Author's note

Thanks to all who took the time to review, much appreciated.

Chapter 4

Phlox ran to his side a scanner in hand "Sovek can you hear me" receiving no response the Doctor rolled him on to his front and checked his heart rate.

"His heart rate's erratic, hand me the hypo spray and the blue vial over there" Phlox said indicating to Commander Tucker, the person closest to the medical store. Trip grabbed what the doctor had asked for and rushed over to him.

"Doctor what is wrong with him." T'pol asked as the Doctor injected the blue liquid into Sovek's bloodstream.

"It appears I had underestimated the amount of stress his body had been under. He was in the craft for a very long time and the combination of that coupled with the numerous other injuries he has sustained over the years finally caught up with him, what he needs now is rest."

Within seconds it seemed the blue serum had worked and Sovek's eyes flickered open. He attempted to stand up but was held in place by the doctor.

"I am afraid the only thing you will be doing for the next 24 hours will be lying on that bed over there." said Phlox pointing " And trying to recover some of the nutrients you have lost and allowing your body to recover." he continued.

Sovek rolled his eyes, a very un-Vulcan thing to do mused the Denoblian

"I am fine doctor."

"You will let me be the judge of that." said Phlox "I will need to ask you all to leave. My patient requires rest. You can continue your conversation tomorrow, no earlier" he said directing this to the Captain.

Acknowledging Phlox the officers left, some reluctant to go- wanting to hear the rest of the story.

Malcolm Reed picked up his Tray and glanced around the mess hall, chef was serving his favourite desert today, pineapple pie. He scanned the room to find a familiar face and saw Hoshi and Travis waving him over. Walking over to them he set down his tray and sat down, two pairs of eyes stared intently at him.

"What?" he asked

"We wanted to know what you thought of Sovek." said Hoshi eager for new gossip.

"Yeah, according to Lieutenant Hess you were talking to him on the way to the briefing room."

Malcolm wasn't surprised when he heard Hess's name come up. He briefly remembered passing her in the corridor so shouldn't have been surprised when the information got back to Hoshi. There was no doubt they were the Queen's of gossip aboard Enterprise, nothing happened that these two didn't know about, that thought disturbed Malcolm a little.

"We didn't talk that much, he asked about Enterprise and some of our missions but that's it, he didn't come across as any Vulcan I've ever met before though." Malcolm replied.

"It must run in the family" responded Travis "Before T'pol I didn't think a Vulcan could put up with humans for more than a few weeks, let alone serve under one."

Hoshi considered this for a moment, "It's a little surprising he's the commanders father, I thought after five years of serving aboard Enterprise I'd seen and heard everything that could surprise me but it appears I was wrong."

Malcolm and Travis nodded in agreement.

"I wonder how she's taking it. I mean it must be a shock and you heard her she thought her father was dead." responded Travis

Hoshi didn't want to say anything but she had a good idea that T'pol was with Trip, Enterprise's grape vine had been full of rumours about those two, especially since the incident with Terra Prime as they spent more and more of their free time together. She knew not to believe a lot of the rumours flying around but she had noticed a change in her two superior officers. As communications officer she was suppose to be able to communicate and translate a number of languages, this included body language and she had been kept busy by the two for the past few weeks. The way T'pol stood closer to commander Tucker than any of the crew, her posture slightly more relaxed whenever he was around, indicated that she felt safe around him and wanted contact with him, taking into account that she was Vulcan and Vulcan's were touch telepaths this was very revealing.

Trip's tells were much easier to read, it almost offered no challenge. It was his eyes that gave him away, whenever he saw T'pol, his eyes would almost sparkle slightly and flicker in her direction. Someone once said that the eyes were the window to the soul and in Commander Tucker's case they couldn't be more accurate.

Hoshi would have been pleased to have been proven correct. Trip was indeed with T'pol in her quarters. She was sat at her desk, Trip leaning over her looking at the screen.

"Is that…?"

"My father and me, yes." The screen showed a picture of a young Vulcan child-T'pol standing with her father at what appeared to be the fire planes. She looked not more than five years old and had a tiny smile on her face, almost unnoticeable. It appeared her emotional control had not completely developed. Her Father had his arm resting on her shoulder and was looking directly at the camera, he too appeared… content.

