[Discovery] -- [Kirk's Office] -- [Open for Official Business]

[kirktastic]

It was so heavily backlogged. Messages, paperwork, reports, news - all of it was backlogged. Kirk had holed himself up in his office, trying to get through it all. Okay, the paperwork was at least not seriously backlogged and he saw Spock's hand in that. Spock was good at that sort of thing, even if Kirk wasn't entirely surprised to see some things

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[headnursechapel]

Christine's expression sobered, and she nodded in agreement, taking a deep breath.

"Well," she said, "I was the ranking officer in Sickbay when we got a call from the guard down in the brig - Lieutenant Harris, I think, although that'll be in the report."

"One of the Romulans had held her knife up to the forcefield to heat it, and subsequently held the knife against her forearm, burning the skin away." She met Kirk's eyes. "Her knife, Captain - she still had it. They both..." She was getting ahead of herself, and stopped. "I believe the one who harmed herself was Nero; my captain thought so, when I told him what happened."

"I went down to the brig, and Lieutenant Harris - after expressing some concern for my safety - agreed to lower the forcefield so that I could treat the prisoner. Which is what I did. I healed the arm as much as was possible without the equipment in Sickbay, scanned her, and sedated her to check for weapons. I gave the knife to Lieutenant Harris."

She paused, giving Kirk a chance to ask questions before she continued. Treating Nero had been the easy part.

[kirktastic]

"Was he in the farther part of the brig? Piece of his ear missing?" Kirk drew a line across his own ear, "Tattoos crossed on the bridge of his nose?" He'd spent too much time staring up at Nero's face not to know it intimately.

"Did he say anything to you?" Already he was writing. Harris... was in deep shit. In fact, all of security was. He would be going down there and checking it out himself.

[headnursechapel]

Christine nodded. "Yes, she was in the cell farthest from the door. That's her." She paused, trying to remember. "She said a few things...but I don't think they were directed at me. It was all in Romulan."

[kirktastic]

Nero, then. "Security will have it on record..." He muttered to himself, writing a note to pick up and see what Nero had said. "Did Harris enter the cell with you? Did Nero do anything threatening towards you?"

[headnursechapel]

She shook her head. "No and no. The lieutenant stayed outside the cell and put the forcefield back up after me. He said he had orders not to keep the field down." She leaned closer. "He was very concerned with following orders, Captain. It was clear that he wanted to do the right thing."

"As for Nero...no. She was pretty out of it; she was in shock from the pain. I'm not sure she even really knew I was there."

[kirktastic]

Did Christine not know Nero was male, or was she just calling the body whatever gender it was at the time? He wondered if she called Jim 'her'. What a weird thought. Female or not, Jim would be male in his head. Similar to Pasha.

Harris had left Chapel alone in the cell with a killer. Kirk had to work to keep the anger from his face and voice, "Is Nero alright? What happened afterwards?"

[headnursechapel]

"Nero is fine, as far as I'm aware," she replied. "I haven't been back to check, but the arm should be pretty much healed, by now."

She paused, studying the hard set of Kirk's face. "Captain...I want to make one thing clear before I continue. Lieutenant Harris didn't want to let me in the cell. I'm afraid I bullied him into it a bit. He stayed alert and ready to pull me out at the first hint of trouble, and was very professional." Bugfuck crazy aside. "But someone had to go in there and treat Nero. And that's my job."

[kirktastic]

"It isn't your job to go in there alone," Kirk shook his head, "I'll take it into consideration though. Is there anything else I should know about?" His eyes lifted to hers, his own very focused.

[headnursechapel]

"With all due respect, sir," Christine replied carefully, "it is my job, to heal the wounded. It was an emergency, and there was no other choice. I took no unnecessary risks."

She met his eyes again.

"After I left Nero's cell," she continued, "I went down to see the other one. Ayel. I wanted to try to see if he would give up his knife, as well. We...talked."

[kirktastic]

Kirk just disagreed. It was her job, but Harris should have gone in with her. Now that was interesting. Why did she call Nero 'her' but Ayel 'his'? He tapped a finger, "About? Did he give it up?"

[headnursechapel]

She shook her head. "No," she said. "He didn't. But...he also didn't reject the request outright."

"He said that he'd show me the knife when he saw Nero. But of course, I couldn't do that. So I told him that I would talk to my captain about it. And that I would turn the lights down, on his request. I...don't think they're used to the brightness."

"He agreed, and showed me the knife." She looked at Kirk. "I know it doesn't sound like much, and that just seeing it didn't give us anything concrete. But it was a gesture of trust. He was careful not to promise anything. But I think, if we did allow them to see each other...I think he'd give us the knife."

"I'm still not sure exactly what happened there. What he was thinking. But..." She paused, wondering how to explain. "He listened to everything I had to say, and considered it," she said slowly. "He was willing to bargain. And he kept up his end of it. I'm not saying he's not dangerous. But...he may be able to be reasoned with. To an extent."

[kirktastic]

The news didn't surprise him, in some ways. Willing to bargain, when he had no choice left. It told him Ayel could be kept in line by using Nero. At the same time... he already knew that. He knew a little about Ayel, more than his mind wanted to know.

He let out a slow breath and nodded, "Thank you for the information. I'll keep it in mind."

[headnursechapel]

She nodded, and was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Captain," she said at last. "People don't injure themselves that way. Not if there's not something wrong with them. Nero doesn't have his knife anymore. But he could still hurt himself, if he chose to." She looked up, her expression solemn. "He could throw himself against the forcefield next time."

"My job is the preservation of life. All life. As a medical professional...I'm recommending he undergo a psychiatric evaluation, as a step towards psychiatric treatment. For his own safety."

She had no idea if a human psychiatrist would do Nero any good. If anything would help, at this point. But she couldn't sit by and do nothing.

[kirktastic]

There was a lot she didn't know. "We have Starfleet on the way to meet us where we're going. From there, his fate will be decided. Trust me when I say there is plenty wrong with Nero."

He gave a little smile, "Trust me, I'm not dismissing what you're saying. This just goes beyond psychiatric treatment."

He wondered if it was against Vulcan logic to get into Nero's brain and just change things. Most likely. It wasn't a serious thought, only a passing one that people had sometimes.

[headnursechapel]

She looked at him for a moment.

"I know who he is, Captain," she said at last. "And I know what he's done."

She'd read the history of what had happened in this universe. And she'd been there in Sickbay after he and his father had been rescued from Nero's ship. She'd seen firsthand how mad, and how dangerous, Nero could be.

"I'm not saying it will cure him. I don't know if it will help at all. But Captain, if we leave him down there alone, after he's already injured himself once - if we stand by and do nothing and he tries to hurt himself again, and succeeds -"

She paused. When she spoke again, her voice was softer, but no less intent.

"We've got to try something, Captain."

[kirktastic]

"Even without the knife, even if he was naked and in that cell alone and without another instrument, he could find ways to kill himself," Kirk said quietly, trying to be gentle even with such a blunt statement. "He's a rabid dog, mad and dangerous to anyone around him."

He looked to her, then away. He tapped his fingers, thinking, before he nodded, "I'll do what I can about it. I want him in one piece when we get to the Colony." So fair they were being to a man that had destroyed a planet, giving him chances that Nero had never given the Vulcans.