Title: Ours… To Fight For

Author: Chocolatequeen

Rating: PG

Summary: Post Zero Hour/sequel to my fic "What Difference Does It Make?"

Chapter 1:

Earth, which had looked so beautiful only an hour ago, now ominously filled the view screen. From the moment they had seen it, something had been amiss—the orbital stations were missing, Starfleet wasn't responding to their hails, and now they were out of touch with members of their own crew. "Mr. Tucker, Mr. Mayweather, report," T'Pol requested for the third time in as many minutes.

She turned away slightly after doing so, not expecting this attempt to achieve better results than the previous two. A quick expression of surprise flashed across her face when she heard a familiar voice say, "Tucker here… we're coming home Enterprise."

That was not what she had expected to hear. T'Pol arched an eyebrow, wondering what could have happened. Surely they had not already landed in San Francisco and turned in their report to Admiral Forrest, not enough time had elapsed. "Very well Commander, would you both please come directly to my ready room when you arrive?" she ordered mildly, knowing intuitively that something was very wrong.

She wasn't the only one—Malcolm had been on high alert since they'd realized the satellites were gone. Too many things just didn't add up and now… "We'll be there Ma'am," Travis answered, and his voice was hoarse even to Malcolm's  untrained ears.

i

"I wonder what they found,"/i he thought to himself. i"Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't good. I'd better be ready for whatever they throw my way,"/i he told himself, getting his station into even better order than it usually was.

When the shuttle landed, the two officers immediately headed for the ready room, as they'd been ordered. The few people they passed in the corridor looked at them strangely, taking in their stiff bearing and pensive, almost brooding demeanor. Where were the smiling faces they'd expected to see at the successful end of such a long and dangerous mission?

They ignored the looks they were getting though. They had seen some disturbing things in the three years since Enterprise left home, but being shot at by what appeared to be World War II planes pretty much took the cake.

"Travis, we can't tell her," Trip insisted as they got into the lift. "I don't get why you can't see that."

"And I don't get why don't you want to admit that we might be in the 20th century," Travis countered.

"I just… I don't think it's logical," Trip blustered, unwilling to give his true reason. The fact was, thinking about time travel again after their recent experience with the second Enterprise had brought out all the doubts he'd been feeling about his relationship with T'Pol. That Enterprise had traveled back in time, and that Trip and T'Pol had managed to forge a relationship, a marriage even.

Thinking that the same thing might have happened to them brought up all sorts of unpleasant thoughts. After his discussion with Malcolm about having the future revealed to you, he'd been comforting himself with the fact that the timeline had not progressed the way it had for the other ship, so if he did end up marrying T'Pol, it would be because they loved each other. But if they had traveled through time too… if they had, and if they got back to their own time, he'd have to work it out in his head all over again.

"Commander, I just don't think it's a good idea keeping this from her," Travis replied doubtfully, interrupting his thoughts. "What if they really were…"

"That's just it!" Trip interrupted, not wanting to hear another word about time travel or alternate timelines. "We don't know if they were or not, and it's not going to do us any good to go getting the crew all worked up over what may be nothing. Now, just keep it to yourself," he ordered just as the lift stopped. He stepped out onto the bridge, shooting the younger officer a warning look as they made their way to the ready room.

"Were you able to learn anything?" T'Pol asked them, staring intently at Trip.i "He is avoiding direct eye contact, a certain sign that he is hiding something," /ishe realized."What did you discover?" she demanded, determined to hear everything that had happened.

"Well… it's kinda hard to explain…" Trip hedged, not wanting to tell her what they'd seen. "I suppose you could say we were attacked," he said quietly. i"Well it's the truth!"/i he told his protesting conscience. i"Just because I leave out what attacked us doesn't make it a lie,"/i he asserted.

"But why would they attack an Earth vessel?" she rebutted, quickly finding the holes in his story. "That is highly illogical, especially when they must have known we were in the vicinity."

Up until now, Travis had been reluctantly obeying the order he'd been given. However, when it became clear that the Sub-commander wasn't accepting the story Trip was giving her, he decided to tell her the truth. Truth may be stranger than fiction, but in this case it might also be more believable. "The commander isn't telling you the weirdest part Ma'am," he interjected.

