"Robotech - To The Stars: Aftermath - The First Year"
Chapter 8

January 25th, 2015

Lisa felt someone tapping her shoulder and opened her eyes and let them focus, then she saw Kim standing there motioning for Lisa to follow her. Lisa got out of bed and looked back to see Rick still sleeping soundly. Kim took a second to gawk at the shirtless Rick then when she saw that Lisa was waiting for her to she quickly led the way to the living room.
"Reinhardt wants us to meet him in his office in an hour. He says he has new orders for us," explained Kim.
Lisa rubbed her eyes, still trying to wake up and said tiredly, "Finally that guy shows up. No one knows where he's been for the past few days. Alright, let them know we'll be there."
Kim saluted and started walking back to her room.
"Kim, wait a minute. You're not limping," said a surprised Lisa.
"I know. Go figure. I woke up this morning and my ankle felt like brand new. Must've been the Oidua or the sedative or both, I don't know. What about you Lisa? How are you feeling this morning?"
Lisa remained perfectly still for a few moments, trying to assess her own condition. She looked at Kim and said, "I feel fine. No hangover or anything like that, but..." Lisa looked back to towards her bedroom and remembered Rick. She hung her head and Kim came over to comfort her.
"Lisa don't worry. Look, Rick is still here with you. So maybe you got a little bit out of control yesterday, it wasn't your fault and he knows it."
"I know but..." stammered Lisa.
"No buts! Listen, why don't I tell them that we'll be half an hour late, so that way you can take a little time to spend it with your man," suggested Kim with a wink.
"I can't, I..."
"Lisa! Don't start any of that insecure crap on me again. Ok, how about this. Maybe you're still a bit afraid to face him right now. How about, on our way home we go stop in town and see if we can't pick up dinner and a present for Rick or something. You can come back here, since I am going to Sam and V's place for dinner, so you two will be alone."
Lisa nodded her head and Kim smiled in triumph. Lisa headed back to her room and went to the bed and pulled the covers over Rick, who was still sleeping peacefully. "I'm so sorry," Lisa whispered quietly and sadly, then headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day ahead of her.
Forty-five minutes later, Lisa emerged from the bathroom ready for work. She looked at the bed again and found it empty. A slight wave of panic came over her and she walked quickly to the living room to look for Rick. He wasn't there. She headed into the small kitchenette area and didn't find him there either. She sat on the couch, somewhat dejected, and waited for Kim.
Five minutes later Kim emerged from her room wearing her new uniform, which had finally arrived last night. It was mostly navy blue and had white trim and she had her Commander stripes on her cuffs. It looked much better than the baby blue and red uniforms that the Trio had had, but Vanessa was still waiting for her new Captain's uniform.
Kim saw Lisa worried look and quickly walked over to her and handed her a piece of paper and said, "Here, Rick told me to give this to you and tell you that he will be back tonight after work."
Lisa breathed a sigh of relief after she read the note and Kim socked her in the shoulder and said, "See! I told you, nothing to worry about! He's smitten with you! He can't keep away from you. So, uh...what time should I stay out until later?"
"Huh?" said a puzzled Lisa.
Kim rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, you know! Like, should I just sleep at Sam and V's for the night so that way you and Rick can be alone?"
It was Lisa's turn to roll her eyes as she said, "Kim. Look, it's alright, you don't have to stay at Sammie's and Vanessa's tonight. Rick will probably go back to his apartment sometime around midnight."
Kim held up her hands, "Alright, alright. If you insist, but don't say I didn't warn you if I happen to come barging in on anything. Ok, are you ready, let's go so we can get out of that dumb meeting and go have some breakfast, I'm starving!"
Kim grabbed a laptop bag off the nearby table and shoved it at Lisa then grabbed another one from the other side of the room along with a stack of papers and headed towards the door, she turned back around when she realized Lisa hadn't followed her and scolded, "What are you waiting for? Come on! It's time to go kick some brass ass! You're an Admiral now, no second-guessing yourself. Head up high and walk confidently, like you own the whole planet. Come on come on, confidence now, let's go!"
Lisa shook her head in amusement and followed her to the door, "Since when did you become a drill sargeant?"
"Since they made me your aide," retorted Kim. "Now come on no time for chit-chat let's go because I'm hungry!"
Lisa let out a short laugh and followed Kim down the hallway.



