fanfic_name = Friendly fire

chapter = 1

author = Jo Anderson

Rating = O18

Type = Alternative Universe

fanfic = Disclaimer: I don’t own Robotech or any of the characters. This was only written for fun

Author’s note: I hope you like this fic, but I must warn you this came up to my mind after watching certain tv show too many times, so I can guarantee that this will be full of surprises. This fic takes place during the missing years of reconstruction and it an AU, so I hope you like it but I must warn you this came up to my mind after watching certain tv show too many times, so I can guarantee that this will be full of surprises.

Reviews: please, I’ll be waiting them, It’s what keeps me writing.

To: Carla, honey this was your b-day present and I promise I will finish this ASAP. And special thanks to D, thank you soooo much for beta this for me I know it was a lot of work, so thank you soooo much!!!. To every one who takes the time to read it and to everyone on the DYRL forum.

“Friendly Fire”

Chapter one

“The Spark”

The door from Lisa’s house opened loudly and behind it Lisa appeared laughing out loud.

“I told you that you were putting the key in backwards” she said between laughs as she walked inside the house.

“Come on I couldn’t see a thing” Rick protested.

“You know very well that it has nothing to do with the light, Captain” Lisa said teasingly.

“What are you implying Captain?” Rick answered using the same tone that she had used.

“I’ll turn on the lights for our safety” Lisa said ignoring him and started to walk in the dark.

“Watch out” Rick said and grabbed Lisa who staggered a little bit while searching for the light switch, but he staggered too and they ended up against the wall. Rick was holding Lisa by the waist while she had her back hardly pressed against the wall because the whole of Rick’s weight was resting against her.

Lisa looked at him in the eyes and start to laugh again, uncontrollably, and Rick followed her a few seconds later.

“At least we turned on the lights” Rick said between laughs

“At least now there’s light so you could move, you are all over me Captain” Lisa said with a grin.

“You are the one who put me on this position” Rick said and the more he spoke the more he got closer to Lisa, to the point that when he finished the sentence their noses where almost touching each other. They just remained looking "in" each other’s eyes until Lisa finally spoke.

“Like I said Captain a cup of coffee and two aspirins” She said and slid between his arms and started to walk to the kitchen.

“Right” Rick said, a slight of disappointment could be heard in his voice and finally he followed her.

When Rick entered the kitchen Lisa has already turned the coffee maker on, and was leaving two mugs next to it.

“I just remembered that Roy always said that the best remedy for a hangover was a beer” Rick said while he rests his weight against the counter.

“I can’t believe that I had forgot that, of course it is” Lisa said and started to walk to the refrigerator.

“Forgot that? How can you even know that?” asked Rick with curiosity while he turned in her direction.

“Come on I was at the RDF academy, I was young once too you know” Lisa said and only her head could be seen behind the refrigerator door.

“You were young?” He asked to annoy her, and before he finished a tomato flew by inches away from his head.

“How dare you?” protested Lisa, with one hand on her wait and two beers in the other.

“Ok, Ok” Said Rick and raised his hands up, just as he was surrendering. “But really, you? Knowing the tricks to avoid a hangover? That’s a surprise coming from miss “I was the best in the academy”.

“Why is it so surprising that I had a life back then! I was 18 and I went to parties and woke up with a hangover at least once, I didn’t spend all my time between books” Lisa said upset.

“If you say so” said Rick in disbelief and "shrugged" his shoulders. He walked next to her and "grabbed" one of the beers that she was holding.

“Argh” Lisa mumbled angry.

“You look so cute when you get angry” Rick teased her and Lisa just raised an eyebrow, still pissed off.

“It’s not funny” Lisa protested.

“See, I love the way you raised that eyebrow” Rick said with a grin.

“Shut up” said Lisa started to walk to the living room.

“Oh come on, come back” Rick said and followed her. “Fine I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Come on Lisa don’t be mad, I’m sorry”.

“You’re so easy Captain” Lisa said with a grin when Rick appeared in the living room.

“What’s that supposed to mean Captain?” Rick asked surprised.

“You know what it means” Lisa said defiant

“You really believe that you can handle me, Captain?” Rick said and got closer to her, challenging her.

“I know exactly how to handle you, Captain” Lisa stated and looked at him in the eyes.

“Is that so?” Rick said maintaining her gaze.

“Oh yes, I know very well what buttons to press to make you do what I want” Lisa stated and this time she was the one that got closer to him.

“If you think that you can control me, it’s because I let you think that” Rick said and crossed his arms right in front of his chest.

“Do you realice that by saying that you are implying that you are the one who controls me Captain?” Lisa said serious.

“I know perfectly well what I’m implying, Captain” Rick said and got closer to her to look better into her eyes. Lisa just looked back at him straight in the eyes.

