Three Months- Pt 5

Three Months Later

By Aquila

Part Five

Rating: R
Disclaimer: All copyright belongs to Paramount – The mistakes are mine.
Timeline: After Expanse, before Season Three – Alternate Universe – I have ignored the Bounty episode - SPOILERS
Summary: Fiction by definition is illusion, yet so is life. In this the final chapter, illusion is created, maintained, destroyed and left unresolved.

==

The carnival atmosphere had been Chu’s idea. It had offended Malcolm’s sense of military decorum, yet he admitted to himself that the event had raised morale. To keep the momentum going, the cross training had to provide the crew with an illusion of control. Fear, after all, was merely a response brought about by the perception of a loss of control.

Here, in the Expanse, where their sensors could not be trusted and the enemy was working furiously to build a machine to annihilate their species, fear clung to them like Xyrillian burrs.

How long would the illusion last he wondered? No matter, he decided. He had put the plan in motion. It was his duty to see that it succeeded.

==

Jonathan tickled Porthos under the chin. The beagle whimpered in delight. Before he met A. G. Robinson, he had lived his life by the regulations. A. G. had showed him that there were times when regulations and orders were counter-productive.

Then there was the energy expended and thus wasted being diligent and worrying about interpretation. When did Reed sleep, he wondered? Malcolm needed an A. G. in his life and he, Jonathan, needed to trust that Malcolm would bend the rules when their survival depended on it.

T’Pol never bent the rules, but she knew how to apply them with imagination. The Captain sighed. T’Pol? Alone with his thoughts, they always returned to T’Pol.

==

They were floating, skin to skin, limbs entangled, heartbeats loud in the silence of the sweet spot.

“Yesterday, we were able to share meals and attend movie night together.” She heard the regret in his voice.

“We still can, why do you think we can’t?” Anger accompanied the question.

“Because we have to create the illusion that our relationship is still nothing more than crew members, who sometimes spend off-duty time together.”

“I don’t plan to tell anyone about our extracurricular activities.” She rubbed her pelvis against his suggestively.

“That’s what I mean.” He released her, pushing away so that he was free to gather their clothes, which floated about them.

She watched him as he tumbled and swooped with athletic grace. He did not waste a movement, rather like the way he made love she thought. A shiver of desire tingled through her body.

“Travis, I don’t understand.” She began a slow, sinuous back flip, which stirred the air that was redolent with their lovemaking.

Mayweather watched as the indirect light bounced and shimmered on her skin. Her training as a dancer evident in the way she held her arms and legs. The dance, the oldest his species knew, was for him, but it failed to distract.

“We will be in the dining hall, when, without thinking, you will reach out and touch my cheek the way people who are intimate do. At movie night, I’ll slip an arm around your shoulder and pull you to me, because it is the natural thing for a man to do in the dark with his lover.” Travis sighed. “The ship will know about us without a word being spoken.”

“Using criteria like that, we could accuse T’Pol and Commander Tucker of being lovers, since they spend so much time sharing pie and teasing each other.” Cannington scoffed.

“That’s my point.”

==

The on-duty Armoury crew came to attention when their commanding officer entered. They showed no surprise at his arrival. Lt. Reed was known for his late night visits. In the beginning the night shift thought it was his way to keep them on their toes, never knowing when he might appear to inspect them. Eventually they had come to understand that his gruff no-nonsense exterior hid a genuine concern for his people and their welfare. His late night visits were his way of showing his concern for them and they respected him for it.

“As you were,” Reed said as he nodded a greeting. “Saunders, how do you think we can keep the crew excited about cross training?”

==

Archer believed that one of the duties of a starship captain was to ask the hard questions. The one no one else would for fear of over-stepping authority or offending him. He had tried to ignore the question that was eating away at his conscious, but he could no longer.

“If Trip had come to him with an announcement that he had partnered with anyone other than T’Pol how would he, as captain, have responded?”

