fanfic_name = can a second chance change it all?

chapter = 8

author = Jo_anderson

Rating = AP15

Type = Alternative Universe

fanfic = Can A Second Chance Change It All?

Chapter 8

“Changing Rooms?”

Author: Jo

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters of Robotech; I’m just doing this for fun. Well, maybe the personality of Riber is mine (he is my ideal man).

To: Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this and to all the people that had encourage me to keep writing

Lisa woke up slowly with the sound of the doorbell. She wasn’t sure how much time she was asleep. She turned her head and saw Karl sleeping next to her, holding her hand. He looked at her and rubbed his eyes.

“Who could it be?” asked Lisa, still half-asleep.

“I’ll go to check,” said Karl and got out of bed, trying to fix his hair and put on a T-shirt as he walked out of the bedroom.

Lisa moved off the bed slowly and grabbed her own T-shirt. It was almost time for her shift, so she got out of bed and went into the bathroom.

24 hours earlier.

Lisa woke up early in the morning and grabbed her oldest pair of jeans and a T-shirt and went to the living room where she found Karl standing in the middle of several suitcases.

“Hi there,” said Lisa when she was close enough to Karl.

“Hi Lizie,” said Karl and brought her closer to kiss her.

“Do you have everything ready to move?” asked Lisa when they broke the kiss.

“Yes, I never thought that I would have bought so many clothes lately,” said Karl with a smile. Lisa smiled back.

“The rest of your stuff was sent to your apartment?” asked Lisa.

“Yes, some of it. The rest will be delivered today in the afternoon.”

“Then how about having breakfast and then going to your place so I can help you with painting and arranging it?” said Lisa as she started to walk to the kitchen.

“What happened to your shift?”

“I changed it with Sammie. I believe that she needs more training, you know?” said Lisa.

“Really, why?” asked Karl while he put the mugs on the table.

“Well, I believe that she will be a great flight operator, but all that she needs is more training,” said Lisa as they started to talk while they ate breakfast.

After that, they went to Karl’s new apartment that was located in the single officer’s area. It was a small apartment that normally was used by the leaders of squadrons and officers of medium rank. Lisa entered the apartment carrying some of Karl’s suitcases, while he carried some boxes.

“Are you sure that you can lift weight with your shoulder?” asked Lisa.

“Yes Mom, my shoulder is perfectly fine,” said Karl and placed the boxes on the floor.

“Very funny,” said Lisa and walked into the small kitchen of the apartment, “the refrigerator is already here.”

“Yeah, but is has nothing in it yet,” said Karl while he moved one of the suitcases into the bedroom.

“If is OK with you I can go to the supermarket and buy some things for you,” said Lisa.

“Really? That would be awesome, because I want to start painting the living room. You know the red color of the walls isn’t exactly my favorite.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” said Lisa with a smile.

“So, I’m going to move these to the bedroom,” said Karl and pointed to the boxes.

“And I’m going to make a list of what you need for the kitchen,” said Lisa.

“That sounds great,” said Karl and went a few steps into the kitchen to the point that he was only one step away from Lisa. He grabbed her by the waist and looked at her lovingly. “Have I ever mentioned that I love seeing you doing things around the house? You look so sweet,” he said smiling.

“Karl,” said Lisa and flushed.

“I mean it, you look lovely when you stay in front of the refrigerator and frown trying to figure out what you are going to cook.”

“I don’t know if I should kiss you for that or hit you,” said Lisa with a sweet smile.

“I prefer the first option.”

“Yeah me too,” said Lisa smiling and softly kissed him.

When Lisa came back from the supermarket, Karl had almost finished painting the room. Only one wall was left.

“How did the visit to the supermarket go?” asked Karl.

“Very well, I just came here with the food for lunch, the rest will be delivered in the afternoon.”

“How much did you buy?” asked Karl a little afraid.

“Not that much,” said Lisa knowing what he was thinking. After leaving the bags in the kitchen she went next to Karl and grabbed a paint roller.

“Where do I start painting?”

“That wall. Here is the paint,” said Karl.

They both started to paint the same wall and it didn’t take them too long to finish it. When they finished, they start to joke about who has painted better and playing with the rest of paint when the doorbell start to ring. Karl opened the door to find the supermarket delivery guy with several boxes that he and Karl brought into the apartment.

