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"Have you heard?"
Harrison, one of Trip's engineers, sat down in the chair next to Malcolm in the crowded commissary and started shoveling food into his mouth like there was no tomorrow.
Disinterested, Malcolm chased a pea around his plate with his fork. He didn't give a damn about the ship's rumour mill. This wasn't a washerwomen's excursion to the hot spots of the extension. These people were Starfleet officers, and gossip should be below them. But then again, gossip inevitably came with closed societies, or so Malcolm had been taught. It was said to be necessary, even, for social dynamics. Not that he believed that crap.
"What?" he asked dutifully.
Harrison swallowed and grinned. "You'll like this. Loggins reported to sickbay with a broken nose. Hayes broke it."
Malcolm's fork clattered to the half-empty plate. "Hayes did what?"
"Broke Loggins' nose. But apparently for a reason," Harrison managed to communicate through a mouthful of pancakes.
"For a reason," Malcolm repeated.
"Rumor is, he tried to make a pass at him."
"He-- what?"
"Loggins made a pass at Hayes."
Malcolm felt his eyebrows rise. Of all crewmembers he'd have least expected Kyle Loggins to swing that way. A womanizer, supposedly. Big on drunk guy-to-guy talk. Had never given anyone a clue. He was good at what he did, but not the brightest bulb in the deck lamp, obviously. Otherwise he wouldn't have tried to approach Hayes, of all people.
Hayes was still a bit of a mystery to Malcolm. And Malcolm didn't like mysteries. He liked facts. He liked asking the right questions, and getting clear answers. He liked his allies straightforward, and his enemies easily identifiable.
Things weren't like that when it came to Hayes. Hayes was all hidden agendas, dubious motives, and counter questions. He was contrariness personified. Half the time, at least. The rest of the time, he demonstrated competence, surprising intelligence, and even the ability to follow orders. One minute Malcolm wanted to deck the insubordinate asshole, and the next he had to admit to himself that Hayes could still teach him a thing or two.
The transition from one state to the other always caught Malcolm by surprise, because it was usually no longer than a second. It was like trying to outrun the tide. Catching up with the grudging respect that sneaked up on him, squashing it in favor of annoyance, proved to be just as impossible.
"Loggins deserved what he got," Harrison commented, pulling Malcolm from his thoughts.
Malcolm frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Harrison shrugged, not looking up from his plate. "Oh, you know."
"Assume that I don't." The icy tone caught Harrison's attention.
"All I'm saying is that this sort of thing doesn't belong on a Starfleet vessel," Harrison said defensively. "On Earth he may do whatever he damn well pleases with whoever floats his boat."
Malcolm swallowed, trying hard not to lose his temper. "An offer can always be politely refused," he stated with dead calm and left Harrison alone at the table.
* * *
Hayes, being the good upstanding officer that he was, had locked himself in his quarters. Malcolm just let himself in, not really in the mood for politeness. Hayes was sitting on the bed, but he started after only a nanosecond. He stood to attention.
"Sir."
Malcolm stepped closer. "Care to explain yourself?"
"No, sir," Hayes said, staring straight ahead. "I expect there will be disciplinary measures."
"Of course. You are confined to your quarters until further notice. I will speak to the captain about your punishment. In any case, a formal apology will be in order."
It could have been his imagination, but Malcolm thought he heard the major grit his teeth.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
"Is there anything you want to add?"
"No, sir."
Well, if Hayes wanted to dig himself in deeper, who was Malcolm to stop him. He left without a backward glance.
* * *
Captain Archer was standing by the window, looking out at the stars, when Malcolm entered the ready room.
"Sir. I'm here to talk about the incident," Malcolm said.
"About Lieutenant Loggins and Major Hayes, I presume." The Captain turned around to take a padd from his desk. "Did you speak to them?"
"Yes, sir. They are not very forthcoming about the nature of their disagreement." And Malcolm was still silently fuming about that, mostly because one of his own men had dared to refuse cooperation.
The captain snorted. "I bet. Maybe I can shed some light on the matter." He measured Malcolm with a piercing stare. "Though I must admit, I'm not quite sure what to make of it."
"Sir?" Malcolm had to fight the impulse to shift from one foot to the other. The stare was making him increasingly uncomfortable. It felt a lot like he was there on interrogation.
"A MACO, who witnessed the incident, approached me. Apparently, Major Hayes' actions were provoked by the lieutenant."
"Provoked?" Malcolm interrupted. "I don't see how a misguided offer could justify this kind of punch. If Hayes had put a little more force behind it, he would have driven the bone shards right into Loggins' brain."
The captain held up a hand. "With his experience in the field, I'd say we give Hayes the credit of knowing how hard he'd have to hit to kill," he said. "And according to my information there was nothing like a misguided offer. It was a little more-- ugly. It seems that Lieutenant Loggins walked up to Hayes and said – I quote," he read from the padd "I've been meaning to ask you, when you get bored with Reed, can I have a try?"
The captain lifted his eyes to look at him.
Malcolm was shell-shocked, his brain entirely, completely out of order for a few moments. Then, his first impulse was to go and kill Loggins himself. He managed to put his foot down on that one pretty fast. He noticed he was gaping, and in front of the captain of all people. Finally, there was, Holy shit, Hayes defended my honor? echoing through his head.
"Loggins thought Hayes and I..."
The captain nodded, watching him curiously.
"Hayes and I?" Malcolm couldn't help it. He laughed out loud. "But-- why? We aren't even on friendly terms. We've engaged in fistfights. I really don't see how he got the idea." Malcolm hesitated, frowning at the captain's expression, then added slowly, "Or why you are prepared to believe it so easily."
