The next chapter! I know it's been a while, but I've had school, school and more school. So thanks for your patience and understanding. I hope you like this chapter. I churned this baby out today, and it's more like a filler chapter. Sort of a transition towards Trunks birth and Vegeta's ascension to Super Saiyan. Hope it makes sense with everything else I've written up to this point. Let me know what you think.

And thanks to Bulma and Vegeta fan, HannibalFrost, SilverWing145, Pearl3, Saiya-jin Queen, Stella, Chazie, AngelKougaeri, Cappuccino Penguin, Le Noir de Adhara, Fool-4-Fantasy, The Al Bhed Princess, Kendal, Essence-chan and DragonBall Z maineak for reviewing. As always, you are the greatest and the driving force behind my writing. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters

Chapter 29

A month later, somewhere deep within the reaches of uncharted space…

Life was a pain in the ass. A burden, a joke and a fucking inconvenience.

Laughing cruelly at the lack of humor in his current situation, Vegeta gripped the side of his head as he slumped against the side of his battered and abused spaceship. Feeling frustration battling with the loss of his sanity, he ground a handful of alien rocks into his torn and dirty gloves, cackling at nothing in particular.

He was going to die. Alone. Utterly and completely alone. At least, if he didn't find a way to get off this lump of dried rock and interstellar debris, he was going to perish.

Bulma and goddamn Kakarrot were probably going to have a field day when they found out that the mighty had fallen. The only thing that could be said about his current predicament was that there was breathable air. Otherwise, as far he could tell, he was screwed.

"Fucking piece of shit spaceship! I hate you!"

He knew it was childish to yell and rant at an inanimate hunk of metal, but it was another outlet to vent his frustration besides laughing at nothing. Grinding his teeth and the dust in his gloves simultaneously, Vegeta closed his eyes and tried to think back to when everything had taken a turn for the worse, not counting the first the first month after he'd left and everything had seemed to go wrong with his ship.

Breathing through his nose and ignoring the throbbing in his head, he felt like crying as well as the uncontrollable urge to laugh. He was finally losing it. After all these years of harboring secret pain and distress, he was finally cracking under the pressure. All because he was stuck with a broken spaceship in the middle of nowhere with no communications and very few supplies left, since he'd only stole enough food to last for a couple of months after he had had to restock due to his rotting food stores.

His current streak of bad luck had started three days ago when his ship finally decided to kick the bucket in a relatively remote and out of the way corner of space. Thankfully, he'd been able to find a place to 'land' that would be able to support him for a little while, at least until he ran out of food and water and starved to death. What a pathetic end for a Saiyan warrior such as himself.

Reopening his eyes, he focused them upon the hazy horizon, licking his dry lips and tasting the metallic flavor of blood upon them. Shaking the dust out of his palms, he let his overactive and stressed mind think back to what had gone wrong.

Since the gravity simulator was still out of commission, he'd been landing on remote planets capable of supporting life to train alone. It had been rough the last month, but nothing he hadn't been accustomed too when he had been a purger for Frieza. Well, he considered, nothing except for the stupid leg pains his mate was transmitting to him through their bond. He'd become habituated to them, since they really weren't all that painful. They were just annoying as hell. Thank god he wasn't anywhere near Earth, or he probably would have sawed off his leg and Bulma's too to keep from feeling the pain she was experiencing.

Even though he'd been having a difficult time during his self-imposed separation from Bulma, things had finally started to look up where his training was concerned. Landing on planets that required a great deal of exertion for survival had re-honed his instincts much better then any training in the Gravity Room had done during the past two years or so. And the distance separating himself from Bulma had allowed him to concentrate on becoming more powerful with minimal distractions. Except, he supposed, for the unexpected consequence of feeling lonelier than he normally felt, along with whatever pregnancy-induced pain she was feeling. Stupid bond.

