Chapter 5

T'Pol watched as the captain and Hoshi left sickbay. She was just about to turn to the other two when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It felt reassuring and she turned to face Trip. She looked into his eyes and saw the calm and gentle look he gave her. For the hundredth time since this had happened, she was glad to have him at her side. He always knew how to calm her and steady her when things got to be too much. Now she said

"I have been in contact with Star Fleet. Admiral Gardner called this morning wanting an update on the captain's condition. Ambassador Soval was with him."

Trip blew out a breath and said

"Soval was there? I suppose now he is looking to get Enterprise back to Earth and..."

Before he could finish T'Pol said

"The Ambassador was present on Earth at the time the captain...broke his arm. He remembers the incident well and is requesting to meet us in three weeks to try and help."

"And just how does he expect to help?"

Trip was not too happy that the Vulcan wanted to get into the middle of this. From everything Jon had ever told him about his encounters with the ambassador as a child it wasn't good, and it never seemed to get any better. So why would he want to help now? It could only mean something bad.

"According to the ambassador, when he first met the captain, it was a few weeks after he had arrived on Earth. He mentioned that the captain was a normal earth child and that he had been polite to him and had not shown any resentment towards him. But after this incident, he noticed a change in his attitude."

Trip let out a chuckle and said

"I'll bet. After having dealings with that..."

Before he could continue, he saw the look on T'Pol's face and said

"Okay sorry. It just makes me mad to think that anyone would treat a child that way."

"Yes, I understand, but what has happened, we can't change, we can only hope to help the captain now. Maybe we can get the child to understand now what he has learned over the last four years that all Vulcan's are not out to destroy his dream of space exploration."

Trip stood there for a moment and then he said

"You're right darlin, sorry I got a little heated there. It's just Jon's my best friend...best friend I ever had. He's like a big brother and I have always looked up to him. It's hard to see him like this...although I have really enjoyed getting to know the child in him. You know, it was always there, that same child like wonder of the universe."

T'Pol nodded. Even from the first time she had laid eyes on this 'illogical' human back on Earth, she had seen that lust for exploration in him. As she had gotten to know him better, she had also come to admire him and she knew she would also protect the 'child'.

"Well we have approximately three weeks till they arrive. From what Phlox has said, he'll be eleven years old by that time, so we have a lot of work to do. I just hope he can handle it all."

She raised an eyebrow at him and for the first time in a while she allowed a faint smile as she said

"He's Jonathan Archer...He'll adapt."

"I hope you're right. From what he's told me, he use to call Soval Mr pointy ears behind his back."

That comment got him both eyebrows raised.

When Hoshi and Jonny got to the mess hall it was already crowded with people. Jonny immediately saw Malcolm and Travis and made a bee line to their table.

"Hi Mal, Travis can Hoshi and I sit with you?"

Travis grinned and said

"Sure you can."

Malcolm was a little uneasy around the captain and didn't say anything until he saw the look on the child's face. He was looking at him with a hopeful look and finally Malcolm relaxed and smiled and said

"We'd love to have you eat breakfast with us."

He was rewarded with a brilliant smile from Jonny. Hoshi had joined them and now said

"Lets get our breakfast and then we'll be back."

She led Jonny over to the food, and they both got what they wanted and returned to the table. Jonny carefully placed his plate on the table, then climbed up to eat. Malcolm was surprised that what the child had chosen was similar to what the man would have chosen, eggs,bacon, toast and a glass of orange juice. The only thing missing was the mug of coffee. Now he was happily eating. Malcolm looked at Hoshi and smiled. He was beginning to get use to seeing the captain this way, but he also hoped that Phlox was right and that they would soon have their captain back. Malcolm took a bite of his breakfast and said

"Where's the commander this morning?"

Before Hoshi could speak, Jonny said without looking up from his breakfast

"He's talking to that mean lady."

Hoshi stopped and said

"Jonny, T'Pol is not a mean lady."

Without waiting he said

"Yes she is...all of them are. One of them pushed me and I fell and broke my arm...all of them pointy eared people are mean."

Jonny continued to eat as if what he had said was complete truth. As far as he was concerned they were all the same. Travis looked at both Malcolm and Hoshi and then said

"Jonny, T'Pol is second in command of the ship and the captain considers her a great help in commanding this ship."

Without a blink Jonny said

"Then the captain is stupid. They're all mean."

"Jonny!"

Hoshi was shocked that he would say that. Travis was coughing trying not to laugh and Malcolm had a twisted look on his face. Jonny looked at Hoshi for a moment with a defiant face, then his face lost all its anger and he dropped his head and said quietly

"I'm sorry, Hoshi, I shouldn't have said the captain was stupid. Please don't tell my mom and dad. They will punish me if they found out. And don't tell Trip...I think he likes that lady."

Hoshi tried to look stern, and looked at the other two sitting there and was about to ask what was so funny, when it hit her. The captain had just called himself stupid. Suddenly, she couldn't help herself she began to laugh. Now Travis couldn't hold it back either and began to chuckle too. The more Hoshi laughed, the more Travis laughed. Malcolm was able to control himself but he was smiling. Jonny just looked at them, letting his eyes rest on each, a look of confusion on his face. What were they laughing at? He didn't understand. Then he thought that they were laughing at him. His face fell even more and tears formed in his eyes and slid down his cheeks. His new friends were laughing at him. Why would they laugh at him? Maybe they weren't his friends after all. He quickly got up and ran out of the mess hall intent on going to be with Porthos. As he ran towards the quarters he was sharing with Trip, he could hear Hoshi calling out to him, but he didn't stop, all he wanted now was to get to the dog.

