Alternatives 9

Alternatives

By Samantha Quinn

Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Chapter 1

Chapter 9: Forging Ahead

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The furniture of the average starship quarters were, generally speaking, not overly concerned with comfort. Neither space nor practicality allowed for it. Which was part of the reason that the softness of the sofa cushion Trip was currently sitting on was so noticeable. In fact, it seemed awfully soft for a couch in a Vulcan home.

// “Trip, you do realize the impracticality of such a piece of furniture in a home with two small children?”

“It would be unhealthy to encourage such emotional attachment to a piece of furniture.”//

“Trip? Are you all right?” T’Pol’s hand lay confidently on Trip’s shoulder. The touch was soft enough to be hers, with just the right amount of confidence that Trip could almost believe they’d been married for a decade. It was, in short, the kind of touch that gave credence to the whole crazy scenario that everyone in this . . . reality insisted on telling.

“I’m fine, T’Pol.”

“You don’t appear fine,” she argued. The hand still rested on Trip’s shoulder, instead of being jerked away as though T’Pol had made some horrible type of mistake. That was. . . an unfamiliar, if welcome change of pace. It was clearly for this reason that Trip confessed, “I know it sounds crazy, but I’ve been having these. . . flashbacks ever since I arrived at this house.”

“Flashbacks?” T’Pol’s eyebrows rose, then lowered as she thought about what he was saying. “You are referring to memories.”

It wasn’t a question, which was both infuriating and fantastic. “No, they aren’t memories, T’Pol.”

“Mmmhmm.” T’Pol removed her hand from his shoulder in order to cross her arms in front of her. “If they are not memories, then how would you classify these ‘flashbacks’?”

“They’re . . .they’re flashbacks of events that haven’t ever happened.”

“How do you know they haven’t happened?”

“Because I don’t remember happening.”

“Except during your flashbacks.”

Trip propped his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. The imaginary version of T’Pol was just about perfect- from never having married Koss to the ease with which her disagreements came. Of course, Trip would have preferred her to not win them quite so easily, but if that were true, she wouldn’t be T’Pol, would she?

//But she isn’t T’Pol// Trip reminded himself stubbornly. He just needed to remember. . . .

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

**Vulcan***

As a child, T’Pol had relished the electrical storms that had swept across her planet. But as she and Arev hastily pulled Captain Archer into an abandoned cave, she had considerably less admiration for the destructive capabilities of said storms.

Arev was hurt and it was unlikely that she and Archer would. . .

The force of the headache that struck T’Pol was more intense than the ones that T’Pol had experienced on Enterprise. Its’ intensity forced her to take several steps backward, where she promptly sat down and attempted to force herself to gain control.

The Captain noticed her predicament and T’Pol hazily saw Archer step forward and call out to her. Though her vision continued to be blurry, T’Pol watched as debris from the storm burst through the small cave opining and knocked Archer unconscious.

Closing her eyes, T’Pol summoned the necessary techniques to relieve her pain. Though the techniques did work, T’Pol was briefly treated to a vision of Trip sitting on a sofa next to. . . another T’Pol?

When the vision had passed, T’Pol stood back up and went first to Captain Archer. Seeing that he was fine, T’Pol then moved to Arev.

“T’Pol,” he gasped. “It cannot end this way. For the good of Vulcan, it cannot.”

“What cannot be allowed to end this way?”

In response, Arev lifted his hands and grasped T’Pol’s head in a much more savage impersonation of the manner Tolaris had. This time, however, the sensations were much less pleasant and for the second time in the past twenty minutes, T’Pol experienced a blinding headache. This one, however did not include any visions of Trip.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

When Trip’s headache passed, the first sound that registered were the voices of two children arguing. “We can’t bother father, Lorian,” said a female voice.

“But what if what Uncle Malcolm said was true?” A male voice, as of yet unaffected by puberty, responded. “I wanna see if it’s true.”

When Trip opened his eyes, he didn’t see any children, but he did see the concerned glance of T’Pol. Not really knowing how to answer the questions Trip knew she would have, he asked quickly, “Do you hear that?”

T’Pol gave the tiniest of resigned sighs before squaring her shoulders and directing her voice to a point behind him. “You two may as well come out now. We’ve both been alerted to your presence.”

Two tiny, pointed-ear children made their way into the living room from behind the wall separating the kitchen and living room. The boy - Lorian - was taller and had hair that matched Trip’s own. The girl - Elizabeth - had her mother’s dark hair, combined with ringlets that reminded Trip of his own mother.

Elizabeth spoke first. “Hello, Father.” She spoke quietly, but clearly. Her tiny hands were reservedly folded behind her back.

“Hey, Dad,” Lorian agreed. His hands were shoved into his pockets. “Uncle Malcolm says you’re crazy. Are you?”

“Lorian!” Elizabeth and T’Pol chorused in equal Vulcan-like indignation.

“Well,” Lorian said defensively, “If Dad has gone crazy, like Uncle Malcolm claims, I think we need to know. It’s only logical.” As he said the last sentence, Lorian leaned in closer to his sister and wigged a nose identical to his paternal grandfather’s nose.

“It is as logical as the answers on your last science exam,” Elizabeth answered, “Which is to say, it is not logical at all.”

Lorian rolled his eyes. “Science is boring.”