After the guy left the apartment, Karl searched for Lisa who was in the kitchen heating the lunch.

“You bought a lot,” said Karl when he was next to her.

“You think?” said Lisa a little ashamed.

“It’s ok,” said Karl and kissed her on the forehead, “that smells good,” he finally said looking at the serving dish.

“It’s just pizza,” said Lisa with a smile and handed Karl the dishes while she carried the glasses and two cans of Coke.

“The dining table is still packed,” said Karl.

“We could eat on the floor,” said Lisa

“That’s not a problem for me,” said Karl and Lisa’s cheeks turned even redder that before.

They sat on the living room floor and started to have lunch and joke about how they both were covered in paint.

“Look at my face, I will kill you if this is not off by tomorrow morning,” said Lisa.

“Oh come on, you look so cute like that,” said Karl to provoke her as he touched one of the paint spots on her face.

“Yeah, like the pilots and the captain will think the same tomorrow,” said Lisa raising an eyebrow, not happy.

“Hey what about me, do you believe that Doctor Lang will be happy with me looking like this?”

Lisa only laughed and took another bite of her pizza. They remained in silence eating, looking at each other from time to time.

“What? Why are you looking me like that?” asked Lisa with curiosity.

“I was just thinking about how gorgeous you are,” he said and smiled.

“Karl…” said Lisa and her eyes brightened looking at him.

“And how incredible that you have waited for me; that you aren’t with someone else after all the time that has past,”

“I have always waited for you, haven’t I?” said Lisa with a sweet smile.

“Yes you have,” said Karl and lowered his gaze with a mixture of guilt and shame, “you have waited for me too many times.”

“Karl…” said Lisa and grabbed his hand, “I…” she was saying but he interrupted her.

“When I was trapped on Mars all I could think about was seeing you again. That was all that I wanted. But then I realised that you probably would believe that I was dead and that if I ever saw you again you probably would be with someone else; you probably would have moved on. As time went by I was sure that you had started a new life and that I was just a memory.”

“Even if I had moved on, you would have always been part of my life, not just a memory. You know how important you were for me,” said Lisa and Karl held her hand, “how important you are to me,” she said and smiled.

“And how important you are to me too,” he said and kissed the back of her hand tenderly, “how much it means for me that you have waited for me all these years,” he said and remained in silence. Lisa looked at him and held his hand tightly.

“And?” she said knowing that he had something else on his mind.

“And sometimes I think that I don’t deserve you; I don’t deserve that you have gave me a second chance and I don’t deserve that you have waited for me all these years,” he said not looking at her, feeling too ashamed.

“Don’t say that,” said Lisa seriously, searching for his eyes until she finally made him look at her, “don’t you ever say that ok?” she said in her usual flight operator voice, making Karl almost assume his attention posture. “You deserve me just as much as I deserve you, no more no less. Do you love me?” asked Lisa looking at him straight in the eyes.

“Of course I do, more than you can imagine.”

“Then that’s all I deserve, all I need,” said Lisa with a tender smile that made Karl smile too.

“And you are all that I need,” he said and brought her closer to kiss her but she stepped back and covered her mouth.

“Pepperoni breath,” she said.

“Like I don’t,” said Karl with a laugh and brought her closer again and kissed her.

“Karl,” said Lisa laughing and punched him softly on his shoulder.

“But it’s true,” he said with a wider smile and then looked at her with an evil grin.

“What are you thinking?” asked Lisa, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing… is just that..I can’t believe how no one put his eyes on you in all these years. What, are they blind?”

“Well its not like I haven’t dated in all this time. I did, it’s just that none of those dates arrived to a safe harbour.”

“How’s that?” he asked curiously.

“Well, I did have some dates in these years.”

“Really? With who?”

“RDF officers mostly.”

“And what happened?”

“Nothing happened, most of them were pilots and all they wanted was to have an adventure with a fresh female graduate from the academy. The rest wanted a woman who would stay at home,” said Lisa and rolled her eyes, “ and of course there were the ones that couldn’t deal with my commitment to my work.”

