A/N Disclaimer see chapter 1.

Note: In this story, RU T'Pol is called Ko-Kai T'Pol, and the MU T'Pol is just T'Pol. MU Tucker is called Charles, and RU Tucker is Trip.

Many thanks to Capn Frances and Dinah.

Music with this chapter: watch?v=SKnRdQiH3-k, Resistance by Skillet

At first, as he opened his eyes, Charles didn't know where he was. "Computer, lights," he said. He was lying in his own bed, in his own quarters at the Defiant. He was still fully dressed in his uniform. Even his boots were still on. He felt sick, and he had a hard time concentrating on his surroundings. Then the events of yesterday sprang into his mind. Where is Trip? he thought. He managed to get out of bed, and as soon as he was physically able, he went to the brig.

To his relief, Trip was in the brig. He was lying on the bunk bed. T'Pol sat near him on one side, Ko-Kai T'Pol on the other side. "Is he all right?" Charles said as he lowered the force field and stepped in. The force field closed immediately behind him.

"What exactly has happened?" Ko-Kai T'Pol asked. "The guards brought Trip here and tossed him on the floor. We managed to get him on the bunk bed. The guards said nothing, but we heard there has been an explosion on the Enterprise. Does this have something to do with his condition?"

"We spent some time in the agony booth," he said. "Has he been awake?"

"No, he hasn't," T'Pol said, placing a hand on Trip's forehead. Charles didn't like that gesture; he didn't like it at all. "He was feverish, but his temperature seems normal now." She looked up. "How did you and Trip end up in the agony booth?"

"We managed to piss Sato off. To be accurate, I did that, but Trip had to suffer for my mistake," he said. "Sato gave me an order to kill any stranger on the ship. But the intruders escaped." He didn't want to mention Korek and T'Les, not with all the cameras in the brig.

T'Pol stood up from the bunk bed. "Your hands are trembling," she said. "How long were you in the agony booth?"

"It's a normal reaction," He hated this side effect of the agony booth. His hands were his instruments; without them, he could do nothing. "I had the same symptoms the last time." His sight became blurry. and he squinted his eyes. "I'm glad Trip is doing better. I'm going back to my quarters and later back to work. I'll call you two when your shift starts.

"Going back to work?" Ko-Kai T'Pol joined him and T'Pol. "You don't seem fit for duty."

"And yet I am, ladies," he said, walking out. He didn't want anyone to see how much the agony booth had affected him. He stumbled to his quarters, and after that, the world became black.

The alarm went off. Startled, he looked around his quarters. He checked the time. Only 30 minutes before his shift started. And he always was in Engineering 15 minutes before his shift. He took a 30-second shower, put on a clean uniform, and went to Engineering. He wanted to act like nothing had happened, and everything was normal again. He collected Ko-Kai T'Pol and T'Pol in the brig for their work. He let Trip rest in the brig.

He filed his report of yesterday's events with his superiors, but questions still swirled in his mind. Except for the data download in Engineering, which the team on Enterprise was still investigating, the explosion had led to nothing more than chaos on the bridge and dead Vulcans. The mission seemed futile and in contrast to the other non-violent actions of the Resistance. And what about that remark Korek made that he was able to send Trip home?

During the day, Trip woke up. He insisted he would go back to work, despite Ko-Kai T'Pol's objections. Charles gave Trip a minor job to do, which he accepted with a half-smile. After an hour, he checked on Trip.

"I can't even do this simple job," Trip said to him, frustration in his voice. "It's like they fried my brain. What am I doing here? You're the Chief Engineer. You know more about Terran's ships. You know more about the Defiant, a ship with a technology 100 years ahead, that I know nothing about. They could have chosen a thousand other people than me. Why did they transport me?"

They want to replace me with you, he thought. That's the only explanation.

"You're a genius, Trip, that's why," he said. Trip doesn't belong here, he thought. It's not right for him to be living in my universe. He should go back to his own.

An idea popped into his head. A dangerous idea, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced it was the right thing to do.

