|
"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 24
Jonathan Archer vowed he would not let the torturous irritation that was his dress uniform sour his mood to this banquet. The occasion was all at once too somber and too joyous to warrant petty concerns such as physical comfort. Besides, it was not as though he suffered alone. The banquet hall was full of sharp-dressed men and women of Starfleet, old and new. Crewmen from the Ares and the Enterprise were collecting plates of amazingly (surprisingly) delicious food and celebrating the end of the Xindi threat at the same time they mourned with the families of people lost in battle. For some, the difference was not so great. Archer saw Charles and Kathleen Tucker standing together with Ensign Sato's family. They and people like them knew the joy and loss both.
Archer inadvertently caught Captain Jasmine's eyes as she stood to one side of the room, also watching her comrades with an almost omniscient, paternal eye. She still looked far more elegant and graceful in her dress uniform than Archer himself. She met the Enterprise captain's gaze, seemed an unreadable statue a moment, then she nodded once. Archer returned the gesture. They shared an understanding that so few in this room would understand, and it united them in a very special way.
Archer continued to look around the room. To his relief, the families of the KIA crewmen were not herding together. They were among the living crewmen who had come back and their relieved families. Everyone was light-hearted, happy, but each and every person took care to attend to the grieving. 'Considerate' was the watch-word. There was a tenderness to their mass celebration, a care and attentiveness of which Archer was immensely proud. These were all good people, even the Ares crewmen, even the MACOs.
The Starfleet Command admiralty was in attendance. Admiral Forrest, who'd been at Archer's side until ten minutes ago, was making the rounds. Admiral Leonard and Commander William were near the punch bowl caught up in a conversation with Amanda Cole's brother. Commodore Raleigh was standing some distance away talking to Ambassador Soval, the latter decked in his more extravagant robes of red and brown.
Archer wasn't sure what part was stranger in that scenario, that particular chit-chat pair that was Raleigh and Soval, or the fact the Vulcans had decided to attend this social function. It was a gathering that served no logical purpose but to cater to human excesses (in Vulcan eyes). Even still, the Vulcans were there. Not in great numbers: Soval and his aide, two other Vulcan commanders Archer didn't know by name, but present at all was probably a noteworthy occurrence. Archer hoped the tenuous situation between Earth and Vulcan was in the initial stages of being mended. For all his own issues with the Vulcans, Archer knew Earth would suffer if they lost their alliance with the Vulcans, to say nothing of the history of camaraderie, fragile though it may be, between Earth and its first known intergalactic neighbor.
The influx of stragglers to the banquet was thinning as everyone eventually made their appearance. Archer watched the sea of blue and gray riding currents of formal civilian clothes. It was a strange time for the captain, and probably for many from Enterprise. Back from a war that had self-imploded before it really began, teetering on the edge of a new Starfleet, the pull of the new tugging on the Enterprise's so young and yet decidedly old idea of Starfleet. Change waited to mangle them, but on this day no one would let it distract them.
Archer returned to his bout of people watching and as he looked toward the doors he saw his two senior officers step into the room. Archer did a double-take. Trip was decked, as all the Enterprise crew, in his dress uniform. Everyone on Enterprise was physically fit, but the field uniform jumpsuits they wore were not made to accentuate that fact. Dress uniforms were, and Trip was just as impressive as everyone else in his formal clothes.
It was not Trip, however, that had caught Archer's rapt attention.
T'Pol was at his side wearing a robe the likes of which Archer had never seen on his first officer before. It was mostly white with light tan trim along the sleeves (which split to open above her wrist so that when she lifted her hand the material feel conveniently out of the way), the bottom hem, and the belt at her waist. Gold stitching was inlaid within the borders of tan. Archer's guess was that the swirls would prove to be Vulcan script of some kind. The beige trim also lined the neckline... although it might be a misnomer to call it a 'neck'line. The robe cut a deep 'V' shape down the front of T'Pol's body, dipped down only to cross and close at the top of her solar plexus, a line of sight that continued its downward vector by the down-turned 'V' of the belt, from which hung tan and gold scrawled strips of the same cloth that comprised the robe. The material stayed in place over her breasts seemingly by Vulcan insistence alone, her bronze Vulcan skin a hearty, tanned contrast to the light coloring of the robe.
