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

Title: New Beginnings

Author: Zoe Ride

Author's e-mail: [email protected]

Fandom: Enterprise

Pairing: Tucker/Reed

Rating: PG

Category: Slash

Summary: How two people come together, with a little help from their friends.

Archived to the Web site on 06/05/2003.

Jonathon Archer stood in his Ready Room, thinking. Not again, not again, WHY won't those two do anything about their feelings? He looked towards the stars with frustration on his face. He had just watched Trip and Malcolm flirting awkwardly together, much to the amusement of Hoshi and Travis.

The door chimed. "Enter" he called, and in stepped his Tactical Officer and his Chief Engineer. "You wanted to see us?" Trip asked, looking innocent. Malcolm Reed just looked down at his shoes, and blushed.

"Ahh, glad you two could join me. Now, what the hell do you think you were playing at out there?" Archer queried, with a mock annoyed look on his face.

"Playing at? Ah'm sure ah don't know what you're taking about" said Trip "do you Malcolm?" Trip looked across at his friend and colleague, and grinned broadly.

Malcolm hardly dared look at Trip, his thoughts were all jumbled. Had Trip been flirting, or was it just figment of his imagination? And had he actually flirted back? Oh no, he groaned inwardly. After what felt like several minutes, Malcolm looked up towards Archer. With a pleading look in his blue-grey eyes, he imperceptibly gestured towards Trip.

Sighing, Archer looked at Trip "Ok, you can go, I'll speak to you later." With a shrug of his shoulders, Trip left, glancing over at Malcolm, and then back to Archer, willing him to be gentle with his Tactical Officer. Archer noticed the look, and a smile briefly touched his lips.

"Ok, earth to Malcolm, come in Malcolm. NOW would you care to tell me what the problem is?" Archer could barely hide his amusement.

"Um.... there really is nothing, Sir" he blushed again "honestly."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm not convinced. I saw you looking, hmm, how can I put it, amorously, at Trip, and, if I'm not mistaken, its not the first time is it?"

Malcolm slumped his shoulders - it was worse than he imagined. And he had thought he had done a good job of not letting his feelings for the Chief Engineer show. Should have known better, Mal, old bean. Sighing, he looked up towards the Captain. "Looking, Sir? I'm sure I don't know what you mean" he tried to cover up his tracks, panic briefly showing in his eyes.

Archer took sympathy on his Tactical Officer, watching while all these emotions ran across his face. "Ok, Malcolm, that's all" Relieved, Malcolm left the room, almost running to the door.

As the door opened, Trip looked across to see Malcolm, a highly relieved Malcolm, coming out of the room and almost colliding with T'Pol. "Apologies."

"Accepted," T'Pol said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, Malcolm, Malc.....olm" Trip's voice tailed off as Malcolm departed the bridge extremely swiftly. "Well, whatdya make o' that?" he said, almost to himself.

Mayweather and Sato had been watching this little scenario, looked to each other, grinning, and started whispering. When would Trip realize that Malcolm fancied him, and when would Malcolm realize that Trip fancied him back?

"We have to do something" Travis told Hoshi.

"Match make, do you think? Great idea" grinned Hoshi back.

T'Pol noticed that the two officers were whispering and gave a subtle cough. Noticing, Travis and Hoshi asked permission to see the Captain. T'Pol's expression did not change as she nodded her agreement.

In the ready room, Jon was wondering how this situation had arisen. Trip, being Jon's closest and oldest friend, had already spoken about his interest in Malcolm. Jon wondered why on earth he hadn't noticed the growing interest in him from Malcolm. Trip's not normally this obtuse, Archer thought.

The door to the Ready Room chimed. Surely not them back again, thought Jon. "Enter."

He struggled to keep the surprise off his face as Hoshi and Travis entered the room. "Ensigns?" he smiled. They looked at one another, and then Travis spoke.

After they had left, Jon grinned to himself. Well, Lieutenant Reed may have put me off, but he obviously doesn't realize that other members of my staff have eyes too. "And now it's taken out of my hands" he laughed out loud.

