Wedlock, by THECURSOR

This story is in three parts with links between the parts.

WEDLOCK

By THECURSOR

NC-17

I don’t own this stuff. If I did would I be writing FAN FICTION? I don’t think so!

PART ONE

Archer wearily rubbed his forehead when he heard the news and tried desperately to wake up from this diplomatic nightmare he was suddenly trapped in. He looked the ambassador in the eye, silently pleading for a way out. "Are you sure?"

Ambassador Creloun nodded grimly, "It is one of our most sacred laws and I cannot allow it to be violated for any reason."

"Are you sure you can’t make a slight exception for-"

"NO!"

Archer just sighed. "Then I guess I have to tell the happy couple."

******************

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yeah Trip, come on in." Archer cleared his throat in attempt to chase away his own nervousness, "Do you remember that ceremony down on the planet yesterday?"

Trip couldn’t help but smile. Last night was quiet possibly the greatest party he ever attended. The Eltakins had never seen off worlders before. So they celebrated this great event in their planets history the only way they knew how, by throwing the biggest, wildest party of all time. It had been amazing. There was dancing and drinking. People from all ages and walks of life had spent the better part of the evening getting drunk or getting laid. It was amazing. Hell, Malcolm even left early with a couple of local girls and wasn’t seen until the next morning.

"Why yes, sir I do remember last night’s party." He chuckled, "It was a blast, sir." Archer sighed. Again. He found himself doing that a lot lately. "Trip, do you remember what T’Pol was doing at the party?"

"Standing in a corner being her usual charming self."

Archer stepped towards his friend, placing his hand on Trip’s shoulder. "Now this next part is VERY important. Did you talk to her at all?"

"Yeah I bought her a drink. Seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do."

"Oh no," Archer groaned. This was worse then he expected, "Trip, do you know what buying a woman a drink means under Eltakin law?"

"Umm no."

"It’s a marriage proposal..."

"Oh well, good thing we ain’t from their planet."

"Trip, it’s a law. You proposed to her and you have to get married."
*************************
"I refuse."

T’Pol had managed to maintain her emotional control throughout the Ambassador Creloun explanation of Eltakin law and the problem Trip’s ‘proposal’ was now posing. Her response at his conclusion, however, was the Vulcan equivalent of an outburst. "I will not marry Commander Tucker."

"Then, I’m sure your Captain can spare the Commander for a few years to serve his sentence in a minimum security pri-" Archer butted in, not even letting that situation even get mentioned, "Ambassador, isn’t there some loophole for extenuating circumstances?"

"He bought the drink..."

T’Pol’s eyes narrowed slightly at the memory of Trip’s mistake, as if the very thought infuriated her, "I did not accept the beverage in question."

"Doesn’t matter, he bought the drink." The Ambassador was starting to get annoyed with these people. Why was it so hard for them to understand the law? These people were slowly making him lose his temper. "If he cared enough to buy you a drink then he will care enough to marry you."

Archer could have sworn that he saw her roll her eyes at the man. In a different situation he would have smiled. "Mr. Creloun, what the hell kind of law makes people get married?"

Creloun rubbed his forehead and tried his best to be diplomatic. "Look, they don’t have to STAY married, just under go a twelve day ritual and then get married in a temple of their choice. Nobody’ll care what you people do after that."

"But I have no wish to marry the Commander."

"Then you won’t mind if he spends the next few decades in prison."

****************

Trip had spent the better part of the last two hours moping in his quarters, worried sick about what was going to happen to him. He knew T’Pol and there was no way she was going to marry him just to keep his sorry ass out of jail.

And that was understandable, it was his fault to begin with. He remembered the lecture they gave him during his training about interstellar culture. The first rule during every visit to an alien planet is gain basic knowledge of local law before interacting with the locals. One of the most simple rules in the book and he completely ignored it

Well, his old Vulcan science teacher had been right, his sense of fun had finally gotten him into serious trouble.

He only her bought the drink to tease her, sort of stick it to the party pooper. She didn’t even accept the fucking thing! She just looked at him funny and told him she wasn’t thirsty.

