Chapter Fourteen:

"…and to be honest, I don't remember what happens once everything goes blurry… Bulma? Are you listening to me?"

Bulma snapped to attention and looked over at Yamcha, across from her in the cell. It had been hours since she was dumped here and yet it felt like forever had gone by already. They were dropping the temperature in the area little by little, and she'd begun shaking a few minutes ago. The cold air circulated around their cell, but it came from the ceiling in waves that hit her skin and gave her terrible goosebumps.

"Yea… Yea, I'm listening."

"I'm just really happy you're here… I… I haven't been able to talk to someone like this in a long time. I couldn't even tell you the last time I had a real conversation with someone."

"I need to get out," Bulma said, looking around at the stone walls for the umpteenth time. "I'm not happy that I'm here. And I need to leave."

"Oh… I didn't mean I was happy that you ended up here. I was just saying how it's nice to have someone to talk to—"

"Do you even regret what you did?" Bulma spat out, without thinking. She'd been holding everything in for the past few hours as Yamcha blabbered away, half of it nothing in particular, and the other half nonsense. She'd promised herself she wouldn't blame him. He'd mentioned something about injections and experiments and blacking out, but she could still only think of what he'd looked like in the throne room… when he attacked Chichi. It was difficult for her to just accept that, much less forgive him, or anyone for it.

"Bulma, I… I don't even remember what happened. I just said that. One second, I was being lead to the table, and then everything is a bit of a blur. I just remember waking up back here, with an awful headache. And I was super turned on… like, it was really painful, but that was it."

Bulma kept avoiding looking in Yamcha's direction, even though it was too dark for either of them to see where the other's eyes wandered. She didn't even want to see his silhouette. She was disgusted with this whole place and what was happening to her. She knew she couldn't put the whole blame on Yamcha, but it was still him back in the throne room. And it was still him that she was going to be forced to be with, too.

"You know… I always thought it would be me and you," Yamcha whispered. "That's what everyone said three years ago, at least. Do you remember that? Whenever I'd pass you in the halls upstairs you'd smile at me. You'd look at me and smile and then look at the floor. I used to think about you all the time. I actually still do—"

"What did they do to you?" Bulma asked, trying to keep the heat out of her tone. "Back then, I would see you around all the time, and all of a sudden you show up like… like that. I didn't even recognize you. And you almost hurt Chichi. You were going to hurt her, and you're supposed to do the same thing to me in a couple weeks."

"What are you talking about? I wouldn't hurt Chichi, and I'd die before I hurt you."

Bulma looked at the ground. She didn't want to talk to Yamcha. Maybe if they'd been able to talk to each other three years ago, they might have grown close. But everything she knew about him were just things she'd made up or imagined in her head for her perfect boyfriend and future husband. She knew now that those past thoughts were naïve. She used to fantasize about when the prince would finally let her go from her job as a chambermaid and she could go be with Yamcha—with her own people. And they'd live happily ever after.

"So, they do experiments down here?" she asked. "Like what? Are they going to do things to me, too?"

"You never told me how you got down here anyway. I swear, if that monster of a prince sent you here, I'll kill him myself. He has no right to—"

"He didn't," Bulma cut him off, not sure why she was getting angrier by the second. "He wouldn't do that." But she heard Yamcha let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Uh, yea he would. He's a Saiyan. And he does it to plenty of other people. Almost half the people down here are sent by him to get tortured or punished for something small or stupid." He scowled. "The rest of them are probably from his damn father."

"What is this place, exactly?"

"For me, it's just where they put me to live. I'm not punished, per say. But, they do use me to test things that they make. Machines, serums… but sometimes good things, like cures for sicknesses. Others are just here because someone wants them to suffer. And we can all guess who would want that."

"So, what happens to you then?"

"It's been almost three years, Bulma. Do you want the whole story? I just told you. When they need a guinea pig, that's me. That's been my job since I came down here. Other than that, I know that I'm also supposed to make sure our species doesn't die out. They've send Earthling girls down here to me, too… I'm sorry, but when I first realized it was you, I just thought… well, never mind."

Bulma shivered at what his next words could have been. She let some silence pass before she asked another question. "And what? When you black out and go crazy, that's because of something they gave you?"

