Sorry I haven't updated in so long, it's just that I was trying to get this anon to quit bugging me! They kept leaving the same nasty things under a different name, but I thought that that shouldn't discourage me from finishing this story, so thank you for sticking in there with me, I appreciate it. Enjoy!

Finally making his way out of bed after having his fare share of wine and food during his welcome home festivities, Verles decided to bathe first in order to wash the smell of alcohol and women's perfume off of himself before he left to see Stone. She does not have to endure the knowing fragrance of his father's idea of a celebration. As he showered, his mind wandered back to last night, to what he could remember of it, and thought of his mother's distant and somewhat unnerved posture, and how she kept giving Vegeta sideways glances and when he tried speaking to her she stayed stubbornly quiet, she remained that way throughout the feast until she departed early to bed, something was bothering her. He wanted to console her, he figured it could wait until afterwards but everything after that was a blur.

After he was dressed Verles set off towards the armory. When he arrived he was a little surprised to not find her there. "That's odd, she should be here by now?" He searched the entire building and found no sign of her then decided to check her room but caught sight of Kinu and made a beeline for her instead.

"Hello Kinu."

She was a little startled by the sound of her name. "Verles? My dear boy when did you get back?"

"Last night actually, but I couldn't get away from everyone so I thought I would just wait till morning to come by." He said with a smile while gently hugging the woman before letting her go. "So where is Stone, I went by the armory and she wasn't there, have you seen her?"

"I'm afraid I haven't. I checked her room when she didn't show up for work, because she usually got there before anyone else, but when I got there it was empty!"

"She wasn't there?"

"No, her room was empty. All of her things were gone." She said in a worried tone. Before she was done speaking he had already took off towards the room. He got there in record time and quickly opened the door to the room that once was filled with Stone's clothes that she wore, drawings of her past life on earth that covered the walls and the little trinkets she had made in her spare time, they were all gone. His heart sank into his stomach. He felt himself breaking on the inside with panic. Verles moved with haste as he walked right past Kinu and straight to the entrance to labor department and out the door. He needed find her to know if she is okay because he couldn't help but think of the worst. He strutted quickly throughout the halls of the palace, all while keeping an eye out for Stone. 'I can't believe I left her here alone. I have to find her!'

While on his path, with no specific destination in mind, he past many guardsmen, but one group in particular caught his attention. "Have you seen that new worker in the research department?"

"No, what about her?"

"Lets just say, I wouldn't mind paying top dollar to spend the night with her!"

"Who is she?"

"I don't really know, but I heard she's been here a while and she worked in the armory." This peeked Verles's interest even more.

"What's her name?"

"I don't know. Stark. Stamp. St-Stone, that's it. Stone."

Hidden around the corner Verles stood against the wall shocked and confused. "How did they find out?"

(((Bulma)))

Bulma had spent the majority of the morning unpacking her possessions in her new room, the king had stated that it was absolutely necessary for all workers in the research department live closer to their station so that they could work overtime if needed. She had to admit it though, this place was definitely an upgrade, her old space was a small room, whereas this was more like a small apartment that already had everything in it. It was very nice, but this luxury came with a price. Verles. She wouldn't be able to see him anymore, not with her working so close to the king and his men. She was more determined than ever to see to it that this project get done as soon as possible.

As she made her way to her new station she was spotted by one of the senior inventors. "Hello there, you must be the new tenant?" He spoke with a thick accent (think of Jeice), he had full wavy shoulder length white hair, green eyes under thick black eyebrows, a very handsome face with pale skin, most likely from lack of sunlight, slim build and around her age probably a few years older, you could very well assume he was human, minus the long pointed ears.

"Yeah that's me." She said reaching out to shake his hand. "Stone, and yourself?"

"Baylor." He said shaking her hand and releasing it. "Stone huh? If I'm not mistaken I've heard that name before."

She sighed and looked to the ground. "Probably."

"But where from? What did you do before coming here?"

"I worked in the armory." She said looking back up at him.

"Oh- oh!" He said with a knowing expression. "You've been here quite some time haven't you?" He said in a sympathetic tone. She didn't answer him, the look on her face confirmed it. "You were the one that the king-"

"Yeah that was me." She said rather quickly.

