Trip looked over towards Malcolm; they were now down on the planet looking around to see if they could figure out where the pilot of the ship went. Trip wondered why he kept snapping at Malcolm, he had only expressed his concern about the rumors that had been spreading all over the ship. Rumors both he and T'Pol needed to be aware of as they could disrupt routine. Malcolm was his friend, someone he had come to really like and admire. He had spent a lot of time in Malcolm's company since they shipped out from Earth the first time and sure Elizabeth's death was tearing him to pieces but that wasn't any excuse to push away a friend.

Trip sighed and wondered if he'd be able to put away his anger and regain Malcolm's friendship. He heard a strange noise, Malcolm was bending down, he rushed over to check on him and when he saw Malcolm…oh god his face was distorting, skin changing, even his hair was changing, what the hell was going on?

Trip started to feel strange; he walked away from Malcolm and towards the shuttlepod. He vaguely heard T'Pol's voice. Oh god, whatever was happening to him was painful. 'Please let Malcolm be okay,' he whispered.

Trip shied away from the strange pointy-eared female, she did not look like one of his people. She kept trying to get closer and he kept trying to get away. None of the sounds she was making made sense. All he knew is that her very presence made him uncomfortable, awkward and there was a vague sense of unease as if he were betraying someone by being close to her.

She kept coming towards him though and he caught her scent. It was just plain wrong, didn't smell right at all. But then he caught the scent of others like himself over there by the trees. He ran towards the scent and came across a female of his species. Her scent was nice; she smelled the way one of their people should. Yet her scent wasn't quite right either. There was something missing, though she smelled good—like one of his people, it wasn't appealing to him.

He caught the scent of another of his people and went to investigate. Trip looked at the smaller male—he might be smaller but this male was muscular and looked very capable. He seemed familiar somehow as if he should know who he was. He somehow knew he could trust this smaller man. Trip went to greet the male by sniffing at him and felt pleasure when the other male started sniffing back. This male smelled right, his scent was perfect, filling his nostrils, leaving a pleasant taste on his tongue. He just had to talk with this male. Trip noticed that the smaller man seemed to savor his scent too and felt joy at being investigated by him. They spent several minutes smelling each other, then touching each other so that their scents would intermingle.

"I am from here, you are of from here. We need to find home, we need to do so together." Trip said to the smaller man.

"What about me?" The female of his people yelled shrilly.

"You can come or you can stay." Trip answered. "I know only that this male and I must stay together to reach home."

The pointy-eared female tried to reach them again and the female of his people went to sniff her. The here-female seemed interested in the point eared female. But the pointy-eared female kept trying to stop them from searching for home. Trip finally had to knock the annoying female unconscious. The smaller male came up to him once he had done so and sniffed at the strange-female. This annoyed Trip for reasons he could not explain. It just bothered him that the smaller male seemed interested enough in strange-female to sniff at her. The smaller male made a submissive crouch towards him; likely having smelt the odor annoyance leaves from his direction. The smaller male came closer, such a brave and daring action, and sniffed at Trip again.

"I just wanted to make sure she was now of no concern." The smaller male said. "Her scent is strange."

"I think it is nice." Said the same-female.

"Good," said Trip, "You can keep an eye on her and make sure she does not cause trouble." He ordered then turned to the smaller male, scenting him again, wondering why of the three people he had met since becoming aware of himself, the smaller male smelled perfect. He blinked in amazement as the answer came to him this smaller man smelled perfect because he was the right one for him, an ideal mate. "I think you and I need to stay together in order to find home. In fact I know we need to stay together. Will you come with me into the forest so we can search for home?"

The smaller male shifted on his feet and Trip heard soft chatter, the smaller male was amused by something. "Yes, I would like to go into the forest with you." The smaller male said.

Trip decided he didn't care if the smaller male was amused by the invitation and maybe laughing at him. As long as the male with the perfect scent was coming with him, he would be happy. The smaller male had been made to be at his side.

They found a small clearing with a tree lying on the ground. His mate, who did not know that he had been chosen for his mate, leaped into a tree and brought down food for them. He felt pride and joy at selecting such a good mate. One, who not only smelled food before he did, but was able to bring it down for them to eat. He cracked open his food and sat next to the smaller man who had done the same. He offered some of his delicious maggots to his mate with an outstretched hand. His mate-to-be ate them from his hand then licked his fingers clean.

His mate-to-be then offered him some of the maggots from his fruit. Trip looked into the smaller man's eyes as he ate the maggots and slowly licked those long fingers clean. The scent of arousal filled the air, coming from both of them. Trip was pleased that the other male found him attractive. They finished their meals, eating from each other's hands while looking into each other's eyes.

Once they had finished they smiled at each other. "I need you." Trip said. "I want you under me. I would like to claim you as my mate. Will you give yourself to me?" He smelt pleasure and anticipation from his mate.

"Yes, I would like that." The smaller man said.

Trip moved over to his soon to be mate and started to remove both of their outer coverings. Once they were naked he began to rub his body against the wiry frame. The other man arched into the rubbing, causing pleasure to course through Trip's veins. He needed to make sure to mark Mate with his scent everywhere. From the way mate arched into the touch, he apparently did not want anyone to doubt that he claimed this male, by Leader.

Trip started to groom his mate to be with his fingers. Picking out dirt, twigs, and little bugs, which he ate. His Mate was grooming him in return, those long fingers running over his body and through his fur. It was glorious to be starting the claim and be claimed in return. Mate was making sure no one could doubt that Leader was his either, marking the appropriate places on Trip's body with his scent.

