An Undesirable Counseling Session Part II
Posted on Wed Jul 29th, 2026 @ 10:25am by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Vura & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
2,159 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 18 - The Edge of Darkness
Location: Office of the Chief Counselor - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1030 hrs
"Might have been one of the things said," Neil acknowledged, "Knowing mom, I'm sure she did. And to my knowledge, I never did do that exact thing to break something again. But when you chose to go into harms way, you do have to expect harm to come your way. A few broken bones. Cuts. Losing a leg," he shrugged "Comes with the territory."
"It does not have to," Vura observed. "There are plenty of beings that go through experiences like yours and do not experience the harms you do. Then, there are those that do. Beings, like yourself, who experience such harms, often need counseling. I think you do, as well."
Gracefully the Deltan rose her hand in a stop gesture towards Neil. "And before you go saying that I might think that everyone needs counseling and I admit that some of that is true, understand that the need or desire for counseling is more like a spectrum. From where I am sitting, you're somewhere in the medium high range of needing it."
He wasn't really surprised. Vura obviously had issues with him and her formulated opinions weren't likely to change. It was a lot like being in a firefight. "Oh," he said mildly. "In what ways, counselor?" Neil was tempted to drill down, but he also knew he needed to hear her out. His intent was to let her do most of the talking if he could.
She so did like the sound of her own voice.
"You've suffered a traumatic experience. You're playing it off as if you had a distasteful meal. That speaks to some sense of denial, specifically minimization and emotional detachment. I wonder what this might do to you when you find yourself in another life or death situation. It is one thing to say that you can participate in it, but quite another when the time arrives. It is my job to make certain that you can process all of these things. So, testing is in order, at a bare minimum."
"Might as well sign me up for the testing," Neil said easily. "Rommie's been monitoring various cues, I think, and she hasn't flagged anything up. One of the disadvantages of having an AI for an aide is you can't tell them to ignore regulations, usually. And I do agree about facing life and death but losing the leg wasn't my first rodeo." He paused a beat and said, "It's not even the worst that's happened to me in combat."
"I can't say what Rommie has been programmed for or not in situations such as this, so I can't verify your statement. One day, I suppose I will have to talk to her. I've heard others talk about her, but we have not had the occasion to interact."
The counselor considered what Neil had to say about the leg not being his worst thing that happened to him in combat. Why were there no immediate signs of stress? Had he disassociated? "What was your worst injury? Tell me what happened then."
Neil bit back a sigh. This was all in his records. "A couple years out of boot we were on a peacekeeping mission on Garalall. We came under indirect artillery fire and I was the only survivor in my platoon. Only, they didn't find me for a couple of days and I lost about thirty six hours. Come to find there was a Vorta on the planet and they were trying some telepathic manipulation. I came out afraid of the dark and tight spaces. Not a career enhancing trait in a marine. Worked through that. Had another joker on Cardassia Prime try the same thing, but the crew pulled me out. Went to counseling for clearance, but that got complicated. I've gotten hooked on Stims and bootstrapped out. Sacrifice comes with the job, Counselor. I made peace with my mortality years ago. Now I just take whats in front of me one day at a time."
How is he an XO when he got hooked on sims and has been in trouble so much? Does not seem like the leader type to me but does start explain his control issues. Vura thought about her next words carefully. "Tell me what happened in that last counseling session that ended up with the stim addiction."
He had her hooked now. Neil saw a few things flash in her eyes. "Nah. The stim addiction came when I was doing the 'Train the Trainer' course for the EAS suits. I had to cram sessions in while we were on shore duty at earth so I could get up to speed and get the hands on parts done before Pioneer went on the next mission. The complicated part of the counseling was when I started seeing the Chief Counselor. Things seemed to be going swimmingly there. Then she disappeared. Fleet transferred her out and she left without a word. So yeah. Complications."
Neil had made peace with it all, but he figured this story would give the Counselor all sorts of rabbit holes to go down. Which would keep her busy and happy.
"Wait a minute...." Vura asked with her eyes enlarging. "You were dating the Chief Counselor while she was treating you?" That was highly inappropriate but unfortunately was not as unusual as counselors would like to make it. "What was her name? Where was she transferred?" Vura asked with rapt attention. "Why did you not contact her again?"
Since it was all in the records, Neil said, "Lieutenant Tallida Ovaa. Left the Pioneer. Transferred, then left the Fleet. I reached out a couple of times but didn't hear anything back." He shrugged, "One of those things. Happens fairly often if you serve long enough."
