The next few days passed rather quickly, the Andorians, Xindi and Humans all working together to bring Enterprise back up to trim. There were a few instances of Shran trying to object again to his people being guarded by the MACO's, but Jon told him he'd agreed to the conditions himself.

With the help of the Andorians, Trip and his engineering staff had at last gotten the warp reactor up and running. Trip now figured that with the extra power provided by the reactor to the ships main systems, repairs could proceed more quickly. Right now the repair teams were divided, half were working on the impulse drive, and the other half were working on the starboard nacelle.

There were scattered teams working inside the ship itself, restoring burned out systems and repairing structural damages. The main lighting grid on the bridge had just been replaced the day before, however on figured that they still needed to do more work on the air filters, Jon could still detect the strong smell of smoke and burned circuits in the air.

T'Pol had actually had to go to Phlox for another dose of her nasal inhibitor, she said the smell was beginning to bother her. Jon had jokingly asked if it was the smell of him or the ship. She had just raised her eyebrow and told him 'perhaps'. Jon resolved to take more showers after that.

"Engineerin' to the Bridge."

Jon: "Go ahead Trip."

Trip: "Just though ya'll would like to know that we finally got impulse power back up n runnin."

Jon: "That's good news Trip. How's warp drive looking?"

Trip: "Well...that's still gonna take some time. We're looking at having to rebuild the warp coils, but with the blue heads...sorry, the Andorians here, it looks like Shran was right, we'll be up n ready for warp speed inside of 4 weeks."

Jon: "How's the repairs on the hull looking?"

Trip: "Well, that's another story, we can't go past warp 2 without having the hull in good shape or we'd tear the ship apart. And there's lots of holes in our hull. Good thing is that now that we have impulse power back, I can divert the crew that was working on that to the hull work."

Jon: "Good work to you and everyone else down there Trip, keep it up, I'm sure we'd all like to head home."

Trip: "Aye Cap'n."

Jon smiled, well things were definitely looking up.

Hoshi: "Sir we have an incoming transmission, over the subspace buoy."

Jon frowned "Who is it ensign?"

Hoshi looked puzzled "Sir, It's a...it's a message from Ambassador Soval, for the Sub-Commander."

Jon raised his eyebrows and turned his chair to look at T'Pol, she looked at him but didn't say anything.

Jon: "Would you like to use the ready room T'Pol?"

T'Pol: "Thank you Captain, but I believe I know what the message concerns. I will view it here."

Jon: "Are you sure about this?"

T'Pol: "I am."

Jon nodded and turned back to the view screen, as T'Pol left her station and came to stand beside his chair.

Jon: "Ok Hoshi, put it through."

The bridge crew looked on as Soval's stern looking face appeared on screen, Soval took a moment to survey the scene before him, then spoke.

Soval: "I would speak with you T'Pol."

T'Pol: "I believe you are Ambassador."

Soval: "I would request privacy T'Pol."

T'Pol: "I do not see the logic for your request, there can only be one reason why you have contacted me, I suggest you continue."

Soval: "Are you certain you wish for these, others, to hear of this?"

T'Pol: "If not now, then they will find out soon enough."

The Bridge crew looked at each other, wondering what exactly was going on. They had an idea it had something to do with the way the Captain and the Sub-Commander had been acting towards one another in the past weeks. But other that speculation there had been no hard evidence of anything.

Soval: "Very well. It has come to the attention of the High Command that Captain Archers superiors on earth, have accepted this decision of yours."

T'Pol: "That is correct."

Soval: "I have been instructed to inform you that the High Command has also come to a decision."

Jon looked at T'Pol and saw that her face remained the same, however he knew from her thoughts that she was nervous.

Soval looked at Archer "Captain, I have some questions for you, do you agree to answer them?"

Jon nodded

Soval: "Jonathan Archer, you have bonded with a Vulcan, T'Pol claims you share each others thoughts. Is this so?"

Jon: "Yes, T'Pol and I share each others thoughts."

The rest of the crew look surprised.

Soval: "You wish to enter into marriage with T'Pol, is this correct?"

Jon not quite knowing where this was leading, again indicated it was so.

Soval: "I see, then I have no choice but to carry out the orders of the High Command."

T'Pol: "Ambassador..."

Soval: "T'Pol, please do not interrupt me, this is difficult already."

Soval bowed his head and began speaking in Vulcan, once the words became clear to T'Pol, she looked shocked, and reached out and grasped Jon's hand.

Soval spoke with his eyes closed and his head bowed for some time. Jon thought that if T'Pol squeezed his hand any harder she was going to crush it, just as he was about to alert her to this, Soval raised his head and looked at them both.

Soval: "It is done." He held his hand up in the ritual Vulcan greeting. "Live long and Prosper T'Pol and Jonathan."

The screen blinked off and silence settled onto the Bridge.

Jon: "Uhm....T'Pol, would you mind telling me what just happened here?"

Jon looked around at the bridge crew, everyone looked shocked, everyone but Hoshi, she had tears in her eyes.

T'Pol: "Captain...Jonathan... Soval has just performed the Vulcan bonding ceremony. In the eyes of my people, we are officially bonded."

Jon looked at her: "So..that's good news right?"

T'Pol: "Indeed, our bond is now officially recognized by both our worlds."

Jon looked down at his hand which was still clutched in her grasp, T'Pol caught his look and released his hand. Jon looked at the rest of the crew.

Jon: "Ok, I guess it's time for an explanation. Yes it's true, a few weeks ago, T'Pol and I entered into a relationship, Something happened and I helped her through it, we became bonded by her customs, now we're married...kinda, does this bother any one?"

The three main officers looked at each other, then back at Jon and T'Pol.

Reed: "I believe the only objections we have sirs...would be if we were not invited to the wedding."

Jon began laughing and T'Pol raised her eyebrow, Jon thought that this was going to be a good day after all.

A few days later, Jon was leaving the Command Center and returning to his cabin for a much needed break. Shran had been getting better and better at finding the right buttons to push and Jon really needed to get away from him. Jon sighed, it wasn't that Jon regretted having the Andorians help, it just seemed that to Jon, Shran was acting like the Humans owed them their very lives for showing up when they did. To top it all off, Jon still had to meet with Degra and the rest of the Xindi council on an almost daily basis, keeping them updated on the ships repairs and also working out some type of treaty between the two species.

Jon had tried to get the Xindi to wait until Earth could send another ship with a fully trained diplomat onboard to do the real work, but it would take too long before that happened, and the alliance with the Xindi was already beginning to show signs of strain. The primary problem was unfortunately, once of the best sources of help for the Humans, the Andorians.

Three times since they had arrived, the Xindi had caught someone trying to break into their database and find the location of the weapon, which was still being dismantled. Investigations into the matter had found that the scans had not come from the area around where Enterprise and the Andorian ship were orbiting, but not from either ship. Jon had taken Shran to task about it, but Shran had been able to prove that he had no knowledge of it.

That left Jon with another mystery on his hands, was the same one responsible for sending the scans of the firing mechanism to Enterprise, the same one doing the scans now? And if they were, who were they and who were they working for? Jon thought this all over as he walked down the hall to his cabin, another thought popped into his head, T'Pol had made the suggestion on them beginning to share a cabin, they had already begun to keep things in the others cabin, T'Pol had even gone so far as to make up a small bed and space for Porthos in her cabin, though Jon hadn't yet brought the dog there to spend any length of time.

Jon for his part, had Trip redesign his cabin, he had removed the chair that was beside the bed and also moved the bed over, this gave Jon more floor space and let him use it as a meditation area for T'Pol. Once he had shown T'Pol what he did, she hadn't said anything. Jon was crushed when she simply left his cabin. He was actually surprised when she promptly returned with her meditation pillow and candle, and placed them in the space provided. And in typical Vulcanness, she had simply stated it was adequate.