Trip felt Mate turn under his touch, presenting his bum, not in the submissive posture, but as an offering. Mate was on his hands and knees as opposed to head covered by arms and bum in the air as if warding off a potential blow. Trip rejoiced to see the offering and was filled with pride when Mate opened those gorgeous legs of his in a "v". Trip accepted the offering with a sense of awe, allowing his chest to touch all of Mate's back, his erection go to the entrance that was opening itself and wet with the secretion male's produced upon arousal. Trip gently thrust inside and images of Urquat; the promised city flickered through his mind. Images that reflected Mate's beauty, images that were entangled with Mate's reality. Mate became home in his mind, as long as he had his mate he would be happy even if he never found Urquat.

He thrust into Mate. Mate was so tight, felt so right, smelled so perfect and his passage welcomed him. They moved with each other, sniffing and tasting the air frequently. Trip used only one hand to balance himself, the other he used to start caressing his mate. That gorgeous skin, the hard muscles, the texture of it, and the odor. He bent his head so he could taste his mate's skin. Delicious, much better than even maggots.

They continued thrusting with each other and Trip cupped the younger man's erection in his hand. Stroking his mate's hard need in time with his thrusts. Hitting the right spot inside his mate time and time again. His mate's passage started to milk his cock as the smaller male came. Mate's essence shooting out to mark the ground below.

Trip bellowed his pleasure as he released his essence inside of Mate. Joy washing over him. Mate lowered himself to the ground beneath them and Leader allowed himself to rest on top of him for just a moment. He then turned them so they would lie next to each other, still connected. He hoped to remain connected to this male for a long time. They were perfect for each other. Trip fell asleep holding his mate close, hands entwined just as their bodies were. He was determined that no one would take this male from him.

Unknown to Trip, T'Pol had managed to get the Universal Translator from Hoshi and distracted her long enough to phaser her unconscious. They were now in decon, held in isolation and Phlox had found a cure. Jon and some MACO's were now on their way down in EV suits to retrieve them.

Jon held back some branches for the MACO behind him; they were getting close to the readings now. Perhaps even close enough to capture Trip and Malcolm to take them back to the ship for the cure. He made sure they encircled the readings so as to lessen the chances of escape as T'Pol mentioned that Hoshi and the others had run at every hint of attempted capture. The landing party entered the clearing as close to the same time as possible and saw the morphed Malcolm, Trip spooned behind him, and the way they were holding hands and sprawled together reeked of recent sex. So did the little he could see of the clearing, their uniforms discarded, the ground cover around them disturbed, it all pointed toward the two men having had sex. Trip woke suddenly, moved into a standing position in one smooth motion and growled at them.

Jon noted that Trip's eyes were spitting anger and challenge at him. He then noticed that Malcolm had awoke too and moved to stand back to back with Trip. They were both naked, both glaring at the others in the clearing. "We're here to take you home, back to Enterprise." Jon told his friend, hoping to reach whatever was left of Trip and to calm him.

"I am already home." Trip yelled, then touched Malcolm's hip briefly with one hand. "Mate is my home."

"Oh boy," Jon whispered, then tried to reach his friend again. "Well you and mate are sick, we have someone who can make you better."

"Mate is sick?" Trip asked. "You lie, he does not smell sick, he smells perfect. You are just trying to take Mate away for yourself. I will not let you."

"I will not let you either." Malcolm growled. "I am Leader's, he is mine."

Both Trip and Malcolm were clearly prepared to attack, both of them in a defensive posture. Reasoning with them wasn't working they were going to have to knock them both unconscious. Jon gestured and two of the MACO's raised their pistols and shot Trip and Malcolm, rendering them unconscious.

They carefully moved them to the shuttlepod, taking the discarded uniforms with them. Jon had the MACO's help him put the uniforms back onto the men and then turned to the rest of the away team. "I know that we all suspect what Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed were up to while affected by the mutagenic virus. However if I here any of you passing the suspicions onto the crew or even a hint of the suspicions I will make sure you spend the rest of our journey in the brig. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." They chorused. Jon looked at the group and could only hope the news of Trip and Malcolm's…interaction with each other did not circulate among the crew. As far as he knew, neither man had ever considered such a relationship with the other while in human form. He wanted to make sure the two of them would be able to pretend it never happened. And if neither of them remembered it, then it would spare them a whole lot of embarrassment.

Once they got on board ship Jon was informed of ships approaching their position. He made sure Malcolm and Trip were transported straight into confinement and went to deal with the new development.

Phlox appeared as he was attempting to reason with the alien captain, cured Hoshi in tow. The alien captain scanned them, confirmed the cure and asked for a copy of the cure. Phlox gave the aliens as much information as he could and they were allowed on their way. Phlox had turned to him once the alien's ship had stood down her weapons and closed communication. "Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are now almost cured as well. I'm keeping them overnight for observation, I will allow you to visit them if you wish."

"I'd like that." Jon said, going towards the lift though worried over whether he'd show his embarrassment. He wondered if Trip and Malcolm had memories of what they had done on the planet. He desperately hoped the embarrassment of what had occurred wouldn't interfere with their friendship.

Jon got to sickbay, noticed a drawn privacy curtain and peeked around it. Trip was holding Malcolm in a hug and seemed to be grooming Malcolm's hair. "I still want you as my mate, Mal. What happened down there just helped me to realize how perfect you are for me, please give us a chance?" Trip was looking at the armoury officer with what Jon termed Trip's patented puppy dog eyes.

Jon saw Malcolm's face glow with joy and the happiest smile he had ever seen on the armoury officer appeared. "How could I say no to that look? Besides, I've always liked wild monkey sex and our being mates seemed to start out with that, literally."

Jon smiled at Trip's belly laugh, it was so good to see his friend happy. It'd take some time to get used to the new relationship, but since it wasn't forbidden under regulations he could be happy for both his friends and for his subordinates.