After an emotional scream, comes a quiet word

Posted on 21 Apr 2012 @ 5:29pm by Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Captain Jonathan Holliday

4,310 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Counsellor's Office
Timeline: MD03 - 1800hrs

[ON]


Dru sat back in her chair smiling as she looked at the stuffed toy on her desk, now known as Markum Jr. Dru was still on a high from the night before. She started to make friends onboard the ship, things were going well with Lirha, she wondered how she had ever feared that things her going wrong.

Shaking herself out of her daydream, Dru looked down at the PADD in front of her containing her unofficial notes for Lieutenant Commander Holliday. Their conversation a few days ago had been general, more a conversation between friends but Dru felt the need to follow up with him and see how he was handling the news on his father. Reaching up a hand, the young counsellor tapped the commbadge on her chest,

=^=Lieutenant JG McCarthy to Lieutenant Commander Holliday; would you have a moment to call by my office or I could meet you at a location of your convience.=^=

Having just finished yet another briefing with more of the junior crew that were slowly making their way onto the ship from the starbase, John had originally been planning to curl up in his quarters with a bottle of wine and call it a night. It might not have been the most glamorous use of the XO's time, but it was going to suit him perfectly. That said, he didn't originally plan on his commbadge deciding to chirp just as he left the turbolift near his quarters.

=^= I'm free now Lieutenant...I'll be right there =^= He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he turned around on the spot and headed straight back into the turbolift. Luckily with such a small starship, it didn't take much of a journey to get to anywhere in particular, and before he had spent a moment longer wondering why he was being summoned, the doors slid open and deposited him onto the correct deck.

As he approached the office doors, John felt almost like a child that had been called to the Principal's office, not entirely sure what to expect, but he had a fairly good idea. Thumbing the chime, he waited nervously to be summoned.

Standing up from her desk with a smile still on her face, Dru straightened her uniform jacket and patted the head of the stuffed toy which was becoming the counselling mascot. "Enter." Leaning back against her desk, the young counsellor tilted her head to the side to wait for John's entrance.

With permission to enter, John double tapped the door panel again and the doors slid open in front of him. The counselling office was starting to get more and more familiar to him for some strange reason, and definitely looked a fair sight better than it had when they were in drydock only a few days ago.

"You summoned me boss?" John joked to himself, he had learned pretty quickly that coming in here with any kind of chip on his shoulder just didn't last very long.

Dru frowned slightly. John seemed to be giving off nervous energy which she found unusual after their previous encounters."I just wanted to touch base, see how your getting on now your settled into your new position. Care to take a seat?" Dru indicated to the two chairs across the room.

Nodding at the offer of s eat, John quickly moved over to one of the spare seats and settled himself in. He never felt happy around these kind of situations, but he understood that sometimes they were required; that said, with the exception of the yearly psych evaluation, he usually tried to steer clear of these things.

"Well, I'm getting some sleep these days which is nice, not being woken up every couple of hours by someone needing a requisition authorised...apart from that I think everything else is ok...how are things settling in for you Dru?"

John still didn't feel entirely comfortable using first names for his senior staff members, but from previous encounters he remembered how little the counsellor approved of him using her surname or rank inside the confines of her office.

Dru smiled softly as she took her seat and folded her legs under her. Purposely over looking John's question, Dru wished for them to focus on him."I'm glad to see you're getting used to using my first name." Settling back into her seat further, "You seem a little uneasy John, is there any particular reason for this?"

"Heh you noticed that huh? Sorry, I just never do well in these sorts of situations...kinda ends up feeling like I'm a lamb being led off to slaughter....I don't do that great when it comes to expressing feelings and things like that....I've always felt better dealing with my problems my way, you know?"

John furrowed his brow for a moment before returning to his earlier expression, sitting back in his chair, desperately trying to make himself look a little calmer, a little more relaxed, anything that would make this process go a little bit quicker so he could escape before he found himself over-analysed. It was true he held nothing against the young counsellor, in fact, he was rather impressed by the professional nature of the young Lieutenant, he just never felt right lumping his problems onto someone else.

Dru paused to think for a moment comparing this to the last number of times her and John had spoken about his concerns and upsets.
"Would you prefer that we moved this somewhere else in which you feel more comfortable? I'm guessing you may be having a problem being able to loosen up as you view this room as being my place of work. You seem to have a serious ethos surrounding work in which you are very focused.Or would it even help if I promised I won't bite if you talk, unless the situation warrants it?"
Dru smiled at John as she tried to see if humor might help relax him, even if it was bad humor.

