Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to anything Star Trek. They are the property of CBS/Paramount. I am not making any money off of this. I am playing with the characters and their world for fun only. Thanks.
This is my second attempt at writing and posting fanfiction. This story will be a work in progress. It's kind of a sappy, fluffy romance story dealing with my favorite Star Trek captain and character, Captain Archer and a character of my design. It features a lot of Trip too. It's much more angsty than fluffy actually, but compared to my first story this one's not as complex or hardcore. I was inspired this holiday season by listening to the classic Christmas song "Let It Snow." There is something to be said for being able to snuggle up to a person you care for deeply, by a warm and cozy fire, while it's snowing outside. Another source of inspiration came from the listening to the song "Alone", from Celine Dion's new album Taking Chances. Other fanfiction authors SC Little and RadcliffePotter's writing also kind of inspired the creation of this story. Please read and review. Let me know if you think this story is any good. It's fun to write, but I want it to be fun to read too. Enjoy!
Oh, by the way, this story is set sometime after "Demons" and "Terra Prime", but before "These Are the Voyages". There are supposedly a few years between the last "real" episode and the series finale, so I'm using that time inbetween, when anything could happen. This is not supposed to be AU. It hopefully would be realistic enough to be set in the real Star Trek universe.
Chapter 1
The Message
Captain Jonathan Archer emerged from his shower feeling revitalized and refreshed. The muscles which had been tight and sore were now soothed and more relaxed. Every time he played basketball with his senior staff he swore it would be the last time. He tended to let his guard down and he became way too competitive. He usually ended up pushing himself way too hard physically as well. This last game had caused him to have to almost literally limp back to his quarters from the cargo bay that had been turned into a basketball court.
Now, as he sat comfortably at the head of his bed with his back resting against the bulkhead, he thought about the latest game. His mind reflected upon his and his senior staff's behavior. It had really been his own fault to allow his best friend and Chief Engineer, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III, to play on the opposite team as himself. Archer and Trip had been friends for over thirteen years now. They loved to compete with each other, off duty of course, and try and best one another at a variety of activities, especially sports.
This game Trip had been extremely aggressive in how he played, so Archer decided he needed to play that way too. They had fouled each other multiple times. The Captain had "accidentally" elbowed Trip in the right eye attempting to get around the chief engineer to get to the basketball. Trip had "accidentally" slammed the Captain to the ground as he rushed after the basketball another time. Needless to say, both men had bumps and bruises all over their bodies to show for it all.
Other members of the senior staff, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, Tactical Officer; Ensign Hoshi Sato, Communications Officer; and Ensign Travis Mayweather, Helmsman, had also become a little overzealous in how they had played the game. This had only added to the Captain's aches and pain. He shook his head and smiled thinly as he realized he had probably left his mark on them as well. Archer then smiled more fully and genuinely at the thought of how comfortable and friendly his senior staff were around each other when they weren't on duty. The bonds they all shared of respect and camaraderie warmed the Captain's heart. Even the Denobulan, Dr. Phlox, seemed to really enjoy his time around his human colleagues. T'Pol, his Vulcan Science Officer, had chosen to at least watch them play this time. She had yet to join them. Basketball was not her sport, apparently.
The Captain, dressed in gray sweat pants and a gray T-shirt, picked up his favorite item in his quarters, his bright yellow water polo ball. As he continued his musings about his crew, he threw the ball against the far bulkhead, opposite his bed, let it bounce off the wall, and then caught it as it came flying back to him. He repeated these actions several more times. While on duty, his senior staff and crew were all about professionalism.
All of them were experts in their fields; they performed outstandingly under all kinds of pressure and in all kinds of strange situations; and they worked well together as a team. Archer couldn't have been more proud of them if he tried. He trusted them and relied on them to complete their missions. They had not let him down to date and he knew they never would. They had become his family and he cared deeply for all of them. He took the time and effort to make sure he knew and recognized every crewman and officer that served with him. He didn't want to forget or neglect any of the valiant men and women who were under his charge.
