The BLTS Archive - Eye of the Storm
by NGBlue (noveltygen@hotmail.com)

---

Disclaimer: Startrek Enterprise and all who sail on her
are owned by Paramount. No copyright infringement is
intended, no money is being made.

Additional Note: English is not my first language so to
say. Though I have a spell-checker, this story will
probably have some grammatical errors. I apologize that
I have no beta-reader either at this time. This is the
very first T'Pol/Tucker and first Enterprise fic I've
ever written, so please be kind.

Archiving: Is allowed, just drop me a note where it
goes to.

---

The mess hall was quite busy at this time of the day.
Everyone was going around stacking food on their
plates and Chef was as always a good entertainer,
happily chattering along to spread the latest gossip.
Trip almost felt a sense of peace as he looked around,
seeing so many familiar faces, just before he realized
that this wasn't his ship anymore. Hell, in just a few
more days he would probably not see most of them for a
while to come.

As he scanned the sea of people, his eyes settled on
the table at which Malcolm Reed and Travis Mayweather
were seated. Scooping up some macaroni with
tomato-sauce and cheese sprinkles, he was just about
to walk towards their table when something stopped him
dead in his tracks. On the far side of the mess-hall,
near one of the windows, T'Pol was sitting all by
herself. Though he wanted to look away, his eyes took
in the familiar picture she was presenting, so composed
and absorbed in her work. Or so he thought. Before he
was able to move another step, her head moved up and
she locked eyes with him.

Off his own accord he made a detour, his feet moving
until he had arrived at her table. Blinking his eyes
slightly in surprise and annoyance, he wondered just
what exactly kept making him seek her out. No matter
where he went, be it dreams or reality, T'Pol seemed to
follow him everywhere.

Looking down, Trip could see she had once again become
absorbed in the readings of her PADD. He figured she
could sense his presence, but she stubbornly kept her
eyes downcast, ignoring him all together. Tucker's eyes
briefly lingered on the stack of pancakes and the cup
of maple syrup in front of the Vulcan. His eyebrows
rose in curiosity. Since when did T'Pol eat pancakes?

"Commander," his voice broke the silence finally.

"Chief Engineer Tucker," she responded, still not
looking up.

"Mind if I sit down?"

She didn't respond at first, but he could see her
eyebrows scrunch up slightly in what he surmised was
the Vulcan equivalent of annoyance. "No," she finally
answered, before reaching for the cup of syrup.

"Since when did ya develop a sweet tooth?"

T'Pol still didn't raise her eyes to him. Instead she
put down her PADD and generously slathered one of the
pancakes with a layer of syrup, before deftly rolling
it up with her fork and knife. "The taste is not
unpleasant. I have been experimenting with different
types of food as of late."

Suddenly there was some disturbance at the entrance of
the mess-hall, and numerous people turned their heads
to see what it was. The three Orion slave girls moved
towards the area where all the different types of food
were laid out. Their sensuous movements made every
male head turn in appreciation. Some of them were
undressing the slave girls with their eyes. All the
female heads also turned, but not in appreciation.
Suffice to say if looks were phasers there would be an
Orion slave girl barbecue going on by now.

The only ones who seemed relatively unaffected were
Trip and T'Pol. Trip just gave them a once over, but
then his attention turned back towards his food again.
As for the Vulcan, she only raised an eyebrow and then
turned to study Tucker's body language.

She would've thought he would be following them around
like a puppy, as all of the male crew seemed to do. But,
as she studied him more closely, she could see he was
almost completely oblivious to their presence. T'Pol
moved the fork with a slice of pancake towards her
mouth, but it stopped mid-air as a thought struck her.

"You do not seem interested in them," she simply
stated as the fork continued its trajectory towards
her mouth.

"I know...they don't seem interested in me eitha," Trip
mumbled around a mouthful of macaroni. "Am beginnin' to
think I should've taken a shower this mornin'."

