Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews for the last chapter - I really appreciate it.

- Pic

Bulma

Year 754

Even with Vegeta paving the way, it's hard to move through the crowds, and she grunts as she catches someone's elbow in the ribs. Still, she follows behind Vegeta steadily enough, her box of spare parts in hand. At his insistence, Vegeta carries the machinery needed to make the gravity gear she has promised him. There's parts for quite a few other inventions she has on the cards, too, and they'll capsulize it all once they get out of the craziness of the Culampu market.

She's thinking about how she'll improve her ki blaster further when a gloved hand clamps down hard on her mouth, a second arm wrapping around her torso from behind and yanking her backwards. Her box of parts goes flying, and she squeals behind the gloved hand, but amongst the crush of the bodies the noise goes unnoticed, and Vegeta disappears from view. As her captor continues to drag her backwards, she catches the eye of a passer-by, trying desperately to communicate HELP ME through her widened eyes, but he simply averts his gaze and ignores what's going on. Everyone ignores her, even as she kicks and squirms and drags her heels, and she has the dreaded feeling that the creature who has caught her is one of Frieza's. There's armour pressing against her back, and as she is dragged down a quieter market alley and between two buildings, she catches sight of their reflection in the glass of a window.

All on their own, her limbs go limp, her body freezing in fear. The creature snarls and turns her around to face him, and she whimpers, looking up at the towering form of an angry Gripfrob. His hands hold her arms at her sides, and she can feel his talons pressing through his gloves into her skin.

He's not the same, she tells herself, but she can't quite get her lungs to inflate. Moss-covered bricks press against her back, and her hands shake. She remembers the way the last Gripfrob died at her feet, the way it took days to wash the smell of his blood away from her skin. This one pulls his lips back in a menacing smile, and she is struck by the similarities to last time. She stares at the same needle-like teeth, the yellow eyes that contrast with its scaly, maroon skin, and thinks that the universe is out to get her. This is some sick joke. This can't be real.

"Master Frieza is paying a lot for you, Bulma," he says, and the voice is so similar that for an instant she is back in that elevator, fighting for her life. Except that this time there are spots in her vision, and her arms, trapped as they are beneath his hands, can't move to activate her gun.

He wears a scouter, and as he leans in towards her, the screen flashes. The Gripfrob is close enough that she can hear the beeping alarm that indicates a high power level approaching.

It's all the warning she has before the Gripfrob's head disappears before her eyes, showering her with a spray of black blood. She shrieks, eyes wide as she presses further back against the wall, the Gripfrob's hands loosening, its headless body falling backwards onto the wet ground, severed arteries in the neck still spurting blood. Vegeta stands before her, but her vision shutters, turning grey, then black and dark. She is blind, and when hands come down on her shoulders she cries out, instinctively backing away. The hands pull her forward, up against a warm body that is comforting in its familiarity, and she leans into it as strong arms scoop her up.

Her vision returns, blurry at first, clearing as they take to the skies. She feels weak, and wraps her arms around his neck; more because she needs to feel anchored to something alive than for practical reasons. She needs to rid herself of the feeling of death that the Gripfrob dredged up.

Vegeta's arms are tight around her. She presses her face against his neck, a shiver running down her spine. He is silent, but she can feel the corded muscles in his back shift under her touch. It takes her a while to notice that there is a visible aura around them both, a blue light that glows faintly over Vegeta's outline. His ki.

"You're flying faster?" she questions, leaning back to look him in the eye.

"We're being followed. The Gripfrob wasn't alone."

"Oh." She shivers again, curling against him. They continue in silence. Time drags on, and she watches as the sea passes under them faster than before.

"Has it happened before?" Vegeta's voice is low, and it takes her a moment to process his words.

"Blacking out? No. I think… I think it was seeing his face; it just took me back to…" she trails off, the words caught in her throat.

"You can't let that happen again," he says, and a flash of anger bubbles within her. I didn't mean to, she wants to say, but she knows that he's right. She's angry, but it's directed at herself. She doesn't like that her body reacted that way. When she needed it to work it betrayed her, and she is suddenly fearful that something inside her is broken.

The silence is shattered by an eerie howl that burns her eardrums, and over the noise she hears Vegeta yell "Shit" as they dive sharply towards the water. The howl ends, surpassed by an explosion that blinds her, and she clings to Vegeta for dear life as they spin through the air. His tail wraps around her legs, his grip on her twisting until she is practically lying beneath him, one arm around her shoulders, his tail tucked beneath her knees. She watches as his free arm stretches out behind them, glowing bright blue, a blinding light shooting forth. The hairs on her arm all stand on end, her skin electric.

Her arms remain firmly around his neck. She frees one to activate her helmet, only seconds before he turns sharply and flies up, the planet speeding away from them. Purple skies turn black as they breach the atmosphere; he turns again, her stomach lurching as she feels the force of this movement, although she knows it would be a hundred times worse without his ki shield.

Another ki blast flies past them, and she grits her teeth, her free hand grabbing at her necklace with her right hand. The capsule comes free, becoming a gun that encases her entire hand, a wearable weapon. There is no safety on it, and she stretches her arm out, firing blindly. It doesn't matter – she's doing something, and that's all that matters right now.

She is too busy watching what is behind her – three fighters, from what she can make out – to notice the upcoming ship. Vegeta skids to a halt within the open airlock, tossing her to the ground. She lands hard, gritting her teeth against the shooting pain in her hip, and turns towards the closing door. Blasts fire at them, but Vegeta stands in the door, and his scream echoes into space as a wave of air seems to fire forth from his body. Within seconds the airlock closes; she hears the hiss as oxygen floods the room, the hum of the ship's protective shields locking into place. The ship shudders, jumping into hyper speed. It's a dangerous manoeuvre from standstill, but in this instance she won't complain about Raditz' piloting abilities.

She touches the button at the base of her neck, and her helmet disappears. She's lying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling, breathing heavily. She can hear Nappa's mindless yelling as the internal door to the airlock opens. Vegeta stands over her, and she meets his gaze.

"If you're going to use that thing," he sneers, pointing to her right arm, still encased to the elbow by her gun, "then at least learn how to aim." But there's humour in his eyes – he's teasing me – and she lifts the gun, grinning as she points it at his head.

"Boom," she says. "How's that for aim?"

He snorts, and walks away, his tail curling slowly behind him. She lowers her arm, and, after a moment, rises to her feet. Adrenaline courses through her, and she is giddy with it. There's a fire in her gut. She tells herself she can leave the fear behind.