A/N: Sorry guys I know it has been a long time since I have updated this story. It really grew out of control from what I had originally thought and I was not ready for it. Thanks for everybody that has been patiently waiting for an update and for those of you that still have the story in your favorites. I dedicate the next chapter to all of you.
I was brought back by the wonderful stories that are out there that inspired me to finish my own. Also I hate leaving things unfinished.
I hit a huge stump when trying to conceive this chapter. I know what where I wanted the characters to be (emotionally) for the next chapter to happen but I could not get it to work. So you will have to forgive the format I created in order to get to the next point. I decided to tell the story from the point of view of the four different characters, at least in the beginning so that I could get the story going. From there I will continue on telling the rest in the usual format. I will identify the different points of view, and those I do not, are in the regular format. I do not go in the first person POV but I will tell the story as the characters are feeling and living it.
Hope you enjoy this chapter and those which will come in the future.
And last but not least, a HUGE thanks to dwparsnips for being by beta again. He is the one that makes sure that everything makes sense and he has the fastest turnarounds in history! In fact this chapter is hot off the revision board and I just could not wait a minute longer to post it (yep, I'm that much of a geek!) So I hope you enjoy!
_
Chapter 7-The breakdown
Lisa Hayes-Hunter's perspective
Lisa thought that she would feel much better after their unexpected vacation but a few days after they came back a strange feeling of panic settled over her. The cloying feeling would overcome her whenever she thought of her marriage.
As she felt the familiar feeling settle over her, she clutched the neck of her Admiral's uniform as if she could force the air to pass by her constricted throat. A small part of her was thankful that she was by herself and nobody else was privy to her humiliating weakness.
Vaguely she remembered similar attacks after Karl had left Earth for Mars. The episodes had only gotten worse after she had learned of his death. Sometimes the attacks had been so bad that she had fainted… As she felt herself blacking out, she tried to wrench herself from the debilitating attack.
Lisa braced herself against her desk taking deep mouthfuls of air. As she felt her body starting to regain normalcy, she allowed herself to plop down on her seat. Her raspy breathing sounding loudly in her ears, she turned her eyes to the reason of her latest attack. Sitting innocuously on her desk was a framed photograph of her family. The smiling countenances seemed to mock her pain.
Trembling fingers traced the smiling face of her husband and a sob caught in her throat. 'Rick', she thought with despair. She knew herself very well, she knew what caused her attacks. Only a deep fear could cause them. Whereas she could be as strong as a rock in the face of adversity, when it came to emotional pain she was easily crippled. Her mother's sickness, the sense that she would lose Karl and his subsequent death and now… Thinking that she might lose her husband had been enough to cause this latest bout to come.
In the course of the time since they had come back she had felt her husband's distance from her more acutely. What had seemed almost as a new beginning now seemed to mock her as a goodbye present. Bitter tears rolled down her pale as porcelain skin. Indulging in her morbid thoughts, she thought back to the day where it all had come to head.
Like all the important episodes in their lives, it had all started with a fight.
It had been a couple of days since they had come back from vacation. They both had been prepared for the mound of work they would find on their desks, after all, they were admirals and between the decisions they had to make and the decisions others made and they had to be informed about, the paperwork was never light. They had resigned themselves to that fact and to the fact that they would be pretty busy. What neither of them had realized at the time was that their coming back would herald such a flurry of activity that would keep them away from each other for most of the time.
For Lisa it had been the factory satellite. The construction on the SDF-3 was finally gearing up to speed and she was needed in order to get final approval on most of the little aspects, especially on the Bridge. Long video conferences were followed by a visit to the satellite that culminated in a stay at the orbiting satellite. As much as she detested the fact that she had to leave her family, she was happy with the fact that her dream of seeing the SDF-3 completed was finally coming to fruition.
For Rick it had not been as pleasurable. With his return he was sucked into the ever treacherous world of politics between the RDF and the current United Earth Government. Added to that was the fact that he was simultaneously expected to take care of the insurgence of the Malcontent Zentraedi and present a good face to the public. He was after all one of the heroes of the epic battle and an Admiral to boot. That he had a charismatic and easy smile did not help. Any time that any announcement needed to be made he was always chosen by default. It was that day when Lisa found out how much he actually resented what he did.
The fight had not been pretty; if there was one thing that Rick and her had never learned to do was fight in a way that was not hurtful. There was too much history between them and their temperaments were too hot for a calm discussion. Both of them did not like to give quarter, especially in a fight, both of them too used to getting their own way. That it was a sore subject for the two of them was another thing. They each knew the other's vulnerable points and after they had reached a point when another word would have caused more damage, Rick with his knack of telling when the boiling point had been reached, left with a muttered 'we'll finish this later.'
