A/N #1 The dialogue in this 'Prologue' was taken directly from 3x11, "Carpenter Street" – except for the word 'approximately' at the end. All the descriptions and inner-thought snippets are from my own imagination.

A/N #2 (for the people new to Star Trek: Enterprise, who may not be familiar with the full names of the characters) I didn't want to keep saying 'Archer did this', 'Trip did that' or 'Daniels said this', so I jumped around a bit using different versions of each character's name – ie. Jonathan/the captain/Archer; Trip/Tucker/the cheif engineer; Daniels/the temporal agent

PROLOGUE

It had been a while since Jonathan Archer had snuck to the kitchen for a midnight snack. When he did, it reminded him of when he was a boy and he and his dad would creep down to the kitchen for a piece of his mother's homemade chocolate pie. Such a simple recipe that had been passed down through their family, originating with his great-great-great-great-great grandmother, but oh-so delicious!

Archer generally resisted the urge to ask chef to make it because he knew he'd be inclined to eat the whole thing on his own, much the same way he and his father had all those years ago – and he was the first to admit, at least to himself, that his metabolism wasn't what it used to be.

Porthos, of course, preceded him into the galley size kitchen. The dog, however, had only one snack in mind – cheese! Knowing that it wasn't good for him but always weighing life with the quality of life, the captain often capitulated and gave his tiny friend small pieces of his favourite treat once or twice a week. Sometimes more, depending on how bad his week had been. Because making Porthos happy always cheered Archer up, as well!

There had been quite a few of those weeks lately, and this was one of them. If Jonathan wasn't careful, Porthos would be coming out of the Expanse quite a bit rounder than he had been going in.

As he turned to toss one final piece of cheese to the beagle, he found Daniels squatting down scratching the dog behind the ears.

"How've you been, Jonathan," the temporal agent asked fondly.

"It's about time you showed up," Archer replied, not quite matching the tone. He wasn't the same man Daniels met two years previous. "Our mission has changed quite a bit since the last time I saw you. But I suppose you're aware of it."

"I am," Daniels confirmed, expression grim.

"Maybe you could fill in a few of the blanks for me. The Xindi weapon would be a good place to start."

"We don't know any more than you do."

This both surprised and annoyed the captain. "I thought you and your colleagues were supposed to be keeping an eye on the timeline. You're from the 30th century, hasn't all this happened already?"

"History doesn't mention anything about a conflict between Humans and Xindi," Daniels explained patiently.

"How can that be?"

"The events that are taking place are the result of temporal incursions. They are not supposed to be happening."

"But they are happening," Archer insisted, temper flaring.

"Yes, they are. But the outcome hasn't reached us yet. It takes a while for changes to ripple through the timeline."

"The time traveller, the man the Suliban worked for – "

"What about him?"

"He's the one who told us about the weapon being built. Should I believe him?"

"You have no reason not to," Daniels advised.

"You said I'm supposed to play some crucial part in history. Does this have something to do with it?"

"I wish I could say that it does, but I don't know," Daniels told him earnestly. "I told you, none of this was supposed to happen."

"You're not being very helpful," Jonathan griped, pushing away from the counter in anger and giving the temporal agent his back. Then a thought occurred to him. If Daniels wasn't there to give him more information about the Xindi weapon, then… "Why are you here?"

"We've detected three Xindi where they're not supposed to be," Daniels said, tone turning urgent.

"This Expanse is filled with Xindi."

"I'm not talking about the Expanse. I'm talking about Detroit, Michigan," Daniels explained. "Approximately 150 years ago."

TBC