Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing and reading. It's wonderful to know you're out there, still shipping our two starcrossed lovers along with me.

Chapter 2

It was an established fact that Vulcans did not eat meat, show their emotions, and they definitely did not experience insomnia during periods of stress. Vulcans recognized the benefits of rest as a biological imperative. It was a scheduled necessity, a rejuvenation of muscle repair, tissue growth and protein synthesis. Nothing more and nothing less. Contrary to this truth, Commander T'Pol was awake. She found herself unable to return to slumber despite adhering to her typical nighttime routine. She had meditated and fallen asleep as she usually did, but she had awakened in the depths of the night with a start. Searching her surroundings with immediacy, she found no threat. Since succumbing to her Trellium addiction, her control was more tenuous than it once was. In her sleep, she had thought she had heard a loud noise, but judging by her surroundings, she must have been mistaken.

She studied the outline of her room to be certain, but found no cause for the disturbance, her sole companion being the candlelight flame flickering opposite her mediation space. The dancing flame illuminated the first officer's spartan quarters just enough for its occupant to visualize the room's familiar contents. Several of what she considered to be pivotal moments had transpired here, a few of which she wished she could purge from her memories permanently. T'Pol inhaled sharply as she forced herself to push the disturbing memories beneath the surface. She had not thought of the intrusive memories of a forced mind-meld at the hand of Tolaris and the mental and physical assault of Rajin. Trying to occupy her mind with anything else, other, more pleasing moments that had happened in this space surfaced: a slice of pecan pie, Vulcan neuropressure, and a certain night of passion that would forever be etched in her memory. Similarly, that night had also begun under the light of the flame. She could almost hear the voices of the past touch her mind, a distant but precious memory.

You aren't saying much tonight.

He was correct. They had not said much, but they communicated more physically that night than hours of conversation could have achieved. That was undoubtedly when the bond had taken root between them. That was when her fate became inextricably linked to Trip.

After that, she had nearly lost him more than once, a thought that gripped her in terror if she was willing to admit it to herself, begetting more illogical behavior on her part. She chastised herself for her folly. Would she ever regain her mental discipline where her mate was concerned? Frustrated with her inability to return to her resting state, she contemplated meditation, but was at once aware of the disturbance in her mind again. Searching the shared place when his mind remained joined to hers, she was clearly able to visualize her mate in Engineering, a conglomeration if PADDs surrounding him. Why was he awake and working at this hour? She knew all too well the physical trauma he had endured recently. He was not scheduled for the duty roster. She had seen to that. Fighting her growing irritation, she decided to make her feelings known to him. After a brief mental repartee, she could discern that her attempts to secure his well-being were to be unfruitful. She monitored his actions, hoping he would reconsider, but instead he circumvented her authority by seeking out the Doctor. Vulcans did not experience lividity. She clamped down forcefully on the bond, willing herself to regulate her emotions. She breathed deeply and remained thus for sometime to no avail, when she heard a chime at her door, breaking her concentration entirely. She knew it was him. She could feel it. Suppressing the inner turmoil within, she steeled an impenetrable mask atop her face, her countenance an unreadable tome, and spoke evenly, "You may come in."

Cautiously, Trip entered the room and the door closed efficiently behind him. The pair held each other's gaze for a time, each daring the other to speak first. It was he who broke the silence first as he fiddled with the light control switch in the wall, frowning at its unresponsiveness. "This switch needs to be repaired," he spoke softly and subconsciously began to inspect the panel, gratified to have something mechanical to focus his attention on. He continued fiddling with the switch for a moment. T'Pol had lived around humans long enough to recognize the double-meaning surrounding her mate's preoccupation with the light switch.

"What if it cannot be repaired?" She asked softly. "Perhaps it needs to be replaced completely," she hedged as she continued, "Perhaps it would be better suited if it were replaced with a different model altogether, one more similar to the other switches aboard the ship?" A barely discernible quiver punctuated her remarks.

He recognized at once her recurring insecurity about his being better suited for a human mate from the mind-meld they had shared only weeks ago. "I think the switch will be fine. As long as you don't force it." He stepped toward her and smiled softly. Reaching for her, he tucked one of her errant hairs behind her ear.

