Bittersweet Destiny
By Carla Fox
Chapter 30: Somewhere Only We Know

Rick looked at Lisa with concern. Her eyes were different and somehow she felt distant. He took his mug of hot coffee and pretended to read the newspaper while Lisa chewed her toast and looked at the empty space in front of her. She had been acting like that for some weeks and Rick wondered what had happened. He tried to talk to her, but she just smiled at him and said everything was all right, that she just had too much work to catch up on. But something was not right, he could feel it.

She wasn’t sad or angry. Her eyes just didn’t show any particular emotion and that worried Rick. He sighed, trying to get her attention, but she just kept staring at the wall, lost in her thoughts. Her change began after all the gossiping about her return stopped. It was like Lisa was absent from the world. Depressed.

“Are you picking the kids up from school today?” asked Rick trying to make conversation. The silence around them was driving him crazy.

“Hmm?…what?” asked Lisa looking at him.

“I asked if you are going to pick up the kids today?” repeated Rick a little annoyed.

Lisa sighed, like she was tired. “No, today is Kim’s day to pick them up. She wanted to take them to the zoo with Sammie after school. Lizzy is going too” she explained dully and finished her toast and drank her juice.

Rick looked at her and he was on the edge of screaming. Her strange behavior was getting on his nerves and he didn’t know what to do. He talked with Vanessa, Kim and Sammie in case they knew something, if she had a problem with someone but there was nothing. The past weeks were calm inside the base. Lisa was still reading reports. There was nothing to explain her reaction or, in other words, her lack of reaction. Sarah was so hyper with the new school, her growing relationship with Rick and everything else in her life that she didn’t notice her mother's state. But Rick did, and he didn’t like it.

“I was thinking…” said Rick stopping his own thoughts before she went away, “… that we could go out for dinner tonight?” He used his most charming smile with her, but Lisa just sighed.

“I’m kind of tired; I just want to sleep Rick. Can we do it another day?” she asked. Rick looked at her a little taken aback at her reply, but of course could not do or say anything other than an Ok.

Lisa went to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Rick stared at the closed door wondering what he could do. This was not the same Lisa. Something happened to her and he was determined to find out what it was.

**********

Rick landed his VF cursing his bad luck. The new pilots didn’t have any talent, but worse the way they flew was actually dangerous. They didn’t have confidence enough to take advantage of the maneuverability of the veritech fighters. Roy walked next to him after he jumped down.

“That bad, eh?” he said reading Rick’s facial expression.

“Worse. I really don’t know what they are doing here, they don’t have what it takes” said Rick watching as the young pilots walked depressed to the hangar. Rick sighed and supported his head on the white metal of the machine.

“It's all we have actually. You know the instructions, Maistroff is not giving enough money for more training and God only knows where he is spending all the resources” said Roy mimicking Rick’s position.

“I just wish for one, just one good pilot out there. You, Max, Mir and me aren’t enough, plus this is not even fun anymore” complained Rick.

“There are two, you know?” commented Roy looking at him out of the corner of his eye. Rick smiled a little.

“Yes, but they are way too young.”

“True, but that didn’t matter the other day when they kicked our asses in the flying simulator” grinned Roy.

“Just don’t tell them…I made Sarah believe that I let her win, but I have the feeling she didn’t buy it completely” said Rick looking at the cloudy sky, watching as Miriya and Max took the next patrol and crossed the sky at high speed. A storm was coming.

“They are good, way too good” said Roy smiling widely. “I can’t wait to have them here and teach them, but I think when they actually join the RDF, they will teach me."

Rick laughed softly. It was true, Sarah and Dana were amazing pilots, potentially better their old folks, but what was even more amazing was the two girls, even just in flying simulators, coordinated themselves amazingly as a team. Dana was a natural leader, and Sarah took her instructions to the core. Playing just for fun, both girls won against Rick and Roy, making them sweat profusely. By good luck for the two grown men, Miriya and Max joined them in the game center, and as good as the girls were, they couldn’t win over them.

“I heard them talking about looking for a third one” said Roy.

“You wonder if it would be Sean?” asked Rick wondering but Roy laughed.

“Not in a million years. I know my boy and he don’t like the sky” he said smiling a little sadly. Rick noticed it.

“You wish he liked it?” Rick asked.

“I admit that a little, yes, but more for me than for him. I wish he could enjoy the feeling up there, the freedom, the rush of high speed, but he doesn’t, and I am not going to force him to do something he doesn’t like. God! He even got dizzy the few times I took him up there!” and Roy laughed remembering the green face of his boy when they landed. “But on the other hand I feel good. I mean, I know he is safe and that’s a great joy for me, plus, I see his face every time he is studying…he actually enjoys it! He certainly took that from Claudia, not me…” he joked and Rick agreed “…I am just so proud of him. He is way so much better than me, I feel I don’t deserve such a good boy."

Rick watched his friend smiling and looked at the sky again. Indeed he was proud of his son, pilot or no pilot. Rick then imagined the face of Sarah a little older, probably even more like Lisa, wearing a flight suit and jumping in her own veritech, ready to take off. He pictured her inside it and Dana next to her, ready to have fun in the air. He smiled widely, knowing that that was all him. But Roy was right, the skies were dangerous territory, it wasn’t like when he was a boy when the skies were just free space. He wondered if Sarah would have to kill someone one day and he shuddered. It was part of the job and he really didn’t want that for her, but all the signs showed that she and Dana would end up there, no matter what.

“You did it good, she will too…” said Roy not looking at him but reading his thoughts. “She will do what she has to do when the time comes, plus she is Lisa’s too… you can’t take more than hundred years of soldiers from her genes” commented Roy and Rick become suddenly somber. Lisa. Roy noticed the tension in his little bother.

“What happened?” he asked and Rick nodded negatively at him. He sighed, took his helmet and began walking to the hanger.

“I don’t have a clue, she's acting absolutely odd. And I can’t make her talk, she just says everything is all right” he said annoyed.

“Claudia told me the same thing. I guess Lisa is just having a hard time recovering her old life. It’s just been two months” said Roy.

“Is not that, something is wrong and I can’t put my finger in it.”

“C’mon Rick, you are going to tell me you can’t make your wife talk?” Roy joked stopping in the middle of the empty platform. Rick stopped in his tracks and turned.

“Just don’t talk about THAT, ok? It is a sensitive subject” he said a little embarrassed.

Roy looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me that you two haven’t…” asked Roy in disbelief and Rick looked at him more than a little embarrassed.