Jonathan dropped back onto the bed so that he could stare at the ceiling while he worked his way through the answer. Porthos disturbed, licked at his face. Archer gathered the dog in his arms and placed him on his chest, where the beagle curled up to wait out his master’s pondering.

Perspective, I’ve lost my perspective. Trip would never have begun a relationship with a female under his command. If he felt tempted, he would have told me and we would have worked it out together. As for a relationship with T’Pol, it is one of those gray areas – “at the discretion of the captain” – if I were writing the report. The chain of command has always been more of a courtesy between them.

If I’m honest, I would have shaken Trip’s hand and asked to be the best man, if it had been anyone other than T’Pol. We have a fight ahead of us that could end in death. I will not ruin their happiness and our friendship with jealousy. I’ve got a mission to complete. Until I’ve accomplished that my needs are irrelevant.

==

“You’re not saying…?”

Cannington was flabbergasted. Working on the medical deck, she was not privy to the gossip of the Bridge. His position as a member of senior staff was another reason she found Mayweather so attractive.

“No, I am not saying.” Travis, who had sorted their clothes, passed her the bundle that belonged to her. “Any one can tell they should be lovers, any one except them it seems. What I mean is that there are ways men and women relate when they have developed a special relationship. Even one they won’t acknowledge like the Commander and T’Pol.”

“Are you telling me we are over?”

Pat had never been dumped by a man that she had bedded. That she had even asked the question out loud shook her to the very core of her self-confidence.

“I’m sorry, but there is too much at stake right now to find myself in the brig and busted to crewman, just because I can’t keep my joy stick covered.” Travis felt no remorse as her face crumbled before him. “You may want me, Pat, but you don’t love me. Keep looking, I’m sure you’ll find a fool on board who’ll mistake your lust for love, and risk his career to maintain the illusion.”

==

“I’ll try to explain, but you are going to have to give me room.” Trip took her hand, backed off the bunk and brought her to her feet. “I cannot be as succinct as you.”

T’Pol shivered with apprehension. Charles was speaking in full sentences, with words of multiple syllable and he had not dropped a single gee. Was there never going to be a wedding night?

Trip kneeled before her, then reached out. With his hands he pulled her sleeping shorts down so that they rode under her belly. He pushed her sleep shirt up, so that it rested on a hip. He had exposed her abdomen, very much as she had. He nuzzled her navel with his nose.

“Your skin is so soft, T’Pol. I love to stroke it.” He put his cheek against her belly, the stubble of his beard irritating her skin in a delicious way.

He placed his hands in the ceremonial position, his fingers pressing into her buttocks, his thumbs resting in front half way between her pelvic bone and navel. With his thumbs he probed. T’Pol moaned when he found what he had been seeking. Automatically she widened her stance, through her head back and pushed her pelvis forward, adding to the pressure generated by his thumbs.

“Honey, when you read about human reproduction, did you understand how very little a human male has to do with procreation, in comparison to a Vulcan male I mean.”

Reluctantly T’Pol raised her head, to lower it so that she could gaze down at him. “I learned that human females ovulate in response to hormones secreted regularly and independently of the act of procreation.”

“Honey, we get told about it, even have to live with the hormonal changes, but it is a mystery to us.” Trip pressed again. “Not like this, not like how your people have evolved. Look at me T’Pol, I’m stimulating your ovaries. I’m participating in the process. It is my responsibility, according to the database.”

T’Pol’s heart was racing and her breathing had turned shallow. “You do not find the act pleasurable?”

“T’Pol, I told you anything, anytime, especially when it makes you melt like this.” Trip kissed her belly. “Gives me great pleasure, but it makes me think about us, the future and the enormity of what we are about to do.”

“Charles,” she broke his hold, “It is the way the body of a Vulcan female works. A child is not conceived every time an egg is released.”

“But for us, T’Pol, there may never be a child.” Trip drew her into his arms. “I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life with you, on your terms, T’Pol. Are you willing to share my life knowing you may never have children?”

