fanfic_name = The Sit. Room Incident

chapter = 11

author = Dwparsnip

Rating = AP15

Type = Romance

fanfic = Lisa said good-bye to Miriya outside her quarters and went inside to collect Rick to go to his checkup with Jean. Not finding him in the living room or kitchen she headed into the bedroom, where she could hear the shower running in their bathroom. She looked at the bed and saw that he had taken out the pair of jeans that she thought looked incredible on him, and a white loose fitting t-shirt to wear.



'If I stay in here and wait', she thought to herself, 'he'll try something romantic to try to make me forget that I'm supposed to be mad at him.' Her heart fluttered at the possibilities. 'Would that be a bad thing?', she asked herself. She thought about it for a second and shook her head. 'No Lisa, be strong for a little while.' She smiled and thought, 'At least until Jean says that he's okay.'



Approving of his choice of clothing and hearing the shower turn off, she scurried out to the living room to wait for him to get dressed.



She sat on the couch and tried very hard not to imagine him stepping out of the shower, water running down his chest. She shook her head to clear the images out of her mind and remembered the look on his face when she asked him about the takeoff from Tirol. It brought a cheerful smile to her face.



She had spent most of the time between Jean's departure from her quarters and going to the hangar with Miriya thinking and rethinking about everything that happened to her and Rick recently, namely Sue Graham, and as she waited for Rick now her thoughts once again headed down that rocky road.



She hadn't really come up with any solutions to the problem that Graham had become. In fact, Lisa was at a loss to know what to do. She didn't trust Graham to just go away on her own or leave Rick alone. Her actions in the cave proved that. She couldn't just give her the thrashing that she thought Graham deserved. She couldn't reassign or transfer her out of Fleet Intelligence without risking the viability of the division. The options were severely limited.



Her train of thought was interrupted when Rick walked through the bedroom door into the living room. He had the blue jeans on, but the button and zipper had yet to be done up and he had not yet pulled on the white shirt.



'I knew he'd try something.'  Lisa hid the smile that threatened to take over her lips and thought dreamily, 'I wonder what he would have done if I had stayed in there.'



She looked at him, shirtless and still not totally dry and asked wryly, "Are we ready yet?"



He lifted the shirt and pulled it down over his head and his eyes found hers. He neatly tucked the shirt inside his jeans and slowly, deliberately pulled up the zipper and fastened the button.



Lisa didn't see any of it as she had locked her emerald eyes onto his eyes. Focusing on his eyes worked and her pretend annoyance remained intact.



Rick saw that his little ploy hadn't succeeded and resigned himself to the notion that Lisa was going to make good on her threat.



He stood in front of her and held out his hand to her for her to take. "Let's go baby, we shouldn't keep Jean waiting."



She took his hand and he gently pulled her up to him. She was excruciatingly close to him and she could see the raw emotions in his eyes, the want, the desire, the passion and the love.



She forced herself to look and move away from him towards the door. When she reached it and opened it, she stood there with her left hand on the door and her right hand on the top of her hip, waiting for him.



He sighed and walked to the door hesitating only slightly as he passed her, not noticing as he did the smile that finally came onto her face.



She hid the smile again as she exited their quarters and caught up to Rick. He decided to try something else, and held out his right arm for her to take.



'Damn', she thought almost resentfully. 'He knows I have never refused to take his arm like that.' She didn't this time either, and as she put her left arm through the loop that he had made with his own, she looked at his face for any hint of satisfaction or smugness. In fact, much to her surprise, all she could see was relief in his handsome features.



They walked for several minutes and it dawned on her that perhaps she was being a little too rough on him, that perhaps he thought she was seriously mad at him. 'Poor thing', she thought pitifully. 'He's been through so much. Oh well, Miriya, I held on as long as I could.'



"Rick.", she began softly at the exact moment that he quietly said, "Lisa."