“We haven’t had the time, plus she is always tired” said Rick feeling like a teenager.

“Ohh… are you sure you haven’t done anything wrong lately? It's not like Lisa to give you the cold shoulder” commented Roy, enjoying how Rick was getting even more irritable.

“Shut up! I haven’t done anything wrong at all! I have been the perfect example of a good husband” he said and began walking again. Roy followed him.

“Maybe that’s the problem…” said Roy and began whistling and Rick raised an eyebrow at him annoyed.

“Look, all I am saying Rick is that you should be yourself, and you are NOT the perfect example of a good husband. You are you and that’s what Lisa likes about you, or liked…”

“I am a father now, I can’t be acting all… well… me” complained Rick feeling like he was between the sword and the wall with the situation.

“You are a father to Sarah, not to Lisa. You need to learn to separate things. You can be a good father, but you need to remember you are Lisa’s husband, with all that that implies. You are her friend and her lover. You are you, that’s what she loves about you. Sure you can’t go around having sex in every corner of the house anymore, especially when those three kids are there all the time playing, but you are a sexual being Rick, and so is she, even if she is a mother” said Roy feeling like he was actually hitting the real issue there.

“Yeah, but she hasn't shown any interest either. I can’t force her!” said Rick irritably.

“Of course you can’t force her, but you can create the mood” said Roy and rolled his eyes.

“I tried! I asked her out today and she said she is just too tired!” complained Rick, trying to defend himself.

“How old are you? C’mon! This is Lisa Hayes we are talking about! And you are Rick Hunter for God’s sake! You don’t need that kind of romance, you need to spice things up! If she don’t ‘want to’, I can’t believe you are not inventing something! Move your ass and do something. I bet Lisa feels as insecure as you do and that’s all this is about!” said Roy raising his voice. Rick felt ashamed.

“I… I admit I haven’t done much, but I feel weird! It is not the same, and with Sarah around I feel stressed out about it sometimes. It is like I don’t know how to… approach her…” said the younger man, frustrated.

“Just answer me something… do you want to? I mean… do you want her that way? And be honest” asked Roy crossing his arms over his chest.

“Of course I want her! I come onto her and joke with her, and make innuendos but when the key moment comes, I just think of her as a mother… I don’t know…” said Rick obviously confused with the subject. Roy sighed, understanding Rick. He put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a speech he never thought he was going to give.

“Look Rick, this is absolutely normal, and this actually happened to us one or two months after Sean's birth... you know, there are like 40 days after child birth that you can’t do anything, for medical reasons obviously. But when you have a green light from the doctor to finally ‘do it’, it is odd…the situation is strange. Sometimes it is because you begin seeing your wife just as a mother. Other times it's because you want her so badly you feel you are going to do something wrong to her… and most of the time, it's a mix up of both. I can just imagine how badly YOU want it after 8 years…” joked Roy and Rick turned bright red, “… but you also just realized that Lisa is a mom, and you can’t separate things easily. Trust me, I know it is normal, but now is the time when you need to REALLY understand that a woman can be a thousand different roles and be the same woman you fell in love with on the first day. Women are different than us. They are all those things together, mothers, wives, friends, professionals… lovers, and they can actually handle it. So, the fact that Lisa is a mother, doesn’t mean that she don’t want to have sex as badly as you do”, said Roy to Rick and he looked at the floor.

“So basically you are saying that she is acting all funny because…”

“Because she probably wants it as bad as you, but YOU gave her the cold shoulder somehow, and after everything that had happened in her life, do you think she is going to push something like this on you? Of course not! She is just going to let it go, not think about it… there are enough issues in her life to add one more, especially if that one thought on her part is that you don’t find her attractive enough."

“WHAT?! Of course I find her attractive! She drives me crazy!” said Rick in shock.

“But she is probably ‘reading it’ the other way around. Look… one thing I learned from women, and especially Claudia, is that they read every single detail we do. Not just what we say, also HOW we say it and what we do with our hands and our eyes. They can read all those things… it’s exhausting! So think, Hunter… think and you will realize what you did, because I’m sure you did something” said Roy, picking up his own helmet and Rick’s. “Now, go and talk with Claudia…I bet she has a way to help you in this, she has been wondering about Lisa, too. Now, GO!” commanded Roy and Rick didn’t notice when he was actually running to the control tower where Claudia was. Roy smiled to himself.

“I’m such a matchmaker. Oh God, why you make me so perfect?” he said smiling widely and walking to the hanger, ready to scare some rookies.

**************

“I don’t get this, how you are so popular with girls and nobody from your age group actually likes you?” asked Sarah to Sean who was reading another book. The blond boy raised an annoyed eyebrow in her direction.

“Envy, of course. Everybody envies me, I am way too perfect” he explained surely, getting back to his book. Sean and Sarah where sitting in the school library doing their homework. Sarah was bored; the day outside was horrible, raining and cold. Both of their parents, and the Sterling’s were at the base, and the zoo trip Kim planned for them was ruined because of bad weather, so she had to spend her afternoon in there, until their parents pick them up. She looked at the big windows and saw the drops hitting them hard, the storm getting worse by the minute.

Sarah looked around, her elbow on the desk and her hand supporting her head. The RDF kids were very different from her “gang” and she felt homesick. She wondered what Sam and the twins were doing or if Peter invented something new. The kids in the Academy were stiff… proud. It had been two months since she began at the new school. She learned a couple of things she never considered before, like the kids from higher ranking officers felt as important as their parents, but she was an exception. Even when Lisa was just a Lieutenant, there was something about her that made the kids and their parents respect Sarah. Plus her little incident with the VF was also known around and the kids were amazed that she actually flew one. She frowned…she didn’t get them at all.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Sean not looking at her, busy taking notes on his notepad.

“Nothing, I’m just bored” said the girl looking at the book in front of her and finding that it was upside down. She sighed and turned it in the right direction.

Sean looked at her with his piercing dark blue eyes for a second and then went back to his book like he didn’t care.

“I don’t care about people, except my family” said Sean not looking at her but beginning a conversation, “and I guess they know I am not honest about it, that’s why they don’t like me. Plus, I am too smart and too good looking… they envy me” he explained grinning, and Sarah rolled her eyes.

“But the girls do…” said Sarah grabbing her pen and making small drawings in her notepad.

“Girls, girls… they are so silly” Sean murmured.

“We are not!” said Sarah feeling insulted.

“You are barely a girl, Stick” mocked Sean and Sarah was ready to hit him with a book, but then saw the librarian shushing them out of the corner of her eye and stopped.

