Chapter the third

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any other trademarked materials in this fanfiction.

Vegeta rambled on and on with cuss words as he tried to untangle himself from the thorny bush in which he had gotten tangled, when tripping and falling off a short drop. Now, he was stuck in this thorny plant by his hair. He grabbed his hair and managed to yank himself out. "No Dragonball here." He groaned, rubbing his now very sore head. He was very dirty, for he hadn't washed himself in a while and digging around for some Dragonball wasn't really helping him out very much. But, it was three-o clock in the morning, and he hadn't found a Dragonball yet. His precious time was ticking.

He had looked everywhere possible to look in this area; but that was just this AREA. There was a one in ten million chance that he'd find a Dragonball in just this one place! And, he was really very tired and just wanted to take a little nap.

*I can't take a nap. Not without finding a Dragonball. * He thought, blasting off of the ground to go and look somewhere else, once again praying that he wouldn't run into Zarbon or Dodoria. But, he didn't know that he WOULD meet up with one of them, the one called Dodoria. The ugly pink alien who had chased Bulma into the canyon and made her fall in, hurting her rather bad. Dodoria would lose his life at Vegeta's hands in the near future for that . . . but I'm getting ahead of myself. (Sorry!)

As Vegeta was flying around, looking at the desert below him for at least a Dragonball, he didn't see anything for a while. But what he did see puzzled him.

It was some kind of a machine like he had never seen before.

Vegeta landed next to the weird looking thing that looked kind of like an airplane and kind of like a car. "What is this? Some kind of a human invention?" He asked himself, running his hands over the tin metal machine. He noticed a door on the side, and decided to climb in and take a look for himself. But if he found any dead humans, he was out of there!

Vegeta swung the door open so hard that the hinges broke and the door came off in his hand. *Piece of shit! * He thought, throwing the door behind him. He stuck his head inside the machine and looked around to make sure there were no threats before he went inside.

It looked very well kept inside the machine, and it was quite obvious that this machine had not been crash-landed. It had been landed, and the person had gotten out to walk. "Why would someone get out and walk? Wouldn't this thing be faster than walking?" Vegeta thought outloud. What he said got the idea in his mind to sit down and try to figure out how this machine worked. He sat down in the control chair, looking at all of the buttons and switches and knobs in front of him. There were so many buttons, but what did they do?

Vegeta was about to reach out and pull a switch, when he felt something dig into his behind. "Ow! What the hell did I sit on?" He cursed; slightly standing up and pulling whatever it was off of the seat.

It was a zipped up bag.

Vegeta scratched his head in puzzlement and zipped the bag open, finding lots of different things inside the bag. There was a little black case that particularly caught the Saiyan's eye. He was not stupid and knew it was probably make-up or something, but decided to open it up anyway, just because he was curious. After all, you'd always be curious if you didn't go for the gold, wouldn't you?

Vegeta opened it, and found powdery stuff inside. He knew it was probably make-up judging by the mirror inside of the case. Vegeta looked at his reflection. Instead of the rather handsome man he had grown up to be he saw a bruised up and battered man who looked like he'd been beaten by frat boys. But, he had been beaten. Just not by frat boys.

Vegeta darted his eyes away from the disappointing reflection he saw and now started to look at the powdery stuff that was in there. He put his finger in it, getting some on his glove. He sniffed it.

He didn't smell anything in particular, but there was a kind of funny tinge to it. A smell that made his want to gag, so, being curious, he bent his head down and sniffed the whole thing, making sure it wasn't some kind of a poison or anything. When he sniffed it, he sneezed really loud. "HA-KA- CHOOOO!" and powdery make-up went flying everywhere. Vegeta rubbed his nose. "Yep. It's definitely make-up." He said to himself, putting it away and going through the rest of the bag.

He found nothing else that interested him, so he just zipped it up and was about to throw it out, when he thought about something. He wasn't gay or anything, and didn't want to put the make-up on himself, but something was telling him to keep it. So, he did. He stored it into his armor, knowing that you should always follow your instincts when you were a Saiyan.

Vegeta got up and got out of the ship, forgetting all about wanting to fly it somewhere. "Maybe I should come back to it later, when I have time. For now I have to find a Dragonball." He said to himself, flying off the ground and looking down at the desert below him as he flew.