Blinking slowly, he let out a short breath and relaxed his body. What was the point of being pissed off at his current predicament? That wasn't going to get him anywhere, and thinking about Bulma wasn't going to do anything for him either. He needed to concentrate, figure out exactly what the hell had gone wrong with his ship before he let his mind wander off in strange directions.

Closing his eyes half shut and grimacing in pain as he lowered his head against the side of his ship, he analyzed in his brain exactly what had happened that had led to his current desperate situation.

Three days ago, the ship's systems had started to overheat. Realizing there was something wrong with the coolant output system, he'd shut off any unessential functions and looked for a nearby space station. Unfortunately for him, searching for bare, uninhabited planets that offered training space with no distractions had pushed him even farther out into the remoteness of space. The closest space station was ten days away if he flew at the highest speed his ship could muster. There was no way he would be able to fly that fast without overheating the ship's engines, and even if he could fly that fast, he wouldn't make it to the space station before his ship went completely dead. So he'd settled for the closest planet that could support life, sending him to this rocky heap of junk that somehow ended up being classified as a planet. It was more like an asteroid to him, but what the hell? He'd never concerned himself with astronomy anyway. What was the point, considering he'd turned more planets then he could count into wastelands all for the glory of the Ice-jin Empire. Letting out a sour laugh, he decided he'd rather not think about his time under Frieza if he didn't have to. Instead, he turned his thoughts back to making it to this worthless, crater infested boulder.

He'd made it to this planet in the knick of time. As soon as his ship entered the planet's mesosphere, almost all of the ships systems had cut out. Switching over to manual controls, he'd managed to land the ship, although it had been a rough re-entry and the ship's landing gear had failed to work properly. As soon as it had hit the rough ground, his ship had rolled down a canyon; throwing Vegeta out of the captain's chair and bouncing him around the ship like a rag doll. Fortunately, the ship's outer hull had been minimally damaged, a miracle in and of itself. And on top of that this ship had somehow managed to land upright, another small miracle.

Vegeta, unfortunately, hadn't fared as well. He had a head wound that was still bleeding, he most likely was suffering from a concussion and he had a few broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. His last serviceable training suit was ripped in places and the overall outlook of his situation looked dismal.

He could treat his injuries, having sustained much worse in the past on purging missions. And the planet would suffice as far as his training purposes went. But if he couldn't figure out a way to fix his ship's coolant system or radio someone to help him out, he was a living, breathing corpse.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the sleepiness that was descending upon him, a symptom of his concussion, Vegeta slowly stood back up and used the outside of his ship as a support. Groaning in pain, he limped back up the ramp into the dim interior of what had been his home for the last four months or so.

Thinking fuzzily, he realized that there had to be some sort of manual for repairs. Bulma and her father didn't seem to be the type to make a prototype without some sort of guide for fixing it, should it break down. He'd never bothered to look for it before because in the past, he'd always had Bulma to rely upon for repairs. Now, however, it was up to him to solve the problem of getting out of the planet's surface alive.

Letting out a whine of pain when he accidentally jarred his injured shoulder against the control center, Vegeta knelt down before it and removed the outside panel that hid part of the ship's wiring. He vaguely remembered seeing Bulma grab something out of there that had looked like a book of some sort. Hoping the thought in his head wasn't a delusion brought about by his head injury, he felt around until his hand closed around something that definitely didn't feel like wiring or bolts. Pulling it out, he let out a sigh of relief that the object he held was indeed a repair manual. Dusting off the cover, he threw it over to his bed, which had thankfully been bolted down along with everything else on the ship. He didn't want to even think about what could have happened had he tried to land the ship and then had to duck from flying objects. What a pain.

Standing up shakily, Vegeta slowly walked over to one of the many storage cabinets that his ship held. Pulling it open, he felt that horrible sense of wanting to cry when the capsules fell out and landed on his feet, rolling across the floor of the ship. Blaming it on stress, he chased after the escaping capsules, grabbing one that was marked with a cross for first aid.

