The Journey – Part 1 – Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Trip rolled over and T’Pol wasn’t there. He heard… “Beep” “Beep”, it was Roadrunner. “I see you found my cartoons.” He hadn’t told anyone he loved to watch cartoons. His grandfather left them to him when he passed away and he still watched them. He also had Tom and Jerry and Bullwinkle. T’Pol was glued to the screen. He grabbed the other chair and slid it up next to her. As he watched with her he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. He knew they were stupid, but that was the point. When the cartoon ended T’Pol kept staring at the blank screen. “What is the purpose of watching that coyote keep trying to catch the roadrunner?”

Trip laughed. What was the purpose? “I’m not sure how to explain it. The premise is very simple. Wile E. Coyote is a fanatic, who is his own worst enemy. The roadrunner can only hurt him when he says “Beep, Beep” and the rest of the time he either hurts himself with his stupidity or the tools and contraptions from Acme fail to perform correctly or because gravity rarely works in his favor. It’s just funny to watch him keep ramping up his plans thinking he will succeed only to have him fail over and over. I know it doesn’t make sense, but I find it very funny. ”

“I will simply never understand how it can be funny to watch someone get hurt over and over.”

Trip lowered his head and shook it. “Darlin, other than the fact that it’s just a cartoon and not real, the character doesn’t get hurt as much as he gets humiliated. Maybe that’s what’s funny. It’s easier for us to laugh at someone else’s troubles because we can’t laugh at our own. It’s just a way to get rid of tension and stress.”

“Are all these disks cartoons?” She picked up a bunch of his disks.

Trip looked through them not sure what he brought on board with him. “Most of them are. Five disks have “The Lord of the Rings ” on them and then I have all the “Star Wars” movies. Could you do me a favor and not say anything about the cartoons to anyone? It’s a bit embarrassing that I like these and I really don’t want Malcolm or anybody to have more to tease me about.”

“I do not understand why you would be embarrassed, but I will not say anything. Perhaps I should watch these to see if I can figure out what you find funny about them.”

Trip got up, kissed the top of T’Pol’s head and headed to the bathroom. “Whatever you want darlin. Watch away.”

Trip grabbed his clothes and noticed T’Pol had hung a uniform, some off-duty clothes, and a robe in his closet.

He got in the shower, put soap in his hair, started to move it around and felt hands scrubbing his back. He looked over his shoulder and there stood T’Pol. He continued on his hair. “Well, hello there.”

“Do you mind if I join you?” T’Pol asked. He could tell she was unsure of herself and he didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable. He’d already decided that the physical side of their relationship had moved way too fast before and he didn’t want to let that happen again. He wanted to be sure she was ready this time and he knew she wasn’t there yet, but she was trying to figure it all out. They’d never talked about any of that, so he didn’t know how Vulcans dealt with sex.

“No, I don’t mind.” He turned and kissed her lightly. A friendly kiss. “Turn around and I’ll get your back. ” He scrubbed her back and then finished soaping himself down as T’Pol was doing the same. They rinsed off and stepped out of the shower. Trip took a towel and dried her off, then dried himself. They dressed and went out to meditate. When she leaned back into his chest he wrapped his arms around her and held her there for a moment. Then moved his hands over hers. Meditation was quickly becoming one of his favorite parts of the day.

The alarm went off and they put out the candles and headed to sickbay to see the Doctor.

“Hey, Doc.”

Phlox handed each a small plastic cup and they each drank the contents. Phlox ran the scanner down each of their bodies and saw no sign of parasites. “I don’t see anything here, but if either of you start to feel any of the symptoms you had yesterday, please come to see me right away.”

“Sure thing. Did you look over our brain scans?” Trip asked. He couldn’t shake that nagging question about the bond doing something to his brain.

Phlox walked over and pulled them up side by side. Trip looked at the screen. “Is that mine or T’Pol’s?”

“The one on the left is T’Pol’s and the one on the right is yours.”

Trip looked from one to the other, except that the one on the left appeared to have slightly more activity in a couple of areas they looked the same. “So our brains are becoming the same?”