“Well, yes I am!” murmured Sarah at him, “and you just like to be around the stupid ones."

“And you… and Dana, well, two girls with partially working brains is not that bad” he said and raised an eyebrow, challenging her to lose her temper. Sarah held her breath and bit her tongue so not to speak.

“I don’t know why I am here with you!” said the girl trying not to explode.

“Masochist” said Sean looking back at his book and smiling. Sarah raised her own eyebrow and looked annoyed, especially because she didn’t know what that word meant.

They stayed in silence until Sean finished his second book. The boy was eating books with his eyes.

“You would not so bad, if you actually had your feet on the ground, you know?” murmured Sean to her. Sarah looked at him wondering what he meant.

“I really don’t get you… or Dana, or Rick, or my dad… or Aunt Mir or Uncle Max. You all like to fly, to play flying games and do stupid things in the air and risk yourself. That’s why I like your mother and my mother and Aunt V, Sammy and Kim, even Robert, though he is not very communicative, but at least he has common sense. They have their feet on the ground. They know how to behave.”

“Gosh you are bored” said Sarah rolling her eyes. “Flying is the best thing ever! Rick… I mean… my dad, took me flying around in his old plane and he let me control it. Of course Aunt Sammy was mad with him because she saw us on the monitor, but it was really cool."

“That’s exactly what I mean, you are eight! You shouldn’t even be able to get close to a plane.”

“And you are nine, and you should not be able to be around metallic blades, high tech mechanical lasers and protoculture batteries, but there they are all around in your bedroom!” replied Sarah and Sean looked up like he didn’t care.

“I am smart enough to handle them.”

“And I am talented enough to fly a plane. And Dana does it too.”

“Yeah, I heard about that. She and you together were able to win over my dad and Rick in a flying simulator, is that true?” asked Sean not believing it and Sarah smiled from ear to ear.

“Yes, we sure did. We couldn’t beat Aunt Miriya and Uncle Max, but we fought for a long time. Dana and I are kind of cool together, but we are missing one” complained Sarah frowning.

“One what?”

“One person for our future squadron of course! We need someone else” said Sarah looking at him and Sean moved his head negatively.

“Forget it, I am not going to waste my time at that” he said surely, Sarah rolled her eyes.

“I knew you were going to say that. I told Dana, but she insisted that I ask you. Plus, we want a girl…we want it to be an all girl squad” said Sarah smiling.

“The only other one is Lizzy and she is just three” mocked Sean, but Sarah didn’t get angry at all, she actually gave him a wicked smile.

“Yeap, and that’s what we thought. She is three, and I’m 8, that’s just 5 years apart. When she turns 17, I’ll be 22 and Dana will be 26… it will be perfect, we will rock inside the RDF by then."

“Lizzy can hardly walk!” complained Sean not believing how those two could actually consider the poor baby in their crazy plans.

“But we are teaching her how to play videogames! And Aunt V let us play with her. She likes us a lot and follows us like a puppy, so it will not be a problem” said Sarah confidently.

“Good luck” joked Sean. “Well, when you turn 22, I’ll be 23, and probably be in charge of the engineering department of the RDF. I will take the place of Doctor Lang” and Sean smiled this time.

“How exciting!” said Sarah sarcastically.

“A lot more important than you and Dana going up and down in the air, playing like birds” answered Sean angry with her.

“Why I have to stay here listen to you anyway? Just go away!” said Sarah trying not to be too loud.

“Because my mom made me promise to be with you all day, because Dana is in gymnastics and can’t be here. I am your babysitter” answered the boy, showing his perfect white teeth. Sarah felt the sudden need to break one of them.

“You are not!” she complained, and this time the librarian looked at them annoyed. They both shut up.

“I don’t need you here, go away” murmured Sarah but Sean refused.

“You can’t be alone. I don’t know exactly why, but both mom and dad made me promise to stay and I will” said Sean stubbornly.

“You said you don’t know exactly why, so it means you know… something, right?” asked Sarah.

“I guess as much as you. There has always been a danger around us, well… our family. For as long as I can remember we have always been careful, not ever alone, so I guess it is normal that you have to be protected as well. I just wish you weren’t so annoying, Stick” said Sean sticking his tongue at her and Sarah kicked him under the table, hard.

“Stop hitting me!”

“Stop calling me that” said Sarah looking calmer. “So, what else do you know?”

“Nothing much…” he said touching his sore leg, “… there is a man that threatened all of us, especially your mother, and that’s why she left so long ago, to protect me and all of us. But even when she wasn’t here, the man was still around us, so we had to be careful anyway. Dana and I always had someone around us while we were little kids, and now that we are older we have to cover each other, and now, you too. I guess we have to take care of Lizzy too when she gets older” said Sean.

“Doesn’t that bother you? To have all this happening?” asked Sarah curiously.

“Not really… we have been like this always, so for me it's kind of normal, you know? I like to take care of my family, but I don’t care a bit about anybody else” said the boy grinning, taking another book and beginning to read again.

Sarah looked at him and wondered. She could not understand him at all. Sometimes he acted like a good person, caring, understanding and faithful, but other times he was nasty, rude and self-absorbed. 'Well…' thought Sarah, 'he was always self-absorbed.' She looked at him for a moment, trying to get him, but could not. The only thing she realized was that Sean Fokker considered them all family, including her, and that thought, for some reason, was nice.

***********

Lisa walked inside the empty officers lounge. She sighed and walked to the coffee machine, her addiction to caffeine already striking back with full force. Slowly she took the hot mug and turned around to look outside the window. She sighed. Lisa knew she had to find a way to get out from the bad spirits she was under lately. She knew it was affecting her and the people around her but didn’t know how get rid of it. Everything was so lame and so plain at work and at home things were just tense. After two weeks of every day stuff, when things were finally setting up, Lisa realized Rick was acting odd, and that worried her. He was indeed a good father, sometimes more like Sarah’s brother than her father, but he was getting there slowly. But that was not the problem, the problem was them, together.

They were fine, regular, joking and even having fun, but he was holding back and she knew it. Lisa looked at the mug in her hands and closed her eyes, remembering.

It was a nice evening, Sarah was already sleeping and they were sitting on the couch talking. They began easily, holding hands, then kissing a little. Lisa felt like she was in heaven…she was at home, a place she never thought she would be again. She had her daughter in bed, sleeping soundly, warm and protected. She had the man of her life next to her, holding her in his arms, kissing her, the mood set for the beginning of something she missed so much. It was not the act itself, well, maybe a little she corrected, but the meaning was what she missed…the feel of his skin covering her, protecting her. His mouth blessing every inch of her body and her soul. Them becoming one for eternity. Oh yeah, she missed him.

