Switched

This story was written as a round robin over at The Logical Choice forum. Any weirdness or inconsistencies are purely intentional.

Part One

Now, without further ado, Jessica’s opening paragraph…

The wind started gusting stronger, pelting the violet rain down hard on Archer and T’Pol. The transporter beam finally transported them back to Enterprise. When Archer rematerialized, he felt somehow different. He looked down at himself and saw he was not in his own body. He was inside T’Pols!

Lurkch continued:

He looked over at T’Pol and found his own face starting back at him impassively. What the Hell? They both turned to face Trip at the transporter console who was, for the moment, completely oblivious to the evolving ’situation’.

“Commander,” they said in unison.

dennisud added:

It took a few moments to expain to the now perplexed Commander as to what had happened.
“Ya mean to tell me that you two switched bodies? Trip asked rather hesitantly knowing his feelings for the Vulcan Commander were now being challenged by his Friendship with Jon.
The two nodded slowly. “Ok, lets head to Sickbay and see what the Doc can find out.”
Trip said as he led them away. The trio slowly made their way to Sickbay with the hope that a cure could be worked out between the vexed Engineer and the Resident Denobulan Doctor.

Jessica:

Archer almost fell as he stepped off of the transporter pad. How could T’Pol walk in these shoes. T’Pol caught his arm before he fell down. Archer looked at the hand on his arm, a strange feeling came over him when he saw his own hand. Straightening back up, he muttered thank you. He would have to get used to T’Pol’s voice coming being his now. As he continued to walk wobbly towards sickbay in the high heeled boots, Archer felt the tight catsuit riding up in a very uncomfortable place. He wondered why T’Pol subjected herself to this torture every day. By the time they reached sickbay, Archer wanted to burn the blue catsuit and high heeled boots.

darrah:

T’Pol did not feel as uncomfortable as she thought she would. The uniform she wore hung on her, and in fact, the sleeves and the hem around her ankles were too long. She felt curiously warm and almost… protected. Involuntarily, she wrinkled her nose. It wasn’t unpleasant, however – the scent of him, she reasoned.

They walked along the corridor, T’Pol slightly behind Archer and Trip. An awkward silence hung in the air as she looked at her Captain…er, herself. He was walking gingerly, wobbling a bit, with his legs slightly apart, his hands swinging. There was a slight… swivel to his hips and a… pleasing curve to his… backside as he trudged along. As T’Pol dragged her gaze away from the sight, she felt a sudden constriction in her uniform and realised that this… situation might prove to be much more difficult than she had originally anticipated.

Lurkch:

Archer turned to see why T’Pol was lagging behind, and was unprepared to see himself (or his body at least) doing what he had spent the better part of 3 years willing it not to! Hah! So much for Vulcan control over emotions, he thought before it occurred to him that as far as the crew was concerned he was still in his body and T’Pol in hers and that anything T’Pol did in his body was going to be attributed to him!

He sent Trip on to Sickbay ahead of him, saying he wanted to talk to T’pol for a minute and that they would catch up. Trip made as if to argue but the look on the Captain’s face was enough to convince him to drop it: he’d never seen T’Pol’s face glare at him in quite that way before….it was disconcerting.

As soon as Trip had disappeared around a corner, Archer steered T’Pol into a deserted side corridor.

“Could you please not do that?” He said, looking in a direction that made clear what he was referring to. T’Pol avoided his gaze determinedly.

“I would be more than willing to ‘not do that’ if you could explain how to accomplish that,” she replied, still avoiding his eyes and finding something of particular interest on the corridor wall. Archer sighed, I guess this gets filed under ‘Conversations I Never Thought I Would Be Having With My First Officer’.

“Look, whatever you were doing or thinking when that happened, don’t do it anymore…you’re making me look–well, let’s just say it’s not how I want to greet the crew,” he said, running his hand through his hair and then being surprised that, well, it wasn’t exactly his hair, although technically at the moment–You’re going to get a headache thinking like that.

“I had already surmised as much, I was referring to resolving the current…problem,” she said, finding the carpet inordinately interesting.

“Just think about something unpleasant,” he told her. “And do it quickly before Trip comes looking for us.” He stood there patiently for a minute, slowly becoming more and more exasperated.

“Look, it’s not that hard to–” He stopped in mid-sentence cringing at the unintentional pun.

“Perhaps you should wait elsewhere,” she told him. He looked at her quizzically, How is that going to–Oh!.

“Uh, yeh I’ll be around the corner,” he said, leaving her standing in the side corridor. After a few minutes she emerged and, without acknowledging him, walked past him towards Sickbay. He followed her down the corridor and was surprised to find that watching himself was…stimulating. He automatically switched his thoughts to more unpleasant things expecting his uniform to become constricting if he didn’t before remembering that the body he was in didn’t suffer from that particular problem. Now this is an interesting advantage I’ve never considered before, he thought letting his thoughts wander as he followed T’Pol to Sickbay.

Jessica:

“What do you mean it will take some time?” Archer interrupted Phlox. Phlox continued. “An accident like this has never occurred with a Starfleet transporter. I will need to work with Mr. Tucker and his engineers to discover what went wrong.” Archer considered what he said.

T’Pol setting on the bed next to him was finding the alien hormones and temper of Archer’s body difficult to deal with after three hours of endless tests in sickbay.. “How long do you estimate this will take?” Phlox considered. “A few days, maybe longer.” Archer covered his face with a slender hand and pushed his fingers back through his hair. T’Pol’s temper finally snapped. “What do you mean a few days? How are we supposed to cope with this in the mean time?” Phlox stepped over to T’Pol. “I expect you will deal with this like any other problem… It appears to me that you both have an opportunity most people never have. You will get to live a few days as the opposite gender and as another species.” Phlox looked between the two of them. “I’m recommending you both take time off until this problem is solved. You are both free to leave.”

T’Pol sighed. Anger and frustration was still bubbling inside her stomach. Archer looked at T’Pol. He still couldn’t get used to seeing himself like that without a mirror. Then he realized something. He would have to be living inside T’Pol’s body for a while. Eating, sleeping, bathing, dressing. He swallowed. T’Pol was his friend, and he would find a way to live inside her and still respect her privacy. Archer followed T’Pol as she stomped out sickbay’s doors.

tami:

As they walked toward the captain’s quarters to discuss the situation, Archer frowned at the way his body (the one he inhabited – T’Pol’s) swayed and wiggled when it walked. Stopping in his tracks, he squirmed a little trying to identify the problem.

‘Bingo!’

The culprit was undoubtedly his underwear; T’Pol’s briefs were crawling up his butt. Jiggling in place, he thought about adjusting them in private when he came to the conclusion she was wearing a … thong …? Discreetly feeling the edges of his hip, he confirmed a single string. Pretending to scratch his lower back, he nodded.

