Lisa searched for Rick in the landing bays and the officer's lounge and was disappointed when she couldn't find him. She had to know, what had happened during the fold? Not knowing where else he could be, she decided to return to her quarters and leave him a message. Lisa walked down the hall to her rooms, when she heard running footsteps behind her and turned to see a panting Rick, calling her name. "Lisa, where have you been, I've been looking all over for you." Lisa noted that he actually seem to sound happy to see her and so she smiled at him. "Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about you. I was looking for you, I wanted your help in figuring something out."
"Well, can it wait? I wanted to talk to you too and I don't think it can wait. Do you want to come in?" Rick looked at her with a hopeful look on his face and Lisa nodded her head as he opened the door to his quarters.
Lisa was nervous as she sat down on his couch. She looked around the small room and noted that the living quarters were a bit smaller than her space but still decently sized. Rick hurriedly prepared two cups of tea and brought the steaming cups to the table. Rick took a seat on the couch next to Lisa and noticed the slight blush that graced her cheeks. Neither said anything until Lisa asked, "Uh, were you able to get everything you needed for your quarters Rick?"
Rick just nodded his head, "Yeah, they had everything I needed." The two sat for a few more moments in the uncomfortable silence, neither knew how to bring up the subject. After a few more moments, Lisa decided to plunge forward. "Um, Rick I know you wanted to talk to me about something, but do you think I can go first. Vanessa showed me something interesting from the time of the space fold, but I think I need your help in figuring out what it means."
Rick didn't quite understand what she needed, he was confused, he was by no means an expert on folds and fold engines and didn't know if he could help her. "Sure, Lisa what do you need?'
"Well, um, ah, Vanessa and Sammie noted at the time of the fold that the fold space was cleared and we've been trying to figure out how you got caught in it. Vanessa showed me radar imaging from that day that showed you flying away from the fold space and then your Veritech seem to turn and fly right back into the fold. I was wondering if you could tell me what happened." Lisa looked at him a bit anxiously, with a questioning look on her face.
Rick just smiled and told her the the same thing that he told Max that day, "I had to go back, there was something that I left behind."
Lisa was just as confused as Max was with that comment, "What does that mean, I don't get it Rick. What could you have left behind?"
Rick didn't answer her question, instead he picked up her hand, noting how cold it was, held it in his larger hand and asked a question of his own. "Did you really come and visit me everyday while I was in the infirmary?"
Lisa tried to pull her hand back, but Rick wouldn't let it go, "H-how did you know about that?"
"Let's just say a little birdie told me. I guess what I really want to know is, did you mean what you said to me that last day on Earth, that you loved me and that you always will?"
Lisa tried to stand up but her hand was still caught by Rick, tears were almost coming to her eyes and she didn't want to cry in front of him, not again. "I don't appreciate you teasing me or your line of questioning. If you didn't want to answer my question, just say so, you don't have to be mean about it."
Seeing how upset Lisa was by his teasing, Rick stood up. "I'm sorry Lisa , I didn't mean to tease you, I was just, well, happy to hear that you came to see me when I was laid up. It made me realise that I didn't make the wrong choice that day."
Lisa still not understanding what Rick was trying to say, just looked confused and lost. "What does that have to do with the fold Rick?"
Rick chuckled, "That something that I left behind that I had to go back for, well, it was you Lisa. I couldn't let you leave without me especially when I realized how much you mean to me. I tried to go after you that day but Minmei held me back and then the attack started. I tried reaching you on the SDF-2 to tell you, in case I didn't make it, but when I heard you were initiating the fold, I knew that if I didn't follow that I may never have seen you again and I would have never been happy on Earth wondering where you were and whether you were okay."
At that Lisa started crying, Rick pulled her into his arms, "I love you Lisa, and I always will and I want you to know that I would go to the ends of the universe to be with you. I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you."
Lisa feeling warm, loved and comforted by Rick, looked up at him, her eyes shining bright. "I love you too."
Rick and Lisa decided to keep their newfound understanding with one another a secret for the time being. They wanted to enjoy and savor the start of their relationship without any interference and wanted to get to know each other on a more intimate level before letting everyone else know about them. Lisa was finally able to open up to Rick about how she's felt for him since aboard the SDF-1 and Rick admitted his attraction to her, not only for her beauty but also for her intelligence, bravery and commitment to all that she does.
