Thank you for your reviews, guys! :)

Bulma was excitedly packing the last details for her trip.

They would stay for the duration of her vacations, so she needed to pack months' worth of stuff. Her father had some of CC's workers loading boxes and bags onto one of their enormous vans that they'd take with them.

It was 2:45 a.m, but she didn't care. She was excited and full of energy.

She hopped down the stairs and towards the kitchen, where the garage door was located. She needed to retrieve a few boxes to finish packing her things and call the workers into her room to help her.

As soon as she opened the door, her heart jumped out of her chest. She gasped and almost lost control of her bladder.

Vegeta was slumped against the wall, his wheezing gasps and low moans reaching her ears. She froze completely for a moment as her eyes swiped across his body and caught the blood, the bruises, the horrible convulsions... and then their eyes met. She saw the fear, the pain, the desperation. She saw the tears that were running down his face, clear and bloody alike. And then she bolted towards him.

She landed on her knees, ignoring the lance of pain that shot up her legs, right before him. Tears welled up in her eyes as her heart beat maddeningly in her chest. Her lips opened and closed, quivering, her throat closing shut as she tried to scream for help, but she could only manage a terrified squeak.

"Vegeta."

His eyes focused on her, blinking weakly.

"Bulma..." he whispered, then his eyes closed shut as if a sudden wave of pain had attacked him.

He panted and looked at Bulma again.

He didn't know what to do. He knew that Bulma hated him, but at least she'd try to help him. She wasn't heartless... But she might also try to contact Frieza, or her parents would. They would take him to a hospital, too, where Frieza would find him and take him back home. He shuddered at the thought and the pain intensified, making a few more tears escape his eyes. He moaned in pain.

Bulma didn't know what to do.

Vegeta began coughing, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth and running down his nose.

The girl covered her mouth with trembling hands as her brain scrambled for something, anything to help the agonising boy in front of her.

"What happened to you?" she whispered softly, a tear escaping her eye.

Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed and he closed his eyes. Would she believe him...?

Bulma looked him up and down and her panic only rose, and a sob escaped her mouth. Vegeta was covered in blood, so much so that his grey hoodie had huge splotches all over. It reached up into his black hair and covered his deadly pale face. His body was shaking so much, he seemed to be having a seizure, and Bulma worried he might start convulsing in pain right there.

In fact, his eyes showed so much pain she wanted to start weeping. They were also pleading, filled with an all consuming fear she never thought she'd see on him. On anyone else, for that matter. They were desperate... as much as eyes nearly swollen shut can be.

"I-I'll call 911." she said, but before she could get up, Vegeta grabbed her hand.

"No." he wheezed. He blinked as his vision blurred and darkened, dark spots threatening to consume it and drag him into unconsciousness, but, as much as he wanted to sleep and rest, he didn't want to be at their mercy. The Briefs didn't know anything about his life! They would send him back to Frieza! He uttered a horrible gasp and choked on thick blood as he tried to talk. A delirious sentence broke from his lips... his brain wasn't working anymore. "He'll... find... me."

She couldn't imagine how he could be so hurt, he had seemed fine the day before at school...

Suddenly, voices were heard outside.

"Dr. Briefs." a slimy voice said. Bulma watched as Vegeta's eyes grew wide, his face turning even paler. He tensed and pressed himself against the wall as the flow of tears intensified.

Outside, Dr. Briefs watched from his porch as the three men approached him. He crossed his arms. He had been going to get some boxes from the garage when he had heard their voices. Frieza's voice was horribly hard to forget.

"Mr. Kold." he could tell they had been drinking, but something far more sinister was worrying him. It was dark and foggy, the only light available being the one from his own home... but he could almost swear that the clothes they were wearing were covered in blood. He slowly descended the stairs. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." Frieza answered, walking closer to him. "I seem to have lost my precious nephew. Seeing as this is the only house with the lights on, I can't help but wonder if he wandered inside to visit some high school acquaintance."