Her nose wrinkled slightly in distaste before she
realized he was joking. "The efficiency of the male
crew has been deteriorating since the Orions came
aboard Enterprise. I have tried to discuss this with
the Captain, but he seemed...reluctant to remove them."

Trip chuckled slightly. He could just picture T'Pol
trying to point out the negative impact the Orion slave
girls were having on the crew's work, while the Captain
was ogling the girls in question, probably not hearing a
word she said.

"You find this amusing?"

Trip smirked. "Just a li'l, I guess. I'm sure the Cap'n
is just as infatuated with those girls as the rest of the
male crew. But I think he mention'd that they'll leave at
the next planet we'll come across."

"Indeed." T'Pol finally lifted her eyes slightly,
studying his face for a few seconds. His eyes were
slightly red and bloodshot, and there were dark circles
underneath them. She knew he probably hadn't slept well
for a few days.

She moved another of the pancakes to her plate and
poured some syrup over it. Pancakes with various
toppings had actually become one of her favorite dishes
over the past few weeks. In some ways it reminded her
of when Trip had tried his best to introduce her to
different types of Earth food.

"Did you make any progress repairing the damage done to
Engineering?"

"It's comin' along justa fine. A few more days should cut
it" he muttered. He was distracted by seeing her prop
the pancake in her mouth, some of the syrup sticking to
her lips. "Could I 'ave a bite? There were none left
when I check'd earlier."

She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, taken
aback by the request. They had been studiously avoiding
each other all day, not even acknowledging each other's
presence at the meeting earlier. Just looking at his
face and sitting across from him made her realize why
she had avoided him. His mere presence unsettled her,
made some of the harder to repress emotions surface so
easily. T'Pol already had an idea why this was and the
reaction of the Orion slave-girls towards Trip, or lack
thereof, confirmed her theory.

T'Pol closed her eyes for a second, her mind focused on
controlling her breathing, controlling her emotions.
Opening them again, she cut off a slice of the pancake
and dipped it in the small puddle of syrup that had
formed on her plate. Without another word, she moved the
fork towards Trip's mouth, pausing slightly before
locking eyes to gauge his reaction.

Remaining quiet, Tucker was surprised at how she had
interpreted his request. She could've just moved her
plate towards him, but instead she was trying to feed
him a slice of the pancake. Will wonders never cease,
he mused. He moved a hand over her own and guided the
fork slowly to his mouth, all the while holding her
eyes. The situation made him tingle with need, heat
flooding his face and another place situated a little
lower. Slowly he moved his tongue around the morsel of
food, before he slowly retracted it and moved the sweet
delicacy around inside his mouth to get a good taste.

The eroticism of this particular interaction wasn't
lost on T'Pol. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to
regain some resemblance of control. Seeing his tongue
wrap around the roll of pancake had done strange things
to her body. The Vulcan shifted uncomfortably on her
seat as she lowered her fork. Shoving the plate away,
she avoided Trip's attempts to make her look at him
again. Instead she grabbed her PADD and scanned over
the data, trying to banish him from her thoughts.

"What ya workin' on?" he asked. Trip thought he had
seen her hand shake slightly as she put the fork down.
But he knew better then that; she had raised a huge
emotion wall and he had already repeatedly hurt
himself trying to get through it.

It was surprising how comfortable and relaxed he still
felt around her, despite what had happened a few months
ago. Her brush-off and claim it had been a one-time
thing had angered him, but he had controlled his
reaction. She had gone out of her way to avoid him
completely, treating him as if he had a disease. And
yet, after all that had happened and after all these
months that had passed, he could still feel this
closeness to her. Could still feel a connection between
them.

"It's a calculation to bring down the energy allotment
between deck B and C. The power relays have repeatedly
failed at this intersection."

"Why not divert the power through some of the othe'
intersections?"

"Two of them are at various stages of repair. Should we
be attacked, the strain on this particular intersection
will negatively affect power relays on both decks."

Stretching out his hand, Tucker looked at his Vulcan
companion again. For some reason she seemed more
fragile then he remembered her. Her eyes were slightly
dulled, and her skin had lost the coppery glow he knew
was normal for Vulcans. "Mind if I take a looksy?"

