Stake Thy Claim

by John O.

Rating: PG13 – some language/adult situations
Genre: Redux/AU/Romance
Disclaimer: Paramount owns Star Trek characters/names/fans’ souls/etc. I call shenanigans.

A/N: I've wanted to repair a mistake that burned my *** from the moment Trip turned down the last chance that T'Les gave him to 'be a little human' and tell T'Pol how he felt, regardless of the consequences. After all, isn't the recklessness of the heart combating the logic of the mind one of the central themes of TnT's romance. In my opinion, T'Pol may very well have harbored a secret wish that he object... As a human, unruly behavior would have been less surprising and would have saved T’Pol from having to do it... Enjoy!

Also, *-*-*-*-* is a goofy border I decided will represent changes in POV, since much of the content is about how each is perceiving the situation.

Vulcan

The Vulcan robes were dry, but soft and surprisingly elegant for a logical culture. It was not an all-together unfitting description of T'Pol herself, he realized, as he stepped forward onto red stone. The scratch of dirt under Trip’s feet brought him back to reality from the dazed contemplations that wandered through his mind as the moment approached. There was another loud 'gong' and his feet moved him forward another half-dozen steps. He wasn't sure where they were taking him, but he was powerless to stop himself from following their lead, knowing the destination was inevitable. He realized that the rhythmic thumping of his heart was tickling up to his throat as he stood there looking at T'Pol. She was clad in a violet ceremonial wedding gown not meant for him to admire. She seemed to glow like a human bride on her wedding day, the smile she lacked for the part only minimally detracting from the beauty of the woman in front of him.

Beautiful Vulcan, Tucker thought. But the Vulcan was more radiant than any human woman he had ever laid eyes on, or ever would. Just when he thought the quaking in his chest would knock him over, her lips quivered in protest and they opened to speak, though they seemed to long for something else.

"I'm grateful that you're here," T'Pol told him, her voice faltering. Her lips flinched and many Vulcan eyes in the area darted covertly towards them. She searched his face for some sign, some indication that his human heart would push him over the edge she dared not near; begging him to leap and take her with him. Begging him to stop her. When he stared at her helplessly, unsure of what she wanted from him, she sighed slightly, his hesitancy strengthening her composure. In an instant she was a properly detached-looking Vulcan.

"You look amazing," he thought to himself, the words slipping from his lips without intention. Her eyes softened again and rimmed with moisture that threatened to break its bonds and pour down her cheek, breaking the fragile portrait of control she struggled to paint.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

She took one solid breath as a soothing rush of confidence infused her from some unknown source. It touched her from inside, reinforcing her fragile resolve that the choice was the right one, that her duty was clear. She would never expect that the wash of confidence came from a selfless human heart. Trip's eyes became drier and his head fell briefly. There was a break in the silence that seemed to last forever.

"It is time.” The voice of T’Les broke into the silent Universe between Trip and T’Pol and popped it like a bubble.

Vulcan acolytes and priestesses moved between them and Trip shied behind in ignorance of their ways. He fell a few steps back, and T’Pol sensed a darkening of the fragile light within that willed her to endure each passing moment. She turned and found him preparing to disappear into one of the shadows lurking near the back of the garden. Perhaps forever, she worried sadly. He was retrieved when T'Pol did not move forward but took a step toward him. He stopped, as if unsure of her intention when she took his hand and moved nearer. She pressed her lips to his cheek, mimicking the human expression
that she hoped would embolden his courage… even his selfishness. Many humans act selfishly to pursue emotional attachments. Why not Trip? Why not now? T'Pol demanded inwardly. Could he not sense her reluctance? Could he not hear her begging him to stop her?

She pulled away and his eyes watched her cheek slide away from his while he looked down on her. She had just begun to turn when Trip blinked and stepped with her. He took her hand once more, wrapping his fingers around her palm again and absorbing the warm beat of her heart. She paused and looked back at him to search his face, unsure if she dared believe that he intended what it appeared. She tilted her head, wordlessly asking if he were indeed prepared to take three more steps into the rest of a difficult life together. Their eyes met in agreement and Trip's fingers squeezed around hers comfortingly. She nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Alright," he whispered, stepping closer into her.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

T'Les turned and spied the inconsonant de facto union taking place a few steps from the altar, and most notably, between the wrong pair.

Her instincts took over and she moved to approach them and whisk T'Pol to a secluded corner in order to chastise her daughter before anyone else noticed her hesitation. In an instant, it became too late for T'Les to act out against the marital mutiny that was about to explode in front of a dozen Vulcans. At the same time, she doubted the action, and knew that she had encouraged the human to act on his feelings.

When Koss turned and saw that Tucker and T'Pol stood very distinctly at one another's side and had joined hands, it hardly took Vulcan rationale to deduce his bride's intention. T’Pol had threatened it in her home earlier, in this very same stone enclosure within the sharp Vulcan hearing of anyone in the house, but he had clearly not believed that T’Pol could be so bold. Even now, he seemed doubtful. The clear conviction of a Vulcan heart inscribed the truth on her face though, and although to Koss it was very likely but an emotional aberration, T’Les understood it completely. A potent memory of T'Pol's father crippled any offending disgust T’Les should have felt as her eyes landed on their entwined fingers. A woman bonded once to one for whom she deeply cared, T'Les could see her daughter's choice was made, and made no move to disapprove.

