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Hoshi Sato walked briskly toward the hotel where most of the crew was staying. Her haste was caused by the fact that it was about one o'clock in the morning and she was alone, it was cold at night in San Francisco, especially when one was in formal wear, and more importantly, she wanted to check and see if Commander Tucker had returned to his room. The Governor's reception, held in honor of the Enterprise crew during their brief visit home, had been held at a nearby auditorium. It was strictly white-tie and it had been nice to wear something pretty and non-regulation. Her dark-red dress was floor length and made of a soft, silky material that swished around her ankles as she walked. It fastened behind her neck, halter style, forming a rather daring neckline. She felt good in it. She felt pretty. Her silver shoes had heels much higher than she was used to wearing, and her feet were feeling it. Oh well, “Beauty must suffer a pinch," her grandmother used to say. She had worn her hair down this evening, and it felt good not having it confined. She had spent most of the evening at the table with Dr. Phlox and Elizabeth Cutler. It had a central location and allowed her ear to pick up the different languages in the room. Beth had worn blue and had her hair piled on top of her head. She looked wonderful. Dr. Phlox seemed to think so, too, judging from the way he looked at her. It was a revelation, she thought, to see the crew in their evening finery. After seeing them in their uniforms all the time, they cleaned up pretty good. Archer, Tucker and Reed had all arrived together and the three had looked very handsome in their tuxes, she had thought. Archer spent most of the evening talking to the governor and his wife, but she had lost sight of Trip and Malcolm. Probably chatting up the women in the room, she thought to herself with a small smile. Earlier in the evening she had heard a language she didn't recognize. Turning, she saw it was coming from a gentleman with yellow spots covering his head. She excused herself from Beth and the doctor and immediately went and introduced herself. She was having a wonderful time speaking with him, picking up words of his language here and there, when Reed came rushing up to her and took her by the elbow. "Hoshi! Have you seen Commander Tucker?" "No, not since supper. Why? Have you lost him?" She asked with a smile. Malcolm gave her a worried look. "Oh, this is bad, this is really bad." And he was off again. Frowning, Hoshi watched him talking to Mayweather across the room. "Is something wrong, my dear?" Dr. Dalori asked. "I'm not really sure. Would you excuse me?" Dalori bowed slightly in acknowledgement and she smiled briefly before hurrying over to Reed's side. "Malcolm, what's going on?" Reed turned to her, the worried look still firmly planted on his face. He opened his mouth, decided better of what he was going to say, and shook his head. "Let's just say the commander got some bad news and I need to find him." "Bad news? What kind of bad news?" Hoshi was somewhat alarmed. She knew Trip's father had a heart condition, and she hoped it wasn't that. Once again, Reed shook his head. "He'll have to be the one to tell you that, but can you just help me find him?" "I bet he went back to the hotel. Have you checked there?" "That was the first place I looked. He's not there." "Well, he may not have been their earlier, but he might have found his way back there by now. I'll go check there first and let you know if I find anything, okay?" "Hoshi, I didn't mean to take you away from the party." Malcolm looked sincerely sorry. Hoshi put a hand on his arm. "It's getting late anyway. I'll contact you as soon as I get back to the hotel." Reed nodded and they each went their separate ways. Now, as she approached the hotel, the automatic door swished open at her approach. She asked at the desk if Commander Tucker had checked in, and was told that he had not returned. Frowning, she wasn't sure what to do. The hotel was in a square that was bordered by several hotels and clubs. She went back outside and crossed the square toward the side where several clubs were. Possibly Tucker had gone to one of them. The square had a very large planter in its center with small trees and flowers in it. It had a wide concrete border that was used during the day for people for sitting, sunning themselves, reading the paper, eating lunch etc. Right now it was nearly indistinct in the darkness. As she approached it, she thought she heard a noise. Closer inspection, aided by the street lights, revealed Charles Tucker the Third sitting on the ledge, his legs drawn up, a bottle of something in his hand. His cummerbund was off and lying next to him, his tie was untied and hanging around his neck, and his shirt