Attraction- Part 8

Attraction
An "Enterprise" story

By Alison M. DOBELL

RATING: PG-13
ARCHIVE: Yes. Just let me know where.
FEEDBACK: Welcomed
EMAIL: AlisonMDobell@aol.com
WEBSITE: http://carlajane.50megs.com/Ali00.html

SUMMARY: "Dr Phlox has a number of shocks and surprises. The Captain learns a lesson and Trip and T'Pol
reach an understanding."
DISCLAIMER: The usual disclaimers apply. The characters and 'Enterprise' are the property of Paramount. No infringement of copyright is intended.

Part 8

"FORKED TONGUES"

* * * * *

Sub-Commander T'Pol was trying to hide her distress but the entity knew only too well how she was feeling. It irked the Vulcan more and more and did nothing to improve her temperament. *Why did you want me to observe this?*

*You try so hard to hide your emotions, Vulcan. If you want the Human why not take him?*

T'Pol frowned. Her irritation rising. Take implied the imposition of her will on another a concept that was totally offensive to her. She was pacing back and forth. No longer able to see the Commander. Aware only that the Captain's fury was because of her. Why? She had done nothing to encourage the Captain to think she had feelings for him. Quite the contrary. And her growing feelings for the Commander had been successfully hidden from everyone including herself until the last few weeks. Looking back she could see how she had slowly mellowed towards him. Her attitude softening in subtle ways that only another Vulcan would notice. Carefully she had fought the urge to let down her defences. But in this place there was no such demarcation. Thoughts were shared, feelings exposed. No place to hide. It made her feel weak. Vulnerable. *Free*.

The entity watched her. Its form that of a handsome male but with such conflicting features that it could easily appear femine with just a twist of its' smile or more male with a darkening of its' brow. T'Pol had been unsettled at first by it. Now she simply focused on what it had to say. The form meant nothing. *Do you want him?*

T'Pol ignored the absurdity of the question. As if the Commander was some trinket to be haggled over. He was his own person. Her indignation amused the entity.

*If you do you can have him.*

The Sub-Commander stopped pacing to give the entity an icy frown. *I want you to leave the Commander alone.*

*I am not doing anything to him.*

T'Pol's eyebrow rose. *You have trapped him here.*

*Have I?*

She frowned. More annoyed than ever. *Yes. End this game. Now.*

The entity began to ripple as if its' form were insubstantial. T'Pol realised with a sense of alarm that it was leaving. Panic touched the edge of her senses. Her heart faltered. *Don't go!*

A pause then the entity assumed its' virtual form. *Why should I stay?*

*Let me help him go back.*

The entity looked very solemn. For once the eyes not mocking. *If he goes back you will lose him.*

Pain etched a filligree of agonised thoughts in her heart. *What do you mean?*

*The Captain will make sure you cannot be together.*

T'Pol was about to assert that Captain Archer would do no such thing but having seen his assault on the Commander she was not so sure. She hesitated.

*If you remain here with him you will be free to love him as you desire and he will be free to do the same. Is this not what you secretly want?*

The Sub-Commander stared at her. Eyes becoming slightly glazed and out of focus. A haunting melody teasing her consciousness percolating gently through the walls of her heart. A beloved face hovering in her mind's eye and smiling gently at her with a heart full of love. Mist blurred her sight with a longing she had spent many hours meditating to avoid. So much hung on the success of this mission. The Humans did not know how pivotal this first step would be. Allowing herself and the Commander to lose focus, even for a gloriously dizzy concept like love, was to jeopardise all. The realisation brought a sorrow of the heart wounding her so deep because she knew what she wanted she could never have. *You are the serpent in the Garden of Eden.*

The entity sounded nonplussed. *Garden of Eden? What is that?*

*A Human expression of an idyllic place.*

*Is it real?*

T'Pol did not know. The entity was watching the Vulcan intently. Mesmerised by how illogically the female was acting. Obviously the Human was having a very marked effect on her whether she would admit it or not. T'Pol did not answer.