A couple of hours later, down in the armory, Lieutenant Reed was sitting, brooding on his visit to the Captain. The Captain knows, the sudden realization dawned and this disheartened Malcolm even more. "Shit" he whispered "shit shit shit, oh WHY weren't you more careful? What if Trip found out that your feelings towards him were not just friendly, but downright sexual? He would HATE you, you uptight Brit." He was almost in tears now. Luckily, the armory was empty, as he knew it would be, just the place for a despondent Tactical Officer. He barely heard the swish of the door, and just managed to compose his face into a bland look, before the individual was upon him. "Travis, what are you doing down here? You rarely come here"

Travis glanced at Malcolm, and thought, bloody hell, I'm glad we decided to do something; he's on the verge of depression. "Sir, you are wanted in Captain Archer's quarters, urgently"

Malcolm looked shocked. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Um, you'd better get up there quickly, Sir," Travis urged him. Shaking his head, Malcolm disappeared out of the armory.

While this was going on, Hoshi had lured Trip into the Captain's quarters on the pretext of looking for a lost report.

"Oops, I'm needed back on the bridge" Hoshi declared, and giving Trip an innocent grin, dashed out.

Trip looked after her retreating back. Now what was wrong with Hoshi? Oh well, turning back to the task in hand, he thought about looking under Archer's bed. If Mal could only see me now, grinned Trip, as he went down on all fours, and pushed his head underneath the bed.

Dashing immediately into the open quarters, Malcolm was stopped in his tracks by a very attractive arse poking up in the air, and he knew whose arse it was. Blushing at the thoughts that ran through his head, he asked, "What's so interesting under there?" and was rewarded with a jump, a bump of a head and several swear words. "And just why are you looking under the Captain's bed, Sir?" repeated Malcolm, when Trip had slowly reversed out.

Grinning sheepishly, Trip responded, "Do you KNOW what rubbish there is under there? I almost got lost in it." Malcolm laughed. Trip stood up, slowly, all the while taking in the laughing Englishman. "Actually, and I know you won't believe me, but Hoshi asked me to try to find what she said was a lost report."

Raised eyebrows told him that no, Malcolm found that hard to believe. "I was told there was an emergency here, by Travis," Malcolm responded. The two looked at each other, and a dawning realization spread on their faces.

"We've been set up" Trip laughed.

The two guys looked at each other for what seemed like hours, with Malcolm being the first to blush and look away. Trip took a step toward his friend, and, he hoped, soon-to-be lover, but was stopped by the opening of the door. Jonathon Archer stepped in, raised his eyebrows, and, whispering something to his friend Trip, swiftly left again.

A blushing Trip grinned. "What did the Captain whisper?" queried Malcolm. Oh my goodness, are all my dreams to come true tonight? He held onto this thought as Trip crossed the room.

"Ah'm afraid we have been relieved of duty as of now, Mal, any ideas what we should do?" Trip reached out, and grabbed Malcolm by the neck, and swiftly and smoothly, kissed him deeply.

"You.... you...like me???" Malcolm was shocked, after the kiss ended.

"Like you?? Do you not realize how MUCH ah like you? Ah have LIKED you ever since ah laid eyes on you, with your gorgeous eyes, and your wonderful ass..." he couldn't speak anymore since Malcolm, his gorgeous Mal, wonderful Mal, damn SEXY Mal had grabbed him back and was in the process of kissing him all over.

Hours later, back in Mal's quarters, Trip was laying next to his lover, grinning widely. He glanced at the sleeping figure at the side of him, and thought about the evening just gone. How wonderful it had been, and he couldn't wait to spend more time together with his enchanting British lover.

"Mal," he whispered, "Ah don't think you realize, but I'm completely, utterly and blissfully in love with ya." Mal, not quite asleep, grinned and, extremely contentedly, drifted off into a Trip-filled dream.

~the end~