Author's Note: This is my first Enterprise ff. I've written for X-Files, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones before so it's not my first ff. I am intrigued by the Trip/T'Pol relationship and wanted to explore that a bit more. This fic will have a few chapters and is set sure E2 when the other Enterprise encounters the current Enterprise. Please review!
Ritual
Lorian could feel his father's approach even before the doors opened to the mess hall. Apparently the bond between parent and child surpassed even time and death.
The door opened and his father, a tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed man walked into the mess hall and headed straight for the food. He'd been working non-stop since Lorian's Enterprise had docked with them and, knowing how engrossed his father got in his work, had probably skipped some meals.
"Lorian!" Trip Tucker called to his son in his southern drawl. "Can I sit with you?"
"Please," Lorian said as he nodded to the chair next to him.
Trip Tucker sat heavily in the chair, his body finally relaxing for the first time in hours.
"You need to rest," Lorian said as he eyed his father starting to devour the meatloaf before him. His father had eaten meat a few meals a week after he'd married his mother, but mostly adhered to a vegetarian diet for the remainder of his life.
"I'll rest once I get the warp coil online and not glitching," Trip said between mouthfuls as he looked toward his son. His son, what an odd thing to say.
"Your team will be able to function without you for a few hours," Lorian said clearly.
"Now you sound like T'Pol when you talk like that," Trip chuckled.
"Mother did remind you regularly about the need for sleep," Lorian said as he lifted a forkful of salad to his mouth.
A silence fell over the pair as Lorian felt, more than saw, his father struggling with something.
"I know you said you'd prefer if we didn't talk about the future," Trip started as he eyed his son with a sideways glance. "But could we talk about some of the minutia that won't have greater ramifications?"
"Minutia?" Lorian queried.
"The little things about our life together," Trip clarified. "Things that won't have any sort of impact on the future."
Lorian sat quietly, thinking about the request. It was illogical to discuss anything from the future, but he'd already divulged that his father died when he was fourteen…
"You can choose the topics," Trip offered, to sweeten the deal.
Lorian looked at his father clearing his plate of all remnants of food; somethings never change.
"When I was growing up, I was permitted to eat meat once a week," Lorian said with a smirk. "I still do to this day."
"Meat, huh?" Trip smiled. "T'Pol agreed to that?"
"It was a…compromise," Lorian said. "One of many in your marriage of different cultures."
"I'd like to know how I got her to compromise on anything," Trip mumbled under his breath.
"Mother was much more open to human rituals than she is now," Lorian said. "I ate ribs with you once a week while we watched waterpolo with Captain Archer."
"Just ribs?" Trip asked, intrigued.
"Mostly," Lorian chuckled. "Sometimes pizza, or chicken wings. A few times prime rib."
"So some meat, but limited meat?"
"You explained to mother that it was part of male bonding," Lorian said seriously. "And she wanted me to not miss out on that important human ritual."
"I see," Trip nodded as he chuckled.
"You find that funny?" Lorian asked, inquisitive.
"Male bonding isn't exactly a human ritual," Trip smirked. "But I guess I really just wanted to do that with my son and telling your mother it was a ritual stopped any arguments."
"Intriguing," Lorian said; for a moment he sounded just like T'Pol.
"So we did this until I…?" Trip asked, not wanting to push Lorian into a discussion of his death.
"For as long as I can remember," Lorian said. "Mother said you even brought me as a baby so she could have some time to herself. I have a picture of you carrying me as an infant in a sack like structure against your chest."
Trip chuckled at the image of himself walking down the halls with Lorian as a baby in a snuggly. The people that would look at him strangely… but with Enterprise being an inter-generational ship maybe it wasn't so peculiar.
"Thank you for sharing that Lorian," Trip said as he reached over and touched his son's wrist.
Lorian smiled softly at his dad; it was nice talking to him again.
Hours later, Trip Tucker encountered T'Pol coming from sick bay.
"You okay?" He asked, concerned when he saw her pale complexion.
"Just a headache," T'Pol said softly as she looked around to make sure no one was listening.
"Neuro-pressure tonight?" Trip asked.
"As I said before…" T'Pol started.
"You mean before we met up with Enterprise and our son?" Trip asked, some edge to her voice.
"Just because he's our son in that timeline, doesn't mean you and I…"
"I'm suggesting neuropressure T'Pol, not a roll in the hay," Trip snapped. "You're getting headaches because of the stress of the situation and I thought I could help."
