The BLTS Archive - Falling Down
third in the Directions series
by ShoSen (shosen@totallykawaii.com)

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Disclaimer: All stories not found in the Originals section are works
of fanfiction. The characters are not the property of the fanfiction
author, and belong to their respective copyright holders. No money is
being made from the production of these stories.

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Trip entered the Armoury, lugging his toolbox along, stopped, and
glared around him. Unfortunately, the effect was wasted as there was
no one visible to see it. After a moment, however, Malcolm appeared,
his attention focused on the phase pistol that was in his hand, and
whatever modifications he was currently making on it. He didn't even
look up to where Trip was standing, which really didn't help the
engineer's mood.

"Well?" he demanded, finally getting Malcolm to look up from the
weapon, which he supposed was a minor victory in itself, but not one
he was about to take consolation in.

"Hello Commander," Malcolm greeted him, and Trip scowled.

"Look Malcolm, I have spent the entire day fighting all the important
systems that have been cutting out on us lately. I have a lot to do,
and I am not a repairman you can call up to fix every little thing
that goes wrong with your toys. So if you can just tell me what was so
important that I had to come myself, I would appreciate getting back
to work instead of dealing with little--" a large eruption of sparks,
complete with cracking and hissing noises cut off his tirade, and drew
his attention to the rather large hole that had been burnt into one of
the Armoury's far walls, exposing all the damaged circuitry that lay
behind it, "problems," he finished his sentence in disbelief. When he
looked back over at Malcolm, he found the other man looking not in the
slightest bit embarrassed. "What the hell happened in here?"

"As you know, I've been trying to modify some of the phase pistols to
make them stronger, beyond what we were able to do when the cybernetic
beings attacked the ship."

"And this is the explanation for the giant hole we now have in the
wall?"

"Yes, well, I wasn't entirely successful."

"Looks like you got a heck of a lot more power outta them if you did
this with just one."

The man had the gall to look smug. "Yes, well, the power output was
acceptable; unfortunately, it sent the targeting completely off."
Another loud burst of sparks cut off the rather impolite comments Trip
was about to make regarding Malcolm's experimental controls.

"Damn it, why didn't you reroute the power that's going through those
conduits."

"I did," Malcolm replied bluntly. "As far as I can tell, none of
Enterprise's power is moving through there." More sparks. "And the
continuing light show is the reason I requested your assistance."

Trip sighed, his anger at getting summoned to the Armoury finally
draining off in the face of the problem before him. "Okay, then I
guess I better see what I can do."

"I appreciate your willingness to help with such a little problem." He
was smirking now, and Trip gave him a glare in return, before pulling
out a scanner and trying to figure out what was going on in what was
left of that section of wall.

Malcolm nodded, finally leaving the phase pistol behind to join him as
they tried to figure out what the readings they were getting meant.
Trip watched him as they studied their instruments, pleased to see
that the he didn't waver like he was about to fall over anymore.

"So," Trip began, "you look" Malcolm started to glare at him, and he
smirked, "better."

The Armoury officer should his head with a smile. "I feel much better,
thank you."

"The medicine really worked then, didn't it."

"Apparently so."

Trip smiled, and Malcolm finally gave him a sideways look.

"I am not going to say that you were right, so stop waiting for it."

He laughed, then they both jumped back as the sparks shot out of the
wall again. "I don't understand this, there's nothin' running' through
there that could cause that sort of reaction."

"Given all the evidence to the contrary, something has to be sending
power through those circuits."

Trip shook his head, walking over to stand beside Malcolm. "Yeah, but
I'll be damned if I figure out wh--" his words were cut off as the
entire ship seemed to drop out from under them, and he fell forward,
crashing into Malcolm, both of them hitting the deck hard. Well,
technically, Malcolm hit the deck hard, and Trip hit Malcolm hard,
landing right on top of the other man, the breath knocked out of them
both. He managed to get his hands under him, lifting up enough that he
wasn't crushing Malcolm anymore, and was instead looking down at the
other man, who was looking up at him with a rather dazed expression.
It was probably from hitting his head on the floor, but there was an
unguarded quality to his gaze, and Trip found himself being drawn into
it. The Armoury seemed very far away, and he was aware of nothing
other than those blue-grey eyes and the feeling of the ground moving
beneath him. Well, the whole of Enterprise moving beneath him, but
lying there with Malcolm underneath him, he was finding it very hard
to care that the stabilizers were apparently offline.

Until the god-awful tactical alert sounded and the far-away look left
Malcolm's eye just before they scrambled to their feet. They ran for
the bridge together, forgetting the hole in the Armoury's wall,
forgetting the fall to the floor, forgetting the feeling he got from
looking down into Malcolm's eyes.

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continued in the fourth story in the Directions series 'Rising Up'