She was stunning. For the first time, without warning and quite unexpectedly, a fleeting stab of jealousy of Trip swelled in the captain. T'Pol was that enchanting. Archer wasn't the only one looking. The captain figured everyone looked.
Trip and T'Pol, as though cognizant of the sight they presented, walked into the room with an air of defiance and self-assurance. They might well have owned the room and known it from their presence, almost something regal about their carriage. Their steps were matched, shoulder to shoulder, and Trip's left arm crossed over his chest, T'Pol's right arm over hers, and their hands were joined in the two-finger touch Archer had become so accustomed to seeing. Trip escorted T'Pol into the room with that small amount of contact. They stopped just inside the doorway as though standing before a tribunal.
It hit Archer then why they'd come in with looks on their faces like they were going into battle. They were making it publicly known they were a couple and daring anyone to defy them.
Archer helplessly looked among those gathered to learn his officers' reception. Enterprise crewmen, and some of the Enterprise crewmen's families, seemed either unconcerned or at the least not startled by the event. It was really to the Ares and their kin that Archer looked. Human faces seemed torn between disbelief, dumb shock, disgust, and uncertainty. Some looked among themselves as though trying to figure out the proper reaction. Archer's eyes moved back in Soval's direction to gauge the Vulcan reaction.
The sight paused him. Soval looked absolutely as aghast as any Vulcan Archer had ever seen. The Vulcan elder has his eyes fixed with unwavering intensity on T'Pol and Trip. His body was utterly devoid of motion, and it only made Archer nervous. Not even a blink to disturb Soval's stance. If he didn't know better, Archer would say that was one seriously pissed off Vulcan.
The moment of shock slowly passed, people realized once more they could move, then things started to move quickly.
A few people at tables stood up indignantly yet no one quite went as far as launching a complaint toward the mixed pair. Plenty seemed to await someone else's bravery to say something. More people began to look around at each other in unspoken (and some softly spoken) question. As the eye of the storm, ground zero, a space began to open around Trip and T'Pol as people standing nearby backed away.
Soval was striding across the room with singular purpose right in Trip and T'Pol's direction.
Archer took a quick glance and noted that Trip's parents, watching the scene unfold, did not seem taken by surprise at their son's entrance with his Vulcan companion. No doubt they'd already been told, maybe even knew before Archer did.
Soval reached Trip and T'Pol and came to an abrupt halt before them. Archer, from almost an entire room away, could only watch them without knowing the exact words that passed between them. Trip and T'Pol had slowly, without rush, let their hands fall apart and back to their sides. They faced Soval like unapologetic teens confronting a disgruntled father. Soval was talking, sparing looks away from T'Pol to almost glare at Trip. Archer had never seen the engineer look so stony-faced. T'Pol had taught her human boyfriend haughty unconcern and righteousness whether she'd meant to or not. Trip's very look seemed to spit on Soval for his audacity to raise a complaint.
Everyone in the room was watching.
Archer himself was just beginning to think he should intercede when he saw Admiral Forrest take it upon himself. Forrest moved quickly through the crowd to join the muted confrontation. He spoke to Soval, Soval answered, then Forrest cast pointed and long looks at Trip and T'Pol both. More abbreviated but heated conversation. Forrest finally turned and beckoned for Commander William. The assistant soon joined them... more words were traded.
The gathering broke up and scattered without fanfare. Soval headed down the hall with T'Pol following behind him. Commander William gestured for Trip to go with him, and the two left the hall shortly thereafter. Forrest left his place by the door and headed directly for Archer.
"Come with me, Jon," Forrest said in a no nonsense tone when he'd reached the captain. "We have a problem."
