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Mark sat down in Doc Samson’s office. It had been three weeks since he’d last been there.
“Good morning, Mark,” Doc said. “How are you feeling today?”
Mark thought about it. “Some stuff happened that was kind of good.”
“Last night by any chance?”
Mark shrugged.
“Then why don’t we talk about California. I thought we’d agreed that the two of you were going to talk to me about doing anything rash before doing it.”
“We talked to Tony and Clint.”
“What did they say?”
“What do you think?”
“I think you didn’t answer the question.”
Mark felt uncomfortable. He often did during therapy. It wasn’t specifically for that purpose but Doc tried to draw him out. “They didn’t want us to go. Thought we weren’t ready.”
“Yet you didn’t listen to them or hold up your agreement with me.”
“Spur of the moment and we had to go. Like, right away. Jake needed to go home, maybe for the last time.”
“So you drove out to California. When did you learn to drive?”
“We learned as we went. I think we’re pretty good now. Tony said maybe I could drive sometimes if I wanted.”
“Of course he did. He does love to indulge you.”
Mark blushed. He knew Doc was right. He didn’t know if being spoiled was the best thing but it did give him some sense of normalcy to be able to do things other people could do. Even driving was something kids started to learn around his age.
“It was a good trip.”
“What happened?”
“I should let Jake tell you but he was so happy. Well sad first but then happy. Then we had a weird dream.”
“Both of you?”
“Yeah. Remember that friend I had, Tracy? The one I thought might have been an angel? He was in it. Sent us to Los Angeles.”
“Did you go?”
Mark went on to explain how that had gone. Relief seemed to wash over him.
“I’m very happy it worked out but it might not have. You could have gotten lost.”
“Mmmaybe. I touched AJ’s name. Jinx. I cried but I didn’t go away.”
“That granted you some peace?”
“Some. I still get stuck on certain things but it’s not as bad.”
“Now about last night. The home of your parents is now a volcano.”
“Yeah, Amara did that. Turns out she’s my cousin. Same evil grandmother.”
“You’re going to have to explain that.”
Mark did, from his reunion with Lara to her moving in with Angel.
Doc considered his words before continuing. “You usually say you don’t care who kills your enemies. I sense this was different.”
“She killed my family. My Dad, Damiano, Tranquilla…” He still couldn’t say her name without getting upset. He kept remembering his sweet sister who had been eight when he last saw her. “I had to avenge them. She didn’t love us but my Dad did. He died trying to protect us from her. I don’t have room to forgive her. Not for that. Not for sending their souls to Hell.”
“Did that give you satisfaction?”
Mark shrugged, as he normally did when he wanted to avoid answering questions.
“Don’t shrug. Tell me with words.”
“I guess I’m glad she’s gone but I can’t say I wanted it to be that way.” Mark paused. “I don’t think vengeance has ever made me feel good beyond knowing that one more monster was removed from the world, that one less being exists to inflict their evil on others. But, no, it doesn’t give me satisfaction.”
“That’s the first time you’ve ever acknowledged that feeling, or lack of it,” Doc said. “This is more significant than you realize. Saying you didn’t want it to be that way shows how you’re changing.”
“Maybe. Lara saw that I was different.”
Samson leaned back into his chair and crossed his legs. “Tell me.”
Mark talked about the distance between them and how she was freaked about his relationship with Jake. How she didn’t even want to stay in the same home with him.
“From what you’ve said, Lara had it considerably easier, even locked up. You may have to let her in on at least some parts of your past if she’s going to make any sense of it.”
“Amanda and Kyle think maybe there’s something similar to a psychic bond with Jake. But emotional instead of mental. Does that make sense?”
“It would explain a lot. Having friends – teammates – is paying off. They see bits of you in your everyday life that I don’t get here.”
“Does that mean we’re done?”
Doc shook his head. “There’s a lot more to be discovered and to be healed. I know you and Jake have things you keep to yourselves. I’m hoping that, at some point, you’ll feel comfortable enough to tell us what has you so scared that you can’t tell me.”
“Well, from last time, it’s not my secret. You probably shouldn’t even bring anything up. He’s really sensitive about it at the moment. But he might tell you before long.”
“For someone who doesn’t want to tell me anything about Jake you tell me a lot.”