They stopped in the middle of the corridor, looked at each other and laughed together. She tightened her hold on his arm and with a nod of her head motioned for them to keep walking. As they did she moved in as close as she could and placed her head against his shoulder, her long brown locks resting on the front of his shoulder.



He brought his free hand up to hold her hand and said quietly, "I'm sorry for not totally behaving myself down there. I .I don't know, I went a little crazy, and I guess being in the cockpit again brought out my fighter jock invincibility complex. I know I was wrong to take off like that. I promised you I would be good, and I broke that promise. I'm so sorry."



The sincerity in his voice almost brought Lisa to tears, but she managed to keep them from falling. She gave his arm a gentle squeeze and said, "It's okay Rick. It's not like you flew recklessly or anything." She brought her head off his shoulder and looked at him with laughter in her eyes. "Besides, I must confess you showed considerable restraint for the most part. I was quite impressed."



He smiled at her, but as they took another couple of steps the smile turned into something else. First confusion, then realization and lastly annoyance.



He stopped walking, letting go of her as she continued on for another step. The thoughts rang out in rapid succession in his head in that order. 'What does she mean she was impressed? She knew I was going to do something even before I did. Wait a second, if she was impressed, then why is she so mad? Lisa, you little vixen!'



Standing a step away from him she noticed the change in his facial expression and realized at once that he knew she had fooled around with him. She smiled, as he looked at her now with an odd mixture of annoyance, awe and knowledge in his baby blue eyes. 'Oh, oh', she thought. 'Here it comes.'



Rick opened his mouth and after several attempts asked incredulously, "You got me all worked up as. as a joke?" His face turned serious and terribly sad at the same time. "I thought you were really mad at me. I thought." He turned away from her so that all she could see was his back. He continued with his voice little more than a whisper, "I thought that I really hurt you with that stunt, that you."



He faltered and brought his right hand up to his face in an act of agony. Lisa could stand it no longer and moved to him, placing her arms around his waist and laying her head against his back. "I'm not angry Rick, I was just trying to teach you a little lesson."



She felt him take a deep, shaky breath and released him. She put her delicate right hand on his left shoulder, turned him around to face her and.promptly slapped his arm when she saw the broad smile on his face.



"You rat!", she exclaimed and turned to walk away from him.



He stopped her by grabbing her hand. He pulled her close to him and placed his arms around her waist. He hugged her in a gentle yet unbreakable embrace, and she placed her own arms around his neck. "Stop teasing me!", he exclaimed in a loud whisper, and he kissed her lovely lips. After a few seconds he leaned back to look at her, not really totally certain as to what to expect from her next.



"I'm sorry, Lisa."



"I'm sorry too, Rick."



A third voice entered their conversation by saying with some amusement, "I'm sorry too.for interrupting."



Jean was looking at Rick and Lisa with a bemused smile on her round face. The three friends laughed and Rick released Lisa, again offering his arm to her, which she again took. Jean held open the door to the infirmary as the couple entered. They hadn't even noticed that they had arrived at their destination.



"You guys go ahead, I'll be there in a minute. Exam room one", she told them, and they went to the end of the infirmary's main corridor to where the room was located. They went inside, and Rick sat on the edge of the examination bed. Lisa stood in front of him, facing him and when he got comfortable she reached in and gave him a long and very deep kiss, telling him that his punishment was over and she was sorry at the same time. She didn't relinquish her hold on his lips until she heard the door open and someone walk in.



As they parted, Jean looked at them with false irritation and stated, "Well, it's useless to check your blood pressure and pulse for a little while."



It wasn't until Jean saw the shades of pink grace both their cheeks that she allowed her own expression to soften and she laughed.



Twenty minutes later, after going over Rick as thoroughly as she knew how and asking a battery of questions, Jean pronounced to the two of them, "He's fine, and going to be fine. I'd still like for you to take another couple of days before going back to work though, if you think you can handle your wife's company that is." She winked at Lisa who just smiled at her. Jean continued, "Nurse Anderson reports no problems with her exams, and everything now seems to back to normal. Congratulations."



