"Come on out, blondie! I know you're in here!" The voice was raspy and blunt. Roxena shook. She knew exactly who it was, and he sounded pissed.

It was Lixel, the main guard that dictated over the slaves. Why was he there, though? Why now? Shouldn't he be busy with other things, such as the imploding ship? Why was he checking in on her? And why was he so angry!? He didn't know there was a conspiracy yet!

Overwhelmed, Roxena was still hyper aware of the boy holding her shoulders. There was too much happening at once, and she held her breath.

"Frieza has ordered me to execute the help. One head was missing from the slave quarters." Lixel's voice was piercing. His loud boots were clopping near as he spoke. Gohan's fingers drew tighter around Roxena's shoulders and she winced. He was stronger than he looked.

Any moment that guard would come around the corner of the island, and everything would be over. She knew this to be true, but it was hard to grasp. Did Lixel really just say what she thought he did?

But then, Gohan sprang to his feet "What do you mean, executed?!" He yelled.

Trying to will away the cry, Roxena put her hands over her mouth. What was he doing? Was he mad?!

"Who the hell are you?" Lixel chuckled. "Oh, you're the kid Vegeta brought with him. Frieza was wanting to see you."

"Where are the slaves?!" Gohan snarled. His voice was so authoritative, so fearless. There would be only one plausible outcome to this confrontation, and Roxena was terrified to look up.

"They're all dead! Or they will be, after I take care of the last one." Lixel barked, and then he tapped the scanner over his eye. "I know she's with you, I can see her power level."

"You can't have her!" Gohan shouted. "I won't let you hurt anyone else! You! You're..!"

"You aren't authorized to make those decisions, brat." Lixel replied. "There's details about the base Frieza wants to keep confidential, and no telling who they might yap to if any of them happens to get away. The wenches were planning to make a run for it. We'll have to restaff."

And then, without another beat, Lixel was on their side of the island, aiming his wrist at Roxena. She saw as he pressed a button on the weapon worn on his wrist.

She listened to the coiling sound as the weapon began to initiate.

Her eyes widened as a red lazer began to lull to life, and then-

"I said, NO! "

There was a loud thud, and someone screamed. It took a moment for Roxena to realize it was her own voice. She was curled into a ball, holding her head, wailing. A moment later there was a hand on her shoulder, and she screamed again.

"It's okay!" Gohan's voice urged. "I'm sorry, but what he was doing was unforgivable!"

What?

Stunned, Roxena picked up her head to see Gohan peering down at her. His eyebrows were furrowed with residual anger, but he was smiling, as if trying to be comforting. His cheeks were red, and tears were welling in his eyes. Roxena looked past him and saw Lixel's body, laying face down in a pool of blood.

But, that meant… This meant she wasn't going to die. Gohan had made sure of that…He'd saved her?

"You should get out of here. This place is dangerous!" Gohan's voice called, and it seemed to echo around the room as Roxena processed everything. Slowly she turned back to him, his eyes glued on her with great solemnity.

"What?" She finally breathed, and she realized she was shaking. Gohan grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.

"Come on, I bet we can find the pod dock together. I know a really safe planet you can go!"

"But…" Roxena gasped. "But… why…?"

"You don't wanna go?" Gohan paused in his urgency, sounding somewhat offended.

"Why?" Her voice cracked. "Why did you help me?"

"Because you don't deserve to die! You didn't do anything! It's not fair!" Gohan growled, looking back at Lixel's body. But then he softened, turning back to her. "I'm really sorry about your friends."

Friends? Roxena's eyes widened. Scenes flashed across her mind, of hurtful insults and flying fists. When it came to times spent in the slave quarters, it had always been a survival of the fittest. As the smallest, she often got the brunt of it. If one of them hadn't been taking their anger out on her, they were surely beating each other. But she couldn't bring herself to elaborate all of this, and so Roxena simply rubbed the bruise on her neck and said "Oh… It's alright."

But then something else Gohan had just said registered, and she jumped. "Did you say you can get me to the pods?"

"I think so! I've never used one, but how hard can it be?"

She still didn't understand why he was being so nice to her, and it was overwhelming. Her heart slammed against her ribs, an unbearable sense of gratitude, and Roxena felt a bashful blush creeping to her cheeks. "That would be amazing, but…" She lifted a hand, brandishing her gold bracelet. "I don't know how far I can get with this thing. The girls used to say it was dangerous to leave the base if we were wearing them, but they also liked to scare me a lot… But maybe they really were lying, because why would Frieza want us executed if these worked?"

"Frieza's a very bad man." Gohan growled, putting a hand on her bracelet as he inspected it. "I met him last night, there's no telling what he was thinking. He likes to play games."

"Do you think you can get it off?" Roxena asked, hope welling inside. "I'd rather not risk it, and you must be pretty strong. Could you rip it, maybe?"

"I don't know," Gohan hesitated. "I wouldn't wanna accidentally hurt you…"

"Please?" She asked. And she sounded so worried, so sad and earnest. It took Gohan by surprise. He looked up at her face, saw her pleading eyes, and once again he felt his stomach turning. He'd been put to task many times in his life, but nobody had ever been begged him like this before. Genuinely asked him to do something so heartfelt, so dependent and needing. She was desperate, terrified, and it seemed that only he could help her in this awful place. There certainly was no telling where Mr. Vegeta had ended up, after all…

He hoped she didn't notice how much his cheeks were burning. Or how his voice cracked when he said "okay."

He gulped, looked back down at her wrist, and slid two fingers under the bracelet. "I'll try."

.

Nothing.

