Fusion-Chapter 2
Thoughts raced through Rick's mind as he searched for something to say. Lisa-Minmei was about to berate him further on the scarf-incident when she cut herself short. The part of her that was Minmei had undoubtedly cut short Lisa's train of thought and words as "Minmei" realized that Rick still wore the scarf as he went on to meet Lisa after 'their' afternoon together. Ordinarily, "Minmei" would consider it a big score in her favor to know of something like this; but somehow it wouldn't seem right to do so right now. Oh, she still felt happy about it, but she felt odd about gloating over it.
"Lisa" on the other hand couldn't get herself to continue scolding Rick. She realized early on that this situation left her with no physical manifestation or representation of anyone that could be called her rival. Even now, her residual irritation ("Minmei" WAS still feeling giddy) was fading and she was beginning to share in Minmei's obvious delight about the whole situation. Somehow, their emotions were beginning to merge at a faster rate than either of them anticipated.
Rick felt a single bead of sweat roll down his nape as he watched Lisa- Minmei wrestle with herself. Finally, the deadly silence was broken as she relented somewhat; the conflicting emotions within her had cancelled each other out.
"Well. I guess that's that. I'm glad you like the food. Care for seconds?" asked Lisa-Minmei.
"Er, no. I WILL have one more sandwich though AND dumpling of course," uttered Rick who did a quick save as he saw her features change slightly as he almost exclusively said "sandwich". He knew that she was still at odds and to seemingly show preference for one dish over the other felt like a life or death decision for him.
"I'll tidy up here. I believe you'll like a good soak in the tub. Good thing the plumbing in this area remained untouched. Hot water is still available on tap. I took the liberty of decking out your toiletries on the shelf when I put away your belongings," added Rick who essayed an attempt to change the topic by focusing her attention on her exhaustion. Lisa or Minmei, Rick knew enough that both women WOULD like a long, hot soak in a tub.
"Thanks, Rick, that's a capital idea," replied Lisa-Minmei. A long, languid, hot soak in the bathtub was exactly what she needed to wash away the heavy air of the day. With that she undid her apron as she rose from her seat, removed the pins from her hair and moved towards the bathroom. "By the way Rick, were the toiletries all that you touched? I assume you saw more than that." Lisa-Minmei teased as she disappeared from view. She then dropped the apron she wore in a suggestive fashion.
Rick who had been picking up a fallen fork hit his head from under the table at what he heard and saw. That last comment she made surely hit home - not because of what it meant but more of the manner it was said. To date, only Minmei had the habit of teasing him like that. Lisa only did so during that time the two of them were trapped within the deep recesses of the Zentraedi mothership. It seemed ironic now that Lisa then was teasing him about Minmei, and now there was no distinction between them. Rick wondered how she/they would feel now if he reminded 'them' about that incident.
Lisa-Minmei disrobed and then proceeded to enter the tub. Rick had set the water temperature to just above warm and she put a few drops of Chinese mint bath-oil in it. She hesitated a bit then after a bit of thought, added a few drops of wild-strawberry essence as well. An hour later, she was done and she proceeded to dress up.
Rick on the other hand, had settled into his usual habit whenever there was no mission: watching TV while working out. The whole affair had been taxing on him on all levels and the best way he could work this out was through this routine that he thought of himself. It wasn't really 'watching' TV as much as listening to it. He glanced at the set every so often and only actually got to watch during his quick breaks. He realized a few short months ago that Max's method of fighting was really beneficial and in truth, his own survival in the later conflicts and skirmishes could be attributed to his emulating it. Katas and exercises long-buried in his memories were recalled and remembered and true enough, his resiliency and his kill-rate in the battlefield increased substantially.
Yet no amount of training could seem to help in this new situation. You could kill an enemy in battle; you could choose one person over the other. Simple enough, he thought. But the impossible and improbable had happened: the one he jilted and the one he chose were now one and the same. This was what was going through Rick's mind as he went through one of the more difficult katas that Max showed him. It wasn't just a kata but a breathing exercise as well since it entailed a slow, regimented breathing coupled with a double-timed martial arts exercise. It was one of Max's well-kept secrets which aided him greatly especially in battle.
Rick was still lost in his thoughts when he heard something fall in the bedroom. At first he thought that Lisa-Minmei had been overcome by exhaustion but such was not the case as he entered the room. What he saw was a towel-clad Lisa-Minmei staring at the mirror, hair-dryer at her feet. Then he saw her shift her gaze to a picture of Minmei stuck on the upper left corner of the mirror to that of Lisa's on the opposite side. Max, in an attempt to tease Rick, had stuck their respective pictures on each side of the mirror during his last visit.
