"You wished to see me, sir." Malcolm stood ramrod straight, shoulders back, eyes staring square in front of him. He could do no less when addressing a superior, especially an admiral, especially now. He had to look his best, act as if he knew his stuff, show his superiors that he had indeed been the right choice. He actively controlled his breathing to appear as nonchalant as possible, while his heart beat fiercely in his ears. If he failed, his intricately laced plan would crumble. He could not fail. Not after everything he'd been through.

Admiral Forrest stood and waved a hand at him. "At ease, Lieutenant."

Malcolm flowed seamlessly into the standard at ease position, arms behind his back and feet apart. He dared to look directly at Forrest, then darted a glance about the office. For the first time he noticed the other man in the room with them. Malcolm had met him three times previously in Forrest's office, during his interviews, and then later less formally after his reassignment, but he still wasn't all together sure what to make of Jonathan Archer. The Captain seemed a little too wet behind the ears for Malcolm's tastes, and he was far too lax with military protocols, but he was Malcolm's way out and he had seized the last glimmer of hope offered to him. He knew they wanted him on their starship. His early promotion to Lieutenant had been in preparation for his possible command position. He didn't mind the opportunity either, even if Archer seemed a bit dodgy. Only, if they wanted him so badly, he feverishly hoped that they would listen to his other crewmember proposals.

"We took a look at your suggestions, Lieutenant. You have an eye for catching some of our brightest people." Forrest came around his desk to stand beside Archer. "However, we were a little surprised by your top pick for helmsman."

Malcolm suppressed the urge to fidget or otherwise look nervous. He steadily met Forrest's gaze. "I believe he is the best man for the job." It was the truth. Even if he was currently romantically involved with that man…

"You're not worried that he's a little inexperienced?" Archer asked. "He's only just graduated from the Academy."

Malcolm shifted to look up at Archer. "As I recall, sir, Ensign Mayweather grew up aboard a cargo ship. He has certainly spent over twenty some years gaining more experience in space and at a helm than some of our more senior officers." He struggled not to get too specific with his knowledge of Travis. Although their relationship was not exactly a secret, he wasn't about to proclaim it to either superior. He knew Travis deserved the posting on his own merits. Malcolm just needed to make Archer and Forrest see it. "A cargo ship is not a starship," Forrest corrected. He picked up a PADD from his desk. "His test scores are remarkable, though."

"We're not questioning your judgment, Mr. Reed. We just want to be sure he's the man you'd like to vouch for," Archer said.

Malcolm nodded once. "Yes, sir. I believe Ensign Mayweather will bring needed knowledge and expertise to the Enterprise's crew."

Forrest sighed and turned back to his desk. "All right. Mayweather it is."

Malcolm caught sight of a smirk slip over Archer's face before it disappeared. Had Malcolm just been the deciding vote? Had Archer and Forrest been in a disagreement over which helmsman to assign to Enterprise? He quelled any urges to celebrate his victory, knowing everything was still up in the air.

Forrest keyed the comm on his desk. "Send him in."

"Aye, sir," came a woman's voice.

Malcolm's hold on his emotions tightened to a death grip as he saw Travis walk into the office, shiny new ensign pip attached to his collar. Malcolm bit the inside of his lip to keep from smiling. He'd done it. He'd pulled off the impossible. Relief and joy washed over him, but he dared not show any sign of it outwardly. And he couldn't truly be sure he'd pulled it off until they were both aboard Enterprise when it left space dock.

"Ensign Mayweather," Forrest said formally. "It is my pleasure to offer you the assignment of chief helmsman aboard the NX-01, soon to be under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer."

Travis, try as he might, was never really able to keep his emotions anywhere but right on his sleeve. He struggled and lost the battle to keep a smile off his face. "Thank you, sir. I gratefully accept the assignment." He turned to Archer. "I will not disappoint you, sir."

Archer returned Travis' smile and clapped Travis on the shoulder. "I'm sure you won't. Lieutenant Reed," Archer called. "Since you were so adamant the young ensign join our crew, why don't you take him on up to Enterprise and show him around. I'm sure he's eager to move into his new quarters."

"Of course, sir." Malcolm nodded to each superior, then he led Travis back out of the office. They managed to make it to the lift without so much as a look at one another.