Rick jumped off the bed and gave Jean a warm hug saying, "Thanks Jean."



As Rick released her she said, "Nothing to thank me for. Thank that rock hard head of yours. Now, get out of here so I can treat some real patients."



Rick grabbed Lisa's hand and nearly dragged her to the door, but he stopped when they reached it. As suddenly as he had grabbed her hand, he released it and went back to Jean.



Lisa watched curiously as Rick placed both his hands on Jean's shoulders and brought her close enough to him to whisper in her ear. He whispered to her for a few moments and as he did a wonderful smile came over Jean's face. When he was finished he leaned back and looked at her as she stated in a medically professional voice loud enough for Lisa to hear, "I see no reason why you should continue to refrain from that activity, Admiral. There is no medical reason whatsoever."



The relief and thanks in Rick's voice was evident. "Thank you Doctor."



Rick returned to where he left Lisa by the door and held out his arm, again, which she took, again. He opened the door and they walked out, and all Jean heard was Lisa ask, "What was that about?", and Rick's giddy response, "You'll see."



They walked through the infirmary, returning greetings and salutes, totally oblivious to the scowl that was easily discernable on the face of one on Jean's most trusted subordinates, a young medic by the name of Marques.



Ten minutes later they came to their door which Rick opened, allowing Lisa to go in first. Rick had refused to even give her the slightest hint as to what Rick had whispered to Jean in the infirmary, and it was driving her nuts. She had had enough of it and whirled around to demand that Rick tell her what he whispered to Jean.



She got more than she bargained for when instead of asking Rick her question she received the most love filled kiss she had ever gotten. Rick moved his arms to her waist, slowly rubbing his hands along her sides as he moved them around her, where he started to lovingly caress her back. His lips were soft against her own lips and she probably would have gone to the floor, first in shock, then from pleasure if he hadn't been holding her.



Her own pent up desires took control over her body as she brought her hands up to his neck. She started her right hand up his neck into his hairline, letting her fingers run through his dark hair and she let her hand stay there on the back of head, lest he tried to move away from her and she had to stop him.



Then however, in a last ditch push, her mind screamed at her a most unpleasant thought. 'He's injured . we shouldn't be .I've got to stop.'



She released him and tried to move away, but his grip around her hourglass waist held. He looked at her, his blue eyes locking onto her green ones and asked breathlessly, "What's wrong?" He knew what she was going to say.



Breathless herself and still in the throes of interrupted passion, Lisa replied dazedly, "I'm not sure we should. I don't know if you. I'm not sure I can stop."



He kissed the tip of her nose, interrupting her and giving her an extra second to calm down so that what he was about to say to her registered fully. "That's the question I whispered to Jean, and you heard what she said." He did a very bad imitation of Jean's voice and said, "'I see no reason why you should continue to refrain from that activity, Admiral. There is no medical reason whatsoever.'" He smiled and said playfully, "I think you know what activity that is. No excuses, Admiral. I want you." His eyes were full of love and desire and he continued softly, "I need you."



He was about to say something else but Lisa stopped him by finally breaking out of his embrace. As she slowly backed towards the bedroom door, she looked at him with a devilish grin and began to teasingly tug her shirt up out of her jeans, slowly undoing the bottom button, then the next and the next.



Rick's eyebrows went up as high as they could go on his forehead as she disappeared from his sight, and when he noticed that she had turned on the lamp by their bed he moved to follow her into he bedroom.



By the time he got there she was already seated at the foot of the bed, all of the buttons undone and her shirt opened revealing her flat stomach and ample chest, nearly driving Rick into a frenzy.



He went to the bed and knelt down in front of her, and as she brought her hands up to his neck again he gently kissed the right side of her chest just below her collarbone, slowly working his kissing up to that sensitive spot by her ear, causing her to tense up and moan his name after only a couple of seconds.



