Only You - Part 4

Only You

By Athena

Rating: R
Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise is the property of Paramount
Summary: As Pon Farr approaches for T’Pol she has to make some choices regarding her relationship with Trip. Of course nothing goes as expected and Trip and T’Pol must decide how to proceed with their relationship.
Spoilers: all the way through the end of Daedalus and AU after that.

Authors Note: First off, a great big thanks to and Jenna for all their help with this story. Also be warned, although the beginning of the story contains some angst, the majority of the story is pure sap and fluff. If you not like sappiness you may not want to read the entire story. 

Chapter 6

Trip had left the job of transporting the away team to Hess so he could come to T’Pol’s quarters. As far as he knew, he was the treatment Phlox was referring to. Part of him was angry that Jon had let her get ‘critical’ but then he didn’t know all the details yet. Another part of him was relieved that she would be with him and no one else. Then there was a part of him that felt guilty because he knew she had wanted to resolve this thing without making things complicated.

He was pacing back and forth nervously. He had no idea what to expect here. If she was pretty far gone would she even know it was him she was with? He wondered if Phlox had filled the Captain in on what was going on with T’Pol. Hopefully he had, because the Kovar was just over 12 hours away now that they could safely enter the system. Trip hoped the Vulcans wouldn’t be too irritated that they’d made the journey for nothing. He wondered if the guy on board the Vulcan ship would be disappointed that he wouldn’t be the one helping T’Pol. Well, too damn bad if he was. Trip wasn’t inclined to feel sympathetic towards the unknown Vulcan man even though he knew it was completely irrational.

Trip’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door to T’Pol’s quarters open. Then she was standing before him. She looked haggard and her skin was damp. Trip was taken aback by her appearance. He hadn’t expected the doctor to let her get this bad. Phlox was standing behind T’Pol, although she didn’t seem aware of the doctor’s presence. Her gaze was fixed on Trip. She looked at him as if he were her salvation.

Never taking her eyes off of him she quickly closed the distance between them and raised her right hand to touch his face. She did so by extending two fingers and gently tracing the side of his face and then his jaw and finally down his neck and chest, stopping over his heart. Then her left hand found his right one and she brought his two fingers up to meet hers. Trip felt something warm and exhilarating spread through him.

The moment was broken, for him anyway, when Phlox stepped behind her and began scanning her with a medical tricorder. He smiled at the results. Trip was thankful that the doctor was satisfied with T’Pol’s current state but he was annoyed when Phlox made no indication of leaving. He gave the doctor a look of annoyance and Phlox nodded and left, still smiling. Trip was relieved that Phlox was gone. He was nervous enough as it was without having his performance documented for the medical community.

T’Pol’s left hand tightened around his and brought his full attention back to her. She was in a trance-like state and began to speak in Vulcan. That made Trip’s heart sting a little. If she were completely aware she was with him she’d know he couldn’t understand her. Tears began to pool in his eyes even as he reproached himself that he’d known what to expect. This was why T’Pol had wanted a Vulcan mate for Pon Farr. She’d known that he would have difficultly being with her when she wasn’t even aware who she was with. He could be anyone and she’d probably be looking at him with the same tenderness and desire he saw in her now. Those feelings weren’t for him, they were for whoever stood in his place. Sadly he wondered if T’Pol would even remember what was about to happen between them.

T’Pol had stopped speaking and she began to run her hands across his chest. Desire shone brightly in her eyes as the caresses became more vigorous. One hand moved up to caress his ear and he was astonished to see a smile play across her lips as her fingers moved over the rounded tips. Then she seemed to notice his uniform for the first time as her smile turned into a frown of annoyance. She quickly unzipped his jumpsuit and roughly pulled it off his shoulders. His hands had found their way around her waist but he was forced to release her as she continued to tug the jumpsuit down. He helped her by freeing his arms. Seeing that she was losing patience with his clothing, he bent down to pull off his boots and then stepped out of the jumpsuit. T’Pol busied herself with his hair and ears until he stood up again.

He was about to pull off his shirt when she tore it off aggressively. Although he was a bit stunned, he was also turned on by the act. She was pressing into him now and moaning with pleasure. Trip gasped at the speed with which his body responded. This only seemed to encourage T’Pol as she ground herself fiercely against him. Trip could feel the heat from her and began to pull at her uniform. He had just managed to get it mostly unzipped when she pulled it off roughly and then wrapped one leg around him, eliciting a deep moan from him.

