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Seventeen

Author - Mrs Tucker | Genre - Angst | Genre - Drama | Main Story | Rating - G | S
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Seventeen

By Mrs. Tucker

Rating: G
Genre: drama
Disclaimer: These are not my characters, Paramount owns them. I just love ’em! I am making no money off any of these characters.
Spoilers for season 3, "Similitude."
Summary: Enterprise works to find out more about the Xindi after the Captain and T’Pol come back from the past, Trip remembers parts of Sim’s short life.

****************

”What’s driving me crazy is I don’t know if these feelings are mine, or his.”

”I can’t answer that.” T’Pol said, voice shaky.

”Aaah!” Trip Tucker woke up breathing hard and nearly screaming as he remembered Sim’s last days.

”Oh, my god” he said “He told her, she knows! Shit.”

Trip got up and walked to his bathroom to splash some water on his face and try to forget what he had just remembered. He shook his head, and looked at his alarm clock. Realizing he would be getting up in twenty minutes anyway, he decided to just take a shower, eat and head for engineering early.

He jumped in the shower, turning up the water as high as he could without burning himself, thinking about what to say to T’Pol about what happened, if anything. He hadn’t wanted her to know how he felt about her. He was damned positive she didn’t return his feelings and she would probably laugh in his face—whether that was possible for a Vulcan or not. He decided he’d just try to avoid her as best he could when off duty and be completely professional while on duty. He’d even skip their neuro-pressure sessions—she had a habit of knowing if he was thinking about something serious when they were so close.

*********************************

Trip stood in engineering, running diagnostics on engineering systems to keep himself busy. Unfortunately for him, all systems were running efficiently. Realizing he had absolutely nothing to do, he decided to purge the impulse manifolds. He only had half an hour on duty and it’d take about that long. He would use the time to think of how to get out of his neuro-pressure session T’Pol that night.

*********************************

T’Pol stood in the cargo bay with Hoshi trying to get what they could out of the Xindi technology they brought back from the 21st century. Hoshi was translating the information, and T’Pol would make what she could from it.

”Sub-commander?” Hoshi called to T’Pol.

”Yes, Ensign?”

”I think I’ve found something” she handed T’Pol what looked like a Xindi PADD

”What does it say?”

”It seems to be a chart of all the Xindi colonies and outposts in the Expanse ma’am.”

”Ensign, translate all of this that you can and download it onto a PADD.”

”Yes ma’am.” Hoshi smiled.

*********************************

One hour later T’Pol and Hoshi walked into the situation room along with the rest of the senior officers. As T’Pol walked in she saw Commander Tucker standing at a display; he turned as he heard the door swoosh open. T’Pol nodded her head to the side at him, and instead of his usual nod and smile response to her, he turned quickly away. Puzzled, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind to think of later. The Captain turned from talking to Malcolm and greeted his officers.

”I called a meeting to check up on all of your progress in your departments. So, Commander Tucker, you first, report.”

”Yes, sir. The engines are running as perfect as can be. No problems whatsoever. We could hold warp 4.5 for 18 hours with no problems. We’re good, sir.” Trip said cheeringly

”Good, Commander. Malcolm?”

”Sir I’ve been working with Commander Tucker to increase power to the phase cannons and torpedo launchers. I’ve also set up a back up charger for the hull plating sir. We should be ready for an attack from a Xindi ship on the ship level. I’ve also been working with the doctor to design a weapon that’ll work against the Xindi-Reptilians sir. We’ve got a prototype, it’ll
take all of another weak to finish it.”

”Good also; let me know when you finish this weapon, Malcolm. I want to see
it. Will you be able to make enough for all of the crew?”

”Not enough for the whole crew sir, not yet, maybe in a few weeks though, Sir.” Malcolm stated.

”Good enough, Lieutenant .”

”Hoshi and T’Pol, your turn.”

Hoshi replied first. “Sir I’ve been able to translate the information from the Xindi technology you brought back. I gave it to the Sub-commander to figure out, Sir.”

”T’Pol?” Captain Archer asked.

”Yes, Captain. It seems to be a star map of all of the Xindi settlements in the expanse. I’ve superimposed our star chart of the area to determine where exactly these settlements are in perspective to our current location.” she said as she walked over to a display monitor and pressed a few buttons.

” This is good news. This is all good news, we’ll just have to search for the weapon the old fashioned way.” she paused, T’Pol raised an eyebrow.

”The ‘old-fashioned way’?”

”We’re going to search them all, every single one of them.”

”Oh, I see.” T’Pol said, eyebrow still raised.

