Chapter 8. Fight the Fire with Fire.

When Lisa woke up, she felt Rick's arms around her and, for some unknown reason, this made her angry. It was just 6:15 AM and the clock was set for 6:30, so Rick was absolutely sleep. Lisa looked at him and felt like there was fire inside her chest. She didn't know why, but she knew she was angry. She stood up and went to the bathroom to take a shower before he woke up, but she closed the door a little too hard, and Rick jumped from the bed.

"What the hell….?" said Rick sitting on the bed, trying to focus his eyes around. His hair was a mess, and he had a very funny look in the morning. When he could open his eyes and look around he didn't find Lisa next to him, and for a second he felt disappointed, but then he heard the shower running.

Rick looked at the clock and groaned, it was too early. He go back into bed and tried to sleep for the free 10 more minutes he got, but couldn't. He had this strange feeling that something was wrong.
When Lisa came out of the shower, she smelled the coffee in the air. Rick wasn't in the bedroom, so she closed the door, hard again, and changed into her uniform. Rick peaked into the direction of the bedroom from the kitchen and raised an eyebrow, this was weird. He went to take his own shower.

From the time that Rick was ready, Lisa was in the kitchen drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. For some reason, Rick didn't like the fact that she wasn't looking at him, specially because the newspaper covered her face completely.

"Good Morning" said Rick trying to look at her. She didn't move at all and just murmured a harsh "Morning" back. Rick sighed and poured a cup of coffee for himself and sat across the table from her.
After a good five minutes of absolute silence, Rick cut the tension between them and asked.

"Are you all right?"

Lisa turn to page slowly and hid herself behind the newspaper. She didn't bother looking at him when she answered him back in a most petulant voice.

"Is there a reason why I should not be all right?"

Rick raised an eyebrow when he noticed the tone of her voice and felt a little angry himself.

"You are acting strange this morning, did you sleep well?" he asked.
Lisa's fingers grabbed the paper a little strong this time, but she didn't change her tone of voice. Still hiding behind the newspaper, she answered him back.

"Sure, is there a reason why I should not sleep well?"

"That's it!…" said Rick standing up and coming next to her, throwing away the damn newspaper. Lisa's eyes grew wide and shocked for a second and then turned into a very angry gaze.