It was always like that for them. They always would postpone their discussion, feeling those emotions too raw for them to handle. They knew one of them would eventually give in to the other and most of the time it ended up being Rick who always gave in. They both understood their natures: Lisa was too tied to her job and the ideal of the military and Rick his freethinking, devil-may-care attitude that still to this day managed to both infuriate her and cause her to admire him. It was after all that attitude that had managed to bring forth many changes as he tended to disregard the rules and charm his own ideas into others. That was the reason why he was so loved and so desired as a messenger between the two warring factions of the Earth's government and their protectors, the military.
After that, her husband had tried to find solace the only way he knew how, by flying. More and more he depended on his daily flights, sometimes taking hours of the day and working more at night to accommodate for them. It would not be so worrisome to Lisa what he did if it was not for the fact that he did not go to them by himself. Instead he would always take young Rick with him. He claimed that Rick was as sick of not flying as he was and he would take the young man with him all the time. Lisa understood that it was his only means of escape but more and more she felt that she was being replaced. Her husband did not need to confide in her anymore, now he had another who could share the love of flying as he did, something she could never give him, something that she could never understand. And she felt jealous, jealous of the pale imitator of her husband that was slowly stealing him away. Every day it was the same routine, grating down on her until yesterday, when she realized how the routine was eroding her soul one day at a time.
Rick had walked in with a huge smile in his face. He seemed so jovial and young as he talked and laughed with his younger self. As soon as he spotted her he rushed to give her a hug. She took a deep breath and inhaled his scent and it seemed to her that she could also smell the crisp fresh air on his hair. As she watched him turn to their son and hug him, she couldn't help but feel resentment towards him.
But still Lisa felt guilty. She really couldn't find any fault with his behavior. He was still a loving father and husband. Sometimes it seemed even more so these past 2 weeks. As she looked at the two men, she knew why she resented him. She felt that she was not giving him enough to make him happy. That he "needed" this time with young Rick in order to feel fulfilled and she despised young Rick for that. It was like a drug that invigorated him and made him be happy. At night, when they were lying in bed, she would despair about what would happen when and if the younger couple left. She was afraid that without the younger Rick to share his "memories" he wouldn't be happy and he would retreat to the isolated shell that he had been in before he started flying with Rick.
She closed her hands into fists as she thought about the turn of events the spacefold had brought. She sometimes cursed the day that had brought the younger couple in. She imagined that their presence, especially young Rick's had changed her husband forever.
Admiral Rick Hunter's Perspective
Rick rubbed his hands against his face. He had to get some sleep soon! Not that he was complaining, he was the cause of his sleepless nights after all. Ah, but the alternative was not something he wanted to think about. Not using the time to fly and de-stress was not an option. He was after all more grounded after he flew. He did not even think about his companion and in fact sometimes he just let the younger man fly, letting him enjoy the privilege and just focusing of the feeling of being airborne. He just needed a space outside of his everyday life to just escape.
A frown marred his features because his wife still did not understand this need. As many a time as he had talked about it with her she just didn't understand, not even when she herself had told Minmay that his life was that of a pilot, she still didn't get it. For her, being a pilot meant to be a soldier but for him a pilot was a whole different thing. That was why she couldn't see the difference between the situation he was in now to where he was before he had been promoted while he felt it every minute he was not airborne.
For a wistful minute he thought about the time when piloting did not mean to shooting down enemy squadrons or even winning a trophy. He just thought of the simple joy of the wind whipping on your hair, of the heady feeling of diving down in an air pirouette, of forgetting about anything and everything and just focusing on the bright blue skies. Those where the things he needed whenever he felt overwhelmed and that was exactly what his wife did not understand.
Not that he thought less of her because of it because she didn't have a hobby, a passion that did not revolve around work or home. As dedicated as she was to those, she just could not conceive anything that did not revolve around family or work. So it was hard for her to get in his position and understand that he needed this time, alone and with his beloved skies to ground himself and be happier. In fact he had been happier these past couple of weeks, ever since he started flying again. He'd had to take Skull one but nobody begrudged him that. It had been given to him, after all, his plane to do as he wished as much as his Mockingbird was.
He knew she did not approve of his jaunts and he sometimes felt guilty for it, which in turn made him try all the harder to be a good father and husband. But he was starting to fray at the edges, the pressure from work, especially the petty arguments he had to settle from all the facets he worked with; the situation at his home, with the two younger visitors who, as much as they did not want to intrude, were there at all times with no chance of privacy; and his wife who seemed as disapproving as her old ways which they had managed to outgrow. All that made him want to go out more and then the vicious circle would continue.
He thought that he could help things along if the two reminders from their past went back to where they belonged. For that reason, he had been dedicating a lot of time in the labs with all the experiments and maintaining close contact with Minerva, Dr. Lang's assistant. He had, in fact, received her daily message from her this morning which, all mumbo-jumbo aside, seemed to indicate that they were heading in the right direction. It seemed slow but some progress was finally achieved. Slowly, reverently almost, Rick traced the note that contained her information, his thoughts not on what was in it but on the hope that it represented.
