Above/Beyond... - Ch. 2

Above and Beyond Friendship

By Beeswax

Disclaimers in Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Aftermath

Trip knew she was gone before he opened his eyes. He kept them closed as he sat up and stretched, wincing as he raised his left arm over his head. The pain forced him to open his eyes. He glanced down at the purplely gray finger-shaped bruises dusted over most of his body.

"And this was being careful?" He shook his head. Then he got up, dressed carefully and dragged himself toward the mess hall.

He hadn’t been there a few minutes when the Doctor hailed him to report to sickbay. Trip walked over to the Comm and called down.

"Doc, I’m really busy, can it wait?" Trip knew he needed to have his shoulder looked at, but he didn’t feel like answering questions right now. Besides, as long as he kept his hand in his pocket, it didn’t hurt that much.

"Just come see me sometime today, please, Commander Tucker."

Most of the crewmen in Engineering instinctively steered clear of Commander Tucker that morning. They could tell something was bothering him. After he yelled at Crewman Deitrich for leaving fingerprints on the viewport of the Engine casings and then barked at Ensign Parker for "thunderin’" up and down the breezeways, there was no doubt there was something seriously wrong.

Archer could feel the tension like a physical presence all around him as he walked by to see if Trip would like to grab lunch with him. He found Commander Tucker bent over a schematic blueprint in the far corner of Engineering. All the other members of the department were on the opposite side of the space. The engineer jumped and let out an audible cry as his friend and captain laid a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Trip, is something wrong?"

"No sir. Nothin’s wrong. Why?"

"You seem a little jumpy."

"Jumpy, sir?"

Archer gave up. "I came by to see if you wanted to grab some lunch. I thought we could go over that engine design modification you’ve wanted to discuss. Then I could send the proposal to Starfleet by the end of the week."

Usually Trip’s eyes would dance with excitement at the mere mention of his current pet project. He had been after Jon for weeks to discuss it. Now it seemed to effect no change in him at all.

Trip could see the worry on Archer’s face. He smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Cap’n. Actually, I kinda need to go see the Doc, I think I sorta knocked my shoulder outa whack yesterday and I guess the pain is gett’n to me. Rain Check?"

Archer looked visibly relieved at such a mundane explanation.

"Sure. Maybe later this week. If you’re hurt, see the Doc and take the afternoon off. Get some rest." Archer turned and began to leave, but then he turned and looked at his Chief Engineer again.

"I think I’m going to tell T’Pol to take the day off too. She’s been acting oddly ever since the Suliban incident. I thought getting her off the ship for a few days might help, but she’s been even more withdrawn since she got back." Jon cocked his head at Trip waiting to see if his friend would volunteer any information. When Trip stayed quiet, Jon probed further.

"Did she behave oddly while you were out? Did she say anything to you on the mission?" Then he stopped again, considering before adding, "Did something happen... on the mission?"

Trip’s face became emotionless as he answered. "No sir, nothing happened on the mission." Jon knew that his hunch was right, that there was something going on between his two senior officers, but he also knew Trip wouldn’t lie. He was about to ask another question when Trip turned back to his schematic and Jon knew he had pushed too hard. He left quietly.

Trip may have been looking down at the schematic, but he wasn’t seeing anything but red. He wasn’t sure who he was angrier with, the Captain, T’Pol, the Suliban or himself. He had seen the look on Jon’s face. His friend knew this was about T’Pol and it wouldn’t be long till he found out about all of it. The captain always found out when he set his mind to it. Trip figured he probably even knew about T’Pol’s cancelled engagement. He would find out about this too.

But he was angrier with T’Pol. Why didn’t she just tell the Captain about this herself from the beginning? Trip was sure they could’ve taken her home with out too much discussion. Then no one would be in this mess. By the same token Trip wanted to go find Silik and disembowel him with the oldest, rustiest, hunting knife in the Tucker family’s vacation cabin while the rest of the Suliban watched. Just thinking about the horrible things they did to T’Pol made his blood boil.