The comm sounded, drawing the Captain out of his reverie. "Bridge to Captain Archer," Hoshi, the ship's genius communications officer, said through the speaker located to the right of the door coming into Archer's quarters.
"Archer here," the Captain replied after getting up off the bed, walking over to the speaker, and pressing down the comm button.
"Sir, you're receiving an urgent communiqué from Earth via Starfleet Command," Hoshi calmly informed him.
This caught Archer by surprise. He hadn't been expecting to be hearing from anyone at Starfleet Command or anyone from Earth for that matter. He and his crew were mapping and studying an uninhabited system full of varying sizes of gas giants. It was a simple and welcomed assignment, peaceful and quiet. He just knew it had been too good to last. The other shoe was about to drop and he and his crew would be pulled into yet other dire situation. He hoped this communiqué wasn't going to be something as horrible and devastating as the news of the Xindi attack on Earth a few years ago. He really hated bad news like that.
"Who's the message from, Hoshi?" Archer queried, almost afraid to ask the question. His stomach was starting to flutter and he felt his chest constrict, increasing his breathing.
As if Hoshi could sense her captain's unease, she tried to relieve it. "It's not actually from Starfleet Command, just relayed through them, so it could reach you." She then added, "It's from a Fergus Donnelly."
Fergus Donnelly? Now that was a name he hadn't heard in quite some time. He had been a good and close flight school buddy of Archer's. They had lost touch after his little sister, Mairead, had gotten married about six years ago. What would he want? Then it struck the Captain like a bolt of lightning. Something must have happened to Mairead. Archer had taken an instant liking to the woman who was ten years his junior. Through his friendship with Fergus he had grown close with her, even mentoring her through flight school, when Fergus couldn't. She was a beautiful, sunny blonde haired girl, with streaks of light brown running through her locks. She had lovely, stormy sea, gray-blue eyes. She was short and petite, but full of Irish determination, stubbornness, and fire.
Mairead Donnelly had been a stellar pilot, even more so than her older brother. She also had the makings of a talented officer in Starfleet, with the potential to one day rise to be a captain and then an admiral. Her leadership ability had floored Archer. People just seemed to gain confidence and strength around her. She inspired people to do their best and not give up. Then, during her last few months of flight training and instruction, she had suddenly and unpredictably decided to pull out of Starfleet and join up with the Military Assault Command Operations (MACOs). She had gone full military, holding nothing back.
Archer had called her Mai, pronounced like the month of May. It had just seemed to fit her bright and cheerful personality. It had shocked and hurt Archer deeply to have someone that had become his good friend and someone whom he had mentored so carefully, leave Starfleet so abruptly and go over to the Marine-like MACO service. The Captain felt his chest tighten further and a feeling of dread spread throughout his stomach and up into his throat. He felt fear, worry, and adrenaline shoot through his veins and his heart sped up. He was experiencing the kind of panic like someone who thinks they have lost their wallet with their ID, all their money, and their credit cards inside. It threatened to overwhelm him.
Oh God, please say something hadn't happened to Mai! Archer's mind cried. He had been as close to her as he had been to Trip in those pre-Enterprise days. In fact, Fergus had nicknamed the three of them, Trip, Archer, and Mai, the "Three Musketeers." Archer had really liked that analogy at the time. It was where he had gotten the inspiration for his beagle's name, Porthos. "Put it through to my quarters, Hoshi, quickly," he ordered, trying not to shout the words. No not Mai! Anybody but her! His mind screamed now.
"Yes, sir," Hoshi replied immediately. A few seconds later Archer's computer terminal in his quarters hummed to life as Hoshi complied with his order and sent him the message from Fergus Donnelly.
