Author's Note: Please see previous notes. Okay, so here we are at the end! I hope you enjoy the direction I took this little snapshot exploration.
Let me know what you think!
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"Commander Tucker, the right you speak of is that of a Vulcan male and, as you are human, it should not apply," the one Minister said clearly.
"Are we not in a Vulcan mating bond?" Trip queried. "Is that not the whole point of this?"
"It's far more complicated then, I'm sure, you realize and…" the Minister began again.
"If I may?" Ms. Tate asked as she stood.
"Ms. Tate?" a different Minister asked.
"If it is agreed, by this Council that T'Pol and Commander Tucker are in a mating bond, as you have already found, then the rule of said bond should apply regardless of the species involved in the bond," Briana said.
Jon looked at her astounded, his head was still reeling from Trip calling T'Pol his wife.
The Ministers all looked at each other confused.
"We will need a recess to discuss our ruling on the issue of whether Mr. Tucker has the right to speak on behalf of T'Pol," the Minister who had been quiet up until this point said before she stood and the others followed her from the room.
"What the hell are you doing?" T'Pol snapped at Trip as soon as they left.
"Getting your ass out of the fire," Trip said as he smiled at her. "You're welcome, by the way."
"Trip, I don't need…" T'Pol started. "I've been blocking the bond so you…"
"I'm sorry to interrupt but they will rule quickly, and we need to decide a few things before they return," Briana said, interrupting the pair of them.
"And those things are?" Trip asked.
"If they agree that Trip is your mate, under Vulcan law you are married and, as your mate he has certain privileges, such as speaking on your behalf during a court proceeding, but they extend beyond what is immediate. They include your property assets…"
"I'm not taking her house," Trip said annoyed.
"Trip, you don't know what you're doing," T'Pol cautioned him. "Our bond has not died, despite the lack of nurturing, and until we see a Priest, and if he or she can break it…."
"I know what I'm doing, T'Pol," Trip said. "You've got to decide for the both of us for two years. Now I get to make some decisions."
"Trip, you are deciding to possibly be tied to me for your entire life," T'Pol said quietly, aware that Jon and Ms. Tate were listening to every word spoken.
"It's all starting to make sense," Trip said. "Those dreams I had every morning, that was you meditating wasn't it?
"I…"
"The choice to say you are married also has ramifications for both of your careers with Starfleet," Briana interrupted them with a caution. "Have you considered…"
"Starfleet is going to reprimand us as soon as you two call it in, as is your duty," Trip scoffed.
"But are you choosing to stay married? Because that could result in…"
Just then the door opened, and the 5 Vulcan Ministers came into the room and sat down.
"We have ruled," said the last Minister. "That as the bond is clear and Vulcan. The rules that apply to a Vulcan couple also apply to Mr. Tucker and T'Pol. We would like to caution that this marriage does not result in Vulcan citizenship or immigrant status or the ability for Mr. Tucker to purchase land, own a business or establish permanent residence on Vulcan."
T'Pol and Trip nodded.
"You may speak Mr. Tucker," Minister Durr nodded.
"Can I ask my Aduna some questions to start?" Trip inquired.
"It is highly unorthodox…" the one Minister said. "But we will allow some lenience."
"T'Pol," Trip said as he pulled up a chair near her and faced her. "When did our bond form?"
T'Pol looked at him annoyed. "It started, in it's infancy 4 years, and five days ago."
"Neuropressure?" Trip asked.
"Yes," T'Pol answered.
"And we struggled with the bond?"
"We did," T'Pol nodded. "You felt it was an invasion of your privacy. I thought it was an impossibility."
"And have we always been together since then?" Trip asked, knowing the deeper these questions got the more she would be uncomfortable.
"No, we parted ways several times over the years over differences."
"What differences?"
T'Pol glared at him.
"T'Pol?" Trip coaxed.
"Religion, work, the feasibility to a Vulcan-Human relationship, arguments, the loss of our child," T'Pol offered. All of this airing of her private life in front of the Council was disconcerting and uncomfortable.
"Have we been together, romantically, in the last two years?" Trip asked.
T'Pol's skin turned a slight shade of green.
"T'Pol?"
"We have not had a sexual relationship in that time," T'Pol answered, quietly.
"But you wouldn't characterize that as the only component of romance, would you?" Trip inquired, knowing he was going to make her go somewhere in front of everyone that she would hate.
She shifted in her seat.
"T'Pol, have we still been performing neuropressure on each other in the last two years?" Trip asked.
"We have," T'Pol said. She could see the looks of surprise on the faces of the Vulcan Ministers before they controlled their emotions again.
"And that has been going on, pretty regularly, for almost four years, has it not?"
"There were periods when we didn't engage in neuropressure," T'Pol conceded.
"But over the last two years?"
