Admiral Forrest had been waiting 10 minutes so far as Malcolm frantically tried to track his Captain down. He suddenly had a thought.

            The door chimed and Buffy struggled awake, "Who in the hell is it?" she called grumpily.

"It's Malcolm, can I come in?" he asked.

Buffy looked at the clock a little bleary eyed, "Mal, it's 0300, go away."

            "Please!" he sounded desperate.

            "Let him in, he's probably looking for me." Jon murmured into her ear and she sighed.

            "Come in." she grumbled and the door slid open letting Malcolm in. He sighed in relief when he saw his Captain.

            "What's up Lieutenant?" The Captain's voice asked, gravelly from sleep.

            "Sir, there's a message from Admiral Forrest. It's urgent." Malcolm said apologetically and watched with dread as the Captain struggled to get out of Buffy's bed.

            He was almost giddy with relief when he realized that the Captain was still dressed below the waist.

            Jon bent over and kissed Buffy, "I have to go." He whispered and she nodded, "G'night." He smiled as she slid immediately into sleep and quickly dressed before following Malcolm out into the hallway.

            "Sir, you really need to let someone know where you'll be sleeping." Malcolm said quietly.

            The Captain nodded sleepily, "If there is a next time it won't be in Buffy's bed. They must have made it for midgets." He grumbled, rubbing his neck. Neither was aware of Trip coming out of his quarters behind them.

            "What are you going to do Sir?" Malcolm asked.

            "Do?" There was a bitter laugh. "Oh, by the way Trip, I betrayed you. I went to some backwater planet and was infected by an allergen that made human hormones go wild and I slept with the girl that you're crazy about. Oh, but it was an accident." He sighed and rubbed his neck again.

            Malcolm sighed, "You'll need to tell him Sir."

            Running a frustrated hand through his hair he glanced at his armory officer, "He's my best friend."

            "I know Sir. That's the reason." Was the quiet reply. The Captain walked on to his ready room and Malcolm went back to the bridge.

            Jon sighed as he sat down in front of his computer, "Admiral, I'm sorry. They had to track me down Sir."

            Admiral Forrest took a good look at the Enterprise's Captain, "You look like hell, Jon. Is everything ok?" he asked in genuine concern.

            Jon didn't meet his mentor's eyes, "I'm going through a personal crisis. It'll work itself out." Looking up he smiled, "What's going on Admiral?"

            Forrest acknowledged the evasion with a sigh, "The Ferengi want to form a trade alliance. Since you are familiar with them, you and your ship are to meet them in Risa in one week's time."

            "The Ferengi? Lovely." Jon said, irony rich in his voice as he remembered when the Ferengi took over his ship.

            "It's for a good cause Jon. They can get their hands on technology from places in the galaxy we haven't even seen yet. Plus a really good coffee made on the Klingon homeworld." This made both men laugh.

 "Oh, a very good cause Sir." Jon sighed and smiled, "Understood Sir. I will do my level best." He promised.

            "I'm sending you the data now. Familiarize yourself with it, they are …unusual." Said the Admiral. "Take care of yourself, damn it." And the connection terminated.

 Jon stood and poked his head onto the bridge, "Travis, change our heading for Risa."

            "Aye Sir!" Travis said happily.

            Trip was in his quarters pacing restlessly. He tried to sift through what he had overheard and it was bad anyway you put it. His best friend and his ex-lover whom he still cared about had slept together. Ok, there was an allergy involved and from the pain in Jon's voice knew it hadn't happened on purpose. Now he realized why Jon had been so quiet, and why Buffy had not met his eyes. It wasn't fair, but there you go. Life wasn't fair. He shook his head and changed into his exercise clothes and went to the gym to beat on something.

            Buffy woke alone and sighed, irritated at her disappointment. She got ready and went to breakfast with Travis who was just getting off duty. They chatted about the planet and the new destination the Captain had ordered during the night.

            "Risa is a pleasure planet. They have everything you could imagine to do and a climate controlled atmosphere." Travis said and sighed, "I'm not into planets much but this one is a beauty."

            "It's a planet Trav, not a woman." Buffy teased gently.

             The Captain puttered around, straightening pillows until he realized he was procrastinating. He looked at Porthos who wagged his tail. Jon bent down and rubbed the dogs' head gently then walked over to the com unit, "Commander Tucker, please report to the Captain's ready room."

            Trip winced in Engineering. He went to the com unit, "Understood Cap'n."

            Jon sighed, Trip knew. He could tell by the two words spoken. Damn.

            Trip stood in front of the door, hesitating before pressing the door padd. He heard the door chime and Porthos begin barking. "Come in!" He walked in and bent to rub Porthos belly, "Hey buddy, how are ya'?"

He stood and met his Captain's eyes squarely. "So you know." Jon said quietly.

Trip nodded, "I overheard you and Malcolm in the hallway."

Jon turned, his shoulders slumped, "I didn't want you to hear it that way." He said softly.

Trip sighed, "Jon, I know it wasn't on purpose and I don't blame ya for it."

The Captain swung around, his eyes fierce. "I envied you Trip! You and Buffy had something special and it bothered me that you blew it. But at the same time I was glad! I could think about her without feeling guilty. Don't forgive me! I blame me! If I had been stronger or had taken Malcolm to the planet instead."

Trip grinned at this, "I think Malcolm would have been a little shocked!"

Jon chuckled, "Not that! You know what I mean." He sighed and sat down, looking at his best friend in the entire known universe.

Trip sat across from him and frowned, "What's the problem then? I thought the Doc gave you the antidote."

"The hormones may be gone, but the feelings aren't." Jon said quietly. Trip suddenly and terribly understood, the Captain had fallen hard for Buffy.

Buffy apologized to the class she had missed the day before and began their training. After her last class left she worked out hard, losing herself in the physical exertion. Buffy walked back to her quarters, sweaty but satisfied. She managed to put everything out of her mind. Really. 'yeah right.'

"Buffy?" she froze as she recognized Trip's voice. She turned and smiled in spite of herself. His hair was sticking up like he had run his fingers through it and his uniform was slightly scruffy from work.

Trip smiled in response and approached her, "How're ya' feelin'"? he asked and Buffy stopped smiling.

"I'm good."

His blue eyes were serious as they met hers, "I talked to Jon." He said.

Buffy threw up her hands, "Great! Just great! Now you know." She stormed to her door and inputted her code.

"Buffy!" Trip said desperately.

"Not talking about this!" She stalked inside, Trip on her heels. She turned and poked him in the chest, "You lost the right to question my life when you decided to go all caveman on me and I dumped you."

Trip grabbed her hand, "Darlin', I'm sorry."

"You should be!" she said tartly, pulling her hand back. "Leave, scram, go away. I'm going to take a shower."

"Do you love him?" he asked and she stiffened. Turning around slowly she looked at Trip, seeing the pain in his eyes.

"I respect him. We had one night of sex. Is it going to go anywhere? You're his best friend, you tell me. Now beat it." Buffy physically pushed him into the hallway and shut the door, then locked it. She slid down its surface and began to cry.

Trip could hear her cry and felt like a heel. He placed a gentle hand on the door in regret, then turned to go find Jon.