Upon Defiant: Chapter One

Meetup place for all sorts of families! Also a good therapist is here.

"Your way sucks," James told Acus.

"Fuck off." Acus snorted.

James tugged on Acus' arm, leading him toward the therapist with the help of his mental map of the station. "Mind your language. We're in public now, Captain," he said sweetly.

He growled and glowered at james, tempted to tell him to can it again.

Dawn looked towards the building then to the two others "Here we are"

James guessed what Acus was thinking and forced himself to look amused. If Acus threw another order at him, he was going to make sure it looked like his own idea this time. "Oh thank goodness," he said at Dawn's words.

Acus looked at the place in dread, tempted to bolt for it instead.

James held onto his arm firmly. "Oh come on, she's not gonna bite you. I don't think she will anyway." He knocked on the door, and the station AI opened it automatically so they could go in.

Dawn looked to Acus and James then held the door open for them "Come on"

He reluntly entered, wishing james would let him go finally.

Doctor Arabella Smith walked over to greet him as he came in. She couldn't smile thanks to her beak, but her eyes were friendly at least. "You're Acus, I take it?" she said, holding out one scaly hand for him to shake.

James nervously released Acus, watching him carefully to see if he was planning to make a break for freedom.

He kept his arms cross as he gruffly nodded yes.

She nodded gracefully. "Excellent. Come with me. You two can stay here, or leave, as you see fit, but you may not join us."

Dawn nodded and looked around "We will wait' She said, going to find a seat

He grumbled something in Avian as he reluntly followed this lady already expecting the session to fail like before.

James would sit down near Dawn to wait.

~~
Dr. Smith lead Acus into a smaller room with two comfortable chairs and a small coffee table in between. "Sit down," she said, indicating one of the chairs, "Would you like some tea?"

"No." He said sourly taking a seat bitterly.

"All right then." She sat down across from him. "You look to be under a lot of stress right now, so we'll skip the pleasantries for the moment. Give me your hands, please? My powers don't work through the air."

He snorted, sure why not probably wont do any good he held his hands out boredly.

She took his hands firmly and closed her eyes, breathing in. As she inhaled, Acus' pain would probably begin to ease, as she experienced it in his place.

She would see a decade of war, then the painful aftermath before her eyes, she would feel the pains of thousands, then billions as Avi was destoryed, on top of that she would feel the bitter pain of a broken heart from rejection.

Dr. Smith had seen some bad cases in her day, but Acus was definitely in the top 25. She barely kept herself from crying out at his pain, but once the initial rush of memories had passed, she looked more alert and invigorated. Pain had a weird effect on her species. They hated it just as much as any other, but at the same time it was how they recharged themselves.
"The memories are yours," she said calmly, "You have to look at them, and think about them. I'll take the worst of the pain so you can begin to process them in a healthy manner, but you have to face them yourself."

"I can't." He said through gritted teeth, panic already rising at the though having to relive through those hells again.

She steadily continued to absorb the pain from the memories, which should make them easier to think about, at least. They would still hurt, but probably not as badly with her help.