“Your bond is stronger than I thought. From what I’ve been able to find out about bonded couples it’s looks to me as if your bond is almost complete on it’s own. Looking at these scans if I didn’t know that Commander Tucker was human I would think this was the scan of a bonded Vulcan male. It’s a good thing you decided to keep the bond because I’m not sure a priest would have even considered trying to remove it. ”

Trip looked into T’Pol eyes. “So this is a done deal?” He already knew that, but it was nice to hear someone else say it.

The couple were still staring into each others eyes. “Yes, Commander it is. Congratulations to you both.”

Trip reached out and touched T’Pol’s fingers and they walked out of sickbay. “See you later Doc..”

Trip stopped the turbolift. “Looks like this bond of ours has a mind of it’s own. I still want to do the courtship thing, so we can learn to talk to each other and just be with each other. I read about the mind meld to complete the bond, I know what happens and I want that, but I want us to build on our friendship and let the rest of it just happen. We’ll know when it’s time to move to the next level. I’m in no rush to get anywhere. It’s taken so long to get here let’s just enjoy the ride. Okay?”

T’Pol wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She stepped back, placed a hand on each side of his face and kissed him. Then he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight . After a few minutes he restarted the lift.

After breakfast Trip went to see Ensign Summers the ships botanist. “Good morning Ensign. I need a big favor. Actually two favors.”

Commander Tucker had never come to this part of the ship before. He didn’t seem like the gardener type. “What can I do for you Commander?”

“Well, first I need 2 yellow roses and then I need your word that if anyone asks about them you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.”

“Can I assume you’re giving them to someone and you don’t want them to know they’re from you.”

Trip shrugged. “You can assume anything you want, but only in there.” Pointing to her head.

“I guess I can do that.” Trip followed as she went to get him the roses. He saw petals laying on the floor under where the roses were and bent down to pick a couple up. Ensign Summers handed him two roses wrapped in paper. “You wouldn’t know where a guy could find a vase would you?” She walked across the room a came back with a small white vase. “Thanks, Ensign I owe you one.”

He stopped at his room, put water in the vase, and grabbed the card he and T’Pol had made, tied it around the vase and headed to D deck. Fortunately, Malcolm and Hoshi were on the same deck. Malcolm made his security people move around every few months. He said to keep them sharp. T’Pol came around the corner at the end of the corridor and extended something up to cover the security camera. Trip went to Malcolm’s room and stuck one of the loose petals he had under the bottom of his door. He dropped the other a couple of steps toward Hoshi’s door. Then he sat the vase in front of Hoshi’s door and headed towards T’Pol. Just as he got to her T’Pol reached out and grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him hard around the corner. “Okay, that was a little too close. Need to plan better next time.” He peeked around the corner. Hoshi was looking at the card then she looked in both directions down the corridor. She spotted the petal in the corridor and went to pick it up. When she started to stand back up the petal under Malcolm’s door caught her eye. Trip had made sure to make it look like it had gotten stuck there when the door closed. She walked over and examined it more closely. She got up, walked back to her room, and then looked at the card, which said “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady” then looked at Malcolm’s door. Hoshi’s favorite flower was the yellow rose.

Phase 2 was going as planned, so far. Trip and T’Pol headed to work.

When T’Pol reached the bridge Captain Archer studied her for a moment. The stress he’d seen across her shoulders for some time now was gone. She was intent on whatever she was doing. He’d tried to reach her several times while off-duty, but never got a response. He wondered if she was just ignoring him when he commed her, but then she hadn’t been in her quarters when he dropped by last night to ask her about one of her reports.

Hoshi stepped onto the bridge and appeared to be in a very good mood. The captain noticed. She caught T’Pol’s eye. “Good morning, Commander.” T’Pol nodded her head at her.

Malcolm came in and walked directly to T’Pol’s station. He handed her the padd he had in his hand. They talked about it for a minute then he turned to walk back to his station. After taking a few steps he looked back over his shoulder. “T’P…I mean Commander do you know when these changes are scheduled to be made?”

“No Lieutenant Reed you need to check with Commander Tucker on that.”

Malcolm commed engineering. “Bridge to engineering. Commander Tucker this is Lieutenant Reed.”

“Hang on a minute Lieutenant.”

“Where did you get these numbers Ensign” Trip left the channel open again.

