The BLTS Archive - Crossfire
by Kalita Kasar (kalitafic@hotmail.com)

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Archive: ENT Slash; WWOMB; connortrineerfans. Others by
permission.

Feedback: yes

Disclaimer: I don't own them. They were born in other creative minds,
but they keep intruding into mine, so what's a girl to do? I don't get
any money for this; it's just a labour of love, for me and them.

Spoilers: Rogue Planet

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Malcolm Reed was not entirely sure when the competition between
himself and the captain had started. That it had, however, was
becoming increasingly apparent to him as time went on.

Perhaps it started after Archer caught him in an intimate embrace with
Trip in the armoury, but it may have been there before that. Malcolm
just wasn't certain.

It had begun subtly at first, a word here, or a look there. Nothing
that Malcolm could put a finger on; it was just a feeling, a sneaking
suspicion that perhaps everything was not entirely as it had been
between himself and Captain Archer.

Then, two days ago, the captain had come to see Malcolm in the
Armoury.

"Malcolm, I wondered if we could have a word?"

"Sir?" He looked up from his work, and met Archer's green eyes, which
watched him with a speculative light. "How can I help you?"

"I've been...thinking about some things recently, Lieutenant." The
captain moved around the armoury as he spoke, looking at this display
screen, or checking on some setting. After a moment, he went on with
what seemed like a complete change of subject. "Trip and I had
breakfast together this  morning."

"Yes?" Malcolm put down the data pad he was working on and turned to
face the captain. "I was aware of that, sir." He narrowed his eyes a
little, wishing the man would get to the point.

"Trip has a...mark on his wrist." Archer said. His green eyes pinned
Malcolm with a hard stare. "He didn't like me asking too many
questions about it, Lieutenant."

Malcolm folded his arms across his chest. "I see." He knew the mark
Archer referred to. It had happened accidentally a few nights before,
when their love play had become just a little rougher than usual. He
raised an eyebrow. "I suppose Commander Tucker is entitled to his
privacy." Malcolm turned back to his work. "Will that be all, sir?"

"No, Malcolm, that's not all." Jonathan stepped in closer to the
smaller man. "Just a friendly word of advice, Lieutenant Reed." He
paused until Malcolm was forced to look up and meet his eyes. "You
won't hurt him."

It was not a question.

Malcolm looked into the captain's eyes for a long moment, wanting to
tell him to go to hell, but the use of ranks told him that the captain
was willing to use his position to influence this matter. He
straightened his shoulders, standing to his full hight, which still
felt too short next to the older man.

"Yessir," he said coolly before he turned away with a half salute.

"I think we understand each other." Jonathan left the armoury as
quietly as he'd come in.

---

The competition between them had grown sharper from that moment. It
was not as though Malcolm could avoid the captain after all, and
Archer seemed to take some kind of perverse delight in goading him. It
was becoming intolerable, and the lieutenant had found himself
thinking once or twice that he should confront his Commanding Officer
about the situation and clear the air.

He'd been planning to do just that, when the rogue planet, DaKala, had
showed up on sensors.

The sniping continued between Jonathan and Malcolm on the way to the
planet, but after landing, it seemed to get worse.

Malcolm had only been doing his job when he suggested the away team
should follow him. The terrain was unfamiliar, light limited on the
planet with no sun. He began to lead the way through the undergrowth,
phase pistol in hand when Archer's voice checked him.

"Why don't you let me play Captain for a while, Malcolm?"

It hadn't stopped there. Malcolm found himself drawn into a game of
points scoring, even in such trivial things as who had more Eagle
Scouts Merit Badges.

It was a relief when Archer sent him back to the ship with Ensign Sato
to drop her off and bring Trip and some camping gear down to the
planet's surface.

Lieutenant Reed sat by the campfire staring into the flames as he
drank the sweet wine the Eskans had given them. Trip was by his side,
also pensive as he watched the flames snap and dance amongst the wood.
It was pleasant to get away from the ship and for once, the captain
was staying off Malcolm's case. Archer glanced at them from time to
time across the fire, but for the most part, he was engrossed in
conversation with T'Pol.

"Are you enjoying yourselves?" Damrus walked into the ring of
firelight, smiling at them all gathered around the fire.

"Very much," Archer replied.

Malcolm noted that Trip looked relaxed and contented lazing by the
fire. He let his eyes travel over the older man's form; drinking him
in like the wine in his cup.

He sighed and offered the Eskan a smile and a nod. Anyone who could
make Trip look so relaxed was all right with him.

"We depart in six hours," Damrus said to Malcolm, "you should think
about getting some sleep...if you still plan to come with us?"

