"You always think best on your feet, Skipper. You'll probably come up with something on the way there that will do the trick." Hunk responded encouragingly.

"Maybe." His leader's expression revealed his doubtfulness. "I think I would rather face one of Hagar's concoctions than the Princess right now."

"Buck up, Chief, you can do it!"

"Right. Well, until later, big guy, good to see you're looking so much better!"

"Thanks, I'll be ready to go on Monday, don't worry!"

Keith gave a small salute, whirled, and strode out of the room, almost colliding with someone right outside the door. He grabbed the nurse's arms just in the nick of time, as the tray of medical supplies she carried slid sideways.

"I'm so sorry, I should have checked before flying out of the room like that," Keith apologized, helping the woman gain her balance.

"No harm done, and you saved the tray too. I would have hated to make that long trek down to requisition again," she responded laughingly. Friendly brown eyes twinkled at him, their warmth highlighted by lustrous dark brown hair, which fell in waves to her sturdy shoulders. She was of average height, and had a delightfully curvy figure set off by a clingy crimson dress that was partly hidden under the white lab coat. Her full lips parted to give him a shy smile.

"In case you were wondering, your friend Hunk is doing quite well. We are all amazed at his regenerative powers." She informed him in a low, attractive voice.

"Yes, he always does come back strong," Keith agreed.

"Actually, I-…all the nurses think he's amazing, period. What a brave thing for him to do…" she broke off and flushed a dull red, the color darkening her tanned skin.

Keith's eyebrows shot up. Interesting- she appeared to have a little interest in the Yellow Lion pilot- no, judging by the blush, a lot of interest!

"I'll agree with you there. Hunk is one of the bravest people I've ever known. Thank you for the update-it's a relief to know he'll be okay." He looked at her nametag. "Nice to run into you, Caro - literally!"

She chuckled, and then hesitated. Uh, Captain…"

Keith noticed that Nurse Caro seemed rather perplexed.

"Forgive me for my forwardness, but I was wondering… there was a woman in here earlier. Does the Lieutenant have a girlfriend?"

"That was Princess Allura, and I can definitely say that she's not his girlfriend. He's not seeing anyone right now," he replied kindly, a smile in his eyes.

Her face lit up, a contrast to her calm, hushed tones as she thanked Keith for the information.

"How embarrassing, I didn't even recognize Her Highness. I have never seen her in one of our gowns before. It makes her look so different." Caro stared at the suddenly twitching lips of the Captain, and wondered at the amusement she saw dancing in his eyes.

"No problem, I can say that a lot of us haven't seen her in such a, uh, natural state." he mumbled, trying to control his impulse to laugh.

Caro gave him another puzzled look, and then politely took her leave, turning to enter the room.

Keith lingered for a moment, just to see Hunk's reaction to his newest, very attractive, visitor. He grinned as he saw the pilot's eyes widen and his mouth fall slightly open. No doubt in his mind that Hunk was very aware of Caro. Could be a nice break for his romantically challenged buddy; he certainly deserved one after all he had been through.

~Hope Allura gives me a break, maybe if I tell her about this, she'll forget about her little fit,~ he thought.

He strode down the end of the hall, pausing at the closed door of the Princess' room to knock.

"Who is it?" A muffled voice asked sweetly.

He sighed, but controlled his impulse to give a sarcastic reply "It's me, may I come in?"

"I don't think so, 'Me'- my bodyguard said that I shouldn't speak with anyone without his consent." The voice stated calmly.

Keith leaned his forehead against the door and prayed for patience. Taking a deep breath, he straightened and said, "I have been talking to your bodyguard, and he feels that he may have been a little too zealous in reprimanding you. He'd like to apologize, but that can't happen unless you let him, er, me, in your room."

"In that case, you may enter."

Keith expelled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He reached down and pushed on the door handle, opening the door quietly and slowly.

An empty bed met his gaze.

"Over here, Keith." The imperious tone set his teeth on edge. His eyes swept over to the corner where the Princess sat in the sage colored easy chair, her hands resting on its arms as if she were sitting on the most majestic of thrones. He looked into cool blue eyes and an unsmiling face and swallowed hard.

"Princess…"

"Yes?"

"I would like to apologize for using the tone I used with you a few minutes ago," he glanced down at her hands for a moment, then raised serious eyes to hers. "It was inappropriate for me to dress you down, uh, I mean…" his face went red, remembering the royal tush that had unexpectedly presented itself to his appreciative gaze.

"Go on, I'm listening," she prodded, ignoring his verbal faux paux.

"It was wrong of me to talk to you like that in front of Hunk."

He noticed her expression was thawing a bit.

"Was there anything else you wished to say?" She asked quietly.

Keith's flush deepened. Should he say anything about laughing at her? He decided against it and shook his head.

She prompted him shamelessly. "You don't want to say you're sorry for trying to dictate as to when I can come and go?"

He stood looking down at the slight figure draped in the baggy gown, envisioning what could have so easily happened to her. He slowly extended his hand; after what seemed an endless amount of time, she hesitatingly placed one of hers in it.

"You do trust me," he smiled warmly at her." Even when you're ticked at me, you still trust me."

Her eyes wide, the Princess nodded her wordless assent.

"This might make you even more angry, but I need to tell you that it is my job to see that no harm comes to you. I will never apologize for worrying about you, Allura. I didn't like leaving you to go to practice, but it had to be done. I felt reasonably secure about the safety of this wing, and figured they'd be keeping you busy with tests and such."

"They did," she responded with a grimace.