When he reached the door and quickly entered the code to open the door and rushed in. Then he quickly locked it and, breathing heavily, turned and saw the beagle right next to him with a worried look in his kind brown eyes. Something was wrong with his master, and he was determined to make him feel better. Jonny went to the middle of the room and slumped down and buried his face in the scruff of the dogs neck and began to cry in earnest. Porthos practically wrapped his body around his master and whined as he tried to comfort him. After a moment, the door slid open and Hoshi, Travis and Malcolm came in but stopped short as the small dog began to growl and bear his teeth at the three. No one was going to get close to his master. He didn't know what was wrong, but he wasn't letting anyone near his master.

Hoshi had never seen Porthos act this way, and tried to approach, but the dog refused to let her. He moved to place himself between the captain and the others still snarling. She stopped and gently said

"Jonny, what's wrong? Why did you run off like that?"

He didn't answer her. He was clinging to the beagle and he felt safe. Porthos was his friend and he knew that he would protect him. And he wanted Trip. Trip was his friend and would also protect him.

"Please Jonny why are you crying?"

Hoshi was close to tears herself. To see her captain so upset was something she wasn't use to. All she wanted to do was scoop him into her arms and comfort him, but Porthos wouldn't let them near to the boy. Finally they heard a muffled voice say

"I...I...don't want to...to..talk to you...I want...Trip."

This was more than Hoshi could take and she now broke down with tears of her own. She turned and began to leave and as she got into the corridor, she came face to face with the commander.

"Hoshi what happened?"

Trip looked concerned and seeing Hoshi in tears, he wasn't sure what to expect.

"He doesn't want to talk to me...he wants you."

Trip turned towards the door and as he did he said

"Wait here, I'll see what happened."

As he entered the room, he could hear Porthos and saw both Malcolm and Travis standing there. He looked between the two other men and the dog and saw that Jon was still wrapped around the small dog.

"Porthos..stop."

Trip said a little sternly. The dog let out a whine and thumped his tail a bit as he watched Trip. Trip was family and he obeyed him, but he still eyed the other two with a small growl. Trip turned to them and said

"Why don't you two wait with Hoshi and I'll get to the bottom of this."

They nodded and went to wait outside the quarters, the door sliding close behind them.

Trip turned and looked at the boy and his dog. He could see by the body language of the boy how upset he was and he could tell by the relaxed body language of the dog it was okay to approach them. He slowly walked over and settled down next to Jon. He was still clinging to Porthos, but now was using the dog as a pillow instead of hiding his face. Taking a deep breath Trip finally said

"Tell me what happened."

At first Jonny said nothing, then barely above a whisper he said

"They laughed at me...I...I thought they were my friends."

Trip looked at him in surprise.

"They laughed at you? Why would they laugh at you? Are you sure they were laughing at you?"

Trip couldn't believe that the three of them would laugh at the captain. They all respected him and he knew they looked up to him.

"They did! They laughed at me!"

Once again he buried his face in the dog's fur and Trip saw the hackles begin to rise on Porthos' back. He gently place a hand on Jon's back and began to rub it. Watching Porthos he saw the hackles begin to settle.

"Okay, why don't you tell me what happened."

Jonny finally turned to face Trip and said

"We went to the mess hall for breakfast and when we got there Mal and Travis were there so I asked if we could eat with them. We got our breakfast and then when we sat down, Mal asked where you were and...I...uh...said you were with..."

He stopped and looked at Trip with embarrassment but with the encouragement on Trip's face he continued

"I said you were with that mean lady."

He hide his face again in Porthos. Trip thought a moment and then said

"You mean T'Pol? Jonny, T'Pol is not a mean lady. She is well respected on this ship and she has been a big asset to the Captain and crew."

With a muffled voice he said

"When I said the captain was stupid to like her, well they laughed at me."

For a moment Trip was silent then he said, a little mirth in his voice

"You called the captain stupid?"

By now, Jonny had climbed into Trip's lap and now he hung his head and nodded. It took all of Trip's control not to laugh. The idea that Jon was calling himself stupid was funny. He could now understand what had happened. Wrapping his arms around the boy, he said

"They weren't laughing at you, Jon, they were laughing at what you said."

Jonny still wasn't sure what to think.

"You mean what I said was funny? I don't understand. If my mommy and daddy were here, they would punish me for saying something so bad."

Trip said gently

"Well, its hard to explain at the moment, but lets just say it was funny."

"Please don't tell the captain I called him stupid. If he heard what I said he'd be really mad at me."

Trip knew that as soon as Jon got back to normal, he full well was going to bring it up and tease him on this, but for now he just said

"Don't worry, the captain would understand. Now can you do me a favor?"

Jonny looked at Trip and nodded.

"I want you to try and get over this notion that all Vulcan's are mean okay? T'Pol is a great lady and she is very worried about you."

Jonny thought for a minute, a confused look on his face and then said softly

"She is? Really?"

When Trip nodded he screwed up his face and thought for a moment before saying

"Okay, I'll try. I know you like her very much. Are you gonna ask her to marry you?"

That question threw Trip. He looked at Jonny and sputtered

"Now where did you get that idea?"

"Well whenever she's around you get a goofy look on your face."

For the umpteenth time, Trip cursed Jon's power of observation, something he seemed to have developed at a very young age.

"Well that's something we can talk about later too. Now lets go tell the others that we are alright."

Trip got up with Jonny still in his arms and walked towards the door, Porthos on his heels.

TBC

A/N

Sorry it took me so long to get this update out. Things have been pretty hectic, but I promise I'll be better.