Collective Unconscious

Collective Unconscious

By HopefulNebula

Email: (hopefullynebulous@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Believe me. If I owned Enterprise, it would have been renewed.
Spoilers: This takes place sometime after “Daedalus” so expect general stuff from before that point. This also either takes place before the Andorian arc or pretends it never happened. I allude to future spoilers, but this is AU enough that they really don’t count.
Summary: As Trip and T’Pol awoke one morning from a night of fitful dreams, they found how intertwined their fates truly were.

Note: This is a premise I’ve done once or twice before. I hope to do it right this time. Please pardon the short scenes and POV changes; they’re necessary for the story.

~~~~~

Trip opened his eyes to find himself pressed closely against a warm female body. Even before his eyes had focused enough to see clearly, he knew who he held. His nose knew her scent, just as his hands knew her skin. T’Pol.

As if responding to his thought, T’Pol turned slightly to face him, her dark eyes bright in the dim light. Before Trip could ask what she was doing in his quarters, her lips brushed his. Trip’s mouth opened and he allowed her hands to skim delicately from his chest around to his shoulder blades and then further down his back. The question he had been about to ask was lost now. He felt as if she were studying his body, memorizing it as he had done that night so long ago. Her mouth left his to follow the trail of warmth her hands had created. With every touch, every motion, he felt closer to her. He could barely keep up with her increasingly frenzied pace, grinding his body against hers. He was burning, burning, finally alive… such pleasure he had never experienced, nor imagined possible. She was everywhere: at once above, below and beside; inside and out; united with him for once and forever.

It could have lasted a second or a day—Trip didn’t care. The entire universe was what he held in that moment. T’Pol was his beginning and his end. He felt her passion as well as his. Her heart set his pulse rate.

A long moment of tension passed between them, and Trip closed his eyes for the first time since he had discovered T’Pol in his embrace. Her fingers brushed against his face, tracing the line of his cheekbone, and that was all it took. All the tension within him exploded in a hellacious release, and T’Pol’s entire body shook in welcome.

When he next opened his eyes, she was gone.

~~~~~

T’Pol’s bed sheets were covered in sweat when she awoke. Her heart was beating much faster than normal and she could not control her breathing.

These dreams of hers had become a constant in the time since she had started taking Trellium-D; they had even been the impetus for her to admit her addiction. She had expected them to abate after she had regained her control, but even now—after starting to learn the true meaning of being Vulcan—they had only gotten more vivid and explicit. It seemed that the more she distanced herself from him, the stronger the dreams became. They were much like Trip in that sense: they were tenacious and she could not ignore their grasp upon her any longer, not when she sat alone on her bed, covered in rapidly cooling perspiration, gasping for breath.

He was her mate, half of her heart and soul. He was the one she desired—no, craved. Yet she could not have him any more than she could become human. He was too emotional, she chided herself as she finally regained control over her mutinous lungs.

He was what she desired beyond logic, and it was precisely for that reason that she could never have him. Her subconscious, however, refused to let him go. Even as she splashed cold water against her face, attempting to wash away the memory of ravishing dream-Trip, she felt his presence within her.

~~~~~

Trip’s dreams were becoming crueler and crueler. The fact that he could easily tell now that these were dreams was even more painful for him because he knew it wasn’t real, and yet every night she would pleasure him more intensely than the night before. That’s just like T’Pol, he mused. Even if it’s not really her. She breaks my heart when I’m awake and makes love to me when I’m sleeping.

He couldn’t take much more of this.

~~~~~

T’Pol stared at her unlit meditation lamp. She knew she would dream about him whether or not she meditated before retiring. Perhaps making the dream more vivid wouldn’t hurt, not for one night, she thought.

~~~~~

It was the waking up that was painful, Trip realized. In his dreams he could at least be with her on some level. Besides, his subconscious knew exactly what he liked. Tonight, though, Trip decided to take control of his dream. This was going to be his turn.

~~~~~

T’Pol felt Trip’s body against her more acutely than ever. Before she could even move, Trip—not really Trip, she fruitlessly reminded herself—kissed her hard right above her collarbone. His hands slid behind her to caress her upper back; his mouth moved down and then up to her lips, capturing what was left of her voice. He moved one hand between them and used it to caress and roll her breasts. As he continued his ministrations, T’Pol barely had time to wonder at how independent her mind’s creation had become before she abandoned rationality for pleasure.

She didn’t know why—perhaps it was her passive role in the dream, perhaps something else entirely—but this particular dream seemed to last much longer than the others. Her desire, her passion, her love for the man atop her had grown exponentially and she was so close to breaking.

As the dream scene faded around her, she heard his voice—his deep, husky, glorious whisper—stir her sensitive hearing. “You’re just a dream, but I’ve gotta say this. I love you, T’Pol.”

