Author's Note: I read a ff a while ago where Trip got a promotion to another ship right after Home. I honestly can't find the ff and wish I could name it in this note. It was unfinished and had to do with multiple realities and Captain's mess dinners gone badly…anyways, I took that basic idea of Trip having his own ship and this came about. I owe the first ff the original idea, but the rest is all my own doing. All characters belong to Paramount and I make no money from this. Flashbacks and head conversations are in italics.

XXX

Trip watched the Pulsar begin the painstaking 45-minute docking procedure on Jupiter station. He was normally a patient man but he hadn't seen T'Pol in five months and there was only a 6-hour window when Enterprise was docked there as well. He had only a few hours with her and he didn't want to sacrifice one minute of it.

An alarm sounded on the bridge.

"Report," he said to the helmsman.

"It looks like there's a clamp that's malfunctioning," Mavis Kimmel reported.

"God damn it," Trip sighed under his breath. "Can we choose a new port?"

"Negative, it's the only one open," Mavis reported. "My message says it'll be 20 minutes to repair."

Trip massaged his forehead with his one hand and sighed.

"Can they speed that up at all?" He asked, annoyed.

"I'll ask," Mavis nodded as she started typing.

"I'll be in my ready room," Trip said sharply before he rose from the Captain's chair and walked toward it. If he could have slammed the damn sliding door he would have. Twenty minutes is Jupiter Station lingo for an hour, at least. Add the forty-five-minute docking procedure and they'd just lost about two hours.

"Fuck," he said under his breath as he paced the small room. It was half the size of Jon's but he still managed two strides before he had to turn and go back. The ready room seemed uncomfortably hot today as well, which seemed to mimic his angry temperament.

They said that it would work, that it was what they both needed to do, that they could still meet and talk into their 'space' regularly so it wouldn't be that bad…but nothing compared to having her next to him, under him, on top of him, anywhere within ten friggin feet of him. And, yes, five months of celibacy was weighing on his general mood, but it was more than that. He just wanted to touch her, hold her, talk with her, watch the way her eyes danced as she spoke…god, he was a mess. Ten months ago, he and T'Pol had finally figured out the disaster that had been their relationship and committed themselves to each other. Despite the separate ships, and the loneliness and the unsure future of his next posting, they had thought this was something that could work. In a way, it was their only option if they both wanted to stay in space and further their careers. It was very logical to do this, but it still didn't make it any easier.

He felt her reaching out to him over the space and tried to supress his anger before he opened his mind to hers.

"I heard about the clamp."

"It's going to add an hour, at least," Trip sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Did you damage the clamp?" T'Pol asked.

Trip laughed.

"I thought not," T'Pol sighed. "No apology from you is needed."

"It's looking like our time together just got shorter," Trip said sadly.

"If the Pulsar didn't need that warp coil repair it would have been longer," T'Pol reminded him. "Lieutenant Hess jokingly asked if you had something to do with that."

Trip laughed, hard.

"I don't get down to engineering much," Trip said. "But that's something I should keep in mind if I ever want to see you sooner."

"You didn't, did you?" T'Pol asked.

"No, T'Pol, I did not damage the warp coil on my ship so I could see you," Trip said honestly.

"Well, I will come aboard as soon as the docking procedure clears me," T'Pol said softly. "We will make the most of the time we have. Is Commander Ncumbe ready to assume command?"

"Yes," Trip said with a chuckle. "He wanted to take over before we docked because I seemed…agitated. But I sent him for lunch. He should be back about the time Jupiter station decides to let us dock."

"I will see you soon," T'Pol said softly just before she broke the connection.

XXX

"Where's the Captain?" Mohammad Ncumbe asked as he looked around the bridge. It was just Mavis at the helm and Javier at the main control.

"In his ready room," Mavis said. "But I'd let him be, if I were you."

Mohammad looked at the work being done on Jupiter Station on the view screen.

"Why have we not begun docking?" He asked confused.

"Malfunctioning clamp, twenty minutes," Javier informed him.

"Oh," he sighed as he turned and looked toward the closed ready room door. It was going to be an hour, possibly two, before they even started the docking procedure. It was times like that that Mohammad wished they had a transporter like the larger ships.

