Only You

By Athena

Rating: PG for this chapter

Disclaimer: Star Trek: Enterprise is the property of Paramount

Summary: As Pon Farr approaches for T'Pol she has to make some choices regarding her relationship with Trip. Of course nothing goes as expected and Trip and T'Pol must decide how to proceed with their relationship.
Spoilers: all the way through the end of Daedalus and AU after that.

Author's Note: First off, a great big thanks to Boushh and Jenna for all their help with this story. Also be warned, although the beginning of the story contains some angst, the majority of the story is pure sap and fluff. If you not like sappiness you may not want to read the entire story. :)

Author's Note2: Over half way through the angsty part for those waiting for the fluff.

Chapter 5

It took over an hour for the away team to reach the outskirts of the city. They were indeed ruins. It did not appear anyone had lived within these structures for a very long time. Without their instruments to aid them, the team was forced to guess which way lead to the heart of the city. Archer hoped that they we correct that the source of the tractor beam could be found there. Enterprise couldn't afford for them to be wrong.

They made their way through the streets with increasing speed as they began to feel that an attack was less and less likely.

"I'd say that whatever happened to these people happened hundreds, perhaps thousands of years ago," Phlox commented.

T'Pol had remained silent throughout the entire journey but now spoke for the first time, "I concur, Doctor. It is possible that the tractor beam is a defensive mechanism that was left active and triggered by a passing ship."

"I hope that's the case," Archer exclaimed. "Then all we need to do is find the controls and shut it off."

"We must hurry," T'Pol's voice was half pleading and half demanding. "We have less than 5 hours to free Enterprise." As she quickened her pace T'Pol stumbled on some debris on the ground. Malcolm went to grab her arm to help her but she pulled back violently. "Do not touch me!" she snarled.

Malcolm backed off in shock. He looked at Phlox who merely shrugged apologetically.

"Let's keep moving," Archer commanded.

Somehow Travis had found his way to the head of the party so he was the first to call out to the others, "take a look at that!"

Rounding the corner Archer saw a large, temple-like building in front of him. "I'm guessing this is what we've been looking for."

"We should be cautious," Malcolm asserted again. He signaled his people to precede the rest of the party as he, himself, took the lead.

"When nothing seemed to happen, Archer and Travis followed the security team inside.

Unlike the rest of the buildings, this one seemed less time-worn. There were markings all over the walls, reminding Archer of Egyptian hieroglyphics. They moved through the entrance into another chamber. This one contained technology. There were two consoles with many controls on either side of the room.

Travis walked up to one and pressed something. The room darkened for a moment and a bell-like sound reverberated through the room. Archer had the impression that the building was telling them it didn't like something.

Samual Jordan, one of the security officers, walked over to the other console and reached out for one of the controls.

"No!" T'Pol yelled to him but Jordan had already pressed something on the console before he could heed her warning. Within a second there was a flash and a beam hit Jordan. He simply disintegrated right in front of Archer. Archer felt a wave of sickness as he looked helplessly at Phlox. Malcolm cried out and lunged towards the spot where his officer had been standing but one of the other officers stopped him.

No one spoke for a moment and finally Travis ventured, "What do we do now?"

Malcolm was shaking his head, a mixture of sadness and anger in his expression.

"There's nothing you could have done, Sir," one of his men told him.

Archer tuned to T'Pol. "Any thoughts on how to proceed?" His voice cracked a little as he tried to push his own anger and grief aside.

T'Pol calmly approached the console the now dead crewman Jordan had activated and studied it. She dropped to her knees and ran her fingers across the front panel. Archer stepped forward, worried that the same thing would happen to her, but it didn't.

Everyone watched anxiously as T'Pol examined the panels housing the mechanisms within the console. Finally she moved to one side and pushed hard on one side. The panel fell open, exposing the wiring and circuitry within.

Malcolm stepped forward. "It could take hours to figure this all out. We don't have a great deal of time."

T'Pol reached for one of the circuit boards but cried out and doubled over. Phlox was beside her instantly. He felt her forehead before she slapped his hand away. Phlox fell backwards from the force of the blow. T'Pol glared at him for a moment before she seemed to recover. "I apologize, Doctor. I am not myself," she said meekly, her head bent.

Archer moved up to survey the exposed console. "Get started trying to figure this out Malcolm. T'Pol maybe you should rest for a while."

T'Pol shook her head indicating she disagreed but Phlox said something to her and she got up and left with him.

Archer followed them out of the room. He needed to know if T'Pol was too ill to continue working with the rest of the team.

"I think it's time you considered resolving your condition," Phlox was saying to T'Pol.

"That won't be possible at this time," she answered.

Archer joined them. "I think it's time you filled me in on what's happening here," he left no room for disagreement in his statement.