“You don’t have what it takes to be in control” Lisa said and got closer to him and crossed her arms, they were so close that their arms were touching “You are too explosive”.

“And what’s wrong with that?” He said raising an eyebrow.

“The problem is that if you want to be in control you have to be cold…” Lisa was saying but Rick interrupted her.

“Like you?” he said.

“Yes, like me” Lisa said and looked at him and she stood on her tip toes, then she whispered in his ear “If you want to take control you need to know your enemy, how to play him” she said and this time she rested her right hand on his shoulder and then continued talking slowly. “Ambush him, and never let him know what your plan is and for that you can’t show your emotions, you have to remain cool and right now”, She said and moved way from him and looked at him with an evil grin, “right now you are flushing Captain” she said and couldn’t avoid a smile.

“You are drunk you know that?” He said and shook his head smiling too, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks were red and that Lisa’s proximity had affected him.

“As if you weren’t” she said and started to laugh while she kicked her shoes off and sat on the couch.

“True” Rick finally admitted, shrugged his shoulder and sat next to her. “Cheers to that, to the fact that we are both a little bit drunk, Captain” he add after he loosened the collar of his jacket.

“Cheers to that, Captain” Lisa said and they clinked their bottles of beer and drink a sip.

“I was trying to remember the last time that I got drunk…not that I remember very much. Roy took me and the boys to a cheap bar on Macross to celebrate the fact that we came back alive from the Zentraedi ship. All that I can remembered is sitting at that bar with a beer in my hand and suddenly Roy said something like “Team Leaders only drink Scotch” and changed my beer for a scotch…the next thing that I remember is waking up in my bed with the biggest headache ever” Rick said and he and Lisa laughed.

“The last time that I got drunk, was when I became the First Officer of the SDF-1, Roy and Claudia went to my place with a bottle of tequila to celebrate…some how I can’t remember what happened after shot number 3. I woke up on the couch and Roy was sleeping on a chair in front of me in the most uncomfortable position that you can imagine” Lisa said and then started to laugh “Claudia left him there since the idea of bringing tequila had been his, he should be the one who watched me while I was passed out and she covered me on the bridge.” By this point Lisa was laughing so hard that Rick could barely understand what she said between her laughs. “Poor Roy had a stiff neck for 2 days, but I "had" a hangover for almost the same period of time.” “If anyone knew about parties and drinks it was Roy Fokker” said Rick when he stoped laughing.

“So true, and I’ll drink to him. To Roy Fokker a great friend” Lisa said and took a sip from her bottle.

“To Roy Fokker, my big brother” said Rick and he also drink a sip from his bottle.

“He would be very proud of you, that you became CAG.”

“Everything I know I learned it from him” Rick said and remained thoughtful for a while. Then he added “He would be happy for you too, chief of military operations” he said and smiled at her.

“He would probably be here celebrating with us” Lisa answered with a smile.

“Definitely” Rick said with a hint of sadness.

“I miss him too” Lisa said and tenderly put one hand on Rick’s shoulder.

“I know, but like I always said my big Bro died doing what he loved the most, flying, and protecting human kind” Rick said with a bittersweet smile.

“Yes he did” Lisa said and looked away from Rick.

“What are you thinking?” Rick asked after a long moment of silence.

“All the people that died, all the pilots who died protecting us, protecting Earth…most of them I can’t even remember their names” She said guilty.

“I know, I flew with them I even forgot some of their faces” Rick said feeling guilty too.

“We have fought so much to save Earth, to save human kind and we aren’t even enjoying it” Lisa said with a mixture of sadness and frustration.

“I guess is the price to pay to survive, our work will never be over” Rick said with resignation.

“No it wont, it’s just that once in a while I would like to go out, to leave the base and see Earth, to walk on a beach, to feel the sand on my feet. To smell the grass, God it must been years since the last time I smelled real grass. Maybe I’m asking too much, but I would love too see what’s out there with my own eyes and not through a satellite picture while I plan an operation” Lisa said and shrugged her shoulders.

“I know what you mean, it has been almost a year and a half since we’re back on Earth and all that we have been doing is work, I spend all day on my VT watching from the canopy the world and unable to enjoy it, unable to land and just be there. Just like you spend all your day on the base planning Ops. We risk our lives everyday to protect the world and we can’t enjoy it.”

“But we can’t quit, we can’t not protect it. So tomorrow you will be on your VT and I’ll be on the base, because that’s where we are needed, to protect Earth and save the future.”

“An Earth that we will not enjoy and a future that we might not live because, you and I can get killed any day in the line of duty” Rick said and was about to take another sip of his beer when Lisa interrupted him.

“Cheers to that, for the Earth that we won’t enjoy and a future that we might not live, Captain” Lisa said and they clinked their bottles.

