Radditz was sitting next to Prince Vegeta's bed. Malaka had done everything in his hands to heal him and now he was just resting after eating what Nappa had managed to get for him before they had gone to the Throne Room.

Vegeta had protested at first about Radditz staying with him, but he was too tired to argue with the older saiyans so he just plopped down and fell into an uneasy sleep as Nappa left to train.

He growled low in his throat as someone knocked on the door, thinking it was one of Frieza's soldiers.

"What?" he said, keeping his eyes on the tiny figure on the bed.

"Uhm… It's me, Bulla. Can I come in?"

"What do you want?" he snapped, instantly feeling annoyance at the girl.

"Well… It's just you left for food and never came back." She said.

Radditz sighed and rubbed his temples, trying to calm down.

"Frieza just gave us punishment." He said. "So go away."

There was a short silence before Radditz heard her soft sigh. He was certain she had walked away, but she spoke again.

"What was it this time?" she asked. "Is Vegeta okay? Why isn't he saying anything?"

Radditz growled and got up, pressing the button to open the previously locked door. He glared down at the beautiful young girl and she stared up at him before looking past his bulging muscles and looking at the tiny figure on the bed.

"Let me in." she said softly. "Please."

He didn't know if he was very tired, stressed, or if it was his ever-present weakness when it came to beautiful young women, but he moved slightly to the side, letting her into the room, and watched as she made her way over to the tiny prince, sitting at the edge of his bed. He walked back over to his chair and sat down, crossing his arms as he glared at her.

Bulla looked down at Vegeta. His body was covered with the thin blanket, but he was breathing raggedly and trembling. Her eyes watered and she put a hand on her mouth.

"What happened?" she asked.

"The Ginyu Force." He growled. "Apparently they began teasing him and when he snapped, they… well, what you're seeing."

"But he was already injured!" she said.

"As if that would stop those mindless brutes."

"A-and why did Frieza punish you, then? Wasn't it the Ginyu Force's fault to begin with?"

"He found out that we bring him medicines when he is injured." He said. "And… I think he's onto us."

Bulla's head shot up and she stared at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"He said he knows we're planning something bad." Radditz said. "I don't know what to do now."

She swallowed and looked down at the broken child, then back at Radditz. She saw doubt on his face and coldness ran up her spine. If they regretted helping them, then their plan would be ruined and they'd be trapped there forever! And more importantly, they wouldn't be able to save child Vegeta from that hellhole! She had promised herself that she would take him out of there, no matter what. But without their willingness to help, there was little any of them could do. She swallowed and took a deep breath.

"Are you… are you thinking about not escaping?" she asked, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"I don't know." He answered. "Vegeta is hell-bent on leaving this place but… it's risking too damn much."

"It can't be much worse than what you're all going through. Starvation, his constant abuse…" she said. "It can only get better from here."

"You don't understand." He said. "These beatings, the food deprivation, the bullying… it is bad, but when Frieza actually gets angry… It's just too much. You can't even begin to imagine."

Bulla swallowed, trying not to think about it. How could someone ever be so cruel?

"But… if he escapes, he won't ever have to worry about an angry Frieza, ever again." She said. "I don't think it gets better. Radditz," the saiyan's eye twitched as she used his name, but he let it pass, "Vegeta is a rebel. He'll keep talking back to Frieza. He'll keep on rebelling. And it can get worse in here. It's better if we take him with us and spare him a lifetime of suffering."

"Girl… you don't get how bad Frieza's punishments can get. It's… it's unfathomable. We've already told you, haven't we? They used to tear his tongue off just for talking back." He said. "The first time they did it… it was… it was…" he growled as he remembered. He looked into her eyes and noticed that she was looking back at him expectantly... so he began to tell her.

"I had just gotten back from a short mission on Planet Ri'thok. Just delivering some weaponry. Nappa had been sent on a two-week long mission to another planet so Vegeta had been left alone. I hated leaving him alone. He was stronger than me, but he was just a kid. We had been at the base for, what? Six or seven months, and Vegeta was so depressed all the time. Of course, imagine your life of luxury suddenly turning into a hell of beatings.

"Anyway, as soon as I arrived I immediately went to his room, to see if he was okay. And…"

Radditz knocked on the door, but received no answer. He pressed his ear to the door and heard anguished sobbing desperately trying to be muffled. He frowned, knocking again.