* * * * * * *

Rick tugged at his turtleneck one more time, making sure that all the bruises on his neck were concealed as best as possible. A few minutes later he heard a knock at his door and went to answer. Max was standing there, along with a normal-sized Miriya, who still had her arm in a sling.
"Miriya, hey, it's great to see you back to your normal size," said Rick with a smile.
"I am grateful to be back to my normal size, I've missed Dana greatly," said Miriya motherly.
"Hey, what about me?" teased Max.
"Yes Maximilian I've missed you too," said Miriya as she gave Max a kiss on the cheek.
"So Rick, ya ready to go?" said Max with a clap of his hands.
"Yea, let's get going," responded Rick.
When everyone was settled into the jeep, Max in the driver's seat, Miriya in the passenger's seat, and Rick sitting in the back seat behind Max, Max started the motor and asked, "Hey Rick so how's Lisa doing? I heard that she had a meeting with Hialeah yesterday."
Rick remained quiet for a moment then mumbled, "Yeah, she did, she and Kim met with Hialeah yesterday."
"And, so how'd it go? Hialeah's a tough one to impress, but once she's impressed, she'll bend over backwards to help you," responded Max.
Rick didn't say anything and just looked at the floor. He remembered how upset Lisa was the night before and only had concerns for her, not Hialeah or anything else.
"Rick, what happened to your neck?!" said Miriya.
Before he could reply, Miriya had grabbed his turtleneck and pulled it down so she could get a better look at the bruises that were on Rick's neck. "Max, stop the car, look at this," Miriya ordered.
Rick thought to try and pull away from Miriya but knowing that she was still injured made him resign and let the Sterlings scrutinize his bruises.
Rick, knowing that he could not lie nor avoid having to eventually tell them, said, "Oidua," in a monotone voice and cast his eyes down to the floor.
"Oidua?!" Miriya then mumbled something in Zentraedi and looked at the bruises again and said in a tone more to herself than to Rick, "These bruises look as if someone tried to strangle you. But only Zentraedi drink Oidua, it would be crazy for micronians to drink it because they can't get a hold of it anyways, it's only reserved for those Zentraedi who are of high rank or...Hialeah..."
Max looked at her puzzled, "Hialeah? What's she got to do with this?"
Rick felt Miriya loosen her grip on his turtleneck so he took the opportunity to slump back in his seat and burst out saying, "Lisa and Kim went to see Hialeah and she gave them Oidua, and Lisa didn't want to offend Hialeah so she drank it. She doesn't show any signs of it affecting her until we're on the couch kissing, then somehow she gets super-strong and aggressive and I make the mistake of pulling away from her which sets her off even more and she starts strangling me then suddenly her mood swings and she doesn't know what she's doing and so Jean comes over and we take Lisa home and give her a sedative and it seemed to have wiped out any memory of her Oidua episode and she sees my neck and gets so upset because she thinks I'm afraid of her and...and...JUST FOR ONCE I'D LIKE TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH HER WHERE NOTHING GOES WRONG AND NO ONE INTERRUPTS US AND IT CAN JUST BE ME AND HER ALONE TOGETHER..."
Rick had shouted his last sentence and was now slumped in his seat with his head resting back on the headrest and his hands over his face, as if he were suffering from a headache and trying to fight it off.
"I'm sorry," Rick said quietly. "It's just that...everytime we spend some time together something comes up or goes wrong and each time that happens, especially after yesterday, I can see the fear in her eyes and I just feel so...so...USELESS."
Max and Miriya looked at each other then Max said, "Rick, why don't you take the day off. Miriya is still grounded because of her shoulder, she can take over for you today, just tell her what needs to be done and she can do it."
"Max is right Rick. Please, let me take over for you today, otherwise I'd have nothing to do but watch the patrols take off," said Miriya, backing up her husband's suggestion.
Rick looked at the both of them then managed a small smile, "Thanks guys."
"Any time Rick," returned Miriya with a smile.
Rick smiled again, Miriya had barely reached the halfway point to sounding or behaving completely like a normal 'micronian' person, but as the days passed, she started picking up idioms one by one and it always brought a smile to everyone's face.
Max dropped off Rick and Miriya at Claudia's office and after about an hour of orientation, Rick felt that Miriya had a good handle on things and decided to go look for Lisa or Kim, since wherever one of them was, the other was sure to be closeby.
Rick was told by Kim's secretary that Lisa and Kim were still in a meeting with Reinhardt but the secretary willingly gave Rick the conference room number and even went so far as to explain what type of waiting room it had so that he could be sure to find a place to sit comfortably as he waited for the meeting to end.
It was nearing lunchtime and Rick hadn't had breakfast and was already very hungry but he didn't want to get up and go to the cafeteria for fear of missing Kim and Lisa, so he bought a candy bar from the vending machine and continued to wait patiently.

Overhead on the catwalk, Major Edwards was walking gingerly along, still suffering from a headache as a result of his injury in Costa Rica. He stopped a moment to rest and as he looked down he caught sight of Rick sitting on a chair below. Edwards walked over to the other side of the catwalk so he could get a better look at Rick and watched as Rick got up quickly and looked at something down the corridor. Edwards took a few steps so he could peer in the direction that Rick was looking and saw several people file out of one of the conference rooms, then he saw Reinhardt leave the room and thought that was the last person when he caught sight of Kim and Lisa passing through the door and closing it behind them. Edwards continued to watch as Lisa, seeing Rick, stopped in her tracks. Rick walked towards her quickly as Kim seemed to be looking around, making sure no one was watching, then moved out of the immediate area so that Rick and Lisa were alone.
Edwards watched and saw Rick take Lisa's hand then Lisa seemed to be saying something but Rick cut her off by kissing her. After they broke their kiss Lisa carressed Rick's cheek. Then Kim went back up to them and handed Lisa a phone and Rick stuck his hands in his pocket and waited off to the side.
Edwards had seen enough and let out a small growl, "So. The little flyboy, always in the right place at the right time to receive all the awards and medals has now landed himself the biggest prize of all, the Admiral. Well, you better watch your back Hunter! T.R. Edwards doesn't forget a face, especially one that left him behind to die!" Edwards walked away, mumbling to himself.



* * * * * * *

"Hey Vanessa, I was thinking that Valentine's Day was coming up and maybe it would be good to have some type of base party, you know, to cheer everyone up," said Sammie warily. She was expecting Vanessa to scold her for thinking of parties at a time when everything was up in the air. She watched Vanessa look at some papers and wondered if she hadn't heard her and was about to repeat her idea when Vanessa put down her papers and said, "You know Sammie, I think that's a good idea."
"You do?" asked Sammie, wondering if she had heard Vanessa correctly.
"Yes I do. Everyone is so down right now. We've been in this type of situation before, having to rebuild all over again, but this time it seems the fight and hope have gone out of everyone, it's like they've given up. I think part of that has to do with the loss of Gloval, not to mention the SDF-1," replied Vanessa.
"And, the timing would be right, because I've heard that they will be planning a memorial for Gloval some time in March or April. If people can at least be a little bit cheered up for Valentine's Day, then they won't be so depressed when spring comes around, well, at least I would hope it would work out that way," continued Vanessa.
Sammie stood up, "Alright then, I'll put together a committee and start right away, oh, after I get approval of course."
"Don't worry, I'm sure Lisa will authorize it, and I'm sure Reinhardt won't have any objections. The only one to worry about is Maistroff but you can get him off your back by simply putting Antell on the committee," said Vanessa as she waited for the reaction she knew would come.
"NO WAY!! There's no way I'm going to let Ant-HELL on the committee, she'll really drive me crazy for sure! I'll take my chances with Maistroff," said Sammie as she crossed her arms.
Vanessa laughed, "Have it your way."
"So Vanessa, why'd you ask me to come here?"
"Oh, that's right. Listen Sammie, I need to know who was on local VT patrol duty right before Khyron attacked and I would like to ask them a few questions."
Sammie shrugged, "Sure, that shouldn't be a problem, I'll get back to you with the reports when we get home, is that ok?"
"Sure that's fine, thanks Sammie."
Sammie paused before she headed out the door and asked, "V, are you getting any closer to find out what happened?"
Vanessa looked up at her then took off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes, "Well, there's a few leads to follow up on, but nothing yet, really."
Sammie smirked, "Don't worry, you can do it! Leave it to Leeds to follow up on the leads!"
Vanessa rolled her eyes, "Sammie, that wasn't funny."
Sammie pouted, "I know, but I thought I'd try anyways. See you later."
"Wait, Sammie, I lied, it was funny."
Sammie smiled then closed the door behind her.



