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During the next therapy session, Sam asked us to talk about a traumatic experience we had in the past and said it would give us the opportunity to let go of trauma and heal. He added that it could be something that happened before the blip.
I never thought I'd hear some of the people in that room talk about horrible traumatic experiences they had in the past. Especially Bruce, Stephen and Tony. But with everything they've been through lately... maybe it radically transformed them in some areas of their lives.
Peter talked about how during a battle with an enemy, he had ended up nearly crushed under rubble. Bruce had to operate on him twice at the hospital, and then there was the recovery process. Bruce and Tony's support and listening ears helped him manage the trauma and recover, both physically and psychologically. The trauma of nearly being crushed under rubble and post-surgery stress, often called surgical trauma, is no joke. Peter remembered how Morgan hurt herself while playing once and Bruce had to give her stitches while Peter held her hand to keep her calm. Peter had felt worried and stressed when Morgan had her accident. But nearly being crushed under rubble and surgical trama was worse. Thanks to Bruce and Tony, Peter had managed the trauma, but he had never really processed it and Sam gave him the tools to process this form of PTSD.
Clint talked about how he nearly lost his daughter to a dangerous illness when she was only five. He was glad she survived. But this traumatized him and he was constantly worried that she would get sick again. Sam gave him tools to process this form of PTSD.
Nat talked about how two children playing near a car exploded into bloody pieces right in front of her as she stared in horror after a criminal with a vendetta put an explosive in the car. She nearly lost control that day and Sam had stopped her from outright murdering the guy who did it. He gave all the evidence to the police and the guy was sentenced to life imprisonment. Sam, now seeing that she hadn't completely processed the trauma gave her the tools that would allow her to do so.
I saw Bruce gather his courage and talk about how his father had murdered his mother when he was only four years old. I was tortured by Hydra for over 70 years. We both have horrible, fucked up pasts. In fact, a lot of us, Avengers, have horrible, fucked up pasts and traumas. Heck, the Maximoff twins too. And after the Battle of Earth, I wondered what happened with Wanda Maximoff. She just left. She disappeared and I didn't hear anything about her for a while. Then, I tried to find out what had happened and if she was all right. I found out that she had reunited with her father, Erik Lehnsherr. She had been adopted by Iryna and Olek when she was a child after her biological mother died and her biological father wasn't around and available at the time for some reason. From what I've heard, he had mental health issues and traumas from the concentration camps and the torture and abuse he experienced there at the hands of Nazis for who knows how long (and after being tortured by the Hydra Nazis for decades, I can relate to him, I know what it's like to deal with night terrors, dissociation, and mental scars).
But Wanda reunited with her biological father who is now redeemed and reformed and they both reside at Charles Xavier's school which is pretty much a huge ass castle. I also found out that Erik and Charles are now married and that they're helping Wanda process and overcome her traumas and properly grieve the loss of her biological brother, Pietro Maximoff who sometimes went by the name of Peter. I'm glad to hear that Wanda now has a family who is there for her. With the love and support of her two dads and the mutant friends she'll make at her new school and home, she'll be okay. I'm glad I have Sam, I'm glad Erik has Charles, and I'm glad Wanda has her two dads and her new friends. It's comforting to know that she's safe, loved and supported among the other mutants.
Morgan spoke next and talked about how she lost her mom. She's only six years old, and this is tragic, but at least she has Tony and Stephen. And her adoptive brother, Peter. She still had a family and she wasn't alone.
Then Tony shuddered in horror and talked about how he lost his adoptive son and the man he loved during the blip. I can relate. I nearly went mad with grief when my husband was blipped. The only difference is I blipped not too long after my husband did, whereas Tony had to live with his loss for five years. Sam gave him tools to process this form of PTSD.
Stephen was the last one to speak but his story was just as sad and tragic as the other Avengers' stories. Stephen was dating Christine but their romantic relationship didn't really work so she broke up with him, and they stayed friends. It's good that their friendship was strong enough to survive a break-up, not all relationships end up badly. And they still work together sometimes, especially during a time of crisis. Stephen spent some time in Kamar-Taj where he studied under the Ancient One and a sort of teacher/mentor she appointed for him, a dak-skinned man named Karl Mordo. Stephen completed his training, but at some point, things turned to shit in Kamar-Taj and one of the students there betrayed everyone and even convinced some of the other student to follow his agenda. The Ancient One, who was a teacher, a mentor and a mother figure to everyone in Kamar-Taj, including Stephen, died but something happened or something was revealed before she died that caused Karl Mordo to leave Kamar-Taj. I don't know much about what happened and what was going on with the rebellion in Kamar-Taj and what was revealed about the Ancient Ones shortly before she died that caused Stephen's former mentor to leave Kamar-Taj because Stephen was not eager to talk about it. All I know is what Stephen told us and none of us pushed him for answers, he would share when he was ready, and if he doesn't, that's fine too.
