The Misunderstanding and Team Christopher

Dr. Phil Boyce walked into the ready room, unannounced, querying before the door closed. "Well?"

"Well what?" Christopher Pike answered with his own question, eyes and attention focused on the PADD in his hand.

"Last night," Phil prompted as he sat down in the nearest chair.

"Still analyzing,"

Phil creased his brow and narrowed his eyes. "Analyzing? That's an odd word to use. You do know it is possible to overthink your actions and subsequently lose the pleasure of the moment."

Chris continued speed reading through yesterday's reports. "That's highly unlikely."

After thoroughly scrutinizing Chris with his experienced professional eye Phil remarked, "You don't appear to be rested. Or relaxed."

"I was up most of the night," the Captain responded absentmindedly as he typed and routed a message to tactical approving their request for additional phaser drills. A rant from Phil in the morning over a random, inconsequential thing was not unusual and seldom required Chris' full attention.

"Exactly," Phil said with a knowing look, tone of voice emphasizing his point.

Chris sighed. Knowing his CMO would keep needling until presented with a full explanation, Chris said while continuing his perusal of the overnight reports, "There was a situation … the timing was bad … I had a problem …"

Phil interrupted with a sputter. "What? But … but … you both seemed ready … no … enthusiastic … actually very, very eager …" Understanding dawned. "Oh … OH … I see." He paused and then added, sounding sympathetic, "That explains your bad mood."

Chris shrugged. "I guess."

"And I know this is a cliché, but it happens to all of us at some point," Phil soothed with his bedside manner tone of voice.

"I realize."

"And I am confident any …" Phil paused and cleared his throat, "performance … issue is temporary … most likely a one-time problem due to stress, lack of sleep, or a combination of physical and environmental factors."

Chris tilted his head and glanced up at his CMO. "Undoubtedly. That was my conclusion as well. A few simple precautions will prevent a recurrence."

Phil speculated if Chris was truly keeping this incident in perspective or downplaying it with this nonchalant act. The doctor suspected the latter. After Talos IV he expected Chris would initially push away personal affection and its physical expression, maybe even find it awkward at times. But impotence was a much stronger reaction than the doctor anticipated. And like it or not, Chris needs to deal with this right now. "At the very least, we ought to talk about what happened."

After calling the bridge and relaying new orders, Chris started reviewing message traffic. "I'm busy this morning, can this wait?"

"No, it can't. You need to come with me to Sickbay."

That caught Chris' attention. He stopped reading and looked up. "What? I wasn't aware the problem extended to Sickbay. Was anything damaged?"

Phil, his attention on helping his friend through this delicate matter, missed Chris' reference to Sickbay but heard the word damaged and the concern in the Chris' voice. The doctor slowed his speech, keeping his tone calm, quiet, and professional. "Permanent damage is unlikely. And can be ruled out with a few simple tests."

Satisfied, Chris went back to reading the message traffic. "Good. Let me know if you find any."

"If the problem is organic, if it is ongoing, there are drugs which may stimulate the desired response …"

Chris looked up again. "What are you talking about?" he asked louder and more forcefully than he intended.

"The same as you … what happened last night. I saw you and Aalin go into your quarters hand in hand. What are you talking about?"

"The cascading power failure which began after a photon torpedo armed itself in the weapon's bay."

"Oh … OH …" Phil grinned. "That's good, I mean not it's good that a torpedo almost exploded, but that it wasn't a … a more personal … failure. You know, these misunderstandings could be avoided if you gave me your undivided attention."

"I don't have that kind of time," Chris muttered. Intending to dispel any of Phil's lingering assumptions once and for all, he added, punching out each word and placing additional emphasis on the key phrase, "And for the record that personal failure has never happened to me." In the end, rather than bold and brash, his response was closer to a squeak.

Placing the PADD on the desk, Chris continued, "You have my full attention now, why are you here and not plaguing someone else?

"A gentleman doesn't ask outright."

