Chapter 27- The Negotiator
She sat up and straightened her dress that was perhaps a size or two too tight. "Leonard." She greeted condescendingly putting her file back into her designer bag.
"Jocelyn." He snarled as he took a seat and gestured toward me. "This is Dr. Collins, she works on the ship as the counselor." She tilted her head to look me up and down and although she said nothing directly, I could tell by the way her forehead wrinkled that she had raised her eyebrow in disapproval. "You brought a therapist? We are well past couples counseling, Leonard. I am happy you finally got around to admitting you have a problem, but if you have to travel with your own personal shrink things have become worse since I last saw you."
I was never really certain what a nuclear fission reaction would actually look like, but I imagined it to be something like the explosion that took place in McCoy's eyes. "The only crazy person here is you if you think for one goddamn second that I would ever entertain the thought of getting back together with you. I would rather snuggle up to a raging case of Prodian herpes over you any day!"
"Something you are probably familiar with." She coolly retorted. "Since you have had a chance to spread yourself all over the galaxy. God knows what you have picked up."
His teeth were grinding together as he spat back, "You were the one that fucked around on me."
"It's what happens when you don't tend to your business, Leonard. Leave the henhouse unguarded and it is only a matter of time before another fox sneaks in." She cruelly laughed. "Not that you were all that good anyway as I recall…"
"Well, forgive me if I found it a little difficult to get it on with a block of ice." He hissed. "But I still got the job done."
"Yeah, one and done." She yawned. "A real minute man. I could have done the same thing with a turkey baster."
My eyes went wide. The sheer amount of vitriol that the two spat at each other like volleys of poison darts was simply appalling. What was worse, they were doing it in front of total strangers in broad daylight. The absolute hatred and sheer unadulterated animosity that hung heavy between the two was staggering in it's ability to completely spin them into a blind rage after they muttered each other's names.
"Time out." I declared making a T shape with my hands. I went into adult psychology for a reason, but it astonished me that these two had acted as anything but. The speed at which they devolved into 5 year olds throwing temper tantrums and slinging handfuls of dirt at each other was breathtaking. I wished I had paid a little more attention in the few child psych classes I was forced to take or better yet hold a quick consultation with my colleagues in pediatrics on tips for dealing with out of control children. The only recourse I had was to try to make them act like adults again. "If I may, as a neutral third party, suggest that perhaps the best way to approach this is to stick to the topic and avoid personal attacks unless bloodletting and assured mutual destruction was the sole purpose for this meeting."
"Impartial my sweet southern ass." She scoffed under her breath. "If you work with him then you are already on his side. All you military dicks stick together."
I foresaw this as a problem and I knew I would have to work hard to win her over. "I was a counselor long before I joined Starfleet." Waaaay before. "And the first thing you learn is to never take sides because then you are in no position to stand back and see the whole picture and identify options that you may be blind to. Think of it this way: right now the two of you are neck deep in quicksand with all this hurt and anger that has accumulated over the years. The more you struggle and fight with each other, the deeper in you go. Now what will ultimately be the most helpful for you: me jumping in with you or me standing on the bank and figuring out a way to get you both out? Because believe it or not, a win-win is always the goal and I have no intention of leaving you behind."
"You don't even know me!" She sneered.
"And that is why this will work if the two of you can take a few minutes to stop, calm down, and collect your thoughts so you can tackle the problem instead of each other." I reasoned. "I don't know you, therefore I have no reason not to like you or devalue your opinions. I can tell you that I have taken him off duty before; his position earns him no favors from me because business is business, which means I can have no particular loyalty to anyone. His opinions are no more or no less important than yours." Ok, so that was just a little bit of a white lie, but she looked to him in surprise and he confirmed my statement by looking at least a little ashamed as he dropped his head slightly.
I looked from one to the other and softly said, "It is clear that both of you are hurting and I know that it can be difficult to separate all that resentment and pain from what you have to do. I know that feelings will play into this and in some ways it is unavoidable, but at least for the moment you have to put all that aside because the focus has to be on your daughter and what is best for her. Now, I want the two of you to sit there for five minutes and think about that. No talking, no evil glares, just you and your own thoughts." I never really did much therapy on Earth and certainly not couples therapy, but I once heard a colleague describe doing this to his clients when they needed a 'reset' button and it seemed appropriate to give them both a time out.