Archer's computer chimed when the message had downloaded to his terminal. "Thanks, Ensign," the Captain told her and then signed off. He reached for the terminal controls, hesitant in his actions. Did he really want to hear what Fergus was going to say? Did he want to hear that Mai was seriously injured or dead? He hadn't seen her in over five years, but that didn't mean that his feelings for her had diminished any. He had buried them, even denied them for a time, but they hadn't gone anywhere. She had been at Enterprise's launch, but they hadn't really talked, and they had spent little time in each other's presence.
Archer knew that fact had been his fault. He couldn't face her after she married Tom Branson. Mairead had started out as a friend's little sister, who then became like his student, then his own friend, and then what? The Captain had never admitted to anyone, not even Trip, that he had much deeper feelings for Mairead than those of mere friendship. He had fallen in love with her. He still loved her.
Mairead had never known how he truly felt about her. Archer had been too chicken to tell her. He told himself it was because he didn't want to ruin their friendship, or that it was against regulations for him to be in a romantic relationship with a subordinate. But the real reason he held back and never told her was because he was afraid that she did not feel the same way, that she viewed him as a friend, a mentor, another big brother, but nothing more. He had been scared to make an idiot out of himself and have her be uncomfortable around him if she knew how he really felt. He didn't want her to reject the friendship they did have because he wanted more than she could give him. Archer still carried the scars of asking someone he had given his heart and soul to, to marry him and then have her refuse and leave him. He didn't want that to happen with Mairead.
So he had refrained from telling her what was genuinely going on in his head and heart. If friendship was all he could have with her, he was going to at least have that. This philosophy worked well, until she met Tom Branson. That event had changed everything. Branson was why she had left Starfleet and join the MACO's. Branson was a MACO and looked down on Starfleet Officers. He was quite the arrogant bastard in Archer's opinion. Mairead had fallen head over heals for the dolt, and gave up all her original dreams to try and find a way to get him to notice her.
She totally changed overnight and had become someone else just to please Branson. That was what had taken Archer by complete surprise. Mai wasn't the kind of person who let others walk all over her or control her in any way. She didn't do things just to please other people. She did them because they were the right thing to do, or because she believed she needed to do them. She was extremely independent. It was so strange to see her allow someone like Tom Branson to run her life and make her into something she wasn't. Mairead went after him and eventually got the young man's attention. When she did, the poor boy hadn't stood a chance. Mai just had something special about her. By becoming a MACO she convinced Branson that she was something he just had to have. She played the warrior role exceptionally well too.
It took over a year, but Mairead persuaded Tom Branson to marry her and marry they did. Archer did not take any of it well. He pretended to though, and acted ever the gentlemen and ever the friend and confidante Mairead needed him to be. But inside the jealousy and longing just about undid him. Finally, after they got married and Archer received his promotion to captain, he let his contact with Mairead and Fergus gradually wither and die. He rationalized it by thinking that they all needed to go their separate ways and that Mairead would be off fighting battles and protecting people, so she wouldn't have time for him anyway. In a way, Archer created his own self-fulfilling prophecy - he lost his Mai.
The Captain hadn't liked Thomas Lewis Branson from the moment he met the young man. He would never say or hint at anything like that around Mai, but deep down inside he despised Tom. The young MACO was arrogant, selfish, boastful, dishonest, and thought way too much of himself. Tom was one of those people who knew he was good looking and knew how to use their looks to their advantage. He usually got whatever he wanted, including Mai. Branson had only become a MACO to keep himself out of trouble, and his family thought it would put some discipline in his life. He had not been a criminal, but he was damn close. It was either the military or ship him off world.
What Mai had seen in the little cretin, Archer couldn't fathom. But she did have the tendency to always see the good in everyone, so Tom must have had some redeeming qualities. Love was blind, the Captain had decided. It had been nothing short of a betrayal when Mai had left Starfleet just because of a fool like Thomas Branson. But Archer recognized that he was biased against the boy. Maybe the years in the military had changed the young man, made him more humble and more straitlaced. Tom had taken Mai away from him, but only because the Captain had been stupid enough to let him. Archer continually kicked himself for not acting on his feelings. It had cost him dearly and made him utterly miserable. He had learned long ago to hide it well, but it was true nonetheless.