But as soon as the lift door closed, hands grabbed to bring the other closer. Mouths met, tongues warred, legs entwined. Malcolm felt himself shoved back against the rounded wall of the lift.

"You're a brilliant, sneaky son of a bitch," Travis panted between frantic kisses.

"I try." Malcolm pulled Travis in for another scorching kiss. Could he adequately fake a lift malfunction and let them finish this right here? He pulled back panting. "We're almost in the clear. I'm not breathing easy until I have you piloting Enterprise out of this solar system."

"As long as you're on that ship with me, I don't care where we go."

Malcolm sighed deeply at the adoration in Travis' eyes. God, did he ever love this man. "Remember, they wanted you. I just pointed you out."

"That's not how it sounded coming from Captain Archer." Travis reluctantly pulled away as the lift slowed to a stop. "I owe you, Malcolm."

"I'm just being selfish. I get cold sleeping alone." Malcolm grinned as the lift door opened and they stepped out onto the ground floor lobby of Starfleet Headquarters. "Are you packed?"

"Of course. I knew they'd pick me."

Travis put far too much faith into their situation. But then, here they were, freshly assigned to the same starship. "Good. We can take the first shuttlepod up to Enterprise."

***

A steward was waiting for them at the docking bay when they arrived.

"Ensign Mayweather?" he asked. He had spotted Malcolm and walked up to them.

"Yes?"

The steward broke into a small smile. "Glad to have you joining us, sir. Captain Archer alerted me to your arrival. May I take your bags to your assigned quarters for you? I'm sure you'd like to take a look around the ship unencumbered."

There was something odd about the steward. The way he held himself was not exactly on par with the rest of the staff. He seemed somehow more confident. However, Malcolm brushed off the feeling as Travis, slightly embarrassed, handed over his things. Travis wasn't used to letting others wait on him.

"Thanks," Travis managed.

"Not a problem." The steward turned to Malcolm. "You'll find his quarters on C deck, sir."

"Thank you, crewman."

The man nodded and headed down the corridor with Travis' things. Malcolm started himself and Travis in the opposite direction.

Malcolm itched to pull Travis into a dark corner and have his way with him, but they were on duty, and he was not going to start shrugging off his responsibilities, even with Travis near by, finally. Besides, after all these months, he knew Travis was always worth the wait.

"You read the mission report on the way up?" Malcolm asked. He wanted to smile and laugh, let out the joy he felt at simply walking down Enterprise's crowded corridors with Travis, a minor miracle all by itself, but he tried to keep his voice as formal as possible.

Travis took Malcolm's cue and kept the tone of their conversation light. "Most of it. It doesn't sound so bad for a first mission."

"I'd feel less tense if we had this ship up to shape. We're behind on far too many systems." Stressing about Enterprise paled in comparison to the seemingly continual stress he had been under trying to get both Travis and himself assigned to the same ship, but it was still disturbing to think how unprepared they were going to be heading off into unknown territory. Case in point was the fact they had only just picked a helmsman.

They rounded a corner and came to the humming transporter pad. Travis seemed morbidly fascinated with the device. "I heard this platform has been approved for bio transport."

Malcolm hadn't heard anything of the sort, but then he was still new to the ship as well. "I presume you mean fruits and vegetables."

"I mean armory officers and helmsmen," Travis teased. He walked closer to the transporter.

"I don't think I'm quite ready to have my molecules compressed into a data stream." It was a slightly horrifying idea. He'd much rather have Travis at the helm of a shuttlepod than trust his life to an unproven machine.

"They claim it's safe." Travis watched, like a kid with a new, state- of-the-art toy, as a container was beamed up from Earth.

"Do they indeed." Malcolm was highly skeptical. He frowned when he spotted armory insignia on the newly arrived box. "Well, I certainly hope the Captain doesn't plan on making us use it." He stepped toward the platform.

Travis noticed Malcolm's distaste for the machine and reassured, "Don't worry. From what I'm told, he wouldn't even put his dog through this thing." Travis squatted down beside the box with Malcolm.

Travis and his Academy gossip—at least it had come in handy from time to time, however accurate some of it was. Malcolm was going to miss his dayly updates on life in San Francisco, but that was certainly a sacrifice he was quite willing to make to have Travis stationed with him.