"Vegeta?"

He heard a low moan and immediately punched in the key to unlock the door. He knew Vegeta hated it when they barged in without his permission, but something was seriously wrong with the little prince and worry crept into Radditz's stomach. The door slid open, letting in a sudden stream of light before leaving the room in complete darkness. Radditz was sure he had seen blood.

His shaking hand reached for the light switch and the room came to life, and the older saiyan thought he would throw up.

Vegeta was sitting on his bed, curled into a little ball, his body shaking as he cried. Tears were steadily running down his face in cascades. He was covering his little mouth with his shaking hands, and blood was seeping between his fingers and down his chin, soaking his chest crimson. Radditz could see the bruises and cuts on his body, but he couldn't imagine what could be causing such a bleeding on the tiny child.

He moved over to the bed and sat in front of Vegeta, and the kid immediately flinched backwards, letting out a silent cry of pain.

Radditz could see the usual signs of punishment: very severe injuries, a tail broken and twisted beyond repair and blood on his ripped clothes. But he had never bled so much. Most of the other injuries had begun to clot over. His eyebrows creased as he slowly reached over and grabbed Vegeta's wrists with his own hands. Vegeta closed his eyes and let out a long wail, shaking even more.

"What did they do to you?" he asked softly, not removing Vegeta's hands off his face to avoid hurting him. "Let me see. I'll help you. Just… hey, it's okay."

Vegeta finally relaxed his arms and let Radditz remove his hands from his bloodied face. He gasped and jumped backwards. Vegeta cried harder. His mouth was a pool of blood, overfilled so that it ran nonstop down his quivering chin. The teenage saiyan was so shaken up by the blood and the missing organ on the boy that he remained frozen on the spot, trying not to throw up. He decided that the best option was to try to calm the small boy and then take him to the emergency room. He took a deep breath and moved closer to Vegeta.

He patted his hair and scratched his head, trying to soothe him as he ripped a piece from his own spandex and cleaned his chin very softly, but it was no use. Blood kept coming out and Vegeta kept on crying, his body shaking badly.

"It's okay." Radditz said. "It's okay. I'll take you to the medical bay."

But Vegeta couldn't calm down, so Radditz just hoisted him up into his arms, wrapping his overly cold body with the thin blanket and holding him close, rocking him slightly as he got up and walked out of the room.

Malaka had strict orders not to give Vegeta a tank, so, with pity and sadness invading his being as he watched the hysterical little boy in his guards arms, he took the child and gave him all the sedatives his little body could handle, before moving to clean the blood.

"They had threatened him before, but I never thought they would actually do something like that." Radditz said. He had been looking at his hands as he told the story, and as he looked up, he realized that the girl had tears on her face.

"All the more reason to take him out of here, Radditz." She said. "He's only six-years-old. Imagine when he's older, stronger…" she closed her eyes as an image of her father crossed her head and she couldn't believe that he had gone through something like this. No wonder he was stone-cold. "We won't let anything bad happen to him if he comes back with us. I promise."

Radditz rubbed his face and sighed.

.

Bulma was desperate, so she had resorted to uncapsulate the old food she had stored ages ago. Most of it had most likely gone bad, but she was starving and so were her children. Not to mention Goku.

A day and a half passed and the supplies ran out, since they had had to share with the saiyans.

Vegeta had mostly recovered, so now he was willing to continue stealing things from Frieza… although now he knew he had to be extra careful. He knew Frieza and the Ginyu Force would be watching him even more, and his training sessions would double. He shuddered at the idea, but the hope of leaving that place as fast as possible kept him from freaking out. He needed to be brave. Just a few more days and he'd finally be free.

Trunks watched as Bulma twisted two wires together, knowing that if it worked, they'd be extremely close to getting the machine done. Sweat ran down Bulma's forehead as nervousness crept into her stomach. As she finished with the wires, she immediately got up, took a very deep breath, and pushed the button they had installed on the control panel.

Everyone watched expectantly. The three saiyans understood that it was a decisive point in the process. If those two wires didn't work together, then it meant that it would take a significant amount of time that they honestly didn't want to wait for. But if it worked, the wait would be practically over. They'd just need a few more things to finish it.

