Child of Time-Ch. 10

A Child of Time

By JD1

Rating: PG, Mystery, Romance
Disclaimers in Chapter One

Author’s Note: I’ve been personally going over these and have gotten my old beta reader back, so I hope there aren’t anymore mistakes in grammar or spelling. And please tell me if there are any.

Summary: When Trip starts to feel something for somebody, who does he go to for advice? And how does that somebody feel?

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Chapter 10

Another Reason

**Sickbay**

"Well, T’Pol’s wound seems to be doing just fine. Thanks to Trip, he seemed to be able to stop the bleeding and dress the wound before any infection or major loss of blood occurred. She should be out of here by tomorrow." Phlox said in his usual optimistic, cheerful voice.

They all had been checked in decon, and now T’Pol’s wounds were taken care of. She was asleep at the moment, worn out from her wounds and the trip back. They had finally been able to kick Trip out about thirty minutes ago. He was, hopefully, back at his quarters, getting cleaned up and resting, under ‘Doctor’s Orders’.

Phlox was briefing the Captain on T'Pol's medical status. Archer nodded, approving what he heard as a good enough explanation. "Very well, Doctor. Inform me of any changes." With that last order, Archer left Sickbay, leaving the Doctor to go about his business.

**The Next Day**

Trip had been standing outside T’Pol’s quarters for the past fifteen minutes. He couldn’t decide if he was up to what he had originally come to do.
‘A thank you would a least be appropriate,’ Trip thought to himself as he paced outside her door, likely at this time of day not many people come down this way. ‘What if she’s asleep or meditatin'. I don’t want to disturb her.’ Then he finally stopped right in front of her door. ‘Now or never.’ Then he pushed the ‘doorbell’ to her room.

She had heard him pacing outside her door for sixteen minutes and forty-two seconds, and wondered when he would knock or leave. She walked over to the door and opened it, knowing full well who it was.

"Hi," Trip greeted with an awkward grin. "Uh, I just came t’ see how, uh, how you were feelin’."

"I feel much better, thank-you." T’Pol said, but not as coldly as Trip might have thought.

"Uh, can I come in?" Trip asked feeling uncomfortable standing outside.

T’Pol nodded and moved aside. When he stepped in, he noticed how plain and bare it seemed to be. She had a bed, desk, dresser and such, like everybody else, but she didn’t seem to have trinkets or pictures or anything like that, but he did notice the abundance of candles she had.

"Is there something you wanted, Commander?" She asked, not in an irritated voice but more of a curious one.

"Uh, yea, um, I… I, uh, just wanted to, uh, say thanks, you know, for teachin’ me how t’, uh, meditate." Trip said, stumbling over words and stuttering. He didn’t understand why, all of the sudden, he seemed to get tongue-tied, around her. He’s never done that before.

"You're welcome, Commander." T’Pol asked with a raised eyebrow, for she, too, had noticed the weird behavior he was displaying.

"Yea, um, I, uh, I should probably go. I, uh, I have a… a shift in a few minutes. Uh, I, uh, yea, um, I’ll just go." Trip stuttered and walked out the door, leaving behind a bewildered Vulcan.

Once Trip was outside her room, he muttered, "Stupid, stupid…" Each ‘stupid’ followed by a thud on the wall, coming from his head meeting it. "I can’t believe a just got tongue-tied in front of T’Pol. No, from talking to her." He whimpered and hit his head one last time before heading to Engineering.

**Engineering**

Today was the day Selack worked down in engineering and Trip was thankful for that. He was the only person, even if he was a Vulcan, Trip would feel at all comfortable talking about this with.

"Yea, uh, Selack, could you come and give me a hand with the energy conduit?" Trip asked from the shaft he was about to enter. Selack obediently walked over and crawled in.

"What appears to be the problem?" Selack asked the engineer.

"The problem is, I think I’m fallin’ for T’Pol." Trip said, but Selack couldn’t tell if he was upset with that or scared of it.

So he decided to find out his own way. "How does that have anything to do with the energy conduit?"

Trip sighed and rolled his eyes. "Nothin’. The conduits are fine, I just needed to talk t’ ya."

"Hmmm, I see. About, T’Pol, correct?" Selack said in a know-it-all manner.

"Yea. Before you came, I knew I considered her a respected colleague and maybe a friend. But once you said everything ‘bout how I liked her, I started to think about it and… then, some time on the planet, it just hit me… I… I like her as much more than a friend."

"I see. And that’s a problem?" Selack said, listening to everything, while trying not to get sick over the fact he was talking about his parents' romantic attachments; then there was the other fact, if this didn’t go right, he wouldn’t exist.

