Lance squared his shoulders and turned to Jesse, "Darcy would like to talk to you."

            Jesse straightened his uniform, "I know her better than you, Collier, I know what she wants out of life."

            Keith grabbed Lance's arm as he walked past, "Why don't I escort him to Darcy's room."

            "No," Lance said. "I'll take him."

            Keith lowered his voice, "You're thinking emotionally, Lance, not rationally."

            "She's weak and she's hurt, Keith.  I am not leaving her alone with him."

            Keith sighed, "Come on, Lt. McCormick.  We'll take you to her room."

            Darcy was sitting back against her pillows. Her heart was beating fast and a dull ache was beginning to spread through her chest.  Fear and anger drove her to call Jesse to her room.  She wanted to handle this, let Lance know that she could.  She did not need to be protected.         

            "Come in."  She said when there was a knock on the door.

            It slid open and Keith and Lance walked in, followed by Jesse.

            Mrs. Barlow smiled, "It's nice to see you again, Jesse."

            "And you, Mrs. Barlow."

            "Lance," Darcy said.  "Could you please take my parents to the rec room?"

            Lance crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "No."

            She glared at him, he stared right back.

            "Go, Lieutenant."  Keith said.

            "I'll be right back."  He said as he opened the door and stepped back to let the Barlows through.

            When he was in the hall, Mr. Barlow turned to him.  "What is your relationship with my daughter?"

            "I'm in love with her, sir."  Lance said solemnly, looking the older man straight in the eye.

            "You hardly know her."

            "I know her enough to know that I love her and she feels the same way."

            "But she is coming back to Terra."

            Lance raised his eyebrows, "Where did you hear that?"

            "Lt. McCormick.  He said he offered her a job in the Garrison offices."  Mr. Barlow said.

            "With all due respect, sir, Darcy loves what she is doing here and I don't think she is going to take him up on his offer.  Could you imagine her behind a desk, shuffling papers?  No.  She lives for adventure and you know that as well as I do.  I know that as her father you want her safe, but you can't stick her behind a desk.  She is too stubborn and spirited for that."

            "Wow," Becca said.  "You really do know Darcy."

            "We didn't want her to become a space explorer.  My father filled her head with so much nonsense about his adventures.  Her life is in danger, we can not allow that.  How do we know she isn't staying because you have made her feel as though she has to?"  Mr. Barlow asked.

            "Sir, Darcy is an adult and can think for herself.  If you try to make her quit, she'll only resent you."

            "He's right, Howard," Mrs. Barlow interjected.  "You know she only does what she wants to do, she doesn't have the patience to waste time on anything she doesn't enjoy."

            Mr. Barlow studied Lance, "I just want her safe."

            "If I had been there, I would have gladly stepped in front of that laser for her.  All I can say, sir, is that I will do everything in my power to make sure she isn't hurt again."  Lance said.

            Mr. Barlow nodded. 

****************************************   

            "Do you want me to leave?"  Keith asked.

            Darcy shook her head, "No, you can stay."

            "You wanted to talk to me Darcy?"  Jesse stepped forward, a smile on his face.

            The ache in her chest was beginning to throb with her heartbeat, "Jesse, I can not begin to tell you how angry I am.  What gives you the right to do this?"

            "I was concerned.  Your parents were contacted by the Garrison right after you were injured and they called daily to get an update.  When I heard about that, I arranged their trip here."

            "You had no right to do that!  You have no right to get involved in my life.  I was handling this, I spoke to them.  You did not need to get involved!"

            "They were terrified."  Jesse spoke slowly, as though he was addressing a child. 

            The pain grew and it was becoming difficult for her to breathe, "Why can't you get it through your head?  I don't want you in my life.  I don't want anything to do with you."

            Keith heard the wheezing in her voice and stepped forward, "Darcy?  Are you okay?"

            "No!  I was fucking shot!"

            "I know, honey," Jesse stepped closer to the bed.  "That's why I want to take you back to Terra, its safe there."

            "No, Jesse.  I want to stay here and that is the last time I am going to say it.  So leave, stay out of my life and don't ever try to contact me again.  You think you can get at Lance by coming after me, that's not going to happen.  You're like a jealous child who wants his friend's toy."
            The door slid open and Lance entered.  He saw Darcy, pale and breathing hard.  Shoving Jesse out of his way, he sat on the bed beside her, "Calm down, babe, you're breathing too hard."

            She leaned forward trying to control her breathing, "I want him to leave."

            Keith walked over and took Jesse's arm, "Come on, Lieutenant.  Let's go."

            "We'll discuss this when you're feeling better."  Jesse said as he walked toward the door with Keith.  "Why don't you talk about it with your parents?"

            "No Jesse."  She wheezed.

            Lance stood.  Keith saw what was coming and pulled Jesse out of the room.  When the door slid closed behind them, Keith pushed him up against the wall. "What is your problem, McCormick?  Do you have a death wish?  We are no longer in the Academy, it's time you grew up. Keep this up and Lance is going to beat the shit out of you and I don't think I'll be able to stop him.  But then I don't think I want to."