Stephen had to cope with the the death of his teacher who died in the hospital and the departure of his former mentor. But he was worried about Karl and he tried to locate him and contact him. Stephen eventually found Karl, doing a love, eat, pray thing in an attempt to process his traumas and find clarity after travelling around for days. Karl was having a crisis and dark thoughts and he was trying to find himself and find answers. After Stephen found Karl, they shared food, went for a walk and had interesting and deep conversations all night. Stephen convinced Karl that he and the other sorcerers needed people like him to keep them on the path and that there was still a place for him with them. They talked pretty much all night and they even held hands and they realized that they had feelings for each other, something more than friendship. Nothing romantic or sexual had ever happened between them back when Karl was Stephen's teacher/mentor, that would have been inappropriate. Nothing of that nature had happened after Stephen completed his training either, things had turned to shit at Kamar-Taj and then as they all tried to face the crisis, there was no time for exploring feelings, although they both knew there definitely was something there, some unspoken attraction and tenderness between them. After talking all night, they went their separate way and Karl travelled to Romania to see the ruins of his castle where he basically came to the same realization as Erik Lehnsherr did, that he had wasted so many years on seeking vengeance, or that vengeance had colored all he'd learned in his new home after he lost his loved ones. He then sent a text message to Stephen to tell him that he needed more time but that he would come back and Stephen told him to take as long as he needed.
About three weeks later, Karl came back to Kamar-Taj and reunited with Stephen. When Stephen departed for the Sanctum Sanctorum in New-York, Karl jumped on the occasion to leave Kamar-Taj to go live with him and Wong in New-York, Stephen even promised him that he would arrange for them to have privacy and that Wong wouldn't bother them much. Karl was helping train a few people in Kamar-Taj but he didn't want to live there permanently, and he agreed to help from time to time like Stephen does and of course to be available should a crisis arise. They were happy together. Karl didn't have that many dark thoughts when he was around Stephen and Stephen opened up more about his inner thought life and emotions thanks to Karl. They had a wonderful love relationship and they were a happy couple. They had been together for about a year and they were planning to get married when tragedy stroke. Stephen and Karl were fighting a supernatural threat and they managed to destroy it. Karl shielded Stephen with his very body and killed the supernatural monster but was mortally wounded in the process.
Karl died saving Stephen's life and eliminating a dangerous threat to humanity. I'm pretty sure Stephen cried, like I did when I lost my husband, but unlike me, he didn't get his lover back. Karl told him not too be too sad and that he was glad that his last few actions on the mortal plane gave his life purpose and meaning, that he was glad that in the past twelve months he got to atone for his past wrongs and the years he wasted seeking vengeance, and that he was happy that he got to experience love with Stephen, that after this he could die in peace. He died in Stephen's arms with one last "I love you". And even thought Stephen had to learn how to live without Karl and how to cope with his loss, he had never really processed the trauma and the grief and Sam gave him the tools to do so. There was no jealousy and no judgment in Tony's eyes when he squeezed Stephen's hand tenderly to express his sympathy and his support, there was only compassion and love in his eyes. They both had lost a spouse. Stephen and Karl had not been married, but they had might as well been married, seeing as they were supposed to get married the day after Karl died and in his heart Stephen had been as good as married to Karl. Both Stephen and Tony had lost a spouse, their loss brought them closer together and made their relationship stronger.
Eventually, Tony and Stephen got married. Also, I and the rest of the Avengers found out Tony and Stephen were not raising two but four kids, because they had welcomed two more kids into their family. There was a girl named America Chavez, who could travel the multiverse and who was searching for her lost mothers. She had accidentally opened a portal when she was younger, when she had a panic attack because she saw a bee, which she's allergic to. She doesn't go anywhere without her epipen. There's also Melissa Jones, Stephen found her on the astral plane after she lost her parents, both of them were dead, and turns out Stephen had been friends with her father. He told her his story on the astral plane then told her he would come and find her on the physical plane, that he believed that they could help each other. When he found her, he convinced her to come and live with Tony and him and the two of them welcomed her into their family. America and Melissa were getting along well with the other two kids, especially Morgan. So, Tony and Stephen now have a son and three daughters.