His hands found their way under her halter top and T’Pol cried out with pleasure. Then she backed Trip up against her desk and pressed herself into him. Trip’s body hardened further in reaction as he gasped her name. This caused T’Pol’s whole body to convulse and she threw her head back as she reveled in her orgasm. It took an extreme amount of control for Trip not to follow her.

They were still dressed in their underwear and Trip took advantage of T’Pol’s momentary distraction to pull off his boxers and her underwear. Once T’Pol recovered she was on him again, her need nowhere near satisfied. She seemed to realize that leaning up against the desk wouldn’t allow her easy access to him. She pulled him roughly to her and spun him towards the bunk. She either misjudged the force required or her own strength, as she ended up pushing him violently against the metal cabinets next to her bunk. The side of Trip’s face slammed against hard metal but before he could even react she pushed him down onto her bunk and climbed over him.

She was still wearing the halter top and he was reminded of all those neuropressure sessions where he had been afforded a similar view. His sense of honor and respect for T’Pol had warred with his growing desire for her. By the time they had actually engaged in sexual intimacy he had found that it took a great deal of concentration and self control not to let that desire manifest itself physically during those sessions.

Looking at her now he was glad that doing so was no longer necessary. She was so beautiful. It wasn’t just his body that ached for her but his heart and soul as well. A lump formed in his throat as he realized just how deeply he’d fallen for T’Pol. She possessed him completely.

She was rocking against him again as her fingernails raked lightly across his chest. It felt amazing but he wanted to play a more active roll. She hadn’t kissed him yet. Trip thought that perhaps kissing wasn’t something Vulcans did a lot of. He pushed himself up and captured her mouth with his. He felt a dull pain on the side of his face that had been smashed into the cabinet but the rest of him felt far too good to care.

T’Pol began to moan louder and he realized she was close to release again. She had increased her rocking against him and the sensation was so overwhelming that the small part of him that was still capable of rational thought warned him that something had to change or she was going to take him over the edge with her. He pushed her gently away from him and, still kissing her deeply, moved one hand down to caress the sensitive spot between her legs. She cried out, breaking their kiss and he felt her fingers dig into his shoulder and back as she shattered again.

He momentarily delighted in the response he had elicited from her until he recalled that this really had nothing to do with him. Tears began to sting his eyes as he realized that being with T’Pol meant so much to him but, in this moment, he meant nothing to her. It was difficult to reconcile the immense pleasure his body was experiencing with the deep sorrow in his soul. Still, he wanted to try to convey to her what their lovemaking meant to him. He kissed her gently and whispered, “I love you T’Pol” in her ear. She shuddered and cried out softly as she gripped him more tightly.

Then T’Pol slid over him and took him inside her. Trip gasped as the sensation overwhelmed him. T’Pol, too, seemed overcome as she gasped and cried out again. Trip’s body could not be contained as he drove himself into her, each thrust increasing the ecstasy further until all rational thought was gone. He felt himself explode into her and he could have sworn he heard her call out his name, although he knew she hadn’t. At the same time he felt as if he could almost sense T’Pol’s pleasure as well and it acted to increase his even more.

The world lost all sense of reality for a time and then, gradually, rational thought became possible again. That had been the most erotic experience he’d ever had. He looked up at T’Pol to see her still basking in the afterglow of the encounter. Then she pulled him to her and started to caress his torso and rub against him again. Trip tried to catch his breath. T’Pol’s need seemed almost insatiable. He was going to have to get creative if he wanted to survive her Pon Farr intact.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Archer and Captain Soran were seated across from each other in the ready room. The Kovar had arrived but instead of helping T’Pol the Vulcans were busy aiding in the repairs to Enterprise and surveying the planet below.

Archer was glad that Phlox had already informed Soran that one of the Enterprise crew had been forced to help T’Pol. He found the whole situation damn uncomfortable.

“I’d like to thank you again for aiding with the repairs to our ship. I know you didn’t come all this way to do maintenance work.”

