A/N: As always, thank you to those leaving reviews. And now, time for another twist to the story. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 26

Archer came back to awareness slowly. From what his senses were telling him, he must be on Enterprise. The antiseptic smell of Phlox's sickbay was unique.

The last thing he remembered was Sato yelling. No, that wasn't correct, he thought as his groggy mind started to clear. The last thing he remembered was Shran's desk exploding right in front of him after Sato had shouted a warning. At least he wasn't dead. He shifted slightly, and wondered if death might not be preferable. The burning pain that shot from his side up through his torso and chest was unbelieveable. A groan escaped his lips.

"You're awake," came Sato's voice from nearby, followed by a familiar bark.

Without moving his head, he opened his eyes a slit. Sato was seated in a chair next to the biobed. Sitting on the floor next to her was Dart. Both were watching him intently. His eyelids drifted closed.

"How are you feeling?" Sato asked.

"How do you think I'm feeling?" he retorted sarcastically, although his voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I wouldn't know," Sato responded tartly. "I've never had a piece of wood the size of a chair leg impaled in my side."

Archer's eyes flew open. That explained the terrible ache in his side. He turned his head to look directly at her, wincing as new pain stabbed near the top of his head.

"You have a pretty nasty cut on your forehead, too," she told him.

"What happened?" he grated out.

"You tell me," she said.

"Damn it!" he said, struggling to sit up despite the pain. "Don't argue with me!"

Sato sprang from the chair to try to push him back down on the biobed. "You move around too much and you're liable to make it worse."

The small tussle was taking about all his meager store of energy, and he idly wondered how much blood he'd lost. When his vision started to blur, he gave in and lay back. He could still glare at her, though.

She glared right back.

She was definitely in a snit about something. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it. He'd become an immovable object against her irresistible force. For all the times he'd been impressed by her inner strength and resilience, just this once it would have been nice if she didn't have those qualities.

He peered more closely at her. "You look like hell," he said.

That caught her off guard, he saw, but she quickly recovered. She glanced down at herself, raising a hand to her shoulder to touch the lavender jumpsuit. "If you didn't like this outfit," she said, "why did you give it to me?"

She was being deliberately obtuse. He closed his eyes and counted to ten; there was no sense losing his temper when he couldn't follow through with it. He opened his eyes again to find her looking worriedly at him. She really did look like she'd been to hell and back. A change of clothes couldn't hide the dark rings under her eyes or the fact that she looked so exhausted that she might collapse any moment. Careful to keep his voice calm, he asked, "If you don't mind telling me, how did I get off Shran's ship?"

"Mayweather carried you," she said.

"What about Shran?"

"He's dead," she said. "The blast got him, too. I don't think he meant to kill himself."

"No," he contradicted her. "I'm sure he meant to kill himself. That he might have taken me with him would have been an added bonus."

A strange look came over Sato's face. "You did say he had gone too far with something, and there was mention of a double-cross. What exactly did--"

The doors to sickbay slid open, interrupting their conversation. From the look on Sato's face, however, Archer knew she wasn't done with the sensitive subject she'd just brought up. How sensitive it was, she had no idea.

Hoshi crossed her arms over her chest in exasperation. She'd been on the brink of finding out what Archer had really been up to on Shran's ship when they'd been interrupted by Reed's arrival in sickbay. She would have to hope she could bring the topic up later. She stepped back, covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned, as Reed approached the captain.

"Sir," Reed said by way of greeting. "Good to see that you're still alive."

Hoshi wasn't sure, but she thought Reed was sincere. When Archer inched himself up higher in the bed, she stepped over to arrange some pillows behind his back. She could see that he was in considerable pain as he levered himself into a sitting position.

Breathing heavily with exertion as he settled himself in the new position, Archer ordered, "Give me a report, Mister Reed."

"Shran's ship has been destroyed with all hands," Reed said. There was a strange light in his eyes. The man obviously got off on destruction. "We are currently on course for the Panmikar system, where Imperial forces under Captain Hernandez have engaged the Andorian fleet."

"Any reports how that's going?" Archer asked.

"All indications are that the Andorians are putting up a good effort, but will lose eventually. Enterprise's arrival in a few hours should ensure that outcome, if it hasn't happened by then. Panmikar appears safe."

Archer put a hand to the wound on his side, gingerly touching it as he mulled over Reed's comments. He pulled his hand away with a grimace. "Didn't the doctor give me any painkillers?" he grumpily asked Hoshi.

"Not that I know of," she said. "He's only checked on you once in the time I've been here. And then, he didn't say anything."

"Well, find him and get him to give me something."

When she hesitated, Reed said harshly, "Do as the captain says."

Reed's tone cut through her exhaustion. Hoshi uncrossed her arms and strode off to find Phlox. She checked his office, but he wasn't there. He wasn't in the supply room, either. She finally found him in an adjacent room, feeding his animals. He glanced up when she entered but continued to sprinkle something into a cage full of greenery.

"The captain wants something for the pain," she told him.

Just then the foliage shook wildly. Phlox smiled, although to Hoshi, it appeared to be a sad smile. "There you go, my darlings. That should hold you until tomorrow."

Hoshi shifted her weight. "Now, Doctor."

"Coming," he said. He gave her a wide berth as he walked past her into the main treatment area.

