Unfulfilled- Part Three

Unfulfilled

By Samantha Quinn

Part 3

Archer’s Point of View

Rating: Pg-13, Romance/Angst. Lots and lots of angst. **Future Fic.***
Codes: A/T and T/T. Although, I warn you-neither A/T fans nor T/T will like this story much. Although T/T-er’s will like it much more than A/T’ers, most likely.

A/N: Um. . . does anyone remember this story? Yes, I know it’s incredibly sad. Happily, however, it’s entirely A/U, as Archer seems to be the one who’s gone crazy this year, instead of Trip, as the original rumors implied. I’ve been working on Archer’s POV for some time, as it’s important for me to have the characterization right, even if I don’t like the character. However, since I generally don’t like the Captain, I was struggling to get inside his head. Happily, I recently saw Impulse, and I saw a human being I could empathize with.
A/N, II: To my fellow Tuckerites, the following description of Trip and his feelings for T’Pol is clearly skewed. That much should be obvious.

A Year Later. . .

~~~~~~~~~~

Starfleet Headquarters

The alien-he has an unpronounceable name to anyone but Hoshi and T’Pol-gives me a look of incredible disdain. “Admiral Archer?” he inquires.

“Yes,” I answer, trying desperately to hold onto my remaining shreds of dignity. “I’m Admiral Jonathan Archer.”

He gives me a look I wouldn’t give to my worst enemy. “What exactly is your Ambassadorial role?”

“I’m not an Ambassador,” I reply, trying hard not to grit my teeth.

“I see,” the little orange man answers. “What exactly do you do, Admiral?”

“I teach command tactics at Starfleet Academy,” I tell him.

He snorts, making his tiny nose shrink even smaller. “What do you know of Command tactics, Admiral?”

T’Pol, who has quietly been allowing the conversation to progress, steps in at that point. “Jonathan,” she says in a quiet voice. It’s her warning voice. The same one she uses with Koval.

“It’s alright, T’Pol,” I assure her. Besides, I’m not a child. She can’t *warn* me as though I am. To the alien in front of us, I answer. “I was Captain of the Enterprise from 2151 to 2156,” I inform the alien. I admit, I do say it with some degree of pride. After all, there’s only one Enterprise. And I was her Captain.

“Ah, yes,” the alien nods his head. “A ship your father helped design, is that correct?”

See? Even this obnoxious little man has clearly heard of my father’s ship. I can’t help but feel proud when I respond, “That’s right.”

To my surprise, the man laughs. “Then you are a sadder case than I previously believed. At first I believed you lived off your own past achievements. Instead, I discover you glean your glory from a dead man’s accomplishments!” With the end of his sentence, he begins to laugh nastily.

I can feel my hands began to clinch. I want nothing more than to slug the bastard. That should put him back into his place. T’Pol knows me well, and places a warning hand on my shoulder. It’s her equivalent of “don’t even think about it.” I don’t know why. I’ve never slugged an Ambassador. On the other hand. . . maybe it’s a good idea.

“G’To’Plk, Admiral Archer is my consort,” she says to the little orange man. “It would please me if you would treat him with the accompanying respect that he is due.”

Her consort. But of course. Ambassador T’Pol’s trophy husband.

The alien in front of us is immediately remorseful. “I humbly apologize, Ambassador T’Pol. I did not realize.”

T’Pol nods once. “There is no offense taken,” she replies.

I’m not allowed to disagree, of course.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*

I escape a lecture from T’Pol for my behavior only because we’re having dinner with the Trip and Natalie tonight. I suppose she’ll still reprimand me after we leave. I already know what she’ll say, because I’ve heard it many times before. She’ll tell me that the bondmate of a Federation Ambassador has certain expectations attached to him and that if I can’t uphold those obligations, then perhaps I shouldn’t attend the Federation events with her.

She’s right – I”ll acknowledge that much. But damn it, I did help save Earth from imminent destruction. Is it really that conceited of me to want some sort of acknowledgement for that?

Apparently, it is.

I love T’Pol, though, and I suppose that makes it all worth it. But when I look at other couples – Trip and Natalie, for example – I can’t help but wonder how different life would be if I had married a simple human woman. She wouldn’t be T’Pol, but on the other hand, our marriage wouldn’t have all the trappings that the one with T’Pol does, either.