“Expressing gratitude is unnecessary, Captain. Your ship was damaged due to your efforts to aid one of ours. Even though you arrived too late to save that crew, it is likely you have saved others from experiencing their fate in the future. If anything, gratitude is owed to you and your crew.” Soran spoke with a tone of respect. Then he continued, “Captain, my chief engineer tells me that he is unable to attain the assistance he needs to understand the… creative engineering that was done to Enterprise during your attempts to break free of the energy net. Your crew can only tell him that your chief engineer was responsible but we cannot locate this individual.”

Archer tried not to show how uncomfortable he felt as he answered, “Well, that’s because our chief engineer is the one... helping T’Pol with, well helping her anyway.” Archer looked down at his hands.

Soran showed no sign that he detected Archer’s discomfort. “Indeed. That is an interesting coincidence. It was my chief engineer who was to mate with T’Pol had we arrived in time.”

Archer was stunned at how matter-of-factly Soran had spoken about someone having sex with his first officer. Archer cleared his throat. He really didn’t want to ask this next question but he needed to be sure T’Pol was going to be okay. “Captain Soran, there is something I need to know about T’Pol’s…condition.” The Vulcan Captain nodded so Archer was forced to continue, “Will she be okay now, or will she still need to mate with a Vulcan, I mean because Trip is human and I thought maybe that wouldn’t be enough.” Archer was sure his face was red. When he’d signed on as Captain of Enterprise to explore strange new worlds he hadn’t expected to be having so many discussions involving alien mating and his crew.

“T’Pol should be able to resolve her Pon Farr with a human mate no differently than with Vulcan one. I believe your doctor is aware of this.” Something about the way Soran said that made Archer think he was being talked down to, like he’d just asked a dumb question. But then why was the Kovar here in the first place? “You seem unconvinced, Captain. Please be assured, the race of the mate is of no consequence. Vulcans prefer Vulcan mates solely because we do not discuss Pon Farr with outsiders unless such is unavoidable, as in this case. T’Pol will be well.”

Archer still wasn’t convinced. It didn’t make sense. If all T’Pol needed to do was mate with anyone, why had she involved the Vulcans? She’d already told Phlox and Trip, so why not just ask Trip to help her? She had to know he’d be willing. Archer shook his head.

“Captain?”

“I’m just not sure why T’Pol felt the need to bring you all the way here,” and risk the away mission, “if a human mate would do.”

“I believe I have already explained this. We do not discuss Pon Farr with outsiders.”

Archer realized he was being foolish. Soran wasn’t going to have the answers he wanted. He’d have to talk to Trip or T’Pol for that. Sighing he moved on to other topics. “Our linguist, Hoshi Sato, has determined there were two distinct languages used by the people who once lived on the planet below. One seems very primitive whereas the other is much more advanced and contains highly technical words.”

“Indeed, that is most fascinating. I look forward to being debriefed once our survey teams return from the surface. We may stay here for some time Captain. One crew has already given their lives for the exploration of this planet. It would be an honor to remain and give their sacrifice meaning.”

Archer smiled and nodded. “It seems some sentiments are universal.”

“Sentiments, Captain?” Soran raised an eyebrow.

Archer laughed amiably at his Vulcan companion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T’Pol watched her sleeping human mate with some trepidation, and trying to decide if the ecstasy of their mating would outweigh the physical and emotional repercussions for them both. They were on the floor in her quarters, having found her bunk too confining. She reached over and brushed some of his ruffled hair back from his face. There was a large bruise on the left side of his face and his shoulders and arms were also covered in bruises. She felt ashamed that she had injured him. She was ashamed of a great deal of her behavior concerning Commander Tucker. Trip, she corrected herself. They were bonded now so it was appropriate for her to call him that.

She wondered when it had occurred. Vulcans formed psychic bonds with their mates gradually over time. That was one of the reasons mates lived together for at least the first year after marriage. The bond could be formed more quickly during Pon Farr, which is what she had feared might happen with Trip. That fear had been unwarranted as it turned out. She and Trip were bonded already.

T’Pol felt an emotional tidal wave rip through her and she tried fiercely to regain control. How had this occurred? She thought back to their time in the expanse. They had worked closely together, spent a great deal of time together during their neuropressure sessions, spent even more off duty time together offering each other support and companionship, then there was that encounter in her quarters. T’Pol glanced down at Trip again. Perhaps it really shouldn’t have been that unexpected after all, she reflected.