was partially unbuttoned. He seemed lost in thought and looked as if he'd lost his best friend. As she watched, he upended the bottle and took a large swig of whatever it was he was drinking. "Commander Tucker?" He looked up at her, but still seemed sort of unfocused. "Hoshi?" His voice was a bit hoarse. "What are you doing here?" "Looking for you." "Well, you found me." He saluted her with the bottle and once again took a drink. "What are you doing out here?" She took a seat next to him. "Oh, just having a little party of my own." "Malcolm's looking for you. He's pretty worried." Trip smiled briefly. "Is he? Good ol' Malcolm." He raised the bottle. "Here's to Malcolm. Long may he wave." Once again he bottle was upended. "Commander, I think you're drunk." "Hoshi, you are a woman with excellent observational skills." That was drunk to as well. "Tell me, have you ever seen Cap'n Archer drunk?" He asked. "Uh, no, I don't think so." "And you won't either. The man shows no signs he's inebr... ineb...drunk, ever. Well, except for one thing." "What's that?" "He goes through doors sideways, and very carefully." Hoshi smiled. "That's it?" "Yup. Other than that, he's the same old Jonathan Archer we see every day." "Amazing." "Yeah. I think so, too." "What is that stuff?" Trip examined the bottle. "It's...uhm...it's green. Want some?" He offered her the bottle. Hoshi took the bottle and tasted a small sip. It was so strong it made her cough a couple of times. "Antarian cider." Her voice came out in a whisper. "Packs quite a kick, doesn't it? I took it off the buffet table at the party." "I'm surprised you're still conscious." "Hell, me too. Maybe I just need some more." He snatched the bottle away from her. "Let's drink to something. How about...old friends? That's it. Nothing like seeing old friends, is there?" There was a note in his voice that made her look sharply at him. What old friend had done this to him? She watched him take another drink. "Are you okay?" "Who me? I'm having the time of my life, can't you tell?" "Do you want to talk about it?" He shook his head vehemently. "Nope. I...it's just..." He turned his head away from her. "Sometimes, Hoshi, some people just have to get it right between the eyes for it to sink in, you know?" He punctuated this statement by hitting his forehead a couple of times with his fist. "For what to sink in?" She said softly. They were getting to the heart of the matter now, she thought. He shook his head and looked down for a moment, silent. When he raised his head, his eyes were suspiciously bright. "I thought...I thought if I could just talk to her, you know, just talk?" Hoshi nodded, encouraging him. "I thought I could make things right." He snorted. "Just goes to show what a thick-headed dumb-ass I am." Hoshi had a bad feeling about this. "Trip, are you talking about… ?" What was her name? The one who had dumped him? He nodded. " Natalie. I was looking forward to seeing her tonight. I knew she'd be here. "He's in 'Fleet, after all." "She didn't come?" Hoshi hoped that was the worst of it. Commander Tucker looked as sad as she'd ever seen him. He took another hit from the bottle. "Oh, she was there, all right. And she was with him." Oh, this was bad. She had heard about the "Dear John" letter. "What happened? She wouldn't talk to you?" "Oh no. She talked to me all nice and polite. It was all very civil." Hoshi put a hand on his arm. "Tell me." Trip dropped his head so she couldn't see his expression. His voice shook despite the very obvious effort he made to keep it steady. "Well, it seems they're married, and she's due to have his baby in a few months." Oh shit. This was really bad. "Oh, Trip," she squeezed his arm. "I am so sorry." "Yeah, me too." There was bitterness in his voice. He took another drink. "Listen, it's getting really cold out here. Why don't we go for coffee someplace and talk?" She tried to extricate the bottle as she said this, but Tucker wouldn't let go. "No, you go. I'm fine here. Besides, you look so pretty all dressed up like that. You should go back to the party. Do something for me, dance with Malcolm, okay?" "No," her voice was firm now, and she took his elbow and helped him to his feet. "Not until you come back to the hotel with me." "Why Ms. Sato. I had no idea." He gave her a facetious look as he tried to keep his balance. "Ha. Ha. Come on, let's go. The last thing you need is to pass out in the planter." "Well, that was sorta the plan, but if you insist..." "I insist." The going was slow. He was extremely drunk. If he hadn't been leaning on her he would have sunk to the ground. "Hoshi!" She breathed a sigh of relief to see Reed approaching at a run. "Malcolm! Help me!" Reed got on the other side of Tucker and they half-walked, half-carried him back to the hotel. As they stumbled through