Let the Dead Bury the Living

By Thalia Drogna

AN: One week in San Francisco and a broken computer later, I finally managed to wrestle this chapter from the grips of our network. Technological piece of junk.

The sick bay doors opened and Ensign Jessica Carruthers entered. She saw Phlox and went over to him.

"I heard Malcolm was injured," said Jessica.

"Yes, luckily not seriously. I've braced his knee and he was just about to try out the crutches," said Phlox happily.

Jessica drew back the curtain around the biobed that Phlox had indicated. Reed was standing on his good leg and supporting himself by leaning on the biobed. He looked very tired and a little pale. He had a look on his face that Jessica had never seen before, it was one of deep defeat and guilt, dark in his grey eyes.

"Get me out of here," he said looking directly at Jessica.

"Sure, Malcolm," said Jessica and grabbed the crutches that lay on the biobed beside him. She helped Malcolm get them positioned and then carefully watched him as he made slow progress out of sick bay. He didn't want her help, she knew him better than that, but he did need her presence. She saw him glance back at Trip, and knew he was blaming himself for the Commander's condition.

"So the mission was a success," said Jessica.

"Yes, we got him out," said Reed.

"And Lieutenant Davis is dead?" asked Jessica.

"Yes, drowned in a vat of nanites," said Reed. He didn't add that he'd then blown up the vats of nanites for good measure.

"Not a good way to go," said Jessica. There was an awkward pause before Jessica continued. "You know it isn't your fault that this happened."

"If I hadn't allowed myself to be blackmailed then Trip wouldn't have been kidnapped," said Reed. "The moment Davis came to me to talk blackmail I should have gone to T'Pol."

"God, you haven't changed, have you?" said Jessica. "Malcolm Reed, star player in the blame game."

"Jess…" said Reed.

"No, I won't just stand around while you tear yourself to pieces with guilt," said Jessica.

"This was my fault, there isn't anyone else to place the blame on," said Reed.

"What about Davis, or whoever his boss is, or me for getting myself kidnapped?" said Jessica.

"You?" said Reed, with disbelief. "Why would it be your fault?"

"I let my guard down. All that training you gave us and a couple of guys asking directions bundle me into a hover car without me even putting up a decent fight. Would you have let it happen to you?" asked Jessica.

"Maybe. You were out-numbered and not expecting trouble," said Reed.

"I'm a security officer, I should have done better," said Jessica.

"You sent me a message and told me where to find you. You can't spot every threat. Believe me I know that from experience," said Reed. "You can't be perfect, Jess."

"Then why don't you judge yourself by the same standard?" asked Jessica.

"Because I can't. If I make a mistake then people get hurt. Just leave it alone, Jessica. I don't want to talk about it," said Reed.

There was silence while they got into the turbo lift and travelled to B deck where Reed's quarters were located.

"Anyway," said Jessica, deciding to change the subject. "Now that Davis is dead and you've got Commander Tucker back on Enterprise, I was thinking I should get back to Earth. I've been away too long as it is and I've got a lot of work to catch up on."

Reed stopped hobbling along on his crutches and just stood in the middle of the corridor looking at Jessica for a moment. "You want to leave?"

"I'm posted to the Warp Five Complex," said Jessica.

"I know but I'd hoped you'd stay longer. I'd be happier letting you leave if we had Nash in custody," said Reed. He began hobbling along again, he didn't want to have this discussion in the middle of corridor. "And it's been nice having you around again," he admitted grudgingly.

"Malcolm, we decided a long time ago that you and I was not a good idea," said Jessica. "Nothing's changed, you're a senior Lieutenant, I've only just made Ensign. We'd still be breaking the fraternisation rules."

"Jess, I'm being court-martialled. I'll probably be given a dishonourable discharge. Fraternisation isn't going to matter anymore," said Reed.

"I know and it's completely unfair that they expect you to take sole responsibility for this. We were in it together," said Jessica. The fraternisation regulations made it clear that blame lay with the senior officer alone, so Jessica wasn't facing any charges for her part in the affair.

