A/N: Final chapter of this installment. I am planning on a part 4 of this series, but it may take a little while to get out.

I want to thank all of my readers who have been enjoying this series. Your support means so much to me. :-)

Until next time my friends, Peace and Love be with you all.

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Chapter 6

The group was filed out into the center of what they now knew was a prison facility, rather than a medical facility as they were initially led to believe. They could see others, presumably more prisoners, behind barred windows looking out at them, shouting out questions of curiosity, wondering who they are and what their crime was to deserve a firing squad.

T'Pol strained against the binds at her wrists, hoping her Vulcan strength could break them, but to no avail. Somewhere deep inside her, she knew Trip and Malcolm were doing the same, although Captain Archer was in too much discomfort to attempt such an act.

They were led to a place where thick posts jetted up from the ground, each of them pushed up against a post and tied to it with more of the bindings around their throats in order to force them to stand up straight.

Trip yelled out. "Give me back my ring! If I'm gonna die, I want my ring on my finger!"

Malcolm looked towards the group of men holding what appeared to be a type of phase rifles. "Don't we at least get blindfolds?" He quipped at them.

Fraia stepped out from the crowd, pointing towards Jon and Trip. "By your own admission, you have been found guilty of being degenerates, infected with changlor syndrome. The two of you…" She pointed to Malcolm and T'Pol. "...are guilty of conspiring with degenerates. We have offered you a chance for treatment, but you have refused. I will offer you this one last chance, if you agree to treatment, your life will be spared."

"GO TO HELL!" Jon spat out. "And give my husband his ring back!"

Fraia huffed as she turned her back to them, nodding to a man standing off to the side, the guy in charge of the prison Jon assumed.

The man spoke loudly. "Squad! Ready your weapons!"

The firing line raised their rifles, pointing them at the group tied helplessly to the posts.

There was a loud explosion at the gate and the squad turned towards the sound. Through the smoke, a rain of lighted plasma broke through, showering the squad with deadly force.

The squad blindly returned fire, shouting to one another to scatter and take cover. Through the hazy smoke, the shadowy figures appeared and Trip let out a loud whoop. "The cavalry has arrived!"

Hayes rushed over to the group and with a knife, quickly cut the straps that held them to the posts. "Cutting it a little close aren't you, Major?" Malcolm grumbled as Hayes shoved a phaser into his hand.

Hayes smirked. "Didn't want to step on your toes with a premature rescue, Lieutenant. Is everyone alright?"

T'Pol took the offered phaser. "The Captain's arm is broken." She replied as she shot and dropped one of the guards who was running out to join the fight.

Hayes nodded. "Stick close to me, Captain. We'll be back on the ship in a moment."

Trip growled as he, Malcolm and T'Pol continued firing on the troops inside, using the building as cover while the MACO team fired on the guards caught outside. "I'm not going anywhere without my ring!"

"Trip! Let's get out of here while the getting's good!" Jon hollered over the commotion.

The prisoners inside began yelling and throwing whatever they could fit through the bars at the guards, causing even more disruption and chaos to the fight. Malcolm delighted in the chaos as he dropped 3 of the guards in rapid succession.

The MACO team slowly converged onto Hayes and his charges, what the Starfleet personnel recognized was a formation to ready themselves for an emergency beam out.

Hayes realized that it would be too risky, since the group was too large and couldn't be transported all at once. "Plan B." He muttered as he pulled out his communicator. "Sato, do it!"

Jon turned towards Hayes. "Do what?"

There was an electrical crackle in the air and Hayes shoved Jon to the ground while yelling. "Down!"

In an instant, the ground exploded into dirt and debris, a crater left behind at the place where the wood posts once stood. Hayes quickly got to his feet, looking around at the terrified Dracarian's.

"WH-what was that?" Fraia questioned from her hiding place.

Hayes turned his rifle towards Fraia. "That was a demonstration of Enterprise's fire power. It was only set to five percent. Would you like to see one hundred percent?"

Fraia shook her head. "N-no. J-just take your degenerates and leave! Don't ever come back here."

The group stood as Hayes turned to Jon. "Degenerates?"

"Me and Trip." Jon offered as an explanation before raising his voice for Fraia and the rest to hear.

"We will leave. All of this could have been avoided if that's what you had let us do in the first place. I can assure you, Vice Chancellor, once I send in my report to Starfleet about what has happened here, I'm sure they'll declare this planet off limits. We came here to offer our help with advancing your technology and guidance of what to expect when you do get out there in the galaxy.