the hotel's front door, Trip roused himself and raised his head. "Malcolm!" Trip had finally noticed Reed as the one supporting his other side. "Hey, Hoshi! It's Malcolm!" Hoshi exchanged looks with Malcolm. "I see that." "Where ya been, friend?" Malcolm gave Hoshi an exasperated look. "Looking for you, friend." "Well, hell, Malcolm, I've been right here. Haven't I, Hoshi?" Hoshi gave Malcolm an amused look and shook her head. The trio almost fell into the elevator, and Reed and Hoshi both exhaled loudly when they were able to brace Trip against the wall. "Did he tell you?" Malcolm asked quietly. Hoshi nodded. The doors opened at that point and they hauled Trip out and nearly dragged him down the hall to his room. It took some doing to hold him up while they unlocked the door, but having accomplished that, they once again took him under the arms dragged him into the room. They deposited him on the bed and then both collapsed into the two chairs next to the bed. After Hoshi had caught her breath for a few moments, she stood up and began to remove Trip's shoes. "Here," she motioned to Malcolm. "Help me sit him up. I need to get his jacket off." As they got him upright, Trip opened his eyes. "Hey, where we goin'?" "We're not going anywhere. You are going to bed." As Hoshi said this she was struggling to get his right sleeve off, while Malcolm was working on the left. "I am? Oh. Okay." He closed his eyes again. The task of removing his jacket was accomplished without much discernable help from Trip. As they lay him back down, Hoshi found him looking at her. "Hoshi, did I tell you how pretty you look tonight?" Hoshi, surprised, felt her cheeks go warm. "I think you mentioned it." "Doesn't Hoshi look pretty tonight, Malcolm?" Malcolm was quiet for a moment, then said, "Beautiful." His voice had a note in it that caused Hoshi to look at him curiously, but then Trip tried to get up, and the moment passed. Hoshi put a hand on his chest to stop him. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" "I need more of that green stuff. Where'd it go? Oh, there it is." He spotted the bottle on the nightstand. With surprising speed, he snatched up the bottle before either of them could stop him. Malcolm grabbed it and after a small tussle, got it away from him. "You've had enough green stuff for tonight, Trip." He returned the bottle to the nightstand. Trip frowned but collapsed back on the bed, throwing one arm over his eyes. "You're no fun, Malcolm, has anyone ever told you that?" Hoshi was surprised when Malcolm actually smiled. "One or two people. You, in fact." "Oh, that's right. I did, didn't I? Well, I was right." Malcolm patted him on the chest a couple of times. "Okay, you win. Go to sleep now, all right?" Trip turned his head into the pillow and muttered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...Don't tell me what to do, Malcolm." Malcolm said softly, "I wouldn't dream of it," but Trip was out like a light. Hoshi and Reed simultaneously collapsed into their respective chairs. Hoshi huffed out a sigh. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." Malcolm smiled. "Me, too." He rubbed the back of his neck wearily. "Listen, you must want to get to bed. I'll stay here with Trip and sleep in the chair. He's going to feel like hell in the morning, and under the circumstances I don't think he should be alone." Hoshi's feet were killing her now, but she felt she needed to see this through. "No, I'll stay with you. See? Two chairs. One for each of us." "Hoshi, there's really no need..." Hoshi was already removing her shoes. "I'm in it for the long haul, Malcolm." Malcolm gave her a concerned look, but finally nodded. "All right. I guess I could use the company." Hoshi gave him a pleased smile. "Good." Malcolm went to the closet and dug out two pillows and two blankets. He handed her one of each, then he got the bottle of Antarian Cider and went to the sink. He poured the contents down the drain, although there wasn't much left. Catching her eye, he said, "Just in case he wakes up in the night." She smiled. "Good idea." Malcolm toed off his shoes and sat down, pulling his blanket up as he did. Hoshi spoke quietly. "What happened?" Malcolm looked at her quizzically. "Happened?" She indicated Trip with a movement of her head. "Oh. Well, we were on our way out to check out some of the clubs around, you know..." "Aha! Just as I suspected. I figured you two would be finding someplace to scope out the women." Malcolm looked a bit shamefaced. "Well, yes, that was the plan. I went to ask Mayweather if he wanted to join us, and when I came back Trip was talking to a couple near our table. The woman was definitely pregnant, and I noticed Trip had a funny look on his face. I've never seen him like that before. I started to go over and see what was going