Chapter Two The Kidnapping

The first thing that Bulma heard was worried voices. She couldn't depict what they were saying or even who was saying them, all she was certain of was that they involved her. She cracked her eyes open but shut them against the bright light moaning softly in protest. Someone dimmed the lights enough to allow her to open them, but she didn't. She just sat there taking in deep breaths. Vegeta's scent filled her nostrils and her eyes shot open. Her son, Trunks, was leaning over her with a worried expression. She was lying in her own bed. She scanned it but Vegeta wasn't there. The bed was still fresh with his familiar scent. "G'mornin' Mom!" "Oh, Bulma, you gave us quite a scare!" her mother exclaimed. "We didn't think you'd pull through.. You've been asleep for quite some time you know.." "Why what day is it?" Bulma asked groggily. She sat up, or tried to but couldn't without Trunks's help. "It's Friday, dear." her mother replied slowly. She exchanged a glance with Trunks. "Friday! I've been asleep for a week! I have so much work to do!" "Bulma, it's the 26th. the 26th of November." "November! But, how?" Bulma shouted, "I've been asleep for over a month?" Her family nodded slowly. She stared in disbelief, unconsciously rubbing her stomach. She still hadn't told her parents about her pregnancy. She looked out the window, "Any sign of Vegeta?" once again her family shook their heads, "Fine.. Um, can you guys go.? I kinda want to be alone right now." Her father came in then. He came over to Bulma and gave her a hug mumbling a thank-you to Kami before her mother ushered him from the room. Bulma slumped back against the headboard of the bed. Outside the snow fell softly to the ground. She wanted to go out on her balcony and breathe the fresh air, but she knew it wasn't possible. Silence, she thought to herself. The silence wouldn't last long though. As she stared out the window, Goku appeared with a worried Videl and Piccolo. "Good, I was hoping you were awake." Goku panted. His expression was one that Bulma had seen many times while he battled. "What's wrong?" Bulma asked sitting erect in bed. Videl was afraid and she kept rubbing her stomach. And Piccolo had gone to the window, looking around suspiciously. "Someone's hunting the Z warriors. They've got Krillen, 18, and they almost got Gohan this morning." Goku said looking down the hallways. He came back in and helped Bulma out of bed, "They're systematically hunting down the Z warriors. Every time someone charges up to train or to fly, these people know about it. And we can't sense them, but from what I can gather, they aren't androids just different." "We didn't even hear them coming.." Videl whispered. She clutched her bag to her. "Come on, Bulma, we're going to get you, Vegeta, and Trunks out of here." Goku said grabbing a suitcase from the closet. "No." Bulma said sternly. Everyone turned abruptly to look at her, "I'm not leaving without Vegeta. He isn't back yet and if he comes home. No." "Bulma, this is no time to be irrational! Vegeta would want you to be as far from danger as possible and you know it just as well as I do!" Goku shouted. He crossed the room and held her by both shoulders so that she looked at him in the eyes, "You don't know what these men can do. They don't care who they harm, they just destroy whatever and whomever gets in their way." "I can't.... Take Trunks if you must. He's the one in danger. I can't charge up or anything, so they probably won't even come here, but I can't leave without Vegeta." "Do you know where he is?" Bulma shook her head, her gaze drifting to the ceiling as a tear slid down her cheek. Kami, she wished she did.... "Then how can you be so sure that he is even still alive?" Piccolo asked abruptly. Bulma sent an angry glare in his direction. "Vegeta is fine!" "But, how do you know?" Videl asked timidly. Bulma could tell that the attack must have scared her a lot. "I can feel him. I can feel his emotions." "How? We can't sense him. How is it that you can?" Piccolo asked from the corner. "I don't know...." Bulma admitted slowly. After a moment's silence Goku finally said, "Fine, we'll leave you, but call me if you need anything, got it?" When Bulma nodded Goku added, "We'll take Trunks with us. This way you'll both be safe." "No, way!" Trunks blurted out from the door, "Dad wouldn't want me to leave mom alone! I'll stay and protect her." Goku stared at Trunks, then at Bulma and back again, "I shouldn't even have bothered. Your whole family is stubborn!" When they left Bulma reached out for Vegeta, but could no longer sense him. She knew deep in her heart that he was dead.