‘A thong. Is that how she never had any panty lines?!’ he thought. ‘Okay, that’s just damned sexy.’

Smiling with an unpracticed, previously stoic face, Archer stepped up the pace, giddy knowing a secret about her. And then with horror he realized something unfortunate – in his own uniform, Archer was wearing the only underwear left in his drawer: white cotton briefs with more holes than a crocheted sweater.

“You coming?” he heard his own voice rumble, giving a furrowed brow as it stepped across the portal of his own room.

“All right, all right,” Archer barked back in a husky, feminine voice that sounded oddly serene.

Jessica:

Archer glided into the room behind his own body. He didn’t know how he would ever get used to this. When the door closed behind him, he looked over to himself, err, T’Pol. T’Pol was furrowing his, her brow. Archer corrected his thoughts. He felt a headache forming behind his temple. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his now smaller nose.

Looking back up at T’Pol, he thought, ‘She’s having as hard of time getting used to this as me.’

“So, what are we going to do about this?”� Archer asked.

T’Pol looked at him not knowing which this he was referring to.

“The sleeping arrangements.”

T’Pol’s male hormones gave her several detailed images of possible sleeping arrangements. None of them involved clothing or seperate beds. How did men cope with them, and their all too visible affects? She looked out the viewport, and to the planet below until the images calmed down.

Archer smiled an enigmatic grin. Now she knew how it felt at times to have a body that wouldn’t behave. When her head turned back towards him, his face was impassive and his hands clasped behind his back. T’Pol looked at him suspiciously. Archer raised both eyebrows at her trying to look innocent.

‘Yes’ he thought, ‘I think I just might enjoy this.’
“What do you want to do T’Pol? Stay in our regular quarters and take some new clothing along with us? Or switch quarters?”

Part Deux

A few more entries for your reading pleasure, the last week’s worth of entries…

tami:

T’Pol eager to have her privacy, said, “Our own quarters” in a very male voice, meaning the ones they always had.

It made Archer smile – he already knew she wasn’t interested in sharing space with his smelly quadruped.

“Quadruped?” he said, feeling his eyebrow jump against his forehead. He felt along the ridge of his forehead impressed he could make his muscles move like that. It seemed like second nature.

A feeling of dread set in, which he noticed his mind began to immediately suppress. He wasn’t just acting like T’Pol … he was becoming her.

Jessica:

T’Pol took some of Archer’s clothing back to her quarters, including a batch of newly laundered underwear sans the swish cheese pattern of holes. Archer also gave her some grooming equipment, including an antiquated straight blade razor that made T’Pol furrow her brow in puzzled. T’Pol arrived back in Archer’s quarters a few minutes later with a stack of catsuits and silky pajamas accompanied by underwear that made Archer’s cheeks flush green. Her dizzying array toiletry items made him raise an eyebrow. Just what was the blue gel in the big jar for? Unfortunately the label was in Vulcan.

After T’Pol left, Archer took the high-heeled torture devices off freeing his feet. He massaged his aching feet. Archer realized what he needed was a nice hot shower before going to bed. He froze in place. How was he going to do this? He didn’t want to be lecherous and look at T’Pol’s body naked. Maybe he could find a logical way to respect T’Pol’s body’s privacy.

He took several of the mysterious bottles, one non-existent pair of underwear, and a set of silky, tight PJs into his bathroom. Closing his eyes, he mentally rolled over items brought up in the last senior staff meeting as he peeled of the uniform which resisted him every inch of the way. He opened his eyes to grab the bottles and walked naked into the shower. The shower was uneventful up until he blindly grabbed for another washcloth. Overextending himself, he lost his balance. He involuntarily let out a high-pitched feminine scream as he fell. His body smacked hard against the tile floor. He moaned as pain spread over his front side, and water pelted his back.

Lurkch:

T’Pol entered her quarters, relieved to finally be alone. She deposited her ’supplies’ that the Captain had given her on her desk. She wrinkled her nose at the unfamiliar odour permeating her quarters and spent several minutes searching for the source before realising it was herself, or more accurately, the Captain’s body. She needed a shower!

Gathering what she thought she would need she headed for the bathroom. Setting out the clean clothes she stopped to examine the briefs the Captain had given her. She poked her fingers through a pocket and flap…what is that for? Resigned to muddling through the intricacies of male Terran underwear later, she stripped off the unfamiliar StarFleet uniform, depositing the underwear that the Captain’s body had been wearing in the trashbin. Surely supplies cannot be so low as to justify wearing these, she thought as she gingerly dropped them in their final resting place.

Turning the shower to the usual setting, she stepped under the stream of water only to step out an instant later with a yelp. Recovering her composure she turned the temperature of the water down to one tolerable to her new (temporary?) body and began to scrub herself down.

tami:

With a raised brow, she chided herself.

‘I’m a Vulcan and a scientist; I’ve seen unclothed human bodies before,’ she thought.

It was that thought that made it so ridiculous for her stare at the ceiling as she washed her arms, chest, stomach and … other areas. The body she inhabited perked up at the feel and she stopped the movement of her hands and decided to rinse off.

It’s definitely going to take some time to get used to this body.

Meanwhile, Archer swished around his room in T’Pol’s blue satin pajamas. Unlike T’Pol, he buttoned them up completely, and also unlike her he enjoyed the feel of them against his skin. With satisfaction (mostly at having avoided leering at the body he occupied), he sat down at his computer and decided to do some work. As his fingers moved over the keyboard he noticed something right away his arms continued to knock against the side of his breasts his glorious, curvy and non-sagging breasts.

‘Damn,’ he thought.

Smacking down the bubble of giddiness that must make up female hormones, he decided to put on a bra to give him a little more room to type comfortably. Slipping off his top and at first avoiding the view, he pulled out a cotton bra. After sliding his arms through the loops, he reached behind him to close the clasp. His arms fought for the elastic material until finally he reached two fingers around it. Bringing what he assumed was the hook and eye for the clothing, he tried to work it closed. He’d seen enough women disrobe and get dressed to know how the contraption worked, but trying to put it on without being able to see was more than he could tackle. Straps askew and tired arms finally made him give up. With a sigh he slipped his shirt back on and went to bed.

Part Three

Jessica:

Archer lay on his back. The feel of his chest expanding against the tight fabric of his top as he breathed kept distracting him. He wasn’t used to sleeping with a shirt on at night or having firm, round. He chided himself. “I can’t think like that. This is T’Pol’s body. She’s my first officer.”

Maybe it would be best if he slept like he usually did, naked. An image from a dream he had years ago came unbidden into his mind. Under the dim light, a shoulder peaked out from beneath the blue sheets of the bed. The sheet skimmed over the curves of the bronze skinned woman until the sheet ended and long legs extended out from underneath it.