"It is called the Pon farr," T'Pol said, her voice void of all emotion. "It means mating time. Once every seven years Vulcans are driven to mate. A condition called the blood fever overtakes us and if mating does not occur, death usually results." Her voice was so flat he wasn't sure she was aware she was speaking.

Archer was stunned into silence at her admission. So she needed to mate or she would die. Archer thought back to all the conversations about T'Pol's condition. Phlox had said there would be side-effects to being treated on Enterprise or, in other words, mating with a human. Most likely Trip, which would explain why Phlox had told him that Vulcans did not attach any meaning to the treatment. This was all starting to make sense. T'Pol must have called the Vulcan ship because she wasn't sure that mating with a human would cure her. Phlox had indicated several times that the best treatment would be letting the Vulcans cure T'Pol. Maybe a Vulcan mate was required, otherwise wouldn't T'Pol simply allowed Trip to cure her? That certainly would have been easier than calling in a Vulcan ship and risking the mission by remaining ill.

Archer bowed his head. "I should have put her on a shuttle to that Vulcan ship as soon as we entered the system."

"That would not have saved me," T'Pol was talking as if she was already dead.

"T'Pol, you must let the Captain save you now. There isn't much time. You're burning up and losing the ability to think rationally."

Archer suddenly became very uncomfortable. Phlox was suggesting that he mate with T'Pol! Now he understood why Phlox asked him if he was willing to do whatever was necessary to save her. He just wasn't sure he'd be able to. He was extremely uncomfortable with the situation and he had no idea how he was supposed to convince his body to go along with idea when his mind was screaming this was wrong for so many reasons. The foremost reason being that it would hurt Trip a great deal.

T'Pol's next statement ended his anxiety. "I will not allow another to touch me." She was cold and determined in her statement.

"T'Pol, be reasonable…," Phlox started to say.

"No one will touch me except my chosen mate!" She looked down right hostile now.

Phlox nodded and moved over to Archer. "I'm sorry Captain. I had no idea she would reject an alternate mate."

Archer still needed one thing clarified. "Is the mate she's talking about on the Kovar or is she talking about Trip?"

If T'Pol heard his question she was refusing to answer. Phlox answered instead, "I am quite sure she is referring to Commander Tucker." T'Pol let out a moan when Phlox spoke Trip's name. Phlox paused briefly before continuing. "Her symptoms have been almost impossible to control when she is in his presence. We need to get her back to the ship if she is going to survive."

Archer was pained further as he considered that in a few more hours there might not be a ship to get back to.

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Things were coming down to the wire back on Enterprise. They had less than 3 hours left and the modifications to the impulse engines were still going to take another 2 hours.

Trip had returned to the Bridge. "Still nothing from the away team?"

Hoshi shook her head and practically whispered, "no".

Trip knelt down next to Hoshi so he could speak to her without being overheard. "I want you to compile a list of crew members with spouses and children back on Earth."

Hoshi looked at him uncertainly.

"We've got another shuttlepod sittin' in the Bay and we can cram about 15 people in there. We'll need someone with piloting experience to fly it but I want to give priority to the crew members that have people back home that need 'em."

Hoshi nodded and gave him a weak smile. Then she said, "you've got the most experience piloting a shuttle out of anyone on the ship."

Trip shook his head. "I'm goin' to keep trying ta free the ship until… well," he trailed off and Hoshi gave him another pained smile.

"Once you've got the list let me know." He gave Hoshi's shoulder a squeeze and went back to the Engineering station.

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Several simultaneous yells from the other chamber sent Archer running back in. Malcolm was kneeling next to the console with a few wires and a circuit board pulled out. He looked very triumphant.

"With all due with respect, do you have a death wish, Sir?" Travis was clearly agitated by whatever Malcolm had done.

"Someone had to disable this device and given T'Pol's current condition I thought I'd better handle this one." Malcolm still wasn't quite repressing a smug grin.

"What just happened in here?" Archer demanded, tilting his head at the pieces of circuitry on the floor.

"I thought it best to disable the defense mechanism on this thing before anyone else was lost. It wasn't too complicated once I knew what to look for."

"Yeah, and he decided to test it by activating the same button Jordan did." Travis's high pitch indicated he was still agitated over Malcolm's actions.

"As I said," Malcolm started but he was interrupted by a moan from T'Pol.

Archer turned to see her standing in the entrance. She looked almost wild. After his visit to the Seleya in the Expanse, Archer was sorry he'd ever wished to see any Vulcan to lose control. It sounded like fun in theory, but the reality of having to deal with an out of control Vulcan was anything but fun.

T'Pol charged into the room and pushed Malcolm aside as she began activating one control after another. Archer wasn't sure this was a very good idea but he didn't feel like risking loss of limb in order to get her to stop. Looking around the room he figured that the other members of the party felt the same way.