The issue now was how Trip would react to this situation. He had become bonded to her without his consent. She had tied him to her, then married another, then pushed him away once her marriage had ended, and now she had to tell him he wouldn’t be able to form an intimate attachment to another unless the bond was severed. Fear and anxiety threatened to overcome her again. She could not confess the current state of affairs between them with Trip until she was calm and centered again. She would need time to meditate and reflect. She still felt desire for him as well, even though the blood fever had passed. She would need to gain control of her sexual urges for him as well before they would be able to discuss the situation rationally.

Another source of her distress was that she recalled feeling sorrow and despair from Trip more than once during the encounter. She was racked with pain at the remembrance. At the time she could not have cared, but now the reality hit her hard. Trip had been more than just physically harmed by her during Pon Farr. T’Pol wrapped her arms around herself and tried to control the tremors overcoming her body. It seemed that, despite her efforts to the contrary, she always ended up hurting him.

Trip began to stir and T’Pol fought hard to bring her mind and body under control. He was lying partially covered by her blanket and he pushed it aside as he sat up, revealing his beautiful chest and torso. T’Pol looked away to keep her desire in check.

“Morning,” Trip said groggily.

“It is 1900 hours so, technically, it is evening,” T’Pol said dryly, hoping to keep her emotional turmoil out of her voice.

Trip nodded and looked around uncertainly. “So, um, is the Pon Farr over? I mean, are ya better now?” She had donned her robe and she could sense that Trip was self-conscious about his own nakedness.

She rose and retrieved his boxers and uniform. His undershirt had been shredded so he would have to make do without it. They should have planned for this by keeping a spare set of clothing for Trip in her quarters.

“The blood fever has passed as has the danger.” She suspected her response sounded terse due to her attempts to hide her feelings from him.

Trip frowned at her for a moment before accepting his clothes. She knew he wanted more from her but she could not discuss events until she had meditated and allowed the last vestiges of desire to pass.

“So that’s it then,” he said intently, his eyes locked on hers in unspoken challenge.

He was daring her to discuss what this had meant for them. Her heart ached to tell him, but fear kept her from acquiescing.

She turned away from him before responding, “I must meditate. I also promised Phlox I would submit to an examination after I have meditated.” She turned back to face him but did not make eye contact. “You should inform the Captain that we will both be fit for duty tomorrow.” She glanced over to see his head was hung low and he had stopped dressing, so he was wearing only his underwear. She continued in a more gentle tone, hoping to relieve some of his sadness, “You should have Phlox assess your injuries. I apologize for… damaging you.” She met his eyes, finally.

He smiled sadly, “Can’t say you didn’t warn me.” She wondered if he understood the double meaning in her apology. He finished pulling on his uniform and regarded her for a moment. His penetrating look caused her to avert her eyes again. “So what about that mating-bond? Did that happen?”

T’Pol struggled to maintain her composure as she felt guilt, shame, and fear possess her. She could not do this now and she could not lie. “Nothing has changed between us,” she stated flatly, relieved her voice was steady even if her emotions were not.

Trip frowned and looked away. He seemed to be searching for something else to say but he ended up simply biting his lower lip and remaining silent. Finally he said, “I guess I’ll be going then.” He turned and headed for her door.

T’Pol merely nodded at him. Then couldn’t help from calling after him, “Thank you… Trip.”

He stopped in front of the door but didn’t turn around to face her. “I’m glad yer gonna be okay T’Pol.” Then he left and she was alone with her untamed emotions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trip didn’t even consider going to Sickbay. He needed to be alone. He walked as quickly as he could to his quarters. He passed two crewmen on the way but didn’t slow down to acknowledge them. Once inside he looked around for something to hit. Finding nothing, he sank into the bed and buried his head in his hands.

Just what had he expected anyway? She had told him this whole mating thing would be meaningless. Still, the least she could have done was talk to him about it afterwards. Okay, calm down Tucker or yer going to go crazy. He thought about a friend he’d had in college, Glenn. Glenn had been hopelessly in love with this girl. He couldn’t remember her name because he’d always referred to her by a not so flattering nickname. She’d dump him, then show up months later and Glenn would always welcome her back. Sometimes she’d only stay the night and sometimes she’d stay for a week or so. But she always left again and it became clear to Trip that she was only interested in a physical relationship. Every time she left Glenn again she’d break his heart and he’d be devastated. None of their other friends could understand why Glenn was so miserable. After all, he had a gorgeous girl showing up for uncomplicated sex. Trip had thought he understood what his friend was going through but now he realized he really hadn’t. It hurt like crazy to feel so much for someone, be intimate with her, and then realize that something that meant so much to you held no meaning for her at all.