“Cheers to that Captain” Rick said and they both drank from their bottles.

“Now we are into the stage of drunkenness when we are feeling pity for ourselves” Lisa joked and Rick looked at her and smiled.

“It will be a shame tho” he said thoughtfully and Lisa looked at him with curiosity. “That the world won’t see you with your cap.” He added and put Lisa’s cap on her head.

“Rick” Lisa complained and punched him hard on the shoulder.

“Ouch” Rick groaned and then started to laugh. “Come on you look so cute with your Captain Cap on.”

“Very funny” She said fighting with him to remove the cap off of her head.

“I’m serious you look between cute and sexy” He said and winked at her, but that only earned him another punch.

“If you’re expecting for me to say that you look cute in your cap, sorry but that ain’t going to happen.”

“Ouch” Rick said and touched his heart as if Lisa’s words had hurt him.

“I prefer you with your messy hair” Lisa said with a grin.

“Oh come on and I worked so hard to try to comb it” Rick said looking hurt.

“Like I said, I like it messy” Lisa said and ran her hand through Rick’s hair messing it up. When she finished she laid back on the couch and smiled at him, Rick smiled back at her and suddenly he got closer to her, resting one hand on the arm of the couch so he could looked at her right in the eyes.

“I never would have imagined that you like it wild” Rick said with a grin.

“I’m a box full of surprises Captain” Lisa said trying to look cool, but as Rick got closer harder it was for her to remain cool.

“I can see that” He said with a whisper and slowly grasped one lock of Lisa’s hair that was on her face, then he placed it carefully behind one of her ears and whispered to her “You never stop surprising me, Captain”

“Good” Lisa whispered too, because of the closeness of Rick.

“You are flushing you know?” Rick said teasingly.

“It’s the beer” Lisa justified herself.

“I don’t think it has to do with the beer” Rick whispered in her ear as if he was telling her a secret.

“Do you think there’s another reason for me to flush?” Lisa asked raising an eyebrow, defiant.

“I don’t know you tell me” Rick challenged her.

“You’ve got quite of a ego if you think I’m flushing because of you” Lisa stated and some how managed to cross her arms, even when Rick was just a few inches away from her. Rick looked at her with intensity but Lisa didn’t even blink, so finally he started to laugh.

“That’s why you like me so much” Rick said between laughs.

“You like me?” Lisa questioned.

“Yes” Rick answered with out even thinking.

“Captain Hunter likes the old sourpuss” Lisa said with a grin.

“Lisa…”Rick was trying to justify but Lisa interrupted him.

“No really, I like you. You surprised me Captain” Lisa said teasingly.

“It’s not that…” Rick tried to say but she interrupted him again.

“Roy mentioned once, that his little brother was dating an older girl, so you really like old woman” Lisa said and this time she was the one that move forward, so they were only inches away again.

“That was dif…” Rick said but Lisa interrupted again.

“So really, you like me?” Lisa asked skeptically, most of it to tease him.

Rick just looked at her and felt how he was flushing and suddenly he moved forward and pressed Lisa against the couch. “What if I did? What if you really like me?” he said and Lisa opened her eyes widely because of the surprise. Finally she laughed.

“I’m not joking” Rick stated and looked at her straight in the eyes.

“I never said you were” Lisa said and looked at him back, challenging him.

“So” Rich whispered.

“So?” Lisa asked raising an eyebrow.

“What are you going to do about it?” Rick said and placed his other hand on the back of the couch, so now he had Lisa cornered against it.

“Wrong question” Lisa said and then she moved closer to him and whispered to his ear, “the right question would be, what are YOU going to do about it?” she said and separated from him to looked at his reaction.

“It depends” Rick said with a sexy grin.

“On what?” Lisa asked with the same grin.

“On…” Rick said and moved closer to her, without stoping looked into her eyes. “What do you want me to do?” he added, and they were so close that he could feel the warmth of Lisa’s skin.

Lisa maintained his gaze, and instinctively bit her lower lip while she tried to think of how to answer him, but they were so close that she could hear the beat of his heart and it was so loud that it wouldn’t allow her to think.

8 hours earlier.

Lisa was walking down the corridors of the RDF main building in New Macross city. Today was promotion day, so there she was full dress uniform, her hair arranged in the traditional chignon that regulations ordered when you where in full dress uniform and all her medals correctly place on her uniform jacket. Secretly Lisa never liked the full dress uniform very much, not because of the uniform itself but because what wearing implied it, and that meant a pompous ceremony, with pompous officers who didn’t have a clue what is to be on a battlefield.

She tried to release a little bit her collar before entering the Main hall, she took a huge breath and put her collar back in place and checked that her uniform was immaculate.

“So I’m not the only one who found it uncomfortable to wear this” a male voice said behind her.