He sighed. His mind kept drifting back to the dream, which now included a hand pushing down the sheet. He turned over onto his side. Feeling more comfortable he tried to ignore the fingers gliding over skin. Gooseflesh raised on his exposed arm. Lips kissed the shoulder. A feminine moan escaped from between his parted lips. His eyes flew open. It was the same dream, but from a different perspective. He groaned. The sound that emerged from him sounded more like a purr. “Now I’m never going to get to sleep.”

Archer threw back the covers and sat up. He thought of what T’Pol did to calm her mind. She meditated. He’d seen her doing it before a few times when he came to her quarters. She would be sitting on the floor with her legs tucked underneath her. Archer sat on the floor the same way. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of all thought. It seemed to be working until his mind wandered back to the dream. The lips felt good kissing down bare skin. What would they feel like touching�?

“What is wrong with me?” Standing up he walked over to the stack of clothing T’Pol provided. Underneath the stack of catsuits was a solitary Vulcan meditation robe. Archer opened the closure noticing which fastening went with which. After a few minutes of confusion, curses, and rustling of fabric he had the robe on in what he assumed was the right way. Looking into his mirror he saw the rich purple fabric. A pattern blended into the fabric, almost indiscernible to a human unless they knew to look for it. But to the Vulcan eye the pattern, which in actuality were letters of ancient Vulcan script, stood out vivid and bright on the left side of the robe near the closure. Feeling more dressed than he would in a catsuit or the tight pajamas he walked out of his quarters towards the messhall. The robe was barely long enough to cover his bare feet. But he didn�t care. There was no way in hell he was getting back into those heels tonight.

Tami:

T’Pol stared at the ceiling. Awake. Still. Even at 3 a.m.

She’d already tried to meditate a few times lying down, but it felt nearly impossible to sleep. This body … this human body … had problems.

It’d been sweaty, as if demanding to be naked, and T’Pol was determined not to give in. Water had collected under hairy armpits, beaded at his forehead and tumbled along his back. Unlike her own body, she couldn’t regulate the heat.

A comfortable position was difficult to find. She couldn’t lay on her stomach; biology prevented that from feeling restful. And when she’d curled onto her side, either one, a twinge ran along the spine. An ache, like a sports-related injury. So, she was forced to lie in one position all night: her back.

There was one blissful fifteen-minute period where she found rest … until she’d been startled out of slumber by a loud rumbling noise that threatened to shake the room. After some consideration she’d determined the noise came from her nose and mouth. Snoring.

How does the captain sleep?

With virtually every technique exhausted, and her body (which seemed dependent on sleep) begging for rest, she decided to ask the only person she could think of what to do to get to the hulking frame to relax.

Walking to the door in her bare feet, she was about to head out (dressed in his sweats and t-shirt), when she saw T’Pol in front of her–or rather the captain in her body.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “Can I come in?”

Lurkch:

The Captain looked at his First Officer. She looked just about as uncomfortable as he did, trying but failing to keep a smirk from his lips.

“Are we having fun yet?” He asked sardonically. His own face looked back at him, and attempted a Vulcan eyebrow manoeuvre. The result was a comical look of surprise instead as both eyebrows went up. The grin he was trying to surpress threatened to escape his control.

“If I understand the concept of fun sufficiently, the answer to your question would be ‘No’,” she said with as much dignity she could muster.

“Yeh, me neither,” he commiserated, planting himself in a chair. “Where were you off to?”

“I was coming to see you,” she said. It was his turn to quirk an eyebrow, and having possession of the Vulcan body at the moment, he managed to do it without looking like he’d been startled out a year’s worth of growth.

“Really?” Now why would she be looking for him in the middle of the night. There was a rush of warmth and he felt a slight tingle where he had no business tingling as his baser self supplied a few reasons. He was thankful for the thick meditation robe that hid the other obvious signs of his mental wanderings.

“Why are you here?” She countered.

“Ladies first,” he insisted–and then wondered which one of them that would mean before remembering that he had answered her question earlier.

Jessica:

There was no reason for her to be embarrassed about speaking of her sleeping problems. Yet for some unexplainable reason her palms became sweaty and an indescribable sensation emanated from her stomach as she looked into Archer’s eyes gathering her thoughts.

“I’m having difficulty sleeping.”

“Tell me about it.” Archer said with a feminine laugh.

T’Pol took him literally not knowing he meant he’d had the same problem. Irritation seeped into her voice. “I am unable to sleep in your body. It is sweaty, and it�” she twisted Archer’s face into a look of disgust. “snores. I cannot find a comfortable sleeping position because of your� anatomy.”

Archer didn’t expect an outburst like that from T’Pol. She sounded like she was repulsed by living in his body. He couldn’t blame her. Living in her body wasn’t a walk in the park either. “I know what you mean.” His hands came up and gestured toward his chest, ” These get in the way all the time. I can’t sleep the way I usually do because of them. I tried everything I could think of, even meditation. I came here to see if you could help.”

T’Pol thought of several techniques she used when she encountered bouts of insomnia. “I believe I can help you. Do you think you could help me?”

“There is something I do sometimes when I have trouble sleeping. If you’re open to it, I could show you what it is.”

tami:

As if the skies opened above and shone golden sunlight onto Archer’s face (while being in the body of T’Pol), T’Pol whispered the magic words.

“Neuropressure.”

Ah neuropressure. He’d heard from ship-wide rumors that it could drench the desert in rain, part the Red Sea and probably even cure the common cold. Although, he was hoping the magic words would be ….

“I believe it should help us both to sleep. If you’ll remove your robe,” she said.

Suddenly the most bizarre paradox that could be imagined happened. Archer clutched his robe to him, shyly.

“Captain, I’ve seen that body before,” T’Pol said.

“It just … well, it doesn’t feel right.”

Inadvertently rolling her eyes, she gave in. “Then allow me to push it lightly around your shoulders.”

Sporting a suspicious frown, he permitted it. Suddenly, large strong hands tapped along his neck and shoulders. Warm breath tickled his sensitive neck and he felt his chest spark to life. The hands rubbed more, touching and working areas as her lips were perched on the verge on his back, deep in concentration. With one more tap, the feeling turned overwhelming – sensational. His stomach fluttered and a strange urge to go to the bathroom overcame him. It felt … sexy. He wanted those hands to touch his breasts.

Breasts?! “Oh,” he whispered aloud.

“I apologize, wrong vertebrae. Your hands are so large and unwieldy.” She felt clumsy.

“What did you just do?” he asked, feeling the urge to wiggle his shoulders into her hands as saliva rushed to his mouth. Oh my God! This is what women feel like when they�re turned on!

As T’Pol searched for words to explain the problem, Archer whispered, huskily. “Do that again.”

Strangely, hearing her own voice caused her body to tingle aggressively. “I don’t think that’s wise.”