His touch disarmed her as it always had. They had committed to one another after the accident but they had not been permitted to physically connect due to his injuries. Her awareness that the restriction had been lifted earlier by way of her eavesdropping on his conversation with the doctor left a raw energy charging the atmosphere between them.

She retreated backwards, unwilling to broker a truce via a physical means when so much was yet to be resolved between them. "You are not on the duty roster, yet you were working in Engineering. It's the middle of the night," she admonished.

Trip ran his hand through his hair, and planted his tongue in his cheek before responding, "And you wouldn't have known about it if you weren't spying on me."

"Perhaps I wouldn't have to resort to spying on you if you would adhere to the rehabilitation conditions the doctor created for you." She retorted, her tone deceptively even.

He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling.

"I guess we're doing this then," he grumbled in his growing frustration.

He advanced towards her and leaned in close. She could feel his breath brush her lips.

"T'Pol. You are treating me like a child. I am a grown man! I'm the Chief Engineer of Starfleet's flagship. I can take care of myself," he bemoaned.

"Evidently not, or you would be asleep," she volleyed back, attempting to ignore the effect his proximity was having on her. His exasperation with her was palpable.

"Please, T'Pol! You have to respect my privacy. You can't keep me on a leash. What is this really about anyway? Please talk to me. Why are you angry with me?"

He pleaded with her with his earnest blue eyes fixed on her exquisite face, using all his restraint to focus on just her eyes as he felt his body's control begin to forsake him in response to the nearness of her.

"Vulcans don't experience anger." She answered slowly, emphasizing each word, more for her own benefit than his.

He laughed, mirthlessly. "The hell they don't! When I was talking with Phlox, I knew that feeling wasn't mine!" He was becoming irritated by her obfuscation.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she replied unflappably.

He couldn't bear it any longer. The tension building between them was about to break him and it was coming from both inside his head through the bond and from the magnetic attraction to the woman right in front of him. The heat was blinding. He needed to leave until he could find the wherewithal to clear his head and regain control.

"Maybe you were right all along. Maybe this was a mistake, you and I."

He turned to go, but she grabbed his arm forcefully at, pulling him towards her with more strength than she had intended. The sudden, unpredictable movement sent him careening into her, and she caught him, his body now pressed to hers. Startled, he froze, paralyzed by both his confusion and desire. He searched her expression for her truth. Her breaths became ragged and uneven until she finally launched herself onto him, pressing her lips to his hungrily. She had yearned for this moment since the first time they had performed this act. She pushed him onto her bed and moved to remove his shirt. His eyes transfixed on her, he searched for any of her tells, desperate to understand what this meant. Feverishly, she began to undress herself and once she was rid of her own garments, she continued with ministrations to remove his, the remainder of her self-control becoming as undone as the fasteners holding his pants together. Her fingers quivered as she made quick work of his belt, button, and zipper. Finally she freed him just as she could bear it no longer and they joined together, the heat of her skin nearly burning his cooler body as it moved beneath her. They made love fiercely, yet silently, neither one daring to interrupt the feral act they were engaged in with speech. With their bodies, they were able to find the homeostasis that had eluded them since they had returned to the ship. This and this alone was simple, uncomplicated and unfettered by the tangled implications of their bond.

Afterwards, neither spoke as they fell into a deep, rhythmic slumber together with the rise and fall of their chests moving in concert.

Hours later, a brightening light began to permeate the narrow opening between her second and third eyelids. She opened her eyes and to her disappointment, she found that she was alone in her quarters. No vestiges of her mate's presence there from the evening before remained. She began to wonder if she had dreamt his presence in her quarters last night. Dreaming was most irregular for Vulcans, but she had found that any dreams she experienced had generally been linked to Trip and she had experienced several of these of late, particularly centered around a cherubic blue-eyed Vulcan infant. She was about to dismiss their intimacy as a dream, when it occurred to her lips were tingling and that the brightness that had awakened her emanated from the overhead light. She looked to the wall with curiosity. Her light switch had been repaired. She raised an eyebrow, and rose to prepare for her shift.