Taking his find back to his bed, he sat down on the messed up covers, slowly and carefully lifting his armor clear of his body and then peeling down his body suit so that he chest and arms were exposed.

Feeling down his side with his good arm, he found the spot where two of his ribs where fractured. Pushing them back into position, he let out a strangled cry of pain. Panting unevenly, he took the capsule and pushed the release button, watching as a first aid kit suddenly appeared next to him on the bed. Opening it up, he pulled out a roll of body wrapping and started to bind his ribs. With that task finished, he walked over to the bathroom area and washed away the blood that had clotted in his hair and spilled down part of his face. Watching as the rust colored water rinsed down the sink to the water-recycling container, he let out a short sigh, wincing when his diaphragm expanded and contracted, agitating his broken and sore ribs. Carefully examining his scalp with his one good hand, he found the head wound had stopped bleeding and was relatively shallow. Just to be on the safe side, he wrapped up part of his head with the rest of the bandages that were left over and then left the bathroom.

Sitting back down on his bed, Vegeta slowly pulled his body suit back up. When that was done, he mentally prepared himself for the pain he knew he was going to experience and then he thrust his shoulder back into position, biting down a scream of agony. Breathing heavily, he closed his dark eyes and focused his mind on his goal to reach Super Saiyan as a way to remove the pain from his body. In a few minutes, all that was left was a dull throbbing in his head, on his side and up his shoulder. Rummaging around once again in the first aid kit, he pulled out a sling and put his arm in it.

Leaning carefully against the wall his bed was next to, he found his eyes starting to close and snapped them open before he could fall asleep. He knew that he had to stay awake for another few hours, but with the stress his body had endured and throbbing his head and the rest of his body were lulling him into a state of forced relaxation. It was dangerous to be alone with a head injury, but again, he had been in worse situations and had come out fine. Besides, being a Saiyan, his healing capabilities where much quicker then that of humans. In a couple of days, there would be no sign that he had ever hit his head. However, for the time being, he had to remain focused or else the consequences could be bad.

Slowly grabbing the manual, he opened it up and tried to concentrate on the print that was swimming across his vision. Squeezing his eyes shut, he threw the book to the side and then found himself leaning over the bed and vomiting on the floor.

"Fuck!" he groaned as he wiped away the sour bile and saliva that was clinging to his chin.

Swallowing, he felt the uncomfortable burning sensation in his throat from the acid that had been thrust up and out of his esophagus. It was completely revolting, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment, too dizzy to walk back over to the tap for a drink of water.

Lying back on the bed, he closed his eyes, feeling as though the ship where moving beneath him, even though it was stationary. Opening that book had been a stupid idea on his part, but it had been the only thing he could think of to try to keep himself from falling into an unconscious state. Now he was dizzy, nauseous, had a splitting headache and felt like he wanted to pass out. None of those were good signs, yet there was nothing he could do about it. He was irrefutably stuck in a bind.

Willing away his nausea, he shifted his mind towards Bulma. He had been thinking about her more frequently then he would have liked in the past month, but at least he could say he finally felt in control of his mind once more, after months of feeling his mental walls crumbling away. Still, there was something about their bond that drew his stray thoughts to her, like a moth to a flame. Feeling his body starting to drift towards unconsciousness, he opened his mind fully towards their connection, something he hadn't done since he had gone to her in a dream, asking her for help though it had killed some of his pride to do so. Smiling dreamily, he realized then as he did now that it had been nice seeing her, although he would never physically admit to such…such feelings on his part.

In a manner of seconds, he felt a jolt as her awareness joined with his. Had his brain not been injured at the moment, he would have been in complete control of their meeting, shaping their rendezvous to reflect where he was and what he needed. This meeting, however, was more of an injury and loneliness induced one. One in which he didn't have control at all, not being able to function or act like he normally did.

He found himself in a black void, laughing as he looked at himself and realized he was completely naked. Giggling like a drunken moron, he collapsed on the floor of the void and waited until Bulma's mental image appeared before him.