“It’s not the uniform it’s the people” Lisa said turning in his direction smiling.

“Yeah right, only because you don’t have to wear a cap” Rick said and smiled at her.

“Probably that, but then again you don’t have to wear high heels.”

“But you wear them every day” Rick protested.

“That’s true” Lisa said and looked at him for a while.

“What?” Rick asked when he noticed Lisa’s weird gaze.

“I have never seen you in full dress uniform, you look different with a cap.”

“Different how?” Rick asked with curiosity.

“Different, I don’t know…older...no, not older” Lisa said and she bit her lower lip while she thought of the right words to use. “More mature, yeah that’s it, you look more mature.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment” Rick said raising an eyebrow.

“That was always my intention” Lisa said smiling and Rick smiled at her too.

“You look different too” stated Rick.

“I know, I look more stiff than usual” Lisa said with a frown.

“I was going to say that you look more elegant, I have never saw you with your hair pulled up” Rick said and got closer to her. “You don’t look like an stiff Commander, you look beautiful” Rick said finally and he could notice how Lisa’s cheeks started to turned pink.

Before Lisa could say anything and before her cheeks turned evidently red, the doors of the main hall opened and Claudia appeared behind them.

“There you are, I was waiting for you” Claudia said and grabbed Lisa’s arm.

“Why? What happened?” asked Lisa.

“The ceremony is about to start and we need you there. Don’t forget it’s the Trio’s promotion” Claudia said.

“Of course I know that. How could I forget that?” protest Lisa.

“And thank God you are here too, there’s a bunch of pilots from the Skull that are going to be promoted today. You are the one who has to give them their new insignias” Claudia said looking at Rick.

“I know Claudia or do you think that I dress like this because I like to wear a cap?” Rick said and rolled his eyes and entered the room.

The ceremony of promotions was almost over when the Trio’s turn to get promoted arrived. The first one to get called was Sammie and Admiral Gloval and Lisa stepped ahead to give her a new pair of insignias. Sammie got promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was assigned to be new flight operator of New Macross RDF base. Then it was Kim’s turn to get promoted and this time Claudia and the admiral gave her the new insignias. Lieutenant Commander Young was now the Chief communications officer of the base. Finally it was Vanessa’s turn and again Lisa and Admiral Gloval did the honors. Vanessa was also promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and commissioned to be the new Chief of surveillance operations.

Everything seamed to be over when Claudia, with a serious voice asked Rick to step forward. Rick was completely taken off guard and Claudia had to ask him again to step forward. Rick finally stood up from his chair and looked quizzically at Lisa, but she was as surprised as he was.

When Rick was in the middle of room, Claudia and the admiral got closer to him

“The joint staff of Robotech Defense Forces promote Lieutenant Richard Hunter to the rank of Captain and commission him to act as Commander of the Air group for the North America quadrant of the Robotech Defense Forces” Claudia said reading a document in front of Rick.

Rick just looked at her, he could not believe what he just heard. Time seemed to freeze for him and only when the admiral finished giving him his new insignias that he finally realized that he was now a Captain and not just any captain, he was the new CAG. He didn’t know what to feel. Should he be worried or happy?.

“Congratulations Captain Hunter” Claudia said and winked at him smiling.

“Thanks” was all that Rick could say.

“Congratulations Captain, you’ll do a good job” said the Admiral and shook Rick’s hand.

“Thank you Sir” said Rick and then he saluted the Admiral and started to walk to his seat, and on his way back the first person that he saw was Lisa, who was smiling at him and looking at him with eyes so full of pride that he could not avoid smile back at her. And in that moment he decided that he was happy with his promotion, he felt proud of himself just by seeing how proud she was of him.

But then suddenly Lisa’s expression changed drastically, from a sweet smile to consternation and then she slowly stoop up. Rick had been so caught up with Lisa’s smile that he didn’t even hear Claudia calling Lisa to the center of the main hall.

“The joint staff of Robotech Defense Forces promote Commander Elizabeth Hayes to the rank of Captain and commission her to act as the Commander of military operations for the North America quadrant of the Robotech Defense Forces.” Claudia read the document in front of Lisa unable to hide her smile.

And Lisa could only smile back at her, she was completely surprised, she had no clue that she was on the promotion list. She was so surprised that the only thing she could do was smile while general Reinhardt put her the new stars on her uniform.

“Congratulations Captain Hayes” Reinhardt said when he finished.

“Thank you Sir” answered Lisa and shook his hand.

“Congratulations Captain, I’m so proud of you” Admiral Gloval said with a paternal tone of voice while he handed Lisa her new Cap as captain.

“Thank you Sir, I won’t let you down” Lisa said with a sweet smile as she put her new Cap on and then she saluted at the admiral.

