Who Is the Fairest of Them All?

M/U Fic CHALLENGE

Who is the Fairest of Them All?

By Trippy

Disclaimer: I sure do wish I owned these characters…oh what fun I’d have—mu-ah-ah!
Rating: PG for some language, violence…all the fun M/U stuff.
Genre: M/U; Romance; Drama.
Summary: Unbeknownst to the NX-01 crew, what ever happens on their ship affects the 10-XN in a mirror universe; Trip and T’Pol are still workin’ on their relationship and dealing with public opinion on the NX-01.

A/N: It might help if you read my previous story, The Seduction of Trip, to understand where Trip and T’Pol’s relationship stands on the NX-01 part of this story, but it’s not necessary to enjoy the plot. No spoilers, but a few ideas from "In a Mirror, Darkly;" takes place after "Bound" (or in the mirror universe 'dnouB'). Sorry…I won’t do that all the way through the story…really I won’t.
Please no archiving.

Ring around the rosy
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down

******************************

Part 1

NX-01

Trip wondered, ‘If an engineer fell in engineering, would anybody hear?’ He extended his arm just a little more to reach the conduit just above and to the right of the warp core. It was 03:00 and there was only a skeleton crew in engineering. Trip had been puttering around engineering well past his shift end and into the night. The repairs were complete—Enterprise was practically humming from all the work he and his team and put into her since the Orion incident.

Trip didn’t, however, want to go back to his quarters and just sit there and be lonely—no T’Pol thoughts in his head even. T’Pol, along with Hoshi and Reed, were on an away mission to an M class planet they’d come upon several days ago. It was called Santos, according to Hoshi, who’d picked up the dialect easily. They’d made contact first…interested in a cultural exchange…Captain Archer had sent the away team down to meet the Santonians this morning.

Trip steadied himself to reach again and remembered their conversation this morning before she left. She’d been looking forward to the away mission—because of the moss.

“Moss?” Trip had asked, surprised at what T’Pol found exciting. He had still been lounging in her bed, watching her pack, feeling a pang of regret that he wasn’t going with her.

She had looked up into his eyes and said, “Have you ever known me to be anything else?”

Trip was close enough to the conduit now to open it up and take a look to see if he could transfer some of the operations from one conduit to another…save on parts that way. Trip looked down again to watch his footing as he pulled on the cover. It came open easily and he squinted—trying to get a closer look. Damn…he pushed himself back to a safe position and dug around in his pockets for his flashlight.

He found it and stuck it in his mouth and leaned over again, this time however, Trip lost his footing and began to fall. He grunted and quickly stuck out a leg to slow his descent, then threw out his arms to grab the ladder on the engine. Whew…he thought to himself…just about cracked my head that time. Trip climbed down the ladder to the next platform and put away his tools, then climbed down to the main floor. He admitted to himself that he was tired and head to his quarters…if not to sleep until T’Pol returned; maybe he could meditate and relax a little before he hurt himself.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

10-XN

Chief Engineer Tucker reached out to open the conduit’s cover and nearly lost his balance again. Damn Captain Archer! Why was he always demanding Tucker to meddle with the conduits—the engines were operating efficiently—what was his problem? Of course, Tucker wouldn’t challenge Archer—as the captain well knew. The last time Tucker had challenged Archer was at space dock…and in retaliation Archer had made Reed his first officer—snivelling Malcolm Reed, whose only claim to power depended on the size of phaser he was carrying. So Tucker was left to the engines…which he generally didn’t mind—until Archer came pokin’ around telling him to do this or that.

Tucker overreached again…and pulled the two conduits out that he was going to fuse together—to save parts as Archer had demanded. Tucker knew that Archer was under pressure too…a lot of it. Admiral Forrest was aboard again for his monthly inspection—and his inspections had been getting longer and longer in duration lately. Tucker didn’t mind…it kept Archer off his back for a while…and Forrest always brought his aide—the Vulcan T’Pol.

