'In here." Vegeta slammed the button to open the door of the infirmary.

'Kakarot will heal much faster if we put him in this regeneration tank"

Krillin and Gohan eyed Vegeta with suspicion.

'What the hell are you waiting for, put him in the fucking tank!"

Knowing they had no better alternative then to trust Vegeta for the moment, Krillin and Gohan did as they were instructed.

As Vegeta looked for some battle gear, Krillin and Gohan had a chance to talk. "So ,this is Frieza's ship. It looks so high tech. Very different from our Namekian spaceship. Bulma would probably find this very interesting. I hope she's alright. I'm worried about her, Gohan. We left her to fend for herself almost a month ago."

"I know. But she knows we aren't the only ones after the dragonballs. I'm sure she understands we ran into some trouble. Besides, she has all those capsules. She could survive out there for years!" Gohan said naively.

"Yeah, that's true. But one thing is for sure, she's gonna be so mad! Bulma's pretty scary when she's mad."

Gohan chuckled. "All we can do to ease her anger is make sure we get that wish, so we can bring Yamcha back! And I can't let Piccolo down! We need that password to summon Porunga."

"Yes, you're right! I'll make my way to Elder Guru now. You stay here with your dad. Make sure Vegeta doesn't do anything crazy."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. He heard the whole thing, of course. He stepped inside the room wearing clean battle gear. Black this time, without the shoulder guards. He gave some to Krillin and Gohan to put on as well. Then he ordered Krillin to get the damn seemed the earthlings were just as determent to get their wish as he was. Of course, he himself was the reason they needed the wish. So, he had no doubt Krillin would come back with the right information.

Krillin made his way out of Frieza's spaceship and took to the sky. Gohan sighed and watched his fathers body floating in the fluids that were supposed to help him heal faster. "So how exactly does this thing work, Vegeta?"

"I'm going to rest for a moment. You stay awake and watch the dragonballs." Vegeta said, ignoring Gohans question.

"Are you serious!? What if Frieza shows up?"

"I'll sense him coming in my sleep, now piss off."

Gohan knew better than to argue with him so he stepped outside.

"Stupid brat" Vegeta muttered under his breath.

He sat down on the ground, back against the regeneration tank, arms crossed. Exhaustion hit him hard the second he closed his eyes. But his mind was in turmoil. For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself a moment of reflection. Losing to that lowborn nobody was a blow to his pride and his confidence. He thought he had gained alot of strenght over the last few years while on Frieza's missions. He was sickened to be doing his bidding of course, but traveling through space to purge planets and encountering strong warriors was a good way to become stronger, without being under Frieza's watchful eye. Just as he thought he was making great progress, he suffered a defeat by the hands of a mere thirdclass warrior. To think that he actually believed he might have a chance against Frieza soon..."Idiot." Also, he underestimated the Earthlings. Never had he expected them to find their way to Namek so soon. He heard them say someone else came with them. He should have known. Those two morons definitely were not smart enough to get here on their own.

Just as he was about to drift off, his senses picked up on an energy nearby. How had he missed that before? It was definitely coming from inside the ship. He got up and let his senses tell him where to go. It was weak, yet very overwhelming in some sort of way. Not a fighter he reckoned. This felt...softer. He walked into what seemed to be Frieza's private quarters. Very extravagant, purple and gold, massive bed with curtains around it. It made the hairs in the back of his neck stand up to be there. The smell of that foul creature was very pungent in the room. On the opposite side of the bed was a cage. From inside it, two ocean blue, electric eyes, watched him. He found himself nailed to the floor for a moment. A woman with blue, wavy long hair, clad in a red, lace dress was locked in the cage. It was strange, he swore she recognized him from somewhere, yet he had never seen her before. And he surely would have remembered her face. When he stepped closer, he noticed she had bruises on her neck and a cut in her lip. She was beautiful. A curse, as it was probably the reason why she was here. To 'entertain' Frieza.