It was difficult for Lisa not to show her preference for being with Rick after hours. She continued to keep a late schedule, but managed to take a break and have dinner with Rick in her quarters when she could. She enjoyed cooking and was able to arrange with the supplies chief some foodstuffs for her quarters that allowed her to indulge in making Rick a meal or two. Their quarters proximity to one another allowed the the freedom to easily visit one another without being noticed by the others.
Sammie, Kim and Vanessa didn't understand why Rick and Lisa weren't together after what they had helped reveal. It frustrated them to see Lisa still behaving like she had been and for Rick to treat Lisa like, well, the Captain. Not to say that nothing changed, Rick and Lisa no longer fought like they used to and seemed to be more at ease in one another's company, but there was no hint of anything romantic between them.
One night as Rick and Lisa sat cuddled on her couch sharing a few kisses, the near silence was torn apart by a siren going off and Lisa was summoned to the bridge. With a sigh, Lisa pulled herself away from Rick who was still dazed by Lisa's affections.
"I better see what's going on, " and slipped her heels back on, re-buttoned her jacket that Rick had been slowly trying to remove and check her hair and face in the mirror before heading out the door.
Frustrated, Rick decided to follow Lisa to the bridge to see what was going on. He was off from his patrol shift but would head back out if the ship was in serious danger.
When they reached the bridge, although unusual, no one asked why Rick was on the bridge with Lisa. Taking her position, Lisa asked for a status report and was told by Sammie that a single Zentraedi vessel had been spotted via radar and that it was closing in fast on their location. She also noted that their weapons seemed to be offline but Lisa ordered fighters to be on standby to move out and Rick made a motion to leave and head down to the bay were the Veritech's were but Lisa indicated that she wanted him to stay and said, "You've had experience dealing with them and I'd like to get your reading on the situation."
Lisa had Sammie opened up communications with the Zentraedi ship and hailed the ship. Her hail was answered by a mean looking Zentraedi who scoffed when he saw Lisa and her bridge crew.
"My name is Commander Grell," he sneered at them, " well what do we have here, puny micronion females running a ship... I see that you are all alone out here... prepare for your annihilation."
"Not so fast Commander Grell, I am Captain Lisa Hayes of the SDF-2 and I demand your immediate surrender or face destruction. Our sensors are showing that your main gun is offline and I want you to know that we have the power of protoculture and will not hesitate to use it against you."
"Huh, what did you say, I don't believe you. Prepare to be destroyed!" answered Grell.
Lisa stood her ground, "We already defeated Dolza and his fleet, don't you think we can easily defeat you?"
"What are you talking about, Dolza's fleet is unstoppable. I don't believe you."
"Then watch this and let me know if you still don't believe me. " shouted Lisa.
Sammie cued up the visual of the last battle with Dolza and the fleet's destruction which only furthered Grell's anger. "Traitors, zentraedi traitors, to turn on Dolza like that. You will pay dearly for that, puny microns."
"I don't think so, Grell , behold the power of protoculture!" Lisa cut the audio and whispered to Sammie, "launch the Minmei attack." Rick looked on with interest and wondered, "what the hell is a Minmei attack"
Rick had to hold back his laughter in the serious situation when a large holographic version of Minmei singing and dancing was displayed to the Zentraedi ship and her music was pushed through to all their military channels.
Grell panicked, "What is this? What is that female doing..."
"Do you surrender?"asked Lisa calmly.
"Never! " yelled Grell. They watched as Grell gave orders off screen but nothing seemed to be happening on their side.
"What do we do Captain?" asked Sammie anxiously.
Lisa gave the command to ready the main gun and to have fighters ready to deploy. She didn't want to be the first to strike if she could avoid it.
It was then that Rick stepped in from where he had been standing off to the side. As he reached Lisa's side, he could hear Grell gasp,"What is this, a male and a female serving together. This is madness."
"No, this is the true power of protoculture, Love" said Lisa and turned to Rick and said, "I hate to do this to you, but would you mind a demonstration, one last time?"
Rick smiled, "At your service Captain." Rick pulled Lisa into his arms and as she lifted her head up to his, Rick kissed her, making it clear to the bridge crew that kissing Lisa was definitely no hardship for him. Pandimonium ensued on both bridges, and the Zentraedi surrendered, unwilling to fight protoculture less they be tainted with it. Lisa had a security force enter the Zentraedi ship, and confiscate all weapons and battle pods. She assured them that they would be reunited with their fellow Zentraedi and be given the freedom to make a new life without war.
It wasn't long before everyone on the ship knew about the two Captains and everyone was happy to find that despite everything, there was still joy and happiness to be found.
