Disclaimer: Ok, still don't own the characters. Really wish that I did. I'd share with all my friends and readers! Now this story takes place between Reconstruction Blues and A Rainy Night. It's definitely before Private Time.
Thanks go out to my readers for this one. I really appreciate your encouragement and your support. Don't be shy! Tell me what you want to see! LOL Reeven!!
Dedicated to all of us who've been with Rick and Lisa for so many years.
Unfinished Business
Timing was everything in a dog fight. Especially a dog fight where you were outnumbered eight to one. Captain Rick Hunter used every trick in his considerable repertoire and blasted six of the malcontents away. Skull Leader was on his own as his two wingmen had been dispatched by the first wave of the surprise attack.
Scratch six, he thought as he veered away from the debris of the explosion and switched over to Guardian mode to come about on his opponents' high side. With only two enemy mecha left, he reconfigured to Battleoid and brought the heavy cannon into play. Sprinting between the two mismatched pods, he managed to bring one down and he thought he had disabled the second.
A moment later, Skull One shook and rattled as it took the brunt of enemy fire. In a bone-snapping maneuver, Rick sent Skull One into fighter mode and then a climb towards the sun. He was hoping the enemy would lose track of him in the glare. If he had managed to damage the second pod it was likely their instrumentation would be malfunctioning. Or at least he prayed it was likely.
72 hours before
Rick was already in the cockpit of his beloved Skull One when the command was given to move out. Control wanted another sweep of the badlands and it was his job as Skull Leader to well…lead. It looked to be a long patrol and while he could use the distraction, he was never happy about leaving unfinished business on the ground.
The aforementioned unfinished business presented itself in the form of his still Commanding Officer, Captain Hayes. This time he wasn't clashing with her professionally but personally. He had offended her somehow by asking her to go with him to a concert in Monument. Go figure. He couldn't figure out why it was that she shut down on him like he just killed her cat but she had stormed off in a huff and the next day she refused to take his calls. He had tried calling again when he got his updated flight schedule and found himself slated for a 72 hour patrol in the badlands. Since it was Lisa that handled the senior flight schedules, he knew he had her to thank. The message he had left on her machine had been less than flattering. This morning he had woken up in a different frame of mind and he wanted to try to make peace before he left. After all, you never knew.
So he had called again and as soon as she heard his voice she had hung up on him. I guess I deserve it, he thought as he went through all the preflight checks. A moment later an unfamiliar voice was ordering him and his two wingmen out. His wingmen weren't his usual best friends. Max and Mirya were home with baby Dana and they had both been cleared for a month off of active flight status. As a result he was flying with two relatively new Skulls.
"Roger that, Skull One has the lead." He brought up the visual on his TACnet monitor and where Lisa would normally have been was a rather dour technician with shaggy brown hair and glasses. Definitely not the view he was hoping for. "Skull team is airborne. Will maintain radio silence with an open channel for late instructions," Rick offered formally. Everything done by the book, Lisa would have been impressed. Thinking of her made him smile as he realized he wouldn't have been so formal if she was monitoring his team. Normally, she and he would take the opportunity to joke around a little if all was going well. If they were arguing, each would take the opportunity to bait the other. It was a well-known dance that caused Max endless amusement. He imagined the Trio found it amusing as well although occasionally, if Claudia was helping in Command, he would hear her yelling at him to "knock off his nonsense and get back to work!"
"Roger, roger. Skull team to maintain radio silence. Happy hunting, Captain." The dour technician logged off of visual and Rick was left alone with his thoughts. He kept one ear on the constant chatter of his wingmen, as radio silence was only to be maintained to their home base. Good communication between his team was essential during a patrol in the badlands. If things went wrong they had only each other to rely on. There was no way back-up could reach them in time.
Rick settled back in his seat and began the business of watching for anything out of the ordinary. It was going to be a long patrol.
Present time
Diving in with the westering sun at his back, Rick felt his mecha strain and sputter. He was definitely hit badly. He was able to line the last pod up and blast it with the Veritech's last remaining missiles. He had the satisfaction of seeing the pod glow bright blue and shatter before his eyes.
Finally, he was able to spare a moment to check his own instrumentation. He felt his heart hammer in his chest as he saw gauges swinging into the red zones and he realized the on-board computer was fried. Turning in his seat, he saw that Skull One was trailing black smoke behind him. He could fly for awhile like this but his main concern was that his speed was reduced. Half of his engines were out and the other half were in danger of overheating.
His mind in a whirlwind, he felt his thoughts shift. That group of pods had not acted or performed like most malcontents he had been up against. They had seemed more organized and they had been good. They had vaporized Skull 17 and Skull 20 in just two heartbeats. Only the fact that Rick had been a veteran of countless skirmishes like this one had allowed him to react and save himself.
