The next few days were full of training on the asteroid for Vegeta. She didn't know what he did out there beyond that, except that the part of her mind that was him was saturated with violently fluctuating bestial emotion. She felt spikes of triumph and moments of something that had to be a twisted thrill because she couldn't quite swallow that the Saiyan would feel terror of any sort. Most of all, though, she felt a deep, bone penetrating chill and an ache in her chest as though she couldn't breathe.

She supposed this was what she was supposed to sense. When the Saiyan was training outside, she was training as well. The stick insect who had initially woken her from the regen pod had retrieved her – or at least, had her retrieved and brought to him. She and others she assumed received similar genetic alterations were brought to a central location for mental exercises. The first time she had come, she had been morbidly curious; it seemed those like her, of which there were surprisingly few she discovered, shuffled to work stations full of electronics. When she was brought to one she assumed would be for her use, she refused to sit in the center console. It reminded her of a dentist chair, but that wasn't what filled her with distaste. She had seen some of the others as she had passed, and didn't want all the tubing and wires plunged through various surfaces and orifices. She was flesh and blood, not some hybrid human-machine. All the others seemed zombie like, even when not plugged in. Frankly, she was frightened that she would no longer be herself if she gave in.

She was dumbfounded when her refusal lasted no more than seconds before the arrival of – the name 'Twiggy' kept popping into her mind for some asinine reason; despite the resemblance to a stick, she felt the doctor looked more like a bug. He closed the curtain and raised four of his six arms to placate her. She wasn't sure why, she hadn't even begun to throw a fit.

She scowled at him. Stick or bug, he was still a simpering asshole more interested in fucking around with his experiments rather than giving a shit about the guinea pigs he was fiddling with. She wanted nothing more than to squash him. "If you expect me to cooperate, prepare to be sourly disappointed."

She realized something. "How do you expect to compel me to control Vegeta, anyway? Assuming I wanted to and even could?"

She wasn't sure, but she thought Twiggy's twin gargantuous mantis-like eyes rolled nervously. He parted the curtain and peered in every direction before closing it and turning back to face her. It took her a moment to realize that the sounds of sticks rubbing against each other was his voice. She crinkled her brows in abject confusion.

"WHAT?" She said loudly, quite on purpose.

She got the reaction she wanted when the bug squirmed in obvious discomfort, even if he was a disgusting over-sized germ with no facial expression. Amused, she smirked and crossed her arms. When he produced a contraption and spoke again, she twisted her lips wryly and sighed. So much for the language barrier to assist her attempts to avoid cooperating. Her attention was drawn to the bug's antennae. They wiggled when he spoke. She was tempted to yank on one, but really didn't want to touch it. It somehow reminded her of the slug's orange and purple eye stalk she had shot off – was that a week ago? Or two?

The doctor's wooden voice was translated, and she couldn't help but tense.

"The others were prepared for genetic transition. We were able to extract unaltered DNA for use in assisting recovery. This you know. What you do not know is… we altered it."

Bulma furrowed her brow. "I thought the whole point of reintroducing the unaltered DNA for cell structure support was that it was unaltered."

His antennae undulated so much, she got the impression it was his way of showing agitation. "It was only slightly altered. You see-" His mandibles stretched open wide for a moment – not unlike someone chewing their lip as they thought for words she surmised.

"To answer your question, we are compelling the others to cooperate. We introduced an addiction to a substance. The addiction is on the genetic level to ensure total compliance. The substance produces a euphoric sensation. When the subject complies with our wishes, the drug-like substance dosage is increased. When the subject strays from specific instructions, the drug is reduced. If the level of drug ever drops below a certain amount, the subject experiences excruciating pain and eventual death."

Bulma stared wide eyed at the monster in front of her, her mouth dry. When she failed to respond, the doctor continued.

"This way, we ensure loyalty of our controllers because they, too, are being controlled. You see? It doesn't matter where one's true loyalties are. Controllers chose to cooperate because they are genetically engineered to do so. The fighters cooperate because, well, they aren't truly in control, are they? It's a beautiful system, is it not?"

He tilted his triangular head. "We do find that Frieza's fighters are best. They're the strongest warriors, true, but that's only part of what makes them valuable. They are easiest to control because under all the fear of disobeying, his warriors truly hate him. So you see? We take Frieza's men away from him at the same time we recruit. It's magnificent."

The cold in her veins was new. Usually her rage was hot. This… this new fury was something that had been beyond her comprehension before these animals had started messing with her mind. She hungrily drank it in, embracing for the first time pure, Saiyan emotion. Right then, she fully submerged herself within the violent, throbbing thrill of anger. Pulsing with this untainted freedom, she understood Vegeta in a new but fundamental way and part of her loved him right then for enabling this sensation. And rescuing her from addiction.

When she spoke, her voice was a just above a whisper, but she was distantly pleased and impressed with herself. She had never heard herself sound so…. terrifying.

"And why did you not forgo the controllers and just use the drug on the fighters?" She heard herself growl, and shocked herself into silence. Well. Ok. She could growl, now. She grinned feraly. Ooh. Very useful. She stepped forward and her grin spread into a smile. She liked channeling mad, powerful Saiyan!