He needed to talk to Trip and T'Pol in a place where they could speak freely. The only place he could think of without surveillance and cameras was the green room, near the warp drive. It was a place only accessible for the Engineering crew. However, in wartime, the room was guarded. And because the Terran Empire was always involved in some war, the room was never unguarded. He had to find a solution to that problem.

He looked at the duty roster. The guard, assigned today to the green room, was an old Academy classmate of his, Thomas McNeill. He was an easy-going guy who was an amateur botanist.

The next day, during breakfast in the dining hall, Charles started to chat with McNeill about his hobby. When McNeill was distracted for a moment, he spiked his coffee with an Andorian herb that had a strange effect on Humans. Something he had learned the hard way in his boarding school years.

After two hours, Charles went to Trip. "Could you assist me with the inventory?" he asked. Turning to the guard, who looked bored guarding Trip, Charles said, "It's near the warp core area, Engineering staff only."

Free from the guard and followed by Trip, he walked to his destination. He took a detour, passing the place T'Pol was working. "Come to the green room in 15 minutes," he whispered to T'Pol. Her only reaction was a raised eyebrow.

McNeill was in the green room. In the green lights that had given the place its name, he looked horribly pale. He was sweating. "Trip is assigned to this storage room," he told him. "You look sick, are you alright?"

McNeill could hardly speak. "I think I'm going to throw up," he said. "But I am assigned here. I can't go to sickbay."

"Don't worry," he said, "We're busy here, so we'll guard the place for you. It's not that the Vulcan resistance needs some spare relays and screwdrivers."

McNeill smiled vaguely. "Thank you, Commander. I will be back in not more than half an hour."

"This place is called the green room," he said to Trip after McNeill left and closed the doors. "No surveillance. It's a place where you can speak freely without being watched or heard.

Trip looked around. "Does someone live here?" he asked, pointed to the bed in front of the racks with piled-up material.

"For the night shift," he said. He didn't mention that this place was also known as a love nest. He and T'Pol had been here more than once. The months after T'Pol's pon farr had been wild and obsessive. He had only been focused on her. He hadn't been thinking—he'd just acted. He had felt like he was losing himself, as if he was ruled by primitive instincts. Ashamed, he had tried to stop after S'Vai's death. Pictures came into mind, images he wanted not to think about.

He turned to Trip. "Do you want to go home?' he said.

"I have been planning to go back to my universe from the moment we arrived," Trip said. He looked pale but determined.

"And what kind of plans do you have?" he asked.

Trip didn't hesitate. "We could use a shuttle with cloaking possibilities, enhance the shields and travel to the spatial interphase and go back. But we need the device that will transport us back. The second option is that we take a shuttle and look for that Vulcan we met on Enterprise."

"I had the same thought. Korek indicated that the Vulcans have the technology to transport you back to your universe," he said, trying very hard not to think of the things Sato would do to him if she found out he was helping Trip. "I can get you on a shuttle. We only have to find his location."

"You're taking an awful risk by helping me, Charles," Trip said.

"You don't belong here, Trip," he said, "You could have been killed by the agony booth; you need to go back to your universe."

"But do you trust this Korek?" Trip said. "What if he hasn't got the technology to transfer us back to my universe, and we got it wrong."

"Not with Korek. His message was clear. Korek and his wife S'Vai were part of my Engineering crew for years. They were honest people, excellent in their work." he said. "They wouldn't easily be persuaded to leave a Terran ship and join the Vulcan resistance, but S'Vai's death must have been the deciding factor for Korek to do so."

"How did she die?" Trip asked.

He sighed. "After T'Pol and I got involved during her pon farr, we weren't careful." He and T'Pol had been acting crazy. They only had to look at each other for them to be running for a place to be alone.

"News got out about pon farr. One of the lieutenants, Harris, saw our story as permission to start harassing S'Vai. He was obsessed with her, and the pon farr story fueled his obsession with her. He was preying on her, always lurking, making suggestive remarks."

"But she was married," Trip said.

"He didn't care. I spoke to him, and Korek defended his wife as much as possible. At first, S'Vai ignored Harris, stayed calm and collected as ever. But she changed, became unbalanced, even emotional. I don't know why. One morning Harris touched her ears. You know how sensitive Vulcan women are when it comes to their ears. She snapped and dislocated his shoulder with one hand."