“You’re going to need ‘boring’ science if you truly plan on becoming a starship captain one day,” T’Pol spoke up.

Lorian looked at his mother as though she might have gone as crazy as his Dad. “Mother,” he said, with a child’s put upon patience, “I’ll have a science officer and a chief engineer. What’ll I need to know any science for?”

T’Pol refrained from answering. Instead, she turned to Trip. “These are our children.”

“Lorian and Elizabeth,” he finished for her. At her questioning look, he added, “I looked it up in Starfleet’s database.”

Lorian and Elizabeth exchanged looks. “Yep,” Lorian said finally. “Uncle Malcolm was right. You owe me your next allowance, Lizzie.”

“My name is Elizabeth, not Lizzie, and your scientific proof is lacking. I’m not giving you my allowance.”

Lorian started to argue, but T’Pol cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Neither of you should have been gambling and therefore, neither of you are receiving an allowance this week. Moreover, your father isn’t crazy, Lorian. He simply has memory . . . problems. I would suggest you spend some time with your father in an attempt to refresh his memory.”
Trip wasn’t helping T’Pol’s claims of being sane, of course. He found himself essentially transfixed by the children in front of him, and nearly unable to speak. It wasn’t every day that a person was confronted by the living, breathing personification of every dream he’d never dared to have. It had happened once before, of course, but that Lorian’s age had softened the shock somewhat. These two. .. These were babies. Babies that he’d had with T’Pol.

So, no, Trip wasn’t feeling much like talking. Instead, he felt like soaking up as much of this surreal experience as possible. . . even though in the back of his mind, he knew there was something else that he was supposed to be doing.

“If we help Dad with the crazy, are we going to get our allowance back?” Lorian demanded.

“No,” T’Pol said in her very best “Commander of the Enterprise” voice, even if she hadn’t held that position in over a decade by this reality’s time line. For a moment, it didn’t look as though it would have any effect on Lorian. In the end, however, the boy’s Vulcan heritage kicked in and resurrected his common sense. Quietly, and without any further argument, Lorian reached for Trip’s hand. Elizabeth didn’t’ mimic the gesture, but she did look at him expectantly from beneath her neatly pinned back curls.

Part of Trip thought he should decline the invitation. There was. . . something he needed to figure out, even if he couldn’t remember what it was at the present. But the feel of that tiny hand in his, along with the sight of four tiny ears tilted in his direction was too much for Trip to resist. He stood up and followed his children out to the back yard. Well. . . they weren’t really his children. . . but he followed them anyway.

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Chapter 10

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

... You know, even though I love this story to death, it still confuses the HECK out of me! I'm probably going to have to reread the entire thing every time a new chapter is posted, just to attempt an understanding of what exactly is going on. However, AWESOME STUFF! We got to see the kids! I love it, they're perfect, and I can't wait for more (as usual)! :)

This is so sweet. Knowing it's not real is just killing me. It's just getting really interesting now that the real T'Pol is getting these headaches and flashes of Trip. Did you have to end it here? Sigh. : (

I think I'm going to cry. Trip, like us, knows it isn't real but we all want it to be. On the other hand it is really good and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Incredibly beautiful!

More please! I'm curious as to see how TnT are going to cope with it the moment Trip returns to "reality"...

Awww - people are still reading. I know my updates are sporadic so I kinda worry about people not wanting to keep up with it.

Windrider - I'm sorry it confuses you. I am planning one more "hey, let's explain what's going on" session when TnT are reunited. But if there's anything specific that confuses you, feel free to ask so I can make sure I clarify that specific point.

Distracted/Kathy- I'm glad you're both enjoying, despite the angst session. I kind of wanted this fic to be an ENT version of TNG's "The Inner Light," except without the random woman we didn't know - and that episode makes me feel both weepy and sappy.

KUgirl-let's just say T'Pol will be essential to Trip's return to reality.

I'm still reading, too...I keep telling myself I'll wait until it's finished and read it all at once, but then I peek and get drawn back in. Keep up the good work I'm interested in seeing how it all comes together :o)

What a sad little glimpse you've given us, Samantha. I really, really wish that this wasn't in the angst category 'cause I so don't want a sad ending.

Aw, the kids are so cute. I find myself almost hoping Trip doesn't come out of his coma!

Ahh, I think you tipped your hand with the "Inner Light" comment! I was frustrated not knowing what was going on, but now I feel like I have an anchor when reading this series.

Can't wait to see how this shakes out exactly.

Rigil- it's not that sad. Well, it might be. All I can really say at this point is that the ending will NOT lack hope or a TnT reunion.

valleygirl/DAK-I'm glad you're reading and enjoying as well.

Binah- Well, it's not exactly the "Inner Light," but close enough. And if anyone is confused, you probably should be for a little while longer - until TnT are reunited.

So you're not keeping your original ending? I remember reading about it at fanfiction when you decided to stop writing after that Abomination of a "finale" 'cause of your original plan...

Nope, the original plan got scrapped because of the Abomination (even if MY death for Trip was much better, darn it - and actually in character.) It's probably still angsty, but not tragically so.

Well, that makes me feel a little better. Now I can read the rest without that ominous feeling hanging about the neck...

Thanks for the info!

Please update soon, Samantha. You're killing me here with this cliffhanger...