"What the hell gave you the right to do that?, I was reading!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I don't like to talk to the front page of a damn newspaper" he answered her.
Lisa crossed her arms and gave him her most official looked. Rick gulped for a second, feeling like a 6 year old boy under his teacher reprimand, but he put that feeling behind him quickly.
"I want to know what happened to you?" he asked again.
"Nothing you need to know" she replied standing up and looking at him straight in the eyes with a challenging look.
"I think I want to know" he answered, crossing his own arms, giving her the same look back.
Lisa and Rick stood in the kitchen locked in this staring contest for several minutes almost not blinking. After a while, she turned more angry and walked away from him and poured more coffee.
"Geez..." said Rick looking at the ceiling, looking for heaven's sake "…You put that damn uniform on and transform into a damn ice queen…"
As soon as the words where out, he bit his tongue. But he wasn't fast enough. He looked over at Lisa who was livid. Her eyes were in a dark shade of green and Rick could swear they were made of liquid fire. Her skin was pale and her fingers where almost breaking the mug of coffee. She looked scary.
"Lisa…I'm sor…"
"Don't say anything" she said controlling her breathing, but it wasn't enough "Who the hell do you think you are?? You are NOBODY to criticize me you…you pitiful excuse for a hero…"
Rick was shocked and his own face looked as angry and scary as hers. He couldn't think straight, all he knew was that she pushed all the wrong buttons with him.
"And what gives YOU the right to act like a brat in the morning and ruin a perfectly fine weekend?" he answered very aloud.
Here eyes were bigger now and furious. Her rational side told her that he was right, that he didn't do anything in particular for something like this, but another part of her, her angry side, made the rational part shut up for good.
She turned her back to him and walked into direction of the outside door, but Rick grabbed her wrist before she could run away into the living room.
"Get you hands off of me!!" she screamed and tried to free herself, but Rick didn't let her go.
"I'm not" he said, challenge in his voice. "You are not going to run away this time and leave me here talking to myself…"
She looked at him and the only thought in her head was that she wanted to slap him. She was blushing furiously, that's just how angry she was, and Rick couldn't stop the thought of how sexy she looked at that moment.
"LET-ME-GO!"
"No", he said and pushed her against the wall. When she was trapped between the wall and Rick, he asked her again "One more time, why the hell you are so angry?"
She looked at him irritated, he was a little taller than she was, and she didn't like the fact that she had to look up at him.
"Exactly that!!" she answered back, before she could control the words out of her mouth.
Rick looked at her with a confused face for a moment. Lisa's got very embarrassed and turned her face to the other side. Then Rick understood.
"You are angry about last night!"
"Good to know that you still have a neuron working…" said Lisa without looking at him.
Rick was more angry now than ever in his life.
"You don't believe me!" he said too shocked. This time she looked at him, still angry but visible hurt.
"Yeah right! You think I'm going to believe that you said you want me and exactly for THAT reason you stopped?!…you have been around too much with stupid girls, Hunter…" she said bitterly.
Rick was furious with her, he didn't know exactly how the hell he would answer, but the words come out alone.
"So you are frustrated because I didn't want to have sex with you last night? You don't believe me, and now…you insult me?!"
"Don't flatter yourself Rick, I don't think that you are THAT good in bed anyway", she said smirking sarcastically at him.
This was all what Rick needed to throw away any control he still had over himself. He took both of her wrists and put them over her head and then kissed her roughly.
Lisa was more than surprised, but she didn't open her mouth. She was mad and she pretended to keep in that mood, but Rick was a very serious kisser, and knew exactly how to manage her. Lisa wasn't used to the fact that Rick kissed her without her order in between, but now he was showing exactly that to her, that he wanted her on his own will.
Rick kissed her with passion, but she was stubborn and kept her lips closed. He could feel that she was slowly giving up, and he smiled to himself and continued kissing her, every time slowly and sensual, sucking her lower lip. Lisa's will was breaking and her heart was beating so fast that she was sure Rick could hear it.
Lisa couldn't stop herself from moaning, and when she did it, Rick took the chance and deepened the kiss. Their tongues started the antiquated battle rhythm, searching for pleasure. Rick was holding her hands against the wall, and Lisa was thankful of that, because her legs were melting into water. Rick noticed it, and held her wrists with one hand and the other come down to her waist and held her firm against him. The kiss went on and on for several minutes, and both of them forgot why they were arguing about. The only thing on their minds was the feeling of each other. Lisa thought about how great the coffee tasted in his mouth and Rick wondered how she could taste like honey every time.
After a good 7 minutes of kissing, Rick looked at her with lust in his eyes. Lisa was barely breathing, she was blushing, her lips were parted and her eyes were almost closed, looking like a cat watching a mouse. Rick was more than turned on with that predator look in her eyes.
