caveofsapphires | All Of These Familiar Faces [OPEN]

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All Of These Familiar Faces [OPEN]

WHO: Trip Tucker (Rudolph Wright) & Major Malcolm Reed (Vincent Stark), open
WHAT: Running into a (not so) familiar face right after waking up
WHERE: Living Quarters
WHEN: April 21st
WARNINGS: All additional threads take place after the first one with Trip and the Major. Tag one or tag both, either is fine!

Could this day get any more ridiculous? First, Trip had had to deal with alien Nazis who were trying to take over the time stream and damn Suliban who tied him up in a closet. At least he'd found out the Captain wasn't dead, so there was one plus. Then, he'd woken up in some strange place and told that everything he ever knew was a dream. That he was really this Rudolph (Rudolph? Really? Wasn't Charles Tucker the Third enough of a mouthful?) Wright guy who'd been put to sleep to avoid some Disaster and that was about all he'd gotten before he'd just stopped listening.

This just had to be another trick. First, the Enterprise had been pulled through time and now he'd been pulled into some other reality. That was the only way he could make sense of this. And he was going to find a way home and nothing or no one was going to stop him, no matter what proof they tried to show him that he belonged here. He belonged on Enterprise, on Earth or in Florida, he'd except no other substitutions.

Trip had searched the room he'd been shown to, and after finding nothing but more frustration, he decided he better go take a look around. There had to be something in this cave that could help him find a way out of here and he was going to find it.

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Despite the fact that his scars were gone, Malcolm wasn't very happy about the overall situation. In fact, it would probably be better to say that he was furious about this. His life was supposedly a lie, something that was made up in a dream? Malcolm could not and definitely would not believe it. After everything he had gone through, he knew it couldn't be a lie.

With his room not giving him any answers, he snatched up the ID card given to him and made his way out of the room. What he wasn't expecting was to immediately come upon somebody from his so-called dream. Without the scars, it took a moment longer than normally to recognize that man nearby was Commander Tucker, but it wasn't like Malcolm was going to mention that.

"I thought you weren't supposed to be real," Malcolm stated with an amused tone to get his attention. "After all, they did say everything was a dream."

At the familiar voice, Trip couldn't help grinning as he spun around, putting his ID in his pocket in the process. "Mal? Malcolm, is that seriously you?" Because it sure looked and sounded like him, amused tone and everything. "They told me the same thing! Sure as hell don't believe 'em now!" They'd even put them beside each other. How stupid were these people?

"You jus' 'wake up' too?" Trip walked up and couldn't resist pulling his best friend into a hug. It was both to reassure himself that Malcolm was real and in relief that he wasn't alone in this strange place.

Edited 2012-04-21 23:20 (UTC)

"Of course it's me. Did you think otherwise?" The look he gives Trip is one was very 'no really who did you think I was.' If he wasn't completely disoriented by everything, he would make a smartass comment, but he didn't, instead deciding to deal with the more important issue at hand. "This seems to be a large screw up on their part if they truly wanted us to believe what we remember was just a dream."

Out of the many things he expected from Tucker, getting hugged by what he thought was the same person was definitely not one of them. He tenses up at the hug and just stares at Trip for a moment before fighting his fight or flight urges to respond to his question. Clearly something had gone wrong with Tucker upon waking up in this place. "Yes, I have just woken up, actually."

"Hey, with everything that's been goin' on, can't be too careful." Trip can't manage any expression besides relief. It really had been a long day but this helped immensely. He couldn't think of anyone better to be stuck in this situation with then Malcolm Reed. "Tell me 'bout it. They even have us roomin' next to each other. Least they coulda done was keep us apart." Not that Trip was complaining but still. Would have made more sense.

While Trip expected a little tensing on Malcolm's part, some habits died hard especially when his friend was stressed, he hadn't expected anything like that. And the staring, like he'd never seen Trip before was very odd. "Are you feelin' alright?" He asked, completely concerned now as he let's go, but keeps one hand on Malcolm's shoulder, just in case.

"So you would have denied saying anything if I said I was Vincent Stark, the name that's supposed to be really mine?" He'd have to remember that in case he stumbles upon anyone else from the Enterprise. Though, it could be far worse and he could have ended up with someone like Hoshi instead of this weirdly upbeat Tucker. "It could be some sort of elaborate trap, trying to trick us into actively working against them so that we can be made into examples."

