Amends

Amends

By Interlude

Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I wish I owned these characters and the Star Trek universe, but alas it just ain’t so. Paramount does, however, so let me just say that no infringement is intended and that I won’t be making a red cent off of any of this.
Category: Angst/Friendship/Romance/Vignette
Archiving: Please archive with permission only. Email me at writeinterlude@yahoo.ca.
Summary: This interaction happens just a couple of short weeks after the episode, Bound, when Trip has returned from Columbia. As great as the Corridor scene was, I wanted more. Here’s the conversation that needed to happen.

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They had resumed their neuropressure sessions, though not with the same frequency as before in the Expanse. The two Commanders’ sleep patterns had since returned to normal, but both had agreed to pick up the sessions again.

This was of great relief to the Chief Engineer, Trip Tucker, who had indeed hoped his Vulcan shipmate would agree to his request without the need for too much arm twisting.

Commander Tucker had just transferred back to Enterprise no more than a week or so earlier after having served a short stint aboard Columbia. His attempt to run from certain complications on the Enterprise had failed miserably and he had reconsidered his transfer. He was indeed relieved and happy to be back aboard with his old friend, Captain Jonathan Archer, and the rest of Enterprise’s crew, including one Vulcan in particular.

His homecoming had left him feeling rejuvenated and content. Things were finally getting back to normal and for that he was truly grateful.

Since leaving the Expanse and restoring the timeline, Enterprise had resumed her mission of exploration and Archer was thankfully back to his old self. The intense and unrelenting man of the Expanse had all but vanished and the crew no longer walked on eggshells in Archer’s presence.

And, perhaps most importantly to Trip Tucker, his relationship with T’Pol was on the mend. Her admission to him in the corridor that she wanted him back and the ensuing kiss afterward had repaired the damage to their friendship and had perhaps even deepened it. Where they took it from here was uncertain, but she seemed satisfied to take things one day at a time…and that made Trip Tucker happy.

T’Pol and Trip had since spent a great deal of their off-duty time together, sharing meals and trips to the gym. He felt closer to T’Pol than ever before and hoped she felt the same. They were working well together on duty too; they argued less, listened more and rarely called on Archer to referee their disputes as before.

They were, however, careful to keep their personal relationship…professional. They only spent time in public areas on the ship, though it was not something they had exactly discussed nor decided upon ahead of time. And although Trip was not complaining, he would be the first to admit that he missed his one on one time with T’Pol in the privacy of her quarters.

The crew was beginning to take note of their companionship and Trip was finding it increasingly difficult to spend any time with T’Pol without feeling the eyes of the Enterprise upon them. Intimate looks that would once would have gone unnoticed now seemed to drive the regular rumor mill. There was no end to the ribbing that Trip was getting from his friend Malcolm Reed, the ships Armory Officer. Trip craved the sanctuary of T’Pol’s quarters and had decided to ask T’Pol about picking up their neuropressure sessions again. He supposed he could just come right out and tell T’Pol he wanted to be alone with her, but he was honestly afraid of how she might react to such an obvious admission. Yes, the neuropressure was just an excuse, but it was one Trip Tucker could live with for the time being. This way, the crew could simply revert to the same idle gossip as before when Trip and T’Pol first undertook the sessions and no one would be the wiser. Convincing T’Pol to resume the treatments would, however, be easier said than done.

Despite her years on Enterprise, T’Pol was still Vulcan and short of outright fibbing about irregular sleep patterns, Trip wasn’t sure that her Vulcan logic would permit such an indulgence. He just hoped she wouldn’t call him on his excuse; Trip knew he couldn’t mask his true motivations for wanting to carry on with the neuropressure, but hoped instead to perhaps soften them with a good excuse. He suspected, however, that she might dismiss his arguments of the crew’s musings, opting to keep their relationship within the safe, platonic confines of the Enterprise’s public areas. He was munching on a plate in the mess hall, going over his argument, when the comm. unit chimed.

“Commander, Tucker?” came the familiar voice.

Getting up from his seat, Trip walked to the wall and activated the comm. unit.

“Tucker here,” he replied.

“Commander Tucker,” T’Pol’s voice carried through the mess hall. “Please report to the Command Room.”

“Something serious, Commander?” he replied, arching an eyebrow.

