Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to anything Star Trek. They are the property of CBS/ Paramount. I'm not making any money off of this. I'm only playing with the characters and their world for fun. Thanks.

A/N: This is the big event. LOL! Again I tried to have some zip to it, but not be obscene. This chapter is still rated T. There is also a little bit of hard language here and there in the chapter. You've been warned. Hope this works and that readers like it. At the end, I really do need readers' input about what they think should happen next. As the author I have my own ideas, but I'm always open to suggestions. Have fun!!

Thanks to LadyRainbow once again for her beta reading.

Chapter 6

The Incident

Trip readied himself to hear the conclusion to Archer's tale. He could tell by his friend's posture and tone of voice that it would be one helluva an ending. The Captain seemed to gather himself together in an effort to continue what was now a very painful and haunting memory.

When Archer awoke from his hypothermia-induced sleep, he felt a widespread contentment. He knew he was warm, safe, and very comfortable. Each of his senses fed him information about his environment one at a time. The first sense that registered was smell. A rich, meaty, and aromatic smell hit him. It unconsciously made his mouth water and his stomach growl in anticipation. The smell was pleasant and brought him more awake.

The next sense that registered was his hearing, letting him pick up the sounds in the background. Soft, soothing, and jazzy music played throughout the cabin. As the Captain listened to it, his mind slowly processed what kind of music it was. It sounded like the old "Crooner" music of the 1940's and 1950's, the kind of music that people like Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra would sing to. Concentrating harder on the sound, Archer decided that the singer for this particular piece of music had to be Bing Crosby. He was singing a Christmas song. It was "White Christmas"; the lyrics and melody were written sometime in the 1940's by Irving Berlin, one of America's greatest composers, in the Captain's opinion. Bing Crosby had popularized the song by using it in a movie called "Holiday Inn." Archer let the words and music flow over him, finally making them out fully.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten,

And children listen

To hear sleigh bells in the snow."

The tune was sweet and a great way to usher in the Christmas spirit. It had been a long time since Archer had enjoyed such music. He wondered who had chosen it and started it playing. That was when his senses finally registered the warm and soft body pressed up against his own: Mai. She was still snuggled up with him in the reclining lounge chair by the fireplace in the cabin's gigantic living room. His eyes drifted down to look at her.

She had turned to face away from him with her back leaning into his chest. Her legs were still tangled up in his, and his arms were draped around her waist possessively. Mai's steady, deep breathing was an indication that she was sound asleep. One of his hands connected to the arm around her waist was resting on her hip and the fingers from one of Mai's hands were laced through his.

As the one song ended, another one, featuring Bing Crosby again, took its place. Archer allowed his attention to drift to it and away from Mai for a moment. He needed a distraction, for his heart rate had suddenly increased and a lump had formed in his throat. Here was his greatest desire come to life. Mai was wrapped in his arms and they were totally alone. The Captain recognized the song as, "Let It Snow." He made himself remember that the original composer had been Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn had written the lyrics to in 1945. Vaugh Monroe had been the first one to vocalize it and the song had been redone so many times Archer had lost count. Bing Crosby's version had always been his favorite, though.

Mai must have gotten up once to put on the music. It sounded like something she would pick out. She had a soft spot for the good oldies. The blonde beauty must have wanted it to feel like Christmas, so she chose a Bing Crosby Christmas album. Leave it up to her to go back in time to create a great feeling of nostalgia for simple days gone by. The song now playing couldn't have been more appropriate for his and Mai's situation. He let himself listen to the words and gentle, but upbeat, romantic melody.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

"It doesn't show signs of stopping,

And I brought some corn for popping;

The lights are turned way down low.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

"When we finally say good night,

How I'll hate going out in the storm;

But if you really hold me tight,

All the way home I'll be warm.

"The fire is slowly dying,

And, my dear, we're still good-bye-ing,

But as long as you love me so,

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Archer couldn't believe how much the song fit what was happening right now to him and Mai. Instead of helping him not think about Mai in his arms, it enforced her proximity and her supple shape pressing into him. The music was creating a very romantic and tempting state of affairs. Right now Mai was his. He needed to get his mind on something else. The smell of the cooking meat pulled at his attention again and he decided to go with that for the time being.

