Kathy Rose - There is a lot of scenes I wish had been in Enterprise. Still, leaves more for us writers.

Triptacular - I hope to try and tackle that in an earlier based fic, perhaps set close to Broken Bow.

tripaholic - Good questions. Pity I didn't leave the T'Pol / Archer meeting in part two. My mistake. I think Archer is trying his best to work with T'Pol, and he acknowledges her usefulness, but he's also needs the crew to work with her. And I think, privately, he likes that Trip is impulsive, as he is naturally a good counterweight for Archer, but that also means he has to deal with the aftermath sometimes.

volley - Glad I'm doing ok with the characterisations. Here comes Part Four...

Thanks again for the reviews. Much appreciated.

Notes: Very tiny spoiler for Breaking The Ice. Thanks to MisterB for advice on "T'Pol-speak".

Responsibilities…

Part Four - Atonement

Trip Tucker walked through the corridors of Enterprise without really noticing where he was going. He was preoccupied with his meeting with Archer, and he had no room to think of anything else. Normally, the Chief Engineer being in such a distracted state would have caused the wheels of the ship's rumour mill to begin their relentless turning. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night watch, and very few crewmen were going about their business in the lowered light that illuminated the corridors at this hour. As such, the Commander's wanderings went largely unnoticed.

Trip had a lot to think about.

Firstly, he felt really bad about making Archer angry with him. The man had a heavy enough burden of command to deal with as Captain of Earth's first warp-5 starship, without his Chief Engineer and his friend rocking the apple cart. Of course it wasn't the first time that Archer had been mad at him; Trip had been scolded and lectured more than a few times during the long years of their friendship. He was reassured at the end of their discussion that their friendship was still secure, but he couldn't remember the Captain being quite this angry with him before.

Then there was the issue of him threatening to vent the Nacelles. What was it that Archer had said? "So you decided that leaving Enterprise with no means of escape, and risking the lives of 82 crewmen, by venting the Nacelles in the middle of a battle was a better decision?" Trip shuddered at the thought of that. If T'Pol had simply given the instructions again, had called his bluff instead of explaining her orders, would he have gone through with it? He hoped he wouldn't have. The faces of the Bridge crew sprang to mind, and he realised they must have been thinking he would do exactly that.

Finally, there was T'Pol herself. Trip knew he should have trusted her. Surely she must have earned that over these past several months? Or at least he should have asked for clarification, before jumping to the first conclusion that had come into his head. He thought of all the run-ins he had had with the Sub-Commander since the beginning of the mission, and tried to work out the best way of handling the situation.

Gradually, Trip came to the realisation that he had stopped walking. He raised his head and looked around him slowly. Dawning recognition of his surroundings made his eyes widen with surprise. His wandering feet had brought him to the door to none other than T'Pol's quarters.

He reached for the door chime control and then paused, wondering what to do for the best. 'She may not be awake,' he considered. 'It is very late, maybe I should wait for another time.' Still he hesitated, hand hovering over the control, as slowly he realised that he really did need to face this now, before he talked himself out of it. Get things said and done and moved on. With a feeling of unease in his stomach, Trip took a deep breath, and pressed the chime.

"Enter."

Trip pressed the control, and the door slid aside to reveal an unusual sight on board a starship, but one that Trip had seen before. T'Pol sat cross-legged on the deck in the middle of her sparsely decorated quarters, a Vulcan meditation candle burning before her.

"Commander," she acknowledged, as he stepped into the room and allowed the door to close behind him. "What can I do for you?"

If she felt any enmity towards him, she did not display it. Of course, being a Vulcan she had been trained to repress her emotions. He knew he was impulsive, and the core of his conversation with Archer was that he'd lost control so easily. He wondered if there was anything that would ever make the Vulcan lose control of herself. 'We're so different,' thought Trip. 'Wonder if we'll ever have anything in common.'

Trip pulled himself away from his thoughts, and assumed a stance that was not quite at attention, his hands clasped firmly behind his back and his feet slightly apart. He looked at the candle momentarily, and inhaled deeply, before making eye contact with the Vulcan.

"I wanted to apologise. I was out of line today, and I shouldn't have behaved like that. I should've trusted you, and I didn't. For that, I'm sorry."

"You believed I was going to abandon the Captain and take the ship out of orbit." It was more a statement than a question. Obviously she understood.

"It did kind of look that way," Trip admitted awkwardly.

"Your friendship with Captain Archer is very strong. As a result you reacted to an illogical conclusion with an emotional response."

Trip bit his lip and stayed silent, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with T'Pol.

"Since I have been onboard this vessel, I have observed that the crew is often prone to making emotional outbursts and emotional decisions. They would all benefit from more emotional control, and… the application of a little logic in order to make the right decisions in unfamiliar and alien situations," T'Pol stated evenly, with the characteristic lift of an eyebrow.

Trip couldn't restrain a small smile. "Does that help?" he nodded to the candle. "With logic? And emotional control?"

"Indeed. Vulcans learned long ago to combat their more irrational impulses and to control them. Meditation aids us in the control process. If you'd like I can demonstrate how you can adopt the technique and adapt it to control your more… emotional responses" T'Pol refocused her attention on the meditation flame.

"Erm... No! Thanks Sub-Commander," stammered Trip. "I just came to say sorry. Goodnight Sub-Commander." He turned quickly on his heel and let himself out of her cabin, as she watched him leave with her characteristic expression that she reserved for any other fascinating specimen she had encountered.

Once in the corridor, Trip Tucker stood for a long while considering his options. He should really try and get some sleep; it was well past his duty shirt, and the start of his next shift would be upon him all too soon. His mind was now so active however, he wasn't even sure that he could sleep. So what to do? Finally, motivated by his own need to make amends for his actions, Trip made his decision, and headed for Engineering.

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