Return to Enterprise

Return to Enterprise

By Tracy-Anne

Rating: G
Disclaimer: These characters are the property of Paramount and I’m not making any money from using them. Although I’m trying to get over the disrespect Paramount paid to the fans!
Genre: Romance
Summary: After "Terra Prime." Trip and T’Pol head back to Enterprise after a week’s leave.

Archer stared out of the ready room window into the vastness of space. The stars were so familiar, very different from the strange stars that he had seen on Enterprise’s adventures in the last few years. Enterprise had been in dry dock for a week following the Terra Prime incident. There had been only minor repairs, so most of the crew had been able to take at least a few days shore leave. Archer sighed and tried to concentrate on the reports he had been writing. It was no use, each time he tried to focus, images from the memorial service floated before his eyes. The most vivid picture was the faces of his two best friends as they stood before the small, white coffin of Elizabeth Tucker.

They had stood together, close but not touching. T’Pol’s face had been an unmoving mask as she stood rigidly before the little open casket. Many in the crowd saw her as the typical emotionless Vulcan, but Archer and the others who had worked closely with her on Enterprise for all these years knew that she was desperately struggling to keep her control in such a public forum. Trip’s struggle was a lot more obvious to the untrained observer. His eyes were red and the expression of raw grief on his face caught at Archer’s throat even now. They both stood silent for the entire service and at the end moved forward for a final goodbye to the daughter they had known for such a short period of time. T’Pol had traced her fingers along the doll-like face and Trip had leaned in to kiss Elizabeth’s soft cheek. Archer had been seated in the front row and so had been struck by the look they had exchanged. The glance had held so much grief, such deep desolation but also a shared understanding that Archer had not known existed between the two people he cared for most.

The intercom sounded.

“Archer here.”

Ensign Sato’s voice came over the intercom, “The shuttle will be arriving in a few minutes sir.”

“Thank-you Hoshi I will meet them at the air lock.”

“Sir……….”

“Yes, Hoshi?”

“If you could let them know that …. I mean ….. I don’t know if you can say anything to help at a time like this but…. I think the whole crew would like the Commanders to know we are thinking of them.”

“I know Hoshi. I’ll let them know OK.”

“Thanks, Sir.”

The private waiting room of the space port was empty except for two people. It had been a complicated exercise getting into the building without being recognised. Interest in the circumstances surrounding the Terra Prime incident was still at a fever pitch. Various media outlets had been tipped off to their intention to depart for Enterprise today and were encamped outside the public entrance. The pair who waited quietly for Enterprise’s shuttlepod was glad for Starfleet Security’s help in arranging an unobtrusive departure from Earth.

T’Pol looked across at the young man in the seat opposite her. His eyes were closed and the lines of grief that had been on his face for the last week seemed to relax a little. T’Pol once again traced the outlines of his face remembering with wonder all the expressions that could be seen there often one after another. She recalled the time they had just spent together at his parents’ house. Days of shared grief, of talking quietly into the night about their beautiful daughter, of walking the paths of his youth, of lying in each other’s arms trying to draw and give comfort to ease the pain. She remembered the tenderness of his embrace and his concern for her even through his own sorrow. It had astounded her, the concern for her welfare she had felt through the bond. Such kindness and compassion she had feared would overwhelm her control, but instead he had been a lifeline helping her to regain the desperately sought for emotional stability that had deserted her with the death of Elizabeth.

As she regarded him while lost in these thoughts, the blue eyes opened; and she felt a shiver run up her back-bone. He loved her. Even through his grief she could feel the strength and depth of the emotion once so foreign to her. Now his love filled the empty spaces the Vulcan hadn’t known existed. It was a wondrous thing that this handsome human would love her. She still didn’t quite understand how it had happened but she couldn’t imagine going on without him.

“The cap’n will meet us at the airlock.”

“That would seem probable. It is his usual practice.”

“He will ask us how we are. What a’ we goin ta say?”

“The truth would be the logical response.”

“The truth….T’Pol how would you express the truth? How are we feeling?”

“That we have spent a great deal of time in the last few days attempting to come to terms with out grief, but that the process is not yet complete. I would also reassure him that together we will be able to work through this process without his need to ‘worry’ about how we are coping.”

A small frown appeared between Tucker’s eyebrows. “At the moment I don’t feel like I will ever be over this. Do you think you can just forget her like that?”

“Charles, you know that we will never forget her. She was our daughter and we ….. cared for her deeply. One day however, we will be able to look back at our time with Elizabeth with happiness, not the pain that we feel now.”

“I know………it just seems pretty impossible right now. I don’t want to forget anything about her. It seems wrong to be going back to Enterprise, to be going on with our lives without her.”

A spark of pain shot through T’Pol making her gasp. Trip also winced as he felt the sadness that his words had caused. He leaned forward with a contrite look on his face.

“I’m sorry, darl’n. I don’t know how I could have made it through the last week without you. Please forgive me.”

