"Hado Venceres Tradición" by A. Rhea King Rating: PG Disclaimer: Don't own the, CBS/Paramount does. Summary: Trip thought the hardest thing he'd have to do was ask T'Pol to marry him. He was dead wrong. -- This is the final story of my series Author’s Note: This was written before we learned T’Pol’s father was dead and her mother was killed. CHAPTER 2 Archer walked into the shuttle bay, looking around the area. He didn’t see Trip, but T’Pol had said he’d be here. Archer checked both shuttle pods. Archer stepped out and looked up. Trip was sitting on the topmost catwalk with his back against the railing. It was dark enough up there that Archer could she little more than Trip’s skin. Archer walked over to a ladder and climbed to the catwalk. He stepped on and walked over to Trip. Archer sat down, facing Trip as he leaned back against the railing. Archer didn’t say anything, waiting for Trip to acknowledge his presence instead. “What do you want?” Trip growled. “You two didn’t come up with anything?” Archer asked. Trip barely shook his head. “What if you took a shuttle pod or the Diedra?” “Irrational and desperate. T’Pol wouldn’t hear of it. She also said that would end both of our careers and make us fugitives. She’s right. You wouldn’t, and couldn’t, report that you’d given us permission to go. I wouldn’t ask you to do that anyway.” “Maybe she could come back after she’s been to Vulcan.” “Not likely.” “Why not?” “They would make sure to keep us far apart until she was married or one of us was dead. Whichever happened first.” “What if she tried to appeal?” “She said her parents would override it.” “There has to be something you can do.” “I’m wide open to suggestions, Jon. I haven’t come up with anything. Everything I have is illogical or illegal or irrational or impulsive. And as much as I hate it, she’s right about every single one. Sometimes that Vulcan logic of her’s really drives me up a wall.” “Have you asked her to marry you?” Trip looked at him with open disapproval. “If you hadn’t noticed, Jon, that’s what started this whole thing.” “I meant now. Today. Before the Vulcans get here. They won’t be here for another forty minutes. That’s plenty of time.” “That’s impulsive.” “No it’s not.” Archer leaned forward, his hands becoming animated as he defended his idea. “You two were going to get married anyway, Trip. Regardless of whether it’s twelve minutes or twelve months, the decision had already been made. If you were to get married now, that would put a whole new spin on things. And I bet that if you two were married when they got here, she’d be left alone by the High Command and allowed to remain on Enterprise. With us.” “She won’t go for it, Jon.” Trip looked back down. “Did you already suggest this to her?” “No.” “Did it even cross your mind?” “A couple times.” “Then why didn’t you ask her? She may be open to the idea. She may say something like, ‘As we have already committed to marry, I agree it would not be impulsive. The implications the union would cause may counteract my parent’s objection and superceded High Command’s orders.’ Does that sound like something your fiancé would say?” Trip slowly looked up at Archer. Archer couldn’t keep a straight face any more. “You already suggested it to her?” Trip asked. “I did.” “She said yes?” “She said yes.” Trip jumped up. “We’re gonna have to hurry.” Archer whipped a communicator out of his pocket. “The groom is convinced,” Archer said. The bay doors opened below them. Priest Riley, T’Pol, Malcolm, Travis, Sista and Hoshi rushed in and took their places between the shuttles. Archer looked down at them. “I’ll have to forgo the best man status, Trip.” Archer looked up at Trip. “I’m under orders to remain neutral.” “Thank you, Jon.” “Hurry up! Get down there and say I do!” Trip hurried down. Archer slowly made his way down, watching the ceremony at a distance. # Archer lifted his chin as the docking hatch opened. Behind him Trip and T’Pol stood at attention. To Archer’s right Hoshi wore a stern look, holding a PADD in her hands. Malcolm stood next to her, holding his hands clasped in front of him. Three Vulcans exited the science vessel and made their way toward them. “I am Captain