"Skull One to Command. Mayday, Mayday! We've been ambushed by what I believe to be a recon force. Both of my wingmen are gone. Skull Leader has taken an indirect hit and I have multiple system failures. Returning to base now. Or at least attempting to," he sent with grim humor.
"Roger, roger Skull One, are you being pursued? Over." The voice that replied was not the one he had hoped for but military discipline had been beaten into him enough that he replied quickly, "Negative, Command, at least not at the moment, but place the Skull on secondary alert. Call in Commander and Lieutenant Sterling to take the lead." He rattled off the orders, even as he felt himself break into a sweat. He was losing altitude and had to switch back to Guardian mode or fry his remaining engines. Assuming the enemy made no follow-up attack he might be able to make it back, might being the operative word.
"Roger, Skull One. Keep this channel open and Command apprised of your situation. Good luck, Captain Hunter."
The technician's voice took on a note of sympathy as he acknowledged her with a pilot's salute and turned off the video link. Behind her, Marie heard Vanessa on the phone.
"That's right Captain. He managed to destroy the enemy pods but he's been hit and isn't sure he can make it back. Twenty minutes? Yes Captain, I'll send a car for you immediately."
Lisa quickly grabbed a uniform and got dressed on the fly. While it wasn't strictly necessary for Vanessa to inform her when a single pilot was in danger, she would forever be grateful to the unassuming young woman for making that call.
Please let him be ok! She offered this thought up to whatever benign forces were left in the universe and raced outside to meet the jeep, still buttoning her officer's jacket. The ride to Command was brief but she felt her mind flashing back to their latest argument. She bit her lip in distress when she thought back to Rick's abortive phone call the morning he left.
72 hours ago
Lisa slammed the phone down much harder than necessary when she heard Rick's voice on the line.
"Of all the rude, inconsiderate, bone-headed flyboys, I had to fall for him!" she railed aloud to herself. Wisely, the walls of her quarters chose not to answer.
The message he had left for her regarding his new flight assignment had been incredibly hurtful and she could tell by his phrasing that he had meant it to be so. She wasn't sure she would ever quite get over how awful he had been.
Three days prior, he had asked her to go with him to a concert in Monument. She remembered how she had blushed when he proudly held the tickets out to her and how she had stammered as she accepted. He had smiled that boyish, slightly cocky grin and handed her a ticket. It had read:
For ONE night only!! Monument Civic Theater proudly presents The Chinese Dragons featuring Miyala! Seating is limited and this ticket reserves center row seats. Enjoy the hottest new Lynn Minmei tribute singers!
She had been furious! How could he think she would want to go with him to that? It was a slap in the face and incredibly insensitive of him. He knew that while she couldn't deny little Miss Singing Star had talent, she had never truly cared for her music. This was just another attempt to convert her. Despite her personal reasons for wanting Minmei to disappear off the face of the earth and out of Rick's life, it was also true that Lisa was one of the few people that simply could not stand her voice. And she would have thought he would have realized that by the fact that she had absolutely no Minmei paraphernalia in her home. Rick had been a guest more often than not in her quarters for late-night meetings and sometimes a friendly dinner. If he had been paying attention at all he would have realized. In the end, it was this fact that hurt her most of all.
She hadn't put Rick on the patrol to punish him. Really she hadn't. Although a very small, petty part did exult in her getting the last laugh on the arrogant pilot, the plain fact was Rick was the best. And he was a natural leader even if he didn't realize it. He was needed out there. Honestly, the way he reacted sometimes made her wonder if he believed she liked sending him into harm's way constantly. She would never risk his safety over something so insignificant.
The days had passed and Lisa had begun to forgive Rick. In fact, she really wanted him to come home so they could work this out. With the Skull maintaining radio silence, there was no way to speak with him privately until he came home. When Vanessa had reported his very formal and militarily correct sign off she had actually giggled. Rick Hunter, the world's most laid back soldier, actually following the rules for once.
She resolved to take him out to dinner once he returned and try to make him understand why she had reacted like she had. Hopefully, it would open the lines of communication for them again. Hopefully.
Present Time
She arrived in the command center at a dead run and made straight for the flight controller's station.
"Has there been any more word from Captain Hunter?" she asked breathlessly.
"Yes, Captain. Last contact was ten minutes ago to confirm he had some unusual radiation signatures appearing on his westerly horizon. He hasn't been able to confirm if it was hostile or just ambient radiation," the technician reported.
Lisa accepted the report with no outward sign of distress.
"Good work, Lieutenant. I relieve you." Lisa saw the surprise of the remaining enlisted officers around her but she also saw Kim and Vanessa nod to each other.