Most of all, though, Trip was angry with himself. T’Pol had been acting strangely lately. On the away mission she had gotten agitated on several occasions, visibly agitated. Trip should have known something was up. Besides, if her reason was as compromised as she said, he should have known that she would never have asked for his help in her right mind. He had taken advantage of a colleague in an awkward situation to satisfy his own desires. No wonder she had left in the morning with out even speaking to him. This was all his fault and now nothing was right.

When he couldn’t put the pain off any longer, Trip went to see Dr. Phlox.

"Ah, Commander, I see you’ve found time for me?"

"I’m here, Doc, whatcha need?"

"Well first, I want to examine you for fractures and/or internal injuries?"

Trip froze, "Why would you need to do that?"

"Well, by most human standards, you just had a rough night and injuries can sometimes go unnoticed until they are life threatening."

"Rough Night? Where the hell did you hear something like that?"

"Sub Commander T’Pol was here this morning to have her bio-chemical levels checked and she indicated that you might have been inadvertently injured last night."

"Is that right?" Trip was going to kill her. But as he thought about it, he found it kinda sweet that she was at least concerned for his well being. "Well, now that you mention it, my shoulder’s been killin’ me all day."

Trip looked up at the bio scanner image over the scanning tunnel. The doctor seemed almost thrilled to find parallel hairline fractures.

"They aren’t too severe really," He pointed to the image, "just here, bisecting your left scapula. I’ll give you a sling to use for a few days while I treat it. Just come by in the afternoons when you are finishing up for the day. We should be able to have it completely knitted back up with in five days. If it pains you I can give you a mild pain killer and muscle relaxant to help you sleep."

Trip wanted to take a memory killer and life relaxant and never wake up.

"That all, Doc?"

The minute he said it he knew he shouldn’t have asked, he knew there was going to be more.

"How much do you know about Vulcan females, Commander?"

"More than I did before last night, but still not a whole lot. Truth be told, I get the feeling I don’t wanna know much more."

"Yes, I see, well then, have a nice evening, Commander."

Trip’s shoulders hunched and he knew he’d been had. He sat back down on the biobed.

"Lay it on me, Doc. Just make it quick and painless."

Dr. Phlox paused for a moment with that same odd look of joy he had worn when he told Trip he was pregnant.

"For Vulcan women, sexuality is a highly personal thing. The only person they can derive comfort and support from is their mate, through the mental bond that this process creates. T’Pol doesn’t have a mate, she doesn’t even have one of her own people to discuss this with. She is totally alone."

"Doc, you make the problem sound like a long term thing. T’Pol and I did what...she...needed... to... I mean, we took care of the problem. That’s all there was to it. She’s back to normal and my shoulder will be healed in a week."

"That’s not completely true. The eminent danger of her death is over, but there is still more to this whole process for T’Pol."

"And let me guess. I’m the one who has to help her. More late-night visits? What?"

"This is no longer a bio-chemical issue, but an emotional one."

"Doc, are we on the same page here? 'cause last time I heard, Vulcan’s don’t express emotions. So how can they have emotional problems?"

Doctor Phlox’s eyes twinkled mischievously, "Commander, how old were you when you lost your virginity? How was that experience for you, emotionally, physically?"

"That’s none of your damn business!"

"Oh, so that is one of those intensely personal, emotional experiences?"

"Make your point, Doc."

"T’Pol just went through an intensely personal, emotional experience. She needs someone to talk to or at least feel close to. Usually that person would be her mate, someone already bonded to her in marriage as well as mentally through both his Pon Farr and hers. Instead, she has no bond, is surrounded by aliens and having gone through all of this under these circumstances is likely to be considered tainted. She may never marry, bond with anyone or have children of her own... all natural results of Pon Farr."

Trip felt like he had taken the sack of a lifetime. "I’m supposed to help her with all that? Damn it Doc, I’m an engineer not a psychologist!"

Continued in Chapter 3

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