcha chuckled softly behind her. Bulma turned and their eyes met. He smirked at her his eyes dipping to the swell of her breasts, Bulma swallowed hard, her stomach turning.

"I think you've had enough." Frieza said taking a few steps back the Saiyan on the floor collapsed breathing in heavily."Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

Surprisingly the man rose to his feet, "It will not happen again Lord Frieza." he wiped away the blood from his nose "but my suspicions were correct. Kakarot arrived with a handful of his best warriors, I was able to escape before I was noticed."

"Already? That was fast, I supposed I underestimated the intelligence of that one. No matter, without Vegeta and this one there is little he can do." He finally turned his attention back to her. "I guess you won't become the plaything of an Arutos."He brushed his thin scaly fingers against her pale cheek.

"I hate you" Bulma said pulling away from his touch.

"But my dear we hardly know each other yet." His raspy voice grated against her ears. "Just wait, in a few more days, once that monkey stink is off of you, I'm sure you will change your mind."

Disgusted at his insinuation Bulma lifted her foot to kick him, but Yamcha grabbed her before she could even get close to him "Take her to-" he paused and his face filled with twisted glee," On second thought put her next to Vegeta, but not too close."

"yes lord Frieza." Yamcha replied and dragged her away.

Launch gave the guard a seductive smile as she leaned against the closed door. Leave it to Princess Chichi to come up with such a provocative scheme. She had vehemently refused citing her inexperience and her inability to tell a decent lie.

It was either her or Andrea and Andrea had refused saying that she would make much better bait because of her meek submissive nature. So here she was trying her hardest to flirt with the tall, broad shoulder Saiyan-Jin who had almost caught sight of them trying to make their escape.

"You are big one aren't you? Can I?" She asked sweetly her fingers hovering over his bulging biceps.

He looked at her puzzled his dark eyes watching her every move. She was really surprised at how much she liked touching his muscled arm. His skin was smoothed and taut over each solid muscle. He didn't make a move to stop her as her other hand came up to his partially exposed chest.

"Wow, you have a really great physique." She cooed as her fingers lightly brushed across his chest.

From the corner of her eyes she could see the Princess and Andrea quickly make a dash from where they had been hiding. Andrea gave her a quick thumps up sign as they disappeared from sight.

When one of his arms wrapped around her waist pulling her close, she realized maybe she had been a little too convincing.

His hold on her felt like a steel grip even though she could feel that he was holding off. Maybe they hadn't thought this plan out enough? Or maybe they had meant for her to be the sacrificial lamb from the beginning.

This whole time he hadn't said anything merely watched her with guarded eyes. She hadn't even thought of the possibility that he could not understand what she was saying. His hand came down to her buttocks and molded itself around her.

Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers kneaded her firm flesh, it was a weirdly exhilarating feeling being touched so intimately, but she wasn't too keen on letting some random barbarian give her her first fleeting experience of intimacy. "Whoa," she said smoothly, placing her hand on his arm. "Shouldn't we go somewhere private?"

It was a few moments of him thinking about it before he released her, he turned to walk down the way Chichi and Andrea had gone down. The moment his back was turned she quickly inserted the syringe of anesthesia into his skin.

He slowly turned towards her before his eyes hooded over and he fell to the floor. She leaned over him to check that he was still breathing, "I'm so sorry." She whispered meaning it. She stepped over him quickly and rushed to catch up to her friends.

It only took a few minutes to reach her destination, they were at the travel port where the ships were stationed. She looked around warily trying to catch sight of them or a clue to what ship they would be on. She only had one more syringe and she didn't want to waste it.

Suddenly from the corner of her eye she saw a flash, then another. It was coming from a sleek looking black and gold colored ship, Andrea appeared in the cockpit then instantly disappeared again. The bay seemed unoccupied as she sprinted across the terminal a sudden adrenalin rush getting her to the open hatch in under a minute.

The moment she was inside Princess Chichi closed the hatch and secured it with the locking pin. "Let's go!" She yelled out grabbing her hand and heading to the front of the ship.

Chichi took a seat next to Andrea as the ship made a sudden lurch and then took off. "Are you sure you can fly this?" She asked as the yellow and peach hued sky came into view.

Andrea tossed a quick look at her then smirked, "I can fly anything. You know I'm not really a nurse. On Aldroidia I used to be in the elite air fleet. There's not a single ship ever built that I wouldn't be able to pilot."

Chichi mulled that over in her mind for a while before she replied, "I'm glad you were here."

"Why are we running away again?" Launch asked from the back seat.

Chichi wondered if she should tell them what she saw, it couldn't be a coincidence that the man who tried to kill her was related in some way to her husband. "I want to see for myself. I'm not going to just give up on my citizens, we've been through wars before and survived, we will survive this too."

Kakarot was steadily losing the little patience that he had left. With still no sign of Bardock or Vegeta he recruited several of his father's royal guards and set a course for Frecool.

He had expected to be greeted by Frieza's forces but to his surprise the skies were clear. On a trade planet usually there would be departing and entering ships from different planets but eerily all was quiet.

"Take us down to the palace, Nappa." Kakarot commanded staring down at the barren tundra.

"Okay." The large Saiyan-Jin lieutenant replied making a sharp left turn in that direction.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones that got that idea" Krillin muttered as they landed next to Vegeta's royal ship.

The ship looked worse for wear, nothing like the immaculate condition Vegeta kept it in. There were large dark spots beneath the two engines and several massive craters in the side. Even if he had been in a collision, Vegeta would have made some effort to contact him or his father.

"I don't sense any notable power levels." Yajirobe said breaking the silence.

"Krillin you stay here and guard the ship, the rest of you come with me."

"Why do I have to stay here by myself?" Krillin questioned turning in his seat, "what if I get ambushed?"

"Deal with it." Kakarot replied leading them from the ship. Once their feet touched the ground they split up heading in different directions. Nappa went to search Vegeta's ship for clues. Yajirobe took off towards the surrounding buildings and Kakarot made his way into the impressive castle.

As he thought the palace was deserted, just a handful of slaves remained. They stared at him curiously but said nothing as they continued about their business.

as he turned to leave he paused as a wave of nausea hit him, he could smell blood a lot of it. He headed in the direction of the source stopping as he came upon the empty cells.

the blood was fresh and gleamed brightly beneath the single fluorescent bulb. He knew already who the blood belonged to.n

Vegeta was like a brother to him, they had spent most of their younger years training together, the scent of his blood was engraved into his mind. But it wasn't just Vegeta whose blood had been spilled.

this whole plot was starting to make more sense, the set up had been almost immaculate. Frieza had been pulling all the strings from the beginning plotting earth against their only protectors.

"Prince Kakarot." Tien's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"what is it?" Kakarot inquired his frustration mounting.

"Princess Chichi has escaped!"