* * * * * * *

"Lisa, I have the rest of the day off, can't you take the rest of the day off too," Rick was saying as they still stood in the hallway just outside of the conference room.
Lisa looked at him sadly, she wanted nothing more than to stay in his arms for the rest of the day, but she had another round of meetings that would probably keep her occupied until 4pm.
"Rick, I'm sorry, I can't. I will busy until later this afternoon," Lisa said regretfully.
Lisa saw the disappointment on Rick's face then quickly added, "Will you wait for me at my place? I'll try and be there as soon as I can."
Rick's face started to lighten up as Kim added, "That's a good idea Rick, here take my key."
Rick took the key with a smile and called over his shoulder, "Don't worry about dinner, I'll have that ready by the time you get home."
Kim sighed dreamily as she watched Rick hurry off, "Oh Lisa, you're so lucky to have such a sweet, handsome guy to take care of you! It took him long enough but at least he realizes where he belongs now."
Lisa sighed fretfully and Kim asked, "Are you going to tell him tonight?"
"No. I think I'll wait," replied Lisa.
Kim looked at Lisa and said, "Don't wait too long, just make sure you tell him before he finds it out from someone else."
"I know," said Lisa as she stared at the ground.
"Hey, come on Lisa, don't worry about it now then. You're going to have a nice romantic dinner and evening with Rick so just put everything else out of your mind and enjoy the evening later. Now, let's go and find Sammie and or Vanessa so we can go to lunch before our next meeting, I'm starving!"
Lisa managed to crack a small smile and retort, "Is that all you think about? Food?"
Kim gave her a mischievious smile and answered, "Not quite, I only think about two things, and food is one of them, the other thing I think about is, men, as you might have noticed by now!"
Lisa shook her head as she hurried to catch up with Kim, who had already taken off down the hall.

A few minutes later they heard a familiar voice coming towards them saying, "So, I think if we can have the report ready by 3pm, Maistroff will be pleased. Oh, and don't forget to send a copy over to Lisa... I mean Admiral Hayes."
"Hey Sammie, it's not nice to talk about Lisa behind her back," said Kim jokingly as Sammie came into view after rounding the wide corner.
Kim stopped in her tracks when she saw Antell closely following behind Sammie. Kim held her head up straight and confident and waited to see what Antell would do.
Upon seeing Lisa, Antell snapped a crisp salute and waited for Lisa's reply. Lisa returned a slow, almost wary salute as Sammie and Kim waited for Antell's next move.
"Good afternoon, Admiral Hayes," said Antell almost excitedly.
"Good afternoon, Lieutenant Antell," returned Lisa in a friendly tone.
Antell gaped for a moment, obviously surprised and pleased that Lisa knew who she was.
Sammie, to stupified at Antell's behavior, said to Kim and Lisa, "We're off to lunch, want to join us?"
"Yes, let's all go to lunch, I know this great new little taco stand that's just 5 minutes from here," interjected Antell.
Sammie, realizing what she had done, which was to unintentionally invite Antell to lunch with them, pulled every resource of willpower she had in order not to groan outloud.
Kim thought it was best not to say anything she looked to Lisa for a reply. Lisa, hearing all the stories about Antell, was taken by surprise at her contradictory behavior and looked around and everyone and finally said, "I don't have any objection."
Antell, pleased with the answer, headed down the corridor saying, "Great, I'll drive. The food is great."
Sammie let Antell go on ahead a few steps as she turned back to Kim and Lisa and slapped her hands to her cheeks and pretended to scream. [Author's note: Picture McCauly Culkin doing that famous slap-and-scream in the Home Alone movies :) ]
Sammie hurried after Antell and Lisa started to follow when Kim grabbed hold of her arm and said, "Wait a minute, Admiral's don't eat at TACO STANDS!"
"This one does," replied Lisa.
Kim kept hold of her arm, "Come on Lisa. Taco stand, Admiral. That pair of words doesn't go to together."
"So I suppose the correct pair of words should be, Bistro, Admiral. Is that right?" asked Lisa.
"Yes, something like that," returned Kim.
Lisa started walking so that they wouldn't fall too far behind Antell and Sammie and said, "You're talking sterotypes here. I am not a stuffed shirt, nor do I want to be known as one. I want to be a down-to-earth, approachable commander. Someone my people feel comfortable talking to and respect."
"You mean like Rick?" asked Kim.
Lisa smiled, her eyes sparkling a bit, "Yes, like Rick. That's something I always admired about him, how he commanded the respect and loyalty of the people under him by just being on the same level with them, not above them."
"Alright then, even so, even if you weren't an Admiral, you are from a wealthy family, one used to those posh places and stuff like that," countered Kim.
"The word is 'was', not 'are'. There is no more Hayes family dynasty anymore, no more wealth, no more posh places. It's just me and my little group of close friends, family. And what's good enough for them is certainly good enough for me," answered Lisa sincerely.
Kim chuckled, "Yea, that's the answer I was expecting."
Lisa stopped and halted Kim as well, "Wait a minute, you set me up, you were just testing me!"
Kim giggled gleefully, "You bet I was!"
Lisa shook her finger at Kim and smiled, "I'll get you back one of these days."
Kim took a defensive stance and said toughly, "Bring it on, I'm ready!"
Lisa rolled her eyes and started walking a bit faster to catch up with Sammie and Antell and Kim jogged after her and said quickly, "Make sure you don't sit next to Sammie, she doesn't handle beans very well."