Mai must have also started to cook something to eat when she turned on the music. She was an excellent cook; she had told him that she had spent a great deal of time in her grandmother's kitchen cooking with her when she was a little girl. Mai had obviously learned a lot from her talented grandmother. Archer found himself trying to find a way to be around whenever Mai decided to put a meal together. The MACO woman's cooking never disappointed him. Every meal she made was delicious and very filling. The Captain found himself looking forward to eating whatever smelled so good now.

If Mai had gotten up to cook and turn on some music, she had then decided to return to the living room and climb back into the reclining lounge chair under the soothing and warn blankets with him. That thought staved away any lingering chill Archer may have had from his tumble into the bone-chilling lake. He silently wondered how long they had been asleep together in the lounge chair. The fire still seemed to be burning bright and strong. Suddenly he found himself right back where he started, fantasizing about himself and Mai.

Then another thought came to him. Here was his chance to wake Mai and have a heart-to-heart talk with her while they were alone and in such close quarters. He reluctantly removed his hand from Mai's towel-covered waist to shake her shoulder and rouse her from her sleep, but his hand, seemingly of its own accord, instead began to stroke Mai's bare shoulder gently with feather softness. He then lightly brushed a trail down her arm and then back up to her shoulder again. He repeated this motion several times. Mai's skin had warmed and felt like silk under his hand.

His ministrations didn't cause Mai to stir. This made Archer bolder, want more. He felt a white hot temptation to brush his lips across her back and to nibble at her neck wash through his veins. He found himself giving into that fiery temptation without too much hesitation. Mai's back was balmy and delicately smooth as his lips connected with it. She even tastes of peaches, just like she had smelled of them. He continued his actions for several pulse-pounding minutes, letting his lips caress her back, neck, and one of her shoulders. He was slow, deliberate, and gentle breeze soft. He savored each sensation and let it charge up his libido, making him hungry for her. Then Mai did stir. She shivered and goosebumps broke out on her back and arms.

She shifted position to turn and face Archer. He started, realizing she had caught him. Panic and fear seized his whole body as he thought he would see a look of anger, shock, outrage, or betrayal in her eyes. What would she think? What would she say? He thought he was in big trouble. So it came as a total surprise when he saw a very different set of emotions in her eyes than the ones he'd been expecting.

He saw emotions in her eyes that he had never seen before; at first he thought it was a trick of the firelight. Her blue-gray eyes were burning with passion, desire, and a beautiful softness. Mai had never looked like that at him before and adrenaline shot throughout his body. It was a look he had longed to see for years now. He wondered if he was imagining it, or if he was having some kind of delusion from suffering from hypothermia earlier.

"Mai, I'm so sor--," he tried to say.

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Mai grabbed his head in her hands and pulled him down closer to her. Her lips covered his and then proceeded to kiss him gently at first, almost tentatively. She grew more urgent and demanding with her kiss and he responded instantly, allowing her to deepen and expand the kiss. He returned it with equal heat. God it felt so good! Thoughts of talking quickly disappeared. This was much, much better.

Archer enveloped her in his arms again, pulling their bodies closer together. He traced a path with his lips down her chin, throat, nibbling at her Adam's apple, then her left shoulder and collar bone, and lower. Mai let out a pleasurable moan and whispered very huskily, "Don't stop, Jonny, please don't stop." It was all the encouragement he needed to continue.

Her arms wrapped around him and slid up his back, caressing him. He shivered all over at her touch. Then one hand slipped into his short, brown hair, running through it. She ran her other hand up his chest. His lips meet hers again and the kissing began in earnest. Almost unconsciously Archer felt their towels loosen and he reached to pull them away. He wanted to touch and feel all of Mai.

In the background the music had stopped and shouting voices could be heard not too far outside the cabin. "Yahoooo! I told ya we'd make it A.G. And I bet were the first ones! Hot damn!!" It was Tom.

