AN: Thanks to StormieNights, Samantha Quinn, Exploded Pen, DA, Regina Bellatrix and KaliedescopeCat for reviewing Part I. Here's Part II, hope you'll enjoy it :-)!

Thanks to Exploded Pen for pointing out a vocabulary mistake in this part! Hopefully there aren't any more ;-).

Okay, there were more... sorry. Thanks, Regina :-).

I'm down a one way street,

With a one night stand,

With a one track mind,

Out in no man's land

Part II

Well, this was weird, Tucker thought while he uploaded the scanned data from his tricorder onto the main computer. A call from earth...just hope nothing happened.

Trip bit his lip. Malcolm had seemed tense the last few days, and today he had been unusually quiet even for him. And he definitely did look like death warmed over, as if he hadn't slept at all. Maybe something had happened after all.

And you didn't ask though you noticed something's wrong, Tucker thought. A great friend you are. He walked over to one of the consoles and called up the information he had just uploaded. Today they would be testing the new torpedos - well actually, the torpedos weren't new, just old ones with a few software improvements he and Malcolm had developed over the last three months. These improvements should make the targeting more accurate and reduce the time needed for launching the torpedo. The modifications on the torpedo itself were minimal, the most changes had been made on the targeting system. Malcolm had told him it had been making problems again this morning.

Well, that's really something new, Tucker thought. The targeting system had been a problem since they had launched, there had been times when it had been down for three days in a row. It had driven him crazy even though it wasn't his department. He could only imagine how much trouble it had caused for Malcolm - which was probably why the Armoury Officer had been very keen on developing these improvements. Actually, a week ago he had told Tucker that he was looking forward to the day when he didn't have to check the scanners all the time to make sure they wouldn't break down in the middle of a fight with a hostile ship.

That brings us back to the question: what's bothering him? Tucker thought. He should be happy, today he can tamper with his weapons all day, he doesn't even have to work his bridge shift because of the tests. So what the hell's wrong with him?

Shaking his head Trip sighed and concentrated on the screen again. A few minutes later the Armoury doors swished open and Reed came in. Without a word he went to his work station and continued his work on the launching sequences. Tucker paused and turned to him.

"Malcolm, is everything alright?"

Reed said nothing and didn't move, continuing to stare at his screen. Tucker took a step towards him.

"Hey, I'm talking to you. Is everything alright?" he repeated. With an abrupt move Reed lifted his head but still didn't look at Tucker.

"Yes, everything's okay," he said. "Everything's absolutely alright, great, perfect."

Tucker raised his eyebrows at Reed's tone and took another step towards him, lying a hand on the backrest of Reed's chair.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong? You know you can tell me-"

Suddenly Reed swiveled his chair around, nearly knocking Tucker over who took a quick step backwards. Trip looked up, surprised, and recoiled. Reed was glaring at him with red-rimmed eyes, and when he opened his mouth his voice sounded raspy.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" he hissed. Tucker opened his mouth, closed it again.

"I'm just trying to help..."

"Well, I don't need your help. Keep your sympathy to yourself and leave me alone," Reed snapped and turned back towards his console. Tucker stared at his back for a moment.

"Malcolm?" he asked tentatively."What..."

Reed sat up in his chair.

"Mr. Tucker," he said, "were you born insensitive or did you take lessons? I don't want to talk about it. So would you please continue with whatever you were doing and let me alone!"

Trip stared at Reeds back. After a short stretch of silence he shrugged.

"Well, why do I even bother," he murmured, returning to his console.

-###-

"Are we ready to start?" Malcolm asked an hour later. It was 1200 hours, after schedule they should be ready to launch the test torpedo now.

"In a few minutes," Tucker answered without looking up. During the last hour there had been icy silence in the Armoury. Reed felt a twinge of bad conscience when he thought of what he'd said to Trip, but overall he was too numb to care. The only thing he wanted to do now was to return to his quarters and go to sleep so he wouldn't have to think about anything anymore. But unfortunately, he had to run these tests with Tucker. He sighed wearily, rubbing his stinging eyes.

"Okay, everything's ready," Tucker said, getting up and walking over to the starbord weapons control console. He scanned the data shown on the display with a last examining look, then nodded approvingly.

"I'm going to launch the torpedo now."

Reed turned to his sceen that still showed the launching sequences and was about to call up the test simulations as a comparison when something caught his eye. He blinked and stared at the last sequence shown on the scheme. When realization hit him he whirled around and saw Tucker reaching for the firing switch.

"Don't..." he yelled just when Tucker's fingers touched the button and pressed it down. Trip pulled his hand back immediately, but it was to late. The long sleek form of the torpedo was already disappearing into the launching tube.

"What..." Tucker asked but was interrupted when Reed grabbed his sleeve and pulled him behind a bulkhead. Seconds later a jet of fire shot out of the launch tube before something behind the wall exploded, flinging debris all across the Armoury. The two officers instinctively covered their heads. After a moment the explosion was over and Tucker looked up.

"What the hell was that?" he asked shakily and turned his head to look at Reed who had immediately gotten up and was drowning the fire with foam from a fire extinguisher. Trip got up and walked over to him.

"What was that?" he asked again. Reed lowered the extinguisher and stared at the smoking, blackened remains of the starbord launch tube.

"That," he said quietly, "was our torpedo. I'm sorry, but I think I just blew up our efforts of the last three months."

