Promise Me You'll Remember

Promise Me You’ll Remember

By Star Watcher

Rating PG
Disclaimer – I do not own any of these characters, they all belong to Paramount.
Summary – Just a short one, a missing scene from the episode E².
Genre – Au/Romance/Friendship/Drama
Spoilers: E²

Now that we're here,
It's so far away
All the struggle we thought was in vain
All the mistakes,
One life contained
They all finally start to go away.

“All the other women on Enterprise must have been taken, cos that’s the only way I’d wanna marry someone as stubborn as you!” Trip snapped, storming out on T’Pol, absolutely furious with her. He wanted to shake some sense into her; he had been talking with her about Lorian and their future, and she had reacted as though he had suggested taking a dip in the warp reactor! He didn’t understand it; Lorian was physical proof of their affection for each other, well, in one universe at least, why couldn’t she simply accept that they might possibly end up together? Trip snorted in derision. Right now that looked about as appealing as taking a stroll around the hull with no E-V suit.

Trip exhaled a deep breath once he was outside of the room and away from her. He really didn’t know why he bothered with her, not only as a potential love but also as a friend. Sure, she’s been wonderful with him after his sister had died, but was all the subsequent heartache really worth it? All he got from her now was cold stares or barely suppressed anger whenever he even walked into the same room as her. Any attempts to be more than ‘Commander Tucker’ or ‘Commander T’Pol’ weren’t simply shot down in flames; they were incinerated before they even got airborne. It was almost as if they had regressed three years to their initial frosty encounters, where they could barely look at each other without wanting to blow the other out the airlock. As time went on, he thought he had worn down her rough edges, then after that one neuropressure session, he felt like maybe, just maybe, things might develop along more romantic lines. That of course, had all come to a rather unceremonious end when she calmly announced that ‘they’ had simply been an ‘exploration’. He didn’t understand it. Damn! What he wouldn’t give to be able to get inside that Vulcan’s head and see what made her tick!

Then he remembered that there was another possibility. His thoughts strayed towards the other Enterprise, and to the other T’Pol. Who better to give him advice about said lady, than the lady herself?

Trip quickly dismissed that notion with a shake of his head. Such an idea was sheer lunacy; asking your wife from a parallel universe to give you advice about your love life, concerning her, but in a different universe. Great idea Tucker; of all your half-cocked ideas, that one’s probably gotta rank up there in the top five.

Trip wandered down to the mess hall, well, what was left of the mess hall; non-essential repairs weren’t exactly top on his list of priorities at that particular moment, not when things such as life support, weapons and shields were vying for both his attention and his limited resources. To his surprise, Trip found Archer in there. He sat eating emergency rations and drinking a cup of cold coffee. There was no one else around, and Trip walked over to join him.

“Trip! How’s it going?”

“Fine, Captain, well, aside from us almost getting’ blown to pieces.”

“You spoken with Lorian much?”

“Yeah, some.”

“Kinda weird talkin’ to kids you haven’t had yet, isn’t it?”

“Yes sir, it certainly is.”

“You should see their ship, Trip, I mean, it’s so different. Kids everywhere, so many new species; its strange being there.”

“I’ll bet.”

“You should see T’Pol, I mean, the other T’Pol. She’s so different too, much more human.”

“Really?”

“Yup, really.”

“She mention me?”

“Of course.”

Trip was expecting more than an ‘of course’, and the look on his face evidently said so.

“Trip, it’s not my business to pry, but there’s been something up with you and T’Pol for weeks now, if not longer. I’ve turned a blind eye to it before now, but under present circumstances, you know I can’t have my Chief Engineer and my First Officer ready to tear each other to pieces when they should be fixing the ship.”

“Captain! Mine and T’Pol’s conduct has never been more than professional.”

“On duty, Trip, that may well be the case.” There was obviously a ‘but’ coming, so Trip decided to pre-empt it.

“So you’re orderin’ me to sort out my off-duty time now sir? Thought that was prohibited by Starfleet.”

“Ok, Trip, tell me, if you were Captain, and your two most senior officers can’t bear to be in the same room as each other, never mind have a sensible conversation with each other--and we’re in a state of war--tell me, what would you do?”

Trip had no answer to that.

“You need to talk to T’Pol, Trip.”

“I’ve already told you-“

“And I don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry if I sound harsh, but I’m between a rock and a hard place here, Trip. I’ll be speaking to T’Pol about this as well, but if our T’Pol won’t talk to you, maybe their T’Pol will be more forthcoming.”

“You’re orderin’ me to talk to my future wife in an alternate universe, about her, 100 years in the past, about my relationship problems? I don’t understand!”

“No, I’d say you understood perfectly, Trip.” Archer grinned, taking a slurp of his cold coffee. Trip stalked out of the mess, headed for the other Enterprise.