on, when I heard Trip excuse himself. Before I could stop him, he headed for the door, nicking a bottle off the buffet cart on his way out." "The crowd was so thick I couldn't follow him very closely, but I figured our plan was still on, so I expected him to come back for me. I sat with Mayweather for a little while until I realized he wasn't coming back. I asked someone who had been talking to the couple earlier who they were, and found out it was Natalie and her husband." "That's when you got me involved, huh?" "Yes, and thank you for helping. Did he say much when you found him?" Hoshi shook her head. "Not really. Just enough that I knew what had happened." Malcolm looked at his friend sleeping for a moment. "This is going to be very hard on him." "Well, it's a good thing he's got good friends like you to help him get through it." Malcolm smiled. "And you. You seem to have been a pretty good friend to him tonight, too." Hoshi returned the smile. "So, when did you and Commander Tucker get to be such good buddies? Was it when you were stranded in the shuttlepod?" Malcolm nodded, smiling. "Yes. It didn't start out that way, but we got to know each other a lot better when we thought we were going to die. You can't imagine how happy we were to finally hear your voice." "We thought we had lost you, too." Hoshi remembered how worried Captain Archer had been. "You very nearly did. You know, I was so convinced that I was a goner, that I started writing good-bye letters to my old girlfriends." Hoshi laughed. "Trip was the optimist, though. He said we had to keep thinking positively." "No letters for him, huh?" "No. Funny you should mention that. At the time I asked him if he didn't want to write some good-byes just to be on the safe side, and he said he didn't have anyone to write to anymore. That's when he told me about Natalie. He cares for her a great deal, you know." Hoshi watched Trip for a moment. "Poor guy." "Well, hopefully he'll find someone in the near future who will appreciate him for who he really is." Hoshi nodded, a slight frown on her face. They talked of other things after that. The party, how everyone had looked, the next mission. Before she knew it, her eyes were too heavy to keep open. *************************** She awoke just before dawn. The sky was showing faint traces of light as she glanced out the window. Her neck was stiff, her back hurt and she had that fuzzy feeling she got when she hadn't had enough sleep. She looked over at Malcolm. He was snoring softly over in his chair, and looked quite comfortable. Then she checked on Trip. He was dead to the world, too, but since they'd deposited him on top of all his bedding, she worried he might be cold. She covered him with her own blanket, then stood rubbing her arms. It was cold this morning. She quietly let herself out of the room, taking a key card with her. She went down the hall and let herself into her own room. She took a shower and washed her hair, then put on some old gray sweats, a navy sweatshirt and some thick white socks. She tied her damp hair back in a ponytail and left the room. In her stocking feet, she padded down to Dr. Phlox's room. He wasn't asleep, she knew, since he only slept once or twice a year. She knocked and he answered the door with a book in his hand. She explained why she was there and he nodded in understanding. "I anticipated some of the crew might set out to annihilate some of their brain cells with alcohol, so I came prepared." He provided her with a strong analgesic, something for the stomach, and advice about taking "the hair of the dog", although he really didn't understand why canine hair would help a hangover. She thanked him and asked if she could call room service. She ordered a large pot of coffee, once again thanked the doctor, and returned to Trip's room. She quietly let herself in and was not surprised to see both men were still sleeping soundly. She put the medicine on the nightstand and returned to her chair, put her feet up, closed her eyes and let herself doze. It seemed like no time at all before there was a knock on the door. She rose quickly and let room service in. She placed the large pot of coffee on the dresser, and went into the bathroom to look for the cups. When she came back, Malcolm was on his feet, inspecting the steaming carafe. "You ordered coffee." He said this as if she'd turned dross into gold. "Yep. Want some?" She handed him a cup. He poured one for her, then one for himself. He took a long drink and sighed with his eyes closed. "Ahh. Bless you." Hoshi smiled. "I figure Commander Tucker's going to need it when he wakes up." "Definitely. He's going to be in a bad way. Hey, when did you...?" He indicated her change of clothing. "Turn back into a pumpkin? Contrary to popular opinion, formal wear is not the most comfortable