“I got them out of the Starfleet manual over there. ”

“Well, that explains it. I know Starfleet teaches you that those manuals are where you should get specs from, but not on this ship. Those numbers were wrong before we left space dock and most all the information in there is wrong. We tried making the necessary changes like they train you to do, but we would have needed to write or rewrite whole sections to do that, so we gave up.” Trip started looking around for somebody to show the Ensign how to find the specs he needed. “Ensign Rogers could you please show Ensign Ogakatchu where he can find the specs he needs.”

Trip turned back to the comm unit. “Okay, Lieutenant Reed what can I do for you?”

“Have you scheduled the work on the torpedo launchers yet.”

“You didn’t check your messages did you Lieutenant? It’s scheduled for tomorrow morning at 08:00.”

The captain waved at the Lieutenant. “Tell him he didn’t check his messages either. There’s a senior staff meeting at 08:00 tomorrow.”

“Did you hear that Commander?”

“The work is now scheduled for 09:00 Lieutenant. Could you make sure Commander T’Pol knows that too?”

“I’m sure she heard us. Bridge out.”

Trip and T’Pol met for lunch and when Malcolm came in Trip motioned for him to come over. “I can’t believe I have to ask this, but do either of you know what the staff meeting is about tomorrow?”

Both T’Pol and Malcolm said no. “Okay, do we have a destination or are we just floating around out here and heading nowhere?”

Malcolm and Trip both looked at T’Pol. “The captain has not mentioned any particular course and sensors are picking up nothing. No planets or ships.”

Malcolm said, “Maybe we should ask Travis. Somebody must have given him our course and speed when we left the Zellerite ship. It was like this before the Xindi attacked remember. We got so used to stress filled days that we just aren’t used to it being quiet this long. Do you remember the Captain pacing back and forth because we had nothing to do. Besides you seem to be keeping yourself busy Trip with meditating, and chess, and the Bat’leth. I say we enjoy it while we can.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right . Meditation is helping with my need to always be doing something, but not completely. That and I seem to have forgotten how to have fun. I love my job, but it’s really boring right now. I’m actually looking forward to tearing apart the torpedo launchers again. At least it’s something to do besides paperwork.”

After finishing out his shift Trip went to his room. He checked his messages and found one from T’Pol asking him to bring her candles and meet her in her quarters in an about 45 minutes. He took a quick shower, put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, gathered up some clothes an extra toothbrush, razor, the other bathroom items he’d need, and put them along with the candles in a bag and headed to T’Pol’s.

He put in the code and when the door opened it was dark. There was one candle burning, so there was enough light after his eyes adjusted so he didn’t run into anything. T’Pol was sitting up against the wall, on her bed with her pillows behind her and her legs stretched out on what must have been her meditation pillows stacked up with something over them acting as a footstool. She had a bowl of popcorn in her lap. “There’s a drink for you on the desk and would you put the disk in please.”

Trip sat his bag down, reached for the drink, put the disk in, and crawled in next to T’Pol. ” I thought you said you didn’t know anything about dating? You’re doing pretty good do far.”

“I sat through all those romantic comedies at movie night I guess they were worth watching after all?”

They watched Roadrunner for an hour or so. Trip laughed most of that time. T’Pol still didn’t get it, but decided it really did matter if she ever did, Trip did.

They decided to go grab something for dinner and bring it back for later. The popcorn had taken the edge off being hungry, but if they waited to late then the selection in the mess hall would be slim. Trip went to get them something while T’Pol put her room back together. The door chime sounded. T’Pol answered it. It was Hoshi. “Can I talk to you, T’Pol?”

“Give me a minute.” T’Pol grabbed Trip’s bag, took it into the bathroom, and stuck it in the closet. She then concentrated to figure out where Trip was and let him know Hoshi was there. She went back to the door while folding up the extra blanket she had used over the cushions and told Hoshi to come in. “Sorry about that I had to move my meditation cushions out of the way.”

“I’m not interrupting you am I?”

“No, I will not mediate until just before I go to bed. Did you need something?”

“Advice? When I was leaving to start my shift this morning I found flowers outside my door with a card that wasn’t signed. I think Malcolm may have put them there, but I don’t know why he wouldn’t just say they were from him.”

