Reed's Armory -- A Malcolm Reed Fanfiction Archive ..

Title: I Will Not Stand Still

Author: Qzeebrella

Author's e-mail: [email protected]

Fandom: Enterprise

Pairing: Tucker/Reed

Rating: G

Category: Slash

Series: I Will Not Stand Still

Summary: Malcolm upset at Jon's treatment of Trip in Cogenitor goes to the Captain to dress him down.

Spoilers: Cogenitor

Archived to Reed's Armory on 10/13/2003.

"Permission to speak freely Captain?"
"Permission granted Mr. Reed."

"I have served this ship loyally and well I have followed your orders
I have seen you stumble and fall
I have seen you insult other cultures
I have seen you do idiotic things
Allow liberties to alien species
That you should not
I have seen you put your trust in strangers You have even allowed strangers onto this ship The ship I am sworn to protect
And ordered me to cooperate
To be diplomatic and be friendly
I have followed these orders
And have stepped aside
Swallowed my better judgement
I have even allowed you to go traipsing off With a man you just met
And let a stranger into my armory
I have stood by and done nothing
To try to serve my ship and captain well Even with the possibility
The strangers were not what they seemed But one thing I will not do
One thing I will not abide
One thing I can not
And will not put aside
One thing I will say
And not swallow my true feelings
Is how the hell do you get off
Tearing Trip apart as you did?

Sit down Captain, you will listen
As I say my piece!

You and I have both made mistakes
We have made bad judgements
By a loss of a communicator
I may have altered a race
By taking your dog on a walk planetside You insulted an entire race
It is only by luck and by grace
We did not cause tragedy
So how the hell do you get off
Rubbing the cogenitor's death into Trip's face?

Salt in a wound would be more kind
We have no guide as to how to act
When we see something we can not abide
That we see as slavery or prejudice
That we see as hate or needless suffering It is was what Trip saw as suffering
As prejudice, as slavery
That caused him to act
And yes he was wrong
To judge a species by our own standards To pursue his desire to help
One he thought oppressed
Yes he was wrong
To even see if the cogenitor
Was intelligent and capable
Was wrong from that species' standards
And perhaps will be regulated against
Once Starfleet creates a guide for us to use

However it was also very wrong
It was malicious and cruel
For you to tear into Trip like that
For you to rub salt into the wound
I can not
Will not
Shall not
Swallow my anger
I will not stand aside
As I see a friend I hope will become more Torn apart by you!
A man he sees as brother
As leader
As friend
I will not stand aside
I will not allow the hurt to continue
You will bridge the gap between you two You will mend the tear
You will repair the friendship of you two Or you will have me to answer to!
Permission to be dismissed Captain?"

"Permission granted Lieutenant."

~the end~