Thoughts and ideas raced through Lisa-Minmei's mind as she finally shifted her attention back to her own image on the mirror. She gingerly touched her hair and inspected her whole face. It was the first time she beheld her reflection and what she saw left her speechless.
Although 'Lisa' was expecting something like this, being actually confronted with the reality of it was unnerving. But for 'Minmei' who was less emotionally prepared for it, it was a total shock. Yet in spite of them both, Lisa-Minmei felt oddly calm.
Rick, sensing what was going on, asked gently, "Are you okay, Lis-Min.er.?" He drifted off, unsure of how to address her.
She turned to him and after a few seconds of excruciating silence, gave him a soft smile.
"I'm quite okay, Rick. I was just surprised that's all." Lisa-Minmei replied. Then her features shifted, going from curious to sly in a heartbeat. "Couldn't make up your mind who to call, could you? I guess this will take a lot of getting used to, huh?"
Thankfully, the phone rang and Rick went off to answer it. He returned a few minutes later with an introspective look on his face.
"Who was that, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei queried.
"Weird. It was Col. Maistroff. He says there'll be an important meeting Friday next week and I'm required to attend, though he refused to elaborate. I told him I'd let you know but he says you're not required to attend, though I can bring you along." Rick replied.
"Really? Now that is odd. So far, I'm the only remaining high-ranking bridge-officer here and to have a meeting without me in it seems out of place. What time did he say it would be?" Lisa-Minmei asked.
"9am sharp. I guess that means turning in early tonight. We'll find out soon enough anyway. I'll go take a shower now," Rick said.
He proceeded to the bathroom for his turn to wash up. Rick was secretly glad he'd have to turn in early. Knowing Minmei's penchant for late night- talks and Lisa growing curiousity about the meeting, he was dreading the possibility of her asking him about what or how he felt about this whole situation had they stayed up late. He was sure she would be asking him about it. A few minutes later, he emerged from the shower, brushed his teeth and put on some light clothes for the night. Lisa-Minmei had already done the same and was now seated on the bed. Rick retrieved the extra pillows and blanket from the cabinet as he would be sleeping on the sofa again tonight.
"Okay, that's it. I've set the alarm for 7:45am tomorrow. That'll give me a 15-minute window for jogging. As it is, there's still a lot of debris to clean up at Macross Lake. I'll see you later. Goodnight..!!" Rick said as he almost said 'Lisa' again. Lisa or Minmei, he knew that one name wouldn't fit the person he beheld in front of him now. Lisa-Minmei saw through this however, and gave him a soft smile.
"Okay, Rick. Thanks for everything again and goodnight!" Lisa-Minmei replied.
The first 3 hours went by without incident. Rick was even dreaming of being back in the air-circus again, flying old biplanes and doing aerial- acrobatics. In it, Rick was about to exit from a complex quadruple spiral maneuver by systematic stalling and recovery, a move he could do with his eyes closed. In fact, it took him a shorter period of time to learn it, quicker than his teacher, Roy Fokker. It was going like clockwork, or so he thought. But at the last moment, Rick took a bit too long and he wasn't able to recover from the induced stall and he found his plane falling towards the audience stands. Rick desperately tried to regain control of his plane but nothing seemed to work. He panicked when he saw that his plane was heading towards a figure in the stands that stayed seated in place even after all the others rushed away before Rick's plane crashed. As he watched helplessly, the figure turned and Rick saw her face: it was Lisa- Minmei.
In the bedroom, Lisa-Minmei herself was having her own nightmare. The characters in them were an amalgamation from each woman's life. Things were going well with Minmei dreaming that she was with Lynn-Kyle during her heyday as a star in Macross City while Lisa was dreaming she was reunited with Karl Riber on Mars Base Sara. Both dreams did a 360 and suddenly Karl and Kyle were looking at Lisa and MInmei with a twisted, sinister look. Both men began to change in appearance and soon became a being made up Kyle, Karl and Dolza. The said figure grabbed Lisa-Minmei while laughing manically. Both women did what only came naturally: they screamed for Rick.
Rick on his end, also saw the Lisa-Minmei figure in his dream scream in panic as she saw the plane heading towards her. He was roused from his sleep however when he heard Lisa-Minmei scream for real in the bedroom. He immediately rushed to the bedroom and found her thrashing about wildly in bed, screaming his name and begging for help.
"I'm here! I'm right here!" Rick half-screamed as he held Lisa-Minmei by her shoulders. He succeeded in waking her up and as soon as she was aware, she saw Rick before her, assuring her that it was just a bad dream. Lisa- Minmei almost tackled Rick as she embraced him and sobbed into his shoulder. Rick could only try to soothe her as she cried.
"It all seemed so real, Rick! I couldn't get away from.." Lisa-Minmei stuttered as she recalled her dream.
"It's alright now. I'm here. Everything will be alright." Rick half- whispered as he soothed her.
