Abandon and Forgotten

by red rooster dawn

T&T

Disclaimer: All the characters are the property of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek. They are use purely for entertainment value only.

Summary : Trip and T'Pol go on an away mission for a month. But after a year's time they come to the conclusion that they have been forgotten and left behind. They make a new life for themselves and T'Pol comes to grips with her emotions.

Author's note: I inadvertently posted the first part of another story. I was brought to my attention and I have searched for several days and finally found my backup disc. I have reposted part one. I hope this has cleared up the confusion. Thank you for your patience.

Thank you for noticing the problem so that I could correct it.

scene eight Woe is me

The Captain was beginning to wonder what was wrong. He had invited Trip and T'Pol to join him for dinner at least once each week since they had return to the Enterprise several months ago.

Each time they had excused themselves saying that they were either too busy or too tired to join him. He didn't understand. Trip was his best friend. He had thought that he and T'Pol had come to an understanding and mutual respect before she left on the last away mission. He need to find the answer to this mystery.

"Hoshi, get me Commander Tucker up here. I need to talk to him. I will be in my ready room." bellowed Archer.

Ten minutes later Trip knocked on the door and entered when directed to.

"Yes Captain, you needed to see me." asked a puzzled Trip.

"Sit down Commander and tell me what's going on." ordered Archer.

"What do you mean Sir?" asked Trip.

"I want to know why you and T'Pol are avoiding me and haven't joined me for dinner since you've been back. We used to have dinner together several nights a week before." replied Archer with a hurt look on his face.

"You left us behind Sir. You abandoned us on that planet and forgot about us. We thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives there." responded Trip angrily.

"I didn't abandon you there. You've got to know that Trip. You of all people know I wouldn't do something like that. I was ordered away on a mission that lasted longer than expected. Then we were ordered on several more missions. A lot has been happening over the last twenty months. We had no choice. It was important that we accomplished what we had to do." Archer tried to explain.

"You still should have found a way Sir, or found a way to at least let us know what was going on. T'Pol had to make some major life changes that are irreversible now. She can't easily go back to Vulcan without being disgrace." replied an upset Trip.

"What changes are you talking about?" asked Archer.

"You mean you haven't notice Sir?" asked a confused Trip.

"I know you two seemed to have gotten closer and you don't fight anymore, but it's hard to know more since the two of you have been avoiding me." replied a hurt Archer.

"I'm sorry about that Sir. But on the planet T'Pol had to change who she was. It wasn't acceptable for her to control her emotions. She was expected to be happy with her life and show it. She had to undo sixty years of training and abandon her cultural traditions.

It wasn't easy for her, but she managed to do it. And if that wasn't bad enough she was expected to contribute to increasing the local population." explained Trip.

"What do you mean contribute? I don't understand." replied a confused Archer.

"She was expected to have a child. And considering that Vulcans usually only mate once every seven years ..... well you can see the problem." responded Trip.

"Then what did she do? Is she capable of having a child? Was she in her mating cycle? Who did she mate with then?" asked Archer even more confused now then before.

"Well Sir considering that she's nine months pregnant, I guess she's capable." replied Trip before being interrupted by Archer.

"What! She's pregnant! When was someone going to tell me." he yelled.

"You mean to tell me you didn't know Sir? Everyone on this ship knows she's pregnant. Why do you think she's been wearing the clothes she has on?" replied Trip shaking his head in disbelief.

Archer now was very confused. Why was it that everyone but him knew that T'Pol was pregnant? Was he that far out of touch?

"How Trip? How did she managed to become pregnant?" asked Archer.

"I think you know the answer to that Captain." laughed Trip. "But to answer your question, she was expected to have a child. She didn't want to be involved with any of the people of Terra Pox.

So even though she didn't initially have any desire to have intercourse with me, she decided to mind meld with me. And to answer your question before you ask, what it does is establish a bond between the two of us.

Our minds become one and that enables us to know everything about each other. It also enabled T'Pol to become in tune with the human mating cycle, which is a twenty eight days, not seven years. Before long her reproductive cycle was driving her to mate like humans. And soon she became pregnant."

"So she's carrying your child? I didn't know that it was possible." replied Archer.

"Well we didn't know for sure either. But Vulcans are humanoid too. Their blood chemistry is the only major difference besides them having a higher core body temperature due to existing on a hotter and drier planet." conceded Trip.

"So you see Sir, T'Pol is an outcast on her planet now. She expresses her emotions, keeps company with a human, and is having a child with a human. Her life is forever change. And all this is because no one bother to come back for us."

"And I've changed too. I'm bonded to a woman who I probably never would have been more than friends with. Someone belonging to a species that I've despised for a long time. I'm forever link to her. You were my best friend. Now I don't know if I can ever trust you again." replied a hurt Trip.

"I'm sorry Trip, but I'm sure we can become friends again if you're willing to try." responded Archer hopefully.

"It's up to T'Pol Sir. She's my world now. What she wants is what I do. Maybe someday she'll forgive you, but it's not going to be anytime soon. But I will talk to her about joining you for dinner. We both need to become a part of the crew again, but it will take time." replied Trip.

The End