I said it before and I'll say it again, this story is taking on a life of its own.  I'm finding it to be so much fun writing for Lance, I think underneath his sarcasm he is a sweet guy, just looking for the right place to direct his emotions.


This is another R rated chapter.  So beware, you have been warned :-)

All disclaimers apply. 

Enjoy!

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            At ten minutes to five that evening, Lance entered the hospital wing.  Allura was lighting the candles in Darcy's room and all the food was set out on the desk, ready for serving.

            Darcy was sitting in a wheelchair beside her bed, dressed in sweats that hid the bandages she still wore.  Nurse Helene had packed up the cards and gifts she had collected over the past few weeks, almost all from Lance, and put them in a box that Darcy clutched on her lap.

            "Ready to go?"  Lance asked as he entered her room.

            "Absolutely, get me out of here."  She grinned up at him.

            Dr. Gorma came in, "Alright, Darcy, here are the painkillers with instructions on the label.  If you have any problems or questions, please call.  I will be in to check on you once a day."

            "Thank you, Doctor."  She smiled up at him.

            "Just take it easy."  He glanced up at Lance.  "I mean it, you need rest."

            "I'll make sure she stays in bed."  Lance assured him.

            Dr. Gorma shook his head, "As long as she's resting in bed."

            "What are the plans for the night?"  Darcy asked as he wheeled her down the hall.

            "What do you mean?" 

            "Well, are we all going to get together tonight?  I finally got out, I want to do something."

            Lance leaned over her shoulder, "You're on bed rest."

            "I know, I thought maybe we could do something anyway."

            "Maybe we can."

            She looked up over her shoulder, "You have something planned."

            "What makes you say that?"

            "You keep avoiding my questions."

            "Maybe you ask too many questions."  He stopped in front of her door.  "Close your eyes."

            Darcy felt a thrill race through her as she closed her eyes.  She heard the door slide open and felt him push her through and then the door slide shut behind them.

            "Open them." He whispered into her ear.

            She gasped as she looked around the room.  The lights were down low and there were candles on her desk, dresser, and bedside table, all lit.  The cover on her bed was pulled back and pillows were piled up at the head, including the one Lance had bought that day.  Vases of flowers sat on her dresser and desk and a huge bouquet of roses filled a cut glass vase on her bedside table.

            "Surprise," Lance whispered as he helped her out of the wheelchair and into her bed. 

            "What's all this?"  She asked, her voice shaky with emotion.

            "I wanted to take you out for dinner and a movie, but since you're stuck in bed, I thought I would bring it to you."

            Darcy took his hand before he could leave her side and tugged until he bent over her.  "Thank you," she whispered before pulling his mouth down to hers.

            "Your welcome.  But we'll see what you think after you eat what I made."

            "You cooked?"

            "Yeah, well, sort of."

            "What did you make?"

            Lance didn't answer, instead he crossed to the table and arranged a couple of covered plates on a tray.  He pulled the short legs of the tray down, set it across her lap and sat down beside her.  "I talked to Dr. Gorma and he said you should not be eating anything heavy, so dinner is light.  But we'll make up for it with dessert."

            "Oh?"  She raised an eyebrow.

            "Not that.  Nanny made the 'Keith Cake'."

            Her face lit up, "Can we skip dinner and go straight to the cake?"

            "No, you have to eat your dinner first."  With a flourish, he pulled the lid off the dish in front of her.

            She looked down and laughed, "Is that peanut butter?"

            "Yes.  And fruit salad."

            "You really made this?"

            "Yeah.  I know I'm no gourmet cook."  He muttered.

            "No, Lance, it's sweet.  I love peanut butter."

            "Good, there isn't much I know how to make.  Eat.  The sooner you eat this, the sooner we can have cake."

            "What movie did you pick?"  She asked as she lifted a half of the sandwich.

            "It's a surprise."

            "You're full of surprises tonight, aren't you?"

            "I have another one."  He taunted.

            "What?"

            Lance took a huge bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly.

            "Come on Lance, what is it?"

            He shrugged, took a long drink from his bottle of soda, "If you eat all your supper like a good girl, I'll tell you." 

            "What made you do this?"  She asked as she took another bite of her sandwich.