T'pol stared at the photograph, she could remember that day so vividly. Her father had promised her that he would take her on a trip, just him and her; he never got to spend much time with her as he was always working. She remembered that she had looked forward to it for weeks, her mother had been displeased at her lack of emotional restraint as she enthusiastically described what she and father would do in the weeks leading up to it. Her father had dismissed her mother's complaints. Thinking back, he had always been more accepting of her 'inadequate' emotional control, which had always been a slight problem for her. In hindsight, it appeared he too was more emotional than 'normal' Vulcan's this she remembered had always…concerned her mother.

"How come you've never talked about him before?"

T'pol looked around facing Trip, she considered how to respond. "It has always been a difficult subject for me to discuss, I was very close to my father growing up, more so than I have ever been with my mother. It took me a very long time to accept what had happened, " she pondered the issue further, "I suppose I never truly got over the incident and it was partly the reason why I joined the ministry of security, a way to follow in his footsteps you may say." T'pol looked back at the image displayed on the monitor.

"I do not know how to proceed."

Trip frowned "You mean with your father?"

T'pol nodded, "I had thought him dead for more than four decades and now he has returned."

"You mean you don't know if you can forgive him for lying to you." Trip interjected

"Vulcan's do not hold grudges." she responded but Trip wasn't fooled, Vulcan's may act as if they had no emotions but Trip knew better, they had emotions. Emotions that were so powerful that if they took control it could consume them, the incident he had heard about on the Vulcan ship the Selena was a prime example of this.

"T'pol, I have no idea how hard this must be for you and so I can't tell you what to do but I'm here for you. You helped me through so many rough times I can only hope I can do the same for you." Trip said sincerely

"Now why don't I go to the mess and get us some food it's been a long day and I haven't eaten and I bet you haven't too." Trip didn't need a response to know he was right "I'll be right back ok." and with that he left her quarters.

Down in sickbay Doctor Phlox was witnessing a brand new sight, a restless Vulcan.

"Doctor how long must you insist I lay here. I have sufficiently recovered." Sovek said.

He wanted to do something… anything he wasn't use to just laying around but most of all he wanted to see his daughter again. When he saw her in the briefing room his heart stopped, he wasn't entirely sure that he wasn't hallucinating or that some sort of sick joke was being played on him. It had happened before, he had been captured and given something to make him see things, to persuade him to give his captors the information they wanted, it hadn't worked though he had been stronger than they thought.

The doctor thankfully pulled him out of his train of thought. The second worse thing to getting tortured was having to relive it afterwards and he was glad for the doctor's distraction.

"It has only been eight hours and I hold the right to asses your health." responded Phlox. "I can always give you something to make you relax, if you require." That seemed to work and Sovek sighed, this time remaining quite. Phlox glanced at him. He was not like any Vulcan he had ever met and he seemed to openly show some emotions. Sovek caught the Doctor look over to him once more "What?" he asked.

"I apologise. I was just thinking that you are unlike any Vulcan I have ever met." said Phlox

Sovek shrugged? "My neural pathways have been damaged over the years it has become harder and harder for me to control my emotions, over time I have been able to find a balance. Even before I never believed as strongly as most that emotions were a thing to be feared, I have learned to live with them."

Phlox accepted his honest answer and wondered how he had sustained his neural damage, he didn't want to pry but came to the obvious conclusion- it appeared that Sovek had not only be tortured physically but also mentally and as a doctor, someone who tried prevent pain that thought sickened him.

Trip returned a short time later carrying a tray full of food; he was so hungry he couldn't decide what to have, so brought a selection for him and T'pol. Reaching her door, he juggled the tray, keyed in the code to enter, and stepped inside. Upon walking inside he saw T'pol meditating, he couldn't blame her, if he was in her position that would be exactly what he would be doing right now. Trying not to disturb her he placed the tray down and started to eat, he figured she'd be meditating for a while and wouldn't begrudge him to settle his grumbling stomach. Within the next ten minutes he had finished his food, he looked around her quarters deciding what he could do next. T'pol was still meditating and he didn't want to leave her.

He looked at her desk and noticed several pad's, neatly piled up. He read the title of the top one entitle the Kir'sha'ra. Trip frowned, that was the Vulcan text T'pol had endlessly studied for months after it had been found. Looking over to her he decided to give it a go, after all, it wasn't as if he had much else to do, picking up the padd he sat down and started to read. After the first few chapters, Trip's eyelids began to get heavy, 'Damn T'pol if that's not dry reading I don't know what is.' Trip said to himself yawning. Looking over to her bed the thought struck him that he could get a quick ten minutes in while T'pol meditated, she wouldn't mind, would she? Trip stood, walked over, lay down and closed his eyes.

No cliffhanger as promised.

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