Things That Come In The Night

Things That Come In The Night

By The Watch Stander

Rating: PG13, Drama/friendship etc
Disclaimer:Paramount Owns Enterprise and all of its crew. The wonderful interpretation of these characters is owned by the cast of Enterprise. The fun of writing this story about these characters is owned by me and is no way intended to infringe on any of these rights and is done without payment or profit on my part.

AN: I originally planned on writing another follow up to “Similitude,” but since everyone is doing stories about that episode I decided to work on this idea I had instead. This will probably be another long story, but if you all don’t mind I’ll try and finish it before Christmas! (No trips to Europe on the horizon!)

I get the most enjoyment out of writing these when I find out there are people that actually read them and like them! So thank you to all again that review stories and leave nice thoughts behind.

This is such a great site to write for and also to find stories that I enjoy reading, even though I haven’t had much time to do the latter since I seem to be writing more and more!

On with the story!

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Part 1

Trip cursed for the 3rd time, when his sweaty palm slipped off the wrench he was using and caused him to hit his already skinned knuckles against the wall.

“Son of a Bitch!” he shouted to no one since he was alone working in the Jeffries tube.

The plasma relay’s conduits were acting up again and needed to be purged, so he had volunteered and used the rest of his crew elsewhere on other easier repairs. It was one of the reasons his crew respected him so much, he was never one to ask them to do something that he wouldn’t do.

He wiped the perspiration from his forehead and leaned back against the wall. Taking a deep breath to dispel his anger, he thought about all the repairs that had been accomplished this week. Repairs that would have taken a month to complete at a Starfleet repair station. His crew was the best, but those repairs didn’t get done without cost. Fourteen-hour days had taken its toll on him and he knew it. Exhaustion was his reward when he dragged himself into his quarters every night, long after the rest of the day shift from the bridge was fast asleep. A pair of bleary blue eyes with dark circles below them greeted him each morning when he looked in the mirror.

This morning he had sent his engineering report to the Captain. If he expected accolades from Archer for his team’s fast work, he was disappointed, for the captain just breezed by it like it was nothing. Trip found himself angered by the Captain’s attitude and slightly bewildered. Before they had entered, the Expanse Jon had always praised his crew on exceptional work that was done ahead of schedule, but not now. Jon no longer had time to waste it seemed on that or time to spend with Trip watching water polo or even having a beer together. It left Trip feeling empty inside, it seemed he was no longer important to Jon. The friendship they had meant nothing now. Where as before Archer had treated him like a brother all he received now was cold indifference.

Trip sneezed suddenly and wiped his nose with his hand having once more forgotten a hanky. Another consequence of being so exhausted was that he had caught a cold last week. It was one virus mankind couldn’t cure with all their technology and new medicines. Phlox had given him something to mask it, but it really was up to Trip’s own immune system to purge it from his body and that took time and rest, neither of which he had. It left him feeling totally wiped out by the end of his 14hour shifts.

Wearily he looked at his timepiece and seeing the time 22:00 he realized that he had exceeded his 14hours and now he really must get some sleep before coming back tomorrow to do it all over again. He reluctantly looked at the remaining conduit and decided it could wait till the morning when he wasn’t so tired.

I really need some down time before I drop!

In the end, he left his tools there and headed for his quarters not even stopping in the mess for something to eat. In the morning, he would have a big breakfast to make up for it, and there was always lunchtime when Malcolm came by and forced him to take a lunch break with him. Trip smiled when he thought about the stiff limey and how he had made it a crusade to see to it that Trip ate lunch everyday.

He’s becoming a mother hen!

Nevertheless, Trip appreciated his concern; especially the support Reed had given him after the death of his sister. Where Jon had ignored Trip, Malcolm had rallied to his side even going with him to visit the place where his sister had been killed. It meant a lot to Trip that someone cared enough to go with him. Jon had been too busy with Starfleet and the Vulcans. It was the beginning of the end of their friendship, after that nothing was the same. Jon became driven even more so than Trip. Somewhere along the line, Trip had allowed his anger and hatred for the Xindi to cool slightly, but Jon seemed to become obsessed with his own agenda and it didn’t include being friends.