“I’ll brief you when you arrive.”

“Can do. I’m on my way,” Trip replied as he deactivated the comm. unit and headed for the Command Room.

The Command Room was infrequently used these days since leaving the Delphi Expanse. It was inconveniently located to the bridge and the decision had been made to convert the space to a research station. It was presently the night shift and Trip Tucker wondered what was going on. He didn’t think T’Pol was supposed to be on duty any more than he was.

The doors hissed as the Chief Engineer entered the room. T’Pol was standing by one of the main display screens, her back to the door, reviewing what looked to be the Vulcan database. Other than T’Pol, the room was empty.

“Hey, what’s happening?” Trip chimed.

Turning slightly, T’Pol responded, “I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, Commander, but I wished to discuss my personal project.”

“Oh ,” Trip replied, slightly relieved they didn’t have a situation on their hands. “No problem. I was mostly finished anyway. Need help with something?” he offered.

Since first joining the crew of the Enterprise, T’Pol had been diligently adding to the Vulcan database. She had been documenting every encounter with alien species and had in particular been working to rectify certain inadequate representations about Humanity in the hopes of facilitating future Vulcan-Human relations.

“With your permission,” she replied, “I’d like to document our neuropressure sessions while in the Expanse.”

“”Uhh…,” Trip struggled for something to say, as he recalled some of the more intimate moments.

T’Pol noted Trip looked suddenly uncomfortable and quickly added, “I am, of course, only referring to the scientific aspect of conducting neuropressure on a human. As I have pointed out to you in the past, I do believe that you are the first human to have ever participated in neuropressure.”

Trip seemed to relax a little at this and let out a laugh.

“Whew. You had me worried there for a second, T’Pol,” he said then added, “I didn’t think you were one to kiss and tell.”

This got Trip a raised eyebrow and a knowing look.

“Commander,” she countered, “I’m quite certain that including certain other details would risk compromising us both equally,” she said emphasizing the words other details.

Trip Tucker glanced down at his shoes for a moment and then looked at her again.

“Even if it was an experiment?” he replied.

T’Pol looked surprised and Trip saw her jaw muscles tighten. His gut twisted and he immediately wished he could take back his stupid remark. Why bring this up now? he thought to himself. Their eyes met as they probed each other for what to say next.

T’Pol finally broke the silence.

“Trip,” she said, “There is something that I’ve been meaning to say for a while now.” She paused here momentarily to gather her thoughts.

“I regret some of my past comments as I recognize now how they were inappropriate. I was ill prepared for…the aftermath,” she added, not finding more appropriate terminology. “I’m ashamed of how I handled things after; and despite the fact that we’ve since reconciled in many regards, I’ve never directly acknowledged my actions.” Here, her voice cracked ever so slightly. She was in that moment more vulnerable than Trip had ever seen her.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

The sincerity of her apology made Trip’s insides ache. Her unexpected acknowledgement of what had happened took Trip by surprise and he fumbled with what to say or do. Finally reaching out, he touched her forearm ever so slightly.

“Thank-you,” he said softly and sighed. He shook his head, still struggling to find the words. Swallowing hard, he continued.

“T’Pol…that night…you just blew me away. I never expected or thought that it might happen and then when it did…I just assumed it meant as much to you as it did to me,” Trip said, pausing momentarily to find the courage to finish the last part of the sentence. “I’m sorry I was so angry for so long after….when we talked the next day, you seemed to regret what happened…it just killed me.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated as she placed her free hand over Trip’s. “I never intended to cause you discomfort. I was…disarmed…by the intensity of the experience, but mostly,” she paused, “mostly by my feelings for you. As Vulcans, we are taught to suppress our emotions above all else,” she said emphatically. “My regret was not for what happened but for my loss of control, my kobat’es…my weakness. I did not intend for this to happen as it did and I regret how we left things,” she finished.

Trip let her words flow over him.

“The honest truth, T’Pol, is that I couldn’t stay mad at you if I tried…and believe me, I tried,” he said jokingly.

T’Pol tried her best to maintain her composure. Months of guilt and sorrow were washed away as she finally felt the past being laid to rest for the first time since that fateful night.

Knowing the moment couldn’t last forever, Trip smiled and gave her forearm a squeeze and then eased himself away.