Torak. We have come for T’Pol,” the Vulcan leading the three said, stopping in front of Archer. “I have been informed. Hoshi,” Archer said. Hoshi stepped forward, holding out the PADD in her hand. Captain Torak took the PADD from her, glanced at it and then looked at Archer. “What is this?” “A marriage license. Seems the couple wed twenty minutes ago, prior to you contacting me. I was unable to prevent it. I apologize for delaying you, but I have to contact the High Command and Starfleet and await their decision on the matter. If you like, I can make accommodations aboard Enterprise until you and I both receive word.” “Or, if you would rather,” Trip started. He placed his hand on the small of T’Pol’s back, protectively moving her closer to him. “My wife and I will come aboard and we can began our trip back to Vulcan. I’m sure you won’t mind returning should they change their mind, right?” Captain Torak looked down at T’Pol. “What do you have to say for yourself?” “She can’t comment,” Hoshi said. Captain Torak looked at Hoshi. “Excuse me?” “Your laws forbid a mate to disobey their mate’s wishes if their mate formally asks them to allow him or her to handle a matter.” “And I’d hate for T’Pol to dishonor your customs by going against what your records indicate is a crucial law,” Trip said. “Is it crucial, isn’t it?” “Yes.” “I asked her to remain silent,” Trip said. His face hardened when Captain Torak looked at him. “I don’t want there to be any confusion about how this matter’s gonna be handled. You can appreciate that, being how Vulcans aren’t real keen on wasting time.” Captain Torak looked back at Archer. “You knew about this and you did not prevent it.” “Look at the license. It happened twenty minutes ago. I was in a shuttle pod bay at the time. How could I possibly have known about a wedding happening?” “You had to witness the wedding,” Captain Torak looked at the license, “Your signature…” Archer waited for him to look back up. “My signature what?” “Where is your signature? This is not a valid license.” “It is very valid,” Archer said. “Your signature is not here.” “Oh. I can clear that up,” Hoshi said, smiling. “You were expecting it to have a senior officer’s signature, I’m assuming, since it is your custom to have either a senior officer or parent witness a wedding. See,” Hoshi wrinkled her nose, “that’s where you’re getting this marriage confused with a typical Vulcan wedding. They were married in a Presbyterian Baptist ceremony and that ceremony, as well as many other human wedding ceremonies, does not require anyone of relation or superior authority, short of the priest conducting the ceremony, to sign it. It does, however, require two witnesses of legal voting age. You’ll see that I am one witness, and that Lieutenant Reed,” Hoshi motioned to him, “was the other. We both were, and still are, off duty, but Captain Archer thought it was best we be present when you arrived to help clear this matter up. He suspected that there may be some confusion involved.” “We will not leave until we receive orders from High Command,” Captain Torak said. Archer tilted and nodded his head once. The three Vulcans turned and went back onto their ship. Archer reached out and closed the docking door. He reached out and pulled Hoshi into a hug. “I always knew there was a reason I kept your around, Hoshi.” Hoshi smiled up at him. “I’m not just another pretty face, Captain.” Archer turned. “Well, now we wait. Keep your finger crossed. As soon as I get an answer, the entire ship will know. So, go enjoy the rest of your day you two. Once this is cleared up, you’ll be cleared to leave for your honeymoon.” Trip slid his hand into T’Pol’s, the two walking away from the group. “What do you think they’ll say, sir?” Malcolm asked. “I don’t know,” Archer said. “I’m not going to guess.” # Trip stared at the darkness above the bed, his hand idly playing with T’Pol’s hair. Her head rested on his chest and one hand rested on his shoulder, occasionally caressing his skin with her fingers. “What’s taking so long?” Trip whispered. T’Pol closed her eyes. “Get some sleep.” “I want an answer.” “Sleep, husband.” Trip smiled. “Say that again.” “Husband.” Trip kissed her