Title: "Tough Little Boys"
Author: Phaser Lady
Rating: G-right now, shouldn't get too much worse.
Summary: Trip as a father on special occasions. Flash backs to childhood too. T/T, Trip-centric
Codes: Trip/T'Pol, Trip-centric
Archive: Just get in touch with me first, so I know where I am.
Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise doesn't belong to me, nor do the songs of Allan Gary. But just because I don't own them doesn't mean I can't have my way with them...
"Tough Little Boys"
Chapter 1
"Hey guys, check it out! Little Lizzie Tucker's gots new hair bows!"
"Yeah, doesn't she look cute in her pigtails? Her mommy made sure she looked pretty for school today."
"Hey Connor, betcha' I could swing her 'round by 'em."
The boys laughed at their own cleverness as kindergartener extraordinaire Elizabeth Louise Tucker came into the schoolyard. At three foot one and a quarter and hair up in curly blonde pigtails, she was the epitome of innocence and weakness. It also didn't help that she'd had a fight with Carly and Samantha yesterday, and so had had to walk to school alone. Naturally, the Three Thugs had chosen today to harass every lone person who came to school. Thugs had a tendency to be big and husky; these three were no exception. And they weren't just huge from Lizzie's point of view. Connor Jackson, Billie Hogan, and Lester Demermeyer were huge. It was quite easy to mistake them for seventh graders, at the very least.
But Lizzie, ever bold and cocky despite her age, not to mention pretty darned mad at the moment, was in no mood to let them bully her. Throwing back her shoulders and holding her head up high, Lizzie stuck out her tongue at the enormous sixth graders. Then, she proceeded to walk past them, not giving them another glance. At least, that was what she meant to do, until Lester shoved her from behind, sending her to the ground and covering her favorite pink bunny shirt. The wind knocked out of her, Lizzie lay on the ground for a moment, eyes tearing. First Carly, and now she was getting hurt by big kids and getting her favorite shirt ruined. It was picture day! She wanted to look nice. Now it was all ruined. Fighting the tears, she pushed herself up and got her knapsack on again.
"Oh look, tough little Lizzie Tucker's crying 'cause she got pushed."
"Poor baby, run home to yer mommy. She can fix your hair again."
That one hurt. Her Mommy had fixed her hair today. In fact, she'd gotten up extra early because Lizzie asked her too, even though she had worked late the night before and it was Daddy's turn to get the kids up. The tears started coming, and she was powerless to stop them. That only sent the Thugs into another round of laughter. Lizzie clenched her fists, refusing to let the sobs come out. Granddad always taught her to act towards others like you want them to act towards you. She never did anything to them, so why were they being mean to her? She had actually given them the occasional smile, when she wasn't glaring at them for being mean to the other kids.
"Ya big bullies!" she suddenly screamed. "Yer' so mean! Look what ya did to ma favorite shirt!" This proclamation only sent the Thugs into more peals of laughter. Connor walked up to her, and, looking down, said something that scared her.
"Ah'd be careful, Lizzie Tucker. You look awfully pretty with those pigtails, Ah wouldn't want to have to cut 'em off with ma pocket knife."
Lizzie shrank away, fearful. She had no doubt that Connor had a knife with him. And she had no doubt that he would cut off her curls too. Then what would she do? Mommy always loved to play with her hair, brushing it and braiding it. Mommy would be so mad at her if her hair got cut off. Connor took another step towards her, and she froze in dread. She saw his hand go to his pocket-
"Get yer hands away from ma sister!" yelled a juvenile voice. The Thugs and Lizzie looked up to see a boy with the same wavy blonde hair, breathing hard, standing about ten feet away. There was no denying the anger in his face. The two boys started to laugh from behind Connor.
"Hey look, it's Charlie 'The Trip' Tucker. Careful Connor, he might try to push you and fall on your feet instead." Once again, the boys rolled with laughter at their own joke. Charlie blushed. It wasn't his fault he was clumsy sometimes. He hadn't meant to fall and send the frog parts all over himself and the science lab floor. Biting back a retort, he walked over to his sister, placing himself between her and Connor. He'd followed Lizzie from a discrete distance, all the way to school. He'd seen what was going on, but couldn't get across the street fast enough.
