A/N: Oh my. -wipes away tears- Though I write on because I love writing, I always forget how great it is to check your e-mail after only a day, and find that you've got 6 positive reviews. Thank you guys so much. For anyone who hasn't reviewed yet, I forget to mention that any flames will be promptly flamed. Thanks.

Chapter Two

Jon smiled as he watched Trip slowly stir to consciousness on the floor. He had woken up at 0730 because he'd gone to bed so early, and had decided to go to the mess hall and bring breakfast back rather than wake us friend who obviously needed his rest. So, after taking a quick shower and leaving Porthos to keep an eye on Trip, Jon had made the short trek to the mess hall and foraged for some food. He'd brought back toast, bacon, eggs, orange juice...and two slices of key lime pie. Not exactly 'breakfast food', Jon knew, but what could it hurt?

"I smell breakfast," the engineer mumbled, face down in his pillow. Jon chuckled and placed the two food trays on his desk.

"You sure do," he said, sitting on his bed. "And you'd better appreciate it, too. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get the door open with both hands full of food?"

Trip sat up, smiling at the look of indignation on his Captain's face. "Ah, I see ya still haven't trained Porthos to open the door for ya." Trip grinned cheekily as Jon gave him a mock-annoyed look and passed him a tray of food. The engineer immediately started shoveling the eggs into his mouth, making Jon laugh.

"I bet the Vulcan food you've been eating for the past week wasn't that filling, huh?"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jon began kicking himself mentally. Mentioning Vulcan probably wasn't the best breakfast conversation, considering that Jon believed T'Pol to be the cause of Trip's anguish. Trying to cover his slip up, (though he did notice Trip tense a little at the mention of Vulcan), Jon said, "Try the pie. Chef made it fresh this morning."

"Dat doeshn't luhk lihke bwekfasht," Trip said thickly through a mouthful of eggs.

Jon bit back a remark on Trip's eating habits, and instead said, "I'm the Captain, and I get to say what looks like breakfast. Is that clear, Commander?" Jon gave Trip his most serious 'Captain face'. Trip swallowed and saluted.

"Aye aye, sir!"

They ate the rest of their meal in silence, but Jon knew that he'd said the wrong thing in mentioning Vulcan. It was clear to Jon that his friend was already distancing himself, and he wasn't sure what he could do to stop it. However, he knew that he could not allow his friend to keep whatever was bothering him bottled up inside. As they piled their trays together, Jon put his hand on Trip's arm and turned him around, intently forcing Trip to maintain eye contact with him.

"Trip," he said cautiously, not sure how to say this in any gentle matter. Trip tried to pull away, but Jon held fast. He took a deep breath. "What happened on Vulcan, Trip?"

He felt, rather than saw, Trip's muscles tense up, and the look in his eyes was that of pure despair. It broke Jon's heart to see Trip in so much pain, but it would be worse if he kept this to himself. All the color drained from Trip's face, and he started to tremble slightly.

"She got married," he croaked out, barely above a whisper. Jon released his arm in shock.

"What??"

"She shamed her mother by stayin' on Enterprise. Her mother lost her job. They blackmailed her into marrying the guy she'd been engaged to so that her family wouldn't be dishonored."

A single tear had leaked down Trip's cheek. Jon took a step back, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't believe it." The anger swelled in him, and he fought to remain calm. Though he should have known that a race with a superiority complex as big as that of the Vulcans would do such a thing, he had a difficult time associating his past conception of the Vulcans with the way he saw them after spending so much time with T'Pol, and after the conversation he'd had with Soval only the day before.

Jon looked back up at Trip, who looked as though the world had ended. "I'm in love with her, Jon," he whispered. "I'm so in love with her, and I couldn't tell her. I couldn't put that on her, not when she was being forced..."

Jon reached forward for his friend, but Trip pulled back, still pale. Jon nearly cried aloud when he saw the anguish in Trip's eyes disappear behind a wall of pure ice. Nothing he could have said mattered; for now, he'd lost Trip again. "Thanks for breakfast, Cap'n. I gotta go...I gotta go work on the engines. Gotta oversee the modifications-"

Trip's words were cut off as the door to Jon's quarters slid shut behind him. Jon stared blankly at the space his chief engineer had occupied only seconds ago, painfully aware that his friend had called him 'Captain', not 'Jon'. He'd lost him. After the small progress they'd made the night before, despite his caution, he had lost Trip again. He slumped down to the floor, feeling more defeated than the Xindi had ever made him feel. He knew he had let Trip down before – the cogenitor, and Sim. Trip suffered through all that, and the loss of his sister...would he recover from the loss of the woman he was in love with?

"Good day, Captain!" Phlox said merrily as Jon walked into sickbay later that day. Porthos trotted behind him, bounding towards the Denobulan happily. "And you, of course, my furry friend." The Doctor reached into a container on the shelf in front of him and pulled out a dog bone, tossing it to the dog. Porthos jumped and caught it in mid air, and was content to sit at the Doctor's feet and chew. "What can I do for you today, Captain?"