She didn’t accept the drink.

Hey, maybe that was a loophole!

****************

"Look, can I talk to T’Pol for a minute?"

Creloun just nodded at the Captain and leaned back in his chair, and twiddled his thumbs. It was obvious that he was getting bored with the entire discussion.

Archer grabbed T’Pol rather roughly by the arm and dragged her outside, when he was sure they were alone he started talking in a very hushed tone.

"Marry him." A feeling of quiet rage seemed to pass through her but she managed to control it.

"Captain, I will not exchange nuptials-"

"That’s an order!"

*****************

Tucker’s heart nearly jumped into his throat when he saw The Captain and T’Pol enter his room. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. "Well, what’s the verdict?"

"Congratulations Trip," Archer smiled sarcastically at his friend, "Your getting married."

When he heard that, he could have sworn he saw T’Pol give him the evil eye.
**************************
A huge crowd had gathered around the entrance to the marriage temple as the ceremony began. Despite the fact that nobody lived within six whole miles of the temple, everyone in the nearest village showed up to watch the beginning of the first Human-Vulcan marriage in galactic history.

Eltakins loved a good show and loved weddings even more, so this was a big draw.

Trip was awe struck by the large crowd. Sure he had always wanted a big wedding, but this was unbelievable! He smiled at what a big deal everyone was making about this, how happy everybody was. He couldn’t help but get into the spirit. But then he saw hidden emotion in T’Pol’s eyes and suddenly felt very depressed.

She was horrified. Like a doomed prisoner on death row.

He turned when he felt Malcolm’s tap on his shoulder. It was almost time to get this show on the road. At the podium, Ambassador Creloun seemed to really relish his role in this little dog and pony show. "Okay, here’s how this is going to go,"

He pointed to the temple and then motioned to the ‘happy couple’. "You two lucky kids will be participating in the standard marriage ceremony. You will be confined to this temple for twelve days with no contact with the outside world. On the sixth day, Lieutenant Reed will be allowed to visit with you and see how you are doing. For the rest of your time inside the temple, you must perform five daily tasks that will be designed to bring you closer together. On the twelfth day you must perform the final test for the council of elders."

Trip was confused. This didn’t sound complicated at all, it had to be harder then this. "That all?" Creloun slapped his forehead in forgetfulness. He reached into a small leather satchel and pulled out a stack of forms made out of a papyrus looking substance. "I almost forgot, you have to fill out these forms."

T’Pol’s eyebrow raised significantly, "Is that part of an ancient ritual?"

"Naw, it’s for the lawyers."

*******************

T’Pol entered her room and began to unpack her clothing from her Starfleet issue duffel bag and lay them in her bureau neatly.

If she allowed herself to feel emotions then this situation would be very upsetting. It was aggravating how Commander Tucker’s inherent playfulness had gotten her into a situation with no escape what so ever. In twelve days, she was going to be married to the one man in the universe who was most likely to drive into a brutal madness.

Over the past 12 hours, T’Pol had felt her emotional control slipping. She had felt fear and anger over the coming nuptials. But the most unusual thing she had felt was a slightly humorous twitch in the back over mind. Some small voice in her brain was laughing about this and saying things like "If only you good get Kas invited to the ceremony!"

It was quite obvious that she was going to need to meditate for more hours then usual this evening.

It was a small charity that Creloun had allowed them sleep in separate rooms, not only because she need her space but because of the Commander’s strong odor.

She was at the other end of the hallway from him and could still smell him, his stench wafting lazily down towards her room.

T’Pol reached over and pulled shut the red curtain that served as her door, hoping it would block the smell. It didn’t but it was a noble effort.

She down on the large hammock-bed suspended from the ceiling and began her meditation. Hopefully the smell would lessen before the end of the night.
****************
Day One- The Rituals

1 The Ritual of Sharing

"Okay lemme see if I got this straight," Trip reread the form to see if he’d missed anything. Across from him, T’Pol kneeled in her standard meditation stance. "I’m supposed to tell you exactly how I feel. Then, you tell me how you feel and respond to my feelings."

