A/N #1 This chapter has scene snippets from the episode 'Carpenter Street', but they're altered to fit Trip joining the captain, instead of T'Pol. I depicted the episode in broad strokes so as not to bore the fans who saw the episode, while also acting as a Cliff's Notes, so to speak, for those who missed it or can't remember all the details.

A/N #2 Name jumping still applies. Archer = Jonathan = the captain; Trip = Tucker = the chief engineer

A/N #3 Slight spoiler for "Similitude" (3x10) near the end of this chapter.

CHAPTER ONE

Archer sounded the chime. Fully aware that his friend hadn't been sleeping well lately, he felt bad for waking him in the middle of the night.

"Come in," Trip's voice called from the other side of the door.

He sounded exhausted as usual, but he didn't sound like he'd been sleeping. Archer sighed sadly, recognizing the implications of that he let himself into his chief engineer's quarters.

The bed was made, not even rumpled. A cup of still steaming black coffee sat on the desk next to the computer, and Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III was fully dressed in his Starfleet uniform, sitting in the chair next to the desk. Taking in the surroundings, Jonathan eyed his best friend with concern. "I'd say 'sorry to wake you' but… are you even trying to sleep anymore, Trip?"

"Not tired," the chief engineer said, though the dark circles under his eyes told a very different story.

This development made the captain even more certain of his decision. He'd been debating his choice all the way from the kitchen. Trip had lost his sister six short months earlier and, if he were honest with himself, Archer felt guilty for not being there for his friend when he needed him the most. Part of him was dreading being reminded of that culpability during this mission into the past.

But he could see now how desperately Trip needed a break, time off the ship – even if it was to chase down three Xindi on early 21st century earth. And maybe it would give Jonathan a chance to make up for his lack of attention. He knew Trip would accept his apology, there was never any doubt about that. He just wasn't so sure he deserved to have that forgiveness so readily given to him.

"What can I do for ya', Cap'n?"

"I just had a visit from Daniels," he revealed.

Tucker's eye brows leapt up almost to his hairline. "Well, that guy really likes to just pop by unannounced, doesn't he?"

"Daniels says that he and his team have discovered three Reptilians on earth – "

"What?" the chief engineer got to his feet slowly, eyes flashing dangerously.

The small quarters held a tension in the air that could be easily cut with a knife. Trip had a definite animosity toward the Xindi. They all did, really. But Trip was the only one on the ship with a more personal vendetta against them. Another reason Jonathan had been uncertain of his decision to take Trip along, as opposed to, say, T'Pol.

"Have you informed Starfleet?"

"No – "

Before he could finish, Trip was headed for the door. "What do you mean, no? We need to tell Admiral Forrest, right away – "

Archer blocked his access to the door, pushing him gently back. "Starfleet can't do anything about it, Trip. The Reptilians were spotted in the early 21st century."

"Oo-kaay," he drawled, taking it way better than sub-commander T'Pol ever would have. "Well, they're certainly not there to make friends, Cap'n! How can I help?"

T'Pol questioning his decisions was a definite asset and, Archer dared to say, she had become a friend. But it was kind of nice having someone trust your instincts, hands-down, no arguments.

"You can come with me," Archer told him without hesitation. "Daniels is sending me back to stop whatever the Reptilians are planning. But I can only take one person. I need someone I can trust, Trip. And there's no one I trust more than you."

A small sampling of the old Tucker greeted him for a moment as a wry grin spread across the exhausted features. "Aw, Cap'n, you're makin' me feel all warm 'n fuzzy inside."

"Shut up," Archer retorted, unable to completely hide his grin. "You're also the only history buff I know."

Tucker actually blushed, making Jonathan's heart warm by several degrees. It'd been a while since he'd seen that tinge of pink on his friend's cheeks. "You usually give me a hard time about that, sir."

"Not this time. You were at the top of your class in Starfleet's history program, Trip. And, who knows, even all those classic movie references you're always spouting off might end up coming in handy." Jonathan headed for the door. "Be ready at 0800 tomorrow. And do me a favour? Look up clothing people would have worn in 2006, okay? We don't want to stand out too much."