"How did you- why would you take a position so...ya'know close?" He stammered

"I didn't do it voluntarily, believe me I would have been perfectly content with staying in the armory, but he insisted- well not really insisted because he kinda told me that I didn't have much of a choice so,"

"Wait." He said raising his hand to stop her. "Who's "he"?"

"The king!"

"The king? Why?" He asked as his eyes went wide.

"He wants me to build something for him, something very particular."

"What is it?"

"All I can say is that it's something strangely specific."

"And he couldn't find anyone else to do it?" Baylor asked in an almost irritated tone.

She sighed deeply. "How long have you been here?" Bulma asked.

"A little over a decade. Why?"

"Well I've been here barely a decade so I'm pretty sure you yourself have noticed by now that the king has a very twisted sense of humor about these kind of things." Her facial expression was neutral, somewhat unreadable. "I don't know what he has planned for me, but I do know one thing: I will do this assignment to the best of my abilities and be done with it, then hopefully stay off of his radar for at least a little while."

Baylor reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Then I'll be sure to try and make your time here as...pleasant as possible. You won't have to worry about me giving you a hard time."

"Thank you, Baylor." She said with small smile and put her hand over the hand on her shoulder.

"Glad to see you're getting acquainted with your fellow workers."

At the sound of the voice Baylor peered behind Bulma and immediately returned his hand to his side. When Bulma saw his face she followed his vision and turned to see an extremely pissed off looking Vegeta standing there. "May I ask what is going on here Baylor?" He spat with a clenched jaw, not really hiding his anger in the least.

"Good morning your majesty." Baylor said. "I was just introducing myself to the new tenant." He said gesturing his hand towards her.

"Good morning." She said as she turned fully with a nervous Baylor still standing behind her.

"Well I think that's enough pleasantries Baylor." Vegeta said in an obviously irritated way in which was not lost upon Bulma. "Maybe you should get going to your office now."

When he said that Bulma quickly intervened. "But your majesty I uh-" She didn't know what she was doing but she saw that look in the king's eyes and she certainly didn't want to be left alone with him to find out what it meant. "I asked Baylor if he could uh- uh show me around. If it's not too much trouble?" She turned back around look at him with pleading eyes.

He leaned his head to the side in confusion but Baylor quickly caught on and raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly. "Yes, yes she did. We could go now if you like?"

This did not sit well with Vegeta. "That won't be necessary Baylor. I'll do it. You need to get back to work anyway."

Bulma, still not looking at him, swore under her breath. When she heard footsteps she turned to face him once again. "Well I guess I should get going. I'll see you around." Baylor said before turning and walked away, leaving the awkward couple all alone.

"Shall we?" He said standing aside and allowing her to walk ahead of him.

'This is going to be a long day.' She thought as she timidly moved past him.

(((Still With Bulma & Vegeta)))

Two hours filled with awkward attempts at conversation and strange glances later, Vegeta finally showed her to her new office. "Welcome to your new station." Vegeta said as his eyes followed her until she sat down at her desk. "Do you like it? I trust it's a improvement from your last work space!"

"It certainly is!" She said while looking around the room, she was actually impressed.

He couldn't help but smirk. He loved seeing her face when she came across something new and he loved it even more when he was cause, but that hasn't been the case lately, so he was going to enjoy this. "Everything you will need to complete this task will be given at your call."

"Really? Anything I need?"

"Of course."

"Wow! I think I might actually miss that perk after I'm done."

"About that. I thought you might reconsider my previous offer."

"Oh! I don't think I could accept it."

"Why not? What's holding you there?" He was genuinely curious this time.

She couldn't really think of anything other than the obvious two; because she wanted to be able to see Verles and not wanting to be in the presence of the dangerous ruler. Realizing she hadn't said anything for quite some time now she tried to come up with something to say but Vegeta beat her to it. "How about you think about for a little while longer, at least until you finish my gravity room and if still want to go back to the armory then I won't bring the matter up anymore."

"Yes sir,"

"I'll see you around." And without another word he was gone.

"Okay." She could not believe what she just heard. Was he actually being nice?

