Turn (R)

Turn

By stub & Joe

DATE: 10-25-02

RATING: R, Drama, Angst, Romance

CONTEST ENTRY (Quills)

DISCLAIMER: We don't own the characters and would never presume to take responsibility for their actions. They do what they want. We just type the words.

SUMMARY: Sequel to "Harbinger" Go read that one (at the Pecan Pie Chronicles) and then this one will make much more sense.

NOTES: We honestly had no intentions of making a sequel. But then the Muses decided otherwise. And they did a hell of a job, if we do say so ourselves, even if it did take us months and months.

*********
Chapter 1

They'd stumbled back into T'Pol's quarters, neither one quite willing to let the other go just yet. Trip flopped down on her bed, pulling her with him. He rolled them over so they were on their sides facing each other. They didn't speak, but their eyes said volumes. All the confusion, arousal, affection, worry and uncertainty of the past few hours still hung in the air between them. His arms were wrapped tightly around her. Her hands stroked his face, punctuated with soft kisses.

The gentle, tentative caresses soon turned to more purposeful stroking and they found themselves locked in another passionate embrace. They explored each other with leisurely abandon, hands and tongues canvassing the flesh of the other. Doubts and logic were both forgotten as their physical pleasures mounted. Clear thoughts evaporated as he entered her, thrusting deeply. Her ankles locked around his waist, she thought of nothing but him. His eyes closed and his teeth clenched, he thought of nothing but her. In this moment there were no consequences, there was no tomorrow. There was only her, her climax enveloping them. There was only him, grunting softly in her ear as he came.

The days to follow were nothing less than normal in this new routine. Trip would visit T'Pol's quarters every evening as he had in the past. However, instead of meditating together they'd find themselves naked and tangled in her sheets. They favored sex over emotion; physical pleasure over balance. Hormones and pheromones overpowered reason. Rides in the turbolift were paused, a sexual frenzy exploding inside. Every spare moment was spent together, though they didn't speak a word of it. Duty shifts were distracting, concentration levels low. Both were rapidly losing focus but neither was compelled nor willing to introduce any sort of discussion into their situation. It was if the two had fallen into some sort of coital trance.

Nearly three weeks had passed since the failed experiment in Engineering and the engines were still not at their peak performance. Archer decided a trip downstairs would clear up any doubts as to when Trip would have things at 100%. He found his Chief Engineer sitting at his workstation, absorbed in something on the screen of his computer. The rest of his crew bustled around busily. All seemed to be in order.

"Trip!" Archer greeted his friend.

Trip's head snapped up and a broad grin spread across his face. "Cap'n! What brings you down here to the bowels of Enterprise?"

"Oh, just making my rounds," replied Archer casually. "Everything all right?"

"Fine, sir," the engineer said. "Just a few more adjustments and we should be able to hit Warp Six again."

Archer nodded. "I was beginning to wonder..."

Trip waved his hand and said, "I know, I know. I'm sorry. Things just weren't goin' as fast as they usually do down here."

"Any particular reason for that?" Archer looked at Trip expectantly.

"My plate's full, sir," the younger man said quickly, his smile disappearing. Trip turned his attention back to his computer. "Got a lot to do as of late."

"Trip," the captain said, "is everything all right...personally?"

"What're you fishin' for, Jon?" Trip snapped. He was trying to be friendly but there was a nervous undercurrent in his tone.

Archer sighed. "We're several days behind schedule with the repairs, you've been distracted for the last two weeks and your performance level has dropped twelve percent," he said bluntly. "If you don't want to talk to me about it, that's fine. Just don't let whatever it is interfere with your work. There seems to be a lot of distraction going around...as of late." He echoed Trip's phrasing. "I know everyone has problems from time to time but we can't let these issues affect our mission."

Trip looked up at him. He nodded and swallowed. "Aye, sir," he said, his tone softening. "I'll figure it out, Jon. Promise." He cast one last glance at Archer and forced a smile.

"Okay," Archer said with a nod. "I'll be checking up on you, Trip." He turned and walked out of Engineering, leaving Trip even more distracted.

Trip blew out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Dammit," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

Archer stepped onto the bridge from the lift. He cast a glance around and noticed his science officer staring straight in front of her. Was she daydreaming again? He had noticed that T'Pol had been distracted of late, much like Trip. It suddenly occurred to him that there might be a deeper connection between T'Pol and Trip than he would allow on his ship. It looked like he'd have to speak to her as well.

"T'Pol?" he called.

After a moment, she rose from the Captain's chair and turned to face him. T'Pol raised an eyebrow in question, hands clasped behind her back. "Yes Captain?"

"May I speak with you in my ready room?"

"Of course." She followed him in and stood at attention in front of his desk.