"Of course I'm not feeling alright," Malcolm grumbles in annoyance as he looks at Trip. Best not to point out that the hug is what messed with him badly. Who knows how this mentally damaged Tucker would respond to that. "Do you think I would be after everything so far?"

"Course not! You don't believe that as much I don't believe I'm Rudolph Wright. Rudolph, can ya imagine a worse name?" Trip rolled his eyes. Really, the ridiculous name didn't help the believability factor. "Malcolm, I know you are prone to paranoia, but do you really think they'd go that far?" Though, it did make some sort of perverted sense. "Guess we'll just have to be careful."

"Well yeah, I guess, but ya looked a little startled when I touched ya." Not that Trip could really blame Malcolm for feeling a little off, but it hurt a little since he thought they were past him being uncomfortable when Trip touched him. Trip touched his friends, he couldn't help it. Though...the more they stood here, the more Trip was getting a weird feeling about Malcolm. He couldn't place it quite yet, just...weird.

Chivy was having a hard time deciding what to do. Yeah, his room was hardly the place to seek answers, but he was pretty sure the rest of the cave wasn't going to help either — especially when they'd been so firm about not talking about his "dreams". Really hard to ask about something without actually mentioning it. What he wanted to do was find out he'd been the target of some kind of seriously screwed up prank. Or maybe he'd fallen off his bike and this was some kind of coma vision. That would at least make more sense, in its own weird fashion.

He reached a sort-of compromise by stepping outside, but kind of lurking in the general area. It wasn't the full commitment that wandering would be, but it also wasn't sitting inside. He took it as a sign of sorts when he spotted someone else nearby and headed their direction. "Hey," he called out, waving. "Are you as confused as I am?"

At the new voice, Trip looked up from one of the most confusing conversations of his life. His hand was cradled to his chest, fingers at odd angles thanks to the man who was definitely not his best friend, no matter how he looked or who he said he was. This Malcolm was crazy!

"Like ya wouldn't believe." He said as evenly as he could, trying to hide the pain in his fingers from the new comer.

Malcolm paused at hearing a new voice and looked up to see Chivy. Damn, and here he was hoping to get more time to examine his handiwork before possibly moving on to bigger and better bones to break if Trip gave him the excuse. Oh well, he could always wait until later to try again. Looking as if he didn't just break Trip's fingers, he turned his attention to the newcomer.

"Of course we are. Who wouldn't be in this sort of place?" Malcolm replies in a bored sort of tone, seeming like he'd rather be elsewhere. "Well, excluding those who woke us up, obviously."

"Am I interrupting?" Chivy hadn't yet pinged on what was going on, but he could tell they both sounded a bit off.

"No!" Trip did not want to be left alone with Malcolm any more and any interruption was more then welcome. Not that he wanted Malcolm to hurt anyone else but he hoped the chances were less with more people around. "Did you just wake up too?"

"Not at all," Malcolm said almost cheerfully as he looked over at Trip. Hopefully this defective version of the commander knew better to say anything about the broken fingers to this new person. "Are you one of the Sleepers too?"

"Yeah," Chivy said, nodding in response to both of them. "I woke up and they brought me back here. It doesn't really make much sense."

Trip did know better but more because he didn't want the new person getting hurt by Crazy Malcolm. He just held his hand close and tried not to look like he was in as much pain as he was. "Sounds like yer in the same situation as us. We were just, uh, discussing how much it don't make sense."

Out of one uniform and into another, Malcolm might not have been the most recognizable to anyone from his world. Pretending to play along had become very tedious, and he was certainly hoping to find something more interesting whenever he was in the office or while he was out on patrol.

'Interesting' hadn't crossed his mind as 'Trip'. Especially when Trip might have been...

But apparently not. T'Pol hadn't been able, in the hours after the battle, to determine if Trip had survived or not, which had been troubling. But he'd come back from the dead or near dead a number of times before. Still, even though it had been years since they'd seen each other, Malcolm had no trouble recognizing him. It was odd, though; last he'd seen, Trip was in the guise of a Romulan. And now he simply seemed...human again.

Still, all pretenses of pretending he was someone the guard force could trust to be an obediant little soldier vanished in an instant, and he rushed over quick as he could. Terrible that he was here, but he was alive. And they'd get out together and figure out their way from there.

"Trip!"

Interesting was getting old in Trip's book.