            "I wanted to do something special for you.  I love you, Darcy."

            "You have already done so much for me."  Her eyes swept around the room and landed on the framed poster he had hung beside the door.  It was illuminated by the candles on her dresser.  "Renoir." She whispered.

            He followed her gaze, "Yeah, I remember you telling me how much you liked him."

            "You bought that for me?"

            "Yeah, I wanted to help you make your room more homey since you haven't been able to get your parents to send you your stuff."

            She looked at him, touched, "That's my favorite of his paintings."

            "Really?  Or are you just saying that?"

            "No, 'Dance in Town'.  I had it hanging in my room at home and then in my dorm room at the Academy."  She reached over and laced her fingers through his.  "Thank you."

            He brought her hand to his lips, "You don't have to keep thanking me."

            "What other surprises do you have for me?"  Her eyes brightened.

            He pointed to the table beside her bed, "I didn't want you to have to keep getting up to turn on the overhead light."

            She looked to her left, "Is that Kermit?" 

            He had set the figurine beside the lamp, "Yup."

            Darcy grinned at him, "I love you."

            He watched as she polished off half her sandwich and the fruit. 

            "If I eat anymore, I won't have room for cake."  She told him as she sat back against the pillows.

            Lance picked up the other half of her sandwich and finished it in three bites, "I take it you want the cake now?"

            She nodded.

            He picked up the tray and carried it back to the desk.  When he returned to the bed, he held a plate with a large piece of cake and two forks.

            "Oh, I have dreamt about this cake."  Darcy muttered as she swiped some icing and licked it off her finger.  She reached over to do it again, but Lance grabbed her wrist before she could get it to her mouth.  Never taking his eyes off hers, he brought her chocolate covered finger to his mouth and sucked the icing off.  Desire swept through her.

            "You have icing on your lips," he whispered before leaning over and kissing it off her.

            "Oh, God, Lance."  She moaned when he pulled back.

            "I like the fact that we don't have to worry about Dr. Gorma walking in."  He said as he brought a forkful of cake to her lips.

            "Me too."  She reached down and ripped off a piece of the cake.  She brought it to his mouth, setting it on his tongue.  He closed his lips around her fingers, sucking them clean.

            "Okay, we have to stop this."  Lance said.

            "Why?"  Her voice was low and husky.

            "Because I'm about to ravage you."  He replied, seriously.

            "And I'm about to let you."

            He sucked in a breath, "Don't tempt me."

            "As long as you're careful with my chest, we can."

            Lance looked at her, torn between his greatest desire and his greatest fear, hurting her.  "I don't think that would be a good idea."

            Instead of answering, she picked up the cake plate and set it on the bedside table before reaching over and pulling his shirt out of the waistband of his jeans. 

            He grabbed her wrists as she started unbuttoning his shirt, "Come on Darcy, don't do this to me."

            She looked at him, her desire evident on her face.  "I want you Lance."

            "I don't want to hurt you."  He whispered.

            "You won't.  Just be careful of my chest."

            He smiled, mischievously, "But that's my favorite part."

            "Give it a couple of weeks."

            He reached behind her and pulled out a couple of pillows so she could lie down.  As he did that she continued unbuttoning his shirt and slid it off his shoulders.  He braced himself above her, making sure he didn't come in contact with her wound.  Lowering his head, he kissed her gently as she ran her hands over his chest.  She lightly skimmed her fingers over his stomach and smiled when he groaned.  Feeling bolder, she unsnapped his jeans.

            Lance pulled back and looked at her, "Are you sure you're up to this?  I don't want you to be in pain."

            Darcy brought her hands up to frame his face, "Lance, if we don't do this, I'm going to be in pain."

            He smiled down at her, "I'll be gentle."

            "You better be."

            "But, uh, we need some…protection."

            She returned to stroking his torso, feeling his excitement against her leg, "Check the drawer in the bedside table."
            He raised an eyebrow.

            "Allura thought we could use them since she and Keith aren't going to anymore."

            "God, I love my friends."  He said as he slid his hand over her stomach, careful to avoid her bandages.  "I'm only going to ask this one more time," he whispered as he kissed her neck.  "Are you sure?"

            "Dammit Lance, I am so sure I think I'll explode if we don't do it."

