Wow, the responses are amazing, I'm so happy people like my story. Here's the next chapter, hope it's ok, reviewers tend to equal pressure. Please don't flame me, cos that's just not encouraging. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, love you ALL!

To on of the anonymous reviewers...I can write this story because:

I'm in England, we haven't seen Season three yet, so I can pretend it hasn't happened

It's called fan fiction so that we can make it up and it doesn't have to follow the canon

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"what do you want to do?' he asked, 'Shall we try again?" Archer settled himself at the table again and held his hands across the table as before.

"I do not think we should continue Captain. The bond could strengthen further, which neither of us wishes."

Wordlessly, deep in their souls, each added silently 'yet'

"Alright then, I trust you to know what to do about this T'Pol. If you need anything, you know I'm there for you. I know you can feel that I'm telling the truth, you were right about the bond getting stronger."

Archer got up from his seat on the floor, a little stiff after being in the same position for so long. He bid his first officer goodnight, then left her quarters, heading for his own. As T'Pol's door slid closed behind him, Captain Archer met the eyes of Malcolm Reed, the armoury officer, daring him to ask why the captain had been in his executive officers rooms so late at night. Reed, never the most forward of Enterprise's command crew, dared not question his superior and after an awkward moment he simply nodded and moved away.

Back in her quarters, T'Pol took a moment to compose herself before rising from the floor. The emotions she had received from Archer were a little overwhelming, he had no idea that he was projecting strongly on to her. Humans never bothered to reign in their thoughts, there was no need while among their own people, but the untrained mind of her bonding partner had come as a slight shock to T'Pol. She moved slowly to the tiny bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. There was a deep sense of unease as she changed into her sleepwear, something she couldn't quite identify, but her finely tuned senses assured her that the feeling was indeed coming from her own mind, not a projection of Jonathon. Captain Archer, she swiftly corrected herself. Trying to dismiss the sensation with her impeccable logic, she climbed in to bed and slept.

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For Captain Archer, sleep would not come. He found himself pacing again, never a good sign, and wondered briefly if it was possible to wear a ridge in the deck plating. The thought made him chuckle to himself, which was a relief after some hours of soul searching. He was still at a loss to explain how the bonding had happened, and T'Pol hadn't given him the access codes to the restricted files, so he was left to wonder in ignorance. Archer thought he had done a pretty good job of concealing his growing admiration for their Vulcan first officer…admiration which, if he had allowed it, could easily have spiralled out of control and in to a much more dangerous emotion. Even as he thought of his feelings toward T'Pol, Archer wondered if she could feel what he felt and clamped down on the traitorous emotions immediately. He sighed to himself If he had to do that every time he thought of her, it was going to make bridgework excruciating.

As Archer lay in bed later, still unable to sleep, he caught himself searching his mind for evidence of her. He made himself think about the security drill scheduled at 0800 hours, the water polo match he and Trip had had sent from Earth to enjoy when they both had a free shift, anything but what he knew he was almost doing. Despite the distractions, Archer felt his mind wandering again, but this time he knew he was pushing the boundaries of his mind, trying to find her, seeing if he could feel her as he had in her quarters. With a start, he sat up in bed, realising what he had just admitted to himself. .Did I want this bond? Is that why it exists? Am I happy to let a Vulcan have a free run in my mind?

Having admitted to himself why he was so restless, Archer found that sleep quickly overcame him, leaving only disturbed dreams that he couldn't remember when he woke.

His mood turned to apprehension when the Captain remembered that this would be the first time he and T'Pol had been on the bridge together since Phlox had discovered the bond. Archer wasn't sure what he should be expecting from his first officer, or what would happen when they were forced to work in close proximity for hours. Best get it over with was the Captain's pessimistic thought as he left his quarters.

But Archer was spared the confrontation for a while longer, when he arrived at the bridge to find that T'Pol's usual post behind him had been filled by Ensign Sorby, a highly competent science officer. A glance at the duty roster as he settled in the imposing Captain's chair showed that, for the foreseeable future, he and T'Pol would be working alternate shifts, an unusual occurrence on a starship, since the executive officer was the Captain's most important adviser. Archer sighed to himself, this was not what he wanted, this avoidance. Skirting the obvious issue would just make for a divided command team and that, in a battle situation, could be fatal.

Archer found himself wishing that he could speak to someone about this new and potentially fraught problem, but there wasn't anyone he could confide in. He thought briefly about speaking to Commander Tucker, but T'Pol had not authorised him to make the bond public…and he wasn't sure he could admit his own feelings to Trip. Just the thought of the look on Trip's face was enough to discourage the Captain. Archer knew his best friend had suspicions about his feelings for T'Pol, but Archer had only just admitted their true nature to himself, he didn't think he was ready to confirm them to Tucker just yet.

Besides, T'Pol didn't say I could tell anyone, this might be another of those things Vulcans don't talk about Archer thought to himself.

He put the matter out of his mind and concentrated on the still intriguing business of running a starship. Archer knew that the decisions he made would be recorded, written down and used for training, scientists would pore over his mental scans and his details would be used to train upcoming captains. The responsibility was a full time concern, so Captain Archer knew he did not have time to behave like a lovestruck schoolboy. He turned his attention to ship's business and put the matter of T'Pol and their bond as much out of his mind as possible.

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In her quarters, T'Pol was envying the duty crew's distraction. She had been thinking about what to do about Captain Archer since she woke from an unusually disturbed sleep, but she was no closer to a solution. In fact, the more she had pondered the more a shadow of dread had been growing in her mind, until it had taken over her thoughts. She needed to speak to someone, but there were no Vulcan ships within range which might have carried a Priest for the spiritual wellbeing of a crew so far from home and so prone at certain times to volatile emotions.

She disliked being so vulnerable, but recognised that this was an exceptional situation. She checked the duty roster then set out purposefully for Hoshi Sato's quarters.

Never one to procrastinate, T'Pol continued swiftly with her chosen course of action, ringing the door chime to Hoshi's quarters. Hoshi, a little surprised by the highly unusual visit, admitted T'Pol, then watched as the first officer began to pace the small cabin space.

"Um…SubCommander? Is there something you need me to do?" Hoshi was always a little nervous in the presence of the austere Vulcan.

The sound of Hoshi's voice caused T'Pol to start slightly, then, vexed at her slight display of emotion, she settled in to a comfortable standing stance.

"Over the course of this mission I have come to consider you as what humans call a 'friend'. There is something I wish to discuss with you, if that is acceptable?"

Hoshi, a little lost and confused, motioned to T'Pol to sit down and prepared to listen.