"Yea, it's some injection. I've only gotten it twice now. Once was down here, and the other was before I got into the throne room. Both times I blacked out and woke up… I told you, I felt like I had a hangover and the worst hard-on of my life. So, yea, I can guess what they had me doing when I wasn't conscious." She heard Yamcha sigh. "But Chichi… I had no idea… I can't believe I would do something like that…"

"You were… like some kind of rabid animal. You looked like you were sick. You were so pale and…" Bulma paused and waited through another period of silence. "You were terrifying."

"Can you… Do you mind telling me what happened? I heard that the king decided not to go through with the mating, but no one down here wants to talk to me, and the guards certainly won't tell me what happened. I've been in the dark, and I'd really like to know."

Bulma racked her brain, realizing that she didn't really remember every detail.

"You were in the center of the room. They had chains on you by the time I got there. They gave you something first—an injection of something and… when Chichi showed up, I kind of lost myself. I just remember trying to get to her and not being able to. By the time it was almost over, I just got one look at you… You didn't look human. What I remember the most is that your skin was pale… yellow and green in some places and your…" She trailed off, wishing that she'd be able to one day get the image of his abnormal, dark red-brown erection out of her mind. It had disgusted her and burned her memory. "It was terrifying."

"What… what happened after that?"

"Chichi's dating a Sai—err… She's dating this guy who "called her" or something. It's one of their rules, I guess. Since she already had someone she plans on staying with, then she couldn't have an Earthling child… I don't know. Apparently, that rules isn't valid anymore anyway."

"…I'm sorry."

"If all this has been happening to you for years, you have nothing to be sorry for."

"It's these damn Saiyans! If only I had some kind of power. I'd kill every last one of them, starting with that bastard prince and his damned father!"

Bulma winced. "It's not his fault." She still didn't know why she winced a little every time Yamcha spoke ill about the prince. It was hardly her place to defend anyone.

"Not who's fault? The king is the reason for every bad thing that happens on this planet. And his bastard spawn is no different."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "So, how long do you think they'll keep me here? They said I'm only here because Vege… because the prince sent me here. So, when they figure out that he didn't—"

"How do you know? He could have sent you here. I wouldn't put it past him."

"I don't think he… he wouldn't do that."

"What are you talking about? Of course he would. He's Prince Vegeta." Yamcha spat his name and title like it burned his tongue.

"Well, I know he didn't," she said sternly, looking at the ground. "So, how long until they let me out?"

"Bulma, listen to me… They're not going to ask how you got here or how long you're supposed to stay. What you should hope for is that someone like Chichi or Maron come here looking for you, with a good enough reason to get you out."

"Well, I'm sure Chichi will notice I'm gone as soon as I don't show up to pick up the prince's breakfast. I guess I'm glad you didn't successfully attack her, otherwise I'd be stuck down here…" She trailed off, immediately hating herself for the mood she was putting herself in. "Yamcha, I'm sorry. I'm just really stressed out and… And I know everything that happened wasn't your fault. It's just… this place… this goddamn planet changes people."

"No… no, I know."

There was a long period of silence. Bulma pressed her back against the cold, damp wall behind her and hugged her knees to her chest, trying to stop herself from shivering so much. Why did the temperature keep going down anyway? Was something broken?

"Why does it keep getting colder in here?" she asked, just as her teeth started chattering.

"They… they usually do that to punish the other people in the cells around here."

"The other people? You know it's happening to you, too, right?"

"Bulma… I just thought about something…"

"How to turn on the heat?"

"No, I mean… what if they didn't have to inject me with anything? Maybe they give me that serum because they think that I won't be… compliant… without it, you know?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about? You just said that you would have never done that to Chichi if they hadn't forced you to. So, of course they would have to give you that shit..." She crossed her arms again, hugging herself tighter. Her upper body was starting to shake and it was aggravating her even more.

"No… I mean… What I mean to say is… What if we… you and me, just… agreed to—"

Footsteps in the distance cut Yamcha off and brought Bulma out of her thoughts. They sounded like hard boots on wooden steps, until they changed and hit the metal floors she'd been dragged on before, then hit cement as they got closer and closer. Bulma squinted her eyes, but all she could see were the silhouettes of the bars between her and her way out. And after a moment, she could see the outline of a man standing outside of them.