Connor chuckled to himself. "Uh oh, The Trip's gonna get me now guys!" Billie and Lester clutched at their midsections, aching with glee.
"Well at least Ah didn't flunk the Plants test. Ah dunno how anyone could mess up on the lifecycle of a seed." Charlie shot back. Lester and Billie howled with laughter, but Connor turned crimson.
"Shut up!" he yelled. "Don't you go talking about that, 's none of yer business!"
"Oh, an' Ah guess the 'D' ya' got in basic algebra isn't either?"
By this time, Billie and Lester were on the ground, rocking back and forth.
"Ah said SHUT UP!" Connor screamed. And the next thing Charlie knew, a fist connected with his jaw. He saw stars, but was able to avoid knocking Lizzie down too.
"Charlie!" Lizzie screamed. But he was already pushing himself up. Standing, he put a hand to his jaw, feeling a bruise forming already. He brushed himself off, and then got right back up in Connor's face, but he didn't throw a punch in return. Infuriated, Connor rammed his other fist into Charlie's midsection, causing Charlie expel his breath with a giant "whoosh." He fell back, completely winded and shocked. The burst of pain was surprising in it's intensity. He felt like crying, or at least curling up for a minute. But instead he grinned (it was better to make bullies real mad when there were adults around, than to ask them to stop) and pulled his sister behind him. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his baby sister, and by now he could see two teachers hurrying over. One grabbed Connor around the torso so he couldn't make anymore hits, while the other one checked the Tucker kids for injuries.
Charlie fixed the grin on his face and quickly rubbed his eyes to clear them of tears. He piped down his smug attitude at seeing Connor Jackson finally caught in the act of bullying, and told his side of the story with no overly emotional outbursts (for a sixth grader, of course). Lizzie's hand was in his the entire time, and he gave it a squeeze every now and then for support. Connor was escorted to the principal's office (guaranteed a few days suspension at least) followed by Lester and Billie, most likely receiving an after school detention for bullying.
Now, without anyone to see him, Charlie let himself rub at his bruised jaw and midsection. But then he looked down into the bright, adoring eyes of his little sister, and all of his hurt went away. She dazzled him with a brilliant smile, and he could feel a real grin coming to his face. Lizzie and Charlie loved each other dearly, and were fiercely protective of each other. There was no doubt about it. But by unspoken agreement, both tended to shy away from open displays of their affection at school. They wanted to have their own friends, not be labeled as a brother-sister pair. So it came as a great-and welcome-surprise when Lizzie launched herself at her brother's midsection and gave him a great big huge. Charlie winced, but ignored the pain as he dropped down to give her a more proper hug.
"Thanks Charlie." She whispered. He only smiled into her silky blonde curls.
"Any time Elizabeth."
"Ah love ya'"
"Love ya' too."
Charlie had then cleaned up his baby sister (including fixing her pigtails), and on that day, her big brother had escorted Lizzie to class; and far from excluding her, she had been the envy of her classmates. After all, none of them had brothers who protected them and fixed their pigtails for them.
//Well I never once//
Backed down from a punch//
Well I'd take it square on the chin//
Well I found out fast//
A bully's just that//
You've got to stand up to him//
So I didn't cry when I got a black eye//
As bad as it hurt, I just grinned//
* * *
Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker smiled to himself. He remembered that day he first defended Lizzie at school. They'd always been close, but after that, there had been no denying her - anything. And she, in turn, supported him in everything; pretty fair trade. When he remembered the look on Connor Jackson's face, he still got a chuckle out of it. Trip had caught up with Connor a ways back. He'd been under the employment of Starfleet, actually, as part of one of the maintenance crews. To his amusement- and Lizzie's after he'd called her- Connor had been part of the waste reclamation crew. That had been a few months before Enterprise launched. Trip's smile dimmed as he remembered that it was not long after that he'd seen his sister in person for the last time. After that, it had been only letters and a few sporadic vid conversations, and short ones at that. And next had come...