"Have a seat," Archer said, gesturing towards a chair. She complied and waited.

Archer looked at her, trying to gauge from her expressionless face what could have the Vulcan so distracted. He sighed and decided to just come out with it.

"I've noticed you've been somewhat...preoccupied lately. Very unusual for a Vulcan." He waited.

T'Pol held his gaze and blinked once. "I was not aware that my small personal distractions had become public. I apologize. I will be more diligent with my duties, sir."

"I just came back up from Engineering," he continued, seemingly not hearing her last words. "Trip seems to be suffering from the same sort of 'distractions'. Is everything fine?" He paused, then added, "with the both of you?"

"There is nothing out of the ordinary, sir. My situation running parallel with Commander Tucker's must be mere coincidence. I appreciate your concern but it is unnecessary," she stated flatly, but somewhat unconvincingly. She continued with a hint of sarcasm. "Perhaps there is something in the air."

"Maybe, but your performance level has dropped considerably, T'Pol. I have come to expect a lot from my science officer over the years and your current situation is somewhat alarming. I don't want your 'distractions' to affect this ship or our mission." Archer waited, letting his last few words hang in the air between them.

"Captain, I have no intention of letting my personal issues interfere with our mission. There has been a considerable amount of stress over the past few weeks and I may not be dealing with it in the best of ways." She stopped before elaborating further.

"Well," Archer continued, "how would you normally deal with such levels of stress?" He wanted to find out more but did not want to cross what seemed to be an invisible line between the two of them.

T'Pol paused for a moment to carefully phrase her answer. "Well sir, under normal circumstances, I meditate to deal with my personal issues. With all the chaos that Mr. Tucker's warp drive experiment caused and the ensuing clean up, my meditation time has diminished sharply. I believe that my distractions are a direct result of my lack of meditation." Her voice trailed off. Everything suddenly became a lot clearer. Since Trip's failed experiment in Engineering led to the ensuing argument with him, was it logical to believe that her lack of meditation, their lack of meditation, led to their first sexual encounter? Was that the reason neither one of them could control themselves anymore around the other? She began to ponder that. Whatever the case, this lack of control was becoming increasingly noticeable to others.

"T'Pol?" Archer asked, suddenly concerned. He waved his hand in front of her to get her attention.

"Sorry, Captain. As I was saying, my meditation time has decreased considerably over past few weeks. My normal meditation sessions can last up to two hours. In the past two weeks, I have not meditated for more than twenty minutes a day. It would seem this may be the cause for my preoccupation, sir," she said. "And perhaps Commander Tucker's as well."

Archer chewed on that for a moment. "T'Pol, would you mind elaborating on that?" He was treading on dangerous ground but felt that he was getting closer to a solution with T'Pol than he was with Trip. "Of course. As you know, Commander Tucker and I have been meditating together for the past few years. Through our meditation sessions, we achieved a workable relationship, which later developed into a friendship. Due to the heightened tensions in Engineering as a result of his failed test, we have not been able to string more than a few civil words together in each other's presence. It seems that our relationship has taken a turn for the worse and it is beginning to affect the ship in a negative manner. I will talk to Mr. Tucker this evening in order to put a stop to this situation."

It was more than she planned on saying but she felt this was necessary to throw Archer off track until things could come to an end between her and Trip. What she said was true to a certain extent. Their friendship was built upon a common interest in her meditation sessions. It helped bring a calm to their adversarial relationship and brought them closer together. It was when they stopped meditating that their relationship took a different route, one that led them to each other's arms and eventually into each other's beds. She had thought that she could continue on in normal fashion through this carnal exercise but it was becoming increasingly apparent that their tempestuous relationship was going to explode in their faces if it did not come to an end.

Archer nodded. He understood the importance of their meditation sessions and how it helped their friendship, but he failed to understand the whole picture. As long as she was going to deal with these 'distractions', that was fine with him. He had a ship to run and he needed things like this nipped in the bud before they hurt the mission. "I guess you're dismissed then," he said with a little smile.

T'Pol rose from her seat and left Archer's ready room. She knew she had to speak to Commander Tucker as soon as her shift ended.

Archer turned and looked out the window at the stars shooting past. He knew Trip and T'Pol had been meditating together for quite some time now. He now knew that it was those same meditations that helped them deal with the problems they had with one another so many years ago. Perhaps the stresses of the Engineering explosion combined with the interruption of their daily ritual were enough to distract his two most valued crewmembers. Perhaps bringing this to their attention would help solve the problem and things could get back to normal for them. Or maybe he was just sticking his nose in where it didn't belong. He contemplated that thought as he continued gazing out into the darkness.

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

Continued in Chapter 2

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!