Mark hesitated before speaking. “He doesn’t really want to keep secrets. He’s just afraid. He even told Clint I’m the only person who has never judged him in any way. And it’s true. So I know where his mind is at.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“How was your trip, Jake,” Doc asked Jake.
“It was amazing,” Jake replied. “I got some stuff. Pictures, baseball stuff I used to use with my Dad and other things. Things that reminded me of Mom, Eric, and Michael. Oh, and Mark’s getting their names tattooed on his arm! He thought I might like the idea so he’s gonna do it.” Jake was starting to tear up. “No one ever thought to remember them. Except Mark.”
“That’s not true, Jake.”
“Okay, not in such a permanent way. And he’s also adding his Dad, Damiano, and Tranquilla. Living memory is important.”
“We can’t all tattoo our bodies like that.”
“I know. It’s just… this is special. It’s the kind of thing that shows how connected we are. And did you know when Mark went through his old house to get stuff that he brought me with him? It’s like he went with me and I went with him.”
“I wish you hadn’t been so rash in going but I’m glad it worked out. Just tell me next time. Call me if you have to.”
“I may as well admit we went after Mark’s Mom before today on purpose. We didn’t want to be talked out of it.”
Doc shook his head. “Another rash decision. How did you feel being there and going up against them?”
Jake scratched his forehead. “I tried to shoot Chernobog but he actually grabbed my arrow out of the air. And we’re pretty sure he and Erebus survived the volcano. Would have been a nice end to them though.”
“Tell me about the killing.”
“Um, it was what we had to do. It was like how I had to kill Devastator. He had to kill her. There’s some relief in it but not happiness. Except for the stuff he got. The memories.”
“Do you share all of your thoughts?”
“Not the way you think. I just feel how it is with him.”
Doc nodded his head. “What are you doing next time you have a rash thought?”
“Calling you. Unless it’s an emergency and we don’t have time for it.”
“Anything else?”
“Stephanie! We’re going to start hanging out more. I don’t know where it’s going to go.”
“How about we talk before you have sex, to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons.”
“I’m not planning to have sex anytime soon. It was always pain.”
“I see. We now have a topic to discuss going forward, which is how to separate intimacy, in whatever form that takes, with hurt and abuse.”
“Talk to Mark, too. I mean, he might need the same thing. This kind of intimacy I’ve only had with Mark and there’s no sex involved. And no pain.”
“I’ll make a note of it, but should you really be sharing this with me?”
“Um, yeah, I think so. If he didn’t tell you about Raven then he probably forgot since so much just happened with him.”
Lara and Angel were sitting in Angel’s apartment. Since the Avengers had forced all of the teens to attend the Avengers Academy, they were also given a stipend for housing, food and other things.
“Can you tell me more about Mark,” Lara asked. “It’s like he’s someone else.”
“I told you he had it bad, right? There’s something else that has to do with his powers. It’s like he’ll have a strong thought and his mind races down as far as it can go to find a conclusion, right or wrong. He has to be snapped out of it. He refers to it as getting lost.”
“My powers didn’t do anything like that.”
“Your powers are different. He runs at super speed and you turn into lightning. I’d guess the speed is the thing that alters his thinking. But you have to give him some leeway. He saw all of his friends get slaughtered in ways you can’t imagine. And then he had another year of flat out being abused. Pretty sure it was sexual and violent.
“Just in the short time that I’ve known him he’s undergone some pretty drastic changes. For the better. Whatever you think is weird about him is crazy better than how he was. He’s getting better all the time. So what if he has that strange bond with Jake. They always say they’re best friends but I’m pretty sure they see each other as brothers.”
Lara took it all in. “So you think he was raped.”
“I do, but you should sit down and talk to him. He’s a better guy than you think but he’s had some major trauma in his life. Don’t push him away. I’m sure he’s hurt enough over your reaction. Don’t make it worse.”
Mark was asleep on the couch when Tony came home. It had been an exhausting couple of weeks, good and bad. His body needed the rest. The sound woke him up.
“Hi, Tony,” Mark said drowsily. “You’re home already?”
“It’s 6:30,” Tony responded.
Mark shot up. “Really? I’ve been asleep since like 1:00.”
“How was your session with Doc?”