Rick looked at her with fire in his blue eyes and Lisa trembled inside. She needed him so much and did the only thing she could think of. She began it. She felt bold enough for the first time to make a move on him. Slowly she deepened the kiss and Rick opened his eyes in shock. Her hands moved up and down over his chest and she sat in his lap. She moaned, she wanted to seduce him. But he suddenly stopped her. She looked into his eyes asking why, and then she saw it there, like she saw it so many years before when he still didn’t love her: confusion.

And like in those days, it hurt her like a knife into her stomach.

She didn’t say a thing and neither did he. They stopped and, embarrassed, decided to call it a night and go to bed…to sleep. Straight to sleep. Lisa showed not problem with it, she even laughed softly and made a joke. Rick relaxed watching her reaction.

But she never was the same since then. Lisa never felt the same.

Lisa came back to reality and sighed for the hundredth time. She was not angry with him. She just could not feel a thing anymore, not a single thing. Since that day the only one who brought some joy at home was Sarah.

She felt alone and scared. She wondered before the incident about her looks, simple stuff, to feel attractive and secure. She felt this rush of energy previously, but then everything died. Nothing mattered anymore. If Rick didn’t want her, she could not do a thing about it. Lisa thought that after all, it was her fault. She took off, she was the one who disappeared for 8 years leaving him in the dark. She couldn’t blame him for not finding her desirable anymore. Maybe her fears were right, she thought giving one last look at the almost dark raining night, leaving the empty coffee mug on the table and putting on her shoes again, ready to go back to her thousands of files. Maybe Rick was indeed angry with her for leaving. Maybe she ruined everything, no matter if he did deny it.

******
“Hello honey” said the soft voice of Vanessa over the phone. Robert smiled softly when he picked it up.

“Hey V, what’s up?” he asked getting comfortable on his couch, holding Lizzy while the baby was chewing on a teddy bear.

“Nothing much, this crazy rain just ruined everything. I am so tired…” she said and Lizzy listened her mom’s voice and began trying to get the phone.

“Hold on, Hold on, there is someone here who wants to talk to you” said Robert and put the baby on the phone for a minute and she bubbled words to Vanessa. When Lizzy got bored with it and jumped from her father's lap to the floor, he picked it up again.

“Sorry about that. So, when you are you coming home? I miss you…” he said seductively, and he could swear he could see how her face was turning red on the other end of the line. Rob grinned.

“I miss you too, but again, this rain. Margaret got sick and Kim had to take over her shift for the afternoon, and I can’t leave the base until 23:00 hrs…”

“My poor queen… do you want me to come and rescue you?” he joked standing up and stopping Lizzy from actually hitting the coffee table, again.

“I wish…” laughed Vanessa, “… but I called to asked you something. Can you go and pick up the kids from school? It was Kim’s turn to pick them up, but she can’t… Oh and Roy told me to tell you to keep them at our place for tonight, because they were all going to be here for a while, can you? Pretty please?” she said cutely.

“You know I can’t say no to that voice V, but you are going to repay me for this V, you know that. It is hard to be their babysitter, they all eat a lot!” and he smiled at himself.

“Always” she said, sending him a kiss and hung the phone.

Robert picked up Lizzy and made her fly in the air and the baby laughed.

“Ok Kiddo, we are going to pick the new terrible trio… and I think it will be a terrible quartette in a couple of years, don’t you? Don’t you?” he said making faces to the girl and Lizzy threw her little arms around his neck, giving him a hug.

Rob enjoyed these moments with his daughter. The baby was a little shy, hardly leaving her mother’s skirt when there were strangers around, but she was the sweetest little thing. He looked at her and enjoyed the softness of her crystal green eyes. He smiled at her and he kissed her little blond hair that smelled like the typical baby smell of powder and baby shampoo. She was so delicate, so small, so like Vanessa. He remembered when he actually looked at Vanessa one day during a shift, the two of them alone, while the other two were outside chasing pilots for dates. Vanessa was not the most beautiful woman, but she had something, a thing he didn’t get until that day when they were alone and could talk a little. She was shy at first, but had so much to say. Her talk was entertaining and secure, her opinions deep and meaningful. Rob saw a different beauty in her, something different from the other two.

He liked the Trio all together, and laughed his ass off with Kim and Sammie, but Vanessa was always more quiet, like she was keeping something inside and that intrigued him. Rob was one of the “hotties” of the base, according to the Sammie and Kim, and he had a couple of light romances during the past years, but he was taken aback when he actually met Vanessa. Lizzy looked at him wondering why her father was suddenly so quiet and looking at her so intensely.

Vanessa was different, shy but not vulnerable. She gave him the one thing he never thought anyone would ever give him: caring. She cared for him, she loved him and with time, he fell in love with her. Her presence in his life actually gave him a future and taught him to let go of his past. It was a lesson he learned alone, because no matter how much he loved her, he promised himself the day Lizzy was born and he held her for the first time, that he would not ever do anything to hurt his family.

And that was exactly what he said to Jake that same day.

It was a cold night, and the two men met outside the city, hidden between the shadows of the trees. The only way to reach Jake was over a phone and he came to him, to see what Robert wanted to inform him. His brother laughed at him without mercy and called him weak. Jake insulted Vanessa and told him he crossed the line when he got involved with such a pathetic woman. Robert lost his temper and slapped Jake on the face, demanding for him to shut up. Jake looked at him and smiled nastily at him giving him a fake apology. Robert told him he was out of everything, and that his past was buried, the same way he, Jake, was dead to him. Jake agreed, not feeling anything for him, but gave him one final gift: he swore he would not bother Robert, Vanessa…or his niece.

Rob shuddered at the memory and held Lizzy strongly. There was no way, no matter what he did or said, that she was not going to be the niece of such a man. He felt bad. He regretted his actions, his part in the suffering of Lisa Hayes and Rick Hunter, the man he learned to respect and trust with time, and everybody else around. But he felt the worst for Rick. He looked at Lizzy and wondered how many sweet moments Rick missed of Sarah because of him and his brother, moments that would never come back. He would like to come clean and free his conscience and tell them the secret, but he could not. His fear was genuine and too real to forget. He would lose everything he cared about and never even thought he could have. He could not. The only thing he promised to himself was to make up for it, to do anything he could to help them, always. For Vanessa.

