Commander Mayweather gently rubbed his scar and looked outside his port window. The scar ran from the bottom of his cheek to his forehead, though his eye. He'd gotten the scar during the Romulan Wars. The war left him with a blind eye and a cold soul. Mayweather did consider himself lucky though. Many people had died during the war. Some of them, he'd called his friends. Captain Archer, Dr. Phlox, and Lieutenant Reed had died in the middle of the war. It pained Mayweather to think of the past. How simple things once were and how jovial he used to be. He missed those days. He used to be friendly, but now he was less than that. Mayweather quickly closed his eyes and turned away. It was time for his duty shift.

***

On the bridge, he took notice of the familiar face. Tucker had received several promotions himself and was given his own command. He was a captain now. Tucker had personally asked for Mayweather and Sato to be part of his crew. Mayweather quickly took his station at Tactical.

"Good Morning, Commander." Tucker said in his unique southern accent.

"Morning Captain." He replied while not looking away from his screen.

"We have been assigned to Beta Sigma V to check up on the colonist there" He continued.

"Great, so we get shore leave?" Still looking at his screen.

"Mmm, yeah, Commander, may I have a word with you?" Tucker asked, but with a tone of a command.

"Yes, sir." He replied as he sprinted to Tucker's ready room.

Once inside, Mayweather stood to attention while Tucker stopped right beside him.

"Okay, what the heck was that?" He asked annoyed.

Mayweather looked him in the eye and quircked his lips. "The dreams are coming back. I told you they wouldn't go away."

Tucker blinked slowly and sighed. "Ever since the war, Mayweather had been acting more and more like a Vulcan. His seems to be losing a piece of his soul everyday. I've got to help him."

Tucker thought "Travis, we need to talk about this. I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend." He said holding the other man's hand.

"I thought Archer was you best friend." Mayweather sneered, snatching his hand away.

Tucker was stunned at the words of his friend. Mayweather quickly realized what he had done and apologized. "I'm sorry sir. Maybe it's good idea if we did talk. You know, get some things off our chest." He quickly walked back onto the bridge.

Tucker sat in his chair and looked at the stars. He did not want to lose his friend. He had to help him. He pressed the comm button to the bridge.

"Ensign Beckengourge, set a course for Beta Sigma V at warp 6 and engage when you do."

"Aye, sir." Came the reply.

He just had to.

***

The Daedalus class ship dropped out of warp near the planet and started to orbit it.

"Commander Sato, send a message to Singulara consisting of a standard greeting and permission to beam down to the planet."

"Aye, sir." She replied as the message was sent. A few minutes later, a reply came. "Governor Kros has given us permission."

"That's great, Commander Mayweather and Lieutenant N'halt, accompany me to the surface." Tucker said heading for the lift. "Sato, you have the bridge."

***

Mayweather flew the shuttle though the atmosphere of the planet. He smiled ever so slightly. Piloting was one of the few things the gave him joy now. He looked on. Tucker sat beside him and started to daydream. He thought of the first time he'd met Archer. He was a cadet at the academy and at the time Archer had been an instructor. It was the first day of class and he was already late.

"Good Morning, cadet. Glad that you could make it." Archer said sarcastically.

"Sorry, sir." Tucker panted "I won't do it again."

"Just take your seat." Archer replied "Now, as I was saying this is Subspace Mechanics. And I have a question for you all. Do starships really go faster than light speed?"

Several of the cadets instantly said yes, while Tucker said no."

'Would you care to explain why not, Cadet Tucker?"

"Sure sir, the warp engines compresses space around the space to make distances shorter. To do this, it forms a bubble which surrounds the ship. The bubble constantly shifts, in a desired direction, to provide propulsion. We control how fast we go, by controlling how fast the bubble shifts." Tucker finished with a sigh.

"You're correct." Archer said amazed.

From that moment on, the two formed a friendship that lasted until the Battle of Triga. The battle when he lost Archer and Mayweather lost his essence.

"Captain?!" Came a familiar voice.

A shocked Tucker came out of his daydream and looked to his left. He faced a worried Mayweather.

"Sorry Travis, I was daydreaming. What's up?" He said half-laughing.

Mayweather quirked his lips and slanted his eyes at Tucker "We've landed sir."

A blushing Tucker quickly left the shuttle pod.

***

After, they had talked with Governor Kros and had a tour of the city. Mayweather and Tucker left for the country. The planet was beautiful. Flowers were everywhere and in vivid colors. Tucker touched one and it changed from a deep violent to a fiery red. Mayweather just looked on impassively.

"Travis, let's forget rank for a while and talk." Tucker suggested.

"Alright Trip." Mayweather turned to look at him.

"What happened? You act so distance."

"It was the war. It hurt me in ways that I don't understand." He said closing his eyes.

"Heck, it hurt me too."

"But, you don't know that it hurt us the same way."

"How so?"

Mayweather sat down and Tucker sat down beside him.

"Malcolm was my best buddy on Enterprise. We would talk all the time. And his British accent always made me smile." Mayweather said blinking.

"Oh." Tucker had never know of their friendship. It felt different and strange to know that Mayweather had had a secret and keep it from him.

"Well Travis, losing your identity isn't going to help any. You need to find joy in life again." Tucker pleated.

"Joy?!" Mayweather exclaimed, looking into the lake beside them. "How a freak like me find joy in life?"

"Travis, you are not a freak. You are my best friend and our crew loves you. Everyone does not think you are a hideous creature nor do they give you pity. They respect you!" Tucker said, trying to comfort the other man.

Mayweather looked at him. Tears were streaming down his face. Tucker let the other man leaned on his chest. They stayed like that for some time in silence. Then Tucker spoke up. "Do you want to visit their graves?"

"Yeah, I need to say goodbye."

Tucker gently kissed the top of Mayweather's scar and told him to get up. Once they stood, Tucker asked another question.

"Why did you become a tactical officer?"

Mayweather looked at him and smiled "To honor Reed." Pausing for a moment, he continued "Is that why you chose a command of your own ship? To honor Archer?"

"Yeah."

Smiling even deeper, Mayweather looked at Tucker "Well, come on Charles, we should be getting back to the ship."

"You're right. Let's go."

"He called me Charles." Tucker thought "It's been years since he called me that. And then he was smiling! He's got it back. Travis' found his soul."

The two friends walk back to the shuttle pod and laughed and talked like the good old days.