Supposed to Be

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A/N: Sorry for the wait folks…I just found out I'm moving across country for the fifth time in my life..so..pardon the distraction…: )..and enjoy this chapter!

But was this man him? The man that stood before her was by all appearances a middle aged Vulcan male. His ears came to points in the same shape as hers, and his brows were the slanted shape that was so familiar to her, especially over the last two year.

What if this man only looked like Trip? What if he was another experiment like Sim, designed to save Trip, but becoming a new individual?

All of her logic and scientific knowledge told her that this could not be Trip. She had seen him die. Or had she? She had seen him about to die, and therein lay the conflict. Had she been relying on an assumption? Had a human fault put her through the worst trauma she had ever experienced?

At the same time, her heart was screaming that he was Trip. He still had the same smile that she always secretly looked forward to, the same eyes that she had looked into so many times.

As her emotions overwhelmed her, her mind and logic suddenly became aware of a very strong force that she had not felt in a long while. Her mind reeled and she stumbled as she abruptly felt the presence of the bond to Trip. Because she had convinced herself that he was dead, she had let go of their bond connection. Now it came back full force, a force she had been used to, but now would take some time to adjust to.

It must be him.

"How?" T'Pol asked.

She wanted to know the answer to this question more than anything else right now. How could he be alive? How did he get here? How did he become Vulcan? Most important of all was how could they have neglected to tell her?

"How…well, its such a long story…" Jonathan began,

"Jonathan, considering the circumstances, I believe that I have sufficient time, and if not, then I can afford to make it." T'Pol was fighting to keep her voice calm. Two years of pain and they were stalling for more time.

"Yes…yes I'm sure you do. We have a lot of explaining to do don't we?" Jonathan seemed resigned now. As necessary as it was to fully inform her, he was certainly not looking forward to her reaction when they did.

Trip came forward for the first time and smiled at her. It was not his usual elated smile, but more regretful pitying.

"I'll tell it. I've been tha one ta cause ya the most pain, so it should come from me." He sat down next to her, and T'Pol slowly sank into the chair across from him, uneasy about what he might have to say.

"First thing that happened was Phlox saving ma life. He was able ta stabilize me so I could relax enough ta heal. Then we had ta deal with those aliens that were after Shran. After I killed some of their crew, they weren't too happy with me. They sent out a universal message. The general gist of it was that they wanted ma head on a platter. Jon here decided to put me into hiding until it settled down.

Starfleet announced I was dead, and when we stopped at Vulcan for some "repair" work, Jon got a house for me to hide out at. As an extra safety precaution, Phlox decided ta give me some plastic surgery. That was the last part of their protection plan."

He laughed, "I hope ya like ma new look!"

T'Pol didn't know what to think or say first. Here was the man she had torn her heart out over. Here was the man whom she had forced herself into a stark life for, so that she might recover from the pain caused by his death. And he was making jokes.

Maybe her absence in their plan was the logical place to start. "Why was I not made aware of this…"protection plan"?"

Trip and Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. They exchanged glances that clearly said they had dreaded this very question. Jonathan chose to tackle the answer first.

"Weeelll…. We didn't want to put you in danger. We thought it would be easier for you to come to grips with the fact that Trip had survived, then it would be to constantly be in danger because of your knowledge. If you were somehow taken by these aliens, then you would have knowledge that could be vital to them, and deadly to you. We didn't want to risk you getting hurt."

T'Pol stood slowly, her face betraying an anger she had not felt for years.

" I regret to inform you that your precaution were in vain. You have caused me more pain by this deception then any interrogator could ever have induced. "

She walked to the door, her body stiff and her face set.

"Goodbye gentlemen. I do not think I will be seeing you anytime in the near future."

A/N: OOOOO.. what's going to happen? Don't worry, I'm a sucker for happy endings. The next chapter will finish it up. Again, sorry for the wait, we were given about three weeks to move across country. AHH! Hope you like this chapter: )