His mind wandered—now that was an asset…a woman like T’Pol. Tucker knew why Forrest kept on staff—for protection. The last time someone had attempted to take Forrest’s position, he’d set T’Pol on them. Trip shuddered—he’d seen pictures of the poor S.O.B. after she was done with him. Vulcans were famous for their proficiency with the knives they hid on their person as well as for their loyalty.

Tucker wanted her for other reasons too—she’d done ‘favours’ for him in exchange for information about Archer on several occasions. He looked down to a small space behind the warp engine—happened there twice in fact. He smiled to himself and reached up with his fusing tool in his hand to get back to work. Yes—a woman like T’Pol was definitely an asset—one that he coveted.

He brought out his welding tool and began his work. He reached out to grab the relays—then lost his balance and he quickly fell—his arms desperately pin-wheeling, trying to find purchase. Finding none, Tucker landed hard on his side on the floor beside the engine. He tried to shield his face, but he came down too hard and fast. Just before he lost consciousness, Tucker damned Archer once more.

******************************

X-01

Trip gasped and sat up abruptly in his bed. Woken from an unsettling thought—T’Pol was back from her away mission—and something was very wrong. He jumped out of bed and threw on his uniform, zipping it up as he tore out of his quarters headed for sickbay. He ran into the turbolift and punched the controls, taking a deep breath trying to settle the panicked feeling in the pit of his stomach and steady his shaking hands.

The turbolift stopped and Trip ran out down the corridor and directly into
Sickbay—and abruptly stopped. Phlox, awoken from his sleep cycle early, had a frown on his normally jovial face from his position beside the bio-bed where T’Pol lay—eyes closed and pale. Trip’s eyes widened as he looked at Phlox, barely registering that Captain Archer was standing beside him, looking equally concerned.

“What...happened?” Trip sputtered. He walked closer to T’Pol and looked down on her. Her hands were neatly folded across her chest. She looked…well if it weren’t for the bio-bed’s read out of her life signs, Trip would be inconsolable.

Archer answered Trip, his brow furrowed with worry, “T’Pol was collecting the moss, as ordered…” Archer stopped, cleared his throat to gather his thoughts, and tried to swallow his guilt.

Phlox continued, “From the information I was supplied, the moss of the Ryule tree was similar to an analgesic—in small doses it seems—which wasn’t in the information package. It is applied topically according to the Santionians, who’ve been in contact with us since the incident. T’Pol used her hands to collect the samples—in effect, she overdosed from exposure by touching the moss.”

Trip looked down, “She was supposed to be careful,” he said softly.

“Vulcans are so sensitive to touch…the exposure overloaded her synaptic functions,” Phlox continued, “I can’t wake her—she’s not responding to stimulants.”

Archer considered his friend, who was looking almost as pale as T’Pol, “How’d you get down here so fast? The away team only just returned; Phlox only just released Hoshi and Reed to quarters just a minute before you ran in.”

Trip didn’t know what to say, “I just knew T’Pol was in trouble…” He moved to touch T’Pol’s hand, “Phlox, if T’Pol was awake…you could treat her?”

“I’d be better able to assess her condition if I could communicate with her, yes,” Phlox replied to Trip’s inquiry, “Vulcans are well known for their ability for self-healing, but it would be better if she were conscious and able to meditate.”

“I think…” Trip hesitated slightly, pulling T’Pol’s hand up and clutching it to his chest, “I think I can help her wake up.”

Phlox looked at Trip with a suspicion of understanding, but Archer did not, “What? How can you help?” Archer was incredulous.

Trip straightened up his back and looked him in the eye, “Cap’n, T’Pol and I…we share a psychic bond…” He paused to let this information sink in.

Phlox nodded with understanding, “I thought as much…Captain, Commander Tucker may be able to help T’Pol.”

Archer was still dumbfounded, “Well I’m glad you understand Phlox…because I’m still confused. A psychic bond? You’re hardly a Vulcan Trip.”