"You got it, Cap'n!" Then, as Archer stepped out into the hallway. "What time of year? Detroit, Michigan can be pretty cold in the winter. I'm thinking we'd stand out a bit in short shorts and a t-shirt."

Archer laughed. "Pretty sure we'd stand out in short shorts no matter what time of year or era we landed in, Trip." Tucker inclined his head in agreement. "But, you're right. I hadn't thought of that. Find a few different options for us. I'll ask Daniels and let you know what I find out."

The captain set out to make whatever preparations he needed to make. As the doors closed, Trip turned to his computer to do his part. Research fashion trends for 2006. Brush up on his Earth history.

Each wearing jeans, t-shirt, and a leather jacket – brown for Tucker, black for Archer – the two men made their way to the turbo lift. Daniels told Jonathan that they would be travelling to late May, 2006.

"The last time Daniels sent you to another century, you had a difficult time coming back. What's to keep that from happening to us?"

Archer held up a small, handheld box. "He gave me this. Said he'd return us whenever we signal him." He opened the box to reveal several other contraptions, each covered with tiny blue lights. "These are temporal tags," he explained. "We'll use these to bring back anything we find that doesn't belong there."

"You think these Reptilians are planning to leave behind some kind of weapon to destroy Earth. Before our ancestors created warp technology."

"It'd be a sure-fire way to ensure we never become a threat to them."

T'Pol was waiting for them just outside the turbo lift. "I am not certain this is a good idea, Captain."

"Your concern is noted. But this is something Trip and I need to do."

"Understood. Just remember," she began, ensuring both men's rapt attention was on her, "if, and I stress the word 'if', time travel does in fact exist, it is extremely important that neither of you do anything to alter the way history is supposed to play out. If you do, the possible ramifications are endless."

"Got it," Archer said.

"Commander Tucker?" T'Pol intoned, knowing full well which one of the two men was the loose cannon.

"Butterfly effect," Trip replied. "Got it."

T'Pol's head inclined to the side, confusion colouring her features. This was one movie Archer remembered. Trip had made him watch it after his first encounter with Daniels. He'd had to admit it was a half decent movie.

Now, he silently chuckled at T'Pol's perplexed expression. Hiding his smile, he quickly translated for her. "He understands."

"Excellent," she said, continuing to peer up at Tucker.

Archer wondered, not for the first time, about the rumours surrounding these two. He usually didn't put much credence into gossip but this situation could call for an exception to the rule. He even watched them himself occasionally. Purely out of curiosity. As far as he was concerned, they weren't breaking any rules. If two members of his crew, especially when one of those members was his best friend, found happiness in each other's arms, Archer certainly wasn't going to stop them. Times were tough with the threat of this Xindi super-weapon, and everyone needed companionship once in a while.

He couldn't deny sensing chemistry between his two senior officers. And couldn't help but wonder if T'Pol had any insight into how Trip was doing with his grief over the death of his sister. He almost wanted to ask her when they got back but changed his mind just as fast. He'd find out from the source or not at all. He didn't deserve to know about Trip's new relationships until he'd mended their own.

As he and Tucker stepped onto the turbo lift, he realized he wouldn't want to be taking this trip with anyone else.

As soon as the turbo lift doors closed, Jonathan and Trip found themselves standing on the streets of downtown Detroit, Michigan – circa May, 2006.

"We just travelled 90 light years back to Earth in 2 seconds flat!" Trip exclaimed.

"And almost 150 years into the past," Jonathan added.

"I'm sorry, sir. I know, we're on an important mission 'n all…? But that's just friggin' COOL!"

Jon smirked at Trip's obvious excitement, something he hadn't seen in his friend's eyes since the attack on Earth. The captain never thought he'd say it, but time travel had gotten a bit old for him. For Tucker, though, this was a first. And, Archer had to admit, his best friend's ability to find a tiny bit of joy even in these potentially dire circumstances was contagious! They were best friend's, after all. When Trip was happy, Jonathan was happy.

