Bulma couldn’t recall how long she’d lain curled up at Vegeta’s side. She felt him breath shallowly, hearing the blood gurgle as he struggled to live.

Bulma let out a hoarse sob, pressing herself harder against him, trying to stop his shivering. The metal pole, Bulma had found, couldn’t be removed without special equipment without killing him. She had ripped her own clothing and pressed it against his numerous gashes to staunch the blood flow.

What was going on? Her mind screamed as another low moan of pain forced its way out of Vegeta’s lips. They weren’t at CC anymore. In fact, Bulma knew she’d never been here before. A low humming sound caught her attention. She looked up, tears drying to her face by a sudden wind.

Her eyes widened, whether in joy or sorrow, she knew not yet. A jet of sorts cruised to a halt a few hundred meters away. Bulma felt numbly startled as a group of strangely dressed people leapt out. She had no clue whether they were friend or foe but knew that Vegeta would die if she didn’t get him help.

Bulma peered back down at the Saiyan Prince. He’d saved her life twice in one day, the least she could do was save his. So, with her resolve in mind, Bulma lurched to her feet, somehow finding the voice to scream for help.

Storm paused, gazing in surprise at the wreckage of what had been Magneto’s hide out. She and the other X-men had come out here to prevent another one of the evil metal Lord’s schemes. But when they got there, the whole area was destroyed.

She frowned, brushing a lock of white hair from her eyes. Whoever had done this had an incredible weapon. It was obviously done in one shot, but a metal weapon had never beaten Magneto, so it had to be something new.

Her train of thought was cut abruptly off as a piercing scream of help filled the air. Storm, curious, floated above the heads of her companions, using her power to control weather. She spotted the people first.

"Over there!" She called out to her comrades. Cyclops nodded, motioning that they should investigate.

Storm was the first to arrive, since she didn’t have to clamber or blast her way through the rubble. She landed softly next to a blue-haired woman, who was leaning over something, sobbing. Storm gently reached a hand out to the woman’s shoulder.

"Are you alright?" She asked. The woman jerked in shock, looking up and meeting Storm’s eyes with wide frightened blue ones. Then she shook her head.

"Veg..Vegeta…" Storm heard her sob. "Vegeta… he needs help…. Right away…." The woman trailed off. Storm knelt with her, finally recognizing the figure at the woman’s feet was a man, but so horribly mangled that he looked dead. Storm was in shock to find him impaled, burned, gashed, bleeding, and still alive. She jumped to her feet.

"Wolverine!! Rogue!! Cyclops!! Jean!! Get the jet over here!!! NOW!!!" Storm yelled as they approached her. One thing they had learned in the mutant business was to never question each other until after they acted.

Immediately, the crew that wasn’t going to the plane to get it was helping the blue-haired woman to move the strange man. Storm went over to the woman, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don’t worry. Now that we’ve got him, he’ll be fine." Storm tried to reassure the woman, though she wasn’t sure whether that was the truth. The man was in bad shape. They’d have to hurry if they were to save his life. The woman smiled at Storm.

"Thank you…." She murmured softly. "I… I was so scared for him…." She trailed off, tears forming in her eyes again. Storm made a sympathetic noise.

"Come on. I’ll get you aboard and you can tell me what happened." The woman consented to Storm’s wish, following her onboard the plane to get some rest.

Storm led her into the medic bay because the woman refused to leave the man’s side. When Storm asked why, all the woman would say was it was her fault. Storm sighed, deciding to get to the bottom of the mess.

"Okay. Lets start off. What is your name?" Storm gently questioned.

"Bulma." She responded promptly. Storm smiled.

"Now, do you think you can tell me what happened?" She watched as Bulma sadly shook her head.

"No. I can’t," She said softly. Bulma’s eyes wandered over to where Vegeta lay. She sighed. "He’s the only one who can tell you what happened." She looked over at Storm, eyes pleading with her to believe. "I was unconscious when it happened. All I know is that the Gravity Room exploded but he protected me. Then I woke up and he was in that condition and our surroundings were completely different." Storm blinked. That wasn’t the response she had hoped for or expected but this Bulma was obviously telling the truth.

Storm got up from where she sat and went to the door. She looked back at Bulma to smile.

"Don’t worry. I believe you. But we’re near docking now so I must leave to help the others. Will you be okay with him alone?" At Bulma’s nod of consent, Storm left the room, her mind racing to discover anything that made sense in the situation. When she found very little, she sighed again and went to tell the other of her strange discovery.

Bulma sighed in relief as the strange white haired woman left her alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate the woman named Storm’s help, it was just that she wanted to check up on Vegeta. She went over to his side, peering down at his battered body resting on the crude operation table. The people who had taken them had removed the pole from his back, leaving a gaping hole through his body.