Jon knew that at this time, T"Pol was on the bridge and that would give him some alone time, she had shown him how to shield his side of the bond when he needed to be alone. She had understood when he had asked her to show him how to do this. She explained that at times, she did it as well. She apologized to him saying she still needed a break now and then from the near constant assault of his emotions. Of course Jon had immediately felt bad and had tried to apologise to her for any distress he had caused, She had reached out, placed her fingers over his mouth, silencing him, then she had moved her had to softly caress his jaw line, and told him "You are only Human, And I would not have you any other way."

Jon entered his cabin and was greeted by Porthos, the beagle jumped up and placed his paws on Jon's leg and barked at him. Jon reached down and picked his dog up and gave him a brief hug.

Jon: "Sorry we've all been a little too bust to pay a lot of attention to you boy. Hopefully things'll calm down soon and we can get back to normal."

Porthos: "Whine"

Jon placed the dog on the floor and looked around the cabin, everything was nice and meticulously neat, just the way T'Pol wanted it. Jon smiled at that. He'd usually try to keep his living area neat, but being a bachelor naturally made that impossible, now he found himself cleaning his cabin almost daily. Jon swore it was T'Pol's influence.

Jon made sure that Porthos was fed and watered before sitting down at his desk. He decided to take his mind off his troubles, at least until the next batch cropped up, by reading an old favourite of his. Jon grabbed a PADD and cycled through the ships library until he came to the collection of stories he was looking for. J.R.R. Tolkien's: The Lord Of The Rings. It had been many years since Jon had last read these books, he had always meant many times to read them again, but something else always got in the way.

Jon felt that now would be as good a time as any to read them, they offered him the needed diversion and the chance to escape into the fantastic worlds that were contained in the novels. He had never told anyone, but one of the first things that had popped into his mind when he had laid eyes on T'Pol in Starfleet medical, other than the fact he was restraining himself from knocking her on her ass, was that how much she looked like Arwen to him. Jon knew she was as far from the type of character Arwen was portrayed as someone could get. But it was just the way she looked, of course the pointed ears helped the fantasy a great deal. There were even times he saw himself as Aragorn to her Arwen. But when they first started on this mission, all those thoughts and dreams had been cruelly shoved aside, in order for Archer to focus on nothing but the mission.

Now that the mission was all but over, Jon decided, that since he had finally gotten his Arwen, that it was a good time after all to re-visit the worlds and stories that had lent themselves to some of his fantasies.

Finally, after so long, the big day was here, most of the ships repairs had at least been completed, there was still some minor hull work to be done, but everything else had been completed. Jon and T'Pol had informed the rest of the crew of their new status as a bonded couple, the news was met with gladness by most if not all of the crew, Jon knew some still harboured some type of resentment towards the Vulcans, but he figured they'd eventually come around.

Jon and the rest of his A shift crew were on the bridge, Shran's vessel and the Xindi ships had undocked and were standing by a few thousand kilometres away. Jon looked around the bridge and got the sign from his officers that everything was ready. Trip was down in engineering, at the side of his beloved engine. Today they were going to see how well the repairs worked and take the ship into warp.

Jon: "Alright Travis, set a course out of the system full impulse."

Travis: "Aye sir, course plotted, full impulse."

Enterprise gracefully arced away from the planet and picking up speed, headed for deep space. Within minutes it had cleared the last of the planets and was in the out of the system.

On the bridge, Jon pressed the COMM button on the arm of his chair.

"Archer to Engineering, Trip, we're all set up here you ready?"

Trip: "Everythin's all set down here Cap'n, just waitin' on yer order."

Jon looked at Travis, who had turned to await his captains command.

Jon: "Mr Mayweather, warp speed."

Travis grinned and turned back to his console, he pressed the buttons that initiated the sequence, and Enterprise leapt into warp.

Travis: "Warp 1"

Jon: "T'Pol, monitor hull stress, Trip keep a close eye on everthing down there, I don't want anything to happen now that we've come this far."

Both T'Pol and Trip acknowledged their orders.

Jon: "Travis, keep giving her the gas."

T'Pol: "The gas captain?"

Jon: "Just an expression T'Pol, it means more speed."

T'Pol: "Hmm, how very, human."

Travis: "Warp 2......2.5......warp 3"

Jon: "How's everything down there Trip?"

Trip: "We're showing some minor deviations in the warp field, but nothing that isn't out of the ordinary."

Jon: "Good, keep going Travis."

Travis: "Aye sir. Now at warp 3.5.....warp 4.......warp 4.5...."

Jon sat on the very edge of his seat, his fingers were gripping the edge of the armrest so tight, the knuckles were white.

T'Pol: *Jonathan, please relax, you will cause injury to the ligaments in your hands if you continue to hold your chair like that*

Jon: *Sorry Aisha, I'm just excited*

Jon forced his hands to release their death grip on the chair. No sooner had he sat back in his chair that he began to feel a not so subtle vibration, it began in the soles of his feet, then he could feel it through out his entire body. Quickly he looked over at T'Pol, she had her head turned away from him and was peering into her viewer.

Travis: "We've reached warp 5 captain."

T'Pol: "The vibration is being caused by greater instabilities in the warp field."

Jon: "Trip, what's going on?"

Trip: "Ah it's the plasma injectors, the ones we replaced for the starboard nacelle, gimme a minute to lock em down."

The vibration began getting worse, Jon was beginning to get a headache.

Jon: "Trip"

Trip: "One minute Cap'n"

Jon: "I don't think we have a minute Commander, I'm taking us out of warp, Travis, drop to impulse."

Travis nodded

Enterprise dropped from warp with it's usual starburst effect, as the ship sowed, the lighting along the starboard nacelle, flickered, and then went dark. A moment later it flickered back on.

Trip: "Engineering to bridge, We got the problem fixed Cap'n, it wasn't one of the injectors, it was one of the flow regulators, we should be fine now."

Jon: "Nice to fix the barn door after the horses have come home Trip" Jon said with a smirk.

He turned to Travis and had the young man plot a course back to Azati Prime. This time however he told him to keep the speed to warp 4.

He looked around the bridge with a smile on his face.

Jon: "Great job people, we'll be on our way home shortly, first I want to take us back and thank both the Xindi for their help and their understanding, and to collect the Andorians, I have a feeling the Xindi wouldn't take it to kindly if we left them behind."

Jon stood and patted Travis on the shoulder, telling him to get underway, he then turned to Hoshi and had her send a message to Starfleet, saying the ship was once again warp capable and they were heading home.

Hoshi: "Should I give them any time of our planned arrival sir?"

Jon thought for a moment before answering. He really couldn't say when they'd be back home, it had taken them 7 weeks at high warp to just get from Earth to the boundary of the Expanse, and once they were here, it had taken them months to find the weapon.

Jon: "No, just let them know we'll keep them informed of our progress. I really don't plan on having us make a beeline for home. I know how much you all want to get there, but there are a few places I think we should stop first."

T'Pol: "And what places would those be Captain?"

Jon smiled: "Well, I thought that after all we've been through in the last while, the repairs, the battle, the crashed Insectoid ship, and the rest, I just thought that the crew could use a little down time again. I was thinking of stopping off at that planet we visited a while back."

T'Pol: "Captain, the crew had shore leave there not two months ago."

Jon: "Yes, I know, but this time, I was thinking of making it longer, there's no longer the rush to find the weapon, now we can take our time."

Jon touched his fiancé's mind *Besides Aisha, I was hoping we could have an impromptu honeymoon, seeing as we were just recently married by Soval*

T'Pol didn't reply, but instead began to look around and then turn her head and body away from the rest of the crew and peer into her scanner. Jon knew he had made her blush.

Reed: "Sir, that sounds fine, but where else were you planning on stopping?"

Jon: "We have a planet of humans out here Malcolm, we promised them that once this was over, we'd go back and see how they were doing. Besides, I know how you love to handle weapons, I thought this time maybe you like to try some horseback riding and wear a six gun, haven't you ever wanted to be a cowboy?"

Malcolm's face brightened a bit at that. "Once sir, a long time ago"

Jon smiled.

Soon the enterprise had returned to Azati Prime, Jon had thanked the Xindi and had promised that Starfleet and Earth would be sending another ship with trained diplomats, and they would help to work out the rest of the problems between the two species.

