Title: Invisible Man
Author: McCool21 (Susan217)

Rating: PG
Category: Romance/Angst/Humor
Codes: M/S, Tu, R, A
Summary: Travis suffers from invisibility.
Disclaimer: Enterprise is the property of Paramount. This was written for recreational purposes; no profit made!
Beta read by CJ. Best sister/beta ever.

Hoshi laughed, causing water to spit out of her mouth all over the table. Her face flamed red and she giggled and coughed while Travis patted her back.

She swatted at Travis for catching her off guard with the joke. Travis laughed even more.

"I'm sorry, Hoshi. You're just too easy," Travis said smiling.

"I cannot believe you. Every time I agree to have dinner with you, this happens." She gestured to her water filled tray.

Travis loved making Hoshi smile. He worked at it constantly. His favorite smile, so far, had been when he convinced her he had a living being in decon. Of course it turned out to be jello, but the look on her face was priceless.  Her laugh was worth all the bruises from her swatting him for bad jokes. It made his heart catch in his throat when he could make her happy, even if just for a second.

Everyone, including Hoshi, around them assumed that they were just good friends. No one knew of the feelings he harbored for her. He loved everything about her. Her hair, her smile, and the way she rolled her eyes when she was annoyed. He loved how she was one if the only members of the crew who wasn't afraid of Captain Archer.

Her giggles subsided and she dug into her dessert. Travis watched her quietly, envious of the spoon as it wrapped around her beautiful lips. He had considered on many occasions telling her how he felt, but there were two obstacles in his way.

The mess hall door opened and in walked Commander Charles Tucker the Third, along with one Lieutenant Malcolm Reed.

"Think of the devil…" Travis said under his breath.

Hoshi gave him an odd look, and Travis frowned, having forgotten about her sensitive ears. She turned to see what had made him say that and smiled broadly. She self-consciously reached to tidy her hair and Travis rolled his eyes. He was actually quite fond of the two men, just very jealous.

Trip's eyes scanned the mess hall, locking with Hoshi's. He said something to Malcolm, who looked up and nodded to Hoshi.

They loaded their trays with food, and made their way to the table.

"Hosh, would you mind telling Malcolm, in any language he pleases, that we do not have room in engineering to store more of his precious weapons?" Trip said.

"Hey, Travis," he added, smiling absently, then settling down between Travis and Hoshi.

Malcolm rolled his eyes, "Ensigns," he greeted. "I do believe our Mr. Tucker has been spending too much time with the warp core and has developed some sort of breach in his mind."

Hoshi laughed. Travis sighed at having his time with her interrupted again.

"You two are worse than most married couples," Hoshi said, still laughing.

Travis watched his least favorite game begin, yet again. He had named it 'Watch Your Senior Officers Fight Over the Girl of Your Dreams'. He hated this game. It really had no point, except to unknowingly torture Travis. How could he compete with these two?

Trip had his southern accent and his easygoing manner. Half the women on the ship had fantasies about this guy knocking on their door at night.

Then there was Malcolm. Dark and secretive, knew about blowing stuff up. What lady could resist that?

Granted as a pilot, Travis had gotten his own fair share of dates. But when you added the amount of experience these two had in wooing the female species, Travis didn't hold a candle.

"Travis, you OK?" Trip asked, looking at him worriedly. He had a forkful of food halfway to his mouth and had stopped in the middle of the conversation. Malcolm stopped talking to Hoshi as well to check on him. "Yes, Ensign. Are you feeling well?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Travis said.

That was another thing, why did they have to be so nice? It would be a lot easier if Travis could hate them. But no. They had to be fantastic people to make it even worse.

Trip began to tell an amusing story, and Travis was drawn back into the conversation. He watched as Hoshi looked between each man. Sometimes Travis wondered if given a choice, whom would she pick? Malcolm or Trip?

The mess hall doors opened and Captain Archer walked in. He waved and Hoshi immediately invited him to join them.

"No, thanks. Porthos hasn't had his supper," he called.

That was a blessing. Travis had enough trouble keeping up with these two. He didn't want to even THINK of competing with the Captain.

Hoshi was totally engrossed in conversation with Trip and Malcolm, so Travis stood.

"Well, I'm beat. I'll see you on duty tomorrow," he said.

Trip and Malcolm looked back at him.

"Ya sure? I've got lots more stories to tell," Trip said, grinning.

"Damn, I had hoped that was the last one," Malcolm said, deadpan.

Hoshi guffawed, spitting out her drink again.

"Goodnight, Ensign," Malcolm said loudly over Hoshi's laughter.

"Yeah, see ya, Trav," Trip said.

Travis picked up his tray and looked back at the red-faced woman he loved.

"See you on duty." She smiled broadly at him.

Travis admired her smile for a moment.

I guess I'll take what I can get, he thought as he left the mess hall to head back to his quarters.