“And your stellar career,” said Karl and made a pause. “I just can’t believe that they were dumb enough to let you go… but I almost did once,” he said and Lisa raised a threatening eyebrow. “But I have to admit that I never imagined that you would date pilots.”

“Hey, I was young, I had just finished the academy and most of the pilots are good looking you know.”

“And you spent most of the time surrounded by them.”

“That too, but its not like I dated many pilots, just a couple and most of them I have never seen again. I guess I scared them when I told them I was Admiral Hayes’ daughter,” said Lisa and they both laughed.

“That can be pretty scary, I have to say,” said Karl and Lisa punched him softly again. “Hey, it’s the truth. So, none of these guys passed the first date?”

“Well there was one. He was the ace pilot of the base and of course a ladies man. We were working together on the project Excalibur, he was the test pilot and I was his CAG and a couple of times his RIO; I guess that was the reason we started to date. But nothing really happened, we both had our hearts already taken,” said Lisa with a smile, “so we became friends, good friends, he is like a brother to me.”

“That’s …” Karl was saying, but Lisa finished the sentence for him.

“Weird? Yes of course it is. But we never truly dated; we just hung out together and talked. Nothing really happened, plus the fact that we could have never work out together. We are just too stubborn and too much alike. That’s why we are more like brother and sister- always taking care of each other and the rest of the time fighting, neither of us willing to assume that the other one is right.”

“Why do I think I can imagine you doing that?” said Karl in a sarcastic voice.

“Very funny,” said Lisa and then she smiled, “the only one that can make us both shut up is Claudia.”

“Claudia?” asked Karl curiously.

“She is his girl, everybody knows that eventually they are going to get married but they have never specified at what point of the relationship they are. They are just soul mates.”

“You dated Claudia’s boyfriend?” asked Karl in disbelief.

“Long ago, before they started dating. They had met a few years earlier but nothing happened. Then they met again when Roy and I were just friends” explained Lisa.

“And does she know it?”

“Of course she does and she teases us every time she can,” said Lisa and rolled her eyes.

“Wow, that was something I could have never imagined, you dating a pilot -an ace pilot and a ladies man.”

“I have dated ladies men before,” said Lisa with a grin that made Karl flush.

“Yeah, but not a pilot. Who could have imagined that? You could have even ended up marrying a pilot,” said Karl.

“No way!” said Lisa almost in panic, “ there’s no way that will ever happen. That would be like a karmic punishment… I have to deal with them all day and then at home…no thank you,” said Lisa and looked at the sky like asking the Lord for that to never happen.

“And it’s not like I’m going to let you get married to one,” said Karl and softly touched Lisa’s chin.

“How about you?”

“How about me?” asked Karl.

“Did you date someone on Mars?”

“I wouldn’t call it a date. I did hang out with some of the girls of the crew but we were more worried about survival than dating and I was always comparing them with you…”

“Really?”

“Yeah all the time. If I wasn’t comparing them with you I was thinking about what I would do when the rescue party arrived and I’d be able to see you again,” he said and gave her a smile and caressed her face.

“I did the same,” said Lisa and grabbed Karl’s hand that was on her face and they both got lost in each other eyes.

When they finished lunch, they started to organize the rooms. They started with the kitchen, then with the living room and finally with the bedroom. It was late in the afternoon when the bed arrived. They carried it to the bedroom and finished putting everything in place.

“The only thing left is the TV and the stereo,” said Karl, looking at the finally finished bedroom.

“I guess they will be delivering them tomorrow, its too late now,” said Lisa.

“Yeah, I think so too,” said Karl.

“So, what do you think of your apartment?” asked Lisa.

“I like it. We did a great job,” said Karl.

“I think so too,” said Lisa with a smile.

“But I’m exhausted,” said Karl and stretched his back.

“Is your shoulder hurting you?” asked Lisa a little concerned.

“No, just my back,” said Karl and winked at her.

“Yeah, well my neck is killing me.”

“Your neck is always killing you,” he said and got closer to her.

“Yeah, it’s because of all the hours I spend looking at the screens on the bridge,” said Lisa and rubbed her neck.

“Let me see if there’s something I can do,” said Karl and made Lisa turn as he put his hand on her neck softly.

