Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, it belongs to Toei Animation Co. Ltd and was created by Akira Toriyama. However the Oc's Bakelight, Carbonate, Infrared and Melmac are mine as is the plot of this fanfiction. It means no harm to the awesome anime and manga! I make no money from this! AN: This chapter will explain just how Bulma could replicate the material so quickly in the first place. Vegeta shows up in the next chapter, but he IS in space. Also I think there would be someone besides Chichi or her mom she might confide her secret in! Thanks to Heiress, ButterflyV and everyone else who's reviewed!

Chinks in the Armor

Chapter 6 Behind the Armor

 

As Bulma went through the next few days, she remembered the trouble it had taken to get the armor made. Now she had another difficulty: trying to get duplicate suits constructed for the other Z Fighters who might use them. If that lavender haired boy was returning in another year and a half he and the others would need every advantage. Dr. Melmac's team had surprisingly come up with a workable material for her to use for Vegeta's new suit. Yet it seemed questionable how they had been so successful in such a short period of time. She also needed a project to keep her grief stricken heart from continuing to break.

In her conference room sat the scientists of the Capsule Materials Development group. The small group of researchers all clustered around, looking at the chips of armor sample.

"It's amazing," murmured Dr. Bakelight prodding it with a spatula.

"Such a polymer's molecular structure is dense like diamond but light like carbon nanofibers," Dr. Carbonate added.

"I've run many scans on this and I still can't believe it's actually stretchable like elastic," Mr. Infrared, the analytical chemist mused.

"Can you duplicate it on a larger scale?" Bulma asked her lab team.

"I think we can make more, like the last batch. But it will take time. And shaping it will be hard," said Dr. Melmac, head of research for Materials Development.

"How long?"

"We have some of the polymer in storage. As you recall we adapted some of the GR room lining," said Dr. Melmac. "It all depends on Dr. Carbonate's team."

"Can you do it?" asked Bulma. "Make ten times the amount?"

"I will try," Dr. Carbonate nodded, inhaling deeply. She narrowed her eyes at the battered suit of armor and turned it over every which way. The other scientists also clustered around, looking at it from every angle.

"How quickly?" asked Bulma.

"Two weeks," said Melmac.

"Two days" Dr. Carbonate answered. Everyone gave her a nasty glare. Dr. Melmac was her father's age, silvery yellow hair that shone like spun platinum, and a curvaceous but stocky figure underneath. In contrast, Dr. Polly Carbonate was only a few years older then Bulma, with brown wavy hair and chocolate brown eyes blurred slightly behind very thick glasses. Her body was stocky and sturdy with the hint of muscle that showed she might have trained or body built at one point in her life. A haunted look predominated in her eyes as Melmack glared at her.

"What, I'm telling the truth!" the young Capsule polymer scientist glared back at them all. She was only a Research Grade II despite the fact she had a PHD and experience from many areas. Who else had helped make a gravity resistant coating for the alloys in Capsule 3 but Carbonate and Bakelight? The very action had promoted Melmac to VP of Materials science. Now Bulma suspected there was another reason why Melmac had been so successful. She had help, that she had taken all credit for.

"You never tell them how long it REALLY takes," Dr. Melmac hissed to her. Carbonate rolled her eyes.

"Is that using CONVENTIONAL methods, or a SPECIAL technique," Dr. Bakelight asked, staring hard at Dr. Carbonate.

"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Carbonate glared back.

"Ladies, gentleman, I will speak to Dr. Melmac and Dr. Carbonate alone! The rest of you get back to work on the GR capsule project! I want as much of the material made as possible!" Bulma ordered. Nodding the others dispersed. She motioned to both remaining scientists to follow her.

"Look, I don't know WHAT'S going on here, but you had BETTER explain yourself, Dr. Melmac!" Bulma glared at her. "I don't like cat fights in my employees!"

"I had assumed you knew," said Dr. Melmac. "Dr. Carbonate's past."

"You were the one that insisted on bringing up something that was confidential!" Carbonate looked at her with hurt and anger in her eyes.

"What do you mean it would only take you a week?" Bulma asked gently. "What does Dr. Melmac know?"