In actual fact, Archer had given Trip the justification he needed to talk to the other T’Pol, but now he paced outside her door, unsure of how to broach the subject.

“Trip? Did Archer have to put you up to this again, or did you come of your own volition this time?” Came a voice from behind him, frail from extreme old age but still undeniably familiar. Trip turned around to come face to face with the alternative T’Pol; the old T’Pol. His heart began to pound, and the knots in his stomach twisted a little tighter. Between the two of them, they were gonna give him an ulcer the size of Enterprise. But, even though she was nearly 200 years old, she still looked the same; many more wrinkles and greying hair, which she wore slightly longer, but still her. The only discernable difference lay in her eyes. His T’Pol’s were hard and inscrutable. The eyes of this T’Pol shone like deep, liquid pools of emotion.

“T’Pol.” He said.

“Shall we go into my quarters?” She asked.

Trip took a seat in T’Pol’s quarters. They were not the ones she currently had, then his eyes fell upon a familiar object; his harmonica. This must have been their quarters. T’Pol, again, seemed to sense what he was thinking and responded, “We moved into these quarters the day we got married, Trip.” She said.

“How did you know what I was thinking?” He asked. She smiled. Trip didn’t think he had ever seen the other T’Pol crack even the beginnings of a smile. “We were married for almost twenty years. I knew everything about you.”

“Then you know why I’m here?” He said. She nodded. “You have reached a cross roads about the future of yours and T’Pol’s friendship.”

“She’s really pissed me off!”

“Yes, I remember the situation well.” She had the beginnings of a smile on her face.

“Look, T’Pol, I don’t know who else to turn to, and seein’ as you’re not only the only other resident Vulcan around here, but also happen to be her, only older, I want your advice.”

T’Pol sat down. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke. “Trip, T’Pol has a difficult path before her. Many of our options were closed when we became stranded in the past. I accepted I would take a mate from Enterprise's crew. You were the logical choice.”

“Logical?”

“Yes. We had been intimate before, and had engaged in neuropressure, which is an intimate act in itself. But I trusted you, and I, by this point, had come to feel for you something I had never experienced before. You were not only a choice of logic, but of love. You taught me to embrace the positive aspects of humanity.”

“Well, thanks, but how does that help me now?”

“T’Pol, at the moment, feels confused,” she began, casting her mind back to that day. She remembered it as if it had been her arguing with Trip instead of her alternate self. Bitter words had been said and hurtful looks exchanged. Then, as usual, one or other had stormed out; this particular time it had been Trip. T’Pol continued, “She doesn’t know that what she feels for you is love, rather than the result of recent, stressful events. She cares for you deeply, but she doesn’t know what she wants, either from you or herself.”

“What makes her change her mind?”

“Trip, you are asking me to tell you what occurs on my future; this choice may not transpire in this reality. Such an question in highly illogical, even for you.”

“Ok, well what made you change your mind, in your universe? Please?”

T’Pol sighed. “Very well. After we had been flung back in time, the stresses were evidently beginning to show on the crew. We resumed our neuropressure sessions.”

“That’s it? Just like that? A few pressure points and we’re back together?”

“Hardly. The first few sessions were . . . difficult. Our disagreements had become almost constant. You called them 'fighting.'" She smiled ruefully. “It got to one point where we did not remember what we were 'fighting' about; all that mattered was that we were trying to hurt each other. It was quite illogical. Then, one night, you said something to me, something particularly hurtful.”

“Sorry.”

“You should not apologise. With hindsight, I deserved it.”

“Go on.”

“I knew that you regretted the comment as soon as you had said it. You tried to apologise. I pushed you away. I began to cry. You were shocked; you had never seen me cry before. My control was erratic; I never seemed to allocate the time for sufficient mediation, and our stressful situation demanded meditation, or, at least, so I thought. You took me in your arms. It was better than any meditation I had ever experienced. We were intimate shortly afterwards, and remained romantically attached until your death.”

“Sorry for dyin’ on ya.”

“Lorian had never witnessed me weep until that day.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Trip please stop apologising.”

“I’m –“

“We made our choice, Trip. It was not always easy, but we loved each other. That was strong enough to overcome any difficulties we encountered.”

“Ya think my T’Pol feels the same?”

“Yes. I believe that she does not yet acknowledge it yet. It took me some time to accept that I had harboured feelings for you for a considerable period prior to our romantic attachment. I denied them.”

“Seems like we’ve both been doin’ a lot of that recently. I just don’t know if she’s worth stickin’ round for.”

T’Pol clutched his arm. “Do not give up, Trip, please. Our union, while short-lived, gave both of us great pleasure. I could not have imagined another life without you, nor could my Trip. If there is a chance that you and T’Pol can experience even half of that, then do not abandon it before it has even begun.”

Trip smiled at her. “Never heard T’Pol speak like that. Humanity suits you.”