“Pretty good.” Mark blinked a few times. “I killed my mother last night. Chernobog and Erebus aren’t really my father and brother. They’re dead and she’s responsible. Tranquilla is also dead because of her. I just…”
Tony sat down next to Mark and put a hand on his shoulder. He thought about the video tape and vowed that Mark and Jake would never see its contents. It also showed him how vulnerable Mark really was. Telling Tony what he had done was also a tremendous. The fear that he’d always be judged for what was done to him was eroding. He needed to know he wasn’t a bad person.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Mark didn’t say anything for several moments. “Yes.”
Mark went into it all, the lead up to it and the fate of the souls of his family. He was emotionally drained having to recount it. “And now Lara thinks I’m a freak and doesn’t want to be around me.”
“She’s here now. You’ve got time to develop a new relationship with her.”
“I know. I’ve thought about it.” Mark looked out the window. “I don’t think Chernobog wants anything to do with me anymore. He might just stop pretending to be my father anymore. That would make me an orphan.”
Tony saw where this was going. “If that’s the case then I could finally adopt you.”
Mark saw some hope in his eyes. He did see Tony as a father. To have it literally be true would matter since he now knew his father had been dead for years. And his brother. And who knew how long Tranquilla had been gone or even how they’d treated her leading up to it.
“If you could… I mean, I’d really like it. I know it won’t change our relationship all that much but it would feel better to me.”
“It would feel better for me, too. Not to change topics but I have dinner reservations with Janet tonight. I can cancel or have you come with us.”
“Don’t do that. I’m gonna call Raven. See if she wants to hang out. I could invite her over. Maybe play guitar. She’s never heard me play.”
“That sounds like a great idea. Maybe I’ll spend some more time with Janet.”
“Oh, right. You’d probably want to take her home.”
“She has a perfectly good home where we can go. Bring her here. Make her dinner. Or order out if you don’t trust your cooking.”
“Okay. Thanks. Let me know when you’re heading out.”
“A quick shower and I’ll be on my way. Tell her to come in about thirty minutes.”
Mark was wearing a nice button-up shirt and jeans when Raven arrived. He ushered her in.
“Would you like something to drink,” he offered. “I mean like soda or water because—“
“Do you have any seltzer?”
“I do! I think we have regular, lime, lemon and, uh, grapefruit.”
Raven tittered at the selection. “Grapefruit sounds interesting.”
“Do you want ice?”
“Just a few cubes.”
“Okay. I’ll be right back.”
Mark was surprised at how nervous he was. He faced all of these crazy things in life but the thought of talking to a girl in a dating situation left him feeling anxious. But maybe that was good. Maybe it meant he cared.
Mark shortly returned with the seltzer. Grapefruit for her and lemon for himself.
“Tony’s into seltzer. I think ‘cause he doesn’t drink.” Mark blushed. “I don’t think I was supposed to say that.”
“It’s alright, Mark.”
“I was thinking maybe you could hear me play guitar. Something nice. It’s been in my head for a few months but I didn’t write it until after I met you.” He blushed again. “Or we could just watch a movie. And I’m gonna cook dinner.” In a low voice, he said “Tony made me learn.”
“Why is that?”
“Jake and I tried to come up with some concoctions that we could eat but they were kind of a disaster. Tony said it was inedible and made us take cooking classes. Plus we’re vegetarians and he isn’t so I made sense for us to know how to make stuff we wanted.”
“Vegetarian? Interesting. Have you always been vegetarian or is it recent?”
Devastator gnawed on Illyana’s leg. Deathwing ate AJ’s still-beating heart. Harpy ate Jennifer alive. Slither swallowed Ginny whole. Anubis’s head was bitten off by the Mouth. Serpent ate Mirthos.
“A couple of years. I don’t think I could ever eat meat again. I’m not vegan but I could see it happening. Besides, if you do it right, it’s healthy.”
Raven saw the brief flash of sorrow but also that he’d moved past it.” What are you making for us?”
“Nothing too complicated. Stir fry with broccoli and mushrooms. Tofu instead of chicken. There’s other stuff, too. I just need to prep and get it going. I can do that fast. Then it cooks for about twenty minutes, which will give me some time to play.”
It only took Mark about a minute to get things started. Then he went into his room and returned with an acoustic guitar, the first one Tony had bought for him, the first thing that helped him think about the horror show his life had been.
Mark started to play. It was soft and gentle, just like his voice as it joined in the music. It was about love and hope and the desire for a better life. It was about finding someone to love who would love him in return. It was about close friendships, playing in the park with his children and growing old with his wife. It wasn’t about Raven, as she might have thought, but about life and what it could mean.
