~*~Disclaimer=me no own~*~Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed-blushing
like I'm a tomato with sunburn! This chapter is set with the grown up
Malcolm first and foremost. OH and Phaser Lady, language was the only
reprimand I ever get for bad language! But that single word if said right
can make you feel guilty, ashamed and annoyed all at once!~*~
Adrienne got up and left the Mess Hall quickly; Malcolm followed her and caught her arm.
"Where are you going?" he asked. "You haven't touched your food."
"I'm not hungry, I need to get away," she replied tugging her arm from his grasp.
"Adrienne, wait," he called after her.
She paused for a moment and then carried on walking. Malcolm caught up with her.
"At least let me take you back to sickbay," he reasoned. "It's a security risk letting you wander around."
She allowed Malcolm to steer her back towards sickbay.
"I don't want to die,"
This statement caught him off guard.
"I.......err..........No...............um........." he stammered. "You're not going to die."
"By all accounts I should be,"
"Don't talk like that,"
"It's fact, the ship exploded with me on it, I saw it coming towards me, I could feel the heat, technically I should be dead."
"Just a minor technicality, you're not dead you should focus on that,"
"You know what the weirdest thing is?"
"What?"
"Everybody's the same and yet they're not,"
"They're bound to be different,"
"It's weird though,"
They entered sickbay.
"Have you eaten already?" asked Phlox looking surprised.
"I wasn't hungry," Denny replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sometime in the future~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What have you done?" Malcolm demanded furiously. "What the hell's happened to my ship? Did everyone get off ok? What about my family? Are they even alive? Answer me man!"
"I brought you back through time, you weren't supposed to die, the attack on your ship was never meant to happen," the man told him, hearing the soft boom-boom on fire fight in the background.
"Well it did! Is everyone alright? Is my family ok?" Malcolm asked, resisting the urge to throttle him.
"Your wife is still alive yes," the man told him.
"What about my daughter?" Malcolm asked, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach.
"I don't know," the man replied honestly.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Malcolm snapped. "Is she dead or alive?"
"I don't know," the man repeated. "I was pulling her out too when the explosion rocked the deck, somewhere along the line she disappeared."
"You lost her?!" Malcolm exclaimed in disbelief.
"I didn't lose her," the man defended himself. "She's safe somewhere along your timeline."
"Oh isn't that brilliant!" Malcolm cried throwing his hands up. "Do you have idea how dangerous some of our missions were? Or how many times people tried to kill us? That's assuming she isn't back on Earth wandering the streets!"
"I'm trying to find her now, we have to get her out before she causes too much damage," said the man.
"Damage? It'll be me doing the damage to you in a minute!" Malcolm exclaimed running a hand through his greying hair.
He was still running on adrenaline, the attack on the Intrepid then the evacuation; he'd prepared himself for death, to give the rest of the crew chance to evacuate the ship. Then Denny had appeared. She'd told him his beloved wife was dead, she'd been upset, calling out for him. He shuddered remembering her last cry before she disappeared from sight. Now he was a jumble of emotions and finding it hard to process it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back in the past~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What am I supposed to do?" Malcolm asked Phlox quietly, watching his daughter on the other side of the room. "I don't know how I'm supposed to act,"
"There is no set rule of how to be a father," Phlox told him. "With my children I found it just took practice."
"Yes but you never saw your children before you had them," said Malcolm sighing.
"Think about it more as a great opportunity-you get to see what your children will become, how they'll fight their battles and win them. What they're like as a person," said Phlox thoughtfully.
Malcolm took a deep breath and nodded. He walked over to where Denny was sitting and sat beside her.
"I heard every word you know," she said.
"This is hard for me," said Malcolm.
"Me too," she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I've had no practice with this; I'll do and say the wrong thing,"
"You do anyway,"
"Is that supposed to be comforting?"
"You're supposed to be comforting me-I'm the one facing impending doom!"
"Sorry, but unfortunately there's no magic words that will change things,"
"Humour me,"
"I could say that when you fall asleep everything will be alright or I could say that you'll still have a perfectly happy life."
"But nothing's set in stone,"
"Precisely, this is why the whole time travel business confuses me,"
"You can end up going round in circles."
"But I'll do whatever I can,"
"See you're not as bad at this as you think,"
On instinct he put his arm round her shoulder.
*Flashback* ((a/n in this flashback she's about four or five))
"Why aren't you asleep yet young lady?" Malcolm asked coming forward.
"There's a monster under my bed," she whispered. "If I go to sleep it'll eat me,"
"Monsters?" Malcolm asked smiling.
Denny nodded seriously.
He dived down to look beneath her bed.
Denny peered over the side to watch.
"Monsters only like the dark don't they?" asked Malcolm.
"Yup,"
Malcolm left the room a moment and returned seconds later torch in hand.
He shone the torch beneath the bed.
"Well I think he's gone," he said finally.
She looked at him suspiciously then her expression cleared and she nodded.
"Will you stay for a bit?" she pleaded.
Malcolm hesitated a moment then nodded.
"Daddy?" she asked him.
"Mmm?"
"What if he comes back tomorrow?"
"I'll always be here to chase the monsters away,"
"Promise?"
"Yup, I'll never let any monsters get you," he told her hugging her
"Night daddy,"
"G'night Denny,"
*Normal* "When I was little I used to think there was a monster under my bed waiting to eat me," she told him. "You used to chase him away,"
"I'll always chase the monsters away,"
"That's exactly what you said,"
~*~Please review! I haven't been able to access reviews from my other stories which is a pain in the arse but hopefully I should be soon!~*~
Adrienne got up and left the Mess Hall quickly; Malcolm followed her and caught her arm.
