Amanda was running late. She didn't notice the man directly in her path until he exclaimed, "Whoa, there, little lady!"
She put a hand to her mouth, shocked that she had nearly plowed over an elderly man. He brushed off her concern. "No harm done. I'm not so old that a pretty girl can hurt me."
Amanda smiled. "I am sorry. I'm late for work and I have so much to do before I get there."
The man chivalrously took Amanda's arm. "I'll escort you. Nobody can complain about you being late for assisting a helpless old man." He winked.
"It's worth a try, but I doubt it'll work on my boss."
The pair chatted lightly until they arrived at the Vulcan wing of the Federation embassy. "You work here?" the man asked.
Amanda nodded, missing the mischievous glint in the old man's eyes. He adamantly refused to let her go inside alone and was still holding her arm when they arrived at Amanda's desk. As soon as her PADD hit the desk, her boss emerged from his office and gave her what she called 'the glare of disappointment.'
She began to apologize, but the old man cut her off. "Don't be too hard on her now. She's only late because she ran me down and then walked with me a ways to make sure I was all right."
Sarek of Vulcan nodded once gravely. "It would take a great deal more than a collision with my assistant to injure you. Though I must caution you against running late in the future. Perhaps other elderly men have not as much fortitude as Mr. Tucker."
Mr. Tucker leaned in to Amanda slightly, but didn't whisper his next words. "You weren't kidding about your boss being a tight ass."
Amanda flushed deep red while her eyes widened in horror. "I never said that!" she hurried to defend herself.
"I am confident you did not, Miss Grayson." Turning to Mr. Tucker, whose eyes had glittered with interest upon hearing her name, Sarek said, "Perhaps we should give Miss Grayson a 'break,' as you say."
Mr. Tucker nodded. "Sorry about that," he said to Amanda. "He's used to it by now. We're family."
Amanda looked at Sarek, thoroughly puzzled. A human and Vulcan who considered themselves family?
"Miss Grayson, meet Charles Tucker III. He is bonded to my kinswoman T'Pol."
"Trip Tucker?" Amanda repeated.
"At your service," he replied with a slight but very dashing bow.
Amanda smiled to herself. She couldn't explain it, but she had the feeling that Sarek's family was going to continue to make Vulcan/human history for a long time to come.
A/N: I will never forgive Enterprise for killing off Trip they way they did. I will never forgive them for the whole episode These are the Voyages, in fact. In my version of the Trek 'verse, Trip and T'Pol go on to be the first human/Vulcan couple and T'Pol is related to Sarek, which means that Sarek has a touch of rebellion in his blood, therefore he goes on to marry Amanda and he passes that trait to Spock, who joins Starfleet in spite of his father. Big happy Trek family circle. :D