T’Pol was at a loss here. She had no idea what to say. “Are you sure that he gave you the flowers?”

“I’m not positive, but I did see a flower petal stuck under his door. I don’t know how it would have gotten there if he hadn’t dropped it . ”

“Can you ask him if it was him?”

After considering this, “No, because if he didn’t then I’d be embarrassed and if he did he might be embarrassed.”

“I do not know what advice I can give you.”

“Do you think it’s possible that he gave me flowers?”

“I have observed him watching you on several occasions.”

“T’Pol he watches you too, all the time.”

Both of T’Pol eyebrows went up. “Commander Tucker has mentioned that the Lieutenant is fond of watching my ‘bum” as he calls it, but that is not the same as when I see him watching you.”

Hoshi couldn’t believe T’Pol knew Malcolm was checking her out like that and it didn’t seem to bother her. “Well, maybe I’ll just wait and see what happens. I better go I have some translating to get done. Thanks for listening. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight Hoshi.”

Trip came in right after Hoshi left. “I know we started this matchmaking for our benefit, but now I really want to see them get together for them. I was thinking about the other Enterprise and how upset Mal was when he found out he had never married and had kids and Hoshi really is attracted to him isn’t she?”

“I think she really wants it to be him.”

“Maybe we ought to rethink the secret admirer part of this . I’d really hate for it to backfire and have one or both of them get hurt because of it. Things seem to be working out just getting them to spend time together with us. Oh, and I started getting movies back from the crew. So far the best one I’ve seen is “The Last Samurai.” It has the sword fighting for Mal and the romance for Hoshi. I didn’t even think about the Samurai stuff. I thought we could all go together. We just need to figure out how to make that work. ”

“We have time to work that out. Did you bring the candles?”

“Yeah, they’re in my bag.” Trip pointed to where he left the bag and when he didn’t see it he started looking around for it.

T’Pol came out of the bathroom with the bag? “I moved it when Hoshi got here. I thought we could do some shielding exercises then you can get some sleep while I mediate for a while.”

Trip picked up the bag and took out the candles. “Can we start the exercises while I put this stuff away?”

“I will let down my shields. If it gets to be too much just tell me to stop.”

Trip took the bag into the bathroom and started putting things in the closet and in the cupboard next to the sink. As T’Pol started to let down her shields he could feel a swirl of emotions and thoughts. They were strong. He started trying to block out their intensity. “Stop T’Pol.” When he said stop T’Pol put her shields back up. I didn’t mean put them back up. I just meant don’t let them down anymore. Can you put them back down and when I say stop just leave them where they are?” T’Pol started putting them down again. Trip started trying to block her and said stop before it was painful. Trip walked back in the other room with the empty bag.

He sat down on the floor and slid in behind T’Pol and wrapped his arms around her. “Is this hard for you to do?”

“I am not sure how long I can maintain my shields here. I haven’t done these types of exercises since I was a child and learning how to control my thoughts and emotions. My shields are usually up or down. This is the first time I’ve had to shield my mind from anybody on Enterprise. Usually I only have to shield myself from everybody on Enterprise.”

“So do you hear the crew’s thoughts?”

“I get impressions of things sometimes, but mostly just emotions, especially when they are strong. ”

Trip now knew that protecting him was causing her discomfort. “Can we practice this during the day?” He immediately picked up on her concern that it would be distracting to him while he worked. “I don’t mean when I need to concentrate. When we’re doing paperwork or reading reports. You seem to know where I’m at and what I’m doing and I’m getting better at figuring out what is you inside my head. We need to or rather I need to get comfortable with all this, so you can put those shields down permanently. ”

T’Pol knew he was right. She was starting to have headaches because she was keeping Trip from having them. “I am going to stop now. We will see if we can work on this during the day. I will let them down for short periods . When I sense that it will be a distraction or if you say “stop” I will put them back up, if that is acceptable?”

Trip pulled his head around so he could see into her face. “Try putting them back up slower. When you just break the connection it hurts.”