The bug backed up a step but refrained from pushing through the curtain. His mandibles quivered and his antennae stood on end. "It… wouldn't do for a fighter to feel euphoria. If they bothered to fight, all senses would be dulled. And-"

Bulma cut him off with the wave of a hand. It wouldn't matter if he understood that Saiyans in fact did feel euphoria when they fought. That wasn't the point. Nothing would make any of this acceptable to her, even if they all were a bunch of fat, happy, euphoric zombies. Reluctantly, she let the rage subside, but was disoriented for a moment when it didn't completely fade. Frowning, she realized the anger was coming from the part of her mind that connected her to the Saiyan. She sighed and turned towards the chair. If their brains were connected, anyway, it would be useful to learn control. Vegeta had said he would teach her how to control her telepathy, but her instinct told her that whatever he taught her would be more beneficial to him than to herself. He'd likely teach her how to create a one sided barrier that kept her out of his head, but leave a back door so he could look in her head whenever he wanted.

She glanced over her shoulder. "You know that drug won't work on me, which is why you're nervous. You wouldn't bother being nervous unless you wanted to keep this a secret. That suits me just fine." She started running her fingers over the switches, tubes, and electronics.

Turning around, she raised an eyebrow. "How is this thing supposed to work?"

The first few hours, Bulma was more frustrated than anything else. She had thrown the virtual helmet on the floor and let her head fall back on the head rest of her chair. Wiggling a bit, she decided that the thing was comfortable, but it would have to be. Controllers could sit in these things for days; some of the tubes were for intravenous fluids and nutrition. She wrinkled her nose. Others were for removing waste.

She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She felt her heart beating and started to relax, letting her mind drift. She imagined she could see the sun on Earth and reached out to feel the warmth on her fingertips. Instead of warmth, she felt cold. Intending to sit up and search for the switch that heated her chair, she was distracted when she felt weightless and disoriented. She tried to move but her limbs wouldn't respond. Starting to get nervous, she told herself to get a grip and clearly directed her body to obey. When she opened her eyes and turned her head to the left, looking for the switch, she nearly fell out of her skin.

Instead of the cubicle with its circuitry, electronics, buttons, switches, and wiring, she saw a horrifying, bottomless, directionless, black pit. Panicking, she tried to back away and her vision shifted as she fell back. She sat down hard, and the awareness of excruciating pain exploded from her tail bone. She jerked. What the fuck? She expected to feel pain, but didn't. It was as if her brain told her the pain was there, but her body couldn't be bothered to agree. Terrified, her eyes darted in every direction, trying to understand what the fuck was happening. Something fluttered oddly in her awareness and she focused on it. It was at least something to take her mind away from this nightmare. The last time she had felt so full of dread was when Radditz had invaded her mind.

She was in a rocky pit, laying on her back. It was nearly impossible to breathe and her lungs both burned with the effort and froze with every pull of air she did take. Her head spun and she tried to clear it. Again, that flutter grabbed her attention and she looked to the left. A blur of green flashed and was gone. Something in her muscles screamed for her to MOVE. She didn't know how, but she found herself suddenly squatting, looking at the rim of the pit. What?

It was very difficult to force herself to look away. It was as though something were resisting… so she pushed harder. Anger bloomed within her chest. It was so palpable she could almost taste it. She tried to distance herself from it. She felt – or almost felt? – like something grabbed her – tackled her - from behind. Her vision swam as she tried to focus on a horizon that was tumbling in a way that completely perplexed her perception of what up and down should be. She flew quite a distance before descending back to the surface. Distantly, she felt as though she should be feeling pain. Something was pummeling her. Fists? She blinked. She saw the green alien in between explosions of vision. This was impossible.

She opened her mouth to scream but couldn't hear it. Nothing about this was right. Something in her mind snapped. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening to her….

Not happening to her.

Vegeta? She thought, horrified.

YES!

Came a thought so clear in the center of her brain, she was certain it was a thought that came from outside of herself. Oh God. It wasn't the fact that she was inside his head with him – without the use of the virtual helmet! – It was the mental anguish with which he had answered her. He was petrified.

What do I do? She sent him. Or thought she did. She didn't know what the hell she was doing.

Let go of me! He replied in a panic.

I don't know how! She screamed.

Figure it out! Immediately! Unless you wantme to die? Came the angry response.

She tried to withdraw from his mind with such force she felt as though her head would implode. She understood now that though she was aware of his pain, she couldn't actually feel it – but apparently, he could feel hers. Why? Why couldn't she share his pain? It wasn't fair that she was the cause but she was exempt from the consequences. If she was murdering him, she should have to feel it! She couldn't feel him, but she could feel something hot and wet on her cheeks. She didn't know if it was blood dripping from her nose from attempts to pull away from his mind or if they were tears. It didn't matter.

Desperate, she thought furiously. She hadn't been able to connect with him when she tried. She had only been able to do so when she relaxed. She had no idea what she had done besides that – but she had relaxed dozens of times before and hadn't been sucked into his brain. What had she done differently?