"No, he didn't." Dr. Briefs answered. "And I'm not sure I'd tell you if he had, judging on the state of your clothing and your sobriety. Or, lack thereof."

Frieza glared at Dr. Briefs for a split second before smiling widely.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Vegeta got into a horrible street fight. They beat him towards an inch of his life and that's how we found him. He was on heavy drugs, so he thought someone was chasing him. That's why he escaped. The blood on our clothes is from us trying to carry him back home. I need to find him because he is heavily injured, close to death, wandering the streets. It's urgent. And... he can be dangerous being so drugged." he said smoothly, looking like his drunkness had suddenly evaporated.

Inside, Bulma gasped and covered her mouth with the hand that Vegeta wasn't clutching.

Finally, for the first time, things clicked into place.

Vegeta had been lying all that time. He had been lying about his injuries, all the days he went missing, the gang fights, the falling down the stairs... It had always been Frieza! Bulma's hands shook as she realized that Vegeta had arrived beaten up to school ever since she could remember. Why hadn't anyone done anything? Why hadn't he told anybody? How many times before had he been in that exact same state, half-dead and consumed by horrible agony? Her eyes widened in mortification.

Unfortunately, Vegeta misinterpreted her horrified expresion. He thought she had believed Frieza and was going to tell him that he was there. His grip tightened on her hand with every ounce of strength that fear gave him.

"Please, no." he managed to choke out.

Bulma's soaked eyes followed the new stream of blood falling down his mouth. She grabbed his other hand and shushed him softly.

"I won't go anywhere. I didn't believe him." she assured. "You're safe."

Vegeta closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, but he didn't relax completely. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and never wake up again, but he was far too scared. What if Bulma had lied to him and bolted out of the room when he least expected it? What if Frieza suddenly barged into the garage and dragged him away? There was not much he could do at that point except scream, and he wasn't very sure about that either...

Outside, Dr. Briefs was losing his patience.

"Frieza." he said harshly. "Vegeta is not here, and if what you say is true, then I can only assume that this coversation is stalling you and Vegeta has gone far away by now. I'd suggest you go on looking for your, uh, precious nephew before his injuries get much worse."

Frieza growled low in his throat, but he knew that the doctor was right. He looked him up and down and realized that his clothes weren't bloodied, which meant he hadn't been in contact with the boy. He rolled his eyes and made a mental note to come back if they hadn't yet found Vegeta in an hour and a half. Them being awake at such hours was extremely suspicious. He motioned with his head for his minions to follow him and they sidestepped the old scientist before walking away, down the streets. Dr. Briefs watched them as they rounded the corner before heading into his house and towards the garage to get some boxes.

"He left." Bulma said, and Vegeta opened his eyes weakly. "You're safe. We'll take you to a hospital and - "

"No." he whispered, his eyes wide.

"Vegeta - "

The door behind her opened slowly, and Vegeta's eyes widened even more, if possible.

Dr. Briefs stood at the door.

"Jesus." he said as his eyes landed on the pair of teenagers on the floor.

"Daddy..." Bulma said, her voice trembling. "It's not what you think. F-Frieza was lying."

But the scientist didn't hear her. He hastily made his way towards the injured boy and kneeled next to him, his eyebrows furrowing at the fear in his eyes.

"Vegeta." Dr. Briefs said. "Frieza left. You're in a safe environment. Can you talk?"

Vegeta gasped and choked, letting out a few whimpers and moans.

"A-a-a... ha... li-little." he managed, before he began coughing uncontrollably. When he stopped, he moaned and his eyes closed, his head dropping forward.

"Gosh. Where does it hurt, son?"

"E-every... everywhere." he whispered.

"We need to get you medical attention." the scientist said. Vegeta gasped, his head shooting up and his eyes turning pleading and desperate again. Dr. Briefs shushed him softly and Bulma caressed the back of his hands with her thumbs, "We won't take you to a hospital. I know Frieza would check every hospital in the city and find you. Vegeta, as of now, you are under the Briefs' protection. We will not let Frieza get to you. We have enough medical resources to heal you. You'll be fine, Vegeta."