Shaking off these bad thoughts he tried to clear his mind like T’Pol had taught him. Thinking about the Vulcan brought some pleasant thoughts. She had changed from being seemingly cold and distant to someone he could trust. After all, she too had come to help him when called upon by Phlox. Trip’s recent late hours had prevented him from meeting with her at night to learn more techniques to relax, but the previous sessions had helped him a lot and he appreciated it.

Finally arriving at his quarters, he opened the door and once inside he stripped off his filthy uniform and underclothes and headed for the shower. The warm water would help open his sinuses and relax his body. He hated going to bed dirty, it made him feel worse in the morning.

Once he was dried off, he found his clean night pants and went right to bed. His head wasn’t on the pillow more than two minutes when he was fast asleep.

****************************

The corridors of Enterprise were quiet, as the ship made its way through the unknown area of space know as the Expanse. Outside the view ports a small ghostly entity suddenly appeared. It sped toward the ship and entered an open conduit making its way into the ship. Nothing stopped it so it was free to roam throughout the ship and the first place it headed was the air conduits that lead to the sleeping quarters of the crew. It had detected their life signs and was immediately attracted there.

One by one, it sped through the filters stopping at each room to sense the feelings of the occupants and when it didn’t find what it wanted it quickly sped on.

Most of the crew was quickly rejected, but it paused when it reached the captain’s quarters. The small entity let it itself into his room and hovered over the sleeping man. It was about to probe the human’s mind further looking for what it wanted, when Porthos came awake and started to bark. The entity left swiftly thru the filter and the dog shushed by its awakened master settled down once more now that the threat was gone.

Again, the small entity made its way thru the filters and once more found a promising occupant. It floated downward and hovered over the sleeping form. Once detecting what it wanted it allowed itself to enter the mind of the human. The sleeping form never realizing what was happening slept on.

*******************

Trip was in the middle of a nightmare, one where the Ossirians had boarded the ship and had him trapped in engineering. He tried to fight them off but they kept coming at him no matter how many he knocked down with the pipe he held as a weapon. There was no one there to help him so he fought on alone till several of them came at him at once. Trip’s heart was racing, he was going to die and no one had come to help him! Before they reached him however, the scene before him changed and the ocean appeared with water softly licking at his feet when a wave broke on the sandy shore where he stood. He couldn’t understand what had happened, but he felt his racing heart start to slow as his body wound down from the flow of adrenaline and fear that had filled him only moments before.

His peripheral vision caught sight of someone walking down the shore towards him and he turned to try and see who it was. The figure was a woman with a flowing dress made of loose strands of material that hid nothing of her body as the wind gently blew the material around her.

His thoughts were immediately of T’Pol.

The woman’s features became much clearer as she came toward him. Something in him ached with disappointment when he realized it wasn’t T’Pol, but the long flowing pale hair and large light blue eyes captured his gaze and held it. The woman was so graceful and so beautiful to watch, her every stride and movement was slow and sensuous. Trip couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Finally, she stopped two feet away from him and he could see that the material around her was transparent as well. Her body was perfectly formed and he found himself staring at her. A glow seemed to radiate around her, softly highlighting her features and making her seem unreal. Trip found it hard to believe that someone so lovely could exist.

“Who are you?” he finally managed to ask.

She smiled and he was lost in that smile. Her words came into his head unspoken, softly sensuous, “Does it matter? You wanted me here and I came,”

She slowly walked to him, every move an invitation and he could feel himself wanting her to come closer. It seemed to take only seconds and then she was in his arms. Slowly she tilted her head and closed her eyes as she kissed him sending shocks through his body as if he’d never been kissed before. He hungrily kissed her back and before he knew it they were lying on the soft sand undressed where she continued to softly kiss him all over sending shivers through his body and feelings like he’d never experienced before.

It was so sensual that it became almost painful, but he pulled her to him and they continued to make love until he was satiated and unable to move.

Trip felt himself almost floating as if his body had become weightless. The woman’s beautiful face looked down into his from above him and she caressed his face with her hand. Slowly she kissed his lips lightly then a peaceful feeling washed over Trip as his eyelids closed and he slowly fell into a pool of gentle nothingness.

