What Goes Around, Comes Around: Part 2

Posted on Sun Aug 9th, 2026 @ 1:32pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Julian Trent & Lieutenant JG Electra Drake

2,165 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: USS Guinevere - Counselling Office
Timeline: Early 2389

CONTINUED:


Jules reached for his drink, sipping it. "Next time, maybe we can make this scotch. Something stronger at least."

Lex laughed at his audacity, shaking her head lightly. She wasn't surprised though. Not that his drink was scotch, or that he'd come right out and ask. "Only if it's in the bar...no alcohol or synthahol in the counsellor's office."

"Shame...had hoped that you'd softened up that stance since last time," he said and smiled, warmly, accepting her words. "Fine. At least you always make sure the beverages are good. Imagine doing counselling with subpar refreshments."

"I hear it's illegal on some worlds," Lex teased him, watching him with a gentle smile. "You smile more now. I'm glad. Whatever you've been doing, it's working."

"Nothing I didn't do before," Julian admitted and he looked at her and then down at his hands. "I've always used smiles as a weapon, or a way to get things. You saw through it quickly so I stopped doing it with you. Maybe it was turning 50," he met her eyes, holding them. "Realising I might as well join the world and see what happened. While I am still somewhat useful."

"Still useful? Come on, Jules, you know better than that...you'll be working when you're 80..." Lex chuckled softly, able to see it already.

Julian laughed at the idea, his eyes widening. "80? Must be bloody joking, by that time I'll have a penthouse on Risa, be obnoxious with a drink by the pool...use hypos to make my evenings more interesting..." he sat back with an incorrigible smile at the statement. Half a joke, with a hint of promise and fantasy.

She slapped the back of her hand against his arm, chuckling as she shook her head with a tsk. "Not while I'm around, you won't be."

"I knew you'd be trouble for my retirement plan," he tutted and shook his head, watching her with a small smile. "So, Lex...when do I get to see Luce?" He said it playfully, lightly, but underneath that there was a genuine want to see how much the little girl had grown in the years he hadn't seen her.

"Whenever you want," Lex assured with a light shrug. Their social calendar wasn't exactly packed. "She might be a little shy at first, but I'm sure she'd love to see you."

"Shy is fine, she's under no obligation to remember me...or like me," he said with a small smile, meaning it. "But I would like to see how much she has grown."

"You might be shocked," Lex warned with a half smile, but meant it. She could hardly believe it herself. "And sometimes, she sounds 30 years old..."

"Does she?" Julian laughed at the idea, watching her with awe. "Good, smart lass...I like that. Never commit to an age, even at that age."

"She's always considering and reconsidering," Lex admitted with a half smile, shaking her head as she set her cup down carefully. "Those tests she was having came back confirming she's autistic. She can find things a little...overwhelming sometimes."

"Ah," Julian met her eyes and nodded, thinking about how Lucy had been when he had known her. He had always liked the way she'd look at something, take her time. He had liked the way she knew what she liked. "You did suspect she was. At least the diagnosis makes things...clearer."

"She can take her time warming up to people," she offered lightly, just because she didn't want him to feel slighted if it took a little time for her.

"Good, never should trust people outright," Julian said softly, his eyes on her befoe he gave a nod. He could see what she was doing...preparing him, mentally, for it. "Lex...It'll be okay. She isn't obliged to like me."

Lex chuckled softly and nodded...not to the words, but at the reassurance behind them. "You seem...calmer these days. No, that's not the right word. Sturdier."

"Ah..." he nodded and looked down, thinking about that. "It's this damned rank," he added and glanced at her, grinning at the very idea of it. "I've had to be very selective about what I do. And this ship...it's different. I like that there is such a clear...separation between Tactical and Security. And I don't have to babysit the enlisted troopers either, their have their Sergeant Major to do that for them."

"Are enlisted tactical better behaved then?" she asked, with a teasing lilt that suggested she remembered some of his antics.

"They are around me," he said innocently, his eyes warm with it. "And I am very good at judging what constitutes trouble...and what is just healthy for people to do without me bothering them."

"You'd be surprised how difficult delegation is for some people," Lex observed, having seen the results on both sides when it became a problem. "It's healthy for everyone though...the leader releases some of the burden, the subordinate learns and grows."

"I remember what helped me when I was learning," he said as if it made sense, and he chuckled. "A few illicit poker games never hurt anyone either. As long as no one gets hurt and it isn't illegal, I am happy to pretend not to notice smaller things."

"Still...Master Chief...you've come a long way, Jules," she offered with a small smile, meaning it. She remembered him, the wilder streak. And she guessed it was still there, just he'd become better at knowing when to let it out.

He raised an eyebrow but he took the compliment, giving a small nod. "Not always easy," he finally admitted, taking a slow breath. "But I sleep better at night when I've worked hard anyway."

"Well, it looks like you're going to put me out of a job, Jules," she pointed out with a soft laugh, shrugging lightly all the same.

His eyes softened as he watched her before he let out a breath. "We both know that's not true," he said, but he was giving her a gentle smile. But he did like that she could see an improvement in him after three years.

