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"Cry Havoc"
By MissAnnThropic
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: None of its mine. I’m just a sad little fangirl that spends her days writing fanfic and watching taped episodes of my favorite shows. :(
Description: The evolution of Trip and T’Pol’s relationship following the events in ‘Harbinger’.
Chapter 20
"Archer, Temoure here. I've found the target. Repeat, I am at the target."
Archer and Trip dropped down to the cover of nearby bushes, what seemed dangerously close to the Xindi base.
"Has it been damaged?"
"I don't think so, it was hidden under a tree root. It looks intact, but I guess we won't know until we try it."
"Is your position secure?"
"Affirmative. No sign that I've been made; I'm about a hundred feet off the base's south wall."
Archer glanced at Trip then back at the base before them. "We still have one person missing from the original strike team."
As though on cue the communicator beeped. "Archer," the captain acknowledged.
"Captain," T'Pol's soft voice barely carried, "I have discovered the remains of whom I believe to be Commander Williams."
Archer's fingers closed more tightly around the comm device. Trip cast a sympathetic, dejected look at the captain. The commander's blue eyes spit ice fire at the Xindi facility near their hiding place.
"I copy, T'Pol. We have possession of the detonator, you and Reed start to pull back to the shuttle."
"Yes, sir."
Archer returned to Temoure. "Give it a minute then blow that thing, Corporal."
"With pleasure, sir."
*****
T'Pol rose from her crouch near the human man's body. It was emotionally taxing to find such a grisly sight, not once but twice. T'Pol disliked being the one to find Corporal Cole. She grieved for the loss, for it felt like a friend had died. She had tapped Trip's affection for this woman, the respect, and T'Pol experienced it by proxy. It was a grave loss. She knew Trip would feel this loss, and she grieved for his pain. And this man, she sensed, had been Archer's friend. It was a dark day for the humans amongst whom she traveled.
Turning her attention to matters at hand, T'Pol keyed her communicator to Lieutenant Reed's frequency and within seconds the Englishman's voice returned over the speaker, "Sub-commander?"
"Return to the shuttle, Lieutenant. The captain has located the detonator and ordered a withdrawal."
"I'm on my way," Reed returned crisply and the communicator went silent.
T'Pol glanced once more at the almost indiscernible human form then turned to retreat.
A sound caught her attention and she turned quickly and stood stock still, listening.
Another rustle in the bushes, beyond the human corpse.
T'Pol held her phase pistol at the ready, muscles tense and taut.
A reptilian Xindi exploded from cover in the undergrowth, weapon aimed at T'Pol.
She jerked her phase pistol up to squeeze off a shot. She was fast, but the Xindi's reflexes were fractionally faster. Even as T'Pol got off a blast in the enemy's direction an energy blast caught her in the stomach. White-hot pain flashed and she was lifted off her feet.
The ground rushed to meet her, slamming into her back like a warp ship dropping to a full stop without inertial dampeners. Air rushed from her lungs in a surprised cough and her limbs seemed to glue themselves heavily to the forest floor, as though each gained a metric ton of weight in an instant.
Like a muffled, distant whisper, she heard her Xindi opponent gruffly cry out and fall to the ground as her one shot managed to hit its mark even if she'd been too late to protect herself.
The scent of her own blood stung in her nostrils as she watched the canopy above her swim and fade out of focus.
Archer and Trip had been making their way slowly back toward the shuttle, counting down the seconds in silence until the expected explosion. They were hunkered down in a dry riverbed, waiting and straining to pick up any sign of Xindi counterattack, when Archer saw Trip jolt from the corner of his eye.
Archer looked quickly at his comrade and swallowed dread. Trip's muscles were locked, his face ashen.
"Trip?" Archer slid closer to his friend and anxiously began to look him over for wounds. He had not heard any weapon's discharge, but Trip sure as hell looked like he'd been hit. For a second, Archer thought the engineer was either going to throw up or pass out.
Trip blinked, trembled, but held up a hand and shook his head. "I'm all right, Cap'n."
Archer eyed the other man dubiously but had to confess his search for injury had turned up nothing. "You sure?"
Trip swallowed heavily then asked, "What's the time?"
