For anr's fic challenge. Requirements:
Fandom: Enterprise
Pairing: Trip/T'Pol
Line: "Just...go."
Everyone owned by UPN/Paramount, yadda yadda. Rated PG-13 for some language. Set before 'Harbinger', definitely.
Feedback would be loved. Big HUGS to my smoochie.
*
All things considered (a human expression), their mission had not gone well. There were always variables, naturally; factors that could change at a moments notice, but T'Pol had mistakenly believed they'd planned for all of those factors. That there would be no surprises.
It only occurred to her at that particular moment that the universe (if she believed that the universe behaved as a conscious entity and had a personal vendetta against her - which, logically, she didn't) was determined to prove all of her theories wrong.
Or perhaps only some of them. Commander Tucker's behaviour since she'd fallen had been entirely predictable. She studied him again now - compared to her surroundings he was far more interesting to look at - and wondered how long he would keep trying. In the struggle between man and rock, rock was winning.
"Logic would dictate-"
"Logic dictates a lot of things, T'Pol. I don't plan on paying much attention to any of them." He stopped talking to concentrate on the rock again, seeming to push all of his strength against it.
It still didn't move, but as he kept trying the cave walls shook for what she counted was the seventh time since she'd fallen. Small pieces of rock and grit fell and T'Pol closed her eyes until the tremor stopped. Risking her eyesight seemed extremely foolish right now.
"Shit!" He yelled, pushing away from the rock and stumbling over the smaller ones beneath his feet.
T'Pol raised her eyebrows. The Commander was no stranger to profanity, but she couldn't recall him ever using that particular term before. She briefly considered baiting him but considering her circumstances eventually decided that wouldn't be wise.
Aside from a few basic lifeforms the planet was uninhabited, and orbital scans had shown an abundance of minerals that would be beneficial to the ships systems. Several teams had flown down to scout out different locations, and she and Commander Tucker had been drawn to the caves by mineral readings.
The orbital scans had given no indication of any kind of instability, but less than ten minutes after entering the caves everything had moved and she'd landed painfully on the floor some fifteen feet below where she'd just been standing, a large rock rolling over her legs, effectively trapping her.
He'd quickly climbed down, but they'd soon discovered that he was incapable of moving the rock by himself, that their comm signals didn't seem to make it out of the cave system and that his phase pistol had had no effect.
The universe was not a conscious entity. Absolutely not.
She watched him now as he somehow managed to pace in the limited space, before moving to the wall and looking up at the edge she'd fallen from and began to yell.
The best course of action would be for him to leave the caves and obtain help from there. His comm signal would be unobstructed, but each time she tried to suggest it he talked over her with some vaguely insulting comment about the Vulcan way of life.
She was used to such comments from him. Knew he didn't really mean them. Knew that it meant he was worried. Concerned. About her.
He turned back to her. "Give me your phase pistol," he said, pulling his own out of its holster again.
T'Pol knew what he was going to attempt, and though she had her doubts she shifted as much as she could and reached for her own phase pistol, wincing a little as a rock dug into her hip. She was going to be heavily bruised, but at least she had been fortunate enough not to sustain a head injury.
Taking her pistol he stepped back, now aiming both weapons at the rock and waiting for her to protect her face with her hands and arms before firing.
The distinctive whine of the phase pistols filled the cave, almost to the point where it hurt her ears. He kept up the barrage for quite some time, but after a while - perhaps when the power levels were beginning to drop - he stopped.
T'Pol lowered her hands. The rock didn't even feel warm.
He didn't look happy. "What kind of stupid ass alien rock doesn't know to blow up when you point two perfectly good phase pistols at it?!" He kicked at the rock as he finished talking, quite possibly injuring himself in the process.
She couldn't give him the answers he was looking for - her scanner had been damaged in the fall. However the urge to bait him was returning. "Commander-"
The cave shook again, much harder than before and when she heard a loud ripping sound from above she didn't have time to think, just to be surprised when he landed on top of her, covering her. Trying to protect her.
It felt as if the world was falling down around them, and when it finally stilled, when the movement stopped, she realised she'd closed her eyes. Opening them and turning her head to the left - the movement a little difficult with him still there - she saw that the rock they'd heard ripping away from the wall and landed scant inches away from her head.
Moving her head back she looked up at him, perhaps not surprised by how he was looking at it. His hair was coated in dust, making it grey, and it was that she told herself, that alone that made him look older than she'd ever seen before.
"Commander," she began, not acknowledging verbally that he still hadn't pulled away. He knew what she was going to say. And in return, she knew precisely what his argument would be.
She'd be trapped by herself for at least twenty minutes. The tremors were growing increasingly more frequent and violent. She would have no way of protecting herself.
He didn't need to say it and neither did she, because somehow this time he was going to go because there was nothing else he could do.
But she still needed to give him something because he was leaning over her, breathing against her skin, and in that single moment she had never been closer to anyone else. "Commander," she murmured, hands clutching at the rocks on the ground because for once she wanted nothing more than to reach up and touch the side of his face, "Just...go."
And he did.
~FINIS