"Oh," T'Pol said as she stopped walking.
Trip had continued to walk and then stopped when he noticed she wasn't beside him anymore.
"T'Pol?" He asked as he walked back to her concerned.
"It's not just that," T'Pol said softly as her eyes darted around to see if anyone was near.
"What else is it?" Trip asked, his eyebrows knitting together.
"I sense…myself as well," T'Pol explained. "I'm still alive and on the other Enterprise."
"What?!" Trip asked astounded.
"Her thoughts are mingling with mine and…"
"You can access the other T'Pol's memories?"
"Vaguely," T'Pol explained. "She's blocking and I'm not searching, but our proximity…"
"T'Pol, does the Capt'n know?"
"He told me he's met with her," T'Pol said. "But I knew she was onboard as soon as they docked."
"And you haven't bothered to tell me?" Trip asked, a little hurt.
"Why would her being alive have anything to do with you?"
"Because I was her husband!" Trip said with a raised voice.
"She's almost 200 years old," T'Pol said tersely. "And she doesn't want to see you."
"What?" Trip asked, slightly hurt.
"She's…" T'Pol searched for the words. Prideful? Embarrassed? Scared? "She wants you to remember her as she was…as I am…not the old woman she's become."
Trip placed his hands on his hips and looked down at the floor, gathering his thoughts. T'Pol waited patiently for what she expected to be the next explosion of emotion.
"21:00," Trip said more than asked as he failed to meet her eyes. "Light your candles."
He turned on his heel and walked away from her, not looking back.
Renos
"So, most everyone had kids," Trip said as he laid under a conduit panel and adjusted the flow of energy. "With quarters being so tight, I'd love to know how we managed that."
Lorian looked down at his father's splayed legs and closed his eyes. He remembered exactly how tight those quarters were growing up.
"You renovated the cabins to suit families," Lorian said as he tested his father's conduits. "From the hallway, Enterprise looks the same as this one. But the cabins are quite different."
"Can you tell me how different or…?"
Lorian thought for a moment and decided that renovation crew quarters was not a secret that would alter the future.
"When a couple married, or decided to co-habit and become a family, they moved into one cabin, freeing up other cabins," Lorian said. "Then, as people had children they were moved to quarters next to empty cabins so we could retro-fit a door between the two quarters."
"Smart," Trip commented. "Like joined cabins."
"It was your idea," Lorian said as he took out a tool to adjust the flow of electricity. "And it was the easiest way to manage growing families."
"So the kids were housed on bunkbeds in the second cabin," Trip surmised.
"Washrooms were retrofitted with a second door so it could be accessed from both cabins and…"
Lorian went quiet suddenly and Trip waited for him to continue for half a minute.
"And?" Trip asked, wondering why the conversation stopped.
"You made some other modifications that suited the needs of families living in close quarters," Lorian said absently.
Trip slid out from under the conduit panel and looked at his son, confused.
"And these modifications are something you can't speak about because of the future?" Trip asked, intrigued.
Lorian met his eyes and then quickly looked away; he felt like a silly ten year old again.
"I just didn't want to embarrass either of us," Lorian said as he swallowed hard.
"Something I did that didn't work? " Trip asked confused.
Lorian decided that he shouldn't let his human embarrassment get in the way; he was also Vulcan and should not be embarrassed by a natural part of life.
"Sound-proof walls and sensors on the joining door to warn parents of a child's entry," Lorian said clearly.
"Why would…?" Trip asked, confused by the information Lorian had shared. First of all, he wasn't sure why sensors were needed or…
"I walked in on you and mother mating when I was ten," Lorian said clearly.
Then, Trip's face went as red as a tomato and he wished he was still under the conduit panel instead of looking at his son as those words were spoken.
"Oh," was all he could garble out as a knot formed in his throat.
"Mother explained that it's what couples naturally do and invited me to ask questions," Lorian said.
"Right when you caught us?" Trip asked, aghast.
"You were not pleased with the timing then either and…" Lorian started.
"I can imagine I wasn't," Trip said as he wiped a hand across his now sweating brow. Talking about his sex life with his son, who as older than him, was something he was having trouble wrapping his head around.
"Once you and mother dressed, she walked me through mating and procreation with diagrams and visuals," Lorian explained.
"Visuals?" Trip cringed.
"The Enterprise database is quite thorough," Lorian explained.