A few minutes and more sobs later, she had calmed down somewhat. Rick just held her as he let her cry it all out.
"You okay now?" he asked,
"Yes - yes, I - I'm fine now. Thanks." Lisa-Minmei replied.
"Okay. I guess its time we both got back to sleep. I mean, its 3am already and we've a long day ahead of us. Since you're fine now, I'll head back to the sofa, okay? Goodnight, again - eh?" a startled Rick said as Lisa-Minmei held onto him tighter as he let go and was about to stand up.
"Rick, could you just stay here with me tonight? Just sleep here, can you?" she asked.
Rick was about to mildly protest but as soon as he saw her eyes almost on the verge of tears again, he relented and agreed to stay with her. Whatever her dream was, it surely must've been really disturbing.
"Alright. I'll just go get my pillows, okay?" Rick replied.
A quick trip to the living room and he was backing the bedroom, carrying the extra pillows under his arm. Lisa-Minmei made some room on the bed and Rick finally settled onto it.
"Goodnight, Rick."
"Goodnight, Li---er----Min, I mean goodnight, too." was all Rick could say in return.
He was about to face the other side of the bed away from Lisa-Minmei when he felt her move closer to him and she lay her head on the crook of his arm, just below his shoulder. She then settled into an embrace and was soon fast asleep.
"Oh boy!" Rick thought to himself. A numb arm was the least of his concerns come morning.
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Morning found Rick waking up a few minutes earlier than his alarm. He'd grown used to doing so way back in his dad's flying circus where waking up on time meant someone (usually Roy) was already up and would throw a bucket of water on you. This morning was radically different however for instead of a bucket of water, Rick found a woman sleeping beside him as his face was half buried in her hair. He almost panicked until memories of last night came to fore and he remembered Lisa-Minmei asking him to stay after her nightmare. They were currently 'spooned' together with Rick as the outside 'spoon'. It wasn't that bad waking up beside Lisa-Minmei, Rick thought. In fact he was growing to like it every minute that passed and he was taking in more of her hair's scent. His thoughts were cut short however when Lisa-Minmei startled him by reminding him of the unfinished mop-up operations at Macross Lake later.
"You enjoying yourself, Mr. Hunter? As much as I prefer to stay this way myself, unfortunately we STILL have a lot to do today, remember? As I recall, search and rescue ops are still in effect today." she teased.
"Yes, ma'am! I'm up now ma'am!" Rick quickly replied, his cheeks reddening at her allegations as he stood up from the bed.
His embarrassment wasn't hidden from Lisa-Minmei and she saw him as he headed for the bathroom. She was surprised at herself as well, actually. Her accusation hit her as well, if not more than it did Rick. She had to admit that waking up curled against Rick with his arm draped over her felt really nice and was more than enough to erase the memory of her nightmare. 'Minmei remembered their time together, trapped in the holds of the SDF-1 when Rick comforted her and she fell asleep on his shoulder. Lisa recalled the time when Rick saved her from the Grand Cannon Installation in Alaska and she sat on his lap inside Skull-1. Little did Lisa-Minmei know that Rick was having his own nightmare just before she had hers.
Rick emerged form the bathroom all decked out in his uniform. Lisa-Minmei noted that there he was just one bar shy on his insignias from what she had on hers (though he was already a Captain as well), signifying Rick's quick ascent up the ranks. Pretty soon, he would be on equal rank with her and could probably override some of her commands if the situation called for it much like the late Commander Fokker did.
"Your turn, ma'am. I'll go prepare our breakfast. Anything you'd prefer?" asked Rick.
"A bowl of oatmeal and a few of last night's dumplings, will do. And some orange juice, please." She replied.
"Roger that, Captain: Skull-1 out for breakfast preparation." Rick teased.
She had no time to make a clever retort as Rick was heading for the kitchen already. She did a quick shower and as she went out, Lisa-Minmei's thoughts were centered on what to wear today. She was surprised to see that Rick had laid out her RDF uniform on the dressing table with one particular addition: Minmei's scarf. Rick's, actually but it seemed an ideal addition to Lisa's otherwise strait-laced, serious uniform.
"I wonder what Rick will say when he sees me wearing this..." Lisa-Minmei quietly laughed to herself as she strode out of the dressing room. Rick had just finished inspecting himself when he heard her exiting the bedroom.
"I'm all set here! What about you-----------, oh.." was all Rick could say as he saw Lisa-Minmei walk towards him wearing Minmei's scarf over Lisa's uniform, making for an altogether unique but nice combination.
"So am I. Well, what are you looking at, Captain Hunter? Cat got your tongue? Better get over it or we'll both be late." she chided.