It took the SDF-2 much less time than expected to return to Earth, only eighteen months had passed since Khyron's attack. The deployment of all the long range satellites that helped establish comunications between the far reaches of their solar system back to Earth, allowed them to contact the SDF-1 and let them know they were on a return course home.
Lisa, Sammie, Vanessa and Kim were glad to hear that Claudia and the Admiral were doing fine, as was Max and Miriya. They also transmitted the names of the crew on the ship and Max was the first to pump his fist in the air when Rick's name was included in the transmission.
It would still be a few months before the ship's return and Max contacted Minmei to give her the good news. The media had picked up on the sad story of Minmei's love being MIA and the interest and news had travelled so fast about it that she had no time to refute the the story. She didn't know what to do, and felt helpless, especially when the military invited her to the SDF-2 welcome home ceremony to greet Rick and the others on their return home. She knew that it was going to end badly for her and tried to explain to anyone that would listen, including the media, that her and Rick were just friends and that there was nothing between then.
As the shuttle came down carrying down the Captain and Bridge Crew of the SDF-2, escorted by Skull-1, Minmei wished a big hole in the ground would just open and swallow her up.
She watched as the band started playing and a stairway was rolled to the entrance of the shuttle. The door opened and looking poised and elegant, Captain Lisa Hayes descended the stairwell followed by Sammie, Vanessa and Kim. Minmei watched as Lisa formally saluted Admiral Gloval and was greeted in return. Breaking with military formality, Admiral Gloval gave Lisa a big hug and said, "Welcome home, my girl"
With cameras flashing, the media watched as the captain and crew of the SDF-2 were welcomed home by their friends and family. The media was anxious to capture the meeting between Captain Hunter and Minmei. The media kept their cameras trained on him as he descended from his Veritech and greeted Admiral Gloval. They watched as he seemed to give a puzzled look as to why Minmei was there but not as a performer. Rick made no move to greet her and they all watched as he stood patiently next to Captain Hayes talking to the Admiral. All watched as another aide descended from the shuttle, carrying something bundled in her arms. The aide greeted the Captains and passed the bundle to Captain Hayes.
Addressing Admiral Gloval, Lisa spoke, "Sir, there is something that we left off the crew manifests and the transmissions because we wanted to tell you ourselves. We'd like you to meet our son, Roy Henry Hunter." Lisa uncovered the bundle she cradled in her arms and Rick put his arms around Lisa in support. Everyone was in shock to hear that Lisa and Rick had a son, a baby no more than 3 months old. Claudia rushed forward to meet her nephew and Roy's namesake. Releasing Roy into Claudia's arms, Lisa continued, "Rick and I were married three months after we left. "
At that point the papparazzi couldn't hold back. Yelling questions at Minmei about the new development and how she was feeling about the news, was extremly painful for Minmei. She never expected that Rick and Lisa would get married and have a baby while in space. She was hoping that she could talk to Rick about the situation she was in and come up with a solution. Rick and Lisa seeing the distress that Minmei was in, looked at one another and quickly moved to flank her on either side.
Lisa give the distraught girl a hug. "Minmei, thank you for coming out today to welcome us home, we've missed you very much."
Rick catching onto what Lisa was doing, returned the sentiment, "We really missed you and your music, I hope that you've continued to perform in our absence."
Minmei seeing that Rick and Lisa were trying to help her save face, just nodded her head and said loudly, "Ohh I have been, and I have a special song written just for the two of you. I hope you will enjoy it. I can't wait to perform it for you."
The paparazzi seeing that there was no drama between the two Captains and the lovely singer quickly lost interest and moved in search of another story.
Holding tight to Lisa's hand, Rick in a low voice, apologized to Minmei, "I'm sorry for what you had to go through, I hope that you can forgive us one day."
Minmei just smiled a sad smile and said, "It's alright Rick, I aways knew you were in love with Lisa, even when you didn't. A girl can just tell these things." Turning to Lisa, "Thank you for what you just did back there, I really appreciate it and umm, if you don't mind Lisa, can I meet the baby?"
Lisa nodded her head and the three headed back to where Gloval, Claudia, Sammie, Kim, Vanessa, Max, Miriya, little Dana and now little Roy waited for them. They were happy that their little family was once again together.
Author's note: I'll admit the scene with the zentraedi cruiser was a little weak, but I honestly couldn't have them travel with nothing ever happening. Once again, thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy my little stories. Keep encouraging me, I have another little story I want to write.