Trip tossed him a warning look and said, "Travis…"

"No Commander, I know what I saw!" Travis said, shaking his head emphatically.

Completely forgetting T'Pol was in the room, Trip wheeled on him and said, "We can't be certain! You could be wrong, and this could all be pointless!" he added, waving his hands in the air to punctuate his points.

"Or I could be right, and we could be risking the ship and everyone's lives if I don't tell her."

T'Pol raised an eyebrow, the back and forth discussion between the two men telling her that something of great interest had happened on the surface. "Would you please tell me what you thought you saw Ensign? I will be the judge of it's likelihood and usefulness," she ordered.

Glad to be let off the hook, Travis willingly complied, facing her and straightening as he spoke. "What attacked us… it wasn't Star Fleet Ma'am. It wasn't even from our century."

If Trip had been watching her instead of glaring at Travis, he would have caught a glimpse of surprise flicker in her eyes before it changed to acceptance and understanding. "When exactly do you think it originated, Ensign Mayweather?"

The knowledge that he was being taken seriously emboldened Travis, and he said, "They were World War 2 planes Sub-commander."

 "Travis, there's no way they were antique planes!" Trip argued. It was clear from his exasperation and the quiet patience Travis replied with that this was something he had said more than a few times on the way back to the ship.

"I never said they were antique sir, all I said is that they're World War 2 fighters. P-51 Mustangs, to be precise," Travis expounded, warming to his subject.

"Are you certain Ensign?" T'Pol questioned, cutting off the retort Trip wanted to make. For some reason, he was unwilling to believe this, but she needed to know as much as possible before she could decide on their next course of action.

"Positive Ma'am. I've done a lot of studying of older aircraft. There's no way those planes were anything but Mustangs. My guess is they were P-51 D's, or maybe H's. They were made during the last few years of the war for the Allied forces."

"Sub-commander, with all due respect to Travis here… there's just no way! I mean, if they were Mustangs, we'd be back in 1944! Like I said, there's just no way!" His wild gesticulation had slowed, but he was still shaking his head violently against the very idea. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. It would change everything.

"Commander Tucker, if there is one thing I have learned during my tenure on Enterprise, it is that where time travel is concerned, nothing is truly impossible," she replied dryly. "If we have indeed traveled back in time, it would account for our inability to reach Star Fleet."

"It would also explain the missing satellites," Travis realized, rocking back on his heels as he considered the possibilities.

"That is correct," she said approvingly. "At this point, I don't believe we can rule out any answer."

"But T'Pol!" Trip protested, finally losing the formality he'd cloaked himself in, his anger and frustration getting the better of him. "That's just too bizarre! How would we have gotten here anyway?" he pointed out, crossing his arms in front of him, sure that he'd bested her.

"I did not say I am certain time travel has occurred, simply that we cannot yet say it has not," she told him smoothly. "There's an old adage, 'Eliminate the impossible, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer.' We must start by eliminating the impossible… Earth is still here, so the Xindi did not succeed. That cannot be the reason for Star Fleet's silence. Beyond that, there is research to be done. Mr. Mayweather, I want you to find everything you can on these planes. The more positively we can date them, the better idea we'll have of when we are, if we have indeed traveled through time."

"Yes Ma'am," Travis said before leaving the ready room.

Trip waited until he had left before turning the full power of his disapproval on T'Pol. "What do you think you're doing?" he then railed bitterly, his voice low and tense and clearly expressing his displeasure with her course of action.

"I am trying to discover exactly what has happened here. Even you cannot deny that something is not right," she told him calmly.

"Well yeah, but… time travel?? I thought you didn't believe in that stuff anyway!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

She tilted her head slightly in agreement, saying, "I confess, it still does not set well with my view of science, but certain things I have seen make it impossible for me to deny that it exists. Traveling back to the 21st century forced me to open my mind to the possibility, at the very least."

"Great, just great. Here I thought you'd be all logical and everything, and instead you're turning in to… oh… Daniels or something!" he muttered, plopping down on a chair in frustration.

T'Pol eyed him, curious at his reaction. "I am unsure why you are so upset with this. You never had a problem believing in time travel, why do you find it so disturbing now?" she questioned.