"Daddy." Bulma whimpered as Vegeta's convulsions suddenly grew worse.

"Bulma. Go to the medical department. Tell them it's a Level 5 emergency. We will need a team of no less than seven people on the ambulance van immediately, ready to recieve a severely injured patient in 5 minutes and absolutely ready for departure in exactly 30 minutes. Tell the workers that the van with the bags will need to be ready in twenty minutes. They need to load up on everything, so if there is anything you need to pack do it now Bulma." he commanded.

Bulma nodded and cleaned her tears before getting up and running out of the room.

The scientist turned to Vegeta and grabbed his hand, checkig his pulse. It was far too weak.

"Vegeta, son, listen to me." he said. Vegeta's eyes focused on him, his eyelids drooping tiredly. "Stay with me. I know you're in pain, but I need to lift you up and help you walk to the next room. Do you think you can get up if I help you?"

Vegeta nodded weakly, although he highly doubted it.

Dr. Briefs moved closer to Vegeta and wrapped his arms around the shivering boy, before getting up and taking him along with him. A horrible wave of pain crushed Vegeta from head to toe and he cried out, his legs giving out. The scientist had to fully hold him on his feet, and he winced at Vegeta's gasps of pain. He felt the warmth of Vegeta's blood seeping through their clothing and he swallowed, before he felt the boy trying to push away. Confused and afraid that he might be causing even more damage, he loosened his hold, still holding the boy on his feet but leaving some space between them. As soon as he did, Vegeta hunched over and vomited a worrying amount of blood all over the floor.

He cried out, before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and the passed out.

The Capsule Corp. scientific experiments were, more often than not, highly dangerous, so had made sure to have as much clinics as he could fit into his mansion and laboratories. That included the ambulance van, which was actually the size of a school bus. Inside, there was a clinic with every state of the art medical equipment they could fit, perfect for any emergency they needed to face. Many people had said it was a crazy idea, but it had actually come in handy several times.

Like at that moment.

They had left the house as soon as possible, Dr. Briefs worrying at the thought of Frieza coming back to look for Vegeta. Bulma and Mrs. Briefs were traveling in the other van, despite Bulma's hissy fit.

Now they were looking over Vegeta's naked, devastated body. Half of the team were at the verge of tears.

"Report." Dr. Briefs said.

"Superficially, the patient presents numerous lacerations, deep enough to allow formation of scars, all over the body. Bruising is present in almost every inch of the patient's body, including his neck and face. It is heavy and will need anti-inflamatories. Bullet wound on left shoulder, will need immediate removal, disinfection and stitches. Two and thrid stage burns all over the torso area; especial concern for the burn mark on left pectoral." a doctor listed out. Dr. Briefs couldn't contain the sharp inhale at the last statement as he stared at the Kold Enterprises logo etched against his skin. "Several broken bones, including ribs which are main concern for internal injuries. Heavy internal bleeding, massive amounts of blood loss, almost complete failure of right lung and several more organs. Heavy head traumas, suspicion of severe skull fractures..." she continued listing out several injuries for a long while.

"Alright." Dr. Briefs sighed after she was finished.. "Let's work on at least getting him stable."

After working on the horrible injuries they boy had sustained, and seeing the awful scars that years of abuse had left behind, Dr. Briefs got a little paranoid, so he ordered to change the course. What was usually a 7 to 8 hour trip, turned into a 12 hour one. He wanted to make sure that Frieza wouldn't follow them.

Capsule Corp. had state of the art technology that they hadn't even released to the world yet, but which proved extremely effective. After 8 and a half hours operating on the boy's body, they finally managed to get him to a stable state. In a normal hospital, the procedure would've taken at least 24 hours.

Then they switched places. The whole staff went into the transportation van, where they had bunk beds and air mattresses, and they laid down to get some well-deserved rest; and Bulma went into the ambulance van to finally see Vegeta.