"Do you still not believe me?" he managed to asked her, breathing hard.
"Why did you stop last night?" she asked trying to free her hands from his grip. But he didn't let her go.
"I told you, I don't…think…it's….wise…" he said closing his eyes when Lisa started kissing his neck.
"You were saying…?" she asked against his skin, making him shiver. She sucked a little and Rick gasped and moan aloud. Lisa smile to herself.
"What are you trying to do? Make me crazy?" he said looking at her eyes again and she smirked devilishly.
"Let me go and I will" she answered him licking her lips. This was a side of Lisa that Rick didn't know at all, and he loved every second of it. He felt that he was in a middle of a contest of wills and he was losing, but he was more than glad to let her win. But an alarm sound in the back of his head…he couldn't, not yet. He managed to control his breathing and smiled at her.
"I love the idea of staying here and letting you make me crazy…and I will LOVE the idea of proving you wrong, and show you that I can stuff you like a Thanksgiving turkey…" said Rick smirking and Lisa laughed hard back at him "But I think it's going to be weird if we don't go to work today…"
Lisa frowned like a little girl and Rick couldn't stop to groan and kissed her again.
"I think your mouth said one thing and the rest of you said another, Hunter…how can you be so confused?" she said biting his lower lip a little.
Rick chuckled a little and let her go. A few more of those kisses and he was doomed, and he wanted to be doomed.
He put his hand and supported himself against the wall, next to her head. She slowly moved her arms down and put them behind her. Both of them where looking into each other eyes and Lisa smiled at him, tempting him.
"You are too damn sexy, did you know that?" he said looking at her and she smiled proudly. Rick's other hand was still on her waist and he pulled her closer to him, noses touching.
"Only with you Mr. Hayes" she said looking for his mouth and when he was going to kiss her again, she move away, smiling. Rick groaned in frustration.
"I think now we are even…" she said and Rick let her go, she stepped back , away from him.
Rick raised an eyebrow and sighed in frustration. Now he understood why she was so angry.
Lisa smiled at him and walked to the kitchen to finished her breakfast and he followed her. They ate in silence looking at each other. Lisa was smiling in triumph and Rick looked at her like she was a piece of chocolate.
When they finished their breakfast and cleaned up everything, Rick grabbed her again by the waist and put her face to face against him. He asked her again.
"I hope now you believe me when I say I want you…"
"I think I can believe you now… but I will need more proof…" she said and put her arms around his neck. Rick laughed aloud and put his arms around her waist, finding incredible sexy the curve between her waist and her hips. She looked at him, deep into his baby blue eyes and wondered for a second.
"Am I really an ice queen?" she asked.
Rick laughed a lot and nodded a no to her "THAT was something I didn't know…I think the girls were right when they suggested about our unsolved-sexual-tension situation, don't you?"
Lisa laughed with him and kissed the tip of his nose with tenderness. "I think we don't give them the credit they deserve, they are more perceptive than us…"
"I think everybody is more perceptive than us.." said Rick smiling and kissing her softly on the lips, then asked "so…now I can kiss you how ever much I want, even at work?".
Lisa smiled a little embarrassed and nodded at him. He loved when she blushed that way, specially because he knew it was just because of him. "So the show is not going to be hard then…" he said.
Lisa raised an eyebrow and a diabolical sexy look came to her eyes again. She smirked at him and pressed herself against him, making Rick blush. She hugged him tight and murmured in his ear, licking his earlobe.
"I truly believe that is going to be a VERY hard show Mr. Hayes…" she said, making him know that she could feel how…ready he was. Rick couldn't stop the sudden moan that escaped from his lips, and hid his face in her neck.
Rick turned every shade of red and, once again, Lisa left him standing alone shocked in the kitchen when she walked away and opened the door on her way out, smiling.
***********************
Lisa and Rick arrived at the base like any other ordinary day. After all the kissing in the morning, it left them visible calm, a lot more relaxed, but the second they stepped foot inside headquarters, they tensed. For some reason, everybody was looking at them with a weird expression. From privates to high ranking officials, everybody stared at them with different expressions: excitement, incredulity, surprise and one or two were absolutely shocked. Lisa looked at herself for a moment, thinking that maybe her skirt was open or something. Rick was thinking something similar and he looked at himself too. Then Rick and Lisa looked at each other backs.
"Do I have something on my face?" asked Lisa to Rick.
He looked at her and nodded and ask the same to her. After a inspection they didn't have a clue why everybody was looking at them.
"This is weird" murmured Rick to Lisa, when a guy looked at him with fury in his eyes. "What? Did I do something wrong?" he expressed.
"Not that I know, but knowing you…" she said smiling and Rick pushed her a little.
"Well…its not the first time we came to work together, why is everybody looking at us?" asked Lisa almost to herself.
