Child of Dreams
Dreaming comes so easily, because its all that I've known. True love is a fairy tale but I'm damaged so how would I know... I didn't say all the things that I wanted to say And you can't take back what you've taken away 'Cause I feel you, I feel you near me
Damaged by Plumb
Chapter 5
It was as he had always imagined kissing her would be. It was hot and sweet, with just the taste of surprise, or was it wonder. She felt wonderful, solid and real, and smell so familiar, that he was tempted to bury his face in her neck and just absorb the scent of her. He didn’t. Those lips were a sweet ambrosia and he couldn’t find it in himself to pull away. In fact, he would have continued kissing her were it not for the not so subtle cough in the background.
Archer lifted his head and took in the two men standing behind T’Pol. They seemed familiar as well, but he couldn’t place them. One, the blond, was wearing an impish grin, while the other, a slightly shorter brunette, looked slightly scandalized. It was the blond who spoke. “We’ve missed you Cap’m but I can’t say as that was the reaction I was expecting. Hope you don’t plan on continuing with us.”
Archer blinked. His grip on T’Pol tightened reflexively. Though the woman stood stiffer in his embrace, she did not seem inclined to move away. “Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my dream? In fact, just go away.”
Thunder rumbled angrily in the background, lightening arching across the sky in an eerily horizontal pattern. Archer took loosened his hold on T’Pol and glanced back toward the ruins. Sure enough, he could see a speck of white racing across the grounds, coming straight for him. The voices caught his attention and he turned back to them, surprised their owners hadn’t disappeared with the advent of the storm. The blonde spoke again, this time more urgently. “We have to beam back now, or the storm will interfere with the transporters.”
T’Pol drew away from him. “You must come with us, Captain.”
He tightened his grip on her hand. “You must stay. We need you.”
“Captain?”
Archer shook his head. It was beginning to ache. Who were these people and what did they want with him? Why did they keep calling him Captain? “Stay.”
The two men moved closer. “Sir, we have to go now. We can discuss this on the ship.” The blonde flipped open a device. “Tucker to Enterprise. We have him. Four to beam up.”
Archer took a step back, turning toward the child running up the cliffs. Meyah... “No, I can’t...” The rest of his words were lost as the light absorbed him. The last thing he saw was his daughter falling on the ground in tears, reaching for him.
The man that rematerialized in Enterprise’s transporter room was no where near as calm as the one on the planet. Archer flung himself away from the people surrounding him. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was and how he was supposed to get back. His eyes focused on the unlucky woman manning the controls. His hands clenched at the pedestal as he leaned forward. “Send me back, NOW!”
A hand lightly touched his back. “Captain, you are being irrational...”
He spun to face T’Pol, his hand catching hers in nearly a bruising grip. “I am very irrational! You took me away without my permission and you left my daughter in that storm. She was crying damnit! Send me back now.”
“We cannot. The storms interfere with the transporters. We cannot send you back until the storm passes.”
In his mind, he knew her. He understood and respected her logic, even if he didn’t always understand the circumstances around it. Despite everything, he trusted her. If she said she couldn’t transport him back, then she couldn’t. “Fine. Show me the door. I’ll walk back.”
“Captain...”
“Stop calling me that. I have a name! I am not your Captain.”
T’Pol studied him for a long moment. The man before her was not one she recognized. She should have realized it with the kiss, but it had so overwhelmed her that her logic had failed to prevail. “There is no door you can walk out of... Jonathan... You are on a starship. The starship Enterprise. Your ship.”
His eyes locked with hers. Tears formed, but he forced them back, his hands coming up, palms pressing to his temples as he tried to think. “My poor darlings... they will be so scared.”
A hand curved around his wrist, drawing it slowly drawing it down until she could meet his eyes once more. “Let me take you to sickbay. You’ve been missing for some time, and you obviously don’t remember everything. The doctor may be able to help.”
He gave her a helpless look. He could see the others out of the corner of his eyes, but he didn’t want to face him, so he made T’Pol his focus. “I have to go back.”
“I understand. I will have Commander Tucker keep an eye on the storm. As soon as it is over we will go back down to the planet.”
Unable to think of any reason to deny her, Archer allowed himself to be guided to sickbay.