She began to cry when she saw him. There was an oxygen mask strapped to his face, and tubes were going into his nose. A thick, transparent one was strapped to his throat and that highly worried Bulma. His face wasn't bloodied anymore, but the bruises stood on it screaming the worst kind of abuse imaginable. Gauze was wrapped around his whole body, and his head. Needles were inserted into the crook of both his arms and hands, and cables were connected to his chest, spurting up into several machines. A thin, white sheet was covering his body. His skin was that same colour, but ridded with blue, red, purple and black.

She sighed as she watched him sleep calmly. At least he was resting now.

Looking around, she spotted a folder on a table in the far corner and went to look at it. It was Vegeta's medical report. Long pages full of handwritten notes about his injuries and the treatment he would have to receive. She didn't care to read them, they were all in medical terms that she could barely understand, but she still flipped around them in curiosity.

Suddenly, she turned a page to find a ziplock with various photographies inside.

Knowing she'd regret it later, she opened it and pulled them out. They were photographs of his various injuries with footnotes and sticky notes on them. She flipped through them, horrified. Tears cascaded down her face as she stared at them. She could've never imagined the injuries to be so horrible. How had he even been able to move? She sobbed heavily as she stared at a pair of pictures of horrible, black burn marks on his stomach and head. The footnote read: "Second and third degree burn marks. Caused by electrocution device. Patient was likely submitted to extreme electrocutions for a long period of time."

"Oh, my God." she whispered, flipping through more of them, her tears falling more rapidly and her whole body shaking. How was he even alive anymore?

One of the pictures, though, was the last straw. She recognized the Kold symbol, only it was etched in blood and blisters. The footnote read: "Third degree burn mark. Suggests the victim was branded with burning metal. Will need several doses of Parnithymolia."

She hastily put the pictures back into the plastic bag and placed it inside the folder.

A groan behind her made her jump out of her skin. She gasped and quickly whirled around, watching as Vegeta's eyes moved below his eyelids before he took a deep breath. He suddenly jerked as memories attacked his brain and his eyelids pried open, his wide eyes darting around the room.

Bulma immediately moved to shush him. She placed a hand on his forehead and the cold contact seemed to soothe him, but he still gasped and sweat broke out throughout his body.

"You're safe." Bulma said softly.

"Bulma?" he gasped, shaking uncontrollably. "Where am I?"

"You're in one of Capsule Corp.'s - "

"Is this a hospital?" he asked, panicked, although he was sure he knew the answer. The beeping machines and medical devices around him told him as much.

"No." Bulma answered softly, to his surprise. "We're inside Capsule Corp.'s ambulance van. We're headed for out vacation house, far away from West City. It's not a hospital, but you're healed."

As soon as the fear began to evaporate, Vegeta could feel the soreness creeping through his body, but it was a thousand times better than the awful pain he had felt before. He slowly relaxed and took slow breaths, closing his eyes. Bulma watched him and slowly pulled a stool from the corner closer to Vegeta's bed. She sat next to him and grabbed his hand between hers, but he pulled away, his instincts still on edge.

"I..." he started, but he didn't know what to say. "I need some water."

Bulma nodded and got up from her chair, pouring some water into a glass from a container. She placed a straw in it and went back to his side, gently removing the oxygen mask from his face a little so that he could sip from it. He coughed a little before catching the straw between his lips.

The water felt wonderful. He had been so damn thirsty.

When he had drank enough to quench his thirst, Bulma removed the glass and placed it on the floor before rearranging the mask very gently. She watched as he closed his eyes again. She wanted to ask him why had Frieza done that, how long had that been happening, why hadn't he told anyone or seeked any help... but she knew that he would recoil from that like a cat from water, and he was far too exhausted. She watched as his breath deepened and he fell asleep again. She sighed and raked a hand across her hair, pushing it back from her face.

Sighing deeply, she got up from the chair and rubbed her face with her hands. Her phone suddenly began vibrating in her pocket. Confused, she took it out.

Goku.

"Hello?"

"Bulma! Where are you?" he asked desperately.

