A/N: The continuation of the "Old Wounds" series. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are appreciated.

LGBTQ Trigger Warnings Apply

First Contact

Chapter 1

Enterprise had been in the Dracarian system for 2 days, staying hidden near the single moon of Dracaria, patiently waiting to observe the monumental breakthrough for the planet's people.

"They're launching." T'Pol said as she looked up from her long range scope, where she had been observing the surface of the planet.

Jon nodded. "On screen. I don't want to miss this."

Jon held his breath as he watched the small, bright light rising from the surface of the planet, breaking the atmosphere into space.

"Come on, you can do it. Come on." He quietly muttered to himself, encouraging the small light.

Suddenly, the light grew very bright, followed by a white streak before dissipating into the dark. A moment later, the white streak returned to the planet.

T'Pol's voice held a slight excitement (as much excitement as a Vulcan could muster, that is) as she confirmed her readings. "They are successful. The Dracarian's have accomplished warp 1."

Jon let out a whoop, which in turn, seemed to give permission for the rest of the bridge crew to whoop and cheer for the Dracarian's.

Now Jon could understand the excitement his grandfather had, as he told him the stories of watching the launch of Phoenix when he was a young man. He now understood what it might have been like for those Vulcans observing as well, remaining undetected, not knowing the outcome and being the unknown cheering section when the experiment was proven successful.

Jon turned to T'Pol with a wide, childlike grin. "What now?"

T'Pol raised an amused brow. "Now, we make first contact."

§§§

Jon could barely keep his excitement contained as he and T'Pol headed for the shuttle bay. "How many times have you witnessed a civilization achieve warp for the first time?"

"Only once, as a child, and that was because my father allowed me to accompany him on his mission."

Jon stopped in his tracks and grabbed T'Pol's arm. "Wait. You were there when Zefram Cochrane broke warp 1?"

T'Pol gave him an offended look. "Do not be absurd. I wasn't even born yet when humans broke the warp barrier."

Jon chuckled. "Ok, sorry. So what species did you get to observe?"

"You have not heard of them. They are an arachnid species and, as Vulcans quickly discovered, extremely dangerous. Fortunately, they are very far from Earth's system, and would take longer than the human lifespan to reach their home world at your current level of technology."

Jon's face paled. "Arachnid? As in spiders?"

T'Pol's brow again lifted. "In this case, more like scorpions."

Jon shuddered. "Thank god these people look more like humans, and hopefully they're friendly."

T'Pol tipped her head. "We will find that out once we introduce ourselves."

As they continued on towards the shuttle bay, Jon questioned. "Is it always like this for Vulcans making first contact? I mean, not knowing if the people you're about to meet will be open to aliens or not?"

T'Pol nodded. "As much information that we can gather by accessing databases and trying to interpret a world's history, it is always impossible to know what the reaction might be once a civilization has undeniable proof that they are not alone in the universe. Fortunately, so far, the majority of first contact with Vulcans have been peaceful, but there have been some that turned violent."

"What do you do when they become violent? I mean, you don't want to present yourselves as an invasion, right?"

T'Pol nodded. "We attempt to leave peacefully, however we will be armed to defend ourselves if necessary, but that is ultimately the last resort."

"Did your people have to defend yourselves against those scorpion-type aliens?" Jon asked curiously.

"Yes. According to the report from P'Kreig, the Vulcan that made the contact, he was injured and surrounded by the aliens, they prevented him from passing to board his shuttle. He was left with no other logical course of action but to use his phaser in order to make his escape before further harm could come to him."

Jon was surprised by this. "He shot them?"

"No. He fired on a large tree nearby, destroying it instantly. After the aliens witnessed the power of the Vulcan phaser, they backed away, which allowed him to retreat without any loss of life."

Jon blew out the breath he didn't know he was holding as he listened to the tale. "You said P'Kreig was injured? Did he recover?"

T'Pol nodded. "After a long time in treatment. He was struck beneath his ribs with one of the alien's tail and injected with venom. As you are aware, the Vulcan heart is in the lower portion of our ribcage, the puncture was mere inches from his heart and the venom fluid surrounded his heart, bringing him dangerously close to losing his life. Even though he survived the ordeal, he has never been able to go into space again."

As the doors to the shuttle bay opened, Jon shook his head. "I really don't want an outcome like that. Do you think we should take a MACO team with us?"

"Absolutely not!" T'Pol responded sternly. "We do not want to run the risk of looking like an invasion force attempting to take over their planet. The four of us is imposing as it is."

Trip looked at them perplexed. "What are you guys going on about an invasion force? Who us? We're not going to hurt them."

Jon shook his head. "We know that, but they don't. Just stay on your toes down there and phasers on stun. I don't want anyone to come back with a chest full of venom."

Trip screwed his face in confusion. "Huh?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "Nevermind. Just get on the shuttle."

Jon and Trip gave each other a quick peck before boarding. Over the past 3 years, it had become a ritual habit for the husbands as 'good luck' and the crew had gotten accustomed to it, never making any comments, other than Malcolm's customary comment. "What? No good luck kiss for me?"

Trip gave his usual response. "Sure… Jon'll give you a kiss. Of course I'll kick your teeth in for kissing my husband." He smirked.

Malcolm laughed as they boarded the shuttle, with the usual mixture of excitement and nervousness about a first contact mission. Although they had experienced plenty of first contacts over the years, the people that they made contact with were aware of life on other planets. This would be their first "cold" first contact with a species who might hope and dream of extraterrestrials, but would now come face to face with them.