“I will try.” Trip hoped this would speed up the process, he didn’t like that T’Pol was in pain because of him. He leaned back and his mind started to wander. He’d recently been thinking about what the future would hold for them if a war with the Romulans broke out. A part of him thought he should fight to protect Earth. That was his duty. But there was this every present and louder voice telling him he was an engineer, not a soldier. “T’Pol what would you want to do if we go to war with the Romulans?”

T’Pol had thought about that often. If she stayed on Enterprise it would mean going back to what it had been like when they were fighting the Xindi. The crew would be stressed and it would be difficult for her control. Tensions would be high and their days would be filled with trying to survive and stop the Romulans. “I have considered the matter often, but I do not know what I would do. You and I need to decide that. Remember I told you my family history had not been a problem up to now?”

Trip sat up and moved himself and T’Pol so they were facing each other. “Yeah, what about it?”

“When my mother died, I became the head of my family. If we go to war the High Council may try to get me off Enterprise and back to Vulcan.”

“Can they do that?”

T’Pol’s eyebrow shot up. “They can try.” Seeing the concern in Trip’s eyes T’Pol lifted her hands to his face. “We will ‘cross that bridge when we come to it’, right now you need to sleep and I need to meditate.” Then she wondered how it was that she had not known this was on his mind. He had obviously been thinking about it a lot, but had somehow kept her from sensing it. Maybe he was better at shielding his thoughts than either of them thought he was.

Trip pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. When he moved back T’Pol kissed his lips. It wasn’t the friendly type kiss she had given him up to nor was it a full out passionate kiss. He gave her a hug before he stood up, undressed, and slipped under the covers.

Trip and T’Pol arrived at the staff meeting minutes apart, but Trip took the seat next to her. Malcolm came in followed by Hoshi. Everybody got a drink and sat down. Trip was sipping his tea and reading something on his padd.

Captain Archer came in with a carafe of coffee. Trip had just set his cup down and Archer walked around the table and started to give Trip a refill. Trip reflexively put his hand over the cup and the Captain noticed he didn’t have coffee. “When did you stop drinking coffee and what is that?” Archer asked while scrunching up his face.

Trip was really getting perturbed with this reaction to what he considered the positive changes he was making. “This is getting old fast guys. I’m drinking green tea because I like it and it seems to be better for me than coffee. I meditate because it helps me think and stay calm. Can you all stop and let me do what I need to do to feel better.”

Archer was surprised at Trip’s outburst. He’d struck a nerve, but didn’t know how or why. “I’m sorry Trip, I’ve just never seen you drink any other tea besides iced tea.” The Captain decided to move on. He moved back around the table to sit down. “Starfleet has ordered us to host a diplomatic meeting on Enterprise for the Andorians, Vulcans, Tellarites, and the Coridanites. The main purpose is to discuss the illegal mining and exporting of dilithium from Coridan, but they also want to try and work out some agreement about the Orions. The Orions are still using their shipping lanes and the ones the Coalition is supposed to be protecting to trade slaves. Coridan wants admission into the Coalition, but until these issues are resolved the Tellarites will block it.”

Trip was not pleased. “I better get a mud bath set up and somebody tell Chef not to serve the Tellarites anything, but human food. ”

Captain Archer looked directly at Trip. He wanted to see his reaction to his next statement. “The Ambassadors requested Trip represent Earth.”

Trip looked up horrified. “What? Why would they want me?”

Archer continued. “Well, let’s see Admiral Gardner says that Commander Shran thought you handled yourself very well when you put Enterprise between the Vulcans and Andorians. Ambassador Gral says they like the fact that you aren’t afraid to say what’s on your mind. Ambassador Soval says you are loyal and have a strong sense of duty, but do not allow your preconceptions to cloud your judgment. The Coridans said they did not know you well, but were willing to accept the decision of the other Ambassadors.”

Malcolm was sympathetic, but teased. “Commander aren’t you the one who said you came out here to learn new things.”

“Oh, thanks Lieutenant. Nice to know who my friends are. I’m an engineer not a diplomat, Captain.”

Archer looked around the table. “All of you need to help the Commander. Ensign Sato you need to be sure everybody, especially Commander Tucker knows as much as possible about the etiquette and customs they will need to know for dealing with the Ambassadors. Lieutenant Reed you will be in charge of security for the ship and all the participants in the talks. Commander T’Pol you will assist Commander Tucker with the negotiations. He seems to listen to you and my orders are to be present to lend advice, but to let the main parties work this out.”

