Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
A/N: Sorry this took awhile, but I'm in the final 6 weeks of my thesis, so I don't have as much time for writing other than writing my thesis. Thanks everyone for reviewing the second chapter so positively, and for reviewing my other two stories. I don't think there's going to be any other pieces in that vein.
Chapter 3Trip let lose another volley of swear words and hit the wall beside him in frustration.
"Commander, I do not believe that losing your temper is helping," T'Pol said mildly.
"Every time I think I've fixed this son of a bitch, something new goes wrong! I think I'm entitled to lose my temper. I've been stuck inside this tunnel for hours and it's starting to piss me off!" Trip shouted, while raking his sweaty hands through his already damp hair, causing it to stick out in various directions. He rubbed his hands hard across his eyes, feeling the fatigue caused by days of non-stop repair work.
"I'm sorry, T'Pol," he said finally. "You're right. Let's try to get this finished before the shuttle arrives."
"The shuttle will have arrived already," T'Pol stated. "Captain Archer will not be pleased with our absence."
Trip felt his anger flare up again and could not restrain it. "Captain Archer should be grateful that his Chief Engineer is doing his bloody job!"
T'Pol refrained from making any further comments, deducing from Commander Tucker's reactions that any further statements of fact would only result in lower productivity and additional irrational outbursts.
Trip managed to keep his temper mostly in check for the half-hour it took to finally locate and repair all the malfunctioning parts. When his diagnostic showed that all was right again with this particular part of his world he patted the closed panel and said affectionately, "That's my girl."
As they crawled out of the tunnel, T'Pol said, "I suggest that we both have showers before we meet up with the visitors."
"I need more than a bloody shower," Trip muttered, not even thinking of the obvious retort that might have come to him two years ago or admiring the view in front of him. He arched his back when they reached main engineering, sighing as sore muscles stretched and joints cracked.
He looked at the warp reactor and his crew bustling about and felt a stab of pride. Every so often he took the opportunity to revel in the fact that he was the Chief Engineer of Earth's first warp five ship. True, he hadn't done much of that in the past year, but now, now that he finally might have a hope of moving on, he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. His crew were miracle workers. Through all the damage the ship had suffered over the last year, the crew they had lost, they had managed to hold it together. Even when he was falling apart, he barely admitted. Each of them had put in 150%, and he couldn't be prouder of them.
Lieutenant Hess hurried over to him. "Commander, Captain Archer was looking for you half an hour ago."
Trip gave a tired smile. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Everything under control?"
"Yes, Sir. Repairs are continuing ahead of schedule."
"Good." Trip went to his desk and picked up a pad, crossing the junction they had just repaired off the list.
"Lieutenant, Engineering is yours," he called as he and T'Pol walked out the door.
'Coffee, I need coffee,' Trip hazily thought as he walked along the corridor next to T'Pol. He ignored the empty feeling in his stomach and the fact that his eyes felt like someone had dumped them in coarse sand and then ground their heel on top of them. He'd learnt while he was at the Academy how to temporarily deal with that sort of fatigue and ignore it. Part of the answer was lots of coffee. He knew that he and T'Pol must look an odd couple. T'Pol, in the hour and a half of work she had done, had managed to stay completely clean other than for a few faint smudges on her hands. While he was covered in sweat, his hair was probably a mess (Lizzie had tried to get him out of the habit of raking his hands through his hair when he was incredibly frustrated) and somehow he was coated with dirt and grease. How there gets to be so much dirt and grease on a starship he wasn't sure. But it was a fact: work in any maintenance tunnel for a length of time, and, unless you were a Vulcan, somehow you end up filthy.
When they got into the enclosed space of the turbolift, Trip realised that he wasn't just sweaty and dirty.
"Sorry, T'Pol," he said. "I don't know how you put up with it for that long."
T'Pol said, "You cannot help how you smell, Commander." She then made the effort to reply with what she had learned that the emotional humans appreciate. "While unnecessary, I thank you for your concern. I 'put up' with the smell of both you and a horse, I can 'put up' with your smell."
The turbolift doors opened and they stepped out onto B deck, heading to their respective quarters. They rounded a bend in the corridor to find Captain Archer and his party heading towards them.
"Trip, T'Pol," Archer said, as a look of slight disbelief at the state of his engineer crossed his face.
"Father?" Trip said as Charles Tucker the second appeared from behind Hoshi's parents.
Trip, interpreting the look of disapproval and shock that his father gave him as resulting from how filthy he was, explained defensively that he had been repairing some systems.
"And, T'Pol helped," he added.
Charles' expression seemed to widen into distaste as he finally acknowledged T'Pol's presence by glancing in her direction.
Archer broke the awkward silence that had descended. "That is why your son is one of Starfleet's finest engineers, Mr. Tucker. He leads by example, he doesn't expect his staff to do things that he won't." He turned back to Trip. "Why don't you go get cleaned up and meet us in the Mess Hall when you've finished?" he suggested.
Trip nodded, finally breaking eye contact with his father and, after saying "Sir" to Admiral Forrest, walked past the group.
A/N: Please review! Not sure how long it will be until I can post the next chapter...