“One day Lizzy, one day you will have to forget your old man, can you promise me that?” he said sadly to the baby. Lizzy looked at him and frowned.

“Yes?” she said looking at him, obviously not knowing what she was saying, but that soft little word gave some peace to his aching heart.

“Oh well, let me put something warm on you and let’s go and pick up Sean, Sarah and Dana, would you?” and the baby clapped her little hands.

“DADA! SERA!” she said.

“No, no… D-a-n-a and –S-a-r-a-h” he corrected her.

“Yes! Dada and Sera!” she clapped again and Rob rolled his eyes and realized that was a battle he would not win, at least not anytime soon.

******

“I can’t do that!” said Rick worried as he looked at Claudia.

“Of course you can! You have done it before…” answered the woman with her hands on her hips.

“Yes, but not intentionally…you want her to kill me? I thought you liked me!” complained Rick sitting in a chair in front of Claudia’s desk. She rolled her eyes.

“It is the only way she is going to react, she is like a zombie! I just wish I could shake her! But you can, I know you can, one way or the other…” said Claudia and sat in her own comfy chair, in front of Rick, looking at him.

“Oh no, you just want me to die! And if, and I am putting in here a big IF, if I do that, I can get a serious reprimand.”
“Not if I order you to do it, she just doesn’t need to know” said Claudia and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“You are evil… you have been around The Trio too much” commented Rick worriedly.

“I am not evil! I just want her to have a reaction… any one is welcomed” said Claudia rolling her eyes.

“You are asking me to by suicidal…”

“You want to get laid or not?” asked Claudia directly. Rick felt like a horse kicked him in the guts. He swallowed hard.

“I… I do… but this plan of yours will grant me a castration without anesthesia” said Rick worried.

“No risk, no reward” said Claudia matter of factly, “it is your call. I am just saying that if you do this, you will not have any complications inside the RDF, I can arrange it… but the rest is up to you."

Rick thought about it and wondered about the possibilities. After his talk with Roy, Rick spent the rest of the day filing reports and thinking about Lisa and his relationship with her. He wondered if she really could possibly consider herself unattractive to him, which in his opinion, was crazy. Sure he was a little surprised with everything and didn’t know how to approach to her again, but that was all… but still, Roy’s words were inside his head. ‘Would she actually be holding back from him?’ If that was true, he just needed to reach out to her and take her out again. He crossed his arms over his chest and meditated about what Claudia just offered him, a dangerous and crazy thing to do… and he totally wanted it, especially if that meant helping something more important to him, his relationship with Lisa. Also, he was complaining before about being bored. This could actually be fun for him too… and a green light to do it. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“I knew you were going to say yes” said Claudia looking at him, already knowing the answer.

“Witch” murmured Rick and Claudia laughed.

“And proud to be one. C’mon, we have to plan this step by step carefully. I refuse to have the ice queen back if I can help it” she said and got comfortable in her chair, ready to prepare the master plan.

***********

“Care to join me in the gym?” asked Rick to Lisa the next morning already on the base. She frowned for a second.

“Me? In the gym? I haven’t been in one in years” she said a little ashamed.

“I know, you are getting a little fat. So, care to join me?” said Rick fast enough for her to register the insult but not enough for her to reply. Lisa blinked a couple of times, really taken aback.

“I have things to do…” she began but Rick threw a sports bag in her arms and she could barely catch it in time he walked past her.

“No you don’t. I’m your superior officer, so I order you to join me. C’mon Lieutenant, move that fat butt” said Rick smiling widely. Lisa looked at him in disbelief and after a while, she followed him. They walked together and Lisa noticed the weird looks the people gave them. She felt embarrassed, because Rick was walking proudly in front of her, and she was actually a little behind. Realizing the murmuring around, she walked a little faster until they walked side by side. Rick looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smiled even more.

“So you don’t want people to think I am your boss or something?” he said nastily to her. Lisa looked at him not showing much emotion.

“You are not my boss” she said rationally with a soft voice.

“WHAT? I can’t hear you!, you must talk louder lieutenant!” said Rick raising his voice enough to make himself heard by everyone in the hallway. Lisa turned every shade of red and remind quiet.

They walked until they reached the gym. It was an empty place, with some implements for exercises and well illuminated. There were mirrors around the room, a basketball hoop and apparently a place for resting. Lisa looked around and felt out of place, she was not in shape and she didn’t want Rick to notice it.

“That way is the girls dressing rooms, hurry up” he said already leaving to change. Lisa remained in her place, with her hands on the bag he gave her. This wasn’t a good idea.

After some minutes she emerged from the lockers wearing a basic RDF gym uniform, grey sweat pants and a white t-shirt with the RDF logo on it. Rick was already doing some push-ups in the padded floor. She walked near him, looking very insecure.

“Wow, I thought you weren’t that bad, but I guess the years have affected you, Lisa” he said looking at her from head to toe. Lisa felt a sudden anger rising inside her stomach.

“I gave birth to a daughter, if you remember” she said defending herself poorly.

“Claudia, Miriya and Vanessa did also and they don’t look like you” he said not giving it any more attention and continued with his exercise. Lisa felt her face burning. She moved away and went to one of the machines and sat there, giving him her back and beginning her training. Rick looked at her and grinned. “Gotcha” he murmured to himself and stood up from the floor.

Lisa began working out. The fact was she was in a good shape, even if she hadn't practiced properly. Rick was just messing with her, following Claudia’s directions. According to Claudia, before Lisa became all depressed she mentioned a couple of times that she wanted to train with Miriya again, but because of the lack of time she could not. Rick looked at her, how she was slowly going from side to side stretching her muscles, mouth tightly shut, and not just for the effort. She was obviously bothered by his previous words. He smiled softly, looking like a little boy ready to play a prank.

“So, are you sore yet?” he said walking near her. Rick was already sweating and took of his t-shirt and dried his head with it. Lisa was concentrating now doing abdominal crunches and focused her attention onto an invisible point in front of her, but she knew Rick was shirtless and that affected her more than she liked. She remained concentrated, trying not to think…or worse, imagine things.

“No… I’m… not…sore ” she said breathing in and out from her mouth, Rick laughed softly at her.

“I didn’t know you were that bad, you look like the 39 years old that you actually are…” said Rick knowing he hit the jackpot, because she turned around and faced him.

“I’m 34, and you know it” she answered trying to control herself. She wondered what the hell had gotten into him and why he was acting so rude to her.

“Yeah, yeah… luckily for you the four of us, Ben, Max, me and you, have 5 years less than what we should, but let’s face it Lisa, you are not getting any younger and your physical condition is saying so” Rick said softly, crossing his arms over his bare chest. Lisa gasped.