"Perhaps for some," Vura countered. She stretched her arm out with her palm facing upwards. "I'm Deltan, as you may recall. Physical relationships are off limits as long as I'm in the fleet." She then backtracked, "Now, if you mean, people dropping out of the fleet, then you are correct. That happens all the time. Any idea why she did not answer you?" Vura then thought to herself, Oh, I have a plethora of reasons that I could come up with. You're a control freak? You embarrassed her. You ruined her career? The list goes on and on.
Chuckling, Neil started easing the leg back on and said. "No idea why Tali bolted. Possibly things were getting too serious too fast for her nature. I decided it was something I should drill down on. I have the resources to do so, but it's not exactly what you do. She apparently made a call and I can respect that. Marines have too look ahead and keep moving. Dwelling on the past and old relationships isn't healthy. Life is for the living, might as well squeeze it for all its worth, right?"
"Every species views life in a different way," Vura answered nearly ethereally. "For Vulcans, some might say it is about logic and bettering society. For Deltans, it might be all about self-expression or inner sensations. Humans are all over the place. It is much harder to classify your species. However, you all do tend to keep yourselves busy...."
"Species may differ," Neil remarked as he pulled his uniform trouser leg over his prosthetic and double checked the shine on his boots. "But living is better than the alternative. I know more than a few marines that dwell and don't get on with reminding themselves why. That's why I didn't beat myself up over Talida. Another wound, well you keep memories of it. But eventually it's time to rip off that band-aid and get on with things."
"I'm quite certain that you can utlize other things than pain to give you reasons to continue living," Vura answered knowingly.
Neil decided he'd had enough. She was being contrary for contraries sake and he had real work to do. Vura was being herself and he wasn't seeing a positive outcome at this point. "Counselor. It seems as if everything I'm saying, from your window, is wrong. But I haven't heard anything to convince me of that. I do have other duties to attend to so if we're done?"
"We're not," Vura replied with a knowing smile. "See, you're under orders to see me. I do appreciate that you have a different way of seeing things but not once have I said you're wrong. I appreciate that you do not like this process. I also appreciate that you think that you are just perfectly fine. However, you have experienced something that would shock most people and you're simply brushing it off, like every other trauma, which is unhealthy. So, we are going to try and assist you in getting touch with some of your feelings."
Neil bit off the smirk. "Counselor, as much as you may think it, I'm not most people. Granted, nearly dying is a fairly traumatic issue. As is getting a forebrain shampoo from a Vorta, among others. My showing up here today is me complying with the mandatory exam. However, you will need to explain to me what feelings and exactly how I am not coping? Where are my deficiencies, as you see it and most importantly, how am I not fit for duty? It is my understanding from the training I've had, the Command school, not the Escape and Evasion courses, that every person is different and handling stress is complex. I've dealt with a lot of stress in my career. Been killed no less than three times officially." His HUD flashed again and he said, "And as we've more or less reached the hour earmarked for this, I do have other duties."
He stood and straightened his uniform, keeping his tone level and pleasant before smiling as sincerely as his jaw would let him. "I'll look forward to reading your breakdown of my shortcomings and the treatment plan you believe necessary. Once I have that, I'll reach out and we can meet again to discuss those points. Have yourself a nice day." With a nod, he walked slowly toward the door, giving it time to cycle before he exited, not breaking stride.
"Colonel," Vura called out firmly. "That is not how this works. You're not in control here, as much as that may cause you deep discomfort. There still is testing that must be completed. After that, I will be giving my recommendations, not to you, but the Commodore, as required." Her voice turned stern. "Therefore, I would thank you to sit yourself down while I provide you with those tests."
Stepping through the hatch, Neil turned. "Like I said counselor. Schedule it. As much as you might like to think you can have authority over me. You don't. If you don't like it, file a complaint. Good day, Lieutenant."
Then he was out the hatch and he it cycled shut behind him.
Without hesitation, Vura called out to the Commodore, =^= Commodore Malbrooke, I have a runaway patient named Tremble. Requesting assistance. =^=
Tyler had found a moment to relax. The ship was at warp and there was not much that needed doing, save for reading the book that he had been pushing off. His comm badge chirped before he could get to that book. =^=Counselor, is the patient violent or could be harmful to themselves or the crew of this ship?=^= He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but procedure was procedure.
=^= No, Commodore. He is not at this time. =^= The Deltan counselor started to feel foolish but she did not want to file a complaint. She had hoped that the Commodore would do something to rectify this situation. The moment Vura realized that, she got upset with herself. When did I become so weak? Why not just write a complaint? Why am I trying to protect Tremble?
=^=Then it sounded like your patient just ended their session. Malbrooke out.=^= The comm channel closed and Tyler returned to his book and the story that laid out before him.
Malbrooke could not hear it, but she growled. The XO continued to be a problem and she was going to have to solve it. She was going to have to find something to do for stress relief....
A joint post by:
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
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