To Jon's surprise, Shran was more than willing to depart this area of space. However he declined Jon's invitation to journey with them, saying the Enterprise, while a fine ship, for the Humans, was still a bit too slow for him. Now that he was assured they Humans were alright and their planet was no longer in danger, he was happy to take his own ship and crew home.

Jon thanked Shran for all the help, and hoped they would meet again, if not as friends, then as allies. Shran said there were always possibilities. After making sure there were no Andorian people, tools or equipment left onboard Enterprise, Shran bid them farewell, and the bridge crew watched as the Andorian vessel jumped to warp on it's own journey home.

Finally, Jon turned to his own crew, he looked them over and thought that he had been right. When he had told them that of all the captains who would sit in his chair, none would be more proud of his crew than he was. Even thought they had suffered losses, and hardships, they had help up well. And he was glad that he was able to bring them home. Jon stepped up to the hel and stood beside Travis. He took a quick glance over at T'Pol, she raised her eyebrow at him, a sign to get on with it. Jon smiled. He placed his hand on Travis's shoulder.

Jon: "Well Ensign, are you ready?"

Travis: "Yes Captain, helm is answering, all controls are green"

Jon: "Very well, you know where we're going, take us out"

Travis nodded, and Enterprise began her journey home.

Jon was dreaming, he knew that because the ship was utterly and completely empty, everywhere he went, sickbay, mess hall, engineering, the bridge, no one was around. His footfalls echoed through the corridors, when he used the COMM to try to call anyone he could hear his voice calling back to him from the other parts of the ship, he of course had received no answer.

He had gone to T'Pol's cabin to see if she was in this dream, but when he had arrived there, the cabin was completely bare, it was as if no one had ever used them. Jon then went to the command center, but none of the computers in there had been working. Jon was starting to become a little angry at where this dream was going. He knew the ship was at warp by the star streaks showing through the windows, he just had no clue where they were going to.

Jon returned to the bridge and his ready room, he sat behind his desk and found this small terminal was at least working right. He pulled up his logs and found something odd, there was no mention in any of them of T'Pol. Jon then pulled up the ships crew roster. There was no Vulcan listed as the ships XO and science officer. There was a brief mention of a Vulcan being assigned as an observer for 8 days, but that was back during the ships very first mission, to return the Klingon home, however, this Vulcan was male and had been returned to his people at the end of the mission.

Jon frantically searched the ships database for any mention of T'Pol, but had found nothing. The woman who meant more to him than anything, was gone. She had never been. Jon slammed his fists on the desk, what the hell was going on here, the dream was seriously messed up. Jon tried to touch his link with T'Pol, but found the area of his mind she normally occupied, empty, Jon felt terribly alone at that point.

Jon stood and stumbled back onto the bridge. He sat wearily in his chair, wondering if the dream would end or if he would be trapped in this nightmare forever. An insistent beeping noise coming from the communications station snapped Jon out of his brooding. He got up and walked over to it, from the looks of the board, the ship was receiving a transmission. Jon hit the button and the view screen shimmered to life.

Jon looked on in shock as Soval's face stared back at him from the screen

Jon: "Ambassador? What's going on here?"

Soval: "Defiler! Contaminator! You have ruined her, so we have taken her from you, and removed all references to her."

Jon: "You can't do that, it's impossible, the crew..."

Soval: "Your crew are also gone, they will have their memories retrained, none but you shall ever remember her. Even now T'Pol herself undergoes the process of removing you from her mind. Soon she will be whole again."

Jon: "Why are you doing this? You were the one who did the Vulcan bonding ritual"

Soval: "I opposed you union from the moment T'Pol informed me of it, what I did was under orders from the Vulcan High Command. If I had gotten my way I would have removed her from your ship long ago."

Jon: "Will T'Pol be alright?"

Soval: "She is no longer any concern of yours human, she will never remember you, other than the brief time in Starfleet Medical, you will have never existed to her. Enjoy your memories, Jonathan Archer"

Jon: "Wait, Soval! Please don't do this!"

Soval then laughed at Jonathan, and the screen blanked out

Jon sat up in his bed, sweat streaming from him. Quickly he turned and hit the COMM button by the bed "Archer to T'Pol!"

Jon waited a few moments, when there was no immediate reply, he was about to call again when to his relief, her voice came back over the line.

"T'Pol here Captain, is there a problem?"

Jon: "No, no problem, I Just wanted to make sure everything was alright"

T'Pol: "The bridge and ship are operating efficiently, are you sure you're ok?" *Aisha, I can sense your distress, what is wrong?*

Jon: "I'm fine thanks" *I'm sorry for disturbing you, I had a bad dream, I just wanted to make sure that you were, still here*

T'Pol: "Understood Captain." The COMM line clicked off, but T'Pol still touched his mind

T'Pol: *Jonathan, do you wish me to come to you?*

Jon: *No, that's ok, just knowing you're alright and feeling your presence in my mind again is already making me feel better*

T'Pol: *Your presence in my mind has a, pleasing effect on me as well Adun*

Jon: *Thank you Adun'a, I'm sorry for bothering you, we'll talk more when your shift is over, I'm gonna try and get some more rest.*

T'Pol: *You are never a bother to me Aisha.*

Jon smiled and closed his eyes, he lay back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a while as he tried to figure out what had caused the dream he'd just had. He knew that he'd had reservations in the beginning about what effect this would have on T'Pol concerning her relationship with her people, but he'd though that he'd over come them all, apparently he hadn't, the dream still showed that he was still afraid she'd be taken from him.

Jon checked the time, 0130 hrs, T'Pol had taken over the graveyard shift for a few nights while Lt Ramirez was recovering from a nasty bug that Phlox had said he'd picked up from one of the Xindi. It was much like the flu in its symptoms and Phlox had assured Jon that it was neither life threatening nor contagious. Jon sighed, he and T'Pol, while not yet actually sharing a cabin, had been spending more and more time just using Jon's, he missed the feel of her with him in bed, he missed how warm her body was.

Jon thought back to the first night he had been back onboard after he'd been returned by the Xindi, T'Pol had escorted him to his cabin and told him to wait for her return. This had puzzled Jon but he said he would wait. She then had nodded and left him alone. While he was waiting, Jon had decided to change out of his torn and bloody uniform. *Why do they always beat me up?* He thought to himself.

Because he was so sore and tired, Jon hadn't gotten very far in the removal of his uniform by the time T'Pol returned. She found him sitting on his bed with the top of his blue overall laying about his waist, and his black under shirt half unbuttoned. Jon looked up at her as T'Pol entered, he saw that she had brought back one of Phlox's medical bags.

T'Pol: "I thought you had agreed to await my return?"

Jon shrugged: "Was only trying to get outta this. Where'd you get that?"

T'Pol: "Sickbay, the doctor was busy dealing with the other injuries and appeared to be quite rushed, I concluded he would be to busy to help tend to your wounds."

Jon weakly smiled: "So you stole his medical bag?"

T'Pol: "I did not steal it, I borrowed it, I shall return it, later."

Jon laughed "T'Pol, you took it without his permission, back home we call that stealing."

T'Pol: "If I had awaited the time it would have taken to ask his permission, it would have taken to long and you would no doubt have tried to do something foolish, as such I see it had taken long enough."

Jon shook his head. And gave up, just like the old saying goes, never argue with a woman, especially if she's a Vulcan.

T'Pol saw that Jon had admitted defeat and set to work. She opened up the med kit and began to remove the items she would require. Then she undid he remaining buttons on Jonathans shirt and carefully slipped it from his body. As she looked at his chest she let out a small gasp, his ribs were covered in bruises, although by the looks of it, none of the injuries seemed to be severe, no broken ribs this time.

T'Pol carefully began to clean Jon's face with an antiseptic cloth, Jon hissed a bit and winced as the cloth passed over the cuts on his face. T'Pol stopped and asked if he wished to go to sickbay instead. Jon shook his head and told her to continue. T'Pol did, but tried to be more careful. Once she was done with his face, she moved down to his chest, she cleaned his entire upper torso and back. Jon tried to not wince every time T'Pol passed the cloth over a bruise.