And maybe my son and me would be able to have a conversation that could approach a normal one between father and son.

Maybe, if my son was human, he wouldn’t be so ashamed of me being his father.

T’Pol claims that I’m over-reacting. She doesn’t think Koval is ashamed of me. But the way he treats me is completely different from the way he treats his mother. Besides, Koval completely shuns most aspects of his humanity. If he wasn’t ashamed of his human father, would he do that? Nope.

It kills me, too. Dad and I were so close. Is it asking too much to want the same relationship with Koval as I had with my father?

“Father?” I have been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn’t heard anyone knock. Nonetheless, the tone of Koval’s voice leaves no doubt that he had knocked more than once.

“Hey, Kiddo,” I greet. “I’m almost ready. Just give me a couple minutes and I’ll be downstairs. Then we can all get ready to head over to Trip’s.”

Koval nods, but there is a pause in his demeanor. “Is there something else, Koval?”

“Yes, Father. I do not wish to attend the evening meal tonight,” my son answers.

This is certainly unexpected. Usually, going to see Trip and Charlie is the highlight of Koval’s week. Hoping to find a reason for this change in personality instead of having to chalk it up to another erratic Vulcan teenage mood swing, I ask, “Why not?”

“Does there need to be a particular reason?”

Defiant and stubborn. The child’s inherited the worst of his mother’s personality traits. “There needs to be a particular reason if you expect to be allowed to stay here when you were specifically invited to this dinner as much as we were.”

Koval sighs and appears to process that information. “Very well,” he concedes. “Recently, the atmosphere of the relationship between Charlie and myself has changed.”

“Why?”

“There exists now an additional variable.”

“Such as. . . ?”

Koval does a most un-Vulcan squirm. Clearly, whatever’s bugging him is something he sees as a human failure. Another reason to be ashamed of his heritage – and of me – no doubt.

“Koval, whatever it is, you can tell me. Believe it or not, I may actually be able to help. I was a teenager too, once.”

“That was a sufficient amount of time ago.”

“Well, yes it was. But even back in the dinosaur’s day, we had ‘variables.’ Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Charlie and I have developed a mutual attraction for the same specimen.”

“Are we talking about another person?”

“Yes.”

“Is he or she –"

“She,” Koval informs me. It is barely above a whisper, but it is there nonetheless.

I’m not going to mention any names, but the image of a certain Maggie Reed is very persistent. “Does she reciprocate? For either of you?”

“I believe she reciprocates my affection. However, Charlie has been reluctant to share his attraction.”

I pause long enough to scratch my chin and wonder if the beard I decided to grow was a wise decision. “Well, Koval, there’s simply no advice that I can give you. in this situation, you’ll just have to measure which is more important to you: your friendship with Charlie or your relationship with Maggie.” Oops. But Koval’s lack of a response proves my initial guess to be correct.

“I desire both their presences in my life.”

“Have you talked to Charlie about it?”

Koval shakes his head. “Talking was not required in order to spread tension amongst us.”

“Well, maybe you should give it a shot.”

“Did you and Trip discuss your mutual attraction towards mother?”

I can only stare at him in surprise. “What do you mean? What mutual attraction?”

Koval frequently resembles his mother much more than he does me. That annoying eyebrow lift only emphasizes his alienness. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure that’s why he does it so often. “Foosil has related that he overheard Dr. Phlox tell Feezel that while the three of you served together, both you and Trip had a mutual attraction to mother.”

“Foosil shouldn’t ease drop on his parents’ conversations.”

“Is it not true?”

“Promise you won’t tell any of this to Charlie?” At Koval’s nod, I continue, “Well, I’ll admit for a while that Trip definitely showed some attraction towards your mother.”

“Were you affected by jealousy?”

“Nah. I might have been if I thought his feelings had been something stronger than sexual attraction.”

The brows furrow together and if he didn’t look so serious, I would take the opportunity to tell him just how human he looks. “Why should that variable have made a difference in your handling of the situation?”

