Disclaimer: See chapter one.

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Hell in Heaven

By Kalika

Chapter Five: Awakening

"Trip? Wake up Trip. Come on. Please" Jon was watching the Commander's face closely. He had been sure that he had seen Trip's hand move, but maybe he had been wrong.

Wait. There it was again. Trip's hand had definitely moved this time. Jon heard a weak groan as the Commander began to wake. He watched as his lover's eyes opened slowly.

"Jonny?" The voice was cracked and weak.

Archer leaned forwards quickly to peer into Tucker's eyes. "How do you feel, Trip?" he asked with concern.

"Like the warp drive just fell on me. Where are we?" Trip tried to push himself into a sitting position and gasped in pain. His arms felt like they were burning.

"Careful." Jon caught his lover and eased him back onto the bed. "You need to be careful. Your wrists were pretty badly torn up and you have a dislocated shoulder. The doctor said that your other shoulder would be sore for awhile as well." He paused for a moment before adding, "We're in our room at the consulate. The hospital was full so the Magistrate just had a doctor come here."

"Well that's good I guess." Trip broke off into a fit of coughing. Jon leaned forwards and helped Tucker get a sip of his water. "Oh God, my cheek hurts. How bad does it look?"

"Um. It looks fine."

"Oh. That bad huh?"

"Yeah. It's probably going to be sore for a few days as well. But don't worry, It's only superficial. It'll clear up nicely." Jon reached down to take Trip's hand. "I'm so glad that you're alright. I was so worried about you." He glanced into the Commander's eyes before shifting his gaze down again. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to get to you faster. You should never have had to go through that. I'm so sorry."

Trip reached out with his better arm and raised Archer's face until they were eye to eye. "Jon. Stop apologizing. It wasn't your fault. It could never have been your fault. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry that you were worried." He tried to push himself up a bit to give Jon a kiss but collapsed back with a cry as his arms gave out.

"Trip! Trip, are you alright?" Archer's voice was thick with concern. One moment he had been staring into his lover's sweet eyes and the next he was trying to catch Trip as the injured man fell. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Trip's voice was weak with pain. "I just put too much weight on my arms. They're okay now. It's not so bad." He let out a low moan as Archer gently touched his "good" shoulder.

"Trip, you need to take it slow. You're going to hurt yourself. Please be careful. I hate seeing you in pain." Jon leaned down and gently kissed Trip's forehead.

"Mmm. God, that feel's good." Tucker closed his eyes with a soft sigh. He relaxed back onto the pillows as Archer moved to cover his nose and eyelids with kisses.

Moving down, Jon felt a rush of anger as his eyes swept over the deeply bruised and slightly swollen lips of his subordinate. His anger increased as he though about how they had gotten that way. If Belzial hadn't already been dead, Jon would have strangled him himself.

"Something wrong, Jonny." Trip had opened his eyes to find his partner frowning at his face. "Come on Jon, I can't look that bad," he joked halfheartedly.

Jon started and glanced back up into the engineer's questioning eyes. A slight smile played across his lips as he spoke. "You look beautiful, Trip. I just I didn't want to hurt you."

"That's not the only reason is it, Jon?" Trip asked softly. He was pretty sure that he knew what was bothering Archer, but he wouldn't bring it up until the other man was ready.

"I just keep seeing him hurting you. I was terrified when I found out that you were gone. I couldn't stop imagining what was happening. And then when I finally found you and I saw what he was doing" Jon's voice cracked with emotion. "What if you had been seriously hurt? I could have lost you."

"Shh. Jonny, come here." Trip tried to reach for Jon but was stopped by the pain. He waited until his partner had come closer before forcing himself up so that he could wrap his arms around the other man. "You didn't lose me Jonny, and you never will. I'd never leave you like that. Besides, you know that I'm to stubborn to die."

Archer chuckled gently against Trip's neck. He sat up straight and found his tears being wiped away by gently fingers. He could feel the injured man's hands shacking and very slowly laid the Commander back on the bed. His smile was brief, as he considered how much pain his partner had just endured in order to make him feel better, before letting his concern and affection take over.

"I love you Trip, but please take it easy. You're trying to do too much. You need to slow down." Very softly, Jon brushed a brief kiss across Trip's sore lips.

"I love you too, Jon, but please don't go all over protective on me. I don't think that this is going to be too common of an occurrence for us. At least I hope not. I'm fine now." Trip tried to hide a large yawn with his hand but was unsuccessful.

"I think you should get some rest Trip. Don't worry, I'll still be here when you wake up." With that, Archer reached down and pulled up an extra blanket, which he tucked around the Commander. "Sleep well Trip."

Captain Archer watched for a few moments before the Commander fell asleep. With a satisfied and relieved smile he himself settled down to keep guard.