T'Pol put the cloth away and tended to Jon's cuts on his face by placing the appropriate bandages on them. Luckily, none of them were severe enough to warrant sutures, which was beyond her limited medical skills. She then ran a small scanner over Jon's chest and back to determine the full extent of his injuries there.

Jon: "I see you 'borrowed' one of his scanners as well."

T'Pol raised her eyebrow: "It was necessary for me to find out how badly you were injured."

Jon: "Ok, I was only teasing you, so how does it look?"

T'Pol: "There are no severe internal injuries, but you do have multiple bruises, which should heal within a few days. Are you experiencing any pain?"

Jon: "Yes, some."

T'Pol gave Jon a hypo spray, and then another one.

Jon: "Why two?"

T'Pol: "The first was an agent to help your body to heal faster, the second was both a pain reliever and mild sedative to help you sleep."

Jon: "The way I feel right now, I don't think I needed the sedative, I'm about ready to fall asleep standing up."

T'Pol: "To sleep standing up is both undignified and hazardous."

Jon: "It's only an expression T'Pol."

T'Pol stood and repacked the things she had used into the med kit. "I see, I will return this to the doctor now, I will return shortly, do you feel up to a shower?"

Jon: "I was just thinking of tossing on some pj's and hitting the sack"

T'Pol: "I would recommend the shower Jonathan, your scent is most, disturbing. I am sorry but I would more prefer to be by your side if you had a shower."

Jon: "Oh, I didn't realize you were going to stay the night. I'm sorry."

T'Pol: "I had no intention of leaving you tonight, besides my cabin is blocked by debris, unless you would have me sleep someplace else?"

Jon: "No i want you to stay here, I'm sorry."

T'Pol: "Your apology is unnecessary, I to was, only teasing you. I shall return shortly."

T'Pol then left the cabin and Jon stood and removed the rest of his uniform. He stood in his cabin clad only in his boxers, As he stretched, trying to loosen up the kinks in his back Jon had discovered T'Pol was correct, he was beginning to smell a bit, ripe. Jon made his way slowly to his bathroom and started the shower, T'Pol had returned as he was finishing and the two of them curled up on the bed, Jon looked over at T'Pol, who raised a questioning eyebrow,

Jon: "You know, I was right."

T'Pol: "About what?"

Jon: "That you'd make an excellent nurse."

Jon had thought that that night had been pretty special, it was one of the few times that T'Pol had gone out if her way to do something for him, like the time he spent the night in sickbay to be with Porthos, she had brought him something to eat. It hadn't been until much later when he was looking through the Vulcan data base for something when he had come across a reference to this particular habit. It seemed that Vulcan females only brought food to someone they were either interested in or were already mated to.

Jon had filed that little reference away for future use, and then promptly forgot it in the wake of the attack on Earth. Jon stretched again and looked over at Porthos who was laying in his dog bed, he was on his back with all four feet splayed out to the sides. It always amazed Jon at the many ways the pup could sleep, sometimes he envied the dogs apparent ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

Jon looked at the time again, 0200 hrs. He sighed. Perhaps he should get up and go try to work off some energy in the gym. Yes, that sounded good, a bit of running would tire him out again, it was either that or go to sickbay and ask Phlox for a sleep aid, and if he did that then he'd have to endure the questions about why he needed it, and then he'd end up talking about the dream, and Jon didn't feel like talking to anyone right now. He should contact T'Pol again, and see what their ETA to the shore leave planet was.

Jon changed his mind and got up and changed in the dark, putting on a dark t-shirt and a pair of shorts, he headed for the gym, he knew by habit that the place would be empty at this time of night. Jon walked the darken corridors of the ship and tried to shake the feeling of déjà vu, it was too much like his dream. He eventually arrived at the gym only to find it wasn't as deserted as he'd hoped. As Jon went over to the treadmill, he saw that Amanda Cole, the MACO that Trip had been seeing, was using one of the stationary bikes.

Jon: "Evening Corporal, what brings you here at this hour?"

Amanda: "Evening Captain, just feeling a bit restless I guess. May I ask why you're here at such a late hour?"

Jon: "Uhm, same reason, couldn't sleep and thought I'd run off some of my extra energy."

Amanda nodded and Jon began his run, everything was quiet for about 15 minutes when Amanda looked over at Jon.

Amanda: "Sir, may I speak freely?"

Jon: "Be my guest"

Amanda: "Are you excited to be returning home?"

Jon: "Yes I am, why, aren't you?"

Amanda: "I am, and I'm not. I'm glad that most of us are going back home, that we've accomplished what we came here to do, but on the other hand, I'm kinda nervous."

Jon: "About what?"

Amanda: "Well, I guess you know that Trip and I have become quite close, with you two being such good friends and all."

Jon smiled: "Yeah he's mentioned something about it"

Amanda: "Well, Trip's invited me to meet his family when we get back to earth, and that's what's making me nervous. Meeting the family is a really big step."

Jon: "I'm guessing that you may think he's taking everything just a little too fast?"

Amanda: "Kinda sir."

Jon: "I wouldn't worry too much about it, I have a suggestion though, were' going to be back on M 82406, soon for shore leave, why don't the two of you spend some time away from everyone else there and, talk about things. I will tell you this. Trip never introduces someone to his family unless he's very serious about them."

Amanda: "I see, and in the time you've known his sir, how many women has he introduced to his family?"

Jon: "Hmm...I'd say, one"

Amanda stopped her exercising and stepped off the bike, she stood for a moment and then headed for the door, but before she left she turned and looked at Jon.

Amanda: "Thanks for the advice Captain, I'm sure it'll come in handy."

Jon nodded and watcher the young woman leave. Jon smiled and thought that Trip and Amanda would work out just fine. They came from almost the same area, liked the same things, heck it was almost too good a match. Jon chuckled and continued his running.

Instead of taking the quick straight course back the way they had come, Jonathan had ordered a longer detoured course, this was in order to bypass the region where Phlox had to put the crew to sleep, and also to allow for more repair time to the ship. Whenever Jon took a walk around the ship, which he had become accustomed to doing in order to reacquaint himself with the crew, he had noticed a lot more eagerness in the crew.

Jon had talked about it with Phlox during his latest check up, Phlox had surmised that the enhanced mood of the crew was due to the lack of such a stressful situation, such as they had just been through. Phlox had said it was a perfectly normal reaction, and that once they reached their currant destination, the crew would settle down more as they prepared for extended shore leave. Jon had told Phlox that he expected to see the doctor down on the surface with everyone else. Phlox had agreed, it had been some time since he had been planet side and was looking forward to the chance to 'stretch his legs' to use the Human saying.

Phlox put his tools away and then looked at Jonathan for a moment. Jon began to get a little uncomfortable under the Denobulan's gaze. Normally it was him who was giving people hard stares and being on the receiving end of one reminded him too much of his days back in the academy.

Jon: "Uhm...something bothering you doc?"

Phlox: "Not at all Captain, your scans are all positive, all traces of your recent injuries have completely vanished you are in fine health. I see that you have finally begun to get more rest and eat more. You have gained 10 pounds since we left Azati Prime. Although I am happy to report, your exercising has kept that weight gain to muscle mass and not body fat."

Jon: "Yeah well, when you have a Vulcan who can talk to you in your mind for a mate, it gets kinda hard to skip meals and workout times, and sleep periods."

Phlox: "Interesting, and how is everything progressing with you and the Sub- Commander Captain?"

Jon shrugged: "Fine as far as I know, we've been spending lots more time together, I plan on asking Trip if there were someway of enlarging my cabin to accommodate the two of us. Even with changing it around there's still not enough room. Why? Has T'Pol mentioned anything to you?"

Phlox: "Well, I saw her yesterday when she came in for her normal dosage for her nasal numbing agent, and in making small talk, she mentioned that she had been teaching you the Vulcan neuro pressure that she had been performing on Commander Tucker, She said she had been impressed with how quickly you had caught on to the technique, much faster than Commander Tucker had."

