Back to Counseling (part 2)

Posted on Fri Jul 24, 2020 @ 9:40am by Lieutenant T'Lul & Lieutenant Alanna Wells

1,317 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Et In Arcadia Ego
Location: Counseling
Timeline: MD05 1000 hours

[CONTINUED]

[OLD}

She stopped speaking to keep control, but her voice still wavered. “He’d planned it all out. I was taken to the room he used as his temporary office and told that I was now his slave. During the course of the day, I was given the choice of submitting to his…attentions…alone, in the room, or in public in front of his men.” Her breathing became shallow and her voice more ragged. “I chose the private option. I thought…hoped…he would leave me alone so I could contact Jason and warn him that the Vulcans were setting a trap at the portal. Sovok did leave me alone, but he took my clothes. I begged for my boots, which he granted, and was able to hide the pip there. When he left, I searched the room and picked a lock on a chest. I found a knife, which I also hid. I tried to contact Jason with my combadge, but I couldn’t reach him. I couldn’t reach anyone. I...managed to reach him telepathically and warn him of the trap.”

[NEW]


"Is Jason your Imzadi, Alanna? Or, were you merely able to use telepathy to reach him?" T'Lul asked curiously. "I do wonder why you were granted boots. It seems illogical that one who wanted you to be constantly at his mercy would allow that courtesy. It is incongruous. Do you have an idea on that, Alanna?"

"I think it was because we were at a military camp and I might need to walk somewhere--accompanied by guards, of course. I'm sure once I got to the ship I would have to stay barefoot." She smiled, her expression softening. "Yes. Jason is my Imzadi. He knows I love him, but I'm not sure if he understands what it meant for me to be able to reach him telepathically on the alternate Risa. There was so much going on when we got back, and then he was gone."

"I see," T'Lul answered sagely. "I am still not certain that your explanation of the reason you were given boots is completely logical. After all, you would still be naked, no? The point would be humiliation and proof of his ownership of you. Not leaving you completely helpless would not make that point. I will have to consider that later." She hummed for a moment and asked, "So, you're not certain that Jason knows that he is your Imzadi. Does he understand what that means?"

"I...never told him, so I don't know. I think the captain understands. She was very kind when he disappeared."

T'Lul nodded. So many facets to sort through. Alanna had issues but why would the Captain be kind? Why has she not told Jason? T'Lul wondered at the illogic of non-Vulcans and scored another point for the logic column versus emotions. "Perhaps we have strayed a bit too much at the moment. Please," she added with a little extra inflection on that first word. "Continue with the story."

“When Sovok returned. I wasn’t as cooperative as he wanted and he hit me and pulled out a tooth. Then he introduced me to a device he called the agonizer. He promised to hurt me and heal me over and over for years. Then he was going to send me to his ship, but I…I tried to convince him to let me stay a little longer. I knew Jason would find me. I knew he would rescue me, but only if I was still on Risa. I wasn’t very subtle, and Sovok figured out what I was doing. He decided to use the agonizer on its reverse setting which caused intense pleasure and raped me again so that when Jason came to find me, he’d hear us and think I wanted to stay.” She was trembling now, but paused to control herself. “Jason came anyway. He fought Sovok and killed him. Then the others showed up and there was a firefight. When we got to the portal couldn’t get back through because it was sealed. We almost didn’t make it back at all. Commander Soran used a computer core from a Romulan ship to force the portal open. We got through before everything fell apart.”

"That is quite the tale," T'Lul told Alanna, nodding her head. "Tell me, have you been intimate with anyone since these incidents?"

"Yes." She felt her cheeks grow warm. She didn't generally talk about her relationships. "The doctor knew what happened. She did a thorough exam when I got back. When we were both physically healed, Jason and I...spent time together." Being with him helped her heal emotionally. At least until he disappeared.

"And after he disappeared?" T'Lul prodded.

"Not until he returned."

"So, you have resumed your relationship, then." T'Lul observed. "Tell me, Alanna, has your relationship with Jason changed at all?"

"He hasn't been the same since. He's angry and resentful--especially with Vulcans. It's colored our relationship, yes."

"How so?" T'Lul asked, raising an eyebrow, fully expecting the answer that he had become more aggressive, angry, bitter, and unloving.

"He's angry and bitter, mostly about what happened with Sovok. For him it's only been a few days, so I don't blame him for his anger. As I said, he's angry with Soran and Ryan, and he's angry with the Vulcans from Alternate Risa."

"Only a few days for him? Can you please explain that? As to blaming him for anger, that would be illogical. Emotions may, in of themselves not be logical, but often times they follow logical courses, which make them subject to prediction," T'Lul explained to Alanna.

"He was trapped in a temporal wormhole. When he broke out of it, he was on a collision course with the station. For him, it had been five days. For us, eight months."

"That would definitely be disconcerting for him and others," T'Lul observed. "Did you believe that he was alive and you would see him again in all of those eight months? And what happened to the temporal wormhole?"

"Yes, I never stopped believing he would come back. I ran into his father here once and he said not to stop believing he'd return," she said. "For the wormhole, from what I've been told, there was nothing left. It may have been more of a transwarp conduit. I didn't hear much about it."

"Intriguing," T'Lul answered. "Both your firm belief without evidence and the temporal wormhole itself." She remained silent for a few moments, thinking about her next words. "While I believe that you have come through some of this on your own, we should meet at least twice a week for now. However, I am most concerned about your Imzadi. I believe that he will need my assistance more immediately and it will not be easy, especially considering that I am Vulcan."

Alanna nodded. "I agree he could use your help, but I don't know if he'd agree to come see you. Not right now, anyway." He would have to want help and at the moment he didn't. Nor was he in Starfleet, so the captain couldn't order it. For now, she would have to wait and see.

"Then, for the moment, we will talk. I thank you for coming in to meet with me. That must have been difficult, especially after your experiences and with what the last counselor told you."

"I thought I'd put most of it behind me, but talking about it..." She shook her head. "I guess I'm not as over it as I thought. Thank you, Lieutenant."

"You are welcome. I am here to assist and serve," T'Lul told Alanna.

The science officer stood and gave the counselor a Vulcan half-bow. "I will see you later."

____
OFF

Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
Deep Space 5

and

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space 5

 

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