Archer nodded, looked briefly toward the Tuckers (now a little worried for the scene but still completely unbothered by the revelation), then followed his commanding officer out of the banquet hall.
It was a long time before conversation had the gall to return to its previous level. Even longer for the incident to leave the minds of those in attendance, and for some that never truly happened.
*****
Admiral Forrest, without speaking a word to the 'situation', preceded Captain Archer through the Starfleet Academy halls, into the administrative offices wing, then directly to an empty conference room. He didn't once look back to see that Archer was following, but then the captain had very little alternative. Forrest allowed Archer to enter the meeting room first then closed the door behind them.
The moment they were assured some degree of privacy, Forrest was talking. "You knew about this?"
Archer turned to face his superior officer and saw no reason to obfuscate the truth. "Yes."
Forrest seemed flustered by the point-blank admission a moment, perhaps expecting excuses rather than for the captain to up-front admit to the secret so abruptly busted open. Forrest battled with himself, then his eyes narrowed at Archer. "You didn't think you should have mentioned this during any one of the many meetings we held in chambers when you came back, when you had ample opportunity to do so?"
"I didn't see a need to keep you informed of my senior officers' personal lives. As a Vulcan independent consultant aboard Enterprise, T'Pol's not subject to Starfleet regulations."
"Jesus, Jonathan."
Archer frowned. "I don't see what the problem is. Commander Tucker and Sub-commander T'Pol have both proven they can still work objectively in dangerous situations despite their personal relationship."
"How long has this been going on on Enterprise?" Forrest demanded darkly. The veiled meaning was implicit, 'how long have you allowed this to go on?'
"A while."
Forrest was not pleased with Archer's casual answer.
"Look, I know it comes as a surprise to say the least, I had almost the same reaction when I found out, but there is legally nothing wrong with Trip and T'Pol being involved."
Forrest planted his hands on his hips in a stance of impotent frustration. "This could not have come at a worse time for us. We're just starting to rebuild our shaken alliance with the Vulcans, and this... Your crewmen are endangering the entire process before it's barely begun. Do you have no concern for that? Do they have no concern?"
"Admiral, I appreciate the current diplomatic situation with Vulcan, but I don't see how that could be threatened just because Trip and T'Pol are dating."
Forrest looked abruptly at Archer and the captain began to grow uneasy at the admiral's deep, pointed stare.
"I think you need to talk to your Vulcan, Captain."
Archer turned his head in silent question.
"Did you see the way they were holding hands?"
Archer considered the untangled touch of four fingers. 'Guess it's as good a description as any,' he thought. "Yes."
Forrest stared expectantly a couple of seconds before he said, "According to Ambassador Soval, that kind of touching is not a sign of courtship, it's indicative of marriage."
Archer gaped, speechless, at Admiral Forrest. He knew the admiral was dead serious if only from the hard-lined look on his face. Not that the admiral was prone to jest even in good times and this was far from 'good times'.
*****
To get to Trip, it seemed Archer had to go through layers. First, once Archer left the administration office and his on-the-spot meeting with Admiral Forrest, he'd been accosted by well-meaning, concerned Enterprise crewmen who'd left the banquet to hunt down their captain and find out if there was trouble. There was, of course, but Archer decided he didn't have enough information to worry them nor ruin their day of celebration. Shame was that Archer's crew knew him too well and they knew he wasn't telling them everything, at the very least definitely sugar-coating some of the nastier facts, just by watching him.
Archer had been impressed with the number of people who had seen fit to ask after their mismatched pair of colleagues, completely abandoning the party in their honor to do so. Any sense of wonder was tempered by what he saw. The captain saw a very familiar glint start to sparkle dangerously in their eyes. Battle-camaraderie. They felt their own were being threatened, and the Enterprise crew so long in the expanse (synonymous with 'extremely hostile territory') was spring-loaded to close ranks. They were primed to pull together, to make it Enterprise against the universe. They were itching to jump on Trip and T'Pol's side, not even knowing the specifics of the situation and clearly not needing to, ready to fight for them as each would fight fiercely for any other Enterprise crewman.