Slipping down his robe a notch farther, he smiled. “Do it again.” God, it’s sexy to be a woman.

Biting her lip, she declined and pulled the robe over her. “Perhaps that wasn’t the best solution.”

Jessica:

Archer turned around and inched his knees closer to T’Pol. When he faced her he saw his face instead of the one he expected to see. The spell of his arousal dissipated as thoughts pushed through the sensual haze.

“Maybe it isn’t. I don’t understand this myself. I’m attracted to you even though you’re not exactly you. This is so confusing. I don’t know if it’s the hormones causing this or�” His voice trailed off as he realized what he almost revealed. He broke eye contact and looked down at his hands.

T’Pol waited for him to continue.

He looked back up at her nervously. He licked his lips then parted them trying to speak. The words wouldn’t emerge. His mind caught up with his emotions in those few seconds and tried to talk him out of it. Their situation was already complicated enough. He shouldn’t go and add the feelings he hid from her into the mix.

He sighed. When was it ever uncomplicated? He never expected to fall in love with someone under his command or a Vulcan. The feelings grew slowly inside him until one day he realized it had progressed beyond the caring of one friend for another. He didn’t know when he crossed the boundaries he kept inside himself to avoid getting to close. Despite his efforts to rein his feelings in and hide them away, he became closer to T’Pol and his feelings for her grew. He told himself it was just an attraction to her, and he believed it until today. T’Pol wasn’t in her own body, yet he still felt drawn to her. Inside she was still intelligent, strong, stubborn, and intriguing T’Pol who he couldn’t imagine his life without.

He thought about what Phlox had said. They’d been given an opportunity most people never had– to live as the opposite gender. His mind spun as questions filled his mind. What should they do with this chance? How should they explore this rare opportunity? Would it bring them closer?

T’Pol furrowed her brow looking at the emotions cross across the face in front of her. Curiosity bubbled up inside her until it escaped her lips as a question.

“What were you trying to say Jonathan?”

tami:

Archer stammered. “Nothing. Gotta go back to my room … your room … my room!”

As if guessing his thoughts, she spoke quietly. “It’s difficult inhabiting your body. It doesn’t respond as I thought it might.”

Giving a smirk, he leaned over – much closer than he should’ve and felt the whisper of her thoughts; it was a rush. “Tomorrow when we’re on the Bridge, it’s best the others don’t know. I’ll talk with Trip and Phlox about that. The crew has to believe you’re the captain.”

T’Pol combed a stray piece of hair from Archer’s face, something that didn’t seem to bother him until a pair of large fingers brushed the strand away.

“Then perhaps I should be the one to address Commander Tucker and Phlox?” she asked.

He gave a curt nod. “What time are you due on the Bridge tomorrow?”

Hesitantly, she whispered, “0500 hours.”

Damn Vulcans got up early!

“I’m supposed to be there at 0700.”

Hovering near each other without touching, they nodded. Archer clutched at his robe and walked out, sauntering down the hall without looking back. Looking back would’ve confuse the hell out of him about wanting to take his own body to bed.

That was just weird!

As he swished down the hall, he passed a few knowing winks, which pissed him off – he wasn’t sure what made him angrier: the fact other men found T’Pol attractive or the fact she had to endure being oggled every day.

Once behind the door in his own cabin, he let his feminine veneer fall. Until this moment, he didn’t even know what that was. It consisted of rolling his eyes at what pigs men were and wanting to take his bra off.

Rather than dance to him, Porthos gave a weary growl and fixed himself in his doggy bed.

“Only two hours of potential sleep,” Archer said to no one in particular.

Porthos huffed and put his head down.

The captain crawled into his bed and stared at the ceiling. When his eyes finally drooped with haze, he remembered an important detail he should’ve remembered before.

“Shit, I haven’t worked the scanner since my cadet training!!”

Lurkch:

The bridge crew had been subdued all day. No one could put their finger on it, but there was something strange going on. Hoshi looked over at T’Pol who was fiddling with the science station more than usual, and frowning. It was almost like she couldn’t remember what button did what.

Captain Archer got up and wandered over to T’Pol’s station–again–and spoke to her quietly. Hoshi looked around to see if anyone thought there was anything unusual going on. Mayweather looked over dubiously. He had caught it too: the Captain was invading T’Pol’s personal space, standing much too close to her. It was weird, like a moon circling a planet, they seemed to be stuck in each other’s orbit today.

The Captain had spent some time in his Ready Room this morning until T’Pol had set off an automated alarm. The Captain had come rushing out to find that, in fact, T’Pol had simply miscalibrated the scanner by a factor of 1000 and that they weren’t actually in danger of flying into a nearby planet. After that had been fixed, strangely enough by the Captain and not T’Pol, the Captain had not left his post on the bridge.

“Phlox to Captain Archer.” Hoshi looked over at the Captain when he did not acknowledge the comm. Instead she was suprised to hear T’Pol answer it. Everyone on the bridge turned to look at her. Looking slightly embarassed, she said sheepishly:

“It’s for you.”

After a moments hesitation, the Captain answered Phlox’s hail. Hoshi looked at Reed who just shrugged his shoulders and went back to checking out T’Pol.

“I’d like to see you and T’Pol in Sickbay, right away.”

Jessica:

Archer and T’Pol looked at each other, both of them hoping Phlox had good news. Seconds passed as they continued to look into each other’s eyes. Archer broke eye contact first, and gestured with his head towards Reed.

T’Pol blinked and nodded her acknowledgment to Archer. She turned to Reed and said, “Mr. Reed you have the bridge.” Archer suppressed a cringe. T’Pol sounded too much like herself.

Reed eyed Archer and T’Pol suspiciously. Archer could almost hear the questions in Reed’s head. Hopefully this would be all over before Reed started looking for answers.

T’Pol stood up from the command chair and walked, or rather sauntered, over to the turbolift. Archer caught Reed’s eyes widen and his mouth drop open slightly at the shocking sight. Archer blushed green. He tried not to imagine what Reed was thinking of Archer’s hips swaying in a very female fashion.

Archer stood up and walked on wobbly legs to the turbolift. He’d reached the lip of turbolift door when he lost his balance and stumbled inside the turbolift. The lift doors closed quickly behind him.

Archer was about to curse the ridiculous high heeled boots again when he noticed strong arms had caught him before he hit the floor. T’Pol helped him up to stand. Her arms stayed around him not letting go. Barely a few inches separated their bodies. His eyes were locked with hers. Inside them he saw her. The same T’Pol he’d seen inside her eyes thousands of times before. This time he saw concern for him in her eyes dissolve and be replace by a desire that mirrored his own.