Malcolm wandered over to the second console and tried to open its panel as T'Pol had done with the other. The two remaining security officers joined him and, after several moments of struggling, they managed to get the panel open. Malcolm glanced back over at T'Pol. "Exactly how strong are Vulcans I wonder," he muttered.

Minutes continued to tick by and after about 20 or so had passed, T'Pol growled at the console and slammed her fist into it. When she withdrew her hand there was green blood dripping from several small cuts. Phlox reached for her wounded hand but she shoved him away. He stumbled but managed not to fall to the ground.

Archer walked over to Phlox. "Too bad we can't stun her," he whispered to the doctor.

"I'm not sure it would be a wise course of action in any event. She might never regain consciousness."

"Do you think she has any idea what she's doing?" Archer was worried they were wasting precious time letting a crazed Vulcan handle the controls.

"I believe her sole focus is returning to Enterprise. She may be driven by primitive instincts, but I believe she is coherent enough to act in the… crew's best interest."

Archer could read between the lines, she wasn't going to let Trip die if she could help it.

Malcolm exclaimed, "Got it!" and the room lit up. A screen of sorts appeared on the wall between the two consoles.

T'Pol began to work furiously and a few minutes later the room shuddered a bit as the wall beside them opened into another large room.

T'Pol pushed Archer out of the way to be the first into the new chamber. There were several small devices in the room and one large device at the back of the room that appeared to be humming away. The tractor beam! Now all they had to do was disable it. Archer wasn't sure of the time but he estimated that Enterprise didn't have too much more time left.

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"Is the shuttle clear?" Trip asked Corporal Hanes.

There had been 5 crewmembers who had children and additional 8 who were married. Hoshi had added an engaged crew member to the list, bringing the total 14. However, two of the selected crew members were technicians and had refused their spots on the shuttle. So Trip had had the computer randomly select 2 nonessential personal to fill the shuttle and one crewman who had piloting experience. Not surprisingly, every member of the crew selected to occupy a space on the shuttle had insisted that they should stay behind and assist the rest of the crew in attempting to free the ship. Trip had had to order them off the ship.

"Yes Sir, they made it," Hanes replied with relief and casting a smile his way.

Trip smiled in return. At least some of the crew would make it. "Then I guess it's time we do the same for Enterprise." Trip tried to convey confidence but he had run the figures a dozen times and there was little chance they could break free unless the energy beam was weakened by the attempt.

"Open a ship-wide comm.," Trip said to Hoshi. She nodded back to him. "Okay people, this is it. Brace yerselves."

The Bridge crew waited nervously as Trip called down to Engineering. "Hess, do whatever it takes to keep maximum thrust as long as possible." Then he nodded to the helmsman, who engaged the impulse engines.

The ship lurched with the sudden increase in the engine thrust. Eerie sounds of metal under strain could be heard faintly. Minutes went by and it looked to Trip like Enterprise might be gaining some ground. Then the ship lurched again, more sharply this time. The power failed and emergency power came back on, leaving the Bridge in a dim glow.

"Engineering to Bridge," came Hess's voice. "We've blown over half the relays down here and throughout the ship."

Trip let his head drop in defeat for a moment before resuming the mantle of responsibility. Then he stood and moved over to the helm. "What's our status?" he asked keeping his voice calm and determined.

"Unless we can get main power back to the engines we aren't going to last more than 40 minutes," came the reply.

Damn! "I'm heading down to Engineering. Hanes, Hoshi, start getting people into the escape pods. There's a chance that some of the pods can make it to the surface intact if they're sheltered by the ship long enough." Trip knew the chance that any of the pods would make it was slim. If they broke away from the ship too high they'd burn up just like Enterprise and if they weren't able to achieve flight under their own power before they got too close to the surface they'd crash, leaving the occupants just as dead. Still, it was a better chance than staying onboard anywhere else on the ship. Then he had another thought. "Someone should take the Captain's dog with them in one of the pods."

"He went with the shuttle, Sir," Hoshi replied.

"They crammed 15 people and a dog in there?" Trip asked incredulously. Hoshi nodded with a ghost of a smile on her lips. "We shoulda' had em take a coupl'a nasal inhibitors with em. The Vulcans aren't gonna be too happy."

The Bridge crew chuckled despite their desperate circumstances. Trip looked around the Bridge one last time and gave each person a nod before leaving for Engineering.

He had about 30 minutes to try something, and even then all he could really do was give Enterprise a few more minutes, maybe hours. Still, he had to keep trying until the ship came apart. There was still a chance that the Captain would be able to disable the tractor beam.

Thinking of the Captain led, inevitably, to thoughts of T'Pol. He prayed she was all right. Maybe the landing party wasn't able to get though the shield. He chose to believe that they were all okay down on the planet. Thinking that would give him some peace. Maybe that Romeo and Juliet comparison wasn't too far off base. He just hoped his Juliet would be spared.