"I'm heading to the vacation - "

"Bulma, Vegeta's gone missing." his voice shook. "His siblings... got here very early in the morning. They were very scared and they said he was very injured. Has he tried to contact you? I'm very worried."

"Goku." Bulma said as realisation sank in on her. Had Goku known about Vegeta's condition all along? "Goku, did you know about everything?"

"What?"

"Did you know Frieza was responsible for his injuries?" she inquired in a hard voice, already knowing the answer.

"How did you...? Bulma, is he with you?"

She took a deep breath to try to calm herself.

"Yes, he's with me." she said. "We're headed to our vacation house where we'll heal him. Are his siblings safe?"

"Yes, they're here with us. I want to talk to him."

"He's asleep." Bulma answered. "Goku, how could you keep it a secret? If you knew why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"Bulma, you don't understand. He... he'll tell you himself when he wakes up. But, he's safe right?"

"Yes, he's safe. I'll call you when he wakes up. I can't believe what you did." she said, before hanging up and turning her cellphone off. She was very pissed off with Goku.

As soon as they arrived, it took two hours for the medical team to move Vegeta to one of the bedrooms and rearrange all of the medical equipments he needed. The medical bay in the vacation house was far too small and Mrs. Briefs had insisted, after hours of crying, that he should be as comfortable as possible.

Bulma sat on the desk inside his room, reading a book while she watched over Vegeta, who was sleeping soundly. He was still pale, and a doctor would often come through the door to check his vitals and tell Bulma some very encouraging words, which she half-heartedly tried to believe.

Finally, around 3 p.m., Vegeta began to stir.

Bulma was flipping through various channels on the T.V. that was located inside his room when she heard his low groan. She jumped and immediately straightened from her slumped position, her eyes wide and alert.

Vegetates memories came rushing back, again, as they often did when he woke up suddenly. He panicked at first, but the calm room around him made him hesitate, before he remembered his short conversation with Bulma. They had changed rooms since then, to a much wider one, but he was still connected to various machines and enveloped in layers of gauze and healing implements.

"Hey." Bulma said softly as his eyes focused on her. "How are you feeling?"

He swallowed thickly.

"Better." he muttered. "Why did you bring me here?"

Bulma's eyebrows furrowed.

"What else was I supposed to do? We wouldn't leave you there."

"I thought you'd take me to a hospital."

"You said you didn't want to. Besides, he would've followed you there."

Vegeta sighed and looked away from her blue eyes.

"Why did you care?" he asked softly.

"He was the one who did this to you!" she said, her voice pitching to a higher tone. "Do you really think we would've - "

"I didn't think you'd take my word over his." he said, softly, something dark and painful settling over his eyes. Bulma swallowed a thick lump in her throat and was about to console him, but his eyes froze up again in an emotionless mask as he looked up at her. "I need to call Kakkarot. I need to talk to my siblings."

"Oh, of course. Goku called me this morning, they're at his house and safe." she said, pulling out her phone and turning it on. While it loaded, Bulma looked at Vegeta, whose eyes were dropping again. His recovery was taking its toll on him. The doctors had warned them that Vegeta would need a lot of rest and sleep. "Do you think they're safe there? Frieza must know that Goku is your friend."

Vegeta sighed softly and nodded.

"There was nowhere else I could send them. It was late, and raining... and I was at the verge of death... I just hope Frieza thinks that I was smart enough not to go there." he said, before coughing a little and hissing in pain.

Bulma nodded and handed him the phone before stepping out to grant him some privacy. To her surprise, her father was just outside, reading some things off a notepad.

"Daddy?"

"Oh, dear." he said as he looked up from his notes. "I was just going in to check on Vegeta. Is he awake?"

"Yeah, he just woke up. He's on the phone with Goku; his siblings are staying there."

Her father frowned.

"Are they alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine."

"We should arrange for them to come here as soon as possible."

"I... think you should talk about that with Vegeta." she said hesitantly. She knew he'd rather make those decisions by himself.

They waited for a few minutes before walking back in. Vegeta was looking at the ceiling, the phone still in his hands.

