Disclaimer: Enterprise and her crew belong to Paramount. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Bottled Up – Part 2

Trip stood apprehensively outside the door to the Captain's Ready Room. He had been standing here for nearly two minutes now, wondering why exactly it was that he couldn't bring himself to push the door chime and enter the room. He berated himself silently for his nervousness. Surely he had no reason to be afraid of what Captain Archer might say? He hadn't done anything recently that would warrant a telling-off, had he? But try as he might, Trip couldn't quite convince himself that this meeting with his commanding officer was going to be simply a friendly chat. Sure, he had only just got out of sickbay that morning after his encounter with the hostile alien on that away mission a couple of days ago, and he had no doubt that Archer would have been concerned about him. However, the steely note in the Captain's voice when he had summoned Trip to his Ready Room had strongly suggested to the engineer that his welfare wasn't the only thing concerning Archer. Taking a deep breath, Trip raised his hand and pressed the door chime.

At the sound of the door chime, Archer steeled himself mentally for the ensuing confrontation. Punishing his Chief Engineer and best friend was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had to make sure that Trip learned his lesson. He only prayed that Trip would understand what he was about to do.

"Come in." The door slid open, and Commander Tucker entered the room.

"Reportin', Sir." Was it Archer's imagination, or did he notice a slightly apprehensive air surrounding the engineer?

"How are you, Commander?" asked Archer immediately. He wanted to be sure that Trip was all right before he started dishing out his punishment. His worry for his best friend had overshadowed everything else for the past couple of days, and had ultimately led to his decision regarding Trip.

Trip's heart sank at the formal use of his rank as the Captain's mode of address. Definitely not a friendly chat, then. "I'm feelin' much better, thank you Sir. A phase pistol set to stun isn't somethin' I want to experience again any time soon, but I just thank my lucky stars that it wasn't set to kill."

"I'm glad to hear it," replied Archer. "However, the events of a couple of days ago have given me cause to think very seriously about your actions on away missions."

Trip's heart sank a little further. "How so, Cap'n?" he asked.

Archer sighed. "To put it bluntly, Commander, your actions are often rash, and you often end up getting yourself into unnecessary trouble." Holding his hand up to forestall the protestation he knew Trip would try to make, Archer continued: "I know the situations you find yourself in aren't always your fault, but the fact remains that you do seem to have a knack for trouble."

Finally able to get a word in edgeways, Trip protested. "But Cap'n, how are we supposed to explore the cosmos without takin' any risks?"

"There are risks, and there are risks, Commander. Some are necessary for the furtherance of our mission, but some are completely unnecessary. And you, unfortunately, seem prone to taking the unnecessary ones. Take the other day, for example. You saved me from that alien, for which I am extremely grateful. But, instead of just letting things lie, you then went running off after it, alone, and got yourself severely injured in the process."

A sense of outrage welled up inside Trip. "Now, hang on a minute, Sir. It wasn't just me who went chasin' off after a hostile alien on my own the other day. If you hadn't taken matters into your own hands, I would never have had to come and rescue you in the first place. What the hell gives you the right to do these things, and then tell me off for doin' exactly the same?"

"I'm the Captain," said Archer. "I don't have to justify my actions to you, or anyone else." Part of him was horrified at the cold sounding tone of voice he had adopted. He didn't want to act like this around Trip, but the truth was that Trip could get him riled up like no one else, and sometimes his only choice was to retreat within the boundaries of rank.

"Don't do this. Don't cut me off like this, Jon." Trip's tone of voice was soft, almost beseeching, and he hoped that by using the Captain's first name he might be able get through to his best friend. "When I saw you at that alien's mercy it scared me, Jon. I couldn't think straight. I just wanted to kill him."

"And that almost cost you your own life, Trip," replied Archer softly, and the engineer rejoiced at the Captain's use of his nickname. But then Archer's face reverted to its previous cold mask, and Trip felt a lead weight settle somewhere deep inside him.

"Commander Charles Tucker, I am hereby confining you to Enterprise until further notice. You will still be able to move freely about the ship, but you will not be allowed to participate in away missions until I say so. Is that understood?"

A wave of bitterness overwhelmed Trip. He couldn't believe that Jon was doing this to him. No, he corrected himself. This wasn't Jon doing this. This was Captain Archer. It appeared that his friend Jonathan no longer existed, or at least didn't want to be friends with Trip Tucker any longer. Part of him knew there was more to this situation than was immediately apparent – Archer's momentary lapse into the personal proved that, but Trip was too caught up in his own bitterness to examine that issue at the moment. "Your instructions are perfectly clear, Sir," he said, his voice now just as cold as Archer's. "Now, if you don't mind, I have business to attend to. Lack of away missions will enable me to get on with the ship-wide overhaul I've been plannin'."

"You are dismissed, Commander."

As the door slid shut behind Commander Tucker, Archer slumped back in his chair. The encounter with his Chief Engineer had exhausted him mentally and emotionally, and he just wanted to forget it had ever happened. However, that was not going to be possible. The look of betrayal in Trip's eyes as he had left the room told Archer that he had very probably just lost his best friend. Trip deserved an explanation for what had just happened, and Archer had desperately wanted to give him one, especially when Trip had introduced their personal relationship into the argument. But he had held on to his resolve. He had to keep Trip safe, for his own sake as well as Trip's, and if that meant destroying their friendship, then so be it. Because there was no way he could tell Trip the real reason for his Captain wanting to keep him safe. Because then not only would Trip hate him, he'd feel disgusted and violated as well. The simple truth was that Jonathan Archer was desperately in love with his best friend. He couldn't live without Trip Tucker, and therefore if he had to confine Trip to Enterprise to stop him nearly getting himself killed every other week, then that was how it would have to be.