Five minutes can be a really long time when you are doing nothing but sitting and staring at a table, but I had witnessed firsthand McCoy's uncanny ability to subsist on nothing but rage for hours on end and I worried it wasn't nearly long enough, but time was up. "Ok." I said breaking the silence. "Now here are the rules: only one person speaks at a time and the other person will sit quietly and listen without interruption until they have finished. Personal attacks will not be permitted and language will be kept respectful and fit for use as though Jesus were sitting here. Who wants to go first?"
McCoy frowned and twitched his finger to claim first shot although he was clearly uncomfortable with all the stipulations. He cleared his throat and asked, "What do you want now?"
She shifted in her chair and her voice wavered as she struggled to show some restraint. "Things have changed, Leonard. I know you agreed to pay alimony and child support in the divorce, but I lost the alimony when I remarried and, well, it just isn't enough."
He rolled his eyes and fell back in his chair with an exasperated sigh. "You already have everything, Jocelyn! The credits that you were getting has been going to Jo, I didn't get it back!"
"That isn't true and you and I both know it." She challenged. "I know that you got a big promotion to head medical honcho on that ship and promotions come with pay. You have been holding out on us for almost two years!"
He took a deep breath and leaned across the table. "Jo is supposed to get ¾ of my credits every month and God so help me if I find out you have been blowing what belongs to her on designer clothes and visits to a salon so they can dye your drapes a different color than the carpet I will haul your ass back into court!"
She looked expectantly at me, but I was already on it. "McCoy." I warned. "No personal insults." He glared at me, but I had to stand my ground and hold his eyes with a neutral expression until he looked away in frustration. It may have hurt and felt like betrayal, but if I could get him to play ball he would end up better off in the long run. As it stood, she had all the power in this transaction, I just had to convince her to give it to me and that meant making her feel as though I really were neutral, which I largely was because to manipulate her completely would be highly unethical. The Queen was one thing because I had only the crew to think of and everyone else be damned, but somewhere a 10 year old girl's future hinged on this meeting and I had to think about what would be best for her development and psychological well being even if it meant a less than optimal outcome for McCoy. Simply put: her needs superseded all others.
"Well, we need more." She said in a matter-of-fact tone that would have impressed Spock. She fidgeted with her dress and looked at the ground which seemed odd to me. A red flag went up in my head, but I didn't have any solid evidence to go on other than a gut feeling that there was a lot more she wasn't saying.
"Too bad, Jos." McCoy sighed with a shrug. "You done bled me dry and I ain't making that much more as a CMO than I did before. No one ever became a millionaire off Starfleet."
"You could have." She accused bitterly. "You could have taken the endorsement deals and the interview offers, but no!"
His eyes again grew dark and he banged the table with his fist in frustration. "You're goddamn right I didn't!" He yelled. "None of us did because we all agreed it wasn't right to profit off the deaths of our comrades or the millions of poor souls that were wiped out on Vulcan before they could even say goodbye to the people they loved! A Vulcan works on my ship, Jos. His mother died in that holocaust and just how in the hell could I look him in the face everyday knowing I was getting rich off his grief?!"
She threw up her hands in defeat. "I just knew this wouldn't work." She said tersely.
"Hold on." I stated calmly touching each on the arm to try and calm them. "Jocelyn, would you excuse us for a moment? I'd like to talk with you as well if you are willing." She nodded hesitantly and took a sip of her now cold late.
"McCoy, mind taking a walk with me?" I asked nicely. He gave her one last spiteful glare before reluctantly getting up and shoving his chair back under the table with a clang. She jumped slightly, but looked down at the table. I steered him inside to the bar where I gestured for him to sit on a stool. "Normally I wouldn't condone alcohol as a coping mechanism, but I think you might do well with a beer or two." I sighed sitting next to him.
"I'm sorry." He growled in a defeated tone letting his head fall into his hands. "But goddamn if she doesn't know just how to fuck with me."
"I know." I consoled with a pat on the back. "That is why with your permission I will try to broker a deal between you. She can't manipulate me the way she can you and I have a sneaky suspicion there is more to the story; I will see if I can get her to spill her guts. In the meantime, you stay here and go slow on the booze, ok?"
He nodded and looked at me pitifully. "I really want to see my baby girl again, even if it is just for a few minutes. I want to tell her how much I love her in case I never get the chance again." He didn't have to say it, but I knew as well as he did that at any given moment we could be forever wiped out on the Enterprise. It was just the nature of our jobs and he didn't want to be Spock. He didn't want to leave things undone or God forbid be the one left with regret at all the things that he should have said should something happen to her. I gave him a sad, tight lipped smile and ran my hand across his shoulders a few times before turning to go with the weight of the world on my shoulders.
