New chapter up. Thank you guys for the reviews. I have to admit, I had not originally planned to upload this story, but between re-watching both Macross and the Harmony Gold American Dub (All of them actually, which to be honest is very underrated), and curiously looking through the Fanfiction section, it reawakened my muse for RoboTech/Macross. Anywho, I hope I'm capturing the changes correctly that the characters went through before To The Stars when Rick finally removed one cranium from his rectum (His head from his ass if you didn't get the fancy way of saying it) and chose Lisa. Mimei eventually was a decent character, but in the beginning was way too...ditzy? Narcissistic? Shallow? All the above? Anyway, with out further ado, I give you the next Chapter. In the last chapter, Lisa blew away all of the competition and had secured her victory in the Miss Macross Pageant. Now in this chapter, she must make due on her bet with Claudia and ask Rick out on a date. Mostly fluff and filler, but hey, it's part of the story.
Chapter 4
Life aboard the massive warship returned to normal, following the surprising turn of events leading up to the shocking conclusion for the pageant. Rick Hunter had smugly rubbed it in that he had been correct in his prediction and they had been wrong. Ben had tried to defend himself in his choice while Max simply gave a shrug, conceding his flight lead had been right. The three had parted way that night, after the debrief, promising to get together on their next day off for a few drinks at the bar on base. Rick had went to bed that night, happy smile on his face, not knowing just what awaited him the next day. Meanwhile, with Claudia and Roy, the blonde haired jokster was trying his hardest not to kiss his lovely lady into a coma for her sheer brilliance. He guffawed at her retelling of her last minute bet with Lisa and how the woman had attempted to back out of it. It was so funny to him, because Lisa always struck him as someone who would pay up on a lost bet even if she didn't like her payout for losing. Claudia herself merely gave a smug smile as she waited for Roy to catch his breath and speak, taking a few bites from her famous pineapple salad or so Roy called it.
"She...she tried to compromise with a coffee date?!" He laughed again. "Oh man that's just funny. I got to admit, I never would have figured you'd do something so devious to help those two get past their denial about each other!" Roy admitted, a loving smile on his face for her. One more reason why he was sure she was the one for him.
"That's right flyboy." She confirmed, trying hard not to look overly pleased with herself. "She's going to be asking him tomorrow. Which reminds me." She gave him a leveled stare, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable. What was he going to need to make up for now?
"Don't worry, I'll speak to Rick tomorrow and make sure he's ready to wow the Queen of the Pilots." He held his hands up as if attempting to ward off any assault by the spoon wielding woman.
"That's not what I was going to ask, but thanks for offering. I'd like to know how Rick is so charming towards Lisa with flowers and you haven't been for me." She stated, pointing the spoon at him.
"Hey, that's not fair! Rick doesn't even know what he's doing and probably doesn't understand the meaning behind them." Roy pouted, slightly hurt that his little brother was deemed more charming than him. Well, his ego was hurt at least. "I see no need to remind you that I am a heartthrob and can be very charming when the need arises!" He countered, puffing his chest out in mock arrogance.
Claudia's eyes danced with amusement, with Roy feeling himself grow lightheaded from the two twinkling chocolate orbs.
"Oh really? A heartthrob huh?" She mused playfully, spinning the spoon between her fingers. "More like heart attack you big lug." Her expression turned more thoughtful. "But you are right. We need to help Rick sand away those rough spots or it will get him into trouble. He tell you what that little Minmei girl did to him?"
Roy scowled, the lighting making it much more pronounced and Claudia couldn't help but be reminded of how handsome her man was, even when something upset him.
"Yeah, he told me." He answered, leaning back into his seat, hands clasped together behind his head. "To be honest, he should have seen it coming, but when Lisa seems to be involved, he gets that one track mind he is famous for. "
"I've begun to notice myself. Seem familiar?" She teased, rising and standing right in front of Roy with her arms crossed.
Roy gave a roguish grin as he looked up into her eyes, that teasing grin on her face. He pulled her down and in one swift motion, placed her right on his lap. He planted a soul searing kiss on his beloved, leaving her breathless and her face flushed.
"You know, it is almost like seeing a younger, highly awkward version of myself whenever Rick and Lisa are in the same room." He replied, his forehead resting against Claudia's. "I only hope he doesn't waste as much time as I did before I finally wised up and claimed my own lovely angel."
Claudia cupped Roy's face and planted a gentle kiss on his lips, approval at his statement plain to him in much more than words.
"Well, you boys may not be blood brothers, but with how much granite both of you have for heads, its easy to overlook that fact. Now, enough about Rick and Lisa. I think I've earned a reward for my good deed, don't you?" She asked him, hunger on her face that wasn't about food.
