Who Counsels the Counsellor?

Posted on Sun Aug 17th, 2025 @ 8:53pm by Lieutenant JG Annika Johnson & Captain T’Kal

879 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X01: Bound for Cold Frontier
Location: Johnson Quarters
Timeline: After "Medical Time"

With time for a break, Annika made for her quarters. If she was to keep her promise to Cas, she needed to make a call and the best place to do that was from the comfort of their own quarters. Stepping inside she walked across to the small desk in the corner of the living area, taking a seat she requested a private channel to Starfleet Medical and a prior acquaintance.

After a few seconds, the display of the icon of the United Federation of Planets was replaced with the face of Travis Parker, in his opulent office in the headquarters of Starfleet Medical. “Well if it isn’t Annika Johnson! I haven’t seen you since I left the Saturn. Are you still there? How are you?”

“Hello Travis! It’s so good to see you.” Annika smiled warmly, it had been a while since they’d last spoken. After her accident Travis had been both her Counsellor, and her friend. He’d seen her through so much already. “Actually I transferred, I’m aboard the Ark Royal now with Cas! It took a while but Starfleet finally granted us the same ship.”

"Oh good!" He clasped his hands together. "It hurt me so to see you two apart for so long. Family life isn't great aboard starships, but I'm glad you made it work. Now, how have you been feeling?"

“Okay I guess” Annika paused. “Actually I need your advice Travis. I spoke to Cas about the idea of getting rid of my scars. It’s not an easy process, given the amount of scarring I have as you know.” She paused again. “I had my mind set on it, then Cas suggested that maybe I should talk to someone about it first. As he says they’re a part of me, part of my story, I’m confused!”

“It’s a very masculine sentiment,” Travis admitted. “But one grounded in love. For some people, scars help tell a person’s story, to others or just to themselves.” He leaned forward, closer to the monitor. “Some people think keeping a scar gives them strength, because it reminds them of some brutal hardship that they pulled through. If I survived that, then I can survive this next challenge. For others though, constantly seeing scars forces them to revisit the trauma. For them, getting rid of the scarring and seeing unblemished skin is what gives them strength. Instead of the reminders, they see that they moved past the pain. In a very real way, physical healing mirrors the mental and emotional healing. I know your feelings on the incident have evolved over time. How are you feeling about it now?”

“Now?” Annika paused. “I still feel…angry I guess, that I can’t have the one thing I always wanted.” There was a longer pause. “I wanted to be able to have a baby, for Cas and I to have a family. I look in the mirror and all I see are reminders that we’ll never have kids of our own!”

“So it sounds like seeing the scars every day is a problem,” he said, nodding. “To Castiel’s mind, the scars a reminder of everything he still has, namely you, alive and in his life, so the scars are seen as a positive part of the story. For you, they’re a reminder of everything you’ve lost, namely the life you always dreamed of having.”

“Yes, but, I have Cas and I love him more than anything in the universe.” Annika sighed. “He knows how I feel about not being able to have a baby, he was there when we did our initial counselling. I just…” she shrugged her shoulders. “Do I find a way to see these scars the way Cas does?”

“That’s certainly an option,” Travis said. “There’s nothing requiring you to decide this today.”

“That’s true” Annika nodded and offered a more relaxed smile. “There's no mad rush at all.”

“Why don’t you give yourself a soft deadline to think about this?” Travis suggested. “Maybe two months from today. Think about how you feel when you see the scars. Try to see them the way Cas does. Jot down your feelings and thoughts somewhere. Be mindful. And two months from today, see if your feelings have shifted in one direction or the other. And of course,” he added with a smile, “don’t hesitate to call back any time. We can even do this regularly if you want.”

“Thank you for all this Travis, there I was thinking I wasn’t in need of any more counselling and here I am” Annika smiled. “I’ll do that, give it the two months and see how I feel. In the meantime if I need to talk I’ll give you another call.”

“I’ll make sure you can see my calendar,” Travis told her. “Take care of yourself, Annika. And give Cas my best.”

“I will Travis, take care my friend” Annika smiled warmly feeling better for having had the talk.

[END]

Commander Travis Parker
Senior Mental Health Advisor, Starfleet Medical, Earth
(written by T'Kal)

Lieutenant jg Annika Johnson
Chief Counsellor
USS Ark Royal

 

RSS Feed