“It’s…well it’s personal, Cap’n…it’s a mating bond,” Trip looked up to see both of Archer’s eyebrows go up in surprise. He continued, “T’Pol and I grew real close in the Expanse,” Archer flinched at this—bad memories— “ we bonded, without really knowing it until things got bad between us and I left for Columbia…we pieced it out by then…that’s why I was immune from the Orions.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know any of this Trip,” Archer looked sad, “I knew there was something between you two—but this—Trip, we used to talk.”

Trip moved closer to T’Pol and picked up her other hand, “It wasn’t just me I had to think about anymore Jon…I had T’Pol’s wishes for privacy to respect.”

Archer looked thoughtful while Phlox addressed Trip, “Do you really think you can reach T’Pol?’

Trip looked down at her, “I can usually hear her thoughts when I touch her…our bond has been strengthening since I came back…but I don’t hear her now.…” Trip sat on the side of the bio-bed. He placed her hands back across her chest, then took his own hand and placed it on her face, feeling her cheek in his hand. He placed his other hand on her forehead.

“T’Pol,” he said aloud. He moved his fingers lightly over her face and concentrated with every fibre of his being—he breathed deeply, like she’d taught him—and focused only on her.

*T’Pol?* He thought as hard as he could. *T’Pol! Hear me please…*

Trip felt the surrounding area of Sickbay waver and darken. He focused harder. *T’Pol! Come to me…please hear me!* Then it was dark. Trip looked around and saw T’Pol lying on the ground in the same position she’d been in in Sickbay. He knelt down to her.

“T’Pol…it’s me…wake up…wake up!” T’Pol stirred in this space with Trip holding her hand and slowly opened her eyes. “Trip?” She said quietly.

“T’Pol…oh T’Pol…you need to wake up!” He kissed her forehead, “You’re in Sickbay…I’m here with you, trying to reach your mind to tell you to wake up.”

“Sickbay?” T’Pol’s eyelids fluttered, “Trip?”

The darkness started to clear and Trip was aware of Sickbay again. He opened his eyes and was aware of Phlox and Archer looking concerned over at them. T’Pol opened her eyes and looked at Trip.

“Trip?” She said weakly.

“I’m here, T’Pol,” he said, holding her hand and releasing the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Thank you,” she smiled weakly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

10-XN

Tucker regained consciousness in Sickbay with the Doctor looking down on him with an expression close to glee.

“I had to set your left arm in two places!” Phlox reached for a hypospray, “and another dose of bone regeneration for your jaw!” He jabbed the hypospray against Tucker’s left jaw.

Tucker winced, “How’d I get here anyway?”

“Lieutenant Kelby brought you in…you’re fortunate to have a loyal staff.” Phlox inspected Tucker closely again, “Your arm should heal in a few days…your face however, might take a little longer!”

Tucker brought his good hand up to the side of his face and felt his misshapen jaw. Damn! It’s not like he spent all his time admiring his good looks, but this might put a crick in his plan to get closer to T’Pol

“You can leave Sickbay now, Commander,” Phlox ordered, “I have a lot of work to do with these samples from the surface.”

Just then Reed entered sickbay with a swagger, and sneered at Tucker before ignoring him. “Phlox, what have you found out about this…” he poked at the sample, “fungus? The captain wants results!”

“It is not a fungus, Commander Reed, it is a moss,” Phlox was irritated with Reed too. “And I’ll inform the Captain when my analysis is complete.”

Reed closed in on the Doctor, attempting intimidation, “I had to kill a few Santonians to get this sample…make it worth it!” Then Reed sneered again before turning and leaving sickbay.

Phlox looked down to his work again, before looking up again at Tucker, “I said leave!”
Tucker jumped gingerly down from the bio-bed and headed back to engineering, wondering exactly what the Captain and Reed were up to.

Tucker arrived in engineering to the stares of his crew…no one dared say anything to him though…and soon everyone was back to work. He went to his office to review his crew’s efficiency when his door chime chirped.

“Come in,” Tucker said tiredly…he knew who it would be…Kelby entered the office, smiling, “I just thought you’d like to thank me…for pulling you out of engineering…”

Tucker cut him off, “Yes, thanks, Lieutenant…so if you’ll excuse me I’ve got…”

Lieutenant Kelby interrupted, “Well, you could thank me with—a promotion!”

