Author's Note
I was just watching what should have been the real ending of Enterprises' final season- revision's going real well as you can see. And I was inspired to write this.
Disclaimer - I don't own Enterprise, or much else for that matter.
Summary - One shot, an added scene to Terra Prime. Trip and T'pol say their final goodbye to their daughter.
Trip's jaw clenched as he watched the silhouette of the doctor pass the curtain around his bed. The once jovial doctor had spent the previous few hours immersed in his research, not taking a break and investigating a way.. any way to try to save the life of Trip's newly found daughter.
Now the doctor was coming to tell Trip whether the little life could be saved, changing Trip's life forever or that their was no hope. Trip didn't think he could once again face being told that he was going to lose someone else he loved. It was just like when his little sister Elizabeth had died.
Trips eyes filled with moisture, NO he couldn't loose someone else close to him. His daughter would survive, she had to, she had to! With that Trip swallowed back his tears and looked up at the doctor who stood next to him.
The Denoblian's features gave nothing away Trip feared the worse. "its.. its not good is it doc?'' Phlox's eyes immediately travelled to the space next to Trip where the first ever human Vulcan hybrid slept. She looked so vulnerable just lying there hooked up to the numerous sickbay machines. It wasn't fair what had been done to her. It made the usual friendly and pacifistic doctor surge with anger. Oh how he would like to introduce the men that had done this to some of the more dangerous creatures in his menagerie.
"doc?"
Commander Tucker's voice brought the Denoblian out of his musings and back to reality. His focus returned to the man that now stood in front of him.
"Yes commander, I apologise my mind was elsewhere…. I have completed all the research I can." Phlox stopped, he too was trying to fight back tears. "I am sorry Commander, there is nothing I could do. The damage is too severe. The techniques they used to create her were flawed…. She's dying. "
Trip's lip quivered. His entire frame shook, holding back the tears.
"Will she…. Will she be in any pain." he whispered looking towards the doctor.
The look on the engineer's face made Phlox's hearts break. The Doctor had entered the medical exchange programme to get away from his family, experience new things. He didn't expect he would meet a new family, here aboard Enterprise. The nearing death of Trip and T'pol's daughter hurt as if she was his own. What he felt though paled in comparison to what the two commanders were going through.
"She will not feel anything, for her it will just be like falling asleep. There will be no pain." The Doctor answered.
Trip nodded, "That's good." he replied his voice overflowing with sadness. He moved ever closer to the incubator containing his daughter. His hand touching the glass, trying to get as close to her as possible. The movement alerted Elizabeth and her eyes turned to look at her father. Her eyes found his.
They were the same light blue eyes Trip had, but unlike his, they were full of happiness. They shone with an innocence and naivety that only children had. She didn't have any prejudices, any understanding of what had been done to her. Trip broke down. Tears streamed down his face, it wasn't fair. He had only just found her, why did she have to go? She hadn't done anything to anyone, yet she was being punished for the actions of others. His frame was wracked with sobs.
Sub commander T'pol stood at the entrance to sick bay. She had already consulted the doctor's research and knew there was nothing that could be done. She had gone to her quarters to collect the IDIC pendant, its meaning a cornerstone of Vulcan civilization. T'pol had seen it fitting to bring it to Elizabeth. The phrase 'Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations' never seemed more fitting. Elizabeth was the first human/Vulcan hybrid, she represented what was to come, the future of Human's and Vulcan's.
T'pol had just heard the doctor finish telling Trip of Elizabeth's fate. Emotions and thoughts overflowed onto her through their bond. They overwhelmed her already emotional senses. Her sensitive Vulcan hearing picked up on the end of their conversation. She could hear Trip's gasps, he was crying and the emotions which her culture taught her to suppress surged through her. Her flawless Vulcan façade shattered for mere seconds, but it was enough. She started edging forward and came to stop by Trip who was staring at Elizabeth. He turned to look at her, his eyes red from tears.
"how could someone do this T'pol? We've travelled light-years around this universe to introduce people to humanity and this is what were introducing people to." He said, his voice breaking.
"A race who plays god with innocent children's lives and screws anyone that stands in the way. It's not fair, she shouldn't have had to go through all of this." he cried.
His anger and sadness flowed through their bond. T'pol stroked his face, her hand wiping some of the stray tears away.
"Trip, in every culture there are those who live to disrupt harmony. During my time here all I have seen is the greatness of your world the actions of one group doesn't reflect the majority of your civilization." she answered. Her hand moved away from his face and he captured his hand in hers.
She moved closer to the incubator and attached the IDIC to it. Elizabeth looked up and T'pol locked eyes with her daughters. T'pol's Vulcan mask faded and the sadness she felt showed on her face. She grasped Trip's hand slightly tighter.
"Phlox said it won't be long now till….." Trip's left the sentence hanging, his voice almost non-existent.
The two Enterprise officers looked down at their little girl. Everything else was blocked out. All that mattered was them, their little family. Elizabeth looked up at her two parents. Being Half Vulcan meant a small bond had formed between them, she could sense her parents. She could feel their emotions and when they were close by.
She could remember the place she was brought before here, it was scary. She didn't have the comfort of her parents, the feeling of safety, their feelings of love. But she did now. Her eyes connected first with her mother, and then with her father. They looked sad but she didn't know why. She also felt the love that was radiating from each of them for her, and for each other. Elizabeth's face changed into what looked like a smile. Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted off.
The monitor's around her started frantically beeping, alerting Doctor Phlox. He hurried over to the young child and her parents. He scanned the data being displayed on the screen. His heart's broke. It was Elizabeth's time to go, there was nothing he could do for her. All he could do was switch the monitor's off and give her some peace. He did exactly that and the noises ceased.
Phlox looked over to the two stricken parents. They both knew nothing could be done, but that didn't make it any easier. Trip had his arm around T'pol, their hands were linked and both had their gazes locked on their daughter.
Elizabeth drew in her last breath, for once she was truly happy. She wasn't in that strange place anymore. She was with her parents, where she should be. It was going to be alright from now on. She was home……
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