The entity slowly left the sleeping man’s body and drifted back up and into the air duct and was gone...

Trip didn’t move the rest of the night until he was finally awakened by his alarm at 06:00 the following morning.

It took a long time for him to realize that it was his alarm going off and he had to go back on duty in an hour.

His eyes opened slowly and exhaustion enveloped him as he remembered his dream.

It was so real, but he knew he must have been dreaming for he was still wearing his night pants and none of the covers were disturbed.

Taking a deep breath, he dragged himself out of bed and went to take a shower.

I’ll have to speak to Phlox about that medication he’s giving me. It’s really too powerful!

However, he didn’t regret having the dream, for it had left him feeling at peace, similar to the way he felt after attending one of T’Pol’s sessions. The only negative was that he was so very tired and was having trouble waking up.

I feel so groggy!

Somehow, he managed to get dressed and left quickly for his shift. His nose started to run just before he left, so this time he remembered his hanky stuffing it in his uniform pocket before he went out the door.

**************************
Trip ended up skipping breakfast and instead drinking 3 cups of coffee to offset the exhaustion. His head and nose were now clogged and he had a headache as well.

Great! Tired as well as sick, he mumbled to himself.

To make matters worse, he would have to skip lunch to attend one of Archer’s briefings about ship wide efficiency!

I should have had breakfast!

It was strange though; he wasn’t hungry and attributed it to having a cold. He always lost his appetite when he was sick.

The only good news today was that his engineering department’s repair efficiency was up by a factor of 50 percent.

“I dare you to complain about that Capt’n!” he smirked.

It was mostly due to the long 14 hour days he had personally put in for the past two weeks, but he wasn’t going to tell the Captain that. Why bother?

He knew Archer would probably not even mention it. Somewhere deep inside though, it hurt, for the loss of their friendship had left an empty spot in Trip and no amount of work was every going to fill that void.

Trip sighed wearily and went to the Jeffries tube to finish his delayed job on the remaining plasma conduit. It would take his mind off his unhappiness and his self-pity for a short while at least.

As he worked, he thought about his dream from last night. It had been such a shock to awaken and find that something that felt so real hadn’t actually happened. He could still remember the feeling of having the woman so close and the sensuous feelings she had aroused in him. It felt like the best sex he had ever experienced.

I really need some R&R. It’s pretty sad that I have to conjure up women in my dreams to relieve my loneliness.

Before this, he had dreamt of a certain pointed eared Vulcan that invaded his dreams for a short while. But that had never gone beyond a kiss before he woke up. He smiled sadly, how he wished that it had.

It’s never gonna happen, so get over it! She’s not interested in you!

He told himself for the hundredth time and putting it out of his mind continued to empty the conduit.

********************

Archer was in his ready room at his desk when his door chimed.

“Come in.”

The door opened and T’Pol entered gracefully managing to position herself in front of him with very few strides. Archer was always amazed by this and how different the Vulcan woman before him now was compared to eight weeks ago before they entered the Expanse.

She seems...Much softer, not as hard as before. Must be the new clothes and the way she wears her hair…Something

He quickly tried to get his mind back on the present.

“Yes,” he waited.

“Captain, we have come across an ion trail from a small ship. Ensign Mayweather thinks it could be a cargo ship or a trader vessel.”

Archer thought about the implications before answering. “How old is the trail?”

“About a week, we should overtake it in the same amount of time.”

“It would be beneficial to ask someone a few questions about this area of space. We have been lucky so far, not many people are aware of the Xindi’s attack on us. It wouldn’t hurt to get information,” Archer replied as he rubbed his chin with his hand, still thinking of possible unforeseen consequences that doing so might create.

“We could tell him we are explorers and looking for new trade routes. It would probably pass as a reasonable explanation for our presence here,” she agreed.

“Let’s go ahead with it and keep and eye out for the trader, we can always change our minds and not make contact.”