Young Lisa Hayes-perspective
Lisa sat at the table, her whole body as tense as the atmosphere all around her. There was no sound aside from the clinking of the utensils on the plates. There was not even the relief of Roy's babble to fill in the silence as he had already gone to bed.
To her right Rick just looked at his plate, ignoring everybody else, even her. She knew it had nothing to do with her in particular; he was just trying to avoid her older counterpart's disapproving glance.
Ever since the Hunters had come back from their vacation, Mrs. Hunter had looked at them with disapproval. She somehow knew what had happened between them but had not confronted them openly about them. Oddly enough, her disapproval was directed to her but still Rick took offense to it, sparking the recent silent battle between them.
Even though Rick latched on to this reason, Lisa suspected that there might be something more. She thought that some of it had to do with the strained relationship between husband and wife. The vacation's good feeling seemed to be short lived and there seemed to be more underlying problems than just stress. It wasn't lack of love, because anybody could see that they loved each other but there was now a distance that seemed to get bigger as the days passed.
Lisa Hunter seemed irritable and overly emotional lately, as if she couldn't cope with everything that was around her. In a way, Lisa was reminded of her own times of crisis when she became emotionally closed up because of an overload of emotions.
Admiral Hunter on the other hand had a completely distracted air about him. Partly it was due to his catching up with work at late hours at night but there was something else too. He just seemed preoccupied and when anybody tried to engage him in a conversation he started, as if he was in another world. It was very odd considering that in all the time that Lisa had known Rick he had never behaved like that. Then again, this was Rick eight years in the future so who knew how much he had changed.
After dinner, Lisa Hunter claimed tiredness and retired to their room. Nobody could dismiss her claim as false, the poor woman did look done in. Lisa reasoned that the combination of work and home had drained all of her energy.
Admiral Hunter on the other hand just nodded to his wife and moved to the living room and his ever present pile of papers. That left the younger couple to pick up and clean. Early on they had volunteered to do the chores around the house in order to feel useful. After all they were still being put up by the elder Hunters, even if the situation could not be helped.
As soon as the elder couple had left, Rick visibly relaxed. As they were putting the plates away, he shot her a crooked smile that always did something to her insides. This is what their relationship had turned into after the elder's return; furtive touches and hurried kisses made hotter because of the illicitness of their situation.
Truthfully it sometimes felt like an illicit affair. Even though in the back of her head Lisa was not happy about the whole situation, she could not stop it any more than she could stop breathing. It was not the sex, even though after years without it, that was hard to give up. It was more the sense of closeness, the feeling that she was loved and in their lovemaking, as hurried as it was, she could feel that. Rick was always so tender with her, treating her as a precious porcelain doll as if he adored every square inch of her body. For that, she not only accepted his touch but craved it.
Side by side, they worked together sometimes whispering, sometimes giggling like kids. Their hips and arms brushed together as their hands did a mating dance under the suds of the sink. Later on, when nobody else was around they would cuddle on the sofa like they did every night and they would both try to forget that this was just an interlude in time.
Rick Hunter's Perspective
How he loved flying! It was his favorite thing to do in the world. The feeling of being free and being able to remove yourself from all the negative things in the world… well that was not compared to anything except… well except being with Lisa. Having Lisa in his arms, exploring every curve in her body… he could spend hours lost in her eyes and body. And her kisses took his breath away, just like when he was flying …
Rick shook his head to snap himself out of all of his memories. Now was not the time for thinking of Lisa that way! He was in his beloved Skull one, flying shotgun to Admiral Hunter and he did not want to get any embarrassing reaction to his memories at this point! Under the borrowed "thinking cap" his face turned beet red. Thankfully, the Admiral was so focused on his flying, that he did not realize anything. Not that he probably would have, Rick thought with a scowl. The man was more distracted lately than ever. What kind of life was this? He went from home to work and back, he spent all the time worried about taking care of this paperwork or the other. His free time was spent going out and doing stuff with the "family"... Well he couldn't really resent that, ever since his parents had died, he had longed to belong to a family again. In a way, staying with the Hunters had reminded him about a lot of things his own parents used to do. He also realized that he had a lot of Pops in himself as he saw how the elder Hunter dealt with his son. He had to admit, it warmed his heart to see that his father's legacy had lived on.
Of course when he had pictured his life as a married man, he had pictured it together with somebody like Minmay, somebody that would stay in the house, cook for him and stay with the kids. Definitely not with somebody like the captain, who was more of a workaholic than a homemaker. But if he was totally honest, that image of Minmay was not accurate, at least not after she won the pageant and became a star. And Lisa might be a workaholic but she did all the things a "traditional" wife would do and she also managed to run the construction of the SDF-3. So all the things that he had thought before this visit here were clashing with the reality that he was seeing in the Hunter household.
