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            "To be honest, sir, this is a very dangerous job, but Darcy knew that when she accepted the position."  Keith was saying to Darcy's father as Lance entered the rec room.  "She is currently on medical leave and she won't be flying again until Dr. Gorma gives her the all clear."

            "Where is Jesse?"  Mrs. Barlow asked.

            "He is in his quarters for the night."

            "Can you please tell me what is going on with him?"  She asked.

            Keith looked up as Lance entered the room.  He had changed his shirt and washed his face.  The bruise was starting show; he was going to have one hell of a black eye.

            "I can answer that," Lance said.  "Do you know what happened on Darcy's last mission?"

            Mrs. Barlow nodded, "She was helping to guard a planet in the Vartel Galaxy.  That's where she met Lt. McCormick.  Then she was offered this position and she came here."

            Lance pulled a chair over and sat beside Keith, "She really glossed over a few details."  He proceeded to tell them a cleaned up version of what had happened to Darcy and the trouble Jesse had been giving her lately.

            "But he seems like such a nice young man."  Mrs. Barlow protested.

            Keith spoke up, "I can attest to everything Lance has just said."

            "Why isn't anything being done to keep him away from her?  Can't the Garrison do anything about his harassment?"  Mr. Barlow asked.

            "She doesn't want any trouble; she just wants him to leave her alone."  Lance explained.

            "Darcy never could ask for help.  She always wanted to handle everything on her own."  Becca muttered.

            "Well, she has my help, whether she asks for it or not." Lance commented.

            Koran appeared at the door, "I have the paperwork you asked for, Your Highness."

            Allura accepted the paper her advisor held out, "Thank you, Koran."  She scanned the paper and handed it to Keith.  After reading over it, Keith passed it to Lance.

            "What's this?"  Lance asked.

            "Something that may help," Allura smiled at him.

            Lance looked down at it. "Is this legal?"
            "It's my planet."  Allura said, smugly.

            "You haven't signed it yet."

            "I wanted you and Darcy to look at it first and see if you agree with it."

            "When will it take effect?"

            "Tomorrow, as soon as he leaves."
            "What is it?"  Mr. Barlow finally asked.

            Lance handed the paper over to him.  "It's a royal decree forbidding Lt. Jesse McCormick from setting foot on Arus as long as Darcy is here."

            "Isn't that a bit extreme?"  Mrs. Barlow asked.

            "He can't seem to take a hint.  She's not well, Mrs. Barlow, and she can't handle stress right now.  I don't want him to show up unannounced again."
            "What if he does show up on Arus?"  Becca asked.

            "He will be arrested and placed in custody until a Garrison transport can remove him.  And it will go on his permanent record."  Keith explained.

            Mr. Barlow read the decree and sat silently staring at it a moment before looking up at Lance.  "I don't know what to say.  You feel this strongly about protecting Darcy?"

            Lance looked him straight in the eye, "Absolutely, sir."
            "Darcy is a part of our family now," Allura said.  "She means a lot to all of us and her safety is important."

            "If you'll excuse me," Lance stood and held out his hand for the decree.  "I'm going to see if Darcy is still awake."

            Darcy was lying in bed, the televiewer on a news channel for background noise.  She turned her head when the door opened and watched as Lance entered.

            "How're you feeling?"  He asked.

            "Really relaxed."

            "Oh yeah?"

            "I took a couple of the pain relievers.  I don't know what's in those pills, but I don't think I could stand right now if I wanted to."

            Lance smiled as he sat on the bed beside her, "So now would be the perfect time for me to take advantage of you?"

            She smiled back, "If you must."

            "Nah, I think I'll wait until you regain feeling below the neck."  His tone became serious.  "I want to discuss something with you."

            "What happened to your eye?"

            He pulled the decree out of his pocket, "I fell.  Allura had this drawn up.  It's a royal decree forbidding Jesse from ever being allowed to set foot on Arus as long as you're here."

            "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

            "He isn't going to let up as long as we're together."  Lance held the decree up, "Allura wanted to know what you thought of this before she signed it into action."

            "It just…it just seems so harsh."

            "If she signs this, then he won't bother us again."

            "You want her to sign it don't you?"

            "Well, since you won't let me take care of him, I guess the next best thing is to have the Queen of the planet do it."

            "You had words with Jesse, didn't you?" Darcy asked as she took the decree from him.

            Lance shrugged, "Don't worry about it."
            "I don't want you fighting him.  You could get in trouble."

            "Then have Allura sign this and get him out of our lives."

            She scanned the paper, "I can't believe this is legal.  You think the Garrison will go along with it?"

            "They have to.  Arus is a part of the Alliance and it is a decree from the ruling monarch."

            "You really want her to sign this, don't you?"

            Lance nodded.

            She smiled, "And I wouldn't have to deal with him ever again?"
            "As long as you're on Arus."

            "Alright."

            Lance grinned, "He is going to be out of our lives."

            Darcy closed her eyes and sighed, "Good."

            "I just want you to get better."

            "Me too.  Where are my parents?"

            "They're talking with Keith and Allura.  I, uh, told them about you and Jesse."

            Darcy blushed and opened her eyes, "You what?"

            "Not everything, just enough so they could understand our problems with him."

            She nodded, "I didn't want to tell them."

            A knock at the door interrupted them.

            Lance got up to answer it, Allura and Keith stood on the other side.

            "How're you feeling?"  Allura asked.

            "I'm alright."

            "Did Lance talk to you about the decree?"

            "Yes and I think it's a good idea."

            Allura smiled softly, "I'll sign it tonight and it'll go into effect as soon as he leaves tomorrow."

            "Where are my parents?"
            "Nanny is feeding them.  I'm putting them up in a couple of guest rooms and I told them we would take them in to town tomorrow.  They're very nice."