T’Pol approved of the Captain’s caution; it was a new aspect of him that had appeared suddenly after the attack on Earth. He was also more driven, where as before he had been impulsive and reckless. There were however, consequences of this new attitude, for he no longer smiled or seemed to relax. Archer also never appeared to make time for any recreation. Even Commander Tucker had been excluded from spending time with the Captain. Both of them had shown the strain in different ways.

In the past weeks, the Captain had made demands on both her and Commander Tucker to find answers where there weren’t any. Archer came across as cold and ruthless. Especially after the incident with Rajiin, the spy he had brought on board. Both she and Commander Tucker had been injured as a consequence of that decision. The Captain never apologized, just acted like it never happened.

He was even harder on the engineer, seeming to treat him as just another officer. Commander Tucker had silently accepted his new role and lack of friendship from the captain, but she could tell that he was hurt by it. When Phlox had asked her to help the commander to relax so he could sleep, she couldn’t refuse. She owed the commander, for he had helped her in the past.

This situation with Archer being so indifferent to his crew wasn’t good, but there was nothing she could do for now. She nodded to the Captain and swiftly left his ready room.

Archer watched her leave then once more went back to scrolling through the information before him on the monitor. Hoping today would be the one where they obtained information as to the whereabouts of the Xindi and their hidden weapon.

*******************

The briefing room was almost full when Trip arrived for the meeting that Archer had set up. Efficiency was important, especially with their being so far out in space well away from sources of supplies and replacement parts. The engineers themselves rebuilt most of engineering’s equipment. Other parts were made up as needed from scratch. Trip had made sure he downloaded all part specs for Enterprise before he left Earth. No one knew how long this mission would take and being in hostile space without replacement parts would be suicidal.

Noticing a chair way in the back of the room near a view port, he headed for it. He was too tired to make small talk with everyone and it would give him a place to sit out of sight.

Archer arrived several minutes later and gave a small speech on the progress into the Expanse and general information of their mission. Even to Trip he sounded obsessed and driven not like the man he had known for ten years. It was a side of Jon that Trip really didn’t like and was glad that his own hatred and anger had been put into perspective. It was still there, but thanks to his sessions with T’Pol, he had it under control, most of the time. The nightmares were another story, but even they came less often and were no longer just about Earth’s attack and the death of his sister. Mostly they were about Enterprise being attacked with him having to fight off several invaders by himself always waking up before being killed by them. Fortunately, last night had been an exception and his mind had rescued him in time by giving him another dream to replace his nightmare. It was thinking of that dream that reminded him he was supposed to see Phlox about the medication he was taking. Making a mental note, he decided to do it tomorrow for there was plenty of work he had to do today before his shift ended.

He was staring out the view port as one by one the different departments gave their reports. It became a monotone of noise that filled the background as his headache continued to throb and he found himself wishing,

If I could just put my aching head...

Suddenly realizing his name was being called, he quickly stood up and started to read off his report from his padd.

Archer listened and just as Trip had predicted, the increase in productivity went unnoticed by Jon. T’Pol however locked her eyes on Trip as if she was now aware why he hadn’t been to any more sessions with her. It was disconcerting, so when he finished giving his report, he quickly sat down, once more inconspicuous. His attention drawn back to the view of space outside the view port, lost in his thoughts once more, his eyes slowly grew heavy.

Sometime later, there was a buzz of noise around him and then quiet when he came slowly awake and realized he must have dozed off sometime during the briefing. Finding everyone had left, he started to get up and became aware that someone was sitting across from him, staring. A pair of intense green eyes bore into his. Trip turned red with embarrassment when he saw who it was.

“Keeping you up, Commander?”

Trip looked sheepish as he stammered, “Must be my cold medication. Kinda makes yah drowsy.” It sounded weak even to him.

The face before Trip had held a stern expression before, now it softened just a little. A hint of the old Archer was now present there.

“You’ve had that cold for over a week now, how come you’re not over it?”

Trip’s jaw almost dropped open, how did he know I had a cold that long?

Jon smiled slightly as he read Trip’s mind, “I saw you coughing and blowing your nose while I was in engineering last week.”

Trip was shocked even more, “I didn’t know you were there!”

Archer finally did smile, “I see a lot of things that go on, after all, that’s why they pay me the big money to be Captain.”