"It's better this way. At least you get to stay in Starfleet, but it will mean that I'll be on Earth and not on Enterprise. You realise that it means that we could start seeing each other again," said Reed.

"And what happens when I get a posting on some deep space station or on an exploration ship? I'd be away from Earth for months at a time, we'd still never see each other," said Jessica. "There was a reason why we had to finish it and it had nothing to do with regs. Starfleet is my life as well as my career, it was something that we had in common when we met."

"I know that and I'd never ask you to leave the Fleet for me. I love you too much for that," said Reed. He hadn't meant to use the "L" word but it was out of his mouth before his brain caught up. He realised that was the problem, he did still love her. "I'm glad that you don't have to pay for my mistakes."

"God, Malcolm, what we had wasn't a mistake. It was wonderful. It's just too hard to do this at the moment, you'd end up resenting me," said Jessica. "Maybe you already resent me."

"I don't resent you, I had my eyes open when I started going out with you. I could have broken it off before we got serious," said Reed.

"Damn regulations," said Jessica.

"I still miss you," confessed Reed. "After all these years."

"I miss you too," said Jessica. "There hasn't been anyone else, you know."

"Really?" said Reed in surprise. He couldn't understand why Jessica didn't have a queue of men waiting to date her.

"I think I've been spoilt. So far no one else has measured up," said Jessica. "At least we can write to each other now it's all out in the open."

"Yes, I suppose we can," said Reed, but he wondered if that wouldn't just make matters worse, being able to hear about what Jessica was doing without being part of her life.

They had arrived outside Reed's quarters. "This is my stop," he said, punching in his door code and taking a step into his sparsely decorated cabin. "Thanks for walking with me."

Jessica reached out a hand and ran a thumb down Malcolm's cheek. She took a step forward and kissed him chastely on the same cheek. Then she couldn't help herself, she kissed him on the lips and Malcolm kissed her back. Before long the kiss had deepened and it became an expression of all the pent-up passion that they had for one another. The love that they had put on hold for their careers.

"Jess, if you don't walk away this second, I don't think I'll be able to stop myself," said Reed.

"It's too late, you had me on the first kiss," said Jessica. They both moved into the cabin, Reed struggling to move quickly with his crutches and not trip over. Somehow they managed though.

Trip awoke and knew something wasn't right. He desperately wanted to struggle up from the mire of drug-induced befuddled thinking, but no matter how hard he tried nothing seemed to remove the barriers that were preventing him from seeing things clearly. He felt miserable. His stomach was upset and he was dizzy. The nanites weren't talking to him and he was shivering uncontrollably. The only good part seemed to be that he wasn't restrained anymore. Someone tried to talk to him but he didn't want to listen, they only wanted to do more tests and he didn't want that.

"Go away," he said, pulling a blanket around himself more closely, rolling onto his side away from the voices. There was more talking and then some bustling. Suddenly someone was beside him.

"Trip, listen to me," said a voice, "you're back on Enterprise. We rescued you." He recognised the voice but couldn't place who it was. He pried open his eyes, and tried to focus on the person talking. He felt a hand on his arm and knew that the voice was a friend and had told the truth, he was back on Enterprise. Judging by the muted beige colour around him, he was in sick bay, which at least meant he was being looked after.

"Why do I feel so bad?" he asked between violent shivers. He closed his eyes against the light, it was too bright.

"You're coming down from the cocktail of drugs that they gave you while you were being held captive. I know it's miserable but you just have to hold on for a few hours and then it will all be over."

"Captain?" he asked, having finally placed the voice. He wasn't sure how he had failed to identify it in the first place.

"It's going to be okay, Trip. You're home now. You just need to ride this out," said Archer.

Trip just nodded and tried to ride it out as his friend suggested. He didn't become completely aware of his surroundings until a few hours later, by which point he was throwing up the contents of his stomach. He was vaguely conscious that the person who often seemed to be holding his head while he threw up was the Captain. He knew he should have been embarrassed by that, but at the moment he just wasn't up to caring.

