"I know I only got back early Wednesday morning and we got a full weekend planned, but the engineering departments going out for drinks," Trip announced when they met for lunch in the commissary.
"Tonight?" Archer asked, more than a little disappointed.
They hardly got any time together, and that was before Trip's space posting. The first month Jon blamed their demanding schedules. The sudden off world assignment screwed up their weekends altogether during the second. He knew Trip was scheduled for another ship posting in the near future, placing more strain on their relationship. Besides, they were due in Florida for Lizzy's birthday lunch Sunday. It had been put off a week so Trip would be there, and Jon could go out with his water polo buddies.
The aviation team usually met at the 602 on a Friday night. Trip joined them with the intention of staying for a single drink, thereby avoiding Robinson company as much as possible after their showdown. Once they got home, Tucker continued on to the building's weekly social mixer for an hour, catching up with the gossip as often as possible. He'd managed to drag Jon along once. Archer went, not because he enjoyed the company, but to at least spend a little time with his lover.
Like it or not, his boyfriend was a very popular individual who just had to be in the middle of whatever was going on. After four weeks living together, there wasn't a person in their building who didn't know Trip. Last week, Captain Smith grabbed Jon off the transport and coerced him into attending the building's social, demanding to know where Lt. Tucker had gone. Scuttlebutt said he'd been assigned to a vessel. They were incredibly sympathetic but Jon just wanted to go home and wallow in self-imposed misery. The week before being posted to Hypatia, Trip agreed to baby sit for the Captain, so she could take her husband out for a romantic anniversary dinner. He hadn't been happy at the imposition. At least he'd got to spend the evening with Trip after the kids were in bed.
Jon had never really been in close contact with children before. Watching Trip's mix of playful discipline, Archer wondered if it would be so bad to consider the possibility in the distant future, especially if Tucker did most of the parenting. It was a startling realisation, that he'd never been settled enough within himself, let alone with another person to really reflect on what he wanted beyond, as Trip would say, 'making his daddy's engine fly'. Archer found the picture of coming home to a husband and a couple of kids a distinct possibility, after he'd achieved his career goals.
"Unlike the Fly Boy's," Trip mocked, wondering where Jon's mind went. He had a vacant look in those hazel eyes which snapped back the moment Tucker spoke. "We only do this every couple of months, usually to celebrate something. It's Hess's birthday and we just got back from an assignment that went better than expected. You know, most of the team have significant others, a few have kids and can't get a weekly leave pass."
"When," Jon didn't attempt to hide his annoyance, "and where?"
"I talked them into a place around the corner from the 602," Trip frowned. "You could be a little happier about it, Jon. It's not like this is a weekly thing, and you're not the only significant other invited. Not that they'll stay long, in spite of the reputation Engineers have for drinking, most of them will want to get home to their families. I you really want to join Robinson and Duval later, we can."
"Trip, I wanted to go to our home and spend some time with you," Jon responded with more heat in his tone than he'd anticipated. "You've been gone three weeks and we have plans for the whole weekend. I just wanted to sit on the couch, my arm around you and watch a vid."
"So that's what that look was about?" Trip smirked wolfishly. "Hey, it's not my fault Commodore Forest wouldn't give you Wednesday off so we could stay in bed and make up for lost time. How about we don't stay late, pick something up from that family place around the corner and have an early night."
"No building social?" Jon queried with the hint of a smile starting.
"Promise I'll just pop up, let them all know I'm back and that I've got an anxious boyfriend who hasn't seem me for a while wanting some personal attention," Tucker teased.
"I wouldn't go that far," Archer mock scowled.
Letting out a chuckle, Trip stated emphatically, "well, I would, if the look on your face is anything to go by. You know, I missed you too, Jon, and I plan to make up for lost time."
"Right and when did you get time to miss me, Trip," he groused good naturedly. "From the sound of it, you spent most of your time recalibrating the warp engine to accept the new plasma injectors. You managed to spare me ten or fifteen minutes a day, and usually at 0430."
"That's because I bunked in the Captain's mess and couldn't get the com time without someone listening in," Trip stated. "It was a night mare. Hypatia must be one of the oldest ships in the fleet. The Captain is the only one with quarters to himself and even they're closet sized. Hess, Wang and King had to bunk in with the regular crew and hot bed it. There wasn't even a spare Lieutenant's berth, so I had to sleep around the Captain's meal times. I kind of had nothing but work to do, if I didn't want to get under anyone's feet."
Shaking his head, Lt. Tucker picked up his PAD and sent the address to Jon. Shovelling in the last bit of his sandwich, Trip briefly touched Archer on the forearm. "I'll see you tonight, Jon. If I don't get my butt moving, we're not going to be finished on time and that's going to make you even more grumpy, old man."