Trip just stared at Archer. Was Jon going to start joking with him after all these weeks of coldness and implied indifference? It was too much for the engineer to absorb with his head aching so badly.

He took a deep breath, “It won’t happen again, Capt’n, I’m real sorry. “

Archer looked at the exhausted man before him. Trip looked ill and somehow Jon managed to push aside the mission, with its need for an alert engineer for a moment, and try to be the friend that Trip needed now.

Archer looked earnest, “You’re exhausted, Trip, anyone can see that. I’m not here to reprimand you for falling asleep. I don’t want you killing yourself by overworking. Take the time to get well.”

He almost smiled as he continued to stare at Trip trying to see if the younger man understood that it was an order as well as a suggestion.

Trip was overwhelmed by this sudden interest; he started to get up, very much aware of Jon’s intense stare. It was unnerving, this sudden shift from new Archer to old. Trip wasn’t able to handle it in his condition.

“I’ll try, Capt’n.” Trip really wanted to leave; this was too much for him.

Archer now realized that he was making the man before him uncomfortable and somehow that hurt. Somewhere they had lost that closeness they use to have and Archer wasn’t sure when it had happened. He nodded and watched as Trip quickly exited the room leaving Jon wondering where he had gone wrong in his handling of Trip.

Once out of the room Trip leaned back against the wall in the corridor as the door closed beside him. With his head throbbing now, he took out his hanky to blow his nose hoping to relieve the pressure that had built up in his head. His legs felt like rubber bands.

“Commander!”

Taken by surprise, Trip jumped, for the voice was coming from someone practically standing next to him that he hadn’t seen.

Was there no end of surprises today!

Malcolm was standing there with a sympathetic look on his face as he watched Trip put away his hanky, having given up on trying to relieve the persistent pain in his head.

“You look like the very devil! Did Archer chew you out?”

The lieutenant had seen Trip nod off then remain in his seat as the others were leaving, but hadn’t been quick enough to get to Trip before Archer had sat down near the engineer. He decided to wait for Trip outside incase the engineer needed a friendly face after the Captain finished with him. Even Reed knew that Archer’s new hard attitude was making him blind to the needs of his officers and Trip had been personally affected.

Trip had been left on his own to deal with the loss of his sister and hadn’t been able to get over it. Reed wasn’t going to stand by as his friend self-destructed, not if he could help it and he certainly wasn’t going to allow Archer to rip Trip apart.

Trip hesitated, “No, he didn’t.” Even he couldn’t figure out why Jon hadn’t chewed his sorry ass out. Maybe he really did look awful, he certainly felt like something the cat dragged in.

Reed read Trip’s expression and was satisfied. The Lt wasn’t sure exactly what he would have done if Archer had reprimanded Trip, but he knew he would have said something to the Captain later.

“You look like bloody hell, Commander, I think you could use a hot toddy and some lunch.” He tried a smile hoping Trip wouldn’t argue.

Trip sighed, “Sounds good, Malcolm, but you better lead me there since my head is killing me.”

“Right then, off to lunch it is. Follow me!”

Reed was relieved that Trip hadn’t put up a fight, but also worried. The man looked pale as a ghost and he seemed worse than yesterday for his voice was horse as if he was all congested. A visit to sickbay after lunch would be Reed’s next suggestion, but first things first. He put a friendly hand on the engineer’s shoulder and practically guided him to the mess hall.

Once there, Trip sat down at a table in the back of the mess that was near a view port. Reed left him there while he went to fetch a cup of hot coffee for Trip as well as some hot lunch. Soup was on the menu today so Reed chose that for both of them. He also took two grilled ham & cheese sandwiches for them as well. When he came back with the tray, Trip was holding his head between his hands.

“Are you Ok?” he asked concerned now that Trip would need to go to sickbay.

Trip let his hands down, “Hurts like hell,” then he saw the tray with the food that Reed was holding, “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like such a whiner; it’s just that my head feels like it’s in a vice.”

That sounded pitiful even to his own ears.

Reed placed the tray down and started to put the food in front of Trip. “Maybe you need to eat something, coffee alone is not considered a healthy diet.”

