Here we are at chapter 2, I am actually almost done writing the fic but until the entire story is finished I'll only be updating once a week. After Christmas I plan to update this fic and my Something Unpredictable series twice a week each, this fic is significantly easier to do that with because all I have to do is edit and post.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I'll see you again next week for chapter 3!
- Galia
Chapter 2
"Got no plans, just a feeling
I'm no architect at all
There's a fan, on the ceiling
And a telephone that you should call
Are you home tonight?
Are you laying in bed watching black and white movies?
All alone tonight
Do you ever rewind to the summer you knew me?"
- "Black and White Movies" by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
After spending the entire morning putting off contacting Trip, T'Pol is finally out of excuses not to do it. She cleaned the apartment, tended the cacti, prepared meals for the next three days and spent an hour in the laundry room washing her clothes. She finishes hanging the last of her clothes on the rack out on the fire escape and sits down on the couch with a bowl of soup and her PADD.
She considers calling him, she'll have the benefit of being able to speak to him face to face and she'll be able to explain herself and answer any questions he'll have. He also won't be able to assume there's any implications in her words if she's speaking to him face to face, she'd be able to make herself clear. Calling out of nowhere after 7 years of not speaking or seeing one another might be a bit too shocking, he could fly off the handle instead and spend most of the call shouting at her as opposed to listening.
Writing seems the better option in that light, she could ask for a meeting, Enterprise is in orbit after all, he'd be able to meet her. Asking for a meeting would allow the benefits of both without risking him shouting at her within earshot of Elizabeth, which could only lead to more potential issues. Yes writing is best.
She opens a file and addresses it to Trip.
Dear Trip,
I apologize for contacting you after all this time, but I have heard Enterprise will be in orbit this week for a crew transfer. If you have time to come down to the surface I wish to meet with you, we have things we need to discuss that are better spoken about in person. I've finished teaching classes for the month and am free for the next week, pick a time and a meeting place.
I hope you'll take this offer and return my message with a time and place though I'd certainly understand if you never wish to see me again. I wouldn't want to either but this is something you'll want to hear from me.
- T'Pol
T'Pol refrains from putting anything in about Elizabeth, even though she's curious. Her daughter would be around 8 now, and from what she'd looked like as a baby T'Pol was certain she looked just like her mother. Elizabeth had always reminded TPol of T'Les, the same expression of judgement T'Pol had grown up with seemed to lace the features of the infant. Having now spent 7 years with no Vulcan influence T'Pol guesses that same expression has probably been replaced by Trip's smile.
T'Pol finds herself in the bedroom with the intent of taking a shower, but instead ends up looking at the pictures on the dresser. A few months ago she'd put one of Trip and Lizzie up, Trip wearing that smile and Elizabeth a solemn expression. The resemblance to her mother really was uncanny and leaves her hoping Elizabeth looks more like Trip now. A sweet smile and her father's personality are probably better suited to a human ship then T'Pol's Vulcan tepidness would've been.
She strips off her clothes and goes into the bathroom, turning the shower onto high and stepping in. The hot water running over her begins to clear her head, a good thing except for the pit of doubt now settling in her stomach. Maybe contacting Trip wasn't such a good thing after all.
The shift in engineering had felt unusually long that evening and left him more ready then usual for the batch of new engineers Starfleet was sending up at the end of the week. Trip had quickly learned most of this team didn't come because they wanted to serve on Enterprise. She may have once been the best of the fleet once upon a time but now a days the new class of ship is far more exciting to most young recruits. Those who did sign on to Enterprise were mostly the type who wanted to say they had served under him so they could get assigned to better positions on other ships. It wasn't a fact that surprised him, it happened with Malcolm's team in the armory and with the Command staff too. Most new comers these days wanted to work with the crew not the ship and in most areas of work it wasn't necessarily an issue. In Command it was probably a good thing, but in Engineering he needed his engineers to love that engine like he did, and he wasn't seeing much of that these days.
Shaking his head to clear it he steps into the turbo lift and pressed the button for E deck. With any luck Elizabeth would already be in the mess hall. He'll have to make sure she did her school work – lately she's been putting off doing English in favor of Math and Science, but after that he's looking forward to being able to have a quiet dinner with his daughter.
"What's up Lizzie-bug?" Trip grins, spotting his daughter at the first table.
She looks up from the PADD and scowls. "English reading. Hoshi says I have to do it, Do I really have to do it?"
"Yes you have to do it, that's how school works. How much is left?" He asks, looking over her shoulder at the PADD.
"Just this page." She mutters.
"Alright, you finish your page, I'll grab your dinner." Trip ruffles her hair and goes to get them each a plate.
Elizabeth's plate is clearly marked - it's got to be free of meats and dairy - her dinner is some sort of salad with what appears to be Plomeek leaves and some sort of nut. Trip grabs a sandwich for himself and balances two cups of water on each plate.
"Daddy you got a letter!" Elizabeth says, taking her plate from him.
"Who's it from?" Trip chuckles. Elizabeth loves to write him little letters after school and Trip always humors her by answering them.
"Someone named Commander T'Pol." Elizabeth says matter-of-factly, picking at her salad with a fork.
His heart nearly stops. "Who?"
"Commander T'Pol… Daddy are you okay?" Elizabeth frowns, putting her forkful of salad down.