"Because!" he exploded. "Because," he continued more quietly, trying to find a reason to give besides his doubts about their relationship. "Because if we traveled back in time, then we have no way of knowing if our mission really succeeded, or if the Xindi just went right back and made another weapon. And if we traveled back in time, then we could leave a message for people on Earth, or for the Xindi for that matter, and maybe none of it would ever happen at all. Because there's a chance that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to save my baby sister, but I'll never know if it came true."

"I see," T'Pol replied thoughtfully. "You are afraid."

"I'm not!" he protested, backpedaling a little when T'Pol gave him a knowing look. "Well… maybe a little. There's a lot of power that goes with time travel," he said, realizing it for the first time. His original dilemma with their relationship faded into the background as he struggled with the ethics of time travel. "I mean, we could go down there with our shuttles and help out with D-Day, if we're in time," he said, warming to his topic. "There's a lot we could do, but we can't… it's like Lorian said about the old Enterprise. They couldn't go back to Earth, because they would have been contaminating the culture. It's the same for us," he concluded, not hearing that he had just tacitly admitted they were in the 20th century.

T'Pol eyed him for a moment, seeing that he had come to grips with the possibility and was ready to accept his orders. "It is pointless to discuss this further until we are sure of what happened," she said, her logical conclusion cutting the conversation short. "I suggest you take Lt. Reed with you tonight and fly down to the surface. Look for any signs that we have indeed traveled back in time."

"What exactly should I look for?" he questioned, wondering how he was supposed to be able to tell what century they were in without talking to people.

"Look for landmarks that were destroyed in the third world war," she suggested. "Earth is not the same today as it was 200 years ago, there should be obvious discrepancies if we are in the 20th century, as Ensign Mayweather believes."

"Yes Ma'am," Trip agreed reluctantly, still not wanting to believe they'd traveled in time, but now for a completely different reason. As soon as he'd mentioned saving Lizzie, he'd gotten an idea straight out of iBack to the Future,/i and he was sorely tempted to try it. All he'd have to do was leave a letter for her, one that wouldn't be delivered to her until the morning of the attack… he could make sure she wasn't in Florida, he could save her. He knew it wouldn't be right, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop himself, if he had the opportunity.

 "I'll be seeing you at dinner in the Captain's mess though?" he asked, just inside the door. "You haven't eaten much since…"

"I will continue to take my meals in my quarters," she replied brusquely, breaking his gaze to hide the quick stab of pain she felt when she thought about sharing a meal with Trip in a room that still held so many memories of the captain.

As she had hoped, he missed the emotional overtones in her response completely. i"Shot down,"/i he thought wryly, seeing it only as a rejection. i"I want to see if I really do have feelings for her, but if she never lets me spend any time with her, I don't see how I can do that," /ihe groused mentally.

"All right," he said aloud.. "But come back someday, okay? I miss you," he told her with an engaging smile before leaving the room.

T'Pol was still staring at the door when a voice behind her said, "It won't be necessary to send Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed to the surface."

There are people whose voices we remember, sometimes because they are dear to us, and sometimes because they are always bringing bad news. Unfortunately, this was one of  the latter. "Crewman Daniels," T'Pol said evenly as she turned to face him. "Am I to assume this means we have indeed traveled back in time?"

"To 1944, shortly after D-Day," Daniels confirmed, looking uncomfortable as usual in his black rubber suit.

"What part did you take in getting us here?" she asked, coming straight to the point.

"Well… to be honest, you're here because I made a mistake," he admitted, shifting nervously under the Vulcan's gaze.

"That does not surprise me," she informed him, pinning him with a gaze. "I ask again, what have you done?"

"Archer wasn't supposed to die on the weapon, he wasn't supposed to die at all. I can't tell you much, but it's vital that he be present at an event that doesn't happen for seven more years." He got a faraway look, seeing once more the signing of the Federation charter as it had happened in his timeline. If T'Pol couldn't save Archer, none of that would happen. So many things would change, and none of them for the better. She had to get him back…

"And so you…" she prompted, snapping him out of his daydreams.

"I pulled him off the weapon at the last moment. I was just trying to save his life, but something went wrong…"

"As I said, that does not surprise me," T'Pol repeated. Nothing ever went exactly the way the time traveler thought it would.

"…and he ended up in a Nazi hospital tent in Italy," he finished in a rush, wanting to leave before T'Pol could process what he had said.