“But is not that bad, all I need is a hotba…” Lisa was saying, but Karl’s hand started to massage her neck carefully and all she could do was close her eyes and enjoy the feeling.

“You are so tense,” said Karl in a whisper in her ear, which only made her more tense.

“Mmm…” was all that Lisa could mumble. As she felt her neck more and more relaxed she could also feel her heartbeat faster and faster. She suddenly turned in his direction and kissed him passionately and deeply. Her move was so sudden that they fell onto the new bed.

Karl responded to the kiss immediately and started to move his hand from her neck to her hair and then to her hips. Lisa rested her hand on his chest. When the kiss broke, Karl moved to be on top and kissed her again fast then continued to kiss her neck. Lisa moved her hands from his chest to his back and started to lower them until they where at the end of his shirt. They looked at each other eyes for a second and then Lisa started to pull his t-shirt up until she removed it, exposing Karl’s bare chest. They kissed again, only this time Lisa was the one that broke the kiss and started to kiss Karl’s neck.

They turned again and as Karl rested his back against the bed, he started to move his hands from Lisa’s hips up, under her t-shirt until they where at her neck. Only then did Lisa stop the track of her kisses and separate a little bit from him, but just the necessary time to pull her own T-shirt off. Once she did, they kissed again, passionately between short breaths and mixed bodies.

Lisa found herself again pressed against the bed and as Karl kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder, she could feel electric shivers travel all the way down her spine, causing her reflexive movements that she thought she had forgotten by now. The same thing was happening to him. He took one of the straps of her bra and slowly started to slip it down her shoulder, kissing every little inch of skin that was in the path of the strap. All that Lisa could do was to caress the hair behind his neck. Once he had completely slipped the strap off one shoulder, he moved to the other.

The silence in Karl’s apartment was only interrupted by hard breaths, the pounding of hearts and the sound of kisses against bare skin.

Once Karl had completely removed the straps of Lisa’s bra, she could feel her heart beat so fast that it barely let her breath. She wanted to say something but there was no way that she could talk, her mind was busy with other things than her ability to speak. There were so many things running trough her head, so many feelings and emotions there were no words that could explain how she felt, but he felt it. He felt her and stopped his movements and looked at her in the eyes.

“Lizie,” he said softly with concern when he saw tears in her eyes. “Sweetie, what happened? Are you ok?” he said worriedly moving away some hair that was on her face.

Lisa only looked at him and bit her lower lip so as not to sob and she held him tight.

“Lizie,” he said again and caressed her hair tenderly, “What is it? Are you ok?” he asked, feeling his heart tighten.

Lisa only nodded a yes and held him even tighter, holding the sob barely. He held her tight and kissed her softly over her hair. When he felt that she was a little bit calmer, he softly asked, “Do you want to talk?”

“It’s just I…”said Lisa and buried her head in his chest, “I felt so overwhelmed…I...”

“I’m sorry,” he said from the bottom of his heart. He felt guilty, feeling a knot in his throat as he spoke, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault… I’m sorry,” said Lisa looking at him in the eyes.

“Don’t say that, you have nothing to be sorry for …it’s my fault I shouldn’t have…”

“No Karl…you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just I…” said Lisa and looked at him in the eyes tenderly.

“It’s ok Lizie… it’s ok,” said Karl and held her tight, “I love you,” was all that he could say as he kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you,” said Lisa in a whisper and held him. They remained holding on to each other, holding hands, looking at each other’s eyes until both of them fell asleep.

Lisa woke up slowly with the sound of the doorbell. She wasn’t sure of how much time she was asleep. She turned her head and saw Karl sleeping next to her, holding her hand. He looked at her and rubbed his eyes.

“Who could it be?” asked Lisa, still half-asleep.

“I’ll go to check,” said Karl and got out of bed, trying to fix his hair and put on a T-shirt before he walked out of the bedroom.

Lisa moved in the bed slowly and grabbed her own T-shirt. It was almost time for her shift, so she left the bed and went into the bathroom.

She was about to enter the shower when she remembered that all the bathing products where still in the kitchen, so she grabbed Karl’s bathrobe and put it on and went to the kitchen. She was already in the living room when she heard another voice.

“Thank you so much Lieutenant Hunter. I’m really sorry that they left this at your place,” said Karl.