            "I can report you to the Garrison."  Jesse said.

            "You can't report anything if he rips your vocal chords out, which he'll do if you continue bothering her."  Keith let him go.

            Lance gently rubbed Darcy's back as she leaned forward, arms across her chest.  "Calm down, Darc.  Do you want me to call Dr. Gorma?"

            She shook her head and laid back against her pillows, tears in her eyes.  Her breathing was returning to normal, but the pain was still there, throbbing.  "Why can't he leave me alone?"

            "Don't worry about him.  I'll take care of it."  He assured her. 

            "I thought I could handle him, but he won't leave me alone."

            "I don't want you to even think about it.  Just relax.  If you keep getting upset like this you'll end up back in the hospital."

            She was quiet a moment, watching him.  "There is more to this than you're telling me."

            "What do you mean?"  He asked.

            "Lance, when I left my last assignment, Jesse wasn't even speaking to me.  He wanted nothing to do with me.  Now suddenly he is back in my life and making it miserable.  Why?  Something happened when you were back in the Academy, there was more than just one fight between you, wasn't there?"

            Lance scratched the back of his head and thought about what he was going to say.  "I knew Jesse in the Academy.  We had a few classes together and he had the dorm down the hall from me.  He was always an asshole, bragging about his uncle.  As you probably know, he was raised by his Uncle Josh after his parents died when he was ten. His uncle was always traveling and he made up for it by overindulging Jesse in everything he wanted.  When his uncle wasn't around, he quickly learned he couldn't have everything just handed to him.

            "We didn't get along from the start, I guess our personalities just clashed.  We kind of had an unfriendly competition between us.  I beat him in a swimming competition and then Angie Frank went out with me instead of him, stupid little things.  I did better in classes than he did and I became friends with Keith and Sven, two of the most popular guys at the Academy."

            "He was jealous."  Darcy whispered.

            Lance shrugged, "I guess.  It was stupid.  It's like he decided to hate me for no reason.  Then, well, he went too far.  My sister, Leslie, came to visit the Academy my final year.  She was trying to decide what she wanted to do, she was thinking of leaving high school and starting late at the Academy, so she came to visit.  Lawrence had returned and was living off campus, he was working on getting his teaching degree, and she stayed with him.  I took her around, introduced her to some of my teachers and friends, she sat in on a couple of my classes."

            Darcy watched as his hands clenched into tight fists, resting them on his thighs.

            "I had a late class on Wednesdays and Lawrence had a lecture to attend, so she was going to hang out in my room until I got back at nine. Sven and Keith went in to check on her and they left the door open while she watched TV.  At this point, Jesse had decided he hated me.  When he walked past my room and saw her sitting in there alone, he walked in and introduced himself as one of my friends.  Since I didn't want her talking to him, I just didn't mention him, so she had no idea who he was.  They got to talking and he made himself comfortable on my bed.  She didn't tell me the whole story, but what I heard was that he came onto her and Keith ran in when he heard her yell and found him on the floor clutching himself and whimpering in pain."

            "What happened?"  Darcy asked, resting her hand on his fist. 

            He unfurled his hand and laced his fingers through hers, "I had taught her a few self defense moves, but she just fell back on the classic 'Kick Him Where It Counts' move.  I wanted to report him, I mean, geez, she was fourteen."

            "She didn't want you to?"

            "No, but Keith and I convinced her otherwise.  We took her to the dean, Major Gregory, and told him what happened.  At first he lectured me on leaving a girl alone in the boy's dorm."

            Darcy's mouth fell open, "What?"

            Lance shook his head, "We were permitted to have girls in the dorms until ten on weeknights, so that argument fell flat.  He just didn't want to have to deal with General Josh McCormick."

            "What happened?  Couldn't your father do something."
            "As far as I know, my father still doesn't know what happened.  Leslie wanted to go to the Academy and she was afraid he wouldn't let her.  Jesse was given ten demerits and put on probation."

            "That's all?"

            "Well," Lance smiled at her slyly.  "I had words with him."
            "Is that when you gave him two black eyes?"

            "Two black eyes?  Hell, I also broke his nose, split his lip, and made him cry like a baby." He said proudly.      

            "What did he do to you?"
            "Bloodied my knuckles."

            "I can see where you would hate him, but he brought everything on himself.  I just don't understand his hatred of you."
            "It might not have helped that Keith, Sven, and I let it get around that he tried to have his way with a fourteen year old girl and she kicked his ass.  That didn't help his social life.  I think it was almost two years before a girl at the Academy would give him the time of day and for over a year, all the guys knew him as the one who was taken down by a little girl."

            "I guess I'm just another way to get back at you."

            Lance squeezed her hand gently, "I'm sorry he put you in the middle of this.  It's been years, I never thought he would still be angry with me."

            "It's not your fault, Lance."

            He reached up and brushed a lock of hair off her cheek, "You're breathing better."

            She nodded.

            "Are you in pain?"

