The Dream
Note: This story takes place shortly after the end of Season 3
Prologue
Blinding light filled the stark white room. He looked around, no one was there. The nothingness went on forever, it seemed. He ran. He ran as fast as his weary legs would carry him. He went no were. He could do nothing.
Chapter 1
Trip shot out of bed, awaking from the worst dream of his life. There were no frightening aliens after him, not a single one. He did not walk around, wondering why the people were laughing only to discover that he had forgotten his pants when he left his quarters. He felt no pain. There were none of the bad memories of his childhood, the ones he never mentioned to anyone. The thing Trip feared was a constant in his life already. He was alone.
Though he was on a ship with another hundred or so of Starfleet's finest, he still felt it wherever he went. Sure, Trip had friends. Malcolm always sat with him at every meal (when neither of them were dining with the captain), and on occasion, went with him to movie night. The captain was there for him whenever Trip needed him, and they always made time to watch water polo and drink beer together. He was such a fine gentleman that most of the crew had some sort of affection for him. Physically, he wasn't alone, but emotionally, he was light-years away.
No one else on the crew had lost what he had in such a short amount of time. The Xindi had taken his home and his sister in one foul swoop. It had been months since it happened, and they had stopped the destruction of Earth, but Trip still couldn't move on. The façade he so carefully built around himself was beginning to crumble. His inner torment was spilling out into his life. He couldn't talk to anyone without becoming agitated. He couldn't see how everyone else moved on so quickly. They left him in the dust…the rubble of broken days past.
Trip got up and got ready for the day ahead. The impulse manifolds needed to be purged, he remembered. Oh, Joy, He thought, the impulse manifolds. How exciting. He also was to have breakfast with Cap'n Archer in ten minutes. He splashed water in his face and began to fix his hair. It was only when he leaned in to the mirror to flatten a few spikes that he noticed how tired he looked. Damn, Trip leaned in further; I've got circles under m'eyes and ev'rything. Trip turned away and went to put on his uniform. It was sure to be a long day.