Chris snorted and shook his head. "Evidently they do if the definition of a gentleman is expanded to include you. And a gentleman doesn't kiss and tell."

"So, there was kissing. Did you snog?

That elicited a chuckle. "Snog? Are you sixteen?"

Phil's eyes narrowed and an eyebrow rose echoing his disbelief. "I believe you are protesting too much. And sixteen is a fine age."

"How could you possibly know … do you monitor the corridors?"

"Only outside your quarters. Otherwise I'd never be up to date on anything important. Actually, I was leaving my quarters just as you entered yours, but your attention, shall we say, was elsewhere." Phil held up an accusing finger. "Now you are deflecting."

Chris, still lost in his own thoughts mumbled, mostly to himself, "Did anyone else see us?"

"Ah, yes," Phil broke the news. "At least someone saw her this morning in a turbolift near the command deck. The blanks were filled in from there."

"I knew it was a bad idea," Chris said firmly.

"No, it wasn't," Phil disagreed softly.

"Yes, it was. For multiple reasons. If there are next steps in our relationships, they should be confined to off-ship."

"We are in the middle of deep space, are you two going to keep dancing around each other for next twelve months?"

"Maybe. No. I … I wouldn't expect her to wait for me." Chris stopped and redirected the conversation before he shared too much and regretted it. "We've strayed from the point. Which was, it's unfair to her."

"Chris, do you really believe waiting until you were off-ship would stop any rumors? You are the captain of the flagship; people notice what you do." Phil shook his head, "For a man who has seen and experienced so much, you truly are naïve at times. And the rumors aren't gossip. Well ok, yes, it is gossip, we are far from home and crave connection; we are alone in the vastness of space and need entertainment, but it's not malicious. The crew is pleased. They want you to be happy. To enjoy the same privileges they do. To have someone special in your life who cares for you."

Focused on the thoughts in his head rather than hearing his friend Chris said, "I meant … she deserves more than I can give … never mind." He stood, preparing to go to the bridge. "Nothing happened. I was called to the torpedo bay, then engineering and the bridge. By the time the situation stabilized and I could go back to my quarters, it was 4:00am. She was asleep. I chose not to wake her." And nothing is going to happen, I'm stopping it now, I realized last night I am not ready, he added to himself.

But Phil excelled in reading between the lines, and he heard the words in the silence. "OK. I get it."

Now alone, the doctor remained in the ready room, sorting through their conversation and his own thoughts. Having lost his beloved high school sweetheart ten years into their marriage, Phil understood life is unpredictable. And he wanted to act before Chris walked away from someone he loved. Before Chris let something precious slip through his fingers.

And Phil suspected his friend had not fully healed from his experiences on Talos IV. Even before that incident, Chris was cautious with relationships; he rarely talked about his personal life. Being a long-time romantic Phil freely and, according to Chris, often, gave advice on the subject. To which Chris responded with just enough details to be polite and satisfy the inquiries but he never revealed much.

Then a wonderfully mischievous idea occurred to Phil, and he smiled – no grinned – ear to ear. I am Enterprise's CMO, it is my responsibility to ensure its captain is not only sound physically, but emotionally as well. Starfleet is practically ordering me to play matchmaker! For Chris' own welfare of course.

Phil needed help and chose Una. Also Louvier, whose reputation as a 'ladies' man' was legendary, and Isak who served with Chris before both joined Enterprise's crew. Perhaps Pippa, Captain Georgiou to most, can fill in past details. I'll write to her. Yes, we will be Team … Una can pick a name, she's good at that. We'll need hats. I'll assign that task to Spock … after explaining to the young Vulcan the significance of team spirit and how it is symbolized with matching clothing which can only be worn in secret during team meetings.

And Matt. His abilities may prove invaluable when dealing with matters of the heart for a patient scarred by cruel wounds.

Satisfied with his plan and pleased with himself, Phil left to find Una. His first order of business was determining if Chris was truly needed on the bridge all night or if the incident was an excuse for avoiding what he had started.