Trip tried to smile and seeing the soup placed in front of him, picked up a spoon and started to sip it.

“Thanks for getting this. “ He said between sips.

Reed nodded then picked up his own spoon and after watching Trip for a moment started in on his own bowl.

Finally, Reed couldn’t keep his curiosity bottled up any longer.

“What did Archer say to you after the briefing?” He might as well be blunt; if Trip didn’t want to answer, he would just say so.

Trip slowly looked up, trying to decide how to explain it. The soup had helped ease the throbbing in his head.

Maybe lack of food had been the answer.

“It was weird, with Jon being so obsessed with finding this weapon lately we just haven’t had time to even talk to each other. He just seems so.....cold lately.”

Malcolm nodded. “I’ll say, really a right bastard at times!” Malcolm had been on the receiving end of Archer’s anger a few times as well.

Trip was surprised by Reed’s vehemence, but continued, “He practically ordered me to get well, appears he’s known all along that I was working too much.” Trip looked down again at his soup. “Didn’t think he’d even noticed,” he finished softly.

There was hurt behind those last words and Malcolm picked up on it right away.

“Of course he noticed,” Reed said gently, knowing that even the Captain must have taken pity on the exhausted and ill man. He’d have to have been a monster not to. Reed tried to lighten the mood.

“Who wouldn’t notice, you look like bloody hell with a runny nose.”

Surprised, Trip looked up suddenly and seeing Reed smiling at him, had to chuckle. “I guess I do, not fooling anyone am I?”

“No, not with that red nose and hoarse voice,” Reed shot back. “Finish your soup before it gets cold.”

Trip really smiled now; he was so glad Malcolm was here. There was no need for pretenses or guarded words, Reed understood. Even after Trip had taken out his anger on Reed when Lizzie had been killed, the Lieutenant stood by him. Trip had never apologized for that yet Reed still was his friend. How he wished that a certain other person had been there for him as well.

Finally pushing away that thought, he sighed and answered, ” Yes, mother!”

Reed smiled to himself as he watched the engineer finish the soup then start on the sandwich.

Trip was such an easy person to read sometimes and he certainly was very well liked throughout the ship. Malcolm couldn’t think of anyone ever saying an unkind word about the Commander.

Why then had Archer turned his back on Trip? His best friend!

However, that was a whole different can of worms; something that hopefully would be settled and soon when they found the Xindi weapon and destroyed it.

Reed was personally going to take great pleasure in blowing the weapon up for it would mean the end of a lot of heartache and would put an end to some of the fear they all had.

For now though all he could do was watch out for everyone and be sure they stayed safe on his watch. Especially a certain engineer that sat before him and that was so desperately in need of a friend and some kind words. At least Trip had some of those from his friends and even a certain Vulcan, who had taken an interest in the Commander’s well being. Reed found that T’Pol’s interest in Trip, had caused a certain amount of jealousy in him at first. For he was the one who had been so interested in T’Pol not Trip, but now Reed was glad that she had offered to help the man before him.

Trip had been on a path of self-destruction, unable to sleep and consumed by hatred for the Xindi, but thanks to her he seemed to have contained this and was more relaxed.

All things considered it was a hard job watching out for Trip, but someone had to do it and Reed wasn’t about to lose one of the few people he considered a friend.

Yes, Mr., Tucker, I’m going to be your bloody guardian angel if I have to!

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Continue to Part 2

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Seven people have made comments

This is another great story. Too bad you are not a writer for Enterprise. The interaction among the characters are real and interesting.

Oh excellent start! I love the friendships on the show and you've captured them very well! I do hope Archer comes around, though, in your tale! Thanks so much!

Intriguing! Good character interaction... Thanks for writing! We can't wait to find out what comes next!

Really enjoying this, hope you can add more soon.Wonderful character interaction.

Oh yes! Another fine story from your keyboard.

I love the Malcolm/Trip friendship and your telling of it is very very excellent.

Archer... *grumble*.

T'Pol i think its time you visited Trip ;-)

Great start please continue!

Great start, I always watchout for one of your stories. Love Malcolm in this one.

It was not to bad, but you should do one were Trip and T pol get together!