Author's Note: Hello! It's been a while since I posted a story. This is not a lovely romance, it's rocky, but it has its moments. I hope you'll give it a chance. Reviews are greatly appreciated. It has not been beta read so all mistakes, errors, etc. are my own.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Enterprise characters, they are borrowed purely for entertainment purposes here and no profit was made from this story.

Thanks to all! Bri

Friends With Benefits

The Delphic Expanse, 2253.

Enterprise had been in the area of space known as the Delphic Expanse for several months now looking for the Xindi weapon. Their mission was to destroy it, and they intended to, by any means necessary.

The mission had been nothing short of harrowing, and it had taken a toll on the entire crew. Therefore, crew members were finding ways to relieve their stress anyway they could. Some hit the gym a couple of times a day and worked themselves into oblivion. Others engaged in marathon card games and various forms of gambling, making bets out of almost anything, while some preferred pulling double duty shifts. Then of course there was the age old, sure-fire, stress reliever of all times, sex. Captain Archer had become like a possessed madman since they started searching for the Xindi weapon and was paying little to no attention to the things going on among the crew. And there was a lot going on.

Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker had lost his sister in the Xindi attack on Earth, but had not been able to really grieve the loss. The result was insomnia and anxiety. Commander T'Pol had been recruited by Dr. Phlox to help him out by performing a type of Vulcan massage therapy on him. It required the two senior officers to spend a lot of time alone in close quarters. It required a lot of touching, and was also very intense and very intimate.

He had been attracted to her for a long time and had developed feelings for her, he just didn't know exactly what they were. After months of dancing around the subject, it was she who had gotten him to admit that he was attracted to her. Then the unthinkable happened, one night after a spirited session, she simply dropped her robe from around her, revealing her gorgeous, petite, perfect, naked body. After that she had all but pounced on him.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have believed that they would end up naked in her quarters, rolling around on the floor, then on the bed, then in the shower. But it had happened. They had spent the night in each other's arms after several rounds of intense, passionate, wonderful sex, and she had made all the moves. But then came the morning after.

She thanked him kindly, then told him to buzz off. Just an experiment she had said, ("this is a test, this is only a test!"). It meant nothing to her, nothing at all. He meant nothing to her.

Trip worked alone for most of the day. He was fuming. He felt stupid and used. How could he have thought that they could actually have a relationship? If that's what he thought. It all happened so fast that he hadn't had time to think about what the act meant. All he knew is that at the time it seemed like a grand idea. She wanted him, and she had made her intentions known rather clearly. Now, he would just have to forget that it had ever happened.

=/\=

Three Days Later. 2300 hours.

Trip's door chime went off. He looked at his chronometer. Couldn't be anybody but Jon or Malcolm as no one else would come to his quarters this late.

"Come in," he said absently as he sipped his glass of milk. When the door slid open, he almost spit it out.

"Good evening Commander," T'Pol said.

"Evenin'," is all Trip said in reply, trying to hide his surprise. "What can I do for you?"

"I wished to speak to you about a problem with my console on the bridge. However, I have not seen you for several days."

"You could have just sent me a message," the engineer replied as she handed him a padd. He didn't even look at it and said, "I'll get one of my guys to look at it tomorrow."

"The science station console is a sensitive piece of equipment and critical to my job performance. I would rather you look at it personally," she said in return. Trip just stared at her.

"Fine," he said after a few moments, moving toward the door. "Good night Commander." But T'Pol did not move.

"You have not been to the bridge in three days."

"So," Trip replied.

"You haven't joined the Captain and I for dinner in the Captain's mess either."

"And?"

"Each time I have looked for you in engineering, you were working in some obscure area of the ship."

"T'Pol, just what are you gettin' at?" he asked clearly annoyed.

"You are avoiding me."

"So, what if I am?" he replied.

"You are offended that I did not view our mating in the same way you did."

"First of all, animals mate. I just thought we were doing something a little more, oh I don't know, intimate, real. Turns out we were just screwing."

"Screwing?" T'Pol asked, but Trip just glared at her. "I did not mean to upset you," she said in a low voice.

"I'm not upset!" he said, then realized he was raising his voice. He softened a bit. "I just thought we were close… friends."

"We are close; we are friends. Are we not?" the Vulcan asked genuinely confused.

"Yeah…at least I thought so."

"Are you saying since we ma…since we were intimate, we are no longer close friends?"

"T'Pol look," the frustrated man started. "For a lot of humans, sex complicates things, especially when you don't have an understandin' about it."

"I was under the impression that human males enjoyed having multiple sex partners without commitment or emotional attachment."

"Not everybody feels that way. I'm the type that likes to know what I'm doing with a woman- where we stand, so I'll know how to act."