'Like magic', he thought blissfully.



After getting the reaction from her that he wanted, he leaned back to look at her. "I love you Lisa, completely and forever."



She moved her hands to each side of his face and repeated the words that she had said to him on that fateful day those many years ago in New Macross. "I love you. I always have, and I always will." With that she brought his face to hers and kissed him passionately. For the rest of the night Rick proved to her that Jean was right and they were together, truly and fully together in body and soul, like there was no tomorrow.

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Lt. Sue Graham stretched out her right arm, trying for what must have been the hundredth time in the last three days to get rid of the kink that had embedded itself in her bicep when she pulled Rick into the cave on the moon. It wasn't painful enough to warrant a visit to the infirmary, although her friend, Lt. Angela Marques, had tried to get her down there to get it looked at by Dr. Grant. It was just damned annoying.



She was in her quarters getting ready to head to her office in Fleet Intelligence. It had been five days since Lisa Hunter's visit to her quarters with her warning to stay away from her husband. The blazing reminder of that visit on her left cheek had faded considerably and was now concealable with makeup. After applying the cosmetics she inspected her handy work in the bathroom mirror.



'Not bad', she thought to herself with satisfaction.



She was eager to get back to work. The day after the MED, Major Woods had come to her quarters and ordered her to take a couple of days off for rest after her ordeal during the MED. She felt she was fine and only reluctantly relented after Woods made it an order. In her opinion, rest was the last thing that she needed, as all it did was give her time to think. and to remember.



Countless times over the last few days she remembered her time with Rick Hunter in that dimly lit cave, and the loving way he looked at her, the sweet way he talked to her, the passionate way he kissed her and the eager way he touched her. Her heart ached for his touch, and without the distraction that work would have afforded her the aching was given an opportunity to make itself felt more and more.



Remembering yet again she thought to herself, 'I have never felt more like woman than I did when he touched me.' She shook herself out of reverie and checked herself over in the mirror one more time. Still satisfied, she headed to the door and was about to open it when someone knocked.



She opened it to find her good friend, Lt. Angela Marques. Angela Marques was actually a long time friend of Andrea Grace, but when Grace became Graham's friend at basic training, it was only natural that Marques and Graham became friends as well. Besides, the three women had a lot in common. All were single, late twenty-something, beautiful women, who joined the REF due to a lack of better options. There were no noble or heroic reasons for joining. All three had parents that either hadn't been around or just didn't care, which meant that from an early time in their lives they had to at least partially fend for themselves. They were three peas in a pod. They were survivors. Marques, like Graham and Grace, had had less than desirable outcomes with the men she had been with, and all three decided that they weren't at fault for any of it. Lately however, the three women were united in the belief that Sue Graham belonged with Admiral Rick Hunter, and all three had made a pact to make it happen.



She smiled and said, "Hello Angela. I'm sorry but I'm on my way out to the office. If you're free for lunch."



Without preamble, Marques stated, "Admiral Hunter came in for a check up late yesterday. He collapsed the night Dr. Grant released him from the infirmary."



That got Graham's attention, as Marques knew it would. She walked in and Graham closed the door as she too, came back into the cabin. Also like Graham, Marques had an athletic body that made most men either jealous at her conditioning or drool with desire. Depended on the man. She sat her athletic form down on the end of the beige couch and tucked her short reddish-orange hair behind her right ear with her long slender index finger. Her brown eyes watched Graham as she sat across from her in the gray recliner. Graham opened her mouth to speak, but still in shock she wasn't able to utter a syllable.



Marques took it as her cue to explain, and she started. "The Admirals Hunter came in late yesterday for a checkup. Dr. Grant gave him the checkup and they left, apparently all was well. Dr. Grant keeps detailed notes on everything, so when she left I took a peek at his chart. The exam went well and he shows no after effects of the concussion."