-###-

"What do you mean, you made a mistake?" Captain Archer asked, pacing back and forth in the small ready room. Reed was standing by the door, following him with his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said. "This was solely my fault, Captain."

"But I don't understand," Archer said and came to a stop in front of Reed. "You and Commander Tucker planned this test for weeks. What went wrong?"

"The launching sequences needed to be reconfigurated for the tests, which was my responsibility. I did it at the latest possible time so the torpedos would stay online as long as possible in case we'd need our weapons. So there was no time to double-check the reconfigurations, which would not have been neccessary if I'd paid attention. But how it was, I forgot to change the last sequence which had the effect that the torpedo exploded inside the launch tube - fortunately only with a small part of its actual force, but I think it was enough." He pressed his lips together and looked down. "I apologize, Captain. There's no excuse for my carelessness."

Archer stared at him for a second, then he plopped down in his chair and shook his head.

"But...this is so unlike you, Malcolm. You're not the person to forget something that important."

Reed shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I think I was...distracted."

Archer stared at him for a second, frowning. "You know, Malcolm," he said then, "I don't want to repeat myself, but that's not like you either. Was there a reason for your lack of concentration?"

Reed lowered his gaze but didn't respond. Archer raised his eyebrows.

"Malcolm?"

Reed closed his eyes. There was no way that he was telling anyone anything - especially not the Captain. This was his private business. But when he looked up into Archer's face, he knew he had to give some kind of response.

"About an hour before we launched the torpedo I got a call from earth," he said reluctantly. "From my sister. She informed me about... some problems. I might have been thinking about that when I reconfigurated the launching sequences." He prayed that Archer would be content with that, but no such luck.

"What kind of problems?" the Captain asked, getting up and walking over to the window. Reed swallowed. "I'd rather not discuss that, Captain," he said and gave Archer's back a pleading look, but quickly lowered his eyes when the Captain turned around.

"You just blew up half the Armoury, Lieutenant," he said, eyebrows raised. "It was pure luck that nobody got hurt, and Commander Tucker said it'll take at least three days to repair the damage. I think I got a right to know what caused this."

Suddenly Reed felt anger welling up in his stomach and took a calming breath.

"I apologize, Captain. It was my fault and I'll accept any disciplinary measures you consider to be appropriate. The rest is - respectfully - not your business." He looked sternly into Archer's face, observing the expression there change from concern to surprise. Then the Captain pressed his lips together and nodded curtly.

"Very well, Lieutenant," he said, "in this case you're confined to your quarters until further notice. Dismissed."

-###-

Archer stared at the door that had closed behind Reed. What the hell was going on with Malcolm? He had seemed kind of stressed out the last few days but the Captain had blamed it on the upcoming tests. After today's events he knew there was more to it... but Malcolm was being Malcolm and not giving anything away. Archer shook his head and turned to the window, gazing at the blurred streaks of the stars. He tried to imagine Reed not focusing on his work when on duty and realized he couldn't. His mind stubbornly rejeted the thought of Malcolm being that distracted that he'd overlook something as important as a fault in the launching sequences. With a sigh he walked over to the comm.

"Archer to Tucker."

"Tucker here," came the answer.

"Please come to my ready room. I have to talk to you."

"On my way."

A few minutes later the door swished open and Tucker came in. Archer smiled at him.

"Hi. Sit down."

Trip took a seat on the armrest of the chair standing opposite to the desk.

"Where's Malcolm?" he asked.

"I confined him to his quarters for the time being," Archer said and sat down at his desk. "But that's what I wanted to talk to you about. This morning, when you worked in the Armoury... did Malcolm seem somehow weird to you? I mean..."

"I know what you mean," Trip interrupted him, nodding, "and yes, he did. He was in a bad mood when I came, and all the time he didn't say one word when he didn't have to. And about an hour before we launched the torpedo he got a call from earth...his sister, I think."

"Yes, it was his sister. He told me. Do you know what that was about?"

Trip shook his head. "No. I asked him - I at least wanted to know if everything's alright back home with his family - but he wouldn't tell me. He snapped at me and said that I should mind my own business."

"Yeah, he said something like that to me, too." Archer let out a deep sigh. "Why in God's name does he have to be so close-mouthed? If he'd said something earlier he could have avoided that mess and saved us all a lot of trouble."

"Yes, well, but nobody made an attempt to ask him if everything's alright either," Tucker stated, shifting a bit on the armrest. Archer took a quick glance at his friend, then nodded slowly.

"That's true." He shook his head and smiled dryly. "He's always so controlled and keeps everything to himself; sometimes I wonder if he isn't partly Vulcan. It's hard to remember that even he's got to have a limit."

"I know what you mean. But... when we were trapped on that shuttlepod he told me a little bit about himself... not much of course, but... you know, I got the impression that this way of his is only some kind of self-protection," Tucker said. Archer turned his head to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I think he doesn't want other people to know about him because he doesn't want to be hurt by them."

Archer stared at Trip for a moment, then lowered his eyes. There was a stretch of awkward silence.

"Well," Tucker said finally, clearing his throat, "if you don't need me anymore, I got some work to do in the Armoury."

Archer nodded, and Trip got up. He was about to leave the room when Archer called him back.

"Trip."

"What?" He turned.

"Would you try talk to him once again? I know he'd never talk to me but maybe he'd open up to you... and I'd like to know what's going on before I decide on a disciplinary measure." He grimaced. Trip smiled at him.

"I planned on doing that when I get off duty."

Archer smiled too. "You do that. Find out what's wrong."

TBC...