“It’s no problem. I arrived late last night and didn’t want to bother you but then I saw the light…” Rick was saying, but when he saw Lisa appear in the living room in the robe the words faded from his mouth as if he was paralysed.

“Lieutenant Hunter!” said Lisa almost horrified and immediately she closed the robe as much as she could.

“The people of the TV and stereo store left these things in Lieutenant Hunter’s apartment by mistake. He lives in next apartment and he came to give it back to me,” explained Karl.

“Oh,” was all that Lisa could say. She felt so ashamed that she was still with paint on her face and dressed only with a bathrobe. The worst of that was she was about to enter shift and so was Hunter

“Yeah..I..I just came to return his things,” said Hunter and he felt that his cheeks were turning as red as Commander Hayes’ cheek’s were.

“Thanks again Lieutenant,” said Karl when he noticed the uncomfortable situation.

“Yeah..I think I better go…” said Rick and turned in the direction of the door, not noticing that in his way was a small coffee table with a vase on it. It ended up on the floor, breaking in hundreds of pieces even though Rick tried to grab it before it hit the floor.

“I’m sorry,” said Rick, bending down to try to pick up some pieces of the vase.

“It’s ok Lieutenant,” said Karl and he started to pick up the pieces too.

“I just didn’t see the table,” said Rick feeling more and more ashamed and stupid.

“Really, it’s ok Lieutenant, don’t worry,” said Karl honestly.

“I will buy you a new one,” said Rick not because he wanted to be polite but because he didn’t want to feel that he owed the Commander in any way.

“Don’t worry lieutenant, accidents just happen,” said Karl and he stood up with all the pieces of the vase in his hand.

“It’s not a problem,” said Rick, straightening his uniform when he stood up. He looked at Karl who was looking at him and then with the corner of his eye he looked at Lisa who was still in the same place as before, looking at him.

“I..I better leave. I don’t want to arrive late to my shift,” said Rick finally and opened the door, “Good morning Commander, Ma’am” said Rick feeling as dumb as possible before finally leaving the apartment.

When he left the apartment, Karl walked into the kitchen and put the pieces of the vase in the trash while Lisa picked up the bag with bathroom products.

“Do you see what you cause in young pilots?” teased Karl.

“Karl,” said Lisa between ashamed and annoyed, “how can you say that! Plus, I felt so ashamed; look how I’m dressed and how I look and I’ll have to deal with him in an hour or so,” said Lisa distressed.

Karl only looked at her and smiled, then he walked a few steps closer to her and put his hand softly on her face. “Don’t worry Lizie, I bet that he felt more embarrassed than you.”

“I hope so,” said Lisa but in her voice the angst could still be heard.

“How are you?” he asked with concern, looking at her in the eyes.

“I’m fine,” said Lisa, holding his hand against her face, “I’m sorry for what happened last night.”

“Don’t…don’t you ever say that,” he said honestly.

“Is just that I don’t want you to think that I don’t want it to happen it’s just that…” Lisa was saying as she lowered her gaze.

“It just been so many years since the last time we were that close and it’s less than a month since we found each other again. Everything is up side down now for us, and it was too fast … I should have waited…what’s the hurry anyway?” he said with a tender smile.

“Is just that … I felt so… there where so many things in my head and in my heart. I have waited to be with you again all these years and now I…” Lisa was saying but she couldn’t finish. She felt the knot in her throat again and the tears started to fill her eyes.

“I know Lizie, you don’t have to say anything,” said Karl and kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

“It’s not like I don’t want you, I do is just…”

“It’s ok,” said Karl and looked at her in the eyes, “I mean of course you want me, I’m irresistible,” he said mockingly.

“Karl,” said Lisa and punched him softly.

“I love you,” said Karl tenderly and held her.

“I love you too,” said Lisa and they softly kissed.

Rick was walking to the Daedaleus to report for his shift and for some reason he was walking with his jaw and his fist tight. He felt so stupid by his actions in Commander Riber’s apartment. It had been so obvious that he was taken by surprise by Commander Hayes’ appearance. Probably now they both were laughing at his expense. How idiotic he was to turn and break the damn vase.