He entered Engineering to find a semi-controlled chaos. His people were working fast and furious and they looked more determined than he could remember seeing them. Hess caught his eye and nodded towards an area needing attention. He wasted no time joining the rest of the team with the repairs.

More minutes ticked away and he was about to announce they should just try giving the engines whatever was currently on-line when his felt the ship rock. Then a minute later the warp nacelles started to hum.

"Bridge to all hands," it was Hoshi. "The tractor beam has been deactivated!"

A round of cheering could be heard echoing throughout Engineering and, probably, the entire ship.

Trip made his way to the comm. unit. "Tucker to Bridge. What's our status?"

"We've moved away from the planet and are attempting to contact the away team. The shuttle wants to know if they can come back on board."

Trip smiled. It was probably already starting to get ripe in there, especially with Porthos on board. "Yeah, Hoshi, tell em to come home. I'm heading back to the Bridge."

He looked over at Hess who had made her way over to him. She nodded then called out, "Okay people just because we aren't going to crash into the planet in a few minutes is no reason to get lazy. Let's put this ship back together." She turned back to Trip grinning.

He laughed along with her. That sounded just like something he would have said. Then he took off for the Bridge. He wanted to know if T'Pol was okay.

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Back down on the surface Archer took a deep breath. They had managed to disable the tractor beam but now they had no way of contacting Enterprise. He glanced over at T'Pol. She was hunched over, arms wrapped tightly around her, and she was rocking back and forth slightly. Her hair was damp with perspiration and her eyes were shut tightly. He was no doctor but he could tell she needed help soon.

Knowing there was nothing he could do for T'Pol he motioned for Malcolm to follow him and they joined Travis in the console room. Travis was certain that one of the consoles contained a communications station but he had no idea how to work it.

"Maybe we should send someone back to the shuttle to signal Enterprise for help," Malcolm suggested.

Archer nodded. "Who's the fastest runner?"

One of Malcolm's men stepped forward as Malcolm said, "That would be Briggs, Sir."

"Tell them we have a medical emergency," Archer said solemnly to Briggs.

"Aye-aye, Sir," Briggs said, then dashed off.

Archer turned back to Malcolm and Travis. We need to get the energy shield down. That way Enterprise can beam T'Pol back on board. Archer began to activate each relay in sequence, hoping to trigger the one that would deactivate the shield.

"I think I've got it!" Travis exclaimed after a few minutes.

"You've disabled the shield?" Malcolm asked in surprise.

Travis looked sheepish. "Ah, no, but I 'm pretty sure I've figured out the communications. These frequencies here can be adjusted and so can the power output. I'm pretty sure I can adjust them so Enterprise can pick up the signal."

"Good work Travis," Archer said without looking up. Every second counted if they were going to be able to save T'Pol. Archer was working so fast that he was half way through the next sequence on the control panel before he realized that the room had dimmed considerably. The consoles still had power and the screen was still active, but it appeared that the power output from the room had changed. Could that have done it?

"Try hailing Enterprise!" Archer demanded. His anxiety over T'Pol made him sound a bit harsher than he intended but Travis merely nodded and went to work. Then Archer turned to Phlox, who was watching over T'Pol. "Doctor."

Phlox rushed over as Travis tried to hail the ship. After the third attempt, Travis succeeded. "Enterprise here, is that you Travis?" It was Hoshi.

Before Travis could respond, Phlox commandeered the controls. "We have a medical emergency down here, is Commander Tucker there?"

"Here Doc," came the response.

Archer heard T'Pol groan and looked over to see that her eyes were open and she looked wild. He began to wonder it would be safe to let T'Pol loose on Trip.

"Commander T'Pol's condition is critical. Please have the treatment brought to her quarters and beam us up as quickly as possible."

There was only a moment's pause before Trip replied, "Understood, Enterprise out."

Phlox moved back over to T'Pol. "Commander we are returning to Enterprise now. Do you understand?"

T'Pol forced herself to stand but kept her arms wrapped tightly around her. Phlox stood beside her on her right and Archer moved beside her on her left. They waited for a few moments and Archer wondered what was taking so long before he realized that without their communicators to lock onto, the crew would need to lock onto their biosignatures. Finally he felt the familiar tingle and then they were back on board Enterprise.

Tbc

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Author's Note: It was brought to my attention that even if I edit down chapter 6 to PG-13 (which is hard to do because we need to know what Trip is thinking as it plays into the following chapters), there is still some boarderline matieral in chapters 11 and 12 and then later in the Tucker clan's discussions. Therefore, I will be changing the rating to "M" and readers will have to request stories of "All Ratings" or "M" rating in order to view the rest of the story once I post Chapter 6.