Parallels - Chapter 5

Parallels

By Giggling Vulcan

Genre: Romance/Drama/Retelling
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: If I owned Enterprise, Archer would have flown out an airlock long ago. Don’t own it, don’t make money from it, don’t sue me.

Summary: This is a parody of The Next Generation episode “Parallels,” But using the Enterprise crew and T’Pol in place of Worf.

BIG A/N: I live! I really do! I’m so sorry to all of you who have been reading my story for the long wait on the update. Unfortunately, life isn’t Star Trek and computers can’t run diagnostics on themselves, so you don’t know about the Trojans and spyware until your computer goes “KAPLOOIE!” and gives you the black screen of death. Then this thing called “life” happens and the computer repair guy is some intern who only knows what he reads in a technical manual and keeps your computer for five weeks and still doesn’t fix it entirely and charges you astronomical rates, which you have to work overtime to cover and you realize, “Oh, gee, you know, I haven’t updated my story in forever!” So you go and start writing it again. Then this thing called perfectionism happens and you re-write the ready room scene eight times because it doesn’t flow the way you want it to. Then at 3 in the morning, you say “Aww, screw it” and send it to Bucky anyway.
So without further ado, I give you the poorly written chapter five of “Parallels,” which does nothing to move the story on, but has lots of Trip and T’Pol in it. Some other things about it, there’s quite a bit of language (thank you, Mr. Tucker) so this chapter may constitute as an R. It also has a bit of Hoshi/Travis shippiness, so I hope that doesn’t bother anyone. And, yes, I killed off another character because I don’t want to deal with him, so I’ll just say it’s “essential to the plot-line” because it sounds better and move on with it. Quite frankly, I don’t think any of you will mind. I’ll try to have the next chapter up VERY soon (I’m having so much fun with the next part I don’t even think it’s legal.) Wow…that was much ado…about nothing…sorry about that. NOW! I give you chapter five.

--GV
---------------------------

Chapter 5

***

Trip, T’Pol, Phlox, and Travis stood in respectful silence as the body of Ensign Hoshi Sato slid into the imaging chamber.

As Travis watched, a slow tear made its way down his cheek as he watched the lifeless body of the one he had so admired. She had come such a long way from the beginning of the mission. She had been paranoid, afraid, ready to hop the next shuttle back to Earth at the first chance she got. But over the years, she had grown into a strong, intelligent, wonderful woman who was essentially responsible for the redemption of Earth. She had even been willing to give up her life to save what she held so dear, and that would have been the greatest sacrifice of all. Yet, Travis was angry at her death. Such a valiant woman with so much life, who had survived so much had been killed by an exploding console in such a minor battle, when compared to the bigger scale. If Hoshi had to die, she deserved to die valiantly. She deserved to die being a heroine, not a normal communications officer. Travis listened to his inner thought. He knew what he’d felt for the ensign, and he knew that she hadn’t known at all. He had kept telling himself that he’d talk to her tomorrow. But the tomorrows had kept piling up until he ran out of tomorrows to pile, and then it was too late. He was left with nothing but a bunch of empty yesterdays. He hung his head as another wave of grief washed over him.

The imaging console beeped, alerting Phlox that the full body scan was complete. Trip and T’Pol waited anxiously as he analyzed the results. T’Pol gazed up into the human’s face, searching his eyes. Humans had a saying: the eyes are the windows to the soul. If such a saying were true, then Trip with filled with determination, hope, and care. That made her happier, despite the gloomy circumstances.

He caught her staring at him before she could look away, rather intrigued at her choice of ‘ogling subject’. He gave her a slight reassuring smile.

“Well, I fail to see anything anomalous in these scans, Sub-Commander.” Phlox said sadly. “I’m afraid Hoshi isn’t at fault.”

“Ensign Sato is the only link between the occurrences of the shifts. How can she possibly not be related?” T’Pol asked incredulously.

The Commander looked up with sudden inspiration. “What if it wasn’t Hoshi?” He said.

“Well, Commander, that is quite the obvious conclusion…” Phlox started.

Trip wouldn’t let him finish. “No, no, I’m not saying that Hoshi has nothin’ to do with it. What if it’s not Hoshi herself, but something she had on her…like…some kind of object that’s making the shifts happen?”

T’Pol considered for a moment. “It is worth investigating.” She assessed.

Hoshi’s uniform was neatly folded on a nearby biobed, unneeded during the autopsy. Phlox wasn’t the least surprised to see Travis hovering over it, guarding it as if it held the last essence of Ensign Sato in its seams.