"I imagine it is," Trip sighed as he sat upright and took a deep breath. "Lorian, I'm sorry you…"
"It's fine dad," Lorian said honestly. "Because the next week you installed sensors on the door and sound-proofed the walls to a higher LQ factor. It served me well."
"Well," Trip sighed, "I'm glad something good came out of that situation. But, not child needs that sort of memory."
"Actually," Lorian said nostalgically. "After you were gone, surprisingly, it reminded me how much you and mother loved each other."
Trip didn't want to tell his son that remembering walking in on his parents having sex was a little twisted, so he just smiled at Lorian.
At 21:00 hours Trip hit the comm button on T'Pol's door.
"Come in," T'Pol called from inside.
When he walked in the candles were lit and she was in her meditation position. He was glad they weren't going to argue about the necessity of neuropressure tonight.
He knelt down across from her and waited for her to finish. Several minutes later, she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Ready?" She asked.
Trip nodded and worked with her through several postures silently as he watched her carefully guarded Vulcan control start to release.
An hour later they had not spoken a word to each other. The silence in the room was comforting and peaceful and Trip could tell T'Pol was now headache-free.
"Thank you," T'Pol said softly as he released her neural nodes just bellow her arm pits. He was straddling her and focussing on his own breathing as he placed pressure on her nodes.
"No problem," he smiled down at her. Just as he was starting to lift his left leg up to get off of her she placed a hand on his leg and held him in place.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about T'Pol," she said softly as she met his eyes.
He looked down at her expression and saw deep remorse.
"I know," he said softly.
"It's difficult with you," T'Pol said softly.
Trip looked at her confused.
"She has these intense feelings that I can sense, even with her blocking and…"
"Intense feelings about what? Not seeing me?" Trip asked confused.
"Intense feelings about you," T'Pol said as she met his eyes.
"Oh and they are bothering you," Trip said as he placed one hand by her shoulder and pulled his body off of hers.
"They are," T'Pol admitted.
"Well, I'm sorry if her feelings for me are making your dislike of me so uncomfortable," Trip said with some venom.
"I don't dislike you," T'Pol clarified.
"You don't do you?" Trip laughed as he rose to his feet and looked for his shoes.
"Trip…" T'Pol said as she sat up.
"Same time tomorrow for your headaches?" Trip asked all-business as he shoved his feet into his shoes.
"I'm having trouble discerning her feelings about you from my own," T'Pol reluctantly admitted.
"What?" Trip asked confused. "T'Pol, I don't know what…"
His question was cut short by her walking two paces towards him and kissing him soundly on the lips. He, first taken aback, didn't know how to respond and, just as his arms were coming around her frame and he started to kiss back, she broke the connection.
"T'Pol?" Trip asked.
"I knew I was attracted to you," T'Pol said as she met his eyes. "But I had convinced myself it was just physical until…"
"Until the other T'Pol showed you otherwise," Trip nodded, everything now finally falling into place.
"I just can't be sure that these are my feelings, or the feelings that I am getting as a projection from her," T'Pol said. "Until they are gone from our proximity, I won't know."
Trip scrubbed his hand across his lips still feeling the sting of her kiss on them.
"Did you have feelings for me beyond physical attraction before Enterprise joined us?" He asked, not sure he really wanted her answer.
T'Pol took a long time to answer and he could tell she was searching her memory.
"Possibly," T'Pol finally said.
"It's kind of a 'yes' or a 'no' question, T'Pol," Trip said as he watched her eyes betray her fear.
"You fail to understand," T'Pol said as she took a step away from him and turned to look out her window.
"I seem to fail to understand many things about you," Trip said exasperated.
"Vulcan's don't develop feelings for others," T'Pol explained. "Even one's mate is not necessarily someone whom you love or are attracted to."
"Sounds like marital bliss," Trip chuckled.
"But that is why I say possibly," T'Pol said as she wrapped her arms tightly around her frame. "I don't know 'yes' or 'no' because romance is not part of our culture, our language. I don't know is the best I can say."
Trip sighed behind her. He could feel the waves of uncertainty flowing off her body. He walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her own and hugged her tight against him before he kissed the top of her head. They stood like that for a long time, before he silently took his leave.
Reprimand
Lorian watched his father tear into the engineer who failed to properly close a valve. A mistake that sent a fellow crewman to the infirmary.
"I want to see my face in that reactor core once you are done scrubbing it!" Trip Tucker barked at the frightened crewman. "Dismissed!"
