Chapter 6

Down in the situation room Trip and Sovek were coming to blows. They, along with Hoshi and Malcolm had been assigned to put together a possible plan to infiltrate and deal with the potential Romulan threat. It wasn't going as smoothly as hoped, It seemed the Vulcan was shooting everything the engineer suggested down. It wasn't entirely one sided either. Tucker had dismissed some of Sovek's ideas as unfeasible; seeming to antagonise the Vulcan further. Trip couldn't understand it, he had always perceived himself as a friendly person and everything he seemed to do to change Sovek's view of him caused the Vulcan to act even more like he hated Enterprise's chief engineer.

Several hours passed, the four of them making very little progress. Malcolm and Hoshi's part in the 'discussion' had been reduced from offering their opinions on how a task could be accomplished to sitting around while Trip and Sovek argued the advantages and disadvantages of each other's apparent solutions. Hoshi had thought it odd how similar this situation mirrored one that had occurred around five years ago between Trip and T'pol. It seemed the engineer had a particular effect on Vulcan's. Hoshi only hoped that the same mutual respect that had developed between Trip and T'pol would surface between Trip and Sovek . She did not think she could put up with their stubbornness for much longer!

Hours later it was decided that they should conclude and meet up again tomorrow. Everyone was tired and Trip for one was glad to get out of there, he hadn't been infuriated this much by anyone… well except T'pol he mused. At the thought of his favourite Vulcan Trip's mood improved slightly. Reaching the mess he picked up a pie of pecan pie and walked passed all of the tables; he headed to the back of the room where the first officer sat, camomile tea in hand.

"How glad am I to see you." Trip said sitting down next to her and taking a massive mouthful of the sugary dessert.

T'pol raised one eyebrow at his action. "Have you made any progress with the data collected?" she inquired.

Trip paused and swallowed his mouthful. "Hardly any, anytime I tried to make a suggestion Sovek pointed out my flawed and irrational logic" Trip said, using air quotes to emphasise his point. "If I didn't know any better I'd say he's got something against me."

"That is an illogical assumption Trip."

Trip rolled his eyes "Have you talked to him yet?"

T'pol didn't respond, instead taking a sip of her tea. "I'll take that as a no then." Trip supplied.

"I will talk to him soon. I require some time to…. adjust to this situation."

"Well whatever you do I'm right behind you T'pol."

Taking the last bite of his dessert Trip yawned. "I might turn in early; it's been a long day." He leaned slightly closer, his voice quieter.

"Are you going to be ok? The nightmares I mean. You were pretty shook up this morning and I was worried about you." T'pol turned to face him "I will be fine, if I meditate for longer the dreams will more than likely cease." Trip looked unconvinced but knew that even if she did have a problem she would rather not admit it, even to him. That was more about her being Vulcan though than anything else. Trip nodded anyway. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodnight."

Sovek entered 'his' new quarters, they were bigger than he would have expected. Walking over to the desk, he sat down and accessed the programme he and the three others had been working on. Perhaps he could get some work done now that Tucker wasn't there he thought to himself. His initial thoughts about this man had been correct. He was an overly emotional human who dismissed any ideas that weren't his own. It wasn't surprising the amount of times he had gotten him self caught up in trouble.

Sovek had been reading some more of Enterprise's early missions. He had just finished reading the account of Tucker's encounter with the kidnapped princess. He was found in a very compromising position when found by the others from Enterprise sent to rescue him. Why should this have surprised him? Tucker was already breaking fraternization rules. Placing his career and T'pol's in jeopardy. The commander's blatant disregard for orders only increased Sovek's dislike of him. What his daughter saw in the young engineer was beyond him. At this point he wouldn't be surprised if Tucker had even tricked T'pol in some way. Persuading her that an 'experiment' of everything that it meant to be human would help her understand them better.

Sovek needed to talk to T'pol, but not just about Tucker, he wanted to find out what had happened in the last forty years to her, to her mother. What led to T'pol staying on Enterprise? What career path did she choose before her posting here? All these questions and more he wanted to ask her. He looked at the clock on the computer 1:45 am. He wouldn't have the chance tomorrow he decided. He didn't really want to wake her either but he needed to talk to her.