Tucker stood up, slowly, to his full height. He was irritated with the uptight, untalented junior officer. “You will not interrupt me, Lieutenant—not unless you plan on being an ensign again—understood?” Kelby looked suddenly sheepish. He’d made a mistake with a superior officer…and he would pay for that mistake if he didn’t make amends now.

“I…apologise, Sir…” Kelby stammered.

“Get to work…now! I was just doin’ crew reviews—I guess yours is done!” Trip growled as Kelby scrambled for the door and left.

Tucker shook his head. He’d have to thin out his crew some it seemed. He picked up the next padd to review, but his door chimed again, interrupting him.

Before he could open the door, the security code was activated and the doors opened to reveal T’Pol, dressed in her form fitting uniform as usual, but with a sly look in her eyes. She moved towards him like a cat. Tucker swallowed loudly, and stood up to meet her gaze.

T’Pol raised her hand to touch his damaged face, “I heard you had an accident,” she raised his chin, “it is a shame,” she practically purred.

“Uh…it’ll heal.” Damn! This woman made him feel like a raw cadet instead of the Chief Engineer on the flagship of the Terran Empire!

T’Pol’s touch travelled down from his jaw to inside his unbuttoned shirt collar and unfastened another button, “I have no doubt,” she looked up and lightly kissed his cheek.

Tucker’s body tightened with arousal—damn, damn, damn, he cursed to himself. She really did get to him too easily and he knew he should be on his guard…but damn!

T’Pol began to unzip his uniform, “have you heard anything suspicious regarding Archer or Reed? I am concerned,” she began to kiss his throat, his chest, “that they are plotting something significant.”

Tucker wrapped his good arm around her waist, “I wouldn’t put it past Reed…Archer hasn’t been forthcoming to me lately,” he pulled her closer, “I think he’s seen us together one too many times to trust me completely.” He looked down at her, focusing on her mouth and dropped a kiss on her lips that silenced them for almost a full minute. He broke away, panting.

“What…have you told…Forrest? Is he suspicious?” Tucker nipped at her ear while he whispered conspiratorially.

T’Pol moaned softly in his ear, “Nothing. My suspicions are my own, as are my actions with including you,” her tongue darted out against his ear, “in my observations.” She began to back him up against his desk.

He pulled her onto his lap, “Well, ya know I appreciate that,” Tucker whispered as he began to unzip her uniform.

T’Pol crushed herself against his chest, “It was a mistake for Archer to promote Reed instead of you,” she kissed him deeply, then continued, “and if Archer is plotting against Forrest, you could find yourself in demand for the Captain’s Chair!” T’Pol kissed him again and slipped out of her uniform top.

The offer of sex and power was almost too much for Tucker, and he felt heady as he looked down at his partially nude conspirator. This could get dangerous… but to hell with it!

Tucker and T’Pol were in a various state of undress when the comm sounded in his office.

“Archer to Commander Tucker.” Great timing you bastard, thought Tucker—he punched the comm, “Tucker here.”

“Report to Sickbay immediately—Archer out.”

Tucker groaned loudly and T’Pol climbed down off the engineer. “You might be able to find out what’s going on,” T’Pol said as she zipped up her uniform again, “but be careful not to let on what we suspect.” She had her hand on his bruised face again as Tucker was dressing himself, “Meet me in my quarters at 21:00 so that we may continue our discussion.” And with that she left his office abruptly.

Tucker was in a foul mood now. I’d just gotten kicked outta Sickbay, he thought to himself as he left his office and headed for the turbolift

*****************************

X-01

Trip held T’Pol’s elbow as she slowly made her way down the corridor to her quarters. They had passed a couple of crewmen on the way, and had received a strange stare from them. Trip had looked back at them sternly and the two had quickly looked away and continued down the corridor. I guess everyone knows about T’Pol and I now, Trip admitted to himself and looked to T’Pol to see if she’d seen the reaction or heard his musings. T’Pol looked too tired and weak to have sensed anything. Trip punched in the security code to her quarters and led her in.