She blinked, then stiffened as she realized what he meant. "Are you implying that the captain is still alive?" she quizzed, her heart racing at the thought.

"Alive and well," Daniels confirmed, happy to be giving good news for once.

"Then why do you not simply retrieve him from wherever you… lost him," T'Pol suggested, swallowing hard around the last phrase. Captain Archer may still be alive, but he was also still in danger, apparently.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to do that," Daniels said, squirming in his skin. "You see, after my superiors learned what I did, they demoted me."

"Which was no more than you deserved," she said, her words biting. "What exactly do you propose then? I assume you do not want me to leave him here in the 20th century, if he is so important to you."

"I don't have the capability to pull him back into your rightful timeline, so you're going to have to rescue him yourself," he informed her bluntly. "It shouldn't be that difficult, I can tell you exactly where he is and…"

"Mr. Daniels," T'Pol interrupted. "You have provided ample help over the years, we could not presume to ask for anymore," she said, laying the sarcasm on thick. She had finally had enough of his constant interference into their mission, and she was upset enough to tell him so. "No, I think I will send Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed down  to discover his location. Then we will decide on a course of action from there."

Daniels' eyes grew wide, seeing that he had pushed the Vulcan to her breaking point. He was desperate to get Archer back to his own time though, so he tried to argue with her. "But…"

"Your services are no longer needed Sir," she told him curtly, returning to the bridge and leaving him staring at her in surprise.

Meanwhile

"…Er hat von gestern hier gebracht."

"Haben Sie überhaupt gesehen dieser Uniform?"

Jon winced slightly; having to translate the German he was hearing only intensified the headache he had. He'd been awake for a while now, but something had told him it was advisable to feign sleep. Now he was able to listen in on the conversation; luckily, he'd taken German in high school.

i

"Von gestern…"/i he repeated to himself, searching his memory for the meaning. i"Gestern… gestern… Yesterday! I've been here since… Yesterday?? Yesterday! The weapon! I know I set the charges, I could hear them going off behind me. And since I'm not at home, I must not have made it to the beam-out point. So what happened? Did I die, and my German teacher really was the Devil?"/i he wondered hazily.

His curiosity got the better of him, and he risked a quick peek at his surrounding. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't, because the first thing he was confronted with were the unmistakable uniforms of the SS. i"What is happening here?"/i he wondered with a sense of desperation as he drifted back to sleep.

The alien smiled to himself when he saw the tension ease a little from the human's face. He had noticed the quickly concealed grimace earlier, and he knew exactly how long he had been awake. However, it suited his plans to let him have his false security, so he hadn't revealed his knowledge to those around him.

i"It is remarkable," /ihe thought to himself as he looked around at his "superior officers."i "Superior,"/i he thought with a sneer.i "These humans were so anxious to get into space, and yet they cannot control the slightest of expressions. Are they not aware of how pain can be used against them?"/i

From the recent wounds this man bore, he was clearly familiar with pain, and yet he had not managed to mask his reaction to it. What would have happened if someone else had noticed, someone whose only mission was to stop, at all costs, all threats to the Third Reich?

i

"And then the others, why did they not see it? Was it not as obvious as the points on a Vulcan's ear ? They did not even notice when he opened his eyes a fraction. Transparent and oblivious, how did they ever manage their first week in space, much less three years?"/i

Keeping quiet, he followed the other officers out of the tent, making his plans as he walked the dirt path. i"Archer cannot be allowed to return to his own timeline, the Federation must not be formed," /ihe reminded himself.i "However, he has no way of getting out of this hospital, much less back to the 22nd century," /ihe reasoned, unaware that the Enterprise was in orbit, just waiting for an opportunity to rescue her captain. i"Yes, I believe I can leave this war to the humans for now,"/i he decided, cutting off the path toward the mountains where he was to meet the transport that would take him back to his own world and time.

He was only a lieutenant. No one paid him any attention as he wandered up the path—perhaps he was simply getting a breath of fresh air. None of them knew that he was deserting, just as they didn't know he'd never really been part of the SS to begin with.

i"Yes," /ihe thought just before disappearing around the bend, i"I will leave the humans to their own petty wars. I have followed my orders in my own war, my work here is done."/i