He moved even closer and held her eyes for a moment. His hand reached out and traced the side of her face. T’Pol held her breath, through the contact she felt even more strongly his regret for adding to her pain with his hasty words. She let him sense her forgiveness and understanding. He moved to kneel in front of her and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. T’Pol felt her pulse quicken and the waiting room seemed to disappear as he softly traced the outline of her lips with his mouth. The blond engineer leaned back slightly and looked into her eyes.

“Have I told ya lately that I love you?” he whispered.

T’Pol noticed a sudden constriction in her ability to breathe but managed to reply, “I believe you have mentioned it in the last few days a number of times.”

“Good, just mak’n sure I’ve made it clear.” His eyes twinkled as he leaned towards her intending to continue the exploration of her lips.

T’pol forestalled him, “We also need to explain our bonding to the Captain.”

Tucker scrunched up his face. “Do you really think he needs to know about that right now?”

T’Pol raised one eye brow, “Do you not want to tell your closest friend about us?”

Tucker spent the few minutes before their shuttlepod boarded trying to reassure his bond mate that he did indeed want to tell his friend and that there was no need to raise her eyebrow at him. This earned him another more pronounced look of displeasure. He was relieved when their security escort came to usher them onto the Enterprise shuttle.

Back on Enterprise

Archer waited impatiently at the airlock. He shifted from foot to foot and tried to stay calm. His two best friends had been through such a traumatic experience and he couldn’t think of anything to say that would be of any help. He wracked his brain but suitable words didn’t come. He was so worried about them both. Trip had not coped well with the death of his sister, and T’Pol had even more recently lost her mother. Archer remembered vividly the way T’Pol had held the dying T’les and brokenly whispered ‘Mother’ as she passed away. Would this new heartbreak be too much for them? Would Trip return to the bitter and vengeful man who had been in the Expanse? Would T’Pol retreat back to the cold and remote Vulcan who had looked on her crewmates with such distain?

Archer’s troubling thoughts were interrupted by the docking of the shuttlepod and the cycling of the airlock. The doors swished open and the two most important people in Jonathan Archer’s world came through to stand in front of him. Trip dropped his duffle bag on the floor and stepped froward to shake his friend’s hand.

“Hello Cap’n. Good to see ya’.” Trip shook Archer’s hand strongly as the captain looked into his face. He saw the lines of grief still about his friend’s mouth and felt a flare of alarm. Upon closer inspection Jonathan saw something else, a strength that he had not seen in his friend in a long time, a certainty that had been absent for too long.

“Good to see you too Trip …… and you too T’Pol.” The captain nervously surveyed his science officer. The anguish he had seen at the memorial service had been replaced with the calm and precise demeanour that he had come to know so well. Jonathan was relieved and yet somehow disappointed that she had recovered so quickly from such a deep loss.

“She is Vulcan after all,” Archer thought and turned to regard the young engineer preparing to ask after his friend’s welfare.

Before Archer could ask the question Trip moved closer to T’Pol and amazingly put his arm around her waist.

“Cap’n I know you are going to ask how we are. Well it has been pretty hard these last few days. T’Pol has helped me so much, but I think it will take a while yet.” Tucker looked at T’Pol with such a light in his eyes that the captain became concerned. What had happened to the cold and professional interaction Trip had assumed around the science officer in the last few months? Archer looked over at T’Pol in trepidation to see how the Vulcan would take such as emotional outburst.

What he saw was a big surprise. The cold Vulcan was regarding the blond engineer with such a glowing look she almost seemed to reach out to him with her eyes. What the heck was going on there? He was even more surprised when she glanced in Archer’s direction and said calmly, “I, too, thank you for your concern, Captain. Trip and I are making progress but we will need an extended time to fully work through the grieving process.” She paused and seemed to steel herself before continuing, “Captain, before we return to duty on Enterprise, I feel that Commander Tucker and I should make it clear to you that we are more than colleagues. We are bond mates. If you have some difficulty with that, we will need to find positions elsewhere.”

“Bond mates?” The Captain said weakly, wondering if he was having a hallucination as T’Pol leaned slightly into Tucker’s embrace.

Two pairs of eyes focused on the Captain as he tried to overcome his stupefaction.

“Ummm …. I don’t quite know what you mean.”

“It’s simple, Cap’n. I love her and she loves me. We want to be together. If ya’ don’t think ya’ will be comfortable to have a couple in the chain of command on Enterprise, we will understand.”

Trip waited expectantly and T’Pol waited patiently for the captain to respond. Jonathan struggled with his feelings of surprise and then alarm. A couple! Trip and T’Pol! A Vulcan and a Human! After all the Terra Prime nonsense of the last weeks and the strain that had put on Vulcan and Human relations, Archer didn’t know how to react to this new development. He looked at his friends and saw how right they looked together. Their recent loss was still obvious, but as they stood side by side Archer saw the strength they drew from each other. The Captain came to a decision.

