Beaten

The long-haired saiyan fell to the floor, barely able to catch himself before his face met the cold metal. His breathing was ragged as he tried to push himself back to his feet, but he was dizzy from blood loss and he was sure half the bones in his body were snapped like twigs. His companion wasn't in much better condition at his side. They were left to their own devices to make it to the medical ward after their most recent punishment for their prince's continued absence.

"I don't think I can take much more of this," he croaked through his dry throat. He winced in pain and panted for breath.

Nappa hauled Raditz to his feet as he stepped past him. He was thinking the same thing as the third-class saiyan, but he wasn't going to say it out loud. He knew the only thing keeping them going was pride. It wasn't much to hold onto when it was beaten out of them daily by the lizard. If they weren't sent on a new purge mission soon they might not survive much longer. The beatings were getting worse as Frieza's anger rose.

"We have to take it," Nappa reminded him. "We don't have a choice. And we can't be dead when Vegeta returns."

Raditz staggered forward a few steps before stopping to take a breather. One of his lungs was definitely out of commission. He couldn't seem to get enough air. "What good will it do? We can't save him."

The tall, bald saiyan hacked up a glob of bloody phlegm and spit it out on the floor. They were leaving a trail of blood behind them anyway. He sighed and pushed Raditz forward to continue their long trek to the medical ward. "Maybe not, but we can keep him alive after Frieza's done with him. And then, we'll make sure his pride doesn't die."

It was the same thing he'd been telling Raditz for the past six months. It was their duty to their prince to make sure he didn't lose hope. To make sure he held onto his pride even when everything else was torn from him. He would rise and avenge the saiyans for the sake of pride. He had to. No one else could.

"What if… what if…" Raditz hunched over with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath. He shook his head, giving up on speaking. He opened his mental link with Nappa. 'What if Frieza kills us before he gets back? We come closer to death every day.'

'We won't die!' Nappa's voice growled back. 'We're saiyans, or have you forgotten that? It will take more than a few punches from that sadistic bastard to kill us.'

Raditz rolled his eyes. It didn't matter what they were, they were weaker than Frieza and he was grinding them into the dust under his foot. There they were, in the corridor of the ship, barely clinging to life as they practically crawled to the medical ward, and Nappa was telling him they would survive because they were saiyans? It was because they were saiyans that they were on the brink of death! Frieza hated them for what they were and it was because they were Vegeta's subjects that they were being punished for the fact that he wasn't there. He didn't wish his punishment on the prince, but he did wish it would stop. There was nothing he or Nappa could do to make Vegeta come back any sooner. It still infuriated him to think that Frieza knew where Vegeta was and that he sent a rescue team to get him – from a planet a year away! If he wanted Vegeta back so bad, then why hadn't he sent a team from a closer planet? It made no sense. Obviously it was for the sake of an excuse to nearly kill the saiyans over and over. And when Vegeta was brought back… Raditz couldn't stand to imagine what would be his fate.

'We're not even getting much stronger from all this,' he reminded the elite warrior. 'Frieza makes sure we don't get enough food and training for this to have any benefits for us.'

'I know that.'

When they finally reached the medical ward they were immediately rushed to the regeneration tanks to recover. The two saiyans slipped into blissful oblivion when they lost consciousness as their bodies healed from the latest round of torture.

It took nearly two full days for them to heal completely. When their healing was complete, they got out of the tanks and pulled on their armor, which had certainly seen better days. Their chest plates were cracked and broken, providing little to no protection in a fight.

"We've got to get new armor," Raditz grumbled as he pulled his armor over his head.

Nappa grunted. His armor was in even worse shape than the third-class warrior's. Still, he wasn't a fan of the idea of asking 'Lord Frieza' for a new set of armor. He knew the lizard took sadistic pleasure in seeing them vulnerable and knowing they sustained additional injuries on their missions because of their lack of protection. Anything that humiliated them made him happier. Sometimes he wondered why Frieza didn't get it over with and finish them off. He hated them, that much was obvious. He only kept them around to use as living punching bags.

The door to the medical ward opened and a bright pink behemoth stepped in, breathing heavily from the exertion of walking through the corridors of the ship. He had spikes covering his head and forearms. The disgusting tub-of-lard Dodoria, one of Frieza's elite soldiers. Nappa and Raditz grimaced when they saw him and caught a whiff of his rancid stench.

After catching his breath, Dodoria turned to the saiyans and smirked. "Lord Frieza requests an audience with you monkeys at once."

Raditz groaned and Nappa pinched the bridge of his nose. They knew what kind of 'audience' the lizard wanted with them. He probably heard the news as soon as they were released from the regeneration tanks and now he was going to beat them half to death again. It was a never-ending cycle of beatings and healings. They were being weakened by it, never given the chance to rest and eat in the routine. It seemed Frieza found a way to effectively bypass the advantage of their unique physiology.

Rather than delaying the inevitable, the two saiyans headed for Frieza's throne room for another round of punishment for something that wasn't their fault. This had been going on for weeks. After they inadvertently poisoned themselves, they weren't sent on any more purge missions. Frieza used the excuse that without their prince they were too stupid to do it without getting themselves killed and slowing down his planet trade business. That left them on Frieza's ship, readily accessible whenever Frieza was in a bad mood and needed someone to take his ire out on. Unfortunately for them, they were the most durable bodies on the ship.

"How bad do you think this one is going to be?" Raditz asked under his breath so only Nappa could hear his question.

Nappa's eyes shifted to the long-haired saiyan and then back to the pink blob walking in front of them. He didn't want to answer. He knew as well as Raditz that the severity of their beatings was unpredictable. Sometimes it was little more than a couple broken bones and sometimes their battered bodies had to be dragged to the medical ward by mere foot soldiers.

They followed Dodoria into the throne room and knelt in front of the lizard. It was a long while before the tyrant addressed them.

"Ah, my monkeys are all better now."

"Yes, Lord Frieza," Nappa confirmed. His hands clenched into fists as he prepared himself for the pain of a blow too fast to see. But none came. He peeked up at the lizard who was looking down on him with a cruel smirk.

"I have received word that your pathetic little prince is trying to repair his space pod so he can hurry back."

Raditz, too, looked up when he heard this. They stared at Frieza, at a loss for words. They had no idea how to respond or what to expect from him. Playing it safe, they said nothing.

"What? Aren't you glad to hear your prince is still alive and well?" Frieza asked, feigning shock that they didn't act more enthusiastic.

"Yes, Lord Frieza," Nappa mumbled. He looked down at the floor again.

Frieza rose from his throne and started circling around the kneeling saiyans. His tail lashed behind him as he watched them with wicked glee. These saiyans might be proud, but their pride was so easily broken down compared to Vegeta. He stopped circling when he stood in front of them again.

"Too bad that doesn't save you," he hissed before he kicked Nappa's chin, snapping his head back and throwing him into the wall at the other end of the room. He turned to Raditz and kicked him to the ground and stepped on his tail, earning a roar of agony from the saiyan. And so began another pointless, unfair beating of the saiyans.

A/N: And there's your update on the lives of Raditz and Nappa... we're moving on to my favorite part of the story so far. I'm pretty excited about it. Hope you are too. It's going to get fun for a couple chapters. :)