The four women arrived at the taco stand and managed to grab the last vacant table out in the patio-like area. The tables around them were filled with maintenance crewmen and VT-related personel. As the women took their seats they noticed a lot people were watching them.
Kim elbowed Lisa in the arm and whispered, "See, I told you Admirals don't belong at taco stands!"
Lisa didn't reply and picked up her fork and began cutting into to her Enchillada. Antell suddenly spoke up and said, "Admiral Hayes, do you know Lynn Minmei?"
Kim looked at her own Enchillada plate and wondered if she shouldn't pick it up and throw it Antell and Sammie stopped biting into her burrito, resulting in some beans and rice falling onto her uniform.
Lisa, her fork, halting only for a split second, continued to carve off a piece as she said calmly, "Yes, I know her a little. We've met on several occassions before."
"Really?! I met her yesterday, it was one of the happiest days of my life! I'm such a huge fan of her and Lynn Kyle!" said Antell excitedly.
Lisa just smiled as she tried to eat her Enchillada but Antell continued. "Don't you think Lynn Kyle is the most handsomest man you ever have seen?!!
Lisa smiled but said nothing and then took a bite of her Enchillada.
Antell opened her mouth to say something more when Sammie beat her to it, "Lieutenant, you'd better hurry up and eat your food, we only have 15 more minutes left before we have to return to the base."
Antell flashed an angry look for a mere split second then replaced it with a small smile, one of the few anyone had ever saw and obediently started eating her lunch.
Kim watched Antell for a few seconds then turned her attention back to her own lunch. As she was looking around the tables she caught sight of Lieutenant Montgomery at a table with two other people, obviously still working on housing assignments, since there several sheets of paper litered the table.
"Lisa look, there's Lieutenant Montgomery again. Poor woman, she can't even get a moment's rest to have a quiet lunch," said Kim as she pointed to Montgomery's table.
Lisa observed for a moment and it was only too obvious that Montgomery was stressed out and that her friends were trying in vain to get her to put down her work and eat. Lisa wiped her mouth with the napkin and got up from her seat, telling Kim that she'd be right back, then headed off towards Montgomery's table.
"Hello there Lieutenant Montgomery," said Lisa warmly.
Montgomery raised her head with a startled expression on her face, then she and her tablemates jumped out of their seats and saluted and said, "Good afternoon Admiral Hayes, ma'am!"
Lisa was slightly embarrassed, since they had greeted her rather loudly and people at the nearby tables were now looking at them. Lisa pulled out the vacant chair and asked, "May I?" and Montgomery, still seemingly frightened, shook her head and sat down quickly after Lisa had been seated.
"I have heard that this job is rather overwhelming for you. Do you have anyone helping you?" asked Lisa.
Montgomery shook her head no, still looking quite afraid.
Lisa, realizing that Montgomery was afraid of her, tried her best to sound as friendly and calm as possible and continued, "Lieutenant Montgomery, I cannot understand why they gave you such a daunting task without anyone to help you. Why don't I assign a few people to help you out? I think that would lighten your load a bit."
"You would really do that?" said Montgomery, nearly whispering.
"Of course, in fact, I'll do that right now. Your friends here? What are they currently doing?" asked Lisa.
"We are drivers at the moment, but we are really MP's, just like Montgomery," answered a husky man in his early 30's.
"Do you think you could help out Lieutenant Montgomery with her work?"
"I reckon we could ma'am," answered a woman sitting to Lisa's right.
Lisa nodded, "Very well then, let me just make a few phone calls and we'll have you reassigned to Lieutenant Montgomery."
"Thank you ma'am!"
Lisa patted her pockets for her phone and realized she had left it at her table and was about to get up and go back and get it when she heard someone scamper up to her right side and then saw a hand holding out her phone. She took the phone and looked up, it was Kim, fork still in her mouth. Kim saluted then went back to the table and stole an Enchillada off of Lisa's plate.
Lisa placed her calls and got up to leave and Montgomery and her friends stood up and saluted. As Lisa started to walk away, Montgomery blurted out rather loudly, "Thank you Admiral! I really appreciate it. Thank you for caring about a lowly MP like myself."
Lisa stopped in her tracks and noticed that everyone within earshot was staring at her. She looked at Montgomery again and saw a glimmer of hope on the face of someone who seemed to have been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Lisa walked back to the table and told Montgomery, "Lieutenant Montgomery, you are not lowly. You are as important as I am and everyone else. Please don't think so negatively about yourself. Now, put away those papers for awhile and eat your lunch, it's getting cold." Montgomery saluted as Lisa walked away.
Lisa walked away feeling happy despite everything going on recently. She was a bit surprised she had done what she just did and put it all down to one of the many things she had learned from Rick. Be nice to those around you, especially those who desperately need to be shown an act of kindness. You don't belittle yourself by being kind, you make yourself stronger, and you gain new friends and respect. This was all somewhat new to Lisa, she had been so aloof and self-absorbed with her own problems for so long that she really never stopped to think that there were people out there who were worse off than her. By simply helping out Montgomery, Lisa felt better about herself as well, and she reached her table wearing a smile.
"I don't believe it, Montgomery actually put down her papers for once," said Kim with amazement.
Lisa smiled, "Well, hopefully with the new help I assigned to her, she won't be as stressed out as she was."
"That was very kind of you Admiral," said Antell.
Lisa looked down at her plate and saw that all but half of an Enchillada was missing. She turned her head slowly and looked at Kim.
"Uh...well, Lisa, I didn't want them to get cold and I was really hungry..." said Kim trying to justify her actions.
"Well, it's ok, we have to get going now anyway," answered Lisa.
Everyone got up and headed back to the base.