Finally, the Captain hit the buttons on his terminal that would bring up Fergus' message. He took a deep, calming breath and braced himself for whatever the bad news was certainly going to be. Fergus had risen to the rank of Commander, but had chosen to work in Starfleet Administration as a bureaucrat. He worked closely with various Admirals and Commodores, along with their staffs, running the day-to-day operations of Starfleet Command. He was not the adventurer that his younger sister was. Mai's sense of wonder, daring, and exploration mirrored and almost surpassed Archer's own. Fergus had made the choice to work in an office where it was nice and safe, not out in space where danger could lurk around every corner. It was his loss, the Captain had concluded. But Fergus had proven to be exceptional at running a bureaucracy and getting people to get their jobs done.
The form of Commander Fergus Donnelly in a typical, navy blue, Starfleet uniform appeared on Archer's screen. Fergus had the three pips on his right shoulder, denoting his rank and the gold stripping of the command division of Starfleet. It matched the gold stripping on Archer's own uniform. His friend looked as somber as the Captain had ever seen him. Usually Fergus was jolly and full of life, as much as his little sister was, but not now. His blue eyes appeared bloodshot and slightly puffy. His short, closely cropped, blonde hair was a little messier than Archer remembered seeing it. This did not at all bode well.
Hitting play, the Captain waited to hear the horrible news about Mai. "Top 'o the mornin' to ya, Jonny," Fergus began the prerecorded message. The Donnellys were some of the only people Archer allowed to call him Jonny. Few received that permission. Trip wasn't one of them either. "I hope yer explorin' is goin' well," Fergus continued in his thick Irish accent. "I hate to take up yer time, but Mai literally begged me to send ya this message. She couldn'ta bring herself to do it. The situation is just too much for the young lass to bear right now. But she wanted ye to know." Archer hit pause at that point. Mai wasn't dead, nor was she hurt, well at least not physically. What had happened? Was it Tom?
The Captain resumed the playback again. "I guess I'll have ta come right out and say it," Fergus said and took a big gulp of air. "Tom's dead. He was killed in action five weeks ago." Archer stopped the recording again. It was Tom. He didn't know what to think or feel. So many emotions were running wild through his heart and mind; relief, joy, triumph, sadness, loss, and so on warred within him. He was ecstatic to learn that nothing was wrong with Mai. To lose her would have been a heavy blow. He was also happy that Tom was gone. It was a terrible thought, but he couldn't help it. The one obstacle in his path toward Mai was no longer there.
Then Archer realized how devastated Mai would be and that caused him to grieve too. Tom had seemed to make her happy, despite what the Captain thought about him. Mai's sense of loss would be tremendously and extremely painful. The first thought that rushed into his mind was to turn Enterprise around and go back to Earth. He wanted to be with her, comfort her. That was a totally ridiculous and illogical idea. T'Pol's Vulcan sense of logic and reason must be rubbing off on him for him to have that thought pop into his head. Archer knew he couldn't just drop everything and return to Earth just for Mai, but part of him longed to do just that. He needed to hear the rest of what Fergus had to say.
The Captain unpaused the message once again. "The funeral was four weeks ago. It was closed casket. There wasn't much left of the lad, I'm afraid. He was killed while protectin' some cargo haulers against an alien attack near Braelax II. Mai understood this mighta happen, Jonny, but the reality of it is so much harder to accept. She knows the risks of her and Tom's jobs, but to have death actually come a callin' is a wee bit harder to swallow." Fergus stopped and shook his head mournfully. Then he spoke again. "She isn't the same, Jonny me lad. Mai has become like a turtle, hidin' in her shell, emotionally I mean. The spring has gone out of her step and the light has faded out of her eyes. I don'ta know what to do fer her. I'm getting' really concerned about her. She doesn'ta look good."
