**Disclaimer: I do not own any of Andromeda's characters or any other details pertaining to the Television show. All rights belong to Gene Roddenberry, and whomever else has legal rights. Casey, and other characters other than Andromeda's main characters, and the story idea belong to me.
It was late when Casey got off shift. She was tired, and glad the day was over. She went to her quarters, took a hot shower and crawled in between crisp clean sheets with an appreciative sigh and closed her eyes. That night Casey had all sorts of weird dreams. The funny thing was when she woke up the next morning she realized her dreams weren't dreams at all, they were memories of past events. She shook off the strange feeling of reliving the past. The last event she saw in her dreams had felt like it had just happened yesterday, when in fact it had happened last year. Dressing in her workout clothes, she did her morning stretches, then headed out for her daily run.
The day went as usual. Same ole, same ole. Harper running his mouth, Dylan restraining Tyr from kicking Harpers butt. Trance talking her normal weird way. Rommie being her usual Rommie self, and Beka zipping in and out of Slipstream like a mad woman, but enjoying every minute of it. Casey had joined the Andromeda crew four years ago. It took awhile, but they grew on her, to where now they felt like family. She cared for all of them. Yes, even annoying little Harper. The day passed with little excitement. After her shift, Casey headed to the gym for her evening workout session before going to her quarters for some much needed sleep. That night as she slept she relived the past once again. Memories after memories skipping in her mind's eye. It was like she was watching them on a screen and flipping thru them, while living them all over again.
A week went by and every night the same thing happened, she was seeing memories of her life on the Andromeda and all the events and missions she been thru. And every morning, she felt like she had relived them. It was even getting to the point to where she was confused to what was in the here and now, and what was in the past. It was like deja vu. The crew was even started to notice something was affecting Casey's behavior. Dylan notices she was acting confused at some of his orders. It was then that he felt like he needed to find out what was going on with her. So he asked her to come see him after her shift ended.
"Casey are you doing okay? You've been acting a little strange lately. Are you getting enough sleep? If you need to talk about anything, I want you to know I'm always here to listen, about anything. Now what's going on?" Dylan asked concerned.
"It's nothing really." Casey answered trying to sound convincing. "I've just been having some nightmares lately. I just need some solid sleep, and I'll be back to normal. I won't let it affect my work again." Casey said knowing she needed to get a grip on things.
"Casey, I'm not just worried about your work. I'm worried about you. I'm not just your Captain, I'm your friend."
"I know Dylan, and I appreciate your concern, but it's nothing some decent sleep won't cure, I'm sure." Casey trying to reassure Dylan as well as herself. She had gone to see Trance about trying sleep aids, but they only seemed to make matters worse. She still relived all her memories, she just couldn't wake up from the more horrible memories that she hoped to never remember again, like the memories of the Magog. She decided sleep aids were not the way to go.
"Have you tried talking to Trance about something to help relax you and help you sleep?"
"Yes, but it didn't work."
"Why don't you talk to Tyr, maybe he can help you with some meditation techniques."
"I might try that." Casey said thinking she might as well try. The sleep aids didn't work, and she needed to get some sleep before she had a break down.
"Good. Now don't forget I'm here if you need to talk. I want you to take tomorrow off and rest."
"Thanks Dylan." Casey said and left Dylan's office. "Rommie, where is Tyr?"
"Tyr is in the gym." Rommie's answered.
"Thank you." Casey told the ships A.I.
"Your welcome." Rommie answered.
Casey headed to the gym in search of Tyr. She stood at the entrance and watched Tyr finish his reps of pushups. After climbing to his feet, he grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat from his face. Feeling eyes on him he looked up and saw Casey watching at him.
"Did you come to work out, or are you going to stand there, and stare at me?" Tyr asked quirking a curious brow at her.
"Neither actually," Casey said trying to figure out the best way to approach the subject with Tyr about him helping her with the meditation techniques. "I was looking for you actually."
"Why?"