Vegeta was a coldblooded murderer. He had killed many innocent beings without batting an eye. And yes, he had enjoyed it. He relished in being feared. But contrary to Frieza, he did have some honor and pride. Some standards. He considered himself to be evil, but Frieza was something much worse. When he was a young prince, much too young, Frieza clearly had a sick fascination with him. He had tried to groom him for a while. Thankfully he had always managed to keep himself out of situations that might end up in something repulsive. And after some time, he had proved himself to be a valuable asset on the battlefield. So, he did not have to be around him often.

This woman before him probably wasn't as lucky.

"I know I'm gorgeous, but could you stop gawking at me and open this thing already."

Well, she seemed to have some fire left in her. He smirked. "Of course." He easily removed the chain to open the cage.

She stepped out, never breaking eye contact. Vegeta wondered for a moment where she was from. Surely, she didn't come here with the Earthlings. Even though she did have human features, he couldn't believe the humans he encountered were the same species as this creature before him.

When Vegeta gave her a once over the woman self-consciously hugged her chest as the dress was leaving very little to the imagination. Vegeta grabbed a towel from the wardrobe next to them and handed it to her. She hugged it, covering her front. Then she looked at him. Her eyes fueled with anger.

"You killed my boyfriend."

He didn't see that coming. "I killed many, be more specific."

"Yamcha."

"Still not ringing a bell."

"On earth!?"

Vegeta raised one eyebrow. Still not sure who she meant.

"For fuck sake, one of your disgusting green creatures killed him!?"

"Ah yes, I know who you' re talking about. He chose to be on the battlefield and lost. That's what happens when you're weak."

They were silent for a moment. Never breaking eye contact.

"You came here with the Earthlings. You're that Bulma they were talking about" He stated.

"Well yeah, those idiots aren't smart enough to travel through space."

"I thought as much."

"Did you kill them?" She asked.

"Not yet."

"Good, leave it to me." She said in a low voice. A blue fire raging in her eyes. Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. He understood now why the bald one referred to her as "Pretty scary."

Then her expression changed when her eyes roamed around the room for a moment. Her hand absentmindedly finding its way to her neck. When her gaze met his once more, tears were forming in her eyes. She tried to compose herself. But Vegeta could see her hands were shaking.

"Can we leave, please?"

Vegeta nodded and walked out of the room towards the infirmary. Bulma followed him, still clutching the towel to her chest. He glanced over his shoulder. She was clearly not well. Even walking seemed to be difficult. It was probably the reason why she didn't bother running from him. She knew who he was and yet she hadn't screamed for help or anything like that. But then again, she faced the pinnacle of evil up close. Vegeta probably did not seem so threatening compared to him.

She gasped when she saw Goku in the regeneration tank. She dropped the towel and stumbled towards it. She laid a hand on the glass before whispering the name of her longtime friend. Then she turned to Vegeta. The fire in her eyes back. He knew what she was thinking. But of course this time, Vegeta was not the one responsible for Goku's injuries. He watched her with some amusement as she advanced towards him, the tight dress making it hard for her to move. She was quite the fireball.

"Did you do this?"

"And what if I did?" A wicked smirk on his face.

"I'll think of some way to make you pay."

"Is that so? Well as much as I would like to see that, I am not the reason for Kakarot's poor state."

"Then who is?"

"Ginyu."

Bulma nodded slightly. Indicating to Vegeta that she'd come across the captain of the Ginyu force whilst being in captivity. Then she winced, pain clear across her face. She started looking around the infirmary. Vegeta saw her taking a syringe from a drawer and sticking it into a vial with clear fluid. Then she tried in vain to roll up her sleeve, as the dress was much too tight. She angrily ripped the material with her teeth. Just as she wanted to plunge the needle in her vains, Vegeta's hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her from doing so.

"No woman. I think you've had quite enough of that." With his other hand he held her arm, running his thumb over the area where she'd been injected many times. As if she suddenly realized what she was doing, she dropped the syringe.

"You're right, what the hell am I doing?" When vegeta let go of her, she paced the room restlessly, biting her nails.

It was clear to Vegeta they had been injecting her with God knows what, for some time. She was in withdrawal.

"I, I...I wouldn't ..."

He knew what she was trying to say. Drugs would sometimes be used on captives to make them more compliant. Most were too afraid to defy Frieza or his men, but he had no trouble believing this woman fought them tooth and nail.