”Malcolm, continue to work with the doctor and Commander Tucker on our defenses; we’ll need them. Travis, plot a course for the nearest planet on that chart, warp 4.0. Hoshi, T’Pol, see if you can find anything else out from those data modules we brought back. Dismissed everyone.”

The group broke apart with a mumbled round of ‘Aye, sir's’ and 'Yes, Captain's’ as they walked off to accomplish their assigned tasks.

T’Pol watched as the members of the senior staff left the situation room, energized and optimistic, most likely, falsely so.

As Trip stood and finished off his conversation with the captain, T’Pol waited; she had intended to speak to the Commander. But, as he finished speaking with the Captain, and saw her waiting for him, he ducked out of the situation room as quickly as was possible. T’Pol cocked an eyebrow and left, thinking of possible reasons for the Commanders strange behavior over last day.


End, Part 1

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

Part 2

As Trip walked from the gym to his quarters, he thought about what Sim had
said to T’Pol. He figured that if he just avoided her for the rest of the
mission, or acted like an ass when he had no choice but to be around her,
all would be well. He entered his quarters and had just stepped into the
shower, when his chime went off. “Damn it” he said, as he grabbed a towel.

He walked up to the door and pressed the open button. “Yea, what do ya
want?” Trip said, growling angrily

”T’Pol?” he said as he lifted his head up, surprised to see her.

”Did I come at a bad time Commander?” she asked.

”Yes, ya did, I was takin’ a shower.” Trip paused, waiting. When she said nothing he continued rudely, “Well what did ya want? I’m busy.”

”I came, because you missed our neuro-pressure session for tonight.” she
said coolly.

”I missed because I don’t need it, and I don’t want it. Is that all you wanted? ‘Cause I really need this shower; I’ve been working all day, and I wouldn’t wanna offend your nostrils, now would I?”

She raised an eyebrow as he finished his statement. “Yes, Commander that is all I wanted.” she said as she turned and left down the corridor. Trip didn't notice the muted look of hurt on her face as she walked away.

He let go of the breath he had been holding once T’Pol had begun to walk away. “Oh god” he said aloud, “I can't take this.” Unhappy with his behavior, Trip turned back to his small restroom.

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water scald away his worries.

********************************

”Travis, how long till we reach that planet?” asked the Captain.

”Twelve hours, Sir” said Travis.

”All right, Ensign. Good. T’Pol, scan for any ships in that area and ours.”

T’Pol started the scan, and thought about the way the commander behaved the night before. She raised an eyebrow as she thought and looked over at him. It seemed he had been staring at her, and he now looked away. She arched her eyebrow higher at his strange behavior.

Trip sat on the bridge and stared at T’Pol, while he wondered what she thought and felt about Sim's statement. He pushed the thought out of his head and stared down at the console as T’Pol turned around and looked at him, eyebrow cocked.


“There are no ships in the vicinity captain, there appears to be no ships within the scanners reach.” T’Pol replied to the captain’s request.

”Ok, good. Keep the scanners going until we have reached the planet, I don’t want any surprises popping up on us.” said Archer.

”Yes, Captain.”

T’Pol set the scanners to continually run and notify if any ship was detected. She sat up in her chair and waited for her shift to be over. She had planned to observe the commander and find the reason behind his current strange behavior when she was present.

*******************************************

As Trip sat and ate his dinner with the Captain and T’Pol, he tried his best to keep his head down and drooped unless Jon started talking to him.

”Trip, I think the chef made pecan pie.” Archer said enthusiastically.

”Uh Huh” Trip muttered.

”Uh, Trip, did ya hear what I said? Pecan Pie!” Archer raised his voice a bit that time, determined to get his chief engineer's attention.

”Huh? Oh, yea, I heard ya, Cap’n, pecan pie” Trip replied after he racked his brain for the captain’s comment.

”Trip, are you ok? You’ve been kind of absent minded the entire meal.”

”Yeah, Cap’n, I’m fine, just a bit tired. I think I’ll head off to bed, I need my rest.” Trip said as he got up and walked out of the captain’s mess

”T’Pol, has Trip been acting strange to you lately?” Archer asked. “This is an important mission, and I don't want him daydreaming right now”

”He has been acting peculiarly as of late, Captain. I thought perhaps he was anxious to find out what was on these Xindi colony planets.”

”Well, I guess so, T’Pol, but I’m a bit worried about him. And if it’s no trouble for you, I would like you to keep an eye on him whenever he’s around you or you two are working together”


”Yes Captain,” T’Pol replied, relieved that she now had an order to watch the commander, as she had planned to do so anyway.

”I will retire now, Captain” she said as she got up, pushing her chair in.

