Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, avatar picture etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: My apologies for the delay! I like to thank Dinah for her beta services. Many thanks also to my readers and reviewers. I genuinely appreciate your support.

Trip and Ko-Kai T'Pol are from the RU, Charles and T'Pol from the MU.

Music: Standing In The Storm by Skillet


The planet was barely M-class and a harbor for smugglers, thieves, and deserters of numerous armies. It was a perfect place to sell a new vessel and hide, which they did in a small room near a bar.

It had been T'Pol's idea to come here. For her past she knew a female smuggler of Tellerite origin, named Res, who could help them. And it was a small detour from their final destination, Ceturnia.

They had hidden the shuttle carefully and it had taken hours to sneak into this place without being detected. Charles – who couldn't shake the feeling that they're being watched – searched the place from top to bottom, but no surveillance cameras were found. He did however find out that hygiene was not on top of the list for the owner of this motel. The room was sparely decorated with two beds, one closet and a glass jug filled with dirty looking water that was placed in the corner. On the ceiling a light bulb was hanging, which illuminated the room with dim light.

"Are you sure this Res-person is going to help?" he asked T'Pol after he finished his last inspection. "Even if she wants to buy the shuttle, we still need a good ship, extraordinary shields, cloaking technology, warp trail distributors."

T'Pol's eyes widened, vulnerability and pain mixing with the brown. Then her face turned stoic again and Charles wondered if he had imagined it. "I helped Res in the past, she would do the same for me."

From an Adorian male behind the bar, T'Pol had managed to retrieve some clothes and local money in exchange for items from the shuttle. After she changed her clothes into an ugly patterned dress and matching scarf to cover her ears, she went out in order to get some food at the local market. She came back with what appeared to be the local pretzels, brown looking vegetables, and a container filled with a watery substance, which turned out to be a local soup. She also handed Ko-Kai T'Pol a pair of strange looking ear plugs, putting her pair away in the pocket of her dress

The food tasted like mold, but Charles wasn't complaining. None of them had eaten all day. Because there wasn't a table in the room, they placed a blanket on the floor and settled next to it. The music from the bar was still audible: weird, atonic, a variety of high-pitched sounds. Suddenly, the music changed. It was still atonic, but Charles could hear a sort of saxophone, a drum, a piano. It almost sounded Terran.

"What is that music called?" T'Pol who had been unusually quiet the whole time, spoke.

"It sounds like Earth Jazz," Ko-Kai T'Pol remarked calmly, while trying to eat a pretzel with utensils.

Trip swallowed the last bit of his pretzel down. "You know Jazz?" he commented, clearly surprised.

"I used to have an interest in that kind of music," she confirmed.

"In Hess's music overview there was not such a thing as Jazz," T'Pol said, a slight frown on her face.

"That's because Jazz is an illegal music style in the Terran Empire," Charles explained. "But why the sudden interest in Jazz?"

T'Pol's seemed to hesitate at first. She avoided looking at him as she said "Ever since Tolaris's torture, I have nightmares. In one of them, I see a woman, dressed in white, her head is covered. This Jazz music is playing. There is also something that looked like the Terran weather phenomenon, fog. The nightmares are based on my memories being distorted by Tolaris. But this memory is new for me."

Ko-Kai T'Pol looked puzzled. "It looks like a memory of mine. But that wouldn't be possible, bond mates share dreams, not counterparts. There must be another logical explanation."

The women discussed the matter further as they finished their meal. After awhile they concluded it was some strange coincidence.

xxx

After a few hours, both T'Pol's settled in for the night. They tried to turn off the light, but were unable to.

Charles looked at T'Pol, lying on one of the beds, her eyes closed as she breathed softly. He envied that she stayed so calm. All he could feel was unrest.

He walked quietly to Trip, who had settled on the floor, his back against one of the walls. Charles sat beside him. "Remember the three boxes we took with us? They contain my research, prototype and special materials, so a brilliant engineer like you can build a new transporter. With or without the help of Korek, we will make this work."

In the dim light of the room, he saw Trip's features change into joy. Trip grasped his shoulder. "We can't thank you enough."

"You're my counterpart. It's my job to look after you," he said. "You're an example of how my life could have been. Did you know my father used to call me Trip?"

"He used to? He passed away?" Trip inquired.

"When I was eight years old," he replied and before he knew it, he'd started to tell his story. "He was murdered. And after his death, no one called me Trip ever again." He felt a sadness welling up in him, remembering that fact.

He had Trip's full attention. "Who killed your father?" he asked.

"A business partner accused him of treason against the Empire. Soldiers came to our house and took him away. As a family, we had to watch his execution." Charles had wanted to stop the soldiers, the madness and pain. But he was only eight.

"After my mother remarried, my stepdad realized I was a genius and soon the Empire took control of my life. From a son of a traitor, I became an engineer. As long as I kept my nose clean, I could work and live. "

He paused. "This is the first time I am free. I still expect the soldiers to barge in any moment, because they have found us." He looked around the room. "Guess I am lucky this time."

"You could see this as a new opportunity for you," Trip said, kindness in his voice. "And perhaps for you and T'Pol."

"Still want to fix me up with T'Pol?" Charles responded. He didn't want to think about T'Pol. First, they needed to get away from this planet. They needed a new vessel and Trip and his T'Pol safe and sound back in their own universe, before he could think about a new life for himself.

Trip gave him a wry smile. "You're willing to give your life for her freedom. And she dragged you into the shuttle in order to save you. You both seem to care. "

"We made some progress," he agreed, "but if it's enough, I don't know."

xxx

They talked some more, before Trip decided to get sleep. Trip slid in next to Ko-Kai T'Pol on her bed, moving one arm under her body and placing his other arm on top of her stomach, holding her close. Ko-Kai T'Pol immediately seemed to soften at his side, moving slightly closer. Her right hand formed into a two-finger gesture, touching Trip's fingers. It was such a beautiful sight of total trust and comfort that Charles struggled to control his emotions. Not for the first time, he felt a stab of envy seeing them together.