*Why a serpent?*

*To Humans the serpent is a representation of that which cannot be trusted.*

For a moment the entity said nothing, considering the Vulcan and the Humans. *Not so.* Whispered the entity. *Let me show you.*

*No!* Yelled T'Pol in an attempt to keep hold of her sanity. To not become a pawn in this creature's machinations. Whatever was happening she was determined not to be used to further the entity's desire for entertainment.

*You do not understand.* Said the entity with something approaching sorrow. Knowing full well the content of the Vulcan's guarded thoughts. In this place nothing could be hidden from it. *And your lack of understanding could cost you everything you hold dear.*

T'Pol opened her mouth to ask what the entity meant only to find herself staring at emptiness. She turned slowly and realised that she was alone. She closed her eyes in frustration. Willed herself to be calm then opened her eyes only to find herself closing them against the brightness of the sickbay lights. Her heart faltered, stumbling drunkenly in search of a regular beat. Her breathing sped up in direct proportion to her growing anxiety, her sorrow multiplying with imagined consequences. What had she done to be returned without resolution? Would she be able to find her way back to him or had her words of rebuttal been taken at face value firmly closing that door in her face? A voice impinged itself on her consciousness. The calm mannered voice of the Denobulan doctor brought tears to her eyes. She was back on Enterprise but the Commander, her beloved, was trapped within that creature's web.

* * * * *

Lieutenant Anna Hess felt her eyes widening with shock. Ensign Hoshi Sato had been talking to Travis when she caught the look on the lieutenant's face and turned to see what she was staring at. It was the Captain. But any relief she might have felt at his return to the bridge vanished the moment she looked in his haunted eyes. Never had she seen him this traumatised. Travis, with his usual knack for discretion, allowed his concern to over ride any thoughts of propriety.

"Captain? Are you all right?"

The Captain blinked. Seemed to take minutes not seconds to focus on where he was. Slowly it penetrated his consciousness that the helmsman had just spoken to him. "Yes."

"You don't look it, sir. Perhaps you should see the doctor."

Hoshi shot him an apalled look. He gazed innocently back at her. What? He was only saying what they were thinking and the Captain did look as if he needed to be in sickbay rather than on the bridge. Hoshi relented. Just then Lt Hess spoke. Both her and Travis had momentarily forgotten she was there.

"Captain, has something happened?"

He looked at Commander Tucker's second. Dazed. Ashamed of himself but also completely confused. He struggled to appear calm and rational. What could he say to her? How could he even begin to explain his actions? After all, he knew he could never justify them. Not to Trip. Not to T'Pol. And certainly not to himself. He felt tears prick his eyes and realised he should not have come to the bridge. Inside he was unravelling like a ball of string. Having screwed everything else up he did not need to include them as well. So he plastered on a fake smile and avoided making direct eye contact with any of them. "If you need me I'll be in sickbay. Lieutenant, you have the bridge."

They just stared as he left. Seconds passed in a numb silence. Travis looked at Hoshi. "What was that all about?"

Ensign Hoshi Sato was staring at the door, a thoughtful look on her face. "I have no idea."

* * * * *

*You should get cleaned up.*

The Commander looked across at Lieutenant Reed. A half smile parted cracked lips. *How?*

Lieutenant Reed looked around them. The place was an empty paradise. The only constant they had seen so far had been Trip's sunset. At least, that was what Malcolm called it. He remembered something the entity had told them when they had first been drawn into this place. *You said you would not hurt him!*

Trip raised his eyebrow. It reminded Malcolm so much of T'Pol at that moment that he laughed. He frowned back. *What's so funny? And who're ya talkin' to?*

He ignored the first question in favour of the second. *The entity.*

*We're alone, Malcolm.*

The Armoury Officer shook his head. *No Trip, we are not alone.*

He wanted to laugh he really did only he was tired, he ached, and neither sleep nor comfort were coming to him any time soon. *Course we are, she deserted us.*