As Vegeta was minding his own business, he felt someone grab his sensitive tail from around his waist and yank on it, causing pain to radiate up Vegeta's body. "OUCHH!" He hollered, stopping immediately and turning around to face whoever had done it.

It turned out to be Dodoria.

Vegeta scowled, yanking on his tail. "Let go of me." He ordered. "I have to find a Dragonball for Master Freeza, and I've already wasted enough time as it is. I have no time to mess with you."

Dodoria released Vegeta's tail. "I saw you in that air ship a minute ago, Vegeta." He said.

"Yeah, so?" Vegeta asked, rubbing the base of his tail where it was now tender. "If I were to eat some dog shit, you and Zarbon would be just right there."

"I just wanted to tell you about this girl, looked to be about your age, was out here. She's the one who landed that ship, and she had something around her neck. I don't know what was in there; but I think it was a Dragonball. That's what it looked like, anyway." Dodoria told Vegeta, being at least a little bit friendly for once.

"And you didn't stop her, correct?" Vegeta asked.

Dodoria shrugged. "I tried, I chased her and was about to kill her, but then she fell in the canyon and I lost track of her down there. She must have been lost somewhere that it was dark, and I figured that if she fell down there, she was dead anyway, so I just went to look for a Dragonball."

Vegeta was furious. "WHAT IF THAT WAS A DRAGONBALL AROUND HER NECK?" He screamed, so mad that he felt like killing Dodoria. But he knew that if he did that, Freeza'd kill him. Almost anything he did would get him killed. "YOU COULD HAVE LOST A DRAGONBALL! YOU IDIOT!"

Vegeta then realized what he'd said was something that could get him majorly beat so without even looking back at Dodoria he zipped off towards the canyon. *My food! What if she got to my food? * His mind questioned. That was even more important than the Dragonball at that moment! He started to fly even faster.

* * * *

As Vegeta got over the canyon, he didn't see anything in particular until he spotted a huge bloodstain on the ground. Vegeta made a face. "Jesus. This must have been where it happened." He groaned. He know found that his instincts weren't working very well, and he found himself flying down, down, down to the bloody spot. Smart as he was, curiosity got the best of him.

"If she were dead . . . then her body would be right here, where the blood spot is at." Vegeta said out loud. "So she couldn't have died RIGHT HERE. She could have died somewhere else, but . . . not right here." He bent down and touched a rock that was drenched in the woman's blood. It was dried up; meaning that she was there a while ago and not just a minute ago. She'd been moving on for a while.

Vegeta noticed a trail of blood leading from the huge blood spot and on around the corner. Vegeta smirked a little. "I'll find that idiot woman in no time if I follow this blood trail, and then I can get her Dragonball! I should thank God for how stupid Dodoria is." He decided to follow the trail walking, because while flying he could maybe miss something. So, he started to walk, following the trail of dried up blood.

* * * * * It wasn't long until the blood that Vegeta was following got stickier and redder, meaning that he was getting closer and closer to the woman. And, he realized closer and closer to his stash of food. He scowled. *If she ate my food it'll be her last day alive . . . if she's still alive. * He thought. He imagined coming across his hideout and seeing an empty bag, and a huge, fat, ugly woman next to it, sleeping with a Dragonball in her hands. The only things right about this prediction was the bag and the Dragonball. The huge, fat woman was dead wrong, as he so discovered when he came across his bag of food.

"Oh my god!" He exclaimed, noticing that every scrap of food was gone out of his bag, He looked around the spot where it had been eaten in hopes of finding just one more piece. But there was nothing, and Vegeta was officially screwed. "NOOOOOO!" He screamed, throwing the bag down and stomping on it. "No no no no no no! Not my food!" He screamed, throwing his little temper tantrum. When he looked around, though, he didn't see anybody. The blood trail went longer down the canyon, getting stickier by the meter.

Vegeta growled and gritted his teeth, noticing the blood spot next to his bag of food was large. *That means she stopped here a little bit * He thought, turning his mad eyes in the direction of the woman. He decided he'd follow that trail, find her, and demand her for the Dragonball. But, he didn't know that it wouldn't exactly turn out that way.