He snorted and looked over the form a third time, "That’s all? These are easy." T’Pol raised an eyebrow at his statement, "I was not aware you were looking for a challenge."

Trip couldn’t help but look a little sheepish. She had a point. He sat down cross-legged and put the form aside "Anyway, I guess we should get this over with huh?"

"That would be the preferred course of action."

"Okay well I’m feeling nervous and a little scared. I really don’t want to go to jail." He motioned to her, "Your turn."

"I have no feelings. As a Vulcan I do not allow myself to be distracted by such illogical distractions and dangerous emotions. Therefore, I have nothing to express to you at this time. As for my response to your feelings, perhaps you should have thought about your fears before you allowed us to be placed in this situation." She raised her eyebrow again, "Is that satisfactory?"

"Ummm...Yeah that’ll do."

***************************

The Ritual of Touch

"Okay this time, we have to pay each other a compliment while touching a part of the other persons body." Trip grasped T’Pol’s hand and looked her dead in the eye.

"I think you are a good person."

He smiled. This wasn’t so bad. It was just like that stupid ‘share time’ thing Natalie had always dragged him to. He might actually start to enjoy it. "Your turn."

"You are a competent engineer."

Trip felt himself fume. "Whadda ya mean competent?" he growled.

************************

2 The Ritual of Honesty

Twenty minutes later, they decided that fighting over T’Pol’s comment was becoming tedious so they decided to just move on to the next ritual.

"Okay this time we have tell the other one thing you don’t like about them." Trip smiled wickedly when he read that. This was going to get fun. He rubbed his hands together and got up from the floor. "I wish wouldn’t be such a bitch all the time."

He plopped down on the nearby bed. "Your turn."

T’Pol took a breath and in the same monotone voice she said everything began to speak. "I will begin with your unprofessional behavior..."

Her rant lasted about two hours and covered everything from his odor to his casual behavior in front of the Captain. When she finished Trip felt like smacking her in the head.

"Thank you for your...honesty." He muttered through gritted teeth.

**************************

3 The Ritual of the Kiss

"You wanna skip this one?"

"Yes."

*************************

4 The Ritual of Expression

"It just says that we have to tell each other how much we love one another." Trip sighed. These test were really stupid and starting to get on his nerves. "Fuck this." He muttered after much deliberation. T’Pol gave him a questioning glance that seemed to look right through him.

He stood up again and rubbed his temples. "Listen. I don’t like you and you sure as hell don’t like me so why don’t we just get through this without one of us committing first degree murder."

T’Pol seemed to take this into consideration. It was the most logical, not to mention the preferred solution. Neither of them was happy about being here and frankly, neither of them enjoyed the company. "So we are not going to continue to perform these rituals?"

"Hell, No! I don’t want you to take hours outta my day to tell me how much of an ass I am!"

Part of T’Pol was relieved by this, anything was better then being in the same room with this human fool.

"Very well." She stood and walked from the room, "Have a good day Commander."

Trip snorted.

He knew she didn’t mean it.
******************

Day Two

T’Pol awoke the next morning to find the sun beaming in through the curtains of her bedroom window. She had awoken far later then she had originally intended, which gave her pause. Normally her sleeping habits were fairly regular, but for some reason she had felt restless last night. But despite that it was still very early in the morning, though not early enough for T’Pol and the large empty temple seemed to reverberate with a peaceful, quiet energy.

The environment seemed perfect for a morning bath. It would also be perfect for some silent meditation and reflection. Perhaps, she would be able to draw some peace from her current predicament.

Sliding off her sleeping robe, T’Pol walked nude down the hallway towards the temple’s luxurious bathroom. She had no need for modesty, no one was watching and Commander Tucker was certainly not disciplined enough to awaken himself at this hour of the day. So there would be nothing wrong in indulging in a small amount of unfettered freedom.

Upon entering the bathroom T’Pol was greeted by a cloud of steam that descended around her like a cloak, blocking her vision. It was so thick that even her superior Vulcan senses were dulled by it. She peered into the steam and could almost make out the outline of a figure.