Still, the dream of having Minmay as his wife, although not as strong as before, was a hard one to shake. In fact, if he studied too closely, he would probably admit that he was stubbornly holding on to it which is why he didn't even go there. He was keeping his dream life separate from his reality. After all, he did enjoy Lisa's company in every way, he even liked the kid, who reminded him of stories he used to hear about himself at that age. It was just hard to reconcile his reality to the dream that he had held dear for so long.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not even enjoy his ride. In fact, he was caught completely by surprise when he felt the heady feeling of the descent as the plane was about to land. He snapped himself out of his thoughts and looked around curiously at another one of the "post apocalyptic" cities.
He knew that Admiral Hunter had to take care of some business in this town and he would be able to explore by himself in the meantime. So after they landed, Rick made himself scarce while the elder officer went to take care of business. They had agreed to meet in the plaza located in the downtown area.
That's where Admiral Hunter found an absolutely bemused and desperate looking young Hunter. When the admiral realized why the young man looked like that, he had to laugh. Because there, sitting right in front of the young man, talking his ear off, was none other than Minmay. He smiled indulgently at the scene. As much as he did not have any feelings for the star anymore, he still saw her as a friend. A very self-absorbed friend at that, but a friend nonetheless. He approached the pair with a huge smile. He noticed that Minmay was talking non-stop, although as soon as she saw him, she changed her conversation in mid sentence.
"...Why Rick! I just met your cousin Tom, for a second when I first saw him, it was like blast from the past, you know... He looks so much like you when you were younger! But then he explained to me how he's your cousin... Boy I never knew that your dad had a twin brother. You never told me." She said with a mock pout.
"Yeah, well my uncle never got along with Pops." Rick decided to say as little as possible just to make sure that he did not mess up the younger man's story, although he had a feeling that Minmay had glossed over the conversation and might not remember all the details.
"So anyways I was trying to get some man advice from your cousin here but I haven't been able to get him to give me a straight answer… so you must help me! I have this situation…" Since Rick had already heard the story of her latest beau, he completely tuned her out. He went back to what he had originally planned to do, to watch the people and just relax but the incessant drone of the conversation kept distracting him. Interested in seeing how his older self could take the conversation, he looked at the Admiral but instead of an avid look of concentration or boredom, he looked at his friend kind of indulgently. He looked like an older brother indulging his little sister on a rant. That gave him pause, as there seemed to be no romantic feelings at all. Of course, he KNEW that he was married and that he was totally loyal when he made a commitment but to see it this way… There was nothing there, not even a spark of interest.
The Rick Hunter that he had been had always been hanging on to every little scrap of information that fell from Minmay lips. But to be honest he realized that there was nothing substantial there. It was always the same with her, so it was easy to tune her out. With Lisa things were always interesting. He felt she challenged him on every level. In fact he was pretty sure that she sometimes did it on purpose to get a reaction from him. Her pretty eyes would sparkle and the corners of her mouth would curl a tiny bit as if she was holding her smile so she wouldn't give herself away. She was enthralling and he could understand why Hunter looked at his wife so intently when she spoke. He was probably looking for those visual cues to see what she felt. He caught himself gazing at nothing and with a silly smile on his face. Fortunately he caught himself before Minmay would notice but he had not been quick enough for the Admiral. The other man gave him a knowing look, like the one he had given him at the end of the conversation they had had.
Rick hated having people telling him what to do or how he should behave or feel, even if it was an older version of himself. For that reason he decided not to be so obvious with his feelings and not give his elder counterpart the satisfaction of gloating after he turned out to be right.
Lisa Hayes perspective, part deux
One of the things that had really surprised Lisa about their older counterparts was how well Lisa and Rick had managed to put their past behind them. Knowing full well how jealous and possessive she was and how stubborn Rick could be, she thought it was an amazing feat. Lisa had seen a picture of Karl on the mantle with all the other pictures and she was glad that they did not feel the need to hide it. That did not surprise her as much, since Rick never really met Karl there was no real animosity there. Karl had never really been Rick's rival. What puzzled her though was that there were also a couple of pictures of Rick, Lisa and Minmay together. And the fact that they owned some Minmay records, even if they were gifts from the singer… At this point in her life, she could not fathom having any reminder there of the other woman. So to think that she had moved on from that resentment was really surprising.
Their relationship change was never as evident as the day when she witnessed Admiral Lisa give advice to her one time romantic rival.
They had all been in the house having what Lisa called a truce day. Any time there was no open hostility, it was a truce day. It was possibly due the fact that the elder couple was so tired from work that they just did not bother with anything else but read their reports and consult tiredly with each other whenever the need arose.
Lisa was entertaining little Roy and Rick was reading a book when the phone rang. Admiral Hunter was the closest one to the phone and so he picked it up without even looking at it.
"Hunter here." He answered, after a couple of seconds, he made a wry face and shook his head slightly to his wife's questioning face. "Yes Minmay and how are you doing?" Lisa Hunter smiled in understanding at his look and kept on reading as if nothing had happened. Lisa gaped at her and even Rick looked at her askance, as if expecting a fight.
