set three months after the last chapter
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Nethania never liked the nighttime. It was during the night that her demons chose to come out and attack her. Nethania and her unit, the Underdogs, had been the toughest unit in the marine corp. Every soldier in the unit, were sons and daughters of army families who chose to break their family's tradition and join the Marine Corp instead. They did things unorthodox, but they always got the job done. Nethania was the best of the best in the Taylor family. Many times people said that if Lucas was a genius, then she was a goddess, though Nethania wasn't without her faults. She had made mistakes in her lifetime. Some she would never let herself down for.
One of those mistakes was coming back to haunt her every night. At first she brushed it off, but the more times she dreamt of the incident, the more she found herself dwelling on it. Nethania found it interfering with her work. Hookclaw and Admiral Roland both insisted she take some time off. Nethania took their advice welcomingly.
The first few nights off she spent in Nanosauria, before finally taking some Terra Nova leave time. Ute was surprised when she showed up looking utterly exhausted. She brushed him off, telling him she was only tired from the journey. She retired to the Hangar and her personal quarters there, locking the door.
It had been four nights in a row since coming out to Terra Nova that she relived the nightmare again. She woke up and sat up on the edge of her hammock. She rubbed her face with her hands. Finally she got up and left her dwelling. She walked aimlessly through the colony. The few soldiers on night patrol nodded to her, others greeted her pleasantly.
Eventually her feet involuntarily took her to Boylan's Bar. For a moment she thought it was to go and talk to an old friend who had been there during the real nightmare. When she got there, a strange thought came across her mind and before she realized what she was doing, she did something she had never done before.
"Hello Captain," Boylan said.
"Give me a pint of your strongest drink," Nethania said.
Boylan looked at her funny, before turning to his taps and filling a glass.
"Everything alright Captain," Boylan asked as he handed her the drink. He watched her slam it down. Nethania gave a face of disgust.
"That is nasty stuff," Nethania said passing the glass back to him.
"Give me another one," Nethania ordered. Boylan didn't respond, but turned and refill the glass.
"Whoa, easy does it there Cap," Boylan said, pulling the glass away when she started to guzzle down the pint.
"Back off soldier," Nethania growled at him, she glared at him with half lidded eyes, a scowl on her face.
"What's bothering you captain?" Boylan said.
"None of your damn business," Nethania growled through clenched teeth.
"Come on captain…I'm your friend. You can tell me," Boylan said.
Nethania pushed the glass to him.
"Refill it," Nethania demanded.
"Not until you talk," Boylan said.
Nethania glared up at him. It was his business and he did have a right to refuse to serve her.
"You remember Jones," Nethania said.
Boylan straightened up at that name. Every Underdog knew Jones and what happened to him.
"It wasn't your fault," Boylan said stiffly.
"He was my soldier…my responsibility. I was there when they killed him…when they hung his body in the streets for the crows to eat," Nethania said.
"It was an unlucky…unfortunate mishap," Boylan said. Jones had been Nethania's second-in-command before Rogers.
"It should have been me up there," Nethania hissed at him harshly.
"But it wasn't…and honestly, the Underdogs wouldn't have been the unit it was if it weren't for you. Jones would have said the same thing," Boylan said.
"I told you what was bothering me, now refill my glass," Nethania ordered.
Boylan's shoulders dropped in defeat and he refilled the glass.
Several mornings later Josh reported in for work extra early.
"Whoa," Josh said when he saw the sight of Boylan lifting a nearly unconscious Captain Taylor up off the bar.
"You are not to speak of this to anyone," Boylan said, looking at Josh with seriousness.
"What happened?" Josh said.
"It's what I call Leader's Downfall Syndrome. They all get it eventually, some sooner than others. It's what happens when a leader starts to blame themselves for something that they couldn't control. Taylor Senior had it for what happened to Ayani and Lucas. Taylor Junior here has it for a fellow soldier who lost his life in a cruel way," Boylan said.
"What are you planning to do with her now?" Josh said.
"Is it still dark outside?" Boylan asked.
"Yeah. They just did the changing of the guard a little while ago and I saw Lieutenant Washington head out for her dawn patrol," Josh said.
"I need to get her back to the hangar and I need you to go with me so it doesn't look suspicious," Boylan said.
Boylan got Nethania back in her hammock, entering her quarters in through a secret door.
"There you go Captain. Sleep well," Boylan said.
"What's with the hammock?" Josh asked as they headed back out.
"It goes back to when Nethania was first deployed as part of the Underdogs. Before even I became an Underdog. They weren't given the snuggest of quarters. It was a military standard canvas tent; no beds, no cots, just sleeping bags. Nethania gathered up a bunch of old stakes and strung herself up a makeshift hammock. Next thing she knew, the rest of her unit did the same. They were stationed in Italy and it was one of Italy's hottest summers, so the sleeping bags were only good for sleeping on top of anyway," Boylan explained.
"When did you join the Underdogs?" Josh asked.
"I joined shortly after Cassie Durwin did. That was back in 2134," Boylan said.
"Why were you guys called the Underdogs?" Josh asked.
"You going to ask me many more questions about the past," Boylan asked him.
"This is the last one," Josh said.
"We were called the Underdogs because all of us are or were the underdogs in our families. Like Nethania, each and every one of us Underdog members is from a family with strong army backgrounds. My dad, my granddad and my great granddad were all great army generals, just like Nethania's. For all of us, in our families it was tradition for the firstborns to join the army, but we joined the Marine Corp instead, for that we got ostracized from our families. Some of us got lucky enough to be welcomed back into the arms of our families. Others not so much," Boylan said.
Josh nodded his understanding. Now he had a lot of questions, but he kept them to himself.