As they dropped off Sammie and Antell at Sammie's office, Kim reminded Sammie, "Don't forget, have an extra plate ready for me for dinner. I'll be over at 6pm."
"Ok, how long will you be staying," asked Sammie.
Kim folded her arms and said slyly, "Well, that all depends on how cozy Rick and Lisa get."
"Kim," said Lisa warningly.
"Alright, what was it you said? Around midnight?" asked Kim.
Lisa shook her head and Sammie chimed in, "Oh, ok that's good, you can help us finish unpacking and decorating.
Kim made a sour face and Sammie added, "See you guys later. Lisa, you and Rick have a good evening tonight."
Before Lisa could reply Sammie closed the door. Kim and Lisa turned around to head to their next meeting when they nearly bumped into Edwards.
"Ladies, good afternoon," Edwards said with a slight bow of his head, then continued walking down the hall.
Kim made a face at Edwards back and stuck her middle finger at him as he continued walking away.
Lisa slapped Kim's hand, "Don't do that! For all we know, he might have eyes in the back of his head!"
"He's so creepy, I'm sure he does," retorted Kim as she and Lisa walked off in the opposite direction.



* * * * * * *

It was now 4pm and Rick was waiting nervously on the couch. He was expecting Lisa to come home any minute and flipped through the channels on the tv without really paying attention to anything in particular.
Dinner was keeping warm in the oven and Rick had a gift-wrapped box sitting on the table. Inside was a shirt, or sweater, he didn't know how to classify it. He had seen it while passing a store near the market and thought it would look good on Lisa. It wasn't anything fancy, rather simple actually, but he thought it would look good on her and wanted to buy her something, anything, just because.
He was still fidgety and needed something to calm his nerves so he got up and went to the refrigerator and pulled out a wine cooler he had bought, which he had concealed way in the back of the refrigerator so that Lisa wouldn't find it. He popped off the bottlecap and read the list of ingredients before taking a sip, "Don't want to have any Oidua anywhere around," he said to himself.
He plopped back on the couch with his wine cooler in hand and decided to close his eyes for awhile.
Half an hour later he heard a key in the door and got up and anxiously waited for the door to open. Lisa walked through the door, looking a bit tired, but she smiled when she saw Rick standing there smiling at her.
Rick put down his bottle and walked up to Lisa and hugged her and quietly said, "I'm so glad you're home."
Lisa let herself go weak in Rick's strong arms and replayed his words in her head. They stood there embracing for a long while until Lisa became aware of the aromas coming from the kitchen.
"Smells great doesn't it?" said Rick proudly. "It tastes even better! Now, why don't you go and change into some comfortable clothes and when you come back, we can start dinner, an early dinner I guess."
Lisa didn't argue and headed for her room when Rick stopped her, "Wait! I...uh..I bought this for you, it's not much, but I saw it and knew it would look good on you."
Lisa took the package and opened it and found a very simple-looking, black, long-sleeved shirt that seemed to be made from some type of velvety material. She held it up and noticed that it looked like it would be tight-fitting and it also seemed to be a bit low-cut. She smiled and understood why he said that he thought it would look good on her. She put the shirt back in the box and gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you and then carried the box with her to the bathroom, determined to look more smashing in the shirt than Rick had imagined.
Another half hour had passed and Rick had expected a delay since he had heard the shower turn on.
Lisa was finishing up and getting ready to head to the dining area but took a few extra moments to look in the mirror one more time to make sure she would not disappoint Rick. She tugged at her shirt a bit, it was definitely tight, and then looked at herself in the full-length mirror. "Not bad..." she said to herself. She tugged on her shirt one more time, this time trying to pull it a little bit lower, chuckling to herself, then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders and tried to walk calmly, even though her heart was beating a mile a minute.
Lisa peeked around the doorway and saw that Rick was standing at the window looking out into the city below. Not wanting to startle him, she shuffled loudly so that he knew she was there. He jerked his head away from what he was looking at and turned to greet her with a smile.
It happened every single time, without fail. Everytime Rick smiled at her, Lisa was rendered speechless. Not just because he was extremely cute when he smiled, but because his smile radiated sincerity and warmth and it comforted Lisa greatly. She stared at him for awhile and when he moved towards her she suddenly had a flashback from the night before and looked away from him. Rick picked up on this and asked her if she were ok. She shook her head and asked him quietly, "How about you? Are you feeling better? How's your neck?"
"My neck?" asked Rick. "Oh! My neck. I totally forgot. I feel fine Lisa."
Lisa heard in his tone that he actually had forgotten about the bruises on his neck and felt somewhat relieved, although non less guilty.
Lisa decided to try the advice she had been given by so many people before; don't dwell on the past and the negatives, dwell on the present and the positives. So, instead of apologizing to Rick for the hundreth time, Lisa struck a pose and asked Rick, "How do I look?"
Rick had been fully prepared to see Lisa be gloomy, guilty, and apologetic for the rest of the evening and had spent half the day coming up with ways of trying to get her to forget about the incident that he was completely taken offguard by her upbeat demeanor. He stared at her for a moment, trying to adjust himself to her new mood. He realized that he hadn't had any plan to deal with a cheerful Lisa and happily decided to go with the flow.
"I think you look gorgeous," he said as he pulled her to him.
Lisa was more than elated at hearing his words and stopped herself from saying, "Do you really think so?" Instead, she said, "Thank you, you look pretty gorgeous yourself."
Rick laughed and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Gorgeous, I like the ring of that."
Rick suddenly grabbed Lisa by the hand and pulled her over to the small dinner table and said, "Come on, let's eat, dinner is getting cold. But, before we do that, the doctor told me to have one of these before every meal, and plenty for dessert."
Lisa didn't know what Rick was talking about until he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently.
Lisa, dazed after the kiss, said absently, "Plenty for dessert did you say?"
Rick chuckled and said, "Yes ma'am," then sat her down at the table. Rick brought out the plates and then remembered that he had not prepared anything to drink. He rumaged through the rather empty refrigerator and could only come up with the couple bottles of wine cooler he had hidden away.
Rick stared at the bottles for a moment and contemplated what would happen and decided that, given Lisa's relaxed demeanor at the moment, placing a harmless wine cooler in front of her would be another way of showing his confidence in her and forgiveness of the previous night's episode. He picked up two bottles then came back to the table and placed one down in front of her.