Jon: "Oh she did huh?"

Phlox: "Yes, in fact she went so far to say that when you performed it on her, that it almost seemed as if you had been trained for years in the art. She said she regrets not having shown you how to do this much earlier."

Jon smiled and blushed a bit, recalling back a few weeks before when T'Pol had reminded him of her offer to teach him the neuro pressure. He had at first turned it down, but she had become rather insistent, saying it would greatly improve his health and his mood. She had told him there were many other methods that could be shown, other than the simple relaxation ones she had shown Commander Tucker. Jon had finally given in, and one night she had performed the technique on him, and he had been surprised at how he had felt.

T'Pol had shown Jon many other methods, which he also performed on her, after some coaching on proper positioning of his hands. After about their third or fourth session had ended, Jon's blood was running like fire through his veins and by the look on T'Pol's face she was under the same influence, they had made love that night, it was more intense and passionate than it had been since her Pon'Far. Many hours later, when they were cuddled in each others arms, she had apologized to him, Jon had been confused, so T'Pol had confessed that the technique she had shown him, was sometimes used by bondmates to heighten their mating sessions.

Jon had smiled and forgiven her, telling her that with her sharing his bed, there would be no need to heighten his passion for her, at least not for many, many years to come. After that, they worked the same technique into their routine once a week. Jon looked up and realized he'd been daydreaming. Phlox looked at him with a mischievous grin and told him he was free to go. Jon apologized to the doc and left sickbay. Since Alpha shift was about to stat Jon decided to head to the Bridge and put in an appearance.

He'd pretty much kept away from the bridge the last few days, leaving it up to the junior officers unless anything important came up. He had spent most of his time in the Command Center, this time he wasn't pouring over scans of the spheres or diving into the Xindi database, he was simply trying to catch up on all his paper work. As captain of Earths first warp 5 Starship, there were many reports to be filed, logs to record, evaluations to finish, even after three years out here, Jon had a feeling he'd still be filing reports on Enterprise long after he had retired.

As the lift door opened, Jon walked onto the bridge and stopped short, all the normal crew were present, but something was different. Hoshi was manning the helm, Malcolm was at communications, and Travis was at tactical, and looking totally nonpulsed by it all, T'Pol sat in the center seat. As the left door closed she turned and nodded to him and then looked back at the view screen, which only showed the image of stars streaking by at warp. Jon walked over to stand by his chair.

Jon: "Mind telling me what's going on Sub-Commander? "

By the tone of his voice, T'Pol knew it was the Captain, not Jonathan, who was questioning her

T'Pol: "An, exercise. Captain"

Jon: "An exercise, in what?"

T'Pol: "I deemed that it would be more beneficial if the bridge crew were to be trained on doing more than just their primary duties. It would be a valuable asset if another crewman were unable to perform their tasks due to an attack or were otherwise incapacitated."

Jon: "I see, and how is this, exercise, progressing?"

T'Pol: "Ensign Sato has shown remarkable achievement in her piloting skills, while Ensign Mayweather could use more training on the targeting sensors. Lt Reed however is adept at handling most communications, He does not have Ensign Sato's, ear for it."

Jon smiled, it was rare that T'Pol made a joke, and even more rare, when she did it in public.

Jon: "Well, so long as Travis doesn't blow us up by accident, or Hoshi doesn't fly us into a star, I think they should continue as they are for the rest of the shift."

T'Pol: "Agreed"

Jon: "Very well, I'll be in the ready room if you need me, Hoshi patch....sorry, Malcolm think you can manage to get me Admiral Forrest?"

Malcolm looked rather insulted at that but nodded his affirmation.

Jon smiled and told him to put it through to his office when ready. Jon reached over and patted T'Pol's hand as he walked by her and headed for the entrance to his ready room, she simply raised her eye brow at him. Jon winked at her.

Once inside his ready room and seated behind his desk, Jon poured himself a cup of coffee from the thermos that was waiting for him, he knew T'Pol had brought it, after a few lessons, he had shown her how to make it properly, not like that stuff she had poured down his throat when they had all been affected by radiation from a black hole they were studying, Jon grimaced at the memory.

Malcolm: "I have Admiral Forrest for you sir"

Jon: "Thanks Malcolm, good work, patch him in here."

Rather quicker than he had thought, Forrest's face appeared on the monitor, he smiled at Jon as he saw the other man caught in the middle of taking a drink of coffee.

Forrest: "Good Morning Jon,"

Jon quickly put his cup back down: "Morning Admiral, How's things back home?"

Forrest: "Pretty quiet right so far, but that can and usually does change. Anything new to report?"

Jon: "Nothing since our last regular communiqués, almost all of the ship is now repaired, there are some cosmetic stuff left but Trip should have that finished soon. We're on course to a planet where I've authorized extended shore leave for the crew. Then after that we plan on stopping by the planet where the Humans are and seeing how things are going there."

Forrest: "I see, well you know everyone here would like to have you all back home as soon as possible, we're all very grateful for what you've done. Starfleet is keeping a lid on the fact that you've completed your mission, but of course somehow the news leaked to the media and they're clamouring for clarification, even calling you all heroes."

Jon frowned: "We're not hero's, we just did our jobs. All those who aren't coming back, those are the hero's"

Forrest: "I know, and once again let me say how sorry I am for the losses you and your crew have suffered. We're planning a memorial for them when you return."

Jon: "Thank you Admiral, they would've liked that."

Forrest: "On to other news, are you sure you want me to pass on this request to General Casey?"

Jon: "Yes, I've already discussed it with Major Hayes and Lt Reed. Inviting the MACO's on this mission helped a great deal, there are times I'm sure that we wouldn't have gotten by without their help. I want to extend that invitation to a permanent posting on the Enterprise for all of them or those that wish to stay. With your approval of course sir."

Forrest: "Certainly, if you feel they could be of continued help to you, maybe I'll even see about stationing some of them on our other ships."

Jon: "I think it would help sir, although under the new scheme, they wouldn't really be MACO's anymore, they'd be integrated into ships security. But I know of a few of them who would like to remain on the ship if given the chance."

Forrest: "Alright, I'll pass on your request. Also as to that planet of misplaced humans, we've dispatched some cargo ships to them, but because they aren't as fast as Enterprise, it'll be some time before they'll be able to get there. I don't think they'll be getting a chance to come back to earth for at least a couple more years."

Jon: "I think they'll just be happy to be finally coming home as well."

Forrest: "Well Jon, it's been good to hear from you again, I have a meeting with the Command Council so I'll have to sign off."

Jon: "Understood Admiral, Archer out"

The screen slicked off and Jon sat back in his seat. He knew that more than a few of the humans on that Skagarran planet would be a little nervous at returning to earth, after all, much has changed. Jon sighed, much had changed for him and his crew as well. It was going to be hard to go back to a life of exploring and first contacts after what they'd been through, Jon wondered how long it would be before they got to do that. Knowing the bureaucrats who ran Starfleet, he figured they'd be in for a month or more of debriefings when they got back.

Jon also planned on making it official as soon as they hit earth orbit, He planned on marrying T'Pol before they stepped off the ship. He had already talked to Forrest about it and the old man had happily agreed to come up to the ship and perform the ceremony. Now all Jon had to do, was talk T'Pol into the idea.

Enterprise effortlessly glided into orbit of the planet the crew had been looking forward to seeing again for so long, well, besides Earth. Jon took a look at the faces of his bridge crew and smiled, on each of their faces he could see nearly restrained enthusiasm for the upcoming shore leave.

Jon: "Travis put the helm on automatic, Hoshi open a ship wide channel for me please."

Jon waited a moment before Hoshi nodded to him that the channel was open.

Jon: "This is the captain speaking, we've just arrived at planet M 82406, where we'll be spending the next 10 days on extended shore leave, only a skeleton crew will be remaining on board the ship to oversee the critical functions, that crew has already been picked, as for the rest of you, I'm sure I don't have to tell you I'm proud of you all and I hope you all have a great time."