"I don't know…maybe you moaned too aloud in the morning and the neighbors heard" answered Rick and laughed a little when Lisa turned pink.
"Well…you are the one with the hickey on your neck…" she defended herself.
Rick's hand came faster and touched his neck, but his uniform had a high neck and the hickey was properly covered. Lisa giggled.
"You are going to pay for this, you know that, right?" asked Rick in a deep voice. Lisa couldn't stop the sudden shudder.
"Changing topics, I still wonder why everybody is looking to us…" said Lisa trying to look professional.
"I don't know…its like they already knew…"
"Oh My God…." Stop Lisa and faced him "Its not possible!"
"What?"
"The trio!!" answered Lisa.
"C'mon Lisa, no way!. We agreed that they are going to start the rumor just yesterday, they didn't have the time…"
"Oh …they have enough time. You don't know them….yesterday when we were on a coffee break, they disappeared for 15 minutes":
"Maybe they went to the bathroom…how is it possible that someone start a rumor this big in 15 minutes?". Asked Rick, arms crossed over his chest with an incredulous look.
Lisa smirked and raised an eyebrow in his direction and just said "Naïve".
They stop in the entrance for the bridge. Lisa was a little nervous, because until that moment they didn't do anything that showed that they were a couple. She was considering asked Rick to leave it for tomorrow, when Rick grabbed her by the waist and kiss her with abandon.
Everybody who was near them stopped in their tracks watching the scene. Nobody talked, nobody breathed. A few girls gulped when Rick deepened the kiss in front of everybody. Lisa was in her little heaven, the moment that Rick kissed her, her whole world centered on the feeling of his soft lips bringing life to her. She didn't realize that her own arms were around his neck and that she was answering the kiss with the some abandon. Rick didn't notice the shocked faces around him. All he could register was that Lisa was making little noises that were driving him crazy. When both of them parted because they needed air, the reality slowly came back to them again.
Rick didn't ever imagine that he was going to enjoy this little game so much. When he noticed earlier that Lisa was acting like her usual officer demeanor, he was determined to make her pay for the teasing in the kitchen. When he thought about kissing her in front of everybody, he never considered that the idea could be so…erotic. He even thought that he was going to feel uncomfortable too, but he was far away from that. Now they were embracing each other and everybody was looking at them, and Rick smiled proudly because he was sure he had the most amazing women in his arms.
Even Lisa enjoyed the kiss very much, but her thoughts weren't in that direction. She was overwhelmed with all the attention around her. She just want to disappear with Rick somewhere else. She hid her face in his neck and Rick laughed aloud.
"C'mon, you are going to tell me that you are embarrassed about this?" he asked and then touched her hair tenderly.
Lisa just nodded and he didn't need to see how red she was, he was sure. She straightened up, and looked at him harshly.
"Don't give me that look…"said Rick defending himself, "you told me that I can kiss you in public. I am just doing my part here".
"Yeah, sure!" she said and stepped back from him. The people around them start walking again and the whispering started.
"I think I'm going to the bridge…I have things to…do" said Lisa walking in direction of the door, without looking at him.
Rick stepped back smirking too much and waved to her "See you later honey…and don't worry… I'm going to have my revenge for this morning in more ways than you can count…" he said aloud and Lisa looked at him with wide eyes and dropped jaw. He winked at her and threw a kiss into the air in her direction, and then disappeared into the next hall.
*************************
When Lisa entered the bridge, the trio and Claudia turned on their heals to watch her. Lisa was blushing furiously and she couldn't hide her smile, Claudia smiled too.
"Looks like someone had a very good beginning today…" winked Claudia to her and she didn't bother to answer her back. She just walked to her station and murmured "Good morning" to everyone.
Claudia was laughing quietly at her own station, and she looked to the trio who giggled with fascination. Claudia saw the whole kissing scene before when she went to pick up a coffee for herself. Of course, she never brought the coffee back. She just ran back to the bridge and told the trio what happened. Then they waited for Lisa to came inside.
Lisa didn't look up, but she knew everybody was expecting some answer from her. She tried to read the information in front of her, but couldn't.
"Where is Admiral Gloval?" asked Lisa, trying to change the subject.
"He has a meeting with Maistroff. You know, its better to do all the nasty things early and see if your day gets any better…" answered Claudia looking again to her own station. Lisa nodded and agreed with her.
A relative calm invaded the bridge after that. Everybody was doing their jobs with concentration, and Lisa was more than glad about that. After a very agitated weekend, she was thankful that something remained the same.
Two hours past and at 10 AM the VFs started their normal patrol circuits. Lisa and Claudia were giving instructions to everyone, when a familiar face came on the screen.
"Skull leader waiting for instructions, bridge" said the voice of Roy.