"Are you here to let me out?" Bulma asked, but the man didn't reply. "And it's getting a little chilly in here, don't you think? Care to turn the heat up a bit?"

"Come here, Earthling," he said, and Bulma just scowled. Like hell she was going to move. But Yamcha was at the bars in a moment. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she squinted to see in the dark again. It didn't work. "Put out your arm."

Another period of silence passed before the man turned to walk away and Yamcha just sank to the floor by the bars.

"What was that?" Bulma asked slowly, quietly, when the man was far gone.

"I thought it was just the usual injection, but it's making me feel weird… maybe it was something different today."

"Is it different a lot?"

Yamcha paused. "No, never. I haven't even gotten my usual shots today. I was supposed to get them right as they brought you in here. They probably forgot with what was going on."

"Do you… need them or something?"

"I mean… they stop the chills and the shaking… I've never really gone long without them, to be honest… But I'm not worried. Unless they give me that sticky black stuff, I'll be fine. That's the one that makes me black out and forget a bunch of things."

"Well, what did they just give you then?"

"No idea. Maybe it's new…. It's making my skin crawl a little, though," he said, and Bulma heard him start scratching at his skin. "It's probably just a side effect."

Bulma didn't want to keep talking about injections and the weird effects of some drugs they were feeding the soon-to-be father of her child… or children. Everything about the idea of Yamcha was starting to disgust her, but that made her hate herself a little. She knew that what happened to him and what was going to happen to both of them wasn't his fault. It was this place… this planet and the people who destroyed Earth. She started to daydream about what Earth would be like right now, had the Saiyans never locked their destructive eyes on it. The only thing she knew was this place, and it almost made her sick that all she could image was the purple-reds of the ground here and the green-blue waters. The high cliffs and the tall white buildings. The only memories of Earth that she had were her dreams of being chased and falling in the brown mud, hiding from the people that took her parents away. And she didn't even know if her dreams were accurate. Everything from her life with her parents was a blur. And she wasn't sure if she wanted to remember it all or not, if she was ever given the choice.

"You want to know what I was thinking about before?" Yamcha suddenly asked. He didn't wait for her to answer before he continued. "You said that when I blacked out, I… I attacked Chichi, right? I was trying to say this before, but… but is that going to happen again? I mean, why wouldn't they just ask us to do it like… in a civilized way? It's not like they'd have to force me to… well, you know. If it had to be done, I wouldn't exactly put up a fight, you know?"

He trailed off, and Bulma hoped it was because he could sense her disgust again. She hated that she made this even more awkward than it was, but she couldn't stomach this kind of talk. Not right now.

"So… before… I was thinking that they're going to, you know… make me do that again… with the other Earthlings in the castle, right? So… why not avoid that?"

"You think if I found a way to avoid it, that I wouldn't have done it by now?" Bulma spat, feeling bad about her behavior again.

"No, I mean… you couldn't have done anything because you didn't even know I was down here. But now that you do… I don't have to attack anyone if they're right in front of me…"

It took her a minute, but the lightbulb finally went off in her head, and Bulma almost lost it. She took a breath and calmed herself first before opening her mouth.

"If you tried that, it would be the exact same thing as attacking me," she said bluntly. How could he say such a thing to her right now?

"But think about it… If you were already pregnant and the baby was a hundred-percent Earthling, then you wouldn't have to—"

"Please stop. I can't believe you're trying to have this conversation with me right now."

"I'm just being honest with you. It's just a way out, that's all."

"A way out of getting raped." She had to stop before she added that it was him who would rape her. Every word that came out of her mouth made her feel more and more like a piece of shit. And Yamcha went silent again. This was the first time in a long time that he had someone to talk to and she couldn't keep the venom away from her words.

"Maybe you could try running away," he said meekly.

"I'd have nowhere to go."

"I hear the guards talking about space ships. You could use one and go to another planet."

"There are people here that I wouldn't just leave behind." And she immediately thought of Chichi, then Launch. Even Maron. And… someone else?

Yamcha went silent again and Bulma sighed.