"Sit down." He pointed to a steel work counter. By the way she moved, Vegeta knew there was no way she could hop on herself, so he put his hands on her waist and lifted her up, almost as if she were a child. He prepared an infusion of sedatives and Iv fluids and hooked her up to a drip.

"you'll feel better soon."

She gave him a small nod and a puzzled look. He didn't really understand why he was helping her either. Maybe because he knew it would displease Frieza.

"You said you were going to kill those two idiots. Can't miss that." He said.

She managed the smallest smile.

After a few moments of silence Bulma awkwardly moved off the counter and started walking, pushing the drip on wheels ahead of her, using it to lean on. She glanced a look in his direction. Her eyes already a little brighter thanks to the drip.

Bulma walked around the halls of the spaceship, checking every door for somewhere where she could freshen up. Now that she was starting to feel a little better, she felt a rage burning inside her, fighting to get out. Never had she been so furious. It was eating away at her soul. When she found a bathroom and looked at her own reflection, she was almost surprised that she looked the same as she always had, when she felt so inherently different on the inside. Her fingers grazed her neck and lips. Her mind blocking the memories to keep her from falling apart. When she felt a pain in the back of her neck, a flashback hit her like lightning. Her eyes widened in shock. Did that really happen? Her hand reached up to investigate. And sure enough, the tips of her fingers could make out a small chip under her skin. Those bastards put a fucking tracking chip in her! Like she was a dog! She clawed at her skin in panic. Hurting herself in de process. "FUCK!" She screamed, punching the mirror. It did not crack but her hand was sore. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she had known about the chip the entire time. Why else would she still be here, instead of running and hiding. For a while she stood there, trying to calm down her breathing. She felt like she could break to a million pieces at any moment. The realization of everything that had happened to her, had to hit her at some point. "No, not yet." She told her reflection. She would not let anybody see they broke her. For now, she would hold on to her anger. It kept her going. She ungracefully managed to get her dress off without tearing out the IV. Then she stepped in the shower. The hot water doing little to relieve the stress in her body. She had hoped to feel clean, but as she feared, she was a kind of dirty that could not be washed away. And no matter how hard she rubbed her skin, the various bruises on her body would not go away. She did notice she physically felt much better thanks to the drip Vegeta made. Just her luck, being captured by Frieza, only to be rescued by Vegeta. Yet he had made no move to hurt her. In fact, he had helped her. She was afraid to know what that meant. She knew Vegeta was not an ally of Frieza. In fact, they hated each other. And Vegeta was the biggest reason Frieza did not possess all 7 dragonballs yet. That's what she gathered from the conversations she overheard during her captivity. And what of Krillin and Gohan? Vegeta had clearly run into them, why did he not kill them? So many questions. Too many. It was almost as if she did not really care anyway. It was as if the trauma blocked everything else. After she had dried herself, she searched for clothing. She didn't need to use the IV drip as a walking cane anymore. It was hard to get dressed with it and as she was feeling better, she decided to take it out. Slowly she pulled the needle from her skin and tossed it aside.

All she could find were men's clothing of course. Mostly battle gear. She found some black slacks and a white t-shirt. The slacks fit surprisingly well and she tied the t-shirt in a knot. She found some boots that were too big. So, she doubled down on the socks to make sure they fit a little bit better. Her curly hair was wild and unruly. It matched her current state of mind. She did not know what to do next. It seemed stupid to run with a tracking device in her neck. Besides, where would she go. There was nothing for her on this godforsaken planet. And she wasn't ready to face Gohan and Krillin either. She was very angry with them. But her anger was misplaced, she knew that. They would never want anything bad to happen to her. And Bulma herself had agreed to come with them to Namek. Nobody could have known that after a few days, Frieza's men would stumble upon her by accident and present her to lord Frieza, like she was a prize. But so many times during her captivity, she thought of her two friends. She feared for their safety, but mostly, she wondered why they hadn't come for her. And Goku, he should be on Namek at some point. He had always come through for her, but not this time. She had felt utterly alone, unimportant and forgotten. Now, in the aftermath of it all, rationality slowly coming back to her, she still could not muster anything but anger towards them. Even though they didn't deserve it. She wandered through the hall of the immense ship. Now that she felt better, she noticed her stomach started growling. Surely there was something to eat on this thing. It took her quite a while before she found the kitchen. Luckily it was almost fully stocked and there was more than enough to satiate her hunger. She sat down at a table and put food in her belly.