"Roger, Skull leader. Your squad has to patrol from the area B-14 to D-18. There's the possibility of some zentraedi disturbance in C-3, so be aware". Answered Lisa looking at her chart maps.
"Roger bridge, how long before we can take off?" asked Roy smiling. Lisa didn't noticed it, but Claudia did.
"6 more minutes Skull leader, the Vermillion squad is taking off right now" answered Lisa checking her information.
"Hmm…good to know, so Lisa…" asked Roy smirking on the screen "…I heard that you and Rick made a very good show in the morning, right?"
Lisa dropped her pencil to the floor and couldn't look at the screen.
"C'mon Lisa" said the laughing voice of Roy "let me see your face….what? are you glowing yet?"
"Roy shut up!" said the voice of Rick and then the screen divided into two sides, on one was Rick Hunter blushing and on the other was Roy laughing his lungs out.
"This is not a proper conversation for the tech channel" said Lisa trying her best to look calmed and failing miserably.
Even Rick laughed when he saw Lisa's face. At this time everybody on the bridge was paying attention to the scene, and every single pilot was listening to the conversation and watching her embarrassment. It was an open channel for a reason.
"Don't laugh Rick, its not funny…" said Lisa warning him.
"Ohh Lisa…" said Rick smiling to her and a new mocking idea came into his brain "…why are you so shy? You weren't that shy this morning…"
Lisa was completely red and everybody was laughing at her, even Claudia. She was glad that the Admiral wasn't there.
"Shut up Hunter!" said Lisa a little out of control. After a few minutes of good laughing, Rick stopped and just smiled sweetly at her "Easy baby, you know I'm just teasing..."
"I know, but this IS an open channel, you remember?" answered Lisa.
"Yes, I remembered its very good, but now that you are going to be MY wife, I was thinking that you can be easy on me here too" he said enjoying teasing her too much.
Lisa looked away for a second and when she turned to the screen again, she looked deadly serious.
"That's enough!, you can take off now Skull Squadron, and you better do it Hunter, because I'm going to make good use of my new last name and I'm going to hunt you to death for this…" she said angry but couldn't stop a little blush and a twinkle in her eyes. She was mad, but couldn't stop smirking at him. He was just too adorable.
Rick gulped in his seat at first, but when he noticed the glitter in Lisa's eyes, he breathed again. He was a little worried that he went too far with his joking. He smile shyly and then saluted and just said "Roger that, beautiful", and disappeared.
Lisa watched the blank screen for a few seconds. How was she going to have some respect around here when, now, she wasn't able to be mad at him anymore?, she thought.
"Give it some time" answered Claudia giving her friend a wise smile. Lisa felt a lot more calm when she saw her face. The Trio had the same look and Lisa finally relaxed a little.
"I think its a good time for a coffee break?" said Vanessa standing from her chair and stretching.
"Yeah" said Lisa rubbing her own neck and walking to the door.
They entered a small room which had everything any official or pilot needed for a moment of relaxation. There was a coffee machine, a couple of nice couches, a TV, a radio and a good window with a lot of natural light.
The place was empty and Lisa sat on the couch and let her head rest against it. Everybody sat next to her, except Kim who was making her "famous" special coffee. After she put a hot mug of coffee in front of everybody and everybody thanked her with enthusiasm, Kim sat next to Claudia…and the questions started.
"So Lisa…how was THAT kiss?" winked Kim to Lisa and she almost choked with her own coffee.
"You should warn me before you do that…" said Lisa and then added "well, it was…good"
"Just good? You almost fell if Rick didn't hold you!" said Claudia and Lisa laughed.
"Ok, ok, I admit it, it was way more than good…" she said remembering again and blushing.
"I knew it!" jumped Sammie way too happy "so…how he kiss?"
"Sammie!!" the other four women shouted.
"What! I want to know and you don't fool me, I know you want to know too!" said Sammie looking to the other three, and this time all them blushed except Lisa.
"Well….what can I say? He is…he is…Oh My…he is an amazing kisser, he knows exactly what to do, exactly how to touch…Oh boy…" said Lisa and then stopped when she realized she said too much for the shocking expressions.
"Well…You asked!" said Lisa blushing to Sammie, and after a while, Sammie nodded.
"Why were you so mad with Rick before?" asked Vanessa.
Lisa's face turned a little serious and thought about it before answering.
"Its just that… we were at work and I felt so…vulnerable. I mean, everybody was listening…"
"Yes, but that is a tactic, if someone didn't know you two were going to married, now everybody knows for sure" interrupted Claudia.
"I know, you are right, but still….it was weird, I mean, how are people going to respect me if he teases me that way?" asked Lisa worried.
Claudia patted her hand and smile to her "Did you ever noticed how much Roy enjoys torturing me when he goes on patrol?"
Lisa thought for a second and realized that Roy teased Claudia all the time, but she was so used to that by now that it was almost imperceptible. She nodded to her.
"You see? Roy teases me all the time, but after a while nobody noticed, not even the Admiral. The same is going to happen with you, its just that now…its fresh news, that's all…but believe me, after 6 months being married, nobody is going to care about it…" Claudia finished and drank her coffee.