As she got closer, the ventilation from her entrance finally reached the back of the room and the steam cleared.

In front of her stood a very naked Charles Tucker.

When he realized he wasn’t alone, Trip turned to see who it was and got the shock of his life. T’Pol was right in front of him. Completely naked.

His jaw dropped to his knees and his breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful. Her golden skin and voluptuous curves seemed to sing out to him in a symphony of flesh, an opera of beauty. Trip was not an expert on fine art but he was pretty positive that this girl could have doubled for Aphrodite without anybody noticing. When his eyes lingered for a moment on her full breasts and pouty lips, Trip felt every ounce of blood in his body flood to his groin.

T’Pol on the other hand was to busy noticing Trip’s long, lean physique. His powerful muscular arms and chiseled abs. For a pathetic human engineer, Commander Tucker had the look of a man cast in bronze. She found the experience most disturbing. Standing naked in the same room as Commander Tucker was raising her body temperature significantly. She felt flushed and suddenly very distracted.

Tucker knew he had to say something, anything. "Ummm...would you like to use the bathroom?"

"Yes." She said, her voice suddenly a little bit huskier, "I would."

******************

At the breakfast table, neither of them could look each other in the eye for very long. Trip especially was having trouble because of the fact that every time he closed his eyes he saw her naked body. It was like an inescapable nightmare.

T’Pol looked over at Tucker for a only a single moment but that was just long for her to watch a bead of sweat and moisture roll down his forehead and into his uniform, leaving a trail of moisture all the way. She couldn’t help but remember the time in Decon when he put his...

"I must excuse myself for meditation purpose."
**************
Sitting at the back of the village pub, Reed took a deep sip of the cloudy substance that the Eltakins passed off as beer. He had a good reason to get plastered. T’Pol was getting married. He snorted when he thought about it. Stupid Yank bastard.

Reed never showed it but he was very jealous of Commander Tucker. Reed had never been an easy guy to know. He never shared things and had trouble opening up to people about how he felt. For years he had yearned to experience that unknown level of closeness with someone. Then he met T’Pol.

He could see it in her eyes. The same yearning, the same desire for closeness. He thought maybe he could stand a chance with her.

How ironic. The one person on the ship he wanted to finally be close to was also the most distant.

For weeks, he’d done his best to get her to notice him, taking the same duty shifts. Bumping into her in the mess hall. In short, just being himself when she was looking.

But now any chance in hell was out the window.

Trip was involved.

He knew guys like Trip in school. Handsome, charming, attractive on so many different levels. Guys like Trip could get a woman out of their pants in zero degree weather.

Now HIS potential girl and that Valentino were getting married and there was nothing he could possibly do about it.

He took another sip of his beer. The rotten poof had probably already seen her naked or something.

Reed raised his glass to the empty bar and muttered to himself. "I saw ‘er first mate." He slurred before finishing off the bottle and starting a new one.

***************************

Trip walked through the curtain door of T’Pol’s room, determined to talk about what just happened. He found the Vulcan kneeling in front of her meditation candle with her eyes closed and her brow furrowed in thought. "May I help you Commander?" she said with out opening her eyes.

"Yeah, We gotta talk about what just happened in the bathroom." He stood firm and put on his resolve face.

"Why?" she still had her eyes closed at continued meditating.

Trip looked at her with puzzlement. ‘Why?’, that was her response? "Umm well...because!"

"Commander, We have seen each other in a state of undress before."

"Yeah but..."

She finally looked at him and raised her eyebrow. "Why should this situation be any different?"

Tucker thought this over and laughed. T’Pol’s sense of logic just stopped him from turning a molehill into a mountain. He smiled at her "You have a pretty good point."

"Then this subject will require no further discussion."

He laughed again and started towards the doorway, "You want me to make you some tea?"

"Yes I would, thank you."

Tucker walked out of the room, his tension gone. Its place was taken by an embarrassed but good natured smile and a impeccable good mood.

When she was sure he was gone, T’Pol released a deep breath and a low moan. He was very handsome.

Even with his clothes on.
*********************************

Continued in Part 2

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