Payment in Full - Chapter 24
TITLE: PAYMENT IN FULL- CHAPTER 24
AUTHOR: PIPPIN
RATING: NC-17 (to be on the safe side)
PAIRING: Archer/Trip
SETTING: Minor spoilers: "Stigma"; "First
Flight" and "The Expanse". Set after the events of
"Savior".
FEEDBACK: Always!
[email protected]
DISCLAIMER: Paramount owns the characters. I’m just borrowing them, and promise to
return them safe and sound. The only thing I gain from this is some writing
practice.
SUMMARY: Everything has a price.
Chapter 24
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Trip stared
at his lover in astonishment. “You kick that can,” referring to the trash
receptacle, “any harder and you’ll send it right through the hull.”
Archer glared at him. “Aren’t you supposed to
be sleeping right now?”
“How am I supposed to sleep through all your
racket?”
“Sorry.”
Trip sighed. “Get over here.” When Archer
simply stood, looking at him, he added sharply, “now!”
Still scowling, the captain nevertheless
obeyed. He slouched over to their bed and sat silently, glowering at his feet.
When it was obvious that his lover was not
going to be forthcoming, Trip sighed again. “Jon – what’s wrong? I haven’t
seen you in such a temper since …” He trailed off. “Well, in a long
time.”
Archer sighed. “It’s Phlox. We just had
another dust-up.”
“Why? I’ve been good.”
“Not you.”
“Then?”
“Lieutenant Reed.”
Trip winced very slightly. “Oh. What about
him?”
“Phlox wants Reed to accompany him when he goes
downplanet tomorrow to pick up those medications he ordered.”
“I thought this was a peaceful place. Isn’t
that what the Vulcans said?”
Archer nodded. They were in orbit around U
!kuscoba, a small M-class moon that in turn orbited a large gas giant in the
M’brik system. U !kuscoba had been colonized about 100 years ago by a race
known as the Erinini, who had initially been drawn to their new home by the
abundance of medicinal plants the moon boasted. They had a thriving trade in
medicinal supplies, and Phlox had urged Archer to make a stop here. Always
interested in new contacts, the captain had little difficulty in agreeing to
this request. As for Phlox’s other one … he sighed.
“It is. That’s not the reason he wants Reed to
accompany him.”
“Then why?”
“Because he thinks Lieutenant Reed needs some fresh
air and sunlight. He didn’t take shore leave on Vesora, for obvious reasons.”
“And you disagree, I take it?”
“Reed is confined to quarters,” Archer said
shortly.
“Forever?”
“What?”
“You heard me. You haven’t settled the matter
yet, have you?” When Archer was silent, Trip persisted. “Have you?”
“No,” was the quiet admission.
“Well, I think you’d better – and soon. And as
for the other – Phlox is right. It’s a medical matter, and you ought to follow
his advice on this.”
Archer stared at him. “I don’t believe you!”
“What?”
“You’re taking his side in this!”
“Who, Phlox’s? Of course I am. He knows – “
“- not Phlox. Reed! I can’t believe you!
After what happened …!”
“Jon, please. Like I said, there were
extenuating circumstances. He was drunk!”
“That’s no excuse! He tried to rape
you, Trip! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“What the hell kind of stupid question is
that?”
“Seems to me a reasonable one. You’re siding
with your would-be rapist.”
“I am not siding with him! If you would
just listen to me! I’m trying to get you to see reason! If you would stop
being so damn stubborn and stiff-necked …”
“So I’m stubborn, am I? Christ – I thought I
was being concerned! For you! So pardon me all to hell!”
Trip winced. He was starting to get a headache.
“Jon. Please. I really don’t want to get into this with you.” He rubbed his
forehead, hoping Jon would notice and back down a bit, but no such luck.
“You started it.”
Trip sighed. “Look. All I’m saying is that
Phlox wouldn’t have asked for this if he didn’t feel strongly about it. You
know Phlox doesn’t make frivolous requests. Right?”
Archer scowled, but he knew Trip was right.
“Yes.”
“And if this was anyone else, you wouldn’t make
a fuss.”
“You mean I should just forget about what Reed’s
done?”
“No. But you need to wear your Captain’s hat
here for a minute. If you did, you’d see Phlox was just doing his job.”
Archer sighed. “All right.”
“Okay.” Trip sighed in turn. “And J – Captain
– you need to figure out what you’re going to do with Lieutenant Reed. You
can’t keep him locked up forever.”
“That’s what he deserves.”
“Is it? Frankly, I doubt that anything you
could do would make him feel any worse. He’s already pretty torn up about it.”
“And how the hell would you know?”
“It was pretty obvious when I saw … “ He
trailed off. “Oh, damn!”
“You saw? When did you see him?”
“Forget it.”
“I will most certainly not, Commander.
Lieutenant Reed is confined to quarters. And you aren’t mobile. So how the
hell did you see him?”
Trip sighed. “When I was in Sickbay and you
were on Vesora. He came to see me.”
Jon went ballistic. “He did what?!!
And neither you nor Phlox saw fit to tell me? What the hell is going on around
here?”