"What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means I like to know little things about the woman I'm sleeping with like, are we dating?" he replied. "Are we, uh… exclusive? Are we friends with benefits, or are we just screwing? You made it pretty clear to me that we were just doing the latter."

"Why must humans attach a title to everything, attempt to place a label or define everything?" T'Pol asked. "Some things simply are what they are. Why can't you leave it at that?"

"Like I said, I like knowing so I'll know how to act, the frustrated man replied. "Now I know, so good night Commander."

Again, T'Pol did not leave. She did move closer to him, however, right into his personal space. He looked at her trying to figure out what she was doing. "Suppose I wanted to stay?" she asked looking into his eyes as she pressed up against him.

He swallowed hard. "St-stay?" he replied.

"Yes," she said running a finger along the side of his face. "What if I said, I would like to stay with you…all night. We could talk some more," she said as she ran her finger over his lips. "Or, we could…"

He grabbed her hand removing it from his face. "T'Pol, w-what are… you doing?" he stammered feeling his body responding to her closeness and her touch.

Then she stood on her tip-toes, pulled his face down to her and kissed him. After the shock wore off, he kissed her back.

"Thought you said I was just a lab rat?" he asked warily.

"I said that I was exploring human sexuality. I see no reason to discontinue that exploration." With that he picked her up and carried her over to his bunk. Clothes began to fly off and they were lost in the passion of one another for several hours. But, when he reached for her in the middle of the night, she was gone.

The next day Trip tried to sit with T'Pol at lunch, but she made a quick exit as soon as she noticed him walking toward her table. Then he tried to talk to her on the bridge, but she was cold and dismissive. He tried to get her to have dinner with him that night, she refused. By now he was pretty pissed off. She had done it again, seduced him, used him, and tossed him to the side.

=/\=

A Week Later. Command Center, Morning Staff Meeting.

All of the senior officers were present. The Captain had news and everyone was anxious to hear what it was. But something else was going on too. There was so much tension in the room between the two senior officers that everybody knew something was wrong.

"A few days ago, a telepathic alien that had contacted Hoshi, gifted us with some valuable information," the Captain began. "Initially, he wanted to keep her in exchange for this information. But we persuaded him otherwise," Archer said looking over at the linguist. "Eventually we were able to obtain the coordinates of a planet where this alien says a chemical called "kemosite" is being manufactured. It may well be used to fuel the weapon the Xindi are building."

"That's great news!" Trip said. "Finally, we're gettin' somewhere!"

"How soon before we get there, sir?" Malcolm asked. "I'd like to have all the necessary weapons prepared in advance."

"It'll take us three days to get there from our current position," the Captain stated. "But instead of preparing weapons, Malcolm, I want you to assemble a team. Upon arrival, we are going to confirm the location of the plant and the chemical. Then, I want to engage the Xindi Abboreals we believe are making the kemosite…"

"What?" Trip interrupted. "Engage!" Travis and Hoshi looked at one another, then at Malcolm.

"I'm not certain I follow Captain," the Englishman said with a puzzled look on his face.

"I said, assemble a team," Archer repeated. "We're going down to the planet surface to talk to the folks responsible for making that chemical!"

"You mean we're not going to blow that blasted plant to smitherine!" Trip countered, "sir?"

"No, we're not," Archer answered in a firm voice.

Trip's face contorted a bit, then turned beet red. "With all due respect Captain," the engineer pushed further, "but why the hell not?"

Archer leaned on the smart table before speaking, his nostrils flaring and his eyes squinting a bit. "Blowing that plant up will just slow them down, not stop them," he said in a hard tone. "I want to get more information about the weapon. If we blow the plant up, that will just tip them off that we're on to them and we'll lose our advantage."

"Captain, I understand that reasoning to a degree," Malcolm interjected. "But wouldn't it put us at more of a disadvantage if that chemical gets off that planet?"

"Like I said Lieutenant," Archer replied, "we're NOT going to eliminate the plant! We need information and I intend to get it!"

"Well, I guess if we did blow the plant up, we could kill innocent people just doing their jobs," Travis said.

"Yeah, 'cept they're not innocent people!" Trip snapped. "They're killers, and we were sent to find 'em. So now we've found 'em, and we're supposed to do nothing, just talk to 'em?" Trip complained. "Just what are we hoping to find out anyway? Are we waiting for the Xindi to attack again so we'll know for sure they mean to kill us all!"

"Commander, you may not agree with nor perceive our current assignment as logical, but we have our orders," T'Pol said before Archer could respond. "We are to locate the chemical plant and engage the Xindi for information only. We will not destroy the plant and that is all. I suggest we follow those orders."

"I wasn't talkin' to you!" Trip snapped back quickly, unable to conceal his anger and frustration. "I was talkin' to the Captain, and the last time I looked you were not the Captain!"