The Captain had noticed that Trip and T’Pol still disagreed at times, but they didn’t seem to have those never ending rounds of arguing that marked their interactions from day one. The change had taken place sometime while they were in the Expanse, but he wasn’t sure exactly when because he hadn’t paid much attention to anything, but the mission. Trip had been right, he had changed. They both had and the Captain wasn’t sure it was for the better. The Ambassadors were also right. Trip was open and honest and he didn’t allow his preconceptions to interfere with what he saw as the right thing to do. Archer wasn’t even sure if Trip had any preconceptions anymore. “Ensign Sato will forward a copy of all the information you need Commander Tucker. Any questions?”

Trip raised his hand. “How long do I have to get ready for this?”

“We have coordinates where all the ships will meet. It will take 4-5 days before all the Ambassadors arrive. Dismissed.”

Trip dropped his head down onto the table and laced his fingers together on the back of his head. “Somebody just shoot me now.”

Malcolm slapped Trip on the back on the way out the door. “You’ll be fine. Now let’s go tear apart those launchers.”

Trip jumped up, looked at T’Pol and followed Malcolm. “Let’s go, at least I’ll know what I’m doing there.”

When the Captain was sure Trip was out range to hear him. “T’Pol do you think he can handle this?”

T’Pol heard Trip respond, “No” , through the bond.

“Captain, Commander Tucker is more than capable, he just needs to have confidence in himself. The Ambassadors seem to think he can.”

“Admiral Gardner wasn’t happy about putting Trip in charge, but he had no choice. I hope you’re right.”

T’Pol got up and headed back to the bridge. Trip was busy with Malcolm working out the final details for the adjustments they were going to make. He was concentrating on the final calculations he would need. She did the calculations herself and gave him the answers he needed.

“Thanks darlin, I think I like having you do my math.”

“Glad I could help.”

Later when Trip and Malcolm took a break for lunch she let him know she was dropping her shields a little until he returned to work. They continued doing this on and off the rest of the day. When he and Malcolm called it a day Trip went to his office to read through the information that Hoshi had forwarded to him. His team wouldn’t have to construct a mud bath because the Tellarite ship would be there and they had their own. He went through all his interactions with Ambassador Gral. The Captain had been angry at Trip because of his attitude with Gral, but it turned out the Ambassador liked the unvarnished truth. Commander Shran had always been hard to figure out. He came across as a stubborn and condescending, but Trip suspected he had a soft spot for Humans, especially the Captain. Ambassador Soval was what? Trip no longer knew. His opinion of Soval had changed. He no longer thought he hated Humans. In fact, he knew he held them in high regard. He knew his relationship with T’Pol could create problems, but he was determined that he would do nothing to make things difficult for her back home. Besides, he liked Soval. He could be stubborn and set in his ways, but who wasn’t. Trip was sure they could build a strong working relationship, which was the closet thing to friendship the Vulcan would allow. Next were the Coridanites. Trip had seen Ambassador Karak once. All he knew about Coridans was that they had dilithium mines, which other species illegally mined and exported from. They traded with the Orion syndicate, which the Tellarites found unacceptable, and their ship building yards were known to be the biggest and the best. He would need to talk to T’Pol and Hoshi to find out more about them. He finished reading and headed to his quarters.

Trip laid down on his bed, closed his eyes, cleared his mind, drew in some cleansing breaths, and floated up until he arrived in T’Les’ garden. T’Pol was sitting in front of the little fountain in the center of it. This is getting easier. I don’t even have to think about it anymore.

He sat across from T’Pol and waited. He found it as peaceful and calming here as he did at the beach. T’Pol opened her eyes and Trip smiled.

“Hey, darlin. Didn’t mean to disturb you, I just needed to unwind. It’s seems somebody out there doesn’t like me. Why do I keep winding up in these situations. I have no idea how to be a diplomat and if I screw this up, then what?”

T’Pol smiled at him. “Trip you have to stop saying you cannot do this. You can.”