"Someone's feeling better."

Vegeta stood in the doorway. Smirking.

Bulma had a mouth full of food. She nodded slightly.

He joined her in the kitchen and also started to have something to eat. Leaning against the kitchen counter.

"How many dragonballs do you have?" She asked.

"Seven."

"What!? Have you made a wish?"

"No. Fucking dragon will only appear when you summon him with a Namekian password. Baldy is after it."

Bulma understood that they called a temporary truce. She knew that meant things were really bad.

"And if Frieza comes back before that...?"

"Then we're all dead." Vegeta said matter of factly.

"That's what I thought." She swallowed her last bite, suddenly losing her appetite. She actually feared something much worse than dying. Back to the cage. When she looked up, she saw Vegeta was watching her.

"The ship you came in. Just take it and leave."

"It's on the other side of the planet. I suppose I could take this thing." She said.

"You can fly this?"

"I can fly anything. But I do suspect it's either password protected or has voice command. Not difficult to work around but it would take time to find the right circuit board." She tapped a finger against her lip as she mulled it over. "And I'm sure it's connected to other ships. I bet they can see where it is. But I could just remove all communication devices and trackers." Then she realized they could find her either way. "But running isn't really an option." Her hand reached for her neck.

"Why not?"

"He...put a tracker in my neck..." She said it like she couldn't believe it had happened.

Vegeta thought it sounded paranoid, until he remembered who they were talking about. Frieza would do such a thing.

He walked over to her. Standing behind her, he gently put her hair over her shoulder. Exposing her neck. An old bruise showed itself. Vegeta took off his glove and put his fingertips on her skin. It sent a tingle of goosebumps down her spine. She felt him finding the chip. She got up from the chair and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

"Take it out." She said. Handing out the knife to Vegeta.

He scoffed. "You don't want me taking a knife to your neck woman."

"Why not? Are you gonna cut off my head?"

"I might." He smirked.

She sighed. Well, this was Vegeta she was asking. She thought he was kidding, but was he really? She supposed he didn't need a knife to kill her. And if he wanted to kill her, he probably would have already.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, sensing her trepidation. "I don't exactly have a steady hand, woman."

"I see." She looked down and saw her hands were trembling. Her head started to hurt again as well. All due to the drug withdrawal she guessed. Her head was cloudy, and all she craved to do, besides taking drugs, was to sleep. But it felt like such a weird thing to do, with all that was going on.

At some point Vegeta got up and walked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" She asked

"To get some rest."

Bulma stood there for a moment before deciding she might as well do the same. She found a room with a couple of single beds. The second her head hit the pillow she was out cold.

The room started shaking, almost causing Bulma to roll off the bed. She was very disoriented, her head pounding. When she finally remembered where she was, the realization of what was going on hit her like a ton of bricks. A fight. Frieza must be back. She ran out the room, looking for a window. A bolt of lightning shot through her body as she saw Frieza. He looked different. Even more terrifying than he already was. Stronger. This was bad. She saw Krillin, Gohan and Vegeta too. She felt no relief seeing they were alive. The fear on their faces clear as day. The plan to use a wish to help them beat Frieza obviously hadn't worked. And now, they were all going to die.

To her surprise she suddenly saw Piccolo was on the battlefield as well. Did that mean they did manage to make a wish!? Was Yamcha alive? "What the hell is going on!?" Bulma knew that Piccolo being alive meant Kami was too. So, the Earth dragonballs were back. Some good news. But if they did get a chance to make a wish, why the hell hadn't they used it against Frieza!