He felt something pulling him to her, and this time he didn’t want to resist. His eyes were lost inside hers. He could hear her heartbeat racing as he moved closer to her. Her breath mingled with his. He looked down to her lips. That moment a voice inside him spoke up telling him this was wrong. This wasn’t the way their first kiss was supposed to be. They weren’t who they were supposed to be. He closed his eyes, his feelings warring with his logic. A hand resting on his cheek brought him back to reality.

Jessica:

Archer opened his eyes and looked at the owner of the cool hand resting against his cheek. He still couldn’t get used to his own green eyes staring back at him. Her pupils were dilated and she looked at him with primal hunger.

“Doctor Phlox said we have an opportunity. It is only logical that we explore it.”

Archer opened his lips to protest. His protests were silenced by T’Pol’s lips. Reason fled as he closed his eyes. A hand moved from the small of his back up to the zipper. The zipper inched slowly down as he felt himself backed up to the wall of the turbolift. When the hand touched his bare skin he shivered. The euphoria of arousal intoxicated him. The hand smoothed down his back. Archer shivered from the coolness.

This was getting out of control. He should stop it now. T’Pol’s hormones were driving her to do this. He shouldn’t let his get the best of him.

T’Pol lips left his and traveled to the sensitive spot below his ear. His lips parted as he swam in sensation. He wanted more.

Lurkch:

“T’Pol, should we be–?” She moved her hand to his front, cupping his breast and stroking it. He had always wondered what that felt like. Considering the response he got whenever he carried out the same move on anyone else, he had an inkling that it was ‘pleasant’. Now he knew: it much more than that, so much more that he was having trouble catching his breath.

“Jonathan,” she whispered in his ear, “have you not considered that this is a unique opportunity?” He gave up trying to fight her and pulled her closer as his body demanded. It was a bit disconcerting to feel that rigid length against him and know it wasn’t his. He decided to ignore the intellectual aspect of the situation and focus on the sensations, the tendrils of desire that spread to the most surprising places in this body.

T’pol’s passion was unexpected but then she was dealing with his hormones. Of course, that didn’t explain why he found his own body so uncontrollable. It was confusing, and erotic, and over much, much quicker than either of them would have wanted.

Afterward, they awkwardly reclaimed their clothes. As they were straightening their hair the comm panel in the lift sounded.

“Arch–T’Pol here,” he said, catching himself just in time. Hoshi’s voice filtered through sounding a little self-conscious.

“Uhm, Dr. Phlox was wondering if you needed some help . . . you’re late for your meeting.”

“The lift malfunctioned, we’re on our way now.” Not a very convincing lie, but it was the best that he could come up with on short notice.

* * *

Studiously avoiding Phlox’s curious look, Archer sat there while the good doctor finished scanning him, or that is scanned his psyche in T’Pol’s body. T’Pol, that is to say T’Pol’s psyche in his body, had already been scanned. In fact they had both been scanned as soon as they arrived in Sickbay. Phlox had insisted that they return to be scanned four hours later, which was the scan that was being run now. Whatever the results were, Phlox wasn’t sharing them although he had made several surprised noises followed by a number of disapproving ones.

“Well, as we discussed earlier I had called you down here to tell you that Trip and I have discovered a way to reverse your ‘problem’ using the transporter to approximate the original conditions which caused the malfunction.” Phlox sounded somewhat less than thrilled with the news that he was delivering.

“However, considering the events of the day, that plan will have to be put on hold for 48 hours.” Archer and T’Pol looked at each other, the momentary elation replaced by something much less pleasant.

“In order to reverse that process with the transporter, your bodies must be in substantially the same condition as when the problem first arose.” Phlox paused and looked at them expectantly but received only blank looks in return. Sighing, he turned the scanner so that T’pol could see it. She paused for a moment before looking up at him.

“I see. That would be problematic.” T’Pol passed the scanner over to Jonathan who couldn’t make heads or tails out of the medical readout.

“Would someone please tell me what is going on?” Phlox and T’Pol exchanged a look. Phlox gave her a nod of encouragement, and she reluctantly turned to Jonathan.

“It would appear that our activities in the lift may have resulted in an unforeseen problem.” He was getting nervous at the way T’Pol was avoiding his gaze, she never did that, not even when it was really bad news.

“Unforeseen problem?” He asked weakly.

“We cannot proceed until Phlox can confirm that implantation will not occur.”

“Implantation?”

“Yes.”

“What!?”

“It appears that an ovum was fertilised.” T’Pol pointed to a squiggle on the medical readout, catching the device before Jonathan dropped it as his predicament began to sink in.

“Are you saying that I’m–”

“–pregnant. At least for the moment.”

Tami:

Archer’d had some strange things happen, events that he’d put under the heading: I never imagined this shit when I was in Starfleet. Some of the things cataloged there were – being taken over by aliens (more than once), hearing his crew nearly blow each other away due to a hallucinogen, meeting a race of blue people with squiggly antennae and getting information from some guy from the 23rd century.

All of that stuff was pretty damned weird, but this had to take the cake: trapped in the body of his female Vulcan first officer, beautiful though it may be, and knocked up.

“No,” he said. His large brown eyes implored the green ones of the tall man in front of him – T’Pol.

“I was careless,” she said. Her large hairy hand cupped his face, and he felt himself nuzzle into the touch.

“I guess we both were,” he said.

Looking down at his lap, as the hand left his face, he tried to put the pieces together and heard himself mumble feebly.

“My father told me it’s difficult for Vulcan children to be born.”

Phlox agreed. “That’s true. But, it appears you were ovulating.”

He winced. “Great.”

Phlox glanced between the two when finally T’Pol spoke up, shifting a little with unease.

“A fertilized egg does not necessarily mean a child will be born … particularly with our DNA.”

“What does that mean?” Archer asked.

Phox crossed his arms. “She’s saying it’s unlikely this child will actually be born. A human/Vulcan child … other than Lorian … has never been produced.” Puffing out his chest with a sense of pride, he continued. “And I apparently assisted with Lorian’s conception.”

With a heavy sigh, Archer hopped off the bed.

Great.

For some reason, that didn’t make him feel any better. In a bizarre way, it made him feel a little worse.

Phlox finally chimed in. “I’m surprised, also, that your hormones have skyrocketed, Captain.”

T’Pol leaned in a little. “What do you mean?”

Phlox raised his eyebrows. “I wonder if the exchange between you,” he paused and then coughed to hide his smile, “or switching bodies elevated your hormones. It’s as if –”

Archer was tuning out the words as he stared at T’Pol, remembering what it was like to feel their turbolift interlude. Being a woman certainly had its advantages – rather than one mind numbing explosion, he felt the gentle sway of losing consciousness … twice.

He licked his lips.

Maybe it was the pregnangy – he paused, cringing a little – that caused him to feel this way. But despite hearing the most peculiar news in his 43-year old life, he panted.

“T’Pol, can we talk about this?” he asked.

