The BLTS Archive - The Four Horsemen (War)
Duty vs Desire
by Kalita Kasar (kalitafic@hotmail.com)

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Date posted: November 6, 2002

Feedback: Yes

Challenge: Yes The Four Horsemen Challenge. This is the horseman
"War."

Archive: Yes to EntSTSlash only. Text of all three fics also available
at Kalita's Web site.

Spoilers: None

Warnings: None

Beta: None

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Malcolm Reed stood in front of the mirror in his small bathroom. Hips
swathed in a soft towel, he surveyed his reflection and ran the
fingers of one hand across his chin, listening to the rasp of stubble
against them.

He reached for the shaver that hung from a hook to his right and began
to methodically shave.

As the shaver worked across his right cheek, he met his own eyes in
the reflective surface. If he concentrated hard enough, he could
almost feel the warmth of a strong hand that had rested there the
night before.

Reed closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, pushing the thoughts of
what had occurred in the observation deck last night firmly to the
back of his mind. There was much that he had to do that day, and
allowing himself to be distracted from duty by a fleeting moment of
desire was not conducive to productivity.

Finished with the shaver, he hung it up and grabbed a bottle of
aftershave, tipping a small amount into the palm of his hand before
applying it to his skin. A thumb grazed across his bottom lip and
instantly his mind forgot the lecture he'd just given himself.

'He was going to kiss me,' Reed thought. 'Another moment and his lips
would have been on mine.' Thinking of it, Reed bit his lip as his
heart quickened its beat.

Archer's face was so close, he could feel the captain's breath gusting
warm against his lips; he could almost taste those lips. Another
moment and his secret desires would be answered. He parted his lips
slightly as his breath hitched in his throat. 'Kiss me.' He wanted to
say it aloud but his voice failed him.

In the end it was probably a good thing that Trip had interrupted
them.

Reed again pulled his thoughts back to the present and walked out of
the bathroom to begin dressing for the day.

In the heat of the moment the previous night, he had dearly wanted
that kiss, but now, faced with the cold reality of duty and
responsibility, he told himself it was better that it hadn't happened.

He was the armoury officer for Enterprise a position of heavy
responsibility. He couldn't afford the distraction of a relationship.
Any relationship would be distracting, but a relationship with Captain
Archer, with those sea green eyes, that broad chest, those powerful
arms, those sensuous lips and oh..that--

"Dammit!" Reed shook himself hard and gritted his teeth together.
"This is ridiculous!"

He pulled on his skivvies and quickly dressed into his uniform.

"I've to spend most of the day with him on the bridge today."

Reed glanced at the digital time display next to his neatly made bed
and sighed. He had almost fifteen minutes before he needed to leave.
Usually, he would have spent that time in the mess hall, eating
breakfast, but he decided not to go there. The risk of meeting the
captain was too great, and whilst his thoughts insisted in returning
again and again to the previous night, he was not entirely sure he
could trust himself to be confronted with the object of his desire.
'With my commanding officer,' he firmly corrected himself.

Taking up a datapadd from the small desk at the side of the room, he
sat down on the end of his bed to read it. It was a technical manual
dealing with some new developments in weapons technology and he'd
downloaded it a few days ago planning to familiarize himself with the
specs so that he could apply some of them on Enterprise.

The sounding of the door chimes caused him to look up, frowning as he
wondered who would be calling on him at this early hour. Reed laid the
padd aside and moved to the door. "Who's there?"

"Malcolm, it's Trip, can I come in?"

He opened the door, automatically falling into parade rest as the
commander stepped into the room. "Commander?"

"Relax, Malcolm, I'm not here on business." Tucker flicked a
dismissive hand at him as he walked into the small cabin and turned to
look at Reed. "I think ah owe ya an apology."

"For?"

"Whaddya mean what for? You know what for. I ...I ..."

"If you're referring to last night, then I have to say I'm glad you
interrupted when you did."

"What?" Tucker gave him a look of disbelief. "You mean you didn't
want..." he trailed off and shook his head."I don't believe that."

"What I want is not really at issue here. It wouldn't be appropriate
for me to become involved with the captain."

"Right." The disbelief in Tucker's voice was thick.

The fleeting image of Tucker lying on the floor with a broken neck was
tempting, but Reed suppressed the urge. He folded his arms across his
chest, a defensive action that was not lost on his friend.

"Look, I know ya don't like people pryin' inta your personal life an'
I won't," Tucker said. "I just don't believe that you're not
interested in gettin' 'involved' with the cap'n."

"Believe what you like, Trip." Reed moved towards the doors. "What I
want and what I am interested in is irrelevant; it's simply not going
to happen."

"Uh-huh."

The broken necked engineer image was getting more tempting by the
minute. Reed turned as he reached the door and fixed Tucker with a
steady gaze. "After you," he said with just a little less civility
than was usual.

Tucker moved past him into the corridor "Well...all right, but I
reserve the right to not believe ya." He shot Reed a grin "Wanna meet
me for lunch today?"

A sigh. "All right," Reed said. "Anything to make you shut up and go
to work."

"I love ya too, Malcolm. See ya at thirteen hundred."

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The End