"Served him right," Trip said.

"Harris was furious. His friends arrested her and put her in the agony booth. And they encouraged the guards to put the agony booth on the highest setting. Within 20 minutes, she was dead."

He took a deep breath. "It must have been a horrible death. In all my life, I have never been late for my shift. But that day I was 30 minutes late. I could have prevented the guards from putting S'Vai in the agony booth or from putting the setting so high. But I wasn't there."

Trip frowned, but before he could say anything, there was a knock at the door. It was T'Pol. "Commander?" she said as she entered. "You asked me to come down here."

She closed the door. "I presume it's not for our usual activities in this place," she said coldly.

"No. The last time we were here, it cost me a trip to the agony booth. And agony booth or worse is what we are going to get if what we're about to discuss comes out. That's why I have chosen the green room. I expect you to be completely silent on this matter," he said.

"I'm listening," T'Pol said.

"Contact Korek for us," he said. "We believe he has found a way to transport Trip and Ko-Kai T'Pol back to their universe. He was with your mother. Maybe she knows how to contact him. Start with her."

"You're aware that the whole Terran Empire is hunting down everyone involved with the Vulcan Resistance. All Vulcans on Enterprise have been shot. I am glad to be alive," T'Pol said.

"I know it's a huge risk," Trip said. "But your mother T'Les was with Korek on Enterprise. Korek told me he could send me home. You can make something up, maybe to do with family matters, and contact your mother. She is a smart woman; she will understand why you're contacting her."

"Even when I have the means to contact my mother, I don't think you're aware of the risks involved," T'Pol said. "Trip, I want to speak with the Commander in private,"

"Trip, why don't you get a box of relays for storage 2 and come back, so everyone will think you're working on the inventory," Charles said. "I will talk to T'Pol."

As soon as Trip left the room, T'Pol stepped closer to him. In a lowered voice, she said, "This could get you killed. Have you lost your mind? Why is Trip so important for you?"

"He is me, T'Pol," he said, "He is a better man than me and deserves to be back in his own universe. Same as Ko-Kai T'Pol. It's not right that they are in ours. Can you contact your mother?"

T'Pol hesitated. "It's complicated. I am an outcast. My mother doesn't want any contact with me."

"I am sure she is willing to talk to her daughter," he said.

T'Pol took a deep breath. "When I got pon farr, Korek advised me to take a Vulcan male. But the idea repulsed me. I wanted to be free to make my own choice for once in my lifetime. And I wanted you, I chose you."

"And of course, the Vulcans hated that," he said.

"No, once the decision was made, and pon farr took its course, they accepted it. They accepted that you're my mate and expected me to act like you're my mate," T'Pol said.

"Mate?" he said, hating the word. "Like I am a sort of animal?"

"It has nothing to do with animals, Charles," T'Pol said sharply. "Korek was S'Vai's mate; my father was the mate of my mother. According to Vulcan laws, mates protect and help each other above anything. They build families together."

He realized this was what Ko-Kai T'Pol had been trying to tell him. "What you are describing is a husband," he said slowly.

"Perhaps that would be the correct Terran or Human equivalent," she said.

"The correct Terran equivalent," he repeated. Strangely enough, he felt relieved and angry at the same time. It was like a weight had fallen from his shoulders, like everything had fallen into place, but he also felt angry and lied to. "Shouldn't you have told me this little detail before I did you a favor?"

"You consider it a minor detail," T'Pol spat. "I knew you wouldn't understand. At first, after the pon farr, you seemed totally focused on me, like a mate would be. But then you withdrew and interchanged me with a Terran woman." An alien sensation of jealousy that burned like fire, followed by the feeling of despair and regret rolled over him. He was confused. Was it true what she told him?

"There was nothing left for me. I tried to escape the Terran Empire, and I used you to do so," T'Pol continued.

"And how you used me," he said, the bitter taste of that event still in his mind. "That's why, you're no longer welcome with the Vulcans, because of me,".

"Yes." She took a deep breath. "Because I broke the law. I should have protected my mate at any cost. I regret my actions against you."

"Because you got caught?"