Sadly Trip wondered if this was really any better than sitting here on Enterprise thinking about T’Pol and the guy having sex on the Vulcan ship. Choice of evils, he thought to himself.

He realized he should let the Captain know that T’Pol was going to be okay, so he activated the comm. “Tucker to Archer.”

The comm. signaled a response but there were several moments of silence before he heard the reply. “Archer here. I’m alone Trip. How’s T’Pol.”

Trip realized Archer must have transferred the call somewhere private. “She says she’s gonna be fine. She just needs to meditate. She’s gonna see Phlox later, then she expects to be back ta work tomorrow.”

He couldn’t quite hide the hurt in his voice and Archer responded, “and what about you Trip?”

Trip wasn’t sure himself so it took him a minute to answer, “Well, we missed the bed one time and I broke the fall with the side of my face, but nothing serious,” he joked.

“That’s good to know but that’s not what I meant,” Archer pressed compassionately.

“I’m gonna need some time to work things out but I’d rather get back ta work putting the ship back together.”

“Okay Trip, whatever you need. Would you like some company?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate the offer, but Trip didn’t feel like answering any questions about him and T’Pol right now. “No thanks Cap’n, maybe later.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” came the reply. “Good night, Trip.”

“’Night Cap’n.”

Not feeling any better, Trip stood up and started to pace the room. His mind was a jumble of conflicting emotions. He was relieved T’Pol was going to be okay. He had also just had what was by far the best sexual experience in his life with the woman he loved but now he was miserable. Her reaction to the morning after this time had been worse that the last one. Well, it hurt worse because this time he had a better idea where they both stood. He was desperately in love and she was definitely not interested in a relationship at this time. Would she ever be? Probably not, now that he really thought about it. She wanted to return to a path where logic ruled emotion, so Surak would be teaching her to suppress any feelings she had for him. Damn logic! He hated logic right now.

Too frustrated and upset to remain in one place, Trip left his quarters for the gym. He knew he probably wouldn’t be alone there but he didn’t have to interact with anyone.

Trip avoided making eye contact with anyone on his way to the gym. Once there he stripped down to the workout clothes he’d changed into and began to take his frustrations out on the punching bag. He alternated between pretending it was Surak and Koss. He knew this really wasn’t fair since Surak had died long ago and Koss hadn’t turned out to be such a bad guy, but they had both played a role in his current situation with T’Pol so it felt good hitting them.

One of the female MACOs came up and asked if he needed a partner but he blew her off and went back to hitting the bag. After about 10 minutes his knuckles were killing him but he couldn’t seem to stop. Stopping meant dealing with the emotional pain and he wanted to replace it with physical pain. You could cure physical pain.

He was just about to take another swing when the bag moved and his momentum sent him flying forward onto the floor. He looked up to see a smirking Malcolm Reed holding the punching bag off to one side.

Malcolm offered his hand and Trip let him help him off the floor. “Nice, Malcolm, real nice.”

“It seemed like an effective way of getting your attention,” the tactical officer responded. “Were you in a fight with someone?” Malcolm was inspecting the bruise on the side of Trip’s face and frowning.

Trip could feel himself blushing slightly. “Um, yeah, T’Pol.”

“Your joking! She did that to you?”

“Yeah, well, she wasn’t exactly herself.” Trip was irritated and wanted to end the discussion. He tried to walk away but Malcolm followed him.

“Well, it’s not too surprising actually. She got a bit hostile down on the planet as well. Remind me never to cross her.” Malcolm was chuckling. Then he turned serious. “She’s okay now isn’t she?” Concern was evident in his voice.

“Yep, back to her old self.” Trip wanted to get away from Malcolm but noticed that they were alone in the room. “Where’d everyone go?” he asked Malcolm accusingly.

Malcolm smiled. “Rank does have its privileges as you know.”