En route to the temporary headquarters, it was all Rick could do to keep his eyes on the road. Lisa-Minmei had tied her hair back in a low ponytail as well and along with the scarf, she looked really good; different but good.
"Captain uhh---Hayes! Dr. Lang and Exedore are expecting you in the new research facility. Captain Hunter, sir! Commander Sterling is waiting for you at the hangars. " saluted a serviceman at the gates as he handed them a portable tablet PC which outlined today's activities.
"It figures. I assume they'd want to run more tests on me." Lisa-Minmei irritatingly expressed, and tossed the tablet onto the seat without reading anything first. Rick got it and he began viewing the schedule.
"Let me see that. Nope. No tests scheduled for you today. Those two want you to accompany them to the Factory satellite where you'll be meeting with Breetai and a few other Zentran generals. You'll be bringing a team of technicians who'll immediately begin repairs to the satellite. Hey-hey-hey! This is interesting." declared Rick as he read a segment of Lisa's schedule.
" What? Let me see." and Lisa-Minmei took the tablet.
The tech-team was indeed there to supervise and initiate repairs but what was interesting to note was they had been successfully MACRONIZED a week before. Lisa-Minmei recalled a communiqué addressed to her from Admiral Gloval which she received during the forging of an alliance with the allied Zentraedi after the initial battle with Dolza's fleet. The reclamation of the Robotech Factory satellite was successful but owing to the purely military culture of the Zentraedi, repairs and replacements were more than badly needed. It would take too long to teach the giants the various ins and outs of service and repair so in the end, a team of human techs would have to be macronized.
" I guess I had them wrong there. Maybe this won't be such a routine day after all. Will I see you later for a late lunch?" she asked Rick who had just finished bringing out his replacement flight suit.
"I hope so. With all the search & rescue ops going on, I might run a tad late but I'll try. Save me some pineapple salad if you see some in the menu, okay?" Rick replied.
Lisa-Minmei had to smile and wince at Rick's last sentence. She recalled both Roy Fokker and Claudia Grant and how that particular dessert was the last one that the two were supposed to share after Roy's ill-fated mission.
"Maybe we can share it in their place. I wonder what Claudia would say right now..?" she wondered to herself as she made her way to Dr. Lang's headquarters.
After about 2 hours, Rick saw the transport group that was bringing Lisa- Minmei, Exedore, Dr. Lang and the others to Breetai's flagship which was parked in geosynchronous orbit above the North American Quadrant. He silently said a prayer for her as he wasn't sure how Lisa-Minmei would behave in a mission given her current state. Rick was glad that Max and Miriya were among the armed escort group that would accompany them. He was stirred from his thoughts as he heard the flight-deck crews give him the okay for final take-off procedures. It was a more or less routine mission for the Skull, New-Vermillion and Blue squadrons as they scoured the area fro any survivors or developments. As it was, Lake Gloval and the surrounding area which was within a 2-mile area, was declared "HOT" (radioactive) and was off-limits to all but key RDF personnel. Rick wasn't expecting anyone else to be found as one night had passed by. He was in for a surprise though for as he alighted from Skull-1, he was approached by 3 Type-2 destroids which were being manned by the micronized Zentraedi-trio Rico, Bron and Konda.
"Captain Hunter, sir! We couldn't believe it with our own eyed when we saw it but there were at least a few more survivors from the SDF-1! We found them yesterday shortly after you took Captain Hayes to the lab." all three declared enthusiastically.
"Really? That's great! Who were they?" Rick asked.
"The three bridge-officers, Lt. Commanders Leeds, Porter, and Young!" the three declared.
Rick couldn't believe what he had just heard. The 3 bridge-bunnies were alive! They were currently in ICUs in the nearest medical facility but they were otherwise in stable condition. A further questioning and he learned from the 3 Zentraedi that the bridge-bunnies were still inside their escape pods and had just passed out after landing in the water yesterday. Rick dashed off to the hospital where they were kept.
Upon arriving however, Rick learned that they weren't allowed visitors yet so the best he was able to do was to have the attending doctors inform him immediately as soon as the 3 regain consciousness. The 3 Zentraedi were eagerly waiting outside for any news about the bridge-bunnies and all but pounced on Rick as he exited the building.
"Whoa, guys! No need to rush! They're fine and the doctors are doing their best to help them get better. You should be proud of what you did. Any longer and they would've suffocated in their escape pods. It would've unfortunate if the thing that saved them by keeping the pods afloat would've been what killed them eventually. Good work guys!" Rick stated as he patted them on their shoulders.
He was actually amazed at their huge show of concern over the girls. He had learned from the boys that Vanessa, Kim and Sammie were actually the first human-Zentraedi contact; the first "dates", so to speak. And it was even more poignant since the venue was a disco in Macross City when it was still within the holds of the SDF-1.