* * * * *

Bulma didn't sleep that night. She sat on the balcony outside her room with Trunks sound asleep in the chair next to her. She took a sip of water and stared at the stars. It was chilly enough out for her to see her breath on the air in front of her. She saw Trunks shiver next to her. Bulma sighed contently but sadly as she stood to retrieve a couple blankets from a closet in the house. She came back out with two blankets, a pillow, and some files from her office in her hand. When she stepped onto the balcony her breath caught. A highly built frame stood over her son with an energy ball in his hand. The figure bent closer to Trunks. She dropped her things and flung herself at the intruder remembering what Goku had said. The man stood up so quickly that Bulma was certain that she'd fall off. She began kicking and flailing at any body part she could manage to hit. The man panicked at first but finally he grew agitated and flew high into the air. Bulma struggled to hold on but he was going to fast. She felt herself grow light-headed before she began to drop through the air. Bulma felt weightless as she dropped through time and space. She knew that when she hit the ground, death would come swiftly and she welcomed it. Earlier that day she had even thought of joining Vegeta in the other world, but didn't because of Trunks. She had been falling a long time and knew the ground couldn't be far. Not long now, she thought smiling, suddenly taken over by a warm sense of security. Then something happened. One second Bulma is falling, no, plummeting to her death, the next she is in strong arms. Tears formed in her eyes. She beat at the chest of her rescuer. She looked into his face but couldn't make him out with tears blurring her vision. He took her back to the balcony where he set her down slowly, but yet gently. She turned to the man and stood there trembling with anger, "So it was you! You took Vegeta away from me! You're the one who took Krillen and 18! You're nothing but a cowardice murderer! So go on, get it over with! Kill me! End my miserable existence! Take away all the pain you've inflicted upon me or I will give it back three fold!"