"V...Vegeta?" She asked and he laughed.

"Who else would it be…Woman?" Giggling over how stupid he sounded, he tried to stand up and felt the void tilt on its axis, making him fall over and groan in dizziness.

"What…what exactly is wrong with you? This isn't some sort of sick and twisted joke, is it? Because I'm not in the mood, asshole!"

Sitting up again, he rubbed the back of his head and winced, feeling a sharp pain shoot through his skull. That wasn't right, was it? Was it possible to feel pain here? He thought that maybe it was, but he couldn't remember. Where was he anyway?

"Joke? Woman, I have no sense of humor. I'm a Saiyan Prince!"

Mumbling 'Saiyan Prince' to himself, he started giggling again, for no other reason except that in this strange dream, it felt right. Lying on his back, he cried out in pain when he rolled onto his side. Pain…pain…where was the pain coming from? Moving over onto his back, the ache receded, but his confusion only seemed to increase. Looking towards the top of the expanding darkness around him, he yelled when a ghostly face peered into his own, milky skin and piercing blue eyes contrasting sharply with the inky black that surrounded him.

"For Kami's sake, it's me Vegeta. Bulma. Get a grip on yourself and put some clothes on or something. You're starting to scare me with the way you're acting."

"Weeellll Woman, now you know what it's like."

"What what is like Vegeta?"

"To have your barriers stripped away, your pride stolen and your sanity reduced to nothing."

Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of elation, happy to have finally told her how he really felt about things. Wait, did he want to tell her those things? Crinkling his eyebrows, he felt confused. No, he didn't want her to know about his vulnerability, did he? That's why he had escaped from her, right? Deciding he really didn't know and that he didn't care, he relaxed a bit until he felt something prodding him on his shoulder.

Opening his eyes slowly, he saw the figure of his woman leaning over him again, a look of deep concern on her face warring with one of disgust and anger.

"Come on Vegeta, snap out of it! If this is some sort of nasty prank you're playing on me at the expense of our bond, I don't think it's amusing in the least. I don't want to be here. So let me out or at least tell my why you're acting so…so creepy!"

She sounded afraid, his Bulma, and he couldn't have that. Not here, not in this place. Pushing himself upright again, he cradled his head in his chin, trying to focus his fuzzy, swimming thoughts into something that made sense. Something he could piece together for her.

"I crashed the space capsule."

Yes, that was it, wasn't it? Letting out a grunt of irritation over his lack of focus, he started to pick at his fingernails, noticing that they seemed dirty to him for some strange reason. Losing his mental concentration again, he almost jumped out of his skin when Bulma reacted to his statement.

"You what? Oh my God Vegeta! Are you hurt? Where are you? Do you need somebody to come out and rescue you?"

Feeling the world rocking around him, it took him a moment to realize that she was shaking his shoulders. Crying out in pain, he pushed himself away from her, trying to get as far away from discomfort as was physically possible.

"Don't touch me. You're hurting me." Pouting slightly, he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the shaking would dissipate.

In what seemed to be a decent amount of time, he opened them again, only to find Bulma kneeling next to him, her stomach protruding from her like some sort of giant monstrosity. Leaning forward slightly, she took his hand in hers and stroked it gently, calming down the agitation he was feeling from being so confused.

"I'm sorry Vegeta. I didn't mean to hurt you. If you don't think about the pain, it won't bother you here. I've been coming to a place sort of like this a lot, hoping to see you, even though I think you're the biggest dick the world has ever known. But my leg doesn't bother me here and that's the other reason I come so much when I'm tired or sleeping."

"Woman…" It felt nice, comforting almost, to be sitting here like this with her. Why had he wanted to leave? It didn't seem clear to him anymore. Because she scared him? Because he didn't understand his own feelings? Those seemed to be petty reasons to his hazy, pain and injury induced mind.