She paused as she saw the immense relief flash over her friend's face, but it took only a second for it to be replaced by confusion. Graham managed, "He collapsed?"



Marques nodded. "According to Dr. Grant's notes, Lisa told her yesterday that he had collapsed after going home from the infirmary, the night after you guys were rescued from the moon. Before you ask why, all her notes said was that his collapse was induced by extreme stress. No details about what the stress was." Marques leaned back into the couch, allowing what she had just told her friend to sink in. She figured Graham would be upset by the news. 'Yep', she thought upon seeing the tears form in Graham's hazel eyes, 'She's got it bad for him. Very bad.'



The tears in Graham's eyes never really amounted to much, as her sadness was replaced by anger, anger at Lisa Hunter for putting him under enough stress after his injury to make him collapse. She looked at Marques and asked angrily, "What is her problem?"



Graham stood up and began to pace back and forth between the door and the recliner she had just vacated. Her pacing was the steady pacing of anger and the more she thought about Lisa and how she could have caused him so much pain, the speed of her pacing increased until Marques became worried.



"Sue, calm down. He's fine", she said, though she knew it was futile to try to get her to calm down now. She was already beyond the point of reasonable discussion and her anger seemed to be growing with each length of her living room.



"What did she do, Angie? What could she have done to get him so stressed out that he would collapse? Extreme stress?"



Marques could only shake her head and say sorrowfully, "I don't know Sue. Like I said, Dr. Grant's notes weren't specific. I'm not sure Lisa brought on the stress though, they seemed pretty smitten with each other when they came in and even more so when they left." Marques knew Graham didn't want to hear it, but maybe she needed to.



There was another knock on Graham's door, and Marques jumped up to answer it, afraid her wound up friend would do or say something to whoever was at the door that she shouldn't do or say. Graham continued her angry pacing.



Marques opened the door and Lt. Andrea Grace said, "Hey Sue, how are you.Angie?"



Marques smiled and said as she moved aside to let Grace in, "She's not a happy person right now."



Grace stepped in enough to allow Marques to close the door and just stared at the very angry looking Sue Graham. She had stopped her pacing and was again sitting in the recliner, but the smoldering look of anger was still easily detectable.



Grace and Marques went to the couch and sat down, with Marques on the end of the couch and Grace in the middle.



She looked back and forth between her two friends, but realizing Graham was still upset settled upon Marques and waited for an explanation of what was happening. Marques told Grace the story as she had told it to Graham moments before, and when she had finished Grace had an understanding look on her face. She understood why Graham was so upset.



All of a sudden Graham stood up, started heading for the door and said determinedly, "I have to go see him."



Grace and Marques both stood up and exclaimed simultaneously, "No!"



They looked at each other, but didn't laugh. Instead they looked at each other for a moment and silently tried to decide which one of them could probably best get through to Graham.



Marques nodded and Grace approached her friend. "Not yet, Sue. We have to find out as much as we can. Sue?" Graham finally looked at Grace. "Sue, we have to be patient. We'll find out what happened, if Lisa did this or what. All right Sue?"



Sue Graham stood in the middle of her living room, almost in the same spot that Lisa Hunter had decked her, and forced herself to take some deep breaths and calm down. She knew her friends wouldn't tell her not to do something without a good reason, so she looked at them and said calmly, "Okay, Andrea. I wait. for now." She looked at the clock over her door and said, "I have to go to the office. I'm late as it is. See you guys for lunch?"



Marques said, "You bet", as Grace said, "Absolutely."



Graham gave her friends a quick hug and left her quarters, leaving Grace and Marques inside.



Marques looked at Grace and said, "Find out what you can, Andrea. I'll see what more I can find out too."



Grace nodded her head and she asked Marques, "What do you think Angie? Did Lisa send him over the edge?"



Marques shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I don't know. But if it was something she did, he sure wasn't holding a grudge against her from what I saw yesterday."