The captain shrugged. "Fine line," he said simply. Malcolm was grateful the l-word hadn't come out of the captain's mouth because then he'd have had to deck him, which wasn't a smart career move at all.
"Also, from what I've heard, the women on board find the two of you pretty hot together." There was a bemused sparkle in the captain's eyes.
Malcolm blushed, and that only seemed to add to the captain's amusement.
"You're very open-minded, concerning this kind of thing," Malcolm said finally.
"More so than you'd have expected?" The captain leaned back in his chair. "I'm in no position to judge. As long as personal relationships in whatever gender combination don't interfere with fulfillment of duty, I have no complaints."
"I'm glad you see it that way."
"And that's because you're--" The captain raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
"Also a very open-minded person," Malcolm said, which was not an answer to the question the captain had pointedly not asked.
"I see."
Malcolm had no idea what exactly the captain thought he was seeing.
"I believe you have a few things to straighten out, if you pardon the expression," the captain said and picked up a padd from his desk. "Dismissed."
"Yes, sir," Malcolm said, and damn, he could really do without this.
* * *
His mood wasn't too bad when he left Loggins' quarters. It had been a great satisfaction to look Loggins in the eye the exact moment he realized that Malcolm knew what had been going on. The sheer terror on Loggins' face and the disgust that emerged when Malcolm told him how he'd be spending his time for the rest of their journey consumed a lot of Malcolm's anger.
The rest was focused on Hayes, who realized as soon as Malcolm entered his quarters for the second time that day. "You know everything," he stated and forgot all about procedure.
"Major," Malcolm said sharply.
Hayes jumped and snapped to attention, eyes straight ahead. "Sir, I--"
"I don't need anyone to defend me."
Hayes stood rigidly, his back almost impossibly straight. "I'm aware of that, sir."
"Are you, major?" Malcolm circled him with slow, deliberate steps. "Then maybe you were thinking about yourself."
There was a moment of silence, and then Hayes said in what appeared to be genuine confusion, "Sir?"
"About your own reputation," Malcolm clarified.
"No, sir. As a rule, I don't concern myself with gossip. Sir."
The overuse of 'sir' started to grate on Malcolm's nerves. It didn't sound at all like the respectful address it should have been. "So your intention was to defend me."
"No, sir," Hayes said immediately. He was trying to keep his expression neutral, Malcolm could tell, but Hayes couldn't suppress the slight frown of concentration. "I could not tolerate Lieutenant Loggins' behavior."
Malcolm came to a stop in front of Hayes, close enough for it to be intimidating – not that it would impress Hayes the way it was supposed to. "I concur with the intention," Malcolm said. "It's your disciplinary measures I've got a problem with. You almost killed a member of this crew."
Hayes eyes flickered for a moment, but he managed to keep them focused on a spot just above Malcolm's right shoulder. "I didn't--"
"You punched him hard enough to break his nose in interesting and painful ways," Malcolm interrupted. "And you have yet to give an explanation. Are you prone to losing your temper like that? I would expect your file to mention a tendency for overly aggressive behavior."
"Sir," was all Hayes said in answer, in a tone that clearly expressed disdain. Hayes expected Malcolm to know better. The surprising thing was: Malcolm really did know better.
The realization was one of those springtide moments, when his image of Hayes was flipped upside down in Malcolm's mind, and even his stomach seemed to follow suit. So when Hayes turned his head a little and met his eyes, Malcolm didn't call him on the breach of protocol.
"I'm in control of my temper," Hayes said. "Most of the time."
Except when it came to Malcolm. Hayes didn't say that, but the meaning was clear. Malcolm still had a few faint bruises to prove it. He swallowed.
"It won't happen again." Hayes sounded more confident than he looked, though.
"Good," Malcolm said.
They stared at each other. At some point Hayes gave up his military posture and moved closer. Or maybe Malcolm moved. He wasn't sure. He only knew that suddenly there wasn't much of a distance between them anymore. He swallowed again. "So," he said. "What was it that made you--"
"Rearrange Loggins' face?" Hayes finished, faintly amused. "I didn't think about it. It was just--"
Instinct, Malcolm thought. Gut reaction.
Just like this was.
He grabbed Hayes by the neck with both hands and pulled him in. For a moment he could feel Hayes tense, preparing to counteract an attack that was anything but. Hayes caught on when Malcolm's lips first met his, forceful and slightly off-center, and then he got with the program pretty damn easily. With his hands grabbing at Malcolm's biceps and neck and ass, with his tongue demanding against Malcolm's, his whole body pressing and urging Malcolm first in this direction and then in that, and with Malcolm resisting and pushing back every step of the way, it really wasn't much different from their fighting.
Malcolm had the fleeting thought that this should be disturbing him more, but it didn't, and he didn't care. Not with Hayes grinding against him like that. Not when Malcolm got to move his leg in that certain way, and push and twist, and suddenly have Hayes with his back against the wall and his wrists pinned on either side of his head.
Malcolm pulled back a little, breathing hard. "This is a spectacularly bad idea," he said.
"This entire mission is a spectacularly bad idea," Hayes said. "But we've got to go through with it." He tried to wriggle his hands out from under Malcolm's tight grip but didn't succeed with his half-hearted attempt.
Despite himself, despite their situation, Malcolm laughed. "That's your excuse?"
Hayes chin came up in a move that almost looked defiant. "I don't need an excuse."
"I didn't expect you would," Malcolm said.
He closed in and kissed Hayes again, who then did a sneaky thing that had Malcolm flat on his back on the floor with Hayes on top of him in the space of two blinks.
On second thought, this was the best idea Malcolm had had in a while.
* * *