Roy answered, not verbally, but Claudia understood his reply.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Rick woke the next morning, and glared at his alarm clock blasting away it's annoying buzz. He growled with annoyance and fumbled for several seconds to shut the evil device off. With his mortal enemy winning once more in his battle for sleep, Rick gave a yawn and in a zombie like way, shuffled to his bathroom to get ready. His bleary eyes stared back at him from the mirror as Rick simply stood there, hands on the counter, wondering if he should just call in sick and play hookey today. It sounded oh so sweet but the logical, military side of him, a side that Rick was listening to more and more, brought up the fact that they needed everyone to do their duty as they were short handed enough and it was only getting worse. Turning on the shower, Rick waited until it was just at the edge of being comfortable and too hot before stepping under the spray of water, beginning the routine of cleaning his body. His mind wandered back to his thoughts on how bad it was getting with manpower. Sure, they were getting more proficient with handling themselves in space combat, well once they got over trying to handle the veritech as if in atmosphere, but they were still limited on the number of pilots they had. Unlike the aliens that seemed to have an unlimited supply of cannon fodder, they only had a finite amount to draw from. It was a depressing thought, but he hoped that the victory Lisa had in the pageant would bring about an influx of recruits to help bolster the strength of the SDF's airwing. Lisa. The thought of the young woman perked him up and a small smile appeared on his face as he felt the water rising the soap off his body. She had really been something last night and his mind flashed back to the bikini, and produced the effect men all over the world had dealt with for all of history. He felt his blood flow pick up and his body began to react to the image in his mind.
In a desperate act to calm himself, Rick quickly shut the hot water off, and the spray of water became icy, eliciting a yelp of discomfort from him as he fought the urge to jump out of it. At least not until it cooled his blood down. Several agonizing seconds later, Rick shut the water off and quickly stepped out, shivering from both the exposure to the cooler air and the cold water running off him, and toweled off rather quickly. Ten minutes after Rick's self induced arctic shower, he was stepping into the hallway and his nose began picking up the ever loved aroma of coffee. As if in a trance, Rick followed the wonderful smell and was knocking on Max's door. Rick would tell Max years later, that it was his coffee that had helped Rick deal with many of his sleepy mornings. The blue haired young man opened the door, a greeting smile on his face and a mug of fresh coffee already begin pushed into Rick's hands.
"Morning Skipper. Sleep well?" Max asked as the pair headed off towards the transport that would take them to base.
"I think so Max." He responded, sipping the brew. "I won't know until I wake up all the way."
Max laughed as they were joined by Ben, who always seemed to be full of energy. It always creeped Rick out at his never less than cheerful disposition.
"Lieutenant! Max!" He greeted, smiling widely. "Another great day huh?"
Rick grunted his response as he finished the coffee before the trio took their seats on the truck transport. Max and Ben grinned, knowing how much Rick hated mornings. It had been an ongoing game for the two as they tried to guess how long it would take him to fully engage his brain before work. Max glanced out over the City as Ben began talking up a storm about the pageant last night and began thanking Rick for talking to him about Minmei, the warnings from the older pilot having stuck in his mind. It only took twenty minutes for them to arrive at the bay, and for Rick to fully wake up, which even surprised him as he figured the cold shower would have woken him more than the coffee, and they settled into the briefing room with fifteen minutes to spare. Roy was already there, going over the reports on his podium as his pilots filtered in through the doors and greeted each other. He was always amused how so few of them seemed to be awake and alert. He was specifically amused by Rick, who he knew hated waking before nine. To be fair to the young hot head, it seemed as if he was becoming more and more used to it as time went on. Soon, he'd be as bright eyed and bushy tailed as Roy was at this hour.
"Alright boys and girls. Settle down. Time to get this morning brief started." He commanded.
The room went silent as they settled into their seats, with Rick and his team taking the spots to the middle right of the group.
"We did good yesterday, but our efficiency with response times has dropped by three percent." Roy began. "We need to get back on point so we will be conducting three more drills per week. At least until we get our numbers back up. Vermilion is the only team who hasn't seen any drop so whatever you're doing Hunter, keep doing it."
Rick nodded.
"Yes sir."
"Boss is being nice to his brother." One of the pilots, a kid with bright yellow hair and dark blue eyes muttered. He hadn't realized that he had spoken that thought out loud until a pen hit him in the head, bringing his gaze to lock unto Roy's harsh one.
"I do not play favorites with my pilots Ensign. If you want to look at the numbers, you're welcome to." His eyes swept the room. "Let me make it clear. Yes, Lieutenant Hunter is my family, but that doesn't mean I don't hold him to the same standards as the rest of you. In fact, I expect more from him than anyone else." He paused, thoughtfully. "Maybe I should raise the bar for all of you. Perhaps I've gone soft."
Several of them stared in disbelief as Roy Fokker was NOT known for being soft and had to question just what standards he held Rick to. A truly evil grin appeared on his face as he looked to the foolish man that had spoken.