Thoughts raced through Rick's mind as he searched for something to say. Lisa-Minmei was about to berate him further on the scarf-incident when she cut herself short. The part of her that was Minmei had undoubtedly cut short Lisa's train of thought and words as "Minmei" realized that Rick still wore the scarf as he went on to meet Lisa after 'their' afternoon together. Ordinarily, "Minmei" would consider it a big score in her favor to know of something like this; but somehow it wouldn't seem right to do so right now. Oh, she still felt happy about it, but she felt odd about gloating over it.
"Lisa" on the other hand couldn't get herself to continue scolding Rick. She realized early on that this situation left her with no physical manifestation or representation of anyone that could be called her rival. Even now, her residual irritation ("Minmei" WAS still feeling giddy) was fading and she was beginning to share in Minmei's obvious delight about the whole situation. Somehow, their emotions were beginning to merge at a faster rate than either of them anticipated.
Rick felt a single bead of sweat roll down his nape as he watched Lisa- Minmei wrestle with herself. Finally, the deadly silence was broken as she relented somewhat; the conflicting emotions within her had cancelled each other out.
"Well. I guess that's that. I'm glad you like the food. Care for seconds?" asked Lisa-Minmei.
"Er, no. I WILL have one more sandwich though AND dumpling of course," uttered Rick who did a quick save as he saw her features change slightly as he almost exclusively said "sandwich". He knew that she was still at odds and to seemingly show preference for one dish over the other felt like a life or death decision for him.
"I'll tidy up here. I believe you'll like a good soak in the tub. Good thing the plumbing in this area remained untouched. Hot water is still available on tap. I took the liberty of decking out your toiletries on the shelf when I put away your belongings," added Rick who essayed an attempt to change the topic by focusing her attention on her exhaustion. Lisa or Minmei, Rick knew enough that both women WOULD like a long, hot soak in a tub.
"Thanks, Rick, that's a capital idea," replied Lisa-Minmei. A long, languid, hot soak in the bathtub was exactly what she needed to wash away the heavy air of the day. With that she undid her apron as she rose from her seat, removed the pins from her hair and moved towards the bathroom. "By the way Rick, were the toiletries all that you touched? I assume you saw more than that." Lisa-Minmei teased as she disappeared from view. She then dropped the apron she wore in a suggestive fashion.
Rick who had been picking up a fallen fork hit his head from under the table at what he heard and saw. That last comment she made surely hit home - not because of what it meant but more of the manner it was said. To date, only Minmei had the habit of teasing him like that. Lisa only did so during that time the two of them were trapped within the deep recesses of the Zentraedi mothership. It seemed ironic now that Lisa then was teasing him about Minmei, and now there was no distinction between them. Rick wondered how she/they would feel now if he reminded 'them' about that incident.
Lisa-Minmei disrobed and then proceeded to enter the tub. Rick had set the water temperature to just above warm and she put a few drops of Chinese mint bath-oil in it. She hesitated a bit then after a bit of thought, added a few drops of wild-strawberry essence as well. An hour later, she was done and she proceeded to dress up.
Rick on the other hand, had settled into his usual habit whenever there was no mission: watching TV while working out. The whole affair had been taxing on him on all levels and the best way he could work this out was through this routine that he thought of himself. It wasn't really 'watching' TV as much as listening to it. He glanced at the set every so often and only actually got to watch during his quick breaks. He realized a few short months ago that Max's method of fighting was really beneficial and in truth, his own survival in the later conflicts and skirmishes could be attributed to his emulating it. Katas and exercises long-buried in his memories were recalled and remembered and true enough, his resiliency and his kill-rate in the battlefield increased substantially.
Yet no amount of training could seem to help in this new situation. You could kill an enemy in battle; you could choose one person over the other. Simple enough, he thought. But the impossible and improbable had happened: the one he jilted and the one he chose were now one and the same. This was what was going through Rick's mind as he went through one of the more difficult katas that Max showed him. It wasn't just a kata but a breathing exercise as well since it entailed a slow, regimented breathing coupled with a double-timed martial arts exercise. It was one of Max's well-kept secrets which aided him greatly especially in battle.
Rick was still lost in his thoughts when he heard something fall in the bedroom. At first he thought that Lisa-Minmei had been overcome by exhaustion but such was not the case as he entered the room. What he saw was a towel-clad Lisa-Minmei staring at the mirror, hair-dryer at her feet. Then he saw her shift her gaze to a picture of Minmei stuck on the upper left corner of the mirror to that of Lisa's on the opposite side. Max, in an attempt to tease Rick, had stuck their respective pictures on each side of the mirror during his last visit.
Thoughts and ideas raced through Lisa-Minmei's mind as she finally shifted her attention back to her own image on the mirror. She gingerly touched her hair and inspected her whole face. It was the first time she beheld her reflection and what she saw left her speechless.