Why he was looking at her in any case? Minmei was much prettier than the commander. “But the commander was much sexier,” said the other side of his head.

He had to face the fact that he found the commander incredibly hot when he had seen her in her space suit on Mars. The image of her in the space suit had stayed in his dreams more than what he wanted or needed because every time that he had a dream with her climbing down from his VT in that suit he had a hard time trying to concentrate during his shifts. And now he had seen her in a bathrobe and for a fraction of a second he saw her legs. Her toned, slender, long legs. He punched himself in the head just for revisiting the imagine once again.

For Christ sake, it’s not like he hadn’t seen her legs before; the woman wore a skirt every day to work. But it was so different to see her legs, actually her right leg, slip between the robe. It wasn’t like he saw too much, it was probably a half inch more than what she usually showed in her uniform skirt, but the context was so different that now it was all that was in his head.

“Think about the other thing Hunter, the other thing,” he said to himself out loud. But as much as he tried to think about Minmei looking so gorgeous wearing his shirt while they where trapped in the lower levels of SDF-1, the image of Lisa in a robe started to pop up in his head over and over again.

“Good Morning Sir,” said the soft voice of Max, but Rick didn’t listen to him and kept walking to the Daedaleus. Max and Ben looked at each other

“Hey Boss!” yelled Ben this time, making Rick come out of his thoughts.

“Hi,” said Rick, still a little confused.

“You look concerned sir. Is there a problem?” asked Max.

“No, nothing,” said Rick and tried to look more relaxed.

“Why do I have the feeling that the boss was thinking about a woman?” said Ben in a funny voice.

“What?” said Rick and felt that his cheeks where turning red.

“Definitely, its’ a woman,” said Ben triumphantly, “ so who is the hot girl?”

“No one,” said Rick seriously.

“Oh come on Boss, we are like locked boxes, we won’t tell anyone,” said Ben and hit Max with his elbow.

“It’s no one,” said Rick a little pissed off, “now we better hurry, it’s almost time for our shift.”

“Yes sir,” said Ben and Max when they noticed Rick’s expression.

“We don’t want to make Commander Hayes wait,” said Ben and they started to walk.

Today was going to be very difficult for Rick to concentrate on his work…very difficult.

Finally his shift was over and God it had been a long shift. The Zentraedis decided to attack and as usual retreat in the last minute when they were winning. But even in that hard combat situation it had been a little difficult for him to concentrate, and it was even more difficult when Commander Hayes was noticing every move that he made on the battlefield. It seemed to be that every time she appeared on the commo screen he was unable to focus and she emphasized his mistakes.

So now he was in the gym trying to release some of the tension by hitting the bag.

Lisa was completely tired, the shift that day had been exhausting but she still could feel the adrenaline run through her veins. She needed to let that adrenaline go away, especially after all that had happen in the last twenty-four hours. There was only one way to burn all that energy, so after thinking about it for a few moments she finally made up her mind and started to walk in the direction of the only place than could make that adrenaline go away.

Lisa could feel the heat of the place and how his eyes where fixed on her as she remove her jacket. She could feel that her cheeks were turning red, but she decided to not to worry about it, she had come here for a reason and there was nothing that could stop her from what she was there to do. And she did it; she put the gloves on and started to punch the sack as hard as she could, like she hadn’t done in a long time.

Rick, on the other corner of the gym, was hitting his own bag when he saw Lisa enter the room. He had gone there to release all the tension of the day, to try to not think about her, about how he had seen her early in the morning. This was the last place where he thought he would find her, but there she was, wearing the RDF officer academy sport outfit. She hadn’t even noticed his presence until the moment that she was taking her jacket off. He hadn’t been able to look any other place than in her direction, and she has noticed. He even noticed that she turned a little red, but that only lasted a second and in the next second she had put her gloves on and started to hit her own sack.

Rick continued hitting his own bag until his strength almost abandoned him. Then a constant sound arrived to his ears and he saw her; Lisa was still hitting her bag and somehow he found that she looked pretty even when she was covered in sweat and jumping. He hid behind his bag and noticed how she hit and he was amazed. He could see immediately that she really knew self- defense. Maybe she wasn’t only this old sourpuss in air traffic control.