"Not at all Lieutenant...I'm quite happy to stay here, afterall, it makes the most sense to conduct counselling duties in the correct location - can't have us wandering the ship looking for somewhere that I'm going to feel less on the spot"

Sighing and rubbing the side of his head, John slowly began to move forward out of his chair, becoming less rigid and adopting a more comfortable position. He had to admit that although he would rather be out on the hull during an ion storm than in here, it was something that needed to be done and the sooner it was completed the better.

"I...guess I am a little work focused....I've always been the same way though, when I'm on duty its the ship first and myself second....kinda hard to teach an old dog new tricks don't you think?"

Dru smiled softly while listening to John, "I don't know. From what I've seen you've adapted well to your new ship which I'm sure got a lot of getting used to. Are you sure you're not under valuing yourself too much? If anything, surely old dogs deserve the time they have themselves to broaden their horizons with the life experience and knowledge they have behind them."

"My...experience, shall we say, is mainly with bigger ships, built for fighting, not science vessels....that said...this little bird is certainly getting my attention I didn't realise a ship full of scientists could give such an interesting assignment. I suppose there might be some truth in what you say - you never know, I might even get around to training them all how to fight properly one day"

John shifted in his chair a little, sinking down slightly more as he began to relax. Talking about starship combat operations was always something he enjoyed, in fact some of his fondest lectures given at the Academy were the ones where he was explaining to a dozen different species exactly how the Picard manoeuvre worked, or why charging down a Jem'Hadar battleship in a Miranda class was probably going to end badly.

"But I'm probably getting ahead of myself, there's plenty to be done before now and then anyway"

"Tell me, how are you helping prep the various departments and the ship for the possibility that we may engage with the Kligons?" Dru tried to focus John on talking about what made he most comfortable, Dru recalled he confided in her easier in the holodeck when they had been doing weapons training.

"I'd say its more of a certainty than a possibility...but thats just wishful thinking on my part....our new Tactical Officer seems quite capable, she's got her security teams running drills, figuring out the best way to seal off sections of the ship if we need to, stuff like that. I need to have a word with the Mr Quinn at some point to see what extra oomph we can pack into the shields....I'd rather not be boarded, but with those Klingons its always a possiblity....sorry to be so melodramatic on ya"

John realised that he was probably going a little far essentially betting on the Klingons managing to get aboard, as it stood, he had every intention to stop them before that happened, but as far as determination went, they had to be one of the most persistant species, especially when there was a chance for glory and honour involved.

"I'm sure it won't come to that...after all where's the honour in attacking a bunch of scientists?"

"As the saying goes, better to be safe then sorry, I know I feel safer knowing everything is being done to watch our backs." Dru smiled softly at John as she tucked in her legs further under her. ~"How are you finding things are going with the rest of your senior staff?"

"Well, if I'm honest....not too badly. I've not spent as much time with them as I'd have liked to, but they all seem competent enough. That said as long as they all do their jobs properly without too much personal...involvement, then I don't see us having any kind of problems in long run"

As an XO, John knew that he was supposed to be rigid in terms of protocol and regulations as far as shipboard discipline went, already this week he had needed to give a few of the more junior crewmembers a dressing down for some minor infringements, but his thoughts were always to nip a problem in the bud to stop it from forming.

"Still, its going to be interesting to see how they all cope on our first mission out of drydock...not that I haven't noticed crewmembers wandering the corridors in the middle of the night to visit others, its...interesting to notice to say the least"

Dru remained neutral to the comment. She knew if this was directed at her and Lirha he'd come out and say it directly to either her or Lirha."Is the level of fratanisation causing you a concern? If its impacting a persons work you do have a right to take them aside and have a word."

"Right now? No, nothing to concern me....as long as it doesn't start interfering with people's judgement at least. I expect a lot of it is natural, people being thrown together in a new ship and sent to the frontiers of Federation space, people long for company when they're away from the familiar"

The XO himself had no plans to get towards anything further with anyone that his professional judgement allowed, at the end of the day, he was the one who had to be clear headed and focused in the event of their captain becoming in some way incapable of commanding their vessel, not that the idea was something he relished. He wasn't yet a captain in his own right, but one day he would get there, for now though, he still had plenty to learn.

"But the minute I do suspect it...man I'll come down hard on them, these junior officers definitely need to know where the boundaries are, otherwise the senior staff are going to have a hard time getting their departments to get any work done, afterall, this is a starship, not Risa!" He laughed for a moment as he finished his sentence.

"Sometimes people need companionship of either friends or more on trips where they are being taking away from their families and what they are familiar with. You especially need to factor in how small the crew size is, people are going to end up close. How are you coping with being away from your family John, especially with everything that has happened?" Dru knew this might cause John to withdraw again but this was part of the reason she had wanted to speak with him.

