Agent Fox Mulder (i_want_2) wrote in multi_fiction, @ 2008-12-27 02:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | enterprise, rated: adult, slash, startrek |
Fic: Prisoner Of My Soul 4/4 StarTrek Enterprise
Title: Epilogue
Author: Lopaka Tanu
Disclaimer: I do not own Enterprise.
Characters: Archer, Forrest, Maklum, Trip, Hoshi, Travis, OCs.
Words: 1934
Prompt: Romulans capture Tucker and T'Pol.
Fandom: Enterprise
Pairing: Maklum/Trip
Rating: Adult
Warnings: Language, Violence
Summary: The final scenes of the story.
Author's Note: To Sal, thank you for your inspiration in my time of distraction.
______________________________________
AND NOW, THE CONCLUSION......................
~~~
Champagne flowed as the first of the mooring lines slipped free of the ship. Cheers erupted in the lounge as the 'Enterprise's' warp drives flared in to existence once more. Several people hugged each other, while more than a few happy smiles were shared.
As the last mooring line fell away Archer held up his glass to clink it with Admiral Forrest's. "To 'Enterprise', may she fly on forever."
Touching glasses, Forrest grinned. "Here, here." After taking a quick sip, he returned to watching the ship through the view ports. "I bet you're never so glad as to have this over with."
"Actually, Admiral, it wasn't so bad this time." Swirling his champagne, Archer frowned at his glass. "When this mess started, I was worried what I would be coming back to. With the 'Enterprise' out of commission for unknown reasons, we'd be reassigned."
Forrest chuckled at that. "Oh yeah, where did you see yourself in all this?"
John didn't feel like laughing, but he could see the humor in it now. "Well, I figured would be promoted. Then, more than likely, stuck out there as a figure head for the fleet. Making the tours in parades from here to Proxima Centauri."
"Not bad." Chuckling again, Forrest shook his head. "The sad part, you'd probably be right if things hadn't gone the way they had."
"I'm not sure I would have minded that now, if it meant certain things hadn't happened." This was quickly becoming a maudlin situation in what should have been a happy day. Yet, Archer couldn't help himself. "Still, considering everything that's happened, a lot of things were different than I had expected them to be. Then again, every thing is put in a new perspective when you nearly lose your ship and her crew."
"It's a tough thing, that." Taking another sip of his drink, Forrest grimaced. He looked out over the ship, staring in to space. "You never forget the first time you lose so many people, possibly forever. If you're lucky, it never happens again. Unfortunately, it's a big wide Universe out there, filled with many splendid and terrible things."
"You don't have to remind me." John knew he sounded bitter, but he felt he earned the right to be this time. It was only by a miracle he hadn't lost anyone forever this time.
Sighing, Forrest took a larger swallow of his drink. "Did I ever tell you about a time before I became admiral? Little over ten years ago to be exact."
"No, sir." Still contemplating his drink, John hoped the Admiral wasn't going to compare war stories with him. There wasn't really a comparison, each one was unique and always ended badly, especially the happy ones.
"Ever hear of a ship called the 'Lobeth'?" Forrest caught Archer's reaction in the reflection on the plexialuminum viewport. He gave a bitter smirk. "We knew what they were trying to pull, but the brass wanted everything to look shiny for our Vulcan masters. I had to Shanghai ten unsuspecting young men and women in to that mission. Well," he snorted, "nine. That one kid." He finished with a wistful sigh.
"Their careers were over before I even called them in to my office. Whether they took the assignment or not really never mattered." He started to take another drink, but found his glass was empty. Frowning at it, Forrest set it on a nearby ledge. "This was going to be a black eye for us either way, and so I was told to just pick people we could live without. All but one, the Vulcans hand picked him, said he was, how did they put it?"
John had enough. He wasn't going to stand here and be this man's confessor. "Where is this going, sir?"
Despite his intentions, Forrest wouldn't look at him. "They know more than they're letting on about this, John. I can't prove it, not sure I want to. But that's the way it is."
"What do you think they're hiding from us?" Swallowing, for the first time, Archer was genuinely glad he was leaving tomorrow.
"I'm not sure, but I know that it'll be coming to bite us in the ass real soon." Pointing at the 'Enterprise', Forrest tapped the viewport. "This was only the beginning." Glancing at Archer out of the corner of his eye, his face was grave. "Promise me you'll keep your eyes open."
Watching his reflection, Archer nodded. "You can count on that, sir."
A jovial expression crossed Forrest's face, washing away any amount of seriousness he had. "So, Captain, when you swing by Vulcan to pick up your first and second officers, plan on doing any sight seeing?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The clay pot shattered against the far wall. Picking up a another one, Maklum glared at Trip. "I am not taking another one of their damned meditation lessons, and that's final!" With that, he threw the pot to join the other six.
"Well that's just too damned bad." Standing just to the left of the pile, Trip leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "You better get used to it, cause you're going to be stuck here for a very long time."
