"Hey Rick," Max greeted him as he entered the office.
"Hey Max," Rick acknowledged from behind his desk. "Is that the flight schedules?"
"Yep. It's up to date for the next two weeks."
Rick had adjusted quite nicely to his new post. He didn't like the paperwork that much but knew it had to be done.
"The office looks nice," Max said as he sat down across from Rick.
"It's alright," Rick said, running through the schedule carefully. "Wait, what's this?" He stood up abruptly and left a concerned Max behind in his office. He quickly walked towards Lisa's office.
"Captain Hunter," Cindy greeted him.
"Is she in?"
"Yes, but she's …"
Rick didn't wait to hear what she had to say but went in after a short knock on Lisa's door.
Lisa was talking with Vince when Rick barged in. She tried to keep her composure knowing what Rick was riled up about.
"Admiral, we need to talk," Rick said, trying unsuccessfully to keep his temper in check.
"Well, I look forward to working with you," Lisa said, standing up to shake Vince's hand. "I think my next appointment is here."
Vince took his leave and nodded towards Rick when he passed by him. He quietly closed the door behind him as he left.
"In the future, please don't barge in like that Rick," Lisa warned.
"Put me on report, I don't care," Rick said in a raised voice.
Lisa tried to control her temper as she watched Rick act insubordinately.
"Why wasn't I told about this?" he continued and handed her the roster. He didn't care about his career at that moment because he was more concerned about what she was trying to do.
"Rick, will you please calm down," she said, trying to pacify him. "I see you've seen the flight schedules."
"Yes," he hissed. "Were you even planning on telling me or just slip away?"
"Well, I need to go see Lord Breetai and Exedore," she started to explain. "We need to discuss the plans for the SDF-3 and the new Veritechs."
"You can't just do it over the communication channels?"
"It's a top-secret mission Rick," she continued to explain. "We can't afford the Robotech Masters finding out we're going to Tirol."
"Then why am I not the one flying you out to their ship?"
"Because you have duties here," she reminded him.
"How long are you away for?"
"Two months."
"You're going to keep Max away from his family that long?" He pretended to be concerned about Max when in reality it was the thought of being apart from her the upset him so.
"He'll fly me there and come back after a few days."
"I'm taking you there," Rick finally said. "I make the decision when it comes to my squadrons and Max stays here. You agreed to that."
"Rick," Lisa started to object.
"I'll take furlough if you're worried about my command duties," he emphasized. "And don't even think of going without me, I'll come after you."
"You'll be thrown in the brig for …"
"There's no stopping me Lisa," he warned. "I'll come whether you want me or not." He didn't know how else to make her accept his offer. All he could do was try to out stare her at this point. It seemed childish but he was not backing down on this one.
"Alright," she relented finally. "But you have to promise me one thing."
"What?"
"You won't try to distract me from my work."
"When have I ever been a distraction?" he asked with an impish grin. But he contradicted himself when he kissed her. He was relieved that she had seen it his way and glad to be spending time with her away from the base.
"Rick, this is exactly what I can't have you doing," she said when he finally released her.
"Alright, I'll be at my best behavior," he assured her. "I promise. I guess I'll have to change this schedule before you change your mind." He picked up the roster and headed out of Lisa's office.
Lisa looked at Rick's retreating form and shook her head. She knew better than to let him get his way but realized as well that she would be distracted apart from him anyway.

"Did Rick come here?" Max asked Cindy in a panic. He had figured out that Rick was upset about him taking Lisa to Breetai's ship.
Cindy only nodded her confirmation.
"How bad is it?"
"They've been shouting at each other for a while," she replied. "But now suddenly it's quiet. Do you think we should go in there?"
Just as the two were trying to decide on the next best approach the door opened. Rick came out and looked at the two concerned subordinates.
"What?" he asked them both.
"Nothing sir," both replied in unison.
"Let's go Max, we have work to do," he finally said and motioned Max to follow him back to his office.
Cindy watched the two men disappear around the corner of the hallway. She was glad Rick and Lisa resolved their issue, whatever it was.