Once again Bulma’s eyes filled with tears as she saw the extent of damage that had been dealt to his body. There is almost no way on earth he’s going to live through this one. Bulma had never seen wounds like these.

She reached a hand out and brushed it through his flaming hair. He shivered at her touch, pale skin damp with sweat beneath her hand. She frowned, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

"Vegeta…." Bulma whispered, leaning closer to his face. "Vegeta… I’m so sorry…. So sorry…." She broke off as harsh sobs wracked her body. She took his limp hand in her own and held onto it for dear life. If only she had been conscious. Maybe she could have done something to help him. Maybe it was her fault that he was hurt. Maybe she could still save him… At that thought, Bulma snapped out of her semi-hysterical state, mind whirring with a thought.

She had studied and created a regeneration tank before. Why couldn’t she now? If only the people who had them would give her the resources necessary to create the tank, Bulma could make it, if she worked hard, in about two days. And then if only Vegeta managed to hang onto life for that long…

Bulma froze in shock, mind stopping, as she felt Vegeta’s fingers weakly respond to her grip. Her eyes shot up to see him slowly stirring, moaning in pain. Bulma was standing at his side in the next instant.

"Vegeta?" She murmured, not really expecting him to respond. Just him being conscious with these wounds was amazing. It would be impossible for a human, a human would already be dead from blood-loss. But he wasn’t human. He was Saiyan. "Vegeta?" Bulma whispered again, almost not daring to hope.

His eyes fluttered open, looking at her without recognition. He winced heavily, then his eyes focused on her. Bulma’s heart clutched in sorrow and pity as she saw the depth of the pain he was in reflecting in his eyes obsidian light.

"B…Bulma." He croaked out in a weak voice. His face twisted again at the effort of speaking. He coughed, fresh blood trickling from his mouth. Bulma shushed him, tears streaming down her face.

"Shhhhhh. Vegeta. Don’t speak. Just rest." He shook his head, grimacing with effort. When he looked at her again, his eyes were wide. It almost looked like he was… scared?!?! Bulma thought. But she never thought that Vegeta would be capable of fear. But maybe…… just maybe he was afraid of death………..

"Don’t worry, Vegeta…" She smiled at him, stroking one hand through his hair gently. "I won’t leave you. I promise." His mouth twitched upwards and Bulma’s sobs came out harder.

He had smiled at her. A look she had never seen on Vegeta’s face. She felt his hand give hers one last weak squeeze before it went limp. Bulma almost panicked until she saw he was still breathing in painfully, but he was alive.

Bulma gave a start as the whole ship lurched. She glanced around, figuring that they had landed and was shown she was correct as Storm came back in the room, followed by the other grim faced people.

Storm approached her, pulling her away from the still form of Vegeta as the other people surrounded the bedsides, lifting Vegeta up as gently as possible to move him. Bulma tried to follow, especially when she heard a small whimper come from the Saiyan Prince, but Storm held her back.

"He’s in safe hands," Storm reassured her. "If anyone can save his life, we can." Bulma sighed, before remembering her idea of the regeneration tank. She looked at the exotic white haired woman before asking.

"Umm… Storm? Can I see the science facilities that you’ve got here? I think that I can make a machine that might decide whether he lives or dies." Bulma pleaded silently for Storm not to ask too many questions.

Storm blinked but then nodded, shrugging, "Sure. Why not." She gestured for Bulma to follow her, and together they entered into the building. She followed Storm down many twists and turns of hallways before they actually stopped at a door. Storm opened it with a code word and let Bulma inside.

There were rows and rows of devices and huge shelves of about any type of piece needed for building any machine. Bulma gaped in astonishment before her face broke out into a grin of pure pleasure. They had everything she needed and more….

"Will this do?" Storm asked, snapping Bulma out of her state of shock. Bulma nodded, still to surprised for words. Storm smiled. "Shall I let you look around?" Once again, Bulma responded with a nod. Satisfied with the answer, Storm began to lead her around, showing her where things were kept.

Bulma watched avidly, memorizing every cranny and detail of the room. She had to know exactly where the parts she needed were or else the tank would take her much too long.

Bulma knew she had to get started.

"Do you mind if you just leave me in here for now?" Bulma cut Storm off in the middle of one of her explanations. Storm looked surprised.

"Well," Storm struggled for an answer before giving in. "I suppose not. But remember that we have surveillance cameras, so don’t try anything funny." Bulma nodded. Storm walked towards the exit, leaving Bulma to watch her leave. But before Storm left, she turned around with a small smile on her face.

"I’ll bring you your meals here, alright?" Then she was gone. Bulma grinned. She hadn’t been sure if this Storm woman would actually allow her to stay. Bulma shrugged. It wasn’t her place to not like good luck. So Bulma pushed all thoughts out of her mind except saving a certain Saiyan Prince.

* * * * *