"Where are you going?" he asked. "You haven't touched your food."
"I'm not hungry, I need to get away," she replied tugging her arm from his grasp.
"Adrienne, wait," he called after her.
She paused for a moment and then carried on walking. Malcolm caught up with her.
"At least let me take you back to sickbay," he reasoned. "It's a security risk letting you wander around."
She allowed Malcolm to steer her back towards sickbay.
"I don't want to die,"
This statement caught him off guard.
"I.......err..........No...............um........." he stammered. "You're not going to die."
"By all accounts I should be,"
"Don't talk like that,"
"It's fact, the ship exploded with me on it, I saw it coming towards me, I could feel the heat, technically I should be dead."
"Just a minor technicality, you're not dead you should focus on that,"
"You know what the weirdest thing is?"
"What?"
"Everybody's the same and yet they're not,"
"They're bound to be different,"
"It's weird though,"
They entered sickbay.
"Have you eaten already?" asked Phlox looking surprised.
"I wasn't hungry," Denny replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sometime in the future~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What have you done?" Malcolm demanded furiously. "What the hell's happened to my ship? Did everyone get off ok? What about my family? Are they even alive? Answer me man!"
"I brought you back through time, you weren't supposed to die, the attack on your ship was never meant to happen," the man told him, hearing the soft boom-boom on fire fight in the background.
"Well it did! Is everyone alright? Is my family ok?" Malcolm asked, resisting the urge to throttle him.
"Your wife is still alive yes," the man told him.
"What about my daughter?" Malcolm asked, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach.
"I don't know," the man replied honestly.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Malcolm snapped. "Is she dead or alive?"
"I don't know," the man repeated. "I was pulling her out too when the explosion rocked the deck, somewhere along the line she disappeared."
"You lost her?!" Malcolm exclaimed in disbelief.
"I didn't lose her," the man defended himself. "She's safe somewhere along your timeline."
"Oh isn't that brilliant!" Malcolm cried throwing his hands up. "Do you have idea how dangerous some of our missions were? Or how many times people tried to kill us? That's assuming she isn't back on Earth wandering the streets!"
"I'm trying to find her now, we have to get her out before she causes too much damage," said the man.
"Damage? It'll be me doing the damage to you in a minute!" Malcolm exclaimed running a hand through his greying hair.
He was still running on adrenaline, the attack on the Intrepid then the evacuation; he'd prepared himself for death, to give the rest of the crew chance to evacuate the ship. Then Denny had appeared. She'd told him his beloved wife was dead, she'd been upset, calling out for him. He shuddered remembering her last cry before she disappeared from sight. Now he was a jumble of emotions and finding it hard to process it all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back in the past~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What am I supposed to do?" Malcolm asked Phlox quietly, watching his daughter on the other side of the room. "I don't know how I'm supposed to act,"
"There is no set rule of how to be a father," Phlox told him. "With my children I found it just took practice."
"Yes but you never saw your children before you had them," said Malcolm sighing.
"Think about it more as a great opportunity-you get to see what your children will become, how they'll fight their battles and win them. What they're like as a person," said Phlox thoughtfully.
Malcolm took a deep breath and nodded. He walked over to where Denny was sitting and sat beside her.
"I heard every word you know," she said.
"This is hard for me," said Malcolm.
"Me too," she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I've had no practice with this; I'll do and say the wrong thing,"
"You do anyway,"
"Is that supposed to be comforting?"
"You're supposed to be comforting me-I'm the one facing impending doom!"
"Sorry, but unfortunately there's no magic words that will change things,"
"Humour me,"
"I could say that when you fall asleep everything will be alright or I could say that you'll still have a perfectly happy life."
"But nothing's set in stone,"
"Precisely, this is why the whole time travel business confuses me,"
"You can end up going round in circles."
"But I'll do whatever I can,"
"See you're not as bad at this as you think,"
On instinct he put his arm round her shoulder.
*Flashback* ((a/n in this flashback she's about four or five))
"Why aren't you asleep yet young lady?" Malcolm asked coming forward.
"There's a monster under my bed," she whispered. "If I go to sleep it'll eat me,"
"Monsters?" Malcolm asked smiling.
Denny nodded seriously.
He dived down to look beneath her bed.
Denny peered over the side to watch.
"Monsters only like the dark don't they?" asked Malcolm.
"Yup,"
Malcolm left the room a moment and returned seconds later torch in hand.
He shone the torch beneath the bed.
"Well I think he's gone," he said finally.
She looked at him suspiciously then her expression cleared and she nodded.
"Will you stay for a bit?" she pleaded.
Malcolm hesitated a moment then nodded.
"Daddy?" she asked him.
"Mmm?"
"What if he comes back tomorrow?"
"I'll always be here to chase the monsters away,"
"Promise?"
"Yup, I'll never let any monsters get you," he told her hugging her
"Night daddy,"
"G'night Denny,"
*Normal* "When I was little I used to think there was a monster under my bed waiting to eat me," she told him. "You used to chase him away,"
"I'll always chase the monsters away,"
"That's exactly what you said,"
~*~Please review! I haven't been able to access reviews from my other stories which is a pain in the arse but hopefully I should be soon!~*~