Hoshi wondered if her outburst in the corridor, when he'd been slow to treat the captain's injuries, was still affecting him. He'd complimented her on her assistance during Archer's surgery, so surely he wasn't scared of her. His current skittish demeanor was new, but not necessarily an improvement over his previous indifference.

She watched as he went to one of the cabinets lining sickbay's walls, took out a hypospray, and inserted a cartridge. When he turned around and saw her watching him, he immediately averted his eyes. She didn't know this Phlox the way she did the one in her universe, but this behavior was off even for what little she knew of him.

"What's in the hypo?" she asked suspiciously.

"Um." Phlox swallowed. "Just the standard painkiller."

Hoshi stared at him, alarm bells ringing in her head. "Let me see."

"That's not necessary--"

"Malcolm!" she yelled.

At the sound of footsteps from the curtained area, Phlox took off running. Hoshi made a grab for him but missed. But in dodging her, Phlox was delayed in reaching his objective -- the main door to sickbay. Reed easily caught Phlox, and was holding a pistol to the Denobulan's head before Hoshi was aware he'd pulled the gun from his holster.

"What's your rush, Doctor?" Reed asked, jamming the barrel of the pistol against the doctor's temple.

His startlingly blue eyes wide, Phlox didn't answer. Reed glanced at Hoshi.

"He was getting a hypospray ready for the captain," she told him, "but I don't think it was a painkiller. He wouldn't let me see it."

"Where is it?" Reed asked.

She looked back at the counter where Phlox had loaded the hypo, but it wasn't there. "It must be in one of his pockets."

Still holding the gun on Phlox, Reed checked the Denobulan's clothing and found the hypo in a tunic pocket. He took one look at it and tossed it to Hoshi. "What is it?"

The label on the cartridge was in Denobulan. She translated it. "Lebanea extract."

"I have no idea what that is, but it doesn't sound like a painkiller," Reed said in a dangerous voice to Phlox.

"It's not," Hoshi said. "It's from a poisonous plant on Denobula." She remembered her Phlox once talking about treating a child who been accidentally poisoned by ingesting some of the leaves of the Lebanea plant. "I've heard of it. The amount in this cartridge could probably kill an adult in minutes."

Reed scowled at the doctor. "Really, Doctor. That was a very amateurish attempt at assassination." He dragged Phlox toward the curtained area. "We'll let the captain decide what punishment is fitting for a physician who was going to kill him."

Phlox started sobbing.

"What the hell is all that commotion?" Archer demanded as Reed, keeping a firm grip on Phlox's upper arm and followed by Hoshi, entered Archer's private area behind the curtain.

Dart, agitated by the noise, was on his feet, growling. Archer made a hand motion, and the dog subsided, but its hackles remained raised.

"He was going to kill you, sir, by giving you poison instead of painkiller," Reed said, which made Phlox cry harder. "Shut up!" he yelled, giving the doctor a shake.

The scene had a surreal quality for Hoshi. Archer, injured and now furious, sitting up in his bed. Dart nearby, poised to attack. Reed, righteous anger radiating from him, yet obviously enjoying the anticipation of some sort of punishment for Phlox, probably because he was going to administer it. And Phlox, trying to stifle his sobs, but not totally succeeding. Hoshi felt like a spectator at a very bad play based on characters she knew.

Even worse, she'd somehow known that Phlox had been about to harm the captain. Reed had warned her to watch him, but it wasn't just that. With a start, she realized that she was coming to expect the worst in this universe.

"Phlox," Archer said with barely restrained anger, "I can't believe you'd do this on your own."

The doctor lifted his now watery eyes to look directly at Archer. "I didn't want to do it. Please believe me, Captain. But he threatened to kill me if I didn't."

"Who?" Archer demanded.

Phlox let out a bleat. "I can't say. He will kill me."

Reed poked Phlox with the pistol. Phlox flinched, as if expecting to be shot right there, but he refused to give up a name. "I'm a dead man either way," Phlox said.

"Take him to the booth," Archer ordered. "Maybe then he'll tell us who put him up to this."

The most pitiful sob yet came from Phlox as Reed started to drag him away.

"And get me something to dull this pain," Archer told Hoshi through gritted teeth.

Hoshi knew now was not the time to argue with the captain. He was liable to order her to the booth, whatever that was. From Phlox's reaction, it wasn't good.

She stepped past the curtain to find Reed standing with his prisoner near the main door. He motioned her over. "The captain needs something for the pain, but after this, I don't trust anything in sickbay."

Hoshi nodded. "Phlox might have deliberately mislabeled some of the medications, so I thought I'd get a painkiller hypo from a first aid kit on one of the shuttlepods." She paused and looked at him. "You do have shuttlepods in this universe, don't you?"

An approving smile crossed Reed's face. "You're a clever one." He became serious. "Get Mayweather up here to stand guard until you get back."

Hoshi nodded again. Reed pushed the button to open the door, but he turned back to her. "Oh, and you can call me Malcolm again any time you like." He gave her a lascivious smile before marching Phlox out into the corridor.

Hoshi shuddered. She couldn't believe she'd called him by his first name when she'd needed him to deal with Phlox. It had been totally unintentional. She'd been reacting to the situation, and it had just slipped out as, distracted by Phlox's uncharacteristic behavior, she'd called out as she would have in her universe for the one person available to help her.

As she went to the intercom to page Mayweather, she shuddered again. And to think, there for a few moments, she'd actually thought she'd been wrong about the nature of this Reed.