"Answers, But...."

"It's nothing big...," Garek droned off. He looked into Kim's eyes, then looked down to the ground. Kim followed his gaze until it finally rested upon the engagement ring in front of her. "Kim Tycho, if it's not too big of a problem," he started laughing, "would you marry me?"

Off to the side, Max nudged Jo and murmured, "Told you so...."

Kim's eyes were fixed on the ring held out before her. Whether she was stunned speechless by the surprise of Garek's question, the size of the rock, or had been frozen solid by a passing Zetarian was unclear, but the expectant silence grew longer and longer, and Garek was starting to sweat.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from the crowd behind Kim and slapped her on the back of the head. Jo's voice hissed in a loud stage whisper, "You're supposed to answer him...!"

That snapped Kim out of her trance, and everybody laughed. She looked up at Garek's face, and with a huge smile said, "Yes! Of course I'll marry you, you big doofus!" She threw her arms around her guy's neck and the two embraced. Garek lifted her off the deck and spun her around joyfully, and the entire room burst out in a loud cheer.

Garek put Kim back down and took a step back. He took the ring from the little black box, and taking her hand, slipped the ring on her finger. They looked into each other's eyes, then came together in another long embrace, followed by an even longer kiss.

All around the couple, their friends were smiling, happy that another two people had found happiness. Jo was the first to approach them and offer her congratulations, pounding them both on the back enthusiastically. Sam followed Jo, wiping away a tear of joy and blaming it on faulty ocular circuitry. Kim laughed and said she understood.

When Paul Deveraux came over to wish them well, it was with a drink in his hand of course, and he was feeling very happy by this time. "Mes amis!" he beamed. His Cajun accent was thicker than usual. "Bon chance!" He turned to Kim and taking her hand gallantly, said, "May I keess zhe bride?"

Kim laughed. Reclaiming her hand, she replied, "I'm not a bride yet, silly!"

"Ah, well...," said Paul, holding his hand over his heart and pretending to be crushed. He recovered quickly enough though and turned his attention to Garek. "So, mon ami. Where weel zhe honeymoon be? Eh? Eh?" he said, winking devilishly and nudging Garek with his elbow.

Garek smiled. "Sorry, Paul. Classified," he said. "And don't forget. Now that Kim's an almost-married woman, you'd better be keeping your tushy-pinching fingers to yourself!"

"But of course, mon frere!" Deveraux protested innocently. He held up both hands in demonstration that they were nowhere near Kim's tushy. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten he'd been holding his drink with one of them, and it spilled all over his uniform and made a small puddle on the floor at his feet.

"Sacre bleu!" he exclaimed, and hurried off to find a towel. The crowd around laughed.

Eventually, Lee Carter and Max had their turn with the newly engaged couple. Carter walked up and shook Garek's hand, then Kim's. She said, "Well, I'll look at it like this: the Banshees aren't losing a pilot, they're gaining an engineer!"

"No...," ribbed Max from over Carter's right shoulder. "You're losing a pilot...."

"Oh Max!" laughed Kim. "You don't think I'd ever leave Banshee Squad, do you?"

Max shrugged and smiled, but chose not to say what she thought.

Kim turned back to Garek and hugged him around the waist. Garek smiled in return, but for the first time, the smile seemed a little artificial.