"Settle down, hot shot!" A.G hollered, a little ways behind him. "There's lights on and there's smoke comin' out the chimney! I think your celebratin' is a little premature!"

Even though both Archer and Mai heard the yelling, it didn't register with them immediately. The touch and feel of each other eclipsed most other concerns. They failed to recognize who was bellowing. Jon kissed Mai more fervently, and Mai seemed to maneuver their bodies right together. The towels were barely separating them, just one more tug.

Suddenly a banging on the front door startled them. They slowly and hesitantly stopped their motions. "Knock again. I'm sure somebody's in there. The key's not here," A.G's. voice could be heard to say through the cabin's front door.

The couple in the recliner just stared at each other, frozen in place. Mai's face paled, while Archer's heart skipped a beat in panic as both of them finally realized that Tom and A.G. were just outside. They were not alone anymore. Both of them recognized the compromising position that they were in. It was Mai's fiancé that was on the other side of the door. They were in deep shit, and knew they had to do something to dig themselves out of it.

Mai was in motion first. She grabbed her towel and set it securely around herself again. She jumped up out of the recliner, picking up a blanket from the floor. The young woman then pulled it around her shoulders and draped herself in it for more coverage. Archer watched her for a minute, secretly enjoying seeing flashes of her bare skin. Then he followed suit. He made sure his towel was securely around his waist, and he made sure that he was covered in blankets. He was going to stay in the chair for now.

"I accidentally forgot ta put the key back inside the frog statue thingy," Mai said in a rush. "I locked the door outta habit. I guess I'd better go let 'em in." Her face was flushed, making her look exquisite, but she wasn't looking Archer in the eye.

His first thought was, Why let them in? He was still recovering from the intense arousal Mai had unleashed in him. He desperately wanted to continue on with what they had been doing, but part of him felt guilty and knew that they needed to act like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Mai gazed at Archer for a very long moment before she started to move toward the front door. He couldn't decipher what he saw in her eyes. He wanted to blurt out that he loved her and that she shouldn't marry Tom, but him. It was right on the tip of his tongue. The beautiful MACO seemed on the verge of saying something to him as well.

Another loud banging and some more burley shouting spoiled the moment. Archer clamped his mouth shut and kept the desires of his heart a secret. He couldn't speak them out loud to Mai. Then she was gone, rushing to the door and her betrothed. The Captain felt an angry, bitter cold sweep over him. It had nothing to do with his dip in the freezing ice water of the lake. He knew he had just lost Mai. He closed his eyes trying not to let any liquid slip out of them. Archer huddled in his blankets, trying to hide from reality. What had almost happened moments ago seemed like a surreal dream.

The Captain heard Mai open the door. "I should've known you and Jon would beat us all," A.G. said to her with joviality and warmth. Archer turned to peek at the scene. A.G. was gaping at her blanket attire. He hadn't been expecting that.

"What took you so damn long?" Tom complained haughtily. He didn't greet her with a hello or with a warm expression of being happy to see her. "What the hell happened to you?" Tom then asked as he too noticed her unusual choice of apparel.

Mai hesitated a second before she answered. "I fell through some ice and got soaked," was finally her reply. "Jonny rescued me, but not before he got drenched too," she added.

"You guys all right?" A.G. asked with genuine concern in his voice.

"Oh, yeah lad," Mai told him. "We had a wee bit of hypothermia, but gettin' warm 'n dry solved that problem."

"Where is Jon?" A.G. then asked.

Mai tried not to blush as she remember right were he was. "Restin' by the fire," she responded quickly. "I've been makn' a beef stew for when everyone gits 'ere."

A.G. stepped through the door. He and Tom were covered from head to foot in snow. "I'd better shake off first, huh?" A.G. grinned sheepishly as a large chunk of snow slopped off him and plopped onto the floor. "Then I'll bless your Irish soul, Donnelly, for your thoughtfulness." A.G. knew how good a cook Mai was too.

Mai blushed again and bowed her head. "It was nothin'", she whispered. "What 'appened to you two?" she then asked trying to get the attention off herself.