After several therapy sessions with Sam, Tony became very pensive. And then he apologized to us and said that what he tried to do with the whole suit of armor around the world thing and going behind everyone else's back, their precious freedoms be damned, was overreach, but he added that he should never had tried to make people sign the Sokovia Accords, that this wasn't a good solution. And he also added that he now realize, to his horror, that the Accords he tried to force people to sign and had other Avengers arrested over, violated the Constitution of the United-States and broke several American laws, including; Habeas Corpus, due process, the 4th amendment, the 5th amendment, the 6th amendment and the 8th amendment and that Ross advocated for all of this, and so did Tony. Damn. Now, Tony has to live with what he did for the rest of his life. But he's now walking the path of redemption, and Sam informed us that Thaddeus Ross is doing the same thing. Sam said that Ross, after being contaminated with gamma rays turned into a red Hulk who went on a rampage. After Sam got through to him and encouraged him to prove to his daughter that he wants to change, Ross turned himself into the police to serve his sentence, resigned from his position of political power and admitted to his wrongs. Sam said that Betty visit her father in prison, and Sam himself drop in for a visit from time to time.
Speaking of the Sokovia Accord, trying to enforce the Accords after Thanos is beyond stupid, so thank God they have been repealed. It could be argued that the damage Thanos caused would've never happened if the Sokovia Accords never happened. Those stupid Accords led up to the breakup of the Avengers and the crippling and near-death of some of them (not to mention what happened to Nat and Tony and how we thought we had lost them for good which would have been the case if it wasn't for the mercy of the Infinity Stones and their desire to reward us for everything we risked and suffered to save the universe from Thanos). Thanos was able to take advantage of this fragmentation, get all the stones and kill/blip trillions. Maybe Thanos wouldn't have succeeded if the leader of the Avengers wasn't forced to go into hiding. So I'm glad they came to their senses and repealed that garbage that was the Sokovia Accords. Also, I suspect that Hydra had a hand in the crafting of the Sokovia Accords, they wanted us powerless and unable to intervene and they wanted vilification and smear campaigns against us. And they had not only infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., but also the United-Nations. I sure hope Tony learned his lesson and that next time there's a crisis (I hope it's in a very distant future, but I'm not getting my hopes too high), he will remember the disastrous result of some of his decisions last time and this time he'd be more open to listening to the rest of the Avengers instead of defaulting to his "I alone can fix it" "god" complex. At least, he's now admitting that what he did was wrong and he's willing to learn from his mistakes.
Nat helped Clint on his journey to atone for his past wrongs and his actions as Ronin. It wasn't easy, but with her help and Sam's he got better. Clint got visitations with his kids, but Laura moved on and Clint is in a a committed relationship with Nat. Well, when a door close, another one opens. Laura is now in a relationship with a guy she met at some event. But Laura and Clint are on friendly terms, for the kids if anything. And Clint gets to see his kids every other weekend and they all spend quality time with Clint and Nat. Clint's committed relationship with Nat and spending time his kids every other weekend and the steps he's taking to star a new life and determine what he wants to do with the rest of his life, give him new reasons to live. It's good to see that he's filled with hope, that he doesn't self-harm anymore and that he's opening up to us more now.
Steve is doing well and we hang out with him sometimes. Now that he's retired and that Sam has the shield, he can do other things and he decided to take as much time as he needs to decide what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He's had some individual therapy with Sam, whatever makes him comfortable. God knows that Steve had his fair share of PTSD and traumas but he pushed it all down because of his duties as Captain America. That was not a good thing and he should have had therapy sooner, but what's done is done. And now, he's beginning his healing process and through his individual therapy with Sam he's learning to open up to us more and to let his friends be there for him during and after his healing process.
Sam and I, Tony and Stephen, Nat and Clint. We all enjoyed our family lives and helping people as best we could and reconstructing after Thanos to make this a better world and helping solve conflicts between different factions as well as helping the most affected victims recover from their traumas. And I was able to enjoy a much deserved vacation with my husband. All this until counselor Sam's potential future patient, a guy with major issues, anger management issues, aggressive tendencies, fear and traumas, named Victor Doom showed up and caused damage and then went on a rampage to cause destruction. Will we manage to get through to him? Will Sam? Sam managed to get through to Ross and set him on the path of redemption with his amazing counseling skills and his heart of compassion. So I'd like to think that there's hope for Victor Doom (and Sam often say that there is always hope for healing and peace). But that is a story for another day.