"Yes! No… I don’t know. I mean on one hand there’s regulations, but we are technically the same rank--and since she’s not Starfleet, it doesn’t really count. Then there’s also the fact she’s a Vulcan and I’m a human. It just doesn’t happen. And how do I know she even likes me? She probably thinks I’m an idiot, after the way I acted earlier." Trip said so fast Selack almost didn’t hear it all or wasn’t able to comprehend fast enough before he started talking about something else.

But he knew enough to get the main idea. "Have you ever asked her?"

"What?"

"You said the regulations could not hold you to anything because of your ranks. But you did say that you don’t know if she likes you or not. Try asking her." Selack recommended.

Trip sighed. "How can I do that if I keep getting tongue-tied around her?"

"Calm down and just ask her. Say what comes to mind, not something you’ve rehearsed thousands of times." Selack advised him.

"Right. Just breathe and relax. I can do that." He inhaled deeply, nodded his appreciation, and went to get out of the shaft. But just before he hopped out, he called back. "I think I will, right after my shift."

Selack stayed there for a few minute, though. He considered what he had just done. They had said if he did anything himself that would change the timeline in a major way, they would allow him to redo it. But he was still here, so he was supposed to give his father advice as to ‘go out’ or not ‘go out’ with his mother? So was he supposed to help get them together as well as keep them safe? This was getting too confusing. Not to mention disgusting.

When Selack finally pulled himself out of the shaft, his shift was over, so he decided to go and eat something. On his way to the Mess Hall, he was stopped by a very perplexed looking T’Pol.

"Excuse me, Sub-Commander, is there anything I can do for you?" Selack asked, innocently.

"Yes. You have become a good friend of the Commander’s, correct?" T’Pol inquired.

"I would say so." Selack answered.

"Then perhaps you could help me with a problem. A half an hour ago, Commander Tucker came to speak with me."

"About?" Selack interrupted.

"Nothing of importance. But while there he seemed to stutter a lot. He almost seemed nervous about something. I was wondering if you knew what about?" T’Pol asked, perplexed.

"It is a natural human response. They tend to stutter or become nervous when around… someone, usually of the opposite sex, that they like or are attracted to." Selack said matter-of-factly, trying not to laugh at the look she almost made.

"Are you implying that the Commander has romantic feelings for me?" T’Pol asked.

‘When you put it that way, it makes me sick to my stomach,’ Selack thought, trying beyond words to keep from laughing or smiling. "Yes, I am." He looked at T’Pol and noticed she made the same look as Trip when he admitted to liking her. "Is that a problem?" He hoped not because he did not want to have to go through that discussion again; at least she wouldn’t be all emotional.

"I am not certain yet." She answered with a raised eyebrow and walked off.

Selack couldn’t decide whether it was appropriate to laugh or be sick. He looked around and made sure that the coast with clear before breaking out in a huge smile and laughed, silently, to himself.

**Captain’s Ready Room**

Though Selack was mentioned in some logs, Starfleet still had not been told of his presence on the ship. Nor was the Vulcan High Command. Archer had tried to contact Starfleet a few times since Selack’s arrival, but had not been able to reach them. And now, with the crisis over, it seemed like as good a time as any. He sat quietly in his ready room, debating over whether or not to do so.
Selack was a strange Vulcan but still needed to go home where he belonged. But there was something in his plea to stay that gave Archer the feeling that he had no home there. That he had nowhere to live, no one to live with, and nothing to live on. He also got the feeling he had something to do of the utmost importance.

But what? Sabotage? To protect them? Was he like Daniels, here to keep the timeline intact?

Then again, he could be a run away child who just doesn’t want to go to confront his parents.

But that feeling that he really doesn’t belong here or there, wouldn’t go away. Archer decided to wait and see. In a way, he felt he owed it to him for some reason.

Yes, he would wait. At the moment, Selack was working extremely hard to prove himself, and he was doing a great job. But that didn’t mean Archer would not keep an eye on him, or that he hadn’t from day one.

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So does it seem too outright, orbad, or does it work ok with you guys? I want to know, so please R/R.

And the Archer part was something Afia gave me the idea to do. Afia had asked why Archer just let him stay aboard and not contact Starfleet or Vulcan, so this kind of explains that a little and might even make the story a little more interesting. I did add a few line between Archer and Hoshi, basically saying to contact Starfleet and that she couldn’t reach them in chapter nine. But you don’t have to read it to understand what’s going on.
As for Afia’s comment on Selack telling Phlox his secret, which will be revealed later.

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Continue to Chapter 11

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