"I wouldn't miss it." Malcolm replied. He was looking forward to a
chance to see how the sensor cloaks the Eskans used worked and to
witness the hunt. He nodded and got to his feet. "I suppose I'll turn
in then," he said, laying a hand on Trip's shoulder in an unspoken
signal.

"Sounds like a good idea." Trip got up and followed him quickly.

"I think I'll sit up a while," Archer called to them as they made
their way towards the tents.

"Have fun," Trip called back and smiled when Archer merely laughed.

Walking to their tent, Malcolm cast a glance over his shoulder at
Trip. "It' s a relief to get away," he said softly, holding the tent
flap aside for the older man.

"What...is he still annoying you?"

"You might say that. Though harassing is probably a more accurate name
for it."

"I don't get it," Trip mused. "It's not like Jon to behave that way. I
can talk to him if you want; try and see what's bothering him?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. It may only exacerbate the
problem."

"Well, alright, if that's what you want." Trip began to strip out of
his jumpsuit, folding it neatly and placing it to one side of the tent
before he took a flashlight and made a thorough search of his sleeping
bag. "What was the name of them critters you and Hoshi mentioned? Bore
worms?"

Malcolm suppressed a grin, remembering the way he and the
communications officer had teased Trip before coming down to the
surface. "That's right; the ones that lay eggs in your ears." Malcolm
reached for his lover, pulling him close. "Actually, I think I had
just better check and make sure none have attacked you, hmm?" As he
spoke he drew Trip closer against him, kissing his left ear and then
swirling his tongue into it gently. "Ummm nope, no eggs here,
Commander. Should I check the other one?"

Trip shuddered with delight as his lover's breath caressed the
moistened skin of his ear. He nodded mutely and turned his head,
allowing Reed to gently lathe the right ear.

"All clear here, too," Malcolm murmured as he ran his lips across
Trip's cheek to capture his lips in a breath stealing kiss full of
passion.

Malcolm gently pushed Trip backwards covering his lover's body with
his own as his mouth continued to savour the older man's lips. He
dipped his tongue into Trip's mouth, tasting the wine they had drunk
by the fire, and he growled deep in his throat.

"Malcolm!" Trip struggled a little in the lieutenant's arms. "We can't
do this here... he glanced towards the tent flap. "The
cap'n...T'Pol..."

"Won't hear a thing if you can keep quiet for once." Malcolm smiled
down at Trip before returning to his leisurely exploration of the
commander's body.

"Dammit, Malc..." Trip's protests were silenced by a hot mouth and a
probing tongue; a kiss that stole his breath and sent his mind into a
spin. Moments later, Charles Tucker had forgotten about protesting and
was avidly kissing the younger man back while his hands made quick
work of getting the zipper on Malcolm's jumpsuit undone so he could
explore the warm skin beneath.

Bodies pressed close together, hands exploring, the two men lay full
length in their tent, the only sounds that of soft moans and grunts as
they hungrily explored one another's bodies.

After several moments, Malcolm released Trip's mouth and smiled down
into his lover's eyes. "You were saying?" He passed a thumb across
Charlie's lips, caressing them.

"Nothin'," Trip whispered and suddenly rolled to pin Malcolm's body
under his own. He grinned and caught hold of the younger man's hands,
bearing them to the floor above Malcolm's head. "I think you just lost
the advantage, Mr Reed." Trip ground his hips against his lover,
letting him feel the extent of his desire. With Malcolm helpless
beneath him, Trip began a leisurely exploration of his own.

"I think I should check your ears too," he said with a grin, and bent
to do just that, licking the small, well formed ears of his partner;
gently huffing warm breath into them, and moving onwards to suck and
nibble at Malcolm's earlobes. "Want me, Darlin'?"

"You know I do." Malcolm squirmed under Trip as his earlobe was again
sucked into Trip's mouth, the tongue teasing the tip while his teeth
gently pressed the soft flesh between them.

Trip growled and pushed Malcolm's undershirt up, helping the younger
man to get the garment off over his head, leaving his chest exposed to
more of Trip 's kissing, licking and teasing.

Malcolm bucked and cried out softly as Trip's tongue found one of his
nipples, licking for a moment before the hardening nub was drawn
between gently sucking lips and tormented by teeth.

Trip chuckled and let go long enough to say. "I thought you said we
need to be quiet, Lieutenant?"

The only response was a helpless whimper as Trip moved on from
Malcolm's nipples to raze a trail of fiery little kisses downward to
the younger man's navel, his tongue dipping for a brief visit to that
sensitive hollow. Trip delighted in the shudders that ran the length
of Malcolm's body, and the increasing heat of the younger man's skin.
He knew that Malcolm was quickly building to a fever pitch of desire,
and he added fuel to it by taking a detour to the left and sinking his
teeth into his lover's hip.

