Are You Psyching Me (2/2)

Posted on 28 Jan 2016 @ 12:13am by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Greg Mitchell & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy

2,936 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 3
Timeline: MD 22

Previously....


Realising that she had been silent for a number of moments more than intended, Dru smiled as she looked back over at Greg and shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Do you define a person as an individual or as the position which they hold? Surely you would find out more about a person by asking them personal questions, rather than professional."

The Irish lilt to Dru's voice softened, a hint of humor resonating in her works, as the counsellor allowed her eyes to linger on Greg before turning her attention back to their journey and ensuring that they took the right turns in the maze of corridors.

And now...

Greg watched her as she avoided the question...again. He actually had to stifle a chuckle at this fun back and forward between the two. "When I first meet people, I try not to ask about their personal life too much. It seems too rude. Especially to the nice ones." he said, looking back at her and smiling again, "but position is position. We have rules to follow, and I would be a hypocrite for breaking them myself by getting to...." What's the most appropriate word for this situation? "....personal, with someone who is my superior."

He was glad she had found a slight sense of humor. Since he met this woman she was nervous, and slightly sad at times. But he was glad to see her warming up a bit. "Unless you feel differently regarding first time meetings. Is there anything personal you wanted to ask me?" He asked, being jokingly flirtatious again.

Smiling and nodding her head at a crew member who greeted her by first name, Dru mulled over the enlisted officers response and question.

As an officer herself, she had rank and responsibility and respect drilled into her from the Academy days. In contrast though, as a counsellor in training, Dru had also been thought that each career within the fleet required that there be times that rank be set aside and disregarded. People couldn't open up or trust her if they saw her as being a superior or a subordinate to themselves. Counselling could only be managed on a one on one level, just two individuals in a room where nothing else matter but them.

As a result of her training and mindset, Dru found it difficult at times to understand that people felt that they needed to tip-toe around others just incase they took a step wrong. Individuals shouldn't be held responsibility for mild infringements due to a lack of knowledge on their behalf. If it mattered so much that people needed to be continuously aware of the rank a person they spoke to held, surely it should be a requirement to wear ones pips no matter the clothing worn. "Seeing as you have twice mentioned a concern regarding not knowing my rank...tell me about the incident that made you want to sort your superiors from your subordinates before allowing yourself to relax around new people."

Greg actually slowed his pace slightly, as that question caught him off guard. He quickly regained his composure. "Getting right to the point. I figured it would be something simpler like if I was single." He joked, "What makes you think there is an incident? Didn't you go through basic in your department? Fraternizing with superiors is strictly prohibited." Unless they were hot and your only obstacle to transferring off a horribly run Starbase... he thought.

To try and shake the question off, he returned to joking: "Could it just be that I, as a noble and professional police officer, enjoy knowing who is who?"

Dru only noticed the slowed pace when she went a step ahead of Greg, causing her to need to look slightly back to be able to watch him again. She wondered what it was about her question which had caused his surprise, she had imagined that it might be something simple like telling a dirty joke to someone who ended up being his executive officer or simply just putting a foot wrong infront of his boss. The fact that she seemed to have, literally, knocked him back perked her curiosity even further.

"I think at some point that everybody ends up in a relationship of sorts with someone who is their superior. You can't easily be in a relationship in starfleet with someone who isn't part of the federation themselves. Even if it's a fellow cadet or someone of the same rank, at some point one or the other will be promoted meaning that momentarily one will out rank the other." It wasn't that Dru overlooked the attempted change in topic, she was beginning to realise a genuine interest in the original conversation. Dru knew the perspective from two sides having once been in a relationship with her Captain and another time having been in a near relationship with an enlisted crew member. Both were short lived for various reasons but both still left a major impact in her life which she treasured...especially the most recent of the relationships.

Watching the corridor as she mused over her own opinion of the situation, Dru looked briefly over to Greg, "The rules and regulations are there in order to create a proper level of command and of respect; not as a means of living your life. If you look at civilian society, ranking exists their also in the titles people are given such as Prime minister, minister, manager, team leader, gang-lords, minions..." The counsellor's added the last two in response to Greg's use of police officer in referencing himself, hoping he might easier follow her train of thought"...and so on. These are there for the precise same reason, in order to create order and respect. If you treated every individual you met in your life, according to the rank that they hold, it would always mean that everybody would be above or below you in life and nobody is ever equal."