"Listen, I know you're just trying to help. I get that, really. But I know what's going to happen to me, and I know that it's not something I can just run away from. I won't die—I know the Saiyans won't let that happen—and I've had a decent amount of time to think about it, so… I'm just going to have to come to terms with it. I just really don't want to have a bunch of conversations about it, if you don't mind."

"Yea… Yea, sure… Then what do you want to talk about?" When Bulma never answered, Yamcha just kept talking again. "How have you been, then? You still work for that prince, right?"

"No. I mean, yes, I do. But let's not talk about that right now."

"Why not? Did something happen?"

"No, I just don't want to talk about him right now."

"Him…?" Yamcha paused for a second, as if she'd said something wrong. "Well, no offense, but you're not the greatest person to talk to, Bulma."

"Maybe that's because I shouldn't even be here right now. I should be trying to get out somehow, but I don't even know where to start. Is all I can do really sit here and wait? And why does the temperature keep dropping!? I'm freezing, and the dampness isn't helping!" She folded her arms together and hugged herself on the floor. After a few moments of frustration, she groaned and stood.

"What are you doing?—"

"Hey!" Bulma screamed past the metal bars. "Hey! Is someone there?! I want to talk to somebody about me being here! I know it was a mistake and I can prove it!" There was no response but a quiet echo of her own voice. "Hey!" she screamed again.

"Oh, shit," Yamcha said, and she heard him lean heavily into the wall behind her. Before she could ask him what was wrong, she heard him drop down and vomit. He gasped for a breath and then threw up again. She listened to him wretch and then dry heave, and after about a minute, it subsided. "What the hell was that?" he mumbled, and Bulma lifted an eyebrow.

"Are you alright?—"

"Who's making all that noise?!" a voice shouted past the bars, down the hall.

"Please help! He's sick!" Bulma immediately replied.

"What are you—"

"Shh!" she hissed at Yamcha. "Please, I think he's dying! You have to help him!"

A silhouette showed up past the bars and Bulma listened to the rattle of keys before the squeak of the hinges moving as the bars were swung out of the way. As soon as Bulma saw her opening, she ducked past the man and tumbled out into the hall. She saw the faint light at the end and started sprinting for it.

"Catch her!" she heard a dull voice say, and it wasn't long before another man was standing between her and the light from that one room. She slowed down and looked behind her. She couldn't tell, but she thought someone was there, too, blocking her in the hall.

"Let me out!" she screamed at them.

"Grab her," a voice said, a few feet behind her now. "I think we need to give this one some early lessons on what happens when you try to escape. Give me an hour with her and she'll never try it again."

"Go for it. That stuff finally kicked in for the male, so throw her back in his cell when you're finished. And make sure you turn on some lights so we can record the results."

"Record…?" Bulma whispered, but immediately focused on her current task. She had to get out of here.

"Yes, sir," the one man said, suddenly lurching forward and grabbing Bulma around the waist. She screamed, and he lifted her like she weighed next to nothing. She screeched again and pummeled his back when she was thrown over his shoulder, but her nails couldn't even break his skin. Was this a Saiyan? It had to be… Anything she tried was like feathers trying to damage a diamond.

She was thrown, stomach down, onto a table… the one from before, she guessed. And she was strapped down, with belts around her wrists, ankles and waist. The only part of her she could move was her neck, and face-down, she could barely do that, too.

"Let me go!" she cried out, but she felt her shirt grabbed and torn open, and cold air hit her bare back. "What are you doing?!" Something even colder hit her skin and she yelped, just as she felt something sharp poke into her skin. She screamed, but everything was blurring fast.

"There. That should keep your mouth shut for a little while."

She whimpered as her eyelids got too heavy to keep open, and as something sharp scratched her back, drawing blood. She felt the wetness of tears graze her face, as the wetness of blood coated her back. She cried as she fell unconscious.