Before the violent and unexpected death of his baby sister, Elizabeth, Charles "Trip" Tucker III had almost always been the one to find the silver lining. Up until this moment, Jonathan hadn't realized how much he had missed that fact. How much he had depended on Tucker's ability to raise his spirits in times of despair.

Archer had always thought that he would return the favour should their situations ever be reversed. Unfortunately, when Trip's world had been turned upside down by the loss of Elizabeth, the world itself had pretty much been in a state of devastation as well, and Archer had had to step up to bat for Humanity in a very big way. That responsibility had put a huge weight on his shoulders and he just hadn't felt able to handle anything else at the time.

It was sad but true, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few – or, in this case, the one. But couldn't he have set aside at least one evening to be a shoulder for his best friend who had done the same for him more times than he could count? His musings were interrupted by said best friend moving to stand shoulder to shoulder with him, undoubtedly sensing his captain's change in mood and offering some moral support – which only served to make Archer feel even worse about dropping the ball on their friendship six months previous.

"So, where to?"

Archer buried his feelings of guilt for the time being and consulted the handheld device containing the map Daniels had given him. After a brief moment, he said, "This way."

First thing they had to do was find a mode of transportation. Neither liked the idea of stealing a vehicle but there was really no way around it. Tucker spoke of this era having buses and taxi cabs but, based on his description, neither of those methods would work for their purposes. So, they had made the mutual decision to procure a car or truck illegally with the stipulation that they would compensate the owner generously for their, albeit unwitting, contribution to the 'Archer and Tucker try to save the world' cause.

For the first two vehicles they came across, the multi-purpose handheld device Daniels had given the captain revealed each one had a motion-activated security system. The third was unlocked but had what Tucker referred to as a 'boot' secured to its passenger side tire. The chief engineer explained that he'd seen in a couple movies how cops would do that because the vehicle had a number of outstanding tickets against it and the boot wouldn't be removed until after the tickets were paid in full.

Or, on other occasions, it was a contraption the less than scrupulous owner of the vehicle would use to work the system, making it look like the boot was attached. therefore deterring passing police officers from fastening on another.

They confirmed the 'boot' was in-fact secured to the tire, then moved onto the next vehicle. The driver's side window was down and none of the tires had a boot secured to it but, when Archer reached through the window to open the door, a large dog took an extreme dislike to the would-be thieves, not caring in the least about their cause.

When the captain jumped back from the car, closing the door in the same instant, Trip chuckled: "Certainly ain't Porthos, is he?"

"No," Archer agreed. "No, he's not."

"Good guard dog, though."

"No doubt about that."

The next vehicle in question was a 4x4 truck. Unlocked. No boot. And, perhaps more importantly, no large, salivating dogs.

Only problem? No fuel, either. Or very little of it, anyway. So, they had to use one of the handheld contraptions Daniels gave them to procure some cash from a nearby ATM, as well.

Trip hadn't seen many movies that actually showed people filling their vehicles up with gas, except for perhaps what he referred to as one of the best coming of age movies of all time – American Graffiti. But that was made over 30 years prior to their visit. Regardless, between the two of them, they'd figured it out and were soon on their way to scan for Reptilian bio signs throughout the city.

Unfortunately, Daniels' device only had a scanning radius of 3 kilometers. At Trip's suggestion, they decided to start in the downtown core, then spiral out from there. A method he had seen in yet another movie in his vast collection. Or was it a television show? Archer had no idea, but he was beginning to wonder about his theory that his friend's classic movie knowledge would help them in this mission… then they found the alien visitors and he mentally kicked himself for ever doubting the man.

He figured that maybe he should start trusting Trip's instincts the way Trip seemed to trust his.

The exterior of the abandoned warehouse seemed to offer very little intel. They knew all three Reptilians were inside and Archer had found a Neutronic power source coming from the first floor, but that was it. The two were looking for a way inside when Trip's voice came over the communicator – "A car's coming, sir."