"My family?" John almost choked as the question was asked, that was a subject he had never liked going near, and with recent events, he was even less wanting to express himself unless he truly had to. For a moment, he debating trying to fake his way out of the room, perhaps an urgent report he needed to complete, but he knew that there was never going to be any way for him to escape answering the question forever.

"Well, thats an easy one, I'm an only child, my old man's on his way out, and my mom...well I haven't seen her in a fair while, outside of the occasional subspace message anyway....my ship is my family I guess, or at least, the nearest thing I've got. Suffice to say, I think I'm coping pretty well now....I just...wanna get back to Mars one last time once this mission is done...make my peace as it were"

"Have you communicated with your father since we left Earth?" Dru asked softly.

"Not since that original communique....I've been receiving copies of his medical records every couple of days from Starfleet Medical - he might be a civillian but I managed to pull a few strings to get him transferred to one of our facilities on Mars rather than the usual civillian operations....knowing him he probably didn't approve and spent the first few hours telling them all why the military is not as important as the scientific community"

John laughed for a moment, he could see the look on the old man's face as he read through the transfer orders issued to his existing medical team, but John knew at the end of the day, he would have far better access to much more medical knowledge at a greater speed than anywhere else in the Sol system.

"He might not have a great amount of time left, but at the end of the day...if I can help, I should...."

"That's a good thing you've done for him Jonathan, sometimes all it takes is the smallest of gestures. Have you spoken with your Mum?" Dru settled back into her chair as she felt John was finally starting to open up.

"I keep meaning to, but she's always either busy or we're out of communication range, or I'm on the Bridge and too busy to get to a comm station....its been that way for a while though...I mean, we communicate via letters pretty much every couple of days, more so these days....but face to face, no, not for a while....I'm hoping to get a chance once this mission is finished"

"It's ok to take a step back every once in awhile and fit in a call to her. The ship won't fall apart if you take 10-20mins away from your work to focus on your parents. Something's there's more important things in your life." Dru watched John as she said this, knowing how focused he was on his job, he'd already shown this earlier.

"I guess, I mean I suppose I could make some time....I'm sure nobody would mind if I left the bridge 5 minutes early....I might have to make that happen at some point lieu...Dru"

For a moment John found himself lapsing back into the world of rank and discipline that he so enjoyed, but had managed to regain himself before slipping too far. It was true that he probably should have spent five minutes in front of the comm screen than with his nose in a PADD, but it was only at this moment that he finally agreed that it was something he should do sooner rather than later.

Dru smiled softly across at John. "Make it 10 minutes to give yourself a little you time before you make the call. If you have any issues, speak to the Captain, I'm sure she'll find a way to make it happen." Satisfied John was doing well with his situation at home, Dru decided to move on."On the subject of you time, are you managing to get some downtime for yourself?"

Thinking back fondly to his sparring match against their Chief Science Officer, John was more than happy to grin slightly as he prepared himself mentally for their next match. It was becoming a regular occurance between the two of them, and the level of professionalism and respect between them was certainly growing.

"Most definitely....Chief Barel and I seem to both have a delightful hobby of enjoying knocking the stuffing out of one another in the holodeck...the sparring programs are exceptionally good for burning off any excess stress or energy...and I'd always take a real opponent over a hologram any day....don't worry, I'm keeping it under control though...no danger of me kicking off like our time on the phaser range...."

Dru laughed softly,"I'm not certain which is more dangerous to kick off with, a time during which you've a phaser in your hand or when you've the chance to possible pulverise a person. Assuming your not meeting up with Miss. Barel every single day, have you anyother way to give yourself some down time?"

"To be honest....outside of the gym, or the sparring programs...I don't have a great deal of free time...I keep meaning to replicate a guitar to play with..something I always thought I should learn how...but I never get around to doing it"

John could see what his young colleague was getting at, it was probably obvious to everyone onboard when John was in a bad mood, or when the duties of being an XO had started to wear him down a little, and he agreed, it was probably a prudent idea to start looking at hobbies and interests a little more closely.

"Make sure you make the time for yourself Jonathan, a worn down stressed XO isn't much good to the crew." Dru smiled softly at her XO."Tell me, is there anything you want to talk to me about?"


"I'll be honest...I really don't know what there is that I need to talk about...I guess I've never been very good at connecting with the guy outside the XO's uniform....I guess...I guess a few more of these sessions and I'm sure you'll be able to educate me...just...not a word to the crew ok? I don't want them thinking there's something unstable brewing in their XO...."