"Thanks for bringing an idea to my mind Ensign." The young man tried to melt into his seat as the other pilots groaned in depression. "From now on, we will be doubling our drills and our BCM practices for the next month. You all can thank your fellow officer here for that."
Every eye focused on the young man and the glares seemed to bore into him, making him flush red in embarrassment, while Rick just shook his head in exasperation. There went even more of his free time, which really wasn't a blow to him and his team. None of them had anything else to do. Max would be perfectly fine with it as he really wanted to make his flight lead proud and Ben wanted to prove he could be one of the best. Rick really wasn't concerned as he just loved to fly, but really didn't like the idea of more drills. Roy pressed on with the meeting, bringing up the watch schedule for the next two weeks and passed on the basic reminder that their annual classes were coming up and everyone needed to get them completed before the end of next week. The meeting lasted another twenty minutes before Roy released them for duty, but pulled Rick aside to have a few words.
"I didn't mean to single you out earlier little brother, but it is true that your team hasn't slipped below a 95 percent reaction rating. You guys are three of the best pilots I have."
Rick nodded his understanding.
"I know you didn't. And thanks. We'll try to beat the current stats next month." He gave a cocky grin that Roy returned.
"Well that's good to hear. Command suits you Rick. I'm proud of you." Roy admitted.
"Well I did learn from the best." Rick joked.
"I am a great leader aren't I?"
"I was talking about Lisa, but you're not too bad." Rick laughed as Roy seemed to face fault, a mock look of annoyance on his face in response to Rick's words.
"Think you're funny huh? Get outta here before I put you on double duty." He teasingly threatened.
Rick gave him a salute and headed off, chuckling all the while.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Lisa waited patiently as Rick's veritech was lowered down into the bay. She watched from the observation room as the air pumps kicked on and began filling the massive room before her with life giving oxygen, mentally kicking herself for getting trapped into a bet like this. She had managed to get Claudia to agree that she could at least make it a dinner at her quarters instead of parading the two friends, she was vehemently denying any kind of romantic relationship potential she and Rick may have much to Claudia's annoyance, around the civilian sector, sending the wrong message to any who may come across them. That and she really wanted to avoid all those nosy reporters that had been hounding her since last night and the talent manager that had been trying desperately to hire her on as the next big star. Lisa had told him time and time again that she did not want the job or the spotlight and had pointed him in Mimei's direction. He seemed to have been upset that the winner refused him but had been hopeful the third place contestant, one who had shown serious talent, would agree. Lisa didn't tell the man that the young girl would probably sell her soul for the offer and had watched him leave the cafe she and Claudia had been having lunch at. It was truly annoying to her that all of the sudden, people went out of the way to greet her or ask for her autograph, but it had one bright touching moment when a small girl, maybe seven, had shyly approached them and asked for one, telling Lisa she wanted to grow up and be just like her and protect her Mom and brother from bad people. The little blue eyed blonde child had been so adorable that Lisa couldn't say no and even waved off the apology for mother had tried to give and merely signed the book the child had with a bright smile. Thinking of that bright spot brought a small smile to her face, thinking that her mission had been a success. The numbers of recruits had increased, jumping up twenty percent from last month, showing that her competing had a very positive impact in just under a day later.
She glanced at the status lights, and opened the hatch to the bay after the green light blazed on signaling it was safe to enter, and composed her self as she watched Rick exit his Veritech and began talking with the crew chief. Come on Hayes. You can do this. It's just a friendly dinner between two comrades. Nothing romantic about that. She marched over to Rick, keeping her butterflies in check and ignoring the fluttering of her heart in nervousness as she approached him. The brown haired pilot heard heeled footsteps and looked over to see Lisa walking towards him, a nervous smile on her face. His mind flashed back to the bikini and he had to mercilessly stomp down his blush and his thoughts and fought to remain professional. Rick looked back to his crew chief and bade him a good bye just as Lisa stopped three feet from him. He snapped to attention and gave her a sharp salute that she returned, a smile on her face.
"At ease Lieutenant. How was the patrol?" She asked, kicking herself as she had been on duty during it and knew very well it went smooth. Good job Lisa! Make yourself look like a nervous school girl! She thought with agitation. "I mean, was there anything else besides the normal?"
Oh God, she just made it even worse trying to salvage her opening question. Her cheeks pinkened slightly as she tried to figure someway to remove her foot from her mouth. Rick blinked in confusion, his thoughts being that maybe he had hinted at something during the patrol. He was still thinking about how to apologize to Lisa about the Minmei incident last night so maybe she had caught on to that.
"Oh, uh, nothing with the patrol." He rubbed the back of his head in nervousness. "I was thinking about what happened back stage last night and I've been wondering how to apologize to you for how it must have looked." He admitted, dropping his gaze to the deck.