"No."

Handing over the PADD, T'Pol felt how his fingers
glided over her skin, before moving across her fingers
to his goal. She noted with dismay that he could have
just taken the PADD at the side she had directed
towards him. But instead he had unnecessarily wrapped
his hand around her own. The touch was both intimate
and brief, giving her little relief from the emotional
barrage that was assaulting her.

Grabbing his cup of coffee, Tucker let his eyes move
across the data on the PADD, his mouth corners curling
up in silent approval. "It's a good idea," he said,
lying the PADD down in front of him. "I got an even
betta' one though. Instead of repairin' those
intersections and movin' the energy allotment around, we
could build in back-up power relays behind the normal
ones. We can install them without havin' ta switch off
any of the power or havin' to reroute it, and at the
same time we'll have somethin' to fall back on in case
of an attack. Since ya calculations show that these
points are under the most heavy strain, it's the most
logical thin' ta do."

T'Pol sat unmoving, her mind processing his idea. "It
is a most logical conclusion," she finally stated,
sipping her mint tea. "However it will take a
considerable amount of time to implement this solution."

"I can do it inna few days," Trip stated. A grin
manifested itself on his face as he relished the
thought of starting on this new project.

"This would require you to stay on Enterprise for a
more extensive time-period."

"Ya telling' me. Ya got a problem with that?" Trip
drawled, pinning her eyes with his own. He could see
how she became flustered ever so slightly under his
gaze.

For a moment, T'Pol's world seemed to encompass just
her and Trip and the small distance that separated
them. All she could think of was moving her hands
across his face, feeling the warm and pliant skin as
she caressed it. Her eyes darted as she realized the
course her thoughts were taking. The intense need that
had been building up deep inside her for days now was
threatening to spill across her mind. She had to get
away from him while she was still able to think
clearly.

"If you will excuse me, I need to do some more
calculations before relaying these ideas to the
Captain," T'Pol said, having stood from her seat
already and moving away from the table before she
finished her sentence.

"T'Pol," Trip spoke huskily, grabbing her arm as she
started to turn away from him. Once again they were
staring in each other's eyes. He could see how her twin
orbs swirled with the emotions she was so desperately
trying to hide. Shocked at this revelation, he finally
let go of her arm and their connection broke.

All around them people had turned their heads to see
what the interaction between their ex-Chief Engineer
and Science Officer had been about. But as T'Pol left
the mess hall, looking to everyone as cool and composed
as ever, they quickly returned to their own business
again. Most of them did not even notice Tucker staring
after the Vulcan when she left the mess hall before
grabbing the pPADDshe had forgotten and following after.

---

As the chime sounded, T'Pol didn't even bother guessing
who could be at the door. "Come," she said, her voice
slightly strained.

Trip had been pacing back and forward in front of her
door for what had seemed like hours, but in reality had
been just minutes. Some of the crew stopped to look at
what he was doing, but he couldn't be bothered to
explain, too absorbed in his own thoughts. What the
hell had just happened in the mess hall, he wondered.

Entering through the door, Tucker stood stock-still for
a moment, his eyes focused intently on the woman
sitting in a lotus position on the floor. The doors
swishing shut behind him snapped Trip out of his
reverie.

"You forgot this," Trip said, kneeling and laying the
pPADDdown in front of T'Pol.

"Thank you...Commander."

He took a deep breath to collect himself before sitting
down next to her, waiting for her to acknowledge his
presence. Seconds passed, and Trip realized that maybe
he had to force T'Pol to talk to him.

"You lied to me, ya know."

Her eyes opened briefly, giving him a puzzled look. She
was aware of nothing but his presence at this time and
concentrating was becoming increasingly more difficult.
Yet she didn't tell him to leave. It was illogical. But
still she remained passive, waiting for him to continue.

"You do have trouble sleepin'," Trip stated, moving
behind her.

"Comm..." her voice trailed off as she gasped. His
hands had moved to her shoulders, slowly kneading her
tensed muscles. Her eyes widened in shock, but still
she remained still and let him continue.