Vegeta was very tired of following the trail of blood, when he found the end. But, surprisingly, the end of the trial did not have any women at it. It was just blank, with no sign of life. Vegeta started to stomp his feet and scream. "NO! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" He screamed, starting to blast things around him.

* * * * *

Bulma was huddled up in a rock crevice above the scary Saiyan's head, hoping that he wouldn't sense or find her. She had heard him screaming and climbed up there to hide, managing to stop the bleeding so he couldn't find her anymore. She held the pouch with the Dragonball in it in a death grip. *You won't get my Dragonball, stupid Saiyan. I won't let Goku down. * Bulma thought. She almost giggled, watching him throw that baby fit. She noticed that he was a very handsome man, one of the most handsome she'd ever seen. But he looked like someone had beaten him about the face and arms really bad, and his armor was all shabby and cracked. *I wonder what happened to him? It's not like I care; but still, I wonder why he's so beat up? *

She shifted, and almost fell from the crevice in which she lay. But, she quickly caught her balance and kept really still, knowing what sensitive hearing all Saiyans had. She was sure that this guy would be no exception.

Vegeta heard a little noise above him. Not a big noise; just something like a creak, the kind of noise a house makes when it's settling in. He snapped his head up, and didn't see anything. *I knew I was going crazy. * He thought, starting to walk on down. But he was sure that he heard something when it creaked again. But this time, it was LOUD. His head snapped back.

"If there's anybody over here . . . speak up now before I start blowing things up!" He threatened. "In which I'll start in ten . . . nine . . ."

Bulma was frightened. *Oh no! What do I do now?! * She asked herself. She didn't want to expose herself, but she didn't want to be blown up either.
*Well, maybe he'll give me a chance if I act now. * Bulma thought. Deciding this was her best choice, she shouted, "Right here!"

Vegeta smirked. "Ha, I knew you'd speak up if I said that. Now, where are you? Make yourself visible or I'll shoot!"

"I can't!"

Vegeta froze. *Can't? What does she mean she can't? * He took a step forward. "I'm warning you, human-"

"I can't move because I'm stuck! I got myself stuck up here!" She bluffed. "The only way I can get out is if someone helps me out." She figured that this was halfway true, too.

Vegeta scowled. "Uh . . . fine. But only because you might have something that I want." He blasted directly below the place where he suspected the woman to be laying, and smoke billowed up. Vegeta covered his mouth and nose to keep him from going into a sneezing or coughing fit.

He waited for the smoke to clear, and when in did, there was a beautiful woman lying on the ground, with a pouch around her neck. Looking at the pouch closely it seemed that there was something in it; something ROUND. Vegeta's look of bore turned into a maniacal smile. *Yes! Yes! * He thought, taking a step forward. He smirked when he saw the woman flinch away, and he realized that he'd probably have to kill her.

"Don't make me kill you, woman." He threatened. "Hand over what's in your pouch. I'll keep you alive if you give me the Dragonball NOW."

Bulma looked at him with fear in her eyes. *I hope this isn't the way I die . . . because I can't give him the Dragonball! I won't let Goku down! * She thought. So, thinking this, she turned her expression of fear into determination. "No. I can't give you the Dragonball. I made a promise to someone that I wouldn't let you have it."

At first, Vegeta was surprised and angered that the woman would directly tell him NO. But then he started to humor her. He threw his head back and laughed handsomely. "HAHAHAHA! THAT'S FUNNY, FUNNY THAT YOU'D SAY THAT!" He roared, clutching his stomach and doubling over in his laughing fit. *What kind of a worm would say that to a saiyan? * He thought, bringing on worse laughter.

Bulma just stared at him. *What could he think is so funny? I'm refusing to give him the Dragonball, why is that funny? * She slowly stood up. "Uh . . . Excuse me, but I hardly see what could be funny in this situation. I was serious; I'm not going to give you the Dragonball. You can kill me, I don't care."

Vegeta finally managed to pull himself together. He wiped his eyes on his gloves. "You can't be serious. No human would ever refuse something directly to a saiyan. Now, this has been enough funny business. Give me the Dragonball and I'll leave you alone. However, if you don't give me the Dragonball, I'll kill you where you stand."

"And take a chance on shattering the Dragonball with your blast?"