Koss had stopped banging the gong, and subsequently, every pair of raised brows in the wedding party landed on the mixed pair standing a few meters from the gathered priestesses.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Trip raised his eyes from T’Pol’s, immediately meeting Koss' dispassionate gaze. For a moment Trip wondered if Koss would even be upset, or if he even cared for T'Pol in any capacity that would hurt him to lose her. The smug, composed response he found on Koss' face convinced him. This is the right thing to do, this is the right thing...

"I... object to this marriage," Trip called across the party, addressing them all. A buzz of murmurs and disapproving frowns erupted, particularly from Koss' side of the family. A severe looking Vulcan man of all gray hair, and very old ,Trip thought, pulled his son aside as if to admonish him for some offense. Trip looked back to T'Pol uncertainly. She wrapped her fingers more firmly against his as he began to sweat nervously. The Vulcans continued to murmur. Finally, when Trip was beginning to wonder if they would ever respond, a single voice emanated from the group.

"You have no place to intervene here." Koss stepped forward authoritatively. Trip moved forward, about to launch into a tirade of reasons why he should object when something stopped him.

"Be silent." a Vulcan commanded, addressing both Koss and the human.

"You are human, are you not?" the aged Vulcan asked, his position at the center indicating he was the High Priest. He continued without awaiting a response.

"You are not of our race, not of our people, nor our culture. What could you know of what you speak?"

Trip licked his lips nervously and stepped forward, releasing T'Pol from his grasp.

"I’m Charles Tucker the Third, sir, of Earth" Trip replied as he stepped forward confidently. "And I know that in a marriage on Earth, a man has the right to object if they got reason. And you can bet I’ve got reason," Trip offered bravely, his fingers shaking with adrenaline as he nervously addressed the Vulcan priest.

The priest folded his hands at the front of his robes and appeared to fall into a moment's meditative silence. His eyes rose to meet the engineer, squinting critically as he appeared to debate inwardly. Koss' family and the other guests remained pensively quiet but attentive to proceedings. T'Les looked on with an intrigued expression. Trip imagined for a moment that she might even look a bit hopeful.

"There is cause, in our culture, for one to object to the bonding of another," he announced speculatively. "Do you wish to take this mate for yourself and declare the right of Kun-ut kali-fi?"

"No," T'Pol replied sternly, stepping forward. Trip turned to her in confusion. "Yes, yes of course I do!" he stepped ahead of her towards the priest, ignoring T'Pol's protest.

"Trip you do not und--" she was cut off as Koss stepped forward.

"The challenge has been declared," he interrupted. "And accepted," he turned and replied to the priest, who nodded. T'Les stepped toward her daughter pensively, coming to her side in a un-Vulcan demonstration of support.

"Trip!" T’Pol admonished him, moving towards him. He turned to look at her as the priests retreated to make preparations. T’Les motioned them toward a secluded corner of the gardens, blocked from the view of the rest of the botanical area by a large stone enclosure. Trip placed a hand on T’Pol’s hip and drew her closer, his fingers sliding on the silk fabric. She was too distraught at his declaration to protest the open touch, and allowed herself to move toward him until they were all but touching chest to thigh.

"You don't know what you've done," she pleaded desperately, whispering close to him as she hid the fright in her eyes at this unintended repercussion. Several Vulcans moved off while others appeared to move about the gardens making some unknown preparations. A few moments later, they soon found the chamber nearly empty. Koss' father stood tall at one entrance and the high priest stood near the altar upon which bondmates would kneel and commit to one another. T'Les remained near to her daughter and Tucker, in the concealed corner of the gardens.

"The Kun-ut kali-fi is a..." T’Pol began, unable to finish before the priest rang the gong once more. Trip cupped her head against his chest and held her, his fingers resting at the base of her neck. T'Les looked on with poorly disguised sympathy and watched as he stroked T'Pol's hair, pressing his lips against the center of her forehead. Trip returned T’Les’ silent inquiry as he turned to look at her and nodded pensively. As she suspected, Tucker was apparently more informed than T’Pol knew. He stroked T'Pol's hair lovingly once more in bittersweet memory making before pulling away from her to meet her eyes.

"I already know what it is, sweetheart. I looked it up when...” he paused. ”I guess wanted to know our options when you told me you were gonna' marry him," he whispered into her cheek. He touched her lips with his, a salty drop falling down her cheek to mix with their kiss. He turned and walked into the main chamber, a single tear on his mate’s face, sanctifying the parting caress of her Vulcan heart to his.

Fin

End Note: Although there is no intended sequel forthcoming, Distracted insisted I leave it open ended for that remote possibility in the future. Personally, I prefer to end this single standalone on a note which emphasizes that they’ve taken this path which will have incredibly inconvenient consequences, but that it is an unavoidable consequence of their love. I don’t think that this could be resolved pleasantly without straying from reality or injecting some kind of deus ex machina just to reach a pleasant end (i.e., Trip couldn’t win), when in fact love is so often unpleasant.