            He pulled his head up and grinned down at her, "You want me bad."

            She groaned in frustration, "Laaance!"

            "Hold on," he got off her to reach into the bedside table.

            An incessant beeping filled the quiet room.

            Lance swore and grabbed his communicator, "It's not mine."  He looked at her, questioningly, "Why is yours on?  You're still on medical leave, you shouldn't be paged."

            "It's in case Romelle goes in to labor, Allura's supposed to contact me."

            Lance snatched it off her desk and flipped it open, "How far apart are the contractions?"

            "What?"  A rather confused sounding Keith asked.

            "Is Romelle in labor?"

            "Uh, no Lance, but…"

            "Then leave us alone." He snapped it shut and turned it off.

            Darcy looked at him, shocked, "Oh God, what is he going to think?"

            "That we want some time alone?"

            "No, Lance, why did you do that?"

            He opened the drawer in the table and pulled out a small foil package, "Why do you think?"

            "He's our commanding officer and now he thinks…"

            "What? That we're making love?  Well, we're about to."  He looked down at her bright red face.  "You're so cute when you're embarrassed.  Do you have any idea how many times we've interrupted him and Allura?"

            "Really?"

            "Yeah, and we don't think any less of them.  We just think they are madly in love."  He leaned over and kissed her.  "Did we lose the mood?"

            She smiled at him, "No."
            "Good."  He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over her.  "I want to…"  He was interrupted by a knock on the door.  "Dammit.  Just ignore it."           

            "Lance, go see what he wants."

            "Alright, don't go anywhere, I will be right back."  He stood and closed his jeans before sliding the door partially open.  "I swear, Keith, this had better be…"
            Darcy watched as he stood up straight and cleared his throat.

            "Um, hold on a second, we'll uh, we'll be right with you."  Lance said before sliding the door shut and turning to her, very red in the face.  "Uh, Darcy, honey, were you expecting your parents?"

            Panic raced through her and her mouth fell open, "What?"

            "They're in the hallway right now with Keith."  Lance flipped the light switch and the room was flooded with light.  He quickly walked around, blowing out the candles and collected all the plates and piled them on the tray. 

            "What?"  She repeated.  "But I just talked to them last week.  They didn't say anything about coming here.  I told them I was doing fine, not to worry." 

            He grabbed his shirt and quickly buttoned it.     

            "Mr. and Mrs. Barlow, it's nice seeing you."  Lance said as he opened the door again.

            Darcy saw the condom sitting on the bed and quickly shoved it under her blanket.

            Her parents walked in to the room.  Her father looked furious and her mother worried.  Her sister, however, was very amused.  She looked from Lance to Darcy and gave her a thumbs up.

            "Mom, Dad, Becca, what are you doing here?"  She asked.

            Her mother crossed over and hugged her, Darcy winced when her mother inadvertently pressed against her chest.

            "Watch it," Lance stepped forward. "Her wound."

            Mrs. Barlow pulled back quickly, "Oh darling, I am so sorry.  The Garrison flew us out here to be with you."

            "I guess you're feeling better," Becca winked at her.

            Mr. Barlow glared at Lance.  He was a tall man, well over six foot, and built like a solid wall.  "What's going on here?"

            "Mom, Dad, you know Lt. Lance Collier, you spoke with him after I was, uh, injured.  Lance these are my parents and my sister, Becca."

            Lance offered his hand to Mr. Barlow, "It's a pleasure meeting you in person."

            "Did we interrupt something?"  Mr. Barlow never took his eyes off Lance.

            "We were celebrating, Dad.  I got out of the hospital today." 

            Keith cleared his throat.  Lance hadn't even noticed he had entered the room.  "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Barlow, Mrs. Barlow, Becca, I need to borrow my second-in-command."  He grabbed Lance's arm and pulled him toward the door.

            "It was nice seeing you, I'll talk to you later."  Lance said as they left.  When the door shut behind them, he fell against the wall.  "I cannot believe that just happened."

            Keith couldn't help but grin at his red faced friend, "I tried to warn you, but I guess you were too caught up in the moment to talk to me over the communicator."

            "When did they get here?"

            "About ten minutes ago."