"Yes sir!" The young woman snapped a salute off and abandoned the station to Lisa. Quickly, she brought up the readings and tactical data that had been accumulated since Rick reported his mayday. There had been no violence in that sector for at least six months and as such it hadn't been as closely monitored as perhaps it should have been. She was pouring over the data more for a distraction than to familiarize herself with the reports. She couldn't contact him and risk giving his position away to the enemy. She would have to wait until he deemed it safe enough to call back in.
Rick was sure of it now. The signatures seemed to be keeping pace with him as if they were stalking him. If it had been simple radiation, he would have seen the intensity lessen the more distance he put between him and it. He wondered what the enemy was waiting for. Was it possible they didn't realize he was alone? Or damaged? Or were they herding him towards another trap?
None of this was helping him out of the jam he was in and he felt his mind start to panic. He knew that if he gave in to that panic it would be the end of him. Taking a deep breath, he punched up the controls.
"This is Skull One to Command. I repeat Skull One to Command. Over!" He was pleased to hear his voice was clear and even. No matter what, he couldn't lose his cool. A moment later, his mouth opened in astonishment as all thoughts of remaining calm and composed left him.
"Roger Skull Leader. This is Command. What is your status? Over." Immediately, he felt his panic lessen and warmth spread where cold fear had been a moment before.
"Lisa! Er…Captain!" He quickly encoded his transmission and opened a video link. There she was, biting her lip and looking very pale. Across the comm. link her eyes searched and found his. All of a sudden, she had that half-grin she wore when she was about to remind him how much of bonehead he had been.
"So I see you've gotten yourself in quite a mess this time, Mister." Lisa felt her knees weaken with relief when she heard him call her name. Her concern ratcheted up another notch, however, when she saw his tense and anxious face appear on the screen. She had seen him fly into innumerable battles and never once had she seen this level of apprehension in his eyes. The set of his jaw was tight and from what she could see, he held himself rigid at the controls. He was over-thinking and that could spell disaster. She had to get him to calm down.
"You might say that," Rick acknowledged ruefully. "Listen, Lisa, I'm pretty sure it's some kind of enemy mecha that I'm picking up but my radar's been damaged. Launch the Skull, they should be on stand-by. Have them take up a perimeter defense." He saw Lisa nod and gesture to one of the enlisted personnel behind her. A moment later, he heard the klaxon sound. He breathed a bit easier knowing at least he had managed to warn his friends of what was possibly heading for them.
"My engines are overheating. It really doesn't look good here. I need you to know that I didn't mean what I said on your machine and I'm really sorry that I hurt you. I was just angry that you reacted that way to my surprise. I just thought it would be something fun to do. I didn't realize it would upset you."
Lisa closed her eyes as she heard the finality in his voice. "Forget about it, Rick. It's not important now."
"Yes it is!"
Startled by the force of his voice, she opened her eyes and saw his pleading look. "I forgive you, if you forgive me." She smiled as she realized he had relaxed back into the pilot's seat in surprise and some of the tension had left his wiry frame.
"Forgive you for what, for crying out loud?!"
"For getting angry at you in the first place, I have to remember you aren't a mind reader. You couldn't have known that I would react that way. I've never actually told you that I really don't care for Minmei's music." She wasn't sure how he would react to her candid admission but at least he was sounding more like himself. More than that, Lisa realized there were a great many things she had never actually told him. Glancing around at the others in the room, she also couldn't believe she was having this conversation with him in the middle of the command center.
Rick gazed at the monitor in wonder; both at the idea that Lisa had just apologized to him and the fact that she didn't like Minmei's music. Before he could comment, however, Lisa was all business again.
"Ok, Skull Leader. I've had the numbers crunched and we believe that if you fly in Guardian configuration, and shut the remaining engines down for between ten and twenty minutes at a time at least once an hour, that the engines should hold long enough to bring you home."
"If the enemy doesn't find me and obliterate me on the spot while I'm grounded and defenseless." She saw him close his eyes in frustration. She also saw the change in him as he accepted the plan and shouldered the responsibility of what had to be done. She was so proud of him. A lesser pilot, a lesser man, would have protested this course of action that basically left him a target.
Rick closed his eyes and thought the plan over. It was a long shot. It was a really long shot and if the Zentradei found him he would have no defense. He had used his entire load of ammunition and missiles during the firefight in the badlands. If it weren't for the fact that he trusted Lisa with his life he would have protested. If she had approved this plan it meant she believed it could work. He believed in her and knew that if there was one officer in Command that could bring him home, it was her.
"Acknowledged, Captain. Setting her down now. I will be powering down all systems."