As the turbolift entered into their range of slight, Dru felt a faint blush raise to her cheeks as she realised that perhaps she had rambled on a little too much. "My apologises...Sometimes I don't know when to stop. Perhaps I should just answer your question directly rather than running us both in circles?"

Wow, this woman is really well briefed in what makes people tick. It's almost like she is a couns.....no. No. That would just be silly. I mean, you wouldn't be stupid enough to attempt to charm two counselors in a row. You know better.

Greg had to stifle his thoughts, but was pleased to finally be able to figure out who this person was. He smiled, "If you wish." He joked, "It can't be that big of a shock."

Not after the year you've had He thought to himself.

Pausing as the turbolift doors opened, Dru moved to one side as she greeted the couple who exited with a smile a nod of her head. She wondered if it was unfair that the first thought to cross her mind was to lie. She figured that she was lucky that the closely second though was to laugh at how preposterous the idea was...on a ship this small she knew he'd find out the truth sooner rather then later. She needed to bite the bullet and accept what it may cause to happen next.

"I'm Lieutenant Junior Grade, Drusilla McCarthy or Dru I guess. It makes it easier to do my job when people can feel relaxed with me." Stepping forward to the now empty turbolift, Dru waited until Greg stepped in behind her and the door closed before turning back to face him eye to eye. A small smile alighted her lips as she nervously entwined her fingers behind her back. "Chief of Counselling at your service."

As Greg began to sat down his bag for the turbo lift ride, the comment finally registered. He froze in place, bag still in hand.

Son of a b...., came the first thought in his mind. "S....." he almost said the same thing out loud, but decided against it. The name finally hit him. Now he remembered why it was important. She outranked him. He was putting the moves on a superior officer. And another counselor. And this time, he didn't need to do it to convince her to change her mind. This time, he didn't need to do it to get a transfer cleared. The last time he did this was simple.

Morgenstern had said he wasn't going to be cleared. She said, he needed to accept what had happened and that he needed help. Like hell was he going to stay on THAT station any longer. He quickly realized he had needed to think fast. To do something to convince her to sign off on him. So he put the moves on her. And the next morning in her room, he found her uniform. He found out she was not only NOT a civilian doctor but instead was a full Lieutenant herself in Starfleet. The move worked, but if anyone found out he would be in deep trouble.

And he had almost done it again, this time unintentionally.

He decided to change what he said next. Without missing a beat, he added on to the S that was originally going to be part of a swear word: "sooo. Lieutenant McCarthy." He put an emphasis on the Lieutenant, which was still registering in his brain. He tried to think of what to say next. "So...uh...ma'am. Does....does anything I say or have said get put in a report to the superior officers, ma'am?"

While asking this, on the outside, he put his smile back on. This time, not to try to pick this one up for a date, but to instead keep her from feeling his embarrassment and to try to keep her happy. In his mind however, he proceeded to beat himself with a 2X4. You idiot! Twice! TWICE IN ONE YEAR! How do you do that? What is wrong with you? Can't you just NOT try to shove your foot into your mouth for five friggen seconds, you....

Dru felt her smile slip a little as the man's body language screamed a sudden feeling of discomfort. His language was now full of Lieutenant and ma'am. Although his smile returned at the end of it all, the counselor couldn't help but feel that the damage had been done. This was turning into another encounter where her position was more important than her herself.

A weariness settled over Dru's body as she placed her shoulder against the bulkhead for support. "I don't have a tendency to write people up for conversations which occur outside of my office hours. Unless your a potential danger to yourself or to others, I don't typical report people to their superiors full stop. Do you feel that you fall under any of those categories?"

Greg noticed her smile disappear and felt bad that he caused a discomfort. "No, ma'am. I don't believe so," he said. He felt a wave of embarrassment flush over his face so he tried to fix things with a joke, "I mean, I AM a 'danger' to others," he air quoted the word "danger" for emphasis, "but only when they are considered a danger to civilians."

He also noticed her weariness and lean against the bulkhead, probably brought on by his change in behavior, "Are you feeling O.K, Lieutenant?"