It was almost physically hurting Archer to see his friend going through withdrawal, but he kept up the litany of soothing words and eventually the shivering subsided and Trip seemed to be getting better. Finally, Trip fell asleep. Archer was exhausted and all he'd done was sit there, so he knew Trip had to be completely worn out. Phlox had attached a drip to replace lost fluids and help the withdrawal process along, but mostly Trip had gone through the process without help. The doctor hadn't wanted to compound the problem by adding more drugs to mix, which Archer could understand completely. Occasionally Trip would mutter a string of ones and zeroes in his sleep but apart from that he seemed to be resting fairly comfortably. Archer felt his own eyes becoming heavy, he had no intention of leaving sickbay tonight, so he grabbed a blanket from Phlox's store cupboard and moved himself onto a neighbouring biobed.

When Trip awoke, it was well into the gamma shift. The lights were turned down and he suddenly realised that he really was back on Enterprise. He didn't remember much of the previous few hours except that the Captain had been there and he'd felt really awful. It had been like the worst hangover that he'd ever had crossed with a bad case of the flu. He felt a lot better now, although he was still kind of tired and achy.

He gingerly sat up and tried to take stock. He still felt a bit dizzy but as he sat still that passed, it wasn't anything that he couldn't cope with. He was dressed in a hospital gown and he didn't remember anyone changing his clothes. He seemed to be attached to various medical monitors and to his horror he discovered that a catheter had been inserted, he didn't remember that happening either. Phlox had also replaced the brace on his right wrist which now felt much more comfortable. His captors hadn't been very concerned about his fractured wrist and since his wrist wouldn't fit into the restraints with the brace on, they'd taken it off.

He thought that if he was careful then he might be able to take a short walk around the biobed, it was about all he felt up to at the moment. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, but suddenly he felt extremely dizzy and there was the sound of a shrill alarm sounding from the bio-monitor.

"Damn, busted," murmured Trip. He hadn't noticed the shape on the biobed next to his move rapidly into sitting position.

"Trip, you're meant to be sleeping," said Archer, as he got off his own bed and moved to Trip's side, just reaching him before he fell sideways.

Phlox had now emerged from his office and was also zeroing in on Trip. "Commander, is there a problem?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get everyone up," said Trip, as he allowed Archer to help him back into bed. He vaguely wondered where the Captain had come from but it didn't seem the right moment to ask.

"It's okay," said Archer. "You're just not ready to be sitting up yet."

"Just wanted to stretch my legs, but I guess I'll have to wait a bit," said Trip.

"That would definitely be preferable," said Phlox. "It won't be long before you're back on your feet, I promise you."

"I really am back on Enterprise," said Trip. "Everything's been so blurry that I thought I might have been dreaming."

"No, you really are back," said Archer.

"I didn't do anything embarrassing earlier, did I?" asked Trip.

"No, Trip, you didn't do anything embarrassing," said Archer, with a smile.

"When did you get back from the Expanse?" said Trip.

"A few days ago," said Archer. "I'll tell you all about what happened tomorrow."

Trip nodded. "How did you find me?" he asked, tiredly.

"T'Pol and Malcolm put the data together. They worked out there were only a limited number of places you could be," replied Archer.

Trip's eyes flew wide open. "It was Malcolm's fault that I was there in the first place."

"I heard about what happened," said Archer. "There's more to it than you know about, and it can all wait until tomorrow morning to be discussed."

"You have had a very tiring day," said Phlox. "It would be best if you went back to sleep."

"I've only just woken up properly," protested Trip, but he knew they were right.

"I know," replied Archer, "but you need the rest."

"What about the repairs?" asked Trip, his eyes closing as he said it.

"Lieutenant Hess has done you proud as always," said Archer. He remembered that he still had to break the news about the transporter to Trip, but now definitely wasn't the time.

"Good," said Trip. "If Enterprise is okay then I might be able to sleep." And with that he fell back asleep.

Archer sighed. "Only Trip would wake up in the middle of the night and try to go for a walk after what he's been through. And then ask about how the repairs are going!"

