A/N: Patrick, thanks for your review. I'll try to answer your questions.

You said: Oh, does that mean you skipped watching the entire 4th season?

Me: No. Watched many of them at least twice. :-)

You: I ask because EVERY episode in 4th season, even the MirrorVerse ones, had a bit of the T/T'P bond story line running in it. Yes that includes that final insult TATV.

Me: Not a "bond." I think we first saw the bond in the Klingon arc, a year after Trip and T'Pol slept together that one time. If you mean bond as in connection – friendship with a little yearning especially on Trip's part – I would agree.

You mention the MU. I've always been surprised people Trip/T'Polers like it. T'Pol had power over Trip and used him; it wasn't love … at least it didn't seem that way. T'Pol used Trip. Giving a similar scenario, Hoshi had power over Archer and used him as well. Just because Hoshi slept with Archer certainly didn't mean they were in love or had a bond.

You: I like your view of StarFleet Brass's reaction to the child. Much better that in the real episode.

Me: Sorry, that wasn't a question, but I wanted an opportunity to thank you.

You: I tend to think people who WANT the whole A/T'P relationship thing to work are those who strongly identify with Archer as the Alpha Male and expect the woman to be drawn to the Alpha male.

Me: I don't so much like "alpha males." My favorite character in TOS was Spock, not Kirk. My favorite character in TNG was Data, not Picard. I like Jayne better than Mal Reynolds from Firefly.

So why Archer/T'Pol? I like a relationship of equals. Maybe you have a point about Archer being the alpha male on Enterprise, but I think both he and T'Pol are the alphas - equals. People tend to marry folks who have common interests (which I think Archer and T'Pol have), the same intelligence (which I think Archer and T'Pol have), about the same comeliness (which I think Archer and T'Pol has). Equality.

Now, on with the story!

---

Archer found himself pacing inside the room Starfleet had given him. The stale scent of Lysol clung to his nostrils, gagging him with its overly lemon aroma. The blue carpet and whiter than white walls, with no windows, the lack of paintings or anything to made the place seem more like a prison cell than a residency. At least, it would've seemed that way, but he knew dignitaries that needed security protection were taken here.

Not that he thought he was a dignitary, but he was starting to realize he and T'Pol may need to be safeguarded. If the media's clamoring was any indication, they had a lot to be protected from.

Well, no window, but it could be worse.

The living room was spacious enough and it led to three other doors: two bedrooms and one bathroom. The bedrooms were utterly nondescript, reeking of the same Lysol spray, and the bathroom was a dull white. Crisp white towels tackily displayed the Starfleet logo.

His steps halted for a moment.

A suite? Admiral Gardner gave us a suite.

Apparently, for all the trouble they'd caused, the admiral had placed the two of them together – a suite, not two connected rooms.

Yeah, the admiral thinks we are sleeping together.

Not that he really cared. What he did care about was what the hell was happening to his child. His daughter. And he'd be damned if he'd sit around like some bump on a log accepting his fate. The only problem was – how to escape a top security Starfleet room.

When his toe swerved on the plush rug, and he headed to the other side of the living room, T'Pol spoke up.

"You are wearing a hole in it."

"Sorry, nervous habit," he said.

The remark caused her to rise.

"I know what you're thinking," she said. "You believe there is some way we can leave this facility and look for our daughter."

That stopped him.

T'Pol nodded. "I know." Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. "Just as I knew your intentions with the pilot in the shuttle. Just as I know the lack of a window here bothers you."

We must be spending a little too much time together, he thought.

"I am able to feel your emotions and hear some of your thoughts."

He was speechless.

"Jonathan, because of our daughter … I believe you and I have a bond."

An odd tingling in his stomach sputtered and he sat down on the couch that T'Pol just left. The twisting of his guts had been happening a lot lately – a sinking feeling. He'd chalked it up to his own anxiety, but now he was starting to wonder.

"How?"

"I am unsure myself." Sitting next to him, she looked over her hands and folded them together. "I believe we have a link because of our child … because of me."

"Why?"

T'Pol raised her eyebrows, a look he'd seen a million times before. "On Vulcan even if two are caught in the fires of Pon Farr, if a child is created …."

Squirming, he contradicted her. "But, we never--"

"No, but the family feels that link – the mother and the father. Perhaps I connect you to our daughter."

"Why after all this time?"

"I am uncertain. Perhaps she is gaining awareness?"

Nodding, he let out a sigh and leaned his head against the couch.

"You can feel some of my thoughts and emotions?" she asked.

"I don't know." Then he glanced at her. "It distresses you?"

"It is the least of my concerns," she said. As if looking to explain herself, she shook her head. "I wanted to ensure I am not projecting them onto you."

He supposed if T'Pol had, he'd be a wreck instead of having what felt like an occasional feeling of jitters.

"No. Not anything specific," he said. "You can hear many of my thoughts, not just a few. Can't you?" he asked.

"Your mind is untrained in the art of--"

"I'll take that for a 'yes.'" New worries appeared. Is she able to hear my occasional mind chatter? Or was it more pervasive?

He pondered if she could dig into the depths of his thoughts and pull at memories that lay dormant – his father's death; sins committed; the hatred he once felt for her and her people; a long ago fantasy where the two of them were naked in Decon, kissing ….

Great, now she probably knows about that, too.

"I have no intension of intruding on your thoughts," she said. "Vulcans consider this an invasion of privacy."

His jaw clenched.

She said, "I do not seek your thoughts and I am able to shield many of them from me."

"Shield?"

"The Vulcan mind has defenses – ways in which we protect ourselves from psionic attack. Although the art is new to me, I can deflect thoughts from your mind, like a shield."

"I didn't know you knew this."

"I learned it from the Kir'Shara. I began studying the technique after realizing my bond with Trip."