“What is wrong with you?! I could barely call THAT luck! Luck is that we didn’t die back then when we were trapped in Dolza’s ship when we were examined like we were guinea pigs! Luck is that we could escape! You know that when we were in quarantine after we returned, the scientists noticed the difference between our cell structures before and after we were in the Zentraedi ship. We were lucky that our scientists realized that the radiation of the transposition modified our molecular structure and our cells were stronger, healthier and we weren’t ill! That is luck."
“That’s bullshit Lisa, and you know it. I don’t know one single woman who would not give her right arm to be, REALLY 5 years younger, like you” answered Rick with a patronizing tone of voice.

“It wasn’t something I asked for! And because of all the micronized Zentraedi that joined our society who didn’t have a determined age, like Miriya, we had to measure their ages according to our standards, and the scientists applied the same measurement to the four of us so our registered ages would match our biological age…”

“I don’t know why all I heard was yada, yada, yada…” he said ironically.

“You know what? Just… just go and do your stuff over there and leave me alone” she said controlling herself and turning her back to him again, walking away to the other side of the gym. Rick frowned, realizing that she was indeed holding back badly, so he decided on a new approach: become absolutely annoying.

“Ohh, so now Lieutenant Hayes doesn’t want to be bothered, eh? Sadly for you I am your superior officer and unless you want me to accuse you of insubordination, you will come back here and do what I say” said Rick loudly and Lisa froze in her place, not turning back, shoulders tensing and hand baling into fits. Rick swallowed hard, he knew he was dead. Lisa slowly turned around, livid… he took that too far.

“Insubordination?? INSUBORDINATION?? ME??” she said walking back to get in front of him. Rick controlled his own urge to run for his life.

“Y…Yes….YES!” he said and stood up straight. “Now sit over there and give me a hundred!”

Lisa's mouth opened and not sound come from it. Technically, she thought, if she hit him it was insubordination, but it was becoming more and more a plausible idea. She sat on the floor, hands behind her head and began, trying to put all her frustration in the movements. Rick walked quickly in front of her and grabbed her ankles, while she was doing sit ups.

“That’s it! C’mon soldier, move that ass! C’mon! 1, 2, 3… you are nothing more than a weak woman, Lisa. C’MON, GO UP, STRONGER! 10, 11, 12… You are not getting any younger Hayes! You need to get into shape! AGAIN! 22, 23, 24… Faster! Move, Move, Move!!” he shouted over and over again at her while she began to sweat a lot, and her face turned red through the effort and her own desire to strike him down and kick him.

“Shut up” she murmured between clenched teeth, continuing going up and down, Rick holding her ankles hard.

“If you want to shut me up, finish the sequence, C’M0N HAYES! 43, 44, 45…YOU CAN’T BE TIRED YET! YOU ARE GETTING WEAK! YOU WANT SARAH TO HAVE A BAG OF POTATOES AS A MOTHER?? C’MON! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE…66, 67, 68…” he counted and Lisa felt the metallic taste of blood inside her mouth and realized she bit her own tongue.

“… 70, 71, 72, FASTER HAYES, YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO DO NOW, YOU ARE JUST A SIMPLE LAZY LIEUTENANT! Do you miss bossing people around, eh? Is that it? You want your old monitor back and to order people around, you old sourpuss? YOU CAN’T! C’MON! 80, 81, 82…YOU WILL NOT GET YOUR STUPID MONITOR BACK UNTIL YOU GET EVERYTHING THAT WAS YOURS! C’MON!”

“THAT’S IT!!” shouted Lisa and suddenly she changed her position, extending her legs, almost hitting him in the jaw, and grabbing a very surprised Rick by the chest and pulling him down on the floor, face down, quite hardly. Without releasing him, she turned into a sitting position and sat over his back, holding him there with her legs pressing over his ribs.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? STOP BOTHERING ME!!” she shouted at him angrily, but Rick freed his arm and grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her over and putting her hardly against the cushioned floor. He got on top of her.

“You think you can beat me? Do you? DO YOU?” he said holding her in place, her arms over her head, his legs pressing her lower half to the floor. Lisa breathed hard, showing a big part of her anger on the outside, but not all. Her teeth were closed together, her face red, her hair a mess. Rick looked at her and grinned at her, because she looked ready to explode and that made her even angrier.

“You stupid ass! Let me go!!” she said trying to free herself, but he was stronger than her and in that position, he was controlling the situation and having her at his mercy, which he was enjoying tremendously. Rick Hunter wanted to kiss her badly, but it was not in the plan… not yet, he reminded himself. He looked at her and realized she was more than desirable. Having her there, even if she was angry and ready to chew his head off as soon as she was free, excited him. This was the woman he loved, the spirited one, the angry one, the woman filled with life and energy who could turn his world upside down. This was the woman he wanted in his bed and in his life. Rick controlled himself to do what he really want to do to her right there… he was dying to touch her skin, all sweaty, all hot… It had been too long.

“LET ME GO RICK!” she shouted struggling against him. She was angry, and insulted, but more angry than anything else. ‘How dare he talk to me like that? He has no respect!’ she thought trying to kick something, but between all her movements she realized she was getting excited as well. She wanted to kill him, but she could not avoid having her eyes travel over his half naked body, all sweaty and looking rather ravishing. His blue eyes were mocking her, but the fire was set, like in hers. Lisa breathed hard, releasing a moan she didn’t know she was holding, when she felt his skin holding her wrist firmly and his built body inches from covering all of her. ‘He insulted me! She called me old, lazy, fat and… and…why does he have to be so damn sexy’ she thought stopping her struggling for a second. Their eyes locked onto each others and filled with need Rick came down a little closer to her face, ready to kiss her, not even caring if she ate him alive in the process.

“Captain Rick Hunter, you are needed in the tower immediately” said a female voice through the speakers. The sound broke the spell and they looked at each other, still breathing hard, coming down slowly from the dreamland they were in.

“Can I get up?” she said feeling excited and turned on all at once.

“Sure” he said trembling a little and getting up, leaving her on the floor. He looked at her, while she was still in the same position and closed his eyes counting to a thousand, really trying to control himself and not take her and make love to her right there in the middle of the gym.

“I have to go” he said turning around and almost running to change. This was too much for him.

Lisa looked at him from the floor, unable to move and watched how he disappeared behind the door. She was simply shocked about everything that just happened.

