Shana had just sat down for another glorious summer day stuck in her office when she found the box on her desk. It was wrapped in a simple paper with no tag or note from the giver. She wondered who'd put it there and why. Her birthday had been last month, and there were no holidays requiring an exchange of gifts for some time. So why was this on her desk?!

She opened it to find a burgundy case holding a pearl bracelet. She smiled as she looked it over, then put it on. She usually wasn't much for jewelry on the job - or anywhere else, for that matter – but she had to admit that the weight of the bracelet on her wrist made her oddly content. She remembered telling someone recently that she loved pearls, and that she'd had a pearl bracelet as a teenager, a gift from her parents. She wished she could remember who she'd told.

A couple of hours passed as she read and filed reports and prepared briefing notes. However, one corner of her mind stubbornly refused to let go of the mystery of her new bracelet. Ironically, it was the same corner that usually occupied its time with thinking about her weekly dinner with Duke.

A couple of months ago, Duke and she had begun having dinner once a week, as missions and assignments allowed, and talk about anything but the job. They would joke about their fellow Joes or about Cobra, but no serious work-related talk occurred. Instead, they talked about their families, previous assignments, former significant others, Joe gossip, etc.

Tonight was the night for this week. And so, Shana was rather distracted already; this mystery gift just made it worse.

Her stomach growled, informing her that the clock was about to strike 1215hrs. She left her office and headed to the mess hall. She passed Duke's office, noticing him hard at work. She knew he'd be there for another fifteen minutes. His lunchtime was as close to clockwork as hers was.

As she entered the mess, Allie appeared beside her. They chatted for a few minutes in line, got their food, and headed to their seats. As Scarlett sat, Allie spotted her bracelet. "Hey, is that the bracelet Conrad got you?"

"What? I got this as a mystery gift on my desk this morning. No name, no nothing."

"Yeah, Dash said he and Conrad went out, and Conrad bought a pearl bracelet. He said he was going to give it to you, I thought."

"He also said not to tell Shana yet." Flint commented as he sat down.

Allie blushed in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah. You did say that, didn't you?"

Things clicked in Shana's mind. It had been Conrad she'd told about the pearls. She'd told him during last week's dinner. She put her fork down and left, with Allie and Dash staring after her.

She knocked on Conrad's office door. "Enter."

She stepped in and held her wrist up for his inspection. "Thank you for the bracelet, Conrad. Now, not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth, but…why?"

Conrad simply smiled. "How did you find out already?"

She related the conversation in the mess hall as she sat down.

Conrad couldn't help but chuckle at the story. Then he looked at her with a playfully warm grin and asked, "Do I really have to have a reason to get you something?"

She laughed at that comment. "Well, I could insist on one…"

"Fine. I'll tell you my reason…at dinner." he responded, still wearing that playful grin.

Shana could hardly wait.

Four and a half hours came and went for everyone but Shana O'Hara. While time might fly when you were having fun, she could attest from personal experience that it crawled when you were waiting for something.

Finally, the appointed hour arrived, as did Duke at the door of her quarters. He was dressed in a green polo shirt and tan slacks. She once again silently reprimanded herself for bad thoughts as she looked at him. He obviously was marshalling his thoughts back to something approaching gentlemanly as well; she was glad she'd picked the white polo and teal skirt.

It had been her idea to dress in this manner – nice, but not their uniforms. Originally, it had been due to a dare by Courtney Krieger to get Duke out of his uniform. Scarlett, who hadn't wanted to move things too fast or scare Duke off, had come up with this as an original solution. Even Courtney had relented that it did meet the letter of the dare, if not necessarily the spirit.

However, the main reason was far simpler. By leaving their uniforms out of the picture, they were symbolically leaving work out with them. They felt less compelled to be Scarlett and Duke, and freer to be Shana and Conrad. They could almost imagine that they were on a real date, if not for the Joes milling around them in the mess hall.

They ate and bantered in their "private" corner of the mess, until Shana's curiosity got the better of her.

"Conrad?"

"Yes?"

"What was your reason?"

Conrad paused for a second, glanced over her shoulder toward the counter, and looked again more intently.

She turned to see Roadblock gesturing to them. Conrad stood. "I'll check. Back in a minute."

She watched him reach the counter and step to one side, near where the kitchen disappeared from view behind the wall. Roadblock moved something, and Duke started looking it over. She was trying to puzzle out what he was looking at when she noticed Roadblock was gesturing to her now.

Shana stood and walked to the counter, trying not to attract attention in case "it" was dangerous – after all, starting a panic would only make the situation worse.

She approached Duke; suddenly, he turned toward her, holding a single red rose in a small decorative vase.

Shana found herself breathless. Could he really mean…but then she recalled that this was Conrad Hauser – he most likely had no idea about the language of flowers.

She took the flower, and Conrad nodded toward their seats. They sat down, and Shana marveled at both the gift and the giver. She was about to give in to her curiosity again and ask if he knew the meaning of a single red rose, when he beat her to it. "Yes, I mean it. By the way, that's your reason."

It took her a moment to process what he'd just said. Then it hit her. He actually is saying…oh, but I want to hear him say it. So she pretended to be confused at his statement.

"What's my reason? You mean, for the pearls?"

"Yes."

"Okay, and the reason is…?" Her smile betrayed her. Conrad smiled back wryly, knowing she knew and knowing that she wanted him to actually say the words.

It was strange, Shana thought. Duke was the battlefield leader of G.. He'd charge a group of H.I.S.S. tanks and ten squads of Vipers without a second thought. But he was obviously hesitant here, telling her something. Of course, neither of them threw these words around lightly.

He took a deep breath, looked at her in the eyes, and declared, "I love you, Shana."

Now Shana was struck completely breathless. Conrad had said it. He'd actually told her he loved her. She finally inhaled again, smiled, and replied in kind. "I love you, too, Conrad."

She really didn't remember much else about the evening, other than being disappointed in his "dropping her off" at her quarters without taking her up on her invitation for a goodnight kiss.

"This is going to be one interesting midsummer night's dream." she quipped to herself as she went back into her room.

***************************************

Allie had evidently given up on trying to talk to her, she realized as she snapped out of her reverie to find her gone. She looked around the room, finally seeing her talking with Dash and Brad. Conrad was walking toward the drink table, passing Wayne and Courtney. Court's (currently) red hair brought a third memory to mind…