Dru attempted a small smile as her hand moved to gentle caress her abdomen as another cramp rippled under the skin, "I'm ok. Just a little tired. I guess that there's a reason the medical professionals recommend taking things easy so soon after the upheavel of what happened before."

Dru deliberately left her statement vague as she wasn't certain of the officer's clearance in relation to information on their last mission. It would be easier for him to just infer she meant something completely different.

Greg took the bait, having not been briefed to the events that transpired in the past. "I see." He almost made a comment about resting when pregnant, but decided against it, still not having 100% confirmation about that fact. "I know I've had rough times in the past." He quickly thought about the events of the Ohio, before pushing them out of his mind. "But I've had my rest and am ready to get back to work as soon as possible!" he replied with a grin, trying to at least feign eagerness to get back to work.

Dru glanced down for a moment before glancing back across as the doors reopened. Everybody had rough times in their past, that much she knew from being a counsellor, but everyone had their own ways of dealing with the events. Some just moved on like Greg seemed to protray while other, like her, found that more difficult when reminders were forever constant in their life.

"I guess we have reached our destination." Dru briefly nodded towards the open turbolift door, allowing the enlisted officer to step out first. "Have you had your medical yet?"

Greg hefted his bag and got ready to exit. "Not yet ma'am. I was going to head there after I put away my things. I'm sure they won't find anything too bad." he couldn't help but feel like he had brought down the Counselor's whole day with his demeanor.

"After that I need to head in and meet the Admiral and that should be the end of my day. Then I can get ready to work tonight."

Following behind, said nothing for a few moments as her mind ticked over. She wondered if ever there would be a day in which she would just be allowed to be happy. That the strain and weight rested on her shoulders could just be forgotten about and moved on from.

Shaking her head a little as reality settled in, she knew that that life was just a fairy tale and fairy tales never came through. "Your on the gamma shift...Ill schedual you in for fifteen hundred hours tomorrow for your psych evaluation. That should give you enough time to rest up."

Greg slowed down again and turned around. He had completely forgot about that. Not another psych eval!, he thought. He shook it off and smiled again. "Ma'am, yes ma'am. I mean, if you aren't too busy. Shouldn't take that long though to get done. I've got a clean bill of mental health!" He tried to sell it like a car salesman.

Realising that her hand still caressed her abdomen, Dru moved it away as she entwined her fingers behind her back. "It's routine so nothing to be worried about. I'll go back over what files your previous couselling department have forwarded to me and review anything which I feel I may need to know more about. It's also an opportunity for you to be able to discuss anything which might be worrying you. To clear your mind as such as you settle into your new position."

Externally, Greg nodded in agreement. Internally, he swallowed nervously. He never liked talking about himself.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be there. Is there anything else you need to know?" An awkward question to ask, but Greg had to find some way to get his foot out of his mouth.

Shaking her head, Dru looked to the ground before looking up at Greg, his question hitting a sore spot, "Despite what you may think, I don't pretend to be someone I'm not in order to gather information on that person. I don't analyse people outside of sessions beyond how one stranger would analyse another upon meeting. Your a nice guy Greg, stopping to talk to me when you came across me. You obviously have alot of respect for officers and people more senior than you as you use titles once you know a person's place. Anything beyond that, it can either wait until we are in a session together, where my job is to pick apart all that you say and do; or until you decide that you wish to trust me enough as a person beyond a counsellor."

Stopping to take a breath after her speech, Dru looked at a position behind Greg's shoulder, "If you follow the corridor to your right, follow the room number plates and you should find your assigned quarters. If I can help any further, I'm free for another few hours so you can contact me via the ship's internal comms."

Greg smiled politely. "Thank you ma'am. I'll keep in touch if I need anything. I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway, I have a tendency to ask stupid questions." He started walking to his room. "See you later then."

Watching as he moved away, Dru waited for a moment before shaking her head and moving back into the turbolift. She had more important things in life to worry about than others opinions of her; she couldn't help being who she was and what else could she do. She still couldn't help but feel a passing regret as she remembered how carefree Greg had initially been but she knew more than anybody that you can't control another person's thoughts. That would have to do for now.

[OFF]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

&

CWO2 Greg Mitchell
Security Officer
USS Galileo

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