Archer got the warning just in time to find cover as the vehicle pulled up to the gate and the driver was promptly admitted onto the property. He watched as an average sized man got out of the car, then extracted a wheelchair out of the… what was it that Trip called it?... trunk? Seemed innocuous enough. Until the man then dumped another unconscious man into the chair and wheeled him into the warehouse.

"Are you seein' what I'm seein', sir?"

"Yeah, Trip. I've got an idea. Let's fall back to the truck and regroup."

The plan they decided on was to follow the suspicious driver home, subdue him and somehow force him to tell them what they needed to know about the Reptilians' plan. Archer stood outside the apartment door waiting for the signal, still unable to believe that a member of his own species, a member of the human race he was fighting to protect, was actually assisting the Reptilians in achieving their goals!

He glanced down at the bio-scanner once again, confirming one person was still inside. He looked up again and his gaze found a tiny glass circle on the door and part of him wondered what its purpose could be.

"In position, sir," Trip said softly over the communicator.

"Copy that," Archer replied. "Be careful," he added.

"Guy looks like a weasel, Cap'n. I got this."

"There's no telling what kind of weapon he might have, Trip," Jonathan admonished. "Watch yourself." It wasn't too long before that he had almost lost Trip to an accident in engineering. And still had to watch an exact look alike die in his place.

Archer couldn't count the number of nights he'd woken from a nightmare that it had been the real Trip who had died that day. After spending hours trying to convince himself it had been just a dream, he would make up any reason he could to visit engineering the next day to ensure his dream had been wrong! Sometimes he even popped by the chief engineer's quarters in the middle of the night on one pretense or another, each time fighting the urge to hug his friend fiercely when he opened the door.

"Sorry, sir. I'll be careful," Trip replied, sounding sufficiently chagrined. "You do the same," he added.

Archer knocked sharply on the door. When there was no answer, he glanced down at the bio-scanner again. As they had predicted, the 'weasel' as Trip had called him, was headed for the far end of the apartment which, based on the exterior, would likely be a window. The blip disappeared from the screen. "He's coming to you," Jon called into the communicator.

He kicked at the door, much the same as he had seen done in some of Trip's favourite movies, but the wood held firm. Okay, harder than it looked, then. He tried again. The door splintered inward and Jonathan rushed inside, leaping over the clutter to get to the open window. He knew Trip was waiting at the bottom of the fire escape but he'd been serious when he said they had no idea what kind of weapon this guy might have.

So, concerned for his friend's safety, he raced down the steps after the weasel – which is what he would be calling him until he found out the guy's name… perhaps even after that because he couldn't really think of a more apt name. Suddenly, he heard the sound of flesh and bone meeting flesh and bone! He leaned over the handrail… and smiled.

He'd forgotten about Trip's mean right hook. Weasel was down for the count.

As the captain questioned Weasel, Trip made his way around the apartment, opening file folders which contained medical information and stats for various patients, eyeing the vials of Methohexital. He heard Weasel say that he was trying to make some extra cash by selling the stuff to people on the street. Using Daniels' scanning device, he accessed the drug's information:

Trip stepped over to the chair Weasel was tied to and read aloud the information on the screen:

"Methohexital sodium is a rapid, ultrashort-acting barbiturate anesthetic. Huh. Tell me, Weasel, why would anyone on the street want access to this type of drug?"

"Will you please stop calling me that," Weasel implored. "My name is Loomis. L-O-O-M-I-S."

Trip and Jonathan shared a look. "Nah," they intoned simultaneously.

"Weasel fits you better," Trip informed him.

"Ha ha," Loomis retorted. "Very funny."

"You make it a habit of climbing out your window when someone knocks on your door?" Archer asked.

"I don't like cops."

Trip, who had resumed his search of the chaotically decorated apartment, turned to make eye contact with Jonathan. They hadn't said anything about being cops but the misconception could certainly play to their advantage.

"Tell us about your friends on Carpenter Street," Archer ordered.

"I've never been to Carpenter Street."