Whoa Trip, easy there. The Xindi Attack on Earth still had the power to bring back the familiar feelings of hate and anger. And grief, he thought sadly. Lizzie Tucker, his baby sister, had been killed in that attack. Her death had left him numb with grief, then a shattered mess of a man. By the time Enterprise had left Earth, headed for the Delphic Expanse, he'd been an angry shell of what he once was, no longer the cheerful, fun-loving Trip, but the depressed, exhausted, Commander Tucker who clung to his hate and anguish to keep from drowning in a sea of grief.
Those had been dark times in his life, but he'd been lucky; not many people had angels to bring them up from the depths of Hell, but he did. They came in the form of Malcolm, who pushed Trip's buttons and manipulated him into taking out his frustrations on him, of Jon -after he too had dealt with his anger, of Hoshi, who made sure he read all of his mail, of the entire crew, actually. But most importantly, her.
Trip pulled himself from his thoughts, wondering at the turns his life had taken. So many of them were a result of that day, the day he was observing the four-year remembrance of: April 24th, 2153. He continued to ponder the significance of that date, and became lost in his thoughts again. A page from the comm panel brought him back.
"Phlox to Commander Tucker." Trip reacted without thought, thumbing the switch. "Tucker here."
"Commander, you might want to come down to sickbay," said Phlox's overly cheerful voice. Trip was instantly alert.
"Why Doc, what happened?" he asked in a panicked voice.
"Not to worry Commander, the only thing that is happening is the first stage of the wonder of birth."
Trip froze, staring in awe at the comm panel, as though Phlox's face were there instead. "Birth...?" He said in wonderment.
"Yes indeed Commander, birth. Labor began a short time ago, and she has stated that you expressed a wish to be here for the occasion."
His wonderment being replaced by excitement and anticipation, Tucker quickly thumbed off the comm, but not before he heard a patience-tested voice say his name. His full name. His mama had only ever done that when he was in deep. Quickly, he grabbed the gym bag and jogged down the corridor towards the nearest 'lift and Sickbay, running into Malcolm and sending a message with him to the Captain that he was going to be busy for a while.
//But when tough little boys grow up to be dads//
They turn into big babies again.//
* * *
Author's note: Song lyrics from "Tough Little Boys" by Allan Gary. Please review; let me know if you think I should continue. I'd like honest reviews, so if it bored you to death, let me know. Thanks!
Author: Phaser Lady
Rating: G-right now, shouldn't get too much worse.
Summary: Trip as a father on special occasions. Flash backs to childhood too. T/T, Trip-centric
Codes: Trip/T'Pol, Trip-centric
Archive: Just get in touch with me first, so I know where I am.
Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise doesn't belong to me, nor do the songs of Allan Gary. But just because I don't own them doesn't mean I can't have my way with them...
"Tough Little Boys"
Chapter 1
"Hey guys, check it out! Little Lizzie Tucker's gots new hair bows!"
"Yeah, doesn't she look cute in her pigtails? Her mommy made sure she looked pretty for school today."
"Hey Connor, betcha' I could swing her 'round by 'em."
The boys laughed at their own cleverness as kindergartener extraordinaire Elizabeth Louise Tucker came into the schoolyard. At three foot one and a quarter and hair up in curly blonde pigtails, she was the epitome of innocence and weakness. It also didn't help that she'd had a fight with Carly and Samantha yesterday, and so had had to walk to school alone. Naturally, the Three Thugs had chosen today to harass every lone person who came to school. Thugs had a tendency to be big and husky; these three were no exception. And they weren't just huge from Lizzie's point of view. Connor Jackson, Billie Hogan, and Lester Demermeyer were huge. It was quite easy to mistake them for seventh graders, at the very least.
But Lizzie, ever bold and cocky despite her age, not to mention pretty darned mad at the moment, was in no mood to let them bully her. Throwing back her shoulders and holding her head up high, Lizzie stuck out her tongue at the enormous sixth graders. Then, she proceeded to walk past them, not giving them another glance. At least, that was what she meant to do, until Lester shoved her from behind, sending her to the ground and covering her favorite pink bunny shirt. The wind knocked out of her, Lizzie lay on the ground for a moment, eyes tearing. First Carly, and now she was getting hurt by big kids and getting her favorite shirt ruined. It was picture day! She wanted to look nice. Now it was all ruined. Fighting the tears, she pushed herself up and got her knapsack on again.
"Oh look, tough little Lizzie Tucker's crying 'cause she got pushed."