Normally that would make Archer proud of his people, but right now it put a sick hollowness in his gut. He'd professed to Admiral Forrest that this relationship between Trip and T'Pol (admittedly, to Archer's consternation, more serious than he'd previously believed) would not cause trouble. He could see trouble brewing in the faces of his men and women. If they perceived Trip and T'Pol to be under any form of attack, and not necessarily a physical one, they would rail. They'd object. They would make waves, cause a commotion, and it was on the short list of things Earth did not need right now. Starfleet's heroic ship returning from the front lines only to go toe to toe with the admiralty over an assault on two of Enterprise's senior officers. It wouldn't look good in any light. It could divide people even more than they'd been split since the tragedy of the Xindi probe.
Archer had politely side-stepped any explanations until he had a clearer picture himself of what was going on and after a long battle seemingly swimming upstream through the sea of Enterprise personnel, he broke into relatively empty hallway.
His next roadblock was Charles and Kathleen Tucker. They'd been allowed further into the lion's den that anyone else, but even they were being withheld from getting too close to this particular pyre. No matter that the fire in question was their son. Kathleen and Charles stood, looking quite peeved and rather worried, before Commander William who was conveniently blocking their path into the corridor.
"Jonathan," Kathleen said when she saw the captain. "Why won't they let us see Trip? What is the meaning of this?"
Archer hated to tell Kathleen Tucker no. She had an honesty about her, a friendly air, and she was so harmless. A quintessential mother; she could have been the mother of any of his crewmen. She quietly demanded compliance. Archer absolutely loathed having to give her the run-around.
"I'm still trying to figure that out," Archer fudged the truth just slightly. Truth was he had a good idea what was going on, but he wanted to hear it from Trip or T'Pol personally before he went around spreading what could essentially be (boy, did he hope it was) a rumor.
Kathleen frowned and Archer didn't know the gentle older woman could look so sinister. She knew he was tap-dancing so he wouldn't have to talk at the moment.
"I'm sorry," Archer said like a knee-jerk response. He did mean it, though. "I'll let you know as soon as I know anything, but right now I need to talk to Trip."
Kathleen's brow lowered but she didn't stop him and Archer slid past the trio clogging the halls.
His next stutter in his mission was Admiral Leonard. The elderly gentleman, dressed in the finery of his dress uniform, was leaning against the wall outside a door with his arms crossed over his chest. He did not look happy.
When Leonard saw Archer he pushed off the wall and launched into Archer as though the Enterprise captain had coached Trip's reaction to the admiral.
"Your crewman's not cooperating, Captain."
"What exactly is going on?"
Leonard's jaw ground. "He's not answering questions and he's being very disrespectful... among other things, none of them befitting an officer. He's coming very close to insubordination."
"Admiral," Archer jumped in. He knew Trip. Trip could get a head of steam going when he was mad, he could get snappish and scathing when suitably riled, but he did not deserve a mark on his record... one more than he'd have already after all of this, that is. "Let me talk to him, I'll calm him down."
"Very well," Leonard returned, but he sounded immensely impatient. He appeared to have no qualms about a black mark the size of Massachusetts on Trip's service record.
Archer moved to enter the room and Leonard was at his shoulder.
Archer winced. "Ahh... Admiral? I think it'd be best if I went in alone."
The admiral glowered.
"Just until he's cooled off." Archer silently prayed to anyone who was listening that he wouldn't have to actually say to the admiral that he was 'the enemy' in Trip's eyes at the moment.
Admiral Leonard had not earned his rank by luck, however, and he soon nodded unpleasant agreement with Archer's sentiment. "You have ten minutes, Archer, then he'll go up on report for his actions against Starfleet Command if he can't comport himself in a proper, cooperative manner."