            Darcy smiled, "I like 'em."

            "Alright then, I'll take the decree, sign it, and have Koran notarize it.  You get some rest."  Allura patted her hand.

            "I will."

            "Good night guys."  Keith said as they left the room.

            "Will you stay?"  Darcy asked Lance.

            "Yeah.  We still have a movie to watch."

            "That's right."  Darcy watched as he lowered the lights and slipped the movie disk into the player.

            "But you're going to rest," Lance said as he took off his shoes and laid down beside her, taking her hand in his.

            "You never told me about my other surprise."  She whispered. 

            "What?"

            "Earlier you said you had another surprise for me and if I ate all my supper, you would tell me."

            Lance rolled on his side and propped his head up on his hand, "That's right.  Can you handle anymore surprises today?"

            "From you?  Yes."

            "Well, I talked to Keith and I was able to get some time off for your birthday."

            "My birthday?"

            "Yup, I figured that since it was a couple months away, you would feel up to taking a little trip."

            Her eyes lit up, "A trip?  Where?"

            "I thought we could take the weekend and go to this resort on the other side of Arus, they just finished rebuilding it last week.  It's beautiful and peaceful, you'll love it."

            "But what about Lotor?"

            "With Dante and Caleb, they're covered."

            A smile spread across her face, "You amaze me Lance.  I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."

            He leaned down and kissed her, "I was asking myself the same thing about you."

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            Darcy was sitting up in bed the next morning, finishing the breakfast Nanny had brought in.  She hadn't heard yet what had happened with Jesse.  As far as she knew he was slated to leave at ten.  Keith and Allura were going to present him with the decree, Koran would explain exactly what it meant and then he would be escorted to his ship by two armed guards. 

            A knock at her door interrupted her thoughts, "Come in."

            The door slid open and Becca walked in, "How're you feeling, Darcy?"

            "I'm okay.  What's up?"
            Becca crossed the room and sat on the side of the bed Lance had occupied the night before.  "I wanted to see how you were doing."

            "Where are Mom and Dad?"

            "Queen Allura and her husband took them into town.  Should I call King Keith or Captain Whitaker?"

            "Neither, just call him Keith.  Technically, he's not a king, he's a prince consort.  And you can call her Allura, you don't have to say Queen Allura."
            "I've never been around royalty before.  They seem really nice."
            "They are, they're great people.  All of them."

            "Especially Lance?"  Becca asked.

            Darcy smiled at her, "Did Dad send you in here to grill me?"

            "Nope, I'm here on my own.  He's cute."
            "Yeah."

            "Are you really in love with him?"
            "Is it that obvious?"
            "Well, he told Dad last night that he's in love with you and that you love him too."         

            Darcy's mouth fell open, "He just came right out and said that?"
            "Dad asked him what his relationship is with you and Lance looked him right in the eye and said he loved you."
            Darcy felt the heat spread to her face, "Did Dad kick his ass?"

            "I think he wanted to," Becca laughed.

            "He's a great guy, Becca."

            "What's it like having two guys fighting over you?"
            Darcy rolled her eyes.

            "You have two guys fighting over you, you're a pilot in the most elite force of the Galaxy Garrison, and you live in a castle.  I am so jealous."

            "You're over romanticizing it, Bec."

            "It is romantic."
            Darcy snorted, "We'll see how romantic you think it is after you get shot in the chest."

            "I talked to Dr. Gorma. The operation he performed on your lung is a relatively new procedure.  When you're completely healed, you should have 100% lung capacity.  We actually just studied it last month."

            "How're your classes going?"

            "Good."

            "Any idea where you're interning yet?"
            Becca shook her head, "I don't know.  I still have another semester."
            Darcy looked up when there was a knock on the door, "Come in."

            The door slid open and Lance walked in, "Good morning, Beautiful."

            "Hi.  What are you up to?"
            Lance smiled at Becca, "You didn't go into town with your parents?"

            "Nah, I wanted to see how Darcy was doing."
            "I can take you down later if you want."
            She smiled up at him, "Yeah that would be great."
            "Would you mind if I talked to your sister alone?"
            Becca stood, "I can tell when I'm not wanted.  Just behave yourself."
            "Why would we want to do that?"  Lance winked at her.
            "I'll talk to you later, Darcy."  Becca said as left the room.

            "What's up?"  Darcy asked as Lance stretched out on the bed beside her.

            "McCormick just left."
            "Oh."  Darcy didn't know what else to say.

            "He wasn't happy."

            "What happened?"
            "He tried to argue, but it was useless.  He promised to take this to his uncle and press charges against Arus and it's royal house."

            "What charges?"

            Lance shrugged, "There is nothing he can do.  This was a personal insult and he doesn't take those well.  The best thing he can do now is to just leave quietly and never come back. He's only embarrassing himself."

            Darcy slid over and laid her head on his shoulder, "I didn't want it to come to that, but I have to admit it feels really good to know I don't have to worry about him any more."

            He turned and kissed the top of her head, "If you would've just let me kill him when I wanted to, it wouldn't have gotten this far."
            She smiled, "You got to beat him up, that should be enough."

            "Yeah, defending your honor is hard work."

            Darcy turned her head up to look at him, "Defending my honor?"

            "Yeah, I kicked his ass for you."

            "My white knight."

            "Does that turn you on?"

            She laughed, "Oh yeah, nothing gets me hotter than some guy defending my honor."

            "Really?  I think I saw one of the castle guards looking at you, I could kick ass if you like."

            She reached up and slid her hand behind his head and pulled him down, "I love you."   She brushed her lips over his bruised eye.

            Lance leaned down and pulled her into a deep kiss, "I'm going to have to defend your honor more often."  He said when he pulled back.