Josh worked later than normal that night. They had a larger crowd tonight in honor of a wedding that took place earlier in the day. Boylan closed up shop to civilians and soldiers going on duty in a few hours. Josh was in the middle of cleaning a glass when a groggy and ill looking Captain Taylor walked in.
"Uh, Boylan," Josh called.
Boylan appeared from his office above.
"Yeah," Boylan said. Josh pointed warily in Nethania's direction.
"Don't give her anything until I get down there," Boylan said.
Eventually Nethania helped herself, refilling her glass at her own leisure.
"Shouldn't you call the Commander?" Josh asked.
"I wouldn't tell him anything, not even about his own daughter…but if you want to, go ahead," Boylan said.
Josh looked back at Nethania.
"She's no good to us and the Nanosaurs half-dead," Josh said as Nethania drained her eighth glass.
"You're free to go…" Boylan said. Josh nodded and headed out. He walked past the commander's housing unit and stopped.
"Something on your mind young Shannon," asked the commander who had been watching him from behind.
"Commander," Josh gasped, jumping at the voice.
"Well," Nathaniel asked.
"I…uh…well…uh…you see it's…uh," Josh said, stumbling over his words.
"Well spit it out," Nathaniel said.
"Nothing sir, I have nothing on my mind," Josh said quickly and ran off quickly.
Josh got home and went into his room. This was Boylan's problem, not his. If Boylan wanted to watch Nethania drink herself into an early grave that's his problem.
The next morning, Josh wasn't surprised to find Boylan carrying Nethania back to the hangar.
"Boylan, you really should say something to the Commander," Josh said.
Boylan set Nethania back in her hammock.
"If not for the commander, the colony or the Nanosaurs; do it for her at least," Josh said.
Boylan looked at him long and hard. In all honesty, he didn't like seeing Nethania in the state that she was.
Josh and Boylan headed back towards the bar to open it for business. When the sun finally rose, Boylan disappeared from the bar.
Nathaniel glanced up at Boylan when he walked in.
"Can I help you Tom?" Nathaniel said. Alicia was sitting at her own desk going over requisition forms.
"Not me Commander, but someone else," Boylan said.
"I'm listening," Nathaniel said.
"I know I should have come to you about it the first time it happened, but my own personal pride got in the way," Boylan started. He shifted from foot to foot.
"Go on," Nathaniel said.
"Nethania's been coming into my bar and has been drinking herself into a stupor every night since the second day she came here on vacation," Boylan said.
"Nethania doesn't drink," Alicia said, looking up from her work. Alicia got up and went to stand next Nathaniel.
"This has happened once before," Boylan said.
"Why would she be drinking herself into a stupor?" Nathaniel asked.
Boylan explained to him what happened years ago.
"I believe that she's been having relapses of what I call Leader's Downfall Syndrome," Boylan said.
"What happened to get her to stop?" Alicia asked.
"If I remember correctly, the Commander showed up one day and took her camping," Boylan said.
"Nethania never mentioned what happened to Jones. The military informed me that Nethania had been captured and recently rescued, but that was as far as they told me. Rogers had called me to tell me Nethania was having a breakdown, so I showed up and took her away from that stress. I tried to get her to open up, but she remained closed off," Nathaniel said.
"I think now would be a good time to try again to get her to open up," Alicia said.
"Leader's Downfall Syndrome is a nice name for it, but I believe it is more commonly called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Captain Taylor went through a very traumatic experience. I think taking her camping may help. It'll get her away from the alcohol at Boylan's, away from other people and Nanosaurs and it'll give you a chance to counsel her," Elizabeth said.
"How do I go about talking to her? How do I bring this up? I don't want to do something that will cause her to shut down completely," Nathaniel said.
"Be slow with her. Just mention it once and see what happens. Gauging her response will tell you how to proceed, if she starts to distance herself then I would back off, wait a few days and then try again and above all else, don't be demanding or aggressive with her. Soldiers have rarely ever fully recovered from Post Traumatic Stress," Elizabeth said.
"Thank you Dr. Shannon," Nathaniel said.
"And you'll be able to handle the colony for however long this takes," Nathaniel asked Alicia.
"I'll be fine, you just worry about Nethania right now," Alicia said.
"Well, I'm going to go talk to her about the trip," Nathaniel said.
Nathaniel entered Nethania's quarters and found her looking like a train wreck after another long night at Boylan's.
"Hey dad," Nethania said. Despite the amount of alcohol she had consumed, Nethania's speech was fairly clear and un-slurred.
"You up for a camping trip with your old man?" Nathaniel asked, trying not to sound too concerned.
"Not you too," Nethania said in a rough tone.
"Huh?" Nathaniel said.
"Everyone keeps telling me I need a vacation," Nethania said.
"Well this is not just for you but for me. I need a vacation too," Nathaniel said.
"Go with someone else," Nethania said in a huffy tone.
"I want to go with you. When was the last time you and I went camping," Nathaniel asked. He shouldn't have asked that. The last time they did go camping was after the incident.
Nethania glared at him and for a moment he thought there was angry fire coming out of them.
"Doctor's orders young lady," Won said walking in, having overheard the conversation.
"Dr. Won," Nethania said looking at the Pachycephalosaur.
"Dr. Bashskull, Hardhead, and Dr. Shannon and I are writing this as a prescription a nice long camping trip to the Plateau's meadow with your father," Won said with a smile on his face. He had an air of authority about him. Nethania hesitated, looking from the Pachycephalosaur to her father before sighing hard.
"Fine," Nethania said.
"Then let's go, our chariot awaits," Nathaniel said.
"But I haven't packed anything," Nethania said.
"No need to, I've packed everything we need," Nathaniel assured her. He put an arm around her shoulders and led her out the door.