Archer noted that Trip had tactfully avoided answering his question. There wasn't time to make an issue of it.
"Ten seconds. We better hole up here, at least the bank provides some cover." Archer took his friend by the arm and pulled him closer to the leeward bank, both men pressed to the rising wall of compacted dirt as they waited on pins and needles. Archer and Trip faced each other and the captain was in a position to clearly see that his friend was anything but okay. Trip was too pale, his muscles too strung, his expression decidedly unhealthy.
Archer went to reach toward his friend again when the explosion rocked the silence of the forest. Archer instinctively covered his head moments before the shockwave rattled his teeth and thrummed in his bones.
*****
"Travis! The base shield's down!"
Travis Mayweather's eyes shot toward the view screen from his pilot's console. Despite being given the conn he'd preferred to man the helm, where he felt the most useful and capable. At the acting science officer's alert the young man was at even sharper attention.
"Contact the away team, see if they need backup."
The comms station did just that and before long Captain Archer's voice was coming over the system. "Travis, nice to hear from you. We're on our way back to the shuttle. Be ready to pick us up and get out of here."
"Aye, sir."
Travis started to breathe a sigh of relief... only to have it cut short.
"Xindi ship to starboard!" No doubt the very ship they'd diverted to get the shuttle to the planet without being harassed.
Travis gulped. "Have they spotted us?"
"Yes... they're heading this way."
*****
"Let's move, Trip," Archer hurried to his feet after closing down his link with Enterprise.
He expected instant agreement from his friend, unhesitant obedience, so when Trip balked Archer was befuddled.
"We can't leave, Captain. T'Pol's hurt."
Archer looked closely at Trip. The engineer was on his feet but looked shaky. "Trip, are you sure you're all right?" 'Head injury' part of Archer's mind kept chanting. It was the only reasonable explanation, even though he hadn't seen Trip take any blow to the head. He did know that they had not gotten any report from Reed (who was with T'Pol) or T'Pol herself that there was a man down.
"I'm fine, but T'Pol's in trouble. We have to go get her."
Archer looked askance at his determined comrade and activated the communicator. "Archer to T'Pol. Respond. T'Pol, can you hear me?"
When there was only silence Archer switched frequencies. "Reed."
"Here, sir."
"Is T'Pol with you?"
"No, sir, we got separated."
Archer looked up to find Trip already scrambling over the bank and sprinting toward the Xindi base.
Archer was after him in a second and hauled Trip back by the shoulders. "Hold up!"
"Captain, please! I know where she is!"
"How? How could you know, and for that matter, how could you know she's in trouble?"
Trip tore from Archer's grip. "Just trust me, Jonathan!"
The look in Trip's eyes and the force of his words were enough to convince Archer. Without another word the two men headed into the fray, toward the burning building, Trip plowing the way with singular ferocity.
*****
To Archer it seemed Trip was charging blindly. He didn't confer with his handheld sensor to locate T'Pol's biosignature, he didn't stop to gain his bearing in the disorienting forest. He just ran, and he did it with such certainty that he gave the appearance of a man who knew exactly where he was going. Archer kept pace, his mind raced, and the thought crept into his mind more than once that he might be following a sick, deranged man. The look on Trip's face had been close to crazed, practically haunted. It wasn't Trip. Maybe he'd been poisoned by a native insect, been exposed to a chemical only he was vulnerable to, maybe he'd been hurt while Archer wasn't looking and it was effecting his behavior. A plethora of options flew at the captain but still he followed his friend.
The heat of the blazing fire that was now the Xindi base was hot upon their cheeks as they drew almost dangerously near, causing them to sweat profusely in their uniforms.
Trip pushed through a tangle of bushes and broke into a minuscule clearing. Instantly he dropped to his knees and Archer cleared the foliage a second later.
And his jaw dropped.
Trip was kneeling beside T'Pol's body. Green blood was everywhere, soaking the uniform material around her stomach, tainting the dried leaves on the ground, coating Trip's fingers as he examined the extent of her injury. T'Pol's eyes were closed, her face eerily and unnaturally still.
"T'Pol?" Trip asked hurriedly. No response. He folded his hands over the wound and pressed down, trying to staunch the flow of blood.