Fergus then seemed to come closer to the camera he was sitting in front of. His voice took on a conspiratorial tone. He spoke more quietly, almost whispering. "You've gotta help me, Jonny. If anyone could pull her out of this funk, it would be ye lad. She still looks up to you. I know we have all grown apart the last few years with all our responsibilities takin' us in different directions, but Mai still always follows what you taught her. And she still always thinks, 'What would Jonny do in this situation?' Please me boy, you've gotta do somethin'."
The message paused once more as Archer had to stop it and take in what Fergus was trying to tell him. He wanted the Captain to do something to ease Mai's loss. What in the hell could he do way out here? For some irrational reason this request angered him. He wanted to help, but it just wasn't possible. Sending Mai a subspace message would probably do more harm than good at this point. Here was his chance to be there for her and he was failing her yet again. His fury rose. He smacked the pause back off this time.
"I know yer a long ways away, Jonny, but I had a completely ludicrous idea that just mighta solve the problem," Fergus explained. "Is there any way ya could request to have Mai's MACO unit transferred to Enterprise? I could pull a few strings on my end, but ya would have ta make the request through Starfleet yerself. I know this is askin' a lot lad, but I have no other choice. I can'ta stand by and watch me baby sister implode. Seein' ya again and havin' a new assignment, a new responsibility, mighta be just what she needs. Let me know whatcha think, Jonny. I will be anxiously awaitin' yer reply. Yer a good lad and I know ya'll do the right thing." The screen then went dark as Fergus' message ended.
Flabbergasted was the only word that could describe how Jonathan Archer felt. This was something so unexpected and so totally out of the blue that he couldn't think straight. He wasn't sure how to react or what to do. Here was what he had been dreaming of for years, to have Mai back in his life, by his side. He had wished for it more times than he could count. Guilt started to erode the giddiness he had begun to feel as he thought of seeing Mai again. He had also wished fervently for something to happen to Tom to allow Mai to be his instead. Again, Archer recognized how selfish and rotten these thoughts were. It wasn't like him. He wasn't normally this way, but jealousy was truly a green-eyed monster. It clouded a person's judgment.
The Captain didn't really want anything bad to happen to Tom, but he had wanted the young man out of his way. Now Tom was gone. The cocky bastard was out of the picture. It weighed heavily on Archer. He had wanted it so badly and now it had happened. He knew his yearning couldn't have caused Tom's death, but he felt horrible for the twisted and hollow thoughts about it. Archer deemed himself responsible for Tom's death and placed the blame on his own shoulders. He became totally disgusted with himself in the process.
The Captain now felt sick. His head was pounding and the room spun a little. His hands were tingling too. He was hyperventilating. Archer had some serious soul searching to do. He had to find a way to come to terms with all of this and sincerely do the right thing. He had to talk to someone, someone who was partially familiar with the situation. Trip's image instantly came to mind, but maybe he was too close. The commander had never known how the Captain had felt about Mai. What would Trip think of his best friend? What would Trip think about the secret desires of his heart; his real thoughts concerning what Mai meant to him; his real thoughts concerning Tom's demise? Archer hated himself for thinking such terrible thoughts and he was frightened Trip would too.
Phlox might be a better choice. He would be totally neutral on the subject, and the Denobulan doctor was a good listener. But he might be too far removed from the matter at hand. All of the other senior staff members seemed wrong for his needs too. Malcolm was too uptight, Hoshi was too innocent, and Travis was too young. T'Pol's logical and unemotional ear might be helpful, but then again she might be too unemotional. It had to be Trip. Trip would understand. Trip would know what to do. He would go and confide in Trip. That sounded good.
TBC
Let me know what the verdict is. Is it good, bad, or something else? Should I continue? Please leave a short or little review. You know I'd do it for you. LOL! Thanks.