“That was beautiful, Mark,” Raven said, clapping her hands together. “I knew you played guitar but I had no idea you also sang. Stephanie never said a word about it.”
Mark set his guitar down. “I’ve always been shy about letting anyone hear me. I mean, Jake obviously has heard me, and Tony from the other room, but it’s always been for me. Now I’m feeling comfortable enough to share it with you.”
“That’s sweet.”
Mark sat down next to Raven. He picked up one of her hands and held it in his own. “I know it seems like the changes in me happened fast. There were some roadblocks, things that started to clear up pretty much after we first met. It hasn’t been easy. I had to convince someone that it was okay to go on. When I did it, it’s like I had permission to stop being afraid of what came next or even that I could have a future.
“It was hard. It’s still hard. So many things from my past are resurrecting themselves and it’s been keeping me off-balance. But I’m not alone now, or at least it’s not just me and Jake. He and I have people to support us and we don’t have to just rely on each other. It’s good that we do but it’s a disaster of just one of us is messed up. All I’m really trying to say is that I want to have a future, I want to get married and have children to bounce on my knee. I’m not professing my undying love to you and asking you to marry me. I’m just telling you I want more out of life than I’ve had in many years. My Dad wanted me to have that life. I’m not gonna let him down.”
Per normal for those mandated to the Avengers Academy, Amanda and Kerry had a place of their own. With thousands of empty apartments it was easy to make happen. They technically each had their own apartment but it made little sense to separate themselves.
“He hasn’t resurfaced,” Amanda said.
“That is worrisome,” Kerry commented. “If the demons disperse then how can we kill how can we kill them?”
“It would be nice if we had a sorcerer. The little bits Kyle and Raven had won’t do the trick. It’s too bad the Wraiths made full assaults against any sorcerers if note. Taking on Doctor Strange caused considerable damage to the city. Without him it was all but defenseless until the heroes returned.”
“Perhaps we need to look elsewhere for what we need. Thor might have what we need.”
Amanda didn’t look convinced. “It’s true that he’s grown considerably in power but not in magical knowledge. The only one I can think of is Doctor Doom. He won’t help. All he’s done is take advantage of the situation for expansionism and using his own magic and technology to keep enemies out.”
“Then it's us,” Kerry sighed. “It's our mission to send them back.”
“If they’ve moved elsewhere then we have to travel. I don’t like the idea of others being without us. Our chi has been useful in preventing corruption and we can’t risk that happening. Like it or not, whatever we do will have to include them. Besides, they’re all linked to the Eighth City in one fashion or another. That’s what we need to use.”
Kerry sat on the couch and contemplated what Amanda had said. It troubled him. There was a niggling thought that he didn’t like. “It was no accident that the Harper Family was targeted. I agree that Jake is linked in some way but I think it’s to one of the Seven Heavens. That would be why his entire family had to be removed. Jake has never known who saved him, only that the person got him away and abandoned him.”
“So we need to find that person,” Amanda groaned. “That means access to whatever technology the Avengers have is going to be important in our search.
Kerry pulled Amanda down on the couch with him and onto his lap. He kissed her deeply. “At least they can’t try to keep us apart while we’re here.”
“They will never keep me from you.”
Kerry smiled and kissed her some more. “That us why we must succeed.
Chernobog and Erebus stood on Titan. It was a disagreeable place to them. The Eternals, weak as they were compared to their counterparts on Earth, still served as guardians against dark forces. That purpose was derailed when Thanos became a major threat but Adam Warlock removing him from the board allowed them to resume their guardianship.
“You have earned your right, Tyrus,” Chernobog said to his grandson. “You found a way to make acceptable hosts without mutants as starting points.”
“My first trials were successful,” the Dark Man replied. “Had I the opportunity I might have brought more demons to Earth.”
“Now you have your chance. Do it well and you will be rewarded.”
Chernobog wasted no further time and departed with Erebus in tow.
Stepping in from another room, the Omega Man approached his father. “This does not seem in line with your plans.”
“It is not part of my plans. Though Thundrax fell, you are a perfect example of what a hybrid child can become without bringing them here. They have rotted in the Eighth City for an eternity. By the time they discover a way out more of us will be here to greet them.”
“And my siblings?”
“Unleash them but with the necessary modicum of free will. They don’t possess the power were need, and they are of the mutant ilk, but they can still be useful.”
END