"Vegeta." Dr. Briefs greeted him. The teenager turned his head. "I believe we have met briefly before. I'm Dr. Briefs."

"Doctor." Vegeta greeted, his voice soft and hoarse.

"Are they alright?" Bulma asked softly as she took her seat next to his bed.

"They're fine." Vegeta answered shortly. His eyes settled on the doctor, who smiled at him kindly.

"Would you like to sit up?" the doctor said. Vegeta nodded and he carefully, with Bulma's help, steadied him into a sitting position and accommodated his pillows behind him. He groaned and gasped, his eyes watering by the time he laid against the headboard, but he was a bit more comfortable. "I'd like to talk to you about your condition."

"I don't want to talk about what happened." he growled immediately, glaring at the man.

"Oh, no. I don't want you to talk about it until you're ready to do so, son." Dr. Briefs said. "This time I will be the one who'll do the talking. I just want to talk to you about your treatment, your procedures, and what will happen from here onwards." he turned to his daughter and smiled sweetly. "Bulma, dear, could you please leave us alone?"

Bulma was about to argue, but a look from his father told her it was for the best. She smiled at Vegeta and got up, leaving the room.

"Now." Dr. Briefs said, opening his notebook. "Most of your injuries should heal with the medications we'll be giving you. They'll be quite a lot, and you'll be feeling tired and weak for a few days, while your body recovers. Due to your internal injuries, you'll have to eat bland foods and drink a lot of water. You might find yourself very dizzy, and I wouldn't be surprised if you threw up a few times, even some blood, but you're alright. You're out of harm's way. Now... about the electrocution - " he started. He hesitated when Vegeta's eyes closed minutely and he shuddered, swallowing. He opened them again and tried to be strong, but the scientist could see the pain in his eyes, the memories going through his head. "Electricity will remain in your body for a few days, so you might feel a bit of a dull ache, but it's completely normal. It won't harm you anymore, but be careful with home appliances and stuff..." the doctor trailed off when he saw Vegeta's eyes watering. "Vegeta..."

"What about the burn marks?" he asked hoarsely.

Dr. Briefs took a deep breath. That was the part that he didn't want to get to.

"Most of them, we will be able to significantly reduce. Some scars will remain but - "

"Doctor." Vegeta said, his voice shaking a little. He cleared his throat. "Is there anything you can do about the... the symbol?"

Dr. Briefs sighed and looked into Vegeta's eyes.

"We will treat it. We will try our absolute best to cure it." he said. "But I can't promise you that it will disappear."

Vegeta closed his eyes, as if he simply couldn't bare the pain of truth.

"But..." the boy said. He opened his eyes again and the doctor was truly surprised to see them dry. Vegeta's strength of spirit would never cease to amaze him. "There's a possibility?"

The doctor stared at Vegeta for a minute before leaning back on the chair and putting the notebook aside.

"I wasn't going to tell you this, but I might as well." he said. "We're trying to develop a... burn healing cream. It significantly reduces the scars left behind by burn marks, repairs the damaged skin and everything. It's not done yet. We're still running experiments and to be honest we've had minimum success. If it works, we would be able to cure it; maybe even make it disappear. But there's a possibility that... we won't make it."

Vegeta looked away and nodded, feeling exhausted again. After a few more words and giving him a couple of pills, the doctor helped Vegeta to lie down again and left to let him rest.

Night came soon enough.

Vegeta had slept almost the entire day, only waking up to eat and take his medicines.

Bulma had spent the day consoling her mother, who wanted nothing more than to see the boy and smother him with hugs and kisses, but the doctors had advised little contact with him, since he was traumatised and jumpy in other people's presence. Everyone had a hard time sleeping that night, but they eventually managed.

However, in the middle of the night, Bulma got rudely awakened.

Vegeta was screaming to the top of his lungs, apparently pleading. He sounded horribly scared and in pain.

Without hesitation, she ran out of her room and bolted up the stairs, meeting with her parents at his door.

The scene that greeted them was every bit as bad as they imagined.

Thank you for reading! :)