Chapter 5

"Remember, you are a public figure Will," Allison said as they walked down the street to her parent's house in Palo Alto, California. With the time off they had, they were both planning on bringing the other to meet their families.

"Yeah, it would be nice if the paparazzi didn't try to find us." He replied as they walked up the driveway. "This shirt feels weird." He said, ruffling with the polo that she had bought for him. Allison had forced him to not wear his uniform during their time off, and to try civilian clothes.

"Maybe because it's inside out." She laughed and Will looked embarrassed to see that she was correct.

"I'm still getting used to this." He sighed.

"Yeah, no shit sherlock." She said, laughing.

"Well, I don't spend the day trying to figure out what I am going to wear, unlike you." He chided.

"But you did tell me that I look spectacular." She purred. Will could not deny that the dress she had chosen fit her very well. It made her look even more beautiful than normal, and that was a difficult challenge to beat.

"Yes, so it was worth it." He kissed her on the cheek.

They walked over to ring the doorbell. After a few moments the door opened, and a middle-aged woman opened the door and tightly hugged Allison.

"It's so good to see you again. How have you been?" Her mother, Danielle Chipper asked as she let go of her daughter. "And how the hell did you end up bringing one of the most powerful people in the world back to meet us." That claim startled Will, though he didn't show it. He knew that due to his actions he had amassed a reputation after he had helped save Washington, and this had been augmented by neglecting to speak with the media. But he had never thought of himself as one of the most powerful people in the world. With a sense of both fear and dread, he realized that the assessment was correct. But he shoved those thoughts aside, he was on vacation after all.

Allison laughed. "Oh, I'm doing great." She looked at Will. "It's a long story."

Danielle reached out to shake Will's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Admiral.."

"It's fine, just call me Will." He smiled.

They walked into the neatly furnished house. From the outside, it looked to be over a century old, but the interior was decorated with the most modern conveniences. A wiry man came down the hall and embraced Allison. It was her father, Ben Chipper. Exchanging pleasantries once again, the four of them sat down on the living room couch.

"You didn't mention you were dating the second in command of the fleet!" Ben exclaimed.

Allison Chuckled. "I didn't want either of you to get worried, or form the wrong impressions."

"Well, you two have a lot of explaining to do," Danielle said.

"It started when the Empire attacked…" They both explained everything that had gone on with them until then."

"Well, it's better than Twilight," Ben said as everyone laughed.

After a bit more talking Will learned more about the lives of Allison's parents. Her father developed software for Tesla and her mother was a professor at Stanford. It seemed her engineering prowess hadn't come from nowhere.

"So how did Allison get recruited into the Fleet?" Johnson asked. Back when the organization had been secret, no one talked much about how they had gotten there. Everyone was too focused on their intensive training to do much of anything else.

"One of my friends at Stanford told me about an exclusive offer for my daughter. He was… eccentric and half the time he was talking to us I felt he was a conspiracy theorist. It feels like ancient history now." Danielle replied.

"What was his name?"

"Stefan Brown."

Johnson paused for a minute. "Yeah, that name rings a bell."

After a bit of time had passed, Allison and her mom left to go make dinner. Johnson insisted that he could help but due to his lack of experience in the matter his offer was turned down. That left him and Ben to talk in private.

After a bit of awkward silence, Ben spoke up.

"Do you have any long-term plans for the relationship?" He asked. Johnson had predicted a question like this was going to be asked.

"Well I'm not sure if I am supposed to tell you about this yet, but the fleet is going on the offensive into Imperial territory in about 3 months, and I am leading it. Frankly, I don't have as much experience with her as would be expected over a year since we've been so busy."

"So you don't really know."

"Well yeah, though after the offensive I guess I'll think about it more. I don't want to make any commitments before then."

After a little more small talk, the food was ready.

"You think anyone will be able to find us here?" Johnson asked as they dove into their food.

"Oh, it's going to happen sooner or later. Our neighbors like to keep watch on just about everything in this area, so you may have a day. How long did you intend to stay?" Danielle asked.

"Only a couple of days at most. Johnson's superior got us access to a private island." Allison replied.

"How did he do that!" Ben said, shocked.

"He knows people." Johnson chuckled. "So do I, but I generally don't ask for private islands."

"What do you ask for instead?" Danielle asked.

"Anything that can be used to help defeat the Empire. So most of the time whatever resources I can get my hands on, whether they be materials or personnel." Johnson replied.

"Damn, you're quite dedicated, Will," Ben said.

"Yeah, because I've seen what they've done to other planets that weren't so lucky." That conversation ended and the subject changed to more light-hearted matters. After a while, the two were led to Allison's old room, which had been left untouched since she had joined the fleet.