“Oh…umm…I’ll check,” He muttered, making an excuse to touch its blue fabric, if only briefly.

The air in sickbay was thick with anticipation as the helmsman rummaged through its pockets. T’Pol found that she was illogically holding her breath. She silently scolded herself as Travis retrieved Hoshi’s universal translator from one of the jumpsuit’s many pockets.

“Would this be anything of significance?” he asked.

“It’s worth a try.” Trip took the small device from him and stared at it for a long while.

“Perhaps it would help if you activated it?” T’Pol advised.

Trip glared at her, but more in a teasing manner than one of a serious nature, an act he shared with himself in T’Pol’s own timeline. “I was getting to that.” He looked at her, the concern evident in his eyes. “Ready?”

T’Pol nodded slightly and gave him as much of a reassuring look as her Vulcan upbringing would allow her. He silently accepted this comfort, his fears seemingly allayed for the present time. He activated the UT.

The world around T’Pol became a blur as it spun. She felt her knees buckle under the influence of intense vertigo, but never experienced the hard impact she should have had with the cold floor. After regaining perception for a moment, she realized she was safely enveloped in the Commander’s arms.

“T’Pol, are ya all right?” He asked, his voice dripping with concern and worry.

T’Pol opened her eyes, trying to adjust again after the worst transition of all. The first thing that greeted her eyes was the gleam of four silver rank pips. She drew back more quickly than her body would allow, unsuccessful in escaping the captain, for her knees buckled and she was again forced to be supported by him.

Her worst fears subsided when she saw Trip’s bright eyes, not the dark hooded eyes of Captain Archer.

“Y-you’re the captain?” She asked incredulously.

“Trip looked confused. “Umm…yeah?”

She was even more shocked to find herself dressed out in a Starfleet issue uniform.

“I wasn’t the captain in your timeline?”

She looked about wildly. Everything in this timeline was so different…except…

“Are…we still married?” She asked timidly.

“Of course!” He seemed to be just as confused as she was.

“Then the universal translator…” she attempted to stand on her own again, turning away from him to look at the Doctor and immediately began teetering.

“Oh, no ya don’t.” Trip said, catching her from behind. He pulled her against him, supporting her with his arms around her waist. She allowed herself to lean against him, after some internal arguments of logic.

Phlox’s hand scanner had been out ever since the anomaly had occurred. “I’m detecting a quantum flux in your RNA.” He said with a frown.

“Meaning?” Trip asked impatiently.

Phlox held up a hand to silence him and continued to analyze the readouts.

“Odd…” he mumbled.

“Doctor?” T’Pol interjected.

“The quantum flux extends to the subatomic level.”

“Impossible.” T’Pol crossed her arms in doubt.

“I agree, but the readings are still here.”

“Then your instruments must be at fault.” She was insistent in her claim.

“I can assure you, I ran a diagnostic on all of my equipment this morning, and—“

“Could someone please tell me what’s going on?!” Trip Tucker was an engineer. He could recite the formulas referential to warp theory by heart. He could realign plasma injectors, defuse circuitry, and refit an entire NX-class starship blindfolded, yet with this sum of mechanical genius, he was not privy to what the subatomic cellular layer RNA composition was, or what happened when it was in a state of quantum flux.

T’Pol appeared slightly annoyed, ever the Vulcan scientist, yet she condensed herself enough to explain. “All matter in the universe resonates on a quantum level with a unique signature. This signature is constant and cannot be altered by any known process. It is the basic foundation of existence.”

“T’Pol is correct. This quantum flux means that the matter she is composed of is…asynchronous with normal matter. If these findings are correct, T’Pol should not even exist.” Phlox frowned.

“But she’s standing right here!” Trip exclaimed.

“That, I cannot explain either.”

Trip stood in thought for a moment. “You say these changes started happening after you returned from Vulcan?” He asked her.

“Yes.”

“But I know for a fact that you didn’t go back to Vulcan. Nobody’s left Enterprise for weeks, even.”

“I clearly remember my stay on Vulcan, and the return journey on Shuttle pod one.”

Travis, who had remained respectfully silent in the corner of the room, piped in. “Maybe something happened on the way back.” He stated glumly, obviously very morose. Everybody stared at him. “It seems…logical…” he concluded.

Trip pursed his lips and nodded. “Do you remember the course you took to return to the ship?” He asked.

“I believe so.” She replied.

“Good. Travis, have Enterprise retrace her steps according to T’Pol’s coordinates. Set a course for her last known position and scan for any temporal anomalies.” He ordered.

“Aye, sir”

“T’Pol, after assisting Travis in setting the course, would you meet me in the ready room?”