"Twice weekly except for a brief period when you were ill," T'Pol offered, she was so ashamed of this breach of her privacy.
"Ministers," Trip said as he stood. "I have been aware of our bond over the last two years. I was aware it hadn't died, and I valued my friendship with T'Pol so much that I allowed her to believe that her 'blocking' was working."
"The sworn written testimony of T'Fer indicates that she sensed no awareness, on your part, that the bond existed still," the Minister at the end of the table said.
"Does she have a lot of experience reading humans? Or is her telepathic skill mainly one developed while studying Vulcans?" Trip asked.
"She has lived the majority of her life on Vulcan and has had little contact with humans," the shorter Vulcan Minister noted.
"Then, can I ask, how she would know?" Trip asked.
The Ministers all looked at each other, caught off guard by his point.
"Look, T'Pol and I have had our differences over the years, we've parted many times, but always come back to each other, this last period of time was just longer, sexually speaking, then the others. But we have maintained a close, intimate relationship even in the last two years. The two years where she thought she was protecting me, and where I knew what she was doing. Are you telling me all Vulcan marriages are happy and 100% content? Even T'Pol's parents lived on different sides of Vulcan for almost ten years at one point."
"Mr. Tucker, how can you prove to this Council that you knew about the bond?" Minister Durr inquired.
Trip looked at T'Pol and mouthed an 'I'm sorry' before he continued.
"Several ways, actually," Trip said as he walked in front of T'Pol so he they wouldn't see her embarrassment as he spoke. "Each morning I had the most vivid dream about her. Sometimes we were on Earth, sometimes places I could only imagine. Usually we were just talking, sometimes things were physical, but I woke happy each morning because of those dreams. I know she woke up early each morning to meditate. That would be when she was less likely to block me, and something would seep through. I looked forward to that time with her each night when I fell asleep."
The Ministers nodded and one of them made a note on their PADD.
"In neuropressure," Trip started and felt, what he now knew, was T'Pol's alarm across their bond. "The clothes got rather scanty over the last two years and I could sense her attraction, her…need, over our bond. She wasn't very good at blocking that. And I'm sure she felt the same from me."
"And neither of you acted on it?" the short Minister inquired.
"No, we were still working through some things, and mating would have just complicated everything," Trip said as he turned to look at T'Pol. She practically looked like a leprechaun she was so green.
"But I know she loves me, and she knows I love her," Trip said. "She is my T'Nash-veh kanok-vei. We just needed some time after our daughter died."
T'Pol and all of the Vulcans looked at him surprised. Trip had just said that T'Pol was his everything in Vulcan. In strict translation he meant property, but T'Pol hoped the Ministers understood he meant that she meant everything to him, and realized he wasn't referring to her as if she were a lamp.
"T'Pol, do you have anything to add to his assessment?"
"Our daughter died three years, four months ago and eight days ago," T'Pol said softly. "I saw the effect my grief was having on Mr. Tucker. He wasn't sleeping, he was losing weight, his anxiety level had risen, and he was worried about me constantly. Over the course of the months following her death I came to realize that our bond was doing him more harm then good and I decided I needed to protect him."
The Ministers nodded and the older Minister spoke.
"But T'Pol still thought she was successfully deceiving you," he said clearly as he looked at Trip.
"I'm not sure she believed that either," Trip said casually. "Why did she choose to meditate at 4 am? Because she knew the bond was too strong, too close to the surface…she…"
"Still attempted to hide the bond from you, regardless of whether her action was successful," the Minister on the end said to Trip.
"We will need to convene on this matter," the one bald Minister said before he stood. The other Ministers followed.
"I have one question for both T'Pol and Mr. Tucker," Minister Durr asked before they left.
The other Ministers nodded for him to continue.
"You are bound, but may be able to sever it. Do either of you wish to do this?"
"No," Trip and T'Pol said automatically.
"Thank you," Minister Durr said before they all exited the room.
"Mr. Tucker, are you sure you didn't study law at some point?" Ms. Tate asked, astounded.
"No," Trip chuckled.
He placed his one hand over T'Pol's.
"Did you mean it?" Trip asked her as he looked into her eyes.
"I did," T'Pol said sincerely. "And you?"
"Absolutely," Trip smiled broadly at her before he pulled her against him for an all-encompassing hug. "I love you darlin and I'm not letting them make you join a monastery or…"
Jon nodded for Ms. Tate to join him across the room so Trip and T'Pol could have some time to speak privately.
"Trip," T'Pol said as they pulled apart. "I will accept whatever punishment they feel is reasonable."
"None of them are," Trip argued.
"But you didn't know, did you?" T'Pol whispered.
Trip sighed. "Now that I can put it all together, I realize I knew. What I thought was just dreams was the white space, just more interesting, and what I thought was just sensing your mood was the bond telling me your thoughts."