“Nearly two centuries of living with humans alters ones perceptions, I have become far more accepting than I once was. It was my adoption of humanity, and your acceptance of my ‘Vulcanity’, I believe you called it, that allowed our relationship to last.”

“Some good ol’ fashioned compromise. T’Pol an' I don’t do much of that.”

“No, I remember.” T’Pol said.

“Maybe I should give it a try sometime.”

He noticed that the old woman was tiring, and stood up.

“I should go, T’Pol. You look tired, and I’ve kept you long enough.”

“Yes, I am tired. Thank you for coming to see me, Trip, I cannot tell you how much I have missed our conversations.” T’Pol stood as well.

Trip looked at the old woman before him, and suddenly realised how hard it must be for her to see him again. “I have missed you.” She whispered, gently reaching out a frail hand to stroke his face; he looked as she remembered him, not burned and bleeding from the accident that had claimed his life. “I did not believe I would ever have the opportunity to tell you in this life.”

His hand gently touched her greying hair. “It's strange,” he said, “I always thought that if T’Pol an' I ever made it this far, it’d be her holding a wrinkled me instead of the other way round. It’s . . . it’s nice to see what you’ll look like when you’re old, and I’m not around.” Suddenly, he felt oddly at ease, watching the frail woman before him. In another universe, she had been his wife who had loved him dearly, and he had loved her. It did not seem so hard to imagine with her standing before him. That she did still love him was evident. In this life, T’Pol represented the other side of the coin. She was distant, in possession of feelings she did not know existed or had refused to acknowledge. Two people who were the same person, both here, but both so far away from him. He shook his head; confused, but perhaps a little more prepared to compromise, if only she would do the same.

T’Pol said nothing. She was silent, simply watching him as he struggled to process the information she had given him. “I can’t imagine what this is like for you, T’Pol.” He said. “I mean, it can’t be easy seein’ me here.”

“It feels like you have never been away.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears at being able to see the one man she had ever loved back in their quarters again. A single tear spilled over and slipped down her cheek. She made no attempt to brush it away. Trip did the honours instead. He watched her struggle in vain to control her emotions, the mixture of shock and sheer joy of seeing him again, alive and healthy, shadowed by the fact that, while this was Trip, he was not her husband, and she would have to let him go again.

“Do you know what you said to me, before you died?” She said. Trip shook his head. She smiled again, prompting more tears, which she hastily brushed away with the back of her hand. “You said ‘promise me you’ll remember’.”

“Remember what?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“You knew our time together would be short, by Vulcan standards at least. You were afraid that I would forget you, given time.”

“And did you?”

She gave him a look that suddenly made her look like the T’Pol he knew and didn’t like too much at the moment. “Of course not. I told you that you were being illogical, that I would never forget you. And I never have. I wish I could tell you now, and show you everything that transpired between us.”

“Well why don’t you?”

“That would not be fair, to either you or to T’Pol.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes, but I will not. It would be giving you memories that are not yours. Good bye, Trip.” She said. He gently pulled her closer and then chastely kissed her. “For ol’ times’ sake.” He grinned, blushing. He watched her ears go a little green at the tips. “So that’s how Vulcan’s blush!” He laughed. He had seen this happen to T’Pol several times, usually after he had made some form of sexual innuendo. He thought she was simply being pissed off with him like always, but she was actually blushing!

“Well, I’d best get back. Got an Engineerin’ to fix.”

“I will not detain you any longer.”

“Goodbye, T’Pol, and thanks for listenin’. Take good care of Lorian.”

“I will do so. Goodbye Trip.”

With that, he was gone, back to his own ship, and his own version of T’Pol, and she was left alone, with her memories.

FINIS

The lyrics at the beginning are from the Staind song ‘So Far Away’ – great song, very sad!

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Brilliant.

Neat story but two minor nitpicks. At the time of E2, T'Pol does not have a rank. She has resigned from the VHC, so she isn't Sub-commander nor has she been given a commission yet from Starfleet, so she isn't Commander. Also the E2 T'Pol made it clear to Archer she did not wish to see Trip. I just can't believe Archer would totally disregard her wish.

Great story, interesting conversation between Trip and old-T'Pol... I'm trying to imagine how Jolene played the old T'Pol and how good she did...and how good your characterization of her is!

It's AU...maybe in this reality/timeline/whatever, she didn't mention any such thing to Archer?

Wonderful. I had always hoped that Trip & T'Pold would meet on the show, but alas the writers left it to our imaginations.

Great story.

Very very nice! :)

gr8 story very nice!!!

great, almost cried !

I liked the writing in this story much better than in the Christmas story. The part where old T'Pol says she did not believe she would ever have the opportunity to tell him how she felt was just great. And the heartache when she knew she would have to let him go...again, was, well, heartbreaking! You are on a role - keep writing!