Lorian watched his father grind his teeth and march back toward his office where Lorian was sitting with him going over specs before the medical alert occurred. He knew that look on his father's face, and it meant trouble.
"Imbecile," Trip said under his breath as he walked into his office and slammed his hand down on his desk. The fact that Lorian had not upset his father didn't make him jump and less.
Trip noticed Lorian's reaction and immediately softened. "I'm sorry about that."
"You were always very passionate about your engines," Lorian said with a nod.
"Did their responsibility in engineering get any better?" Trip asked.
"A little," Lorian surmised.
"Well, at least that's something," Trip sighed. "Now where were we with those…Gates!"
Lorian jumped at his father's outburst and gripped the arms of his chair.
Trip noticed the reaction and his heart fell.
"Gates, make sure you run an diagnostic first," Trip said, suddenly more aware of his emotions and how they were affecting Lorian. "Lorian…"
"I'm fine," Lorian said as he looked carefully at his Padd.
"Lorian, I didn't ever hit you or…?"
"No, you never raised a hand to me, but I think you wanted to a few times," Lorian said softly.
"I'm sorry for that," Trip apologized honestly.
"No, I was a handful when I became a teenager," Lorian admitted. "You and mother were having a hard time…managing me."
"Really?" Trip asked, shocked.
"I was very willful," Lorian said. "And emotional."
"Hell, I'm sure your mother had a hard time with that," Trip said as he sat back in his chair.
"You both did," Lorian explained. "I was infatuated with Jasmine and…"
"Jasmine?" Trip asked. "Who's daughter was she?"
"I think it's best not to say, as her entry into the world was…problematic," Lorian said.
"Problematic?" Trip asked.
"A married crewwoman found out she was pregnant with an unmarried crewman's child. The affair was just prior to her marriage and resulted in Jasmine," Lorian explained.
"Was there a lot of that going on?" Trip asked.
"Very rarely, " Lorian explained. "There were a handful of divorces, and Jasmine is the only affair, that I'm aware of, that resulted in a child."
"It wasn't me or T'Pol though, was it?" Trip asked, worried.
"No," Lorian smiled. "You and mother were well matched and would never look at someone else."
"Good," Trip sighed with relief.
Lorian was happy to see his father's relief. He didn't need to share that Jasmine was the result of a short affair Malcom Reed had with Travis Merriweather's soon-to-be wife.
"So you had it bad for Jasmine?"
"I did," Lorian nodded. "And in my desire to impress her I took some risks that were very dangerous. You dressed me down several times and told me how disappointed you were in me."
"Lorian, know that when a father says he's disappointed he doesn't mean…" Trip started.
"I know that now," Lorian said softly. "But at the time…you made me feel like I was the worst son you could have ever had."
Tears formed at the edges of Trips eyes and he got up quickly from his seat and turned his back to his son trying to contain his anger toward himself. He remembered that feeling well as a son; his dad had done just the same to him.
"I'm sorry for that Lorian," Trip said, still not looking at him.
"I know," Lorian said softly. "And I knew you loved me. That was always clear, even when you didn't like me."
Trip nodded and wiped at his eyes. How could he have been the same father to his son that he swore he'd never be?
"Dad, I didn't mean to upset you," Lorian said honestly.
"It's just hard seeing myself that way," Trip said softly. "My dad was like that. I practically wet myself even at eighteen when he yelled at me."
"I know, you told me," Lorian said quietly. "But know that, using the transporter for myself and Jasmine mid-warp test was probably…"
"You did what?!" Trip snapped as he turned to look at his son.
"I told you I was difficult to manage," Lorian chuckled.
"Lorian you could have been killed or maimed or blown out into the…"
"I do remember this discussion from the first time we had it," Lorian nodded.
"Oh, right," Trip caught himself, remembering that the incident was over a hundred years ago.
"I was a disappointing son at times," Lorian admitted. "But I hope I've made you proud since then."
Trip's eyes filled with tears and he caught a sob before it came from his mouth. "Of course you have! Lorian, I couldn't be more proud of what you've accomplished."
"Thanks," Lorian said as he rose from his seat to give his father some time to compose himself.
Before he could take a step he was engulfed in the strong arms he remembered so well and suddenly memories of being hugged, tickled, swung, chased, tackled and kissed by his father surrounded him. Lorian hugged him back. Hard.
