The mist dampened San Francisco sidewalk offered a percussive pit-a-pat as the feet of the three hurried visitors made their way towards their destination. The two in the lead, one moving spritely despite her age, were on a mission that the third, the one bringing up the tail, wished to subvert. As the three neared Starfleet Headquarters Archer couldn't help but feel that he was chasing after an impossible goal. After all, his best friend Trip, whom this little adventure was aimed towards, had inherited his stubborn streak from his mother. Jon took the moment to look at the lady in question as she practically barreled over the Starfleet Security officer that welcomed them to the on base housing. He quickly made his apologies to the woman and hurried to keep up with Mrs. Tucker and Miss Lizzie.
It was with a sense of relief that Jon accepted the fact that Trip was in point of fact away from home on business for the day. His neighbor intercepted them and relayed this information, cautiously stepping away from the nearly hysterical Mrs. Tucker. The two Tucker women proceeded to let themselves into Trip's apartment, content with waiting through the night if need be. Jon was confused as to the urgency of their mission. It was not as if they were living in the late nineteenth century. Jon himself was a proclaimed bachelor and didn't think that Trip, who was nearly a full decade his junior, was in any danger of ending life alone.
It was after Lizzie had served them all a generous helping of Trip's iced tea that the door to his apartment slid open. Trip made his way in, surprise at the late night visitors only slightly registering on his face as he took in the state of his apartment.
"Did I forget you were coming?" He set down his bag full of PADDS and grabbed a glass of iced tea for himself. He was wearing his Starfleet Engineering uniform, the crisp blue suit jacket bringing out the blue in his eyes. The black slacks were tapered and gathered into his boots. He quickly dropped into his favorite arm chair and looked to his mother and sister, flashing them with a disarming smile.
Lizzie sat up straighter, not letting the smile phase her. "No you didn't forget. We were just at the family lawyer and we all thought it was a good idea to come and tell you about it." She nodded to her mother and to Archer who ran his hand down his face.
"Now, don't throw me under the bus. I don't understand the urgency nor the need for your little visit." Jon took a seat close to Trip and faced down the two women. Lizzie harrumphed and Mrs. Tucker rolled her baby blues and gave Jon a tight smile.
Trip looked around the room and waited for an explanation to come forth."Well, what the hell is this all about?" He gestured wildly.
Lizzie stood up and began pacing. She finally stopped after a few moments and leveled Trip with a calculating look. "Well I told you we were just at the family lawyer." She stopped talking, making sure that he was still listening. He motioned with his hand that she should continue. "Well, as it turns out Great Uncle Cyril left a large amount of money to his heir." She shifted uncomfortably. "Trip, I really wish you had gone with us to the reading of the will. Surely you could have gotten off of work for a little bit today." She huffed a deep breath and steadied herself to continue. "Uncle Cyril named you as his heir."
Trip sat up straighter. "Well, I guess ol' Uncle Cy actually liked me. Thanks for stopping by." He made to stand up but then saw his mothers expression and stayed put.
Mrs. Tucker sat forward and picked at an invisible thread on her blouse. "Trip darling your uncle did have one condition about the inheritance. He died a bachelor and didn't want you to do the same. One Tucker man ending life alone is one enough."
Trip caught himself before he spit out his tea. "Mama, are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'?" He looked from his mother to his sister. "I have to get married?!"
Natalie Jones was sitting quietly in her family living room. She had received a call from Trip earlier in the day saying that he was going to be coming by. She knew it was serious because he had told her as much. They had been in a relatively serious relationship for three years and had known each other for ten. She knew he was probably going to propose soon. She couldn't claim that she loved him, not in an overwhelming way. However, she knew that Trip could provide a comfortable future for her. She would even give him a child if he wanted one. She wasn't sure of more than one child but she could give him one and then claim to not be able to raise more than one child alone. Once Trip was away on Enterprise or was on a starbase somewhere he would leave her alone and she could live her life as she wanted. Her parents had always pushed her at Trip and once he showed interest she saw her opportunity. Trip was attractive, smart, and influential in Earth's space faring future.
The sound of the chime by the front door drew her attention. She double checked her outfit to be sure that it was in place. She had purposefully picked her outfit today knowing that Trip was probably going to propose. It was equal parts romantic and seductive. Her low cut blouse was elegant and flattering, showing off her cleavage without being vulgar. Her dress pants were tight but flared out over her favorite pair of heels. Natalie walked over to the door and let Trip into the apartment.