“Ya told everyone ta take a hike?” Trip realized that he wasn’t going to be able to avoid this conversation tactfully. Then he wondered something. “Were you just dropping by for a little work out or did you come look’n for me?” His tone was accusatory again because he suspected he knew the answer.

“Corporal Kline informed me you were down here and that you might need someone to talk to.” Malcolm confessed.

Trip frowned. “That was none of her damn business.”

Malcolm stepped in front of Trip and demanded, “Who are you really angry with, Trip?”

Trip shook his head and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to come up with a rational sounding answer when he wasn’t quite sure himself. “I’m not angry at anyone, Malcolm. It’s just this whole damn situation is… frustrating.”

Malcolm frowned, trying to follow. “You mean with T’Pol? You said she was better now.”

“Yeah, just peachy.” Ouch! Maybe I should have used different adjective.

“Glad to hear it actually. She was quite bad off down there on the planet. Not as crazed as she was on the Seleya mind you, but Phlox and the Captain were extremely concerned so we all knew it had to be bad.”

That prompted Trip to ask, “Do ya know why they didn’t try to um, treat her down there?” Trip wasn’t sure how much Malcolm knew. He hoped the conversation didn’t become embarrassing.

“I’m not sure really.” Malcolm was shaking his head and looked as if his was trying to recall events. “Phlox gave her a few hyposprays, but I’m guessing that whatever they had to treat her down there wasn’t good enough.”

Trip smirked as he wondered what Malcolm would say if found out about the unknown slight he’d just given himself.

“Did the stuff the Vulcan’s brought on board do the job?”

Trip tried to think how to field the question. He wasn’t sure what Malcolm had been told. “I, uh, guess so.”

“You guess so?” Malcolm was incredulous. “The Captain said you’d been looking after T’Pol this entire time. How could you not know?”

Trip was flustered. “Well, I’m not a doctor. All I know is she’s better now.”

Malcolm regarded Trip for a moment. “You said this situation was making you frustrated. If T’Pol is going to be fine, then what, exactly, is the problem?”

Trip found he could actually answer that one without giving away T’Pol’s secret. “This… thing she had made her, well… she wasn’t able to suppress her emotions like Vulcans normally do.” Trip paused and looked away before continuing, “for a while there I kinda forgot we weren’t, ya know, together anymore.” He stopped when he saw that Malcolm was about to say something. “Not that we were ever really together, like a couple or anything, but she’d made it clear that that wasn’t in the cards right now. Being with her through all this just made me forget that… that’s all.” Trip was looking down at his feet and only looked up again when Malcolm spoke.

“So, you’ve got it bad for her but you think she doesn’t reciprocate?” Malcolm’s expression conveyed sympathy and understanding.

Trip gave him a sad smile. “That’s about the size of it, yeah.”

“Well, she was downright hostile on the planet and it does look like she did a number on you as well, but you said you forgot you weren’t together, so something must have happened between you.”

“Malcolm, she was sick. Whatever happened didn’t mean a thing to her.”

“Ah, but you said her illness caused her to freely express her emotions. So it stands to reason that whatever she said or did would reflect how she actually feels.” Malcolm was smiling, probably thinking he had everything figured out.

“This is gonna sound strange, but her feelings aren’t all that important here. She’s already decided not to let 'em influence her actions. She wants to leave whatever had started between us in the past and move on.” Trip felt drained. He just wanted this to end. Suddenly it occurred to him that he needed it to end or the hurt would tear him apart. A solution came to mind. “Malcolm, you know how we were asked to review the potential crew assignments for the NX-02?”

Malcolm frowned. “You, T’Pol, Phlox, and the Captain were asked to review them.”

“Oh, right, sorry. Well anyway, there was a bit of concern about the new engine specs and how no one that worked on them was will’n ta sign on to the NX-02 having families and all. I told ‘em that their guy would be fine see’n as none of us had any real experience before we launched Enterprise.”

Malcolm was shaking his head in confusion. “Did we just enter a different conversation?”

“What I’m tryin’ to say here is that I could transfer over to Columbia!” Trip was actually excited about his idea. Getting away from the source of all his pain sounded great. He didn’t want to think about it too carefully, for fear of finding a flaw in his plan. Both he and T’Pol needed space. Seeing her and working with her everyday, feeling the way he did, was just too hard. This way he could move on. Maybe she’d even come to realize that she could have logic in her life and him as well. But he couldn’t count on that happening and if she did decide against him it would he a lot easier to take if she was already out of his life.