”Ok, T’Pol, and thanks for keeping an eye on Trip.”

”It is a simple matter. There is no need for thanks”

”Well ok, T’Pol. I will see you tomorrow.”

*********************************

As T’Pol walked to her quarters, she stopped, and turned around in the corridor, intending to go to Commander Tucker's quarters instead. She would find out why he had been behaving so strangely over the last two days.

She arrived at his door, pressed his chime, and waited for him to answer the door. When he did, he answered the door in a very rude manner.

”Yes, T’Pol, what do ya need now?” he said trying to be as rude as possible, though he thought maybe T’Pol would be able see through it, he kept his charade going.

”I came because I wanted to ask you why you have been avoiding me as of late, Commander.” she said, coming right to the point.

Trip was caught off guard. “I haven’t been avoidin’ ya T’Pol. Just don’t see a reason why we have to spend time together when we’re not workin' together."

"I see. Have you always felt this way? You have never mentioned it to me before." She tried to hide her disappointment at his response.

"Yes, I mean, No. I mean, T’Pol, can ya just leave me alone? I'm kinda tired, and I don't want ta have any neuro-pressure sessions with ya, ok?” he said, intending to come off as rude.

"Of course, Commander, if I am no longer needed, I will leave." T’Pol said. She almost felt...hurt...as she walked away

Trip wanted to call out to her, tell her he hadn't meant it, that he did need her, that he did want her. He kept his feelings inside, despite their trying to fight their way out.


T’Pol walked to her quarters. As disappointed as was possible, as hurt as a Vulcan could be. She strode into her quarters. She wanted to take a shower, to wash her self of these emotions her heart and mind insisted on producing whenever she spoke to, saw, or even heard Commander Tucker.

She set the shower temperature on as high as it would go without harming her, and stripped herself of her uniform. She stepped in, and thoughts of the commander flooded her mind. She tried to push them to the back of her head; but her efforts would not work, her emotions fought her. She stood in her shower for what seemed like hours, fighting futilely against her own emotions, her own thoughts. One, in particular, kept bombarding her, it would not let up. She had no intention of letting it win. No matter how true it was.

"I do not have feelings for him, I do not have feelings for him” T’Pol repeated again and again, trying more to convince herself than fight off the emotions

Surprised at her own reaction, she stepped out of the shower. It had not helped her at all. She grabbed for a towel and walked out into her main quarters.

She changed into her meditation robes, her hands and body trembling as she went along. When she was finally dressed, she was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to light a candle, but it was difficult because her hands were still shaking. She grabbed her arm with her other hand to steady it. She needed to meditate, no matter what; these emotions needed to be suppressed or they would destroy her.

When she finally lit her candle she closed her eyes and swung her legs under her. She pushed all thoughts out of her head. Finally reaching her equilibrium, she stopped trembling and regained control. But, that feeling was still in the back of her mind fighting to destroy the wall she was steadily building.

End


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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Nice little fic. Foolish Trip. Always over-reacting and doin somethin stupid. And poor T'Pol. Both appear to be trying to avoid dealing with their feelings. More chapters please!

Very nice I look foward to the next chapter. Will look for more. Good work continue.

Wait a sec... was that the end? You will do more won't you! I mean this was great! I loved it, you should keep going... do a sequel... I wanna see more! I have to see if Trip finally get's over his idea that she doesn't want him. She obviously does! Funny how sometimes people just don't see what's right in front of them.

That can't be the end. You have to keep going please please please!!!!!!!

Hey you guys, i'd like to thank you guys for the comment's ive worked really hard on this. An yes, there is a sequel, it's a series, with one fic for each of the xindi planets they visit the next is in the works for you guys. Thanks

Okay, the premise has been set up. I can't wait to see how you intend to develop and complete this story. How will Trip be able to keep up this facade and will the wiley T'Pol see through it? Or will it be up to their friends to turn detective and sort it out? Keep going, this is really good. Ali D :~)

interesting...I can see trip reacting this way...excellent work.
q

Thanks! Coming from you two,(Aquila and Ali D.) that is music to my ears. Thanks really, i have sent the most recent sequel to bucky and it should be up soon, thanks guys, really.

Ok, guys, i've finally finished the sequel. I'm gonna get it beta'd and then send it to Bucky. Ya don't have long to wait.

Aggh! Why is Trip being so thickheaded?? Poor T'Pol!

great fic. but the summery dosen't coenside with the fic.

Uhhh men there always playing hard to get.
They're so stuborn!
Poor t Pol

Where does the title "Seventeen" come in? I saw no mention of it in the story.