"Rick, wait!" Lisa called anxiously as he reached for the switch to terminate their video link. "I want you in constant contact while you're in the air. Use the encryption sequence and the frequency scrambler. If they haven't found you yet, I don't believe they can trace your transmissions. Also, I've ordered Skull Two and Three to fly intercept." Her voice softened as she said, "Max and Mirya are on their way. They should be to you in about 8 hours."
He saw the beseeching look in her eyes and did his best to reassure her with a cocky grin.
"Good! Tell those goldbricks it's about time they got back to work!" Lisa chuckled and her eyes lightened considerably. "Ok Command, Skull One going dark. Communication to be resumed in 20 minutes. Skull One out!"
Rick had never realized how dark it could be. Even in space, you had brightness of the stars around you. In battle, you had the laser fire and the running lights of your comrades and here at home there were always the lights of the city. But here, with nothing but darkness around him, he realized how alone one man could be. The sun had been setting as he flew on an easterly course and a thick cloud cover had moved in. Alone in the cockpit with that preternatural stillness all around him, he found himself wishing he could speak with Lisa. .
Looking down at his wrist chronometer he realized only 8 minutes had passed. He closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing.
Lisa was watching the large clock at the front of the command center and holding a hot mug of tea that someone had given her. It had only been 12 minutes and inside she was a mess. This was the part of command that Lisa Hayes hated. The sitting and waiting while people around you carried out your orders, you were powerless at this stage in a plan. They would live or they would die. The plan would succeed or it would fail. And technically it was all out of your hands. You had to wait and put on the mask of command, the mask of complete confidence. It was never easy, but it was certainly less heartbreaking if you weren't in love with the object of said plan.
With a glance at the clock, Lisa realized it had been 18 minutes. She turned her attention back to the board and bit her lip.
Rick sighed in relief as he lifted off and noticed a lot of his gauges had come back down from the red zone. He wasn't running in the green but at least he wasn't in the danger he was before he had shut her down. Skull One was responding to his commands, albeit sluggishly. He glanced at the radar almost hoping the shutdown would restore some of its accuracy.
No such luck.
It was still showing a hazy presence that had actually moved towards him during his downtime.
"Lisa, are you there?" It was time to reestablish contact.
Lisa tossed her hair over her shoulder. Leave it to Rick to lose all sense of formality at a time like this!
"You know I could swear you were a military pilot, Captain, but sometimes I wonder!" she teased.
Rick winced and flushed slightly then he shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "If I acted in any other way you wouldn't know it was me," he complained.
Lisa shook her head and suppressed a chuckle as he winked at her. The rest had done him some good and some of the strain had left his face. She took a sip of her tea and turned back to the monitor.
"Hey Captain, no fair! You didn't order any for me?" Rick actually felt revived by the teasing and he felt himself regain some more of his control as they jested and played with each other.
Lisa hastily set her cup down and replied, "Of course I did, and Max should be bringing it to you in just a few hours. Hope you don't mind iced tea!" She was surprised when he reacted with startled laughter. "Shape up hotshot, how about a status report?"
"Roger, roger. Skull One is operating in the orange zone. Control has been re-established and my remaining engines are in good order for the situation. If you can call flying at half power good. Also, my radar is still showing those anomalous readings. They've closed the distance by about 220 miles."
"Well, there isn't anything we can do about them right now. Just hold your course and speed, Captain."
"Of course," Rick replied with a smirk when Lisa rolled her eyes at his completely unmilitary response.
The remainder of the time passed quickly with Lisa and Rick trading teasing barbs at each other and before they knew it, it was time for him to set down again. This time, he was more confident about setting down but still the dark was unsettling and Lisa found herself pacing about and clock watching. It was going to be a very long evening.
4 Hours Later
Rick was getting worn down. His eyes were gritty from lack of sleep and his neck and back ached. The constant stress of setting down and waiting was wearing on him and he actually snapped at Lisa during their last communiqué. He regretted it but could only hope that she understood. It was a comfort to him that Max and Mirya were on the way and so far it looked good. But each time he stopped, the enemy closed in on him a little more. It was like feeling someone behind you in a nightmare and being too afraid to turn and look at them.
Noting the time, he realized he had actually zoned out and he'd been on the ground for almost 30 minutes. Quickly, he brought Skull One back on-line and used his thrusters for a vertical launch. As soon as he was safely in the air, he contacted Lisa.
"Where have you been!?!" Lisa was trembling, it was the first time he had been late on a re-log. Visions of dozens of pods swarming over Rick while he sat there defenseless and flashes of an explosion that would steal him away just as surely as Minmei one day would caused her to feel faint.
Startled by the concern in her dark green eyes he said softly, "I'm ok. I kind of zoned out and when I looked at the time I realized I was late. I'm sorry I worried you, though."