“So, how ‘bout this database then?” he asked smiling.

“Yes…the database,” she repeated, pulling her herself from Trip’s gaze.

“I believe your experiences will contribute to a better understanding of human physiotherapy. On a personal note,” she continued, “I was going to ask if you wished to continue with our sessions, perhaps with a greater emphasis on the meditative component.”

Trip was taken aback a little and silently chided himself for being unprepared with an appropriate response that would neither seem too disinterested or too eager.

Looking down at the PADD in her hand, presumably reviewing some information, she added, “You seem to have gained an appreciation for meditation. I would be willing to assist you with your continued studies.”

She paused before looking up at him and adding with a look that melted Trip’s insides, “I believe we still have much to learn.”

“I’d like that”, Trip said with a smile. “When can we start?”

fin

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

ye-ah i'm first, liked it a lot, sequel please

That was a moment that would have been good to have after Bound. An honest discussion of the morning after, with the proper amends.

I like the thought of TnT resuming neuropressure. It always seemed like a comfortable intimate couple thing to do that isn't necessarily sexual, but can be.

I enjoyed this story muchly. Thank you for writing it!

I can see the writers of the series being willing to go with this as a compromise. It's certainly more believable than the "fall into each others' arms, get married, and have babies" scenario we get with some other TnT shipper fanfics... including my own, to some extent. I like the restraint and subtlety of this scene... but if the relationship moves on behind closed doors in a sequel, I wouldn't be adverse to reading that either, LOL!

This was a great scene and carefully played out. Great job!

I absolutely loved this... honestly. It's a more gradual approach to a potential continuation of the relationship. I would be lying if I said that this wasn't what I really would have liked to see in a season five.

Since this is post-Bound, it makes perfect sense for the two of them to be more cautious around one another and more hesitant to just jump into bed. Nicely done and I hope to see more from you...

I liked the apology. It sounds like the way T'Pol would manage it.

Thanks for the awesome feedback folks and let me just say how nice it is to "meet" you. I was a die hard TNG fan and honestly missed Enterprise when it originally aired. I'm watching it in syndication now on Space and even though I've only seen Season 2 and part of Season 3 cohesively, I'm flat out hooked and am already bracing myself for the end. Sigh. Anyway, I must thank the creators of this site and the great image gallery that has been so helpful in piecing together the rest of the series for me. I do hope to write more soon, maybe even to venture into some post series adventures. We'll just have to wait and see though...I need a more complete understanding of the series to attempt anything like that, I think. Thanks again for reading!

Welcome to the fold, Impulse. We're always eager for fresh blood, LOL! If this was your first TnT fic, I must say that I am truly impressed. I'm really looking forward to your future contributions.

Just an FYI that I sometimes will accidentally use the handle Impulse instead of Interlude. The first is an old name that I had to abandon, but every once in a while it still slips out. Thanks for understanding and for the kind words of encouragement. LOL...I've only been here a few minutes and I'm already having an identity crisis. :)

Potato... potahto... Interlude... Impulse... whatever floats your boat, dear. We're easy. ; )

LOL...thanks.

Nice interaction between them. A good way to work out their problems. T

Yes, THIS is the conversation that needed to happen. And you stick very close to the feel of the series as you do it, probably because you are new.

Distracted is right, we tend to get a little carried away on this site. Yes, in most fics the apology leads to marriage and babies, but I have also read fics where the apology goes very badly. I am partial to the stories where this apology involves alot of hurt feelings, soul-searching, and tears before Trip decides to forgive her, IF he decides to forgive her! Especially tumultuous are the stories where T'Pol decides to confess the role that Trellium addiction played in the whole messm, or how she manipulated him into breaking up with Amanda.

Again, congradulations for writing this. Its tone would have fit well in a season 5. But feel free to get carried away! YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED!

Me like! This was pretty, and I really liked that it ended on a happy, hopeful note! (I'm a sucker for a happy ending, I'm not going to lie..) Welcome to the site, and well done! :)

I loved it! It was real and honest. I hope to continue reading more of your stories... Keep on writing!

Good story.

I liked this a lot. I think this is one of the few adult conversations these two have ever had. Excellent work!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Much appreciated.