            "Why didn't we know they were coming?"

            Keith rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, "Alright, Lance, here's the thing.  He, uh, he wanted it to be a surprise."
            Lance felt the hair rise on the back of his neck, "Who wanted it to be a surprise?"

            "McCormick."

            "He's here, isn't he?"

            Keith nodded, but grabbed Lance's arm before he could take off.  "Don't start anything, Lance.  It really was a nice thing for him to do."

            Angry heat filled Lance and he actually saw red, "No, Keith it wasn't.  He has a hidden agenda you don't know about.  Where is he?"

            Keith had seen this before, "Lieutenant, I am ordering you to stay away from him.  He is doing this to get under your skin and you're letting him win."

            Lance had never come so close to telling Keith where he could stick his orders.  "I just want to talk to him."

            "I'm not stupid, Lance.  This is just like it was back at the Academy, the only difference being that you have matured, he hasn't."

            Without a word, Lance took off down the hall toward Castle Control with Keith at his heels.  Jesse McCormick stood talking to Koran and Pidge.  In three strides Lance was beside them.

            "Collier," Jesse greeted him with a smirk.  "Nice to see you again.  I hear Darcy was released from the hospital."

            Faster than anyone could react, Lance had Jesse by the collar and pinned against the wall, "What don't you get, McCormick?  Why can't you leave her alone?"

            "Her parents were worried."

            "It's not your place to get involved."

            "Lance."  Keith said, warningly.

            "I wanted to show her there were no hard feelings between us."  Jesse said, a flicker of fear in his eyes.

            "She isn't going to go back to Terra, she's happy here.  I know you brought them here to try and convince her otherwise, that's low."

            "Lance!"  Keith said a little louder.

            "If she really is happy here, then you have nothing to worry about."

            Lance lowered his voice, "Do you want me to kill you?"

            "Lieutenant!  Stand down!"  Keith barked.

            Lance released Jesse, but stood nose to nose with him.  "If I catch you anywhere near her, you'll pay."

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            Darcy was busy answering her mother's questions.  "No, Ma, I'll be just fine.  Dr. Gorma said it won't be long before I'll be up and around."

            "I want to meet this Dr. Gorma."  Her father said.

            "Why don't you come home, let me take care of you?"  Her mother clutched her hand.

            "Really Mother, I'm fine.  Dr. Gorma is a wonderful doctor, I'm being very well cared for."

            "Is he the one who is really caring for you?"  Becca asked, her eyebrows raised.

            "Yes, who is this Lance Collier?"  Mr. Barlow asked.  "I take it there is more than just a working relationship going on here."

            She looked her father in the eye, returning his stern gaze with a defiant one.  "Yes there is."

            "I never understood why you broke up with Jesse McCormick.  He is such a nice boy."  Her mother commented.

            Darcy whipped her head around to look at her mother, "How do you know Jesse?"

            "He's the Garrison officer who brought us here.  He is so worried about you."

            "He's here?  Now?"  Darcy pushed herself up into a sitting position, looking for where Lance had put her communicator, spotting it on her desk.  "Becca, could you please hand me that."

            Mrs. Barlow watched Darcy flip open her communicator, turn it on and dial up Lance.  "It always amazed me how good you are with electronics."

            Lance stepped back from Jesse and snatched the communicator off his belt, "What?"  He snapped.

            Darcy gritted her teeth.  He had found Jesse.  "Lance, where are you?"

            His tone changed instantly and he turned away from Jesse, "What's wrong Darcy?  Are you okay?"

            "I'm fine.  Where are you?"

            "What's wrong, Darc?"

            "I know Jesse's here."

            Lance stiffened and chose his words carefully, "Don't worry about it, I don't think he's staying long."

            "I'd like to talk to him."

            "What?"

            "Bring him in here, I want to talk to him."

            Lance looked at Jesse, who smirked at him.  "I don't think that's a good idea."

            "Don't make me go over your head, Lieutenant."  Darcy said, warningly.

            Lance's hand tightened on the communicator, "Alright, we'll be right there."

            "Thank you."

            She snapped her communicator shut and looked at her mother, "Mom, could you please help me, I need to sit up."  Darcy pointed the pillows where Lance had thrown them on the floor.