The Thief

Therapy

(Boobs! Now that I have your attention I have an announcement. I have started an encanto book. The first chapter was written by me but the second will be written by LuciGoosey7O7 , it will continue in that order until we finish the book. Please considering going and checking it out, also please leave feedback, I'm curious what the reception will be)

(Y/n) stared at the therapist who's office he was currently sitting in. "So how's this work? Want me to look at ink blots and tell you what they look like? My answers to the standard Rorscharch ink blot test are A, a bat, B, a bat, C, a bat, and D, my father killing my mother with a hypodermic needle"

"While we are most definitely talking about that later I think it's best that we start off somewhat simpler" Andrea Sterman replied as she shook her head. "Let's just talk"

"Ah, the talking cure. Classic Freudian, good choice" (y/n) nodded as he sat back in his chair. "Let's get this over with"

"You seem to know quite a lot about psychology" Andrea said as she took off her glasses and held them in her hands.

"While it may surprise you, once upon a time I had actual aspirations" (y/n) said as he crossed his arms. "I wanted to go into psychology"

"And why didn't you?" The therapist asked as she relaxed her posture a bit.

"I don't know. People found out my identity and that caused my whole world to start crumbling so I stopped going to school. Then once I was about to start going again my girlfriend and my mom died" (y/n) sighed. "Didn't really see much of a point after that. I'm already set for life when it comes to money, and I do this hero thing now. What's the point in complicating that by adding in college and a future job"

"Well from what I've been told about you by Marc and the avengers you don't really even want to be a hero do you?" Andrea asked curiously as she leaned a bit closer to the boy. "I mean sure you enjoy the thrill sometimes but at times you don't, and you have switched between villain and hero a few times haven't you?"

"I suppose that's true" (y/n) shrugged with a sigh. "I hate being a hero, I really do, it causes nothing but trouble. For some reason though I just keep coming back to it. Maybe it's just good stress relief, beating up bad guys can be quite cathartic"

Andrea nodded and though for a moment before speaking again. "You're girlfriend, the one who died. She was Ironheart right?"

"Marc told you?" (Y/n) asked with another sigh.

"Jake did" Andrea replied. Jake was one of Marc's other personalities. "I have a theory that I'd like to share"

"Go for it Doc" (y/n) replied with a shrug. "You're just digging up painful memories, not like this seriously affects me" he said sarcastically.

"I think that the reason you keep coming back to play the hero is because of Riri" Andrea said. (Y/n) looked at her curious as to where she was heading with this. "The only reason you became a hero to begin with was because you were captured and given the choice. You joined the champions and the pet avengers that day"

"Pet avengers!" (Y/n) said with a smile. "Love those guys"

"We all do" andrea replied with a smile of her own. "Point is you could have left at anytime after that and probably gotten away with it. You stayed because of Riri didn't you?" (Y/n) nodded slowly. "She brought out the best in you. When she died that left a hole in your life that you tried to fill by beating up bad guys"

"So what does that mean?" (Y/n) asked skeptically. "Forget about her and then as a result I'll give up on superheroing?"

"It means that if you finally accept her death then maybe, if I'm right, you'll finally be able to make that decision for yourself" the woman before him smiled softly. "Or I'm completely wrong and we can try something else"

(Y/n) stayed silent for a moment thinking it over. "How would I even go about accepting it?" (Y/n) asked quietly. "I thought I had but recent events have shown me otherwise"

"You've already taken a few big steps towards acceptance" Andrea replied as she waved her hand. "Admitting that it's a problem, getting into a new relationship, etcetera. The rest is really up to you. Everyone goes through this process differently"

"So you can't help me?" (Y/n) asked with a sigh. "Perfect"

"I can lead you in the right direction at least" Andrea replied. "But you need to do all the work"

"Splendid" (y/n) sighed. "Supposing I did finally accept this, and I did decide to quit the hero biz, what would I do? I've been hiding myself behind a mask for longer than I can remember. My best and worst memories are both from behind a mask, whether that of a hero or a criminal"

"Again that's really up to you. You could go back to school, maybe try for your psychology degree like you had wanted to. You could retire and just sit around, maybe raise a family. Or you could even go back to being a criminal, I'd advise against it but it's always an option" Andrea shrugged as she turned to look out the window. "It's a large world out there, there are many options for your future that you haven't even started to explore"

(Y/n) nodded as he also turned his head to stare out the window. The sun was just starting to set and the sky was a vibrant orange. "I really didn't like the idea of coming here. Even got into a big argument with my girlfriend about it" (y/n) turned his head to look at the doctor. "I was wrong though. I thought I could get through my problems by myself, I still believe that too. However I will admit it's nice to have someone to talk to, thank you"

Word count: 1041