Without answering, she nodded. And the two headed out and into the turbolift silently. The moment the doors closed, she turned to him.

“I apologize,” she began.

He grabbed her lapels and forced her mouth to his again. Realizing his voice sounded both sultry and vulnerable, he whispered against her lips.

“I want to do that again.”

Edtheoldsarge:

Archer’s mind was in a haze. A blinding sensual haze.

How the hell did T’Pol deal with this overload of emotions every day? I know she has an iron control of her emotions, but even if Surak were still in my head, it would be beyond me.

There was a momentary blinding flash of light and then, “Well, Jonathan, it seems that you are learning more about our people than I thought you would, and so quickly,” as he surveyed the captains new body.

“Surak, I thought you left me when the priests removed your katra and restored it to the hall of souls. At least I haven’t felt you since then.”

“You haven’t had need of me before now, Jonathan.”

Phlox did tell them both; It appears to me that you both have an opportunity most people never have. You will get to live a few days as the opposite gender and as another species.

Jessica:

T’Pol was very open to his suggestion. Unfortunately, male anatomy needed time to recover.

The thought broke through the haze of human hormones. What had they done? They’d crossed the line between them without a second thought. She remembered their conversation years ago in his ready room.

She told him back then, “Then it’s good that you’re my superior officer. That we’re not in a position to allow ourselves to become attracted to one another… hypothetically. If we were, the friction that you speak of could be much more problematic.”

Entering a normal romantic relationship could be problematic enough. And this was anything but normal. They weren’t themselves, and may not be for a while if the fertilized egg did become an embryo.

And when and if they did go back to their own bodies, more problems could appear. Would the haze of hormones fade and leave them both regreting their encounter? Any relationship forged now might cause problems in the future. With bodies switched back confusion, embarrassment, and possibly regret may cause their relationship to end.

Another thing she’d failed to consider before she gave into her need was the consequences to their command relationship. They’d carefully built trust and respect between them and learned how to become a good team. Their actions in the turbolift may have jeopardized all of that.

And if they did have a child… There were too many things to consider.

T’Pol felt the desire inside her snuffed by cold logic. “Jonathan, we can’t do it again,” she quickly looked away from his eyes. Her voice became emotionless. “I’m sorry. I need some time alone.”

With that she left sickbay and headed to the observation deck. She needed to think clearly about things. And she couldn’t do that with Jonathan around.

Tami:

Jon watched T’Pol walk away – her form (in the lanky structure of a man) wasn’t the marching gait he’d adopted, but something that hinted a slight sway in the hips. In other words: the captain walked like a woman.

Normally, that discovery would’ve bothered him. This time, he raised his brows, wondering how bizarre it was to watch his own ass and lust for it. Licking his lips, he let the turbolift doors shut and pressed the button so that it was stuck on that floor.

A strange feeling had been creeping up his spine for the past few hours, many hours before his rendezvous with T’Pol. The feeling made his mouth water and his stomach grow restless, as if he were hungry.

He didn’t care if T’Pol was the one he mated with, he wanted to do it again. And again. And again.

It was worse, much worse, than his most salacious thoughts in high school – where he’d sit in class and day dream about Jennifer Monahan, head of the cheerleader squad, stuffed into one of her tight-fitting red, sweaters.

This was urgent. Uncontrollable. Like a thirst that would never be quenched.

Stuffing his fingers through his hair, he took a deep breath.

I don’t know if this is because I’m a woman … or a Vulcan he thought.

He�d known women, been out with women, and been birthed by one. From all accounts, at least the ones he�d been privy to, this didn’t seem normal. Then an idea struck his mind.

Maybe I should talk with Hoshi about this.

Tami:

Trip and Phlox had advised not to tell the crew. The more people who knew about the problem, the worse the consequences, meaning – if they were in combat, no one would know who to listen to. It was best to keep pretending to be T’Pol.

Besides, what would I say? he asked himself. “Hi, it’s me – your captain – just in the body of a horny woman that you used to know as T’Pol. Yeah, I want to sleep with the body I used to inhabit. Seems pretty weird to feel this worked up. Can you help me out? Do all women feel like this?”

If the need to mate, the overpowering urge, wasn’t so strong, he would’ve left. After ringing the bell, she appeared at the door, startled to see the Vulcan in front of her.

“T’Pol? What can I do for you?”

Act like T’Pol! “I understand. Ensign Sato, I wished to ask your advice on a matter.”

Hoshi wrinkled up her forehead. “Sure. Wanna come in, or join me in the Mess? My place is kind of a disaster.”

“I’ll enter.” Archer stepped carefully – ignoring the high heels and stepped into her quarters.

Looking around, he knew the young woman wasn’t the tidiest of crewmen, but was surprised at the utter chaos that filled her room.

Hoshi apologized. “Sorry, I was trying on outfits. I couldn’t decide which one didn’t make me look fat. You know.”

He really didn’t. And he really didn’t want to.

“Have a seat,” Sato said.

As he was about to sit down, she snatched a pair of panties from her bed. “Sorry, you don’t want to sit on that. Don’t worry, they’re clean. Err, the panties and the bed.”

He tried to squash the image of a black nearly see-through lacey thing from his mind.

“What did you want to talk about?” Hoshi asked.

“I …. Have you ever …. Do women … human I mean … ever feel … antsy?” Archer said. He noticed he flipped his hair.

Sato stared him down, and he got a little more nervous.

“I’m simply asking because I’ve noticed this behavior from someone else,” Archer said.

Sato smiled. “Who?!”

Archer felt a frown coming on, and barely thwarted it. “Who it is isn’t important.”

“What kind of symptoms are you seeing?”

“Symptoms of …. This was a mistake.” He rose and Hoshi giggled.

“T’Pol, are you asking me if human women ever get sexually aroused?”

Archer was hoping silence would affirm her question.

Hoshi nodded. “Sure. I think it’s natural.”

“You’ve had these feelings about men aboard?”

“Yeah. I mean, sometimes, I think about Trip all sweaty and greasy in Engineering and –”

“I don’t think I need so much detail.” What he left out was – “especially about his buddy Trip.”

“And sometimes when the captain paces by my station, I have the urge to pinch his ass.”

His jaw dropped; unfortunately, she continued.

“And I think about Reed in the Armoy lubing up the torpedo.”

“That’s enough.”

Hoshi giggled, obviously feeling one up. “Maybe you weren’t there for the final vote of hottest Enterprise man contest.”

Suddenly, Archer’s interest was piqued. “Who won?”

“Travis – the bicep – Mayweather.”

He felt a brow poke up. “Not Captain Archer?”

“Well, I know you’d vote for him.”

“Why?”

“T’Pol, reading all the signs …. I know you like him.”

His lips sloped up into an unabashed smile, which once he felt spread across his face, he tried to put out. “I do. And I know he feels the same way.”

