A Fine Mess-Ch. 16

A Fine Mess

By Chianna

PG - Action/Adventure/Romance
Disclaimers in part one

Spoilers – Shuttlepod One

Chapter 16

The Dearest Thing

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There was a shout. Sounded like the kid, Travis, Tucker thought wearily just a nanosecond before T’Pol covered him with her body to protect him from harm. More dust drifted from the girders and wreckage steepled above them. She tried to avoid bumping in to him, but under present circumstances, her attempt proved futile. She heard a sharp intake of breath. The commander’s lips were compressed and white as he tried to ride out the pain. For the first time, she contemplated what the Enterprise and her world would be like without this maddening and oddly endearing human.

"Wait, we’ve got the strut in place,’ shouted Travis. "Is everyone OK?"

Tucker finally was able to look up into T’Pol’s face. If they lived through this, he’d have to get up the courage to tell her that it was quickly becoming the dearest thing he’d ever seen.

T’Pol studied Tucker’s eyes. They were veiled now. He could barely lift his lids up. Instead he tipped his head against the bulkhead. Looking at her through his lashes, he managed a watery smile. Trip’s face was an unhealthy color for humans. A sheen of cold sweat covered his face. She had feared that any jostling would cause him more pain. In fact, now she had her answer.

"Go ‘head and tell ‘em we’re doing fine. I don’t have the shout left in me right now."

T’Pol answered that there was no damage. She could not bring her self to say that they were fine. That would be inaccurate in the extreme. She ran another scan and contacted the doctor. Phlox did not need to interpret the readings for T’Pol. She knew that the commander was slipping through her fingers and Dr. Phlox did not recommend using the hypo spray again to assist the commander’s breathing.

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Malcolm held the brace in place as Travis put a weld that would secure it to the deck. Reed could tell that the young man was shook up. The boomer had let on that he was never quite at home on a planet, so his time at Starfleet Academy must have been doubly challenging.

Being on Enterprise was probably the closest thing to replacing the ‘family’ that he left behind to enter Starfleet. A loss in the family would be difficult for Travis. And Mr. Tucker had a way with the less experienced crew. He made them believe that they had what it took to get the job done. He’d even managed to penetrate Malcolm’s cynicism – no mean task, thought Reed. Especially when he had resigned himself to what he thought was inevitable when they were marooned on the shuttlepod a while back. Well maybe I can borrow a page from Mr. Tucker’s book.

"We’re going to get this job done and Mr. Tucker will be fine. Can you even begin to imagine our Chief Engineer being able to rest in peace with engineering looking like THIS?"

For a moment, Travis contemplated the question seriously and then realized that a major leg pulling was happening. For the first time in a while the handsome young face broke into a grin. "Maybe we shouldn’t tell him everything yet. He’d have a stroke if he knew that you had blown out every relay that he had repaired before this whole mess had begun."

Malcolm pulled a face. "You had to remind me? Maybe I can bribe the engineering team into leaving a few pertinent facts out of their report?" Travis just shook his head and laughed. This bit of levity worked, Malcolm reflected. Even he felt a bit better. The weight of the load that both men carried in the real and abstract became lighter as they forged on with the task at hand.

T’Pol could offer no further medical aid and in her frustration she reached down and gently brushed the damp hair from Trip’s forehead.

He felt her soft touch, warm and dry, on his skin. In some way it was more effective than the medicine. It seemed out of character for her until he remembered how T’Pol had been with Rook. "What do ‘ya think you’re doin’ T’Pol?"

"As I have informed you once before, in my studies of Human anatomy and physiology I have read that touch can have a healing and relaxing effect. After your care of my person last night, I can see the logic in this theory. I was cold, tired and had not meditated for over a day. You held me and I was able to rest. For a moment her faced seemed to soften just as he remembered when he watched her sleeping. "I regret that given present circumstances I can not do the same, but I would hold your hand if you would allow it."

Trip imagined being held as he had held her, with his head pillowed on her chest, "Ya’ll never know how much I regret that too, but I'd gladly settle for the substitute." Her hand closed on his.

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Continued in Chapter 17
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