Lt. Andrea Grace looked at Lt. Angela Marques and gave her a short evil laugh after which she remarked seriously, "If it was something Lisa did to make him collapse, he won't need to hold a grudge. Sue will hold it for him."



As she headed for the door, Marques nodded her agreement. "No kidding", she said as she opened the door.

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Sue had barely left her quarters for the few days that she wasn't able to work. Once or twice she joined her friends in the Mess, and several times she just went for a little walk around the very sizable ship. Accordingly, her interaction with the rest of the crew over the previous few days was minimal.



It came as a shock to her when almost everyone she met on the way to her office did something to congratulate or honor her. They either saluted, whether she outranked them or not, or said something along the lines of  'Well done Lieutenant', or 'Good work Lieutenant'. There was even one officer who stopped her, shook her hand and thanked her for getting Rick out of there.



She was feeling a little embarrassed and silly at all of the attention. She turned the corner and finally saw the doors to Fleet Intelligence and quickened her pace to get there before anyone else could see her. She went inside and let the doors close behind her. She leaned back against the door, closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. The last of her warm breath had exited her body through her mouth when she heard someone holler, "Attention on deck!"



Her military training kicked in automatically as she came to attention. She looked forward and saw Major Woods facing her ten feet away, and behind him was the entire Fleet Intelligence staff lined up in three rows, all facing her. A part of her mind processed that it was Woods' voice that sounded the call to attention.



Woods looked at Sue and allowed a small smile appear on his face and he whispered, "Not you, Lieutenant."



Graham was shocked as his meaning came to her: they were honoring her, much like almost everyone else on her trip to Fleet Intelligence did.



She was still trying to figure it all out when Woods cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, "Lieutenant Susan Belinda Graham, for actions of heroism and courage in the face of extreme danger and overwhelming odds, and for your actions in the rescue of Admiral Rick Hunter, it is my honor to announce to you and your fellow Fleet Intelligence comrades that you have received the REF Citation for Valor."



Fleet Intelligence erupted in thunderous applause as Woods approached Graham and handed her a certificate indicating her award.



Still not believing the entire situation she looked down at the paper and read it to herself. 'The Robotech Expeditionary Force Citation for Valor. Awarded to Susan B. Graham for acts of bravery and courage above and beyond the call of duty.'



She was so stunned by it all that she never noticed that the clapping had ceased and that Major Woods only stepped back a pace or two. Graham was about to speak when Woods stopped her by saying in a low voice, "I'm not finished, Lieutenant."



Now truly without a clue, Graham stood there and neglected to close her mouth as Woods proceeded to say, "Furthermore, because of your aforementioned acts of bravery and for your all around exemplary military service, it is also my honor and privilege to announce to you and your comrades that you, Susan B. Graham, have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, effective immediately." He flashed her a big, genuine smile and said sincerely, "Congratulations, Commander."



Someone behind him shouted, "Company, salute!" With that, everyone in Fleet Intelligence saluted their newest Commander, even Major Woods.



Dazed, Commander Sue Graham returned their salutes and managed to say, "Thank you, sir." Then louder, "Thank you everyone."



Woods stepped forward to shake her hand. As she took his hand he looked at her and said jovially, "Well said Lieuten.I mean, Commander. Your new rank pins are waiting for you on your desk."



He released her hand and moved to go to his office, and as he did her colleagues all came up to congratulate her. It took fifteen minutes for her to get to her office and when she finally shut her door, she nearly collapsed. She managed to get to her chair, and when she sat down her hazel eyes gazed upon her new rank pins. 'Lt. Commander?', she asked herself. She leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. 'Lt. Commander', she said to herself again, this time more confidently as she became used to the idea.



She smiled and her thoughts drifted to Rick.



A serene look came over her beautiful face and she said softly, "I'm sure he's proud of me."
State = Continuará/To Be Continue

feedback = Sí/Yes

email = dparsnipAThotmail.com