The lieutenant jerked his head up slowly, his voice soft and low in Trip's head. *Then who is that, my doubting friend?*

Trip looked behind him and froze. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen stood not more than a couple of feet behind him. The face was a symetrical masterpiece of beauty. A soft ambient light seemed to glow up through her skin. Her eyes were warm and gentle. Her hair flaxen in colour and hanging down to her waist. He could not describe her clothing properly to his senses except to say that it was diaphanous and flowing like a living breathing thing. An extension of herself? An apparition? Somehow this was one angel that could not have been plucked from his subconscious. If he had dreamed anything this perfect he would have remembered it. *Who are you?*

A gentle smile imbued her features with a softening that melted his heart. Oh Lord he was in trouble.

*You know who I am.*

He nodded. Unable to do anything else. Not so the lieutenant. *The Commander is injured. You promised he would not come to harm.*

To Trip's ears Malcolm's voice sounded rough, dischordant. The words an ugly cacophony in this most beautiful of places.

*I did not, would not, harm him.* Replied the entity. *I did not know his friend would hurt him.*

*And if you had?* Challenged Malcolm.

She looked at him for several long moments. Trip wondered at her patience and Malcolm's daring. *He would not have been allowed to come here.*

Malcolm nodded as if she had just confirmed a suspicion. *So you brought him here. Just as you brought us here.*

A look of faint surprise dimmed her soft smile. *I did not bring you here.*

Trip mentally shook himself. Her glamour easing its' hold on him. *Then how did we get here? Why us? Why this whole pantomime?*

The entity walked towards him until she was only inches from the Commander. He imagined he could feel the warm puff of her breath in his face. *You brought yourselves to this place. At least, your minds did.*

Lieutenant Reed was getting angry but Trip just shook his head gently at her. *Doesn't make any sense.*

She reached out and touched his face. Such a gentle wisp of air brushing his bruised and battered face, the contusions blackening and darkening into angry blood enriched bruises. The blood encrusted over his swollen right eye and down from the cut brow to his chin. Her touch did not hurt him though he felt Malcolm tense next to him. Knew his friend would be on his feet and ready to throttle her if he apprehended any intent to do harm. *You should not have been injured.* The entity brought her other hand up and gently framed the Commander's face. Hands not quite touching him but close enough for him to feel a rumour of her warmth.

* * * * *

Dr. Phlox looked up as the door to sickbay hissed open. He straightened as he saw who it was. "Captain, I was about to call you."

The Captain barely noticed the firmness of the doctor's voice or the look in his eyes. He was distracted. Guilt was not a comfortable emotion to bear. "How is he?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about."

He looked at him now. Saw the concern in the Denobulan's eyes. Oh God, what had happened now? Dr. Phlox took him behind the drawn curtain that he had set up to cut off the Commander's biobed from curious eyes. Captain Archer stopped in horror. His eyes glued to his best friend. Tears gathering like mourners at a funeral, grief shattering his fragile hold on his heart. He was trembling, eyes wide and fearful. Full of a galaxy of emotions as he looked at his friend's bruised, cut and battered face. The blood had begun to congeal where it had run from the cut brow and lip, soaking into the white linen sheet upon which his friend lay. His right eye was virtually sealed shut. A large swollen mass of heavy bruising. The Captain sucked in a deep ragged breath and had to grip the side of the biobed to steady himself. The doctor hurried to his side. Anxious at the Captain's reaction.

"Captain?"

The Captain raised a hand to ward off the doctor's concern. "You don't understand, doctor."

"Understand what?" Came the confused response, his eyes flicking from the comatose Commander to the Captain and back again.

Slowly Captain Archer turned his head and pinned the doctor with a look. "This is my doing."

Dr Phlox was so surprised that his voice came out almost a squeak. "Your doing?"

