Something had been bothering Liv for a while. It started months ago when there were just minor rumblings of things that might have been going on, but she never figured it was anything serious. Then more little pieces kept falling into place. Then one giant brick fell on top of her and she’d had enough. Why the hell was Claire Callahan still treating Kai Parker?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. When it was just herself that she had to worry about, she could get past it. Only that wasn’t the case anymore. Katima was here, and Liv felt responsible for her even if her niece was technically older and probably more capable than she was. It was just the idea of Kai hunting her and her brother down for years in their future that kept running through her mind over and over.
Finally deciding to do something about it rather than stew in her anger any longer, Liv showed up at the medical offices and asked to meet with Dr. McCoy. She’d never really spent much time with him other than routine things here and there, and she didn’t know much about him. He seemed capable enough and managed to run a decent medical department, other than what she saw as blatantly out of line, so she hoped that at least he’d hear her out.
Lightly, she knocked on his door. “Hi, Dr. McCoy. I don’t know if you really know me, but my name is Liv Parker. Do you have a minute? I’d like to speak with you about something if that’s alright.”
“Sure, come on in.” Leonard wasn’t completely unaware of the conflict among the Parker clan in Atlantis. He considered Claire to be a friend as well as a colleague and he had his own concerns with Claire treating Kai, with her living with him, with the whole damn situation. He knew enough that he was sure he knew what she’d come in to talk about and he gestured her inside, pointing to the chairs in front of his desk.
She didn’t want to jump down his throat the second she sat down, she Liv tried to stay reasonably calm enough while she tried to explain herself. There was a good chance her calm demeanor would only last for so long.
“I’d like to know why Dr. Callahan is still treating my brother. As his doctor, she has a significant amount of say in whether or not he ever regains his magic - which he obviously does in some version of the future. Not only are they roommates and friends, but their relationship is so far from professional that they eventually have children. He doesn’t even try to hide it anymore, and she… well, I don’t know her very well, but considering that they share children, one of whom is here, it’s impossible for her to remain impartial or unbiased when it comes to him.”
Leonard nodded an acknowledgement of everything she was saying. “Believe it or not, I’m not completely unaware of the situation,” he told her. “I can’t share details, of course, but I have spoken to Dr. Callahan about it and I am keeping a close eye on what’s going on between her and Kai. If I didn’t trust her judgment, she wouldn’t be treating him.”
He understood Liv’s misgivings. He even shared some of them, but he trusted Claire. He believed her when she insisted there was nothing going on there. He also knew that with time travel there was a good chance the future they spoke of would never come to pass, solely because they were now aware of it as a possibility.
Liv couldn’t help it; she let out a small laugh but then composed herself. “With all due respect, sir, all of Atlantis is aware of the situation.” They had hardly been trying to keep whatever it was going on a secret. Maybe some of the specific details were kept behind locked posts or within their shared space, but it was perfectly clear to basically everyone that there more than just a professional relationship there or even just a mildly friendly one.
“When did you speak with her?” She asked. “Before or after they became roommates? Before or after my niece showed up from the future in a world where she and her brother had to hide out and run from him their entire lives? He should have been reassigned months ago, but I ignored it. Now though? Now it doesn’t just involve me. It involves his kid. Her kid. God knows why she’s still staying by him after finding out the shit that went on in the future, but whatever. I don’t give a damn what goes on in their personal lives. What I do care about is knowing that the person evaluating and treating him doesn’t have half a dozen or more huge conflicts of interest. Howis this still going on when so much is at stake?”
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Leonard met her gaze evenly as he waited for her to stop her barrage of questions. “I understand your concerns, Miss Parker,” he said finally when he had the chance to speak again, “but I can’t share details of personnel decisions with you or anyone else outside the department. I also can’t share information about a patient’s care with you. Atlantis might exist outside of time and space, but they still have laws here.”
He empathized with her position, he really did, but the professional relationship between Claire and Kai was between him, the two of them and Jemma. He couldn’t share his thoughts or details of what he’d spoken to Claire about with anyone else.
Liv could feel anger starting to burn beneath the surface. Whether or not he was meaning to, and she figured he probably wasn’t, but she was starting to feel patronized. Like he didn’t give a shit what she thought or how she felt about any of this but only wanted to give her some company line bullshit about confidentiality until she left his office. It was because he had no idea who Kai Parker was. Sure, he’d read the notes and seen some of the histories, but he didn’t really know. She did.
“No offense, sir, but I really don’t think you that you do understand,” she said. She was angry, but her voice was level and mostly calm. “I mean, you couldn’t. No matter what you’ve heard or read about him, all you’ve seen from him is the incredibly watered down version of who he can be. He’s putting on a good show because one: he doesn’t want to get sent back, and two: he wants his magic again.” She looked away from the doctor and sighed.
“I’m not asking for any details about his sessions or the type of counseling he’s getting. I don’t care about any of that. I care that the person treating him is going to be unbiased and look at him for who he is, not for who they want him to be or who they think he could be. He killed me, Dr. McCoy. He killed my brother, my sister, my parents, and every single member of my family. My other brothers and sisters, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and people I barely even knew. In some version of the future, he tries for years to kill my niece and my nephew. If all you can give me is that ‘you can’t share the personnel details’ or that you’ll ‘take my concerns under consideration..”
Liv looked away from him for a moment and shook her head before standing with the intention to leave. “Maybe you don’t think I’m owed anymore than that, but she is. Claire’s daughter is owed a hell of a lot more than that whether she wants to ask for it or not. If you can’t admit that her treating him is a mistake then you are ignoring the very laws you claim you’re having to follow. No doctor or therapist who had the best interest of their patient in mind would still be treating him with the bias she’s shown for him. Treating him isn't just for his sake or ‘helping him, but it's also for everyone else's safety.”
Leonard looked back at her evenly, nodding to indicate he heard her words. Truth be told, whether to leave Kai in Claire’s care or not was a decision he’d wrestled with, especially after meeting her children and learning what happened in that particular timeline. There were so many variables that were unknown. Would re-assigning him just ensure that future did happen? Giving him another therapist wouldn’t stop any kind of personal connection between the two of them. If anything, it would make it more acceptable in Claire’s eyes to allow that connection to go further. Who was to say that wasn’t how they’d ended up in bed in the future where they’d had those twins. Claire had told him nothing was happening and he believed that. He believed she was being truthful there. If she was respecting that line now and staying away from a relationship because he was her patient, giving him to someone else could actually bring the future Liv spoke of to fruition.
Much as he didn’t like the various villains Atlantis allowed to stay, treated them was partly about helping them. Yes, the program was in place to help ensure the safety of those in Atlantis, but as physicians, they’d also taken a vow to do no harm and that meant helping those they didn’t especially like. Whether it toed the line of professionalism or not, Kai and Claire had an established rapport that had taken some time to build. There were no guarantees he’d have that with someone new.
Too many variables. It made it difficult to decide the right course of action, but it was his job to make that call and no one else’s, save Jemma’s. She was the head of medical and science. Leonard might run medical more or less, but he still answered to Jemma, ultimately.
“I hear what you’re saying, Liv,” he said out loud. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” He made a mental note to schedule a meeting with Jemma soon. It had been a while since his last one with Claire and it was a topic worth revisiting, especially in light of the different possible futures they’d learned about.
Liv just looked at him without giving any sort of facial reaction. He’d basically stated the same thing over and over no matter what she’d said to him. Whether he was actually serious in looking into this or if he’d really heard her or not was a mystery. She didn’t know him at all, so it was impossible to get a good read on what he was really thinking.
Either way, she’d said her peace, and if this continued, then she’d figure out another way.