(((Back With Verles)))

Verles had been gradually making his way through the research department. He was now anxiously searching for Stone. When he got to the head of the department he spotted one of the head scientist walking while looking over a blueprint, he quickly walked towards him. "Baylor."

He looked up from the blueprint and smiled before tucking the paper under his arm. "Verles! I heard that you were back. It's good to see you mate!" He said.

"It's good to see you too!"

"So what brings you here?"

"Oh right! I heard the department got a new inventor today, is it true?" Verles said trying to be sure.

"Yeah we did. Stone, beautiful thing she is."

"You've seen her?"

"I spoke to her earlier this morning."

"Where is she now?" He asked, happy that he was getting closer to finding her.

"I don't know. Last I saw of her she was with king Vegeta." Baylor said in a quiet tone.

"What!" He said angrily stepping closer to the man. He caught himself before he went too far. "Why was she with my father?"

"She asked me to show her around but he said he would do it but she wanted me to do it so then he sent me away, I guess she didn't want to be alone with him and don't blame her. You know she's that prisoner that he-"

"Yeah I know." He said as he sighed deeply while running his fingers through his dark locks. "Well I do hope she's alright then. I have to go."

"Me too! I'll see you later."

As he walked away he tried to remain as calm as possible, on the outside at least, because if he thought he was nervous before the mild heart attack he was having said: something terrible has happened. His began to imagine the worst case scenario. 'What if he did something to her? What if he's still with her?' But the latter was answered when saw his father heading his way. He was filled with rage at the sight of him but he composed himself enough to speak. "What are you doing here father?" As if he didn't already know.

"Overseeing a new project." Vegeta said a little caught off guard by his sons sudden appearance but was surprised to see him there seeing as though he hasn't seen here at all since he woke up on this planet. "What are you doing here?" He asked raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms across his chest.

"I was here to introduce myself to someone but I haven't gotten the chance." He answered, never once looking away from the mans eyes.

"And whom would this person be?"

"A new inventor. I don't the name." He lied. Verles saw his father's face expression change when he said that. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could find this person do you?"

The first thought that came to mind was for Vegeta to lie, but if Verles found out that he lied to him he would definitely find it suspicious. "Yes I do, I just left her."

"Her!" He said in a pretend surprised voice.

"Yes it's a woman."

"That's a first here isn't it? A female inventor I mean."

"I suppose it is."

"Well could you point me in her direction then?" He said purposely wearing a cocky smirk on his lips.

"Why?" His smirk made him uneasy.

"As I said before; I wanted to introduce myself, that's all. So will you tell me?"

Vegeta wasn't quite sure what was going through the boys mind but he didn't like it. "Maybe you could come by later."

"Why not now?"

"I'm sure she's busy right, so just try later."

"I won't have the time later. So how about?"

'He's persistent I'll give him that!' He thought to himself. "Fine. But it will be easier if I just showed you the way."

"Very well then, after you." He said letting his father take the lead.

The short walk there felt like forever. Verles wouldn't take his eyes off of him for a second as he lead the way. Vegeta could feel his gaze upon him, he wasn't sure what was wrong with him but he did know one thing: he would not allow him to be alone Bulma under any circumstance! They both were deafly quiet throughout their walk each having similar thoughts about the other. When they arrived at her office Bulma was too preoccupied with drawing up a blueprint to notice the two men enter the room, only when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat did she look up from what she was doing. She had a good guess as to who it could be. "Yes sir, is there something I could d-" Her words became lost at the sight if Verles standing next to his father. She was happy to see, she just couldn't show it.

"Nothing really, my son just wanted to introduce himself. Verles."

When Verles began walking towards her she stood and when he reached her he held out his hand for her to take. "Hello, my name is Stone." But when she tried to shake his hand Verles pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it all while never looking away from her eyes.

"Verles. It's very nice to meet you."

Vegeta watched the exchange from behind and by now he was seething. Was he actually making an advance at his woman right in front of him? This boy was too bold for his own good! Vegeta clearing his throat again broke the couples trance. Verles released her hand and looked back at his father then back to Bulma. "So. what is it that you're working on in here?"