“Here…sit down.” Trip helped T’Pol to sit on the edge of her bed.

“Thank you, Trip,” T’Pol replied, “I will recover more quickly here—I was unable to meditate properly in Sickbay.”

Trip ran his hand over her cheek, “I guess I should go and give you some peace and quiet.”

“No…Trip,” T’Pol touched his hand on her cheek, “stay…if you can.” She looked up to him, “I am still physically and mentally weaker than normal. I could use your strength to lean on.”

Trip smiled and knelt down if front of her, “of course I’ll stay—my shift doesn’t start for hours.”

“I am…pleased,” T’Pol brought his hand down from her cheek to her lap, “I admit…you surprised me at the level of mental control you had to reach me while I was unconscious.”

Trip’s thoughts darkened, “I guess I surprised myself. I was worried…no terrified—I couldn’t feel your presence at all in Sickbay…it…frightened me,” he admitted.

“Perhaps I am ‘rubbing off on you’ like the Captain accused me of getting your ‘bad habits’?” T’Pol offered him a weak turning up of her lips.

Trip lightly kissed her upturned lips, “Perhaps.” Trip tried desperately to raise his eyebrow and only succeeded in looking ridiculous enough to elicit another weak Vulcan grin.

Trip chuckled softly, “T’Pol, it does my heart good to hear ya teasin’ me again—I can’t tell ya what it did to me seeing you on that bio-bed,” Trip shuddered, “I need to tell you—in case anything ever happens to you or I…” Trip picked up her other hand and held them both, “just in case you don’t know…I love you—like I never thought I ever could have…”

T’Pol tipped her head closer to him, “I know Trip…I know.”

Trip pulled himself up closer to her, kissing her fully, but cautiously so as not to over exert T’Pol in her weakened state. She broke away first, and taking her hands from his, placed them on either side of Trip’s face and whispered in his ear, “and I you.”

Trip touched his forehead to hers and was content…as was she, but he could feel her exhaustion. He stood up and pulled her to him, “You need to meditate now, to get your strength back.” He brought her gently to her meditation pillow and lit the candle for her. “I’ll stay out of your mind so you can heal yourself—give me a chance to practice those shielding exercises again.” Trip sat down behind T’Pol and acted like a support for her back. T’Pol leaned into Trip’s chest, “Thank you,” and with that she closed her eyes and began her breathing exercises. Trip relaxed as he trained his mind elsewhere…and soon was close to dozing off, thinking to himself that he couldn’t be any happier.

Part II

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Have a comment to make about this story? Do so in the Trip Fan Fiction forum at the HoTBBS!

A whole mess of folks have made comments

Interesting the way you're developing this. Things are happening, but not exactly...for instance Trip almost fell in the RU, but did fall in the MU. Looking foward to the next installment.

very interesting, enjoyed the comparisons

Great Stuff. I am really curious to see where you are going with all this. The parallels and differences are very interesting.

Very intriguing *raises Vulcan-wanna-be eyebrow*

I can't wait for more... :-)

Thanks for the comments...hope to have Part Two up by Monday barring any surprises this weekend!

interesting beginning...seems truly like mirror universes...10-XN...clever!

I am enjoying this story very much but it seems the MU verse is very much darker. I just hope our heroes survive it! Ali D :~)

Yeah, this is enjoyable, please continue!

Sorry for the delay in updating...part two was half done when...well the first season dvd's were released...and...well...I got a little carried away watching them...

;)

Can't wait for the next part. I'm enjoying both stories, but will admit the MU side is my favorite. I love the line, "Tucker groaned loudly and T’Pol climbed down off the engineer." LOL! Oh yeah... good stuff!

Wow, this is a really interesting story! I very much like the two-stories-in-one approach, and your handling of the characters in both universes is excellent. So . . . when's the next chapter coming?

Nicely done. I loved the parallels between the two t/t's. One is of caring and the other is for secrets. Great differentiation of the characters. Love it. Please continue......T

Very unusally but VERY VERY GOOD!