Rusty stood, and, being the gentleman he was, helped Cairo out of the gunner's seat. He felt Catana's mood and turned to see Han near her. He sent Han a message: Find out what's wrong with her. She knows something that we don't.

Rusty spoke to Tec.

"Take us back to Dellalt. There is business to take care of."

Tec returned Jerusha's kiss and then pried her away from him enough that he could set the coordinates for the hangar on Dellat and reply to Rusty with curt words of the fact that they were headed that way. Then he looked Jerusha straight in the eyes and said, "I'm glad you say yes, because if you had said no, my heat would be broken! I love you more than words can express." He felt a small chain against his neck, a fine thin chain with his mother's engagement ring, a ring he had found in her small amount of possessions, that he had forgotten he wore. Pulling it off, he grinned at Jerusha and handed it to her, chain and all. "There's the ring, sorry it was late in getting to you."

Her eyes widened as her eyes took in the ring. She could tell somehow that it held great emotional value for him, and almost handed it back, but instead, she felt honored. Snapping the chain around her neck, she fingered the ring attached to it. "I don't think it was late. Where did you get it? It's beautiful!"

Tec waited until the ship was completely landed before answering and until the others had walked off of the ship. "It was my mother's ring, when my father asked her to marry him, and that was my father's chain. I found it when I went through their possessions after their deaths, and held on to them, beside my heart." Tears glistened in his eyes as he talked about his long dead parents, but none fell; he did not want to cry in front of her. He helped Jerusha up and walked down the ramp with her to where the others stood, and he closed the ramp. "Well, that went well; it seems that now we know how well we work together." He looked at Cairo and Catana wonderingly, he noticed that one was grinning broadly and the other was frowning or in a bad mood. He wondered what was wrong. "Rusty, when do you think we will be going on another mission?"

Jerusha tucked the ring and chain inside of the jacket she was wearing and walked over to stand with the other women. She glanced at Rusty, anxious to hear when the next mission was.

Rusty placed a hand on Cairo's shoulder, the other on Tec's

"Soon...sooner than I'd like to think"

THE END

Cairo was glad all that was over, she slouched back in the gunner's seat and sighed. She looked up and saw Rusty standing there, with his hand out, offering to help her out of the seat.
Once out, Solo smiled and tried <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> really<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> hard not to blush, "Thanks Rusty." She puffed a strand of hair out of her eyes and leaned back agianst a wall near the cockpit...