Trip barely heard what she said. “You’re smiling.”

“Yes I am. Vulcans hide their emotion on the outside, but as you know we do have them, and we do express them to ourselves, our mates, and to a lesser degree to our family. You are my bondmate; therefore I will no longer hide them from you.”

“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you. Trip wondered if he would ever get used to the matter of fact way T’Pol said and did things. Once she decided that was the way things should be they just were. He used to tease and argue with her about it, but now he understood it wasn’t that she didn’t care or that she was cold it was just T’Pol being Vulcan and still accommodate the needs of those around her. “For now I’ll take your word for it that I can play diplomat if I need to. Let’s forget all that for now. Can you show your mother’s garden room?”

T’Pol stood, took his hand, helped him up, turned and headed into the house. They walked through the house and into a room Trip hadn’t noticed when he’d been there. He couldn’t believe it. There were flowers and small trees, that resembled Bonsai, everywhere. T’Les had created several different types of arrangements. One was a rock garden with plants growing up between the rocks. Another had a pond with plants he’d never seen before floating on the water. There was a desert with plants and flowers growing in it. Trip hadn’t even known flowers grew in the desert. “T’Les must have spent years doing all this.”

T’Pol looked around and Trip could feel the sadness start to overtake her. He stepped behind her laid his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “It’s alright T’Pol . I’m right here and I won’t let anything hurt you. Let me help you.” Trip could feel the waves of sadness pass over her. He turned her around and pulled her into his chest and they both let tears run down their face.

When Trip opened his eyes she was still wrapped in his arms, but they were in T’Pol’s white space. T’Pol looked up at him. He could see the sadness there still, but he also saw how much she cared for him. She kissed him. A long, deep kiss that sent shivers down his spine. Trip had to step back to get some air and to clear his head. He still had trouble believing that he could feel this much in his head. His dreams had felt real and from what T’Pol had told him they took place in this space. He bent down and kissed her again. He whispered into her ear, “I love you.”

T’Pol stepped back took both his hands in hers, looked into his eyes as she brought his hands up to hers lips and kissed them. She held them there for the longest time.

“Trip we need to meet Hoshi for dinner soon. I think her father sent her some information for you. Meet me in the mess hall in half an hour.” He shook his head and opened his eyes and he was back in his room.

As he was taking his shower he felt T’Pol. She had lowered her shields. He was sure it was more than before. He had to exert more effort to keep from being overwhelmed, but it was much easier than it had been. By the time he arrived in the mess hall he wasn’t even aware he was shielding himself anymore and T’Pol was still there. The feeling in the back of his head was warm and strong. Somewhere deep inside him he knew he’d miss her presence if she ever left.

Trip, T’Pol, and Hoshi sat down to eat and talk. Hoshi gave Trip a padd with the message from her father. He had included the Chinese training manual, from the Shoalin temple, for a weapon known as the crescent rake. It had only one place to grip it, but it looked very similar to the Bat’leth. Then Hoshi filled them in on what she knew about Coridan. Trip asked if she had any information on their shipyards. When she said not much, he asked her to see what she could find out. He didn’t know if it would do any good during these talks, but it would satisfy the engineer in him.

Malcolm came over and sat next to Trip. “I keep telling you be careful what you wish for. I’ll bet boredom never looked, so good.”

Trip looked at T’Pol and then at Malcolm. “Do you two remember everything I say just, so you can throw it back at me when things like this happen?”

Malcolm let out a big laugh. “Remember, who has to remember. You have all these sayings and expressions you use all the time and it’s so easy to tease you about them when so many things just happen to you.”

Trip and T’Pol left and went to the rec room. They each got on the treadmill. After several minutes Trip could feel T’Pol. She’d been there all along, but now it was stronger. It caught him off guard for a second, but once he knew what was happening he began to make the effort to shield himself more. “T’Pol don’t stop. I just need to adjust I’m alright.”

“Are you sure, Ashayam. My shields are all the way down.”

“It’s fine darlin, it’s a little uncomfortable, but it’s nothing I can’t handle and I’m getting the hang of this. Let me see if I can do this on my own.”

T’Pol looked at him. She was not convinced , but she must let him try. “I will do as you ask, but if it becomes too much I will put my shields back up.”

