Don't Judge A Book

By Antares *Star

Chapter Five: Abused-Malcolm's story

*Disclaimer and other info located on first chapter

*Note: Oh Man! I'm so sorry its taken so long to get this up. I was away at a week long soccer tournament with my team. I tried to write a chapter before we left, but it was so hectic with packing and practicing! Sorry. Man, I've been so busy I haven't seen the last four episodes, so that's another thing I have to do. Whew, well, enjoy this, if you can, its pretty depressing. Action in the next chapter. This story will end in two to three more chapters!!

Reed and Trip were led to a large weapons room, filled with all kinds of pistols, cannons, and every other weapon imaginable. Reed still had his pistol strapped to his leg. He had meant to give it to Archer, but had forgotten. His mind seemed so foggy, he could barely concentrate on staying upright.

"You will work here." Capena stated. "All the tools and parts you require will be brought to you. Don't try to take anything, you will be carefully guarded. Anyway, all the weapons in here are broken, it wouldn't do you any good." He stared at them, then pivoted and marched out behind Corsca. The guards saluted their commanding officers, then turned to the two humans.

Trip sighed, eyeing the three guards and their guns. Reed had slumped to the ground. "What do you suppose we do, Trip?"

Trip whispered "I don't know. I wouldn't put it past them to kill the captain. I think we should build the weapon, but slowly, and badly. They won't know the difference. We need to plan our escape."

They began the tedious work of building a phase cannon. Reed felt so tired, everything was foggy, his side hurt. Oh, it hurt! His breath was coming in gasps. After three hours of work, he felt himself slipping into darkness. Trip's voice, coming from a distance, Malcolm! Oh God, can you hear me? Hey I need help, Hey…

All Malcolm was aware of was that he was coughing, hard. He felt hands roughly grab him, and haul him up. His arms were slung over two mismatched shoulders, one tall, one level with himself. Then, he fell into blackness.

***

Reed awoke in the cell. Archer and Hoshi rushed over to him.

"How do you feel?" Archer asked.

"Not wonderfully, yourself."

He was always so polite, Hoshi thought. Archer smiled. Reed reached for his side and realized he was naked to the waist, his shirt lay next to him. There were bandages wrapped around his torso. He prodded his ribs, and groaned.

"Where's Trip?" He inquired, sitting up painfully.

"Over here Malcolm." Trip piped. He was sitting across the room, he had a bandaged foot. "They finally decided to give us medical attention, but not too much. They like being in control I s'pose." Trip limped over and sat next to Malcolm. "About escaping…"

They all nodded. "I've been thinking about that. I think next time we go to work, we should take some of those weapons." Reed said

Archer raised his brows in question. "We share our workroom with about two hundred broken weapons." Trip explained. "Its like a graveyard!" He pretended to shiver, grinning.

"Yes, although we are guarded. If we act discreetly we can steal three or four, bring them here, and attempt to fix them with some stolen tools." Reed said.

"Sounds like a plan, just don't get caught." Archer committed. Hoshi bit her lip, but nodded too.

They received more of that fruit for dinner. Archer began to tell them about his father. How smart he was, brave kind, and adventurous. When he was done, Hoshi turned to Malcolm.

"I don't mean to be rude, but what's this about your brother?"

He looked shocked, maybe even angry. "I have no brother."

"Yes, you do! I heard them say it!! I heard --"

"I prefer not to talk about it. He's dead," Reed said haltingly.

"Oh," Silence, so much worse then noise sometimes. " I'm sorry, I-I didn't know." Hoshi smiled apologetically and turned as an Ansian threw something into the cell. It was bandages. "Here, we should rewrap your foot Trip, and your side Malcolm. Your bandages look loose."

Archer tended to Trip's foot and Hoshi approached Malcolm. He blushed slightly, but turned and allowed her to unwrap his support bandages. Her soft hands brushed his skin, and he shivered slightly. His mind still felt vague, and for some reason he thought he should stop her from unwrapping the bandages. Wasn't there some reason he didn't want her to see his back? He couldn't remember.

All of the sudden Hoshi gasped! She dropped her hands and backed away from Malcolm. "Oh God, Malcolm, what the hell happened!" Her voice quivered and Archer and Trip looked over.

"What is it? Hoshi! What's wrong?" Archer moved over and almost cried out. Malcolm's back was a criss cross of long, thin, scars. They covered every inch of his shoulders, stretching down to his pants and across his spinal cord. White, brown, yellow, sickly scars, although long healed. Running vertically, horizontally, parallel and perpendicular, creating a spider web of marks

Archer gripped Malcolm and twisted him around. He seemed confused, unaware. "What?" he asked thickly. Trip felt tears well in his eyes. Those scars on his skin marked countless hours of pain, torture, abuse. Emotionally as well as physically.