Lisa hated herself when a single tear escaped and, traitor that it was, made its way down her cheek. Not wanting him to see, she wiped it quickly away. It was the stress of the situation and the adrenaline, she told herself.
Rick had seen her wipe her eyes and knew she wouldn't want him to mention it. Every now and then Lisa would surprise him with her vulnerability and once again he would be reminded that as confident as she was on the job, she had moments of doubt just like anyone else.
"It's ok, Rick. We just weren't sure what was happening. So, where were we?" Lisa straightened her uniform jacket and cleared her throat.
"You were telling me what you liked for music."
Lisa thought for a moment and realized he was right. "Well, I like a lot of the older artists. It depends on my mood. I can go for jazz but only if I'm in a good mood. If I'm cleaning or something like that I like dance music. But when I want to relax or if I'm reading or something I like classical. And if I'm having a hard time with something, I find myself listening to ballads. I like songs that tell a story."
"I wouldn't have guessed that you like dance music!" Rick responded with genuine surprise.
"Well, Rick, remember I roomed with Claudia for quite a few years. She taught me how to dance. But I always loved music with a beat. It makes it easier to forget what you're doing and just move with the music, I guess." She was slightly embarrassed that she was being so personal but as she looked around, she realized it was the middle of the night. Only she and the Trio remained on duty.
"I can't dance. Well that's not exactly true. I can slow dance, but give me anything with a beat like that and I have two left feet that really like to get tangled up in each other," Rick confided.
Lisa had to smile at the mental image of Rick tripping on his own two feet on the dance floor. "Your turn now, flyboy. Aside from flying, what's your favorite thing to do with time off?"
Lisa and Rick had been trading jokes and stories for the past four hours. Lisa had been intent on getting him to relax and allow his natural flying ability to take over. As a result, the conversation had begun to get slightly more personal as they each traded questions and answers. If it weren't for the fact that he was in mortal danger and still hundreds of miles away from safety, Lisa would have been having a really good time.
Rick thought for a moment even as he glanced at all his instruments. Skull One had benefited from its extended rest period and was running well within its limits. He gave his full attention back to Lisa.
"Well, aside from flying you said? I like models of airplanes. Now don't look at me like that! It's different from flying isn't it? I also like to cook."
Lisa shook her head in amusement. "I guess you got me about the models and I guess I'm not really surprised there. I've seen a few of them before when I've visited you. But the cooking catches me by surprise. I never figured you to be such a domestic, Rick." Lisa saw the pleasure in Rick's baby blue eyes but she also noted the growing fatigue. His team had been slated to return home over six hours ago. He'd officially been on duty and in the cockpit for 78 hours.
"Yep, I learned how to cook when I was young. Roy and Pops were always busy with the circus so while I was too young to fly I started making dinner for them. I was only like nine or ten the first time I made them something. It was spaghetti from a can and white bread." He laughed at the memory. "It was burned on the edges and stone cold in the middle but Roy and Pops ate it anyway. Roy even asked for seconds!"
"Roy was quite a man, Rick. But it's getting to be time for you to set her down again." Lisa noted the time with more than a little regret. While he was on her screen talking to her, she knew that he was ok. She knew that he was still there somewhere. When he went dark, it was hard for her not to lose it. She felt so disconnected and alone. She wondered if he felt that way too.
"Ok, Lisa. I'll be back in fifteen minutes. This time you have to tell you me what your favorite meal is. I may want to cook for you when I get back!"
"Only if you promise not to make spaghetti!" Lisa cut the transmission and sank down in her chair, her head in her hands. Once more, she offered up a prayer for his safety and sat back to wait.
Several hundreds of miles to the west, Rick sat in the silence and tried to figure out what he would make for Lisa if he did indeed get out of this.
Two and half hours later
The anomalous readings on the screen had appeared almost out of nowhere twenty minutes before. Once again, Rick Hunter was using every evasive maneuver he knew and he was just barely staying ahead of the six-man assault squad behind him. His radar was practically shot and had not even noted the squad until they had fired at him. They had been getting closer all night and finally they had caught him.
Relying only on his eyes and his instincts, he evaded death again as he plummeted in a dive that brought him 75 feet above the ground before he pulled up. He was pushing the VT in fighter mode now, coaxing all the maneuverability he could from the fighter.
It wasn't enough.
"I'm hit! I'm losing altitude and compression! Switching to Battleoid to stabilize," he practically screamed into the comm. system.
"Good work, Rick! You can do this." Lisa could only encourage him as she stood at her post, both hands gripping the edge of her station, intent on watching the readings.
"Negative, it's no good! Switching to Guardian. I'm going to pass between them and try to break their formation."
Lisa blinked. It was ridiculously unorthodox and a completely suicidal move. He was going to charge the enemy mecha down the middle and hope to make them peel off?