"Um, yeah yeah it's fine. Look Daddy needs to go read this letter, so I'm gonna ask Miss Hoshi to come sit with you a minute. Okay?" He asks.
Elizabeth frowns. "Alright… but you promise you'll be back soon?"
"Yeah Princess, I promise." Trip nods, taking the PADD and kissing her hair, he motions to Hoshi who comes over. "Hosh, I got a letter from, T'Pol." He says quietly. "Can you sit with Liz a minute so I can read it."
"Sure." Hoshi nods, going to sit with Elizabeth. Trip steps out of the Mess hall and makes the short walk to his quarters before opening the letter.
Dear Trip,
I apologize for contacting you after all this time, but I have heard Enterprise will be in orbit this week for a crew transfer. If you have time to come down to the surface I wish to meet with you, we have things we need to discuss that are better spoken about in person. I've finished teaching classes for the month and am free for the next week, pick a time and a meeting place.
I hope you'll take this offer and return my message with a time and place though I'd certainly understand if you never wish to see me again. I wouldn't want to either but this is something you'll want to hear from me.
- T'Pol
Trip stares at the letter in stunned silence, reading it over once, then twice. Why after all these years T'Pol has finally decided to contact him? Out of the blue like they're old friends who lost touch? Like she hadn't abandoned him and their daughter one day.
Trip knows that he's supposed to go back to Elizabeth but he can't go right now. He presses the Comm button. "Hey baby girl." He says into it when Lizzie picks up. "I have to go talk to the Captain, finish dinner with Hoshi and I'll come tuck you in okay?"
"Okay Daddy…" Lizzie sighs on the other end.
"Thank you Princess." Trip says, pressing the button again for Jon. "Hey Captain, you got a minute?"
"What for Trip?"
"I think it's best we discuss this one in person." Trip sighs.
"Alright, I'll be in my ready room. Archer out."
Trip starts towards the bridge, his mind still spinning with questions, emotions still swirling inside him. Why now? Why after 7 years would T'Pol want to contact him now? If she wanted contact with Elizabeth what would he do? As far as Elizabeth was concerned – and really as far as Trip was concerned as well – her mother had walked out and wasn't coming back. Elizabeth didn't even know her name, or anything about her. She hasn't yet asked and Trip hadn't previously considered it an issue he needed to address until she brought it up.
He's so wrapped up in his thoughts he nearly runs into the ready room door.
"You okay Commander?" Commander Debroux asks with a small frown.
"Fine. Thanks. Just need to see the Captain." He mutters pressing the button to the ready room door and entering.
"What's going on Trip?" Captain Archer motions to the empty seat across from his desk, Trip holds out the PADD but doesn't sit down.
"I just got a letter from T'Pol." He mutters. "She wants a meeting."
"A letter from – what?" Jon asks, looking down at the PADD and reading it over once. "Why?"
"I don't know, won't say, she wants a response from me first and to talk in person." Trip gestures indignantly as he paces across the floor.
"Are you going to do it?" Jon frowns.
"What reason do I have to? If I do she could ask to see Elizabeth, and then what do I tell Elizabeth? 'Oh hey the mother who walked out on you wants to have dinner we're going to go'?" He sighs.
Jon is quiet for so long that Trip almost starts to speak again. "I think you should do it."
Trip's jaw drops and he looks over at his friend. "You what? Why?"
"Because I knew T'Pol, almost as well as you, and I know she wouldn't do something like this unless she really needed to talk to you." He says. "I think if she wants to set up a meeting you need to go or you're going to regret it. Even if she doesn't want anything more then to see you maybe it will give you a little closure you haven't gotten. You need the closure Trip."
"No I don't!" He snaps.
"Yes you do, you need to know why she really left because you still think it was you. I know you do." Jon says.
It's Trip's turn to be quiet, Jon is right, Trip still does think it's his fault. He still thinks there was something wrong with him that made T'Pol leave, and he still regularly searches his mind so he can try to fix it. "Yeah I know…"
"You need the closure Trip." Jon says gently.
"Yeah I do… Alright, alright I'll set a meeting, can you watch Lizzie on Saturday?" Trip sighs.
"Of course I can. You meet with T'Pol, and I want to hear about it when you're back." Jon nods.
"Yes sir, I'll get you the times tomorrow." He sighs.
"Want to stay for a drink?" Jon says reaching for two glasses from underneath the desk.
"No thanks, I promised I'd get Lizzie into bed." Trip sighs. "I'll talk to you in the mornin'. Night sir, thanks."
"Night Trip." Jon says.
When he gets back to his quarters Lizzie practically flies into his arms. "Daddy!"
"Hey baby girl, you ready for bed?" He grins, kissing her cheek and tapping her nose.
After putting Elizabeth to bed Trip lays down on the bed to compose a letter of his own to T'Pol. The first place he can think to meet is an old bar in the Excelsior district, the Eveleigh, he's been going there since he was a recruit in STC. He's good friends with the owner, a man named Jack owned the place and Trip had made a point to visit every time Enterprise was in orbit. Jack was one of the few people who knew about T'Pol, and Trip knew he could count on a private seating area if he needs one.
T'Pol,
I'll agree to the meeting, Saturday at 4pm, at the Eveleigh Bar in the Excelsior district. It's pretty easy to find, it's been there since 1996 and everyone knows where it is, you can just ask if you can't find it. We'll be early so it should be empty and allow us some privacy. You better have a damn good reason for this.
- Trip