"You shouldn't flaunt your abilities! Now they'll suspect it all you fool!" Melmac glared at her.

"Excuse me, no fighting! What are you talking about?"

"I had assumed Dr. Briefs Senior had informed you that Dr. Carbonate here… was once a member of the Red Ribbon materials…"

Carbonate looked at Bulma's clear blue eyes. She tensed visibly, her eyes narrowed with anger towards Dr. Melmac's derisive look. "So what if I am? That's not YOUR business, and even if it was, you have NO right dredging that up!"

"Wait, I know all about it, and you know what, I don't give a shit," Bulma said to Dr. Melmac. "the past stays buried here. I hired Dr. Carbonate because she's the best at what she does, not because of or in spite of how she GOT that knowledge."

"But it's exactly because of that why she can claim to make your polymer in a week or even LESS. And it's not USING conventional methods. The only reason your armor was completed in a few hours was because of HER showing off," Dr. Melmac snapped.

"Showing off how?"

"Tell her your little secret," said Dr. Melmac.

"Secret?"

"I… well… I made the polymer myself, and shaped it on a preform," said Dr. Carbonate.

"Without telling US. And passing it off as Capsule work. It's rather deceptive," Dr. Melmac said angrily.

"You didn't argue in the past when I used my talents for the GR project," Dr. Carbonate said taking a deep breath.

"Are you insinuating I'm only interested in lining my OWN nest?" Dr. Melmac snapped. "Just like a former Red Ribbon…"

"SHUT UP! I've heard enough. Dr. Melmac you're out of line! You seem to forget that my daddy's hired OTHER former Red Ribbon scientists to work for the company, and they have been granted total amnesty by King Furry himself! So unless you keep your trap shut, you're going to be replaced by one of these Red Ribbon former operatives!" Bulma snapped.

"I'm sorry it's just that if we let her make the plastic using HER abilities alone, the rest of us become redundant. Not ALL of us have her talent! It's not fair!" Dr. Melmac said.

"So it's fair when you push me to use my abilities to accelerate your research and you take the credit, but when I want to help the VP of Capsule you get pissed?" Dr. Carbonate laughed harshly.

"I… you can't prove that!" Dr. Melmac snapped.

"Ask her how she got promoted to VP of Material's science. Ask her how she developed the GR material that was reinforced with polymers that I helped her create. If I hadn't helped you couldn't have built Capsule 3," said Dr. Carbonate.

"I… it's not true!" Dr. Melmac stammered.

"You're going to stop this now. Tell me what the hell she's referring to," said Bulma looking at Polly.

"I… wasn't just a scientist, ma'am," said Dr. Polly Carbonate, sitting down in the char as Dr. Melmac glared bloody murder at her.

"She was an OPERATIVE. Wasn't that right, Polly, or should I say Corporal Opal?" laughed Dr. Melmac.

"All of us… were trained to use our abilities in rather interesting ways. I was a member of the Red Ribbon Psy corps," said Polly quietly, shivering in her seat.

"You mean the same one that…" Bulma trailed off.

"The same one as those butchers like Blue and Silver belonged to," said Dr. Melmac triumphantly. "She's a murderer who's now trying to make good for past sins."

"I only did what I was told," Polly said quietly.

"That's an excuse. You could have left," said Dr. Melmac.

"Shut up, you don't KNOW what I went through so don't you DARE judge me," Polly glared at her.

"Dr. Melmac, I could have you fired. You know our confidentiality policy. Especially against the protection program!" Bulma snapped.

"I'm aware of the King's genius. But it doesn't erase what these people did. How they used their knowledge for Kami-knows-what horrible things. How they trained psys and telekinetic to use their powers to do unspeakable acts and make unspeakable materials. How this one here can be a scientist like you and I, when she has the blood of many on her hands. How she can turn air and dust into a lethal plastic that can be one of the most insidious weapons," Melmac said with cold hatred.

"I've heard enough. This conversation never happed," Bulma said sharply. "You will go back to your unit and work. I will talk to Dr. Carbonate alone."

"As you wish, Ma'am," said Dr. Melmac. "I apologize for bringing up such an unpleasant subject."

