Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.

A/N: This one-shot is set during 'those three years'.

Stress

"Damn!" Bulma yelled as she knocked another stack of files off the table. The papers fluttered to the ground, adding to the mess surrounding her, which in turn threatened to push the pretty scientist over the edge.

"Bloody hell," she mumbled as she crouched down on all fours, shoving the flop of blue curls out of her face while trying desperately to put her work back in order. "There's just too much," she continued, now on the verge of tears, "too much to do. I'll never meet this deadline. Damn it! I should have started sooner!"

With shaky hands- frail from the exhaustion of too many late nights working- she scooped up the files, and began to steady herself off the floor. Unfortunately, her head hit the table above with a loud thud, causing the coffee mug to tip over, and spilling the contents all over her very important research papers.

"Oh fuck!" she screamed, literally ready to tear her own hair out. "Damn you bloody coffee! You stupid work! I hope you die!" Of course, she knew there was no need to wish for such things- the inanimate objects weren't alive to begin with- but it still made her feel better to yell it out loud.

So caught up in her own troubles, Bulma failed to notice the dark figure sneaking up behind her, until one strong hand clamped itself over her mouth.

"Mphm!" she screeched from behind the hand, her eyes widening in fear. "Mmm! Lphm mph gomph!" She twisted in the captor's grip as the second arm wound its way around her waist, but it was no use, the person seemed to be made of steel.

Suddenly the grip let go, but instead of freedom, Bulma found herself being tossed unceremoniously across the person's shoulder. It was only as they began to walk that Bulma looked down and caught the view of the chiseled buttocks- ones that she had secretly eyed all too often.

"Vegeta!" she screamed, squirming once again. She made an attempt to kick him in the stomach but it was no use, he caught her foot with ease. "What is the meaning of this!" she continued to scream, as he made his way out onto the balcony and took to the air. "No!" she yelled, "Don't! Don't fly! Put me down, you big brute!"

Surprisingly, Vegeta did put her down, right on the top of the Capsule Corp. dome. Bulma blinked in shock- she hadn't expected him to comply with her orders- but the shock quickly gave way to anger.

"You jerk!" she hissed, "Do you even realize how much of a scare you gave me! I thought someone was coming to kill me! Here I am, giving you a home and training equipment, and food and warmth, and you play tricks on me! Argh!"

Vegeta simply grabbed her by the waist, pulling her down until she sat in his lap, facing the lights of the city ahead. He continued to remain silent, holding her down as she tried to break free. "Just look," he said angrily, his patience growing thin.

Bulma complied, stopping her movements in order to look at the sight before her. "Oh, wow," she breathed, as she took it all in, "the city looks so beautiful."

They sat there in silence after that, and Bulma found herself slowly relaxing in the Saiyan's grip. Has he always smelt this good? she wondered to herself, as she leaned back against the strong body. With the sight of the blinking neon below, the peaceful chirping of crickets all around, and the soft breathing of the man behind her, Bulma felt all the stress drain away.

"Thank you," she whispered, turning her head so that their noses were almost touching. "Thank you for being so kind. I don't feel stressed any more."

"Nonsense," Vegeta replied with a devilish smirk, "I just wanted you to shut up so that I could finally get some sleep."