"Well how was I supposed to know he was going to do that? Yes I'm a guy but we all think differently… no of course he should not…" longer pause.. "Well I did try to help." He listened to her rant for a while. After 10 minutes he actually passed the phone to his surprised wife. He shrugged and said by way of explanation, "She wants to talk to you."
Lisa took the phone with a puzzled look. After greeting the younger woman in the other line, she said "Of course I know that you met up with Rick and his cousin, Rick told me about it… No he didn't tell me all the conversation but… yes, I see… and you actually paid attention to what both of them said?" Lisa asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Hunter growled softly, too soft to be heard over the phone to which Lisa responded with an amused look.
"Yes, well I don't see how I can help… Oh, because I managed to snatch Rick… well yes that WAS hard…" She said teasingly, more for her husband's benefit than that of the oblivious woman who had not picked up on the sarcasm.
"Ok, I will try to help. Why don't you start from the beginning…" And so Lisa went to the kitchen where it was quieter and talked with Minmay for a good half an hour without breaking anything or committing suicide, which is what Lisa thought she would have done if she was ever subjected to talking to Minmay for longer than 5 seconds.
And it was things like that which made her think that there truly had been an amicable parting with their past and they had allowed bygones to be bygones.
_
interlude, real time
Lisa plopped down on the cafeteria chair. She had just joined Claudia for a quick lunch before going back to one of the meetings. As she started to spread out the pages of a report she had to present, Claudia gave her a disapproving look and said,
"Now Lisa, shame on you! What kind of lunch companion are you? Haven't I told you more than once not to work while you eat?"
"Yes mommy," Lisa said, rolling her eyes. Whenever Claudia talked to her she felt like a kid. As she was picking the report, Roy joined their table. Looking at his plate and then looking at Lisa's he said, "Are you planning to feed the whole army with that?"
Lisa just scowled at him and asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You have almost as much as I have! And I am still a growing boy."
"Really," Lisa replied, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "You are talking about your belly growing sideways now?" She retorted although there was no danger to that. Roy still kept his lanky frame even at his age. Roy made a face at her and she stuck her tongue at him slightly so that none of the other people in the mess hall could tell.
"Kids." Claudia said the stern tone that she used to talk to their children.
"I didn't have breakfast today so I was starving." Lisa said in her defense.
"Lisa…"
"I know it is not healthy Claudia. I was in a hurry." Lisa was famous for not taking care of herself when she was in a hurry or overwhelmed with work. Claudia remembered the countless times when she had to drag her to the mess hall for a quick bite so that her intensely focused friend would not collapse. After Rick came along though, he took over the role and always made sure Lisa would eat properly.
"I thought Rick usually cooked you breakfast, especially on his days off."
"Oh, well, I really didn't feel like breakfast today and anyway Rick left early this morning, went flying somewhere. He was so cooped up, he needed to blow off some steam." Lisa explained quickly, not giving any more details.
"Oh, he went by himself?" It was not unusual for Rick to do so but most of the time he tried to talk to one of the guys to go with him.
"Yes, he did." Lisa answered quickly, evading their gaze as she knew that Rick was not alone but with his younger self. Her attitude was not lost in her two friends who normally would not think twice about it but since the Hunters were acting kind of fishy lately…
"Is everything alright?" Claudia asked, concerned.
"For God's sake Clau! Stop fussing over me, you have a daughter for that!" Lisa said, evading the question. "So how's my goddaughter by the way?"
Claudia knew there was no pushing Lisa to say something unless she was good and ready to do so. She also knew Lisa was not the kind of person to share her problems with anybody unless she was drowning in them and even at that it took a psychic to read between the lines and decipher her problems. That is why she conceded defeat for now and changed the subject. She did though make a mental note to compare notes with her husband about their friends' attitudes.
"Why did I have a feeling I would find you here?" Lisa heard the voice and she almost groaned out loud. She had been trying to hurry up so that she wouldn't get caught but you can't hurry up a sick stomach. She had to wait until she was good and ready to come out of the bathroom stall. But as she watched her dear friend's knowing look, her stomach rebelled and she had to fight the urge to vomit again.
" How long has this been going on?" Claudia asked knowingly.
"A couple of days after I came back from vacation." Lisa said, knowing full well the conclusion that Claudia was going to draw, after all she had the same fears…
"You are pregnant, aren't you honey?" She asked, her brown eyes softening at her friend's face. She didn't look particularly happy or sad, more like she was a little bit afraid.
"I think so…" Lisa said hesitantly. 'Oh dear, of all the times to get pregnant, why now?' She thought desperately.
Sensing her desperation but attributing it to something else, Claudia tried to reassure her. "Well are you sure? It could not have been when you went on vacation, it would be too soon to tell."
"Well we don't just wait until we are in vacation to… you know!" Lisa said, her voice losing force as she finished the sentence with a blush.