Archer was on T'Pol's other side immediately and after a quick look glanced up into Trip's face. "We have to get her back to Enterprise."
Without a word Trip reached down and effortlessly scooped T'Pol into his arms. The engineer jumped to his feet and headed as fast as he could back toward the shuttle. Archer covered their rear, attention torn between watching for enemy pursuit and watching in wonder and concern at the man carrying T'Pol's non-responsive form.
*****
Enterprise and the Xindi ship wove and danced a deadly waltz, firing upon one another with darts of colored energy. Yellow and green reached for hull plating and nacelles. The two ships played a deadly game of hide and seek and chase around the moon while trying to destroy one another.
A third ship, the second Xindi vessel, bore down on their position and fired on Enterprise. The Earth ship landed one final, damaging shot to the first Xindi ship when it was fired upon by the new foe.
Enterprise twisted and dove, shackled to the planet until their people were returned, a vigil that could well prove deadly.
"Hull breach on deck C!" a report cried over the bridge as Travis gripped the helm with one desperate hand. His mind was spinning. They were losing. They had crippled one Xindi ship but it could still fire on them, and the Enterprise couldn't fend off two Xindi ships and be ready to receive the shuttle pod at the same time.
"There's another ship on approach!" the tactical station called urgently.
Travis cursed under his breath. Three Xindi ships was suicide. He felt bile in the back of his throat to think he might have to make the command decision to leave the away team behind to save the rest of the crew and the ship.
Tactical's voice rose, "It's the Ares!"
Dropping from warp like a battered battleship, the Ares soared into the fray firing. The two Starfleet vessels squared off against their mortal enemy, evenly matched, one crippled ship for crippled ship, one fighting form ship for fighting form ship.
One Xindi ship, the wounded adversary, buckled and broke under the assault. In a flash of fire the vessel exploded in a spectacular display. The second Xindi ship held its ground admirably, but pitted against two NX series starships was outmatched and after a final valiant effort and volley of firepower fled into the deep of space, disappearing in a warp flash.
Travis surveyed the bridge in surprise. Surprise they'd survived the confrontation, surprise that the Ares had appeared to save the day.
"We're being hailed," Baird said.
Travis nodded and instantaneously Captain Jasmine's face appeared on the view screen.
"Thanks for the help," Travis uttered meekly.
Jasmine nodded. "Returning the favor. Are you all right?"
Travis glanced at each station and after a few pauses to run checks received nods enough that the situation and damage was under control.
"Yes. You?"
"Ready and willing to go another round if those Xindi bastards show their faces."
"Travis," Baird's voice interrupted gently, "we have incoming from the shuttle."
"Excuse me, Captain," Travis bid the Ares commander farewell and when her image was gone he spoke toward the ceiling. "Captain Archer?"
"We're on our way back. Have Phlox meet us in the shuttle bay; T'Pol's been injured."
"Aye, Captain."
*****
No one on the shuttle dared to move, barely dared to breathe as Archer sped the shuttle pod toward the Enterprise. They only noted in passing that the Ares was in orbit alongside Enterprise. It was secondary to the dying crewman in their midst. Trip had carried T'Pol into the shuttle limp and lifeless. He'd settled on to the floor with her and not moved an inch since.
Archer flew like a man possessed. He would not watch T'Pol die. After all the men lost against the Xindi he wouldn't let T'Pol add to that number. Not if he had anything to say about it.
The shuttle docked roughly in the bay, rushed as the landing was, and Archer shut down the engines and immediately signaled the hangar doors to shut and the bay to pressurize.
He swiveled in his chair to face his team. Reed and Temoure were deathly silent, their eyes locked on the two who soon drew Archer's attention as well.
Trip was sitting on the floor, T'Pol's upper body laid across his lap, her head cradled in the crook of one arm. Her head was lolled slightly to one side and her complexion was pasty. Trip's uniform front was smeared green with Vulcan blood.
Archer looked toward Trip's face, almost expecting tears, maybe furious denial and desperation. He had not expected what he found there instead. Trip's head was dipped in T'Pol's direction but his eyes were closed, his expression intent and focused. It was then Archer realized that Trip's other hand was on T'Pol's face. His fingers were touching her temple and cheek. Not caressing but motionless. Just as deathly still as Trip's face.