"Yes. I hit him."

The doctor held back his anger and realised something. "I do not understand. I have not left sickbay. If you had assaulted the Commander I would have seen it."

The Captain shook his head. Weary and sorrowful in equal measure. His guilt having a field day. "Not here. There."

"There? What are you talking about, Captain?"

He sighed heavily, dipped his head a moment then gazed up at the doctor through his dark lashes and gave him a rueful look. "Somehow I managed to get into the same place where Trip and Malcolm are, only I did not equit myself well. I lashed out and hurt my friend."

The doctor was more confused now than ever. "Why would you hit the Commander? That does not make any sense and it does not explain why he would have these injuries here."

"I was jealous." The moment he made the confession he felt some of the weight ease off his heart. It still made him feel sick to think that he had so lost control that he had done that. He wondered if Trip would ever forgive him. Even if he did he did not think he would be able to forgive himself. He was about to explain further when he noticed the doctor was no longer looking at him. A look of awe had come over his face. The Captain straightened up and turned to look at Trip. His mouth fell open in surprise. He watched as the injuries on the Commander's face healed then faded. A warm beautiful light glowed around him. The fabrication of air particles around the comatose man seemed to be charged with something. Electricity? Magnetism? He had no idea what it was but it made the hairs on his head and neck tingle.

"What the hell...?"

Then everything else that had happened since this impossible situation had begun was kicked into touch. A surge of vibrancy excited the air molecules and in the next moment the Commander vanished.

* * * * *

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed just stared. He could not believe what he was seeing. One minute he had been looking at his friend, wishing he could do something to ease the pain of his injuries. The next moment the entity had made herself visible to them and healed him with a touch. Bloody hell. Better than David sodding Copperfield.

* * * * *

Sub-Commander T'Pol squinted up at the too bright lights. Wished she could close her eyes and wake up back inside the place where Trip was. But she had angered the entity. It would not entertain her presence now and she had no idea how to proceed. To bring him back. Gradually she became aware of voices. Muted but identifiable. She recognised the Denobulan's calm voice. Was startled to realise the other voice belonged to Captain Archer. She could not hear what they were saying. Turning her head she noted the curtain drawn around Commander Tucker's biobed. Shapes moved indistinctly behind the curtain. Odd words made it through but made no sense to her brain. Befuddled she fought the urge to cry.

T'Pol closed her eyes and tried to find a center of calm. To lose herself if only for a moment in the bliss of meditation. It did not surprise her when the calm would not come. Her heart aching more and more with every breath she took. Realisation driving deep within her where no obfuscation would be tolerated. She could run. She could hide. But not from herself. As she embraced the truth and opened her heart out an odd warmth stole gently over her. Sleep seducing her even as a random thought told her she should try to resist it. But she was too tired. Too emotionally drained to want to fight. Her eyes closed. Her breath changing to a deeper cadence. All sound evaporated around her as she was drawn into a deeper calm than the one she had been so frantically seeking. A slow even breath of joy expelled from lungs now relaxed yet breathing his name.

Odd. She felt something solid beneath her feet. But she was asleep. In sickbay. Her eyes popped open and she almost fell. Shock reverberated through her as she realised she was standing upright. Not only was she back in that place she was facing an equally stunned Commander Tucker. She hardly noticed Lt Reed standing less than two feet behind him. The split second of shock vanished with the flood of relief. Emotions rising to the surface that she could not quell. Without any further thought she closed the sort distance between them and looked deep into his beautiful eyes. Amazed to find he appeared whole and uninjured. He raised a hesitant hand to her cheek. She allowed it, her head tilting into his craved for touch. Her eyes glimmering with tears of joy. Joy. It was something he had never seen in such abundance on her face before.