"We only have these to drink. I already had half of one, they taste pretty good," said Rick, trying to sound upbeat. He popped the cap of his bottle, then hers, and gulped some down.
Lisa, not knowing right away what the meaning of all of it was stared at the bottle and remained quiet. Rick, sensing her confusion, pretended not to notice and continued eating his dinner. Lisa began to eat her dinner too and the two ate in silence. Rick finished his dinner first and sat back in his chair saying loudly, "I'm stuffed! That dinner was excellent if I do say so myself." Then he picked up his bottle and finished off his wine cooler.
Lisa soon finished her dinner but hadn't touched her wine cooler and sat there staring at Rick.
"Well, if you're finished I'll clear off the table and we can go sit on the couch and relax a bit," Rick said as he got up and picked up his and Lisa's plate. He then came back and picked up his empty bottle and was about to pickup Lisa's when she stopped him and picked it up herself saying, "I...I'll keep this for awhile."
Rick smiled, trying to not show a satisfied smile, winked at her and said, "It's good, better drink it before I steal it."
She knew what he was trying to do. He wasn't trying to get her drunk so he could take advantage of her. He wasn't trying to rub in the fact that she couldn't handle her liquor. What he was trying to do was show her that he had confidence in her enough to allow her an occassional social drink.
As Rick was busy rinsing off the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher, Lisa sat on the couch and took a few sips of the drink. It was good, just as Rick had said. And since it was a bit watered down on the alcoholic content, Lisa felt brave enough to drink some more. Rick returned to the living room and joined Lisa on the couch.
"You're right Rick, this is good," said Lisa.
Rick smirked at her and pulled the bottle out of her hand and said, "Not as good as this," then proceeded to kiss her.
He finally released after what seemed like a long time and Lisa dreamily said, "You're right, not as good as that."
Rick laughed then handed her back her bottle and picked up the tv remote control and asked her, "How did it go today, all those meetings, anything interesting?"
Lisa quickly put down her bottle and leaned against him and tried to sound convincing, "No, nothing interesting."
"I guess Reinhardt's finally back. That's good, hopefully things won't be so hectic," Rick said.
Lisa didn't say anything and just leaned against Rick and held onto him tightly. Rick, sensing her quietness, asked her calmly, "Lisa, is there anything wrong?"
"No," she said a little bit too quickly. "It's just...it's still so much like a dream...being here with you like this."
Rick moved away so that he could look at her and said, "It's not a dream, it's real now. Here, I'll show you," and then he kissed her again.
Lisa sighed, feeling safe in Rick's strong arms, and so she allowed herself to just get lost in his kiss. After what seemed like only a minute, Rick quickly got up from the couch and called out behind him, "It's time for dessert."
Lisa, still a little breathless, sat up on the couch and cast a bewildered look towards the kitchen. "Do you need my help?" she called out.
"No no no, I'm fine, everything's covered, I'll be there in a few minutes," returned Rick.
Lisa shrugged then sat back on the couch and drank some more of her wine cooler, proud of the fact that she didn't feel in the least bit tipsy.
Five minutes later Rick came back with two small plates of cake. "Chocolate Cheesecake. I made it myself," he said proudly.
Rick set the plates down and then picked on up and took a forkful of cake and fed it to Lisa. Her eyes widened as she finished eating.
Rick smiled happily, "My mother's recipe. It's been in the family for many years. You like?"
"I love," replied Lisa with a moan.
Rick picked up his plate and ate happily as did Lisa.
When they were done Rick scratched his head and said, "Well, it's only 6pm, kind of early. Is there anything special you want to do, anywhere you want to go?"
Lisa thought for a moment then smiled at him saying, "No, I don't want to go anywhere, I just want to stay here with you."
Rick went to the couch and cuddled up beside her, "Same here. I just want to spend a nice quiet evening alone with you."
Lisa brushed the hair away from his eyes so she could get a better look at them and Rick looked intently at her for a few seconds then suddenly jumped off the couch and said, "So, do you want to watch a movie or something, or talk or listen to music or something?"
Lisa, a bit disappointed that he hadn't take the opportunity to kiss her again, said that a movie would be ok with her, so Rick started the movie and then rejoined Lisa back on the couch.
Rick started chuckling and Lisa asked him what was so funny.
"I was just remembering the time we left the theater during Little White Dragon," Rick started.
"And you tripped and grabbed my butt," finished Lisa with a chuckle of her own.
"I didn't mean to grab your butt, it was just...there," said Rick, trying not to laugh.
"Suuuuure," said Lisa, trying to sound offended, but not succeeding.
"Hey, well, can you blame me though? You've got a cute butt," said Rick, trying to sound defensive.
Lisa blushed and Rick continued, "Yea you do. That's one of the first things guys check out. They check to see if the girl's pretty, then they check out her figure. It's not as if you women don't do the same. I hear the Trio's comments all the time. It's like, that's all they ever do is check guys out!"
Lisa laughed, "Well, that's the Trio for you. Don't worry though, they're harmless."
Rick grinned and got back up to change the movie for another one and then walked back to the couch and found Lisa smiling at him.
"What?" Rick asked curiously.
"Nothing," answered Lisa, trying to sound innocent.
Rick put his hands on his hips and smiled, "What? Come on, tell me."
"Nothing," said Lisa again.
Rick sat down on the couch and started the movie and watched the opening credits for about a minute then faced Lisa quickly, "You were checking out my butt weren't you?"
Lisa stifled a laugh and said, "So what if I was? As if I hadn't done that a long time ago already."
Rick looked at her with a satisfied smirk and said, "Why, my dear Admiral, I never knew you could be so mischievious."
Lisa wore a challenging look and said slyly, "And does that scare you?"
"No, it doesn't, in fact, I kinda like it," said Rick with a wink.
"Yea, I'm sure you would," retorted Lisa.
Rick put one arm over her and kicked his feet up on the coffeetable and said, "Shh, I'm trying to watch the movie."
Lisa laughed and slapped him on the stomach lightly then nestled back into his embrace and relaxed.
The movie that Rick put on was one of Roy's favorites he said, "Terminator 2." Lisa wasn't too aware of very many movies, especially older ones, despite her father having built a rather grandoise entertainment center at their old estate in New York, he had never been able to relax enough to enjoy it and Lisa, not wanting to watch a movie alone, never made use of it either.
The movie continued playing and Rick made comments every once in awhile, but Lisa soon became sleepy, despite trying to fight against it. Rick made a comment and when Lisa didn't answer, he lowered the volume on the tv, realizing that she had fallen asleep. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the nearness of her and the calming and secure feeling she gave him and he allowed himself to relax and soon fell asleep also.