Rising from behind the desk, she glared in mean triumph at Polly. The scientist was shivering in her chair, her fingers quaking as she huddled there. Bulma closed the door, then turned to the miserable woman who was barely older then she. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of her desk and regarded her. "So, that's what's causing friction between you two?"

"Yes. She knows it all. She knew when she begged for the secret of my gravity resistant polymer," said Dr. Polly.

"Can you make it with conventional methods as well as your abilities?" asked Bulma.

"Yes. It would take longer, but part of my power lets me figure out how to make plastics from base components. I… I can almost discern the bond structure of most carbon, hydrogen and oxygen based compounds. But only those. And sometimes reshape them into any sort of plastic or polymer. That's how… I made the plastic you asked me to replicate for… your special project," said Dr. Polly quietly.

"Show me," Bulma said. "Make something. Can you change one thing to another?"

"I can… generate plastic from air," Polly said quietly. Focussing her vision she held out her hands and they glowed purple with ki. Bulma's eyes widened a bit because it reminded her of the ki channeling of her Z warrior friends. A small sheet of plastic wrap formed between Polly's hands and she stretched it.

"That's plastic wrap… like you'd wrap sandwiches in," Bulma murmured, pulling and stretching it.

"Yes. I don't use the ability much. But what Dr. Melmac was referring to…"

"Were you a fighter once?" Bulma asked, looking at the dark eyes of her scientist. Her own reflection bounced off the surface of the glasses, partly obscuring her view of the dark eyes behind them.

"What of it, Ma'am. That doesn't matter here does it?" asked Polly, pushing her thick glasses up further on her face.

"Look whatever you've done in the past, I don't give a shit," Bulma said firmly, pressing her hand on Polly's shoulder. "You work for Capsule now. And your work can save more lives then you can imagine."

"Are you sure that you want a murderer working for your department, now that the esteemed Dr. Melmac has revealed my secret," Polly said with a sarcastic glare. "I don't want your pity with all due respect I just want a chance to work and do what I want to do, not what others want me to."

"I don't pity you. That's why I'm letting you work on the GR project. Because it's for someone who might understand what you're going through far more than I," said Bulma.

"I don't need understanding, I just need to be left alone, Ma'am. I'm… I don't wish to talk about it, or have anyone feel sorry for me. I just want to work and do my job, Dr. Briefs," said Polly with a deep sigh. Anger flashed in the dark eyes, bitterness there with her tight lipped attempt to be civil.

"Well I'm not. You'll do your job, and that's all I expect. I said I didn't give a shit what you did before, and I mean it. So don't give me that tortured past card. I've heard it all before. You work for me now," said Bulma sternly.

"As you wish, Dr. Briefs," said Dr. Carbonate, inclining her head.

"And if you feel like you need to beat the crap out of something, you can always join our gym," Bulma said with a smirk.

"What makes you say that, Ma'am?" asked Dr. Carbonate with a strange look.

"Oh, let's just say I have a few friends who have had their own little checkered pasts, and they find martial arts a great way of blowing off steam. But if that's not your way, something that always works for me is shopping," Bulma said.

"Shopping," Dr. Carbonate chuckled. "Heh. I haven't gone shopping for I don't know how long."

"Then consider yourself on an enforced vacation. You are coming with me for lunch, and we're hitting the mall," Bulma said.

"ma'am?"

"An offsite meeting," Bulma said, grabbing Dr. Carbonate's hand and tugging her to her feet. "You're coming with me to the mall!"

"But ma'am…"

"But nothing. I'm VP of Capsule remember," said Bulma with a giggle. Dr. Carbonate stared at her boss as if she'd gone mad and let herself be dragged out of the office.

 

For the past few hours they had shopped, evident from the bags both of them toted in one hand each. Bulma recalled dragging her scientist to the hair salon. Once both were bustled to the shampoo bowl, they were pampered and lathered and plucked before being pushed before mirrors. Spun in chairs they watched snippets of blue and brown hair drop to the floor. Bulma's hair was now a bit on the short side but straight and glossy, free of the hideous perm. Carbonate's hair was teased and layered in a short bob that came to her shoulders and curved around her face with purple highlights.