Although 'Lisa' was expecting something like this, being actually confronted with the reality of it was unnerving. But for 'Minmei' who was less emotionally prepared for it, it was a total shock. Yet in spite of them both, Lisa-Minmei felt oddly calm.
Rick, sensing what was going on, asked gently, "Are you okay, Lis-Min.er.?" He drifted off, unsure of how to address her.
She turned to him and after a few seconds of excruciating silence, gave him a soft smile.
"I'm quite okay, Rick. I was just surprised that's all." Lisa-Minmei replied. Then her features shifted, going from curious to sly in a heartbeat. "Couldn't make up your mind who to call, could you? I guess this will take a lot of getting used to, huh?"
Thankfully, the phone rang and Rick went off to answer it. He returned a few minutes later with an introspective look on his face.
"Who was that, Rick?" Lisa-Minmei queried.
"Weird. It was Col. Maistroff. He says there'll be an important meeting Friday next week and I'm required to attend, though he refused to elaborate. I told him I'd let you know but he says you're not required to attend, though I can bring you along." Rick replied.
"Really? Now that is odd. So far, I'm the only remaining high-ranking bridge-officer here and to have a meeting without me in it seems out of place. What time did he say it would be?" Lisa-Minmei asked.
"9am sharp. I guess that means turning in early tonight. We'll find out soon enough anyway. I'll go take a shower now," Rick said.
He proceeded to the bathroom for his turn to wash up. Rick was secretly glad he'd have to turn in early. Knowing Minmei's penchant for late night- talks and Lisa growing curiousity about the meeting, he was dreading the possibility of her asking him about what or how he felt about this whole situation had they stayed up late. He was sure she would be asking him about it. A few minutes later, he emerged from the shower, brushed his teeth and put on some light clothes for the night. Lisa-Minmei had already done the same and was now seated on the bed. Rick retrieved the extra pillows and blanket from the cabinet as he would be sleeping on the sofa again tonight.
"Okay, that's it. I've set the alarm for 7:45am tomorrow. That'll give me a 15-minute window for jogging. As it is, there's still a lot of debris to clean up at Macross Lake. I'll see you later. Goodnight..!!" Rick said as he almost said 'Lisa' again. Lisa or Minmei, he knew that one name wouldn't fit the person he beheld in front of him now. Lisa-Minmei saw through this however, and gave him a soft smile.
"Okay, Rick. Thanks for everything again and goodnight!" Lisa-Minmei replied.
The first 3 hours went by without incident. Rick was even dreaming of being back in the air-circus again, flying old biplanes and doing aerial- acrobatics. In it, Rick was about to exit from a complex quadruple spiral maneuver by systematic stalling and recovery, a move he could do with his eyes closed. In fact, it took him a shorter period of time to learn it, quicker than his teacher, Roy Fokker. It was going like clockwork, or so he thought. But at the last moment, Rick took a bit too long and he wasn't able to recover from the induced stall and he found his plane falling towards the audience stands. Rick desperately tried to regain control of his plane but nothing seemed to work. He panicked when he saw that his plane was heading towards a figure in the stands that stayed seated in place even after all the others rushed away before Rick's plane crashed. As he watched helplessly, the figure turned and Rick saw her face: it was Lisa- Minmei.
In the bedroom, Lisa-Minmei herself was having her own nightmare. The characters in them were an amalgamation from each woman's life. Things were going well with Minmei dreaming that she was with Lynn-Kyle during her heyday as a star in Macross City while Lisa was dreaming she was reunited with Karl Riber on Mars Base Sara. Both dreams did a 360 and suddenly Karl and Kyle were looking at Lisa and MInmei with a twisted, sinister look. Both men began to change in appearance and soon became a being made up Kyle, Karl and Dolza. The said figure grabbed Lisa-Minmei while laughing manically. Both women did what only came naturally: they screamed for Rick.
Rick on his end, also saw the Lisa-Minmei figure in his dream scream in panic as she saw the plane heading towards her. He was roused from his sleep however when he heard Lisa-Minmei scream for real in the bedroom. He immediately rushed to the bedroom and found her thrashing about wildly in bed, screaming his name and begging for help.
"I'm here! I'm right here!" Rick half-screamed as he held Lisa-Minmei by her shoulders. He succeeded in waking her up and as soon as she was aware, she saw Rick before her, assuring her that it was just a bad dream. Lisa- Minmei almost tackled Rick as she embraced him and sobbed into his shoulder. Rick could only try to soothe her as she cried.
"It all seemed so real, Rick! I couldn't get away from.." Lisa-Minmei stuttered as she recalled her dream.
"It's alright now. I'm here. Everything will be alright." Rick half- whispered as he soothed her.