Fed up with the circles Weasel was talking in, Archer stood up so abruptly his chair crashed to the floor. Nose to nose with the guy now, he bit out, "You were there an hour ago with a man in a wheelchair! Now, tell me who's inside that factory!"

"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about! I think it's time you find me a lawyer."

This was something else Archer had seen in some of Trip's favourite movies. "Untie him," he said, deciding to pay the appropriate part but only willing to take it so far.

Trip was standing in Weasel's bathroom, eyeing with distaste the pizza box sitting on the sink – what kind of man eats in the bathroom, he thought to himself as he stepped over the clutter to do as the captain had , definitely the best name for this guy!

Thinking he had gotten his way and bullied his way out of the situation with the mention of lawyer, Weasel rubbed at his wrists and said, "That's better."

But he barely had the words out of his mouth before his jaw was brought up close and personal with Archer's fist. Trip looked on, face grim, as Weasel was roughly hauled back to his feet and deposited unceremoniously back into the chair.

He knew the change in his captain was necessary given their ongoing mission to save Earth from the Xindi – didn't mean he had to like it. He sometimes worried about what lines Jonathan Archer had been forced to cross so far. That they'd all had to cross. Even more so about the lines they had yet to cross.

But he had to believe that there was a way back for all of them. A way for them to once again be the explorers they had set out to be.

The captain gave a nod to Trip who immediately caught on and tied Weasel firmly to the chair again.

"I didn't feel right doing that with you tied up," Jonathan revealed, bringing relief to Trip's heart. The Jonathan Archer he knew and loved was still in there. "Carpenter Street."

"You're not allowed to hit me."

"Untie him again," Archer told Trip.

"Wait! No, no. No!"

Apparently, the threat of another sock to the jaw was all it took to get Weasel talking. He explained that he'd never seen the man he'd been doing business with, having only dealt with him over the phone and a couple of times in the shadows. The guy was tall. That's all he knew.

He went on to describe his assignment to kidnap eight people for 'medical experiments', one person for each blood type. When he mentioned getting paid five thousand dollars for each unwilling participant, double for the last three, Trip felt like punching the guy himself!

"He said he wasn't going to hurt any of them!"

Like any part of this 'assignment' sounded on the up and up. In order to keep himself from knocking Weasel out – again! – Trip turned and took a few steps away, breathing deep to calm his nerves, despite the distinct stench of the apartment. He only half heard the remainder of the conversation.

"You are going to do it again, if you want to stay out of prison."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm your next patient."

Weasel was surprised.

Trip… was panicked. "Cap'n – " incorporating a rare move, he took Archer by the elbow and gently, yet insistently, led him over to the other side of the room. "I can't let you do this, sir," he whispered urgently.

"You can't let me," Archer repeated, unable to hide the smirk on his face.

"You know what I mean, sir," Trip clarified, blushing just a little bit at his wording.

"You think it's not a good plan."

"No, sir. I think it's a great plan. Get a man on the inside. I just think that man should be me, not you."

"Trip, I appreciate your concern but – "

"C'mon, Cap'n. If anythin' were to happen… Enterprise needs her captain."

"She needs her chief engineer, too," Archer said softly. He paused to let that sink in before placing a hand on his best friend's shoulder, "Trip, if you seriously think I am going to let you go in there when I almost lost you just a week ago, you are sadly mistaken, my friend."

An emotional moment passed between them, one that could not be deciphered by the prying eyes of Weasel or anyone else. A moment that embodied a ten year friendship that held at its core an unbreakable bond and mutual respect, which had gradually evolved into one that felt more like a father-son relationship.

Going for the lighthearted approach, Trip said, "What if something goes wrong? How'm I supposed to carry you outta there? You got 3 kilos on me, remember?"

Jonathan grimaced at the not-so-subtle reminder of their weight difference but threw in a barb of his own – "It's all muscle, Trip. You just need to start spending more time at the gym," he joked. Seeing the remaining concern in Trip's eyes, he clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Nothing's going to go wrong."