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Bulma opened her eyes as she hit the floor. The metal bang reminded her that she was still in this awful place, and now she was back in the cell with Yamcha. She felt the wet hard floor on her skin and lifted her arms to her body to find that her shirt was torn and in ribbons. Her back and stomach were exposed, but thankfully there was just enough to cover her chest. Unfortunately, it seemed like they'd torn her bra off. She gasped and immediately reached down between her legs, but her pants were still on and nothing felt like it had been touched. She sighed in relief and sat up—

And winced. She gritted her teeth together as she reached behind to place her fingertips on her shoulder blades and felt the open wounds there. The wet wasn't just from the dampness in the cell. She was also wet from her own blood. She gulped and let out a light sob as he brought her arm back around and tried to see how far she could stretch without pain shooting down her back. If anything, she was just glad that her pants were still on. But then again, why would they risk doing anything to her that would make the king angry… They must have known she was an Earthling if they didn't try to violate her…

"B… Bulma…" a croak came from the other side of the cell and Bulma jumped, forgetting that she wasn't alone in here. Her hands came up to cover her chest, even though it was too dark to see anything, and the shirt pretty much covered her anyway. "Stay… away…"

"Yamcha? What's wrong with you? You sound… like you need something to drink…"

"Whatever they gave me… I feel… I don't feel like myself…"

Bulma froze. "It wasn't… that black stuff, was it?"

"No, I… I'm still me, but… I… just… I just want to get out! Get me out!" he suddenly shouted, and Bulma heard heavy metal chains clank in the cell. He let out an inaudible scream and something like shackles rattled again, loudly.

Bright lights came on in the next second and Bulma had to shut her eyes. She tried to open them, but she could barely see anything around her and they started to water, tears dripping down her face as she listened to the rattle of chains and Yamcha's shouts.

"Let me out!" he screamed again, and she struggled to force her eyes to stay open and see what was around her, but the lights directly above her and outside the cell were like the stadium lights that lit up the entire throne room.

"Yamcha! What's going on?!" she screamed back, her arms clutching her body tighter, making sure she wasn't exposing herself in the bright lights. She wasn't sure who was looking at her, but she had a funny feeling…

"They're going to get me! I have to get out! Get out of my way! Stop holding me back! I'll kill you!"

"Yamcha! Stop! What the hell is going on?!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

She started squinting and she could see the metal bars to her right. And the outline of a few people standing there. It looked like one was leaning against a wall, and the other had a clipboard or something like a book in their hand, looking down at it.

She tried seeing around where Yamcha's voice was coming from, but the lights were shining from that direction, and all she could make out was the outline of his body. He was standing upright, for the most part, but his hands were out from his sides and he looked like he was leaning forward. He screamed again and pulled on what she now knew were chains. He was shackled to the wall in the corner, and whatever they injected him with before must have done something to him to make him act this way.

"Yamcha…" she tried saying, keeping her voice as calm as possible. "Yamcha, that needle from before… you said that they hadn't given you you're usual stuff, right? And that this one was making your skin crawl—"

"Shut up! Let me out! Let me out!"

"Yamcha! Listen to me!—"

She heard one of the chains snap and Yamcha lurched forward, reaching for her with one free arm, the other still shackled to the wall behind him. Bulma screeched when he moved, and her eyes went wide as her vision started to clear up. His eyes were all white, rolled back into his head, and his skin was almost pale white, so much so that she could see blue veins under his skin.

"You have to calm down!" she screamed at him, but he was tugging hard on the metal, and his livid eyes were locked on her. "Please!" she screeched. He started gritting his teeth and straining the muscles in his neck, his gaze still locked on her.

"Make sure you're getting all this," she heard one of the men say outside the bars. Immediately, Bulma stood and moved closer to them, putting more distance between her and Yamcha.

"What are you doing to him?!" she shouted, keeping one eye on the chains. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't worry, I have the cameras turned on. I'll take record of it now and we can re-watch it later to see if we missed—"

Bulma screamed as she saw the second chain snap and Yamcha charged at her, his face twisted in rage. She ducked to her left and he crashed, face-first, into the metal bars, and then his whole body hit the floor. But his limbs seemed to twist and he stood again, whipping around and diving at her again. Bulma moved, but he caught her ankle and fell to the floor, dragging her down with him.

"Help! Please help me!" she screamed to the men outside the cage. "He'll kill me! I'm an Earthling! I can't die! I can't—"

Yamcha's palm scraped her face, his nails digging into her skin as his other hand balled into a fist and hit her right in the side. She screamed again and put her hands up to block her face, the torn pieces of her shirt falling to the side, exposing her to Yamcha and the two men.