"That's what you think." Grabbing a small idol off the window ledge, Maklum considered throwing it at Trip. Narrowing his eyes, he hefted it's weight. When it proved heavy, he set it back down. "There will come a time when I am free once more. And then they will all suffer."
Since he was showing his, Trip figured he might as well be a smartass in return. "You and what army?"
A slow smirk crossed Maklum's features. Turning away, he seemed to calm down. Then his hand shot out and grabbed the remaining clay pot on the ledge. It flew at Trip this time, making the man duck to avoid being hit.
"Hey! Now that was too far!" Pushing off the wall, Trip quickly crossed the room. Grabbing Maklum's arm, he pushed him against the wall. "Is this what you want? Do you like me forcing you to do what I want?"
"May be." Grinning like a cat with a canary, Maklum leaned forward until their faces were almost touching. "Then what does this say about you that you've no hesitation in using it? Do you even think about alternatives to abusing me, or is it instinctual?"
Pushing his body against the other man's, Trip forced him hard against the wall. "You do this to me." Grinding his erection in to Maklum's hip, he nipped at the smaller man's ear. "This is what you want, what you need. I can feel it every time we touch."
"Then you truly know what it is to be alive." Eyes half closed in a daze, Maklum kissed at Trip's jawline, nipping with his teeth at the skin. "This is what they've forgotten, what they deny themselves. I won't be part of that, Mister Tucker, I refuse!" Sinking his teeth in to the flesh over the curve of the other man's jaw, Maklum snarled.
"Ah!" Trip jerked his head away, slamming Maklum bodily back against the wall. "Cut that out. The others already look at me funny for all the bruises you give me."
"That's the price you pay for mating with a Romulan." Reaching up, Maklum grasped his mate's face. Tugging him down, he ran his tongue over the human's cheek. "If you are lucky, one day very soon, you may get to see the real me."
Burying his nose in the skin of Maklum' neck, Trip snorted. "Not if I can help it." Pulling back, he spun his lover until he was facing the wall, then shoved his face in to it. "Brace yourself, I'm going to make this hurt."
"As if you could."
~~~~~~~~~~~
With a wave of his hand, he shut off the footage of the capture. The man in the brown robes snorted his disgust. "The Vulcans! There is no end to his disgrace." Turning to face the other four robed figures, he smoothed the edge of his robe down. "It was foolish to leave such an important mission in the hands of that degenerate!"
"Quite the contrary." In her seat at the back the group, the gray robed Senator clutched a small globe between her fingers. The edges of her filed nails tinked against the glass. "There was a foolish decision, but it was not the one you think."
Raising his face so he could visibly glare at her, the man flashed his teeth. "Do not try to deny the evidence we all saw!"
"Yes, but what did you see? What everyone else saw was a recording of the capture of a promising young officer." Turning her globe, she stroked the top. As she moved, tiny golden flakes appeared in the center. "He may have ended in disgrace, but the man was no fool."
"The man lost his ship and crew to prisoners! He was captured by the Vulcans!" Taking a step towards her, his hand went automatically to his hip. Finding nothing, he pulled it away with a snarl. "What further proof do you need?"
"Yes, there is that." Pushing back her hood, she smiled at him. Her silver hair seemed to glow in the dim light of the chamber. "But what he gave us in so doing proved everything he had been saying and more. That, above all else, will be his most valuable contribution in the coming invasion."
Taking a half step back, he stared at her in horror. "You sound as if you wish to honor the traitor." When she did not deny this, his expression quickly turned to disgust.
"We have learned something from this. The Humans will not sit idly by." Her voice took on a scathing tone that made the others wince. "All our plans must be rethought before victory can be assured. It would seem a far greater force may be necessary to achieve our goals. So, do not speak on such things when your own mind cannot comprehend the broad reaching consequences."
There was silence in chamber after she finished speaking.
Rising from her chair, she held her head high. "As for his disgrace, I must wonder what guiding hand led to his downfall. Centurion Maklum gave no order to have the prisoner moved from the communal cell." The crone's voice echoed as her eyes narrowed. "Careful how you tread in the future, Major."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in his new chair, Archer once again adjusted his posture. No matter how many times he tried, there was no getting used to it. His ass had shaped the old one perfectly over the last eighteen months. He understood the old chair was damaged, but couldn't they have just fixed it?
Sighing, he leaned on the arm rest and stobbed his ass in to the cushion. When that didn't help, he gave up. "Ensign Sato, do we have clearance?"
Looking up from her console, pride evident on her face, she nodded. "Flight command has given us the go ahead."
"Excellent." John clapped his hands together in anticipation. "Ensign Mayweather, how does our path look?"
"All clear. The last of the umbilicals have been removed and the gangways have been pulled back." Spinning his chair, he smiled up at the captain. "Everything is set for go, sir."
"Good. Then take us out of space dock, quarter impulse." Watching as the young man turned back to his console, John couldn't keep the giddy smile off his own face. It was really happening. After six weeks, it was finally happening! "Steady she goes, Ensign."
........................................T