Lisa wanted to sigh in relief as he hadn't caught onto her stumbling attempts to strike up a conversation with him, some way to lead into the dinner idea. Her mind caught onto what he had said and gave him a confused stare.
"Why on Earth would you need to apologize for that? Claudia told me what happened after I stormed off." She admitted, feeling guilty she had let her temper get the better of her. "I'm sorry I snapped at you last night Rick. I just..." She trailed off, trying to find away to explain it to him that didn't sound like she had a crush or anything on him.
"You thought I had lied." He spoke up, his blue orbs shining with an unspoken apology. "And I want you to know, I'll never lie to you. You're one of my friends Lisa and I'd never lie to anyone I cared about." The sincerity in his tone and his expression made her heart melt at how sweet it was for him to tell her that. "And I know it must have hurt you. So I wanna find away to make it up to you. How about dinner sometime? My treat!" He offered.
Her mind went blank at his offer before it kicked into gear. This was a perfect chance for her to not only appease Claudia, but a way to put his mind at ease for his imagined slight towards her! She almost laughed out in relief but figured it would be rude as he stood their fidgeting as he awaited her response. She put on a bright smile, her eyes twinkling happily.
"Tell you what Rick..." She took a quick look around before continuing. No need for the rumor mill to kick into overdrive. "Why don't we have a friendly dinner tonight at my quarters. It's the least I can do for making you think I've been upset with you."
Rick felt his guilt slowly melt away and gave a thoughtful look as he rubbed his chin.
"Well, only if you let me help! After all, you don't owe me any apology." He countered.
Lisa was taken aback by his statement and found herself agreeing with him.
"Alright then. 1800 good for you?" She asked him pleasantly.
"Yeah. Sounds perfect!" He grinned. "Casual?"
She nodded in confirmation before smiling happily and told him she'd see him in a few hours before she left the bay with a joyful spring in her step. She'd managed to avoid it seeming awkward and had succeeded in up holding her end of the bet. Now, she needed to get ready.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A short four hours later, Rick found himself outside Lisa's room, nervously straightening his dark blue sweater as he waited for her to answer the door. In his hands, he held a simple bottle of wine he had procured from a certain brother of his. Rick had told Roy he was having dinner with a friend that night. Roy had laughed when the subject of Rick helping to cook as the man couldn't even boil water with out something catching fire. Instead, Roy told him it would be best if he simply brought something to compliment the food and handed him a bottle of sweet red wine, telling him it would be the best thing for him to bring and had given him a wink. Rick had thanked Roy and left, leaving his irritation to remain out of it, as even though Roy had teased him, he was lending a helping hand so Rick would allow him this one. He was starting to wonder if Lisa was there when her door opened and he was greeted by the sight of the attractive young woman. She was wearing a simple long sleeved back v-neck with a white undershirt and a pain of dark blue denim jeans and her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. She was smiling shyly at him as he entered, his mind having trouble thinking about anything other than how great she looked, which he blurted out moments after she had closed the door. Her face redened, but the smile remained.
"Thank you Rick." She spotted the wine bottle and gave an appreciative look. "I see you brought something to drink."
"Yeah. Roy gave it to me when I mentioned helping to cook." He muttered, embarrassed.
Lisa's smile faltered at his statement.
"Roy...knows about this?" Her nerves shooting through the ceiling.
Rick didn't notice as his eyes were locked on his feet. He didn't want to admit he really had no skill in the kitchen, but owed it to her.
"Yeah, I told him I was having dinner with a friend and offered to cook. He reminded me about the melted bowl from my microwave disaster." He told her, embarrassed.
Lisa felt two things at that moment, relief that Rick hadn't actually told Roy who he was having dinner with, and the other sure amusement at Rick's statement.
"You melted a bowl in a microwave? How did you do that?" She asked him as the two headed into the kitchen.
"I was six and didn't know to add water to the ramen I was trying to make." He answered, his nose being assaulted by the wonderful aroma coming from the stove. "What are you making?"
"I have been craving lasagna since we left earth and decided to make my Grandfather's recipe." She told him, checking on the pan in the oven. "For sides, store bought garlic bread and salad." She turned to see him place the wine bottle on the counter.
"It smells and sounds delicious. How long till it's done?"
"Not long." She laughed as she saw him looking hungrily at the stove. "Help me set the table?"