Not knowing what else to do, she tried to let go of her thoughts and drift. She had been daydreaming she was floating on her back in the watering hole in the dinosaur sanctuary behind her house. She had felt the cool waves on her skin and the warmth – her heart skipped a beat.

Vegeta! Veteta, look at that star!

She felt his confusion. It was groggy and distant, like he was just waking up from sleep. Or about to lose consciousness. Concentrating, she forced his head to turn towards the asteroid belt's closest star. The searing light blinded her for a moment, but when she opened her eyes, she saw her cubicle. She shot up out of the chair and swung her legs around to stand up. The feel of the floor under her feet grounded her. She took a few breaths and closed her eyes. Prepared this time, she reached for him. She wasn't in control like she was before, but she was again inside his head, looking through his eyes. Willing him to get up and fight back, she threw every mental insult she could. She got nothing from him except a bemused irritation. He wanted to get up, but something about sleeping was too appealing.

Bulma did the only thing she could think of. In a way, it was a kind of payback that would serve him right and she couldn't help a nervous grin. She grabbed the large bundled power relay chord connecting her chair to – well, everything. She twisted and yanked, grunting until it yielded to her efforts. Taking in a few extremely anxious, deep breaths, she cringed and stuck the prongs into the flesh of her bicep. Pain sizzled through every nerve and synapse as every muscle in her body contracted. Distantly, she laughed at herself in irony. She had peed herself again. Huh. Go figure.

Just as the tips of her hair caught fire, she lost consciousness. But not before she felt the sweet rush of Vegeta's pure wrath surge under her chestbone. He didn't need his ki. He was pissed off enough to disintegrate her through the rock of the asteroid with nothing but his fury. That green dick head didn't have a chance.

Hours later, they both floated half dead in regen tanks. Even through the liquid of both pods, she could feel the heat of his stare. She pretended to be asleep, but she knew it was futile. He was quite aware that she was awake. She frowned but opened her eyes. May as well face the music.

After a few minutes, he still had yet to speak. Strangely, she couldn't sense what he was feeling. It was disconcerting. She blinked. What should be disconcerting is that she had come to rely on her sense of his moods and background thoughts. Scowling behind her breathing mask, she was forced to float in silence, waiting for the inevitable ball to drop. So – she floated in her tank and he in his, eyes glued to one another's, neither saying anything.

She almost fell back to sleep when she felt a nudge. Her eyes fluttered. She was about to close them again when she felt a mental shove. Her eyes popped open and she looked at the alien floating next to her. He was still glaring at her, but his expression seemed softer than it had been. At least, less intense. She raise an eyebrow at him and he lowered his.

Why did you want me to look at the star? He asked.

She snorted in amused disbelief. Seriously? She had expected accusations, declarations of loathing, death threats – but… he wanted to know about the damn sun?

Bemused, she tried to formulate an answer in words. At the time, she had been working on instinct.

I think I got into your head because we were thinking about the same thing at the same time. It seemed logical to do the same thing to get out of your head.

He narrowed his eyes skeptically and peered at her.

I was not thinking of stars. He stated flatly.

No. You were thinking that green guy was going to put himself between you and the star, to blind you right before attacking. I was also thinking of starlight. Well. Sunlight, anyway.

He scoffed. You risked my life on the belief that forcing me to look at a star would free me?

She grinned under her breathing mask. It was worth the risk at the time.

His eyes widened briefly with incredulous shock. Blinking a few times, she was thunderstruck when she realized the violent expulsion of bubbles in his tank meant that he had coughed trying to contain laughter. It lasted only a moment, but again – it wasn't the reaction she had expected. Neither had he, apparently, because he was scowling again at her. Pshh. As if it was her fault he found her funny.

Hmf. Might as well take advantage of his talkative mood. It wasn't like he could kill her more than once if he decided the risk really was worth it.

So. Have you ever lost control of your ki before? From over stimulation, I mean.

She felt a wave of dark anger swell. Apparently this wasn't a safe subject. She was about to say nevermind when he surprised her by answering.

You wish to know the manner of such a death? His eyes sizzled with heat and rage, yet his voice in her head was cold and quiet.

My ki would cook your flesh from the inside. Your blood would boil and rupture the veins and arteries throughout your body. Your cells would burst and all the fluids would thicken into a viscous sludge, pushed out of your skin from every poor. Your organs and your eyes would melt. Yet you would live because ki in such form is the essence of life. And all the while you died yet lived, I would be in rapture and you would be forced to feel my ecstasy.

Did he know from experience? She tried not to think the words, but knew she failed when he answered her.

Yes…

Bulma shuddered and fear – real fear – seized her heart when he smiled predatorily at her. She couldn't see it behind his mask, but she knew with cold certainty that it was there.


A/N: Is it just me? Or does everyone get obnoxiously giddy when they post a new story or chapter? I'm trying to write something new (at least, something I've never seen?) with new ideas. Lemme know if I'm way off the mark or if you have ideas for me to include! Love your reviews - they keep me motivated!