It was the words’ sound rather than their meaning that snapped her awake. She wasn’t even sure if she had heard what she thought she had heard. T’Pol’s eyes flickered from point to point across her quarters. This was not what she had expected.

~~~~~

To her credit, she made it through her entire duty shift before seeing the doctor. The captain had noted how distracted she had been and had made a covert threat to send her there himself, but he had chosen to let her go on her own time.

“Doctor?”

“Aaah, Commander. Please, sit down.” T’Pol complied, sitting rather awkwardly on the biobed Phlox had indicated. Her resolve suddenly faltered and she found herself searching for another reason for being in Sickbay.

“Are those further scans of the silicon virus?” she asked upon noticing the nearby computer display.

“Yes. I’m trying to find an explanation for its spontaneous disappearance,” Phlox replied.

“Of course. Please inform me if I can assist.”

“Certainly.” Phlox’s smiling face turned serious as he faced her more directly. “But I assume you’re here for me to assist you, so tell me: what can I do for you?”

Had she been human, T’Pol would have sighed. Phlox noted the trepidation in her voice as she began. “I believe I am exhibiting the initial signs of pon farr.”

Phlox’s eyes widened and all remaining trace of humor left. Without a word, he picked his hand scanner up and made a preliminary scan. After a moment in which the only sound was the scanner’s hum, he spoke. “That’s odd. These readings don’t seem to match…” Without further explanation, or need thereof, he went to his desk, pulled up T’Pol’s medical file, and accessed the readings he’d taken during her artificially induced pon farr from three years ago. “Indeed. They don’t match at all. What, may I ask, are your symptoms?”

T’Pol’s neck tensed at the intimate question but she understood its necessity all the same. “Dreams—erotic dreams. I have also had trouble concentrating and my thoughts have been erratic.”

“I see. Please lie down so I can take a more detailed scan.” T’Pol complied and Phlox set the scanner.

Even as the table on which T’Pol lay left the scanner, Phlox was engrossed in his readings. T’Pol stood and observed the readings from behind the doctor.

“Well, the good news is that there are no signs of pon farr. The bad news, however, is that I have no idea what this means.” He indicated a section of the display. “The pattern seems almost… human. And the synaptic activity in this section of your brain has nearly doubled since my last scan.”

“That is the part of the brain that is closest connected with our telepathy,” she whispered disbelievingly.

“If you wish, I can give you a neural suppressant, but I have no idea how effective it would be, or even if it would have any effect, until I can figure out the cause of this. Is there anything else you can tell me about this?”

“The dreams…” T’Pol’s voice stopped in fear she would never acknowledge. “They all center around one person.”

“Who?”

“Commander Tucker.”

Phlox tried to hide a smile but didn’t succeed in time. “Indeed. Have you spoken to him about this?” T’Pol did not answer, but tilted her head slightly downward in what would have been shame, had she been human. “Of course not.” A tense silence snapped between them as Phlox waited for T’Pol to answer. Not even the doctor’s menagerie made noise. When it became evident to him that she would remain silent, he decided to press. “How long have you been experiencing these… symptoms?”

“Since I was first exposed to Trellium.” Phlox’s face instantly turned reproachful. He knew how stubborn she was, but it was unlike her to go so long without requesting treatment. Before he could ask why she hadn’t told him, she continued. “I had assumed that they were a product of my Trellium exposure and would fade or stablize with time. They have only become stronger, though, and lately, they have become uncontrollable.” She shuddered in remembrance of his body against hers, his whisper, his breath in her hair.

“How lately?”

“They have slowly grown stronger since my initial exposure to Trellium. Since my marriage, their strength has increased exponentially.”

Phlox pondered this for a moment.

“I think I will have to speak with Commander Tucker before I can diagnose you, Commander.”

T’Pol nodded and left.

~~~~~

What could be so important that he’s pulling me out of work for this? Trip wondered as he made his way from Engineering to Sickbay. He occupied himself so well with speculation that he didn’t realize T’Pol was in the corridor until they collided with one another. As they caught their balance, hands on each other’s shoulders. For just a moment, something almost like understanding passed between them. When Trip blinked, T’Pol had hurried away.

“So what’s going on, Doc?”

“I have a theory I wish to test, and for that I need a scan of you. Please lie down.”

“Whoa, whoa. Wait a sec. What exactly are you testing for?” Trip asked.

“I cannot tell you until after the scan. Rest assured, you are not in any danger.”

Trip complied, but as the doors closed, Phlox could hear him mutter “Then why take me out of Engineerin’?”

