If you think this chapter is corny, to decrease some of that feeling, imagine yourself as Chase: Broken home, had a mom that was insane, dad died before he had a chance to see his son again.

It'll make sense then. It did for me, anyway.

*********

            "Hoshi! What are you doing down here?" Chase's eyes widened in shock as the linguist burst into engineering. She wasn't supposed to be here. If the mercenaries did anything he hadn't told them to, she could get hurt. Other innocent people could be hurt. "You shouldn't be down here."

            "Chase, listen to me. Whatever you're doing, don't." She was out of breath from her apparent sprint to engineering, but that wouldn't stop her from persuading the young man to stop what he was planning. "I know what happened to Trip. I saw a message from the Romulans. You can't do this, Chase. You can't."

            Chase's stomach knotted up. Hoshi knew about everything? It seemed impossible. But if she was aware of the Romulans, then she wasn't lying. His plan had backfired, completely and totally. "I can do this, Hoshi. You don't know what I've been through..."

            "I know your parents died. I know your mother went insane. I know everything that has happened must have been hard on you, but you can't do this. If Enterprise is attacked and people die, you'll have even more to regret."

            "You don't know, Hoshi! My life has been a living hell! Mom died and every day before that happened, she ranted about Dad. She tried to figure out what went wrong, down to every last detail that happened. She tried so hard to get him back that she went insane, Hoshi. I had to take care of her and Maggie, I couldn't have a normal life I was so caught up in keeping them safe and happy. Then Dad brought Isabelle, and that certainly didn't help Mom, or anything else. He found someone that wasn't Mom. I screamed at him. I told him I hated him."

            The linguist walked slowly forward, gently taking a hold of Chase's hand, seeing how hurt he was. Those emotional scares had never healed fully over. "You didn't mean it. I'm sure he realized that. He didn't mean to make things worse by bringing Isabelle, Trip isn't like that."

            Chase ran one hand through his hair, staring off at a faraway bulkhead. "I was fourteen. I couldn't understand that. And through the years I just started hating him. I imagined him as some monster that didn't care for his own kids, didn't care about anything but himself. God, even Maggie knew better. She actually talked to him." He gnawed on his lip, glancing at Hoshi while he continued, "I didn't. At first, every week he tried to contact me. Then a few times a month...and I never responded. I just stared at the messages and cursed him. Mom kept getting worse, and I blamed it all on him."

            "So what happened? The message on your computer said that Trip was coming back to Earth. Did you finally talk to him?" Hoshi's voice was calm, understanding. She always was like that. The two people closest to him in the universe were always Hoshi and Maggie. He could talk to them.

            "When Mom died, Dad sent a message saying he couldn't make it. It crushed me, thinking that he was the only parent that I had left. Maggie, she decided that it had been long enough since we'd been a family, and they set a date for us to meet. When I found out, I was so angry with her, but I decided that maybe, just maybe, I wanted that: a real family." His gray-blue eyes closed. A long breath was exhaled as he thought of the next events, ones that pushed him over the edge. "Then he went and died. Both my parents were gone in just a month. I had wanted to reconcile things so bad. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry I had hated him so much. And he had died. I couldn't forgive him for leaving me again. Up until now, I spent my time plotting how I'd get him back. How I'd scare him into not ever leaving Mom. We'd be a family, and neither of them would be dead.

            "So I came here. I compiled all the information I could find on time travel, and I did it. I came here to stop Dad from ever leaving Mom. I'd show him what would happen if he left her, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't leave her, she wouldn't go insane, and he wouldn't die. He wouldn't leave me without a father."

            Hoshi cocked her head, her face showing a look of confusion. "How would having someone attack Enterprise accomplish that? What if Trip decided he wouldn't ever marry T'Pol? What if he was killed?"

            "I tried to make sure he wouldn't die. I told the Romulans not to fire on anyone. I tried so hard to make everything perfect." He ran a hand through his hair once more, shaking his head. "But when I got here, he seemed so different. As much as I tried to hate him, I couldn't ignore that he was eager, charismatic, and energetic. You said he was a good friend, and I just couldn't ignore it. And now here we are, my master plan almost played out and you come in here like some heroine. And now I can't do it. You know, he knows. And I'll never be able to live with myself if something goes wrong."

            The ensign's hand clutched the young man's more tightly, as a glance was thrown at Commander Tucker. "Sir, I suggest you put weapons and engines back online. Then I think it would be wise to get out of here."

            The dumbstruck engineer nodded slowly, fingers racing across the nearby console as he did as he was told. He didn't know what had just happened in his engine room -- but he knew that it was big enough to warrant listening to the ensign. He pushed a button on the comm panel, "Cap'n, I suggest we get to warp as soon as possible. Get back on course."

            "Trip? What's going on?"

            "I can't quite explain it, Cap'n. I just think you should listen to me."

            "Alright, Trip. We'll get back on course."

Trip moved away from the panel, turning his gaze to Hoshi and Chase. "You mind tellin' me what just happened here? We're gettin' the upgrades underway, and all the sudden, it's an after school special! What the hell are you two talkin' about?"

Chase shook his head towards Hoshi, who could only offer a half-smile toward the Commander. "I think there are some things best left unsaid, Trip. You'll figure it out sooner or later. Right now, I think you and Chase have some catching up to do."

Much to both father and son's dismay, the linguist stood up, giving Chase a final reassuring pat before walking from engineering. The two men stared at each other, before following after her. Hoshi seemed to know what she was talking about.

*********

Later that morning, Trip and Chase both sat in the mess hall eating catfish. The two had been there for an hour, just talking. Chase felt closer to his father than he had in the last decade and a half -- and he technically wasn't even born yet.

"So, tell me about Maggie. She a nice girl?" Trip asked, just before stuffing his mouth full of catfish.

Chase grinned, nodding his head in response. "She's great. A lot like you, actually. Coming from a family as screwed up as ours didn't phase her a bit. She's smart, enthusiastic, optimistic. One helluva cook…"

((I have one more chapter...Then we should be done. I'm actually satisfied with this chapter, which is really something to say. Yup, Chase did go a little over the top with all of it, but somehow...it just seems to fit him. Maybe I just like him. Hope you readers don't think I did too terrible a job. If I did, oh well...))