"Thank you," Archer bit off between clenched teeth and opened the door. As quickly as possible, to limit exposure to Admiral Leonard as much as possible, Archer slipped into the room and shut the door after him.
Trip was a moving target and Archer's eyes landed on him immediately. The engineer was pacing the back of the room like an agitated caged tiger looking for a trainer to maul. He'd shed his uniform jacket (which lay over the back of a chair) and his collar was loosened at the top. From a room away Archer could see the absolute fury etched into Trip's stony face. Even if he hadn't read the expression, Trip's tightly and repeatedly opening and closing into fists hands were clue enough to his state.
Trip glanced toward the door, saw Archer, and almost jumped a step toward him. "Do you know what they're doing? You hear that bullshit?" Trip gestured expansively with one hand toward the wall, obviously to implicate the admirals of Starfleet found beyond.
"Excuse me?" Archer replied, more in surprise at Trip's clear levels of disquiet than his questions.
Trip fumed. "That damn Soval's taken T'Pol to the Vulcan Embassy and no one will give me access to a comm panel to talk to her! What the hell is this? We back ta eugenic oppression practices here? Why am I holed up here like a damn criminal?! We didn't DO anything wrong!"
"Trip... calm down."
"Calm down?! They've culled us like diseased cattle and I'm supposed to be calm? I wanna talk ta T'Pol!"
The captain considered pulling rank briefly and dismissed the notion out of hand. That approach wouldn't work. If Trip hadn't responded to an admiral a captain, even his own, wouldn't get much better results. Archer held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture and chose to play the friend card. "You're yelling at the wrong guy, Trip. I'm not the one refusing to let you speak with her. You know if it was up to me, I would let you."
Trip blinked at Archer, seemed to realize truly for the first time whom he addressed, and a measure of the venom in his voice and stance faded. "Sorry, Cap'n." Trip sighed haggardly, moved toward the couch, and sagged down to sit on the arm.
Archer watched his friend carefully a moment, almost wary of another eruption, but realized he only had precious minutes alone with Trip and delicacy would have to be sacrificed.
"Admiral Forrest told me that you and T'Pol are married."
Trip closed his eyes, weary, but said nothing and otherwise didn't move a muscle.
"Is it true?"
Trip opened his eyes and looked toward Archer. His gaze was penetrating and unwavering. "Yes."
Archer felt his one fleeting hope dashed. "Why? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I dunno. Maybe we should have."
"Starfleet Command is really upset about this."
"Really, I hadn't noticed."
"Trip..." Archer said in a warning tone. He would tolerate only so much insolence from someone under his command, even Trip.
"Sorry." The engineer grimaced, tucked his arms over his chest like he was holding in an ache or warding off danger, and Archer dared a couple of steps closer.
"You should have told me. I made a complete fool of myself in front of Forrest."
Trip shifted tensely on his perch. "I said I was sorry, and I am. I never wanted ya to get dragged through this with us. Maybe that's part of the reason we didn't tell you everything... you can't be accomplice to somethin' you didn't know about."
"Somehow I think that will hold little sway with the admiralty or Vulcan High Command." At the mention of the Vulcan officials Trip sneered and his arm muscles stiffened.
"How can they blame ya for somethin' when you didn't know what was goin' on?"
"They'll hold me accountable as your captain and T'Pol's. I answer for the actions of those under my command. That's just the way it works. But you let me worry about that part; I'm more interested to know how you two plan to fix this."
"Fix it?" Trip parroted in a soft, tattered voice. He sounded only partly in the room with Archer, strangely disassociated. "You make it sound like somethin's broken."
"Trip?" Archer wondered at the odd mood of his chief engineer, the persisting abnormal signals in voice and body language Archer had never seen from Trip before.
"What would you suggest we do to 'fix this'?" Trip's tone was borderline mocking. He still wasn't looking at Archer, his eyes in an unfocused stare into the distance.
"I don't know. An annulment, maybe?"
