Malcolm Reed walked through the almost empty corridors of Enterprise,
feeling rather good and completely at ease. He had just come off his last
shift and it was late afternoon. Before dinner time, way past lunch time,
and he didn't feel like going to the mess hall for tea. He felt more like
visiting Trip, spending some time with his lover. Reed wasn't due back
on duty for another twelve hours and he knew Trip had pulled a double shift,
so his own would by now be running parallel with Malcolm's again.
Perfect.
Twelve hours just to themselves. A rare luxury. Well, a luxury that
hopefully wouldn't be interrupted by some kind of dire emergency.
Lately, things had been quiet on the exploration front. There had been
a few freighters along their route, a small planet, but without any interest
to them, and a gas giant. Archer had collected samples from the small planet
nevertheless – to keep the scientists happy – and had made a few snapshots
of the gas giant. Malcolm had used the quiet time to upgrade the phase
canons, overhaul all three of them, and tinker with a few designs. It had
been fun.
Reed pressed the call button on Trip's door, announcing himself. He
did have the personal entry code, but that was for times when Trip expected
him.
"Come."
The door opened and Malcolm smiled slightly as he stepped into the
chief engineer's quarters, eyes roaming automatically over the decorations
and the slightly unmade looking bed. Trip was sitting at his desk, playing
with a disk that Malcolm identified as a personal transport disk. Letters,
probably. From home. And from his lover's expression, not exactly happy
letters.
"Trip?" the armory officer inquired softly.
The blond looked up and gave him a weak copy of his usual smile.
"Hey, Mal."
"News from home?" He indicated the disk.
"Kinda. My dad wrote."
Malcolm sat down on the bed, frowning slightly. Trip had given him
a pretty good insight into the Tucker family. Compared to his own, they
appeared like a likeable, happy bunch. Trip loved his parents and he adored
his mother, who was always inquiring how he was doing, if chef had made
the pan-fried cat-fish he loved so much, and she told him how proud she
was of him serving on Enterprise. His father shared this pride. Trip had
several siblings, as well as a nephew and a niece.
Reed shot his lover an inquiring and encouraging look. If Trip wanted
to talk, he would listen.
"My cousin got married," Tucker sighed. "Big party. The whole clan
gathered."
"Dear Lord, a whole bus load of Tuckers," Malcolm joked, drawing a
grin from the engineer.
"Yeah, kinda. Dad goes around tellin' bad jokes that everybody already
knows. They still laugh at them. Mom's fussin' over the food and tries
to get us youngsters to eat more, get some meat on our bones." He shrugged.
Malcolm thought that Trip was just perfect the way he was. No excess
fat anywhere. The man worked out and it showed. He knew every inch of his
lover's body, could recall the rippling of muscles under the warmth he
touched.
"Mom added a few lines about Lisa, my cousin's wife, bein' pregnant.
Guess that was why they decided to marry. She's still off a few months,
but well…" His voice tapered off.
Reed was silent, studying the familiar features. He had a good guess
where this was leading.
"Mom asked about me and my plans," Trip finally murmured.
Charles Tucker IV, the Brit sighed to himself. They had had the discussion
aboard the shuttlepod a long time ago. Trip had been positive that they
would survive, that there would be an offspring with his name one day,
while Malcolm had believed that they wouldn't make it. Well, Trip had been
proven correct in his hopes, but not much after that, the two men had gotten
together. No chance of having a baby boy named Charles Tucker IV now.
"Ah told 'em about you, Mal," Tucker went on, Southern accent more
prominent now. "Told 'em Ah found someone Ah'm happy with. Guess
it was kind of a shock, but hey… Mom took it in a stride. Asked me to introduce
you the next time." A weak grin. "Dad's… well, he said whatevah floats
mah boat…."
"I see."
Malcolm did see. He knew his lover, inside and out by now, and he knew
that Trip was a family man. He had been raised in a large family, he had
been hoping for one, but now he was… well, stuck with a man. Had been for
the last two years.
"You would make a great father," the armory officer said, smiling slightly.
Trip's head came up. "Huh? Malcolm…" A frown marred his forehead. "If
that's some kinda on-goin' joke about the Xirillian ship and their engineer…."
Reed chuckled. "No. No, it isn't. I'm just stating what I believe.
You'd make a great father."
"Well, I won't be an' I know it."
"Why?"
Tucker blinked and stared at Malcolm as if he had grown a second head.
"Why? You're askin' why?"
"Yes."
"'Cause Ah love you, you idiot, and you're a man."
Reed met the blue gaze calmly, but the declaration of love had warmed
him. "You could always find a woman."
Trip shook his head, an incredulous look in his eyes. "What the hell
are you talkin' about? Why would Ah want ta do that?" He inhaled deeply.
"I love you," he finally stated, reining in his emotions. "There is no
room for anyone else and I don't want to share this with anyone else."
He rose and walked over to the other man. "I love you, you stupid Brit,
and you're all I want and need. Maybe I'm breakin' the Tucker blood line
here, but hell, I'm not the only man in the family. My cousin can damn
well do his part."
Reed chuckled and only too willingly let himself be kissed by his lover.
"I was just showing you your options, Trip," he murmured against the soft
lips.
"Ta hell with options," the engineer growled and kissed him again,
with more force this time.