He knew his Captain was involved with T'Pol, first officer of Enterprise. They had not made their relationship a secret, they both served on different ships to there was no need. He knew senior officers on board both their ships probably knew, but it was something all of Starfleet wasn't probably privy to. He also knew, from his many meals with the Captain, that they were not only in love, but had committed themselves to each other in some sort of Vulcan ceremony that the Captain had not gone into details about. It was an odd relationship but one that the Captain seemed to enjoy. Mohamed had worked with a handful of Vulcans as an armory officer and they all seemed…reclusive, reticent, aloof, and serious. He always wondered why his Captain, who was loud, gregarious, and funny had attached himself to a person like this. Now, he had learned through Starfleet talk, that T'Pol was slightly different, but, having never met her he couldn't say how.

He also knew that Enterprise was docked and they hadn't seen each other in five months. The Captain had been growing impatient and somewhat short with his crew the last few weeks. In some ways, the repair to the warp coil had been a lucky break, otherwise, the Captain and his girlfriend wouldn't have met up for another two months.

Mohammad was always happy to return home to his wife and children at shore leave, but the need that the Captain seemed to have to his girlfriend, especially lately, was something foreign to his first officer. But it was clear, to everyone on board that when the Captain wasn't happy, no one was.

Mohammad took a deep breath and contacted Jupiter Station, prepared to rip into anyone who was going to prolong the clamp repair and delay their dock more than thirty minutes. He needed a happy Captain if the next few months were going to be successful.

XXX

Trip sat and looked at the PADD in front of him. It was the latest report from Starfleet about readiness of NX-3 and some of the changes that had been made to her. She was a Warp 6 ship, the fastest in the fleet, but there were difficulties with the hull plating and a new material they were using. The launch date, and his transfer had been pushed back an additional two months. It was the third delay of two months and Trip was wondering if Starfleet was ever going to announce his command of the ship. It wasn't until that announcement that he would be able to have T'Pol join his crew, so they were left in a holding pattern as the hull plating was, again, tinkered with.

He thought back to his last promotion to the Pulsar, a Warp 3 capable ship that explored and patrolled the area of space between Vulcan and Earth, ironically. He had just returned from T'Pol's wedding and her rejection of him to Jon's smiling face as he exited the shuttle. Trip had felt like shit, probably looked like shit, and wanted nothing more then to crawl into the Jefferies tube and work until he collapsed.

"How was your vacation?" Jon asked as he clapped him on the back, apparently slow to see his friend's distress.

"Vulcan is beautiful," Trip said, trying to avoid the subject of T'Pol.

"T'Pol stayed longer?" Jon asked.

Trip sighed and rolled his tongue in his cheek. No time like the present.

"She got married," Trip said in a neutral voice.

"What?" Jon asked. "She hadn't said anything to me."

"She didn't know until she was there that is was…expected," Trip said as he shouldered his bag and started to walk with Jon by his side.

"I don't…I don't understand, you don't seem very pleased," Jon said, oblivious to the relationship between his two officers.

Trip stopped and looked at him for a moment, half tempted to tell him everything because none of it mattered any more.

"It was an obligation to her family and not something she was happy about," Trip said. "She and her husband are not really going to live like a traditional Vulcan couple. She was sort of…pressured into the wedding."

"Like an arranged marriage?" Jon asked, astounded.

"Yeah," Trip said quietly. "I'm kinda tired and…"

"Oh well, I was actually meeting you for another reason and I hoped we could talk if…if you're up to it?" Jon asked, slightly confused by Trip's depressive attitude. T'Pol must have really not wanted to marry this Vulcan guy if even Trip, her friend, is this upset about it. In that moment Jon felt incredibly sorry for his Vulcan first officer and the cultural obligations she was asked to uphold.

"Can I come by your ready room in a half hour?" Trip asked. "Vulcan transports are hotter than hell and I'd like to shower and change if that's okay?"

"Uh, sure," Jon said. "Of course! Thirty-minutes!" Jon smiled at him before he walked quickly in the other direction from where Trip was headed.

After a pitiful ugly unmanly cry in the shower and a 'buck-up' talk to himself he joined Jon in his ready room and immediately noticed some official paperwork sitting on the table.

"What's this?" Trip asked as he looked down at the paperwork with his name on it.

"Starfleet wants to give you NX-3," Jon said with enthusiasm and delight.

"What?" Trip asked, astounded and confused.

"It'll be ready in sixteen months and it's yours," Jon said proudly as he clapped Trip on the shoulder. "Until then, they need you to Captain the Pulsar."