Claudia laughed at her friend's shyness; it never stopped to amuse her. But she was also glad that her dear friends we still participating in love making. That meant that things might not be as bad as she was thinking.
"Still maybe the stress has been making you sick… Why don't you get checked to make sure?"
'Because I'm scared of the prospect...' Lisa thought but responded, "I know, I just have been so busy…"
"Nonsense, you need to make time for yourself honey! Either way you need to take care of yourself, not only for you but for your little boy and your husband."
"Yes…"
"Still, the whole fact that you are eating a lot and then throwing up… That indicates more than you might be pregnant." Lisa nodded, still dazed at the possibility. It wasn't as if she had not thought about it but she always pushed it to the back of her mind, not ready to deal with it but now that Claudia had confronted her…
"Claudia, please don't tell Rick just yet, at least until I don't know for sure. He is so stressed lately, and I would not want to bring his hopes up if it isn't true..."
Claudia stayed silent for a second, looking at her friend. She had kept a lot of her secrets in the past and something was telling her that there was more but she could not deny that her arguments were valid.
"Ok, I will not but promise me that you will call the doctor right away to confirm." She told her little sister sternly.
Lisa nodded and relief flooded her features. She quickly rinsed her mouth and left towards her office, Claudia following at her heels. Her friend tried to appear as natural as she could although she caught her a couple of times looking at her carefully. She knew this whole thing was a freaking mess and that she would have to face whatever it was sooner rather than later. Just not at this moment, right now she just wanted to forget.
As they approached her office, they were distracted by a delivery boy struggling with a huge flower arrangement.
"Well is your husband trying to make up for something?" Claudia asked with a smile.
Lisa signed for the arrangement and waited until the poor man put the flowers down. Maybe Rick was feeling guilty about everything that was happening and he decided to get the flowers as a reconciliation present. She looked for the card to see the message and did a double take when she realized that the flowers were not meant for her but to the other Admiral Hunter.
She opened the card and read the simple message:
Thanks for everything! - Minmay
Claudia, noticing how pale she had gotten, realized that something was wrong and she peered over her shoulder to read the note. Her blood ran cold and then hot when she finally understood what she was reading. Nobody sends a guy flowers with that kind of message unless…
"Oh, sorry Ma'am" The nervous delivery man had come back with an almost exact replica of the flower arrangement. "I think I might have gotten the deliveries mixed up. You are Admiral Hayes-Hunter, right?"
"Yes." Lisa replied somberly, her face pale and her eyes fierce.
The man almost did a double take at her look but valiantly continued."These were your flowers, I made a mistake…" Between the weight of the arrangement and the nervousness of making such a mistake, the women could barely understand what he was saying.
"Just leave it there." Lisa said, pointing to the other side of the room.
When the man left again, Lisa approached the other flowers and found another card. This one read,
Thanks for everything! Your advice worked better than Rick's - Minmay
"What is the meaning of this?" Claudia asked indignantly. What kind of game was this woman playing?
Lisa looked from one arrangement to the next and finally her mind connected the dots and she remembered the conversation she had had with Minmay a week ago and how before that Rick had been solicited for advice too by the pretty singer. The tension seemed to drain from her and a soft laugh escaped her.
"She's actually thanking us both for some romantic advice we gave her." Lisa said and she retold the story.
Claudia and Lisa laughed at the absurdity of it all and the fact that the arrangements were almost exactly the same, probably to not favor one or the other. In Minmay terms she was probably trying to treat them both as friends, as equals. But what none of them mentioned to each other as they went separate ways is how they both jumped to the same conclusion at the beginning.
"Are we redecorating?" Rick asked puzzled when he saw the two pillar- like flower arrangements that decorated his wife's office.
"Actually one of them is yours." Lisa said, lazily lifting her head from the schedules she was working on.
"It is?" He asked puzzled. "Who in their right mind would send me…?" He asked as he pulled the card out. Lisa looked at him from the corner of her eye, gauging his reaction. "What the… What is this supposed to mean?" Rick said, showing the card to her.
"From what I gather from mine, she's thanking us for the advice we gave her… With that guy…" She continued, at Rick's perplexed look.
"What guy? What are you talking about?"
Lisa rolled her eyes. Rick could sometimes wipe out entire conversations out of his head if he did not deem them important. He claimed that it cluttered his brain and he needed space for more important ones.
Lisa reminded him about the conversation and the light finally dawned on him.
"Oh, that guy! Whatever… She's so silly. Why are my flowers here then? She sent them both to you?"
"The delivery man made a mistake."
"Oh, well why don't you keep them. They don't go with my decor." He said with a rakish grin. "So are you ready to go?"
Lisa looked at him intently, she saw no hidden agenda and he didn't seem shifty or nervous. Deciding that the gift had been really as innocent as it seemed, she just let it go and nodded to her husband who waited patiently for her to get ready.
As they left, Lisa turned off the light and left her doubts behind.
