A groan echoed once again through woods that were becoming quite familiar with such sounds. A blue-haired head was cradled in two hands as the once-unconscious woman rose into a sitting position, eliciting another groan with the movement. She blinked blearily; then found that she would be able to see if she removed her hands from her eyes.

Letting out a stifled curse, she did so; then gasped as what exactly, or rather who, she had rolled into.

Vegeta, a very naked one, was lying on his back to her left, body slightly askew from where she had rested against him in her fall. Trying not to think about the unlikely coincidence of being chased to him, or his own lack of clothing, she brought her knees under her and quickly rolled the body all the way over, letting air out in a sympathetic hiss at the wound on his ankle that immediately became apparent.

She had no idea what could cause this much damage to a Saiyan, let alone knock him out, but had no time to search for the answers. Vegeta's face was pale and drawn and a light sheen of sweat covered his whole body it seemed. His brows were scrunched in obvious pain, and when she touched his arm lightly, he flinched; making a low keening sound in the back of his throat that had her immediately moving to his leg.

She had to get him stabilized and to CC. The first thing was the leg. She pulled out a Capsule and let it go in a poof, opening the kit that had appeared and pulling out not only bandages and sterilizers, but the strongest painkillers she could find.

She winced as she patted the wound with a damp cloth and the leg jerked, another sound issuing from the tortured man's mouth. Okay, painkillers first.

She quickly set up the needle and moved Vegeta's arm carefully onto her lap, using an elastic band that she haphazardly tied to show the Saiyan's veins better. As she inserted the needle, her hand traveled down to Vegeta's. She had never actually seen his hands, since he was almost religious about keeping gloves on them at all times. The fingers were surprisingly long and narrow, looking more like an artist's than a mercenary's. She'd expected him to have thick fingers that were callused. He must've had the gloves on forever to keep that supple soft quality.

Vegeta moaned and turned his head toward her, eyes still tightly shut, and the hand she was gently caressing closed around hers. The grip was not painful, or even very constricting, so she simply ignored it as she pulled out the syringe and undid the elastic.

Black lashes fluttered and cracked lips moved slightly as the Saiyan regained some of his lost wits, eyes unfocused as they tried to lock on her. "Wha..."

    "Hush. It's me. I gave you a sedative, so I can stabilize that leg and get you to Capsule. What hap-" The question died as the Saiyan let out a mumbled sentence and closed his eyes, the sedative obviously working fast on the weary man.

The grip on her hand loosened, she moved once again to the leg, this time cleaning and bandaging it without a word of protest from the Saiyan Prince. With a relieved sigh that she had gotten to him in time, Bulma threw a Capsule in the air and used the burgundy blanket to cover Vegeta's nakedness; face flushing at the assets the Prince had.

With a roll of her eyes; only she would think of that at a time like this; she popped another capsule and ordered the bots carrying the cot between them to carefully lift Vegeta and place him on the makeshift carrier, picking up that and trailing her like obedient pups. Luckily she knew Capsule was to the North, so she just pulled out her compass and started out, bots and unconscious Vegeta following along.

~<*>~

White walls greeted blurry black eyes as the Saiyan slowly and painfully sat up, holding one side of his head with a hand that shook a little. The hand blocked one of his eyes, so the other one peered at his surroundings with a bit of confusion and unfamiliarity. A light sound came from his right and his head moved; his unoccupied hand quickly brought down behind him to steady his suddenly spinning vision at the too-rapid movement.

A blue-eyed face swam before his eyes, framed by cropped blue-hair. He blinked a few times before his vision cleared enough that he realized the pink lips moving were issuing out words.

    "Wha?" Instead of the steadiness the word should have contained, it came out slurred and husky. A tongue darted out to touch cracked lips only to slip back in as the Saiyan had to swallow a couple times in order to produce enough saliva to wet his dry tongue.

The blue-haired person leaned forward then, half coming out of her seat, and reached toward him. He retracted involuntarily, eyes narrowing to predatory slits. She leaned back just as quickly, her hands coming up in a defensive yet calming gesture.
    "I said, you should lay back down and get some rest. But if you want to lose what that IV's been pumping into you, go ahead and try to stand. I don't think I can put you back on the bed though."

