Lisa woke up in unfamiliar surroundings. She struggled to get up only to see a nurse by her side.
"What happened?" she asked, trying to focus.
"You fainted," Jean informed her as she entered the room.
"Where's Rick?" she asked next, trying to dispel the haze in her head.
"You called?" Rick asked from behind Jean. He had a bandage on his forehead but otherwise looked like his usual self. He wondered where Lisa was and followed Jean into her room.
"How are you?"
"Jean says I'm fine," he informed her. "But you look terrible."
"Thanks," she replied wryly. She felt terrible, too.
"When can I take her home?" Rick asked Jean. He just wanted to go home with his wife and forget about their recent brush with danger.
"Well, I'm concerned about her," Jean warned. "But I think we can figure it out with the blood tests." She motioned for the nurse to take a vial of her blood.
"Ouch," Lisa said when she felt the needle prick her skin.
"You're ready to face missiles but can't stand needles," Jean joked. She gave the nurse quick instructions regarding the tests she wanted done.
Rick chuckled but then pretended to clear his throat when he saw Lisa glare at him.
"Ok, you two can go," Jean said. "But please stay out of trouble. I don't appreciate either of you ordering me around in my unit." She couldn't help but remind Lisa of her previous treatment.
"I'm sorry, Jean," Lisa apologized. "I didn't mean to."
"You ordered her around?" Rick asked in amazement. He wondered how bad it looked that she would resort to that.
"I know, you were worried about him," Jean accepted. "But I'm worried about you."
"What's wrong with her?" Rick asked, suddenly concerned.
"I'm fine," Lisa insisted. "I just fainted from the excitement." She tried not to make a big deal of it so Rick wouldn't worry.
Rick studied her for a moment then turned to Jean for confirmation.
"For now, I want you two to go home and rest. No more scouting expeditions alright?"
"Yes ma'am," Rick and Lisa agreed in unison and saluted Jean.
Jean shook her head and knew that she couldn't stay mad at those two no matter how difficult they sometimes can be when the other one is hurt.

"What were you thinking?" Admiral Reinhart said angrily over the communication channel. "You are the leader of that fleet and you should not take risks like that." He was trying to make sense of her report regarding the result of her scouting mission.
"Admiral," Rick began to defend her.
"Admiral Hunter, you are dismissed," Lisa said. She didn't want Rick to get in trouble more than she already was.
Rick turned to face her and wanted to disregard her dismissal but saw the stern look that would have made other men cower. He walked away and hoped that she would be alright.
"Admiral Hunter, would you please stop pacing?" Cindy requested, sensing trouble.
Rick tried to calm down but he didn't like not knowing what Lisa was going through with Admiral Reinhart. In hindsight he realized it was probably not a good idea but knew that he would have probably done the same.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity Lisa's office door opened. Both Rick and Cindy looked at her expectantly.
"Are you alright?" Rick asked first.
"I'm fine," Lisa replied, trying to be cheerful. "Cindy, I'll be taking a few days off and Admiral Hunter will be in-charge." She turned to her aide and gave her an assuring nod.
Rick followed Lisa back into her office to find out what happened. He quietly closed the door to give them some privacy.
"Are you in trouble?" he asked.
"He's not happy with what we did but I think he'll eventually forgive me."
"You shouldn't have faced him alone," he told her. "I was partly to blame."
"Rick, it was my idea," she insisted. "Besides, I need you to stay out of trouble in case he did suspend me. We can't both end up suspended. Especially now that Admiral Edwards is joining us."
"But he was against this mission," he started to argue.
"Well, Admiral Reinhart thinks that we need a third admiral just in case we both get in trouble again. That is why one of us will have to be good for a while."
Rick smiled and wondered how many times she had covered for him when he did stupid things in the past.
Lisa took that opportunity to show him where everything was and what needed to be done. She also asked Cindy to help him out while she was away.

Rick stared at the picture on Lisa's desk trying to gain some direction as to how he was going to run the SDF-3 on his first day. He wanted to impress her but didn't know how.
"Admiral Hunter," Cindy called out to him through the slightly open door. "Lord Breetai, Commodore Grant and Exedore on the communication channel sir."
Rick pressed a button which linked all three channels together for a conference.
"Admiral Hunter," Exedore greeted cheerily then showed his surprise at finding Rick instead of Lisa.
"Lisa is on vacation," Rick explained quickly. "I'm filling in for now."
"Admiral Hunter," Breetai greeted. "The Zentraedi soldiers on that planet are now on my ship. They were left at that outpost as punishment and are now aware of our alliance. They meant no harm; they just thought that your Zentraedi escort was your prisoner." He had learned that the soldiers were actually the first few who refused to fight thus abandoned on that planet.
"They fought pretty fiercely," Rick noted, touching the bandage on his head. "But it's good to know they're on our side now."
"Since this system looks to be peaceful," Exedore interrupted. "Perhaps it is time to find the next system to explore."
"Yeah," Rick managed to say, clearly unprepared. "I'll work on that today. Why don't you make preparations for our next destination?"
"We'll be ready," Vince replied. "We look forward to your orders sir."
Rick was grateful that he got off easily on that one. But he was going to be prepared for the next meeting.