"Well, Doctor..." Jon hesitated. He still wasn't sure that talking to Phlox about Trip was the best of ideas, but he knew that he needed someone – a professional, but preferably a friend – to get advice from. "I was hoping to utilize your abilities as a doctor of the mind today, rather than a doctor of the body."

"Ahh," said Phlox, placing the padd he'd been using down on the counter and turning to face the Captain. "I've been expecting something like this for a while now."

Jon was confused. "You have?"

"Well, of course, Captain. We've all been through a terrible ordeal over the past year, and it has put great pressure on you most of all. I'm glad that you've decided to-"

"Actually, Doc, I've come to ask you some advice about a...well, a good friend of mine."

The Doctor raises an eyebrow, but then smiled knowingly. "Of course, Captain. A 'friend' of yours. Tell me – what seems to be the trouble with your, er, 'friend'."

Jon sighed. This obviously wasn't going to be as easy as he'd hoped. "Doctor, is it safe for me to assume that nothing I say will go beyond sickbay?"

"Certainly, Captain, certainly! Doctor-patient confidentiality, of course. It would be against my morals as a doctor, as well as your friend, to do such a thing!"

Jon relaxed at this. "Good. Then you should know that I am referring to Commander Tucker, not myself."

Phlox looked slightly disappointed. "Oh," he said. "Well, go on then. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Well," Jon started cautiously, "as you know, the past year as brought several...difficulties?...for Trip."

"I assume you mean the incident with the cogenitor, the loss of his sister...perhaps even the creation of Sim?"

"All of the above," Jon confirmed. "As well as the fact that the tight friendship we had in the past has been strained over the past year, due to my dedication to this mission." Jon paused, but Phlox just nodded thoughtfully, so he continued. "I had thought that his relationship with T'Pol – you do know about Trip and T'Pol, don't you?"

The Doctor waved a hand dismissively. "Yes, yes, T'Pol has asked for my advice on numerous occasions. Continue."

"Well, I thought that their relationship would help them both deal with the hardships they've experienced. However, I learned some disturbing news this morning."

"What sort of disturbing news?" the Doctor asked curiously.

"Well, it started off last night when I got word from the bridge that Trip was coming back aboard."

The Doctor interrupted him before he could go any further. "Wasn't Commander Tucker on leave to Vulcan with T'Pol?"

"Yes," Jon said emphatically, pacing. "That's why I found it so curious. Trip showed up at my quarters late last night wanting to talk, and we had a bit of a heart-to-heart."

"Well, that's wonderful news, Captain! I was afraid that both yourself and Commander Tucker would have difficulties opening up to others after recent events."

"Er, right," said Archer uncomfortably, shifting from foot to foot. "Anyway, I knew that something was wrong right away, but Trip was reluctant to talk about it. I said it was fine, and he spent the night in my quarters-" Phlox's eyebrows went up to his hairline, "-on a cot on the floor," Jon finished pointedly. The look of shock left the Doctor's face. "I asked him about it this morning, though, because I knew it wouldn't do him good to keep it in..." Jon stopped pacing and looked the doctor in the eye. "Did I do the right thing, Phlox?"

"Well, Captain, that depends on what it was you found out."

"Oh, right," Jon said, pacing once again. "Trip said that...that T'Pol was blackmailed into getting married, and that he was in love with her, but he didn't tell her."

The Doctor's face once again conveyed shock. "Oh dear..."

"And as soon as he told me," Jon went on, "He made an excuse to leave. I could see the emotional walls go up, and I was powerless to stop it! I don't know what to do. I can't lose Trip again, Phlox. I can't. He's my best friend."

"Captain," said the Doctor seriously, standing in front of Jon and bringing his pacing to a halt, "I believe it would be-"

"ENGINEERING TO SICKBAY!"

The Doctor immediately went over to the com panel. "This is Phlox."

"DOCTOR!" a voice shouted over the sounds of explosions and sparks. "WE NEED A MED TEAM IN ENGINEERING IMMEDIATELY! WE'VE GOT WOUNDED! COMMANDER TUCKER IS DOWN!"

"I'm on my way," Phlox said, closing the channel and calling the medical staff to Engineering. Jon was shaking his head in denial and anger while Phlox quickly grabbed his med kit.

"No!" Jon said angrily. "NO. I can't do this again. I can't!!"

"Captain," Phlox said calmly, placing his hands on Jon's shoulders. "Please return Porthos to your quarters. I can't afford to have him underfoot if I've got critically wounded."

Critically wounded.

Jon swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, fear in his eyes. The Doctor gave him a sympathetic look. "You may return to sickbay if you wish, but please keep out of the way." Jon nodded gratefully, and quickly grabbed a shocked Porthos, running towards his quarters as fast as he could.

God, not Trip. Not again.

A/N: Remember – if you want more, you've got to review! That's my motivation :)