"Well Jonathan, you know nothing I discuss goes outside of these walls. Despite there being Betazoids onboard, I'm always ultra cautious about information discussed with me. If people take me on as their confidant I will follow through in ensuring that trust is not misplaced."

Dru swung her feet back to the ground, looking over at Jonathan.

"Maybe I can help you. Would you be free tomorrow night? A crewmember has set me a task of going out and enjoying myself 3 nights in a row, last night and tonight are sorted but I'm stuck for tomorrow."

"Well...its an interesting proposal....I did have a report to finish on the new Tactical upgrades but....it wouldn't suffer if it had to go on the back burner for a couple of hours....alright, in the spirit of ship-board efficiency, I accept!"

John was glad to have something else to take his mind off the situation back on Mars. It was true that he had done a pretty good job of covering up most of his nerves, and for the most part, after the original shock, they had settled down, but he still felt that the mission needed to be over quickly so he could get back with time to spare...at least he hoped that would happen.

"An...unusual mission you've been given as well....some kind of a bet, or just friendly advice from one of our fellow crew?"

Dru laughed softly, "I'll tell you what, it's a very long story so how about I tell you tomorrow? It can be a topic of conversation." Dru found that she was actually looking forward to this now. Tarish had been right when she said that all the counsellor needed was some fun.

"Very well, I'll make sure I leave the comm system open for you....mind if I ask what your other two nights have been taken up by, or is it top secret and need to know only?"

John found himself relaxing a little more now Dru had started to laugh, it felt less like a counselling session and more like an informal chat between colleagues. He had been thinking about making a more concerted effort to get to know his fellow crew members and this seemed like an almost perfect opportunity to make it happen.

Dru looked directly at John, biting her lip to stop an uncontrollable laugh."Well the first night resulted in Markum Jr being created, I'm under orders by a superior the anyone upsets or frustrates me then I'm to hit them with Markum Jr." Dru walked over to her desk and picked up the stuffed toy, throwing it to John."Catch."

It took John a moment to catch up with what she meant before he saw the small toy begin to make its way across the room. Sadly the Commander hadn't quite been quick enough to respond and although he sent out his hands to try and grab it midflight, it ended up hitting him just below his combadge and bouncing harmlessly into his lap.

Picking up the small object, he held it up towards the counsellor, tilting it from side to side as if he were entertaining some unseen baby.

"I....didn't realise this was a Starfleet authorised counselling technique....I may have to start tracking your movements if this is what happens when people give you orders....anyway...I'm the XO, nobody outranks me on this ship...well almost nobody anyway" He laughed for a moment before bringing to toy to a halt and dropping it back onto the couch beside him.

Laughing, Dru picked up the toy and held it face first towards the XO so he could see the seal and his whiskers with a little grey scarf wrapped around his neck, "Ah come on....how can you now love a face like this?" Continuing to laugh, Dru returned the toy to her desk before turning back to John. "Ok then XO, what would your recommendation be if your chief counsellor needs a stress relief?" Dru was genuinely interested to hear what he had to suggest given the last few day she has been through.

"Well" John began, looking over at the seal that has been returned to its rightful place on the desk, grinning as he thought about what the Admiralty would think of such a thing.

"How about once this mission is over, you pay a visit to Mars with me? It's not like it's too far out of the way and to be honest, I could probably do with the company to keep me on the straight and narrow....kinda like work but with a holiday feel to it....hehe, A holiday with a Holliday"

Dru tilted her head to the side as she considered what John was saying. "Double the chance at a holiday? Sounds like it'd be a doubly fun Holliday." The counsellor laughed as she confused herself with all of the holiday/Hollidays. "That would be nice. I have noone to visit or to see when I get back and I've never seen Mars before." Walking over to John, Dru bent down and gave him a hug before she pulled back. Everyone had been so nice to her recently, and now John was also, she just wanted to show her appreciation the only way she knew how to personally. "Thank you Jonathan...and I'll take your challenge and do my best to keep you on the straight and narrow."

"Good. It'll be nice to have some company on the colonies....well then Dru....I have a report to finish before morning, as much as I'd love work to be put aside for a little while, certain things can't wait.....we still on for tomorrow?"

Dru smiled as a sudden idea came to mind. "Absolutely...pick me up at 1900hours? Do me a favour....make sure you dress in comfortable dressy clothes and wear shoes, not runners or any other footwear." Dru was delighted with the idea she had just come up with. It would be perfect to help John come out of himself abit more....who didn't love dancing? She just needed to figure out which type would suit him.

"Understood....I'll see you tomorrow then" John nodded as he collected his thoughts and stood up from the sofa heading towards the door.


[OFF]

LtCdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Holliday
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

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