Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own nor have had any input in this series that started a cultural movement. I'm just a huge fan that got inspiration from another artist.
The next few weeks passed without any occurrence. Serena worked in Sickbay, met with Tiffany, and then went to her quarters. The only time she saw Spock was on away missions. She simply did her job and returned to her normal routine. Whenever she felt restless she put her mind to solving complicated biological problems. She slowly felt herself falling into a robotic state of routine and work. She told herself that this was a state that her mother would be proud of. Tiffany didn't seem to buy Serena's crap and was constantly getting onto her and trying to drag her out of her basic routine. Serena would recline and simply go back to her quarters. The days pasted and slowly everyone stopped trying to get her out of her new mood. Tiffany even stopped meeting with her. Serena was spending her days working and sleeping. Her mind felt numb and she felt it was necessary so she continued. When her door buzzed Serena was surprised when Captain Kirk walked in.
Serena immediately jumped up and stood at attention. "At ease." Kirk said with a smile as he looked around her quarters. As her stance barely relaxed he leaned on her desk and crossed his arms. "How are you doing on board my ship Lieutenant?" Kirk asked watching her. In another time he would've been fighting looks at revealed flesh but apparently his mind was on task, he was watching her face and his eyes were more serious. "I believe my work has exceeded normal parameters." Serena responded wondering where he was going with this. "May I ask if I have done something wrong sir?" Kirk laughed and shook his head. "No, nothing of that sort Lieutenant you can relax." Serena paused, her brows furrowing for a moment. "Then may I ask why you are here sir?" "McCoy, along with a few other officers, but mostly McCoy." Kirk said looking down at the desk and then back at her. "It would seem you have quite a few of my officers concerned about you. I hear you quit the science department." Serena straightened and nodded. "My hours in the science department was interfering with my duty aboard this ship, I needed to apply my skills in one area alone." Serena stated, it was practiced and had been said time and again. Kirk didn't let it slide. "Sounds like even you don't believe that, try it again." "Excuse me sir?" Kirk stood up and started to walk around her quarters. "You see when you simply accept something you don't really want you portray a sign of sorts. Some people it's a twitch of the eye, other's a nervous tapping. You on the other hand, you turn down right stiff. Now tell me Lieutenant why are you a quitter?" A spark of insult flashed through her at the comment and she had to hold back from snapping at her Captain. "I am not a quitter." She stated. "Then why did you quit the science department? You were excelling faster than any ensign in Starfleet and your medical career was riding along with your brilliance. There were no lapses in your medical career as you want to claim so that leaves me to believe that you simply quit." Serena grew silent as she debated her next answer. "It was a personal decision." She stated carefully.
Kirk shook his head and returned to the desk. "You are a hard one to crack, hell you'd give Spock a run for his money with how stubborn you are being right now." Kirk said somewhat exasperated. "You have a talent Lieutenant. Your area of expertise goes well beyond the medical field and if you limit yourself I'm afraid you will lose out on the joys of meeting your potential." "I cannot be successful in two areas of study; I will only be adequate if I split my time up between two fields." Serena responded clinging to anything. "Is that you or your mother talking?" Kirk stated hitting the head on the nail. "Look, your mother is an amazing doctor but you are your own person. She is brilliant in neurosciences but you; you're one of a kind. You are brilliant in not just one area of study but two. Don't limit yourself and tell yourself you cannot not be brilliant in two fields, show your mother just what kind of person you really are and show her that you are not only as brilliant as she is but better." Kirk stood up while Serena was frozen in place. He put a hand on her shoulder so she would look him in the eye. "Listen, you can do whatever you want to do just make sure it's what you want to do or else you'll regret it in the future." Kirk walked to the door but paused. "And if you want my vote, I personally miss the Lieutenant that walked onto the deck and whose eyes sparkled when the possibility of touring the science department came up."
With Kirk gone Serena felt the emptiness of her quarters cave in on her. She had decided hadn't she? Why did what Kirk say bother her so much? Who did she want to be?
The next few days continued on but her routine felt… stagnant. On the third day she found herself in the same corridor as the science labs. One of the science officers caught her just standing there and he enthusiastically asked her to come see his recent experiment. Serena tried to get out of it but his enthusiasm and downright begging dragged her through the door and into the lab she had spent so many hours in. Serena froze as her eyes ran over the layout. An image of herself running into the lab and touching all the machines played out before her. She had been so happy that day. Serena felt herself breaking down and she bent over hiding her face between her knees. The science officer came back over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "We all have our off days and we all need our breaks. You just have to remember to come back." He said rubbing her shoulders. She started crying at that. It was then that the door opened to the lab and Serena heard Spock call out her name in question. She even felt him bent down beside her probably thinking that something bad had happened. The science officer just laughed as he continued to rub her shoulders to calm her. "It's ok Spock. I think we've finally got her back." Serena couldn't help but laugh through her tears at the exuberance the science officer portrayed through his tone. A warm hand rubbed the small of her back as if to help calm her as the science officer had. She knew it was Spock without looking and she couldn't help but laugh again. How confused must the Vulcan be to see her sitting on the floor in the science lab crying and laughing.