"I'm sorry?" Trip asked.

"Fredericks is leaving to have her baby and they need you to take over until the NX-3 is ready to break dock," Jon said as he turned and poured them both a glass of whisky. "Sort of a proving ground for you as a Captain so when they make the announcement it doesn't look like you're jumping the command structure."

"I get NX-3?" Trip asked, still unbelieving.

"You, Captain Charles Tucker the third, get NX-3," Jon laughed as he handed Trip a glass.

Trip sat down heavily in the chair, his mouth open in astonishment.

"I think this must be what I looked like when they told me I had Enterprise," Jon laughed before he clinked his glass with Trip and the two men downed the shot.

"Holy hell," Trip muttered.

"You just need to sign your promotion papers, do a good job on Pulsar and…well, the rest is Starfleet history," Jon said as he handed Trip a pen.

Trip's hand shook a little as he took the pen and he looked up at Jon for reassurance.

"You're going to be one hell of a Captain, Trip," Jon smiled at his friend.

Trip signed the papers and sat back into his chair. "Jesus Christ."

"You ship out to the Pulsar in four days, which I know isn't much time but…"

"No, no, it's fine," Trip said nodding, still surprised by the turn of events. Then he thought of T'Pol, who wouldn't be back for another two weeks. It was probably best that he left before she returned anyways, it would be easier for him and less awkward for her.

"I have a party planned for tonight so we can tell everyone about your promotion," Jon said as he took the papers and started to scan them to Starfleet. "We can't say anything about NX-3 yet, but, well, you're now a Captain."

"My own ship," Trip muttered.

"The Pulsar is a small one that patrols and explores between Earth and Vulcan but…"

"I'm sorry, did you say Earth and Vulcan?" Trip asked.

"Yes, why?" Jon asked, distractedly as he typed a quick message to accompany the official documents.

"No reason," Trip sighed, the irony that he would spend sixteen months moving between her world and his was not lost on the new Captain.

Forty minutes later, Trip felt the ship shudder slightly and the distinct feeling that they were docking.

He put down the report he was reading on his PADD and walked out onto the bridge.

"Report," he said before he even noticed Mohamed.

"We're docking, sir," Mavis smiled at him.

"How?" Trip asked confused as he approached Mohamed.

"I called in some favors and…"

"What?" Trip asked astounded.

"I also explained that we had a consultant that needed to come aboard immediately so regular protocols have been altered and…"

"I could practically kiss you Mohamed," Trip said excitedly.

"Let's not, and say we did," Mohammed joked.

Trip wrapped an arm tightly around his shoulder and smiled broadly at the man.

"Thank you," Trip sighed.

"Our consultant should be ready to board in four minutes," Mohamed said with a smirk. "If you wanted to meet her, sir."

Trip didn't have to be told twice. He turned and walked quickly to the turbolift.

"You have the bridge Commander," Trip said with a smile just before the doors closed.

"Somebody's getting laid," Javier said quietly and with amusement.

"At least someone is," Mavis sighed, thinking of the last time she'd seen her boyfriend five months ago when they had shore leave.

"Enough you two," Mohamed chastised them amicably. He couldn't help the smirk that ran across his face though, Charles Tucker always wore his heart on his sleeve.

XXX

"They said I didn't need to wait for the proper…" T'Pol said as she walked through the connecting doors surprised.

"That'll be all Ensign," Trip nodded to the ensign who was walking with T'Pol.

"Mohammed got you through quicker as a consultant," Trip said quietly as they walked through the hall side by side.

They passed several crew members who nodded and smiled at their Captain and his guest.

"Its design is quite different from the Enterprises," T'Pol said as she looked around his ship. "I have seen the design, but it's astounding how different it feels in person."

"If we have time, I'll give you a tour," Trip said as he turned left and she followed.

"Where are we going now?" She asked.

"My quarters," Trip said with a smirk. "I even got chef to make you some plomeek broth but I can't promise that it's any good."

"I already had lunch," T'Pol said as a few crew members stopped chatting as they passed her and Trip.

"Captain," they nodded in unison and then quickly scurried away.

"They seem somewhat afraid of you," T'Pol said, surprised.

"Uh, I kinda blew a gasket about the warp coil," Trip said, somewhat embarrassed. "They were part of the engineering crew."