A few minutes and more sobs later, she had calmed down somewhat. Rick just held her as he let her cry it all out.
"You okay now?" he asked,
"Yes - yes, I - I'm fine now. Thanks." Lisa-Minmei replied.
"Okay. I guess its time we both got back to sleep. I mean, its 3am already and we've a long day ahead of us. Since you're fine now, I'll head back to the sofa, okay? Goodnight, again - eh?" a startled Rick said as Lisa-Minmei held onto him tighter as he let go and was about to stand up.
"Rick, could you just stay here with me tonight? Just sleep here, can you?" she asked.
Rick was about to mildly protest but as soon as he saw her eyes almost on the verge of tears again, he relented and agreed to stay with her. Whatever her dream was, it surely must've been really disturbing.
"Alright. I'll just go get my pillows, okay?" Rick replied.
A quick trip to the living room and he was backing the bedroom, carrying the extra pillows under his arm. Lisa-Minmei made some room on the bed and Rick finally settled onto it.
"Goodnight, Rick."
"Goodnight, Li---er----Min, I mean goodnight, too." was all Rick could say in return.
He was about to face the other side of the bed away from Lisa-Minmei when he felt her move closer to him and she lay her head on the crook of his arm, just below his shoulder. She then settled into an embrace and was soon fast asleep.
"Oh boy!" Rick thought to himself. A numb arm was the least of his concerns come morning.
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Morning found Rick waking up a few minutes earlier than his alarm. He'd grown used to doing so way back in his dad's flying circus where waking up on time meant someone (usually Roy) was already up and would throw a bucket of water on you. This morning was radically different however for instead of a bucket of water, Rick found a woman sleeping beside him as his face was half buried in her hair. He almost panicked until memories of last night came to fore and he remembered Lisa-Minmei asking him to stay after her nightmare. They were currently 'spooned' together with Rick as the outside 'spoon'. It wasn't that bad waking up beside Lisa-Minmei, Rick thought. In fact he was growing to like it every minute that passed and he was taking in more of her hair's scent. His thoughts were cut short however when Lisa-Minmei startled him by reminding him of the unfinished mop-up operations at Macross Lake later.
"You enjoying yourself, Mr. Hunter? As much as I prefer to stay this way myself, unfortunately we STILL have a lot to do today, remember? As I recall, search and rescue ops are still in effect today." she teased.
"Yes, ma'am! I'm up now ma'am!" Rick quickly replied, his cheeks reddening at her allegations as he stood up from the bed.
His embarrassment wasn't hidden from Lisa-Minmei and she saw him as he headed for the bathroom. She was surprised at herself as well, actually. Her accusation hit her as well, if not more than it did Rick. She had to admit that waking up curled against Rick with his arm draped over her felt really nice and was more than enough to erase the memory of her nightmare. 'Minmei remembered their time together, trapped in the holds of the SDF-1 when Rick comforted her and she fell asleep on his shoulder. Lisa recalled the time when Rick saved her from the Grand Cannon Installation in Alaska and she sat on his lap inside Skull-1. Little did Lisa-Minmei know that Rick was having his own nightmare just before she had hers.
Rick emerged form the bathroom all decked out in his uniform. Lisa-Minmei noted that there he was just one bar shy on his insignias from what she had on hers (though he was already a Captain as well), signifying Rick's quick ascent up the ranks. Pretty soon, he would be on equal rank with her and could probably override some of her commands if the situation called for it much like the late Commander Fokker did.
"Your turn, ma'am. I'll go prepare our breakfast. Anything you'd prefer?" asked Rick.
"A bowl of oatmeal and a few of last night's dumplings, will do. And some orange juice, please." She replied.
"Roger that, Captain: Skull-1 out for breakfast preparation." Rick teased.
She had no time to make a clever retort as Rick was heading for the kitchen already. She did a quick shower and as she went out, Lisa-Minmei's thoughts were centered on what to wear today. She was surprised to see that Rick had laid out her RDF uniform on the dressing table with one particular addition: Minmei's scarf. Rick's, actually but it seemed an ideal addition to Lisa's otherwise strait-laced, serious uniform.
"I wonder what Rick will say when he sees me wearing this..." Lisa-Minmei quietly laughed to herself as she strode out of the dressing room. Rick had just finished inspecting himself when he heard her exiting the bedroom.
"I'm all set here! What about you-----------, oh.." was all Rick could say as he saw Lisa-Minmei walk towards him wearing Minmei's scarf over Lisa's uniform, making for an altogether unique but nice combination.
"So am I. Well, what are you looking at, Captain Hunter? Cat got your tongue? Better get over it or we'll both be late." she chided.