head. “I love that word.” T’Pol pulled closer to him. “Get some sleep, Charles. It will make the waiting take less time.” Trip didn’t reply. She was right. She usually was. “Charles.” “Hm?” “I love you.” Trip wrapped his arms around her. He faded off to sleep; unaware that T’Pol spent the entire night awake and anxious. # “Can I have your attention,” Archer said across the ship’s COM. “We’ve just heard back from the Vulcan High Command.” Trip stopped working and stood up straight. The crew around him fell silent, waiting for Archer to continue. # Archer looked up at Hoshi. She was watching him, her face telling her anticipating the worst. Archer smiled, reached out and patted her arm. Hoshi smiled and relaxed. “The High Command has withdrawn their request to have her return to Vulcan, so Mrs. Charles Tucker is not leaving us. She’s staying with us until we get back to Earth and then God only knows where the poor woman will get drug by her husband. Admiral Garner has issued a letter to the High Command and her parents stating she has asylum because of her marriage to Lieutenant-Commander Tucker. That’ll be all.” Hoshi smiled, ending the transmission. Archer looked at T’Pol. “Well, that’s cleared up. Better go find that husband of yours and get down to the shuttle bay. You two have a honeymoon to get to.” “Thank you, Captain.” Archer walked to his chair and sat down. He glanced at the lift door, checking to make sure T’Pol had left. Archer tapped the companel on his chair arm. “Archer to Reed.” “Yes, sir.” “They gone yet?” “Another five minutes, sir.” “Did Lieutenant Hess finish the blueprints?” “Yes, sir. I must say she did quite well considering the area she had to work with.” “Get started as soon as they’ve left. I’ll be down after the shift ends to help. Archer out.” “You know Captain,” Hoshi said, leaning on the railing, “by the time we get back to Earth this ship isn’t going to look anything like the ship that left port.” “I know,” Archer chuckled, standing. “I’ll be in my ready room,” Archer announced before departing the bridge. # Four Days Later Trip smiled. He felt Hoshi’s hand on his arm, guiding him through the halls. He could hear Archer walking on his other side. “This is unnecessary,” T’Pol protested. “Matter of opinion,” Archer said. “It’s a surprise, T’Pol,” Amy said. T’Pol felt the child’s hand squeeze her own and discreetly squeezed the girl’s hand in response. “We would be surprised regardless of the blind folds,” T’Pol stated. “T’Pol, you’re not indulging your Captain here,” Archer joked. “I have indulged you plenty of times.” Trip heard someone cough and turned his head. “Are there people here?” “Yes. Stop,” Hoshi said, pulling Trip to a stop. “How many people?” Trip heard a door open and Hoshi let him again. “Oh. The entire crew. Okay, there are four steps.” Trip let her lead him down the steps and four more paces before stopping. “Okay, don’t move,” Hoshi said, moving away. “Okay, now you two can look,” Archer said. Trip pulled off his blindfold and was stunned. They were in what had been the F deck observation room. It had been converted into quarters. The quarters had been designed so that it stepped up to a window seat ran the length of the observation windows that hadn’t been built over to make the upstairs rooms. On either side a staircase swept up to a walkway on the second level that looked back down into the living area and led to three doors. Under the walkway T’Pol’s meditation table and sacred relics had been set up and placed almost exactly the same as they had been in her quarters. “We didn’t know where you wanted your meditation stuff,” Hoshi told T’Pol, “so we put it down here for now. There’s three bedrooms and we moved you into the room there on the end and Amy picked the middle room next to yours.” “Who designed these quarters?” T’Pol asked. “Lieutenant Hess.” “She did an amazing job!” Trip commented. “Maybe a crib will have to go in that third room,” Malcolm said. Trip laughed, looking at him. “This is a surprise,” T’Pol said. “It really is. Thanks, guys.” Trip smiled when the crew clapped for them. “Congratulations,” Hoshi said, hugging Trip. She stepped back, hesitated and then hugged T’Pol. T’Pol returned the hug. “We appreciate the quarters,” T’Pol said, looking at Archer. