Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.
Inspired by Star Trek: Enterprise S3,E10 and "Summer Belongs to You" from Phineas and Ferb.
...
"This is one of the more interesting members of my little menagerie." Phlox says, leading the captain away from Commander Tucker's biobed. "A lyssarrian desert larvae. It's epidermal layer secretes a viral suppressant that I use as a salve for cuts and bruises."
"What does this have to do with Trip?"
"The larvae have another somewhat, uh, controversial property. When implanted with DNA from another species it exactly replicates that species' life cycle, albeit at a rapidly accelerated rate."
...
Captain Archer gave the order for Phlox to proceed with the procedure. For the most part he avoided the child known as Sim.
Every report of his progress, every little story a crewman had about him... It all served to remind him how much alike his best friend Sim really was.
And yet, with every story or report, Archer was reminded why Sim existed.
...
"I can't jeopardise this ship on the strength of those memories." Archer shouted. Pacing, he took a breath to calm himself before speaking again. "Mayweather and Reed will pilot the shuttlepods. i want you to coordinate from the bridge. T'pol will assist you."
"You worried something will happen to me? Or do you just want to make sure I'm around because you need part of my brain?"
This was something Archer was hoping to avoid. he'd thought revealing the truth about his existence to Sim would be the hardest, but no, this was. "Yeah. That's part of it."
...
Trip stared at the being that could be his mirror image in all but dress in shock before fixing his captain with a glare. "It's a kid."
"I'm not a kid!"
Gently, but firmly, Trip pushes Sim out of his way. Almost protectivly, he places himself between him and Archer. "You were born a week ago. Now be be quiet. The adults are talking."
"Trip-"
"Don't 'Trip' me. You grew a child for the sole purpose of harvesting his organs."
Phlox stepped forward, "Only a small portion of Sim's brain tissue was needed to revive you. It posed no harm to his life."
"No harm? He has five days left to live!"
Watching the scene play out in front of him, Archer thought back on the last ten days. he thought about how much of an impact Sim had already had on the crew, and how for all intents and purposes Sim was Trip's little brother. What kind of friend woulld he be if he took another sibling away from Trip?
"Now Sim's told me about some... Velandran circle. How they came up with something that could save Sim's life."
Phlox sighed, "An enzyme , but it is experimental, with very little pratical evidence to suggest that it works."
"But there's a chance!"
What kind of person would Archer be, to let a child die?
He gave the order.
...
Six years later...
"It's been a long, long day..." Trip rubs his face.
"You can say that again." Sim agrees, arms crossed.
Trip's hand drops to his lap as he stares dumbfounded at the ceiling of the medical room. "Again?"
Sim shrugs from his position on the ceiling.
Trip sighs, a cloud of mist escaping, and closed his eyes. The day's events were finally catching up to him.
One week ago the two brothers had decided that while they were visiting Trip's parents on Earth, they'd take advantage of the summer weather and go to the beach.
Their trip was cut short when the passanger transport collided with a shuttle carrying radioactive liquid. The majority of the passangers unfortunetly didn't make it.
But some, like the brothers, had gained unusual abilites.
For example, Trip's core temperature dropped to the negtives with no ill side effects. He could now withstand extreme heat and cold. His brother, Sim, on the other hand could now alter his mass. He still could not control it, thus his current predicament.
"So what's on the agenda tomorrow?" Sim asks, adjusting his posision. There was a lump in the ceiling that was digging into his hip uncomfortably.
"More of the same. Starfleet wants to ensure we're stable before we're released."
"Great..."
"Yep. On the bright side, we've been cleared for visitors so T'pol and Elizabeth are coming over to say 'Hi'."
That brought a smile to the younger's face. He loved seeing his little niece.
Maybe things were't so bad after-all.
A tap on the door brought them out of their thoughts. Expecting it to be the girls, Sim dropped down and opened the door to let them in. He was confused when he didn't see them anywhere in sight. He poked his head out the door, scanning up and down the hallway.
He pulled his head back in, turning back to Trip. "I could've sworn there was someone out there- Hey!"
Sim ducked, narrowly dodging get nicked by the wings of a mechanical bird.
The bird dove straight for Trip. Trip jumped off the med bed he had been resting on and grapped the closest object he could grab to fend off the bird's attacks. Unfortunatly the closest thing was a pillow.
The metal bird ripped the thin medical grade pilliow to shreds and opened it's beak, revealing a thin, sharp needle.
Sim snatched a sheet off a bed and made a grab for the bird, but that only resulted in his hands being cut up.
The bird finally breaches Trip's defenses and pecks his cheek with the needle.
"OW!" Trip cluches his face, stumbling away from the demonic animatronic.
The bird, it's mission complete, collapses to the ground immobile.
Sim kicks the bird away and rushes to support his big brother. "Are yo alright?!"
Trip blinks, panting, but doesn't answer. He sits down on a med bed, still clutching his face. A steady trickle of blood drips down his chin and stains his pants. He doesn't seem to mind.
"Trip?" Sim whispers, wondering what the bird injected him with.
Trip lowered his hand and slowly turned his head to stare at Sim. The younger squirmed under the uncharistically hard stare of his older brother. Sim has never seen his brother look so... so... so unlike himself. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something in Trip's eye that made the man look like someone else.
"Trip? Are you alright?"
"...yes. Apologies, I didn't mean to frighten you."
"..."
Sim stood up abuptly and distanced himself from 'Trip'. He placed himself close to the door, within easy reach of the comm system. "Who are you? What did ya do ta my brother? Is he still in there?"
'Trip' rose his brows in surprise. The accented voice that leaves his mouth confirms Sim's fears. "Well done. Most mortals don't realize something is amiss until much later, if ever."
"Yeah, I must be clever or somethin'. Answer my questions!"
"Very well. But first, introductions. Might I have your name?"
"No, but I'll tell ya it."
The body thief smirked at the clarification.
"My name is Sim Tucker. Now who the heck are you?"
"My name is Loki, son of Odin. I am a prince of Asgard, and I am trying to locate my body."
"What? You just lost it or something?"
"Hm, yes, as much as I loath to admit it. It was taken from me by a being of pure thought." Loki lifts his borrowed head and straightens his shoulders. "I do apologize for the inconvience, but I do require another body if I am to find my own. The last one didn't last terribly long, and I was fortunate enough their machines were even capable of holding my mind even for a short time."
Sim's feet slip off the floor, his mass decreasing due to his stress, and he scrambles to find purchase on the wall. "And so you just stole the first body you came across?!"
"In short, yes. I do hope you don't mind."
"LIke heck I do! Give me back my brother!"