A Tale of Mischief and Mutants

Future Looks Bright

—-Sam—-

I'm back in that hallway terror courses through me the man has my neck in one hand the other is undoing my belt.

"I'll have to remind you."

This time Loki doesn't come to rescue me the man strips me of my clothes. I try to fight back but am only met with the pain of his fist meeting my flesh. The man forces himself onto me and violently does what he wants.

I wake up screaming in terror. I don't know where I am. My brain registers there's someone with me and I give that person the worst punch to the face I've ever received without blacking out. This response is involuntary, an instinct. I hear a thud and someone grunting in pain.

"Agh... Sam."

I look down on the ground to see who it is half expecting the man from my nightmares.

"It's alright you're safe we're home."

Loki says this with a bloody nose and very black eye.

"Oh my god Loki!"

I'm down on the ground with him in a second.

"I'm so sorry."

I take his hand and take it back letting out a cry of pain. Then pinch my nose to stop the blood before it gets everywhere. I'm still shaking from the nightmare. He wipes the blood from his face with a summoned tissue before tossing it in the small wastebasket we keep in our room. He picks me up and we sit on the bed him holding me as I shake in fear.

"It's alright mortal, you didn't have to take that back. I'm well aware of the risks that come with being near you when you wake up from nightmares."

'Why is he so sweet?' I just hold on to him and thank any power that be that I am home and I am safe.

"Thank you."

He kisses the top of my head. He summons another tissue for me to use on my bloody nose then takes one hand and covers my black eye with it. I wonder what he's doing then I see a flash of green light through my swollen eyelids and feel his hand get cold, freezing actually. The cold from the spell he's cast on his hand acts like an ice pack and numbs the pain in my eye. I lean into him making myself comfortable. I'm safe.

———————————————————————

The nightmares come back worse than they had been in months. Loki talks to me about seeing a therapist. I agree to it on the condition that he sees one too. To my surprise after thinking about it for a couple days he agrees to my terms.

I've started seeing my therapist Doctor Fennhoff or Johann as he prefers us to call him by his first name. Loki and I go together it doesn't matter who's session it is we're both there. It makes things easier. We're both making headway. It was really hard at first we're both stubborn and Loki's put up a wall around him. I helped Johann to get through it so he could get to the heart of the issue.

We both sleep more soundly through the night though the nightmares still happen to both of us they are few and far between at least relative to before. I also feel a lot braver now. We are both diagnosed with PTSD. Loki has anger issues, avoidant personality disorder, suffers from self loathing, and has paternal issues.

I have a specific phobia of strangers particularly men, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder. It's nice to have a name for what's broken inside of you it makes trying to fix it seem a lot easier.

No one knows about this not even Thor the only person who has any idea is Bucky. Loki prefers it this way and I can't say I disagree. We keep our visits a secret. The effects are something our friends, family, and teammates notice but they're all positive so they don't ask why.

After going for a few months he tells us we could try stopping for a while and see if things remain positive. A couple weeks later we decide they have. We opt to stop meeting twice weekly and Instead check in with him every two months to make sure things are going well. It's mid October now we've come so far from earlier this summer. The future once again looks bright.