Author's Note:
Hey everyone! See, I'm not dead! I'm so sorry I've been MIA for a while. I've been through a lot in the last few months, and it's made life crazy lately. Very bad lows, followed by very good highs. I lost my best friend of 15 years (not dead, just parted ways), and had to give up my horse back in December, which was all extremely painful. I also acquired a wonderful boyfriend who lives in a different state than me. So...I've been doing a lot of weekend traveling, and working on the week days. Busy, busy, and very crazy lately. But! I'm back, and hopefully you all will think it was worth the wait as we start diving into the lurking threat hidden in the shadows...Ooooooo! I'm gonna try to get back into a regular writing groove, so hopefully there won't be too much time between updates for a while.
This is a shorter chapter than the others have been, but I wanted to get an update out now that my life is starting to settle down a bit. I have heard your cries for more, soooooo...Here it is!
The remainder of the ride had passed in companionable silence between the new friends. Their talk had taken up the first full hour of the trip, and neither had felt the need to keep conversation going after.
So, after another hour of peace, they finally reached their destination. The world looked as desolate as ever. How anyone, or anything, could prefer to live here was beyond them.
Upon landing on Mutrad, they had unloaded their necessary supplies, secured the ship, and split up into their chosen teams; each officer wondering what they would find upon arriving at their stakeout locations.
Well, it turned out that it wasn't all that much, in the end.
The three weeks of their stakeouts had passed in relative quiet, with very few occurrences to note.
After the first two and a half weeks passed with no Galalunian or Mutradi activity to speak of, both leaders had decided to enter the abandoned bases to check things out inside. They were surprised to find them the exact same way Lance, Ilana, and Octus had left them years ago.
Nothing seemed to have changed.
To Baron, it was a relief; to Lance, a concern. It could have been possible that their sensors were malfunctioning, but Lance had a gut feeling that things weren't as they seemed. He decided to go exploring on his own within the base the last three days. To his chagrin, though, he found nothing after hours of searching.
The most both stakeout teams found was a large increase in animal migration due to the elimination of outside influences in the area.
After their three weeks were up, both team leaders concluded that it must have been the animals triggering the high activity readings.
Lance wasn't entirely convinced, however, and intended to voice his concerns to the king upon their return.
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The time was nine o'clock in the evening, and the king was in the conference room, waiting for them. He'd been pleased to hear that the mission went smoothly, and that neither party had encountered any problems.
He first received Baron's report, to which he breathed a sigh of relief. After the Colonel had briefed him, the king dismissed Baron and told him to get some rest. With a bow, Baron left the room and disappeared down the hallway.
The king then turned to his General. "Okay, Lance, tell me what's on your mind."
Lance raised an eyebrow quizzically, an amused smirk appearing on his face. "How could you tell something was bothering me?"
The king gave an understanding smile in return. "I've known you most of your life; I can tell when something's troubling you. So, what is it? Are you not convinced that there's nothing to be concerned about?"
Lance's smirk dropped from his face, and was replaced with a somber frown as he gave a nod to the king. "That's correct, your majesty. The high increase in animal activity makes perfect sense of the readings we've been getting, but I'm not convinced that there's nothing of concern going on over there."
At the slightly worried expression on his general's face, it was now the king's turn to raise a quizzical eyebrow. He knew not much visibly affected Lance. "Why aren't you convinced?".
Lance shook his head, "I don't have any proof that there's cause for concern, but I have a bad feeling about this, your majesty. It's just a gut instinct. I may be wrong, but I'd rather be overly cautious and wrong than under-cautious and right. Would you allow lookout teams of two to be stationed at both bases? I'd like to keep them under surveillance for a while."
The king pondered Lance's request, stroking his white beard as he thought. 'Baron seemed pretty confident that nothing was going on over there. Though on the other hand, the last time I didn't listen to Lance, Modula took over the planet. He has good instincts, and he's never lead me wrong yet since returning.'
Finally, the king ceased stroking his beard, and faced Lance. "You have my permission, Major General. Do as you see fit."