RDF Officers mess hall

“How could you do that to me? You knew it didn’t you? You knew it from the beginning!” Lisa protested when Claudia appeared in the mess hall.

“Of course I knew it, I’m so proud of you!” Claudia said and gave a huge hug to her friend.

“I hate you so much” Lisa said while she hugged Claudia back.

“I know I hate you too” Claudia said laughing still hugging Lisa.

“I’m going to make you pay for this, you know?” Lisa said with a smile.

“Probably, but you will have to find time first” Claudia said and winked at her.

“Very funny” Lisa said and then they both returned to the table where Lisa was.

“Claudia come here to celebrate with us” Sammie said when she saw her.

“Hey Lieutenant Commander Porter” Claudia said and hugged her.

“I know!! I feel so old” Sammie said.

“Hey what is left for me, I became a Captain” Lisa protested and everyone laughed.

“I wasn’t expecting to be promoted at all” Vanessa said.

“Me neither, did you know about it Lisa?” Rick asked.

“No, this was a surprise for me too. The only one who knew was Claudia” Lisa said.

“Yup, old aunt Claudia knows everything” Claudia said and winked and everyone laughed.

“It was such a surprise! I was ordered to be present on the Main hall because some people from the bridge were going to be promoted, but I never guessed it was going to be me” Kim said.

“Me neither!” Sammie said.

“Cheers to that! To all of you who got promoted” Claudia said and raised her glass of champagne.

They remained in the mess hall, celebrating the promotions and having dinner. Everyone who was promoted was in the mess hall at different tables, the entire Skull squadron was there and many people from the bridge. Lisa, Rick, the trio, Claudia and the Sterlings were at a table a little bit away from the crowd. They had just finished having dinner and now were talking about old days in the Academy.

“Do you remember the time when Kim almost hit Major Sackhoff?” Sammie said between laughs.

“What happened?” Miriya asked.

“I was on leave, and went to a club near the academy with the girls, I was at the bar and a guy came and looked at me with these lascivious eyes…” Kim was saying when Vanessa interrupted her.

“And you know Kim, she looked at the guy and tells him “What is your problem?” The guy moved closer and asked her if he could buy her a drink and Kim just looked at him and said “Why don’t you go and take a cold shower” and passed him her glass of iced water” Vanessa said and everyone was laughing.

“But that wasn’t all, he followed me and grabbed me by the arm. I was about to punch him when Sammie appeared and took me away. But the worst part was the next morning, we arrived at our new class of military intelligence and guess who was there!” said Kim.

“Major Sackhoff in person, he was the officer in charge of that class and had recently arrived from a classified mission in the artic” said Vanessa.

“I wanted to die, I felt so embarrassed I was hoping that he didn’t remember me but at the end of the class he came closer and apologized for his behavior the night before. I just want it to Earth open up and swallow me” Kim said.

“You should have seen Kim’s face when he came closer to her” Sammie said between laughs.

“What about when V almost burned our dorm!” Kim said.

“You almost burned the dorm?” Claudia asked between laughs.

“It was an accident!” protested Vanessa.

“She was studying for the finals, she was so immersed in what she was studying that she didn’t notice that the heater that was turned on next to her had an electrical short circuit. It was 4 am when I woke up because I got a smell like burned hair” Kim said.

“The thing was burning next to Vanessa and she was trying to memorize the wave longitude to detect submarines on the sonar” Sammie said.

“Come on! That thing always smell like burned hair, that’s why I didn’t pay attention to the smell” Vanessa protested.

“And then Sammie woke up screaming “We are burning! We are burning!” and grabbed the bottle of water that was next to her coffee table and started to throwing water over the heater!” Kim said.

“I was asleep, what did you expect!” Sammie protested this time.

“But how did you manage to stop the fire?” asked Rick laughing.

“Vanessa threw her blanket over the heater and stopped the fire” Kim said.

“What about you Sammie what was yours?” Claudia asked

“Do you remember when you dyed your hair?” Vanessa asked between laughs.

“Do you mean when Kim made me to!” Sammie protested.

“I didn’t make you to dye your hair!” Kim said in her defense.

“The thing is, that Sammie was complaining that no one took her seriously because she looked to young, so Kim convinced her to dye her hair the night before we went on campaign” Vanessa was saying before Miriya interrupted her.

“What color did you dye your hair?” Miriya asked.

“The box said…” Vanessa was saying and stopped while she tried to remember the name.

“Devilish black, I will never forget that name” Sammie said pissed off.

“Right, so Kim dyed Sammie’s hair and she looked ok. The problem was in the morning. The dye must have kept working while we were sleeping and when we woke up Sammie "had" half of her hair blue and the other half black” Vanessa said and everyone started to laugh.