            "I'm alright."

            "That's not what I asked."

            The pain was still there, "It's not so bad."

            "Don't be afraid to take the pills Dr. Gorma gave you.  I hate seeing you in pain."

            She smiled softly, "I know."

            Lance stood, "Why don't you try and get some sleep.  I'm going to find out what's going on with your parents."

            "Why don't you stay with me?"

            He looked down at her, she was pale, her eyes wide and wet.  She looked nervous.  "Honey, he isn't going to bother you again."

            "I know."  She whispered.

            "I'll be back, as soon as I talk to Keith.  Turn on the televiewer and relax."  Lance handed her communicator to her.  "Keep this within reach, if he comes back, page me and I'll be right here."

            She nodded.

            He leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I'll be back.  Try and sleep.  I'll lock the door."

            Lance waited until the door slid closed behind him and punched in the code to lock it from the outside.  After checking to make sure his communicator was on, he headed toward the rec room.  A movement caught his eye as he passed the observation deck.  He couldn't believe his luck.  Jesse was standing beside the window, talking low into a communicator

            "McCormick.  What are you doing in here?"  Lance stepped into the room.

            Jesse turned to face him. "I needed to make a call and I wanted privacy."

            "We need to talk."

            "What?"

            "I want you to stay away from Darcy.  Don't make me say it again.  Your problem is with me, not her.  She can't handle stress right now."

            "Which is precisely why she should come back to Terra.  She can take time to heal properly, without the stresses she has here."
            Lance rolled his eyes, "She isn't going back to Terra."
            "Because she doesn't want to or because you have made her feel like she has to stay?"

            "You don't know what she wants, McCormick.  You can't seem to get over what happened in the Academy."

            "I don't know what you're talking about."

            "Don't play stupid with me."

            "It seems like the only way I can talk to you is by lowering myself to your intellect."  Jesse smirked, proud of his comeback.

            Lance took a step closer to him, "I'm not playing games here, stay away from her."

            "And if I don't?"

            Before Jesse could react, Lance had him pinned to the wall between the windows.  His hand around Jesse's throat, he leaned in and whispered, "I'll beat the shit out of you."
            A small croaking sound escaped Jesse's throat.

            Lance let go and watched him gasp for breath, "Your final warning, McCormick."

            Jesse stepped forward, "Don't threaten me, Collier."
            "You want to finish this?  Let's do it.  Here and now."  Lance widened his stance and brought his hands up.

            Jesse swung out with a left hook, Lance blocked it easily and delivered a quick blow to his stomach.  He watched as Jesse pressed a hand to his abdomen and stumbled back.

            "Had enough?"  Lance asked.

            "Just getting started."  Jesse lowered his head and charged him.

            Lance caught his arm and flipped him to the floor, "If I remember correctly, I was always better in hand-to-hand than you were."

            Jesse slowly got to his feet and swung out, catching Lance in the chin.  He stumbled back, but kept his feet.

            "I'm just getting started."  Jesse repeated.

            Lance blocked his next blow, but was hit square in the face when Jesse's left hand swung up.  He fought back, getting two good hits in.  "Dammit, McCormick, this ends now.  Get back on your ship, get off this planet, and don't ever come back."

            Jesse was breathing hard, "You can't tell me what to do."

            "Why won't you leave me alone?  What do you want from me?"

            "Darcy."

            Blinded with rage, Lance brought his fist up on Jesse's face, "Don't even say her name.  Get the fuck off this planet and don't ever look back."
            "Lieutenant!"   

            Lance looked up and saw Keith and Hunk standing in the doorway.  Very slowly the angry red haze faded from his view, feeling warm blood ooze from his nose, he quickly swiped his hand across his upper lip.

            "What is going on here?"  Keith asked.  "One of the maids came running in saying she saw a couple of men fighting.  This is totally unacceptable behavior."

            Lance didn't say anything, knowing that if he did speak at that moment it would be something he regretted later.

            "I was in here, making a phone call when Collier came in and picked a fight."  Jesse said as Hunk helped him to his feet.

            Keith sighed, "Hunk, take Lt. McCormick to Dr. Gorma to get cleaned up, then take him to a guest room in the west tower.  Stay there, McCormick, that's an order.  I will come for you later."

            Jesse looked as though he was going to say something, but stopped when Keith gave him his best 'I am in charge, don't bother arguing with me' look.

            Keith crossed to Lance and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, "Clean yourself up."

            "He had it coming, Keith."  Lance said as he tilted his head back and tried to staunch the flow of blood.

            "I know he did, Lance, and as your friend I wish I had been there to see it and cheer you on.  But as your commanding officer…dammit Lance, if he reports you, you could be in a whole lot of trouble."

            "I can handle it."

            "Go get cleaned up and come to the rec room.  We've been getting the third degree from Darcy's parents about you two and I think you're the one who should talk to them."

            Lance looked at him, waiting for his punishment.

            Keith ran his hand through his hair, knowing what Lance was waiting for.  "I'll deal with all that later, just get cleaned up."