He turned to what she indicated and noted the pole and the bag filled with clear liquid attached to it. A thin tube went from the bottom of the bag to the inside of his elbow and he made a tiny noise of discovery, the sound coming out smoother with a now moist mouth. That was where one of the sources of his discomfort originated from.

He stirred to remove the irritating thing with the hand he had been balanced on and winced at the shriek that followed his movement.
    "Don't do that! You're dehydrated, not to mention malnourished! That's probably the only thing your system can handle right now. Unless you feel like my cooking."

He turned back to her, eyebrows knitted in confusion at the sarcasm attached to the last, and watched with interest as her face paled steadily.  "Vegeta?"

He mulled over that one word in his head. It was familiar to him. With a gasp that had him leaning forward with a grimace, everything came back: the pain of whatever was happening to him for the last week, the woman questioning him, telling her to come to the woods to get her off his back, waking up with a sense of her being in danger and finding his foot caught in a trap, trying a technique that had failed miserably, and the last memory; a blurry image of the woman whispering to him through his pain, a faint feel of her hand in his.

He straightened as quickly as he had gone down, making Bulma squeak in surprise and straighten herself, as she had been about to touch him; see if he was alright. He threw back the covers that hid his legs, earning a gasp from the woman as his naked body was freed to the air. She sat down quite suddenly, her knees weak for obvious reasons that he did not notice.

There. His ankle was one red, blue, and purple mass of torn and swollen tissue. He let out a hiss and hesitantly reached down the hand that had covered his face, carefully feeling around the wound. It was the biggest source of his discomfort obviously. It didn't hurt like it should, which told him the woman had put him on some pretty strong painkillers. He remembered her saying something about that.

    "How long will it take to heal? Will I retain full function of it? And what happened to you out there?" He turned to her, noting that she was half out of her chair again, blue eyes wide at either his sudden movements or his string of harsh questions, probably both. Wait, he forgot that he was naked. He mentally shrugged. Sometimes it was good to keep the woman on her toes.

Bulma stuttered for a second, forcing her eyes away from toned abs and a perfectly chiseled chest to focus on his questions and they way they were spoken as she sat down once again. Her eyes lingered on flexing biceps despite herself and she felt a flush rise on her cheeks. Why couldn't her dirty little mind focus on something other than what was in front of her?
    "Um, well, I would say, with your stamina and quick healing time, maybe a week? I don't know if it'll regain what its lost though. If I can get a senzu bean, that would speed things up quite a bit."

The last was more of a question than a statement and he raised a brow.
    "That's right, Kakarott would have the get the bean, and then he would know. What about the Namek? He's usually pretty neutral about these things." At least he kept his emotions in check.

Bulma nodded.
    "I guess. You know where he is?"

Vegeta nodded back.
    "Training with...  ah, Kakarott."  He smirked with irony.  "Any other ideas?"

Bulma sighed, wishing the Saiyan Prince didn't have to be quite so stubborn.
    "Maybe. You can levitate, right? You could take me up and I'll get it." Vegeta mentally probed himself, frowning when he felt just how low his ki was, almost non-existent. He hadn't?  Bulma noticed the look immediately.
    "What? What's wrong?" Her voice took on a hurried quality that spoke of someone who hadn't slept in a while and was near hysterics. Vegeta masked his features and eyed her calmly.
    "I need rest and so do you. We'll discuss this when we wake." She huffed at his use of his commanding voice, the one only someone of royalty could possibly emulate.
    "Yes, your highness."  Despite her words, she stayed seated in her chair, blinking at him.
    "I believe your rooms are elsewhere?"  A raised eyebrow followed the question. He knew he looked good, but this was ridiculous.  Bulma rolled her eyes.
    "I know that, Vegeta."  She managed to take on a long-suffering tone.  "However, with the way you're acting, I'm not leaving. I can sleep right here. Besides, I want to know how," she pointed vaguely at his leg, careful not let her eyes follow her finger down his body, "that happened. Did the bear do it?"  He frowned slightly.
    "Bear? What bear?"  Bulma paused.
    "Okay, scratch that theory. I was being chased by a black bear. He hit me,"  she stretched slightly and he noticed her wince,  "and I.. rolled into you. I assumed you woke up and scared the thing away and it injured you."
    "No."  She blinked.
    "Boy, that was an informative word there, Vegeta. So, if you don't remember the bear, what did happen?"  He shrugged, looking partially disinterested on her sarcasm.
    "I woke up and found my foot caught in some kind of steel trap. The ones you humans use to trap... animals."  His jaw clenched and he turned his head away, moving the blankets so that they covered him again.

