A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, inspiration decided to leave my brain. Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews!
Disclaimer: Enterprise nor any of it's characters are mine. If they were, I wouldn't be posting here...
Kelly looked at herself in the dark screen. She hated the fact she was sitting in her cousin's chair. She hated the fact that Trip wasn't there making some wisecrack. She hated that Malcolm wasn't there to put his arms around her and make her feel safe. Somehow he was able to do that. She didn't know why. She had never felt as safe as she did when she was with him. The chime on the door sounded, and she took a breath to compose herself, and sat back in the chair. Hoshi entered the room at her call.
"We found the ship." She said. Kelly nodded.
"Good. Tell Travis to lay in a course." She said. Hoshi nodded, but didn't move. Kelly sighed. "Something else?" She asked, sitting back in her chair. Hoshi eyed her.
"Are you all right?" She asked. Kelly sighed. She and Hoshi weren't particularly close, but they were friends.
"Tell Travis to lay in a course, then we can talk." Kelly said. Hoshi nodded and disappeared. She came back a couple of minutes later and sat down. Kelly sighed.
"You miss them, don't you sir?" She asked. Kelly nodded.
"First off, stop calling me sir if we're going to talk about my feelings." She said. Hoshi nodded. "And second, who do you mean by 'them'?"
Hoshi gave her a weird look. "Trip and the Captain." She said, then smiled. "And Malcolm?" Kelly groaned and put her head in her hands.
"Does no one mind their own business on this ship?" She asked. Hoshi laughed.
"You two have hardly been secretive about liking each other." She said. Kelly rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair.
"I honestly never would have thought anything could happen." She said. Hoshi's eyes snapped wide open.
"Something happened?" She asked. Kelly grimaced, and Hoshi started laughing. "Oh my god!" She cried, holding her stomach. "I can't believe that he -- you two-" Kelly groaned as the door chime sounded again.
"Come!" She called. Travis stuck his head inside, and eyed the still-laughing Hoshi warily.
"Uh, Lieutenant, we'll be arriving in about two hours." He said. Kelly nodded, and shot Hoshi a silencing look.
"I'll just go finish that translation I was working on." She said between fits of giggles. Kelly wasn't worried about the rest of the crew finding out, she knew that Hoshi wouldn't tell anyone else, but she wondered how Malcolm would react if he found out she had told Hoshi, however inadvertently. Would Malcolm ever be back to find out? She shook her head, banishing the thought from her mind as she stood up. She was going to get another hour or so of sleep. She flopped down on the couch and pulled one of Jon's blankets down over her body, more for comfort than to keep her warm.
His head was pounding. "Captain!" The soft, accented voice slowly brought him back.
"Cap'n, come on. Wake up!" Another accented voice said.
"As I recall, you had a rather serious headache when you woke." This voice was calm and steady, as well as halfway accusing. "Perhaps talking is not the answer."
"Why don't you all just stop trying to help me wake up?" Jon muttered.
"Cap'n, come on. We're not on Enterprise." Jon opened his eyes at that statement. He could see most of the senior staff around him. T'Pol, Malcolm and Trip. Two other Lieutenants were standing behind them. He made a mental count.
"Is this everyone who was taken off the ship?" He asked. Trip's face was pale.
"We don't know." He said. Jon frowned as he looked around the large room. It was filled with empty bunks.
"Well, there's certainly enough bunks." He said quietly. His stomach suddenly clenched. "If we're all here, and everyone else is one Enterprise, that means that Kelly's in command." Trip pulled a hand down his face.
"Oh boy." He said, and flopped down on the bunk next to Jon. Malcolm and T'Pol eyed the two of them.
"What's the problem with Lieutenant A-"
"Damn it Malcolm, we know you know her well enough to call her Kelly." Trip said, sounding annoyed. Malcolm's face flushed slightly. "I know it!" Trip crowed, leaning back, then doubling in laughter. "I knew you liked her." Malcolm's face flushed even further. Trip suddenly froze. "You haven't-" It was Malcolm's turn to freeze. He knew exactly what Trip was talking about.
"Haven't what Commander?" He asked. Tip was suddenly on his feet, a look Malcolm was all too familiar with on his face. Trip was angry. He had a smaller version of that look on his face when the upgrades Malcolm proposed for his weapons messed with Trip's engines.
"You know damn well what I mean Malcolm. Now did you?" Jon was on his feet to, looking from Trip to Malcolm. He was curious, though he knew that Trip was going to kick Malcolm's ass if he didn't answer him.
Malcolm hesitated. If he told him no, he'd be lying to a senior officer. If he said yes, Trip would try to pound his face into the floor. He could tell that his hesitation was enough of an answer for Trip.
"You did!" Trip launched himself at Malcolm. Malcolm ducked, diving to the side to avoid the flying engineer.
"Trip!" Jon shouted, but Commander Tucker was ignoring the Captain, his eyes intent of the Armory officer who was picking himself up off the ground.