He kissed her gently on the cheek and immediately took a seat on the sofa that she had just vacated. She took the seat at the opposite end of the sofa and waited for him to speak. Trip examined his hands closely, thinking about what he wanted to say and ask, before he looked up at Natalie. She, like always, had a blank expression, no emotion, no thought, nothing showing on her face. He exhaled slowly, calming his nerves. He didn't care about this money that his uncle had left him but his mother didn't want to see it go to anyone else and he figured he could always save the money until he had a family.
He finally found a way to begin. "Natalie can I ask you a question?"
"Of course Charles, anything." He really did hate that she never called him by his nickname. For some reason she hated it and didn't want to call him anything but his given name.
"Do you love me?" He waited for her answer. He didn't think that he loved her. Their relationship was never one for the storybooks. She shifted slightly, clearly unsure of what answer he wanted. Her non-answer was answer enough for him. "That's what I thought."
He stood up and began pacing the room. After a few minutes of silent pondering he turned to her, obviously struggling with what to say, and silently made his way out of the room.
The 602 Club was a long time favourite haunt of Trip and Jon. He knew he would find his best friend here. He greeted Ruby with a small smile and she responded by pointing over her shoulder to a figure hunched over a mug of beer. The remains of his other drinks were littered about him and if Jon didn't know that Trip could handle his drink he would have been concerned.
After he ordered himself a drink Jon settled into the booth seat across from him and decided to just come out and ask what he wanted to know. "So, are we going to be hearing wedding bells soon?"
Trip looked up and shot Jon a deadly glare. "As a matter of fact no. I didn't ask her to marry me. I asked her if she loved me and she just looked uncomfortable. Uncomfortable! That woman is made of ice. I don't consider myself too romantic. Considering my past experience in relationships I don't know if romantic is my strong suit, but..." He slammed his fist down on the table causing his beer to slosh over the rim of his mug. "But damn me, I want to at least be loved. Is that too much to ask for? I don't expect low lighting, slow dancing, big musical numbers, or slow-motion meet-cute's. I just expect the person I'm presumably going to spend the rest of my life with to actually like me, hopefully even love me!"
Jon could see that Trip was far from consolable and decided that it might be best to just let him commiserate and drink away his sorrows. Three hours later and more drinks than he cared to think about Jon and Trip parted ways. Ruby arranged for a taxi to pick them up and drive them the short way back to Starfleet HQ. Trip stared up at the sky and let his tumultuous thoughts wash over him as the chilly night air began to clear his mind. He looked over just as Jon was climbing into the cab, giving the driver instructions. Jon poked out his head and raised an eyebrow in unspoken question.
"I think I'll walk Cap'n." Trip responded. Jon nodded silently, content with letting his friend ruminate on his unusual situation. The taxi drove off and Trip headed in the opposite direction, already curious as to where his feet were taking him.
Trip walked on for an hour, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of San Francisco. He neared the quarter of the city that was now predominately Vulcan and reminisced over a family vacation the Tucker's once took here. They had stayed in a friends home for a month, sight-seeing, adventuring, and travelling the west-coast. It was strange now walking the silent street knowing that the majority of the homes here were filled with non-Humans. Trip himself didn't have any problems with aliens but he knew how hard it was for others to accept Vulcans into their neighborhood.
Just as he was making his way past a home now under the auspices of the Vulcan Embassy a strange occurrence caught his eye. If he didn't know better he would say that he was witnessing a Vulcan climbing out of a window on rope fashioned out of bed sheets. He blinked multiple times, assured that it wasn't his fleeting inebriation that was causing such an hallucination. He ventured forth into the yard of the house and stood silently beneath the escapee.
Once he realized that the rope was not long enough even for a Vulcan, no doubt due to limited resources, he at once spoke out. "Your rope isn't gonna be long enough." His unexpected voice caused the Vulcan on the rope to visibly tense up. "Look, if you jump down I'll catch ya. That way you won't get hurt."
The Vulcan on the rope nodded and eased down the remaining length of the rope and then gently glided into Trip's outstretched arms. He overestimated his sobriety and balance thus causing them to fall to the ground. It was when he landed on his back, the Vulcan stranger landing on top of him, did he realize something startling.
He had just rescued a Vulcan Damsel in Distress.