"Enough with the old man comments," Jon grumbled, only to be treated to Trip's joyful chuckle close to his ear.
"Prove that to me, tonight," Tucker teased.
Muttering softly under his breath as he stood, Commander Archer's mind wouldn't return to the schematics for the NX alpha cockpit when he got back to his work station. He'd missed coming home and hearing Trip over the last three weeks. He'd missed a warm body in his bed at night. He'd missed all the little physical touches, touches he didn't even realise were such a large part of their daily lives. The last two nights, Archer found himself pulling his lover closer, to the point Trip complained when he needed to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"I ain't going anywhere, Jon," Trip mumbled sleepily, attempting to peel away his lovers' arms, "but you're going to be changing sheets if you don't let me up."
I don't think I really understood what we have, until it was taken away, Jon fumed, angered that his private life was interfering with his work. As the current Starfleet craft are retrofitted with Trip's plasma injector/manifold assembly, he's going to be doing more space time. It has the added advantage of pleasing the Vulcan's with his incredible mind out of the way. Engineering won't really be needed until the internal construction of the prototypes in progress. That's almost a year away.
Jon's mood didn't improve throughout the afternoon as these thoughts ruminated in the back of the Commander's mind. Duvall got earful when he asked if Tucker would join them at the 602 after work. It was the mocking tone that got under Archer's skin. Gardiner just shook his head and warned the pilots not to antagonise their youngest team member. He understood the rigors of a Starfleet career all to well, as did his long-suffering wife and their children.
"I know that look," Robert Gardiner stated, delight playing about his brown eyes. "I just hope that boyfriend of his knows what he's in for. Archer can be one crabby SOB when he's riled."
"What," Duval asked, "do you thinks got him so worked up."
"Between you and me," Gardiner guessed, "Tucker's become the golden boy on Jeffery's team. I heard the Captain talking with Rear Admiral Leonard last week. It seems his team has been tasked with retrofitting the entire fleet with new engine parts by the end of the year. The Admiral wanted Tucker to oversee the project personally."
Snickering, A.G. nabbed Archer's PAD when he left his desk, intending to find out what caused the foul mood. He couldn't be happier with Tucker spending so much time away from his rival. It meant Robinson had a drinking buddy and a wing man. Locating the time and address of the Engineering teams gathering, he decided to join them. Showing the other pilots, Gardiner declined to crash the party.
"It can only end in disaster," he warned his younger team mates. Not that either of them would listen when they were up to some mischief.
Half a block from the 602 stood an old English styled pub called Wheelwrights. A fire roared in the hearth, low wooden beams formed the ceiling and the furniture was rustic. A table in the corner had been reserved for the Starfleet Engineering Core. It was half filled by the time Commander Archer walked in with a mixture of Starfleet personal and their significant others in civilian clothing.
"Come and join us," a rather well-endowed woman rushed over. Her uniform didn't do her stature, or figure, justice. Short, hair a wire, she only came up to Jon's chest. One blue eye, the other brown, the Ensign stuck her hand out. "Christina Hess."
"Jon Archer," he offered, looking anywhere but at the woman's rather unusual, and prominent, anatomy. Catching's Trip's eye, the Commander knew he'd been set up by his boyfriend. Tucker sat amongst a group in civilians and a Lt. Commander, who Jon guessed must be Wu. It seemed Trip was doing his usual social thing and gathering anyone new around him. Mouth going a mile a minute, the laughter soon followed. "It's nice to finally put a name to the face, Hess. Trip's talked a lot about you."
"I bet he has," she smirked, "and none of it good. Now don't try and be a gentleman and defend that reprobate. We've all be on the end of one of Tucker's jokes. Come on, let's get you introduced around, seeing as Tucker's busy arguing the merits of his latest idea with Wu and his wife. She's an engineer as well, on maternity leave. I see you got that by the size of her stomach. Besides, everyone knows your Henry Archer's son and want's an introduction."
Archer, it seemed Jon would just have to get used to being called by his surname with this group, soon found himself recanting tales of his father with a smile on his face. The recollections didn't hurt as much as he thought they would when the people listening hung on his every word. A beer appeared in Jon's hand and the insatiable appetite of the engineers kept him busy. Hess remained at his side, guiding Archer around the table and refilling his drink. Within an hour, many of the older and senior officers left. That's when Duval and Robinson decided to crash the party.
"Don't look now," Trip pushed his way between Ensign King and Jon, "but troubles arrived."
"I didn't tell them," Archer defended himself, shooting a troubled glance at Tucker.
"Hess," Trip warned, "play nice."
"Is that the sonofabitch you were telling me about?" she demanded. "The one who tried to put the hard word on you even though he knew you were with Archer."