“Of course.” She replied.

“Great. Travis, Phlox, comm. me if you find anything.”

“Understood, Captain.”

And with that, they all went to fill their respective duties.

***

“Come” said the voice through the ready room door. T’Pol opened the door and stepped silently inside.

Trip was standing at the window, staring out into space, literally. He was perplexed as if something was on his mind. They both had something on their minds.

She walked up beside of him. “Captain, Ensign Mayweather has successfully set the heading to my last known coordinates. Nothing of interest has appeared thus far.” She apprised.

“Captain…” Trip reflected, chuckling to himself, leisurely putting an arm around her waist. “You haven’t called me that since…well…” He shook his head silently again, as if remembering some kind of fond memory.

T’Pol raised an eyebrow as he fidgeted slightly. “Well…uh…that’s not really important…” he stammered.

T’Pol continued to give him the dreaded eyebrow of death as he stared at the floor and shuffled his feet. Absently, he began to caress her side, sending shivers up T’Pol’s spine.

“I keep forgetting…” He sighed. “You’re not completely the same T’Pol I know.”

T’Pol was slightly uncomfortable with his blatant display of affection. Fighting to maintain her mental control and self-discipline and not take advantage of the situation, she shifted slightly to the side, but tripped over the molding on the wall and lost her balance.

“Careful.” He said, grabbing her arm before she could fall, obviously mistaking her evasion of his touch as another bout of dizziness.

“Thank you.” She whispered, standing slightly further away from him than before. The close proximity to him made the air around her crackle with tension and did nothing for her control.

A long uncomfortable silence followed, in which Trip just shuffled his feet and stuck his tongue in his cheek in that thoughtful way that he always did. T’Pol had to find something to break it up, something to get him talking again.

“What is my rank and position?” she asked.

Trip, obviously thankful for the subject change, jumped at the chance to answer. “You’re a commander, chief science officer…and my number one all the way, darlin’.” He said.

“I am now affiliated with Starfleet?” She asked.

“Sure are.” He began. “When we got back from the Xindi mission, you put in for a field commission. They inducted you and instated you with the rank equivalent to what you already had, which was commander.”

“And what of your position? When did you become a captain?” She asked curiously.

“With this Andorian thing popping up, they needed someone who knew the Enterprise, and no one knew her better than her chief engineer, and maybe her first officer, but you hadn’t been cleared by Starfleet yet, so the command…went to me…Ever since Jon…” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat, his eyes watering slightly. He shook his head and tried to clear it. “Damn shame…” he muttered in the same wavering voice.

T’Pol looked up into his face, his eyes exposing enough for her to conclude, “Captain Archer was killed in the Xindi attack.” She said it softly and as compassionately as possible, not wanting to disrupt such an obviously delicate subject with Trip.

“Damn…” he muttered again. He crossed to a couch T’Pol didn’t remember being there before and sat down, briskly rubbing his hands across his face. “Just when you think you’re gettin’ over this grief thing, it comes right back and slaps you in the face…” He began to tear up as he fought the memories that plagued him once more.

T’Pol came to sit beside of him concern evident in her soft features. She remembered what it was like when Trip grieved. He always held it back until he couldn’t keep it in any longer, then it came out in a long, angry, yet sorrowful tirade that was bittersweet to watch and certainly more so to experience. He had been so awash with such raw emotion that day that she had comforted him. She had found herself so far out of her element that the only thing she knew to do was to touch him; to comfort him. She was so at a loss for direction that all she was able to do was place a hand on his shoulder, offer him a comment from her own desire to feel emotion. She remembered how desperately he had clung to her hand with both of his, holding on to what little she had given him with such passion and despair. She realized it now: he needed so much more than that solitary hand.

Slowly, she reached over and pulled his hands away from his face, catching a glimpse of a few tears that had silently fallen. He looked away from her, as if the tears that he couldn’t control had somehow shamed him. She gently cupped his face and turned it towards her. She wiped away a stray tear that found its way down his face as it trickled from his dull blue eyes, eyes that were much to wise for their age, had seen too much death and pain.

Searching for something to say to him, T’Pol whispered, “Everything is going to be all right, Trip.”

“No…” He whispered. He pulled away from her, sitting up on the couch again. “No, nothing’s going to be all right again. I lost my baby sister, my best friend, and now I might lose my wife because of all this fucking temporal shit!” He exclaimed. “How can everything be okay?” He began to break again, standing up, he crossed the room and leaned his head against the wall.