"Please!" she cried, yelping as Yamcha struck her other side, and then aimed for her head, but hitting her forearms as she blocked him. "Stop it!" She tried curling into a ball to minimize the places he could hit her, but then he started punching her legs and she winced away from each hit.

A bright flash and a blast that sounded like thunder interrupted everything, and Bulma heard one of the men scream out in pain above her own cries. Yamcha didn't even look away or pause, though, so Bulma kept her hands up and her eyes squeezed shut. But in another moment, she heard metal crash to the floor and the weight was taken off of her. She immediately opened her eyes and looked to her left—and immediately burst out crying.

"Chichi!" she screamed, and her black-haired friend ran over to her, tears running down her face.

"Bulma!" she cried, landing on her knees beside her and cradling her head in her lap. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" She lifted her higher and squeezed her tighter and Bulma flinched as her friend started crying even harder than she was. But something else caught her attention, and at first she thought she was dreaming, but another voice cut through all the noise and the confusion.

"Vegeta! Vegeta, stop! You're killing him! Stop!"

Bulma's eyes shot open and she forced herself to sit up fast. Where was he?

"Oh, no…" Yamcha's voice came from somewhere ahead of her, behind Chichi. "No… No, Bulma… I… I don't know why I did that… I don't—" A loud noise cut him off.

"Vegeta, no!"

"Goku, stop him!" Chichi suddenly screamed, twisting around, but still holding Bulma in a tight hug. But in the next moment, Bulma watched as Goku's body flew across the cell and slammed into the wall right beside her. She felt Chichi jump and she heard the stone wall crack. "Are you okay?!"

"You have to stop him!" Goku suddenly shouted, and it took Bulma a moment to realize that he was staring right at her. She stared back at him, dumbfounded.

"Wh… What—" She placed a palm over her face, right where it stung the most.

"Now!"

"I… But how can I—"

"Forget it!" Goku shouted angrily, standing back up and charging back towards where the cell door used to be. Bulma saw it laying on the ground in the far right, wondering how it got there. "Vegeta, stop!" Goku shouted again. "She's okay! Bulma's okay!"

He was thrown into the wall again, harder this time, but he stood up just as fast and charged back in.

"You can stop him," Chichi said softly, and Bulma looked up at her. "I know you think I'm kidding when we talk about this stuff, Bulma, but now I know… When we first realized you were missing, he—"

Goku smashed into the wall one more time, cutting her off, and he struggled to stand. Bulma frowned, wondering just how much stronger Vegeta was compared to other Saiyans.

"Please," Goku said, looking at her again. "Just try." And as if he knew what she was thinking from the way she looked at the dented wall behind him, he added, "He won't hurt you. I know he won't."

"Can you stand?" Chichi asked, and Bulma moved a little, trying to get her balance as she got to her hands and knees. She looked up just as Goku rushed forward again and tried to make sense of what she saw in front of her. The cell was gone. The metal bars were strewn across the floor and out into where the hall used to be. The walls were cracked. The lights were dim now and one was flickering. One of the men was facedown out in the hall, a metal bar through his skull, sticking straight up. Bulma's jaw dropped, and for a second, she couldn't look away, but Goku had the prince on the ground, his hands behind his back as he straddled the other man. In one fluid motion, the prince got free, threw Goku off him once more, and slammed a clipboard through the man's chest. With one last breath, the light left the man's eyes. Bulma's hand shot to her mouth in shock.

But the prince stood when both the men were dead, and looked to his right, where Yamcha was unconscious on the ground. He looked terrible… But she wasn't paying much attention to Yamcha.

She stared at Vegeta for what seemed like almost a minute. His back was to her, but the way he stood and the shape of him were so familiar. His face was turned to the side, and she could see the rage written there. But she could see his face… and his eyes. And it made her feel like she'd been in this place for months and she hadn't seen him at all in that time. And all she wanted to do was stare at him from behind. Something clenched in her chest, and she could have sworn it was from the beating she took from Yamcha, but deep down she knew it was something else entirely.

He stepped over the dead body of the one male guard and locked his eyes on Yamcha, and Bulma immediately snapped to attention. Goku struggled to get up, and she knew she had barely a few seconds to react before Yamcha looked even worse than the guards. And as if Chichi and her were on the same mental wavelength, her friend helped her stand before she forced herself to ignore the pain shooting down her back, and she rushed towards him.