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome. You two have the next two days off to get settled. Come on everyone.” Archer ushered the crew out. Trip held his smile until the door closed, leaving the two alone in their new quarters. He let his head fall back, closing his eyes a moment and then looked down when Amy. She smiled at him. “How’s the Amster?” “Good, Tripster.” “Have you behaved yourself?” he asked. “Yeah.” “I’m gonna check on you, you know.” Trip swept her up into a bear hug. “Missed you squirt.” Amy hugged him back and then squirmed out of his arms. She flung her arms around T’Pol’s waist, hugging her tight. Trip laid his hand on T’Pol’s shoulder. “I think you were missed, honey,” Trip said. “It appears so, however, I would like to sleep. May I do so?” T’Pol asked Amy. Amy smiled up at her, nodding. “But we can have breakfast in the morning?” “Yes. We will have breakfast in the morning. Be back after dinner.” “Okay, T’Pol. Bye!” Amy ran out of the quarters. Trip laid his hands on T’Pol’s shoulder, kissing her forehead. “I’m beat. Next honeymoon, I’m choosing the location.” “We did not need to go hiking.” Trip looked down at her. “It was fun. I’m just tired.” T’Pol turned her head slightly. “Perhaps you should rest also.” Trip pulled her to him, hugging her. “I’ll rest when I’m dead. I’m going to go look upstairs.” Trip let her go and trotted up the stairs. When he disappeared into a room, she closed her eyes, drawing a shaky breath. # Phlox sat back from the microscope, looking at the wall. He sat for a long time, formulating what he was going to say. He got up and walked around to the bio-bed T’Pol was sitting on. “Am I still?” T’Pol asked. Phlox laid a hand on her arm. “Yes. You are going to need to tell your husband about this, Sub-Commander.” “I know.” T’Pol sat on the edge of the bio-bed, gripping the edge. She looked down. “I must find an appropriate way to do so.” “Sub-Commander, there is no appropriate way to tell him this. Why didn’t you tell him this prior to being married?” T’Pol looked at Doctor Phlox. “Do you recall my comment that humans are not emotionally responsible enough for interspecies relationships?” “Clearly.” “I had never anticipated Commander Tucker’s proposal, nor did I anticipate my parents reaction to the news. I did not foresee being married to a human male and I didn’t feel it was necessary for him to know.” Phlox leaned against the bio-bed behind him. “I was expecting him to ask at any moment. I’m curious as to why you didn’t.” “I didn’t think he…” T’Pol looked away. “You didn’t think he really loved you?” “Yes” “I guess repressing emotions doesn’t do anything for emotion instability, does it?” “Apparently not. I was not prepared to handle what I am feeling now.” Phlox smiled when she looked at him. “If it’s any consolation, Sub-Commander, marriage is full of insecurities. I’m sure, if you carefully analyze the Vulcan marriages you’ve seen, you will see that even they are not so emotionally stable. Furthermore, you are married to a human. And in my professional opinion, he is one of the more emotionally responsible few aboard Enterprise, but he is also open. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him expect that of you in public, but he may expect a little more openness in private now. Your life is about to change drastically, Sub-Commander.” “I was not prepared for marriage.” “I don’t believe any man or woman of any species ever is, T’Pol. But as for this matter, you need to tell him.” T’Pol didn’t reply. “Are you afraid to tell him?” “He may wish to nullify the marriage afterwards.” “There are some aboard I might agree would do that to you, but he is not one of them. He loves you too much. You were all he talked about on the away mission two weeks ago, before he’d even proposed.” T’Pol slid off the bio-bed, walking toward the doors. “Just be sure to remind him there are alternatives, Sub-Commander. This is not the end.” “Yes, Doctor,” T’Pol quietly replied as the doors closed behind her. Back to Chapter 1 Continue to Chapter 3

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