Lisa stopped and took a deep breath. She was completely tired and all that she wanted was a drink of water. She tried to release her gloves and in that moment she noticed that Rick wasn’t practicing anymore. When she couldn’t see him anymore she believed that he had left the gym, so she relaxed a little bit. She started to walk in direction of her water and tried to release one of her gloves but they were so tightly fixed that she couldn’t. She tried to grab her bottle of water, but the gloves wouldn’t let her, so the bottle started to roll on the gym’s floor. Before she noticed, someone had grabbed the bottle of water and was offering it to her. When she looked up she could see the figure of Rick in a white RDF T-shirt. He was covered in sweat.

“Thanks,” said Lisa a little shyly.

“You’re welcome,” said Rick but when Lisa tried to grab the bottle it slipped from her gloves and hit the floor again, making the both of them laugh an accomplice laugh.

“I’m sorry, I can’t release my gloves. I think I tied them too tight,”

“Maybe I could help,” said Rick a little shyly. Lisa smiled at him and offered one hand.

Rick softly grabbed her glove and started to untie it. When he finished Lisa smiled at him again.

“Thank you so much Lieutenant.”

“You have nothing to thank me for Commander,” said Rick and grabbed her bottle of water and handed it to her.

“Thanks again,” said Lisa with a smile and Rick smiled at her in return, “Trying to release some combat tension Lieutenant?”

“Something like that. It has been a very busy week.”

“You don’t have to tell me, the enemy can be so confusing. Their combat techniques are so peculiar,” said Lisa thoughtfully.

“Yes, and in the air this weird attitude of the enemy can be even more confusing.”

“I guess so. But believe me, here on the ship we try to put ourselves in your shoes Lieutenant.”

“But it’s never the same,” said Rick with his usual smartass tone.

“It can be even more difficult to be here on the ship Lieutenant. I know you don’t believe me but we watch you all out there and every decision that we make here can cost you your life,” said Lisa and Rick remained in silence for a while.

“I have never thought about that Commander,” said Rick finally.

“That’s the reason why I would like to know better how the enemy thinks so that way we could make better and smarter decisions,” said Lisa.

“It’s very difficult to fight with someone when you don’t know what they will do in the next moment. I mean they are about to win on so many occasions and they retreat.”

“That’s my point. Their strategies are so confusing and I believe firmly that once we understand why they do that we could win this war,” said Lisa.

“You really believe that Commander?” asked Rick with surprise.

“I do,” said Lisa and sat next to the sack on a bench, “It’s like the old phrase, know yourself but know your enemy better.”

“And do you have any theory about their behavior?” asked Rick curiously, sitting next to Lisa.

“Many. But none of them are sure. Most of them are based on the investigations of Doctor Lang, but I guess that the best source of information is the enemy itself.”

“I agree with you on that.”

“That would be the first time that we agree on something,” said Lisa, smiling without noticing.

“What are you insinuating Commander, that we fight a lot?” asked Rick in a funny, sarcastic tone. After looking at each other for a few seconds, they both started to laugh.

“But honestly, I believe that the best way to understand the enemy is to be in their own environment. You should know that better than anyone, you have been in more direct contact with them than any of us.”

“You could say that, but it’s not much that I can say about them, only that somehow I can feel that they are strangely similar to us.”

“You mean?” asked Lisa curiously raising an eyebrow, trying to understand what he was saying.

“I don’t know, call it a hunch, but I feel that we are similar.”

“That’s a very interesting thought Lieutenant, and somehow I understand what you feel,” said Lisa honestly.

“Only we will have to wait until we meet one of our friends to know if we were right.”

“And who knows how long we will have to wait,” said Lisa. They remained in silence for awhile and Lisa used that silence to remove the other glove from her left hand.

“I would have never thought that you practiced boxing,” said Rick.

“Well I don’t exactly box, I practice Taebo,” said Lisa and then she added with a malicious tone, “did I surprise you Lieutenant? Or is it maybe that you believe that all I know how to do is to yell on the commo screen?”

“No, not at all,” said Rick so fast that he almost choked with his words. “What I mean is that you don’t look like the boxing kind of girl.”

“And what kind of girl do I look like?” asked Lisa, raising an eyebrow with intrigue.

“I don’t know, something more delicate,” said Rick and scratch his head thinking, “something like fencing.”