T'Pol nodded knowingly.

"Home sweet home," Trip said as he entered his code and the door opened to his room.

She walked inside and looked around. It was as large as Captain Archers and sparsely decorated. It didn't look like he spent much time here.

"You haven't really put anything out like most humans do," T'Pol noted as she looked around at the one picture of his family, one of some Enterprise crew, and one of her.

"I didn't bring much with me it was such a fast switch," Trip admitted. "Almost everything except my clothes and a couple of things went into storage at Starfleet base."

T'Pol found his sparse space appealing to her Vulcan sensibilities, but disturbing because it seemed so unlike him.

"I sense great desire from you," T'Pol said as she turned to face him. "Perhaps we should have sexual relations immediately so you have time to recover and engage in it again?"

"You're such a romantic," Trip smiled at her as he approached and kissed her soundly on the lips. She instinctively responded to his kiss and felt his tongue penetrate her mouth in a desperate fashion. His body temperature was hotter than normal and she wondered, absently, if he was coming down with an illness. She would ask him to get his doctor to give him a complete exam.

Before much time had passed they were naked and tangled in bed together, his desire wafting over her as he plundered her core with his fingers and lips and she writhed on the bed naked and wanton. It was one of the most erotic sexual experiences they had as a couple and she felt overwhelming desire float through her core as he brought her to orgasm twice without even penetrating her with his penis.

"God, I have images that replay in my head of you," Trip said as he rose off his knees, wiped his mouth and slinked up her body. "But nothing even comes close to this."

She pulled her head up and kissed him soundly before she felt him enter her. He groaned at the complete feeling of enclosure and wildly started to pump in and out of her, as if he was a man with only one goal in life; completion. She tightened her walls even more around him and saw him gasp, then his face twist before she felt him release into her.

"Ohhhhhffff," he said loudly as his ejaculate went on and on. She wondered, absently, if it had ever taken this long for him to empty himself into her.

"Christ," he sighed as his body flopped on top of hers and she easily took his weight on her sturdy Vulcan frame. He was breathing heavily into her shoulder and she worried he'd strained something his lovemaking was so vigorous.

"God, I'm so sorry, T'Pol, I don't know where that came from," he said as he lifted himself up off her and flopped down on the bed next to her. "I had plans for lunch, then I wanted to hear all about Elisia, then eventually sex and…"

"You did, have lunch, in a matter of speaking," T'Pol said plainly.

He laughed a full-bodied laugh at her joke and didn't stop for several minutes.

She rose naked from his bed and walked to the plomeek soup he had in stasis for her. She lifted the spoon to her mouth and tried it.

"It's adequate but not up to chef's standard, and he is not up to my mother's standard," she said before she turned to look at him naked and sated in his dishevelled bed.

"It's the first time he's made it, apparently," Trip said as he raised himself up onto an elbow and looked at her beautiful naked body trying to memorize it for the next few months of celibacy. "Tell me about Elisia."

XXX

"With all due respect, Commander, I'd like to show the Captain myself," Ensign Bilson said with an air of indifference.

"And I said," Mohamed reminded her. "That I will present your findings to the Captain. If he has any further questions, we'll call you in."

"But," Ensign Bilson started.

"Dismissed," Mohamed said with authority.

Miranda Bilson walked out of the Captain's ready room in a huff. Mohamed was sick and tired of her trying to usurp authority on the Pulsar. Her father may be the Captain of Neptune VI but that didn't give her any special privileges on board this ship. She had only been in space and on this ship for five months, she was an arrogant scientist who needed to learn the command structure on a ship.

But, Miranda Bilson had other ideas. She decided that Commander Ncumbe was just trying to steal her thunder. The Captain, the very handsome and affable Captain Tucker, would listen to her findings over a cup of coffee. They would laugh and talk and he would see how truly brilliant she was to discover this.

Miranda knew because Commander Ncumbe was on the bridge that he was either in the gym or his quarters so she started to search out the Captain.

As luck would have it the Captain was walking toward her with a Vulcan woman talking.

"Captain, might I have a word?" Miranda Bilson asked as she smiled at him and puffed out her chest.

"I actually am giving Commander T'Pol a tour right now Ensign Bilson," Trip said nicely. "I'll talk to you later today unless it's pressing."