Jon clicked off the COMM and looked at the bridge staff.

Jon: "Ok boys and girls, time to go have fun, now go on, get off my ship."

Jon smiled warmly as Hoshi, Travis and the other crew practically bolted for the turbo lift. T'Pol stepped away from her station to come and stand by Jon's chair as Malcolm once again voiced his opinion.

Malcolm: "Sir, do you think it's wise to have so many of the crew away from the ship at one time?"

Jon chuckled a bit: "It's alright Lt, T'Pol, myself, Doctor Phlox, as well as Trip and Major Hayes and a few of the MACO's will be staying on the ship, that is until our relief's take over in five days, I'm pretty sure we can handle anything that crops up."

Malcolm: "I understand that sir, but still, perhaps I should remain..."

Jon: "Malcolm, go, take a break, have some fun. Don't make me order you to have fun."

Malcolm frowned, then smiled as he caught the joke. "No sir, I'm going, I hope you all will not have to much fun up here without us."

Jon nodded and smiled as his tactical officer left the bridge, once the door to the lift shut, Jon reached over and pulled a surprised T'Pol into his lap, he placed a quick kiss on the tip of her nose.

Jon: "See, I told you I'd find a way to get you to sit in my lap on the bridge."

T'Pol: "Practically ordering the crew off the ship does not count Jonathan. Besides we cannot remain here, we must meet the others and go over our assigned duties for the next few days."

Jon: "Really T'Pol, how hard can it be, Phlox took care of the ship all by himself for four days, I think that between the handful of us it should be no problem."

T'Pol gave Jon her exasperated look, two eyebrows raised, before replying

T'Pol: "I have found that whenever you or Commander Tucker say that something should be 'no problem' then I should inform Doctor Phlox or security, as there will indeed be problems."

Jon helped T'Pol back to her feet and stood up himself. "Ha ha very funny. Ok let's go"

Jon and T'Pol headed for the mess hall where they were to meet the rest of the crew that would be staying on the ship for the next few days. Jon knew it would take some time for the two shuttle pods to ferry the crew from the ship to the planet, Trip would be flying on of them so that way they would have s shuttle at both locations, one on the ship, and the other on the planet, the flights would start at the completion of the meeting. To cut down on the transit time, Jon had approved the use of the transporter for any crew that wished to go down that way, much of them had declined.

Jon followed T'Pol into the mess hall, and waited for the rest of the staff to arrive, one by one they were joined by them. Phlox as usual lagged a few minutes behind the rest. He came bustling in muttering apologies, saying he'd had to ask one of the crew to be sure to take along the proper med kits.

Jon nodded and then got down to work, it mostly involved who would be doing what jobs and who would be replacing whom on the shifts. It was decided that they would all work A shift together at their various stations, Trip would handle engineering, while Jon would watch the bridge joined by Hayes at tactical and T'Pol, who would cover both her station as well as communications.

Trip: "Uh hey Cap'n, that ain't at all fair, you got two people to keep you company, while I'm stuck all by my lonesome in engineerin'."

Jon: "Trip, if you'd just let me finish, T'Pol and I discussed the crew placements thoroughly. So just be patient."

Trip nodded

Jon: "Ok now as I was saying, while the three of us will man the bridge, Trip will be in engineering, assisted by the Corporals Cole and Chang, both of whom have some engineering experience. Phlox of course will be in sickbay or roaming around checking up on us. And since Chef will be down on the planet, we will have to take turns on who does the cooking."

Phlox: "Mmmm, if you wouldn't mind Captain, it would be my pleasure to provide the meals, I don't often have the chance to practice my culinary skills."

Jon: "Anyone object to the doc doing the cooking? No well ok then doc, looks like you're the new chef, for now. Now back to the scheduling, Everyone works Alpha shift, Beta shift, as well as Charlie shift will not be fully manned, stations will run on automatic as they did when the doc was taking care of things, however, I want someone to volunteer to keep an eye on things, or we could switch off on doing it."

T'Pol: "Captain, I would request to be allowed to monitor the ships systems during the latter two watches, Vulcans need less rest than Humans do."

Jon frowned. "Ok T'Pol, you're it." Jon decided then that she wouldn't be doing it alone, he'd be joining her, after all, it wasn't that hard of a job.

The meeting quickly ended and they all filed out of the mess hall to go to their respective duties, Trip headed to the launch bay after giving Amanda a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, Phlox went to sickbay to feed his animals, and while Jon, T'Pol and Hayes went back to the bridge.

After exiting the lift Jon went to the helm and double checked that it was set for a standard orbit, finding nothing amiss, he sat back in his chair. Hayes had gone over to the tactical station and had begun to run a full sweep of the area, while T'Pol was busy slaving the communication functions to her own science station, that way she didn't have to move between them. She also set up a program where any incoming signals would be routed to either hers or Jon's cabins when the bridge was unmanned.

Hours later when the last of the crew were off the ship and Trip was bringing back shuttle pod 2, Jon had decided to take Porthos for a walk, well he walked and Porthos ran, although not very far ahead. T'Pol had retired to her cabin for her meditation and had told Jon she would join him later for tea in the mess hall. Porthos had run around a bend in the corridor and Jon walked a little faster to catch up to him, once Jon came around the bend he smiled as he saw his dog busy attacking one of his small toys, standing over the scene smiling happily was Phlox.

Phlox: "Ah captain, I was just coming back to return one of Porthos's toys when we, ran into each other. I must say he has quite a bit of energy today."

Jon: "Yeah, he's been full of energy for a few days now, I can't figure where he's getting it from."

Phlox: "Perhaps he is merely happy that this mission is over and we are returning home, same as the rest of the crew?"

Jon smirked: "Maybe that's it."

Porthos played with his toy, flipping it up in the air and trying to catch it, or tossing it down the hall and racing to grab it again, he wished his owner would hurry up and be finished talking so they could go and visit more of the metal neighbourhood. Porthos was having fun, he hadn't been allowed to run free like this since the time everyone was asleep.

Porthos: "Rowf"

Jon: "Ok boy settle down, we're going, see ya later doc, thanks for bringing back the toy."

Jon followed Porthos as the pup wandered off ahead, carrying his toy. Phlox smiled again and headed back to sickbay, it was feeding time for his own collection.

Jon and Porthos finally came to the darkened mess hall, once inside Jon turned the lights up and grabbed two cups, he placed them in the resequencer and in a moment had two hot cups of green tea. Just as he was placing them on the table, the door opened and in walked T'Pol. Jon stood and looked at her, she had changed into a dark pair of slacks with a red low cut blouse.

Upon seeing her in this outfit, Jon had a flash to the image of an older T'Pol, the one from the alternate timeline that had been created and reset a few months ago when an anomaly had hit the ship. The outfit T'Pol had been wearing in that was the very same one she was wearing now. Jon had to admit, in either timeline, she was just as stunningly beautiful, he wondered if he could get her to grow her hair longer.

Porthos also had noticed T'Pol's arrival and had run over to her and placed his front paws up on her leg. She simply looked down at him and raised her eyebrow.

T'Pol: "Porthos, please sit."

To Jon's surprise, the dog did just that. He looked back up at T'Pol and she didn't say anything, she merely walked over to the table and sat down.

Jon: "How'd you do that?"

T'Pol: "If given the proper instruction, even the most basic life forms can follow simple commands."

Jon wondered what else he had missed when he had shut himself away from his crew, besides the fact T'Pol had apparently befriended his dog.

T'Pol: "Jonathan please sit, I do not wish to strain my neck looking up at you."

Jon muttered an apology and quickly sat, he noticed that Porthos had come and lain by T'Pols side of the table. He decided to change topics.

Jon: "How was your meditation?"

T'Pol: "It was, relaxing. My offer still stands."

Jon: "And which offer would that be?"

T'Pol took a sip of her tea before answering: "To instruct you in meditation techniques. I believe you would benefit from it."

Jon smiled and had a glint in his eye: "Would I benefit as much as I do from the neuro pressure sessions we've been doing?"