What was he thinking?
A moment later, she saw his plan and wanted to shout approval for his ingenuity.
Rick dove directly for the pursuing mecha and just as he hoped, they were so intent on bringing him down that they were careless. Two of the enemy were destroyed by friendly fire as Rick hurtled passed them and turned swiftly to come about for another pass. Just then, he saw something on his screen that made his stomach twist with fear.
"Command! I have two more signatures on my screen! Incoming from the north and heading my way fast!"
"Not fast enough apparently!" The voice came from out of nowhere but Rick almost cheered as he saw the blue-trimmed VT swoop in from the cloud cover and a moment later, a distinctive red VT followed in his wake.
Max and Mirya Sterling had heard Rick's defensive scramble over the general comm. net and decided to come in high and fast. They had seen his desperate charge and knew that he had almost nothing left to give. Skull One was smoking and it had a gaping wound on the back left side by the cockpit. Rick had indeed been lucky.
Moving almost as one fighting unit, Skull 2 and Skull 3 completed their dive and proceeded to make short work of the remaining pods. A moment later, they fell in on Rick's wing providing protective cover.
"Nice flying, you two! Way to go!" Rick was practically weeping with relief. His avenging angels had wasted little time in securing his six and now they hovered protectively beside him.
Finally, Rick allowed himself to believe he would make it home.
He pulled a visual from Command where everyone was cheering and congratulating Lisa. He could see the Trio as they hugged her and saw a dark figure that had to be Claudia in the background with both fists raised in victory.
Over the link he found her eyes just as she looked up and found his. Neither of them spoke but after a moment Rick raised his hand in a heartfelt salute. He saw the corners of her mouth twitch as she nodded. A moment later, the video link was turned off.
Max and Mirya appeared in his left and right TACnet screens. "C'mon, Rick. Let's get you home. You've had a long couple of days, buddy."
"Thank you. Thank you both, I know it couldn't have been easy to leave Dana…" Rick began.
He was cut off as Mirya shook her fist at him. "Enough of that! You are our friend, Rick. And there is very little that we would not do for you." The way she said it and the way Max nodded and said, "Besides, you'd do the same thing for us, right, Skipper?"
Rick nodded. "Speaking of which, Lisa said you would bring me tea?"
He broke up in laughter at the look on his two friends' faces.
Lisa turned off the video link before he could see her tears. She was trembling with relief and weariness. She could hear the Trio cheering like mad and saw the dawn shift arriving to start their day.
She felt Claudia behind her a moment before she felt the hug. Lisa turned, and in a rare moment of physical vulnerability, she wept silently into her friend's shoulder.
Claudia seemed to understand and just hugged her tighter whispering softly, "Its ok, baby. You brought him home. He's gonna be ok and so are you."
As usual, it was exactly what Lisa needed to hear.
Several hours later
Skull Wing was finally on the ground and in the hangar. The flight crew was screaming and cheering as Rick deplaned. Vince Grant came forward to take charge of his beloved plane.
"Take care of her, Chief."
"Absolutely, Captain. You'll see! My team will have her good as new. You just get some rest!"
Rick saw the rest of Skull Squadron standing by their planes saluting him and his wing as they passed. It was a totally informal tribute and something he would remember for the rest of his life. Rick saluted each man, and as he and Max made it into the pilot's locker room he had tears in his eyes. He noticed a certain blue-haired ace was a little misty-eyed as well. If not for the fact that Mirya had opted to change in her quarters so as to get back to little Dana, he suspected she would have been "leaking from her eyes" as well.
"I feel like I could sleep for a week," Max declared as he stepped out of the shower and changed back into his civvies. "You must be exhausted. You want me to get a car to take you home, Rick?"
Rick had stood under the hot water spray, allowing it to loosen stiff muscles and ease some of his fatigue. As a result, he felt slightly more energetic.
"No, I'll be ok Max. There's something I need to take care of first."
"I can't believe you were out of ammo and still managed to score two kills. That was some really inspired moves there." Max was always eager to discuss a new flying technique and all of his praise was genuine. He was one of the rarest types of people, a genius with no ego.
"I'll tell you this; I was pretty close to losing it out there. When I realized how bad off I was, I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to be coming home." Rick's voice was muffled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.
Max studied his best friend for a moment and realized that Rick was actually opening up and being totally honest. He decided to take advantage of the moment to do some "recon" of his own. He had a hunch regarding Rick and a certain superior officer with emerald eyes and a rulebook in one hand.
"So how did you manage to keep it together out there?"