Lisa thought about it for a moment. Claudia was right, everybody had high respect for Claudia and for Roy, no matter how much they flirted with each other. She smiled a little and relaxed.
"Yeah Lisa" said Kim and winked at her "Enjoy it now while you can!"
Lisa for the first time laughed and nodded "You know? I think you are right, and I'm so going to get my revenge on him", and Kim nodded to her.
"So, how's everything for the wedding?" asked Sammie.
"I think everything is fine…" said Claudia and looked at them.
Kim answered "I have my homework done, I found the most exquisite food for the wedding, an open buffet with everything! White meat, red meat, fish, sushi, Italian, with everything! And almost for nothing, I made a great deal with an old friend of mine who owns a restaurant…she is going to bring the drinks too!".
"That's awesome! Thanks Kim" said Lisa too grateful.
"We are ready too, we have every single possible song, and we are going to have a good DJ…you know, ex boyfriend who's still in love with me" said Sammie and everybody rolled their eyes.
"The invitations are supposed to be done by now…" said Claudia looking to her clock "Miriya said she has a free morning and she was going to print them and send them by special mail. The invitations are going out today to the guests" said Claudia.
"Wow, how many guests did you invite?" asked Lisa.
"550" answered Claudia without looking at her.
"WHAT?!!!" shouted out Lisa "But…But…how…why…when….Since when do I know so many people??!"
"Since forever darling, we invited everybody on the base…" answered Claudia with a wink
"But that's going to be a fortune! I can't afford that!" asked a now pale Lisa.
"Easy, easy breathe girl…don't worry about the money. The reception is Admiral Gloval's gift for you…" expressed Claudia.
Lisa was more than surprised and more than glad. She couldn't believe he was so kind with her, her heart felt all the gratitude and love for this man who was like her father.
"He is something, eh?" said Kim smiling with the same expression.
"Yes, he is something" said Lisa proudly, "Well, I think that's it then! I cant believe the ceremony is going to be so soon, I feel so…strange…".
"Good strange or Bad strange?" asked Vanessa.
"Hmm….good one. I mean I feel like divided between what I feel and what I know…my rational side told me that this situation is far away from being normal. Jake is around, I know. But these days with Rick were so… amazing" she finally accepted.
"You are seriously in love with him…" said Claudia.
"And you just noticed that?" smirked Kim and Claudia blushed and everybody laughed but Lisa felt a little sad at the same time. Vanessa walked next to her an put her arms around her.
"Don't worry. If he is half of the man I expected him to be, he is already in love with you, but just too stupid to notice it".
Lisa looked to her and smiled a little and just murmured "I hope you are right, V".
*************************
Rick had to go home at lunch time because he forgot important papers for his report to Lisa and he didn't want to upset her, more. He left the base and walked home because it wasn't that far with a few shortcuts around the deserted base area. It was a beautiful day and he was walking all alone without worries, thinking about what he would do next to amuse Lisa.
His thoughts stopped as soon as a dark figure appeared between the trees. Something sinister was with this person. Whoever she or he was, was taller than him, and wearing a long black cloak and a black hat that covered the face completely.
Rick stopped in his track and watched the figure that walked slowly and secure in his direction. Nobody was around, he noticed, but couldn't react on time, before strong arms held him in his position. He turned around just to see another black figure behind him. The only thing he could see was a pair of scary and dark green eyes.
"What the hell? Let me go!" said Rick trying to free himself from the grip of the man, but couldn't. The man behind him was very strong.
Rick didn't notice when the person came in front of him. Another pair of angry and shining green eyes looked at him.
"Who are you? What do you want?!" commanded Rick trying to free himself, but the man was holding him painfully hard. Then another two more black figures came from the trees around and circled them. Rick was in shock.
"So…" said the manly and deep voice of the man in front of him "…you are Rick Hunter…"
"Yes, Captain Rick Hunter. Who are you anyway?"
The man laughed and it was disgusting sound, like a hyena. Rick couldn't see anything, except how the eyes of the man glittered with anticipation. The man behind him held Rick more firmly.
"I thought you were more clever Mr. Hunter…" said the man and made a gesture to the other two man to come closer to him. The other two guys looking the same as the other two, same size, same body complexion, even the same kind of green eyes.
"Let me introduce myself as…Jake" said the man and Rick's eyes opened wider.
"You are…bastard! Let me go!!" screamed Rick aloud with anger. He wanted to kill this man with his own hands, and didn't care how many body guards or whatever the other guys were. But Rick couldn't free himself, and the other men just laughed when they saw his futile intent.
"Well, well…look it was true. This little thing is a brave one. Lisa looked better this time…" said the man.
"Don't you dare speak about Lisa, you fu**ing as***ole!!" said Rick furiously.
"I have more right than anyone to speak about her however I want…" said Jake in a dangerous voice, almost whispering and then added "…And I'll do whatever I want to her".