Phlox checked the monitors but he seemed happy with his patient's readings. "He's resting comfortably again," said the doctor. "And you should be too. Stress is also an illness and I have noticed that you have been suffering from it a lot lately."

Archer nodded. "I know, but it comes with the job."

"Being Captain is naturally stressful, but please try to remember that you are only human," said Phlox.

"I'll try, doctor," replied Archer moving back to his own bed. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Captain," said Phlox before retreating back to his own domain.

When Archer woke up the next morning Trip was still fast asleep and looked considerably more peaceful than he had in the middle of the night. Archer decided to take the opportunity to go back to his quarters to shower and change into a fresh uniform, before heading to the mess hall to get breakfast. He was certain that Trip would be awake by the time he returned. Archer needed to tell Trip everything that had gone on while he'd been away and he didn't want to leave it too long.

Archer entered the mess hall and grabbed a tray which he filled with breakfast items. He selected a seat off to one side of the room, somewhere he would hopefully not be noticed by too many people. This was only going to be a quick stop before he headed back to sick bay.

He watched Reed hobble in on his crutches accompanied by Ensign Carruthers. She collected a tray and put food on it while Reed located a table for them. The black eye and bruises around Reed's jaw were now turning some fairly vivid colours. He still hadn't heard the full story of what had happened to Reed. He guessed the fight had been a vicious one. It had to have been to have ended in the death of one of the participants.

Knowing Malcolm the report would be on his desk by the end of the day, neatly sanitised to provide only the bare facts. Perfectly correct, it wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know. Did Davis die in the heat of a fight or in cold blood? Before the Expanse, Archer would never have even considered the question but these days he wasn't sure if he even knew his Armoury Officer any more.

He didn't fail to notice Reed brush his hand against Jessica's as she sat down. It was barely a perceptible contact, but he knew he hadn't imagined it. Well they couldn't court-martial Reed for the same offence twice so he guessed the Lieutenant was allowed to make the most of a bad situation.

The mess hall was relatively quiet. Most of the crew were still on shore leave and not due back for at least another couple of weeks. In fact it was where he should have been. Phlox had been right, he was stressed at the moment. However, he had a right to be after rescuing his Chief Engineer and uncovering a conspiracy within his own government. He promised himself that he and Trip would get a proper holiday once all this was resolved. He would make sure that it was a restful one as well, somewhere without any com links or computers. Then, as if to reinforce his decision, the com sounded, jerking him from his thoughts.

"T'Pol to Archer."

"Archer here, go ahead," he said moving to the wall com unit.

"Captain, Ensign Sato and I have uncovered some interesting information regarding the weather research station," said T'Pol.

"I'll meet you in the Command Centre," said Archer. It looked as if he wouldn't be able to get back to sick bay just yet. He knew Phlox would take care of Trip and this sounded important.

Hoshi and T'Pol had already brought the data up on the screen in the Command Centre by the time Archer arrived.

"What am I looking at?" asked Archer.

"Ensign Sato has discovered some interesting patterns within the com logs," said T'Pol.

Hoshi tapped a few buttons and high-lighted some of the information on the screen. "Almost all of the transmissions sent from the weather station were encrypted to such a high level that it would take me a year at the very least to break the encryption. So I can't tell you what they said but I can tell you where messages were sent and their frequency. A lot of them seem to be to Starfleet HQ, which makes sense. Another big group are un-encrypted messages to weather research centres on Earth."

"Maintaining their cover," said Archer.

"That was what we thought too," said Hoshi. "All pretty dull stuff. What was more interesting was this group which are to a private office in the Earth Government. To be precise, they're to Senator Nash. That's your link right there."

"We've got him," said Archer.

"There is more," said T'Pol. "We also discovered a group of messages that were sent outside the solar system."

"To where?" asked Archer, but he already had his suspicions.

"A small moon in the Coriolanus system. According to Vulcan intelligence we believe it to be the location of an Andorian listening post," said T'Pol.

"Shran," said Archer, feeling the anger beginning to rise within him.