"Can you send those parameters to my console, please?" Lieutenant Malcolm Reed smiled at Ensign Travis Mayweather, Enterprise's helmsman, and then looked back at the screen in front of him. He wanted to work out the calculations for the new phase cannon matrix he had installed earlier until the end of his shift and he didn't have much time left.

"Lieutenant?" he heard Ensign Hoshi Sato addressing him and he tried to focus on her voice, his eyes still fixed on his station. "Yes?" he answered, slowly diverting his attention to the communications officer who beamed at him from across the room.

"I have the sensor readings you wa…" She was interrupted by the atmospheric crackle that always preceded a ship wide announcement and she frowned.

"…colm will never know about this, am I making myself clear, Trip?!" The members of the crew present on the bridge exchanged surprised looks as they heard the familiar voice of Captain Jonathan Archer over the comm system.

"Jon, I…" Commander Charles Tucker III was immediately cut off by his CO.

"Trip, I mean it! Promise me that this will never leave these four walls! I know you two have become close friends but you will not tell him about my feelings for him! It's hard enough as it is, Malcolm only recently started to open up a bit. I don't want to find out what knowing that I am in love with him will do to him and our professional relationship, Trip!"

All eyes on the bridge were fixed on Enterprise's tactical officer now whose face had turned an astonishing shade of crimson. Hoshi tried to hide a smirk, T'Pol raised both eyebrows and Travis grinned openly.

"Jon, I know he feels the sa…" Malcolm frantically pushed some buttons and the transmission stopped as suddenly as it had started. Silence fell over the bridge like a heavy blanket, only the occasional 'beep' of one of the stations and Travis' suppressed giggles were audible.

Malcolm squared his shoulders and resumed his work, pretending nothing had happened. He felt all his fellow officers staring at him and he willed himself to concentrate on the console in front of him. On the outside he succeeded, his face cooled off, his breathing leveled out but on the inside his thoughts were racing, his brain was working at the speed of light, trying to grasp what he had just heard.

***

Captain Jonathan Archer walked down the corridor to one of the turbo lifts, still caught up in the conversation he had had with his best friend only moments before. He mechanically greeted passing crewmembers and vaguely noticed the curious looks they shot him and the broad grins he received.

Enterprise's CO shrugged it off and stepped into the lift. "Ensign," he addressed a member of the engineering team who occupied the lift with him and pushed the button for A deck. The young woman smiled at him, kind of knowingly and warmly, and he felt uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze.

With a thankful sigh he stepped onto the bridge—only to be welcomed by the same grins and smirks and knowing glances from everyone present. Carefully Jonathan looked around and he saw Malcolm who kept his head down and studied some readings on the screen in front of him, therefore being the only one who didn't meet his eye. A strange feeling rose inside of him.

***

Commander Charles Tucker III sat down at one of the tables in the mess hall and heartily bit into his sandwich. He almost choked when he felt a hand clawing into his shoulder and he turned around.

He had never seen Malcolm Reed like this. The Brit was even quieter than usual which was almost frightening. "Come. With. Me." Enterprise's chief engineer grinned and knew better than to object. "Of course, Mal! And what can I do for ya on a wonderful evenin' like this?" The lieutenant just glared at him and shoved him through the mess hall to the door. Trip had to suppress a giggle.

"Bloody hell, Tr…" Malcolm stopped talking as crewmembers passed them, grinning broadly. Tucker pulled the armory officer with him towards the turbo lift. "Let's continue this conversation in private, Mal, it seems you are catching a lot of attraction today!"

***

Captain Jonathan Archer sat in his private mess hall. He was having dinner with T'Pol, but he wasn't able to concentrate on their conversation. He couldn't discard what had happened after he had talked to Trip. All those looks the others shot him, the smiles and broad grins. It was almost as if…He swallowed…as if they knew!

He turned towards the subcommander. "T'Pol, could you tell me wh…" The comm system humming into action caught his attention. "…dcast through the whole ship!" Malcolm's voice sounded agitated. "Oh, was it?" Trip, on the other hand sounded mighty pleased with himself. "Yes, it was!" The broad grin that must have been on the commander's face was even audible when he answered. "Well, how could that have happened?!"

Jonathan looked at T'Pol and all of a sudden he realized why every member of his crew had met him with knowing grins and warm smiles. They had all heard it! He wanted to strangle his best friend. His first impulse was to cut off the transmission but then he let his fingers slide of the button, mesmerized and intrigued by what he was about to find out if he kept listening.

"You did it on purpose, you freaking twerp!" Malcolm was outraged. "Yes, I did! You didn't believe me when I told you over and over again that he felt the same way you do! So I had to…make you understand in a different way! And since he wouldn't believe me when I told him about your feelings…well, I guess he knows now! Someone had to take a step forward and I took to liberty to do that! For me as an engineer it's not too difficult to re-route the comm system a little. And then all you have to do is lean on the button at the right moment—like I'm doing right now!"

The next thing Jonathan—and with him all the other members of the crew—heard was the sound of a fist hitting someone's face, the 'thud' of a heavy body hitting the floor and someone groaning. "Boy, Mal, you have a funny way to say 'thank you'!"

Enterprise's CO was on his feet in a minute, storming out of the captain's mess and towards Trip's office in Engineering, ignoring the cheers and waves of his subordinates.

When he entered the room he saw Malcolm glaring at Trip who kept rubbing his jaw. "Look who's here!" the Southerner mumbles and started to grin—a grin that froze on his face as another fist hit him—this time the one of his best friend.

"Trip—out!" Jonathan yelled. The chief engineer lifted himself off the floor and swayed out of the room, again grinning broadly.

The captain exhaled loudly and rubbed a hand over his face. "Can you believe that?" he said and looked at Malcolm who was still clenching and unclenching his fists. "No, I can't! But it's sooo typical for him to do someth…" The lieutenant's voice trailed off and he swallowed. Their eyes locked and they blushed. Carefully they both stepped forward. Jonathan studied Malcolm's flushed face and reached out to take his hand. "Having him as a friend does have its advantages though," he said, running a finger over the palm of the Brit's hand.

"I suppose you are right", Malcolm answered before leaning into a first sweet and tender kiss.