Determent to get answers she carefully made her way outside on the other side of the ship. When she had eyes on the battlefield, she noticed a small Namekian hiding behind some rocks. She managed to reach him without being seen. Turned out the little guy's name was Dende and he had heard of her through Krillin and Gohan. He could bring her up to speed about everything that had happened. It left Bulma in tears. She had been so mad at her friends. But she knew now that they hadn't exactly had an easy time either. Rocks came down as the planet started shaking. Horrified they watched as Frieza started transforming, once again. "I have to help Piccolo!" Dende yelled. He ran onto the battlefield where the fighting had stopped for a moment as Frieza was busy transforming. Bulma followed him. As Dende started healing Piccolo, Gohan and Krillin ran over to Bulma. "No Bulma, what are you doing here!? It way too dangerous for you!" Krillin said. Gohan went in for a hug immediately. "I'm sorry we left you in that cave for so long." Tears were in his eyes. She felt all the rage slipping from her. "That's alright kiddo." She said, ruffling a hand through his hair.

"Well, that's disappointing." Vegeta said. Bulma looked up at him, still holding Gohan in a hug. She smirked, knowing he was waiting for her to "kill them" like she so adamantly said she would, only a few hours ago.

"Hey, baldy! You need to blast me to near death! The Namekian can heal me and that way I'ĺl be much stronger. Maybe strong enough to beat Frieza."

"Are you kidding me? I'm not attacking you now Vegeta!" Krillin said.

"It's the only way to give my power a boost right now. Just do it. I'll lower my guard, drop my powerlevel. A descent energy blast will be sufficient."

Krillin looked at the others for guidance.

"Do it Krillin." Bulma said.

He gave a stern nod. Then he shot a small energy blast Vegeta's way, who easily swiped it away with his hand.

"That was pathetic. C'mon! Do better you weakling!"

Krillin still seemed to have some doubt.

"Think about what he did to us Krillin. Yamcha, Tien, choatzu. All dead because of him." Bulma looked at Vegeta for the last part.

"That's right, and I enjoyed it." Vegeta said.

This enraged Krillin who then fired a massive blast at Vegeta's abdomen. The Saiyan dropped to the ground, injured critically.

Bulma was at his side quickly. She saw Vegeta cough up blood. It dawned on her that they could just choose to not heal Vegeta. Leave him to die. Yamcha was dead because of him, it would serve him right. Her eyes glanced up at Frieza. His transformation almost complete.

Vegeta sat up with a smirk. He wiped his bloody mouth with the back of his hand. He gave Bulma a knowing look. "Thinking about leaving me here to die, woman?"

She blinked, surprised she was so easy to read. "Well yes, I was actually."

Their eyes locked for a moment.

"But you helped me. So, I guess we can call it even." She said, then gesturing Dende to come heal him.

Just in time, as Frieza's transformation was complete. Bulma was just about to go hide, but to her horror, she saw Frieza was looking straight at her. A terrifying grin on his smug face.

"Well hello darling. So lovely to see you again. Did you miss me?"

Bulma suddenly felt sick. She could throw up. Her legs started shaking and she dropped to her knees.

"You look awful, what happened to your beautiful red dress?"

She had no words.

"Nothing? No cursing and profanities? It seems I broke you after all."

This ignited the fire inside her.

"You didn't, I was just looking for the right words to describe you. But revolting, Hideous, pathetic and small,come to mind."

Vegeta could not help but laugh.

"Bulma, are you insane!?" krillin said. "keep your mouth shut."

" Ah, there she is. Ever so feisty. That's alright dear, we'll have plenty of time to teach you some manners, once I'm done here." Frieza he moved his gaze from Bulma to dende.

"Boom." He simply said.

Then Dende was dead. It happened so fast, Bulma completely missed it.

"Now, is there anyone who dares to challenge me, or should I just start killing you one by one?"

"Your fight is with me Frieza."

Vegeta leapt into the air and landed right in front of frieza, before he started powering up. The planet started shaking and rocks flew around. Bulma curled up in a ball on the ground, trying to protect her head from incoming debris. Just as shesaw Piccolo flying towards her to help, a rock slammed into her head. She tried to fight the darkness that came over her mind, but couldn't. She glided into unconsciousness.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think. Starting chapter two soon