"Really Vegeta, try to think of where you are and what happened. If this really isn't some sort of mind game that you're playing on me, it seems like your mental projection, if that's what this is called, is reflecting your physical state. You're acting loopy, like you have a head injury or something. Or else you're drunk or on drugs. Either way, it doesn't seem good. Can you think of anything?"

Swallowing, he tried to concentrate on details that he knew where floating around somewhere.

"I…no rescue. It's under control. Hit my head, broke my ribs and dislocated my shoulder. I feel sick." His head was throbbing from the extensive use of trying to piece things together for her.

"Vegeta, that does not sound like you have things under control. How did you end up crash landing anyway?"

Growling in irritation, he couldn't figure out why she was asking so many damned questions. He didn't want to answer any more questions to make himself clearer. Couldn't she see that he was tired and confused? What the hell was her problem?

"I don't fucking know, alright? Ugh." He hissed in pain as he tried wrenching his body away from hers to give himself a small amount of space.

Sighing, Bulma rubbed the bridge of her nose. He was definitely out of it, but that just worried her even more. If what he was saying were true…he could be dying for all she knew. And he was too unfocused to help her out.

"Calm down Vegeta. Just relax and think a little. How did you end up crashing the ship?" she asked in a soothing tone of voice.

Sighing deeply, Vegeta thought back even though it was difficult for him to grasp the information that passed through his mind. It took him a few minutes, but he finally figured out the answer to her inquiry. Well, he hoped it was right anyway. She couldn't say that he hadn't tried.

"The…the coolant system malfunctioned. Ship overheated."

Bulma let out a sigh of relief. Of all things that could malfunction, that was the easiest to fix. Most likely, the coolant system had either encountered a short or one of the valves had broken, causing the ship to automatically siphon off the coolant to a storage container. Once his ship cooled back down, if he used his brain and the ship's repair manual, there were spare parts for repairs like that stored on board. All the other systems would work once the ship wasn't overheating. But then again, it was a good thing he had found someplace to land before all of the ship's systems cut out from overheating. The scenarios that played across her mind made her shudder.

"Well, you should be able to fix that. You found the manual didn't you? I had dad put in essential spare parts in case something like this would happen to you. Just follow the instructions in the repair manual and you should have the ship up and running in a day or two."

Vegeta just shook his head, too out of it and too confused to really understand everything Bulma had spouted off to him. She talked too much, one thing he hadn't missed about her at all.

"Fine Woman." Trying to stand up, he collapsed back into a heap and groaned. He felt like his head was going to explode. Grabbing onto a fistful of hair, he rubbed at his scalp vigorously, trying to ease away the ache that was permeating through his skull.

"Vegeta, are you sure you don't need to be rescued? Nobody's going to hold it against you, you know. I could get Goku to use his disappearing thingy or something to get you back."

Snapping his eyes open, Vegeta glared at her. How she could suggest such a thing as having Kakarot come and rescue him was beyond ridiculous.

"Noooo." He slurred out. He would find his way back, wouldn't he? Yes, he would. He was a Saiyan after all.

"Vegeta, you aren't thinking rationally here. I don't want you to die."

"I'm not dying…I'm…I'm…sleeping."

With that said, he decided he was through talking with her, even though he didn't really want to leave. But speaking with her was making him feel even sicker then before. Besides, lying on the floor in the nude was uncomfortable and cold. He wanted to be warm again.

Not saying anything to her, he somehow managed to pull his deranged consciousness away from their bond and back into his own head, disappearing altogether from Bulma.

Not even really thinking, he drifted back to a complete and dreamless sleep, one that he would hopefully wake up from.

Meanwhile…

Bulma woke up on her makeshift bed in the downstairs family room. Rubbing her eyes, she let out a yawn and then let her thoughts drift lazily across her half-conscious mind.

Vegeta…she had seen Vegeta. Yawning again, she sat up slowly, trying not to disturb her leg and back. The last thing she needed at the moment was a sharp pain up her side.