Rick went to work putting the plates and utensils out as the woman in the kitchen returned to preparing the meal. She had to admit, it felt nice to have someone over for dinner and company. Perhaps they'd do this more in the future. Her mind began imagining that possibility and it betrayed her with thoughts of what a relationship with Rick would be like. It was so unreal. So surreal. So...she felt her heart swell at how fulfilling it was to her mind. Rick had been a great friend and she was willing to admit he was a great man, one any woman would be lucky to have. One that she should have and would have had in her life had Karl survived. That thought made her freeze up. Was she trying to replace Karl with Rick? That wouldn't be fair to either of them. And she had only recently closed the door on that part of her life, having placed the photo album she had with pictures of her and Karl in storage. While most wouldn't bat an eyelash at such a mundane gesture, Claudia had been speechless that she had finally decided to move on. It was very symbolic for her. No, she thought, she wasn't replacing Karl, merely letting another finally in close to her. Maybe Claudia was right. Maybe she should see if Rick was open to the idea and see where it would lead. But could she? She decided to think on it later and went back to work.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"So Roy decides he wanted to have a little fun and buzzed the control tower. The guy up there had ended up spilling his huge cup of cola right down the front of his shirt when Rick made his pass." Rick chuckled. "Oh man, Pops' was furious with him."
Lisa laughed right along with Rick. The two had had a pleasant dinner and were now swapping stories of their lives with each other. Lisa had told him about an incident with a frog that had happened to her when she was at summer camp that resulted in her growing to dislike the amphibians. Or the time she had ended up breaking her father's model F-14 when she was a kid. Rick had returned the stories in kind as the two steadily made their way through the wine bottle, leaving both more than a little tipsy. Rick looked at Lisa as her musical laughter filled the room. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she was when she was relaxed. His mind began asking question like how it would feel to be the one to always make her laugh like that. How would it feel to have him greet him at the end of a long patrol with her warm smile. He found himself wondering how it would feel to kiss her. A thought he found hard to keep down and he changed the subject.
"I hope you don't mind me asking Lisa, but why did it take you so long to open up like this?" He asked. "I know you have to be hard on us. Otherwise, you'd have people like Ben and Roy darting all around the sky and making a mess of things." He joked.
"Or you." She retorted, a teasing smile on her face. "Or need I bring up your first combat sortie."
"Second, actually." He teased back in humor, both recalling his horrible first flight in a veritech.
"Okay, first official sortie after joining." She laughed, feeling really warm and good from the wine.
"See, that's exactly what I mean." He pointed out. "You're such a great person and really fun to spend time with. And you have a beautiful smile."
"Oh...thank you Rick! That's really sweet of you to say." She answered, looking at him shyly through her lashes. "I really appreciate you telling me that. I really do. And I'm enjoying all the talks we've had and spending time with you." She dropped her gaze to the coffee table in front of the couch they were sitting on, wine glass cupped between her hands as she thought of how to answer. "I guess the best way to say it is I just fell into being a stern woman. It was really a defense against being hurt by a personal loss again. But you know about that too don't you?" She asked quietly.
Rick nodded sadly.
"Yes. I do." He answered, equally as softly. "For a long time, I hated Roy for it. I know it wasn't his fault, but I couldn't help it. I had grown up with two brothers in my mind. Roy had been there for as long as Jack had. They were best friends. But I couldn't stop blaming Roy or the UN. I lost a lot of time with Roy because of my anger, time I really am trying to make up for."
"I know what you mean. I blamed my father for Karl as he had been the one to sign the transfer paperwork." She brought up the memory with a wince at her behavior. "I was so righteous in my pain and anger when I accused him of killing Karl. I didn't know how much I had hurt him by that until I met Captain Gloval for the first time. He'd told me about how much my father blamed himself and it made me realize just how wrong I had been."
They two sat in contemplative silence for several minutes before Rick let out an amused snort that made Lisa give him a curious look.
"Look at us. Almost a perfect match for personality." He explained.
"But different enough so we don't butt heads." Lisa countered.
"We still do that." He paused before he let out an amused chuckle. "We seem to act like a married couple."
Lisa stiffened beside him, her thoughts turning back to her earlier train of though. Rick had mistook her stiffening as a sign she didn't like the analogy and tried to apologize.
"I'm sorry Lisa. I didn't mean to make this awkward." Curse his wine clouded mind and damn Roy for suggesting it.
"It's alright Rick. I admit, I wonder if I've been missing out to be honest." She said with a demure expression towards him. "I'm jealous that Claudia has such a happy relationship and how much she seems to cherish it."
"Well, I'm not jealous of Claudia, but I do admit that Roy is a lucky man." He paused and became sheepish. "He actually likes to make fun of my lack of a love life."
He had no idea why he said that or why it just popped from his mind to his mouth, but by the surprised look on Lisa's face he knew she was intrigued.
"But you and Minmei...I mean it's just hard to believe you haven't. You are very handsome." She admitted, turning shy eyes towards her glass and feeling the flames in her cheeks.
"Oh...um, thanks Lisa." Way to sound lame Hunter. "But yes, honestly, nothing happened between me and Minmei when we were trapped. It actually just felt...weird I guess." He finished with an uncertain tone.
"Maybe you knew she wasn't right for you." Lisa offered.
Rick gave an incline of his head for her point.
"I guess that's true. Still doesn't change the fact Roy has taken to calling me Luke recently."
Lisa's eyes widened, wanting to laugh as she fully understood the reference.
