The Wrong Side Of Heaven-Pt 1

Posted on Fri Mar 4th, 2016 @ 8:47pm by Master Warrant Officer Gaius Aquila & Lieutenant Commander Holly Gillo & Lieutenant Anandra Delair
Edited on on Fri Mar 4th, 2016 @ 8:48pm

973 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 90 - The Great Relink
Location: Prominade Deck
Timeline: MD3, 1300hrs

Giaus was the still not the same, even though it has been awhile since his return from the their battle with the Borg. In an attempt not to disrupt routine, he agreed to have lunch with Holly, as they usually do on mid-watch. Even though he was clean, his uniform was "less than ideal" for Marine standards. His tunic was wrinkled, and his combadge was crooked. His boots looked like he took them to a belt sander. He has not attempted to shave in days. He sat at the table, saying nothing, as he just tapped into his food repeatedly with his fork.

Holly had noticed the change in Giaus after what happened on the last mission. At first she didn't say anything and let him go through the motions of morning but now it was getting a bit much to handle. He needed someone else to talk to other than herself as that was not seaming to work on helping him cope with what happened. Setting up lunch with him like she normally did she made another call to the counselor as well to meet them. Seeing him eat like a machine was enough to confirm to her that she did the right thing and so she spoke to him, "Hope you don't mind but I invited Counselor Delair to meet us today."

Giaus heard Holly's words. He understood them. He managed to briefly stop eating, make eye contact with her, and nodded. "Thank you Imzadi." He then resumed his mechanical dining movements.

"You're welcome. You can't go on living like you are. Especially with the boys." She then resumed her eating as well waiting for the arrival of the counselor.

After receiving the call, Counselor Delair took a quick moment to pull up the file on MWO Gaius Aquila, refreshing her memory on he and his history. Immediately following that she arrived, her usual warm smile on her face as she approached to greet them.

"Hello Holly, Gaius." she nodded to each in turn, her expression unchanged as she looked Gaius over, noting his uncharacteristically unkempt appearance. "Thank you for inviting me, I hope I haven't kept you waiting."

Giaus just stared at the new arrival, and gave her a nod. He held Holly's hand as they sat.

Holly held onto Giaus's hand and then spoke, "You didn't keep us waiting for long. Just was trying to get Giaus to talk to me but with no luck. Got him to finally eat something."

Delair nodded slightly, shifting her attention to Gaius. She took note of how well he'd cleaned his plate so far, which seemed a bit in contrast of someone who might be slipping into some sort of post traumatic apathy, though still it was not unusual by any means. "How are you enjoying your meal, Gaius?" she asked, addressing him with a friendly sense of professionalism.

For no apparent reason, Giaus had a sudden increase in situational awareness. His heartbeat increased in speed. Though his head did not move, his eyes shifted from different points in the area, everyone's movement received attention, every sound distracted him for a moment before his attention refocused on the new arrival. "Um...the food was good."

Holly was one to pick up on it and just observed letting him go through it until he was able to shake the feeling. Her hand never left his and even gave a reassuring squeeze as if to let him know that she was right there and not going to leave any time soon. She wasn't going to say anything and just let the consoler do her job as this type of behaver from him was becoming normal since his return back from the mission.

Giaus felt Holly reassuring squeeze, and he immediately calmed down.

Delair made note of three important things so far over their short exchange - Gaius' darting eyes, seemingly signifying a heightened state of anxiety (or so the counselor would perceive), she noted his short and flat response to her inquiry, and she also took note of the fact that Holly's touch seemed to calm him quickly and significantly. Now, of course, she would have to keep digging to find any true implication's of Gaius' current mental state in order to focus her efforts going forward.

She nodded in response, sinking back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other. Perhaps if she looked more relaxed, that coupled with Holly's presence might yield some results that they could work with - though the counselor had a sense that this was a complicated case and that they may make no headway at all on it, today. It would likely be a process, and she was prepared for that.

"So, tell me how you've been Gaius, what have you been keeping yourself busy with since your return from the last mission?"

Giaus looked at Delair. He blinked once, and saw a Borg. He shook his head rapidly, and blinked. Delair now looked like a Jem'Hadar. Shaking his head one more time, he saw Delair in her true form. After a minute of silence, he said, "Besides work, I haven't been doing much."

Holly could tell that Giaus was struggling to talk to Delair, so she just held onto his hand till he was able to talk to her. This was pretty normal for him now since he has been back. When silence fell she added, "The boys have noticed but don't say anything. Even though they are old enough to be on their own they still look for their Father's attention."

Jackson felt inside that Holly just started a process of healing for him from mental wounds not just from this battle, but also from a battle in his past. The torment inside kept him from smiling, but he did have some hope.

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