thing to sleep in." Malcolm looked down at his own rumpled tuxedo. "No kidding. I should go shower and change, too. When do we have to be back to the ship?" "1000 hours. Go. I'll stay here." After he left she sat with her coffee and watched the morning sky. It was nice to be back on earth, if only for a short time. A groan issued from the confines of the bed. Trip turned over, opened his eyes to the streaming sunlight and winced. He threw an arm over his eyes and rolled over. He groaned again, this time louder. Hoshi quickly poured him a cup of coffee. "Good morning." He lowered the arm long enough to give her a withering stare. Clearly this was not a good morning. "Coffee?" "Oh, yeah." He sat up too quickly, yelped, and ended up holding his aching head for a few moments before he was able to take the cup from her. "What's the other guy look like?" He muttered, taking a sip. "Other guy?" "The one who beat the crap out of me." "Sorry. " 'Fraid you did this to yourself." "Huh?" "Green stuff, remember?" "Wha...? Oh. Yeah." Hoshi could barely hide her amusement. "Just remember, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." "I'm afraid the jury's still out on that one." Hoshi hid a smile by turning her head. "Feel up to taking some of Dr. Phlox's hangover remedy?" He looked at her suspiciously. "I dunno. What's in it?" She had retrieved the items from the nightstand. "Just an analgesic and something for your stomach." He held out a hand. "Gimme." After two more cups of coffee, he seemed a bit more like himself. After she assured herself that the analgesic had had time to take effect, she talked him into taking a hot shower. She had to help him into the bathroom. The first time he stood he nearly went to the floor and he had to hold his head for a few minutes, but he assured her that he could handle a shower by himself. She left him to it with the admonishment that he should call for her if he needed anything. As she left he bathroom, she found that Malcolm had returned. "How's he doing?" "He's vertical. That's about all I can report right now." "Bad, is it?" "Well, I think we just might be able to get him back to the ship. It's going to be dicey, but he might get that far." Malcolm smiled. "Well that's something, anyway." Just then a loud crash came from the bathroom, followed by a great deal of cursing. Malcolm and Hoshi exchanged looks. "I'll go check," Malcolm muttered and pushed his way through the door. Hoshi sighed. Needless to say, It was going to be interesting getting back to the ship. Two days later, Hoshi was having lunch in the mess hall when Trip arrived. He was still looking a bit wan, she thought. He raised a hand in greeting to her as he took a tray. He inspected the choices Chef had put out for the day, chose something, and walked over to her table. "Can I join you?" "Absolutely. How are you doing?" "Well, I can almost face food like a man today, and the top of my head feels as if it just might stay put, so better, I guess." "Well, good. Er, how are you doing with...the other thing?" "The other...? Oh." He shrugged and the sad look came back to his face. Hoshi could have bitten her tongue out for bringing it up. Not meeting her eye, he muttered, "So much for the happy ending, eh? She wished she hadn't mentioned it. "Well," she ventured. "Maybe you'll have a happy beginning with someone else in the near future." As he placed the napkin in his lap, and took up his spoon, he gave her a small smile. "Ever the optimist, eh, Hoshi?" "You never know what's just around the corner, Commander." At that moment Malcolm arrived with his tray. As he approached the table, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Good Lord, it lives!" Trip smiled wryly at his friend. "Have a seat, funny man." Malcolm sat down and eyed his friend's plate. "Crackers, water and, what's that? Rice pudding? You call that a meal?" "I call it what I think I can keep down today. I spent most of yesterday in sick bay listening to Dr. Phlox warn me against the dangers of alcohol." Malcolm took a healthy bite of his vegetable lasagna. "So, have you sworn off the green stuff?" "Yep. Note to self: No more snake meat, deserts or green stuff." He held his right hand up as if he was taking a pledge. "Good for you, mate." "Listen, you two, I uh...just want to thank you for all that you did when I... you know, crawled off to lick my wounds with the green stuff. I'd probably still be passed out in that planter if you hadn't found me." Hoshi exchanged looks with Malcolm. "Don't mention it. That's what friends are for." Malcolm, who was in the process of buttering a roll, paused to point his buttery knife at Trip. "Too right. We know you'd do the same for us, right?" Trip smiled. It was good to have friends. "Anytime my friends. Any time." Fin Warp back to the home page!