Lisa had spent the first day of her imposed vacation idly but then decided to give Rick a short visit the following day. She brought lunch with her as a pretense. She noticed that Cindy wasn't at her post so guessed that she had gone to have lunch.
"Rick!" she exclaimed when she opened the door to her office. She looked at the floor filled with maps of all kinds and him in the center in his socks.
"Oh hi," he greeted her, laying down a few more maps on the floor next to him.
"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to make sense of his method.
"I was trying to decide on where we should go next," he explained. "After we've resolved that issue with the Zentraedi rebels, I think we're ready to go to the next system. And I was trying to figure it out."
"So you put all the maps on the floor?"
"Well, that section over there," he began to explain his method, pointing to the far section away from him. "… is the maybe pile; that one is the no pile; and these are the possible ones." He showed her the maps in his hands.
"You do know you can use the virtual star maps right?" She had shown him the 3D model that made it easier to visualize what he was trying to accomplish.
"I am more a paper map person," he made up an excuse.
"And knowing how well your clean-up skills are," she began, thinking back to how many times she picked up after him. "These are never going to make it off the floor."
"I'll clean it up, I promise."
"Let me show you the 3D modeling system again," she offered. She took off her shoes and walked over to her desk to launch the program.
Rick walked over to her side and watched the holographic image appear above her desk. He watched as she quickly punched in the sections that he was holding as possible destinations. He was leaning in to try to kiss her but she quickly reached up to turn his face towards the image before him.
"There," she said finally. "That's all you needed to do."
"Ok, that solves that part," he said gratefully. "But I still have those piles of reports and things to do." He pointed at the stack that was piled high on her desk.
"Now you know what I go through daily," she said sweetly. "Here's a tip; that pile over there can wait while that one is what is needed by tomorrow."
Rick marveled at how good she was at all that. He never heard her complain and always found time for him. He gave her a quick kiss.
"Admiral Hunter," Cindy called his attention from the door. She, too, was surprised at the maps strewn about on the floor.
"Yes," Rick and Lisa both answered, straightening up beside each other.
"Oh, I meant Admiral Rick Hunter," Cindy said when she saw Lisa beside Rick. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I think we have it under control," he said with a smile.
Cindy quickly excused herself to give them private time. She was happy to see Lisa back in her office if only for a brief visit.
"Are you hungry?" Lisa asked when they were alone.
"Hmm, what did you bring me?" he asked, trying to get some dessert first.
"I think you have a lot of work to do so this will have to be a working lunch," she informed him, dodging his advances. "So, I think I'll leave this with you and you can carry on with your work." She stepped around him to leave but he caught her before she could escape.
"Thanks, I needed a break," he said appreciatively.
"You're welcome," she replied and kissed the tip of his nose. "I'll see you at home later." She pushed away from him and made a quick exit before she let him convince her otherwise.

Lisa tried to remember the last time she had baked cookies and realized it had been too long. They had been in space for months now and she had been so busy with their expedition that she and Rick had relied on takeout meals.
She was happily humming to herself when the doorbell rang. She went to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to see Jean.
"Hi, is this a bad time?" Jean wondered.
"No, you're just in time to try some cookies," Lisa offered. She got a plateful of them.
"Oh, Bowie couldn't stop talking about these," she noted. She missed her son but knew he was at least safe back on Earth.
Lisa knew that Jean was missing her son and tried to be sympathetic.
"Oh, I almost forgot why I came here for," Jean said. "I got your test results back."
Lisa waited for the news.
"It's all good," she began to say. "Except for one thing. Which do you want first, the bad news or the good news?"
Lisa felt concerned. She chose the bad news.
"Well, the bad news is I will have to insist that you avoid any dangerous missions from now on," she began. "The good news is you're expecting." She quickly gave her the good news to avoid any objections.
Lisa's eyes widened. She was surprised at the news. She hadn't thought about it in a while since they left Earth. She hugged Jean and thanked her.
"I didn't do anything," Jean reminded her. "It was just a matter of time."

Rick managed to tidy up Lisa's office and then headed home. He couldn't wait to see her again when Max bumped into him.
"Guess what?" Max said excitedly. "I'm going to be a dad again!"
"Congratulations!" Rick said and shook his hand. He was glad for his friend.
"We should go out and celebrate," Max suggested.
"I'll run it by Lisa and see what she says," he said and parted ways with Max.
"Hi there Admiral Hunter," Rick greeted her when he got home.
"Hi Admiral Hunter," Lisa greeted back. "Don't you think it's a bit confusing for our subordinates though?" She was thinking back to when they both replied to Cindy earlier.
"So what are you suggesting?"
"Maybe I should change my name," she suggested. She ran her hands up and down his chest.
"Admiral Hayes," he greeted her.
"No, Admiral Hayes-Hunter," she corrected him.
"That doesn't sound bad," he chimed in, pleased that she still wanted to use his last name. "Guess who's having a baby?" He noticed that Lisa stiffened up on the mention of a baby.
"Who?" she asked nervously.
"Max and Miriya," he revealed. "Look, I know you want to have a baby, too. We'll just have to keep trying. I actually like that part." He tried to assure her that it was alright and kissed her deeply.
"Rick," she tried to say, pushing him away. "I have something to tell you." She was trying to fend him off because he was trying to silence her with his kisses.
"What?" he asked with half-closed eyes.
"This isn't quite how I wanted to tell you but," she began. "We're having a baby."
Rick's eyes flew wide open. He looked at his wife and wondered if he had misheard her. The smile on his face widened as he saw her confirm that he heard her right. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around in his arms.
"Rick, put me down," she requested gently.
"Am I hurting you?" he wondered. "I didn't do anything wrong did I?" Suddenly he was so protective of her.
"No," she laughed at his reaction. She then went to answer the door when the doorbell rang.
"Max, Miriya," Rick called them in. "Guess what? I'm going to have a baby!" He was so happy he wasn't thinking about what he was saying.
"You are having a baby?" Miriya asked in confusion. She may not be a human but she pretty much understood human anatomy and found Rick's statement illogical.
"He meant, I'm having a baby," Lisa corrected him, stepping next to him.
"Well what do you know, this calls for a double celebration then," Max announced happily as the two couples hugged each other in turn. "Of course, you're paying right?" He couldn't help but tease Rick.