"I will give you this advice. Change your bigoted views of sexuality right away, or by the time you do get out in the stars, you will find it a very cold, lonely, and hostile place without allies. There are many worlds out there with customs and beliefs you might not agree with, but it is in your best interest to tolerate those differences in order to coexist."

As the group gathered to beam out, Trip spotted a guard wearing his ring around his neck as if it were some sort of trophy. He quickly burst through the crowd, stomping towards the guard and yanked at the thin cloth cord around his neck holding the ring, breaking it.

"That belongs to me!" Trip growled out.

"Hey Trip." Malcolm called out.

"What?" Trip yelled out as he looked over his shoulder, the pure anger blazing in his eyes.

Malcolm smirked. "That's the guy who hit the Captain when we were taken into custody."

Trip turned to the man, a vicious grin crossing his face. "Is he now?" Trip threw a hard right hook into the jaw of the man.

The man spun from the force of the blow and landed flat on his ass, looking up to see Trip towering over him. "No one ever lays a hand on my husband!"

As Trip went back to the group, shoving the ring onto his finger, he spotted the guard that broke Jon's arm. The man was laying face down in the dirt, most likely dead during the rescue mission, but Trip didn't care about that as he gave a quick kick to the man. "And that goes for you too."

Jon shook his head at Trip. "Feel better?"

Trip grumbled. "No! I'm starving. Sirloin steak medium-rare, baked potato, green beans, salad and lemon meringue pie for dessert."

Jon chuckled. "Anything else?"

Trip gave Jon a side glance and grinned. "Yeah, a hot shower… with company."

Jon shook his head, clasping his good hand across his eyes as he felt the tingle and pull of the transporter beam that would take them all home.

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Trip felt better now that his belly was filled. He gently touched the bone knitter attached to Jon's arm. "How long will you have to keep this on?"

Jon shrugged. "Phlox said a few days, but it will be a couple weeks before it's fully healed. Just have to be careful and wear a sling until then."

Jon reached out and stroked a finger along the mark left behind on Trip's neck from the strap. "Does it hurt?"

Trip shook his head. "Not really. Phlox said there's no damage to my trachea or larynx, so I guess I'll survive. What did Starfleet say when you reported in?"

Jon looked down. "Exactly what I figured. They intend to have the Vulcans communicate with them remotely, if the Dracarians will even talk to the Vulcans that is. They want to get a better idea of their culture, but until then, humans are off limits."

Jon went over to the cabinet where he once stored his bottles of alcohol and sighed when he saw it filled with Trip's books.

Trip stood back, watching him. "Jon." He quietly said.

Jon looked down to the floor for a moment. "I know, but after the day I've had… I really need one."

Trip gently took Jon into his arms. "You're stronger than this. Talk to me, what's going on in your head?"

Jon wrapped his arm around Trip's neck, burying his face in Trip's shoulder. "We almost died because I love you. What if Hayes had been a minute later? What if they had just simply killed us on the spot? What if… Trip, do you think maybe they're right? Maybe we are sick?"

Trip pulled back and spoke gently. "There's nothing wrong with us, it's them. It's their archaic thinking that's the problem. You said it yourself, there's too many worlds out there that accept a person for their sexuality and they need to change their way of thinking if they're going to make it in this galaxy. Jon, let me ask you this, do you love me only because I'm a man?"

Jon's brows furrowed. "I don't understand."

Trip led Jon to the couch and sat down, holding his hand. "What I mean is, why do you love me? What is it about me that made you fall in love and want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Jon thought for a moment. "You're kind, warm hearted, you put others before yourself. I love the way you smile and how your eyes light up when you talk about engineering stuff. I even like the way you look when you're trying to figure out a problem. Sometimes your sarcastic attitude gets under my skin, but then you crack some off the wall joke that gets me laughing so hard and I know that no matter what, you'll always be there for me when I need someone to hold me up."

Trip nodded. "And if I were still all of that, but a woman, would you still love me? What about if I were trans, or you couldn't tell if I were a man or woman unless I told you?"

Jon thought for a moment. "I see where you're going with this. Trip, I'm attracted to you because you're a man, but you're right, I love you because of the person you are, not your gender."

"Still think there's something wrong with that?" Trip smirked.

Jon chuckled as he shook his head. "No, nothing wrong with loving a person like you. Come on, I believe you said something about a hot shower to help us feel better. Besides, I have a feeling that what you plan on doing to me will be better than any alcohol in the universe."

Trip barked out a laugh. "I can guarantee that, Cap'n!"

End