"Dylan suggested that I talk to you about helping me with some meditation techniques."
"Why?" Tyr asked watching Casey curiously, but she could also see him studying her closely.
"I haven't been able to sleep well lately. I'm sure its been obvious how it's been affecting my work."
"I have notice your ineffective work behaviors of late. What exactly is causing your, let's say, restlessness?"
"To be honest, I really don't know. My mind just won't relax, so I can rest. Would you be willing to help me?" Casey asked hopeful.
Tyr was quiet for a moment, thinking if he really wanted to put in the extra time, and effort to help Casey. Humans in his opinion were lacking when it came to focus, determination and commitment. Did he really want to waste his time in trying to help her, when he was positive she would just complain about how hard his techniques were and quit. He continued to study Casey, taking in the dark circles under her eyes, and the weariness in her stance. He had been working with her for going on five years, and he had never seen her in her current state from just lack of sleep. He figured he should agree for his own well being. If she didn't get some sound sleep soon, then she could screw up, and cost people their lives, including his own. He figured all it would take would be a couple of hours of a strenuous Nietzschean workout to have her falling asleep from pure exhaustion. He draped the towel around his neck, and looked at her impassive. "That is up to you. Are you willing to do as I say?"
"What exactly will I have to be doing?" Casey questioned curiously, wondering what Tyr had in mind.
Tyr thought his opinions about humans were again affirmed by her leeriness about how much work she would have to put in to it. "Meditation doesn't always have to do with the mind. What you need to do is to calm the whole body, and mind. You need to train your body more along with training your mind."
"So it's like a workout session?"
"Are you willing to put in the work? It will be an intense workout." Tyr said with a serious expression, all the while waiting for her to say no thanks.
"If it will help, then yes. I'm not afraid of a hard workout." Casey said knowing when Tyr warned of the intensity of a workout, it was going to be very intense. Tyr didn't do anything the easy way when it came to training.
"Then let us start." Tyr said throwing his towel over to the bench. He didn't let his moment of surprise show on his face as he step back onto the mat in the middle of the gym. However he didn't hold much confidence that Casey would make it through the entire workout. They started by Tyr showing Casey different movements, then he made her repeat each movement over and over until she did it with out a single mistake. Which never happened. When Tyr was satisfied that Casey was physical worn out, he told her that was enough. She collapsed on the floor, and felt every muscle in her body screaming.
"Sit up." Tyr told her, while standing over her.
"I thought we were finished." Casey panted looking up at Tyr hoping he wasn't serious about doing more.
"With the body, but now you have to work on calming, and controlling your mind. Now sit up." Tyr said again sitting himself down in front of her. Casey didn't complain, but pushed herself up to a sitting position with a muffled groan as her body protested. She sat in the lotus position style like Tyr was now sitting. "Now close your eyes, and clear your mind. I want you to start at the top of your head, and work your way down the body until you have recognized every part of your body. Focus on each part for a few moments before moving on. Then I want you to focus on you breathing. While taking deep breathes though the nose, and letting it out through the mouth."
Casey did as Tyr instructed. It didn't take much effort to focus on each part of her body. It was screaming at her. But she tried focusing on each part one at a time, taking time to focus on that part for a minute or so before going to the next. When she finally got to her breathing exercise, she could feel her body starting to relax some. They continued for ten minutes, before calling it a night. Agreeing to meet tomorrow after Tyr's shift to do it all over again.
Tyr opened his eyes and watched Casey as she did her relaxation breathing. She had surprised him tonight. She was not like most humans he knew. Not once during their workout did she complain or quit. It was evident that she was exhausted by her sloppy moves, and continuous mistakes even with simple maneuvers. However she repeated the moves over and over, when he ordered. It surprised him more, that she seemed more determined to complete the moves without mistakes than he was to see them completed. A brief fleeting thought came to his mind. "Maybe, not all humans were slackers." Dylan and Beka had already gave him brief glimpses of something worthy in humans, however maybe Casey was showing him something more.