"Just don't try blowing up a space station with out using your targeting system there Skywalker." She teased.
"Oh ha ha." Rick muttered with amusement. "Just don't ask me to lift a veritech with just my mind."
Lisa laughed at the mental image of Rick trying to lift a veritech with the force while a small green version of Roy Fokker watched on disapprovingly. Rick joined her, picturing something similar in his head as Lisa struggled to stay up right from her laughing fit and ended up sliding sideways onto Rick's left shoulder. She slowly seemed to get over it, with a few giggles escaping her and Rick could not tear his eyes away from this wondrous woman next to him. He felt more intoxicated from her than the wine, his heart beating faster and his breath coming up short.
"What are you doing to me?" He wondered out loud.
Lisa turned her face up and gave him an adorable confused look.
"What do you mean Rick? I haven't done anything to you."
He felt himself get lost in her emerald green eyes and brought his right hand to her cheek. Lisa felt the butterflies burst forth and her eyes seemed unable to break from the now darkened blue orbs. Her mind had froze, the only thought going through it was asking if this was really happening. Was Rick Hunter really going to kiss her? Almost as if in a dream, Rick leaned his head down just enough, and captured Lisa's lips with his own. She seemed to be in shock for a split second, before she closed her eyes, her own hand moving from her glass to the beck of his head. The kiss lasted for several seconds, the pair completely in bliss until a startled gasp caused them to break apart. The two turned as one to the door and saw a gobsmacked Claudia eyeing them both in pure shock. They quickly sprang apart, faces so red they looked ready to explode and Rick quickly apologized to Lisa and hurried out of the door and back to his barracks, cursing his stupidity on kissing her. All the while, Lisa was still trying to come to grips with what had happened and tried to smash down the sudden irritation she felt at Claudia for interrupting her. The dark skinned woman slowly came to her senses, smiling in amusement before it dropped off quickly in realization of what she had just done. She gave a sheepish wave.
"Oh uh...sorry Lisa. I was just coming to check up on you."
"Claudia..." Lisa growled out. "Why didn't you knock?" She demanded, part of her in embarrassment, the other part outraged from having such a wonderful kiss, a feeling she had not felt in a long time, interrupted. Claudia's amused smirk came back.
"I did. I guess that kiss you two were sharing really was something." She teased right before a couch cushion sailed at her, eliciting an outraged squawk from the her.
"You...you..." Lisa tried to sound upset, but fund it harder and harder to keep the goofy grin off her face from the memory of the Kiss. She just sighed and sunk to the couch in defeat. "You win Claudia. I can't believe how wonderful it felt!"
Her best friend slid onto the chair across from her, a happy smile on her face for her friend.
"Tell me all about it Lisa."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Rick was curing himself for his foolish actions. He had kissed his friend. His beautiful and funny and...no. He put those thoughts on hold. That's what got him into this mess. He was miserable as he realized he had probably just ruined everything and dropped onto his bunk, laying back and covering his face with his hands. Why did he do that? Why?! The door to his room opened and a concerned familiar voice called out to him.
"What's wrong Rick?"
He took a peek and groaned. Of all the people to show up, it had to be Roy. The man plopped down on his desk chair and kicked his feet up on the edge of the bed, his gaze concerned.
"I didn't hear of any rooms being burned to the ground so what's the problem?" Roy asked, leaning the chair back.
Rick muttered something and Roy frowned. Whatever had happened had certainly shaken his brother. The only word he understood was Lisa.
"Say that again, clearly this time." Roy teased.
He figured it was something minor, like a bad compliment or something. He truly did not expect the answer he would get.
"I kissed Lisa."
A loud thump and a yelp of pain caused Rick to sit up and look over to Roy where he had fallen back in the chair and was rubbing the impact site on his head with stunned disbelief. He couldn't have heard that right.
"You did what?"
Rick throw himself back on his bed in frustration.
"I said I kissed Lisa, Roy. I've just screwed everything up." He replied miserably.
As much as Roy really wanted to tease his brother for being so forward with the Commander, he knew this wasn't the time for it. Rick was clearly worried he'd done something damaging to his relationship with Lisa and it was getting to him. He supposed it natural as Rick had been missing the signs from Lisa that she cared for him more than a friend, but both of them had been too stubborn to admit it. And now, with it out in the open so to speak, Rick wasn't sure how to handle it.
"How do you know you screwed everything up? Did Lisa seem upset? Push you away? What?" Roy asked pointedly.
"Well no...she seemed to like it." Rick answered slowly. "But she's my friend Roy. And my superior officer! Do you know how bad this looks?"
"You mean as bad as chasing after a junior officer and dating her for four years?" He asked sarcastically. "Yes Rick. I know. And I've been where you are. Now did you talk to Lisa or just run off after kissing her?" Roy already figured the answer from Rick's earlier statements. He was going to tell his little idiot brother that he would need to go back and talk to her about it.
