Scott had been invited to the wedding of Oscar King, who was a friend from his Air Force days, to Valerie Phillips. His wedding gift to the couple was a slow cooker and a vegetable steamer from their Registry.

Walking towards the entrance to the church, he saw Oscar, in his Dress uniform, greeting everyone. Scott approached him and, after a brief conversation, wished him luck before going to take a seat inside.

x-x

Arriving at the reception venue, he quickly found his name on the seating plan. Approaching the table, Scott saw he was sat between a woman with dark brown hair who was wearing an almost navy blue, flowery dress, and a black guy with a buzz cut, who was also in USAF dress uniform. His name was Carter Morris, and he was an engineer in the Airforce. The woman was Hope Dawson and she was an ER Doctor. Well, her name was actually Veronica, but she went by her middle name. She was a close friend of the bride, having been roommates with her at college.

Scott had laughed through the speeches, toasting the newlyweds with the champagne provided. As he was driving, he stuck to soda for the rest of the celebration. He had enjoyed the food as well. He had spent most of the meal talking to Hope. She had a wicked sense of humour and there was just something about her that he liked.

As the night wore on, Scott ended up asking Hope to dance, smiling as she accepted. He found himself kissing her, surprised, but happy, as she returned the kiss.

x-x

It turned out Hope was staying in the same hotel as him, so Scott had offered her a ride back once the reception ended. Exiting the elevator, they went to their rooms, which were only a few doors down from each other. Both stood by their doors, neither actually wanting to leave the other.

"You want to come in for a bit?" Scott asked. Hope stepped towards him as he opened the door to his suite. He began kissing her as she got to him.

x-x

Scott woke to Hope asleep beside him. Smiling, he brushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"Hey" she whispered, waking up and smiling at Scott, who kissed her gently on the lips. "What's the time?"

"Around half eight" Scott replied. "Still relatively early." Hope stretched and blinked.

"Coffee?" Scott asked, throwing the covers off and stepping over to where a kettle sat.

"Please" Hope replied, sitting up and admiring the view of Scott's naked form as he made their drinks. As Scott climbed back into the bed, she shuffled to lay her head on his shoulder.

"I don't think I want this to be just a one night thing" she told him, looking him in the eye.

"Neither do I" Scott replied, kissing her on her forehead. They sat in silence for a moment, sipping at their drinks. "How about I take you out for brunch as our first date?"

"Sure" Hope smiled. Agreeing to meet in half an hour, Hope finished her coffee then went back to her room to shower and get dressed.

Over brunch, they talked. Scott told her about his work with Tracy Incorporated, she told him about her job working in a busy ER. They talked about family as well. Hope had watched Gordon win his gold at the Olympics the week before. She could tell how proud Scott was of his brother, considering he had been so badly injured a few years previous.

x-x

At the airport, he bid farewell to Hope as she went to catch a flight home. He was due to fly out in the next couple of hours himself. On the way, he was going to pick his Dad up from New York. They'd both been at meetings all the previous week.

"Good weekend?" his dad asked, joining him in the cockpit of the plane.

"It was" Scott replied as they began the pre-flight checks.