"You seemed rather downcast by the letter, though," Malcolm went on,
running a hand through the short, blond hair.
"Yeah, well. I missed the wedding, seein' everyone again." He shrugged.
"Mom sent some pictures. Looks like they had a lotta fun."
Reed smiled.
"Mal?"
"Hm?"
"Did you ever tell your parents about us?"
Malcolm felt something inside of him stiffen and it must have translated
into his muscles, because suddenly he looked into two worried, blue eyes.
"Malcolm?"
He inhaled deeply and pressed a soft kiss against his lover's chin.
"No," he finally confessed. "I haven't talked to my parents since we left
Earth."
Trip's eyebrows rose. "Not even after the shuttlepod? I mean, hell,
you wrote them a good-bye letter!"
"I destroyed it all."
"Why?"
Reed sighed. "My parents and I… well, let's say I'm not on speaking
terms with my father any more. He wanted me to stay on Earth, become a
Navy officer like all Reed men. I chose the stars. I wanted to make a difference,
be out here." He sighed again. "Oh well, we had a fight the day I enrolled
in the Academy. After that, my correspondence was with my mother and finally,
even her letters became rare. In the end, I heard family news via my aunts…."
"Sorry. Din't know. Guess your Dad wouldn't be happy to hear about
me."
"He'd have a conniption fit."
"Oh."
"If I ever told him…" Reed stopped and looked away.
Trip's hand curled around his wrist, one thumb gently massaging the
sensitive inside. "If you ever told him… then what?"
"He'd probably disavow me. I'd no longer be his son." Malcolm sighed.
"Which isn't much of a change from our current relationship."
And if I ever told him, he added silently to himself, it would be to
deliver the fatal blow. To hurt him, to severe all bonds. You'd be my last
weapon against my father. I don't want you to become a weapon, lover. Never.
He hadn't said it out loud, but Tucker's expression changed and his
eyes widened slowly as he read part of what Malcolm thought in his eyes.
"Mal…" There was a horrified expression in his lover's eyes.
"No, Trip, it's okay. I never got along with him in my life. I was
a disappointment in many ways. All I did right was become an officer in
the military, but he wanted me on Earth, sailing the oceans, not in Starfleet."
Trip snaked an arm around his lover's waist and pulled him close. "Sorry,"
he breathed.
"Not your fault."
"Keepin' this secret from your family must take a lot out of you,"
the engineer murmured.
"Well, someone knows."
Tucker raised his eyebrows.
"My sister. Madeleine. I told Maddy right from the start." A smile
crossed the sharp-angled features. "Her reply was 'congratulations' and
'be still my beating heart'. She told me I had good taste."
"You sent her a picture?"
"Indeed. Maddy also offered to jump in if we ever had a fall-out and
decided to go our separate ways. Her words were 'would be a shame to let
such a nice body go to waste'."
Trip broke out laughing, hugging his lover tighter to him. "Well, at
least someone in your family likes me. Even if only for my body."
"And such a nice one it is," Reed murmured and shot him a suggestive
look.
It earned him a slow kiss and Tucker let himself fall back onto the
bed, pulling Malcolm with him.
"I guess not everyone can be lucky when it comes to families," the
armory officer added, placing his hands left and right of the blond head
as he straddled the slender waist.
"Well, mine's pretty okay. Sometimes they're a bit much. Wouldn't ask
you to come along to one of the big parties, Mal. I know that now. You'd
probably be traumatized for life." Trip grinned widely.
"I'm not easily scared."
"I know. But wait till my uncle Roger and my aunt Beth start pullin'
out the family photo albums. Then you'd be marked for life."
Malcolm chuckled and leaned forward. "I see your point."
"I'd love for you to meet my folks, Mal, but only if you're comfortable
with."
"I'd like to meet your parents, too. Considering our current heading,
though, that might be a while."
Trip grinned. "Yeah. I'll just have to send more pictures then."
"I promised Maddy to do the same. She actually asked me if I had one
of you out of uniform."
The engineer blinked. "Come again?"
Malcolm grinned mischievously. "But I guess those are for the private
collection."
"You can bet they are!"
Trip cupped a hand around the other man's neck and pulled him down
into a hard kiss.
"As for my father, he can go to hell," Malcolm murmured, fervor in
his voice nevertheless. "I'm a grown-up. I make my own decisions. I decide
who I love and who I want to spend the rest of my life with."
A grin spread across Tucker's features. "Rest of your life, huh?"
The dark-haired man mirrored the grin. "Yes."
"Sounds good to me."
This time the kiss was long, deep and stoked a fire that had been simmering
for a while now.
"Wanna get dinner?" Trip murmured against the inviting lips as they
parted.
"I have you."
Trip had to chuckle. "I'll keep. For the rest of your life, Mal."
"I'm not feeling very hungry concerning food, commander," the dark-haired
man breathed, pushing his hips against Trip's, driving his point home.
"Just… ravenous when it comes to a certain chief engineer."
Trip growled deep in his throat and wrapped his arms around the smaller
man, pulling him down again, ravaging his mouth.
"I think I can sate that hunger," he murmured.
"Good. And I hope you are prepared for seconds."
Trip smiled. "As much as you want, lover."
Malcolm kissed his throat, his neck, then bestowed a loving kiss onto
the already thoroughly kissed lips.
"Everything you have to offer," he murmured.