"What things might I want to look out for then?" she asked softly, a small, almost playful smile on her lips at having brought him to the place to ask.

He looked down for a moment, considering it. Absently, his hand went to rub over his heart, just for a moment as he thought about it. "The usual vices," he admitted as he met her eyes. "Drinking, sex, flirting...the working beyond my shift because I like the sound of breathing around me. I'm not...quite in a place where I am settled with silence in my own space. I don't think I ever had that before, so why start now."

"How often do you drink now?" she asked gently, resting her elbow on the back of the sofa and her head against her hand.

He met her eyes at that, knowing he had opened the door for her to walk through. "Socially? Whenever I go out socially. Alone in my quarters? Only when I know it won't compromise the next day." He gave her a small smile, the one he kept whenever he needed to reassure as much as anything else. Himself. Her. Life. "Which...is far less as Master Chief than it was as Chief Petty Officer."

"And...I take it we're talking the real stuff here, not synthahol?" she asked softly, considering the honesty he'd shown so far.

"Out in the bar, whatever they will serve," his voice was soft, thoughtful, as he spoke. "Alone it depends on my mood and the overall status of the ship."

Lex arched a sceptical eyebrow, just watching him for a moment. She reached for the drawer, silently pulling out her notebook and pen...letting the action do its work.

He looked at her before he chuckled, sitting back almost lazily. With it, a smile curled his lips, his eyes watching her closely. "It hasn't changed," he said, his voice steady, a little gruff. "And it isn't a dependency before you start down that road. It's a bad coping mechanism at best. Alcohol, synthahol...it's not about that. It is about the ritual."

"There are different types of dependency," Lex pointed out, clicking the lid of her pen onto the end of it. "Not all are substance based."

He tilted his head as he considered it, watching her. "Like a medallion?" he asked, his voice soft. He still remembered how it felt, to carry Nico's medallion far beyond the point it was just a reminder of the man. He had buried it between the roots of an olive tree in Italy over ten years ago...but sometimes, his hand still went to try and touch it around his neck.

"Like a medallion," she agreed softly, holding his eyes, her own gentle with understanding. "We all have these smaller dependencies. The thing to ask yourself is...if I told you to stop tomorrow, could you, comfortably?"

He looked at her before he nodded, watching her. He could, with the drinking. He would find other things to soften the edges of his world with. But not all his vices were as easy as that to...ignore. "And if the question is no?"

"Then you might want to think about easing off of it a bit. So it's a choice to enjoy, rather than a need. Especially for an independent guy like you," she shook her head lightly, leaning forward to him a little. "We're not talking addiction here. I'm happy from your last medical and what you've said that you might just have a couple of...crutches."

He tilted his head, holding her eyes for a long moment. "And don't we all," he said with a wink. "You remain good at this, Lex. Even when you bring that bloody notebook into it."

"From memory, it was the one thing that cut through the bullshit," she replied sweetly, but there was fondness in her eyes.

"Because I've always hated things being written down about me," Julian said quietly, sharing something he wasn't sure she knew about him. "In a file, it sort of...follows you."

"Well, not sure I should say this because it might ruin my secret weapon, but...this pad is just for me. It's why I use it, rather than a PADD. My thoughts...my considerations...they're just that until I have to make a diagnosis or recommendation," she pointed out quietly.

"Well...good for you. But for me...that will always be that. Notes to be put into a file," he said, eyes shining a little with humour. Because he did believe her, that it was what she did. And he did trust her.

Lex watched with barely controlled amusement before she lifted the pad so he could see there was nothing written on it yet. "Guess you get to decide what goes on there."

"Ah...well...maybe that I am charming, good company..." he winked, smiling as he looked at her. "Good conversationalist."

"All true," Lex sighed theatrically, shaking her head before sitting back with a small smile to him. "Look...I never said this before, when we were working on your trauma. It...wouldn't have been appropriate. Now you have more distance, and you're not actively in treatment...I want you to know that Nico was a lucky man. I know you miss him, I know it hurts...but he was lucky to have you. It made his life rich, even if short."

He looked at her for a moment and then past her, thinking about it for a moment. "I know it wasn't perfect," he said quietly. "But for me, it was the only time someone chose me, long term. He was...so worried about caging me. I was so...focused on my choice, my freedom. But when he finally...had enough..." he chuckled and met her eyes. "You should have seen him. He'd get this fire in his eyes. Nico, patient and kind and always making sure his patients felt like they had some control? Oh, when he had enough he really did. So frustrated he couldn't even say grace..." he looked down, at his own hands for a moment. "I got a lot out of our relationship. I like to think he did too..." he glanced back at her and nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm absolutely sure that he did," Lex replied with certainty, covering his hand with her own to squeeze

He watched her before he nodded, giving her hand a squeeze in return. "It is good to see you again," he admitted quietly.

Lex's smile warmed at that and she nodded...because it was true. She'd missed having the scallywag around. He had a way of making life more colourful. "And you, Jules."

------

Lieutenant JG Electra 'Lex' Drake
Counsellor
USS Guinevere

Master Chief Petty Officer Julian Trent
Tactical
USS Guinevere

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