“It wasn’t funny! I had to put on a sky mask to cover my hair and when we arrived to the boot camp the Sergeant that was in charge of us yelled at me because I was wearing a sky mask, she ordered me to take off the thing and I refused” Sammie said.

“And when the Sergeant was about send her to the brig Sammie almost between sobs removed the sky mask” said Kim trying to hide her laugh and then continued “The sergeant started to laugh and ordered her to put the sky mask on again and go to the barber as soon as she can” Kim said.

“And I swear that I will never dye my hair again” Sammie said while everyone laughed.

“Poor Sammie” Lisa said and tenderly put one hand on her shoulder.

“What about you Lisa, do you have a history from the academy?” Kim asked.

“Not that I can remember” Lisa said.

“Come on there must be a shameful scene from your time on the academy Lisa” Sammie said.

“Yes there is” Claudia said and started to laugh.

“Ok, ok there is one” Lisa said while she rested her back on the back of the chair and cleared her throat. “I was charged once with an article 34” She said and her cheeks turned pink.

“You what?” Rick said and choked on with what he was drinking.

“You got charged for fraternization?” Max asked with his eyes fully opened.

“Yes but it was all a huge mistake. Michael was Karl’s best friend and had promised Karl that he will look up for me in the Academy and he did he always look out for me and take care of me until one day, one cadet that had a crush on him, and who he turned down because he was his superior officer, got jealous and reported us” Lisa said.

“You should have seen Lisa’s face when the Lawyer from JAG came in to charge her, she almost faint” Claudia said.

“What did you expect my father will kill me when he founds out!” Lisa said and everyone laugh.

“But what happens in the end?” Vanessa asked.

“Nothing, the charges were redraws when the JAG investigator found out they weren’t true” Lisa said.

“I have never imagine that you will be charged for fraternization” Kim said.

“Yeah that one was quite a history but that wasn’t the one that I was talking about” Claudia said and looked at Lisa with a grin.

“Claudia don’t” Lisa threatened her.

“Oh come on!” Claudia said with an evil smile.

“Yes come on Claudia tells us” The trio said at the same time.

“When Lisa was in her senior year of the academy there was this kid who was a nugget” Claudia started and Lisa interrupted her.

“You are so going to regret this” Lisa said and rolled her eyes, knowing that nothing would stop Claudia from telling the history.

“The poor kid was head over heals for Lisa but she never paid attention to him, until one day that I was in town and we went to the bar that’s next to the academy and the kid was there, what was his name?” Claudia asked

“Jamie” Lisa mumbled and then crossed her arms.

“Right so Jamie, who apparently has seen Top Gun too many times, went next to us and started to sing to Lisa “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” with all his classmates as a chorus, in the bar that was full with people from the academy” She said between laughs and every one was laughing too. “Lisa started to sink in her seat and she was as red as neon tomato and by the time he stopped singing everyone was looking at her, so she had no other choice than let the kid sit next to her” Claudia finished.

“Oh that’s so romantic, I would have loved for someone to have sang to me” Sammie said.

“It wasn’t romantic it was shameful” Lisa protested.

“Something happened after that?” Vanessa asked.

“Of course not, I outranked him and it was against regulations, besides he was just a kid!” Lisa said.

“Kids have always fallen for you” Claudia said with a grin to piss Lisa off.

“Too bad I have never had a thing for kids” Lisa replied and then she raised an eyebrow when Claudia looked at her with a skeptical face. “Don’t look at me like that, at least I have never gotten caught in action” Lisa said and an exclamation could be heard in the room.

“Lisa” Claudia warn her.

“You owe me Grant” Lisa said defiant.

“Fine” Claudia said careless and rested her back in the chair back.

“One day, shortly after I arrived on Macross Island Doctor Lang was giving me a guided tour of the facilities, and we ended our tour in the hangars. Doctor Lang wanted to show me Roy’s VT, the first one that was fully operational and that had flown missions, the only problem was that when we got there Skull one was already busy in a demonstration” Lisa said holding a laugh. “Roy was showing Claudia the …mmm…how do I say this right? “the Skull one firepower”” Lisa said and everyone started to laugh.

“You mean Skull one? My VT?” Rick asked confused and Lisa only nodded “But how did you manage to? …I mean the canopy is really small… how did you two…?”

“There’s only one Skull one Rick and honey you are too young for the details” Claudia said and gave him a clap in the back. “When you grow up you will figure it out for yourself” Claudia finished and everyone laughed while Rick turned red.

Suddenly a group of pilots came closer to the table clapping and yelling, “Rocket! Rocket!”

“What’s that?” Vanessa asked.

“A rocket, you won’t became CAG until you drink your rocket” Claudia said.

“And what exactly is a rocket?” Rick asked almost worried when the pilots arrived at his table with a huge glass that was full.

“I Believe Rick, that you don’t want to know” Lisa said smiling and clapped him in the back.