    Bulma let out a tiny breath when the temptation was removed, though she cringed at the reason. The Prince of Saiyans being compared to some Earth animal. That had to sting.
    "The bear must've assumed we were dead or something and left." She squirmed again. The claw marks on her back were starting to irritate her. She'd forgotten about them until she mentioned them to him, that and she was more worried about him than herself.  He raised a brow at her movement and the wince that accompanied it.
    "What did you do this time, woman? Pull a muscle?" She rolled her eyes and let out a huff of breath.
    "Oh yeah. Did it carrying your fat behind upstairs. For a man who isn't eating enough, you sure make up for it in weight. I think you could beat the fattest person in the world weight-wise and eating-wise."  He smirked at her.
    "What? And take away your crown, woman?" He ignored her reddening face and twirled his finger in a circle.   "Turn around. Let me see. You said that bear hit you."
Bulma's mouth opened in protest and then closed. It wasn't like she could actually see the injuries, after all. She turned around in her seat and felt a hand on her shoulder guiding her back. Her shirt was pulled down and a low whistle sounded. Her eyes widened.
    "What? It's not that bad, is it?"  There was a pause. "I'm afraid it is... fatal in fact. You probably have six to eight months to live, woman."  She let out a dry laugh.
    "Jeez, that was just hilarious. Don't strain yourself with the jokes there, Vegeta. You might break your funny bone."  He responded in a serious voice that had her chuckling, as the shirt was pulled down further, fingers lightly trailing around the torn skin.
    "I don't have one funny bone in my body, woman. You're just in denial." She pulled away at the touch. He was making it itch.
    "Whatever."  The fingers retreated.
    "Get me a cloth, some cold water, and some warm water and I'll take care of that."
She frowned as she obediently turned around and stood up, glancing at him as she made her way to the bathroom that adjoined the infirmary.
    "What's the cold water for?"  She could hear his smirk as she entered the bathroom out of his line of sight.
    "Me, of course."  She rolled her eyes and did as he requested, returning and setting down the water and cloth beside his bed. She scowled at him as he turned in the bed so that his legs hung over the edge, everything appropriately covered, and used one hand on her shoulder to guide her back down, the other reaching for the cup of cold water and draining it in two gulps.
    She heard water swish around, the sound of a cloth dripping, and then the trickling as water was wrung out of it. She flinched as she felt the cloth lightly touch her back and tried to relax as it was guided gently over her back, the rough surface pulling at the scabbed areas and the water stinging the wounds.
    "Jeez! Gentle there!" A snort sounded behind her as the cloth continued its smooth rotations.
    "I can't help it that you're skin's so weak, woman. Relax! Close your eyes and think of something else."  She did as requested- demanded. Unfortunately, the only thing that came to mind was a naughty picture of Vegeta lying naked in the woods.  The cloth paused for a moment before continuing.
    "Are you blushing?"  Her eyes snapped open and she almost spun around but for the hand that suddenly clasped her shoulder, holding her in place. She once again heard his smirk.     "What are you thinking of, woman?"
    "Nothing." The word came out strained and was accompanied by an amused chuckle from behind her.
    "Oh, the money I could make on porn movies if I could read your  mind."
    "Would you shut up and finish already?"  The cloth was removed and splashed into the bowl of warm water.
    "Done."  She raised a brow and turned.
    "Really?" She met two amused black eyes and couldn't stop a groan. He'd never let her live this down.
    "Why? Want to go back to your daydream?"  point proven. She knew she had to be red as a beet.
    "Yes, actually. Yamcha looks very good."  Vegeta raised a brow as he faced forward in the bed, turning slightly and adjusting the pillows behind him so that he could lean back on them. He did so and let the smirk widen a bit.
    "Very good, eh? That's as bad as my 'Saiyan thing'. Isn't the word you're looking for: sexy?"  Bulma rolled her eyes.