Malcolm cringed, Hoshi and Travis looked wide eyed as the Captain closed his eyes and pinched his nose at the bridge.

"Commander, there is no need to be curt, I was simply stating the facts," T'Pol replied.

"Well I didn't ask you to state the facts about anything to me!" Trip shot back in return. Everyone looked at Trip, then back at T'Pol, as if watching a tennis match.

"I would have thought that by now, you would have learned to govern your emotions," she stated firmly. "Especially in a senior staff meeting. Your outbursts sometimes border on unprofession-alism."

"Unprofessionalism!" Trip shouted, "How dare you! If anybody is unprofessional…"

"Commander, stand down," T'Pol interrupted, rising to meet his glare as they both leaned over the smart table. "You are out of line."

"You haven't seen me get out of line yet, Commander!" the Chief Engineer said through clenched teeth as veins popped out the side of his neck.

Archer blew out a long sigh as visions of the first year aboard the ship flashed through his mind when he had to break up many a squabble between his first and second officer. "That's enough!" he finally said. "You two need to go to separate corners, now!"

The two officers continued to stare at one another for a few moments. Finally, Trip stepped away from the console and T'Pol stood up straight, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Alright you have your orders… dismissed," the Captain said. As the officers turned to exit the room, Archer stopped them. "That is everybody but Commanders Tucker and T'Pol. I'd like to have a word with the two of you."

Travis, Malcolm and Hoshi exited the room quickly, looking back as they left. Archer then turned to his two senior officers. "I don't know what the hell that was all about," he barked. "But I didn't like it, not one bit! I thought the two of you were past the petty bickering! Was I wrong?"

"No Captain," T'Pol replied.

"No Captain, we're…fine," Trip hesitated.

"Are you sure?" Archer asked, as he looked back and forward at each of them, struggling to contain his own anger and frustration. "Because I don't have time to play referee! You're senior officers and this mission is too important for juvenile antics!"

"I assure you Captain, there is no problem between Commander Tucker and myself," T'Pol replied calmly. "I apologize for causing you concern."

"She's right Captain, there's no problem," Trip lied. "And I'm sorry too sir. Just a little frustrated. It won't happen again."

"Make sure that it doesn't", Archer scowled. He looked at the two of them knowing something was not right, but didn't want to get into it at the moment. "Dismissed".

T'Pol simply nodded.

"Aye Captain," Trip replied. Then they both turned and left the Captain standing in the command center.

As soon as the door slid closed and the two officers were alone in the corridor, Trip grabbed T'Pol's arm. "We need to talk," he snapped. "I mean it, today!"

"As you wish Commander," T'Pol said. "Lunch, my quarters, 1200 hours."

"I'll be there," he said and they walked away in different directions.

=/\=

Engineering. Trip's Office.

"What was that all about?" Malcolm asked as he entered his friend's office a few minutes later.

Trip looked up at the brit from a padd he was reading. "Captain's made his decision," Trip said. "There's nothing more to be said about it. 'Course if it was up to me, I'd blast that goddamned chemical plant to hell! But it's not up to me."

"I concur!" Reed said leaning against Trip's desk, folding his arms across his chest. "But that's not what I was referring to. I meant, what was that little exchange between you and T'Pol all about?"

Trip bristled a bit and tried to hide his anger. "Oh. Nothing. That was nothing!"

"Nothing? Sure mate!" Malcolm replied. "I'll say it was nothing. I thought the two of you were going to rip one another's clothes off and have a go at it right there on top of the smart table in the command center in front of us all."

Trip got up quickly and closed the door then whipped around to face the Englishman. "Malcolm! Are you crazy or something, saying that kind of shit all out in the open!"

Malcolm looked around. "Looks like it's just you and me here Commander."

"C'mon Mal," Trip said, dropping down in his chair and brushing back his hair with both hands. "Are we that obvious?"

Malcolm laughed a little. "No not really. But those of us who know you well can see that something is going on. Of course, there are rumors and gossip flying around."

"That's nothing new. People have been gossipin' 'bout me and T'Pol long before there was a me and T'Pol… You think, think Jon suspects anything?"

"No, I don't think so," Malcolm replied. "The Captain's total concentration is the Xindi and the Xindi alone. He can't really focus on anything else you know."

"Yeah, when it comes to this mission, he has complete tunnel vision. And don't get me wrong Mal, I wanna get those bastards as much as anybody. Hell, I have more reason to want revenge more than anybody else on this ship, but I don't want my need for revenge to totally consume me. And, trust me, it's really hard not to go down that road!"

There were a few moments of silence. Malcolm knew that Trip and Jon were drifting apart and that this mission was the cause of it. "Well, uh…about T'Pol," he finally said. "Why don't you talk to her, before the two of you get yourselves into trouble."

"Yeah, I intend to do just that. That woman has a knack for getting under my skin and driving me crazy!"