A strangely sad and disgusted smirk touched Trip's lips. "It's not like that. We can't just sign our names on a piece of paper and call it off. And even if we could we wouldn't."
"What do you mean?"
Trip huffed angrily, his spine straightened, and he came dangerously close to yelling again. "We're linked, Cap'n. Bound to each other, physically, emotionally, psychologically. She's part of me. Literally." He turned suddenly hot eyes on Archer and the captain was taken aback. "I feel what she feels, sometimes I even 'hear' what she thinks. I've seen into her mind, her heart, and if there is a soul I've seen that, too. You can't just stop what we've done, you can't simply undo what we did. The Vulcans know that."
Archer mused to himself. "Which must be part of the reason they're so upset."
Trip's hands opened and closed around his ribcage, fingers digging into the space between his bones sharply. Archer worried at the behavior as he studied the younger man closely. Trip was wired, strung taut and thrumming with stress like a cord overtaxed and ready to break.
"Trip, are you all right?" He wondered for a moment if he should get Phlox.
Trip sighed, dropped his chin to his chest, and slowly opened his clutching fingers and spared his abused intercostal muscle. "Yeah, most of it's not me... T'Pol's upset."
"She's..." Archer began, thrown, then stopped to think. He judged Trip's word with due consideration of what he'd just been told about this 'connection' between them.
Trip cant his head, eyes closed, in an acknowledging gesture. "Soval must be givin' her the third degree and she's... upset. I'd just like to talk to her. If I could just see her..." Trip's body raced again with uneasy rigidity and his voice went still.
Archer had no words of reassurance. He had no idea what the Vulcans would do in this scenario so he couldn't even presume to say it would be all right. For all he knew it wouldn't be. Certainly the chance things wouldn't turn out all right for these two existed. There was, unquestionably, no precedent in place to cover something like this.
"Trip... you're going to have to talk to Admiral Leonard. He has questions and he's very unhappy with you at the moment for not having been more forthcoming. I'd suggest you get yourself under control and start cooperating."
Trip stood abruptly from his perch and paced alongside the back wall again.
"Trip... look, you don't have a choice. After the way you two walked into the main hall like you were god-given royalty you can face up to the responsibility that comes with that bold, if rather stupid, course of action."
Trip stopped his pacing, looked toward Archer, and he managed a small smile that held no trace of a sneer. "We did throw it in their faces a little, didn't we?"
Archer tried not to smile. He'd hate to encourage any of this. "What did you expect after something like that?"
Trip shrugged. "We were just fed up. You have no idea what kind of looks we'd been gettin' from everyone, Cap'n. All day these looks. Like we were wrong. What we thought was wrong, what we'd done was wrong, what we felt was wrong. We wouldn't accept that, T'Pol nor I. We wouldn't act like we were ashamed of what we'd done. We know we're not wrong. We weren't gonna hide like they were right."
"Trip... I may have my issues with not being fully informed about the nature of this relationship earlier on, and I might raise a complaint about the way you two handled it, and forget for now the fact that even if you didn't know better T'Pol damn well should have... aside all of that, you two aren't being thrown to the wolves here. A lot of people from Enterprise are ready to back you both. You're not alone, neither of you. You have the crew's support, most if not all of them. I'm also your friend. T'Pol's friend, too. There are people who don't object to the idea you and T'Pol being married if it's what you both really want."
"I know."
"Then show it by helping yourself a little. Don't make it hard for us to side with you by pissing off every admiral from here to Azati Prime."
Trip smiled wryly and nodded. "I'll try. Thanks."
"I'm going to go get Admiral Leonard and I expect you to answer his questions, rationally and calmly." When the engineer launched no objections Archer eyed Trip a moment to gauge his sincerity and resolve and discovered a much more familiar, competent, and in-control Trip Tucker before him. It was definitely a vast improvement over the ranting lunatic he'd walked in to find. With a measure of returning confidence Archer stepped outside the room to bring in Admiral Leonard.
Back to Chapter 23
Continue to Chapter 25
|