"I didn't get the chance too." He said miserably. "It felt so good and then Claudia barged in. After that, I came to my senses and ran."
Roy blinked in surprise. Wasn't Claudia supposed to be on the bridge to cover for one of the sick night crew? He filed that away for later as he knew she'd tell him. They trusted one another so it wasn't concerning if something changed. Besides, he had a more pressing issues.
"So you didn't talk to her." He sighed. "Rick, you need to. You are going to go back, and talk to that young lady or so help me Rick Hunter, I will have you scrubbing the landing bay from top to bottom with an old tooth brush."
"But...what if Claudia is still there?"
"What about it? I'm going with you anyway to make sure you do talk to Lisa. You can always ask to talk to her alone ya know." Roy pointed out.
Rick really didn't want to face Lisa in fear she'd blow up on him and was looking for a way out of this. A sharp rap on his door brought the two Aces to turn their attention to it.
"Rick, is Roy in there?"
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Claudia waited impatiently for the door to open while Lisa seemed to be more interested in her feet than talking to her Flyboy.
"This can wait, can't it?" Lisa whined softly, worried that Rick was having second thoughts or that he felt he made a huge mistake. All this did was make her so much more depressed despite how the kiss had put her on cloud nine. She really couldn't lose Rick's friendship and Alcohol had been involved so she just chalked it up to him being drunk.
"Oh no Lisa. He has a lot of nerve just rushing off like that." Claudia stated sternly. "He could have very well asked to talk to you instead of running away."
"I couldn't agree more." Roy said as he pulled open the door just in time to catch the statement. "Which is why I was about to drag him off to talk to you about it. You both need to sit down and discuss this like adults, not like scared kids."
He looked back at a mortified Rick and stepped out of the room. Lisa felt herself ushered into Rick's room and Claudia closed the door with a soft click behind her. The two looked to one another.
"You think they'll work it out?" She wondered.
Roy shrugged, hoping for the best but aware of the worst case scenario.
"We'll find out tomorrow. Come on, let's head home.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Lisa looked over at Rick shyly as he remained silent. The minutes ticked by as the two remained silent. Rick took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"Lisa-"
"Rick."
Both stopped before laughing at trying to talk at the same time. Lisa took a breath and looked him in the eyes while Rick nodded to her to go first.
"Awkward?" She began.
Rick gave a shaky nod.
"Yeah. Just a bit."
The silence returned before Lisa decided to lead this downward discussion.
"Rick...why did you kiss me?" She asked.
Rick's eyes dropped to the floor and he sat up before motioning her to join him. He felt the bed dip slightly from the added wight and gave a defeated sigh.
"I...I don't know Lisa. It just felt right. It's...you've been on my mind pretty often since Mars. And seeing you in the pageant...especially that bathing suit..." He trailed off, both if them sporting red faces at the mention of the swimsuit. "It's...when you were laying up against me...well...it just sorta clicked."
Lisa placed a hand on Rick's shoulder, watching him struggle to express himself.
"What clicked Rick?" She kept her tone concerned, but on the inside she was hopeful he may like her as more than a friend, and she'd be lying if she said tonight hadn't finally got her to open her eyes to the possibility of being involved with one Rick Hunter. His eyes locked onto her's for the second time that evening.
"That I like you more than as a friend." He noted her shocked look and figured she hadn't wanted to hear that and it started to break him again. "I know. Foolish of me. It's just...you are so far out of my league but I can't help it. You're smart, gentle, beautiful..." He began,
Lisa tried not to blush at his words and tried to stop him, but he kept going.
"I mean, I know you're my superior officer and there are a ton of regulations against any relationship beyond friendship between us."
"Rick-" She started, some annoyance making itself known.
"And I'd pretty sure you don't look at me as possible boyfriend material. I'm-"
Whatever else he was going to say to talk down on the possibility of them being together was silenced thoroughly by the quick and timely actions of Lisa, who was getting very annoyed that Her Flyboy was being stubborn once again. The only way to shut him up long enough for her to speak was simple. She used her free hand to turn his face to her, seeing the pain there in his blue eyes at what he perceived to be rejection and leaned her head over and kissed him. It was Rick's turn to be stunned by someone's frowardness and for only a moment, he was too shocked to move. He slowly began kissing her back, wrapping his left arm around her waist to pull her into his side. Lisa for her part, circled her arms around his neck. The pair remained locked together for several seconds before Lisa slowly pulled back and locked her eyes directly on his, her own shyness blown to the four winds and a dazzling smile on her face that made his heart melt.
"Rick. Are you really sure you want to go out with me?"
He found his voice, barely.
"Yes."
Her eyes seemed to be ablaze with joy at his words.
"Then let's give it a shot. What do you say flyboy?"