Hours later Trip was sitting at his desk in his quarters trying to get some work done, but finding it hard to focus when his comm rang.
"Come in," he said tiredly as he scrubbed his eyes.
The door opened and T'Pol stepped inside with a plate in her hand.
"You missed dinner with the Captain and the other Enterprise crew," she said as she walked toward him and placed a plate down on the desk in front of him.
"I had some paperwork…" Trip said with a yawn. "And I'm not sure I'll be awake long enough to perform neuro pressure on you tonight. I'm sorry."
"I don't have as bad a headache today," T'Pol admitted as she stood awkwardly in front of him.
"But you still have one?" Trip inquired.
"Yes," she answered honestly.
"Then I'll take a nap and get to your quarters for…"
"It's not necessary," T'Pol said as she looked around his room. "And you seem…agitated."
"Agitated?" Trip sighed. "That's a word for it."
"Can I assist in helping you rid yourself of this agitation?" T'Pol asked as she sat down on the edge of his bed.
Trip sighed heavily and sat back in his chair.
"Eat your sandwich," T'Pol said as she nodded toward the plate she had brought. It was a grilled vegetable sandwich; one she still tried to eat with a knife and fork when Chef served it.
"It's Lorian," Trip said as she reached for the sandwich and took a bite of it.
"His presence is disturbing you?" T'Pol asked.
"No, but some of his memories of me are…disturbing," Trip said, borrowing her language.
"It's not you that he speaks of," T'Pol clarified.
"I don't want to get into semantics with you," Trip said as he wiped his mouth with the napkin she brought. "Let's just say for the sake of argument that it is me. Today he told me a story about myself that sounded just like my father. And it wasn't a fond memory."
"So if we are illogically saying that his memory of his father is also you," T'Pol said clearly. "You are not pleased with the version of you he's presenting."
"Not entirely," Trip said softly.
"Could it be that he's presenting this version so you have an opportunity to change it? If, we pre-suppose that you and his father are one in the same and you have not made those errors as yet?"
"When you put it like that," Trip said with a chuckle. "It almost sounds like you think that is our future."
"I didn't say that," T'Pol clarified.
"No, but you almost did," Trip teased before he took another bite of his sandwich.
"Has he shared any good memories of you?" T'Pol asked.
"Yes," Trip said, not revealing anything. "Do you want to know them?"
"It's illogical as it has not, and possibly will not, happen," T'Pol said softly.
"But it could," Trip smirked.
"I'm assuming he hasn't shared anything that would alter the future significantly, if the knowledge is made available now?"
"No, he was clear on that," Trip said. "It's mostly about renovations, him getting into trouble, and eating meat."
"Meat?" T'Pol asked, taken aback.
"Trust me, you'll be okay with it," Trip smirked at her.
"Vulcans do not eat meat," T'Pol stated.
"Lorian is only half Vulcan," Trip explained. "Don't worry, I think by letting him eat meat once a week you get me to eat a mainly vegetarian diet."
"It is better for longevity," T'Pol said as she looked at the sandwich she brought him.
He didn't want to tell her that longevity wasn't an issue with him; that if history was true, he'd be dead before Lorian turned fifteen and she'd be a widow for a very long time.
"You're upset," T'Pol observed.
"It's nothin'," Trip said as he reached again for his sandwich. "Thanks for the sandwich."
"You are welcome," T'Pol said, still not rising from her seat on his bed.
She watched quietly as he finished off the sandwich and pushed the plate to the side. He yawned and stretched his arms out.
"I better get that nap if I'm going to be awake enough to not fall asleep on you while I perform neuro-pressure."
Trip rose form his chair and was confused when she didn't rise as well.
"I too, am in need to rest," T'Pol said, her voice rising. "Could I stay here with you?"
Trip looked at her dumbfounded. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect this.
"Of course, sure," he said as he stripped off his uniform down to his blues.
He turned to hang it on a hook and when he turned back she was shimmying out of her own Vulcan-style uniform.
Trip quickly pinched himself to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep at his computer terminal and this was all a dream.
He stood back and let T'Pol lift back his covers and get into his bed. He reached over and locked the door, placing a do not disturb on his comm system before he joined her in bed. He wasn't sure if she just wanted to sleep side by side or…
The burning questions in his mind were answered when she shifted toward him and placed her head on his chest and her arm around his midsection. Trip closed his eyes once she was comfortable, wrapped an arm around her back and fell into the best nap he'd had in years.