From his spot on the floor in front of the passenger seat, Trip watched Weasel half carry, half drag the captain from the backseat to the wheelchair that he'd kept in his trunk to make the next transfer easier on his back. They had no idea if the Reptilians watched the move of each patient from the car into the factory or not. Better safe than sorry.

Trip laughed derisively at that statement. This plan was anything but safe for his best friend. He couldn't bear the thought of losing the man he had come to think of as a surrogate father – whoa! Where had that little nugget come from? Jonathan Archer would be the first to point out that he wasn't near old enough to be Trip's father. Besides, Trip already had a dad. Granted, there had always been a little friction between them, especially since Elizabeth died and 'even being on a starship', Trip had been able to do nothing at all to stop it!

That was a dangerous road to go down, so Trip tried desperately to put an end to it. Elizabeth…

Thankfully, before Trip could finish his internal musings, Weasel returned and climbed back into the driver's seat. Bad timing – for Weasel, anyway.

Trip aimed the phaser pistol at him steadily, a hard glint to his eye. Part of him wanted the guy to try to make a break for it so he could experience the joy in shooting him. The pistol would be set to 'stun', of course. He didn't want to kill the guy. Just wanted to stun him.

Because the after-effects of the stun would leave him with one heck of a headache – Trip could attest to that personally.

"Drive," he ordered, the hard edge shared between his gaze and his voice now.

"Nice laser gun. You expect me to believe that's real?"

Needing this guy to drive so that Trip could remain out of sight, Trip forced himself to fire a test shot at the driver's side door instead of at the target he really wanted to shoot at. The smoking, char mark in the vinyl of the door was proof positive that the gun was not a toy!

Weasel immediately put the car into gear and backed out of the lot, grumbling the whole time about the money he was going to miss out on. Was this guy for real?! Once again, Trip had to resist the urge to just zap the guy on sheer principle alone.

As it turned out, things did go pretty smoothly. And Trip did get to shoot Weasel, but only after the guy warned the Reptilians of Trip's location by leaning on the car horn. Jonathan killed two of the Reptilians, and he and Trip worked together to stop the only remaining one from releasing the disease they had created to annihilate humanity.

Now, it was time to go back to their own time. But Trip didn't want to go back. Not yet.

They watched in silence as the Reptilian bodies vanished, presumably now waiting for them on Enterprise. Sensing something was wrong with his chief engineer, Archer turned concerned eyes on him. "What is it?"

"Nothin', Cap'n. I'm fine."

"Trip," Archer said, not buying the lie for a second.

Tucker sighed. May as well just say it. "In 148 years, Elizabeth dies."

For the second time that day, Archer reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know it's silly," Trip said, his chuckle humourless. "But at least, in 2006, she hasn't even been born yet." He kept his eyes focused on the ground at his feet, not wanting to appear weak in front of the man he looked up to the most. Best friend or not.

Archer squeezed the tense shoulder, trying to gain eye contact and failing. "We need to go back, Trip."

They stood in silence for a moment. Jonathan kept his hand on the younger man's shoulder, offering what support he could in the moments they had before signalling Daniels. He vowed silently to dole out even more TLC to his friend back on Enterprise. They just didn't have time right now. He ignored the voice emphatically telling him that fact wasn't going to change anytime soon.

"Yeah, I know," Trip admitted on another sigh.

The captain watched him bring his thumb and forefinger up to pinch the bridge of his nose, granting him the time he needed to pull himself together. Cursing himself for not just pulling his friend into his arms like he so badly yearned to do.

There. Just. Wasn't. Time.

And wasn't that ironic. They had just travelled through time to save the Earth. They should have all the time in the world.

Archer was in no rush to return to a home with a 4000 kilometer long crevice from Florida to Venezuela and 7 million fewer people in the population either.

But sometimes what is wanted and what is needed are two totally different things.

With that thought in mind, Archer pulled out the device Daniels gave him. Standing shoulder to shoulder with Trip, he pressed the button to signal their readiness to return home. Heavy hearts notwithstanding.

Neither of them were prepared for what happened next…

TBC

A/N Please review if you're interested in reading more...?