Malcolm Reed watched in wide eyed wonder. A slow smile of happiness spreading across his face. A sense of profound satisfaction filling him with peace. His friend was healed. T'Pol was with him. All was finally right with the world. Right. His thoughts stumbled and he had to resist the urge to laugh. Not wanting to disturb their thoughts. Happy for his friends. He sat down and felt something dig into his left buttock. He put his hand down and felt for the object. A smile graced his lips as he looked at the harmonica. A far away look came into his eyes as he recalled the beautiful haunting melody that had drawn him back. Trip must have been playing it on his harmonica. He wished he could play it for him now. As the wish formed in his heart he found himself putting the instrument to his lips and closing his eyes. With a calm surety he began to softly play. The melody oozing out of him as if he were the instrument that were being played. He lost himself in the refrain. Oblivious to everything now except the haunting strains of the 'Ashokan Farewell'.

* * * * *

Lieutenant Anna Hess was not normally very voluble but she could not help but comment on the view they were now entranced by. The megallanic cloud was not only expanding it was changing in colour, its' many hues mimicking the sunset of a thousand distant worlds and making every heart ache with thoughts of home. "I don't believe I'm seeing this!" She said in a stunned voice.

"Believe it," Assured Travis Mayweather. "I've seen this kind of thing before just never anything on this scale."

Lieutenant Hess sighed appreciatively. "It's beautiful. Look how the colours are changing. It's almost flowing as if there is a rythym to it..." She paused a second. "Amazing..."

Something nudged Ensign Hoshi Sato out of her appreciation of the exotic phenomena. Rythym. She blinked at the cloud. Lieutenant Hess was right. It was pulsing almost like a heartbeat. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

* * * * *

Captain Archer found his breathing becoming more difficult. It was hard to force air into his lungs. The shock had taken a toll on him. One thing coming after another before he had the time or clarity of thought to bring reason to bear on the impossible. Dr. Phlox pressed a hypospray to his neck and eased him onto a chair. The Captain was sweating profusely, his eyes were unfocused and breathing appeared to be painful albeit that he was slowing calming down.

"Captain?" He said softly.

Glazed eyes turned towards him. The doctor was not sure the Captain even saw him. "Yes, doctor?"

"How do you feel?"

He blinked. Dazed. His air intake seemed to be back to normal now. That dreadful dull ache in his chest had eased up. "Better. Thanks."

"Do you mind telling me what just happened?"

The Captain spread his hands in a little helpless gesture. "Damned if I know."

For a moment neither spoke. Each lost in his own thoughts. Then the Captain eased himself to his feet. "How is the Sub-Commander doing?"

"She has yet to wake if that's what you're asking."

He sighed. Heart heavy again. "I should see her."

The doctor nodded and pulled the curtain back. No need to section off an empty bed. He turned his head at the sound of the Captain's voice.

"Doctor? Did you release Sub-Commander T'Pol from sickbay?"

The Denobulan frowned slightly. Why would he do that? "No, Captain. Why do you ask?"

"Because the Sub-Commander isn't here."

They looked at each other. Stunned. Dr Phlox cleared his throat slowly. "Do you think...?"

"Yes." Said the Captain, his voice strained and clipped. Certainty settling in his eyes. "I think she's gone as well."

* * * * *

Continue to Part 9

Return to Part 7

Return to Attraction menu page.

Back to Fan Fiction Main Menu

Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

Four of you have made comments

Oh, Ali how you play with us :(

post soon please!

OMG... what is happening?! I just read the last two parts! JON!!! what are you thinking, oh yeah its the little head doing the thinking for you man. Oh the wound will be hard to fill.

Wow.... you lead us on... to where...?

Oh, sweetness. Captain Archer still has guilt-GOOD.

Through your story alone, I may come to love Malcolm as much as I love Trip. That is a testament to your superb writing ability. Your characters are as real in the story as they are on screen. Greatness.

Oh, and T'Pol's protectiveness? Priceless.

That was awesome, so beautiful, and Trip and T'Pol are together again.
Post again soon, please...