"Stop! Vegeta, stop!" she cried, but just as she reached out a hand, mere inches from the back of his shirt, pain shot through her leg and she felt herself drop, her knee hitting the hard floor, and she winced again as she fell hard.

As if he didn't hear her, he took the remaining steps toward Yamcha's still body and raised his open palm, glaring down at him. With everything she had left in her, and hearing a few cracks throughout her body, Bulma forced herself back up and threw herself at the prince. She didn't move him, but before she could hit the ground, his arms moved, and he caught her. And for a brief moment, he let her hang on him like that, and she thought he wasn't going to help her up. But then he dropped to the ground with her and he finally looked at her. But his eyes focused on her chest and Bulma gulped. Instead of doing anything she would have expected him to do, or even say, he pulled his shirt off and wrapped it around her, tying it behind her back, careful not to hit the wounds.

"You… could have just put it on over my head..." Bulma said softly, and he narrowed his eyes at her. But then she smiled and laughed and his face changed. She didn't have time to see what it changed to, though, because he quickly looked away. But he held her on the floor for another few moments before cradling her in his arms and standing.

"I'll take him to the infirmary," Goku said quickly, and before Vegeta could make an angry statement that was clearly written all over his face, the other Saiyan grabbed Chichi in one arm and Yamcha in the other, and he was gone in a flash. It was probably a smart decision, considering that Yamcha was a dead man if he stayed, but Bulma was alone with the prince amongst the mess now, with two mutilated bodies on the floor, beside them.

"Did they…?" Vegeta suddenly spoke, and Bulma couldn't help but sigh. Even his voice was reassuring, as raspy as it was in that moment. But she had to look up at him, unsure of what he meant. But he was looking her body up and down in his arms, and she just looked back at him, almost sadly. Bulma knew what he meant then, and the simple fact that those words were the first out of his mouth made that feeling in her chest tighten again.

"No… No, they didn't."

His body seemed to relax a little and he started stepping over rubble and bodies, carrying her to the exit. She could still see that light at the end, but it wasn't as dark as before. The whole place just looked like a crappy basement when she wasn't being held captive.

"What about the others?" she asked, noticing someone on the ground in another one of the last cells, but Vegeta didn't answer her. He kept walking, past the table where they'd strapped her down, and up the stairs. He kicked open the door, breaking something on the handle, and took that one step that brought them back into the castle. He walked down the hall and made that one left she wished she never made and headed for the medical wing. "Vegeta?" she whispered, keeping her hands on her stomach. A part of her wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she just couldn't move like that right now. "Could you… not leave me alone… when they heal me?"

He didn't say a word, and he wouldn't even look down at her, but she saw him nod once.

"And… the Warkind princess…"

"What about her?" he asked, and Bulma was relieved that he was talking.

"…I don't want to be alone with her ever again."

Vegeta paused outside of a large white door in the medical wing and lifted her upper body so that her face was a little closer to his. Bulma flushed, but he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. He nodded again, slowly, and took a few moments to breathe.

"When I looked for your energy," he said, his eyes closed, "All I felt was fear… panic and fear" He paused to exhale. "I thought you'd just be off somewhere, shirking your duties, playing in the kitchen… something like that, but…"

"I'm okay," Bulma breathed. "I'm okay now."

He tilted his head and met her mouth with his, tenderly. Bulma wondered why she wasn't surprised, as if this was something completely natural—as if it would have been weird for him to not kiss her. They weren't together like that, she knew. Their relationship was complicated, and it certainly wasn't anything concrete. And she knew he'd go back to calling on prostitutes at night and she would go back to cleaning up after him and making his bed. But she kissed him back and she meant it.

For some reason, she knew that going back to the way things were was going to make her a little sad this time. Suddenly the thought of him sleeping with various women was no longer disturbing and disgusting—it just made her very sad. And if she brought him his breakfast and he never showed up and never ate, she knew that would make her sad now, too… She wanted to sleep in his bed. She wanted to wake up and see him. She wanted to prepare his shower and his breakfast and have him depend on her for what little she could do for him. And then it hit her like another punch to her head. This was what Chichi and Maron and Launch were all talking about…

Was she really in love with Vegeta?