Seeking Favors

Posted on 29 Oct 2020 @ 6:02pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D.

2,318 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Ghosts
Location: Talons
Timeline: MD 4 || 2000 Hours

Once again finding herself in Talons, this time Avery planned a meeting she hoped would be a cross between business and pleasure. After her talk with Harvey, she was feeling more hopeful about her future and that of the counseling department, but until things were fully sorted with Tivan, she found herself walking a bit of a tight rope. For whatever reason, the Vulcan counselor had taken an interest in Camilla professionally, and until the Vulcan's future has been decided, Avery needed to be respectful of her all aboard. However, she wasn't terribly concerned because as has been made obvious the first time they met, not much outside research was of concern to Tivan.

With everything that had been going on, Camila was finding that she wanted to spend less and less time in her quarters and with the restrictions imposed by Doctor Jennin, she couldn't drink or he'd have her taken off duty. Still, the replicator still wasn't very trustworthy and her last attempt at getting a caprese salad with pesto sauce and some Focaccia bread had resulted in Plomeek soup with the salad and Focaccia ingredients mixed it, she decided to go to Talon's.

She put on a casual white midriff top that showed off her smooth, toned stomach and a pair of black, loose-fitting pants and pair of sandals, then headed down to the one place on the ship that everyone went to in order to socialize and get real food that wasn't in the Captain's Mess. She entered and looked around, then headed to the counter to place her order.

Spotting the woman she intended to meet, Avery decided to stand and head over to the counter. She was hungry for a cheeseburger and fries and to get a refill on her drink. Most of the time, Stewart worked to eat healthy, but if she was going to have non-replicated food, she wanted to make it count. Approaching Camilla and taking a minute to stifle a bit of envy upon seeing the woman's toned figure, she offered a simple, "Fancy meeting you here."

Camila looked over and almost groaned out loud when she saw Avery. The two of them hadn't hit it off very well before, but they were all extremely stressed at that time. Not that that isn't the case now, she thought. "Doctor Stuart," she said cordially.

Avery was under no illusion she was one of Camila's favorite people. As a counselor, she was used to people being wary around her, and at least in this case, they'd talked before with Camilla debating her all the way. Unlike that time, however, she was hoping neither one of them would be under the influence of any degree
Of alcohol. Still, she hoped to check in with her and have a drink all the same. "Avery, please. Care to join me? I wanted to get your perspective on something, or rather, someone."

"Let me hear it," the ombre haired woman said with a nod as she took a seat and ordered a Betazoid Isoberry juice drink and a blue leaf salad.

When the server had walked away and Avery were sure the two of them were alone again, she offered, "I've been reaching out to members of the crew to check in with them about the recent changes within the counseling department. I understand there have been some challenges," Avery said, obviously making an attempt to be diplomatic, "and I am making a point to reach out to people to address any concerns they may have. Has anyone come to you with any general issues in that regard?" Of course, Avery knew more than she was letting on, but she didn't want to break any particular confidences. In addition, she genuinely did not want to appear as if she were biased or trying to steer anyone to say anything specific or negative. That said, she has been putting out her fair share of fires and it was important to Avery to address concerns before they got even more out of hand.

"You're talking about Commander Tivan, aren't you?" Camila said bluntly and didn't care who heard her. "That woman is a pest and is causing far more harm than good. If good is even her intent for anything she's done so far. Getting naked in the pool while the Captain was swimming. Smashing property that wasn't hers. Interrupting the Captain while he was in his ready room. The list goes on."

"I've heard," Avery responded with a nod. Of course, Joey was the one who informed her of the swimming pool incident, but obviously, she wasn't going to share anything someone else had told her, even if the rumor mill offered more than enough for her to be concerned about. It was also true that whatever Avery believed about the Vulcan's intentions or counseling skills, she didn't disagree that Camilla needed some help of her own. Instead, she decided to focus on her concern for the crew in general. " I am in the process of documenting and addressing the crew's concerns, but in the meantime, I am also reaching out to the senior staff to make sure there aren't members of the crew that are going without the care and emotional support they need because of those concerns. Is there anyone in your department or otherwise that I should check in with?"

"Not off hand," the Security Chief said. "You'll be happy to know that I'm making the attempt to stop drinking. If I don't, Doctor Jennin will have me taken off duty, but it was a decision that I reached on my own."

"I am happy if you're happy," Avery replied. She was aware Tivan had been paying particular attention to Camilla, although she'd heard it hadn't been terribly productive. She didn't know the doctor had gotten involved, but perhaps now Camila come to the conclusion it was time to make a change. Avery didn't particularly enjoy the fact things might've gotten so bad this was necessary, but sometimes the only thing that could prompt a change was time. "What led you to make that decision?"

"That's easy," Camila said. "It was that or be taken off duty. I was sweating when not working out and having rapid heartbeats. My hands tremble a little from time to time. I'd been having problems sleeping, more restless than I've been in a while, and I'm easily agitated. So I went to our new CMO and he diagnosed me and gave me something for it." Which she still wasn't happy about, but was doing it as she didn't want to be relieved of duty.