"Ready?" Rick asked his passenger on the Veritech.
"As I'll ever be," Lisa replied.
"Alright, here we go." He eased the VT into the strip and got ready to take off. It was a fairly routine flight but he wanted to minimize the inconvenience it would cause Lisa as much as possible.
Once in space, Rick reconfigured his VT so they can see Earth from the ship.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Lisa said, reading his mind.
"Yeah, but that's why we need to succeed in this mission," he reminded her.
"Rick," she said tentatively. "Will you let me fly the VT?"
"What?"
"I learned the basics," she reminded him. "But I rarely fly so I'd like to try. I may be a bit rusty so don't laugh."
"Ok, if you want to," he agreed. "Ok, turning control over to you." He flipped the switch but Lisa wasn't ready so the VT did a quick dive before she gained control. It took her a while to get the hang of it so the ride was a bit dizzying.
"Are you okay?" she asked when Rick hadn't spoken in a while.
"Are we there yet?" he teased. "I need to throw up."
"Am I that bad?" she asked.
"Well, I can give you some pointers," he offered. He gave her feedback as he showed her new maneuvers. Lisa was a quick study which impressed him. He now knew why she graduated top of her class.
After an uneventful rest of the flight, Rick took control when they approached Breetai's ship. He landed it smoothly and opened the canopy to get out of it. He also helped Lisa down.
"Welcome, Admiral Hayes," Exedore, ever the diplomat, greeted them. "And welcome to you, too, Captain Hunter."
"Hello Exedore," Lisa greeted in similar fashion.
Rick can only nod his greeting.
"This way," Exedore prompted them as they headed to meet with Breetai. "I'm sure you both are tired from your trip but Lord Breetai wanted to see you immediately."
"I understand," Lisa replied. "We can catch up on sleep later."
"Captain Hunter, I'm sure you would like to try out the new Veritechs," Exedore informed him. "I can arrange for test flights after you've rested."
"Thanks," Rick managed a reply.
After a fairly quick welcome from Breetai, Rick and Lisa were shown their rooms. Exedore first showed Lisa to her room before walking Rick to his room.
"Good night, Captain Hunter," Exedore greeted amicably.
"Just call me Rick," he suggested.
"May I ask a question, Rick?" Exedore ventured.
"Sure."
Exedore hesitated, trying to find the proper way to inquire.
"What did you want to ask, Exedore?" Rick prompted.
"It's about Admiral Hayes," he started to say.
Rick suddenly felt curious and a little bit protective of her.
"She is quite attractive," Exedore suggested. "I wonder if you've noticed."
Rick can only nod his agreement. He wondered what Exedore was getting at.
"I just thought you should know." Exedore then took his leave after one sly smile.
Rick watched Exedore head to his room at the far end of the hall. He then realized that even Exedore saw that he and Lisa were meant to be together.

Lisa was busy working on the plans for the SDF-3 with Breetai, Exedore and Dr. Lang who arrived recently, while Rick was busy with test flights with the new VTs. They occasionally spent the night in each other's room but tried to be very discrete so as not to upset their hosts.
"I like the new VTs," Rick noted while Lisa pored over the new schematics of the SDF-3. "It's quite fast and quick at transforming."
"Hmm," Lisa managed to intone while intently studying the schematics on her console.
"I'd like to kiss you in front of Exedore," he said randomly.
"Hmm."
"Lisa," he said finally to get her attention. "You're not even listening to me."
"I am," she said and turned off the console she was using. "Why do you want to kiss me in front of Exedore?"
Rick was amazed that she had even heard him.
Lisa turned around to face him and smiled sweetly. She placed her hands against his chest while he instinctively drew her into his arms.
"He's been hinting on how perfect we are for each other," he admitted. "Today he pretty much asked me why I haven't made my move."
Lisa laughed at Rick and thinking of how Exedore could have possibly put that in a tactful way.
"If I didn't know him better I would be jealous," he noted.
"You're not the jealous type are you?"
"No, but I think he should know that we're together now. It would at least make him stop encouraging me to ask you out when all I want is to stay in with you." He then followed Lisa to her bed.

Lisa, Breetai, and Dr. Lang were finishing up their day's meeting when a Zentraedi solder came in with urgency.
"Lord Breetai," the solder said quickly. "The micronian called Captain Hunter has had an accident."
Breetai quickly helped Lisa and Dr. Lang rush to the hangar where Rick was being removed by another Zentraedi soldier from his VT in Battloid mode.
"Careful," Exedore reminded the soldier. "He might be injured."
The soldier carefully placed Rick on the ground unceremoniously and waited for Breetai's reprimand.
"Rick!" Lisa called out as she ran the short distance from where Breetai set her down and where he was. "What happened?" She looked at the damage to the Battloid's side.
"I was sparring and fell," Rick tried to explain.
Breetai started to reprimand the Zentraedi soldier for not exercising restraint while sparring with Rick.
"No! Lord Breetai, it was my fault," Rick intervened.
"I do not need your help micronian," the soldier said, preferring to face Breetai alone.
"It wasn't your fault. I made the mistake."
"I guess we'll need to get this fixed," Dr. Lang noted as he assessed the damage. "It'll take a few days so you'll be grounded for a while."
Lisa helped Rick to his feet and hoped that he wasn't injured badly.
"I'm fine," he assured her. "Just a little shaken up." He flashed her his signature smile to assure her.
Once she was sure that he was alright, Lisa headed back with Dr. Lang and Breetai. She took one quick look back and saw that Rick and Exedore were headed back to their quarters.