Max, Miriya, Roy and Claudia were sitting in the coffee break room a couple of days later, discussing the meeting they had earlier, or in reality discussing the leaders of the meeting.
"I can't believe these knuckleheads are having problems again." Roy said.
"You actually think they are having problems?" Max asked, a troubled expression on his face.
"Haven't you seen them lately? Rick is as jumpy as a cat and Lisa is more distracted than usual. And the meeting today! I thought they would start going at it right then and there!"
"But Rick did not say anything, in fact he supported her decisions." Miriya pointed out.
"Anybody with two eyes could see that he was angry about it. And don't you find it strange that for two weeks they have not invited us over?" Roy said.
"Maybe that's because we go there all the time." Claudia couldn't resist teasing him.
"Yeah, and when I have told them we are going there, they have found a bunch of excuses for us not to go."
"It is strange… Come to think of it, Lisa has been acting kind of weird. I mean, that whole thing with the flowers…. She has not been jealous of Minmay for a while now and all of the sudden she almost blew up because she sent Rick flowers with a thank you note!"
"Well, you know about Lisa and Minmay. I don't think she is ever going to trust a woman that sends flowers to her husband."
"Yeah, but she also sent her flowers."
"Oh."
"And how about the questions Rick has been asking?" All pairs of eyes went to Roy. "Yeah, he has been asking about when he was still in 'love' with Minmay and what kind of advice I gave him…. I don't know why he has to dig that stuff up! He also asked me if Lisa confided in me how she felt in those times."
"You don't think…No he wouldn't….I'll kick his a—" All of them spoke at once.
"Come to think of it, he has been acting kind of weird around Lisa… He does have that guilty look on his face that Roy used to get when ever he went womanizing with somebody." Claudia mumbled, almost to herself.
"Hey! That was a long time ago! Why didya have to bring it up." Roy said with a sulky expression.
"Because Rick IS your little brother."
"I don't teach him that stuff." He said defensively. "Come to think of it, he has been treating her like she was made out of fragile china."
"We need to find out what's up with them." Max said to the group. "It would break Lisa's heart if he goes back to Minmay."
They all agreed & got up from the table, not noticing the pair of eyes that followed them out.
'Wow, the Admirals are having marital problems.' Thought Mitchell one of the Communications techs. 'Wait till I tell everybody in Communications!"
Admiral Hunter stepped into the elevator, deep in thought. He had just stepped out of Dr. Lang's office. They still had not found a way to get things to appear in the right place at the right time. Good thing was they had figured out how to make things go to a specific place… but time… time WAS difficult. Rick sighed and leaned his head on the wall. He was desperate to get those people out of his house. Something about the whole situation was creating tension in his marriage and he was not happy about it. At least there were no more fights between the younger couple but now it seemed that his wife was having problems with him!
She was blowing up for every little thing! He had not seen her this bad since the beginning of their relationship when they were still the old sourpuss and the loud mouthed pilot. He shook his head at how naïve and wrong about each other they were. With a sigh, he straightened up, since he had reached his destination. The doors opened and he stepped out, still remembering that long ago time. In his pang of nostalgia, he decided to pass by his wife's office to surprise her before she went to pick up little Roy. Just as he was rounding the corner to the hallway where her office was located, he heard a whispered conversation that made him stop short. Normally he would not eavesdrop but he thought he heard his name. The days of whispered conversations about him and his wife were long over but not forgotten so old habits die hard.
"I heard from a really good source that the Admirals are having problems again!"
"Well it was only a matter of time. Especially since the Admiral and Minmey are still friends. Did you hear she sent him flowers?"
"I heard the Admiral was really upset at him. I think the Admiral suspects he is cheating on her again."
"Poor Admiral Hayes! And with a small kid no less." The woman said, her voice filled with fake sympathy.
Rick couldn't stand it anymore, it was one thing that they would gossip about them but to involve his son! That was too much. He rapidly rounded the corner, which made the pair start. He tried very hard not to court martial them on the spot but he did give them a look that curdled their blood. He continued on to his wife's office, his face as dark as a thundercloud. With barely a nod to his wife's assistant, he knocked on her office and stepped inside.
Lisa was holding her head in her hand as she listlessly read a report about the conditions of the security in Neo Granite. She raised her head when she heard the door forcefully open. She was taken aback when she saw her husband's face. She had not seen him that mad in a long time. She was suddenly alarmed.
"Is everything ok?"
"Do you really think I'm cheating on you?"
"Beg your pardon?"
"Do you really think I am cheating on you with Minmay?"
"What, why would you ask…?"
"Just answer the question."
"Should I be worried about that?" She answered just as coldly as he had.
"I can't believe you would ask me that? Do you not trust me? After all this time?" His demeanor went from angered to sorrowful by the end of his question.
"I do… I do trust you."
"You do not sound very sure of that." He pointed out accusingly.
"Well, what do you want me to do? You come here accusing me like that."