Rick's eyes grow wider with anger. He tried to kick the man behind him, but it was in vain. He turned to look at Jake and said.
"I'm not going to let you do anything to her…ever. She is mine" said Rick threatening him. Jake's eyes almost closed into two fearful lines.
"She is not yours. She is mine and she always will be…I have the right…"
"You don't have anything!" said Rick, fighting back "She is going to be MY wife, you sick pervert".
"I know about your little game Hunter, and you are not going to fool me" and then Jake came closer to Rick's face "You don't love her…I know" he murmured.
Even with the mask on, Rick knew Jake was smirking and Rick tried to hide his nervous face. But he wasn't fast enough.
"You can't love her. I know about you more than yourself. You are in love with that little Minmei star. You don't have anything to do with this…not even Claudia or Roy, not even your Admiral. Lisa is mine, and I'm going to have her…and this time with or without her permission".
Rick was in shock. This guy knew more than he should. He tried to free himself one more time, but this time, the two guys held him in place, taking both of his arms.
"You Mr. Hunter…you are a real bother, obstacle in my way to getting what I want… what is mine. Lisa fell into some kind of trance with you these last couple of years. Yeah…I watched, every single move you made and everything that you did with her and that pathetic little singer of yours. You don't love Lisa at all, you are using her. You are such a pathetic confused little boy that you don't even know what you want!" said Jake smirking. Rick tried to hit him with all his force, but couldn't move.
"But you made your last mistake Hunter. I saw when you left he waiting all day. Even I was angry with you, you are so stupid. But she forgave you, until the scarf incident…you remember it Mr. Hunter?"
Rick yelled and shout "Shut Up!" but he was scared of how much he knew.
Jake stand up again, looking even taller from short distance. Rick had to look up to watch his eyes.
"Yes, you don't want me to remind you that you screw it up, screw it up big time. But that was for my benefit" he said and stepped back. "You think I'm going to believe that you are actually going to marry her?!, don't underestimate me Mr. Hunter. I have more eyes around you than you can count"
"What the hell do you want?"
"Isn't that obvious? I want to make her happy. The first time I saw you and her together, I thought that maybe you were going to do…something, to get to her. And I was willing to leave her, if you make her happy, but you didn't. All you did was cause her frustration after frustration… and if you can't make her happy, I'm going to do it".
"You are a moron, she doesn't love you! She hates you! You make her sick!!" yelled Rick and was glad when he saw the disgusting gaze of those green eyes. Sadly, Jake punched Rick into the stomach hard, taking out all the air.
Rick would have fallen if the other three men weren't holding him. He tried to breathe and looked at him again, challenge in his eyes.
"Maybe you are right, maybe I screwed it up, but she forgave me, and she is going to marry me…" said Rick smirking.
"Not if I kill you before" said Jake deathly calm.
Rick shuddered, but didn't make any movement. If this madman wanted to kill him, he wasn't speaking that much.
Jake laughed again "Don't worry Mr. Hunter. I am way more…elegant…to do things. It is too easy to kill you now. I don't like easy things, I love Lisa, remember?" said him and stepped back again, watching how helpless Rick looked.
"Lisa is mine, and I'm going to have her, even if I need to kill her. She IS mine…" he said and Rick scared to death, for her. He wasn't going to let Jake do that. "…but you are annoying, Mr. Hunter. All these years I watched you closely, and you are so…obtuse, that I want to teach you a lesson, a life lesson. But its not the time yet".
"Do whatever you want with me psycho, but leave Lisa alone!!" yelled Rick.
Jake smirked again against his mask. "She is mine in life and death, I'm not in any rush. But you two are going to learn, Oh….you will" said Jake and waved his hand in the air. The three man left Rick alone and he hit the ground.
Jake walked next to him and kick him with his foot one more time, hard.
"You will learn who I am Mr. Hunter. And this façade of marriage of yours is not going to fool me. I'm going to see Lisa happy, and I know you will disgrace her. But she needs to learn that for herself. And I'm not going to do anything about that. You are stupid enough to do it yourself. I'm just going to sit…and watch you lose the only good thing that happened to you."
The four men walked slowly into the shadows of the trees, leaving Rick on the ground, but even through the pain, Rick could hiss at Jake "I…I'm… not…going…to…lose…" he managed to sit and Jake turned to watched him. Rick added one more time "I'm…going… to make…. her…happy…she is…mine".
Jake chuckled and went away.