The indicator sounded that the bay was pressurized.
"Trip." Archer stood cautiously and moved toward the duo on the floor. Trip did not respond, gave no indication at all that he'd even heard Archer. His breathing was slow, too slow, and too shallow for Archer's liking.
The shuttle pod hatch began to open just as Archer knelt in front of the motionless pair and ventured a hand toward Trip's hand that rested against T'Pol's face.
"Captain, DON'T!" Phlox's urgent voice stilled Archer stone-cold.
Phlox practically leapt into the shuttle pod with medkit in hand and almost shoved Archer aside in his haste to get to his patient.
Archer backed up and blinked in confusion.
Phlox was pulling out a diagnostic tool as he explained his earlier outburst. "You must not break the meld, Captain, it may be the only thing keeping T'Pol alive."
Archer didn't understand. He could only sit back and watch.
Careful not to disturb the engineer's touch against T'Pol's face, Phlox took quick scans of T'Pol's vital signs and examined the extent of her injuries. Archer fidgeted restlessly. He wanted Phlox to get her to sickbay right now. Didn't he see that she was lying there in Trip's arms, bleeding to death, slipping away?
Phlox went back into his kit and scrounged up a hypospray, loaded it, then pressed it against the Vulcan's neck. Another injection, then Phlox turned to his nurses standing outside the shuttle and motioned them forward with their ready gurney.
Meanwhile, Trip's breathing staggered, became deeper and faster. His eyelids fluttered then opened. The engineer stared at T'Pol in his embrace a pregnant second then he glanced up at the doctor.
"We'll take her now, Commander," Phlox gently assured as the nurses packed into the small space and expertly deposited T'Pol on to the board and hustled out with her. Phlox was an instant behind and soon there were four left alone in the shuttle.
Trip dropped back to sag against the aft bulkhead wall of the shuttle. His hands shook.
Archer knelt beside him. "Trip?"
Trip blinked up at Archer, for a moment seeming to not see him, then the engineer nodded and licked his dry lips. "'m all right."
"You don't look it. Come on, let's get out of here."
Trip struggled to his feet and heeded Archer's direction vacantly. The green blood on his uniform, on his hands, stood as a sick reminder of the grave condition of their resident Vulcan.
Trip made it only a step out of the shuttle pod before the color in his face drained completely and his knees buckled as he collapsed.
Archer caught Trip just before he hit the deck and called for Reed's assistance. Together the two men carried the unconscious man to sickbay.
*****
Captain Archer stood in his ready room, facing out the small window as starlight streaked by in white stripes of warp speed travel. In the opaque reflection he could see Captain Jasmine standing in his office. She was quiet, patient. Enterprise and Ares were traveling side by side at warp two, headed for Earth.
Archer was bone weary. It was only two hours since they'd returned to Enterprise. He had gone to decon with the rest of the shuttle pod team, excepting the two lying in sickbay, and taken a quick shower only enough to wash the thickest grim from his body. Before the two Starfleet ships jumped to warp Jasmine had come aboard... in another half hour when the two ships stopped to recalibrate their fatigued injectors she would return to her own ship for the duration of the trip home.
Archer slowly turned to her. The Ares captain was at attention, rigid and proud. MACO through and through. "You came back," Archer observed needlessly.
"We thought you might need the help."
Archer narrowed his eyes at the other captain.
Jasmine frowned at his expression. "We never wanted to leave our people behind but we were in a no-win situation. We had no choice. We couldn't let you go into the same situation to suffer the same fate when we both wanted to see that mission completed."
Archer looked down at his desk. "I'm sorry none of your people survived."
Jasmine's posture sagged fractionally. "So am I. At least their deaths were not in vain. Your team completed the objective that they gave their lives for."
Archer felt that was small comfort.
From her tone, it seemed Jasmine did, too. "How are your people doing?"
Archer winced. "No word yet on T'Pol or Trip. I was just going to head down to sickbay to get an update on their condition."
Jasmine nodded slowly. "I hope they're all right."
"Me too."
Back to Chapter 19
Continue to Chapter 21
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