Challenge Accepted

Posted on Fri Jan 3rd, 2014 @ 4:54pm by Lieutenant Commander Robin Swift M.D., PhD & Petty Officer 1st Class Drusilla Dupree

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Robin's Office
Timeline: Current

* * * Counselor’s Office * * *

After Dru left Robin and Nico Nico’s quarters, she went home to put an end to the day. That has lasted for exactly twenty minutes before her curiosity got the better of her. Exactly thirty minutes later she was back in the office, curled up in the small sofa in the outer office, file in hand. What wasn’t in Nicolao’s file was as telling as what was. There was a lot of ‘classified’ and ‘redacted’ labels but what interested her was the reports from his most recent stint on earth and the report of the Counselor at Starfleet Command. Drusilla couldn’t put it down. She was so absorbed, in fact, that she didn’t hear the outer office doors whoosh open.

“Dru?” Robin said, surprised to see her there. “Why aren’t you off relaxing somewhere? You’re off duty.”

She yelped in surprise when Robin spoke and then had to scramble to catch the padd before it hit the floor.

“Robin! Don’t do that.” She rested her hand on her chest as she caught her breath. “I got curious and dammit, this file’s not something to read alone late at night.”

He smiled as he sat. “All of this time and I never thought of you as the jumpy type.” He regarded her a moment before speaking. “He says that he scares you, or makes you nervous, I should say.”

“He’s jolly well right about that, but I couldn’t have said why exactly. He just seemed so...remote? Eerie?” She frowned as she sought for the right word, then shrugged. “So I came to read over this.” She held up the padd. “Holy cow.”

“He’s definitely had an interesting career, that’s for sure. It raised my eyebrows a few times,” Robin replied. “I’m not sure how smoothly our sessions will go. He seems to be very resistant to this whole process, but I did my best to let him know that he’ll get a fair shot. That seemed to help some.”

Dru rose and moved into Robin’s office and put the kettle on for tea. “It seems to me that he’s getting more than a fair shake already. They could have just locked him up for the foreseeable future, give his current code rating.”

“Hmm, that’s very true.” Robin sat behind his own desk and picked up Nico’s dossier. “But it seems that one of two things is happening with Starfleet Command sending him out here. Either they really do want to give him a fair shot and see if I can rehabilitate him or my findings will doom him to exactly that, being locked up for the rest of his life.” He looked worriedly at Drusilla. “I can’t hope for either, if I’m going to be impartial, but holding this man’s future in my hands really does make me nervous.”

“Glad it’s not just me.” She fell silent as the kettle whistled and set about making the tea. Finally, she carried the cups over, passed one to Robin, then sat in front of his desk. “It seems to me that he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. He recovers, then yay! He get sent back into the hell that was his former occupation. He doesn’t and he gets sent to the hell that is solitary. What kind of life is that Robin?”

“It’s unfair, I know.” Lifting the cup he said, “Thanks, by the way.” Taking a small sip he continued. “The things I’ve spoken to intel, black ops and others about would make your skin crawl. The things they ask of those people, what they turn them into, it’s a big surprise that I don’t get more of them here. But they normally wait until it’s too late and they’re already over the barrel, so to speak. Lieutenant Marcinko, for instance, has seen and done many, many things, but at least he seems the type to be able to cope better than others. That and the fact that he’s in a relationship helps.”

He couldn’t say much more about any of his patients to Drusilla, even though she was privy to most of what was said due to her position. She wasn’t just his ‘secretary’, as most thought, she was a professional Counselor’s aide, which meant that she saw files, put them away, had to recall information for Robin and was almost as involved in the sessions as he was himself, only that she was present during them. He trusted her and knew that she was worthy of that trust. But, still, it was against everything he’d been trained to do to just talk openly about his patients in specifics.

This one is going to test even your patience I suspect,” she observed. “Maybe mine too, since I was drafted to be tour guide.”

“Uh, yeah, about that,” he said with a sly smile. “I thought it would help to break the ice between you two since you’ll both be seeing quite a bit of each other. I can’t have you both feeling negativity if he’s supposed to feel safe here.” Another sip of his ever-present tea. “It’s not your fault, I know, and neither is it his. But it’s something we’ll need to work on to get past.”

There was a pause in the conversation and he recalled something Nico had told him. “He warned me, you know. About having sessions with him.”

“Oh? Why’s that?” Dru picked up the padd that held Nico’s file and scanned it once more. “Oh. Yeah. Did you ever tell Eli about that dream?”

“I did not,” he replied flatly. “As for Nico, he was concerned that I might be susceptible to horrible dreams from the information he’d be telling me in the sessions. And, yes, I immediately thought of what happened with Eli. But I don’t think it will be a problem.”

“I hope not.” She laid the padd aside and reached for her tea. “For both our sakes. I sympathise with him, however. The position he’s in sucks, to use one of Lt. Marcinko’s terms.”

“It does indeed. And without sounding a little full of myself, the position I’m in sucks as well.” He stood and replaced the cup with the rest of the tea set. “But, there’s nothing to do about it now. As always, we’ll carry on and do our best.” He turned to her. “But don’t be surprised if I may need to bend your ear on occasion, letting you counsel me.”

“You know I’ll be glad to.” She paused, watching him. “How much do you want me involved? I know he doesn’t have any friends here. Well, maybe one or two in Intel I’d guess but that part of the file’s blacked out.”

Robin nodded. “I’m sure he knows a few people here and there. With his current schedule he’ll have plenty of time to wander and see who’s here that he knows, assuming he wants to reconnect with anyone. I’m not sure, given his current state of mind, that he would even want that right now.”

“Makes sense. I stopped on the way home from his place and picked up something for you to give him. In reading the counselor’s report, it seems we had the same thought and there’s nothing like doing it the old-fashioned way. Top drawer.”

He walked back to his desk and slid the drawer open. He was surprised by what he saw. “A journal,” he said, realizing what it was for. The binding and the real pages inside were something most didn’t see anymore unless they were collectors. And the smell was comforting, the mix of the leather and the pulp of the pages. It took him back to when he was young and had books of his own.

Nodding he looked to her. “I think this will work wonders, Drusilla. Thank you. I wish I had thought of it.”

“You were a little occupied. And speaking of which, what are you doing here? You’re off duty.” She parroted his own words back to him.

“Oh, Dru, if you only knew how many nights I hung out here in the office instead of my quarters,” he teased. “So much to do, and think about.” He glanced at the chronometer on his desk. “And with that, I think it’s time we both were off duty, for real this time.”

“Drink maybe? So you can say you’ve been somewhere besides here or your quarters?”

“I’m game, as long as you don’t want everyone to think you’re a fuddy-duddy by hanging out with your boss all the time.” He laughed as he opened the door to the corridor. “But seriously, if you get drunk and I have to carry you to your quarters...I quit.”

“Same goes for you mister.” Dru rose and waited for Robin, then they departed.

******************

Lt. Cmdr. Robin Swift
Between Two Rocks, screw the hard place…

CPO2 Drusilla Dupree
Who Apparently Has To Make A New Friend