ISS Enterprise NX-01 (under construction)

Orbital Dry Dock Facility 2149


She watched him from the shadows. Watched from the left-hand side.

At a certain point, he became aware she was there, although he never indicated as such, and she, in turn became aware of his awareness.

Finally, when the shift ended, when the room emptied, he spoke to her. "I know you are there."

She stepped out into lesser shadows and answered. "I know."

"WHY are you there?"

There was an edge of anger to his voice, of bitterness of rage. She couldn't even tell anymore if it was justified. Who could say, in a life such as this one?

"I need your help," she replied, and clarified before he could refuse her. "I need YOU."

He laughed, and turned to face her fully. "Really?"

She forced herself to look at his face - all of it - without recoiling.

It was easier than she expected.

"Yes," she replied. And then she said "Ponn Farr is beginning." He would know what that was.

He inhaled mirthlessly. "If you have to fuck anyway, T'Pol, why not fuck someone who matters?"

"No," she replied. Immediately. Too quickly. "Ponn Farr is intimate. It is vulnerable. I want you. Only you."

"Well, then sure," he replied, aggressively downing tools. "I'm no threat to you. So why not?"

She hadn't meant it that way. But pressing her case seemed pointless; he was following her. She had what she came for.

The found a small, out of the way place, and moved with in it, more gracefully and with more knowledge of the space than either one could have managed alone.

"I feel you sometimes," he said. "Inside my mind. What does that mean?"

She stroked a strand of hair away from his forehead. "It means nothing. Do not concern yourself."

"I don't like the idea of you in my head," he replied. "My father was wiser than I thought. He named you without ever meeting you."

T'Pol sighed. "We all must serve forces greater than ourselves. But I have no intention of ever betraying you."

"Yeah," he snorted. "But would you tell me if you did?"

She could only answer truthfully. "I would not."

"Do you love me?" he asked.

"I would not tell you that either."

Around them, the engine of the Terran Empire thrummed.


The end.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!