T'Pol's cheeks and ears turned a dark shade of green, Jon smiled.

T'Pol: "While it has been, pleasurable to teach you those techniques, I believe that guided meditation will help you to release more of the built up tension I sense in you."

Jon: "Well, at least we're now sure it's not sexual tension, but you're right, even with the mission over, and us finally heading home, I've still been feeling tense, it's almost as if, I have a feeling like it's still not over, that there's still something left unfinished. Still more for us to do before we get to actually go home."

T'Pol, sensing through the bond they shared that Jonathan was being truthful, tried to lighten his mood,

T'Pol: "Jonathan, must we again discuss these gut feelings of yours?"

Jon smiled, but it didn't quite make it to his eyes "I wouldn't really say it's a 'gut feeling', just, well I don't know what to call it. I guess it seems like our work is far from over."

Jon looked up at her and met her eyes, this time when he smiled she could feel it through the bond.

Jon: "I'm sorry, I must be getting to sound like a broken record, always dropping back into what the crew called my 'airlock Archer' mode."

T'Pol: "Do not worry Aisha, I shall not let you become that man again. He was quite, illogical, and it was not your true self."

Jon: "I know and I don't think I'll ever be over saying I'm sorry for the way I was. No, let's talk about something more pleasant shall we?"

T'Pol: "Very well, I noted in our scans of this area the first time we passed through, that there is what appears to be a class 8 nebula only a parsec away. This type of nebula has been rarely encountered, It would be prudent to return to our original mission and, explore it, before we leave this area."

Jon smiled: "Well that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but you're right, I did say we should get back to exploring more. Ok we'll do it."

T'Pol: "Was there something else you wished to discuss Jonathan?"

Jon took a long drink from his tea before replying. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small velvet covered box, T'Pol wondered what he was doing. Jon looked up at her and began to blush.

Jon: "Sorry, I'm a bit nervous."

T'Pol: "What reason would you have to be nervous?"

Jon: "Well, remember back a while ago, before we reached Azati Prime, I asked if you would become my wife, and you had said yes."

T'Pol: "I do"

Jon: "No that comes later, sorry, anyways, I had just realized after we got that message from Soval, that I hadn't made it official."

T'Pol: "Made what official Jonathan? Please explain"

Jon: "I'm trying to, I may have asked you to marry me, but on my planet, there's also something that goes along with it."

Jon opened the box and showed T'Pol what was inside. It was a small band of metal with what, by T'Pol's estimation, appeared to be some type of clear stone set in it. The stone was quite large for such a small band of metal.

Jon: "My father gave this to my mother on the day they were engaged, and now I'm giving it to you. I would be very happy if you would consent to wearing it."

T'Pol didn't know what to say to this, Jonathan had already given her a very valuable piece of jewellery, she wore it almost everyday, it fit perfectly just under the collar of her suits. She was unsure of what to do, Vulcans normally wore little to no jewellery at all, unless it was some type of ceremonial function. Yet Jonathan was asking her to wear not one, but two pieces. She touched the bond they shared and saw that he would be more than pleased if she wore this.

T'Pol: "I will wear this for you Aisha, but I have one question, where do I put it?"

Jon almost laughed but held it back, instead he merely moved from his chair and knelt before her, he took her left hand in his right and gently slipped the ring onto her third finger, it fit perfectly.

Jon: "I uh, got Phlox to help me with the sizing of your fingers from your medical files."

T'Pol held up her hand and turned it slightly from side to side, almost mesmerized by the way the stone caught and reflected the light, it was very pleasing indeed.

Of course, fate had a role to play in this as well, and this was the perfect time for it to make an appearance. Trip walked into the room after just returning from the surface, he had only been meaning to stop for some coffee before heading to engineering. What he saw made his jaw drop.

Sitting there pretty as you please was T'Pol with a huge diamond ring on her finger, and on his knees in front of her was his friend Jon.

Trip: "Well, if you two don't make the prettiest little couple this side of Mars, then I'll be a monkey's uncle."

Jon stood faster than if he'd been shocked, and T'Pol merely raised an eyebrow.

T'Pol: "Commander, I fail to see the logic in declaring yourself to be the relative of a primate."

Trip: "Sheesh, T'Pol, ya always gotta take everythin so literal, it's only a saying."

Jon: "Um. What's going on Trip?"

Trip smirked: "Maybe I should be askin you that Jon?"

Jon began to blush and tried to reply, but every time he opened his mouth, nothing would come out. T'Pol noticed this and felt through her link with Jon that he was having trouble coming up with a suitable reply looked at Trip.

T'Pol: "Commander....Charles, Jonathan and I as you know, plan to be married in a Human ceremony when we reach Earth, Jonathan was merely, completing the traditional engagement presentation."

Both Jon and Trip looked a little shocked at T'Pol's use of Trips first name, something she had very rarely done before. Trip recovered first. He reached over and grabbed Jon's hand and gave it a vigorous shaking.

Trip: "Well shucks Jon, I'm happy for ya"

Jon: "Thanks Trip, I suppose now you want to be invited?"

Trip: "Invited? Heck Jon, I'm gonna be yer best man!"

Jon: "Oh really?"

Trip smiled and went over to grab a cup of coffee : "Well of course, I am your best friend an all, who else could it be?"

Jon: "I don't know, I was thinking maybe about asking Malcolm."

Trip spun around: "Malcolm? Why would you go an do a fool thing like that....Oh ha ha very funny."

Jon was chuckling at Trips reaction.

Trip: "Ya go ahead, laugh it up, I've gotta get down to engineerin, check on things. I'll see you two later."

Jon: "Have fun Trip"

The rest of the shore leave went off without too many problems, there was one minor incident when Phlox hit the wrong button in engineering and caused a ship wide radiation lockdown. It trapped him and Jon in engineering and the others through the rest of the ship. If it weren't for Jon's bond with T'Pol, he figured he would have gone nuts listening to Phlox chatter on and on.

Days later, once everyone had returned from shore leave and the ship was headed for the Skagaran colony world to once again visit the humans there, Trip and Jon were sitting in the captain's mess watching the latest water polo game sent to them from Earth, Jon remembered a conversation he had with Amanda.

Jon: "Hey Trip, How's things between you and Amanda?"

Trip: "Pretty good"

Jon: "Pretty good? That's all?"

Trip: "Uh, yeah, why do you wanna know?"

Jon: "C'mon Trip, this is me you're talking to here, I had an interesting talk with Amanda a while ago, she told me that you're planning on taking her to meet the family when we get back"

Trip: "Oh, that, well...yeah I guess I am"

Jon: "That's good, I know there aren't a lot of girlfriends you've taken home for the meeting. You must think pretty highly of her."

Trip: "Yeah, I guess I do, we've gotten really close these last few months, She's pretty special, I guess, she may be the one Jon."

Jon: "Well if you think that, why don't you tell her that?"

Trip: "I don't know, I guess I'm still a might nervous about it."

Jon: "You'll never know unless you try, give it a shot, you may be surprised at the results."

Trip: "Jeeze Jon, when'd you get to be such a know it all on women, I don't think I've seen you date more than 2 women in all the time I've known you, not countin T'Pol of course."

Jon smiled and ran his hand through his hair: "I wouldn't say I know it all, heck I think I knew even less now. It's just that when I look back and see what I would have lost if I hadn't taken the next step, it scares me. I just don't want to see you go through that with Amanda."

Trip: "Yeah, I know."

Jon: "So, who won that pool?"

Trip looked a little embarrassed at that.

Trip: "Oh that, uhm well...Travis did."

Jon almost spit out the drink he had taken, after taking a minute to recover he looked at Trip.

Jon: "Travis?"

Trip laughed: "Yeah, Travis. It's pretty funny actually, None of the rest of us ever came close to figurin out how the two of you would finally get together."

Jon: "How close did he come?"

Trip: "Well old buddy, from what you told me, he hit the nail on the proverbial head."

Jon: "Hmmm....interesting, what'd he win?"

Trip: "Ah nuthin much, just he got a special dinner made by Chef."