"Yep," Trip stated with rancour. "Not that I let him get to the proposition phase. I love this old man too much to go looking elsewhere."
If Jon's look could have killed, Tucker would have been popping up daisies. Not only had Trip used the L word at a Starfleet function, he'd managed to get 'Old Man' into the sentence as well. "Paybacks a bitch," Archer whispered. He knew the moment Trip heard by the paling of his skin.
"I know the type," Hess smiled evilly, watching the byplay between both sets of men. She could see the deep adoration emanating off Tucker and Archer and had little intention of letting those interrupting pilots causing them harm. Trip let more slip on Hypatia than intended, due to the amount of time they'd spent in each other company. If Tucker didn't like or trust Robinson, believing him to be resentful of his relationship with Archer. "Leave him to me. I'll have him written up on charges before you can finish your beer."
"Hess," Jon warned mildly, knowing he had to use diplomacy, if he wanted this to stay civil. "A.G. Robinson," he pointed out the pilot, "is a Commander. He is good at his job even if his personality is a little perturbing. As Trip said, play nicely."
"Give the man enough rope," Trip added mockingly, earning him a glare from Jon, "and he'll hang himself."
Huffing, Hess waited until the man approached. It took Robinson thirty seconds to get the dressing down of his life for very deliberately and obviously checking out Ensign Hess's over developed assets. "You could have warned me," A.G. looked at Tucker with furious glower.
"Now where's the fun in that, Alasdair Gilliasbuig," Trip took a sip from his long neck in order to hide his reaction. He knew exactly why Robinson singled him out, but Tucker felt Hess had every right to put down the cocky pilot with his ungentlemanly behaviour.
Spluttering, A.G. turned his accusing glare on Archer.
"If the boot fits," Jon really tried to stop the corners of his lips curling upwards. It wasn't often a woman got the best of A.G., and Trip's come back was the icing on the cake.
"Thanks for nothing," Robinson grumbled as he marched towards the bar in search of a stiff drink. "I really thought having a Starfleet boyfriend would improve you, Archer. Seems to have worked the other way!"
"You're going to pay for that, Trip," Jon stated, an evil glint in his eye that made promises for later. "From both A.G. and me!"
"It was worth it," Tucker lent towards Archer and whispered into his ear, "especially if it got you all riled up.
"Hate to break up the party," Wu sighed, looking at the diminishing crowd before turning his eyes on the woman at his side, "but we have to get home. I've been late every night this week."
"Me too," Duvall agreed with an expressive roll of his eyes. "Just wait until the pregnancy hormones kick in. I couldn't wait for my son was born, now all I got to look forward to interrupted sleep."
"I'll be there in a few months," Wu smirked, placing a hand over his wife's slightly rounded belly, "again!"
"Now I get the reason for the lecture when we were stuck on Orbital," Trip joined in the good-natured teasing. "Congratulations, Commander."
Shrugging his shoulders, Wu dead panned, "I'm not sure if commiserations would be a better, Lieutenant. This will be our fourth and my wife want's a girl this time."
Wearing a very put-upon expression, Wu's wife shook her head. "More like daddy want's a little girl to spoil."
"I'm thinking it's time Jon and I joined you, Commander," Trip looked at Archer. Robinson was in one of those moods, meaning he'd return to the 602 and most probably stay until closing trying to pick up some entertainment for tonight. Tucker didn't want any part of that.
"Coward," Jon responded.
"Better that than a dead hero. Besides, you were the one who wanted some alone time," Trip fired back before they clinked their drinks and drained them. Offering a goodnight to the young crowd that had settled in, the last of the senior officers departed for the transport station.
"You know," Jon smirked once they were seated on the shuttle back to their building, "you could have warned me about Ensign Hess. I don't think I've ever seen a woman that top heavy. How the hell does she stay upright?"
"I though you gave up on woman in high school," Trip commented, somewhat astonished.
"I might be into men, Trip," Jon responded with amusement, "but I'm not blind. It would be hard for anyone to miss that rack when you're blindsided by them. Besides, it doesn't hold a candle to your arse, and after the way you played me tonight, I intend doing a lot with that enchanting rear end when we get home."
"Promises, old man," Tucker teased.
Without warning, Jon managed to wedge his hand under his boyfriend and pinch said posterior. Trip managed to hold back a startled yelp. "Don't call me old man again, Trip, or I might just slip and call you baby."
Shaking his head, Trip managed to keep his delighted smile internalised. Happy Jon was finally showing his carefree side, he hoped the playfulness would last until they got home. Dinner could wait. As to the building social, there was always next week. Tucker had every intention of drawing out what they'd started, for as long as he could.
AN: I hope you liked and thank you for your muse, Annastesia.