"I think I know why...T'Pol," Trip's voice continued
huskily. His breath caressed her ears, raising
goose-bumps on her skin. "Those w'ren't dreams, were
they?"

His hands had moved to the buttons of her robe. When
she finally stopped him, her hands covered his own.
T'Pol's breath came in shuddering gasps as she
attempted one last time to get her control back. But she
already knew she was slipping, could feel his presence
affecting her in ways that both terrified and aroused
her.

She knew at that moment she was in the eye of the
storm. No matter what she did, the storm would wash
over her. T'Pol had been there before, scared and
broken, but this time it was different. This time she
knew there was someone she could cling to as the storm
moved through her mind and body, as it swept her away.

"They were not," T'Pol gave in, her voice shaky. She let
go off his hands, allowing him to unbutton her robe so
he had better access to her upper body.

As his hands returned to kneading her pliant flesh, a
wave of heat rolled over her. Arching her back into his
touch, T'Pol could feel his eyes bore into her from
behind.

"It's a bond..." she whispered. "We are bound." She
paused as she felt his lips nibble at the back of her
neck. "I've tried so hard to repress it. To not give in
to these feelings. My mind overruled my heart. It was
only logical."

Trip let T'Pol talk. He needed to hear her say it out
loud, admit she was feeling this just as strongly as he
was. His hands roamed over her back and towards her
taut belly, softly caressing the skin with butterfly
kisses as he listened to her quietly.

"This bond made my mind join my heart," T'Pol admitted,
a silent tear slipping from her eyes as her emotional
control wavered. "I can no longer ignore these
feelings."

"Then what do you feel, T'Pol?" Trip breathed against the
skin of her back.

Without speaking another word, T'Pol moved around
completely. Her eyes locked with his smoldering ones,
igniting fires deep within her body. She felt heat
suffuse her, block out any logical thought, until it
was just her and Trip. A soft moan welled up from her
throat as she cupped his chin with her right hand.
Slowly she inched forwards, her eyes eventually darting
towards his lips in wonder and desperate arousal.

Moving a hand around her neck, Trip moved her face closer
to his own. Trip felt her soft lips give way under his
own at the first feather-light touch. Their mouths
melted together, and Trip felt how T'Pol's opened
slightly to let out a soft moan. Tongues danced
together as Trip moved one hand behind her body to gain
leverage. Slowly he tilted her so she was seated in his
lap, her legs dangling at either side of his body.

Slowly he let the pads of his fingers caress her face
in wonder and love. Her eyes opened as the kiss broke,
and he could see so clearly now what she felt. T'Pol's
own hand rose and explored and mapped his face,
mimicking his actions. Her mouth hung open slightly,
her lips bruised from the intense kiss they had shared
moments before.

Their eyes were still locked as Trip rose, taking her
with him to the bunk. All the while he planted kisses
on her face, watching how her face softened with need.
Trip basked in the love he felt for her as he dropped
on the bed, T'Pol still in his lap.

T'Pol was still staring at him intently before leaning
forward to steal another searing kiss. She could feel
how moisture pooled in her core. Could feel how her
body hummed with a ever-building need for completion.
Her hands flew towards his shirt of her own accord as
she rapidly started to unbutton it.

"Shhhh...we got time," Trip whispered, grabbing her
agitated hands and kissing the fingers one by one.

He slowly removed his shirt, and then went to work on
the rest of their clothing. All the time his hands
explored her skin, moving over every nook and cranny,
wanting to know her body as he knew her heart. Kissing
between the valley of her breasts, he took his time to
move his fingers across the hardened nipples. Her
restrained moans were encouragement enough as he took
one in his mouth, sucking softly while watching the
emotions play on her face. T'Pol's head rolled from
side to side as she could feel the storm rage through
her body.

Trip could feel the emotions emanating from her as if
they were his own. The bond made them feel each other
more strongly, and he could literally feel the last
strand of her control slip away. Slowly he moved a
finger towards her entrance, watching through hooded
eyes as she bit her lip, her hands clutching at the
bed-sheets.