She straightened herself, ready to fight him. Her eyes were filled with fire. "Because I hurt you," she said firmly.

He knew she was sincere, just as he knew she was also afraid at this moment. He didn't know how, but he did know. "If I am your mate," – he still hated that word - "doesn't that mean the Vulcans have to help me?" he said.

T'Pol paused to think. "If I could convince them that I want to protect you, that would be a logical assumption," T'Pol agreed.

"Fine," he said. "And what is that nonsense about another woman?"

"You forget about Sato," T'Pol's face darkened, a bitter tone in her voice.

"The Empress?"

"Before she became Empress," she said, "She told me that you and she were involved, and she was your favorite above me."

"And you believe Sato, a woman whose main purpose is to gain power, who lies for a living and thinks I am an ugly bastard?" he said.

"You're not ugly," T'Pol said. "Sato had proof. She told me about that scar on your back, that looked like stars, she had details of her and you. I saw you and her together."

"You mean my barbed wire scar? I've had that scar since I was a kid," Charles told her. "Sato and I go way back; she was my first girlfriend. But we broke up years ago, and I don't want to go back to her. And I can't remember if we dealt with each much on Enterprise." Thinking of the events two days ago, he added, "Sato just put me in the agony booth. I don't think she cares about me, and I don't care about her."

"Most Terran men I have met don't care much about affection or caring, but seek a physical relationship," T'Pol said, determined to make her point.

"I am not like them!" he called out. "If I didn't care about you, why do you think I was so angry with you?"

T'Pol stared at him with wide eyes. "You didn't want anything to do with me. From a totally obsessed man, you turned cold. All we had was an attraction that you could easily turn off and be cold and distanced."

She couldn't have been further from the truth. He had lost all interest in all women, except T'Pol.

"That's what you said: that's all we had! You're the one who's being cold and distanced," he said, getting angrier. "S'Vai died because I wasn't there on my morning shift. The night before, we had been together, and when I saw you in the turbolift, with that look, I couldn't resist you. But I should have. I should have controlled myself, and gone to work, so S'Vai would still be alive."

T'Pol's eyes darkened. "S'Vai was my sister," she said. "I grieved for her."

"Me too," he hissed. "I wanted the craziness to end, the obsession of wanting you, touching and smelling you, like I was some primitive without reason. S'Vai died because I wasn't in control. All I wanted was a break from the craziness."

He massaged his temples, trying to cure his looming headache. His mother had been so right. Don't show your emotions, she had told him after his father had been executed. Don't show any emotion. They will get you if you do.

T'Pol looked at him with an expression he couldn't place. At that moment, Trip entered in, carrying a box, with McNeill behind him.

In a split second, he changed into the Chief Engineer. He pointed to one of the racks he said, "You can take track one to twenty, make an inventory list and give it to Trip."

T'Pol's face turned blank. "Yes, sir."

"No Vulcans allowed near the warp core," McNeill said in a weak voice. He still looked sick. "Didn't you receive that order?"

T'Pol left the room, Trip started with the inventory, and Charles went back to work. Later that day, when they were discussing work, and no one was around, Trip said softly. "Is she going to help us?"

"I think she is," he said. But he had to wait for T'Pol to contact him to be sure.

That night, he was in his quarters, ready to go to bed early, when he heard someone at the door. He picked up his phaser and opened the door slightly. It was T'Pol; behind her was a guard and Ko-Kai T'Pol. "Can I come in? I have the data you requested," she said.

He quickly put some pants on and opened the door. T'Pol turned to the guard and told him Commander Tucker would escort her back to the brig.

She stepped in, her face without expression. "I have two PADD's, one with the data about repairs Ko-Kai T'Pol and I have made. We're low on dilithium, and I have made a list of the planets best suited for obtaining dilithium. I recommend planet Velusius IV."

T'Pol gave him the PADD's. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, and he remembered her poor night vision. She seemed less confident than usual. He scanned the PADD with the list. The planet T'Pol suggested had only a small detachment of Terran guards, so it would be easier for T'Pol to reach a console there to contact her mother.

"Good plan," he said, laying the PADD's on his desk.