“Come on sir you have to drink it and retrieve your insignia that’s on the bottom of the glass” said one of the pilots who placed the glass in front of Rick.

“You can’t be serious?” Rick said surprised.

“It’s tradition Rick, you can’t say no” Claudia said.

“Yes sir, it will be bad luck if you don’t do it” said another pilot.

“Yes sir, and don’t worry it’s just rum and vodka and tequila and…” was saying another pilot when Rick interrupted him.

“And you expect me to drink all that?” he said almost scared.

“I told you that you didn’t want to know what’s in it” Lisa said smiling.

“Technically you only have to retrieve your insignia” Max said.

“You know about this?” Rick asked.

“Of course, it’s tradition.”

“Come on Sir!” several pilots said at once.

“But I…” Rick said but soon everyone that was there started to yell “Rocket!” so he has no other option than to drink from the glass until he retrieved his insignia of Captain and every one started to clap and celebrate.

“Now you are a CAG” Lisa said and put one hand on Rick’s head and shook it.

“Lisa don’t!” Rick protested.

“Sorry but the high ranking officer has to do that when you’re finished, you can’t turn your back on tradition” Lisa said laughing.

“Very funny” Rick said and sat down slowly.

“Now’s your turn Ma’am” said one of the pilots.

“What?” Lisa asked surprised.

“Come Lisa, you became captain and coming from a military family like yours you should know about tradition” Claudia joked.

“But I didn’t become a CAG, I don’t have to drink a Rocket” Lisa protested.

“No but you do have to retrieve your insignia from a drink” Vanessa said.

“And here it is” Claudia said and placed a glass that was at least half a liter in front of Lisa. “A margarita, just the way you like it” she said and winked at Lisa.

“But I…” Lisa was saying when Rick interrupted her.

“It’s tradition Lisa, you can’t turn your back on tradition” Rick said.

“Fine” Lisa said as stubborn as always and started to drink from the glass; until finally she retrieved her insignia and every one cheered her.

After that the rest of the pilots returned to their tables and Lisa, Rick and the group continued talking and telling stories of the academy. The first one’s to leave were Max and Miriya because they couldn’t leave Dana with the nanny too late. The next one in go was Claudia because she was paged and then the trio invited Lisa and Rick to go out and dance to celebrate their promotions but neither Rick or Lisa where in the condition to go out. So they declined the invitation and promise the girls to take a cab to go home, because neither of them could drive.

Present

…“What do you want me to do?” he added, and they were so close that he could feel the warmth of Lisa’s skin.

Lisa maintained his gaze, and instinctively bit her lower lip while she tried to think of how to answer him, but they were so close that she could hear the beat of his heart and it was so loud that it wouldn’t allow her to think.

And suddenly, before they noticed they were kissing each other. Lisa didn’t know if she had been the one who kissed him or if it had been him. Not that that mattered anymore, the fact was that they were kissing each other and it wasn’t a friendly kiss, it was a deep, passionate kiss. She could feel how the air was starting to fail but she didn’t care she was so immersed in the kiss.

At the beginning it had been a soft touch on the lips but only that was necessary to set off the spark and then everything escalated with neither of them able to control it or was it that neither of them actually wanted to control the situation?

Rick was as surprised as she was, but he couldn’t stop either, he couldn’t pull away from her. It was like magnetism what attracted him to her. He only had get closer to her to annoy her and suddenly he was kissing her, and God she tasted good, so good that it was intoxicating him. He wanted to get close to her, he wanted to grab her in his arms, he wanted to feel her. No, he definitely couldn’t pull away from her.

Like everything between them it was a fight for control, they wanted to be in control even when they weren’t able to control what they were doing. Rick pressed Lisa against the couch as if he didn’t want her to slide away from him. At the beginning she didn’t move, the sensation of having him that close was too good to let it go, she could actually feel how his heart beat against her own chest and his smell, she had always loved the way he smelled to her. It was a mixture of the sky and soap and Rick, and now it was as if his smell was hers. So she didn’t react, she just lost herself in the feeling and ran her hands from Rick’s shoulders up to his hair and tangled them there. But when the kiss intensified, if that could be possible, she finally reacted and pushed him against the back of the couch with out breaking the kiss, now she was in control, now he was the one who lost himself in the sensation.

Only one thing brought them both back to reality, the need for air. They had to break the kiss and when they did it they looked into each other’s eyes. How had Lisa ended up in Rick’s lap? She didn’t know. Nor did Rick know how his hands had ended up tangled up between Lisa’s jacket and blouse. They looked into each other’s eyes for a while, with such intensity that they both could feel the sparks flying between them and then it hit them and they reacted to it.

They jumped away from each other and sat in the couch at a safe distance. Then Rick stood up and ran his hands through his hair. Lisa followed him and tried to pull herself back together while she paced across the room in the opposite direction of him.