"Well, actually, it's about the nebula surrounding Vulcan," Ensign Bilson started. She didn't notice the Captain sign heavily and place his hands on his hips annoyed but T'Pol did.

"Did you present these finding to Lieutenant Pennington?" Trip asked her annoyed.

"I didn't, I felt that if I spoke with you directly…" Miranda began, stepping a little more into Trip's personal space.

T'Pol could tell she was attempting to use her sexual attractiveness to get Trip to listen to her.

"You should present any findings to Pennington, she'll present to Ncumbe, and he presents to me," Trip reminded her in a clipped tone.

"It's just that this nebula is acting out of character and I think we should spend more time studying it," Miranda pushed forward oblivious to his rising anger. She was taking time away from T'Pol and that was something he was not happy about. "It hasn't behaved this exact way ever and if you'll look at my findings…"

She pushed the PADD into Trip's hands and he briefly glanced down at it before he narrowed his eyes and looked at her.

"I am off duty and busy with a guest, Ensign," Trip said through gritted teeth. "You will present your findings to Pennington and observe the chain of command on board this vessel, do you understand?"

Miranda's eyes went wide and she swallowed hard. She had never seen the Captain angry before and it was daunting to have his anger directed at you.

"I uh…I just thought you might be the best one to understand and…"

Trip was about to hand the PADD back to her when T'Pol reached around him and took it from him, touching the screen and looking at her calculations.

"Uh, that's classified," Miranda said with some venom.

Trip looked at her astounded. "This is Commander T'Pol of the Enterprise, she has one of the highest security clearances in Starfleet."

"Oh," Miranda said.

"The nebula you are studying behaves this way every 43.687 years," T'Pol said as he handed back the PADD. "It is a reaction to atmospheric pressure and the warp signatures which bounce off the planet from nearby space travel. I will send you all relevant Vulcan information on these patterns if you wish to study them further."

"Oh, uh, thank you," Miranda said as she looked dejectedly at her PADD. "I thought I'd discovered…"

"The nebula has been behaving this way for thousands of years," T'Pol said kindly.

"Oh, well, then…" Miranda started.

"Dismissed Ensign," Trip said clearly.

She nodded and stepped away from him as he placed a hand on the small of T'Pol's back and guided her down the hallway. She leaned into him and said something softly before they disappeared around the corner.

"Did you meet the Captain's girlfriend?" Hugh asked as he walked up behind her.

"His what?" Miranda asked.

"The Vulcan, his girlfriend?" Hugh asked her with a smirk. "Was she like other Vulcans or different?"

"She…she was fine," Miranda said shaking her head. "His girlfriend, really?"

"Apparently Enterprise is only docked here for a couple more hours and they're spending as much time together before they go their own way," Hugh said with a smirk. "I'm surprised they left his quarters because if I had a girlfriend with a body like that, who I hadn't seen in months…"

"I get it," Miranda said, slightly crushed.

"What's the matter with you?" Hugh asked, confused.

"Nothing," Miranda sighed before she started to walk away. "Nothing at all."

XXX

"You seem to be getting an illness," T'Pol said as she touched his forehead. After the tour of the ship they had found their way back into his bed for another vigorous session of sexual relations. He had taken her on her knees this time and she had enjoyed the angle greatly and vocalized her joy to him.

"I'm fine, just a bug," Trip said before he ran a light hand up and down the side of her body. "Sure, you can't damage something on Enterprise so you can stay a little longer?"

"As it is," T'Pol said as she looked at his beautiful face. "The Captain is allowing me to evade protocol and board Enterprise only ten minutes before it is scheduled to launch. The usual protocol is an hour before…"

"I know," Trip said as he snuggled into her frame. "And I'm grateful for the time with you."

T'Pol sighed and shivered slightly. The sweat on her body had cooled and his room was rather cold.

"Here," he said as he pulled the blanket up and around her. "As much as I like the view, it's no reason for you to get cold."

"Thank you," she said before she kissed the top of his cheek. "I heard about the delay."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm starting to believe I'm never getting that ship."

"The Juno will be your ship," T'Pol said softly. "And I will serve with you on it."

"We haven't even asked them yet," Trip said, doubtful. "I can't live the rest of my life like this."

"I heard, through someone who I'm still in contact with in Intelligence, that they are considering families on Orion class ships," T'Pol said softly as she traced a circle on his skin. "If they are considering that, then surely they would allow a couple…"

"As long as we don't have kids, that may be possible but…"

"But?"