Vegeta froze when she said this. It was a true statement, very true. Vegeta growled. "Smart . . . smart statement indeed." He snarled. How mad it made him that a human could exceed the common sense of a saiyan! He stepped forward. "Woman, just give me the Dragonball. I need it. I can't tell you why, but I need it. If you don't give it to me . . . I'll . . ."

Bulma smiled. *It's kind of cute that he can't think of what to do; a big and strong Saiyan like that. * She thought. She decided to make a deal of her own. She had been wondering about those bruises on his face, and also, she figured that Goku cared more about her life than one Dragonball. She had to get out of this canyon.

"Say, Mr. Saiyan . . ." She began.

"Vegeta! My name is VEGETA!" He screamed at Bulma in irritance.

Bulma smiled. "Whatever, Mr. Vegeta . . . I thought that maybe I could work out some kind of a deal with you. A deal; the Dragonball for whatever I ask you for."

Vegeta smirked. "What might you ask me for? I shouldn't have to answer anything you have to ask; but I'll listen just as well. I'm curious." He crossed his arms and waited for her to state what she wanted of him, whatever it might be. Probably something stupid, for this blue-haired woman didn't look very smart to him. But he didn't know that he was dead wrong.

"Okay, Vegeta, I want to ask you this: First of all, if you tell me why you're so beat up, and, you have to get me out of this canyon. If you do that for me than the Dragonball is all yours."

Vegeta just stared at her.

"I promise." Bulma said.

Vegeta kept quiet. He was angered that she'd pry into his business like that; angered that she'd even asked. Also angered that if he wanted the Dragonball, he'd have to tell her why he had the bruises on his face. Vegeta snarled. "I . . . won't say a word." He answered. "I don't have to. You have no business prying into my personal life like that. I'm just going to blast you for the Dragonball, and take the risk of shattering it."

Bulma held up a hand. "Wait wait wait!" She shouted. "Don't blast! Please . . . it can't be that hard to tell me what happened to you. I'll bet you got it in a brave fight with someone, didn't you? After all, a brave saiyan would-"

"Actually, that's not how it happened at all."

Bulma froze. The look on Vegeta's face showed deep sadness and anger; and Bulma was filled with sympathy for the cold-blooded killer. She walked a step closer to him. "It was something bad, wasn't it?" She asked.

Vegeta stepped back. "Stay away from me!" He shouted. "Give me that Dragonball!" He actually charged up the powerball in his hand.

Before Bulma could react otherwise, she threw the Dragonball at Vegeta. "Here! Take it!" She shouted. "I don't care about the Dragonball!"

Vegeta, taken by surprise, uncharged the ki blast and caught the Dragonball in one hand. He smirked. "Nice workmanship." He commented. "But you were a fool for giving this to me. Now I don't have to answer your question at all." He charged up an aura and got ready to fly away. But, as he started flying, he heard a high-pitched squeal come from the blue-headed woman. His poor ears started to ache. "What the-" He said, looking down at Bulma.

She was bawling like a baby.

Vegeta scowled. *Foolish woman. Why is she crying? * He thought. Struck by curiosity he flew back down in front of her. "What's the matter with you?" He ordered. "Shut up! You almost blasted my eardrums!"

Bulma continued crying. "I was just thinking about how I'll never get out of this stupid canyon, and how I never should have gotten out of the flying machine-"

Vegeta ceased listening. *So that weird thing was hers, and this make-up probably is hers. * So thinking this, he grabbed the bag out of his armor and stared at it. But it wasn't in his hands for very long.

"You thief!" Bulma cried. "You took my make-up! You transsexual! You-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Vegeta shouted, angry. He was shaking he was so angry. "I did not steal your make-up, I found it in your ship and decided it would be best to take it along with me. I had no intention of putting the make-up on myself." He then began trying to blast off again. But when he was about to, Bulma started crying again. Vegeta's poor ears started ringing.

He turned around and faced her. "Shut up or I'll kill you anyway!" He threatened.

Bulma cried harder. "Please, Mr. Saiyan . . . Vegeta, whatever you said your name was . . . I know that you're evil and all, but . . . CAN YOU PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE AND TAKE ME TO MY FLYING MACHINE? PLEASE?" She bawled.