“I think you’ve come down with that madness T’Pol had,” Malcolm said dryly. “You can’t actually be serious.”

Trip looked him squarely in the eye. “I’m serious Malcolm.”

Malcolm put a hand on Trip’s shoulder and gave him a tight squeeze. Trip knew he meant it as a show of friendship but, with all his bruises, it hurt and he tried not to wince.

“I had no idea you were that crazy about her. I should have I suppose, the way you kept denying it. Methinks the engineer protests too much.” Malcolm gave him a sad smile.

“Yeah, well, it kinda snuck up on me.”

“Was that before or after you met your son?” Malcolm teased.

Trip laughed and freed himself from Malcolm’s grasp.

“Seriously, though, talk to the Captain about this. You should talk to T’Pol too. If things really are as bad as you think they are now, you could still put in for a transfer.” Then Malcolm gave Trip an appraising look and frowned. “I think your first order of business should be to get some rest. You look terrible.”

Trip gave Malcolm an annoyed look. “Gee, thanks.” Then shook his head slowly and chuckled softly. “I guess I should rest up if I’m going to be fixin’ the ship tomorrow.”
Trip walked away but stopped at the exit and turned back to Malcolm. “Thanks, Malcolm.”

“Don’t mention it,” Tri p heard Malcolm reply before he nodded and left the room.

Part 5 (Chapters 7 & 8)

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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

"Seriously guys, the angst is almost over."
It better be!!
And T'pol better learn to express herself a bit quicker. Loved the begining, and the middle of the story really showed their mutual concerns and fears of loss. I really am lookin forward to the this mess gettin resolved. Cant wait for the talk that T/T need to have. Update again soon Athena. Pleaseeeeeeeeee!!

Wow !!! What can I say ,It took my breath away !!!
Great writing look forward to the next chapter.

Aw, poor Trip. I sure hope T'Pol makes it up to him.

It better be almost over, this stuff is killing me! Seriously, though, great story, I love it. "Please sir(ma'am), I want some more!" :)

Wow... Please tell me that Trip doesn't do a sneaky transfer to the Columbia like he did in the show!

I loved this, though! I can't wait for more!

Another transfer? We had that in the show - and it almost killed me! Don´t do that! Pleeeeezzz!
When comes the next part? Tomorrow? *gg*
(BTW - I love this story!)

I love it, but please, please make him happy, I want him to be happy. Thank yu.

Yikes.... I think you've come down with Coto disease.... You trying to give your readers a heart attach.. Seriously, great writing, but I am getting an ulcer here.....And I thought I was sadistic..........T.

Yay! Update! Fantastic, Athena. :) Can't wait for more . . .

Does your heart just break for Trip or what?

Great job, Athena. :)

I *LOVE* this story! Please update quickly!

Love it! Poor, clueless, Trip!

patiently waiting for more..hmm...da-dum...sigh...
WELL???
;o)

There are days I just want to shake T'Pol until her common sense rattles. And the conversation between Trip and Malcolm was great. How could T'Pol fail to open up even a little to Trip with them now being bonded and him stepping up to the plate for her - yet again? Ali D :~)

AAUUGGHH!! You're killing me here...LOL. Hurry up with the fluff already! Just kidding. I'm loving it. Incredibly written. I'm totally drawn in with every chapter. Please get them into some kind of loving understanding soon though. I don't know how much more of this I can take ;-)

Oh man!... definitely have to update soon. This is a fantastic fic series and I hope that Trip's heartache ends soon.

I've just about had it with the angst! What is with T'Pol?? She never seems to be able to just go with the flo, or Trip in this case!! I'm really enjoying it and hope I will be put out of my agony soon.

Update soon please.

No, no, no. That´s no more fun! (weeping)

Please stop torturing Trip soooooooon! (And perhaps a little smack over the head for T`Pol??)

Ah, these two (and the author...) are gonna kill me! Will they ever 'communicate'? Aaagghhh. Wonderful chapter, by the way-you wouldn't have me all twisted up if it weren't ;-) I have my suspicions about what you're gonna do to them...yet you've promised us mush...keeping my fingers crossed till your next. Thanks for sharing this great story!

I can't wait to read the sappy part of this story.
Please update soon.