    "Well what did you expect me to say? So I think of guys other than my ex. So sue me!"  Vegeta's own memory took him back to a certain red-bikini clothed woman.
    "Hn. I suppose. Anyone I know? Kakarott, the Namek, Baldy?"  Bulma made a face at each name; then smirked, her eyes flashing.
    "Your baldy or mine?" Vegeta grimaced at the thought of Nappa having any kind of physical appeal.
    "I know you have better taste than that!"  She laughed lightly, her eyes widened as the laugh changed to a yawn that made her jaw creak.  Vegeta followed suit not a moment after.
    "Stop that, you're contagious! Go to your room and get some sleep. Wake me two hours before sunset."  Bulma stood and then paused, her brows rising on her forehead.
    Vegeta, it is two hours before sunset..." He glanced out the window with wide eyes to view the outside world, gray skies forecasting rough weather ahead. He cursed in his native tongue for almost half a minute while Bulma sank back down in her seat.
    "What can I do?" He turned to her with a speculative gaze she almost twitched under. It was like he was suddenly questioning her motives. Now, as long as he didn't actually ask..
    "Got a cage of some sort?"  He knew he didn't have the energy to make it anywhere right now. Knowing his luck, he'd just end of up spewing everything as soon as he moved, much as the woman had predicted.  She shook her head.
    "Since I don't know what happens, not one I think would hold you. You might become stronger."  He shook his head immediately.
    "I wouldn't have had a problem with that trap then. No. I get weaker. And every time I change back, I get weaker still."  He turned away from searching blue eyes to look at the knees that were hid by the blanket.  "I think I've burned myself out. I don't know when I'll regain my power, or if I will."  Bulma half-gaped at Vegeta's turned face before closing her mouth. She paused, about to say some apologetic clique that would mean nothing to the Saiyan Prince. Biting her bottom lip, she tried logic.
    "Vegeta, you need a senzu."
    "No! You are not getting that third-class idiot into my business! I'll heal regularly. What we need to worry about is nightfall." Bulma rolled her eyes and stood up, towering over Vegeta with a glare.
    "Goku would never get anything out of this; not ammunition, not glee, not anything!" She visibly calmed herself, raising both hands at the agitated Saiyan and sitting back down slowly.  "Listen, I'll tell him it's for my back, okay? He doesn't have to know a thing."  He blinked at her tactical switch and wondered if the woman studied strategy. That was a disarming move right there, sacrificing her own pride for his. It didn't make him feel good.
    She continued despite his lack of response, glancing out the window with the trepidation he always had toward the horizon.  "There is one place that's like a cage. We know you aren't intelligent enough to actually be able to push buttons and set up codes, so the Gravity Room would be a good place to set you up for the night."
    He nodded mutely, following her gaze out the window.

    She glanced at him while he seemed distracted, struck by how his profile seemed so strong in the fire that burned the sky.  "I-I can get some food, water, anything you'll think you'll need." The stutter was hardly noticeable, but he was one for noticing such things. He turned and looked at her, caught by blue eyes that shimmered in reflected red light. He'd never really liked that shade of blue before.
      "Do you want me to call Goku now?"  The whispered words brought him back from wherever he had been and he lightly frowned at himself.
    "Might as well. You don't know where I'm at."  Bulma nodded as she stood.
    "Where who's at?"  Vegeta gave her a smirk as she departed; then leaned back into the pillows with a sigh, letting sleep that wasn't caused by unconsciousness or drugs overtake him.

A/N: Here. I'll give you the biggest hint yet, since a huge hint comes in Chapter 6. Whatever has happened to Vegeta, it has to do with Japanese mythology. It is a very hard thing to find. I found only one source on it. Keep in mind the deviousness that is the author.

Chapter 5 is a break for all my readers. LEMON! My first! But it's good, I swear! Come on, look at my limes! Heehee ^_~