“Well, because, to be blunt, Trip was only interested in T’Pol for the same reason he’s interested in all women. All he wanted from her was the warmth of her touch, the thrill of a one or two night stand. He wasn’t ever after anything serious.”

“That does not sound much like the Trip I have had association with,” Koval protests. I consider telling him the very fact that Charlie was conceived after such a one-night stand. Turns out I don’t have to remind him.

“Charlie was conceived through such means,” my son points out, “Yet I have always assumed that was due to Trip’s overwhelming grief because of the Xindi attack.”

Shrugging, I comment, “It was more common behavior than you might think back then. Why there was Ah’Len, Liana, some princess whose name I can never remember –"

“Trip maintains that he had sexual relations with the princess but not the other two,” Koval again protests. I fight back the urge to sigh. Sometimes I forget how close Trip is to my son. I can’t help but wonder if Koval would ever defend me in the same manner that he is defending Trip. Probably not.

“He was clearly drawn to them, Koval. Trust me, I was there. In any event, even if Trip had truly cared for T’Pol, there’s no way your mother would have returned the sentiment. There were times when I thought for certain she was ready to kill him and vice versa. They’re too different. Trip is very emotional; T’Pol strives for calm. Trip’s ready to charge into things; T’Pol wants to think before she leaps.”

The brows are still furrowed and I can tell he is lost deep in thought. I don’t say anything to interrupt. After all, this is one of the longest conversations I’ve had with my son since he became a teenager. It’s strange that it should be over something as silly as Trip’s fleeting infatuation with my wife.

“You and mother are very different,” Koval points out.

Well, that’s true enough. “Yes. And I don’t have to tell you how emotional I am. But Trip? Well, I love Trip like a brother, but sometimes he’s a complete nutcase – and it’s simply more than a Vulcan could handle.”

“Trip has always been able to curb his emotions when he is in my presence,” Koval points out. “In addition, I have never seen him and mother interact in such a manner as you describe their relationship to have been.”

That’s true, too. Since we’ve been married, Trip and T’Pol have been much more civil to each other. Of course, they talk a lot less too. Maybe their lack of communication has something to do with their decline in hostility.

“Koval, their relationship has changed. Getting older and getting married and settling down will affect someone that way. Trip’s gotten more serious, but so has your mother.”

“It is difficult to imagine a less serious version of mother.”

Yes, it is. But I remember it. It’s the same T’Pol that courted me, and seemed to have disappeared sometime after we were wed. I had contributed it to the pregnancy . . . but since it never came back, it seems I was wrong. “My point, Koval, is that Trip would always want a passion in all aspects of his life – including his marriage. There’s no way he could have had that with your mother, even if his feelings for her had been serious, which they weren’t.”

“I see. Your relationship with mother is not passionate?”

Ouch. Out of the mouth of babes. “Come on, kiddo, we have a dinner date.”

Koval looks at me questionably for a moment, no doubt wondering why I didn’t answer his question. Finally, he says, “Indeed. Perhaps afterwards, I shall initiate a conversation with Charlie after all. There appears to be much about human courtship and sexuality that refuses to follow logic.”
He’s got that one right. Logic and love don’t mix at all.

~~~

Continue to Part Four

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Four of you have made comments

Hehe. Now I want to hear Trip's side of this. Archer is so in the dark that it's sort of sad...

Er, I meant that I want to hear Koval's side of this. Already have Trip's.

I have a funny feeling that Koval's gonna blow everyone's pretenses to bits and pieces with his questions and logic. I'm eagerly anticipating a violent confrontation between Archer and T'Pol. I especially want to see him learn about pon farr, cuz what a punch to the gut that would be. Oh, the angst!

Oh My... Koval you are treading on tender ground.

Please do not make us wait so long. This is a very interesting take on things, i'd like more please.