En route to the temporary headquarters, it was all Rick could do to keep his eyes on the road. Lisa-Minmei had tied her hair back in a low ponytail as well and along with the scarf, she looked really good; different but good.
"Captain uhh---Hayes! Dr. Lang and Exedore are expecting you in the new research facility. Captain Hunter, sir! Commander Sterling is waiting for you at the hangars. " saluted a serviceman at the gates as he handed them a portable tablet PC which outlined today's activities.
"It figures. I assume they'd want to run more tests on me." Lisa-Minmei irritatingly expressed, and tossed the tablet onto the seat without reading anything first. Rick got it and he began viewing the schedule.
"Let me see that. Nope. No tests scheduled for you today. Those two want you to accompany them to the Factory satellite where you'll be meeting with Breetai and a few other Zentran generals. You'll be bringing a team of technicians who'll immediately begin repairs to the satellite. Hey-hey-hey! This is interesting." declared Rick as he read a segment of Lisa's schedule.
" What? Let me see." and Lisa-Minmei took the tablet.
The tech-team was indeed there to supervise and initiate repairs but what was interesting to note was they had been successfully MACRONIZED a week before. Lisa-Minmei recalled a communiqué addressed to her from Admiral Gloval which she received during the forging of an alliance with the allied Zentraedi after the initial battle with Dolza's fleet. The reclamation of the Robotech Factory satellite was successful but owing to the purely military culture of the Zentraedi, repairs and replacements were more than badly needed. It would take too long to teach the giants the various ins and outs of service and repair so in the end, a team of human techs would have to be macronized.
" I guess I had them wrong there. Maybe this won't be such a routine day after all. Will I see you later for a late lunch?" she asked Rick who had just finished bringing out his replacement flight suit.
"I hope so. With all the search & rescue ops going on, I might run a tad late but I'll try. Save me some pineapple salad if you see some in the menu, okay?" Rick replied.
Lisa-Minmei had to smile and wince at Rick's last sentence. She recalled both Roy Fokker and Claudia Grant and how that particular dessert was the last one that the two were supposed to share after Roy's ill-fated mission.
"Maybe we can share it in their place. I wonder what Claudia would say right now..?" she wondered to herself as she made her way to Dr. Lang's headquarters.
After about 2 hours, Rick saw the transport group that was bringing Lisa- Minmei, Exedore, Dr. Lang and the others to Breetai's flagship which was parked in geosynchronous orbit above the North American Quadrant. He silently said a prayer for her as he wasn't sure how Lisa-Minmei would behave in a mission given her current state. Rick was glad that Max and Miriya were among the armed escort group that would accompany them. He was stirred from his thoughts as he heard the flight-deck crews give him the okay for final take-off procedures. It was a more or less routine mission for the Skull, New-Vermillion and Blue squadrons as they scoured the area fro any survivors or developments. As it was, Lake Gloval and the surrounding area which was within a 2-mile area, was declared "HOT" (radioactive) and was off-limits to all but key RDF personnel. Rick wasn't expecting anyone else to be found as one night had passed by. He was in for a surprise though for as he alighted from Skull-1, he was approached by 3 Type-2 destroids which were being manned by the micronized Zentraedi-trio Rico, Bron and Konda.
"Captain Hunter, sir! We couldn't believe it with our own eyed when we saw it but there were at least a few more survivors from the SDF-1! We found them yesterday shortly after you took Captain Hayes to the lab." all three declared enthusiastically.
"Really? That's great! Who were they?" Rick asked.
"The three bridge-officers, Lt. Commanders Leeds, Porter, and Young!" the three declared.
Rick couldn't believe what he had just heard. The 3 bridge-bunnies were alive! They were currently in ICUs in the nearest medical facility but they were otherwise in stable condition. A further questioning and he learned from the 3 Zentraedi that the bridge-bunnies were still inside their escape pods and had just passed out after landing in the water yesterday. Rick dashed off to the hospital where they were kept.
Upon arriving however, Rick learned that they weren't allowed visitors yet so the best he was able to do was to have the attending doctors inform him immediately as soon as the 3 regain consciousness. The 3 Zentraedi were eagerly waiting outside for any news about the bridge-bunnies and all but pounced on Rick as he exited the building.
"Whoa, guys! No need to rush! They're fine and the doctors are doing their best to help them get better. You should be proud of what you did. Any longer and they would've suffocated in their escape pods. It would've unfortunate if the thing that saved them by keeping the pods afloat would've been what killed them eventually. Good work guys!" Rick stated as he patted them on their shoulders.
He was actually amazed at their huge show of concern over the girls. He had learned from the boys that Vanessa, Kim and Sammie were actually the first human-Zentraedi contact; the first "dates", so to speak. And it was even more poignant since the venue was a disco in Macross City when it was still within the holds of the SDF-1.