"Genius here," A.G. grumbled and thumbed back at Tom, "triggered an avalanche."

"I did not!" Tom exclaimed defensively. "That slab would've gone no matter what I was doing."

"Keep telling yourself that, Frosty, and maybe someone who cares will believe you," A.G. replied sarcastically.

Mai wrapped the blanket around her tighter. Holding the door open was letting in a lot of cold air. Archer watched her shiver involuntarily and he instantly flashed back to her shivering under his touch. He silently groaned and turned away from the door again. "Could you two 'urry? Yer lettin' in all the cold air," she finally said.

"Oh sorry, Mairead," A.G. quickly apologized. "We'll get brushed off and then come in." He swiftly backed out, pushing Tom through the door too. He closed the front door behind him.

Mai stood there another moment and then the Captain heard her paddle into the kitchen. He just laid there in the chair with his eyes shut, buried in his blankets, still smelling Mai's sweet aroma. After several minutes he heard Tom and A.G. come back inside. He listened as they took their snowshoes and boots off with big thunks, and he heard zippers unzip as they got out of their coats and snowsuits. Archer remembered that A.G. and Tom both were wearing big, bulky, wool sweaters and pants. A.G was wearing a nice combination of greens, while Tom was wearing different shades of gray. He then heard someone shuffle into the kitchen and someone else shuffle his way into the living room.

The Captain pretended to be asleep. He really didn't want to face anyone at the moment and he wanted to see if he could hear Mai talk to Tom out in the kitchen. He assumed it was Tom who went there and that A.G. was coming to warm himself by the fire.

"Hey baby," Tom's loud, masculine voice finally greeted his fiancé.

Tom was about five ten, a hundred and ninety pounds of muscle. He had blondish, brown hair and very blue eyes. He was somewhere between bulky and wiry. Mai had always said it was his dimples when he smiled that she liked the best. Archer grimaced when he heard exaggerated kissing noises next. Tom did a lot of things for show. Mai was his prize and he let everyone know it.

"You really fell through some ice, sweetheart?" The Captain heard Tom ask with some real worry in his voice. Archer couldn't make out Mai's reply. Then he heard Tom say, "Well, I'm sure glad Archer was with you then. He's the one person I would even count on if I got into trouble."

That statement floored the Captain. Tom usually thought so highly of himself and his own abilities that he would never compliment someone else on theirs, let alone admit that he might get into trouble he couldn't get out of. It must have really shook him up that Mai could have been serious hurt. Maybe the bastard really did care about her.

Archer was still reeling from the out-and-out lie Mai had told their two new arrivals. Mai had said that he had rescued her, not the other way around. Why had she done that? His ego wasn't that fragile that he couldn't handle admitting that a woman had save his life. Then he realized how A.G., Trip, and some of the others would rib him up one side and down another about the event. Mai was kindly and generously trying to save him from the ridicule. It touched him deeply that she would do something like that. Hot liquid threatened to slip out of his eyes again. Mai was truly a treasure, truly a friend. She thought more of others than herself. That was just one more thing to love about her. Archer's stomach clenched, and he felt very sick at heart. Why hadn't he said anything?

"Rise and shine, Captain," A.G.'s voice commanded at an uncomfortable volume. Then there was a whoosh of air and one of the smaller couch pillows smacked Archer square in the face. Pretending to be startled awake, the Captain shifted in the chair and opened his eyes very slowly. "Nice of you to join us, Jon," A.G. said and laughed heartily. "Did Mai wear you out that badly?"

This question nearly caused Archer to jump out of his skin. A.G.'s query was totally innocent, but for the Captain it had an entirely different context. He decided to play dumb.

"What?" he replied, feigning grogginess.

"Rescuing Mai," A.G. clarified, "did that sap your strength that much?"

Archer tried to look like he was still not quite with it. "I guess it did, that and the accompanying hypothermia."

A.G. stopped joking instantly. "Are you really okay? You don't need a medic do you?"