Xindi, Suliban and Alien Nazis he could handle but this crazy Malcolm was more then he could take. And while the familiar voice saying his name should be comforting in this confusing situation, it only made Trip take a small step back and cradle his hurt hand more protectively against his chest. Oh god, there was another one? What kind of torture was this?

"Malcolm?" He asked in a small voice, not quite willing to believe his eyes so quickly this time.

Still nearby, the major turned his head to look over at who Trip was actually speaking to. Another Malcolm and one with a similar voice to him? This was definitely something he would have to investigate. Walking over to Trip and giving both men a grin that was more predatory than anything, he studies this other Malcolm carefully before he speaks.

"Well now, isn't this interesting?"

Trip's reaction was wrong. Everything about it was simply wrong, and it was concerning--and then he came waltzing back into the scene, and Malcolm stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell?"

Whatever was going on, it was utter nonsense. There was certainly something dark about this doppelganger, something he did not at all like immediately. And Trip--had he done something to Trip, or was this one also just a...a...well, a different one, at the very least?

"Someone had best explain themselves," he barked, wishing he had his phase pistol on him, "now."

It took everything Trip had not to shrink back further when the first Malcolm returned. He was not going to give the creep the satisfaction of scaring him. It would have been better if he could have done something about his hand, as the pain wasn't helping.

"I..." Trip began on the orders of the new Malcolm, the one in a uniform similar to ones he'd seen as he'd been brought to his room, which didn't help Trip trust him anymore then the crazy one. "I just woke up and frankly, I got no idea what's going on." Better to feign ignorance at this point, or so he thought.

The major wasn't at all worried about Malcolm, looking more amused than anything. A doppelganger couldn't stand up to the original no matter how hard they try, after all. Besides, there was no harm in playing with him for a while as he figured out what exactly was going on.

"And what would happen if we decided to not explain ourselves to you?" He looks him up and down, his expression one of disinterest as he does. Clearly someone doesn't think too highly of Malcolm. Putting an arm around Trip's shoulders, he smiles at Malcolm, this being somewhat better than his grin. "You've given us no reason to and I don't feel like explaining myself to you."

"I've probably a better idea than this...whoever this is supposed to be," he scoffed. "Are you injured? I can take you to the hospital, get someone to take a look at that hand." He spared a look at the other, just for a moment, keeping a close eye. And not liking him so casually touching Trip.

"And perhaps on the way we can all explain the situation to each other. The so-called dreams, the names, this place..."

The crazy Malcolm coming near Trip could handle without reaction but touching him? That was another story since the last time he touched Trip, there were broken bones involved. He visibly flinched before attempting to shrug off the arm around his shoulders.

"I think a hospital would be a good idea." He said neutrally. He didn't really want to go anywhere with either of them but a hospital had to be safe place in any situation, right? And doing something about the pain in his hand sounded like a good idea to him. Maybe then he could think clearly enough to make sense of what was going on before any explaining was done.

"And why is that? Would it be that you're one of those Workers? You're dressed like one," he points out calmly. Trip's shrug to remove the major's arm was unsuccessful and he just looks amused at the attempt. "It would be for the best if we went to the hospital. His fingers were broken in an unfortunate accident and we wouldn't want them to heal incorrectly."

"Yes, I do happen to be dressed like one, doing the job assigned to me." Or at least, acting the part, even if he didn't always follow the rules he refused to recognize. "I don't know how long either of you have been awake. I don't know if anyone has any real idea of what's going on, in the end. It seems to be a slow process."

Trip was certainly not a fan of this other him so casually touching. Perhaps he might be more all right if Malcolm firmly grasped one of Trip's arms? To help lead him to the hospital, of course. "Come on, it's this way."

No, it really wasn't alright. Trip's thoughts were along the same lines as what the crazy!Malcolm had said so he wasn't sure he could trust other!Malcolm either. So he didn't want either of them touching him!

He cradled his hand closer to his chest and forcefully attempted to removed himself from both of their holds. "We can go to the hospital but neither of ya need to touch me to do it. In fact, why don't ya just point me in the right direction an' I'll go myself."

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All Of These Familiar Faces [OPEN]

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either? hopefully this works

Hope you don't mind both, at least at first

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not at all! ... and this is why posting from your phone is bad, folks.

I admit, I was laughing <3

I saw nothing

there was a lot of nothing to see.... /shifty look

I know you'd get it eventually!

doesn't matter to me if you want the major still there or not :3

Check with Hawk but I'm good either way!

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