Inside there was nothing. Vegeta hadn't been expecting this, not after sending Bulma away. Touching her again, getting her out of this hellhole - it was all he'd fixated on since her abduction. And while there had been an initial relief to see her coming back to life from the senzu bean, it went away the moment the pod took off. The thrill of slaughtering Frieza's henchmen got old incredibly fast, and all Vegeta could really focus on was the emptiness in his head.

Even killing Zarbon hadn't been thrilling. Yes, the idiot deserved what he received, but it had simply been a task that needed to be fulfilled. Nothing more. Now, on to the next.

He supposed it was time to go find Frieza, though what would come after that? Frieza would be dead, and what would Vegeta do? He had no home. No place to go. Returning to Bulma was the only intriguing option, but that wasn't doable. Bulma was disappointed in him, angry, and she had every right to be. Her life had gone to complete shambles ever since they'd met, and he had no desire to impose that on her any further.

… Frieza's torture wouldn't have reached her if it hadn't been for him.

She needed to be happy; and she wouldn't achieve that with him in her life.

Bzzt!

Without batting an eye, Vegeta took out a guard that was turning the corner. He continued the prowl, his legs moving on autopilot. Staring ahead as images of Bulma's emaciated body replayed in his head. It was all his fault. He'd known since the beginning that something like this could have happened, but he'd let his stupid emotions kept him from acting rationally.

Bzzt! Another guard down.

At one point he turned into the landing between levels on the ship. And he snapped slightly out of his daze when he saw that familiar child running at him. Interrupting him, like the kid was so prone to do. Showing up at the most exasperating of times, not listening to commands that were given, wanting more with each interaction.

"Mr. Vegeta!" The boy was shouting. Jumping. Waving his hands in the air like a completely emotional buffoon. Vegeta raised an eyebrow, thinking once again that life seemed to be moving in slow motion.

"We need your help! Do you know what this thing is?!" Gohan was yelling.

It was at this point that Vegeta realized Gohan was accompanied by someone else. He was holding her arm in the air, flaunting the gold bracelet that signified her status on this ship.

"We can't get it off!" Gohan was droning, going off into a long winded ramble about the attempts they'd made.

Did Gohan know how deranged the slaves were? Not a single person was left un-tormented by Frieza's wrath, and the tyrant almost gave more attention to the slaves than any of his other prisoners. Whisking them from the pits of whatever backwater planet they were stolen from. Injecting them with his evil, rewarding diabolic tendencies, training them to hate with the bitterness only a tainted mind that had once been kind could hold.

There was an urgency on Gohan's face when he looked at the slave, and his eyes sparkled momentarily when he saw her. Vegeta looked from Gohan to the girl, his glare unrelenting.

Clad in a torn dress that hung from her body like a bag, the girl was about the same age as the half-blood. Her large almond shaped eyes glistened with undisguised terror as she met his gaze. Her skin was even more pale than Bulma's, discoloration scattered about to reflect beatings she'd received. It seemed that Gohan could sense her fear, because he put a supportive hand to her shoulder. And instead of giving a coquettish smile that exhibited manipulation, like the other slaves would, she straightened. She tensed. She gulped, and she shook.

Breaking her gaze away from Vegeta, she glanced to Gohan for a moment. And it looked like she couldn't tell if she should be reassured by his gesture, the blush blatant against her dewy skin. Yes, this slave was different. It was obvious she was still new here, and her spirit hadn't yet been altered to irreparable corruption.

Gulping, Gohan looked like he was about to burst with emotion as the two kids looked at one another. And he did such a bad job of hiding this as he turned back to Vegeta, his shaking voice asking for help once again.

Without a word, Vegeta grabbed the girl's arm. She squeaked as he pointed an index finger to the center of her shackle, reciting the passcode in his head. He shot it with a mild surge of electricity, and then the gold band clicked open.

"Thank you! Mr. Vegeta!" Gohan cheered, and the girl simply watched the saiyan prince in awe.

"Get out, before it's too late." Vegeta grumbled. He turned to Gohan, instructing him on the direction of the pod station, and just which keys to press in order to set its course towards Namek.

"Got it!" Gohan grabbed Roxena's wrist as he began to charge towards the pod deck.

"Thank you," She said softly as she turned.

"Kid." Vegeta said, snapping the boy's attention back to him.

"Yeah?"

"You're too young for this." He grumbled.

"Too young for what?" Gohan asked.

Vegeta, yet again, let his eyes wander back and forth between the two children. They stood so awkwardly together, close yet hesitant. Gohan's hand was still wrapped around her wrist. And she was completely allowing the interaction, regardless of how openly stiff it made her. The young duo looked hesitant, curious, and pleasantly surprised in one another's presence.

Vegeta found himself wanting to charge for them, to protectively get in between and break them apart. And this impulse startled him. Why should he care, after all?

"You're too young." The saiyan prince repeated. "Remember that."

And then he turned, walking away without any further words.

.

So, that was the notorious Vegeta that she'd heard so much about. Roxena's heart was pounding, disbelief welling in her stomach. She'd always heard that coming face-to-face with the dark saiyan prince was a guarantee of death. But he hadn't been so bad, if not a bit aloof. She turned to Gohan questioningly. "What was that about?"

"I have no idea." He replied. Gohan looked a bit concerned. Perhaps it wasn't normal for Vegeta to act quite so robotic. To speak in riddles, and not elaborate his words. Roxena found herself starting to wonder what type of dynamic these two typically had. But only for a moment, because Gohan was tugging her away once again.

"Let's go!" He was urging. And she couldn't believe it.

She was going to get out of here.

AN: Thanks again for all of your support. I'll do my best to get the next update posted, but it might be a week or so before I have ample time to sit down and write it out. Your feedback keeps me encouraged and motivated. Thank you. 3