"Well at first all I could think of was warning you all. When that was done I had nothing left to focus on. I could feel myself panicking. Then Lisa was there with a plan." He closed his eyes, remembering that moment when she had outlined "the fan belt maneuver". It was based on an old helicopter design that had been popular about 70 years before. When the fan belt would overheat, the pilot of the copter would only be able to go about a hundred yards before having to set back down again. "I knew that if Lisa believed it could work, then it probably would. I also knew that if anyone could bring me home it would be her. I mean, how many battles has she seen us through?"
"Too many to count. But I know what you mean. I always feel better if Captain Hayes is on when I fly out too. There's just something about her, I guess." Max decided that was enough probing for now. He was pleased with what he had learned.
"You got that one right, Max. There is definitely something about her." Rick patted Max's shoulder as he left the locker room, leaving Max to wonder how much longer it would take his friend to figure out what that "something" was.
Lisa had just managed to restore some semblance of order to the Command Center when she heard the doors behind her open. Startled, she spun around to see Rick striding towards her. When he reached her he saluted her briskly and as she returned his salute, he swept her up into an enthusiastic, heartfelt hug that actually lifted her off of her feet.
When he set her back down again, she saw his blue eyes dance in amusement as he realized she was blushing.
"Thank you," he said simply.
"Anytime, Rick," Lisa replied warmly.
"I was wondering, Captain, how much do you trust me?"
Lisa noted the devilish look in his eyes as he asked the question and decided to play along. "With my life, of course," she answered a shade too quickly.
"Good, then you won't mind my picking you up on Friday night around seven then?"
"But…bu..." Lisa spluttered, completely surprised.
"Good, I'll see you then! Dress code will be upscale casual, Captain." With that, he saluted again and sauntered out through the door.
Lisa was completely flummoxed and turned to Claudia with her mouth hanging open. Claudia had only one thing to say.
"Lisa, what are you gonna wear?"
The command center broke up in laughter as the Trio began chanting, "SHOPPING TRIP," at the top of their lungs.
Lisa placed her head on the console in front of her and groaned.
It was going to be a very long day.
Friday evening
Lisa smoothed the skirt of her dress one more time as she studied her appearance in the mirror.
How did I get myself into this?
It was ten minutes to seven and Rick had phoned to say he was on his way. Glancing in the mirror again she sighed.
That's as good as it's gonna get, I suppose. Lisa spun on the spot as she heard the doorbell ring.
"Come on in, Rick. I'll be out in just a minute!" Lisa called as her stomach filled with butterflies and her pulse rate doubled. Claudia and the Trio had descended on her and they had spent several hours the evening before trying different outfits and hairstyles before they had all managed to agree on one certain look. She hoped Rick would notice. She hoped she looked as good as Claudia said she did.
She hoped for a lot of things for this night.
"Hey, Lisa, I'm sorry I'm early but I didn't know what traffic was going to be…" Rick felt his jaw drop and his stomach hit his shoes.
Lisa had come from the bedroom and was all smiles for him. She was wearing an emerald green dress that looked to be a shade or two lighter than her eyes. It had an asymmetric hemline that showed a great deal of her legs.
Her long, graceful, athletic, toned, beautiful legs.
He felt his eyes travel up past the tight-fitting waist, and upwards where he realized that the dress was sleeveless and showed off her shoulders. Travelling still upward, he saw her slightly bemused smile and realized she had her hair down so that it fell almost to her waist. Another moment passed and he realized she was waiting for him to say something. Or do something. Or something.
"You look stunning, Lisa," he managed.
Lisa had watched as he took in her appearance and was very pleased with his reactions. She reminded herself to breathe.
"Thank you, you clean up pretty well too, flyboy," Lisa teased. Rick was wearing a dark gray suit tonight with a sapphire dress shirt and gray tie. He knew she was being kind. He hated suits and had never worn them well but tonight it was a necessity.
"Thanks. But we'd better get going. I don't want us to be late." He moved towards her and took something from his pocket. "I hope you don't mind but this is a surprise," he said as he stepped behind her to fasten the blindfold around her eyes.
Lisa was startled at first and her hands flew up to her eyes. She started to protest and felt him take her hands. "You said you trusted me," he reminded her as he led her from the house.
"I didn't know this was what you had in mind!" She heard him open the car door and felt him help her inside.
"Don't worry it won't be for long," Rick assured her as he began to drive. Within a few moments, Lisa had lost her bearings and had no idea where she was. Normally, this type of loss of control was something she despised. While she wasn't exactly thrilled, she did trust Rick.
Rick smiled as he glanced over at his companion for the evening and saw the slight frown on her lips. Hopefully, his surprise would make her forget her aggravation with him.
Ten minutes later, Rick helped her from the car and removed her blindfold. Lisa blinked a few times and then realized where he had brought them. It was the New Macross Symphony.