Vegeta stared at her, then burst into laughter once again. "HAHAHAHAHA! You're funny, woman!" He chortled. "Me? Help a human woman? In your dreams!"

Bulma buried her face in her hands, tears dripping off of her fingers. "But then I'll never get out of here . . . " She whined. "I'll stop crying so loud if you get me out, because then I'll have no reason to cry."

Vegeta thought about this. *That could be good . . . I don't think that my poor ears can take it anymore. * He crossed his arms.

"Please?" Bulma asked. "I know that you're evil, and I promise I won't tell anyone if you help me."

Vegeta thought some more. "I don't know . . . Even though I said I wouldn't kill you if you gave me the Dragonball, I shouldn't have to keep promises. I don't even know why I'm here talking to you."

"Please?"

Vegeta sighed. "Oh . . . K." He said, flying up and grabbing her by the collar of her shirt. When he lifted off, she brought her hands to her throat. "What's your problem?" Vegeta asked, shaking her violently.

"I . . . can't . . . breathe . . . YOU'RE CHOKING ME, VEGETA!"

By the loud force of her yell, Vegeta dropped her on the ground. "I don't care if I'm choking you! You want out of this canyon, don't you?"

"Yeah, but alive!"

Vegeta landed next to Bulma on the ground. "If I can't fly you out of the canyon that way, then what do you propose that I do? I'm not your slave, woman." He griped.

"You could carry me out like a real gentleman would." Bulma answered, almost laughing at the look that crossed about Vegeta's face. What quality did this man have that made him so damn charming? Not only was he charming, but a little bit funny. She didn't think he was trying to be funny, though, but she thought that he was hilarious. She knew that he was about to kill her in about two seconds. He was also very handsome.

Vegeta looked at his feet. "If you want out of this canyon so badly than I suggest you shut up." He proclaimed, but bent down and picked her up just the same. He didn't hold her close, though; he held her away from him.

Bulma realized that, even though Vegeta was evil, she felt kind of safe in his strong arms. "I forgot where I parked my flying machine." Bulma said.

"I didn't."

He blasted off, trying to ignore the feeling of Bulma in his arms. But he just couldn't, the fact that he had a gorgeous woman in his arms was itching at his brain. Also, the fact that he didn't really want to be carrying her. He speeded up more, wanting to be rid of Bulma as fast as he could. And, if Freeza or Zarbon saw him doing this, they'd most likely rat him out to Freeza and he'd be killed. But, Vegeta didn't care. He didn't want to be carrying Bulma anymore than she probably wanted him carrying her. But he didn't realize that she liked it.

* * * * * *

"Here we are." Vegeta grumped; dropping his passenger on the ground before they even landed.

Bulma groaned as she landed on her butt, then stood up. She dusted her butt off. "Gee, thanks Vegeta. You may be evil but you sure are helpful."

Vegeta smirked. "Don't expect it to ever happen again. Next time I see you, I'll probably kill you, because of all you've put me through. You'd better hope that I don't decide to now."

Bulma stood there for a minute, knowing she wanted to say something but not quite what to say. When Vegeta crouched down to blast off she found herself stopping him. "Wait, please wait!" She said. "I didn't get to properly thank you for all you did."

Vegeta growled. "Woman, shut up! You don't know how irritated you're getting me. I'll kill you where you stand!"

Bulma was still persistent. "Vegeta! Just let me tell you something!"

"Tell me what?"

Bulma looked down at her feet, shuffling them. "Uh . . . My name. I just wanted to tell you . . . My name is Bulma."

Vegeta scoffed at her and just flew off, wondering why she had wanted to tell him her name. It wasn't like they'd ever see each other again, was it? Was it? *Aw well. Now that's over, and I can get this Dragonball to Freeza. I don't even have to remember the horrible thing I did today. * He thought, going faster as he approached Freeza's ship. But forgetting Bulma wouldn't be all that easy.

End of chapter three

Did you like that chapter? I know that in some contexts Vegeta wouldn't have helped Bulma, but he was really irritated! Anyway, in the next chapter, Bulma finds that she can't get Vegeta out of her mind. She realizes that she must go try and find him, no matter what the costs, so she goes out to find him. What happens when she does?

-Luv, luvssaintbernards