Lisa pointed out defensively.
Rick combed his hand through his hair in an agitated gesture. Lisa was actually rather worried about him at this point; Rick normally did not behave like this. He looked almost crazed. In two strides he reached her and got his knee in front of her, making him almost level with her eyes.
"Please believe me that you and Roy are the best thing that ever happened to me." He spoke fervently. "I would never do anything to jeopardize that. You have to believe me."
Lisa took in a shuddering breath. She had no idea what had brought up this whole conversation but the intensity and vehemence in Rick's voice touched a chord deep inside her. Her eyes welled with tears and she framed his beloved face with both hands.
"I do believe you darling, I know you would never do anything like that. And I know that you would never hurt us intentionally."
Her words or her gesture seemed to placate him. He pulled her close and placed a sweet kiss on her lips.
Things seemed to have improved in the Hunter-Hayes household. Lisa still had that same preoccupied look about her and Hunter still looked like he was not getting enough sleep but at least there seemed to be a halt to the stilted conversations and half aborted gestures that permeated the house like a deadly invader. Conversations were a bit more lively, not the same as in the beginning, but at least not as oppressive as it had been before.
Even with dark circles under his eyes, Rick could still flash that smile that heralded trouble in the guise of teasing his wife. And Lisa would smile indulgently and fire back a snappy comeback that had them smiling nostalgically in many cases. Unfortunately, just like the war that was waged outside, the peace would not last very long…
They had just sat down for dinner when the phone rang. It was late already and Roy had been put to sleep so Hunter sprinted to the phone before it would wake his son. Also he was worried about what it would be. A call this late could only mean one thing.
"What happened?" asked Lisa as she saw her husband's somber face. He had just hung up from talking to the base.
"There are massive raids happening in Neo Perrine, New Granite & Townsend. Apparently some Zentraedi malcontents got their hands on some battlepods and are heading toward civilian areas. They are scrambling every available pilot but we are short due to the simultaneous attacks."
"Did they call Max?" Lisa asked as she gathered their uniforms. Rick nodded and said, "Even Roy and Miriya will fly but I am afraid we will still be short."
"How about you?" young Rick asked.
Both Admirals looked at him. Lisa was the first to respond. "Rick cannot fly. He has to supervise the attacks." She informed him sharply. Probably more sharply than she should.
"Supervise?" Rick spat, his voice rising. "They need every available person out there for the sake of those people. Every hand counts! You still have Skull one, you can fly!" He said, looking at the Admiral. Hunter just avoided his accusatory gaze.
"Rick is needed in the Situation Room. That is his duty as an admiral. It is more important that he leads the simultaneous attacks than just his Skull group. Isn't that right?" his wife asked looking at her silent husband.
Hunter looked at the two but no words came out. "Of course I am needed in the Tact Room." The Admiral finally said. But those seconds of hesitation were not lost on his wife, who looked at him with a hurt expression.
"I can't believe that you would say something like this!" Rick said, disgust filling his voice.
"Rick, you seem to have forgotten the conversation we had a while back." Hunter said now, his voice filled with confidence and strength that had not been there before. Turning to his wife, he said, "We need to go now, they had an MP sent to us and he must be waiting outside." His wife just looked at him silently as she gathered their changing bags and headed outside.
"Lizzie," he said, addressing the silent figure standing by the kitchen. "Please take care of Roy. I do not know how long we will be." And with that he left, leaving a livid Rick and a silent, preoccupied Lisa Hayes.
"I can't believe I have turned into that!" Rick said, hating his counterpart, hating his future, hating HER. He turned to Lisa who winced when she saw his expression. She had not seen that expression in his eyes since the Big Escape from Breetai's ship. His eyes were ice chips chilling her to the very bone. She wanted to plead with him to understand, but that would open her up for more hurt, so instead she fought ice with ice and reverted to her commander persona.
"Rick, Hunter is an Admiral. It is his duty to oversee everything…" she tried to calm him down.
"His duty!" he repeated with a mirthless laugh. Somehow he managed to inject all of his hate into the word. "Duty means to become a paper pusher instead of a soldier. Duty is a restriction. It is what I hate most about this job, the decision to sacrifice humanity for proper procedure. And it is all embodied in you!" he said and with that he slammed out of the house.
Deep pain paralyzed Lisa Hayes. She did not even have the will to go out and scream for him to come back. As tears ran down her face, she wondered why this always happened to her. Why could she never separate herself from her military side and she wondered if indeed she had turned into those things that Rick accused her of and that Riber used to hate so much.
Author's note: Ok, so I know that I am evil, to come back after YEARS and leave you guys hanging like this… I will try to promise that I will not be long but I never thought this chapter would take me so long to write. Of course it was also mostly due to the fact that my responsibilities took me out of the fanfiction world until now. Hopefully I will be able to give it more time now that things are starting to settle and I can get back to the swing of things.
Hope you enjoyed my comeback and I would love to hear from you.