“Lieutenant Hayes, you are needed in the tower immediately” said the same voice through the speaker and Lisa rolled her eyes and turned around to her side, just wanting Rick all over her again and to stay that way forever.

****************

“Lisa” called Claudia when she finally arrived. Claudia raised an eyebrow in her direction, because Lisa looked rather… agitated and flushed.

“Are you all right?” she asked holding her laugh and looking apparently concerned for her friend. Lisa just nodded a yes, unable to do more and looked at the floor.

“Well, as you are obviously fine…” said Claudia ironically, “… I want you to take your old place on the communication channel. Maistroff assigned you to me, what do you think?” she said smiling. Lisa just nodded, totally absent from there.

“Don’t be too excited please” and Claudia rolled her eyes. She knew Lisa was on another planet, because if everything went the way she planned it, and it was obvious that Hunter played his part perfectly, Lisa would be beginning to actually “feel” again. She cleared her throw and Lisa looked at her eyes.

“Yes! That’s wonderful, I’m glad” she said fast.

“Good, then go to your position. There is a night patrol and I want you to control it” explained Claudia.

Lisa walked to her old position in front of a monitor, for the first time in a long time. It wasn’t the same position she had on the SDF1, because now they were on Macross base, but it felt right to be there. Maybe she didn’t show much emotion at Claudia’s news, but she was indeed happy to be out of all the paperwork finally. Lisa touched the controls smiling a little, getting used to being back at last.

“Control Tower, this is Skull One asking for permission to take off” said the voice of Rick and Lisa jumped in her place. She looked at the screen above her and saw his calm face, like nothing happened before, but she could not help her own face turning red.

“Ehh… yes, wait a moment please” she said quickly looking for the data charts. Rick frowned over the monitor.

“Can you please hurry up, tower? I don’t have all night” he complained and Lisa felt both ashamed and a pit of anger again.

“Here it is…” she said and gave it a quick look. “You can take of from platform 6B, Skull One” she confirmed again, trying not to look too much at him.
“Roger that tower” he said coldly and cut the communication. Lisa blinked a couple of times, wondering what the hell got into him that day.

Going back to work, she looked around for the instructions for the night patrol. The rain stopped and the sky was slowly clearing, showing a few stars in the dark sky. Lisa found the folder and read it, frowning.

“Mobility and sound check protection of the internal structure. Classified Information?” she read aloud. She didn’t get what that was, but it had Claudia’s signature at the bottom of it. “Go figure it out…” she murmured and looked around. There were 3 other girls and a man in the night shift, none of them she knew before. Claudia was not around, so Lisa had to just to stay there and wait. She didn’t like the fact that she was at such a lower rank, and Rick reminded her of that lately. Lisa felt vulnerable in that position, for her age…’34’ she remembered a little annoyed, remembering her previous talk with her husband. But even he was very rude and sarcastic; he indeed said a lot of things that were true.

“What is he doing??” said one of the girls worried suddenly. Lisa looked at her.

“I don’t know, but he is coming straight for us!” said the man reading the radar in front of him. Lisa looked at her file and checked the directions. She turned on the communication channel quickly.

“Skull one, this is the tower, do you copy?” she said and the face of Rick having the time of his life shown in the screen.

“Yes Tower, this is Skull One, what do you want?” he said smiling.

“Is there something wrong? According to our data you are coming right for us” said Lisa worriedly.

“I am doing what I am doing, are you questioning my procedure, Lieutenant?” he said over the communication channel.

“I am not questions your reasons, Captain. I am just asking if everything is all right” she said on the edge of losing her composure. The radar showed that he increased his speed.

“Don’t you have the flying instructions for tonight's patrol, Lieutenant? Should be over there, in a folder… or do you want me to come and show you where it is?” he replied not answering her question. Lisa didn’t know she was crushing her hand the papers around her.

“I know how to do my job. CAPTAIN” she said between clenched teeth.

“Then don’t bother me with stupidity, LIEUTENANT” he replied at her.

“Lisa! Captain Hunter is coming straight to us!!” said one of the girls scared to death. Lisa looked from her to the monitor.

“Rick what are you doing? Change your direction or you will crash into us!!” she said firmly.

“Oh, so now I am Rick? I am sorry but we are at work, and here I am your superior, so please address me how you supposed to” he grinned.

“RICK CHANGE YOUR DIRECTIONS THIS INSTANT! THIS IS AN ORDER!!” Lisa shouted at him freaking scared when he was just a few miles away from them, the other crew members already looking for some protection.

“You can’t order me! I AM THE CAPTAIN!” he said smiling like a madman and increasing his speed again.

The walls of the tower began to tremble stronger each moment as Rick’s veritech got closer to it. The crew of the tower, except for Lisa, step back scared to death. Suddenly the little bright light of the Skull One was visible on the horizon and becoming bigger and bigger by the second.

“HE WILL CRASH INTO US!!” shouted the girls.

“RICK STOP!” said Lisa hitting her panel with fury, eyes full of tears, finally losing every control she had over her. Rick looked at her on the monitor and smiled widely.
“Read your folder, Lisa” he said quietly, his voice back to normal, no longer with his annoying tone, which disconcerted her.

Lisa couldn’t look at the folder, because Skull One was right in front of her and passed inches away from the tower. The whole structure of the tower trembled, the windows almost broke and the crewmembers shouted in panic hiding behind their desks. The sound almost left everybody deaf, but Lisa stood there, unable to breath. Time stopped for her.

Rick passed near them and then, like nothing happened, landed a few minutes later on an empty platform. The crewmembers slowly stood up trembling and shaking themselves. Lisa stood in her place, not moving, her eyes fixed in the monitor.

“Lisa, are you all right?” asked one of the girls, looking worried at how she was like a statue in her place. The other two girls approached her to look at her.

“Lisa?”

“Maybe she is in shock.”

“I don’t think so, she is blinking…” said the other girl and touched Lisa’s arm. “Do you want some water?” she offered, but Lisa tensed at her touch.

“Don’t-touch-me” she murmured between teeth, the three girls step back, afraid.

“How could he?… How?” Lisa murmured to herself coming back from her uneasy estate and beginning one of pure anger.

Lisa turned around slowly, like in slow motion and the crew members, man included, shook in sudden fear, because after a decade they saw the real legend of the RDF, the daughter of the Admiral. Lisa was pale as a ghost, green eyes burning, her tense jaw probably crushing her teeth at how hard she was keeping her mouth closed in a thin line. Somehow she became taller, standing straight, hands turned into fits, nails digging inside her palms almost breaking her skin… Oh yes, Lisa Hayes was livid.

