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"I'd Rather Be..."
Rating: PG No Regrets (5) Archer heard the wailing even before the lift door opened. T’Pol and he both looked away from the situation console toward the lift. Archer saw Navta step onto the bridge looking around it for him. “Navta?” Archer said. He walked around T’Pol and up the two steps to stand in front of her. Navta was gingerly holding her arm and looked up at him with one of her heart-breaking pitiful looks. Archer knelt down, pulling her hand away so he could look at her arm. Her elbow was scraped but it was far from a serious injury. “It hurts!” Navta sobbed. “I’m sure it does. What happened?” “We were swinging on the rope and I fell and rolled off the matt and it hurts.” “And you came all the way up here to tell me this?” Archer asked her. Navta’s wailing renewed. Archer frowned. He pulled her into his arms, picking her up. Archer walked around to the captain’s chair and sat down, holding her to him. Archer pulled her hand away and kissed her elbow. “Any better?” Archer asked her. Navta nodded but still cried. “Shhh. It feels much worse than it is, Navta. Shhh.” Navta started to calm down. “It hurts.” “Scraped elbows are funny that way. You probably dinged your funny bone really good.” “What’s a funny bone?” Archer took her good arm and pointed to the place where here funny bone was. “Right here. It hurts a lot when I hit mine.” Navta sniffed, laying her head on Archer’s shoulder. She held her injured elbow up again. “Kiss it again.” Archer smiled, kissing her elbow. “Better?” Navta nodded. “And a hug for the tears,” Archer said as he hugged her. Navta smiled a little. “Now, you go down to sickbay and find Likos. He can fix it for you, okay?” Navta nodded but didn’t move. “What’s wrong?” Navta shrugged. Archer pulled her closer, resting his chin on her head. “Eartik laughed at me. A couple crewmen laughed at me too,” Navta said quietly. Archer smiled. He kissed her forehead. “They didn’t mean anything by it, Navta.” “It was mean.” “Yes it was, but they didn’t mean to be mean. And I’ve seen you laugh at Eartik when he’s gotten hurt.” “No.” “Nooo?” Archer lowered his head, looking sidelong at Navta and meeting her gaze. “When he fell off the ladder in the loading bay you were laughing.” Navta ducked her head, smiling a little. “He didn’t get hurt.” “He had a nasty bump on his head.” “Yeah bu…he shouldn’t have laughed.” “No more than you should have. Turn about’s fair play, half-pint.” “That means I got what I deserved for laughing at Eartik?” “That means if you laugh at Eartik when he’s hurt, he doesn’t understand that laughing when you or someone else gets hurt isn’t funny. You’re older than he is, Navta. He looks up to you.” “So I’m his captain?” Archer laughed. “Not quite. More like his lieutenant. I think Drista and Likos hold the captain position over you.” Navta smiled. Archer patted her hip. “Go to sickbay and have Likos fix you up. And play nice with Eartik when you go back to the rec room, okay?” “Yes, K’pan.” Navta slid off his lap and walked back to the lift. Archer waited for her to leave before he looked at Trip. “When did I become that kid’s father figure?” Trip started to answer but Malcolm beat him to it. “Between letting them stay aboard and when you started calling her half-pint, sir.” Archer laughed, shaking his head. “Ya know…I don’t recall any clause in my contract that said anything about being an unsuspecting father figure.” Trip smiled. “Mine said nothing about being pregnant or being shot at by aliens.” “There was no clause that said I would have to deal with near death experiences on asteroids or dilapidated shuttle pods,” Malcolm added. “Mine didn’t say anything about near death experiences on asteroids either,” Travis laughed. “Yeah, well, I have you all beat.” Hoshi looked at Archer with a mock glare. “In my bribe package there was nothing that said anything about traveling thousands of light years away from Earth on a starship and being expected to know languages on the fly, without seatbelts.” Hoshi made a dramatic pause and then added, “Sir!” Archer laughed at her. “Yeah! Yeah! It was covered in the compensation package. Didn’t you read the fine print?” “Oh! You mean that bottom part that I would have had to magnified by a few thousand times to read?” Hoshi laughed. “Would any of you exchange the experiences you have participated in for some lesser experiences?” T’Pol asked. Archer looked up. She was standing at the railing behind him, watching Archer at the moment. Archer turned around, looking down at the floor. He smiled. “No.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t change a thing. Not even Navta.” Hoshi turned her chair back around, adding, “Took forever, but I really have enjoyed myself. I’ve learned a lot, seen a lot and it has been amazing.” Archer smiled. He agreed with amazing. Secretly, it made him swell with joy every time Navta called him ‘K’pan’ like he had once called his father ‘dad’. Archer stood and walked back to the situation room with T’Pol to continue plotting out the course for the next three weeks. |
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