"Not long enough for me to get back here before you decided to sneak out," he said reproachfully. "Ah-ah, don't get all stuffy on me again; please hear me out. I almost lost you today. Walking into this room and seeing that empty bed-well, let's just say it gave me a very bad moment." He closed his eyes briefly, willing his anxiety to subside.

When he opened them again, he was staring down at a very contrite looking Princess.

"Keith, I am so sorry I worried you. I was just so bored and also anxious to check on Hunk." Allura said softly.

"I know. I was bored and anxious without you at practice today."

Her lips turned up at the corners. "You were?"

"Uh-huh." A faint smile touched the firm lips.

"Well in that case, help me up."

"Oh, well, um…" He felt uncomfortable reminding her of her previous exposure.

"Don't worry, Milord, some things I can take care of myself." She reached back with her free hand to hold the back of her garment closed.

He pulled her into a standing position, just a hand's width away from his body.

"I was just trying to remember that expression they use on Earth for situations like this- help me out…" Allura requested, flirtatiously batting her long lashes as she gazed into his face.

"Let bygones be bygones?"

"No…it's more descriptive."

"Let sleeping dogs lie?"

"Ugh, no! How unromantic! I was thinking more along the lines of when a man and a woman have a row, and then-"

Keith's intent gaze moved to her mouth as he murmured, "Kiss and make up?"

"That's it! I knew-"

The pressure of Keith's lips on hers smothered the rest.

Meanwhile, down the hall, the Yellow Lion pilot was in the process of having his medical condition upgraded to satisfactory.

"Oh man, Caro, that feels great. You're the best! " Hunk sighed in pleasure.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," was the warm response.

"How'd you get to be so good?"

"A lot of experience, and classes, of course. Part of the healing process is to keep the body of the patient as stress free as possible. Another person's touch can be very healing, and very therapeutic."

"You're tellin' me, I haven't felt this relaxed since- well I don't know when." The Yellow Lion pilot mumbled into his pillow.

The deft hands kneaded the tense muscles of his shoulders and back, releasing knots he didn't suspect he had. She had been working on him for at least twenty minutes and her hands were still strong and methodic. The girl had stamina; that was for sure.

He had been totally knocked for a loop when Caro had walked into the room. She was so pretty and her smile was the whitest he had ever seen. She was professional, but warm and friendly. He wondered what her opinion of him was; she seemed to know of many of his exploits, this knowledge he gleaned from their chat while she took his vitals. When she bent over to check his heart, he noticed the long dark lashes, and the fragrant scent of roses about her. Her movements were quick and efficient; it was obvious that soon she would be finished with her rounds. Hunk found himself desperately trying to think of a way to keep her in the room.

Surprisingly, Caro was the one that provided the opportunity for him to enjoy her company a little while longer. When she asked him if he wished her to give him a back rub, he had answered with a resounding yes. She laughed at his eagerness, oblivious to the fact that was her presence that caused it, not the idea of the massage.

She had actually blushed when he had removed his gown though, her smooth professionalism replaced by the demeanor of a shy schoolgirl for just a moment. She recovered so quickly; he thought he may have imagined it. He turned on his stomach, presenting his broad muscular back for her perusal. A slight hesitation was apparent, before the firm hands came down and started to work their magic.

"Almost done, and then it will be dinner time for you, Lieutenant."

"Call me Hunk. I hope the food is good over here. I suppose you don't happen to like Earth food, huh?" He asked nonchalantly, not daring to hope for too much.

"You mean things like hamburgers and chocolate cake? I love them! Obviously I don't get to have them much, the hospital is into health food," Caro rolled her eyes in disgust. "The fruit is wonderful, but what I wouldn't give for a big, juicy burger with all the condiments."

Hunk closed his eyes. The woman was too good to be true! She had to be married or spoken for. He decided to ask.

"Um, Caro, did you say that you had a large family? Lots of kids and all that?"

She laughed. "No, I haven't told you anything about my personal life. I don't have kids. Would like to some day, after I find a guy I think would be a wonderful father."

"So you don't have a boyfriend?"

"No, not right at the moment. There, you're all done. You can pull your gown up now."

He did so and then turned to face his angel of mercy.

"Well, Hunk, I am here until eight, so if you need anything, just press the call light. Do you have any questions?" She didn't quite meet his eyes, feeling that her awareness of him as a man and not a patient would show in her face.

"Yeah, what are your plans when you get off work?"

"I-I don't know," she frowned. Why was he asking-?

"Well, if you don't have any plans, how about coming down here and playing a game of cribbage?"

"Cribbage?"

"An old Earth game. It involves a deck of cards and a wooden board with pegs to keep score." He pointed to a small duffel bag in the corner. "I had Pidge bring this for me, I never go anywhere without my cribbage board."

"Cards, I love playing cards!" Caro exclaimed happily. "You've got yourself a date…um, I mean a partner…" her voice trailed off. No mistaking it this time, she was blushing.

Hunk grinned. "It's okay, you can call it a date. I don't mind."

That seemed to fluster her even more. "Oh, yes, well…see you at eight then."

His grin grew wider. "Unless I decide to push my call light a few times before then."

Her lips curved, even though she wouldn't look directly at him. "Of course, how silly of me. I'm your nurse tonight." She practically ran from the room, after bidding him a shy farewell.

"Yes, you are. You're my nurse, Caro," Hunk addressed her retreating back, knowing that she wouldn't hear him. It just felt good to say it.

Thoughts of dinner were banished from his mind, replaced by thoughts of a brown haired, brown-eyed woman in a crimson dress. He sighed and smiled as the minutes ticked away. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes since she had left.

He reached for the call button.