"Rick! This is wonderful. I've been dying to hear them but every time I have the time off their season is over. I thought the tickets were sold out?" Lisa had been having no luck securing a box for the past two seasons and she knew tickets were hard to come by.
"Well, one of the pilots in Skull has a sister who's a cellist. He's letting us borrow his box for tonight." Rick had to smile at the look of utter delight on Lisa's face.
Lisa took the arm Rick offered her and allowed him to lead her into the concert hall.
Two and a half hours later
Lisa and Rick were laughing together over a late dinner.
"Then Roy just looks up at Pops and says, 'How did she get in there?'" Rick smiled at the memory of Pops finding Roy's first girlfriend hidden in his bedroom closet.
"A ladies man even back then, huh?" Lisa couldn't believe what a nice night they were having together. The music had been fantastic and dinner was wonderful. Now, they were swapping stories together over dessert. Rick had insisted she try the molten chocolate cake with raspberry filling when she had tried to demure.
"Oh, he settled right down after he met Claudia." Rick couldn't believe how much fun he was having with that "old sourpuss." Even now, as they split the cake between them and talked it was so comfortable. He couldn't understand how he could be comfortable with Lisa, and so tense around Minmei. Some things just didn't make sense.
"Rick, I really want to thank you for tonight. I'm really enjoying myself," Lisa said sincerely.
"Hey, we aren't done yet. Help me finish this thing and then I've got one more place in mind. Are you up for it, Lisa?" Rick's eyes sparked a playful challenge as Lisa laughed.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lisa's eyes sparkled in anticipation.
Suddenly, Rick realized that he wouldn't either.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Rick?" Lisa asked anxiously.
"Sure am. Come on. What's the worst that could happen?"
Lisa marveled at his confidence and led him through the door into the dance club. "And you're actually going to listen to what I tell you to do? No backtalk?" Lisa was doubtful; after all, he didn't have a good track record when it came to following her orders.
"Absolutely! I promise."
Rick allowed Lisa to lead him to the floor and over the next two hours he realized two things. The first of which was that Lisa was a wonderful dancer and the second was that he was not. Try as he might, he couldn't mimic her movements well enough to keep up with her. He couldn't quite manage that sway of her hips that made it look like she was a part of the music. And he certainly couldn't manage some of the more complicated moves she had shown him.
Lisa watched as Rick tried to follow her pattern and realized he was thinking too hard. Verbal communication was made really difficult as the pounding music was really loud, driving the beat home. Moving closer to him, she took his hands in hers and tried again to lead him through the dance. He wasn't bad at all, not really. He just needed more practice. She was rewarded when he turned a rueful smile on her and she saw the hangdog look in his eyes. She grinned at him and got him started to the beat one more time.
Finally, even her energy was flagging as they made their way back outside and into the relative quiet. For a moment they stood and looked at each other and then they both began to laugh.
"Well, hey it was fun!" Rick shrugged. "Sorry about your feet though," he said with genuine regret.
"Rick! You stepped on my feet once because the people behind you staggered into you! It had nothing to do with your dancing."
Rick shook his head again and led Lisa back to the car.
"Thank you for coming out with me tonight, Lisa. I had a really great time," Rick said as he drove towards her quarters. "I wanted to take you out partly to thank you for what you did for me the other night."
"I did my job, Rick. You don't have to thank me for that. I'm just glad we could bring you home." Lisa shifted in her seat and looked out the window. She had had such a nice evening. She didn't want to think he had done this because he felt he owed her.
"Lisa, you brought me home." Rick had stopped in front her of her quarters but hadn't made a move to get out of the car. "Somehow you always manage to bring me home. And me and the rest of the guys all know that if you're there and something goes wrong…well…let's just say we're always glad when you're the one on that center screen."
Despite herself, Lisa felt a smile on her lips as his words sank in. "Thank you for that, Rick. It's nice to hear." She made a move to open her car door and felt his hand on her arm.
"But that's not the only reason I wanted you to come with me tonight. I really wanted to make it up to you about the concert, and well, about what I did afterwards. It was childish and immature for me to leave that message. I was just disappointed that you didn't like the surprise I had planned. I know it doesn't seem like it but I really do enjoy your company," Rick finished and felt himself blushing.
Had he said too much?
Lisa felt her pulse speed up as she looked into his eyes and saw that he was telling her the truth. Her worries that he had taken her out for the wrong reasons dissipated and she felt warmth spread through her. It must have shown on her face because suddenly Rick broke out into a wide smile. He gestured for her to wait and got out of the car and opened her door and escorted her up the walk where he hugged her goodnight.
As he got ready for bed that night, Rick felt himself comparing the two women in his life. He had meant what he had said to Lisa. He knew she would always bring him home. His last thought before sleep was to wonder why he didn't feel that he could rely on Minmei like that.