Bulma looked over to Vegeta for his silent consent, it was only when he gave a single nod did she speak. "Well I'm working on a gravity simulator for the king."

"A gravity simulator? What is it?"

"Well." She said while sitting back down. "It's a special chamber that will be able to manipulate different levels of gravity." Gesturing to the unfinished drawing in front of her.

"Wow, it must quite the experience to be in one of those! What would you need for something like this father?" He said looking over at him.

"Training." Bulma and Vegeta both said unison. Verles raised an eyebrow at the act. The was now staring into each others eyes searching for words to say. "I'm sorry, he was speaking to you." She said in an apology.

Vegeta was still staring when he spoke. "That's alright." Finally looking away from her and to his son. "It's for strength training."

"Strength training? With a gravity simulator?" Verles asked. "How would that benefit you at all? In my experience gravity only gets lighter."

"Would you mind explaining to him what this chamber will be capable of, Stone!" Vegeta said back to her.

"Not at all!" She said lacing her fingers together to try and think of a simple explanation. "Well you see Verles, just like gravity feels lighter in certain places, it can also get heavier in other places as well." She said as she stood up and walked around the desk to stand next to her forbidden lover then raised her hand to place his shoulder. "Lets take you for instance. May I?" When he nodded yes, she rested her hand down. "You're about what? I guess including your height that you're about 250 perhaps?"

"Correct."

"Okay, so if you were to get into the chamber and want to take the gravity, I don't know, lets say 3x. At this point your weight should triple and so on and so on."

"And what made you choose her for this assignment father?"

"I believe she has the proper know-how of course!"

"Is that right, Stone?"

"Well I'll certainly do my best!" She said taking her hand off of his shoulder.

"Well, when you explain it like that!" He said looking in her eyes. "Father I think I might try this machine out once it's finished! What do you think father?"

"Perfect." He said in an annoyed monotone voice. "Verles come now, I have to get going."

"That's you can go, I know the way back." As he said that Vegeta watched his eyes follow Bulma as she walked back around the desk and sat down.

"I'm sure she would like to get back to work uninterrupted!"

"I don't mind." She said while looking back down at her work.

"You see father, she doesn't mind. Plus I would like to know more about gravity chamber!" He said sitting in the chair across from her.

"Then I guess I can stay a little while longer."

"But I thought you had somewhere to be?" Verles shot back. Bulma caught the challenge and was now moving her eyes back and forth between father and son.

"I could postpone it."

"It sounded important though."

"It's not."

The air in the room was becoming unusually thick with for some odd reason that Bulma just could not understand. Verles was doing this on purpose, but why? And why wouldn't Vegeta want to leave them alone together, did he somehow know about them? No! If he knew, they would both be dead by now! So why has he been acting so strange today?

"You don't have to babysit me father! I'm very capable of handling myself."

"I'm sure you are!" Vegeta said narrowing his eyes at him.

Bulma, unable to take the back and forth any longer, spoke up. "You know what? I do have a lot work to get done here, so I hope any questions you may have can wait until another time."

Verles looked away from his father and back to Bulma in slight surprise. "Well I guess that's settled then." Vegeta said slightly relieved.

When she gave him her stern look he realized that maybe he was going too far. He gave apologetic eyes and stood. "Maybe another time then."

"Sure." She said.

As the two men left her office she sighed deeply and leaned back in her chair then put her hand under her chin in a thinking fashion. "What the hell was that about?"

(((Outside Of Her Office)))

Verles and Vegeta walked in angry silence as they made their way out of the office. As they neared the exit neither of them noticed Kaede standing off to the side. She crossed once they were gone and stopped one of the scientist. "Excuse me."

"Yes your highness?"

She pointed her finger towards the office. "Whose station is that?"

"Oh that's our new inventor, Stone! She started today."

"Thank you. That is all."

"Yes your highness." And the man walked away leaving Kaede to her own imagination about why it is that her mate thought it was relevant for him to bring their son around someone like her. "Oh we definitely need to talk." She muttered under her breath and walked away.

And that's chapter 9. I tried to work some form of Kaede into this chapter, even if it was very brief! The next chapter will be up hopefully by next week, so R&R and stay tuned to find the key to MyLockedHeart!