Dipping his head he tasted the skin just above the
juncture of her thighs. Her reverberating moans told
him more then enough. His tongue flicked out to lick up
the moisture that had gathered at her core. Her back
arched as he moved a arm around her to have better
access. Trip could feel how her control shattered as he
gave one more lick. T'Pol's orgasm washed over her, her
body arching off the bed completely, her release
triggering a stretched-out moan.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried to control her
breathing. But even as she did so, she could feel his
thoughts, could feel his love and passion. As her eyes
opened again, she found Trip hovering over her, their
faces inches apart. He kissed her open-mouthed and
T'Pol could taste herself on his lips and tongue.
Arousal shot through her body like lightning as she
nibbled at his bottom-lip. The look he gave her was
pure love and she could feel how their bond
strengthened even more.

Slowly Trip lowered himself on top of her, his body
nestled between her thighs as they shared long
open-mouthed kisses. Breaking apart for oxygen, he felt
drawn towards the pulse in her neck and scraped his
teeth over the skin lightly. Her hiss of pleasure made
his mouth-corners curl up, and he applied a little more
pressure before soothing the spot with a couple of
licks.

T'Pol moved one of her arms downwards, trying to guide
him to where she needed him most, but to her
frustration he kept stalling, perfectly content to
worship every inch of her skin. Her nails dug in his
back and he let out a yelp of surprise. Trip's eyes
found T'Pol's and he could see the desire-drugged
madness that had formed inside of them. Taking pity he
shifted ever so slightly so that he was poised just
above her.

Kissing her, Trip stifled her moan as he finally moved
inside. Her hands clutched at his back, urging him on
as her body arched with every movement he made. Fire
exploded behind her eyelids as she could feel his
fingers rub the little bundle of nerves that would make
her come again. She took shuddering gasps of breath,
her head completely bent backwards as she struggled to
match his increasing speed.

Trip stopped momentarily, grabbing her hands and
intertwining them with his own before he resumed his
thrusting. Holding her hands behind her head, he could
feel another surge of need move through his body, and
he shuddered in it's wake. He could feel how her hands
clutched at his own, her moans spurring them on as they
climbed towards release. T'Pol's ankles crossed behind
his back as he leaned forward, still holding her hands,
and started kissing her again. His tongue dancing with
her own as they seemed to move closer still. Their
movements like waves of passion as they rocked back and
forth.

T'Pol felt how she was swept away, the storm finally
consuming her completely as she yelled out her release
in his mouth. Trip followed her soon after, moaning her
name. After a moment they slowed their movements and
finally relaxed completely.

Kissing her eyelids, Trip propped himself up on his
hands, studying her content face. A few seconds later
her eyes opened, and he could see the love he felt
mirrored.

"Hey..." he said softly, his hands wrapping around one
of her own. He raised the hand towards his mouth and
kissed the knuckles one by one, all the while locking
eyes with T'Pol.

"Trip," she whispered hoarsely. A hint of a smile
tugged at her lips as she moved her free hand towards
his face.

"Guess I'll be contactin' the cap'n for another
transfer soon," Trip drawled, a lop-sided smile plastered
on his face.

Trip finally rolled to his side, and watched as she laid
her head on his chest. One of her hands moved to caress
the skin of his torso. "You must know, that it will not
be easy," T'Pol finally said, averting her eyes.

"Hey...none of that," he murmured. His hands tilted her
face so he could look her in the eyes again. Some
called them the windows to the soul; he didn't realize
how right that description was until this moment. "It's
just me, ya can say anythin' to me."

"We can do it," he said, pausing to kiss her on the
lips again.

She mulled over what he had said, but decided to file
this discussion away for later. T'Pol had not felt this
relaxed and complete for a long time and she cherished
the moment. Even though she knew there was a lot more
ground to cover, they could do it.

Or as he said when he started to kiss her face all over
again:

"Together."

---

The End