Fandom Star Trek AOS
Character(s)/Pairing(s) Montgomery Scott, Peter (Scott's nephew), Scott's sister; no pairing
Genre Family/General
Rating G
Word Count 795
Disclaimer Star Trek c. Paramount, CBS, NBC, Roddenberry
Summary A young Peter witnesses an anti-Starfleet act against his uncle Montgomery and tries to understand how Scott can live with a life like that.
Warning(s) none
Notes I don't write phonetic accents. I figure using some phraseology will suggest the accent without making things difficult to read. I think I've had this wandering about my head since I heard the writers of the next Star Trek movie want to tackle issues that effect our modern society.
A Hero's Welcome
When Scott went home when he got the chance, he was greeting with a "hero's welcome." It did not matter what street he was on or whom he was with, there seemed to be someone or sometimes more than one someone content to throw meat, cheese, and vegetables at him. Today was no different. Scott was out with his nephew Peter before he had to get on a shuttle back to San Francisco. The young child tugged on his uncle's hand.
"Uncle Monty, I want to see the underground." His large eyes turned up to the off duty chief engineer, trying to puppy eye him into accepting. His mother said the underground of Edinburgh was too dangerous, but the idea of going down and seeing cities underneath the city he knew was too tempting.
"Ah, that old trick. Your mother used to use that on me growing up," Scott chuckled. He was about to let the child's request down gently when he heard an all too familiar cry. Sometimes it was male, sometimes it was female, and it could even be very old or not too much older than the child with him was.
Today it was a man almost as old as Scott was. "Starfleet!" he hissed and Scott moved quickly to shield Peter from the rotted cheese that hit Scott's jacket. The jacket was black with red cuffs and a simple Starfleet insignia over the left breast. Scott wore it with pride, even if it incurred other's anger. The man moved on and Scott straightened. He unzipped the jacket so he could move it on his person to wipe off the molded cheese.
Peter watched his uncle, his fingers in his mouth in worry. He did not remove them and asked, "You're going to still wear it?" This was not the first time he had seen people react to that jacket negatively.
Scott took some napkins out of his pocket and began to get the cheese off the fabric. The jackets were made out of a fabric that encouraged easy cleanup and resisted staining and retaining scents. "Of course I'm still going to wear it." Scott checked to make sure he had removed all of the mess. "It's my favorite jacket."
"It brings a lot of trouble," Peter pointed out.
Scott balled up the napkins and then placed them in a recycling receptacle. After a moment, the receptacle produced two clean napkins for him to take with him. "It's no trouble." Scott put the napkins in his pockets and continued on the way back to his sister's home to drop Peter off. "I can't help if someone doesn't like me for my job. Sometimes, you got to do what you love, even if some people don't love you for it."
Peter considered this. "You shouldn't let people throw food at you."
"Ah, I've had worse things thrown at me," Scott chuckled, remembering some rather nasty run-ins with wildlife on various planets. "You get used to it."
"I don't think I could," Peter murmured.
Scott decided not to point out that really you never did. You just had hoped whatever being thrown at you was not going to make you sick. "Well, Starfleet isn't for everyone." They rounded a corner and neared the house Peter's family lived in.
"But, the shuttles…" Peter loved the shuttles. He loved all mechanical things. He climbed up the steps to his house.
Scott rang the bell. "You don't have to make up your mind, Pete, you've got a long time to think about it."
"People shouldn't throw food at you." Peter could make up his mind on that. He was also going to change it. If he could get his friends to understand that throwing food at people like his uncle was wrong, then maybe it would spread. It was like that book his mom read to him once.
Before Scott could reply, his sister answered the door. She smiled. Her older children were at school and her husband at work. She had only been home from her own job for a few minutes. "Thanks, Monty, for watching Peter today. Can you come in?"
"I got to catch my shuttle," Scott admitted. He gave them both a hug and to his sister a kiss on the cheek and to his nephew a pat on the head. "I should be back in a year I think."
"Well, you're welcome at all times," his sister said and took hold of Peter's hand so the child would not try to do anything unpredictable.
Scott collected his bag sitting just inside the door and with a wave, headed off for the shuttles.
Peter watched him go, amazed at how his uncle could act so normal while wearing a target on his body.
The End