"Wow, these are a lot of trophies," Johnson said as he admired the various academic and sports-related awards on the walls.

"Yeah, I was pretty busy as a kid." She laid down on the bed. "Care to join me?"

A few days later the two found themselves walking down another street, albeit one much more familiar to Will. He was back in his hometown of Tallahassee, Florida. It had been over 9 years since he had left the place to join the fleet. But looking at the familiar houses that lined the road, it didn't seem so long.

"This is a lot different from California," Allison said as they reached his parent's house.

"Yeah, it costs a lot less." He replied as they laughed.

Ringing the doorbell at his parent's house, he eagerly waited for a response. He had visited his parents briefly after the Empire's first attempt to take Earth, but that had been over a year ago.

His mother was a real estate developer and his father an investment banker. Their jobs had often been demanding and led to them being gone a lot during his childhood. Especially his father, who had split his time between his office in New York and his home here in Florida. Will was perfectly fine with this, as it allowed him to become more independent and grow on his own.

The door opened and Jerrard Johnson appeared. He grappled his son in a tight hug.

"Well look at who's home!" He exclaimed. "The architect behind the planning of this planet's first extraterrestrial invasion decided to visit his lowly parents for once."

"Well dad, we still have three months. It isn't fully planned yet."

"Well enough that some important people said it would go through. And who is this special lady that you decided to bring along."

"Captain Allison Chipper, Head of the fleet's Special Research Department." He produced a hand and she shook it.

"Well, let me lead you two inside. Martha is waiting."

They soon reached the other end of the house, which held a screened-in porch. Will's mother, Martha Johnson, was reading a magazine on the couch which she shoved aside to embrace her soon.

"It's so good to see you again, Will. We've missed you so much since you last left us." She said, "You should come more often."

"Yeah, unfortunately, my job is just a little bit demanding." He replied as everyone laughed.

"So who is this fine young lady you decided to bring home?" She asked.

"I'm Captain Allison Chipper, Head of the fleet's Special Research Department." She produced a hand and Will's mother shook it.

"Aren't you the one who helped Will when he commanded the Hallsey?" Martha asked.

"Yes, it was the first time I interacted with him for an extended time." She and Will proceeded to tell his parents about what had happened since then.

I was a bit worried when you said you would be bringing back a special guest… I didn't know if you were going to bring the President or something." They all chuckled.

After a while of talking the parents excused themselves to go make dinner. Both Will and Allison insisted that they could help, but Jerrard and Martha insisted that it was their threat.

"I'll show you my old room. My parents haven't changed anything since I left." They hurried upstairs to see the place.

Inside, there was a plethora of medals and trophies being displayed on the wall. Some appeared to be academic, while others were from a variety of team sports and extracurriculars. There was also a large bookshelf that held dozens of books, along with an older but fairly respectful gaming PC.

"So I'm not the only overachiever here." She chuckled.

"Yeah, they tended to pick the best of the best for the fleet for a while." He replied.

"You know you could have had such an interesting life if you had never joined the fleet. You could have become almost anything." Allison stated.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have met you," Will replied with a smile on his face. She giggled, then slowly bent in for a kiss. After a few minutes of snuggling together, both departed each other.

"Let's save that for later. And remember, my parents, are here, so we need to keep it down."

"Yeah. We don't want the level of awkwardness we had yesterday with my parents." They both chuckled.

"Dinner's ready!" Came the call from downstairs. The two rushed downstairs to eat with Will's parents.

After talking some more with their parents, the two grabbed their bags and headed upstairs to get some rest.

"I have something special planned for tomorrow," Will said as he lay down on the bed.

"Well enlighten me," Allison replied.

"I'm going to visit my old high school. They want me to give a speech as well."

"Well, that's nice." She said, smiling at him. "I'm surprised that no one has noticed you yet, considering that this is your hometown."

"Maybe that's because you forced me to wear these glasses." The two chuckled.

"I assume I can come as well." She asked.

"Of course. I'm sure some of the teachers would love to talk to you about designing ships." Will said.

"Yeah, I think all the teachers would like to talk to us. It's not like we aren't some of the most powerful people on the planet, after all." He chuckled.

"Do you have any idea what you are going to say?" She asked.

"Somewhat, but this was a little last minute." He said, slightly embarrassed. "So I haven't planned."

"Maybe you should. I mean the event may very well be televised and you will be leaving a big impression on a lot of people." She chided him, one of the few people he would allow to do that to him.

"I'll do it later. I am on vacation, remember." He said as Allison slipped into bed.

"Oh yes, I do." She replied, starting to resume the activities they had begun earlier before being called to dinner.