Title: In Your Mind

Fandom: Voltron, Vehicle & Lion Team

Author: Purrsia Kat

Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Angst

Pairings: Jeff/Lisa

Rating: R,

Warnings: Violence and language. Adult situations. Character death.

Start Date: April 2006

Summary: Sequel to Winning Days. After Planet Drule self-destructs and its corrupt leaders are taken out of power, peace settles across the near universe. The new Drule Empire actually joins with the Alliance. In the years following the conclusion of Winning Days, the Vehicle Team has been busy with their original mission – to colonize a new world for the overcrowded Earth. However, the new alliance has not gone without the notice of King Zarkon, who has long-planned to make Hazar pay for his treasonous ways. Will the Lion Team be able to save them all from Zarkon's wrath?

In Your Mind

Prologue

By Purrsia Kat

Jeff lay beside Lisa on the grassy hillside, looking up at the scant few puffy clouds that drifted past in the blue sky above. He was enjoying one of their stolen moments alone together. True, the war with the Drules had been over for a few years now but that hardly meant the exploration unit they served with was taking it easy. First they found suitable and permanent arrangements for the displaced Drules and helped them rebuild, including their governing structure. Then they had to get back to the basic mission the Explorer crew had originally been dispatched to do – find a new, livable world for their own overcrowded people and then help settle it. To say the least, they had plenty to keep them busy. So whatever down time they had, he and Lisa tried to make the best of it together.

But as he lay beside her, his mind turned to a certain line of thought he'd been giving more and more serious weight to lately.

He turned his head to look at her and found Lisa gazing serenely up at the heavens. Propping himself up on his elbows, he regarded her quietly for a moment. He'd never broached this topic with her in the course of their somewhat secretive, romantic relationship and wondered how she would react.

"Lisa, I've been thinking," he began. Her dark eyes met his gaze, which gave him a fit of butterflies in his stomach.

"What is it, Jeff?"

"Well, we're almost done with our mission," he continued, to which she nodded.

"Our support fleet is out there right now," she said, her eyes darting back toward the heavens, "to escort the first wave of new settlers from Earth. It's funny, we were so used to fighting the Drules when we first got out here, that it almost seems strange to be working with them. Hazar has been great in leading the Drules and working to keep the peace, of course. But now we're so close to finishing what we originally came to do. I feel like it's the last day of school."

Jeff looked out across the meadow at an impressive mountain range in the distance. The new settlers would find, he thought, the new planet very comforting and familiar so much like Earth that it was. "That's what got me thinking. Thinking about what's next after this."

Lisa's visage turned thoughtful. "Maybe Garrison will send us to the Denubian Galaxy. Zarkon's still a threat out there. Perhaps the Lion Team could use a hand. And we know Chip would love to see his brother Pidge again."

"I don't know," Jeff began tentatively to which Lisa looked up at him in surprise. "I mean, I hope they get help but…I've been thinking about getting out, Lisa."

Lisa sat up, looking at Jeff intently. "You mean, off the team? Off the Explorer?"

"Yeah," he replied, holding her gaze. "All of it. Our mission is pretty much done and my current tour is up soon, too. I was seriously thinking of asking the Commander for discharge instead of re-enlisting."

Lisa was struck speechless for a moment, while Jeff struggled for the words to explain his conflicted emotions.

"Look, fighting I could do without," he tried again, "I love the teams. I love exploring, but what I love most…" he trailed off and took her hand in his, "…is you."

"Jeff…" She looked down the hill briefly, at the sparkling bay below where the Explorer – so far off it looked more like a toy boat than a massive spacecraft - drifted peacefully.

"I want to settle down," he continued, feeling a renewed courage to go on and just say what he had to say. "And you know we can't do that serving under the same command. I don't want to sneak around anymore. I want to be able to be open, to have you beside me at night when we go to sleep and wake up next to you in the morning. I want to get married. I want to have kids."

He smiled at her, a bit out of nervousness and a bit with relief for finally having laid out how he'd been feeling. Jeff hoped she felt the same way. As much as he loved space exploration and his teammates, he couldn't take another four years of secretive trysts with her. It was time to start a new chapter in his life and he only hoped she'd want to be a part of it. The only thing he could imagine being worse was if his declaration was too much for her and they spent another tour strained and distant.

He squeezed her hand and searched her face, but all he could read was what could pass as stunned shock. He wished she'd say something – anything. The longer she didn't respond definitively, the more his heart took on a sinking feeling.

"I'm sorry," he said with abashed smile, if only to break the grueling silence. He cast his eyes to the grassy earth below them. "It's okay if you don't feel –"

He was surprised to get cut off by a passionate kiss. In fact, she nearly knocked him onto his back before he could regain some composure. If this was how she said yes, he had no quarrel with it.

When she finally broke off the kiss, he gripped her tightly around the waist with both arms, hoisting her up slightly so she was raised above him. Her long, dark hair flowed in the gentle breeze, the perfect contrast against the blue sky. It would be a moment he'd remember for a lifetime, and surely one of the happiest moments of his life.

She smiled down at him, giggling in that sweet girlish way he loved. "Promise me you'll finally take me to see Earth."

He nodded, knowing she'd always been curious about his home world. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he joked to which they both shared a laugh. He did always wonder about Lisa's world – this place that clung to superstition and believed in the mystical power of different crystals. It would be sad to leave the team, but he was sure together they would spawn their own great adventures, free to love openly without worry.

The mirth of the moment died quickly as Jeff caught a glimpse of something on the horizon, even through the flowing strands of Lisa's hair. He loosened his grip on her, shifting one hand up to her head to still her blowing locks so he could get a better look. His expression must have alarmed her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, while twisting to try to see what had his concerned attention.

There, coming over the ridge of mountains, was what looked like a massive swarm of locusts at that distance - thousands of little black dots marring the sunny sky. Jeff knew in his gut it was far too many ships to be their support fleet and settlers. This was something he hadn't seen in years – not since the war with the Drules.

Just as he was about to voice his misgivings to Lisa, they both heard it drifting up from the bay – the old familiar launch alert coming from the Explorer.

"C'mon," Jeff shouted while jumping to his feet and taking Lisa's hand. The surge of adrenaline was a familiar feeling.

Still holding her by the hand, Jeff raced down the hillside as fast as he could. A painful stitch hit Jeff's side as he watched his teammates ships launch out of the Explorer. Whatever was coming over those mountains had the Commander concerned and Jeff had a bad feeling. He just hoped he and Lisa could get on board and launch in time to intercept whoever was out there.

TO BE CONTINUED…