Nothing happened for a few seconds… but after a short while, the machine began to emit a soft whirring, a couple of the screens coming to life and charts and maps appearing, showing them their location. Bulma squealed in joy and jumped to Goku, who was standing close to her, hugging him and wrapping her legs around his midsection. Goku hugged her back, extremely relieved about the machine working. Bulla and Trunks, following her lead, hugged each other tightly. The older saiyans smirked and nodded in approval, and Vegeta released a tiny sigh before a small smile crossed his face.

They calmed down and Bulma went back into the machine to turn it off. She turned to the saiyans and smiled widely.

"Okay. I think this is the last time you'll need to steal. God, I'm so excited. So, here's what we'll need…"

.

Vegeta snuck into the weaponry laboratory, walking on tiptoe so that the technicians wouldn't hear him. He waited until one of them was giving his back to him and hastily floated up to a table, grabbing what Bulma had told him. When he was sure he had everything, he snuck out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was outside.

"Well, what do we have here?" a voice said behind him.

Vegeta jumped and paled visibly, hastily turning around and hiding the things he had grabbed behind his back. Jeice and Burter stood before him, looking down at him smugly with their arms crossed.

"What do you want, freaks?" he said, trying to hide his nervousness.

"What was a little baby monkey like yourself doing in the tech lab?" Burter asked.

"Piss off. That's none of your business." He growled.

"What's that behind your back?" asked Jeice. He gasped mockingly, "don't tell me you're stealing!"

"I'm not stealing, you idiot." Vegeta said, taking a step back. "What the hell are you doing anyway? Don't you have some ridiculous dance moves you need to practice?"

They both laughed and Vegeta growled. Suddenly, Burter disappeared and reappeared behind Vegeta, and before the small boy knew what was happening, the tall alien grabbed the back of his armor, lifting him into the air, and ripped the cables and tools from his hands. Vegeta growled and tried to wiggle out of Burter's grip, but it was useless, and a cold fear settled in his stomach as he realized that they'd go and tell Frieza. He began to panic.

"Well, looks like you are stealing indeed, little monkey." Jeice said as Burter handed him everything. "We heard that those brutes you call bodyguards stole medicines when you were injured, but what do you need these for?"

Vegeta remained silent and glared at them, no longer trying to free himself from Burter.

"Are you building something?" Burter asked. He shook Vegeta a little and the boy growled, beginning to kick around again.

"Let go of me, you bastard!"

"Well, maybe Frieza can shed some light on it. Should we bring this to him?" Jeice said, laughing as Vegeta's face turned into a mask of pure horror.

"You wouldn't like that, would you?" Burter hissed into Vegeta's ear. "So I suggest you just tell us now what you were going to do with these. You know how Frieza hates stealing rats."

Vegeta swallowed and cursed his luck.

"I… I wanted to fix my scouter." He said quietly.

"Why not get a new one?" Jeice asked.

"Because the one I have is relatively new and Frieza would get angry if I asked for another one, so I decided I'd fix it myself." He said. There was the slight possibility that Frieza wouldn't get angry if Vegeta was just trying to do something so simple. It was better than stealing for something he simply couldn't tell.

"Well, that sounds reasonable." Burter said. Vegeta relaxed, before the grip on his armor tightened. "But I think we'll still go and tell Frieza."

Vegeta's eyes widened before he was slammed into a wall headfirst. His vision went black and he could barely send a mental message to his comrades before slipping into unconsciousness.

.

"Radditz, Nappa, they caught me! They're taking me to Fr – "

Vegeta's anguished voice echoed in their heads and the two saiyans instantly jumped. They had just returned from retrieving a few things for the machine. Bulma looked up at them curiously.

"What's wrong?"

"They caught Vegeta." Radditz said. Fear for the small kid invaded him and both adult saiyans looked at each other before running towards the castle.

Goku and Trunks also shared a worried look before bolting behind them. Bulla turned to look at her mother.

"Bulla, don't – "

"I'm sorry." She whispered before running after the men.

.

Present.

"Good news." The doctor said behind Vegeta, who was rummaging through the fridge. The saiyan immediately turned around. "The machine is done."

"What? Seriously?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah. We'll just have to wait for a couple hours for it to warm up and you'll be on your way."

Vegeta growled, but nodded. He could wait a few more hours.