Malcolm opened the container and sighed heavily. Damn it all, how did Starfleet expect him to get anything ready in time when they wouldn't send him the correct equipment? "This is ridiculous. I ask for plasma coils, and they send me a case of valve sealant." He hefted the sealant in his hand and looked over at Travis. "There's no chance I can have these weapons online in three days."

"We're just taking a sick man back to his homeworld. Why do we need weapons?"

Travis was cute when he was naive. "Didn't you read the profile report on these Klingons?" Malcolm asked. Travis shook his head no. "Apparently they sharpen their teeth before they go into battle."

Travis snorted, sure Malcolm was joking, then his face fell as he realized Malcolm was serious.

Malcolm had to crack a smile at Travis' anxious look. "Don't worry. I intend to have weapons online before we depart." He shoved the sealant back into the case and shut the container. "We should head down to Engineering."

They both stood and continued along the corridor to the lift. "No doubt Mister Tucker will reassure me that my equipment will be here tomorrow." A little irritated with his weapons and still giddy from Travis' reassignment, Malcolm spontaneously imitated Tucker, "Keep yer shirt on, Lewtenant."

He quickly tossed a glance at the other crewman in the corridor to see if they took offense to his imitation of their superior. He would never normally do so in public. Travis' presence was getting to him more than he'd realized.

Travis smiled at the over exaggerated southern accent coming from Malcolm's lips. He frowned as he looked at the deck plating. "Is it me or does the artificial gravity seem a bit heavy?"

"Hm, feels all right. Earth sea level."

"My father always kept it at point eight G. Thought it put a little spring in his step." Travis grinned at the memory of his father.

Malcolm couldn't help returning the smile. "After being raised on cargo ships, it must have felt like you had lead in your boots when you got to Earth."

"It took some getting used to, but I quickly found someone who could distract me from being homesick." Travis winked at Malcolm as they stepped onto the lift.

The lift door closed and Malcolm took a step closer to Travis, brushing the back of his hand against Travis'. "That new pip suits you."

"We're off duty once this tour is over, right?" Travis' eyes danced playfully.

"We should be." Malcolm stepped away from Travis as the lift door opened, a shiver of anticipation running through him. "Engineering is just down this corridor."

Malcolm shoved open the hatch and stepped through into the engine room. Travis' eyes widened as he spotted the warp core. A true pilot, he loved the sight of a beautiful engine. Malcolm led Travis over beside the main control platform. Malcolm watched as the blond haired southerner slipped passed a member of his team and pulled out a handkerchief, wiping away a speck of dust off the brand new warp core.

"I believe you missed a spot," Malcolm called out. Tucker turned to face them with a grin and Malcolm introduced, "Commander Tucker, Ensign Travis Mayweather. He just arrived."

Tucker seemed to have spoken to the Captain as well, which was all well and good considering the man was second in command. "Our space boomer." Tucker reached down to shake Travis' hand.

Travis shook the Commander's hand but his mind was clearly on the warp core. "How fast have you gotten her?"

"Warp four. We'll be goin' to warp four five once we clear Jupiter. Think you can handle it?"

"Warp four point five. Ha!" Travis grinned wider.

Malcolm shook his head at Tucker's answer. "Pardon me, but if I don't realign the deflector, the first grain of space dust we come across will blow a hole through this ship the size of your fist."

"Keep yer shirt on, Lewtenant. Your equipment will be here in the mornin'."

Malcolm stifled a smirk as he looked over at Travis. Travis raised his eyebrows as he caught the line. Malcolm glanced back up at a somewhat confused Tucker. "I'm sure it will all be here tomorrow, sir. I think I'll show Ensign Mayweather up to the Bridge now."

"Enjoy yerselves. Glad to have you aboard, Ensign." Travis' wide grin only increased when they made it to the Bridge. He went straight for the helm, past various crewman still working on getting Enterprise space worthy. Malcolm watched, amused, as Travis sat and ran his hands lightly over every control and button.

"Careful. Don't start her up just yet."

Travis swiveled to look at Malcolm. "She's a gorgeous ship. And warp four point five…"

"Falling in love already?" Malcolm teased.

"Oh, ya." Travis stood. "Where's tactical?"

"The Bridge station is here." Malcolm pointed to the right. "I'll also be spending a good deal of time in the Armory getting our weapon systems finely tuned."

"Need a volunteer to help out a little?"