Hoshi titled her head, questioning him. “Oh God, this is about Archer isn’t it?!”

“He’s a man.”

“He’s the captain. T’Pol, are you feeling okay?”

He shook his head. “Yes. No. I mean I feel–”

“Have you talked with Phlox?” Hoshi asked.

“This isn’t a normal woman thing?”

“Woman thing?” Hoshi asked.

“I mean … I don’t know what I mean.”

Hoshi shook her head. “I’ve been … let’s just say there’s waxing and waning. I’ve been waning for a long time. Sometimes I feel … eager. But, I don’t know about Vulcans.”

The women were quiet together, when Hoshi said something. “T’Pol, don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you confided in me, but … aren’t you more likely to talk with Phlox about this?”

“I thought you might have a unique perspective.”

Hoshi raised her brows. “Well, I gotta go eat. If you want my advice, you’ll stop by Sickbay.”

The woman whispered under her breath, “And in a hurry.”

Archer rose. “I will. Thanks for your insight.”

After leaving a stunned Hoshi, Archer tried to maintain compsure as he walked down the wall. As he rounded the first bend, he nearly crumpled to the ground. The urge … the urge to mate like a rutting beast … was strong. Twitching his nose in the air, he caught Archer’s … or rather T’Pol’s scent. Like an animal drawn to prey, he crept toward the smell, licking his lips.

Jessica:

T’Pol sat legs tucked under her staring out the dome of the observation deck. The sensation of hot flesh under her fingers clamoured for her attention with the echo of fragments of words moaned in her ear. Her eyes blinked. She stood walking over to one of the padded benches in the room.

All her attempts at meditation since coming here had failed. She sat down ignoring the smoldering ashes in her stomach.

She knew he was at the door before he opened it. Shock covered her face as she saw his appearance. His skin flushed a deep bronze, sweat matting his hair, and need filling his eyes.

No, it’s not possible…

“T’Pol…” his voice caressed her name, but not in the way he usually did. A sensual caress that left nothing to the imagination about what he wanted.

She had to get through to him. Then, she’d take him to Phlox. Maybe he could cure…

Her eyes were locked with his unable to look away. Boots were tapping across the floor towards her.

No, this is wrong. We will regret this later….

His hands were on the wall on either side of her head. He whispered I need you before capturing her lips.

tani:

Flame. Hot, like the desert — scorching his skin and inards until they burned. His inner eyelids filmed over as he stared at her, a reaction to the enormous wave of heat. He rubbed his lips together, as if to quench them with his own saliva, and tasted salt. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple and he felt it pool at his back. He was wet.

“T’Pol,” he whispered.

With great Vulcan strength, he pushed her hard against the wall — hard enough to knock the wind out of her. It wasn’t the only reason she gasped, the seduction was hungry and desperate.

“Jonathan–”

Planting his hands firmly on either side against the wall, preventing her from escaping, his lips hovered near her throat, her Adam’s apple and her mouth. His nostrils delighted in drinking in her scent – it smelled like pine needles.

“What?” he asked, distracted. His mind focused like a laser beam on one thing.

“We’re in the Observation Lounge,” she said. Her words sounded helpless, like a plea.

“I don’t care,” he answered. He could feel the pulse at his neck race as T’Pol’s breath tickled his lips.

She struggled a little under him, hoping to evade him, but he kept his ground and eventually she surrendered. Her deep green eyes wideneed, staring into his hooded brown ones and he’d begun to pant.

“Don’t,” she asked. She could sense the need in him was so great, that he would take her anyway he could.

Flicking his tongue at her throat, to tease and taunt her, he savored her skin and almost smiled that the effort made her tremble.

“I think I understand what’s wrong with you. Perhaps this ordeal has triggered something that makes you feel like this.”

Instead of answering her, he closed in a little – stalking her like prey.

“If we see Dr. Phlox–”

“I don’t need a doctor. I need you,” he whispered before pressing his lips against hers.

At first she fought, squirming from his grasp, but eventually she succumbed. His hand reached around to bring her to him with dominance and force. Their bodies were flush against each other and he could hear the beat of her heart; the drumming was loud and rhythmic. As his lips parted to make way for his tongue to enter her mouth, he felt her hand brush his neck. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and he slumped to the floor.

Before darkness overcame him, he saw T’Pol towering over him.

“You have the Pon Farr,” she said.

Everything faded to black.

Jessica:

Crewmembers eyed T’Pol and Archer with curiosity and concern as they walked down the corridor -or more accurately- as T’Pol walked down the corridor carrying Archer in her arms.

T’Pol reassured the few people they passed by. “No, we don’t need any assistance. Phlox is awaiting our arrival. Thank you for the offer.”

Archer’s even breathing and her even footfalls punctuated the silence of most of the journey. T’Pol looked down at the short sweat-drenched hair, closed eyelids, and parted lips resting against her blue uniform. The oddness of seeing herself in her arms caused her steps to falter. She recovered quickly, fortunately without loosing her balance.

Again, her thoughts returned to the consequences of their actions. If and when Phlox did return to their bodies, what would be the aftereffects to their relationship?

She imagined several different outcomes:

Archer enters her quarters. He tells her he can’t continue the relationship they began. He has difficulty holding eye contact with her as he says they should be strictly captain and first officer and friends. She reluctantly agrees. She begins to notice that he’s uncomfortable around her. The moments when desire peaks out of his eyes are followed by confusion.

Archer enters her quarters. He talks with her about their child. What role will he have in the life of their child? What role will he have in her life?

Archer comes to her quarters. He talks with her about continueing the relationship they began. She is relieved and agrees with him. Several dates later, he kisses her. This time, everything feels right. They are who they are supposed to be, and the haze of alien hormones gone.

T’Pol shifted Archer’s weight in her arms. All those possible outcomes depended on Archer’s reaction to her if/when they were eventually switched back.

Meanwhile, inside of Archer’s mind:

“Why are you still here Surak?”

“I am an imprint left behind on your mind.”

“I think I understand. You said I have need of you. Why?”

“T’Pol has lost her path. With my help, she may find it again. When the time comes, I will be here.”

Jessica:

Archer blinked open his eyes. He tried to sit up. A hand encircled his left forearm steadying him. His eyes searched for the owner of the hand. His own face greeted him.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.”

T’Pol raised an eyebrow, which caused the lines of his former forehead to scrunch up on one side.

“You should rest.”

“I don’t think I will until my head stops pounding,” he said. He rubbed his neck trying to work the kink out.

“Dr. Phlox may have something for your headache.”

T’Pol pulled the curtain back from around the biobed and walk across sickbay. His eyes followed her butt as it strained against the fabric of her uniform. Every nerve in his body hummed to life with activity. Drunk on the flames of desire licking at his brain, his headache was quickly forgotten.

