When Jake meets a woman at the Hard Deck, the last thing he expects is for her to be a Navy Seal. And not just any Seal, the Commander of Seal Team 3. She's beautiful, smart, dangerous, and everything about her just makes him want to get close. Her...
Warnings: Bear gets a little existential, her team is amazing and supportive, really not much else imo
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
It had been nearly 5 months since Bear had left the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in order to meet with Admirals Will "Shark" Harris, Beau "Cyclone" Simpson, and Navy psychologist, Dr. Hazelwood. They had required her to take a mandatory leave effective immediately, weekly sessions with Dr. Hazelwood, and had barred her from engaging in discussions relating to the day to day operations of the US Navy and its members, as well as forbidding any contact with those directly involved in the investigation of what would be former Lieutenant Commander Colton "Hazard" Richards.
Needless to say, the third condition struck a nerve in the Commander. Her team was her family, as she had said numerous times, and in her mind, it was needlessly cruel. The rest of her orders she could understand. Hazard had been taken off the ship directly by NCIS agents along with the rest of his so-called team, and she knew that Bug, FAK, Daisy, Shrike, Jake and a few others would be crucial in building the case against these five. But that also meant she couldn't talk to them until after they had finished up their parts for the agents and the prosecution.
She couldn't talk to her family. Nor they to her, and it tore her heart to shreds.
But Bear just nodded, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Sirs, may I suggest a change to the conditions?"
Admiral Simpson looked surprised at her boldness, but her boss, Admiral Harris had expected this and motioned for her to continue regardless of the look on his colleague's face. "You may, Commander."
"I would like to request a psychologist not connected to the US Navy." Bear's tone was even, controlled. She knew what she needed and unfortunately this psychologist wouldn't be it. "I mean no disrespect to you, ma'am. I have no doubt of your qualifications, but in order for me to be at the level I need to be, I require counseling from someone that isn't going to sign off on me the second I show even a fraction of improvement." This was a genuine concern. Bear knew that if they could slap an 'all better' on her file right now, then they would. However, for her sake, for the sake of her team, Bear had to be at her best and right now, she was far from it.
Harris raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "And who exactly is going to fill in for Dr. Hazelwood?" He had been caught off guard by Bear yet again. Both he and Cyclone had figured that Bear would want to be put back into the field as soon as possible. Neither one of them had considered this request as something that she would ever bring up.
"I'm sure that there are private psychologists who have been vetted by the Navy should this ever arise." She met Cyclone's gaze and held it, refusing to even entertain the idea of a compromise. Bear knew that she was damaged, that her experiences had broken something inside of her that couldn't be fixed with three sessions and a bandaid. She needed help, and deep down, Bear knew that she would walk away from this life if she couldn't get the help she needed. "This is one of those circumstances."