"Good for you for seeking medical attention. You could've chosen to ignore your symptoms, but you didn't, and that took strength. I realize it's never an easy decision seeking out help from people who are obligated to evaluate your fitness for duty, but with a few obvious exceptions, I've never met any healer who was more interested in preventing people from working than keeping them safe and healthy, not just for the sake of other people, but because they care about their patients as well."

"I really don't care one way or another about my well being in that regard," the ombre haired woman said. "I do, but I don't. It was starting to affect my duty performance and my duty is to protect the ship and crew. At this point, after being on the first iteration of the Black Hawk and Geisler shanghaiing me back to this ship, all I really want to do at the end of the day is smash a brick of gold pressed latinum wrapped with a slice of lemon to my head and sleep for a few hours without having screaming nightmares."

After everything Camilla had been through and knowing her the bit that Avery did, Camilla's answer made sense. Even so, she felt a twinge of sadness as the security officer admitted she didn't care about her well-being in the same sense the counselor was referring to. Her immediate hesitation, however, concerned how to address Camila's last statement. "That must be incredibly difficult, especially now that you're working so hard not to numb the anxiety with alcohol."

The Security Chief gave her a rueful look. "I have other medications for that," she said. "So I get a full nights physical sleep with all the nightmares included. Be glad I'm not an empathic transmitter."

Avery smiled in return. "I admire the way you're always thinking of others even as you speak of yourself. I can appreciate the instinct. At the risk of touching a potential sore spot, I'm here if you need more than meds to deal with those nightmares."

Camila resisted saying what she was going to say. "Look. I just want rid of Tivan, so how about we discuss that?"

Avery resisted the urge to sigh out loud. It wasn't that Camilla's response surprised her. She had resisted any attempts Avery had made in the past to offer support, so she couldn't be surprised now would be any different, especially given the way Tivan had destroyed whatever trust anyone had ever had in the counseling department and counselors in general. Still, she had hoped her offer would have been received in the spirit it had been intended. Counselor or not, Avery was trying to offer support, sentient being to sentient being. She was committed to continuing to make such an effort, but for now, she focused on Camila's reply. "Alright. What else is on your mind in that regard?"

"We can start by using your resources, Avery," Camila said. "You have more more in that area than I do. I don't have any favors to call in. Surely there must be some higher ranked professional in both of your fields that can dig more up on her that you can call on."

"It's true I am part of a larger chain of command within Starfleet Medical, just as any Starfleet officer is regardless of profession, and I have reported all complaints properly to those who oversee ethical concerns of this nature, but I'm afraid I don't have the sort of leverage you're speaking of. I have shared my concerns with the captain, and he's instructed me to report concerns through the proper channels. I have no intention of letting any of this go, but I am mindful that someone higher up put her here, so she must have some leverage within senior circles. If that's the case, I need to make sure to act professionally and not seem biased or out to get Tivan in any way."

"This is no time to parade your laurels, Avery," Camila said. "She isn't being professional in the least and we shouldn't be either. I'll bite the phaser if it comes back on us, but she has to go."

"I am not parading my laurels," Avery replied evenly. "I'm saying to get Tivan removed from duty and for us to have any credibility on what is ethical and professional in the eyes of the people that make these decisions, we're going to have to present evidence through proper channels. Whatever connections you think I have, it will do no one any good if I bypass those proper channels in favor of pulling strings and applying political pressure, or something similar. As much as I appreciate your offer to bite the phaser if it comes to it, as you correctly pointed out, if I'm the one doing the digging, I am the only one who will face the consequences, no one else." She paused, then offered, "I can reach out to a few people to see if they're aware of any other complaints or suspicious behavior from Tivan and I will voice my objection to anyone who will listen. There's always the risk people will think I'm crying sour grapes because she was brought in as my supervisor, but I would like to think I've earned enough goodwill to earn the benefit of the doubt."

"Look, I'm not asking you to circumvent the chain of command or taking the proper steps or whatever. I'm asking you if you have any favors to call in. That isn't political pressure," the ombre haired woman said. "Just document all the things she's done since arriving, from jumping into the pool naked with the Captain to stealing and destroying my personal property to violating the Captain's Ready Room when he was in a private meeting."

"I can assure you everything has been properly documented and reported," Avery replied sincerely. "As I said, there is a process for reporting these kinds of concerns, and I believe just based on the sheer number of concerns and their severity, the brass will understand it would be political suicide for them not to take this seriously even if they were inclined to discount it. I certainly don't intend to let the matter drop and have quietly put out feelers to see if there have been any other complaints in the past concerning Tivan. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I am not going to let the matter drop as long as I can help it. I'm hopeful I've earned enough credibility to be taken seriously. There's always the risk I could be accused of having sour grapes because she was brought in as my supervisor, but I don't believe the brass take any of these complaints lightly, no matter who it comes from."

.The Security Chief grunted and glanced at the menu before she looked up at the waitress. "Chili cheese fries with extra crispy cob'lat bits and a chocolate cake shake," she ordered before looking back to Avery. "Then we wait."

Avery nodded. "We wait." Thinking of Camila's order of a chocolate cake, she decided wedding was better with a chocolate cake shake and a double bacon cheeseburger with tater tot's.

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