"No, no," Archer responded quickly. "I'm fine now. Luckily we weren't far from the cabin when it happened and we were able to get warm and dry pretty fast. It was unfortunate Monroe doesn't have any spare clothing though and that none of our luggage was here yet," he explained.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me that you and Mai made it here first anyway. And that you probably made it in record time too. It's not fair ya know," A.G. told his friend playfully.

Archer force himself to smile as he spoke. "Sorry, it's just natural talent."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," A.G. said rolling his eyes, still joking around. "There would've been a time when that would've really pissed me off. But I know that you deserve all of your success. You work hard for it, Jon."

The Captain appreciated A.G.'s praise; it didn't come lightly. "Thanks, A.G.," he replied.

"So Mai's cookin', huh?" A.G. asked next.

"I guess," Archer answered. "I'm not sure what's going on right now. I'm not sure how long we've been here actually."

A.G. looked around and spotted an artistically crafted, moose head shaped clock on the wall across from the couch he was sitting on. "It's about twenty-four hundred hours, midnight. It took us eight hours to get here. You must've made really good time."

"We were prepared," was all the Captain had to say in response.

Archer stopped his story there. He glanced at Trip to gauge his friend's reaction. The chief engineer seemed a little glassy-eyed, a little far away. "The rest you know, Trip," he said. Trip was still staring off into space. "You okay, Trip?" the Captain asked concerned.

Trip then seemed to snap out of his trance after another moment. He blinked a couple of times and drew in a shaky breath. "Yeah…I'm…okay. But…man, Jon…you and…Mai," he said slowly. He stopped for a second to try and express his thoughts. "Sorry", he apologized, then continued, "It's just that I couldn't help but react to the mental picture you created. It was, uh…pretty...intense. I've never seriously thought about Mai like that…but…," he let the thought trail off.

"You're telling me." The Captain couldn't help but smile a little at Trip's obviously male reaction to the incident he had just recapped for him. Archer, himself, felt like he had relived it as he talked about it. His longing and yearning for Mai had returned one hundred fold. "You don't know how many times I've replayed that experience in my mind. I've imagined it with every possible ending I could dream up. I've followed it through to a highly charged and pleasurably happy ending. And I've also followed it through to a horribly depressing and more miserable ending than the one it had. I mostly dwell on the happy outcomes," Archer explained.

"I can see why," Trip whispered, physically and mentally shaking himself. "I would too. I can't believe you and Mai never discussed the incident with one another, after what happened. How could you let her marry Tom after that? She was really into you, Jon; I'm sure of that."

Archer bowed his head, ashamed again at his cowardliness. "I couldn't get her alone again to talk it through with her. Tom never left her side the rest of the weekend. When you and the others finally showed up, the opportunities to talk to her rapidly disappeared. When we returned home, I let myself get caught up in work and other things to both avoid talking about it and to try and forget about it. After a while I began to convince myself that it wasn't real, that I had imagined Mai's response. She never brought it up again either."

Trip didn't know what to say. The two people who were the most well-suited for each other had somehow misread each others true feelings. Mai was as much at fault as Jon was. She had failed to bring up the subject too, especially since she went ahead and married Tom.

"You and Mai both needed a good, swift kick in the butt," the chief engineer finally said.

The Captain looked at him for a moment as he digested what his friend had said. Then he chuckled. "I guess we did and we didn't get it in time." Then Archer sobered again. "What do I do now, Trip? If I decide to have Mai's MACO unit transferred to Enterprise it might make things worse. She's a major, which is the MACO equivalent of a captain in Starfleet, and she is in a different branch of service, but she would be under my direct command because she would be serving abroad my ship. I would have the ultimate authority in any action she decided to take or not to take. I don't know if I can be so close to her and held apart yet again. On the other hand I want to be a good friend and help her through this painful time in her life."

Then he asked again, stressing each word, "What do I do, Trip? What do I do?"

TBC

Okay, there it is. Now I need feedback from my readers. What should Archer do? Should he get Mai's MACO unit transferred to Enterprise or should he not? Please leave any opinion you have, long or short. Thanks!!