Trip tried to placate his lover. “He came to
say goodbye, Jon. Goodbye! He was going to kill himself.”
Archer abruptly stood. “That’s it. I’m
calling the Vulcan High Command. I want him on the next Vulcan ship that will
take him back to Earth.”
“Then make sure you book that passage for two.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” Trip was quiet but
determined. “If you’re going to send him home, you’d better send me as well.”
“You haven’t tried – “
“But I have. Remember when I got back from
Tasumi? And a certain incident with a bottle of scotch?”
“That was different.”
“You’re damn right it was different. Malcolm
was only thinking about suicide. I damn near succeeded. If anyone
should be given a one-way ticket out of here, it should be me.”
Archer stood for a long moment. “Do you want
to go back?” He finally asked.
“No.”
The captain’s shoulders sagged in relief.
“I’m just saying,” Trip continued, “that if
you’re going to be scrupulously fair – and Captain, you can’t
afford to be anything but – then you’d have to send me home as well.”
“All right,” Archer said. “You’re right.” He
sighed. “This is a real sore point with me.”
“No kidding,” Trip said wryly. “But you’ve got
to resolve this. And fairly. You need to put us aside for a moment and be the
captain of this ship. You can’t let our relationship get in the way of that.
The crew won’t stand for it. And,” he added, “neither will I.”
“All right,” his lover agreed. “I’ll try.” He
sat down on the bedside again. “It won’t be easy, but I’ll try.”
“I know,” Trip said quietly. “Can I make a
suggestion?”
“Suggest away.”
“Why not consult with T’Pol? She’s in the
command structure and she knows what happened. But she’s not going to let any
emotional bias cloud her judgement. Why not see what she has to say?”
“OK – I’ll consult her.”
Trip shook his head. “No. We’ll
consult her. After all, I get to have a say in this as well.”
“You’re pretty goddamn stubborn.”
“Yep. And don’t forget stiff-necked as well.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead again. “Literally.”
* * *
“Feel better?”
“That’s a question I should be asking you.”
“I asked first.”
Archer turned, put his arms around his lover,
and drew him in as close as he could. “Fair enough.” He kissed the top of
Trip’s head. “I still want to keelhaul him, but I can live with what was
decided.”
“Trust me. Scrubbing plasma conduits in his
off-hours? He’d probably prefer the keelhauling.” He looked at Archer. “All
the plasma conduits?”
“I want him intimately familiar with every
single inch of that system.”
“Jesus, Jon – that’ll take the poor bastard months!”
“Absolutely. It’ll give him lots of time to
reflect on what he’s done. Those conduits had better gleam by the time he’s
finished, too.”
Trip smiled very faintly, and Archer sighed.
There were four officers in the Captain’s
ready room. The Captain, the First Officer, the Chief Engineer (by remote) and
the Security Officer. Lieutenant Reed stood rigidly at attention while Archer
pronounced judgement:
“After due deliberation between the senior
officers, it has been decided to charge you with being drunk and disorderly
while on duty. How do you plead?” He saw disbelief in the lieutenant’s
blue-grey eyes. “Lieutenant,” he repeated sharply. “How do you plead?”
“Guilty, sir,” Reed said through stiff lips.
“Very well. A note will be appended to your
record. As for your punishment, it has been decided that you will assist
maintenance in your off-hours. I understand the plasma conduits are in need of
cleaning.”
“Yes sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Reed slipped quietly out, and Archer turned
to T’Pol. “Thank you for your assistance in this most unpleasant matter,
Subcommander.”
She bowed her head slightly. “I merely
enumerated the options available to you. It was, in the final analysis, your
choice.” She looked him in the eye. “But I will say that I find your decision
to be – acceptable.”
Archer, knowing Vulcan praise when he heard
it, inclined his head in turn. “It seemed to be – logical.”
Now he kissed the top of Trip’s head again.
“I’m just glad it’s over and done with, my own.”
“I’m sure Malcolm is, too. He probably thought
you were going to throw the book at him.”
“I could have. Conduct unbecoming an officer;
attempted assault – those would have been legitimate, too.”
“Trust me. For someone as spit n’ polish as
Malcolm – drunk and disorderly will be plenty mortifying. He’s learned his
lesson – he’s going to think twice before indulging.”
“He’d damn well better.”
Trip looked at him. “Are you going to be able
to put this behind you?”
Archer exhaled. “I’ll be honest with you –
it’s going to take me a while. But I’ll try. How about you?”
“Same here. But you know – you really wouldn’t
find anyone who is better at his job than Malcolm is.”
“I know.” He smiled at Trip. “You’re awfully
noble today, brat. What’s got into you?”
Trip pretended to be affronted. “What do you
mean, ‘today’, you bastard? Don’t you know that the Tucker male is a noble
creature? Why, generations of Tucker men –“
“- have been spinning the same line of bull,”
Archer finished for him. “So you can just quit it, now.”
Trip snorted. “Shows what you know.”
Archer tipped the younger man’s face up to him,
kissed him. “Shut up,” he said tenderly. “And show me what you know.”