A Time to Talk

Posted on 13 Aug 2021 @ 10:01am by Lieutenant Paul Winchester
Edited on on 13 Aug 2021 @ 2:21pm

1,698 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: S03 Ep 03 Trouble in the Sticks UXSys 659842 (Incidentals) Phase 2
Location: Intelligence Office
Timeline: 7days after returng to SB51

[ON]

- Chief Counsellor's Office, USS Tomcat -

Having returned from what could be termed as Hell on Earth, Paul sat alone in his quarters contemplating the previous away mission, it was bad enough having to shoot at civilians, but those were Zombies and the lives that had been snuffed out and the lives of the young who would never know their own young. But still, he felt sorry for those young ones who had lost their lives. But he needed to talk about it and for the first time he would take up the offer of counselling like he should have had when he had crashed his ship. and that was a big mistake on his part.

He tapped his combadge and spoke clearly =/\=Lieutenant Walon, May I make an appointment to see you talk about the away mission? =/\= it was still the hardest thing to do taking shots and young men who were now mindless and out of control and dangerous, but had to be stopped and having to get his team home safely had been his priority which he had successfully done so.

=/\= Yes you can come by later today or anytime tomorrow.=/\= Iria replied, she was expecting a lot of sessions from the away teams. She made sure to keep open blocks in case of emergency.

Paul responded,=/\= What is the best time for you Lieutenant,=/\= as he knew that setting the time would be better for him and also for Lieutenant Walon, although he had to make the promise that he would keep the appointment, continuing =/\= and I promise to keep this appointment =/\= as he continued to head towards the bridge for his duty shift.

=/\= I will be free in twenty minutes otherwise anytime after 1700 hours unless you want to make it for sometime tomorrow? =/\= Iria replied as she checked the schedule to be certain she was giving him the correct times.

"I'm on my way," replied Paul as he wanted to get this over and done with, as this was the first time in a long time that he had since his crash, although after that had happened he had refused to talk to anyone.

- Counseling office 20 minutes later -

Iria had a cup of hot chocolate on her desk near a PaDD as she sat back, she was surprised Paul had asked to see her instead of Lamia but she figured if he felt up for talking with her she wasn't going to stop him.

Stepping off the turbolift, Paul took a deep breath and knew that talking about his feelings wasn't one of his best traits as he remembered how he had put it off after his crash, now here he was about to speak with Iria about what had happened on the planet but also knew that she might bring up about the crash and how he was coping with the prosthesis.

"Have a seat and make yourself comfortable Lieutenant Winchester. You're welcome to get something from the replicator if you wish." Iria said lightly.

"Thank you, Iria for letting me come here," replied Paul after all the problems that he had caused her in the past after she had become the Tomcat's Intelligence chief; he finished," Not at the moment thank you very much,"

Once he was settled she spoke up softly, "What are you here to talk about today?"

"I'm here to talk about what happened on the last mission," he stated as he knew that talking about things didn't appeal to him as he had been a private man and kept things to himself. taking the offered seat in front of Iria "and I know you are not one of my biggest fans right now and I'm sorry if I upset you,"

"I am so glad you are willing to open up about this, I know many on the ship are having a hard time dealing with our mission and many of them did not have any specific role in it. I can only imagine what you are going through." Walon stated in a calm and comforting voice, while she still had some reservations about the man but he was here in a medical need to get some help for his mental health.

"I know I never came to see you after my crash," he continued," I didn't feel like talking about that at that point in time," Paul said looking at the intelligence officer, he concluded " So here I am,"

"Well, I am here for you to get things off your chest and out of your head," Walon replied. "I can set my personal feelings aside to do this part of my job. While we have had our differences, you can be certain that I will not let my individual ideals towards you come between my evaluation of your mental needs."

"Thanks a lot, Iria, that means a lot to me," replied Paul looking back at her; He continued "and just for the record I now don't even notice the arm being there," as he referenced the Prosthesis. as he relaxed back into the chair, "But as for the last Mission I had to shoot at children who were zombies but were children all the same," as he knew that they could not be saved; however he felt upset of having to strike them down.

"Paul, I am very sorry you had to go through that situation," Walon responded. "So we need to get all that you have experienced out in the open so we can get you mentally above it and learn from it and be able to move onward. Children are the future and I know that you want the future to be the best it can be. So do me a favour and close your eyes and focus upon your best friend when you were a child."

"Which one," replied Paul as he smiled; as he remembered the times growing up with the Stewart brothers as he started to recall the mischief the three of them got into. as he began to chuckle; he started to relax as he hadn't thought about those two individuals in a long time.

"That image is calming and a pleasurable memory, correct?" Walon asked of Winchester.

"You could say that we were a trio of tearaways in our youth and Paula Having to cop it most of the time," replied Paul "She hasn't brought it up in along time since we last spoke," he stated as he and his sister were still working things out and patching their relationship up after five years apart.

"Now enjoy a fun time you and this friend had, remember only the good aspects of the activity or event."

"Oh, I am" replied Paul as he remembered pushing Eric's brother in the local swimming pool and both himself and Eric laughing their heads off at the young man who was now soaked.

"Great, I wish I could see the fun you had in that memory," Walon replied. "I would ask that you focus on that memory when you are confronted by the stress of the events that transpired on the last mission. We can continue to work on this or I can with your permission share this with any other counsellor you desire but you will need more work."

"Could you let Lieutenant Arderne be informed if for any reason you are not available?" asked Paul as he wanted to continue this on and get over it and move on; he looked back at her and finished," I do hope we can be friends,"

"I would be happy to let Arderne have access to your files since you gave permission to do so," Walon replied. "To let you know I am not sure I can continue to be your therapist. I do have a lot that is happening and when we dock at Starbase 51, I will be talking to a therapist myself. But I can work with you without being your friend, but I will never wish ill of you."

"And I will never speak a bad word against you, Lieutenant," replied Paul; as he knew that she was busy and he also knew that he had things to do before they docked at Starbase 51. he asked " I have things to do myself before we reach Starbase 51,"

"I will never speak ill of you either," Walon replied. "I will just never consider you a friend but I will talk to you in passing and will be a fellow crew member but never a friend. I will be staying on the station while we are docked as Dodd and I are going to be settling up things for our wedding."

as he rose from the chair he said, " I wish you godspeed and may you return safe and sound," replied Paul as he held out his hand and hoped that she would take it; he finished " And I never meant any disrespect with the codes," as he wanted to end on good terms with her.

"Winchester, I wish you all the best and I do understand you have had a rough time since your accident. You need to be respectful that all people do not see things from the same point of view. As a crew, we must mesh and do what is best for the mission, the ship then the crew. Ourselves come last. You need to understand that you are a part of a larger unit and that everything you do affects more than just you and the one person you are dealing with. Please know that we can serve on the ship as crewmates and I will not speak ill or think ill of you. But don't think of me as a friend because that likely will never happen. I again mean you no disrespect." Walon stated in her very professional voice.

She then saw Winchester exit her office and she then closed up her office to head to her quarters to meet Dodd there for preparing to pack to stay on the Starbase while they were docked there.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Iria Walon [P: Dodd]
Chief Counsellor / Chief of Intelligence

&

Lieutenant JG Paul Winchester
Chief of Security/Tactical

 

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