Nobody dared to stop her when she walked away. Her steps sounded out in the empty hallway like the sound of a walking death sentence. A death sentence she was going to perform herself on Rick Hunter.

Rick was counting in silence, waiting for the inevitable. He looked at the back entrance between the tower and platform where he was and saw her walking straight towards him, fast and hard.

“Showtime” he murmured, already feeling scared and hoping Claudia was right. Lisa approached him but didn’t even speak. Her hand was in the air fast enough for Rick not to notice, and she punched him with all her fury on the cheek, unbalancing him and sending him to the ground.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?? You almost killed us all!!” she said absolutely angry, looking at him on the floor.

“My job! What else?” he said impressed at how strong she was. His cheek burned. “I think you lost me a tooth!” he complained feeling the pain.

“A tooth? A TOOTH?! WHAT KIND OF JOB WERE YOU DOING? SCARING US TO DEATH??” said Lisa ready to strike to him again, but this time Rick held her hands.

“Stop it… I was following orders, that’s all” he said grabbing her wrist hard enough to stop her and pull her closer to him.

“I never read ANYTHING about you flying into the damn tower!” she said trying to free herself, but Rick stepped closer and didn’t let her go.

“Didn’t the instructions say ‘Checking of mobility and sound protection of the internal structure’, and weren't they signed by Claudia?” said Rick closer and closer to her, looking ready to eat her alive. Lisa blinked.

“H-How do you know?” she said now not understanding a thing, but still trying to free herself from his grip.

“Because, that is exactly what I was doing… testing the resistance of the materials of the communication tower against extreme conditions of vibrations caused by the proximity of a enemy ship. Who knows if one day some crazy rebel wanted to attack the tower, then what would we do?” he murmured softly, with a deep voice.

Lisa was speechless. She looked at him surprised with everything somehow making sense in a very twisted way.

“But… but… why didn't anybody inform us? We thought… I thought …” she said but Rick interrupted her.

“…That I was going to crash against you? Do you really think I am suicidal?” he said raising an eyebrow and smiling at his own joke, remembering that this plan to get Lisa back was indeed, suicidal.

“W-why you didn’t tell me?” said Lisa shaking, feeling emotionally exhausted.
“Why should I? I’m the Captain and you are just a Lieutenant, right?” he murmured against her lips and before she could protest, he did the one thing he wanted all day to do: he kissed her.

Lisa couldn’t respond the kiss immediately, she was just too shocked. All the emotions ran through her at the same time: anger, fear, happiness (to be alive), shame, excitement… all together, and now, Rick’s lips over hers, his tongue trying to get into her mouth, not asking but demanding more, demanding her…

And she felt release.

Lisa had questions about what happened, but Rick was all over her, kissing her, touching her and holding her against the veritech, trying to break through her uniform. Lisa felt the cold metal against her back, even through her clothes and Rick losing control of what he was doing and where they were standing. He freed her hands and her arms embraced him, supporting her against him, pulling them even closer while she responded the kiss with all the passion and the hurricane force of her emotions…the power that gave her life and made her who she was: a woman with boiling blood in her veins, and in love, so much in love.

“I need you… I need you right now, all of you… forever” he murmured against her lips, breathing through his mouth, intoxicated with her taste and his eyes clouded with desire. Rick didn’t wait for her answer, because he saw it crystal clear in her eyes. He took her lower lip and sucked on it softly and then captured her open mouth in a full kiss. Her movements, her hands on him driving him insane.

They held each other until they could not stand it anymore, and before they ended up on the ground in the middle of the platform, Rick’s brain had the last coherent thought he got until the daybreak…

“Let’s go home."

**********

To be continued…

**********

A/N (Please read this, it is important):

All you boys and girls can’t complain! I updated sooner this time! :-) I really hope you like this chapter, because I had a blast writing it. It was very interesting to write and if you notice, things are back on track with the story, to the main issue… even if you don’t see it clearly yet ;-)

I realized that some people got what I am going to say, but others have not. All the title chapters are the titles of songs, and I didn’t pick them just because, I picked them because it is the theme song OF the chapter. So, if you want to get the complete emotional package of the chapter, look for the song.

I want to thank each and every one of you who wrote a review and will do it again XD it means a lot to me, more than you think. Special hugs to: Jo, for always being there for me my friend, Dwparsnip for all his patience with me and beta me, k71 and aiki, because they rulz, my whole gang at the DYRL forum and thanks for the reviews of: Agent_ Cavendish_, Joshua, Ou, Sjon, Barbara, Hawaianangelgirl, Komander Kool, Komilia F. Jenius, SithKnight-Galen, Carla, Admiral R.T, urzu6, lilybehr, LILI, Caty, KFlynn, SnTAngel - Shizuka-naTenshi, Adena McGee, GPPR, AddictedtoTsuzukiTatsumi, Sara V and for those who review in DYRL (fanfics.cl/dyrl): Anna, Caty, Agustin and Mel.

You are maybe confused with the 34-39 age thing, well… truth to be told, I am bad with math! But thanks to Ou, I realized there was a mistake, and this is my way to fix it with a believable “explanation” (thanks to my brother for his logic to invent this crazy theory).

I made this chronology of BD (yeah, I was THAT bored) and I used real Robotech dates to make the BD chronology “real”:

Robotech Universe facts:
Lisa was born in 1985
Rick was born in 1990
Roy was born in 1979 (like me!)
Claudia born in 1983
Max was born in 1990
Max and Miriya got married in April, 2011
Dana was born in October, 2012.

BD Universe:
BD began at January, 2014 before the episode “To the Stars” (I said that in the first chapter!)

Sarah was conceived in February, 2015.
Lisa leaves in March, 2015.
Sarah was born in November 24th, 2015.
Sean was born in July 26th, 2015

II Part: Began in October, 2024

Rick is 34 (but with the “explanation”) he is 29.
Lisa is 39 (but with the “explanation”) she is 34.
Sarah is 8 years old.
Dana is 12 years old.
Sean is 9 years old.
Chapter 30 occurs in December, 2024.

I want to thank my brother (again) for his help with the dates for the chronology (I really suck in math, thank God I am a journalist). Maybe you wonder about the birthdays of Sarah and Sean. Sarah’s birthday is my dad’s birthday and Sean’s birthday is Sandra Bullocks birthday, one of my favorite actresses. (You all must see the movie The Lake House! It is beautiful).

I’ll try to update soon! :-) Jo, in the next chapter I will put the Trio the way you asked me! I Promise!!