“Ah Captain Archer you’re awake. T’Pol tells me you have a headache. Perfectly understandable for a person recovering from a Vulcan neck pinch.”

Archer pried his eyes away from roving over T’Pol. “Neck pinch?”

“Yes.”

“You neck pinched me?” he asked T’Pol.

“It was necessary.”

“Necessary? I need you. If you care anything about me, how can you deny what is necessary to me?”

T’Pol’s eyes widened. She quickly recovered. “We can discuss this later.”

The hiss of hypospray distracted Archer from his anger. “Your headache should be gone momentarily. Would you like a glass of water?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Is there anything else you would like me to get you?”

“I’m fine. Why shouldn’t I be?”

Phlox hesitated for a moment. “I scanned your body while you were unconcious.”

“The baby?”

“I’m sorry,” Phlox said. The rest of his words sounded muffled to Archer’s ears. His body… T’Pol’s body rejected the fertilized egg’s implantation. T’Pol stood beside him, her jaw squared. Only her eyes showed any reaction.

“… Human and Vulcan genomes are not compatable without genetic engineering. I will continue to try to find a way to create a viable offspring. I helped create Lorian, so I believe it will eventually be possible-”

“Thank you Doctor.” T’Pol said.

“You’re welcome.” T’Pol continued to stare at him until Phlox got the hint. “I’ll leave you two alone. Let me know if you need anything.”

“How are you?” she asked smoothing his hair back in place.

A lump in his throat prevented him from answering. A tear streamed down his face. Grief extinguished the fire inside him leaving him cold and empty.

Edtheolsarge:

One tear led to two then a flood. God, he wanted the baby! Now it was gone, without even a chance to be born. He felt the room begin to grow smaller and darker, then it was gone. He was in a nowhere land, it was deathly quiet. He wondered idly if this was where he would wait for his own death. He had lost their baby and now this felt like the most logical place to be.

A blinding flash of light he was becoming used to flashed through his mind. “Hello Surak” he said, “what do you want of me now?

“I said I would be here if you needed me, Jonathan” he said with a slight smile at the corners of his mouth. If Jon hadn’t been used to T’Pol he would never have seen it.

“You are feeling very sorry for yourself aren’t you?” He paused for awhile letting that sink in. “Jonathan, anything that is worth having is going to cost you. You must work hard for what is most meaningful to you.”

Do you believe that this has no affect on T’Pol? You know that she will always try to do what she believes is the proper thing. She has to remain true to what she sees as her Vulcan ideals.” Open yourself to her and do not push her too fast. In her own time she will understand.”

“Now it is time to go back and get the two of you back where you belong.”

Jon opened his eyes and it was darkened around his bed. He sensed T’Pol sitting at his side in a chair. She appeared to be sleeping sitting up straight, or just maybe meditating.

He sat and stared at her. ‘Surak said to open my mind to her, I wonder if I know how?’ He gentled his mind and after a while felt the peace she was feeling. She was thinking about the baby, too. The baby that was not meant to be at this time.

Surak was right. The first order of business was to set everything right and the way it was supposed to be. They needed to get back to the planet and find out how to get themselves straightened out.

Jessica:

The transfer of their bodies turned out to be surprisingly easy. Phlox ran tests on them to confirm that they both were as close to their previous physical states as possible. Trip calibrated the transporter to undo what it did. Jonathan and T’Pol sat patiently waiting; both not knowing what to say and wondering what would happen to their relationship after they were back to themselves.

When the tingling of the transporter faded, Jonathan swayed. He steadied himself with a hand on the edge of the transporter chamber. His whole body felt bulky and heavy, yet familiar. Looking to his right, he saw T’Pol looking up at him with concern.

Seeing her in her own body, all curves, intelligence, and stoicism made him blink. It felt strange to look down at her instead of up, and looking into brown eyes instead of green. Yet he knew she belonged behind that pair of eyes.

“How do you feel?” her feminine voice asked. Devoid of emotion, he noted, just like her face.

“I feel like myself again,” he lied. He felt like part of him belonged inside of her. Did she feel the same way?

More medical tests filled the day. He didn’t try to spark up a conversation with T’Pol. They needed to talk, but not in sickbay.

He came to her quarters later that night under the guise of retrieving his clothing. T’Pol invited him to kneel with her in the warm glow of her meditation candles.

“I came here wanting to talk about everything that has happened. But now that I’m here, I don’t know where to start.”

T’Pol’s eyes held his. “The beginning is a logical place to start.”

“I need to know where we stand.”

She didn’t comment on the human expression. “Where do you want our relationship to stand?”

“I don’t know. Part of me thinks that it might be best to return to the way we were before all of this. Part of me doesn’t want to.”

“We were under the influence of hormones alien to our minds. We didn’t have full control of our actions.”

She was giving him an out. He knew it. He breathed in, looking down at the flame, and tried to think of how to tell her what he needed to say. Meeting her eyes again, he let the breath out slowly and decided to be honest with her. He normally wouldn’t reveal so much to anyone.

“When I looked into your eyes, I didn’t see you inside my body. I saw you. The pon farr didn’t make me do anything that I haven’t wanted to do for a long time.”

She stared at him for several breaths and then into the flame searching for answers.

“You wish to continue our romantic relationship?”

“Yes, I want to. If you don’t, we can go back to being friends.”

Her eyes shot up to him. He almost smiled when her eyebrows pinched together. “You would suppress your feelings for me?”

His hope dropped. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to be in your life in whatever way you’ll have me.”

She nodded and gazed into the flame again. Her voice replied barely above a whisper, “I thought your feelings might change when we returned to our own bodies. I imagined you might see me and feel shame or disgust at the way we acted.”

She looked up at him asking a silent question if that were true.

“I don’t feel ashamed. I have to admit this has been one of the strangest experiences of my life, but I’m not disgusted by what happened. I thought about it before I came here. I’ve lived in your skin. I think I know you now better than I did before.”

“I believe I understand. I have withheld information from you. I thought your feelings would change. I thought my own feelings would change as well. They haven’t.”

Jonathan swallowed. “I take it you’re not talking about feelings of friendship.”

“No.” Her eyes seemed filled with longing, or was it his imagination?

“What do you want to do about them?”

“I would like to have a romantic relationship with you, if you are willing.”

Jonathan smiled, “I’m willing.”

T’Pol held out two fingers. He caressed them with his own. This time around, everything felt right.

******

Epilogue

T’Les was born on one of the few sunny days in San Francisco. The first thing she saw through blurry eyes was her smiling father. Her mother, while trying to remain stoic, looked in awe at the child in her arms. Her father caressed her head. T’Les’ eyes followed the shiny band one of his fingers. The familiar emotions of her mother and father came to her through the bond.

‘Hello my daughter,’ mother thought to her.

THE END