Caution: Major spoilers. If you haven't already read The Good That Men Do, then I would advise you to tuck this chapter away until that book has been completed. It tells the story of what really happened to Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III, and the fateful end of Enterprise as we know it.

Enterprise belongs to those wonderful people at Paramount Studios and anyone else associated with the Enterprise franchise. No copyright infringement intended in the making of this story.

Second Chance

Chapter 1

She was restless. She had been restless since this morning when Captain Archer had released some unsettling information of what they had found on the surface.

Getting up from her spot on the floor and blowing out the candles that had, on numerous occasions, allowed her to immerse herself in peaceful meditation, Commander T'Pol walked over to her bed and plopped herself gracefully down. Thoughts were whirling around in her head faster than she could sort them out. Where was the logic that she longed for?

Captain Archer had called her to the bridge the minute he had returned from the surface after leaving the ship with Malcolm to finish some "classified business" that even his Science Officer wasn't important enough to know about.

Elizabeth Anne Tucker.

She had been called to the Captain's ready room and told to "hold on to her seat." T'Pol had listened intently as newfound information blurred her senses. Emotions escaped. Thoughts quickly veered in the direction of Trip.

Dr. James Magree had been his name. He had existed as a masked face in a sea of aliens. He had gotten the first transport out of Earth as extra cargo on a trade ship, courtesy of a friend. He had been taken to a planet unknown to him. It had been paradise. But who knew paradise came at a price? He was introduced to a young girl whom he quickly recognized as the baby that he had let go of 17 years ago. If not for the Vulcan ears, she would have simply been another face in the midst of his travels. Her caregivers had died in a war that had been fought on their planet. Elizabeth had survived and been taken to safety. It was only now that she was truly safe.

Elizabeth had become a remarkable young woman. She was wicked brilliant, beautiful, and had a knack for taking things apart. Magree had mentioned the emotions that he had experienced, the memories that had rushed back to him the minute he knew that she was his. Most of all, he was ashamed. He knew that in a year, she could do what she wanted with her life. Perhaps return to Earth. Become an Engineer. Travel the galaxy like her parents and those before her. But he felt that he owed her something, something that could not be handed to her on a silver platter. And then it had hit him.

He waited and watched for Enterprise, constantly on the lookout for when their warp signature would once again cross the galaxy up above. After about a week, he realized that waiting wasn't something that he had to do. He devised a way to bring Enterprise his way, hoping upon hope that his scheme would work. He was dedicated to paying a debt that he owed Elizabeth since the beginning.

Days went by before Enterprise fell for it. Sending a shuttle pod down to the surface, the Captain and Reed met with Magree. The puzzle was filled in for them. The trap had been lifted, and the crew of Enterprise none the wiser.

Trip had been contacted at the same time that T'Pol had been informed. They were indeed parents.

Lies circled as arrangements for Trip to return to Enterprise were made. The Admiral was informed of the change in plans and, more importantly, the change in medical records. Trip was not dead. There was only one thing left to do: meet their daughter.

T'Pol could no longer take it. Getting up, she advanced to her desk. Clicking the monitor on, she got in touch with Trip. He had changed since their last meet.

"T'Pol."

"Trip." They both seemed socially awkward. The love that they had shared no longer flickered. It had been extinguished just as T'Pol's meditation candles had been.

Trip broke the silence. "So, how've you been?" The question seemed so irrelevant to what they were both feeling.

"I am fine. I assume that you have been told about our so called daughter." Emotions flared once more within T'Pol.

"'So called' daughter? I seem to recall someone with Vulcan ears swearing that that kid was ours. Why the disbelief all of a sudden?"

T'Pol remembered back to the discussion they had had when the discovery of the infant was made years ago. It was hard to believe that it had been that long. "She was ours, Trip."

" I get it. She was. Then what do you call this kid?" Before T'Pol could utter a word, he butted in. "T'Pol, do you remember what you said to me when she was discovered? I wouldn't believe that she was ours. But you did. You had faith in the lil tyke and you said that you had a feeling, a feeling that she was ours. That is what I feel now."

She believed it too. Elizabeth Anne Magree, or soon to be Tucker, was theirs. T'Pol regained control before she responded.

"What are we suppose to do with her Trip? She certainly can't live on Enterprise. It is illogical to pursue that path."

"Well, why not? From what I was told, she could give me a run for my money in Engineering."

"Trip, she's too young."

"Yeah but---" Trip was cut off. T'Pol became aware of a beeping. Someone wished to enter her room.

"Trip, I have to go. When will you be here?" T'Pol longed for his company once more.

"As soon as I can be. "

The beeping sounded again.

T'Pol gave Trip a meaningful look. "Good-bye." And with that, she turned the monitor off.

Ba-beep.

"Come in."

TBC.

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I was on a sugar high when I wrote this but thought it wasn't bad so I posted it. Hopefully, it isn't too shabby.