“I’m a box of surprises Lieutenant. But you weren’t mistaken in one thing, I do practice fencing too, only Commander Grant wasn’t able to practice today.”

“That’s a surprise for me, I never knew that Claudia practiced fencing. I believed that she was more the kind of girl that practiced boxing.”

“That’s because she is, only I taught her fencing and she improved my abilities in Taebo. She is a really good fighter.”

“Roy always said that Claudia could kick anyone’s ass anytime, so I guess he really meant it,” said Rick with a laugh and they both started to laugh.

“Oh yeah, Claudia definitely can do that,” said Lisa between laughs. “I had forgotten that you are so close to Roy. As a matter of fact, I watched you hit the bag for a few seconds and -correct me if I’m wrong- but I would say that he was the one who taught you how to box.”

“You are right,” said Rick, surprised that Lisa would notice that. “He is like the old brother that I never had. Yes, he taught me how to box among other things.”

“And since we are talking about Roy, I’m afraid to ask what other things he might have taught you,” said Lisa and rolled her eyes. She knew Roy to well and she knew that behind his cool guy façade there was a sweet guy. But he had an image to keep and she, as his friend, had to protect that image.

“I won’t reveal that information,” joked Rick.

“I wouldn’t expect less from Roy Fokker’s little brother,” joked Lisa too,

“How did you know that?” asked Rick, completely surprised that she knew how he and Roy named each other.

“His girlfriend is my best friend and Roy and I have known each other for a very long time,” said Lisa and smiled to herself. It was funny that she had remembered her early days knowing Roy twice in a day. “We are very close friends, even when it doesn’t always seem that way. And I do know some things about you Lieutenant,” said Lisa with an evil look.

“I’m afraid to ask what you know,” said Rick and before he noticed he was red.

“Oh, that’s classified information that I won’t reveal,” joked Lisa and that made Rick turn even more red.

“Not everything that you hear from Roy is true,” Rick defended himself.

“Don’t be so scared Lieutenant, Roy has only said good things about you,” said Lisa and instinctually gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. “He always talked about how his little brother is a great pilot, how he does these amazing stunts in the air and how valuable he would be if he were in the RDF.”

“He said that?” asked Rick with surprise.

“ Of course he did, he really appreciates you,” said Lisa with a sweet smile.

“He appreciates you too,” said Rick and Lisa looked at him curiously. “He always has admired how professional you are, how dedicated you are to your work and how good you are at it. He admires you too.”

“You are going to make me blush,” said Lisa and looked at the floor.

“But that’s true and I agree with him, you are good,” said Rick and before he could finish Lisa’s eyes were fixed on him. She was surprised by his revelation and all she could do was look at him straight in the eyes. As much as she was caught by surprise by his words, she was taken by surprise by the way she was looking at him, with her deep emerald green eyes, straight into his.

They looked into each other’s eyes with surprise for what seemed an eternity until Lisa broke the silence.

“Thanks,” was all she said.

“You have nothing to thank me for Commander,” said Rick, avoiding her gaze.

“Well, I better get going, it’s very late,” said Lisa and stood up.

“Yeah, me too, I have the early shift.”

“Goodnight Lieutenant,” said Lisa as she grabbed her gloves and started to walk away.

“Commander,” said Rick, making Lisa turn in his direction, “your jacket,” he said and handed her the jacket.

“Thanks again,” said Lisa with a smile and took her jacket.

“Goodnight Commander,” said Rick and gave her a smile that she returned before finally leaving the gym.

He had released the tension of the battle and the tension of seeing Commander Hayes earlier had produce in him; but now it was replace by a much different tension. Now he was seeing her differently; she wasn’t just the old sourpuss of the bridge, and she wasn’t just this incredibly hot woman in a space suit. She was human and in a very shy way she was sweet. But above all she was confusing. She confused him and that was the feeling that he carried out of gym. This weird confusion that he felt, this mystery of Commander Hayes that somehow he felt tempted to solve.

To be continued…

Author’s Note: please people I need reviews to keep writing, I know this chapter took a long time, but I promise that if you send some reviews I’ll update sooner. Send the reviews at jo_anderson19ATyahoo.com

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

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