Jon: "Chef was in on this as well? How many of the crew did you have in on this?"

Trip: "Not many, Just, all of em"

Jon: "The whole crew?"

Trip: "Well yeah, we're a closed community here, always better to have everyone involved don't ya think?"

Jon just sat there shaking his head.

Trip: "Oh hey that reminds me, some of us were talkin, and we, we were wonderin if you'd be willin to authorize a party."

Jon: "A party? For what?"

Trip: "Cause we did what we were supposed to do, Cause we're goin home."

Jon got a sad look on his face for a moment : "Not all of us Trip, Not all of us are coming home."

Trip: "Yeah...I know, and that's another reason we wanted to do this, for them."

Jon: "I think it's a good idea, when did you wan to do it?"

Trip: "I was thinking this Saturday night?"

Jon: "Alright, you have my full support"

Trip: "Good, that mean you n T'Pol are gonna be there right?"

Jon: "Of course we are."

Trip: "Good." Trip stood up to go, the game having finished a few minutes before, "Oh an Jon, It's formal dress only, and that don't mean yer dress uniform."

Jon: "That's no problem for me, but, I doubt if T'Pol has anything formal to wear, other than her Vulcan diplomatic robes."

Trip: "Well with all the other women onboard, I'm sure they can help her come up with something. See ya later Jon."

Jon nodded as Trip left the room, Jon then turned the lights down low and sat back in his chair, Even after all this time, even with the stress of the mission gone, he still seemed to prefer to be up during the late shift. He reached out to see how T'Pol was doing and encountered a sense of peace and calm where her thoughts were. That meant she was either meditating, or sleeping. Jon looked at the time and decided that she was probably sleeping, he and Trip had been here for quite a while.

*Aisha, tu bolau fam nam-tor....*

Jon: *T'Pol, please speak English, I'm still not to proficient in Vulcan*

T'Pol: *My apologies, I was merely trying to say you need not be afraid to talk to me, I was meditating, not sleeping.*

Jon: *I was always taught it wasn't polite to interrupt someone*

T'Pol: *You were taught well. I can sense that you seem troubled, what is it?*

Jon smiled, both in his thoughts and on his face *Have you ever been to a formal party?*

T'Pol wondered briefly why this question would cause so much amusement for her mate *Jonathan, all Vulcan gatherings are formal*

Jon: *I don't mean Vulcan, I mean have you ever been to a Human gathering where you had to dress, fashionably.*

T'Pol: *I still do not understand your question, explain*

Jon: *Have you ever worn anything besides your ceremonial robes or uniform to a party?*

T'Pol: *Why would I? Both my robes and my uniform serve their purpose.*

Jon smiled *The crew have planned a special gathering this coming Saturday night in the mess hall, and it's formal, that means to attend you must dress in fancy clothes. I gave my approval for it and I said we would attend. And after seeing your wardrobe my love, I think you're going to have to find someone to help you find something appropriate to wear*

T'Pol sighed *Very well Adun, I shall do this, but only because you have asked me to, I fail to see the logic in dressing a certain way for short durations.*

Jon *You'll have my ever lasting thanks T'Pol*

T'Pol *Indeed*

The rest of the week went by rather quickly, and before Jon knew it the day of the big 'shin dig' as Trip called it, was upon them. Jon was lucky, he had something to wear, a black tuxedo that he had first brought on the ship to use for diplomatic functions where wearing his uniform would have been considered bad taste. After pulling it out of his locker where it had stayed for the better part of a year and trying it on, Jon found he had to have it altered slightly, he still hadn't regained the weight and mass back he'd lost.

T'Pol on the other hand was almost lost in trying to find something suitably appropriate, finally with her logic failing her, she turned to one whom she considered a friend for advice, Ensign Sato. Hoshi was thrilled when T'Pol approached her in the mess hall on day after their shift had ended.

T'Pol: "Good evening Ensign"

Hoshi: "Good evening Sub-Commander, how can I help you?"

T'Pol: "May I sit?"

Hoshi: "Certainly"

T'Pol sat and looked like she was struggling to find the right words to say when she finally blurted out what she needed.

T'Pol: "Ensign, I find I am in need of your assistance in acquiring something suitable to wear for the crew gathering coming up."

Hoshi was surprised that T'Pol would come to her for help. Then she was happy that it had been her she'd chosen.

The two of them had gone back to T'Pol's cabin and looked through the data base for something that would suit both T'Pol and the party. After turning down many of Hoshi's choices and narrowing down their selection, Hoshi finally found something that, while not quite what T'Pol was looking for, would turn peoples heads, especially Captain Archers, the dress looked very glamorous and tasteful. Hoshi thought it was perfect, T'Pol thought it was totally inappropriate.

Hoshi: "What do you mean inappropriate? It looks perfect"

T'Pol: "I cannot wear this, It is much too.....revealing."

Hoshi looked closer at T'Pol, she couldn't believe it, T'Pol was actually embarrassed by the thought of wearing this dress.

Hoshi: "Sub-Commander, this is a very beautiful dress, you'd be the highlight of the night if you wore it."

T'Pol: "Thank you for the kind words Ensign, but It would not be logical for my to indulge myself by wearing this."

Hoshi tried another tactic: "So don't indulge yourself, indulge the Captain. I'm sure he'd be very pleased to see you in this dress. Not to mention it would make every guy on the ship green with envy."

T'Pol: "It would be illogical for the male members of the crew to change colour."

Hoshi: "That's not quite what I meant. I meant they would be jealous of the Captain at having you at his side all night"

T'pol: "I see, you think that by me wearing this, that the Captains standing amongst the crew would go up?"

Hoshi giggled to herself *When the Captain sees you in this, that's not all that'll go up*

Hoshi: "Uhm, yeah, that's what'll happen"

T'Pol: "Very well, I shall wear it for his sake"

T'Pol had already decided to wear the dress when she had first seen it, she knew that Jonathan would be quite pleased with her choice, she wished to see the expression on his face, illogical as the feeling was. Besides, the necklace Jonathan had given to her would accentuate the dress even more.

Jon had planned originally to meet T'Pol at her cabin and escort her to the festivities, but Hoshi had voted that one down, she had told T'Pol it would be better for T'Pol to show up by herself, that way she could see how everyone thought of the dress at once, including the Captain. So here was Jon, patiently waiting the arrival of his fiancé, while trying to keep up a conversation on human traditions with Phlox and Trip. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, the neck was way too tight, seemed like he was wearing his dress uniform. He was listening to something Phlox was trying to explain about Denobulan gatherings when the room went suddenly quiet.

Jon turned to look at where everyone else was looking and felt his heart stop. T'Pol was standing just inside the door, and she looked absolutely incredible. She was wearing a black strapless gown that hugged her every curve, Jon felt his mouth begin to dry up. He couldn't believe that she would wear something so daring, so stunning, so.....revealing. The dress left a great deal of her upper chest bare, though T'Pol had added a black shawl to the dress, it still did little to hide her, features.

Jon almost as an after thought, noticed T'Pol was wearing the necklace he had given to her. It shone brightly against her skin. After picking his jaw up off the floor, Jon walked across the room to T'Pol, and took her hand in his.

Jon: "You look absolutely lovely T'Pol"

T'Pol: "Thank you Jonathan, you look most handsome as well. I am, pleased that you like my choice of garments."

Jon: "Oh I like it alright, I just wish you hadn't picked one that was so...open"

T'Pol looked at Jonathan with a hint of confusion: "But Ensign Sato said that this dress would be perfect."

Jon: "Oh it is Aisha, it is. I'm just feeling possessive. After all with you in that dress, every guy in here has his eyes on you."

T'Pol: "I believe that was the desired reaction, was I incorrect?"

Jon smiled: "No, you weren't, you look great. Come, let's get something to drink."

T'Pol: "Remember, nothing alcoholic please."

Jon: "I know, you don't like how it makes me smell. Will I be allowed to have some champagne? You said you didn't mind that too much?"

As Jon and T'Pol walked across the room she sent out a thought to him.

T"Pol: *Perhaps, if you are very good*