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

When Rick came back to the base, he hid the beating he got. He didn't want Lisa to worry about it. So he just looked for Roy and Max.
Both men help Rick who wasn't badly hurt, just some bruises. But emotionally, Rick was devastated. Until that moment, he never realized the true magnitude of Lisa's words. He never doubted her words, but he never realized, until now, what a menace Jake was.
The thought of him gave Rick chills. The man was more than obsessed, he was truly mad. And he noticed that he wasn't alone. He probably was a man with enough financial recourses to make any kind of vigilance.
Now that he was alone, waiting for the next patrol in the afternoon, Rick could feel in his own skin what Lisa felt for years. He hid his head in his hands. So many of Jake's word were true. How much he made Lisa suffer, how much he disappoint her and turned her down. How many failures. And every single time she forgave him. Every time.
Rick looked at the sky and a squadron of VFs flew across the sky beautifully. He thought about Lisa and how much he didn't deserve her. He sighed and walked to his own VF. When he was in position and ready to take off, he looked at her in the screen and promised to himself, that he will be the man she deserved. Then man he was meant to be.
******************************
The day past without more incidents. The Skull squadron was having "fun" in the air with a couple of squads of rebellious zentreadis. As usual, they won, but not before Miriya came into the battle and Max and her started their usual match and try to see who was the best. Of course, Rick and Roy made their best, but Miriya and Max were out of their league, way out. But the two seniors pilots enjoyed too much watching the lovely couple try to decide who was going to clean the dishes that night.
"Lisa, when are you going to come and fly with us?" asked Roy on the screen again.
"Is there anything good up there that could interest me?" answered her.
"Oh, I think so…Rick can teach you one trick or two, right flyboy?" asked Roy and then Rick was on the screen too.
Lisa didn't know what happened before with Rick and Jake, the last thing she was aware was that she and Rick were teasing each other, and the bridge crew was ready for this new round. It was obvious that Roy want to started a new one, even Claudia warned Lisa about it. This time, nobody looked to the screen, just Lisa.
"Really Rick? What can you teach…me?" asked Lisa with curiosity.
Rick looked at her before answering. He had a dark shadow in his baby blue eyes , but he didn't want to be selfish this time. If Lisa wanted to play, we was willing to gave her that.
"Err…well, you did fly with me before….you know how I am.." he answered with caution.
"Yes I did, but can you show me anything new I don't know?" asked Lisa raising her eyebrow in a obvious challenge.
Rick smiled for the first time since morning. This was going to be funny.
"Oh baby…you don't have any idea how many things I can show you…you just wait and see…" said Rick answering her silent challenge.
"I've been listening to that for centuries Hunter, when are you going to show me?"
Rick wasn't expecting that particular answer from her, and Roy laughed aloud on the channel.
"I thought I showed you something this morning…" said Rick smirking.
"Yeah, and I thought I showed you something too. I mean, does you neck still hurt?" asked her smiling sexy.
Several "Ohhs" could be heard on the open radio, from all those pilots in the air. Rick was shocked by her and Roy was smirking with a proud I-taught-her-to-do-that face.
"I…my neck is fine…how are your wrists?" asked Rick trying to control his breathing.
This time was Lisa who was surprised, she turned a deep shade of red and now all the girls looked at her with a question in her eyes.
"Err…fine, Hmm…S-Skull leader, you can landed in the platform 2-CB" said Lisa looking into her charts.
Roy chuckled on the screen, having too much fun and replied "Roger that Bridge, Skull Squad in coming home".
*********************************

Lisa found herself walking straight looking for Rick. It was a good day, no matter how much they tried to tease each other. Everybody watched her walk with an unusual smile on her face. In this moment, she couldn't stop the funny feeling in her stomach. She wondered how was Rick doing.
Rick was walking towards the bridge when he saw Lisa. They stopped and looked at each other for a moment.
Rick was different since the morning when he left her for work. He, Roy and Max talked about the situation and they tried to comforted him, but just one person now could do that, with her kisses, jokes and presence. Rick prayed in silence that the feeling he was having was more than just passion. He knew it was bigger, but he wasn't ready to admit it.
And now he was watching her. He couldn't believe that he actually missed her so much. But now she was in front of him, looking gorgeous.
A VF landed and the wind covered them. Lisa's hair flew freely and took his breath away.
Lisa was wondering too. Was it possible that he wanted her as much as she wanted him? Was it possible that he needed to kiss her as much as she need to kiss him?. But his eyes answered her silent questions. He walked to her, not thinking about anything anymore, not Jake, not Minmei, not more past mistakes. One thing was on his mind and in his blood, and that was the sweetness of her mouth and her arms around his neck, telling him that they belong to each other.
They kissed for an eternity, and Roy watched the scene from far away with his arms around Claudia's waist. He smiled a sad smile, still worried about what happened before.
"So…for when is the bet then?" asked Claudia, bringing Roy back to reality "I bet for Christmas eve" she said and Roy frowned.
"That far? No way…I bet for the honeymoon"
"I accept" she said and kissed him on the lips.
The two couples kissed after a long day apart. Neither of them noticed a pair of dark green angry eyes watching the scene from the cabin of the last VF that landed that afternoon.