"But, I still broke the law," T'Pol said quietly.
"Not in my eyes you didn't," Trip said honestly. "I need you with me."
"You could visit me on Vulcan and…" T'Pol offered.
"I don't want to visit you," Trip snapped. "I want to wake up with you everyday."
Just then the Ministers walked inside and took their seats.
"We have reached a decision," the tall one noted.
Trip and T'Pol both stood.
"T'Pol, as you have entered this bond with a human, he does not know our ways, or his rights or his obligations under this bond and, in not explaining these, and in your attempts to block the bond, you have done him a dis-service."
T'Pol nodded. That was a fair assessment of her role.
"But, we all feel as a committee, that none of the punishments we have agreed to, serve to correct this problem. As a result, we have decided on a new list of provisions that must be met as your punishment. Number 1, you and Mr. Tucker will work with a Vulcan counselor, lawyer and Priest so Mr. Tucker better understands your bond, as well as his rights and obligations under that bond."
Trip and T'Pol nodded.
"This educational program will take a period of 2-4 months, at which time neither of you may leave Vulcan, you will reside together, and Mr. Tucker will have to pass an examination at the end of that period of time," the Minister continued.
Trip scowled but agreed to the provision, as did T'Pol.
"Lastly, you and Mr. Tucker will also agree to be tested and studied, during this period of residence on Vulcan to further our scientists understanding of the first Vulcan-Human bond," the Minister said.
"What type of tests and studies?" T'Pol asked.
"Bloodwork, performance tests, memory tests, telepathic surveys, observational studies," Minister Durr explained.
"In a lab or are we living in a fishbowl for 2-4 months?" Trip inquired.
"All tests will be performed in a lab and will not inhibit the privacy you and your wife require," Minister Durr explained further. "You are welcome to live in T'Pol's family home or any residence of your choosing."
"I can agree to that, T'Pol?" Trip asked.
"Yes," T'Pol answered.
"You will be expected to start your educational program immediately," Minister Durr said. "I'm sorry Captain Archer but two of your senior staff will be gone for several months."
"I'd rather that than years," Jon nodded at the Ministers. "Thank you for deciding on a reasonable and suitable punishment."
"The court's decision will be entered into the record and punishment will begin immediately," Minister Durr said before he rose and exited with the other Ministers.
"I guess I better start studying," Trip sighed as he turned to T'Pol with a smile. "You should unblock it now, you know?"
T'Pol opened her block 50% and saw her waves of emotion wash over him. Her happiness, love, lust, anger, annoyance and friendship hit him like a wave and almost took him off his chair. She placed a bracing hand on his back and waited for his mind to process and compartmentalize everything so he regained his mental balance.
"What just happened there?" Jon asked.
"I did as he asked, but only 50%," T'Pol said as she watched Trip's eyes shutter from side to side.
"Is he okay?" Briana asked, concerned.
"His mind just needs a moment to process the information," T'Pol said as she watched him closely.
A minute later, Trip took a deep cleansing breath and looked at her with soft eyes.
"Really?" He asked with a devious grin.
"We can talk about it privately," T'Pol cautioned him.
"Oh, we're talking about that," Trip chuckled before he turned to the Captain and clapped Jon on the back. "I'm sorry Jon, but you were probably losing us anyways once Starfleet found out."
"Probably," Jon chuckled. "But it's a good reason for a loss. I'll get someone to pack both your things and send them down."
"Thanks," Trip smiled at his friend.
"Thank you Ms. Tate for your counsel," T'Pol said with a nod.
"I didn't do much," Briana smiled. "It was mostly Mr. Tucker. Wait, under Vulcan law the wife joins the husband's clan, which in Earth is taking the man's last name…"
"T'Pol Tucker has a nice ring to it," Trip chuckled.
"Vulcan women do not have last names," T'Pol noted.
"Yes, but they aren't married to a human man," Trip said. "Don't I also get to name our kids?"
"Kids?" Jon chuckled.
"Yeah, this marriage bond stuff is riveting," Trip smiled at his friend.
He felt alarm across their bond; he enjoyed teasing T'Pol.
"The naming of any children is usually a discussion between…"
"I'm pulling your leg, T'Pol," Trip laughed. "You don't have to take my name, and I won't name our kids."
"Oh," T'Pol responded.
"God, I love you darlin," Trip said as he smiled broadly at her.
It was then that he felt a wave of love wash over his entire being. The love was so strong he felt his entire body tingle for a few moments.
"What was that?" Trip asked her.
T'Pol raised an eyebrow and gave him the equivalent of a Vulcan smirk. "You have much to learn about Vulcan bonds that is not in the data base, husband."
Trip laughed and quickly kissed the side of her face and whispered in her ear "I can't wait to learn."
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THE END!