Trip awoke suddenly. Waves of fear flooded his consciousness, he felt terrified. He looked around his room, the digits of his alarm clocks illuminating the time- 2am. What the hell's going on? - The main thought passing through his mind.He tried to clear his head of all thoughts and emotions but the fear remained.

It was then that he realised the emotions weren't his; they belonged to T'pol and she was in trouble. Trip stood up, pulled on some trousers lying haphazardly on the floor, and rushed out into the corridor heading to T'pols quarters.

He realised if a crewmember saw him it could look a bit unusual to say the least. The gossip would also be circulating around the ship for months. The chief engineer running around shirtless and in the direction of the science officers quarters; he didn't care. The emotions he had felt had been getting stronger and stronger as he got closer. Reaching his destination he didn't bother trying to alert her to his presence. Instead, he keyed in his security code and entered, running inside.

Sovek retraced his steps that he took yesterday. His acute hearing picked up footsteps, whomever they belonged to was running and they were coming in his direction; he carried on nevertheless. He was about to turn down the corridor leading to T'pol's quarters when he stopped. He had found the source of the footsteps that he heard. They belonged to Commander Tucker, who was stood half-naked in front of his daughter's quarters. He did not seem at all concerned about being caught. Maybe this was not an unusual occurrence. Perhaps it happened quite often. Tucker got 'lonely' at night and so went to someone who could 'keep him company.' Sovek considered to himself.

Sovek watched as Tucker keyed in a code and let himself in. The nerve of this human! Sovek growled. He clenched his hand making a fist, anger was apparent on his face. The Vulcan closed his eyes and took several calming breaths. He would make sure Tucker was dealt with. With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Trip entered the room. The scene he was met with was worse than the night previous. T'pol was jerking around madly in her sleep as if trying to get away from someone. She was murmuring in Vulcan again and looked scared. Trip rushed to her side shaking her awake. "T'pol, wake up dar'lin your dreaming again. Come on wake up."

"T'pol's eyes shot open, she looked disorientated and confused.

"You were dreaming again." Trip explained.

T'pol nodded, shaking. Trip wrapped his bare arms around her; she sank into his embrace.

"How did you know I was dreaming?" T'pol asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know. I just woke up and it was just like I could feel you were in trouble, all I knew was that I had to get to you - to keep you safe."

T'pol took in the information, eyebrow raised. "It was more than likely the bond that we share. It is designed to warn mate's that the one they are joined to is in danger. The need you felt to get to me is a primal Vulcan instinct. It is designed to protect one's mate. It seems our bond is strengthening."

T'pol looked over to Trip considering whether she should say what was on her mind. "If we wished to severe the bond, we would have to do it soon. At the rate it is developing it will soon only be able to be severed by death."

Trip didn't know what to say, he had just been told that he could be T'pol's mate until 'death do us part.' But then she had said it could be severed now….. Was that what she wanted?

"Do you want us to severe the bond?" Trip asked anxiously.

In the few seconds that it took T'pol to answer Trip thought his his heart would explode from the stress. "I wish for our bond to remain." she finally answered "Do you wish for it to be severed." T'pol asked, apprehension tinged her voice.

"Hell no." Trip responded forcibly. "You know how I feel about you, breaking it hasn't even entered my mind." Trip answered honestly. T'pol released the breath she hadn't even realised she was holding, it surprised her just how much she had wanted the bond between Trip and herself to remain.

The two fell asleep soon afterwards. Trip's arms encircling T'pol protectively whilst T'pol lay partly across his chest, her head resting over his heart. It was completely obvious how the two felt about each other, their body language only standing to re-enforce the fact.

Thanks to all who reviewed last time, motivated me to write some more.

I've got quite a few chapters after this which are more or less ready to publish.

Want a clue?- The Romulan threat soon becomes the least of Enterprise's worries as one of the crew is abducted and time is running out to save them. Want me to update faster so you can know who? Well see that nice pretty review button...