Both women soon strolled through the mall, wearing light sundresses that came to the knee. Polly walked a bit uncomfortably as if she was not accustomed to such a short skirt. Her ankles wobbled a bit in the high wedge sandals. Despite her protestation about showing her thighs, Bulma persuaded her colleague that a miniskirt made her short stature much taller.

"I could go for a mocachino now," said Bulma, grabbing her friend's arm and dragging her after her towards the food court.

"I prefer expresso, Dr. Brief… I mean Bulma," said Polly.

"C'mon Tomi… live a little! Capsule Employees are happy employees," Bulma laughed, dragging her toward the counter. Polly glanced left and right and fought the urge to scream. She had to admit she had fun the past few hours, but Bulma was one strange woman.

Then they hit the boutique and bought new sundresses. Polly's shoulders were somewhat Amazonian and tanned under the red straps that crossed her back. Flowers decorated the red print, and Bulma's dress was light green with splashes of blue and turquoise. She had gone shorter to a mid knee mini, while Polly's was above the knee and more A line. Wedged sandals completed the look, and of course Bulma had insisted on handbags.

"So, you like?" Bulma asked.

"What's not to like. You were flirting with that malt shop boy!" she laughed. Both of them had discussed nothing but the immediate surroundings. Polly was still trying to make sense of her boss who now acted like they were old buddies.

"You look a hell of a lot better with shorter hair. I know I had that bushy do for ages," Bulma laughed.

"You did look like a lamb. The office pool took bets as to when you'd get it cut," said Polly.

"You didn't!" Bulma gasped, pretending to be scandalized.

Just what prompted her to whisk Polly out on a girl's afternoon eluded her. Yet she suspected it was because the haunted look in the scientist's face reminded her of too many others. Tien, Yamcha, and then Piccolo who all had shadowed pasts and that same regret hidden by the urge to fight for the side of right. All the familiar signs were painfully apparent in Polly, and she realized she was doing it out of another motive. Perhaps she felt the need to help someone when Vegeta was not around to receive her ministrations. By reaching out to a Red Ribbon scientist turned Capsule Employee she hoped somehow to better help Vegeta when he returned. Maybe she could accept more of Vegeta's butchered past which was far greater then perhaps even what Polly had faced. And understand that she had to accept more of who he was.

"Really," Polly said, sipping her expresso. Bulma took a swallow of her moccachino and then pushed a plate of a sinful brownie and several cookies between them. For all her darkness the scientist was a woman like she who loved food and the sensations of being caught up in the moment.

"You have to try. These are the BEST macadamia nut cookies this side of West City," said Bulma.

"If you try the peanut butter treats I'll trade you," Polly said. They both munched on one another's deserts, bonding over food as many women did. Polly seemed very relaxed, and comfortable at being distracted with tempting treats.

"I haven't had this much fun since Mom dragged me out," said Bulma.

"Not to be a pain, but why?" Polly asked.

"Why what?" Bulma asked.

"You haven't really cared to fraternize with your employees much before," said Dr. Polly.

"Because I wanted to. Do I need another reason to take a friend out to lunch and shopping?" Bulma glared at her.

"Friend, huh? Generous. No offense, but I didn't think the president's daughter fraternized with the masses," said Dr. Polly with a laugh. She snapped her mouth shut as if she was scared she had spoken out of turn.

"Well, you looked like you needed it and I wanted to," said Bulma. "Us female scientists who are single have to stick together."

"True. And thank you," said Polly.

"What for?"

"For not… trying to get me to talk. Everyone's always trying to get me to talk about my past like it was some… talk show," Polly said.

"I don't need to know. What matters is that I'm going to finish your plate if you don't!" Bulma said, snagging another peanut butter and chocolate treat."

"HEY!" Polly laughed, and knocked her friend's hand away. Suddenly Bulma caught her stomach and leaned over.

"Ugh I feel sick."

"Miss Briefs… Bulma I'm sorry…"

"I'm gonna hurl," she gasped.

Polly grabbed her and pulled her up, helping to drag her to the ladies room. Her sturdy arm held Bulma firmly as she rushed the other woman along. Softly she whispered in Bulma's ear, "C'mon, let's go…"