Where the hell was he? She was more then a little irritated that he hadn't contacted her in over a month, ever since she had wound up in the emergency room because of her sciatic nerve condition. However, that connection had been…disturbing. Whether it was just a figment of her overactive imagination or that had actually been him, she never wanted to seem in such a state again. Although she didn't really like Vegeta's overall personality, seeing him so confused and loopy was disconcerting. There was no way that she was ever going to allow him to get drunk. She didn't think she'd be able to live with him if ever allowed anyone to see him in such a…giddy state of mind.

Still, if he really was stranded and injured on some strange planet, she didn't like the idea of him dying from his injuries because he was too proud to ask for help, even in as mixed up of a state of mind as he had been in. Trying to shake the uneasiness from her thoughts, she tried to get comfortable again, realizing that it was only a little after 2:00 in the morning. Unfortunately, her body had other ideas.

Shuffling her legs over the side of the bed, she heaved herself upwards and prepared herself for the sharp pains that were going to accompany such a sudden movement on her part. However, instead of feeling the usual agony, she felt…nothing. Well, nothing besides her overriding need to urinate.

Waddling across the hallway to one of the downstairs bathrooms, Bulma made it just in time. Washing her hands, she cursed her pregnant state, almost thanking Kami that in less then a month, her baby was going to be born. She had had enough of swollen ankles, back pains, sciatica and a reduced bladder size to last her for a lifetime. After this, she was going to swear of men for life, especially Vegeta.

Shaking her head, she waddled back to the family room and pushed her way into the bed, realization finally dawning on her that she wasn't feeling her usual symptoms from sciatica. This meant only one thing: that her baby had finally shifted position. If she could have, she would have danced around the room in a circle. But her current body shape and lack of energy didn't really recommend her silly idea. Besides, she was back to worrying about Vegeta.

He was such a proud and arrogant idiot. If he had any common sense in his oversized head, he would have turned around as soon as things had started to fall apart on that stupid space capsule. But no, he wasn't the kind of man who would turn back on his word for something as insignificant as repair. Besides, she thought, he would have been insufferable to live with, most likely blaming her for the return home.

At any rate, the thought of him alone and stranded wasn't something she wanted to dwell on, especially since she was getting close to her time. The fact was, no matter how much she tried to deny her feelings for Vegeta they were there. She loved him in a strange sort of way, even though she was still extremely angry and hurt over his abandonment of her. And even though she wasn't going to act like the ever forgiving, dutiful little wife when he got back, she had secretly harbored a hope that somehow, someway, he would make it back for the birth of their baby. But obviously, something as significant as a birth was lost on him and his ultimate goal to reach Super Saiyan. In her opinion, it was pretty sad when a father was more concerned about power and greatness then welcoming their firstborn into the world.

Rubbing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep. This whole situation sucked, no matter how she looked at things. Even though she had gotten over blaming herself for Vegeta's disappearance, things certainly weren't easy. And they weren't going to get any easier when he got back either. He would have to readjust himself to her and he would have to discover fatherhood at the same time. Besides that, she would have to face the fact that we would most likely continue to prepare for the Android attack and that once that day finally arrived, he might never come back again. He could leave her after the fight or he could die, and neither one of those scenarios sat well with her, no matter how much she might dislike Vegeta currently.

Sighing, she shifted in the bed, leaning up against her bed pillow. Closing her eyes, she said a little prayer to Kami to guide and help her arrogant mate out of whatever predicament he currently was in. Pretending she was holding onto Vegeta, she let out a yawn and drifted back to sleep.

Where is Vegeta and will he recover from his injuries? And is Bulma really cured for the moment? And of course, will Trunks finally make an appearance? Find out in the next chapter! And as always, please read and review!

Also, a bit of shameless self-promotion: I have another Bulma/Vegeta story called "Don't Ever Let Go." It's different than this one as it takes place after the Cell games. Please check it out and tell me what you think, if you would like to. Thanks-Vegamarie