Title: Twilight

Author: T'eyla

AN: Thanks to Ocean (hm... I see what you mean. I was of the same opinion for a long time), Phaser Lady (well, I think they could... but if I could post that at ff.net is another thing -g-), lieutenants-lady (wait and see - I'm not giving anything away -g-), Gabi2305 (und das hier ist noch kürzer :o ), PJinNH (sorry. I thought I had made it clear enough that this is T/R), WhtevrHpnd2Mary (last chapter - sorry!) and KaliedescopeCat (no, I won't do that - probably -g-) for reviewing. Now, last one! Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed and kept reading to the end! TTYS (hopefully), T'eyla

Outro

You can do this. It's only Malcolm. He won't bite or anything.

Trip stood in front of sickbay's big double glass doors, his fingers hovering over the panel. He'd just come from the Captain's mess, and still had half an hour left until the start of his shift - he was on light duties for today. A few minutes ago Phlox had called and announced that 'Mr. Reed has regained consciousness' and that he'd been asking for Trip.

That's not a bad sign, I guess. I hope.

Trip sucked in his lower lip, then finally, in a quick movement, thrust his fingers against the door opener. The bulkhead slid aside.

"Ah, Commander!" Phlox came towards him, a beaming smile on his face. "The Lieutenant's already waiting for you. Over there." He indicated a biobed at the other end of the room. Trip just nodded, not quite trusting his voice to sound normal if he were to speak, and slowly made his way to Malcolm's bedside.

"Hey," he said when he came up beside the biobed, resting his hands on the edge of the bunk and giving Malcolm a quick, almost timid once-over. The Lieutenant did look a little worse for wear, his right leg in a heavy cast and his face a tad paler than usual. When Trip finally met Reed's eyes, he found them slightly hazy, and recognized the effect of painkillers.

Malcolm's lips parted in a slight smile. "Hey, Trip."

"How d'you feel?"

"I'm all right. Phlox pumped me full with medication, so I'm not feeling much at all, as it is."

Trip smiled as well, and a slightly uncomfortable silence settled around them.

Studying Malcolm's face, Trip looked for a sign, any sign, that told him what exactly Malcolm wanted - to say, to do, whatever. Reed seemed pretty relaxed, considering his usual reaction to any kind of personal conversation. Reed seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing in general, Trip realized. Not what he'd expected. But not unwelcome either. He cleared his throat.

"Well... I guess..." He shifted his feet and lowered his gaze, slightly uncomfortable. "I guess we should talk about... what happened."

When he looked up again, he saw Malcolm looking at him, not smiling, but also missing the guarded look in those grey eyes that Trip had half-feared to discover there.

"Yes, we should. But not now."

Trip frowned a little, slightly confused. Malcolm had asked for him, hadn't he? So why...

Malcolm's next few words made him understand. "I doubt Phlox would let you stay long enough." Malcolm paused, seeking out Trip's eyes with a look that could have been described as imploring. To Trip, though, it looked more anxious than anything else. "For now, I'd only like to know one thing."

"What would that be?" Trip asked, hearing his own voice sounding slightly hoarse in his ears.

"Did you mean what you said down there?"

"Yes." Trip let his voice sound firm this time, so Malcolm would understand. Understand that if they were going to try this, any failure wouldn't be due to any half-heartedness on his part. "I fully meant it."

"Good." Malcolm, who'd propped himself up on one elbow, lay back down on the pillows and closed his eyes. "I did too."

Trip hesitated, then carefully closed his fingers around Malcolm's. The Lieutenant's eyes flew open, but he didn't pull his hand away. Instead, he simply lifted his gaze, again meeting Trip's. A tentative smile played about his lips.

"Let's... let's take this slow, okay?" he said, and Trip was already about to pull his hand back when Malcolm's grip tightened. Trip smiled.

"Alright Malcolm. Slow and steady."

The End

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