Malcolm pictured the two of them working together. He'd have to clear the Armory just to be sure they wouldn't be caught casting appreciative looks at one another. "I think I could use a hand soon as we're under way."

Travis nodded, still smiling adorably, and stepped a hair closer. "I think maybe it's time you showed me where my quarters are."

Malcolm cast a glance at the nearest readout. Their shift was indeed over. "Quite right, Ensign."

The lift ride down two decks afforded them only enough time to cast each other admiring glances. It was a simple matter to look up which quarters were Travis' and to jot down the lock code.

Travis stepped first into the sparse but clean quarters. The room smelt lightly of cleaning products, fresh and new. Travis' things were set at the foot of his bunk. Travis turned around as he took in the room. "It's nicer than my dorm room."

"One would hope so." Malcolm smiled affectionately, allowing himself to relax now that they were alone. "I'm happy to see you didn't end up with a roommate."

"I already have one." Travis wrapped his arms around Malcolm. "Thank you, Malcolm. This ship is a dream come true."

"I told you before, all I did was point them to your file. You're the one who's the best damn pilot. They couldn't say no to you."

"They couldn't say no to you," Travis corrected, stealing a kiss. "And I don't blame them. It's impossible to say no to you."

Malcolm sighed, nuzzling his nose against Travis'. "I'm going to keep you safe and happy here, Travis, I swear it."

"You know I'm going to be watching your ass, too. I can't have you running off and getting killed on me." Travis squeezed Malcolm's ass and pulled Malcolm into a more demanding kiss.

"I'll try my best to stay alive," Malcolm purred. He tossed a look to Travis' pristine bed. "Should we break it in?"

Travis smirked, unzipping Malcolm's uniform, and pushed Malcolm's coveralls over his shoulders to the floor. "You'll stay here tonight?"

"Of course." Malcolm worked to undress Travis at the same time. "Although I may have to go fetch us some dinner later."

Travis caught Malcolm's mouth for a kiss once their undershirts were tossed aside. "Sounds good." He kicked off his shoes and the coveralls around his ankles, pushing Malcolm gently down onto the bed. "I want to touch you all over, Malcolm." He removed the last of Malcolm's clothing. "Feel you come in my arms. I've been thinking about it all day." He rolled them onto their sides, face-to-face, and kissed Malcolm feverishly.

Malcolm moaned and flicked his tongue against Travis'. "So you haven't been paying any attention to my little tour?" Malcolm teased.

"Mmm, I paid plenty of attention." Travis rubbed himself seductively against Malcolm while playing fingers around Malcolm's nipples. "I can do two things at once."

"So talented," Malcolm sighed, arching into Travis. He kissed Travis and lured Travis' tongue into his mouth, suckling.

Travis groaned. He rolled one of Malcolm's nipples between his fingers as his other hand caressed down Malcolm's side to grip his hip. They were both hard and grinding against one another. Malcolm reveled in the relief washing over him. He was going to be able to touch Travis every evening, sleep beside Travis every night. They would be together. There was no more need to worry. Nearly two years of pent up frustration melted out of Malcolm. "Mine," Malcolm growled, grabbing Travis' ass and digging his fingers into the flesh. "All mine."

"Yours," Travis whimpered. He broke off the kisses to lick and bite gently at Malcolm's neck.

Malcolm slid fingers down further to play between Travis' cheeks and finger around his anus. Travis shuddered and rubbed his body harder against Malcolm, cocks trapped between them.

Finally the friction wasn't enough and Travis snaked a hand between them to capture and stroke both cocks. Malcolm moaned, hips jerking, and placed his own hand over Travis'. Together they set the pace, bodies pressed tight together, hands squeezing and stroking, working themselves into a fevered pitch until Malcolm lost himself and came.

Malcolm locked eyes with Travis. "Love…Love you," Malcolm managed to gasp as his come covered both their chests and stroking hands. The words seemed to push Travis over the edge. He came, stroking both of them hard and fast, until he slumped back panting.

After a moment, Travis sighed and smiled. "I love you, too."

Malcolm's stomach was filled with giddy butterflies. He could get used to this and everything else Travis had to offer. The man was gorgeous lying beside him, and he was his to have. It was nearly surreal. He returned Travis' smile. "What do you say we go properly christen your shower stall now?"