"Commander-"
"Malcolm, of all people I would have thought that you'd obey regulations and-"
"Commander Tucker, may I suggest that you stop this childish behavior and help us devise a plan to . . . 'Get out of here'?" T'Pol said. Trip glared at Malcolm. "We understand that the Lieutenants are consenting adults, and may do what they wish on their own time." She said. "Including having intercourse. As for regulations, Lieutenant Reed and Lieutenant Archer are of the same rank, and neither are in the same field. Therefore it is not against regulations for them to have a relationship. Neither is it productive to analyze their romantic relationship at this point." Trip was still glaring at Malcolm.
"We'll settle this later."
"Trip, there isn't anything to settle. Kelly can take care of herself." Trip's eyes flashed.
"You didn't see her until after she was out of surgery that day Cap'n." He said, running a hand though his hair.
"Are you suggesting that I could do anything like that to her?" Malcolm asked indignantly. "I could never do anything to hurt her!" Trip suddenly sat down and shook his head.
"I know Mal." He said. "Maybe I'm just overreacting."
"Maybe?" Jon asked. "I seriously think you need to rethink that one. Trip, we both saw how well Kelly can handle herself with Bower. She would have even taken Bower out if she hadn't been trying to keep other people alive." He said. "Now can we stop talking about Kelly, who isn't here, and try to figure out a way tog et back to Enterprise?"
Kelly's stomach twisted. Jon, Malcolm and Trip were all pinned to the wall.
"Pick one." A voice hissed in her ear. "One will die, the others shall live. Pick one. . ." It hissed menacingly in her ear. It was a serpentine voice, the voice of something evil. "The day will come where you'll have to choose. Choose one. . . A misty figure swam in her line of sight, and she went straight for the throat.
"Lieutenant!" A strangled voice cried, trying to speak. Kelly blinked and realized that she was holding Travis by the throat. She immediately released him. He doubled, hand on his throat, coughing.
"Oh god Travis, I'm so sorry. Bad dream." She said. Travis grimaced.
"Noticed. You were muttering something in your sleep." He said. His voice was lower and slightly more strained than usual, making Kelly feel even more guilty. "We're about two minutes away from communications range from the ship." He said, and cleared his throat. "Hoshi's getting ready to hail the ship that's got the rest of the senior staff aboard." When he spoke this time, his voice was a little less strained. Kelly straightened her hair, skimming a flattening hand over it to make sure it looked presentable.
"I'll be right out." She replied, giving Travis a dismissive nod. He turned swiftly and fled the room. He shouldn't have just entered like that, but he had chimed six times. What is she had collapsed, or had a heart attack or something. No, she'd been asleep. He shook his head slightly as he sat back down at the helm. He shouldn't have tried to wake her up either, but she had looked like she was in pain. He could understand what Malcolm saw when he looked at her. Malcolm had what Travis liked to call 'a major hero complex.' Well actually him and all his friends. Lieutenant Archer would be happy and bouncy one second, then the next have painful memories wash over her, and it had to be enough for someone like Malcolm to just want to hold her until all the pain could go away. Travis himself didn't have any interest romantically in people that changed that quickly, or people who'd had the kind of past Kelly had. He heard the door to the Captain's ready room, and thought with a small smile about the second Archer to sit in the Captain's chair. Somehow she didn't seem entirely out of place.
Kelly sat down in the chair uneasily. She didn't belong there, and she knew it. None else seemed to take notice of this, they acted like it was perfectly natural.
"I have the ship sir." Hoshi said. Kelly glanced over at her, and nodded.
"Hail them."
"The line's open."
"This is Enterprise. Please respond." She said, trying to keep her tone level. "You are holding five of our officer against their will. Respond." When there was no answer, she glanced over at Hoshi, who shrugged. Kelly sighed. "If you do not respond, you will severely limit our options." The screen flashed, and a creature appeared on it. It was vaguely humanoid. That was to say it had two legs, a torso and a head. The only thing was it had four arms.
"Grobletz young one." It said. Kelly glanced at Hoshi. "My apologies. We have been having problems with our ship. Many of our resources have been devoted to maintaining an acceptable atmosphere for our guests."
"Your guests?" Kelly asked. The thing smiled.
"Yes young one. We wished to observe your species behavior close up. Your males are inherently protective of your females, are they not?" He --at least she shout it was a he -- asked. Kelly's stomach sank. Hopefully Malcolm was still alive.
"Yes they are." She said. "Now about them. Are they all right?"
"They are unharmed."
"We'd like to have them returned." She said, and had to bite her tongue to keep from grimacing. She sounded like she was talking about supplies, not about the people she cared about most. Maybe this was her way of distancing herself from it.
"Of course. We were unaware that in your culture this is viewed as an unacceptable action. I hope that this will not affect relations between our species." Kelly nodded curtly.
"We will have to see to that at a later date. Our officers?" She honestly had been expecting a fight. Not having one was sort of a relief.