The scan didn’t take long. As soon as he had found the readings he needed, Phlox freed Trip from the tubular scanner. Trip sat up, regained his balance, and then stood as if to return to work. “Just a second,” Phlox cautioned. The doctor looked at the results, hummed slightly, and paged T’Pol.

“Wait a second. What—why? Tell me what’s goin’ on here.”

“You wanted to know what my theory was, didn’t you?” Phlox asked.

Trip narrowed his eyes. The doctor was hiding something, he knew it. “Why can’t you tell me right now?”

“Because I don’t want to explain it twice. Now sit.” Trip knew better than to disobey that tone, so he sat.

T’Pol arrived fairly quickly. She had only left Sickbay as a courtesy to Trip; she knew her presence there would cause him undue tension, and perhaps even pain. Without a word of greeting to either man, she sat beside Trip. Phlox pressed a button on the display.

“These are comparative scans of both of your brains. The ones on top are from your most recent physical exams. The ones on bottom are from today. You see the extra synaptic activity here.” He pressed another button, and two graphs appeared on top of the scans. “These are your brain wave patterns, as recorded today. Commander Tucker, yours have changed significantly. You’ll notice the increase in theta waves. This pattern, though still human, seems almost Vulcan. Commander T’Pol, yours have changed in a similar way, although they more closely emulate a human pattern.”

“I didn’t think this was possible,” T’Pol whispered.

“What? Will one of you tell me what the hell is going on here? I’m getting pretty damn sick of sitting here waiting for one of you to explain this to me in plain English.”

“Commander…” Phlox attempted to placate the human.

“It means,” T’Pol said, a bit louder than was necessary, “that we have become bonded.”

At that Trip froze. He didn’t know the significance of the word, but he knew that it was significant. Very significant. He addressed his words only to T’Pol. “How, exactly, do you mean?”

“It means that we are connected to each other, Trip. Mentally and emotionally bound to one another.”

Trip stared, not out of a lack of understanding, but out of shock. “So… so what does this mean… for us?”

T’Pol brought her hand to his and tested the doctor’s unspoken theory. It means we are mates.

It was amazing. Just from her touch he felt her thoughts, an otherworldly buzzing in his mind. They swarmed through him, traveling with the blood in his veins and the energy in his nerves. Their joining that night had been a muted version of this, he realized. Now he knew why that time was so different: not because his partner was Vulcan, but because they were meant to be together.

Snapping out of his amazement, he noticed her eyes staring into his as if they were lost. She was waiting.

Is that such a bad thing? he ventured mentally. And suddenly, he fell. Inundated by thoughts, images, explanations. So many new things, all of them hers. Melds, bonding, fear, Trellium, regret, Trip. He saw himself as T’Pol saw him, at the Fire Plains, in her quarters, in her bed. In her dreams—the same ones he’d had. There was so much, too much to comprehend at once, and from the looks of things T’Pol was under the same strain. Through everything he found, there was an undercurrent of newfound acceptance. She had been afraid that his feelings would be transitory until she had felt them for herself. That was why she had pushed him away, why she had let him go. But she was back, and she felt.

“Commanders?”

A wave of possessiveness crashed over T’Pol, spilling over into Trip, and that was the moment they both knew exactly how deeply each belonged to the other. Though both looked at Phlox and appeared to be attentive, their hands and minds never left each others’.

This explains so much… T’Pol… you’re like water to me. Without you I die.

And you are my air.

Joy surged through Trip. Pure, undistilled joy. If you need to breathe, I get off duty in half an hour.

Meet me in my quarters then.

Though both of them turned their attention to the doctor, their hands didn’t part until they had thanked him and almost reached the sickbay doors. Trip smiled. That was definitely worth getting pulled out of work for, he mused, and turned his thoughts to what he might dream about that night.

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Nothing more funny then T'pol geting the Shit scared out of her by a good Dream. Loved it. Great story.

Yeah, I was waiting for a story like this since I first heard of their bond !!!!!
Very well done !!!!!!!!!!

Oh please tell me there is a part 2 or another chapter.

Oh, this definitely deserves a sequel, seriously. There is so much else to explore. Poor Phlox must be so confused. LOL.

I dunno Jenna, I think after a while of observing them he'd figure out what their doing! :D Great story, HopefulNebula!

I dunno Jenna, I think after a while of observing them he'd figure out what their doing! :D Great story, HopefulNebula!

Yeah, you definitely have to continue this one... ;-)

Absolutely fabulous! I adored this story and the way you depicted first T'Pol's dreaming of Trip then Trip getting his own back by manipulating the dream only for them both to discover they are well and truly bonded! Hooray, at last. Thank you for a lovely story, Ali D :~)

Wonderful, I'd love it if they do this one the show. Great work, keep continuing.

Wonderful! I loved this! Thank you!

Great story! Thanks!

very erotic! THANKS! LOL