* * * * * * *

"I don't know what she was trying to pull," said Sammie spitefully. "You should've seen her V. It was like she was a totally different person when she was around Lisa.
"Well, you know what kiss-ups can be like," said Vanessa as she started eating her dinner.
"No, I don't think so. She was asking Lisa if she knew Minmei and Lynn Kyle, I bet she was asking those questions on purpose, just to antagonize Lisa," added Kim.
"Oh come on. The woman has no life, maybe there IS actually one person on the base, her, who doesn't know about the Hayes-Hunter soap opera, although I find that hard to imagine," returned Vanessa.
"Oh! Let's not talk about Ant-hell anymore, I'm starting to lose my appetite," said a flustered Sammie.
"Hey, you were the one who brought it up," teased Kim.
"Oh shut up Kim! For all we know she may have bugged this place or is listening at the wall right now," said Sammie.
"Sammie, you're getting paranoid, now YOU shut up and eat your dinner," ordered Vanessa.

After dinner, the three got out a deck of cards and some chips since they were without a television. Vanessa dealt the cards and they played a few rounds until around 9pm.
Sammie yawned then a mischievious look passed across her face, "Hey Kim, why don't we go play a joke on Antell?"
Vanessa dumped her cards down and said scoldingly, "Come on grow up, that's not going to work, she'll know it's you dummy."
Sammie threw her cards on the table and put her head down and complained, "This isn't fair! Why me?? What did I do to deserve this? Why can't I have an aide I like, or why can't I be an aide to someone who's a friend. You guys have it so easy, V has Vince as an aide and Kim, you're Lisa's aide, and look at me. I'm stuck with Antell. God is punishing me, I know it!!"
Kim patted Sammie on the shoulder, "Aww come on Sammie, just stick it out for a little while longer, hopefully this is just temporary and you'll get to choose your own aide soon."
"Kim's right Sammie, now let's not think about it right now, let's start working on the arrangements for the Valentine's Day party," said Vanessa encouragingly.
Sammie's face brightened up and she got up and ran to her bag and returned with a notepad, "Let's get to it!" she said cheerfully.