"Will be returned momentarily." Lights shimmered all around the bridge, and the missing officers were suddenly there. "Grobletz young ones." The transmission ended. Kelly turned, and hugged the person closest to her, who happened to be Jon.
"Oh god I'm so glad you're back." She said, and he laughed.
"So how'd you like command?" He joked as she let him go. She made a face and punched the comm button.
"Lieutenant Archer to Doctor Phlox." She said.
"Phlox here."
"They're back and on their way to sick bay."
"Understood." She cut it off, and turned to see Malcolm glaring at her. She flashed him a grin.
"You're not getting out of going to sick bay Malcolm." She said, heading for the turbo lift. "Until Phlox verifies that it's actually all of you, I'm technically still acting Captain." Malcolm sighed and stepped onto the lift after the others.
The doors to the observations lounge opened, and Kelly turned, expecting to see Malcolm. Instead it was Trip. She flashed him a smile before turning back to look out the window.
"Kelly, I wanted to talk to you." He said. "Actually apologize is more the word." Kelly sighed, and turned to face him again.
"Trip-"
"No, let me say this. We may have settled the issue about you and Malcolm bein friends when we got our bodies back, but this is something different. When I realized that you two were-" He searched for the right word. "-Involved, all I could think about was Talbot, and how crushed you were after that. It's wrong, I know." He said in response to the icy look Kelly was giving him. "And Malcolm and I had a nice little talk about that before I came up here. No fists were involved, I swear." He held up his hands in mock surrender, and a grin flashed across his face before he became serious again. "And I know that he would never willingly hurt you. Damn, I've never seen him like this Kell. You've got him all nervous. It's hilarious." His famous grin was back. Kelly sighed as she shook her head, but she couldn't stop the grin coming over her face.
"I was going to tell you Trip. I was just waiting for the right time." She said.
"How long?" Trip asked. Kelly glanced up at him.
"Right after Bower was the first time." She said. "Then last night." She shrugged. "It just kind of happened. We're so alike, yet so different at the same time." Trip nodded.
"You've both got a huge hero complexes." He said with a laugh. Kelly rolled her eyes, and gave Trip a hug.
"You're still my best friend." She said, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Doesn't matter what happens." She said. "Now I think I'll go get some sleep. Worrying about you three idiots zapped my energy." She grinned, and ducking the pad Trip threw at her, catching it before it hit the ground. She chucked it back at him as she slipped through the door.
She found Malcolm in the nearly-empty gym. The two of them were the only ones there. They should have been, it was movie night. Everyone who wasn't on duty was there. He hadn't heard her come in, she could tell. He was running on the treadmill, headphones in his ears. She walked over to the panel behind him and eyed his music selection. Classical, it was something by Mozart. She sighed, and keyed up her choice in music, choosing a song from a twenty-first century band called Seether. As the hard rock blasted in Malcolm's ears, he swung around to see Kelly behind him, grinning as he yanked off the earphones.
"What the bloody hell was that?" He asked, stopping the treadmill. Kelly's grin widened as he stalked over to her. "I was having a nice workout, and-" Kelly threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck, effectively cutting him off. He slid his arms around her and just held her.
"I was so worried I wasn't going to see you again." She muttered into his sweatshirt. He sighed.
"You shouldn't be." He said. "I'm not going to leave you." He said in her ear. Kelly pulled back, and caught his lips with hers. At first it was just a kiss, one that helped to calm Kelly, but then again, her kissing Malcolm wasn't exactly a relaxing activity for her. The kiss deepened and Malcolm pulled her into him tighter. After a moment, Kelly broke away from him, her breathing heavy.
"Maybe we should continue this somewhere else?" She suggested.
"My quarters are closer." Malcolm whispered, and lead the way. As soon as the door had closed, Malcolm pulled her to him again, their lips meeting again. Kelly's arms snaked around his neck, one pulling him into her, the other in his hair. Malcolm suddenly broke the kiss, swinging her up into his arms. He carried her across the room and lay her out gently on the bed before climbing over her. She grinned up at him, her gray eyes bright.
"What do you want for Christmas?" She asked, and Malcolm paused in surprise.
"What?" The grin widened.
"I asked what you want for Christmas." She said. "It's not that hard of a question." Malcolm sat up and ran a hand through his hair.
"Yeah, well, I feel I should make some sweet reply."
"Like what?"
"You."
She laughed, her eyes dancing. She crawled over so she was behind him, sliding her arms around his neck. "I'm being serious." She said. "Jon asked me to plan a Christmas party." She said. "It's only a week away. You want to help?" Malcolm sighed.
"I think asking Travis or Comman -- Trip would be a better idea. I'm not an especially big fan of parties." He said. Kelly grinned as she kissed his neck. She made a face.
"You need a shower." She said. Malcolm turned to her, a grin on his face. Kelly punched him playfully, but followed him.