Rick slowly began to grin at her, which did funny things to her insides at the cocky grin.
"If you're sure you want to."
"I'm sure."
They simply remained where they were, the comfortable silence and the feeling of how right this was passing between them. Rick glanced at his clock and winced before looking back to the lovely lady he was holding.
"I think you should probably head back home. It's almost midnight."
Lisa's eyes widened before a look of understanding crossed her face. It was way to soon to stay the night at Rick's. After all, they had literally just decided to give a relationship a try and both knew it wouldn't be easy. She reluctantly broke her embrace and the pair rose as one and headed for the door. Lisa turned to Rick and gave him a quick kiss good night before leaving, her face still red from the wonderful feeling the kisses had given her. Rick for his part, had a goofy smile on his face as he closed the door and headed for bed.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Rick woke the next morning, feeling fully rested and happy. He glanced at his clock and shut the alarm off, having woken at 0615. Fifteen minutes early! He hummed happily as he went about his morning routine, feeling far more refreshed than he ever had. After last night, it seemed as if an invisible weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Today was a brand new day and Rick felt right. He blushed lightly, thinking of Lisa and donned his uniform with finesse before heading out. As per normal routine, he knocked on Max's door and gave his wingman a cheerful grin.
"Morning Max! Great day huh?"
Max looked at him, bemused as Rick accepted the offered coffee and the pair headed down to meet up with Ben.
"Relaxing night Skipper?" He asked him, already figuring it had been.
Rick gave an easy grin after he took the first sip from the fresh cup of joe.
"You could say that Max. I haven't felt this happy in years."
Max smiled, happy for his friend/flight lead. He knew the man had been stressed out for a long time, even well before Max had joined the RDF. He looked up to Rick as an older brother, something that was impossible not to happen if you served with someone for long periods of time. So he was honestly curious about what had made him so cheery but refrained from prying. Rick would tell him when he was good and ready. The pair spotted Ben, who seemed just has peppy as he always did and gave them an enthusiastic wave.
"Hey guys! Great day isn't it?" He asked with a laugh, but noticed that Rick seemed to be very very happy. Usually, Ben said it just to tease his flight lead in a friendly way, having long ago considered Rick to be one of his few friends besides Max.
"It is, isn't it Ben? Come on, lets get the day started." Rick greeted, leading the other two onto the transport with only one thought.
Just what happened to make him so cheerful this morning?
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Lisa stepped onto the bridge, a silly little smile on her face as she once again, recounted in her mind the events from last night. She made her way to her console as the night shift headed off, having officially ended their shift, the one who was sick had came in despite Claudia telling her not to was headed off to medical. Lisa hummed softly as she sipped her morning drink, glancing through the reports, not noticing the questioning look from the trio or the knowing smirk from Claudia. Once Lisa was satisfied with the reports, sipped her drink again before placing in in the cup holder built into the consoles.
"All right ladies, status report."
"Radar systems are up and running Commander. No contacts." Kim reported first, and the others followed suit, satisfying Lisa that the ship was operating at peak effeminacy.
A dull thud followed by a stream of Russian curses signaled Captain Gloval stepping onto the bridge. They really needed to see about getting that fixed as it would do no good if the ship's captain knocked himself out in the process of getting onto his own bridge. The tall man made his way to his chair, one hand holding a steaming mug the other fixing his cover that had been knocked upwards from the abrupt impact on the hatch frame.
"Good morning ladies. What is our status?"
"Still on course towards Earth sir. No sign still from our pursuers." Lisa reported.
"Very good. Has the CAP rotated out yet?"
"They are in process sir."
The captain nodded his satisfaction as Lisa approached with the ship status reports from the night shift. Gloval accepted them and noticed a glow about Lisa. Whatever change had come about, he could clearly see the happiness in her eyes and it warmed his heart. All of the girls had become surrogate daughters to him. After all, he had no children of his own, but these young ladies had become just as important to him.
"Thank you Lisa. You appear to be fairly cheerful this morning. More so than normal." He commented, his eyes turning to the reports before him.
Lisa just smiled and returned to her console, all the while the rest of the girls on the bridge watched her like a hawk. Claudia couldn't contain her curiosity even though she knew what probably happened and approved if it had played out like she thought.
"The Captain's right Lisa. Care to share your secret with us?" Claudia teased.
Lisa smirked but kept her eyes on her screen.
"Let's just say I took your advice and leave it at that."
The Trio wouldn't understand why a victorious look appeared on Claudia's face from the response for sometime to come. And when they did, none of them were truly shocked at what had changed with Lisa.
So yeah, the two have finally gotten past their barriers and have only just begin. Next chapter will get back on course with the main storyline which means everyone's favorite crazed Zentradi will be making a special guest appearence. I will not post spoilers, but if you've seen the show, you know what's coming next. So stay tuned, drop a review, or I feed a Unicorn to Khyron!