* * * * * * *

It took awhile for the ringing of the phone to rouse Rick from his nap. A few seconds later Lisa started to wake up also. Rick got up first and went to answer it.
"Lieutenant Montgomery to see Admiral Hayes you say?" said Rick into the phone.
Lisa nodded her head and Rick told the person on the other line to allow Montgomery to come upstairs. A few minutes later they heard the doorbell ring. Rick answered the phone and a demure-looking Lieutenant Montgomery stood there with what looked like a gift-wrapped wine bottle cradled in her arm.
"Oh, Admiral Hayes, Captain Hunter, I'm so sorry to disturb you! I just wanted to stop by and give you this," said Montgomery apologetically.
Lisa said, "No need to apologize, please come in."
"Oh no, I couldn't," stammered Montgomery.
"Lieutenant Montgomery, please, come in. And I don't want to hear any protests," said Rick with a smile.
"Oh, no sir, I mean yes sir, Captain Hunter sir," said Montgomery nervously.
Montgomery followed Rick into the living room area and then held out the bottle to Lisa. "Please, Admiral, take this as a gift of my appreciation to you and Commander Young."
Lisa took the bottle and unwrapped it and her jaw dropped as she read the label. She looked up at Montgomery with an astonished look and asked, "Where did you find this? This has to be one of rarest wines on the market right now. Even when my father had one of these bottles it was already rare."
Montgomery smiled shyly and said, "My uncle owns the "Lumineux" restaurant. He had this one sitting in his wine cellar, apparently he didn't even remember he had it, I asked him if I could have it and he said I could."
Lisa held the bottle out to Montgomery, "Lieutenant, I can't take this, this has got to be very expensive, I-"
Montgomery cut her off by saying, "Please Admiral. Please take it, I insist."
Lisa saw Montgomery's demeanor change from one of shyness to determination and knew that she wouldn't be able to change Montgomery's mind.
"Thank you Lieutenant Montgomery. I'm sure Commander Young will also be very appreciative of your gift," said Lisa graciously.
Rick walked Montgomery to the door and smiled at her and she stared at him dreamily. She turned to Lisa and gave her a thumbs up, then saluted Lisa and Rick and walked out the door.
Rick closed the door and gave Lisa a quizzical look, "What was that all about?"
Lisa laughed and took Rick's hand and led him back to the couch.
"She was so stressed out with all the housing re-assignments so I decided to assign her some help," explained Lisa.
Rick, slightly surprised, kissed her on the cheek and said, "Well, that was very kind of you."
"I know, I was surprised at myself too," said Lisa.
Rick looked at her quickly, "Lisa..."
"No, don't worry about it Rick. We know it's a bit out of character for me," said Lisa quietly.
Rick didn't know what to say and tried to think of something to say but Lisa beat him to it.
"It was out of character for me, but hopefully now it will be in character. It's something I learned from you Rick. You taught me how to take the intiative and do something to help others who needed help. Now, being in the position that I am in, I have much more power to help more people, and, I'm actually excited about it. I've been so aloof and self-absorbed for so long and was an officer who people were sometime afraid of. I want to be like you Rick. A commander who's people respects me and they're not afraid to come to me with their ideas. When I saw the look today on Montgomery's face, at the taco stand when I told her I'd assign her some help, it just made me happy to know that I did something to make someone else happy."
Hearing Lisa's last words, 'happy', the feelings of guilt threatened to overcome Rick. How many times had he made Lisa unhappy, miserably unhappy? He fought back the knot that was forming in his throat and did the only thing he felt was appropriate for this situation. He wrapped his arms around Lisa and kissed her tenderly.
Rick had thought of some words to express his wish to make Lisa happy, but they stuck in his throat and all he could do was bury his face against her neck. She partially guessed at the reason for his silence and was glad that he didn't say anything so she remained quiet herself but let her hands roam through his hair.
"I love you," Rick breathed against Lisa's neck.
"I love you too," Lisa whispered back.
"There's no place I'd rather be, no one I'd rather be with, than you, Lisa," Rick said desperately.
Lisa hugged him tightly, not trusting herself to what would happened if she kissed him at that moment. It frustrated her immensely, but she knew that she had to be patient. She didn't want to rush Rick into something he wasn't ready for and suffer the consequences, but she also wanted to show him how much she loved him and when he looked at her the way he did sometimes, she couldn't fight the feeling of desire that he sparked within her.
Lisa held onto Rick for a few minutes then told him she was going to go make some coffee and he got up and followed her to the kitchen. Rick watched her as she fixed the coffee pot and she asked him, "Yes Rick?"
Rick shrugged and smiled, "Nothing. I just like watching you that's all."
Lisa smiled and finished setting up the coffee pot then took a seat at the table. As he sat down, Rick said, "Sammie told me that there's going to be a formal Valentine's Day party, ball, dance, whatever you call it. I was wondering...would you go with me?"
Under normal circumstances, Lisa's reaction should have been one of humor and teasing Rick about the obviousness of her answer, but this wasn't a normal circumstance. They both knew what Rick's question meant to the other.
For Lisa it was something she had waited a long time for, for Rick to ask her to accompany him somewhere as his date, and this wasn't just a little friendly get together, it was a formal occassion, where most everyone from the base would see them together.
For Rick, it was important to him to be able to do this because it placed Lisa in the role of most importance. Instead of Lisa wanting him, it was Rick's turn to want her. Now instead of Lisa dreaming and waiting for Rick to ask her out, it was Rick's turn to dream and wait for Lisa to accept him. He realized this role reversal and he was completely happy with it. It wasn't anything to do with guilt or evening the scores, it was what Rick wanted and it was how he wanted to feel, being able to ask her out and hearing her answer was all he wanted and needed to make him happy.
Lisa smiled, eyes sparkling, "Yes Rick, I'd love to go with you."
Rick grinned broadly and added, "Maybe we can go shopping tommorrow and see if we can find something to wear? I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything red before."
Lisa stared at him blankly and Rick wondered if he had said something wrong, then Lisa leaned forward in her chair and said, "You know what? I can't remember the last time I wore anything red."
Rick, relieved at her answer, laughed and said with a wink, "Well, don't worry, we'll find you something."
They discussed the party while drinking their cups of coffee then Rick pulled Lisa by the hand and led her back to the living room. "Miss Hayes, would you care to dance?" he said with a bow.
Lisa answered him by doing a curtsey and Rick switched on the music and they danced for a few songs.
They rested on the couch and Rick turned to Lisa and asked her, "Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?"
Lisa was taken offguard by the question and wanted to give him an answer that didn't scare him, because the Trio and Claudia had told her many times that men were sometimes scared by the word 'marriage', so she thought carefully for a moment and answered, "Ten years from now? I see myself... with you."
Though he felt guilty about it, Rick was actually relieved that Lisa didn't mention the words marriage and children, but then as he thought about the question himself, he started to change his mind. Lisa, seeing that Rick wasn't going to press her for details, asked him the same questions, "What about you? Where do you see yourself ten years from now?"
"I see myself, with you," he said quickly, then added more slowly, "and...and maybe a kid or two."
Lisa was surprised and echoed, "A kid or two?"
Rick looked at her, searching her face for her reaction and said, "Yes, your kids of course, that is if you want kids, I mean."
"My kids?" asked Lisa, still unable to shake her surprise.
Rick spoke quickly, "I mean, OUR kids."
Lisa smiled and laughed softly, "I know what you mean Rick. Actually, one time I saw Max and Miriya walking down the street and I tried to imagine that it was us."
"You know what," Rick said suddenly, "when we were on the Factory Satellite and Miriya threw Dana to you, and you started playing with Dana, Max pointed out to me how...how different you seemed and it brought a smile to his face. It...uh...brings a smile to my face now, thinking back and remembering how happy you looked."
Lisa thought back to the scene Rick was talking about and remembered it fondly.
The couple spent the next hour or so recounting stories of the Sterlings then Rick looked at his watch and said, "I...guess I better get going..."
Lisa didn't want him to leave but she knew that she had better get used to it, so reluctantly she got up and went to open it but she closed it quickly and asked, "Can you stay, just for a little while more?"
Rick happily complied with her request and he followed Lisa back to the couch.

Kim bade Sammie and Vanessa goodnight and headed back to her hotel. After a 5 minute taxi ride she entered the hotel lobby and walked to the elevator. The elevator came and she patiently let it carry up to her floor. The doors opened and she walked out into the empty corridor. When she was about 30 feet from her room the lights went out and she was left in complete darkness. "Great, I thought this was suppose to be a five-star hotel and they can't even pay the fricken light bill," Kim grumbled. She reached into her bag, trying to find her pen light when she heard the sound of rushing water.
"Kim...Kim..." said a raspy, whispery voice.
Kim quickly stopped looking for her penlight and stood completely still, a blast of fear running from her head to her feet. Her heart beat rapidly as she asked, "Wh-who's th-there?"

=================
Author's notes:

You can find my notes here: http://www.geocities.com/sphersian/chapnotes2.html
:)