With a yelp, Malcolm reached to twine his fingers into the short hair
of his lover. "You did that on purpose," he chuckled. "I thought you
were concerned about being overheard."

"Of course I did it on purpose, Malcolm..." Trip nipped at his lover's
hip a second time. "But I didn't say I was worried about bein'
overheard; you assumed that."

Dipping his head, the commander shunted lower, simultaneously grabbing
the waistband of Malcolm's briefs. "Lift yur hips, Darlin."

Malcolm obliged and then sank back down with a groan of longing as
that devilish tongue danced along the length of his swollen manhood,
sending lightning bolts of pleasure all through him. He swallowed
hard, his fingers gripping tighter into that short, silky hair. "Oh
god...that's soo good!"

A moment later his organ was engulfed in a warm, wet cavern as Trip
drew him into his mouth and began to suck gently while his fingers
made maddening little circles across his belly.

Malcolm closed his eyes, lost in a haze of erotic sensation, trying
hard not to thrust deeper into Trip's throat; letting the blond man
set the pace. His fingers clawed at the sleeping bag beneath him as
Trip gradually increased the pace, slowly fuelling the fires in his
body until they burned with an intensity that left him trembling and
weak with need. He was incapable of communicating in anything more
than inarticulate grunts and moans until finally, the tension came to
a point that he could no longer restrain it.

"Oh god, yes!" Malcolm cried as Trip brought him to the brink and then
nudged him over it into orgasmic paroxysms with a skilful flick of his
tongue across the tender corona.

Trip growled as Malcolm bucked. Warm come spurted into his mouth, and
he held it for a moment, before letting it run slowly down over the
still twitching organ, using it as lubrication as he quickly bobbed
his head up and down a few more times, milking every drop of the slick
fluid from Malcolm's body.

As Malcolm slowly began to relax, Trip released the sated member from
his mouth and made his way back upwards along the lieutenant's body
until their lips met and he kissed the younger man tenderly. "Happy?"

"Mmmm ecstatic..." Malcolm gasped, pulling Trip against him and
wrapping them both in the sleeping bag.

They lay snuggled together for several moments; not speaking while
Malcolm came down from the heady experience Trip had just given him.

After a while Malcolm stirred. "Still awake?" He kissed Trip's
forehead as he spoke.

"Uh-hmmm." Trip nuzzled Malcolm's shoulder. His voice sounded sleepy,
but he drew back a little, looking into his lover's eyes.

Malcolm smiled. "What did you mean?"

"Hm?" Trip frowned, "mean...mean when?"

"When you said, 'the cap'n...T'Pol...' I thought you meant you didn't
want them to hear us."

Trip laughed softly as his arms tightened around the younger man.
"Nah, I meant they might get jealous."

"Oh." Malcolm went silent again for a few moments. "Do you think he
is? Jealous, I mean."

"Who, Jon?" Trip shook his head. "I don't think so...there's never
been anythin' between us."

"Hm..." Malcolm nuzzled into Trip's hair, breathing his scent. "I just
wonder, sometimes...it almost seems like it..."

"Nah," Trip asserted, "no competition at all, Darlin'."

Silence again fell between them, a companionable, contented silence.
Malcolm sighed and closed his eyes. He was happy with Trip. Happier
than he had ever been with anyone. Trip was easy going and laid back.
Malcolm didn't feel the constant need to prove himself with Trip that
he often had in other relationships. He treasured it. Smiling against
Trip's hair, Malcolm tightened his arms about his lover.

"Good," he murmured. "I wouldn't want to see you caught in the
crossfire if he were."

"Are you sure you don't want me to talk to him?" Trip pushed himself
up on one elbow, looking down into Malcolm's eyes.

"Yes." Malcolm nodded and pulled Trip down next to him once more. "I'm 
sure." He wrapped his arms around the commander. "We ought to sleep.
It's late." He smiled in the darkness as Trip drew a deep breath and
snuggled closer. "Good night," he whispered.

Lying in the darkness, listening as his lover's breathing slowed and
grew more even, Malcolm let his mind run over recent events. Jonathan
Archer bore all the hallmarks of a jealous ex lover, and Malcolm
couldn't understand it. He believed Trip was telling the truth when he
said there had never been anything between the two of them, but the
captain's behaviour was still puzzling nonetheless. He sighed, shaking
his head as he settled to sleep.

For the moment Trip was his, and he intended for things to remain that
way. He would find some way to deal with the captain, when and if it
became necessary. As he drifted into slumber, Malcolm's mind moved
away from Archer, to the pending hunt. He wasn't sure exactly what, as
yet, but something about the Eskans and their equipment was slightly
off base. He intended to find out what.

---

The End