* * * * *

Vegeta stood in shock. Bulma really thought him dead? That explained her look of joy as she fell, he supposed. But why would she think he was dead. He had come close and no doubt he had wished death upon himself.but how did she know? How could she know what he had been through over the last few weeks? Had it really only been a few weeks? To him it had been an eternity. an endless cycle of torture. What had she endured that could make the strong-willed woman he knew disappear so suddenly? And what did she think she could do to his ex-captors? He had hardly dented them let alone sent any pain back to them for his own suffering. She stood in front of him completely impassible. She had closed herself off from everything around her at some point after he had left on that fateful afternoon. The Bulma he had grown to love would never have done that without some major prompting. True, she could get annoying, with the way she always expressed her feelings, but that was half the fun in being her husband. He couldn't control her, but he could always reach her. Now, it seemed that she had a heart of stone that he would never break. "Bulma, look at me." she did but only with her chin raised high, "Wipe away your tears and look at me. It's me, Vegeta. I'm home." He let this sink into her head a moment. He could see her face contorting in the dim light. She was holding back the wave of treacherous tears that were attempting to spill from her bright blue eyes. "Liar." she hissed so vehemently that he almost took a step backwards. He had almost believed himself to be lying, "You can't fool me! Just because you took his shape doesn't mean you could ever replace him! I drove him off with my stupidity and now he's dead! You killed him! But I will not allow my stupidity to dishonor him!" "Bulma it's me!" he said trying to remain calm. He stepped toward her causing her to attack him with another onslaught of her meager pounds to his chest. He grabbed her wrists, losing all sense of control and squeezed. She yelped in pain once but then remained silent. Realizing what he had done, he released Bulma and stepped away, "Bulma, I-I'm so sorry.. I didn't m-mean it honest.. I just.." "Demon spawn! You are nothing more than a sick murderer! I hate you with a hate deeper than you can ever fathom! Y-You think you're something? You think you're anything special? You're not! You aren't worth the Earth you stand on or the air you breathe! You're worthless! And you'll pay for all of your crimes!" with that she jumped at him, catching Vegeta off guard. She pounded at him with more power than he had ever seen her muster. He could hardly see where the punches were coming from in the pitch-black. "Woman!" Bulma stopped mid-punch. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Vegeta felt the tiny droplets land softly on his face. She climbed off of him with her hand over her mouth, "V-Vegeta?" She walked backwards until she bumped into the wall of the house. Tears were flowing freely now and Bulma believed herself hallucinating. She reached out one more time to feel for Vegeta and found him. Hope leapt in her heart. He was alive, in great pain that flowed through her every pore, but the fact remained that he lived. Bulma pushed all of her concentration towards locating Vegeta. She hadn't tried it before but she had been able to tell if he was far away. She closed her eyes and searched for him. Searched for his mind. "Bulma?" the man said in a questioning tone. Bulma ignored him and drove her focus for him and his location. Her eyes didn't and wouldn't open until she knew his location, "Bulma what are you doing?" After a few minutes Bulma's eyes shot open and she was trembling with the emotions that were threatening to rise up and swallow her whole, "It is you!" she sobbed quietly. She trembled with joy, anger, sorrow, and love. "You doubted me?" Vegeta asked with his immovable smirk. Her heart almost evaporated at his arrogance. She had come to know it so well that it was like his normal self to her by then. He walked slowly toward her but stopped from the pain. He didn't wince or even show any signs of pain, but Bulma did. She had grimaced. Not a very obvious movement, but Vegeta had caught it. Could she feel his pain? No. Of course not.. it wasn't possible. But she had. "You're in pain. Let me help y-you to a chair." she sniffled walking towards Vegeta. "How do you know that I'm in pain?" Vegeta asked calmly, "I haven't given you any sign of that." "I'm not sure how I know, I just do." She helped Vegeta across the balcony one slow painful step at a time. They sat next to Trunks who lay sound asleep still, "Is he in a coma?" Bulma asked checking Trunks's pulse. It was rather slow. "Kinda. He used a lot of energy to protect you by putting an energy shield around the whole of West City. He wanted to be sure that nothing with a high power level would make through to Capsule Corp without his knowledge of it. It was a brilliant idea, but he used to much energy and as soon as I passed through it, it dissipated." Vegeta explained quietly. He leaned back and closed his eyes, "He'll need a cenzu bean to heal his fatigue and to replenish his strength and then we need to leave. We have to get out of here. " "They'll be coming for you and Trunks won't they?" Bulma whispered. "You know about them?" Vegeta asked looking at her, surprise in his eyes. Bulma nodded slowly and he shook his head, "They don't want me or Trunks. They released me knowing that I would come home.." he paused, "They want you." "Me?" Bulma asked taken aback, "Why me? I'm no Z warrior. Goku told me that they are systematically attacking the Z warriors." "They are only after the Z warriors because they would protect you. You and that brain of yours.." Vegeta sighed. He was exhausted, Bulma could feel it and the lines on his face showed the pain he didn't want her to know about, but she felt that too, "The dark one, he. he wants your knowledge of time travel. Something about an old rival from the past he needs to settle a score with. I told him that I didn't know you or who you were. I told him.." "You told him that there was no such thing as time travel." she finished. He looked at her questioningly, "I dreamt it. I dreamt that a tall man with dark clothes, eyes and a sallow complexion. He asked you a lot of questions, but I couldn't hear them. I only knew your replies.. When you didn't give the answer he wanted to hear, he would leave for the day. but his servant would come and-and he'd.." Bulma broke off, a tear sliding down her cheek, which she wiped away. She ran her hand through her hair and allowed a slow shaky breath to escape her mouth. She regained her composure and added, "I don't know how I remembered the dream.. I didn't even think about until now. I'm so sorry, Vegeta. This is my fault entirely.. If I hadn't been so pig-headed I wouldn't have.." "Shhh. Bulma, it wasn't all your fault. I shouldn't have called you a crackpot scientist. I had no right. You're intelligent, brilliant even, and beautiful." Vegeta sighed wiping a tear gingerly from her face. "See, admitting your faults isn't difficult, is it? But I don't know how beautiful I am. And as for the intelligence factor, a lot of good that's done for me. My whole life my intelligence has done nothing but get me into trouble. Even back when we went to Namek, I got dragged into it because I was the only one with the expertise to pilot the ship safely. Then there was the time when Frieza's men made me take them to the Dragon ball under water with my water suit. It does more bad than good. Look at what happened to you for instance.." "Well, the important thing now is that we get you, your parents and Trunks somewhere safe." Vegeta said standing. Bulma felt his pain and ordered him to sit. She went to the gravity chamber in the backyard and got the reserve cenzu beans from their compartment. But she didn't go back. She stopped at the door to their bedroom. Vegeta was afraid, terrified. She felt his anger and his defiance and she knew that the dark man was there. She could hear their voices. "Where is she, Vegeta?" a scratchy, but powerful voice asked quietly. His voice was mesmerizing but firm. Bulma closed her eyes and tried to see what Vegeta was seeing. The tall man was standing in the middle of the balcony towering over her husband threateningly. He was holding a dagger in his hand that he was twirling it casually between long spindly fingers. She wanted desperately to run in and help her family but Vegeta would kill her, granted the dark man didn't kidnap her first. Bulma wanted to call Goku, but she couldn't. She didn't have a link with Goku, but Vegeta did. If only she could reach him. She knew that he couldn't pick up on her. He was like a beacon and she was the only one on the receiving end. Bulma decided to reach for Goku anyway. And she didn't know why, but he heard her. He arrived in front of Bulma using the instant transmission. "What's wrong?" Goku asked looking tired and slightly irritated. "He's here. He's out on the terrace with Trunks and Vegeta." Bulma whispered, "He has a knife and I can feel an immense power radiating from him." "Wait. You can sense him?" Goku asked shocked. "That's not important right now. Right now I want you to help my family Goku, please." Goku nodded softly and signaled with his fingers for her to wait a moment. He disappeared and when he reappeared he had Gohan, Piccolo, and Goten with him. Goku began discussing a plan of action when suddenly Bulma let out and agonizing, high-pitched scream.