A relieved smile adorned Lance's face as he bowed to the king. "Thank you, your majesty. I appreciate your support."
The king smiled at the youth before patting Lance on the shoulder. "I've trusted you thus far, Lance, and you haven't let me down. I will continue to put my faith in your abilities."
Lance smiled in return, before bowing once more and excusing himself.
As he was walking out the door, he heard the king call out to him. Turning around, he saw his ruler walking around the table to catch up with him, a piece of paper in his hand. The king held out the object for Lance to take, smiling warmly as he did.
Lance took it and read it over; It was an invitation to Ilana's birthday ball.
Surprise lit up his face as he stared first at the paper in his hands, then at the king. His majesty was beaming. "It was Ilana's idea. She wanted to honor our men and women in uniform by inviting them to her birthday celebration. She will also be visiting the town square to share the occasion with the people. She wanted everyone to be included in the festivities, and I told her I'd invite you as a special treat. I take it you haven't seen each other for quite a while, except in passing?"
Lance gulped slightly, before looking up from the invitation, and into the king's face. "That's correct, your majesty. It has been a while since we've been able to talk.". 'Not technically a lie.', he thought. It'd been three weeks.
The king nodded approvingly. "Then I do hope you'll come. It would make her so happy to see you again."
Lance found himself smiling in spite of the situation. He nodded, assuring the king that he would be there.
"Wonderful!" the king responded, "The party is in three weeks."
Lance nodded in acknowledgment before thanking the king, turning, and retreating as fast as he could to the officer's building. He was looking forward to relaxing in his own living space again.
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Once Lance had unpacked the clothes he'd brought with him to Mutrad, he headed straight into the shower to clean up. He was sweaty and dirty, and relished the feeling of hot water rinsing away the grime he'd built up on his body over the last three weeks.
Upon finishing his shower, he got dressed in a pair of black sweatpants, a navy-blue muscle shirt, and his standard combat boots.
He dried his hair, combed his bangs out, and checked the time on his communicator. It read 10:30 p.m. 'Hmm...Ilana's probably asleep by now. Maybe I should just leave off telling her I'm back until tomorrow.' He thought. 'Then again, she'll kill me if she finds out I didn't let her know I got back alright. That's not a battle I wanna fight.'.
Breathing a sigh as he started walking, Lance exited his office (which led to his living space), locked his door, and began making his way back to the palace.
Upon arriving in front of his girlfriend's balcony, Lance felt a smirk appear on his face. 'The slider's open. She already knew.'
With that, Lance climbed the vine growing up the side of the large brick building, hoisted himself over the railing, and landed gracefully on the large marble landing.
No sooner did his feet touch the ground, than the light flicked on behind him.
He turned around, and spotted the long-time object of his affection staring back at him with a cocky smirk on her face. She was wrapped up in a large, fluffy bathrobe; her hair loose, and cascading down her back.
He raised an eyebrow playfully, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Well, well, well. It's not often that you're privy to my arrival times. Nicely done, my princess.'
Her smirk grew as she started walking over to him. "I ran into father about an hour ago. Thought I'd give you a little surprise."
He met her halfway, wrapping her up in his arms, closing his eyes, and kissing her soundly. It only lasted for a few moments, but it felt like breathing in a much-needed gulp of fresh air.
'Man, did I miss this.' Lance thought as they broke apart.
Closing his eyes once again, he gave her a butterfly kiss as Ilana smiled softly. "Welcome home. I missed you"
Pulling back and returning her smile, Lance released her from his hold. "I missed you, too. So, you mentioned a surprise. Was it you waiting for me, or is there a part two to this?"
Ilana smirked once more. 'As always, his instincts are spot on.' She thought as she backed up a few steps.
She slowly and deliberately untied the robe, letting it slide off her shoulders, down her body, and fall to the ground.
Lance almost choked.
'Damn...she's kept Octus busy at his sewing machine.' He thought. 'If you can even count that as fabric.'
Ilana's smirk grew as she watched him. His eyes had darkened a shade, and all the tension in his shoulders had disappeared.