“Ah … I think we need to discuss this a bit more, but I see no reason why knowledge of this need leave Enterprise. In fact I strongly advise your relationship should be very discreet. . But... I don’t think we could get along without you both. ”

Trip grasped his friend’s hand warmly; T’Pol merely nodded her head and said, “Thank-you, Captain Archer.”

“Right! Well! We have a briefing in one hour. I’ll see you both there. Commander Tucker, Sub-Commander T’Pol.”

“Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

“Yes Sir,” said the science officer evenly.

Captain Archer strode back down the corridor feeling a little like he had been through an emotional wringer. That had not turned out at all like he had expected. As he turned the corner he heard an exchange from behind him.

“Commander Tucker, I can carry my own bag!”

“I’m just being a gentleman, Sub-Commander!”

“Please refrain from being a gentleman while we are on duty.”

“Aww T’Pol I thought you liked me being a gentleman.”

“That may be so, but the Science Officer of the first Earth Warp 5 Starship does not need the Chief Engineer to carry her bag.”

“Oh!”

“If you like you can be a gentleman later when we are off duty.”

“How much of a gentleman, Sub-Commander?” Archer could hear the suggestion in Tucker’s voice.

“We will discuss this later!”

“Yes, ma'am!”

Archer grinned to himself as he strode back towards his ready room. It would be interesting to watch the first Vulcan/Human couple learn to live together. Boy would it ever be interesting.

-fin-

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A whole mess of folks have made comments

Hey, I am first!!!

This was so sweet. I especially liked the last part. Bickering with affection......yum.......

I'm second! That was sweet! You ended it realistically. Too bad TPTB are morons and couldn't add a scene like this. Now, how much is a gentleman is Trip off-duty? Hmmm....

That was really sweet. But T'Pol has been "Commander" T'Pol of StarFleet for about a year by the time Terra Prime occured.

Otherwise, nice story. :)

Great story. Very cute ending. Thanks for giving us something post Terra Prime. :)

I liked! Very very nice. The bickering I think shows John how much they've healed and that the love must have always been there.

Yes! This is perfect. We need more bickering in these T'n T stories. Lets get real! You hit a perfect balance. You conveyed their affection and it all seems natural.

And T'Pol's right: she doesn't need anyone carrying her bag!

VERY good job!

Excellent and it would have been very interesting seeing the first Human/Vulcan couple learning to live together. Pity the writers on Enterprise didn't think so.

Excellent and it would have been very interesting seeing the first Human/Vulcan couple learning to live together. Pity the writers on Enterprise didn't think so.

GREAT STORY PLEASE MORE

Awsome story! I have just one point for criticism - T'Pol was Commander in Starfleet in season4 not Sub-Commander.

Sorry about the Commander goof! Thanks for the feedback.

Hello! Very nice story. I liked the ending!
:)

Cute...Very nice. Loved the exchanges between the two. you've got their married life down cold.. T

Nice job. WOuld have loved to have seen this on the screen instead of that ... finale.

WOW! That was beautiful.
An Rigil's right that would of made such a better endin for Enterprise. Great job,,, sad an sweet an tender moments,, I love em. Keep up the good writin.

I've been internet deprived this weekend and am just getting to read this story. I think the idea of the two of them being drawn together instead of pushed apart by Elizabeth's death makes a great deal of sense. I would really like to read an account of their leave with the Tuckers and see them go through that process. This little story is sweet, but it feels like an epilogue. Do you think a prequel is possible?

It was cute, I liked it. And an original idea of how openly T'Pol would take to a relationship. She has, after all, "emotionally matured" after Season 3 and 4 and a few weeks with Tucker. I'd have to disagree though Distracted, I liked the "After-wards..." take on it, cuz there was SO MUCH "Liz"/"funeral" fiction for awhile there I got really tired of it.

This was good!

That was a very good story, well written and the end just suitable.. hihi.. keep on writing !

You're right, John. The funeral fiction got old. What I want to see is the interaction between the two of them and the Tuckers after the funeral... and the healing process that takes place. This is still a really good story... don't get me wrong. I'd just like to see them get here from there.

Cute! I really enjoyed that, thank you! More? :)

What a way to blindside the captain.. I totally loved his response .. umm, well, we need to keep that quiet ...that was GREAT! I started laughing at my desk which caused my cube-mate to think I was off my rocker! (Thank god my boss didn't hear me).

I'm so glad that you wrote this so the two of them stay together! TPTB should have thought about that before they wrote that crappy TNG holodeck episode. Even they were going to do whatever to kill the finale of the show, they could have at least let TnT be a couple after Elizabeth's death.

A little bickering is great for the soul.

Great Story!!!

This story has the feel of true emotion. You must not be unacquinted with grief yourself, as you write poignantly about it. I think, though, that Jon Archer would not have been that surprised about Trip and T'Pol's affection for each other. He knows them both well, as any captain should know his senior officers. Nice touch with the bickering between Trip and T'Pol at the end of the story. It is normal in a close relationship and placed at the end of your story is a sign that they are starting to recover from their grief.