He couldn't and didn't want to sleep. He just sat there, his back against the wall, phaser in his hand. He thought about Lizzy, wondering if she was really safe. He thought about his mother. Had she already heard that he was no longer a member of the Terran Empire? He listened to every crack and sound in the rooms nearby, all the whispers of unknown languages from the visitors of this motel. He expected that one of them might have been sent by Reed to arrest him and Trip and the women, but as the night went by, the sounds died out and nothing happened.

He watched T'Pol sleep. In the dim light he could see her delicate features, her pointy ear piercing though her long hair, her body moving in the rhythm of sleep. He knew what it was like to be sleeping next to her, his nose nuzzling her neck, smelling her lovely coppery smell, his arms around her, like Trip now was doing next to his T'Pol.

His mind wandered off to times he shouldn't be thinking about and he forced himself to focus on something else. In his mind he started to outline the repairs and modifications needed if they purchased a new vessel. He was about to retrieve his PADD from his backpack to write his ideas down when T'Pol stirred in her sleep.

She moved restlessly, trashing the bed, before she woke up with a soft yelp, gasping for air. Eyes wide open, she stared at him without seeing. Then recognition came simultaneously with a feeling of fear and shame which washed over him. A song with the word Aksh'lz started singing in his head. He had heard this word before in his head, not knowing what it meant. And now, something clicked in his mind. Without a doubt, he knew the meaning of this alien word, a heartfelt "sorry" in Vulcan. It was the weirdest sensation. And every time he heard the word Aksh'lz in his mind, the rage he felt after T'Pol had invaded his mind and destroyed the fragile trust between them, diminished.

"Bad dream?" he said, lowering his voice. She took her ear plugs out, her eyes dark pools of brown. He repeated the question.

"Yes," she said, still out of breath. "Meeting Res brings back memories."

He didn't asked any further. Instead, he said "When you talked to your mother, you used a Vulcan word. It sounded like "Ask Liz".

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Aksh'lz. It's a Vulcan word."

He snorted. "Of course it is. What does it mean?"

"I am sorry." It sounded simple enough, but the timbre in her voice, the way she lowered her eyes, it were all indicators that Aksh'lz was far more than a simple sorry.

He took her hand and squeezed it lightly. "Go back to sleep, T'Pol. No one is going to hurt you."

Her eyes softened and she squeezed back. "I will," she said, before settling down again. It sounded like a promise.

xxx

He must have dozed off, because when he woke up, rays of morning light crept into the room. He noticed T'Pol rise quietly from the bed. She made the final preparations before her meeting with Res. He got a strange feeling of sensing her emotions when she said goodbye to him.

"Nervous?" he asked softly, not to wake the others. She never had admitted before that she was anxious, even when he could sense she was. He expected her to shut him down with one look or to snap back at him that she never was nervous. But instead, she nodded, a Terran gesture that didn't seem to fit her.

But instead she nodded. "I met Res in the dilitium mines when I was a child," she said. "We grew up together. One time one of guards harassed her, but I distracted him. He came after me." Her whole demeanor became rigid. "That's one memory I don't want to relive."

He froze. He knew exactly what she was telling him. He felt a rage bubbling inside of him, a hatred against every man who had hurt her in the past, combined with a sadness of what this universe had done to her. His bad eye prickled, but he blinked it away.

T'Pol looked sharply at him. "You're angry," she concluded.

"But not at you."

"Charles," she said, her eyes avoiding his. Her voice was soft and low. "I know my actions have hurt you and I am deeply sorry. I never had a normal relationship. My father died in combat when I was young. I always had to protect myself. But I am willing to proceed with this relationship by trial and error."

He realized he wanted the same thing. When she had manipulated his brain, he was hurt beyond repair. But every time he seemed to be pulled back to her. She had risked her life for him. And he would do the same for her in a heartbeat.

Her fingers caressed the scars of his cheek. She always had accepted his disfigurement without hesitation, while he loathed his scarred face in the mirror. "I must go now."

"Don't get yourself killed, darlin'," he whispered.

xxx

T'Pol's efforts had been successful. Res bought and dismantled the Defiant shuttle and sold the parts. In exchange Res provided them with an old but solid vessel with good shields to withstand the pressure of the interphase corridor. It took a few days before the new vessel was fully operational, but Charles loved every minute of the repair time. This new vessel had so many possibilities They left the planet and headed to Ceturnia.

Finally their end goal was reached. Entering the atmosphere of Ceturnia, T'Pol laid in a course. "We will land a few miles from the house of Vallar. We believe he knows the location of Korek and my mother."

The landing went without any trouble. On the surface, the scorching wind welcomed them, crashing brown grains of sands in his face. He looked around to see a dry deserted place in red and brown colors. During their walk towards the house -Trip in the front, he behind the women - the wind had intensified. Standing in the storm, the sandy wind made it hard to see anything. But when they came closer to the house, he saw two shadows, walking towards them. Trip and both T'Pol's had noticed it too, because their bodies snapped into a new level of alertness. Even more closer, he noticed the persons coming towards them were dressed in robes, head covered by a wide hood. Charles took his phaser. "We're looking for Vallar," he shouted in his best Vulcan.

"You have found his house," one of the strangers replied. His voice sounded familiar and there was something about his voice that alarmed him. "Welcome, Tucker, T'Pol," he added, taking off his hood. Through the wind-blown sand he saw the face of the stranger.

It was the face of his own nightmares.

It was Tolaris.