She took one step towards the door and then stopped. "My father lived by the principles of Surak of doing no harm to fellow beings. I have failed that principle. You didn't. You're not responsible for S'Vai's death. It was Harris's fault."

It was the first time T'Pol had ever mentioned her father. He didn't know how to react, so he stayed silent.

"I have been talking to Ko-Kai T'Pol and Trip. It made me realize I haven't been upfront with you. Our communication needs improvement. Mostly by me," T'Pol said.

"You don't say," he said. "You like Ko-Kai T'Pol and Trip, don't you?"

"They are kind people, strong too. Like you are. Ko-Kai T'Pol said that I shouldn't assume but ask. To collect as much data as possible before assuming anything. My prejudice against Terrans clouded my judgment," T'Pol said.

He smiled. "If this is your way of apologizing, I accept."

"I thought you distanced yourself because you grew tired of me. I never realized that as a Terran, you keep your emotions mostly to yourself. And that you have a strong desire for order in chaos, even in the turmoil of pon farr. It's a Vulcan thing to do."

"You're giving me a compliment?"

"I'm stating a fact, but you can take it as a compliment. I heard that pon farr is for Vulcan males like a wildfire running through their blood, desire driving them crazy, that they feel like dying if they can't be together with their mate," T'Pol said. "They call it blood fever."

"It's a good description of the experience," he said, wondering where she got her data from, "but I am not Vulcan."

"No, but perhaps you got a sort of Terran version of pon farr, instead of one intense day, several less intense times, spread out over weeks."

"That theory makes a lot of sense," he said. "It was the chaos and the intensity of the experience I wanted to escape, not you."

T'Pol stared at him. "I must go," But instead of moving, she stood still. Like she didn't want to go. And he didn't want their conservation to end. He liked the more open T'Pol. He was aware she was taking a risk doing so in this hard universe like he was. But for him, he wanted to enjoy her mild mood before it ended.

She stepped towards him and leaned over. In his ear, she whispered, "I will contact my mother."

"Thank you," he whispered back, close to her ear.

He felt a slight tremor in his hands. T'Pol frowned. "Your hands are trembling. Have you fully recovered?"

"It takes a couple of days." He smiled. "It almost looks like you care."

"I do," she said simply. "And I do miss what we had, before, as you call it, the craziness started." Trip had told him she missed the old days- he was so glad to hear it from her own lips.

She stared straight at him. "But I know my actions speak against me."

"You hurt me," he said. It had hurt, almost physically. "You abused my trust." The words of Uncle John came to mind. He saw himself as a young kid, trying to hold in his tears as Uncle John had attended to his wounds. It takes a strong man to be kind.

In this world, kindness was weakness, but he knew Uncle John was right. And he had nothing to lose, only to gain, by doing so.

"Look," he said, "This is a crazy time, with this Resistance war going on. And we have a lot of work to do. But I am not going to hold what happened against you anymore. I choose not to." He felt relieved, almost free.

T'Pol's face softened. "Do you ever think that after this new war is over and things go back to normal, we could go back to working together and being friends?" she said.

He looked at her, her long hair on the side of that beautiful face, those lovely ears pointing out of her hair, her petite frame, in her overalls that didn't hide her perfect body, the way she stood there in the dimmed lights.

He took her hand in his. "No," he said. "We were good friends, that's for sure. But we always end up being more than friends."

He pulled her close and kissed her on those soft lips of hers. Her smell was so close, her warm body so near.

He broke off the kiss and stared at her beautiful face. She looked back at him with those big brown-green eyes. She kissed his damaged eye and his chest, where the scars were hidden behind his shirt.

He lost it. He kissed her with all the pent-up emotions and desire and frustration he had felt during the time they had been together. She kissed him back, gliding her fingers through his hair, her fingers close to his head. He should stop this now. He pushed her softly away. "We must be going to the brig," he said, running his finger around her right ear. She shivered, as in the old days.

They walked in silence back to the brig. "Sweet dreams, T'Pol."

"Good dreams, Charles," she said, her eyes shining, a greenish glow on her cheeks.

And for the first time in a very long time, he had good dreams. When he woke up, he almost felt happy.