Trip closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, until the discomfort was almost gone. He stopped the treadmill and stepped off. He took two staffs off the wall. “T’Pol, are you up to practicing with me?”

She stopped her treadmill and joined him in the center of the mat. Trip handed her a staff and moved into his stance. Malcolm had worked with him on various staffs or poles for a year now. He started him off with cudgels, which were about three feet long and used by the Royal Navy. Malcolm’s father had insisted he learn how to use them as it was required training. Trip had had difficulty with it at first, but once he figured out he needed to find the center of balance for each staff he used it became easier. Once they moved on to the longer staff Trip found he actually enjoyed their workouts. Trip had watched T’Pol work out with one of the Macos a couple of times, but he had never practiced with her before. He let her start off and he countered her movements. He started off a little rough, but as they moved around the mat he could tell T’Pol was following some practice routine of her own, so he just looked into her eyes and followed along. He kept pace with her. She moved left and struck and he reacted. She brought her staff down over his head and he blocked. Trip didn’t know how long they continued and when she stopped she said, “You’ve been practicing Commander.”

Trip then became aware they were not alone in the room. He walked over and took her staff then leaned in toward her ear. “And you said Vulcans don’t dance.” and laughed softly to himself as he walked to put the weapons back on the wall.

They walked back to her quarters. Trip said he needed a shower and headed into the bathroom. He stuck his head out the door, “Would you like to join me?” As they were soaping each other down Trip became fully aware that T’Pol was in his head and her shields were still down. Her emotions were all over the place and it made him dizzy. He rinsed himself off. “Let’s get out of here.” He stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, put on his sweats and pulled a shirt over his head. The dizziness was getting worse. T’Pol went into the other room to finish dressing. Trip followed her. “What’s wrong T’Pol. You’re all over the place and I can’t figure out why?”

He suddenly knew, she’s confused. She didn’t understand what she did to make him bolt out of the shower. She started to put her shields back up. “No way, T’Pol don’t do that. Talk to me don’t shut me out. This is exactly why I want to take things slow because we may be bonded, but we suck at communicating with each other.”

She let her shields back down, but still didn’t say anything.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just could feel you being overwhelmed by so many different emotions it made me dizzy. I need practice figuring out what you’re feeling. You feel things a lot stronger and there are so many emotions at once, I have trouble sorting them out. I know we can feel each other, but we still need to discuss things out loud or in our heads.” He could see she was thinking about what he was saying, but she still wasn’t talking. ” I know you know this because you’ve been in my head for quite some time now and if that’s all it took we would have resolved our issues months ago.”

Her voice was soft. “I have no idea what I am feeling. I have always had difficulty where you are concerned, even before the bond. My control is difficult as it is, but when I get close to you I feel as if I have no control. There are so many emotions that I do not even recognize. They are all strong. Do all humans have these same emotions when they take a mate?”

“Well, I can’t say they all do, but most do to some degree. I’m sure it’s the same with Vulcans. The bonds they form are all different, unique to each couple. Humans are the same. I’ve been involved with two other woman and I thought I loved them, but it felt different with each of them. I certainly didn’t feel the same as the way I feel with you. Is there anyway I can help you?”

“Just do what you have been doing and give me time to find the balance between my control and these feelings. With my shields down it may be easier for me to keep better control.”

“Take all the time you need, I’m not going anywhere, and stop being afraid you’ll do something to upset me. There’s nothing you can do that is wrong as long as whatever you do comes out of what we feel for each other, okay?”

Trip’s stomach growled. T’Pol looked up at him. “Perhaps we should go get you some food.” Trip followed her out to go to the mess hall. She was much more at ease now, but he knew she would need to meditate to work out the day for herself. Since he meditated himself he now understood how much it helped T’Pol to maintain her control and allowed her to process the conflicting feelings she was having. He now trusted her with his heart. There were no more doubts. He could feel how much she cared about him. He could also feel how much she worried about him. Trip decided he would have to make sure they were both safe and he especially would have to take care to keep himself out of trouble, so she had one less thing to worry about.

Tags: Fanfic, Star Trek Enterprise Fanfic, Stories, Trip and T'Pol Shippers