T’Pol followed him, undaunted by his emotionality this time. Such anger was understandable. It was to be expected. She walked up beside him. “Trip…” She whispered quietly.

He shook his head. “No…”he mumbled.

“Come here…” She whispered, pulling him towards her. Still shaking his head he silently broke, unable to hold back the tears any longer.

T’Pol pulled him into a comforting hug as his head sank to her shoulder. “Oh, God, T’Pol…what did I do?” He sobbed. She felt a tear escaping her own eye. “What did we do?”

“You did nothing, Trip. Do not blame yourself for the Captain’s death, or your sister’s. You did everything you could, but you can’t save everyone, Trip. You couldn’t save the Captain, or Elizabeth, but you did save all of humanity. Think of it along those terms.” She began to rub his back, which seemed to soothe him. “The men and women who gave their lives doing the same thing you did…”

“Then why are they dead and I’m still here?” He asked, pulling back from her to look at her, his arms still around her.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Because there is still something left for you to do. Humanity…even other races, will need you…I need you.”

Trip’s eyes were so filled with emotion that they broke her heart. “Then I’ll be there.” He whispered.

A shadow of a smile crossed her face as she wiped the tears away. He reached up and put his hand over hers where it rested on his face. He took it in his own, bringing it from his face and looking at it, caressing it softly. He slowly brought it to his lips, giving the back of it a long lingering kiss. T’Pol watched him, lost in his touch and essence. He finished his kiss, his lips lingering over her copper skin as he kissed her hand again, this kiss shorter than the last as his lips glided across her skin, trailing kisses up her arm. He stopped at her forearm and wrapped his arms around her waist once more, drawing her close as his began to kiss her neck, slowly and passionately. T’Pol’s eyes fluttered shut as she began to drown in the ecstasy of his touch, the touch she had wanted and would have welcomed before. His kisses moved slowly up and across her jaw line. She gasped softly as she melted into his embrace, the supple curves of her body molding against his as his lips captured hers in a breathtaking kiss.

Yet as much as she wanted this, as much as she wanted him, she couldn’t bring herself to allow him to continue his ministrations. As far as she was concerned, he was another man’s wife, even if that wife was another version of her.

As he broke the kiss and leaned in for another, she emitted a pained “Please…stop…” Against his lips. When he seemed not to hear her, she whispered it again. “Trip…stop…” Snapping out of his daze he looked at her in confusion. “Huh?...” Seeing the distraught look on her face he asked in a deep, husky voice, “What’s wrong, T’Pol?”

She pulled herself out of his embrace and turned around, unable to look at him. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” She said softly.

There was a short pause, then “I know…” He said softly. “It’s just so hard. You look like T’Pol, you act like T’Pol…hell, you are T’Pol!” He exclaimed. “But you’re not T’Pol Tucker, and I need to keep my hands to myself and remember that.” He shook his head and continued. “God, I’m sorry T’Pol. Actin’ like this isn’t fair to you, or her, or me…or Lorian and T’Leil…”

“Lorian and T’Leil?” She asked, turning around to face him again.

“No kids in your timeline, huh?” He said sarcastically. He went to sit on the couch again. “They’ve got her ears, that’s for sure. And that stubborn attitude. Can’t say they got anything good from me either!” he said with a chuckle. “I love ‘em to death, though. Cutest little rug rats…what’re you so cheerful for all of a sudden?” He asked, the mirth slowly creeping back into his features.

T’Pol was blushing slightly, looking dazed and deep in thought.

“T’Pol? Are you all right?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” She whispered, a small smile creeping slowly across her lips. The mood seemed to lighten a bit.

“What is it?”

“I just…” She began. “I did not believe it was possible.” She mused.

Trip chuckled and crossed his arms. “Oh, it’s possible, all right! And that was discovered quite unintentionally, I might add. A tip here, be VERY careful what you wish for…and what you do, actually, that is, if it’s the prudent time to be telling you this.”

“Far from it…” she muttered

Trip’s brow wrinkled. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. “Is there something going on between you two?”

“Quite the opposite.” She countered, “*Nothing* is going on.”

“What!” He exclaimed, sitting bolt upright. “Geez, T’Pol, I’m sorry! When I…I mean…I musta…”

“However…” She continued, “Our relationship is rather…undefined.”

Trip mulled her statement over, coming up short. “Meaning?”

“He has feelings for me.”

Trip nodded. “And do you have feelings for him?”

“No!” She exclaimed a bit too quickly. Trip gave her an admonishing look. He knew from personal experience that that wasn’t the case.

“You know, Vulcans don’t lie well.” He said. At her glare, he added, “That’s coming from a man with experience, of course.”