*****

Jon stood beside Trip as they faced the Magistrate in her private audience room. She had requested their presence. Archer had been all set to refuse and so received quite a shock when Trip had insisted that they go. So, here he was, keeping a close watch on the engineer just to make sure that he didn't get worn out.

"Commander Tucker. Captain Archer. Thank you for coming. I regret that it is under such horrible circumstances. Commander," Shazal hesitated briefly before continuing, "I would like to apologize for what happened to you. Please believe me when I say that I thought Belzial was a dedicated and loyal bodyguard. I never imagined what he was planning. I'm sorry for what he did, and I am sorry that you were injured. I understand that we had no excuse for our kidnapping you, but we didn't know what else to do."

Jon had been watching Trip carefully. He had seen his partners flinch at the mention of Belzial's name, and he was angry that the Magistrate had spoken so carelessly. He was even more surprised to hear Trip thank the Magistrate for her apology. He had been about to turn back to her when he saw the Commander waver. Stepping forward quickly, Archer very carefully took hold of Tucker's right shoulder to steady him.

"Commander? Are you alright?" Magistrate Shazal stood up from her chair and walked down to her guests. She had also seen Tucker waver and was concerned. It didn't escape her notice that Captain Archer had an angry look on his face and she decided to keep her distance from the pair. To cover her nervousness she asked, "Should I call the doctor?"

Trip looked up and shook his head carefully. "No, I'm alright. It's just the painkillers making me tired." Not intentionally, he proved his point by leaning slightly into Archer's hold. His legs barely felt strong enough to hold him up anymore. He felt Jon nudge him inquiringly and nodded slightly.

"Magistrate Shazal, I think that I will take Trip back to our room. If you'll excuse us." He was unable to keep the bitterness from his voice as he spoke. He didn't accept her apology, even if Trip did.

"Of course Captain Archer." Again, she saw the Captain's anger. It was perfectly understandable and she berated herself for trying to hold it against him. "I'll send word as soon as the storm is cleared up and we are able to communicate with your ship."

"Thank-you," Jon said through gritted teeth as he turned and helped Trip from the room.

*****

The walk to the room hadn't made Archer feel any better about Shazal's apology. Every stumble and pain filled moan from the man he supported caused his anger to grow. Trip would be happy and full of energy right now if only we had never come down to this damn planet,' Jon thought to himself before wincing at Trip's soft cry when he had to shift his hold on the engineer so that he could open the door.

He helped his partner into the room and slowly lowered Trip onto the bed. He piled the pillows up so that the Commander could lean against them comfortably. He sat on he bed for a moment before his anger forced him to jump up and start pacing.

"Does she really think that her apology means anything. None of this would have happened if not for her." Jon was furious. As far as he was concerned everything that had happened to the engineer was because of her, and the fact that the magistrate had the nerve to apologize so callously directly to Trip made him even angrier.

"It wasn't her fault, Jon. She couldn't have known what was going to happen." Trip was watching his lover from the bed. He could see that the captain was growing increasingly angry.

"Wasn't her fault!? Shazal was the one who ordered your capture. She's the reason that you were hurt. There's no excuse for that. Why are you trying to defend her?" Jon didn't intend to snap at his lover but he was too furious to care.

"She was only doing what she thought was necessary to help her people. We can't hold the actions of one of her followers against her." Trip patted a spot on the bed beside him. "Come here. Your pacing is making me dizzy."

Jon's scowl lightened as he dropped onto the bed as gently as he could. He saw the small wince that played across Tucker's face as his sore arms were jarred. Putting an apologetic arm around his lover, Jon pulled Trip down so that the Commander's head was resting on his shoulder.

"I don't really get why you're being so understanding about all of this. You have every right to be furious with the Magistrate, but you're not," Archer said as he gently ran his hands through Trip's hair.

"I'm not sure why either, Jon. Maybe it's the drugs." He smiled at Jon's short laugh before continuing. "It wasn't really her fault. She didn't do this to me." He lifted his arms slightly before letting them drop back into his lap. "He did."

"Shh. You don't have to talk about this now if you don't want to Trip. You're tired. Maybe you should just get some rest." Jon was afraid of this talk. He had wanted to be able to avoid it until he was less angry, but if Trip wanted to talk about it now than he could sit through it. Shifting slightly, Jon kissed Trip's forehead.

"I don't think that I can wait any longer. If I keep putting it off then I'll never be able to talk about it. But, if you don't want to talk then I understand. This can't exactly be easy for you either. I'm sorry. We don't have to do this if you don't want to." Trip smiled softly and sat up so that his head was no longer resting on Jon's shoulder.

Archer cursed himself silently. He had made Trip think that he didn't want to hear about what had happened. All right, so he really didn't, but he would do anything for his lover right now. How hard was it to listen for the few minutes that it would take his lover to relay what had happened?

*****

To Be Continued