"Poor baby, run home to yer mommy. She can fix your hair again."
That one hurt. Her Mommy had fixed her hair today. In fact, she'd gotten up extra early because Lizzie asked her too, even though she had worked late the night before and it was Daddy's turn to get the kids up. The tears started coming, and she was powerless to stop them. That only sent the Thugs into another round of laughter. Lizzie clenched her fists, refusing to let the sobs come out. Granddad always taught her to act towards others like you want them to act towards you. She never did anything to them, so why were they being mean to her? She had actually given them the occasional smile, when she wasn't glaring at them for being mean to the other kids.
"Ya big bullies!" she suddenly screamed. "Yer' so mean! Look what ya did to ma favorite shirt!" This proclamation only sent the Thugs into more peals of laughter. Connor walked up to her, and, looking down, said something that scared her.
"Ah'd be careful, Lizzie Tucker. You look awfully pretty with those pigtails, Ah wouldn't want to have to cut 'em off with ma pocket knife."
Lizzie shrank away, fearful. She had no doubt that Connor had a knife with him. And she had no doubt that he would cut off her curls too. Then what would she do? Mommy always loved to play with her hair, brushing it and braiding it. Mommy would be so mad at her if her hair got cut off. Connor took another step towards her, and she froze in dread. She saw his hand go to his pocket-
"Get yer hands away from ma sister!" yelled a juvenile voice. The Thugs and Lizzie looked up to see a boy with the same wavy blonde hair, breathing hard, standing about ten feet away. There was no denying the anger in his face. The two boys started to laugh from behind Connor.
"Hey look, it's Charlie 'The Trip' Tucker. Careful Connor, he might try to push you and fall on your feet instead." Once again, the boys rolled with laughter at their own joke. Charlie blushed. It wasn't his fault he was clumsy sometimes. He hadn't meant to fall and send the frog parts all over himself and the science lab floor. Biting back a retort, he walked over to his sister, placing himself between her and Connor. He'd followed Lizzie from a discrete distance, all the way to school. He'd seen what was going on, but couldn't get across the street fast enough.
Connor chuckled to himself. "Uh oh, The Trip's gonna get me now guys!" Billie and Lester clutched at their midsections, aching with glee.
"Well at least Ah didn't flunk the Plants test. Ah dunno how anyone could mess up on the lifecycle of a seed." Charlie shot back. Lester and Billie howled with laughter, but Connor turned crimson.
"Shut up!" he yelled. "Don't you go talking about that, 's none of yer business!"
"Oh, an' Ah guess the 'D' ya' got in basic algebra isn't either?"
By this time, Billie and Lester were on the ground, rocking back and forth.
"Ah said SHUT UP!" Connor screamed. And the next thing Charlie knew, a fist connected with his jaw. He saw stars, but was able to avoid knocking Lizzie down too.
"Charlie!" Lizzie screamed. But he was already pushing himself up. Standing, he put a hand to his jaw, feeling a bruise forming already. He brushed himself off, and then got right back up in Connor's face, but he didn't throw a punch in return. Infuriated, Connor rammed his other fist into Charlie's midsection, causing Charlie expel his breath with a giant "whoosh." He fell back, completely winded and shocked. The burst of pain was surprising in it's intensity. He felt like crying, or at least curling up for a minute. But instead he grinned (it was better to make bullies real mad when there were adults around, than to ask them to stop) and pulled his sister behind him. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his baby sister, and by now he could see two teachers hurrying over. One grabbed Connor around the torso so he couldn't make anymore hits, while the other one checked the Tucker kids for injuries.
Charlie fixed the grin on his face and quickly rubbed his eyes to clear them of tears. He piped down his smug attitude at seeing Connor Jackson finally caught in the act of bullying, and told his side of the story with no overly emotional outbursts (for a sixth grader, of course). Lizzie's hand was in his the entire time, and he gave it a squeeze every now and then for support. Connor was escorted to the principal's office (guaranteed a few days suspension at least) followed by Lester and Billie, most likely receiving an after school detention for bullying.