* * * * *

"Come now, Vegeta. She can't really mean that much to you. You're a saiyan. Saiyans care for no one but themselves." the man said moving closer to Vegeta. He was still seated, unable to move. The man stopped directly in front of Vegeta, "She's connected to you, you know. She has her own psychic abilities. That's how she's able to calculate things so easily and how come she was able to know and feel what you knew and felt. So if you don't tell me where she is, I'll have to hurt you. But, before you let your big head get the best of you, remember that what you feel, she feels." "You're lying." Vegeta hissed in anger and hate. He stared up at the man defiantly, waiting for the pain, praying that Bulma wouldn't come, and hoping that he was wrong about her. The dark man's mouth curved into a cruel smile. He sent an impulse into Vegeta's head, ordering him to stand. He did. The dark man raised the knife and brought it swiftly down, burying it deep between his neck and collarbone. Then he heard it. The scream of a woman. Vegeta's eyes filled with anger, hatred, pain and worry. The dark man sensed Vegeta's want and need to move, but the man held Vegeta still with his mind as he had during his servant's torture sessions. He raised the blade again and drove it deep into Vegeta's other shoulder. Blood oozed out of the wounds as the man raised it again and aimed for Vegeta's heart. He began to bring it down but was knocked to the floor by a kick to the head. Trunks had awoken finally, still tired and lacking a lot of energy. His mother's screams had awoken him. He turned as Goku came running onto the terrace with Gohan, Goten, and Piccolo. He and the others made a line between the dark man, Vegeta, and the door. Vegeta could hear Bulma's sobbing and pain filled wails. He wanted to run to her, make everything all better again, but Vegeta couldn't move. He heard the sobs grow closer. She was in the bedroom. He cursed under his breath at his own incompetence and tried once again to move. His fingers balled into a fist. The dark man stood slowly and rounded on the Z warriors.