"Well that will never do," Malcolm said. "You shouldn't allow her to dictate how things are going to go. Take control of the situation, don't let her to lead you around like some trained seal."

"Whadda you mean by that?" Trip asked. "How do I take control of the situation? What am I supposed to do?"

"Tell her that you're not going to stand for her little games any longer!" Malcolm spat, pointing a finger at the engineer. "That either she wants to be in a relationship with you or she doesn't!"

"Yeah…yeah, you're right!" Trip said, sitting up straight.

"Tell her that you're not some bloody specimen for her to conduct her experiments on and you won't be toyed with again!"

"I won't be toyed with again!" Trip repeated.

"That she is to make a decision or your interactions from this day forward are to be purely of a professional nature, period!"

"Geez, that's good Mal," Trip beamed. "I should be writing this down."

"No, you shouldn't," Malcolm said in return. "I don't get you mate. A beautiful woman just wants to lay and play with you and you want a commitment? You're nuts!"

"Not so much a commitment, but at least an understandin'. People just think I'm the resident playboy. I'm not; you know it and I know it. Everybody else can assume what they want, but I just want one woman, always been that way."

"Okay Trip, whatever you say," Malcolm grinned.

"Oh hey, I gotta go. I'm meeting her for lunch. I'm gonna tell her exactly what you said."

Malcolm laughed a bit. "Well, good for you," he said and patted Trip on the back who then dashed out of the door past Mal. "Remember, take control of the situation!" Malcolm called out after him.

=/\=

T'Pol's Quarters. 1200 Hours.

Trip pressed the door chime to T'Pol's quarters. He heard her say come in then slipped in to the room carrying a tray with a salad, fruit and sandwiches. When he entered the room and glanced over at her bunk, the tray of food he was carrying slid right out of his hands onto the floor. She was dressed in nothing but a black tie around her neck and black high heel pumps. She stretched out on the bed in a pose as he stared in disbelief. She then beckoned for him to come over.

At first, he couldn't move. Finally, he staggered over to the bunk. They drowned themselves in deep kisses. She literally ripped his clothes off of him and mounted him. He was helpless.

Afterward, they jumped in the shower together and then she slipped out of her quarters and ran to his, grabbed a uniform for him to replace the one she had torn to shreds, threw it in a bag to conceal it and tried to slip out of his quarters unnoticed. She brought the uniform to him, he changed into it quickly and they went back to work. They were both late.

=/\=

That night Trip asked T'Pol to meet him on the observation deck. She did so.

"Is there any reason why we could not meet in your quarters or mine?" she asked him.

"Too dangerous," he replied. "Look T'Pol, I've been trying to talk to you about us for the last week. But, every time we meet in one of our rooms, we end up in bed."

"Have you not found our encounters…agreeable?"

Trip rolled his eyes. "That's just it darlin'. I've found our encounters, if that's what you want to call 'em, more than agreeable. It's just that "I" don't know what to call 'em. I don't know what to call us."

"So, we are back to definitions and labels."

"Yes, yes we are. I need to know something. Maybe you don't but I do. What are we doing?" T'Pol just stared. "Look, I'm not gonna keep sneakin' around, jumpin' in and out of bed with you. I'm just not wired that way."

"Wired?"

"That's not the way I am," the engineer explained. "I need to know where we stand. So, are we dating?"

"Vulcans do not date."

"Fine. What do you do?"

"Vulcans rarely, if ever engage in sexual activity outside of marriage. However, it is not unheard of. And, since you require a label to our liaisons…" Trip frowned, unsure where this was going.

"Commander, the other day you alluded to the concept of "friends with benefits."

Trip raised both eyebrows. "I did. Why?"

"I did some research into this concept," T'Pol replied, (meaning she had asked Hoshi what it meant). "Would you be interested in participating in such an arrangement, for now. That could give us time to explore whether more is possible between a human and a Vulcan…if there could be more between us."

Trip smiled. "Friends with benefits huh? Okay, I can live with that for now. We'd still be close friends, respect each other, look out for each other; continue to work well together. But, occasionally, hopefully more often than not, engage in some intimate liaisons."

T'Pol raised her eyebrow. "That would be agreeable," she said. "We will need to be discreet however."

"Of course. One other thing," Trip said smiling and pulling her close to him. "I wouldn't wanna have hot and heavy intimate liaisons with someone who calls me Commander while we're going at it. When we're off duty, it's Trip or the deal's off."

T'Pol looked into his eyes. "Trip it is then," she said. He smiled, then they kissed.

And for the next several months, friends with benefits worked. It wasn't what Trip wanted, but it was something. T'Pol on the other hand, was enjoying their arrangement more than she ever would have believed, or admit. In the meantime, the toll of the Expanse and the mission continued to wreak havoc on everyone.