Trip sighed and wiped his mouth. "I know you want kids T'Pol, and I don't want my career getting in the way of that."

T'Pol looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I have never said I wanted children," T'Pol corrected him.

"But you've never said you didn't, either," Trip said softly as he watched her face.

"I agree that children would be nice, but I am also open to not having them," T'Pol said as she watched him carefully. "It is an honour to get the Juno and one you cannot turn down."

Trip sighed and scratched his head. "You know I always thought I'd have kids but…but now as I look at the future I'm not sure I see how they fit into it. I wouldn't want you living somewhere and just visiting my family…Mohamed does it, as does Sims but…if I'm going to be a father, that's not the father I want to be."

"And I don't want to sacrifice my career or my relationship with you to have children," T'Pol said honestly.

"So…what are we saying here?"

"We're saying that as much as we'd be agreeable to children, they are not something we envision for our future," T'Pol said clearly.

"Are you okay with that? I mean, really okay with that?" Trip asked.

"I am," T'Pol said with a small smile she only showed him. "Are you?"

"I am," he said softly as he kissed her nose. "But if you want to re-visit this at any time, don't think we're locked into this decision, because I'm prepared to re-think this if you feel strongly about it."

"Agreed," T'Pol nodded. "Although, honestly, I cannot see my decision changing."

Trip smirked at her. "Me neither, but, you never know."

T'Pol pushed him off her and stood up from his bed. "Shall we go not make a child in the shower? I have to leave soon."

Trip chuckled at her word usage and got up as well. "God, I'm already starting to miss you and you haven't even left."

"I miss you too t'hy'la," she said before she guided him into his washroom.

Forty minutes later, Trip kissed her goodbye at the airlock and watched her disappear behind the door. He felt his stomach drop and his spirits as well. It was another two months before they were scheduled for leave on Vulcan and he hoped Enterprise was close enough that he could transport onto their ship for a week of R&R. He had promised her he'd visit the doctor and, as he looked at his watch, he had just enough time to do that before his senior staff meeting on the bridge.

It was his first senior staff meeting and Trip was nervous. He'd joined the Pulsar only twelve hours ago and was still a little shell-shocked that he was in command. The crew was smaller, with only a compliment of forty people and he hoped to learn all their names soon. His first officer/armory chief was Mohamed Ncumbe an eleven-year Starfleet veteran who had served as first officer for four years already. He was married with three children and his family resided in Oklahoma. His chief helmsman was Ensign Mavis Kimmel and Australian who was only on her second space tour, she was competent and easy to talk to with an interest in pretty much everything and everyone. Dr. Carol Pennington served as his chief science officer and medical officer. She was married to an engineer who worked at the Starfleet base on Vulcan and they had an older daughter who was in college on Vulcan. His chief engineer, Lieutenant Javier Borges, also served as his security officer. He was single and seemed quite the ladies man and all-around fun guy. They relied completely on universal translators as there was no need for a communications officer like Hoshi on such a small ship.

He was still hurting from T'Pol and the switch, although he knew it would do him good, was so fast he felt like his head was still spinning. He'd also done something foolish, well, two things foolish if she found out about both. He'd entered her room with her familiar passcode and left her a message on her computer about his transfer and it being for the best. He'd also said he loved her and wanted only happiness for her; he hoped she could find it with Koss.

Then, he'd taken one last look around and noticed a scarf sitting on the corner of her bed, quite out of place in her normal neat Vulcan universe. He had picked it up and it smelled immediately like her; a mix of vanilla and daisies and something that was intrinsically T'Pol. She must have been wearing it before they left, thought better, and left it as an afterthought. He pocketed the scarf before he really thought about it and left her room in a flurry. He had sentimentally placed the scarf in stasis to preserve the smell and not looked at it since. He had a sad image of himself smelling the scarf years from now when he heard she'd had a child or had left Starfleet.

Trip found himself in front of their small infirmary and as the doors opened Dr Pennington greeted him from the other side.

"Hi Captain, what can I do for you?"

"I've got a bit of a fever and I was wondering if you could just give me the once over?" Trip asked uncomfortably. Truthfully, he'd always be uncomfortable with doctors after his many injuries on Enterprise.

"Sure, hop up," she said before she picked up a scanner and walked toward him.

TBC

XXX