“I’m sorry” Rick said finally.

“I’m sorry too” Lisa said quickly.

“I didn’t mean to..” Rick said but couldn’t find the right words to finish his sentence, because he still could not believe what he had almost done.

“Me neither” Lisa said and then she added “I mean you are my friend.”

“I know, you are my best friend too.”

“And I don’t want to risk that.”

“Me neither” Rick said and scratched his head. “I don’t know what happened to me.”

“Neither do I, I don’t…I’ve never…I don’t do this kind of thing” Lisa said nervously.

“I know” Rick said and they remained in silence avoiding looking at each other for a long time.

“So..” Lisa finally said after clearing her throat.

“So” Rick repeated unable to stop squeezing his hands nervously.

“What are we going to do now?” Lisa said and bit her lower lip.

“Nothing. I guess” Rick said complicated.

“We should forget this ever happened.”

“Sure, I mean probably it was the alcohol, we both were a little bit drunk.”

“A little bit?” Lisa asked raising an eyebrow.

“Well more than a little” Rick said and they remained in silence again. “So this never happened?”

“Never” Lisa stated.

“Because, I mean Lisa… you are very important to me, you are my best friend and I don’t want to lose you.”

“Me neither Rick, I don’t want this to get between our friendship.”

“It wont, it was just a stupid drunk thing.”

“Good” Lisa said and nod with her head in a way to reassure what she has said, and then they both remain in silence.

“I should get going” Rick said still a little bit nervous.

“I think it will be the best.”

“Goodnight Lisa” Rick said and smile to her.

“Goodnight Rick” Lisa said and start to walk to the door.

“Don’t worry, I know the way out” Rick said and start to walk to the door. “Bye.”

“Bye” she said and stood in the middle of the living room until she felt the door close, then she threw herself onto the couch and covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her mischievous smile. She could not believe what happened, even when she knew it was wrong, that they were friends, best friends and that there’s a line that you don’t cross it felt so good to kiss him and it had been such a different kiss from the one that they shared when they were prisoners. She just couldn’t shake the feeling away, nor could she erase the smile from her face.

“It was a mistake Hayes, a mistake” she said to herself trying to convince herself.

“This never Happened” she said out loud and get off the couch “Never Happened” she said again serious, in her flight operator voice and started to walk to her room. She had only taken couple of steps when she giggled again and covered her face again.

Rick closed Lisa’s house door and rested his weight against it, he could not believe what had just happened. He had kissed Lisa and it hadn’t been a fraternal kiss or a silly kiss like the one they had shared, for what it seemed like a century ago now. This kiss had been, he just couldn’t put it into words, just the fact of remembering that kiss made him feel like his body would combust at any moment. He couldn’t have these feelings for Lisa, she was his friend, his best friend and he didn’t want to cross that line. They were friends and friends do not kiss or at least they don’t kiss the way they did.

He put his hands in his pockets and thanked God for the chilly wind and the snow that had fell early in the morning and the fact that his house was three blocks away, because right now he really needed cool off. But he couldn’t shake the feeling away, he could not forget how good it had felt to kiss her, thinking of her right now it itched, it burned.

“Forget it Hunter, just forget it” He said out loud while he walked, but he couldn’t.

He knocked on the door. Why he didn’t ring the bell? He didn’t know. Maybe because of the urge, maybe because he was desperate, mostly because he wasn’t thinking.

“What? What is it?” the sleepy voice of Lisa said when the door opened. “Rick are you alright?” she asked when she recognized him and was fully awake.

“No I’m not” he said honestly.

“What happened?” She asked with concern.

“Since the other day, I can’t…I try…but I can’t, I can’t stop thinking about what happened”

“Rick…” Lisa started but he interrupted her.

“I know that we said that we will forget that that ever happened, but I can’t and it’s driving me crazy” he said and paused before continuing “And I know that you will say that we should just forget it but I…” Rick was saying when Lisa put her hand on his mouth to shut him up.

“I was going to say that I can’t forget what happened either” She said shyly.

He looked at her, searching for her eyes to find out if what she said was the truth. And when he met her gaze, he knew, and couldn’t avoid a smile. He entered into Lisa’s house and grabbed her in his arms. He’d been dying to hold her for what seemed an eternity.

They kissed each other with the same passion, but this time, this time he not only wanted to kiss her, he wanted her…

To be continued…..

Author’s note: any similaritude to certain tv show (BSG) was intentional hehehe, what can I said I loved that show. Any mistake that I made about military protocol please forgive me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I’ll be waiting for reviews at jo_anderson19yahoo.com.

What can you wait for the next chapter… a fight, a deal and a dangerous game.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = jo_anderson19ATyahoo.com