* * * * *

Bulma grimaced in pain trying to hold back her sobs. She reached the terrace door and peered around it. Vegeta stood still as a statue and the others stood between the door and the dark man. His dark eyes were fixed on her as a triumphant smirk crossed the hard line of his mouth. He held up a hand that forced the Z warriors to separate and then he focused on Bulma's slender body, willing it to his hand. Bulma gasped as she was pulled by some unseen force, directly into the dark man's hand. His long fingers wrapped tightly around her throat but allowing her to breathe a small amount of oxygen. Vegeta had felt the man's attention drop from him allowing him to move. He charged at the man but stopped when he heard Bulma's breathing become labored. A choking sound escaped her throat warning everyone away. "I wouldn't come any closer Vegeta. I won't hesitate to kill her or the child she carries." the man threatened. Vegeta stopped and visibly paled, "You didn't know? How interesting." "Let her go. Or else." "Or else what?" the man mocked, "There isn't a thing you can do to me and you know it, Vegeta. No, it's my turn to make the demands. Here it is. Back off and allow me to leave, or watch her die." Bulma was clutching at his cloak. She wanted to bite his hand but couldn't. She felt herself growing dizzy, "What's it going to be, Vegeta? Allow your torturer to escape with your lover or allow her to die?" he paused, "Oh, but do think quickly, she's dying." Vegeta wanted to jump at the man, fists flying and knock that sure smile off his face, but he caught the look of terror and pleading in Bulma's wide blue eyes. He let out a long sigh and lowered his head in defeat. Trunks stared at his father horrified that he would allow this brute to take his mother. "Good show, Vegeta." the man said dropping a gasping and coughing Bulma to the floor. He picked her up, still coughing and sputtering, and threw her over his shoulder. Giving a quick look at the angry Z warriors, he added, "Don't be so glum! I won't forget you. Ask Vegeta, we have loads of. fun together." The man laughed cruelly and took off into the air. "VEGETA! HELP ME, PLEASE!" Bulma screamed through the dark sky, "HELP!" Vegeta charged up, ready to take off, but Goku put hand on his shoulder, "No, Vegeta. If we go after her, that man will kill her." "No, he wouldn't." Vegeta growled, "I wouldn't let him! Besides, he wants her to make a time machine for him! He needs her!" "Vegeta, he could simply get her blue-prints from the lab." Goku replied trying not to growl himself, "Vegeta, I know what you must be feeling, but remember, she our friend as well. If you go after her, he will kill her. I read it in his intentions." he paused, "Or he let me read his intentions.." "Dad, please?" Trunks whispered. He was pleading with his father to stand down, while every cell in his body screamed for them to help his mother. He swallowed his own wishes and added, "Goku is right. He'll just kill mom. We need a plan right now." "HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT TO HELP? DO YOU NOT HEAR HER SCREAMS? SHE'S PETRIFIED!" Vegeta hollered, rounding on the warriors. His body screamed in pain, and he heard Bulma scream more. He froze, "What do you think will happen to her when he finishes with her? You think he'll just let her come home? He killed Krillen and 18 because they told him that I was her husband!" Vegeta stopped, "But I wouldn't tell. so he-" "It's okay, Vegeta." Gohan comforted. "No, he has a point!" Piccolo said in his powerful voice, making everyone but Vegeta turn to face him. Vegeta sat in a chair and put his face in his hands, "He killed Krillen and 18when they had given him the information he could use! He'll kill Bulma for the same reason!" "Well, then why didn't he kill Vegeta?" Gohan asked. "Because, he allowed Vegeta to escape. He wanted him to lead him to Bulma and Vegeta had to. So when he couldn't get Gohan, he told Vegeta to leave. But Vegeta couldn't leave Bulma at Capsule Corp without protection or the man would find her another way and take her anyway." Goten spoke up from next to Vegeta. He put a hand on Vegeta's shoulder, "Right?" Vegeta nodded into his hands, trying to hide his tears of failure, but his shoulders shook despite his efforts. Trunks went to his father, although he knew that the warrior would not want comforting. The others fell into silence. They had only ever seen Vegeta cry once and that was only when he had lost all hope against Frieza. Goku signaled for everyone to leave Vegeta to himself. Vegeta heard everyone leave and was thankful for it.