"You used a shield with Trip?"

"Yes, but … it is more difficult to shield your thoughts. Perhaps because of our daughter, our link is stronger."

When he blinked, still trying to determine exactly how to process this information, he heard her voice soften even more.

"I would never harm you. Whatever thoughts I glean will be between us."

"I trust you." Nodding, he swallowed. "How long have you known about our link?"

"A few days." Withering a little under his glare, she added a few words. "I couldn't find an appropriate time to tell you."

That wasn't quite right. She was afraid.

And his heart raced for only seconds until it slowed to its normal, steady beat.

She said, "I knew it would be a difficult conversation. I know how much your privacy means to you."

"Well, this can't be a cakewalk for you either." Getting up, he decided to pace anyway. "And it's not like either of us have a lot of privacy these days."

"No."

Although the idea of sharing his mind with T'Pol bugged him, he decided there wasn't much he could do; getting angry with her surely wouldn't help, particularly since it wasn't her fault. Besides, there was more important matters, more distressing, to focus on. Their daughter.

A warm tickle spread up his spine, something as genuine as a light hug or a shoulder squeeze and he turned to look at his friend guessing it was from her.

"Let's find a way to get the hell out of here."

---

Soval watched his terminal with a perched brow. The news was certainly astonishing, not that he would ever admit it – the captain of the Enterprise and his first officer were having an affair, one that caused the creation of a child.

There were eyewitness accounts from two un-named crewmen aboard Enterprise who'd claimed the captain was seen leaving T'Pol's quarters in the wee hours of the morning, rumpled. They claimed to have even seen T'Pol barely wearing anything as he slipped from her quarters.

There were reports that Enterprise had a cargo bay full of trellium, a protective seal needed to traverse the Expanse, but the captain hadn't lined his ship because of his science officer … information that hadn't come to light in Soval's investigation of the Selaya. The news agencies had surfaced the countless times Archer risked his life to save her, including a careless attempt he personally made to free her from an Orion slave depot that put him in peril. T'Pol, apparently, had been equally guilty. After Archer had been captured by the Xindi – presumed dead – she had insisted on following him to rescue him.

Interspecies relations. It was an inevitable. With socializing came sometimes (to some species) feelings -- ones that eventually led to procreation and life. Why the humans would find the news so distressing was beyond him.

Interspecies relations is logical.

Tapping his fingers on his terminal, he read through another story.

Perhaps the humans enjoy the scandal: an honest man, a pillar of the community – hero of the Expanse - impregnated an alien woman.

Hardly a scandal. Alien women are impregnated all the time.

Standing, the Vulcan placed his hands behind his back and strolled to the window of his office, staring at the circular courtyard below. A fountain splashed there – an enormous one with people gathered at its base to eat their lunch while a child played in the concrete bathtub that contained the water.

However pleasant, it is a waste of water. Vulcans would never treat water so carelessly.

And yet he stared at it, understanding human's fascination with them. The spray of water, a mere reminder of the oceans roar, created tranquility and calm. The mist, the liquid's dance was mesmerizing – single droplets sprang into life flowing with their brethren until they evaporated into the air or rejoined their siblings in the pool.

Gazing on this water feature is when Soval did his best thinking.

Were Archer and T'Pol intimate?

That certainly would explain things: why she left the Vulcan High Command and why she seemed so loyal to a human. He knew the captain was a passionate man, seeing him filled with rage at the mere mention of the Selaya and having witnessed sadness at the death of Admiral Forrest.

Although he knew these to be true, he didn't believe this child was a product of their fornication. He had absolutely no evidence and no other theories. In fact the evidence against them was certainly incriminating.

Why would I ignore logic?

Because I know them.

The captain was indeed an honorable man, not someone who would take advantage of his position. And T'Pol was, despite being more emotionally charged than other Vulcans, too smart to become ensnared in a shipboard romance.

Perhaps he helped through Pon Farr. That is certainly logical.

At least, he believed, it was worth a well-placed call to Dr. Phlox.

Even if this is the case, I cannot divulge centuries of Vulcan tradition to off-worlders, no matter how much I like them. No matter how it may help one single life. The needs of the many ….

Pon Farr was a logical conclusion for the creation of a child; yet, it did not explain why she would give away her child.

Fact: no one had seen a child aboard Enterprise. Fact: when he last saw T'Pol, before she left for the Forge, she had not seemed pregnant despite the reality that Vulcan women remained petite even when carrying young.

Ergo: if she wasn't pregnant and didn't have a child, she could not give it away.

His feet carried him to his desk and his index finger pressed the comm. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he heard a knock at his door.

"Yes?"

His aide, a Vulcan in his mid-forties, walked in. "Ambassador, the talk with Minister Samuel tomorrow morning have been postponed."

"Why?"

"There are concerns for our safety."

The gray-haired Vulcan titled his head. "I do not understand."

"Admiral Gardner sent word – a riot has started in Sausalito."

"The compound?" Soval asked.

"Yes."

"Are there injuries?"

"Unknown."

The Vulcan ambassador folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. He'd been wrong when he'd said Earthers weren't ready to explore the sky, but the overreaction to the child of a human and a Vulcan was more than a tad troublesome.

"Storkin, I would like for us to launch our own investigation into the child of Archer and T'Pol."

"An investigation into a Starfleet matter?" the aide asked. The slope of his eyebrow indicated he couldn't believe what was being suggested.

"You heard me correctly. I would like to start by asking Dr. Phlox a few questions. Contact him as soon as possible and let me know when you do so."

The aide nodded and left. Soval turned back to the window and stared out of it.

Yes, human and Vulcan sexual relations seem inevitable, for though Vulcans are emotionless, humans intrigue us.

Curiosity, being intrigued, was the one emotion his species could not ignore.

TBC