T’Pol stepped back out of his embrace, “That is a question that I should ask you, Charles. It is most likely that when I am alone again, I will still be able to conceive should I find another partner. You, however, will not have a second chance. By sharing your life with me, you may deny yourself fatherhood.”

Trip had thought long and hard about that sacrifice, which had led to thoughts of all the other sacrifices they would have to make.

“You may never be able to return to Vulcan. I may have to resign my commission in Starfleet. I’m going to grow old and wrinkly, while you are still young and beautiful. Will you still want me then?” Trip paused, afraid to mention what he felt was the most significant reality they might have to face. “T’Pol, it is possible that we may never bond properly. Or if we do bond, only you can make the connection work. Are you willing to risk that?”

“Charles, are you reluctant to join with me,” she felt the twinge of the egg passing from her ovary to her womb, “because for every possible pleasurable consequence of our joining there may be an unpleasant one?”

“Not merely unpleasant, T’Pol, disastrous.”

“You speak of disaster. We are on a mission that could end tomorrow in death for all of us.” T’Pol took his hands and pressed them against her belly. “I choose to live, Charles, even in the face of death. What do you choose?”

“Bond, with me T’Pol.”

As she touched his cheek to begin the bond, the klaxon sounded, the enemy was in sight.

END of Three Months Later.

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Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

A whole mess of folks have made comments

Pease tell me that you'll continue this in another story you've got me hooked I want to know what happens next.You're a real talented writer hope you'll post another part of this series soon please.

Please continue with this story. It's too good to end like this, leaving us hanging over what may happen next.

Okay, so that is the end of the Three Months, now what happens? Please carry on this story. I want to see Trip and T'Pol bond, Captain Archer face his demons and come out the better man for it, Travis find someone who will love him for who he is and not simply as an object of lust. I want the seeds you have nutured in this story to actually flower before my jubilant eyes and explode the senses with colour. You know what this means. A sequel! Ali D :~)

The last line was more like a first - for a new story. Please don't leave what happens next to my imagination. I'd much rather have you write "Three Months, One week later" , or "one year later" or even "10 years later". Just don't leave us hanging with the sirens going off.
P.S. Thanks for making me get off my butt to look up the word "redolent". Great word, and so perfect too.

Wow, this was excellent. It wasn't just about Trip & T'Pol, it was the whole crew.

wow. this was great. i want more!!!!! you can't even think about leaving it there.

So, when are you gonna post a sequel to this saga??? This story was excellently done by the way. Thanks for writing.

So, when are you gonna post a sequel to this saga??? This story was excellently done by the way. Thanks for writing.

I'm asking the same question as everyone else.

Where's the ending?

I haven't looked at this story for a long time. Lt. B's comment arrived in the mail this morning, to call my attention to it. There will not be a continuation. However, the TnT authors who frequent these pages are more than welcome to take it and run from here. I would love to see what others would do with it.

Why won't there be a continuation? Because I said what I wanted to say in this one. It is a simple as that.

I thank each of you for the encouragement. Makes the writing worthwhile.

I'm loving this. I agree w/ everyone else, you've gotta come through w/ another story. That last line is just too tempting to deny. Can you hear it calling to you? Great story, keep it going!

Really excellent story. You've shown T'Pol's "alien-ness" so vividly -- the description of Vulcan sexuality/procreation was fascinating! -- and you've addressed the problems Trip and T'Pol would face in a relationship in a very realistic way (if you can say that about "science-fictional" characters!).

I agree with the majority -- the story can't end here! That was a masterful cliffhanger, but there absolutely must be a sequel.

Someone highly recommended this story. Probably because of the innovative take on Vulcan female sexuality. Very nice, very interesting. Good job. Also liked your Travis.

I believe I was THAT someone. :-D I absolutely love this take on Vulcan females, Aquila, and, to me, it makes a whole helluva lot more sense than the cliched female pon farr that seems to proliferate everywhere (thanks to tripe like "Bounty"). Thank you for remembering that Vulcans are NOT humans with pointed ears (something that the Beebs seemed to have trouble with).

Fantastic story...