Ilana was quite satisfied by his reaction. "Well, what do you think? I had Octus do a little experimenting." She asked as she slowly turned around to show off every angle of her new sleepwear.
Lance slowly made his way over to her, raking his eyes over the sheer and baby blue fabric hanging on her body and hugging her curves in all the right ways.
He didn't say anything.
Instead, he picked her up bridal style and carried her over to the bed as Ilana giggled into his neck.
He kicked off his shoes on his way, and set her down underneath him on top of her silk sheets.
She looped her arms around his neck, bringing his head down and eagerly capturing his lips with her own. She felt him lick her bottom lip, and she opened her mouth.
Once she felt he was reasonably distracted, she slowly detached her arms from around his neck.
She dragged them down his chest, grabbing the hem of his shirt, and slowly sliding it up and over his toned body.
Lance got the hint, quickly helping her remove the unnecessary garment, and watching as Ilana discarded it haphazardly on the floor.
Normally, it was Lance doing the work, so she liked it on the rare occasions that she was able to gain the upper hand. She looked into his eyes; they were hungry and possessive. She'd dreamed of that face, that look, for the last three weeks. God, she'd missed him.
Slowly, a provocative smirk made its way onto his face as he slid his hands under the sheer lower portion of her shirt. He felt her shiver under his touch. "I never thought it'd be so dangerous to leave you alone for just three weeks. Clearly I haven't been giving you enough attention lately."
Ilana mirrored his smirk before slowly starting to kiss a trail up his neck as her hands found her favorite spot in his soft, raven hair. She heard him release a low growl from his throat before her lips brushed the edge of his ear. "Then give me some attention, General."
With that, Lance shot up and off the bed, closed the sliding glass door, drew the curtains, and locked her bedroom door. They had three weeks to catch up on, and he was going to make sure she enjoyed it as much as he knew he would.
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It was several hours later before they decided to move under the sheets, and get some much-needed sleep.
Cuddling into each other and watching the moonlight filter into the room through the window blinds, Lance could feel Ilana tracing his jaw line with her fingers. She usually only did that at night when she was thinking about something. Her hands tended to keep busy when her mind was also active.
He figured there was a question she wanted to ask, so he quietly waited for her to start the conversation and ask it.
Silence stretched for a while, and he wondered for a moment if his assumption may have been wrong. Sure enough, though, he heard her heave a small sigh, and angle her head to look at him from her position tucked into the crook of his neck.
He raised a questioning eyebrow, giving her the go-ahead.
With that, Ilana took his right hand in her left, interlacing their fingers.
She stared at their joined hands for a moment before looking back at him. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling you're right about Mutrad. Something about it seems off."
"Ah, so your dad filled you in? I should've figured." Lance responded, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand in a soothing motion.
Ilana nodded slightly. "Yeah, I asked him how things went, so he gave me the details of both Baron's and your briefing."
Lance nodded. He had been debating how much to share with Ilana, but clearly her dad had beaten him to the punch.
Releasing a contented sigh, he ran the fingers of his free hand through her silky blond hair. "To me, animal migration just doesn't explain the kind of activity that's been happening over there. I don't know...Maybe I'm being paranoid. I just don't have a good feeling about this."
Ilana snuggled closer to him, squeezing his hand, and placing a gentle kiss on the side of his neck. "You have good instincts, Lance. In the last four years, I can count on one hand the number of times you've been wrong about something. I trust you, and so does my father. Whatever you decide to do, I'll support you."
Lance released her hand, and brought his own up to caress her cheek. He looked deep into her eyes, finding comfort and security there. She always had been his safe haven; a place where he felt whole.
A soft smile graced his lips as he leaned down and gave her a tender kiss. "Thank you, my love. That's all I need."
Ilana smiled at him, and placed one more kiss to his neck in response before drifting off to sleep, leaving Lance to continue his deliberations in silence. He knew in his gut that something wasn't right, and he was going to prove it, somehow.
What he didn't know, however, was that a ghost from their past that they thought long dead was about to make a reappearance, and threaten to destroy everything they'd rebuilt...nor did he know how much danger was really lurking in the shadows, and coming their way.