T’Pol sighed and amended, “His feelings are…requited.”

“But does he know they are?” He asked, raising his own eyebrows.

“I am uncertain.”

“And you’re afraid to tell him. You’re completely out of your element and you realize what it could mean if you just admit it.”

T’Pol looked at him with a surprised expression, wondering how he knew all of this private information.

“Once again, spoken by a man with experience.” He said. They were both silent for a moment.

“You do not understand.” She said. “There are complications…things…we have…done…There is much he does not know…”

“Then tell him.” He said firmly. “Nothing’s going to happen until you do.”

“But…” she began to protest.

“Believe me, *nothing* is going to happen until *you* act.”

She looked at him in confusion. “Why me?” she asked.

Trip smirked and answered. “To be completely honest with you, the man’s a chicken when it comes to women.”

T’Pol reflected for a moment. “I am not well educated on human metaphors, but I believe the term ‘chicken’ refers to unreasonable cowardice. Am I correct?”

“Ouch!” Trip exclaimed. “Actually, in this case, that cowardice is *quite* reasonable…” He mumbled. “Vulcan women can sure do wonders for a man’s inflated ego.”

T’Pol looked at him with sparkling eyes. “Spoken by a man with experience?”

“You bet, darlin’.”

“Bridge to Captain Tucker.”

Trip gave her knee a reassuring squeeze and got up to answer to comm.

“Go ahead, Travis.”

“”

“We’re on our way.” He answered.

T’pol stood and came to his side. “Ready to finish that…fucking temporal shit?” She asked, absolutely shocking Trip with her word choice.

“Absolutely.” He replied with a smirk. T’Pol took his proffered arm, and together they headed to the bridge to see exactly what kind of temporal shit they were dealing with.

Chapter 6

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Great story so far. I never saw the Star trek episode that you are basing this fanfic on... so I am curious to see how it ends. Great stuff!

Hi, GV! Great chapter, even though you say you're not satisfied... it was fun TnT interaction. :) So says the (wo)man with experience!

Sorry about your PC woes... I sympathize, so here are some electronic m&ms to soothe the pain: (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m)

Your execution is postponed on the condition that the next chapter is at least as brilliant as this one...thank you for this updte on a great story!

Very enjoyable!! I saw TNG episode that this is based on, but it's been so long I don't remember how it ended. Can't wait for the next chapter!

cool "fucking temporal shit" - lol haha

Oh, Clicks just nailed it! ;-)))

1. No execution - in the moment...
2. Please, please, please: Give as another one of these most brilliant chapters soooooooon!

Why would I hurt you? I need you to finish this story. I can't do a thing! Don't worry... it would be illogical to hurt such a great writer!

Thank you, all of you, for the postponement of my execution! And I'm glad all of you like it. Like I mentioned, I wasn't really pleased with it and "brilliant" wasn't the review I expected, but thank you anyway. I'm typing up the next chapter now, so hopefully I'll have it ready for you guys tonight!

I don't see anything wrong with it. :) Keep up the good work, and for God's sake don't make us wait so long next time! *slaps your computer*

Thanks! Sorry to have bugged you about updating - I didn't realize the computer problems you were having. This is excellent. Please continue.

Noticed the word parody is still in the summary - doesn't seem like a parody. I like the word "retelling" much better.

Great addition GV, enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to your next chapter.

PS sorry to hear of your computer whoes.

WooHoo! :) I've been waiting soooooooooo long for this. Oh, guess I should go read it. I'll be back.

I loved it! (sigh) T & T in the Ready Room was my favorite part, of course:). Write more sooooon.

Parody? Where? Gah! I thought I'd gotten rid of it! Appologies (gee, I appologize a lot...) I copied and pasted from one of the previous stories without re-reading. I'll take it off next time. Sorry, myst.

--GV

Wow! An update!!! FINALLY!!!!!
THANKS!!!
Ahhh... the wonderful world of computers... don't I know it... sigh... I'm glad you're up and running again.
This is sooooo great!
Whom did you kill off? I didn't miss anyone... ;-)
Trip's a great captain.
Can't wait for the next chapter!

Can't wait for the next chapter. Keep up the good work. Want me to twist a cactus up the computer guy's butt for you? I'll do it for free.

Great to see the story resume, can't wait for what happens next. What a tangle! Thanks for picking up your pen again, keep going - Ali D :~)

Wow! Great addition to the story. LOL I was wondering what had happened to this story! Glad to see you didn't totally abandon it and it's just a case of a stupid computer. Ugh these computers just don't understand....