"Your back! Malcolm, what happened. I want the truth." Archer asked gently.

Malcolm seemed to realize what the fuss was about, he gasped and pulled away, reaching for his uniform shirt. He tried to slip it over his head but Archer grabbed his arm. "Stop! Malcolm, who did this to you. Answer me, that's an order!"

Malcolm looked wildly around, his eyes darting from one face to the next. All of them reflected worry and compassion. He hated that look. He clutched his shirt to his chest and quivered.

"It doesn't matter! Its over now, what do you care!" He yelled.

"We're your friends, of course we care!!" Hoshi yelled back.

Malcolm stared at her, then cried angrily. "You really want to know? Huh?" He looked around, they all nodded. He began slowly, painfully, "My baby brother, Mark, was my best friend growing up, my only friend. We went through everything together. Everything! I loved him so much. Our father, however, despised both of us. We weren't what he expected, not the kids he wanted us to be. So you know what he did?" Malcolm paused, breathing deeply. "He abused us. Once a month, or every time we failed him.

"Our mom was too afraid to stand up for us, our sister too young. So we ran away, but he found us. He always did. Every time he would find us and drag us home and flog us like we were his worst enemies. Mark was only ten, his body hadn't even reached puberty yet, it couldn't withstand the beatings."

Malcolm stopped, his voice cracking. They were all shocked, shocked into silence. The quiet stretched into long minutes. Footsteps echoed down the hall, the sound of gunshots in the distance. Hoshi hugged him gently while Trip sniffled. Archer looked angrier than ever.

"So," Malcolm continued softly, "I was all alone in the world, except for Madeline. She really was great. He loved her. I left when I was 16, and joined starfleet. There, now you know." Reed tried to glare at them all, but was too devastated. He always tried to forget, so he didn't have to relive the pain and sorrow. But it was always there. Haunting him, tearing him apart, a little bit, day by day.

"Oh Malcolm, I'm so sorry, so so sorry." Hoshi soothed. She hugged him again and cried to herself. That poor man. No wonder he was so quiet and shy.

Malcolm shrugged "It was a long time ago, I'm over it now." He offered a little smile.

Archer looked furious. "So that's why they don't know your favorite food, they don't even know you."

Reed looked a bit confused. "My favorite food, sir?"

"Long story, Malcolm." Trip said sadly. He clapped Malcolm gently on the shoulder. Trip wasn't sure what he could say to the poor fellow. He himself had the most wonderful parents a boy could ask for. There was no way he could feel Malcolm's pain.

They all slept badly that night. When the guards came in the morning to take Malcolm and Trip, they nodded at Archer and Hoshi. They returned that night, exhausted, but each carrying two side arms and some tools. Malcolm began to fix them. He found it relaxing taking them apart, putting them back together. Each piece important, each part depending on another. Just like the crew of Enterprise, just like most families should be…

Well, I know it was sad, but I hope it was OK. Ever since the show started, I've always believed that Malcolm had a bad childhood. Just the way he acts, so quiet, and he seems to have some repressed anger too. He's also a bit too timid around strangers, I just think he was abused. Please review. The next chapter will have action, I promise!! Auf Wiedersehen!~!

Thanks for reviewing chapter four to…

*Tasha - I love Trip to! Don't worry, he'll be in a lot of the story, because he's one of my favorites.

*Anne - I'll really try to add some twists to the plot! Thanks though, I would have so much fun writing screen episodes for Enterprise!

* *Suzanne - Well, I didn't update soon, sorry! I'll try never to leave you hanging that long ever again!!

*Aramis - Thank you, I'm trying to get it done. I'm getting a bit bored, so I'm changing it a bit, stay tuned! You'll never guess what happens next.

*Goody - Hey, thanks! Sorry about the suspense, at least they aren't cliffhangers! Your awesome too!

* * * *CJSpooks - Once again, thanks a million! You are awesome too! Malcolm WILL be OK, I have to make sure of that so you can continue to write excellent Hoshi/Malcolm stories! :-) Can't wait for your updates, Luv Ya!

*Cally - Yup! Got it in one! The brother thing was important, sad though. Hey, I don't like the Ansians either, and I created them! Sad, huh?

* * * * * Iverson - Wow, two more reviews ~*loud speaker~* "And Iverson takes a two length lead, leaving the others in the dust!!" JK, thanks a bunch, I was born in Washington!! Awesome

* * *Kim - OOPs, I never had a chance to see "Fusion", so I had no idea Trip had a brother. Well, I could change it, but I'm too darn lazy, thanks for the correction though, I really should get a Beta. Thanks for all your reviews, you the best!

* * *Rae - Ohh, I feel really bad. I kept you in suspense for like, two weeks! Sorry, won't ever happen again!

Thanks again, pleasEEEEEEE Review!

Antares *Star