Now, without anyone to see him, Charlie let himself rub at his bruised jaw and midsection. But then he looked down into the bright, adoring eyes of his little sister, and all of his hurt went away. She dazzled him with a brilliant smile, and he could feel a real grin coming to his face. Lizzie and Charlie loved each other dearly, and were fiercely protective of each other. There was no doubt about it. But by unspoken agreement, both tended to shy away from open displays of their affection at school. They wanted to have their own friends, not be labeled as a brother-sister pair. So it came as a great-and welcome-surprise when Lizzie launched herself at her brother's midsection and gave him a great big huge. Charlie winced, but ignored the pain as he dropped down to give her a more proper hug.
"Thanks Charlie." She whispered. He only smiled into her silky blonde curls.
"Any time Elizabeth."
"Ah love ya'"
"Love ya' too."
Charlie had then cleaned up his baby sister (including fixing her pigtails), and on that day, her big brother had escorted Lizzie to class; and far from excluding her, she had been the envy of her classmates. After all, none of them had brothers who protected them and fixed their pigtails for them.
//Well I never once//
Backed down from a punch//
Well I'd take it square on the chin//
Well I found out fast//
A bully's just that//
You've got to stand up to him//
So I didn't cry when I got a black eye//
As bad as it hurt, I just grinned//
* * *
Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker smiled to himself. He remembered that day he first defended Lizzie at school. They'd always been close, but after that, there had been no denying her - anything. And she, in turn, supported him in everything; pretty fair trade. When he remembered the look on Connor Jackson's face, he still got a chuckle out of it. Trip had caught up with Connor a ways back. He'd been under the employment of Starfleet, actually, as part of one of the maintenance crews. To his amusement- and Lizzie's after he'd called her- Connor had been part of the waste reclamation crew. That had been a few months before Enterprise launched. Trip's smile dimmed as he remembered that it was not long after that he'd seen his sister in person for the last time. After that, it had been only letters and a few sporadic vid conversations, and short ones at that. And next had come...
Whoa Trip, easy there. The Xindi Attack on Earth still had the power to bring back the familiar feelings of hate and anger. And grief, he thought sadly. Lizzie Tucker, his baby sister, had been killed in that attack. Her death had left him numb with grief, then a shattered mess of a man. By the time Enterprise had left Earth, headed for the Delphic Expanse, he'd been an angry shell of what he once was, no longer the cheerful, fun-loving Trip, but the depressed, exhausted, Commander Tucker who clung to his hate and anguish to keep from drowning in a sea of grief.
Those had been dark times in his life, but he'd been lucky; not many people had angels to bring them up from the depths of Hell, but he did. They came in the form of Malcolm, who pushed Trip's buttons and manipulated him into taking out his frustrations on him, of Jon -after he too had dealt with his anger, of Hoshi, who made sure he read all of his mail, of the entire crew, actually. But most importantly, her.
Trip pulled himself from his thoughts, wondering at the turns his life had taken. So many of them were a result of that day, the day he was observing the four-year remembrance of: April 24th, 2153. He continued to ponder the significance of that date, and became lost in his thoughts again. A page from the comm panel brought him back.
"Phlox to Commander Tucker." Trip reacted without thought, thumbing the switch. "Tucker here."
"Commander, you might want to come down to sickbay," said Phlox's overly cheerful voice. Trip was instantly alert.
"Why Doc, what happened?" he asked in a panicked voice.
"Not to worry Commander, the only thing that is happening is the first stage of the wonder of birth."
Trip froze, staring in awe at the comm panel, as though Phlox's face were there instead. "Birth...?" He said in wonderment.
"Yes indeed Commander, birth. Labor began a short time ago, and she has stated that you expressed a wish to be here for the occasion."
His wonderment being replaced by excitement and anticipation, Tucker quickly thumbed off the comm, but not before he heard a patience-tested voice say his name. His full name. His mama had only ever done that when he was in deep. Quickly, he grabbed the gym bag and jogged down the corridor towards the nearest 'lift and Sickbay, running into Malcolm and sending a message with him to the Captain that he was going to be busy for a while.
//But when tough little boys grow up to be dads//
They turn into big babies again.//
* * *
Author's note: Song lyrics from "Tough Little Boys" by Allan Gary. Please review; let me know if you think I should continue. I'd like honest reviews, so if it bored you to death, let me know. Thanks!